South Koreas Constitutional Court ruled on Friday to uphold the impeachment of president Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal, making her the countrys first democratically elected president to be removed from office.

Two people died in heated protests that broke out after the ruling, and about 30 protesters and police officers were injured, according to USA TODAY.

South Koreas parliament voted overwhelmingly in December in favor of impeaching President Park on charges that she received millions of dollars in bribes and allowed her childhood friend Choi Soon-sil access to classified documents and privileged information. The country's Constitutional Court had 180 days to review the legality of the impeachment.

"The negative effects of the president's actions and their repercussions are grave, and the benefits to defending the Constitution by removing her from office are overwhelmingly large," acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said when delivering the ruling, according tostate media.

Park lost immunity as president, and could now face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power, Reuters reported.

South Korea has 60 days to elect a new leader. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who has been serving as interim president since December, will remain acting president until the election that is expected in early May.

In its ruling, the court acknowledged that Park allowing Choi Soon-sil to handle state affairs was illegal but it dismissed other charges, such as her abuse of power to appoint government officials, according Yonhap News Agency.

The court said Park has "completely hidden" Chois involvement in government affairs and helped her longtime friend pursue personal gains by supporting various companies under Chois control.

Choi has been detained since late October on charges of abuse of power, attempted fraud, bribery and obstruction of business.

Park was also accused of soliciting bribes from Samsung Group leader Lee Jae-yong for government favors, such as the backing of a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates to solidify his control over the countrys largest chaebol.

Lee was arrested last month on allegations of bribery, perjury and embezzlement. The scion and four other Samsung executives formally denied the charges against them when the trial began on Thursday, according to the New York Times.

Parks impeachment and Lees ongoing trial highlight the deep dissatisfaction many South Koreans are feeling after years of chaebol-related corruption scandals involving the countrys political elite.

occrp.org
Democracies are unique in the extent to which their stability depends on legitimacy  a belief on the part of the public that the system of government in the country has what Seymour Martin Lipset called a moral title to rule.

Moral assessments of political authority are always relative. People may not love their system of government, but it is important that they see it as better than any alternative they can imagine.

Lipset and other social scientists have distinguished between performance legitimacy and intrinsic legitimacy. The former is superficial: People support a political system because it works for the moment. But legitimacy based purely on performance can evaporate when the performance goes bad. A democracy is only truly consolidated when its citizens come to believe that the constitutional system is the most appropriate for the country, irrespective of how well it performs in any given period of time. A reasonable minimum threshold for democratic consolidation is that no less than 70 percent of the public expresses commitment to democracy as the best form of government, and no more than 15 percent of the public expresses support for an authoritarian regime option. This is a tough standard met by only a few democracies outside the West.

Lipset argued that once democracies had functioned well over an extended period, they would build up a reservoir of intrinsic legitimacy that they could draw on in difficult times.

But what happens if difficult times  say, a protracted increase in economic inequality, or decades of stagnant incomes, or a sense of unaddressed threat to group identity  last a very long time?

A systemic alternative is bound to present itself: the military, an authoritarian movement, or an authoritarian individual leader who claims, I alone can fix it.

Recent analysis by Roberto Foa and Yascha Mounk, published in the Journal of Democracy, shows support for democracy in the United States and Europe has declined over the past 20 years in almost every age group. The percentage of Americans who answer that having a strong leader who does not have to bother with parliament and elections increased in this period from about 20 to 34 percent.

The real danger that the established democracies face is not an army takeover, or a blatant suspension of the constitution by a would-be civilian dictator. The peril is rather the creeping path to autocracy in which a strong elected leader would seek to sideline or undermine established institutions and constraints  Congress, the courts, the media and the political opposition. Then such a leader would not bother with constitutional constraints and could simply get things done.

This playbook has been utilized in the past two decades by a number of strong leaders who came to power in competitive elections and proceeded to dismantle checks on their executive power  and eventually the ability of opposition parties to challenge them on anything like a level playing field. The early practitioners of this incremental assault on democratic constraints were Vladimir Putin in Russia and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. In the early 2000s, Thaksin Shinawatra pursued a similar path in Thailand, but the military overthrew him before he could consolidate power. More recently, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey and Viktor Orban in Hungary have gradually strangled democratic pluralism in their countries.

It is important to note that all the instances of creeping autocracy have been accomplished in political systems that lacked the long duration, deep historical roots, and strong countervailing institutions that characterize the democracies of North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. It would be a much greater shock if any of these democracies were to succumb to the wave of (largely right-wing, nativist) populist authoritarianism sweeping through Central and Eastern Europe and several developing countries, and most recently the Philippines since the election of Rodrigo Duterte last year. In long-established democracies, the institutional underpinnings of democracy are much stronger.

But institutions in the end are rules and patterns of behavior that are perpetuated by people and must be defended by people. If people abandon the unconditional commitment to democracy as the best form of government, if they come to put short-term programmatic or partisan advantage above the most fundamental rules of the democratic game, then democracy will be endangered. Political polarization facilitates this slide toward the autocratic abyss, because it makes of politics a zero-sum game in which anything can be justified in the pursuit of victory. This dynamic of polarization eroding the rules of the democratic game and paving the way for a strongman has been a common scenario for the failure of democracy.

If there is a lesson that stretches across history, then it is that nothing should be taken for granted. The laziest and most fatal form of intellectual arrogance is to assume that what has been will continue to be. Legitimacy is nothing more than a set of individual beliefs and values. If we do not work to renew those beliefs and values with each generation, then even long-established democracies could be at risk.

Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. This essay is part of an inquiry, produced by the Berggruen Institute and Zocalo Public Square, on what makes a government legitimate. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at http://bit.ly/SFChronicleletters.
Zoo killing, March 8, A2

An item in News of the Day from Around the World about a rhino killed at a Paris zoo gave incorrect information about the animals stolen horn. Its made of keratin.

Mission rolls over

San Marin in Division 3, Sports, March 9, B9

The article misstated when Mission had a 22-1 run and its upcoming opponent. The run came at the end of the third quarter. Mission will play Foothill-Palo Cedro in the next round.

Its the girls move

into the chess world, Datbook, March 9, E15

Beth Spotswoods column misstated the number of schools the Berkeley Chess School now partners with each year. The Berkeley Chess School teaches 7,000 children annually throughout 150 Bay Area schools.
TIJUANA, Mexico  After manning a machine gun on a combat helicopter as a U.S. Marine during the liberation of Kuwait, Antonio Romo came back to the United States traumatized by the death and carnage he saw.

He says he turned to alcohol and narcotics to try to quiet the nightmares, and made multiple suicide attempts. With addiction, he fell into dealing, and was arrested for selling cocaine. And after getting out of prison, Romo was deported in 2008 to Mexico, from where he had migrated illegally at age 12 to Lynwood (Los Angeles County).

Today hes part of a group of dozens of U.S. military veterans, most of them former legal residents but noncitizens, who were deported after criminal convictions and who for years have tried to convince multiple administrations to let them return. They acknowledge committing serious crimes such as felony drug dealing, but argue that they did their time and being kicked out of the country amounts to being punished twice.

Now these veterans are pinning their hopes on the new administration of Donald Trump, and their cause presents a sharp conflict for two of the new presidents stated priorities: Trump has promised to support the military and veterans; at the same time, he has also moved to ramp up deportations of immigrants in the United States illegally  particularly those convicted of crimes.

President Donald Trump has said that he supports veterans, but ... the 48-year-old Romo said, his voice trailing off.

Either congressional legislation or a presidential executive order could open the door for Romo and the others.

In September, then-candidate Trump suggested he would be open to letting immigrants who serve stay in the U.S. even if they came illegally.

I think that when you serve in the armed forces, thats a special situation, and I could see myself working that out, Trump said at NBCs Commander-in-Chief Forum. Absolutely.

The United States has recruited foreign-born soldiers since the mid-19th century, and between 1999 and 2008, more than 70,000 of them enlisted, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union. Service has provided an expedited path to citizenship, with more than 109,000 veterans becoming naturalized Americans between 2001 and 2015, according to U.S. government statistics.

The Deported Veterans Support House in Tijuana says it has documented at least 301 cases of veterans being deported to about 30 countries. More than 60 of them are Mexican.

Many deported vets like Romo gravitate to Tijuana to be closer to relatives in Southern California, some of whom are U.S. citizens and can cross the border to visit.

Maria Verza is an Associated Press writer.
BRUSSELS  Top European Union officials struggled Friday to reassure smaller countries from the east that they would not be left behind as the bloc charts its future without Britain.

At a summit in Brussels marred by a rift with Poland, the presidents of the European Council and executive Commission repeated calls for unity as the remaining 27 nations debate whether the worlds biggest trading bloc should centralize more power in Brussels or temper its ambitions.

Our main objective should be to strengthen trust and unity within the 27, European Council President Donald Tusk said after chairing the final session of the two-day meeting. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

The session was meant to focus on preparations for a grand meeting in Italy on March 25 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the EUs founding Treaty of Rome, but spiraled into an argument about whether heavyweight states should be allowed to forge ahead alone.

The 28 EU member nations already operate at different speeds in terms of inter-bloc cooperation.

Only 19 use the euro single currency, smaller groups cooperate on matters such as taxes and divorce laws, and not all countries are part of Europes passport-free travel area.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker conceded that some countries fear this multispeed Europe could be seen as introducing a new dividing line, a new kind of Iron Curtain between East and West.

But, Juncker said, this is not a matter of exclusion, it is a matter or organizing progress for those who want to do more.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who faces elections next week, said talk of different speeds leads notably east Europeans to think they are being pressured, with questions whether they are still players.

His Polish counterpart, Beata Szydlo, said that her country will never agree to a Europe of different speeds because that would lead to the EUs disintegration.

The prospect of an influential member like Britain leaving the EU, probably in 2019, has deeply shaken its partners.

Geir Moulson and Lorne Cook are Associated Press writers.
1 Turkish warning: The United States risks major damage to its relationship with NATO ally Turkey if the U.S. includes Kurdish forces in the fight to retake Raqqa, the Islamic States de facto capital, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned Thursday. Turkey and the U.S. are locked in a heated dispute about U.S. plans to liberate Raqqa, with Turkey insisting its own military and allied forces in Syria should mount the fight and that U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds should be excluded. Turkey views the main Kurdish force to be terrorists because of their ties to Turkeys outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, which the U.S. also considers to be a terrorist group.

2 Bieber imposter: A 42-year-old Australian man who allegedly posed as pop star Justin Bieber online to solicit explicit images from children has been charged with more than 900 child sex offenses, police said Thursday. Gordon Douglas Chalmers, a law lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, was charged in November with using Facebook and Skype to impersonate the star, after tip-offs from U.S. and German authorities. He already faces charges of possessing material exploiting children, and of using the Internet and social media to entrap children younger than 16, police said. Now, he faces a further 931 criminal charges for offenses including rape, the indecent treatment of children and making child-exploitation material.
KATHMANDU, Nepal  When Subhash Dhungels father passed out, the panicked road engineer called for an ambulance. To the Nepalese mans horror, the vehicle arrived without a trained medical technician to help his unconscious father as they drove to a Kathmandu hospital.

It wasnt an isolated case. Nepal is woefully short of ambulances and trained emergency medical technicians are even rarer. Ambulances are mainly used as a means to simply transport patients to hospitals.

Now a group of doctors from Stanford University have trained four dozen EMTs in the hope that they can gradually transform the Himalayan nations emergency services.

The team trained 48 EMTs for 12 weeks from December to February. The last such training they did in Nepal was in 2011.

It is helpful to have people get to the hospital quickly, but there is no difference between the ambulance and a taxi if the person is not really trained to use equipment to save lives on the way, said Rebecca Walker, a Stanford University emergency medicine professor and team leader.

The trainees learned about providing first aid, treating trauma and heart patients and even delivering babies.

There is little or no public awareness about EMTs in Nepal and ambulances in Nepal generally do not have oxygen bottles, back boards or any trained EMTs, said Binod Thapa, a critical care manager who underwent the training.

Only three private hospitals and one nonprofit group, the Nepal Ambulance Service, in the nation of 26.4 million people have ambulances with EMTs on board.

The Capital, Kathmandu, is routinely gridlocked in huge traffic jams and mountains make up for the most of the countrys terrain, so it takes a long time for ambulances to reach hospitals. A lack of trained staff on board to perform emergency life-saving procedures greatly decreases patients chances of survival.

Binaj Gurubacharya is an Associated Press writer.
Paul Ryan says insurance can't work if healthy must pay more to subsidize the sick. But this is exactly what happens in every employer plan.  Jonathan Cohn (@CitizenCohn) March 9, 2017

Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania: I'd just like to say to our friend from Oklahoma: None of us think this bill is perfect. I've never heard a single Democrat say that this bill was perfect. We knew that it needed work, and we wanted for the last seven years to work with Republicans to try to improve this bill. You guys weren't very interested in that. I'm not sure what the gentleman is talking about when he talks about mandates. What mandate in the Obamacare bill does he take issue with? Certainly not with preexisting conditions, or caps on benefits, or letting your child stay on the policy to 26. So I'm curious, what is it we're mandating



Republican Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois: Will the gentleman yield?



Doyle: Yeah, sure.



Shimkus: What about men having to purchase prenatal care? [Doyle stutters in disbelief; murmurs throughout the chamber] I'm just Is that not correct?



Doyle: Ah, ah, reclaiming my time!



Shimkus: Should they?!



Doyle: Reclaiming my time! There's no such thing as ala carte [call for order] There's no such thing as ala carte insurance, John. You don't, you don't get a list and say, "Gimme that."



Shimkus: That's the point! That's the point! We want the consumer to be able to go to the insurance market and be able to negotiate on a plan



Doyle: You tell Reclaiming my time! [call for order] You tell me what insurance company will do that. There isn't a single insurance company in the world that does that, John. So you're talking about something that doesn't exist!

"Just like Jesus said, 'The poor will always be with us,'" he said. "There is a group of people that just don't want health care and aren't going to take care of themselves."



Pressed on that point, Marshall shrugged.



"Just, like, homeless people. I think just morally, spiritually, socially, [some people] just don't want health care," he said. "The Medicaid population, which is [on] a free credit card, as a group, do probably the least preventive medicine and taking care of themselves and eating healthy and exercising. And I'm not judging, I'm just saying socially that's where they are. So there's a group of people that even with unlimited access to health care are only going to use the emergency room when their arm is chopped off or when their pneumonia is so bad they get brought [into] the ER."

[Content Note: Misogyny; classism.]There are a lot of reasons Republicans should not be in charge of healthcare policy, like: Not believing that healthcare is a right; prioritizing corporate profits over people's health and very lives; not regarding abortion (and, in many cases, even contraception) as basic parts of healthcare. As but a few examples.Over the past few days, Republican men in particular have been showing their asses on healthcare policy, demonstrating exactly why they cannot and should not be entrusted to decide healthcare policy for anyone.First, there was Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, saying : "Americans haveAnd they've gotta make a choice. And so maybe, rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they wanna go spend hundreds of dollars of that, maybe they should invest it in their own healthcare."Then, there was Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, invoking that old chestnut about how everyone can get healthcare at emergency rooms. As though a federal law mandating emergency treatment is a solution for terminal disease. Or chronic illness. Or disability. Or preventative care.Then, there was White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer refusing to answer how many people would be covered (or lose coverage) under the Republican healthcare proposal, and instead deflecting to commentary about access, as if how many people have (or don't have) health insurance isn't a key part of the access issue.Then, there was Speaker Paul Ryan, the intellectual [sic] leader of the GOP, revealing he does not understand and/or does not care how insurance works at the most fundamental level.Then, there was Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois demanding to know why men should have to pay for prenatal healthcare coverage.And then there was Rep. Roger Marshall of Kansas, who incredibly argued that poor people "just don't want health care and aren't going to take care of themselves."In response to a question about Medicaid expansion, Marshall said Echoes of Mitt Romney's 47 percent of people refuse to "take personal responsibility and care for their lives" comments . It was ignorant, indecent rubbish then, and it's ignorant, indecent rubbish now.And finally, of course, there was Donald Trump, skipping out on promoting his party's healthcare proposal, and instead just tweeting : "Despite what you hear in the press, healthcare is coming along great. We are talking to many groups and it will end in a beautiful picture!"And in the sense that there's a chance it could end in a photo of him at a desk, signing a piece of garbage legislation, I suppose it could end in a picture. But given that it would be a picture of a cruel man signing people's death sentences, it would hardly be a beautiful one, as far as I'm concerned. Leave it to Trump to describe the endgame of this horror show in terms of optics, whether he meant so literally or figuratively.I just don't know how much more evidence any person could need that the Republican Party is catastrophically unfit to be tasked with healthcare policy. They have zero credibilityand, more importantly, they have zero compassion.Healthcare policy that does not center compassion is healthcare policy not worth consideration.
New Zealand shares gained, with NZX, Sky Network Television and Fletcher Building recovering after selling this week.

The S&P/NZX50 Index rose 36.6 points, or 0.5 percent, to 7,177.58. Within the index, 22 stocks fell, 21 rose and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $112.2 million.

"There have been some quite big moves in the market - you've seen some stocks swing around a bit, names that have been quite weak have rebounded a bit," said James Lindsay, senior portfolio manager at Nikko Asset Management. "Bonds have this week tracked higher so that has impacted some of those yield names this week. It is a yield-dominated market, when offshore investors move orders around we are susceptible to that because so many of our New Zealand names have reasonable, quite substantial offshore holdings."

NZX was the best performer, up 2.8 percent to $1.09, having dropped 5.4 percent this week before today's session, while A2 Milk Co gained 2.4 percent to $2.54.

Sky Network Television rose 2.8 percent to $3.71. It has lost 14 percent since its proposed merger with Vodafone NZ was declined by the Commerce Commission last month.

"It has been relatively weak, there's obviously been a lot of concern on that name following the Voda deal being turned down, and it has bounced a little off its lows," Lindsay said.

Fletcher Building gained 1 percent to $9.29. The stock has been sold off quite aggressively and has bounced off lows today, Lindsay said.

Stride Property was the worst performer, down 1.7 percent to $1.76. Mercury New Zealand fell 1.6 percent to $3.12, Kathmandu Holdings dropped 1.5 percent to $1.92, and Investore Property rose 1.5 percent to $1.32.

Xero dipped 0.2 percent to $18.65. The Wellington-based cloud accounting software developer this week signed deals with the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp and the Development Bank of Singapore to bring the Asian lenders into Xero's expanding 'financial web'. Chief executive Rod Drury says will make it much easier for Australasian businesses to export into the region.

Outside the benchmark index, Auckland-based Rakon gained 5 percent to 21 cents. It has appointed three new directors - Lorraine Witten, Keith Oliver and Yin Tang Tseng - who will put themselves forward for election by shareholders' at the next annual meeting in a refresh of the high-tech manufacturer governance team.

NZME was unchanged at 83 cents. It and Fairfax New Zealand have got another month to convince the Commerce Commission that allowing a merger of the country's two dominant news publishers is in the public interest. The regulator today said it had agreed with the companies to extend the deadline on making a final decision on their merger application, which was to have been announced next Wednesday. The decision has been pushed out to April 11.

T&G Global was unchanged at $3.73. The fruit marketer, controlled by Germanys BayWa, is selling its FloraMax flower auction business to United Flower Growers for an undisclosed sum. The deal, expected to be completed on or by March 31, comes as FloraMax "no longer aligns with T&G's strategy and focus on its core business and key categories," the company said.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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T&G Global, the fruit marketer controlled by Germanys BayWa, is selling its FloraMax flower auction business to United Flower Growers for an undisclosed sum.

The deal, expected to be completed on or by March 31, comes as FloraMax "no longer aligns with T&G's strategy and focus on its core business and key categories," the company said.

Flora Max describes itself as the largest specialist flower auction company in New Zealand, with auctions in Auckland and Christchurch, while United Flower Growers says it is New Zealand's largest wholesale marketer of cut flowers with five branches nationwide.

Last week, T&G announced it has agreed to a joint venture in the US with Grandview Brokerage (GBL), the parent of Vancouver-based Oppenheimer Group, to improve its access to the American fresh produce market.

As part of the US deal, the company will increase its stake in US produce marketing and distribution business David Oppenheimer, also known as Oppy US, which handles berries, citrus, kiwifruit, tomatoes, grapes and pipfruit and is one of three US-based licensed agents for T&G Globals proprietary varieties of pipfruit - Jazz, Envy and Pacific Rose, T&G said.

T&G also reported a 67 percent gain in full-year profit of $32.4 million last week. Its shares last traded at $3.73 and have climbed 74 percent in the past 12 months.

Revenue from its 'other' segment, which covers its flower auction business, properties and corporate costs, rose 9.2 percent in the year to $6.1 million. The company didn't comment on the flower business in its commentary at the time of the results, but said that the New Zealand produce division had "returned to its traditional role as the backbone of T&G Global" after a turnaround.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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LEI number of Royal Dutch Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70
Senator Jon Erpenbach speaks during a press conference at the State Capitol in Madison in February. Erpenbach wants legislative oversight over any transfers of money from the King veterans home to other state agency funds.
HYDERABAD: Bringing more Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) online can increase their contribution to India's GDP by 10 pct points, taking it up to 46-48 pct by 2020, according to findings of a joint Google-KPMG study shared on Wednesday.

The study said 68 pct of the 51 million Indian SMBs are offline. Only 32 pct have web presence of any sort.

SMBs will be key driver of India's economic growth, currently accounting for 37 pct of the GDP and employing 120 million people, it said.

It also revealed that going digital can double the profits of SMBs compared to those offline. Likewise, digitally-engaged businesses are able to grow their customer base significantly, with 52 pct catering to customers beyond their home city versus only 29 pct offline SMBs.

The findings of the study, titled "Impact of Internet and Digitization on SMBs in India", were shared by Google at first "Digital Unlocked" training held for local small and medium businesses here.

The search engine giant showcased a range of its programmes and products to enable Indian SMBs leverage the power of technology.

Rajan Anandan, Google's Vice President, India and South East Asia, said with 400 million internet users, India is the second largest internet community in the world while the US is a distant third with 300 million.

Over 300 million Indians access internet over smartphones.

He noted that internet eco-system witnessed dramatic change in last 8-10 months with the country moving from slow to high speed connectivity.

Rajan said the incredible growth is bringing huge opportunities to Indian consumers and businesses and the long-term prospects look exciting.

He said that Google's mission in India is that "internet for every Indian". It will be focused on getting next billion users online.

The company has identified barriers and addressing them to ensure internet access to every Indian. It has taken several initiatives, like high-speed WiFi at railway stations.

Kevin O'Kane, Managing Director, Google Marketing Solutions, Google Asia Pacific, said for SMBs, technology can be a powerful enabler to build their voices online, make them discoverable by users and provide insights that lead to real business results.

Digital Unlocked is an online and offline and mobile training programme to empower SMBs with digital skills. The offline training is conducted in partnership with Ficci and over next three years, 5,000 workshops will be held across 40 Indian cities.

The online training comprises a set of 90 self-paced video tutorials, curated specifically for India, and is available free of charge at g.co/digitalunlocked. The trainings are certified by Google, Indian School of Business and Ficci.

Since its launch in January this year, Google has hosted Digital Unlocked workshops in five Indian cities and trained over 4,000 businesses.

Kevin said Google recently launched "Primer", a free mobile app to teach digital marketing skills. It also works offline and is available in English and Hindi. It will soon be available in Tamil, Telugu and Marathi languages. In the last two months, Primer has been downloaded over 550,000 times.

Google also previewed "My Business Website", aimed at equipping SMBs with a simple way to create free mobile-optimised website.

It also announced the launch of "SMB Heroes", a nationwide programme designed to recognise and celebrate SMBs that have embraced digital to grow their businesses.

SMBs can submit their nominations till April 24 on SMB Heroes website for their categories -- business innovation through digital, impacting change through digital and woman business leader.

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NEW DELHI: Mobile advertising company Jana will launch tomorrow an internet browser for Android users that will enable consumers to surf the web by offsetting mobile data costs.



The company plans to invest over $90 million in India and other emerging markets to strengthen its customer base.



"We have raised nearly $92 million which we will be putting into both in India and other emerging markets, but India is our largest market," Jana co-founder and CEO Nathan Eagle told PTI here.



A user of the browser, mCent, would initially get a data refund of up to 10 MB per day and 70 MB per week and will also be provided with unrestricted internet access to online content.



MCent, which will compete with the likes of UC browser and Opera mini, is an ad-sponsored model through which advertisers would incorporate their marketing.



As more advertisers are added to the platform, the data limit will increase, the company said.



Eagle said the company has tied up with all telecom operators in India, including Reliance Jio, for smooth transition of its services.



India is the first country in which we are launching the browser and we are hoping to have at least 10 million users by the end of 2017, Eagle said.



On being asked about the advertisers roped in by the company, he said: "For the browser we are working with the search engine partners as well as advertisement networks like Facebook and Instagram.



"We are also in talks with some e-commerce companies," Eagle said in a conference here. He, however, declined to name the e-commerce players.

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NEW DELHI: Tata Trusts, which has been in the limelight recently owing to the boardroom battle in Tata Sons, have joined as partners to the second edition of the India Innovation Growth Programme to be launched here in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday.

"Tata Trusts has joined the newly revamped India Innovation Growth Programme 2 along with founding stakeholders the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and aerospace major Lockheed Martin, with a focus on innovations addressing socio-economic challenges," Tata Trusts Innovations Head Manoj Kumar told reporters here on Thursday.

The India Innovation Growth Programme 2 is the only public-private partnership of its kind that will invest in social and industrial innovations, train innovators in world-class commercialisation strategies, offer support for incubation and assist in business development, ultimately taking ideas and Indian technologies into the global marketplace.

The DST's Head of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialisation Harkesh Mittal said the new programma is an outcome of the decade long experience that a unique industry academia and government partnership had implemented under the India Innovation Growth Programme 1.

"The government has been investing $1 million per annum into this programme without any consideration of returns," Mittal said.

"On an average, 50 innovators are picked up every year and 500 innovators have been supported, which have a cumulative market capitalisation of $1 billion ( 6,500 crore)," he said.

Informing the media that the programme had received 1,500 applications last year, Mittal said the "vertical depth" of the programme had been increased in the new edition, which is slated to run for three years till 2019, in the form of incubator support and provision for seed funding for startups.

"From this year, the funding has been doubled to $2 million. Now in the new version, we hope to achieve an even better success not only in financial numbers but also improve lives of people at the base of the pyramid," he said.

"Tata Trusts brings to this programme its 125-year legacy of philanthropic activity, a powerful network of NGOs in the social field, and a rich heritage of research in science and technology," Kumar said.

Robie I. Samanta Roy Vice President (Technology, Strategy and Innovation) Lockheed Martin, which started the programme in 2007, said it is a key element of the American aerospace giant's longstanding commitment to India.

"The programme is designed to help innovators and entrepreneurs commercialise their ideas and also scale it up globally," Roy said.

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The research of Gail Robertson, a neuroscience professor at UW-Madison shown in her lab, could be impacted by a proposed ban on the use of aborted fetal tissue in Wisconsin. Robertson's research uses a line of cells derived from a single aborted fetus in the 1970s that are widely used by other researchers around the country.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A second defendant admitted Friday to his role in the break-in at former district attorney candidate Joan Illuzzi's residence two years ago, as well as to a second burglary months later at another home.

Scott Todaro pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to two counts of third-degree burglary stemming from the heists on Dec. 29, 2014, and Oct. 8, 2015.

According to court documents, Todaro, 47, and a co-defendant, Brett Hayward, went to Illuzzi's Grasmere home around 1:20 p.m., four days after Christmas 2014.

Cops were watching as Todaro drove a Cadillac Escalade with a forged Alabama plate, said authorities.

Hayward exited, and over the course of the next hour, Todaro drove past the house more than 10 times, each time honking his horn.

At 2:35 p.m., Todaro sped off after an unmarked police car drove by him. He went to a Rosebank street where he lives, and switched cars to a white Volkswagen Passat. He then returned to Illuzzi's house at about 2:50 p.m.

Police later spotted Todaro driving the Passat to his Rosebank residence with Hayward inside. The two talked, Hayward got in the Escalade and drove off.

Police pulled over the Escalade on Hylan Boulevard for excessive tint, and when Hayward couldn't produce a license, police found a gold Movado watch that belonged to Illuzzi's husband, John Orbon, wedged between the driver's seat and the center console, said court records. An officer also found five glassine packets of heroin beneath the driver's seat.

Police contacted Illuzzi's family, who returned home to find the place ransacked. Jewelry and watches belonging to her daughter and husband were missing, as were a number of silver certificate U.S. bills.

In the meantime, Todaro took a cab to a Huguenot residence where he also stays. He wasn't arrested until April 21, 2015, after a grand jury indicted him, and after he returned from the Bahamas, where he had been vacationing with his girlfriend.

While out on bail on Oct. 8, 2015, Hayward and Todaro along with a third man, repeat felon John Catullo, 48, broke into a Clifton Avenue home in Rosebank across from where Todaro lives, said authorities.

Todaro acted as the wheelman, staying behind in a black Dodge Caravan, while Hayward and Catullo went inside and stole jewelry and cash, according to a criminal complaint.

Todaro and Hayward were already familiar faces to the NYPD's Staten Island Grand Larceny Squad, and a criminal complaint suggests the squad may have been onto them from the start.

A law enforcement source said detectives observed Hayward and Catullo emerge from a van driven by Todaro, enter the home, and walk back out again. The two men ripped the alarm system and motion sensors from the walls, the source said.

When detectives moved in to arrest them, Hayward and Catullo tried, unsuccessfully, to escape on foot, the source said.

Hayward, of Rocky Point, N.Y., pleaded guilty two weeks ago in state Supreme Court, St. George, to two counts of second-degree burglary.

He will be sentenced on April 3 to concurrent terms of seven years in prison and five years' post-release supervision.

Official records list his age as 34 and 29.

Catullo, meanwhile, pleaded guilty Friday to third-degree burglary.

In exchange, the Brooklyn resident will be sentenced on March 24 to 42 months to seven years behind bars.

Catullo has served three prior prison stints dating to 1986 for grand larceny, stolen-property possession and burglary, respectively, according to online records of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Todaro will be sentenced April 27 to concurrent terms of two to four years in prison.

On that date, he must pay $10,000 in restitution stemming from the Oct 8, 2015 heist.

Todaro has a criminal record, specifically, attempted burglary, arising from a 2008 indictment, according to statements made in court. He was sentenced in that case to four months in jail and five years' probation.

John Rapawy is Todaro's lawyer; Milton H. Florez represents Catullo.

Special prosecutor Jennifer Nocella is handling the 2014 case; Assistant District Attorney Jane Grinberg is prosecuting the 2015 case.

Illuzzi, a career prosecutor, ran on the Republican ticket for district attorney in November 2015. She lost to Democrat Michael E. McMahon.

Afterward, she returned to the Manhattan district attorney's office.

In a capstone moment, Illuzzi, last month, secured a murder conviction in the retrial of Pedro Hernandez, a former convenience store clerk, arising from the May 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz.

The boy vanished as he walked to a bus stop near his Manhattan home. His body has never been found.
STATEN ISLAND, N. Y. -- Back in December, the Advance connected readers to the plight of Jannet Silva, a shy 12-year-old brought to the United States from her native Gambia to receive life-saving, pro-bono surgery.

Thursday she faced the public for the first time since undergoing treatment at a press conference with her Staten Island surgeon, Dr. David Hoffman.

Speaking through a translator (her native language is Wolof), Jannet thanked all the "angels" who helped save her life. The pre-teen said she looks forward to returning home and hopes to attend school to learn how to be a doctor.

For the past two years, her distraught mother, Phillomena, watched as her daughter's facial tumor grew to such proportions that she couldn't breathe or eat without extreme difficulty.

The six-pound tumor was benign -- but deadly.

Jannet's medical journey began at a hospital in Sengal. Unable to provide treatment, doctors there reached out to international health groups, including Healing the Children, whose Florida chapter posted Jannet's picture on their website.

That photo was spotted by Dr. Hoffman, director of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at SIUH, who said he would try to assemble a team to treat the child here. After further research, they opted to perform the surgery at Cohen's Children's Medical Center, New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Next: Dr. Hoffman reached out to Elissa Montanti, president of the Global Medical Relief Fund, a Staten Island-based charity that arranged for transportation, housing and travel visas for Jannet and Phillomena.

Then he began to analyze the details of the very complex case.

"Nobody knew that a tumor could reach that size," Dr. Hoffman said. "It's really due to the team effort of all the doctors, surgeons and nurses here at Cohen, who agreed to come together to treat Janet.

"This was a girl who was literally trapped in her own body. Had this tumor been left untreated, Jannet would certainly have starved to death. The size and location of the tumor were affecting her ability to breathe and eat."

After thanking plastic surgeon Dr. Armen Kasabian, of North Shore University Hospital, for his assistance during the surgery, Dr. Hoffman remarked on the transformative effect on Jannet's personality.

"This was a girl who came to us with a scarf covering her neck," he said. "She wouldn't look us in the eye, and she wouldn't remove the scarf. Now, she's running around, playing with other children, eating and smiling. She is coming back to herself."

The 12-hour surgery took place on Jan. 16. Prior to the operation, the team of surgeons decided to have a "virtual surgery," during which the tumor was visualized on a computer and then subtracted or removed from the facial skeleton. This technology allowed for surgical guides to be made that eliminated significant amounts of time and guesswork.

The complex surgery called for the removal of the tumor (which had grown to the size of a small melon from the mandible (jaw) and immediate reconstruction with a vascularized graft from her fibula (lower leg bone). The bone was harvested with some of its attached muscle, along with the artery and veins that supply its blood, and then connected to arteries and veins in the head and neck area.

After the successful surgery, Jannet remained at Cohen for additional monitoring. She then began the rehabilitation phase of her treatment, the daily tasks of breathing correctly.

The post-operative treatment that began at Cohen's concluded with Jannet's out-patient physical therapy at SIUH. Speaking and eating needed to be re-learned.

Now, she is ready to go home.

And the scarf that she refused to remove from her neck?

"I've already thrown it away," said her grateful mother.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The family of the 82-year-old woman killed in a house fire early Monday morning thanked the Fire Department for its rescue efforts.

"We, her family, would like to greatly commend the FDNY's selfless efforts in their attempts to rescue her by requesting in lieu of flowers a donation be made to New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation," said relatives of Carolyn B. Samuel in her obituary on SILive.com.

Samuel, a lifelong Islander, was pronounced dead on the scene of the three-alarm blaze in her home in Great Kills early that morning.

She was recalled by neighbors as an independent and sweet woman.

"She was amazing," Andrea Moskie, who lives across street, said after the fire. "Even though she was a very independent woman, we always tried to help her as much as we could."

The retired U.S. Army civilian lived by herself and had four grandchildren that she was very close to.



Authorities responded to the call on Driggs Street at 4:01 a.m., and got the fire under control at about 7 a.m.

Fire marshals are still working to determine the cause.

The viewing will be at the Casey McCallum-Rice South Shore Funeral Home in Great Kills on Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. The funeral and interment service will be at Ocean View Cemetery in Oakwood at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
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The way of the empty hands The Simi Valley Shotokan Karate Dojo recently hosted a two-day seminar at Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District headquarters featuring a trio of karate experts. The Oct. 22 seminar was...

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It can seem like such a radical thing to bring an offender and victim together and let them talk to each other, admits sociology professor David Karp. But studies show it often fosters true healing, saves money, improves the well-being of both parties, and resets a proper social balance. Those are just some of the reasons hes an active advocate for restorative justice as an alternative to adversarial and punitive adjudication.



Prof. David Karp Prof. David Karp

Through his Skidmore Project on Restorative Justice, he and colleagues have been sharing research and helping to train staff at campuses and schools that want to implement restorative practices. And lately, hes been working with governments as well.

In his work at the now-closed Mt. McGregor prison near Saratoga, Karp had met a former inmate and others launching a web business to find jobs and support for those coming out of jail or prison. When People Work, not unlike match.com, uses algorithms to find good matches between willing employers and formerly incarcerated job-seekers. WPWs software is being adapted to allow for citing prison-education certificates along with traditional diplomas, noting when parole prevents a job hunter from leaving the state, and displaying on phones rather than desktop computers.

Karp serves as the projects academic consultant, sharing research for example, on what social supports most affect job-finding and job-keepingas well as conducting research on outcomes. And after a summer WPW job suggested by Karp, David Immerman 17 has now shaped his senior thesis in economics to develop ways of quantifying key factors for WPW. As Immerman explains, a decent job that keeps a parent from returning to prison produces positive impacts for the family, which in turn will positively impact the economy in general; however, measuring that impact is quite difficult.

Progress being made in such quantification is crucial for pitching the project to potential adopters. Which is what Karp and others from WPW did last winter, when the State of Connecticut expressed interest in reducing its prison bills and getting investors to help fund a recidivism-reduction program in return for a share of the savings. Karp says the idea is growing on Wall Street, where firms are starting to dedicate staff to assessing research on the validity and value of public-private investments in social programs. Immerman was struck by the need for such initiatives as he learned how the public oftentimes views spending on education and health care as socialist or unrealistic but seems very tolerant of high levels of spending on incarceration. Karp says, in meeting with WPW, Connecticuts governor, commissioner of corrections, and other state officials asked good questions and wanted to try new solutions. The state is now considering a one-year trial of WPW.

Another restorative project for Karp is Campus PRISM, or Promoting Restorative Initiatives for Sexual Misconduct. An international network of scholars, lawyers, and Title IX practitioners that Karp coordinates, PRISM has rapidly expanded into some 30 working groups, he says. The groups are focusing on prevention, such as promoting more in-depth and candid discussion to educate students about sexual conduct; response, such as offering campus-justice alternatives like facilitated restorative conversations (as distinct from mediation, which Title IX prohibits); and re-entry, such as developing offender-reintegration models that are acceptable to the victim and the campus community. Karp says, Were not alone: A group in New Zealand is offering RJ for campus sexual assault, and a nonprofit in Ireland is pursuing it. And in many cases the results are far better than traditional hearings or other responses.

Last winter PRISM was invited to Washington, D.C., to meet with the White Houses special task force on campus sexual assault, the U.S. Education Departments Office of Civil Rights staff that oversees Title IX, and the U.S. Department of Justices Office of Violence Against Women. Karp says he again found receptive ears, and the OVW issued a call for proposals to develop a pilot RJ approach for sexual assault and domestic violence from on-campus education to implementation to assessment. Karp hopes that PRISMs proposal, with himself and a University of Arizona public-health professor as co-principals, will win the grant in the fall.



RJ speaker Fania Davis RJ speaker Fania Davis

Meanwhile, his RJ Project is co-sponsoring a guest speaker on Wednesday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium. Fania Davis, co-founder and executive director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, will discuss RJ, race, and the school-to-prison pipeline.

As a child in Birmingham, Ala., Davis lost two friends in the infamous 1963 church bombing. She devoted her life to human rights and equality, practicing civil-rights trial law for more than 25 years and then earning a Ph.D. in indigenous studies to explore alternative healing and peace-making. [interview video]




An Enbridge Energy technician walks between pipelines outside the company's pumping station in the town of Medina in 2015.
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A 41-year-old inmate at the Dane County Jail died last July from an overdose of heroin that he received behind bars from a fellow inmate, according to court documents.

Christopher L. Thorland, of Stoughton, died in his jail cell on July 5 after he received the heroin from Emmanuel O. Stephen, who was found with nearly 60 grams of heroin in his possession as well as cocaine following an inmate strip search later that day, court documents show. The documents did not say how the drugs were brought into the jail.

Thorland was in jail on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated as a seventh offense. His trial was scheduled to begin July 14. He also was scheduled to go to Dodge Correctional Institution after being held in Dane County Jail on a revoked probation, according to the Dane County Sheriffs Office.

Stephen, 27, of Madison, was originally charged July 27 with possession with the intent to deliver more than 50 grams of heroin, possession of cocaine and six counts of bail jumping, court documents show. A charge of first-degree reckless homicide was added on January 11.

Following a plea deal, Stephen was found guilty on Jan. 26 of the heroin possession with intent to deliver charge by Dane County Circuit Judge Josann Reynolds, according to court documents. The first-degree reckless homicide charge was dismissed as part of the plea deal, but Reynolds can consider the charge when deciding how to sentence Stephen on April 17. The felony cocaine possession and misdemeanor bail jumping charges were all dismissed.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne gave his blessing to the plea deal because he said prosecutors can use the reckless homicide charge as part of their argument for Stephen to receive a maximum prison sentence on the felony heroin possession with intent to deliver charge. Both charges carry maximum 40-year prison sentences. Since Stephen also has a previous conviction for drug possession/delivery, an additional six years can be tacked on.

Ozanne also said the Sheriffs Office makes a great effort to ensure the jail is safe and that the discussion about building a new jail or remodeling the existing one could lead to making it safer.

Sometimes things get through and we learn from every experience, Ozanne said. I dont know if there are any new techniques that they can use to help ferret out when contraband is brought in by an inmate, a visitor or someone else. But Im sure they are all looking at better ways to do that.

Thorland was found unresponsive in his bunk at about 5:25 a.m. in the jail in the Public Safety Building and deputies and jail medical staff responded and immediately began lifesaving efforts, according to the Dane County Sheriffs Office. Court documents show that the strip search began about 12:21 p.m.

According to a criminal complaint issued July 27:

Sheriffs deputies found contraband that looked like illegal drugs in baggies hidden in the pouch of Stephens underwear that he had removed during the strip search. Less than an hour later, deputies opened one of the baggies and found three more individually wrapped baggies containing tan powder that tested positive for heroin and weighed 45.9 grams outside of the packaging.

Deputies opened another baggie and found four individually wrapped baggies containing gray powder that tested positive for heroin and weighed 12.3 grams outside of the packaging.

Deputies also found three separately wrapped baggies containing a substance that tested positive for cocaine base in a third large baggie. The cocaine base weighed 2.5 grams.

After the strip search, Stephen told a deputy, I really aint got too much to say besides that I, I got caught with it.
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The ACT government is moving to plug gaps in its incoming reportable conduct scheme, a spokesman ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has confirmed.

But the legislation will not be amended to cover religious institutions before it comes into effect on July 1, he said.

Bravehearts ambassador Damian De Marco. Credit:Melissa Adams

Last month Fairfax Media revealed concerns that the ACT's reportable conduct scheme would not go far enough to keep vulnerable Canberrans safe.

The law is designed to force institutions to report abuse complaints to the ACT Ombudsman, which will be given new powers of oversight and scrutiny of internal investigations, and is based on the NSW model.
The scheme's director, Brian Richards. Credit:Robin Walton Public affairs manager Craig Brock says the change of heart is partly due to concerns the scheme's director would be given too much power, and the changes might not deliver in full the Coalition's promises. But close observers say Accord's pivot is just the latest turn in a decade-long deregulation campaign that has ranged across the courts, government departments and political spheres. That effort, National Toxics Network campaigner Jo Immig believes, has shifted the political priorities from protecting the public and environment to reducing the burden on industry, despite regulators' genuine efforts to find the balance. "This is changing the frame [of debate] and the regulator just has to sit there and defend itself and justify its actions to the industry, who's got the whip hand because they've got the government policy onside," she says.

"[They're] saying anything that smacks of unnecessary regulation, we'll be jumping all over you." The genesis of the changes is found in a 2006 COAG decision to label plastics and chemical laws a "regulatory hotspot" ripe for change: a complex regulatory system through which industry needed a surer path to get products to market. It led to a 2008 Productivity Commission report, urging simplification and a greater focus on "risk-based regulation" to smooth industry's way and target government efforts at the riskiest chemicals. Yet despite the report, little in the way of outcomes for industry eventuated for years  the then Labor government had more pressing political issues to attend. As backbench leadership murmurings took hold; the lobbyists' concerns about a "slippage" in the reform agenda gave way to a sense it was "languishing" with bureaucrats, Accord's executive director Bronwyn Capanna wrote in her annual reports.

By 2011-12, she wrote reform had "either stalled or become stuck in a cycle of review-and-report", "free of the most critical step  effective implementation". As the 2013 election bore down, Accord's attention turned to the Coalition and its deregulation taskforce  change was in the wind. While it worked the political channels, the cosmetic industry also awaited the outcome of a key case Accord brought against the scheme's director, challenging part of the scheme's basic purpose; the ability to impose conditions on chemicals to protect public health and the environment. The case stemmed from the 2007 shifting of cosmetic regulation from the Therapeutic Goods Administration to the scheme. Due to the changes, 11 refined natural products used in cosmetics were facing fresh conditions on their use, after the scheme's scientists found some may pose risks to the environment and others could be potential endocrine disruptors.

In July 2014, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal delivered a mixed result for both parties. It found the new conditions should be removed from four chemicals, but also affirmed new conditions on the other seven, and recommended further analysis of all chemicals. But the case also, to industry's detriment, upheld the scheme's basic purpose, finding that "a cautious approach [by the scheme] is prudent and, in our view, correct". By that time, Accord's political lobbying had intensified, meeting with MPs on both sides of politics with responsibilities that could help the sector. But it would take a meeting with a young Sydney backbencher before any MP would take up industry's cudgel on the floor of parliament. In March 2014, Liberal backbencher Craig Laundy stood in the House of Representatives to tell a story about "the day rolled oats became a dangerous chemical". He spoke of a cosmetics company trying to import a new product which included "rolled oats", which were deemed an "industrial chemical" by the scheme's director and would need to be assessed. The anecdote, Laundy said, highlighted how silly red tape and regulation was.

Engaging as the story was, Laundy's anecdote was not his own: it dated back to 2008 and was oft-used by industry as an example of "over-regulation". Laundy had learned of it during a February 2014 meeting with industry figures and Accord, which Capanna later wrote resulted in his "parliamentary speech on 'regulation gone mad' focussing on [sic] cosmetic over-regulation example' ". Fairfax Media makes no suggestion of impropriety by Laundy or Accord and its representatives. But the use of the anecdote in the speech illustrates the close proximity of relationships between some legislators in Canberra and those seeking their ear. Laundy's spokesman sent a written statement in response to Fairfax Media's questions for this report. A spokesman for Laundy, who is now the Assistant Minister for Industry, says that, as an engaged local member, he consults widely with stakeholders, including constituents, business owners, advocacy groups and industry associations. In another speech in October that year, Laundy reiterated the anecdote, telling the House he was trying to promote a complete change in culture in the bureaucracy.

"Ministers must continue to challenge their departments to streamline existing regulation and introduce future regulation in a way which makes the cost of complying as minimal as possible, so that profit can be as large as possible and so can our share," he said. Two weeks earlier, in a different part of the same building, then prime minister Tony Abbott announced the "accepting trusted international standards" policy  under Malcolm Turnbull, it is rebadged part of the "innovation agenda"  Accord hailed the move. It was, Capanna wrote, "a gem of a policy, a potential circuit-breaker to the policy gridlock of the previous years". But, she warned, the looming challenge would be putting the policy into practice. "There are some who may consider this not a great time in politics for the pursuit of essential reform," she wrote. "Well, not so Accord." But as the details took shape  a greater focus on post-market audits among other efforts to balance the fall in up-front oversight  Accord switched tack.

Brock said the group was greatly concerned cosmetics would continue to be regulated in a similar way to heavier industrial chemicals, despite much lower concentrations in final product formulae. For the scheme's part, director Brian Richards maintains that while the outright hazards of chemicals used cosmetics can be lower, the human exposure is much greater the those used only in industrial settings, the risk of a chemical is a function of 'hazard versus exposure'. In May last year, Accord called for the abolition of the cosmetics standard, which would leave the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as the only oversight agency of newly imported cosmetics. By June, it voiced its desire for the reforms it had pushed for for several years to be outright abandoned in favour of the "status quo". "We believe that cosmetics are [already] quite heavily regulated by the ACCC under the product safety regime that it operates and we think that cosmetic ingredients could be exempted and put through NICNAS without them being looked at in a major way," Brock said. The pivot did not go unnoticed, prompting Richards to order an extensive review of the lobby group's submissions dating back to 2008. He says the review found that what the scheme was delivering was pretty much what Accord were originally asking for.
"One of the reasons items sit there for an extended period of time is complexity around a number of heritage values that could be argued for each particular place and that quite often we've received multiple nominations for the same place," he said.

However 38 of those nominations could be for the same place, Mr Rake said.

In January, Kingston and Barton Residents group president Rebecca Scouller and member Nick Swain have called for heritage protections to be improved at Manuka Pool and other listed, or nominated, sites across Canberra's inner south. Credit:Karleen Minney

While the backlog has dropped about 40 per cent since 2008, 131 heritage nominations are still waiting to be assessed, ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate deputy director-general told a committee hearing on Monday.

"A number of the items that are on the list at the moment, there are 38 that we think are very probably duplicate nominations that cover such close ground they could sensibly be considered together but we need to work through a statutory process.

"Person A, person B will both identify a place with some commonality to the way they expressed the value claim for that place with some areas of difference so we need to work closely through the framework to assess that and make sure we're accurately assessing the interest as put to us."

His admission was in response to questions from Liberal politician Steve Dozpot, who had asked how it was possible nominations could sit in the heritage listing backlog for up to 16 years.

"Sixteen years, the pharoah probably built the pyramids quicker than that," Mr Dozpot quipped.

"In 16 years you think you could work out some of these issues in this time."
A Gungahlin man accused of using a gun to threaten an ex-partner and force her to have sex with him was refused bail on Friday.

Saeed Haddara, 19, also referred to as Zain Haddara in court documents, has been charged with 10 offences allegedly committed over a period of several days, beginning March 6.

On that day, Haddara and an ex-girlfriend were driving together when he stopped the car on a dirt road in Latham and pulled out a gun the woman was unsure was loaded, court documents say.

It's alleged he said, "shoot me or I will shoot you".

When she refused, he said he would shoot her and then himself, before he eventually calmed down and they drove home.
A rural Hillpoint man was arrested at a Richland Center park for allegedly trying to connect with a minor for sex.

The female minor was not at the park, where police set up a sting operation Monday to arrest Drew Sackmann, 21, the Richland County Sheriffs Office said.

Sackmann was arrested without incident and tentatively charged with child enticement, use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime and exposing a child to harmful material.

An investigation showed Sackmann allegedly was attempting to solicit sexual acts from a minor through electronic devices.

Officers learned of his previous attempts to contact a minor and posed as the girl, according to the Sheriffs Office.

Sackmann allegedly made requests for sexual acts and sent inappropriate pictures, while believing he was speaking to the girl.

The investigating officer set up a meeting at Krouskop Park, where Sackmann believed the minor would meet him, the Sheriffs Office said.

When Sackmann arrived at the park, he was arrested, and other evidence of the alleged crimes was found at the scene, according to the Sheriffs Office.
Bill Leak wished Mark Latham had stayed longer in politics. The cartoonist thought Latham had the head for it, literally.

"He was heaven-sent because he didn't have any back to his head," Leak told the broadcaster Mark Colvin in 2012, when asked which politicians were good to draw.

Cartoonist Bill Leak. Credit:Stephen Baccon

"If you looked at his head in profile  it was a bit like a fence post just poking out of a collar or a pole poking out of a collar and then just with this great big bulbous nose on the front. But no shape at the back."

Leak, who died on Friday of a heart attack aged 61, cared about the shape of things.
Storm events and global warming have prompted significant changes in industrial warehouse designs, particularly in the wake of recent hail events in Sydney that caused multimillion-dollar damage.

Diversified property group Dexus said it has upgraded its national building specifications in the face of increasing threats from adverse weather events and demand from insurers.

Kathmandu's warehouse distribution centre in Melbourne's industrial suburb Laverton North.

Australia's mean surface temperature has risen by about 1 degree since 1910, according to the fourth State of the Climate report released last year.

Rainfall patterns were shifting away from the nation's south, and there was a marked increase in heatwaves and extreme fire weather days.
Embattled pizza giant Domino's has kicked a Queensland store owner out of its network after a Fairfax investigation caught him offering to sell a visa sponsorship for up to $150,000.

Bohai Shangguan, known also as "Eric", was secretly recorded trying to sell a visa sponsorship as part of a Fairfax Media investigation into underpayment and visa fraud in the Domino's Pizza network.

Domino's said it conducted an immediate investigation and terminated the franchisee within five days.

"He no longer operates any Domino's store," a spokesman said.
Pauline Hanson praised Vladimir Putin this week, presenting him as someone who is to be admired, a strong man, a man of vision, someone who was prepared to fight for his country. Pauline Hanson has long masqueraded as the ordinary Australian. She claims her identity and Australian identity are the same. Now we learn that Vladimir Putin is also part of her One Nation, notwithstanding that 38 Australians died when a plane was shot down over the Ukraine by Russian separatists with a missile supplied by the Putin government and that Vladimir Putin and his political modus operandi have no place whatsoever in the Australian tradition. Pauline Hanson on the Hustings in Kalgoorlie. Credit:Dean Sewell Hanson claims she saw a poll where Putin has the support of 93 per cent of the Russian population. How ardent she is. Not even Putin claims 93 per cent of the people support him. He says it's 82 per cent and that much appears true. But in 1999, when he became prime minister of Russia, it was only 31 per cent. Shortly thereafter, there were a series of mysterious explosions around Moscow which Putin blamed on the Chechens which led to the second Chechen war at the end of which there were more than 100,000 people dead and Putin had an approval rating of 80 per cent.

The key statistic here is that Putin's government enjoys about half as much support as Putin himself does in the polls. Putin's shtick domestically is that his strong-man style provides clear, effective government unlike the circus of western democracy. And, in Donald Trump, he has the greatest circus act in American history. Russia, the country which has the most obvious and immediate benefit of Putin's "vision", is in prolonged recession and has twice our unemployment rate. By western standards, Putin has failed to deliver to his people but he has twice revived his standing in the polls by going to war  in August 2008 against Georgia (his favourability rating rose to 88 per cent during hostilities) and in 2014 annexing the Crimea and expanding into the Ukraine. George Christensen, another who claims to hold the interests of the ordinary Australian closer to his heart than the rest of us do, tweeted last month that Russia has been "unfairly demonised. No threat to us or the West". Well, they're feeling threatened in Poland, the only place in Europe where the far right didn't welcome Trump's election and his denigration of NATO. They fear Putin will invade them. Like they do in Latvia and Lithuania. And Finland. And Germany's talking about increasing military spending in a big way. What West are you talking about, George? The Wild West? The one in your imagination? Pauline Hanson, in the course of praising Putin, said Australians are looking for a leader of vision. I'll give you a vision of Australia, Pauline, the one we've pretty much got  as a place where the Rule of Law basically holds, where corruption isn't of a scale that results in the country being labelled a mafia state, where the media isn't one giant mechanism for echoing the government, where journalists who do speak out don't regularly get murdered, where political opponents of the government don't die mysterious early deaths. I'll go further than that, Pauline, and say there are Australians who have fought and died with some regard for that vision in conflicts over the past century. You're prepared to sell them, and us, out.
Over the past week, not one but two card-carrying feminist heroines  radio veteran Jenni Murray and actress Emma Watson  have had their credentials called in; the former for arguing that trans women are not "real women", the latter for exposing her breasts. The jury is still out on whether Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  author of the essay We Should All be Feminists  qualifies as a "bad feminist" for modelling for Boots No7 and lending her slogan to Dior.

Well, welcome to the club, sisters. As a child of the 70s, feminism is my life's most beloved and fundamental cause. Yet, over my 45 years, I have been informed that I'm a "bad feminist" for such innocuous activities as enjoying clothes and make-up, sporting heels and cleavage, "looking like a doll", not having children, and having "too many" male friends. This despite the fact that, 20 years ago, I used to teach feminist theory to Oxford undergraduates.

Watson says critics who claimed her Vanity Fair shoot betrayed her feminist ideals have a "complete misunderstanding of what feminism is''. Credit:AP

A London feminist academic, who asks to remain anonymous, chokes when I tell her I will be addressing this subject. "Christ, I would not want to be writing that. You'll be crucified. Today, you're almost a bad feminist by being a straight, cisgender [biologically born] woman." Few may talk this way outside academia, yet one finds "being heterosexual, married, and a mother puts you on the wrong side of so many debates because you're viewed as being hopelessly heteronormative. I'm so bored by all the internal conflict that I'd probably agree with former feminists who say they now hardly identify as feminist at all. Legions of other feminists would claim I wasn't one, and that's with my PhD in gender."

How has it come to pass, this ostracism from the movement that felt like our most cherished birthright, this self-censorship in which one chooses silence over engaging with so many lacerating Twitter trolls? On Sunday, I was informed by a man on social media that Murray was a bad feminist and should resign. I disagree, but such micro-aggressions exhaust me into muteness in a way that mere chauvinism never achieved.
In his first post-retirement role, former High Court chief justice Robert French is tackling one of the legal system's most intractable problems: the barriers to justice encountered by disadvantaged groups.

The peak body for the legal profession, the Law Council of Australia, announced on Friday Mr French would oversee "the Justice Project", a national review aimed at smoothing the path to justice for those facing significant economic and social disadvantage.

Former High Court chief justice Robert French will oversee the Justice Project. Credit:Andrew Meares

Mr French, who retired from the High Court bench in January after a judicial career spanning 30 years including eight years as chief justice, told Fairfax Media the project was not an attempt to "reinvent the wheel" and the Law Council would draw on existing research as well as consulting with the community.

As a Federal Court judge for more than two decades, Mr French saw first-hand the difficulties faced by parties who could not afford legal representation.
A shocked Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has led a series of tributes from federal government ministers after the death of controversial cartoonist Bill Leak on Friday.

Praising his friend of more than 30 years as a "superb satirist", fine painter and entertaining contrarian, Mr Turnbull expressed his dismay over the News Corp cartoonist's premature death at 61.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is refusing to rule out allowing first-time home buyers to dip into their superannuation to help pay for a deposit.

"I can't believe that Bill Leak is dead," he posted on Facebook. "Who had more life, more energy than him? So many more cartoons to draw, paintings to paint, politicians to satirise - so many more lives to enhance with his wit, his brilliance, his good friendship."

Mr Turnbull said he and wife Lucy met Leak while he was drawing courtroom illustrations of the famous Spycatcher trial. Mr Turnbull was the barrister who defeated a British government suppression order on the publication of a memoir by former MI5 spy Peter Wright.
It was a fairytale romance - the Australian actress, Grey's Anatomy and The Good Wife star Melissa George, and her dashing French lover. But it has ended in "hell", with convictions for assault, a bitter custody battle, and an alleged kidnap plot to spirit the couple's two small children out of France on a borrowed private jet.

And George claims that her career is on the rocks because her former partner refuses to let her leave the country with the children to film abroad.

Jean-David Blanc and Melissa George prior to their split. Credit:Getty Images

The 40-year-old actress met entrepreneur Jean-David Blanc at a Bafta awards party in London in 2012 and the pair quickly became a couple, producing two sons, Raphael, 3, and Solal, 1.

But the relationship came to an abrupt end on September 7 last year when George turned up at a Paris police station with injuries to her face and pressed assault charges against her partner.
Four candidates, including two incumbents, are vying for three seats as Oregon trustee in the April 4 election. Each term lasts for two years.

Jeanne Carpenter (I)

Age: 45

Address: 515 Oakwood Drive

Family: Married to Uriah Carpenter; daughter, Avery

Job: Certified cheese professional and executive director, Wisconsin Cheese Originals

Political experience: Elected to Oregon Village Board, April 2013

Other public service: Member, Oregon Village Planning Commission; youth exchange counselor, Oregon Rotary Club; member, Academic and Regulatory Committee, American Cheese Society; board member, Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute

Education: Bachelors degree in English/Journalism from UW-Platteville, 1994

Darlene Groenier (I)

Age: 76

Address: 875 Clover Lane

Family: Husband, Jim; four grown sons, five grandsons and one granddaughter

Job: Retired after 22 years at Master Graphics, nine years at Oregon Ben Franklin, nine years with the University of Wisconsin System and many years as stay-at-home mom

Political experience: Ten years as a trustee for the village of Oregon. Also serving on the Library Board, Council of Aging/Senior Center, EMS/Fire Commission and the Board of Review.

Other public service: Oregon Lioness Club; president, vice president, treasurer, and chairwoman for 12 years for the Holiday Tour of Homes; past president and vice president of Oregon Chamber of Commerce; chairwoman and co-chairwoman of Oregon Summer Fest; and Holiday Lights for the Village of Oregon for many years.

Education: High School graduate, Mount Horeb

Jenna Jacobson

Age: 35

Address: 124 Ash St.

Job: Stay-at-home mom

Political experience: None

Other public service: Extensive volunteering through my church

Education: Bachelors degree, Purdue University

Michael Stapelmann

Age: 34

Address: 145 Cedar Drive

Family: Wife, Jennifer Grulke

Job: Technical services at Epic

Political experience: None

Other public service: Volunteer, Oregon/Brooklyn food pantry

Education: Bachelors degree in English from UW-Madison

Q&A

List three of your top priorities.

Carpenter: My role is to listen, learn and lead. As a board, we have set an ambitious five-year capital improvement plan for our community. My top priorities are to finish the extension of North Perry Parkway to create a primary artery to our high school, and to finish our downtown civic campus plan, resulting in a new library by 2020.

Groenier: Promote more businesses and jobs for a better tax base with a hotel, more industry in the Industrial Park, expand Jaycee West Park, expand the street of North Perry Parkway and other street improvements. Promote infrastructure of roads, water, sewage, sidewalks and like. Maintain support for a new senior center, new library, and a new youth center with the civic campus planning.

Jacobson: Smart, sustainable growth for Oregon that honors our small-town feel. Keep Oregon a welcoming place for all of its residents. Finalize a functional, walkable downtown campus plan that serves the wide-ranging needs of our village.

Stapelmann: Oregon must be an inclusive community for all residents. My wife and I moved here three years ago and everybody has made us feel right at home. We need to make sure other newcomers feel the same. A vibrant downtown is vital for the growth of the community. Community services offered must increase and stay reliable as the village grows.

If you could reverse one village action, what would that be?

Carpenter: We are exceptionally fortunate to have community civic leaders who step up and volunteer their time on committees and boards, especially when it comes to parks and recreation. As a growing community, we need to change the way we manage the use of our village parks and budget funds to add a part-time parks and recreation director.

Groenier: I really cannot recognize any one village action that I would reverse.

Jacobson: I feel our current board is very responsive to the needs and concerns of its residents and so I cannot think of a recent decision that I would like to reverse.

Stapelmann: It is time for an updated library and senior center. It is disappointing that weve had to wait this long for improvements to these important buildings within our community. They are not only central meeting places, but also provide opportunities for learning and social interaction that may not otherwise be available to all residents.

How would you change the way the village handles development?

Carpenter: We are cautiously and deliberately planning for an expanded business park and more housing developments in the village. I would like to increase our downtown TIF district and allow for more redevelopment along Market Street. We will also continue to work with our Chamber of Commerce director to recruit and plan for a new hotel.

Groenier: Make it user friendly and streamline the process. Expedite the growth and finance for new business, using TIF and other means.

Jacobson: The village is open to development, especially when we look at the current work being put into our downtown plan. This is important for our village to keep up with the pace of growth around us, but we are also mindful of the small-town feel that is loved by many Oregon residents.
According to Oxfam, the Trudeau administration has "taken no tangible steps to close the gender wage gap or to ensure living wages for the working poor, the majority of whom are women." Sophie Gregoire Trudeau has been roasted on social media for celebrating men like her husband on International Women's Day. Credit:Facebook Canadian First Nations women have been especially vocal about how shallow Trudeau's feminism can be. Organisations like the Native Women's Association of Canada and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples have been routinely shut out of Trudeau-led summits on climate change and Indigenous reconciliation. His government has also approved a number of controversial dams, gas and oil sands pipelines that will seriously impact Canada's carbon emissions and the land rights of many First Nations. One of Trudeau's central promises before being elected in 2015 was that his government would establish a national inquiry into the fates of Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women. That inquiry was announced in August, but First Nations groups like the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, as well as international human rights groups like Amnesty International, have criticised the inquiry as being largely toothless and unlikely to challenge "the programs, practices and policies of governments which have contributed to, maintained, or exacerbated the violence". It's hardly a ringing endorsement for a Prime Minister who devotes so much energy to cultivating his feminist cred. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has inspired thirst on the internet with photos of himself in his youth. Credit:Getty Images

Canada's foreign policy also leaves plenty to be desired. One of Trudeau's first actions as Prime Minister was to reaffirm the sale of CAD $15 billion worth of Canadian arms to Saudi Arabia, a country with an appalling record on women's rights. Helping the Saudi regime commit war crimes in Yemen doesn't rank very high on the feminist to-do list, last I checked. More superficially, Trudeau's nice-guy image lets him get away with failings other politicians get pilloried for. Unlike fellow world leaders like Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Francoise Hollande  and contrary to widely held misconceptions  Trudeau has studiously avoided criticising US President Donald Trump's history of sexual assault. After meeting with his American counterpart in February, in fact, Trudeau pulled a Malcolm Turnbull and said it was not his place to "lecture another country on how they choose they govern themselves". But where Turnbull was roundly mocked for going easy on Trump, the politics-meme complex let Trudeau off scot-free. Trudeau's unapologetic pro-refugee stance sets a moral standard few of his counterparts can equal. That's not all. In May last year, Trudeau elbowed a female MP in the chest during a confrontation on the floor of Canada's House of Commons, telling her and others to "get the f--- out of the way". It's difficult to imagine a conservative politician (or a less charismatic one) doing something remotely similar and coming out with their reputation intact, let alone the subject of fawning praise about their commitment to feminism. Making Justin Trudeau the poster-boy for modern political feminism is easy, and understandable. In a time where the President of the United States is a self-admitted sexual predator, it's tempting to lift up any display of decency from a world leader, let alone one who openly identifies as a feminist.

And Trudeau isn't all talk and no action. He deserves credit for the work he does and the policies he enacts that advance the rights of women in Canada and abroad. Trudeau also marked IWD this week by pledging CAD $650 million toward international programs that provide sex education, contraceptive services and family violence support in developing countries. That's a laudable step, and one which deserves far more attention than a misguided social media post. And his high-profile efforts to welcome refugees to Canada place him almost alone among world leaders increasingly tempted to tap into anti-immigrant sentiments in North America, Europe and Australia. With even figures like Merkel caving to sectarian fervour and supporting discriminatory measures like burqa bans, Trudeau's unapologetic pro-refugee stance sets a moral standard few of his counterparts can equal. But expressing warm and fuzzy sentiments about female empowerment shouldn't gift a politician as much uncritical adulation as Trudeau gets, especially when his brand of feminism only serves the cause of gender equality when it happens to align with his political agenda, and often steamrolls vulnerable women when it doesn't. Loading Assuming a charismatic, self-identified progressive leader is going to magically step in and make everything alright does a disservice to feminism. It's a way of absolving ourselves of the collective responsibility we have to advance and defend the rights our forebears fought for.
Most Australians would be aware that there is a problem with gender and money. Or, more specifically, inequalities between men and women when it comes to both spending and earning.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), based on ABS data, reported last week that women working full time earn 16 per cent less than men working full time.

Governments try to do something about this with laws and agencies, and many employers address it too. At my organisation, Yellow Brick Road, I've made sure we have programs so that women have equal opportunities and remuneration. Most financial services companies are doing their bit.
Health authorities have investigated 40 doctors, nurses and other professionals over the baby deaths scandal at Bacchus Marsh Hospital.

Eighteen months into the investigation, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority has revealed that immediate action has been taken against five practitioners who have had restrictions placed on their ability to treat patients while the investigation continues.

The investigation team examined thousands of pages of clinical records and interviewed dozens of staff members.

Another six practitioners had conditions placed on their ability to treat patients, six were cautioned and others had no further action taken, including 11 practitioners who are no longer registered.

Five staff had quit their medical professions while they were under investigation, it was revealed.
A former Canberra public servant had nearly 1300 physiotherapy sessions at a cost to taxpayers of more than $70,000 before the workers' compensation agency called a halt.

The former National Library worker, who had been getting the treatment since the 1990s, has lost a legal bid to force the federal government to continue paying for her regular physio sessions.

A former public servant has lost her taxpayer-funded physiotherapy  after nearly 1300 sessions.

The case is part of a broader crackdown by federal workplace insurer Comcare on expensive treatments for public servants injured on the jobs that can sometimes can go on for decades without getting the injured worker back to their desks.

Louise Oliver developed a pain disorder in her arms while working as an assistant library officer in the Canberra institution in the late 1980s.
Police have retrieved a body in Sydney's eastern suburbs after it was found floating in Sydney Harbour.

Emergency services were called to New Beach Road in Darling Point about 1.20pm on Friday.

A police spokesman said the call followed "reports of a deceased person in the water".

The body was found near the end of a cul-de-sac, next to a public park and a busy walking path that overlooks the harbour.
Carl Synnerdahl was a professional criminal. He was a very active criminal. He was a "heavy''. His lengthy criminal record chronicled many occasions when his planning of crimes had failed. A stretch in prison, therefore, was just looked upon as being an occupational hazard.

Over the years miscarriages of justice have inspired movies, books and media attention. But Synnerdahl was not an innocent person betrayed by the criminal justice system. And little did I think my client would inspire a book and movie about how he hoodwinked the police, the courts, the prison authorities and me. When I was briefed to appear for him, he faced a long sentence for armed robbery. With his record, even allowing the discount for a guilty plea, he was facing a sentence of the order of 10 to 14 years. He was looking at serving more than half of this term before he would even be eligible for parole. In any case, with his record, he was far from a strong candidate for parole being granted.

Mug shot of fake blind man and career criminal Carl Synnerdahl.

Unknown to me, however, Synnerdahl had hit upon an audacious scheme to have his sentence drastically reduced: he feigned blindness.

Police and prison authorities were highly sceptical of this claim and set out to debunk it. Officers would sneak up behind Synnerdahl in the court cells and ignite a cigarette lighter millimetres from his eyes. He never flinched. Others would create an obstacle course for him to manoeuvre. Failure to do so would result in falling face first. What happened? Synnerdahl fell face first. Exhaustive tests were carried out by a battery of ophthalmologists. Intense pinpricks of light were shone in his eyes and, under magnification, the doctors looked for any reaction in the pupil or iris. There was none, whatever the intensity of the light.
A spokeswoman from the Premier's office said the bill would be considered by Cabinet and the party room in line with usual procedure. The government may then elect to bring the matter to a vote.

Mr Nile was hopeful the new membership of the upper house since the 2015 election would give him the support to get the bill through in a vote.

Zoe's law passed the lower house in a conscience vote in 2014, but Mr Nile withdrew it ahead of a vote in the upper house, where it faced defeat.

It is known as "Zoe's law" after NSW woman Brodie Donegan lost her unborn daughter Zoe after she was hit by a drugged driver on Christmas Day 2009, when she was 32 weeks pregnant.

At the time, the law was criticised by the NSW Bar Association and the Australian Medical Association for potentially conflicting with abortion laws by giving legal personhood to a fetus.
A young man who supplied the capsules of MDMA that his girlfriend took before she died has been sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond and fined $800.

Jordan Duffy, 20, and Janie Panton Roberts, 21, were at a party at Petersham Inn on June 4 when he supplied her with three MDMA capsules.

The court heard that Duffy bought pills from a work colleague at the club and gave three to Ms Panton Roberts, a former Mackellar Girls School student, and took some himself.

The next morning, the pair were at a house in Marrickville, when she fell ill. She had died by the time paramedics arrived.
Western Sydney University pro-vice-chancellor Lisa Jackson Pulver AM is just a typical Aboriginal Jew who escaped a horrifically violent home life to achieve a PhD in medicine and go on to become a Group Captain in the Royal Australian Air Force and the first female president of an Orthodox synagogue in Australia.

Jackson Pulver has suggested we have lunch at Bloodwood in Newtown, a casual restaurant near her Erskineville home. Bloodwood strives for that recently-looted-warehouse look, with bare brick walls and lightbulbs dangling from wires. Much of the food on the menu is cooked with minimum intervention, and Jackson Pulver, who looks startlingly fit and healthy, says that's how she likes it.

Pro-vice-chancellor Lisa Jackson joined the RAAF about 13 years ago as a public health epidemiologist in the Specialist Reserve. Credit:Jessica Hromas

Jackson Pulver was born in Stanmore in 1959, but grew up on a quarter-acre block in Revesby. Her father served as an airman in the Second World War and returned home "severely damaged", she says. "My father was crippled by mental health issues, he was crippled by violence, and he was addicted to gambling and alcohol. He used to bash us. I got into trouble at school once, and the headmistress said, 'I'm going to contact your father!' I said, 'No! No! Not him. Please, not him!' The rotten thing, she did. Then when my father came into the room, I thought, 'I'm going to die.' She stepped out of the room, and my father bashed the snot out of me. I ended up hospitalised.

"Dad had a gun at one point, and he loaded it up one day and he shot it at me. I was running, and he was absolutely intoxicated and I think the shots just went all over the place and peppered the trees."
A bikie associate and gangland execution suspect narrowly avoided a hit on his life only to be brutally murdered in his bed at his Sydney apartment weeks later.

Hells Angel figure Kemel "Blackie" Barakat had recently moved to a secure apartment complex in the inner-west waterfront suburb of Mortlake from the western suburbs.

Only close friends, family and police supposedly knew of his address, which overlooked Yaralla Bay on the Parramatta River.

However it appears the 29-year-old's enemies had also pinpointed his new location.
Heres how members of Wisconsins congressional delegation voted on major issues this week.

Note: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, did not vote. By custom, the speaker does not vote except in rare circumstances.

$578 Billion for U.S. Military: The House on Wednesday passed, 371-48, a $577.9 billion military appropriations bill for fiscal 2017 that includes $61.8 billion in funding for combat overseas. A yes vote was to send the Senate a bill (HR 1301) that would fund a 2.1 percent pay raise for uniformed personnel.

Voting yes: Ron Kind, D-3, James Sensenbrenner, R-5, Glenn Grothman, R-6, Sean Duffy, R-7, Mike Gallagher, R-8

Voting no: Mark Pocan, D-2, Gwen Moore, D-4

Cost of GOP Health Bill: The House on Wednesday blocked, 232-189, a Democratic bid to delay committee votes on the GOPs new healthcare bill until after the Congressional Budget Office issues its official, non-partisan cost projections. A yes vote opposed the bid to delay voting for several days. (H Res 174)

Voting yes: Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy, Gallagher

Voting no: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Lawsuits Involving Emoluments Clause: Voting 186-232, the House on Friday defeated a motion by Democrats that sought to exempt from HR 720 (below) any lawsuits alleging violations by President Trump of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits U.S. presidents from accepting payments from foreign governments. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.

Voting yes: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Voting no: Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy, Gallagher

Penalties for Lawsuits Deemed Frivolous: Voting 230-188, the House on Friday passed a Republican-drafted bill requiring federal courts to impose financial penalties on plaintiffs who file lawsuits deemed by the presiding judge to be frivolous. A yes vote was to send HR 720 to the Senate.

Voting yes: Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy, Gallagher

Voting no: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Jurisdiction Over Civil Lawsuits: By a vote of 224-194, the House on Thursday passed a bill that would shift many civil lawsuits from state courts, where plaintiffs are thought to fare better, to federal courts, which are seen as more friendly to defendants. A yes vote was to send HR 725 to the Senate.

Voting yes: Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy, Gallagher

Voting no: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Ethics in Government Lawsuits: The House on Thursday defeated, 187-233, a Democratic motion to exempt from HR 725 (above) any civil lawsuits concerning ethical conduct and standards in all levels of government. A yes vote was to adopt a motion that its sponsor said was aimed, in part, at President Trump.

Voting yes: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Voting no: Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy, Gallagher

Class Action Lawsuits: The House on Thursday voted, 220-201, to tighten rules for federal class-action lawsuits in order to bar unqualified claimants from collecting payments. A yes vote was to pass a GOP bill (HR 985) that also would delay class-action payments to some with asbestos-caused lung cancer.

Voting yes: Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy, Gallagher

Voting no: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Drinking-Water Exemption: The House on Thursday defeated, 188-234, a motion by Democrats that sought to exempt from HR 985 (above) any class-action lawsuits filed to protect public drinking-water supplies from the sort of contamination that occurred in Flint, Mich. A yes vote was to adopt the motion.

Voting yes: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Voting no: Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy, Gallagher

Work Rules for Contractors: The Senate on Monday killed, 49-48, a rule aimed at keeping federal contractors in compliance with 14 workplace laws dealing with safety, health, wages, civil rights and other factors. A yes vote was to kill the rule on grounds it denies due process to employers. (HJ Res 37)

Voting yes: Ron Johnson, R

Voting no: Tammy Baldwin, D

Public Land Management: Voting 51-48, the Senate on Tuesday nullified a new rule updating the way the Bureau of Land Management obtains science-based information and public comments in its management of 245 million publicly owned acres in the West. A yes vote was to adopt HJ Res 44.

Voting yes: Johnson

Voting no: Baldwin

Teacher Training Standards: Voting 59-40, the Senate on Wednesday nullified a rule designed to upgrade federally set standards for the collegiate training of future teachers in K-12 classrooms. A yes vote was to nullify the regulation on grounds that it would infringe on state and local education prerogatives. (HJ Res 58)

Voting yes: Johnson

Voting no: Baldwin

In the week of March 13, the Senate will vote on nominees to serve in the Trump administration. The House schedule was to be announced.

 Thomas Voting Reports
A Gold Coast surfer has been left "stinging" after a close encounter with a leaping dolphin.

Sam Yoon was surfing at Duranbah earlier in the week when a leaping dolphin landed on top of him.

Footage of the incident has gone viral.

"It appeared right in my face ... I just couldn't believe what happened," Mr Yoon told Nine's Today show on Friday.
Good Morning

My belly is sore this morning - in a good way - thanks to Dave Hughes. You know those comedy shows where you just don't stop laughing? That was us last night watching Hughesy at the Brisbane Comedy Festival . Among his targets was the Clem 7 tunnel: "Is it called that because there are only ever seven cars in there?" Funny you should ask that, Hughesy . The gap between Brisbane's tunnel traffic projections and the reality is widening, Cameron Atfield investigates why.

Before you read on, have you parked the car in one of those low-lying streets that always floods when there's a king tide? Because there will be king tides from today until Monday.



1. Hanson's WA vote will affect Queensland

It might be happening several thousand kilometres away, but Pauline Hanson has ensured Queenslanders are taking more than a passing interest in tomorrow's WA election. Writing for The Conversation, Michelle Grattan says if One Nation polls well in the west, it would reinforce pressure for preference deals at the next Queensland election. Here are five factors which will determine the result in WA. In federal politics, ABC News reports the Prime Minister is planning a Cabinet reshuffle.



2. Driscoll to be sentenced today with $500k+ still missing

More than half a million dollars linked to the fraudulent activities of Scott Driscoll remains unaccounted for. The former LNP Member for Redcliffe is due to be sentenced today after admitting to a string of fraud charges. He faces six years behind bars.



3. Another death for Child Safety to explain

The spotlight is back on Queensland's Child Safety Department this morning, with The Courier-Mail reporting that a baby boy has died just months after the department was alerted to concerns about his family. The Opposition is blaming a child safety "backlog" and wants Minister Shannon Fentiman sacked.



4. Did Australia Post really force staff to work around a dead body?

Australia Post staff claim they were forced to keep working while the body of a dead contractor lay on the ground at the Nambour depot yesterday. They say the body was cordoned off with witch's hats but remained at the site for hours. Australia Post says "none of our employees were forced to work this morning as this very sad situation unfolded".



5. Even non-sporty types can get into this game

Aside from State of Origin and the grand final, NRL games don't get much more hyped than this one - the Broncos vs the Cowboys tonight at Suncorp. It's like two sons playing against each other. You love them both and as long as it's a good fight, you don't really mind who wins. 4BC's Ben Davis has sucked me in with his coverage this week, including this great interview with Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston . On a sad note for the sport, Rugby League Week has announced it will cease publication - online and in print - after round five. Former Queensland editor Tony Durkin explains why.

Also catching my eye...
Ms Igwabi on set during the making of Adele. Adele is Ms Igwabi's graduation film from the Brisbane SAE College at West End, where for two years she studied film-making. Ms Igwabi said she made the film to tell the truth about arranged marriages, which are still happening to young refugee girls living in Australia. Actor Princess Mariama Andres plays Adele in Ms Igwabi's film. She said her parents never pressured her to get married, but she felt the weight of her culture.

"I never thought I would get to 24 without being married," she said. "My mum got married at 16 and that was normal. "And all my cousins are married. I'm the only one who isn't married. "And for my culture, for a 24-year-old, that is terrible. "Child marriage is massive in Africa. A lot of kids get married at such a young age and I wanted to show people that this still exists.

"Especially when I did research in Australia and found out that there is 62 cases in Australia where there are African kids taken back to get married and come back. "So I wanted to shine a lot on these girls who just don't have voice." A year 10 schoolmate of Ms Igwabi's at Yeronga State High was one. She returned to Afghanistan and came back to Australia married. "She didn't want to tell anyone, but she was forced to get married." 'We should be telling our stories'

Mirene Igwabi's experiences in Australia have given her a clear idea of what she wants to do. "I want to make films in Africa," Ms Igwabi said. "Hollywood shouldn't be telling our stories. We should be telling our stories." Ms Igwabi grew up in Goma, a city on the border of Uganda and Rwanda.

"In 1995 the war began and my brother and my mother and I had to run," she said. "So we moved from the Congo to my mother's village where she was born, in Bukavu." As the civil war between the Tutsi and Hutu people continued, the family fled to Uganda, a comparatively safe country in 1998, where they lived as refugees. "We stayed there for almost 10 years and we followed the whole refugee status and eventually in December 2006 we received advice that we had been accepted in Australia," Ms Igwabi said. She arrived in Brisbane as a 15-year-old in 2007.

Like thousands of refugee children, she went to Milpera School for several months to learn English and, interestingly, how to swim. "It was amazing actually because we had so many people from different backgrounds there; from Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan. "And it was so good to be surrounded by people from so many different countries actually; it felt like home actually, like Africa actually." She began studying film-making after leaving school, making comedy YouTube video clips, later acting as an Afrobeat dance host and getting a taste for film direction in Perth, where everything was filmed on an iPhone. She returned to Brisbane, to enrol in the SAE College at West End in 2013. The college now has a permanent film-making link with Yeronga State High School to help refugee students.
In a windowless underground room, six Mormons are cheerfully working day in, day out to digitise the records of dead Victorians. So they can be baptised.

One by one, many of the dead  Mormon or not  are being offered salvation by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' controversial Baptisms for the Dead process.

Mormon volunteers at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne. From left, Roger and Kathleen Bingham, Deborah and Steve Thompson and Bill and Nanette Justus. Credit:Eddie Jim

The work in the basement of the Victorian Archives Centre is painstaking, menially mind-numbing. The Mormons love it.

They recently finished digitising court records; "those were just fun to read  even though we're not supposed to take time to read them", Nanette Justus beams.
The Andrews Government has categorically ruled out doing any preference deals with One Nation at next year's state election, despite internal research showing "significant pockets" of Pauline Hanson supporters in Labor's traditional heartland.

An analysis of votes at the federal election has found considerable backing for One Nation in two western suburban strongholds in particular: Treasurer Tim Pallas' seat of Werribee and the Melton electorate held by disgraced former deputy speaker Don Nardella.

There's been huge growth and construction in the outer western suburbs, such as Tarneit. Credit:Craig Abraham

But with almost two years before the Victorian poll, Mr Pallas has declared that under no circumstance will Labor do any deals with the minor party, adding that if the Liberal Party enters an agreement, "it speaks volumes for their principles".

"I'll be very clear about this: we don't want, and we won't take One Nation preferences," Mr Pallas told Fairfax Media.
Up to 115 academics are set to lose their job as Victoria University pins its dwindling fortunes on a new college for first year students.

A leaked document, obtained by Fairfax Media, reveals that the financial viability of the western suburbs university is "at risk".

Victoria University academics Dr Paul Adams and Dr Tom Clark are upset about a plan that will lead to up to 115 job losses at Victoria University. Credit:Luis Ascui

The university has been in the red for four of the past five years and is predicting another deficit this year.

The document, which was approved by vice-chancellor Peter Dawkins and circulated to staff on Friday, said the university had above average staffing costs and was more reliant on student revenue than other Australian universities.
Irate protesters descended on Mt Hawthorn's Paddington Ale House on Thursday night to disrupt a campaign event for One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson.

The Paddington was hosting Pots and Pizzas with Pauline and the group responsible for the protest, United against Bigotry and Racism, arrived shortly after Ms Hanson about 6.20pm.

About 40 people carried banners and signs bearing crossed-out Nazi symbols and 'Fascist Free Zone' slogans.

Members of the far-right True Blue Crew, "against Islamisation, open border policies, refugees, asylum seekers" were among One Nation Supporters inside the Paddington.
Pauline Hanson has spoken to 6PR Perth Live following the departure of One Nation candidate Margaret Dodd.

Margaret Dodd sensationally quit the party on Friday afternoon, just 24 hours before polls open.

When asked how she felt about Ms Dodd's announcement, Senator Hanson said she was "very happy".

"What a load of rubbish - she's never met me. She came on board with One Nation - why did she even come on board with One Nation. She should have stood as an independent," she said.

"It's about team playing and she's not a team player."

Senator Hanson also predicted Saturday's outcome would be positive for her candidates - saying she expected to take home as many as six seats in the Upper House.

"I think Labor is going to get a hell of a shock too. We're pulling a lot of Labor voters away."
Dublin: Watershed elections in Northern Ireland have shown Irish nationalists that their goal of uniting with the Republic of Ireland can be achieved, according to nationalist leader Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein.

While the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) narrowly remained the largest party after last week's snap elections to the provincial assembly, Sinn Fein surged to within one seat of their rivals and denied unionist politicians a majority for the first time since Ireland was partitioned in 1921.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams takes a selfie with southern leader Mary Lou McDonald, centre, and northern leader Michelle O'Neill in Belfast. Credit:Getty Images

Sinn Fein's calls for a vote to unite the two sides of the Irish border had already increased after Britain voted to leave the European Union in June.

Adams said nationalists must now win over unionists to the idea of a unified Ireland two decades after their sectarian conflict over Britain's control of Northern Ireland came to an end.
Washington: Scott Pruitt, the top environmental official in the US, has strongly rejected the established science of climate change, outraging scientists, environmentalists, and even his immediate predecessors at the Environmental Protection Agency.

In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, EPA Administrator said he was not convinced that carbon dioxide pollution from burning fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal was the main cause of climate change, a conclusion widely embraced by scientists.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact," he said on the program Squawk Box.

"So no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see, But we don't know that yet, we need to continue to debate, continue the review and analysis."
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack has publicly called out critics of the high courts conservative majority, while requesting a cease-fire to what she called tough talk that dims the publics view of the courts legitimacy.

Roggensack admonished news outlets, advocacy groups and former judges and lawmakers Tuesday in a lecture at Marquette Law School. She called out by name two of her Supreme Court colleagues: Ann Walsh Bradley and Shirley Abrahamson.

The root of Roggensacks critique: what she called a rising challenge to the institutional legitimacy of our courts, both state and federal. Public confidence in the courts helps ensure widespread compliance with their decisions, Roggensack said.

Yet she warned that tough talk by the courts participants and observers may erode their legitimacy. She argued such talk is increasingly caustic and skeptical not just of judges opinions, but of their integrity.

In the past, most commentators did not state or imply that judges impartiality or judges ethics were subject to question because of the outcome of a particular decision, Roggensack said. Well, times have changed.

Roggensack said she doesnt aim to dismiss all dissenting views.

When well-reasoned, they may help shape future developments of the law, Roggensack said. However, too often, sarcastic attacks unnecessarily tear at the fabric of institutional legitimacy simply because of the language they choose.

Some of the critics to which Roggensack spoke, such as the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign advocacy group, have criticized the role of outside campaign groups in recent state Supreme Court elections.

In a statement to the Wisconsin State Journal, the groups executive director, Matthew Rothschild, defended the statement by the group that Roggensack critiqued in her lecture: that the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a corrupt, rigged and renegade court.

The conservative justices have made a laughingstock of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and its almost comical that Chief Justice Roggensack is offended by the laughter, Rothschild said. If she cant stand the heat, she should get out of the chief justices chair  or clean up the courts act.

Former Democratic state Rep. Spencer Black  whose writing Roggensack cited, though she did not name him  criticized the courts 2015 decision to halt a John Doe probe into whether Gov. Scott Walkers campaign illegally coordinated its actions with conservative outside groups. Black also panned the refusal by former Justice David Prosser and current Justice Michael Gableman to recuse themselves from that case because, during their election campaigns, the same groups that were subjects of the Doe probe spent millions to help re-elect them.

Roggensacks remarks also come as the state Supreme Court has seen its share of personal turmoil in recent years. The most widely publicized example was in 2011, when Prosser acknowledged putting his hands on the neck of fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.

Absent from Roggensacks speech was any reference to President Donald Trump, who drew rebukes from the legal community for publicly hammering a federal judge who suspended his proposed travel ban. In one of several tweets blasting Judge James Robart, Trump dubbed Robart, a George W. Bush appointee, a so-called judge.

Roggensack, a member of the courts 5-2 conservative majority, did single out the legendary sarcasm of a fellow conservative on the U.S. Supreme Court: recently deceased former Justice Antonin Scalia. She cited Scalia scathing dissent in King v. Burwell, the ruling upholding parts of former President Barack Obamas health care law, as an example of the tough talk that demeans the other judges opinions.

Roggensack reserved a particularly personal barb for former State Supreme Court Justice  now a Marquette law professor  Janine Geske. Roggensack identified Geske only as one who gives many interviews and has an opinion on everything and never has anything complimentary about the Supreme Court.

The comment that drew Roggensacks ire? An interview Geske gave to The Capital Times in 2016, in which  lamenting what Geske described as the increased politicization of state Supreme Court justice elections  she said people lose faith that the court is anything but a political machine.

Geske, asked by the State Journal if she wished to respond to Roggensack, declined to do so. Justices Bradley and Abrahamson, whom Roggensack criticized as well, also declined to comment.

Ryan Owens, a UW-Madison professor and legal expert, said Roggensack was right to defend the courts institutional legitimacy. Owens said her remarks draw attention to what he described as the need for collegiality among leaders in various spheres, including judicial and political.

In her lecture, Roggensack cited the role of social media in spreading comments about the courts that historically (were) too rough or disrespectful to be printed.

Its not new for court rulings to be the subject of bitter dispute  and equally bitter rhetoric. Owens said its not clear the legitimacy of U.S. courts is under greater strain than before.

What is clear is that there are more platforms to express disagreement, and more freedom for writers when they do express them, Owens said.
Cairo: Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that has governed the population of the Gaza Strip for a decade, is drafting a new platform to present a more pragmatic and cooperative face to the world, Hamas officials confirmed on Thursday.

The document would mark a departure from the group's contentious 1988 charter, in which it promised to "obliterate" Israel and characterised its struggle as specifically against Jews. The new document defines Hamas' enemies as "occupiers".

"It means that we don't fight Jews because they are Jews," said Taher al-Nounou, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza. "Our struggle is only against those who occupied our lands."

The new document would accept the boundaries of the territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war as the basis for a Palestinian state. It would not recognise Israel, however, nor would it give up future claims to all of what Hamas considers Palestinian lands.
Peter Mulryan wants to know if his little sister's remains were interred in the sewers of a home for unmarried mothers run by nuns from the Bon Secours order in Tuam. Credit:Reuters Marian was baptised, and her death certificate states she died from convulsions at the age of nine months. She was one of 796 babies and children recorded to have died at the Tuam home, and whose burial place is unknown. "It hangs over me, not knowing what happened to her," said Mulryan, who only learnt of Marian's existence a few years ago. The site where children who died in the Tuam mother and baby home are buried. Credit:AP In the past, Ireland's strict Catholic morality made it deeply shameful to become pregnant before marriage, and women would be rejected by their families and society as sinful.

Mulryan's mother Delia was one of an estimated 35,000 Irish women who passed through Catholic mother-and-baby homes in the 20th century to have their babies in secrecy. Anna Corrigan, whose two brothers died in infancy at the Tuam home before she was born. Credit:Reuters The power of the Church and the stigma associated with unmarried mothers were so overwhelming that for decades the harsh treatment of these women and their children were taboo subjects, and many were forgotten. Run by nuns from the Bon Secours order, the Tuam home operated from 1925 to 1961 and was demolished in the 1970s. Now, an estate of low-rise, modest homes stands on the site, with a large playground tucked away behind some back yards. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, speculated that "if something happened" to children at Tuam it happened at other Church facilities in Ireland. Credit:Canberra Times.

No respect at all It is beneath a patch of grass near the playground that the remains, ranging from 35-week-old foetuses to three-year-old toddlers, were found in test excavations. Work on the burial site has been halted for now, and it has been fenced off. Visitors have placed a few bunches of fresh flowers and a teddy bear outside the gate. The Bon Secours nuns have made no comment about why babies' corpses were interred in a sewer. They have said they transferred the home's records to the local authority when the home closed in 1961. It was only through the dogged efforts of amateur local historian Catherine Corless, who made it her mission to investigate the history of the home in her own free time, that the existence of the mass grave was exposed.

"I just felt I had to do it for them. The drive came to get justice for them," said Corless. "I felt they were just discarded as litter, just because they were so-called illegitimate." As a result of Corless's research, a commission of inquiry into 18 mother-and-baby homes across Ireland, including Tuam, was set up in 2014. "If something happened in Tuam, it probably happened in other mother-and-baby homes around the country," said Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin in 2014. Mothers would typically spend about a year at homes like the one in Tuam before being parted from their babies and sent away. Many left Ireland and started new lives elsewhere. Others, like Delia Mulryan, were imprisoned in the notorious Magdalene laundries where "fallen women" were forced into unpaid labour. As for the children, some were fostered, some adopted and some remained in the mother-and-baby homes until they could be sent to live at state-funded, Church-run orphanages known as Industrial Schools, where they would be taught to work.

Peter Mulryan was among many who experienced ill treatment and neglect by foster families who used them as farm labourers. "We were nobody. We received no respect at all," said Mulryan, who for much of his life was so acutely aware of his low status that he kept his head bowed and never spoke of his origins. As an adult, Mulryan traced his mother and visited her several times in the Magdalene laundry where she spent the rest of her life. When his first daughter was born, he took her to his mother, who held the baby in her arms. But she never revealed that she had also had a baby girl of her own. Chamber of horrors The Church's prestige and authority have been greatly diminished over the past two decades by a series of scandals over paedophile priests, abuse at Magdalene laundries, forced adoptions of illegitimate babies and other painful issues.

"We had to bow to priests and bishops, but we never got respect back. So few have lifted the phone and apologised to me. It's the least they might do. Speak form the heart, from the altar, about what was done to the likes of us," said Mulryan. Since the finding of the baby remains at Tuam was announced, the scandal has dominated the headlines in Irish media and prompted an outpouring of emotion. On Monday night, state television broadcast the names of all 796 of the lost children, which scrolled down the screen to the sound of mournful music. Prime Minister Enda Kenny has addressed Parliament about the Tuam mass grave, which he called a "chamber of horrors". "Tuam is not just a burial ground, it is a social and cultural sepulchre ... We did not just hide away the dead bodies of tiny human beings, we dug deep and deeper still to bury our compassion, our mercy and our humanity itself," he said. Enda Kenny, Ireland's Prime Minister, spoke emotionally about the discovery at Tuam in Parliament. Credit:Simon Dawson

In his Sunday homily at the local cathedral, Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam, said he was "horrified and saddened" and spoke of "great suffering and pain for the little ones and their mothers". But some of the relatives of the lost babies of Tuam are not satisfied with these responses. "Words are words. We want action. Is this an apology to women and children? No," said Anna Corrigan, whose two brothers John and William Dolan are recorded as having died at the home. "How can we get closure? You have to take our DNA. You have to DNA all the remains. You have to set up a DNA database. We need answers," she said in an interview at her home in Dublin. Born in 1956, Corrigan grew up as an only child. It was only much later in life, after her parents had died, that she investigated her family history and found out her mother had had two baby boys at the Tuam home in 1946 and 1950.
Rome: The Catholic Church should consider allowing married men to become priests, Pope Francis has said, in what would be a radical departure from Vatican teaching.

The lifting of the ban on married men being ordained would apply only in specific circumstances, for instance in remote areas of the world where priests are in short supply, the Pope said. But it would effectively reverse the centuries-old principle that Roman Catholic priests must be celibate.

In an interview with the German Die Zeit newspaper, the pontiff said he was open to the idea of so-called viri probati  married men of deep faith who are already involved in the Church  being allowed to become priests.

"We must consider if viri probati is a possibility. Then we must determine what tasks they can perform, for example, in remote communities," he said.
Washington: US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked the remaining 46 chief federal prosecutors left over from the Obama administration to resign "in order to ensure a uniform transition," the Justice Department said on Friday.

The New York Times reported that the request from Sessions included Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, who had been expected to stay on. The report cited a person familiar with the matter, and Bharara's office had no comment on it. The Manhattan office handles some of the most critical business and criminal cases passing through the federal judicial system.

Sessions himself has been called on by Democrats to resign after he made false statements under oath during his confirmation hearings about conversations he had with Russia's ambassador.

US attorneys are political appointees, and the request from the Justice Department under President Donald Trump is part of a routine process, although not every new administration replaces all US attorneys at once.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On March 1st, Minister of Finance Richard Gibson met with Mr. Julian Lopez Ramirez, Managing Partner and Tax Partner of Deloitte in the Dutch Caribbean, to discuss the most recent developments in national and international fiscal affairs. Mr. Lopez Ramirez took this opportunity to also present the published inaugural lecture of Professor Kavelaars titled Internationale fiscaliteit in transitie which was presented on January 19th in Curacao when Professor Kavelaars accepted his appointment as extraordinary professor at the University of Curacao. In this inaugural lecture, Professor Kavelaars specifically addresses the international developments with respect to the avoidance of tax and its possible implications for individual Jurisdictions.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Women in St. Maarten were challenged to take bold action to challenge social rules and break down sexist barriers. The advice came from attorney Dagmar Daal as she spoke as part of a panel discussion to mark International Womens Day held at the Phillipsburg branch of CIBC FirstCaribbean on Wednesday, March 8. Daal encouraged women to create their own bold moments by taking action challenging social rules and perceptions and break sexist barriers.

Annually, the day provides a unique occasion to take actions that motivate and encourage significant change for women. As such CIBC FirstCaribbean hosted the event for its staff and specially invited guests, among them female participants of the K1 Britannia Foundations Work, Training, and Social Development Program.

The panelists also included President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams and Dr. Sonia Swanston-Meade. They engaged in a candid discussion, sharing what bold actions they took to help improve or develop aspects of their lives and careers.

Mrs. Wescot-Williams told the special gathering of staff that building self-confidence and strengthening the social fabric was a means to narrowing the gender gap. Dr. Swanston emphasized the importance of self-love and self-care as the building blocks to bold actions, reminding women that at times they needed to be selfish and that without self-love/care they could not thrive personally or professionally.

The discussion which was aimed at motivating the audience also allowed the presenters, leaders within their community to reflect on their own lives and achievements. In doing so, they admitted having taken bold actions on numerous occasions, often subconsciously. Those courageous and confident actions, as Mrs. Wescot-Williams dubbed them, dramatically shaped their lives.

The event was planned by an organizing committee comprising of, P. Abdul-Hamid, G. Marlin, N. Smith, A. Dijkhoffz, J. Spencer and L. Clarke. PR Consultant, Claudine Williams and CIBC moderator Jimmy Challenger also contributed to the success of the event.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister Rafael Boasman, in his capacity as Acting Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs, met with Cuban Vice-Minister of Tourism Mayra Alvarez Garcia to discuss issues of mutual interest. Minister Boasman highlighted Sint Maarten's long history in the industry and excellent reputation in port and logistics management. Cuba has been eyeing the lucrative cruise market given the sweeping economic changes occurring in the country and is interested in cooperation arrangements with other countries in the region in the area of Multi-Destination Tourism and in particular airlift. Minister Boasman was accompanied by Dutch Ambassador in Havana Alexandra Valkenburg and Senior Policy Advisor Foreign Relations Patrice Gumbs, Jr.
Arrindell said he is a Civil Servant and under no circumstances, he will sign out of his country to burden the Dutch with St. Maarten failures, SZV reacts.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The parents of Baby Polanco Oliver Vincent Arrindell aka Bolo and Basilla Polanco who is currently in the Netherlands since January 15th 2017 informed SMN News on Friday morning that since he reached out to SMN News and the Minister of Plenipotentiary, Henrietta Doran York, USZV managed to find him an apartment for one month until April 16th.

Arrindell said he was contacted on Thursday and was told to go and see a house which he did and also accepted because he did not go to the Netherlands for a joy ride but instead to seek medical treatment for his son who became handicapped due to gross negligence at the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) at the birth of his child. Arrindell made clear that ever since he went to the Netherlands his son only saw the doctors two times and up to this present moment the child has not received any medical treatment and therapy.

He said just recently he learned from the Social Worker that the only reason the child did not get the required care was because USZV did not pay for it. He further stated that since his story hit the news and the Minister of Plenipotentiary got involved USZV made some payment arrangements and he now has two appointments with "someone" later this month for his son, but after that, he does know what will be USZV next course of action. Arrindell further explained that he saw someone like that who basically questioned him and his wife about her pregnancy, her illness and the reason she did not get the required treatment during pregnancy at SMMC. He said both appointments he has for later this month is what he already did since he took his son to the Netherlands, so far nothing about therapy and care have yet been discussed.

Arrindell said he moved into the house at 5 pm on Thursday and he received a contract that will end on April 16th, he said the cost for the apartment is at a daily rate of 55 Euros per day. (The contract for the apartment Arrindell provided to SMN News).

Arrindell said prior to him leaving St. Maarten a personnel of USZV and a lawyer told him when he reached the Netherlands he must sign out and sign in there in order for the Dutch to cover the child medical expenses. He said tried doing what they instructed him to do but at no time did he agree to sign out of St. Maarten because he is a civil servant. He said his wife would have signed out and sign in the Netherlands but they needed an address which he did not have.

Arrindell said that after he moved in the apartment, USZV sent his lawyer on St. Maarten a letter informing her that Arrindell must sign out of St. Maarten and sign in the Netherlands in order for the Dutch to cover his son medical cost. He said USZV went as far as telling his lawyer that the mother of his handicapped son cannot stay in the Netherlands because she does not have the required documents to stay there. He said his lawyer asked the USZV representatives since when they are immigration because his wife has a visa that will expire in July and when he went to the authorities in the Netherlands they informed him that the child mother could stay in the Netherlands. He made clear that the Dutch did not make his child a handicap, and he is in possession of a letter where SMMC admitted to their negligence and he intends to file a claim against SMMC for malpractice, negligence including pain and suffering for he and family have gone through since the birth of child on April 16th, 2015.

Arrindell said ever since he is the Netherlands he met people from St. Maarten that stayed in the hotels for two years and USZV covered their expenses and he cannot understand why they are putting this kind of pressure on him to sign out of St. Maarten immediately and to sign in the Netherlands. He sent a strong message to USZV and SMMC that he is not going to fall for their tricks and or games because he is a St. Maartener, and a long-time civil servant and those who basically destroyed his family will be held accountable for it.

SMN News contacted the Director of USZV Glen Carty several times for a comment on the Arrindell Baby Polanco case and each time Carty promised to have his communication officer send a statement to SMN News, but to date, USZV did not comment on the ongoing saga with the Arrindell family.

It should be noted that prior to Arrindell leaving St. Maarten he made his plight known in at least two newspapers and a member of the cabinet of the Minister of VSA intervened to get the Arrindell family out of St. Maarten while he did not ensure that USZV make proper arrangements for the family as well as arrange for the child to get the required treatment he needed. Arrindell made clear that he will be returning to St. Maarten and those that is responsible for his son's medical condition, the pain, and suffering family went through for the past two years will be held accountable.

SZV respects the actions of our customers to reach out to the media with their concerns. SZV, however, is not at liberty to respond in detail on the status of the cases of our customers, this would be in breach of their privacy.

As is customary, all customer claims are investigated and so is Mr. Arrindells claim.

It is important to emphasize that a medical referral abroad is always unique and the medical services provided are customized based on the needs established by the patients medical reports and recommendations received by health care providers.

Once more, thank you for reaching out to us, we cannot go into more details on the case of the Arrindell family as this would require us to divulge personal medical information which would be in breach of our customers privacy.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Thursday morning March 9, 2017, the suspect D.M.M. (33) born in Aruba had been detained in the Ostrich-investigation. She is suspected of bribery and human smuggling and is the fifth employee of the immigration service to be arrested in this investigation.

The Judge of Instruction on Friday, March 10, 2017, deemed the arrest and detention of the suspect lawful. Her detention has prolonged with eight more days.

It concerns an investigation carried out by the Unit Human Trafficking and Human Smuggling of the St. Maarten Police Force, KPSM into illegal admittance of amongst others Jamaicans, Haitians, and Guyanese.

Last week a fourth suspect of the immigration service was detained. Also, a lawyer was arrested in connection with the Ostrich-investigation. The investigation continues.

Prosecutor's Office Press Release
Claim: Drug dealers are selling colored and flavored crystal methamphetamine known as "Strawberry Quick" to children.

Rating: About this rating Mostly False What's True Police have sometimes seized colored versions of crystal meth that resemble candy. What's False There's no credible evidence that drug dealers are manufacturing colored and flavored versions of meth (imitative of candy) with the intent of making them appeal to children.

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In early 2007, warnings began to circulate about sweetened and flavored forms of methamphetamine known as "Strawberry Quick" (or "Strawberry Quik," named after strawberry Quik, a powder used to make flavored milk drinks). Various news accounts about Strawberry Quick first reported it appearing in western states in January 2007 and described it as resembling rock candy or Pop Rocks (a kid-favored confection that fizzles in the mouth), prompting fears that it might fool children and teens into mistakenly perceiving it as candy (or perceiving it as a drug far less dangerous and addictive than it actually is):

Drug Warning - Beware and please inform your children I have been alerted by one of our EMT's for our volunteer fire department that they have received emails from emergency responder organizations to be on the lookout for a new form of Crystalized Meth that is targeted at children and to be aware of this new form if called to an emergency involving a child that may have symptoms of drug induction or overdose. They are calling this new form of meth "Strawberry Quick" and it looks like the "Pop Rocks" candy that sizzle in your mouth. In it's current form, it is dark pink in color and has a strawberry scent to it. Please advise your children and their friends and other students not to accept candy from strangers as this is obviously an attempt to seduce children into drug use. They also need to be cautious in accepting candy from even friends that may have received it from someone else, thinking it is just candy. ALL PARENTS PLEASE BE AWARE!! ...There is a drug going around the schools ..Its known as Strawberry Quick ...or strawberry meth ...it looks like pop rocks kids eat & also smells like strawberries & also comes in other flavors like chocolate, etc. ... Please tell your children not to take candy from ANYONE- even a class mate- because this drug that looks like pop rocks is actually crystal meth rocked up with strawberry flavor & can KILLl them :'( ...PLEASE REPOST!!! so all parents are aware of this ..Thank You! This is happening all over the country..

As of September 2017 versions of the warning still circulated on social media, some appended with a new image of the purported "strawberry quick":

However, after those early warnings about Strawberry Quick worked their way to the public through police, schools, and the news media, federal drug enforcement officials began issuing corrections that described such rumors as unfounded. While colored versions of methamphetamine that somewhat resemble candy may have been found, the notion that drug dealers are deliberately targeting children by producing flavored versions of the drug intended to mimic the appearance and taste of candy appears to have been based on mistaken assumptions: When colored versions of meth turn up, the coloring of the drug is likely incidental to the manufacturing process (rather than a quality deliberately introduced to increase the appeal of meth), and since police labs don't generally test drugs for flavoring ingredients, statements about seizures of flavored meth have probably been based solely on the drug's brightly hued appearance and not on its actual taste.

As a DEA spokesman observed in 2010, the rumor about "strawberry quick" had "nothing to it":

An e-mail is circulating  forwarded from one worried parent to the next  claiming that drug dealers are targeting children with a pink, berry-flavored methamphetamine known as "strawberry quick." While the e-mail is composed of unnerving details, pleading with recipients to pass it along, authorities said its claims are little more than "urban legend." "We checked with all of our labs, and there's nothing to it," U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Michael Sanders said. "It's not a trend or a real problem; I think that this was maybe someone with good intentions but jumped the gun." The e-mail scare started circulating around 2007, making its way from community to community, and eventually was picked up by newspapers and television stations across the nation. Even law enforcement bulletins and school officials ran with it. Still, Sanders said, the DEA has never heard of anyone adding strawberry flavoring to meth, and are not aware of any children admitted to hospitals in dire condition because of it. He noted that on at least one occasion they found colored meth, but determined that the person cooking it added the dye to skirt law enforcement rather than lure kids.

The Partnership at Drugfree.org received similar responses from the DEA when they attempted to run the "strawberry quick" rumors to ground:

Both the DEA and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy told Join Together that they have not been able to identify a single confirmed seizure of flavored meth."There are a lot of people in prevention and law enforcement talking about it, but in terms of actual seizures we haven't seen much," said Tom Riley, a spokesperson for ONDCP. Rojean White, a spokesperson for the DEA, told Join Together that while local DEA agents have heard stories about flavored meth from local law-enforcement colleagues, they "haven't had any" seizures themselves. Experts say that there's a real possibility that local police are confusing colored meth  which is relatively common  with flavored meth. Tom McNamara, a meth trainer and special-projects coordinator for the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force Group, told Join Together that meth made from Sudafed or some generic versions of the drug will have a light-pink color because of the dye used in the pills. Moreover, he said, meth made from anhydrous ammonia treated with GloTell  a chemical marker designed to discourage thefts  will be bright pink. The drug also can appear greenish or blue. "We've had that forever," said McNamara of colored meth, whereas his inquiries about flavored meth have yielded nothing. "The warnings are well-intended, but they have no substance," he said.

And, as many others have noted, rumors of illegal drugs produced in a form intended to appeal to young children have been circulating for several decades and make little sense, as young children do not generally have the disposable income necessary to purchase such products.

Nonetheless, in April 2007, U.S. Senators Feinstein and Grassley responded to the "strawberry quick" rumors by introducing legislation aimed at increasing the criminal penalties for anyone who markets or makes candy-flavored drugs by imposing upon them the same enhanced criminal sentences handed down to drug dealers who knowingly sell to minors.
Bills to ban research using aborted fetal tissue in Wisconsin and encourage donation for research of tissue from stillbirths and miscarriages were circulated among legislators Thursday.

The bills, similar to measures proposed over the past six years, would promote ethical research, say supporters, including Wisconsin Right to Life, Pro-Life Wisconsin, Wisconsin Family Action and Wisconsin Catholic Conference.

Such a commitment to heal without harm would truly uphold our states proud tradition of social justice and respect for human life, the groups, known as the Heal Without Harm Coalition, said in a statement.

Research groups  including UW-Madison, UW Health, Medical College of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and BioForward, which represents the states biotech industry  said the fetal tissue research ban would prohibit lifesaving research already regulated under federal law.

The bill would reach into labs and end ongoing, pioneering research on heart disease, cancer, infectious disease, and neurological and developmental disorders, the groups, known as Cures for Tomorrow, said in a statement.

Two bills were circulated for co-sponsorship by eight Republican lawmakers: state Sens. Terry Moulton, of Chippewa Falls, Leah Vukmir, of Brookfield, Patrick Testin, of Stevens Point, Duey Stroebel, of Saukville, David Craig, of Big Bend, and Stephen Nass, of Whitewater; and state Reps. Joel Kleefisch, of Oconomowoc, and Kathy Bernier, of Chippewa Falls.

One bill would ban research using tissue from abortions performed since Jan. 1. Unlike some previous proposals, that would allow research involving widely used cells derived from the tissue of a single aborted fetus in the 1970s. But the research groups have said new fetal tissue is needed for some studies. The bill would also require facilities that provide abortions to arrange for the burial or cremation of aborted remains.

Violators could incur civil fines of up to $100,000. Some previous bills made offenses felonies punishable by up to six years in prison.

The other bill would require facilities in which stillbirths or miscarriages occur to inform women that the remains could be donated for research. Facilities in violation could be fined $5,000 to $10,000.

The state Department of Health Services would use the money to study creating a bank of nonaborted fetal tissue and umbilical cord blood for research.

The anti-abortion groups last month urged lawmakers not to support a different bill from Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Reps. Cindi Duchow, R-Pewaukee, and Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton. The groups said their bill wasnt strong enough.

Federal law doesnt sufficiently prevent the sale of aborted fetal tissue for profit and fails to address ethical issues involved when researchers use the tissue, the Heal Without Harm Coalition said Thursday.

The dependence of fetal tissue research on the abortion industry legitimizes abortion, creates a demand for it and further embeds it in our educational and medical institutions, the coalition said.

Cures for Tomorrow said its members also oppose profiting from the sale of fetal tissue. But umbilical cord cells dont work for some research projects, and tissue from miscarriages is hard to get and can be damaged, Dr. Robert Golden, dean of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, has said.

The ban would be devastating to the remarkable opportunity we have to develop new, lifesaving vaccines, therapies and cures that will benefit patients across Wisconsin, the coalition said.
Zoomdata Announces Expanded Support for Google Cloud Platform

Posted by Publisher Hardware

SAN FRANCISCO, CA  (Marketwired)  03/09/17  -, developers of one of the worlds fastest visual analytics platform for big data, today announced support for Googles Cloud Spanner and PostgreSQL on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP), as well as enhancements to the existing Zoomdata Smart Connector for Google BigQuery. With these new capabilities, Zoomdata is one of the first visualization analytics partners to offer such deeply integrated and optimized support for Google Cloud Platforms Cloud Spanner, PostgreSQL, Google BigQuery, and Cloud DataProc services.

Google Cloud Spanner is the first and only relational database service that is both strongly consistent and horizontally scalable. Zoomdatas Smart Connector for Cloud Spanner is available today for testing on Google Cloud Launcher. It supports key data analytic capabilities, including streaming analytics (Live Mode), aggregate analytics (group by), time series handling, and federated data blending of data from Cloud Spanner and other data sources via Zoomdata Fusion.

Zoomdata has also added a Zoomdata Smart Connector for PostgreSQL to its Google Cloud Platform launcher. Optimized to take full advantage of the powerful, object-relational database system, users can now easily connect to and quickly visualize and explore data from PostgreSQL running on GCP. In addition, Zoomdata enhanced its Smart Connector for Google BigQuery to include support for visual drill-through to full record details, as well as enhancing the speed at which visualizations are generated.

The Zoomdata team is committed to delivering a big data visualization experience that optimizes GCPs core data management services, including support for Google BigQuery, said Russ Cosentino, Zoomdata co-founder and VP, Channels. As a launch partner for Google Cloud Dataproc, and now offering optimized support for Google Cloud Spanner and PostgreSQL on GCP, Zoomdata is an ideal choice for helping business users deliver value against their data workloads on Google.

Zoomdata is an open platform that provides visual analytics solutions for big and fast data. Architected for both cloud and on-premise deployments, its modern architecture delivers visual analysis of huge datasets in seconds. Zoomdatas patented Data Sharpening technology delivers the industrys fastest visual analytics for real-time streaming and historical data. Zoomdatas microservices architecture makes this possible by using Apache Spark as a complementary high performance engine. Zoomdata Fusion enables users to perform analytics across disparate data sources in a single view  without the need to move or transform data.

Zoomdatas market traction and technology innovations have garnered widespread recognition. Gartner placed Zoomdata in the visionary quadrant when the company made its debut in the most recent annual and Gartner also named . In addition, , the company was named a , and Zoomdata received the .

Check out Zoomdatas demo at Google Cloud Next booth A6, or sign up for a free trial at

Download a complimentary copy of from Zoomdata.

develops one of the worlds fastest visual analytics solutions for big data. Using patented data sharpening and micro-query technologies, Zoomdata empowers business users to visually consume data in seconds, even across billions of rows of data. Zoomdata Fusion enables interactive analytics across disparate data sources, bridging modern and legacy data architectures, blending real-time streams and historical data, and unifying enterprise data with data in the cloud. Delivered in a microservices architecture for elastic scalability, Zoomdata runs on premises, in the cloud or embedded in an application. With offices in Chicago, New York, San Mateo, CA and Reston, VA, Zoomdata is venture-backed by Accel, Columbus Nova Technology Partners, Comcast Ventures, Goldman Sachs, NEA, and Razors Edge.

Lonn Johnston for Zoomdata

+1.650.219.7764
Saddle Ranch Media Announces Management Change, Spin-Out of Saddle Ranch Pictures and the Acquisition of SkyFidelity

NEWPORT BEACH, CA  (Marketwired)  03/09/17  Saddle Ranch Media, Inc. (OTC PINK: SRMX) announced today that effective February 28, 2017 a change to the Companys control and management has occurred, together with an agreement to spin out its wholly-owned subsidiary and the African American Medical Network (AAMN), and an agreement to acquire SkyFidelity, Inc. The acquisition of SkyFidelity, Inc. is expected to close on or before March 15, 2017. As part of this change, Phil Cohen sold all of his holding of 1,000,000 of the Companys Series B preferred shares to The Shamrock Investment Trust, of which Timothy P. Peabody Esq. is the trustee, giving the Trust majority voting control of the Company.

Also on February 28, 2017, Phil Cohen resigned as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director. Timothy P. Peabody was appointed Chairman, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director in his place. Alan Bailey will continue as Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director and will provide continuity during this transition process, as well as in the future.

Phil Cohen said, I resigned purely as my decision to pursue other interests. I am delighted that Tim Peabody decided to take up the reins in my place. He is an experienced business entrepreneur and attorney. I am also pleased that the Company has agreed to spin out both Saddle Ranch Pictures, Inc. and AAMN, together with their respective assets and obligations.

Tim Peabody said, I am thrilled to take over the Company reins. I wish Phil Cohen all the very best in his new ventures and to thank him for his stewardship of the Company to this point. I am also excited to fold in SkyFidelity, Inc. with its wholly-owned subsidiary, TriCasade, Inc. We plan to close this acquisition by March 15, 2017. With operations both in central and southern Florida, as well as in Taiwan, SkyFidelity is destined to become a world-class global multi-division technology company with its four operating divisions: Cloud Managed Services (IoT), Solar Power Solutions, Satellite Broadband, and WiFi Camera Security Surveillance (see ). We will seek approval to change the Companys name and the trading symbol to better reflect our new business plan.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities of Saddle Ranch Media, Inc. (the Company). Certain statements in this release and other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of the Company are forward looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements regarding future events and developments and our future performance, as well as managements expectations, beliefs, plans, estimates or projections relating to the future are forward-looking statements within the meaning of these laws. The actual results the Company achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on our current expectations and speak only as of the date of such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of future events, new information or otherwise.

Alan Bailey

Phone 310-722-6624
Enghouse Releases First Quarter Results

MARKHAM, ONTARIO  (Marketwired)  03/09/17  Enghouse Systems Limited (TSX: ENGH) today announced its first quarter (unaudited) financial results for the period ended January 31, 2017.

First quarter revenue increased to $78.8 million, compared to revenue of $74.4 million in the first quarter of the prior year. Increased revenue in the quarter reflects incremental revenue from acquisitions net of the unfavourable impact of foreign exchange estimated at $5.2 million. Income from operating activities was $22.4 million compared to $17.8 million in prior years first quarter, an increase of 25.8%. Net income for the quarter was $11.7 million or $0.43 per diluted share compared to $8.5 million or $0.31 per diluted share in the prior years first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was $23.2 million or $0.85 per diluted share compared to $19.1 million or $0.70 per diluted share last year, an increase of 21.4%.

Operating expenses before special charges related to restructuring of acquired operations were $30.9 million compared to $32.4 million in the prior years first quarter and reflect incremental operating costs related to acquisitions and the positive impact of foreign exchange. Operating costs reflect continued efficiencies related to measures undertaken late in the last fiscal year to scale operating costs to revenues. Non-cash amortization charges in the quarter were $7.5 million compared to $6.8 million in the prior years first quarter and include amortization charges for acquired software and customer relationships from acquired operations.

Enghouse closed the quarter with $88.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, compared to $85.9 million at October 31, 2016. The cash balance was achieved after payment of $3.8 million in cash dividends and $1.7 million to partially settle loans inherited with the Presence Technology, S.L. acquisition, completed on October 28, 2016.

The Board of Directors also approved a 14% increase in its eligible quarterly dividend to $0.16 per common share, payable on May 31, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 17, 2017. Enghouse has now increased its dividend in each of the past nine years.

A conference call to discuss the results will be held on Friday March 10, 2017 at 8:45 a.m. EST. To participate, please call 416-640-5946 or North American Toll-Free 1-866-233-4585. No PIN required.

About Enghouse

Enghouse Systems Limited is a leading global provider of enterprise software solutions serving a variety of distinct vertical markets. Its strategy is to build a diverse software company through strategic acquisitions targeting the Contact Center, Networks (OSS/BSS) and Transportation/Public Safety sectors. Enghouse shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ENGH. Further information about Enghouse may be obtained from the Companys website at .

Non-GAAP Measures

The Company uses non-GAAP measures to assess its operating performance. Securities regulations require that companies caution readers that earnings and other measures adjusted to a basis other than GAAP do not have standardized meanings and are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. Accordingly, they should not be considered in isolation. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of operating performance. Therefore, Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as results from operating activities adjusted for depreciation of property, plant and equipment, and special charges for acquisition related restructuring costs. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate operating performance as it excludes amortization of software and intangibles (which is an accounting allocation of the cost of software and intangible assets arising on acquisition), any impact of finance and tax related activities, asset depreciation, other income and restructuring costs primarily related to acquisitions.

Adjusted EBITDA:

The table below reconciles Adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable IFRS measure, Results from operating activities:

Contacts:

Sam Anidjar

Vice President, Corporate Development

Enghouse Systems Limited

Tel: (905) 946-3200

Email:
Animated Talking Avatar Maker & Virtual Spokesperson Voiceover Service Announced

The popular digital marketing company, Its Your Lot, announced it is now providing clients with unique and highly engaging video avatars including fully customized voiceovers and linked buttons ideal to promote products and special offer pages or sync with a mailing list for more leads and sales.

More information is available at [http://itsyourlot.com](http://itsyourlot.com/).

The renowned Its Your Lot is an established digital marketing company based in Hull, East Yorkshire, UK, with extensive experience helping businesses, brands and even individuals establish a thriving presence online through the best in video & logo animation, SEO or social media marketing, at some of the most affordable prices in the market.

The popular digital marketing company has announced it is now providing its clients with professional and engaging custom video avatars which can play automatically on a website to help promote products, services and deals more effectively, redirect visitors to special offer pages or even sync with a mailing list.

The exclusive video avatars provided by the companys highly sought after video and animation experts combine fully customized voiceovers from script with linked buttons, countdown timers and newsletter/mailing list signup buttons, ideal to help business owners, marketers or website administrators instantly capture a visitors attention and attract more traffic, leads and sales.

More information on the exclusive custom video avatars available in three different discount pricing packages for a limited time and its proven benefits for those looking to promote their products and services or increase their leads and sales can be consulted through the website link provided above along with a sample video avatar and details on Its Your Lot, its full range of digital marketing services or its well-known online antique and artwork directory.

The Its Your Lot team explains that we help take businesses to the next level with our world class video services, animation, SEO or social media marketing solutions. For those looking to generate traffic or more exposure on the internet for their brand, products, services or company and communicate better with potential or existing customers without spending an arm and a leg in advertising, we are the place to get started.
Republican House leaders have spent months dodging questions about how they would replace the Affordable Care Act with a better law, and went so far as to hide the draft of their plan from other lawmakers.

No wonder. The bill they released Monday would kick millions of people off the coverage they now have. So much for President Trumps big campaign promise: Were going to have insurance for everybody  with coverage that would be much less expensive and much better.

More than 20 million Americans gained health care coverage under the ACA, or Obamacare. Health experts say most would lose that coverage under the proposal.

Lets start with Medicaid. Obamacare expanded the program to cover 11 million more poor Americans in 31 states and the District of Columbia. The Republican bill would end the expansion in 2020. Though people who sign up before 2020 under the expanded Medicaid program, which covers people with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (about $33,900 for a family of four), would be allowed to stay on, many would be kicked off over time. The working poor tend to drop in and out of Medicaid because their incomes fluctuate, and the Republican plan would bar people who left the expanded program from going back in. ...

The bill would also, for the first time, apply a per-person limit on how much the federal government spends on Medicaid. This change could shift about $370 billion in health care costs over 10 years to state governments, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Many state governments, faced with limited budgets, would be forced to cut benefits or cover fewer people.

For people who buy insurance on federal or state-run health exchanges, the GOP plan would greatly reduce the ACAs subsidies, which come in the form of tax credits. For example, a 40-year-old living in Raleigh, North Carolina, who earns $30,000 a year would receive $3,000 from the government to buy insurance, 32 percent less than under current law, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The bill would provide older people more generous subsidies  those over 60 get a subsidy of $4,000, or twice as much as 20-somethings  but insurers would be allowed to charge older people five times as much as younger people.

The plan would do away with the current mandate that requires nearly everybody to obtain insurance or pay a penalty. (Instead, insurers would be allowed to charge people who dont maintain their insurance continuously 30 percent more for coverage.) But because the legislation would still require insurers to cover preexisting conditions, people would have a strong financial incentive to buy insurance only when they got sick  a sure way to destroy the insurance market.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, and Tom Price, the secretary of health and human services, have railed against high premiums and deductibles for plans sold on the health exchanges. But that problem would only worsen under their proposal because insurers would almost certainly raise their prices as the pool of the insured shrank. Republican lawmakers seem to think people who cant afford insurance are simply irresponsible. ...

Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah, for instance, told CNN that people should invest in their health care, rather than getting that new iPhone. Word to Chaffetz: Health insurance costs more than $18,000 a year for an average family. An iPhone costs a few hundred dollars.

While working people lose health care, the rich would come out winners. The bill would eliminate the taxes on businesses and individuals (people making more than $200,000 a year) who fund Obamacare. The tax cuts would total about $600 billion over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

House committees are considering the bill. Even if it passes the House, some Republican senators object to the Medicaid cuts and the tea party wing hates the idea of retaining any subsidies.

Republicans have been vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act even before it became law in 2010. But they still havent come up with a workable replacement.

Instead, the GOPs various factions are now haggling over just how many millions of Americans they are willing to harm.
ALMA  Early in his term, State Treasurer Matt Adamczyk was asked to sign a paper that captured his signature.

Adamczyk recently testified at a state Senate committee hearing that his and the secretary of administrations signatures appear on state checks.

But Adamczyk never sees any of the checks with his signature and never performs any functions overseeing payment of state bills. And he doesnt want to oversee state funds. Instead, Adamczyk testified he wants to get rid of the whole constitutional office of treasurer, describing it as outdated and a waste of money.

A resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to eliminate the role of state treasurer is heading to voters in spring 2018. I will be voting no on the proposal.

According to the nonpartisan Council of State Governments: Treasurers act as the watchdogs of the peoples money and, in most states, are elected by their own constituents. This check and balance in the executive branch of government provides an effective oversight mechanism and increased transparency.

In advising all types of organizations from local nonprofits to multinational corporations, auditors tell their clients to establish a segregation of duties when it comes to handling money. The same person (or department in a large company) should not collect, deposit and spend the money and do all the accounting.

The argument for eliminating the treasurers office is it doesnt do anything. Recent governors and legislatures have whittled away at the duties.

But getting rid of this post would be a mistake. We should be bringing back its duties that have been transferred to the Department of Administration so the handling billions of dollars in state funds includes a check and balance. More than one agency should be involved.

The erosion of the treasurers duties started at least 20 years ago. Duties were moved to DOA, which reports to the governor. When Gov. Scott Walker took office, the treasurer oversaw money used for the public funding of Supreme Court races, college savings programs, local governments investment of public funds, and ran a program reuniting people with their property though the unclaimed property program. The governor eliminated the public funding of Supreme Court races and transferred other activities to executive branch agencies.

During his tenure, the governor has centralized a lot of authority in DOA. In the budget he proposed last month, he transfers almost 500 employees from various agencies to DOA. These are the employees who do budgeting, information technology and hiring and firing. If these transfers go through and the office of treasurer is eliminated, it seems all budgeting, contracting, payments and accounting will be in one agency under the direction of one secretary.

That is not good government or good business practice.

Waushara County Clerk Melanie Stake, a Republican, wrote to our committee: The wise authors of Wisconsins constitution created a divided government  and six state constitutional officers  for a reason. Transferring duties to personnel appointed by, and/or overseen by, the governors office creates a disconcerting consolidation of power that has the potential to compromise fair and transparent government.

She quoted the Wisconsin Taxpayer that cited Wisconsin as the only state with a treasurer who does not oversee cash management, and one of two states with a treasurer who is not responsible for the states bank accounts.

What would the segregation of duties look like? In a neighboring state, an independent constitutional officer has the responsibility of prescribing a uniform accounting system, ensuring that all contracts are properly authorized, all vouchers are documented and all expenditures follow the law. A second constitutional officer keeps all the accounts and writes all the checks.

That may be more segregation of duties than is necessary. But that system was created after one state official embezzled some $30 million in todays dollars when there wasnt any independent check.

Does Wisconsin need segregation of duties when handling billions of public dollars? Ask your local accountant.
When photography was invented in France in the 1820s, some artists predicted  even feared  that it would in time take the place of painting. That didnt happen, but photographers around the world consistently have recorded images that reveal...
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Investigations are continuing following the discovery of a body on Swansea beach.

The body was found between the Civic Centre and the Swansea Marriott Hotel at 6.30am on Wednesday, March 8.

Since then, a post-mortem has been carried out on the body, but police have still not released the identity of the victim.

A spokesman for police said: South Wales Police is continuing to investigate the incident following the discovery of a body on Swansea beach. More information will be released when available.

Police have already said they are not making an appeal for witnesses.

Paramedics and forensic officers were also at the scene on Wednesday.

A large area of the foreshore was sealed off, and a drone was used to search the shoreline as part of the examination of the site.

Police officers were also spotted going through nearby bins.

It is not known if the victim is a man or a woman.
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Carmarthenshire is home to one of the highest numbers of bridges that are not up to scratch, according to a motoring organisation.

The RAC Foundation has said there are 305 council-maintained bridges which have been deemed as substandard and not fit to carry the heaviest vehicles.

It will cost a bumper 100 million to bring the bridges up to a good standard, according to the organisation.

Four per cent of council-run bridges across Wales are said to be unfit to carry the biggest HGVs routinely seen on the countrys roads.

Powys had the most substandard bridges, according to the foundation, with 62 (five per cent) out of its 1,336 bridges deemed not good enough while Carmarthenshire had 55 (seven per cent) out of 798.

Conwy, meanwhile, had the highest proportion of bridges deemed substandard with 51 (22 per cent) of its 234 bridges needing work totalling 2 million.

Denbighshire needs a whopping 14 million for 20 (seven per cent) of its 280 bridges deemed substandard, according to the figures.

A Welsh Local Government Association spokesman said work was prioritised.

The RAC Foundation has looked at data from around 72,000 bridges on local road networks across Britain.

It underlined a total of 3,203 structures more than 1.5 metres in span were substandard, meaning they were unable to carry the heaviest 44 tonne lorries and had weight restrictions and had been closed completely in some cases.

But there were different reasons for deeming them to be called substandard, including some being on country tracks where heavy vehicles were unable to go and there was little reason to help strengthen them.

Research found the cost of bringing all bridges in Britain up to perfect condition would be 890 million or 278,000 per structure.

The WLGA spokesman said councils regularly monitor their networks, including bridges.

He said: Given the financial pressures faced by local authorities it is necessary to prioritise maintenance expenditure.

Should a serious issue be identified with any structure then local authorities would take necessary remedial action, or even prohibit use in a worst case scenario.
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Scientists, have at it: NASA has released raw data from the Kepler Space Telescope probing the many Earth-size planets around the star TRAPPIST-1.

In February, data from the Spitzer Space Telescope revealed that seven planets orbit the ultracool dwarf star, and now, the recently released Kepler data (and its final, processed version) will give a complementary look at the worlds, three of which might orbit in the star's habitable zone.

Kepler's observations could provide more detail about the gravitational interactions among the planets, and perhaps reveal even more planets around the star, NASA officials said in a statement. [Meet the Planets of TRAPPIST-1 (Slideshow)]

As part of its K2 mission, Kepler examined the TRAPPIST-1 system from Dec. 15, 2016, to March 4, 2017  and its data became much more exciting upon the Feb. 22 announcement of additional Earth-size planets orbiting the star. Yesterday (March 8), Kepler researchers released the unprocessed data from that survey for astronomers to use in preparing research proposals.

"Scientists and enthusiasts around the world are invested in learning everything they can about these Earth-size worlds," Geert Barentsen, K2 research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, said in the NASA statement. "Providing the K2 raw data as quickly as possible was a priority to give investigators an early look so they could best define their follow-up research plans. We're thrilled that this will also allow the public to witness the process of discovery."

The release is timely because many proposals to study TRAPPIST-1 this winter with ground-based telescopes are due this month, the statement said.

On the Kepler website, Barentsen encouraged scientists to dig into the results and blog or tweet analysis, but advised everyone to wait until the final, processed results are released in late May to cite them in journal papers.

Barentsen also included a preliminary graph of the light curve, the way the star darkened as planets passed across it, which shows hints of at least six planets (as well as star spots) visible in the data.

When K2's December-March observation plan was established, TRAPPIST-1's planets were unknown, and the star system wasn't on the list for investigation. But researchers found evidence of three planets around the star in May 2016, so the Kepler team adjusted the mission to include the newly exciting target.

"We were lucky that the K2 mission was able to observe TRAPPIST-1," Michael Haas, science office director for the Kepler and K2 missions at Ames, said in the statement. "The observing field for Campaign 12 [the December-March campaign] was set when the discovery of the first planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 was announced, and the science community had already submitted proposals for specific targets of interest in that field.

"The unexpected opportunity to further study the TRAPPIST-1 system was quickly recognized, and the agility of the K2 team and science community prevailed once again," Haas added.

Kepler's original and K2 missions have been responsible for more than 2,400 confirmed exoplanet discoveries. The space telescope uses extremely precise measurements of stars' brightness over time to identify little dips in brightness that indicate planets in front of the star, called the transit method of exoplanet detection.

Although the transit method can identify only planets that are oriented to pass by the star from Earth's point of view, it's an extremely powerful technique. The Spitzer Space Telescope, which counted the seven planets around TRAPPIST-1, used a similar process measuring infrared light.

NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, another infrared telescope, could give researchers an even more detailed view of the planets, and help scientists measure whether those potentially habitable ones have atmospheres friendly to life. The telescope will be powerful enough to analyze the light passing from the star through the planets' atmospheres, letting researchers determine their composition.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
This raw, unprocessed image of Saturn's moon Pan was taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on March 7, 2017.

Saturn's moon Pan bears a striking resemblance to a dumpling, new photos by NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal.

Cassini captured the images on March 7, during a flyby that brought the probe within 15,268 miles (24,572 kilometers) of the 22-mile-wide (35 km) Pan.

"These images are the closest images ever taken of Pan and will help to characterize its shape and geology," NASA officials wrote in a brief description of the photos, which were released Thursday (March 9). [In Photos: Amazing Color Maps of Saturn's Moons]

Another raw, unprocessed image of Saturn's moon Pan taken on March 7, 2017 by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

Pan isn't the only one of Saturn's more than 60 known moons with an odd appearance. For example, like Pan, the 910-mile-wide (1,470 km) Iapetus has an equatorial ridge, and as a result, it looks like a giant space walnut.

And Mimas, which is about 245 miles (395 km) in diameter, looks an awful lot like the Death Star from the "Star Wars" films, thanks to a giant crater that's about one-third as wide as the moon itself.

Saturn's moons have been full of surprises in other ways as well. The gigantic Titan, for instance, is the only solar system body other than Earth known to harbor stable bodies of liquid on its surface. But Titan's lakes and seas are full of hydrocarbons, not water.

And the Saturn satellite Enceladus harbors an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy shell  a potentially habitable environment that astrobiologists would love to sample. And a spacecraft could do just that without even touching down, because geysers near Enceladus' south pole blast water vapor, organic molecules and other material from the subsurface ocean out into space.

Saturn's moon Pan, as seen by NASAs Cassini spacecraft during a flyby on March 7, 2017. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

Cassini has helped lift the veil on these miniworlds. The orbiter  the heart of the $3.2 billion Cassini-Huygens mission, a joint effort of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency  arrived at Saturn in July 2004 and has been studying the planet, its rings and its moons ever since.

That work will soon come to an end. Next month, Cassini will enter the "Grand Finale" phase of its mission, which consists of 22 orbits between Saturn's cloud tops and the planet's innermost ring. Finally, on Sept. 15, the spacecraft will plunge intentionally into Saturn's atmosphere, in a death dive designed to ensure that the mission doesn't contaminate Titan or Enceladus with microbes from Earth.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
Image of the Day Archives

NASA, ESA and Orsola De Marco (Macquarie University)

For older Image of the Day pictures, please visit the Image of the Day archives. Pictured: NGC 2467.

Rosetta's Final Descent

ESA/Rosetta/MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Monday, October 3, 2016: The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft captured this photo of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during its final descent before it crashed onto the comet. Rosetta was about 10 miles (16 km) from the comet's surface when this photo was taken on Sept. 30.  Hanneke Weitering

Curiosity Takes a Selfie

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Tuesday, October 4, 2016: NASA's Mars rover Curiosity snapped this selfie in September when it was drilling in the "Murray Buttes" region of lower Mount Sharp. Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera, located on the rover's robotic arm, took 60 photos to assemble this image. The robotic arm and MAHLI camera are not included in this view, but they are barely visible in a small reflection at the top of the rover's mast.  Hanneke Weitering

The Park Astronaut

NASA/Bill Ingalls

Wednesday, October 5, 2016: NASA astronaut Anne McClain poses in an art exhibit on the White House's south lawn. The installation, titled "The Park People Series," was built by artist Nathan Sawaya for President Obama's South by South Lawn (SXSL) festival.  Hanneke Weitering

New Shepard's 5th Landing

Blue Origin

Thursday, October 6, 2016: Blue Origin, a private spaceflight company that aims to carry people to suborbital flight, landed its New Shepard rocket booster for the 5th time yesterday after a successful test of its new in-flight escape system. Here, the rocket comes in for a controlled, upright landing at 4.2 miles per hour (6.8 km/h).  Hanneke Weitering

Europe By Night, from Above

NASA

Friday, October 7, 2016: Expedition 49 crewmembers on the International Space Station captured this nighttime view of Western Europe on Sept. 24. A docked Soyuz and Progress Spacecraft are visible in the foreground. The thick, dark strip behind the Soyuz spacecraft is the Alps.  Hanneke Weitering

A Parachute for Mars

ESA/S. Muihead

Monday, October 10, 2016: The European Space agency revealed a full-size model of the ExoMars entry, descent and landing module, "Schiaparelli." ExoMars is scheduled to arrive at Mars on Oct. 19.  Hanneke Weitering

Inside a Spiral Galaxy

NASA/ESA

Tuesday, October 11, 2016: The Hubble Space telescope peered into the heart of a spiral galaxy 11 million light-years away known as NGC 247. Its galactic nucleus looks like a bright white cloud surrounded by stars, cosmic dust and gas.  Hanneke Weitering

Martian Mound in Vivid Colors

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State University

Wednesday, October 12, 2016: NASA's Mars rover Opportunity captured this stunning view of a feature on Mars called "Spirit Mound." Behind the mound lies the floor of Endeavor Crater. The rover's panoramic camera (Pancam) snapped several photos on Sept. 21 to create this mosaic, which was then color-enhanced to bring out details in the Martian surface.  Hanneke Weitering

Meet the Expedition 49/50 Crew

NASA

Thursday, October 13, 2016: These 3 astronauts  Shane Kimbrough of NASA, and Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos  will fly to the International Space Station on Wednesday, Oct. 19. Here the trio poses for a photo in their spacesuits at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 9.  Hanneke Weitering

A Dying Star's Spiral Arms

ESA/Hubble & NASA; Acknowledgement: Serge Meunier

Friday, October 14, 2016: The Hubble Space Telescope took this photo of a planetary nebula  a dying star that is letting go of its outer layers of gas. As the cloud of gas moves away from a star, it can form different shapes. Here, the planetary nebula PK 329-02.2 appears to take on the shape of a spiral galaxy.  Hanneke Weitering
Image of the Day Archives

NASA, ESA and Orsola De Marco (Macquarie University)

For older Image of the Day pictures, please visit the Image of the Day archives. Pictured: NGC 2467.

Perfect Timing

Brian D. Ottum (opens in new tab)

Tuesday, November 1, 2016: Astrophotographer Brian Ottum was outside testing out his telescope and camera equipment to prepare for next summer's total solar eclipse when he spotted an airplane heading straight for the moon. With no time to switch his camera settings to turn off the two-second delay timer, Ottum said he "estimated the planes speed, held [his] breath and pressed the shutter."  Hanneke Weitering

Saturn Viewed From Above

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Wednesday, November 2, 2016: Saturn shows off its strange six-sided polar vortex, distinct ring system and a deceptively smooth surface in this newly released photo taken by NASA's Cassini orbiter on July 16. Serene as it may look, Saturn is actually an extremely windy and occasionally stormy place.  Hanneke Weitering

James Webb Space Telescope Is Complete

NASA/Chris Gunn

Thursday, November 3, 2016: NASA unveiled its newly completed James Webb Space Telescope yesterday after more than 20 years of construction. The telescope is the largest ever built, with its shiny, golden mirror assembly spanning 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) in diameter. Webb will be launched into orbit in 2018, when it will replace the aging Hubble Telescope and capture new images of the cosmos.  Hanneke Weitering

Colles Nili on Mars

ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Friday, November 4, 2016: This beautifully detailed photo shows the Colles Nili region on Mars. The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter took the photo with its High Resolution Stereo Camera on May 4, 2016. Colles Nili is a long strip of elevated mounds that forms a geological boundary between the northern lowlands and southern highlands on Mars.  Hanneke Weitering

Hubble Surveys the Toucan

ESA/Hubble & NASA

Monday, November 7, 2016: The Hubble Space Telescope spied this star cluster, named NGC 299, in the southern constellation of Toucana (The Toucan), about 200,000 light-years away. It also lies within the Small Magellanic cloud, a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way. The telescope created this image with its Advanced Camera for Surveys.  Hanneke Weitering

Saturn's Spectacular Rings

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Tuesday, November 8, 2016: NASA's Cassini spacecraft took this incredible close-up of Saturn's rings from a distance of about 283,000 miles (456,000 kilometers) on Sept. 24, 2016. The image reveals small, detailed ringlets that disappear when viewed from afar.  Hanneke Weitering

A Taurid Meteor

Wednesday, November 9, 2016: Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes captured this photo of a Taurid meteor over Assateague Island National Seashore along the eastern shore of Maryland around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5th. The Taurid meteor shower will be visible through late November.  Hanneke Weitering

Recovering Orion

NASA/Bill White

Thursday, November 10, 2016: U.S. Navy divers test out recovery procedures for NASA's Orion crew module in the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 30. The capsule is designed to carry humans into lunar orbit and to an asteroid in the 2020s, and it will splash into the ocean upon returning to Earth.  Hanneke Weitering

50 Years Since Gemini 12

NASA

Friday, November 11, 2016: Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Gemini 12. On this day in 1966, NASA astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell blasted off atop a Titan II rocket to go demonstrate that astronauts could work outside of a spacecraft in orbit. It was the tenth and last manned mission of the Project Gemini.  Hanneke Weitering

A Hungry Galaxy

ESA/NASA

Monday, November 14, 2016: Meet NGC 1222, a "lenticular," or lens-shaped galaxy that is currently in the process of gobbling up two nearby dwarf galaxies. The newly acquired gas and dust in NGC 1222 has caused a wave of new star births that's lighting up the galaxy. This photo was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3.  Hanneke Weitering
Image of the Day Archives

NASA, ESA and Orsola De Marco (Macquarie University)

For older Image of the Day pictures, please visit the Image of the Day archives. Pictured: NGC 2467.

Moon and the Space Station

ESA/NASA

Monday, January 2, 2017: French astronaut Thomas Pesquet snapped this photo of the first-quarter moon lurking behind the solar arrays at the International Space Station on Dec. 6, 2016. "We mostly look at earth but sometimes we also look up into space! Humans haven't been to the Moon for a long time, but that is set to change soon," Pesquet tweeted.  Hanneke Weitering

Pandora's Close-Up

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Tuesday, January 3, 2017: Meet Saturn's moon Pandora! This photo of the little moon is the most detailed to date. NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Saturn, took to photo on Dec. 18, 2016 from a distance of 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers).  Hanneke Weitering

Happy New Year from Space!

ESA/NASA

Wednesday, January 4, 2017: Happy New Year from the International Space Station! Although the orbiting lab operates on Universal Time, Expedition 50 crewmembers celebrated the New Year at midnight in three different time zones, each corresponding to their homes in the United States, Russia and France.  Hanneke Weitering

Happy 125th Aurora-versary!

ESA/NASA

Thursday, January 5, 2017: On this day in 1892, German physicist Martin Brendel took the first-ever photo of the northern lights in black and white. To celebrate 125 years of auroral photography, we're sharing this stunning, colored photo of the light show that was taken from the International Space Station in January 2016.  Hanneke Weitering

Astronauts Prep Spacesuits for Spacewalk

ESA/NASA

Friday, January 6, 2017: Astronauts Thomas Pesquet, Peggy Whitson and Shane Kimbrough pose for a photo with EVA suits inside the airlock at the International Space Station. The photo was taken on Dec. 30 after a spacesuit "fit-check" for today's spacewalk.  Hanneke Weitering

Galaxy IC 3639

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESO/STScI

Monday, January 9, 2017: This spiral galaxy, named IC 3639, has a glowing active nucleus that contains a supermassive black hole that is hidden by gas and dust. Astronomers combined data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory to create this image.  Hanneke Weitering

Map of Dione

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Lunar and Planetary Institute

Tuesday, January 10, 2017: Meet Dione, one of Saturn's many moons. NASA's Cassini spacecraft took the images that make up this color mosaic during its first 10 years of exploring Saturn and its moons. The dark patch on the left side of the image may have been created by radiation from Saturn's magnetosphere.  Hanneke Weitering

Spiral Galaxies Collide

ESA/Hubble & NASA

Wednesday, January 11, 2017: This strangely shaped space blob was once two spiral galaxies that got a little too close for comfort. Now the two have merged into one ultraluminous infrared galaxy, destroying almost any semblance of their original spiral shapes with the force of gravity. Astronomers named it IRAS 14348-1447 after the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, where it was discovered. The Hubble Space Telescopes Advanced Camera for Surveys took this image.  Hanneke Weitering

Full Wolf Moon

Matt McCardy / Stringer (Getty Images)

Thursday, January 12, 2017: January's full moon, also known as the wolf moon, rises over Glastonbury, England on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The moon was at its fullest this morning at 6:34 a.m. EST (1134 GMT).  Hanneke Weitering

Pesquet's First Spacewalk

NASA

Friday, January 13, 2017: French astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency is performing his first spacewalk today. Here he is seen working outside the International Space Station with the Earth beneath his feet.  Hanneke Weitering
Potatoes may be able to feed real-life Red Planet explorers, just as they sustained fictional astronaut Mark Watney in the book and movie "The Martian," an ongoing experiment suggests.

On Feb. 14, 2016, researchers at the International Potato Center in Peru (known as CIP, its Spanish acronym) planted a potato tuber in a cubesat-size container that mimics Martian temperatures and atmospheric conditions. The potato sprouted, as you can see in this time-lapse video.

CIP scientists characterized these preliminary results as "positive" and said they plan to perform more experiments. [How Will a Human Mars Base Work? NASA's Vision in Images]

"If the crops can tolerate the extreme conditions that we are exposing them to in our cubesat, they have a good chance to grow on Mars," Julio Valdivia-Silva, a research associate with the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in California who works at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lima, said in a statement.

"We will do several rounds of experiments to find out which potato varieties do best," Valdivia-Silva added. "We want to know what the minimum conditions are that a potato needs to survive."

You can see the potatoes growing live at http://potatoes.space/mars.

The Mars-simulating potato-growing environment at the International Potato Center in Peru. (Image credit: CIP)

All of this potato research could have both Earthly and space-based applications, the scientists said. CIP breeds potato clones that can tolerate high salt conditions or drought. These potato varieties allow small farmers to keep growing food, even in areas that are not prime agricultural land (or those that have been affected by climate change).

"Lessons learned from the experiments could be applied in Earthly agriculture settings to increase food security around the world," Darryl Waller, a public affairs officer at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, told Space.com via email.

NASA Ames is involved with the potato-growth experiments via astrobiologist Chris McKay, Waller added. McKay has a proposal to investigate Martian plant growth using harsh Pampas de La Joya desert sand from Peru as an analogue. McKay is working with Valdivia-Silva and Melissa Guzman, two affiliated former student contractors.

"This project is a scientific collaboration building on past and current investigations of Mars-like environments here on Earth to better understand the Red Planet," Waller added. Studying Mars analogues like the deserts of Peru allows scientists to "learn more about environments previously thought too extreme to harbor life," he noted.

The soil composition inside the current container was not disclosed in the statement, but a 2016 CIP experiment combined a Martian regolith analogue with ordinary Earth soil. Potatoes grew in that mixture  a finding that could help guide future efforts to establish human outposts on the Red Planet.

"Future Mars missions that hope to grow potatoes will have to prepare soil with a loose structure and nutrients to allow the tubers to obtain enough air and water to allow it to tuberize," CIP researchers said in the same statement.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said he does not believe that carbon dioxide is a main driver of climate change.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact. So no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," EPA chief Scott Pruitt told CNBC's morning news show "Squawk Box" yesterday (March 9).

Pruitt's comments are in opposition to the scientific research on climate change. But when even the head of the EPA doubts the consensus, it can be hard to cut through the noise to understand what research scientists are really using when they express climate-change concern. [The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted]

"I think plenty of people have pretty serious concerns in their life and they just don't have the time to do all of the homework and the background to figure this out," said Katherine Moore Powell, a climate ecologist at the Field Museum in Chicago.

So here's a primer explaining exactly why scientists know the climate is changing and that human activities are causing it.

Earth is warming

At this point, even the staunchest climate deniers would be hard-pressed to argue that the climate is not warming. Simply put, it's getting hotter out there. Combining land and ocean measurements from 1850 to 2012, researchers have found that the average surface-air temperature globally has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius) since the beginning of the industrial age. That's according to the fifth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in 2014. The top graph in the figure from the IPCC report summary for policy makers shows the temperature anomaly in Celsius.

The next graph in this sequence shows sea-level rise, which has gone up globally by about 7.4 inches (0.19 meters) on average since 1901. According to the IPCC, the rate of sea-level rise since the middle of the 1800s has been higher than the rate during the previous two millennia. Scientists use tide gauges and satellite measurements to track sea-level changes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Geologists and other Earth scientists can study rocks, fossils and sediment cores to get a longer-term look at sea-level changes, according to NASA.

The bottom two graphs show rising greenhouse-gas concentrations and estimated emissions of carbon dioxide by humans since 1850. The rising trend is evident on each figure. Scientists monitor carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by pumping air into an artificial chamberand shining an infrared light through the sample. Carbon dioxide absorbs infrared light very efficiently  more on that in a minute  so the amount of infrared absorbed can be used to calculate the amount of CO2 in the sample. [Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth]

The premier (and longest-standing) site for these measurements is the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, which recently reported that the planet's atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has surpassed 400 parts per million. In 1958, when observations at Mauna Loa began, the annual carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere was 315 parts per million.

The physics of greenhouse gases

Carbon dioxide is no dark-horse candidate for the warming of the atmosphere. In 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius (who would later win the first-ever Nobel Prize for Chemistry) published a paper in the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science that laid out the basics of what's now known as "the greenhouse effect."

The effect is a result of how energy interacts with the atmosphere. Sunlight enters the atmosphere as ultraviolet and visible light; some of this solar energy is then radiated back toward space as infrared energy, or heat. The atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen, which are both gases made up of molecules containing two atoms. These tightly bound pairs don't absorb much heat.

But the greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane, each have at least three atoms in their molecules. These loosely bound structures are efficient absorbers of the long-wave radiation (also known as heat) bouncing back from the planet's surface. When the molecules in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases re-emit this long-wave radiation back toward Earth's surface, the result is warming.

Is it really carbon dioxide?

So, temperatures are rising, as are levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. But are the two connected?

Yes. The evidence is strong. In 2006, scientists presented a poster at the 18th Conference on Climate Variability and Change that even measured the effect directly. Using spectrometers (tools that measure spectra to identify particular wavelengths), the researchers analyzed the wavelengths of infrared radiation reaching the ground. Based on the varying wavelengths, the scientists determined that more radiation was occurring due to the contribution of specific greenhouse gases.

Overall, they found that greenhouse gas radiation had increased by 3.5 watts per square meter compared with preindustrial times, a rise of just over 2 percent. Other researchers have noted "missing" infrared wavelengths (opens in new tab) in radiation into space, a phenomenon that happens because these missing wavelengths get stuck in the atmosphere.

Scientists also know that the extra carbon in the atmosphere is the very same carbon that comes from burning fossil fuels. By analyzing molecular variations called isotopes, researchers can trace the origin of atmospheric carbon, Moore Powell said.

"We know what the burning of fossil fuels looks like, in a scientific sense," she said.

That's not to say that the climate is as simple as an actual greenhouse. Many factors influence global temperatures, including volcanic eruptions and variations in the solar cycle and Earth's orbit that alter the amount of sunlight reaching the planet.

But scientists know that volcanoes and the sun aren't to blame for recent climate change. According to the IPCC, volcanic carbon dioxide emissions have been, at most, a hundredth of human CO2 emissions since 1750. In addition, volcanic eruptions cause changes for short timescales of about two years, not the longer-term changes being observed currently.

The sun is more complex, but researchers have found that the recent solar-cycle minimum (between 1986 and 2008) was actually lower than the previous two solar-cycle minimums (the sun moves between quiet minimums and active maximums about once every five years). If anything, the IPPC concluded, recent solar activity should have resulted in cooling, not warming. Likewise, a 2012 study found that between 2005 and 2010, a period when solar activity was low, the Earth still absorbed 0.58 watts of excess energy per square meter, continuing to warm despite the lower level of solar energy going into the system.

Where's the real uncertainty?

Given the weight of the evidence, scientists have come to a consensus that climate change is happening, and that human greenhouse gas emissions are the primary cause.

So where are the real scientific debates?

There are still a lot of questions left about how fast climate change will happen and what the precise effects will be.

"What I would say is most uncertain is simply how quickly things are chaning," Moore Powell said. "I'm very interested in the pace."

One of the major unknowns is the ultimate influence of clouds on climate: Clouds are white, so they reflect sunlight back toward space, which could have a cooling effect. But clouds are also water vapor, which traps heat. And different types of clouds might have warming or cooling effects, so the precise role of clouds in the feedback loop of global warming remains difficult to untangle, scientists have said.

Another burning question is how high, and how quickly, the sea level will rise as warming sea waters expand and Antarctic and Arctic ice melts. The IPCC forecasted a rise of 20 to 38 inches (52 to 98 cm), assuming no efforts are made to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

That range is broad, largely because the dynamics of Antarctic ice sheets are not completely understood. If Antarctica's land-based glaciers slough off to the sea rapidly with a little bit of warming, that will be bad news for coastal communities, researchers have said. That's why scientists are watching closely right now as a rift is splitting the Larsen C ice shelf on the Weddell Sea. If the giant iceberg-calving event about to occur destabilizes the ice shelf, it could result in the rapid flow of the land-based glaciers behind it into the ocean. This type of rapid glacial flow already occurred nearby, when the Larsen B ice shelf crumbled in 2002.

For an ecologist like Moore Powell, there are also myriad questions to answer about how ecosystems will respond to a changing climate. If the pace is slow enough, plants and animals can adapt. But in many places, the change is happening very quickly, Moore Powell said.

"There's not enough time at this pace for natural adaptation to take over," she said.

Original article on Live Science.
Space Tourism and Business Looking Up







Washington DC (VOA) Mar 09, 2017





It was a surprising announcement: SpaceX, a private company, said it will fly two people to the moon next year. This has not been attempted since NASA's Apollo moon landings about 45 years ago. The news came from SpaceX founder and chief executive officer, Elon Musk. He is a billionaire who made his money from technology. In a news conference, he said two people have already paid SpaceX a "significant" amount of money to send them on a weeklong flight just beyond the moon and back. No one has been ... read more
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Cautious Optimism

In terms of foreign policy, Merkel is said to be less pessimistic than she had been right after Trump's election. Thus far, the president hasn't moved to implement his most radical demands. The nuclear deal with Iran is still in place and the idea of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been delayed for now.

The clarity with which U.S. representatives at the Munich Security Conference in February expressed their support for NATO also calmed some of the worst fears. Officials in Berlin believe that Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will lean much more toward pragmatic realpolitik than initially feared.

In addition, Trump's new National Security Adviser Herbert Raymond McMaster is regarded in Berlin as being much more calculable and well-informed than his addled predecessor Michael Flynn, who was forced to step down because of his misrepresentation of contacts he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States prior to the election.

During a video call with McMaster, Merkel's foreign policy adviser Christoph Heusgen's impression was of a man firmly rooted in traditional Republican foreign policy and that McMaster is someone Germany can work well with.

Merkel has been studying Trump from afar. She has watched his speeches and she is certain that he intends to do what he can to fulfill his promises. She is also convinced that direct contact with Trump is vital, something she realized during an extensive phone call she had with him on Jan. 28, during which she explained the Ukraine conflict to the new president.

A Shift on Russia

That Saturday afternoon, the president telephoned first with Merkel and afterward with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Officials in the Chancellery believed that the Americans had arranged the sequence intentionally so that Trump, a Putin admirer who has spoken out in favor of a new deal with the Kremlin, could first get an introduction to Russian policy from Merkel. It appears that less Moscow-friendly actors in Washington hoped that the strategy might help prevent Trump from getting too close to Putin.

The plan seems to have worked. Since then, hope has been mounting in Berlin that Washington, even under Trump, will continue to back the Minsk peace process and that it will not move unilaterally to lift sanctions. Merkel also sees it as a good sign that Fiona Hill, a recognized expert on Russia who is also a sharp critic of Putin, was appointed to the National Security Council.

Merkel is hoping to see the same kind of shift on a host of other issues important to the international community, including the Iran deal, the situation in Libya and climate change.

She also plans to explain the tenets of the European Union to the president. Officials in Berlin say that a person who found it surprising after the election that the promises he made about U.S. health care policy would be difficult to implement may have some catching up to do on other issues as well.

The trick will be finding the right tone -- to teach without sounding pedantic. "We have to fight for the trans-Atlantic relationship by proposing projects that will lead to mutual success," says Rottgen. That is Merkel's view as well. She is likely to point out to Trump, for example, that Germany has already begun implementing the U.S. president's demand for increased military spending.

A Great Threat to the Global Economy

Even though there is cautious optimism in the Chancellery about foreign policy, Merkel and her staff are preparing for the worst when it comes to trade. Even as vague as they may still be, Trump's plans could become the greatest threat to the global economy since the financial crisis, with Germany standing directly in the firing line.

Almost 50 percent of all jobs in Germany are dependent on exports. The Americans alone last year purchased 107 billion euros worth of German goods, whereas only 57 billion worth of U.S. goods got imported to Germany. The country would suffer severely if the U.S. started a trade war with Europe or China.

In order to assuage Trump, Merkel is deploying a dual strategy. In addition to her charm offensive, she also wants to send the message that, if push comes to shove, she has a nastier side as well.

On the one hand, Merkel wants to emphasize in the meeting the significant degree to which the Americans also benefit from good trans-Atlantic relations. German Economics Minister Brigitte Zypries put together a package of data for the chancellor following a meeting with trade associations last week. It shows that one-third of German foreign investment flows into the United States. It also shows that German car companies now manufacture more automobiles in the country than they export to it from Germany.

But what happens in the likely event that Trump sticks to his "America First" plans? If that happens, then Merkel is expected to push for a united EU front to blockade Washington. At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, Merkel noted, "We renewed our support for free trade."

Europe To Brace for Trade War

A few days earlier, European trade ministers met for a working lunch in Brussels and agreed to a joint position. The agreed that the EU should not fuel the conflict, but it should prepare for the possibility of a trade war with the United States.

The goal, in such a case, would be that of isolating the U.S. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom was asked to begin negotiating further agreements with other countries and regions of the world. She is currently touring the Far East in order to expedite current talks on trade agreements with Japan, India and Australia. At the same the, the EU countries are pushing ahead with their plans for public courts that would arbitrate conflicts relating to controversial investment projects. It's an initiative that the Trump administration wants to put a stop to at all costs.

Trump's trade policy adviser Peter Navarro has been the most outspoken about calling Germany the enemy. The Harvard graduate views it as a "serious issue. Germany is one of the most difficult trade deficits that we're going to have to deal with but we're thinking long and hard about that." He has also accused EU politicians of deliberately devaluing the euro to give European exporters a price advantage over their American competitors.

Even before Trump's election, Navarro had been considered an outsider with his views. Now he's the president's chief ideologist on trade. Many of Trump's allies are pushing for a radical tax policy measure to stop the stream of goods from abroad, a measure referred to in official jargon as a border adjustment tax -- a plan whereby exports would be exempt from taxes but companies would not be able to deduct money they spend on imports.. "We are taking this very seriously," says one high-ranking source in the Chancellery.

On her first visit with Trump, Merkel plans to be very open about her views on the tax plans. Her preparatory paper for the meeting states that she plans to call the punitive import measure a "protective tariff" and the tax relief for American exports a "export subsidy." She views both as being hostile acts that could trigger a trade war.

Merkel also plans to note that a levy like that would violate the pre-existing tax agreement between Germany and the U.S. They would also be out of compliance with World Trade Organization rules. The implicit threat is that Germany would not shy away from lodging a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

How Germany Could Strike Back

If none of that bears fruit, the Chancellery has begun reviewing ways it could strike back at the U.S. One idea would be to incrementally increase duties on American imports. Agreements reached within the World Trade Organization framework provide enough maneuvering room to allow for that. Another possibility would be to allow German companies to write off the U.S. import tax on their German tax declarations, thus compensating them for their competitive disadvantage.

Ultimately, Germany could also take a bigger step: lowering corporate taxes and the amount of social contributions employers are required to pay here. Both would make Germany more attractive to international corporations, but they would also cost tax payers billions of euros -- initially at least.

As the defenses are mounted against Trump, Merkel is counting on the European Commission, which recently said it wants to significantly bolster its arsenal for potential trade wars. Last November, the EU executive paved the way for improving its defense instruments, which it had originally planned to deploy against China.

But they might also help bring Trump to reason if they are approved by the European Council, the powerful body comprised of leaders of the EU member states, and the European Parliament. Furthermore, the EU has long been investigating Google for competition violations and other companies such as McDonald's and Starbucks for tax-evasion models. If need be, those investigations could be broadened at any time.
Brie Larson gave Casey Affleck the Oscar for Best Actor at the 89th Academy Awards ceremony that was held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California in February and she refused to clap for him.

Many expected Affleck to win the big prize for his incredible performance in the movie Manchester By the Sea.

However, the road that led to this moment was paved with controversy for Ben Afflecks younger brother. In 2010, he was accused of sexual harassment by several women. The cases were settled out of court.

The allegations left a stain on his reputation and almost derailed his Oscar dreams after they resurfaced in the media in the past year.

Comparisons were drawn to Nate Parker, who was involved in a rape trial while in college and saw the renewed attention on the case destroy his chances during the award season. Parker was not even invited to some of the award ceremonies.

His movie The Birth of a Nation was supposed to take him to a different level in Hollywood, but now he is fighting to even have a career.

Affleck was able to weather the storm while Parker lost it all. Some saw racism in the way Hollywood treated the two actors.

Larson, who won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2016 for her role in Room, is not so forgiving with the 41-year-old actor.

She did not clap for him and is standing by her move. The 27-year-old California native has no regrets and told Vanity Fair: I think that whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself. Ive said all that I need to say about that topic.

On Thursday, she said more to Kelly Ripa about the matter. Larson stated: I am grateful it was televised because I have no memory of it.

The actress was very touched by Lady Gagas performance at the Oscars in 2016 which addressed sexual assault.

So there is some consistency on her part.
Nouakchott (Mauritania), 10 March 2017 (SPS) - The Saharawi coordinator with the UN mission for the referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), Mhamed Khadad, was received on Thursday by Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, to whom he handed a message from President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali.

The envoy of the President of the Republic told the Mauritanian news agency, "I had the honor of meeting with His Excellency President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, to whom I handed a message from Brahim Ghali , President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic," adding that this message has addressed the bilateral relations and the latest developments in the Saharawi cause at the regional and international levels."

He said he was very pleased with the meeting, which will naturally contribute, as he said, to strengthening the relations between the Mauritanian and Saharawi peoples. (SPS)

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Brussels, 10 March 2017 (SPS) - The Polisario Front calls on the European Commission to open discussions to make legal the presence of the European economic players in Western Sahara in accordance with the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), warning that if not, the Front will act with determination to impose the full implementation of the law.

The European Commission should respect CJEUs decision and ask for the preliminary consent of the Sahrawi people, wrote the representative of the Polisario Front in Belgium Jamel Zakari in a letter sent to the agricultural and rural development commission at the European Parliament.

In this regard, he underlined that the Polisario Front has always been in favour of Western Saharas economic development, provided that the economic activities are conducted in compliance with the principle of the peoples permanent sovereignty over their natural resources when they are under foreign occupation, a fundamental element of the right to self-determination.

The Polisario Front, which hopes to reach a satisfactory solution with the European Commission which will meet the mutual interests of the Sahrawi people and the European Union, reaffirms its commitment to following, on behalf of the Sahrawi people, all the legal ways to ensure the full implementation of CJEUs decision. (SPS)

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The Chancellor has made no big changes and given little away in this Budget, and most farming businesses will be worse off as a result.

A few farm businesses could benefit from the palliatives on business rates, but the reduction in the exempt amount of dividend income, which falls from 5,000 to 2,000 from April 2018, will target many small company owners. In addition, people who are self-employed will see a 2% increase in Class IV National Insurance over the two years from April 2018. With these two measures, the Chancellor wants to level the playing field upwards between employees and those running their own businesses, but small business owners could see this as an attack on their livelihoods.

The farming sector is facing further uncertainty and change around tax. We expect further announcements and consultations in the next few weeks, which could add more woe for the sector. These are likely to include a review of partnership taxation, as HMRC has already expressed its unhappiness about the current tax treatment of employer provided accommodation. A number of employee expenses are also being reviewed including rent a room relief. It is highly unlikely that these reviews will lead to a reduction in tax for our sector.
The annual round of Scottish farm inspections is underway with unofficial reports suggesting failures around cattle ID and tagging are continuing at an unacceptably high level.

That will cost Scottish farmers thousands of pounds as the penalties associated with those breaches will see significant sums of money deducted from support payments.

NFU Scotland has prepared a guide on how to prepare for a cattle inspection and members are being encouraged to contact their local secretary or regional manager for a copy.

The cattle inspections are part of a wider audit requirement on the Scottish Government to verify that farms claiming for various support schemes are complying with the rules. Every year, inspections must be carried out on:

three per cent of holdings with cattle

five per cent of Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme claimants

five per cent of Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme claimed animals

There is an EU expectation that the Rural Payments Inspection Division (RPID) will carry out these inspections unannounced.

Early reports on cattle inspections already completed suggest that there has been a worrying increase in the number of breaches, particularly around registering and tagging of calves.

Most areas are well through the inspection process but, by issuing a warning and reminder on the requirements, NFU Scotland is urging its members to make sure that tagging and registration are in order should they be next on the list for an inspection. The Union is also urging members to be proactive, and should they identify a problem, work hard with bodies like BCMS to rectify it.
ZETOR started the New Year tour in Peterborough, UK, at the biggest international exhibition in the UK LAMMA 2017. On the British Isles, MAJOR HS had its world premiere. However, British visitors could also see other models from ZETORs portfolio including innovated FORTERRA and PROXIMA ranges.

In late January, ZETOR continued in its journey eastwards, to Hungary. Its been the 21st year that the ZETOR brand has participated in the AGROmashEXPO exhibition. Thus, visitors in Hungary were the second to see the MAJOR HS model. ZETOR returned to East Europe again in late February. Through its Ukrainian distributor Agro-Temp, ZETOR introduced all current models at the Agro Animal Show in Kiev. Thus, the visitors of the show were able to see the following models: CRYSTAL 160, FORTERRA HD 150, FORTERRA 135, PROXIMA Plus 110 or MAJOR 80.

The last stop to present new ZETOR tractors was the National Farm Machinery Show (NFMS) in the USA, which takes place annually in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. Through its affiliation ZETOR NORTH AMERICA, ZETOR presented all tractors of the innovated FORTERRA range including so far the most sophisticated FORTERRA HD tractor.

Other models of ZETORs portfolio were also displayed at the show, among them there was PROXIMA, PROXIMA POWER and MAJOR. In addition to tractors, ZETOR also displayed aggregations within ZETOR SYSTEM at the show in Kentucky.
Mint / Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Connecticut lost an independent Fortune 500 corporation Friday evening, after Samsung Electronics announced it had completed its $8 billion acquisition of Harman International Industries, while keeping Harmans main office in Stamford.

Harman moved its headquarters to Stamford in 2008 from Washington, D.C., with the giant selling consumer headphones and speakers; advanced sound production gear for professional musicians and auditoriums; and dashboard infotainment systems for major auto makers.
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Its the bridge we love to hate. Congested, expensive  charging a $15 toll  and lacking the modern design of the soon-to-be completed new Tappan Zee Bridge, the George Washington Bridge is best to be avoided.

But thats often not possible.

The GW was not the first New York City bridge designed to cross the Hudson River. There were discussions back in 1885 about building a suspension bridge to bring the Pennsylvania Railroad into Manhattan at 23rd Street. Tunnels proved to be a better idea in 1904.

Vehicular traffic needed access by the 1920s and designers conceived of a double-deck, 16-lane roadway (with an additional 12 tracks for railroads on the lower level), crossing at 57th Street.

But in 1927, construction finally began on the George Washington Bridge farther uptown, crossing from the New Jersey Palisades to 179th Street. The $75 million single-level bridge opened in 1931 with six lanes of traffic, widened by two additional lanes in 1946.

The span was originally supposed to be called The Bi-State Bridge, The Bridge of Prosperity or The Gate of Paradise, but a naming campaign by school children ended up honoring the first president.

The bridges designers fortunately planned for future growth, and the lower-level, six-lane Martha Washington section of the bridge was opened in 1962  increasing capacity by 75 percent.

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Its hard to take it all in unless you see the bridge from the Hudson River. Highway approaches from either side dont give you much perspective. Its also hard to be a sightseer when youre coping with all that traffic.

Original plans called for the bridge to be clad in concrete and granite, but the open crisscross girders and bracing are much more elegant. Though we take it for granted, the GW is recognized by architects as one of the most beautiful bridges in the word.

The bridge carried 5.5 million vehicles in its first year of operation. The count has recently exceeded 100 million per year. While vehicles pay tolls, theres one way to cross the bridge for free: walking.

While offering great views, the bridges pedestrian walkways have a dark side. There were 18 suicides and 43 attempts from the walkways in 2012 alone.

Though motorists never see it, the bridge also has its own bus terminal on the New York side, serving 1,000 buses and about 20,000 passengers each day. Known as the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, the terminal is undergoing a $180 million renovation.

The bridge is also being renovated. The Port Authority announced in 2011 an eight-year, $1 billion project to replace 529 vertical suspender wires holding up the roadways. Lanes on the upper level have also been closed overnights to replace steel surface plates.

A great time to cross the bridge is on important civic holidays, including Presidents Day, when the worlds largest free-flying American flag  weighing 450 pounds  is displayed on the New Jersey tower.

Jim Cameron is a longtime commuter advocate based in Fairfield County. Contact him at CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com.
STAMFORD  A contentious monthlong trial came to heated end Thursday as lawyers made their closing arguments in a civil suit filed by a woman seeking millions from her dead fathers estate.

Elizabeth Salters $8 million lawsuit claims her father, Harold Spalter, repeatedly sexually assaulted her while she was a child at the familys summer home in Shippan.

He violated his hippocratic oath to do no harm and he did terrible harm to his child, the 47-year-old womans attorney, Michael Dowd, told the jury of two men and four women.

Elizabeth Spalter testified for three days that her father, a former captain in the U.S. Air Force and a distinguished eye doctor at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, sexually abused her hundreds of times when she was between the ages of 6 and 17. She said most of the abuse occurred at the familys second home on Van Rensselear Avenue.

She testified her father, who died in 2014 at the age of 84, groped her while she was in bed.

Dowd reiterated in his closing statement the testimony of one of Elizabeth Spalters brothers, Jonathan, who corroborated some of his sisters accusations.

Jonathan Spalter testified when he returned from school it seemed like the life had gone out and never came back from his sister.

Another brother, Michael Spalter, testified he saw his father naked in his sisters bed and they grew up in a house of terror.

The evidence is overwhelming, Dowd told the jury.

But attorney Courtney George questioned Elizabeth Spalters credibility.

George and co-counsel David Zabel represented Spalters stepmother, Diane Rogers Spalter, the executrix of the estate.

George said Elizabeth Spalter was unable to present any records or expert witnesses to document her claims that she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, flashbacks, anxiety and depression.

George pointed to the nearly 500 exhibits the defense presented that showed a completely different Harold Spalter and household than what was described by Spalters children.

George also argued Elizabeth Spalter contradicted herself when she testified her father abused her hundreds of times when the lawsuit claimed it was about 30 or 40 times.

Elizabeth Spalter, who is a social worker in Vienna, Austria, did not report the accusations to police and filed the lawsuit after her father died, George pointed out.

The only thing that changed was that when Harold Spalter died, he favored Diane in his will, George said. We think that is why she filed the lawsuit.

Despicable. Outrageous, Dowd boomed to the jury after George sat down.

A Titanic lie, Dowd said, as he pointed his finger at George.

The jury is expected to continue deliberations on Friday.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com;
The global mattress industry is expected to reach sales of $38 million by 2020. In the past two years, Dan Adler has disrupted this massive industry in several ways. And it all started as a one-man operation in Adlers apartment.

Adler is the founder of WinkBeds, an ecommerce mattress company thats grown by leaps and bounds over the past two years. Hes done it by straddling a divide that many businesses dont even attempt to cross. WinkBeds is premised on the aesthetics of traditional craftsmanship and made-to-order, handmade goods; at the same time, the company has produced one of the most high-tech mattresses on the market.

This dual identity of craftsman and techie has enabled WinkBeds to disrupt both the traditional and ecommerce mattress industries. The companys latest disruption tactic is embodied by the launch of the brands new coolControl base, which allows for active warming and heating of the mattress.

From a one-man show to a mattress sensation: Heres how Adler's disruption reshaped the mattress industry.

Humble beginnings.

Like most bootstrapping startups, Adler started small. Before he was an entrepreneur, he was a lawyer who wanted to do something with his life other than practice law. So he started WinkBeds in early 2015 and ran the tiny mattress company in the evenings after finishing his days at the law firm. He was able to gain traction initially by riding the coattails of Caspers launch, which placed online mattress sales on the cultural radar.

Related: Party of One: Setting Up Your Single-Person Corporation

Once he was selling a few mattresses a week, Adler quit his law job and began running the business from his apartment. For a while he was a one-man operation. He fielded customer service calls, manually input customers shipping info, ran the web chat, grew the brands presence on social media and took care of every other responsibility the business required.

In July 2015, Adlers hard work paid off: A popular mattress review site gave WinkBeds a stellar review. That publicity was all the company needed to skyrocket from selling three mattresses per week to 300 per month. Shortly thereafter, Adler brought on his first employee.

Disruption drives growth.

In the time since WinkBeds was founded, the business (and the team) has steadily grown. While the size of the company has changed, one thing has remained the same: WinkBeds is a success because it continually disrupts the traditional and the online mattress industries in unique and effective ways. Heres how WinkBeds used disruption to land on the mattress industry map.

1. Create a hybrid mattress.

At the time of WinkBeds launch, most online mattress retailers were choosing to go the bed-in-a-box route, which required that mattresses be entirely foam. But Adler recognized that the most popular mattresses in America are still innerspring.

Related: Branson: There Needs to Be 'Perpetual Revolution' Within Your Business

We saw an opportunity to sell higher-end luxury mattresses because it was an underserved market online, says Adler. So he decided to manufacturer the best of both worlds: A hybrid mattress that contains two layers of innerspring coils and a layer of foam on top. The design distinguished WinkBeds from many of its competitors and resonated with consumers, who are increasingly willing to shell out for luxury goods.

2. Manufacture in the USA.

Traditional mattress manufacturing and sales involves a tremendous amount of overseas labor and shipping. In contrast, says Adler, We believe in supporting American workers and the U.S. economy. To that end, all of WinkBeds mattresses are handmade to order outside of Madison, WI.

Keeping manufacturing in-country also allows WinkBeds to retain higher quality control and safety standards. For example, all of the foam used in WinkBeds mattresses is certified toxin-free by CertiPUR. The mattresses also rely on tencel, a moisture-wicking material thats more eco-friendly than cotton.

Maintaining strict quality and ethics standards has allowed the brand to be fully transparent with its customers. I think people like doing business with brands they can trust, says Adler. In fact, consumer trust has been central to WinkBeds success, as much of the brands growth is driven by word of mouth.

3. Develop unprecedented mattress tech.

One of the most common sleep problems people experience is sleeping hot, says Adler. Yet the mattress industry has struggled to create effective temperature control mechanisms for mattresses. It was here that Adler saw a major opportunity.

Shortly after launching WinkBeds, Adler started working on a top-secret project. The fruits of that labor were revealed on February 1, when WinkBeds launched its patented coolControl base. Its the first time anybody has been able to figure out how to actively heat and cool the mattress down, says Adler.

Related: How Small Companies Can Innovate Like Big Enterprises

The base functions much like a boxspring; but instead of simply supporting the mattress above it, the base locks into the mattress and allows for temperature control via a conduction process and the use of fans, which pump hot or cold air directly into the mattress. Users control the temperature of both sides of the bed (separately or together) via an app that offers five warm setting and five cool settings. The warm settings can heat the mattress up to 30 degrees warmer than room temperature; the cold setting allows the mattress to be as much as 12 degrees cooler than the air in the bedroom.

These disruptions have earned WinkBeds a major role in the ecommerce mattress scene. And its all the result of bootstrapping. Adler has never raised investor money, so the company has never been beholden to stakeholders or arbitrary revenue numbers.

Thats allowed us to take our time in developing high-quality products, says Adler. Its been a slow build. Its all related to great customer service and the quality of our product.

Related:

Disrupting a Sleeping Giant From His Apartment

Here's What Inspired Three Indian Veterans to Innovate in the Antibiotics Domain

Geneva Motor Show: Be Impressed By This Year's Future-Ready Cars



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STAMFORD  The Ferguson Library will hold a new program to educate and connect local entrepreneurs.

The program, in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, is called 1 Million Cups, based on the idea that entrepreneurs network and discover solutions over a million cups of coffee.

Participants are invited to presentations on the first Wednesday of the month from 8 to 9 a.m. at the librarys main branch. The next meeting is April 5.

The program model for 1 Million Cups is the same in cities across the country. Two early-stage startups present their businesses to an audience of mentors, advisers and peers. Each founder presents for six minutes followed by a 20-minute Q-and-A session.

Stamfords program is led by volunteers Elizabeth Joseph, the librarys coordinator for information and adult services; Jim Huerta, co-founder and managing partner of The Nessa Group; Joe Ercolano, associate director of Connecticuts Small Business Development Center; and Brenda Lewis, principal of Transactions Marketing.

The librarys DiMattia Building is at 1 Public Library Plaza, at the corner of Bedford and Broad streets.
What I love about the real estate business is that each new property presents unique challenges to learn and grow. This is especially true in New York, where every building has its own way to inspire.

Sometimes its just marveling at a beautiful piece of architecture. Other times, it's digging up the history and understanding how the builders overcame the special challenges within the building. Often it's pragmatic -- figuring out how to creatively modernize a new condominium. No matter what the situation, theres always an opportunity to learn.

Related: The Habits of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs

Self-education is the one habit you need to cultivate, because it drives your productivity, pushes you to new heights and lights a fire underneath your feet as you carve your own path. That commitment to continuous learning leads you to everything else.

Here are five tangible ways self-education gives you the golden ticket to success as an entrepreneur:

1. It saves you time and money.

Twenty-four hours is never enough for an entrepreneur. A commitment to self-education could potentially save you weeks of time -- and your bank account.

Case in point: Alibaba founder Jack Ma rode his bike 45 minutes everyday to an American hotel just to improve his fluency in English by talking to English-speaking foreigners. Ma did this for nine years starting at the ripe old age of 12. He ended up speaking English so well, he became an English teacher at his local school in China. His eagerness for self-education is no doubt the reason Ma is now worth approximately $35.7 billion.

For the entrepreneur building the next billion-dollar app, this means gaining a basic knowledge of coding and user interface design before starting a project. While it may take a little time and investment up front, it will ultimately save hours and thousands of dollars because you have a basic understanding of these worlds.

The smart entrepreneur understands that his or her investment in education will reward them with both short-term and long-term benefits.

2. It builds confidence.

Being an entrepreneur is one of the most challenging jobs, especially if you want to stand out in New York. There are constant hurdles, and youre never short of opportunities to throw in the towel. On top of that, its easy to fall victim to your own doubts.

Learning a new skill and using it to push through a challenge can give entrepreneurs a massive boost in confidence. Its been shown that there is a strong link between education and confidence. It gives you the motivation you need to push through the humps that come with being an entrepreneur.

3. It opens new opportunities.

One of the projects that challenged, but inspired, me the most was installing solar panels on the Atelier Condos. It forced me to learn everything I could about solar and renewable energy. On top of that, I got involved on the design side as we went through revisions trying to perfect and refine the use of the panels to add an efficient, yet modern element to the building.

Related: 13 Characteristics of Successful Hustlers

By undertaking that project and learning about the future of solar, it opened so many new doors for me personally and professionally. And though the idea-to-implementation period was longer than I wouldve liked, it is by far one of the most rewarding projects Ive tackled. In fact, Im planning to install solar panels in other River 2 River properties.

Im now able to talk fluently about solar technology and renewables, which has afforded me the opportunity to speak and write about sustainability and the non-profit space.

As an entrepreneur, you simply cannot predict what new business and personal opportunities you could unleash by learning something outside your comfort zone. Through it all, Atelier stands as a beautiful step forward for integrating alternative energy and modern aesthetics in New York City.

4. Youll be sharper and happier.

I love real estate, particularly New York real estate, because it changes so fast. I have to stay abreast of current events, market shifts, etc., because the environment, neighborhoods and tastes of my clients evolve constantly. If I stop learning or if I stop reading, my business will suffer because there are people out there waiting to "eat my lunch." I'm telling you, NYC real estate is not for the faint of heart.

Investing in your self-education keeps your skills, your brain and your outlook sharp so you have the ability to adapt. And the bonus is that constant learning also makes you a happier human being. Even amoebas get bored and unhappy when they keep getting hit with the same stimuli over and over again.

Not to mention, keeping your skills sharp will ward off things like Alzheimer's. In other words, an active brain makes for a happier brain.

Related: Does a College Degree Still Matter?

5. Your gray matter makes you better at business.

There is something to the old saying that variety is the spice of life. Entrepreneurship can be a grind. Its easy to lose yourself in the constant responsibility and busywork. Thats when you start to get complacent. You develop blind spots and become vulnerable to your competition.

Thats why self-education is so important. Discovering new ideas that are unrelated to your business can release your creativity and give you perspective on your business that you would otherwise miss. Trust me, this can be the difference between life and death for your passion project.

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BRIDGEPORT  One Stamford teen has been arrested in the summer slaying of another.

Jeremy Middleton, 19, was arrested Friday in the slaying of 18-year-old Shane Slinsky, who was shot last Aug. 27. Police said Slinsky was trying to buy drugs in a parking lot on Wood Avenue Terrace in Bridgeport when he was killed by two bullets to the head.

The victims mother, who was at Middletons arraignment Friday, had been anticipating the arrest. Details about the charges against Middleton were not immediately available.

Laura Slinsky said her son and Middleton had been longtime friends.

Youre talking about a boy (Middleton) who was in my home for five years, she said in a phone interview. Jeremy would call me ma. Hed go on snowboarding vacations with my family.

A few months before he was killed, Slinsky and his family accepted a $100,000 check from the city of Stamford for injuries his family said he suffered from a drug-infused relationship with Stamford High School English teacher Danielle Watkins.

While the teacher was having a sexual relationship with one of his friends, she was also supplying Slinsky and the friend with marijuana, according to Watkins arrest affidavit.

Watkins is serving a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges of sexual assault of a student, threatening and risk of injury to a child. Stamford High Principal Donna Valentine and Assistant Principal Roth Nordin were also arrested for failing to report their suspicions about the affair to the state Department of Children and Families.

On the night he was killed, police said, Slinsky walked down the small West Side street in Bridgeport toward his killer. His death, police said, followed a drug deal gone bad, an account they say is still supported by their investigation.

Laura Slinsky disputes the police account, and argues that her son had no reason to buy marijuana that day, because he already had some.

(A detective) told me that Jeremy set up to rob Shane for his marijuana, she said.

The distinction matters to her because she contends that police statements dishonor her sons memory. Its part of a long list of complaints Laura Slinsky has lodged against the Bridgeport Police Department  also among them that she received his belongings encrusted with blood.

The departments conclusions may also disqualify her from state grants that compensate families of crime victims to offset funeral costs, according to officials with the Connecticut Office of Victim Services.

Slinskys family had offered a reward for to anyone who provides information leading to a conviction of his killer.
F or years we have known that some of the worlds best-loved animals stand on the brink of extinction in the wild. The elephant and the rhino, those gentle giants of the African plains, are particularly close to the edge. Prince William, who has done so much to promote their cause, suggested a year ago that we have maybe five to 10 years to save the latter; elephants have a little longer.

This timescale requires us to act now, and to act decisively. If we dont, the slaughter of these majestic creatures will continue until they remain merely curios in zoos. Even there it seems horned animals arent completely safe. On Tuesday a rhino at Thoiry Zoo near Paris was shot in the head by poachers, who had broken in during the night. Vince, a four-year-old male white rhino, was found dead by his keepers; his horn had been cut off with a chainsaw. The thought of the cruelty this involves is unbearable.

Tragically, demand for ivory  primarily in the Far East  shows little sign of abating soon. The rise of the Chinese middle classes, who have money to burn on aspirational goods, has fuelled an increasingly profitable trade in illegal poaching. Horn is systematically hacked from rhino and elephants, smuggled out of Africa, and then turned into both traditional medicines and fancy trinkets. An elephant is killed approximately every 15 minutes to sate the appetite for such products.

Instant action on the ground is important, of course. Last years gathering of African leaders at the inaugural Giants Club summit  the elephant- protection initiative supported by the Evening Standard  shows there is considerable will to tackle the poachers in the places they operate.

Not only have key government figures in places such as Botswana, Gabon, Kenya and Uganda committed themselves to the cause, private money is also being attracted by key conservation organisations. At the Giants Club meeting last summer, a range of backers pledged $5 million in immediate funding for new initiatives. And after the summit, the Kenyan government burned its total stockpile of 105 tonnes of ivory in a bid to make clear its complete intolerance of a trade that ultimately will destroy Africas natural heritage. This is all to the good.

However, the savannahs in which elephants and rhino roam are so vast that the African authorities often find it difficult to remain a step ahead of the poachers, who are well equipped, heavily armed and highly dangerous.

Equally vital, therefore, is the work that comes at the other end of the supply chain, persuading customers in China and elsewhere to give up their love of ivory. For a start, this means educating people that to extract ivory an elephant has to be killed  a piece of knowledge still shockingly unappreciated by many Chinese consumers. In short, would-be buyers need to be convinced that ivory belongs on living animals, not carved into items for their mantelpieces or to wear around their necks.

Impressively, the Chinese government has been quick to realise that the urgency of the situation requires action from the top. And sure enough, it has made strides towards a solution; making clear it will end its domestic ivory trade by the beginning of next year. One-off, legally sanctioned purchases of the raw material from Africa will cease and, so the hope goes, local demand for illicit ivory will be discouraged.

If such sound directives from the centre can be effectively enforced at the local level, this could truly be a turning point. The commitment shown thus far by the Chinese government to tackling this cause is one that the whole world must acknowledge and be grateful for.

Efforts by the Chinese certainly make it hard for countries in the West to take the moral high ground over elephant and rhino conservation. Indeed, in the light of initiatives by Beijing, Europe increasingly looks like the bad guy. Taken as a whole, our continent is the largest legal exporter of ivory on the planet, especially for works of art. This activity patently undermines the work undertaken by the diplomats and wildlife charities that convinced Chinas government to shut down its domestic markets.

Britain, which in recent times has developed a fine reputation in matters of wildlife conservation, is among those open to criticism. Our rules on the trading of ivory are flaky and open to abuse. Selling ivory obtained after 1975 is currently illegal and, although ministers appeared set last year to tighten regulations to ban the sale of ivory from elephants killed after 1947, the proposed change has yet to take place.

Either way, unscrupulous dealers are not averse to artificially ageing ivory products so they can be sold legitimately as antiques. Not only does this serve to reinforce the idea of ivory as a valuable commodity but also provides cover for black-market trading. All this is made possible by the existing, wishy-washy state of affairs, on which the present government has done too little to get a grip.

Before the last general election (and the one in 2005 for that matter) the Conservatives pledged to introduce a complete ban on any domestic ivory sales in the UK. That promise should, indeed must, now be fulfilled. There are many in Parliament who agree  nearly 100 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling for an immediate prohibition. Unless we take this step in forward-thinking, animal-friendly Britain, how can we say we are helping to present a united front in the fight to save the elephant?

I know there are some who worry about the livelihoods of legitimate antique dealers. Concerns are also raised about the impact of a ban on museums and art galleries in terms of future sales or acquisitions. On a case- by-case basis, exemptions for important institutions such as the British Museum  as proposed by most reasonable conservationists  are surely not beyond the wit of law-makers.

Ultimately, this is no time for half-measures. At the current rate of decline, elephants and rhino may not exist in the wild by the time a child born today reaches adulthood. But if we end the sale of ivory artefacts from the past, we can ensure that the animals from which this desirable material is so ruthlessly robbed are not, after all, consigned to history.
I t was the early 1970s when I first became aware of Howard Hodgkin, who died yesterday aged 84. I saw some of his paintings in mixed exhibitions and was intrigued by what he was doing.

I found it strange that even though he was so respected by other artists, he was far less famous than his near contemporaries David Hockney and Bridget Riley. He didnt have their international profile.

I made contact and in 1973 I went to visit him at his studio, then in a coverted mill in Wiltshire, and so our friendship began. I remember we talked that day about his love of Matisse, Bonnard and particularly about his love of India. These were the stars that guided him throughout his life and career. He first went to the India in the mid-Sixties and the people and the landscape captivated him. He also became a great collector of Indian miniatures and had one the best collections in Europe or America.

I am fortunate to have curated three shows of Howards work. The first was at Modern Art Oxford in 1976, the second in 1985 at Whitechapel Art Gallery, and the third in 2006 at Tate Britain, a large exhibition covering the entirety of career to date.

The Tate show illustrated the development of his language. The early works were painted very slowly with many layers. As his confidence grew his paintings became bigger, and he painted with so much more confidence, almost with abandon. They show his joie de vivre, his enormous love for life.

In his early days, he clearly believed in himself, which isnt the same as having confidence. For quite a long time, his work was deeply unfashionable. The art world was looking to New York and here he was, painting in oil on small wooden panels.

The turning point came in the mid-1970s when he started to paint on a larger scale after spending more time in India. I think coming out as gay helped his work enormously. He relaxed and his work became more expressive and open. His sexuality became visibly part of his paintings and his relationships, including his friendship with his partner of 30 years, the opera dramaturge Antony Peattie, were reflected in much bolder and more sensuous works.

He never stopped working at his studio  a converted dairy near the British Museum  and new paintings completed recently in Mumbai have just returned to London.

He leaves a legacy as one of the 20th-centurys great colourists. People always say painting is dying but he was a role model for younger painters in his conviction and determination to express a very personal view of the world. His gift was the way that he married the traditions of 19th-century Impressionism and Post-Impression with the colour of his beloved India.

He was given many awards, including the Turner Prize in 1985, but his Companion of Honour in 2003 probably meant most to him, as it was a recognition of his life and work.

His close friendships with other artists and writers such as Julian Barnes, Alan Hollinghurst and Colm Toibin mattered greatly to him, and in conversation he was always utterly focused on you. His emotions were close to the surface, and it didnt take much to make him burst into tears  but not in a bad way. People were what mattered most to him. He loved good conversation and the company of friends, and I shall remember his capacity for laughter and great insights into art.
A couple who met while working at St John are opening their own restaurant in Lewisham.

Terry Blake and Yohini Nandakumar will launch Sparrow later this month, serving a menu influenced by their combined experience in restaurants including Bao, Merchants Tavern, Pollen Street Social and The Square, as well as St John.

Read all the latest restaurant news and reviews

There will also be influences from Terrys time cooking in New Zealand and Yohinis Sri Lankan heritage.

It is this eclectic set of inspiration which has led to the name.

A couple of chefs: Terry Blake and Yohini Nandakumar

Yohini said: We chose the name Sparrow because it reflects the kind of food that we make, like a sparrow we arent specific to a place or country. One week we might put a classic Italian dish on the menu and other times well make a crunchy Malay-style salad with whatever is in season.

The regularly-changing menu will focus on seasonal British ingredients, with dishes planned for the launch including a courgette trifolati pasta with roasted spring onion bruschetta, roast pork belly with harissa, and glazed ham slices served with home-baked sourdough and rhubarb relish.

Southern style: the restaurant will have a minimal look

Puddings will include a salted chocolate caramel tart, a condensed milk ice-cream affogato, and a nutmeg custard tart.

Many of these dishes will be served to share.

At weekends it will offer brunch, with dishes including Eggs Benedict and coconut pancakes with peanut caramel, as well as traditional Sri Lankan appam, better known as hoppers.

The space will be decorated in a minimal fashion, with emerald green tiles lending a bright splash of colour, and will have a central open kitchen as a focal point.

It will sit on Rennell Street close to Lewisham Station and will open for dinner from Tuesday to Saturday as well as brunches from 10am to 5pm on weekends.

It sounds like good news for Lewisham, which recently saw separate plans for a Polpo and a food market from the Street Feast team both withdrawn.
O utside, Storm Doris may be brewing but inside the Camden home of Luke Edward Hall, all is serene. The 27-year-old artist is nursing a cup of builders tea as he shows me around the one-bedroom flat he shares with his boyfriend, Duncan Campbell, a branding consultant. With its forest-coloured walls, myriad pot plants and vessels filled with budding tulips, it is, he says, a little oasis to come home to.

Hall is hot property at the moment. After a game-changing illustration commission for Burberrys AW16 campaign and his impressive curation of a contemporary art show for Christies last year, the Central Saint Martins graduate has been described as the wunderkind of the design world. Hes since collaborated with heavy-hitting brands such as Anthropologie (on cushions), Berry Bros & Rudd (creating a bespoke wine label for the house Claret) and The Lacquer Company (think eye-catching drinks tables and trays).

Raised in Hampshire, he moved to London to study for an art foundation and menswear degree at Central Saint Martins, initially living in Bethnal Green before moving to Camden six years ago. It was Campbell who found the second-floor flat in a Victorian terrace row just off Camden Square. It was totally f***ed. The plaster, the heating... it was a grotty, unloved studio let with a poky kitchen, Campbell laughs.

With only one room for the living, dining and kitchen spaces, they have had to be creative. The poky kitchen was ripped out of its enclave; now there is a single kitchen countertop with a stove in the main living space, overlooking the dining table. It makes entertaining more convivial, he says, smiling  although Hall admits one drawback is the need for keeping it in order; everything happens in here, from cooking and eating to hanging out. Meanwhile, the kitchen cavity has been filled with a mini office nook.

The pair have a fondness for collecting antiques and homeware pieces from their travels, whether its a Murano glass fruit bowl shaped like a fish (Duncan couldnt leave the shop in Italy without it) or an astounding collection of vintage ashtrays, from cut crystal to a gilded Fornasetti version alongside another in a jolly yellow (snaffled from the Hotel Cipriani in Venice).

Luke Edward Hall: at home 1 /10 Luke Edward Hall: at home A tray by the designer helps keep accessories organised The office fits snugly into the space a tiny kitchen once filled; Chris Tubbs Halls walls are covered in framed art that complements the bright colours and contrasting patterns flowing through the flat. Chris Tubbs A peach marble dining table is Halls favourite piece in the apartment. Chris Tubbs Potted plants add to the oasis feel Chris Tubbs

Every wall is covered in framed artwork, from Halls own Cocteau-like drawings and vintage exhibition posters to a rather charming pair of New Yorker covers illustrated by Pierre Le-Tan. Their hero piece? A peach marble dining table sourced from Ebury Trading. Its our favourite thing in the whole house, swoons Hall. I love the softness of the colour.

One of Halls great inspirations is Wilton House in Salisbury. I love those old pictures of Cecil Beaton and Rex Whistler hanging out on the lawn in fancy dress. I love proper fancy dress  no one does that enough. We always talk about throwing a party with a full-on Marie Antoinette vibe but it never quite happens.

Perhaps its because of the sheer number of projects Hall has on the go; theres the collaboration with Alex Eagle on a line of hand-painted ceramics for her Soho store, alongside prints and textiles sold on his own website. This month Hall also launches a concession at Liberty to sell original drawings alongside a new range of vases, all very Bloomsbury  the Omega Workshops were a big inspiration. Good thing his studio is just a short hop away at Camdens Cob Gallery, a space he shares with gallerist Victoria Williams and playwright Polly Stenham.

Halls busy schedule renders his downtime at home all the more precious. If the pair arent escaping to the country for the weekend (its become an obsession to find a folly or cottage to rent outside London, admits Hall) its all about lazy Sundays at home: a day spent cooking, reading and an episode or two of Agatha Christies Marple  a classic Sunday activity.

Luke Edward Halls collection is available at Liberty (lukeedwardhall.com)
We already wanted to emigrate there  and now theres another reason to browse Skyscanner for the next flight to Reykjavik. (And this is before we even consider the countrys beautiful scenery.)

Now, Iceland has become the first country to make it illegal to pay men more than women for doing the same work.

The new decree requires companies with more than 25 employees to "obtain government certification of their equal-pay policies." Which means Icelandic companies need to present proof of wage equality to the government immediately. Failure to do so runs the risk of being fined and charged with criminal misconduct.

Last year, Iceland pledged to make companies prove they offer employees equal pay, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality or nationality.

Announcing the new law on International Womens Day, the government said every company with 25 or more staff would need a certificate to show it pays them equally. Similar schemes exist in Switzerland and in Minnesota in the US, but Iceland is the first to make the requirement mandatory.

The certification requires these companies to not only offer equal pay for equal work, but also equal pay for work of the same value, Icelands Ministry of Social Affairs and Equality said.

The Equal Pay Standard, on which the certification requirements are based, does this by assessing a companys pay policies, classification of jobs according to equal value and wage research on the basis of the classification, as well as formalising policies and processes related to pay decisions.

The move aims to help the small but powerful nation achieve its goal of tackling the gender pay gap by 2022. The pay gap in Iceland currently stands at 14 to 18 per cent on average, compared with 17.5 per cent in the UK and an average of 15.5 per cent among the OECD group of industrialised nations.

Iceland: in pictures 1 /12 Iceland: in pictures Goafoss in North Iceland Whale watching near Husavik Jeannot Attard The puffin and reindeer starter at STRIKI, a smart rooftop dining spot with fjord views in Icelands second city, Akureyri (strikid.is) Nordic Apartments Chilling out in Hofsos The Kleifarmork campsite The village of Holar, near Hofsos Falljokull glacier Elli Thor Magnusson The Blue Lagoon

Thorsteinn Viglundsson, Icelands Equality and Social Affairs Minister, said the country had not yet made sufficient progress towards eradicating the pay gap, despite taking steps such as introducing dedicated paid leave for new dads and 40 per cent quotas for women on boards of larger companies... It is the right time to do something radical about this issue.

Viglundsson added: We want to show the world that eradicating the gender pay gap is an achievable goal and we hope other nations will follow suit in adopting the Equal Pay Standard in years to come.

In October 2016, thousands of women in Iceland left work early to protest against the gender pay gap. They walked out of their workplaces at 2.38 pm, the time in an eight-hour day from which they effectively stop being paid for their work.

If the new legislation passes through parliament as expected, the government hopes to implement it by 2020.

Viglundsson acknowledged that not everyone supports the new law, claiming it would create additional bureaucracy for companies, but he said any opposition would be worth it. "It is a burden to put on companies to have to comply with a law like this," he said.

"But we put such burdens on companies all the time when it comes to auditing your annual accounts or turning in your tax report. You have to dare to take new steps, to be bold in the fight against injustice." Too right.

Read more from Refinery29:

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Justin Trudeau's Tribute To International Women's Day Is Pure Leadership Perfection

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P rince Charles's former Savile Row tailor has said that the street is being ruined by an influx of half-baked brands.

Thomas Mahon has moved his main London base from Mayfair to Marylebone after growing disillusioned with The Row. In an interview with the Standard he said: I guarantee you if you are browsing in Savile Row now you will pick up a garment made in China.

Youve now got these half-baked brands that dont really make things. Only about 35 per cent to 40 per cent of it is now functioning with a proper workshop. In the old days you didnt even have suits in the shops, everything was made by the tailors.

Im not angry at them, it could be worse I suppose, it could be private equity firms, but it is not the same place it used to be and theres no denying it. Its the same as on Harley Street where you have all the doctors moving in there just to give themselves a bit of kudos.

Recent additions to the street include US chain Abercrombie & Fitch, which opened a branch in 2007.

Mr Mahon worked as head cutter for Savile Row tailors Anderson & Sheppard before setting up his own firm, English Cut, in 2001. He made what he admits was a pioneering move to Chiltern Street in Marylebone last November after visiting the Chiltern Firehouse restaurant for dinner with a client. He opened a 600 sq ft shop where he sells his made-to-measure range as well as serving bespoke clients.

The tailor, whose customers include Sir Jony Ive, Apples chief design officer, and who is said to make suits for David Beckham and Bryan Ferry, has no regrets about the move.

The street has become home to stores including US chain Abercrombie & Fitch, known for its attractive sales staff

He said: Weve been received very well and the shop has been performing better than I expected. It is much nicer here, this area has got a villagey feel and its safe to say the rates and rents are 25 per cent lower.

Savile Row is very, very busy, but not necessarily busy with tailors any more. Its changed such a lot. I go there a lot to see tailors and they say to me, Thomas, moving was the best thing youve ever done because this street is being ruined.

He said it was possible other Savile Row tailors would follow him north of Oxford Street although the only other big name in the area is Sean Connerys former tailor Anthony Sinclair, of Mason & Sons.

Mr Mahon, who endured many years of being summoned to Highgrove late at night when he was working for Charles, added: All my bespoke clients see me here, they love it. Theres no bitterness in my heart but do the top executives feel they need to go to Savile Row to get a bespoke suit? No, theyre a bit more educated than that. Eight out of 10 of my bespoke clients say, I love this street. Thats no surprise, its a very well connected area.
C hefs living and working in the Arctic Circle have to be tough. Winter temperatures plummet to -30C and the wind can blow you sideways. Not all chefs have had a stand-off with a polar bear and survived though, and Anders Bergwall enthrals us with his tales of adventure while nipping to the kitchen to cook up the best in Arctic cuisine.

Swedens answer to Bear Grylls had originally planned our seven-course Taste of the Arctic experience to be served in an igloo hed built by hand in the mountain resort of Bjorkliden, Swedish Lapland. The night before our stay, however, winds hit 106 mph  the highest ever recorded  so we decamp to our luxury log cabin and learn what its like to live in one of the most extreme places on Earth.

The coldest Ive ever been is -53C in the high mountains, Anders says while flipping golden-brown Arctic char fillets over in a pan. Its quite cold. And you have to be careful because when its that cold, tent zips start to break.

We ask him why he wanted to camp in death-inducing temperatures. He smiles: Because we wanted to feel the cold

After training as a chef in France, and setting up Swedens mountain rescue, Anders now runs Arctic Guides, and pilots a helicopter for heli-skiers and Sami reindeer herders who need to be dropped into remote mountain valleys.

Dogsledding pooches

But cooking is still one of his passions and his culinary journey through the Arctic starts with smoked reindeer heart and local lingonberry juice. Admittedly it is an assault on the senses, but tastes delicious and we eat it like slivers of salami. Courses of roe, reindeer and elk follow; pudding is panna cotta made with rare cloudberries. Were then asked if wed like local cheese in our after-dinner coffee, at which point we think this Arctic hard man may have spent one too many nights out in the cold. Yet tofu-like blocks of cheese plonked in coffee is a traditional Sami breakfast, much loved when temperatures begin to bite.

Ida-Marie Svonnis tipi / Off the Map Travel

Food here is the opposite of fast food culture and mass production, says Anders, who is often paid in reindeer meat in return for giving people lifts in his helicopter.

Anders Taste of the Arctic evening is exclusive to Off The Map Travel, a company which sources bespoke journeys that take you right to the heart of the Arctic. Another unique experience is an afternoon spent with Ida-Maria Svonni, who gives us a slice of her Sami culture in a wooden tipi, once used as her communitys tiny school near the town of Kiruna. She serves coffee in traditional wooden ladles, and runs workshops making Sami flatbread.

Northern Lights stays - in pictures 1 /9 Northern Lights stays - in pictures Eliassen Rorbuer, Norway Cool Stays Croft 103, Scotland Cool Stays Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, Norway Cool Stays Manhausen Sea Cabins, Norway Cool Stays Lewis Longhouse, Scotland Cool Stays Kakslauttanen Glass Igloos, Finland Cool Stays Ion Hotel, Iceland Cool Stays

Local tourist board chief David Lind, a Volvo-driving Swedish hipster with immaculate style, tells us the Arctic still has a clear slow food focus.

The locals  on a larger scale than most places  catch their own fish, hunt their own meat and shoot their own birds. The midnight sun also gives a short summer with an intense amount of sunlight so we have loads of berries. But berries cant be produced on a big scale. Nature does it for us and we have to bide our time pick them and prepare what we want to use them for.

For fine dining, Abisko Sky Station offers a four-course Nordic experience where visitors take a 20-minute chairlift up to a panoramic observation centre under the summit of Mt. Nuolja. Its one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights. However, the Arctic storm that put a stop to Anders plans is in its infancy and the chairlift is out of action. We dont care, though, because suddenly the Northern Lights come out and we squeal like excited children. Nipping out into the cold between courses of fennel soup, king crab and cured reindeer with kale, we watch a glowing green rainbow-like arc emerge across the sky. Its an amazing sight.

Ice cool: Restaurant Lapporten / Markus Alatalo

Many people visit Swedish Lapland purely to spend a night at the world-famous Icehotel, now renamed Icehotel 365 because, thanks to impressive solar-power technology, its open year-round. I stay in one of their -5C ice rooms, named Sugar Suite. Its all great fun, but I end up being one of the rare visitors who finds their room too cold to get a decent nights sleep. At breakfast everyone is buzzing about how much they loved it, so it appears theres no predicting how you will take to sub-zero sleeping arrangements.

Im blown away, though, at the evening ice-tasting menu. Served on blocks of ice, we get salmon and soy jelly to start, and of the three middle courses, I love Arctic char with moss. Others are won over by slow-cooked elk with spruce shoot mayonnaise, and we wash it down with Islager, made of ice from the same Torne River that creates Ice Hotel 365.

Camp Ripan Spa

For a blast of luxury before we depart, we move to a lodge called Camp Ripan and visit its glorious spa, with an outdoor hot-tub for unbroken Aurora-spotting. Their award-winning fine-dining restaurant serves perfectly cooked reindeer steak under candlelight and, with a glass of wine and great conversation, I realise Im having my first mys moment  Swedens version of the much-hyped Danish hygge. And Im in heaven.

With so much competition for Northern Lights holidays, the race is on for individual regions to offer something extra. And the food of Swedish Lapland, developed in conjunction with its indigenous Sami population, is a real pull. Arctic cuisine might just be Scandinavias next big thing.

Off the Map Travel

Details: Swedish Lapland

Off the Map Travel (0800 566 8901; offthemaptravel.co.uk) offers a similar Northern Lights adventure to Swedish Lapland from 1,950pp, based on two people sharing for four nights. Includes B&B, transfers and activities including dogsledding, the Taste of the Arctic experience, and the Aurora Sky Station dinner. Excludes flights.
S choolchildren brawling with stolen mops brought a busy high street to a standstill as police swarmed the scene to make three arrests.

The mass fight broke out after dozens of schoolchildren, some in uniform, ransacked a convenience store opposite Brixton police station at 5.15pm yesterday.

Tim Jones, 44, a ticket tout, told the Standard the scene was absolute chaos as three vans and four squad cars arrived to disperse the crowd.

He said:There was a massive fight with youths, it was huge and the police had to chase them around. Ive no idea what it was over, there were loads of kids but just as many police to take them on.

They arrested one young guy and two little girls.

Another witness said: They were grabbing mops and hit them so hard on each other they broke.

Police at the scene in Brixton

The police handcuffed one girl and had her on her belly on the floor. She was only tiny but she was hollering and making a hell of a noise.

A shopkeeper at JF Grocers said: They took two mops straight out of the front. I tried to chase them but there were too many. The mops were smashed to pieces.

Ive been here for 12 years and its getting worse, there is no penalty to stop them from behaving this way.

One passerby tweeted: It took the whole of Brixton police station to arrest a school girl.

A Met Police spokesman said: Police were called to Brixton Road at 5.15pm to reports of a fight in progress.

Two females and a male were arrested on suspicion of affray. They are in currently in custody at a south London police station.

There were no reports of any injuries.
T hree people have been arrested after a mass brawl broke out among youths in a south London street.

Police descended on the area in Brixton after the violence erupted on Thursday afternoon.

Scotland Yard said officers were called to reports of a fight shortly after 5pm in Brixton Road.

A large group of teenagers, both male and female, were believed to be involved in the brawl at the junction of Stockwell Road.

Police descended on Brixton Road

Video footage shows a swarm of emergency services vehicles, including five police cars and a van, at the scene.

Brixton Road was sealed off for a short period while officers dealt with the incident.

A Met Police spokesman said: Police were called to Brixton Road at 5.15pm on March 9 to reports of a fight in progress.

Two females and male were arrested on suspicion of affray.

"We await a breakdown of their ages.

They are in currently in custody at a south London police station.

He added that there were no reports of any injuries.
T he family of a child actor and his aunt who were mowed down and killed by an out of control millionaires son as he fled police have criticised his disappointing jail term.

Joshua Dobby, 23, careered through the streets of south London at three times the speed limit before crashing into 10-year-old Makayah McDermott and his aunt Rozanne Cooper, 35.

He stepped over the badly maimed body of another young child injured in the crash as he fled the scene in Lennard Road in Penge, south London, without glancing back.

Dobby, who had 53 previous convictions, dating back to the age of 13, admitted two counts of manslaughter and injuring the girl in August last year.

He was sentenced at the Old Bailey today to 12 years in prison with a further three on extended licence.

DC Ian Payne speaks outside The Old Bailey in London with the families of Makayah McDermott and his aunt Rozanne Cooper / PA

In a statement released after the sentencing, the family of Makayah, who had just earned his big break as a child actor in a production of the Wizard of Oz, and Ms Cooper hit out at the length of Dobbys jail term and said he had shown no remorse for his actions.

"The family are disappointed with the length of custodial sentence passed by the judge today, the family said.

We came here today to see justice done and in the hope that Joshua Dobby would show remorse & sorrow for killing our beautiful Rosie and our wonderful Makayah  but he has shown none.

Joshua Dobby killed a child actor and his aunt

They were taken from us with still many years of their lives to live and have left our family with a deep void that will never be filled.

We, as a family would like to thank the police, all our friends, relatives and everyone for their comfort and support during our dark days since Rosie and Makayah were taken from us.

In an impact statement read out in court, Ms Coopers father Martin, who was at the scene of the crash, said he had been left feeling like he "let down" his family by being unable to stop Dobby.

Dobby drove the stolen Ford Focus in the wrong direction on one-way streets in Penge, running red lights, and swerving at high speeds around oncoming traffic.

Rozanne Cooper, the aunt of the children, also died / Facebook

With a police car in hot pursuit, Dobby lost control of the car as he took a left turn at 55mph, the vehicle striking a bollard and being propelled into the air, landing on Ms Cooper and Makayah as they walked to the park to go on the swings and have ice cream.

Dobby, who fled from the scene but was quickly captured nearby, had been in a similar car chase in Kent five days earlier, but got away after deliberately speeding at traffic on the wrong side of a dual carriageway and forcing police to abandon the chase on safety grounds.

At the Old Bailey this morning, Dobby, came face-to-face with grieving relatives as he apologised for his actions, saying: It was reckless and it was stupid. I understand it's caused hurt and anger.

"I know sorry doesn't cut the mustard but I'm truly sorry for what I've done."

He admitted he had taken 60 worth of crack cocaine and heroin the previous day and was funding a drug habit with petty crimes.

Two killed: Police at the scene after the crash / Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

In a letter to his girlfriend from prison, Dobby wrote: "I swear by almighty God that I will never put another drug in my body. I take oath on that.

"Two innocent people have lost their lives because of my selfish f***ing actions and it all boils down to drugs. It should have been me that lost my life but it wasn't.

After the crash, he also told police he "didn't know what he was doing" and conceded in an interview with a probation officer that he was "out of control".

But Dobby insisted today that he was not high at the time of the crash or affected by drug withdrawal symptoms.

He was spotted by police at around 2pm on August 31 driving the stolen car in Penge, hoping to sell it for cash to buy more drugs.

The court heard police who were pursuing commented that the situation was "low risk" and they are under investigation for their handling of the incident.

In the previous car chase, Dobby got away by driving so dangerously the police had to back off for the safety of the public.

He sped at up to 80mph, driving at oncoming traffic, taking roundabouts in the wrong direction and overtaking on blind bends at speed.

Dobby, who has never had a driving licence, was on licence from an 18-week prison sentence for handling stolen goods at the time of the crash, and has an April 2010 conviction for aggravated vehicle taking which ended in a crash.

It also emerged that Dobby is the estranged son of millionaire Mark Dobby, who lives in a 2.7m house in Kent and runs a pet food wholesale company as well as an investments company and a property lettings agency.

At the time of the crash, he was 'sofa-surfing' with friends or sleeping in a car.

Mitigating, Tyrone Smith QC said: "His upbringing can only be described as horrific. Those people responsible for parenting him failed in the most lamentable way to protect him from drugs, provide a safe and loving environment and maximise the positive aspects of his character."

Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC also sentenced Dobby for 16 months concurrent for dangerous driving relating to an incident on August 26 last year on the A228 near Snodland in Kent.

He took account of Dobby's life which was "unhappy and very difficult and not always of your own making" which contributed to "poor decision making" and found he was a significant risk to the public in the future.

Even though Dobby did not have a driving licence, the judge further disqualified him for 15 years.
A wealthy financial advisor is facing jail after he was caught in a sting by a paedophile hunter when he arranged to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old girl in south-east London.

Jonathan Hunt, 51, targeted a teenager called Holly through social media site Badoo, sending sexually explicit messages and pleading for pictures of her in her school uniform.

Hunt, who had a respectable facade as a married financial advisor to clients around the world, set up a "date" with the girl and promised to "be gentle" when they had sex.

But he was instead confronted by Sarah Doherty, the 36-year-old founder of vigilante group Internet Interceptors, who had been posing as Holly to snare paedophiles.

Confronted: Jonathan Hunt was met by so-called paedophile hunters at Plumstead station / Internet Interceptors

At the Old Bailey on Friday, a jury found Hunt guilty of arranging to meet a girl under 16 following grooming, despite his claims that he only wanted to take Holly shopping.

Hunt was caught on camera by Ms Doherty when he arrived at Plumstead train station on September 14 last year expecting to meet Holly.

Confronted and told police were on the way, Hunt admitted arranging the meeting but insisted that he did not have sex in mind.

He brushed off explicit messages he had sent, claiming he was drunk and did not mean it, and said his suggestion that Holly should strip for him into a shop changing room was "light-hearted".

Hunt suggested he was "a million miles away" from having sex with the girl, although he admitted he was "inappropriate and wrong" to have flirted with her online.

Prosecutor Mr Malone told the court Hunt had "an ongoing interest in Holly, a desire to meet her, spend time with her, develop a relationship with her and a willingness to go to her house alone with her.

"At no stage does the defendant suggest despite knowing her age that he would wait until she was 16-years-old, nor indeed does he ever seek to establish when that is that she will turn 16," he said.

He also voiced concerns that she may be part of a sting operation, but still went through with the meeting after telling her that sex would be "cool, very cool".

Hunt, of Shepherds Way, Rickmansworth, denied arranging to meet a female aged under 16 following grooming.

He is due to be sentenced on March 27.
A n "out of control" millionaires son who killed a child actor and his aunt while fleeing from police in a stolen car has been jailed for 12 years.

Joshua Dobby, 23, careered through the streets of south London at three times the speed limit before crashing into 10-year-old Makayah McDermott and his aunt Rozanne Cooper, 35.

He drove the stolen Ford Focus in the wrong direction on one-way streets in Penge, running red lights, and swerving at high speeds around oncoming traffic.

With a police car in hot pursuit, Dobby lost control of the car as he took a left turn at 55mph, the vehicle striking a bollard and being propelled into the air, landing on Ms Cooper and Makayah as they walked to the park to go on the swings and have ice cream.

Dobby, who fled from the scene but was quickly captured nearby, had been in a similar car chase in Kent five days earlier, but got away after deliberately speeding at traffic on the wrong side of a dual carriageway and forcing police to abandon the chase on safety grounds.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison with a further three on extended licence.

At the Old Bailey this morning, Dobby, who has admitted manslaughter, came face-to-face with grieving relatives as he apologised for his actions.

"It was reckless and it was stupid. I understand it's caused hurt and anger", he said.

"I know sorry doesn't cut the mustard but I'm truly sorry for what I've done."

Makayah McDermott was killed when a stolen car mounted the pavement and hit him

He admitted he had taken 60 worth of crack cocaine and heroin the previous day and was funding a drug habit with petty crimes.

In a letter to his girlfriend from prison, Dobby wrote: "I swear by almighty God that I will never put another drug in my body. I take oath on that.

"Two innocent people have lost their lives because of my selfish f***ing actions and it all boils down to drugs.

"It should have been me that lost my life but it wasn't.

"I still have a life and I'm determined to do something with it for the same of that child and you."

After the crash, he also told police he "didn't know what he was doing" and conceded in an interview with a probation officer that he was "out of control".

Rozanne Cooper, the aunt of the children, also died / Facebook

But Dobby insisted today that he was not high at the time of the crash or affected by drug withdrawal symptoms.

He was spotted by police at around 2pm on August 31 driving the stolen car in Penge, hoping to sell it for cash to buy more drugs.

Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC showed police dash-cam footage of the chase in court.

"He was swerving into oncoming traffic lanes, driving at speed over mini roundabouts with little or no view of other joining traffic", he said.

"He overtook a double decker bus at high speeds on the wrong side, ignoring no entry and no left turn signs and he clipped a parked car."

Mr Orchard said Dobby, who had been doing 60mph along leafy 20 zone streets, lost control of the car as he turned into Lennard Road, killing Makayah and Ms Cooper and badly injuring another child.

"When the Ford reached the junction, it began to turn left and it sounded like the vehicle was accelerating", said the prosecutor.

"The driver of the Ford lost control of the car, it hit the pavement and struck a metal bollard which launched the front of the vehicle into the air."

While the victims were trapped under the car, Dobby got out and fled without glancing back.

The court heard police who were pursuing commented that the situation was "low risk" and they are under investigation for their handling of the incident.

In the previous car chase, Dobby got away by driving so dangerously the police had to back off for the safety of the public.

He sped at up to 80mph, driving at oncoming traffic, taking roundabouts in the wrong direction and overtaking on blind bends at speed.

In an impact statement, Ms Cooper's father Martin, who was at the scene of the crash, said he had been left feeling like he "let down" his family by being unable to stop Dobby.

Dobby, who has never had a driving licence, was on licence from an 18-week prison sentence for handling stolen goods at the time of the crash, and has an April 2010 conviction for aggravated vehicle taking which ended in a crash.

Following the deaths, relatives and friends paid tribute to Ms Cooper and Makayah, who had just earned his big break as a child actor in a production of the Wizard of Oz.

He, along with his sisters and cousin, were all talented actors and models, having appeared in magazine shoots, TV commercials, and on book covers.

Makayah himself had starred in an advert for Asda and was auditioning for the lead role in a TV series when he died.

It also emerged that Dobby is the estranged son of millionaire Mark Dobby, who lives in a 2.7m house in Kent and runs a pet food wholesale company as well as an investments company and a property lettings agency.

At the time of the crash, he was 'sofa-surfing' with friends or sleeping in a car.

Dobby, who is of no fixed address, admitted two counts of manslaughter, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and dangerous driving.

Mitigating, Tyrone Smith QC said: "His upbringing can only be described as horrific. Those people responsible for parenting him failed in the most lamentable way to protect him from drugs, provide a safe and loving environment and maximise the positive aspects of his character."

Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC also sentenced Dobby for 16 months concurrent for dangerous driving relating to an incident on August 26 last year on the A228 near Snodland in Kent.

He took account of Dobby's life which was "unhappy and very difficult and not always of your own making" which contributed to "poor decision making" and found he was a significant risk to the public in the future.

Even though Dobby did not have a driving licence, the judge further disqualified him for 15 years.

Dobby shrugged at the family of his victims as he was sent down.
A "shy and loving" business student who was left critically injured after being stabbed by a gang of teenagers will never make a full recovery, police believe.

Jamel Boyce, 17, was stabbed multiple times in the heart and legs when he was ambushed by the gang behind a Sainsburys supermarket in Clapham, south London, at 7.10pm on October 14 last year.

The teenager, who studied at St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College, lost the majority of his brain function following the attack and has not regained consciousness since, police revealed.

He has now been transferred to a special care unit, leaving his parents Pansy and Patrick Boyce faced with immeasurable grief over losing the boy they knew.

Stabbing victim: Jamel Boyce's parents have released a heart-breaking image of him in hospital / Met Police

A harrowing image released by his family show Jamel in a hospital bed, forced to breathe through a tube.

Detectives retraced Jamels steps leading up to the brutal stabbing on Friday and made a fresh appeal for witnesses to come forward.

Police believe the attack, during which the teenage had his future ripped from him stemmed from a minor argument at a branch of McDonalds on Clapham High Street around 3pm the same day.

Jamel Boyce, 17, is fighting for life after being stabbed in the chest and legs

He is then believed to have been involved in a fight with a group of four thugs in a car park opposite the Sainsburys store, in Triangle Place, later the same evening.

In a transcript of a 999 call, released by police on Friday, a caller tells police that the gang were harassing a boy.

The caller then says: A boy (Jamel) is on the floor and adds that he looks hurt.

The group are believed to have fled towards Nelson's Row, Clapham Park Road or Clapham High Street following the attack.

Police and mother of son on Clapham stabbing

In an emotional appeal for witnesses Mrs Boyce said: I would hate for any other mother or family to go through what we are going through right now; if you know what happened, and who did this to my son, please look into your conscience and speak to police."

Detective Sergeant Paul Graves of Lambeth CID said: "On October 14 last year, a teenager had his future ripped away from him. He was brutally stabbed following what we believe was a minor argument.

"Jamel was left fighting for his life and now only a fraction of his brain is functioning, barely enough to keep his heart beating. He is not conscious, he can't walk, he can't speak and is extremely unlikely to make any significant recovery.

"We need your help. Jamel's condition is not improving and he will never have any quality of life. His family's grief after losing the boy they knew is immeasurable.

"If you called 999 initially or you thought your information wasn't significant, call us now; every bit of information is vital. Contact us today and help bring the people who did this to justice.

"From speaking to witnesses, it appears that the incident would have appeared innocuous at first glance and people may not have realised he had been stabbed.

In mid-October, three 17-year-old boys and a 16-year-old boy were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and bailed pending further enquires to a date in early-April.

Two 20-year-old men and a 17-year-old boy were also arrested and later released with no further action.

Anyone with any information or anyone who recognises the individual in the image is asked to contact Lambeth CID on 07785 774447 or 101.

Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.
T he victims of a Mission: Impossible style raid in which gems and watches worth more than 100,000 were stolen today said they had lost everything in seconds.

CCTV footage shows a raider scale the fence of a mansion on a private estate, leap onto a balcony and prise open a window, before ripping a safe from the wall and bundling it into a car with a getaway driver at the wheel. The entire operation took three minutes.

It happened hours after the residents, a mother of two and her husband, left their 1.2 million home in a secure gated community in Woodford Green to catch a holiday flight to Jamaica.

Today the woman, whose husband made his fortune in packaging, told the Standard: I have nothing, no jewellery at all now. My husband has worked hard all his life for this stuff and its been wiped out in seconds. Security cameras at the entrance to the estate, which has a 24-hour guard, did not capture the number plates of the getaway vehicle as it drove away.

CCTV: The raid was caught on camera / Met Police

The woman, who has now installed cameras and alarms, said: Its awful. I dont feel safe in my own home, I feel like my personal space has been violated. Every time I go to bed I think about if everything is locked and the alarms are on. I feel I need to have something next to me as I go to sleep to protect myself and I never used to feel like that. Its like something out of Mission: Impossible. He knew what he wanted, and it was so well planned it was like they had blueprints. He spent 10 minutes sussing the place out and just three minutes inside our home.

The CCTV footage, released by police, shows the first burglar using a Bluetooth headset to communicate with the second, who drove up and down the exclusive road in a Volkswagen Lupo hatchback to keep lookout.

The raider then got into the house without setting off burglar alarms.

Once inside he ripped out the safe  containing a 27,000 Rolex, a 15,000 bracelet and a diamond-encrusted Cartier watch among other sentimental items  and took it to the car. He and his accomplice then drove off.

When the family returned home after Christmas, 10 days later, they found muddy footprints on the carpet leading to the safe and their bedroom window still left open.

The family have offered a 10,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to the burglars arrest and the return of the stolen property. The woman said: I want him caught so no other family goes through what we have. Until he is caught there is no justice. He needs to be off the streets  if its not us it will be someone else.

Detective Constable Gavin Neville, from Redbridge CID, said: Many of the items stolen were of great sentimental value to the family and we are appealing for their safe return.

The raid took place on December 21 at 8.30pm. Police said the suspect is white, in his twenties with short brown hair wearing a grey jacket with brown elbow pads and light-coloured trousers. He was carrying a rucksack.@BarneyDavisES

Those with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
H idden cameras captured the moment thieves ransacked a home in south London.

Detectives have launched a manhunt after two men were caught on CCTV raiding the living room of a flat in Camberwell, Southwark, last month.

The 35-second clip shows two mens rifle through a suitcase and force clothes and personal items into carrier bags during the break-in, in Grove Lane, around 2pm on February 1.

The first suspect is described as a light skinned man, around 6ft tall.

CCTV footage: Police have launched a manhunt over the burglary / Met Police

At the time of the burglary he was wearing a black woolly hat, blue jeans and gloves. He also had a beard.

The second man is believed to be a black man, also around 6ft tall.

He was filmed wearing a black coat, blue jeans and Adidas trainers.

Police investigation: Do you recognise this man? / Met Police

No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.

Detective Constable Kieran Fowler said: "We need the public's help to identity the two men who committed this daytime burglary.

If you know who they are or have any information please contact police or Crimestoppers."

Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is urged to call Southwark police on 101 or by tweeting @MetCC.

Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A nurse who was attacked with a brick and punched in the face as she walked home from church said she is now frightened to walk the streets alone.

Gloria Otey, 54, was walking an 80-year-old friend home after a Saturday morning church service when she was confronted in the street by Nicola Bush.

Bush, 47, spat at her twice and missed, then picked up a brick and threw it at Ms Otey but again failed to hit the target.

Shaken up, Ms Otey continued her journey but was then set upon by Bush and a friend as she waited for a bus.

She was punched in the eye and her handbag was knocked to the ground, before members of the public intervened to stop the assault.

As the two attackers were sentenced at Inner London crown court on Thursday, Ms Otey revealed the effects of the incident, which happened in Acre Lane in Brixton on May 21 last year.

Ive lived in Brixton for 30 years and nothing like this has ever happened to me before, she said in a victim impact statement.

I work hard as a nurse, often working night shifts, and I have to come home when it is dark and go out when it is dark.

I am more nervous than ever before, and when I go out to church with other people around me, I am scared about what they might do.

Judge Jeremy Donne QC said it was likely Bush was on drugs when she launched the attack, branding her behaviour disgraceful.

He also admonished the two women after spotting they were chatting and laughing in the dock at the start of the sentencing hearing.

Your victim must have been very frightened at what happened, particularly when you threw a brick and when you re-appeared some ten minutes later, he said.

Prosecutor Geoff Gelbart said the incident was sparked when Bush appeared to take offence when Ms Otey offered to help find a lost 10 note.

The court heard Bush, who is living in a hostel in Brixton, has convictions for 92 offences, including two jail sentences for robbery. Her accomplice also has a criminal record, including an assault conviction in 2004.

Judge Donne gave Bush a 12-month community order, and sentenced the other woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - to a 12-month conditional discharge.

Bush pleaded guilty to two counts of common assault, and the other woman admitted one charge of common assault.
S cotland Yard should be investigated over major failings in the forces investigation into allegations of electoral fraud and malpractice in Tower Hamlets, a London Assembly committee said today.

The Police and Crime Committee accused the Met of missing opportunities in their inquiries into the scandal hit Mayoral elections in Tower Hamlets in 2014.

The boroughs hugely controversial former mayor Lutfur Rahman was forced to step down after an Election Court found him guilty of a litany of corrupt and illegal practices, but he has faced no criminal prosecution.

Steve OConnell, chairman of the Assemblys Police and Crime Committee, said that there was widespread concern that despite the findings against Mr Rahman, the Metropolitan Police had not brought charges.

He said: During our investigation, we, as a committee, have been shocked to uncover major failings by the Metropolitan Police in its ability to investigate allegations of electoral fraud and malpractice.

Missed files of evidence; missed opportunities to gather witness statements; witnesses who were prepared to give evidence in the Election Court but were unwilling to do so in criminal proceedings - this is not what we expect from a supposedly world-leading police force.

Mr OConnell has written to Sophie Linden, the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, urging her to use her powers to call on Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary to look into the activities of officers investigating the election.

He wrote that more could have been done to examine the claims and that the investigations that did take place were not undertaken to the highest standards.

The criticism follows a Government commissioned report last year by former local government minister Eric Pickles which suggested political correctness may have been partially to blame for what he described as a lack of action by the Met to pursue those suspected of wrongdoing in Tower Hamlets.

Mr OConnell said that a bundle of 27 files sent to the Director of Public Prosecution was not reviewed by the force, and that there were missed opportunities to gather witness statements.

He wrote: It is time therefore for a fresh pair of eyes to review the activities of the Met in regard of the allegations of electoral fraud and malpractice as they relate to the 2014 Tower Hamlets Mayoral election.

While the time limited constraints of the Representation of the Peoples Act may prevent any prosecution of past electoral malpractice by Mr Rahman, offences of bribery, corruption and conspiracy have no time limit for bringing charges.

There may still therefore be opportunities to mount a criminal prosecution and bring a sense of closure to what has been a systematic affront to the democratic process.

The Met issued a statement saying the 27 files of evidence were considered by the Crown Prosecution Service and it decided not to refer any matters to the police.

However, it added: The CPS and the Met have agreed to undertake a further joint assessment of the files to see whether they contain anything that changes the advice previously provided by the CPS, changes the decisions previously made by the Met, or requires further investigation by the Met.

A City Hall spokesperson said: We are aware of this matter and the Met and the CPS are now reviewing the evidence. We await the outcome of this process.
A veteran solicitor could face jail for an astonishing headbutt attack on an EastEnders stars father when they came face-to-face at the High Court in a bitter 100 million legal battle.

Philip Saunders, 69, lunged forward at businessman Mohammad Reza Ghadami during an angry confrontation on the first floor landing of the Rolls Building at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Shocking CCTV footage shows the two men, who had been on opposite sides in court that day, exchange words before Mr Ghadami, 62, swung his briefcase in between Saunders legs in a bid to move him out of the way.

Saunders, a leading property conveyance solicitor who has worked on multi-million pound property deals during his 43-year career, took a step back before striking Mr Ghadami in the face with his forehead.

The pair faced off against each other amid a 100 million legal battle

A shocked Mr Ghadami, whose son Davood plays Kush on BBC soap EastEnders, is then seen stumbling away from the scene with blood streaming from his broken nose as he went to alert security.

Mr Ghadami told a trial at Inner London crown court that he had been heading to the toilet at the end of court proceedings on April 7 last year when Saunders approached him out of the blue.

Victim: Mohammad Reza Ghadami after the attack

The property developer, from Harlow, has been locked in a long-running and acrimonious legal battle with businessman Paul Bloomfield and 18 others - including Saunders - over a disputed land deal, claiming 100 million in damages.

He said on the day of the attack, Saunders said to him: You better f***ing find the money to pay me and others, and when he replied that he did not owe him anything, Saunders said: We are f***ing in charge, you just got lucky.

There was an exchange of words and then Saunders headbutted Mr Ghadami

He said you dont know what we are capable of, you will never succeed in the case, Mr Ghadami said in evidence. He kept on at me about money and winning and power.

The businessman said he was desperate for the toilet and swung his briefcase at the solicitor in a bid to get past, calling him a piece of s**t.

He went backwards and all his body lifted his head, which he put on the back of my nose, Mr Ghadami said. I couldnt believe it, it was bleeding from my nose and mouth.

I went straight downstairs to tell someone what had happened.

Mohammed Reza Ghadami, posing in Albert Square

He just told me to remember it and I do remember it, I will never forget it. He wanted me to remember what I was getting.

Prosecutor Andrew Dowden told jurors Saunders carried out the attack in a rage following a string of acrimonious court hearings involving the two men.

Mr Ghadami told him to f*** off and move out of his way, then describes using his briefcase to push Mr Saunders away, he said.

Mr Ghadami went to go to the toilet, at that stage Mr Saunders put his head back and headbutted Mr Ghadami in the nose.

Saunders was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a jury in January

He said Saunders, a registered solicitor since 1974 who was a partner in Marylebone-based law firm Saunders Bearman between 1996 and 2013, told police he acted in self-defence.

Saunders claimed he had been hit in the balls with Mr Ghadamis suitcase and called a Jewish s**t during the confrontation.

But Mr Dowden told the court: Whatever happened between the parties prior to Mr Saunders headbutting Mr Ghadami, there was no need for him to headbutt Mr Ghadami. He was not acting in self-defence at that time.

Saunders, who appeared last week as a witness in the high-profile court battle involving the billionaire Candy brothers, was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a jury in January.

The victim's son Davood plays Kush on BBC soap EastEnders

However, Recorder Steven Gasztowicz QC blocked press reports of the case because Ghadami himself was due to stand trial over the incident, accused of a racial aggravated public order offence.

He was accused of using the anti-Semitic slur against Saunders, but the CPS dropped the case last Friday offering no evidence, meaning the extraordinary incident can be reported for the first time today.

Recorder Gasztowicz has freed Saunders, of Maida Vale, on bail until sentencing today but has warned prison is a possibility.

Saunders denied the offence but was found guilty by a jury of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a week-long trial.

Joseph Ghadami, another son of the victim, said his father needed surgery to a broken nose following the attack and is still suffering the after-effects.

"He has bad eyesight and it has made that worse, and his concentration seems to be lacking since then", he said.

"When he wants to read things out in court, he is very muddled and confused. He now finds it difficult to do some things."

He added Mr Ghadami has also had trouble sleeping as a result of the attack.
A veteran solicitor who headbutted an EastEnders stars father at the High Court in a "moment of madness" as they faced off over a bitter 100 million legal battle has been spared jail.

Philip Saunders, 69, lunged forward at businessman Mohammad Reza Ghadami during an angry confrontation on the first floor landing of the Rolls Building at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Shocking CCTV footage shows the two men, who had been on opposite sides in court that day, exchange words before Mr Ghadami, 62, swung his briefcase in between Saunders legs in a bid to move him out of the way.

Saunders, a leading property conveyance solicitor who has worked on multi-million pound property deals during his 43-year career, took a step back before striking Mr Ghadami in the face with his forehead.

A shocked Mr Ghadami, whose son Davood plays Kush on BBC soap EastEnders, is then seen stumbling away from the scene with blood streaming from his broken nose as he went to alert security.

Saunders was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a jury in January

At Inner London crown court this afternoon, Recorder Steven Gasztowicz QC sentenced Saunders to 18 months in prison suspended for two years.

"You completely lost your self-control, you leant backwards and deliberately headbutted him", he said.

"You could have left his presence without doing anything like that - a deliberate and serious assault albeit on the spur of the moment and under a heavy degree of provocation."

The pair faced off against each other amid a 100 million legal battle

He said Saunders has led a "decent life", but told him: "The offence was committed in the High Court building on a litigant entitled to feel safe however annoying he may be and whatever is going on between you.

"It was committed by someone, a solicitor, trusted to act purposely in such a building."

He ordered Saunders to do 200 hours of community service, observe a four month curfew between 8pm and 6am, and pay 5000 prosecution costs.

There was an exchange of words and then Saunders headbutted Mr Ghadami

The court heard the veteran solicitor's career is now in jeopardy as a result of his conviction, and the father-of-three is now taking anti depressants because of the stress of the case.

Mr Ghadami, who suffered a fractured nose in the attack, wrote to the judge urging him to jail Saunders, saying: "Nothing less than serving prison time will surfice".

However David Nathan QC, defending, said Saunders had been the victim of "enormous" provocation from Ghadami, saying the businessman had called him a "piece of sh*t" during the confrontation, adding: "Don't be so Jewish."

Victim: Mohammad Reza Ghadami after the attack

"Some Jewish people might not be the angry at effectively being called a Jewish sh*t, but some people might take that very badly", he said.

"Mr Saunders plainly did, it was that that broke the camel's back, a moment of madness when Mr Saunders over reacted and headbutted Mr Ghadami."

Mr Ghadami told a trial in January that he had been heading to the toilet at the end of court proceedings on April 7 last year when Saunders approached him out of the blue.

The property developer, from Harlow, has been locked in a long-running and acrimonious legal battle with businessman Paul Bloomfield and 18 others - including Saunders - over a disputed land deal, claiming 100 million in damages.

He said on the day of the attack, Saunders said to him: You better f***ing find the money to pay me and others, and when he replied that he did not owe him anything, Saunders said: We are f***ing in charge, you just got lucky.

There was an exchange of words and then Saunders headbutted Mr Ghadami

He said you dont know what we are capable of, you will never succeed in the case, Mr Ghadami said in evidence. He kept on at me about money and winning and power.

The businessman said he was desperate for the toilet and swung his briefcase at the solicitor in a bid to get past, calling him a piece of s**t.

He went backwards and all his body lifted his head, which he put on the back of my nose, Mr Ghadami said. I couldnt believe it, it was bleeding from my nose and mouth.

I went straight downstairs to tell someone what had happened.

He just told me to remember it and I do remember it, I will never forget it. He wanted me to remember what I was getting.

Prosecutor Andrew Dowden told jurors Saunders carried out the attack in a rage following a string of acrimonious court hearings involving the two men.

Mohammed Reza Ghadami, posing in Albert Square

Mr Ghadami told him to f*** off and move out of his way, then describes using his briefcase to push Mr Saunders away, he said.

Mr Ghadami went to go to the toilet, at that stage Mr Saunders put his head back and headbutted Mr Ghadami in the nose.

He said Saunders, a registered solicitor since 1974 who was a partner in Marylebone-based law firm Saunders Bearman between 1996 and 2013, told police he acted in self-defence.

However Saunders was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a jury in January.

The Standard was blocked from reporting the trial at the time as Mr Ghadami faced criminal proceedings over the same incident.

Saunders claimed he had been on the receiving end of an anti-Semitic slur from Mr Ghadami, but prosecutors dropped the case last week before it could come to trial.

In mitigation, Mr Nathan said it was clear from the video that Ghadami was not letting him leave and was being abusive towards him.

"The degree of provocation in this case was enormous", he said.

"It is fairly obvious up to the moment Mr Saunders headbutted Mr Ghadami he tried very hard not to react, he tried to get past him."

He added that Saunders and Mr Ghadami had been locked in the acrimonious High Court battle for four years, and said the solicitor had been on the receiving end of a campaign aimed at him and his family.

The court also heard Saunders had to give up his legal practice as a result of Ghadami's law suit, because it caused his insurance premiums to rocket.

"He's a good and decent man, he's made just one huge error, one huge mistake in a moment of madness when faced with very serious provocation", said Mr Nathan.

Saunders, of Maida Vale, denied the offence but was found guilty by a jury of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a week-long trial.
T he London Evening Standard, in conjunction with Syngenta, a leading agriculture company, is running a series of debates on the future of food.

The first debate on Technology and Food, chaired by Standard editor Sarah Sands, will take place on Wednesday March 22 at Somerset House.

A panel of industry experts and commentators, pictured, will consider the following: Against the backdrop of food shortages, climate change and population growth, can we realistically tackle food sufficiency challenges without technology? By 2050, it is projected that there will be 9.2 billion people on the planet, and recent estimates suggest food production will have to increase by 70 per cent to feed everyone.

The debate will put the consumer at the centre, and encourage engagement in the increasing need for technology behind their food, the opportunities this provides and the impact it may have. Some of the proposed questions the panel will tackle are:

What are the global food production challenges that we are facing? How will they impact Londoners and communities across the world?

Is the growing use of technology an acceptable consequence of ensuring sufficient food in London, the UK and globally?

Can we ensure global food sufficiency without technology?

To apply for tickets visit standard.co.uk/offers by midnight on Sunday. We have 25 pairs to give away. Terms apply.
T he remains of Jack the Rippers last known victim Mary Jane Kelly are likely to never be found, experts have said.

Researchers at the University of Leicester said locating the grave of the serial killers victim in Leytonstone, east London, would take too long and cost too much.

The team, who also identified the bones of King Richard III, were commissioned by crime writer Patricia Cornwell who has written two books on the infamous Jack the Ripper.

The London killer is thought to have murdered at least five women in the Whitechapel area between August and November 1888.

Miller's Court in Dorset Street, east London, where Mary Jane Kelly was murdered by serial killer Jack the Ripper on November 9, 1888. / Getty Images

But after visiting St Patrick's Catholic Cemetery in Leytonstone, where Ms Kelly is thought to have been buried, the scientists decided that searching for the murder victim's remains was simply impractical.

In a new report entitled the The Mary Jane Kelly Project they pointed out that it was likely to involve excavating an area containing hundreds of graves, and each exhumation would legally require the consent of next of kin.

Lead researcher geneticist Dr Turi King said: "To complete any exhumation application to the Ministry of Justice, a compelling case for the exhumation as well as detailed information on the location and state of the grave would be required, not only for the exhumation of Kelly's remains, but also to determine if any other remains might be disturbed in the process.

"However, the precise location of her grave is unknown and, not only that, it rapidly became clear that as such, the remains of a number of other individuals would have to be disturbed and that her remains are highly likely to have been dug through when the communal grave site she was buried in was reused in the 1940s, making accurate identification of any of her remains highly problematic if not impossible."

Finding her remains would make it possible to conduct DNA analysis to test the claim of surgeon and author Wynne Weston-Davies that the Ripper victim was his great aunt Elizabeth Weston Davies.

Additional reporting by Press Association.
B ritain could one day rejoin the European Union after Brexit, Jean-Claude Juncker has said.

The European Commission president said he hopes "the day will come when the British re-enter the boat".

Speaking at a press conference in Brussels after a meeting of the 27 other EU leaders, Mr Juncker said: "I don't like Brexit because I would like to be in the same boat as the British.

"The day will come when the British will re-enter the boat, I hope.

"But Brexit is not the end of the European Union, nor the end of all our developments, nor the end of our continental ambitions."

Theresa May was not present for the talks in Brussels, with the leaders of the other 27 nations considering the future of the bloc after Brexit.

With the Prime Minister expected to trigger Article 50 within days, the meeting was the last chance for the leaders to gather together before the formal Brexit process begins.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed that if Mrs May invokes Article 50 next week, there would be an extraordinary meeting of the EU 27 on April 6.

If Article 50 is triggered later this month, the meeting would be pushed back to later in April.

"We are well-prepared and we shall wait with interest, but which day in March it will be is not of such prime importance," she said.

Brexit had been a "wake-up call" to the other EU members to prepare for the future, she said at a press conference.

European Council president Donald Tusk said the EU would be ready to respond within two days of Mrs May triggering Brexit, amid speculation that she could invoke Article 50 on Tuesday if the Brexit Bill clears Parliament on Monday, when MPs are expected to overturn Lords amendments.

Further time has been allocated later in the week for a possible session of "parliamentary ping-pong" if peers insist on reinstating their amendments, but if they do not Mrs May could have the legal authority to fire the Brexit starting gun on Tuesday, when she makes a Commons statement on the Brussels summit.
B ritish citizens should be able to keep some EU benefits post-Brexit including freedom of movement, the European Parliament's chief negotiator has said.

Guy Verhofstadt said he hoped to convince European leaders to allow Britons to keep certain rights if they apply for them on an individual basis.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "All British citizens today have also EU citizenship.

That means a number of things: the possibility to participate in the European elections, the freedom of travel without problem inside the union...

"We need to have an arrangement in which this can continue for those citizens who, on an individual basis, are requesting it."

But he also warned that the European Parliament will have veto powers and could reject any deal brokered between the UK and the European Commission.

He claimed to have received more than a thousand letters from UK citizens who do not want to lose their relationship with "European civilisation".

Mr Verhofstadt previously said the EU needs to be "open and generous" to individual UK citizens and said politicians were considering how to allow them to maintain their ties to the continent.

He told an audience at Chatham House in January that the Parliament is scrutinising, thinking, debating how we individual UK citizens can avoid feeling their links with Europe are broken.

Conservative MEP Vicky Ford the the programme that the UK and EU were close to agreeing key Brexit issues of the rights of expatriate citizens and the issue of 60 billion euro likely to be demanded from Britain on exit.

Ms Ford said: "On the principles on key issues like citizens' rights, both sides agree they want to secure citizens' rights."

She added: "Both sides are very close on the money.

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"The EU are saying they will only ask us to contribute what we've committed to and the Prime Minister is saying we don't walk away from commitments. If that principle is agreed, then we can move on."
T he business rates hardship fund unveiled in the Budget was dismissed as peanuts today after it emerged that the 10 worst-hit London boroughs will receive an average of just 2.1 million a year.

The capital, which will have by far the biggest rises of any region in the country, will get a total of 124.3 million, or 41 per cent of the relief fund, over four years up to 2021.

However, experts said that spread across the 32 boroughs and the City of London, the level of help from the rebate will be minimal.

John Webber, head of rating at property adviser Colliers International, said: Those places collecting the largest amount of business rates are getting the greatest relief. But, in the grand scheme of rates income, this is peanuts. The 10 London boroughs receiving the greatest relief will get on average 2.1 million relief per year.

Given London business rates are set to increase by 616 million in the next few weeks, firms will be forgiven for not getting too carried away.

Business leaders also expressed disappointment at the scale of the help on offer from Philip Hammond.

Sir Peter Rogers, chairman of the New West End Company, which represents hundreds of traders in an areas seeing some of the steepest rises in Britain, said: The fact the Government has had to come up with yet another transitional scheme to give some marginal help to a few companies just shows how broken the business rate system is. This does nothing to help the hundreds of thousands of London businesses about to receive massive business rate increases. And it will be a nightmare for local government to administer.

Business rates might be easy for civil servants but they are bad for business and bad for local government.

Brian Bickell, chief executive of West End landlord Shaftesbury, said: The relief offered is marginal and will not address the fundamental unfairness of this outdated tax. Failure to provide fairer transitional arrangements for London businesses is disappointing.

James Ebel, executive director at retail property agent Harper Dennis Hobbs, said: This is papering over the cracks of an already outdated tax on business. Business rates needs full reform not a band aid. Retailers find themselves in a perfect storm, with Brexit worries and business rate increases placing downward pressure on expansion strategies.

Jerry Schurder, head of business rates at property consultancy Gerald Eve, said: London has had the roughest ride of any region from the 2017 revaluation, with rates bills increasing way above the average.

It is only appropriate that the greatest share of this fund should be allocated to London councils, although it has to be recognised that the 124.3 million they will be able to distribute over the next five years pales into insignificance compared with the more than 40 billion that the capitals firms will be paying in business rates.
W hitehall is on full alert for Theresa May to move Article 50 triggering Britains historic exit from the European Union on Tuesday, the Evening Standard has learned.

The electrifying moment could come when the Prime Minister makes a statement in the House of Commons on March 14, flanked by Cabinet ministers.

While nothing is yet set in stone, sources say Downing Street is ready to move with lightning speed if, as Mrs May hopes, peers give way gracefully on Monday night and pass the Bill empowering her to write to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Preparations are understood to be at an advanced stage, with her opening demands in the Brexit negotiation already drafted.

What is Article 50?

Although ministers have not been told to cancel trips at this stage, ministerial private offices are geared up to bring them back to Westminster if required.

A source said: There are a lot of stars that need to become aligned - but if the opportunity is there, she will not delay. Another source cautioned: No date has been confirmed.

Mr Tusk said yesterday that EU leaders will respond within more or less 48 hours of Mrs Mays letter, kicking off possibly the most complicated series of negotiations in British history.

If Mrs May does not act this week, her next window of opportunity will not come until March 27, which some advisers feel is dangerously close to her deadline of the end of the month.

She gave a hint in Brussels this week that she was in no mood to delay, saying it was time to get on with leaving the EU.

However there are Dutch elections on Wednesday and a Scottish National Party conference on Friday.

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The timetable is tight for an announcement on Tuesday, because the Government is determined to reverse two amendments made by the House of Lords to the Bill authorising Brexit. David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, will open a Commons debate on Monday afternoon, culminating in MPs voting to send the Bill back to the Lords stripping out the amendments - one protecting the rights of EU citizens in the UK, the other requiring parliamentary approval for any deal with the remaining 27 EU states.

If peers restore the amendments, the ensuing parliamentary ping-pong would delay Article 50.

After the Lords approves the Bill, it will need Royal Assent, which experts believe could be obtained from the Queen within hours.
T heresa Mays Government faced fury today as it emerged it is heading for another manifesto breach - by abandoning a promise to ban the bloodthirsty trade in ivory.

Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom is set to unveil proposals shortly that would allow antiques carved from ivory before 1947 to remain on sale, despite fears that this will fuel illegal poaching of the endangered African elephant.

Her plans appear to flout a clear promise given at the 2015 election by the Conservatives to press for a total ban on ivory sales as part of action to save dwindling herds of the majestic beasts.

Critics said Mrs May would endanger trust in politics if she allowed such a major manifesto breach so soon after this weeks National Insurance rise.

New proposals: Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom / PA

Labour MP Wes Streeting said: This is not just about protecting elephants - it is about trust in politics. If the Tories break this promise they will face a perfect storm of a shattered pledge and failing to protect an endangered and much-loved species.

Conservative MP Sir Peter Bottomley, a long-standing campaigner for wildlife, said: There is far too much cheating on old ivory. The arguments for a complete ban are growing.

Conservative manifesto launch: In 90 seconds

No 10 did not comment this morning on the charge that the Leadsom proposals would breach the partys manifesto. A source close to Ms Leadsom, meanwhile, said he could not pre-empt what is going to be in our consultation.

Ms Leadsom herself, however, revealed last September that she would be consulting on a ban only on raw ivory, which wildlife watchdogs say is easily turned into fake antiques.

A message must be sent: Ivory trade is unacceptable in all forms Tshekedi Khama, Minister of Wildlife for Botswana Here in Botswana we have a unique responsibility to the elephant for our country is home to more elephants than any other nation in Africa. Today some 160,000 live within our borders, with a further 40,000 crossing over on a regular basis from the countries that neighbour us. We live with elephants. They are an essential part of our ecosystem. They help give deeper meaning to this ancient land. But all of them are at risk unless the world ends the trade in ivory  permanently. Here in Botswana our rigorous anti-poaching policies and brave teams of rangers have limited the damage but even here we have lost some elephants. That is why, after having examined all the evidence, I now support the total ban on the ivory trade, everywhere. The last legally sanctioned sale of stockpiled ivory took place in 2008. Rather than the increased supply reducing prices, it only served to stimulate global demand. For Africans, elephants are worth far more alive than dead. A living elephant generates 1.3 million in tourism revenue over its lifetime. This is 76 times the value of its tusks on the black market. Banning the ivory trade wont by itself save every elephant from poachers. But such a ban is an essential requisite of any comprehensive global conservation strategy. The clear message must be sent that this trade in all its forms is unacceptable  and that message must be sent now.

A Commons mutiny is being threatened by almost 100 MPs who signed an early day motion in Parliament calling for an all-out ban on ivory sales, as demanded by wildlife conservationists backed by Prince William.

The motion states that African elephants are facing an unprecedented crisis with one killed every 15 minutes for its tusks.

It warns that the existence of legal domestic markets is causing poaching because artefacts made with the tusks of freshly killed elephants are falsely antiqued, using staining and other ageing techniques.

Its author, Labour MP John Mann, said: Despite huge public pressure for a ban, Andrea Leadsom is stalling.

This is about the kind of world we want to leave to our grandchildren. A world without elephants is simply unthinkable.

Britain should be taking a lead in the world - not least after the valiant efforts of Prince William who has become a world leader in the cause of the elephant.

Lib Dem Euro-MP Catherine Bearder said fake antiques were being intercepted on an almost daily basis at ports and Heathrow.

You only have to look on eBay to see that the trade in ivory artefacts including knives and carvings is rife, she said. That is why we need a complete ban on ivory sales now.

A public e-petition calling for a total ban has reached 1,995 signatures. And a recent study suggested that the UK is now the third-largest supplier of illegal ivory items to the US.

Last September Ms Leadsom proposed a compromise where items made before 1947 could be lawfully traded.

Her department said a consultation with environmental groups, the antiques and arts sectors and other relevant parties will be launched soon.

A Defra spokesperson said: We are committed to bringing an end to elephant poaching and we will shortly be consulting on our plans for an ivory ban.

We are doing more than ever to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, including investing 26m to combat poaching on the frontline and bring an end to this cruel trade.

Ms Leadsom is thought by MPs to have come under pressure from Londons top auction houses and antique dealers who trade in heirlooms.

Tory MP Mark Pritchard, a committed wildlife campaigner, said he backed Ms Leadsom, arguing that banning antiques would backfire by driving up the black market price in ivory. Potentially that would increase the slaughter of elephants, he said.

The Prime Ministers spokesman told reporters that the government would stick to the manifesto pledge and was committed to doing everything we can to stop poaching. However, the PMs spokesman also referred to the ban on ivory, a phrase that differed from the term total ban used in the Tory manifesto. A total ban is seen as covering both raw and antique ivory, while a ban might refer just to raw ivory.

The spokesman confirmed that the consultation would be launched soon, adding: We will seek views from all parties on how and when we introduce the ban on ivory.
A leading hotel chain is the latest big employer to commit to hiring more apprentices and graduates in London.

Edwardian Hotels London has signed up to the 5% Club, an organisation hoping to get five percent of company workforces on apprenticeships or educational training schemes.

Businesswoman Lady Cobham, the clubs director, said: With every additional employer who signs The 5% Club charter, we take another step forward in making lifetime skills - and a strong economy - a reality for our young people and help build the British workforce of the future.

The 5% Club launched in 2013 and counts KPMG, the Ministry of Defence, Interserve and Ofcom among its 200 members. Membership means managers must measure and report on their progress in helping tackle youth unemployment every year.

At the May Fair Hotel in Central London, one of Edwardian Hotels flagship venues, apprentices met with the 5% Clubs founder Leo Quinn, the chief executive of Balfour Beatty, to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week.

Inderneel Singh, managing director of the May Fair Hotel, said the partnership was an exciting collaboration and would help them build on their apprenticeship programme for chefs, launching this September.

He added: We take our recruitment opportunities extremely seriously and graduates and apprentices are a crucial group of people that we want to attract.


A manhunt was under way in Switzerland today after gunmen shot two people dead and critically injured a third in a cafe in Basel.

Two gunmen burst into Cafe 56 last night and opened fire before escaping and heading towards a nearby railway station.

The identities of the victims have yet to be determined, authorities said. No one else was hurt in the attack, which happened at about 8.15pm local time. A police spokesman described it as a local incident, adding: It has nothing to do with Islamists or terrorism.

Residents told the Basler Zeitung newspaper that the cafe was once known for its links to illegal drugs but had cleaned up its image after changing owners several years ago.

Forensic science officers were seen going in and out of the cafe and collecting evidence into the early hours of today.

Gun crime is relatively infrequent in Switzerland, despite the country having one of the highest rates of firearm ownership in the world.
F ive people have been killed after a helicopter crashed into a TV tower in dense fog in a residential district of Istanbul.

The helicopter was said to have been carrying high-level business executives when it crashed on a motorway in Buyukcekmece  an area on the outskirts of the Turkish city.

The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter span off-course after taking off from Istanbul's main Ataturk airport with two pilots, four Russian nationals and one Turkish official.

The district's mayor Hasan Akgun told local news sites that he had seen five bodies at the scene of the crash.

Helicopter: Debris from the crash on the side of the road / tvnet

Ambulance and fire crews have rushed to the scene and images and video footage show parts of the helicopter strewn across the side of the road.

Eyewitness Fikret Karatekin, a taxi driver, told CNN-Turk television by telephone that the helicopter slammed into the tower before crashing on the highway.

Crash: The helicopter was carrying seven passengers when it crashed onto a motorway / tvnet

"It hit the tower and crashed by spinning," he said, adding that the highway had been closed down.

Crash: Emergency crews have rushed to the scene / DHA

The cause of the crash is under investigation.
A judge who asked a complainant in a rape trial why she could not keep your knees together has resigned.

Canadian judge Justice Robin Camp quit after a disciplinary panel condemned him for undermining public trust in the judiciary.

Mr Camp made the comments during a sexual assault trial where the alleged victim had claimed she was raped over a bathroom sink at a house party in Calgary.

A review of court transcripts from the trial revealed Mr Camp called the complainant "the accused" numerous times and spoke to her in a way that was condescending, humiliating and disrespectful.

He also told her that "pain and sex sometimes go together" and asked the 19-year-old: "Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?"

Mr Camp tried to remain in his position, with his lawyer arguing that his comments came from ignorance, not animus.

But in a statement released on Friday Mr Camp said he will resign effective Friday and that he is sorry for the hurt he has caused.

The Judicial Council supported his resignation, saying that Canadians expect judges to know the law, have empathy and to recognise and question any past personal attitudes that might prevent them from acting fairly.

It found Mr Camp's actions during the trial were "so manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of impartiality, integrity and independence of the judicial role that public confidence is sufficiently undermined to render the Judge incapable of executing the judicial office".

During the 2014 sexual assault trial Mr Camp found the accused - Alexander Wagar - not guilty. The Appeal Court ordered a new trial but Wager was acquitted again last month.
K enya is enforcing the crackdown on the ivory trade so ferociously that one man caught with elephant ivory weighing less than a box of cornflakes faces five years in prison.

Zachary Mboya, 32, was arrested in a national park near Mount Kenya carrying two pieces of tusks weighing 600 grams, which he said he had stumbled across and planned to turn in to the authorities.

But magistrate Philip Mutua stuck to the strict letter of Kenyas new Wildlife Act, which promises some of the stiffest penalties in Africa, and this month hit him with an 8,000 fine.

He has a week to appeal and if he cannot pay will serve a five-year jail term instead.

The conviction shows how determined the east African country is to boost poaching deterrents  and how slow, in comparison, the UK is in imposing zero-tolerance laws.

A Space for Giants worker monitors ongoing court cases

Space for Giants, the international conservation charity supported by the Evening Standard, has monitored 28 other similar cases under way, half of them stemming from a surge of arrests in 2016 and this year.

It found a pattern of the state seeking to make sure the ivory trade was stamped out.

A judgment is due today in the case of a woman found with seven kilograms of elephant ivory. A teenager convicted of illegal possession of eight tusks weighing 22 kilograms will learn his sentence next week.

Kenya, like many African countries now, refuses to accept any leeway when it comes to wildlife crimes, said Shamini Jayanathan, Space for Giants director of wildlife protection.

They are sending strong messages to everyone in Africa that there is no benefit from the trade. China and the US have sent the same messages by outlawing all trade in ivory.

It staggers everyone working in conservation that Britain has not followed suit. What message is it sending to the poachers of Africa if Britain says, actually, yes, some trade is OK?

There have been a series of recent high-profile arrests and convictions of major poachers in east Africa.

Kenya jailed Feisal Mohamed, a Kenyan ivory kingpin, for 20 years last July. This month, Tanzania sentenced a notorious poacher named The Devil to 12 years in prison. He was featured in the Netflix documentary The Ivory Game.

In Africa, it is clear many countries are seeking to impose a legal framework that stops mutilated elephant carcasses being left across savannahs. The question asked there, however, is when Britain will step up to that challenge too.
T wo were killed in clashes in South Korea today as the countrys president was forced from office over a corruption scandal.

The Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye in a stunning fall from grace for the countrys first female leader.

The ruling sparked protests from hundreds of her supporters.

Two died in clashes with police outside the court.

Park becomes South Koreas first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of turmoil over a corruption scandal that also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in jail.

A snap presidential election will be held within 60 days.

Police presence: Officers guard the main gate of the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul / AP

Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn called for calm, saying the government should remain stable to prevent internal conflict from spreading.

Following the verdict Parks spokesman said she would not leave the presidential Blue House residence today.

Park was stripped of her powers after parliament voted to impeach her but has remained in the presidents official compound.

Riot police: A supporter of impeached President Park Geun-hye lies in front of a barricade / REUTERS

The courts acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the constitution and law throughout her term.

The removal of the claimee from office is overwhelmingly to the benefit of the protection of the constitution... We remove President Park Geun-hye from office, Lee told the hearing.

Park, 65, no longer has immunity as president, and could now face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power.

Park was accused of colluding with her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.

The court said Park had completely hidden the fact of (Chois) interference with state affairs.

Park was also accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group for government favours.

Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee has been accused of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal and is in detention. His trial began yesterday. He and Samsung have denied wrongdoing.

The ruling marks a dramatic fall from power for the daughter of Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee. Both of her parents were assassinated.

Hundreds of thousands of people have for months been gathering at peaceful rallies in Seoul every weekend to call for her to step down.

This morning hundreds of Parks supporters tried to break through police barricades outside the court. Police said one 72-year-old man was taken to hospital with a head injury and died. The circumstances of the second death were being investigated. Six people were injured, protest organisers said.

Police blocked the main thoroughfare running through downtown Seoul in anticipation of bigger protests.
A n airline pilot has been jailed after he admitted boarding a flight destined for the US from the UK while over the legal alcohol limit.

Carlos Roberto Licona, from Texas, United States, was expected to fly as First Officer on a United Airlines flight to Newark, New Jersey, from Glasgow Airport.

He was taken off the plane after security staff smelled alcohol on his breath, Paisley Sheriff Court was told.

Licona was also asked to give blood tests and breath samples before the flight on Saturday August 27 last year.

The flight took off later that day with a new crew and 141 passengers on board.

He was charged under section 93 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, which covers alcohol limits in aviation.

That section of the Act states: "A person commits an offence if he performs an aviation function at a time when the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit, or he carries out an activity which is ancillary to an aviation function at a time when the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit."

Licona pled guilty to the offence and was given a reduced sentence of 10 months by Sheriff David Pender because of his admission.

A spokeswoman for Paisley Sheriff Court said: "He was given a 10-month sentence which was reduced from 15 months."

A United Airlines spokesman said: "We hold all of our employees to the highest standards.

"This pilot was immediately removed from service and his flying duties in August 2016."
S amuel L Jackson has defended himself after he suggested that a black British actor shouldnt have been cast as an African American.

The US actor has now clarified his remarks, insisting that it wasnt a slam against black British actors, but a comment on the Hollywood film industry.

Jackson sparked a backlash earlier this week when he said that he would like to have seen an African American play the lead role in new comedy horror Get Out, about an interracial couple, rather than Brit Daniel Kaluuya.

He told US radio station Hot 97: I think its great that movies doing everything its doing and people are loving it.

Get Out - Trailer

But I know the young brother whos in the movie, and hes British. I tend to wonder what that movie would have been with an American brother who really feels that.

He added: Daniel grew up in a country where theyve been interracial dating for a hundred years.

What would a brother from America have made of that role? Some things are universal but (not everything is).

After facing criticism from British stars, including Star Wars lead John Boyega, Jackson has spoken out to defend himself.

It was not a slam against them, but it was just a comment about how Hollywood works in an interesting sort of way sometimes, he told Press Association.

Saying that British actors found it easier to get work in the US rather than vice versa, he added:

Were not afforded that same luxury, but thats fine, we have plenty of opportunities to work. I enjoy their work. I enjoy working with them when I have the opportunity to do that.

Following Jacksons initial comments, Boyega tweeted: Black brits vs African American. A stupid a** conflict we don't have time for.

Director Jordan Peele has spoken about his initial concerns in casting a Brit to play an African American, telling The Guardian:

I didnt want to go with a British actor because this movie was so much about representation of the African American experience.

Early on, Daniel and I had a Skype session where we talked about this and I was made to understand how universal this issue is.

Peele added: Once Id wrapped my head around how universal these themes were, it became easy for me to pick Daniel, because at the end of the day, he was the best person for the role. He did the audition and it was a slam dunk.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts toured the new Scottsbluff High School, Western Sugar, and spoke to Kiwanis Club members at the Scotts Bluff County airport on Thursday.

Every company I talk to tells me that they cant find enough skilled people, Ricketts told Kiwanis members. What theyre doing with their wall-to-wall career academy at Scottsbluff High School is a model for the rest of the state, and the rest of the country.

Ricketts said the integration from career readiness to college prep was seamless and prepares young people for making the decision on what post-secondary or trade schooling they need after graduation.

Ive never seen classrooms like that at a high school, ever, Ricketts said. Ive seen that at community colleges, but never a high school. I was blown away by that.

For agriculture, slumping commodity prices, including the beet industry, are creating difficulties with state budgets.

Weve seen farm income go from $7.5 billion in 2012-2013, down to $4.5 billion in 2015. For 2016 its probably closer to $4 billion, Ricketts said. Thats at least a 39 percent decrease.

Ricketts said that agriculture accounts for 25 percent of the states overall economy, making it the number one industry in the state.

When agriculture is down like that, it ripples through our entire economy, Ricketts said. We see it show up at the state in our tax revenues.

For the first fiscal year of the biennium, which ended in June 30 last year, revenues were down $95 million. When the Forecasting board met in October, it cut $172 million, and just last week it cut another $80 million.

Our farm and ranch families right now see their income go down, and they tighten their belts, Ricketts said. They expect us to do the same thing at the state.

Ricketts said at the start of the legislative session, he introduced a budget modification package to start getting it back into balance, and complimented Sen. John Stinner, chair of the legislatures appropriation committee, for his work.

Were doing something thats pretty impressive, Ricketts said. I dont think weve ever done two budget bills in one session.

They took the recommendation I gave them and got it back through the legislature, three rounds of voting, and to my desk in about six weeks. Thats record time.

Ricketts said it sets the foundation for the next fiscal year, which will continue controlling spending in the face of declining revenues.

Well continue to deliver essential services ... fund key investments, such as K-12 education, property tax relief and fully funding the corrections budget ... and gets us back to a structural balance, Ricketts said. Well do all of that without raising taxes.

Ricketts said property tax relief will have to focus first on spending restraint, and that state government growth will need to be cut from the current 3.6 percent to 1.7 percent in the next biennium, and that he will continue to work with Stinner and state forecasters to find solutions until the ag economy turns around.

Ricketts also touted his ag land valuation bill, LB 331, introduced by Sen. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft, saying that it creates a structural change that will make property tax valuations more fair for farmers and ranchers. In an interview after the meeting, Ricketts told the Star-Herald that his team has reached out to Sen. Steve Erdmans office to work on combining LB 331, with LB 602 to blend the best parts of both bills.

Theres nothing exclusive about my proposal, Ricketts said. If somebody has another idea, Im all ears.

Ricketts also spoke about an income tax plan he is sponsoring along with Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion, which would reduce the top rate by roughly one-tenth of 1 percent per year, beginning in 2020, as long as revenue growth exceeds 3.5 percent. The proposal would take the top rate down from 6.84 percent to under 6 percent. However, if revenues drop bellow sustainable levels, a mechanism in the bill would hold the cuts so that Nebraska can avoid problems other states have encountered after switching to similar automatic income tax cuts. Ricketts said the top rate in Nebraska applies to any income above $29,830 for individuals annually or above $59,660 for couples.

Thats middle class, folks, Ricketts said, adding that many small business owners file their income taxes as individuals.
The rummage sale will be held from 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 3009 Ave. I in Scottsbluff. Donations are being accepted from now through Wednesday, April 5. Any good used items are being accepted except for clothing. Small donations can be placed in the drop-off house located off of Avenue I near the annex building. Arrangements to drop off larger items or a large amount of items can be scheduled by calling Carissa Smith at 308-631-9674.
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KMG International, through its member companies, has launched the 2017 Internship Program, addressed to 141 students who aim at developing their professional skills and technical competencies, for a successful career in the oil & gas industry. The program takes place throughout the year and has 3 starting dates in Navodari and Ploiesti  August, in Bucharest headquarters  April and October.

Internship programs are part of the KMG International strategy of investing in human resources, not only within the company, but also with the community we operate in. The programs support the know-how transfer from our experts to the young generation, in the first phases of their careers. As of 2002, more than 1000 graduates of mid and high education have undertaken the Internship program, with the outstanding ones having begun their careers within KMG International, stated Simona Popovici, Group HR Director.

Throughout the year 100 graduates are expected to join the internship within the 2 Group refineries, and 41 the Bucharest headquarters for the Group corporate functions. The young talents will be trained by Group professionals in business segments such as oil processing and petro-chemistry, laboratory, maintenance, planning, risk management, occupational safety and environmental protection, finance and accounting, commercial, human resources, procurement and marketing.

The participants are studying in Constanta, Ploiesti and Bucharest universities and high schools with which the Group has partnered in various common projects. Additionally, KMG International will be granting 10 scholarships for students with outstanding results from the Oil & Gas Universities in Constanta and Ploiesti.

The students who are eager to take part in the internship program may apply on the KMG Internationals Careers page, on LinkedIn website or by sending their Curriculum Vitae by email at internship@rompetrol.com. The selection process consists in the assessment of technical and behavioral competencies, such as domain of studies, involvement in extracurricular activities, energy & enthusiasm, desire to grow & develop part of a team, pro-activeness, openness. When the program is completed, the students can remain with the company as employees, based on the available vacancies.

Annually, upon completing the programs, more than 50% of the interns have been hired within KMG Internationals member companies, in different areas of activity.
Developing bilateral defence cooperation between Romania and Israel in various areas was an item on the agenda of talks conducted by a visiting Romanian delegation headed by deputy head of the Defence Policy and Planning Department with Romania's Defence Ministry (MApN), March 8-10 in Tel-Aviv as part of a new round of a defence strategic dialogue between Romania and Israel.

MApN says in a press statement released on Friday that discussed at the meeting were matters of shared interest regarding world security, with emphasis on the latest developments in the Black Sea region and the Middle East, along with furthering bilateral defence cooperation in various areas.

"On the same occasion, a bilateral cooperation plan was signed by the defence ministries of the two countries for 2017," says MApN.

agerpres.
Chris Motley thought he had a great product and a solid strategy. Then his target market blew up.

Motley, founder of job-matching startup Better Weekdays, planned to market his software to for-profit colleges. Because of their dismal job-placement records, many were in danger of losing access to federal student loans. If Better Weekdays could help more graduates find jobs, it could solve the colleges regulatory headache.

Then regulators turned up the heat. Some big for-profit operators, including Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute, were forced to close their doors, leaving Motleys business plan in tatters.

Better Weekdays had to pivot, but in which direction? Budgets were tight at traditional universities, so they werent likely to spend money on software to help their graduates. The job seekers themselves were unlikely to pay.

That left employers. As he researched the job market for new graduates, Motley learned two things: Companies spend heavily on campus recruiting, and they arent happy with the results.

They spend $8 billion a year, and theres no obvious solution thats working for them, he said.

Motley thinks he has that solution in The Whether, the social-media-like recruiting platform that Better Weekdays launched last week. It allows students, for free, to create a profile, complete a personality assessment and see which companies might be a good fit. They can favorite employers to learn more about them.

Employers pay $499 a month to post content and obtain data to help target their recruiting efforts. If a company gets a lot of favorites from a particular campus, it might send a recruiter there. If an engineering firm isnt reaching students from a nearby engineering school, it may need to rethink its message.

Better Weekdays ran tests with students at Washington Universitys Skandalaris Center, which used the platform to match 23 students with internships, and Harris-Stowe State University.

The Whethers launching last week was sponsored by the St. Louis Regional Chamber, Regional Business Council and St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, all of which are eager to attract more college-educated workers to St. Louis.

The Regional Chamber saw the need for something like The Whether after commissioning a survey of 1,000 college students a couple of years ago. The students said they wanted to go to a city that had plenty of good jobs.

The wake-up call was that they didnt know whether St. Louis had much opportunity  even as employers such as Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Express Scripts were trying hard to recruit college graduates.

We decided we need to do a better job of aligning talent with opportunity, says Valerie Patton, the Chambers senior vice president for inclusion and talent attraction. Its that simple.

Motley expects to roll out the platform in 10 cities by this fall; hes already heard from a couple of places that would like to be next on the list.

His phone may start ringing more often: On Thursday, The Whether won a competition among more than 500 education-related startups at South By Southwest, the big music and technology conference in Austin, Texas.

The challenges of the past two years made the win especially gratifying, Motley says: We almost died multiple times, so having people validate that somethings working is pretty cool.
Gander Mountain, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, said it will shutter 32 "underperforming" stores, but none in the St. Louis area.

The struggling outdoors retailer also said it has secured debtor-in-possession financing from Wells Fargo, and is in discussions with "a number of parties" interested in bidding on the company. It hopes to close on a sale by May 15, the company said.

"Employee pay will continue to arrive on time and in full, employee benefits will remain in place, retirement accounts are intact and protected," Gander Mountain said in a statement.

The St. Paul, Minn.-based retailer, which bills itself as America's firearms superstore, has faced challenges capitalizing on a booming gun market.

It's also faced stiff competition from rivals like Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's Inc.

Gander Mountain was taken private in 2010 by Gratco, a holding company controlled by Gander Chairman and Chief Executive David Pratt, and Holiday Stationstores, a gas-station retail operation controlled by Minnesota's Erickson family.

Pratt is the former chairman and CEO of pesticide maker United Industries, which he founded in 1969. In the late 1990s, he sold United Industries to private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Co. for $620 million. He also owns a minority stake in the St. Louis Cardinals.

Gander Mountain faced financial trouble after an aggressive expansion across the United States for a total of about 160 stores, with nearly 60 new outposts opened or announced since 2012.

The expansion included three stores in the St. Louis area, including its first Missouri store, opened in Fenton in 2014. The company also has stores in Chesterfield and O'Fallon, Ill.
It is a little unusual for a top staff member of the governor to publicly criticize the county executive of the states most populous county, but thats what happened last week.

Will Scharf, the policy director for Gov. Eric Greitens, wrote in a tweet that St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger is the definition of a corrupt, career politician.

Scharf was responding to a column I wrote on Stengers penchant for taking official action  or, in this case, not taking official action  that appears connected to the existence or non-existence of campaign donations. He says his tweet was solely his opinion.

This is the thing about corruption and ethics when it comes to campaign finance issues in politics: Its always the other guy. Whether it is a Democrat criticizing a fellow Democrat, as Stenger did when he ran against former County Executive Charlie Dooley, or a Republican criticizing a Democrat, politicians are quick to cry corruption but turn a blind eye when the same charge might stick to them.

This week, the Kansas City Star reported that Scharfs boss, Greitens, has set up a nonprofit called A New Missouri in which he can raise unlimited money without disclosing his donors. That nonprofit plans to advocate for the governors positions, and one of its employees, Austin Chambers, plans to work for it, while also working for Greitens campaign, while also advising the governor in an official state capacity.

Here is why this is so problematic: The double and triple dealing makes it next to impossible to track lobbyists and donors attempts to influence Greitens. In other words, it makes corruption easy to hide. Frankly, its the sort of move a career politician might make.

Already, Greitens has shown no shame in telling voters that they have no business tracking the donors to his campaign, unlike the ones voters can track easily to Stenger, for example. During the governors race, while he was calling members of the Legislature, which is controlled by his Republican Party, corrupt, Greitens took more than $2 million in donations that are impossible to track.

When he was inaugurated, he funded the ball with private donations and he has refused to disclose any financial information about the revenue and expenses despite numerous requests from public officials and reporters.

Since he has been in the governors mansion, Greitens has been using private donations to fly around the state and the country, again shielding donors in many cases from the transparency that has been the norm in Missouri politics. This is a gubernatorial problem that goes back to the days of Christopher Kit Bond and Joe Teasdale, who lobbed charges at each other that they used the states plane at the expense of taxpayers for the purpose of campaigning.

Every governor faces this issue. Greitens is trying to simply find a way around it. None of this is OK, unless, of course, voters accept such secrecy and hypocrisy in their career, corrupt politicians.

In fact, more than a decade ago when Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, tried to hide the source of his inaugural funds, Republicans cried foul. Greitens director of the Office of Administration, Sarah Steelman, then a state senator, was one of the loudest voices. I think the public has the right to know who is contributing to their public officials, Steelman said then. It could be considered as trying to influence or gain access by contributing.

Steelman wasnt alone. The Republican Party that Greitens now leads sent Holden a certified letter demanding the information that he eventually shared.

These days, Republicans are hesitant to openly criticize their new governor during the legislative session, but make no mistake: Many of them are not happy with Greitens secrecy.

One Republican, Sen. Rob Schaaf of St. Joseph, has filed the Dark Money Disclosure Act, which would ultimately require Greitens and other politicians to disclose the actual source of any donation larger than $2,000. The bill hasnt had a committee hearing.

It is possible Greitens doesnt quite remember his Missouri history. He was a Democrat when Holden, his friend, was elected, for instance.

Now he is a Republican who won his office in part by calling his fellow Republicans corrupt because of their practice of taking lobbyists gifts, including the lavish meals that have become a staple of the Jefferson City culture.

The accusation, much like the one Greitens aide Scharf lobs at Stenger, isnt necessarily wrong, but it loses its sting when Greitens decides he is above the sort of transparency that is at the root of political corruption.

As long as Greitens believes its OK to hide the names of the billionaires and lobbyists who are the sources of much of his donations, this is what hes saying: If a lobbyist buys one of his fellow Republicans dinner, they are corrupt. If the same lobbyist buys him a plane ride? Thats none of your damn business.
JEFFERSON CITY  A bill that would give additional protections to witnesses and victims who testify in court has been endorsed by St. Louis top prosecutor, who argues their safety is essential in fighting for justice.

Kim Gardner, the citys newly-elected circuit attorney, paid a visit to the state Capitol this week to lobby for the measure. The bill would help protect the personal information of witnesses and victims who offer testimony.

Its a familiar fight for the circuit attorneys office. Gardners predecessor, Jennifer Joyce, went to court to defend her policy of redacting personal information from police reports before providing them to defense attorneys.

Mary Fox, the head public defender in St. Louis, sued on the grounds that the practice infringes on defendants rights to a fair trial. In November of last year, an appeals court ruled in Foxs favor. Joyce promised to seek other remedies through the courts or state Legislature.

A recently-introduced Senate bill would require orders of protection be filed in cases involving child victims and certain felony offenses. Currently, those orders are issued at a courts discretion in cases of witness intimidation.

Under those orders, the state doesnt have to provide witnesses personal information  including birth dates, Social Security numbers, addresses and telephone numbers  unless the defense counsel petitions for and is granted disclosure by the court.

The legislation also adds witnesses and victims to the Safe at Home program through the Missouri secretary of states office. The program allows participants to use a substitute address, rather than their actual living address, on state documents.

Gardner argues that witnesses won't come forward and victims won't report crimes if they fear retribution for doing so.

Last year alone, we had 188 murders (in St. Louis) and most of those murders are unsolved, Gardner told the Post-Dispatch. And a lot of those murders are unsolved because witnesses are afraid to come forward, because they dont trust the criminal justice system.

Sen. Bob Dixon, a Springfield Republican sponsoring the measure, said the bill is especially necessary in the digital age, when people are more accessible and vulnerable to threats than ever before.

Obviously the defense has to have the opportunity to cross-examine (witnesses and victims). They have to have the opportunity to depose them, Dixon said.

But we dont want witnesses railroaded, and we dont want their lives to be in danger. To protect their confidentiality is a reasonable thing.

Dixons bill is SB 513. A House version of the bill, filed by Rep. David Gregory, R-Sunset Hills, is HB 1155.
ST. LOUIS  David Garceau was running out of places to turn late last year. He was 41. Family said he was on parole for setting fire to a home where fellow homeless people stayed and breaking into others.

He ended up moving in with his father in Gravois Mills, a small town beside Lake of the Ozarks, but that arrangement didnt last long.

Alan Garceau said his son had been in trouble since he was 14. Though he once had a thriving vinyl siding business in Ohio, David couldnt beat addiction and mental illness.

He was a cutter, said his father.

In fact, thats what got him kicked out of his fathers house in October. David cut his arms so badly, there was blood all over the floor and walls. He was whisked away in an ambulance.

That triggered a chain of events that lead to his suicide in a troubled state corrections facility in St. Louis. The suicide, along with a death possibly due to an overdose in January, is raising fresh questions about whats going on inside the facilitys walls.

At least one key Missouri official vowed to provide solutions to the real problems at the St. Louis Community Release Center. Already, the center is undergoing changes of management, according to the official and a union representative.

The problems at the massive halfway house, operated by the Missouri Division of Probation and Parole, follows years of complaints from city leaders.

They say the high-risk parolees, many of whom are able to sign out and leave without supervision, have been responsible for a spate of crime in and near downtown, including an attempted rape in 2014. The facility is the only one of its kind in the state, after a similar one in Kansas City was closed.

They knew the circumstances

David Garceaus route to the Release Center first passed through a hospital psychiatric unit in West Plains, Mo.

After a few days there, he asked to return to his fathers home.

No, you cant come back, Alan said he told his son. I have grandkids here. You think I want them to walk into that bloodbath? You just cant.

His sons parole officer tried to find an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment home to stay long term, but David ended up being driven 200 miles to the Release Center.

On the waterfront at 1621 North First Street, the 550-person facility is typically used for people coming out of the state prison system who dont have a home plan. Some have day passes to track down leads on housing and employment.

David Garceau didnt want to go there. But his sister, Lisa Morrow, a nurse in Ohio, said he was supposed to stay in Missouri as a condition of his parole. She said he was booked into the Release Center wearing a hospital gown and flip-flops. His father said he still had bandages on his arms from cutting himself.

They now question how his case was handled and whether he was on suicide watch.

David Garceau was found hanging in his cell at 5:27 a.m. Oct. 24, 2016, a few days after he arrived at the facility. Family said they still havent received all his belongings and that officials have been slow to answer questions.

I know my brother is responsible for what happened to him, but they agreed to take him in, Morrow said. They knew the circumstances. You have somebody in your custody, you are responsible for their safety.

The family has received a copy of the autopsy report but no video surveillance footage that may have captured events leading up to the incident.

The city counselors office wouldnt release information about the case to the Post-Dispatch because its still under investigation.

The autopsy report shared by family states that Garceau had partially digested food in his stomach and rigor mortis had been released from the body, indicating he may have been dead a notable amount of time before he was found. But Assistant Medical Examiner Juliette Scantlebury, who wrote the autopsy report, clarified in a phone interview Thursday that the report was incorrect and shouldnt be taken out of context.

Consulting her personal notes on the case, Scantlebury said she found minor or no rigor mortis and that she couldnt accurately estimate whether there had been a delay in finding the body.

Real problems

The manager of the Release Center referred questions to the Missouri Department of Corrections, which oversees the probation and parole facility. Jefferson City-based spokesman David Owen did not respond to a request for comment Thursday about the death.

Asked earlier in the week about employees possibly being fired at the public facility, Owen said by email that the department doesnt comment on personnel matters.

A spokesperson for the union that represents probation and parole workers at the Release Center said staffing changes only affected management.

Rep. Paul Fitzwater, R-Potosi, chairman of the House Corrections and Public Institutions Committee, said he is coming to the Release Center Friday morning to have a look.

I did hear that there has been some staff changes at this facility, he said in an email. Some real problems exist.

He declined to comment on specifics.

I can tell you there will be some big changes to address the problems that exist, he said. Im looking forward to my visit on Friday.

In addition to Garceau, Demarko Flowers, 22, was another Release Center resident who recently died. He was found unresponsive in his cell at 8:50 a.m. on Jan. 5. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. His case is being investigated as a possible overdose.
ST. LOUIS  A man from Washington Park was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in prison for a string of violent street robberies in downtown St. Louis in 2015.

St. Louis Circuit Judge David Dowd sentenced Roy D. Brown, 28, to prison on 13 counts of robbery, attempted robbery and resisting arrest. A St. Louis jury last month found Brown guilty.

Brown was accused of snatching purses and wallets from people from Nov. 27 to Dec. 23, 2015. Some of the victims were targeted after leaving downtown bars, restaurants and hotels.

Immediately after some of the robberies, Brown would go to a casino and a Wal-Mart in Illinois where he spent thousands of dollars using stolen credit and debit cards.

Police said Brown struck some victims, and in one incident dragged a woman by her purse for several feet and threatened to shoot her friend who tried to intervene. The victims provided police part of a license plate number, which helped investigators identify a vehicle by using license plate readers and surveillance cameras.

On Dec. 23, 2015, police chased Brown across the Eads Bridge into East St. Louis, where Brown eventually stopped and was arrested. Police said they found a womans Social Security card and other papers in Browns wallet and her purse and wallet in the car.

Roy Browns actions are exactly why people avoid the city of St. Louis, Assistant Circuit Attorney Madeline Connolly wrote in a sentencing recommendation.

One of the victims moved out of the city because of the attack, Connolly wrote. Another wont walk alone to lunch downtown anymore.

Brown also was charged a year ago with breaking into three businesses during the Ferguson riots of November 2014 and taking lottery tickets and liquor from two of them. Burglary and stealing charges are pending.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect spelling of Assistant Circuit Attorney Madeline Connolly's name. The story has been updated.
JEFFERSON CITY  The creation of a nonprofit organization designed to promote Gov. Eric Greitens may be a new wrinkle in Missouri politics, but it has become a common fundraising tool among politicians across the nation.

Years before Greitens and his allies formed A New Missouri last month and opened an office in the capital city to collect money from undisclosed donors, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, another Republican, was using a similar setup as a vehicle to get his message out to voters.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, also tapped a nonprofit organization for similar reasons, as did the Republican lieutenant governor of New Jersey, who is plotting a bid to take over for term-limited Gov. Chris Christie next year.

Others include gubernatorial candidates in North Carolina and Florida and GOP presidential candidates from Marco Rubio to Jeb Bush.

Although they come from different states and different political parties, the organizations have one thing in common: It is hard, if not impossible, to track how much money they raise and spend on behalf of their candidates.

As first reported by the Kansas City Star, Greitens allies formed the organization to promote ideas, policies and/or legislation to create more jobs, higher pay, safer streets, better schools, and more, for all Missourians.

As Greitens campaign adviser Austin Chambers told the Post-Dispatch, A New Missouri will make sure people know about the governor and his agenda.

As a nonprofit, however, contributions to the organization  unlike a standard federal or state campaign fund  are not limited and donors are not required to be disclosed.

That means Greitens, a former Navy SEAL who had never held elected office, wont have to rely on contributions coming in under new caps on campaign contributions approved by nearly 70 percent of Missouri voters in the 2016 election.

Those caps ban the massive donations Greitens and others received during the hard-fought campaign from megadonors like Joplin-based roofing company owner David Humphreys and his family, who dropped millions into Republican campaign accounts in a quest to make Missouri a right-to-work state.

Chambers, the campaign consultant who oversaw Greitens successful 2016 campaign and remains actively involved advising the rookie governor, dismissed concerns raised about transparency and the new organization.

I dont see it as an issue. When were out traveling amongst the people, they ask us about jobs. They ask about schools, Chambers said.

This smells funny

Greitens new committee  a 501(c)(4) under Internal Revenue Service guidelines, a social welfare organization with tax-exempt status  can raise unlimited amounts from anonymous donors. The committee can then give the money to a super PAC, which can spend money on advertisements on behalf of a candidate.

Thats how Greitens landed nearly a $2 million contribution shrouded in secrecy during his campaign from a political action committee called SEALs for Truth, which had gotten its largesse from the American Policy Coalition, a nonprofit similar to A New Missouri.

The formation of Greitens nonprofit has become fodder for Democrats in the Missouri Legislature.

Our governor campaigned on getting rid of corruption and this smells funny. At the end of the day, hes going to have to answer for that, said House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City.

In particular, they find it ironic that Greitens campaigned as an outsider touting ethics reform as his goal, only to follow in the footsteps of other politicians in creating a way to raise money without disclosing his donors.

Hes the one who campaigned on the anti-corruption and cleaning up state government. We were all called corrupt politicians. It sounds to me like perhaps he has joined in that corrupt politician category, McCann Beatty said.

The issue of transparency comes as Greitens has already come under fire for refusing to reveal how much money companies and individuals contributed to his Jan. 9 inauguration party.

Greitens also has not disclosed who is paying for his flights on private aircraft, although Chambers has said some of the money could come from groups like the Republican Governors Association and, in the future, A New Missouri.

Greitens also has not released his income tax returns, which would show how much he received in book royalties, paid speaking engagements and other sources of income.

Even Greitens fellow Republicans have expressed wariness of the lack of transparency in his administration.

During budget talks last week, GOP lawmakers told Greitens chief of staff, Michael Roche, that they will not abide by the governors decision to spread the salary of his chief operating officer among several different agencies. Rather, they said they want Drew Erdmanns pay to be reflected fully in the governors office budget.

An explosion of them

Craig Mauger, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said Snyder has tapped at least three organizations that are similar to Greitens during his tenure.

The first fund, however, was shuttered after there was outcry about the secrecy of how it was being funded, Mauger said.

Its something thats extremely troubling if you care about transparency, Mauger said.

In his second nonprofit, Snyder disclosed the donors. A third nonprofit, formed by his allies in support of his exploring a bid for president, did not disclose donors, Mauger said.

The majority of this money, we cant figure out where its coming from, Mauger said.

In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, ran into similar headaches with his 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The New York Times last year reported a state ethics panel launched a probe of de Blasios political nonprofit into allegations that it illegally lobbied the city in 2015.

Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the problems are likely to grow as the number of organizations skyrockets.

In the last few years, weve just seen an explosion of them across the country, Libowitz said.

CREW has filed complaints about some of the groups spending too much of their money on political activity in violation of IRS rules.

Unfortunately, we havent seen much in the way of action, Libowitz said.
JEFFERSON CITY  Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft staked his successful run for office on support for Missouri's new photo ID law last year.

Now he's leading a state campaign emphasizing free IDs for those who can't afford them, but he's still raising money issuing warnings about voter fraud.

The law, pushed by Republican legislators, will require Missourians to show a photo ID or to sign a legal document swearing they are who they say they are before voting beginning in August 2017.

Democrats have decried the measure, saying it suppresses votes of poor people, people of color and people with disabilities who don't have easy access to IDs and may be intimidated by sworn statements.

In an email sent to supporters Thursday, Ashcroft said the "the measure will help us stop voter fraud and protect your vote from being disenfranchised by illegal votes."

"Undoubtedly, there will be attempts to block the implementation of voter ID by critics of the law," he added. That's why I need your help."

He did not mention any of the law's voter-friendly provisions, like free IDs for those who can't afford them, that he usually highlights in public statements.

"No one will be disenfranchised by this law, Ashcroft said at a news conference in St. Louis Monday. And if you find someone who needs help, let me know.

He asked supporters to contribute between $25 to $150 to an "Implement Voter ID" campaign, which will pay for Ashcroft's political activities in support of the law.

Links in the email went to Ashcroft's campaign website.

State Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Webber panned the move.

"I don't think the Secretary should be raising money by restricting access to the ballot box," he said.

Maura Browning, Ashcroft's spokesperson, said the fundraising campaign had nothing to with the Secretary of State's official work to educate the public about the law.

Ashcroft is currently working with the legislature to get $1.4 million to fund his office's role of educating the public about the law's changes next year.

He slashed a two-year, $5.2 million budget prepared by Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander that would have spent $2 million on letters to every registered voter in the state about the changes, calling it bloated and unnecessary.

Attempts to reach Ashcroft were unsuccessful Friday afternoon.
Updated at 11:15 a.m. with comments from city Treasurer Tishaura Jones.

ST. LOUIS  Just over 12 hours since announcing that he will launch a write-in campaign to become the city's next mayor, State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. has changed his mind and will not seek the office.

Early Friday morning, Franks said his change of heart is about not wanting to leave his 78th District seat vacant for a prolonged period of time. It would be one less progressive voice in the state Legislature, he said.

"The governor sets the special election," he said. "I've talked to people experienced in this, there's a possibility the 78th seat could sit vacant for a year or more. The people in the 78th need representation. They've fought too hard."

City Treasurer Tishaura Jones weighed in on Franks' decision Friday morning.

"Change comes from the bottom, not the top. It is driven by real injustices, not personalities, and it is strategic," Jones said. "I love Bruce, but I would rather have him bearing witness in Jefferson City than explaining the difficult process of a write-in election."

She added that her top priority following her narrow loss in Tuesday's Democratic primary is to oppose the April 4 ballot measure to use city business taxes to help finance a Major League Soccer stadium.

Our earlier story:

State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. announced Thursday that he is launching a write-in campaign to become the citys next mayor in the April 4 general election.

Up until last fall, Franks, a Democrat, was a political newcomer. He famously lost in his August bid to unseat longtime 78th District House Rep. Penny Hubbard, before suing to have the election results overturned due to irregularities in absentee voting.

In September, Franks won a lopsided victory over Hubbard in a court-ordered redo election, prevailing by a 3-1 ratio.

Franks said his write-in campaign for mayor is the result of dissatisfaction over how Tuesdays Democratic primary turned out.

Alderman Lyda Krewson won the primary with 32 percent of the vote, narrowly beating city Treasurer Tishaura Jones, who garnered 30 percent.

Krewson is expected to cruise to victory in April in the heavily Democratic city.

Franks and Jones both are part of the citys energized movement of young progressives looking to shake up the establishment. The movement is broadly based on bringing racial and economic equity to the city.

Because Jones was on the primary ballot, state law prohibits her from launching a write-in campaign.

I wouldve gotten behind Tishaura Jones, but because she cant be a write-in, people started coming to me, Franks said.

I looked at the candidates left, and no disrespect to Lyda Krewson, because shes a nice lady, I decided to do it because we need someone who can represent every part of the city.

Franks, who emerged as an activist leader during the 2014 protests in Ferguson, said he has the ear of Mayor Francis Slay, the circuit attorneys office and Police Chief Sam Dotson.

Franks and Dotson have collaborated on ways to improve police-community relations and recruiting a more diverse police force.

People feel like Im qualified to do this, Franks said. If anybody can get people to the polls, and get people excited about politics, its us. And by us, I mean the people who want change and the people who have fought for change.

Under state law, Franks has to sign a declaration of intent and deliver it the Board of Election Commissioners by March 24 to become certified as a write-in candidate.

In addition to Krewson, the other names appearing on the general election ballot are: Republican utility executive Andrew Jones; independent candidate Larry Rice, the operator of a downtown homeless shelter; Libertarian candidate Robb Cunningham; and Green Party candidate Johnathan McFarland.
NEW YORK  The call came from what looked like a government number. When an immigrant in New York City answered, the voice on the other end told him he was in the U.S. illegally and would have to pay $1,550 to stay.

It was a scam, carried out by one of a number of con artists who have been exploiting immigrants heightened fears of deportation by posing as federal agents and demanding money, authorities say.

Such scams have been around for a long time, but there has been a flurry of reported cases since Donald Trump was elected president on promises to get tough on immigrants in the country without permission.

Police in Lynn, Mass., warned immigrants to be on guard last month after a family reported getting a call from a person who claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would raid their home if they didnt wire money.

In Illinois, authorities are looking into reports from about 10 Chicago-area residents with ties to Ecuador who said a woman posing as a lawyer reached out through text messages and Facebook, falsely warned people they had a pending immigration case and demanded money for visa and tax help.

And in Greenville, S.C., prosecutors charged a man last week in the theft of more than $70,000 from a group of immigrants by pretending he was a federal agent.

The defendant, Michael Ruiz, 53, had been released from prison in New Jersey in September after serving a seven-year sentence for scamming immigrants by posing as an immigration officer and telling them he could help them get documents or bring relatives to the U.S. An attorney for Ruiz didnt return a call and email seeking comment.

With anxiety running high over Trumps accelerated efforts to round up and deport immigrants, scammers can thrive more than ever, said New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, a Democrat from a Queens district with a large number of Spanish-speaking immigrants.

The targets of such rip-offs are often reluctant to go to the police for fear of exposing their immigration status. That has made it difficult to investigate such schemes or determine how common they are.

The New York attorney generals office, Catholic Charities and ICE have urged immigrants to contact them about such shakedowns. And the attorney general issued an alert last week warning people not to fall for such scams.

Real ICE agents, it said, will never ask you for money or threaten detainment or deportation if you do not pay them.

The cases reported in New York include the immigrant who got the phone call demanding $1,550 and a person in suburban Orange County who received a text from ICE telling him he needed to pay $479 if he wanted to stay in the U.S.
As we have since July 2006, each Friday well post our sampling of cigar news and other items of interest from the week. Below is our latest, which is the 521st in the series.

1) Avo is once again adding to its Improvisation Series. Avo Improvisation LE17 is a combination of three previously released Avo cigars: Syncro Nicaragua, Syncro Nicaragua Fogata, and LE05. The new blend utilizes the same variety of Dominican binder and filler tobaccos that were featured in the Avo LE05, blended with the same Esteli filler tobacco used in the Avo Syncro Nicaragua Fogata, and presented in the 6 x 60 boxed-pressed format of the Avo Syncro Nicaragua Special Toro, according to a press release issued by Davidoff, Avos parent company. Avo Improvisation LE17 is the first Avo limited edition to be presented in a box-pressed format, and the first to feature a ring gauge of 60. The super-premium, Habano Ecuador Marron Claro-wrapped cigar will retail for $18 for a single cigar or $288 for a box of 16. It will launch on March 22 with a limited production of 2,000 boxes available for the U.S. market. European and other markets will launch shortly thereafter.

2) C.L.E. Cigar Company this week announced the continuation of the Eiroa The First 20 line with the Eiroa The First 20 Colorado, which will begin shipping on April 3. The Colorado is a continuation of the Eiroa The First 20 Line that was officially launched in 2016. I absolutely love the authentic Corojo seed and finally, after decades of trying, I finally have the exact Colorado color I have been looking for my entire career, says Christian Eiroa. I want to share these with guys that actually appreciate the work involved. We are not looking to make millions of these, just the right amount of cigars for the right people. Each of the cigars four sizes will be packaged in boxes of 20 and retail in the $12.36 to $14.36 range.

3) Philip Morris thinks this is the future of tobacco: To use an IQOS, you push a flavored packet of tobacco called a heatstick into the mouth of a tubular, pipelike holder, which is a bit smaller than a kazoo. When you press a button on the holder, it heats up a metal blade inside, which cooks the tobacco to roughly a third of the temperature of a traditional cigarette. Then you puff away. The tobacco is warmed without combusting, so it doesnt release any fire, smoke, or ash In between heatsticks, you holster the cyberpipe in a mobile charger, a smooth, palm-size contraption that calls to mind a cigarette pack mated with a smartphone and designed by Apples Jony Ive.

4) Inside the Industry: Gurkha Cigars is expected to reveal a special edition 15-year Cellar Reserve cigar at the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show in Las Vegas. The cigar is intended to commemorate the Cellar Reserves 10-year anniversary. All that is known at this time is that the cigar will be featured in a special vitola and be packaged in a 50-count humidor box. The Cellar Reserve was our very first brick and mortar exclusive cigar and it has had continued success and amazing ratings, said Kaizad Hansotia, CEO of Gurkha Cigars. This cigar speaks to the cigar lover and will be created to encompass everything that is loved of our signature cigar.

5) From the Archives: People primarily think of four or five countries when it comes to cigars, but the list is far deeper. Last year, we counted down our top ten cigar countries (and noted some countries that could have made the list but missed the cut). Check out six through ten, then the top five.

6) Deal of the Week: The Tatuaje Reserva Broadleaf Collection is 100 cigars (ten each of ten sizes) all made in Miami. The $1,200 price tag makes it a major splurge purchase, but with only a limited number available, we wanted to highlight the availability of this rare item.

The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Avo Cigars
09 March 2017

Saudi-led coalitions recent use of Brazilian-made cluster munitions targets residential areas in Yemen

Brazil urged to renounce cluster munitions

The strikes have been in residential areas of Sa'da city

(c) Amnesty International

On 15 February 2017, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fired Brazilian-manufactured cluster munitions on three residential areas in Saada City in Yemen, maiming two civilians, according to Amnesty International in a press release published today. This is the third confirmed use of Brazilian-manufactured cluster munitions in Yemen. Yet, the government of Brazil remains silent.

I strongly condemn the use of cluster munitions in Yemen and urge the Saudi-led coalition to halt the use of any and all cluster munitions, said Megan Burke, Director of the Cluster Munition Coalition. I urge the government of Brazil to condemn the use of cluster munitions in Yemen, to renounce the internationally banned weapons and cease all production and transfers, and to join the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions without further delay.

According to an investigation by Human Rights Watch and research by Amnesty International, several civilians were killed or injured by Brazilian-manufactured cluster munitions in Yemen in 2016. Other investigations have also confirmed the use of US and UK-made cluster bombs in Yemen.

Brazil has been a significant producer and exporter of cluster munitions, and maintains a stockpile of the weapons, according to the Cluster Munition Monitor. ASTROS II, the cluster munitions used in Yemen were manufactured by Avibras Industria Aeroespacial SA. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have purchased ASTROS cluster munition rockets from Brazil.

The Saudi- coalition is comprised of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.

Today Cluster Munition Coalition sent a letter to Mr. Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, the Foreign Minister of Brazil to express its concern and to urge the country to take action.

119 nations have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions, of which 100 are States Parties and the remaining 19 are signatories that have yet to ratify. The convention comprehensively prohibits the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions, as well as assistance with any of these banned activities, and require that stockpiled cluster munitions be destroyed within eight years. The convention requires the clearance of areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants within ten years, and assistance to fulfill the rights of victims of cluster munitions. The convention also calls on countries in a position to provide assistance to help others fulfill their obligations.

Click here to read our statement on previous use of Brazilian-made cluster munitions in Yemen.
I have learned the hard way not to put my personal life on the Internet. But suffice it to say that, God willing, things should be pretty much back to norm...

3 weeks ago
United Ventures Invests in Italy's MainStreaming

Milan( )

United Ventures SGR, an Italian Venture Capital firm, has invested a Series A round of 4 million in MainStreaming.

MainStreaming, a Global Video Delivery Network, specializes in video content delivery in real-time, based on proprietary technology ("Hypernode") fined-tuned in Italy and now ready to expand globally. The company has offices in Milan and San Francisco, CA.

MainStreaming's powerful algorithm and very high performance network can distribute top quality video with a significant reduction in energy consumption, well below that of traditional internet technologies.

This tech was created to meet the needs of emerging markets such as OTT TV (Over the Top Television) and offers traditional Broadcasters the opportunity to migrate their content over IP.

Mainstreaming's service is targeted at large global Broadcasters, OTT TV (Over-the-top TV), Digital Media Companies, and emerging media companies, supporting them with all the encoding, management and video content distribution functionalities.

MainStreaming essentially has three advantages over its competitors:

? There is no cache, for each video to be distributed, just a few copies are generated, not hundreds or thousands as with traditional CDN services, guaranteeing a notable reduction in energy consumption and the use of less servers;

? MainStreaming specialises exclusively in the distribution of video, ensuring a high performance transmission and a better User Experience;

? The proprietary algorithm is able to distribute optimum quality video, also in the presence of many simultaneous users, since the network and delivery technology have been designed for the broadcasting of video in real-time.

We are extremely happy to work with United Ventures on a project that will enable us to become a major global player in the distribution of on-line video. - states Antonio Corrado CEO of MainStreaming - Thanks to the Series A round closed with United Ventures, we will push to expand global technological coverage, recruit new personnel and establish ourselves on the international market.

The video sector is one of the strategic sectors that will offer opportunities for exponential growth in the next few years - stated Massimiliano Magrini, Co-founder and Managing Partner of United Ventures - In MainStreaming we have found a group of entrepreneurs with ambition and expertise to establish a potential leader in the Video Delivery sector.

***

MainStreaming is a Global Video Delivery Network - with offices in Italy and in Silicon Valley, founded by Antonio Corrado (CEO), Philippe Tripodi (COO) and Giovanni Proscia (CTO) -which allows the distribution of real-time video over the internet. MainStreaming is a Global Video Delivery Network designed to ensure maximum performance and quality for the broadcasting of live and on demand video in real-time all over the world. It integrates all the operating phases for the management and distribution of always available video content at global level and on any device connected to the internet. A solution targeted at Broadcasters and Media Companies that require high quality and high performance distribution of on-line video for global audiences.
A top Iranian commander says the Islamic Republic has successfully test-fired Hormuz-2 ballistic missile.

Iran "fired Hormuz-2 this week and the missile successfully destroyed a target at a distance of 250 kilometers, commander of the Aerospace Division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said Thursday.

Hormuz-2 is a naval strike ballistic missile that can hit mobile targets at sea with high precision. It has a range of almost 300 kilometers.

The missile is very similar to anti-ship Khalij-e-Fars (Persian Gulf) ballistic missile in appearance.

On Monday, Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan warned that Irans defensive military power would catch the enemies off guard in the event of an aggression against the Islamic Republic.

The warning came one day after Iran successfully tested the S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system, which the Islamic Republic has purchased from Russia.

Following the test, Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, the commander of Irans Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, said the country was designing and manufacturing an indigenous version of the S-300 system, called Bavar-373.

Iran maintains that its military power poses no threat to other countries and that its military doctrine is based on deterrence only.
When I came to start this company, there were a lot of naysayers saying day charters were crazy and it would ruin the boat, explains Dhardra Blake, Founder of LuxuryDayCharters.com. But, I work with corporate clients, families and high-net-worths who cant afford the time to charter a yacht for seven days or more.

It comes down to time and affordability, everybody is busy. If people get the opportunity to take the family out on the boat for a half day, a day or even a few days it feeds a market that didnt necessarily exist before.

The method of chartering a yacht for a day opened up an entirely new market of last minute, family and friend orientated escapes which are time, economically friendly and completely customisable.

Everything is really customised, continues Blake, you can customise the time, you can customise the location, you can customise the food and beverages, guests can hire a chef for the day or they can cruise to a restaurant.

The story of how LuxuryDayCharters.com came to be surrounds the demand for more accessible charter across South Florida, which led to a natural expansion across the Eastern Seaboard of America.

I mainly started out here in South Florida because there is a demand, mainly Miami but partly Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, the Keys and The Bahamas. About four years ago I expanded my business north to Newport, Rhode Island, basing there and servicing the new england market in the summer.

With an inventory of Westport, Sunseeker, Azimut and Lazzara yachts available for charter for seven days or less, LuxuryDayCharters.com offers a glimpse into the charter lifestyle for those looking to sample the owner lifestyle and cruise the U.S. and The Bahamas in style.
The town hall in Torremolinos has announced that renowned architect, Salvador Moreno Peralta, will coordinate the pedestrianisation of the Plaza Costa del Sol.

The planning department of the town hall disclosed the plans for the new look during last week's plenary session.

The proposed reconstruction of the square will incorporate Avenida Palma de Mallorca and parts of Calle Hoyo and Calle de la Cruz.

The town has already undergone major changes since the socialist PSOE party took control of the town almost two years ago. The revitalisation of the main square in the centre of the town has been a main priority since it was closed to traffic in December 2015.

The Plaza Costa del Sol has again become the heart of the town and many new bars and restaurants have opened in the area over the past 18 months.

The mayor of Torremolinos, Jose Ortiz, claims that the pedestrianisation project is about to begin, although they are still waiting to see if they were successful with their application for a loan from the European Regional Development Fund.

"The pedestrianisation of the Plaza Costa del Sol is an indispensable project for this town, and we are close to achieving it. We are seeing fewer empty buildings and more progress in this area, compared to the bleak situation that faced us when we first entered government 18 months ago," the mayor said.

The centre of Torremolinos is to undergo a complete facelift and the square is to be transformed into a picturesque plaza with green zones, fountains and shaded areas with seating.

The first stage will concentrate on the Plaza Costa del Sol and will focus on elements of historical character, incorporating water, springs and mills.

The project will include various proposals arising from the different political parties, citizen groups and local associations.

Salvador Moreno Peralta was chosen to oversee the project because of his experience and reputation in the world of architecture.

He has renovated several emblematic buildings in the province, including the Hotel Castillo in Monda, the Parador de San Rafael and the Hotel Larios in Malaga.

The architect was also responsible for designing the building that houses Torremolinos town hall.

The deputy mayor, Maribel Tocon, explained that the council has the support of business owners, and this was obvious, she claimed, because "they are investing in the town and securing its future".

"The project for the final pedestrianisation of the square will be developed with our own resources. The choice of Salvador Moreno Peralta to lead this important project for the town is not due only to his career, but also because of his emotional attachment to Torremolinos," Tocon said.
SUR in Englishs panel of judges faced another difficult task earlier this month when it came to selecting work by students for publication in this special Education and Learning supplement. This year ten schools from Anoreta to Sotogrande answered this newspapers call to submit work by primary and secondary pupils in three categories: art, poetry and written reviews.

Winners in each category, as well as runners-up and others deserving of a special mention, were selected by a panel of judges formed by artist George Kowzan, poet and translator, Alvaro Garcia, former editor of SUR in English, Liz Parry, and the newspapers current editor Rachel Haynes.

In the art section, Kowzan, whose murals are now decorating numerous walls around Malaga, stressed the high standard of the work submitted, making the judging very difficult. I had eight on my shortlist to get down to three, he said, referring to the secondary works.

Poet Alvaro Garcia, who has translated poetry by writers such as Edward Lear, T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Philip Larkin, Kenneth White, D. M. Thomas and Margaret Atwood into Spanish, as well as publishing his own work, commented that as in previous years, he was especially impressed by the primary poems.

The poems by the younger children are the best, he said, adding that as children turn into young adults, their poetry loses some of its innocence.

As in the previous year, the budding poets were asked to based their writing on two nouns, one abstract and one concrete.

Writers were asked this year to send in a review of a book, film or play. Liz Parry pointed out that what she looked for in a review was engaging critical assessment rather than mere summary of the plot, with enough information to let readers decide whether or not they want to read the book or watch the film and of course with no spoilers.

Winning primary artwork. / Luis Denis Gonzalez de Vega, age 10, Sunny View School.

Artwork winners

Despite the incredibly high standard, the judges chose Luis Denis Gonzalez de Vega (aged 10, Sunny View School) as the primary winner for artwork. George Kowzan referred to this as a fauvist landscape. Just joyous were the words he used to describe how the painting made him feel. It lifts your spirits, he added. These are really, really strong colours. It is well composed, with purple and blue in the background, sending the colours off into the distance but then youve got this lovely orange sky.

Id have that on my wall, he concluded.

The judges did not know whether the student had been learning about fauvist art or whether his choice of colour was coincidental with the style.

George explained how fauvist art was a movement at the same time as impressionism. They were called the wild beasts, he said, adding that the paintings were identified by the super bright, bold colours. "Theyre unnatural colours that show you are painting with the soul as well.

As for the winning secondary entry, by Loreto Villegas (age 14, Sotogrande International School), he said: "Theres a great feeling of hardship and struggle here."

Winning secondary artwork. / Loreto Villegas, age 14, Sotogrande International School.

Youve got the bent backs of the people struggling with their meagre possessions. The black and white makes it even more powerful - theres no joy, no colour.

The last child figure shows total despair - the bending of the back and the positioning of the eye. The childs on the verge of giving up, ready to drop.

Its very, very evocative; an extremely powerful piece of work. I loved it, said the artist.

George discussed the technique used, lino cut. The white marks have been gouged out of the linoleum. You can see the marks of the tool, he said.

The judges discussed how the painting depicted the struggle of refugees fleeing from any of the crises, past or present, in the world.
A man on trial for strangling a prostitute to death and setting fire to her house in Malaga in January last year has denied any involvement in her death, stating that he was at home at the time, telling the jury that "she was a very close friend" and that he feels sorry for what happened.

The public prosecution in Malaga are demanding 37 years in prison for the man. According to the prosecution, the man contacted the woman with the intention of robbing her to pay for debts that he owed to other people.
An article published in SUR in English on 27 January referred to an 'exodus' of British residents from the Costa del Sol. The report quoted the most recent statistics available regarding numbers registered on their local town hall's 'padron', or population census, however the figures generated a number of letters and comments from readers, highlighting the mixed messages that foreign residents have received from their local town halls.

Residents who have been in Spain since before 2009 will probably have been told that once they had registered on their local padron, they did not have to update the information. However others may have been told that they do need to update their details, anything between every two and five years.

Antonio Requena Segovia, who heads up the Malaga office of the Spain's Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (INE - national statistics institute), confirmed to SUR in English this week that since 2009, foreign residents coming from other European Union member states have been required to update their details every five years.

Residents from non-EU countries are asked to renew every two years, in line with their residency papers. In both cases if they fail to do so, their names will be removed.

Previously, foreigners, like Spanish residents, were kept on the register permanently once they had registered.

The 'exodus' headline came from the latest statistics released which revealed a significant drop in British people on the town hall register, or padron.

Data trends

The institute releases data on the country's population at the beginning of every year and shows trends in Spanish nationals as well as foreign residents.

Malaga province is home to Spain's second largest British population after Alicante, with 49,526 registered in 2015. In total 239,810 Brits were registered as living in Spain in the same year.

The 2016 INE report, which shows data from 2015, revealed that 5,240 British people had been removed from the padron and that 8,093 foreigners in total had been taken off across the whole of Malaga province.

As the statistics predate Brexit, there is only anecdotal evidence of British people returning to the UK due to fears over the consequences of the UK leaving the EU.

According to Requena, who is based in the INE offices in Calle Puerta del Mar in the centre of Malaga, it is "impossible" to know all the reasons why people don't update their details on their local council's register.

"Many people naturally drop off the register because they die," he said. "Due to the fact that Malaga is home to many foreign pensioners, one of the key factors in this drop is, obviously, that people pass away."

According to the latest INE statistics, the average age of a British national living in Spain is 52, compared with the average for all foreign residents falling into the 30-44 age bracket.

Impossible to track

If foreign residents move to another place in Spain and register with their new town hall, they are automatically taken off the previous padron but do not disappear from national statistics.

"Nowadays, technology is very advanced and we can keep track of people who move within the country. The problem is when people leave the country and don't tell us, or we are not informed of a death," explained Requena.

He said that there is no way of knowing whether people have really left the country or simply not, for whatever reason, contacted their local council to update the information.

Antonio Requena Segovia. / J.R

Since 2009, many town halls in Malaga province have run renewal campaigns, to remind foreign residents to update their information.

This is generally done in the form of a letter which will be sent to the postal address which appears on the padron.

However, as Jacky Gomez of the foreign residents' department at Nerja Town Hall points out, "Many people move and don't give us their new addresses, so the letters never reach them."

The initial letter is generally sent out several months before the renewal deadline, with a reminder if there is no reply after a set date.

Additionally the town halls publicise their padron campaigns in the local media to reach residents who may not have received their letters.

Antonio Requena said that dissemination of information about the padron "depends very much on the town hall".

"Some are very good at collecting the information and running campaigns and others are not," he added.

Malaga's INE works very closely with the local councils across the province in order to collect the information and to help them to ask foreigners to register and renew. The INE chief insists that his team is making sure that town halls keep their registers up-to-date. However, he points out that the renewal process has only been in place for eight years and if people are only contacted every five years it will take some time to really be accurate.

Not a legal requirement

Although registering on the padron is not a legal requirement, people are strongly encouraged to do so as population numbers relate directly to the amount of central government funding towns receive for services such as medical centres, fire stations, schools, cleaning and other municipal facilities.

Take the case of Nerja for example, which has a population of around 21,000. If the population registered on the padron remains above 20,000, the town is eligible for more funding for core services. Should the population drop below the limit, it is likely to lose key facilities. As Requena pointed out, foreigners who use these services should be part of the head count.

Registering on the padron, he explained, has nothing to do with paying taxes and it doesn't cost anything to register. He said he has been made aware of the concerns and rumours that go around foreign communities that being on the padron means that a foreign resident will be required to pay more taxes, which, he said, is "absolutely not true".

While the police do have the right to consult town hall registers in the case of a foreign resident being arrested or involved in some way with a crime or incident, the information doesn't automatically get shared with the police or any other body, other than the INE.

Town Hall foreigners' departments across the province have reported mixed foreign population fluctuations in recent months. Nerja saw 20 new Britons moving into the town and registering on the padron in February alone, according to the foreigners' department, although the town has seen an overall drop in the number of foreign residents.

Joanna Drozdowska, who works at the foreign residents' office in Benalmadena, said that she has noticed a "big drop" in numbers of British residents. "People are afraid and are selling their properties because of Brexit," she said.

Velez-Malaga's census and padron department also confirmed that it sends letters some time before a foreign resident's registration is due to be updated. A reminder is sent out if the renewal hasn't been carried out before the five year limit is up.

Requena concluded by saying that since 2009, the INE has been working closely with town halls to ask foreign residents to remember to update their details every five years.

Town halls are required to find the human resources to carry out the work and that the annual campaigns are "important". He said that it is a "big cleaning project", which he recognises will take time but says it is "necessary so that towns get all the services they need".

While INE statistics suggest an 'exodus' of Brits, the reality is more complicated than people simply leaving Spain. However, what is clear is that those who do live in Spain for at least three months of the year are advised to register with their local town hall.
Two young university graduates from Velez-Malaga have set up their own business selling Holy Week souvenirs. Daniel Escalona, 25, who has a degree in Marketing and his friend, Francisco Gutierrez, 23, a Business Management and Administration graduate, found inspiration for the business, called Tintineo, while watching the processions in Malaga last year.

"Many of the things we offer are things we would like to have had when we were 15, because in my case I decorated my school folders with photos and images of the processions and thinking about that is what led to products which suit all ages and profiles," says Escalona.

As Holy Week approaches, the pair have already received dozens of orders from different religious associations across Andalucia. Associations are able to order products such as bags, notebooks, bookmarks, puzzles, mobile phone covers and baby clothes with their own designs. Miniature replicas of the 'thrones' are also available, thanks to the collaboration of painter, Martin Espana.

"There are other similar companies, but none that offer such a personalised service and that are able to adapt to the requests of different groups," the pair says about their company.

Tintineo comes from a word that Antonio Banderas used when he was the 'pregonero' (person who formally starts an event) for the 2011 Holy Week in Malaga, which Daniel and Francisco explain, describes the sound that the floats make as they are carried through the streets.

The company currently sells its products in the Mayka bookshop in Malaga and Yerma bookshop in Velez-Malaga. There are plans to sell in further outlets in Antequera, Seville and Jerez de la Frontera. "We want people to be able to enjoy Holy Week all year," they say.
Tourism companies and professionals from Andalucia have been showcasing the region's qualities as a tourist destination at the 51st edition of the world's leading tourism trade fair, ITB, in Berlin.

The president of Andalucia Susana Diaz was also present in the German capital on Thursday and made a visit to the stand representing Andalucia, where more than 300 tourism professionals have set up for the five-day event.

Tourism companies have already made early predictions about an increase in tourism from Germany to Andalucia. Airlines are expected to increase seat availability on their flights by 14 per cent, which could see over 900,000 German visitors travelling to the Costa del Sol.

There are already excellent connections between Malaga and German airports, with nine different airline companies offering direct flights into the province at 16 different airports in the country.

German tourism professionals are equally as confident of Andalucia profiting from tourism from Germany this year as they see tourism increasing in the region by two per cent.

This is despite the fact that Germany are simultaneously strengthening their ties with Greece and Egypt, two countries that suffered hugely from a lack of tourism last year due to the political instability in both.

However, the Costa del Sol tourism office is not worried about a resurgence from their competitors due to a deal struck with Infox, a marketing channel which will promote Andalucia as a priority destination through 3,000 agencies.

Moreover, the senior vice-president of the provincial government in Malaga, Francisco Salado, is hoping to see the figure increase from two per cent to six per cent.

He also added that he is not concerned by the competition from countries such as Greece, Egypt and Tunisia either, given that he wants to attract tourists "that come to get an experience of the destination rather than for the low prices".

The vice-president's comments were mirrored by the director of Tourism in Malaga, Javier Hernandez, who stated that the city offers "urban and cultural, not vocational ,tourism.

For that reason, Salado announced that the provincial government have increased investment in tourism promotion by 16 per cent.

The city has also managed to reach a deal with tour operator TUI, which will include the city as a tourist destination for the first time in each of the 450,000 copies of its catalogue.

Nevertheless, despite the many advantages that these deals will offer to tourists and companies alike, the minister for energy and tourism, Alvaro Nadal, warned that prices could increase in the region due to the increase in demand, and therefore it was imperative that the industry establishes a competitive strategy for the medium and long-term.
The Provincial Court has ordered a bouncer at the Marbella nightclub Aqwa Mist linked with the disappearance of Agnese Klavina, a 30-year-old Latvian woman, to be put on trial.

Klavina was last seen three years ago, leaving the nightclub with British pair Westley Capper and Craig Porter when she was supposedly forced into a car by the duo.

The bouncer is suspected of collaborating with Capper and Porter, with video surveillance seeming to show the bouncer closing the door of the vehicle and ensuring it remained so as Klavina attempted to open it.

The investigating judge added that this footage shows that he was "following instructions from Capper".

The news comes after the Provincial Court considered the appeal from the woman's family, who wanted to know the role played by two other people identified by police in their initial investigation, one of whom was the bouncer.

The other is a friend of the two men and who Capper, the son of British millionaire John Capper, called up to 48 times after Klavina's disappearance.

However, the judges have deemed that to be "a hazy piece of evidence" and will therefore not be following up on his link in the case.
The story of little Samuel, the 'Spanish Aylan', won't stir as many western consciences as that of the Syrian boy who drowned off the coast of Greece, but that doesn't mean his story shouldn't be told to highlight the human tragedy which immigration is bringing to the shores of Europe and, on this occasion, the coast of Cadiz province.

This four-year-old from the Congo drowned when the small boat in which he was travelling with his mother sank on 12 January, and his body was recovered days later from the Mangueta beach in Barbate. His mother, Veronique, was bringing him to Spain in the hope of finding him medical treatment for a lung condition; she was also suffering from a serious cancer in the neck and the doctors who were treating her in the Congo said she should try to look for help in Europe, where the therapies are more advanced. Veronique's body was found several days after the accident, on the Algerian coast.

The wait for medical visas

Samuel's father, Aime Kabamba, said this week that his wife and son waited months in their own country for medical visas, and in the end Veronique decided to try to obtain them in Morocco, where she had contacts.

The wait there lasted an endless eight months, Aime said, because the bureaucracy is so slow, and in desperation Veronique decided that she and her son would have to be smuggled across in a small boat.

He didn't know the boat had sunk for several days, and only found out via Facebook when he was concerned that he had heard nothing from Veronique. When he heard that a child had drowned, he immediately feared that it was his son, who was the youngest of six children. Aime has decided not to repatriate his son's body, which had deteriorated badly in the water, so he will be buried in Barbate. This is due to Congo tradition: it would not be thought correct to repatriate Samuel without his mother, who had already been buried in Algeria.

The Kabamba family have expressed their gratitude for all the support they have received from people in Spain and the government, and say they are especially thankful for the assistance from Gabriel Delgado, who is the diocesan delegate for Migration.
Malaga's hopes that the European Medicines Agency would move to the city have been dashed after Barcelona received more support as a suitable location from the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee. The Committee approved a proposal from the Partido Democrata Catalan (formerly Convergencia), to urge the government to present Barcelona as the headquarters for the Agency, which will have to leave London when Britain withdraws from the European Union. The proposal received 25 votes in favour from the PP, PSOE, Ciudadanos and Grupo Mixto and there were five abstentions (Unidos Podemos). This came as a major disappointment for Malaga, whose possibilities are now dissolving like a spoonful of sugar in a cup of coffee. The Foreign Affairs Committee's decision that Barcelona would be a more suitable location was supported by the Minister of Health, Dolors Montserrat. One Ciudadanos MP, Francisco Igea, went so far as to say that not only does Barcelona meet all the criteria to host the Agency, but it is also the government's preferred choice.

The Agency employs more than 800 staff and there are 30 working groups comprising several thousand European scientists, who are responsible for regulating medication in Europe. It was created in1995 and has an annual budget of more than 300 million euros. It is primarily responsible for protecting and promoting public and animal health by evaluating and supervising medication which is used by doctors and vets. It also considers applications from drug companies for their products to be authorised in Europe.

Spain is competing with other countries including Italy, Sweden and Germany to be the new headquarters of the Medication Agency. The mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, firmly believes that Malaga would be the ideal location and has argued to this effect with his political party, the PP, in Madrid, but it has decided in favour of Barcelona.

During the debate, the socialists proposed that the government should be urged to approach the European institutions to suggest that Spain should be the new location for all EU agencies and associations which are currently based in London after Brexit, particularly the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority. However, the motion was over-ruled on the basis that it is too early and would be "trying to run before learning to walk".

However, Francisco Conejo, PSOE's secretary for Institutional Policy in Andalucia, says that his party believes an application should be made for the Medicines Agency to move to Spain and that the city in which it should be located could be decided at a later date.

"There's nothing wrong with a bit of competition between cities. What we have to do is present a strong and consensual candidacy for Spain to the European Union," he insists.
On Monday, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy supported the idea of a multi-speed Europe and said that Spain is prepared to "go further" towards European integration, alongside any other countries who feel the same.

He made these comments in a joint appearance with French president Francois Hollande, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni at the Palace of Versailles, where European leaders were meeting earlier this week to analyse the future of the EU after Brexit.

Rajoy, who stressed that he wants greater and better European integration, agrees with the three other leaders that this type of Europe would be possible if there were stronger cooperation from several other countries.

This was the first time he had clearly expressed his support for a multi-speed Europe and he explained that this is his preferred option for the future of the EU among those presented by the European Commission in its White Book, because it would mean "greater and better integration."

"I believe that right now Europe needs to look further afield, because the times when it has done that have been the best in its history," he said.

He then went on to express his support for Hollande and Merkel - and later Gentiloni - in their arguments for a Europe which functions at more than one speed.

"I agree with what we have just heard. Spain is prepared to go further towards European integration, with all those who want to work towards that," he stressed.

Uncertainties ahead

The prime minister also pointed out that the EU has many challenges and uncertainties ahead and must try to respond to those with clear messages.

He believes the European Summit in Rome on 25 March, which is being held to commemorate the 60th anniversary of signing the treaties which were the origin of the EU, would be the perfect opportunity to provide those messages.

Sr Rajoy believes the European Union "is a success story", that its priority should be to attend more intensively and effectively to the problems of European citizens, and to progress towards further European integration.
In 2013 David Cameron looked on aghast as the battle between the European and Eurosceptic factions threatened to split his party. The decision he took - calling a referendum on EU membership - seemed logical at the time, but will probably be remembered as one of the most disastrous in recent British history.

Cameron could not have been expected to foresee that voters over a certain age, the bulk of them mistakenly thinking they were voting against uncontrolled immigration, would overwhelm the under-25s, who, in their vast majority, wanted to continue as Europeans.

In the current limbo-land, the uncertainty is affecting small restaurants as much as major banks. No-one has properly assessed the likely domino effect that the Brexistas ignored. Just as one example, the EU Medicine Agency, based in London, will have to close its doors and dismiss its 900 employees. Worse, the mere existence of this important EU agency has ensured during decades a continual stream of visitors that filled 350 local hotel rooms daily throughout the year. And where did these visitors go to eat and drink? At the restaurants and pubs in the area.

No restaurant business is exempt. Russell Norman, owner of the Polpo chain, is concerned that the fall in the value of the pound will continue to increase prices of all imported drink and foodstuffs. Jeremy King, whose group includes some of London's best restaurants, such as Wolseley, Delauny and Zedel, has seen the change in attitude of his foreign employees. They no longer consider themselves welcome in their adopted country, and many are considering leaving Britain. On the basis that they form 75 per cent of the workforce, who will replace them? Not the British, who have shown a traditional aversion to such work. As King says, 'Without free movement of labour this business has no future.'

In some UK restaurants customers have noticed the recent absence of tablecloths and staff uniforms. What will be the next cost-cutting measures?
At a conference organised by El Pais and Sabadell Bank on Monday, post-Brexit relations between Spain and the UK were discussed by a panel from Spanish media, business and politics. Spain, said some of these experts, can't afford to display hostility towards the UK in the forthcoming negotiations. They pointed to the economic and cultural ties that exist between the two countries and argued that these need to be preserved, for the benefit of both parties, after the UK quits the bloc.

Such optimistic remarks will be warmly received by many Britons living in Spain. Due in part to Theresa May's refusal to lock down the rights of EU citizens living in the UK before Article 50 is triggered, anxiety among British expatriates living abroad is reaching a critical point. That various media outlets are whipping up a storm of dread around Brexit doesn't help, but sadly they have ample room in which to spin and speculate: almost nine months after the referendum, virtually nothing is known for sure about the kind of negotiations that will ensue once Article 50 is triggered.

Although there is still only a black hole where Brexit plans should be, some of the panel were right to say that there is no reason why negotiations between the UK and Spain should be fraught or antagonistic. As Jaime Guardiola, CEO of Sabadell Bank - which is a medium-weight player in the UK's financial services industry - said, a punitive approach "could put both parties' [economic] growth at risk".

The statistics that suggest he's right have been widely quoted recently. About half a million Britons are resident in Spain and around double that number own property here. It has been estimated that in 2016 one in five of every tourists to visit Spain was a Briton. The UK is the biggest recipient of Spain's foreign investment, receiving 17% of the total amount annually, and around 300,000 Spaniards currently live in the UK. Clearly, the two countries are important to each other.

Guardiola's optimism was not shared by everyone on the panel, with some saying that Spaniards whose lives are made difficult in the UK after Brexit might have to be enticed back home. But Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy and his economy minister, Luis de Guindos, apparently have the same outlook. Both have recently been at pains to make clear that they want a smooth Brexit that doesn't harm relations between UK and Spain.

All very agreeable and optimistic - but will it actually work out this way? A report written by the EU parliament's internal affairs committee and leaked last month by the Guardian newspaper suggested that UK citizens in EU countries might face difficulties post-Brexit. And Theresa May's refusal to secure the future of of EU citizens living in the UK before negotiations start has further complicated diplomacy with Brussels. But hopefully, it will be the optimists who are vindicated about post-Brexit Spanish-British relations, not those who predict a bitter separation which harms both countries.
CHICAGO - Congressman Luis Gutierrez (IL-04) reported to the U.S. House about a town hall held in his district last Monday. There were no disturbances and there was no yelling at Gutierrez' meeting - featuring abortion activists, gay rights proponents, and deportation opponents.

Gutierrez said he's sponsoring a citizenship training at his office Saturday.
breathe

"Breathe" is a new yoga studio, juice bar and retail boutique.

(Photo by Elizabeth Doran)

DEWITT, NY - A new yoga studio - which also offers a juice and smoothie bar and a boutique retail store - is opening at 8 a.m. Saturday in DeWitt.

"Breathe" is the first Syracuse-area franchise of a Rochester-based business. The Syracuse location is at 6823 East Genesee St. in DeWitt, in the Wegmans shopping plaza.

Owner Donna Farchione said free yoga classes be will be offered all day Saturday and Sunday as part of the business' grand opening.

Farchione, who lives in Syracuse, said she and her daughter, Maddi, will run the business.

A former speech pathologist, Farchione said she then became a licensed marriage and family therapist. She is taking a break from that job right now to launch her business.

Along with yoga classes, the business sells juice and smoothies; and retail products including clothing, yoga apparel, candles and inspirational books.

Farchione said she believes in the healing power of yoga.

"We believe yoga is for everyone,'' she said. "You don't have to be skinny, flexible or a vegetarian."
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Richard Hartunian, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions today asked the remaining 46 U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Barack Obama to hand in their resignations.

That includes Richard Hartunian, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York.

Forty-six U.S. attorneys have already stepped down since Donald Trump became president.

"The attorney general has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition," a news release from the Justice Department said.

Once Hartunian resigns, which will likely be next week, the second-in-charge in the Northern District will likely become the interim U.S. attorney. That's Assistant U.S. Attorny Grant Jaquith.

"Until the new U.S. Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. Attorney's Offices will continue the great work of the Department in investigating, prosecuting, and deterring the most violent offenders," the Justice Department news release said.

Jaquith is among at least three lawyers in the running to fill the position through Trump's appointment. He was interviewed by Tom Dadey, Onondaga County's Republican party chairman who is on Trump's transition team.

Dadey also interviewed Onondaga County Comptroller Bob Antonacci and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ransom Reynolds. Dadey has said he favors Antonacci for the job that pays $160,300 a year.
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Vehicles cross the border at the Peace Bridge Port of Entry in Buffalo in the file photo. An Onondaga County stabbing suspect was taken into custody Friday at the border crossing.

(Joed Viera/Special to Newyorkupstate.com)

EAST SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A suspect in an Onondaga County stabbing who had been on the lam for about 24 hours was stopped Friday afternoon at a U.S.-Canadian border crossing in western New York.

Todd J. Corron II, 26, was taken into custody around 1 p.m. by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo. DeWitt police said investigators are in the process of bringing him back to Onondaga County.

Authorities had asked the public for help finding Corron and said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

A 25-year-old woman was stabbed around noon Thursday following a dispute at her residence in the 600 block of West Manlius Street in the village of East Syracuse, police said. She suffered neck and hand injuries.

Police did not identify the woman, but said Corron was known to her.

Once investigators get him back to Central New York, Corron will be arraigned in DeWitt Town Court, police said, though it was not clear what specific charges he would face.
All that would change with the passage of HB 40, as Rep. Jones responded to one of his commenters:

Up until now, Illinois has respected religious citizens' beliefs and not used their tax dollars to pay for abortions, except for medical, rape and incest causes.

SOUTH HOLLAND - Wednesday, State Rep. Thaddeus Jones (D-Calumet City) asked 29th House District constituents to post on his Facebook page their thoughts about a bill that would add abortion to Illinoisans' tax bills.

"The new bill would be for any reason," he wrote.

The comments appearing on his Facebook page represent both sides of the issue, but more against the bill than for it.

Babette Holder, co-founder of the Illinois chapter of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, reviewed Jones' public Facebook thread and was hopeful that he was gaining insight through his commenters.

"One wonders if Rep. Jones should have further conversations with the state reps that oppose HB 40 for more insight as to why they oppose the bill," she said, "or does Rep. Jones know if those in his district really understand the impact of the costs associated with this bill, as well as the full nature of HB40's potential to be used as birth control in some instances? "

If HB 40 were to pass a close vote in the Illinois House, it would easily pass the more Left-leaning Illinois Senate and land on Governor Rauner's desk. The governor refuses to indicate publicly or privately what he would do if the bill were to land on his desk.

Illinois Review is being told that the governor refuses to meet with prolife lawmakers to hear their concerns and indicate whether he would sign the bill into law. The Democrats want the governor to be faced with the dilemma.

Those opposed to HB 40 breathed a sign of relief Wednesday - International Women's Day - when the measure wasn't called for a vote. However, those close to the count say the vote would be very close.
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Award Kabayiza

(Syracuse Police Department)

Syracuse, NY -- A Congolese refugee accused of killing a 64-year-old fellow refugee will undergo a mental health exam to determine if he's competent to go to trial, his lawyer said today.

Award Kabayiza, 24, was a refugee who fled the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo to be resettled in Syracuse within a small Congolese community, said defense lawyer Ralph Cognetti.

Kabayiza is accused of beating to death a fellow refugee, Jesca Nyirakubanza, 64. The two were members of the same social circle, but were not related.

Nyirakubanza was beaten to death by Kabayiza after being left alone with him a short time in her North Side apartment in November, authorities said. She died from serious head injuries.

Authorities have not yet said what led to the attack. But Cognetti suggested that Kabayiza's mental condition had been affected by years of violence in his homeland.

Kabayiza witnessed murders on a daily basis during a countrywide war that officially ended in the 2000s, Cognetti said. The Congo wars are considered to be the deadliest since World War II, leaving millions dead over several decades, according to media accounts.

"It was as barbaric as you can imagine," Cognetti said.

Growing up in that environment may have led Kabayiza to turn to violence, Congnetti suggested. He did not have further information since the case is still in its early stages.

It's not clear if Kabayiza has underlying mental illnesses that were exacerbated by war. That's what a mental health exam will seek to find out.

None of this, if demonstrated, gets Kabayiza off the hook on the murder charge.

If found incompetent, he could be sent to a secure mental hospital and medicated until he's stable enough for trial. That's what happened recently to another Syracuse native who is accused of killing his mother.

If he's competent to stand trial, Kabayiza could explore a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, commonly known as the insanity plea.

That would also send him to a secure mental hospital indefinitely.

Right now, Kabayiza has been indicted on a murder charge and is presumed innocent. If convicted after trial, he faces up to 25 years to life in state prison. His refugee status would likely be revoked if he's convicted. He would be deported after serving his sentence.

Cognetti said he will officially ask for a mental health exam at Kabayiza's arraignment, likely to happen next week.

He did not have information about when Kabayiza was accepted into the United States as a refugee, but confirmed that he was here legally.
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Karissa Hilts, a Central Square native, smiles in this 2016 photo as she cuddles her dog, Kobe. Hilts, 29, died Wednesday in a hit-and-run crash in Orange County, Florida.

(Provided)

ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA -- An Oswego County woman was killed Wednesday night in a hit-and-run crash near Orlando, Fla.

Karissa Hilts, a Central Square native, died after she was hit by a vehicle on Florida Turnpike in Orange County, according to her mother and news reports. She was 29 years old.

A cellphone fell out of Hilts' car just before 8 p.m. while she was driving south on the turnpike, the Florida Highway Patrol told the Orlando Sentinel. She pulled over on the shoulder of the highway and stepped out of her car to look for the phone, the newspaper said.

A passing vehicle hit Hilts just after she stepped onto the turnpike, the paper reported.

The driver of the vehicle fled after hitting Hilts, reported WFTV. A day after the fatal crash near Orlando, Florida troopers announced a damaged van that matched a description of the suspect's vehicle had been found, reported WESH.

Hilts had worked as a kitchen manager at "R" Diner, her mother Robin's diner in Central Square. Hilts, who was known as a talented cook, was spending time in Florida when she died, her mother said.

Hilts had recently shared her story of being addicted to drugs on TV, speaking out about overcoming her heroin addiction and staying sober. In addition to sharing her story in 2016 with CNY Central, she was featured last year in an episode of "Intervention," an A&E show that profiles people fighting addictions.
PHOENIX, N.Y. -- An Oswego County student was suspended Thursday after he threatened to commit violence at school, the district said.

A school resource officer at John C. Birdlebough High School in Phoenix was contacted Thursday afternoon by the Fulton Police Department, said Christopher Byrne, superintendent of the Phoenix Central School District. The school is at 552 Main St.

The officer was a told a Phoenix high school student had sent concerning text messages to another person, Byrne said. The student threatened to commit violent acts on school property, he said.

The boy was brought into the school office and questioned, Byrne said. The student was then suspended from school, he said.

The district contacted the New York State Police about the threats, Byrne said. Although district officials do not believe the threat was credible, he said the incident is still under investigation.

Byrne said it was not clear who the student texted or what he threatened to do.

Parents of Phoenix students received a voice message from the district about the threats on Thursday evening. Byrne said he wanted to assure parents that the district takes all threats seriously.

A state police spokesman did not immediately have information about the threat.

The superintendent asked anyone with information about the incident to call the district at (315) 695-1555 or state police at (315) 593-6194.

The threat was the second made at an Oswego County high school on Thursday.

A student at G. Ray Bodley High School threatened to harm people at the Fulton school, the district told parents in an email sent Thursday morning. Officials searched the school and brought the student to the main office, the district said.

The incident happened a day after bullets were found in a toilet in the Fulton Junior High School. A boy panicked and dumped the ammunition after realizing he accidentally brought bullets to school, the district said.
EAST SYRACUSE, NY -- Authorities are seeking the public's help finding a suspect in a stabbing who they say should be considered armed and dangerous.

DeWitt police said Todd J. Corron II, 26, is wanted for questioning in a stabbing that occurred Thursday in the village of East Syracuse.

A 25-year-old woman was stabbed around noon following a dispute at her residence in the 600 block of West Manlius Street, police said. She suffered neck and hand injuries.

Todd J. Corron II

She was taken to the hospital by ambulance and is expected to survive her injuries.

Police did not identify the woman, but said the suspect was known to her. Officers have been investigating and taking statements from witnesses at the scene, police said.

Corron was driving a tan 2005 Ford 500 sedan with New York registration HFN4978. Police said Corron's family believes he might be suicidal.

Anyone who sees him should avoid approaching him and contact 911 immediately, police said.
SALINA, N.Y. -- A Syracuse man fought with a state trooper while being arrested for stealing from his job and later got into a chase before being caught, the New York State Police said.

Deondre L. Glenn and Brigitte D. Linder-Hannah.

A state police investigator went to Balkan Beverage on General Motors Drive in Salina shortly before 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

State police said Deondre L. Glenn, a former employee, used a company gas card to steal more than $8,000. But when the investigator tried to arrest Glenn, he is accused of struggling, breaking free and running to a waiting vehicle outside.

The investigator radioed 911 with a description of the car, Glenn and his driver, who was later identified as Brigitte D. Linder-Hannah.

Soon after, Liverpool police Chief Donald Morris spotted the suspect vehicle in the village of Liverpool. He tried to stop the car, but the suspects would not pull over and a chase began, state police said.

Morris and Onondaga County sheriff's deputies chased the car a couple miles to the Candlelight Lane Apartments in Clay, state police said, where Glenn and Linder-Hannah were arrested.

Glenn, 23, of 607 Hiawatha Blvd., Syracuse, was charged with second-degree assault, third-degree burglary and third-degree grand larceny, all felonies. He was also charged with resisting arrest.

Linder-Hannah, 22, of 14 Candlelight Lane, Clay, was charged with second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, a misdemeanor.

Glenn was arraigned in Salina Town Court and ordered held at the Onondaga County jail in lieu of $50,000 bail or bail bond. He had not posted bail as of Thursday night.
Disclaimer: This article is, of course, moot if evidence is revealed showing collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. However, this is unlikely because such evidence would have been gathered early in the inquiry and used to deny Trump the presidency. This article is therefore an attempt to show the gaps in the logic posed by the Democrats, which may otherwise fool non-logically trained voters.

In case you have been wondering what Henry Waxman has been doing since he retired from Congress, wonder no longer. Like every other hack who has ever come down with a case of Potomac fever, he opened an influence-peddling outfit called Waxman Strategies. Henry is the Chairman; his son Michael is the President and CEO.

Waxman exemplifies why Trumps efforts to drain the swamp, no matter how sincere, are doomed to failure. Even though Trump will do everything in his power to prevent ex-office holders from hanging out a shingle as a registered lobbyist, the riffraff will simply hire themselves out as lawyers, consultants or strategists. Whatever the title, the coin of the realm is the access to their former colleagues they can offer their well-heeled clients.

Speaking of President Trump, the Democrats keep calling for an investigation into Russian influence with this administration, but nary a scolding word did they or the media ever utter about the fact that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton turned over 20% of Americas uranium to the Kremlin in exchange for a bribe to the Clinton Foundation.

In the meantime, Rep. Maxine Waters and some of her colleagues are calling for Trumps impeachment because foreign dignitaries might book rooms at his Washington hotel. Oh, really? They're worried that the President is going to sell out America for the price of a hotel reservation? Or are they really that concerned that if Putin comes to town, he might get a few extra mints on his pillow?

How quickly Democrats forget that just a few short years ago they and their supreme leader, Barack Hussein Obama, were ridiculing Mitt Romney for even suggesting that Russia posed a threat to the U.S.

Are you surprised that the media and Democrats are constructing a false syllogism out of Trump's relationship with the Russians which goes like this:

All birds have wings

A crow is a bird

Therefore a crow has wings

Whereas a false syllogism on the same topic would be

All Birds have wings

A crow has wings

Therefore a crow is a bird (Hint: insects have wings, but are not birds)

Even with sound logic, a syllogism fails if either premise is false. In the case in point:

The Russians hacked the DNC emails to benefit the Trump campaign (their motive is at this point, speculation)

Members of the Trump campaign corresponded with Russian agents (Most Russian officials and many businessmen have Intelligence backgrounds or connections, in addition to more conventional activities.)

Therefore the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians (no proof of collusion has been revealed)

Obama seems obsessed with the idea that any dialog with the Russians is criminal in nature. This is because of his toxic relationship with Putin, which follows Obamas weak response to the rebellion in Syria, and before that, in Ukraine. Putin clearly despises Obama, and has taken many measures to humiliate him publicly. To Obama, any attempt to normalize our relationship with Russia is an attack on his legacy. The perceived involvement with the election is merely a convenient excuse to poison Trumps diplomatic efforts, and to excuse Hillarys loss in her badly implemented campaign.

The key to a resolution is evidence that collusion did, in fact, occur between Russia and the Trump campaign. The fact that no such connection has even been leaked during the last 10 months is telling. On the other hand, if there is evidence that Obama spied on the Trump campaign without legal cause, it would constitute a conspiracy well beyond the level of Watergate. There is (so far) anecdotal evidence that Obama reduced the security level of these intercepts and disseminated them to 16 or 17 agencies. This action almost guarantees leaks, and makes the source very difficult to trace. In the non-Obama world, this information would be highly restricted (eyes only), and shared with the FBI if actionable.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/04/donald-trump-accuses-obama-of-wire-tapping-his-office-before-election
Many parents are in the process of visiting schools with their college-bound children trying to decide which one is a good fit. It is an exciting time, but also can be quite discouraging. Parents quickly learn most every college and university have increased tuition costs, often not affordable to the average family. Also, in general, these schools are inundated with liberal teachers and administrators that believe it their responsibilities to preach political opinions to their students, and they make little attempt to hide this fact. They not only preach their doctrines, but unfortunately, it is not unusual that they also bully and even use grades to persuade students to their leftist political opinion.

How do students respond to these often blatant efforts? Those who have not been interested in politics are easy targets for such persuasion. Others who come from conservative homes try to maintain their political views, but soon learn their grades are impacted by any assignments that allow the teachers judgment to determine the grade. Considering the high cost of tuition, most of these students arent willing to stand their ground and risk retaliation. They want to graduate with grades that will attract high paying jobs. Considering students and/or parents are often forced to borrow money for their tuition, students understand the need to secure a job quickly upon graduation to pay back the loan. Thus, their priority becomes pleasing teachers and working for good grades.

As recently as the early 1990s, most students did not take out college loans. Contrast that to today, when nearly 71% of students must borrow to pay for college. It is fitting to suggest this needs to be investigated and facts exposed. What caused the unreasonable tuition rate hike to happen in such a short period of time? Some speculate schools are providing free or near free educations to large numbers of low income students, thus the need to charge some students more.

Dr. Richard Bishirjan in his book, The Coming Death and Future Resurrection of American Higher Education, exposes and confirms the higher education establishments impose tuition costs that force parents and students into crippling debt. In Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth, Ben Shapiro also addresses this subject. There is a need for more investigations and suggestions for ways to reduce the costs so that all students have the ability to receive the education that seek.

Another problem, equally disturbing, is that the administrations and teaching staff have become exceedingly, blatantly liberal.

My co-writer, Bonnie ONeil, was at first hesitant to relate a personal example of a colleges hypocrisy after her grandson, Caleb O'Neil, faced an unfortunate situation as a freshman at Orange Coast College in California. However, after Caleb's story went viral on the Internet with articles receiving a huge number of hits, O'Neil relented. After all, there is something appealing about a student standing up to a radical Liberal teacher blatantly preaching her political views. If a college freshman is willing to stand up to liberal professors who use their position of authority to indoctrinate students, shouldnt we all do our best to expose known problems?

Burt Prelutsky, Southern California-based political commentator, offered his own unique take on the kangaroo court proceedings against Caleb at Orange Coast College:

We have all witnessed the signs of the anti-Trump virus that has run rampant across America. We have all seen the various elements of the biased media join forces to delegitimize his administration. We have all seen Chuck Schumer and his trained seals in the Senate slow-walk Trumps cabinet choices through their hearings. We have all seen the Soros-financed rioters going through their paces in the streets and on college campuses. But something that may have slipped under the radar is the anti-Trump kangaroo court that recently doled out injustice at Orange Coast College. Although most of us were privy to what initially led to the legal lynching, you may not have been aware of the unfortunate, but not too surprising, conclusion to the story. Several weeks ago, a professor, Olga Perez Stable Cox, under the guise of conducting a class, said, among other things: 'I will not tolerate any person in my life that voted for Trump,' 'Im not going to Utah where my family lives because of their views on Trump,' 'President Trump is a white supremacist,' 'Vice-President Pence is one of the most anti-gay humans in the country,' 'I know youre stuck in homes, youre stuck in families, youre stuck in places of employment where youre surrounded,' 'Its scary living in Orange County because so many people are hateful,' 'I hope that we can counter what this new administration is going to do.' Because he was so outraged by the hatred spewing from the mouth of this self-identified lesbian, Caleb ONeil taped her and made her screed a matter of public record. You would have thought Ms. Cox would have been suspended or fired for wasting class time with her partisan bellyaching. But that would only prove that you were a visitor from a past era who had landed in 2017 thanks to your time travel machine. Instead, the administration decided that Mr. ONeil was the one who needed to be disciplined. His crime? 'Recording a class session without the permission of the instructor.' His defense -- although one shouldnt be necessary because every teacher should be taped or recorded (what do they have to hide from the people who pay their salaries?) -- was that he didnt record the entire session, but only the 15 minutes or so after she went off the rails and abused her authority. In the meantime, I have written the following letter to Dean Lugo: I have read of the disciplinary action you have taken against young Mr. ONeil. The part that grabbed my attention is that you asked him how he felt about his video having damaged the Colleges students, faculty and staff. It seems to me that if a 15-minute video of Prof. Cox in action could be that damaging to your schools reputation, the problem rests with her and not the student. How is it you dont see it that way?

Evaluating the Outcome

Thanks to Burt and similar media sources, Calebs situation went viral. Represented legally by a non-profit conservative group, Freedom X, and massive public support, School authorities decided to drop their suspension of Caleb. However, similar cases have not ended well for students who overtly express their Conservatives viewpoints.

Did the school and/or Ca. Teachers Union learn anything from the unfortunate problem that happened on the Orange Coast College campus in Costa Mesa, California? Apparently not! According to Teacher Union representative, Rob Schneiderman who stated:

"The Coast Federation of Educators is deeply disappointed that administrators have capitulated to individuals and groups who threatened and bullied students, faculty, and administration.

Mr. Schneiderman chose to ignore the improper behavior of the teacher and instead accused the student and those who supported him. This Teachers Union Representative did not offer any evidence of bullying by supporters of Caleb, unless he is referring to the thousands of people who disagreed with the schools decision to punish this student with a suspension and contacted the school to express those views.

No action was taken against the teacher in question, causing the public to believe the Teachers Union and O.C.C. school officials have no problem with a teacher who spends15 minutes, off-topic, to express her personal political views which included maligning our new President and all who voted for him.

Perhaps this incident explains why schools have a rule prohibiting students from recording a teachers lecture without his/her permission. This secrecy rule is not acceptable! Lectures should be recorded in every high school and college classroom that accepts government funding. It is time to assure the public that schools are teaching and not indoctrinating our children.

This is just one of the many blatant examples of Liberal bias in colleges/universities throughout America. There are many more areas in need of revision. Teacher Unions have become way too powerful, as they protect bad teachers at our children's expense. Investigations need to be initiated in order to analyze why the cost of a college education has skyrocketed. Fair hiring practices should be enacted, but they are not enforced. Diversity is a positive, which most schools welcome. However, that does not seem to extend to teachers' political positions. Students deserve to know the differences among us as well as what unites us in order to be better prepared for the World they will encounter. That simply is not happening today.

We now have a President who wants to hear from those of us who have not had a voice for quite some time. Lets use this gift to demand fairness of representing all political views, equality, and more reasonably priced tuition in our schools.
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Heavyweights join V.Group board

V.Group has appointed John Pattullo and Jesper Kjaedegaard to its board.

This move follows the investment in the company by Advent International, a global private equity investor company, which was completed on Thursday. Pattullo, who will assume the position of chairman, has had a diverse career spanning more than 40 years with experience in global supply chain, logistics and freight forwarding. Kjaedegaard has worked for AP Moller-Maersk for over 30 years. During his time with the organisation, he was CEO of The Maersk Company UK and a member of Maersk Lines executive board. Commenting on his appointment, Pattullo said, I am delighted to be joining V.Group as chairman at such an exciting time for the business. Advent will support the management team in making significant investments in technology, systems and operations, which create a unique opportunity for V.Group, as a global market leader, to help shape the future of the shipmanagement industry. Kjaedegaard said, Having spent the majority of my career working in the maritime services industry, this role is a great opportunity for me to apply my wealth of experience to an organisation, which is embarking upon a significant growth and transformation journey. I intend to leverage my experience and network of relationships to the benefit of V.Group as it pursues opportunities for future growth. Clive Richardson, V.Group CEO, said, John and Jesper bring complementary experience from the global logistics and maritime sectors, which is highly relevant as we embark upon our shared vision with Advent to further develop and differentiate our offering in marine services. As shipowners and operators increasingly consider strategic options for the management of their fleets, we are committed to delivering an unrivalled combination of performance excellence alongside lower costs. We look forward to working with John and Jesper to make this possible, he said. Haris Kyriakopoulos, an Advent International director, explained, The completion of our acquisition of V.Group marks the start of a new phase of growth for the company. We very much look forward to supporting the management team as they execute their strategy and are committed to providing the company with the tools, resources and cross-sector expertise to help it transform its operations, improve its service delivery and enhance its long term growth.




Korean Register opens ICT centre

IACS member Korean Register (KR) has opened an ICT (information communications technology) centre.

This new high-tech facility has been launched in response to demand from the South Korean shipbuilding and marine transport industries, which are keen to be more competitive in a challenging market. The centre will try to address the fact that advanced onshore technologies have been difficult to adapt for maritime applications, due to the poor communication environment at sea and the unique ship operations. In line with the IMOs e-Navigation strategy, the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries launched a SMART-Navigation project last year, which runs from 2016-2020 with a budget of $114 mill. The project aims to enhance safety around the South Korean coastline and to create a new market for efficient shipping. As a member of the SMART-Navigation project team, KR is conducting R&D into leading technologies as a basis for new international maritime standards. Initially KRs new ICT centre is working to develop new advanced technologies for maritime big data, e-Navigation, ship cyber security and software quality assurance. Commenting on the new centre, Lee Jeong-Kie, KR Chairman and CEO, said: The launch of KRs new ICT centre supports the Korean Governments SMART-Navigation project. Our specialist resources, expert skills and industry knowledge will accelerate the application of advanced technology to improve operational efficiency, dramatically reduce human error and help the industry to manage risk better. It will help us to deliver high quality expert ICT services tailored to the business needs of our customers, which will in turn then benefit the industry and the IMOs E-Navigation strategy. KRs centre will focus on finding ways to apply big data to operate vessels more efficiently, to identify safe navigation routes in real time, to understand accident statistics and manage risk better and to predict ocean characteristics, while condition based monitoring and maintenance can be used to alert vessels to device failure. While the application of these new ICT technologies improves safety, reliability, and effectiveness of on board and onshore systems, at the same time it makes those systems increasingly vulnerable to cyber terror or threats, which could be disastrous for both the safety of the ship and human life. The IMO has established an interim standard for ship cyber security, and in direct response, KR is using its expertise to research domestic and foreign cyber securities and developing tailored security guidelines for different situations, the class society said. Under the new IMO common structural rules (CSR), all ship construction data must now be stored in compliance with the CSR regulations. To meet this requirement, KR has built a system to manage this data using cloud computing integrated with built-in super secure data management.




Shipbrokers institute teams up with BIMCO

The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and BIMCO are to link the latters eLearning courses with the Institutes worldwide network of students.

This is a major boost for young people in the industry, giving them greater access to quality education and improved standards in maritime centres across the globe, the organisations said.



A test group of Institute students, in mainly developing countries and covering a wide range of shipping centres, will be able to use BIMCOs eLearning courses in preparation for Institute exams.



Angus Frew, secretary general & CEO of BIMCO, said:BIMCO is proud to support the work of The Institute by providing our eLearning expertise to their students. The Institute provides a vital role in helping develop the next generation of shipping professionals and reinforcing professional standards in the worlds leading maritime industry hubs.



Julie Lithgow, director of The Institute, said:BIMCOs commitment to supporting education is shown by the quality and pertinence of the courses they offer. Having BIMCOs eLearning expertise on board is a great way of finding new ways to ensure that any shipping professional in the world can improve their knowledge and gain qualifications, irrespective of location.



The first group of students to access the courses, starting this week, were from Aberdeen, Accra, Cape Town, Durban, Lagos, Limassol, London, Mombasa, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Stavanger, Sydney and Vancouver.



It is planned to open up the opportunity to all the Institutes students by the autumn of 2017 and other joint training activities are also being considered.




Festival director Isaac Jordan opened the first night of the Downing Festival of New Writing by informing the audience that this was the biggest year so far for the festival, with over 40 submissions whittled down to the best 10. Last night saw three of those take to the stage of the Howard Theatre.

The first of the three dramas of the night, Beatriz Santos Oedipus Rex, was a rather riddling affair: it was a modern reimagining of Oedipus but one which included Hamlet-esque skulls, Macbeth-esque witches, Auden-esque orderings to Stop the clocks, and baguette set dressing  all set to a bleak whistling of wind. Oedipus enters onto the maidens with a copy of Oedipus Rex in hand and knows that he could read it and find out his destiny but chooses not to  why? I think the intention was perhaps to say something about predestination  about being trapped inside ones own story with the power to change the track but preferring to remain passive  but it was never quite clear what the something it wanted to say was.

On a micro-level, however, the writing was stunning: mellifluous, musical and with an excellent grasp on rhythm. The performances too were very strong: Oliver Jones was a compelling Oedipus, Anna Moody, Kate Collins and Francesca Bertoletti were all very strong as the enigmatic sphinxes/witches/maidens, and particular mention must go to Ruby Morris who gave a very competent performance as a grieving Jocasta. The difficulties of the play lay largely with the writing: this is not to say that it was bad, in fact it was very good, but  as the judges highlighted  more attention given to the larger picture during the writing process would have made for a more rewarding piece.

Isla Cowans Waiting was the second of the offerings, and was by far the most developed and sophisticated; it saw Kelly, a ruthless career woman deliver a monologue to the audience as she waited for her boss in a restaurant. Over the course of the monologue, it was revealed that Kelly was childless (she stressed that this was by choice, despite her several miscarriages) with a career, not a job, that she had recently become estranged from the girls  gossipy ladies who lunch whom she scorned for their polly-pocket lives, and that she and her husband had split up because she had slept with her bosss seventeen year old son. As she drained a bottle of wine, the text tracked her dissatisfactions, highlighted her insecurities, and elucidated some of her very human quirks.

The brevity of this synopsis does a disservice to what was a really excellent script, full of wit and subtlety: its emotional complexity and nuance would have rendered it disastrous in the wrong performers hands, but Isla Iagos performance was astonishingly capable  she fully embraced Kellys awfulness but also her pathos leading to a brilliantly refined portrayal of a challenging character. The joy and horror of the piece was, in a paraphrasing of Cowans own eloquent discussion in the Q&A, that we could all see some of Kelly in ourselves: Cowans drama makes us both feel akin to Kelly and squirm at the fact that we do.

The final piece of the night was Eloise Poultons Abba, mamma. The most experimental with theatrical form, incorporating both elements of movement and haunting musical scene transitions, it was evident that Poulton was, in her own words, primarily a director: this made for a visually engaging piece which navigated the difficulties of parental relationships, focusing on the development of three mother-daughter pairings in spliced scenes. The play opened with a well-choreographed physical theatre sequence which transitioned into the first dialogic scene between Kat Cussons and Carina Harford  as they movingly and humorously discussed the back eyes which children have, they continued to move in choreographed unison, a feature which would have been pleasing to see maintained in some capacity throughout.

A highlight of the night was Carina Harfords monologue discussing how she had resolved not to have children: whilst it felt a little at odds with the style of the rest, the direct address to the audience was evocative and emotional, and Harfords acting style was unique and highly engaging. One complaint would be that a few of the characters felt a little underdeveloped: Elinor Lipmans mother, for example, never got enough stage time for us to properly understand her  indeed, that relationship generally seems to have been neglected in comparison with the other two. Overall, however, competent performances and a good grasp of how to evoke emotion in writing made for a strong piece.

What can be said for all three pieces is that for first drafts, these were incredibly impressive and promising efforts, which speak volumes for the talents of Cambridges new writers. If the other seven pieces come even close to matching the standard of last nights offering, then the rest of the festival looks certain to be something not to be missed.
Cambridge University's Conservative Association (CUCA) sent an email to its members this afternoon with the subject line: "CUCA is clear: Vote Drury", after the association's committee voted to officially endorse the candidate in his bid for CUSU president.

In the email they describe Jack Drury as "a breath of fresh air in student politics" and go on to justify their endorsement.

The email states: "CUCA has so far refrained from any public involvement in the CUSU Presidential race, indeed we have to my knowledge never endorsed a CUSU Presidential Candidate. Jack Drury is different, however, and our committee has unanimously voted to endorse him and his candidature."

"This is not because of his politics, which are irrelevant to whether or not one can do a good job at CUSU, but because he has consistently proved that he is dedicated, organised, talented and competent."

The email from Chairman James Mathieson encourages CUCA members and non-members to cast their vote, before the voting period comes to an end today at 5pm.

This is not the only endorsement Drury has had this week. On Tuesday, Drury published a video on YouTube showing the Master of Gonville and Caius College, Professor Sir Alan Fersht, light-heartedly suggesting his support for Drury's campaign. In the video, Fersht describes him as a very nice chappy and "a fantastic organiser".
*All results are provisional, and need to be confirmed*

Daisy Eyre has been elected as CUSU president with a final margin of over 1107 votes, beating her rival Jack Drury in the second round of voting, and Keir Murison, who was eliminated after the first, in the race for the top job.

4719 eligible votes were cast, with 2253 for Eyre, 1434 for Drury and 900 for Murison. 132 votes were cast in favour of reopening nominations. Murison and RON were eliminated after this first round as no candidates reached the quorum required. In the second round, Drury received 1639 votes to Eyre's 2746 votes.

After her victory, Eyre thanked her campaign team, congratulated her fellow candidates, and said: "The hard work starts now."

There was also success for those running for sabbatical positions.

Martha Krish will become the next Education Officer after receiving 2939 votes to 468 votes for RON; Micha Frazer-Carroll has been elected Welfare and Rights Officer-Elect with 2847 votes to RON's 476 votes, and Olivia Hylton-Pennant will be the new Access and Funding Officer after winning 2794 votes to RON's 495 votes.

In the elections where only self-defining students could cast their vote, Lola Olufemi successfully beat RON with 1087 votes to RON's 82, meaning she will become the next Women's Officer, and Florence Oulds will become the new Disabled Students' Officer with 295 votes cast for her and 60 votes for RON.

Meanwhile, Umang Khandelwal has been re-elected as University Councillor, beating her opponents Josh Jackson and Marcel Llavero Pasquina in a hotly-contested election. At first count, 910 votes were cast for Khandelwal, with 936 for Jackson, and 465 for Llavero Pasquina. 376 votes were cast to RON. As a result Llavero Pasquina and RON were eliminated. In the second round, Khandelwal won 1170 votes to Jackson's 1111 votes.

The referendum result concerning constitutional changes to CUSU saw the YES camp prevail with 2634 votes to 445 votes for NO.

Daisy Eyre's victory comes in the wake of controversy earlier in the week, when her campaign was suspended for nine hours on Wednesday by the CUSU Elections Committee (EC) due to one of her flyers being defaced with derogatory comments attacking her opponent Jack Drury. The Eyre compaign appealed to the Junior Proctor, who "partially upheld" the EC's ruling, but acknowledged that the penalty was overly severe.

Eyre has been elected on a manifesto which targets Cambridge's "systematic issues", which she highlights to be access, mental health and workload. Her policies include: working to improve access after matriculation, creating a support network for intermitting students, and training supervisors so that they can better handle situations where students are struggling with work-related issues.
Just days after WikiLeaks published thousands of pages worth of details on the CIA's hacking toolkit, Julian Assange is planning to release those tools to tech companies. The WikiLeaks report describes many tools and vulnerabilities that the CIA has used including exploits for iPhone, Android, Windows, and Samsung TVs to name a few. The leak featured code snippets and high level descriptions of the attacks but didn't include the full programs or computer code.

Assange is planning on sharing these key details exclusively with the companies whose products are vulnerable, so they can work together in defeating the CIA's hacking arsenal. In a live streamed press conference, Assange stated that "considering what we think is the best way to proceed and hearing these calls from some of the manufacturers, we have decided to work with them to give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details that we have so that the fixes can be developed and pushed out, so people can be secure."

Major security revelations like this one are a difficult subject and put the government in a tricky position with private companies. Should the government hold on to the exploits so they can be used against cyber enemies like Russia, China, and North Korea? Should they release them to tech companies so the flaws can be patched? Julian Assange isn't seen as the most trustworthy person by the US government, so relying on him for critical information like this is unnerving to officials and lawmakers.

Microsoft and Cisco are welcoming the submissions through their standard vulnerability reporting channels, but have not been contacted yet by Assange. Google, Apple, and Samsung on the other hand did not respond to requests for comment by Reuters.

Assange has maintained that he has a lot more information than what's been already released and is planning on sharing it soon. Most industry analysts believe the leaks came from contractors that worked with the CIA which has many US intelligence officials as well as President Trump worried. The CIA knew of the breaches late last year and Trump "believes that the systems at the CIA are outdated and need to be updated."

Whatever happens, patching security vulnerabilities in widely used systems is always a good thing. Manufacturers will take these kind of submissions no matter what, even if they come from unorthodox sources.
In the 20 plus years since it launched, Amazon.com has been available in just one language: English. But over the next few weeks, the US site is rolling out the option to switch everything, including listings, into Spanish.

Changing from English is simply a matter of accessing the language drop-down menu near the "Accounts & Lists" option. As noted by CNET, it's a feature that's likely to be appreciated by many in the US - the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world - which at last count had 41 million native Spanish speakers and 11.6 million bilingual Spanish speakers.

"Customers will be able to shop, browse and search for millions of products, view their shopping cart, and place orders in Spanish on Amazon.com and through the Amazon Mobile Shopping app," a spokeswoman said in a statement.

There are localized versions of Amazon in many countries around the world, including Spanish-speaking areas such as Mexico (Amazon.com.mx) and Spain (Amazon.es), but this marks the first time that Amazon.com will be available in anything other than English.

The move is part of Amazon's strategy to attract more Spanish-speaking users to its platform. On Tuesday, the retail giant launched its popular Prime membership service in Mexico, giving customers benefits such as free shipping for $46 per year.

Offering a Spanish option to Amazon.com customers doesn't come as much of a surprise. The Guardian reports that when it comes to native Spanish speakers, only Mexico has more (121 million) than the US, which is ahead of Columbia (48 million) and Spain (46 million). The language is also the third most widely used on the internet, though less than 8 percent of traffic is in Spanish.
There's no denying that Google's Pixel phones are great devices, but some of them do suffer from technical problems. Reports have surfaced of purple shade and artifacts affecting the cameras, handsets freezing for minutes at a time, and issues with the audio when the phones' volume is maxed. But another problem involving broken microphones has been around on Google's support threads since October, and it's one that the company is now addressing.

There have been hundreds of users posting about their experience with the same problem. Some say the mic behaves normally when using certain apps, while others say it won't work at all then suddenly comes back on. And there are plenty of people whose microphone has stopped working altogether.

Not being able to make calls, record audio with the camera app, or use Google Assistant angered a lot of owners, obviously, so the company (finally) started investigating in January and revealed the cause last month.

"The most common problem is a hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec," said Google employee Brian Rakowski. "The other related problems are due to a faulty microphone," all of which means there'll be no quick-fix software update.

"Based on the temperature changes or the way you hold the phone, the connection may be temporarily restored and the problems may go away. This is especially frustrating as a user because, just when you think you've got it fixed, the problem randomly comes back."

Google started sending out replacement Pixels to affected users, but several people found the devices suffered from the same issues. "It's possible that some replacement phones were not properly qualified before we understood this issue," the company wrote.

Google says it has reinforced the connections on all Pixel phones manufactured since January, so new buyers and people receiving replacements should now be okay. However, there are reports that one owner who got a replacement in March found the same mic problem.

Google estimates that less than one percent of Pixels manufactured before February suffered from the microphone issue but, given how many were made, that could add up to a lot of phones. Owners of affected handsets should return them to Google for an immediate replacement.
Erectile dysfunction is a known risk factor for heart disease in men, and treatment of it was previously linked to increased risk of death.

But surprisingly, a new Swedish study reveals that using phosphodiesterase type 5, or PDE5, inhibitor drugs, a class of erectile dysfunction drugs, after myocardial infarction is not only safe but may also be key to a longer, not to mention happier, life for heart attack patients.

This is what Dr. Daniel Andersson of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm shared at a press conference conducted before the presentation at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Washington DC.

How ED Drugs Such As Viagra Benefit Heart Attack Patients

Dr. Andersson and his team monitored over 43,000 Swedish men for an average of 3.3 years and noted the positive life-prolonging effect among heart attack patients taking common PDE5 erectile dysfunction drugs, such as Viagra (sildenafil), Levitra (vardenafil), and Cialis (tadalafil).

The researchers looked into a national database of all hospital records of men 80 years and younger admitted due to heart attack between 2007 and 2013. They found that men who used PDE5 inhibitor drugs to address erectile dysfunction showed an astounding 33 percent lower risk of all-cause morbidity after their first heart attack as opposed to those who took alprostadil  a different type of ED drug  and those who did not take any ED drug.

Aside from reduced risk of all causes of death, the findings also showed that men taking erectile dysfunction drugs  both PDE5 inhibitors and alprostadil  had 40 percent less likelihood of running into and being hospitalized for heart problems again compared to their non-ED drug-taking counterparts.

"If you have an active sex life after a heart attack, it is probably safe to use PDE5 inhibitors. This type of erectile dysfunction treatment is beneficial in terms of prognosis, and having an active sex life seems to be a marker for a decreased risk of death," Dr. Andersson explained.

Too Early To Recommend

Despite proving strong heart health benefits, Dr. Andersson mentioned that the study by design was unable to pinpoint the direct cause and effect.

"I do think the patients are more likely to be healthier at baseline than the patients you wouldn't prescribe these medications for ... We would assume they would not be on nitrates, so they would be less likely to be having symptoms of angina," Dr. Martha Gulati of University of Arizona College of Medicine, the moderator of the said press briefing, suggested.

Nevertheless, Dr. Andersson clarified that although their study provides valuable insight to understanding heart disease, this doesn't necessarily mean that current recommendations should be updated just yet.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Marking a major boost to Apple's commitment to expand clean energy use in its operations and taking the clean energy campaign to suppliers, the iPhone maker's operations in Japan will be turning 100 percent renewable energy thanks to its Japanese supplier Ibiden.

Announcing this, Apple said Ibiden will be using 100 percent renewable energy to manufacture Apple components and has the honor of being the first partner to do so in Japan.

Apple called the move a big step forward in helping manufacturing partners toward the use of clean power.

"We're proud to partner with suppliers like Ibiden who recognize that renewable energy investments are good for the environment and good for business," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president for Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives.

Apple added that it will continue to help partners across the world to reduce energy use and establish high-quality renewable energy projects like the floating solar photovoltaic facility outside Nagoya.

Unique Solar Island

Ibiden will have 20 new renewable energy facilities that are significant for managing the urban space crunch innovatively. Most innovative is a floating island of solar photovoltaic system constructed in a converted lumber yard to address the space problem. The mountainous terrain of the island constrains the availability of vast urban space in Japan for manufacturing operations.

The Apple supplier is targeting 12 MW of solar power production which will cover the company's manufacturing operations in Japan and may offer the surplus power to the national grid.

Ibiden's Response

Reciprocating the praise lavished by Apple, Ibiden's Managing Director for Environment Group Kyoichi Yamanaka noted that the investments in new and innovative clean energy are an example of the company's commitment to doing business responsibly and economically.

"Our products help Apple devices run smarter, and now we're powering our operations with smarter energy too. We're pleased to partner with Apple and lead the way in helping Japan to meet its clean energy goals," added Yamanaka.

Apple's Clean Energy Targets

Apple claims that its current operations in 23 countries and 93 percent operations worldwide are covered by renewable energy sources.

In 2015, Apple persuaded suppliers in China to make the transition to renewable energy pledge through building up solar farms and remove more than 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from the air.

Apple said it would assist the Chinese government in reducing air pollution in the next five years.

Apple's ambitious target involves generating over 2.5 billion kilowatt hours per year in clean energy for use in manufacturing facilities. That will be like taking away 400,000 cars off the road.

Huge Growth In U.S Solar Market

Meanwhile, the U.S. solar market grew massively and doubled its annual record by installing 14,626 megawatts of solar PV in 2016.

It marked a 95 percent increase over the previous record of 7,493 megawatts in 2015, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association, which gave the highlights of the U.S. Solar Market Insight report. The report will be released on March 9.

This is the first time the U.S. solar became the no. 1 source of new power generating capacity additions: solar represented 39 percent of all new capacity additions annually among all fuel sources in 2016.

"What these numbers tell you is that the solar industry is a force to be reckoned with," said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA's president and CEO.

Hopper added that solar energy's strong growth in many market segments has so far employed more than 260,000 Americans.

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In ongoing studies investigating the effects of spaceflight on the human body, researchers sound the alarm on intense radiation and the potential threat of leukemia in astronauts.

The ongoing NASA-funded study of researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine uses human stem cells on mice to measure the powerful effects of deep space radiation and what can be done to remedy such effects.

Radiation exposure is considered one of the riskiest aspects of the planned journey to planet Mars. The average distance to the planet is 140 million miles, and a roundtrip could stretch three years.

Leukemia As A Lurking Threat

Senior project researcher and associate professor of regenerative medicine Dr. Christopher Porada said that radiation exposure could up the risk of leukemia in space travelers in two ways.

We found that genetic damage to HSCs directly led to leukemia. Secondly, radiation also altered the ability of HSCs to generate T and B cells, types of white blood cells involved in fighting foreign invaders like infections or tumor cells, he explained in a statement.

The combined exposure to microgravity and radiation occurring during deep space missions leads to a double-whammy effect: mutations in key cells as well as compromised immune response.

Previous research showed that weightlessness or stay in microgravity could lead to significant changes in immune function, even after short-term missions in low Earth orbit where astronauts are mostly shielded from cosmic radiation. In a separate study, MRI scans done on over 20 astronauts revealed that microgravity can take its toll on the human brain, leading the organ to compress and expand during spaceflight.

In the experiments conducted at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory, human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from healthy individuals of astronaut age (30 to 55 years old) were exposed to solar energetic particles (SEP) as well as galactic cosmic ray radiation (GCR). The HSCs were incorporated in both in vitro and mouse models.

While such stem cells form less than 0.1 percent of adults bone marrow, they produce the different kinds of blood cells circulating the human body and working to move oxygen, fight infection, and get rid of malignant cells.

Radiation practically shut the HSCs down, impeding their ability to produce blood cells by up to 80 percent. Exposed mice developed what researchers deemed to be T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The team recommended appropriate countermeasures prior to space travel at major distances.

Ongoing Studies On Spaceflight Effects

NASAs Human Research Program, which involves this recent study, catalogues the effects of human spaceflight on the body, especially as it has not evolved to deal with conditions such as weightlessness.

For its projected Mars mission, NASA grouped the risks into five categories, namely gravity fields, isolation or confinement, hostile or closed environments, space radiation, and distance from Earth.

On the six-month trek between the planets, you would be weightless. On the surface of Mars, you would live and work in approximately one-third of Earths gravity, and when you return home you will have to readapt to the gravity we take for granted, NASA cited as an example, where the transition from one gravity field to another is expected to affect head-eye and hand-eye coordination, balance, and locomotion, to name a few.

The space agency is yet to release official results from its unprecedented Twin Study, but early findings on twin brothers Scott and Mark Kelly already indicated that space travel dramatically changes human biology, such as gene expression.

Scott is the first American to spend nearly one year in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS), twice the normal time of stay. That duration is considered a stepping stone to a three-year Mars journey.

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Albert Einstein has warned more than half a century ago of an apocalyptic war to be fought with sticks and stones. The prediction, which came from one of the brightest minds of 20th century physics, was not without wisdom if the war has to be fought between humans.

How about robot apocalypse, which Stephen Hawking predicted?

This is not sci-fi stuff lifted off from the characters of Avengers: The Age of Ultron, Terminator, and Matrix. A robot apocalypse is a potential threat to humanity if left unchecked on top of catastrophic war, mass extinction, and, well, climate change.

"Technology has advanced at such a pace that this aggression may destroy us all by nuclear or biological war," Hawking said.

Threat From Artificial Intelligence

Hawking, whose existence defied medical science after he was diagnosed by doctors with life-threatening disorder that affects normal functioning of the nerves and muscles, turned 75 last January.

His warning came amid the dizzying development of artificial intelligence that may spell doom to mankind.

Hawking reiterated the warning he made few years ago: AI could signal the "end of the human race."

The same warning was echoed by Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Steve Wozniak along with some 8,000 great minds in research and technological corporations. In an open letter they signed in 2015, they pledged to coordinate closely the progress in AI to prevent its development from getting out of hand.

AI, a product of human intelligence, has so much to offer for the advancement of man and society, but the threat is real as researchers struggle to ensure that these AIs and its applications must do what man wants them to do.

The 2015 open letter called for "expanded research aimed at ensuring that increasingly capable AI systems are robust and beneficial."

Protecting Humans From AI

The call to protect humans from the aggression that could arise from the advancement of AI system has never been stronger than before.

Hawking argued that equal amount of safety measures imposed on apocalyptic weapons must also be dedicated to AI system.

"We need to be quicker to identify such threats and act before they get out of control," the 75-year-old physicist said.

He is thinking of "some form of world government."

Musk, Tesla Motors CEO, also saw that potential threat to mankind as he referred to AI system as "our biggest existential threat."

"I'm increasingly inclined to think that there should be some regulatory oversight," he said.

The regulatory body either at the national or international level, the Tesla Motors chief said, is needed "to make sure that we don't do something very foolish."

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Yes, you can super-size your memory to bring it to the level of a memory champion, a new study has concluded.

Brain scans revealed that memory athletes brains do not have a unique anatomy but instead exhibit certain brain connectivity changes. People with ordinary memory skills can also be trained to approximate their abilities, scientists found.

No Difference In Brain Structure

"After training we see massively increased performance on memory tests. Not only can you induce a behavioral change, the training also induces similar brain connectivity patterns as those seen in memory athletes, said lead researcher Martin Dresler of the Netherlands Radboud University Medical Center.

The key was strategic mnemonic training, or the use of memory devices that assist in recalling plenty of information, particularly in the form of lists.

The techniques included memory palace or loci, an ancient strategy where one makes an imaginary journey through a familiar place such as a building, and employing each location as a visual tool for information storage.

The team studied the brains of 23 memory champions, who can process massive amounts of information from faces to names. They scanned the brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures brain activity through tracking blood flow changes, and compared them with those of individuals of a similar age as well as IQs.

Using structural MRIs, the neuroscientists measured differences in brain size, but were surprised to know that no such difference existed. A gap was detected in connectivity patterns scattered across 2,500 brain connections, yet no single region stood out.

Dresler described the neurobiological differences between the memory athletes and control subjects as quite widespread, distributed, and subtle.

Brain-Training Control Subjects

Astounding differences appeared when the scientists trained people with ordinary memory skills. Some had the training of memory champions, others had memory training without mnemonic techniques, while the rest received no training.

After 40 consecutive days 30-minute sessions, people with typical memory skills at the beginning but were provided training for memory athletes went from recalling 26 words on average from a list of 72 to remembering 62. The high performance remained when they were revisited four months later.

And the group exhibited brain connectivity changes. Dresler explained that they developed brain patterns similar to those of champions, and this particular pattern seems to be the neurobiological grounding for superior memory performance.

Even world record holder and neuroscientist Boris Nikolai Konrad, who was among those scanned, was not born with an exceptional memory. He remembered nearly failing in school because of poor English vocabulary skills.

Neuroscientist and Cambridge professor Michael Anderson, who was not involved in the study, said the training methods have demonstrated great power as early as the time of ancient Greeks. But this new study not only confirmed that memorization prowess is trainable, but also identified the brain changes accompanying it.

The findings were discussed in the journal Neuron.

A separate analysis last year highlighted the benefits of brain training in lowering the risk of dementia among healthy individuals by 48 percent, which showed promise in creating new preventive measures.

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The workplace tools of Google, collectively known as G Suite, will be splitting the Hangouts app into two parts. The first one is Hangouts Meet, which allows up to 30 users in a single conference. The second one is the newly announced Hangouts Chat, a group-focused messaging tool that will go up against Slack and the upcoming Microsoft Teams.

Hangouts has been put on notice ever since Google released Allo and Duo, as the three communication apps have blurred the company's strategy on messaging. However, with the release of Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat, it seems that Google has finally decided that Hangouts will move forward as a business communication tool that will work adjacent to its consumer apps.

What Is Hangouts Chat?

Google revealed Hangouts Chats through a blog post, with the tool to be gradually rolled out, though users can apply to test the software as an early adopter.

Hangouts Chats will keep the feature of one-to-one chats between users, with the tool able to be used on browsers and on iOS and Android devices. However, the tool will also feature new group chat rooms with threaded messages, which can be considered the biggest move made for Hangouts since it was launched in 2013.

Hangouts Chats features deep integration into Google Docs and Google Sheets, with permissions to access documents and spreadsheets automatically given based on the users in the team that created them. The tool also has a search feature that allows search according to users, rooms, file types, and even links that were sent.

Google will also be adding a new bot that can automatically schedule meetings. When the bot is called up through @meet, it will compare the schedules of the involved users as plotted in their Google Calendars and suggest when the meeting can be held based on everyone's vacant time.

Hangouts Chats, along with Hangouts Meet, seems like it will only be accessible to G Suite customers. Hangouts Meet is currently being rolled out, and combined with Hangouts Chats in the near future and the fact that most businesses use Google tools, the combination of tools could attract more enterprise customers to the G Suite.

Will The New Hangouts Upstage Slack And Microsoft Teams?

Slack has collected a loyal user base due to its simplicity and functionality, as users are able to run it on their mobile device and then switch over to their computers without hassle. There are also a lot more bots available to Slack. However, with Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chats to come to the G Suite, companies may be rethinking why they should keep using Slack when they are already paying for the G Suite, which will soon come with its own enterprise-focused communication tools.

The same would be true for Microsoft Teams. While the upcoming software has Skype tightly integrated into its interface, businesses who are using a combination of G Suite and Skype may be inclined to go with Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chats in the future, though, of course, customers who have invested in Office 365 might not go with that direction.

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, happily announced that they are currently expecting baby number 2.

The Announcement

In his post, Zuckerberg proudly announces that he and his wife are expecting another baby girl, to follow their first born, Max. In the announcement, he describes how when he learned of his wife's pregnancy, they wished for the child to be healthy first and then wished for it to be a girl.

Zuckerberg further describes how his and his wife's background of living with sisters has given him the opportunity to learn from strong and smart women and that Priscilla, who grew up with two sisters, learned many lessons from her siblings as well. He stresses in the post the role of family and a good relationship with siblings has had on each of their lives.

"We are all better people because of the strong women in our lives  sisters, mothers and friends. We can't wait to welcome our new little one and do our best to raise another strong woman," said Zuckerberg on his announcement post.

Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative

Zuckerberg and Chan's journey to building their family wasn't an easy one. Before their daughter Max was born, Chan has experienced three miscarriages. When their first daughter was finally born in 2015, the couple pledged to give away 99 percent of their wealth through the course of their lifetimes, hence the beginning of the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative.

The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative's philanthropic projects are quite unconventional as apart from more direct aid such as their search for a cure for all diseases and other poverty-combatting projects, they also continue to invest in small start-up companies such as Andela, a star-tup in Africa that trains software developers.

Raising A Child In The Internet Age

Zuckerberg, who was recently tapped to deliver Harvard's 2017 commencement speech, has been vocal in the past about his worries about his daughter growing up in the internet age. In fact, he has stated his uncertainty about when the right age would be to allow Max to go online.

It's possible that this is one of the reasons why Facebook has been active of late when it comes to making a healthier environment for its users as well as contributing to the fight for gender equality. Most recently, Facebook's COO interviewed vocal feminist Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the continuing battle for gender equality. Further, one of Facebook's most recent and active role in creating a healthy social media experience came in the form of a suicide watch and active support for users that are in need of help.

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Getting diagnosed of chronic myeloid leukemia, or CML, was tantamount to hearing a death sentence before the cancer drug imatinib mesylate, which is sold as Gleevec, was introduced in 2001.

Wonder Drug Gleevec

The drug was hailed as a wonder drug for patients with CML, a type of blood cancer that affects about 5,000 in the United States per year. Before the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, less than one in three patients with CML survived five years after their diagnosis.

Now, a new study gives credence to Gleevec being a wonder drug. Findings of the study, which were published in the New England Journal Medicine on Thursday, March 9, revealed that the drug can keep patients alive for 10 years or more.

Investigators found that the cancer drug appears to keep the blood disease at bay 10 years into treatment and without signs of further safety risks.

Study researcher Andreas Hochhaus, from Jena University Hospital in Germany, said that the findings provide additional evidence that the early "hype" around the drug was correct.

Improved Life Expectancy

Of the 500 patients involved in the study who were given Gleevec as their initial therapy, the researchers found that more than 83 percent were alive a decade later, a significant improvement when compared with the general survival rate of CML patients prior to the approval of Gleevec.

The researchers said that life expectancy of the patients was almost normal and that they did not find evidence of new, long-range risk from Gleevec treatment, which is a welcome news since in the early days, there were concerns that use of the drug may boost risks for other health conditions such as heart disease.

"Serious adverse events that were considered by the investigators to be related to imatinib were uncommon and most frequently occurred during the first year of treatment," the researchers wrote in their study.

"Almost 11 years of follow-up showed that the efficacy of imatinib persisted over time and that long-term administration of imatinib was not associated with unacceptable cumulative or late toxic effects."

Study researcher Brian Druker, of the Oregon Health and Science University Knight Cancer Institute, said that one of the advantages of treating CML patients with Gleevec is that most of those who were diagnosed are already in a chronic stage of the illness.

Since CML patients can expect to live for decades, the researchers said it is crucial to monitor and manage age-related health issues and other conditions that coexist during the chronic phase of the disease.

Targeted Personalized Medicine For Cancer Patients

Gleever is the first targeted personalized medicine to be used and is considered the most successful. It ushered in the period of personalized cancer medicine that shows it is possible to shut down cells that enable cancer to grow without causing harm to the healthy ones.

"Our results demonstrating Gleevec's high efficacy in CML tell us to realize the full promise of precision cancer medicine, we need to diagnose and treat patients earlier in the disease course," Druker said.

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In October 2016, Google unveiled the Jamboard, which is a new 55-inch display monitor that will work under its G Suite tools for enterprises.

Google previously said that the price tag of the Jamboard will be under $6,000, and it seems that the company is keeping that promise with the announcement of the product's price and release date.

Google Jamboard To Cost $4,999

Google has revealed that the Jamboard will come with a price tag of $4,999, keeping true to its word that it will be under $6,000, but ultimately keeping it as a very expensive piece of hardware. In addition to the price tag, the Jamboard will come with an annual fee of $600, though customers who purchase it by Sept. 30 will be able to see the annual fee reduced by half to $300.

The Jamboard will come with a free wall mount, along with two stylus pens and an eraser. Extra pieces of the stylus and the eraser will cost $9.99 each.

The Google Jamboard will be released in May, with a gradual rollout to other regions around the world afterward.

What Is The Google Jamboard For?

A price tag of $4,999 is very steep, but the Jamboard was not designed to be used for personal purposes. Instead, the device is created to be used by enterprise customers for digital collaboration.

The Jamboard is connected to the internet, and starts off as blank space that users can write or draw anything on using its stylus. In addition to functioning as a digital whiteboard, users will be able to access collaborative tools, including pulling in files stored in the Google Drive. Users can then write on the Jamboard once all the materials that they need are placed on it, with everything that they do stored in the cloud servers of Google. This allows for users from other locations to access the same content on the Jamboard at once.

The Jamboard features a 55-inch 4K ultra high-definition display with a 120 Hz touch scan rate and a 60 Hz video refresh rate. The device can recognize up to 16 simultaneous touch points, and is capable of recognizing handwriting and shapes. The Jamboard also comes with a built-in 2K telepresence camera, along with speakers and microphones to allow users from different locations to see and talk to each other.

Google Jamboard vs. Microsoft Surface Hub

With the announcement of the price tag of the Google Jamboard, it is now known to be much cheaper than the Microsoft Surface Hub, a device with similar uses that was released in 2015 with an $8,999 price tag.

While the specifications of the Google Jamboard and the Microsoft Surface Hub play as factors in determining whether a company should purchase one over another, the primary reason would probably be whether the business has invested into Google's G Suite or Microsoft's Office 365.

Microsoft has long maintained strong presence among enterprise customers, but with recent advancements being made for its G Suite, it seems that Google is making significant process in the space.

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A 12-year-old girl will soon leave the United States for her home country of Gambia in West Africa after a surgery to remove a tumor growing in her mouth. The 6-pound tumor had been growing for three years, seriously affecting her life.

Prior to this surgery, Janet Sylva was given no more than six months to live. However, the operation was successful and the preteen girl has an entire future to look forward to.

Cantaloupe-Sized Tumor

The tumor had the size of a cantaloupe, making it difficult for Janet to speak, eat, and even breathe. The tumor was not malignant, but medical specialists predicted she would die of starvation should the tumor not be removed. Because of the tumor's large mass, it was impossible for the girl to perform routine tasks such as eating.

Medical teams back in Africa - in Gambia and neighboring country Senegal - tried, but didn't succeed in getting rid of the tumor. The doctors in Senegal then emailed a plea for help to international surgeons.

An oral surgeon from Staten Island, Dr. David Hoffman, answered the call and put together a team of highly specialized practitioners to help Janet free of charge.

Janet and her mother were transported to the United States by the Global Medical Relief Fund, a charity organization from Staten Island, whose purpose is to help children in need.

The surgery took place back in January, and it lasted approximately 12 hours. Before the surgery, the doctors practiced repeatedly on different 3D images of the girl's CAT scans in an attempt to become more familiar with her face and tumor.

Dr. Armen Kasabian, who is chief of plastic surgery at the North Shore University Hospital, led the team during the very delicate procedure. The surgery involved both the tumor's removal and the rebuilding of Janet's jaw using a small part of her leg. According to Kasabian, the team had to succeed from the first attempt, as the girl and her mother were only allowed to stay in the United States for a short period of time.

"We don't have the luxury of operating on her 10 times. We have to try and get the most that we can out of just one operation," Kasabian noted.

Ready To Return Home

According to Hoffman, Janet had been a prisoner in her own body. Now, she couldn't stop smiling and hugging the medical team who took care of her.

"We were very concerned about speech and swallow therapy for her, and in the beginning, of course, it was difficult, but with the therapy and her pushing her way through, she was able to get it back," noted Kasabian.

Additionally, Kasabian stated that throughout his entire career he had never encountered such a large tumor.

During a session with an interpreter speaking the girl's native language, Wolof, the girl smiled and said that the scarf that used to cover her face when she had the tumor has been thrown away. Both the girl and her mother thanked the doctors for taking care of her.

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The unlocked version of the Moto Z Play is now getting a treat in the United States, as the Android 7.0 Nougat update is currently rolling out over the air.

The Moto Z Play is quite a capable device with plenty of neat specs and features to make it an attractive option, and the latest Android Nougat made it even more compelling.

While the update started rolling out a while ago for some versions of the device, the unlocked Moto Z Play in the United States was left on Android Marshmallow up until now.

Android 7.0 Nougat Hitting Unlocked Moto Z Play In US

The wait is finally over, as several U.S. owners of the unlocked Moto Z Play confirmed to Droid Life that the Android 7.0 Nougat update has started rolling out. The update package is rolling out in stages, as with all OTA updates, so keep in mind that it might take a few days to reach all devices.

The Android 7.0 Nougat update for the unlocked Moto Z Play variants carries build number NPN25.137-24-1 and is similar to the update Verizon recently released for its exclusive Moto Z Play Droid.

Motorola released Android 7.0 Nougat for the Moto Z Play back in February, sooner than expected, but the update has yet to become available for all device variants in all parts of the world.

The update package weighs in at a little more than 1.1 GB, so it's quite hefty. With an update this size, it's recommended to download it over a Wi-Fi connection rather than cellular to avoid incurring data charges.

As always, it's also advisable to make sure the device has at least 50 percent battery life left before proceeding to download and install the update so the whole process goes smoothly and without interruptions.

Those who have yet to receive the notification prompt for the update can try checking for it manually by going to the smartphone's Settings > About device. If the update is ready, users will be able to trigger the installation from there.

Moto Z Play Nougat Update: What Does It Bring?

Android 7.0 Nougat will mark a pretty big jump for the Moto Z Play user experience, bringing a slew of new features and improvements to the table. For those unfamiliar with the latest version of Google's mobile operating system, some of the Android 7.0 Nougat highlights include Multi-Window support for better multitasking, an improved notification system, quick app switching, new emoji, enhanced battery optimization, performance tweaks, and a lot more.

The update should improve the Moto Z Play experience on virtually all fronts, from the user interface to device performance and everything in between.

If you have the unlocked version of the Moto Z Play in the United States and have already received the upgrade to Android 7.0 Nougat, drop by our comment section below and tell us how it all fares. If you have yet to get the treat, rest assured that it's on its way and it shouldn't take more than a few days to become available.

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The president emphasized that people are voting for Nicaragua and by doing so they are also voting for peace. | Read More
BERLIN (AP)  Pope Francis says the church must study whether it's possible to ordain married men to minister in remote communities facing priest shortages.

In an interview published Thursday with Germany's Die Zeit, Francis stressed that removing the celibacy rule is not the answer to the Catholic Church's priest shortage. But he expressed an openness to studying whether so-called "viri probati"  or married men of proven faith  could be ordained.

"We must consider if viri probati is a possibility. Then we must determine what tasks they can perform, for example, in remote communities," he was quoted as saying.

The "viri probati" proposal has been around for decades, but it has drawn fresh attention under history's first Latin American pope thanks in part to his appreciation of the challenges facing the church in places like Brazil, a huge Catholic country with an acute shortage of priests.

Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, a longtime friend of Francis and former head of the Vatican's office for clergy, is reportedly pressing to allow viri probati in the Amazon, where the church counts around one priest for every 10,000 Catholics.

Francis has shown particular openness to receiving concrete proposals for ordaining married men as well as his own pastoral concern for men who have left ministry to marry.

He has maintained friendship with the Argentine widow of a friend who left the priesthood to marry, and he spent one of his Friday mercy missions last year visiting with men who had left ministry to start families. He has also said that while he favors a celibate priesthood, celibacy technically can be up for discussion since it's a discipline of the church, not a dogma.

The church allows some exceptions to the rule. Priests in the eastern rite Catholic Church are allowed to be married, as are married Anglican priests who convert to Catholicism.

In the first major interview that Francis has given a German newspaper, the pope was asked whether he experienced moments in which he doubted the existence of God. He responded: "I, too, know moments of emptiness."

But, he pointed out that periods of crisis are an opportunity to grow, saying a believer who doesn't experience that remains "infantile."

Francis also repeated his warning of the dangers of rising populism in western democracies, saying "populism is evil and ends badly as the past century showed."

In the interview, Francis also confirmed Colombia was on his travel itinerary for 2017, as well as India and Bangladesh. He ruled out Congo, which had been rumored, but mentioned Egypt as a possibility. Francis also recently said he hoped to visit South Sudan.
How do defence engineers get familiar with one of Australia's most ambitious and expensive defence projects without getting in the hanger with it? Virtual reality.

Engineering company KBR's Canberra branch has developed a detailed virtual reality program allowing operators and engineers to engage with the F35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Rob Hawketts Vice President, Government Services Asia Pacific KBR holding the lastest technology to help train defence personnel on the F35. Credit:Jay Cronan

Users don the VR headset and are able to interact with the fighter, sitting inside the canopy or literally ducking down to get a better view of the landing gears.

General manager training solutions Michael Hardy said while KBR had been involved with training coursework since 2005, the VR component had been developed in Canberra in under a month.
"With regards to the tram construction there is a provision under the environmental protection regulation which has exempted noise from the construction of the light rail or a train so there are no noise restrictions that apply for a major road or the light rail," Rodney Dix from Environmental, Regulation and Protection said.

ACT government officials admitted there was a provision under the environmental protection regulation that exempted noise from the light rail construction from existing restrictions.

On Monday, Liberal politician Steve Doszpot flagged a tweet aimed at himself and Chief Minister Andrew Barr about the level of noise generated by overnight construction works.

However, Mr Dix said there was a noise management plan in place as part of the development application and the construction managers still had to take "practical steps" to minimise the noise.

"I know they have to go through a very systematic approval process to approve all their night works, so they're not purely impacting resident," Mr Dix said.

Deputy director-general of the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate Dave Peffer told the committee Canberra Metro had a "tight alignment" between its contact centre and the construction team.

"If people do find they're having or have concerns with the construction, be it noise, be it the impact on amenity or impact on their own property they are able to talk to the folks in our contact centre and get a direct line to quite senior people as part of that construction team," Mr Peffer said.

"So for matters like that, absolutely we're happy to take the call and that constituent would be able to talk to senior members in that construction team, ideally to get that resolved."
It was there he met Bakkar the Bengal tiger. Bakkar later spent 12 years at the Canberra zoo before dying of kidney failure. "I left knowing I wanted to do something for animals, with animals." He sold his business and set off on an around-the-world adventure to learn about big cats with his wife, Maureen. "We travelled as far as South America to North America, to Canada and Alaska, Nepal, Siberia, India and a number of African areas," he said. "We came to the conclusion there weren't many big cats left in the wild and if things kept going the way they were ... the species would get wiped out."

I left knowing I wanted to do something for animals, with animals. Richard Tindale Of the world's 40 wild cat species, about 80 per cent of them have populations in decline, according to National Geographic. On returning home the couple saw the sale of the Canberra Aquarium as the perfect opportunity to do more than breed cats - they could potentially help save dozens of species on the brink of extinction. It was obviously not an easy mission to embark on, given the facility was limited to a handful of native animals and had gone bankrupt twice. "It needed a lot of work, there was very little down there," Mr Tindale said.

"The aquarium had no reptiles along the wall and it mainly relied on day trippers from Sydney." There was the added stress of limited experience and pricey renovations. Mr Tindale wouldn't divulge the pricetag, but admitted he put everything he had into the site. After doing extensive research into the complicated zoo industry, hiring several skilled staff and making some personal sacrifices, the visitors eventually started flooding in. But the family faced another setback when they tried to fill the main aquarium with salt water to add more animals and the concrete almost crumbled entirely. They rebuilt another shark tank and the empty one became a feature of the Jamala Wildlife Lodge, built in 2013. Mr Tindale credits the zoo's financial survival to Jamala, where guests sleep in private bungalows amidst animal enclosures. They transformed their own home into the accommodation and rebuilt their house at the back of the zoo.

In December 2001, the first bushfire threatened all they worked for. It burned all surrounding pine trees and crossed all four boundaries of the zoo, with up to 50 spot fires igniting inside the site. "We were maybe a little complacent about it because we thought there was no way the fires could get to us," he said. "But it was so strong. It was just jumping down that arboretum site, jumping 100 metres and then 200 metres along the grass and we started to panic." "The fireballs landed inside the zoo and started igniting things, including the shearing shed." "It was also very awkward for us, because it is great to have a contingency plan but you can't evacuate 25 big cats and four giraffes. That could take months."

Fortunately, the lack of flammable vegetation meant the zoo escaped without major damage. The 2001 bushfires were a larger threat to the zoo than those in January 2003, which gutted nearby suburbs but just missed the zoo. The ACT government's move to cut all the trees surrounding the site opened the door for Mr Tindale to obtain 18 hectares and begin the almost-finished expansion. He was offered 60 hectares but lacked enough water resources. The whole process of transforming the zoo and building credibility within the industry was one of "organised chaos". "Though some would say disorganised," Mr Tindale said.

But he felt a sense of accomplishment as he reminisced on the challenging yet rewarding journey. Given his love of big cats, it is not a surprise the zoo boasts Australia's largest collection. It also houses Australasia's only tigon - a hybrid cross between a male tiger and a female lion. Staff numbers have increased about six-fold in the past decade and the number of endangered species taking part in breeding programs continues to grow. Mr Tindale said the open exhibits of the expansion would allow for the breeding of more large animals than previously possible. Mr Tindale acknowledged that managing the zoo had become the family's life but he said he'd gained considerably more than he'd sacrificed. "I'd like to say I've given up everything, but I haven't," he said.
A former Spotless executive will get to keep a $477,400 entitlement awarded to him as part of a "handshake" agreement after fighting the listed cleaning company all the way to the High Court.

On Thursday, Spotless failed in its bid to appeal to the High Court a decision that awarded former executive Anthony Stevens $477,400 as part of a termination payment.

KPMG chief digital officer Anthony Stevens was awarded $477,400 after winning a court battle against his old employer, Spotless. Credit:Louie Douvis

Mr Stevens was awarded $477,400 plus interest by the Victorian Court of Appeal when it upheld his case late last year.

Spotless then made an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia but this was refused.
Domino's worker Azrael Yin blew the whistle on Pamir Dehsabzi's practices to Domino's head office but never heard back. "Domino's will provide full assistance to the Ombudsman with any investigation they undertake," the statement said. Speaking from China, former store manager Xiao Yang Tang said he worked in five stores between 2014 and 2016 and was told he had to keep labour costs below 27 per cent of sales by any means. Domino's said it has "zero tolerance" for worker exploitation. Credit:Louise Kennerley "Everyone had to do it or our money would be rejected," he said.

Tang said he worked up to 60 hours a week but was paid for only 40 hours. "I was told the money would be made up when we get a good day, but that didn't happen. Once I was told I 'would be put in the oven' he was so mad. Xiao Yang Tang, Former Domino's worker "I was very nervous and afraid working in the stores. If the sales weren't good or the [audit score] wasn't a pass I would be shouted at," he says. "Once I was told I 'would be put in the oven' he was so mad," he said. Fairfax has obtained payslips and sales reports from when Tang was working as a store manager in North Strathfield, which shows he was paid for pizza deliveries he never made. This had the effect of denying him overtime payments for extra hours he worked. During one week in July last year he was credited with making 80 deliveries and working 38 hours. But according to internal sales reports for the same week he made no deliveries and worked 56 hours.

Dehsabzi admitted to being investigated by Fair Work but otherwise did not respond to questions from Fairfax. He previously told Fairfax Media he had asked managers to keep labour costs at 27 per cent, but denied underpaying employees, saying any discrepancies were due to staff not signing out properly. "My staff does not following the sign In/Out accurately. They often finish their rostered work and then are having fun, staying and talking with their friends or eating food, but they haven't signed out. They know we pay based on the roster," he said in February. Dehsabzi joined the Domino's network 15 years ago as a delivery driver. He was put forward to Fairfax Media by Domino's chief executive Don Meij as a satisfied franchisee (Meij forwarded an unsolicited email Dehsabzi had written to him in January that outlined his passion for Domino's and how the company had achieved what franchisees could never have dreamed about.) In an article in the Parramatta Advertiser he said "hard slog" set him up for success.

But former managers link his success to putting a ceiling of 27 per cent on labour costs, irrespective of how many hours his workers have actually worked. Azrael Yin worked in Dehsabzi's Gladesville store in Sydney between 2014 and 2016. Sales reports seen by Fairfax show Yin worked between 50 hours and 60 hours a week but his payslips often showed he worked 35 hours. Like Tang he was credited with payments for deliveries he never made. Yin blew the whistle on Dehsabzi's practices to Domino's head office but never heard back. On January 19, 2017, another worker in another store wrote to Dehsabzi asking him to "please pay them [staff] on time and correctly".

He said: "Last week our labour is 27 per cent but you deduct lots of our staff salary ... today is my day off ... "But after I know you hold our pay, I have to come back to the store and spend more than an hour to write this email." Another manager, Alan Chiu, told Fairfax he worked for Dehsabzi for more than five years as a store manager in four stores, including Gladesville, West Ryde, North Strathfield. He left in November 2015. "It is the same, I try to maintain the labour percentage to 27 percentage or pay was cut," he said. He said if the labour wasn't 27 per cent he was told to "redo" it.
Until 2014 all of the gas produced in South Australia, Victoria, Bass Straight, NSW and Queensland was sold, via an extensive pipeline network to electricity generators, industrial users and households along the east coast. The gas was abundant, relative to local demand, and in turn it was cheap.

While there is clearly no shortage of gas molecules being extracted in Australia, the price that Australian electricity generators and manufacturers are being charged for those molecules has risen nearly threefold. And high gas prices have led to high electricity prices and recent blackouts. So, what's going on?

Production of gas on our east coast has risen by about 20 per cent in the last three years in large part because farmers have been unable to prevent the spread of fracking for Coal Seam Gas (CSG) in Queensland. While you wouldn't usually associate a surge in production with a 'shortage', you also wouldn't expect a government to argue that tax cuts for big business are a good way to boost wages. We live in confused times.

Just as the Irish exported huge quantities of food during the famine that cost nearly one million lives, Australia is exporting record amounts of gas in the middle of an alleged 'energy crisis'. The 'logic' of free trade is behind both absurdities.

But while abundant gas sold at low prices to Australian industry might be good for manufacturers, it wasn't much fun for the gas companies, so in 2007 the gas industry set about a long-term and very expensive plan to push our gas prices up significantly. And, as the recent squealing from the electricity and manufacturing sector clearly shows, the gas industry has succeeded in their goal.

The problem for East Coast gas producers was that while Asian customers were willing to pay a higher price for Australian gas than the average Australian styrofoam factory or fertiliser plant, there was no way to get gas from Brisbane to Tokyo. While it's straightforward to rent a ship and dump a load of coal on it, in order to export gas in those ships with the big bubbles on them the gas must first be liquefied, hence the term liquefied natural gas (LNG). And unlike a coal loader, a gas liquefication plant is an enormous bit of kit that costs tens of billions to build.

The next step shows that you can't fault the gas industry for lacking in ambition (or was it greed?). Having realised that they could triple the price they charged for the gas we give them (there are no royalties payable on much of the gas produced in Australia), the gas industry set out to build not one, but three enormous gas liquefication plants right next to each other in Gladstone at a combined cost of about $60 billion dollars. After some big cost blowouts by 2014 the East Coast producers finally succeeded in linking to the world market and, in turn, their 10-year plan to lift our gas prices.

It's remarkable that the PM and Minister Frydenberg are willing to feign surprise that the gas price has done exactly what the gas industry has been aiming for a decade. Back in 2014 a briefing note by Credit Suisse on the prospects for the gas exporter Santos, stated that 'Santos now argue that its aim in (building its gas export facility) was always as much about raising the domestic gas price'.

Here's how it works. When there were lots of gas producers in Australia selling to lots of gas customers in Australia the price was set by the willingness of the last customer to pay for an extra molecule of gas. As long as that last customer was willing to pay a price that was higher than the cost of getting the extra molecule out of the ground the manufacturer would have once found a gas producer willing to sell it to them.
The Turnbull government is urging the Labor opposition to support a wide-ranging ban on foreign donations to political entities, warning loopholes could otherwise be used to create US-style "super PACs" to funnel in overseas dollars.

A powerful Coalition-dominated parliamentary committee on Friday recommended a wide-ranging prohibition of donations from foreign citizens and foreign entities, citing a need to protect national sovereignty.

The ban would extend to political parties, unions, think tanks and lobby groups engaged directly in political activity, but would not affect charities and non-government organisations engaged in policy advocacy.

"Only Australians should have the power to influence Australian politics and elections," said Liberal senator Linda Reynolds, who chaired the committee.
Investors have roared back into the housing market, buying properties that would have otherwise gone to owner-occupiers, and embarrassing the government by taking out more than half of the new money meant for housing.

The latest figures for January mark the first time the share of loans taken out by investors has climbed back above 50 per cent since strong action by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in 2015 to curb bank lending to would-be landlords and negative gearers.

The surge in investors entering the housing market and squeezing out owner-occupiers comes as the Turnbull government prepares a housing affordability package for the May budget that will aim to make entry into the market easier for first home buyers, while also addressing rising rents that are squeezing people out at the bottom of the market.

Treasurer Scott Morrison on Friday confirmed Fairfax Media's report that the Coalition is looking to create a new Affordable Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) that, using a "bond aggregator" model, would stimulate tens of millions of dollars of new private-sector investment in community housing.
The NSW council stood aside a fortnight ago pending a board of enquiry into the allegations that will be headed by a senior Sydney legal figure but which might still be weeks away from starting.

Mr Dick was speaking after national president Rod White  who is caught up in the financial misconduct allegations from his time on the NSW council  formally resigned on Thursday.

Robert Dick told Fairfax Media the national leadership had been forced to intervene because the NSW council was taking too long to set up the "board of enquiry" into expenses claims and payments by the league's aged care arm that it had promised in December.

The RSL's acting national president has admitted the embattled NSW leadership stalled its own investigation into the financial scandals engulfing the state branch of the league.

Former NSW RSL president Don Rowe spent $475,000 on his corporate credit card over six years. Credit:Peter Rae

Many NSW members are furious about what they say is a lack of transparency in the process. NSW council and the national board together chose three senior state members of the league to act as caretaker administrators but kept their names secret until Friday when they were finally released.

Mr Dick revealed the national board had charged the NSW council in January with bringing the league into disrepute over the expenses allegations because it felt the state leadership had not moved quick enough on its own probe.

"We found that the establishment of the board of inquiry was not occurring as we were promised it would happen from the NSW council from our meeting back in December," he said. "We thought it was moving along too slowly and the only way that we could speed the process up was to take the action that we did because we believed that we were being hampered by the NSW state council. The national directors believed they [the state council] had to be removed so that we could then ensure that process moved forward and that's the action we took."

The NSW council is facing questions over its failure to deal with revelations that former state president Don Rowe had spent $475,000 on his corporate credit card over six years including paying for five phones for family members and making large cash withdrawals in his home town of Armidale.
An LNG gas rig sits 150 kilometres off the West Australian coast. Credit:Reuters Victoria responds with a stronger point, and one that is much harder to tackle: that there is plenty of gas already available and it is being sent offshore. Australia is expected to be the world's biggest LNG exporter by the end of the decade. Into this fracas waded the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which this week warned that there could be shortages over the next few years unless something is done. Cue mild political panic. Are we really going to run out?

Whether by design or otherwise, the operator's statement is a shot across the bows of the political establishment. As the Grattan Institute's Tony Wood puts it, it is effectively a reminder that if you don't buy milk on the way home you won't have any in the morning. Governments understandably don't like interfering with contracts already in place, so finding a solution is not straight-forward. But there are things that could be done  and the political imperative for all governments to ensure we don't run out is huge. Whatever steps are taken, there is no prospect of prices falling to historic levels. Those days are over. What are the answers being looked at? AEMO has a list of recommendations including that LNG producers redirect some gas meant for export to domestic use, the introduction of incentives to see what extra gas can be extracted from existing and new fields, and building a proposed pipeline from the Northern Territory to eastern states.

It says the controversial Narrabri gas project in NSW could probably get rid of the supply problem on its own, but also notes that other energy sources including storage  think batteries or pumped-hydro  may be viable alternatives to using gas for electricity. Elsewhere, there have been calls for governments to introduce a reservation policy that carves out some gas for domestic use only. Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has warned of sovereign risk issues, but is attracted to a Queensland Labor government plan to set aside some gas from new projects. Federal Labor supports a national interest test being applied to all proposals. Notably, spokesman Mark Butler would not back state moratoriums. But he said Canberra needed to take the lead in building community consent for controversial gas projects, including examining the impact on water resources. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called an urgent meeting of gas company bosses. The companies essentially just want more gas (and for the government not to hit it with an effectively designed resource rent tax in the May budget). It is unclear what, if any, concessions they will be prepared to make.

Where does climate change fit into this? Good question. While some people try, the debate over energy cannot be divorced from the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Gas is a fossil fuel, but demand for it has been on the rise because it is seen as a transition fuel in the shift to clean energy. It can provide electricity 24-7 while producing roughly half the greenhouse gas emissions of burning black coal. There has been a widespread push for a bipartisan policy - including an emissions intensity scheme, a form of carbon trading - to drive investment in the new power plants needed. It has been widely assumed this would initially lead to a shift from coal to gas-fired power, but those assumptions are based on the idea that gas would be much cheaper than it is today. It is now pushing up power bills, and electricity wholesale prices are double what they were a year ago.
During the year I lived in Taiwan, I usually just said I was a lesbian. This was partly due to the language barrier - explaining bisexuality in English is challenging enough, and my Mandarin skills weren't up to the task. I was also primarily interested in dating women at the time, so it seemed like the simplest option. But Taiwan's LGBT community is vast and diverse - and after I left, I wished I'd put in the extra effort to be honest and help represent my community.

3. To more of my exes' families

In the past, I've talked myself out of coming out to partners' families by reasoning that if I were dating a brunette monogamously, I wouldn't feel compelled to disclose to their folks that I also sometimes really like to date blondes. But not outing myself as bi in these scenarios has meant that I sometimes wound up awkwardly referring to previous partners as "friends" in order to keep things from becoming "confusing". That always feels dishonest and a little shameful, and I missed out on opportunities to represent bisexuality in a positive light for older people who might otherwise not encounter it.

4. To more of my own family, sooner

I came out to my immediate family in stages as I figured things out for myself - first in the form of "I'm not totally straight, but I don't like labels, guys"; then as "probably just a lesbian"; and finally as "actually 'queer', which is an OK word now, I swear, and also definitely bisexual".
Why I chose to relax my no-digits-before-dates rule this time is a mystery. Was it because he asked, politely? Because he seemed charming and harmless? Or was it just boredom?

We can swipe and talk in-app to our heart's content. But until I see your face for myself, you may not have my number. Credit:Stocksy

It's 11am, I"m up to my eyeballs in work, and a man I have yet to meet is asking, via text, how I like to be worshipped.

Initially, I greeted his textual come-ons with jokes, then politely demurred when he tried to ratchet it up a notch. And yet, the worship talk continued. Soon he was asking for a phone call - and permission to call me "the sexy one".

In the end, I nipped it in the bud and opted out, ending any possibility of a relationship before it started. Maybe I'm too sensitive, too literal, too self-protective. But somehow I can't imagine how I'd transition from near-sexting to something of substance.

Most of all, I'm annoyed. And it's this very kind of annoyance that I've been attempting to avoid with my standard "no digits before dates" rule. We can swipe and talk in-app to our heart's content. But until I see your face for myself, you may not have my number.

When it comes to online dating, men and women are in very different worlds. Men seem to want - and be eager to share - their phone numbers before an initial meeting. I, like many women, would rather eat glass. From the desire to protect my safety to avoiding harassment to ameliorating serious time-sucks, here are the reasons I, and so many other female online daters, refuse to give out our digits before a first date.

1. Simple annoyance
Three decades ago Jodi*'s family were searching for a better life for themselves and their four children, well away from the gritty inner-city high rise apartment they called home.

The family packed up their belongings and moved to rural Victoria where they planned to start anew.

Then one morning a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on the door to spread the word of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. That was when Jodi's nightmare began.

"These nice people were promising a community with no drugs, no alcohol and no crime  it sounded very appealing," said Jodi, who asked that her name be withheld.
Crooked former Queensland MP Scott Driscoll has been jailed for at least 18 months after he was sentenced for six years over 15-fraud related offences.

The former LNP state member for Redcliffe was arrested in 2014 but only taken into custody on Monday before his sentencing in the Brisbane District Court for the offences.

Driscoll pleaded guilty in November to soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars in secret commissions from supermarkets in 2011 and 2012.

Judge Deborah Richards on Friday sentenced Driscoll to six years' jail, in line with a recommendation from prosecutors, but ordered he be released on early parole, meaning he could be free in 18 months.
Hazelwood workers will get an employment lifeline, with the operators of other Latrobe Valley plants agreeing to hire people left jobless after the power station closes.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews described the jobs agreement, which comes after months of negotiations, as a "historic and unique transfer scheme" that would see about 150 Hazelwood employees move to other power generators in the Latrobe Valley.

One man blasted Engie for not closing the power station in a staged fashion over several years. Credit:Eddie Jim

"Never before have we been able to arrive at a worker transfer agreement like the one we have just signed," he said, during a visit to the region on Friday.

Also on Friday the state government unveiled $85 million of spending in the valley on a range of sports and recreation-related projects, which it said would create 300 jobs during construction and 275 ongoing jobs.
What does it mean to be a Belieber?

If you think that's a typo, then you're probably over 40, or don't have kids.

Justin Bieber fans camp out for Friday night's concert tonight at Etihad Stadium. Credit:Justin McManus

On a sunny Friday, about 600 disciples of the god of saccharine tween pop, Justin Bieber, lined the city streets to grab a piece of merchandise in honour of his Purpose Tour.

Bieber, who will perform before more than 10,000 no doubt shrieking fans at Etihad Stadium on Friday night, arrived in Perth earlier this week for a string of shows.
If you want to run away with the circus, you don't have to be a tightrope walker, trapeze artist or contortionist.

Among Cirque du Soleil's 4000 global employees, just 1300 are performers. They can't go on without support staff to rig the trapezes, cook meals and mend costumes.

Katherine O'Dwyer, a purchasing co-ordinator with Cirque du Soleil, pictured with performer friends. Credit:Simon Schluter

Melbourne woman Katherine O'Dwyer became one of this unsung army seven years ago, when she flew to wintry Calgary in Canada to take up an accountancy job with the acclaimed circus. Three weeks later, she moved on with the production to Miami, Florida - a very different, hot and loud city.

O'Dwyer, known as Kat, has since had the time of her life, having travelled with Cirque to more than 20 countries in five continents.
Three high-powered amphibious tourist boats would be operated from one of the most popular Wilsons Promontory beaches under a multimillion-dollar plan that has been backed by Parks Victoria and the state government.

Parks Victoria offered "in-principle support" when the company behind the project applied for a federal grant in 2015.

The tourist boat plan includes allowing them to beach at Norman Bay, in Wilsons Promontory. Credit:Cathryn Tremain

In 2016 the company was given $650,000 to develop the proposal, under which up to 288 tourists a day would be ferried around the Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park.

The 32-passenger specialist boats - each worth about $1 million - would be equipped with wheels, allowing them to drive onto the sand and park at Norman Bay beach next to the popular visitor area at Tidal River.
A woman has been sexually assaulted on a Richmond tram, while several other passengers were on board.

The 38-year-old Forest Hill woman was travelling along Bridge Road about 10pm on Valentine's Day when she was assaulted by a male passenger.

The computer-generated image of the man wanted over a sexual assault. Credit:Victoria Police

The man approached the woman and sexually assaulted her while several other passengers were on the train, police said.

After the assault, the man got off the tram near the intersection of Bridge Road and Lennox Street and walked north towards Cameron Street.
Drive through the Yarra Valley on a crisp autumn day and you might assume residents are a lucky bunch who quaff local wine and admire the bucolic scenery all day long.

Not necessarily. The Yarra Ranges region has pockets of social disadvantage amid the bush-covered hills and rapidly gentrifying townships, exacerbated by geographical isolation.

Yarra Ranges Community Legal Centre co-ordinator Anita Koochew (foreground), and principal lawyer Belinda Lo. Credit:Joe Armao

Now locals are worried the area's only community legal centre - which offers free legal support - is facing closure in July, when it will lose $240,000 in federal funding. The centre's annual budget is about $300,000.

And it's not the only one. Across Victoria, about $3 million will be lost from community legal centres in July, including the Women's Legal Service and the Consumer Action Law Centre.
WA Labor has defended their no-show at Perth Modern forum, after parents lashed out at the party's plans to move the school to an inner-city location.

WA Labor leader Mark McGowan has previously flagged his plans to re-locate WA's sole academically-selective high school from its current site at Roberts Road, Subiaco, to a skyscraper in the CBD.

An artist's impression of Labor's City Link proposal.

The proposal has faced strong criticism since its announcement and a meeting was held at North Perth Bowling Club on Tuesday evening.

Minister for Education Peter Collier, Treasurer Mike Nahan, member for Mount Lawley Michael Sutherland, member for Perth Eleni Evangel, Greens member Alison Xamon and independents Julie Matheson and Andrew Mangano were all in attendance.
Police are hunting two gunmen who opened fire in a cafe in the Swiss city of Basel, leaving two people dead and a third critically wounded.

A statement from the office of the local prosecutor said two men entered Cafe 56 at 8.15pm on Thursday and unleashed a blaze of gunfire. They then escaped on foot in the direction of a nearby railway station.

A forensic team investigates the scene. Credit:GEORGIOS KEFALAS

The motive for the crime was unknown but the assailants specifically targeted the cafe, prosecutors said. The victims were identified as Albanians.

Prosecutors said police were looking for two men, aged between 30 and 40, who are believed to be eastern European. They had black hair and were dressed in dark clothing.
He is the US president's most prominent political spokesman but his high profile didn't protect Sean Spicer from being temporarily banished from Air Force One. Spicer was among a group of Donald Trump's senior aides who were banned from the presidential aircraft a week ago after Trump erupted in frustration at his staff during an Oval Office meeting.

At the same time as Spicer is learning to find alternative means of transport, he is not spending a whole lot of time in front of the camera. Monday was the seventh straight day that Spicer, President Donald Trump's press secretary, declined to hold a televised White House press briefing, an unusually long drought for someone whose role is traditionally to be the most visible face of a presidential administration.

Instead, Spicer, who since the inauguration had become a highly rated, if often-parodied, staple of daytime television, conducted a question-and-answer session with no cameras allowed, over the objections of the White House Correspondents' Association.

The briefing was certain to be contentious. Spicer responded for the first time to explosive and unproven allegations Trump made over the weekend that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had wiretapped his phones at Trump Tower during the presidential campaign.
Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi arrives at court with curlers in her hair. Credit:Yonhap via AP Her downfall is expected to shift South Korean politics to the opposition, whose leaders want more engagement with North Korea and are wary of a major confrontation in the region. They say they will re-examine the country's joint strategy on North Korea with the United States and defuse tensions with China. The Constitutional Court voted to uphold the impeachment motion against Park, passed by an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly in December, said Lee Jung-mi, the acting chief justice. A protester wearing a mask, attends during a rally calling for impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. The letters read "Arrest Park Geun-hye." Credit:AP Lee caused a stir arriving at the court with two pink hair rollers attached to the back of her bobbed hair. Pictures of her profile showing the round curlers as she walked to her office, apparently unaware, went viral. Some South Koreans saw the apparent mistake as a sign of Lee's dedication to her work in contrast to Park, who summoned her hair stylist to work hours after a deadly ferry sinking. Lee, 65, is the sole female among eight judges on the Constitutional Court.

Kim Seon-taek, a professor of constitutional law at Korea University, said there was no room for the court to rule other than impeaching the president. Impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye listens to a reporter's question during a meeting with a selected group of reporters in January. 1, 2017. Credit:AP "Through the 'Choi-gate' investigation, we found serious violations of laws and evidence of meddling with law and order of the nation by both Choi Soon-sil and Park Geun-hye," Kim said. In the political scandal - extraordinary even by the standards of South Korea's tumultuous democracy - Choi is accused of extracting bribes from big business. Samsung, for instance, is accused of planning to give her $US37 million ($49 million) in return for using her relationship with the president to ensure favourable treatment for the company. Choi Soon-sil, centre, the jailed confidante of disgraced South Korean President Park Geun-hye, in 2016. Credit:AP

Special prosecutors tasked with investigating the case, known here as "Choi-gate," said in a damning 101-page report released this week that they had found evidence that the president colluded with Choi. Park refused to be questioned by the special prosecutors. Prosecutors have recommended a total of 13 charges against Park including abuse of power, coercion of donations and the sharing of state secrets. Park had immunity from prosecution while she was in office, but has lost that now that she has been removed from the presidency. A demonstrator demanding South Korean President Park Geun-hye's impeachment holds a sign featuring a photograph of Park during a protest on Friday. Credit:Bloomberg The release of the prosecutors' report coincided with the conclusion of the Constitutional Court's 10-week-long deliberation on the impeachment case. Park declined to appear before the court, although she issued statements through her lawyers in which she had steadfastly denied any wrongdoing. The court had six months to consider the case but imposed a deadline of Monday on itself.

South Korean president Park Geun-hye attends an emergency cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea in December. Credit:AP The chief justice retired as scheduled in January and the acting chief justice is set to finish her term on March 13, taking the number of judges on the bench down to seven. A majority of six judges is required for a ruling. "The case couldn't have been any clearer," said Chung Tae-ho of Kyung Hee University. "With this verdict, the Constitutional Court has sent an unequivocal warning to the people in power not to take advantage of their positions and seek personal gains." Park was suspended from office in December after weeks of enormous protests, with hundreds of thousands of people packing the streets of Seoul every Saturday calling on her to resign or be impeached. The outrage against her was triggered by revelations that the president, who seldom consulted with her ministers and official advisers, had been taking secret counsel on everything from North Korea policy to her wardrobe choices from a friend who held no official position.

Making matters worse, it turned out that the friend, Choi, the daughter of a shaman cult leader, had appeared to take advantage of her relationship with the president to enrich herself and win favours for her family. She is accused of receiving about $US70 million ($93 million) in bribes from big business groups like Samsung. Samsung's de facto head, Lee Jae-yong, went on trial Thursday on a range of charges including bribery, embezzlement and perjury over the case, and Choi has been on trial for months. Loading The US said the removal of president Park would not affect its strong alliance with the country. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the US would continue to work with the acting president, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, and looked forward to whomever South Koreans chose in the presidential election. He said the two nations' alliance "will continue to be a linchpin of regional stability and security".
Auto Lab Radio Talk LIVE From NYC Saturday March 11, 2010 7-9AM







Auto Lab Talk Radio

The Auto Lab Radio Show is Broadcast every Saturday 7 to 9 AM On New York City's WNYM Radio AM 970 and Streamed Worldwide On The Auto Channel

This Weeks Show Broadcast Date: March 11, 2017

Car Question or Concern? Call Toll Free 888-692-7234

Auto Lab is a 28 year old interactive automotive-focused New York area radio call-in show hosted by Professor Harold Wolchok. Each week a cadre of experienced hands-on automotive experts are in-studio with advice for the New York area's 12 million people, providing listeners with honest, practical and street-smart car repair and buying advice.

Auto Lab is also about the automotive industry, its history, and its culture, presenting the ideas and advice of leading college faculty, authors, and automotive practitioners in a relaxed, conversational interactive format.

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This Weeks Show: March 11, 2017

Auto Lab In-Studio Experts Discuss: Repairs, Second Opinions, Regular Maintenance, How To's, Safety, Used and New Car Buying, Ombudsmen Suggestions

Harold Bendell- Major Auto

Fred Bordoff-Bronx Community College-Automotive Technology Department, CUNY

Tim Cacace-Master Mechanix

Audra Fordin-Great Bear Auto Repairs & What Women AUTO Know

David Goldsmith - Urban Classics Auto Repairs

Jerry Pastore-D & J Diagnostic

Johanna Pastore-D & J Diagnostic

Joanne Porcelli, Esq

Michael Porcelli - Central Avenue Auto Repairs & I-CAR

Auto Lab Correspondents Report Auto Safety News, New Car Reviews, Technology and Latest Auto World Information That May effect You!

Broadcast Date: March 11, 2017

Robert Erskine, Senior European Correspondent, Suffolk England

STEEL THRO' THICK N' THIN

Russ Rader, Vice President Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

IIHS RECOGNIZES SEMITRAILERS WITH GOOD UNDERRIDE GUARDS

Robert Sinclair-AAA Northeast

AMERICANS FEAR SHARING THE ROAD WITH DRIVERLESS CARS

Audra Fordin-What Women Auto Know

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2017
Honoring the helpers Awards recognize those who support autism community

Thirteen community members and providers were recognized for their resilience, passion and heart at the 2022 Awesome in Autism Awards ceremony. The 14th annual event, hosted by Autism Society Ventura County, was held Oct. 20 at Wood Ranch Golf Club...

Go purple to support those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer November is the busiest month of the year for cancer awareness campaigns. Im going to focus on one of thempancreatic cancer because its a type weve seen a noticeable rise in over the last few years. And because it remains...

Hospital offers safe option to dispose of meds, narcotics Los Robles Health System is working to crush the opioid drug crisis by raising awareness about the dangers of opioid misuse and the importance of safe and proper disposal of unused or expired medications. Crush the Crisis will take place...

Alzheimers Foundation to host free conference The Alzheimers Foundation of America will host a free virtual educational conference from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tues., Nov. 15. The event is part of the foundations 2022 national Educating America Tour. The conference, which is free and open...
March 3-9, 2017

Weve got some interesting pieces on tap this week, including a couple of glittering heirlooms. Dont forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

10. Infanta Elena of Spain wore a classic pair of hoop earrings to attend the traditional thanksgiving to Medinacelis Christ at the Jesus of Medinaceli Church in Madrid on Friday.

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

9. In Madrid, Queen Letizia of Spain wore long gold earrings from Tous at a tribute concert at the Auditorio Nacional de Musica on Wednesday.

JERRY LAMPEN/AFP/Getty Images

8. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands piled on the jewels, including a startling insect brooch, to visit an award-winning sustainable development on Tuesday. ( See a creepy-crawly close-up over here!

BENOIT DOPPAGNE/AFP/Getty Images

7. On Tuesday, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore her classic diamond and pearl stud earrings for a meeting with women from different areas of the Province of Hainaut.

JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

6. At Thursdays unveiling of the Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial, the Duchess of Cambridge wore her gorgeous Collins Tanzanite Suite. ( Much more over here!

Chris J Ratcliffe  WPA Pool/Getty Images

5. The Princess Royal wore a very interesting gold and diamond brooch at the memorial unveiling on Thursday. ( See close-ups over here!

HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images

4. During the imperial visit to Vietnam, Empress Michiko of Japan wore a mixed-metals floral brooch to meet with with volunteers from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency in Hue on Saturday. ( See a brooch close-up over here!

HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images

3. Also on Saturday, Empress Michiko wore delicate pearl jewelry for a visit to the memorial house of Phan Boi Chau in Hue.

John Stillwell  WPA Pool /Getty Images

2. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom wore the full cluster and pendant brooch from the Cambridge Emerald Suite for audiences at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. ( More over here!

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

1. My top vote of the week goes to Queen Marys Russian Sapphire Brooch, worn by Queen Elizabeth II at the Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial Unveiling on Thursday. ( Read much more over here!
Ex-gay leader Dr. Joseph Nicolosi died on Wednesday at age 70 from complications of the flu.

Ryan Kendall, one of Nicolosis former patients, is lucky he survived to see 16.

In a 2012 blog post for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Kendall recalled being driven to the brink of suicide when his parents discovered he was gay and started sending him to weekly sessions with Nicolosi, who according to his resume specialized in the treatment of men who wish to diminish their same-sex attractions and develop their heterosexual potential.

That description is a euphemism for conversion therapyor medical treatment designed to change someones sexual orientation from gay, lesbian, or bisexual to straightwhich Nicolosi championed as a founder of the infamous National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, or NARTH. Conversion therapy has been denounced as ineffective and unethical by virtually every major medical association.

Kendall only got away from Nicolosi, he says, by running away from his family.

Eventually, I realized that the only way for me to escape the psychological abuse was to leave home, he wrote. At 16, when most young people are making college plans, my sole focus became finding a way to stay safe and alive.

The young man succeeded in getting his parents custody revoked and went on to testify in front of the California legislature in 2012right before the state became the first in the country to ban conversion therapy for minors. Nicolosi, who practiced in California until his death, was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the ban. That lawsuit failed.

But the dangerous practice that Nicolosi helped popularize as a multimillion-dollar therapeutic industry in the 1990s and 2000s will outlive himif not in California, then in the 44 states where it is still perfectly legal.

Vermont, Oregon, New Jersey, and Illinois all followed the Golden State in criminalizing the practice via legislation. And last February, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo restricted conversion therapy through executive action. A smattering of cities and municipalitieslike Seattle, Miami Beach, Cincinnati, and Washington, D.C.have also banned the practice.

Apart from that, however, it is still legal for clinicians in the vast majority of states and cities to subject minors to a form of therapy that can cause depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, according to a position statement issued by the American Psychiatric Association in 2000. That statement also said that reparative therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure. Seventeen years later, theres still no evidence that the practice even worksand plenty of evidence that it can cause substantial harm.

But even though the medical evidence against conversion therapy has become overwhelming, much of the United States has resisted criminalizing the practice outright. In fact, as California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom observed in a Daily Beast piece last year, conversion therapy has arguably never had more supporters in higher places than it does today.

On a website for his 2000 congressional campaign, Vice President Mike Pence expressed support for redirecting funding for HIV/AIDS prevention to institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior. As PolitiFact reported, Pences spokesperson claimed Pence simply meant groups that promoted safe sexual practices, but many LGBT advocates, like executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force Rea Carey, saw the position as a dog whistle intended to signal support for conversion therapy.

Even if Pence doesnt personally support conversion therapy, the Republican Party left room for the practice in its 2016 platform with a euphemistic line under the heading Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare that reads: We support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.

Asked by the Associated Press last summer whether the GOP supported conversion therapy based on that line, former RNC chairman Reince Priebus said, Its not in the platform.

But as The Daily Beast previously reported, the chief advocate behind the specific wording of that lineparticularly the inclusion of the word therapywas Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as an anti-LGBT hate group.

It went from explicit to implicit recognition, saving face for Perkins and giving him, at least, a dog whistle to his community, pro-LGBT platform committee member Annie Dickerson told The Daily Beast at the time.

Now, with President Trump and Vice President Pence in the White House, supporters of conversion therapy see an opportunity to stave off ignominy and cultural irrelevance, as ABC News reported this week. As part of a 20/20 investigation into the nationwide industry of conversion therapy camps, ABC asked Family Research Council senior fellow Peter Spriggwho has helped keep conversion therapy legal at the state levelabout the future at the federal level.

I see it as unlikely that any sort of legislativefederal legislative attack upon sexual reorientation therapy will go anywhere, he said.

That inaction is likely exactly what Nicolosi would have wanted. In a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday evening, his wife said, Dr. Nicolosi had always hoped for his legacy as the creator of Reparative Therapy to go on. His career was dedicated to helping people align their lives with their deeply held convictions.

But even though conversion therapy is still a multistate cottage industry, as ABC noted, survivors like Ryan Kendall are living proof the practice is doomed to fail.

Nicolosi famously wrote in his 1991 book Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality, I do not believe that any man can ever be truly at peace in living out a homosexual orientation.

He was wrong.

Wrote Kendall in 2012, There is nothing wrong with who I am.
DALLASThe man suspected of setting fire to a Texas mosque believed that its worshippers were terrorists hiding weapons there, according to law enforcement and federal prosecutors, parroting right-wing beliefs that American Muslims are secretly connected to ISIS and other terror groups.

Marq Vincent Perez wrote on Facebook that he believed Muslims might go underground as a result of increased scrutiny in recent months, prompting him to allegedly burglarize and set fire to the Victoria Islamic Center in an attempt to out members of the mosque as terrorists. Calling them rag heads and towel heads, Perez also believed that Muslims marry children and that he was protecting his community by burning the mosque, according to law enforcement.

Perezs alleged actions are the opposite of what President Donald Trump described as a candidate as hesitance to report the San Bernardino attackers, who he wrongly claimed had bombs all over the apartment that were seen by neighbors. As a presidential candidate, Trump said that action wasnt taken because everyone wants to be politically correct, and thats part of the problem that we have with this country.

Perez spoke about Trump on Facebook prior to burning the mosque.

Hard to track them and know what theyll do since Trump is claiming to send them all packing, Perez said in a thread about his disdain for Muslims. [Hard to know] how to know how many will go underground or be hid by [Democrats].

It was these concerns that prompted Perez to spring into action on Jan. 28, allegedly burglarizing the mosque for the second time in days and burning it to the ground.

The sole suspect in the fire, Perez was in court on Thursday on an unrelated case in which he is accused of planning to set fire to a car owned by a neighbor with whom he was having a dispute. That plan and his alleged burning of the mosque were used by prosecutors to argue that Perez be held without bond. The hearing marked the first time that the suspect in the mosque fire has been named, and the only time a motive for the arson has been put forward

In the Facebook thread cited by prosecutors, Perez and another person who is referred to as a confidential informant in a recording of ATF agent Rick Millers testimony obtained by the Victoria Advocate, also discussed security at the mosque.

It tells me that hes spent some time watching this mosque, Miller testified of Perezs comments.

So far, Perez has only been charged with possessing a destructive deviceseveral large firecrackers taped together that he allegedly intended to use to set fire to the neighbors carbut Thursdays hearing indicates Perez will eventually be charged with setting fire to the mosque.

Judge Janice Ellington noted that Perezs involvement in a hate crime that is presently being investigated, along with the loaded guns found in the home where he lives with an infant and a toddler were enough reason to deny him bond, and sent him back to the custody of the U.S. Marshals.

Perez apparently believed that members of the Islamic Center were associated with ISIS or other terrorist groups, Miller testified. Two confidential informants are cited as confirming Perezs anti-Muslim beliefs.

One informant told ATF agents that Perez had said he hated Muslims. Perez described Muslims as towel heads or rag heads, according to the source. One of the confidential informants indicated that [Perez] was upset that Muslim people were allowed to marry children, Miller testified.

Mr. Perez stated that he believed that members of the mosque were involved with ISIS and that they were terrorists. He [] broke into the mosque to see if people who go to the mosque were hiding weapons because he believed they were terrorists.

That confidential informant was with Perez on the night of the fire.

After stealing an electrical meter, a laptop, cell phones, and unidentified personal items, Perez lit a fire inside the mosque, the informant told Miller. Perez then told the informant that he had done something in the mosque and that soon everyone would know about it, Miller testified.

Just two gold domes were spared by the blaze. Members of the mosque saved them in the hopes they can be used when the mosque is rebuilt, Abe Ajrami told The Daily Beast a week after the fire.

Perez appears to believe he was protecting his community by burning the mosque, writing on Facebook that Everyone lives in a bliss of ignorance, that war never comes to us, that only us soldiers, tired and forgotten, are the only ones armed and ready, according to prosecutors.

Perez served in the military for five weeks, Miller noted in his testimony. Perez claims on his Facebook page to have served in the U.S. Air Force, which did not immediately respond to a request to confirm Perezs service.

In the Facebook thread, Perez promised that its going to be bad if weapons were found at the mosque.

I have plans ready, Perez wrote. The hardest part is getting the town to believe the evidence.
Well, it finally happened.

Donald Trump made his long-awaited pivot, and truly became a Republican this week. His spokesman, Sean Spicer, cast off any notion of daylight between the White House and the Obamacare repeal and replace bill put forward by the House once it was released from its secret basement birthing room and rushed through the Ways and Means committee at 4:30 Thursday morning on a party line vote. Spicer said the president is in sell mode for the plan. That means Team Trump now fully owns this messlets call it TRyancare, a name as unwieldy as the plan itselfalongside the Republican Party.

It clearly doesnt matter to Trump or to the drafters of the draconian bill, adorably named the American Health Care Act so that it sounds almost exactly like the Affordable Care Act, that it breaks every promise the president made to his supporters on the campaign trail. Or that it can only loosely be called a health care plan, because it actually reduces health care for the poor, the working class, rural hospitals, and the elderly to pay for a massive tax cut for the rich and large corporations and hands an extra $70 million or so a year to health insurance company CEOs. Or that the analysts at S&P Global Ratings estimate that Paul Ryans Rosemarys baby will strip health care from 6 to 10 million Americans right off the bat. Or that pretty much everyone on Capitol Hill hates it. Trump sees the opportunity to demonstrate his art of the deal skillsperhaps hell finally get around to reading the book about it that Tony Schwartz ghostwrote for himand so its time to sell, sell, sell!

Perhaps Trump can use Spicers trick and explain to all those coal miners who Paul Ryan wants to leave without coverage for black-lung disease that the bill is awesome because it prints out in a really short stack. Or maybe he can just scream Planned Parenthood! at some more thank you rallies to get the church people worked up in favor of TRyancare.

However he sells it, by fully backing Ryans bill, Trump has signed onto a Republican dream thats older than he isof stopping or killing universal health care and nearly every other form of federal assistance to the needy.

Republicans fought tooth and nail to stop FDR from enacting Social Security, even likening it to slavery (or as Ben Carson sees it, alt-immigration) though in the end most of them wound up voting for it.

The American medical lobby fought against the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, backed by conservative Republicans like Barry Goldwater and then-actor Ronald Reagan, who in 1961 called those programs socialized medicine that would be the death knell of freedom.

At the root of Republican opposition to federal government aid to the poor and the elderly is a proposition that Paul Ryan telegraphs every time he opens his mouth and fixes his soulless eyes on the cameras. Ryan and his ilk, as he explained in his chart-filled presentation Thursday, believe it is wrong; a moral hazard no less, to make healthy people pay for sick peoples health carewhich not so incidentally is how insurance worksor to tax wealthier people to pay for benefits for poorer folks.

They believe that the federal governments only responsibility is to ensure robust overall economic growth, which in their view is accomplished through tax cuts for the super-rich and big businesses. After that, each member of society must figure out on their own how to make that growth work for them. If they cant, either because their rich employers wont pay them a decent wage or they lose their job, then in the view of the economic Darwinists who control the Republican Partys establishment, libertarian and tea party wings, it should be private and religious charities, and not the taxpayer, that step in to help those who many on the right view as mostly lazy drug addicts and illegals dreaming of American welfare.

Conservative guru Barry Goldwater, talking about Medicare and Medicaid in 1964, famously said: Having given our pensioners their medical care in kind, why not food baskets, why not public housing accommodations, why not vacation resorts, why not a ration of cigarettes for those who smoke and of beer for those who drink?

Todays Republicans, from the full-on let granny die in the E.R. repealers to the hand granny a voucher and wish her the best of luck replacers, have been guided by this core philosophy since the party morphed from one of freedom for the enslaved under Abraham Lincoln to one of freedom for the super rich from the burdens of taxation, regulation or caring in any way for the poor under Calvin Coolidge. No matter how todays Republicans talk about a fictional ACA death spiral, they are soldiers in the same long war not on poverty but on the poor.

Thanks to nearly 40 years of right-wing talk radio, Republicans have been able to convince their base, even the poorest among them, of the general rightness of this philosophy. But what Donald Trump exposed during the Republican primaries is that base Republicans have never been fully on board. Instead, what Trumpism revealed is that the GOP base believes the government should absolutely help those who are down on their luck; its just that they want the feds to limit that assistance to those the Trumpists deem worthyto real Americans, like them. They wholeheartedly believe in what we errantly call entitlementsthey just want them withheld from immigrants and others (read: minorities) they consider to be stealing from them.

Trump promised these people he and Republicans would repeal Obamacare and replace it with something terrific that would not let people (read: them) die in the street. But apparently, Steve Bannon and the white nationalist kakistocrats running the White House forgot to let Paul Ryan in on that part of the planor maybe they left him dangling on purpose, so hed take the fall.

That leaves Republicans fighting amongst themselves over whether their repeal and replace bill is too blatantly cruel to get them re-elected (see: Rob Portman of Ohio, Colorados Cory Gardner, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska); or not nearly cruel enough (Rand Paul, the House freedom caucus, Bannon alumni association Breitbart.com, the Tea Party, the Koch brothers, and the right-wing think tanks, who want the entire HCA torn out root and branch, pre-existing conditions rules included). Still others, led by Jason Chaffetz, are just scrambling to stop embarrassing themselves on television while explaining the bill. For Ryan, the best course of action is to ram through his House bill before even more Republicans get cold feet.

So heres the answer for those whove wondered why Speaker Ryan has been wearing that empty-eyed MAGA grin since last fall. Its because he and his Ayn Randian fellow travelers view Trump the same way Steve Bannon does: as merely the vehicle by which their long-desired plans can be enacted.

Just as Bannon foresees Trumps name affixed to his dream of turning the United States into a 1930s style hypernationalist Christian ethnostate; in Ryans vision, it is Trump whose signature enacts Ryans dream of repealing the 20th century. In the Ryan dreamscape, Trumps tiny hands will sign the bills that extinguish not just Obamacare, but also Medicare, Medicaid, and maybe even Social Security. And then Trump will be the one to convince the restless white working class that gutting the safety net was good; or at least that the bread and circusesthe persecution of immigrants, Muslims, trans teens, and black people unfolding on Fox News and on their Facebook feeds, and the wall springing up along the southern border, albeit paid for by American taxpayersmakes the pain of losing their health care or going bankrupt paying for emergency surgery worth it.

And now, Donald Trump is on board with Ryans sales plan.

So well soon find out whether the Republican basewhich is absolutely devoted to Donald Trump, seemingly no matter what he does (75 percent of Republicans in the latest Quinnipiac poll strongly approve of his performance while majorities of every other group disapprove)is so besotted that they are prepared to sacrifice their own health and that of their children and their elderly parents for his cause.

Republicans had better hope so. Because whatever comes of this shambolic process of repealing and replacing Obamacare, and however loudly some GOPers protest that they simply want to save social insurance programs from the horrors of increased funding by Democrats, Republicans are in this TRyancare mess together.
The Facebook group at the heart of a U.S. Marine Corps nude-photo sharing scandal has been busted, but at least two new private groups have sprung up and are defiantly sharing the same.

A private Facebook group called Marines Unitedwith more than 30,000 current and former male Marines, U.S. Navy Corpsman, and British Royal Marineswas caught sharing thousands of nude photos of women without their consent. Hundreds or thousands joined chat rooms with links to Dropbox and Google drives filled with videos and images of female Marines, both nude and clothed, as well as Marine wives, ex-wives, girlfriends, and ex-girlfriends. In some cases, dozens of the women were identified by their full names, ranks, and location of duty station.

After journalist and former Marine infantryman Thomas Brennan broke the story on March 4, thousands of members exited the group and moderators and admins tightened any restrictions they could find. Almost immediately, posting and sharing of the videos and photos shifted to other groups or sites and resumed, and in some cases even accelerated.

But then a Marines United 2.0 Facebook group sprung up posting links to the same cache of photos and scrutinizing those seeking admission. Marines United 2.0 currently maintains over 3,000 members, according to a Marine who spoke on condition of anonymity, due to Department of Defense media regulations. Additionally, a Marines United 3.0 has formed, with a membership of 262 at the time of this publication.

An administrator of that group expressed his disgust about snitches, the investigators, reporters, victims and others hoping to gain access to the drives.

Im only gonna say this shit once so all of you fucks pay close goddamn attention, wrote a user who identified himself as Garret Bailey. If you add the fuck that snitches I will blast you on every goddamn page from here to fucking the sandbox and back. Understand this: I will not accept a request until I can see that the person has served. If they havent, DONT FUCKING ADD THEM!!! If you see someone and know they are a fucking snitch, let an admin know. This shit should have never made it to the national fucking news.

Write a status then post pics in the comments, wrote Rodney Taylor of Osceola, Arkansas. Hard to get them [nude photographs] blocked that way.

Anyone have a specfic pics of the famous tv girls??? [female Marines that spoke out] for research, with laughing emojis Dillon Luke Roberds of Gilbert, Arizona said.

Any videos out there besides on ph? [PornHub] Its down for maintenance right now, I think we broke it brothers. Lol, Marine United 2.0 member Nick Jones said.

Another heavily male, often profane Facebook group focused on Marine Corps affairs called JTOTS (Just the Tip Of The Spear) posted the same links along with others, and comments on the videos and posts were posted by others, too.

A male veteran who is a current member of the JTOTS group spoke to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity. He said the group often posts materials similar to the nude photos of Marines United, and that the threatening comments posted as comments were disturbing to him.

Different group, same stuff, he said of JTOTS. When people have the word Marine on their lips it should be in reference to honor and prowess on the battlefield, not to discuss these scumbags threatening to rape female Marines.

In addition, smaller offshoot groups have broken off from Marines United to form local chapters, with memberships ranging from single digits to more than 500. Some groups are also sharing nude photos.

The Florida chapter of Marines United has hosted images and videos similar to those that have posted in the original Marines United group. While most of the posts in the Florida group concerned support and brotherhood among Marines, nude photos of several unidentified women were posted on the group between March 2016 and September 2016.

A request for comment was sent to the pages listed administrators, but no response was received in time for publication.

For now, Marines United, its affiliates, and several related groups continue to spread across the Internet, despite new and ongoing law enforcement and media scrutiny. The group continues to operate on mainstream social media accounts such as Facebook, but some users have started publishing nude photos and videos of the female Marines on PornHub and other pornography sites, according to Task & Purpose.

Defenders of the groups argue that no crime has been committed by members of Marines United, and that the support and brotherhood aspects of the secret pages has been overlooked by the media, according to members of Marines United interviewed by The Daily Beast.

The Secretary of Defense weighed in Friday about the harm done and seriousness of the issues raised in the Marines United scandal.

The purported actions of civilian and military personnel on social media websites, including some associated with the Marines United group and possibly others, represent egregious violations of the fundamental values we uphold at the Department of Defense, James Mattis, a retired Marine general said. Lack of respect for the dignity and humanity of fellow members of the Department of Defense is unacceptable and counter to unit cohesion. We will not excuse or tolerate such behavior if we are to uphold our values and maintain our ability to defeat the enemy on the battlefield.

The Marine Commandant, Gen. Robert Neller, will appear Tuesday before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees to answer questions and update lawmakers on the status of the militarys investigation.
Twice during the past week at the U.S. State Department, NBCs chief foreign affairs correspondent, Andrea Mitchell, was ejected from photo ops when she had the unmitigated gall to ask questions of Rex Tillerson.

The 70-year-old journalism workhorse, a skillful creator of viral video moments during her long network television career, failed to get answers as frantic aides firmly ushered her out of the secretary of states ceremonial seventh-floor office.

But the confrontations produced some gripping optics that MSNBC, where Mitchell hosts a weekday show, deftly deployed in a promo touting her intrepid reporting style.

Mitchells encounterswhich exploded on social media this week after Fox Newss resident troglodyte, Bill OReilly, called her unruly on Twitteralso highlighted a more serious issue: a secretary of state who refuses to engage or even acknowledge the press corps assigned to cover him.

It was only this weeknearly 50 days into Donald Trumps administrationthat deputy state department spokesman Mark Toner, a career foreign service officer, starting holding a regular on-camera briefing for correspondents, an event that occurred daily during past administrations. The new plan is to hold two televised briefings and two conference calls a week for beat reporters.

But after six weeks on the job since being confirmed by the Senate, Tillersonwho as chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil for a decade met the media only in highly controlled and orchestrated circumstanceshas yet to answer a single question from the press corps at Foggy Bottom.

And when he leaves next Wednesday for a critical four-day trip to Japan, South Korea and Chinaa series of crucial consultations overshadowed by North Koreas nuclear saber-rattlingTillerson will not even be taking a single pool reporter with him on the secretary of states plane.

P.J. Crowley, Barack Obamas former assistant secretary for public affairs in charge of the state departments media relations, drew a sharp intake of breath when informed of Secretary Tillersons travel arrangements.

That, he said after a lengthy pause, is a very significant break with tradition.

Its actually totally bizarre, said the Washington Posts Glenn Kessler, the newspapers state department correspondent during the tenures of Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. Watching this beginning by Tillerson, Im actually pretty appalled by it.

New York Times White House correspondent Mark Landler, who covered the state department under comparatively press-friendly Secretary Hillary Clinton, speculated that Tillerson might be staying out of the spotlight so as not to risk eclipsing a president who needs to be the center of attention.

You have to wonder if there isnt an element of worry that too high a profile, working for a president named Donald Trump, is a hazardous place to be, Landler said. Maybe hes concluded that being low-profile is a wiser move. Dont compete with the boss.

Former Time managing editor Richard Stengel, who served as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during the Obama administration, cautioned that beyond risking negative media coverageof which Tillerson has had plenty in recent weeks portraying him as a marginal foreign-policy player compared with presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner and chief strategist Stephen K. Bannonthe secretary of states press-averse M.O. is sending a dangerous signal to the world at large.

Its unfortunate for American policy, and its not just an American audience thats looking at this, Stengel told The Daily Beast. It emboldens autocrats and dictators who dont believe they ever have to talk to the press. See? The Secretary of State of the United States doesnt need to talk to the press, so why do I have to? Its an unfortunate image that projects something that we dont want to project around the world.

In an embarrassing illustration of Stengels warning, Tillerson found himself being lectured on press freedoms during a visit to Bonn, Germany, last month by none other than Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the foreign policy czar of journalist-snuffing strong man Vladimir Putin.

Why did you shush them out? Lavrov demanded after Tillersons handlers ejected reporters from a bilateral meeting as the Secretary of State began to speak; Lavrov, who frequently travels with a full complement of journalists on his official plane, had already taken a press question. (Due to lack of witnesses from the Fourth Estate, Tillersons reply, if any, went unrecorded.)

Seasoned diplomats like Lavrov are more likely to get the best of a diplomatic encounter with Rex Tillerson, and to sandbag him in some way, if there is no American press present or within earshot, said Anne Gearan, the Washington Posts current state department correspondent. That means the first account of some of those meetings is going to be presented to the press of another country, and that might not go the way the U.S. wants it to go.

Crowley, meanwhile, told The Daily Beast that a Secretary of States public engagement with journalists is a very important dimension of American diplomacy, so that we are seen as practicing what we preach, that we value the First Amendment, and that the relationship between the United States Government and a free and vibrant media is essential to government accountability and transparency.

But when we have a president who calls the media enemies of the people, Crowley continued, that is damaging to Americas standing in the world. And when we have a senior leader in government who appears to be retreating from this relationship, that gets noticed and it will have an impact.

State Department Senior Adviser R.C. Hammond, a veteran Republican operative who describes his job as chief cat-herder, rejects the notion that Tillerson has confused his priorities by keeping the press at arms length.

Hammond said, however, that Tillerson intends to take questions from the press for his first time as secretary during next weeks Tokyo stop, and added many state department correspondents are arranging to fly commercial to be on hand for Tillersons visits to Japan, South Korea and China.

He added that U.S. reporters on the ground will be traveling in the secretarys motorcade, with access to the departments briefers, within the security bubble.

But why no pool reporter on the secretarys plane?

Hes traveling on a smaller plane this time, which wont accommodate a pool, Hammond said. The pool can be accommodated as long as the plane is large enough; we cannot put them in luggage.

But doesnt the secretary of state normally fly in a government Boeing 757 that would have seated several journalists in the backand wouldnt such an aircraft have been available if requested?

Not necessarily, Hammond replied, adding that he isnt sure what sort of plane the secretary is using.

Tillerson had a very brief off the record meet-and-greet with State Department correspondents last month, when he dropped by the Bullpen, as their cramped office space is nicknamed, and departed after around 10 minutes.

Zero reporters asked him any significant questions about foreign policy, Hammond said about that encounter. They took their first opportunity to introduce themselves by making sure not to ask him anything about his job.

Hammond, who displayed a taste for combat and a saturnine sense of humor when he was Newt Gingrichs presidential campaign press secretary during the 2012 primary race, denied making a quip after Tillerson left that a witness confirmed to The Daily Beast.

All you guys seem to care about is getting a lift on a government plane, Hammond is alleged to have retorted to journalists who were pressing him for more access.

Every reporter is entitled to his gripes, Hammond told The Daily Beast. Some reporters are more interested in reporting about themselves than the issues that people care about. Thats true for Washington.

Hammond went on: In the long run, what youll see is a state department that is making an adjustment to increase broader access; more reporters will have access to the department than they had before. Relying on a D.C-centric system that only answers questions from a briefing is not serving the needs of the entire media.

Hammond said that instead of focusing mainly on members of the State Department Correspondents Associationmany of whom have been covering U.S. diplomacy through several administrations and bring institutional memory and historical perspective to their reportingthe department will be reaching out especially to media outlets that serve the 14 million people who live within 100 miles of the southern border with Mexico.

The department will be building a stronger border relationship with our neighbor, Mexico, and for a lot of people this is a local issue, Hammond said. The local news outlets that dont usually have access to the state department will be getting new opportunities, and we will have information to help them on their local reporting.

Ironically, at the same moment that Hammond was talking about Mexico, that countrys foreign minister was reportedly meeting at the White House with Kushner, Bannon and others, but apparently saw no need to see his American counterpart. It was yet another indication that Tillersons low profile is damaging at least the perception of his influence.

As for Andrea Mitchell, who declined to comment for this story, she was kicked out of Tillersons meeting with Yukiya Amano, director of International Atomic Energy Agency, when she pressed the Secretary on the departments staffing problems--"Do you think you'll have a deputy anytime soon, sir?"and the draconian 30 percent budget cuts President Trump wants to impose on American diplomacy.

The scene was replayed on Tuesday when Tillerson and his guest, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, pretended not to hear her as she shouted questions about threats from China and the Trump administrations ambiguous stance concerning Ukraines arch adversary, Putin.

Do you think this gets better? Brian Williams asked Mitchell Thursday night on his MSNBC program.

I worry that it doesnt, she answered. And I dont think its good for the country.
As Friday evening draws to a close around Washington, D.C., the citys tight-knit and secretive national security clan goes to sleep with a new unease. Its not Syria or Iran or even North Korea theyre most worried about. Theyre uncertain just what President Donald Trump may tweet in the wee hours before they wake, and what theyll have to do to manage the fallout.

Its accurate that we dont always know whats coming, one senior U.S. official said with a shrug, as the weekend approached. We are making sure we are following the presidents tweets because its often the first place we hear things.

In a community that once shunned social media for fear it would damage careers or threaten security clearances, spooks, spies, and special operators are now are signing up for Twitter accounts and setting up @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS alerts so they can find out the inner thinking of their commander in chief, and protect their own bosses from fallout.

The tweet thing is more immediately affecting the White House staff, and cabinet members who get blindsided every weekend with tweets, another U.S. official said. The officials interviewed for this story spoke anonymously to discuss the near constant anxiety experienced by senior U.S. national security officials.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer gamely pushed back on the notion that his team was braced for the impact of another weekend tweetstorm, after surviving last weekends tsunami when Trump accused President Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower. Spicers team took a day to embrace the tweets, before releasing a statement and sending Spicers deputy Sarah Sanders into the maw of a feisty Martha Raddatz interview to back the charges, and call for Congress to investigate.

The president says what he wants, when he wants, and well support him, Spicer told The Daily Beast Thursday.

But ask military, intelligence, or law enforcement officers charged with defending the nations security what they think of Trumps out-of-the-blue weekend tweets, and you get grimaces, shakes of the head, and even physical cringing. Verbal responses range from I wish he would just stop, to Not helping. Just not helping.

Multiple national security professionals interviewedboth in the administration or in uniformsaid they are also concerned over what they perceive as a lack of emotional and intellectual discipline they believe is behind the tweet rage.

National security professionals value orderly process for decision making, said Bruce Riedel, director of the Brookings Intelligence Project, and a former CIA officer. They abhor unpredictable and rash impulses. Twitter temper tantrums undermine process and create wasteful distractions at best and unnecessary wars at worst.

What Trump tweets is also the kind of information foreign intelligence agencies devote legions of spies to uncover. Now, theres almost no need. Sign up for Twitter, and any user has a view into what the president is thinking, and feeling about an issuethat which is often hardest to gauge for an intelligence officer.

The new riddles spies ask include: How will Trumps White House staff justify the latest tweet storm? How will his cabinet react? Will the emotional outrage become policy, or will someone within the walls of power be able to pacify him and redirect the rage?

Others believe Trumps tweets are so often at odds with what ultimately becomes policy that theyre taking on a certain cry wolf quality.

On the military side, I believe theres a certain amount of tone-deafness, said just-retired Marine Gen. John M. Paxton Jr., speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. There are enough crises in the world between North Korean nukes ISIS that they are trying to monitor that risk and have options on the table, he said in answer to a Daily Beast question.

After so many weekends where theres a Twitterstorm of some sort, and then theres a rolling back, my sense is it will tamp down, added former Obama Undersecretary for the Navy Janine Davidson at the same event. Below those turbulent waves, people are just doing their job and waiting for the retraction, on Monday or Tuesday, she added.

Increasingly, when I talk to people, they just stopped listening to the noise and tuned that stuff out, said former Trump transition adviser James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation. Its strategic impact is starting to taper off, he added.

Essentially, people are learning that Trump flares with anger, and thenusuallyretreats into more coherent policy, such as when the tweet feud with the Mexican president over who would pay for the border wall evolved from a diplomatic incident into allegedly business-like phone discussions between the two men.

I treat them as rhetoric, said Carafano, who instead watches the formal announcements out of the White House, or from other members of cabinet. Trying to literally translate them into policy is stupid.
New Delhi, Mar 10 (IBNS): A loan agreement was signed between India and Germany at the German Embassy in New Delhi, on Friday, that will boost India's Energy Efficiency Programme

The loan worth EUR 200 million (Rs 1,400 crores) increases total German commitment for better energy efficiency in India to EUR 600 million (Rs 4,200 crore).

The loan agreement was signed in the presence of German Ambassador Dr. Martin Ney.

The German Development Bank (KfW) signed - on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) the agreement with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).

The agreements were signed by Selva Kumar, Joint Secretary Department of Economic Affairs, Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL, Dr. Norbert Kloppenburg, member of the Executive Board of KfW, and Roland Siller, member of the Management Committee of KfW.



EESL uses the programme funds to invest in energy efficiency in various sectors, e.g. domestic households, public buildings, street lighting, water supply and other public facilities, agriculture and industry.

EESL as an Energy Service Company (ESCO) not only finances energy efficiency measures, but also provides a multitude of related services to their clients for implementation (e.g. assessment of options, planning and monitoring).

The programme thus contributes to a more efficient use of energy and therefore reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

It is a follow-up to the earlier programme Energy efficiency in public buildings and infrastructure, which has successfully implemented the Domestic Efficient LED Lighting Programme (DELP) resulting in an estimated 600,000 tons of CO2 emission reduction annually.

Additionally, a financing agreement of EUR 500,000 (Rs 3.5 crore) was signed with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).

IREDA will use these funds to assure the quality of solar PV projects and to mitigate the challenges faced in solar rooftop PV projects by establishing an implementation structure. These grant funds will also be used to support IREDA in market assessments concerning future trends in solar PV.



On Thursday, the State Bank of India and the German Development Bank (KfW) on a special mandate from the German Government concluded a USD 274 million (Rs 1,796 crores) loan facility to support lending for affordable housing in India.



Siddhartha Sengupta, Deputy Managing Director signed on behalf of SBI, while KfW was represented by Dr. Norbert Kloppenburg, Member of the Executive Board, and Roland Siller, Member of the Management Committee of KfW Development Bank.



With its focus on housing loans for economically weaker sections (EWS) and lower income group (LIG) households, the facility is designed to complement the Indian Governments affordable housing programme, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Lower income households account for 95 per cent of the shortage of an estimated 20 million housing units in the country.

Sustainable mortgage loans to low income families to purchase, build or upgrade their homes is critical for inclusive growth and development, said Dr. Kloppenburg on the occasion. Partnering with Indias largest bank on this mission provides a tailor-made platform for quick upscaling of housing finance for this segment.



Image: GermanyinIndia website
The White House said Friday it wasnt responsible for making sure Michael Flynn followed the law and that the decision was a personal one.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that the former national security advisers failure to register as a foreign agent for his work as a lobbyist on behalf of a Turkish client wasnt a decision for the then-incoming administration to make.

Prior to the briefing, the Associated Press reported that lawyers representing Flynn told Trumps transition team, before the inauguration, that he might have to register as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice due to his lobbying work that possibly benefited the Turkish government.

Spicer claimed that Flynns lawyer had indeed contacted the team for legal guidance but did not disclose more details about Flynns business dealings.

The burden is on the individual to seek the legal advice or professional expertise to decide what they have to file and not, Spicer said on Friday. We could literally have a hypothetical question about somebody who had an inappropriate filing on their tax returns.

Despite questions about the Trump transition teams judgment about Flynns work, Spicer only addressed the fact that lawyers with the team did what he deemed they were supposed to do.

He was a private citizen at the time, Spicer said referring to Flynn. And when youre a private citizen, youre allowed to engage in legal activities. I dont have anything further on that, but I think theres nothing nefarious about doing anything thats legal as long as the proper paperwork is filed.

Flynn registered as a lobbyist last year but did not officially file the paperwork with the DOJ until Tuesday.

Spicer was asked what this showed about President Trumps judgment in appointing Flynn as national security adviser given the teams knowledge of his lobbying work.

What does this say about the transition teams judgment about still appointing him as national security adviser when you had knowledge of this information? asked New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush, citing how Rep. Elijah Cummings sent Vice President Mike Pence a letter last November requesting more information on Flynns lobbying.

Youre asking me to forget about the legalisms, Spicer responded. Thats what we ask people to do is follow the law. You cant forget about the legalisms. What Im saying is thats what we did. They consulted a lawyer, which everyone who had something is advised to do. That lawyer consulted the transition lawyer who said it is your job to consult the appropriate lawyers.

Spicer was pressed again as to how the choice to appoint Flynn reflected on the White Houses judgment.

What dealings are you referring to, Spicer responded. That [Flynn] had a client. He was also the head of the defense intelligence agency; unbelievably qualified. Forty years in the military with impeccable credentials. So what is it? What exactly are you getting that? Because so far, he has impeccable credentials. He had a stellar career in the militarywidely respected. And I think for you to sort ofto impugn his integrity.

On Thursday night, however, Pence said during an interview on Fox News that stories about Flynns lobbying work were an affirmation of the presidents decision to ask General Flynn to resign.

According to a Friday report in The New York Times, Flynn was paid more than $500,000 during the campaign last year and was assigned to investigate Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric in Pennsylvania, on behalf of the government of President Erdogan.

Flynn was asked to resign after less than a month on the job following a revelation that he had spoken with Russian ambassador Sergey Kisylak and misled the vice president on the nature of those talks.
This week, amid new revelations in the ongoing Trump-Russia sagaa real-life espionage thriller linking a tiny-handed reality show tycoon, a diminutive Russian dictator, and alleged golden shower kompromatcame the news that actor Alec Baldwin is considering stepping down as Saturday Night Lives Donald Trump.

His policies aside, which you can hate, I thought he would have just relaxed. The maliciousness of this White House has people worried, Baldwin told Extra. Thats why Im not going to do it much longer, the impersonation. I dont know how much more people can take it.

He added, Trump just overwhelmingly lacks any sportsmanship, he remains bitter and angry, and you just want to look at him and go, You won!

Baldwin, the Emmy-winning 30 Rock actor, is an SNL legend, having hosted a record 17 times. And his high-profile Trump impression has not only helped boost the late-night sketch programs ratings to a 22-year high of 10.6 million viewers, but also managed to get under President Trumps considerably thin skin, with Trump calling the parody skits a complete hit job, and his Press Secretary Sean Spicer whining that, Alec has gone from funny to mean, and thats unfortunate. SNL used to be really funny. Theres a streak of meanness now that theyve crossed over to mean. A newspaper in the Dominican Republic even confused Baldwins Trump with the real thing.

According to reports, Baldwin was only set to play the bloviating billionaire until the election, and has donned the cotton candy-like coif five times since, so it stands to reason that upcoming film or television projectsas well as penning his satirical Trump bookwill soon occupy the actors Saturday nights. So who should play President Trump next? There have always been, in this writers estimation, problems with Baldwins Trump impersonation. For starters, its not very good. While he has the stiff posture down pat, his nightmare-inducing pout, which once earned Trump a Razzie award for Worst Supporting Actor, pales in comparison to Taran Killams, while his version of the real estate moguls nasally voice and erratic delivery is a far cry from Darrell Hammonds.

The optics are a problem, too. If imitation is truly the highest form of flattery, then having Baldwin, an SNL god most famous for playing an endearingly ironic CEO caricature on 30 Rock (whose sexist, prejudiced tendencies bore more than a few similarities to Donald), portray Trump is not just an honor, but contributes to the perception of Baldwins Trump as lovable buffoon; an incorrigible man-child in an ill-fitting suit. Tina Fey elevated her Sarah Palin to scathing satire by exposing the Wasillans ignorance and silliness, transforming her into a cutesy cartoon character. Trump already is a cartoon character, so Baldwins face-contorting routine, all surface gusto, does not suffice. It fails to mine the depths of Trump, shine a light on his most glaring insecurities, and reduce him to a punchline.

Baldwin also possesses several of the attributes people find odious in Trump. He is a hot-tempered New Yorker with a secret recording scandal of his own who was booted from his short-lived MSNBC talk show for unleashing a homophobic rant against a paparazzo. It should be noted, however, that Baldwins transgressions pale in comparison to Trumps, who, among other things, stands accused of sexual assault or harassment by up to a dozen women.

I recently attempted to inveigle SNL into casting Rosie ODonnell as Trump. It would undoubtedly upset him the most, given their storied history combined with Trumps disdain for gender-swapped roles. Yes, in addition to being one of the first snowflakes to cry foul at the all-women Ghostbusters remake, the president was reportedly upset by Melissa McCarthys portrayal of Sean Spicer. Because shes a woman.

More than being lampooned as a press secretary who makes up facts, it was Spicers portrayal by a woman that was most problematic in the presidents eyes, according to sources close to him, reported Politico, which added that the unflattering send-up by a female comedian did not bode well for Spicers longevity in the grueling, high-profile job.

But Kate McKinnon must play Donald Trump on SNL. It is the only choice. McKinnon is a master of mimicry, nailing everyone from Justin Bieber to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, so you know shes got the goods. Though her riff on Jeff Sessions isnt cutting it, transforming a feared prosecutor accused of racist practices into a gentle, imbecilic Southerner, McKinnon could effectively deconstruct Trumps strongman facade, stressing his cycles of timidity and overcompensation.

Plus, allowing the comedienne most famous for playing Hillary to have a go at Trump would be an act of poetic justice.
Wikimedia Commons

Kolkata/New Delhi, Mar 10 (IBNS): Over 30 members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Legislative Assembly came together for the launch of the India TB Caucus, a network of elected representatives committed to end TB in India.

Led by its members, for its members, the Caucus will work collectively and individually to End TB in India.

The India TB Caucus will engage with political networks, the Government and civil society groups to raise the profile of the disease and confront the stigma and social isolation associated with it.

The meeting was jointly organized by International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union) and supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), The Global TB Caucus, Indian Association of Parliamentarians for Population and Development (IAPPD), Center for Legislative Research and Advocacy (CLRA), Global Coalition Against TB (GCAT), Global Health Strategies (GHS), REACH and Aequitas.

The members signed the India TB Caucus Declaration, pledging support for accelerating progress towards a TB-Free India.

P. J. Kurien, Deputy Chairman - Rajya Sabha agreed to be a patron of the India TB Caucus and announced the name of four co-chairs-Viplove Thakur; Kirit P Solanki; BN Goud; and Majeed Memon.



Welcoming the guests to the launch of India TB Caucus, Viplove Thakur, MP, Rajya Sabha said, Today, we are here to talk about an issue that needs urgent attention, especially from all the political representatives. It is very unfortunate that TB continues to be one of Indias greatest public health challenges. While Government of India is making efforts to address TB, all of us have a role to play. As we form the Cacus today, we commit to work collectively and individually in our capacity to end TB in India.



Majeed Memon, MP, Rajya Sabha, co-chair India TB Caucus, reiterated that given Indias high burden of TB, there is need for accelerated efforts make India TB-Free.



Gaoud, MP, Lok Sabha as co - chair committed all his efforts to end TB and said TB afffects most people and gets least attention as compared to other problems that affect lesser number ofpeople.



Kirit P Solanki, MP, Lok Sabha emphasized on the need for more funds and dedicated support sytem for TB patients and their families. He called upon Parliamnetarians to leverage their efforts and goodwill for the cause.



Senator Lisa Singh, MP, Australia, stated, TB is the worlds biggest infectious killer and 1.8 million people died of this disease in 2015. TB has killed as many people every year as HIV & Malaria combined, yet it is a neglected disease. It is heartening to see how the Indian Government is pulling out all the stops to put an end to the TB epidemic in the country. Elimination of TB will only be achieved with consistent efforts over many years and I believe that in the months to come, the India TB Caucus will play a big role at both the government and grassroots village level to reduce the countrys burden of the disease.



Nguyen Van Tien, MP, Vietnam, stated, We, as parliamentarians have a responsibility and moral obligation to do whatever is in our power to reduce the TB burden. In the world, India is the fourth country to launch the India TB Caucus. The India TB Caucus is uniquely positioned to advocate for better and more effective policies and programmes to eliminate TB.



TB Survivor, Rhea Lobo shared her story and talked about the stigma associated with the disease. She said, Many people told me that TB is a poor mans disease but TB does not discriminate. It has no geographic, demographic or economic barrier, TB can be contracted by anyone. TB is the most pressing health concern in India today because it is highly communicable.



USAID supports the Government of Indias national campaign, the Call to Action for a TB-free India, by engaging parliamentarians, film actors, media, corporations and civil society.

Mark White, USAID/India Mission Director, stated: We must all work together to successfully turn the tide on TB. The TB Caucus will help to galvanize support for political representatives across the country to champion a TB-free India. With support from USAID, The Union played a vital role in the establishment of the Global TB Caucus and will serve as the secretariat for the India TB Caucus. Kavita Ayyagari, Project Director, Challenge TB, The Union commented, Parliamentarians have a wide sphere of influence, and The Union, in association with partners, is helping toincrease awareness and commitements to End TB in India.



The India TB Caucus is part of the Global TB Caucus, which is a unique network of political representatives with support in more than 130 countries
Kolkata, Mar 10 (IBNS): Bratya Basu, West Bengal's Minister for Information, Technology and Electronics, will inaugurate the annual art exhibition by the students of Rabindra Bharati University's Faculty of Visual Arts on March 14.

Eminent artist Rabin Mandal and Prof. Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, Vice Chancellor, Rabindra Bharati University will also be present at the inauguration.

The exhibition will be held Kolkata's The Academy of Fine Arts until March 30, 2017, three pm to eight pm, daily.

The Faculty of Visual Arts' Annual Exhibition 2017 will showcase more than 170 items of art  mainly paintings, sculptures and graphics  selected from a large number of entries received from students of the departments of Painting, Sculpture, Graphics (Printmaking), Applied Art, and History of Arts.



Image: West Bengal Tourism website
Kolkata / Mumbai, Mar 10 (IBNS): 'The Curious Marketer: Expeditions in Branding and Consumer Behaviour', a new book by bestselling author Harish Bhat, Brand Custodian, Tata Sons, was launched on Friday by R. Gopalakrishnan, Former Director, Tata Sons, at the Dalal Street Lit Fest 2017, an initiative by the BSE Institute Limited.

The Curious Marketer: Expeditions in Branding and Consumer Behaviour chronicles narratives from Apple to Tata Tea, exploring how many leading brands have their roots in curiosity.

The desire to know more often leads to new ideas and new perspectives for a marketer. This inquisitiveness leads to the creation of many new products, services and transformative market opportunities.

In his new book, Bhat explores more than fifty products, places, people, books and publicity campaigns which can spark a marketers curiosity. From brand marketing using aliens and flying saucers, to going big with a delicious local product (banana chips or coconut water), from the interesting concept behind multicoloured socks to the metamorphosis of the Diwali shopper, he touches on fascinating areas that marketers are targeting today.

Speaking about his book, Harish Bhat said, The best marketers are always very curious people. They are curious about what they see, hear and experience. Every new place they visit, or every new person they meet, sparks their curiosity. In my new book, The Curious Marketer, I explore many such interesting areas and events which have triggered my own curiosity. I look at books, campaigns and festivals which hold rich and exciting lessons for every curious marketer."

"Based on my own experience, I also offer a practical roadmap to marketers, on how they can significantly improve their curiosity quotient. This book is a very pleasurable and easy read for everyone who is curious. And I think the stories I have narrated in the book will also provide inspiration for all marketing professionals and students of marketing, who are hungry for fresh new ideas, said he.

The book has been published by Penguin Random House India, and is now available in bookstores across the country and on online marketplaces as well.
First World Fortified Wine Awards launches

Organiser of the World Whiskies Awards since 2000, international media, awards and events company Paragraph Publishing is hosting the first World Fortified Wine Awards.

Part of the prestigious World Drinks Awards, which selects the best in taste and design in each drinks category, the World Fortified Wine Awards select, reward and promote the best madeira, port, sherry and vermouth to consumers and trade across the globe.

Chaired by Felicity Murray, editor-in-chief of the TheDrinksReport.com, with an international panel of fortified wine experts, judging will be held in Portugal and London in April with results presented in London on Thursday 18 May 2017. Results will be published on www.WorldFortifiedWineAwards.com and www.thedrinksreport.com, in national and international press and in the new annual international publication Worlds Best Fortified Wines.

Uniquely, every entry will receive their own personal judges tasting note, and all winning drinks will be available for sale via the World Fortified Wine Awards online retail affiliate programme. The worlds leading retailers will be sent logos for each award-winner to include in their online shops and in-store point of sale.

Founder Damian Riley-Smith says: Fortified wine has for too long rested in the shade of the broader wine category and global spirits industry, and it is time they were given their own space to shine. Port, sherry, madeira and vermouth offer some of the most stunning flavours within the most iconic packaging, and we want to play our part in selecting the best and helping them to grow their sales globally.

Facts

Entry deadline: 17 March 2017

Results announced: 18 May 2017

Categories: Madeira, Port, Sherry, Vermouth

www.worldfortifiedwineawards.com

Contact

Anita Ujszaszi, awards manager

Tel: +44 (0) 1603 633 808

Email: anitau@paragraph.co.uk

10 March 2017 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, news editor
Austin, Texas, has spent the last 10 months engaged in a big experiment in urban transportation.

Uber and Lyft suddenly stopped operating there last May in protest of a law requiring drivers to be fingerprinted. Since then, a wave of startups emerged to fill the gap left by the U.S. ride-hailing giants. Success would be proof that alternative visions of ride-sharing can flourish in a major American city.

But the model will face its biggest test yet on Friday, when crowds in the several hundreds of thousands will start descending upon Austin for the annual South by Southwest festival, a nine-day event that could be accurately described as a tech conference, a music and film festival, and a huge mess.

In tech circles, SXSW is renowned for propelling Twitter and other apps to prominence, at least temporarily. This year's speakers include Mark Cuban, Gawker's Nick Denton and Reddit Inc. co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

There are currently seven ride-hailing apps operating in Austin, all of which were in compliance with fingerprinting rules as of Feb. 15, the city said. None of their names will sound familiar to most SXSW attendees. Two apps are leading the pack: RideAustin and Fasten. Both claim to be the city's leading ride-hailing provider.

Michael Ferguson, a professional realtor and recreational beer consumer, prefers RideAustin to get him home after a night of drinking. "RideAustin is pretty normal, man; the app works pretty good, and they have a lot of drivers," Ferguson said. "I don't think that for the customer, getting around this town is an issue anymore."

The data suggest otherwise. Both Uber and Lyft have said they had about 10,000 drivers in Austin at their peak. According to the city's transportation department, 7,077 people had completed the required background checks as of Feb. 1. Licensed ride-hailing providers completed about 108,000 trips a week in January, the last month for which city data is available. Many full-time drivers appear to have stuck around because volume is only down about 13 percent since Uber and Lyft left, according to estimates from RideAustin.

But SXSW will put a significant strain on the capacity of these young startups. Fasten sees it as an opportunity to capture the national spotlight and reach venture capitalists. It plunked down cash to be an official SXSW sponsor. The company, which is based in Boston, raised $10 million in funding last year, and Kirill Evdakov, its chief executive officer, said he's seeking an additional $20 million to expand in more cities. "Not many people know about what we do," Evdakov said.

RideAustin has slightly less riding on SXSW because it's a local nonprofit with no plans to expand geographically. Still, it's been working feverishly to mobilize drivers for the nine-day festival. The organization has placed Craigslist ads in nearby San Antonio and Houston, encouraging Uber drivers to come to town temporarily.

Joe Deshotel, director of community engagement at RideAustin, boasted that drivers from those cities periodically travel to Austin for days-long work trips-a national trend that has raised social and economic concerns elsewhere. "They're not making enough in Houston, so they're coming here," Deshotel said. "I talked to some other drivers from San Antonio who stay at friends' houses, or they just drive back."

While Uber and Lyft will skip SXSW this year, they're not giving up on Austin. They continue to fight fingerprint proposals nationwide, saying the programs would keep many people from driving for their platforms. They also argue that prints aren't an effective way to conduct background checks. The companies are working with Texas state lawmakers on a proposal that would override city ride-hailing regulations. In 2016, Uber had 21 lobbyists registered in the state; Lyft had 13. Lyft is planning a lobbying day at the state capitol on March 16.

There are four different bills now pending, all vying to take effect in September. They have widespread support and, for now anyway, no organized opposition. Having consistent regulations statewide could encourage Uber and Lyft to move into smaller cities, said Chris Paddie, a Texas House Republican who's the primary sponsor of one of the bills. He represents Marshall, a town of about 25,000 that currently has neither ride-hailing nor taxis. Hearings are expected to begin this month.

Uber and Lyft said they'll come back to Austin if the city's rules are defeated. The return of two multi-billion dollar companies from San Francisco would inevitably change the business landscape. Cracks are already starting to form for the new startups. RideAustin is funded through donations from the local business community, and it said the flow of money has slowed substantially as state legislation looms large.

Fasten and RideAustin both put on a brave face. They say they've gained enough traction to fend off larger competitors that have poisoned their relationships with Austinites. The newer apps claim they've improved life for drivers by letting them keep a larger proportion of the fares; they're sharing more data with the city; and, of course, they're giving city voters what they asked for by fingerprinting drivers. In their view, the reduction in transportation activity over the last year was only minor growing pains.

Trevor Theunissen, a local spokesman for Uber, paints a different picture. He pointed to a recent report from a local television station that highlighted a thriving illegal cab industry in downtown Austin, where drivers trawl the bar district offering rides for cash. He also argued that the city's ride-hailing regulations are toothless because they rely on groups to self-report data with unclear consequences for disobeying the rules. "The city's not doing much to ensure compliance," Theunissen said.

Steve Adler, Austin's mayor, didn't dispute this. But he said Austin's homegrown ride-hailing industry has proven successful enough that the state should leave the city to its own devices. To him, the bills are the latest volley in a long-running game in which the state tries to impose its will on its weirdest city. "Austin, the rest of the state says, is weird," Adler mused. "I hear that, and we're proud of that."
July 24, 1943 - March 5, 2017

Mr. John Edward Honea, of College Station, passed away in his home on Sunday, March 5, 2017 at the age of 73.

A native of Kerrville, TX, John first came to College Station to attend Texas A&M University, class of 1965. After graduating with a degree in Wildlife and Fishery Sciences, John went on to serve in the Vietnam War as a helicopter pilot for the United States Army. Upon being stationed in Germany, he met and married the love of his life, Gerda.

Following his service in the Army, John and Gerda settled in College Station to start their family. John began working for Texas A&M University as an employee benefits representative and, over the course of his 27-year career, rose to become the Executive Director of Risk Management for the Texas A&M University System. After seeing their sons graduate from college, John and Gerda set off on a new adventure, this time in Colorado, where John served as Administrator for the University of Colorado Insurance pool, as well as the Chief Executive Officer for the University of Colorado Risk and Insurance Management Fund. John retired in July 2007, later returning to College Station to be closer to family and friends.

John was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Gerda Priebsch Honea, and parents, Edward and Florence Deibner Honea.

He is survived by his two sons, Mark and wife Martina Auernheimer Honea of Woodbridge, VA, and Scott and wife Amanda Allen Honea of College Station, TX; four grandchildren, Courtney, Cassidy, and Caden Honea of Woodbridge, VA, and Luke Honea of College Station, TX; and four siblings, Rosemary Rhoden, Diane Poppe, Gilbert Honea, and Ted Honea, of Kerrville, TX.

John's family would like to thank the many caregivers that so devotedly cared for John over these many months, especially Shira and her daughter, Nikki, who have been such a blessing throughout this time. Also, the family would like to share their sincere appreciation with the staff at Hospice Brazos Valley for their many months of devotion and care.

A visitation will be held on Friday, March 10th, between 6-8pm at Hillier Funeral Home in Bryan, TX. The Memorial Service will be held at 12 p.m., Saturday, March 11th, at Hillier Funeral Home in Bryan, TX with a graveside dedication to follow at the College Station Memorial Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.lls.org).

Please share your memories of John at www.hillierfuneralhome.com
Democrats are blocking the president's administration

So 98 of the "leading" U.S. newspapers don't like Donald Trump along with the major networks. That's not surprising, considering the liberal bent of these entities. Although apparently he has an extensive vocabulary (or a good dictionary), It's obvious that Greg Ricks (Eagle, March 2) has no real knowledge of Fox News; he simply parrots the progressive line. Fox News is the only news medium that presents both sides of an issue; all of the other media only present the progressive agenda.

As for Mexican workers, the progressive continues to lump all immigrants, legal or illegal, into the same "pot." Yes, many types of work, including the building industry and produce growers, use high numbers of Hispanic workers (I assume not all are from Mexico). This is used as a justification not to pursue illegal immigrants. If the need for non-U.S. workers is so great, then why not bring them into the U.S. legally, as guest workers. Yes, it takes work on the part of the potential employers, but it can be done; a local firm does so every year.

Recently, a Hispanic Democratic representative was interviewed on TV. He stated that all illegal aliens currently in the U.S. should have a path to legitimacy and anyone who wanted to come into our country should be allow in. In effect, he wanted open borders. He was unwilling to compromise his position, despite Trump's call for compromises by both sides.

No recent president has experienced the destructive efforts of the opposition party, including such delays that the confirmation of Trump's cabinet still remain incomplete some 45 days after his inauguration nor such action as boycotting the inauguration or wearing white to Trump's recent address to Congress. Democrats have put up blocks everywhere they can and have shown nothing.

KEITH ARNOLD

Bryan

College Station needs better parking for Wolf Pen Creek

There needs to be better parking at Wolf Pen Creek Park.

We were considering attending the Spirit of Texas Celebration. When I called to ask about parking, I was told that the closest place was Post Oak Mall, a long walk, with no shuttle service to the park. Since we didn't want to risk being caught by a rain shower during the long walk, we chose not to attend.

Better access to the park is needed so that more people can attend events at Wolf Pen Creek Park.

I hope that the city of College Station officials will take appropriate action to make access to Wolf Pen Creek Park easier for everyone.

ED WHITE

Bryan

Be careful what you wish for when you attack the media

"First they came for CNN, and we said nothing ... ."

ROBERT ATKINS

Bryan
As for Japan's long-hyped 'nuclear restart': just three power reactors are operating in Japan; before the Fukushima disaster, the number topped 50.

A nuclear power 'crisis'?

Nuclear advocates and lobbyists elsewhere are increasingly talking about the 'crisis' facing nuclear power - but they don't have the myriad impacts of the Fukushima disaster in mind: they're more concerned about catastrophic cost overruns with reactor projects in Europe and the US.

Michael Shellenberger from the Breakthrough Institute, a US-based pro-nuclear lobby group, has recently written articles about nuclear power's "rapidly accelerating crisis" and the "crisis that threatens the death of nuclear energy in the West".

A recent article from the Breakthrough Institute and the like-minded Third Way lobby group discusses "the crisis that the nuclear industry is presently facing in developed countries".

'Environmental Progress', another US pro-nuclear lobby group connected to Shellenberger, has a webpage dedicated to the nuclear power crisis. Among other things, it states that 151 gigawatts (GW) of worldwide nuclear power capacity (38% of the total) could be lost by 2030 (compared to 33 GW of retirements over the past decade), and over half of the ageing US reactor fleet is at risk of closure by 2030.

As a worldwide generalisation, nuclear power can't be said to be in crisis. To take the extreme example, China's nuclear power program isn't in crisis - it is moving ahead at pace. Russia's nuclear power program, to give one more example, is moving ahead at snail's pace, but isn't in crisis.

Nonetheless, large parts of the worldwide nuclear industry are in deep trouble. The July 2016 World Nuclear Industry Status Report provides an overview of the troubled status of nuclear power:

nuclear power's share of the worldwide electricity generation is 10.7%, well down from historic peak of 17.6% in 1996;

nuclear power generation in 2015 was 8.2% below the historic peak in 2006; and

from 2000 to 2015, 646 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar capacity (combined) were added worldwide while nuclear capacity (not including idle reactors in Japan) fell by 8 GW.

US nuclear industry in crisis

The US nuclear industry is in crisis, with a very old reactor fleet - 44 of its 99 reactors have been operating for 40 years or more - and no likelihood of new reactors for the foreseeable future other than four already under construction.

Last September, Associated Press described one of the industry's many humiliations: "After spending more than 40 years and $5 billion on an unfinished nuclear power plant in northeastern Alabama, the nation's largest federal utility is preparing to sell the property at a fraction of its cost.

"The Tennessee Valley Authority has set a minimum bid of $36.4 million for its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant and the 1,600 surrounding acres of waterfront property on the Tennessee River. The buyer gets two unfinished nuclear reactors, transmission lines, office and warehouse buildings, eight miles of roads, a 1,000-space parking lot and more."

Japanese conglomerate Toshiba and its US-based nuclear subsidiary Westinghouse are in crisis because of massive cost overruns building four AP1000 reactors in the US - the combined cost overruns amount to about US$11.2bn (10.7bn) and counting.

Toshiba said in February 2017 that it expects to book a US$6.3bn (5.9bn) writedown on Westinghouse, on top of a US$2.3bn (2.1bn) writedown in April 2016. The losses exceed the US$5.4bn (5.1bn) Toshiba paid when it bought a majority stake in Westinghouse in 2006.

Toshiba says it would likely sell Westinghouse if that was an option - but there is no prospect of a buyer. Westinghouse is, as Bloomberg noted, "too much of a mess" to sell. And since that isn't an option, Toshiba must sell profitable businesses instead to stave off bankruptcy.

Toshiba is seeking legal advice as to whether Westinghouse should file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But even under a Chapter 11 filing, Reuters reported, "Toshiba could still be on the hook for up to $7 billion in contingent liabilities as it has guaranteed Westinghouse's contractual commitments" for the US AP1000 reactors.

The Toshiba/Westinghouse crisis is creating a ripple effect. A few examples:

the NuGen (Toshiba/Engie) consortium has acknowledged that the plan for three AP1000 reactors at Moorside in the UK faces a "significant funding gap" and both partners reportedly want out of the project;

Georgia Power, 45.7% owner of the troubled Vogtle AP1000 project, recently suspended plans for another nuclear plant in Georgia; and

Toshiba recently announced its intention to pull out of the plan for two Advanced Boiling Water Reactors at the South Texas Plant, having booked writedowns totaling US$638m (605m) on the project in previous years.

The French nuclear industry is in crisis

The French nuclear industry is in its "worst situation ever", former EDF director Gerard Magnin said in November 2016. The French government is selling assets so it can prop up its heavily indebted nuclear utilities Areva and EDF.

The current taxpayer-funded rescue of the nuclear power industry may cost the French state as much as 10bn (US$10.5bn), Reuters reported in January, and in addition to its "dire financial state, Areva is beset by technical, regulatory and legal problems."

France has 58 operable reactors and just one under construction. French EPR reactors under construction in France and Finland are three times over budget - the combined cost overruns for the two reactors amount to about 12.7bn (US$13.4bn).

Bloomberg noted in April 2015 that Areva's EPR export ambitions are "in tatters". Now Areva itself is in tatters and is in the process of a government-led restructure and another taxpayer-funded bailout.

On March 1, Areva posted a 665m (US$700m) net loss for 2016. Losses in the preceding five years exceeded 10bn (US$10.5 bn). A large majority of a 5bn (US$5.3bn) recapitalisation of Areva scheduled for June 2017 will come from French taxpayers.

On February 14, EDF released its financial figures for 2016: earnings fell 6.7%, revenue declined 5.1%, net income excluding non-recurring items fell 15%, and EDF's debt remained steady at 37.4bn (US$39.4bn). All that EDF chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy could offer was the hope that EDF would "hit the bottom of the cycle" in 2017 and rebound next year.

EDF plans to sell 10bn (US$10.5 bn) of assets by 2020 to rein in its debt, and to sack up to 7,000 staff. The French government provided EDF with 3bn (US$3.2bn) in extra capital in 2016 and will contribute 3bn towards a 4bn (US$4.2bn) capital raising this year.

On March 8, shares in EDF hit an all-time low a day after the 4bn capital raising was launched; the stock price fell to 7.78, less than one-tenth of the 86.45 high a decade ago.

Costs of between 50bn and 100bn (US$53-106bn) will need to be spent by 2030 to meet new safety requirements for reactors in France and to extend their operating lives beyond 40 years.

EDF has set aside 23bn (US$24.3bn) to cover reactor decommissioning and waste management costs in France - less than half of the 54bn (US$57bn) that EDF estimates will be required. A recent report by the French National Assembly's Commission for Sustainable Development and Regional Development concluded that there is "obvious under-provisioning" and that decommissioning and waste management will likely take longer, be more challenging and cost much more than EDF anticipates.

EDF is being forced to take over parts of its struggling sibling Areva's operations - a fate you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. And just when it seemed that things couldn't get any worse for EDF, a fire took hold in the turbine room of one of the Flamanville reactors on February 9 and the reactor will likely be offline until late March at an estimated cost of roughly 1.2m (US$1.27m) per day.

Half of the world's nuclear industry is in crisis and/or shutting down

Combined, the crisis-ridden US, French and Japanese nuclear industries account for 45% of the world's 'operable' nuclear reactors according to the World Nuclear Association's database, and they accounted for 50% of nuclear power generation in 2015 (and 57% in 2010).

Countries with crisis-ridden nuclear programs or phase-out policies (e.g. Germany, Belgium, and Taiwan) account for about half of the world's operable reactors and more than half of worldwide nuclear power generation.

The Era of Nuclear Decommissioning (END)

The ageing of the global reactor fleet isn't yet a crisis for the industry, but it is heading that way.

The assessment by the 'Environmental Progress' lobby group that 151 GW of worldwide nuclear power capacity could be shut down by 2030 is consistent with figures from the World Nuclear Association (132 reactor shut-downs by 2035), the International Energy Agency (almost 200 shut-downs between 2014 and 2040) and Nuclear Energy Insider (up to 200 shut-downs in the next two decades). It looks increasingly unlikely that new reactors will match shut-downs.

Perhaps the best characterisation of the global nuclear industry is that a new era is approaching - the Era of Nuclear Decommissioning (END). Nuclear power's END will entail:

a slow decline in the number of operating reactors (unless growth in China can match the decline elsewhere);

an increasingly unreliable and accident-prone reactor fleet as ageing sets in;

countless battles over lifespan extensions for ageing reactors;

an internationalisation of anti-nuclear opposition as neighbouring countries object to the continued operation of ageing reactors (international opposition to Belgium's reactors is a case in point);

a broadening of anti-nuclear opposition as citizens are increasingly supported by local, regional and national governments opposed to reactors in neighbouring countries (again Belgium is a case in point, as is Lithuanian opposition to reactors under construction in Belarus);

many battles over the nature and timing of decommissioning operations;

many battles over taxpayer bailouts for companies and utilities that haven't set aside adequate funding for decommissioning;

more battles over proposals to impose nuclear waste repositories on unwilling or divided communities; and

battles over taxpayer bailouts for companies and utilities that haven't set aside adequate funding for nuclear waste disposal.

As discussed in a previous article in The Ecologist, nuclear power is likely to enjoy a small, short-lived upswing in the next couple of years as reactors ordered in the few years before the Fukushima disaster come online. Beyond that, the Era of Nuclear Decommissioning sets in, characterised by escalating battles - and escalating sticker-shock - over lifespan extensions, decommissioning and nuclear waste management.

In those circumstances, it will become even more difficult than it currently is for the industry to pursue new reactor projects. A positive feedback loop could take hold and then the industry will be well and truly in crisis.

Nuclear lobbyists debate possible solutions to the nuclear power crisis

Michael Shellenberger from the Breakthrough Institute argues that a lack of standardisation and scaling partly explains the "crisis that threatens the death of nuclear energy in the West". The constant switching of designs deprives the people who build, operate and regulate nuclear plants of the experience they need to become more efficient.

Shellenberger further argues that there is too much focus on machines, too little on human factors:

"Areva, Toshiba-Westinghouse and others claimed their new designs would be safer and thus, at least eventually, cheaper, but there were always strong reasons to doubt such claims. First, what is proven to make nuclear plants safer is experience, not new designs. ...

"In fact, new designs risk depriving managers and workers the experience they need to operate plants more safely, just as it deprives construction companies the experience they need to build plants more rapidly."

Shellenberger has a three-point rescue plan:

1. 'Consolidate or Die': "If nuclear is going to survive in the West, it needs a single, large firm - the equivalent of a Boeing or Airbus - to compete against the Koreans, Chinese and Russians."

2. 'Standardize or Die': He draws attention to the "astonishing" heterogeneity of planned reactors in the UK and says the UK "should scrap all existing plans and start from a blank piece of paper", that all new plants should be of the same design and "the criteria for choosing the design should emphasize experience in construction and operation, since that is the key factor for lowering costs."

3. 'Scale or Die': Nations "must work together to develop a long-term plan for new nuclear plant construction to achieve economies of scale", and governments "should invest directly or provide low-cost loans."

Wrong lessons

Josh Freed and Todd Allen from pro-nuclear lobby group Third Way, and Ted Nordhaus and Jessica Lovering from the Breakthrough Institute, argue that Shellenberger draws the wrong lessons from Toshiba's recent losses and from nuclear power's "longer-term struggles" in developed economies.

They argue that "too little innovation, not too much, is the reason that the industry is on life support in the United States and other developed economies". They state that:

The Westinghouse AP1000 represents a fairly straightforward evolution in light-water reactor design, not a radical departure as Shellenberger claims.

Standardisation is important but it is not a panacea. Standardisation and building multiple reactors on the same site has limited cost escalation, not brought costs down.

Most of the causes of rising cost and construction delays associated with new nuclear builds in the US are attributable to the 30-year hiatus in nuclear construction, not the novelty of the AP1000 design.

Reasonable regulatory reform will not dramatically reduce the cost of new light-water reactors, as Shellenberger suggests.

They write this obituary for large light-water reactors: "If there is one central lesson to be learned from the delays and cost overruns that have plagued recent builds in the US and Europe, it is that the era of building large fleets of light-water reactors is over in much of the developed world.

"From a climate and clean energy perspective, it is essential that we keep existing reactors online as long as possible. But slow demand growth in developed world markets makes ten billion dollar, sixty-year investments in future electricity demand a poor bet for utilities, investors, and ratepayers."

A radical break

The four Third Way / Breakthrough Institute authors conclude that "a radical break from the present light-water regime ... will be necessary to revive the nuclear industry". Exactly what that means, the authors said, would be the subject of a follow-up article.

So readers were left hanging - will nuclear power be saved by failed fast-reactor technology, or failed high-temperature gas-cooled reactors including failed pebble-bed reactors, or by thorium pipe-dreams or fusion pipe-dreams or molten salt reactor pipe-dreams or small modular reactor pipe-dreams? Perhaps we've been too quick to write off cold fusion?

The answers came in a follow-up article on February 28. The four authors want a thousand flowers to bloom, a bottom-up R&D-led nuclear recovery as opposed to top-down, state-led innovation.

They don't just want a new reactor type (or types), they have much greater ambitions for innovation in "nuclear technology, business models, and the underlying structure of the sector" and they note that "a radical break from the light water regime that would enable this sort of innovation is not a small undertaking and will require a major reorganization of the nuclear sector."

To the extent that the four authors want to tear down the existing nuclear industry and replace it with a new one, they share some common ground with nuclear critics who want to tear down the existing nuclear industry and not replace it with a new one.

Shellenberger also shares some common ground with nuclear critics: he thinks the UK should scrap all existing plans for new reactors and "start from a blank piece of paper". But nuclear critics think the UK should scrap all existing plans for new reactors and not start from a blank piece of paper.

Small is beautiful?

The four Third Way / Breakthrough Institute authors argue that nuclear power must become substantially cheaper - thus ruling out large conventional reactors "operated at high atmospheric pressures, requiring enormous containment structures, multiply redundant back-up cooling systems, and water cooling towers and ponds, which account for much of the cost associated with building light-water reactors."

Substantial cost reductions will not be possible "so long as nuclear reactors must be constructed on site one gigawatt at a time. ... At 10 MW or 100 MW, by contrast, there is ample opportunity for learning by doing and economies of multiples for several reactor classes and designs, even in the absence of rapid demand growth or geopolitical imperatives."

Other than their promotion of small reactors and their rejection of large ones, the four authors are non-specific about their preferred reactor types. Any number of small-reactor concepts have been proposed.

Small modular reactors (SMRs) have been the subject of much discussion and even more hype. The bottom line is that there isn't the slightest chance that they will fulfil the ambition of making nuclear power "substantially cheaper" unless and until a manufacturing supply chain is established at vast expense.

And even then, it's doubtful whether the power would be cheaper and highly unlikely that it would be substantially cheaper. After all, economics has driven the long-term drift towards larger reactors.

As things stand, no country, company or utility has any intention of betting billions on building an SMR supply chain. The prevailing scepticism is evident in a February 2017 Lloyd's Register report based on "insights and opinions of leaders across the sector" and the views of almost 600 professionals and experts from utilities, distributors, operators and equipment manufacturers.

The Lloyd's Register report states that the potential contribution of SMRs "is unclear at this stage, although its impact will most likely apply to smaller grids and isolated markets." Respondents predicted that SMRs have a "low likelihood of eventual take-up, and will have a minimal impact when they do arrive".

The Third Way / Breakthrough Institute authors are promoting small reactors because of the spectacular failure of a number of large reactor projects, but that's hardly a recipe for success. An analysis of SMRs in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists sums up the problems:

"Without a clear-cut case for their advantages, it seems that small nuclear modular reactors are a solution looking for a problem. Of course in the world of digital innovation, this kind of upside-down relationship between solution and problem is pretty normal. Smart phones, Twitter, and high-definition television all began as solutions looking for problems.

"In the realm of nuclear technology, however, the enormous expense required to launch a new model as well as the built-in dangers of nuclear fission require a more straightforward relationship between problem and solution. Small modular nuclear reactors may be attractive, but they will not, in themselves, offer satisfactory solutions to the most pressing problems of nuclear energy: high cost, safety, and weapons proliferation."

Small or large reactors, consolidation or innovation, Generation 2/3/4 reactors ... it's not clear that the nuclear industry will be able to recover - however it responds to its current crisis.

Dr Jim Green is the national nuclear campaigner with Friends of the Earth Australia and editor of the 'Nuclear Monitor' newsletter, where a version of this article was originally published.

Nuclear Monitor, published 20 times a year, has been publishing deeply researched, often critical articles on all aspects of the nuclear cycle since 1978. A must-read for all those who work on this issue!
New Delhi, Mar 10 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday greeted the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on its 48th Raising Day.

Hailing it as dynamic, the Prime Minister's tweet read, "Greetings to @CISFHQrs on their 48th Raising Day. This dynamic force plays a vital role in securing key units & establishments across India."

The CISF is the armed police force in India.
Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car

I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ...
New Delhi, Mar 10 (IBNS) : In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan after he failed to appear before it in a contempt case, reports said.

The Kolkata police chief has been asked to serve the warrant and produce justice CS Karnan before the apex court on March 31 where a seven-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India will take up the contempt case against him.

Justice Karnan was earlier summoned by the Supreme Court after he was accused of writing letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others alleging corruption against several sitting and retired judges in the country.

The top court will also take up a petition by the wife of a Madras High Court judge, who accused Justice Karnan of making false allegations against her husband.

According to reports, this is for the first time in the country's judicial history that a contempt case has been initiated against a high court judge.
New Delhi, Mar 10 (IBNS) : Four sailors of the Indian Navy have been removed from the survey ship INS Sandhayak after they allegedly assaulted an officer on board, NDTV reported.

The incident occurred off Paradip along the Odisha coast.

A helicopter was used to pull up the accused sailors, likely to be charged with insubordination.

According to reports, the sailors were asked by their officer to pull the survey motor boats onboard. The boats are mounted on the INS Sandhayak when they are not in use.

Asked to stand in attention, one of the sailors "deliberately slouched" in an act of defiance. This is likely to have prompted the officer to try and physically make him stand properly,NDTV said.

Enraged, the sailor hit him and his colleagues joined in, beating up the officer.

Security teams were called in and a helicopter was brought in to remove the sailors from the ship. They now face disciplinary action.
Gurgaon, Mar 10 (IBNS) : After nearly five years of legal battle, 31 people were convicted and 117 others acquitted on Friday as a Haryana court gave its verdict on the 2012 Maruti Suzuki Manesar factory violence, reports said.

The incident of violence, which took place on July 18, 2012, led to the death of HR General Manager Awanish Kumar Dev, who was set on fire in a conference room as a mob ran amok carrying out massive destruction.

Fifty management personnel and nine police officers were injured in clashes with workers.

The factory workers allegedly set fire to the plant after getting into an argument with the management.

The riot began after disciplinary action was taken against an employee.

The plant remained shut for a month after the incident in which 50 management personnel and nine police officers were injured.
Plan your week ahead in SE Iowa with these local events

Your guide to getting off the couch and out the door this week in Southeast Iowa.
Srinagar, Mar 10 (IBNS): Normal life was affected in Kashmir valley of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday due to a strike called by the Kashmir Separatist leadership against the killings of civilians in Pulwama district during a gunfight between militants and forces on Thursday.

Authorities on Friday placed top resistance leaders, including chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference, under house arrest to maintain law and order in the Valley.

Shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed while train service were suspended from Banihal to Baramulla in wake of strike called by Hurriyat and JKLF factions.

Reports said most of public and private transport remained off the roads, while thin attendance was seen in government and public sector offices.

On Thursday, joint Hurriyat leadership in Kashmir asked to observe shutdown and hold protests after Friday prayers against the death of two civilians during clashes with security forces near the encounter site at Padgampora in Awantipora area of Pulwama district on Thursday.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)
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For nearly four decades, percussionist Steve Scales has played with some of the best musicians in the industry.

On Saturday, March 18, the Milford resident will bring some of those pals together for a special concert  Magic Moments Live: A Benefit Concert Event at Fairfield Universitys Quick Center  that will benefit the Autism Project at the Kennedy Center, a regional nonprofit based in Trumbull that offers services for those with disabilities.

Last year, I sort of did it spur of the moment after talking to Marty (Martin D. Schwartz, president of the Kennedy Center), while I was doing drum circle classes for disabled students at the University of Bridgeport, he said.

Last year turned out great, but this year will be even better, said the Brooklyn, N.Y.-born Scales, who has lived in the area since 1980.

Formerly with Talking Heads, Scales has put together a concert bill that will feature performances by buddies from Connecticut and New York, including Grammy Award-nominated Nona Hendryx, formerly with Labelle and Talking Heads; and Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club.

Musicians include: guitarist Andy Abel of Twisted Vine, drummer Benny Gramm, bassist Dave Livolsi and keyboardist Scott Peckham. Lead vocalist is Keith Fluitt, who has worked with such legends as Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and Ashford & Simpson.

Center spokeswoman Cara Mocarski said the event kicks off with a mix and mingle, open bar and food stations at 6:30 p.m., followed by an 8 oclock concert. The evening caps off with a Black Box After Party at 10 p.m., which includes dessert, drinks and a meet & greet with the band.

More Information Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts, 200 Barlow Road. Saturday, March 18, 8 p.m. Concert-only tickets, at $40 each, will be available online or at the doors, which open at 7:30 p.m. Benefit tickets, which are $125, need to be reserved by calling 203-365-8522, ext. 216; or at bit.ly/1wzGPNN See More Collapse

Mocarski said Magic Moments will be the main funding source for this years Autism Project, which she said helps more than 500 local children with autism spectrum disorders and their families.

Scales, 65, said he is at a point in this life where he is committed to giving back; he would like to develop the annual Kennedy Center fundraiser into one of the biggest musical parties in the region.

The musician pointed out that a spiritual epiphany has made him reassess his life and is sending him in a positive new direction.

Im a senior at the University of Bridgeport, he said, with great pride. A senior. Soon, he said, hell receive a bachelor of arts degree in human services.

Im a Vietnam veteran. And you know, when we came home, many of us had no counseling services at all. With his university degree, he hopes to counsel veterans.

Ive done all that I can do in the world of rock music, he said. Now I need to do other things. Im pushing forward.

pasboros@ctpost.com; Twitter: @PhyllisASBoros
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Self-driving cars with no human behind the wheel  or, for that matter, any steering wheel at all  may soon appear on Californias public roads, under regulations state officials proposed Friday.

The rules represent a delicate balance, trying to ensure the safety of a new technology many people dont trust while avoiding tough restrictions that could send car companies fleeing to other states.

Until now, California has required all 27 companies testing autonomous cars in the state to have someone in the drivers seat, ready to take over, when testing on public roads. And those vehicles needed to have steering wheels and brake pedals, even if some self-driving car engineers didnt consider them necessary.

Both of those requirements would disappear under the new regulations proposed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Instead, automakers would need to certify to the state that their own testing  either on closed tracks or through computer modeling  shows the cars are ready to operate on public roads with no one behind the wheel. Tests with no driver would require an operator monitoring the car, ready to steer via remote control if necessary.

And if automakers want to deploy cars without such standard controls as a steering wheel and pedals, they would first need the approval of federal highway safety officials.

Combining all those things together, we think, gives you the assurance of the safety of the vehicle, said Brian Soublet, the DMVs chief counsel and deputy director.

The regulations, which could take effect by years end, are designed to carry the Golden State into a future in which driverless cars are no longer experimental, but commercially available.

That future may not be far off. Ford Motor Co., for example, has committed to deploying self-driving taxis by 2021. Automakers see the technology as a way to prevent many if not most of the accidents that kill more than 30,000 people in the United States each year.

The proposed rules are intended to keep California at the forefront of this fast-developing field.

The Bay Area in particular has turned into a hub of self-driving research, largely due to the work of such Silicon Valley companies as Google and Tesla. One hundred eighty autonomous cars are now licensed for testing in the state. But other states and cities  including Arizona, Michigan and Pittsburgh  have welcomed self-driving tests.

Were opening a path for driverless testing, so that will encourage these companies to continue their work in California, Soublet said.

Nidhi Kalra, senior information scientist at the Rand Corp. think tank, said Californias proposed rules are still more restrictive than those in other states. For example, most states dont require companies testing self-driving cars to report the number of times they have to disengage the system during tests, while California does.

Id call these (regulations) reasonably competitive  not the most permissive or business friendly, Kalra said. Overall, she thinks the rules should allow the state to continue as a hotbed for autonomous vehicle development.

These companies didnt come to Silicon Valley because it has terrific regulations for autonomous vehicles, Kalra said. They came because of culture, environment, resources, talent. I dont think theyll leave as long as the regulations dont stifle them or create onerous hurdles.

The DMV has been developing rules for self-driving cars since 2012, and at times, the auto industry has pushed back.

Last year, for example, the state proposed requiring that companies receive permission from a city, through a resolution or ordinance, before testing autonomous cars in that locality. That idea has since been dropped.

Some automakers on Friday cautiously welcomed the proposed rules as an improvement over previous drafts.

Ultimately, these technologies have the potential to save lives, and thoughtful, coordinated federal and state guidelines that encourage innovation and enable testing will reduce the time it will take to bring automated vehicles to market and provide our customers increased confidence in their performance, Honda Motor Co. said in a statement.

Not all agreed. The Association of Global Automakers, which represents many foreign car companies (including Honda), called some of the new requirements unnecessary and prescriptive.

Some consumer advocates, meanwhile, complained that the state was being too lenient with automakers.

The DMVs current self-driving car test regulations set a standard for the nation, requiring a test driver behind a steering wheel who could take over, and vital public reports about testing activities, said John Simpson, with the nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog. The new rules are too industry friendly and dont adequately protect consumers.

The proposed regulations cede setting safety and performance standards to the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Californias role would be to assure that vehicles meet the federal standards and comply with traffic regulations. The state would also retain its authority to issue permits for vehicles or revoke those permits if companies violate the regulations.

The vehicles have to be programmed and designed to obey California vehicle code and any local traffic ordinances, Soublet said. Manufacturers must offer annual updates to keep pace with changing laws.

If youre obeying the law, your car wont run a stop light, turn left when its not supposed to, or, heaven forbid, run over a pedestrian in a crosswalk, he said.

Manufacturers also must have a law enforcement interaction plan.

We discussed with the Highway Patrol what theyd want to see in responding to (autonomous) vehicles, Soublet said. Simple things, like where in the vehicle will we find out who owns it and whether its insured? How do we know if autonomy is engaged; how do we get it off the road and tow it if we need to?

Some elements of the proposed rules seem tailored to address issues raised by specific companies.

For example, the regulations would forbid companies from charging passengers for a ride in a self-driving car that is operating in a test. Uber staged a very public fight with the DMV last year over self-driving car regulations as it briefly picked up passengers in San Francisco in robot cars with human drivers. After the DMV ordered the company to stop, it sent the cars to Arizona, where they are picking up passengers in Tempe. (Uber received permission this week to operate two self-driving cars in California.)

The proposal also dropped the DMVs objection to car companies using the terms self-driving, automated or auto-pilot to advertise their cars unless those cars are truly autonomous. That objection, raised last fall, seemed aimed at Tesla, whose Autopilot feature can control the companys electric cars on the freeway but still needs active human supervision.

Tesla on Friday thanked regulators for the change.

Our customers have made clear that they understand Autopilots intended use, the company said, in an emailed statement.

David R. Baker and Carolyn Said are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com, csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF, @csaid

New rules for robot cars

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has proposed new regulations for the testing and sale of self-driving cars. The rules are intended to ensure public safety  and keep the industry from leaving California.

Self-driving cars being tested on public roads would no longer require a human behind the wheel, ready to take over if needed.

Those cars would, however, need to be monitored by someone able to take over via remote control.

Automakers could deploy cars with no steering wheels or brake pedals, but only if the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration first agrees that the cars are safe.

Source: DMV

By the numbers

27 Number of companies testing self-driving cars in California

180 Number of licensed self-driving cars in California

658 Number of drivers permitted to test-drive autonomous cars in California

Leaders: Google/Waymo (77 cars, 239 drivers); GM/Cruise (27 cars, 55 drivers); Tesla (24 cars, 64 drivers)
Kolkata, Mar 10 (IBNS): Acting on a tip off, given by Delhi Police, the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police has nabbed a suspected mastermind of Dhaka terror attack from central Kolkata's Burrabazar area, officials said.

According to reports, the middle-aged suspect, Md. Idris, was booked on last Saturday (Mar 4), when he was trying to board an inter-state bus.

"Md. Idris, who is one of the key suspects of Dhaka's Gulshan cafe attack last year, has been apprehended from Burrabazar PS area and sent to Delhi Police's custody on a transit remand," a senior official of Kolkata Police's STF told IBNS.

"Md. Idris, who hails from Myanmar, was staying at different locations in Kolkata since past few years," the official added.

According to reports, Kolkata Police will quiz the suspect after getting him in its own custody.

Two policemen and 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, were killed in the terror attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery, located in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave, Gulshan.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
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NORWALK  An internal investigation by Norwalk police and the States Attorneys Office into the Jan. 26 police pursuit that ended in a fatal crash on Geneva Road has determined that the officer acted in accordance with police department policy.

The crash killed Vincent Fowlkes, 22, and critically injured his brother, Shawn Bowman, 19.

Witness accounts indicated that the suspect vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and that there was a significant distance between the suspect vehicle and the officer, states a joint statement released Friday by police and the States Attorneys Office in Stamford.

The officer  who has not been identified  who had been placed on modified duty pending a review of the circumstances leading to the crash, has been returned to full duty.

The statement says the officer acted in accordance with department policy.

To ensure an unbiased review of the incident, States Attorney Richard Colangelo was asked to conduct an independent review of the departments findings, according to the statement. States Attorney Colangelo has advised that, based on his review, he concurs with the departments findings.

A state police investigation is ongoing and a completed report is expected to take several months, state police said Friday.

Attorney Michael Skiber, who is representing Fowlkes and Bowmans family, along with Attorney Darnell Crosland in a possible civil action declined to comment on the police findings.

We are conducting our own investigation, Skiber said. We will reserve comment at this time.

On Jan. 26 at approximately 11 a.m. officers from the Special Services Unit were serving an arrest warrant in the area of West Cedar Street. That suspect tried to evade officers first by vehicle and then on foot.

Officers radioed that a foot pursuit was in progress and an officer working on a nearby construction project responded to assist.

Police said the officer positioned his patrol with the lights activated at the stop sign at the corner of Scribner Avenue and Suncrest Road to prevent cars from leaving Colonial Village.

According to police, as the officer stepped out of his patrol car, he saw a vehicle driving toward him at a high rate of speed. The car did not stop, but drove up on the sidewalk and around the cruiser, and made a right turn onto Scribner Avenue.

Police said that the officer could not clearly see the cars occupants, but believed the vehicle was likely involved in the earlier attempt to avoid arrest and appeared to be fleeing to avoid apprehension.

The officer got into his patrol car, activated his siren, and notified headquarters of the fleeing vehicle. Police said that the officer attempted to follow the car north on Scribner Avenue, but lost sight of the vehicle.

Initially thinking the car turned onto Richards Avenue, the officer caught a glimpse of the rear of the car turning north onto Geneva Road, the statement said. Losing sight of the car a second time as he approached the intersection of Scribner and Richards Avenues, the officer thought the driver may have attempted to hide in a driveway.

When the officer approached the area of 31 Geneva Road, police said, he saw that the car had driven off the road and struck a tree.

According to Connecticut State Police, the Honda Civic driven by Fowlkes had left the road, spun out in a clockwise manner before hitting some rocks and finally crashing into a tree.

The officer was never directly in pursuit of the fleeing vehicle, as the vehicle was out of his sight a large portion of the time, according to the statement.

The officer called for assistance, the report states. Several other officers responded and they attempted to assist the occupants, Fowlkes and Bowman.

The Norwalk Fire Department responded and extricated the men from the vehicle. Paramedics treated and transported both to Norwalk Hospital where the driver, Fowlkes, died of his injuries.

Due to the extent of the injuries, the Connecticut State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Squad was requested to investigate the crash, according to the joint statement. Their completed report will take several months. However, during the initial extrication process, a large quantity of narcotics was located in the vehicle.
WILTON  As the town faces the prospect of losing more than $800,000 in special education funding for the 2017-18 school year, Superintendent of Schools Kevin Smith is looking into a plan that proposes 100 percent reimbursement.

That plan is the Special Education Predictable Cost Cooperative  a financial system that would aggregate contributions from the state and participating towns. Each town would make a community contribution to the Co-op based on their enrollment of special education students, past special educations costs and an equity adjustment based on the municipalitys ability to pay.

Currently, Connecticut is one of four states without a system for funding nearly 75,000 students who require some special education services, according to Connecticut School Finance Project, the nonprofit that developed the idea of the Co-op.

Since 1996, special education funding has been included within the Education Cost Sharing formula, which a Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher struck down as irrational and unconstitutional in September. Under Gov. Dannel P. Malloys proposal for the biennial fiscal year 2018-19 budget, state special education funding would be funneled from the existing ECS formula as a new standalone grant.

The challenge that our district faces and that all districts here in the state face is really a structural problem rooted in the high level of volatility of costs year over year of (special education) at the local level, Smith said. So it would be an opportunity for our districts and other districts, if the model is sound, to really better predict and manage our yearly special education costs.

Smith heard about the Co-op from its lead developer, Katie Roy, director and founder of CT School, which she formed in 2015 to identify solutions to the states school funding system.

The two recently met to discuss the model in more detail and were scheduled to meet again Friday with other superintendents from lower Fairfield County.

With the district spending 20 to 25 percent of the overall school budget on special education, and having to periodically draw from non-special education lines to cover cost overruns, Smith said the model is very attractive.

According to Roy, Smith isnt the only district leader whos expressed interest in learning more about the Co-op.

Since developing the idea in January 2016, Roy said she and her team have met with various superintendent associations and more than 100 district leaders, including those in Westport, Weston, Stamford, and are in the process of trying to schedule a meeting with Norwalk leaders.

Roy believes every district would benefit from the Co-op, regardless of size or town wealth.

In addition to benefiting from the greater cost predictability the Co-op provides, all communities will receive some state support for special education services and all communities contributions will be lower than their actual per pupil special education costs, she said. ... the Co-op stabilizes general education funding and helps ensure districts dont have to resort to dipping into their general education funding to pay for necessary special education services.

The Co-op would be owned and governed by its members, and a board of directors made up of representatives from member school districts, local governments, and state government would oversee its operations. Other important details have yet to be hammered out, including when towns would need to pay their community contribution.

Although the Co-op is still in its early development stages, the idea is gaining traction in the General Assembly.

State Sens. Carlo Leone, D-Stamford, and Timothy Larson, D-East Hartford, recently introduced a bill that would establish the Co-op to fund special education services and special education program, with state Reps. Ezequiel Santiago, D-Bridgeport, and Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, as co-sponsors.

The bill, Senate Bill 542, was referred to the Insurance and Real Estate Committee in late January and a public hearing was held on Feb. 21. State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, testified at the hearing, raising a number of questions about the specifics of the Co-op and how 100 percent reimbursement would be guaranteed to every participating district.

This is certainly a good effort, but I cant vouch for it right now because we need to do a lot more work with it, Lavielle said. But I will say this: the governors current proposal ... is not a satisfactory approach in any way.

Our current system is better than that, but our current system has a lot of problems, she added. Any new proposal is welcome, but we need to go into it with great detail.

Smith agreed, and said he has a few questions himself, about the reliability of state funding and the differences in expenses when comparing different areas. But he believes the model ultimately has potential to help Wilton and other districts.

The model itself looks promising, and I think if they can deliver on what they say what the model would do, then it would be a win for all communities, Smith said.

Is Connecticut ready for it? I dont know if Im in the position to say that. But I do know as were looking at significant reductions in state aid, we have to do something.

Smith said he will discuss the Co-op in greater detail with the districts business operations committee in the upcoming weeks and later with the Board of Education in the spring.

SKim@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1044; @stephaniehnkim
The theme for the 2017 Cairo CornStalk Festival held June 9 and 10 is Dear Ole Nebraska in honor of the states 150th years of statehood.

There will be events for every age, such as: the Community Parade, Centura Alumni Banquet, American Legion Pancake feed, childrens theatre, firemans challenge, kids events, turtle races, car show, BMX bike event, Mister & Miss CornStalk contest, fun run, bingo, pitch, food vendors, free swimming, and Saturday night street dance with the band Dylan Bloom Band. Most of the events will be downtown this year.
The dinner, scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m., will include fish, potatoes, beans, coleslaw, a dinner roll, dessert and drink. The cost is $8 for adults and $5 for children ages 4 through 12. There is no charge for children 3 and younger.
Jane Goodall, the worlds leading expert on chimpanzees, told a Grand Island audience Thursday night that she is constantly amazed at the intelligence of various species in the animal world, even the lowly bumblebee.

Through her 55-year study of chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, Goodall was the first to discover that chimpanzees could make and use tools. She described how she observed a chimpanzee place stalks of grass into termite holes. When the stalk was removed from the hole, it would be covered with termites, which the chimpanzee would then eat.

She also observed how chimpanzees would bend a twig and strip it of all leaves, effectively making that tool.

Goodalls observations demolished long-held accepted scientific theory: That humans were the only species on earth that could make and use tools. Goodall said many other animal species have the capacity to learn; even bumblebees can learn how to retrieve nectar simply by observing another bumblebee.

Goodall, though, acknowledged the explosive development of the human brain gives humankind a capacity to do things far beyond the capacity of even the most intelligent animal. She noted only humans have the intelligence to send a spaceship to Mars and then remotely control a motorized vehicle to explore the surface.

So isnt it peculiar that this most intellectual creature to ever walk the planet is destroying its only home? she asked.

Goodall said humans too often destroy forests and other habitats, releasing carbon dioxide into the air, and they often despoil the environment through agricultural, industrial and household pollution, poisoning the earth, the water and the air.

Cutting down forests and burning too many fossil fuels is creating a blanket around the globe that is trapping the heat of the sun, which is warming the surface of the planet. The scientific consensus is that the earths surface is warming so much faster than it ever has in its existence, leading to climate change.

Goodall said it is very hard to deny climate change when people can observe the earths ice caps melting, when they can see people forced to leave their island homes because of rising ocean levels and to see sea levels rise on coastal beaches. She said humans cannot colonize Mars: youve seen the pictures, its really not an option.

You know, this planet is very beautiful, Goodall said. Theres still a lot that is beautiful, so why are we consistently as a species harming it so badly?

It seems to me there is a disconnect between the clever, clever, clever brain and the human heart, she said.

Goodall said it seems there are too many people who only think about how an action affects them, while not considering how it affects their children and grandchildren. She said we (the older generation) have not borrowed the future from our children. We have stolen it.

She said it is now time for the generations to work together for the planets benefit.

One of the reasons that she founded Roots and Shoots is to give young people hope for the future. The organizations message is every single one of us matters and has some role to play. Every single one of us makes some impact on this planet. Every single day we have a choice about what kind of impact were going to make.

Goodall said Roots and Shoots sees a holistic connection between people, animals and the environment. It lets young people choose the kind of project they want to undertake to make the earth a better place. Roots and Shoots is now in 97 countries.

Before her talk in the Grand Island Senior High auditorium, Goodall went to the northwest cafeteria to see the projects done by Grand Island students in Roots and Shoots. Those projects inspire her as she sees young people tackling the issues they care about. You choose what to do, because of what is important to you, because of where you are, because of who you are.

Despite the sometimes bad news on the environment, there are four things that give her hope, Goodall said. The first is this amazing human brain. We can use it to do good. We always need it to do good. We can use it to harm, but the human brain is capable of finding ways for us to live in greater harmony with nature, as a society and as individuals.

Another thing that gives her hope is to see projects that have restored nature and helped save species on the brink of extinction such as whooping cranes. When it comes to endangered species, there are animals that would not be and plants that would that would not be here but for certain dedicated people.

She noted that social media also gives her hope. For the first time, we can bring together people all around the world. They have never met each other or heard of each other, but who care about a single issue like climate change or womens rights or something like that. We can bring them together so that the voice swells and it really makes a difference. It has made social change.

The final thing that gives Goodall hope is the indomitable human spirit. She talked about George Haun, a blind magician who gave her a stuff animal she calls Mr. H. Haun performs his magic so skillfully that young children do not know he is blind. The fact that children could not tell he is blind is a way to inspire them and to tell them to never give up.

She said there are many people who have the same indomitable spirit, including refugees who arrive in a new country and pull their lives together.

She noted that animals  which share the human ability to have emotions and personalities  also can have an indomitable spirit. Goodall cited the example of a chimpanzee who first survived the killing of his mother and then came back from near death after receiving the first chimpanzee to chimpanzee blood transfusion.

Roots and Shoots alumni

Before giving her Thursday evening presentation to the audience in Grand Island Senior Highs auditorium, Jane Goodall held a brief press conference with reporters. Goodall has met Roots and Shoots alumni who have told her that their involvement in the program has changed them completely by giving them a lifelong passion for helping either people, animals or the environment. Some alumni said they also have gotten their children involved.

She noted that because of the Roots and Shoots program, children who live in very deprived areas of the world find themselves empowered; they feel that Yes, I can make a difference.

Speaking about the change in attitude toward the environment with the new administration in Washington, D.C., Goodall said that it is tragic to see what weve worked for so hard being destroyed in place after place. She noted that many people are depressed by the situation, but people must work harder and find a way to keep going.

Goodall was asked about the subject of race. For her, race is a social construct, because humans are a single species. When people laugh, they feel the same emotion and when they cry, they feel the same emotion, regardless of race, culture or religion.
Local law enforcement officials say they deal with the public on a regular basis and aim to build positive relationships in the community through communication and education.

Grand Island police Capts. Jim Duering and Dean Elliott and Hall County Sheriff Jerry Watson spoke to Leadership Tomorrows Class 31 on Thursday about how they work to grow relationships between law enforcement and the public.

Prior to the panel discussion, they showed a TED Talk from Brian Willis titled, "The Most Dangerous Weapon in Law Enforcement," to illustrate where law enforcement officers come from in certain dangerous situations.

Willis discussed officer-involved shootings and how the words "no comment" are the "most dangerous words in law enforcement vocabulary."

"You wonder what the police did wrong and what they are trying to cover up," Willis said. "No comment will usually determine how an incident will play out in the community. No comment should not be an answer. We should be able to say the facts as we know them. We should have the courage to say whether or not the officer acted responsibly."

Willis added that, in officer-involved shootings, its often difficult for law enforcement officers to react because they cant easily tell the difference between a fake gun and a real one. To demonstrate the point, Willis had his audience and those present at Thursdays discussion, say "bang" when they feel the need to shoot. Most said it almost immediately once Willis pointed a fake gun.

Elliott asked how many of those present at the panel discussion would be able to say how many times they said "bang." Some said they knew how many times they said "bang," while others did not. He said that was indicative of law enforcement knowing how many times they pulled the trigger.

Duering, Elliott and Watson said their goal is to have positive interactions with the public. Elliott said something as simple as a traffic stop could be the only interaction a member of the public has with a law enforcement officer for a decade, if not more. He said its important for the Grand Island Police Department to have positive interactions so that person develops a positive perception of the department.

Watson said the same applies to the Hall County Sheriffs Department.

"Its about building community," he said. "You develop relationships with people, and that is what life is all about. We (officers) have a tendency to become hardened over time. You come into the profession to make a difference, but once you get the feedback coming in, you become hardened and a little bit cynical."

Elliott said there are a few ethnic groups in Grand Island that do not trust law enforcement because of distrust and corruption of law enforcement in their home countries. He said there will always be a "minute number" of law enforcement officers like that in the United States, but GIPD officers are not like that.

Elliott said GIPD officers get nine months of training to ensure they can do their job well and will adhere to the departments mission and goals.

"We have to know theyll do their job and do it the right way," Elliott said.

Watson said those who are more about power than "power of influence" do not fit in with the department and do not last long.

A member of the Leadership Tomorrow class asked what the perception of law enforcement was in Grand Island.

Elliott said GIPD did a survey in 2011 in which the majority of those surveyed said they had a positive perception of the department but did not feel safe in the city.

"We are looking to do a survey to see where weve gone in these additional years," Elliott said. "Weve hired additional officers to where we can get to where we make the community feel safer."

Watson said the feedback hes gotten from the public has been positive.

"I think, generally speaking, we are well supported," he said.

Elliott said the show of public support for law enforcement tends to have a positive impact on GIPD. He said programs such as Pop With a Cop have had a positive influence.

"Its a great thing and is a positive relationship as opposed to mom and dad driving down the street and telling their kids to put a seatbelt on or the cops will throw them in jail," Elliott said. "We are trying to change the demeanor there."
Srinagar, Mar 10 (IBNS): Fresh avalanche warnings on Friday were issued by Kashmir Divisional Administration for next 24-hours for hilly and avalanche prone areas of Kashmir Valley and Kargil district.

High danger avalanche warning valid for next 24-hours from March 10-11 exists for avalanche prone slopes of Kupwara and Bandipora districts of Kashmir Division," a statement of the Divisional Administration said.

A medium danger avalanche warning exists for avalanche prone slopes of Anantnag, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Kulgam, Budgam and Kargil districts, it said.

Meanwhile, all concerned Deputy Commissioners have been asked to take precautionary measures in their individual districts and advise people not to venture in avalanche prone areas during the aforementioned period and monitor the situation regularly to avert any untoward incident.



(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)
Was there a murder 100 years ago at Yardley's Continental Tavern?

Frank Lyons began excavating the basement of the Continental Tavern in Yardley. He found a gun, bloody corset and part of a woman's purse.
New York, Mar 10 (Just Earth News): The next round of the United Nations-facilitated intra-Syrian talks is expected to convene on 23 March to discuss issues related to governance, constitution, elections and counter terrorism, the UN Special Envoy for Syria has said.

My current intention is to bring the invitees back to Geneva for a fifth round with a target date of 23 March, Staffan de Mistura told reporters yesterday at the UN Headquarters in New York after he briefed the Security Council on the outcome of the fourth round of the discussions, which ran in the Swiss city from 23 February to 3 March.

He said the fourth round of the Geneva talks achieved much more than many people had imagined we could have.

No one left, everybody stayed. They were focused, we got an agenda, we got a timeline, we got some agreement on substance, de Mistura said, noting that the fifth round of talks will build on the outcome of the previous one and that counter terrorism is now part of the agenda laid out in UN Security Council resolution 2254.

In parallel with the UN-facilitated intra-Syrian talks, Kazakhstan has been hosting talks on a ceasefire in its capital, Astana  diplomatic efforts led by the so-named ceasefire guarantors, Iran, Russia and Turkey.

On the Astana talks, de Mistura said that although the responsibility of their success is in the hands of these guarantors, the UN dispatches a technical team to the process, because without a strong ceasefire, the UN-facilitated Geneva talks would be fragile.

The UN envoy urged the Security Council to continue to support his efforts.

UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Mar 9 (Just Earth News): In collaboration with partners and as a part of a global supply chain network, the United Nations emergency food relief agency has set about developing the first-ever information platform to better manage supply chains and efficiently match deliveries with demand in responding to large-scale health emergencies such as pandemic outbreaks.



The creation of this new platform is a prime example of the amazing endeavours that are possible when the public and private sectors work together, said Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in a news release announcing the undertaking.

The new system will bring together supply chain and logistics information and enable end-to-end tracking of pandemic response items such as protective clothing and medical equipment within a country facing an outbreak, thereby helping ensure quick and appropriate delivery of supplies to people in need.

It will also provide analysis on supply inefficiencies, promote timeliness and cost efficiency in continuous improvement to the supply chain network.

According to WFP, the system will help overcome challenges witnessed in the response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak, such as severe warehousing and distribution capacity constraints, limited visibility of the overall supply and demand of critical items, access constraints caused by border closures, and a lack of public-private sector coordination.

Furthermore, learning lessons from the Ebola outbreak, the UN as well as Government, academic and private institutions established the Global Pandemic Supply Chain Network and have been working together in unprecedented fashion to develop a framework for improving pandemic preparedness and response.

The partnership also complements other efforts that are underway to strengthen national and international systems that prevent and manage future pandemics.

In order to achieve any one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, we must all do our part, lending our unique expertise and experiences to innovating solutions to global problems, added Cousin, hailing the work being done by the Network.

The end-to-end supply chain information system is being developed in collaboration between WFP and the NEC Corporation, a Japanese multinational provider of information technology services and products. The Japanese Government has provided financial support that will be used as seed funding for the new platform.

Photo: Francis Ato Brown / World Bank

Source: www.justearthnews.com




As the budget impasse continues to weigh on the shoulders of University administrators, faculty, staff and students, the first step to expressing the worries of the Southern Illinois University System to local and state legislators includes choosing the right person to serve as the Systems voice.

On this weeks episode of Segue, Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles premier radio show discussing the lives and work of the SIUE community, Chancellor Randy Pembrook sits down with John Charles, executive director of government and public affairs. They will discuss Charles career in politics, what his role in the System entails, along with how he brings the Universitys concerns to local and state legislators.

Since his appointment by the SIU Board of Trustees in 2013, Charles has managed both state and federal government affairs for the University. He coordinates governmental activities and outreach among administration, faculty, staff and students and all elected officials in government agencies, and serves as the spokesperson for SIU President Randy Dunn and the board. Among his other responsibilities, he also coordinates public and media outreach through traditional and social media.

I find it quite interesting that your career in politics prior to joining SIU has given you the insights into what is going on with these legislators, Pembrook says. Youre the person that can help provide clarity as they think through whether or not they agree with a particular bill.

One of the things that I have learned from the beginning of my career is that there are so many things that go on at a state level that SIUE is involved in or impacted by, Charles says. The ability to have such a broad array of topics to work on with legislators is very interesting, and I enjoy being able to inform them about the great things SIU accomplishes.

As many know, the legislative process begins with over 3,500 bills being introduced by representatives from across the state. Along with his team at the SIU System, it is Charles job to review each and every proposed bill, monitor its changes along the process, and explore exactly how it will affect their institutions if and when it becomes law.

From here, the team works closely with Dunn to communicate not only these activities with legislators, but with each of the systems 10 universities, schools and centers.

We have a great working relationship and have many calls throughout the day, in the evenings and even on weekends, Charles says of his relationship with Dunn. I have enjoyed working with him and the collaborative environment that he has created for us to work in.

The states financial crisis has caused quite a bit of tension in not only those working for the SIU System, but also in the students who attend the universities. Charles has made it one of his key goals to bridge the gap between state legislators and the systems students to create a flow of communication where their voices can be heard. With SIU Lobby Day, an event coordinated with Charles and Dunn, students from around the system head to the state capitol in Springfield to speak with local and other state legislators about their worries regarding the budget impasse and other important issues.

The SIU Lobby Day has been successful, but one of the challenges you may experience, like any other experience at the capitol, is that a legislators time is quite limited, Charles says. Fortunately for me, I have been able to get our students to meet with key legislators. Our local delegation is always great to make time for our students and staff when we visit.

We appreciate the working relationship we have with them.

Communicating the SIU Systems needs to legislators from outside districts can pose a difficult challenge. By showing these lawmakers the number of students that have attended its universities and the alumni who live in their communities, it is apparent that SIU has an impact in every district in the state.

I think of higher education as an investment, Pembrook says. As a system, you are not asking the legislators for money, you are trying to create a situation where the population can be educated. It is incredibly important to remind people of the role that the SIU System plays in a society.

As society shifts and evolves, the need for well-educated, driven young people wishing to make a difference in their communities is at an all-time high. Charles urges young people looking to begin careers in government to look into the Illinois Legislative Staff Internship Program, the same program where he got his start.

Service in government is an honorable profession, he says. You can do a lot of good, not just for the people from where you live or where you are working, but for the whole state of Illinois. It is fun, exciting and will challenge you each and every day.

With the decline in state support to SIU System in recent years, it seems that this dire financial situation has become the new normal, per Charles.

It is the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep, Charles admits. There are so many legislators in Springfield who are deeply concerned and want to see this budget impasse go away. We are working every day to give these legislators the information and tools to make that happen.

Tune in to Segue at 9 a.m. this Sunday to WSIU 88.7 FM The Sound to hear the entire conversation between Chancellor Pembrook and John Charles.

SIUE Marketing & Communications
March is Red Cross month. To mark the occasion, there will be several blood drives held in the area. Joe Zydio, Communication Manager with the Red Cross, said that since 1943, every president has recognized March as Red Cross month.

If youre going to donate blood, do it this month, and bring a friend, Zydio said. The whole purpose of Red Cross month is to get people out to donate this month. Two upcoming blood drives in Edwardsville will make it easy to donate, he said.

Another purpose of the month, he said, is to recognize all the people who serve in the community, from the Red Cross disaster relief teams to the people who volunteer at blood drives. We celebrate all volunteers and donors. Well have a heros breakfast later this month, he said.

We ask that you find a blood drive in your community and donate, Zydio said. The blood collected goes back into the community.

"The flus and colds that are around at this time of year can affect donations, Zydio said. Weve started to get more of a call for platelet donations because of all the illness, he said.

Cancer patients need platelets badly. Sometimes in surgery, the patient will need blood and platelets.

It takes about 30 to 40 minutes to donate blood, Zydio said, including the check-in and recovery time, and about two hours to donate platelets. Platelets must be donated at a Red Cross donation center. They cannot be donated during community blood drives. They filter the platelets out and the plasma and red blood cells go back to the donor, he said.

Platelets also have a shorter shelf life than blood, Zydio said. They must be used in five days. Blood will keep up to 42 days. Anyone interested in donating platelets can go to the Red Cross website for times and locations to donate.

In addition to driving up demand, illness can lower donations, Zydio said. You need to be healthy to donate blood or platelets. I tried to donate today, but Ive been sick lately, so they told me to come back next week, he said.

The community has been great about donating, but the need will never go away, he said. This is a great way to give something back to your community.

There are two upcoming blood drives in Edwardsville. There will be a drive on March 18 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Holiday Shores Fire Department at 93 Holiday Dam Road. There will also be a blood drive on March 19 from 7:30 a.m. to noon at Eden Church at 903 North Second St.
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Linkedin Luky Djani and Olle Tornquist (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

With the vote for Donald Trump and Brexit, it is common knowledge that increasingly large numbers of people affected by the ills of unregulated globalization are drawn to populist right wing nationalism rather than mainstream liberalism and social democracy.

This challenge applies to the Global South too. In India, for example, the Hindu fundamentalists identity politics is thriving along with their own private provisioning of social services and neo-liberal oriented economic policies, thus nurturing a local version of the American dream.

In the Philippines, a president was elected by promising jobs for the poor and deals with the Maoists. In Brazil, the combination of neo-liberalism and welfare programs lost popular trust in face of shrinking commodity prices, poor governance and inability to scale up local democratic participation.

Indonesia is no exception. In 2014, Prabowo Subianto was almost making a Trump in the presidential elections. Recently, rivals of President Joko Jokowi Widodo and his allied Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama managed to get huge numbers of people out in the streets and to undermine Ahoks support in the gubernatorial elections. The populist method was to combine antagonistic Muslim identity politics and urban poor peoples resentment against evictions. By April, right wing populism may well be victorious in the runoff election.

In such situations, is there an alternative?

According to a recent international study about the challenges of reinventing social democratic development (directed by Tornquist and John Harriss, published by NIAS-Press), the democratic movements that stood tall against European Nazis and fascists in the 1930s are now hampered by the globalization of uneven development.

This undermines regulations, increases inequalities, informalizes labor relations and weakens democratic organization and representation. Worst, many people at the downside of uneven development find no alternative but to reject the establishment.

Yet, the study concludes, there are also positive signs of new counter movements of labor and disenchanted middle classes, for decent jobs and uncorrupted welfare states. Such alliances stand a chance of affecting public polices when elitist democracy is backsliding and leaders must gather wider popular support to win elections.

Actually, Indonesia seemed to be a good example. Jokowis road to power began by his ability to gather massive support in Surakarta, Central Java, for inclusive urban development. This was much thanks to negotiations with civil society organizations (CSOs) and popular organizations among the poor. In Jakarta, moreover, progressive politicians could enact the universal public health scheme thanks to inputs and backing from a broad alliance of unions, popular groups and CSOs.

Meanwhile, Jokowi and Ahok were successively elected governors, not least with the support of popular groups and CSOs. Once in office, minimum wages were increased, public services and welfare were improved; and there were invitations to unions, among others, to negotiate further advances. But why were these advances not followed up?

According to our new study, Dilemmas of Populist Transactionalism there have been five major problems. One, the cooperation with popular groups presupposed that the politicians realized the necessity of fostering sustainable and inclusive development to win elections.

In Surakarta, Jokowi understood this, but later on in Jakarta Ahok thought perhaps that it was enough to please the middle classes. This paved the way for the right wing populists to supplement aggressive religious identity politics by general promises to urban poor to avoid evictions.

Two, it was difficult to scaleup Jokowis inclusive Surakarta model to Jakarta where the popular organizations are fragmented and dominant social blocks are entrenched. Popular organizations could have been fostered, but time was short; and after the presidential election, Jokowi was preoccupied with other problems.

Three, there were few attempts to continue the successful struggle for the national health scheme with campaigns for much needed additional welfare reforms, so the broad alliance lost steam. Four, there were neither any demands from below, or an enlightened plan from above, to institutionalize democratic participation in planning of welfare and development by crucial interest organizations, including among unions, domestic workers, urban poor and employers. Hence, the governors proposals to discuss other issues but wages become unviable.

The movements turned to different patrons in the 2014 presidential election. Popular groups and politicians reversed to transactional populism of individual horse-trading.

Fifth, as this did not provide sufficient backing for progressive policies, the new president and Jakarta governor retreated and resorted to negotiations with the dominant block of political and economic elites.

All this was about political priorities. It was not bound to happen. Hence it can be altered.

Enlightened Indonesian reformists may just as several liberal and social democrats elsewhere realize that they cannot ignore those who do not benefit from the uneven development without losing out to leaders like Trump. If so, there must be progressive alternatives to right-wing populism.

Moreover, such inclusive alternatives call for more solid ground than what can be offered by supposedly unmediated linkages between charismatic leaders and the floating mass. This is because comprehensive policies towards an inclusive development strategy based on productive welfare programs require facilitation of negotiations between democratic citizen groups and interest organizations among labor, middle classes and employers.

This is hard. But by thus transforming the playing field, enlightened leaders, CSOs and popular groups may overtake right wing populism. Time is short, but signals can be sent, steps can be taken and policies can be initiated.

***

Olle Tornquist, a professor of political science at the University of Oslo and Luky Djani, a PhD candidate at Murdoch University, Perth, are co-authors of Dilemmas of Populist Transactionalism (2017) with activist Osmar Tanjung.

---------------

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Linkedin Fitriani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

Against the backdrop of International Womens Day on March 8, several Indonesian women are facing lawsuits or still recovering from unfair legal suits filed against them through the problematic Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law, which was amended last year.

Take the case of Ira Simatupang, a doctor at Tangerang Regional Hospital who reported her colleagues attempted rape to the police in 2008. The investigation stopped due to insufficient evidence in 2009 and she was fired from the hospital.

She then reported the rape attempt and unfair treatment she received to her supervisor and colleagues via email, but her email was then used by her former supervisor as a basis to take her to court. She was sentenced to five months in jail by the Tangerang District Court for defamation.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017 09:35 2068 a291276806121264c0bd211cde406c20 1 Lifestyle working-women,international-womens-day,#InternationalWomensDay,The-Economist,glass-ceiling-index Free

In honor of this years International Womens Day, The Economist has published its fifth annual glass-ceiling index.

The index tracks gender equalitys progress all around the world and is measured by combining data on higher education, workforce participation, pay, child-care costs, maternity and paternity rights, business-school applications and representation in senior jobs.

Nordic countries take a clear lead, with Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Finland making the top four, just as they did last year. In these countries, women make up 30 to 44 percent of company boards, compared with an average of 20 percent across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, a group of primarily wealthy countries). Women there are also more likely than men to have a university degree and thanks to voluntary political-party gender quotas, are well-represented in government, at up to 48 percent, like in Icelands lower house.

Read also: Japan study: A third of working women were sexually harassed

South Korea, Japan and Turkey make up the final three, and are countries in which women make up about 15 percent of parliaments. In South Korea, women earn 36.7 percent less than men and only make up about 2 percent of managerial positions, contributing to its rank as last. Japans wage gap is nearly as bad with women earning earn 25.9 percent less than men. Still, the country offers 30 weeks of paid paternity leave, the most of all countries.

The United States ranks at 20 and is not as consistent among the indicators. The country is number one for women in managerial positions, at 43.4 percent, but it is still one of the only countries in which both mothers and fathers do not get paid leave.

As of right now, it seems as if progress has hit a stall in the OECD countries. Compared to 2005, when 60 percent of women were in the labor force, there has been very little growth, as it is now at 63 percent. Even the leading Nordic countries are not free from the wage gap with women in Finland earning 20 percent less than men, more than the OECD average of 15 percent less. (sul/kes)
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Linkedin Masajeng Rahmiasri (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017 10:55 2068 a291276806121264c0bd211cde409b28 1 Art & Culture arts,arts-and-culture,btpn,latar,exhibition,#exhibition,#ArtsandCulture,culture,#art,artworks,#artworks Free

Private lender Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional (BTPN) launched an art space in the Menara BTPN building in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Thursday.

Named Latar, the art space is situated on the building's first floor -- inside the finance funding business unit of BTPN Sinaya's new branch office, which also opened on Thursday. Featuring artworks by selected artists, it is open to customers as well as the general public.

BTPN director Anika Faisal said that Latar, which was named based on the word pelataran (courtyard), had been created to help reawaken the publics interest in local arts. This is a space for our customers to meet the artists. They may decide to buy or simply marvel at the art, she said.

Architect and curator Budi Lim said that the venue aimed at inviting people to learn more about the artworks. From what I have observed, artworks are often seen only by curators and art enthusiasts in galleries or at exhibitions. I think this space provides a golden opportunity for the public to familiarize themselves with art, he said.

Read also: Forbidden Forest: Spooky new 'Harry Potter' exhibit to open

The interior of Latar. Among Heri Dono's artworks at the art space is the ceiling-hung "Flying Angels". (JP/Masajeng Rahmiasri)

I hope that when people happen to be in this [Mega Kuningan] area, they will visit Latar to recharge their souls, he added, citing that art was a form of healing and guidance for the soul.

The art displays in Latar are scheduled for renewal every two months. The space currently features works by Heri Dono in a solo exhibition titled Yellow Submarine, running until May 10. Heri is a contemporary artist whose works have been displayed in various local and international exhibitions, including Art Stage Singapore 2017 and Jakarta Ceramics Biennale 2016.

Budi said that Heris work contained social guidance; the installation Fermentation of Nose called on people to be more critical of information, which is relevant to the current issue of hoaxes.

Latar is expected to host other kinds of art in the future, such as photography, design, craft, two- and three-dimensional installations, video, as well as performing arts.

Prior to the exhibition launch, the bank also hosted a talk show about self-healing through art and empowerment for its Sinaya customers. (kes)
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Linkedin Jacqueline Arias (Inquirer.net/Asia News Network)  Fri, March 10, 2017

Youre going to get more than just a comfy pair of sandals from Birkenstock. The footwear brand announced that theyre diving into skincare.

Birkenstock Natural Care is a 28-piece skincare line made with the brands signature cork oak. While we were doing our research regarding a healthy product concept in the skin-care segment, we realized that scientists in the cosmetics industry had discovered the highly effective anti-aging effect of suberin, a remarkable substance which is contained in cork oak extract, Birkenstock CEO Oliver Reichert tells WWD.

Suberin is known as a lifting and tightening agent. The products will also be infused with argan oil, hydrating hyaluronic acid, and free radical-fighting elderberry to further remedy your skin concerns. (birkenstock-group.com/File) Read also: Sportswear giant reveals first athletic hijabs for Muslim women Suberin is known as a lifting and tightening agent. The products will also be infused with argan oil, hydrating hyaluronic acid, and free radical-fighting elderberry to further remedy your skin concerns. The line will have a range of night creams, cleansers, moisturizers, and lip balms for the specific skin concerns of both men and women. If you want to get your hands on these, Birkenstock Natural Care will be available later this year in Birkenstock stores and on their website.

This article appeared on the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
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Linkedin Stanley Widianto (The Jakarta Post)  Fri, March 10 2017

Chances are, you didnt hear about Sajama Cut from their 2001 debut album Apologia. More than likely, you would know them as the band that made The Osaka Journals, the follow-up classic record from 2005, or perhaps 2010s Manimal. Dont have the patience for older stuff? Try Hobgoblin, their monstrous fourth LP from 2015.

Together with The Osaka Journals, the band reissued Apologia in February 2017 under the name Kebun Suara, quenching the thirst of many restless collectors out there. Tracing the lineage of front man and shape-shifter Marcel Thees music yields a template, a pattern and a complete picture that make Apologia a legitimately fun pastime unto itself.

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Linkedin Jim Gomez (Associated Press) Manila, Philippines  Fri, March 10, 2017

A retired police officer who linked the Philippine president, when he was mayor of a southern city, to hundreds of extrajudicial killings in a local anti-drug crackdown said Thursday he's ready to testify in domestic and international courts and help authorities gather evidence of the slayings he says he and other assassins carried out.

Arturo Lascanas told The Associated Press in an interview that the campaign he and others allegedly conducted on orders of then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was "95 percent" similar to the bloody anti-drug crackdown currently unfolding across the Philippines under Duterte, now president.

The present nationwide crackdown, which has left thousands of mostly poor drug suspects dead, has alarmed the United States and other Western governments and UN human rights officials. US-based Human Rights Watch has said Lascanas' allegations linking Duterte to past killings heighten "the urgent need" for an independent UN investigation.

Lascanas, 56, linked Duterte to the Davao killings in testimony at a nationally televised Senate inquiry this week. Last year, Lascanas, then still an active police officer, denied under oath any knowledge of or involvement in the Davao killings in an earlier Senate inquiry. He told the Senate on Monday that he lied last year because he was afraid for his family. Senators, including some Duterte allies, expressed doubts about his new allegations amid his turnaround.

Philippine presidents are accorded immunity from lawsuits, but critics say the claims made by Lascanas could be used in an impeachment complaint or when he steps down from office. An opposition senator, now jailed over drug charges she says are politically motivated, has challenged Duterte's immunity in a landmark case before the Supreme Court.

Duterte has denied condoning unlawful killings, but has repeatedly threatened drug lords and dealers with death in public speeches.

"There is no destroying if there is no killing," Duterte said in a speech in Davao City late Thursday, adding that he only ordered law enforcers to shoot back when threatened and that he is ready to go to jail for his men.

Lascanas said he is ready to testify in an international investigation or in a local court against Duterte and others allegedly involved in the killings in Davao, where he estimates about 300 drug suspects were killed by his group alone over more than two decades, starting when Duterte became mayor in the late 1980s.

A few years after his group of police officers, former communist rebels and other gunmen launched the killings in Davao, about nine other similar bands of assassins, collectively known as the "Davao Death Squads," were formed in many districts of the city, considerably inflating the death toll, he said.

"My testimony is very incriminating to me," said Lascanas, who added that he is ready to be convicted or even lose his life for involvement in the killings of about 150 of the 300 people gunned down by his group of about 50 hit men.

"It will have no relevance if I will not expose this to the whole world and it won't get acted upon so ... this will no longer happen again to the next generations of police and local government units," he said.

Lascanas said the government Ombudsman, who prosecutes government officials accused of corruption and other crimes, has asked him to submit an affidavit of his allegations against Duterte. He and his lawyers are preparing the statement, which could be submitted as early as Friday, he said.

Lascanas said he could lead investigators to places in a quarry in Davao where he and his group buried some of their victims. He said some officials might try to dig up the bones to protect Duterte, but that he and a few other killers were the only ones who knew some of the burial sites in the vast area.

The large monthly allowances and cash rewards given to him and other gunmen, allegedly from Davao government funds under Duterte's control as a mayor, could be investigated in relation to the killings, he said.

Lascanas said at least two other gunmen involved in the killings might be convinced to publicly back up his allegations and those of another self-confessed killer, Edgar Matobato, who was the first to come out in the open last year and accuse Duterte of being linked to the Davao deaths.

He said the Davao City crackdown initially targeted drug suspects and criminals, but the targets later included Duterte's political opponents and critics, including two hard-hitting radio commentators. As an insider who was involved in the killings and saw how the Davao crackdown spun out of control, Lascanas warned that a disaster awaits the country if the current killings are not stopped. (**)
New York, Mar 10 (Just Earth News): Nearly two years after the political impasse started in Burundi, national authorities are reducing their cooperation with the United Nations system which risks undermining efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis and cutting assistance to a population in need, the Security Council was told on Thursday.



Presenting the first Secretary-General's report on the situation in Burundi, the Special Adviser on the topic noted that the report is factual and speaks for itself.

Jamal Benomar told the Council the UN has tried to constructively engage with the Government and support the people of Burundi in their search for peace and stability, to no avail.

We have engaged quickly, refrained from public criticism and encouraged modest, small steps to build confidence with the parties. Despite this modelled approach, the doors to engagement and cooperation have been largely shut by the authorities, Benomar said.

In the past several months, the Government has decided to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, suspend cooperation and collaboration with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and refused cooperation with the commission of inquiry mandated by the Human Rights Council.

The Government has also avoided signing a document with the African Union that would allow human rights observers and military experts to be deployed, to aid Burundians.

These actions were taken as human rights violations and abuses continue to be reported on a worrying scale, according to the report.

In addition, at the end of February, President Pierre Nkurunziza suggested that he might seek a change to the Constitution allowing him to seek a fourth term in office. The move, as written in the report, has the potential to plunge the country into an even deeper crisis.

Referring to the report, Benomar called on the Burundian Government to fulfil its moral obligation and political responsibility to return the country to a path of peace.

He noted that most Burundians do not want to continue on the track of international isolationism, violence and repression.

The UN envoy urged the international community  guided by the Security Council  to do its part to support those who seek a peaceful resolution of this crisis, and underscored the UN's continued commitment to helping the Burundian people.

The Security Council also heard by video-conference from former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, who is facilitating discussions between the Government and the opposition in accordance with the Arusha Agreement. Benomar stressed in his statement that Mkapa has the UN's full support in his work.

Also speaking to the Council on Thursday was Jurg Lauber, the Chair of the Burundi Configuration of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. Lauber will visit Burundi at the end of this month to get first-hand impression of the situation and meet with the Government, opposition and civil society representatives.

In his statement, Labuer echoed Benomar's call to the international community to remain active in Burundi: Abandoning Burundi now would mean wasting past efforts and putting the country and its people at risk of recurring conflict.

Photo: UNHCR/Benjamin Loyseau

Source: www.justearthnews.com
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Linkedin Winda A. Charmila (The Jakarta Post) Bekasi  Fri, March 10 2017

Liliana, 46, has been living her whole life in Bekasi, a city that is part of Greater Jakarta in West Java. The woman, who is a Christian of Chinese descent, said she had been living in peace, pointing out that no significant religious conflicts had occurred in the past years.

She is the second generation in her family in Bekasi as her parents have been living in the city since the 1960s.

Most of us respect each other regardless of their religions or ethnic backgrounds. There might be a few people out there who cannot stand diversity, but all we need to do is to commit not to follow their steps, Liliana said recently.

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Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10 2017

After years of dwindling shares, BlackBerry is ready to breathe life into Indonesian sales and win back customers hearts in the already tight smartphone market.

Local smartphone maker PT BB Merah Putih, the license holder of Canada-based BlackBerry Limited since last September, launched on Thursday the BlackBerry Aurora, a product it is banking on to make a comeback in one of the worlds fastest-growing phone markets.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10 2017

It is still not uncommon to see female workers in Indonesia complaining over inequality in accessing rewards, opportunities and resources at work, including in government institutions.

At the legislative level, the number of female lawmakers are also still far outnumbered by males, prompting experts and activists to urge for the better adoption of gender perspective in public policy-making at both the executive and legislative level.

During a discussion on women and public policies held by Jurnal Perempuan and the Canadian Embassy to commemorate International Womens Day at Balai Sarwono in Jakarta, panelists agreed that Indonesia still had a lot work to do in creating public policies that were fair to women.

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Linkedin Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Palu, Central Sulawesi  Fri, March 10, 2017

The National Polices Densus 88 counterterrorism squad arrested seven suspected terrorists on Friday after preventing their attack on a police office in Poso, Central Sulawesi.

Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Hari Suprapto confirmed the arrest, adding that the suspected terrorists had planned to bomb Parigi Moutong police office in Palu and attack police officers who were guarding a bank.

Central Sulawesi Police chief will give the details tomorrow, Hari Suprapto told reporters.

(Read also: Suspected terrorist arrested in C.Sulawesi)

Police have also seized bomb-making material, such as fertilizer, sulfur, charcoal, nails and methylated. (dan)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

Additions to the Betawi culture village will be established around a reservoir in the city with the plan of turning the surrounding Waduk Setu in Cipayung, East Jakarta, into a themed tourist destination.

East Jakarta mayor Bambang Musyawardhana said the municipality would propose to the Jakarta administration to build a Betawi village around the reservoir, to copy a similar project in Setu Babakan, South Jakarta, that has been successful at attracting visitors to various cultural performances as well as to indulge in Betawi traditional cuisine.

Waduk Setu is suitable for tourism due to its lush surroundings and close distance to settlement areas, Bambang said on Thursday, as quoted by beritajakarta.com.

The municipality would build a stage, culinary center and playground around the 4-hectare Cipayung reservoir, he said.

Cipayung district head Iin Mutmainah said that the district would support the idea because it could boost economic growth as residents could open food and crafts businesses".

Residents and visitors currently use the reservoir for fishing and recreation. (kkk)
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10 2017

Indonesias first locally designed electric scooter may soon enter mass production, as talks between the manufacturers and prospective investors inch closer to conclusion, officials say.

The Garasindo Electric Scooter ITS (Gesits) is a joint project of private automotive dealer Garasindo Group, which distributes Fiat Chrysler cars, and the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS).

The Technology, Research and Higher Education Ministrys innovation enhancement director general, Jumail Appe, said the negotiations with prospective investors were expected to finish in April.

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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan, North Sumatra  Fri, March 10, 2017

The panel of judges at the Medan Corruption Court has declared former North Sumatra governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho guilty of bribery and sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine of Rp 250 million (US$ 18,664).

The judges said that Gatot was proven guilty of bribing members of North Sumatras legislative council for a total of Rp 61.8 billion to smoothen deliberations on the provincial budget.

The defendant is guilty of continued corruption, presiding judge Didik S. Handono said at the verdict hearing on Thursday.

The sentence was more than the prosecutors had sought, which was three years in prison. Gatot's lawyer Ani Andriyani said she was shocked that the sentence exceeded prosecutors' demands and would discuss with her client first whether to file an appeal.

This was the third sentencing of Gatot, who is serving time for two sentences handed down last year. He has been consigned to prison for two-and-a-half years for bribing three Medan State Administrative Court (PTUN) judges, a case that also saw his lawyer at the time, the prominent OC Kaligis, convicted. The second sentence was six years in prison for his role in the misuse of social aid funds. (rin)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo has insisted he was not involved in an alleged graft case related to the electronic identity card (e-KTP) procurement project, asserting his visit to Tegalrejo Islamic boarding school in Magelang, Central Java, was not aimed at collecting support.

During the visit, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) met with KH Muhammad Yusuf Chludori, popularly known as Gus Yusuf, Tegalrejos leader who is a highly esteemed ulema (Islamic teacher) in the province.

What support are you talking about? What kind of support? If I was involved in the case, what am I going to do with the support? said Ganjar, who was speaking with journalists in the Javanese language, after he met Gus Yusuf on Thursday evening. The governor asserted his stance on the alleged e-KTP graft case remained unchanged.

(Read also: Ganjar Pranowo says he is ready to give clarification on e-KTP graft case)

Ganjar is one of several political party elites reportedly involved in the graft case, which resulted in more than Rp 2 trillion (US$149.55 million) in state losses.

Gus Yusuf said the Central Java governor told him many things, including about the e-KTP case, during their meeting. He has spoken freely to me about the issue, he said, as quoted by kompas.com.

As his best friend, I know Pak Ganjar is a respectful and rule-following person. However, I want to leave the decision to the legal process. I can only give him moral support: if you know youre not guilty, then dont be afraid. (dis/ebf)
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Linkedin Hasyim Widhiarto (The Jakarta Post) San Francisco  Fri, March 10 2017

Googles Diane Greene was undoubtedly enjoying good momentum when she took to the stage to share the companys vision of the cloud-computing business before an audience of thousands attending its major tech conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Just last week, thousands of websites, including popular domains such as music and audio platform SoundCloud and question-and-answer site Quora, experienced a disruption for more than three hours because of technical glitches in the popular Amazon.com cloud service.

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Googles Diane Greene was undoubtedly enjoying good momentum when she took to the stage to share the companys vision of the cloud-computing business before an audience of thousands attending its major tech conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Just last week, thousands of websites, including popular domains such as music and audio platform SoundCloud and question-and-answer site Quora, experienced a disruption for more than three hours because of technical glitches in the popular Amazon.com cloud service.

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the worlds biggest player in the cloud business, attributed the incident to human error, saying that a member of the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) team had input an incorrect command that led to the removal of a larger set of servers than initially intended.

Around the same time, a similar incident took place in Indonesia when local cloud service provider Biznet GIO Cloud failed to support its clients operations for several hours because of a power outage, leaving major clients such as popular e-commerce websites Bukalapak and Tokopedia unable to process online orders and payments.

Leading the keynote session on the opening day of the Google Cloud Next 2017 conference, Google cloud boss Greene did not name any rival. However, her opening remarks clearly underlined what Googles cloud service is offering to existing business customers and potential clients: reliability.

Just like the Google search engine, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Greene added, was designed to run at five nines of availability, a term used by people in the tech industry to say that it is 99.999 percent reliable.

Thats how we design our cloud, she said.

Future business: Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt speaks to audience during the opening day of the Google Cloud Next 2017 conference on Wednesday in San Francisco. The parent company of Google expects that the cloud business would serve as an alternative source of revenue for the tech giant, which has largely relied on advertising revenues. (JP/Hasyim Widhiarto)

(Read also: Google's latest feature allows musicians to get real time updates)

Cloud computing refers to the delivery of on-demand computing resources, such as applications and data centers, over the internet on a pay-for-use basis. Under such a scheme, businesses can easily adjust their computing needs in response to fluctuations in demand, eliminating the need for massive investments into local infrastructure.

Despite being a major player in the tech industry, Google did not consolidate its cloud-computing business until late 2015 when it hired Greene, the co-founder and former CEO of cloud system developer VMware, to lead its cloud unit. Alphabet, Googles parent, expects that the cloud sector would serve as an alternative source of revenue for Google, which has largely relied on advertising revenues.

Referring to estimates from the Synergy Research Group, Bloomberg reported that under Greenes leadership, Googles share of the so-called public cloud market, which includes data storage, computing and networking services, has more than doubled to about 5 percent since the second quarter of 2015.

The latest data from the research group, meanwhile, suggested that AWS still maintained its dominant share of more than 40 percent of the public cloud services market last year. In 2015 alone, AWS pocketed almost US$8 billion in revenues.

Meanwhile, the three main cloud providers  Microsoft, Google and IBM  have increased their worldwide market share by almost five percentage points over the last year and together now account for 23 percent of the total public cloud market.

Tech enthusiasts: Google Cloud Next 2017 participants browse various booths in the conference's venue in San Francisco on Wednesday.(JP/Hasyim Widhiarto)

(Read also: Beyond cat videos: YouTube will offer its own pay-TV service)

Google, however, maintained its confidence that its enormous cloud infrastructure and large pool of talents would make it possible to offer more innovations to support its business consumers.

The company has also spent a massive US$30 billion in capital expenditure on infrastructure over the past three years, prompting Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt to make a bold suggestion for businesses to leave the [cloud] infrastructure to us.

Why try to replicate that? he told Google Cloud Next participants.

Google Cloud has a reputation of being the best suited for startups and consumer apps. Snapchat and Pokemon Go, for example, are currently among the major Google Cloud customers. Among the new marquee customers are global banking giant HSBC and ecommerce marketplace eBay.

Innovation: Google CEO Sundar Pichai takes the stage during the Google Cloud Next 2017 conference in San Francisco on March 8, 2017.(JP/Hasyim Widhiarto)

On Wednesday, during the same forum, Google Cloud also announced the launch of the Video Intelligence application programming interface (API), which allows developers to search for specific objects within videos. The API, which is currently in a Private Beta, quickly annotates videos stored in Google Cloud Storage with video, shot and frame-level context.

Media organizations, for instance, can use the feature to reorganize their existing videos and create new monetization opportunities from their archived contents. Understanding the rich content of videos has been a tremendous technology challenge for many years. In fact, many of us computer researchers often considered video as the dark matter of the digital universe, said FeiFei Li, Google Cloud chief scientist of artificial intelligence and machine learning, providing an example from Googles videosharing platform YouTube, which has more than 600 hours of videos uploaded every minute.

Now, finally we are beginning to shine a light on the dark matter [with the API] and provide values to our customers who can use it to harness the enormous amount of information embedded in videos.

Separately, Clement Teo, a principal analyst for global consulting firm Ovum, said many enterprises in Asia were just starting to get serious about digital transformation, opening up opportunities for Google to assist them with reliable cloud services.

The Singapore-based Teo also mentioned the importance of making local partnerships to prove commitment in the business.

They [Google] will have to look for opportunities to partner locally, for example with Biznet in Indonesia, to serve local enterprises, he told The Jakarta Post.

This article appeared earlier in The Jakarta Post's print edition on Friday under the title "Google in full gear to grow cloud computing".
New York, Mar 10 (Just Earth News): Highlighting the multifaceted nature of the crisis in Africa's Lake Chad Basin, the deputy United Nations chief underlined the need for a holistic approach that includes responding to the Boko Haram as well as closing the gap between humanitarian assistance and development interventions.

Lasting recovery will entail supporting reconstruction of schools, health centres, and reviving essential infrastructure [] that support the necessary livelihoods, Amina Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, told the Security Council on Thursday.

Effective prevention of future radicalization and violence will also entail comprehensive responses that benefit all members of society, she added.

Mohammed's briefing follows last week's visit of the Security Council to the region and a global UN-backed conference to raise funding to sustain critical aid operations in the region, held on 24 February.

According to estimates, more than 10 million people in the Lake Chad Basin are in need of humanitarian assistance, including more than seven million needing food support, with 515,000 children affected by severe acute malnutrition.

Noting the response by UN agencies to support the local populations and the contributions pledged by countries at the Oslo Humanitarian Conference, the Deputy Secretary-General said that the needs outstripped the resources and urged UN Member States to ensure that the $1.5 billion humanitarian appeal is funded fully.

Speaking on the region's security challenges and the activities of Boko Haram, Mohammed informed the Council of UN's work to document information on human rights abuses, as well as its assistance to affected countries to ensure that their counter-terrorism efforts fully complied with international human rights, humanitarian and refugee laws.

In particular, she spoke of the plight of women affected by Boko Haram, many of whom are still displaced in camps, detained by the authorities, or are struggling to reintegrate into their communities.

We also need to scale up efforts to provide access to sexual and reproductive health and psychosocial support and livelihood support for female-headed households, she said, noting the need to ensure that women have key roles in the response  from food distribution and camp management to all efforts to counter violent extremism, restore state authority and build peace.

Further in her remarks, Mohammed also underlined the need to address the root causes of the crisis to achieve durable peace and of the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for the region.

My single clear message on Thursday is that the solution lies in holistic thinking, she noted, hailing the role of the African Union and the continent's regional organizations to peace, security and the integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and Africa's own Agenda 2063.

UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Source: www.justearthnews.com
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Balikpapan  Fri, March 10 2017

The position of Mulawarman Military commander was officially handed over from Maj. Gen. Johny L. Tobing to Maj. Gen. Sonhadji in a ceremony at the military commands headquarters in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on Wednesday.

Johny had served the position since July 12, 2016. He has been transferred to the Army headquarters in Jakarta in his new position as inspector general.

He recalled some memorable moments in remote and border areas during his tenure as commander, covering South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan provinces.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

The Jakarta Police detective unit raided a two-story house in Kapuk Muara subdistrict, North Jakarta, on Thursday, arresting numerous Taiwanese nationals for alleged fraud and online gambling in the upscale housing complex.

There is a strong indication that they have committed online fraud, Penjaringan Police criminal investigation unit head Comr. Rahmad Sujatmiko said as quoted by tribunnews.com, adding that police were carrying out further investigations.

(Read also: Indonesia blocks 800,000 websites)

Rahmad said police found some electronic devices, bank accounts, and passports on the site. Dozens of reportedly Taiwanese nationals, male and female, were seen with heads bowed as the police carried out the operation. (fac/dan)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

A Japanese firm has expressed interest in investing up to Rp 45 billion (US$3.36 million) for the development of a 15-megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Penajam Paser Utara regency, East Kalimantan.

The representative of the Japanese firm had expressed its intention to the regional administration, deputy regent Mustaqim MZ said Friday in Penajam.

We welcome the plan. We expect the investment to be realized so the solar power plant can add electricity in Penajam Paser Utara, Mustaqim said as quoted by Antara.

The extra power supply would help address frequent power outages in the area, he added.

(Read also: Residents in remote areas to receive solar electricity: Minister)

An executive from PT Prospec Energi Indonesia, which is the local partner of the Japanese firm, said that the development of the solar power generator would need 15 hectares.

The solar power plant would be primarily to meet electricity in Buluminung Industrial Estate. If excess is available, we can also fulfill the residential demand, said Robby of Prospec Energi.

He further said that the firm would soon carry out a survey or site visit to consolidate the plan. (lnd)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has instructed all relevant parties to stop the use of mercury in small mining operations because of its dangerous effects on human beings.

The President said the use of mercury in various industries, including small gold mines, could cause environmental damage and had a bad impact on the health of miners and people living around the mining areas.

Ive received a lot of information that the use of mercury in 850 mines has resulted in very dangerous pollution. Its not only dangerous for the health of 250,000 miners, but also has an impact on the health of their families, especially children, and people in surrounding areas, said Jokowi as quoted by Antara. He was speaking during a limited Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Thursday afternoon.

As one of the countries that signed the Minamata Convention in Kumamoto, Japan, on Oct. 10, 2013, Jokowi said, Indonesia should not allow the use of mercury in mining to continue.

Jokowi give a seven-point instruction to all Cabinet ministers on how to handle the problem. In one point, the President asked all relevant institutions to improve the management of peoples mining and small gold mines both inside and outside of forest areas.

The use of mercury in peoples mines must be stopped and this should be prohibited, he said.

Jokowi also asked for the use of mercury to be tightly monitored. He called for oversight over mercury distribution because what people were using for mining was mostly imported illegally. Medical assistance must be provided to people exposed to mercury. (hol/ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

The ongoing trial of an alleged graft case related to the electronic identity card (e-KTP) procurement project, in which prosecutors mentioned names of figures with strong political influences in Indonesia, has forced Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) former deputy chairman Busyro Muqoddas to speak up.

He said when he was still serving as the commissions deputy chairman, the KPK had begun to investigate the e-KTP case through law enforcement measures. In the case, there were signs of corruption, in which it had become a dark and dirty business objective of bureaucrats, House of Representatives members, business players and middlemen, Busyro said as quoted by tempo.co.

He said the KPK leaders had recommended the government not continue an e-KTP design proposed by the Home Affairs Ministry, which was led by Gamawan Fauzi at the time. KPK leaders recommended an e-KTP that would function in multiple ways as a system identity number (SIN), said Busyro.

(Read also: Tjahjo Kumolo asks staff members to be cooperative in KPK investigation)

He further said the multifunctional e-KTP was proposed to create election security, which would not enable the use of fake IDs.

Busyro reminded all KPK leaders: Political attacks [against the commission] have begun to appear, including through an attempt to revise the 2002 KPK Law without arguments and legal reasoning, aiming to hinder it.

Busyro said it now depended on KPK leadership to prove their loyalty to the organization as a professional independent institution. I think civil society of our democracy will support the KPK, he said. (mrc/ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

Officers from Aviation Security at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport thwarted a desperate attempt by two men who tried to fly to Singapore by hiding in the wheel well of an aircraft.

The officers found the men, Andreas, 20, and Rendiansyah, 17, on the airports apron.

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport spokesman Dewandono Prasetyo said the two men had sneaked through the airports perimeter fence to get onto the apron. They were found by security officers of PT Cardig Aero Services.

The airport official claimed the men admitted they had sneaked onto the apron to stow away aboard a plane to Singapore, inspired by a movie they had watched.

They planned to fly by riding the planes tires, Dewandono said Thursday as quoted by wartakotalive.com. (vny)
It has been a busy period for the Constitutional Courts (MK) ethics council.

After concluding its task to look into former justice Patrialis Akbar, who was fired in late January following his gaining of the status of a corruption suspect, the council has been busy investigating alleged ethics violations by half of the remaining eight justices  including chief justice Arief Hidayat  for not updating their annual wealth reports with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as required by the Corruption Law.

The court was only weeks away from beginning to conduct hearings on 49 regional election disputes when the news about the justices alleged negligence broke, further harming public confidence in the court, which was already hit hard by the KPKs arrest of Patrialis,

Ethics council chairman Abdul Mukhtie Fadjar, also a former Constitutional Court justice, said Thursday the council had questioned the reported justices on Wednesday, saying some of them claimed to have updated their wealth report documents (LHKPN), but the KPK has yet to make them available to the public.

We give them one week [to complete the documents], Abdul said.

Earlier, three civil society organizations  Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), the Indonesian Budget Center (IBC) and the Indonesian Legal Aid Union (PBHI)  grouped under the Coalition to Save the MK reported to the council that Arief and fellow justices Anwar Usman, Aswanto and Suhartoyo had failed to file their latest wealth reports.

Arief had yet to update his LHKPN after assuming his current position in 2015 to replace graft convict Akil Mochtar, while Anwar, a former career justice at the Supreme Court, had yet to submit his latest wealth report after being appointed as Constitutional Court justice in 2011 and after being promoted to his current position in 2015, according to the coalition.

The coalition also reported that Aswanto and Suhartoyo had yet to submit their latest wealth reports after being appointed as Constitutional Court justices in 2014 and in 2015, respectively.

Suhartoyo claimed he had reported all documents to the ethics council and that he was preparing his latest LHKPN when the media started to publish reports on the alleged ethical violations following a statement by KPK spokesperson Febri Diansyah saying that some of the justices had yet to report their LHKPN.

Arief, meanwhile, only said just ask the ethics council when asked by The Jakarta Post about the matter. He also argued that the obligation for state officials to report their LKPN was still a debatable subject.

Separately, Todung Mulya Lubis, a member of the selection committee to choose a new justice to replace Patrialis, said only half of the 45 applicants met the formal requirements set by the committee.

The committee will announce the candidates who passed the administrative phase on Friday and will seek input from the public and a number of agencies to scrutinize the track records of the candidates.

Veri Junaidi, the chairman of judiciary watchdog KoDe Inisiatif, said the current selection process had provided impetus for the Court to improve public perception of the institution, which had been badly damaged.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang  Fri, March 10, 2017

The Tangerang Police are hunting for a public minivan driver responsible for a suspected hit-and-run on an app-based ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan, Tangerang.

Tangerang Police chief Sr. Comr. Harry Kurniawan said Thursday that his officers in the criminal unit were working to solve the case as soon as possible, adding that the unit was also investigating a violent clash incident between ojek and angkot (public minivan) drivers.

The police are treating the hit-and-run incident that took place on Wednesday as related to the rally staged by angkot drivers protesting the app-based motorcycle taxi service, which ended in a violent clash.

We are still questioning witnesses and gathering information about the damaged caused by the incident, Harry said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

On Wednesday, thousands of angkot drivers staged a rally demanding the administration ban ojek apps. On the same occasion, several protesters intimidated a passing ojek app driver who had a customer. They stopped the driver and forced the customer to get off the motorcycle before they stole the drivers helmet and damaged it.

As a response, ojek drivers reportedly took revenge by damaging an angkot. After mediation held by police, the two sides agreed to end the clash and maintain security in the Tangerang area. (idb)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

President Joko Jokowi Widodo will soon announce the name of the new president director of state-owned energy company Pertamina to Dwi Sutjipto, who was dismissed from his position recently along with his deputy, Ahmad Bambang, a minister has said.

For the new Pertamina president director, we are waiting for the Presidents decision that will be made soon, said State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno in Jakarta on Friday, as reported by tribunnews.com.

She said that the government, as the owner of the company, would maintain the structure of the current board of directors, except the president director.

(Read also: Pertamina CEO appointment postponed for one month)

Board of commissioners of state-owned energy company Pertamina had submitted three candidates from Pertamina executives for the company president director position.

There were also candidates from outside Pertamina that reportedly include Energy and Mining Resources Deputy Minister Archandra, state-owned Plantation Holding president director Elia Massa Manik and state-owned electricity company PLN president director Sofyan Basir.

Previously, Rini said that the name of Pertamina's CEO would be announced sometime this March. (bbn)
After months of a very bitter public spat, President Joko Jokowi Widodo is reconciling with his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a move that may become a prelude to a shifting alliance in the second round of Jakartas gubernatorial election.

Yudhoyono visited the State Palace on Thursday after requesting the meeting earlier this week. The two politicians had a 30-minute closed-door talk before meeting journalists on the palace veranda.

The chairman of the Democratic Party, who had earlier accused the Jokowi administration of wiretapping his phone and granting clemency to former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Antasari Azhar to make the candidacy of his son, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, fail in the Jakarta race, showed up at the press briefing with a smile, saying that everything that happened between the two leaders was only miscommunication and misinformation because they rarely meet each other.

The relations between the two had worsened since the campaign for the first round of the Jakarta election that had put incumbent Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, the candidate from Jokowis party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), in competition with Yudhoyonos son and with former education minister Anies Baswedan, who is supported by the Gerindra Party.

A string of political maneuvers related to the candidates had inevitably harmed the relations of the two.

The rift reached its lowest point on the eve of the election day, when Yudhoyono accused Jokowi of intentionally granting clemency to release Antasari so that he could attack him. Earlier that day, Antasari made a public statement that Yudhoyono had been behind the murder plot that had sent him to prison to retaliate against him, when he was KPK chairman, for prosecuting Agus father-in-law, Aulia Pohan.

While at times becoming frontrunner during the campaign season, Agus finally lost, leaving Ahok and Anies to vie against each other in a runoff on April 19.

With Agus out of the race, the support of Yudhoyonos party has been coveted by the remaining two candidates in a tough race that has been marred by sectarian bigotry.

The atmosphere of todays meeting was very good and it is a moment that can be used to seek tabayyun [clarification], Yudhoyono told reporters on the veranda of the palace during a joint press conference.

Yudhoyono claimed that he went to see Jokowi with no political agenda. Im here in my capacity as a former president, not as the chairman of the Democratic Party, he said.

On Sunday at a wedding party Yudhoyono and Ahok met and spoke, which has been seen as a move by the candidate to woo support for the runoff.

The executive director of the Political Literacy Institute, Gun Gun Heryanto, said although Jokowi never publicly declared support for Ahok, the President had a role in bridging communications between the PDI-P and Ahok.

The meeting could determine where the support of the Democratic Party will go in the second round of the Jakarta election, Gun Gun told The Jakarta Post.

Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) political analyst Arya Fernandes said the reconciliation between Jokowi and Yudhoyono could ease political tensions ahead of the second round of the Jakarta election.

It is hoped that the meeting of the two leaders could calm down the political situation at the grassroots, Arya told the Post.

Speaking after Yudhoyono, Jokowi said meetings between former and sitting presidents should become a tradition in Indonesian politics so that a sitting president could learn from his predecessors.

We should have this kind of tradition so that [a new president] should not start from zero [when his or her government begins], Jokowi said.

The Democratic Party claimed that Thursdays meeting happened on Yudhoyonos initiative to give clarification regarding the current political tensions.

Isnt the meeting good? They also talked about national [issues] and how to make Jokowis administration run well, Dems deputy chairman Syarief Hasan said.

Syarief denied Jokowi and Yudhoyono talked about things related to the election.
New York, Mar 10 (Just Earth News): Underscoring that the United Nations should not be, in any way, associated with the vile and vicious crimes of rape, sexual violence, exploitation and abuse, Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres has outlined a new victim-centred approach to prevent and respond to such abuses committed by those serving under the UN flag.



Such acts of cruelty should never take place. Certainly no person serving with the United Nations in any capacity should be associated with such vile and vicious crimes, said Guterres in a message announcing his report released on Thursday on the issue.

Let us declare in one voice: We will not tolerate anyone committing or condoning sexual exploitation and abuse. We will not let anyone cover up these crimes with the UN flag, he added.

The Secretary-General's report, Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse: a new approach, outlines a victim-centred strategy that is rooted in transparency, accountability and ensuring justice.

Noting that exploitation is also deeply rooted in gender inequality and discrimination, Guterres said that promoting gender equality throughout the UN system, including its missions and peacekeeping forces, would help advance parity and at the same time decrease incidents of abuse.

Let us do so in the name of all who look to the UN for life-saving protection and support  and on behalf of the tens of thousands of UN personnel around the world who deliver that assistance with courage and commitment to the highest ideals, he stressed.

Four-track, victim-centred approach

Based on four tracks, the approach documented in the report focuses on the rights and dignity of victims; ending impunity for those guilty of crimes and abuses; drawing on the wisdom and guidance of all those who have been affected, civil society, local communities and others to strengthen and improve UN's efforts; and to raise awareness and share best practices to end the vicious scourge.

The report also emphasizes the need to engage with UN Member States and calls for a high-level meeting on sexual exploitation and abuses in 2017 on the margins of the general debate of the 72nd session of the General Assembly.

The report further notes that the UN chief would seek Member States support to establish a system-wide consolidated confidential repository of case information to be placed under the supervision of the Special Coordinator on Improving UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.

It also includes a detailed list of actions and recommendations, along with the relevant UN entity that would be responsible for consultation with relevant stakeholders, as well as provides data on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse across the UN system and by non-UN international forces authorized by a Security Council mandate, covering the period 1 January to 31 December 2016.

Partnership essential to stamp out the scourge  senior UN official

Speaking at a press conference following the launch of the strategy, the Secretary-Generals Chef de Cabinet, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, underscored that addressing sexual exploitation and abuse is matter of utmost importance for the UN chief. In addition to actions the Organization will take, Guterres has placed a strong emphasis on partnerships.

[Sexual exploitation and abuse] is not a problem unique to the UN but the UN has been uniquely and very sadly associated with it, she said, adding: We need to recognize that this is not an issue that the we can tackle alone and we need a cooperative approach and partnership with our Member States.

Reiterating the victim-centred approach of the strategy, she outlined that the response would be based on a framework of accountability and transparency and that it will include efforts both in terms of prevention and effective response.

So we are going to see a lot of additional measures that will require not only efforts on the part of the UN but also on cooperation with Member States.

One such effort is a Circle of Leadership proposed by the UN chief, said Ribeiro Viotti.

UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Source: www.justearthnews.com
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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

In a bid to settle its dispute with gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, the government needs to provide a long-term guarantee about the types of tax collection it will impose on the company, a tax expert has stated.

The local subsidiary of the United States-based mining giant Freeport McMoRan has temporarily halted operations due to the governments demand that the contract of work (CoW) it signed in 1991 be converted into a so-called special mining license (IUPK) before extending its export permit, a move that will automatically annul the long-term investment stability guarantee provided in the CoW.

It has to be clear first, what types of collection the government will impose on Freeport Indonesia within the next 20 years, Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA) executive director Yustinus Prastowo told The Jakarta Post recently.

(Read also: Indonesia prepares Rp 40t to acquire Freeport shares)

If its an income tax [PPH], it should still be an income tax until the contract is over. If its a value-added tax [PPN], it should still be a value-added tax. Then, if the companys copper concentrates are included as non-taxable goods today, it should also remain the same. Thats the kind of guarantee that Freeport Indonesia is looking for.

Yustinus said that when the types of tax collection were clear, the amount of collection from each category would still be open for negotiations in the future.

Data from the Finance Ministry shows that Freeport Indonesia paid Rp 1.23 trillion (US$92.1 million) in export duties alone to the government throughout 2016. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo has called on all of his staff members to be cooperative if the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) wants to question them in its investigation into an alleged graft case related to the electronic identity card (e-KTP) procurement project.

He said the alleged e-KTP graft case was revealed a long time ago. The case was followed up by the KPK during the leadership of Agus Rahardjo.

We told our colleagues at the Home Affairs Ministry to be cooperative with the KPK by explaining everything they know about the case, said Tjahjo in Jakarta on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

(Read also: Indonesia's House speaker allegedly involved in e-KTP mega corruption scandal)

The KPK has named two suspects in the case: Home Affairs Ministrys former director general for population and civil registration Irman and Sugiharto, a former managing director of population administrative information at the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil).

Several officials from the ministry were summoned by the KPK, either for questioning or to testify as witnesses.

Many officials, from echelon I to echelon III levels, at the Dukcapil offices in several regencies and cities have been summoned, said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician.

Tjahjo did not deny that the KPKs investigation into the alleged e-KTP graft case had affected the delivery of the ministrys public services.

Although those officials were not involved in the case, Tjahjo said, they felt disturbed with the ongoing legal process. Psychologically, they might feel uncomfortable, he said.

Tjahjo claimed the ministry had made progress in providing e-KTPs for all residents across the country. In two years, the number of e-KTPs processed has increased significantly. Of 257 million Indonesian people, we have completed biometric data collection for more than 178 million people, he said. (dis/ebf)
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Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post) Sorong, Papua  Fri, March 10, 2017

Residents of Manggroholo village and Sira village in South Sorong, West Papua province, rejoiced on Thursday as their villages were the first in Papua to have their rights to manage the islands forests acknowledged by the government.

The South Sorong administration handed over the hutan desa (village forest) permits to representatives of the villagers on Thursday.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry defines a village forest as a state forest not encumbered by previous rights and managed by a village to improve its welfare.

Fredrik Sagisolo, the head of a local indigenous community alliance, said he expected the permit issuance to be followed by the recognition of other hutan desa in West Papua.

We wanted our customary land rights to be wholly recognized because we knew that we had a lot of potential, but it was not us who managed the potential, he said.

Greenpeace Indonesia heralded the acknowledgment as a landmark decision as it marked the first time villagers in Papua received rights to manage their own forests under the village forest scheme.

The scheme was part of President Joko Jokowi Widodos land reform plan, which included the distribution of 12.7 million hectares of land access to local communities, villagers and indigenous people.

After almost 10 years of fighting, finally today our friends received a permit to manage hutan desa, which will allow freedom and sovereignty in managing hutan desa, Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Kiki

Taufik said during the permit-giving ceremony in Teminabuan, South Sorong.

He said the villagers had been fighting for their rights to manage around 3,500 hectares of forests from palm oil companies that wanted to convert the forest areas into oil palm plantations since 2013. (rin)
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Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10 2017

The boom in infrastructure development has jacked up the business of state-owned construction firm PT Wijaya Karya (Wika), as the company has been procuring a skyrocketing number of new contracts so far in 2017.

The publicly listed firm booked Rp 13.32 trillion (US$994.5 million) worth of new contracts as of March 9, equal to 30.8 percent of its target of Rp 43.24 trillion for new contracts this year. That is 475 percent higher compared to in the same period last year.

The latest contract, sealed on March 8, was for the construction of the Cengkareng-Batu Ceper-Kunciran toll road in Banten worth Rp 2.17 trillion.

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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 10, 2017

The government might involve the planned Council for National Harmony (DKN) to settle the countrys past human rights abuses despite a previous statement saying the council would only aim to settle horizontal conflicts, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto said on Thursday.

"If in the end the cases of past human rights abuses cannot be settled through judicial means, they would be automatically resolved through non-judicial means. I see no problem if later [the DKN] will also be involved," Wiranto told journalists.

He previously said the government would establish the DKN to settle horizontal conflicts through non-judicial means and reiterated that it had no plan to use it to resolve Indonesias past human rights abuses, like the Semanggi and Trisakti incidents, in which he was implicated.

Human rights activists lambasted Wiranto for giving conflicting statements regarding the function of the DKN. The activists also expressed concern that Wiranto would use the council to push for reconciliation for past abuses instead of judicial settlements.

However, Wiranto claimed that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration was still strongly committed to resolving the abuses. The government awaited recommendations from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) on the results of investigations into the cases, he added.

"If the evidence is sufficient to bring the cases to court, they will be resolved through judicial means, but, if not, they will be resolved through non-judicial means," Wiranto said.

The draft of a presidential regulation to set up the DKN, which would consist of 11 members, was ready to be signed by the President, Wiranto said. (rin)
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Linkedin Ary Hermawan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 11 2017

We should not belittle the significance of Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Sauds royal visit to Indonesia.

Regardless of how much money the worlds richest Islamic kingdom brings to Indonesia, the visit marks a new chapter in the history of Jakartas relations with Riyadh.

Indonesia is an important Muslim-majority nation the Sunni kingdom must court in the battle for hegemony in the Islamic world against Iran, its regional archenemy that has won the hearts of top local Muslim figures despite rising pogroms against Shiism, the strain of Islam espoused by Tehran, in the Southeast Asian country.

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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 11 2017

Progress in negotiations over a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) between Indonesia and the European Union is one of the main considerations for the decision to revive talks of a free trade pact with ASEAN, as Europe looks to tap into the regions strong growth.

The EU and 10-nation ASEAN launched talks toward a free trade agreement (FTA) in 2007 but abandoned the process two years later, with the EU opting instead to conduct bilateral negotiations with individual states.

Those talks have had mixed success, with deals so far agreed only with Singapore and most recently, Vietnam, but have yet to be implemented.

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Linkedin Panji Prasetyo (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 11 2017

Freedom of expression and the right to privacy are two fundamental human rights that will always be in conflict. In maintaining the balance between these rights, the principle of the right to be forgotten (RTBF) was introduced by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in its decision on the case of Costeja v. Google in 2014.

The case involved a Spanish businessman, Costeja, who had his bankruptcy status legally removed in 2008. However, his status was not updated online and he was still deemed bankrupt.

He subsequently filed a claim against the search engine company Google, demanding removal of his bankruptcy status. In 2014, the ECJ accepted Costejas claim and ordered Google to remove the information.

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Linkedin Wibawanto Nugroho (The Jakarta Post) Exeter, UK  Sat, March 11 2017

The United States Air Force has just deployed a squadron of Lockheed Martin F-22 jet fighters to Australia, the southern neighbor of Indonesia. Within the next few weeks, Australia will also receive a new F-35 fleet from the US.

In its statement the Pentagon said the specific purpose of the deployment was for a joint training exercise with Australia, but it could be perceived as an integral part of the US bid to maintain its dominance in the Pacific theatre against a rising China.

Of seven defense collective arrangements the US has signed with its allies, five are in the Pacific region.

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Olathe, Mar 10 (IBNS) : Adam Purinton, a Kansas City man, accused in the fatal shooting at an Indian engineer in an Olathe bar last month, made a brief appearance on Thursday in Johnson County District Court, The Kansas City Star reported.

Purinton, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla on February 22 at Austins Bar & Grill. Pool video.

An attorney for Adam W. Purinton requested more time, and another court appearance was set for May 9.

Purinton, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla.

Purinton is also charged with attempted first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Alok Madasani, 32, another Indian and Ian Grillot, 24, an American, who reportedly tried to save them.

Kuchibhotla and Madasani worked together at Garmin.

According to witnesses and court documents, Purinton allegedly shouted "get out of my country" before opening fire on the two men.

Grillot was shot when he chased after Purinton.

Purinton was arrested several hours later.

The FBI said it is also investigating the incident as a possible federal hate crime.
1.

I read a lot, and so do you. We read books, and we read about books. Still, with surprising frequency, a writer comes across your screen, and youre surprised youve never encountered his or her name or work previously.

This was the case for me with Laird Hunt, whose seventh novel, The Evening Road, was published by Little, Brown last month. Having followed the controversy around Lionel Shrivers remarks at the Brisbane Writers Conference last fall (and having commented myself on the process of writing across race and gender in interviews), when I learned that Hunt, who is white and male, has written three novels featuring female first-person protagonists, two of whom are black, I took notice. And wondered why I hadnt come across consideration of his work in this context earlier. In an interview about his 2012 novel Kind One, a Pen/Faulkner finalist, Hunt had said:

My approach to writing about people who are, in different ways, unlike meis to speak of not for. In other words Im not talking about appropriation here, but about acknowledging and actively advocatinga larger, truer, more exciting sense of our shared humanity.

Five of Hunts novels were published by the venerable and very indie Coffee House Press in Minneapolis (only recently has he published with a corporate house); this struck me as possibly contributing to his quietish presence in the literary media. In any case, with the release of The Evening Road, Hunts work may begin the shift to center stage.

2.

Seven novels. In addition to being specifically interested in the above-mentioned two, I am struck by Hunts range  subject matter, setting, form, voice, conceptual and moral interests  over a long career. The earlier novels  The Impossibly, The Exquisite, and Ray of the Star  form a loose group: experimental in form, set in current times and urban environments, engaged in relational and conceptual puzzles. Laird himself suggested such a grouping in a 2006 interview, and included his second novel, Indiana, Indiana, an elegiac, Midwestern family saga:

I think of The Exquisite more as a brother or sister of The Impossibly, rather than as a son or daughter. Looking at it that way, I might suggest that Indiana, Indiana is a cousin of those two texts, a cousin that would have had more fun playing with The Exquisite than The Impossiblyeven if The Exquisite wouldnt, I imagine, be caught dead with it.

The Evening Road and Kind One are set in the periods of Jim Crow and slavery, respectively. In Kind One  inspired, says Hunt, by Edward P. Joness The Known World, which plumbs the little-known history of black slaveowners in the antebellum south  a white woman named Ginny Lancaster narrates her past story as both abused and abuser; we hear later the first-person voice of Zinnia, one of two slave girls (sisters) whom Ginny tormented, directly and indirectly, and who subsequently revolted, shackling Ginny in a shed without food for long periods. Neverhome features a nontraditional female  a married woman who pretends to be a man in order to soldier for the Union during the Civil War. In The Evening Road, we hear two distinct first-person accounts  by a white woman named Ottie Lee and a 16-year-old black girl named Calla Destry  of events surrounding a lynching in a fictional Indiana town called Marvel.

What I admire, and what is simultaneously difficult, about The Evening Road is its portrayal of the contradictions that riddle human nature and that ultimately fuel systematic acts of violence and injustice. White characters condone, participate in, find festive the spectacle of a lynching, while at the same time digress from that sanctioning in moments of more evolved humanness. There is a critical scene in which a group of white characters steals a wagon from a black family, and two of the white characters express their sincere regret:

He had served in the war and seen cornflowers [black men] fresh up out of Africa stand up and fight the kaiser with their bare hands and American cornflowers stand up to fight when no one else wouldNo one ought to have taken a wagon and left folks trying to get to a prayer vigil to set in the dark by the side of the road.

Yet those characters go along and board the wagon, and their giddiness about the lynching returns soon enough. Its an affecting portrayal of sincerity and complicity together, disturbing  and too familiar  in its plain accuracy. In addition, these white characters have painful stories of their own: Ottie Lee, the white female narrator, was the strongest voice for stealing the wagon, and we learn shortly after that as a child she was nearly killed by her mentally unstable mother on multiple occasions.

Lairds recent novels remind us that within the tradition of historical fiction, approaches to telling historical stories are diverse. A review at Vulture of The Evening Road describes the novel, admiringly, as More bonkers Americana than straight historical fiction. In a New York Times review, Kaitlyn Greenidge  whose NYT Op-Ed piece about the Lionel Shriver controversy last fall became a lucid and important rallying voice for many writers of color, myself included  criticized The Evening Road for being unrealistic; specifically for attempt[ing] to prettify the violence of a lynching, for example inventing terminology  cornflower  for racist epithets (Hunt has spoken about this particular choice as both part of his writing process and ultimately an expression of the novels alt world ontology). Greenidges critique implies a belief that a novel concerning true acts of injustice  acts that have been systematically minimized or ignored in order to dehumanize entire groups of people  has a responsibility to the hardest of hard facts. And while Greenidge doesnt say so explicitly, her critique raises for me the question of whether that responsibility is heightened when the writer is a member of the racial group who committed and has benefited from the acts.

Hunt is a white man more or less from Indiana. His varied, peripatetic background  stints and partial education in Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Indiana, The Hague, London, and Paris as a youth and young adult, then New York, where he worked for the United Nations, and on to Denver for most of his adult life  amounts to an unusually heterogeneous map of influences. For five years, he worked as a press officer for the United Nations. As a translator, French is the non-English language most in his ear, yet a crafted, lyrical 19th-century American dialect(ish) makes the music of four of his novels.

Hunt engaged in this robust exchange with me, in the midst of a busy tour schedule. We talked about inventing literary language, whiteness and complicity, historical surrealism, and the dual challenges of reviewing and being reviewed.

The Millions: Your seven novels cover such a wide range of subject matter and style. Ive suggested  as have you  that your work might be grouped into two phases. When you consider your novelistic journey, what do you see in terms of continuities, kinships, pivots, departures, etc?

Laird Hunt: My split trajectory as a writer is absolutely informed by my split trajectory as a person. I did seventh grade in London and eighth in rural Indiana. Even after I had settled in then, on my grandmothers farm, I spent my summers in Hong Kong, which is where my stepmother is from and my younger sister grew up. When I set to writing seriously I kept going deeply into the distinct archives my mind had built around these two sets of experience. Still, just as I was keeping my hand in with Indiana during the years I was mostly publishing city novels set in something much like now, I am continuing to draw on my lengthy and varied urban experience in projects that are growing up quietly but insistently as I spelunk in the shallower and deeper pockets of the past of rural America.

At a reading last night in Denver I announced, in a sudden moment of exhaustion, that with the publication of The Evening Road I had finished this exploration I undertook, for better or worse, of crucible moments in individual and national life. Almost as soon as I said it I remembered that the novel on witches I am currently completing, which is told by a female narrator and touches on questions of race, erasure, agency, and rebellion, will make me a liar when/if it is published.

TM: Coffee House Press published your first five books; with Neverhome and The Evening Road, youre with a larger corporate publisher, Little, Brown. Some might perceive this as a promotion, but I wonder if you do. What has this pivot/departure meant for you  professionally, creatively  if anything?

LH: Coffee House is one of the most amazing literary presses on the planet, and I wouldnt trade my years of having had the honor of appearing on their lists for anything. The move to Little, Brown has been exciting and in all ways quite seamless. I am still writing exactly those books I feel I need to write and am being fully supported as I do so. Support of course means receiving tough edits and essential feedback off the page too. Having friends in Minneapolis AND new ones in New York is an awfully pleasant side benefit.

TM: In response to an interview question about Kind One and writing female characters in a context of racial injustice, you said: [I]ts time to do better. It has been time for a good long while now. Four years on, and in the midst of heated cultural-political polarization  are we doing better? Worse? Both?

LH: We are far, indeed very far away from where we need to be as a country. I believe very deeply that we stand a better chance of getting there, if individually  with care and determination  we do our best to grapple with our past. And to own up to what we inherit from said past and how we perpetuate it. I do these things with fiction. Others do it other ways. Or plough some intriguing middle ground between essay, poetry, history and fiction.

Do I think we will get there? Wherever there is? I am somewhere between I dont know and I do.

TM: Whose work in particular would you cite as inspiring?

LH: There is a great deal of passion and brilliance at work out there. See Renee Gladmans recent Calamities. Or John Keenes Counternarratives. Or Karen Tei Yamashitas Circle K. Cycles. Or a curious little book like The Correspondence by J.D. Daniels.

TM: Given your wide and varied background and work as a translator, tell us about your sense of home, and language, and the voices in your writerly ear.

LH: At just this moment the voice, so to speak, of the pianist Girma Yifrashewa is in my ears and rare is the occasion that I dont have something equally extraordinary and transporting coming through headphones or earbuds as I write. This has been the case for me almost since my earliest days as a writer, and Im certain it has impacted on this question. Also, I went through a long period of reading a lot of poetry and even publishing work that wasnt quite poetry (lets be very clear), but had some linguistic charge, in poetry magazines, so some residual sonic eddies live on in my ear.

Add to that the fact that I spent years living in places surrounded by people who didnt speak English the way I do or speak English at all, then went to live with someone who had a very marked Central Indiana accent. My best friends during the five years I spent working as a press officer at the United Nations were from Kenya and Guyana, and just about everyone in the English press service (colleagues from Ghana, Nigeria, the Gambia, the Netherlands, England, New Jersey, the Bronx, Brazil, etc.) had their own way of shaping English. Which is to say the meaningful layers have accumulated as they do for all of us. When Im digging in on voice it always feels like there is a lot to draw on. And it should be stressed, especially in the case of these three most recent books, that because the voices are composites and constructions, rather than faithful imitations of actual speech patterns from the past, it is useful to have more than just one way of getting things said in my ear.

TM: Is there a sense, then, that you are creating a language/vernacular  not so unlike what, say, Tolkien did in Lord of the Rings? Tell us a bit about that approach, as opposed to actually attempting to imitate speech patterns?

LH: There is a precursor to the voices I am working with in these novels in the character of Opal in Indiana, Indiana. We know her in the novel as the great love of the main character, Noah, and get direct access to her mainly through letters she writes him. These letters are adaptations of prose poems I wrote years ago in the wake of traveling to San Francisco and Paris. Something about their almost giddy, forward-rushing quality and the melancholy hiding in their corners, made them perfect for Opal. Still, you wonder if you have gotten something right.

In this case I had a kind of answer when I visited a museum attached to the Logansport State Hospital, the real-world equivalent of the hospital where Opal is for many years in the book. One of the exhibits was comprised of the letters of a brilliant young woman, an aspiring composer, who found herself at the hospital in the early 20th century. The letters are not Opals but, wow, they were awfully close both in tone and content and even in some of their constructions. It wasnt the same but it felt the same.

All this to say you can get to something that richly evokes the past for the 21st-century eye and ear by going at it otherwise. I have rarely felt more sunk in the past than I have in the pages of Hilary Mantels Cromwell novels, and they are extraordinarily unlike the past as we would encounter it by reading diaries and other documents from that time. Then there is an approach like Paul Kingsnorths in The Wake. Kingsnorth creates what he calls a shadow tongue that is neither modern nor old English and the resultant hybrid brings the world most vividly to life. This is the sort of thing I am going for, trying for, failing better at.

TM: White characters like Ottie and Ginny are compelling in their human dimensionality, and also disturbingly complicit in racial violence. Is your ultimate vision of white conscience a dark one?

LH: In one of the scenes in Kind One, the ghost of a murdered slave returns to the narrator, Ginny Lancaster, as she lies in a misery of her own making. Before Ginny, the ghost dances a terrible dance in which eyes and ears and mouths sprout in frightening profusion from his body. He calls this dance The Way of the World. In the wagon-stealing scene in The Evening Road, Ottie Lee makes an awful, self-damning choice that speaks pretty loudly to this way and to how unambiguously she is a part of it and is perpetuating it. This doesnt mean, and it almost never does, that she isnt capable at other moments of compassion and doing the right thing. Her companions are all stretched along this spectrum and slide back and forth depending on the situation.

I dont know how we get off this road of whiteness and onto some other. I do know that its real and we cant afford abstractions when we discuss it and think about it and fight it.

TM: In these combative times under this new political regime, some on the progressive left would say that empathizing with oppressors  trying to understand where Trump supporters are coming from  is folly. Tell us about your specific hope/interest in alternating between white and black narrators in these novels about slavery and its legacy.

LH: I think more than folly, as you put it, what I have heard or at least understood from the progressive left, of which I am a part (so were not all the same) is that its best not to undertake this sort of endeavor at all. As in just dont do it. As soon as I start to hear proscription of this sort, especially around the arts, I want to get in there and see whats going on. How much great work would be gone if its author had not tried to go into the bad as well as the good?

Think of all the characters in Colson Whiteheads Underground Railroad who would have to be zapped because they are flawed, complex, and on the wrong side of things. Even some of the worst of the worst in that novel, the relentless slave catcher, say, are allowed a story, a narrative, a past. They arent just unexamined caricatures. Their dimensionality doesnt let them off the hook: to the contrary. Its just that instead of being told they are bad, we readers get to understand the textures of that badness and draw our own conclusions.

TM: Youve been writing in the tradition of historical fiction for some time now. How would you describe your fictions relationship to historical truth? Is Kaitlyn Greenidge correct that certain situations would have been much more dangerous for black people in 1930s Indiana than is depicted in The Evening Road? Are the benign, sometimes harmonious encounters between black people and white people fantastical creations born of a sort of reconciliation fantasy?

LH: Juan Rulfos Pedro Paramo; Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale; Kazuo Ishiguros Never Let Me Go; Haruki Murakamis The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; Samuel Delanys Dhalgren; Toni Morrisons Beloved; Percival Everetts I Am Not Sidney Poitier; Octavia Butlers Kindred; Maxine Hong Kingstons The Woman Warrior; Angela Carters The Bloody Chamber; George Saunderss Lincoln in the Bardo; Paul Beattys The Sellout; and Whiteheads already mentioned Underground Railroad are just a very, very few of the novels that have effectively used the tools of fantasy, sci-fi, fable, allegory, satire, and humor to look at very serious subject matter. These are the kinds of sources of inspiration I have gone to as I have written or considered the implications of my own recent novels. I would have thought The Evening Road, with its giant pigs; corn-based vocabulary; impossible prayer vigils; flag forests; a town called Marvel at its middle; hallucinations in foul beauty parlors; conversations with angels over breakfast; and bloodhounds wearing neckties, would have made clear its method and its lineage very quickly. Just as, to greater or lesser degree, the previous two novels did.

I do the work I do then put it out there. Others get to critique it. I review more than enough to know how much time and effort goes into writing a thoughtful take on something. Thats an act of generosity. If someone has taken the time to read one of my books, and has issues with it, Im always ready to listen.
Whilst promoting his latest film, Kong: Skull Island, Samuel L Jackson has sparked heated debate amongst Hollywood elite with comments about British actors taking African-American roles.

Get Out, the satirical horror film examining racism in the suburbs of America, is at the centre of the discussion. Jackson criticised the casting of British actor Daniel Kaluuya in the lead role, suggesting I tend to wonder what that movie would have been with an American brother who really feels that, in a radio interview.

100% positive rating Jordan Peeles critically acclaimed film, which amassed aon review website Rotten Tomatoes, was defended by John Boyega on Twitter. The Star Wars: The Force Awakens star suggested the UK v US furore is a stupid ass conflict we dont have time for.

Black brits vs African American. A stupid ass conflict we don't have time for.  John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) March 8, 2017

In recent years, Hollywood has seen a stream of British actors taking on roles exploring the black American experience. Chiwetel Ejiofor garnered an Oscar nomination for 12 Years a Slave, as did Naomi Harris for Moonlight, and David Oyelowo was the star of the Academy Award-winning Selma.

In reference to Selma, Jackson said that there are some brothers in America who could have been in that movie who would have had a different idea about how King thinks. His comments raise important questions about the authenticity of British actors who dont share the same experiences with the African-American characters they portray.

Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour, an LA-based actor and playwright, suggested that US actors already have this authenticity innately in us especially with things like police brutality, how blacks are treated in America, thats something we have to live with every day.

But why do so many British actors land these roles? Casting directors defend their choices by citing the prestigious training UK actors receive, with schools such as the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts offering classical training.

Jonathan Peele, the director of Get Out, suggested that at the end of the day, [Kaluuya] was the best person for the role. He did the audition and it was a slam dunk.

won On the surface, at least, 2017 has been rather fruitful for black cinema. Moonlightthe Best Picture Oscar, with Hidden Figures and Fences also being nominated. The 2017 Academy Awards also saw the highest number of black actors winning in ten years, with both Viola Davis and Mahershala Ali (the first ever Muslim to win) taking home awards.

Yet Jacksons comments and the resulting debate raise important questions about discrimination within the film industry. Should casting directors make an effort to cast US actors for African-American roles? Or should actors be cast based upon skill, regardless of background?

Get Out is released in UK cinemas on March 17th.
Talking about the Icelandic equal pay standard in Lincoln Center #heforshe #artsweek pic.twitter.com/FhQNmN1ySq  Bjarni Benediktsson (@Bjarni_Ben) March 8, 2017

Last night I decorated a #HeForShe cake and was very happy to present it to @phumzileunwomen this morning! pic.twitter.com/oO7Lwxrv8O  Bjarni Benediktsson (@Bjarni_Ben) March 8, 2017

What Iceland's doing is pretty amazing, but also it's sad in general that we are still debating gender equality in the year 2017.  NN (@normmynorm) March 9, 2017

(Rene Rossignaud/AP)

(Rene Rossignaud/AP)

Just came back from Iceland, where the police don't have to carry guns  they disarm with their charm  Brinda Thomas (@mc2_maven) March 6, 2017

Iceland is a pretty great place to live, and some of the countrys recent moves towards gender equality make it a particularly tempting place to settle down in  and heres why. Spoiler alert: not all of these points are entirely aimed at women  but were not sorry about it, our love for Iceland as a whole is too strong.On International Womens Day on Wednesday Icelands prime minister Bjarni Benediktsson revealed that parliament was working on legislation meaning that companies are legally required to prove men and women are paid equally.The country wants the legislation to come into action by 2022 if it successfully comes before parliament and is passed into law. This means that any company with over 25 employees will have to prove pay equality and seek recertification every year.This is definitely a step in the right direction, but we are by no means saying that Iceland has managed to achieve perfect gender equality  measures like this are necessary because women are paid 14% to 18% less than men (according to NBC News).Yep, Iceland nabbed the number one spot with a score of 0.874. Compare this to the likes of the UK which came in at 20 with 0.752, and the US which is all the way down at 45 with a score of 0.722. FYI, Iceland also has the most gender equal parliament without a quota system. 46% of parliamentarians are women, which is pretty cool.Iceland has everything you want if youre craving those Insta likes (or you just love a good bit of nature in your life). Were talking snow-capped mountains, geysers, volcanoes, glaciers, the Blue Lagoonthe list of natural wonders is endless.Imagine if you looked up at night and could see the Aurora Borealis instead of some smog and a pair of shoes hooked over the telephone wires?According to Brazilian think tank Igarape, Iceland is the third least likely country in the world to be murdered in. Its so safe that the Icelandic police dont even bother carrying guns.Men and women alike can definitely enjoy this one. The Icelandic Phallological Museum says it is probably the only museum in the world to contain a collection of phallic specimens belonging to all the various types of mammal found in a single country.Were talking over 200 penises and penile parts!As great as a penis museum sounds, were pretty sure the whole pay equality thing is what has really sealed the Iceland deal for us.
CityBased Apartments have just published their 2017 alternative university league table, which ranks universities according to a range of non-academic issues, from average graduate salaries to the price of a pint.

Universities are also ranked according to their LGBTQ friendliness, and according to the accommodation company the ignominious last place slot in this category has been secured by Dundee University.

A university's LGBTQ friendliness is judged according to a ten-point checklist which was developed by the charity Stonewall. The list includes factors such as the availability of support for the community within the university, as well as the existence of LGBTQ societies.

Dundee received just 2.5 points according to this checklist, closely followed by Lincoln, Norwich and Bournemouth, which all secured three points.

This was poles apart from the more LGBTQ friendly universities such as Canterbury and Guilford, which both received nine points, coming top of the list.

Further factors which determine a university's ranking include whether sexual orientation is specifically mentioned in their harassment polices, whether the university itself organises special LGTBQ social events, and the existence (or in many cases non-existence) of an anti-homophobic bullying policy.

The league table is based on the situation within university itself rather than in the cities they are located in. This means that some rank low despite burgeoning gay scenes outside of the university, and vice versa.

The results might not be entirely accurate, though -

it must be noted that, since Citybase's research is taken from a 2015 Stonewall guide, things might have changed at Dundee University over the past two years.

Explaining the purpose of Stonewalls online guide (which came up with the ten-point check list the league tables are based on), researcher Luke Tryl said : "All students should feel safe and supported and able to perform well. But some may want a very active gay scene, some will want a community and strong LGBT society, others may want to campaign."

here You can read about current LGBT services at Dundee University - which look quite thorough to us -
An event initially named a 'Tribal Dance' at the University of Exeter has been renamed

from members of the University of Exeter's Afro-Carribean society.

The event description on Facebook has also been changed, removing the word 'tribal' in favour of the word 'disco'.

The event was organised by Good Life Exeter, which has since apologised for any offence caused. The group has said that the word tribe was initially used to suggest a 'sense of community' rather than as a reference to the indigenous tribes of the world.

However, a member of the Afro-Carribean society has said that that its use is a euphemism and that its use was appalling. Elizabeth Burrell also asked the question: "How can BME (black and minority ethnic) students feel comfortable in Exeter, when organisations put on events that alienate them?"

here The event is set to go ahead under its new name at the Exeter Phoenix, a multiuse arts venue, and you can view the edited Facebook event

The Student's Guild has stated that tribal events are not allowed, but as this event is organised by an outside company they had no ability to cancel it.

In 2016 a similar student organised event was cancelled due to being regardest as racist and inappropriate by students.
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A Sukumvit cowboy: Bangkok Buckaroo

Writer Steve Rosse is an old Thailand hand who cut his teeth penning articles for the Phuket Gazette in the early 90s and later achieved a modicum of fame as a columnist for The Nation and Thailand Tattler.

Friday 10 March 2017, 03:00PM

Bangkok Buckaroo and Steve Rosse's other books are available from Amazon.com in ebook or paperback editions.

Bangkok Buckaroo and Steve Rosse's other books are available from Amazon.com in ebook or paperback editions.

He has released several books, Thai Vignettes, Expat Days and She Kept the Bar Between Them all anthologies of his best columns from those days as well as a smattering of short stories.

His latest book Bangkok Buckaroo is a tongue-in-cheek romp through the alleys, dive bars and sex clubs of Bangkok's infamous Sukhumvit neighbourhood.

We follow Joe DiMaggio, urban cowboy and former US marine cum amateur private detective, as he hunts for connections between the bizarre murders of his estranged friend and a Bangkok bar-fly who runs a website detailing the sordid pleasures available in the city's red-light district.

After being ordered to find the culprit by his retainer, a steely-eyed underworld lawyer nick-named Pee Mah (Elder Horse), Joe begins his search for clues to the murders  whose victims were bled to death following what appears to be a sadistic sexual game in seedy Bangkok hotel rooms.

The clues at first lead him to the Hellfire Club, a high-end private sex club, which he enters pretending to be a patron in order to question the working girls.

After some fruitless but not all together unpleasant questioning of the girls, he is summoned to the office of Vlad, the tactless and menacing Russian gangster who owns the club.

Vlad warns him not to return and orders his flamboyant, cowboy hat wearing henchman to throw Joe out.

Soon we learn that the two murdered men, desperate for cash, had borrowed money of Vlad to finance a people smuggling operation bringing Cambodian girls to Bangkok to be forced into the sex trade.

However an unidentified third partner in the scheme tries to flee with the money and seemingly disappears without a trace.

As the plot thickens and more bodies pile up there is a final flourish of twists and turns that I won't spoil here, suffice to say that Joe manages to narrowly scrape his way out of some sticky situations before the murderer is stopped.

The plot is a pretty standard detective story but told in the gruff style of a classic Western, and it is clear that Rosse is having much more fun populating Bangkok's sleazy underworld with a caste of quirky characters, which he describes in convincing and humorous detail.

So putting the rather thin plot to one side, the real enjoyment of Bangkok Buckaroo comes from the wry observations of the lifestyles and habits of his characters, both Thai and foreign.

Joe muses on some of the quirky cultural nuances of Thai behaviour and beliefs and anyone that has spent much time here will enjoy these idiosyncratic insights.

The book never takes itself too seriously despite the seedy setting and grisly murders. So there is much fun to be had watching Joe, who is surprisingly naive given his demonstrated street-smarts, slip through the the hands of Russian gangsters one minute and tumble into the arms of a busty Thai vixen the next, with a sardonic quip always at the ready.

Throughout the book Rosse uses a mixture of homespun Texas sayings and mystic Eastern aphorisms to draw parallels between the enlightened teaching of Buddha and Joe's hard won cowboy life-lessons.

These digressions add some depth to the story and make it a more enjoyable to read then your typical pulp detective novel.

In conclusion, Bangkok Buckaroo is a quick, fun read, especially for anyone who has spent some time living in Thailand and will get more of the sly winks about life in the Kingdom.

Bangkok Buckaroo and Steve Rosse's other books are available from this page at Amazon.com in ebook or paperback editions.
Angsana Laguna Phuket welcomes new F&B Director Martin Schaumburg

Angsana Laguna Phuket recently announced the appointment of Mr Martin Schaumburg to the position of Director of Food and Beverage.



By The Phuket News

Friday 10 March 2017, 11:53AM

Mr Martin Schaumburg has been appointed as Director of Food and Beverage at Angsana Laguna Phuket.

We are thrilled to have Martin leading our Food & Beverage operations at Angsana Laguna Phuket, said Brian Connelly, General Manager.

Martin has proven himself with his outstanding food & beverage, culinary and leadership experience, making him the perfect fit for this role as Director. We are delighted to welcome him to Angsana Laguna Phuket, added Mr Connelly

Martin has 23 years of food & beverage experience. Prior to joining Angsana Laguna Phuket, he was Director of Food and Beverage for InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong and Kempinski.

Im delighted to join the team at Angsana Laguna Phuket at such an exciting time. I look forward to developing our signature food and beverage experiences, whilst working with the executive management team to deliver new projects, said Mr Schaumburg.

I started my career as a Chef before embarking on a Food & Beverage career. With experience in both service and culinary, I am so excited to have been given this opportunity and I look forward to using my skills and experience to help grow the hotels food & beverage program and build on its existing success, he added.
DLT to step up efforts against Uber and Grab

BANGKOK: Officials insist they need to step up efforts to crack down on ride-hailing apps to bring order to public transport services for the sake of passenger safety and interests.

tourismtransportpolicecrime

By Bangkok Post

Friday 10 March 2017, 08:50AM

Twenty-three illegal drivers have been arrested in Bangkok. Photo: Bangkok Post

Meanwhile, California-based Uber is calling for a legal amendment to better enable its service in Thailand.

The company opened a bilingual petition page on its website for Thais to sign. It urges the government to amend the law to account for app-based rides.

As of early Friday it claimed to have more than 15,000 signatures, and was aiming for 20,000.

Starting in Chiang Mai last week, the provincial land transport office has been pursuing tougher measures to crack down on illegal ride-hailing taxi services, including Uber and Grab Car. The officials pretended to be passengers and called the cars via their apps. The drivers were arrested and fined when they arrived on request.

Later in Bangkok, officials adopted the same strategy to lure illegal ride-hailing cars, whose drivers were arrested. At least 23 drivers were arrested as of Thursday.

Department of Land Transport (DLT) chief, Sanit Phromwong, said Thursday the department does not bar the use of apps for the taxi service but it cannot allow the adoption of technology to hail a personal car as a taxi service, as this violates the Vehicle Act.

By law, those who want to operate a taxi must have a public transport driving licence and their cars must be registered as taxis.

Drivers have to pass a criminal record check and their profiles have to be kept in the department's database, Mr Sanit said.

All of these measures are aimed at protecting passengers from unwanted incidents and offences, he said. But none of those drivers who are operating the illegal taxi services was verified by such procedures.

Mr Sanit admitted there are some drivers of conventional taxis who provide poor service and offend passengers. Officials have made all-out efforts to tackle these problems.

Drivers who are found guilty will be given the maximum punishment, which is usually a fine.

The department is willing to support new technology for taxi services if it is done under a legal framework. For example, Grab Taxi and All Thai Taxi are legal ride-hailing taxi services supported by the department, he said.

In addition, new facilities include the installation of GPS tracking, security cameras, an emergency button linking to the department's centre and a speeding control system which are being used to upgrade taxi standards under the Taxi-OK project.

The DLT's deputy chief, Nanthaphong Choetchu, said there is no need to exercise Section 44 to handle illegal taxis.

We will arrest more of them, Mr Nanthaphong vowed, saying the close watch on them will continue.

He said the department has been told some people are spreading information allegedly to damage the images of public vehicles, especially registered taxis, to encourage people to use illegal ones.

He admitted that passengers have been long been dissatisfied with poor services including being rejected by registered taxi drivers.

But most of the more than 100,000 taxis listed with the department give good services, he said.

He added that the department takes the passenger complaints seriously.

In response, Uber on Thursday requested a legal amendment to help along its service.

Since we arrived in Thailand in 2014, Uber has engaged with the department to clarify that we are not a taxi service. There are currently no existing regulations that recognise ridesharing services provided by smartphone applications. The technology that enables ridesharing is different from existing public transportation, which is why we cannot register as public transportation, it said.

We are committed to continuing dialogue with the department authorities to explain what Uber is, but we believe it is time to amend the legal framework to accommodate this much needed new technology and realise the full benefits it is bringing to riders, drivers and cities.

Read original story here.
Doctors yet to unravel death of Russian tourist within hours of landing in Phuket

PHUKET: Doctors have yet to confirm the cause of death of a Russian tourist who was pronounced dead at Thalang Hospital just hours after landing in Phuket yesterday (Mar 9).

Russiandeathpolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 10 March 2017, 11:24AM

Russian tourist Sergei Khomutinnikov, 55, was pronounced dead on arrival at Thalang Hospital. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Staff at Thalang Hospital informed Capt Suporn Muangkhai of the Thalang Police at 4:40pm that Russian national Sergei Khomutinnikov, 55, had died. Mr Sergei died about one hour before police arrived. We did not find any signs of a struggle on his body, Capt Suporn reported at the hospital. Mr Khomutinnikov checked in to a hotel in Bang Tao at 2:30pm with his wife, Tatiana, age 62. Ms Tatiana later called a receptionist for help as her husband had a very serious headache, but when Mr Khomutinnikov fell unconscious in the room, they called rescue workers, who called for an ambulance Capt Suporn said. He was still breathing while en route to the hospital by ambulance, but pronounced dead on arrival, he added. Doctors told police that they suspect Mr Khomutinnikov suffered a serious pre-existing medical condition that contributed to his death. Also, Mr Khomutinnikov had just arrived on a flight and was likely fatigued, possibly exhausted, doctors explained. We need to carry out some tests to learn more, one medical staffer said. Doctors explained that they spoke with Mrs Khomutinnikova, but their conversation was limited to basic information and had yet to bring in translators to help understand Mr Khomutinnikovs previous health issues. We have informed the Russian consulate of Mr Khomutinnikovs death, Capt Suporn.
Phuket developer hits back at sea gypsies with B31mn lawsuit

PHUKET: Baron World Trade Co Ltd, the Phuket developer embroiled in a dispute with sea gypsies in Rawai over beachfront land on which the indigenous peoples sacred Balai shrine is located, has filed a suit against the sea gypsies for B31 million in damages.

landpropertyconstructioncultureeconomicsmilitarypoliceviolence

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 10 March 2017, 06:16PM

Sea gypsies clashed with workers at the Rawai sea gypsy community on Jan 27 last year. Photo: PR Dept

The lawsuit was filed as a counter-claim against four of the villagers filing a claim of B500,000 in damages against Baron World Trade.

Pasit Thavornlamlert, the lawyer defending the sea gypsies in the claim, revealed the news today (Mar 10) at Phuket Provincial Court, where he was successful in having an injunction issued preventing Baron World Trade from doing any work at the site until the court has ruled on the case.

The defendant (Baron World Trade Co Ltd) told the court they will not use the area and will not hurt or make any action that will start a conflict with the sea gypsies until the case has been judged, Mr Pasit said.

Baron World trade is the defendant in the claim for damages totalling B500,000 filed by Nuengruethai Raknawa and three other sea gypsies on June 14 last year.

In response, Baron World Trade filed it s own claim for damages totalling B31mn.

The court will hear witness testimonies for both claims on June 7-9, Mr Pasit confirmed.

The ongoing dispute with Baron World Trade is over land where the sea gypsies sacred Balai shrine is located. Tensions flared on May 25, when more than 200 sea gypsy villagers confronted 50 workers who arrived with a backhoe and began moving boulders into place to block access to the sea gypsies sacred Balai shrine, which sits on part of the disputed land.

The confrontation escalated into clashes, with workers and sea gypsies throwing rocks at each other for 30 minutes. The rock fight stopped when Chalong Police arrived with more than 50 officials. (See story here.)

That conflict followed a stand-off between sea gypsies and Baron World Trade construction workers on Jan 27 last year that escalated into violence. (See story here.)
Phuket man dies from flesh-eating bacteria from cat scratch

PHUKET: The 63-year-old man who contracted flesh-eating bacteria from a cat scratch near his home in Rawai in January has died. The man, Veera Pantip, passed away at Vachira Phuket Hospital yesterday (Mar 9), his family confirmed to The Phuket News.



By The Phuket News

Friday 10 March 2017, 10:51AM

Veera Pantip, who contracted flesh-eating bacteria from a neighbourhood cat scratch, died at Vachira Phuket Hospital yesterday (Mar 9). Photo: The Phuket News / file

Rungnapha Ngachan, Mr Veeras daughter-in-law, also confirmed that Mr Veera, a Muslim, was buried yesterday in accordance with his beliefs.

My condolences to Khun Nate (Mr Veeras daughter). It is one of the saddest moments in my life, Ms Rungnapha said.

I miss him every time I see boats at the pier. After today I will not see him drive his boat back to us ever again, she added.

Mr Veera was admitted to Vachira Hospital on Jan 18 after a scratch on his right shin and calf from a neighbourhood cat two days earlier had failed to heal.

He was soon diagnosed as having contracted necrotising fasciitis, a deadly flesh-eating bacteria, and had his right leg amputated in an attempt to prevent the disease from spreading. (See story here.)

Dr Jirapan Taepan, Chief of the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO), which operates all three main government hospitals on the island, on Jan 27 said, The patients existing medical condition was the primary reason the infection became so severe.

This case has more to do with Mr Veeras existing health condition, which allowed the bacteria to flourish and cause a severe infection.

I dont think it is important to find this cat. The bacteria that caused Mr Veeras infection is common and can be found almost anywhere.

However, Dr Chalermpong Sukonthapon, Director of Vachira Phuket Hospital, told a press conference just days earlier, on Jan23, Necrotising fasciitis is rare, but it can especially affect people with low immunity, including those who take steroids. People with normal immunity levels should find that the wounds will heal by themselves.

Dr Jirapan was not available for comment yesterday. Staff at the hospital and the doctors assigned to provide care for Mr Veera also declined to comment.

Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos told The Phuket News yesterday that he was already aware of Mr Veeras passing.

Mayor Aroon said he would visit Mr Veeras family to pay his respects. I will visit them later this month. he said.

Rawai officials have been unable to find the cat that caused the killer infection, he added.

The cat is a neighbourhood cat. The owner of a house in his neighbourhood (in Soi Ruamjai 1, off Wiset Rd) has many cats and they are free to roam, and nobody knows which cat it was.

We dont know where the cat is. There is nothing more we can do, he said.

Dr Weerasak Lawtongkum, Deputy Director of the Vachira Hospitals aptly-called Medical Department, on Jan 27 urged all people bitten or scratched by animals, including pets, to apply basic first aid, but to seek medical care if the wounds do not heal.
Remains thought to be missing Russian tourist sent for tests

SURAT THANI: Tissue, bone samples and diving gear found in the sea off Koh Tao have been sent to Bangkok for DNA checks as investigators try to shed light on what happened to a Russian tourist missing since the middle of last month.

tourismRussiandeathpolice

By Bangkok Post

Friday 10 March 2017, 04:52PM

A box containing evidence found in the sea off Koh Tao is sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine from Surat Thani airport on Friday (Mar 10) to determine whether any of the remains are of missing tourist Valentina Novozhyonova. Photo: Bangkok Post / Supapong Chaolan

Koh Tao Police Deputy Chief Lt Col Napa Senathip flew by helicopter from the island to Surat Thani airport today (Mar 10), and sent a box containing some bones, tissue samples, a goggle strap and a green vest to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok. Forensic specialists will need about a week to confirm whether they match DNA samples collected from the Koh Tao Hostel where Valentina Novozhyonova stayed. The items were found by divers on the seabed in Chalok Ban Kao Bay yesterday (Mar 9), and are the best lead yet as to what became of the missing Russian tourist. Ms Novozhyonova, 23, checked into the resort on Feb 11. The hostel owner asked police to help find her on Feb 24, because she had not checked out as scheduled on Feb 16 and had not been seen. The hostel management said they did not immediately alert police as they assumed she had travelled on elsewhere without bothering to check out. Police investigators believe Ms Novozhyonova drowned while diving in waters off the island in Koh Pha-ngan district. Police and volunteer divers continued searching the bay on Friday in hope of finding clues to her fate. Read original story here.
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By Press Trust of India: Wagah, Mar 10 (PTI) Under detention for nearly six months, two boys from PoK were today handed over to Pakistani authorities at the Wagah border after the NIA dropped charges of conspiracy in the Uri terror strike.

Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed had been handed over to the Jammu-based 16 Corps of the army on March 8 after the probe agency came to a conclusion that the two had strayed into the Indian side after tiff with their parents due to pressure of studies.

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The armys unit at Uri had detained them and questioned them at length after the September 18 attack on its camp in which 19 personnel were left dead.

The NIA had said that the evidence collected in the form of statements, technical analysis of their mobile phones, seized GPS devices and other circumstantial evidence collected by the NIA "did not reveal any linkage of the suspects with the Uri attackers".

The army had detained the two on September 23, barely days after the terror strike, and claimed that the two had allegedly acted as guides of four terrorists who carried out attack on the Uri garrison in North Kashmir.

On September 18 last year, four heavily armed militants had stormed the Uri army base camp killing 19 soldiers and injuring few others.

The NIA had taken over the investigation in the case from the state police.

The two youths were arrested by the BSF and the army in a joint operation at Angoor Post at Gavalata village in Uri when they were trying to infiltrate into India.

They were also brought to the NIA headquarters in Delhi for detailed interrogation.

The NIA has claimed that terror group Laskar-e-Taiba was behind the Uri attack. PTI SKL ZMN

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What county auditors want voters to know ahead of the midterm election

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By Press Trust of India: Gurgaon, Mar 10 (PTI) A court here today convicted 31 employees of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), including 13 on charges of murder, for the violence at the companys Maneser plant in August 2012.

Additional District and Sessions Judge R K Goyal also acquitted

117 MSIL employees. A total of 148 workers were arrested and charged with the murder of senior HR officer Awanish Kumar Dev.

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The court sentenced 13 employees, holding top posts in MSIL workers union, on charges of murder and attempt to murder besides rioting and other related offences.

The other 18 were convicted on charges of rioting, trespassing, causing hurt and other related offences under Indian Penal Code sections.

The quantum of punishment will be decided on March 18 during the next hearing, defence counsel Rajendra Pathak told PTI.

The violence on August 18, 2012 broke out over wage issues when a group of employees allegedly torched a section of MSIL facility which claimed the life of Dev, a resident of South Delhis Malviya Nagar.

A total of 148 workers were arrested and charged with the murder of Dev, a resident of South Delhis Malviya Nagar.

More than 100 other employees, including some foreign nationals, suffered injuries.

The district administration imposed CrPC section 144 near the civil court and Industrial Model Township (IMT) Manesar, prohibiting gathering of more than five people.

Assembly of more than five people has also been prohibited in the 500 metres radius of MSIL plant and Gurgaon court. PTI CORR KIS ZMN KIS

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The band, although new, are no strangers to the New Zealand music scene. Made up of members of Steriogram, Fire at Will, The Wreckage, Bloodnut and Eqwanox, the members have certainly paid their dues over the last 15 years.
By Reed Essex

essexree@grinnell.edu

SGA representatives at Wednesdays campus council meeting continued to discuss the student protests of a talk given by Ken Adelman 67 and the subsequent meetings of President Raynard Kington with the student protesters.

SGA Senator Riley Murphy 19 began the conversation by explaining each of the events related to Adelmans visit. Protesting students attended Adelmans talk, sitting quietly and holding signs during his presentation. During the Q&A session after the presentation, students questioned him about his role in harassing a black woman and her legally blind partner, as well as his apology, which many students found insufficient. The end result, Murphy stated, was a series of conversations between President Raynard Kington and the activists that occupied the room during Adelmans talk.

After the event, Murphy continued, Kington had office hours with SGA Assistant Treasurer Zach Steckel 18, and Murphy and Delegate Lily Bohlke 19 attended. Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Andrea Conner reached out to SGA President Anita DeWitt 17 by text message to organize a group of students to have another conversation with Kington. DeWitt, Bohlke and a few other students attended this meeting in Nollen House.

In each of the meetings between students and Kington, Kington responded to the students action in a way that many of them found personally offensive. The dissonance between the administrations response after the fact, and the text sent by Andrea Connor, created a strange, liminal space in which the administration both agreed and disagreed with the same problem.

Murphy then reached out to Dean Michael Latham to discuss how to approach creating a dialogue with speakers about past transgressions and the role that students play in discussing how people overcome their own faults.

While Murphy maintained that the action against Adelman was not focused on his political ideologies, Senator Jenkin Benson 17 argued that we could not ignore the political reality of [Adelmans] neo-conservatism and the role that it played in both the talk and as the catalyst for the harassment incident in 1967.

While many students agreed that the assertion that Kington and the administration had acted inappropriately, the dialogue shifted to the possibilities for in-person reflections with speakers who come to campus, holding them responsible to their previous actions, allowing actual discourse between polarized political perspectives and providing constructive criticism on the student action itself.

Kahlil Epps 18, president of Concerned Black Students [CBS] and senator, raised the issue that a majority white activist group acted on behalf of the black population in Grinnell without reaching out to CBS and other students of color to address the Adelman concern. Epps noted that the efficacy of the action was impacted negatively due to the lack of communication between the protestors and CBS, and that going forward with a focus on communication between communities can provide the most effective solutions to problems on campus.

The conversation finished with a proposition by Steckel to write a resolution about next steps to be discussed at Reform Committees meeting next Wednesday. Steckel encouraged students to reach out to him and members of Reform Committee if they would like to provide input on next steps.

Lily Bohlke is a News editor of the S&B
By Michael Cummings

cummings@grinnell.edu

While the benefits of recent technological advances are frequently touted in the media and in society, such tech also has its drawbacks. This week, the Rosenfield Program dug deep into both sides of this coin with a symposium on technology and human rights. A diverse array of speakers came to campus to discuss technology and how it relates to everything from privacy to refugees to art.

The symposium kicked off Tuesday afternoon with Belarusian author Evgeny Morozov. His work is concerned with perceptions of the internet as an unequivocal force for spreading freedom throughout the world.

Morozovs talk, entitled Do We Have a Right to Our Data? Data Ownership and the Inequality Debate, focused on the morality of data collection by Silicon Valley tech companies.

One of Morozovs main points centered around the way targeted advertising works. He used the example of a person who may be considering becoming vegetarian.

So if youre contemplating becoming a vegetarian  that is something that can be inferred from your Gmail conversations, or from your chats or from your Google searches, right, a lot of that can be inferred about us just by looking at all sorts of data points that we leave online as we browse and as we communicate, Morozov said.

The symposium entered into day two with a lecture by Mark Latonero, a professor at the University of Southern California.

Latoneros talk focused on research he has done into the ways refugees use technology Europe. He said that while most people writing about refugees discuss the physical passage they take from place to place, narratives miss the technological aspect of the story.

I started investigating what I would call a digital passage. This sort of passage, these technologies, the sweeter technologies that are mingling and are facilitating this movement again from the Middle East to Northern Europe, Latonero said.

Latonero explained that while many people in the west might not associate smart phones with refugees, a variety of online tools provide invaluable service to refugees making their way through Europe.

Latonero cautioned that, while technology has become essential to the modern refugee, the data left behind in their digital footprints makes their privacy a growing concern. These types of systems have a way of potentially stigmatizing an already vulnerable population, he said.

Later that evening, the symposium continued with a talk by Sarah Labowitz 04, who studied history as a student and has gone on to hold a variety of positions related to technology and human rights.

After Grinnell, Labowitz worked on labor rights in the fashion industry before getting a job working on internet freedom issues in Hillary Clintons State Department. Most recently, Labowitz served as the co-director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York Universitys Stern School of Business, the only human rights-related organization at any business school in the country.

Labowitzs talk, The Robots are Coming: Technology, Work and Labor Rights investigated the role that automation will play in the world in coming years.

She discussed a panel she was on at the end of last year in which other members spoke of the seemingly inevitable total automation coming to the labor force.

 Moshe Vardi, a computer scientist at Rice University, argued in a 2015 paper that by 2045, machines will be able to do much of the work that humans do, Labowitz said. But Ive spent a lot of time in a lot of factories, where humans work for very cheaply, doing things that robots are bad at.

Labowitz went on to explain why the clothing industry in particular is difficult to automate.

Fabric is flexible, soft, and has few edges. Constructing a garment requires integrating a large quantity of unpredictable variables ascertained primarily by touch. The substitution costs of robots for humans is especially high when workers in Bangladesh are willing to sew t-shirts for 68 dollars a month, she said.

Labowitz concluded with a prediction that automation may result in the widening of a gap between rich and poor.

The keynote address of the symposium took place Thursday morning at Convocation. Opal Tometi, the executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), and a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, spoke on The Role of Technology in the Black Lives Matter Movement. Recording was not permitted at this talk so no exact quotes are available.

Tometi began her talk by asking the audience if they remembered where they were when George Zimmerman, who had been on trial for the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was acquitted. That event was a powerful catalyst for Tometi, because Martin reminded her of her own younger brother and the possibility that he could be killed simply for being a black teen.

Shortly after the acquittal, Tometi read a Facebook post by Alicia Garza, another founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, in which Garza first used the phrase Black Lives Matter. From there, Tometi, Garza and other activists began to organize the movement.

One of the most striking aspects of the movement, for Tometi, was the tools being used. Different activists in different time periods have used whatever tools are available to them, and Black Lives Matter is no different: much of the organizing going on, including arguably the inception of the movement through Garzas Facebook post, was happening online.

While Tometi praised the role technology has held in the Black Lives Matter movement, she expressed concerns over privacy issues associated with modern technology. In fact, Tometi was recently been forced to throw away her Amazon Alexa following reports that they have the ability to record your daily life even when they are not in use.

The final talk of the Symposium was an Artists@Grinnell Gallery Talk in Faulconer with Joan Linder 92. More information about that talk can be found on page four.

The symposium will formally come to an end Friday Night with a Human Rights Wikipedia Edit-a-thon in the basement of Burling from 4 to 8 p.m. Students interested in participating are asked to create their own Wikipedia account prior to the event.

Professor Sarah Purcell 92, director of the Rosenfield Program, thought that the different talks intersected in a valuable way with regards to the benefits and drawbacks of technology in a human rights context.

There are a lot of liberating qualities for human rights of various technological applications and then also ways that human rights can be imperiled in brand new ways that no one ever thought of before, said Purcell. And so to see the way that those two things go hand in hand and to really unpack that relationship I think is really compelling.
By Emma Soberano 17

soberano@grinnell.edu

Yaa Gyasis Homegoing is more than a collection of short stories shaped into a novel: it is a family tree, whose trunk is split at the base but which rises, strong, for generations. At the root of the story are Effia and Esi, Ghanaian half-sisters separated by the eighteenth centurys burgeoning slave trade. While Effia and her descendants remain in Africa, Esi is captured and sold to the United States. Every chapter tells a piece of the next generations story, alternating between the two sisters kin, so that as soon as we have come to know one character, their chapter closes and we are shuttled across the ocean to hear from their parallel. In this way, we come to know seven generations, 14 men and women, and several centuries of history.

Gyasi weaves a tale that is both sweeping in its scope and intimate in its humanity. Through Homecoming, Gyasi recaptures a history which has been lost, denied, and deliberately destroyed, and returns it to the two sisters progeny, and to those whose families share similar stories  Africans on one side of the slave trade or another. To read Homecoming is to bear witness to history, to the twenty-first century results of chance and small choices made back in the eighteenth century.

While each new chapter brings with it a new voice, new troubles, laughter and sorrows, twining threads of love and longing link the whole novel together. Homegoing is at once a love story and a eulogy. The characters in Gyasis stories find strength in their love for family in its many forms: children, grandparents, partners, self, community. And every character is, in their own way, mourning the loss of a land untouched by white hands and cruelty.

To write a review of Homegoing is to inherently fail to do it justice. I cannot capture the full enormity of three centuries, the task Gyasi set for herself and achieved so beautifully, in a few hundred words. What I can tell you is that this novel moved me to tears, and made me smile at its cleverness.

Gyasis writing is clean and comforting, the prose itself easy to read even when the subject material is painful. A sorrowful undercurrent runs through the novels pages, but Gyasi takes time to appreciate the sweetness, anger, frustration, sensuality and joy which give each life its texture. Every character is fully fleshed out, and reading their stories is like hearing from long-lost friends or family members. Some stories are familiar, others new and unexpected, and all are beautiful and heart-wrenching. These are the stories of two families, but also of two countries, whose people weave in and out of each others lives, meeting and separating in surprising ways.

I knew almost immediately what wine I wanted to pair Homegoing with. Gewurztraminer is a rich and flavorful white wine, made from cool-climate grapes, and thus is sweeter-tasting. It is typically paired with spicy food, to help balance the heat, and so I thought of it when trying to balance the heartache so prevalent within this book.

The wine I chose, Fetzers 2014 Shaly Loam Gewurztraminer, does not have as much of the varietys typical lychee scent, but maintains the characteristic sweet taste and floral smell. While there are definite tangerine notes, I was hoping for a tiny bit more acidity to go with the novels zing. Instead, the tangerine present is sweet, like a California Cutie (which may be appropriate, as this is a California wine). In addition to tangerines, peach is also very forward, and a hint of warm spices make up somewhat for the low acidity. Gewurztraminers often taste honeyed, and Fetzer is no exception  the honeyed sweetness of the wine pairs well with the affection Gyasi shows for her characters, and that which they show for each other.

Wine: Fetzer 2014 Shaly Loam Gewurztraminer, $10 at HyVee

Alcohol-free alternative: Go treat yourself to a smoothie from the Grille. Did you know you can mix flavors? My favorite combinations are peach mango and raspberry mango.
"53 fishermen have been released from Jaffna jail while 32 others are still in custody in Vuvuniya jail," Fishery Ministry officials said.

By Press Trust of India: Days after the killing of an Indian fisherman allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy, the country today released 53 fishermen.

"53 fishermen have been released from Jaffna jail while 32 others are still in custody in Vuvuniya jail," Fishery Ministry officials said.

Sri Lanka had earlier informed the Indian High Commission in Colombo that it will release all 85 Indian fishermen in their custody, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

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Sri Lanka and India on Wednesday agreed to release fishermen held in each other's custody after a high-level discussion between the two sides in Colombo in a bid to defuse the tension following the killing of an Indian fisherman.

A 22-year-old fisherman from Tamil Nadu was killed and another injured on March 6 allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy.

(With inputs from PTI)

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24 more Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka; total of 50 arrested in the past week

--- ENDS ---
While the Aaj Tak exit polls indicate a win ranging between 251 and 279 seats for the party, the Chanakya exit poll suggests a magnificent 285 seats in the saffron party's kitty.

By India Today Web Desk: Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly election results, exit polls have flooded the news. A majority of the exit polls are heralding a landslide victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

While most of the polls are showing a victory for BJP, Aaj Tak polls and Chanakya polls suggest a staggering victory for the party.

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While the Aaj Tak exit polls indicate a win ranging between 251 and 279 seats for the party, the Chanakya exit poll suggests a magnificent 285 seats in the saffron party's kitty.

MRC prediction show 185 seats, VMT shows a range of 190-210 seats, Lokniti CSDS project 164-176 seats for the party.

Senior BJP leaders have unanimously said that the party has cut across the caste and socio-economic divide across the state in the decisive assembly polls for 2017.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been holding extensive rallies across the state to reach out to the populace, despite not declaring a chief ministerial candidate.

India Today Axis My India polls have predicted that BJP will register a 36 per cent voter percent this time than 15 per cent registered in 2012.

MODI MAGIC

"The exit poll predictions reflect the fact that BJP has been working for the people and it will come to power. PM Modi has launched several welfare schemes for the poor in the state and that has reinstated their faith in the party," said senior party leader Om Mathur.

Mathur added that Samajwadi Party's decision to ally with the Congress too has worked in BJP's favour. He even slammed the Samajwadi party for orchestrating a feud to conceal their corruption and deceive voters.

While the both Aaj Tal exit polls and Chanakya exit polls both project a clear victory for BJP, party leaders attribute the astounding figures to the vision and leadership of PM Modi.

WATCH | Assembly elections 2017: Exit polls predict the future of political parties in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand

Also read: Exit Poll 2017: BJP set to storm Uttar Pradesh, Congress to win Punjab

--- ENDS ---
Many students of Kashmir University in Srinagar have again stepped out of their classes to protest on the campus ~ but for a different reason this time round. These students, pursuing their Master's in various disciplines, have accused the varsity authorities of allegedly forcing them to sit for their semester examinations ~ scheduled for the end of this month ~ without ensuring completion of their syllabuses by their teachers.

"This year our university, keeping in view the loss of academic months during last year's unrest in Kashmir, had introduced winter session for us, which commenced on January 2017. But due to heavy snowfall our classes got suspended for about a month, so they could only resume in February. We were supposed to attend sixty lectures per class in sixty working days, but the departments are now hastening the process and compelling us to sit in exams even when we havent completed 30% of our syllabuses so far," said a female student on condition of anonymity.

Scores of students gathered in front of the Kahsmir Universty Vice Chancellors Secretariat on Thursday to register their protest against "curtailing" their semester duration from at least four months to merely a month. They urged the VC to defer their semester exams on the ground that thir syllabuses have not been covered by their teachers yet.

According to protesting students, there have been just 25 working days so far with respect to their semester classes which started in February rather than January. They have blamed the varsity authorities for "playing with their future" by holding examinations "prematurely". These students are from various post-graduation departments including Biochemistry, Environmental Science, Zoology, Biosciences and Social Studies.

"As there have been very less classes, we have no idea about the subjects in our books. Some of the topics were dictated to us without explaining properly with teachers giving PowerPoint presentations. For rest of the topics we were suggested to go through e-tutorials on the University's website," a Biochemistry student said.

The head of a faculty warned students of "dire consequences" if they attempt to stage any protest demonstration against the varsity's decision. "We were threatened with rustication and cancellation of our admission if we go to VCs office with our complaint. We did not receive proper lectures and we are still being forced to take our exams. So, our degrees would be mere pieces of papers. The exams are scheduled for this month's end and we have no idea what we are supposed to write in our answer papers," said some Zoology students.

When contacted by The Statesman for the varsity administration's reaction on the issue, the Controller Examination Prof Abdul Salam Bhat said, "We are yet to take any decision on the matter," adding that "When we get the confirmation regarding the completion of syllabuses from heads of different departments, only then we go ahead with the date sheet (exams schedule), otherwise we dont."

It is another matter that the varsity authorities have already issued the exams scxhedule for Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Zoology, Math and MCA departments.
India's key messages during the Commonwealth summit being held in London this week will focus on ease of doing business in the country and creating a strong export economy, a senior Indian diplomat said on Friday.

The inaugural Commonwealth Trade Ministers' Meeting is being held over two days starting on March 10, with ministers and policymakers from across the Commonwealth set to discuss areas for increased collaboration.

India is being represented at the meeting by Commerce Secretary Rita Neotia.

"The key messages are around ease of doing business in India and all the initiatives being taken by the Government of India. To a large extent there is a recognition that India is doing well in this area and gone up in the World Bank rankings. There is a recognition that trade and investment go together," said Dinesh Patnaik, deputy high commissioner to the UK.

"The other focus is on how to create an export economy.

The Commerce Secretary will be highlighting the steps India is taking and also take note of what other countries have done in the field," he added.

The opening day of the meeting, jointly convened by the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) and the Commonwealth Secretariat, was focused on a series of roundtables as an exchange of ideas between the member- countries, with Friday ear-marked for a ministerial meetings.

The event was opened by UK minister for international trade Liam Fox, who flagged India among the fastest growing import economies over the next five years.

He said in his speech: "According to the IMF, the Commonwealth countries whose imports of goods and services are likely to grow fastest over the next five years are Mozambique, Bangladesh, India, Brunei, Ghana and Sierra Leone.

Many more countries represented here on Friday are also experiencing rapid economic development.

"This represents not only a great opportunity for their citizens to share in the proceeds of global prosperity, but it represents tremendous opportunities to importers and exporters from across the whole Commonwealth, a genuinely win-win situation."

Fox also highlighted an upcoming small and medium enterprise (SME) summit to be held in India next month.

"The [Commonwealth] Secretariat has also organised a summit next month, designed to help developing Commonwealth nations benefit from India s global value chains, tapping into the diversification of their export markets and improvements to their supply chain capacity," he noted.

The first-ever London meeting follows on from the Commonwealth Business Forum in Malta in November 2015 and has been described as an attempt to kick-start an ambitious agenda ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Summit in the UK.

"Looking forward, Britain will lead the charge for a freer and fairer trading system and we want our Commonwealth partners and friends to join with us. Thats why we will use this meeting to continue conversations around how to minimise disruption, remove barriers and ensure a win-win approach to our future trading relations," said Lord Price, minister of state in the Department for International Trade.

The meeting is the UK s attempt at creating new, stronger trade ties with Commonwealth countries as it leaves the European Union (EU).

While Britain cannot initiate any bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) until the official Brexit process is complete, it is focussing on exploring ties through such multi-lateral fora.

The 52 member-states in the Commonwealth boast a combined population of over 2.4 billion people.

Latest figures show intra-Commonwealth trade has grown faster than the global average over the past 10 years, and is projected to be worth $1 trillion a year by 2020.
Country's largest lender State Bank of India on Friday said it has signed an agreement with German KfW Development Bank for $274 million (Rs.1,800 crore) loan facility to finance affordable housing segment in the country.

With its focus on housing loans for economically weaker sections (EWS) and lower income group (LIG) households, the facility is designed to complement the government's flagship affordable housing programme, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the bank said in a statement issued here on Friday.

The promotional loan has a maturity of 15 years.

SBI is committed to support government's mission of housing for all and this facility will be additional impetus to support this mission, SBI's deputy managing director Siddhartha Sengupta said.

The lower income household categories account for 95 per cent of the estimated shortage of 20 million housing units in the country.

German KfW Development Bank executive board member, Norbert Kloppenburg, said, Sustainable mortgage loans to low income families to purchase, build or upgrade their homes are critical for inclusive growth and development.

The fund raising process was facilitated by SBI Capital Markets.
India's automotive company Tata Motors Ltd on Friday inked an agreement with German automaker Volkswagen (VW) Group and Czechs automaker Skoda to manufacture a new range of products.

Exploring a strategic alliance for joint development of products between Skoda of Volkswagen Group and Tata Motors, said Tata Motors in a statement.

The agreement has been signed between Tata Motors CEO Guenter Butschek, VW Group CEO Matthias Muller and Skoda Auto (Geneva) CEO Bernhard Maier.

Tata Motors plans to launch the new products in the Indian market in 2019.
The focus in Goa on Saturday will be on whether the BJP will be able to retain power and if it gets a fresh mandate, will Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar return to his home state as chief minister.

The main fight for the 40-member Assembly, which went to polls on February 4 and recorded an impressive turnout of 83 per cent, is between the BJP and the Congress.

The Aam Admi Party also made a serious bid this time round, contesting a majority of seats.

The BJP fielded candidates in 36 constituencies and supported Independents in the remaining seats.

The BJP's poll campaign was led by Parrikar, which fuelled speculation that he may be chosen as chief minister if the the party returns to power in the state.

Incumbent Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar is also in the fray.

Though the BJP leadership has not come out with an official statement on the leadership issue, some senior party leaders said during campaigning that the chief ministerial nominee would be chosen by the elected legislators.

The Congress, the main opposition in the state, has fielded its nominees in 37 seats and backed the candidates of the United Goan, Goa Forward and an Independent in the rest.

The outcome will also decide the fate of the alliance between Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) and the Shiv Sena.

The MGP, one of the oldest regional outfits, broke alliance with the BJP before the elections, while the GSM was floated by RSS rebel Subhash Velingkar.

The combine, according to political analysts, could harm the BJP more than the Congress and the NCP.

A new entrant to the electoral scene in the coastal state, the AAP has contested in 39 seats and the leaders who campaigned for the party included Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Keenly watched constituencies in the state include Mandrem in North Goa from where Parsekar is seeking re-election and Panaji, which was represented by Parrikar before he moved to the Centre.

In 2012, the BJP had come to power in Goa with 21 seats, The Congress had got 9 seats, MGP 3, Goa Vikas Party 2 and Independents 5.
Just when the Karan-Kangana fire went out of control, actor Shekhar Suman added fuel to the fire with his nasty comments against Kanganas badass card statement.

She should just keep her mouth shut, and let her work speak for herself. If you are a failure then you should have a dignity to come forward and and say I have failed miserably. You dont always have to shout on the rooftop and say what you have done. The best thing is to just be and keep your mouth shut, Shekhar Suman was quoted as saying.

Calling Kangana a fake feminist, Suman said, I dont like these weeping women and women who cry to everyone claiming that they were victimised, traumatised, agonised and all that. Otherwise when you are talking about equality, everybody is in the same line. But some women save their cards conveniently. You become a woman and a man according to your convenience. You say that you are the hero of the film and not the heroine. It is quite irritating to see these blubbering women who get all the support in the world from the internet, the actor added.

Earlier Shekhar was trolled by the Twitterati for calling Kangana a "cocained actress" after the failure of Rangoon.

Shekhar and his son Adhyayen had claimed that Kangana used black magic to destroy the Adhyayens career, who was also her boyfriend at one point of time.

With things being blown out of proportion one can only wonder what Kangana has to say in response to Shekhars comments against her!
In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against Justice CS Karnan, a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, for failing to appear in contempt case against him.

A seven-Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar and Judges Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, Pinaki Chandra Ghose, Kurian Joseph passed this order this morning.

Earlier, Calcutta High Court's controversial judge did not appear before the apex court which had sought his physical presence to show cause as to why suo motu contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him

The top court had issued a contempt notice to a Justice Karnan for writing letters casting aspersions on several judges.

The issuance of contempt notice to Justice Karnan assumes significance as it is for the first time in the history of the Supreme Court that it has invoked powers to initiate contempt proceedings against a sitting judge of a High Court.

In the earlier proceedings, the bench also took on record Justice Karnan's recent letter to the Registrar General of the apex court on February 10 after issuance of the show cause notice.

Justice Karnan had reportedly played the Dalit card in the fresh communication and asked the Supreme Court to refer the matter to Parliament, contending that the contempt proceedings were "not sustainable".
New Delhi on Friday rejected any suggestion for third party mediation between India and Pakistan.

Our position on addressing all issues between India and Pakistan bilaterally has not changed, sources here said when asked for reaction to reports that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was mulling the option of talking to senior officials from India and Pakistan on the situation in Kashmir and how things could be improved on the ground.

Guterres ''will talk to different officials if it helps (to) move the process along. That's something that he is looking into. Beyond that, I have nothing to say about the issue,'' UN chief's Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the MEA said two Pakistani juveniles, Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khurshid Chaudhry, were repatriated via Attari/Wagah on Friday following the completion of investigation and the confirmation of their nationality. It said New Delhi attaches highest importance to addressing all humanitarian matters, including early release and repatriation of all eligible Indian prisoners and fishermen.
The Directors General of Medical Services of India and Bangladesh on Friday discussed various areas of cooperation. India has been at the forefront in training doctors and paramedical staff of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Major General S M Motahar Hossain, DGMS (Bangladesh Army), called upon Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Unni, DG AFMS, and Lt Gen Velu Nair, DGMS (Army), on Friday and expressed gratitude for the support and continuous cooperation of Indian Armed Forces, including treating the patients being referred to India.

He sought expert technical advice on medical matters through telemedicine and in other sophisticated fields of surgery and organ transplant to which the hosts expressed willingness.
Rejecting the results of the exit polls, Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the SP-Cong alliance will emerge victorious in the UP Assembly elections 2017. SP- Cong alliance will win in UP. Exit polls can be wrong, the Congress leader was quoted as saying to a television channel.

Look what happened in the case of Bihar? These results do not always reflect the true situation. We will talk on March 11 he said.

Almost all the exit poll results have put BJP in the top with maximum number of seats. Most of them have predicted that BJP will win over 180 seats; some going as far as 210. According to India News, the SP- Cong alliance is expected to win 120 seats, while ABP News puts the number at 156-169.

Counting for the UP Assembly election 2017 is scheduled on March 11. Apart from UP, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, too, have gone to polls this year.
Exit polls for Uttar Pradesh suggest a change of government. AajTak analyses how Akhilesh-Rahul alliance seemingly failed to deliver in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. Results will be known tomorrow when votes will be counted.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav had been searching for victory in Assembly election, but exit polls predicts a negative result for them. (Photo: AP)

By India Today Web Desk: The counting of votes for the Assembly elections 2017 will be held tomorrow. In all five states went to polls between February 4 and March 8 but on the day of counting the focus will be on Uttar Pradesh.

The exit polls have predicted a win for the BJP as SP-Congress alliance is likely to be dislodged from power in Uttar Pradesh.

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India Today-Axis My India exit poll, done for the India Today Group including the AajTak, has predicted a massive victory for the BJP and conclusive defeat for the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance. The coming together of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi seems to have failed to inspire confidence among the voters.

AajTak has done an analysis as to why they failed to form a winning combination in the politically most crucial state in the country.

MODI STILL CONNECTS WITH THE PEOPLE

After demonetisation, the Opposition addressed rallies after rallies to denounce Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even many political observers opined that Modi wave has subsided in the north India.

But, the way Prime Minister campaigned and the kind of response he got from the masses during his extensive electioneering in Uttar Pradesh reflect that Modi wave has not waned. His camping at Varanasi for three days gave the BJP that cutting edge over others.

AKHILESH'S PERFORMANCE CLAIM FELL FLAT

During his entire election campaign, Akhilesh Yadav showcased his government's performance in Uttar Pradesh over five years. He coined the slogan- Kaam Bolta Hai, which Modi countered with 'Karnaama Bolta Hai' jibe.

If the exit poll results stand true on the day of counting, it would simply mean that Akhilesh's slogan could not bring enough voters to EVMs while Modi's counter worked.

BJP'S SOCIAL ENGINEERING

BSP chief Mayawati engineered a splendid socio-political formula of Dalit-Brahmin in 2007-Assembly election. This formula propelled her party to majority.

The Samajwadi Party tried its own brand of Yadav-Muslim formula in 2012. This time, BJP president Amit Shah worked on non-Yadav OBCs plus non-Jatav SCs formula. The exit polls show that the BJP has succeeded in its strategy.

INFIGHTING IN SP

The Samajwadi Party and the Yadav family were engaged in bitter infighting just ahead of the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.

The Samajwadi Party had got 29.29 per cent votes while the Congress secured 13.26 per cent votes. The combined vote-share stood at over 42.5 per cent.

But, the exit polls suggest that the SP-Congress alliance has got only 30 per cent votes. The infighting in the SP seems to have taken a toll on the prospects of Akhilesh-Rahul alliance as even the SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav largely stayed away from the election campaign.

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IMPRESSIVE CAMPAIGN BY BJP

While the infighting troubled the SP-Congress alliance, an aggressive and impressive poll campaign by the BJP leaders led by PM Modi made sure that Akhilesh-Rahul alliance does not work in Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.

After joining hands with Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav gave another slogan- UP Ko Ye Saath Pasand Hai, but the exit polls indicate that voters in Uttar Pradesh had other ideas about their alliance.

WATCH | Assembly elections 2017: Exit polls predict the future of political parties in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand

Also read:

Congress eyes Delhi, Rahul Gandhi to launch campaign for municipal election Rahul Gandhi: Bihar exit polls were wrong, we are winning Uttar Pradesh, will talk tomorrow

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Undaunted by the current security situation in Afghanistan, India has decided to spend nearly $450 million in the embattled nation to build low-cost houses for Afghan refugees repatriating to the country.

According to official sources, Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra has had detailed discussions with officials of the Afghan Urban development and Housing Ministry on various housing projects to be launched.

India is believed to have asked Afghan authorities to share the various models and plans regarding housing projects to be launched in different parts of the country. The Afghan Government, it is learnt, was designing housing projects, taking into account factors like environment and living conditions.

Afghan National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar, who was in India earlier this week, had also met senior Indian officials and discussed the progress on various reconstruction and infrastructure projects under way in Afghanistan with Indias assistance.

The Afghan authorities reiterated their gratitude to India for playing a huge role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime. India has invested about two billion dollars in various projects in the war-ravaged nation and its contribution has come in for praise even for the common people. The construction of the Salma Dam, new Afghan Parliament building and Zaranj-Delaram Highway are some of the major projects that have been undertaken by India.

The sources said the Afghan Government has also expressed its desire to increase the exports of dry fruits, fresh fruits and vegetables to India. The exports of these items from the land-locked country to Pakistan have suffered in recent months due to the ongoing border tension between the two nations.
In the wake of a cross-border stone pelting incident along the Indo-Nepal border, authorities on Friday said that the situation in Lakhimpur Kheri's border area remains tensed.

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) sources said that the Nepalese protesters are shouting anti-India slogans and still pelting stones.

On March 9, over nine SSB jawans and a few civilians were injured in a cross-border stone pelting incident along the Indo-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh.

Paramilitary and local police personnel fired a teargas shell to disperse the mob, which had gathered around the no man's land in Basahi village in Sampurnanagar area following a dispute over some construction work. The dispute first started on February 18 when some Nepalese citizens started constructing a culvert in the area near missing pillar no 200. It was agreed then that no permanent construction would be carried out till the survey officers of both the countries decided on the matter.

However, construction work started on Thursday by the other side and when it came to their notice, SSB jawans objected to it following which a group of Nepalese citizens resorted to stone pelting.

SSB, which works under the command of the Union Home Ministry, is tasked to guard the 1,751 km long Indo-Nepal border.
As the Lok Sabha passed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016, India becomes the country with third highest maternity leave after Canada (50 weeks) and Norway (44 weeks). The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in August last year. With this, the previously granted maternity leave for 12 weeks has been increased to 26 weeks. Here's a list of all the benefits women can enjoy under the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

Women employed in organised sectors

Women working in organised sectors are now entitled to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave for the first and second child. However, for the third child the leave remains for 12 weeks. Any organisation with 10 or more employees is supposed to grant maternity leave of 26 weeks.

Maternity leave for adopting mothers

The bill provides 12 weeks of maternity leave to a woman who legally adopts a child under three months of age. The leave is to begin from the day the child has been handed over to the mother.

Maternity leave for commissioning mother

Twelve weeks of leave is granted to a commissioning mother (defined as a biological mother) who uses her egg to have a surrogate child.

Creche facilities and number of visits per day

The bill also requires every establishment with 50 or more employees to provide creche facilities within a prescribed distance. The woman will be allowed four visits to the creche a day. This will include her interval for rest.

Work from home facility

An employer can also permit a woman to work from home, if the nature of work assigned permits.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday assured to extend help to parents of a New York University (NYU) student Debarpan Mukherjee, who is currently admitted in a hospital following brain haemorrhage.

Have just learnt that Debarpan Mukherjee, a student of NYU, is in hospital because of brain haemorrhage," the minister said in a series of tweets.

"We will ensure that his parents reach there at the earliest. Our Consulate in New York will provide all help, she added.

Earlier in the month the minister reacted on Twitter after the shooting of a 39-year-old Sikh man Deep Rai in the US and expressed her sorrow over the hate crime.
Police are probing the death of Lance Naik Roy Mathew who was found dead in an army barracks, the Lok Sabha was told on Friday.

Replying to queries in the House, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the soldier was found dead in an army barrack days after he featured in a sting video criticising the 'Sahayak' system in the Army.

Saying this was an isolated incident, the minister said consultations are on over the Sahayak system. "It (Naik's case) was an isolated incident. Police is carrying out an independent probe," he said.

Parrikar, however, refused to make any further comments on the incident. "I don't want to make any comment on it as it would be prejudicial to say anything at this stage," he said.

Lance Naik Mathew was found dead in a barrack in Maharashtra's Devlali Cantonment on 3 March.

The minister said consultations are on over the Sahayak system, which came into focus recently after a few soldiers took to social media to air their grievances over the buddy system in the Army.

"We are in consultation with all concerned and an appropriate mechanism would be worked out soon," Parrikar said.

Earlier, responding to a question on this subject, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, said there were a few incidents of complaints by jawans, but it did not reflect the collective mood of the soldiers.

"There are various mechanisms to address the grievances of jawans, that include regular holding of 'Sainik Sammelan' where the soldiers can raise their problems," Bhamre said.

Earlier this week, another soldier, Sepoy Sindhav Jogidas Lakhubhai of the Army Medical Corps, took to social media to attack the 'batman' or Sahayak system in the Army. Earlier, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap had posted a video on the same issue. The Army has, however, said both the soldiers were never assigned any Sahayak roles.

Self-reliance: The government is pursuing several measures to realise progressively higher levels of indigenisation and self-reliance in the defence sector. To this end, the Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 (DPP 2016) has provisions which accord higher priority to procurement from Indian vendors, Bhambre said.

He said notwithstanding this, import of defence equipment may be necessitated to meet operational requirements and when indigenous equipment is not available.

The modernisation of the Armed Forces is an ongoing process and is executed in consonance with the roadmap laid down in the Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) which specifies the capabilities that the armed forces need to acquire over a 15 year period (2012-27), considering the current capabilities of the armed forces, the emerging threats in the region and the prevailing technological environment, Bhambre said.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said that the President Pranab Mukherjee, had expressed the desire to adopt 50 more villages in the state to develop them as smart villages.

Speaking on the concluding day of the Budget session of the Vidhan Sabha, he said the President had earlier adopted five villages in HaryanaAlipur, Daula, Harchandpur and Tajnagar in Gurgaon district, and Rozkameo in Mewat districtto develop them as smart villages in July, 2016. New initiatives in the field of health, skill development, infrastructure and agriculture have been taken in these five villages.

The CM said that the 50 new villages to be adopted were located within 5 km radius of those adopted earlier. These are Ghamdoz, Raiseena, Dhunaila, Hariyaheda, Garhi Bazidpur, Mohammadpur Gujjar, Mahendwada, Sanpki Nagli, Sohna rural located in 5 km radius of Alipur village.

The CM, on his own and on behalf of the House, expressed gratitude towards the President for expressing the desire to adopt these villages in Haryana.

Referring to the Vidhayak Adarsh Gram Yojna, the CM said that Rs.50 lakh per annum would be given for development of villages having a population less than 5,000 and Rs.1 crore per year to those having a population of between 5,000 and 10,000. In case the population of a village exceeds 10,000, the financial assistance would be Rs.2 Crore every year.

This amount would be continued up to 2019. Every member of the House can adopt another village for the next year under the scheme.
In the wake of a Nepalese man being killed in a firing incident along the Indo-Nepal border, India on Friday asked Nepal to share postmortem and forensic reports of the Nepali national.

"Government of Nepal is being requested through diplomatic channels to share post-mortem and forensic reports to facilitate the process," MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said on Friday.

"Officials of two bordering districts of India and Nepal have met after the incident and agreed to maintain peace and order," he added .He said that the Sashastra Seema Bal has initiated an enquiry on reports of the death of a Nepali national on Thursday.

Govinda Gautam, the Nepalese man was killed on Thursday when Indian border guards allegedly opened fire following a dispute over the construction of a culvert on Sano Khola river along the Indo-Nepal border.

The incident occurred in Kanchanpur district in southwestern Nepal that borders Indias Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh states.

The construction of the culvert started on Wednesday after an agreement was reached by the two sides following a dispute that lasted for more than a month.
The Lok Sabha on Friday witnessed a verbal clash after the opposition members accused the government of burdening the poor by hiking prices of oil products, especially non-subsidised cooking gas cylinders.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, while responding to the issue raised by Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge, accused him of "misleading" the House.

Terming the increase of Rs.86 for each non-subsidised LPG cylinder as a "small hike", he said only 1.1 crore people, out of the total of 91.7 crore people having LPG connections, will pay the increased price and the poor were not affected by it.

Members of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress later staged a walk-out, protesting the government's stand.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Kharge said the hike of Rs 86 in the non-subsidised cylinders on March 1 was the highest ever.

He said Modi government's tenure has been marked by a rise in prices of essential items.

"Its price in 2016 was Rs 467 and it has been hiked by six times since. It is Rs 737 today. It goes on to show how much burden this government is putting on the poor. The Modi government claims having given facilities to the poor but statistics tell a different picture," he said.

In 2012, the crude oil price in the international market was USD 122 per barrel and the LPG cylinder sold at Rs 345 while petrol and diesel cost Rs 58 and 37, respectively, Kharge said.

In 2016, when the crude oil price was $33, an LPG cylinder cost Rs 513 and petrol and diesel Rs 56 and Rs 46, respectively, he said.

N K Premachandran (RSP) said the hike of Rs 271 for an LPG cylinder was "unheard of" and accused the government of not passing on the benefits of the fall in international oil price to the consumers.

Some other opposition members supported them.

K C Venugopal (Cong) said the government had cheated over 1 crore people who had reportedly given up their LPG subsidy.

Rebutting the opposition's charge, Kumar said over 1.1 crore consumers have voluntarily given up their LPG subsidies on the Prime Minister's "appeal" and the rest of the total 91.7 crore consumers have not been affected by the hike.

"There has been no cut in subsidy to the poor," he said, adding the government is giving subsidy of Rs 13127 crore.

He termed the increase of Rs 86 per cylinder a "small hike", noting that the oil price in international market had gone up from 471 USD per Metric Tonn to $564.

Targeting Kharge, he said, "You are a senior member. You should keep the facts as they are and not mislead the House."

He said Kharge had happily forgotten that the UPA government in 2010 had decided to hike the LPG cylinder price by Rs 2 every month.

He added that the government has provided LPG connections to over 2 crore poor households in the last two years under the 'Ujjwala yojna'.

B Mahtab (BJD) asked the government to agree to a debate on the issue under Rule 193, which does not allow voting.

BJP member and former Home Secretary R K Singh objected to Kharge's use of the term "Modi government", arguing that it is the government of India.

Kharge retorted saying that the Prime Minister himself uses the phrase and hardly says even BJP government.
A Republican lawmaker has introduced a legislation aimed at suspending Foreign Aid to countries that deny or delay accepting their criminal citizens who have been ordered removed from the United States.

Congressman Glenn Grothman, who introduced the bill, said that in some cases, these criminal citizens have gone on to commit other crimes after their release.

"For instance, China refused to accept a criminal Chinese citizen after he was arrested for assault and ordered deported. The criminal alien stayed in the US and later murdered the same woman he assaulted," he said.

The bill also requires the Department of Homeland Security to submit a report to Congress once a year that lists the countries refusing to allow their criminal citizens to return.

"I find it appalling that we continue to send foreign aid dollars to countries that are actively putting Americans at risk by refusing to accept their criminal aliens, especially when our own country is so deeply in debt," said Grothman.

"My bill shifts our immigration system back in the right direction and halts America's condoning of this bad behaviour," he said.

The US currently has tens of thousands of criminal immigrants that are ordered deported, yet their home countries refuse to take them back.

Instead, these criminal immigrants are released back into the US, posing a threat to American citizens, his office said.

According to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, more than 20 countries have refused to accept their criminal citizens back into their borders.

Currently, the US is planning to send USD 36.5 billion in Foreign Aid in Fiscal Year 2017 a portion of which is sent to these countries that refuse to take back their criminal immigrants.
China warned on Thursday that United States ignoring World Trade Organisation rulings could trigger a "trade war" after President Donald Trump's administration said it was not bound by the body's decisions.

Last week a letter sent from the United States Trade Representative to Congress outlining Trump policy reviewed the terms under which the United States joined the WTO when it was founded in 1995.

According to the Trump administration's interpretation, "Congress had made clear that Americans are not directly subject to WTO rulings", said the document.

China warned that moves to discredit the WTO would be detrimental to the future of multilateral trade.

"If WTO members ignore the organisation's rules for their own sake and refuse to implement its rulings on disputes, the multilateral trade system will exist in name only and there could even be a repetition of the trade war of the 1930s," Sun Jiwen, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman, said at a briefing in Beijing.

"We call on major WTO members to live by what they teach, abide by WTO rules and fulfill their duties," he added.

President Trump has repeatedly said the United States could accomplish its trade goals by focusing on bilateral talks rather than multilateral negotiations.

During his campaign, Trump described WTO's performance as the global trade referee a "disaster" and promised a more aggressive approach to open up foreign markets to US companies, including threatening to unilaterally impose tariffs.

Trump has also accused China of being a free-rider in the international system, saying its unfair trade policies have cost the United States tens of thousands of jobs and threatening to slap Beijing with massive tariffs of up to 45 per cent.
By Press Trust of India: jets

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) A London-bound Air India aircraft from Ahmedabad today had to be escorted by fighter jets after it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control while flying over Hungary.

The Dreamliner Boieng 787-800 plane with 231 passengers and 18 crew members onboard lost contact with the ATC due to "frequency fluctuation", an Air India spokesperson said.

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"AI flight 171 from Ahmedabad for Newark airport in the US via London lost communication with local ATC while flying over Humgary for a short while," the spokesperson said.

The aircraft, which took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport at Ahmedabad at 0700 hours, landed safely at Londons Heathrow Airport at 11.05 hours local time, the spokesperson said.

Air India has already started a probe into the incident, he added.

This is the second such reported incident of an Indian aircraft losing contact with the ATC in the European airspace in a months time.

On February 16, Jet Airways flight Jet Airways flight 9W-118 from Mumbai had lost communication with the Germanys ATC on its way to Heathrow airport in London, forcing the German Air Force to scramble two fighter jets after it. PTI IAS JC KIS

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Nepal has raised with India the issue of the killing of a Nepalese man in alleged firing by India's border-guarding force and demanded a probe into the incident, the Foreign Ministry here said.

Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement last night, "condemned" the killing of Nepali national Govinda Gautam due to "firing opened by the Indian security forces" at the Nepal-India border near Anandabazar in Kanchanpur district.

"The Government of Nepal has already taken up this matter with serious concern at higher diplomatic level of the Government of India with a demand to investigate the incident and bring the guilty to justice," the statement said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi has also telephoned External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and raised the matter, media reports here said.

Nepal's government has also called for taking necessary steps to bring the situation under control so that no further untoward incident takes place in the said border area, the Foreign Ministry here said.

India has "categorically denied" that its border-guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) killed the Nepali man at the Nepal-India border and said there is a need to maintain calm.

The Indian Embassy here said yesterday that there was no incident of firing by the SSB.

India, however, has sought from Nepal the post-mortem and forensic reports of the Nepali national.

Officials of two bordering districts of India and Nepal met after the incident and agreed to maintain peace and order, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in New Delhi.

Gautam, of Kanchanpur district, was killed in alleged firing from the Indian side at Nepal-India border following a dispute over building a culvert over the Sano Khola river in Kanchanpur district, Kantipur Television reported.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is mulling the option of talking to senior officials from India and Pakistan on the situation in Kashmir and will see how things can be improved on the ground, his spokesperson has said.

Guterres "will talk to different officials if it helps (to) move the process along. That's something that he is looking into. Beyond that, I have nothing new to say about the issue," UN chief's Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters here on Friday.

Haq made the remarks when he was asked at his daily press briefing about the situation in Kashmir and if Guterres has been able to understand the Kashmir dispute and would he be talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to start a dialogue with Pakistan.

When asked if there is a timeline as to when the UN chief will talk to leaders from the two countries, Haq said as with any number of long-running situations, there are "a lot of complex issues" that need to be examined.

The UN Chief "will look into the issue, and certainly, he will try to see what can be done to improve the situation on the ground," Haq said.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had repeatedly expressed deep concern about the deteriorating situation along the Line of Control in Kashmir and called on all those involved to prioritise the restoration of calm and stability in order to prevent any further escalation of tensions and loss of lives.

Ban had called for the two nations to resolve their difference bilaterally, saying that his good offices were available to India and Pakistan if "accepted by both sides".


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Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson listens to a question at a news conference the state's response to President Trump's revised travel ban Thursday, March 9, 2017, in Seattle. Legal challenges against Trump's revised travel ban mounted Thursday as Washington state said it would renew its request to block the executive order. It came a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit, and Ferguson said both Oregon and New York had asked to join his state's legal action. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
AASU led a six-year movement against illegal immigration into the state, resulting in the 1985 Assam Accord, which, broadly, granted citizenship rights only to those who had moved to the state before 1971.

Tensions are running high in Assam after the March 6 ransacking of an All Assam Students Union (AASU) office in Silapathar, a town in the state's Dhemaji district. Three people were reported injured in the attack, perpetrated by an obscure group, the Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samanvay Samiti (NBBUS), seeking citizenship for Hindu refugees from Bangladesh. AASU led a six-year movement against illegal immigration into the state, resulting in the 1985 Assam Accord, which, broadly, granted citizenship rights only to those who had moved to the state before 1971.

AASU is deeply influential, with key players in the Assam government, including the chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, being former members or leaders. But, as a critic of all immigration to Assam from Bangladesh, whether Hindu or Muslim, it found itself in the crosshairs of NBBUS, allegedly associated with the RSS and virulently opposed to the idea of citizenship as outlined in the Accord. It is the association with the RSS that makes it so uncomfortable for the BJP-led NDA government. The BJP won 60 of the 89 assembly seats it contested last year, a commanding performance in a state in which 35 per cent of the population is Muslim.

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Since the Sonowal government took oath on May 24 last year, it has been brazen about its 'Hindu first' agenda. State finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma argued that the Citizenship Amendment Bill (2016), which seeks to naturalise (non-Muslim) minorities persecuted in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was necessary because Assamese people needed the support of their Hindu Bengali brothers to ward off the Muslim threat. In December, RSS volunteers sparked anger by shouting "Hindu-Hindu, bhai-bhai" and "Bharat mata ki jai" from the top of the 18th century Kareng Ghar, an Ahom palace and protected monument.

Earlier, Sarma, as education minister, ordered state-recognised madrassas to remain open on Fridays. "Madrassas are closed on Fridays in Pakistan and Bangladesh, not in India," he said. In February, CM Sonowal tweeted the government's decision to make Sanskrit compulsory up to the 8th standard. Even ministers in his own cabinet sided with the Opposition in opposing the decision. Sarma now says "practical difficulties" mean the order will not be implemented. Sonowal, when contacted, insisted that "the decision [had] not yet been discarded".

The mixed message is typical of a confused government, caught between its commitment to Hindutva and the priorities of the Assamese people.

--- ENDS ---
Sam ODonnell, a sophomore, center, rehearses along with other Attleboro High School Drama Club students as they rehearse their play And for the early round of the Massachusetts Education Theater Guilds Annual High School Drama Festival in 2014. The event continues this year. (File photo),
Will the Congress retain power in Uttarakhand? Will Irom Sharmila's political play be a success in Manipur? Will the Aam Aadmi Party manage to widen its pan-India presence by winning Goa and Punjab? And, most importantly, who will win the big, bad state of Uttar Pradesh?

By India Today Web Desk: The politicians are back in their offices, the campaign managers are clustered in their war rooms, all the votes have been cast, and the exit polls have made their predictions.

The 36-day election cycle has come to an end and the results are a few hours away.

At 8 am today, the respective state election commissions in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur will unseal the electronic voting machines and begin counting the votes cast during these polls.

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The Assembly elections results, being seen as a preview of the 2019 general elections, are being eagerly awaited.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has a lot to win (and lose) in these elections; the polls are being seen as a test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move.

Furthermore, favourable results in these Assembly elections could help the party increase its strength in the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling coalition at Centre does not have a majority.

Will the Congress retain power in Uttarakhand? Will Irom Sharmila's political play be a success in Manipur? Will the Aam Aadmi Party manage to widen its pan-India presence by winning Goa and Punjab? And, most importantly, who will win the big, bad state of Uttar Pradesh?

The picture will be clearer towards noon today. Meanwhile, here's a recap of what happened in the 2017 Assembly elections.

FAST FACTS

690 Assembly constituencies went to polls in UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

Of the 690 constituencies, 133 seats were reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates and 23 seats for Scheduled Tribe candidates.

16 crore registered voters were eligible to vote in the Assembly elections in the five states.

1.85 lakh polling stations were set up for the 16 crore registered voters who exercised their rights in these Assembly elections.

Rs 28 lakh was the limit of expenses for candidates in UP, Uttarakhand and Punjab, while Rs 20 lakh was set as the limit in Goa and Manipur.

To give more privacy to voters, the height of the voting compartments was increased by 30 inches during these polls.

To help voters, four posters explaining the dos and don'ts of polling were put up in each booth.

One voter assistance booth was set up for every polling station location.

UTTAR PRADESH

All eyes are on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, which saw the election spread across seven phases. Considered as the mother of all battles, the fight in India's most populous state is between the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance and BJP.

A win here would certainly give a boost to BJP's plans for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The party knows this and that's precisely why almost the entire Modi cabinet was camping in Varanasi ahead of the last phase election on March 8.

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Incumbent Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is trying to retain power while the BJP is hoping that Modi magic works for the saffron party, which is looking to make a comeback in the state after a gap of 15 years.

According to The India Today-Axis My India exit poll, the BJP is set to sweep the state by winning a staggering 251-279 seats in the 403-member Assembly, reducing the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance to less than 100 seats and decimating the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The state has given India eight of its 14 Prime Ministers.

Uttar Pradesh poll of polls

MANIPUR

Manipur's Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh looks all set to retain power for a record fourth consecutive term by beating the anti-incumbency wave.

The India Today-Axis My India exit poll had predicted that the Congress's bastion guarded by Singh is still unassailable. Congress has been in power in the state since 2002, when Singh became the chief minister of the state for the first time.

BJP, who snatched away Assam from Congress last year, is hoping to add another north-eastern state to its kitty.

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In the outgoing Assembly, Congress had an absolute majority.

The results will also decide the political relevance of anti-AFSPA activist Irom Sharmila Chanu, who broke her 16-year-old hunger strike last year to enter politics.

Her party PRJA (Peoples' Resurgence and Justice Alliance) has put up candidates for three seats.

UTTARAKHAND

Uttarakhand, which went to polls on February 15, has a total of 637 candidates vying for the 70 seats in its Assembly. The hill state had a 65.64 per cent voter turnout for these Vidhan Sabha polls.

Here, the main fight is between the incumbent Chief Minister Harish Rawat of Congress and former Chief Minister and BJP leader BC Khanduri.

Both India Today-Axis and Chanakya exit polls project a clean sweep for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with nearly 53 seats, while C-Voter exit poll showed a tie between BJP and Congress with 29 to 35 seats in the Assembly.

GOA

The coastal state of Goa went to polls on February 4. The incumbent government, led by BJP's Laxmikant Parsekar is fighting Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiv Sena-MGP-GSM alliance in the election.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's aggressive campaign saw former chief minister of the state and current Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar canvassing for the party. While the Aam Aadmi Party, which is making its debut this year, launched a massive campaign projecting former bureaucrat Evlis Gomes as its chief ministerial candidate.

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The India Today-Axis Exit Polls predict a victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state with 18-22 seats but say the party might fail getting a clear majority.

PUNJAB

A total 1,145 candidates are in fray for 117 Assembly seats. While Congress has fielded candidates on all 117 seats, AAP is contesting on 112 seats. Ruling SAD has 94 contestants and its ally BJP has 23 candidates.

Former AAP leader Sucha Singh Chhotepur's Apna Punjab Party (APP) and SAD (Amritsar) have fielded candidates on 77 seats and 54 seats respectively. BSP has fielded 111 candidates and Trinamool Congress is contesting on 20 seats.

Besides the mainstream parties, 304 independent candidates are also in the fray. Of the total contestants, 94 sitting MLAs have been nominated to fight the elections.

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2017: FULL COVERAGE

ALSO READ | Move over exit polls, Artificial Intelligence gives Modi's BJP 220 seats in UP

ALSO WATCH | Exit polls predict the future of political parties in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand

--- ENDS ---
Ishaan Khattar and Jhanvi Kapoor were spotted together at the screening of Badrinath Ki Dulhania.

By India Today Web Desk: Sridevi's daughter Jhanvi Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor's brother Ishaan Khattar might not share screen space for their big screen debut, but the two were recently spotted together at a screening of Badrinath Ki Dulhania.

The star kids, who were in news for making their debut together in the Hindi remake of Marathi film Sairaat, decided to catch the screening of Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan's film.

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Jhanvi sported a casual look as she teamed denims with black shirt, while Ishaan opted for black jeans and check shirt.

However, later the news of them starring together fizzled out as Ishaan has already started shooting for his big screen debut. He has bagged a role in a film by Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi titled Beyond The Clouds.

On the other hand, Karan Johar has taken Jhanvi under his wings and will launch her soon. Buzz has it that she has already begun prepping for her big Bollywood debut.

(Photos: Yogen Shah)

ALSO READ: Ishaan Khattar and Jhanvi Kapoor finalised for Karan Johar's Sairat remake?

ALSO READ: Are Saif's daughter Sara and Shahid's brother Ishaan in a relationship?

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) A top-ranking army official from Bangladesh today thanked Indias armed forces for extending support to his country in the field of medicine.

Maj Gen S M Motahar Hossain, Director General of Medical Services (DGMS) of Bangladesh Army met Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Unni, DG Armed Force Medical Services, and expressed gratitude for "unflinching" support and cooperation in areas of health and medicine.

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Hossain also mentioned about treatment of Bangladeshi patients in India.

India has been training doctors and paramedical staff of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Bangladesh through the Indian Armed Forces Medical Services.

"Visiting DGMS sought expert technical advice on medical matters through telemedicine and in other sophisticated fields of surgery and organ transplant to which the hosts expressed willingness," said an army statement. PTI MPB KUN

--- ENDS ---






Job Title: Resettlement Assistant

Organisation: United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Position No.: 10020899

Vacancy Notice: 012/2017

Duty Station: Uganda

Post Grade: GL4

Reports to: Resettlement

Officer

About UNHCR:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was

established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly.

UNHCRs mandate under the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Refugees is to lead and co-ordinate action for international protection to

refugees; seek permanent solutions for the problems of refugees and safeguard

refugee rights and well-being. UNHCR has an additional mandate concerning

issues of statelessness, as it is given a designated role under Article 11 of

the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Job Summary: The

Resettlement Assistant will support the supervisor in effective resettlement

delivery of a given UNHCR Office in accordance with the UNHCR Resettlement

Handbook, UNHCR Manual and relevant policy papers and publications. The

Resettlement Clerk provides important clerical and administrative support to

resettlement operations and may occasionally take part in assessing cases for

resettlement and conducting interviews. The incumbent maintains frequent

contacts with his/her supervisor, relevant colleagues within the same Office to

exchange information and discuss issues on resettlement cases. Some limited

contacts and communication at a working level are required with Embassy /

Immigration Officials of resettlement countries, IOM as well as with other

operating partners regarding resettlement issues.



Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities:

Prepare written documentation for resettlement

submission; ensure that records / files of individual cases are updated in

a systematic and timely manner.

The incumbent will assess and review

individual resettlement cases and prepare individual / group submission

for scrutiny by the supervisor.

Follow-up on cases from time of submission

to final decision and departure.

The jobholder will also comply with UNHCRs

standard operating procedures on resettlement, ensuring timely action on

cases.

Provide support in logistical arrangements

of selection missions by resettlement countries.

Coordinate travel and departure

arrangements for refugees accepted for resettlement.

Assist in maintaining and updating proGres

or Consolidated Online Resettlement Tracking System (CORTS) database.

Assist in maintaining accurate

resettlement statistics as well as up-to-date records on individual cases;

assist in the preparation of reports.

The jobholder will draft / type routine

correspondence to Field Offices / Regional Offices / Headquarters.

Systematically apply an Age, Gender and

Diversity perspective in all aspects of the resettlement process; comply

with UNHCR policy and guidelines on HIV/AIDS.

Assist in mitigating resettlement fraud by

reporting suspected fraud.

Key Performance Indicators:

UNHCRs resettlement policies and standards

are correctly and coherently applied.

Persons of concern are made aware of

UNHCRs resettlement procedures and have fair and transparent access to and

participation in the resettlement process.

Suspected fraud in the resettlement process

is promptly reported.



Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:

The ideal candidate for the United Nations

UNHCR Resettlement Assistant job placement should have completed secondary

education with certificate.

Additional training courses in international

relations, international law or relevant fields required.

At least two years experience relevant to

the functions.

Fluency in English and working knowledge

of another relevant UN language or local language.

Good knowledge of resettlement issues and

UNHCR resettlement policies and operational applications.

Completion of UNHCR specific

learning/training activities is desired

How to Apply:

All interested Ugandan nationals who wish to join the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the aforementioned capacity are

encouraged to click on the link below and follow the application instructions

after reviewing the job details.

th March

2017 Deadline: 17March2017
Patnaik's close aides say that to understand him, one has to understand his empathy

By Pratul Sharma/Photos Sanjay Ahlawat
A medical college in Bankura was vandalised on Thursday leaving a trail of destruction and injuries.

Injuries and damage caused by violence at Bankura Medical College. (Images via Twitter/Facebook)

By India Today Web Desk: West Bengal's Bankura Sammilani Medical College bore the brunt of extreme violence on Thursday after vandals attacked students and vandalised the students' hostels.

Students are alleging these vandals were TMC leaders "assaulting the students of All India quota".

Rajesh Bagra, an MBBS student at the college, took to Facebook to urge people to come forward and help.

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"Please help saving us ..They will murder us.. we r nt getting any help from authorities ..we r nt able to do anything ..totally helpless," he wrote. We r national duty workers..we r nt meant for this treatment," he added.

Image via: Vishesh Kishor Singh/Facebook

Image via: Vishesh Kishor Singh/Facebook

Image via: @CorrectHai/Twitter

Image via: @CorrectHai/Twitter

Image via: @RajeshBagra5/Twitter

Image via: @RajeshBagra5/Twitter

Image via: @ChandraGaurav3/Twitter

Image via: @ChandraGaurav3/Twitter

Image via: Vishesh Kishor Singh/Facebook

Another MBBS student Rajat Gupta wrote on Facebook that these attacks on quota students were a regular affair and that the students were not getting support from police and college authorities.

Bagra also claimed that all the juniors who were attacked were from Rajasthan.

Students claimed the vandals destroyed everything in their rooms, including their laptops, medical books and MBBS degrees.

"We the All INDIA Quota students are forced to sleep in a single room as our all the rooms are destroyed," wrote MBBS student Alok Ranjan Singh.

Party politics at Bankura Sammillani Medical College, Bankura, West Bengal leads to immense destruction at the hostel. @PMOIndia @aajtak https://t.co/ImFOFnA5Ai- Shriti (@CorrectHai) March 9, 2017

Brijesh Saini, an MBBS student at the college, tweeted photos from the scene to Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje claiming 15 students from Rajasthan had been injured in the attack.

@VasundharaBJP Ma'am vandalism on AIPMT Quota students by ruling Party hooligans, 15 Students frm Rajasthan injured, Plz Help Ma'am ASAP pic.twitter.com/98nxrVpA1L- BRIJESH SAINI (@_saini_brijesh) March 10, 2017

Meanwhile, a local news report said that violence resulted from clashes between two student unions of the college.

Various students also claimed that it was fellow students who got violent.

@MoHFW_INDIA @abpnewstv @MamataOfficial Shameful act by aspiring future doctors. This is what the society will get in the form of doctors. https://t.co/ZPwhBB1n4X- Dipak Agarwal (@dipakdada) March 9, 2017

--- ENDS ---
Once again, it's time to rejoice for tipplers in Tamil Nadu. Popular brands like Kingfisher Beer and McDowells brandy will soon fill the shelves of the government-run 5,700-odd retail liquor stores across the state.

After six months, the state-owned Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) has placed orders to Enrica Enterprises, United Breweries and Empee Breweries, who had faced severe losses after the state government stopped procuring from them since September last year.

Enrica Enterprises, bottlers of Kingfisher Beer, used to supply Kingfisher Beer.

The company makes popular Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brands like McDowell's, Signature and Royal Challenge on a royalty basis for Diageo-controlled United Spirits. Chennai and Empee breweries, owned by United Breweries, brew Kingfisher beer for supplying across Tamil Nadu through TASMAC outlets.

In February this year, the employees union of Enrica enterprises had sued TASMAC for stoppage of orders. A writ petition filed by V Harikrishnan, general secretary of the Enrica Employees Union against Tasmac, states that the employees have not been paid their salaries since October, 2016.

In fact, after the stoppage of the orders to these three outlets, Tamil Nadus tipplers had no other choice but to purchase and drink only the available brands. Every year, the beer consumption in Tamil Nadu, during the peak of summer from March to May, according to sources in TASMAC is at least 50 to 60 per cent of the total sales.

With at least 45 lakh cases sold every month, Tamil Nadu had always been a major market for these liquor companies. The sales volume for these companies, according to sources in TASMAC, have gone up by at least eight per cent every year. The monthly beer sales is expected to be close to 30 lakh cases every month this summer. The total sales per month, inclusive of all brands, stands at Rs 70 crore per day, across the 5,700-odd outlets in the state.

Placing orders to bring back these brands again to satisfy the tipplers has irked the protestors who have been demanding total prohibition in the state. Prohibition, in fact was one of the major issues during the general elections where all the parties except the ruling AIADMK promised total prohibition.

Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had then promised phased prohibition. Accordingly, she ordered closure of 500 retail outlets in May 2016, while her successor Edappadi K Palanisami closed another 500 shops in February this year.

With these two closure orders, there are at least 5,700 TASMAC outlets in the state that sell all brands of liquor. These outlets procure IMFL brands, beer and wine from 11 manufacturing units, seven beer bottling plants and one winery.
Tuesday (7.03.17)

(Texting) Me to my friend: My FB timeline is inundated with headlines about Karan Johar making a remark against Kangana.

Friend: I know. God knows what is happening to the film industry.

Me: Was it even necessary to make a statement about her when you were talking at an international platform like LSE (London School of Economics)...

Johar, in a conversation with a senior scribe at LSE, accused Kangana of playing the victim card and the woman card. He prodded her to leave the industry if she is having so many problems.

The friend shares a screenshot of a conversation she had with someone on Facebook. He was still hailing Kangana for the way she answered Johar on his chat show Koffee With Karan. She made sure to say what she wanted to saycalled Karan a harbinger of nepotism in the Bollywood industry, reminded him of the time he made fun of her English, and made a snarky remark on how she and he would never have a same idea about poverty.

She had reasons to be hailed. In an industry where outsiders (like Kangana) play safe and stay diplomatic with what they say to the insiders (like Johar) and even otherwise, to make sure they dont run out of work in an industry run mostly by family-owned film outlets, she had the courage to speak up.

The only thought that came to mind waswhy now? Why after so many days? (The episode was aired on 19.02.2017) Why couldnt he just take it in his stride? After all, it was just one episode of the show where he is often seen making fun of so many guests. If he can do that, he can expect the same to happen to him, too. But, it seems Johar just needed a platform (bigger than his own show) to salvage the situation for himself, to say that he was just being a good host by not getting back at the actor.

Wednesday (8.03.17)

A senior journalists interview with Kangana is doing the rounds. One line in particularWill not compromise on what I deservemade by the actor is making headlines. It is being thought as a probable response to Johars remark at LSE a day before.

Kangana hasnt been so discreet ever, I think. She has not. She has often been in the news for making strong statements, even if it rubs people the wrong way. Perhaps, the interview was done before Johars response.

Thursday (9.03.17)

Mumbai wakes up to a cover piece on the actor in one of the most widely-read tabloids in the city. She is back to being fiery, feisty and not someone to mince words. In the piece she says, The Indian film industry is not a small studio given to Karan by his father when he was in his early 20s. That is just a small molecule. The industry belongs to every Indian and is highly recommended for outsiders like me whose parents were too poor to give a formal training. I learnt on the job and got paid for it, using the money to educate myself in New York. He is nobody to tell me to leave it. I'm definitely not going anywhere, Mr Johar."

And she will never go. She has walked her way through.

I had met the actor for the first time as a rookie reporter in Delhi during the promotions of Raaz 2 (Jan, 2009). She starred opposite Adhyayan Sumanher then infamous boyfriend. She was in the news more for her personal relationships than her films. Her association with Aditya Pancholi (a man almost her fathers age) was still being discussed. Most of the questions directed at her were about her personal turmoil than the film that she had come to promote. Her English wasnt as poised as it is today (Johar and many others, of course, joked about it). But she handled all the questions with utmost care and confidence.

It was just the beginning. She was learning to turn the tirademore with her work than the confidence she showed in tackling the personal questions shot at her. The following years saw her rise. She wasnt anymore with Suman, who often denigrated her. She had the power to leave behind what was not working for her, and move ahead with what actually favoured herher work. She bagged two National Awards, and won accolades for her performance.

Last year, when I met her at a chat show I was working on, she had transformed into a person feistier and confident than ever. The stories of her link-up and the ugly break-up with an A-list star didnt seem to bother her wee bit. She had worked her way up with the stories, and she still is. A year later she is stronger than ever. The unfortunate debacle of her last film hasnt affected the person she is, neither have the ungallant remarks made by Johar. She is still the headstrong girl she has always been.

When my friend wonders what is happening to the film industry, I can only think that its the same change that is happening in different strata of the societya girl, realising her potential, is fighting for equal rights. Her rights to co-exist in the same manner as every other person does, without the fear of being run-down by patriarchy, misogyny, or nepotism. And Kangana is one of the forerunners of that change in the industry, and even otherwise. That change is, perhaps, also the probable end.
Germany has signed two loan agreements with IndiaRs 1,400 crore to the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)and Rs 1,796 crore to the State Bank of India for affordable housing in the country.

Germany has so far committed to a loan of Rs 4,200 crore for better energy efficiency in India. EESL invests in energy efficiency in various sectors like domestic households, public buildings, street lighting and agriculture and is aimed at reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. In addition to the EESL loan, Germany recently agreed to a Rs 5 crore loan with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, which focusses on solar power projects.

Scaling up renewable energy use is part of India's commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement under its INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution). India has a goal of installing 175 gigawatts of renewable power capacity by 2022 to increase its share of non-fossil based power capacity from 30 per cent at present to 40 per cent by 2030.

The loan to State Bank of India by the German Development Bank is part of Prime minister Narendra Modi's aim to provide housing for all under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Lower income households account for 95 per cent of the shortage of 20 million housing units in India. Under the scheme, economically weaker sections can avail easy loans to construct houses.
Bypolls for Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha constituencies in Kashmir will be held on April 9 and 12 respectively, the Election Commission of India has announced.

The bypolls will be a test of how the Peoples Democratic Party's political fortunes have slumped in the wake of last year's summer uprising in Kashmir, mostly in its bastion of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam that comprise south Kashmir. The PDP will find it tough to win the polls after having presided over the worst civilian killings in 2016 uprising.

About 100 youths, including some young women, were killed and over 10,000 were injured in the five-month-long uprising. Tariq Hamid Karra, who was elected from Srinagar on PDP mandate resigned to register his protest against the civilian killings and blinding of over a 1,000 youths by pellets.

Karra had recently joined the Congress. He is expected to play a major role in the next assembly elections due in 2020.

His resignation has brightened the chances of National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, who is likely to get the party mandate for Srinagar.Farooq had missed Parliament polls as he was recuperating after a kidney transplant in London.

The Anantnag Parliament constituency fell vacant after Mehbooba Mufti resigned from Parliament in June last year to step into her father Mufti Muhammad Sayyed's shoes after his death on January 7, 2016. Mehbooba then contested the elections for Anantnag assembly constituency that was won by her father in 2014 assembly elections.

The NC and Congress are expected to close ranks against the PDP on both seats. The two parties have been collaborating with each other ever since the RSS-backed BJP stitched an alliance with the PDP.

The alliance has been highly unpopular and was one of the reasons for renewed disturbance in Kashmir.

Political observers believe the prediction of election results is difficult given the bloody backdrop in which the elections are being held, but most agree the turnout would be less. They believe the bypolls will be a major test of the PDP's popularity and will also impact the future political events in the state.

''If the NC and Congress combine, then they will challenge the PDP in Anantnag,'' said senior political writer and journalist Khalid Gul.

Gul, who is based in Anantnag, said the PDP, however, has the advantage of being in power and that matters in Kashmir.

The Congress is thinking of fielding senior leader Ghulam Ahmed Mir from Anantnag, though nothing has been finalised.

The PDP is yet to announce the candidate for Anantnag and Srinagar.

There are indications that Tassaduq Mufti, Mehbooba's brother, might contest from south Kashmir, but party sources say, the top leadership is wary of fielding him as he is a political novice.

''Tassaduq may be given mandate but nothing has been finalised yet,'' said a PDP source.

The results for the two seats will be declared on April 15.
Over 100 schools in West Bengal have been show caused following allegations of attempt to influence innocent minds through teachings that might promote religious intolerance.

By Press Trust of India: West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee today said that around 100 schools were show caused following allegations of attempt to influence innocent minds through teachings that might promote religious intolerance.

The minister told the Assembly that the government had taken note of such activities taking place in some schools, particularly in parts of north Bengal and North 24-Parganas district in south Bengal.

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Chatterjee said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in her capacity as the Home minister, had also given him a list of some schools allegedly indulging in such activities and after due process the "no objection certificate" (NOC) of some of these institutions were cancelled.

Warning that the government would not allow any attempt to promote religious intolerance through teachings in some private schools, the minister said that educational institutions would have to adhere to the syllabus of the board to which these are affiliated.

Chatterjee points out that many of these private schools get affiliation from different central boards of education and then take an NOC from the state, making it difficult for the state to directly act against them.

The minister was replying to a question on steps being taken by the state government over reports of some private educational institutions teaching outside their syllabus and curriculum with some hidden religious agenda.

Also read:

Bengal: School shut down after communal tension, teachers allege pressure from 'Islamic fundamentalists'

West Bengal: Communal tension grips Tehatta schools over Saraswati puja celebrations, TMC dismissive

Also watch: Bengal govt drops Ram from Ramdhenu in textbooks

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Dhaka, Mar 10 (PTI) A 65-year-old Bangladeshi Christian was hacked and injured today with sharp weapons by a group of youths while he was guarding a church, police said.

Gilbert Costa was attacked by youths early today while he was guarding the Saint Rita Church at Mathurapur, Pabna district, some 175 kilometres from Dhaka.

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"We have detained three suspects after the attack. We suspect the attack was motivated from previous enmity," Chatmohar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Ahsan Habib was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

Further details will be known after the investigation, he said.

Police suspect the incident was the result of a family feud.

"Around 4am, some men came to the church and asked for its key. As Gilbert refused to give the key, they started hacking him with sharp weapons," said church management committee member Martin Dominic Rozario.

"They fled the scene as soon as local shopkeepers came to Gilberts rescue," Rozario added.

Costa has been admitted at the Pabna General Hospital.

Bangladesh has suffered a spate of attacks on religious minorities. In October 2015, a church pastor was attacked in Pabnas Ishwardi upazila.

The attack in Pabna is the latest in a series of attacks and murders carried out in the similar fashion across Bangladesh in the past two years.

The victims of those attacks included secular writers and bloggers, online activists, publishers, foreigners, members of religious minorities and rights activists. PTI KJ AKJ KJ

--- ENDS ---
While the class 12th students were all smiles after writing an easy English board exam, the teachers maintained that there were not enough challenging questions and the paper disappointed the gifted and meritorious students.

By Arpan Rai: The Class-12 students who, battling anxiety, went to take the first exam on Thursday, were cheered up by the paper. It was English and while the smile on their faces - seen while they were coming out of the examination hall - in the afternoon said it all, even the the teachers across the city labelled it as "an easy one."

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Some even said even for an average student, it was an easy paper and that they expected a tougher paper. "My first reaction to the paper was 'Thank God'," said Chavee Gupta, a student of Modern School, Vasant Vihar, who is now set for her next board exam.

"Every question was concise. I am relieved after attempting today's paper. It has instilled confidence in me and I am feeling more positive now," Charvee said. The teachers maintained that there weren't enough challenging questions and the paper - "least bit challenging" - has disappointed the gifted and meritorious students. While the questions were redundant, the teachers were unhappy with a degraded version of passages which they say could have been the challenge and thought provoking for the students.

Also read: CBSE Board Exam 2017 begins today: Mobile app launched to locate exam centre

"The passages in board examinations have a student's rapt attention and remain in a kid's mind for a long time. These passages could be on glorious Indian traditions of interfaith concord, syncretic value system, composite culture, family connect besides others, unlike the existing practice," Firoz Bakht Ahmed, senior English teacher from Modern School, Barakhamba Road said.

"Easily over 75 per cent of students will secure 80. Today's paper has a positive point allowing a dull kid to walk away with 90," he said.

Charu Gupta, another invigilator at Bal Bharati Public School opines that the "easy going" paper will give boost students' confidence.

Also read: 10 major steps taken by CBSE board that every student must know before entering the exam hall

Kunjan Kaicker, a senior English teacher at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road confirmed that papersetters had clearly stuck to their favourite areas of questioning and the entire paper had just one challenging and tricky question in the speech section but that bullet was dodged by offering a choice in the same question.

The easy paper will require individual examiners to be sensible and sincere in the marking scheme which will be anything but lenient, Kunjan added.

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Samarth Gaur and Himani Arora from Bal Mandir senior secondary school are now relieved and at ease for their upcoming nerve-wracking subject. "I can go home and sleep well because I am expecting good marks from this paper".

--- ENDS ---
A senior U.S. general on Wednesday accused Russia of deploying a land-based cruise missile in violation of the spirit and intent of a nuclear arms treaty and charged that Moscows intention is to threaten U.S. facilities in Europe and the NATO alliance.

We believe that the Russians have deliberately deployed it in order to pose a threat to NATO and to facilities within the NATO area of responsibility, Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

Selva said he sees no indication that Moscow intends to return to compliance with the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which bans an entire class of weapons  all land-based cruise missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 and 3,410 miles). The treaty was a landmark in arms control in the final years of the Cold War.

Selvas accusation takes on added political significance in light of President Donald Trumps stated goal of improving relations with Russia even as Moscow is perceived by U.S. allies in Europe as a military threat of growing urgency. The alleged treaty violation comes amid multiple congressional investigations of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The FBI also is probing ties between Russia and Trump associates during the campaign.

Trump has said little about the INF treaty but on multiple occasions has questioned the value of a separate, more recent treaty that limits the number of strategic nuclear weapons the United States and Russia can deploy to 1,550 warheads each starting in 2018. Trump has said it unfairly advantages Russia. And he has said the U.S. should expand its nuclear weapons capability, although he has not explained what he meant.

The Obama administration had hoped to talk Moscow into returning to compliance with the INF treaty but seemed to make no progress. Russia has claimed U.S. missile defenses violate the threat. Asked how the U.S. might respond now that Russian cruise missiles are deployed for potential use, Selva said the military is preparing a set of options to be considered this year by the Trump administration as part of a broader nuclear policy review.

Selva said he could not publicly discuss those options. When pressed he said the plan is to look for leverage points to attempt to get the Russians to come back into compliance, adding, I dont know what those leverage points are.

The Obama administration had accused Moscow of violating the INF treaty, but Selvas statement was the first public confirmation of recent news reports that the Russians have deployed the nuclear-capable cruise missile.

The New York Times, which was first to report the Russian missile deployment, said last month that the Russians have two battalions now in the field. One is at a missile test site at Kapustin Yar and one was moved in December from the test site to an operational base elsewhere in the country. Russia denies that it has violated the INF treaty.

Some in Congress have expressed alarm at the alleged Russian deployment. Sen. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, last month called on the Trump administration to ensure that U.S. nuclear forces in Europe are ready.

Russias deployment of nuclear-tipped ground-launched cruise missiles in violation of the INF treaty is a significant military threat to U.S. forces in Europe and our NATO allies, McCain, R-Ariz., said, adding that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin was testing Trump.

In response to questions at the hearing on Wednesday, Selva said U.S. officials have been talking to Moscow about the alleged treaty violation. He seemed unconvinced that the discussions would be fruitful.

I dont have enough information on their intent to conclude other than they do not intend to return to compliance with the treaty, he said. Absent some pressure from the international community and the United States as a co-signer of the same agreement, there is no logical reason to believe that Moscow intends to end its violations, he added.

(AP)
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) The Centre today told the Supreme Court that it was open to the suggestion of conducting NEET, a single window entrance test for admissions for MBBS and BDS courses, in Urdu medium also from next academic year.

The central government, represented by Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, however, told the bench comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R Banumathi that it was not feasible to introduce Urdu as one of the mediums for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) from the current academic year.

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The bench granted time till March 22 to the Centre and others including Medical Council of India (MCI), Dental Council of India (DCI) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for filing their responses in the case.

The bench has now fixed the plea of Student Islamic Organisation (SIO) seeking that Urdu be also made a medium for NEET 2017 for further hearing on March 26.

Currently, NEET is being conducted in ten languages - Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Oriya, Bengali, Assamese, Telegu, Tamil and Kannada languages. (MORE) PTI SJK ABA RKS AG RT

--- ENDS ---
[COMMUNICATED CONTENT]

For the past few years, battei midrash that were once empty on Purim night have been filled to capacity, as thousands of men in Eretz Yisrael streamed in to join a special Purim Kollel, for at least an hour of Torah learning, in an intense, Shavuos-night atmosphere. The tefillas rabbim that follows has been compared to Neilah on Motzaei Yom Kippur.

Recently, a young talmid chacham from Yerushalayim, who is now in New York fighting for his life, requested of a visiting friend, Lets bring this idea to America; give battei midrash here a taste of the experience! And so this year we are taking this important initiative all over the world!

Maran Harav Chaim Kanievsky, Maran Harav Aron Leib Steinman and Harav Matisyahu Salomon, among many others, have given this project their enthusiastic endorsement. The Purim Kollel is quickly turning into a movement, as ever more shuls are signing up  in Eretz Yisrael, Europe, South Africa, the USA and Canada.

In addition, the Har Nof Kollel is organizing a Purim Partners program: Everyone who registers for the Purim Kollel in chutz laAretz is invited to submit his (or another persons) name and specific needs for tefillah in the powerful tefillas rabbim that will be held in Yerushalayim on Sunday night, Shushan Purim.

Together we will make this a truly elevated Purim! To sign up  and, if you choose, to partner with an avreich in Eretz Yisrael by having your matanos laevyonim be given to him on Purim  call 718-210- 9737 or email [email protected]
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), in cooperation with the IDF and the Israel Police, recently arrested Yousef Yasser Sweilam, 23, a resident of Kalkilye and member of Hizbullah, who had been instructed to advance terrorist attacks including an abduction.

His Shin Bet investigation revealed that Sweilam, a metalworker by trade, had been recruited to Hizbullah via a Facebook profile that serves Hizbullah as a platform to recruit members. At a certain stage Sweilam was instructed to open an operational e-mail account to which was sent encryption software, by means of which he was in contact with his Hizbullah handlers.

His handlers directed Sweilam to carry out various tasks, including photographing  and gathering information on  IDF bases and checkpoints as well as sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. He was also directed to set up a terrorist cell in order to carry out an abduction and pass the abductee into Lebanon.

Sweilam was arrested before he was able to commit any of the terrorist attacks that had been planned.

A indictment has been filed against Sweilam in the Shomron Military Court.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
In an effort to expedite the construction of the underground Gaza barrier, the Defense Ministry is recruiting 1,500 to 2,000 foreign workers. They will part of the construction team building the underground wall that is intended to block Hamas terror tunnels from crossing from Gaza into southern Israel.

The government has allocated NIS 3 billion to date for the project, which is expected to be completed in two years.

Ironically, Defense Ministry Director-General Uzi Adam indicated some of the workers might be crossing into Israel from Gaza via the Erez Crossing to work on the wall.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday, 11 Adar, arrived in Moscow for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Netanyahu will be returning home to Israel immediately following the meeting.

Following are the following remarks at the start of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin:

Mr. President I am very pleased to see you again.

Our frequent visits reflect genuine friendship and a tightening of relations in economics, technology, tourism and culture, as well as the living bridge of the one million Russian speakers living in Israel. One of them is translating for us now. But in this context, I would like to point out that in recent months we concluded the agreement on pensions between us. I would like to thank you for your personal involvement.

One of the things that we are fighting together is radical Islamic terrorism. Of course, in the past year there was significant progress in the fight against the radical Sunni Islamic terrorism led by Daesh and Al Qaida; Russia has made a very important contribution. Naturally, we do not want this terrorism to be replaced by the radical Shiite Islamic terrorism led by Iran.

I thank you for your Purim greetings. 2,500 years ago in ancient Persia there was an attempt to destroy the Jewish People that did not succeed and we mark this on the holiday of Purim. Today there is an attempt by Persias heir, Iran, to destroy the state of the Jews. They say this as clearly as possible and inscribe it on their ballistic missiles.

Of course, I would like to say as clearly as possible: Israel is a state today. We have an army and we are capable of defending ourselves. But the threat of radical Shiite Islam threatens us no less than it does the region and the peace of the world, and I know that we are partners in the desire to prevent any kind of victory by radical Islam of any sort.

I thank you for the welcome.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
A new bill that would provide non-profit institutions in New Jersey with $10,000 grants that could be used to hire security guards cleared its first hurdle in the New Jersey State Senate on Monday after passing unanimously in the Senates Public Safety Committee.

The bill, S2634, was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and Senator Patrick Diegnan. Among those who testified in Trenton in support of the bill was well known Edison community activist, Dr. Israel Rivkin, and Rabbi Avi Schnall, Agudath Israel of Americas New Jersey Director.

We are so grateful to Senator Weinberg and Senator Diegnan for their support of this extremely important bill that will provide a critical layer of additional protection to our religious institutions, said Rabbi Schnall.

If passed, the bill would allocate $1 million for security grants that would be open to any non-profit institution in New Jersey. Rabbi Schnall noted that the $10,000 grants would cover the cost of hiring security guards at eligible places of worship for the holidays.

In addition to the state grant, non-profit institutions can also file for a federal homeland security grant which would provide eligible applicants with $75,000 for items that would enhance security including video cameras, perimeter fencing and similar items. The federal grant, however, would not cover the hiring of security personnel.

With a wave of anti-Semitic acts and threats sweeping the country, the timing of the New Jersey bill couldnt be more fortuitous, noted Rabbi Schnall.

New Jersey continues to lead the way when it comes to protecting our religious institutions, observed Rabbi Schnall. This bill would go a long way towards securing these facilities and protecting those who use them.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
A look at opposing sides as Congress considers proposed Republican changes to the Obama administration health law.



SUPPORTING THE BILL:

President Donald Trump: Were going to do something thats great and Im proud to support the replacement plan released by the House of Representatives.



Vice President Mike Pence: I really do believe this is an extraordinarily important moment in the life of our nation, and every American who longs to see us start over on health care reform that will respect the doctor-patient relationship, that will harness the power of the free marketplace to lower the cost of insurance, that will give states freedom and flexibility to improve Medicaid for our most vulnerable citizens can let their voice be heard.



House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.: It repeals Obamacares taxes, it repeals Obamacares spending, it repeals Obamacares mandates. It creates a vibrant market where insurance companies compete for your business, where you have lower costs, more choices, and greater control over your health care. And it returns power  this is most important  this returns power from Washington back to doctors and patients, back to states. This is what good, conservative health care reform looks like.



Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.: This isnt a law that can be fixed. This isnt a law that can be saved. It has to be repealed and replaced. We promised the American people we would. Were keeping our promise.



Neil Bradley, U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Critically important provisions in the recommendations repeal a substantial number of the most harmful provisions in the Affordable Care Act: the health insurance tax, the medical device tax, and the tax on prescription medications; restrictions on the use and limitations on contributions to health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts; and the penalties associated with the employer mandate.



OPPOSED TO THE BILL:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.: This is a tax cut for the wealthy with some health insurance provisions tacked alongside of it.



House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.: If Republicans have their way, working families, older Americans, and people with disabilities will face huge new health costs.



Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah: We promised the American people we would drain the swamp and end business as usual in Washington. This bill does not do that. We dont know how many people would use this new tax credit, we dont know how much it will cost, and we dont know if this bill will make health care more affordable for Americans. This is exactly the type of backroom dealing and rushed process that we criticized Democrats for, and it is not what we promised the American people.



Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.: It still looks like Obamacare Lite to me. Its going to have to be better.



Conservative advocacy groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, backed by the billionaire Koch Brothers: As the bill stands today, it is Obamacare 2.0. Millions of Americans would never see the improvements in care they were promised, just as Obamacare failed to deliver on its promises.



David McIntosh, president of the conservative advocacy group Club for Growth: Republicans should be offering a full and immediate repeal of Obamacares taxes, regulations, and mandates, an end to the Medicaid expansion, and inclusion of free-market reforms, like interstate competition.



Andrew W. Gurman, president of the American Medical Association: The AMA supported health system reform legislation in 2010 because it was a significant improvement on the status quo at the time; and although it was imperfect, we continue to embrace its primary goal  making high-quality, affordable health coverage accessible to all Americans. As drafted, the AHCA would result in millions of Americans losing coverage and benefits. By replacing income-based premium subsidies with age-based tax credits, the AHCA will also make coverage more expensive  if not out of reach  for poor and sick Americans. For these reasons, the AMA cannot support the AHCA as it is currently written.



Joyce A. Rogers, AARP: This bill would weaken Medicares fiscal sustainability, dramatically increase health care costs for Americans aged 50-64, and put at risk the health care of millions of children and adults with disabilities, and poor seniors who depend on the Medicaid program for long-term services and supports and other benefits.



Richard Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association: It appears that the effort to restructure the Medicaid program will have the effect of making significant reductions in a program that provides services to our most vulnerable populations, and already pays providers significantly less than the cost of providing care.

(AP)
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

On Wednesday morning, March 8th, Agudath Israel of Americas leadership mission to Washington began the day with a unique and memorable meeting with a longtime friend of the organization, U. S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Secretary DeVos demonstrated that she was very familiar with the people and policies of Agudath Israel and many participants pointed to that meeting as the highlight of their visit to the nations capital.

Rather than delivering a speech, Secretary DeVos engaged in a wide-ranging conversation with the group on topics such as school choice, special education, security, and the unique higher education issues faced by rabbinical colleges. Throughout the discussion, Secretary DeVos listened intently, asked pertinent questions and expressed her commitment to focus on policies that best serve students.

I was very encouraged by her genuine interest in understanding the issues we raised and her commitment to taking our concerns into account when developing policy, reflected the chairman of Agudath Israel of California, Dr. Irving Lebovics, who brought up issues related to students with special needs.

Secretary DeVos was thanked by Agudath Israels national director of state relations, Rabbi A. D. Motzen, for her leadership role in the hundreds of millions of scholarship dollars currently going to students attending the private school of their choice in more than twenty five states. Agudath Israels leadership expressed its strong support of President Trumps pledge to provide $20 billion for school choice and offered to work with the administration and Congress to enact a meaningful program.

The meeting with Secretary DeVos was quite unique and deeply gratifying, said Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israels vice president for federal affairs and Washington director and counsel. The Secretary has an impressive familiarity with our community and the educational challenges we face. For an entire hour, she was fully engaged in discussing possible avenues to addressing those challenges. It was a meaningful dialogue that I am confident will bear fruit over the months and years ahead.

Mr. Shlomo Werdiger, chairman of Agudath Israels board of trustees, summed up the feelings of his fellow board members. It was clear to everyone that we have a true friend in the Department of Education.

After the meeting, Secretary DeVos issued the following statement:

I applaud Agudath Israel for their commitment to and leadership in providing their community with access to educational options that meet the academic and religious needs of their families. Agudath is a terrific partner and advocate for their families, and I welcomed todays discussion.

I look forward to continuing to work with Agudath Israel of America, the Orthodox Jewish community and all supporters of school choice who believe that every child, regardless of where they live or their familys income, should have an equal opportunity to a quality education.





(YWN Headquarters  NYC)
A Republican-led Senate committee on Thursday narrowly approved the nomination of the combative lawyer selected by President Donald Trump to be ambassador to Israel, brushing aside concerns that David Friedman lacked the temperament for such a critical diplomatic post.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted largely along party lines, 12-9, to recommend that the full Senate consider Friedmans nomination. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., sided with the committees 11 Republicans in favor of Friedman. The committees other nine Democrats opposed the choice.

Friedman, Trumps former bankruptcy lawyer, tried to use his confirmation hearing a month ago to repair the damage from his past verbal attacks on political opponents. He assured senators that he regretted using inflammatory language and promised to be respectful and measured if confirmed.

During that hearing, Friedman acknowledged he deserved criticism for incendiary comments that targeted former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, liberal Jewish advocacy groups and others. Friedman had called one group, J Street, worse than kapos  a reference to Jews who helped the Nazis imprison others Jews during the Holocaust. He also accused Obama of anti-Semitism.

Republicans said Friedmans atonement satisfied them. But Democrats argued the record of divisive statements cannot be erased and will compromise Friedmans effectiveness as Trumps envoy to Israel.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Friedmans contentious history is regrettable because he has such a deep knowledge of Israel and the Middle East. Kaine, echoing the sentiment of other Democrats, said he couldnt support Friedman because of the nominees penchant for over-the-top and even false statements.

While it is clear that David Friedman is committed to the U.S.-Israel relationship, his history of inflammatory rhetoric is poorly matched for this role, Kaine said.

Dylan Williams, J Streets vice president for government affairs, said in a statement after the committees vote that it was by far the most contested vote on a nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel ever. The small margin of approval, Williams added, is a clear signal that he is a completely inappropriate and disastrous choice for such an important position.

Five former U.S. ambassadors to Israel, who served Democratic and Republican presidents, called Friedman unfit for the post in a February letter to members of the committee.

The son of an Orthodox rabbi, Friedman has been a fervent supporter of Israeli settlements and a staunch defender of Israels government. He also runs a nonprofit that raises millions of dollars for Beit El, a settlement in the West Bank.

The Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing Israels more than 120 West Bank settlements, congratulated Friedman on securing the committees approval.

Friedman is a true friend of Israel that has a deep understanding of the reality on the ground and he will be a great asset to Israeli-American relations, said Oded Revivi, the councils chief foreign envoy.

(AP)
Snow started falling across the New York area on Friday morning as much of the region was under a winter weather advisory. A winter storm warning was issued for eastern Long Island.

The Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for much of the area into Friday afternoon, while a winter storm warning has been issued for eastern Suffolk County on Long Island.

Meteorologist Bill Evans and AccuWeather say the heaviest snow is expected between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. Roads will be slippery for the morning commute.

Behind the storm, expect bitterly cold temperatures lasting into next week, and the potential for a bigger snow event early next week.

READ MORE: WABC
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

During the past several months, more than 100 Jewish cultural centers nationwide have been the target of bomb threats and harassment. This wave has impacted New York City as well, including facilities here in Southern Brooklyn.

Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D  BROOKLYN) gathered Jewish community and religious leaders last night to meet with New York City Police Commissioner James ONeill. The meeting in conjunction with the FJCC, was attended by influential rabbonim, administrators of Brooklyn yeshivas and Bais Yaakovs, and other local activists. Councilman Deutsch and Commissioner ONeill led a lively roundtable dialogue about recent threats and the NYPDs efforts to protect and secure religious facilities.

Commissioner ONeill assured community leaders of the NYPDs unwavering commitment to work closely with their federal law enforcement partners to bring the perpetrators of these abhorrent actions to justice. Councilman Deutsch addressed the need to develop relationships with the diverse communities that reside in Southern Brooklyn. Deutsch referred to Holocaust educational programs in NYC public and private schools that bring survivors to speak with young people about the horrors they faced during the Holocaust. This method humanizes the victims of the Holocaust, and deters teens from vandalizing Jewish property with a swastika, the symbol of hate and anguish for so many in the Jewish community.

Councilman Deutsch, a member of the Public Safety Committee, also announced his advocacy for a New York City Council $25 million dollar grant, that would provide funding for vulnerable or targeted institutions to upgrade their security and security staffing. The New York City Council Jewish Caucus, of which Deutsch is a member, is pushing to have this grant included in this years City budget.

Also in attendance at last nights meeting was Chief Steven Powers, commander of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South, and the commanding officers of several local police precincts including the 60th Deputy Inspector William Taylor; the 61st, Deputy Inspector Winston Faison; and the 70th Deputy Inspector James Palumbo. Leaders of shuls, community centers, and schools had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the top police officials in the area to discuss their institutions specific concerns.

(Yehuda Eckstein  YWN)

Photo Credits: Gifterphotos







(YWN Headquarters  NYC)
After spending four months in Pakistan Army's captivity, Chandu Chavan returned to India in January this year. Now, the Indian Army soldier is going to his native village in Dhule district of Maharashtra to celebrate Holi.

By Pankaj P. Khelkar: Indian soldier, who had crossed LoC a day after Indian Army carried out surgical strike in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, is returning home for Holi.

Chandu Chavan's Borvir village situated in Dhule district of Maharashtra will celebrate Holi, the festival of colours, in true sense as their son is returning home after 9 months.

Indian Soldier Chandu Chavan of 37 Rashtriya Rifles had inadvertently crossed LoC on September 29 last year. Pakistan Rangers had arrested him since he strayed into PoK.

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READ| Pakistan returns Indian soldier Chandu Babulal Chavan as goodwill gesture

It took four months and a lot of convincing by the Indian side before Pakistan agreed to hand him over. After his return from Pakistan Army's captivity, Chandu underwent counseling by the Indian Army.

Now, Chandu Chavan is scheduled to return home at his native village in Maharashtra. He will be reaching Borvir in Dhule district tomorrow.Chandu's elder brother Bhushan Chavan confirmed this to India Today.

Bhushan Chavan, who also serves in Indian Army as a soldier, told India Today that he got a message from Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre's office asking him to reach Delhi.

ALSO WATCH:

"Tomorrow Chandu will be brought to Borvir," Bhushan said.

Bhushan also said that his 22-year-old brother had left Borvir to join duty in Jammu and Kashmir in July last year.

The Indian Army's special commandos carried out surgical strike at 8 different terrorist camps across the LoC on September 28 last year. The next day, Chandu had inadvertently crossed the LoC.

Chandu's village that had been mourning while he was in Pakistan's captivity is now rejoicing. His family, friends and fellow villagers are now preparing to celebrate Holi with renewed joy.

--- ENDS ---
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

Attn Readers: Rabbi Hoffmans newest Volume of Not Your Usual Halacha (#8) is now available on amazon.com.

There are three categories of Jews in Jewish law. There are minors, there are adults and there is a third category which we will term, The barely bar-Mitzvahed. These three categories, believe it or not, have different halachic statuses. They affect us for Parshas Zachor as well as the Megillah itself.

But lets get some definitions.

The barely bar-Mitzvahed is a child who has reached the age of Bar Mitzvah but has not yet demonstrated clear signs of physical maturity.

How is the halacha of the barely Bar Mitzvahed any different from, say, an adult?

NOT FOR BIBLICAL MITZVOS

The general rule of thumb is that we should not rely upon a Barely bar-Mitzvahed to fulfill a full blown biblical Mitzvah for us. Example: A Barely bar-Mitzvahed may recite Kiddush for his mother or sisters on Shabbos morning. He should not do so on Friday night. On Friday night, the obligation to recite the Kiddush is biblical. The words, Zachor es Yom HaShabbos lekadsho teach us this according to the Biur Halacha (Orech Chaim 271). On Shabbos morning the obligation is Rabbinic. The Mishna Brurah (on SA OC 271:2) rules that while a Barely bar-Mitzvahed should not be Motzi others for Friday night Kiddush, he may do so for Shabbos morning Kiddush because it is Derabanan.

In hearing Parshas Zachor we fulfill a Torah commandment. May we rely on a barely bar-Mitzvahed to lein it for us? The answer is, NO.

Shockingly, it could be that we should be relying upon the barely bar-Mitzvahed for the reading of the Megillah either. Why is this so? Rav Yoseph Chaim Sonnenfeld (Responsa Toras Chaim #53) is of the opinion that since Megillah takes the place of Hallel, it is considered to be Biblical on account of a Kal VaChomer! The Turei Even and the Netziv are of the same opinion in terms of treating the obligation to read the Megillah as a biblical obligation.

NOT WELL KNOWN

Interestingly enough, the halachos of the barely bar-Mitzvahed are not so well known. The reason that they are not so well known is because they are generally not taught in school or at home. Perhaps this is because the exact parameters of physical maturity are a topic that people are not so comfortable discussing. As a consequence, knowledge of the Halacha of the barely bar-Mitzvahed has suffered. This is unfortunate because many people inadvertently violate Halacha as a result.

YOM TOV KIDDUSH AND HAVDALLAH

What about Yom Tov Kiddush at night? Since some Poskim rule that this too is Biblical in origin it is perhaps best to be stringent. Certainly, the Yom Tov daytime Kiddush is only Rabbinic and that would be permitted according to all authorities.

How about Havdalah? Here we have a distinction. If the person hearing his Havdallah has not prayed the evening service and did not include the prayer of Atta Chonantanu in his Shmoneh Esreh then he should not hear it from the Barely bar-Mitzvahed. If the person hearing havdallah did recite a form of Havdallah previously, the Havdallah ceremony is only a Rabbinic obligation and the Barely bar-Mitzvahed may recite it. Women, who generally do not daven Maariv, should therefore recite the formula HaMavdil Bein Kodesh Lchol before hearing Havdallah from a Barely bar-Mitzvahed.

GENERAL DAVENING AND LEINING

And what about leading the Davening and Leining? Leining is permitted. Leading the Maariv is also permitted. Shacharis, Mussaf, and Mincha are problematic, however. He may be exempting others in Tefillah, a Biblical commandment according to the Rambam. According to the Ramban it may be biblical as well since he is of the opinion that prayer is biblically mandated when it is an Ais Tzarah, a time of difficulty. Modern Poskim have stated that our times qualify for the Rambans definition as well.

PESACH

On Pesach, if a Barely bar-Mitzvahed did the search for Chometz it is completely acceptable. Why? Because we recite the formula of Bittul in any case, making the Bedikah a Rabbinic obligation (MB 432:8). It follows from this that if the Bittul is not going to be recited for some reason, the Barely bar-Mitzvahed should not be the one doing the search for Chometz.

What about Matzah-baking? Those who are very involved in this Mitzvah are generally more aware of the halachos of the barely bar-Mitzvahed than others. The halacha concerning a boy who has just barely been Bar Mitzvahed is clear. He should not bake the Matzos Mitzvah according to the Biur Halacha (460:1). He may draw the water and measure the flour, however, according to the Misgeres HaShulchan on the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (OC 110:15).

ROSH HASHANA

For Hataras Nedarim on Erev Rosh haShana, a Barely bar-Mitzvahed should not be one of the three members of the Beis Din. This is the ruling of Rabbi Akiva Eiger in his responsa (Volume I #73). In this authors opinion, this is one of the most common violations of Barely bar-Mitzvahed Halacha.

On Rosh HaShana itself, a Barely bar-Mitzvahed should not blow shofar for others in order for them to fulfill their Mitzvah. If they have already heard the first 30 blasts which are biblical and he is merely fulfilling the one hundred blast quota it would be permitted. The Mateh Efraim 589:7 rules that a Barely bar-Mitzvahed should not even blow Shofar for others on the second day of Rosh HaShana. Presumably, the reason is that we treat the second day of Rosh haShanas as stringently as we do the first day.

SUKKOS

Before Sukkos a person should not purchase his Lulav and Esrog from a Barely bar-Mitzvahed out of concern that the sale of a child may only be effective by Rabbinic law. [This can be easily understood from the fact that in secular law, property cannot be bought and sold by a minor]. The Ksav Sofer (OC 128) rules that we should be stringent regarding this matter. As far as putting up the Schach on a Sukkah, although a child should ideally not do so, a Barely bar-Mitzvahed can according to the Pri Magadim (Siman 14).

A married man whose wife has not yet fulfilled the Mitzvah of Lulav and Esrog (and plans to do so with her husbands set) should not lend his Lulav and Esrog to a Barely bar-Mitzvahed in Shul on the first day of Yom Tov. This is out of concern that, while he is legally capable of accepting the gift, he may not be able to give it back. Rather, he should tell the Barely bar-Mitzvahed to come to his home that afternoon.

What about Tevilas Keilim, immersing our vessels into a Mikvah before we use them to eat? The Pri Magadim (OC 451) rules that regarding glass vessels and other vessels whose obligation of immersion are only Rabbinic we may rely on The barely bar-Mitzvahed to immerse. Therefore, one may not rely upon a Barely bar-Mitzvahed to immerse metal vessels other than ones made of aluminum.

For all of these halachos should the barely bar-Mitzvahed be Motzi others who are barely bar-Mitzvahed? The answer is clearly not. There is a chance that the other Barely bar-Mitzvahed is actually an adult while the person making the Bracha may not be. Therefore, a Barely bar-Mitzvahed should not even fulfill the Mitzvah for other barely bar-Mitzvahed.

WHEN DOES IT END?

When does the status of Barely bar-Mitzvahood end? Is there an age where we can automatically assume, even without evidence, that the young man has passed into full-fledged adulthood? The Mogen Avrohom (beginning of OC 39) writes that when the young man has reached eighteen years of age we can assume that he has reached full-fledged adulthood. Rabbi Akiva Eiger (Responsa OC #7), however, raises the question as to what the Mogen Avrohoms source for this is, as does the Eliyahu Rabbah. The Hagaos Chsam Sofer posits that an error has crept into the text of the Mogen Avrohom and suggests that the Mogen Avrohom really meant to write that it ends at the age of twenty.

DONT EMBARRASS THEM

It is important to keep in mind that pointing out to a Barely bar-Mitzvahed that he is, in fact, a Barely bar-Mitzvahed may be insulting to him and could possibly hurt his feelings. This could be a negation of the Torah Mitzvah of VeAhavta LRayacha Kamocha, Heaven forbid. Upon further reflection, this could possibly be why, in fact, knowledge of these halachos has not been so widespread. Perhaps the Rabbis who run our educational institutions are aware of the inherent dangers involved here and did not want people to inadvertently insult or hurt people. This is important to keep in mind when observing these halachos.

WHEN TO TEACH IT

The conclusion is that when we do try to observe these halachos we should do so quietly and without fanfare. At what point should the child be taught the halachos of Barely bar-Mitzvahed before his Bar Mitzvah? It would seem that if we do a number of months prior to his Bar Mitzvah this would address the issue of possible embarrassment.



Attn Readers: Rabbi Hoffmans newest Volume of Not Your Usual Halacha (#8) is now available on amazon.com.

The author may be reached at [email protected]
For months, President Donald Trump and his advisers have tried to distance themselves from Carter Page, a little-known investment banker who briefly served as a foreign policy adviser on the Republicans presidential campaign.

This week, Page  who is at the center of the swirling controversy over Trump associates connections to Russia  painted himself as a recurrent visitor to Trump Tower, the New York skyscraper that housed Trumps campaign offices.

I have frequently dined in Trump Grill, had lunch in Trump Cafe, had coffee meetings in the Starbucks at Trump Tower, attended events and spent many hours in campaign headquarters on the fifth floor last year, Page wrote in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russias hacking of Democratic groups and possible campaign contacts with Moscow.

Page tied his presence in Trump Tower to the presidents unverified assertion the President Barack Obama had the building wiretapped, though Page provided no evidence to back up that assertion.

Pages comments were the latest wrinkle in the swirling controversy surrounding Trump associates connections to Russia. The New York Times has reported that Page is among the Trump associates whose potential contacts with Russia are being investigated by the FBI. Congressional committees probing Russias hacking during the election and Trump campaign ties have asked Page to preserve materials related to their investigations.

Trumps White House and campaign advisers dismiss Page as an inconsequential figure who has never met the president. He wasnt on the campaign payroll and severed ties with the Trump team before the election.

Still, Pages connection to the campaign, however tenuous, has boosted his public persona. In July, he was invited to speak at the graduation ceremony at Moscows New Economic School, a role often filled by prominent international politicians, including President Barack Obama in 2009.

Pages appearance at the Russian university immediately raised eyebrows.

For an adviser to an American presidential hopeful speaking overseas, his message was strikingly critical of the U.S. It came as Trumps calls for warmer relations with the Kremlin were a source of criticism from Democrats and alarm from some fellow Republicans.

Washington had a hypocritical focus on ideas such as democratization, inequality, corruption and regime change in its dealings with Russia, Page said at the school.

Page and former Trump campaign officials say he made the trip in a personal capacity and not as a representative of the campaign. But university officials have been clear that Pages connections and insight into the Trump campaign were the draw.

We were interested in what was going on  already then, Trumps candidacy raised eyebrows, and everyone was really curious, said Shlomo Weber, the academic director at the New Economic School, in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

A newsletter announcing Pages visit read, You are invited to a lecture by Carter Page, foreign policy adviser for Donald Trumps election campaign.

Page has said he asked for, and received, permission from the Trump campaign to appear in a personal capacity.

Page has offered contradictory answers about his contacts with Russian officials during his visit. On Thursday, he told The Associated Press he did not meet with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who also spoke at the graduation. But in September, he told The Washington Post that he did speak with Dvorkovich briefly.

Back in the U.S. a few days later, Page talked with Russias ambassador to the U.S. at an event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke with the Russian envoy at the same event, a conversation he failed to reveal when asked about contacts with Russians during his Senate confirmation hearings.

Page, a former Merrill Lynch investment banker who worked out of its Moscow office for three years, now runs Global Energy Capital, a firm focused on energy sectors in emerging markets. According to the companys website, he has advised on transactions for Gazprom and RAO UES, a pair of Russian entities.

In December, Page returned to Moscow, where he noted he had the opportunity to meet with an executive from Rosneft, the Russian oil giant, according to a video clip of his remarks posted on YouTube. Rosnets chairman, Igor Sechin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been targeted by U.S. sanctions, though Page says he was not referring to Sechin in his remarks.

Some of the suspicion surrounding Page stems from the fact that no one who worked for the campaign can quite explain how he ended up on Trumps list of foreign policy advisers. Page has also sidestepped those questions, saying he doesnt want to put others in the same damaged pot as myself.

One campaign official said Page was recruited by Sam Clovis, an Iowa Republican operative who ran the Trump campaigns policy shop and is now a senior adviser at the Agriculture Department. Clovis did not respond to messages from the AP.

Trump has distanced himself from Page, saying he never met him. Those who served on the campaigns foreign policy advisory committee also said they had limited contact with Page.

Only met him once very briefly, said George Papadopoulos, the director of the Center for International Energy and Natural Resources Law and Security in London.

Page stopped advising the campaign sometime around the end of summer, though the exact circumstances of the separation are unclear. After the campaign, Trumps lawyers sent Page at least two cease-and-desist letters, according to another campaign official, who like others, insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

(AP)
Our Sages teach us that the Jews did not accept the Torah joyously at Sinai, but only under duress. Only after the miracle of Purim during the time of Achashverosh, did they accept the Torah and Mitzvos with joy and goodwill.

What is more special about the miracle of Purim than other miracles that the Jewish people experienced throughout history, that it caused them to accept the Torah with joy?

The culture of the Western World in the past two hundred years, has been concentrating on issues of equal rights. This theory may sound lofty, but in fact can be utilized as a tool of the yetzer hara to draw Jewish hearts, which are naturally merciful and charitable, to their beliefs, and become impressed by the ideas which seem just and upright, thus resulting them to stop learning the Holy Torah and keeping its mitzvos.

This is what the sages teach us on the verse the kindness of the nations is sinful (Mishlei/Proverbs 14:34), The vast majority of charitable work done in the world is not altruistic, but rather selfish, to gain honor or pride. Just like people spend money to enjoy food, or purchase expensive clothing to relish the honor they gain from it, so too they are willing to splurge just to be recognized and honored as humanitarians and philanthropists.

However, pious Jews are spiritually elevated by studying the Holy Torah, which is called a law of kindness. Therefore, when a devout Jew uses his energy or money, which Hashem gave him, to perform acts of kindness, it is solely to fulfill the mitzvah commanded by Hashem, Who gave us many commandments in His Torah which teach us to perform tzedakah and chesed, and through this we are worthy to connect ourselves to the Divine Attributes of Hashem, Who is exclusively chessed, thus fulfilling lifes true purpose.

There are three differences between the sinful charity of heathens and the true kindness of Torah scholars:

1. Privacy: Someone who is charitable only for honor, works hard on advertising their efforts, only to be recognized and honored, and therefore they will never give in secret. A true altruist will give only for the sake of doing a mitzvah and not to receive reward, and will therefore give secretly, even if the beneficiary does not know the identity of his benefactor.

2. Unity: The selfish giver seeks pride to raise his stature over others. If he feels that the recipient fails to show him his due respect, or even more so if he insults him, he will immediately stop giving, and go out in anger, fighting against the recipient. On the other hand, a believing Jew, gives for the Sake of Heaven, even to his enemies who will return the good with bad, unifying our people and turning old enemies into friends.

3. Joy: The selfish giver feels compelled to give. Being that he will not receive the honor he desires if he doesnt give, he gives despite his objection to do so. Once he receives his honor, or if he did not receive the honor he wanted, he regrets giving, and feels that he wasted his money, and can become depressed. However, the pious Jew, who gives only to satisfy the Will of his Maker, believes and knows that everything is from Hashem, and will pursue opportunities to perform kindness joyfully, and the joy that he receives from this is eternal.

Now, in the time of the Miracle of Purim, the Jews saw these differences between the acts of Achashverosh and Haman, and the acts of Mordechai and Esther.

King Achashverosh wanted to show off what a philanthropist he was, by opening his palace and hosting a large feast for all nations, lasting half a year. There, he proclaimed a commitment to equal rights, by giving each person exactly what they wanted. He even appointed Mordechai to be the mashgiach at the meal to ensure that the Jews all had Kosher food, exactly as they wanted. Haman was one of the prime ministers of the kingdom, and he oversaw the drinks at the affair, serving each person the beverage they requested, with a smile.

The Jews who failed to realize that the entire party was only so the king and his servants could be boastful, enjoyed this feast that Achashverosh and Haman gave them. They saw this as a kindness, thus being drawn to feel befriended with them. However, Hashem had mercy on the Jews, and sought to prevent them from assimilating among the other nations, and showed them the true nature of Achashverosh and Haman.

On the final day of the feast, when everyone already had joined in and gave the king the honor and praise he sought, Achashverosh became unhappy when he realized how much money he spent on this. He decided to imbibe some wine that would make him feel better. Once the kings heart was merry with alcohol, he began to act foolishly and lustfully, and asked that Queen Vashti be brought in to show her off to the participants at the feast. When Vashti refused to make her appearance, Achashverosh became very angry that his honor had been denied, to the point where he killed his own wife over this!

Subsequently, the Jews saw how the wicked Haman boasted to his wife Zeresh and all his friends how wealthy and honored he is. He had many children, and in addition to this, the King appointed him to be the second in command over 127 countries. Millions of people bowed to him wherever he went. He also mentioned many other things that gave him satisfaction. After mentioning all of the above, he concluded that all the tremendous distinction meant nothing to him, when he noticed one Jew named Mordechai, who sat by the kings entrance, refused to show him any respect. It is incredible to what depth a human can fall, that these great delights were meaningless to him, because of one person who refused to bow to him! Zeresh his wife, and his entire family agreed that the right thing to do would be to immediately hang Mordechai on a gallows 50 cubits high, so everyone could see the punishment for failing to honor Haman. This decision was compounded by the decree to kill all Jews, just because they belonged to the same nation as Mordechai!

On the contrary, the Jews experienced the exact opposite by Queen Esther. She had the greatest reverence, to be queen over 127 countries, and despite this, was ready to give up everything to help others. She followed Mordechais advice, and went to the king without his prior notice. Achashverosh was generally an irate person, who never extended his scepter to anyone who violated his will, and it was clear that Esther was risking her life, and would probably not be able to save the Jews at all. Despite the tremendous risk, she was ready to give up life itself for the sake of a small possibility that she might be able to help the Jewish People.

This defies basic nature, particularly for a woman. How could she have so much willpower that she was ready to sacrifice her life for the slight possibility of saving others? Esther grew up in the home of Mordechai, one of the greatest Torah scholars, a leader of the Sanhedrin. Through the power of the Holy Torah, he was elevated to the level of true kindness, to the point where even when he was made second in command to King Achashverosh, he still remembered to seek the good welfare of all Jews and to speak peacefully to them, even to those who were distant from him and insulted him. This attribute of kindness was also taught to Queen Esther by Mordechai the Tzaddik.

The Jews then saw the tremendous difference between someone who is raised in a heathen culture and someone who is raised and educated in a Torah environment. This is the reason why particularly in this epoch the Jews reaccepted the Holy Torah, with joy.

The reason why the Megillah is called the Scroll of Esther, and not the Scroll of Mordechai, is to demonstrate to future generations the power of a Torah education, which can change the very nature of the naturally selfish human heart, that even a woman could be taught, through the Torah path, and elevated to the high level of kindness held by Queen Esther. This is why the mitzvos of mishloach manos and matanos levyonim were established for this time, to show how studying the miracle of Purim increases the attributes of kindness and increases unity in our communities.

The Megillah says: and these days will be remembered and done in every generation, in every family, in every country, in every city. These days of Purim will never pass away from among the Jews, and their memory will never end among their progeny. This is a timely message for our generation, where we can clearly see the vulgarity of the heathen culture, and the selfishness of all their deeds, which causes wars between countries and even between cities, to the point where nobody is doing anything for the sake of righteousness and uprightness, but only for selfishness and pride. This is the time when we should commit ourselves to avoid learning from their ways, and only to focus on studying the Holy Torah, and follow the upright and just paths that Hashem gave us in His Torah. Subsequently, we can give our children a Torah education, which will make them beloved to Hashem and to their peers, so that the memory of Purim will never cease among our progeny.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

US Army General Curtis M. Scaparrotti arrived in Israel for an official visit in his capacity as Commander of European Command and as Supreme Allied Commander.

On Monday 8 Adar, the general met with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott and the IDF General Staff, discussing matters of mutual interest vis-a-vis the Middle East and the challenges faced by both nations.

The general will be visiting a number of bases and meeting with senior commanders including Deputy Chief of Staff Major-General Yair Golan, Chief of Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Hertzi Halevy, Chief of Operations Maj.-Gen. Nitzan Alon and Gaza Division Commander Brigadier-General Yehuda Fuchs.

The IDF spokesman unit reports The visit is part of the close relationship between Israel and the United States on matters of security and towards strengthening cooperation between the two armies.

This is the generals second visit to Israel.



(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Fayez Tarawneh, Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan, today called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral engagement between the two countries.

Tarawneh also exchanged views with the Prime Minister on the situation in West Asia and the scourge of terrorism that calls for a comprehensive international response.

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"They discussed the shared commitment to strengthen bilateral engagement and the many opportunities in this regard," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Tarawneh conveyed the greetings of King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein to Prime Minister. PTI MPB NSA

--- ENDS ---
The firm supplying three reactors for a plant in Cumbria looks set to file for bankruptcy in the US  throwing Britain's energy policy into doubt.

US nuclear firm Westinghouse Electric is considering the move as its owner Toshiba struggles with huge financial problems.

Westinghouse is designing three reactors for a planned nuclear power plant in Moorside, Cumbria, 60 per cent owned by Toshiba.

The 10billion NuGen plant will eventually power up to six million homes as a key part of the Government's energy strategy.

Meltdown: US nuclear firm Westinghouse Electric, which is supplying three reactors for a planned nuclear power plant in Moorside, Cumbria, is set to file for bankruptcy in the US

The project had already been thrown into turmoil when Toshiba announced a 5billion writedown connected to its nuclear business in December.

That crisis appears to be deepening with the potential bankruptcy of Westinghouse.

Sources said Westinghouse Electric Co had brought in the legal firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges as an exploratory step, and had not yet taken a decision on a bankruptcy filing.

Unions have called for the Government to get a grip on the country's nuclear strategy and invest in the plant.

Justin Bowden, nuclear energy secretary for the GMB union, said: 'It looks like the crisis that everybody feared was taking place is now taking place.

'The only positive that can be taken from it is that they are now dealing with it rather than pretending to the outside world it isn't happening.

We are still in the position of wondering how it is that the country's energy supply is left to the vagaries of foreign countries thousands of miles away. The average person must be scratching their head.'

The AP1000 nuclear reactors Westinghouse is designing for the project are being tested by the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency.

Speaking out: Toshiba said yesterday it remained committed to the NuGen project until the final investment decision, but would then seek to sell its shares

The process is expected to finish this month. But it is feared that if different reactors are needed because of problems at Westinghouse it could set the project back significantly.

Toshiba said yesterday it remained committed to the NuGen project until the final investment decision, but would then seek to sell its shares.

It says it will 'consider participating in the project without taking on any risk from carrying out actual construction work'.

A spokesman added it was not aware of any intention for Westinghouse to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Last month it confirmed that selling Westinghouse was an option.

The Japanese conglomerate faces huge pressure to publish its audited earnings by Tuesday after it postponed them a month ago to probe potential problems at Westinghouse further.

If it fails to meet that deadline it has until March 27 to file or face a delisting. NuGen declined to comment on Westinghouse.

Kepco, the South Korean power utility part-owned by the nation's government, has been in talks with Toshiba to buy a stake in NuGen, a joint venture between Toshiba and Engie of France. Some hope Kepco might keep the plan on track.

The Government has resisted putting public money into nuclear reactors. But in December the Japanese and British governments signed a memorandum of co-operation to increase collaboration in nuclear power.

Japanese group Hitachi is planning a power station in Wylfa, north Wales.

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: 'The Government is committed to new nuclear as an important part of our energy mix, having commissioned Hinkley Point C, the first new nuclear power station in a generation.

'We engage regularly with the developers of proposed projects in the UK.'

Westinghouse declined to comment, but said normal operations were continuing at UK facilities.
In September, Chinese social media websites showed photos of the J-20 being deployed in southwestern Sichuan province on the Tibetan plateau - not far from the border with India.

By Ananth Krishnan: China has put into service its fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighter that many experts say will give the PLA Air Force a massive firepower boost, state media reported on Thursday.

The fighter was earlier thought to be combat ready only by 2019. But the secretive J-20 stealth fighter - a fifth-generation jet that Chinese analysts claim is on a par with the US F-22 - had entered service, an official military channel reported late on Thursday, Reuters reported.

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In September, Chinese social media websites showed photos of the J-20 being deployed in southwestern Sichuan province on the Tibetan plateau - not far from the border with India.

The PLA website however then denied those reports, saying the jet was still undergoing trials and was likely to first be deployed on the plains. The PLA said then that the Tibetan plateau was an unlikely site for its first deployment as its airports weren't even ready to accommodate the fifth-generation fighter.

J-20 DEPLOYED IN TIBET?

Thursday's report did not provide details on where the fighter will likely be deployed. Last year, a photograph supposedly showing the fighter at the Daocheng Yading airport, which was shared on social media websites but not verified, had led to media reports suggesting the J-20 had been deployed in Tibet.

The Yading airport is located in Sichuan province, not in the Tibet Autonomous Region but in a prefecture bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). It is China's highest airport. Much of the PLA's air force deployments aimed at India are located in five civilian and military airports in the TAR.

"It is said that J-20 will be put into service soon but the China-India border is apparently not the ideal place for its deployment. In addition, the world's highest airport there does not have a complete set of supporting facilities and such shortage will impede the function of J-20," said a report published on a website of the PLA, China Military Online, which usually carries officially-sanctioned reports and statements.

"J-20 will not be deployed in Daocheng Yading airport as the airport is too close to the border, and it is vulnerable to India's first wave hit. If India is to deploy BrahMos missile on the China-India border, then the Daocheng Yading airport will likely to become its target," the report suggested.

HIGH-ALTITUDE OPERATIONS

China's other advanced fighters, such as the Su-27 which is also used by India, and the J-10 had been modified and acclimatised to high-altitude operations, the PLA website reported. Despite China's massive infrastructure developments in Tibet, the report claimed India had been more aggressive on its border deployments, including C-130 transport planes from the US and Heron unmanned aerial vehicles, not to mention the BrahMos.

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At the same time, it concluded, "India is not yet the biggest threat for China and though confrontation events along the border would occur from time to time, the overall situation is rather stable. In this way, China does not put too much emphasis and focus targeting India."

Watch Video: India and China strategic dialogue begins in Beijing; foreign secretaries discuss bilateral issues

Also Read:

China bats for greater global role through BRICS, pledges to work against unilateralism

China makes fresh 'Belt and Road Initiative' pitch to India

--- ENDS ---
British American Tobaccos 40 billion merger with Reynolds American has been approved by the US antitrust body.

The firm said the waiting period for the deal under US antitrust law expired on March 8, meaning all conditions had been satisfied.

The British cigarette giant, which owns brands including Dunhill, Kent and Lucky Strike, announced early this year that it had bought the remaining 57.8 per cent stake in the US rival that it didnt already own.

British American Tobaccos 40 billion merger with Reynolds American has been approved by the US antitrust body

BATs brands will come under the same roof as Camel and Newport and the two firms combined will overtake Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro, as the worlds largest publicly traded tobacco company.
JD Wetherspoons chairman has ripped into Chancellor Philip Hammond, accusing him of delivering a 'budget for dinner parties' rather than pub goers.

Tim Martin used a first-half trading statement to highlight nearly 30million of extra charges Wetherspoon will incur as a result of tax hikes, and derided Hammond for threatening the pub sector's survival.

The Brexit-backing boss totted up a business rates bill of 7million, a 2million Apprenticeship Levy charge and a 4million hit from the sugar tax that will contribute to 29million in extra charges the group will face over the next few years.

Defiant mood: Tim Martin has hit out at Chancellor Philip Hammond over the Budget after his company was slapped with an extra bill of 30million in tax hikes

We understand the need for the Government to raise taxes, he said.

However, there should be a sensible rebalancing of the taxes paid by pubs and supermarkets, if the pub industry is to survive in the long term.

Martin also poured scorn on a 1,000 business rates discount for pubs with a rateable value of less than 100,000, saying that sum is dwarfed by tax and regulatory increases and that Wetherspoon is not eligible for it in any case.

The outspoken New Zealander pointed out the disparity between how pubs are taxed versus supermarkets when it comes to VAT on food sales and described Hammond as having been less-than-frank.

The Chancellor was less-than-frank in his budget speech, since he did not spell out the duty increases, giving the impression to many that there would be no increase.

In effect, this was a budget for dinner parties, no doubt the preference of the Chancellor and his predecessor - dinner parties will suffer far less from the taxes outlined above, whereas many people prefer to go to pubs, given the choice, he said.

Martin went on to dismiss as 'absurd' the suggestion Tory tax hikes, including a controversial increase in National Insurance payments for small businesses and the self-employed, were linked to preparing the country for Brexit.

'The way you prepare is by having an efficient economy with fair taxes,' he said.

On Brexit, he added: 'We need immigration, and we should have a preferential system for EU workers, like we had with Ireland.'

Healthy profit: Wetherspoon reported a 43 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to 51.4m in the 26 weeks to January 22, buoyed by an improved operating margin of 8.1 per cent

Asked if he had any regrets about backing the Leave campaign in light of the seemingly 'hard Brexit' Theresa May has favoured, he said: 'I don't have any regrets, I'm breakdancing in the car park.'

This came as Wetherspoon reported a 43 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to 51.4million in the 26 weeks to January 22, buoyed by an improved operating margin of 8.1 per cent and lower utility and internet costs.

Like-for-like sales rose 3.3 per cent while revenue nudged up 1.4 per cent to 801.4million.

Wetherspoon also maintained the 4 pence interim dividend it paid out last year.

Net debt, however, increased by 45.2million to 696million, although the net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio actually fell slightly to 3.46 times.

Trading in the second half has also got off to a mixed start, with like-for-like sales rising by 2.7 per cent and total sales falling by 0.2 per cent in the six weeks to March 5.

The pub chain plans to increase its capital investment in existing pubs from 34million in 2015/16 to around 60million this financial year.

Wetherspoon said it remains cautious about the second half of the year, but given the slightly better-than-expected sales so far, it reckons full-year trading could come in slightly ahead of management expectations.
By Press Trust of India: Beijing, Mar 10 (PTI) Chinese scientists have assembled four synthetic yeast chromosomes, making it the second country after the US capable of designing and building eukaryotic genomes.

The findings were published in todays edition of journal Science, marking a step closer to building synthetic life, state media reported today.

In the study, researchers with Tianjin University, Tsinghua University and BGI-Shenzhen construct the synthetic active chromosomes through exactly matching the synthetic genome with the designed sequence for the first time, Xinhua news agency reported.

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In 2010, the US scientists succeeded in implanting a synthetic genome in a prokaryotic bacterium, marking the first step in chemical synthesis of living organisms.

The new effort is part of a larger project to redesign and re-engineer yeast chromosomes, called the Synthetic Yeast Genome Project, which several research institutes participated in, including those in China and the United States.

Bakers yeast has long served as an important research model because their cells share many features with human cells, but are simpler and easier to study. PTI KJVKJ AKJ KJ

--- ENDS ---
MBABANE - When youre good, you are good period! The year is not over yet but local artist Sands has accomplished what many local artists accomplish in a full year.



From getting massive airplay in neighbouring countries to making celebrities' mothers dance and being the one person who brings life to a party, one can safely say that Sands 2017 is looking bright.



The Tigi hit maker has been confirmed by MTN Bushfire Swaziland as one of the artists to perform during this years festivities. Not long ago, the first few artists to perform at the MTN Bushfire Festival were announced and these were Kwaito superstars TKZee, Congolese performer Baloji, the Taureg rebel Bombino and the Belgian / South African newcomer Petite Noir.



Last year, Sands shared the stage with DJ MBO and they delivered an electric performance which a lot of fun lovers enjoyed and this year will be no exception.

Every year around 25,000 music fans from across the globe gather in the scenic Malkerns Valley of Swaziland to experience the internationally acclaimed event.

More than simply a music festival, MTN Bushfire is a holistic experience made up of a rich texture of arts, cultures, crafts, food and people, carefully curetted into specialised zones, to create an explosive three-day event and a memorable take home, familyfriendly experience.



Celebrated for its uniquely African yet global offering, the MTN Bushfire line-up will once again include some of Africas top artists as well as a host of artists from across the world.
It might seem glamorous being a beauty pageant winner. But once that sash goes on, its a title and a job. There are responsibilities involved and charity events to attend that often conflict with focusing on your own career path.



Gcwala caught up with Miss Swaziland Second Princess Baby Mthimkhulu who has shared her experiences of being one of the most beautiful girls in the kingdom and also having young people look up to her.



As we begin our interview, Baby says that there is one word that comes to her head when she looks at her day-to-day obligations and responsibilities of holding the Miss Swaziland Second Princess title. But Baby says she is lucky to have a steadfast support system and have no problem having her friends and family.



Baby was never raised by her parents and for that reason she thinks the reason why she is the strong woman she is today is because of that circumstance.



Hardest



She lost her mother when she was in Form II and for her growing up without her mother to mentor her was the hardest because she had to make her own decisions with no one to guide her.

Not only is Miss Swaziland second princess beautiful, but she has a heart of gold which she showed to Mbhadzamane Primary School at Kashewula in the Lubombo Region this past weekend.



Baby Mthimkhulu, who was crowned together with Miss Swaziland Linda Hutchison and Miss Swaziland First Princess Zethu Manana, took her time to have a long drive down to the Lubombo Region to give out 77 pairs of school shoes to the less privileged scholars of Mbhadzamane Primary School.



This is an initiative that the beauty queen has started and has helped a lot of children and she hopes to continue with it until half of Swazilands less privileged scholars are helped.



These are the people that are going to change the world; these are the very same people that will bring solutions to the problems that the world is facing now. They are the future so they need to be looked after. After seeing how much these children appreciated the school shoes, considering the rain and the distances that they have to walk to school, I couldnt sleep a wink thinking how I can help out.



Improvement



When I visited the school it was a rainy week and some of the children walked kilometres in water and mud to attend classes, they sit in classrooms with cement floors for hours. It breaks my heart to know what they go through on a daily basis. I am proud that some of those children are not feeling the cold. They have shoes on their feet and I hope teachers will see great improvement in their class marks.

I had to mature early, make my own decisions, but so far Im really proud of the young lady I have become.



Despite my loss Im still blessed with my supportive father, who always makes sure that all my needs and some of my wants are provided, and I will forever be eternally grateful to my grandmother and aunts from Siteki, who are the biggest part of me.

Being a beauty with a purpose is not just a statement, it takes dedication, love, commitment, time and patience. From the moment I entered Miss Swaziland I already had a project in mind and right after the crowning I started working on them.



I tried asking for sponsorships from retailers but unfortunately none were willing to sponsor, meaning I had to ask from individuals to donate which made it challenging but worth it.



Baby says that true happiness for her is seeing the next individual smile because of the efforts that she has put towards making that possible.

Seeing those happy smiles and that heartfelt thank you made me emotional and want to continue with this campaign. Since some of the children didnt get shoes, due to size, I am collecting again for winter.



I have found that keeping a clear perspective about whats important and knowing that I get to participate in making a difference in the lives of people actually keeps me going.



I feel honoured to be chosen to handle this task. Some days it feels like work, but most days I know how lucky I am. I feel gratitude from every aspect of my life. This is what I do and its something I pursue with genuine dedication and earnest passion. Second hand and brand new school shoes are welcome.



Since we may all know that there may be challenges for one who holds such a title in the kingdom, Baby said the relationship she has with the other girls (Miss Swaziland and Miss Swaziland first Princess) is that of sisterhood and the experience has been great.



Its been great. I cant really complain, more especially because Ive always dreamt of being a beauty ambassador... Im just embracing and learning from everything that comes with being a public figure but then people expect a lot from us!

Shocked

Like this other day some girls were actually shocked that I still use public transport like they literally told me to get a cab to drive me around or get myself a boyfriend with a car. They expect us to live a fancy life... I truly refuse to lose my dignity while trying to fit in. I will embrace my life as it is!

Baby has just completed her Diploma in Psychology and is planning on pursuing a degree in the same field.




Whether it is university students calling for accessible quality education in South Africa under the #FeesMustFall banner, young people protesting against high unemployment in Botswana or taking a stand against corruption and economic and social exclusion in Angola, or activists taking to the streets to hold their government to account for increasing corruption, poverty and inequality in Zimbabwe, one thing is clear: Southern Africas youth are standing up to claim their rights and freedoms.



Throughout 2016, these demands, often initiated by the spontaneous actions of ordinary people, went viral, in particular among young people, who often bear the triple weight of unemployment, poverty and inequality.

However, the response to these demands has often been heavy-handed suppression by authorities, who are attempting to close the space for people to express their views and organise freely.



Politicians, resorting to an us versus them rhetoric, have frequently singled out those who were at the forefront of these protests and demands, demonising them, playing on social divisions and fostering a climate of fear.



President Robert Mugabe denounced Evan Mawarire, a pastor and key figure of the #ThisFlag movement, and accused him of advancing a foreign-sponsored agenda and of not being part of us for his role in leading protests against corruption, human rights violations and the declining economy.



In South Africa, university students protesting in support of their constitutionally enshrined right to education were often met with excessive force by the police. In Johannesburg last October, one student leader was shot in the back 13 times with rubber bullets.



In Botswana, activists, among them Tlamelo Tsurupe, who were protesting against youth unemployment in front of Parliament were beaten by the police and arrested on charges of common nuisance.



In other countries in the region, peaceful protests have been brutally repressed over the past year, as evidenced by the general pattern of excessive use of force by the police and security forces. Human rights defenders, journalists and political opponents were often the focus of these and other attacks.



This is just a snapshot of the 159 country entries contained in Amnesty Internationals annual report, titled The Global State of Human Rights, which was released on February 22.

It shows that human rights and those who stand up for them are under attack in the region and around the world.



It documents people being killed for peacefully standing up for human rights in 22 countries in 2016, whether they were challenging entrenched economic interests, defending minorities and small communities, or challenging traditional barriers to womens and sexual rights. The Amnesty report warns that punishment for airing dissenting views and politically motivated attacks on peaceful protests and the right to freedom of expression are on the rise in countries such as South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.



We dont have to go down this gloomy, dystopian path. In dark times, it is important to remember that individuals who stand up for justice can make a difference. In this fight, the front line is everywhere and everyone can be a human rights defender. It is time for a new agenda that respects human rights. In Africa, civil society leaders and politicians have an opportunity to rise to the challenge of defending them.



In 2017, we must be ready to defend activists on the front line, in particular those who are challenging laws, pressuring their governments and exposing violations and abuses. They need support from all of us if their voices are to be heard.

For every wall built out of repression, we must build structures of resistance based on rights and freedoms, brick by brick, taking one stand at a time to defend human rights defenders.



Unless the wider public seizes the responsibility to defend these rights and joins activists to confront those abusing them, the efforts of human rights defenders may be in vain.

Outrage must be channelled into ongoing, meaningful acts of solidarity that peacefully confront people in power and make them prioritise human rights at home and abroad.



As the world takes this dark turn, the seed of hope is that ordinary people will mobilise in defence of their rights.

History tells us that in troubled times individuals made a difference when they took a stand - civil rights activists in the United States, anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and the womens rights movements around the world.






Swazi TV News Editor, Nkosinathi Dlamini shows the scars sustained when his wife allegedly bit him on his back in one of the pictures circulated in court yesterday. (Courtesy pic)

MATSAPHA  Swazi TV News Editor Nkosinathi Dlamini will be forced to strip for the court to display the scars of the injuries he sustained when his wife allegedly bit him on his back.



The editor stands accused of assaulting his wife, Lungile Makhanya, with kicks and open hands in November at Magevini, Matsapha.

Dlamini will be ordered to strip as there are allegations that more scars were inflicted by his wife on other parts of his body.



He is represented by Sipho Gumedze, who informed the court that his client had also been physically abused by the complainant, who bit him all over his body each time they had an argumen. The attorney also disputed that the complainant was assaulted and asked her why she did not show the court scars from the alleged assault. Four A4 pictures of the editor, with the scars, were circulated in court. The magistrate, public prosecutor, attorney and the complainant were issued with copies of the pictures of Dlamini half naked.



It was gathered that Makhanya bit the editor eight times on his back and she alleged in court that it was in retaliation after she was allegedly attacked by Dlamini.



If he really assaulted you and exposed you to the highest level of brutality, as you have alleged, how were you able to bite him with your teeth eight times from his back. The scars from his back prove that you attacked him from the back and plunged (sic) your teeth in him several times, the attorney said.

Gumedze also revealed that after the editor had been bitten, he did not assault his wife but went to report the matter to the police and further opened an assault case.




EZULWINI  With an investment of E600 million, Swazi mobile intends employing 300 people in the next 12 months.



This was disclosed by the company yesterday during its official launch and unveiling of its logo held at Royal Swazi Hotel, Gigis Restaurant.

With the promised jobs, the countrys unemployment rate, which is estimated to be standing at 40 per cent, is expected to decline.



Regarding the investment of E600 million, Swazi Mobile said it is money they have invested since the start of preliminary works of setting up the company so far and they are yet to invest more for other related projects.



Notably, it was for the first time Swazi Mobile disclosed the number of jobs to be created as well as the amount of investment.

Going forward, the company will embark on the installation of more cellphone towers in the next two weeks. According to Swazi Mobile Chairman Victor Gamedze, the installation of additional towers will enable them to have network coverage of between 80-90 per cent when they connect and start operations in July.



Gamedze went on to say that they are working hard behind the scenes setting up the network so that it can be in place in three weeks.

We aim starting at a high scale, covering almost all the country. By the time we launch, we will roll out a network that will be accommodative of 2G, 3G and 4G so that we can offer our customers a wide range of services, from voice calls, data and SMS, Gamedze said.

He further said they are working hard with their Chinese Partners in setting up everything and if all goes well, they will be doing some tests in May. He then thanked government for offering Swazis a chance to have their own company in Swazi Mobile.

He then reiterated that Swazi Mobile was for Swazis and mentioned that 33 per cent will be listed in the Swaziland Stock Exchange so that the public can buy shares so that they own a stake in the company.
LOBAMBA - His Majesty King Mswati III has shown traits of being a great leader by agreeing to continue to use the Siyinqaba aircraft.



This was revealed by the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Lindiwe Dlamini, yesterday during the House of Assembly debate by the Portfolio Committee of the ministrys end of year performance report.



The jet is the one that was impounded in Canada for many months after former iron ore mine operator, Salgaocar boss, Shanmuga Rethenam, took government to court.



The Siyinqaba jet is the one that was used by the King when he flew out of the country on Wednesday on a state visit to India.

The King, considering the financial challenges faced by the country, said he had no problem using Siyinqaba in the meantime, said Dlamini.

After the plane had been impounded in Canada, Parliamentarians, during a joint sitting of the House last year, unanimously agreed that a new plane should be purchased for the use of royalty.



Even though the Siyinqaba jet had been returned to the country and had been serviced, the legislators, in one voice, said it would not be safe for the King to use the plane following all that had happened.

They feared that someone would tamper with the aircraft, making it unsafe for royalty to travel in.

It was during that meeting that the Parliamentarians said Cabinet should go and find a plane that would be bought for royalty.

Cabinet later informed the legislators that they had identified a plane which had been used in Taiwan and would cost around E200 million.
MBABANE  The husband of SBIS radio personality Nelisiwe Ntfombitanele Motsa, popularly known as Awmine, alleges that he once found three freshly used condoms underneath their bed.



He allegedly made this discovery at Motsas flat in Mbabane.

Roy Bhutane Dube, who is a businessman, disclosed this in his answering affidavit in the matter where Motsa had filed an application seeking an order that their marriage be declared unlawful. In her application, the radio personality alleged that their marriage was based on untruths.



In his answering papers, Dube mentioned that every time they had a fight, Motsa would go to her house in Mbabane. He alleged that one day, she sent him a picture of ants from the ceiling to the floor underneath the bed. Dube mentioned that Motsa told him that she feared her house was being haunted.



I then drove to her house where I found her already at work, so I did a spring cleaning and to my utter shock, I discovered three freshly used condoms underneath the bed. The ants had been invited by spilt sexual fluids on the floor, alleged the businessman.

The businessman mentioned that he took a picture and sent it to his wife (Motsa) through WhatsApp and asked about the condoms but she allegedly did not respond.



I humbly state that I was very disappointed as it was clear that my wife was cheating on me. She had been to her government house for two days and nights without me before she sent me the picture of the ants, alleged Dube.

These are allegations whose veracity is yet to be tested in court.
After JNU registrar gave written complaints against few students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for misbehaving with the vice chancellor, Delhi Police registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 341, 342, 504 and 34 in Vasant Kunj north police station.

By Ajay Kumar: Delhi Police have registered an FIR against a dozen students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for misbehaving with the vice chancellor. The students wanted to meet JNU's V-C M Jagdish Kumar, who refused to do so as he was unwell that day.

Delhi Police have registered an FIR at Vasant Kunj police station following written complaints given by the JNU registrar on Wednesday night.

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"On February 27, a bunch of suspended students were protesting against JNU administration. The officials of JNU managed to remove the blockage done by agitating students. As soon as they went inside administrative block for routine work, the suspended students followed them and shouted slogans against the V-C. They wanted to resolve their concerns with him, but the V-C reportedly refused due to his illness," said Chinmoy Biswas, Additional DCP, South Delhi.

Also read: JNU students protest against VC receiving Visitor's Award; JNUSU President files online petition

The students held protest outside the V-C room and when the latter refused. They entered into room number 225 and stayed there for the entire night. The students were repeatedly asked to leave the place to which they have denied until their demand were fulfilled.

During the argument between the officials and the students, a student named Anubhuti threatened the officials to commit suicide if the V-C would not meet them. She had climbed on the roof-top of administrative building and threatened to jump from there.

Meanwhile, the health of the V-C also deteriorated and officials called for an ambulance. The agitating students blocked the way of the ambulance and when Dr Gautam Patra tried to enter the V-C room, he was also stopped by them. Since the matter was quite sensitive, the V-C has finally decided to meet them. He has constituted a team comprising senior officers of JNU. The team has also requested Anubhuti to join the meeting. The students were quite animated there in two hours of meeting. "The V-C was afraid that he might be attacked by the agitating students," said Biswas.

Also read: Probe gives Kanhaiya Kumar clean chit: Recap of what happened inside JNU last year

Delhi Police had registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 341, 342, 504 and 34 in Vasant Kunj north police station. The registrar has also given video evidences and names of students those were present at the time of meeting. Delhi Police are currently investigating the matter.

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Also watch:

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By Press Trust of India: Rajkot, Mar 9 (PTI) A website educating and guiding people about kidney ailments hosts information in a record 30 languages.

City-based nephrologist Sanjay Pandya has written a book on kidney ailments and made it available on a website, www.kidneyeducation.com, set up by him.

"The 200-page book is available in 30 languages on the website - 18 international and 12 Indian," he said.

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The website has set a world record by having a book in the most number of languages," he said.

A certificate from the US-based Golden Book of World Record was presented to Pandya here yesterday. March 9 is observed as the "World Kidney Day". PTI VJA RSY

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The public transit system often seems close to buckling in Queens under the weight of near record ridership even though the number of straphangers declined last year for the first time since 2009.

Every day is an adventure on the boroughs subways and the Long Island Rail Road. Will you or wont you get there on time? What mischievous genie will disrupt your journey by producing signal problems on the No. 7 train or inside the tunnels to Penn Station?

Signal problems remain a great mystery and just may be MTA tech talk for multiple mechanical failures, but the bottom line is when they occur as they have in the last few days on both lines, riders are out of luck from Hunters Point to Little Neck. In between thousands of frustrated commuters are stranded on overcrowded platforms looking for an alternative route on already packed city buses.

Add to this mix Gov. Andrew Cuomos plan to cut $65 million in promised transit funds from the MTA budget next year and we have the formula for serious transit gridlock.

More than 60 members of the state Legislature, including the Queens delegations, have opened a campaign demanding that Cuomo restore the funds. The lawmakers call it a new front in the battle over transit money in the budget, which must be approved by both the Assembly and the Senate to take effect.

The looming cut comes against the backdrop of unreliable service and the latest fare hikes, which will eliminate bonuses for MetroCard users and raise LIRR ticket prices March 19.

The $65 million is part of the states general fund, which was supposed to be untouched after the state slashed the hated payroll tax back in 2011. The Cuomo administration denies there is any plan to shave transit funds and contends it is adding money to the pot, but New York City pols are crying foul.

As delays mount on the subway system, some riders have turned to car services like Uber for their commute, a shift reflected in the 3 percent drop in ridership last year. But unlike Manhattan, outerborough Queens residents have less access to the ride-hailing services. Fed-up straphangers are also riding to work on Citi Bikes.

Cuomo, a Queens native, knows firsthand how important the subways are to the livelihood of the borough. He must leave the $65 million in the kitty for us. We will live through weekend shutdowns on the No. 7 through March and hope the MTA is right when it says the four-year repair project on the line will be completed this year.

In Queens we like to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel.
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By Patrick Donachie

FDNY crews remained on the scene days after a seven-alarm blaze engulfed several buildings on a short span of Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill, injuring five people and leaving 31 homeless. An FDNY spokesman said several of the buildings would undergo a controlled demolition because of the structural instability caused by the fire.

The fire began at about 11 p.m. Saturday night at an undetermined location in a row of commercial establishments on Liberty Avenue between 110th and 111th streets, underneath the elevated A line. Several establishments were still open and serving diners at the time.

More than 250 firefighters and EMS workers responded to the fire, which eventually became a seven-alarm call. An FDNY spokesman said seven-alarms were rarely called and were done on a case-by-case basis. The spokesman said the structure of the interconnected buildings, the rapid movement of the fire and weather conditions made it necessary to bring all resources to bear.

Despite the severity of the blaze, only five individuals, including two firefighters, suffered minor injuries, and there were no fatalities. The FDNY spokesman said eight buildings were fully involved with the fire and several others suffered significant damage.

On Monday morning, onlookers on the street could see straight through the second-floor residential apartments into the blue sky behind them, as the back walls were completely decimated. Large icicles hung from the interior ceilings, surrounded by the ruins of apartments decimated by the blaze.

Anita, the owner of Liberty Delight, a Guyanese restaurant in the middle of the block, stood across the street from the gutted buildings, watching FDNY crews probe the exterior of the structures. She said that on Saturday evening she was working in her kitchen when she detected the faint odor of smoke.

I smelled something not right. My customers were still eating and drinking, but I felt like something was wrong, she said. She walked into the street to find smoke billowing out the entrance of a Guyanese grocery market located next door.

I ran into my restaurant and yelled go, go, go! she said, and the guests in the restaurant left the building before the fire endangered them. I feel so lucky no one was hurt.

NYPD officers, FDNY officials and representatives from the citys Office of Emergency Management were on site on Monday morning, surveying the damage and directing individuals affected by the fire to the Shree Tulsi Mandir Hindu Temple at 103-26 111 St., half a block away from the site. There, affected individuals could speak to FDNY representatives about their questions and concerns.

Liberty Avenue between 110th and 111th Streets reopened Tuesday, according to Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica), and state Sen. James Sanders (D-Rochdale Village) scheduled a community resource event to be held in the Hindu Temple this week. The Red Cross provided emergency financial assistance to eight families, consisting of 23 adults and 8 children. The Red Cross also supplied food, clothing and blankets, according to a spokeswoman.

Pierre Kushun, an Allstate insurance representative who worked across the street from the affected buildings, first learned of the blaze on the news. Upon seeing familiar storefronts burning on television, he raced to the scene. He said each building on the block had residential units on the second floor, except for a single building on the end of the street.

Kishun said he had heard the fire began in the rear of the Ace Caribbean Market, though FDNY refused to specify a location, and he believed at least five buildings would need to be razed. Anita said she was happy everyone was safe but was saddened by the damage to her restaurant. The kitchen equipment, she said, had been entirely destroyed and the interior of the restaurant had undergone significant damage.

I dont know my future, she said.
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By Bill Parry

A Brazilian national wanted for armed robbery in his home country was arrested in late February in Long Island City, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Monday. Anderson Hickman, 33, was captured at an undisclosed location by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Enforcement and Removal Operations officers on Feb. 24.

Hickman was lawfully admitted to the U.S. in Nov. 2015 on a temporary visa, which was later revoked. In Oct. 2016, ERO New York officers were made aware that Hickman had been named in an arrest warrant in Brazil, indicating he was a fugitive wanted to face charges of armed robbery.

We will not allow violent criminals to seek refuge from prosecution within our borders, ERO New York field office director Thomas R. Decker said. The arrest is another example of EROs dedication to finding these criminals and removing them from our city. Hickman will now have to answer to charges in his home country.

According to Brazilian authorities, in Oct. 2011, Hickman, along with other members of a gang, boarded a tour bus carrying thirty three passengers and robbed them at gunpoint. They made away will all the passengers money, cell phones and other personal belongings.

While the Brazilian police were in pursuit, he and other members of his gang fired shots at the officers. Hickman is currently in ICE custody, without bond, pending deportation proceedings.
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By Mark Hallum

An organization devoted to dying languages has determined that Queens has the widest variety of foreign tongues in the world.

The Endangered Languages Alliance has estimated there are over 200 languages spoken in the fittingly dubbed Worlds Borough, out of the 800 spoken citywide. ELA has drawn a map showing which locations in the five-mile -long stretch of Queens have the greatest density of each.

As languages and cultures fall prey to genocide, language planning and education as well as migration, generations of human experience are lost with it, according to the ELA. Policy makers and activists worldwide are only just beginning to recognize the severity of the issue. The ELA is an organization working to document at-risk cultures in city centers such as New York and Toronto.

A place like Queens can play a dual role, ELA Assistant Director Ross Perlin said, explaining how transplanting an already endangered language has the potential to either accelerate its dying off or encourage the people who use it to preserve their culture. In some cases people, could come here and gain a deeper connection to their home culture.

Perlin has been working with Executive Director Daniel Kaufman, a Queens College linguisitcs professor, and cartographer Molly Roy to produce language maps for the whole city as part of an ongoing effort since the organization was founded in 2010. Rebecca Solnit and Joshua Jelly-Schapiro produced a book titled Nonstop Metropolis: a New York City Atlas, which featured the ELAs map of Queens.

Nonstop Metropolis is a volume within a trilogy which illustrates the city in a series of maps and essays

A place like Queens can offer platforms through digital technology not available in other countries to record and communicate fading ways of life, according to Perlin. who believes that the languages have better odds of surviving in a modern culture compared to in the past when immigration came with a certain degree of isolation and integration. Texting and live chats allow people to practice their culture with people like themselves no matter how distant.

Perlin is currently interested in documenting the existence of Navajo communities, an American Indian culture from the Four Corners region of the Southwest, in the city to add to the map of linguistic diversity. The Navajo currently have one of the strongest surviving native language in North America.

Bob Holman is the founder of the Bowery Poetry Club and works with the ELA as well as linguists and claims that a major sign of linguistic decline is the disappearance of poetry in native languages. Holman did a film featured on PBS called Language Matters, which detailed what is lost when languages go the way of the mammoth.

It is a natural job of a poet to be working to keep languages alive, he said. Weve been using language print free for thousands of years and now theyre disappearing at a rate weve never seen before. Its a challenge, and of course this means whole cultures are going, not just the poetry. Language is the essence of the culture and poetry is the essence of the language.

Among the most rare and arcane languages found in Queens, according to Holman, are those of indigenous groups originating from Mexico and Central America. Nahuatl, the primary language of the ancient Aztec empire still spoken today by Nahua people across Mesoamerica, is present in Corona, according to the map. The Mixteco language of Nuu Savi is also spoken in this part of Queens, as well as Tlapaneco, Cuicateco, Chinanteco and others originating in the Oaxaca region and beyond.

At the Bowery Poerty Club, different immigrant groups come together to exchange ways of preserving their cultures. Holman believes New York City is not only a sanctuary city for immigrants themselves, but a safe zone for their culture and language.

The Queens Museum has featured the ELAs work, including a painted rendition of the map.
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By Joyce Shepard

Once again communities are protesting the citys plan on dumping the homeless population into hotels in their neighborhoods.

I gave Mayor Bill de Blasio and my councilman, Paul Vallone, a suggestion that would help the homeless population and the protesting taxpayer. Im writing this letter because my suggestion has been ignored by both.

I suggested that many empty New York state mental health hospitals languishing throughout the state on our tax dollars can be used for housing homeless individuals and families.

It would be cost effective and provide jobs.

Could it be that the homeless population doesnt matter, because they dont vote? Well, the people impacted by placements in their neighborhoods do.

Rockland State Psychiatric Hospital is very large, located on vast green acres, and can house hundreds of homeless individuals and families, as do many other hospitals.

Recently, developers went to Community Board 13 in Queens, with plans to build apartments and housing on the grounds of Creedmoor psychiatric hospital. When is a clue a clue?

Maybe, just maybe the people protesting the homeless in their communities will ensure that their elected politicians look into the hospital plan.

Just think. How would your child, or grandchild feel living in a car, and having to wash in gas stations before going to school? Do these innocent children deserve to feel that shame?

I hope the protesters take on this issue and instead of protesting use their energy to help the homeless and lobby the governor and mayor to look into this humane issue.

Joyce Shepard

Bayside
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By Gina Martinez

The 29th annual Phagwa parade is coming to Richmond Hill Sunday.

The parade is set to begin at noon on 133rd Street and Liberty Ave. and end at Phil Rizzuto Park, where cultural programs, which include dances and live music, will take place.

Richmond Hill is home to the largest Indo-Caribbean community in the United States. Phagwah, or Holi, is a Hindu spring festival also known as the Festival of Colors. During Holi, Hindus usually celebrate in the streets and spray friends and family with colored powders.

Just two years ago the parade was involved in controversy due to infighting. The parades permits were canceled by the NYPD for the first time in 2015 after disputes between the Hindu Parades & Festivals Committee and The Federation of Hindu Mandirs. The Hindu Parades faction had made accusations against the Federation of Hindu Mandirs and the NYPD. The Hindu Parades and the Federation both applied for permits on the same day last year, but the Hindu Parades had its permit pulled. Hindu Parades claimed it filed first in a civil suit against the NYPD. The Federation stopped the parade from being held for the first time since 1988.

In a January meeting the Joint Planning Committee of Phagwah Parade 2017 told reporters that all permits have been approved by the NYPD and that all key elements of the parade, including floats, performers, vendors and music, are in place.

We are proud to contribute to the cultural diversity of the great city of New York by organizing and implementing an event like this parade, Sagar Rajpal, a member of the planning committee, said. We recognize that the Phagwah Parade is the communitys main cultural event and are committed to ensuring that we produce a spectacular parade.
According to the post-poll analysis by Axis-My-India for the India Today Group, the BJP is projected to emerge victorious in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa.

By India Today Web Desk: With the two-month long election process in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur - coming to an end and the votes scheduled to be counted on Saturday, it's time for the India Today Axis-My India exit poll to give you a sense of which way the wind blew.

According to the post-poll analysis by Axis-My-India for the India Today Group, the BJP is projected to bag an astonishing 251-279 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Axis projects the Samajwadi Party and Congress alliance will get only between 88-112 seats, while the BSP is forecast to crash somewhere between 28-42 seats.

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The India Today-Axis My India exit poll released predicts that the Narendra Modi magic continues to work for the saffron party looking to return in the state after 15 years.

ALSO READ | Uttar Pradesh election: Exit poll shows Brand Modi has soared, BJP eyes a landslide

The good news for the BJP extends to Uttarakhand, where it is projected to get a clear majority, bagging between 46 and 53 seats in the 70-seat assembly.

The BJP will make a mega comeback in the state after Chief Minister Harish Rawat failing to keep faction-ridden Congress together.

The BJP is projected to emerge as the single-largest party in Goa as well, but could fall short of a clear majority. Axis projects the BJP could get between 18 and 22 seats in the 40-seat Goa Assembly.

Punjab and Manipur appear to be the silver lining for the Congress, with the party expected to form the government in both states. The India Today-Axis My India exit poll says a resurgent Congress is set to win a comfortable majority in the 117-member Punjab Assembly by winning 62-71 seats.

The India Today-Axis My India exit poll predicts that the Congress's bastion guarded by Okram Ibobi Singh in Manipur is still unassailable. The Congress is in power in Manipur since 2002, when Singh became the Chief Minister of the state for the first time.

ALSO READ | LIVE: Exit polls say BJP leading UP, Uttarakhand and Goa, AAP-Congress in tight fight in Punjab, BJP makes it difficult for Congress in Manipur

WATCH | Assembly elections 2017: Exit polls predict the future of political parties in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand

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By Lenore Skenazy

Its no secret that America loves to send people to prison. We have 5 percent of the worlds population and 25 percent of its prisoners  which is odd for a Land of Liberty.

Lately it has become common to attribute our mass incarceration to the war on drugs. The conversation goes like this: Why dont we just release the non-violent drug offenders? That makes so much sense!

And it does. But it will not make that big a dent in the number of people sitting in cells, says John Pfaff, a professor of law at Fordham University and author of the new book, Locked In: the True Causes of Mass Incarceration  and How to Achieve Real Reform. (Book titles keep getting longer, dont they?)

Surprisingly, people arrested for drug crimes constitute only about 16 percent of the people in prison. Most of the rest are there for violent crimes.

So for Pfaff the question is: Should we start releasing the violent criminals, too?

At first blush, this sounds crazy. We need to keep violent offenders off the street! But one point that Pfaff makes is that violent offender is a misleading term.

It makes it sound as if there is a class of people who are wired wrong and incorrigible. This is wrong on two counts.

First of all, some crimes are labeled violent that arent  like breaking into a house.

But beyond that, some people are labeled violent who committed their crime only in the context of one particular situation.

Youre in a bad mood, you have a beer, you get in a fight with your friend at the bar and break his jaw, says Pfaff. If were trying to minimize future harm, some sort of anger management class might be more effective than prison.

But prison has become our knee-jerk response to all violence, even though often this isnt addressing the real problem.

Which is? Well, Pfaff says, whenever you have young men who are denied upward social mobility and the state doesnt do a good job of preventing violent crime, these young men will engage in violence against each other.

Its as true in 19th century Czarist Russia as it is in 20th century Los Angeles. What is necessary is a change of circumstance.

That might sound like a verse from the West Side Story song  Officer Krupke, youre really a slob, this boy dont need a doctor, just a good honest job  but Pfaff cites a current theory that looks at violence as an epidemic: A shoots B, Bs friends shoot C, Cs brother shoots D, and so forth. One study tied 400 shootings back to one initial shooting, he says.

If we could just stop that chain at the start, so many lives would be saved and so many fewer people would wind up in a cage.

One method shown to work is a program in Boston called Project Ceasefire. It works like this: The cops determine which gangs are responsible for the majority of the gun violence.

Then they sit down and meet with those people and kind of give them two choices: If you persist in this violence, we will crack down on you as a group, aggressively,  says Pfaff. But the cops also bring in an array of social workers to help with housing, food, employment, health care. And they say, If youre willing to put this violence behind you, we will help you build a more stable life. Its called focused deterrence. Its carrot and stick.

A program like this called Cure Violence was introduced in Chicago.

And when the state cut the funding a couple of years ago, thats exactly when the violence in Chicago began its sharp increase, Pfaff says.

Somehow, one solitary neighborhood managed to keep its funding. And there, says Pfaff, the crime rate continues going down. This doesnt definitively prove the program works. But its worth a lot more study, he says.

It certainly is. And so is a look at the prison guard unions.

While many people are concerned about the advent of private prisons  after all, these make money on heads in beds, which supports more incarceration  the role of the public prison guard unions should not be ignored.

Here in New York State, says Pfaff, our prison population is down 25 percent, and yet our correctional budget keeps going up.

The more guards who are on the payroll, the more potential votes for laws that are tough  perhaps excessively  on crime. After all, jobs depend on it.

But lives depend on something else: Preventing violence, not just punishing it. Putting people behind bars ignores the cost to their families and to taxpayers.

If we want to make our cities safer, locking up violent offenders may not be the key.
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By Patrick Donachie

Gathering in the midst of a bitterly cold morning, hundreds celebrated the annual St. Pats for All parade, held on Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside Sunday.

Talk show host and activist Phil Donahue and human rights advocate Anastasia Somoza were the dual grand marshals for the parade, which celebrated its 18th consecutive year. The parade began in opposition to the exclusion of LGBT Irish groups from marching in the St. Patricks Parade in Manhattan, but its messages of inclusion and equality took on added heft in response to the nations current political climate.

As immigrants, Irish people remember our own story as refugees fleeing famine and poverty only to arrive on the shores of the U.S. to encounter prejudice. This experience has shaped our lives and history, said Brendan Fay, co-chair of the parade. As Irish people we have transformed the anguish of the past into a compassionate advocacy for human rights across the globe.

The parade drew LGBT groups, families, Gaelic organizations, politicians and people from the neighborhood, many of whom were wearing the cordially required green.

Somoza gained national recognition last summer as a primetime speaker during the Democratic National Convention on behalf of Americans with disabilities. She first marched in the Sunnyside parade in 2000, where she met Hillary Clinton, then a candidate for senator. She said she witnessed the parade grow and evolve since then, and felt confident that this year included the largest and most diverse group of participants of any prior year. She recalled that the city parade agreed to include LGBT organizations for the first time in 2016.

Its because this parade happened that the city parade changed, she said. Imagine if this parade hadnt existed.

Somoza, who works as a consultant with the Shield Institute for mental disabilities, stressed that she had considered the fight for inclusivity to be of vital importance before President Donald Trumps election, but the parades message was sharpened in response to the administration.

Im part of the resistance movement because I still feel like he doesnt know what it means to be a president for everyone, Somoza said. St. Pats For All represents the larger message that all Americans matter, no matter what.

Many of the elected officials on hand alluded to Trump, highlighting the parade as an illustration of inclusivity as a contrast. City Comptroller Scott Stringer referred to pieces of legislation around the country affecting transgender students as a sign of what was to come from the Trump administration.

We are working everyday, because this civil rights issue will be with us as long as this lunatic is president of the United States, he said during remarks prior to the parades start. Donahue also spoke briefly to the crowd.

We march today to convey one simple message, he said. The world is changing and its because of what youre doing here today  freezing but standing anyway. The message is we are all Gods children.

Afterwards, he sang a stanza of When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, a romanticized ode to the Emerald Isle. At the end of the chorus, Fay stepped in and the crowd offstage joined the crowd onstage in song.

When Irish hearts are happy, all the world seems bright and gay, and when Irish eyes are smiling, they steal your heart away, the audience sang. A few minutes after the tunes conclusion, the bagpipe corps at the front of the march began the parade in earnest down Skillman Avenue.
South Korea\s Constitutional Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving the country\s conglomerates at a time of rising tensions with North Korea and China.

The ruling sparked protests from hundreds of her supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court, and a festive rally by those who had demanded her ouster who celebrated justice being served.

"We did it. We the citizens, the sovereign of this country, opened a new chapter in history," Lee Tae-ho, who leads a movement to oust Park that has held mostly peaceful rallies in downtown involving millions, told a large gathering in Seoul.

Park becomes South Korea\s first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of paralysis and turmoil over the corruption scandal that also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in detention and on trial.

A snap presidential election will be held within 60 days.

She did not appear in court and a spokesman said she would not be making any comment. Nor would she leave the presidential Blue House residence on Friday.

"Park is not leaving the Blue House today," Blue House spokesman Kim Dong Jo told Reuters.

Park was stripped of her powers after parliament voted to impeach her but has remained in the president\s official compound.

The court\s acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the constitution and law "throughout her term", and despite the objections of parliament and the media, she had concealed the truth and cracked down on critics.

Park has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

The ruling to uphold parliament\s Dec. 9 vote to impeach her marks a dramatic fall from grace of South Korea\s first woman president and daughter of Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee. Both her parents were assassinated.

Park, 65, no longer has immunity and could now face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power in connection with allegations of conspiring with her friend, Choi Soon-sil.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was appointed acting president and will remain in that post until the election. He called on Park\s supporters and opponents to put their differences aside to prevent deeper division.

"It is time to accept, and close the conflict and confrontation we have suffered," Hwang said in a televised speech.

A liberal presidential candidate, Moon Jae-in, is leading in opinion polls to succeed Park, with 32 percent in one released on Friday. Hwang, who has not said whether he will seek the presidency, leads among conservatives, none of whom has more than single-digit poll ratings.

"Given Park\s spectacular demise and disarray among conservatives, the presidential contest in May is the liberals\ to lose," said Yonsei University professor John Delury.

Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign, after South Korea this month deployed the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in response to North Korea\s stepped up missile and nuclear tests.

Beijing has vigorously protested against the deployment, fearing its radar could see into its missile deployments. China has curbed travel to South Korea and targeted Korean companies operating in the mainland, prompting retaliatory measures from Seoul.

The Seoul market\s benchmark KOSPI index <.KS11> and the won currency rose after the ruling.

The prospect of a new president in the first half of this year instead of prolonged uncertainty would buoy domestic demand as well as the markets, said Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong.

"The hope is that this will allow the country to have a new leader that can address long-standing challenges such as labor market reforms and escalated geopolitical tensions," he said.

Park was accused of colluding with her friend, Choi, and a former presidential aide, both of whom have been on trial, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.

The court said Park had "completely hidden the fact of (Choi\s) interference with state affairs".

Park was also accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group for government favors, including backing a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that was seen as supporting family succession and control over the country\s largest "chaebol" or conglomerate.

Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee has been accused of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal and is in detention. His trial began on Thursday.

He and Samsung have denied wrongdoing.

The scandal and verdict have exposed fault lines in a country long divided by Cold War politics.

While Park\s conservative supporters clashed with police outside the court, elsewhere most people welcomed her ouster. A recent poll showed more than 70 percent supported her impeachment.

Hundreds of thousands of people have for months been gathering at peaceful rallies in Seoul every weekend to call for her to step down.

On Friday, hundreds of Park\s supporters, many of them elderly, tried to break through police barricades at the courthouse. Police said one 72-year-old man was taken to hospital with a head injury and died. The circumstances of the second death were being investigated.

Six people were injured, protest organizers said.

Police blocked the main thoroughfare running through downtown Seoul in anticipation of bigger protests.

Park will be making a tragic and untimely departure from the Blue House for the second time in her life.

In 1979, having served as acting first lady after her mother was killed by a bullet meant for her father, she and her two siblings left the presidential compound after their father was killed.

This time, she could end up in jail.

Prosecutors have named Park as an accomplice in two court cases linked to the scandal, suggesting she is likely to be investigated.

North Korean state media wasted little time labeling Park a criminal.

"She had one more year left as \president\ but, now she\s been ousted, she will be investigated as a common criminal," the North\s state KCNA news agency said shortly after the court decision.
ALBANY - To an estimated crowd of more than 400, Albany Common Councilman Frank Commisso Jr. promised Thursday to be the mayor for the working class, the senior, the young professional and the city worker, tackling the challenges of Albany collaboratively.

Thats how you need to take on challenges in government, Commisso said at his mayoral announcement at the Polish American Citizens Club. There needs to be shared sacrifice. It needs to be together.

To address the citys finances, Commisso said hell develop a long-term financial management plan and workforce recession plan that would incentivize retirement for city employees

With such a program, the city can make significant headway toward achieving a structurally balanced budget without the threat of service reductions and without the threat of tax increases, he said.

The two-term councilmans run will pit him against Council President Carolyn McLaughlin and possibly incumbent Mayor Kathy Sheehan in a September Democratic primary. Sheehan hasnt announced if shell seek another term.

Sheridan Hollow resident Dan Plaat will run for mayor on the Green Party line. Community activist Marlon Anderson is considering a run.

Commisso promised to reassess legal service contracts, improve administration-employee relations, establish a new city charter, improve the citys cumbersome website and focus on building the economy through local businesses and entrepreneurs, rather than big corporations and nonprofits.

A slew of political candidates and officeholders spoke in support of Commissos run, including councilmen Mark Robinson and Judd Krasher, Judy Logan, who is running for city treasurer, and Glen Casey, running for city chief auditor.

Commissos father, Albany County Legislature Majority Leader Frank Commisso Sr., was in attendance, but didnt speak. Other county representatives such as Comptroller Mike Connors  Commisso Jr.'s boss  and legislative Chairman Sean Ward of Green Island, also attended.

Earl Filkins, a city equipment operator and member of the Blue Collar Workers Union, said he supports Commisso Jr.s run for mayor.

Frank is born and raised in Albany, Filkins said, questioning how Sheehan became Albanys mayor. To me, she doesnt know whats going on in Albany.

Another fellow blue collar worker, chief shop steward Bob Sweet said Commisso recognizes the importance of their work.

We are the ones who build, repair, construct and make things happen in the city of Albany, Sweet said. We are the infrastructure of the city. We need a raise and we need to be respected.

Commisso Jr.s experience working at the state comptrollers and county comptrollers offices makes him the right person, said Owusu Anane, who is running against 10th Ward Councilwoman Leah Golby.

You look at the financial health of the city, we need someone who understands finances, he said. When Albany is on the line, we want Frank to lead us.
ALBANY -- An 18-year-old woman is accused of stabbing a man she knows inside a Walmart Thursday afternoon, police said.

The incident unfolded at 4:30 p.m., police said. A 911 call brought officers to the 141 Washington Ave. Ext. store, where they found a male victim who had been stabbed once in the torso and once in the shoulder, police said.
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Albany

A case involving allegations of sex abuse by a teacher has raised potentially groundbreaking questions about the legal authority of a special agency created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature to oversee institutions ranging from psychiatric hospitals to prisons for young offenders.

As part of the defense for alleged sex abuser Marina Viviani, her lawyer Michael Pollok, on Thursday questioned the ability of the state's Justice Center for the Protection of People With Special Needs to pursue the case because its prosecutors are unelected.

Pollok contends that runs counter to the state constitution, which requires prosecutors to be elected by the voting public.

While one might describe the argument as a mere defense tactic, it has drawn the interest of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has joined the case. He, too, questions whether Justice Center prosecutors have the authority to bring criminal charges on their own.

"We do not oppose the mission of the Justice Center,'' said Andrew Amend, senior assistant solicitor general for the Attorney General's office. "We are here to protect the constitutional limitations on selecting prosecutors.''

The Justice Center was created by Cuomo and the Legislature in 2013 largely in response to a series in the New York Times about abuse and neglect of disabled New Yorkers who live in state-run hospitals and residences, and also in centers that are licensed by the state.

Equipped with a hot line that people can call with complaints as well as a corps of investigators and lawyers, the Justice Center can prosecute those accused of abusing or neglecting people in their care.

That's what happened to Viviani, who was charged with having a sexual relationship with a student at the LaSalle School in Albany, a center for troubled youths where she had taught.

Viviani and her lawyer contend she didn't have sex with the youth while he was a student at the school. And they charge that the young person and an accomplice tried to extort money from Viviani or her family.

But during Thursday's arguments before state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Breslin, the debate focused on whether the Justice Center can, constitutionally, use prosecutors who are unelected.

"The Justice Center special prosecutor is not a constitutional officer. She does not have the authority to prosecute," Pollok argued.

But Justice Center lawyer Jacqueline Kagan said there are similar prosecutorial arrangements beyond the Justice Center. New York City, for example, has a special prosecutor for narcotics cases.

Pollok parried that contention, saying that person is appointed by and works under the supervision of the city's elected county district attorneys.

Kagan referred to a state Court of Appeals ruling in 2016 that concluded Justice Center lawyers have prosecutorial authority and are accountable to elected officials. In the case of the Justice Center, Cuomo would ultimately be responsible since the entity is a state executive agency.

In the Court of Appeals case, People v. Davidson, the judges upheld the Justice Center's prosecution of a worker in a Finger Lakes-area developmental center who was charged with abusive behavior toward a 14-year-old resident.

But that case did not address the underlying constitutionality of the Justice Center because that question wasn't raised early on when the issue was in town court.

The high court's majority wrote that the Justice Center has "concurrent authority with district attorneys to prosecute abuse and neglect crimes committed against (vulnerable) persons."

Generally, Justice Center officials work with local district attorneys in bringing charges against alleged abusers, and they need local district attorneys to bring grand jury proceedings.

But one of the dissenting judges in the Davidson case, Jenny Rivera, wrote that "(r)esolution of defendant's appeal requires this court to further consider the knotty question of whether the Legislature may create an unelected, governor-appointed special prosecutor.''

Breslin could rule on the question in the next several weeks. His decision could alter the way the Justice Center operates.

It could, for instance, require clear or express agreements or permission from county district attorneys before moving forward on prosecutions.

rkarlin@timesunion.com  518-454-5758  @RickKarlinTU
Albany

NBC News anchor Megyn Kelly told an Albany Law School audience Thursday the sexual harassment she and other women suffered at Fox News could have been avoided if more women were in positions of power at the network.

The 1995 Albany Law School alumna and 1988 Bethlehem High School graduate did not utter the name of ex-Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, who resigned in July amid allegations he sexually harassed Kelly and other women, but Kelly clearly referred to Ailes while answering a question from the audience about being a woman in the workplace.

"I think the solution, in part, is to get more women in power, in positions that matter. I just look at what happened at Fox News," Kelly said. "I think if there had been more women in power when our now-former CEO was sexually harassing women in the company, the women to whom this happened would have felt more comfortable about having an advocate at that top level. Maybe they wouldn't have gone to such a person but they would have known that, behind the scenes, when it went down they had a powerful advocate more than likely."

Kelly said she hopes women at NBC News, in the event they confront sexual harassment, would come to her and see her as an advocate.

"Once you have a woman in power, she can do things," Kelly said. "If you're a first-year reporter at NBC News or if you're a first-year reporter at Fox News ... I think you would feel more comfortable coming to someone like me than going to management."

Kelly addressed dozens of students and professors, then signed copies of her book, "Settle For More" in the school gymnasium.

Kelly recalled famously grilling now-President Donald Trump during the first Republican presidential candidate debate in August 2015. Kelly reminded Trump that he derided women he disliked as "fat pigs," "dogs," "slobs," and "disgusting animals" and asked him if that sounded like the temperament of a future president. Trump and some of his diehard supporters, in return, bashed Kelly through nasty tweets and worse, the mother of three young children explained.

"It led a to a year of hell in my personal life and my professional life and it was very dark and it was very threatening at times and I was scared at times," Kelly said. "I was scared for my safety and that of my family ... I understand what the role of a journalist is when you go out there, it's to ask tough-pointed questions. And I felt I did that. I thought what he unleashed on me was too high a price to pay for doing my job."

rgavin@timesunion.com  518-434-2403  @RobertGavinTU
Thirty-four girls were killed and others maimed after a blaze broke out at an overcrowded Guatemala shelter. The teens were locked in a tiny room to control them after a riot at the center, authorities and witnesses said on Thursday.

A woman lights a candle outside the presidential house during a protest to demand justice for the girls who died in a fire at the Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home in Guatemala City, Thursday, March 9, 2017. Photo: AP

By Reuters: Thirty-four girls were killed and others maimed after a blaze broke out at an overcrowded Guatemala shelter.

The teens were locked in a tiny room to control them after a riot at the center, authorities and witnesses said on Thursday.

The inferno in the 16 square metre classroom packed with 52 teenagers left survivors of Wednesday's blaze with such severe injuries that burn specialists were flown in from the United States. Medics said that they needed hundreds of blood donors.

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The government has sacked the director of the Virgen de la Asuncion home, temporarily closed the center, declared three days of mourning and vowed to reform a childcare system that experts say is critically underfunded.

"The staff left the girls in an extremely reduced space, a four-metre by four-metre room, for 52 teenage girls," said Claudia Lopez, Guatemala's deputy ombudsman for human rights. "It was a terribly thought out decision."

Police and witnesses say the fire appeared to have been started by one of the girls, who set light to a mattress in the room, possibly as a protest after hours inside.

"If it really was the girls who started the fire - why did they have matches in their hand, why were they not searched if they were going to be locked into this tiny space?," Lopez said.

ATTEMPTED ESCAPE

The Virgen de la Asuncion home houses youths up to 18 years old on the pine-wooded outskirts of the municipality of San Jose Pinula, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of the capital Guatemala City.

Its residents are an unusual mix of victims of violence and young offenders, with children with disabilities in another wing.

Years of problems at the home boiled over at lunchtime on Tuesday when a group of teenagers complaining about the conditions inside feigned a fight in the lunch hall as a distraction, before attacking staff and trying to escape, one eyewitness said.

After hours of rioting, police captured most of those who had fled and they were separated from the hundreds of other residents in the complex, according to an account written by the government's human rights department and seen by Reuters.

During five hours of negotiations that evening, the leaders of the rebellion alleged abuse by the staff including rotten food and the use of bleach on their skin and pepper spray as punishment for bad behavior, according to the document.

SMOKE SEEPS OUT

At around 1 am, the 52 girls were locked into a classroom and given thin mattresses to sleep on, local police chief Wilson Maldonado told a congressional commission. Boys involved in the trouble were kept in a separate area, an employee at the home said.

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At about 9 am, police stationed outside the room noticed smoke seeping out, Maldonado said. However, one witness said the fire started 30 minutes earlier and police initially ignored the cries for help, thinking the girls were protesting.

"I heard shouting and loud noises all night," said a teenage girl who witnessed the fighting in the lunch hall and said she spent much of the Tuesday cowering under a bed in her dorm after some of her peers tried to make her join the riot.

"The fire was at about 8.30 am, the boys came running down to say that a girl had died," she said. "The police grabbed the boys and a carer began hitting them and telling them off for having left the room they were left in."

"TIP OF THE ICEBERG"

The Virgen de la Asuncion center has a history of abuse accusations documented by Guatemalan media. Over the last three years more than 250 of its residents have fled, newspaper reports said.

Human rights reports and interviews with people inside the center paint a complex picture. Some residents felt the center provided them shelter and education their families couldn't, and blamed a few "rebels" for the tensions.

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Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, an employee who has worked there for six years attributed many of the problems to low funding, poor staffing levels and judges who sent a steady flow of youth offenders to the home, rather than to detention centres.

"We had 15-19 new arrivals a day, every carer had 34 children to look after, and we were on one day on, one day off shifts of 24 hours because there were not enough staff, "the employee said, adding she faced death threats and verbal abuse from her wards.

Guatemala has Latin America's worst rates of child malnutrition. Street gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha prey on minors. And, the Central American nation's public institutions are underfunded, racked by corruption and widespread overcrowding.

The situation has contributed to the exodus of at least 67,000 Guatemalan children to the United States since 2013.

"What happened in the secure home yesterday is just the tip of the iceberg of an entire system of not protecting children and teens in Guatemala," said Enrique Maldonaldo, a specialist in child studies at the Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales.

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Also Read: Man arrested after injuring 7 people with an axe at German station

Also Read: Nepal: 24 killed, 41 injured in bus accident

--- ENDS ---
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Albany

This was no typical drunken fistfight.

When four out-of-town construction workers attacked a co-worker in a Colonie hotel room June 5, they cut him with knives  and they bit his genitals.

On Friday, a judge highlighted the violent circumstances as he sentenced the men to state prison. The judge added two years to the term of one defendant who broke the nose of an inmate at the Albany County jail while waiting sentencing.

The ringleaders behind the assault, Mark Skaggs, 34, and Michael Grimmett, 33, both of Ansted, W.Va., received six-year sentences from acting Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough. The judge sentenced Shane "Chong" McCallister, 30, of Mount Lookout, W.Va., and Dallas Fox, 42, of Hickory, N.C., to four years in prison.

Skaggs' attorney, Timothy Berry, told the judge that drugs and alcohol played a role in the attack on co-worker Dwayne Hastings at the Days Inn on Airport Park Boulevard in Colonie.

McDonough was unmoved.

"What makes this case unusual, Mr. Skaggs, is not the fact that there was an assault predicated upon the use of alcohol," McDonough said. "Rather it's the violence of the assault and the brutality of the assault and the fact it wasn't just a beating of the victim in this case with fists. There were knives used and there was biting of the victim's private parts that were involved. That's undisputed and quite frankly, from the court's perspective, what merits the significant sentence in this case."

Berry had said Skaggs has a history of drug, alcohol and mental health issues. He said heavy drinking and drug use caused the incident. The defendants are related: Fox previously told police that Grimmett is his brother and Skaggs and McCallister are his cousins.

"It's in many ways a cautionary tale of the problems associated with poverty and substance abuse," Berry said. "You see, in this case, the way in which mental health issues and substance abuse issues intertwine and can be a cause of these types of incidents and other violent incidents occurring."

Berry told the judge that, according to a pre-sentencing report, the victim told a detective that "he did not place more blame on one or the other defendants."

Grimmett would have received a four-year term but the judge added two years because he broke the nose of a fellow inmate, violating his plea deal. Grimmett agreed to serve two extra years rather than face up to seven years if convicted at trial of the jailhouse attack.

"Mr. Grimmett, you are your own worst enemy," McDonough told him. "You had a sentence of four years and because you fancy yourself a tough guy or for whatever other reason, you assaulted a fellow inmate and now you are getting six years. You understand that, right?"

"Yes, sir," Grimmett replied, standing beside his attorney, Carmelo Laquidara.

The judge suggested Grimmett get treatment in prison for anger and other possible issues.

"Otherwise, I'm going to see you or some other judge is going to see you in a jumpsuit again in the future."

Fox, represented by attorney Terence Kindlon, "disclaimed some of his responsibility" in some parts of the attack but admitted taking part in it, said Assistant District Attorney Dennis DiBari, who prosecuted the case. McCallister was represented by attorney Erik Schillinger.

The men received three years post-release supervision.

The attackers and their victim worked for Carlyle Construction of Bowersville, Ga., on a mausoleum at the Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery in Niskayuna, owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. The diocese has said the firm was hired as a subcontractor.

rgavin@timesunion.com  518-434-2403  @RobertGavinTU
Two Malta residents face charges of selling heroin in Saratoga County.

Charles W. Fosmire, 41, and Julie M. Ramos, 48, were arrested after an investigation by the Saratoga County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit, State Police, Saratoga Springs Police and the Capital District Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Fosmire is charged with three felony counts each of criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a controlled substance and three misdemeanor counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Ramos is charged with one felony count each of criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a controlled substance as well as one misdemeanor count of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Both were arraigned before Justice Steve Gottmann in Malta Town Court. Fosmire was sent to the Saratoga County Correctional Facility without bail, and Ramos was released.
Television personality and religious scholar Reza Aslan sampled cooked human brain tissue with cannibals in India in the first episode of CNN's new "Believer" series exploring "fascinating faith-based groups" around the world.

Aslan, 44, plugged his experience with the Aghori, a small Hindu sect known for its extreme rituals, on Facebook on Sunday night before the show aired.

"Want to know what a dead guy's brain tastes like? Charcoal," Aslan wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. "It was burnt to a crisp! #Believer."

Outrage immediately followed. Some attacked Aslan, a Muslim who was born in Iran and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, for choosing to portray the most extreme form of Hinduism for shock value. Hindu leaders and groups condemned the show for focusing on a fringe form of Hinduism presenting a negative picture of the overall religion.

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A statement from the US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) opined that the Angholi's provide an inaccurate look at Hinduism.

"Most Hindus are vegetarians and uphold non-violence," the statement read. "With multiple reports of hate-fueled attacks against people of Indian origin from across the US, the show characterizes Hinduism as cannibalistic, which is a bizarre way of looking at the third largest religion in the world."

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu member of Congress, wrote on Twitter: "While good people across our country are working hard to increase mutual understanding and respect between people of different religions, I am very disturbed that CNN is using its power and influence to increase people's misunderstanding and fear of Hinduism."

"When we are witnessing intolerant attacks on minorities, telecasting this serial will add more misrepresentation, bias and may lead more hate crimes," Khanderao Kand, a community leader known for eradicating misrepresentation of Hinduism in California text books in 2004, told the Times of India.

On the show, Aslan makes clear that the Anghori are a "small movement" and their members engage in "ostentatious displays of defilement." He also reiterated this in a lengthy response to the controversy on Facebook, writing that he stated "on camera and in voice-over" that the Aghori "are not representative of Hinduism, but are instead an extreme Hindu sect who reject the fundamental Hindu distinction between purity and pollution."

Aslan, who came to the United States in 1979 after fleeing the Iranian Revolution, has Bay Area ties. In addition to spending some of his childhood in the region, he attended Santa Clara University, earning a BA in religious studies. He went on to earn three more degrees, including a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University with a history of religions, and write a New York Times best-seller, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.
Seattle

Legal challenges against President Donald Trump's revised travel ban mounted Thursday as Washington state said it would renew its request to block the executive order.

It came a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit, and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said both Oregon and New York had asked to join his state's legal action. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said the state is joining fellow states in challenging the revised travel ban.

Washington was the first state to sue over the original ban, which resulted in Judge James Robart in Seattle halting its implementation around the country. Ferguson said the state would ask Robart to rule that his temporary restraining order against the first ban applies to Trump's revised action.

Trump's revised ban bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.

Unlike the initial order, the new one says current visa holders won't be affected, and removes language that would give priority to religious minorities.

Ferguson said it's not the government, but the court, that gets to decide whether the revised order is different enough that it would not be covered by previous temporary restraining order.

"It cannot be a game of whack-a-mole for the court," he said. "In our view, this new executive order contains many of the same legal weaknesses as the first and reinstates some of the identical policies as the original."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration believed the revised travel ban will stand up to legal scrutiny.

"We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given," Spicer said.

Ferguson said he was pleased that attorneys general from New York and Oregon had sought to take part in the legal action.

Other states that have filed briefs supporting Washington's initial lawsuit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

In his initial lawsuit Ferguson said the original ban was unconstitutional and hurt the state's businesses and universities.

A federal appellate court later upheld a temporary restraining order issued against the first travel ban.

The Trump administration says the old order will be revoked once the new one goes into effect on March 16.

In filing a lawsuit Wednesday night, Hawaii said the revised order would harm its Muslim population, tourism and foreign students

The state had previously sued over Trump's initial travel ban, but that lawsuit was put on hold while other cases played out across the country.
When he dissolved his rebel Goa RSS and returned to his old outfit on March 6, Subhash Velingkar said he had no regrets. "I wanted to teach the BJP a lesson. My job is done," he said. He announced that he would be an ordinary worker from now on, following the instructions of his "seniors". The RSS office, situated within a kilometre of Velingkar's house in Panaji, was full of emotion at his "ghar wapsi". While RSS Goa chief Laxman Behre welcomed Velingkar's return, the extent of the damage he has caused to the BJP will only be known on March 11 when the assembly election results come out. Velingkar's immediate need now will be to buy a light brown 'full pant', part of the new RSS uniform introduced after his rebellion. His next task will be organising the varsh pratipada utsav (new year festival), which falls on Gudi Padva, March 28. Goa's pracharaks will be hoping it's a good one for the Sangh Parivar.

Out of Line

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Veteran Maharashtra Congressman Manikrao Thakre recently attended a meeting at Opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil's residence in Mumbai to chart strategy ahead of the March 6 assembly session. But he clearly forgot that as deputy chairman of the state legislative council, it was unethical of him to attend. Quizzed by the media, a sheepish Thakre promised to be careful in the future.

Rail Bridges

Photo: Milind Uttam Shelte

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu has spoken of floating bonds to augment the resource-hungry ministry. But he's also especially proud of a different kind of bond he's built with junior railway employees who get to visit his official residence on Delhi's Akbar Road. Prabhu told audiences at a Business Today event in Mumbai that the idea came from a staff member's comment that his spartan lifestyle was not too different from hers. Since then, Rail Bhavan staff have been frequently hosted at Prabhu's residence.

Turn It up

Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu has got slick German-made wi-fi microphones installed at the newly inaugurated state legislative assembly building at the interim government complex at Velagapudi in Amaravati. But there's a catch. They can only be activated after the speaker gives the nod. So much for free speech.

Off Script

Photo: Manu R Mavelil

Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac's recent media outreach attempt has led to some embarrassment for the Pinarayi Vijayan government. Isaac's aides sent out key highlights of his speech to the media even before the Budget presentation was over on March 3. Unfortunately, it included budget highlights not presented in the minister's speech. The Opposition was soon up in protest, citing breach of privilege. CM Pinarayi Vijayan has given assurances that it will not happen again, but the Congress-led Opposition is baying for Isaac's blood.

-Sandeep Unnithan with Amarnath K. Menon, Kiran D. Tare, Jeemon Jacob and Amitabh Srivastava

--- ENDS ---
It was lights, camera, action for members of Down Syndrome Tipperary last week after a film crew from RTE stopped by to film an episode of Nationwide ahead of World Down Syndrome Day.

Excitement was palpable as the camera crew paid special visits to Clonmel, Cashel and Kilcommon to shine a spotlight on the services and commitment shown from the Down Syndrome Tipperary team.

During their whistle stop tour of the county, cameras met the handsome Keane brothers from Ardfinnan who had the audience wrapped around their fingers alongside proud parents Anne Marie and John. Last year Conor and Cian's older brothers Joe and Eoin received a national award for their dedication in helping the twins with their speech and language therapies and physio.

Next it was onto the Down Syndrome Tipperary centre in Cashel which acts as a meeting place for families with Down Syndrome children and currently provides support to 20 families across the county. This centre is entirely run by volunteers and provides vital supports such as speech and language facilities, reading groups, self esteem classes, feeding therapies and home tuition.

Capt: Jia Qi, Ruth O Brian, Aoife, Ciara & Colette Hayes and Maya & Linda Gilick from Down Syndrome Tipperary

"It was a fantastic day and gave our branch the opportunity to show everyone the facilities and support that are on offer in Tipperary," explains DST branch coordinator Sandra Poyzer who was also the powerhouse behind bringing the RTE team to Tipperary.

Finally the crew landed in Kilcommon where they were shocked to be greeted by huge crowds of well wishers and supporters who made their way to the GAA field to support nine year old Aoife Poyzer who is busily preparing for the Purple Run in the Phoenix Park later this month.

Such was the volume of people present there was little more than standing room in Sean Treacys GAA Clubhouse and after filming had ended presenter Helen McInerney said the huge crowds that turned out to cheer Aoife on took her breath away.

And Aoife has certainly been taking her training very seriously heading out several times a week with her mum Sandra to walk, skip and jump in preparation for the Dublin 5km run.

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped make the day so special. We can't wait to see ourselves on the silver screen, added Sandra.

This year DSI is encouraging everyone to Run with us, not for us as the event is a celebration of people with Down syndrome in Ireland. The Purple Run will take place on Saturday March 25th at 11am, in the Phoenix Park, Dublin.

To register for the Purple Run and find out more information on Down Syndrome Ireland, please visit www.downsyndrome.ie or find them on Facebook and Twitter.
The organising committee for this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade wish you all the best in your entry for 2017.

It is our aim that the parade will be fun and above all else safe for everyone involved. Times below are general guidelines.

The Long Route will be followed.

Walkers from the Bru Boru Car Park, Vintage vehicles and Animals in Lady's Well.

Floats and Vehicles from the garage on the Dublin Road. Route goes up Friar Street, across the Green, down Boherclough, up Main Street & disperse at Feehan's corner.

Car Parking

Please clear the space outside the Bank of Ireland from 4pm on *Thursday*(March 16th) to accommodate the Review truck.

Please remove cars from the main street by Noon on Friday to allow erection of crowd safety barriers.

Timing

Time Event

9:30am Decorate Viewing Stand, deliver chairs from Halla Na Feile

10:30am Move barriers into general positions.

11am Install PA at reviewing stand

Noon Complete placing barriers as cars leave town centre.

12:30pm Assembly: Walkers at Rock Car park

Vintage Vehicles and Animals in Ladys Well

Floats and Commercials at the Old Dublin Road

1.40pm Last opportunity to clear cars from Main Street.

1:45pm Road Closures.

1.45pm Vehicles in place on Dublin Road

1:45pm Walkers line up in Parade Order at Rock Car Park

2pm Vintage Vehicles Leave Ladys Well

Followed by Pipe band from Ladys Well

2pm Walking groups leave Rock move to Ladys Well

2.10pm Animals Leave Ladys well

2:20pm Walkers leave Ladys Well, Irish Wheel Chair Assoc are last to leave

2.30pm Welcome speeches completed

2.55pm Floats leave Dublin Road. Irish Wheel Chairs Assoc. are first to Leave

3.10pm Commercial Vehicles leave Dublin Road

4pm Final vehicle at Viewing Stand

4.10pm Take down of stand

4:15pm Roads Re-Open

4:30 Winners Informed by Text

4:30pm Refreshments for Stewards, Volunteers, Judges and Prize Winners at Halla Na Feile

5pm Presentation of Prizes at Halla Na Feile & photo opportunity

5:30pm End

Notes

Performances are welcome in front of the Reviewing Stand AND by the Plaza, please keep performances to 3 minutes.

Long performances cause the parade to bunch up. Music If you have music to be played from the reviewing stand, please bring it to the parade before you start.

We cannot guarantee our equipment will be able to play files or CDs, we can run a microphone however off your own portable audio gear (Portable CD players, smart phones etc) .

If you are dropping off a CD, please have it labelled with your groups name and a return contact number. Judging is at the Reviewing Stand, so put on your best show there.

Prize giving at Halla Na Feile, this will allow floats time to return to the Dublin. Road. Winners will be informed by text, log your mobile number with Gayle Noonan.

Timing: We cannot start the Parade any earlier as the road has to be open for the Bus Eireann service. as this goes in the Opposite direction to the parade, we have to wait until the bus leaves town before we can close the road.

Keep It Smooth: the aim of the stewarding crew is to produce a smooth parade with few gaps or bunching, this is not only for a good visual effect but for safety.Please Do NOT Throw Sweets into the crowd, small children may run into the road and not be able to move back to their parents behind the barriers, becoming trapped in the traffic.
Tributes have been paid to Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown whose term in Ireland has come to an end.

Following the announcement this morning that His Excellency Archbishop Charles John Brown has completed his tenure as Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, tributes has been paid to him for his sincerity, his integrity and his energy in the role

Since arriving in Ireland in January 2012 as Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown has endeared himself to so many people in Ireland. The Nuncio has travelled the length and breadth of the island, serving Pope Francis and previously Pope Benedict as the representative of the Holy See. He attended ceremonies in the Cathedral of the Assumption in Thurles on many occasions, including for the installation of Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly who moved from the diocese of Killaloe.

Thanks to his down to Earth and friendly nature, many Irish people have had the opportunity to meet with the Pope's ambassador and chat to him about the living Church in Ireland. Archbishop Browns Irish ancestry has meant that he had an innate interest and understanding of so many aspects of the Church here and in a short space of time he got to know the issues and struggles of the Church in Ireland and was able to affirm and encourage countless people, religious, priests and parish workers.

Archbishop Brown  who is credited with bringing a more open style to the role and helping rebuild fragile relations between Ireland and the Holy See  is to become the new Papal Nuncio to Albania. It is part of the normal rotation of Vatican diplomats.

The Pope has not yet named a successor, meaning just 17-months ahead of an expected visit by Pope Francis, there is no Papal Nuncio in Dublin at this time.

Archbishop Charles Brown presents his credentials to President Michael D Higgins in 2012.

The US-born prelate (57) was hand-picked by Pope Benedict XVI after relations between Dublin and Rome hit an all-time-low after the Taoiseachs controversial criticism of the Vatican in a Dail speech. The row saw the government take the unprecedented decision to close the Irish Embassy to the Vatican. Archbishop Brown presented his credentials to President Michael D. Higgins in February 2012, and is credited by many  including senior politicians  with being part of paving the way for the reopening of the Vatican Embassy in January 2014, a move which he says will benefit the Irish people greatly.

It is understood that Archbishop Brown will be taking up a role in Tirana Albania in the coming months.
IMPORTANT INVESTOR ALERT: Khang & Khang LLP Announces Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. and Encourages Investors With Losses to Contact the Firm

Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. ("Chicago Iron" or the "Company") (NYSE: CBI). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Chicago Iron shares between October 29, 2013, and December 10, 2014, inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the firm in advance of the May 2, 2017 lead plaintiff deadline.

If you purchased shares of Chicago Iron during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA (News - Alert) 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at [email protected].







There has been no class certification in this case. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member.

Prescience Point claimed that Chicago Iron had falsely accounted for its goodwill during 2013 with the intention of concealing losses regarding issues with the Company's Nuclear Projects.

When this information was offered to the investing public, Chicago Iron stock dropped, causing investors harm.

If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit at no charge, or if you have questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at [email protected].

This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170309006413/en/
[March 09, 2017] Depression Study by Children's Hospital Los Angeles Investigators is First to Determine In Vivo Evidence for Compensatory Neuroplasticity in Humans

A study led by Ravi Bansal, PhD, and Bradley S. Peterson, MD, of The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles, has found structural differences in the cerebral cortex of patients with depression and that these differences normalize with appropriate medication. The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry on March 7, is the first to report within the context of a randomized, controlled trial, the presence of structural changes in the cerebral cortex during medication treatment for depression and the first to provide in vivo evidence for the presence of anatomical neuroplasticity in human brain. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170309006434/en/ Brain scans of chronically depressed patients before and during treatment. Left: Before treatment, depressed patients had a thicker cortex in the frontal, temporal and parietal lobes of the brain (shown in red). Right: Over 10 weeks of medication, these regions (shown in blue) no longer differed from the thickness of healthy controls. (Graphic: Business Wire) "Our findings suggest that thickening of the cerebral cortex is a compensatory, neuroplastic response that helps to reduce the severity of depressive symptoms," said Peterson, director of the Institute of the Developing Mind at CHLA and professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. "Patients off medication have a thickened cortex, and the thicker it is, the fewer the symptoms they have. Treatment with medication then reduces the severity of symptoms, which in turn reduces the need for biological compensation in the brain - so that their cortex becomes thinner, reaching thickness values similar to thosein healthy volunteers."



The investigators acquired anatomical brain scans at baseline and again at the end of the 10-week study period for 41 patients with chronic depression, while 39 healthy volunteers were scanned once. This study was conducted with adult patients treated at Columbia University, when Peterson and Bansal were faculty members. Patients were randomized to receive active medication duloxetine, a selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, or placebo. During the trial, patients receiving medication experienced significant improvement of symptoms compared with patients receiving placebo. In medication-treated patients, cortical thickness declined toward values found in healthy volunteers while placebo-treated patients showed a slight thickening of the cortex. According to Bansal, a researcher at CHLA and professor of pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, this finding suggests that placebo-treated patients continue to require compensation for their ongoing symptoms.

"Although this study was conducted in adults, the methodology developed - pairing a randomized controlled trial with MRI scanning - can be applied to many other populations in both children and adults," said Bansal. "Also, our observations of neuroplasticity suggest new biological targets for treatment of persons with neuropsychiatric disorders." David J. Hellerstein, MD, of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons also contributed to the study. Funding was provided in part by NIH grant K02-74677, Eli Lilly, Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. About Children's Hospital Los Angeles Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children's hospital in California and among the top 10 in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children's Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children's Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. For more information, visit CHLA.org. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, or visit our blog at http://researchlablog.org/. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170309006434/en/

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[March 09, 2017] Stream Wins 2016 Most Innovative Marketer of the Year Award

Stream, (formerly Stream Energy), a leading energy and connected life services provider and direct selling company, was given the "2016 Most Innovative Marketer of the Year Award" by the Energy Marketing Conference, which took place in Houston, TX this week. This award is given to an energy provider making notable strides in creating new programs, products, bundled services, and improved customer experience. "The Energy Marketing Conference is a fantastic conference that brings together the industry's best," said Senior Vice President and General Manager of Energy Services Greg Martin, Stream. "To be recognized among them is a testament to the work of the team at Stream. We are on a mission to re-invent ourselves in order to find the right combination of value for our customers and our shareholders. Receiving this award is a real honor and one that we'll cherish." "We are pleased to present Stream with the 2016 Most Innovative Marketer of the Year Award," said co-founder of Advanced Energy Capital, LED Plus and Energy Marketing Conference co-founder Jack Doueck. "Every year it is exciting to watch the industry come up with new and innovative ways to reach customers; from their bundling packages to new programs and service lines, Stream has done just that. Congratulations!" Announced by Energy Marketing Conferences, LLC on Wednesday, the "2016 Most Innovative Marketer of the Year Award" was sponsored by Hansen Technologies. The nominees included Brilliant (News - Alert) Energy, Green Mountain Energy, Just Energy and RRH Energy. Stream was also nominated for the "2016 REP of the Year Award." "At Stream we strive to make life as effortless as possible and are always brainstorming new ways to further connect customers' lives. This award shows the focus, care, and creativity our team puts into our work," said Chief Operating Officer Dan O'Malley, Stream. Held at the Houston Doubletree Hotel, the conference included interactive panels and executive workshops, allowing attendees to hear from sponsors, exhibitors and industry professionals. About Stream



Stream Connected Services (Energy Services, Wireless Services, Protective Services, and Home Services) work seamlessly together to fit customers' on-the-go lifestyles, keeping them connected, wherever they are. Energy Services are currently available in Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and New York. All of Stream's other services are available nationwide.

To learn more about Stream, visit www.mystream.com and connect with Stream on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. About the Energy Marketing Conferences: To register for the Energy Marketing Conference visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/energy-marketing-conference-new-york-ny-tickets-32326222602 To watch the video from the last September New York City Energy Marketing Conference in NYC click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDQTi2lhXek To watch the video from the last March Houston Energy Marketing Conference, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaPRmzrpM3o View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170309006436/en/

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[March 09, 2017] Sitecore(R) Announces Asia Winners of the Sitecore Experience Awards for 2016

SINGAPORE, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sitecore  , the global leader in customer experience management, today announced the complete list of winners of the Sitecore Experience Awards 2016. Every year, the Sitecore Experience Awards honour Sitecore customers and their partners who thoroughly demonstrate how their Sitecore solution is delivering an outstanding experience for customers and their own organisation. The categories for the 2016 awards were: Best Content Strategy: The Best Content Strategy award winner showcases a digital content marketing strategy that transformed an organisation's website from company-centric to customer-centric. This year's winner, PT Bank Central Asia Tbk, illustrated a persona-led content strategy, the research and planning processes that led to persona and content creation, and how content was delivered through relevant channels. Through Sitecore, PT Bank Central Asia Tbk managed to develop analytic ability on their web visitor profile, allowing the bank to make adjustments and improve its marketing strategies to better fulfil its customers' needs.

The Best Content Strategy award winner showcases a digital content marketing strategy that transformed an website from company-centric to customer-centric. This year's winner, PT Bank Central Asia Tbk, illustrated a persona-led content strategy, the research and planning processes that led to persona and content creation, and how content was delivered through relevant channels. Through Sitecore, PT Bank Central Asia Tbk managed to develop analytic ability on their web visitor profile, allowing the bank to make adjustments and improve its marketing strategies to better fulfil its customers' needs. Digital Innovation: The Digital Innovation award showcases marketing teams that have built a truly customer-centric online environment on the Sitecore Experience Platform. This year's winner, Minor Hotels, pushed the boundaries of wht's possible online; delivering a truly unique and useful site designed specifically for its target group of business and leisure travellers. With a stunning responsive web design and a user - centric approach, the new AVANI Hotels & Resorts is designed to facilitate bookings through seamless user journeys and to improve user engagement within the website. Judges noted that the research involved in planning and designing the project plus Sitecore functionality was instrumental to Minor Hotels' success.



http://www.sitecore.net/Sitecore-experience-awards for a complete list of winners of the Sitecore Experience Awards 2016 across the globe. "We were thrilled with the turnout of this year's Sitecore Experience Award winners," said Scott Anderson, CMO, Sitecore. "The depth of innovation, thought leadership and customer-centric thinking was the best yet and we are excited to see how future winners will harness the true power of context marketing."

About the Experience Awards The Sitecore Experience Awards is an international competition held on an annual basis. Winners are selected in several categories within each region. The nominations list is based on input from partners, customers, the press, analysts, and colleagues. Nominees are asked to submit an application outlining how they are using Sitecore to generate amazing experiences that feel personal to every customer and create a powerful brand halo across every channel that delivers real business results. Winners demonstrate creativity in presentation, integration with rich data sources and applications, an ability to educate, inform and motivate to action, and a compelling overall user experience. Visit www.sitecore.net/Sitecore-experience-awards to learn more about the awards and how to enter. About Sitecore Sitecore is the global leader in experience management software that enables context marketing. The Sitecore Experience Platform manages content, supplies contextual intelligence, automates communications, and enables personalized commerce, at scale. It empowers marketers to deliver content in context of how customers have engaged with their brand, across every channel, in real time -- before, during, and after a sale. More than 4,900 brands -- including American Express, Carnival Cruise Lines, easyJet, and L'Oreal -- have trusted Sitecore for context marketing to deliver the personalized interactions that delight audiences, build loyalty, and drive revenue. Media Contact

Jacintha Ng

+65 6361 0250

[email protected] Sitecore and Own the Experience are registered trademarks of Sitecore Corporation A/S in the USA and other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Sitecore reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice.  2017 Sitecore Corporation A/S. All rights reserved. Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170309/8521701546LOGO

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[March 09, 2017] Major Global Transaction Banks are Live with SWIFT gpi

BANGKOK, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SWIFT announces today that global transaction banks are actively using SWIFT's new global payments innovation (gpi) service, which opened for live payments in January 2017. ABN AMRO, Bank of China, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Citi, Danske Bank, DBS Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, ING Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Nordea Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UniCredit are live with SWIFT gpi, exchanging gpi payments across 60 country corridors. Numerous additional banks will follow in the coming months. "We are delighted that SWIFT gpi is now live and is already enhancing the cross-border payments experience for corporate treasurers," says Christian Sarafidis, Chief Marketing Officer at SWIFT. "A year ago the global financial community pledged to dramatically improve the cross-border payments experience, and today marks a major milestone in delivering on that promise. It further demonstrates the ability of SWIFT and the financial industry to collaborate, innovate and rapidly introduce new solutions." SWIFT gpi enables banks to offer a faster, more transparent and traceable cross-border paymets service. The highly innovative new gpi Tracker feature allows banks to provide corporate treasurers with a real-time, end-to-end view on the status of their payments, including confirmations when payments have been credited to beneficiaries' accounts. Treasurers also now have certainty that remittance information, such as invoice references, are transferred unaltered to the beneficiary. SWIFT will also introduce the gpi Observer, a quality assurance tool that monitors participants' adherence to the gpi business rules.



SWIFT is already designing the next phase of gpi, which will include additional digital services to further transform the cross-border payment experience, such as a rich payment data service. Wim Raymaekers, Head of SWIFT gpi at SWIFT adds: "Customers require more certainty, transparency and traceability in their cross-border payments; SWIFT gpi is delivering this today. And with nearly 100 leading transaction banks already signed up, SWIFT gpi is set to rapidly expand with more banks, new features and additional payment services."

In parallel, SWIFT gpi is exploring distributed ledger technology for real-time Nostro account reconciliation. A proof of concept was announced in January 2017. To learn more, visit swift.com/gpi. About SWIFT SWIFT is a global member-owned cooperative and the world's leading provider of secure financial messaging services. We provide our community with a platform for messaging, standards for communicating and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration; identification, analysis and financial crime compliance. Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories, enabling them to communicate securely and exchange standardised financial messages in a reliable way. As their trusted provider, we facilitate global and local financial flows, support trade and commerce all around the world; we relentlessly pursue operational excellence and continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies. Headquartered in Belgium, SWIFT's international governance and oversight reinforces the neutral, global character of its cooperative structure. SWIFT's global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres. For more information, visit www.swift.com or follow us on Twitter: @swiftcommunity and LinkedIn: SWIFT Contacts: Xavier Duval

[email protected]

+852-2107-8978 Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160127/8521600559Logo

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[March 10, 2017] U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for March 10: First Phone Call

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau: FIRST PHONE CALL Profile America  Friday, March10th. For many Americans, trying to envision life without our various telephones would be like trying to live without indoor plumbing. The crucial utility is 141 years old today. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first, local, telephone call in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Over a wire to his assistant in the next room, Bell said, "Mister Watson, come here; I want to see you." Now, the public has an insatiable appetite for multipurpose phones, and there are 118 cell phone subscriptions for every 100 people in the U.S. population. Of America's 118 million occupied housing units, just 2.95 million, or about 2.5 percent, hav no phone service available. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.



Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 7751

First call/accessed 12/30/2016: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_telephone_1.html

Cell phone subscriptions/accessed 12/30/2016: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2

Households with phones/American Community Survey: https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/DP04 Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu).

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-census-bureau-daily-feature-for-march-10-first-phone-call-300417299.html SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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By Press Trust of India: Melbourne, Mar 10 (PTI) Australias iconic Great Barrier Reef is experiencing an unprecedented mass coral bleaching for the second consecutive year, scientists said today, adding that the corals do not have enough time to fully recover from last years extreme heat event.

The bleaching is part of a global event affecting the worlds coral reefs over the past two years.

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Experts from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority spent six hours yesterday flying over the Reef between Townsville and Cairns, alongside researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

The aerial survey of the Reef, the first for this year, found severe bleaching in offshore reefs from north of Ingham to the northern extent of the survey near Cairns.

This year more bleaching is being observed in this central part of the Reef, which last year escaped widespread severe bleaching.

The survey confirmed anecdotal reports from visitors and reef surveys of bleaching from marine park rangers and commercial operators, said David Wachenfeld, director of reef recovery at Marine Park Authority.

"Mass bleaching is occurring on the Great Barrier Reef for the second consecutive year. How this event unfolds will depend very much on local weather conditions over the next few weeks," Wachenfeld said.

"Importantly, not all bleached coral will die. As we saw last year bleaching and mortality can be highly variable across the 344,000 square kilometre Marine Park - an area bigger than Italy," he said.

The recurrence of widespread coral bleaching in back-to-back summers indicated there was not enough time between last years extreme heat event for the corals to fully recover, said Neal Cantin from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).

"We are seeing a decrease in the stress tolerance of these corals. This is the first time the Great Barrier Reef has not had a few years between bleaching events to recover," Cantin said.

"Many coral species appear to be more susceptible to bleaching after more than 12 months of sustained above-average ocean temperatures," he added.

Marine Park Authority experts and scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies will take to the sky again next week to resurvey 1150 reefs along the entire Great Barrier Reef.

This bleaching highlighted the importance of global action on climate change, Wachenfeld said.

"Its vital the world acts to implement the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," he said. PTI MHN SAR MHN

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[March 10, 2017] Lumenia in Seventh Heaven After Seventh Successful ERP HEADtoHEAD

LONDON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The seventh ERP HEADtoHEAD event held at the MK Dons Stadium in Milton Keynes was deemed an enormous success by attendees and vendors alike. The event welcomed 140 high level decision makers to compare 12 of the UK's leading ERP vendors and their solutions, all under one roof. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/477028/Sean_Jackson.jpg )

The event taking place over two days and facilitated by leading independent ERP consultants, Lumenia, kicked off with an exciting head to head battle when all 12 vendors had four minutes each to introduce themselves to the attendees and convince them as to why it would be a goodidea to attend their demonstration. The delegates then chose which session to attend, which were divided into Finance, Production, Procurement, Sales Quotation and High Volume Sales business processes.



Attendees also had the chance to listen to a panel discussion from industry end users sharing their experiences of implementing an ERP system as well as an engaging vendor-independent presentation from Lumenia Consulting on 'Implementing ERP Successfully - Lessons Learned'. Vendors were also on hand on the expo floor to discuss their solutions in more depth and answer questions. The event closed with the announcement of the winner of the "ERP HEADtoHEAD Best Vendor Demonstration - UK 2017". Intact IQ demonstrated by Intact Software was the 2017 winner with an overall delegate satisfaction rating of 89.6%.

"We have received very positive feedback both from vendors and attendees on the ERP HEADtoHEAD. Each event gets bigger and better and we are now planning the next one in Dublin in October 2017 with a return to the UK in March 2018", commented Sean Jackson, Managing Director, Lumenia. Over the years, attendees have included leading manufacturers, distributors and retailers from a range of industries. Comments from among the attendees included: "Excellent event and very good use of my time"; "Very useful to compare all the products at the same time". The next event takes place in Dublin in October 2017, followed by the UK event in March 2018. For further information and to pre-register check out the event website http://www.erpheadtohead.com

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[March 10, 2017] Walter O'Brien Keynotes MIT Technology Review's EmTech Asia 2017

MARINA BAY SANDS, Singapore, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Walter O'Brien, the CEO and founder of Scorpion Computer Services, Inc., keynoted EmTech Asia 2017 in Singapore. EmTech Asia, curated by MIT Technology Review and Koelnmesse, assembles over 700 C-level executives including innovation officers, strategists, scientists and investors to collaborate on major global issues. EmTech Asia 2017 addressed global issues in cybersecurity and computer security following a number of high-profile hacks and attacks on corporate and government computer infrastructure. In his speech, Walter O'Brien discussed problems and solutions to some of the world's biggest cybersecurity issues, touching on ransomware, aging government computer infrastructure and the perils of inaction. Regarding EmTech Asia, O'Brien said, "EmTech Asia brings together some of the brightest minds in technology and computer security. It was an honor to keynote the conference in Singapore and contribute to furthering several global initiatives in cybersecurity." Regarding Walter O'Brien, Daria La Valle, regional manager at Koelnmesse in Singapore said: "Walter explained in plain English that the cybersecurity issues we face can be addressed with improved policy. Cybersecurity can be further improved by having the right people in place to anticipate and counter security vulnerabilities." During the conference O'Brien joined CNBC Asia's Squawk Box, with an audience of 326 million people, to discuss contemporary cybersecurity issues and solutions. Walter O'Brien's firm, Scorpion Computer Services, Inc., is the winner of Los Angeles Business Journal's Patrick Soon-Shiong Innovation award for the deployment of ScenGen, the artificial-intelligence engine and for its work with the military on defense infrastructure. His company works with Fortune 1000 firms to test, implement and provide quality assurance on software and hardware security. ABOUT WALTER O'BRIEN Walter O'Brien is the founder and CEO of Scorpion Computer Services, Inc., and CEO of Scorpion Studios. He is the Executive Producer and the inspiration behind the hit CBS television drama, Scorpion, with over 26 million viewers in 180 countries. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has certified Walter O'Brien as being a person of national interest to the United States and granted him an Extraordinary Ability EB 1-1 Visa. He has worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, plus Navy and Air Force systems to deploy artificial intelligence that protects American military personnel. In addition, he has worked with multiple Fortune 500 companies including the world's largest mutual fund, Fujitsu, Trados, Oracle Corporation, Baltimore Technologies and Critical Path. O'Brien serves as chairman or board member for Strike Force Solutions, Talentorum Alliance, Houston Technology Center and Lawloop.



O'Brien regularly donates his time to charities and the community in general, to encourage all generations to celebrate intelligence. O'Brien provided the seed funding for TaxiWatch Kilkenny, a suicide prevention program that has saved 100 lives since its inception in 2015. Also in 2015 O'Brien contributed to the next XPRIZE selection as part of XPRIZE Visioneering. ABOUT SCORPION COMPUTER SERVICES, INC.

Scorpion Computer Services is the internationally recognized problem-solving consultancy led by computer-security expert and hacker "Scorpion" Walter O'Brien. Named the Patrick Soon-Shiong Innovation award winner by Los Angeles Business Journal, for over two decades Scorpion Computer Services has contributed to the greater good by managing geniuses as they transform Scorpion client ideas into reality. From confronting and solving issues of national security to rescuing failing businesses, Scorpion Computer Services is the brainpower behind solving global issues, proving "smart is cool." The company's clients include government, military, a number of Fortune 5000 firms as well as start-ups and small-and-medium sized businesses with opportunities across cutting-edge information technology solutions, transportation and logistics, business efficiency and marketing. ABOUT EmTech ASIA EmTech Asia is where technology, business, and culture converge. It is the showcase for emerging technologies with the greatest potential to change our lives. It is an access point to the most innovative people and companies in the world. Most of all, it is a place of inspiration  an opportunity to glimpse the future and begin to understand the technologies that matter and how they will change the face of business and drive the new global economy. www.emtechasia.com Press Contact: Jordan French [email protected] www.scorpioncomputerservices.com This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/walter-obrien-keynotes-mit-technology-reviews-emtech-asia-2017-300421692.html SOURCE Scorpion Computer Services, Inc.

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[March 10, 2017] Bristol-Myers Squibb to Announce Results for First Quarter 2017 on April 27

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) will announce results for the first quarter of 2017 on Thursday, April 27, 2017. During a conference call at 10:30 a.m. EDT on April 27, company executives will review financial information and will address inquiries from investors and analysts. Investors and the general public are invited to listen to a live webcast of the call at http://investor.bms.com or by dialing in the U.S. toll free 855-303-0072 or international 913-312-0976, confirmation code: 500711. Materials related to the call will be available at the same website prior to the conference call. A replay of the call will be available begining at 1:30 p.m. EDT on April 27 through 1:30 p.m. EDT on, May 11, 2017. The replay will also be available through http://investor.bms.com or by dialing in the U.S. toll free 888-203-1112 or international 719-457-0820, confirmation code: 6160500.



About Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170310005416/en/

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A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017
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Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Haseeb Drabu said that some "minor editorial changes" were still required in the CGST and IGST drafts.

On March 4, the GST council provisionally approved two of four pieces of legislation to enable the new tax regime-the central and integrated aspects of the GST (CGST and IGST). The remaining two (SGST and UTGST) will be cleared at the next council meeting on March 16, clearing the decks for the tabling of the bill in the budget session.

"Subject to Parliament approving the bills," said finance minister and GST council head Arun Jaitley, "July 1, 2017 optimistically looks like the possible date for GST implementation."

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That optimism was not universal: J&K finance minister Haseeb Drabu, for instance, said that some "minor editorial changes" were still required in the CGST and IGST drafts, which, according to him, as quoted in some reports, might push the GST rollout to September 1.

The process of building a consensus with the states has come at the cost of simplicity, which was to be the defining feature of GST. For one, the process has weakened a central principle: that the GST be a simplified tax administration that does away with the cascading effect of indirect taxes.

At the same meeting, West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra said as many as 26 changes sought by the states had been included into the two draft laws, but sought to put a positive spin on it by describing it as "showing the federalist character of India".

Satya Poddar, Tax Partner at EY India, took the view that a conciliatory approach also meant that GST, in its present shape, has not managed to limit the cascading effect enough.

To make it worse, nearly half of all consumer goods will remain outside the purview of GST, while the other half will be assessed in a multiple-tier rate structure. Rates for taxes on services are in multiple slabs as well.

The next meeting will decide which commodities/ services fall into which tier.

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From April, the premium processing of H1B visas, the permits that enable skilled foreigners to be employed in the United States, will be suspended for six months. Thousands of Indian nationals, particularly in the $150 billion Indian information technology industry, will likely be affected by the move.

Shares of prominent tech firms such as Wipro and Infosys took the expected beating. As they did in January, when a bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives to increase the minimum annual salary to qualify for an H1B visa from $60,000 (Rs 40 lakh) to at least $130,000 (Rs 87 lakh). Indian firms have long been accused of using H1Bs to hire Indian workers for less than it would cost to hire an American.

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Each year, 85,000 H1B visas are made available, including 20,000 reserved for workers with advanced degrees. Except during downturns, such as in 2008, there are more applications than visas available, so employees and companies take their chances in a lottery. The suspension of the premium process, which permits firms to pay a $1,225 (Rs 82,000) fee to expedite applications, is ostensibly to clear a backlog. Last year, Indian workers accounted for 70 per cent of the 85,000 available H1B visas, with Indian firms receiving 17,000 visas, or 20 per cent of the total.

In February, Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, called on Indian companies to not take the "soft option" and become "true multinational[s]" by hiring locals. US president Donald Trump's campaign promises to protect American jobs had already made Indian firms jittery about potential legislation.

R. Chandrashekhar, president of Nasscom, lobbyists for the Indian IT industry, asserts that most commentary on the H1B issue operates from faulty premises. "There are three wrong notions," he says, that need to be corrected. "First, Indian IT does not take away American jobs. In fact, Indian IT companies have created 155,000 jobs directly, and 411,000 jobs in support services, a number that grows at 10 per cent every year. Second, Indian IT companies provide services to 75 per cent of the Fortune 500, making American companies globally competitive. Third, the US government itself admits to a shortage of talent in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas." The shortfall in talent for STEM jobs is estimated at 2.4 million people and, Chandrashekhar points out, "unemployment among STEM graduates is under 2 per cent".

Still, the decision to suspend premium processing came on the heels of a US visit by the foreign secretary, S. Jaishankar, in which a "forceful presentation" on the H1B issue was apparently "met with a degree of understanding". The message is clear-H1B reform is imminent. Indian IT companies, as Narayana Murthy has said, must now prepare for life without the imported, low-cost know-how that gave them their competitive advantage in the first place.

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Celebrate Downtown KC Price Fixing

Golden Ghetto Needs More Po-Po

Tour Of Local Tornado Destruciton

Sickly Sunflower State

Show-Me The Ongoing Crackdown

Kansas City Fanboy TV Time

Kansas City Real Life Inspiration Tonight

This evening we celebrate the enduring hotness of Pamela Anderson as she visits the WikiLeaks dude and thereby inspires this contemplation of all the important mainstream media news out there for tonight. Take a peek:And this is thefor tonight . . .
"Can we presume that those hooligans apprehended on St. Patricks day will be hauled away in Paddy wagons as a result of their shenanigans. Indeed, the very language of the justice system prejudges an entire group of people."

Readers may not always agree with Kansas City Conservative Jack Cashill . . . But he's our 4th or 5th favorite local Irishman in town and this line is just funny . . .Read more . . .
Alternate Defence Minister Dimitris Vitsas rejected on Friday the idea that the Turkish Navy is "roaming free" in the Aegean

Greek Alternate Defence Minister Dimitris Vitsas rejected on Friday the idea that the Turkish Navy is "roaming free" in the Aegean causing tensions, saying the government is responding with ?composure and determination? to Turkish provocations.

"Its far from reality that Turks are roaming free in the Aegean. It is not easy from the Turkish side to take the initiative and cause an incident, for domestic reasons or reasons that concern their eastern borders, but from our side, were taking our measures," Vitsas said during an interview with SKAI TV channel. The minister said Turkey has a history of ?exporting? tension when faced with domestic problems.

Asked about the possibility of an incident in Cyprus in the summer, Vitsas said he ?doesnt have this kind of information,? adding these are issues that are not discussed in public.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Mar 10 (PTI) Another HSC question paper, this time that of commerce stream, was leaked before the exam today and five students were booked from two different exam centres in suburban Kandivali, police said.

According to police, the photos of the exam paper of Book Keeping and Accountancy subject were found stored in the mobile phones of these students.

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"These students were checked when they arrived at two different exam centres-- Naravane School and Balbharti Junior College-- both located in Kandivali. The photographs of todays question paper was found stored in their mobile phones," police said.

Two cases have been registered against the students.

"They have been booked under the relevant sections of Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at University, Board & Other Specified Exams Act as well as the IT Act," a senior officer attached to Kandivali police station, said.

The officer said that none of the students have been arrested as the exam is underway.

"We will carry out an investigation. But since they are students and their exam is underway this is not the right time to arrest them or take any harsh action," he said.

Police have seized three mobile phones from the students.

The examinations of Class 12 (HSC), conducted by Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education have started from February 28.

So far, the question papers of at least five subjects have leaked on WhatsApp.

Prior to Mathematics and Statistics, the question papers of Marathi, Secretarial Practise (SP) and Physics were also leaked on the instant messaging platform.

The question paper of Marathi language was circulated on a social media platform just ahead of the exam on March 2. The Secretarial Practise paper too began to circulate on social media minutes before the exam on March 4. PTI AVI NP JMF

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The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry announced on Thursday the discovery of parts from two statues of two kings belonging to the 19th Dynasty

The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry announced on Thursday the discovery of parts from two statues of two kings belonging to the 19th Dynasty.

The discovery was made by a joint German-Egyptian archaeological mission operating in Matareya area at the site of King Ramses II Temple which he built at in Oan City in Ancient Egypt.

The archaeological area certainly contains other remnants of the Temple of Ramses II. The temple includes an entrance hall and a hall of columns, according to a statement by Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anany.

The minister stressed that drilling will be carried out carefully in the region due to the high population density nearby.

The mission found the upper part, about 80 cm long, of the life-size statue of King Seti II is made of limestone, said head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, Mahmoud Afify.

The statue is characterized by the high quality of its features and details, he added.

The second statue likely belongs to King Ramses II. It is made of quartzite stone and is broken into large pieces.

The full statue is about eight meters long. Only part of the head, where one ear, one eye and part of the crown appear, was excavated today, said Afify.

The mission will continue excavation in search for the rest of statues parts which would confirm the identity of the statues owner, head of the Egyptian team which contributed to the discovery, Professor Ayman al-Ashmawy, said. The discovered parts have no inscriptions that can determine the identity of owner, but since the discovery was made in front King Ramses II Temples gate, the statue most likely belongs to him, he added.

He stressed that the discovery is one of the most important recent archaeological discoveries, as it demonstrates the greatness of the temple in ancient times in terms of the magnitude of the building and the statues which were adorned by precise fine patterns and inscriptions.

The buried temple was one of the largest temples in ancient Egypt, as it reached double the size of the Karnak Temple in Luxor, said Ashmawy.

The temple was destroyed during the Greeko-Roman ages. The obelisks and statues of the temple were transferred to the city of Alexandria and to Europe, and its stones were used in the Islamic eras in building Cairo.

Source: egyptindependent.com

Read more here.

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Bahrain Airport Services, ground service provider at the Bahrain International Airport, has recently achieved the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 accreditation.



The accreditation specifies the requirement of establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving an information security management system (ISMS) within the organisation.



It also certifies specific requirements to be met for the assessment and treatment of information security risks tailored to the needs of the organisation (BAS), the company said.



The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 162 national standards bodies. Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.



BAS is an ISAGO (IATA's Safety Audit for Ground Operations) accredited ground service provider. ISAGO has been built upon a 'backbone' of audit standards applicable to all ground handling companies worldwide, coupled with a uniform set of standards relevant for the specific activities of any ground handler.

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has also accredited BAS with EASA part-145 for Aircraft Line Maintenance and part-147 for BAS Aircraft Engineering Training Centre (BAETC).



BAS remains focused on its core strategic objective which is to continuously strive to maintain the highest level of safety and security standards through the effective implementation of a safety management system across all functional departments, the company said.



This is strongly reflected upon the numerous certifications that BAS has received related to global quality, health, security and maintenance standards, it said.



BAS also announced that it has signed a technical handling agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines for the Bahrain International Airport.



BAS is delighted to partner with international airlines for technical handling and we remain dedicated towards strengthening the quality of our processes and procedures to ensure the most efficient on-time-performance, said Jalal Mohammed Jalal, chairman of BAS.



The agreement displays their confidence in our expertise and experience over the years and our commitment to provide the highest level of safety checks, said Engineer Osama Helmi, manager, line maintenance.



"We would be covering all aspects of the technical handling with the strict governance of the Maintenance Organisation Exposition which is a formal document describing how an approved maintenance organisation or MRO is structured to achieve delivery of its activity. This will ensure the timeliness of our processes and increase efficiency as we support our partners, he said.  TradeArabia News Service




Jaguar S-Type R

Mike snaps up a Jaguar S-Type with 195,000 miles for just 3,000. After some repairs, the boys put it up against another model with just a tenth of the miles.
If you're traveling to the Philippines and in need of a bit of historical escapade, then making a visit to Intramuros is a good idea. This walled fortress is an iconic part of the Philippines' history, particularly during the Japanese-American war, and although major parts of the whole place were destroyed, what's left is preserved so that future generations could get a glimpse of the country's historical culture.

Here are five of the best things to do in Intramuros, Manila:

Learn about the complex history between the Chinese and the Filipinos. The Chinese have been trading goods with the Philippines way before the Spanish colonized the country, and today, the Filipino-Chinese Community is a vital part of the Philippines' identity. In Bahay Tsinoy, guests can take their time looking at wax figures depicting the life of the Tsinoys during the early days, and other historical memorabilia.

Walk on the walls of Intramuros. It may not be as grand as the Great Wall of China, but Intramuros is fascinating enough being kind of a walled city inside Manila. Walk on its walls and take in the sights-the experience is quite similar to walking through the Passetto di Borgo. The walls used to be a defensive structure of the Spanish during their reign in the Philippines.

Visit the shrine dedicated to the Philippines' national hero. Rizal shrine is inside Fort Santiago, the oldest Spanish fortress in the country. Basically, the whole area commemorates the death of Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the Philippines' National Hero. Guests can recreate the steps Rizal took on his way to his execution, and you can also see the cell where Rizal was imprisoned.

Enjoy a free leisure stroll at Intramuros plazas. You don't have to pay every time you visit a historic site in Intramuros. There are tons of plazas you can actually visit for free! Places like Plaza Roma, Plaza Mexico, Plaza Espana, Plazuela de Santa Isabel, Memorare Manila and Puerta Isabel II are free to visit, and their historical ambiance makes for some of the best photo ops ever.

Search for all the QR codes in Fort Santiago. The place might be historically preserved, but for a bit of fun to the guests, several QR codes are scattered all around the labels in Fort Santiago, where you can scan it with your phone and receive a fun fact about the place. Try searching for every QR codes in the area, it can be quite a fun activity.

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Due to the increase of poaching cases, a South African group called the Black Mamba has emerged to combat the issue. This group is an all-female anti-poaching unit dedicated in protecting and preserving wildlife.

This paramilitary group is composed of women belonging to local communities. These locals must undergo 6 weeks of intensive training in order for them to be a part of the program. Presently, they have at least 36 dedicated members.

According to Black Mambas, they aim to promote wildlife protection and to educate everyone with the importance of natural heritage. They practice peaceful campaign against poaching rather than using force and guns.

Aside from their anti-poaching programs, they also have other activities that help the local community. One The Environment Monitor Program, for instance, provides opportunities for employment and skills development. They also have the Bushbabies program which emphasizes the need to educate and encourage children. This program aims to raise awareness about conservation, environmental resourcefulness, problem-solving, and instilling of ethics to the future stewards of their land.

Telegraph reported that the Black Mambas patrol the area and gather intelligence data regarding possible poachers. The Mambas' founder tailored them to British policing.

Poaching has become more and more widespread, with the increasing demand of endangered animals for medical use, status symbols, and even exotic dishes. Poachers also take advantage of the poverty in the communities and bribe locals with wealth so that they would continue the killings.

Elephants are one of the common targets of poachers due to their bush meat and ivory. Pangolins, scaly anteaters, are also poached for their meat and scales that used for medicine. Meanwhile, Rhinos are tortured to acquire their symbolic horns that are in demand in Chinese Medicine.

Despite the challenges that the Mambas face, they remain steadfast in protecting their animals and stand firm in promoting women empowerment. They bravely patrol the wilderness of Balule Nature Reserve, and their efforts have reportedly lowered the number of poaching cases in the country.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
The Internet is home to lots of personalities and most of them have interesting content in their accounts. But some of them stand out especially when their activities involve once-in-a-lifetime experiences that most individuals -- especially travelers -- would like to have. Here are five best travel accounts Instagram has for people to look up to, travel-wise.

Melissa Hie (@girleatworld) does not prioritize her personal photos as the content of her Instagram account. Instead, she focuses on food she eats in her vacation destination against a beautiful backdrop. One photo of her hands holding a drink against a backdrop of Singapore's Marina Bay sands shows how artistic and beautiful her shots are. The rest of her photos in Instagram are beautifully inspiring despite their simplicity.

According to Geeky Explorer, Trey Ratcliff (@treyratcliff) is all about using the 4:3 shots of Instagram with color and artistic perspective. His photos truly look like beautiful works of art that one could use as a desktop or smartphone wallpaper. Upon visiting his Instagram, one might find a few photos of the amazing photographer, and a world of wonderful travel inspiration.

Probably the contrast of bright colors and sharpness used by Trey Ratcliff, Andy To (@andyto) uses perspective with the faded visual beauty of warm saturated photographs that give a certain "moody" feel. His photos are inspiring -- showcasing sights of his visits with a one-point perspective highlighting the grandiose appeal of what he just saw in-location.

Earning awards for plenty of their photos from syndicated photographers makes National Geographic's Travel (@natgeotravel) Instagram a must-see. In true travel photography technicality and "poster ready" shots, NatGeo's official travel IG is a great way to pass the time and get inspired.

According to Huffington Post, Megan Jerrard (@mappingmegan) makes it a point to capture realism in her shots, including color and sharpness treatment. But her use of perspective -- and a few photos of herself in hilarious situations -- is highlighted by her Instagram account.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
The Faroe Islands may seem like a place that only exists in children's books, but it is in fact, very real. Located between Iceland and Scotland, this self-governing kingdom in the Denmark region is a mystery waiting to unfold.

It may not seem a typical European destination, but it doesn't hurt to try new things, does it? Besides, the Faroe Islands have a lot to offer to travelers, and here are the reasons why you should go.

The islands' music scene. Music is an integral part of Faroese culture, and their traditional ballads that span way back in time are usually sung without instruments! Still, their music today has been influenced by foreign trends, and their love for singing and dancing is evident by the music festivals they held each year.

The Mykines Island. This beautiful island is a must-visit during your stay. The scenery is breathtaking and there are trails all over to the islands' steep cliffs and mountaintops. Also, this island is perfect if you love bird watching. There are thousands of birds that inhabit the island, and they seem to double in size especially during the summer.

The Faroese cuisine. Ah, the joy of discovering new food culture to delight your taste buds. The Faroese food culture stems back from the traditional methods used by the first settlers of the islands a thousand years ago, and to this day, there's nothing like it anywhere in the world. The goodness of their food is evident by the recognition of KOKS, a local Faroese restaurant that just recently earned its first Michelin Star.

The Gjogv Village. This northern village on the island of Eysturoy is well worth your time and visit-- it's only inhabited by 50 people and upon arriving the charm of the whole place would surely settle your doubts. The serenity of the place is inviting-away from the usual hubbub of the modern world. And yet, the people there look happy. Hiking trails are also available in the area, to give you a more spectacular view of the Northern Atlantic.

The underwater life. Diving in the waters of the Faroe Islands is a special experience. The seabed is full of colorful fishes and the seaweed forests are simply amazing. Make sure to always have a buddy while diving, the waters, crystal clear they may be, are still pretty dangerous to take on by yourself.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Ever imagined of waking up with an amazing view of the London's skyline atop Europe's tallest Ferris wheel? TripAdvisor Rental's newest competition titled "Eye Spy a Home in the Sky" will give a once in a lifetime chance for one traveler to spend an overnight stay in the London Eye for free.

After officially started spinning for the public on March 2000, not one person has ever been privileged to spend the night until dawn in the air-conditioned oval passenger capsules of the London Eye. Fortunately, on March 30, history will be made as one lucky traveler and one guest of his/her choice will be allowed to go on an over-the-top sleepover 804 feet above the ground with the breath-taking view of London's most famous landmarks such as the Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower Bridge and more.

Interested travelers will just have to provide their name, e-mail address, date of birth and phone number in the entry form which can be found on TripAdvisor's official contest website. The contest was formed as part of TripAdvisor's promotion in increasing the visibility of more than 835,000 properties that are open for rent through TripAdvisor, The Malay Mail Online reports.

TripAdvisor will also be collaborating with Wayfair, an American company selling home goods online, to transform the famous glass capsules into a five-star rainforest-inspired rental home set under the stars. According to Travel and Leisure, the winner of the contest will get to indulge in a champagne reception and a sumptuous dinner for two while appreciating a 360 view of London's skyline.

Aside from an enchanting overnight stay to London Eye's elegantly-designed pod, the lucky winner will also enjoy a three-night complimentary stay in one of TripAdvisor's rentals near the London Eye for a chance to explore and have a closer look to the famous landmarks that he have seen from the top of the biggest Ferris wheel in UK. Travellers are still welcome to send their entries until March 19, 2017.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Huma Qureshi is letting the world know she's super proud of her curves, as should everyone else.

By India Today Web Desk: That Huma Qureshi is a class apart is known throughout the industry. Not only is she classy externally, she's actually classier on the inside.

Huma was recently part of a big Indo-British movie called Viceroy's House that also starred Hugh Bonneville. In fact, she was also at the BRIT Awards this year for the same, but did you hear anyone make a big pump and show about it? No, right? That's class, right there.

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But that's besides the point. The point here is that Huma has faced a lot of negativity in the industry for being "different". She's a couple of sizes bigger than most actresses in Bollywood, and frankly, that's what makes her so beautiful and elegant. Some people, however, fail to see that. And Huma is making a point about exactly those people in a new ad she's starred in, and might we add, is looking super hot in:

You keep trying to put me down .. say rubbish.. I will keep raising the bar #DownNaysayers #IShapeMyWorld @levis_in @levis A post shared by Huma Qureshi (@iamhumaq) on Mar 9, 2017 at 6:19am PST

And what Huma says in the ad has us all pumped and proud of our own bodies: "Being an actor is I think the most vulnerable space you can be in, everyone has an opinion. A lot of people make these sexist comments in passing every single day without realising the damage they're causing. Body shaming is as harmful as anything else; as an actor you just have to have a really thick hide.

Someone wrote a really nasty review about the film I did, and they also said Huma Qureshi is 5 kilos too heavy to be a mainstream heroine. There are only two ways to deal with a bully, no, either you stop crossing paths or you give it back to the bully, because ultimately bullies are just really, really insecure people who basically are projecting their own sense of self worth onto the outside world.

Whoever I am today is because of the fact that I'm an outsider, because I don't fit in. Who wants to blend in when they can stand out? I am Huma Qureshi and this is how I shape my world."

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Chocolate lovers must have been so happy when master chocolatier Jacques Torres opened his 'Choco-Story New York, The Chocolate Museum and Experience' for people who love to eat the treat, as well as those who want to satisfy their curious minds about the history and craft of chocolate making. The French chef has built the museum on his SoHo - Hudson Square and is considered as the sixth chocolate museum in the world.

Among what one can find in the gallery is an exhibition about the cacao bean during the Mayan and Aztec times, up to the discovery of the Spaniards and finally, how chocolate made its way to France as a solid candy in the 19th century. The displayed items are placed in a glass case in front of muted walls with some placards that depict the story.

Also, the museum features a couple of things like a faux cacao tree of the Amazon, chocolate pots, molds, cups and chocolate boxes throughout history. Other than the artifacts, various documents and videos are showing the creation of chocolate using ancient techniques.

Visitors of all ages can sign up the chocolate-bar-making class after the tour. Different chocolatiers will teach and demonstrate to make various chocolate confections and candy bars. For the children, fun and educational corner has been created for them where they can dig and find 'undiscovered artifacts,' and at the same time play as a chocolate shop proprietor.

Torres told Conde Nast Traveler, "I'm so passionate about all things chocolate that I can think of nothing better than having the opportunity to share my knowledge and its history. I guarantee you'll go back home with a lot of chocolate."

To those who are interested in visiting, the Choco-Story New York is open Wednesdays to Sundays, at 10 AM. to 5 PM at a starting price of $10. Tours and hands-on choco-making can be conducted if one has booked the experience online.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
People all over the world are always talking about their countries being the best in the world. Well, you can't really argue with that because you can never take away someone's patriotism. However, US News did a research to come up with an annual ranking and the results revealed that the best country in the world is Switzerland.=

The research was based on nine categories: Power and Quality of Life, Open for Business, Adventure, Citizenship, Heritage, Cultural Influence, Entrepreneurship, and Movers. Each category also had subcategories like gender equality, religious freedom, progressive, environmental care and trustworthy that were all under Citizenship.

Having a high GDP per capita being 11th worldwide, high life expectancy, history of pacifism and stunning views, it's no wonder why Switzerland got the top spot of being the best country in the world. According to The Telegraph, the other ones that made it to the top ten are Canada(2), United Kingdom (3), Germany(4), Japan(5), Sweden(6), United States(7), Australia(8), France(9) and Norway(10).

It's the first time that Switzerland got the title, being able to snatch it from last year's best country, Germany. USA Today reported that Germany dropped to the fourth spot this year after falling short in three major categories: Quality of Life, Citizenship and Open for Business.

The programs and policies that Switzerland has played a big part in its debut as the top country. It's progressive social systems, business-friendly-atmoshpere and human rights protection have all been phenomenal which gained high ratings in the research.

Switzerland's take on democracy is also a major factor. In fact, this country allows ordinary citizens to propose changes to its constitution. It's also one of the few countries that have female Presidents.

A total of fifty countries coming from different continents were included in the rankings. The last ten countries were Panama(41), Argentina(42), Philippines(43), Peru(44), Egypt(45), Hungary(46), Costa Rica(47), Morocco(48), Croatia(49) and Sri Lanka(50).

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Hotels are always busy with a huge number of clients checking in on a daily basis. Imagine how busier it would be with if it has thousands of rooms? Let's take a trip inside five of the largest hotels in the world.

Izmailovo Hotel, Moscow

If you're traveling to Moscow, why not visit Europe's biggest hotel? Izmailovo is a spectacular hotel with 5000 rooms and 7,500 beds. This 30-storey building was considered the world's largest hotel since 1980 to 1993.

Sands Cotia Central, Macau

This hotel enters the top five list with its 6,000-room capacity. It has 11 bars and restaurant but to make your stay in one of the world's gambling capital worthwhile, you can visit and enjoy its 106,000 square feet gaming area.

First World Hotel, Malaysia

According to Telegraph, this colorfully painted hotel is the world's largest at the moment since its contenders are still in construction. This resort has 2 towers and a total of 7,351 rooms. If you're traveling with your family, this would be a memorable place to stay with its fun ambiance and indoor theme park. You would also surely enjoy the Snow World, Fun Land, and Video Game Park.

Resorts World, Las Vegas

Las Vegas has the biggest collection of large hotels and most entries when it comes to the top ten largest hotels. But its biggest one is said to open in 2019 and this title contender will have an estimate of 6,583 rooms.

Abraj Kudai, Mecca

The biggest one yet that will be completed this year is the Abraj Kudai in Saudi Arabia. According to Dar, this masterpiece is a showcase of Saudi royalty and culture. It is designed with 12 towers with varying heights up to 48 storeys. This 10,000-room hotel is complete with its own shopping mall, conference center, restaurants and food courts. It has a special feature of luxury rooms and a wing for the royal family.

Nowadays, hotels are not only lodging spaces, attractions as well. More hotel companies are creating their masterpieces that the rest of the world can enjoy, and if you can afford it, go and book and have the stay of a lifetime!

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Hawaii is the first American state to hurl a legal challenge against US President Donald Trump's second version of the US travel ban. According to Hawaii's Attorney General, the revision is still a ban against Muslim-majority countries that targets immigrants and refugees "under the pretense of national security."

According to NPR, the Trump Administration revised the original ban to make it "more difficult to challenge in court." Hawaiian Attorney General Doug Chin said the revised US travel ban against Muslim-majority countries "leaves the door open for even further restrictions." To create a satisfying legal argument, Chin said the Attorney General's office is reviewing the new order and "will decide what next steps may be necessary."

Hawaii has a painful history with immigration bans during the Second World War. Japanese-Americans were sent to internment camps in retaliation against Pearl Harbor and ongoing Japanese campaigns against America's own in the Pacific theater of war. According to Chin, the fear of new comers "could lead to bad policy."

According to ABC News, the US Department of Justice did not comment on Hawaii's litigation that would encourage the US District Judge Derrick Watson to set a hearing for March 15, which would effectively restrain the executive order before its intended implementation on March 16.

The Muslim Association of Hawaii Imam Ismail Elshikh said the ban would keep relatives of Muslims from Hawaii from visiting -- including his Syrian mother-in-law. During the implementation of the earlier US travel ban, Kurds flying into the United States were stopped in airports, including Green Card holders. The second iteration of the travel ban would admit Green Card holders, but would admit travelers from the six nations on a "case-by-case" basis.

The Hawaiian lawsuit argues that part of Hawaii's population is subject to "discrimination and second-class treatment," which the state argues as "a violation of both the Constitution and the Immigration and Nationality Act." The litigation also claims the executive order is "establishing a state religion" by "disfavoring a religion."

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
There may never be another Dalai Lama. There will certainly never be another like Tenzin Gyatso, the current, and 14th, Dalai Lama who, against all odds, has kept the flame of the Tibetan movement burning bright for six decades after he fled to India on foot. Speaking last week, he once again raised the likelihood that he may be the last of the over 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist line. "Very possible," he said. "If I[am] the last Dalai Lama, I feel very happy."

Ending the line may be one way to prevent a dispute with China over his succession. Beijing has said it will appoint its own 15th Dalai Lama, just as it did with the 11th Panchen Lama. For his part, the Dalai Lama has in the past suggested his successor would be appointed from a "free" region, even suggesting his successor could be female. But increasingly, he has appeared to suggest that ending the institution might be the best option.

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Beijing has been laying the groundwork for a succession on its own terms. It insists that previous lamas were appointed with the consent of the central government. Yet the fact is some of its recent appointees have lacked legitimacy in the eyes of many Tibetans. This is hardly surprising given that China has outlined an official "reincarnation policy" to solidify its control. In 2007, the State Administration for Religious Affairs issued a remarkable order on the "Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas", perhaps the first time that a Communist government anywhere has endorsed the phenomenon of reincarnation. It declares that Living Buddhas have to file an application with government authorities, or else their reincarnations "will be deemed illegal or invalid".

Beijing's iron grip will, however, only likely undermine its approved lama. As the Dalai Lama put it with a chuckle in a 2012 interview with this reporter, "To take responsibility for the reincarnation, the Chinese government should first accept religion, particularly Buddhism, and they should accept the theory of rebirth!" "If the Dalai Lama becomes 100 per cent pro-Chinese, then Tibetans will not respect the Dalai Lama," he said then. "I think the Panchen Lama himself knows that. During these crises, he has remained very silent. It looks like the Chinese Panchen Lama is more wise than the Chinese leaders."

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Fishermen in Tamil Nadu have threatened a state-wide agitation if action is not taken in the killing of fishermen.

By India Today Web Desk: Fishermen protests in Tamil Nadu's Rameshwaram continue on the third consecutive day. The protest is being organised demanding compensation for 22-year-old fisherman K Britso who was allegedly shot by a Sri Lankan navy officer.

Fishermen in Tamil Nadu have threatened a state-wide agitation if action is not taken against Sri Lankan navy officer. AIADMK raised the issue in the House on Thursday, while DMK leader Kanimozhi spoke on the issue in the Parliament demanding Centre's intervention into the matter.

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The fishermen community has refused the state government's compensation saying that the Sri Lankan government pay damages to the deceased fisherman's family. The community even demanded the removal of the Navy officer who shot Britso.

SRI LANKA ASSURES PROBE

So far Sri Lankan government is treading carefully and even assured that they have initiated a detailed probe into the matter. In a goodwill gesture, the Sri Lankan government has also announced to release the Indian Fishermen in their custody.

Meanwhile, on Thursday two Sri Lankan fishermen were arrested by India Coast Guard for allegedly fishing off the Vedarayam coast.

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan claimed that nearly 900 Indian fishermen were killed in the last 25 years and urged the Centre to take steps to protect the rights of fishermen.

INDIA EXPECTS LANKA TO EXPEDITE PROBE

India today said that it expects Sri Lanka to expedite the investigation in the killing of one of its fishermen given the 'gravity and seriousness' of the issue.

Sri Lanka has informed the Indian High Commission in Colombo that it will release all 85 Indian fishermen in their custody, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

The Lankan Navy has denied the allegation, saying it does not open fire at poaching fishermen and only arrests them. Sri Lanka has said it ordered an investigation into the incident and wanted to ensure that such incidents would not hamper the good relations between the two countries.

Also read:

Sri Lankan Navy denies shooting Tamil Nadu fisherman, promises probe: 10 developments

Foreign ministry takes up attack on Indian fishermen at high levels with Sri Lanka

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By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Mar 10 (PTI) Lauding the amendments to the law on maternity benefits, market experts today said this will lead to better gender diversity and encourage more women to continue in the workforce and have fulfilling careers.

According to the amendment the paid maternity leave benefit has been extended to six months.

"This will definitely enable better gender diversity that the industry and workplace has been lacking. While women form nearly 50 per cent of the population their participation in formal employment is a mere 10 per cent or less.

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"Further, as the hierarchy rises their representation drops," IKYA Human Capital Solutions Business Head, Staffing Solutions, Lohit Bhatia said here.

He said, at senior levels and board levels they form only 1 per cent, owing to the challenges a woman faces during and post maternity.

"With this amendment many of the challenges faced by women can be addressed, in fact, it can help in bringing down the dropout ratio," he added.

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by the Lok Sabha yesterday, months after the Rajya Sabha approved, entitling paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from the earlier 12 weeks.

Kelly Services India Managing Director Thammaiah BN said this is a good initiative by the government and will help increase the gender diversity across the organised sector.

"It will address the issue of employee retention and create a more meaningful, lasting relationship between the employer and the employee. Women will feel more easier to return to work without the conflict of having to make a choice between motherhood and a career," she said.

PayPal Director, Human Resources, Jayanthi Vaidyanathan said this move will encourage more women to have fulfilling careers. (MORE) PTI SM RMT BAS

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Tribune News Service

Panchkula, March 10

The Panchkula police are suspecting that the two accused in Wednesday's snatching case were also involved in January's snatching in Chandigarh, involving the owner of Gopal Sweets. On January 1, two active- borne youth had snatched a bag containing Rs 4.85 lakh from Saranjeet Singh in Sector 11.

An official of the CIA-I who arrested the two accused yesterday said, "We are investigating whether the accused are in any way related to that case as the Modus Operandi is similar." Sources inform that CIA 1 also held a meeting with a cop from the Chandigarh police who is investigating the January incident.

The accused were produced in a court today and have been sent to a four-day police remand. The police however said in court that they were yet to recover the belongings and money of the victim and even the knife used by the accused.

The accused have told the police that a friend who was employed at the victim's clinic had quit the job more than a year ago. He informed them about the doctor as a potential target. The accused did a reiki of the doctor for three days.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) The Supreme Court today said its order seeking prompt replies from the Centre and the RBI on a plea against alleged tweaking of rules on exchange of demonetised currency was intended to make them "alive to the situation".

The apex court, which had issued notices to the Centre and the federal bank on March 6, was responding to a plea that a very short time period had been given to them to respond to the petition.

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"We did not intend to do anything. The intention was to make you alive to the situation," a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said and granted time till March 21.

However, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared after commencement of the hearing, said the government and the the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) do not wish to file the reply and he was willing to argue the matter today itself.

"The only thing he (petitioner) is saying is that there was a window which was there in the first decision. He is saying the window was now closed in the Ordinance," the bench, also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, told Rohatgi.

The bench asked the Attorney General to peruse its earlier order and said the issue is very clear as there is "no left, no right and no centre. Everything is in black and white".

Earlier, the apex court had sought the responses of the Centre and the RBI as to why demonetised notes were not accepted till March 31 as was promised.

The Prime Ministers address to the nation on the evening of November 8 last year on demonetisation and subsequent notification of the federal bank that devalued currency notes can be exchanged at RBI offices even up to March 31, 2017 were valid assurances which stood breached by the ordinance, the counsel for petitioner, Sudha Mishra, had said.

The plea has alleged that the Prime Minister and the RBI had assured the people at large that demonetised currency notes can be exchanged at banks, post offices and RBI branches till December 30, 2016 and if people are unable to deposit them by that day then they can do so till March 31, 2017 at RBI branches after complying with some formalities. (More) PTI ABA SJK RKS RT

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 9

In a hit-and-run case, a 23-year-old pedestrian died after being hit by a jeep near the Parade Ground, Sector 17. The accident took place on March 7 after which the victim was admitted to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

According to the police, the complainant in the case, Saddam Hussain, a native of Assam, reported that the victim, identified as Koinya, a native of Arunachal Pradesh, was hit by Bolero jeep near the Parade Ground.

The victim was crossing the road along with his friends when the speeding jeep hit him. The injured was rushed to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, from where he was referred to the PGI. The victim later succumbed to his injuries at the PGI.

The victims friends managed to note down the registration number of the jeep, which has been provided to the police. A case has been registered against the driver under Sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering the life or personal safety of others) and 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC at the Sector 17 police station.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 10

The Union Human Resource Development Ministry will release a one-time emergency grant of Rs 140 crore to Panjab University to cope with the financial crisis. This was decided by the ministry at a high-level meeting after city Member of Parliament Kirron Kher raised the issue with HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier asked the UGC to release Rs 30.5 crore to the PU. However, the UGC has moved the Supreme Court on the issue.

Kirron Kher said at the meeting it was also decided that the university would form a committee, which would chalk out a plan on how to utilise the grant.

A detailed report of the expenditure has to submit to the HRD Ministry.

PU VC Arun Kumar Grover said he was not aware about the decision on the grant, but Kirron Kher had told him today that she was going to meet the HRD Minister and the Finance Minister over the grant issue.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 9

A drunk truck driver, who killed five sleeping labourers by running over his vehicle on them in the Transport Chowk area in 2015, was today convicted under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC by the District and Sessions Court. However, the co-accused (cleaner) was acquitted in the case.

The court of Judge Balbir Singh has scheduled the quantum of sentence for March 14. In August 2015, Sarma Chaudhary ran over eight labourers who were sleeping on the pavement in the Transport Chowk area, Sector 26, leaving five of them dead and the remaining three injured.

Sarma, who hails from a remote district in Bihar, fled the spot, leaving the truck behind. His aide, Ajay, the truck cleaner, was at that time caught by angry residents and beaten up before he was arrested by the police.

According to the case, the driver deliberately ran over the sleeping labourers to avenge an earlier fight he had with the labourers sleeping there. A few hours before the incident, the driver was noticed drinking and urinating at a place where the victim labourers were having dinner following which they objected and a violent scuffle ensued.

Sarma left but soon returned and ran his truck (HR 37 B 3415) over the labourers. The heads of four labourers were crushed under the wheels of the truck. They died on the spot while the four other injured were rushed to the hospital where one of them succumbed to his injuries. The three injured were admitted to the GMCH, Sector 32.

The deceased were identified Jassu Ram (55), his son Naatu Ram (18), his son-in-law Jagdish (23) and Jassus cousin Sardara Singh.

The fifth deceased was identified as a UP-based labourer, Harinder Yadav.
S Nihal Singh

A STRING of shootings in the US targeting Indians or persons of Indian origin in recent weeks is an ominous development. It exemplifies some of the circumstances that won Mr Donald Trump the presidential election.

In essence, the revolt against the elite by white blue-collar workers made redundant by technology has ballooned into a wider movement that has distinct shades of racism and a growing fear among whites they will become minorities in their own country, thanks to the waves of immigrants from Asia and Africa. The US has its own black population and although Mr Barack Obamas two-term presidency was the first black man to hold the post was a water mark for American democracy, ironically it led to greater fears among whites of the shape of things to come.

The anti-migrant atmosphere is different from the mood created by the notorious bombing of New York Towers on 9/11 in which Sikhs were made the target of attacks assuming that they were Muslims from the Middle East. The present is a darker mood encompassing grievances of white men of limited education with a broader sweep of prejudices against people they believe largely belong to a self-serving elite.

In historical terms, the US has had periods of isolation and moods of emphasising self-interest above everything else  Mr Trumps motto of America First. But the American post-World War II consensus of a liberal society helping West Europe stand up in its enlightened self-interest had become the face of Uncle Sam. True, US interventions in the Middle East to further its strategic interests were largely disastrous, with consequences the West and the world are living with today. But the picture of America was otherwise largely benign.

No longer. Today the question boils down to how far and how long this process of turning American values on their head will last. Trade and immigration are two areas President Trump is emphasising. In relation to the first, he has already nixed the Pacific partnership proposal painfully built by the Obama administration and is seeking to renegotiate other agreements. As for the latter, he has issued a new executive order affecting six of the seven largely Muslim countries he had targeted falling foul of the law and has hinted at a new point system for immigrants.

Mr Viktor Orban of Hungary has pleaded for an illiberal democracy, but the US is far from reaching that goal even if Mr Trump were so inclined. American democratic institutions are sturdy and the courts will guard the citizens rights and liberty. But the present phase has certainly placed liberal America on the defensive as Mr Trump continues to pull populist strings to bring to the fore the dark side of America.

Can America become an illiberal society? Racial profiling seems to be seeping into wider American consciousness while Islamophobia has reached new levels. The widow of Srinivas Kuchibhotia, the Indian engineer shot by a white in Kansas after telling him to go home, asked a very pertinent question, Do we belong here? Many old-time residents will be rethinking their future in the US and the number of Indian students enrolling in American universities will come down, many of the aspiring students already having second thoughts.

In racial terms, there is less to fear in polyglot hubs like New York and Washington. The danger lies disproportionately in Middle America swayed by old and new prejudices. The average American is largely illiterate in international affairs, for him or her, there is no difference between an Indian and a Syrian. They are both non-Europeans of a darker shade and, in his or her view, profess the Islamic faith.

The question Indian residents in America and their loved ones at home will be asking themselves is: how long will this illiberal trend last? Judging by Mr Trumps support base and his compulsion to satisfy its craving, there is little prospect of seeing better times soon. A video of Chinese students complaining of racial discrimination in the US has gone viral. Indeed, the racial divide in America is deepening and the somewhat exaggerated fear of whites becoming a minority in the country at some point in the future is likely to become a warning signal.

There is little that India can do to alleviate the situation. It has made a plea for retaining the H-1B visa plan in computer-related work dominated by Indians, to little effect. For Mr Trump seeking more jobs for his countrymen and women is a campaign promise and a crowd-pleasing gesture. Inevitably, the army of Indian computer workers in the US will thin, many opting to return home or seek other pastures.

However, the wider questions thrown up by Mr Trumps policies are of greater import. Will the world have to reset its view of the US? Some of the more extravagant sweeps in the foreign policy field in particular the US President has withdrawn, among them are questioning the One China policy, viewing NATO as obsolete and withdrawing the American nuclear umbrella in favour of Japan and South Korea going nuclear. Indeed, his senior cabinet ministers first job has been to undertake fence-mending exercises to reassure allies that they still counted.

There are no such compulsions in modifying Mr Trumps rhetoric on the darker urges of sections of the American people which has also seen signs of anti-Semitism, Israel otherwise being the most American-coddled nation in the world. As right-wing populism has made strides in Britain and other European countries and is now having a revival in America, the space for non-whites will progressively diminish.

If more Indians are not packing up just yet, they are anxiously watching the trends. President Trumps belated reaction to the Kansas killing was one marker. It is proper for the US State Department to condemn the Kansas and other killings but it has failed the Indian communitys foreboding.
Manoj Kumar Teotia

The potentially positive role of urbanisation has been overshadowed in Punjab because of deterioration in the physical environment and quality of life in urban areas. The state has been facing many challenges in this sector, such as unplanned and rapid urbanisation, growth of slums, housing shortage/homelessness, poverty, inequality, unemployment, migration, informalisation, poor access to basic services, segregation of the urban poor and poor quality of local governance.

Major share of the blame for this may be laid on the lack of a state-level policy to address the growing concerns relating to rapid and unplanned urbanisation and haphazard growth of urban areas, because of which the urban environment, particularly in large cities, is deteriorating vary rapidly.

Preparation of a 'state-level urbanisation strategy/urban development policy' is, thus, the need of the hour to promote equitable urbanisation and growth in the state. The formulation of such a policy may keep the following concerns in mind:

Restructure planning

Planning is an important issue largely ignored in urban areas of Punjab. Ward committees and district planning committees must be engaged effectively for participatory planning at the local, city/village and district levels. There is plurality of urban development agencies and multiplicity of urban laws/legal frameworks dictating the process of urban planning, development and management. There is thus need for rationalisation and restructuring of the planning agencies and existing legal frameworks, and merger of development authorities or improvement trusts with the urban local bodies (ULBs).

There also has to be a greater role for elected representatives and the ULBs in the planning process. Preparation and implementation of better master/zonal plans by a dedicated nodal agency, creation of legal frameworks for preparing regional plans, and engaging of land owners for adequate supply of land for development, land pooling and land distribution will be required. The FAR (floor area ratio) has to be rationalised, PPP models developed, potential of TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) exploited, and development charges rationalised to make developed land affordable.

There is a need to open more planning institutions and also promote use of information technology to improve the planning process through fast clearance of applications, improved operational efficiency in preparing better long and short-term plans for making cities sustainable, liveable, humane and productive.

Strengthen local bodies

Since Punjab is a laggard in terms of devolutions and democratic decentralisation, particularly in the context of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA), the strengthening of ULBs is must to cope with the growing issues of urbanisation, governance, development, poverty, etc. It is desirable to transfer funds, functions and functionaries to ULBs in accordance with the 74th CAA. Their capacity building should be a major component of the urbanisation strategy. The creation of an enabling legal, financial and regulatory framework for ULBs is also crucial to manage urbanisation sustainably. Greater autonomy to ULBs is needed to mobilise own resources and resources from the capital market to enable them to tackle the growing challenges.

Develop medium towns

Increased focus is required on small and medium towns, which are spread evenly in almost all districts and have the potential to emerge as centres of economic growth and employment. The development of infrastructure and municipal services in such towns can check migration to larger urban areas. This will also help in decentralisation of economic growth and employment opportunities and in promoting planned and even urbanisation and development with better availability of serviced sites for housing, commercial and industrial uses. This also requires an adequate and efficient transport system connecting large and small towns/villages. Then efforts may be made to provide affordable housing to the people in peripheral towns. This could also help in providing cheaper settlements for urban poor.

Deconcentrate

There is a need to evolve policies that divert the trends in urbanisation from areas having higher concentration of population to areas with nominal levels of urbanisation. The Ferozepur-Sangrur-Bathinda triangle can be developed as an alternative to the ribbon growth pattern of the GT Road. The construction of road and rail corridors can help. Bringing more industries with some special packages can also attract people to this region. Four less urbanised districts of Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar and Mansa can be connected to this triangle to promote balanced growth of urbanisation. This may demand shift of existing larger industries, establishment of new industrial areas, construction of new road/rail corridors to less urbanised areas by giving some tax benefits.

This will help in balanced urbanisation. New towns may be provided better housing and infrastructure facilities to attract industries, commercial establishments and migrants. Region specific growth corridors will enhance linkages among the urban and rural areas.

Housing the poor

Land in urban areas is skewed in favour of the rich. The percentage of slums to total urban population is high in Punjab (14.06%). The social composition of slums indicates that the proportion of SCs in slums is very high in Punjab (39.8%) compared to other states. Urban housing shortage is to the tune of 5.38 per cent with an estimated shortage of about 1.12 lakh houses. The housing problem is visible in homelessness (18,374 persons), single-room dwellings (25.3%), two-room dwellings (29.2%), semi-permanent (5.3%), temporary (1.8%), non-serviceable housing (0.7%) and rented houses (10.6%), etc.

Land, housing, slum development and poverty alleviation should be important components of the urbanisation strategy. The productivity of cities can only be strengthened by providing adequate infrastructure, housing and services to its workforce. The provision of proper living space will help check temporary and illegal structures on private and public lands. There is an urgent need to mitigate the negative impact of urbanisation. Area-specific economic framework may be evolved to promote equitable growth of urban areas.

The linking of rural and urban development strategies is crucial for sustainable development growth of the rural-urban continuum and checking uncontrolled migration of rural poor towards urban areas. Convergence of inter-sectoral schemes and policies is also crucial to develop harmony between different departments for better management.

Social development in urban areas should be an important agenda. The higher percentage of SCs in slums and among those without homes, with low literacy and low skills, is a serious concern and needs urgent policies for inclusive urban growth.

Central funding

The major objectives of central initiatives such as the Smart Cities Mission, PMAY, HRIDAY, RURBAN Mission, NULM, etc, are: focused attention to integrated development; planned development of identified cities, including peri-urban areas, outgrowths, urban corridors for dispersed urbanisation; adequate investment to meet deficiencies in the infrastructure and services; providing basic services to urban poor; urban renewal; and adequate livelihoods to address social, physical and economic vulnerabilities. The state government, with the help of professional urban experts, may chalk out 'city development plans' and a 'detailed project report' for all towns for accessing funds for integrated development of these urban centres.

Periphery development

The government may evolve new schemes to plan growth of peripheral areas effectively, which is currently haphazard. Development of neglected peripheries will help to enhance the image of urban centres and quality of life.

Amenities in rural areas

In the India Vision 2020 document, former President Abdul Kalam had propagated PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) to bridge the rural-urban divide through enhanced connectivity, i.e., physical, economic, knowledge, societal and electronic. The current regime has started the RURBAN Mission with almost similar objectives. Proper understanding and implementation of this mission and development of infrastructure and services as suggested will result in decentralised and uniform growth in Punjab. There is also a need to identify some rural corridors that may be developed as focal points for basic requirements of rural populations in neighboring villages. People will then not need to migrate to larger urban areas.

Backward districts

The urbanisation strategy may emphasise on backward districts (under the Backward Regions Grant Fund) and border towns. Another corridor like the GT Road or new rail networks like Chandigarh-Ludhiana may help to bring those districts on the development map. Special packages for infrastructure, housing, services, and special industrial and economic zones may be provided to the towns in backward and border districts.

Road and rail corridors

Since the GT Road has attracted a large concentration of urban centres, it may work out to develop a similar corridor in the least urbanised regions of the state. This is required to decongest the cities located on the GT road. Since there seem to be close links between higher urbanisation along the GT Road/rail lines and industrialisation, it may be worth establishing similar links in less urbanised districts.

Urbanisation commission

A state-level urbanisation commission may be set up to periodically review the progress of the urbanisation strategy and implementation of the urban development policy to promote equitable urbanisation an economic growth in the state.

The writer is Faculty Member (Urban Governance & Development), CRRID, Chandigarh.
Washington, March 10

A Sikh man shot outside his home in Washington state by a partially-masked gunman shouting "go back to your own country" was targeted because of his ethnic origin, authorities have said as they announced a reward of up to US$ 6,000 for anyone providing a lead in the case.

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US national Deep Rai, 39, was working on his vehicle outside his home in Kent on March 3 when he was approached by a stranger, who first argued with Rai, and then shot him in the arm.

"The account provided by the victim suggests that he was targeted because of his ethnic origin," Kent Police chief Ken Thomas told reporters yesterday, adding "Hateful acts are not acceptable."

Nearly a week after the shooting that stoked fears among the Indian-American community, the police released the sketch of the shooter. Thomas said the lone white shooter make, about six-feet tall, medium built and between 35-40 years of age.

On the day of the shooting, he was wearing a dark-coloured or black hoodie in addition to dark coloured clothing. The lower portion of his face was covered with a mask.

The incident is being investigated by the Kent Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a hate crime.

Unable to find any lead towards the shooter, who is still at large, the authorities have announced a reward of up to US$ 6,000 for anyone providing information that could lead to his arrest.

"The Kent Police Department is concerned about any act of violence in our community. The possibility of a hateful violence underscores the need of a through and serious examination of the circumstances around this criminal incident," Thomas said.

After the shooting the suspect departed on foot in an unknown direction, he said.

Thomas said it's early in the investigation and still trying to learn the exact circumstances. "(Rai) was wearing a turban. With the dynamics of the situation that occurred we do believe the victim was targeted...," he said.

The Kent Police Department is committed to protect community members, "particularly if they may be targeted because of their race, gender, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation or other protected class. For that reason we have partnered with the FBI to ensure we bring all investigative resources to bear to this case," he said. The FBI Seattle Field Agent told reporters that the agency has opened a full civil rights investigation into this matter along with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

"We opened this case to help Kent Police Department to figure out whether or not there was bias, specifically bias related to Federal hate crimes laws in this matter," he said. According to the Kent Police, a sketch artist was able to work with the victim and create a detailed sketch of the suspect. Investigators are hoping the public can help identify the assailant.

"This is a very unusual circumstance for our community" noted Kent Police Commander Jarod Kasner, "We have not had a similar situation or reports of any similar incidents."

The FBI is offering a reward of up to US$ 5,000 for information leading to the successful resolution of the case, with racially-motivated actions. Callers to Crime Stoppers may remain anonymous and are eligible to receive an additional cash reward of US$ 1,000 if the information given leads to an arrest and charge of the person(s) involved.

The FBI's reward applies to information leading to an arrest related to this tragic incident. In his brief remarks to the media, community leader Hira Singh Bhullar said this kind of incident has "really torn us apart". PTI
While the Election Commission is entitled to pat itself on the back for the electoral exercise in five states, it would have been much better had the task at hand been finished in a less laid-back way, in a shorter time, with a little more objectivity and a tad greater assertion of its authority. At the end of it, sadly, the Election Commission's performance of its constitutional obligation does not measure up to the expectations built over the years. Questions have been raised over the needless stretching of the poll process in Uttar Pradesh to seven phases. This pointless dragging of the election, tiresome for politicians, voters, media as well as official machinery, forced a look back at the year 2002 when the UP poll was done with in just three phases with paraphernalia which now would have been considered inadequate and obsolete. Law and order also was not as tolerable as today. Even in 2014 the elections were held in the entire country in nine phases.

Being a serial complainant, AAPs questioning of the Election Commission's neutrality may be taken lightly, but apparently different yardsticks have been applied in tracking violations of the code of conduct. A case was registered against Rahul Gandhi, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat and a Congress candidate for holding a road show in Haridwar beyond the sanctioned time limit. Nothing wrong with that. Political leaders, however, have complained that the Election Commission did not show similar enthusiasm for rule enforcement when a Prime Minister road show was organised in Varanasi without its permission, when Narendra Modi made the kabristan-shamshan remark or when the government did not inform the EC of the budget date despite the model code of conduct being in force. An unusually indulgent Election Commission chose to overlook all that.

The Constitution grants the Election Commission special status, sufficient autonomy and powers so that it can discipline the rowdy crowd of politicians and law-breakers. One does not expect every Chief Election Commissioner to act or behave like T.N. Seshan but it is imperative the CECs independence is not  and does not look - compromised. An Election Commission in awe of the ruling party dilutes its own constitutional position.
Gurgaon, March 10

After five years, a Gurgaon court today convicted 31 employees of Maruti-Suzuki India Ltd, 13 of them for the murder of human resource manager Awanish Kumar Dev, and the rest on charges of rioting, trespassing, causing hurt and related offences during the July 18, 2012, unrest at the automobile giants Manesar plant in Haryana.

The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on March 18. Defence counsel Rajendra Pathak said they would approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Additional District and Sessions Judge RK Goyal acquitted 117 of the 148 employees chargesheeted in the case for want of evidence.

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The court divided the convicts into two categories, as per the charges proved against them, placing 24 in one group and the remaining seven in the other. Booked by the police and sacked by the carmaker, only two of the 148 jailed workers could get bail in February 2015.

Violence had erupted at the Manesar facility over disciplinary action against an employee during which agitated workers went on a rampage, torching a part of the factory, setting senior officer Dev on fire, and bludgeoning with rods 100 others. Among the wounded were foreigners and policemen.

The massive plant, which rolled out over five lakh cars a year, was shut down for a month, resulting in heavy losses.

Today, a large police contingent was deployed at the court as a precautionary measure. The local administration had clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC to prevent any untoward incident. Workers of various industrial units held a meeting at Gurugrams Kamla Nehru Park later in the evening to chalk out their future strategy. Among them were leaders of workers unions and those working in Maruti Suzukis plants in Gurugram, Manesar and Kherki Daula.

 TNS & Agencies
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 10

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewalas security would not be downgraded without the courts permission after the Bench was told that he had been placed in Y-plus protectee category across India, except for Delhi where he was placed in Y category.

The developments took place on a petition filed against the Union of India and other respondents by Surjewala through senior advocate Girish Agnihotri, JS Toor, Arvind Seth and R. Kartikeya.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, an affidavit dated February 16 by Neh Srivastava, Under Secretary, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, was placed before the Bench of Justice Amit Rawal.

Appearing for Surjewalas behalf, counsel Toor submitted that the petitioners grievance stood redressed and his stand vindicated as he had been categorised in Y-plus category of protectee list all over India and in Y category in Delhi.

At the same time, Toor expressed apprehension that the respondents may place the petitioner in a different category at any stage or any point of time. In that eventuality, the petitioner may be afforded an opportunity of hearing or the courts permission may be sought.

Responding to the submission, senior panel counsel for the Union of India Pankaj Gupta submitted that categorisation was done by Haryana. Keeping in view the apprehension already expressed in so many words in the writ petition, in case both respondents  the Union of India and Haryana  deem it appropriate to change the category, permission may be sought from this court.

The writ petition stands disposed of in these terms, Justice Rawal concluded.

In his petition, Surjewala had asked for security cover by the Central Industrial Security Force due to threats faced by him due to the suspicious escape of dreaded gangster Surinder Geong, with the state governments simultaneous action of withdrawing his personal security detail

Surjewala had claimed a day after news about the alleged gangsters escape surfaced, the state DGP issued an order for withdrawal of an inspector from his personal security details.

His counsel told the Court that Geongs group was one of the most prominent criminal gangs in the petitioners constituency Kaithal. The petitioner earlier as a minister had publicly stated his and the governments resolve to ensure decisive and quick action against notorious criminal gangs.
Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 10

The implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations will put an additional burden of Rs 2,350 crore on the state exchequer annually.

While the additional financial burden for the payment of enhanced salaries and arrears to nearly 2.5 lakh employees would be Rs 1,650 crore, the financial implications of the pensions to about 2.25 lakh pensioners would be around Rs 700 crore per annum, Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu told Gharaunda MLA Harvinder Kalyan during Question Hour in the Assembly today.

Intervening in the discussion, Kalyan demanded that the salaries and allowances of the MLAs and ex-MLAs should also be fixed with reference to certain dates such as January 1 and dearness allowance should be given on the basis of this date on the pattern of the government employees. This would make the system transparent and the MLAs would not have to ask for increase in their salaries through legislations, Kalyan reasoned.

When Capt Abhimanyu claimed that Haryana was the first state to implement the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, Kalyan demanded the fixation of accountability of the employees of various departments, boards and corporations.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today announced the decision to open Shri Mata Mansa Devi All-India Institute of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy at Panchkula, financial assistance of up to Rs 2 crore for development of villages under the Vidhayak Adarsh Gram Yojana, monthly honorarium to retired principals, lecturers and other employees of non-government aided colleges, and 500 new posts of traffic personnel each for Gurugram and Faridabad.
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to have abandoned Mosul and left local commanders to lead the battle against Iraqi troops. According to reports, Baghdadi has fled because of the steady advancement of the forces.

By India Today Web Desk: ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to have abandoned Mosul and is now hiding in the desert due to the advancement of Iraqi forces in the city.

He has reportedly left local commanders to fight the battle with Iraqi troops, who are steadily progressing to recapture the second largest state of the country. Baghdadi has apparently fled to avoid being trapped inside, reported AFP. The ISIS chief rarely uses communication that can be monitored and is an elusive target.

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Baghdadi's escape is being considered as a sign of the militant outfit feeling the pressure after losing much of the territory it once controlled.

Also read: In pictures: Inside ISIS' training camp for recruits

In October 2016, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had announced the beginning of a military operation to recapture the city of Mosul from the terror outfit Islamic State. The Iraqi forces had fully captured the eastern half of the Mosul in January 2017 and efforts to take over the western half was initiated last month. The government forces have already taken the main government building, the central bank branch and a museum under their control where ISIS militants once filmed themselves destroying priceless artefacts.

Baghdadi's last recorded speech was in November 2016 in which he called on his followers to fight the the "unbelievers" and "make their blood flow as rivers". However, since the beginning of the Mosul battle there has been a drop in social media postings, the group's presence on Telegram too has reduced significantly. Moreover, the terrorist group's activity on Twitter has fallen by 45 percent since 2014.

Also read: ISIS will meet al-Qaeda's fate in India, it will flop: Union Minister MA Naqvi to India Today

The ISIS leader did not release any comment when the group lost the eastern part of the city in January.

Also watch:

--- ENDS ---
Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 10

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that an inquiry would be conducted into all land issues in Gurugram, Faridabad and Nuh districts, including Gwal Pahari, even as the Opposition parties staged a walkout over his non-committal attitude to a CBI inquiry into the matter.

Khattar said this while intervening in the reply to the call attention motion of MLAs Karan Singh Dalal, Kiran Choudhry and others being given by Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain on the concluding day of the Budget session of the Vidhan Sabha today.

We are clear that the land belongs to the Municipal Corporation, Gurugram, and is public property. This is not an issue under discussion, Khattar said while stating that the mutation as also the title of Gwal Pahari was disputed.

Maintaining that it was a three-decade old problem involving property worth thousands of crores of rupees, the Chief Minister said that it could be resolved with the intervention of the Supreme Court.

Giving a background, Khattar said that more than 526 sale-purchases and mutations were made from 1992 to 2012. The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) developers were given no encumbrance certificate and concurrences during 2005 to 2012 which, too, was a matter of investigation.

BJP MLA Umesh Agarwal today, too, made his presence felt as he sought the Speakers permission to speak on the matter since he represented the Gurugram constituency where the land lies. On being denied, he demanded a high-level probe, including a CBI inquiry, challenging the CM.

The Chief Minister said that in 1989, the then Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, Harbaksh Singh passed the first order on the Gwal Pahari land and since then the issue had been remanded several times in quasi-judicial courts.

Congress Legislature Party leader Kiran Choudhry raised a number of questions on the release of the land to private builders and questioned the CM about his letter directing the Collector, Gurugram, to pass an order in the case since the Centre was taking interests in the case as did Congress MLA Karan Dalal. INLD MLA Zakir Hussain pointed out that the fate of all land deals in that area was the same and that illegal registries were a norm even as he and the Congress MLAs demanded a CBI inquiry.

Khattar said that there was nothing wrong in directing the Collector to pass an order in a fixed time-frame. She also questions how the then Collector, TL Satya Prakash, had compromised the interests of the MCG where he was holding charge of the post of Commissioner.

As soon as Choudhry began to raise questions, Health Minister Anil Vij intervened, asking her to stick to reading out her calling attention notice. Amidst heated exchanges between the two, Vij used objectionable words when Choudhry got accusatory. Speaker Kanwar Pal Gujjar expunged these words.

Earlier, Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain said that neither the ownership nor the possession of any part of the Gwal Pahari land in Gurugram had changed in 2016, what to talk of during 2017.

After the conclusion of the reply, the Congress and the INLD, demanding a CBI inquiry into the matter, staged a walkout to express dissatisfaction over the governments dealing.

Speaking to the media after the conclusion of the session, Khattar said that cases related to land of Gwal Pahari and several other villages of the area had been pending in the court for the last many years. Of these, some cases go to the Revenue Court and some to Civil Court. Therefore, the Haryana Government has got Bill passed in the Assembly on March 3 to abolish Remand Pratha for speedy disposal of revenue-related cases, he said.

He said that an inquiry not only into the Gwal Pahari land but also other land deals on the demand of MLAs would be conducted so that no one could usurp public property.
Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 10

Silencing his detractors, both within and outside the party, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today announced a monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 1,000 per month to those who have cleared plus two as he presented a Rs 35,783 crore tax-free but deficit Budget for 2017-18, the 20th by him in his six terms as Chief Minister.

Even as there was a clear attempt to woo 2.26 lakh employees, who constitute a sizeable chunk of the electorate, the thrust in the election year Budget was on employment generation and strengthening of the farm sector.

The main highlight of the Rs 2,581 crore deficit Budget was the fulfilment of the Congress election manifesto promise made before the 2012 polls, as not only the BJP, but also his own party and ministers had been mounting pressure on him to honour the commitment. However, despite this being the election year, he seemed to have exercised fiscal prudence and not gone overboard in announcing major sops to woo the electorate. The thrust had been to create jobs for a huge contingent of 8.24 lakh youth enrolled in employment exchanges. An allocation of Rs 150 crore had been made for unemployment allowance and Rs 100 crore for skill development.

The total revenue deficit would be Rs 1,041 crore since the revenue receipts stood at Rs 27,714 crore and the total expenditure estimated to be Rs 28,755 crore. The fiscal deficit had been pegged at Rs 4,946 crore.

Even as the fiscal health remained a cause of major worry as the debt burden touched Rs 38,567 crore on March 31, 2016, Virbhadra said he had tried to give benefit and touch the lives of every section of society at the lowest level.

I would have loved to give much more had there been more resources at my disposal, he admitted. He added that it was a pro-farmer, employees and youth-oriented budget.

The salary bill would touch Rs 9,628 crore, pension Rs 4,950, interest payments Rs 3,500 crore and loan repayment Rs 3,105 crore. After having met all these liabilities, only Rs 39.55 out of every Rs 100 would be left at the disposal of the government for development.

Among the announcements and new schemes announced by him was a Software Technology Park in Shimla with jobs for 400 IT professionals, Rs 52 crore for setting up six City Livelihood Centres, Rs 50 crore for promotion of off-season and exotic vegetables, Rs 53 crore for purchase of equipment for 50 ITIs, Rs 50 crore for the CM Road Scheme, Rs 15 crore for the construction of multipurpose indoor complexes, Rs 50 crore for road safety, Rs 12 crore for subsidy to farmers on power sprayers, tillers and other equipment, Rs 10 crore for the State Mission on Food Processing, Rs 4 crore for two new transport nagars and Rs 4 crore for promotion of kiwi cultivation.

The MLA Area Development Fund has been enhanced from Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.10 crore. A vanar vatika will be set up to keep 1,000 monkeys at Tara Devi near here and six bio-diversity tourism parks be set up at Kanlog, Sarahan, Kasol, Dharamsala, Paonta Sahib and Mandi.

Expenditure, earning and borrowing

As per the Budget estimates for 2017-18, against an expenditure of every Rs 100, the state government will have Rs 77.45 as total receipts, including the transfer from the Central Government, excluding loans. The gap of Rs 22.55 will be met through borrowings and loans.

Thrust areas

Forest, environment, science and technology

A Rs 800-crore HP Forest Eco-System Management and Livelihood Project with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency and Rs 1,300-crore project "HP Forests for Prosperity" approved by World Bank.

Rural development and panchayati raj

An allocation of Rs 115 crore under Rajiv and Mukhya Mantri Awaas Yojanas. An additional Budget of Rs 42 crore to zila parishads and panchayat samitis for development works

Urban development

The Centre has released Rs 186 crore for the Dharamsala Smart City Mission. A sum of Rs 81 crore for Shimla and Rs 34 crore for Kullu under AMRUT from the Centre and Rs 50 crore as the states share under the scheme.

Irrigation and public health

A sum of Rs 160 crore to complete 230 ongoing drinking water supply and irrigation schemes. A sum of Rs 75 crore for Command Area development works to ensure utilisation by farmers. There is a proposal to provide round-the-clock water to Shimla through the Rs 837-crore World Bank assisted Kol Dam project.

Power

The commissioning of Sainj and Uhl power projects will provide 200 MW to the state. A budgetary provision of Rs 450 crore has been made for subsidising electricity to domestic consumers.

Health

A medical university to be set up at Mandi. The infant mortality rate has come down from 35 to 28 per 1,000. A sum of Rs 7 crore for operation theatres and gas points at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital. A superspeciality services block to be set up at Rs 290 crore at Chamyana on the outskirts of Shimla and Rs 32 crores Centre of Excellence under the National Mental Health Programme at Tanda in Kangra.

Education

An allocation of Rs 25 crore to provide 10,000 laptops and netbooks to meritorious students of classes X and XII under Rajiv Gandhi Digital Yojana, grant-in-aid of Rs 100 crore to Himachal Pradesh University, as many as 506 schools to be covered under information and communication technology in 2017-18. The department aims to increase enrolment ratio in colleges from 29 to 36 per cent by 2022.

Note ban lacked planning: CM
Pratibha Chauhan/Bhanu Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 10

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Friday proposed Rs 484 crore for agriculture as he presented the Himachal Pradesh Annual Budget here.

Salient features

CM presents tax-free budget of Rs 35,783 crores for the year 2017-18

The burden on salaries will be Rs 9,628 crore

Pensionary burden to be Rs 4,950 crore

Interest payment Rs 3,500 crore

Of every Rs 100, only Rs 39.55 would be left for development works after meeting all committed liabilities

The revenue deficit stands at Rs 1,041 crore

Fiscal deficit is expected to touch Rs 4,946 crore

The thrust has been on farm sector and employment generation

Bid to woo employees by giving them 3 per cent DA, 4 per cent interim relief

Enhancement of all daily wages and those of contractual employees

Tibetan community to be included under food subsidy scheme of the state

Subsidy under Mukhya Mantri Khet Sanrakshan Yojana for solar electric fencing increased from 60 to 80 per cent

Rs 484 crore proposed for agriculture

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This includes Rs 50 crore for promotion of exotic and off-season vegetables

Rs 10 crore for construction of market yards

Rs 374 allocated for animal husbandry

Rs 424 crore for horticulture sector

Thrust on promoting organic farming, kiwi cultivation, better plant material through setting up of nurseries, polyhouses, soil testing, promotion of floriculture and cultivation of exotic vegetables

Best organic farms to be given awards

MLA Area Development Fund enhanced from Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.1 crore

Tibetan refugees to be covered under subsidised food scheme.

Software Technology Park to be set up at Shimla; will provide employment to 400 IT professionals

Rs 530 crore allocated for forest sector

Vanar Vatika for 1,000 monkeys to be set up at Tara Devi on the outskirts of Shimla

10 bio-diversity tourism parks to be set up all over the state

Avian monitoring and bird ringing station to be set up at Pong Dam for migratory birds

Outlay of Rs 1,672 crore made for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj department

Unemployment allowance to all Plus 2 youth with less than Rs 2 lakh annual income

Youth will get Rs 1,000 per month while disabled will get Rs 1,500 per month

An outlay of Rs 150 crore made for this

Rs 100 crore outlay for skill development

Four livelihood centres to be set up and Rs 53 crore given for upgradation and modernisation of 50 it is

Vocational courses to be started in 850 senior secondary schools
Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 10

Contrary to its claims of taking austerity measures to reduce the burden on the state exchequer, the government today appointed 16 politicians of the PDP and the BJP as vice-chairpersons of the financially overburdened public sector enterprises (PSEs).

These politicians are entitled to a monthly salary of Rs 80,000 per month, besides hefty perks and allowances to serve the PSEs which are already facing huge losses for the past many years.

A senior officer in the General Administration Department (GAD) today said each of these ruling coalition politicians would be paid Rs 1.5 lakh per month from the coffers of the state government, which is already facing financial crunch. Besides the monthly salary, perks, allowances and other benefits, these politicians are entitled to chauffeur-driven vehicles, personal staff and other advantages.

Sources said the GAD had already issued orders for the appointment of 16 politicians, and the formal appointment letters would be given soon.

In contrast, daily wagers and other contractual employees of the PDP-BJP government have been denied wages due to financial crunch in the state.

A couple of years back, the CAG in its report had pointed out that PSEs and two statutory corporations of J&K owe Rs 1,450 crore to the state exchequer as successive governments could not initiate remedial measures in the state PSUs since 1996.

The sources added Abdul Salam Reshi will be the vice-chairperson of the State Forest Corporation; Gulzar Ahmad of J&K Industries Ltd; Mir Bashir (J&K Minerals Ltd); Parvez Ahmad (J&K State Road Transport Corporation); Vijay Dogra (J&K Womens Dev Corporation); Manmohan Singh (J&K Medical Supplies Corporation); Rashid Ahmad (J&K Agro Industries Dev Corporation); GM Mir (J&K Horticulture Development Corporation); Khalid Jehangir (J&K Projects Construction Corporation); Virender Singh (J&K Police Housing Corporation); Balbir Ram (J&K Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes Development Corporation); Munish Sharma (JAKFED); Nizam Ud Din Bhat (J&K Handloom Dev Corporation); Nazir Itoo (J&K Cements Ltd); Ali Mohd Mir (J&K Small Scale Industries Dev Corporation); and Subash Jandial (J&K State Industries Dev Corporation).

The government has already appointed Peerzada Mansoor Hussain as the vice-chairman of the J&K Khadi and Village Industries Board and Rafi Ahmad Mir as the vice-chairman of the J&K Tourism Development Corporation.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 10

Minister of Education Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today called on Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar, seeking funds for school and higher education sectors.

Bukhari was in Delhi to give a flip to J&Ks education sector and sought Central support for the augmentation of educational infrastructure in the state. He advocated for incorporating more courses under the Prime Ministers Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS).

While assuring full support from the Central Government, Javadekar said his priority would be to raise the quality of education in J&K.

Bukhari also raised the issue of release of pending Central share of funding under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

He informed the HRD minister about the programme approval board (PAB) that had approved work plan under the SSA for an amount of Rs 2,062.54 crore (Rs 1856.29 crore Central share and Rs 206.25 crore state share) out of which only Rs 1,025.22 crore has been released by the Union ministry.

The minister said the funds were needed to defray the salaries of teachers, who had not been paid their dues since September 2016.

Similarly, the minister also discussed slow funding under the RMSA highlighting that out of Rs 500.65 crore of the Central share, only Rs 149.47 crore has been released by the Union government till date.

In order to create and enable quality learning environment for holistic personality development of children, Bukhari asked the Centre for a special fund of Rs 300 crore for the recently designated 146 Chief Ministers model schools in the state.

Bukhari asked for Rs 100 crore funding under the Prime Ministers Development Programme (PMDP) for the creation of additional infrastructure and hostels in each out-campus of Kashmir University and Jammu University, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University and Islamic University for Science & Technology, Awantipora. He asked for a special funding of Rs 100 crore for the upgrade of infrastructure or campus and laboratories to enhance intake capacity for faculty or students at GCET, Jammu.

Under the special Prime Ministers Development Programme, the minister asked for funding of Rs 200 crore for the construction of 40 more hostels for students from far-flung areas across the state. He also impressed on the Union minister to use his office for expediting release of Rs 50 crore to the state for the construction of seven girls hostels.

Bukhari asked the MHRD to release balance funds of Rs 164.56 crore for cluster universities, two engineering colleges at Safapora (Kashmir) and Kathua (Jammu) and vocationalisation, model colleges and other infrastructure under RUSA.

The Minister of Education also impressed on the MHRD to expedite establishment of permanent campuses for IIT, IIM and IIMC, besides appointment of director for NIT Srinagar, IIT Jammu and IIM Jammu. The meeting also discussed speedy release of Rs 100 crore under the Prime Ministers Development Programme for the upgrade of NIT Srinagar.
Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 10

With the election process for the Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary seats in Kashmir beginning next week, major political parties are in the process of finalising their contestants for the byelections, being held less than three years after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition National Conference and the Congress will come out with the list of contesting candidates by early next week before the notification for the first phase (Srinagar) is issued on March 14 and for the second phase (Anantnag) on March 17.

Even as the PDP is tight-lipped over the candidates, insiders say that Tassaduq Mufti, younger brother of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, is the probable candidate from their home constituency of Anantnag in south Kashmir. Tassaduq, only son of former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, formally joined the PDP on his fathers first death anniversary here on January 7 this year.

Senior PDP leader and party general secretary Sartaj Madni is also among the probable candidates to contest from Anantnag.

The two Lok Sabha seats were represented by the ruling PDP members, Mehbooba Mufti (Anantnag) and Tariq Hameed Karra (Srinagar). The seats fell vacant after their resignations last year.

While Mehbooba Mufti resigned to return to the state Assembly after taking over as the Chief Minister, Tariq Hameed Karra, one of the founder members of the PDP, resigned both from the party and the Lok Sabha due to differences with the party over the handling of the last years unrest.

For the prestigious Srinagar seat, Nazir Ahmad Khan is being considered. He returned to the party recently.

The Congress, according to sources, is all set to field J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president GA Mir from Anantnag, while it is yet to decide on its Srinagar candidate. However, the final decision will be taken by the All India Congress Committee or the party high command.

Meanwhile, the seat-sharing arrangement is also being considered, which means that the Congress may contest from Anantnag and the National Conference from Srinagar.

Though critical of the decision to hold the bypolls amid rising incidents of militancy and protests, the National Conference is expected to discuss the issue in its core group meeting to be attended by its president, Farooq Abdullah, and working president Omar Abdullah here on Sunday.

Seat-sharing: Cong leaves it to high command

Jammu: The state Congress on Friday authorised the party high command to take a final call on seat adjustment with the NC for the byelections. However, the state unit suggested to the high command to convince the NC leadership to leave a seat for the party in the elections to the Legislative Council. Sources said at a meeting of senior Congress leaders, it was decided that the high command would be authorised to take a final call on the seat adjustment. The sources said the Congress leaders were ready to leave the Srinagar seat for the NC provided either Farooq Abdullah or Omar contest the elections from the constituency. TNS
Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 9

Women employed in the organised sector will now be entitled to paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks, as the Lok Sabha today passed a related Bill that will benefit about 1.8 million women.

The legislation was cleared by the Rajya Sabha in August last year.

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The Bill was for an amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, which protected employment of women during maternity and entitled her to full paid absence from work to take care of her child.

Moving the Bill in the House, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said the new law will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people. The entitlement will be for only up to first two children. For third child, the entitlement will be for only 12 weeks.

The reformist legislation will catapult India to third position in terms of maternity leave after Canada (50 weeks) and Norwary (44 weeks).

Dattatreya said the state governments would have a major role in effective implementation of the Act as labour was in the Concurrent List.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar/Pulwama, March 9

Three militants were killed while three security personnel, including an Army Major, were injured in two anti-militancy operations stretched across north and south Kashmir on Thursday. Two civilians also lost their lives during protests and clashes that broke out in south Kashmir.

Two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in an encounter at Padgampora village, 25 km from Srinagar, in south Kashmirs Pulwama district. The militants have been identified as Jehangir Ahmad Ganai, a resident of Koil village, and Mohammad Shafi Shergojri, a resident of Banderpora village of Pulwama district.

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In another gunfight, a local militant was killed and a Major injured in north Kashmirs Bandipore. The gunfight erupted when the militant opened fire at a checkpoint, the police said.

In Pulwama, security forces, including Special Operations Group, Central Reserve Police Forces 130 Battalion and 55 Rashtriya Rifles, cordoned off Padgampora village and started a search operation following specific inputs.

The security forces came under fire from a house, triggering an encounter, said Awantipora Deputy Superintendent of Police Parvaiz Ahmad.

The security personnel tried to persuade Shergojri to surrender by calling in his family but he declined. Shergojri is survived by two children and wife.

Clashes erupted between security forces and protesters near the encounter scene leading to the death of a civilian and injury to several others. The deceased has been identified as Amir Nazir (15), a class IX student, of Beegum Bagh village, near Kakapora.

Health officials said Amir was brought dead to the Primary Health Centre, Kakapora, with a bullet in the abdomen.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (south Kashmir range) SP Pani, however, said: Someone from the crowd fired at the police, injuring at least two of our men, who are stable. We showed maximum restraint. During the clashes that followed, a civilian was killed.

Another civilian, Jalaluddin of Tahab was brought dead to the Pulwama district hospital from Padgampora. While doctors said the victim did not bear any pellet or bullet injuries, locals claimed he was killed during shelling.

The police said the two militants were behind the killing of security personnel and political activists, besides attacks on police installations in south Kashmir.

They had been threatening locals to stay away from upcoming elections, and motivating youths to join militancy in Awantipora, Pulwama and Shopian. They were also involved in recent bank robberies and weapon-snatching incidents in south and central Kashmir, a police spokesman said.

The authorities, meanwhile, suspended rail services on the Srinagar-Banihal line because of encounter sites proximity to the Awantipora railway station.
New Delhi, March 10

A London-bound Air India aircraft from Ahmedabad on Friday had to be escorted by fighter jets after it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control while flying over Hungary.

The plane, with 231 passengers and 18 crew members on board, lost contact with the ATC due to frequency fluctuation, an Air India spokesperson said.

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The aircraft, which took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airpot in Ahmedabad at 0700 hours, landed safely at Londons Heathrow Airport at 11.05 hours (local time), the spokesperson said.  PTI
Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), March 10

Two girls were injured on Thursday after miscreants hurled a bomb inside Sardar Patel Inter School near the Barrah Police Station area here.

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Nikita and Nikki had gone to the school to collect their exam admit cards.

Suddenly, someone threw a bomb in the school and it exploded. The particles of the bomb injured the face and back of both the girls.

We both were sitting on a bench in the school waiting for our teacher. Suddenly, someone threw a bomb inside the school, which hit our bench and it exploded, said Nikita.

Police are investigating the case. ANI
Major Rishi R of the 42 Rashtriya Rifles was shot on the face after he planted a Improvised Explosive Device (IED) but that did not stop him to shred the terrorist using his AK-47 rifle.

By Ajit Kumar Dubey: Major Rishi R of the 42 Rashtriya Rifles had played a huge role in bringing stability to the turbulent Tral area in the Valley after the unrest last year and led several successful operations against militants, busting their hideouts in Jammu and Kashmir. On March 4, duty called again as two terrorists - a local Kashmiri named Aquib and Lashkar-e-Toiba militant Farsan - were cornered by the army in a house in Tral, leading to a 16-hour pitched gunfight that ended with the death of the two terrorists.

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Major Rishi was the first to reach the scene to hunt them down and it was his quick thinking and courage that won the day for the army.

Also read: J&K: Army jawan martyred in cross-border firing in Poonch

Commanding his company in the Tral area, which has also produced terrorists like Burhan Wani, Rishi, who hails from Kerala, quickly deployed his troops and plugged any escape routes for his two targets. Aquib was the longest-surviving local militant from the area, army sources said. Within a short span of time, the troops had laid the cordon and occupied tactically advantageous positions to aim at the terrorists. They then started the process to plant explosives in the house to make the terrorists reveal their positions. Major Rishi moved into the house himself for the task.

"He moved in first to plant the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to bring the house down. This is considered to be the most dangerous and challenging job in an operation. He led his very professional Quick Response Team into the firefight, placed the IED and blew up a portion of the house," the source said.

Also read: Soldier suicide controversy: Communication gap between officers and jawans, feels Army top brass

Due to the first explosion, the terrorists were forced to retreat into the rear portion of the house, giving the army team and local police troops an advantage to corner them further. However, after the continuing gun battle, the troops felt the need to blow up the remaining portion of the house too. The Major again volunteered to enter the house and place the IED. He went inside in pitch dark conditions in the middle of the night. "While returning, Rishi spotted a better location and decided to place the bombs there as it would do more damage to the house," the source said.

As soon as he placed the bomb, one of the terrorists opened fire at him from point-blank range and a bullet hit directly on Rishi's face, knocking off his nose and badly damaging his cheek bone and jaw. Despite the grave injury, the officer realized that if he allowed the terrorist to move further, his team would be endangered. "That very moment, the Major sprang up and used his AK-47 rifle to shred the terrorist in the quick moment before escaping outside safely with his team," the sources said.

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Also read: Objected to menial work, Army never heard me, says jawan in new video

Army sources who have worked closely with Maj Rishi, say he was responsible for bringing in peace and stability to a great extent when Kashmir was burning over Burhan's Wani's death.

"His ability to speak and make friends with everybody resulted in him making many friends among locals notorious for spitting on patrols in the area? after Burhan's elimination, the area under him was the quietest with no stones thrown," they said. The officer is now recuperating in the Army Research and Referral hospital in Delhi. He can't speak but is interacting with family and colleagues through notes as he awaits more surgeries on his face.

The officer, his friends say, wants to return to the place where he last saw action even as locals from Tral ask about his health.

--- ENDS ---

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Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10

The NDA government on Friday opposed petitions against the Centres decision not to allow her to deposit demonetised currency notes till March 31, saying it was a crime to possess demonetised currency notes.

How can it be allowed? Its a crime to possess old currency notes that have been demonetised, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar.

But the Bench said: There was always a window open for depositing the old currency notes till March 31 as the government notification had left some room.

As the Bench asked if the government would like to file a counter-affidavit, Rohatgi answered in the negative.

Petitioners counsel wanted the Bench to allow their clients to deposit their old currency notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 subject to the outcome of the case. But the court didnt issue any directions and fixed March 21 for further hearing.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the grace period for Indian citizen residing in India is March 31, 2017, and for Indian citizen resident outside is June 30, 2017. He, however, said Indian citizens can avail of the benefit only if they made declarations that they were outside India between November 9 and December 30, 2016.

The petitioners, including a mother of newly born twin baby girls had on Monday moved the Supreme Court against the Centres decision not to allow her to deposit demonetised currency notes till March 31 as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his November 8, 2016 speech.

A Bench headed by CJI Khehar had issued notices to the Centre and the RBI on her petition that has challenged the December 30 ordinance that disallowed demonetized currency notes being deposited beyond December 31 by Indians. She also sought a direction to the government and RBI to allow her to deposit her stree dhan in demonetized currency notes till March 31.

Petitioner Sudha Mishrawho delivered two baby girls on November 4 last yearsubmitted that she could not deposit her stree-dhan in old currency notes by December 31 because of the premature birth of twins through a cesarean operation. Her counsel said she waited because of her heath condition and she believed in the announcement made in the Prime Ministers speech.

In her petition, she mentioned Prime Ministers on November 8, 2016 and subsequent RBI notification that said people could deposit demonetized currency notes even after December 31, 2016 at specific RBI branches up to March 31, 2017 after complying with procedural requirements.

Her counsel had said she believed in the solemn announcements made by top government functionaries. But all of a sudden an ordinance was promulgated on December 30 that permitted only those who were not in India during the stipulated period to deposit the demonetised currency notes till March 31. It was a breach of assurances given by the Prime Minister and the RBI, her counsel submitted.

This act of the government was against the legitimate expectation that certain categories of people had with the government and the same was not unfounded as being based on governments own notification and Prime Ministers speech, Mishra had said in her petition.

In December 2016, the top court had referred petitions challenging the validity of the governments November 8 decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to a constitution bench.

A bench headed by then CJI TS Thakur had rejected the Centres argument that demonetization was beyond judicial scrutiny as it fell within the exclusive domain of the government.
New Delhi, March 10

The embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Friday took to Twitter saying he is ready to negotiate with banks to pay a one-time settlement charge on Rs 9,000-crore loan default.

Public sector banks have policies for one-time settlements. Hundreds of borrowers have settled. Why should this be denied to us? Our substantial offer before the honourable Supreme Court was rejected by banks without consideration. (I) am ready to talk settlement on fair basis, Mallya said in a tweet.

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He further said: Wish the Supreme Court would intervene and put an end to all this by directing banks and us to negotiate and settle. We are ready.

Mallya added that he had humbly obeyed every single court order without exception and seems as if government is bent on holding me guilty without fair trial.

The allegations against me by the Attorney General before the Supreme Court only prove the attitude of the government against me, he went on to say.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court posed a question to Mallya about the truthfulness of his disclosure of assets and transfer of USD 40 million to his children.

A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and UU Lalit put forth the queries during the day-long hearing following which it reserved the orders on two pleas from lenders seeking contempt action against Mallya and a direction to him to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo.

Last month, the Indian government handed over to the UK an extradition request for the businessman, who is facing cases of loan default and other financial irregularities.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2 last year. PTI
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10

In a first-of-its-kind meeting, Russian military spares manufacturers are set to meet Indian industry for partnerships to produce equipment in India. The Ministry of Defence wants to improve the maintenance issues on fighter jets Sukhoi-30MKI, Mi-17 helicopters, T-90 tanks and the MiG 29K naval fighters.

About 70 per cent of military equipment with the Indian armed forces  the Army, Indian Air Force (IAF) and Navy  is of Russian origin. With Moscow continuing to be the largest supplier of military hardware, this scenario will not change for the next three decades.

Repairs and servicing of key equipment are hampered by lack of ready availability of spares. A rather circuitous route through a single agency in Moscow makes it lengthier.

The Russian Ministry of Defence had given permission and communicated to India in January about the companies or original equipment manufacturers that have been allowed to sell spares to India directly without seeking permission for each tranche.

Russias Minister for Industry and Trade DV Manturov will lead the delegation for a two-day meeting in New Delhi (March 17 and 18) wherein they will meet with Indian MoD official and trade captains. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will address the meeting. The matter has been discussed during the summit meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Goa in October.

Russian manufacturers of military equipment source key parts such as engines, avionics and weaponry from producers within Russia and sometimes even Ukraine to integrate them on planes or warships or tanks.

All military equipment by the very nature of it needs consumable parts which have run-life and need to be changed or overhauled after its specified life. For example, the Sukhoi-30 engine needs to be overhauled after a fixed number of hours  about 800-900 hours of flying.

The Sukhoi is serviced and maintained by public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). There are four key suppliers. The Sukhoi has an availability rate of 65 per cent because of delay in spares. The IAFs operated base repair depots maintain the fleet of Mi-17s.

Sources here say once this is done, the HAL, IAF, Navy and the Army can source spares from Russia, have long-term supply contracts and even maintain a small stock on items which have a fixed run-life.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 8

Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed, the two juvenile Pakistanis, arrested by India in connection with the terror attack at Uri Brigade headquarters are being returned to Pakistan.

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The boys are at Attari immigration.

All arrangements have been made for their return to Pakistan via Wagha border. An official of the High Commission will be at the border to facilitate their return.
TNS and Agencies

New Delhi, Bhiwani March 9

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has rejected AAP governments decision to award a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the family of ex-serviceman Ram Kishen Grewal from a village in Bhiwani, who committed suicide in Delhi over the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) issue in November last year.

But Grewals family members, who met Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal last week, said they were hopeful of receiving the monetary help by this month-end. Grewals son Jaswant Singh said the CM had assured him that he would award the compensation despite the L-Gs objections, come what may, even if I have to find an alternative.

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Sources said: The Lt Governor has turned down the proposal sent by the Delhi Cabinet for approval, saying it is not in line with the compensation policy to provide ex gratia to servicemen.

In his note to Kejriwal, Baijal reportedly pointed out that Grewal had consumed poison on November 1, 2016, during a protest.

This specific case does not fall within the parameters of the scheme for grant of ex gratia i.e death occurring in the discharge of official duty.

Therefore, while I fully sympathise with the family of Subedar (retd) late Ram Kishen Grewal, Im not able to agree to the proposal for payment of ex-gratia relief in this case, the L-G wrote.

This is the first proposal of the Delhi Government shot down by Baijal after he cleared a slew of files stuck with the L-Gs office during Najeeb Jungs tenure.

Reacting to the move, Kejriwal today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him anti-soldiers.

In November last, Kejriwal had announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the family of the ex-serviceman whose suicide had sparked a political slugfest with Kejriwal and the Congress attacking the Centre for not fulfilling the OROP demand. Gandhi, Kejriwal and other leaders had attended Grewals funeral in his native village in Bhiwani.
Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said eight people had been apprehended in the recent terror cases in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh which would now be investigated by the National Investigating Agency (NIA).

In a repeat of the statement he made in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Singh, while making a statement in the Rajya Sabha, said the whole country was proud of slain terrorist Mohammad Saifullahs father Sartaj and his sentiments that a traitor cannot be my son should be lauded by everyone in the House.

Singh said Saifullahs father was a testimony to the fact that no true countryman, whichever religion he practised, could endorse such activities.

He (Sartaj) refused to take terrorist Saifullahs body. The entire country is proud of him, Singh said, leading to thumping of desks by members of the House who expressed solidarity with Saifullahs father.

However, their demand for clarifications was turned down by the deputy chairman who said a detailed discussion could be held next week.

After Uttar Pradesh Police shot dead suspected terrorist Mohammad Saifullah on Wednesday, Saifullahs father had said, If he (Saifullah) could not be loyal to the country, how can he be ours?
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10

In a first, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against controversial Calcutta High Court Judge CS Karnan after he failed to appear before it for the second time to answer a contempt notice.

A seven-Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar ordered West Bengal Director-General of Police to execute the warrant to secure the presence of Justice Karnan before the top court on March 31. He has been ordered to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs 10,000.

The Bench said there was no other alternative left as despite having been served notice, justice Karnan neither appeared in person nor through his counsel.

If Justice Karnan fails to appear on March 31, the Bench might issue a non-bailable warrant against him.

The contempt proceedings have been initiated against Justice Karnan for writing letters to various authorities, including the Prime Minister, accusing several judges of corruption.

'Warrant is unconstitutional'

Minutes after the top courts order, Justice Karnan described the bailable warrant against him as unconstitutional. Talking to the media in Kolkata, Justice Karnan said: I am being targeted as I am a Dalit. This is a caste issue. The order has been deliberately issued against me. This is an attempt to ruin my life. The warrant is unconstitutional.

In an unprecedented order, a seven-Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar had on February 8 issued contempt notice to Justice Karnan and ordered him to forthwith refrain from discharging any judicial or administrative functions and return all files. It had asked him to appear before it on February 13.

As he failed to appear on February 13, the top court gave him 25 days to respond to the contempt notice and asked him to appear on March 10.

Fridays order was passed after Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi told the Bench that the contemnor judge has failed to appear despite the opportunity given to him and the next course of action of issuing bailable or non-bailable warrant should be followed.

Rohatgi said the judge has faxed a letter dated March 8 to the registry of the top court seeking restoration of his judicial and administrative powers but he has not indicated if he intended to appear before this court. He wanted to meet the CJI and certain judges of the Supreme Court against whom he has levelled allegations of corruption.

But the Bench said his faxed letter cannot be considered as a response of Justice C S Karnan, either to the contempt petition, or to the notice served upon him.

Rohatgi said Justice Karnan is said to have heard a petition filed by an advocate named Adhikari who represented him in some other proceedings regarding the suicide of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul but it has not been signed.

On the last date of hearing, the Bench had said it wanted to hear him first as the consequences of these proceedings were going to be grave.

During the hearing, senior advocate Lily Thomas said there was a ruling of the Supreme Court that said contempt proceedings could not be initiated against a sitting judge of a high court.

CJI Khehar asked her to bring it to the notice of the Attorney-General and assist him.

Senior advocate KK Venugopal told the court on behalf of the Madras High Court that Justice Karnan had not vacated the accommodation he occupied in Madras. The Bench said it would take it up on March 31 along with the contempt case.

In his letter written to the Supreme Court Registrar General on February 10, Justice Karnan had said that the matter should not be taken up until Chief Justice of India JS Khehar retired and suggested that, if considered urgent, it should be referred to Parliament.

Last month, another Bench of the top court had referred matter relating to Justice Karnans transfer to the seven-Judge Bench that is hearing the contempt matter.
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10

In a first, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against controversial Calcutta High Court Judge CS Karnan after he failed to appear before it for the second time to answer a contempt notice.

A seven-Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar ordered West Bengal Director General of Police to execute the warrant to secure the presence of Justice Karnan before the top court on March 31. Justice Karnan has been ordered to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs 10,000.

The Bench said despite having been issued a notice, Justice Karnan had neither appeared in person nor through his counsel. If Justice Karnan fails to appear on March 31, the Bench might issue a non-bailable warrant.

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The contempt proceedings have been initiated against Justice Karnan for writing to various authorities, including the Prime Minister, accusing several Judges of corruption.

Minutes after the top courts order, Justice Karnan described the bailable warrant against him as unconstitutional. Talking to the media in Kolkata, he said: I am being targeted as I am a Dalit. This is a caste issue. The order has been deliberately issued against me. This is an attempt to ruin my life. The warrant is unconstitutional.

In an unprecedented order, a seven-Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar had on February 8 issued a contempt notice to Justice Karnan and ordered him to forthwith refrain from discharging judicial or administrative functions and return all files. It had asked him to appear before it on February 13. As he failed to do so, the top court gave him 25 days to respond and asked him to appear on March 10.

Todays order was passed after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the Bench that the contemnor Judge had failed to appear and the next course of action of issuing bailable or non-bailable warrant should be followed. Rohatgi said the Judge had faxed a letter dated March 8 to the Registrar of the top court, seeking restoration of his judicial and administrative powers but had not indicated if he intended to appear before the court. He wanted to meet the CJI and certain SC Judges against whom he had levelled allegations of corruption.

The Bench said the faxed letter cannot be considered as a response of Justice CS Karnan, either to the contempt petition or to the notice served upon him.

Rohatgi said Justice Karnan was said to have heard a petition filed by advocate Adhikari regarding the suicide by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, but it had not been signed. During the previous hearing, the Bench had said it wanted to hear him first as the consequences of these proceedings are going to be grave.

Senior advocate Lily Thomas said there was an SC ruling that contempt proceedings could not be initiated against a sitting High Court Judge. Chief Justice Khehar asked her to bring it to the notice of the Attorney General and assist him.

Senior advocate KK Venugopal, speaking on behalf of the Madras HC, told the court that Justice Karnan had yet to vacate the accommodation. The Bench said it would take up the matter on March 31.
Lucknow, March 9

The police today arrested a former IAF employee who they believe is the "mastermind" of a terror module that included Saifullah, a suspected terrorist killed in an encounter yesterday.

Mohd Ghaus Khan was picked up from Kanpur by the Anti-Terrorist Squad, and revealed vital information during questioning, said Additional Director General of UP Police Daljit Chaudhary.

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He said another suspect, identified only as Azhar, was also arrested by the ATS. Khan "is a technical man and a hardcore member of the module," Chaudhary said, adding he was the "main accused and mastermind" of the module.

He said Azhar, the second suspect, was the main supplier of arms to the module. He did not say where he was arrested from, or in what capacity Khan worked in the Air Force. The UP police claimed that with these two arrests, all the main members of what they alleged was an ISIS influenced module are in custody. The latest arrests raised to five the number of people in the UP police custody in connection with the blast on the Bhopal-Ujjain train in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.  TNS/PTI
Weather in Mississippi on Saturday was quite smelly due to a 'fart tornado' kind-of-situation.

By India Today Web Desk: WLBT Meteorologist Patrick Ellis was delivering the usual weather forecast when he was interrupted by a little fella while he was live on camera.

Houston, a local lawyer's son video 'bombed' the weather forecast with farts and toots when he was asked what's happening to weather in the US.

It is not unusual for the kids to be present on the set as many local lawyers bring their kids on set for a Saturday special show, explained Ellis on his Facebook live. Although, none of the kids have ever made a candid appearance, Houston proved that he's just not shy of the limelight at all.

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Take a look at the hilarious video as Houston goes bananas on camera:

Also Read: Nappy thieves: Men arrested for stealing 1,00,000 diapers worth Rs 30 lakh

--- ENDS ---
Washington, March 10

The United States wants to have deeper relations with India, the White House said while expressing confidence that the two countries would continue to enhance ties under the Trump administration.

I think he has talked about during the campaign and the transition establishing a deeper relationship with Prime Minister Modi. And I think as we move forward in terms of our foreign policy, well have further updates on that, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference on Thursday.

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But as you know very well, he spoke very clearly and frequently about the relationship that we have and hope to continue to grow with India, he added.

Condemning the killing of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla and other injured in an alleged racial attack at Kansas, Spicer urged the Americans to stand up for the principles that unite them.

I think the President--whether its the event that happened in Kansas City, other events, the attacks on Jewish community centres that continue to plague us--we saw another report this morning of some unfortunate activity. I think weve got to continue to call it out, weve got to continue to root it out, weve got to continue to engage law enforcement, whatever is the applicable level of law enforcement depending on the event, Spicer said.

Its something that I think all Americans should be outraged and disgusted by--and stand up for the principles that unite us, and thats what the President spoke so eloquently about during his joint address, and made it very clear that while certain policies may divide us as individuals, there are certain principles that can unite us, he added. ANI
Our Correspondent

Mohali, March 10

A resident of Mohali has died in a plane crash in Sydney.

According to reports, the pilot of the light, two-seater plane, Amarinder Singh (40), was killed in the crash. His parents are residents of Sector 69 here. The sister of the deceased rang up the family here about the crash.

Members of the family said today that Amarinder Singhs wife worked as a teacher in Sydney and the couple had an 11-year-old daughter. His sister also stays in Australia.

He studied in Chandigarh and had left for Australia about 26 years ago for employment. Amarinder Singh was working as a jail superintendent in Sydney and liked flying. He was alone in the plane at the time of the crash.

According an agency report from Australia, the small plane hit the ground at Oakdale. The crash is reported to have occurred about 6 km from the Oaks Airfield.

The body of the pilot was sent for a post-mortem examination.

Amarinder Singhs father, Ajit Singh, and his mother have booked a flight for Australia, where the last rites of the deceased are expected to take place.
Washington, March 10

A Sikh man shot outside his home in Washington state by a partially masked gunman shouting go back to your own country was targeted because of his ethnic origin, authorities have said as they announced a reward of up to $6,000 for anyone providing a lead in the case.

US national Deep Rai, 39, was working on his vehicle outside his home in Kent on March 3 when he was approached by a stranger, who first argued with Rai, and then shot him in the arm.

The account provided by the victim suggests he was targeted because of his ethnic origin, Kent Police chief Ken Thomas told reporters yesterday, adding hateful acts are not acceptable.

Nearly a week after the shooting that stoked fears among the Indian-American community, the police released the sketch of the shooter. Thomas said the lone white shooter was about six-feet tall, of medium built and between 35-40 years of age.

On the day of the shooting, he was wearing a dark-colour or black hoodie in addition to dark-colour clothing. The lower portion of his face was covered with a mask.

The incident is being investigated by the Kent police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a hate crime.

Unable to find any lead towards the shooter, who is still at large, the authorities have announced a reward of up to $6,000 for anyone providing information that could lead to his arrest.

Thomas said it was early in the investigation and still trying to learn the exact circumstances. (Rai) was wearing a turban. With the dynamics of the situation that occurred we do believe the victim was targeted..., he said.

The Kent Police Department is committed to protecting community members, particularly if they may be targeted because of their race, gender, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation or other protected class, he said.  PTI
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 10

Uttarakhand Congress president Kishore Upadhyay today objected to the exit poll results for the state describing these as an exercise being done at the behest of the Central government. The Congress would win 46 seats in Uttarakhand, he claimed.

Upadhyay, while talking with mediapersons in Dehradun, said the exit polls were vague and with little credence. These would be farcical if the actual results are contrary to their forecast.

He said several exit polls had been proved false in the past. The difference between the minimum and maximum number of seats shown for each party was huge and thus its credibility was doubtful, he added.

Upadhyay said the exit polls adversely impact election officials engaged in counting of votes, as they come under undue pressure. Narendra Modi is a master in psychological warfare and the exit polls outcomes were part of the same strategy, he added.

Upadhyay said whether the Congress wins or the BJP emerges victorious but the exit polls should be banned under all circumstances. It is the candidates that suffer. There have been instances in the past when candidates taking into account the exit poll verdict have slipped into depression, he said. Agencies engaged in exit polls had mushroomed and hence their reliability was questionable, he added.

State Congress vice-president Joth Singh Bisht and spokesman Mathura Dutt Joshi were also present.
Seoul, March 10

South Koreas Constitutional Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving the countrys conglomerates at a time of rising tensions with North Korea and China.

The ruling sparked protests from hundreds of her supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court.

Park becomes South Koreas first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of paralysis and turmoil over a corruption scandal that also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in jail.

A snap presidential election will be held within 60 days.

She did not appear in court and a spokesman said she would not be making any comment nor would she leave the presidential Blue House residence on Friday.

For now, Park is not leaving the Blue House today, Blue House spokesman Kim Dong Jo told Reuters.

Park was stripped of her powers after Parliament voted to impeach her but has remained in the presidents official compound.

The courts acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the Constitution and law throughout her term, and despite the objections of parliament and the media, she had concealed the truth and cracked down on critics.

Park has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

The ruling to uphold parliaments Dec. 9 vote to impeach her marks a dramatic fall from grace of South Koreas first woman president and daughter of Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee, both of whose parents were assassinated.

Park, 65, no longer has immunity as president, and could now face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power in connection with allegations of conspiring with her friend, Choi Soon-sil.

Markets rise

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was appointed acting president and will remain in that post until the election. He called on Parks supporters and opponents to put their differences aside to prevent deeper division.

It is time to accept, and close the conflict and confrontation we have suffered, Hwang said in a televised speech.

A liberal presidential candidate, Moon Jae-in, is leading in opinion polls to succeed Park, with 32 percent in one released on Friday. Hwang, who has not said whether he will seek the presidency, leads among conservatives, none of whom has more than single-digit poll ratings.

Given Parks spectacular demise and disarray among conservatives, the presidential contest in May is the liberals to lose, said Yonsei University professor John Delury.

Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign, after South Korea this month deployed the U.S. THAAD missile defence system in response to North Koreas stepped up missile and nuclear tests.

Beijing has vigorously protested against the deployment, fearing its radar could see into its missile deployments. China has curbed travel to South Korea and targeted Korean companies operating in the mainland, prompting retaliatory measures from Seoul.

The Seoul markets benchmark KOSPI index rose after the ruling.

The prospect of a new president in the first half of this year instead of prolonged uncertainty will buoy domestic demand as well as the markets, said Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong.

The hope is that this will allow the country to have a new leader that can address long-standing challenges such as labour market reforms and escalated geopolitical tensions, he said.

Park was accused of colluding with her friend, Choi, and a former presidential aide, both of whom have been on trial, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.

The court said Park had completely hidden the fact of (Chois) interference with state affairs.

Park was also accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group for government favours, including backing a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that was seen as supporting family succession and control over the countrys largest chaebol or conglomerate.

Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee has been accused of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal and is in detention. His trial began on Thursday.

He and Samsung have denied wrongdoing.

Common criminal

The scandal and verdict have exposed fault lines in a country long divided by Cold War politics.

While Parks conservative supporters clashed with police outside the court, elsewhere, most people welcomed her ouster. A recent poll showed more than 70 percent supported her impeachment.

Hundreds of thousands of people have for months been gathering at peaceful rallies in Seoul every weekend to call for her to step down.

On Friday, hundreds of Parks supporters, many of them elderly, tried to break through police barricades at the courthouse. Police said one 72-year-old man was taken to hospital with a head injury and died. The circumstances of the second death were being investigated.

Six people were injured, protest organisers said.

Police blocked the main thoroughfare running through downtown Seoul in anticipation of bigger protests.

Park will be making a tragic and untimely departure from the Blue House for the second time in her life.

In 1979, having served as acting first lady after her mother was killed by a bullet meant for her father, she and her two siblings left the presidential compound after their father was killed.

This time, she could end up in jail.

Prosecutors have named Park as an accomplice in two court cases linked to the scandal, suggesting she is likely to be investigated.

North Korean state media wasted little time labelling Park a criminal.

She had one more year left as president but, now shes been ousted, she will be investigated as a common criminal, the Norths state KCNA news agency said shortly after the court decision.  Reuters
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya tweeted on Friday that he was ready to negotiate with banks to pay a one-time settlement.

By Press Trust of India: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya -- Indian fugitive in the UK wanted for wilful tax evasion and loan defaults -- took to Twitter on Friday, saying he was ready to negotiate with banks to pay a "one-time settlement" charge on his Rs 9,000 crore loan default.

"Public sector banks have policies for one-time settlements. Hundreds of borrowers have settled. Why should this be denied to us? Our substantial offer before the honourable Supreme Court was rejected by banks without consideration. (I) am ready to talk settlement on fair basis," Mallya said in a tweet.

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"Wish the Supreme Court would intervene and put an end to all this by directing banks and us to negotiate and settle. We are ready," he said in another tweet.

Mallya added that he had "humbly obeyed every single court order without exception" and accused the government of being "bent on holding me guilty without fair trial."

"The allegations against me by the Attorney General before the Supreme Court only prove the attitude of the government against me," he tweeted.

Mallya tweets came on the back of questions posed by the Supreme Court to him on Thursday. The court has enquired from Mallya about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of $40 million to his children.

The allegations against me by the Attorney General before the Honourable Supreme Court only prove the attitude of the Government against me- Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 9, 2017

I have humbly obeyed every single Court Order without exception. Seems as if Government is bent upon holding me guilty without fair trial- Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 9, 2017

I have humbly obeyed every single Court Order without exception. Seems as if Government is bent upon holding me guilty without fair trial- Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 9, 2017

Our substantial offer before the Hon'ble Supreme Court was rejected by Banks without consideration.Am ready to talk settlement on fair basis- Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 9, 2017

Wish the Hon'ble Supreme Court would intervene and put an end to all this by directing Banks and us to negotiate and settle.We are ready.- Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 9, 2017

A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and UU Lalit had put forth the queries during a day-long hearing, following which it reserved the orders on two pleas from lenders seeking contempt action against Mallya and a direction to him to deposit $40 million received from offshore firm Diageo.

Last month, the Indian government handed over to the UK an extradition request for the businessman, who is facing cases of loan default tax evasion and other financial irregularities.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2 and is currently staying in the UK.

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Still Standing: Four the Moments legacy honoured at Nova Scotia Music Week

When a quartet of Halifax women began singing together a cappella in the name of social justice in 1982, there was little in the way of a music industry at play in Atlantic Canada. And even if there had been, its likely that Four the Moment would ...
"Like all parts of India, a BJP wave has gripped the entire northeastern region. People want BJP government everywhere for good governance," Ram Madhav said.

By Indo-Asian News Service: The entire northeastern region, like other parts of the country, is in the grip of a massive BJP wave, the party's National General Secretary Ram Madhav said here on Friday, adding the BJP will form the government in Manipur on Saturday and in Tripura next year.

"Like all parts of India, a BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) wave has gripped the entire northeastern region. People want BJP government everywhere for good governance," Ram Madhav said while addressing a mammoth gathering here in Left-ruled Tripura.

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He said: "BJP governments have been installed in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the party is a part of the Nagaland government and it would wrest power in Manipur on Saturday, after the counting of votes. The BJP will also come to power in Tripura next year after voting out the Left parties."

He claimed that the BJP would come to power in Tripura in the 2018 assembly elections as the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist)-led Left Front government had failed in every sphere and other opposition parties had been unsuccessful in dislodging the Left parties from power.

"We would field candidates in all the 60 assembly constituencies to fight against the Left parties. Once a BJP government comes to power in Tripura, unemployment in the state will make way for industrialisation," the BJP leader added.

"During the 24-year rule of Left parties, unemployment and poverty has increased. No industrial activity has taken place here despite Tripura being a power-surplus state. The Left government misused the central funds and made only the party prosperous," said Ram Madhav, who is the party's in-charge of northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir.

BJP leaders earlier announced that Friday's rally was being organised in protest against the murder of the party's village committee member Chanmohan Tripura last year and to demand a CBI probe into the killing, but all the speakers dwelt upon the party's prospects to come to power in Tripura.

Friday's gathering galvanised the local BJP leaders, who claimed that such an enormous crowd had never gathered in the party's rallies in Tripura.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, echoing other BJP leaders, claimed that the party would come to power in Tripura in next year's assembly elections.

"BJP is the only party that can make Tripura a developed state. In the name of chit funds, thousands of crores of rupees of people have been looted, while the state government remained a mute spectator," Sonowal said.

The Assam Chief Minister said that all the northeastern states must go together and that his state would always remain with Tripura for the latter's all-round success and development.

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"Over eight lakh people are unemployed in Tripura and a large number of people remain poor. If BJP comes to power in Tripura, it will give right status to all people," he added.

BJP's Tripura observer Sunil Deodhar alleged that the Left government in Tripura had turned the state into a corrupt one, making crime and killing a part of life due to mis-governance.

"Over a hundred BJP functionaries were killed in Kerala and many party men murdered in Tripura. Over 11 crore BJP members across the country are protesting these killings in both Left-ruled states," Deodhar said.

State BJP President Biplab Kumar Deb said that the CPI-M had got scared following the growth of the BJP in Tripura, and that is why their cadres were killing BJP members.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was instigating criminals and nepotism in the state, he alleged.

Also read:

Manipur exit poll predictions: Is Okram Ibobi Singh India's most popular Chief Minister?

Manipur exit poll: CM Okram Ibobi Singh of Congress eyes record 4th term

Irom Sharmila makes her political debut on International Women's Day

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Puri, a 1982 batch IFS officer, is currently India's Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.

By Press Trust of India: Senior diplomat Manjeev Singh Puri was today appointed as India's new envoy to Nepal.

Puri, a 1982 batch IFS officer, is currently India's Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.

He is expected to take up the assignment shortly, Ministry of External Affairs said.

Puri will succeed Ranjit Rae, whose term came to an end last month.

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The A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Medical Academic Building is taking shape on the campus of the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences.

Officials on Thursday offered a sneak peek at the new facility and the technology it will house.

Construction on the $45 million project in west Tulsa began in October 2015 and is expected to be finished in time for this years fall semester.

The 84,000-square-foot Tandy Medical Building will include a hospital-simulation center to provide training for students in the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The simulation center will include a fully operational emergency room, operating room, intensive care unit, birthing suite and ambulance bay that will allow students to practice procedures and skills commonly used in hospitals throughout the country.

Simulation has taken a huge leap forward in its presence in medical education, and we didnt have the facilities to do it adequately and appropriately for our students, said Eric Polak, vice president for administration and finance. We tried to design a facility that would meet not just the current needs but the future needs of our medical students.

The simulation suites will be equipped with mannequins that can speak, perspire, blink, breathe, bleed and even give simulated birth to infant mannequins.

Joshua Foster, a second-year medical student, performed a chest tube insertion on another student who was wearing a cut suit during a tour for university faculty and staff, donors and community leaders.

The Health Sciences Center is one of five entities outside the military to have this particular cut suit, which allows students to make repeated incisions, insertions and removals.

With a cadaver, it gets done once and the hole is already there so everyone else just kind of goes through the motions, he said.

Foster said the experience is the closest he has come to actually performing the procedure. Normally, he wouldnt get that experience until rotations or residency.

This will set our students so far above other students, said Robin Dyer, associate dean for academic affairs and chair of the osteopathic manipulation department. Our emphasis is to train primary care providers for rural and under-served Oklahoma, and so for our students to have this training before they go out to these remote locations, they are going to be very competent when they get there.

The new building will also include an expanded clinical-skills lab, a new osteopathic manipulative-medicine lab, a tiered lecture hall, 18 exam rooms, classrooms, two lecture halls, conference facilities, more than 20 small breakout rooms, 55 student study carrels, a student kitchen and other space to accommodate the increased student population at the OSU center.

The facility will allow for training, educational programs and camps for medical residents, nurses, emergency service personal and other health care professionals as well as students from public private and charter schools.

The A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Foundation provided $8 million toward construction of the four-story building at 1111 W. 17th St. More than $33 million has been raised from private gifts and the centers funds to pay for construction.

I think this is going to impact the quality of students we turn out as physicians, Dyer said.
"Kejriwal is a cunning ambitious fraud with nothing in his head, and no different from that fraud Modi. Many people are still under illusions about him, but the time will come when their eyes will be opened to the truth," Katju tweeted

By India Today Web Desk: Launching a scathing attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju called him a "cunning ambitious fraud" and compared him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling both the leaders frauds.

"Kejriwal is a cunning ambitious fraud with nothing in his head, and no different from that fraud Modi. Many people are still under illusions about him, but the time will come when their eyes will be opened to the truth," Katju tweeted on Thursday.

Kejriwal is a cunning ambitious fraud with nothing in his head, and no different from that fraud Modi. Many people are still under illusions- Markandey Katju (@mkatju) March 9, 2017

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That was not all. Katju also logged on to Facebook to rant more on issues like the Triple Talaq debate and the use of burqa by Muslim women.

"I support abolition of oral talaq and burqa, and enactment of a uniform civil code, as I believe that will benefit Muslims. But Kejriwal will never do that, as he fears he will lose Muslim votes if he does so. He will rush to Dadri and do such other drama to get support of Muslims. But I do not want Muslim votes. I will raise my voice against any atrocity on Muslims, but I will condemn the stupid, feudal and outdated customs and practices of many Muslims, just as I will condemn stupid, feudal and outdated practices of many Hindus, e.g. caste system and looking down on dalits," Katju posted on Facebook.

This is not the first time Katju, with a reputation for shooting his mouth off, has attacked Kejriwal.

"Happy birthday to that cunning fraud, who sold dreams to Delhiites, that Don Quixote surrounded by chamchas & Sancho Panzas like Ashutosh," Katju had tweeted in 2015. Modi had also figured then. "I have carefully studied Kejriwal's speeches and writings, and have come to the conclusion that there is nothing in the man, just as there is nothing in Rahul Gandhi or Modi," Katju had written in a blog that year.

Also ReadKatju issued contempt notice after heated exchange with Supreme Court judge

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Turin Event about the bliss of the Italian way of life - Epicurean experiences to enjoy our vida royal in full Turin style: tours, privates and more!
The 7th Annual CMC Music Awards will broadcast Live from The Star on the Gold Coast later this month, hosted by Morgan Evans.

Troy Cassar-Daley will team up with international country music rising star Craig Campbell and join a stellar line up of previously announced international and local artists including Little Big Town, Kip Moore, Lee Kernaghan, The McClymonts and Travis Collins.

Troy Cassar-Daley said, Craig and I have been friends for a long time and share a real love for traditional Country, its going to be great to sing with him again.

Craig Campbell said, Im very excited to be back in Australia for CMC Rocks this year! Especially pumped to perform with my good buddy Troy Cassar-Daley. More than anything Im excited to see all my Aussie fans!!

Thursday March 23 at 8.30pm AEDT on CMC.
Chris Wharton, managing director of Channel Seven Perth is retiring, after some 22 years with the network.

Wharton joined the company in 1995 at Community Newspapers before becoming managing director of TW7 in 2000. He became managing director of West Australian Newspapers in 2008 and CEO of Seven West Media WA in 2011.

There has been recent speculation about his role with the company which Seven attributed to extended leave. In a statement Seven says after a discussion with Chairman Kerry Stokes, they agreed that it was an appropriate time to retire.

After more than 20 years, it is with mixed emotions that I have made the decision to retire from Seven West Media. The company has been very good to me and my family. Ive had the opportunity to work with many wonderful people and Ill miss them. I am delighted to have the privilege to remain a Telethon Trustee, said Wharton.

Kerry Stokes said: I am happy to advise that following todays decision, Nick Varigos, Managing Director of recruitment firm Oppeus International, has commenced the process and will make recommendations in the coming weeks.

Wharton will remain a Telethon Trustee, having been recognised with an AM in 2016.
As many as 148 workers were arrested and charged with the murder of Awanish Kumar Dev, HR manager at the company's Manesar plant on July 18, 2012.

By India Today Web Desk: A Haryana court has convicted 31 people and acquitted 117 in the 2012 Maruti Suzuki factory violence case.

As many as 148 factory workers were arrested and charged with the murder of Awanish Kumar Dev, HR manager at the company's Manesar plant on July 18, 2012.

The judgment was passed by the Gurugram District court on Friday.

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Dev, the HR manager at the company's Manesar plant, was killed in the violence.

WHAT CAUSED THE VIOLENCE

What led to the violence was the continuing struggle by workers at Maruti's Manesar Plant to form a union. The plant witnessed three strikes by the workers in 2011, who were demanding that they be given their trade union rights.

139 of these workers are out of bail, nine of the accused, including eight former union members, are still behind bars.

Additional District and Sessions Judge R.P. Goyal had fixed March 10 for the verdict.

Also read | Production at Maruti Suzuki's Gujarat plant to begin from February 1

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Newly displaced people from Mokha in Yemen's governorate of Taizz receive UNHCR assistance in Bayt al Faqih, in neighbouring Hudaydah governorate.  UNHCR/Shabia Mantoo

BAYT AL FAQIH, Yemen  As the battle for control of the Red Sea port of Mokha on Yemens west coast raged around them last month, Amina* and her family knew the time had finally come for them to flee for their lives.

We faced danger from both the sky and the land. We hid at home for most of the time, but when we were nearly killed and our house damaged by the fighting, we just had to leave, the 28-year-old mother of three said.

Together with two neighbouring families, Amina, her husband and their children crammed themselves into a vehicle that would take them to safety, splitting the US$180 cost between them. A journey that would normally take two hours lasted four times as long as they had to stick to back roads to avoid the fighting.

We couldn't take anything with us  no food, clothes or any belongings because there was hardly any space for the people. So we left with nothing, Amina explained.

They made their way some 150 kilometres north to the town of Bayt al Faqih in the neighbouring Hudaydah governorate, where Amina and her family have been staying in an apartment provided by the local community for the past several weeks.

We couldn't take anything with us  no food, clothes or any belongings."

When we arrived in Hudaydah we had nothing, but the community have been so generous. Even though they are also suffering, they gave us a place to stay and helped us out, Amina said. But despite the help of locals and relief items including mattresses, blankets, sleeping mats, buckets and kitchen sets from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the familys situation remains precarious.

Life is too hard. We don't have enough food and water and we are sick. Many people and their children have infections, and fear has made our bodies and minds weak, Amina said. I want to go back home, but all the information I have is that home is still not safe. I just want peace for my Yemen.

Intensified hostilities across western and central Yemen have forced more than 62,000 people from their homes within the last six weeks, including 48,400 from the west coast governorate of Taizz, where Mokha is located, UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told a news briefing in Geneva on Friday (March 10).

Most of the displaced are in dire need of assistance and have found shelter in communal and public spaces, including schools and health facilities, whilst others are living in unfinished buildings or out in the open, Spindler told reporters.

Most of the displaced are in dire need of assistance and have found shelter in communal and public spaces."

A number of those displaced, including many children, have been reported as suffering from malnutrition, Spindler said. Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in areas of displacement are also leading to outbreaks of diseases.

UNHCR and its partners have responded swiftly to the needs of those displaced from Taizz to Hudaydah and others across the country, providing shelter and emergency relief items which many recipients reported as being the only humanitarian assistance they have so far received.

However, fighting is currently hampering access to more than 35,000 people displaced within Taizz governorate itself, and UNHCR is calling for the resumption of humanitarian access to the area while trying to mobilize a response with all national actors on the ground.

Adnan, 26, first fled Mokha a year ago, but had just returned with his chronically ill wife and young daughter last month when almost immediately fighting drove them from their home once more.

Even before the current escalation in Taizz we were suffering, but now the situation is unbearable, he said. We saw people dying in front of our eyes. Others were injured. So we decided to leave.

They now find themselves living in a small apartment with six other families, 22 people sharing two rooms between them. Even though we are struggling here, it is still better than living in danger in Taizz, Adnan said.

* Name changed for protection reasons.
A view of the market district in San Jose or San Jude neighborhood in Buenaventura, in Colombia's Valle del Cauca department, August 2014 file photo.  UNHCR/Juan Arredondo

Violence continues to uproot thousands of people in Colombia, despite a peace agreement signed last November between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Fighting for territorial control in the Colombian Pacific Coast region among irregular armed groups has displaced 3,549 people (913 families) since the beginning of 2017, according to local authorities. Last year, UNHCR recorded 11,363 people (3,068 families) displaced by violence in the same areas.

While recognizing the important efforts by the Government to consolidate peace and the authorities commitment to ensure that the rights of victims, including internally displaced people and refugees, are addressed, we are deeply concerned at the increasing levels of internal displacement, which affect several communities, particularly in the Choco, Cauca, Valle del Cauca and Narino departments in Colombias Pacific Coast.

The localities particularly touched by the violence are Bajo Calima and the rural area of Buenaventura in the department of Valle del Cauca; the Litoral San Juan, Lloro, Alto Baudo and Domingodo in the department of Choco; Timbiqui in Cauca; and Santa Barbara de Iscuande and the community of El Pital (rural area of Tumaco) in Narino.

Afro-Colombian communities and indigenous people have been particularly affected by the violence, which is endangering their survival. These two ethnic groups account for 10% and 3% respectively of the 7.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Colombia.

Since the signing of the peace agreement, increased violence by new armed groups has resulted in killings, forced recruitment -- including of children -- gender-based violence and limited access to education, water and sanitation, as well as movement restrictions and forced displacement of the civilian population.

The UN refugee agency reiterates the need to ensure that the civilian population has access to protection and assistance. At the same time, any eventual returns of IDPs to their areas of origin need to take place in conditions of safety and dignity.

UNHCR is present in the Pacific region of Colombia with four field offices and will continue to support the local authorities and communities to address the protection risks they face, while supporting a comprehensive institutional response to the situation.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
Newly displaced people from Mokha in Yemen's governorate of Taizz receive UNHCR assistance in Bayt al Faqih, in neighbouring Hudaydah governorate.  UNHCR/Shabia Mantoo

Intensified hostilities across western and central Yemen continue to force tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, with many now struggling to cope in abysmal conditions. More than 62,000 have been reported to be displaced within the last six weeks.

On Yemens western coast, recent fighting in Taizz governorate has left more than 48,400 people displaced. The majority, some 35,226 people, have fled within Taizz or to neighbouring Hudaydah (9,822). Others have also been displaced to the nearby governorates of Ibb (1,068 people), Aden (900 people), and smaller numbers to Al Dhalee, Lahj, Abyan and Shabwah.

Most of those displaced are in dire need of assistance and have found shelter in communal and public spaces, including schools and health facilities, whilst others are living in unfinished buildings or even out in the open.

A number of those displaced, including many children, have been reported as suffering from malnutrition, while others are distressed and in need of psycho-social assistance. Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in areas of displacement are also leading to outbreaks of diseases, including skin ailments.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with partners, has quickly responded to the needs of the newly-displaced people from Taizz, including through the provision of shelter and relief items for those that arriving in districts of Hudaydah and Ibb.

UNHCRs relief assistance - including mattresses, sleeping mats, blankets, kitchen sets and buckets - has so far reached over 14,000 people, whilst emergency shelter kits and tents have also been provided to cover the needs of more than 18,000. Additional distributions are planned, which will assist over 3,800 newly-displaced individuals from Taizz.

With fighting still ongoing, UNHCR continues to advocate intensely for access within Taizz itself to reach people in need. UNHCR participated in a joint mission late last month to the governorates flashpoint district of Mokha, which found that many of the displaced were living in appalling conditions, sheltering in public schools, health facilities and even exposed to the elements with no protection. Both displaced and host community families are struggling with a lack of basic assistance and have reported living in fear of violence.

Whilst UNHCR assistance has previously reached Taizz, intensified hostilities at present are hampering access. UNHCR continues to advocate for unfettered access and is trying to mobilise a response with all national actors on the ground.

Local host communities are also stretched to capacity and buckling under the strain of hosting additional, newly displaced populations. Not including the tens of thousands newly displaced, the governorates of Taizz, Hudaydah and Ibb are cumulatively hosting 25 per cent of Yemens total internally displaced population between them, or 504,258 individuals.

Elsewhere in central Yemen, the recent escalation of conflict in Dhamar Governorate, which borders Sanaa, has left thousands newly displaced. Triggered by a dispute in the governorates Utmah district, hostilities have forced more than 13,902 people from their homes across the governorate. Several sub-districts to which people have been displaced remain inaccessible, so the total number of those displaced may be much higher, and 6,978 IDPs among those recorded displaced, are now attempting to return home.

Main roads to the district currently remain blocked, hampering access to the population in need. Significant damage to civilian infrastructure has also been reported. The lack of adequate health facilities in the district also means that injured civilians can only seek treatment in a general hospital, which is 85 kilometres away.

Many of those displaced from the fighting are now in urgent need of food, shelter and medicine and lack adequate water and sanitation facilities. A number of women are also reporting psychological distress and malnutrition. UNHCR is currently mobilising to reach displaced families in the governorate.

With international support for the humanitarian response in Yemen severely lacking, UNHCR is immensely concerned about being able to respond to new and ongoing displacement across Yemen. With UNHCRs 2017 budget for Yemen so far funded at only 7 per cent, available funding is only sufficient to deal with urgent emergency needs.

UNHCRs assistance, including non-food items and shelter, is now restricted to new waves of displacement and we are no longer able to support regular distributions including to internally displaced Yemenis living in collective centres and informal settlements.

There are currently 2 million internally displaced people and 1 million IDPs who have provisionally returned to their places of origin across Yemen but still need humanitarian assistance. To address their needs and respond to new waves of displacement, UNHCR is calling for more international support for the response inside Yemen.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
On the outskirts of Aleppo, the shrieks and laughter of young children at play ring out from a schoolyard behind a long row of concrete storage units that serve as temporary shelters for Syrians displaced by the countrys long-running conflict.

Standing off to one side and watching the other children is Wafaa Keyari, an eight-year-old girl from the battered Sakhour district of eastern Aleppo. Wafaa doesnt spend much time with the other children because of the way she looks. An explosion two years ago destroyed her home and severely burned her body and face.

We had a gas cylinder in our home, she explains. When the house was shelled, the gas cylinder exploded. I was next to it. My father and I got burned and a man died.

"When the house was shelled, the gas cylinder exploded. I was next to it."

Wafaa has thus far survived the brutal war in Syria, which is now approaching a tragic sixth anniversary. Alongside the hundreds of thousands killed or maimed in the fighting, 4.9 million people have sought refuge in neighbouring countries and a further 6.3 million have been displaced within Syrias borders.

Wearing a bright purple scarf and a green woolen hat that hides the scars on her scalp, Wafaa smiles shyly and bobs up and down as she describes the immediate aftermath of the explosion.

Syria: A young girl scarred by war

I was taken to hospital. I was awake and they treated me, she recalls. You know I was wearing wool clothes, like the ones I am wearing now, they got stuck to me. When they took me to the hospital, they were pulling them off my skin. It hurt so much, they didnt even use anesthetic  they just pulled it off.

Homeless, Wafaa, her parents and seven older siblings went to live with nearby relatives in east Aleppo. But as the four-year battle for Syrias second city reached its destructive climax at the end of last year, the family fled in search of safety and came to the shelter in western Aleppo where they have lived for the past four months.

The historic city is calm for now, following a truce that saw the evacuation of armed groups and citizens trapped in conflict areas. But years of conflict have changed it beyond recognition.

Of the estimated 4 million former inhabitants of the city, fewer than 1.5 million remain. Thousands died, and many more are now refugees abroad. Wafaa and her family are among 400,000 people displaced within the city.

Wafaa talks to her father outside the temporary shelter they share with other displaced Syrians. The burns on her face and body resulted from an explosion that destroyed her home.  UNHCR

Wafaa plays music in a classroom at the temporary shelter, where she has finally been able to start her education and attend school for the first time.  UNHCR

Wafaa, in blue, sits with her classmates, who have all been displaced by six years of war in Syria.  UNHCR

On a recent visit there, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi was shocked by the level of destruction.

There is very little that one can say  these ruins speak by themselves, he said. When you see childrens clothes hanging out of windows, kitchens cut in half by shells and rockets, real lives of people interrupted by war as it was happening  I think this will weigh very heavily on the conscience of the world for generations.

Around 40 per cent of the city is destroyed beyond repair, and many other parts of Syria have suffered a similar fate. Twelve of the 18 neighborhoods in the city of Homs now form an apocalyptic landscape of flattened, bullet-ridden tower blocks and houses. They are devoid of any sign of life beyond the sounds of birds and the green shoots of plants beginning to grow out of the rubble.

I think this will weigh very heavily on the conscience of the world for generations.

We must think that there are people here, some are returning to these ruins who need help, immediate help, Grandi said. They are cold, they are hungry, they need to work to earn some money. They need the elementary things of life.

With no home to return to, Wafaas family must remain in their temporary shelter for now, surviving on the aid they receive from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and NGO partners. Despite everything, there is one bright spot for Wafaa. Fighting in Aleppo prevented her from starting school, but now she is enrolled in classes set up by NGOs at the shelter.

In the past month, Wafaa has also been to see doctors in Damascus, who are considering plastic surgery to repair some of the scarring. How much they can do is uncertain, but Wafaa is excited by the mere possibility. I want to get better, and be happy in life and not be in need of anything, she says.

Wafaa says she still remembers how she used to look before the explosion. Asked whether the incident had changed her at all, she paused for a moment before replying with a smile: No. I am still the same nice girl.
By Press Trust of India: Panaji, Mar 10 (PTI) Electoral Commissioner of Mauritius, Mohammad Irfan Abdool Rahman, has arrived in Goa to witness the process of counting of votes tomorrow for the Goa Assembly polls, an official statement said today.

"Rahman is in Goa to witness the counting process of the votes polled on the February 4 Goa Assembly election on the invitation of Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi under International Election Visitor Programme, 2017 organised by Election Commissioner of India in cooperation with United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP)," press release issued by the state government said.

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"He (Rahman) is leading a two-member delegation to Goa. The other member of the delegation is Dharmajay Mulloo, Principal Electoral Officer, Election Commission of Mauritius," the release added.

Rahmantoday paid a visit to the office of the Chief Electoral officer in Panaji and had an interaction with the Chief Electoral Officer Kunal.

"A detailed presentation was given to the visiting dignitary on Election Management of General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Goa, 2017," the release said.

"The presentation included several initiatives taken up during the conduct of elections like enforcement of model code of conduct and expenditure control guidelines through flying squads, monitoring of commercial establishments, effective closure of bars and liquor shops, monitoring of casinos and cash transactions," it said.

Rahman was also briefed about Voters Verification Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine usage in all the polling stations and awareness generation for its usage by general voters.

He was also informed about the usage of electronically transmitted postal Ballot System (ETPBS) for all the service voters of Goa, management of 40 pink polling stations by all women officials, including women security officials, management of Divyang polling stations by all persons with disability officials, extensive use of social media for propagation of message of participation and ethical voting.

"The visiting dignitary appreciated the innovative steps taken in conduct of elections in Goa. A general discussion over prevailing election system was held," the release said.

"The visiting dignitary appreciated the standardisation of processes in election management in India and constant improvement and use of modern information technology and social media tools in conduct of election and in voter education," it added. PTI RPS NP

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CRPF soldiers brought terrorist's wife to encounter site and made her talk to him on megaphone to implore him to give up on arms. However, all appeals fell on deaf ears.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: In a repeat of the Lucknow-standoff, where the ATS commandos used the help of family members of slain terrorist Saifullah to urge him to surrender, CRPF soldiers took the help of the wife of a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant, who was holed up in a house in Kashmir's Pulwama district, to implore him to give up arms but in vain.

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The two militants - Muhammad Shaffi Sher Gujri and Jehangir Ganai, a top LeT commander - refused to surrender and were shot dead after a nine-hour gun battle. A 15-year-old boy was killed in the cross fire and two more civilians got injured.

Also read: After BSF jawan, now CRPF constable posts video on lack of amenities

Security forces said they spared no efforts to capture the militants alive and took the help of the wife and son of Sher Gujri, a 32-year-old resident of Bandipora in North Kashmir. Upon ascertaining the identity of the two militants holed up inside the house, senior police officials decided to locate their families so that they could appeal to them to make him surrender, eyewitnesses said. The kin were brought to the scene in a bullet-proof CRPF Bunker vehicle. She communicated to her husband using the loud speaker but he refused to surrender despite her appeals.

A senior officer from CRPF told Mail Today, "The wife was brought from her native village. On arriving, we shifted her to our vehicle and took her to the spot to make an appeal but the effort failed."

Also read: CRPF to use 'Make in India' body protectors to counter stone pelting

Both Sher Gujri and Ganai were categorised as A-class militants of the banned outfit. "Please come out. Please take your son in your arms. He is missing you," the shriek of Aktara Begum, wife of Sher Gujri, pierced the uneasy calm at the encounter site. She even brought her five-year old son who cried aloud. Cops at the encounter site also supported the appeals of the family and promised a fair trial and humane approach. However, all the appeals fell on deaf ears and finally the security forces had to eliminate them.

Also watch:

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Soon-to-be freshmen students at a college or university are more likely going to stick around and go back to the same school for their sophomore year if they feel that sense of belongingness and sense of fitting in, according to a study. The Michigan University research has found that this is an important aspect that institutions should be taking a closer look at.

The team of researchers from MSU has found that fostering student connections before the freshmen students even start attending classes should be done through summer transition programs, because it is one way of establishing and fostering connections with these students, Science Daily reported. They have also found that in the United States, 3 out of 10 students do not go back for their sophomore year. But, at MSU, their retention rate is about 90 percent.

Joshua Prasad, lead author of the MSU study and a master's student in the Department of Psychology, said that they have learned that students can already develop the sense of fitting in right before they even walk into the class, and that this feeling is important for students, because it will make them feel that their skills meet the academic standards and demands of the school, and that is going to help them decide to stay, according to Science News Line.

Prasas added that this is an area that colleges and universities must look into and act on, and that they can take advantage of the summer before the classes to help students develop the sense of fitting in. This is even more helpful especially to the ethnic minority in the schools. Based on their study, the ethnic minority who felt connection during the orientation felt a feeling of fitting in and found to have wanted to stay at the university for the next semester.
Microsoft Azure is getting another big help for this week and this time it's from another tech giant, Qualcomm. The company has announced to use ARM-based Windows servers in its Azure Cloud platform, a move that will also threaten Intel's dominance in the hotly contested data center front. Microsoft made the huge announcement this week.

Microsoft Azure To End Intel's Decade-Long Server Dominance

According to Bloomberg, the Redmond-based software company will start using ARM-based servers in its Azure cloud, potentially threatening Intel Corp.'s decade-long dominance in the highly lucrative market for data-center processors.

In doing these, Microsoft has developed a version of its Windows OS for servers using AR-based processors made by the UK-based Qualcomm and Cavium. And today, the company has been testing the ARM-based servers to run search, machine learning, big data-related tasks, and storage works. Dr. Leendert van Doorn, a Microsoft Azure engineer, has revealed the Microsoft initiative at the 2017 Open Compute Project Summit in Santa Clara, California this week.

Currently, there still no word when these ARM-based processors will be available and deployed, but Jason Zander, VP Microsoft Azure, has recently told Bloomberg in an interview that this event would be happening.Meanwhile, Microsoft's latest move poses a potential challenge to Intel's decade-long dominance in the highly profitable server market, with Intel estimating its market shares are around 98 percent of the machines underpinning cloud computing services.

Last year alone, Intel's Data Center Group reported a whopping $17.2 billion in revenue and $7.5 billion in operating profit. The server market is core business to the chip making giant and a known stronghold of the company. Any serious competition in the server market also means a direct blow to Intel's core business.

Some analyst believes that the tech partnership between the two companies could threaten Intel's core business.

According to PC World, the use of ARM-based processors in Microsoft Azure Cloud is significant, that is because the Microsoft Azure Cloud platform is currently the world's second largest cloud infrastructure today. Additionally, AWS, currently the world's largest cloud infrastructure provider, has already been using ARM-based chips, with some reports about AWS plans to use the ARM-based chips in their cloud data centers.

Despite being available for almost a decade in the datacentre market, the ARM-based chips have still failed to make a significant impact on the data center market, possibly as a result of Intel's recent innovation on low-power processors and also the introduction of the Atom processors to the server market.

But today's moves is different and might represent a stronger challenge to Intel's hegemony. Qualcomm has made life even hard for Intel as a new range of SoC processors based on ARM designs have been made available recently. Qualcomm believes that the wide range of choice will prove very attractive to cloud service providers, especially for those who are looking for hardware optimized for specific cloud computing service.

Microsoft Azure To Close The Gap With AWS

In other Azure-related news, Microsoft Azure has been reportedly working to close the gap with cloud computing leader Amazon Web Service (AWS). The software giant has been busy beefing up cloud computing capabilities, adding new features and functionalities on board. Additionally, Microsoft has also been aggressively supporting open source technologies and also extending its reach to the developers' communities.

Moreover, the software company also made bold claims that its Azure Cloud is bagging 120,000 new subscribers every month. That big figures are said to continue without any sign of slowing down. And with a number of new features being added to its cloud platform at a rapid pace, Microsoft Azure seems well-positioned to narrow the gap with AWS, and even worst, outrace the internet giant.
Harvard Law School has switched up its admissions process. This time, it no longer requires the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) for admission.

For decades, the LSAT has always been a test to determine whether a student is capable of learning the law. This fall, though, Harvard Law School will be allowing applicants to submit their scores from either the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the LSAT, The Washington Post reported.

This major change is said to be part of the university's efforts to expand access. School officials believe that this could make it easier and less expensive for students to apply.

The announcement was made this week. This came before the American Bar Association has considered changing its standards to allow tests other than the LSAT.

The University of Arizona College of Law was the first law school in the country to allow applicants to submit GRE scores instead of LSAT scores last year. Harvard's decision would play a significant role in upending the admissions process for legal education.

Bill Henderson, a professor at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University at Bloomington, described it as "a very big deal" and a "wise move." He noted that Harvard and Yale were the institutions that initially used LSAT scores to gauge a student's capabilities to learn law.

This was because, during the postwar years, there were several applicants who wanted to study law. Today, however, the volume of applicants has dropped.

According to Fox News, officials at Harvard approved the change after it completed an anonymized, statistical study. It found that the GRE is also a valid predictor of first-year grades.

Schools have continued to change their processes to make sure that students apply with them. Some, who also made LSAT scores optional, were criticized as only trying to expand their consumer base. However, Kyle McEntee, executive director of Law School Transparency, said that Harvard will not face the same backlash.
Purdue University, in partnership with technology firm Vemo Education, will be promoting an alternative form of college financing. The product is known as income-share agreement (ISA) and allows students to pay for their higher education by selling a part of their future income to a sponsor.

The university initially launched its first college-backed ISA for its students last year, Market Watch reported. President Mitch Daniels revealed that other schools reached out to the school and expressed their interest in offering the same program.

Income-share agreement (ISA) helps students pay for college by selling a percentage of their future income to a backer, instead of paying directly or borrowing from student loans. Usually, students who go into more profitable industries pay a smaller percentage while those who go into less lucrative fields pay a bigger share.

Purdue University and Vemo Education's partnership was announced on Thursday. It is part of efforts to help other schools launch their ISA programs by allowing them to use Purdue's program as reference and Vemo's technology to easily provide students with what they need for the alternative college financing program.

In Purdue's official website, the university established its Back a Boiler - ISA Fund program to provide an alternative choice of funding options for students. It was established with the intention of reducing debt and financial risk for graduating students.

The institution clarified that it does not aim to replace federal aid but wants to provide another option to students who need additional resources or favor a more income-flexible funding alternative. The ISA would be treated similarly to a private loan.

One of its major benefits to students is that ISA payments can be adjusted according to their levels of income. It has a minimum income threshold and a maximum payment cap. This means that students who do not meet a minimum income level will not pay yet while those who earn a bigger amount of income will not be required to pay above a maximum amount.
Past Events

2018: United Nations / Germany High Level Forum: The way forward after UNISPACE+50 and on Space2030

Bonn, Germany 13 - 16 November 2018

In June 2018, the international community gathered in Vienna for UNISPACE+50, a special segment of the 61 st session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). Fifty years after the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE) in 1968, and building on UNISPACE II (1982) and UNISPACE III (1999), UNISPACE+50 provided an opportunity for the international community to set the future course of global space cooperation for the benefit of humankind. The establishment of the series of High-Level Forums demonstrates the intention of the international community to address such challenges together through cooperation and collaboration. The High-Level Forum in Bonn (HLF 2018), to be held on 13 - 16 November 2018, will be the first after UNISPACE+50. HLF 2018 will be the third in a series of High-Level Fora after the 2016 and 2017 High-Level Fora both held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Previous HLFs have provided the international space community with a unique opportunity to discuss such matters in the context of elaborating recommendations and input as part of the preparations for UNISPACE+50. To this end, four pillars space economy, space society, space accessibility and space diplomacy have been devised to provide a framework for these ongoing discussions.

Report of the Workshop

A/AC/105/1204

2017: United Nations/United Arab Emirates High Level Forum: Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Sustainable Development

6 - 9 November 2017, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Second High Level Forum focuses on building stronger partnerships and international cooperation and coordination in the peaceful uses of outer space at all levels. The Forum will be an opportunity for all the stakeholders to express their views on the initiatives to be put forward as part of UNISPACE+50 in 2018. The process coincides with global efforts towards goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as implementing actions contained in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Report of the Workshop

A/AC.105/1165

2016: United Nations/United Arab Emirates High Level Forum: Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Sustainable Development

20 - 24 November 2016, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The First High Level Forum aims to drive debate on the role of space science and technology in fostering global development. The Forum therefore represents a unique opportunity for the collective space community to address the future global space governance leading up to the fiftieth anniversary of the First United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space "UNISPACE+50" in 2018. This also could be a fitting time to take stock of the contributions of the three UNISPACE conferences, held in 1968, 1982 and 1999 respectively, to global space governance.

Report of the Workshop

A/AC.105/1129

2015: The High Level Forum: Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Sustainable Development - Preparatory Meeting

19 November 2015, Vienna, Austria

This one-day preparatory meeting brought together decision-makers from governments, space agencies, and other high-ranking officials to address the four thematic pillars: space economy, space society, space accessibility, and space diplomacy. Read here the full summary and find here all presentations made during the conference.
11 children, five minor boys and six minor girls, rescued from a city brothel in 2015 were handed over to some people who introduced themselves as their parents. The authorities are unable to trace the children now.

By Sneha Agrawal: Missing, found, and missing again - that appears to be the status of 11 children rescued from a city brothel in 2015 with the issue now in the Delhi High Court. These kids, between 4 and 13 years of age, were handed over to some people who introduced themselves as their parents. But authorities now suspect chicanery in the matter and are unable to trace the children.

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The Delhi State Legal Services Authority has challenged the order of a city child welfare committee in the HC, saying due process was not followed and sought an inquiry. The high court has issued a notice to the state, the child welfare panel and the child care homes that had kept the children with them. Thousands of kids go missing every year - often abducted for sexual exploitation - and are never found. On June 22, 2015, 56-year-old Anita, a social activist working for the welfare and rehabilitation of the children of sex workers at Delhi's GB Road, rescued 11 kids from the brothel on request from some women claiming to be their mothers. These kids were produced before the CWC in Lajpat Nagar. Of these 11 kids, five were minor boys and six minor girls. Seven children were sent to Jyoti Home and the three boys were sent to Ummeed Aman.

Six days later, the alleged mothers appeared before the CWC with some unidentified men and demanded to take the children back. The DLSA in the petition says that till the time the children were restored with the parents, these women kept coming to the committee daily and created commotion. "The Lajpat Nagar police was also informed about the ruckus but did not take action," the plea said.

Also read: Missing kids: Domestic trouble main reason, says Delhi police

The "parents" said they were victims of the 2015 Nepal quakes and moved here after their houses were destroyed. While the restoration was still underway legal services advocate Anuradha Vashisht had submitted objections before the CWC Lajpat Nagar, highlighting certain discrepancies.

"The interaction of the children revealed that they were brought from Nepal at the time of quake; their nationality is yet to be verified. Bringing kids from Nepal, keeping them in brothel, asking their custody within a period of one month shows something fishy in the matter. Keeping kids in NGO was pre planned to keep children in a safe place. It seems that the children were allured and were kidnapped for some ill motive," said Vashisht in her report.

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The report which was accessed by Mail Today revealed that the address of the children during the rescue was GB Road. However, the address mentioned in the child restoration form is: Majnuka-tilla, Punjabi Basti, Civil Lines, Delhi. The mother's name is different at the time of seeking protection and claiming custody.

Also read: Nursing home owner arrested on charges of child trafficking

"The interaction of the children revealed that they were brought from Nepal at the time of earthquake, their nationality is yet to be verified. Bringing children from Nepal, keeping them in brothel, asking custody within a period of one month, shows something fishy in the matter. Keeping children in NGO was pre planned to keep children in safe place. It seems that the children were allured and were kidnapped for some ill motive," said Vashishtha.

It was suggested a major intercountry racket was trafficking kids affected by the earthquakes. Child rights activist and advocate Anant Kumar Asthana says that restoration of a child is not a foolproof process. When a child is handed over to a parent, regular visits to the kid's home are made for next two years. DLSA alleged that when the time came for the follow-up visits, it turned out that the children could not be traced. "Restoration of children is carried out casually across the country, largely because child welfare committees lack required degree of procedural and functional competence," said Asthana.

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By Press Trust of India: Lakhimpur Kheri (UP), Mar 10 (PTI) Movement through disputed land close to pillar number 200 near Basahi (Kheri) on Indo-Nepal border was suspended following a clash between Nepalese citizens and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawans.

Officials of both the countries agreed to maintain the status quo till a joint survey by officials is carried out to ascertain the exact status of pillar number 200, a senior official said here.

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After hours-long discussions between District Magistrate Akashdeep, Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Jha, SSB commandant Dilbag Singh, Kanchanpur (Nepal) chief district officer, the SSP and senior officers of Nepal armed police force, it was decided not to carry out any construction work at the disputed land till the survey.

A decision was also taken to form a joint coordination committee comprising Pallia (Kheri) SDM Shadab Aslam, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Pallia, SSB commandant Dilbag Singh and their counterparts from Nepal, Kheri DM Akashdeep told reporters last night.

He added that the coordination committee would keep in touch and ensure monitoring of the situation to ease the tension.

However, the Kheri DM categorically denied any casualty of Nepalese citizens in firing by the SSB as reported in a section of Nepali media.

The Kheri DM said, "The SSB used only tear gas shells to disperse hundreds of agitated Nepalese citizens when they entered into India pelting stones on the SSB, civilians and even on the officials and attempted to set up Nepalese flag in the Indian territory."

He added, "The flag has been confiscated and the matter has been reported to higher authorities."

Tension on the border near pillar number 200 prevailed when Nepal municipal authorities started constructing a culvert allegedly on the no mans land near Basahi village yesterday.

During an India-Nepal meeting a few days ago, officials of both countries had agreed not to carry out construction work at the disputed land till the joint survey decided the exact position of the border pillar which has been reportedly missing since decades.

The SSB jawans objected to the fresh construction leading to pelting of stones by the Nepalese people gathered there in which nine SSB jawans and 27 civilians of Basahi were injured. PTI CORR ABN AAR

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Wyoming Business Tips for March 19-25

A weekly look at Wyoming business questions from the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (WSBDC), part of WyomingEntrepreneur.Biz, a collection of business assistance programs at the University of Wyoming.

By Nicholas Giraldo, WSBDC market researcher

How do I measure return on investment (ROI) on social media? Joe, Laramie

I have put together some common ways to measure social media ROI in a way that is easy to understand and implement. All it takes is knowing the tools available that can help track activity and the key metrics that can help evaluate marketing efforts.

Before beginning, it is helpful to know how to measure the costs of marketing efforts as they apply to your bottom line. These are specific to each business. Know your goals, outline a marketing budget, and know how to measure the costs of marketing and selling your product and service.

Here are some common available tools to measure the effectiveness through your website and social media pages:

-- Website analytics. Services such as Google Analytics can help you better understand customer behavior on the website. It can answer questions such as what pages visitors visit; how many visitors leave versus how many stay; what words visitors use to arrive on the site; and what social media sites visitors come from.

Understanding these metrics will help track and measure your marketing efforts more accurately and quickly.

-- Custom weblinks. Services such as www.bitly.com can create custom links that also provide traffic metrics, showing how many people clicked on the link and when they clicked on it. This is helpful for measuring traffic to the website during specific ad campaigns or measuring traffic from specific social media campaigns.

For instance, creating a custom link for your Facebook page will show exactly how visitors saw the link on their Facebook feed.

-- Social media analytics. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide businesses with metrics that track all sorts of activities and engagement, such as shares, likes, retweets, comments and views. The social platforms also provide audience information such as online behavior -- when customers are online -- demographics and interests.

All these metrics are helpful in developing more targeted campaigns and evaluating the effectiveness of social marketing efforts.

Another key metric is tracking your team members marketing efforts. Keeping track of how much time they are spending online and what they are doing online will help to better calculate return on investment, whether it be time, money or both.

Understanding your business goals, marketing budget, analytic tools and individual or group marketing activities will help better calculate the ROI of personal digital marketing efforts.

A blog version of this article and an opportunity to post comments are available at www.wyomingsbdc.org/blog1/.

The WSBDC is a partnership of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Wyoming Business Council and the University of Wyoming. To ask a question, call 1-800-348-5194, email wsbdc@uwyo.edu, or write 1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3922, Laramie, WY, 82071-3922.
Harvard scientists are claiming that mysterious fast radio bursts may be evidence of advanced alien technology. According to them these signals might be leakage from planet-sized transmitters powering interstellar probes in distant galaxies.

By Press Trust of India: The mysterious fast radio bursts may be evidence of advanced alien technology, say Harvard scientists who claim that these signals might be leakage from planet-sized transmitters powering interstellar probes in distant galaxies.

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence has looked for many different signs of alien life, from radio broadcasts to laser flashes, without success.

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"Fast radio bursts are exceedingly bright given their short duration and origin at great distances, and we haven't identified a possible natural source with any confidence," said theorist Avi Loeb of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.

"An artificial origin is worth contemplating and checking," said Loeb. Fast radio bursts are millisecond-long flashes of radio emission. First discovered in 2007, fewer than two dozen signals have been detected by gigantic radio telescopes like the Parkes Observatory in Australia or the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

Also read: Inching closer to signs of alien life? NASA now discovers water plumes on Jupiter's moon Europa

They are inferred to originate from distant galaxies, billions of light-years away.

Researchers examined the feasibility of creating a radio transmitter strong enough for it to be detectable across such immense distances.

They found that, if the transmitter were solar powered, the sunlight falling on an area of a planet twice the size of the Earth would be enough to generate the needed energy.

Such a vast construction project is well beyond our technology, but within the realm of possibility according to the laws of physics.

Also read: Australian fisherman stumped after spotting alien-like creature emerging from sea

Researchers also considered whether such a transmitter would be viable from an engineering perspective, or whether the tremendous energies involved would melt any underlying structure.

Again, they found that a water-cooled device twice the size of Earth could withstand the heat.

They argue that the most plausible use of such power is driving interstellar light sails. The amount of power involved would be sufficient to push a payload of a million tons, or about 20 times the largest cruise ships on Earth.

Also read: Is that a UFO flying over Lucknow?

"Thats big enough to carry living passengers across interstellar or even intergalactic distances," said the Manasvi Lingam from Harvard University.

To power a light sail, the transmitter would need to focus a beam on it continuously. Observers on Earth would see a brief flash because the sail and its host planet, star and galaxy are all moving relative to us. As a result, the beam sweeps across the sky and only points in our direction for a moment.

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Repeated appearances of the beam, which were observed but cannot be explained by cataclysmic astrophysical events, might provide important clues about its artificial origin.

The research was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) The government today said no decision has been taken on limiting to the first child only the Maternity Benefit Programme (MBP) Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in his televised address on the new years eve.

"The guidelines for pan-India implementation of Maternity Benefit Programme are being drafted," Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi told the Rajya Sabha.

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In his address to the nation on December 31, Modi had announced pan-India expansion of the Maternity Benefit Programme (MBP) which has been in operation in 56 districts on a pilot basis since 2010.

Under the scheme, pregnant and lactating mothers are provided a cash incentive of Rs 6,000 upon fulfilling several preconditions. They are eligible for the benefits only for "first two live births".

The Union Budget 2017-2018 allocated Rs 2,700 crore to the scheme, which is only 20 to 30 per cent of various estimates arrived at by the government.

A statement issued by the WCD ministry days after Modis speech pegged the total expenditure for implementation of the MBP at Rs 12,661 crore.

Out of this, the Centres share was Rs 7,932 crore. Thus, the amount (Rs 2,700 crore) allocated to the programme in the Budget announcement is only a third of the governments own estimate.

According to the Report of Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution in January, 2013, the money allocated for the programme is a fifth of the required amount.

The committee had then determined an amount of Rs 14,512 crore for implementation of MBP.

With 50:50 cost-sharing between Centre and states, the WCD ministry will have to incur an expenditure of Rs 3,000 per beneficiary.

With Rs 2,700 crore in its kitty for the scheme, the ministry is targeting 90 lakh beneficiaries, according to a senior official of the ministry.

This number is nearly half of the total 2 crore deliveries in 2016, as per WCDs statement in Rajya Sabha yesterday. PTI JC TIR

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These include Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg), Spain, Germany, Singapore, China, Thailand, Canada and Russia.

To protect the brand in the bloc and other countries, the province said it has coordinated with experts from The European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project (EU-MUTRAP) to register Buon Ma Thuot coffee for geographical indication (GI) recognition in the EU.

For the past few years, the province has been promoting and advertising its coffee beans with GI certification worldwide, which has led to a rise in its coffee exports.

Dak Laks 2015-16 coffee bean crop has been exported to 75 countries and territories across the world, with Japan, Switzerland, Germany and the US being its largest importers.

During the period, the province sold around 33,000 tonnes of coffee beans to Japan for a turnover of US$57 million, while 23,000 tonnes of coffee beans worth $41 million were shipped to Switzerland. Germany imported around 22,000 tonnes, valued at $37.5 million, while the US consumed around 13,800 tonnes, worth $23 million.

The province now has more than 200,00 hectares of coffee plantations, the committee said. Of this, around 193,000 hectares of coffee is under cultivation and the annual production capacity is at least 450,000 tonnes.
Photo: Duong

This plant is developed by Duong River Surface Water Treatment Plant JSC.

With the capacity of 300,000 cubic metres of water, Duong River Surface Water Treatment Plant will cut down water shortage in Hanoi, which is estimated to reach around 600,000 cubic metres by 2020, by a remarkable margin.

The project is a regional water plant approved by Hanois 2030 Water Plan and Vision to 2050 pursuant to Decision No. 499/QD-TTg by the prime minister, and Decision of Investment Approval No.2869/QD-UBND issued by the Hanoi City Peoples Committee in June 2016.

Upon completion, the project shall supply clean water for three million people in 168 wards and communes in 8 districts, residential areas, and industrial zones along Road 179 and the vicinity, such as Bac Ninh and Hung Yen provinces.

The project will fulfil clean water demand in the long run, contributing to speed up urbanisation in Hanoi and neighbouring provinces. Simultaneously, it will also improve the living quality of locals, especially children, the elderly and women by using clean water, reducing diseases caused by the polluted water, and protecting the environment.

Duong River Surface Water Treatment Plant is situated on a nearly 62-hectare area of Gia Lam district and will be developed in three phases. Phase I, with the capacity of 300,000 cubic metres per day, is scheduled to be completed by 2020 with a total investment sum of about VND5 trillion ($225 million).

Its clean water piping system will be the longest and the most intricate in Vietnam, with a total length of 76 kilometres consisting of two river-crossing sections through the Red River and the Duong River, and various sections running through railways, national roads, and provincial roads.
Lake cleaners pour Redoxy-3C to purify a lake in Ha Noi.- Photo thanglong.chinhphu.vn

Of the 36 lakes, 14 are in ong Anh District, six are in Thach That District and six are in Ba Vi District, said Phan Hoai Minh, deputy director of the company. The remaining ones are in Chuong My, Gia Lam, Son Tay, Thanh Oai, Ung Hoa and Me Linh districts.

Minh said that in 2016, following proposals submitted by district and town authorities, the company assessed the pollution level of 150 lakes on the outskirts of the capital city. Of these, 140 lakes were severely contaminated and needed urgent clean-ups to protect their bio-systems, safety levels and the surroundings.

The lakes have been cleaning using the Redoxy-3C technology from Germany. Experts and local authorities have accessed the cleaned-up lakes and said that they are no longer smelly and animals are no longer dying.

After treatment, the lakes have been handed over to local authorities for their management and maintenance.

The lakes on the outskirts usually have a lot of water ferns, so we face difficulties in doing the treatment. I hope that local authorities will send cleaners to tidy up the rubbish to facilitate the lake treatment process, Minh said, adding that another 34 lakes in the suburban area are on the clean-up list, and that 12 of them would be fixed this month.
From Ho Chi Minh City, representatives of HoSE, IFC and UN Women, together with senior businesswomen will ring the opening bell to mark International Womens Day. They will speak on the continuing challenges of achieving gender equality and how the private sector can contribute to achieve this end.

HoSE is proud to be participating in this meaningful event advocating gender diversity, said Tran Van Dzung, HoSE board chairman. Global statistics show businesses outperform with women, and investors are increasingly looking to invest in companies that incorporate sustainable investment strategies and promote diverse leadership.

IFC works with companies in developing countries to generate opportunities for women while also contributing to companies bottom lines, productivity, and growth. By leveraging relationship with about 1,000 financial institutions and private equity funds, IFC helps expand access to finance for women entrepreneurs.

At IFC, we believe gender equality is central to driving the global economy and the private sector has an important role to play in this, said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC Country Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR. Specifically, the presence of women on boards and in leadership positions has a positive impact on financial performance, shareholder value and sustainability.

Currently, close to 30 per cent of directors nominated by IFC on the boards of its investee companies are women.

Now in its third iteration, Ring the Bell for Gender Equality focuses on raising awareness on the business case for womens economic empowerment and the opportunities for the private sector to advance gender equality, which is a key UN Sustainable Development Goal. The event is a partnership of IFC, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, the UN Global Compact, UN Women, Women in ETFs, and the World Federation of Stock Exchanges.

IFC, in partnership with Switzerlands State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), is helping Vietnam companies put in place good corporate governance practices by raising awareness, building capacity, developing guidelines, and providing firm-level advisory services.
Vendors on streets

Hanoi is a big tourism center of Vietnam, but it is different from modern cities where people favor shopping and big-scale supermarkets. In contrast, Hanoi people favor vendors on streets.

There are a variety of vendors with goods neatly arranged in bamboo baskets. Such vendors are like mobile stalls that can move anywhere to find customers.

The image of the vendor is usually a woman wearing a conical hat or a man wearing a hard hat.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Ba Dinh Square is one of the most visited attractions in Hanoi. It is the final resting place of President Ho Chi Minh, the most iconic and popular leader of Vietnam. His body is preserved here in a glass case at the mausoleum.

For visitors, a trip to President Ho Chi Minhs final resting place can be an extraordinary experience as it is not just an average attraction; its part of history.

Started in 1973, the construction of the mausoleum was modeled on Lenin's mausoleum in Russia and was first open to the public in 1975. The granite building meant a great deal for many locals as it ensures that their beloved leader lives on forever.

Opening Hours: Tuesday to Thursday and weekends from 08:00  11:00. Closed on Monday and Friday

Cool beer

Many sidewalks in the Old Quarter have cool beer shops that attract a lot of foreign customers.

The most familiar place for cool beer is the intersection between Ta Hien street and Luong Ngoc Quyen street.

Ta Hien street in Hanois centre is famous among tourists and expats. This small street in the heart of Pho Co - the Old Quarter - hosts dozens of sidewalk bia hoi (draught beer) sites that draw a diverse crowd of customers.

It is often said of Ta Hien that it is the first street that backpackers visit when they arrive in Hanoi and the last place they see before they leave. Located near the offices of travel firms are dozens of restaurants serving foreign food and service centers for travelers. However, in the eyes of foreign visitors and resident expats, Ta Hien is most attractive for its bia hoi.

Tiny curbside restaurants offer cheap, cool, freshly-brewed beer, priced at only VND5,000 dong per big glass. They are ideal places for travelers to gather from afternoon until midnight.

At the intersection of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen streets, four bia hoi stands are always crowded with a widely diverse group of low budget tourists and other young foreigners who have settled down in Hanoi for a while. When sunset falls, these international bia hoi corner establishments come alive.

The Hai Loan bia hoi restaurant is only a little over ten square meters, just enough space for a glass cupboard and several beer buckets. The owners are a middle-aged couple who stay busy from late afternoon until midnight serving bia hoi customers sitting in plastic chairs on the sidewalk.

Within view of Hai Loan are Coolbeer Ngoc Anh, Coolbeer Thanh Thuy and others. Dozens of bia hoi venues extend down side steets like Luong Ngoc Quyen, Hang Bac and the alleys of Sam Cong, Quang Lac and Hai Tuong. They share the same character: small, sidewalk stands serving a youngish foreign clientele.

At Hai Loan Restaurant, owners and customers communicate with their hands. Though the establishment is very crowded, the owners dont hire workers. Patrons help themselves to a pile of plastic chairs at the corner, the husband pulls the beer and his wife collects the money. The food for beer drinkers is very simple: packs of roasted peanuts.

Vendors walk along the street offering grilled squid at between 30,000 and 50,000 per squid to beer drinkers.

The Ta Hien bia hoi sites become more and more crowded as the night grows late. They can sell over 100 liters of beer per evening. Many customers cannot find a free seat, so they have to stand and wait for others to leave.

Though all the bia hoi venues are small and cramped, the young Westerners like them very much and pass along their favorite addresses.

Impressive transportation

Crossing streets in Hanoi is a strange experience for foreigners. Once you start, it will be dangerous to turn back. The only choice is to step forward and then carefully watch to avoid vehicles.

Hanoi Old Quarter

Inside a modern and dynamic city, there appears an antique quarter, the Hanois Old Quarter  the represented eternal soul of the city.

Located between the Lake of the Restored Sword, the Long Bien Bridge, a former city rampart, and a citadel wall, the Old Quarter (consisting of 36 old streets inside) started as a snake and alligator-infested swamp. It later evolved into a cluster of villages made up of houses on stilts, and was unified by Chinese administrators who built ramparts around their headquarters.

Hanoi's Old Quarter came into being at the time King Ly Thai To selected Thang Long as the countrys capital in 1010, that is, the streets have a nearly 1,000-year old history and became crowded & lively in 15th century. What makes them unique is that many of them remain in their very ancient architecture of the 15th century.

Due to their long-lasting age, they are called Old Quarter or 36 Old Streets (as consisting of 36 member streets). In the past, as artisans moved to the capital city to do business, they gathered together in this area to share the resources. As a result, many of the streets were named after the crafts sold at that individual street. Pho Hang Bun (Vermicelli), Pho Hang Ma (Paper Product), Pho Hang Bac (Silver), etc. are examples of the streets carrying the name of the products sold there.

Long Bien Bridge

The 2,290-m Long Bien Bridge was built between 1899 and 1902 by the French, and opened to traffic in 1903.

The bridge was upgraded twice during the 1995-2010 period with a total investment of VND116 billion ($5.5 million). However, over the past four years, the bridge has continued to deteriorate.

As the only bridge across the Red River that connected Hanoi to the highway leading to the northern port city of Hai Phong, the bridge played a crucial role in many important events in the country's history, including the independence wars.

The bridge was initially called Doumer. At the time of construction, the over-2km-long bridge was one of the world's largest bridges, and one of the most important works of the Far East.

The Doumer Bridge was known as the first steel bridge across the Red River in Hanoi. It was built in 1898 and completed in 1902 by contractor Dayde et Pille, under the leadership of the Indochina Governor Paul Doumer.

After the countrys liberation, the bridge was renamed Long Bien.

For over 100 years, witnessing many changes since the country's wartime to peacetime, Long Bien Bridge has become a symbol of the history of Vietnam.

French architecture

Vietnam still maintains the graceful architecture of France of the last century.

In addition, the French style shows in Hanoi delicacies. French bread is varied by being stuffed with pate or herbs. The French style goes deep into the Vietnamese culture.

In Hanoi, coffee and tea are equally preferred by Hanoians. To young generation, coffee is preferred. Coffee is also a favorite of Hanoi people inspired by the French. They like mixing cafe with milk.

People like to sit at a cafe and wait patiently for every drop of coffee from the coffee filter, look at people and surrounding vehicles. The style of enjoying cafe is as poetic as the French. Enjoying cafe on sidewalks is a way of also enjoying the rhythm of life.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Subjects such as human rights and gender studies offered in Class 12 by the CBSE have not found any takers, prompting the board to stop offering them besides 5 other academic electives and 34 vocational courses.

"Considering very low enrolment, the subjects are withdrawn from the 2017-18 session," the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said in a communication sent to the heads of schools affiliated to it.

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The schools have been advised to not offer human rights, gender studies, philosophy, creative writing and translation studies, heritage craft, library and information science and graphic design, theatre studies as academic electives.

However, students who opted for these subjects in Class XI will be allowed to pursue them this year and appear for board examinations too.

Thirty-four vocational subjects which have also been dropped from the list available to Class 12 students include poultry nutrition and physiology, management of dairy animals, health education, communication, confectionery, music aesthetics, office communication, first aid and emergency medical care, and integrated transport operations. PTI GJS AAR

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PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomes a delegation of the US-ASEAN Business Council led by Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director Michael Michalak at the Government Headquarters in Ha Noi on Thursday. Photo: VGP.

PM Phuc made the statement on Thursday during his reception for a delegation of the US-ASEAN Business Council led by Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director Michael Michalak.

The Government will continue focusing on building an open and transparent legal corridor and creating favorable conditions for businesses as it considers the success of investors as its own success.

He affirmed the Government attaches importance to further strengthening friendly cooperation with the US in a more substantial, comprehensive, stable and long-term manner.

The Government also stands ready to collaborate with the new administration of President Donald Trump to boost the bilateral ties so that the US continues to be a top trade partner of Viet Nam, PM Phuc reiterated.

PM Phuc welcomed the interest of members of the US-ASEAN Business Bouncil in such fields like food safety, information technology, climate change, innovation, business restructuring, renewable energy, agriculture among others.

He took the occasion to call on American businesses to support Viet Nam to successfully host the APEC Year 2017.

The business delegation spoke highly of the Vietnamese Governments efforts in improving business environment, pledging to further expand investment in Viet Nam.
By Press Trust of India: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Mar 10 (PTI) National Security Advisor Ajit Doval today telephoned Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda and condoled the death of a Nepalese man in alleged firing by the Sashastra Seema Bal and promised a probe into the incident.

Doval, who made the phone call to Prachanda on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Indian authorities have initiated a probe into the killing of Govinda Gautam.

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Doval conveyed Modis grief over the death and expressed condolences to the bereaved family, a statement issued by the Nepalese Prime Ministers Secretariat said.

Prachanda, expressing Nepals readiness to provide the required support for the investigation, said the Kanchanpur incident was "very serious".

He expressed hope that the guilty would be booked after necessary investigation.

The deceased has been declared as a martyr by the Nepal government.

In Kathmandu, Charge d Affaires at Indian Embassy Vinay Kumar today called on Nepals Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and condoled the death.

Kumar informed Bairagi that an enquiry has been initiated by India into the incident.

District authorities should maintain close and regular contacts and ensure law and order in the area, the envoy said.

India has sought from Nepal the post-mortem and forensic reports of the Nepalese national allegedly killed in firing by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) along the border yesterday, an incident that triggered protests in Nepal.

Nepal government has declared Gautam as a martyr, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi.

Along with martyrs status, the government will provide Rs one million compensation to the next of the kin of the victim and fund the education of his children, said Nidhi while addressing the Legislature-Parliament meeting today. PTI SBP CPS AKJ CPS

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With Prime Minister Hun Sen openly touting phone tapping of political opponents as a positive development, experts are beginning to question whether the move on behalf of the premier breaches Cambodias privacy laws.

Since opposition leader Kem Sokha was allegedly caught in conversation with a mistress, sparking a prolonged legal action, fear over invasions of privacy has grown, analysts say. Legal experts told VOA Khmer that recording a private phone conversation without the other persons knowledge was unlawful.

Hun Sen has both suggested he is unconnected to the leaks, and also that he was involved directly.

The recent leaked audio shows that Hun Sen can beat [you] with his left hand and there is still a right hand, he said.

Sok Sam Oeun, a veteran Cambodian legal expert, said the slew of leaked recordings could breach the Law on Telecommunications, but legal action could only be taken if a complaint was filed.

The one who releases the audio recordings is breaking the law if there is no agreement from the relevant parties, he said.

As a result of the leaks, people are increasingly afraid to talk about sensitive matters on the phone, he added.

But now we have a problem of implementation. What is a law for if we dont implement it and try to protect peoples privacy? The state doesnt care or ignores the peoples privacy, he said. Under international law, its a human rights violation.

The telecommunications law, passed in late 2015 by the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party, sets out sanctions for those found to be secretly recording private communications without authorization.

Wan-Hea Lee, country representative of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said in an email that the wiretapping of private conversations was illegal and only compounded by the public release of the files.

The right to privacy is protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Constitution, the Criminal Code and the Telecommunications Law, she said.

All the recent leaks were done with no connection to a criminal investigation, although some led to a criminal investigation and charges. This is clearly incompatible with human rights law, she added.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told VOA Khmer that he was shocked by Hun Sens public acknowledgment of his connection to the leaking of the audio conversation with Kem Sokha.

I was amazed to read that Hun Sen said that it was true that the tap he was on with Kem Sokha was real because he is effectively admitting that the government made that tap and then published it. But in that tap, he made the threat against the opposition, Adams said.

It is clearly against the law. But Hun Sen thinks that there is one law for Hun Sen, another law for everybody. This like a parent who said do what I said but dont do what I do, he added.

In a speech on Friday, Hun Sen argued that wire tapping was carried out across the world, including by the U.S. And European governments.

No-one dares to attack the United States and CIA, he said, going on to joke that officials should be careful if they had sent pornographic content to each other as the U.S. Intelligence agency may release it in the future.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan said preventing phone tapping was difficult and claimed a third party had released the audio recordings.

The government does not have an interest in having secret recordings made and released. We dont know the third party who released the audio, he said.

However, he did not deny that Hun Sen was involved in publicizing the recent private conversation with Sokha.

It is not illegal. What law prohibits someone from revealing [conversations] to others? We dont have such a law, he claimed.

Lee of the OHCHR said law enforcement needed to be improved with regards the right to privacy.

While there are reasons for particular concern in Cambodia, the phenomenon and the concerns are global, she added.
As the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam in Stung Treng province nears completion, officials have said that some 100 affected villagers have refused to accept relocation and compensation.

Construction of the 400-megawatt dam, costing about $800 million, got underway in 2012 and has led to the displacement of thousands of villagers.

During a forum organized by the NGO Forum and attended by officials from the Ministry of Mines and Energy and affected villages, Pan Narith, a representative of the company building the dam, a joint-venture between Cambodias Royal Group and Chinas Hydrolancang International, said the firm hoped to turn on the first turbine in November.

By 2018, he added, all eight turbines would be switched on.

The Cambodian government will receive an annual tax on the project, which will produce power for Phnom Penh and other provinces.

Of the 846 families affected by the project, 126 have yet to accept compensation, according to the ministry of mines.

Some villagers in Srekor, a Sesan district tract where opposition to the dam has remained consistently high, believe they will not be affected by the rising river.

Nat Suota, 62, called on the officials to pity her. I am old. What can I do? I dont want to go, she said.

Fut Kheun, 32, said the villagers who were holding out wanted to see the area submerge with their own eyes before they would believe their village would be lost.

A ministry spokesman said the government had tried and failed to reach a compromise with the villagers.

There will be a flood. How can they stay, what will they do? The government will not let them die. We have to help them, he said.

Some villagers maintain the roughly $6,000 in compensation is inadequate.

The government says the dam will reduce the countrys reliance on imported electricity from neighboring countries.
More than 25 years after civil war ended in Somaliland, researchers continue to unearth mass graves. Forensic investigators hope to gather enough evidence to bring the alleged perpetrators of war crimes to justice. So far, two cases have gone to U.S. courts. Jason Patinkin reports for VOA from the Somaliland town of Berbera.
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The Islamic State militant group claimed this week's devastating attack on a hospital in Kabul that killed at least 30 people. VOA's Ayesha Tanzeem explores what this attack shows about IS' changing tactics and capability in Afghanistan.
An attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint against Attorney General Jeff Sessions with the Alabama State Bar over his testimony during his Senate confirmation process regarding contact he had with Russia.

In the complaint dated Thursday, attorney Christopher Anders says Sessions made false statements during sworn testimony in January when he told a Senate committee he had not had any contact with the Russian government during Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Sessions, who had represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate, later acknowledged he had spoken twice with the Russian ambassador last year and had failed to disclose that during his confirmation process. Sessions said he had not tried to mislead anyone but could have been more careful in his answers.

The complaint urges the Alabama State Bar to investigate and determine whether Sessions violated the state's rules of professional conduct.
The attack in Kabul that killed at least 30 people this week, claimed by the Islamic State militants, was different in strategy from the groups past assaults.

Those, like the one on a Shi'ite Hazara minority group protest in Kabul last year, had been simpler. Large public gatherings are easy targets for a suicide bomber.

An attack on a military hospital in a city like Kabul, where security is so tight one cannot get into a shopping mall without going through metal detectors, requires complex reconnaissance and pre-planning. It pointed to the groups ability to carry out a sophisticated, intelligence-driven operation, according to Barnett Rubin, associate director of the Center on International Cooperation.

[T]hey were able to reconnoiter the hospital very well to figure out how to get into it, to smuggle all of the explosive material into Kabul, to have a safe house where they could set up everything, they obtained the proper clothing in order to disguise themselves as doctors and so on, Rubin said.

NATO and the Afghan government like to point out that their security operations have reduced ISs numbers in Afghanistan from several thousand to now under a thousand, and their territorial control from more than 10 districts to fewer than five.

Gone underground

However, some analysts think this may not be the right approach to gauging the strength of a militant group like IS, which seems to have adapted and adjusted its strategy.

I dont think we know that their numbers have diminished, according to Rubin. We know that maybe the numbers of them fighting in a military way have diminished but they have changed tactics. They have gone underground. We dont know what their numbers are, he said.

Kabul-based political analyst Intizar Khadim expressed similar thoughts.

Im not talking about the number of IS increasing, he said. Im talking about the resources that is enabling Daesh (IS) to have increased.

General Nicholson, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, acknowledged in a briefing to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that IS Khorasan Province, as IS calls its local chapter, had shown an ability to conduct attacks in Kabul and elsewhere in the country despite its battlefield losses.

The Kabul attack involved five suicide bombers. But for those five to operate, they probably required many more as support staff. That indicated that ISKP had managed to set up support networks inside Kabul.

The Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network, in a dispatch published on its website last year, claimed to have some evidence of at least three ISKP cells operating in Kabul.

Over the past eighteen months, AAN has been consistently hearing stories of young men from Kabul having adopted the IS ideology and joining its battlefields in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, as well as in Iraq and Syria, the dispatch published in October of last year claimed.

While most Afghans reject IS ideology as too cruel and alien to their culture, high unemployment and lucrative salary offers are a significant draw for former fighters without jobs, according to Khadim.

In Middle East you see Daesh [IS] is giving food for war. In Afghanistan they are paying high prices for any warrior that is joining this group. They are paying high wages for their fighters for grabbing guns and fighting for them, Khadim said.

The withdrawal of most of the international security forces from Afghanistan led to a significant decline in economic activity in the country. The growth rate plummeted to 1.3 percent in 2014 while the rate of poverty climbed to 39.1 percent in 2013-14, according to the World Bank.

The resultant high unemployment gave a boost to the recruitment efforts of groups like the Afghan Taliban and the IS that had the ability to pay lucrative salaries compared to the local market place.

However, money was not the only factor driving young men to the IS.

Propaganda effort

ISKP operates a deft propaganda machine including social media, videos and literature, as well as an FM radio channel that keeps popping back up every time it is knocked down by NATO or Afghan forces. The FM can be heard in parts of the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar.

ISKPs romanticization of living as one of its fighters is unparalleled in the jihadist media in Afghanistan, according to another dispatch published on AANs website.

Anecdotal evidence from various parts of Afghanistan suggests a slow but steady stream of new IS recruits.

Local journalists in Nangarhar told VOA that the voice of one IS radio broadcaster sounded too much like a local journalist they knew who had disappeared from the scene.

Khadim also pointed to the Afghan governments failure in providing good governance in many parts of the country as a reason for people to turn to militant outfits.

On the other hand, the threat of IS was leading regional players like Russia and Iran to increase their efforts to get the Taliban onboard for a political settlement.

Iran, a mainly Shiite country, was afraid of anti-Shiite IS getting too close to its borders and Russia wanted to keep IS influence away from the Muslim population in its backyard.

Another silver lining on the horizon was the increased economic activity in the region. China wanted to expand its Belts and Roads initiative, including a portion in Pakistan involving investments of more than $40 billion. India and Japan were collaborating on a seaport in Iran at Chabahar.

All of this means that the cost of instability in Afghanistan has gone up and regional players have a greater incentive to help find solutions to the countrys security problems.
United Nations officials and international aid workers fear the Turkish government is gearing up to shutter more Western nongovernment organizations working with Syrian refugees and overseeing cross-border relief missions inside Syria following the expulsion Tuesday of Mercy Corps, one of the worlds biggest humanitarian nonprofits.

The offices of more than half-dozen major Western NGOs and aid organizations with offices in the southern Turkish border towns of Gaziantep and Hatay were visited this week by Turkish officials, who demanded registration documents as well as copies of staff lists. The officials also scrutinized the work permits of international employees.

At least two international NGOs have been ordered so far to undergo the laborious bureaucratic process of re-registering their presence in the country, according to several aid workers.

U.N. officials say they suspect all Western NGOs are likely to be instructed shortly to re-register and it is unclear whether they will be allowed in the meantime to continue working with more than 2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey or to transport relief supplies to hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians inside war-wracked Syria.

U.N. officials told VOA they are urgently seeking clarification from the Turkish authorities.

Internal 'read-out' leaked

According to an internal "read-out" by the U.N.s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OHCA, Turkeys interior ministry is planning on canceling all existing INGO registrations and asking INGOs to resubmit registration requests following new rules and regulations within three months.

The OHCA read-out, which was leaked to VOA, warns that the Turkish government is likely to use this process as a way to choose which organizations they want to keep in country.

According to OHCA, the interior ministry recently held a meeting of all Turkeys regional governors to discuss new rules and regulations for INGOs  the first time, U.N. officials noted, that the Turkish government has organized a governor-level coordination meeting about international relief organizations.

Some of the most respected organizations on the international aid scene were among the agencies inspected this week, prompting mounting fears among aid workers that they are being targeted. They include: the International Rescue Committee, CARE International, Counterpart and Global Communities and International Medical Corps -- all are U.S.-based. The British NGO Integrity also was inspected.

Several other NGOs have been inspected but asked not to be listed for fear of incurring Ankaras wrath.

Our offices in Gaziantep were visited this week, confirmed Holly Frew, a spokeswoman for Care. We have heard other international NGOs have been inspected as well, she told VOA.

Frew said Care has not been asked to leave, but she said it is unusual for so many relief organizations to be inspected at the same time.

The spokeswoman for another aid organization confirmed her group had been visited, too. Our offices were visited earlier this week by local authorities, she said. They were checking staff work permits.

She said the organization's staff in Turkey believe it was a routine visit and one that the authorities have the right to perform. Our documents were in order, and we had no problems. We have traditionally had a good working relationship with Turkish authorities and at this moment there is no reason to believe that will change.

'This really is ominous'

According to another aid worker, inspections by Turkish authorities in the past have taken place on an annual basis. Since the Mercy Corps expulsion there has been an escalation in INGO inspections, he said. This really is ominous, he added.

Mercy Corps, which has been working in Turkey since 2012, was informed abruptly on Tuesday by the Turkish interior ministry that it no longer had permission to work in Turkey and was ordered to shut down its operations immediately. The aid group said Turkish authorities offered no reason for the sudden closure and noted it had been working in close cooperation with the Turkish government.

In recent months pro-government Turkish newspapers have rounded on Western NGOs, and amid a mounting press clamor alleged Mercy Corps and other international aid groups have been helping terrorists and conspiring against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mercy Corps, which is based in Portland, Oregon, and other relief organizations have vehemently denied the claims.

We have every confidence in the impartiality and the integrity of our operations. Were not a political organization and our reason for being is to deliver assistance to civilians who need it the most, Christine Bragale, Mercy Corps director of media relations, told Britains Daily Telegraph earlier this week.

Mercy Corps, which has received funding for its Syria relief operations from the U.S. and European governments, spent $34 million last year on Syria-related missions. Mercy Corps has had to lay off 300 relief workers because of the expulsion.

U.N. officials say the anti-NGO press campaign, which they suspect is orchestrated, has grown in ferocity and has spread to local newspapers across the country.

In the OHCA report it is noted: Negative articles about INGOs (similar to those printed in Hatay) are now being printed in Gaziantep. Both Hatay and Gaziantep are relief hubs for Syria, and international NGOs organizing cross-border efforts generally base out of either town.

A Turkish government official told Reuters that the decision to expel Mercy Corps was technical, arguing the NGO failed to meet documentation requirements. But aid workers and U.N. officials fear there was nothing technical about the expulsion of Mercy Corps.

US concerns about expulsion

State Department spokesman Mark Toner midweek said U.S. concerns about the expulsion of Mercy Corps have been communicated to Ankara as well as anxieties about the impact it will have on critical humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations.

Relations between international NGOs and Erdogans government have been fraught and often tense since the Syrian conflict started six years ago, aid workers say.

The government has never wanted us in the country, said an international aid worker, who asked not to be identified. It is horrible when aid becomes a pawn in a political game."

The registration process has often been difficult and Ankara has been strict about regulations governing what NGOs can do, where they can go and where they can send aid. The United Nations refugee agency has been blocked frequently from aiding Syrian refugees who are living outside official camps, U.N. officials say.

But relations have become much more fraught in recent months. Ankara has blocked international aid agencies from working in a Turkish-controlled zone carved out in northern Syria since August, preferring to work with Turkish NGOs favored by Erdogan, many of which are Islamist in ideology.

Analysts have noted that the press campaign against international relief organizations and Western NGOs tends to become more vehement when the Turkish government comes under criticism for alleged human rights abuses by Western governments.

Turkish nonprofits shuttered

The Erdogan government has targeted also domestic NGOs, shuttering hundreds of Turkish nonprofits since last Julys failed coup attempt, claiming they are linked to the coup plotters, including exiled cleric Muhammed Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the U.S. and is accused by Erdogan of masterminding the military coup bid.

While acknowledging the latest moves against international NGOs may be part of what critics argue is a general crackdown on civil society in Turkey, Bassam al-Kuwaitli, a former member of the opposition Syrian National Council, suspects Ankara is determined to control international relief missions inside northern Syria.

I think a lot of this has to do with Western relief assistance going to areas inside Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, he said. He notes pro-government Turkish newspapers this week accused Mercy Corps of assisting Turkeys banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The Erdogan government views U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militias fighting in Syria just as PKK offshoots.

An international aid worker noted the increased friction coincides with the arrival this week of a contingent of U.S. Marines, pre-positioning for an SDF assault on Raqqa.

Ankara has demanded that a Turkish-led Syrian Arab force mount the assault on Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State terror group, rather than Kurdish-led militias.
Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny recently caused a stir on the internet with a documentary-style video about the lifestyle of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that has already been viewed millions of times.

According to the 50-minute film, Medvedev owns palatial mansions, yachts and even foreign wineries. Navalny says even though Medvedev's lavish assets are technically registered to close friends, they are, in fact, his own private treasures.

Legal experts have already weighed in, saying although the evidence would normally make for an effortless corruption indictment in Western courts, Medvedev hasn't violated key Russian statutes.

Navalny isn't convinced. He says the probe offers a sound foundation from which to launch criminal cases.

Medvedev has dismissed Navalny's video. "It's senseless to comment on propaganda attacks by an oppositional convict who's already canvassing for votes and fighting the regime," said the Russian prime minister's press secretary, Natalia Timakova, in a recent statement to Interfax that didn't address corruption allegations directly.

Navalny says he will run in next year's Russian presidential election, even though he was found guilty of embezzlement in a February trial that he and his supporters call a politically motivated prosecution. That verdict effectively barred him from running.

In his first long-format English-language interview since the documentary was released, Navalny tells VOA's Russian service why fighting corruption is the core of his political campaign, and why off-the-books extravagances are a kind of political prerequisite for ascending the highest echelons of Russian power.

QUESTION: What could your audience learn from your foundation's probe into Dmitry Medvedev? What are the key findings you and your colleagues have arrived at while investigating?

ANSWER: I think that the big story in our probe is not the fact that such high officials own that much property but that we've been able to uncover that. For many years  and it's not just what I say; many are aware of this, I think  corruption has been the foundation of [President Vladimir] Putin's regime. Corruption is the backbone of this political hierarchy. Putin's "social contract" with those in power is based on precisely that: You give me your political loyalty, and in exchange, you can steal as much as you want. That's why it's an obvious and well-known fact that all Putin's friends have become millionaires and billionaires. Newspapers talk about that, Forbes ratings confirm that. The thing is that many perceived Medvedev as just someone who is more into some [electronic] gadgets. But we've proven and shown that, in fact, he is no different than others in Putin's near circle. In fact, he is an avaricious man who is obsessed with property, yachts and some idea of a life of an Arab sheik.

Q: But perhaps in the circle that Putin created during his 17-year tenure, it is customary to own such property and income, gained through these specific means? Could it be a kind of symbol of some sort of fraternity, of belonging to this circle?

A: Are you asking whether you need to shoot someone in the head to join a gang, as they do in mobster movies? I feel like some of this, certainly, is there. If you want to make the grade  be a member of this group  naturally, you have "to get your hands dirty." They are all in this together, including corruption. Besides, it's important to remember that it is really a small circle of like-minded people from their times in the St. Petersburg mayor's office, where they were running small scams, like trading precious metals, and where they were directly tied to the organized criminal groups, to St. Petersburg mobsters. But I don't believe that just owning a palace is important to enter the group. More likely, it's the reverse. There is so much money that you have to do something with it. And how else are they going to spend it in Russia? So, that's how they spend it  by building palaces. They are spending it in line with their idea and concepts of a beautiful life.

Q: In other words, you can belong to the group without the riches?

A: I don't think that someone held a gun to Medvedev's head to make him buy these palaces. You can be in the circle and have billions in cash somewhere in your bank accounts, but you can also invest a part of those billions in palaces. It's just they consider it de rigueur to build those things. We see that it's typical for all of them: Putin built in [the Black Sea town of] Gelendzhik.  This is, in fact, as I see it, an important symbol of them playing a game of being "Russian noblemen and aristocracy." They consider themselves the reincarnation of an aristocracy that is created around an absolute monarch. And an important element in their understanding of this aristocracy are all these "ancestral estates," palaces, columns, various Greek-style caryatids.

Q: Do you believe there is anyone in Putin's circle who did not, as you put it, "get their hands dirty"?

A: Of course not. There are no such people. If there ever were, they fell off along the way. From the beginning, it was a group of cynical Soviet crooks who were running their scams at the mayor's office in St. Petersburg. If we look at these people's careers  Putin transferred to the presidential administration while working under Pavel Pavlovich Borodin [who headed the Kremlin's property management department under President Boris Yeltsin], who was also one of the personifications of corruption in the '90s. It means these people were involved in doing all of this for more than 20 years within their group. Of course, not only is there no one who is untainted there, but there is not a single person there who is not 100 percent "dirty."

Q: If they, as you put it, consider themselves a new aristocracy, then what, in their minds, should society as a whole look like?

A: The way I see and understand their actions, they are quite cynical. For public consumption, they always talk about  "the Russophobia of the West," but the main Russophobes in Russia are the ruling elites, who consider the Russian people brutes and rubes who don't understand anything, don't know anything and will always remain silent. And it doesn't matter how openly and blatantly you're stealing from these people  they will always remain silent, no matter what. And it makes perfect sense to steal all their money, since they will otherwise squander it all on vodka. They believe that it is  a country of people doomed to live in poverty because they are too dumb to protest. And it can all be done openly, as long as there are some sensible precautions  primarily, full censorship of the media, and secondly, control of the political system so that no outside candidate is allowed to run for elections.

Q: What can shake Russian society out of its passivity toward corruption, if it doesn't react to the most outrageous information?

A: We need to keep trying, keep doing it. We know that there are people in Russia  a lot of people  who believe that we must react, and they do. OK, today the society isn't very sensitive to these concerns. For 25 years, they witnessed absolute corruption during the "democrats" [of the 1990s], during the Putin regime, and prior to that, during the final years of the Soviet Union. There was heinous corruption in the Soviet Union. That's why, essentially, there is such a high level of tolerance, but it doesn't mean that we have to endure it and stop trying. We are spreading all this information; we're talking about it again and again. At least I try to represent the part of our society that cares.

Q: Are you concerned that in preaching "end corruption and things will be good," you are putting off people who see this as reminiscent of the Soviet-era "fight against stealing socialist property"?

A: I'm not concerned because I'm running for president [in 2018] with an extensive agenda. Obviously, I keep talking about corruption because it has been the main focus of my investigations, my professional career, in recent years. I really believe that corruption is the main obstacle to growth, including economic growth. But in the fight against corruption, I offer political solutions. I'm not talking about jailing six specific people  Medvedev and his friends. I'm saying that it's impossible to curb corruption without independent media, a competitive political system and transparent, fair courts. And this is where I stand out.

Q: But at least free media existed during Boris Yeltsin's presidency.

A: During Yeltsin's presidency, the horrible political mistake made that didn't allow Russia to transition to a path of democratic development was that no systemic political measures were taken so that the state itself would be built to fight corruption. For example, the judiciary system under Yeltsin remained in place from the Soviet era. The same people still adjudicate in the same courts. Yeltsin, unfortunately, couldn't guarantee freedom of the press. I'm talking about these things and trying to give you a comprehensive picture of this problem.

Q: Has the fact that you released your investigative video during your trip to Russia's regions to open up local electoral offices affected your campaign? Do people ask you about the film?

A: It absolutely has. Seven million people have watched the video on YouTube, more than 2 million have watched it on Odnoklassniki [the Russian social media site]. This means we've reached about 9 percent of the country's population and far more than 9 percent of its voters. We feel like the film has reached beyond the usual audience of political activists and provided information about myself and the campaign. Based on people's feedback and the number of volunteers who are registering, and simply people who stop me down on the street, we see that the film is playing a big positive role in our campaign.
Chinas plan to declare an unusually strict fishing moratorium in the contested South China Sea this year threatens to shake relations with its neighbors, despite dialogue in recent months, and might violate a 2016 world arbitration court ruling, experts say.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture said in February it would impose its strictest fishing moratorium in May to protect stocks. The moratorium will cover the South China Sea south to the 12th parallel, lopping off waters claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Beijing has enforced past South China Sea fishing moratoriums, the first of which was announced in 1995, by seizing fishing boats. If it does that again, it risks losing improved relations with Vietnam and the Philippines, analysts say.

Other nations not consulted

China has announced a fishing moratorium without consulting the other claimant nations, which have substantial fishing interests in the South China Sea, said Fabrizio Bozzato, an associate researcher specializing in international affairs at Tamkang University in Taiwan.

It would be a completely different story if China had consulted states like Vietnam or the Philippines to implement a coordinated fishing moratorium, he said. The message that Beijing intends to convey is that the South China Sea is an entirely Chinese Sea and China has exclusive rights to its resources.

Taiwan normally stays quiet in the dispute, but Vietnam and the Philippines are more outspoken about Chinas maritime expansion, including landfill and military installations on disputed islets.

Neither country is likely to acknowledge the Chinese moratorium, letting individual boat operators decide whether to violate it, said Termsak Chalermpalanupap, a fellow with the ISEAS Yusof Ihsak Institute in Singapore.

It depends on the local fishing people, whether they want to risk being arrested by the Chinese coast guard, he said. They have been arrested many times.

The Philippine government will probably avoid advising fishing boats to shun the moratorium zone because any warning would sound like a concession to China, said Herman Kraft, political scientist at University of the Philippines Diliman.

If there is very aggressive harassment, then its just like what happened at Scarborough Shoal before, Kraft said, referring to a disputed islet northwest of Manila that Chinese boats occupied in 2012. There will be probably a lessening of the presence of Philippine fishermen going to these areas.

Ruling violated

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte broke ranks with his predecessor in October by meeting his Beijing counterpart to explore joint uses of the disputed sea. Senior Chinese and Vietnamese officials have met since September to look into maritime cooperation.

But Beijings moratorium threatens the thaw in China-Philippines ties, said the U.S.-based Lawfare Institute in a March 7 commentary.

Vietnam will protest but probably not encourage their fishermen to challenge the moratorium, said Zhang Hongzhou, research fellow with the China Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Chinas moratorium also violates an arbitration tribunal ruling by the World Court in The Hague, some analysts say. The July 2016 verdict sought by Manila said a similar Chinese moratorium in 2012 ignored the Philippines rights to manage marine life in its ocean exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) offshore.

Maybe the challenge by the littoral states can be more vigorous because of the arbitral tribunal ruling that China actually has no legal basis to claim control of many disputed areas, Chalermpalanupap said.

But fishing moratoriums also help China assert legal control of disputed areas, he added. Chinese officials have strongly rejected the World Court ruling.

China would be fulfilling its duty under the United Nations Law of the Sea through controls against overfishing, Zhang said.

The sea yields 16.6 million tons of fish every year and the fishing industry employs about 3.7 million people, according to a National Geographic report in mid-2016, but stocks are declining after decades of use.

But exclusive economic zones delineated by each country are unsettled and the boundaries of Chinas nine-dash claim to most of the sea remain unclear, Zhang said.

The moratorium this year will last through mid-August, a month longer than before, and restrict more types of fishing operations, the official Peoples Daily reported. Only bait and tackle fishing will be allowed, the Lawfare Institute commentary said, and the moratorium makes no mention of fishermens nationalities.

Beijing claims most of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea. Brunei and Malaysia contest some tracts of water with China, but the ocean economic zones of both are located south of the 2017 moratorium line.
As Tibetans around the world marked the 58th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day, Chinese officials in Beijing vowed to "resolutely strike" against the "Dalai Lama clique's separatist activities."

Che Dalha, the newly appointed chairman of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said Beijing would take "a clear-cut stand against separatism."

China views the Dalai Lama, Tibet's Buddhist spiritual leader, as a dangerous separatist. The Nobel Peace laureate denies espousing violence and says he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet.

Che's remarks, reported by Reuters, came as Tibetans in Dharamsala, the Indian city that is home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan administration-in-exile, held its annual commemoration of the Tibetan people's protest against Chinese occupation of Tibet that took place in Lhasa in 1959. Beijing refers to the action as a "peaceful liberation."

"Despite the repression and crackdown, Tibetans in Tibet have been at the forefront of the Tibetan freedom struggle," said Lobsang Sangay, political leader of the Tibetan administration-in-exile. "Even today as we speak, there is a major military presence in Lhasa ... making it reminiscent of a war zone."

Surveillance, displays of force

International human rights groups and exiles routinely condemn what they call China's oppressive rule in Tibetan areas. They say pervasive surveillance and displays of military force are being used to intimidate and quell dissent.

Since 2009, protests have included 145 Tibetans in Tibetan areas self-immolating, calling for "Freedom for Tibet" and "Return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet."

Elsewhere on Friday, from Sydney to San Francisco to Tokyo, Tibetans and supporters marked the anniversary of what is known as the March 10th Uprising.

Indian police arrested 150 Tibetan activists affiliated with the Tibetan Youth Congress as they protested at the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi.

In Minneapolis, the City Council was expected to vote Friday on a resolution in support of Tibetan self-determination, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. In a letter Wednesday, the Chinese consul general in Chicago expressed "deep concerns" about the council's plans to declare March 10 as Tibet Day.

Some cities, including Richmond, in the San Francisco Bay Area, flew the Tibetan national flag, which is banned in Tibet, to mark the event.

The anniversary commemorations coincided with China's annual National People's Conference in Beijing.

Beijing meeting

On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with official delegates from the Tibetan Autonomous Region in Beijing, according to state-run China Tibet Online News. He said Tibet must implement President Xi Jinping's 2012 comment, which has since been a major political slogan in Tibet: "To govern the nation, we must protect the borders, and to protect the borders, we must first stabilize Tibet."

Li also talked about the importance of economic development in achieving stability in Tibet.

VOA's Tsering Wangyal in New Delhi contributed to this report, which originated with VOA's Tibetan Service.
Rejecting the Delhi government proposal of awarding Rs 1 crore to the family of Ram Krishnan Grewal, who had committed suicide due to non-implementation of OROP, L-G said that the death was not occurred in the line of duty.

By Ajay Kumar: After a gap of a month or so, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and AAP government again confronted each other Thursday, this time over One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP).

The Arvind Kejriwal government has proposed to award Rs 1 crore to the family of Ram Krishan Grewal (70), native of Bhiwani in Haryana, who had committed suicide on November 3, 2016 in city due to non-implementation of OROP.

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But the L-G has rejected the Delhi government proposal by terming that the death was not occurred in the line of duty.

Also read: BJP lying on OROP, stabbing army in the back: Arvind Kejriwal to India Today

This is the first major decision of the Kejriwal government that has been rejected by Baijal after clearing a slew of files that were stuck with the L-G office since the era of former L-G Najeeb Jung.

According to an official, the L-G has returned the file saying the proposal has returned the file saying the proposal was not in line with the policy to provide ex-gratia to the servicemen.

The policy clearly states that compensation could be given to servicemen only when the death occurs while discharging the duty. The cabinet proposal clearly states that the retired armyman (Grewal) died by consuming poison and an exception was being made for him. The L-G has clearly mentioned on the file that it is not in sync with the existing policy.

The AAP government had cleared the proposal in Delhi cabinet in December 2016 and also given martyr status to Grewal. Sources have said the proposal was also rejected as the ex-serviceman was neither a resident of Delhi nor was in the service in any of the department in state government.

Also read: Modi government anti-soldier: AAP

The official pointed out on the basis of policy pertains to domicile of individual.

Also read:

--- ENDS ---
A pair of Democrat political activists turned bar owners are suing President Donald Trump over claims that his new Trump International Hotel is unfairly hurting business at their wine bar.

Khalid Pitts and Diane Gross, owners of Cork Wine Bar in Washington, D.C., arent seeking damages in the suit against Trump, but instead seek to block operation of his hotel until Trump either resigns as president or fully divests himself from the property.

The pair say Trumps new hotel, which is located in a different neighborhood in the U.S. capital, about 1.5 miles from their bar, has caused them to lose business. They could point to no specific examples to back up their claim, though, and acknowledged that their 70-seat restaurant faces stiff competition from the various other bars and restaurants near its popular 14th Street location.

We have events we do here for elected officials, nonprofits, foreign dignitaries, the World Bank, law firms, Gross told The Washington Post. Those folks are now being courted to come and want to go there [Trump Hotel] because they see it as advantageous to them to curry favor with the president.

Their lawsuit claims Trumps position as president puts him in conflict with a clause in the hotels lease that says no federal officials can benefit from the deal. The General Services Administration, which handles the lease, has yet to say whether it considers Trump in violation of the deal.

'Publicity stunt alleged

When Trump became president he took steps to distance himself from the hotel and put his sons, Eric and Donald, Jr., in charge of operations. He also promised to donate any profits from foreign clients to the U.S. Treasury, to avoid running afoul of ethics laws.

Eric Trump told the Post the lawsuit was a publicity stunt.

Its people who have nothing better to do, so they harass and they harass and the [court] will throw it out. Its ridiculous, he said.

In addition to owning Cork Wine Bar, Pitts is a partner at the liberal activist organization Democracy Partners, where his bio describes him as a key leader in the progressive movement with 20 years of experience managing political and legislative campaigns.

Federal Election Commission data shows he has donated more than $3,000 to Democrat political campaigns since 2007, including to Trumps rival Hillary Clinton in 2015.

Gross is a former civil rights attorney and counsel to Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski.

Lawyers representing the couple pro-bono also have ties to Democratic politics, including George Washington University law school professor Steven Schooner, who donated $1,250 to help elect former president Barack Obama in 2008, and Alan Morrison, who donated $200 to the Democratic National Committee in 2016.

Gross told the Los Angeles Times that the lawsuit isnt a political attack on Trump, though. This is about something that is patently unfair, she said.
The Democratic Republic of Congo's power company says it may have to severely reduce hydroelectric production because of historically low levels in the Congo River.

"We fear that if we don't have enough water, we would have to stop the turbines because they cannot function when the water is below a certain level," said Medard Kitakani, an official of the National Electricity Company (SNEL).

Congo is one of many African countries struggling with the effects of an extended regional drought.

SNEL said this week that water levels in the Congo River  one of the longest and deepest in Africa  are at their lowest point in the past 100 years.

A cut in power could have major effects on the economy, especially in the mining industries, which depend on the river for electricity.

Kitakani told VOA French to Africa that SNEL currently produces 900 megawatts, the bulk of it coming from a hydroelectric complex near the western city of Matadi.

Production could drop to 350 to 400 megawatts during the coming dry season if the river level falls too low, he said.
President Donald Trump was not aware that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had worked to further the interests of the government of Turkey before appointing him, the White House said Thursday.

The comments came two days after Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group Inc., filed paperwork with the Justice Department formally identifying him as a foreign agent and acknowledging that his work for a company owned by a Turkish businessman could have aided Turkey's government. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday called the action "an affirmation of the president's decision to ask General Flynn to resign."

At the White House, asked whether Trump knew about Flynn's work before he appointed him as national security adviser, press secretary Sean Spicer said, "I don't believe that that was known."

Pence said in an interview later with Fox News that he also did not know about Flynn's paid work.

Flynn and his company filed the registration paperwork describing $530,000 worth of lobbying before Election Day on behalf of Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin. In an interview with The Associated Press, Alptekin said Flynn did so after pressure from Justice Department officials.

The filing this week was the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency's first acknowledgement that his consulting business furthered the interests of a foreign government while he was working as a top adviser to Trump's presidential campaign.

Flynn's disclosure that his lobbying  from August through November  may have benefited Turkey's authoritarian government led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came as Flynn has drawn scrutiny from the FBI for his contacts with Russian officials. Trump fired Flynn last month for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

In paperwork filed with the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Unit, Flynn and his firm acknowledged that his lobbying "could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey." The lobbying contract ended after Trump's election in November, according to the paperwork.

A spokesman for Flynn, Price Floyd, said the general was not available for an interview Thursday. Floyd referred the AP to Flynn's filing in response to questions about why he and his firm had decided to register this week.

Flynn's attorney, Robert Kelner, declined to comment through a spokesman for his law firm, Covington & Burling. The Turkish Embassy also didn't respond to questions from the AP.

Spicer said he didn't know what Flynn had disclosed about his background and lobbying work during the White House's vetting of him for appointment as national security adviser.

Spicer said Flynn was free to do the lobbying work because it occurred while he was a private citizen.

"There's nothing nefarious about doing anything that's legal as long as the proper paperwork is filed," Spicer said. He declined to say whether Trump would have appointed Flynn if he had known about the lobbying.

After Flynn joined the Trump administration, he agreed not to lobby for five years after leaving government service and never to represent foreign governments. Flynn's newly disclosed lobbying would not have violated that pledge because it occurred before he joined the Trump administration in January, but the pledge precludes Flynn from ever doing the same type of work again in his lifetime.

Under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, U.S. citizens who lobby on behalf of foreign governments or political entities must disclose their work to the Justice Department. Willfully failing to register is a felony, though the Justice Department rarely files criminal charges in such cases. It routinely works with lobbying firms to get back in compliance with the law by registering and disclosing their work.

More than a month before Flynn was appointed as national security adviser, news accounts and Democratic senators had raised questions about potential conflicts of interest regarding Flynn's work for the Turkish company. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., criticized Flynn's work and late disclosure again Thursday as troubling.

"Gen. Flynn's behavior seems to be part of a larger pattern of poor judgment from members of this administration," she said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement that Flynn should return any foreign money he received.

"This astonishing admission is more appalling evidence of foreign entanglements and conflicts of interest involving the Trump team," he said. He said a special prosecutor should be appointed to look into ties between Trump officials and foreign governments.

Alptekin told the AP that Justice Department officials had pushed for Flynn and his firm to register as foreign agents in recent weeks. He said the filing was a response to "political pressure" and he did not agree with Flynn's decision to file the registration documents with the Justice Department. He also said that he had asked for some of his money back because of his dissatisfaction with the company's performance.

"I disagree with the filing," he said in a phone call from Istanbul. "It would be different if I was working for the government of Turkey, but I am not taking directions from anyone in the government."

Flynn's consulting firm had previously disclosed to Congress that it worked for Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Alptekin. But neither Flynn nor his company had previously filed paperwork with the Justice Department, which requires more extensive disclosures about work that benefits foreign governments and political interests.

Flynn Intel and S.G.R. LLC Government Relations and Lobbying pressured congressional aides to investigate a cleric who Erdogan had accused of directing a botched coup last summer. The two firms orchestrated meetings with U.S. officials  including congressional staffers and Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, a Republican  as well as journalists. They also worked on research, informational materials and a video on the cleric, Fethullah Gulen.

Flynn met privately in September in New York with two senior Turkish government officials, including the government's ministers of foreign affairs and energy. Flynn's company did not name the officials, but the current Turkish energy minister is Berat Albayrak, who is Erdogan's son-in-law.

Alptekin told the AP he set up the meeting at a New York hotel between Flynn and the two officials while the officials were attending U.N. sessions and a separate conference Alptekin had arranged. Alptekin is a member of a Turkish economic relations board run by an appointee of Erdogan, who has accelerated a crackdown against the nation's weakening secularist faction since the failed coup last summer.

Erdogan has accused cleric Gulen of orchestrating the aborted coup and called for his extradition from the U.S., where he lives in a compound in Pennsylvania.

According to the filing, Flynn Intel's work involved collecting information about Gulen and pressuring U.S. officials to take action against the cleric.
European leaders at a meeting Friday were divided over the idea of accepting a multi-speed Europe - threatening to deepen tensions at a Brussels summit later this month.

At the meeting, Poland was the most vocal in its efforts to quash the concept. The idea of multi-speed allows some member states to go faster, or slower with European integration than others on certain policies and topics.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo accused French President Francois Hollande of trying to "blackmail" Poland, in a bitter dispute over EU leader Donald Tusk. The Polish government is angry about the re-election of their fellow-countryman Tusk as European Council president.

"If someone says 'you're not behaving properly so you won't get the money', that's unacceptable," she told reporters after the meeting.

France, Germany and Italy back the multi-speed Europe concept - but Poland and its former communist neighbors fear being left behind if their stronger partners integrate in more areas, especially the eurozone.

Poland is the biggest net recipient of EU funds - in 2015 it received $14.2 billion from the EU. The budget will come under a huge strain when the UK - one of the biggest net contributors - leaves.

Britain's exit from the EU is a significant rupture. Fears that the bloc itself could implode are why its leaders see the need for a new plan to reinvigorate the European project ahead its 60th birthday, and make it fit for future challenges.

Emphasis on maintaining political unity

A multi-speed EU is one of five options presented by EU Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker earlier this month.



Juncker stressed that a multi-speed Europe in some ways already exists and that no treaty changes are needed.



Even inside euro group, only 10 member states out of 19, having the euro as a common currency, are in favor of the financial transaction tax. So even in the smaller group of the Euro member states we have two groups.

There is no consensus yet between EU member states about the way forward, Council President Tusk told reporters at EU headquarters in Brussels:



Some expect systemic changes, losing intra-EU ties and strengthen the role of nations in relation to the community. Others, quite the opposite, are looking for new deeper dimensions of integration. Even if they would apply only to some member states.



Tusk says he will urge EU member states to maintain political unity.

At a time when the EU is facing both internal and external challenges, the conflict with Poland could have a negative impact on Brexit negotiations.

The main issues on the agenda were defense, unemployment, migration and the western Balkans. The Balkan region has been trying to comply with reforms needed to eventually join the EU.

The EU Summit described the situation in the region as fragile but also reaffirmed its unequivocal support for the European perspective of the western Balkans. This is also partly due to Russian pressure and interference in the western Balkans.

British Prime Minister Theresa May was only present on Thursday, while the remaining 27 leaders continued discussions without her on the future of Europe on Friday.
The chairman of the South Sudan Democratic Movement, also known as the Cobra Faction, has joined the newly formed National Salvation Front headed by General Thomas Cirillo Swaka.

General Khalid Butrus Bora told VOA in an exclusive interview in Arabic from an undisclosed location that he was putting weight behind Swaka to fight the government of President Salva Kiir.

"We in the Cobra Faction have seen that the only movement which can unite South Sudanese people at the moment is the Salvation Front movement under the leadership of General Thomas Cirillo," he said.

The former leader of the South Sudan Democratic Movement, David Yau Yau, signed a peace accord with Kiir in 2014 in Addis Ababa. Yau Yau was appointed the administrator of the Greater Pibor area in Jonglei state. Kiir later eliminated Yau Yau's position after unilaterally partitioning South Sudan into 28 states in 2015. Yau Yau was later appointed as a deputy defense minister in the Transitional Government of National Unity formed after the signing of the 2015 peace deal with SPLM in Opposition leader Riek Machar.

Fighting in Murle territory

Butrus said the South Sudan Democratic Movement under his leadership would operate under the National Salvation Front to fight the Kiir administration. He said Kiir was arming communities in Jonglei state to fight each other.

"As I am speaking to you, there is a fighting going on in Murle territory in Boma. Civilians from Dinka in Bor have been given heavy weapons, and they are attacking Murle area through three positions in several villages,'' he said.

Butrus, who is from the Murle community, resigned from the South Sudan army in September 2016, citing the lack of implementation of a deal signed between the Cobra Faction and the South Sudan government. He said South Sudanese should join the National Salvation Front to remove Kiir's regime.

'We need to have a system that respects the [rule of] law, democracy and justice [for] all South Sudanese people,'' he said.

It is not clear how many soldiers are under the command of the South Sudan Democratic Movement. The general said he would not disclose the number of his troops, "but we are calling on our people in Murle land and other communities in South Sudan to unite and support the National Salvation Front. I can't tell you now how many we are, but [in] the coming days [we] will answer that question.''

The government of South Sudan downplayed the launch of the National Salvation Front early this week. South Sudan Defense Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk said the country was working on a way to restore peace and stability.

Condition for dialogue

Juuk called on Swaka to join the national dialogue scheduled for this month. But South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei told reporters in Juba on Thursday that groups that had taken up arms would not be allowed to participate in the national dialogue unless they renounced violence.

Butrus said he and other opposition groups had been forced to take up arms to fight the Kiir administration in Juba.

"If the regime was serious about the dialogue and [had agreed] to step down so that we change the situation in the country, things would not have reached this current situation. The regime [government] is the one forcing us to take up the gun,'' Butrus said.

He said he was communicating with all opposition groups across the country to unite under one umbrella and overthrow the government in Juba.

The leader of the South Sudan National Movement for Change, Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro, and six shadow SPLM in Opposition governors of Equatoria states issued a statement of solidarity with the National Salvation Front.
Twelve-year-old Janet Sylva of Gambia wants to be a doctor when she grows up, she says with a broad grin  one that surgeons in New York gave back to her after removing from her mouth one of the largest tumors theyd ever seen.



The 6-pound benign tumor was about the size of a cantaloupe. It prevented Janet from eating, and her breathing had become so difficult that doctors were afraid she might die within a year if nothing was done.



It made her a prisoner in her own body, said Dr. David Hoffman, a Staten Island surgeon who became aware of Janets plight last year after doctors in the neighboring west African nation of Senegal reached out to international health groups for assistance. She had stopped going to school and wore a scarf around her face to hide the massive tumor.





Hoffman coordinated with the Global Medical Relief Fund and a team of volunteer surgeons and other medical staff at Cohen Childrens Medical Center in New Hyde Park on Long Island to arrange for Janet to have the surgery, which was performed for free in January.



Dr. Armen Kasabian, chief of plastic surgery at North Shore University Hospital, led the team in performing the delicate operation, which not only involved removing the tumor but also rebuilding her jaw by using part of a bone from her leg. Kasabian said the team knew they had to get it right the first time because Janet and her mother, Philomena, would only be in the U.S. for a short time.



We dont have the luxury of operating on her 10 times, he said. We have to try and get the most that we can out of just one operation.



He and Hoffman said they employed 3-D imaging to build models of the childs mouth, including the tumor, and were able to use the virtual modeling techniques to practice for the procedure before the actual 12-hour surgery took place January 16.



Both physicians said the tumor wouldnt have grown so large if Janet had lived in the U.S.



It would never get to this, Kasabian said. This grew over the course of three years, and she had no one to take care of it there. Here, it would have been treated when it was smaller and more manageable.

Janet and her mother are preparing to return to Gambia next week, said Elissa Montanti of the Global Medical Relief Fund, the Staten-Island based charity that arranged for transportation, housing and travel visas for Janet and her mother.



Before heading home, the pair returned Thursday to Cohen Childrens hospital.



Through an interpreter speaking their native language of Wolof, the mother and daughter shyly thanked the medical staff.



Im very happy and grateful because I have my daughter back, Philomena Sylva said.



Janet smiled and said the scarf she had worn to hide her face has been thrown away.
Even if extremist groups in Africa were wiped out militarily, the continent's massive population of young people would continue to be susceptible to terror groups because of a lack of economic opportunity, the general in charge of U.S. military operations there said Thursday.

Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Thomas Waldhauser, the head of U.S. Africa Command, said the economic crisis confronting African youth was "the biggest challenge" on the continent.

"We could knock off all the ISIL and Boko Haram this afternoon, [but] by the end of the week, so to speak, those ranks would be filled," Waldhauser said. ISIL is the U.S. military's acronym for the Islamic State group.

Young people in Africa joined extremist groups because "they needed a job, they needed a livelihood," he added. "It's not, for the most part in those regions, about ideology."

The general noted boys and girls under age 15 make up 41 percent of Africa's population. He told American lawmakers that Africa's young people need to have a future, one that comes from long-term investment in the region.

'Can't kill our way to victory'

"We've got to find a way to get at education, health care," he said. "We can't kill our way to victory here."

The United States has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid during the past year to the Lake Chad region, where Boko Haram is centered, in the form of food, basic household items, youth programs and other humanitarian assistance.

Officials say another $40 million has been devoted to border security enhancement for Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Nigeria.

Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, whose fighters were recently pushed out of Sirte, Libya, their African headquarters. Despite those setbacks in North Africa, Waldhauser said, the terror group has been making "inroads" in Somalia, on the east coast of the continent.

'Soft power' more effective

The general told Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, that "soft power"  the use of economic or cultural influence rather than military might  is an important approach to combating extremism on the continent.

"Once you have a secure environment, development needs to take place, and that's where soft power kicks in," Waldhauser said.

In reply, Graham urged all members of Congress to keep Waldhauser's comments in mind as they work on President Donald Trump's upcoming budget, which reputedly will include substantial cuts in foreign aid and humanitarian efforts.

"Any budget we pass that guts the State Department's budget, you will never win this war," the senator said, referring to wars against extremism in both Africa and the Middle East.
Guatemala is in mourning after the horrific fire Wednesday that killed 34 teenage girls at a shelter for troubled young people near Guatemala City.

Nineteen of the girls died at the scene  their charred bodies covered with blankets outside the building. Fifteen victims later died from their burns at the hospital. Others are fighting for their lives.

Police and witnesses say mattresses were deliberately set on fire in a part of the shelter where the girls were locked down after trying to escape.

The state-run Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home was built to hold 500, but as many as 800 boys and girls were being housed there  frequently complaining of bad food, shabby facilities, fights and sex abuse.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has called for three days of mourning. He blames the disaster on officials who he says ignored orders to move many of the residents to other facilities.

"The government regrets the fact that those authorities did not heed that request in an opportune way, something which could have prevented the tragedy," Morales said Thursday.

The "safe home" was built to shelter teenagers who were living on the streets because of violence at home or drug addiction.

A former employee of the home called it "a ticking time bomb."
As Haiti prepares for Saturdays state funeral for former President Rene Garcia Preval, his death has taken on an air of intrigue.

When the 74-year-old died March 3 at a suburban Port-au-Prince hospital, the cause of death initially was cited as cardiac arrest. But, in the Caribbean country where voodoo still is practiced, rumors of foul play arose.

"Many people are talking about the possibility of Preval being poisoned, District Attorney Danton Leger told a group of Haitian journalists in explaining why hed opened an investigation into the two-time presidents death.

An autopsy was conducted this week at the request of Prevals widow, Elisabeth, in the presence of Leger and his deputy. Its results could not confirm cardiac arrest, more commonly known as a heart attack, though it ruled out a brain hemorrhage or stroke.





On Thursday, Leger announced his office would seek additional testing on samples of Preval's heart and lung tissue as well as blood and urine. If his office could not find a lab in Haiti capable of performing sensitive tests to detect poison, the specimens would be sent to a foreign lab, he said. "We want the tests to be performed as quickly as possible" to tamp down suspicions.

Prevals body was to lie in state Friday at the Muse du Pantheon National, within walking distance of the national palace from which he once governed. He led the country from 1996 to 2001 and again from 2006 to 2011. He was the countrys first president to win a democratic election, serve a full term and then peacefully hand over power to a successor.

The former president will be memorialized at a state funeral Saturday morning in the capital and later buried in his hometown of Marmelade in northern Haiti.

Preval was a soft-spoken agronomist and champion of the poor and had a reputation as an honest administrator.

He was prime minister under Haiti's first democratically elected president, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, for a portion of 1991, until Aristide was deposed by a military coup.

Preval exemplified "compromise and efficiency" as a politician, his friend and former justice minister, Paul Denis, told VOA. "His flexibility was key to the relative success he enjoyed during his two terms in office. Thats why people say that he was a smart and subtle politician."

A defining moment of his second presidential term was the massive earthquake in January 2010 that killed more than 200,000 people and caused enormous damage to the impoverished nation. The president oversaw the beginning of efforts to rebuild his shattered country, but also faced criticism for a lack of leadership during the crisis.
Park Geun-hye, the recently ousted president of South Korea, was the countrys first female head of state.

Park was a longstanding member of the nations political community. She grew up in the Blue House, the presidential mansion, as the daughter of late dictator Park Chung-hee, who ruled from 1961 to 1979.

Park served as the nations first lady for five years after her mother, a popular first lady, was shot to death by a North Korean agent. The assassin was aiming for the president. Park carried out first lady political duties until her father was assassinated by his own spy chief in 1979.

Parks father was widely accused of suppressing dissent and abusing human rights. Park Geun-hye has said she regrets those aspects of her fathers iron-fisted rule.

Before becoming president, Park served five terms as a lawmaker and had an unsuccessful run for president in the campaign before her triumphant turn.

Influence-peddling scandal

The stunning and sudden collapse of Parks presidency was caused by allegations that a multimillion dollar influence-peddling scandal was being run out of the Blue House.

In December, 234 members of the 300-seat National Assembly voted to impeach Park.

The presidents image as a strong and incorruptible leader crumbled under allegations her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, secretly exploited her close relationship with Park to force Korean conglomerates to donate some $65 million to two dubious foundations, while at the same time funneling some of the funds and lucrative side contracts to companies owned by herself and her friends.

Park maintained her innocence

Park met with her Cabinet after the impeachment vote and refused to resign. However, she said she would abide by the outcome of the impeachment vote and plead her case before the Constitutional Court.

She has maintained the actions she took were in the national interest and has insisted she never personally benefited during her years of public service. She offered three public apologies for not being aware that some of her close associates may have been involved in some wrongdoing.
By Press Trust of India: Hyderabad, Mar 10 (PTI) Ostrich, the flightless bird native to Africa, inhabited India about 25,000 years ago, claims a study.

Though it is native to Africa, several geologists and archaeologists have over the time found ostrich egg shell pieces in India, mostly in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

A DNA study of some partly fossilised ostrich egg shells was recently conducted at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) here.

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"We have successfully analysed the ostrich egg shells in our ancient DNA facility and established that the egg shells (found in India) are genetically similar to the African ostrich," CCMBs senior principal scientist Kumarasamy Thangaraj said.

"The carbon dating (of the ostrich egg shells) to determine the age shows that they are at least 25,000 years old," Thangaraj said.

The study was conducted jointly by the scientists of CCMB, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and others.

The findings of the research have been published in the March 9, 2017 issue of science journal PLOS ONE.

The origin and evolution of ostrich is widely attributed to the continental drifting of Gondwanaland or Gondwana.

Around 150 million years ago, Gondwana was a super-continent comprising South America, Arabia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, India and Madagascar of the present times, an official release said.

An initial break-up of this super-continent (during the Early Cretaceous period - 130 to 100 million years ago) separated Africa and Indo-Madagascar.

This bio-geographical dispersion eventually led to hopping of ostriches in Africa through Eurasia (the combined continental landmass of Europe and Asia), via land route around 20 million years ago.

However, the continental drift theory for the existence of ostriches in India was not proven scientifically, the release said.

Over the time, several geologists and archaeologists discovered ostrich egg shell pieces, mainly in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

However, only morphological pattern of the fragile egg shell pieces is not sufficient to prove the existence of ostrich in India.

The researchers thus analysed the mitochondrial DNA to come to the conclusion about the existence of ostriches in India, the release said.

Phylogenetic (relating to the evolutionary development and diversification of a species or group of organisms, or of a particular feature of an organism) analysis of the DNA sequence revealed a 92 per cent identity of the fossil egg shells to the African ostrich species - Struthio camelus, it further said. PTI SJR GK NM GK SDM

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A decision by the government to fire doctors who went on strike three months ago has left Kenyas health care sector in crisis.

Kenyans remain in limbo after the two sides failed to agree on and sign documents that cover a range of issues, including better pay and working conditions for the doctors, improved health facilities and security for medical staff.

Peter Munya is the governor of the state of Meru and chairman of the council of governors. He says the government remains firm in its decision to penalize doctors who refuse to return to work.

The decision we took still stands and I am told people are following the processes of laying off those who have not reported back to work, said Munya. I am told [disciplinary measures] have been given. So that is what we are implementing.

12 medics fired

On Wednesday, the biggest hospital in the county, Kenyatta National Hospital, fired 12 medics and put 48 others on notice.

Kenyan media report a handful of physicians returned to work.

Dr. George Got is with the union that represents the doctors. He said its national advisory council agreed to proposed amendments presented in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that now awaits the signatures of both parties.

I can only confirm, we were told that the CBA would be signed with the amendments, said Got. I will not tell you exactly which amendments because that's fairly confidential. So the third document to be signed is a formal return-to-work formula checking out the procedures of returning to work.

Union remains optimistic

Got said the union had yet to receive word whether the government would sign the documents, but that union officials remained optimistic.

The national advisory council remains committed, and so far we have not received any communication that those documents will not be signed. Got said. We are just waiting for our negotiators to brief us as when they sign, and they advise us to resume work; we already gave them our blessing, and we shall resume work.

Governor Munya confirmed to VOA that changes were made to the previous collective bargaining agreement of 2013 in which doctors sought a pay raise of up to 180 percent. The government's offer stands at 40 percent.

Foreign doctors may be hired

Munya says the government is considering hiring foreign doctors.

We want to start working out the process of hiring doctors from outside the country, and the minister of health is already working on that, Munya said. The minister "has spoken to friendly countries that can provide doctors, and he is also working on the legal framework to register these doctors locally."

This is not the first time the government has announced the plan to fire doctors and bring in physicians from abroad.

The state plans to hire physicians from neighboring Tanzania as well as Cuba and India. Before that happens, an appeals court will have to rule on the matter.
It's a major natural disaster that slowly grows in one place and then moves across a region, gaining intensity and size. As it spreads, it destroys land, ruins agriculture and tears apart communities, and it can kill people.

It's a drought.

Researchers are just beginning to view droughts as this type of dynamic force, and some hope that soon they will be monitored similarly to hurricanes  with scientists able to predict their development, helping to protect those living in their path.

Ten percent of droughts travel between 1,400 to 3,100 kilometers from where they begin, according to a recent study. The study, which analyzed 1,420 droughts between 1979 and 2009, identified "hot spots" around the world and common directions in which droughts move.

Some droughts in the southwest United States, for example, tend to move from south to north. In Argentina, they usually migrate the opposite direction. In Central Africa, droughts tend to go southeastern toward the coast.

"It can start somewhere, move throughout the continent, and obviously cause harm throughout its way," Julio Herrera-Estrada, a doctoral candidate at Princeton University and leader of the study, said Thursday.

Droughts that travel are usually the largest and most disastrous, the scientists found. They can cause a loss of agriculture, wildlife, wetlands and human life, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Very costly

They are also one of the most expensive natural disasters that people face today, according to Herrera-Estrada, who collaborated on the study with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna.

The most recent moving drought that Herrera-Estrada studied began in 2008 in Ukraine and Russia, and moved 1,700 kilometers northeast, ending in northwest Russia and affecting parts of Kazakhstan on the way. It lasted almost a year.

"People haven't really thought of droughts in this way," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Future research, Herrera-Estrada said, can shed light on what mechanisms cause some droughts to move and what affects their paths. This can be done accurately, however, only through collaboration among national governments, he said.

"It's important to have a global or a continental understanding about how droughts are behaving," he said. Collaboration "benefits people on the ground, farmers, cities that need water, power plants that need water."

The study was published last week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Israels prime minister was in Moscow Thursday to talk with Russias president about the Syrian crisis, the latest sign of Russias growing influence in the Middle East as well as Israels concerns over Moscows regional allies.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin made no joint statement following the talks, but Netanyahu later issued a statement indicating he had made it clear to Putin that Israel wants to prevent any Syrian settlement from leaving Iran and its proxies with a military presence in Syria.

Russia has come to assume a larger role in Israels foreign policy calculations since the Kremlins intervention in the Syrian conflict in September 2015.

While Putin at the time justified Russias actions as taking the fight to global terrorists and the Islamic State, Western critics argue the intervention was also aimed at salvaging the government of besieged Moscows ally, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Russia's wider role

Its that later mission that many in the West, begrudgingly, agree has succeeded -- for now.

Russias role in helping Assads forces take the rebel city of Aleppo in December 2016, in particular, signaled a key turning point in the war.

Independent human rights groups say the victory was accomplished with a ruthless Russian-Syrian air campaign targeting civilians. Russia denies those charges.

Israel has largely stayed out of the Syrian conflict, save for working with Russia to avoid potential clashes with Israels military operations along the Syrian border.

Israel eyes Iran

Yet it is Russias wider military alliance in Syria, alongside traditional Israeli foes Iran and Hezbollah, that is causing alarm among Israeli officials.

In particular, Israel is nervous about the prospect of Iranian military forces gaining a permanent foothold in the Israeli-held border region of the Golan Heights.

Russia has made a very important contribution, said Netanyahu in a statement acknowledging Russias efforts against Islamic State targets in Syria.

He added that he told the Russian leader naturally, we do not want this terrorism to be replaced by the radical Shiite Islamic terrorism led by Iran.

Russian influence

Russian experts on the Middle East suggested Putins influence on Iran was questionable, arguing the countries alliance was based more on circumstance than tradition.

Russia and Iran ... theyre both dependent on one another, said Middle East specialist Karina Gevorkyan in an interview with VOA.

In addition to their support of the Assad regime, she points to economic and Russian weapons sales to Iran as fueling the current partnership.

But its a relationship, Gevorkyan said, built on pragmatism above all else.

Can Putin promise Netanyahu to raise the issue with the Iranians? Yes, he can. And the Iranians might well agree, if they see it in their interests, she said.

Gevorkyan adds that Iran is pursuing its long-term influence in the region, with Israel cast in the role of bogeyman in case plans go astray.

The Russian-Israeli meeting came one day before a visit to Moscow by another Middle East powerbroker and U.S.-NATO ally, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

That relationship, too, has seen its ups and downs surrounding the Syrian war.

Late last year, Russias ambassador to Turkey was gunned down in public by a Turkish assassin. Before being shot by police, the gunman said he was avenging Russias role in the Aleppo siege.

The murder underscored the complexity of Moscows current political pivot from its role as backer of the Syrian regime to the primary mediator in the Syrian conflict.

Talks in Kazakhstan

In February, Moscow sponsored talks between Damascus and the Syrian opposition in neighboring Astana, Kazakhstan.

While results have thus far proved minimal, few doubt Russia is eager to show it can deliver what Western powers could not: a resolution to the vexing six-year conflict.

The next phase of talks in Astana is to resume next week.

Yet largely missing from the equation has been Washington.

The Obama administration had what critics saw as an on-again, off-again engagement on the Syrian issue.

Efforts by then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to make headway with Russia on the Syrian issue in the final year of the Obama presidency failed to produce results.

By contrast, U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated his desire to recruit Moscow in a grand coalition against Islamic State, a position welcomed broadly in the Kremlin.

Yet the American president has pulled back on cooperating with Russia amid multiple investigations into Russian interference in the American election, allegedly on Trumps behalf.

In Moscow, the scandal has fed a sense that, whatever Trumps wishes, the American leader may prove unable to pursue an alliance he claims to want in the interests of his own political survival.
A man facing possible deportation has some notable names in his corner ahead of a meeting with federal immigration authorities in New Jersey on Friday.

Several dozen clergy members marched toward a federal building in Newark in support of a man facing possible deportation.

Clergy including Cardinal Joseph Tobin, leader of New Jersey's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, led a rally for supporters of Catalino Guerrero on Friday morning along with U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez.

Organizers said the 59-year-old Guerrero came here illegally from Mexico in 1991 and has worked ever since, owns his house and has no criminal record. The grandfather of four applied for a work permit several years ago, but filled out a form incorrectly, they said.



Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials summoned Guerrero last month and told him to plan to surrender his passport on March 10, Guerrero's supporters said this week.

An ICE spokesman said in an email Thursday that Guerrero, a Mexican national unlawfully present, was ordered removed from the United States in 2009 by an immigration judge. Guerrero remains free from custody and must periodically report to ICE as a condition of his release.''

Tobin has been critical of President Donald Trump's immigration policies. Last month, he called Trump's executive order temporarily banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries misbegotten and said it was playing on irrational fears of people.

Tobin said lawmakers should focus on fixing immigration laws rather than on large-scale deportation.





The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a steady stream of criticisms of Trump's restrictions on refugees and immigrants. Through Catholic Charities and other programs, American bishops consistently resettle the largest number of refugees annually in the U.S. and provide support nationwide for immigrants.



Other faith groups are mobilizing their congregations to fight Trump's policies, including a network of 37 Protestant and Orthodox denominations that work with the aid group Church World Service. Hundreds of houses of worship around the country have joined the sanctuary movement, which provides support or housing to people facing deportation.



Among others leading protests are U.S. Muslim and Jewish groups, including the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest American synagogue movement.


A Facebook group consisting of thousands of U.S. Marines and Marine veterans has shared nude photographs of women, including fellow Marines, through social media, prompting the U.S. military to launch an investigation into the incident.

The commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert Neller, told reporters Friday at the Pentagon that when female Marines are subjected to cyberbullying, presumably by other Marines, it "undermines everything" the military branch stands for, as it protects and serves the country.

"There is no honor in denigrating a fellow Marine in any way, shape or form," Neller said.

The general said fewer than 10 victims have come forward, but evidence provided by a reporter suggested that around 30 women have been victimized by the cyberbullying scandal.

Marine officials say they were informed about the Facebook site that is sharing the nude photos, known as the "Marines United" community page, on January 30. On February 1, the Marine Corps had the site taken down, but learned later about a link to Google Drive files that contained the nude photos. Some of the photos shared were taken without the women's knowledge.

Neller said an investigation into the incident by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is under way. In addition, Neller said the Marine Corps is setting up a task force to see what actions can be taken, and to come up with practices that both prevent this violation in the future and prevent the "subculture that gave rise to this."

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis released a statement Friday calling the "lack of respect for the dignity and humanity" of fellow military members "unacceptable and counter to unit cohesion."

"We will not excuse or tolerate such behavior if we are to uphold our values and maintain our ability to defeat the enemy on the battlefield," added Mattis, a former Marine general.

Neller told reporters he will testify on Capitol Hill about the incident next week. He also has planned to visit Camp Lejeune, in eastern North Carolina, one of the largest Marine bases on the U.S. East Coast.

Marine officials said they are working to ensure the victims' privacy is protected as the investigation continues. There are reports that some Marines have continued to share the nude photos, despite the ongoing investigation.
U.S. President Donald Trump declared in his inauguration speech January 20, "From this day forward, it's gonna be only America first! America first!" At the time, he probably had no idea he was touching off a viral video sensation that would inspire people in countries around the world to mock not only him, but their own countries.

A talk show host in the Netherlands started it. Comedian Arjen Lubach aired a video on his talk show extolling the virtues of the Netherlands in a bid for runner-up. It is narrated in English by Dutch-American actor Greg Shapiro, who imitates Trump's voice.

"We speak Dutch," the video says. "It's the best language in Europe. We've got all the best words. All the other languages failed." The video also calls the Spanish "total scumbags," describes a dike designed to protect the sea-level nation from flooding as "a great, great wall," and labels its banking system "the best tax-evasion system in the world."

The video's tagline: "We totally understand it's going to be America first. But can we just say the Netherlands second? Is that OK?"

Soon, German talk-show host Jan Boehmermann produced a similar video and challenged talk-show hosts in other countries to do the same. The German video called the Dutch "bad people" and touts the German tradition of Oktoberfest as "the best beer festival God ever created."

At Boehmermann's instigation, the trend became an organized contest called "Every Second Counts" and grew to include more than two dozen entrants. Non-eligible groups produced videos as well, notably one claiming to be produced by inhabitants of Mars who warn that Trump may trigger nuclear disaster. The tagline: "So, we know it's America first. But if America blows up -- second America on Mars?"

Rising ratings

In the United States, political satire has been growing in popularity since the Trump administration took office, with the live comedy-sketch program Saturday Night Live enjoying its most-viewed season in 22 years. On the show, popular comedians have mocked President Trump, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, among others.

Talk show host Stephen Colbert, whose The Late Show with Stephen Colbert specializes in political satire, has enjoyed five straight weeks of ratings success over his competitor Jimmy Fallon, who hosts the long-running Tonight Show.

Fallon has been criticized for being too easy on Trump, while Colbert has skewered the president and his administration, recently mocking Trump's use of the word "bloodbath" to quip that the new Republican health care plan "does not cover bloodbaths."

That the United States' polarizing new leader has inspired a surge of satire is not surprising to Sophia McClennen.

"Satirical mockery, political comedy, and 'laughtivism' are some of the most powerful weapons in our anti-Trump arsenal," wrote the professor of international affairs at Pennsylvania State University, in Salon last month. She said satire always emerges in times of political crisis because it helps expose untruths and combat a culture of fear.

Getting to know the players

Katie Hayes, editor of the student newspaper The Montage at St. Louis Community College in Missouri, wrote on February 22 that satire not only provides a pressure-release valve, it also helps to educate.

"People pay attention when you make them laugh," Hayes said. "Since Saturday Night Live has begun impersonating key players in our government, Americans are able to identify them."

A good example is Steve Bannon, the controversial right-wing figure who serves as the president's chief strategist. He has been portrayed on SNL as the skeletal figure of Death, silently peering over the president's shoulder in the Oval Office.

Kellyanne Conway, a presidential aide who was recently photographed kneeling on a couch in the Oval Office, was skewered on SNL by comedian Kate McKinnon kneeling on a couch on the sidelines of various skits.

Comedy also allows for the expression of dissent.

Christopher Irving, a humanities instructor at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida, said the primary reason for the surge in comic portrayals of current U.S. politics "might stem from the simple desire to be involved in the discussion about how well or how poorly [President Trump] is doing the job. The alternating current produced by a joke carries much farther than a bitingly critical observation, regardless of the medium."

Comedy for change?

Comic performers in Washington, D.C., are certainly having a satiric field day this year.

Joe Kaplan of political revue group Hexagon, says a Conway sketch may figure in this year's annual show, with an actress explaining Trump's actions through a popular 1960s doo-wop song. The show opened Friday and promises plenty of jokes about the president, Congress and current events.

"The best comedy is found in truth," Kaplan says. "One of the songs I wrote is called It Doesn't Matter.... The whole premise of the song is how facts don't matter anymore in Trump's world.... I made the last line poignant, rather than funny, because these are serious times we're living in. You have to make some light of it to get by."

An ongoing question: Do these jokes have any power to effect change in the current political climate?

Mary Dalton, professor of communication, film studies, and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Wake Forest University, is co-editor of the book The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed.

"Satire is not just making fun of something, it's a way of pointing out what's wrong with a desire to lead to change as a correction," she said. She acknowledges that comedy is not the most direct method to effect change, but says, "If you lay the foundation for something, if you drive the message home often enough, sometimes things click into place."

Stress relief

Ken Rynne is a Washington, D.C., comic who runs a small satire outfit called Planet Washington. He writes and performs his own musical comedy shows. He calls the Trump administration "the new abnormal."

Rynne is vocal on social media about his opposition to many policies and people associated with the Trump administration. But at the end of the day, he says, his decision to leave a higher-paying job to skewer people in the political world - a transition he calls "my rags from riches story" - boils down to the most immediate results: stress relief, and fun.

"There's nothing that beats making people laugh," he said. Whatever the political leanings of his audience, Rynne says, "you should leave the show lighter than you came."
Pope Francis will visit Colombia in September, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Friday, stopping in Bogota, Medellin, Villavicencio and Cartagena during a four-day trip.

The pope has been a key supporter of Colombia's peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rebels, even brokering discussions between Santos and his top opposition rival, former president Alvaro Uribe.

"His holiness gave us courage, he gave us momentum, he encouraged all Colombians to persevere in the search for peace and now he will come to Colombia during a unique moment for our country," Santos said after meeting with Colombia's episcopal council of bishops.

Francis will visit between Sept. 6 and September 10.

Santos won last year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach an accord with the FARC, 6,000 of whom are now in the process of handing in their weapons at demobilization camps.

Francis, an Argentine who also helped broker diplomatic efforts in Cuba and Venezuela, repeatedly expressed support for the deal over four years of often tense negotiations.

The visit will be the third by a pope to the Andean nation. Francis has yet to visit his home country as pontiff.
Pope Francis says the Roman Catholic Church should start considering whether to let married men serve as priests in order to address a shortage of clergy, especially in remote areas.

In an interview with Germany's Die Zeit magazine, Francis said: "We must think about whether viri probati [married men of proven religious faith] are a possibility. Then we have to decide what tasks they can take on  for example, in remote communities."

Francis said allowing would-be priests to decide whether they wanted to remain celibate was not something he favored, but he suggested that was an issue for further discussion.

Many Roman Catholics believe that opening a new path to ordination for married men would help address the shortage of clergy in many parts of the world. Certain limited exceptions to the law of celibacy exist: The Vatican accepts married priests in Eastern Rite sects of the church, and it also has recognized married members of the Anglican or Episcopal churches who convert to Catholicism as valid priests.

The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests, whose members serve in American parishes, welcomed the pope's thoughts as expressed in the article published Thursday.

In his first major interview with a German publication, Francis also was asked whether he ever doubted the existence of God, even briefly. "I, too, know moments of emptiness," he responded.

The pope noted that such periods of crisis enable spiritual growth, and he added that he would think any believer who does not experience such moments of doubt has an "infantile" religious faith.

Francis spoke out strongly against the rise of populism in the West, as he has in the past. "Populism is evil and and ends badly, as the past century showed," Die Zeit quoted him as saying, in an apparent reference to fascism and Soviet communism.
The son of a former U.S. FBI agent who went missing in Iran 10 years ago is urging the Trump administration to constantly annoy Tehran into locating his father, whom he believes is still alive.

Daniel Levinson spoke to VOAs Persian service in Washington on Thursday, the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of his father, Robert Levinson.

Watch: Son of Former FBI Agent Missing in Iran for 10 Years

Simply asking for the Iranian governments help in locating my dad is not going to be enough anymore, Daniel Levinson said. He said the Trump administration should constantly annoy Iranian authorities by negotiating through private channels.

He also wrote a column in The Washington Post saying that if Iran fails to act, President Donald Trump should impose more sanctions on the country or declare its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.

Robert Levinson, whose 69th birthday is Friday, disappeared March 9, 2007, while visiting Irans Kish Island as a private investigator. He had retired from a 22-year career with the FBI, and six years before that with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Various reports

In 2013, the Associated Press reported that Levinson had been part of a rogue CIA intelligence mission, a claim that U.S. authorities have not confirmed.

In 2010, his family received a proof-of-life video of Levinson looking gaunt and pleading with U.S. authorities to help him. But there was no word on who was holding Levinson or why, and no images of him have been received since 2011.

His family has said it believes Iranian authorities detained him, but Tehran has repeatedly denied knowledge of his whereabouts.

In his interview with VOA Persian, Daniel Levinson said FBI officials have told the family that they have no evidence that he is not alive.

There has been information that has trickled in over the years that showed signs that my dad was being held, had been moved around, and I believe thats the case, he said.

Timeline of Robert Levinson's time in Iran



Daniel Levinson said his family, who lives in Coral Springs, Florida, hopes to meet the president and other administration officials in Washington in the coming days.

Trump is a dealmaker, he said. I think that its going to require a deal to get my dad home and a dialogue between the two sides.

Trump campaign promise

While campaigning for the presidency last year, Trump promised Levinson would return if he won the election.

Were going to hold him to that, and were going make sure that he holds the Iranians to their promises to continue to work to get my dad home, the younger Levinson told VOA.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer issued a statement Thursday saying the Trump administration remains unwavering in our commitment to locate Levinson and bring him home  and we will spare no effort to achieve that goal.

Spicer also called on Iran to fulfill its commitment to cooperating with the U.S. to find Levinson.

In a separate statement, the FBI said it has worked tirelessly on the case and continue(s) to pursue every lead collected through interviews, intelligence reporting and contact with foreign governments.

The Trump administration also reiterated its $5 million reward for for any information that could lead to (Levinsons) safe return.

Daniel Levinson said his family also is seeking information about his father through its Facebook page and website.

Its been 10 years, and were desperate for any kind of answers that might help us bring him home, Levinson said. I know the FBI is willing to pounce on any of this information and follow these leads.


Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the Kremlin on Friday amid promises from both leaders to strengthen ties and tackle vexing issues in the Middle East.

We are working actively on the settlement of the most acute crises in the world, first of all in Syria, said Putin in a press conference following the meeting.

I am pleased to say that nobody expected this, but at the level of military authorities, intelligence services, we have a very trustful, very effective dialogue, added Putin.

In turn, the Turkish leader expressed faith in continuing Turkish-Russian cooperation.

As far as security matters in our region are concerned, I believe that it takes joint efforts to end bloodshed in Syria, said Erdogan.

Overcoming rifts

The road to this point was long and winding as leaders dubbed the Tsar and the Sultan clashed repeatedly over the Syrian conflict and their differing views on the fate of Moscow's ally, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

First, there was the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey in November 2015 amid Moscow's intervention into the Syrian conflict. Putin called the act a stab in the back, and he imposed punitive travel and trade sanctions on Turkey in response.

A failed coup against Erdogan in June 2016, however, changed everything again. The ensuing violence left 280 dead and Ankara angry at its NATO allies over their criticism of a government crackdown against the coup plotters.

Putin, no stranger to lecturing by the West on human rights, was soon on the phone expressing solidarity. Following an apology by Erdogan over the jet incident, all was forgiven.

Remarkably, the two sides even began coordinating some military actions in Syria, including against Islamic State and Syrian opposition fighters holed up in Aleppo. The fall of the city to Assad's forces was a major turning point in the war.

Yet the Russian-Turkish relationship was put to the test again last December, when Russia's ambassador to Turkey was gunned down in public by a Turkish assassin who claimed he was avenging Russia's brutal air campaign in the Syrian war.

In fact, tragedy came to mar even today's meetings.

As talks got underway, news broke that a helicopter carrying an executive of the Turkish Eczabicasi group and four Russians, including the firm's Russian operations chief, crashed in Istanbul, killing all seven people on board.

Still, Putin used Friday's summit to assure that Moscow's differences with Ankara were largely in the past.

We can not only make up for past blunders but [we can] enter into a new level of cooperation, said the Russian leader. At least the Russian side is prepared and ready for that.

Erdogan clearly agreed, saying now was the time to end any lingering sanctions.

We think that there is a noticeable shift in our relations, said the Turkish leader. I think that we completed the process of normalization of relations as a result of our meeting today.

Mideast influence

The talks came one day after Putin hosted talks with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, a sign Russian media touted as evidence of Moscow's growing influence in the Middle East.

Kremlin observers largely agreed the optics of back-to-back visits was impressive, but some questioned the extent of Moscow's true influence in the region.

Russia has been very successful at creating the impression that it is the player to go to if you want to make a deal in the Middle East, said foreign policy analyst Vladimir Frolov in an interview with VOA. But the reality is much more modest.

Indeed, Russia and Turkey brokered a cease-fire that helped reduce the level of fighting in Syria, and the two sides are now co-sponsors of ongoing peace negotiations in neighboring Astana, Kazakhstan, between the Assad regime and Syrian opposition groups.

Peace talks

Turkey has sought to stem the relentless flow of refugees fleeing the fighting. It also has faced regular terrorist attacks at the hands of IS and what Ankara says are Kurdish militant groups feeding off the chaos in Syria.

Russia, too, has lost lives to Islamic State. But Moscow is also eager to show its new political clout in the region by delivering what Western powers could not: an end to the six-year-old conflict.

It's proven to be a tricky pivot for the Kremlin  from onetime backer of the Assad regime to guarantor of peace.

On Friday, Putin argued that with backing from Turkey and Iran, a shaky cease-fire in Syria had largely held.

Due to the coordinated actions of Russia, Turkey and Iran, the cease-fire in Syria is generally being observed. The level of violence has decreased significantly, said Putin.

Yet early signs from the quest for a negotiated peace have not been promising, say observers.

Yes, Russia inserted itself in Syria and is essential for any sort of a political solution and concluding the military fight against ISIS, said analyst Vladimir Frolov. But Russia is having trouble imposing a political solution in Syria that it wants.

Both Turkey and Russia will have another opportunity when the peace talks resume in Astana next week.
By India Today Web Desk: Perhaps tired of flying by his/her own wings, a barn owl was caught trying to take a free flight on a United Airlines aircraft in Mumbai on Wednesday night. The bird was found hiding in the plane's landing gear assembly.

Unfortunately of the barn owl, the maintenance crew spotted it before the flight could take off, and it had to get away as quickly as possible.

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"The native owl flew into the landing gear while UA49 BOM-EWR (Mumbai-Newark) was parked at the gate," a TOI report quoted a United Airlines spokesperson.

An ANI report said the barn owl was safely removed by the airline's maintenance team. The flight then took of in time, without the poor bird.

Mumbai: Live owl found in landing gear of United Airlines aircraft after landing, safely removed by the maintenance team of the airline pic.twitter.com/t4OwLeKSDT- ANI (@ANI_news) March 9, 2017

To all the Harry Potter fanatics out there, let us assure you that the owl did not have any letters or parchments attached to its feet. So, it is safe to say that it was not from Hogwarts (phew!)

--- ENDS ---
The U.S. Senate intelligence committee voted overwhelmingly Thursday in favor of President Donald Trump's nominee to be director of national intelligence, former Republican Senator Dan Coats of Indiana, sending his nomination to the Senate floor.

The vote, which took place in a closed hearing, was 13-2, the committee said. Democratic Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and and Kamala Harris of California were the only two members to vote no.

Coats must still be confirmed by the full Senate to become the top U.S. intelligence official. The popular former lawmaker, who also served as ambassador to Germany, is expected to be confirmed easily.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the September 11, 2001, attacks to oversee all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies and improve communications among them.

Coats, 73, would replace James Clapper, who retired as President Barack Obama left office.

Russia probe

Coats was a member of the Senate intelligence panel until he retired from the Senate at the end of last year. He pledged during his confirmation hearing on February 28 to support a thorough investigation of any Russian effort to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Wyden, one of the Senate's leading privacy advocates, said he voted against his former colleague because he felt that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had not provided the committee with enough information about how many Americans' communication records had been subjected to government surveillance.

"Given that there has not been a firm commitment to deliver this critical information, I cannot support any DNI nominee without that material," Wyden said in a statement.

Harris said that after consideration of Coats' record on a range of issues, she concluded she could not support his nomination.

Senators Richard Burr of North Carolina, the committee's Republican chairman, and Mark Warner of Virginia, its top Democrat, both said they were pleased the committee had backed Coats.

Warner said he was confident that Coats, as a former committee member, had respect for the panel's oversight responsibilities.
The winds fueling deadly wildfires that scorched vast swathes of land in four Plains states finally dropped Thursday, bringing hope to crews trying to contain the blazes. Emergency personnel warned, however, that extremely dry conditions and hot spots could cause a flare-up, even in areas where there's "not much left to burn."

Most of the burned land is in Kansas, where about 2,000 firefighters have been battling a series of blazes that consumed more than 1,000 square miles and damaged or destroyed dozens of structures. The firefight Thursday was focused on four counties, down from 21 on Monday.

One blaze, encompassing two counties along Kansas' southern border with Oklahoma, is the largest wildfire on record in Kansas. Emergency officials said Thursday that crews are monitoring hot spots after the fire was 70 percent contained in Comanche County and 50 percent in Clark County.

Monitoring is crucial because the ground is "extremely dry," and it was possible that sparks from a smoldering stump could re-ignite the fire, said John Lehman, the emergency manager in Comanche County, where 234 square miles has burned.

By midafternoon Wednesday, Lehman said firefighting efforts were calming in his county. He said the volunteer fire chief, Greg Ellis, was back at his "normal job" at a co-op elevator.

"The fire essentially is contained to hot spots  trees that are on fire, things like that," Lehman said.

A wildfire last year that burned land in Comanche County and neighboring Barber County held the previous state record.

"It doesn't take anything to get a fire going and they're hard to put down. It's just so dry," Lehman said.

In neighboring Clark County, where 625 square miles has been consumed, emergency management spokeswoman Allison Kuhns said: "Frankly, there is not much left to burn."

The state's sole fire victim was a semitrailer driver who succumbed to smoke in the county Monday after his rig jackknifed.

Kansas, Texas

Kansas crews also are monitoring what's left of a fire near Hutchinson that destroyed nine homes and burned about 11 square miles, along with a Rooks County fire that is 97 percent contained.

The weather could at last work in the firefighters' favor: Winds across west and central Kansas and into the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles will range from 10 to 15 mph Thursday, down from earlier in the week, according to Jared Leighton, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

In the Texas Panhandle, fires have burned about 750 square miles, killing three ranch hands as they tried to save cattle and a man who was caught in smoke as he attempted to drive home from work. Two of the state's three fires are fully contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. The largest  which burned about 500 square miles in the northeast Panhandle near the Oklahoma border  was 75 percent contained Thursday.

Oklahoma, Colorado

About 545 square miles also has burned in Oklahoma, where a woman had a deadly heart attack while trying to protect her farm. State forestry officials said Thursday that the three fires were 10 percent contained and that crews were working to suppress hot spots.

U.S. Senators Jim Inhofe and James Lankford of Oklahoma planned to visit the northwest part of the state Friday to discuss the wildfires.

No deaths were recorded in Colorado, where more than 45 square miles burned.
Using metal hand tools, a team of forensic investigators scrapes away soil covering a mass grave in the town of Berbera, Somaliland. Nearly two meters below are the bodies of 17 men who are believed to have been rounded up, shot and dumped here nearly 30 years ago.

The men were from the Isaaq clan. They allegedly were killed by troops, loyal to Somali dictator Siad Barre, who were battling rebels from Somaliland at the time.

The campaign killed about 50,000 people, mostly from the Isaaq clan. The commission says this was a genocide, although the use of the term is disputed.

More than 25 years after that civil war ended and Somaliland declared its independence from the rest of Somalia, researchers continue to find mass graves around the country.

For the past five years, Somaliland's War Crimes Investigation Commission has teamed up with a group of international forensic investigators to exhume the bodies.

They hope to gather enough evidence to bring the alleged perpetrators of war crimes to justice.

Commission chair Khadar Ahmed Like says the exhumation process is a matter of dignity for the dead, who often were dumped in pits without ceremony.

"Every person has the right to be buried in his religious method," he said. "So we are just taking out these bodies and we are burying them separately after cleaning and praying on them."

After a few days of digging with shovels and pick axes, the investigators reach the bodies. A skull wrapped in cloth pokes out of the dirt.

Many more mass graves dot Somaliland's landscape, including six other known sites in Berbera alone. New graves often are discovered after rains wash away topsoil to reveal human remains.

In the past five years, the commission has exhumed 11 mass graves, including the one opened this year in Berbera, according to Like, and it has reburied more than 100 bodies.

After removing the bones, the team reassembles the skeletons and analyzes the remains in hopes of identifying the victims and establishing a probable cause of death.

Valeska Martinez, a forensic analyst from Chile, explains that one skull, its facial bones missing with deep cracks along the cranium, indicates a gunshot wound.

"Mostly the case is gunshot wound in the head or in the thoracic area," she said. "If we see like a gunshot wound in the head, we know that this person don't die in a natural way. With that kind of proof, we can show in a court a proof that this person was murdered."

The exhumations, however, are divisive.

Fights broke out between family members and police as relatives of the victims tried to block the opening of the grave in Berbera. The commission did not consult first with the families about the process.

Khadra Mohamed Abdi, whose father's body was found in the mass grave, says she wants his killer caught and jailed. Nevertheless, she stood against the removal of the body.

"It's all so painful. You know, someone you forgot 25 years ago, and then when we see the process, it's like [the pain is] new to us," she said. "All the time we are crying because we remember what happened that time. We told them, not to dig, but the decision is not our hand."

Commissioner Like countered that proving the atrocities took place is of national importance and could convince other countries to recognize Somaliland's independence from Somalia.

"Actually, for [the families] it's nothing," he said of the exhumation process. "It is for us to prove this genocide has occurred by the regime of Siad Barre."

In Somaliland, digging up the past brings no easy answers.

Watch: Somaliland Opens 30-Year-Old Mass Graves From Civil War
A South African women's rights group has pulled out of key meetings next week at the United Nations in opposition to policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, especially those it says demean and endanger women.

The decision not to attend the U.N.'s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a show of support for women excluded because of the U.S. travel ban on visitors from six majority-Muslim nations, Masimanyane Women's Rights International said.

The CSW, which begins Monday, is an annual two-week session when diplomats, advocates and others meet to discuss gender equality and women's empowerment.

A number of advocates hoping to participate in this year's meetings have been denied visas, including women from Ghana, Cameroon, Nepal and Bangladesh, according to the International Women's Health Coalition, a leading U.S.-based rights group.

"Some have been declined, but it is not entirely clear what the reason is," a spokeswoman said.

U.N. Women said more than 8,000 people had registered for the meetings, and "so far, we have not heard from anyone from these countries about visa issues."

"We trust that the U.S. as the host country of the U.N. will continue to enable the organization to carry out its critical work," said a spokeswoman for U.N. Women, the global body's entity that promotes women's issues.

U.N. spokesman: No known problems

A U.N. spokesman also said: "So far the groups that are trying to attend the Commission on the Status of Women, as far as we're aware, none of them have been denied entry."

The South African women's group said it had "serious concerns about the far-reaching impact of the recent spate of executive orders which serve to exclude, demonize and criminalize" women.

"We regretfully will no longer be traveling to New York, nor will we be participating in the panel discussion that we had planned for the CSW," Lesley Ann Foster, executive director of Masimanyane, said in a statement this week.

Trump on Monday signed a revised executive travel order, replacing a more sweeping ban issued in January that caused chaos and protests at airports.

The new order keeps a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It excludes Iraq, which was listed in the earlier order. The earlier order was halted by a federal judge.

Some of Trump's other orders have been seen as detrimental to women's rights  such as a rule that cuts funding to international women's health groups that mention the topic of abortion.

Last month, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom also said it would not attend the CSW session.
The South Korean Constitutional Court has voted unanimously to uphold the impeachment of President Park Guen-hye.

Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mis reading of the ruling from the Constitutional Court in Seoul Friday was broadcast live by national media outlets.

We believe that there are greater benefits by expelling the respondent from the office. Therefore with a unanimous vote of the justices we announced upholding (the impeachment.) The respondent President Park Guen-hye is expelled.

Impeachment ruling

All eight of the Constitutional Court justices endorsed the National Assembly motion, passed in December with more than the two-thirds majority support needed, to remove Park from office on charges of corruption, misconduct and negligence.

The court cited as grave violations of the constitution the allegations that Park colluded with her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil to extort Korean conglomerates to donate more than $69 million to two dubious foundations. Choi was alleged to have a cult-like influence over Park and control over her staff, even though she had no official government role.

These violations undermine the rule law and a representative democracy, Lee said.

Park was also reprimanded for being uncooperative and evasive in the investigations, and attempting to prevent the legislature from acting as a check and balance on executive power.

Other charges the justices found troubling but did not constitute grave violations of the constitution include allegations of negligence related to Parks extended absence during the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster.

The Constitutional Court also clarified that its ruling was focused on the legitimacy of the National Assembly action to oust the president, and not on criminal guilt or innocence.

Leaders react

The 64-year-old Park now becomes the first democratically elected president of South Korea to be removed from office. She is the second president to go through the impeachment process. In 2004 President Roh Moo-hyun was ousted by the legislature but was reinstated by the court two month later.

In Myung-jin, interim head of Parks conservative Liberty Korea Party said his party will respect the grave value of constitutional law and democracy and will humbly accept the decision of the court.

From this moment, the Liberty Korea Party is not a ruling party anymore, In said.

Choo Mi-ae, leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, hailed the court ruling as a historic triumph of people power and democracy over an entrenched government and corporate monopoly.

The world will record the great fight and victory of our people as new history of democracy, Choo said.

The impeached president has repeatedly denied the charges against her, maintaining that the actions she took were in the national interest and insisting she never personally benefited during her 18 years of public service. She also offered a number of public apologies for not being aware that some of her close associates may have been involved in some wrongdoings.

Park is the daughter of a military ruler who led the country for 18 years before being assassinated in 1979.

U.S. reaction

U.S. State Department Spokesman Mark Toner issued a statement, saying We will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang for the remainder of his tenure as acting president, and we look forward to a productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next president.

Toner emphasized that the South Korean impeachment decision is a domestic issue on which the United States takes no position, and that the U.S. will continue to be a steadfast ally, friend, and partner to South Korea, especially with respect to defending against the threat from North Korea.

The South Korean military has been put on high alert following the impeachment ruling to deter North Korea from taking advantage of the political turmoil in the country.

New election

Park was suspended from her duties following the impeachment vote in December but continued to reside in the Blue House presidential residence. She must now move out as soon as possible.

Park wont vacate the presidential Blue House on Friday as her aides are preparing for her return to her private home in southern Seoul, according to the Blue House. Park wasnt planning any statement on Friday, it said.

Under the constitution, Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn must schedule a presidential election with 60 days.

Delay THAAD?

Opposition leaders have called for the polices of the impeached president to be put on hold until a new leader is elected.

The Democratic Party of Korea has also called for the deployment of the controversial U.S. THAAD missile defense system to be delayed. Chinas strong opposition to THAAD and reports of Beijing retaliating against Korean companies have sparked increasing concerns in South Korea. Parts for the anti-missile battery, however, have already begun to arrive in South Korea and the system is expected to be fully operational as early as April.

Many progressive leaders want to pursue a less confrontational approach to resolve tensions with North Korea over its nuclear program.

In the upcoming election, conservatives are expected to make national security a key issue and will try to contrast liberal pro-engagement policies with their hardline positions on taking increasing defensive measures, maintaining the close alliance with the U.S. and increasing punitive measures on the Kim Jong Un government.

Immunity, benefits gone

While in office, the president was immune to prosecution, but Park could now face criminal charges. Earlier this week a special prosecutor, appointed to investigate this corruption scandal, accused Park of wrongdoing on several charges, including a bribery conspiracy implicating the Samsung Group.

Samsung Group Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and other company officials were indicted for donating $37.19 million to the Choi-run foundations in exchange for government help on an important merger for the company, and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Choi and a number of presidential aides are facing similar charges and prison terms for their roles in the influence peddling scandal.

Because she was impeached, Park will also lose most post presidency benefits and privileges including a generous pension, health care and administrative support.

Protests

Outside the court, thousands of Park supporters and opponents held rival demonstrations. More than 21,000 police were dispatched to prevent violent clashes between these groups. Traffic near the court has been shut down. Two people later died during the protests.

The anti-Park protesters celebrated the impeachment ruling. Since October there have been weekly massive, peaceful protests across the country demanding the president step down over the corruption scandal. The demonstrations, along with Parks approval rating of less than 10 percent, helped pressure the National Assembly to act.

A recent survey poll found that 79 percent of the South Korea public supported an impeachment ruling.

The presidents supporters reacted with outrage and there were incidents of protesters scuffling with police.

In the last month, increasing numbers of conservative supporters of President Park have been organizing counter demonstrations to denounce the impeachment as tyranny of the mob and an illegal reversal of a democratically held election.

The court was intent to make its ruling by Friday before judicial term limits reduced the normally nine-member body to seven justices. The South Korean Constitution requires at least six justices concur for an impeachment motion to be upheld. But Chief Justice Park Han-chul was forced to step down in January when his term ended, and Monday will be the last day of Justice Lee Jung-mis term. During the impeachment process justices terms cannot be extended and no new judges can be appointed.

Youmi Kim contributed to this report.
Faced with a shrinking pool of visas, the U.S. embassy in Kabul has started turning away Afghan military translators and other Afghan nationals seeking to immigrate to the United States through a decade-old special visa program.

A State Department official said Friday the embassy stopped scheduling new special immigrant visa interviews for Afghans on March 1 after concluding that it had enough unused visas only for those who are already in the final stages of the application process.

As of March 5, only 1,437 special immigrant visas were available for Afghans, while there were more than 15,000 Afghans in various stages of the application process, the official said, adding that the embassy expects to exhaust its pool of visas by June 1.

"The department regularly makes adjustments to our visa processing in order to ensure that we do not exceed the visa numbers allocated by Congress," the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss the change in policy. "We do not expect to resume scheduling appointments unless new SIV numbers are allocated by Congress."

While the official said the U.S. remains committed to supporting Afghans that have helped the U.S. mission at great personal risk, advocates for Afghan refugees slammed the decision.

"This devastating development means that thousands of trusted allies will remain in danger, waiting for Congress to allocate visas that were clearly needed months ago," said Betsy Fisher, policy director for the International Refugee Assistance Project in New York.

The Special Immigrant Visa program was created by Congress in 2008 for Afghan military translators, but was later expanded to cover any Afghan who could demonstrate "at least one year of faithful and valuable service" to or on behalf of the U.S. government.

With tens of thousands of U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan, the program long enjoyed bipartisan support, with Congress extending it annually and authorizing 7,000 visas in 2015 and 2016.

But with the U.S. combat mission winding down and anti-immigrant sentiment on the rise during the presidential campaign, opposition to the program grew. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a longtime critic of the program, led an effort last year against increasing the number of special immigrant visas to Afghans.

As part of a compromise, Congress extended the program for four years but allocated just 1,500 visas for the 2017 fiscal year.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a long-time advocate of the visa program in Congress who had unsuccessfully pushed for 2,500 visas for 2017, said she'll soon introduce legislation for additional visas and "use every available opportunity to move this through Congress."

Allowing this program to lapse sends the message to our allies in Afghanistan that the United States has abandoned them, Shaheen said in a statement issued late Thursday.

Julie Tarallo, a spokeswoman for Senator John McCain, another strong proponent of the program, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Word of the halted visa program comes just five days after President Donald Trump signed a second executive order limiting travel. While the order blocks the issuance of travel visas to people from six countries, Afghanistan is not one of them. However, the order does cut refugee admissions by more than half, to 50,000.

The first travel order, barring travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries, was halted in the courts February 3, a week after it was issued. Even though the order was stayed, at least one Afghan family that arrived in the U.S. under a Special Immigrant Visa was detained.

A former Afghan military translator, his wife and three children were detained for more than 40 hours after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport on March 2, according to IRAP. The translator was placed in detention in Orange County, while his family was booked on a flight to Texas where they were to be held in detention.

All five were released after IRAP and other refugee advocates asked the U.S. district court in Los Angeles to intervene on their behalf.

IRAP did not disclose the translators name for security reasons.
Were coming on strong with the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending March 11, 2017.

Last week, if you recall, we had a big new entry in fourth place. Well, THIS week, we have a big new entry in fourth place!



Number 5: The Chainsmokers and Halsey "Closer"



The Chainsmokers and Halsey continue their record-setting run in the Top Five with Closer  its been there for 27 weeks now.

On February 5, The Chainsmokers ruled the iHeart Radio Music Awards in Los Angeles. The duo was the nights big winner, taking five awards including Best New Artist. Drake and twenty one pilots came in second with four trophies apiece.

Number 4: Bruno Mars "That's What I Like"



Last week Katy Perry crashed into the hit list at number four with Chained To The Rhythm. This week, Bruno Mars is our big fourth-place newcomer, as Thats What I Like rises three slots.



On Sunday, Mars was in Los Angeles, performing at the iHeart Radio Music Awards. He also received the iHeart Radio Innovator Award, presented by Big Sean. Mars kicks off his world tour on March 28 in Antwerp, Belgium.

Number 3: Taylor Swift & Zayn "I Don't Wanna Live Forever"



Slipping a slot to third place go Zayn and Taylor Swift with I Dont Wanna Live Forever.



Swift and Ed Sheeran have been friends for years, and in 2013 collaborated on the song Everything Has Changed. Now, it appears, a follow-up is in the works. Sheeran told E! News that a new collaboration will happen in their lifetimes, although its a safe bet well hear something much sooner.

Number 2: Migos "Bad And Boujee"



Migos re-take the runner-up slot with their former champ Bad And Boujee. The Georgia trio is prepping for one of the years most anticipated hip-hop tours: on May 4, theyll hit the road in North America with Future, Tory Lanez, and Kodak Black. August brings appearances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in the U.K.



Number 1: Ed Sheeran "Shape Of You"

Ed Sheeran spends a fifth total week atop the Hot 100 with Shape Of You. His Divide album dropped March 3, setting a new Spotify streaming record in the process. Fans streamed it more than 56 million times upon release, nearly doubling The Weeknds previous record for Starboy, set last year.

Thats it for now, but we'll have a new lineup for you in seven days.
President Donald Trump has asked former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Russia, a position likely to come with heavy scrutiny as questions swirl around Trumps alleged connections to Moscow.

Media reports say Huntsman has indicated his willingness to accept the position, though he has made no formal statement on the matter.

Huntsman boasts a long diplomatic career, having served twice as an ambassador under both Democratic and Republican presidents. He served as the ambassador to China during Barack Obamas administration and as ambassador to Singapore during the presidency of George H.W. Bush.

Watch: Jon Huntsman Reportedly to Be Named Ambassador to Russia

Huntsman was first elected governor of Utah in 2004 and re-elected in 2008, soundly beating Democrat nominee Bob Springmeyer with more than 77 percent of the vote. He resigned a little more than a year into his second term to become ambassador to China.

When he left office, Huntsman enjoyed an 80 percent approval rating. During his tenure as governor, the Pew Center on States named Utah the best managed state in the country.

He served as ambassador for two years, but resigned in April 2011 to focus on a presidential campaign in 2012. The campaign proved unsuccessful and Huntsman dropped out in early 2012 to endorse the eventual Republican candidate, Mitt Romney.

Politically, Huntsman describes himself as a center-right conservative, though he has shown the ability work with very diverse groups of people throughout his diplomatic career, including the authoritarian government in China, which could give him some experience in dealing with Russia's government.

He is fluent in Mandarin and he and his wife, Mary Kaye, adopted a daughter from China.
President Donald Trump will ask Chancellor Angela Merkel for advice on how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. officials said on Friday,

as the U.S. and German leaders meet next week after sometimes

pointed disagreements in recent months.



Merkel will visit the White House on Tuesday for talks with Trump and a joint news conference in what will be their first face-to-face meeting since the new U.S. president took power on Jan. 20.



They are expected to discuss Germany's level of defense spending for the NATO alliance, the Ukraine conflict, Syrian refugees, the European Union and a host of other issues, said three senior Trump administration officials who briefed reporters.



During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Trump regularly criticized Merkel for her open-door refugee policy, contrasting it with what he promised would be tighter controls in the United States if he won office. Merkel has been a leading critic of Trump's effort to ban travelers temporarily from seven Muslim-majority nations, a list that has since been pared back to six.



"My expectation is that they'll have a very positive, cordial meeting," said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.



Trump has long expressed desire for warmer U.S. relations with Russia but some of his top Cabinet officials are skeptical.



"The president will be very interested in hearing the chancellor's views on her experience interacting with Putin," said another official. "He's going to be very interested in hearing her insights on what it's like to deal with the Russians."



Trump will also ask for Merkel's advice on what role the United States can most helpfully play in ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has pitted Ukrainian forces against Russian-backed separatists.



The officials described Trump as impressed by Merkel's leadership, particularly in Germany's role alongside France in seeking peace in Ukraine, and on Afghanistan.



Trump has been critical of NATO allies who he says do not pay their fair share, and the officials said he would raise with Merkel the need for Germany to increase its defense spending as he tries to rally European allies to contribute more to NATO.



Germany should be "leading by example" on increasing contributions to NATO, one official said.



"We are heartened by the German government's determination to reach NATO's benchmark of committing 2 percent of GDP to defense by 2024,"the official said. "The president believes that all allies must shoulder their share of the defense burden," the official said.
Turkey expressed hopes on Friday for a revival of its tourism industry after security concerns caused a 30 percent drop in foreign visitors and revenues last year.

"We are seeing some very positive signals. That gives us hope," Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avci said at ITB Berlin, the world's biggest tourism fair, on Thursday.

The number of foreign visitors to Turkey fell to 25.4 million in 2016, the lowest in nine years, after a spate of bombings and a failed coup discouraged tourists.

Bookings from Germany, the source of around 15 percent of Turkey's tourists, are also suffering as security worries are exacerbated by rising tensions over Turkish political rallies in Germany and the detention of a Turkish-German journalist in Istanbul.

Surprise visit

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu unexpectedly stopped by ITB on Wednesday and lobbied for German tourists to return.

"There is no reason for our German friends to be afraid to come to Turkey. Turkey is as safe as Germany," he said.

Hotels in Turkey on average filled only 53 percent of rooms last year, and many have slashed prices.

Bookings for summer off to slow start

Palm World Resort & Spa, a 620-bed hotel near the seaside town of Side, is offering rooms at a discount of 35 to 40 percent, after a 50 percent price cut last year, owner Mehmet Surucuoglu told Reuters at ITB.

So far, though, only 25 percent of its rooms have been booked for the summer season.

"It is better to have some people coming at lower prices than to have an empty hotel," said Surucuoglu, who relies on Germany for 90 percent of his guests.

The government is trying to prop up the travel sector  which contributes about $30 billion to the economy in a usual year  by expanding fuel subsidies for airlines and helping hotels obtain loans, said Avci, the tourism minister.

Fuel subsidies for flights

Fuel subsidies of $6,000 per flight carrying up to 200 passengers are now available for scheduled flights as well as charter carriers, and the number of eligible airports has been increased to 14 from five, he said.

Still, Thomas Cook's Condor has cut capacity to Turkey by 10 percent this summer, after a 30 percent drop in passenger numbers last year, Chief Executive Ralf Teckentrup told Reuters at ITB.

Kayihan Suer, sales manager at Peninsula Tours, said his company had managed to keep occupancy rates over 80 percent in eight of its 12 hotels by bringing in guests from many different countries, making it less reliant on any one market.

"We've been doing business for 35 years, we've made mistakes and learned our lessons. Now we have over 20 different nationalities in our hotels," he said, adding that there was strong interest from Romanian and Bulgarian tour operators.

Murat Sak, who manages the Venosa hotel near Bodrum, said the proportion of Turkish guests had risen since last year and was now at 40 percent, helped along by discounts for early bookings.
By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, Mar 10 (PTI) Pakistan government today introduced a constitutional amendment bill in Parliament to revive the controversial special military courts for trying "hardcore" militants.

Apart from changes sought in the constitution to set up such courts, another bill was presented to seek amendment in the army law to enable military to regulate these courts.

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Law Minister Zahid Hamid moved both the bills in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.

Radio Pakistan reported that the Minister said on the occasion that in 2015, the parliament had passed two bills including Twenty-first (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and "The Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to set up military courts to hear the cases of hardcore criminals.

He said positive results were received through these steps.

The minister said the country is still going through extraordinary circumstances and facing many challenges.

Therefore, it is necessary that these measures will continue.

He pointed out that under these bills the steps taken in 2015 will get extension and the government wants to pass these bills with consensus.

However, there is opposition by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to the bills, as the party insisted that the tenure of the courts should be for one year instead two as proposed by the government.

The PPP also wants a civilian judge to sit with the military judge to hear the cases and giving the defendant a right to appeal in the high courts.

PPP boycotted todays proceedings which forced the government to delay the voting on the bills. The voting is expected on Monday when the house will convene after weekend break.

The government would try to win the support of the PPP as it is trying to pass the key change in the law with consensus.

The previous law passed in 2015 to set up military courts for two years was unanimously adopted. PTI SH AMS AKJ AMS

--- ENDS ---
A new report accuses Turkeys security forces of widespread and systematic human rights violations, including massive destruction of towns and killings of mainly Kurdish people in the southeast.

Turkey has denied repeated requests for access to the country by U.N. human rights investigators, so they have been forced to gather evidence through satellite imagery and interviews.

The report documents accounts of torture, enforced disappearances, violence against women and other human rights violations committed between July 2015 and December 2016 in southeast Turkey.

During that period, the report says government security operations displaced between 355,000 and one-half-million, mainly Kurdish people in more than 30 towns and neighborhoods.

The report describes the destruction of buildings in some villages. In one area, local authorities estimate 70 percent of the buildings were systematically destroyed by shelling.

U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said heavy damage also has been reported from other towns, including Cizre, in Sirnak Province.

The report," said Colville, "describes how witnesses and family members of victims 'painted an apocalyptic picture of the wholesale destruction of neighborhoods' where, in early 2016, up to 189 men, women and children were trapped for weeks on end in basements without water, food, medical attention and power before being killed by fire, that had apparently been caused by shelling.

The report cites information received from the Turkish government accusing the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which it considers a terrorist organization, of conducting violent attacks that killed and injured Turkish security forces and other individuals.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra-ad al-Hussein said he is alarmed at the ongoing deterioration of human rights since an attempted coup last July in Turkey. The human rights chief said he is particularly concerned that there has been no credible investigation of the hundreds of alleged unlawful killings, including those of women and children.

Given the magnitude of the alleged crimes, he said an independent investigation is both urgent and essential.
The United Nations reports that aid workers have provided desperately needed food and other humanitarian aid to more than 338,000 South Sudanese facing famine in four key areas of Unity State.

U.N. aid agencies have been scaling up relief operations in famine-stricken Unity State since February 20, when the U.N. declared a localized famine in the region of Africa. The United Nations reports some of the 100,000 people facing starvation are dying, while another 1 million are on the brink of famine across war-torn Sudan.

Because of security concerns, the World Food Program has been airdropping food, emergency livelihood assistance, nutrition supplements, health and sanitation kits.

WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher told VOA airdrops are the only option when truck convoys are unable to go by road to deliver aid.

Famines happen if aid workers do not have access and that was the issue in those areas," she explained. "Again and again over the past few years, we were able to avoid a famine in those areas, but these people now for a third time have been in a really dire situation and need the outside help.  It is crucially important that aid workers get access and, of course, funding is important, too.

Spokesman for the Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Jens Laerke agreed. Unfortunately, he said a week after famine was declared in parts of South Sudan, 28 humanitarians were forced to leave Mayendit, one of the hardest hit areas, following skirmishes north of the town.

Intensive negotiations were undertaken to try to get the aid workers back," he said. "They are critically needed in the response. However, renewed fighting has been reported on the outskirts of the town on the first of March and aid organizations  the 28 aid workers have not been able to return because of the continued fighting.

Laerke said the U.N.s lifesaving operation also is being hampered by a lack of funds. He said slightly more than nine percent of the $1.6 billion needed to carry out emergency operations this year has been received.
For the second time this year, the United States has deported a group of Somalis to their home country.

A plane carrying 68 Somalis landed Friday at Mogadishus Aden Adde International Airport. The deportees were accompanied by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who handed them over to Somali authorities, officials say.

One of those deported, Nur Mohamed Mohamud, told VOA's Somali Service that he had traveled through more than 10 countries over a two-month period to reach the U.S.

He said he was detained in Florida for 20 months before being sent home. "They rejected my asylum application. I was not a criminal," he said.

Mohamud said the Somali Embassy in Washington issued the deportees travel documents that facilitated their return to Somalia.

Acting Somali Minister of Internal Security Abdirizak Omar Mohamed told state media that the government was informed about the deportees before their arrival in Mogadishu.

There is no agreement between the Somali government and the United States about deportations, but these deportees were Somalis who had problems in detention who requested to be returned to Somalia, he said.

This is the second time the U.S. has conducted a major deportation of Somali immigrants since Donald Trump became U.S. president on January 20. The first group of 90 Somalis was sent home by plane in late January.

Somalia's ambassador to the United States, Ahmed Isse Awad, told VOA's Somali service at the time that the immigrants had sent letters to the Somali Embassy in Washington requesting the deportation. All had been in detention centers or prisons.

Somalia is one of six countries affected by revised travel orders issued by Trump.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has called on Trump to lift the restrictions on Somalis coming to the U.S.
While the Trump administration is exploring strategies to thwart North Koreas nuclear ambitions, former U.S. officials who dealt with the communist state extensively offer mixed views on how to achieve that goal.

Earlier this week, Pyongyang launched four ballistic missiles in an apparent protest against U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, prompting Beijing to intervene. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed Wednesday to halt the military drills in exchange for North Korea freezing nuclear and missile programs, a proposition that has been rejected by the United States and South Korea.

Speaking to reporters after attending a U.N. Security Council meeting over the launches, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the regime must take positive action before it can be taken seriously. She made her remarks a week before U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to make his first trip to Asia, where North Korea is likely to top his agenda.

Skepticism about North Koreas intention

Although former U.S. nuclear envoys who participated in direct talks with the North appear to agree that dialogue with North Korea may not be possible in the near future, they differ on whether the U.S. should pursue negotiations as part of its long-term policy.

Christopher Hill, who served as the head of the U.S. delegation to the six-party talks, which stalled in 2008 during the George W. Bush administration, raised doubts about the regimes willingness to discuss denuclearization.

Im very pessimistic about talks, but I think we should leave the door open to talks, Hill said during an interview with VOA Wednesday.

North Korea indicates no interest in doing away with its nuclear weapons. On the contrary, their interest is in enhancing their nuclear arsenals, added the former envoy, now the dean of Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

Hill stressed that any future talks with North Korea must be based on what the country has already agreed to, referring to a nuclear deal in 2005 in which Pyongyang promised to give up its nuclear weapons programs. The envoy called for U.S. efforts to strengthen relations with regional allies and engage China to try to narrow differences on the North.

James Kelly, a former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs who also led the U.S. negotiation team in the Bush administration, called on the Trump administration to put all options on the table, describing the current standoff with the North as very dangerous.

Kelly believes the Trump administration could consider talks as an option, but cautioned against direct engagement with the North, saying it could undermine the administrations coordination with U.S. allies.

Critics argue pressure alone would not resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

Robert Gallucci, who was the top U.S. negotiator when the first North Korean nuclear crisis broke in the early 1990s, said the U.S. should seek an opportunity to engage North Korea without any precondition.

Talks without precondition

I think the smart thing would be at some point to agree to have talks without preconditions, and then talk about what both sides want to discuss, said Gallucci in an interview with VOA Thursday.

Sanctions would not change Pyongyangs course on its nuclear weapons, Gallucci said.

I am opposed to the idea that we imagine that sanctions are going to be so effective that they are going to stop the North Korean behavior that we dont like, or maybe even they are going to be so effective, they will cause the regime to collapse, he said.

Joseph DeTrani, who served as envoy for the nuclear talks from 2003 to 2005 during the Bush administration, told VOA the Trump administration should rein in the Norths provocative behavior, while seeking talks to try to slow the countrys nuclear development.

I think its important for North Korea to understand that there are consequences when they violate U.N. Security Council resolutions and launch missiles as they recently did, said the envoy, who currently is the president of the Daniel Morgan Graduate School on National Security in Washington, DC.

DeTrani suggested the Trump administration should try exploratory talks with Pyongyang to test if the country has any intention of freezing its nuclear weapons programs in exchange for easing sanctions or a security guarantee.

Military options

Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported the Trump security team is considering military action against the North as part of a review of its policy toward Pyongyang. However, whether such a plan is viable remains unclear.

Adm. Samuel Locklear, the former head of U.S. Pacific Command in the Obama administration, told VOA this week the U.S. should not rule out any possibility, including the use of military force, in its dealing with North Korea.

Retired Adm. William Fallon, who also commanded U.S. forces in the Pacific in the Bush administration, however, showed skepticism about using force, telling VOA he would not go down that road.

The multilateral negotiations aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programs started in 2003 and have been stalled since late 2008. Since then, the North has conducted four more nuclear tests. The first test was in October 2006.
Taxi drivers in South African clashed with drivers of the ride-hailing app Uber, Friday, blocking roads to Africa's busiest O.R. Tambo International Airport, in Johannesburg on Friday.

Thousands of travelers were delayed as the protesters blocked the main highway to the airport, causing long traffic jams.

Uber Technologies Inc's service has triggered protests by taxi drivers from London to Hungary and New Delhi as it upends traditional business models that require professional drivers to pay steep licensing fees to drive cabs.

"We are experiencing the illegality of Uber that is operating in the meter taxi (sector)," said an unidentified member of South Africa's Meter Taxi Association.

"We are regulated by the Department of Transport board. So if they give us a price, we adhere to that price. So Uber cannot come and survey our price and (then) go lower," he added.

Meanwhile, Uber drivers also protested outside the Uber headquarters in Johannesburg, as they accused the company of not doing enough to protect them against meter taxi drivers and other crimes.

"Drivers are being beaten on a daily basis, cars are being smashed. We are being hijacked because some the hijacks are linked with this cash trip that Uber has introduced (in May 2016). And we are not seeing any protection, we are not seeing anything being done," said Uber driver Zweli Ngwenya.

Uber has attracted more than 500,000 users and 4,000 drivers across South Africa since its 2013 launch.


Were we ever so young? Photo: Getty Images

Few things define an actors career, for better and for worse, than starring in a cult hit. Twenty years after Buffy the Vampire Slayers debut, the show remains the defining resume entry of nearly everyone involved in its making, even if many of them still work in TV. In what one might consider an edition of the Sunnydale alumni newsletter, weve taken a look back at the various post-Buffy careers of the primary stars in the series, including Emmys, cookbooks, and winking guest appearances on other shows. Though it goes without saying, you should also assume that they all spent a lot of that time answering questions about Buffy.

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy)

After seven seasons of slaying, Gellar tried out a film career with the likes of The Grudge, Southland Tales, and the live-action Scooby-Doo movies. In 2011, she returned to TV with a twin and way too much green screen on the short-lived Ringer, and tried again with CBSs advertising comedy The Crazy Ones in 2013. This year, Gellar signed onto play Kathryn Mertuil again in a Cruel Intentions TV pilot, but that seems to have died on the vine. In the meantime, shes written a cookbook!

Alyson Hannigan (Willow)

While on Buffy, Hannigan also appeared in the American Pie movies, reminding audiences of that one time, at band camp. After she was done with Willow, she starred in Date Movie, stopped by Veronica Mars, and then signed on for a long commitment to play Lily Aldrin in How I Met Your Mother, which ran from 2005 to 2014. Now, in keeping with Willows fondness for magic, Hannigan hosts the magical variety show Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Shes also married to her sometime Buffy and HIMYM cast member Alexis Denisof. They have two daughters, and are very fond of crazy Halloween outfits.



Nicholas Brendon (Xander)

Brendon went from playing the fumbling Xander to a role as a pastry chef on the one-season Bradley Cooper chef show Kitchen Confidential in 2005, and on to a recurring gig on Criminal Minds from 2007 to 2014. In recent years, he has had multiple run-ins with the law, and openly discussed substance-abuse problems. Hes also involved in writing Buffy comics.

Anthony Stewart Head (Giles)

Every show, fantasy or not, needs a serious British gentleman to give it some gravitas. Since Buffy, Head has booked roles on Little Britain (from 2003 to 2006) and Merlin (from 2008 to 2012), and in Repo! The Genetic Opera and the Percy Jackson sequel. Heads set to return to his roots being confused by teen antics as a series regular in ABCs upcoming Shondaland Romeo & Juliet sequel, Still Star-Crossed, though that doesnt yet have a release date.

James Marsters (Spike)

After leaving Sunnydale, Marsters brought Spike straight to Los Angeles for the final season of its spinoff, Angel. Then, he gave the people the villains they needed, as Milton Fine/Brainiac on Smallville, Barnabas Greeley on Caprica, Mason Tarkoff on Witches of East End, and the not-quite villainous (but complicated!) Captain John Hart on Torchwood. He also had a memorable little role in 2007s P.S. I Love You. Soon, hell a play parent on Marvels upcoming teen show Runaways  were all so old!

Emma Caulfield (Anya)

Caulfield went from roles on Beverly Hills, 90210, and General Hospital to a bit role on Buffy that eventually made her into a series regular. From there, she tried her hand at a variety of different projects: the 2003 horror movie Darkness Falls, the 2009 conceptual rom-com TiMER, and more recently stints on Life Unexpected and Once Upon a Time. Shes also helped write a webcomic called Contropussy, which, to be clear, is about a cat.

Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn)

Trachtenberg materialized in Sunnydale in Buffys fifth season to play Buffys sister, Dawn, who was never too popular with fans (maybe it was the fact that she was always getting into trouble). Since Buffy, she appeared in Six Feet Under, 17 Again, Weeds, and EuroTrip. Most memorably, she stirred up trouble on Gossip Girl as Georgina Sparks, who never met a wig she didnt love.

Kristine Sutherland (Joyce)

Sutherland acted as Buffys steady, if clueless, mother for the first five seasons of Buffy, until her untimely death in the heartbreaking The Body. After leaving the show, Sutherland went back to school to study photography and pursue a career as a photographer. She continues to act in occasional projects, including 2012s My Perfect Wedding and a 2013 episode of The Following.

David Boreanaz (Angel)

Boreanaz left Buffy after its third season to star in the spinoff, Angel, in which Buffys onetime paramour sets up a detective agency in L.A. and also fights an existential battle against the forces of evil. Soon after Angel ended in 2004, he booked the lead role of the one who isnt named Bones in Foxs Bones, starring in that from 2005 until the present. What will he do after Bones ends? If you know, please tell us and Billy Eichner!

Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia)

Like Boreanaz, Carpenter left Buffy for Angel, where the mean girl Cordelia matures into a hardened crime-fighter, and then gets pregnant with a goddess (Angel was a weird show). After Angel, Carpenter picked up gigs on Veronica Mars, Greek, and The Lying Game. On film, she booked a supporting role in The Expendables and its sequel. Shes also milked her Buffy past for meta-humor, appearing with James Marsters on Supernatural and playing Ariana Grandes mom on Scream Queens.

Amber Benson (Tara)

Benson was only credited as a series regular on one episode of Buffy (the one where she was killed off), but of course, everyone remembers Willows great love Tara. Since leaving the show, Benson has appeared in the film Latter Days, on Supernatural, and across from Gellar on Ringer. Shes largely focused on projects outside of acting, writing and directing films, and writing both comic books and novels.

Seth Green (Oz)

If not for Danny Strong, Green might be one of the Buffy stars with the least Buffy associations. After leaving Sunnydale, Green went into a film career that included Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), The Italian Job (2003), and a long-term voice acting role as Chris on Family Guy. He co-created the stop-motion comedy series Robot Chicken, which has become a juggernaut in its own right, and continues to pop up everywhere from Broad City to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Marc Blucas (Riley)

Poor, ordinary soldier dude Riley didnt get a lot of love on Buffy, possibly because of his fondness for weird hair-parting schemes. Since Buffy, hes taken on film roles in 2002s We Were Soldiers and alongside Katie Holmes in 2004s First Daughter. He played a trainer on USAs Necessary Roughness, and now plays an abolitionist on WGNs Underground. He also appeared in 2015s Sleeping With Other People where he flirted with Alison Brie, and was, yet again, the wrong guy.

Danny Strong (Jonathan)

Who wouldve thought that little old Jonathan would go on to win two Emmys and create Foxs hip-hop megahit Empire? (Well, Jonathan, maybe, if you go by what he wishes for in Superstar.) Strong went from Buffy to a career as a character actor, running the Yale Daily News in Gilmore Girls and trying to get a job on Mad Men, and as a writer, earning Emmys for his work on HBOs Game Change, and then going on to write Empire and the last two Hunger Games movies. Hes currently writing and directing Rebel in the Rye, which stars Nicholas Hoult as J.D. Salinger. Not bad for a member of Buffys incredibly incompetent trio of Big Bads.

Tom Lenk (Andrew)

Lenk, the second member of the Trio, went from Buffy to roles on Six Feet Under, House, and How I Met Your Mother. Hes appearing on Broadway in Rock of Ages, and became part of the extended Joss Whedon troupe with appearances in 2012s The Cabin in the Woods and Much Ado About Nothing.

Adam Busch (Warren)

Busch, who played Warren, the most actively villainous member of the Trio, went on to appearances in House, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Greys Anatomy, and starred in TBSs Men at Work. He recently appeared on Empire, in a reunion of sorts with Strong, and is also set to appear in Rebel in the Rye. Those Trio ties run deep!

Eliza Dushku (Faith)

Also known for her role in Bring It On, Dushku played a rival, and eventually ally, slayer on Buffy. After Buffy ended, Dushku starred in Foxs Tru Calling from 2003 to 2005 and then got a Joss Whedon show of her very own, Dollhouse, which lasted for two seasons from 2009 to 2010. She recently moved back to Watertown, Massachusetts, and enrolled at Suffolk University. She is getting a Bachelors in sociology and plans to work to combat substance abuse.
"There is no need for us to investigate that Pakistan is a terror state. We already know it is. I request the government that status quo should not continue and it should explore options," Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar said.

By Atir Khan: Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar today withdrew his private member's Bill seeking to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism and end of India's trade relations with it. Sources in the government said it cannot support a Bill to declare Pakistan a terrorist state. Even though he withdrew his proposal, Chandrashekhar was combatant.

"Just by speaking on declaring Pakistan a terrorist state, we are sending a message. The executive has the powers to declare Pakistan a terrorist state, but if it is not doing anything about it, then Parliament cannot just keep quiet and sit over it," he told India Today TV.

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"There is no need for us to investigate that Pakistan is a terror state. We already know it is. I request the government that status quo should not continue and it should explore options," he added.

On February 3 in Rajya Sabha, Chandrashekhar had sought the consideration of his 'The Declaration of Countries as Sponsor of Terrorism Bill, 2016' and said the Uri attack of September 18, 2016 "marked a turning point".

"I publicly promised that I would take on the important responsibility of calling Pakistan for what they are and have been for several years -- a sponsor of terrorism," he had said.

Meanwhile, MoS Home Hansraj Ahir in Rajya Sabha said, "Kisi bhi desh ko aatannki desh ghoshit karne ke doorgaami parinaam ho saktey hain." (Declaring a country a terror state will have far reaching impacts)

The Bill, which was introduced on November 18 during Parliament's winter session, intends to "declare any country as state sponsor of terrorism and withdraw economic and trade relations with the such country and to create legal, economic and travel sanctions for citizens of that country" among others. It holds that Pakistan "propagates and harbours agents of international terror who have repeatedly attacked the territory and people of our country" and "poses a continual risk to the peace and security of the region".

Parliament had unanimously adopted a resolution on February 22, 1994, emphasising Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India, seeking Pakistan vacate parts of the state under its occupation and condemning the support it is extending to terrorist activities in the state.

"Since 1994, when Parliament passed a resolution against Pakistan, it has never passed any resolution. I think Parliament should reflect popular public view which is Pakistan must be made to account for its actions," he had said earlier.

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Bill seeking to declare Pakistan a terror sponsor withdrawn from Rajya Sabha

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Aladdin (1992). Photo: Disney

When Disney announced a new take on Aladdin, the 4,684th live-action remake (approximately) of one of its classic animated films, the most shocking part of the announcement was two-fold: The films chosen helmer (Snatch and Sherlock Holmess Guy Ritchie, whose aesthetic doesnt exactly scream musical love story), and Disneys assurances that no whitewashing would occur in the casting process. So, months later, how close have they hewed to those pronouncements? Well, Ritchie is still very much involved and, as of today, a casting call was made for the star-crossed leads, Princess Jasmine and poor street rat Aladdin. Per a post to Twitter, the Mouse has made the call completely open, which is an extremely rare occurrence in the casting world. If you are 18 to 25, can sing-dance-act, are  presumably  attractive, and are Middle Eastern (or look like you are; the post does not specify and kind of skirts the issue by saying the characters are Middle Eastern, tsk-tsk), then you can submit. To summarize: no whitewashing (yet), but no guarantee of explicitly Middle Eastern talent either. Even so: Good luck to all those who may submit. May anthropomorphic magic carpets speed you to your destiny.
John C. Reilly and Jordan Vogt-Roberts on the set of Kong: Skull Island. Photo: Vince Valitutti

Jordan Vogt-Roberts had a nice thing going. After cutting his teeth in Chicago directing the likes of Thomas Middleditch, Kumail Nanjiani, and T.J. Miller in short films, Vogt-Robertss first feature film, The Kings of Summer, became a Sundance darling in 2013. The next year, he directed four episodes of Youre the Worsts acclaimed first season, including the pilot. With solid footing in both the television and indie-film worlds, Vogt-Roberts couldve continued on in that vein for a while, returning to Sundance and shoring up his second feature with TV work.

Instead, he directed the new King Kong movie.

That transition from tiny indie to super-big studio tentpole is hardly unheard of at this point: Colin Trevorrow and Gareth Edwards did it successfully with Jurassic World and Godzilla, and Josh Trank less so with Fantastic Four. But strange as that path might seem from the outside, for Vogt-Roberts, it was very much the plan.

After Kings of Summer, I came to realize that when you make an indie, it almost doesnt matter how good it is. My friends had movies far better than mine, things like Fruitvale Station and Short Term 12, that were coming out the same year  you watch this thing that you love enter into the world, and its almost impossible to break through the clutter and the noise of pop culture, Vogt-Roberts told Vulture recently. So I was like, I want to make a big movie, because I want people to see the movie I make.

Vogt-Roberts laughs as he says this, but its a serious point. Trevorrows Safety Not Guaranteed made $4 million worldwide; Jurassic World made $1.7 billion. Edwardss Monsters made $4 million; Godzilla made $529 million, and his next film, Rogue One, made a billion. Despite competing at Sundance and being acquired by CBS Films, The Kings of Summer made just over a million during its theatrical release. Kong: Skull Island might make that in its first hour.

But more than that, Vogt-Roberts identifies as a big-movie guy. He cites Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Die Hard, Blade Runner, Alien, and the Star Wars franchise as the films he grew up on, one of the Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott acolytes now coming of age as filmmakers. While those films also functioned as a gateway into other types of cinema, like the art house and comedy, for a generation of fans they also retained a certain value as the apex of a collective moviegoing experience.

I believe that big movies can be good, and I think that we live in a world  and its only getting worse  where people care more about Snapchat and Instagram and things like that than they do the power of watching a film, which is like church to me, Vogt-Roberts says. That scares me, and it makes me sad. Maybe Im just an old curmudgeon, but I wanted to make something that reminded people that movies are fun, that made young kids want to become filmmakers.

Its a motivation that would be right at home in Spielbergs own filmography  the childhood love becomes a driving motivation of the adult. And that ambition found a home with his chance to make a new King Kong movie, a possibility Vogt-Roberts initially reacted to the same way many others did when they heard about the project: Why?

This will be the fourth time King Kong receives the onscreen treatment. The first came in 1933 with the legendary origin of the monster, directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and featuring Fay Wray as the famous beauty who killed the beast. King Kong was remade under the same name in 1976 by John Guillermin, starring Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and newcomer Jessica Lange; and then again in 2005, by Peter Jackson, as a hyperambitious, 187-minute long epic. The giant ape also appeared in other films, including sequels to the first two outings (Son of Kong in 1933 and King Kong Lives in 1986) and Japanese crossovers with Godzilla, highlighted by King Kong vs. Godzilla, in 1962  a concept that will be revisited by Warner Bros. and Legendary in 2020.

In short, this is hardly Kongs first go-round, and Vogt-Roberts went into discussions with Legendary and Warner Bros. believing that audiences would suss out a clear cash-grab or lazy attempt at the character. After thinking about the concept, though, he found what he believed was a way in. In the 1970s, satellites were being launched into space, a concept that Vogt-Roberts saw as the last possible chance to discover a new or previously undiscovered part of the world.

As soon as I started thinking about the 70s, then suddenly, choppers and napalm and sunsets and the sweat of the jungle popped into my head, and this fundamental idea of Apocalypse Now and King Kong, a Vietnam War movie mixed with a monster movie  Platoon meets a [Ray] Harryhausen film, Vogt-Roberts says. And that idea was so exciting to me. I was like, Thats a movie that I would want to see.

The film certainly bears out those influences. Kong: Skull Island tells the story of a group of soldiers and scientists who venture to the newly discovered Skull Island, ostensibly to map one of the worlds last unexplored places. But in a reality unknown to most of the group, theyre actually there in search of creatures like Kong, remnants of an isolated world. The film draws from Oliver Stones Platoon in its boots-in-the-jungle aesthetic and Francis Ford Coppolas Apocalypse Now in its riff on Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness  there are characters named Conrad and Marlow, after the books narrator  and combines those elements with the creature-feature grandiosity of the films of Ray Harryhausen. Throw in a little Jurassic Park meddling-of-man subtext, and you have a Kong thats less Beauty and more Beast.

Vogt-Robertss Kong differs in other fundamental ways from its predecessors. First of all, his Kong walks upright; while the 33 Kong also was bipedal, Vogt-Roberts wanted his to be even less simian. Second, Kongs there from the first scene, a noted contrast to Edwardss Godzilla, which keeps its monster in the wings until well into the film  a decision that Vogt-Roberts made partly because Edwards had done the opposite to such great effect so recently. And third, while he may have moved from the independent world into the studio system, he still wanted, at least in certain ways, to make an indie.

I was very upfront about the fact that I dont think theres a part of me that can ever fully conform to the studio system, nor do I think the studio system can ever fully conform to me and what I was interested in, Vogt-Roberts says. Hopefully, people who see the movie, the things that they will truly respond to are the ideas that came from taking the ethos and some of the process and the way that an indie gets made and bring that into a big studio film.

That included extensive improvisation by the films impressive cast, which is toplined by stars like Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, and, best of all, John C. Reilly, but also features up-and-coming actors likes Toby Kebbell, Thomas Mann, Eugene Cordero, and Jason Mitchell. Over the course of the six-month shoot, Vogt-Roberts placed a premium on finding the characters and story with his actors, or at least the parts that werent reliant on what mustve been a massive special-effects budget.

And while the VFX were the aspect of the film that he had the least experience with, Vogt-Roberts says he tried to take as hands-on an approach to the filmmaking as he could, including the special effects. As for graduating from a tiny Sundance indie to a nine-figure budget, he has a metaphor ready.

If you get a license to drive a car, you can also drive a tractor, you can figure that out; you can drive a truck; you can drive a race car, and you might crash that race car, but its your same basic principles, he says. I think thats true with filmmaking. Its a totally different ball game, there are things I couldve never prepared myself for, and it was a huge jump in a lot of ways, but the core fundamentals of what you have to do are there.

With the ongoing demise of the mid-budget film, or at least one that plays on the big screen, its a logical place for a director with Vogt-Robertss intentions to live  and it appears hell continue to do so, having been attached to an adaptation of the popular video game Metal Gear Solid. In other words, hes come a long way since Sunday Funday.
Kong: Skull Island. Photo: Warner Brothers

All kinds of talented people took big money and made Kong: Skull Island, a proficient and stupefyingly predictable computer-generated giant monster picture that no one needed and that ends with the promise of still more  featuring old friends from the terrible but sometimes entertaining Toho mash-ups of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. (Ill exempt from that characterization the original Gojira, a primitive but haunting nuclear parable.) The conceit of Kong: Skull Island is the same one that fueled the last, passable Godzilla: that there are colossal, primordial creatures that human meddling has liberated from the bowels of the earth, and only other colossal, primordial creatures  like Zilly or, now, the big gorilla  can save us. Separating the good uns from the bad uns might be our species greatest test  which is to say, we should not firebomb our saviors just because theyre apt to stomp on a few buildings while getting the dirty job done. The real villain of this one turns out to be a human monster.

The heroes are Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson, two excellent actors whove never before accepted such characterless characters. I dont begrudge them their payday, only that they dont rise above the material. Hiddleston plays James Conrad, a supposedly hard-partying tracker who doesnt seem like a fun person even in non-fraught moments. I assume his name is meant as a nod to the author of Heart of Darkness, given that the director, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, cribs much of his imagery from Apocalypse Now under the guise of paying homage. The film is set at the end of the Vietnam War (Nixon appears on TV yammering about peace with honor and later as a bobble-head doll) and Larson plays a self-described antiwar photographer who passes up the cover of Time for an expedition to an uncharted island. She has a nice tan and sun-kissed hair thats fetchingly blown back, and she manages to say her lines with a straight face. But thats as far as Ill go with the praise.

The expedition is led by a mysterious, government-funded entity called Monarch, overseen by John Goodman with an assist from Corey Hawkins of 24: Legacy and The Walking Dead. (He also played Dr. Dre in Straight Outta Compton.) Along for window dressing is the Chinese actress Jing Tian, last seen leading the charge in the already infamous ponytail epic, The Great Wall. A surprising number of American soldiers chopper in to provide fodder (literally) for sundry monsters. They are variously chewed, stomped, skewered, and dismembered  though in PG-13 fashion, which means the film is safe for kiddies. The only really memorable one is Shea Whigham, who puts a spin on his lines as a spirited grunt. John C. Reilly hams it up as the ebullient World War II survivor with a bushy white beard like David Lettermans these days and the Conradian moniker Marlow. Hed be less tiresome with better lines. His best one comes early on when he identifies the giant ape that has felled a number of attacking helicopters: Oh, thats Kong. Hes king around here!

The Vietnam Warera setting allows the screenwriters (Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, and Derek Connolly, with a story credit for John Gatins) to tell themselves theyve brought something new and daring to the party: a crunchy peacenik message about the moral and physical peril of invading other countries and showing no respect for the planets exquisitely calibrated ecosystem. The good politics make me even more disgusted by the hack storytelling. The warmonger, Preston Packard, is shown leaving Vietnam on a note of dejection and insisting that the U.S. didnt lose the war  We abandoned it. Napalming Kong, he declares, This one were not going to lose! Packard is played, alas, by the ubiquitous Samuel L. Jackson, who has no surprises left in him. I love Jackson in his Tarantino and Spike Lee movies but he has been repeating himself for two decades.

Which leaves the monsters. This Kong is immense  much bigger than in his original American incarnation, as he was in the Japanese King Kong vs. Godzilla  and has impressively tight and well-defined glutes. His sensitivity is both great and convincingly simian. He understands, for example, that Brie hates war and loves animals, while Sam Jackson  who glares at him from amid the smoke of burning choppers in the movies most ludicrous shot  is an example of blind American arrogance. At other times, he conveys the sadness of one who is the last of his kind. He is Gods Loneliest Ape.

A spidery wood beast is rather nice, but the nastiest creatures, which Marlows dubs the Skull Crawlers, are just reptiles affixed with skull heads. They do, however, have amazingly long and versatile tongues, like some of the better Hong Kong demons. And the Chief Skull Crawlers final bash-and-crash with Kong has its rousing moments, like when Kong grabs a tree, slides his hands along the trunk to strip the branches, and whales away on his ugly foe. By the way, even giant monsters these days need backstories that give them a motive for revenge. The Chief Skull Crawler ate his whole family and Kong has been itching for a fight ever since.

Vogt-Roberts comes from the world of comedy and can only imitate his predecessors (and Coppola), but he dutifully hits his marks, which is all studios want from directors of these kinds of films. For all the impressive visuals, the monsters rarely stick in the mind the way some of the cheap Japanese ones do. Consider the humanoid Gargantuas  known in Japan as the Frankensteins  of War of the Gargantuas, who are riveting in their freakiness. And the by-the-numbers plot isnt nearly as fun as the one in my favorite bad Toho movie, King Kong Escapes, in which a stuffed-animal-like Kong fights a Kong robot dispatched by the evil Dr. Hu. Kong: Skull Island will probably be a hit, but its combination of lavishness and lack of imagination is the only thing memorable about it.
Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper. Photo: CG Cinema

If youve seen Personal Shopper, French director Olivier Assayass second collaboration with Kristen Stewart, then you know it concedes on the issue of ghosts fairly early. Stewarts Maureen is desperately trying make contact with the spirit of her twin brother, Lewis, according to a pact they made while they were both alive: If either of them died from the congenital heart defect they shared, the other would send a sign from the afterlife.

When Maureen visits her brothers old house, she receives a sign from the afterlife all right, in the form of a vomiting she-ghost that bashes around the place like a banshee and seems to mean all kinds of harm. Its the first, and most effective, of Personal Shoppers horror-movie jolts, and it primes the pump for the film to delve fully into the genre playbook. The fact that it doesnt choose to do this, and instead pursues a different path entirely, is one of its most rewarding qualities, and it culminates in a real Gordian knot of an ending: The harder you pull at it, the tighter it seems to become. But if we track back through the undulations of Personal Shopper, a theme begins to present itself, and in that light, the ending starts to make sense.

Maureens encounter with the ghost in the house is one of two foundational experiences she has in the films first act. The second is a trip to the apartment of Kyra, the model for whom she works as a personal shopper, where she finally finds her elusive boss at home. But while she negotiates a dilemma involving gorillas and a photo shoot, Maureen talks to Kyras lover in the living room, a German named Ingo. Ingo tells her that Kyra plans to leave him, and that he doesnt intend to let that happen, at the same time showing a heightened interest in Maureen.

These two experiences  the ghost in the house, and the spurned lover in the living room  are the two threads Maureen takes with her into the rest of the film. She continues to try to make contact with Lewiss spirit, watching movies about mediums and reading about the subject; meanwhile, someone, or something, starts sending her increasingly menacing texts from an unknown number. At first, Maureen thinks the texts might be from Lewis, but they gradually shift into some pretty weird shit for your twin brother to say to you, ghost or not.

As the messages become more prurient and provocative, trying to urge Maureen to indulge in her forbidden fantasy of wearing her bosss clothes  and further diluting her own identity, which has already been besieged by the loss of Lewis  it starts to seem likely that the texts are from Ingo, since they have a distinct male menace. (Anyone whos been on Tinder after midnight can relate.) But they still possess a mysterious power, an omniscience that suggests something greater, and the notion that the texter might be a ghost never quite disappears. Regardless of which it is, those two possibilities, man and ghost, seeker and sought, bleed together, until it becomes unclear whether Maureens in the middle of some sort of psychosexual intrigue or a genuine interaction with the afterlife.

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The story comes to a boil when Maureen walks in on the murdered body of Kyra and a distinctly ghostlike presence, reminiscent of the haunted house, banging and flashing down the hallway. Here the film reaches a crossroads. It can either (a) become a horror movie, unleashing a killer ghost that moves from victim to victim, or (b) become a thriller, in which Maureen and Ingo, or some as-yet-unidentified third party, have it out. But true to its spirit, Personal Shopper chooses the middle ground again. Maureen follows the messages instruction to go to a specific hotel room; she finds nothing and leaves immediately. After she goes, Assayas uses his camera to suggest a ghost following the same path, the doors opening for nothing, no one moving through his shot. Afterward, we see Ingo enter and exit the hotel room. The cops show up, then he gets in a shootout in front of the building. The problems solved: Ingos the killer as well as the stalker, and Maureens apparently free.

Except, of course, it isnt that simple. As Maureen visits her brothers surviving partner, who has taken up with a new man, we see, in a chilling shot, a male specter, presumably Lewis, hovering in the background. It drops a glass on the floor, which shatters like a shot; Maureen cleans it up, no wiser. Then Maureen travels to Oman to visit her sort-of boyfriend, and finds there a ghost, communicating with her in the manner of the spirits who talked to Victor Hugo, with simple knocks. She asks the ghost if its Lewis, and it seems to say it is. Then she asks it if its at peace, and it wont say yes. Then she asks if it means harm, and again, its answer is ambiguous. Then she asks if its coming from her, and again, it seems to say yes. Then the movie ends.

So, what happened? Was Maureen imagining the ghosts the whole time? Or is she dead, Sixth Sensestyle, and the whole things been skewed by her deadness? The second possibility seems easiest to banish: People have interacted with her constantly throughout the film. The first possibility also doesnt hold up to much scrutiny: The ghosts leave marks on the wall that would be impossible for Maureen to make, marks that other people also confirm; same with the dropped glass. And the movies whole vibe, which remains open to the reality of ghosts and the concept of mediums, doesnt suggest that it would all just be a magic trick.

But in keeping with the ambiguity thats characterized the movie so far, a third idea suggests itself, a middle way. Its clear that the ghosts that have plagued Maureen are real. Its also clear that shes been grieving, ripped apart by the loss of her twin brother, her counterpart in the world. The ending indicates that these ghosts, and Maureens interactions with them, have been influenced, informed, and even manifested by her own grief. Theyre real, but theyre also her; theres a connection.

All of the antagonism that shes faced throughout the film, then, including Ingos stalking, is commingled into a sort of post-Lewis trauma, one that exploits and inhabits her fractured identity, a metaphorical expression of ultimate grief made literal. Whether brought on by ghost or man, these opponents have provided a means through which Maureen can funnel her trauma, trying to reach Lewis on the other side. But the ending of Personal Shopper seems to say that, instead, Maureens best chance of coming to peace with her brothers death would be to go inward, addressing her own suffering spirit.
Kristen Stewart. Photo: Carole Bethuel/Courtesy of IFC Films

Kristen Stewart is practically the only person in Olivier Assayass haunted-soul saga Personal Shopper, and she plays a young woman without an identity. As in the same directors Clouds of Sils Maria, shes an American living in Europe and working as an adjunct to a rich and famous person, in this case a brusque socialite whos rarely around and for whom she selects fabulously expensive clothing and accessories. Stewarts character, Maureen, cannot try the clothing on, though. Its forbidden. And theres another void in her life. She has lost her twin, Lewis, a brother who promised hed reach out to her from the beyond if such a thing turned out to exist. Maureen  an amateur medium  thinks it does, and she has been feeling a presence, something watching her. The problem is that he/she/it does not seem particularly fraternal.

If you have a penchant for mood pieces that flirt with genre but are too pretentious to deliver the full climactic payload, Personal Shopper is for you. I loved nearly all of it, disposed to forgive Assayas his arty withholding for the pleasure of watching Stewart through his eyes. Hes a demon for good actresses who are in tune with a certain kind of spiritual indefinition  a vacuum that drives them into perilous psychological (and often physical) realms. You can imagine Assayas gazing at Stewart in their last project and thinking, I would love to make a movie that dislocates her in every way imaginable and then see how she fills the void.

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Tantalizingly, as it turns out. Not so long ago, Stewart starred in a movie called Catch That Kid, and something in her will always resist capture. Its not that shes estranged from her own body but squirmy inside it, with an eye for a potential escape hatch. Her Maureen vaguely hunches in her jeans and leather jacket, hands in pockets, as if trying to disappear into her clothes. When she finally slips into her employers outfits, shes both a glamorous icon and a skinny little girl playing dress-up. Late in Personal Shopper, Maureens search for an identity has a weird offscreen correlative: In a tense encounter with a homicide detective, Stewart gets all blurty in the manner of Jesse Eisenberg, her co-star in Adventureland, American Ultra, and Cafe Society. Is she consciously channeling Eisenberg, or has he momentarily possessed her, like an absent twin? Its altogether ooky.

Although Maureen is fascinated by the work of a female Swedish artist determined to create abstract paintings from higher levels of consciousness, the poltergeists are surprisingly literal, swirling around and vomiting ectoplasm as in a CGI-heavy Disney picture. That Assayas uses such genre tropes with relish makes it all the more irritating that he shrugs off the movies murder mystery, leaving a major encounter behind closed doors. The ambivalence about what to show and what to withhold is so damn French I want to throttle him. But just because this is an unsatisfying film doesnt mean its not a beauty.

*This article appears in the March 6, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.
Getting your ass handed to you by Charlize Theron is a small price to pay for a safe and stabilized Europe. In the new Atomic Blonde trailer, Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, a British spy who is tasked, alongside station chief David Percival (James McAvoy), with rescuing a valuable dossier out of Berlin in order to halt the assassination of her fellow agents. And thats not even getting into those coats.


Rachel Bilson. Photo: The CW

With Connie Britton giving up the reembodied ghost that is Nashville, the CMT drama is in major need of new well-tressed blood. Fear not, though, because according to Deadline, Nashville is adding Rachel Bilson and Kaitlin Doubleday to its cast. No details about their characters have been released, but both will join for the second half of season five. Doubleday is known for her role on fellow music drama Empire, while Bilson most recently toyed with inflecting a slight twang on Hart of Dixie, so sounds like a good fit for all. But will it be enough to fill Connie Brittons shoes? Hard to say, Rachel Bilson is really tiny.
Gorburger of The Gorburger Show Photo: Funny or Die

Now that IFCs Comedy Bang Bang has gone off the air, the stoner-friendly comedy show world is in the midst of a slight decline. But fear not, because the natural heir to the archly-absurd-and-funny throne is shortly arriving on Comedy Central, courtesy of T.J. Miller. As Splitsider reports, Millers web series The Gorburger Show is set to make its official TV debut on April 9 at midnight, and it sounds like it might fill CBBs Scott Aukerman-sized loafers quite nicely. Miller will star as the voice of a giant blue extraterrestrial who takes over a Japanese TV variety show and has guests ranging from Rob Corddry to Kenny G to Tig Notaro to  yes  Reggie Watts. The show started as a Funny or Die series a few years back, typically with musicians coming on as guests. A weird talk show with an alienlike host and Reggie Watts in tow at a munchies-adjacent hour of night? Nothing can fill the Comedy Bang Bangsized hole in our hearts, but The Gorburger Show might come close.
Joe Mantello and Sally Field in The Glass Menagerie. Photo: Photo: Julieta Cervantes

Surely we have reached the point with Tennessee Williamss great plays  if not, perhaps, his lesser ones  where it is desirable and even necessary to deploy them in new ways. They are, variously, 50 to 70 years old, and time, having chewed on them this long with satisfaction, isnt about to spit them out. Certainly not The Glass Menagerie, which debuted in 1945 and whose seventh Broadway revival, a rigorously de-romanticized, contemporary rethinking by director Sam Gold, opens tonight. For all the period froufrou that has stuck to the heavily autobiographical memory play over the years, it is not the least bit fey, but rather a very muscular and now familiar machine that can tolerate a good deal of tinkering. Williams in essence endorsed that approach by writing, in his production notes, that The Glass Menagerie should not be treated as a straight realistic work with a genuine Frigidaire and authentic ice cubes. Everyone should know nowadays the unimportance of the photographic in art, he decreed.

There is nothing photographic about Golds production: It is nakedly, bracingly theatrical. The scenic designer Andrew Lieberman has left the vast stage of the Belasco nearly bare except for a metal dining set and a Victrola, with a large cart visible down right from which the actors retrieve props as needed. No fire escape or indication of other apartments suggest that we are in a crowded St. Louis tenement circa 1937; you really feel that the family of Amanda Wingfield is apart and alone and unprotected against the world. (When Tom  Williamss stand-in  goes to bed, he does not even have the sofa of the stripped-down 2013 revival to lie down on; he makes do with the floor.) The lighting, too, by Adam Silverman, is bleak: flat and hard and chary with its poetry until sister Lauras supposed gentleman caller arrives; then it cuts out completely (leaving just candlelight) because Tom has failed to pay the electric bill. He didnt pay the clothing bill, either; Wojciech Dziedzics costumes, except for an absurd pink tulle gown that Amanda dons for the special evening, are contemporary items the cast might wear to rehearsal. (Have we not seen Joe Mantello, who plays Tom, in that very peacoat before?) But its not just minimalist mania at work. By paring everything extraneous from the mise en scene, Gold and his designers, all retained from a 2015 Toneelgroep Amsterdam production with different actors, are preparing the audience to embrace the exploratory nature of the production.

If its more of an inquest than a definitive statement, its an inquest at a very high level; Sally Field, who plays Amanda, does not appear in basement black-box theaters. So Gold is performing a tricky balancing act: narrowing the scope of the representation and maintaining his cutting-edge cred while selling the story to an audience of 1,000. One of the casualties of this approach is what Tom calls the social background of the play. We lose not just the particular St. Louisness of it (the accents are nearly nil) but also the world-on-edge tension that Tom describes at the start: Guernica exploding in Europe, and, in America, the fiery braille alphabet of a dissolving economy. Instead Gold focuses on a novel and largely convincing interpretation of the familys warfare as a symptom of the powerful but constraining love they share, and on the way both things shape Toms character deep into the future from which he narrates. (In 1937, Tom is just a few years out of high school; Mantello is 54.) In this reading, Amanda, often played as a monstrous meddler and quasi-hysteric, is actually a spirited, practical mother stuck with impossible children. Security, not domination, is her concern, and whenever Field jabs her hand in accusation she soon touches her mouth as if to stanch the flow of anger. You expect Field to nail Amandas wiles, and she does, but its an even finer performance when her charm  and vivacity  and charm! are stripped away, and she has to do the hard work of adoring her unadorable offspring.

Gold certainly ups the ante on that task. For one thing, Tom, usually portrayed as a sensitive soul mercilessly beset by his mothers coarse antics, is in Mantellos daring take more of a feckless brat: prone to sarcasm and not so much poetically sad as grumpily guilty. More than Ive ever noticed, he is complicit in the family tragedy. This approach is congruent with what we know of Williams (whose given name was Tom) and his sister, Rose (who was lobotomized at 34), but also with the altered family structure of Golds production, in which each of the characters seems to have been manually recalibrated until they were evenly matched. The most startling change is in Laura, played by 25-year-old Madison Ferris in her professional debut. Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in her early teens, Ferris uses a wheelchair; for her first entrance, she must shimmy backward up a set of steps from the audience, using her arm strength to propel her and Amanda and Tom to assist. It is a huge effort to get her onstage, as perhaps it was for Williams.

Once shes there, it becomes clear that Gold intends us to notice fully what the text calls Lauras hardly noticeable little defect. (Traditionally, its played as a slight limp.) At times the other actors carry Ferris around or lay her out on the dining table for physical therapy. Nor, as Ferris plays her, is Laura the morbidly shy and self-negating girl Williams describes; shes resigned and mordant and, in some ways, tougher than Tom. When Jim, the gentleman caller, arrives, it is not so much her timidity he must overcome with his Dale Carnegie enthusiasm as her practical sense of whats possible for her. Thus when he does overcome it  so stupidly and innocently, in Finn Wittrocks winning performance  its all the more devastating; Laura is the only Wingfield who sees the world, and her place in it, as it really is. This new perspective, along with many other unconventional choices, creates a tension that, on the good side, wonderfully opens the play up to view. Being forced out of its familiar ruts makes the play tell different stories. On the problematic side, Golds readjustments posit a kind of ghost play next to Williamss: a play thats just as interesting but somewhat distorted. In that play, Ferriss achievement is a victory, whereas in the original Lauras never can be.

The choice wasnt idle; having directed the Amsterdam production with a Laura who was not disabled, Gold specifically sought an actress for Broadway who is. The productions final gesture, too, deliberately contradicts Williamss stage directions, changing much of the plays impact without altering any dialogue. Purists, if there are any, may yelp. But this is not the only Glass Menagerie any of us is likely to see in our lifetime; its a Glass Menagerie, one that restores what must have been the shock of the original while also reframing our ideas about Williams as an imperfect person and a pitiless autobiographer. Thats bracing; like the onstage rain that pours tumultuously during the final scene, it smells fresh and raises shivers.

The Glass Menagerie is at the Belasco Theatre through July 2.
By Manjeet Negi: Post Pathankot terrorist attack, the ministry of defence has taken several steps for the security of defence installations. Defence personnel have been sensitized on the prevailing security situation and necessity of maintaining high level of alertness. The response mechanism have been reviewed and streamlined.

Measures like strengthening security fences, improvement in security lighting, installation of intrusion alarm system with sensors and surveillance are other steps taken to counter such attacks. Further, intelligence infrastructure has been strengthened and re-organised for real time collection and sharing of intelligence.

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Upgradation of capabilities and equipment is a continuous process. Soldiers are adequately trained and sufficiently equipped to counter such attacks. Pre-induction mission specific training including counter fidayeen drills is imparted to soldiers before deployment in counter insurgency/counter terrorism operations. Further response mechanism to counter such attacks is well laid down.

To meet the various internal security challenges, the central government and the state governments are focusing on improving border management, strengthening intelligence collection and sharing, raising special forces, training and equipping the security forces with modern weapons and implementing area development programmes.

Ministry of defence had constituted a committee to review the security arrangement of various defence installations in the country. Based on the recommendations of this committee, broad guidelines for security of defence installations has been issued to service headquarters.

Also read:

Pathankot attack: NIA's chargesheet focusses on JeM, not who and how the insiders helped the terrorists

Pathankot attack was poorly planned: Experts

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The following movies are showing at first-run theaters Regal Jewel 16 (RJ16), Starplex Galaxy 16 (SG16) and the Waco Hippodrome (WH).

New in theaters

C+ KONG: SKULL ISLAND New King Kong installment moves action to 1973 with the Vietnam War as backdrop, but tone flips between serious and silly, with movies true purpose a fresh line of monster movies. Rated PG-13. Brief strong profanity, intense sequences of action violence. 1 hour, 58 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

Also showing

B BEFORE I FALL A popular teen learns about lasting values in reliving the final day of her life in a youth-targeted story that might make some parents squirm. Rated PG-13. Mature thematic content involving profanity, drinking, sexuality and bullying, all involving teens, and some violent images. 1 hour, 39 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

C A DOGS PURPOSE A slobbery, wet kiss for dog lovers, but a bit corny and sentimental story following a dogs spirit through five successive incarnations. Parents and dog owners should be advised that dogs die in the film. Rated PG. Thematic elements, some peril. 1 hour, 40 minutes. RJ16.

C+ FIFTY SHADES DARKER The sex-playing couple of Fifty Shades Of Gray, come back for more thats part steamy, part silly and not so much dark. Rated R. Profanity, strong erotic sexual content, some graphic nudity. 2 hours, 6 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

C- FIST FIGHT Clunky, gag-driven comedy about two battling high school teachers (Ice Cube and Charlie Day) that lands few comic punches. Rated R. Frequent profanity, sexual content, nudity, drug material. 1 hour, 31 minutes. RJ16, SG16.

B GET OUT Jordan Peele (Key and Peele) shifts from comedy to horror with telling effect with a young black man finding something sinister in a weekend visit to his white girlfriends family. Rated R. Profanity including sexual references, bloody images, violence. 1 hour, 43 minutes. RJ16, SG16.

C- THE GREAT WALL A multi-layered mess of a film has Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal as medieval mercenaries caught in a Chinese battle against hordes of wall-attacking monsters. Rated PG-13. Sequences of fantasy action violence. 1 hour, 43 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

B HIDDEN FIGURES Compelling story of three female African-American mathematicians who overcame others prejudice to play key roles in the manned space program. Rated PG. Brief profanity, thematic elements. 2 hours, 6 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

B JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 Relentless hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) returns in a deliriously action-packed film that spoofs B-movies while relishing in their excesses. Rated PG-13. Some profanity, brief nudity, strong violence. 2 hours, 2 minutes. RJ16, SG16.

A- LA LA LAND Musical story of a wanna-be actress and wanna-be jazz pianist won Best Actress for Emma Stone and Best Director for Damien Chazelle. Rated PG-13. Some profanity. 2 hours, 7 minutes. Sing-along screenings at 1:40 and 7:30 p.m. at RJ16. SG16, RJ16.

A THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE Gleefully witty and delicious sequel to The Lego Movie that assembles considerable fun from superhero satire, action and affection for its characters  and audience. Rated PG. Rude humor, some action. 1 hour, 45 minutes. RJ16. SG16.

B LOGAN Violent, darker and complex chapter of the X-Man Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) saga has him protecting a child pursued for her special powers. Rated R. Frequent profanity, brief nudity, strong brutal violence. 2 hours, 21 minutes. RJ16, SG16.

C- THE SHACK Adaptation of William Paul Youngs best-selling novel about a grieving man healed through a metaphorical encounter with the Christian Trinity stumbles on a thin main character and glib answers to hard questions. Rated PG-13. Thematic material, some violence. 2 hours, 12 minutes. SG16, RJ16.

C SPLIT M. Night Shyamalans psychological thriller about a kidnapper with multiple personalities. Rated PG-13. Some profanity, disturbing thematic content and behavior, violence. 1 hour, 57 minutes. SG16.

D TABLE 19 Flat, contrived comedy about a table of misfits at a wedding that makes the audience feel just as uncomfortable. Rated PG-13. Profanity, sexual content, brief nudity, thematic elements, drug use. 1 hour, 27 minutes. SG16.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

THE MET: LIVE IN HD  LA TRAVIATA The Metropolitan Opera production of Verdis La Traviata, starring soprano Sonya Yoncheva and tenor Michael Fabiano. 11:55 a.m. Saturday. 2 hours, 55 minutes. RJ16.

THE WIZARD OF OZ Classic 1939 film about a Kansas girl lost in the fantasy land of Oz. Friday through Sunday. WH.

LAND BEFORE TIME 1988 animation about young orphaned dinosaurs moving to a safe place. Friday through Sunday. WH.

PEE-WEES BIG ADVENTURE Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Rubens) sets out to find his lost bike in this 1985 Tim Burton film. Monday through Thursday. WH.

WEIRD SCIENCE 1985 John Hughes comedy in which nerdy high schoolers bring a female computer animation to flesh-and-blood life. Monday through Thursday. WH.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) President Pranab Mukherjee today asked Swaziland to attract Indian investments in that country and offered Indias affordable technologies and finance. "India values its friendship with Swaziland. India appreciates the support that Swaziland has consistently extended to India in multilateral forums," Mukherjee said after meeting His Majesty King Mswati-III of Swaziland at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

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The President hosted a lunch in his honour.

Mukherjee said India and Swaziland traditionally enjoy a friendly and co-operative relationship. He said India offers Swaziland a large market, affordable technologies and finance. The President called on the King to create conditions to attract Indian investments in areas of interest of Swaziland, a press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said. Welcoming the King, the President recalled their last meeting when the King visited India in October 2015 to participate in the India-Africa Forum Summit. "India has been happy to partner Swaziland in its development through scholarships and capacity-building," Mukherjee said. The President said he was delighted to know that the Royal Science and Technology Park is now near completion. It is a symbol of the Kings progressive vision and commitment to the development of Swaziland, he said. Another collaborative project for enhancing maize productivity has had very good results. Potentially, this project will help Swaziland become self-reliant in maize, the President said. Mukherjee also assured him that India would be happy to assist Swaziland achieve its developmental goals. Reciprocating the Presidents sentiments, King Mswati said Indias expertise was very valuable for the countries of Africa and they are grateful to India for its willingness to transfer the same. PTI AKV KIS

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"We will win in Uttar Pradesh. Exit polls projections in Bihar were wrong. We will talk on 11 March," the 46-year-old leader said.

By India Today Web Desk: Refusing to give "an opinion on opinion polls", Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today rejected the various exit polls that gave the BJP a clear lead in Uttar Pradesh and claimed his alliance with the Samajwadi Party is winning the state.

"We will win in Uttar Pradesh. Exit polls projections in Bihar were wrong. We will talk on 11 March," the 46-year-old leader told India Today TV. "I am not giving any opinion on the opinion polls," he said.

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In November 2015 Bihar election, most pollsters and pundits had predicted a Narendra Modi wave in Bihar and a BJP victory in the state. One of the TV channels had even called the election in favour of the saffron party, only to retract itself later when the Mahagatbandhan of the Janata Dal-United, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress had swept the state.

On Friday evening, while the TV channels were busy discussing the exit polls, Rahul Gandhi's ally and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav told the BBC that he is ready for an alliance with arch rival Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party in case Uttar Pradesh throws a hung verdict.

WHAT THE UP EXIT POLLS SAY

The India Today-Axis My India exit poll has given the BJP a landslide 251-279 seats in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, reducing the Samajwadi Party-Congress combine to a distant second at 88-112 seats. However, a poll of exit polls shows that Uttar Pradesh is likely to get a hung Assembly with the BJP at the head of a splintered verdict. The votes will be counted from 8 am onwards on Saturday. The average exit poll results -- which in the past have proven to be unreliable -- gave 180 seats for the BJP in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly, way short of the 202-mark needed to form a government. According to NewsX-MRC poll, the BJP and its allies may win 185 seats, the Congress-Samajwadi Party combine 120 and the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 90. The India TV-CVoter exit poll predicted 155-167 seats for the BJP, 135-147 for the Samajwadi-Congress alliance and 81-93 for the BSP. But TimesNow-VMR predicted the BJP could win 190-210 seats, the Samajwadi-Congress 110-130 and the BSP 57-74. CNN-News18-Gramener said the BJP could win 164 seats, the Samajwadi-Congress 147 and the BSP 81.

ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi says Modi is an old man, we will form govt of young people

AajTak exit poll results: Why Akhilesh, Rahul failed in Uttar Pradesh

--- ENDS ---
By Piya Hingorani: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has finally apologised for his insensitive and derogatory tweets on Women's Day, which took social media by storm.

After his racist rant against Michelle Obama and blasphemous tweets on Lord Ganesha, Ram Gopal Varma was slammed for his sexist jibes on International Women's Day when he tweeted, "I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives."

I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives- Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) March 8, 2017

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Minutes within his rant on social media, the Twitterverse trolled the director and criticised his misogynist comment. However, seeing the situation go out of hand, RGV apologised for his frivolous remarks, in an interview exclusively to India Today TV, "Whoever got offended by my tweets I didn't mean to be insensitive, living in this country I have freedom of speech, but in case someone was offended I apologise. But I do not apologise to those who threatened to take law in their hands."

The 54-year-old director was embroiled in a war of words on the micro-blogging site, with NCP leader Jitendra Awhad.

Awhad asked the Satya director to apologise for his comments on women, else he threatened to take the law into his hands to handle the matter. Following this, Varma asked him to apologise or face the wrath of a formal police complaint.

Varma stepping out of his Mumbai office said, "I will file a police complaint if, whatever his name is, yes Jitendra Awhad. But wait, that man on his status has a message that right or wrong I express what I feel and it's a joke that he wants that right for himself but he wants to take law into his hands if someone else does the same. If they threaten to take law into their hands, let them do it, we'll see what can be done at that time."

That's not all, a Goa-based female activist Vishakha Mhambrry filed a police complaint against RGV for his inconsiderate tweet, which amounts to an offence under the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

On this, Ram Gopal Varma retorted that he would file a counter police complaint for defaming Sunny Leone. "Firstly it's not a public platform, it's between me and my followers, if you don't like my tweets then unfollow me, it's their privilege. I have a freedom of speech, I express what I feel, I do that all the time," quipped the director.

Varma was accused of using this episode as a stunt to promote Sarkar 3, starring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead, which is all set for an April 7 release. However, RGV was quick to rubbish the allegations, "People either like the trailer or they like the earlier Sarkar, or for whatever reasons if on that Friday if the film interests them, they will watch it. Why would anyone be so stupid to watch or not watch the film if I say something on Women's Day? How can anyone be so dumb?"

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Just last week, the filmmaker caused a stir on social media when he shared a picture of actor Tiger Shroff on the cover of a glossy and wrote 'Its true, real men like Bruce Lee and Jackie Shroff to do pose in an Urmila-ish way'

And even advised Tiger to learn the art of 'machoism' from his father Shroff Senior. While Jackie Shroff, who ironically is co-starring in his upcoming gangster flick Sarkar 3, dismissed the director then, didn't appreciate his wreckless tweets on Women's Day.

In an interview to India Today TV Jackie said, "He is a big boy, he knows what he is talking about or he doesn't know, but I wouldn't say such a thing to any lady for sure. It's his bloody thinking, what he thinks or what he says. He didn't even spare Mr Bachchan, he said so many things, against his honour too. Now they call it freedom of speech but well I have control, I have a lakshman Rekha."

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ALSO READ: Why Ram Gopal Varma is beyond our understanding of good and evil

ALSO READ: Ram Gopal Varma wishes all women to make men happy like Sunny Leone does

ALSO READ: RGV gets in trouble over Sunny Leone tweet on Women's Day

ALSO WATCH: Big B returns to save RGV's sinking ship in Sarkar 3

--- ENDS ---
Wacoans might want to use this weekend and early next week to beat the spring break crowds at local tourist attractions, before visitors traveling the Interstate 35 corridor start flocking in on their way to the coast, local officials said.

With Baylor and many local school districts out for spring break, Cameron Park Zoo and other attractions are seeing a small boost in visitors, but not the usual amount brought in during the month of March. Thats all been dependent on the weather, attraction representatives said.

Waco and surrounding areas will see a 40 to 60 percent chance of thunderstorms between Friday and Saturday night, but skies are expected to clear up some going into Sunday, according to the National Weather Service of Fort Worth.

But as the start to Wacos tourism season gets underway, officials are expecting an influx of visitors for the next few weeks, said Carla Pendergraft, marketing director for Wacos Convention and Visitors Bureau.

In March 2015, before Magnolia Market moved downtown, 86,000 people visited local attractions, Pendergraft said. The number of visitors drastically rose to 195,259 in March 2016, up from 134,957 in February 2016, she said. Of the 195,259 visitors last March, 95,000 attended Magnolia Market, she said.

We consider March the beginning of the peak tourist season over the years, Pendergraft said. It just keeps that big number in March, and it goes down a little bit in April, then back up some in May. Then, in June, July and August, we break 200,000. We feel so fortunate to be part of this, Its really wonderful.

The mammoth site and the Rangers museum, their numbers are way up, she said.

Dallas resident Tammi Regelean said she was visiting Magnolia Market for the first time while in town for spring break with her two daughters and their friends to visit relatives in China Spring.

Were just here visiting for a few days. This is an amazing family location. I wish I had this when I was little. Its awesome, Regelean said as she lounged on a bean bag chair at the market and watched her girls play volleyball in the courtyard. I never thought Waco would be one of those locations. Theres actually something to do here. We went to Spice (Village) and then we came here and I didnt expect to even want to come in because I thought, Oh my gosh, look at the lines. 

But after finding a good parking space nearby, she knew they could handle the crowd, she said.

Pendergraft advised visitors to visit Magnolia Market in the morning and see the rest of Waco in the afternoon. The bureau launched an app last month to give visitors ideas for what to do around town, she said. A search Waco TX or Waco in the Play Store for Android or App Store for iPhones and will turn up the apps heart icon with Wacos Flying W, she said.

Weather slows zoo traffic

The first week of spring break has been slow at the Cameron Park Zoo because of dreary weather, zoo spokeswoman Duane McGregor said Thursday. But the second week of spring break is always busy because thats when the majority of students are out of school across the state and Central Texas, McGregor said.

Theres no way to predict the numbers. Last year, I want to say we put in around 35,000, she said. We get hit with three weeks. The first week is usually Baylor and the Waco schools, and the second week is the majority of schools and colleges. And the third week, we get another wave, but its a smaller group.

The zoos website has information about shuttles that alleviate tight parking during peak times. It also lets visitors buy tickets in advance to avoid lines at the gate, McGregor said.

Baylor Universitys Mayborn Museum also has seen a boost in attendance in the last few years, with March usually bringing in high numbers, spokeswoman Rebecca Tucker Nall said.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, visitors can make brain cells out of candy, observe the dissection of sheep brains and witness an electrophysiology experiment with experts from Baylors psychology and neuroscience department. The special exhibits mark brain awareness day, Nall said.

The museum also will offer Tales and Trails on the Brazos from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Guests can see a trick roper performance, hear live music and more in the museums Governor Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail, which is directly tied to Wacos history, Nall said.

Meanwhile, spring break traffic is already keeping the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum crazy busy, spokeswoman Christine Rothenbush said.

We always have a good steady flow of people from the local community and also different areas of Texas during spring break, Rothenbush said. The way Texas is kind of set up is each school can kind of choose their own spring break week, and so there are two main weeks of spring break. That helps because it kind of spreads it out.

Many of the museums visitors are coming from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and stopping on the way to San Antonio and Padre Island, or other coastal areas, she said.

By the time theyve gotten an hour and a half to two hours into their drive, theyre ready to stop and stretch their legs, Rothenbush said. So they come to Waco as one of their stops along their route. They come to the museum, grab a bite to eat, do Magnolia or whatever theyre interested in and then continue down to the capital in Austin, and continue that way to San Antonio or detour and go to the beach. It makes for a good location for us.

Barring the chance for bad weather, shes hoping the museum will see a strong turnout for its annual spring break event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday called the Spring Break Roundup. Each year, between the two major spring break travel weeks, the museum hosts a guest speaker and a re-enactment group called Texas Top Guns to show off what the Texas Rangers were like in the 1800s, with a camp site, a chuck wagon and more, she said.
McLennan County officials trying to round up 179 potential jurors who twice failed to show up for court found four of the no-shows Thursday and uncovered a possible case of voter fraud.

Judge Matt Johnson of Wacos 54th State District Court ordered McLennan County District Clerk Jon Gimble last week to issue writs of attachment for people who didnt show up at a hearing Friday to explain to the judge why they failed to come for jury duty Feb. 20.

Thursday was the first day sheriffs deputies tried to locate 179 people who missed the show-cause hearing last week.

Deputies brought four people to court Thursday, and all said they didnt receive the original jury summons or the show-cause notice for the hearing on Friday. One said she cares for small children and was allowed to use an exemption from jury duty for that. The judge allowed the other three to reschedule their jury service for other dates.

A fifth potential juror called Gimbles office Thursday afternoon and said he was in a U.S. Immigration Court in San Antonio trying to gain his U.S. citizenship.

County records showed the man, a resident of Burnett Avenue in Waco, is listed on the jury rolls because he is a registered voter. No drivers license number is listed in county records, which is the only other way someone can be summoned for jury duty.

Gimble checked with the McLennan County Voter Registration Office and found the man has been a registered voter in McLennan County since September 2002, but there is no record that he ever voted in this county.

The man gave a Social Security number on his voter registration card and checked a box affirming that he is a U.S. citizen.

Non-U.S. citizens who have been given permission to work in this country can obtain Social Security numbers.

A warning above the box says making a false statement on the voter registration card can be a crime, including perjury.

Gimble said he forwarded the information about the mans registration card to the McLennan County District Attorneys Office for potential further investigation.

Non-U.S. citizens are disqualified from jury service.

Johnson said he wants to get a report back from the sheriffs office about their efforts Thursday to see if he will instruct deputies to continue searching for the others who failed to come to court.

Of the 75 people who appeared in court last Friday to explain to the judge why the missed jury duty, the vast majority said they did not receive their jury notices in the mail. Officials questioned if some were telling the truth, but most were allowed to reschedule their jury duty for other dates.

There should have been 221 writs of attachment issued after last weeks hearing, but 42 people contacted Gimbles office since Friday and were disqualified, used exemptions or were rescheduled.

No one has been fined this time for missing jury duty, although judges have the option of fining no-shows from $100 to $1,000.

One woman Thursday may have come closer than the others to raising the ire of the court when Johnson asked her if she would like to serve on a jury one day. She told him no, because the judicial system is biased, rigged and unfair.

Low turnout

Johnson decided to issue the show-cause orders after a near-record low turnout among potential jurors last month caused county officials to scramble to get enough people to serve as jurors.

After excuses, exemptions, disqualifications, rescheduling and bad addresses on the notices, only 110 potential jurors were left from which to select three state district court juries and one county court-at-law jury. That was out of 650 potential jurors scheduled.

With trials involving the Twin Peaks shootout, the West explosion and capital murder scheduled for coming months, officials say it is important for people summoned for jury duty to report.
A week after postponing the first trial of a biker indicted in the May 2015 Twin Peaks shootout, a judge has set another trial date.

Judge Ralph Strother of Wacos 19th State District Court set May 22 for Christopher Jacob Carrizals trial to start on a first-degree felony engaging in organized criminal activity charge.

If the trial starts that day, it will come a week after the two-year anniversary of the deadly shootout in which nine bikers were killed and more than 20 were injured.

Strother granted a request from Stephenville attorney Landon Northcutt last week to postpone an April 17 trial setting. At that time, it was not known which of Northcutts three clients  Christopher Jacob Carrizal; his father, Christopher Julian Carrizal; or Jerry Edward Pierson  would be tried first.

All three of the Dallas-area men are members of the Bandidos, the motorcycle group that clashed with the Cossacks at a meeting of the Coalition of Clubs and Independents at the former Waco restaurant.

Northcutt said Friday he might have to seek another continuance because he still is waiting for the McLennan County District Attorneys Office to provide him with more discovery materials in the case.

We will have to see, but when you dont have your discovery, it is hard to have a trial, Northcutt said. We are still waiting, and there is just so much that I dont have at this point.

District Attorney Abel Reyna did not return a phone message on Friday. His first assistant, Michael Jarrett, declined comment, saying he could not discuss pending matters.

Northcutt said he is at a loss to explain why Jacob Carrizal, a 36-year-old railroad engineer, was selected as the first of the 155 indicted bikers to go to trial.

He said he has not seen his client in any of the videos of the event taken by restaurant or police cameras.

In seeking the continuance last week, Northcutt said the DAs office recently provided Twin Peaks defense attorneys with a terabytes worth of information and evidence in the case and he needs more time to analyze the information.

A terabyte is equal to 1,024 gigabytes.

Strother said he still plans to have a large jury panel brought in March 24 for a Twin Peaks trial so the group can fill out questionnaires to aid attorneys in jury selection.
In one of his first official acts as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt withdrew a previous request to 15,000 oil and gas companies for information on releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from their onshore operations. The withdrawal came one day after Pruitt received a letter from a group of 11 Republican officeholders  nine state attorneys general and two governors  assembled by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asking that the EPA take that action.

Why were Paxton and his colleagues so troubled by a mundane request for information? And why was Pruitt, a former attorney general of Oklahoma, in such a hurry to accede to their demands? The short answer is they dont want to know how much methane the oil and gas industry emits into the air because they dont want the EPA to do anything to reduce those emissions.

Methane is a major contributor to the global warming that contributed to the hottest February ever in many Texas cities. Pound for pound, methane emissions are 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles and power plants. With the dramatic expansion of domestic oil and gas operations as a result of modern hydraulic fracturing technologies, nearly one-third of the nations methane emissions come from oil and gas production, processing and transmission facilities.

The EPA initially requested the information on methane in connection with its announced intention to write standards for 1.7 million existing oil and gas wells, more than 300,000 miles of pipelines and associated compressor stations, nearly 500 natural gas-processing facilities and almost 400 underground gas-storage facilities. These standards would have a profound impact on the oil and gas sector.

But if the agency cannot gather information on methane emissions from these facilities, it will be unable to write defensible standards for reducing those emissions. And that is precisely why the state officials demanded that the EPA withdraw the request. They were carrying the oil and gas industrys water to give the impression that it was not the industry but the people of Texas and the other states who didnt want the agency to write methane standards for the oil and gas industry.

Their demand also allowed Pruitt, who had previously sued the EPA himself as Oklahomas attorney general, to mention in his three-paragraph explanation that the agency was committed to strengthening its partnership with the states.

This might be bad enough for citizens who worry about the impact of global warming on Texas coasts and water supplies, but the EPAs see-no-evil policy has consequences beyond the oil and gas industry. The information the agency had been seeking would also have been useful in comparing greenhouse gas emissions from the natural gas industry to those of the coal industry.

Natural gas-fired power plants emit only about half as much carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour as coal-fired plants. Consequently, the rapid move away from coal to natural gas in power plants during the past several years has been viewed as a boon for the environment. But if we take into account the far more potent methane emitted by the entire natural gas industry, the comparative environmental advantage of natural gas over coal is small or nonexistent.

The EPAs recent standards for existing power plants will allow companies to take credit for switching to natural gas, but how much credit will depend on the carbon footprint of natural gas. If they cannot claim as much credit for burning natural gas, power plant owners will have incentive to turn to other sources. That might include coal, but more likely, they will put additional resources into renewable wind and solar power.

Texas wind farms already produce more electricity than any other state by a factor of three, and its burgeoning solar industry is now producing electricity at competitive prices. This raises the question: Why is Paxton so determined to protect the natural gas industry at the expense of Texas booming wind and solar industries?

Attorneys general are supposed to be in the business of protecting citizens from threats such as global warming  not protecting favored industries from competition.

Thomas McGarity is a professor of law at The University of Texas at Austin and a board member of the Center for Progressive Reform.
No amnesty, Mr. Flores

My sentiments are directed to Congressman Bill Flores, the subject of a Trib Q&A in last Sundays paper, which I was very happy to see:

You were elected to this position to represent the citizens and taxpayers of your district, not to represent the illegal aliens in this country. One of your statements was:  I do not want to deport anyone but criminals and drug dealers and those trying to abuse our domestic programs.

May I remind you sir that anyone in this country illegally is a criminal.

You were asked about the Dreamers, those who came to this country through no willingness one way or the other on their own. Your answer was that it would be better for Congress to pass a path to citizenship for Dreamers.

This is just a fancy name for amnesty, rewarding those who have broken the law for a long time. Why would we want more citizens who care not for our rule of law and break the law every day they are here?

When asked about other immigrants, your answer referring to how we have this large, underground of 11 million people. My question to you: Why? It would seem to show that Congress has not followed up and insisted that these illegals be deported long ago and that the companies illegally hiring them should be heavily fined or closed because they are hiring under the table which means they are not collecting income taxes, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes from them nor or they paying the matching taxes. Take all the able-bodied off welfare and see how fast they will take the jobs you say are unfilled.

Another question asked about legalization for the 11 million? You answered: Lets get them here where they can buy a home, work, get a drivers license, pay taxes, and send their kids to school with no fear of deportation. Sir, this is just another invitation for more illegals to flood across the border as they are not punished for breaking our laws and pay no taxes but are rewarded with amnesty, whether you call it this or not.

When asked about the Affordable Care Act: Your answer: Were going to have to have subsidies for low-income Americans. This proves that this act is not about insurance but is just another welfare program which will have to be paid by the taxpayers no matter what cute name you use.

President Trump was correct when he claimed during his campaign that illegal aliens were costing the taxpayers billions of dollars in education costs, medical costs, crime along with trials and incarceration for the crimes and especially loss of revenue for unpaid income taxes, Social security taxes and Medicare taxes. Also should be mentioned, illegal voting in our elections.

Peggy Hill, West

EDITORS NOTE: Just in fairness to the congressman, he outlined his immigration ideas in detail before a fairly conservative crowd at a town-hall meeting at Texas State Technical College in August with no objections from the crowd.
WAHOO  For four years Wahoo has been a prime shopping destination for prom, homecoming and other formal dresses.

That trend continued March 4 and March 5, as women from as far as 200 miles away traveled to Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Wahoo to browse more than 300 formal dresses at the biannual Dresses for Life! boutique.

The most fun is when the girls come to shop, said fundraiser organizer Kelli Mattson. Its fun to be part of that experience.

Mattson said this years spring fundraiser was again a success, with more $1,000 worth of formal wear sold and almost $800 of that donated to Relay for Life. Women once again traveled from the Omaha and Lincoln metro areas. The event also drew women from as far away as Palmyra, Cozad and south of Beatrice.

A fundraiser for the American Cancer Societys Relay for Life, Dresses for Life! allows women a platform to sell their gently worn formal wear on consignment. The only stipulation is that the seller donates 20 percent of their profit to the Dresses for Life team.

But for many that donate dresses, making a profit is not the purpose.

A lot of people will donate all of their profit to Dresses for Life, Mattson said.

And for the dresses that do not sell, individuals have the option to pick up their dress or donate that back to the cause, which many choose to do, Mattson said.

Mattson is touched by the continuous support of the boutique, both from individuals that donate dresses and those that make the trek to come shop.

Being in this small town its awesome because theres so many that have been touched by cancer, whether thats friends or family, they get it, she said. Theres so many that stand behind the cause.

Mattson and her sister, Kristi Wilson, began their Saunders County Relay for Life team in 2014.

The sisters mother, Charlene Devine, passed away in 2013 from cancer. Mattson and Wilson decided to sell dresses for the teams fundraiser because the memory of their mother would live on.

Mom would always buy clothing that was on sale and give it to those in need, Mattson said.

The boutique has evolved since it began four years ago.

We have been getting a lot more Bridesmaids dresses and even some wedding dresses, Mattson said.

Jewelry, shoes, handbags and other formal accessories could be found among the racks and racks of colorful dresses.

To be able to set up all the

dresses, dressing rooms and mirrors, all day setup was necessary the day before the sale.

Mattson said she and her sister rely heavily on volunteers.

We couldnt do this by ourselves  it takes a village, Mattson said.

Mattson said while the fundraiser is able to run on donations, Dresses for Life! also makes dress donations to other nonprofit organizations in Lincoln and Omaha.

If weve had dresses for several sales well donate them to another mission, she said. We get a lot of donations, but we give a lot, too.
By Press Trust of India: Bhubaneswar, Mar 10 (PTI) Noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has been felicitated by Bahrain for his contribution in arts and culture.

Pattnaik was honoured by Bahrains Minister of Education Majid Bin Ali Al Nuaimi yesterday for sharing his experience and skills with the teachers of that country.

Odisha resident Pattnaik had received an invitation by Kingdoms Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Ministry of Education to lead a sand art workshop and training programme for teachers.

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Pattnaik was joined by several teachers and participants who learned various techniques of creating sand art during the five-day workshop, which concluded on March 9.

"I have been called for multiple programmes across the globe but when the Kingdom of Bahrain invited me to educate its teachers, I was deeply touched by the idea and accepted the invitation at once," Pattnaik said.

Pattnaik added that he was also felicitated by Bahrain Odia community at a function. PTI SKN AYP

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Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. And the will, too, of the oracles  Bolt and Bernardi, and the lesser prophets  who have missed no opportunity to warn us of the menace of Islam. Give us strength, Lord. Better still; give us a royal commission .

Most of all, protect us from those who'd seek to tell us "the truth". Our freedoms are precious  as you know very well  and the freedom to select our own alternative facts is the most cherished of all.

Protect us from the " leftist hysteria ''. Defend us from the arrogant and out of touch  the atmospheric scientists who alarm us about climate change ; the teachers who claim children are suffering in offshore detention; the engineers who say 100 per cent renewable energy is actually possible; the counter-terror experts who question the conservative rhetoric. Save us from the economists, the scientists, and the journalists. Save us, in fact, from all those who would have us live in fear. Or live with squat toilets .

Which reminds me, what are your thoughts on free speech? If the meek shall inherit the earth as you say, then surely they can deal with the odd insult from time to time? As for the less fortunate, the poor in spirit  can't they just turn the other cheek so the silent majority can be a little less silent?

Give us this day our daily bread. And meat too, please. But not halal  we didn't ask for it, and we won't pay for it. halal is a "scam''  another sign of the pervasive and imminent sharia threat and is probably used to finance terrorism too. And there's no point heeding the Senate Inquiry, which found no link between halal certification and extremist causes. We've been warned about the bleeding-heart liberals and their leftist agenda already. They can't be trusted.

Forgive us our trespasses; forgive our sniping, our wrecking and undermining, our scheming behind the scenes. Much as we'd like to forgive those that trespass against us, it's a bit of a stretch. They've made life hell, with their wind farms and their carbon tax, mendacious refugee advocates standing in the way of offshore processing, vexatious litigants standing in the way of major development, migrants driving up property prices. And it's only getting worse. I'm telling you, the destruction of civilisation is nigh.

In our hallowed halls of learning, Australian women are being spurned by Muslim men for simply wanting to shake hands. Is nothing sacred? What is the world coming to when religious beliefs can be used to justify discrimination on the basis of gender? It's un-Australian.

God knows  you do, don't you?  how we value our women and place them on an equal footing in all things? Alright, so not in the Parliament. Not in business either  OK, you've got me there. But we revere their roles as carers and as mothers, so long as they don't "rort" the paid parental leave system, naturally.
By Press Trust of India: judge calls it unconstitutional New Delhi/Kolkata, Mar 10 (PTI) The Supreme Court today issued a bailable warrant against a sitting Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan for non-appearance in a contempt case, an order unprecedented in the annals of Indian judiciary. Justice Karnan hit back at the apex court over the warrant to ensure his presence before it on March 31, calling it "unconstitutional" and alleged he was being targetted for being a Dalit.

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Justice Karnan goes down in the Indian judicial history as the first serving High Court judge against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the apex court in a contempt case.

A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar took strong note of Justice Karnans non-appearance despite being served with the contempt notice and asked the Director General of West Bengal Police to execute the warrants on the judge to ensure his presence at 10.30 AM on March 31. The court said it would "appreciate" if the bailable warrant is served on Justice Karnan by the DGP.

"Notice of this petition has been duly served. Despite service, wherein the personal presence of Shri Justice C S Karnan, in this Court, was imperative, he has neither entered appearance in person, nor through counsel," the bench, also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur, P C Ghose and Kurian Joseph, said.

"In view of the above, there is no other alternative but to seek the presence of Shri Justice C S Karnan by issuing bailable warrants. Ordered accordingly. Bailable warrants, in the sum of Rs 10,000, in the nature of a personal bond, to the satisfaction of the arresting officer, be issued, to ensure the presence of Shri Justice C S Karnan, in this Court, on March 31 at 10.30 A.M," it said.

The bench during a 15-minute-long hearing that took place in the packed CJIs courtroom referred to Justice Karnans fax message sent to the apex court registry on March 8 seeking a meeting with the CJI to discuss "certain administrative issues".

It said the message "primarily seem to reflect the allegations levelled by him against certain named judges. The above fax message, dated March 8, cannot be considered as a response of Justice C S Karnan, either to the contempt petition, or to the notice served upon him."

At the outset, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that Justice Karnan had defied the Supreme Court order and the apex court rules on contempt provide for issuance of bailable and non-bailable warrants against a contemnor to ensure his presence. Addressing a press conference at his residence in Kolkata, Justice Karnan said the apex court has "no locus standi" to issue a bailable warrant against a sitting judge. "This is intentional and I am being targetted for being a Dalit. The warrant against me is unconstitutional," he said. "Consequently I ask the President of India to recall the bailable warrant illegally issued by the Supreme Court today against me and lift non-work allotment ban of portfolio allocation," he said. He also issued an order of registration of a case under the appropriate sections of Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe (prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989 on Chief Justice of India Justice J S Khehar and six other judges. Eminent jurist Soli Sorabjee said he was distressed at Justice Karnans action. "This is a very sad thing. I am very distressed. Its sad that a judge is making such allegations. Allegation against judges in front of media. A person who is a judge who has taken oath upholding the laws and Constitution of the country to make allegations like this.

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The SC has no other way but to take action and its right. He is only aggravating his contempt. Making it worse," he said. PTI SJK ABA RKS AMR DC MD SUN CK GSN GSN

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Foreign donations to political parties, unions, think tanks and lobby groups would be banned under major reforms recommended to the Turnbull government by a powerful parliamentary committee.

The Coalition-dominated Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters has urged a wide-ranging prohibition of donations from foreign citizens and foreign entities to all "political actors", citing a need to protect national sovereignty.

"Only Australians should have the power to influence Australian politics and elections," said Liberal senator Linda Reynolds, who chaired the committee.

She acknowledged the ban would be "a complex constitutional and technical challenge for lawmakers"  a task that now lies chiefly with Special Minister of State Scott Ryan.
Brie Larson has addressed rumours she deliberately withheld applause from Oscar winner Casey Affleck, all but confirming the action was, indeed, one of protest.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, the actress said her refusal to clap for Affleck, whose nomination was controversial due to his history of sexual harassment allegations, "spoke for itself".

"I think that whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself," Larson, an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, said.
Sydney actress Emma Lung has perfected drama on the small screen, but in real life the Hollywood-based actor has been embroiled in a saga her friends say has left the popular star "devastated" after being "cleaned out" by thieves who ransacked her Redfern designer warehouse.

But that was just the beginning of the saga for the Wonderland actress, who has been embroiled in a protracted six-month dispute with global online hosting site Airbnb over the incident.

"They took everything. Family heirlooms, even her identity, it was all stolen. It has been a complete nightmare for her but the frustrating thing was she has had a really difficult time trying to resolve it with Airbnb ... she has spent months trying to get some sort of resolution."

Lung declined to comment to PS this week, though PS was informed the matter had finally been settled with Airbnb, which explained the delay was due to the lack of a police report or proof of ownership of specific items claimed to have been stolen, including Rolex watches worth tens of thousands of dollars.
An Australian team will do battle next week against 24 other outfits in pursuit of $US5 million ($6.6 million) prizemoney at the Abu Dhabi Formula One circuit.

But they won't be racing cars. Instead, the University of NSW engineers will compete using drones and a ground-based robot in a search and disaster response simulation.

It is the richest robotics competition in the world and is named after the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed Bin Zayed.

"The focus of the competition is disaster response," said Mark Whitty, lead researcher for the engineering team.
As the federal government grapples with talk of an energy crisis, two tech billionaires appear to be getting a ground-breaking deal done on Twitter.

The spur was Tesla's high-profile claim on Thursday that its batteries could solve South Australia's much-publicised energy problems in 100 days.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes took up the claim with gusto, linking to an Australian Financial Review (AFR) article on the subject and asking Tesla founder Elon Musk if he was serious.

"Holy s#%t", he tweeted, then appealed to Musk directly: "Lyndon & @elonmusk - how serious are you about this bet? If I can make the $ happen (& politics), can you guarantee the 100MW in 100 days?"
Since I was a kid, I've had absolutely no idea who my parents have voted for at each election.

My dad was always engaged with politics, but liked his privacy. My mum never told us because she didn't want to justify herself to dad just in case they were voting differently.

So going into my first state election in 2013, I had no guidance and no understanding about which political party best fit my interests. Being a 20-year-old, issues like infrastructure and international investment felt far too big for me to make a decision on.

While I knew it was important to vote, I wasn't entirely sold on why it was necessary for me to have an opinion. Surely all these problems and plans were better off solved by people in suits rather than a girl who was still making a decision on whether or not to have pasta or curry for dinner?
WA One Nation candidate Michelle Meyers has denied media reports that she accused the gay community of using 'Nazi-style mind control' to get people to support same-sex marriage.

Ms Myers has been nominated for the newly-created seat of Bateman and will take on former Transport Minister Dean Nalder in Saturday's state election.

She attended a controversial function at Mount Hawthorn's Paddington Ale House on Thursday night with party leader Pauline Hanson, which saw protests from about 40 people outside carrying banners and signs bearing crossed-out Nazi symbols and 'Fascist Free Zone' slogans.

Earlier this year Perth's only gay and lesbian newspaper Out in Perth reported that Ms Meyers took to Facebook in 2016 to claim Christians were being swayed to accept the push for gay marriage through mind control employed by the LGBTI community that was previously used by the Soviets then the Nazis.
Dusseldorf: An axe attacker who injured seven people at Dusseldorf train station on Thursday night acted alone and suffered from mental health problems, police have said in a statement.

Authorities said that the man is a 37-year-old from the former Yugoslavia, who currently lives in the western German city of Wuppertal and "obviously suffers from mental health problems"

Station authorities were first alerted to the attack at 8:50pm. The man allegedly attacked passengers on a local train before also swinging the axe at others in the train station's main hall.

Three people were seriously injured, while four others sustained minor injuries, police said.
Shah Rukh Khan admitted that women have ten times more stamina than men. He also revealed the secret to, well, pleasing women.

By India Today Web Desk: Shah Rukh Khan has been the darling of India's women for more than two decades for a reason. He respects women and his respect towards women is not mere tokenism. He can give reasons as to why he feels women are superior than men.

In a recent interview, when asked about his much-talked about energy levels, Shah Rukh Khan said that women happen to have more energy than men.

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Speaking to Hindustan Times, SRK said, "Creative process requires that kind of dedication and stamina. I really want to say that the kind of stamina actresses have is 10 times more than male actors. They come at 7am, dress up for two-and-a-half hours and then shoot the entire day. Once I dressed up as a girl in a film and I remember the eyelashes used to trouble me so much, and then there was the corset, ghagra and wig. I wanted to kill myself. So, girls have a lot more energy than any guy or all the men put together. So, please don't overrate me because of anything."

Shah Rukh went on to reveal the secret behind pleasing women. Turns out it's very easy.

"Girls want simple things in life. They don't want elaborate flowers and chocolates. If you allow them to be themselves, are dignified and respectful towards them, and hug them once in a while (smiles), there is nothing else in the world (that is required). It's as simple. The quality question is how dignified you are towards a woman. I handle men and women alike. Men don't understand that; it's so simple to be nice to a girl," Shah Rukh Khan said.

Well there you go boys. Shah Rukh Khan's tips and tippanis should come handy, we bet.

WATCH: Shah Rukh Khan discussing Pokemon with a young Aryan is too cute for words

ALSO READ: I need hair on my chest, says Shah Rukh Khan on the prospect of playing Wolverine

ALSO WATCH: Shah Rukh spends a day out with the Indian Army on Republic Day

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By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Mar 10 (PTI) A Sikh man shot outside his home in Washington state by a partially-masked gunman shouting "go back to your own country" was targeted because of his ethnic origin, authorities have said as they announced a reward of up to USD 6,000 for anyone providing a lead in the case.

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US national Deep Rai, 39, was working on his vehicle outside his home in Kent on March 3 when he was approached by a stranger, who first argued with Rai, and then shot him in the arm.

"The account provided by the victim suggests that he was targeted because of his ethnic origin," Kent Police chief Ken Thomas told reporters yesterday, adding "Hateful acts are not acceptable."

Nearly a week after the shooting that stoked fears among the Indian-American community, the police released the sketch of the shooter. Thomas said the lone white shooter make, about six-feet tall, medium built and between 35-40 years of age.

On the day of the shooting, he was wearing a dark-coloured or black hoodie in addition to dark coloured clothing. The lower portion of his face was covered with a mask.

The incident is being investigated by the Kent Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a hate crime.

Unable to find any lead towards the shooter, who is still at large, the authorities have announced a reward of up to USD 6,000 for anyone providing information that could lead to his arrest.

"The Kent Police Department is concerned about any act of violence in our community. The possibility of a hateful violence underscores the need of a through and serious examination of the circumstances around this criminal incident," Thomas said.

After the shooting the suspect departed on foot in an unknown direction, he said.

Thomas said its early in the investigation and still trying to learn the exact circumstances. "(Rai) was wearing a turban. With the dynamics of the situation that occurred we do believe the victim was targeted...," he said.

The Kent Police Department is committed to protect community members, "particularly if they may be targeted because of their race, gender, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation or other protected class. For that reason we have partnered with the FBI to ensure we bring all investigative resources to bear to this case," he said.

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The FBI Seattle Field Agent told reporters that the agency has opened a full civil rights investigation into this matter along with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

"We opened this case to help Kent Police Department to figure out whether or not there was bias, specifically bias related to Federal hate crimes laws in this matter," he said. PTI LKJ ABH AKJ ABH

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Almost after a week, the police have released the sketch of the shooter, who is still absconding. The lone white shooter was about six feet tall, medium built and between 35 and 40 years of age.

Driveway where the Sikh man was shot in the arm. (Photo: AP)

By India Today Web Desk: The US authorities today admitted that the shooting of Sikh man of Indian origin was a hate crime. Police said that the Sikh man identified as Deep Rai (39) was shot outside his home in Washington by a partially-masked gunman who shouted 'go back to your country'.

Almost after a week, the police have released the sketch of the shooter, who is still absconding. The lone white shooter was about six feet tall, medium built and between 35 and 40 years of age.

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The police in suburban Seattle and the FBI have also sought the public's help in the shooting incident.

Authorities said on Thursday that they're offering a USD 6,000 reward and have set up a phone line for tips: 253-856-5808.

The victim was struck in the arm. Kent Police Commander Jarod Kasner said that they have not had reports of any similar incidents.

Police and the FBI have not identified a suspect but described him as a 6-foot-tall white man who came dressed in a dark hoodie, dark clothing and a mask covering the lower part of his face.

A suspect sketch shows the man with thick, dark eyebrows and brown eyes.

Also read:

Sikh man shot at in US: Victim out of danger, says Sushma Swaraj

Kent shooting: FBI joins probe, Indian American Congressman says hate crimes on rise

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Impeached South Korean leader Park Geun-hye will not leave the presidential Blue House residence on Friday, her spokesman said following a constitutional court verdict earlier in the day to uphold a parliamentary motion to remove her from office.

Impeached President Park Geun-hye's house is seen in Seoul, South Korea, March 9, 2017. Picture: Reuters

By Reuters: A constitutional court verdict earlier in the day upheld a parliamentary motion to remove South Korean leader Park Geun-hye from office.

However, the impeached leader will not leave the presidential Blue House residence on Friday, her spokesman said.

"For now, Park is not leaving the Blue House today," Blue House spokesman Kim Dong Jo told Reuters.

Park has a private residence in a neighbourhood called Samseong-dong, in the affluent Gangnam district of the capital, Seoul.

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Her spokesman said earlier that she would be going there, when she leaves the Blue House.

"No plans have been made for her departure. Due to security reasons, she cannot go back to her house in Samseong-dong," Kim said.

Park was impeached over a graft scandal involving South Korea's conglomerates at a time of rising tensions with North Korea and China.

She denied wrongdoing.

Also Read: South Korea's President Park Geun-hye impeached in parliamentary vote

Also Read: President Trump calls Japan PM Shizo Abe, assures support against North Korea

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By Press Trust of India: border

Lakhimpur Kheri (UP), Mar 10 (PTI) Six people, including a company commander of the paramilitary force SSB, were injured today in cross-border stone-pelting along the Indo- Nepal border here in Lakhimpur Kheri which remained "tense" for the second day.

Hundreds of Nepalese citizens gathered at the disputed land on the border today and pelted stones at the SSB personnel and villagers.

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"Three SSB personnel, including company commander T K Hans, were injured in fresh stone-pelting," said Commandant Dilbag Singh of the paramilitary force which guards the Indo- Nepal border.

Hans sustained injury in the eye.

"Three civilians of Basahi village were also injured and all were given medical treatment," the Commandant said. This was the second consecutive day that stone-pelting took place in the area, where nine SSB jawans and few civilians were injured yesterday.

Nepalese citizens have been pelting stones after SSB jawans deployed at the location objected to permanent construction work on a disputed land near pillar No 200, officials say.

In New Delhi, Director General of SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal) said, "The situation is tense today and a large number of Nepalese people have gathered on the spot again and resorted to shouting anti-India slogans and stone-pelting. Local officers and SSB officers are on the spot."

She said she was told by her force that there was no firing by SSB as has been alleged in some media reports, which claimed that one Nepali national had died in it.

"Our troops have told us that there has been no firing from their side but as the allegations are serious, I have ordered for a Court of Inquiry," she told PTI.

In view of the tension on the border, SSB DIG AK Das from Pilibhit sector headquarters visited the area and took stock of the situation.

DM Akashdeep, SP Manoj Kumar Jha, SDM Shadab Aslam besides commandant Dilbag Singh reached the spot to talk to their counterparts in Nepal to ease the tension. Meanwhile, movement through the disputed land near Basahi remained suspended today after clash between Nepalese citizens and SSB yesterday. Officials of both the countries have agreed to maintain status quo till a joint survey by officials of both countries is carried out to ascertain the exact status of pillar number 200, a senior official said here.

Tension on the border near pillar number 200 had started yesterday when Nepal municipal authorities started building a culvert, allegedly on no-mans land near Basahi village even though at an India-Nepal meeting a few days ago, it was decided that no construction work will take place at the disputed land till a joint survey is done, officials said. PTI COR SAB ADS AKK AKK

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Justice Karnan has been accused of writing disparaging letters to the Prime Minister, Law Minister, Supreme Court Registrar about sitting and retired top court and High Court judges.

By Manogya Loiwal : The Supreme Court today issued a bailable warrant against Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan for showing contempt to the apex court by not appearing before it as ordered.

A seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar also asked Justice Karnan to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000 and appear before it on March 31.

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The Supreme Court has directed the West Bengal Director General of Police to personally execute the warrant against Justice Karnan to ensure his appearance before it on March 31.

The order came as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that Justice Karnan has refused to appear before the court in contempt case and under the Supreme Court Rules, if a person does not appear, a bailable warrant be issued against him.

On February 8, the Supreme Court had, in an unprecedented move, issued the contempt notice to a sitting High Court judge and had asked Justice Karnan to appear on February 13, which he didn't.

The issuance of the contempt notice to Justice Karnan was significant as it was for the first time in the history of the Supreme Court that it had invoked powers to initiate contempt proceedings against a sitting judge of a High Court.

WHAT IS JUSTICE KARNAN ACCUSED OF

Justice Karnan is accused of writing disparaging letters to the Prime Minister, Law Minister, Supreme Court Registrar about sitting and retired top court and High Court judges. In case of some judges, Justice Karnan had even levelled the allegation of corruption and caste discrimination.

Justice Karnan had also stayed the top court collegium's decision transferring him from Madras High Court to Calcutta High Court.

At the outset of the hearing, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has told the apex court that the nature of various communications by Justice Karnan were "very very scandalous" and "embarrassing" and the "time has come for this court to act". He urged the court to act so that a clear message should go to the citizens that the top court will not hesitate in taking action against its own judge in the High Court.

TOP COURT EMPOWERED TO PUNISH HIGH COURT JUDGES: AG

AG said that the top court was empowered under Article 129 of the Constitution read with Article 142(2) to punish the High Court judges and the members of subordinate judiciary.

However, Chief Justice Khehar said that since it was happening for the first time. "We must be as careful as we can be. We have to see what we can so, what we can't do... it is a vital issue. We have to see cause and effect," said Chief Justice Khehar.

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"This is presumptuous. You are presuming," the bench said. "We are receiving letters from him for a long time. Suppose if he denies writing letters, it will change the situation. We will have to hear him and we have to hear every one," the bench added.

JUSTICE KARNAN's VERSION

Meanwhile, Justice Karnan has described the verdict as an attempt to ruin his life, adding that the Supreme Court is not supreme.

Claiming to be a Calcutta High Court judge, Keenan has issued an order to the CBI director to conduct an inquiry against the ruling and all the seven judges.

He has also sent a letter to the President requesting that the bailable warrant against him be recalled.

A suo moto directive has been issued to P.S of the PM, cabinet secretary, Secretary General of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Registrar SC of India and the CBI director.

Also read | Contempt case: Justice Karnan fails to appear before Supreme Court

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Also read | Supreme Court's first ever notice to a sitting High Court judge for writing to PM accusing judges of corruption

Also watch | A first in judicial history: Sitting High Court judge asked to appear before SC

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By India Today Web Desk: With her prompt responses and supportive presence on social media, Sushma Swaraj helped yet another Indian in distress living abroad. She has been helping a lot of Indians in abroad with the help of her mission known as 'Madad Portal'.

Swaraj was informed about an Indian student's critical condition living in New York on Twitter. Debarpan Mukherjee, a student of NYU was hospitalised due to brain haemorrhage when Swaraj decided to reunite the distressed student with his parents.

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Swaraj got in contact with Debarpan's mother living in Kolkata and made an arrangement to send the parents to New York. She also assured the Indians students who were getting worried for Debarpan that everything is under her control.

Here's how External Affairs Miniter is helping Indians abroad:

I have just learnt that Debarpan Mukherjee a student of NYU is in Hospital because of brain haemorrhage. @IndiainNewYork /1- Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 10, 2017

Also read: Bring Insiya back: Dutch mother seeks Sushma Swaraj's help after Indian kidnapped her daughter

We will ensure that his parents reach there at the earliest. Our Consulate in New York will provide all help. /2 @IndiainNewYork- Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 10, 2017

Also read: How a man's tweet to Sushma Swaraj to get his wife transferred to his city backfired

We will ensure that his parents reach there at the earliest. Our Consulate in New York will provide all help. /2 @IndiainNewYork- Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 10, 2017

Also watch: Sikh man shooting in US: Kent police terms incident a hate crime

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A History of Education in The Bahamas Between the Pre-Emancipation Period 1734-1834

The Post-Emancipation and Modern Periods 1835-1947

Dr. Donald M McCartney, DM

Abstract

The history of education in The Bahamas represents the genesis and building the foundation of the Bahamian people, which connects them to their past. History assists us in answering the question posed by Cicero in 46 BC, what is the worth of human life unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by records of history? This paper lays the foundation, gives currency to our past, and connects the fabric of our ancestors to the fabric of the present, which weaves a rich tapestry of the Bahamian struggle to become a unique people. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to assist Bahamians in general, and Bahamian educators in particular to recognize the importance of their educational history warts and all. This paper will assist our people in their journey to maturity and discovery of who they are through the lives of their ancestors who fought for them to know how to weave the fabric of the past with the fabric of the present to produce an education system, culture, social and economic order, which reflects who they are as Bahamians. While this paper discusses and traces the history of education in The Bahamas between 1734 and the post-emancipation period, it challenges Bahamians to ask the questions: Has the Bahamian struggle for education been achieved? Are Bahamians free without knowing the struggle for education by their ancestors? Are Bahamians free without an education?

PART I

Introduction

Robert F. Kennedy once said, Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and beliefs that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Thomas Sowell, an American economist, turned social theorist, political philosopher, and author, in his farewell column wrote, We cannot return to the past, even if we wanted to, but let us hope that we can learn something from the past to make for a better present and future.

In 46 BC Cicero, orator, and statesman said, "To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history? "

Let us examine, for a moment, the import of the quotations by Robert F. Kennedy, Thomas Sowell, and Cicero.

Robert F. Kennedy, speaks of Sweeping down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. The walls of oppression can only be swept down in a nation where there is a commitment to continuity in the provision of a holistic standard of education for all of its citizens.

The keywords of Thomas Sowells quote tells us Let us learn from the past to make for a better present and future. If we are to improve the present thus paving the way for an improved future, there must be a commitment by all Bahamian educators to uplift all Bahamians through the provision of a high-quality educationbut more importantly, ALL Bahamians MUST commit themselves to thirst for knowledge through life-long learning through the development of a healthy appetite for ALL forms of positive education.

Then Cicero challenges us with the question, what is the worth of human life unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by records of history? The purpose of this research is to assist Bahamians, particularly Bahamian educators of the importance of assisting our people to mature by discovering who they are through the lives of our ancestors who fought for us to know how to weave the fabric of our lives into the fabric of their lives to produce an education system that reflects who we are as a people.

The Bahamian struggle for education, runs parallel with the struggle to be free; the Bahamian struggle for education runs parallel with the struggle for social justice; indeed, the Bahamian struggle for education runs parallel with the quest for economic justice; yes, the Bahamian struggle for education runs parallel with the struggle for their place in the Bahamian sun!

Despite the struggles and the achievements of Bahamians, a century plus eighty-two years after the abolition of slavery; eighty-seven years after Pompeys revolt in Exuma,; eighty years after the Inagua Riot; seventy-four years after the Burma Road Riot; sixty-four years after the formation of the first Black political party in The Bahamas; sixty-one years after the members of the first Black opposition party took their seat in the halls of the Bahamian House of Assembly; fifty-nine years after the General Strike; fifty-five years after women were given the right to vote, and universal adult suffrage was established; fifty years after the achievement of Majority Rule; and forty-four years after independence, these questions remain: (1) Has the Bahamian struggle for education been achieved? (2) Are Bahamians free without knowing of the struggle by their ancestors for education? (3) Are Bahamians free without an education?

Bahamians continued the quest for, and receptiveness of education in ALL of its true and unadulterated forms will determine and affirm the answers to these poignant questions.

It is hoped that this presentation is a step in the right direction as Bahamians reflect on their history in general and their educational history in particular that these provocative questions will be answered.

Despite the operative and substantive title of this paper, any reference to the history of education during the period (between seventeen thirty-four, the post-emancipation, and modern periods) in THE BAHAMAS, is in reality, a reference to the history of education in NASSAU, which after a while, for the most part, included Eleuthera and Harbour Island. Proximity to Nassau made these two islands inclusive rather than exclusive during the early development of education. The exclusivity of the development of education will become evident as this presentation progresses.

It is important, then, that if Bahamians are not to remain in a childlike state, they must trace, as best they can, their history in general and the history of education in particular.

It is of particular importance that all Teacher Education Programs include a course or a component within the program on the History of Education in The Bahamas.

Teachers, both veteran, and novice cannot go forth to educate the nations youth without first having a foundational and historical appreciation of the education system in which they teach.

It must be made mandatory that even the more experienced teachers, who are already in the system, must take in-service courses, which focus on the History of Education in The Bahamas.

When people or individuals are denied access to something as fundamental as education, the attainment of the same takes preeminence in their lives; and so it was with the Bahamian struggle to attain accessibility to education between 1734 and the post-emancipation period leading up to Majority Rule in 1967.

According to the Global Campaign for Education (2016),

Education has the power to underpin transformative change, providing opportunity, hope, and protection to the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The right to quality education is fundamental to the realization of other rights, including gender equality, health, nutrition, peace, the strengthening of democracy and environmental sustainability. On Human Rights Day 2014, we call for governments to take action to prevent violent attacks on education, and for the right to education to be at the heart of the new global development frameworks.

What, then, is the Global Campaign for Education telling Bahamians? Is the Global Campaign for Education suggesting that perhaps transformative change, the provision of opportunities, hope, and the protection of the lives of Bahamians have been stymied because of the intensity of the struggle for education?

Is the Global Campaign for Education telling Bahamians that the quality of education that they have received has shaped their attitudes towards gender equality, health, nutrition, peace, the strength of the Bahamian view of democracy, and their treatment of the environment have been impacted because of the long and contracted struggle for education?

Perhaps the answers to both questions ought to be the subject of another research effort.

It has been opined by Bethel (1992), the late president emeritus of the (College of The Bahamas) now of late the University of The Bahamas, that the quest for education in The Bahamas reached its zenith during the period 1967 through to the 1980s. This view provides another avenue for an examination of the history of education in The Bahamas.

(Reverend Dr. Charles) Saunders (2009) expanded the period, of which Dr. Bethel spoke when he stated that the period 1942-1967 was a time of great expectation and a time of striving for excellence. He felt that the period also reflected Bahamians love for learning. Saunders also posited that between 1967 and 2011, the high expectations, striving for excellence, and love for learning were lost.

Both Dr. Bethel and Reverend Dr. Saunders views are worthy of collaborative research by this presenter and others.

Education has always held a preeminent position in The Bahamas. This preeminence is based on the premise that, that which is denied a people or a person is that which is sought after the most, and so it was with the attainment of education.

Research has shown that efforts, to provide the same quality education, for all Bahamians (students), with the achievement of the same results, have not always met with much success. However, it is unfair to say that all Bahamians (students) have not been able to achieve some measure of success in their academic pursuits.

In the pre-Majority Rule period, many Bahamians (students), who were able to achieve a measure of academic success, were able to do so based on race, social status, and the familial financial means (Beers, 2005; Singham, 2003; McCartney, 2004).

Now let me be clear; there were, and there always will be exceptions to the rule. There were Bahamians (students) who did not have the benefits of race, social status, and families who had the financial status.

Despite the prevailing handicaps, many Bahamians (students) achievements were stellar. Let us not be fooled; there were students who had the racial status but lacked the social and the familial financial status. Many of these, if not all of them, were given the opportunity to obtain an education that was denied others who were racially incorrect. The reality is that there were poor white Bahamians who suffered the same fate as black Bahamians.

All things considered, many of those Bahamians who were deprived of an equal opportunity to obtain an education, their achievements were stellar because, even though they lacked the combination of status to which I referred, there were teachers, many of whom were unqualified by todays standards; but they (teachers) were dedicated and disciplined. The results produced by the dedication and discipline of these teachers were second to none and certainly made up for what they lacked in qualifications.

Among these teachers were Donald W. Davis, Theodore G. Glover, Hugh W. Campbell, Naomi Blatch, Frank Reid, Ivan Holder, Maizie Wilkinson, Hilda Barrett, Gwendolyn Hall, Aileen Knowles, Edith Davis, and Naomi Godet-Claridge. Teachers, today, can learn much form the teachers of yester-year when it comes to the delivery of a quality educational product.

An appreciation of the history of education in The Bahamas establishes the importance of examining the issue of the disparity in the academic achievement of students at all levels. However, in dealing with the disparity in the academic achievement of students begs the questions: What about the quality of education provided at the primary level? Does the academic achievement or lack thereof of students at the primary level impact their academic achievement at the high school and tertiary levels?

Indeed, these are very valid questions. I am of the view that a cursory examination of the historical roots of the disparity of the academic achievement of primary school students reveals much about the causes or the creation of the disparity at the high school and tertiary levels.

While there are a plethora of reasons for the disparity in the academic achievement of students, in the case of The Bahamas, it can be posited that one of the reasons mus have been a weak foundation at the primary school level. According to McCartney (2013), there were nine causes of the disparity in the academic achievement of high school students.

According to McCartney (2013), there was reason to conclude that there was a general disparity between the General Certificate of Education (GCE) and the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE).

McCartneys list of causes included the establishment (1) practices in education that are indigenous to The Bahamas that do not ameliorate the disparity; (2) the lack of parental involvement and motivation of children; (3) the quality of teacher instruction; (4) students lack of discipline in applying themselves to learning; (5) the influence of the media, other cultures, and peer pressure; (6) the socioeconomic status of students; (7) the previous policy of selecting students who took the GCE examination and (8) the present policy that all 12th grade students must take the core subjects in the BGCSE examination; and (9) the lifestyle choices of students.

McCartneys list of disparities does not include any reference to the high school students foundational education, which is established at the primary school level. However, anecdotally and empirically, it has been found that what students achieve or do not achieve at the primary level impacts their achievement at the high school level and beyond (Mushtaq and Khan, 2012).

Of course, one cannot ignore the fact that another reason for the disparity in the academic achievement of Bahamian high school students is that history has had a deleterious impact on the future accomplishments of Bahamians in education. However, as a people, we must acknowledge that taking positive advantage of opportunities, as they are presented, can offset what history did not allow or delayed.

According to President Obama (2017), while speaking about the gaps that have negatively impacted the progress of blacks, in America in an interview, with Ta-Neshisi Coates of The Atlantic magazine said, Theoretically, you can make a powerful argument that centuries of slavery, Jim Crow, and discrimination are the primary cause of all those gaps

President Obama was referring particularly to the gaps in education, wealth, and employment that separates black and white America. I noted with interest his inclusion of education. The view expressed by President Obama speaks to historys negative impact on an oppressed people in the United States of America.

It is clear that President Obamas comment supports the case that can be made about the negative impact of history on the education of generations of Bahamians.

Therefore, for the purpose of this presentation, I am speaking of the impact that slavery and its attendant history has had on education in The Bahamas and by extension its impact on Bahamians. Slavery, its attendant practices, and history have had an impact on the social, economic and political development of black Bahamians and possibly poor white Bahamians.

So, theoretically, a powerful case can be made for the disparity in the educational achievement of Bahamians whose history is influenced by slavery, and by extension, its backlash which caused has been the source of social, economic, and political dislocation.

This discourse is not about the disparity in the academic performance of primary or high school students. However, the disparity, because of the possible and plausible impact of history on the educational development of Bahamians, it is necessary for it to be used as a part of the foundation (introduction) of this presentation and research.

This presentation is about a history of education between 1734 and the post-emancipation period, through to the modern period, in The Bahamas. It is a rather ambitious undertaking, and I doubt that it will be achieved in this forum.

The impact of history on education, the social, economic, and political development of the Bahamian people cannot be ignored.

There, I have said it againour political development! This forum is, indeed, the place to begin the discussion!

Therefore, the exploration of any aspect of the history of education, in The Bahamas, may, in itself, reveal sufficient anecdotal evidence to add to the impact that history has had on the causes of the deficiency in the educational system and hence the disparity in the academic performance of not only primary and high school students but the performance of students at the tertiary level as well.

For this romp through the history of education in The Bahamas between 1734 and the post-emancipation and modern periods, it is essential to note that when students matriculate to college (university), if those students do not perform well, academically, the students academic performance, at the high school level must be reviewed historically.

With the same token, when students matriculate to high school, if there is a disparity in their academic achievement, historical reference must be made to the students academic achievement in the primary school.

Both of the preceding examples, while they may be considered (factually) anecdotal, they are historically true. It follows that the implications of the history of education between 1734 and the post-emancipation and modern periods provide (possible) causes for the disparity in the academic achievement of students.

Education, in The Bahamas, during the early period, was divided into the four distinct segments: 1734-1834, 1835-1864, 1865-1919, and 1920-1947 (Pegg (1947). This paper, under different circumstances, would have examined the history of education during the pre-emancipation period 1734-1834, which covers the first one hundred years before slavery was abolished; the immediate or early post-emancipation period 1835-1864, which covers approximately thirty years; and the periods 1865-1925, which covers sixty years, and 1926-1967, which covers 41 years.

Due to time constraints, the periods that this paper will cover are 1734-1834 (pre-emancipation period), 1835-1864 (early post-emancipation period), and 1865-1947 (late post-emancipation period and the beginning of the 20th Century period or the modern period). These periods will cover two hundred and eleven (211) years and will be more than sufficient to whet your appetites for more in the future.

While all of the periods, in the history of education, are important, the period 1948-1967 is worthy of special mention even though it is not included in this presentation. This period is most significant because it marked the beginning of the latter part of the post-emancipation period, which took the history of education in The Bahamas fully into the twentieth century and encompasses the achievement of the Majority Rule or what was considered as the beginning of the modern period in Bahamian education.

1967 was considered a watershed year in The Bahamas because decisions that were taken in 1967 forever changed the social, economic, political order in The Bahamas and particularly the educational landscape. These decisions could be seen and interpreted as having a deleterious or beneficial impact on the development of education in The Bahamas. The lense through which those decisions are examined will determine and influence how these decisions are seen and interpreted.

The three periods (1734-1834, 1835-1864, and 1865-1947 ), will be highlighted along with their significance in the history of education in The Bahamas.

Bahamians have been free for one hundred and eighty-two years. The year 2034 will mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

Freedom, the quality, and the type of education that has been delivered to the Bahamian people are conditional based on three questions. What are the three questions? (1) Has the Bahamian struggle for education been achieved? (2) Are Bahamians free without knowing the struggle, by their, ancestors for education? (3) Are Bahamians free without an education?

I put it to you, in the words of Sydney J. Harris, The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.

It is through education that we are taught that we are unique individuals, who have been given the power to think and reason. Education teaches us that all action begins with the "thought" of it first. Education leads us to look into a mirror where we see only ourselves reflected back, but when we look out of a window, we see the rest of the world, which helps to multiply our experiences. Our lives will become truly enriched by our interaction with other human beings and creatures. Education plays an important role in expanding our private universe. To live a productive life, we need to look both inside and outside of ourselves. As Bahamians, we must explore all the avenues that are opened up to us through education. Then and only then we can use our creative mind to help solve the problems both within ourselves and in the exterior world.

Now, let us begin this journey so that we can begin to know our educational history as we determine the way forward.

The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the WeblogBahamas (which has no corporate view).
On Friday, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju launched myssb mobile app. Developed by an inspector of the force, the app has already been downloaded by the 70,000 SSB personnel.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Nearly three months after BSF constable Tej Bahadur accused his force of serving poor quality of food and his seniors of siphoning ration money meant for soldiers, nearly all Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have developed their own application to address soldiers' grievances.

BSF says that they are developing a digital application, which will be a platform to address issues like leave applications and other complaints. All answers to queries will have a set deadline. While BSF application is a work in progress, some of the other forces have taken a lead.

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Talking about the usefulness of the application, DG BSF KK Sharma said, " Tej Bahadur is a constable, yet he could make video and upload on Facebook. Instead of taking this negatively, we are developing soldier-friendly application, which will address his grievances and other aspects of his duty."

On Friday, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju launched myssb mobile app. Developed by an inspector of the force, the app has already been downloaded by the 70,000 men in the force. The application will have soldiers' financial accounts, designations, and grievances. The stress is on making the application interactive said an SSB officer to Mail Today.

CISF which has been grappling with suicides and fratricide incidents in recent past came up with its own application called M-power earlier this week, in what the force called a bid to empower the foot soldiers of the force. From posting order, to profile of individual, the application is one stop solution for soldiers. DG CISF OP Singh told Mail Today, "This is to empower the soldier. He just has to enter a unique ID and he will be connected. The application will be visible to his seniors and will also be centrally-monitored."

DG CRPF, Sudeep Lakhtakia on Friday also formally inaugurated the financial management software which will enable the force to process all its procurements and personal claims online through the intranet and have seamless integration with the Pay & Accounts Offices. With SMS alerts and real time reports, the expenditure management will ensure highest standards of transparency. "This in-house development has been made with the objective of simplifying the work processes to ensure expeditious settlement of claims of jawans and suppliers," DG CRPF told Mail Today.

The issue of grievances in the CAPF has been raised. Though, NIC is developing an application for all paramilitary forces, most of them have gone digital, in a bid to impress the Centre which is keen to give Digital India a push.

Also read:

BSF quietly transfers jawan Tej Bahadur's supervising officer

Tej Bahadur controversy: BSF has a robust system to redress grievances, says DG

BSF constable Tej Bahadur back to 29 Battalion but not deployed on ROP

WATCH THE VIDEO:

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Astros take World Series title over Phillies in six games
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 10, 2017 | 06:05 AM | HICKMAN. KY

According to Kentucky State Police, the public is still asked to remain out of the area, due to continued safety concerns associated with electrical lines. Electric Company representatives are continuing to work to fully restore power to the area.Current road closures include Highway 125 from Montgomery School Road to Highway 94, Highway 1099 by-pass from Highway 94 to Highway 125, and Myron Cory Drive from Highway 125 to Highway 1099 by-pass. These road closures are anticipated to remain through the night.The Kentucky Office of Emergency Management has deployed two teams for damage assessment, and anticipate two more teams arriving tomorrow. They plan to work through the weekend.The National Weather Service has arrived on scene and has begun their assessment, which includes determining wind speeds, cause and path of damage. They anticipate a full report prior to tomorrow mornings briefing.Construction debris and sheet metal can be placed (separated) in large containers located across from Hickman City Hall on 7th Street. Another similar location is anticipated to be opened at the intersection of Myron Street at 7th Street.Hickman/Fulton County is not accepting donations at this time. The American Red Cross is maintaining a shelter at First Methodist Church, Wellington Street, Hickman, Kentucky.Some inmates housed at the Fulton County Detention Center have been temporarily relocated to neighboring correctional facilities following storm damage to the facility, after the building sustained roof damage. Officials there reported to the Department of Corrections that 80 inmates were temporarily relocated.The town of Hickman and Fulton County were the center of the most serious storm damage that occurred in western Kentucky on Thursday night.An apparent tornado snapped trees and brought down utility poles across Fulton County. Downtown Hickman had extensive damage to a gas station canopy, as well as the Fulton County Jail. A home carport collapsed, and many buildings received damage. Power lines came down across most of the highways in Hickman, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.Fulton County authorities are asking the public to stay away from the damaged areas today.There have been no injuries reported.Ten miles west of Hickman, 85-mile per hour wind gusts snapped trees and utility poles, and similar damage occurred east of town where a trained weather spotter reported a funnel cloud to the National Weather Service.Hundreds are without power in and around the Hickman area, according to Gibson Electric. The storms continued eastward through Graves, Calloway and Trigg counties with several reports of one-inch hail.Earlier in the evening, a number of funnel clouds were sighted in southeast Missouri before the storms moved across the Mississippi River into Kentucky.Kentucky State Police has released the following information regarding the damage in Hickman:+ Highway 125 in the city of Hickman is closed.+ An emergency operations center (EOC) has been established, with Fulton County Emergency Management Director Hugh Caldwell as the Incident Commander. The EOC is located at the Fulton County Office Building, 2210 Myron Cory Drive, Hickman, Kentucky. Phone lines are not operational at the EOC, so anyone with information is asked to report it in person at the EOC.+ Numerous homes, several businesses, two government buildings, and a cemetery sustained heavy damage.+ Judge Executive Jim Martin has signed a Declaration of Local State of Emergency. Kentucky Office of Emergency Management is on scene and will be conducting damage assessment for several days.+ The American Red Cross has established a shelter at the First Methodist Church, on the corner of Church Street and Wellington Street.+ The National Weather Service are expected to arrive on scene today.+ There still are no injuries or deaths reported associated with this severe weather event.+ Officials are asking the public to remain out of the area if at all possible.+ Numerous power lines are down and could present a hazard.+ If or when the EOC determines a need for volunteers, they will release a reporting location.

On the Net:
By Press Trust of India: London, Mar 9 (PTI) You can acheive a super-sized memory like that of a world champion, suggests a new study which found that the ability to perform astonishing feats of memory can be learned.

After 40 days of daily 30-minute training sessions using a strategic memory improvement technique, people who had typical memory skills at the start and no previous memory training more than doubled their capacity.

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From recalling an average of 26 words from a list of 72, the participants were able to remember 62, researchers at Radboud University Medical Centre in The Netherlands found.

Four months later, without continued training, recall performance remained high.

Brain scans before and after training showed that strategic memory training altered the brain functions of the trainees, making them more similar to those of world champion memory athletes, researchers said.

"After training we see massively increased performance on memory tests," said Martin Dresler, assistant professor at Radboud University Medical Centre.

"Not only can you induce a behavioral change, the training also induces similar brain connectivity patterns as those seen in memory athletes," said Dresler.

Dresler, who began the work at Stanford University School of Medicine in the US, examined the brains of 23 world-class memory athletes and 23 people similar in age, health status, and intelligence but with typical memory skills.

He used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a means of measuring brain activity by detecting blood flow changes inside the brain, to measure differences in the strengths of communications between brain regions. He used structural MRI to measure differences in sizes.

Initially, Dresler expected that memory champions might have notable differences in brain anatomy, the same way one might expect a world champion body builder to have unusually large muscles. Using structural MRI, however, they did not see differences.

The differences they detected between memory athletes and non-athletes were in connectivity patterns spread across 2,500 different connections in the brain.

A subset of 25 connections most strongly differentiated athletes from those with typical memory skills.

The athletes Dresler studied were not born with exceptional memory skills.

"They, without a single exception, trained for months and years using mnemonic strategies to achieve these high levels of performance," Dresler added.

The research was published in the journal Neuron. PTI SAR SAR

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Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
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Edward Albee' s ferocious study of marital discord and much more besides is 55 years old but showing no signs of age. I've seen it over and over, in productions ranging from the mediocre to the magnificent but never for a single second have I doubted the play's greatness.

It has an almost audacious simplicity. A middle-aged couple George and Martha, he a history teacher and she the daughter of the principal of an American university, invite a younger couple, Nick and Honey, round for late night drinks. In the course of an evening of heavy drinking and bitter, exposing games - humiliate the host, hump the hostess, get the guests - harsh truths are revealed and new revelations received. The final act is actually subtitled The Exorcism, which is a clue to the direction in which the drama is headed.

I'm not sure any aspiring playwright today would have the nerve to write a heavyweight, three-hour tragedy on such a slim base but the wonder of the work is that it contains within its apparently domestic parameters so many huge themes: the nature of reality, the strange manifestations of love and the onward march of history to name but three. Its central question 'truth or illusion? Which is it?' remains as pertinent today as the moment it was written and watching the play with an audience, many of whom clearly hadn't seen it before, you feel its power by the silence in the room, the sudden intakes of breath as it twists and turns.

Each new production is a recalibration, a slight resetting of its delicate dance, never straying far from the basic steps but subtly shifting the dynamics. Here director James Macdonald, apart from some echoey sound effects and an odd bit of music, opts to play things straight, with Tom Pye's drab 1950s set filling the entire breadth of the stage with overpowering dullness. 'What a dump!' Is Martha's famous line and that sense of disorder is oppressively felt.

As George and Martha spar and battle, often here shouting over the heads of their guests as they 'walk what's left our wits', their interplay defines the production. As George, Conleth Hill is a lumbering monument to disillusion, so glum and low-key that he can barely draw strength for the fights ahead. It's an approach that has some early comic dividends, but for me, he too often resembles the swamp to which Martha viciously compares him; part of her resentment of him is that he made her love him. Hill lacks even a glimmer of the charisma that might explain why.

The effect of this deliberate sluggishness is to make Imelda Staunton as Martha over-compensate. I have rarely heard an actress better capture Martha's awful bray or watched one more truly embody her pugnacious refusal to stop slugging. But at her best Staunton is also capable of capturing infinite sadness with just a clench of her jaw or a movement of her hand. On the night I saw her, the only moment she mined the melancholy at Martha's heart was when  tellingly  she was alone on stage, clinking the ice in her glass, and shaking with silent misery. As she quietly tells Nick of her love for George  'George and Martha, sad, sad, sad' she finds an incantatory sorrow but other speeches are oddly underwhelming.

Although Luke Treadaway is suitably odious as Nick, the young stud prepared to plough the faculty wives on his way to the top, the stand-out performance of the night comes from Imogen Poots as Honey. With the smallest part, she makes the most of every gesture, hiding unease with desperate politeness, succumbing to agony as her dirty secrets are washed out in public, and finally discovering a kind of acceptance.

Her trajectory to understanding is more moving than the one Staunton and Hill manage to trace. For me, they just miss the mysterious poetry that Albee provides. But you can still hear a pin drop as the action unfolds. What a play it is!

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? runs at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 27 May.
A young man, in a series of tweets, grieved about his friends who have been 'wrongfully' arrested in Bihar for drinking.

By Shreya Biswas: A Twitter user who wishes to remain unnamed tweeted earlier this week slamming Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his "draconian law" of liquor ban. He claims that his friends were wrongfully arrested under this law.

Speaking to IndiaToday.in, he said that he and his friends were travelling from Ranchi to Bodh Gaya to attend a wedding on Match 5.

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"We were with family. My friend who was getting married, another friend and I were in one car, and five others were in an Innova," he said.

Knowing that it is an offense to consume or carry alcohol in Bihar, they stopped in Hazaribag and had a couple of beers before hitting the road again. He said they did not carry along any alcohol with with.

He also clarified that his friends who had beer were not driving.

Around two hours later, when their cars reached Jharkhand-Bihar border, his friends in the Innova were stopped at a check-post in Dobhi town by officers from the excise department.

"They were asked to blow into the alcohol detection meter (a breathalyzer). Since they had consumed beer earlier, their reading [on the machine] showed 34-67," he said.

After alcohol was detected in their system, he's friends were taken to an excise office in Gaya and put in a cell.

"My friends did not have any food. Another friend of mine and I went to see them that night at around 10:30, and tried to convice the guards to let them go as they had come just for one day in Bihar to attend a wedding," he said. "We were told to come in the morning."

The next day, he said his friends were brought to court at around five in the evening, because of which their lawyer was unable to apply for bail. Hence, they were sent back to the cell.

After running from pillar to post for the next few days, he managed to get one of his five arrested friends out on bail on March 8.

Finally, the bail plea of the rest of his friends were accepted today afternoon after the court proceedings. He later confirmed that they were released later yesterday evening.

FYI || State's now smoking: Marijuana penetrates deep in Bihar after liquor ban ||

THE VIRAL TWITTER POST

In a series of tweets, the Twitter user had written about this "horrific experience". He claimed that none of his friends had actually consumed alcohol on "Bihar soil", nor were they carrying any.

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He deleted the tweets later last evening.

FYI || Rahul Gandhi: Bihar exit polls were wrong, we are winning Uttar Pradesh, will talk tomorrow ||

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: From Aditi Khanna

London, Mar 10 (PTI) The UK government consulted on and helped prevent as many as 1,428 cases of forced marriages involving British nationals last year, of which 79 such cases involved victims being taken to India.

New figures released by the governments Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) today also reveals that Pakistan with 612 cases and Bangladesh with 121 cases represent the highest figures among the so-called "focus" countries where victims are likely to be taken from Britain to be forced into a marriage against their will.

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The percentage of cases involving India has dropped from 7.8 per cent in 2015 to 6 per cent in 2016.

"These statistics only represent the cases that have been reported to the FMU. Forced marriage is a hidden crime, and these figures may not reflect the full scale of the abuse. The FMU also received approximately 350 telephone calls per month in 2016," the FMU said.

A forced marriage "victim" is identified by the unit as one thought to be at potential risk of future forced marriage, those currently going through a forced marriage, and those who have already been forced to marry.

"The majority of calls about cases (almost 80 per cent) come from professionals as well as other third parties (non-governmental organisations, colleagues, friends, or family). The fact self-reports represent a smaller proportion of calls may reflect the hidden nature of forced marriage and that victims may fear reprisals from their family if they come forward," the FMU said.

A forced marriage is defined as one where one or both people do not (or in cases of people with learning disabilities, cannot) consent to the marriage and pressure or abuse is used.

It was made illegal in England, Wales and Scotland in 2014 but there has been only one conviction.

Forcingsomeone tomarryagainst their will is punishable by a maximum penalty of seven years? imprisonment.

The legislation makes a distinction betweenforcedand arrangedmarriage, common among many British families from a South Asian background.

The Forced Marriage Unit is a joint UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Home Office unit set up in January 2005 to lead on the government?s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework.

It operates both inside the UK and overseas, where consular assistance is provided to British nationals, including dual nationals.

TheFMUoperates a public helpline to provide advice and support to victims of forced marriage as well as to professionals dealing with cases.

The assistance provided ranges from simple safety advice, through to aiding a victim to prevent their unwanted spouse moving to the UK (reluctant sponsor cases), and, in extreme circumstances, to rescues of victims held against their will overseas. PTI AK NSA

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According to sources, Mehrishi is likely to spend two days reviewing the security where forces are fighting a bitter battle with militants.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi is expected to visit Srinagar on Tuesday to review security in the Valley.

According to sources, Mehrishi is likely to spend two days reviewing the security where forces are fighting a bitter battle with militants. The forces have been facing the wrath of stone pelters for some time now. The Centre has been concerned about the spike in terror activities and law and order situation in the state. He is also expected to meet the DG of Jammu and Kashmir Police SP Vaid.

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The Home Secretary's visit to the Valley was postponed twice earlier. On February 7, he was expected to visit Kashmir but the plan was dropped due to election campaigning commitments.

Mehrishi was supposed to visit Kashmir on Saturday along with CRPF DG, but because of parliamentary committee commitment the visit has been postponed to Tuesday.

ALSO READ | Kashmir: Local militant killed in Bandipora encounter

--- ENDS ---
In the 65 years' history of Assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh has seen only two Chief Ministers, who completed their full-terms. While Mayawati was voted out after completing her tenure, Akhilesh Yadav is facing the litmus test as counting of votes is scheduled for tomorrow.

Seven phases of voting took place in Uttar Pradesh. (Photo: AP)

By Prabhash K Dutta: BSP chief Mayawati holds the distinction of being the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh who completed her full term.

Before 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, no Chief Minister had completed his/her full term in office in Uttar Pradesh.

The first Uttar Pradesh Assembly election was held in 1951-52, when the Congress won 388 seats.

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READ| UP Assembly election 2017: Exit polls predict massive BJP win. Who could be the CM?

1952-1967: 5 CHIEF MINISTERS

The first Assembly was unique in the sense that the total number of seats was 346 with 83 constituencies having two representatives- called double-member seats those days.

Govind Ballabh Pant was sworn in as the Chief Minister. But, in less than three years, Pant was incorporated into the Union cabinet. Sampurnand became the next CM. He continued in office for over five years but interrupted by Assembly election in 1957.

The Congress kept changing Chief Ministers. In all Uttar Pradesh saw five CMs in 15 years including the first woman Chief Minister in Sucheta Kriplani.

1967: FIRST NON-CONGRESS CM

A series of change in Chief Minister's Office in Uttar Pradesh saw Congress tally plummet to 199 falling short of majority in the 425-seat Assembly for the first time.

An alliance was stitched among Bharatiya Kranti Dal of Jat leader Charan Singh, Jana Sangh, CPI(M), Republican Party of India, Swatantra Party and Praja Socialist Party. As many as 22 Independents MLAs extended support to the alliance, which put Charan Singh on the chair of Chief Minister.

Charan Singh government lasted less than one year and the Assembly was dissolved after one year of President's Rule.

ALSO WATCH:

1970-77: PERIOD OF UNCERTAINTY

Fresh election was called in 1969. The Congress still remained short of majority by 2 seats. It won 211 in 425-seat Assembly. Charan Singh's BKD won 98 and Jana Sangh secured 49 seats.

In next eight years, Uttar Pradesh saw four stints of President's Rule and six Chief Ministers including Charan Singh, who stayed in the office for little over nine months.

1977-80: JANATA EXPERIMENT

Riding on anti-Indira Gandhi wave, Janata Party swept the parliamentary polls held after national emergency was withdrawn in 1977. Janata Party won thunderous majority in the Lok Sabha. It responded by dissolving all the state Assemblies where Congress had majority.

Fresh election was held in Uttar Pradesh. The Janata Party won 352 of 425 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh but infighting set in the party over the choice of CM candidate with Chandra Shekhar and Charan Singh factions shooting down names proposed by either camps.

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READ| AajTak exit poll results: Why Akhilesh, Rahul failed in Uttar Pradesh

Finally Ram Naresh Yadav was made the CM. Janata Party had to find another candidate in Banarasi Das in less than two years. Janata experiment, anyway, failed in three years.

Elections were held in 1980 for the Lok Sabha. Indira Gandhi stormed back to power. It was now her turn to dismiss Janata Party governments in states.

1980-88: CONGRESS CULTURE OF REPLACING CMs

Assembly election was held in 1980 and the Congress won 309 of 425 seats. Raja of Manda Vishwanath Pratap Singh was made the Chief Minister. But, the Congress reverted to its practice of replacing Chief Ministers.

The eight years gave six CMs to Uttar Pradesh before VP Singh revolted against the Congress leadership in the wake of Bofors scandal.

1989-2007: MANDAL, AYODHYA AND A CM OF 48 HOURS

When elections were held in 1989 VP Singh's Janata Dal emerged as the single largest party and formed the government with the outside help from the BJP.Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had been a minister in Janata government in Uttar Pradesh, was sworn in as the Chief Minister.

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Soon, Mandal and Ayodhya took centrestage in Uttar Pradesh's politics in general and elections in particular. Caste lines became sharper. OBCs, Dalits and Muslims were identified as en bloc voting communities.

READ| Uttar Pradesh exit poll results: How Modi-powered BJP bettered its strike rate as election progressed

In 1993, the political alliance of Dalit-OBC was formed as BSP's Mayawati and SP's Mulayam Singh Yadav joined hands against the upper caste dominance in Uttar Pradesh.

The tie-up did not last long and in 1995 Mayawati became the first Dalit Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with support from the BJP.

The period was full of instability witnessing 10 Chief Ministers and three President's Rule. One of the Chief Ministers, Jagdambika Pal of the Congress (he is now a BJP MP in the Lok Sabha) lasted only 48 hours.

2007: PATH-BREAKING ELECTION

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly election of 2007 proved to be a path-breaking election as it elected a government and a Chief Minister, who completed her tenure for the first time in Uttar Pradesh.

In 2012, Mayawati became the first CM to go to the polls after completing her full-term. But, the people of Uttar Pradesh, having not seen such a thing in the past, voted her out.

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With a son rising in the Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh voted Mulayam Singh Yadav's party to power. Akhilesh Yadav became the second CM to complete his tenure. However, demand for his removal was raised at the highest level in the Samajwadi Party but Akhilesh Yadav withered the storm.

ALSO READ|

Uttar Pradesh exit poll: How BJP found winning formula with non-Yadav OBCs, non-Jatav SCs

--- ENDS ---
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/03/2017 (2068 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Director Amma Asantes drama A United Kingdom is a handsome combination of romance and historical drama.

On those terms alone, its a solid story about an event that deserves attention. Its not often a love story has such explosive historical implications.

In the year 1947, in an England still feeling the traumatic reverberations of the Second World War, office worker Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) accompanies her sister to a party and meets African university student Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) from Botswana.

Sparks fly between the two. For Ruth, the racial issues  shes white and hes black  will encompass estrangement from her racist father. (While laws in Britain were relatively loose, bear in mind this was two whole decades before anti-miscegenation laws were ruled unconstitutional in the U.S., a struggle covered in the recent movie Loving.)

Stanislav Honzik / Fox Searchlight Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo star in A United Kingdom.

For Khama, the repercussions were more dire. A prince in Botswana, he was in England to educate himself for the role of king. But when he returns to his country married to a white woman, his title  and, indeed, the countrys future  is put in jeopardy, by both his black countrymen and English representatives looking for an excuse to gain access to the countrys natural resources, which  Khama soon realizes  include lucrative diamond mines.

In telling this story, director Asante ably presents a love story beset with larger challenges than usual, which include Ruth attempting to negotiate a place for herself in a family bristling with hostility towards her, and Khama having to take on no less than prime minister Winston Churchill in a bid to retain the autonomy of his country.

Oyelowo is wholly credible in the role as a man obliged to balance the responsibility of his birthright and the needs of his heart. Gone Girls Pike, often a chilly presence onscreen, generates sufficient warmth for the role of Ruth.

Asante, working from a script by Guy Hibbert, takes a page from director Ava DuVernay, who helmed the Martin Luther King drama Selma, also starring Oyelowo; she doesnt settle for a story of hatred conquered. Like DuVernay, she takes care to show the underpinnings of institutional racism: disenfranchising black people pays off for anyone cynical enough to exploit hatred to achieve riches and/or political power.

Taking on that subject may deprive the film of some of its dramatic juice. A hate-filled bigot may be a more satisfying villain than a calculating aristocrat engaged in a game of political chess. In this movie, that latter function is ably filled by Jack Davenport as fictitious functionary Sir Alistair Canning.

But Asantes reasoning is sound, even at the cost of melodramatic points. As the movie demonstrates with the character of Ruths father: Even a raving bigot may come around eventually.

Its those Machiavellian politicians who never change.

randall.king@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @FreepKing

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 09/03/2017 (2069 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Solar energy enthusiasts gathered in Winnipeg on Thursday to shed some light on something that didnt really exist here a year ago  a market for solar energy in Manitoba.

The Manitoba Environmental Industries Association, which organized the event, hopes the Energy Summit becomes an annual event.

How long the sun shines on the industry may depend on whether Manitoba Hydro continues offering its $1-per-watt incentive on solar installations announced last April that has jump-started the influx of more solar installations in the province.

SUPPLIED This massive solar-energy installation near Beausejour is one of 38 installed since Manitoba Hydro began offering a $1-per-watt incentive.

I dont want to give Manitoba Hydro all the credit, one participant said, but the 38 new solar installations since the incentive was announced and the 60 expected in the coming fiscal year is a massive increase for Manitoba.

A very low cost for electricity in Manitoba  the second lowest in North America  is typically cited as the main reason for the lag in solar energy generation in Manitoba.

Having said that, we are entering a phase where the cost of electricity is going up that will make renewable technology more cost effective. We may be lagging behind other jurisdictions but, absolutely, the next five-to-10 years will be great, said Margo Shaw, the associations executive director.

For that to come true she believes there will have to be more education on the technology, the environmental underpinnings and the economics behind solar.

The incentive is a good first step but education is key, Shaw said. Not only for the decision-makers but also for the general populace to make sure we are all pushing for the same kind of things.

Alternative energy advocates Andea Kraj, president of CORE Renewable Energy and Eric Bibeau, associate professor in the mechanical engineering department at the University of Manitoba who spoke at the Energy Summit, are big proponents of deploying the right kind of alternative energy in the right situation.

Bibeau is working with Sagkeeng First Nation to install a 25-kilowatt hydrokinetic power-generation system on the Winnipeg River. His research focus is on innovative renewable energy technologies for distributed applications.

Manitoba imposes a large amount of red tape that is a deterrent to more alternative energy applications in the province, Bibeau said.

Advocates are hopeful the program, which is less than a year old, will only get better.

Justin Phillips, the president of Sycamore Energy and its re-branded local operation, Solar Manitoba, said the industry as well as the province are just getting past the learning stage.

These are exciting times, he said. The process has really sped up. The learning curve is at least eight or nine months. Now we are getting approvals very quickly.

His company just broke ground on a 70-kilowatt project with approximately 260 solar panels on a farm near Rivers that will be one of the largest in the province.

Jana Brunel, who heads up Manitoba Hydros emerging energy technologies work, said the incentive program is scheduled to run until the spring of 2018. She said there is lots of momentum and more interest than was originally imagined.

The early adopters were the year-one participants, she said. Thats now shifting to people who would not have done it without the incentive and who are encouraged by word of mouth. Those are motivating factors as well as the unknown of potential rate increases.

The uncertainty about rate increases was not part of the equation a year ago when the solar incentive was announced.

Since then, Hydro has announced costs for its Keeyask generating station have jumped by $900 million, and credit-rating agencies have expressed concern about the corporations mounting debt. Hydro has previously warned it will ask the Public Utilities Board for double-digit rate increases for the next few years.

But as much as there is substantial new interest in solar, Brunel points out it only represents a tiny portion of the overall energy sector in Manitoba.

It is exciting nonetheless, she said.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Mar 10 (PTI) An influential US lawmaker has sought a "radical reset" of ties with Islamabad and introduced a bill in the Congress that pushes the American government to declare Pakistan a "state sponsor of terrorism", or give a detailed justification for not doing so in a limited time.

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Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, introduced the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Act (HR 1449) in the US House of Representatives yesterday.

Introducing the bill, Poe said, "not only is Pakistan an untrustworthy ally, Islamabad has also aided and abetted enemies of the United States for years."

"From harbouring Osama bin Laden to its cozy relationship with the Haqqani network, there is more than enough evidence to determine whose side Pakistan is on in the War on Terror. And its not Americas," he said.

"It is time we stop paying Pakistan for its betrayal and designate it for what it is: a state sponsor of terrorism," the Texas lawmaker said.

The bill requires US President Donald Trump to issue a report within 90 days, detailing whether Pakistan has provided support for international terrorism.

Thirty days after that, the Secretary of State is required to a submit a follow-up report containing either a determination that Pakistan is a "state sponsor of terrorism", or a detailed justification why it does not meet the legal criteria for such a designation.

Separately in a joint piece in The National Interest magazine with James Clad, who was US deputy assistant secretary of defence for Asia in the George W Bush administration, Poe called for a "radical reset" of ties with Pakistan.

Arguing that all efforts to change Pakistans behaviour have failed, they said it was time that the US "sets, unilaterally, the limits of its indulgence".

They urged the US government not to let the next crisis in South or Southwest Asia deflect Americas focus. "Dont rush to shore up Pakistans balance of payments via the IMF or other intermediaries, as weve done in the past," they said.

"Let China pay that, if the Pakistanis wish to mortgage their future in that way. (Chinas One Belt, One Road infrastructure plans for Pakistan are running into big problems)," the two said in the piece.

They said, "something must change in US dealings with a terrorist-supporting, irresponsible nuclear-weapons state, and it must change soon." "Acquiescing in the current trends is not an option."

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"Changing our reactive accommodating stance vis-a-vis Pakistan wont come quickly. But it must change?irrespective of trends in US-India relations, which have steadily come to be on a sounder footing since the George W Bush administration. Theres a tendency to think of Pakistan as part of a troubling duality, with India and Pakistan in a death spiral. Thats out of date?and we have our issues with India too," Poe and Clad wrote. PTI LKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/03/2017 (2068 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Within about 20 minutes of being found by a couple of morning walkers in Emerson, both Shahadat Hossain and Subir Barman were arrested by a member of the RCMPs Integrated Border Enforcement Team.

The work of identifying and verifying refugee claimants then begins when they are taken by the IBET officers to the Canadian Border Services Agency post at the Canadian Customs office at the Emerson border.

According to Jeryn Peters, the CBSA chief of operations for Emerson, the process begins with gathering any identification documents, including passports and fingerprints, and running them through domestic and international databases.

JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES

Thats the first step, determining who were dealing with, Peters said. Most of them come up with something.

Then the questioning begins: where are they coming from? What was their route to Emerson? Are they facing removal from the U.S.? The goal is to build a case whether or not asylum seekers can claim refugee status.

An interpreter is required in some cases, which can delay the process.

Then comes the paperwork. There are multiple forms to fill in detail. And when large numbers of claimants cross during one night, it creates a back log. Hossain and Barman spent 15 hours in the CBSA office before being transported to Winnipeg.

We were worried, Hossain said. It was a long time. But when we saw all the papers, we understood. They really helped us.

CBSA officials refer asylum seekers to an inland office, but almost all of them are shuttled straight to Winnipegs Salvation Army.

Not every individual who crosses the border is released. Some are detained, although the CBSA didnt have exact numbers available.

If we have any concerns about the safety or security of that person they will not be released into the public, Peters said. They would be detained until their claim could be heard or they would be removed from Canada.

The reasons for detaining involve, for example, a record of criminal activity or human rights violation, or a previous claim already rejected by Canadas Immigration and Refugee Board.

One possible detention spot would be the Winnipeg Remand Centre.

Were not letting them go until we confirm their identity and they will not pose a risk to Canadians, Peters noted. We do take the safety and security of Canadians very seriously. Thats what were doing here. Its not the case where everybody is given a free pass to come into Canada.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @randyturner15
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 09/03/2017 (2069 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Southeastern Manitoba heart attack victim Robin Milne was ecstatic Thursday after learning Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen has arranged coverage of about two-thirds of an outstanding US$118,000 medical bill.

Its incredible, Milne said after meeting with Goertzen. Its been there like a heavy weight on us. We were all very hopeful  thats what kept us going.

Milne, who lives in Sprague, fell ill Oct. 2 and was rushed to a hospital in Roseau, Minn., the closest health-care facility  about 20 kilometres from Sprague  where his treatment would have been covered under a longstanding agreement between Manitoba and Minnesota.

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kevin Milne talks to the media on behalf of his father, Robin Milne, 60, from Sprague, Man.,after finding out that his father's medical bill of over $100,000 that Robin incurred while suffering a heart attack and being taken to a US facility for treatment recently.

The doctor looking after him in the Roseau clinic wanted to send the 60-year-old to the cardiac care unit at St. Boniface General Hospital, but with time critical and his life on the line, Milne made the decision to be flown to Grand Forks for emergency surgery. That left him on the hook for hospital, surgery and transportation bills, which Manitoba Health refused to cover.

NDP health critic Matt Wiebe raised the issue during question period Thursday. Goertzen then revealed that he went to Roseau and made arrangements to get Milnes medical bills off the table.

There are no outstanding medical bills for Mr. Milne, he told the house.

It was not immediately clear Thursday if the health-care providers in the U.S. had simply withdrawn their charges.

We think theyre going to do the right thing about the transportation as well, said Milne.

His son Kevin Milne said about US$40,000 remains.

We know the largest portion of the bill has been paid so far  incredible! Kevin Milne said. Im shaking. Im pretty excited for my dad. This is everything Ive wanted for the past five months.

Goertzen was not available for comment after question period.

Kevin Milne said Goertzen told the family Thursday afternoon that he had wanted to keep the situation low-key. He apologized for not speaking to us prior to today.

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Robin Milne, 60, from Sprague, Man., a community tucked in the southeastern corner of the province and about four kilometres from the Canada-U.S. border. sheds some tears of joy while talking to the media inside the Manitoba Legislative Building today after finding out that his medical bill of over $100,000 that he incurred while suffering a heart attack and being taken to a US facility for treatment.

Goertzens staff later released a statement: Earlier this year, I was made aware of several unfortunate and unique situations where Manitobans were left with significant medical bills not covered by the working agreement between the Province of Manitoba and service providers in Minnesota (Altru), Goertzen said. I was also advised that under the Health Services Insurance Act, the minister of health is unable to direct payment in order to resolve these medical bills.

I recently travelled to Roseau to meet with officials of Altru and LifeCare. As a result of those discussions around the operation of the Altru contract, and given the specific and exceptional circumstances of Mr. Milnes case, there are no hospital and medical bills outstanding for Mr. Milne.

Further discussions are ongoing with the medical transport company regarding their invoice. As well, there are continuing discussions with Altru on the application on the agreement and there will be further information and consultations to the residents of the Rural Municipality of Piney. Additional clarity about eligibility for coverage and services is needed for both residents of Manitoba and the service providers in the United States to ensure similar unfortunate incidents do not occur.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/03/2017 (2068 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man on trial for sexual assault revealed details of his drug and sex addiction to the jury that will decide his fate, saying he is not a violent person.

Kirt Cameron, in his 40s, has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and robbery in an incident the Crown argues was an attack on a vulnerable, drug-addicted woman. The defence says the alleged rape was a false report  revenge for a drug deal gone bad.

Cameron took the stand in his defence Thursday, delivering, at times tearfully, a testimony in which he said the sex was consensual and suggested the woman was upset because hed given her fake drugs.

He testified he was hooked on crack cocaine on Sept. 16, 2013 and had an addiction to prostitutes when he went out to get more bus tickets from a support worker that afternoon. While he was waiting for a bus to complete the errand, Cameron said, his drug dealer happened to drive past and sold him five pieces of crack cocaine wrapped in tinfoil. He told the jury a sex-trade worker introduced him to the highly addictive drug and he had become a regular user.

With the drugs stashed in his pill bottle, Cameron said he set out in search of a sex-trade worker, planning to offer crack in exchange for sex. He approached a woman along Main Street, asked her if she smoked crack and asked her for a date. In his recounting, the woman asked what he meant and he said, Come on, you smoke crack and youve never prostituted yourself?

Cameron said they made a deal: he would give the woman two pieces of crack cocaine in exchange for her having sex with him.

Afterward, he said she didnt do everything she said she was going to do, so he decided to give her only one piece of crack and one tinfoil-wrapped almond.

He told court he kept a stash of almonds to pass off as crack cocaine because he was worried about being ripped off by sex-trade workers and wanted to avoid confrontation.

Im not a violent person. I dont want any violence. I dont want any confrontation, he testified under questioning from his defence lawyer, Phillip Cramer.

Under cross-examination by Crown attorney Amy Wood, Cameron acknowledged he had several prior convictions for assault and one for assault with a weapon, but he said none of those assaults were confrontational.

His alleged victim, now 32, testified previously she had agreed only to smoke crack with Cameron. She said he raped her, then stomped on her and took off with the drugs and her cash. The woman also testified she is not a sex-trade worker.

On the stand, Cameron decried it as a false allegation borne out of revenge. He said the woman threatened to tell her husband Cameron had raped her if he didnt hand over the two pieces of crack cocaine. He also disputed the Crowns suggestion he believed he could take advantage of drug-addicted women because he viewed them as worthless.

At times during his testimony, he turned and spoke directly to the jury, and once rose in objection to one of the Crowns questions, which the judge instructed him to answer. Another time, he said he wanted help for an addiction to prostitutes, and all Im doing is getting criminalized for it.

I did not sexually assault anyone, nor would I, he repeated during his cross-examination. I dont view them as worthless people. They are drug addicts, just like me.

The Crown and defence have both rested their cases, and the jury is set to hear final arguments today.

katie.may@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @thatkatiemay
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/03/2017 (2068 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Manitoba stands alone, the only province or territory that hasnt signed a new health-care funding deal with the federal government.

Ontario, Quebec and Alberta have reached funding ageements, Health Minister Jane Philpott announced Friday.

Today is a fantastic day for us, Philpott told reporters.

Ontario, Quebec and Alberta have all come to terms for funding, Health Minister Jane Philpott announced in the House of Commons Friday morning.

Ontario will receive $4.2 billion, Quebec $2.5 billion and Alberta $1.3 billion in targeted funding for home care and mental health over the next decade.

In total, all provinces and territories  except Manitoba  will share $10.5 billion over the next 10 years for the programs.

I suspect well be hearing soon from Manitoba, Philpott said. No doubt the people of Manitoba are keen to have additional resources for these particular areas.

A spokeswoman for Premier Brian Pallister said Friday the province had no comment on the development.

Philpott said the provinces will develop plans for how the money will be spent, including setting national standards and indicators by which Canadians can judge the results of the investment. All provinces except Quebec have their money divided; approximately 55 per cent will go toward home care and 45 per cent to mental health. Quebecs deal allows it to decide how to split the money, but Philpott said Quebecs priorities  like Ottawas  are also home care and mental health.

If Manitoba signs, it should receive about $400 million: $220 million for home care and $180 million for mental health.

Premier Brian Pallister was adamant last fall Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needed to call a first ministers meeting to develop a new health-care accord to replace the 2004 deal that expires at the end of this month following a two-year extension. He tied Manitobas support for Trudeaus climate change strategy to his demand. Trudeau did not bite.

Instead, Ottawa offered a meeting with finance and health ministers in December that ended with federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau pulling the plug early when negotiations reached an impasse. Ottawa offered 3.5 per cent in annual health transfer increases and $11 billion over a decade for home care and mental health. The provinces wanted five per cent in annual increases and the targeted $11 billion.

It took less than 72 hours for the provinces unified front to develop cracks; New Brunswick signed a deal Dec. 22, followed by Nova Scotia and Newfoundland the next day.

That upset Manitoba officials, who felt the all for one approach would force Ottawa to reconsider. Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said it was shameful the federal government was dividing the provinces in order to conquer them.

Philpott disputed that claim Friday.

You know this is not about divide-and-conquer, she said. This is about offering what is a fantastic new transformative offer for Canadians that we put on the table in December. It took some time for several provinces to reflect on this, and on reflection, as theyve sort of looked at this and realized that in fact this will be extremely helpful, they have, in their own time, come to an agreement with us.

Nunavut, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island signed by the end of January. British Columbia followed Feb. 17.

Manitoba officials say there were no negotiations with Ottawa since the December meeting and March 1, when Pallister wrote to Trudeau. He indicated while he still wanted a united approach and a first ministers meeting, he had to be practical, and outlined the conditions for Manitoba to sign on.

In these unfortunate circumstances, mindful of my own responsibilities  I am reluctantly prepared to undertake a bilateral dialogue based on constructively addressing our unique challenges in areas of mutual concern, he wrote.

Among the premiers asks are $60 million over 10 years to help combat kidney disease, noting the incidence here is highest in the country. The province wants Ottawas commitment to help address the disparity in care between indigenous and non-indigenous communities, and an end to a 14-year dispute over funding for medical transport from First Nations. Manitoba says its owed $34 million in unpaid bills that have piled up since 2003.

Under the 2004 health-care accord, Ottawa increased annual health transfers to the provinces and territories by six per cent each year for a decade. In 2011, Stephen Harpers Conservative government extended it by two years, but said after that, health transfers would increase at three per cent per year. The provinces have continued to argue that it effectively cut health care.

It is not a cut, because transfers will continue to grow. But theyll grow at half the earlier rate. Provincial governments pay about 80 per cent of health-care costs. Ottawa rejected their proposal for a five per cent annual increase in transfers in an effort to get the provincial share down to 75 per cent.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
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Migrant-worker doc premieres tonight

A film about migrant workers in Canada has its Winnipeg premiere tonight.

Migrant Dreams is a feature-length documentary about the exploitation of workers who come to Canada through the federal temporary foreign worker program to work in the agricultural industry in southern Ontario.

Its being presented in Winnipeg by the advocacy group Migrante Manitoba and the Migrant Worker Solidarity Network.

The films director, Min Sook Lee, will be in Winnipeg for the screening and will take part in a panel discussion afterward, the presenters said in a news release. The director will be joined by a migrant worker who came to Manitoba through the program and representatives of community groups that support the hundreds of workers hired every year to do difficult, low-paying, low-skilled jobs. Most come to Manitoba to work in agriculture, harvesting vegetables or working in hog barns or pork-processing plants in southern Manitoba. Others work in the service industry.

The documentary starts at 7 p.m. at the Dramatic Arts Centre theatre at 585 Ellice Ave. Admission is free.

 Carol Sanders
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A new Crown corporation dedicated to reducing Manitobas energy consumption will more than pay for itself if it can delay or eliminate construction of future hydroelectric dams, its main proponent says.

Crowns Minister Ron Schuler said he hopes to see the creation of Efficiency Manitoba within a year.

Schuler introduced a bill in the legislature Thursday to establish the new corporation, which would assume responsibility for the Power Smart programs now operated by Manitoba Hydro.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES PC MLA Ron Schuler hopes to see the creation of the new Crown corporation Efficiency Manitoba within a year.

In doing so, the Progressive Conservative government is following a recommendation made years ago by the Public Utilities Board (PUB). The PUB felt there was an inherent conflict of interest in a seller of electricity and natural gas operating energy-conservation programs.

Manitobans are the highest consumers of power electricity, bar none, in the world, Schuler said Thursday after introducing Bill 19 (The Efficiency Manitoba Act).

We are going to have to start conserving electricity. We just cant keep consuming more and more, he said, pointing to a recent $2.2-billion increase in the estimated cost of the Keeyask generating station on the Nelson River.

The creation of the new entity is being questioned by some who feel its a waste of money at a time when the government is facing a financial crunch.

Schuler said start-up costs would be paid for, in part, by a $40-million fund that was created from unspent Power Smart program budgets over the years. The fund would be transferred to the new corporation.

He said revenues from the ongoing delivery of energy efficiency programs would also be used to fund the new corporation.

The minister said he could not say how much it would cost to create the new entity.

Schuler said Manitoba Hydro spent 43 per cent of its Power Smart budget on overhead. He said the new corporation will be told to keep such spending to below 20 per cent, with the savings going to the public.

As previously reported by the Free Press, Efficiency Manitoba would be given the mandate to achieve electrical energy savings of 1.5 per cent annually and natural gas savings of three-quarters of one per cent a year during the first 15 years of its operation.

Additional savings targets would be established by regulation for subsequent 15-year periods.

The new corporation would achieve these targets through a series of three-year plans that it prepared and submitted to the PUB.

Efficiency Manitoba could also be given new powers to initiate programs to reduce fossil fuels used in the transportation sector and the consumption of water.

Conceivably, the City of Winnipeg could approach the new corporation for water-efficiency programs and ideas, Schuler said. Its user pay, so the City of Winnipeg would pay for that.

The proposed legislation is coming at a time when the province is asking for Manitobans input in the development of a system for pricing carbon. The Trudeau government has given the provinces until 2018 to adopt a carbon pricing plan to meet Canadas requirements under the Paris climate change accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We view Bill 19, Efficiency Manitoba, as the first plank in our green strategy, Schuler said.

Chris Mravinec, president of CUPE Local 998, which represents 1,100 inside workers at Manitoba Hydro, said it seems redundant to create a new Crown corporation to handle a job that is already being done by an existing Crown corporation.

He said up to 100 of the unions members are affected, directly or indirectly, by the proposed change. While some are likely to be transferred to the new entity, others could lose their jobs or face demotion, the union fears.

Mravinec questioned the use of surplus Power Smart program money to establish Efficiency Manitoba.

That money is in the bank to be used for achieving energy-savings targets, he said. Its like taking money out of the bank to buy a car when you dont need a new car.

Eric Reder, Manitoba campaign director for the Wilderness Committee, an environmental group, said he sees merit in a standalone agency tasked with reducing the provinces energy use. He said hes keen on getting more details on how the new corporation would work.

We know that this premier does not like to make extra government or make extra regulations. So I would assume that its not going to be a big bloated bureaucratic department, Reder said.

He said he hopes the creation of a new energy-efficiency corporation is the first step in a co-ordinated approach on moving Manitoba towards a low-carbon economy.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
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OTTAWA  The Senate will not help pay the legal costs amassed by former Manitoba senator Sharon Carstairs to fight allegations she improperly claimed costs for a secondary residence in Ottawa.

Carstairs says she racked up about $82,000 in legal bills since June 2015, when the auditor general named her as one of 30 senators who had made improper expense claims. He said Carstairs charged $7,528 for travel and secondary-residence living expenses that should not have been allowed because she did not spend enough time in Manitoba to consider it her primary residence.

Carstairs argued from the start the Senate had no rules on how many days a senator had to spend in their primary residence to make claims for a second residence in Ottawa, and said the days she wasnt there she was working in Ottawa or elsewhere on Senate business.

COURTNEY CAMPBELL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Senator Sharon Carstairs speaks to the editorial board at the Winnipeg Free Press. The Senate will not help pay Carstairs' legal costs.

The Senate accepted the auditors finding, despite the fact there was no such rule, and forwarded it to the RCMP at the auditors suggestion. The RCMP closed its file on the entire senate audit, without laying a single charge, after about six months. Then, the Senate spent almost a year before deciding whether it would sue Carstairs and several others to get them to repay the money. It decided it would cost too much to bother.

Carstairs asked the Senate last spring to help cover some of her costs. It said no. So she appealed to the committee on internal economy, budgets and administration, presenting her case in person March 2. The committee deferred its decision.

Senators only spent about 20 minutes on the topic Thursday, with only one senator, independent Ontario Sen. Frances Lankin, asking any questions. Lankin said she felt there was an injustice done to Carstairs.

Sen. Leo Housakos has said the Senate has no legal precedent to pay legal costs for senators accused of a crime.

He said there were a lot of injustices in the auditor generals report, including for himself. He was called out for having a staff member travel to help organize a charity ball and for a contractor who did work not spelled out in the contract.

I was Speaker at the time and chair of the committee and I was not allowed, because of public pressure, to go before an arbitrator and plead my case, he said. I just paid back the $8,300 without a fair hearing. I think that was unjust, if I may put that on the table.

When he asked the committee if there was a motion to overturn the decision not to cover the expenses, he was met with silence, and so the decision stands.

Carstairs, who resigned from the Senate in 2011, said it did not surprise her.

I got my chance to say what Ive been thinking for two years, she told the Free Press. The bottom line is, the Senate wont take responsibility for the fact they sent me to the RCMP.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

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The race to determine the next leader of the New Democratic Party of Manitoba will not be settled until this fall, but the opening volleys have already begun.

One week from now, New Democrats gather in Winnipeg for an annual convention that will not only decide the rules for the leadership vote, but likely also reveal its major combatants. Anyone who wants a shot at leading this tattered party needs to use this convention  to be held March 17 to 19 at the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre  to make a lasting, positive impression with party members in attendance.

NDP insiders believe there will be at least three candidates in the race, with a strong possibility of more depending on how the support of party opinion leaders breaks over the next week.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Wab Kinew is putting the finishing touches on as leadership bid.

The first candidate out of the blocks is Michelle McHale, a nurse who earned a high profile as one of the central organizers of the Pride Day parade in Steinbach. McHale will make her candidacy official today.

McHale should be joined within a matter of days by MLA Wab Kinew who, sources confirmed, is putting the finishing touches on a leadership campaign team.

A third expected candidate has not yet stepped forward but, according to party sources, it will either be former MLA Steve Ashton or a candidate supported by Ashton.

Despite losing his Thompson seat in the last election, Ashton has been a constant presence at party meetings, lobbying forcefully to have a one-member, one-vote system in place for this falls membership. An NDP internal committee has put forward several recommendations for modernizing the leadership voting process, but none included a pure one-member, one-vote system. Nevertheless, the number of NDP riding associations supporting such a system has increased steadily in the lead up to the March convention, a trend insiders believe is largely because of Ashtons intense, behind-the-scenes spadework.

Ashton has repeatedly demonstrated a capacity for selling memberships by utilizing his contacts in the South Asian and Asian communities. Party sources believe there is evidence of Ashtons hand at work in a recent surge in membership sales in the Maples, Elmwood and Logan, ridings that delivered Ashton delegates in the 2016 leadership showdown.

Even with a one-member, one-vote system in place, Ashton would likely remain a long shot to become the next leader, particularly if both McHale and Kinew can mount serious campaigns. At this point, you can expect both to face profound challenges in their pursuit of the leadership.

For Kinew, the major stumbling block will undoubtedly be the misogynistic and homophobic song lyrics and tweets he penned as an up-and-coming rapper more than a decade ago.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Party sources say Steve Ashton, or a candidate he supports, will be the third name in the ring.

Political opponents pointed out many other candidates who had been guilty of the same kind of commentary on social media had been forced to step down.

Kinew did not step down and won Fort Rouge comfortably. Kinew has repeatedly claimed he is a changed man and publicly apologized for his comments and lyrics several times, long before launching his political career. Still, many New Democrats fear the Progressive Conservatives have already assembled an attack campaign based on Kinews controversial past in the event he wins.

Although Kinew has not yet formally entered the race, party insiders believe it is only a matter of days before he makes it official. One of the biggest selling points Kinew will offer NDP members is a team of highly respected political operatives from the camps of both Greg Selinger and Theresa Oswald, the dissident cabinet minister who tried unsuccessfully to wrestle the leadership away one year ago.

McHale, on the other hand, has her own steep hill to climb in this campaign. She has virtually no political experience and little history with the NDP. Party sources said she only became a party member last November.

To have any hope of capturing the leadership, McHale will need help from people with bona fide NDP credibility. To date, party insiders said she has recruited former Selinger political staffer Geoff Langen to head up a small team of organizers, most with deep connections to the party. She has also apparently raised money to pay for email and phone blasts that have been targeting potential convention delegates.

The battle over rules for the leadership is not the only issue at stake for the March policy convention. Members in attendance will have an opportunity to vote for a new party executive as well.

NDP president Ovide Mercredi is not expected to run again after overseeing the party through some of its most tumultuous times. Mercredi was frequently criticized for being too deferential to Selinger and, most recently, for breaking with tradition by publicly endorsing the one-member, one-vote process for electing the next leader.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Michelle McHale, the first to announce a leadership bid, earned a high profile as a central organizer of Steinbachs Pride Day.

It is not clear how many people will step forward to replace Mercredi, although sources say former Doer-era loyalist and staffer David Woodbury will make a bid for the presidency. Woodbury is seen as a superior organizer and a candidate who will appeal to all factions within the party membership. He is also expected to carry the endorsement of the Manitoba Federation of Labour.

Even though there does not appear to be a perfect candidate in the running, the NDP appear poised to create a leadership race that will have more than one candidate. And for a party left so wounded from its dismal showing in the last election, a vigorous battle for the leadership involving multiple candidates is about as good as it gets right now.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

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It is no secret the justice systems in Manitoba and across Canada are facing one crisis after another, each of them unprecedented.

Scarce resources and an increasing number of responsibilities have left the system and those responsible for it reeling. Unfortunately, the response to these challenges lately seems to be rushed, poorly conceived and having a primary goal of saving money, not enhancing justice.

This week brought the latest attempted solution, when Justice Minister Heather Stefanson introduced her proposed changes to Manitobas inquest system.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Progressive Conservative government proposal of making inquests voluntary will harm families of victims and reduce oversight and accountability.

Inquests are court proceedings in which a provincial court judge hears evidence, determines the circumstances of a persons death and makes recommendations for changes to policies and laws that could help prevent similar deaths in the future. They are called in limited cases, when the person whose death is the subject of the inquest was particularly vulnerable.

For example, inquests are currently mandatory when a person dies as a result of an act or omission of a peace officer or when they died as a result of violence, negligence or in an unexpected or sudden manner while residing in a jail or psychiatric facility. In all of those limited circumstances, the person would have had reduced autonomy and generally would have been at the mercy of the state.

Yet, if the Manitoba government has its way, most of those inquests will now be discretionary. They would be called only if the chief medical examiner, someone with medical, but no legal, training, feels it is necessary. And while one might argue the chief medical examiner is an expert in determining how a person died, the inquest process is about more than simply determining the medical cause of death.

According to the Supreme Court, inquests exist to check public imagination by identifying the circumstances of the death, to make the community aware of the factors which put human life at risk and to reassure the public and ensure the public knows that the government is acting to ensure that the guarantees relating to human life are duly respected. Stefansons proposal, Bill 16, frustrates every one of those purposes.

None of those goals can be accomplished by an investigation conducted behind closed doors, with no expectation that the investigation report will be made public. No answers will be available to the family of the victim, who will be left with no recourse, no justice and no assurance that changes will be made to prevent future similar deaths.

The governments clear aim with Bill 16 is to reduce the number of inquests conducted. In doing so, they express a clear bias against the victims whose deaths are to be investigated and the families of those victims.

By making mandatory inquests discretionary, Manitoba will be better able to control the narrative, without having to engage or consider the unique perspective of the family, those closest to the victim. Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said that power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person. The government of Manitobas theft of victims stories, and appropriation of the sole right to tell the definitive and official version of those stories, is an exercise of power against which the victims are unable to defend.

To be clear, change is unquestionably needed. The inquest system is slow, the rules by which it operates are unclear and all parties involved are often frustrated. And there are solutions that would value equally all involved in the process. There are legal professionals and community advocates on all sides of this issue who are willing to work with the government to develop amendments that will lead to positive and constructive change, and there are ways to accomplish the governments obvious goals of efficiency and cost savings without disrespecting the families of victims.

Those resources have been ignored by the government.

It is regrettable that the judges in two inquests that concluded in 2016 made recommendations to change the inquest system that resemble the amendments in Bill 16. In those cases, the inquests did not conclude until 10 and five years, respectively, after the deaths occurred. The judges in both inquests concluded that as a result of the delay, no useful recommendations could be made and their solution was to recommend that inquests in those circumstances should be discretionary.

With all due respect to those judges, the solution is to hold inquests in a timely manner, not to avoid them entirely.

In drafting Bill 16, the government clearly failed to consult with the expert practitioners who know the system best. Instead, they submitted a bill that more closely resembles a discussion paper, so filled with holes, subjective tests and exercises of discretion that it will likely lead to more litigation, not less.

Bill 16 will harm families of victims, it will reduce oversight and accountability and it will impede changes to policies which could save lives. At the very least, Stefanson needs to withdraw Bill 16 and bring stakeholders to the table to reform the inquest system in a positive way. To forge ahead as is would be short-sighted and dangerous.

Corey Shefman is a lawyer at Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend LLP based in Toronto and practises in both Manitoba and Ontario.
Colourful lights are already on display at the BJP's Uttar Pradesh office, and the party is preparing to celebrate Holi on the counting day itself.

By Shiv Pujan Jha: A pal of gloom seems to have descended over the offices of Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party office in Lucknow. The SP office which was buzzing with activities even during the days when there seemingly was a divide between Akhilesh Yadav and Mulyam Singh Yadav, bears a deserted look today.

The galleries are empty and very few visitors are thronging to the office. The leaders seem to have got into a huddle and are avoiding the media. The party's tall claims of coming back to power seem to have crumbled after the exit polls were released yesterday.

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A bunch of supporters who came to the SP office are however rubbishing the exit polls and are still hoping that the alliance will be able to beat anti incumbency and be able to form the government yet again.

Meanwhile on Friday Akhikesh Yadav called some of his ministers for a meeting at his official residence at 5, Kalidas Marg. It is widely being believed that the meeting was about taking stock ahead of a possible debacle once the results are announced.

Akhikesh has already indicated that he may be open to an alliance with Mayawati to keep the BJP away from power.

The BSP office too bore a deserted look today, and not a single party worker was to be seen. The same mood prevailed at the Congress office.

During campaigning, the three parties had vociferously proclaimed that they would cross the 300-seat mark in the Assembly. Now, however, all except the BJP are mum.

The BJP office, on the other hand, is being decked up. Cleaning is in progress and hundreds of visitors are thronging to the party office. Colourful lights are already on display and the party is preparing to celebrate Holi on the counting day itself.

Ghanshyam Singh Raghu, an NRI who took two months of leave to work for the BJP during the elections, is still active in the party's war room.

The party is still collecting data from every booth and details of candidates being put up on the official page.

Rakesh Tripathi, a BJP spokesperson, said the results will be better than predicted in the exit polls and indicated that all preparations were on for the counting day and celebrations.

WATCH NOW:

--- ENDS ---
Opinion

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Border crossings into Manitoba have made recent international headlines as unprecedented numbers of refugee claimants enter the province in search of refuge and the Canadian dream.

Canada indeed offers the dream of a secure, viable future to many immigrants and refugees. All of us who are not indigenous have a story of our ancestors arriving in this country. However, we cannot forget that there are many for whom Canada is not rolling out the welcome mat. Temporary migrant workers or guest workers, who often work in jobs undesirable to most Canadians, contribute to Manitobas economy and social fabric, but are treated as second-tier citizens and, in many cases, modern-day indentured labour.

Detailing such experiences, the important documentary film Migrant Dreams will be screened today at the Dramatic Arts Centre in Winnipeg. The films acclaimed director, Min Sook Lee, will be present to introduce the film and speak about her experiences with migrant workers. The documentary focuses on migrant women who come to Canada through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), and who negotiate a system that allows both their labour and vulnerability to be exploited by unscrupulous employers and recruiters. Migrant Dreams tells a story of desperation, struggle and hope.

John Woods / The Canadian Press Files Eight migrants from Somalia cross into Canada illegally from the United States by walking down this train track into the town of Emerson, Man., where they will seek asylum at Canada Border Services Agency.

Although Canada has traditionally been a country of permanent immigration, levels of temporary migration have skyrocketed in recent years. In the early 2000s, a stream for lower-skilled occupations was added to the TFWP with the intention of addressing purported labour shortages in certain sectors.

Employer use of the TFWP dramatically increased, and annual entries of temporary migrants with work permits began outnumbering permanent immigrants. It is through the lower-skilled stream of the TFWP that the migrants in Min Sook Lees film come to Canada.

The continuation and expansion of the TFWP into lower-wage sectors demonstrates that, particularly in some regions and industries, migrants are indeed filling longer-term labour needs. In Manitoba, temporary foreign workers can be found in a range of occupations, including long-haul trucking, agriculture, health care, trades and construction and industrial meat-processing.

The stories presented in Migrant Dreams document how temporary migrant workers, particularly those in low-wage positions, are vulnerable to abuses by employers and recruiters. They have limited labour market mobility and differential access to settlement services, and pay into but are ineligible for benefits such as employment insurance. Some face unsafe work conditions and threats of deportation. Their temporary status, which is predicated on employment, is the source of much vulnerability.

Manitoba is a national leader in ensuring the protection of migrant workers and allowing them paths to permanency. Manitobas Worker Recruitment and Protection Act, the first of its kind in Canada, is aimed at decreasing recruitment-related fraud and abuse through increased proactive enforcement. Manitobas Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) provides temporary migrants an opportunity to become permanent residents and is unique in accepting applicants with a range of skill levels. Workers may apply for nomination through the PNP after six months. It offers a pathway into the country for those who might not otherwise meet the stringent educational requirements for immigration, but whose skills are still very much needed. Immigration through the PNP has contributed to community economic development and demographic growth in places such as Brandon, Neepawa and Steinbach.

Even with these policies in place, temporary migrants continue to struggle in Canada. As the ultimate flexible and disposable workforce, migrants are considered good enough to work, but not good enough to stay, always expected to return to their home countries once their labour is no longer needed. Even for those few who are successfully nominated to stay permanently, research has shown that precarious temporary status and family separation  and its attendant instability, uncertainty and anxiety  often have long-lasting effects for workers, their families and their communities.

During his campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned two-tier citizenship as fundamentally un-Canadian. Yet the TFWP effectively creates an unequal, two-tier labour system, with temporary migrants living and working in our communities, sometimes for years, without the same rights and opportunities as those with permanent status. The fact that some migrants seek work in Canada because of desperate situations in their homelands does not justify their treatment as second-class citizens.

The TFWP is a stop-gap solution to an inadequate overall immigration system. As yet another overhaul of the program is rolled out this year, we wait to see whether the federal government has listened to advocates calls for a more fair and just migration system. With university and community-based groups, we are co-organizing the Migrant Dreams screening to further public discussion about our current policies and how to effectively advocate for a system that offers all who arrive in Manitoba  whether seeking refuge or actively recruited to work here  the welcome they deserve, and the opportunity to see their dreams realized.

Sarah Zell is a research associate at the University of Winnipegs Institute of Urban Studies and Jill Bucklaschuk is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada post-doctoral fellow at the University of Guelph in the Ontario-based universitys department of sociology and anthropology.
Opinion

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OTTAWA  Democracy may be imperfect, but in Canada this week, it took a few moments to get its shine on.

We cant always say that these days, what with questions about the concentration of power in the hands of a few people, the deligitimization of democratic voting systems, alleged influence on the U.S. presidential race by a foreign government and the stifling of a free press.

But on Wednesday, democracy had a good day.

ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose speaks about her private member's bill in the House of Commons in February. Multi-party support saw the bill fast-tracked in Parliament.

First, there was a rare show of bipartisanship to see a private members bill introduced by interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose fast-tracked. Ambrose introduced the bill in February to require potential judges to undergo mandatory comprehensive training on sexual assault before being appointed to the bench.

On Wednesday, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair moved a motion to fast-track the bill, skipping second reading entirely and going right to committee. The motion was approved unanimously by all parties in the House of Commons.

The bill is critical, given that twice in the last week, judges have acquitted men of sexually assaulting women who they said may have consented even though they were too drunk to remember, which legal experts say flies in the face of a Supreme Court ruling that incapacitated people cannot consent.

In one case, the complainant was found by police unconscious and naked in the back of a cab with the cab driver doing up his pants. Yet the judge said there was no evidence she did not consent to the sexual activity. How she could have consented to a haircut in that condition, let alone to having sex, is illogical.

So to see the MPs come together in unison to push for better sexual-assault law education for judges was both timely and a nice sign that partisanship can sometimes move aside to let democracy work.

That this happened the day before the Canadian Judicial Council officially recommended another judge be removed from the bench for his ignorant comments about sexual assault, including asking the victim why she couldnt just keep her knees together, makes the effort that much more meaningful. That judge, Federal Court Justice Robin Camp, submitted his resignation shortly after the recommendation.

Later Wednesday, there were two votes in which Liberal backbenchers broke with their party leader to help pass them into law.

The first, S-201, would prevent discrimination based on genetics. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has argued the legislation is unconstitutional because it passes laws on the insurance industry, which is a provincial jurisdiction. Three provinces, including Manitoba, have complained about this fact, though several experts told a parliamentary committee this was not an issue.

Trudeau ordered his cabinet to vote against the bill but left it up to the rest of the Liberal MPs to decide on their own. During the election he promised to allow free votes unless it was a confidence bill, legislation implementing the Liberal platform or a matter of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

So 105 Liberal MPs voted for S-201 (including four from Manitoba), as did all 117 Conservative and NDP MPs present, and the bill passed by a margin of 222-60. It now awaits royal assent.

The Liberal government also opposes bill S-217, which would require an accuseds criminal history to be part of the record during a bail hearing. Named Wynns Law for the RCMP officer who was killed by a man who was on bail after his lengthy criminal history was not brought up at the bail hearing, the government says it encroaches on Crown prosecutor discretion and would be onerous on the justice system.

That time around, 27 Liberal MPs (none of them from Manitoba) disagreed with their government and this bill passed second reading 154-128. It will now go to committee for review.

Some people may see these votes as a sign of a weak government, one that cant even get its own MPs on side. Supporters of democracy should see this as a sign MPs are in the House of Commons working for their constituents, not only for their party. It is not a sign of weakness; its actually a sign of strength.

Mia Rabson is the parliamentary bureau chief for the Winnipeg Free Press.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mrabson
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HMV locations in Kildonan Place and Polo Park will soon be home to Sunrise Records.

On March 9, Sunrise announced that they would be take over 70 previously owned HMV brick and mortar locations in malls from Burnaby, B.C.s Metrotown Mall to Fredericton, N.B.s Regent Mall. The Kildonan Place and Polo Park locations are the first two Manitoba locations to be announced.

Sunrise, a Toronto based record chain, first opened in 1978. Currently, they operate nine stores in Ontario.

The chain plans to expand the sale of CDs and vinyl records, while continuing to provide a space for the work local artists to be sold.

We want to support independent Canadian artists more than ever, Doug Putman, president of Sunrise Records, said in a statement. We feel its an obligation, not to mention we love discovering talented new artists.

Additionally, Sunrise has committed to hiring former HMV employees who have lost their jobs with the closure of HMV stores nationwide. Those interested in applying for a position, can email resumes to careers@sunriserecords.com

For more information, visit www.sunriserecords.com
A bill circulating in the state Legislature would remove the requirement that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency adopts regulation to monitor particulate emissions from frac sand mines and processing operations.

The bill, introduced into the Senate in late February by Sen. Carrie Ruud, R-Breezy Point, has been set aside for later consideration, potentially in an omnibus bill. A House version also has been introduced and also not voted on.

Supporters in the House, Senate and members of the industrial mining industry say that the bill wouldnt reduce regulation on sand mines because particulate emission regulations are not yet in place, and the companies are still under other regulatory requirements.

Opponents argue that the MPCA should continue to develop the regulation.

Johanna Rupprecht, policy organizer for the Land Stewardship Project, said that while the MPCA has taken too long in developing the regulations, the bill isnt a solution.

It doesnt even make sense that the (Legislature) is considering it, Rupprecht said. It would just be going backwards.

Rupprecht said that removing the air quality regulation would also be a rejection of the work done by the state citizens panel that created recommendations for the regulations.

Its a slap in the face to the people who put that work into it, Rupprecht said.

The Legislature approved a plan to require the MPCA to develop a number of regulations for the frac sand industry, 2013, back when the industry was booming in southeast Minnesota and capturing attention across the state.

With a big drop in oil prices in recent years, combined with looser industry regulations that have drawn mine developers across the river to Wisconsin, the industry has slowed to a near standstill across the southeast Minnesota region.

In tandem with that requirement, the Winona City Council in 2014 passed a resolution supporting state measures for air quality regulations for mines. The city also participated in air quality testing with the MPCA throughout that year, using an air monitor atop the Winona Family YMCA downtown; the results indicated that levels of sand were detectable on two separate occasions, but both were well below the level that can cause damage, and only if there were long-term exposure.

The study compared the measurements from the Winona monitor to one placed in Stanton in Minnesotas Goodhue County, where there are no silica sand-related facilities or transportation, but other sources of airborne silica, such as unpaved roads and farm fields.

Part of the reason for that control is that silica sand dust is a common pollutant and not particular to the frac sand industry.

All new frac sand operations were banned in Winona County in November 2016, after an extended campaign led by the Land Stewardship Project and other area residents.
As President Trump vows to crack down on undocumented immigration and step up deportations, some Minnesota religious leaders are preparing to offer immigrants shelter in their places of worship.

Their hope is that giving immigrants sanctuary will shield them, at least temporarily, from being removed from the country.

House of Hope Lutheran Church is an unadorned beige building in New Hope, a suburb northwest of Minneapolis. Inside, Pastor Mark Vinge envisions wood-paneled storage rooms transformed into bedrooms, playrooms and other spaces necessary for people staying in the church for an extended period.

The church is one of a few dozen houses of worship in the state that have volunteered to house immigrants facing possible deportation under the new administrations policies.

At first, not all leaders at the 700-member church were convinced that they should declare their church a sanctuary. There were concerns that the church wasnt set up for it, or that maybe the church should play a support role instead. But after vigorous discussions, the church council voted unanimously to become a sanctuary church.

Instead of being divided by politics, Vinge said the congregation rose above politics.

Ive talked about it in terms of a quote from Leviticus that talks about caring for the neighbor, providing shelter for those in need, Vinge said. In particular, remember that you were once refugees yourself in a foreign country, and to offer hospitality to those in your own country.

The idea of sanctuary has its roots in ancient practices of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But its also been used more recently. Some churches in Minnesota and other places gave sanctuary to Central American immigrants facing deportation in the 1980s.

But offering sanctuary means the church is also going to have to make lots of practical changes, such as installing showers and other basic services.

Theres also the question of legal repercussions. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a policy of trying to avoid actions in sensitive locations like churches. But the agency ultimately has the legal right to arrest someone in a house of worship.

Were hoping that they wouldnt, that theyd allow us to be a buffer, and give some time for things to get worked out or talked out if need be, so that families arent torn apart or disrupted, Vinge said.

Since House of Hope publicly declared itself a sanctuary, the church has received regular calls from other houses of worship that are interested in doing the same. The sanctuary movement across the state is being spearheaded by the religious network ISAIAH.

We hope that we never need to offer that kind of sanctuary, Vinge said. We think being public about it is a way of raising consciousness for everyone about this issue. Whats the need? Why is it real?

JaNae Bates, a United Church of Christ minister and the communications director at ISAIAH, said the most likely candidates for sanctuary would be immigrants who are going through all the steps to try to gain legal status, but may have run into a hurdle.

Sixteen houses of worship from different faiths have so far signed up to serve as sanctuaries in the state. Another 10 are serving as support. That could include financial assistance or supplies.

So they are helping to provide sanctuary and also creating community for those in sanctuary, she said.

Bates said Minnesota isnt the only place where religious institutions are preparing to offer sanctuary. Hundreds of other congregations have declared their buildings sanctuary spaces across the country.

There are people of faith in all 50 states who would say, No, we dont believe that there are any disposable people, and that human beings are sacred, and of immeasurable value to God, which means theyre a value to us, Bates said.

And its not only Christian churches that have signed on as sanctuaries.

At Shir Tikvah synagogue in Minneapolis, Rabbi Michael Adam Latz said the congregations goal is to convert rooms in the synagogue, a former First Universalist church, into a space thats as welcoming and homey as we can.

The commandment, the mitzvah in the Hebrew bible, that is mentioned more than any other, is to welcome the stranger into your midst, to welcome the immigrant, the widow, the poor, the orphan, Latz said. Religious people have a moral mandate to participate in sanctuary. Its our moral obligation. And if we dont, I just dont understand our purpose here on Earth.

The reason that refugees and immigrants come to the United States isnt that different from the reasons that drew many Americans ancestors here, Latz said. His own in-laws barely escaped Germany at the dawn of World War II.

I look at the pictures of those families on lifeboats coming out of Syria, and I think about the people who were on boats coming to the United States in World War II who were turned away, Latz said. What were doing is nothing compared to what theyre going through looking for a better, decent life for themselves and their children.

Latz knows there are legal risks, and they expect to make mistakes. But he said offering sanctuary is the right thing to do.

Thats been our story. Weve wandered. Weve been immigrants. We have those stories of seeking refuge, of our own families passing by the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island, Latz said. How can we turn around and forget where we came from?

Since Shir Tikvah declared itself a sanctuary, people in the community have stepped forward with contributions to help set up the space and support the project.

Knowing that theres hundreds and soon to be thousands of congregations from radically different denominations who disagree about a whole host of different theological issues, but who are joining together on this, Latz said, thats inspiring. Its a reminder that people can come together for common purpose, and that gives me a lot of hope.

ISAIAH says theres no timeline for when these houses of worship will need to be ready to host immigrants, but that it could be any day. Faith leaders say their spaces will be ready when theyre needed.

Ive talked about it in terms of a quote from Leviticus that talks about caring for the neighbor, providing shelter for those in need. In particular, remember that you were once refugees yourself in a foreign country, and to offer hospitality to those in your own country.  House of Hope pastor Mark Vinge
Tolerance. We are lectured, way more often than necessary, about the need to be open and tolerant, especially for those with whom we dont agree. Or for those who have lifestyles that are different than ours.

Much of this irritating blather is in the name of a revolution about sexual passions that outweigh traditional values of societies that have existed for thousands of years. And that also outweigh the religious tenets and teachings of the Christian Bible. And of the Muslim Koran.

Where is this going to go and how will this end up? In the case of homosexual marriage, for example, Christians are now being told that it is not normal for us to object to it. As a matter of fact, it is we who are supposedly not normal.

In a superb book titled The Closing of the Liberal Mind author Kim R. Holmes quotes a leading grant-maker for gender-rights(who said) in 2015 that he wants to shut-downreligious-freedom exemptions in three years. Does that give you a clue about what the illiberal left is trying to do? It should.

If you still vote Democrat, you should be paying close attention to what your leadership is up to. Many of you still believe you are voting for reincarnations of FDR. You are not. In fact, you are voting for people who are closer to being reincarnations of Stalin. Okay, perhaps not Stalin. Maybe Mao Tse-Tung.

According to Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, as Holmes quotes him, this revolution depends on replacing the tyranny of logic by a police tyranny(the) union of Eros and Logos can only be realized in the form of a totalitarian state, established and governed by force; (a) freedom (that) is non-freedom. Ah, you are an intolerant homophobe and you are making assertions that are wildly over the top some will say.

Really? Lets take a little closer look at this. Depending on the individual or group, hatred varies from being a small component to the entirety of intolerance and prejudice.

Here are some simple questions. Who is more intolerant? Who hates more? Bakers, who, because of their religious beliefs, refuse to make a cake for a wedding of two homosexuals? Or the homosexuals who were refused service and subsequently file a lawsuit that results in an outrageous fine that forces the bakers out of business and destroys their lives?

Who is more intolerant? And who hates more? If you evade answering these simple questions and suggest that there is some far more important principle involved here, such as a group civil right, you are out of your damn mind. And it ought to be as obvious as the nose on your face.

These questions are critically important in of themselves. They must be answered.

The homosexual couple, without question, is far more intolerant. And hates more. Far more.

Worse, the heavy hand of government has become involved. Which simply means that again, as Kolakowski warns, (the) union of Eros and Logos can only be realized in the form of a totalitarian state, established and governed by force. In this case, by a court of our very own country going so far as to force bankruptcy on a business and destroy lives. For the crime of wrong-thinking.

This is simply totalitarian tyranny. It cant be described in any other way. Moreover, it doesnt take a genius to understand how dangerous this is. And how current law openly defies and overrides the Constitution which absolutely guarantees freedom of the individual. And of the freedom to practice ones religion.

Have we as nation and has our judiciary become so morally bankrupt that we would countenance group rights of any kind that take precedence over individual liberty? And then have the authoritarian secular government enforce group rights with rulings that criminalize religious beliefs and levy penalties that are grossly out of proportion for a right that doesnt exist in the first place. If this is allowed to persist, we are in trouble. Serious, serious trouble.

There is absolutely no place for tyranny in America. The only way to guarantee that this authoritarianism doesnt exist is by assuring that individual rights are absolutely sacrosanct and cannot overridden. Period. Period. Dot. Dot.
Fifty-one years after Clayton Luther was recognized as the first Baraboo native killed in Vietnam, community members gathered at Baraboo High School to thank the Luther family and other local Vietnam veterans for their service.

Baraboo Mayor Mike Palm, a Vietnam era veteran himself, declared March 10 Vietnam Veterans Appreciation Day as students, teachers, district administrators and community leaders packed the high school cafeteria Friday morning for a special breakfast and ceremony honoring Vietnam veterans.

Other speakers included veteran leaders, students, teachers, district administrators and local politicians who offered thanks to the soldiers who served in Vietnam. After the program, the former servicemen were called one by one to front of the cafeteria, where they were given an appreciation medal for their service.

Baraboo High School social studies teacher Steve Argo was responsible for organizing the event alongside the Baraboo 21 Club, which he advises. Argo said the ceremony was intended to give local Vietnam veterans the gratitude and respect that many did not receive when they returned from the conflict.

I think what happened in many cases is people were ignored, he said. Its one thing to be heckled and booed and spat on, but theres also the fact that these men were ignored and sometimes still ignored that really bothers them.

Argo said he hopes the community recognition may have provided some veterans with closure. Argo said he could see a psychological weight lifted from one mans shoulders as he read off the names of former servicemen to receive their medals.

As I was reading names and shaking hands, this one guy  I totally dont know who it was  he wanted me to read his name, he said. And when I read his name, this look of relief came across his face.

Baraboo High School senior and Baraboo 21 Club member Mariah Deyo noted another powerful moment that occurred just before Walnut Hill Bible Church pastor David Hutchens led a moment of silence to honor the former servicemen.

Right before it happened, I looked around and you could tell from the looks on the veterans faces how glad they were to be here, she said. It was a feeling of appreciation.

Deyo said she hopes the ceremony gave Baraboo students a deeper respect for the nations armed forces and the men and women who serve.

Some young people dont take a lot of steps towards thanking veterans, she said. I think this event might have opened a lot of them up to thanking a veteran or going out to make a difference in their lives.
Baraboo High School students plan to rid the courthouse square of cigarette butts next week in an effort to promote healthy choices and reduce litter around town.

Following Wednesdays early release, the high schools Students Against Destructive Decisions group will head downtown for Kick Butts Day. The national anti-smoking initiative, which is organized by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, invites teachers, public health advocates and other community leaders to organize events that encourage youth to speak out against the tobacco industry.

The organizations leaders expect more than 1,000 events will be held across the country for this years Kick Butts Day. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids President Matthew Myers said the annual event empowers young people to say no to tobacco, including flavored e-cigarettes.

On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry and all of us, especially our elected officials, should stand with them, Meyers said in a press release. Weve made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress.

Diana Cone, who is a school nurse and advisor to Students Against Destructive Decisions, said Kick Butts Day shows students how prevalent tobacco use is and how damaging cigarettes can be to the community.

We pick up cigarette butts from around the square and put them in a container so we can see just how much smoking is going on, she said. Its an awareness of how much tobacco is out there, of how many people smoke, and wed like to see that decrease.

Wednesday will mark the fourth anniversary of Baraboo students taking part in Kick Butts Day. Cone said the tradition began after the student group received grant money to combat smoking through the Wisconsin Tobacco Coalition and an organization called Fighting Against Corporate Tobacco.

The money allowed the group to promote several high school events intended to influence students to make healthy decisions.

In addition to participating in Kick Butts Day, the group promotes Red Ribbon Week, facilitates an anti-drunken driving campaign before prom and organizes a tobacco prevention program at Jack Young Middle School.

Theyre very busy kids, Cone said. We keep them very busy, and theres always a new project going on.
Dean Kraemer

Dean Sylvester Kraemer, 59, of Prairie du Sac, passed away at home Tuesday, March 7, 2017, after a valiant battle with heart disease.

Dean was born in Reedsburg on Nov. 8, 1957, to the late Leon and Dorothy (Moore) Kraemer. He graduated from River Valley High School, class of 1975. Following high school, he attended University of Wisconsin-Madison agriculture short course. Dean was united in marriage to Janet M. Wilkinson on Oct. 28, 1978. He worked for Bindl Sales and Service until 1981 when he began farming for LaVern Harms. He and Janet then moved to Prairie du Sac in 1983 where he started his career with Fuchs Trucking. In 1991, he and Jan purchased the roller skating rink in Prairie du Sac and started Jan and Deans Rolling Wheels. While running the rink, Dean worked for Richard Construction. When they sold the skating rink in 2005, Dean followed his passion for agriculture and farming by working at the Dairy Forage Research Farm, until he retired in 2014. As a part-time hobby he drove truck for Golden Grain Farms.

Dean enjoyed NASCAR, traveling, camping, cuss marbles and sheepshead, hunting and fishing, and spending time with his family, grandkids and friends. He was proud to be a firefighter of more than 35 years, serving with both Loganville and Prairie du Sac fire departments. He was past president of Associated Roller Rinks of Wisconsin and a member of the Knights of Columbus. Dean was especially proud of his four children and their accomplishments. His never-ending love for his four sweet granddaughters will live on forever.

Dean is survived by his wife, Janet; children, Tiffany Kraemer, Kelli (Mike) Jacobs, Heather (Jason) Richter, Erik (Rachel) Kraemer, and a special foreign exchange student, Alba Trulls-Mendez; four granddaughters, Kylee and Morgan Richter, and Jocelyn and Evelyn Kraemer; four granddogs, Samson, Chewie, Zues, and Prince; five siblings, Alice (Bill) Brickl, Butch (Mary Ann) Kraemer, Linda (Rod) Eberle, Reg Kraemer, and Juanita (Jack) Retrum; further survived by many relatives and friends.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his in-laws, Don and Vila Wilkinso, and granddog, Kahne.

Deans family would like to extend their sincerest appreciation to the St. Marys Cardiac ICU staff. Maplewood staff, Dr. Barclay Shultz, Dr. John Phelan, Dr. Kartik Reddy, Deb Krueger and Kathy Holum.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, March 13, 2017, at St. Johns Lutheran Church, 100 Oak St., Prairie du Sac. A visitation will be held from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, March 12, 2017, at the church, and one hour prior the morning of service. A luncheon will follow at the Prairie du Sac Fire Department. A memorial will be established. Online condolences may be made at www.hooversonfuneralhomes.com.

Hooverson Funeral Home is assisting the family.
"Akhilesh Yadav should first apologise for what happened 21 years ago in state guest house. His statement reflects his desperation as he stares at the exit polls and he has accepted his defeat," BJP's MLA Yogi Adityanath said.

By Brijesh Pandey: On the eve before the Assembly election results are released, BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adiyanath said that the party will sweep clear victory in four states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

The MP said, "Voters have seen and analysed the working style of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samajwadi Party. They know that MOdi's BJP comes to power it will bring about a revolution as it has at the Centre. If BJP government is formed then bad roads, infrastructure and the law and order situation will completely change."

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Talking about Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's recent statement about considering alliance with Mayawati's BSP, the MLA said, "Akhilesh Yadav should first apologise for what happened 21 years ago in state guest house. His statement reflects his desperation as he stares at the exit polls and he has accepted his defeat."

Also Read

AajTak exit poll results: Why Akhilesh, Rahul failed in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh exit poll results: How Modi-powered BJP bettered its strike rate as election progressed

UP Assembly election 2017: Exit polls predict massive BJP win. Who could be the chief minister?

Akhilesh Yadav's Plan B: Join hands with Mayawati to avoid President's Rule in Uttar Pradesh

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When we go to the grocery store, most of us buy our favorite brands, and we know theyre the brands we want by looking at the labels. We do this because were confident the contents of every can of Campbells Tomato Soup are the same and we wont find any differences between them.

We also tend to think that way when we hear the labels that people have been given: right-wing, liberal, socialist, Democrat, Republican, immigrant. Yet, within each group, there are many differences of opinions and goals.

That was obvious in the recent presidential campaign when long-time conservatives spoke out against Republican candidate Donald Trump and many who were traditionally liberal consistently attacked Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.

I quickly learned my opinions differed from many of my most liberal friends. For instance, I believe in the death penalty when it can be proven without a doubt that someone tortured a child or any other human being. I questioned those who dont want gas and oil transported by pipelines, trucks or rail by asking them how they intended to drive anywhere without gasoline. When they replied that electric cars are the answer, I asked where the electricity was going to come from since theyre also against coal, gas and nuclear energy.

Since many also are against all mining, I asked what they thought solar panels and wind generators were made of if not precious metals, silicon and iron ore, all of which must be mined. Although we disagree on some things, I recognize theyre all good people who just want the best for the earth and its inhabitants.

And so do most on the Republican side. But many of their partys leaders, like the ones in power right now, want to eliminate regulations that protect those precious and necessary resources so they can appease their biggest donors. And yes, some Democratic lawmakers have put up weak resistance if their districts benefit from jobs that result in polluting those resources. The corrupt practice of pay-to-play isnt limited to one party.

As a moderate, I agree with the conservative views on fiscal responsibility. So do most liberals. I can honestly say that no liberals I know are for wasteful spending or unnecessary government programs. They pay taxes, too. Despite what some on the right side of politics claim, most liberals have jobs or are retired after working over 40 years. None of them defend people who cheat the welfare system. All Ive met support programs that train the unemployed and help them become independent.

Meanwhile, some on the left-side of the political spectrum claim Republican voters are racist, homophobic, sexist, lack compassion and much more. Yet many of my Republican friends are the opposite, giving their time and money to charitable causes, accepting of differences and believing in equal rights and a compassionate and reasonable immigration policy.

Studies show that most Americans are moderates, and theyre the truly forgotten ones. But theyre often given a limited choice of candidates who come from the most extreme edges or from the old establishment base, neither of which satisfies their expectations of an ethical, reasonable, intelligent candidate whos willing to listen to all sides before making an informed decision.

But theres hope. Some have taken action to unite moderates and others who are sick of the divisiveness. These people have formed groups to provide moderates a voice and choice in the political process.

One of those people is Wisconsins Mike McCabe, who created Blue Jean Nation, a group that welcomes anyone willing to work together to make government work better for all of us. Another group is Run for America, which is recruiting candidates who are more in line with the views of moderates. And then theres No Labels, a group thats the most active in Washington and is bringing lawmakers from both sides together.

The latter two groups are described in The Future of the American Center, a Nov. 29, 2016, article in the New York Times by conservative journalist David Brooks. He wrote, There is a raging need for a movement that embraces economic dynamism, global engagement and social support  that is part Milton Friedman on economic policy, Ronald Reagan on foreign policy and Franklin Roosevelt on welfare policy.

That may not be perfect, but its a beginning and a whole lot better than the destructive divisiveness thats blanketing our country today. Its time for all of us to remember, and fight for, our nation as described in the Pledge of Allegiance: indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Independent oversight of Wisconsins judges and court commissioners is at risk in Gov. Scott Walkers proposed new state budget.

The governor, citing potential but unspecified administrative efficiencies, has asked the state Legislature to remove the independent standing of the Wisconsin Judicial Commission and instead put it, and its budget, under the jurisdiction of the state Supreme Court.

The commission is charged with investigating complaints against state judges  and that includes Supreme Court justices. Each year, the Judicial Commission reviews 400 to 500 complaints against judges and court commissioners and, if it finds probable cause of misconduct, either issues a warning or seeks disciplinary action from a three-judge panel.

The panels recommendations go to the state Supreme Court, which is the ultimate arbiter in deciding whether a judge or commissioner is reprimanded, suspended, censured or removed from office.

It is of note that in the past decade, the Judicial Commission has alleged misconduct against sitting high court justices three times  one of which resulted in a Supreme Court reprimand against Justice Annette Ziegler for failing to avoid conflict of interests when she was a circuit judge in Washington County. Ziegler had presided over nearly a dozen cases involving a West Bend Bank when her husband was on the board of the bank.

In perhaps the most notorious case, the Judicial Commission recommended action against Justice David Prosser for allegations that he placed his hands on the neck of Justice Ann Walsh Bradley during a heated argument. Seven justices were present at the mini-melee and after Prosser called on them to recuse themselves because they were witnesses, the high court couldnt reach a decision because it lacked a quorum.

Suffice to say that such pesky complaints by the Judicial Commission would probably dwindle if the Judicial Commission was placed under the control of the high court itself. Instead of a judicial watchdog, the Judicial Commission would lose its independence  and its teeth  and become a cozy lapdog for the court.

But the Legislature doesnt have to listen to us  they should listen to the Commission itself. Earlier this month, the nine-member Judicial Commission urged lawmakers to oppose Walkers proposed change.

The proposed budget degrades the independence of the Judicial Commission by transferring the budgeting and position authority over the Commission from the Legislature to the Supreme Court, commission executive director Jeremiah Van Hecke warned.

It also should be noted, the Judicial Commission is not made up of a partisan left-wing cabal operating out of some cellar in the city of Madison: five of the commissions members were appointed by Gov. Scott Walker. The other four were appointed by the state Supreme Court.

They see what we see: that putting the commission under the aegis of the high court would not only jeopardize fair and even-handed judicial oversight, it would pose real conflicts of interest for both the Supreme Court and the commission members.

The Legislature should pull this proposal from the budget and keep the oversight of Wisconsins court as free and independent as practicable.
JUNEAU  A 53-year-old former Waterloo man will spend the next four years in prison after being found guilty of his eighth offense of drunken driving.

The conviction comes after Thomas M. Kovacs drove his car into a ditch and tried to claim his son, who was not present at the time of the crash, had been driving.

Kovacs, currently in the Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution, entered a guilty plea Thursday. Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Martin De Vries found him guilty of the charge and sentenced him to 48 months in prison and a 60-month extended sentence. His drivers license is revoked 36 months and he will have an ignition interlock on any vehicle he owns and operates for 36 months. He also must undergo an AODA assessment.

On Sept. 20 at 1:25 a.m. Kovacs was involved in a motor vehicle crash on Highway 89 near Highway TV in the town of Portland. Officers were dispatched to the area where they saw two pickup trucks in a field.

Kovacs told officers that he was not injured and that he and his son went off the road due to fog. Kovacs was allegedly stumbling and had a difficult time walking and standing, according to the responding officer. Kovacs told officers that his son had been driving the vehicle, but left to get a ride.

Another vehicle arrived on scene driven by Kovacs wife and his son was a passenger in the vehicle. The wife told officers that she came because Kovacs called to tell her he was in the ditch. The son said that he was neither driving the vehicle at the time of the crash, nor was he a passenger.

Kovacs eventually admitted to driving the vehicle and said he had between six and 10 beers since 5 p.m. at a local bar. When asked if he was impaired, Kovacs allegedly replied absolutely. His PBT was found to be .174. He was arrested and was taken to jail.

Kovacs was convicted of operating while intoxicated in 1990, twice in 1991, 1997, 2002, 2006 and 2012. All offenses occurred in either Dane or Columbia county.
Melvin Johnson

Melvin M. Johnson, 84, Treasure Island, was called to Heaven March 7, 2017.

Mel was a beloved husband, father and grandfather. He is survived by his sons Richard, Randall (Jackie) and Ronald (Nancy); his daughter Ronda; and five grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois, in 2014.

He served in the U.S. Navy on the USS Coral Sea.

Visitation will be Tuesday, March 14, from noon to 1 p.m. at Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home, N7199 N. Crystal Lake Road, Beaver Dam, with a funeral service to begin at 1 p.m. The Rev. Mark Wenzel will officiate. Interment will follow at Lowell Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Our Savior Lutheran School, 301 58th St. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33707.

Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home in Beaver Dam is serving the family. Online condolences may be made at koepsellfh.com.
Local students may have enjoyed having a few snow days earlier this winter, but soon they will be back in class making them up.

With an unusual winter and only a couple months left on the school calendar, Juneau County schools are scrambling to reschedule contact days with students. All five school districts were forced to cancel at least a couple days in January due to dangerous ice storms. Most schools have built-in days to make up time in the event school is cancelled.

Mauston has designated March 17, April 17, April 28 and June 2 as make-up days, while New Lisbon has scheduled April 18 and June 7 as contact days. Royall students will make up a full day on June 1 and June 2 has been added as a make-up day with early dismissal. Necedah has already used Feb. 17 as a make-up day and also has April 17 and June 7 scheduled as additional days. Wonewoc-Center made up a day on March 10 and has also scheduled Monday, March 13 as a contact day.

Mauston Superintendent Christine Weymouth said the district has had five snow days, three late starts and one early dismissal this year. Mauston had two consecutive cancelled days in January and another less than 10 days later.

Students can afford to have one free snow day, but they have to make the rest up, Weymouth said.

Both Weymouth and New Lisbon Superintendent Dennis Birr said this winter has presented some unique challenges in scheduling. Birr said New Lisbon has had four snow days, but the first two were forgiven and will not be made up.

These are the most snow days weve had that I and people who have been here a lot longer than me can remember, said Weymouth, who has served as Maustons superintendent since 2012. Schools up north havent had to make up as many days because they didnt get the ice that we did down here.

With a few more weeks of winter, schools may have to schedule additional make-up days. If thats the case, Weymouth said the district will have to look at other options. The original 2016-17 schedule listed Thursday, June 1 as the final day of school, but Mauston had to add June 2 with Januarys cancellations. If Mauston has another cancellation, it may ask students to come back for an additional day on Monday, June 5.

We could also look into adding minutes to some school days to make it up, Weymouth said.

When cancelling school, districts must weigh several factors, but maintain that student safety is the first concern. Weymouth said Mauston doesnt like to dismiss children early because most parents are at work in the middle of the day and have to make special arraignments to get their children from school.

The schedule change also affects teachers. Based on current contracts, teachers at Mauston must work 190 days during the school year. Teachers can come in on a snow day to fulfill time, but arent required.

We had some teacher development days built in, but unfortunately, those have been taken away, Weymouth said. Districts vary on the amount of development time teachers have to put in, but we try to make professional development a priority here and we expect teachers to fulfill those days.

If classes are held on June 5, teachers would have to come back for a final day on June 6. Weymouth hopes that wont be the case.

Its never real popular to have kids come back on a Monday for their final day, she said. We just dont need any more snow days.
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Republicans on the state Legislatures budget committee privately discussed Gov. Scott Walkers planned move to self-insurance for state workers with state staff and consultants, without including Democrats on the committee, the Democrats said Thursday.

The Joint Committee on Finance is the only legislative body with oversight of this law change, which will affect over 250,000 Wisconsinites directly and all of the taxpayers of this state, the four Democrats on the 16-member committee said in a letter to the committees co-chairs.

Any briefing with (the state Department of Employee Trust Funds) on matters before the committee should be done in public, in accordance with not just the letter but the spirit of the law, they wrote.

The committee co-chairs, Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said in a statement that briefings were held in compliance with state open meetings law.

The briefings were informative and helpful in understanding how the proposal may impact the people of Wisconsin, they said.

We highly suggest the Democrats conduct their own research on this important issue rather than playing political games, they said.

Nygren has said the committee will hold a hearing on self-insurance before it decides whether to approve it.

The Democrats letter said Republicans on the committee met Wednesday with ETF staff, who administer state worker benefits, and the departments consultant, Segal Consulting, to discuss self-insurance.

The Group Insurance Board, which oversees state worker benefits, voted last month to self-insure state workers beginning next year, but the move must be approved by the budget committee.

Under self-insurance, the state would pay medical claims directly, using regional administrators, instead of paying premiums to 17 HMOs, which currently accept the risk for medical claims.

Walkers 2017-19 budget assumes $60 million in savings from the change, to be directed to public education.

Self-insurance is common among large employers. But the move has been controversial because the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, other health care groups and some legislators  including the Republican leaders of the budget committee  have said it could significantly impact the states HMOs, many of which are owned by the states regional health systems.

The Democrats on the budget committee  Sen. Jon Erpenbach, of Middleton, Rep. Gordon Hintz, of Oshkosh, Sen. Lena Taylor, of Milwaukee, and Rep. Katrina Shankland, of Stevens Point  said the meeting should have been public because the Republicans discussed self-insurance, a matter before the committee.

ETF spokesman Mark Lamkins didnt respond to a request for comment.
A 68-31 vote in the state Assembly on Thursday set the stage for voters to decide next year whether to amend Wisconsins Constitution and eliminate the state treasurers office.

Republican sponsors of the proposal say the office is a meaningless relic that has been perpetuated because it is in the state Constitution.

Opponents maintain that an elected treasurer helps balance power within the executive branch, protects state funding for public school libraries and  before lawmakers and the governor stripped the office of almost all its duties  was an independent watchdog over public funds.

One of the amendments lead authors, Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, has said the change would streamline state operations and make them more modern while assuring the public that the lawmakers were good stewards of tax dollars.

However, the treasurers office is funded by revenue from selling unclaimed property, a program that was shifted to the state Department of Revenue several years ago.

Since gaining control of state government in 2011, Republicans have moved most of the treasurers duties to other offices.

The treasurers remaining official duty is membership on a board that oversees a constitutionally established permanent endowment that provides millions of dollars used by public school libraries to buy books, magazines, newspapers and other tools for learning.

Last year, $32.1 million was distributed to libraries by the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, a small state agency that is governed by the treasurer and two other elected officials  the attorney general and secretary of state.

The Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association, which advocates for public school libraries, said the money is crucial, especially with budget constraints felt by schools in recent years.

Tia Nelson, who was the commissions top administrator until 2015, has offered testimony opposing the amendment because it would place the lieutenant governor on the BCPL. Nelson said that would shift authority over the library money in a way that unwisely gives the governors office more influence over school funding than it already has through the state education budget.

Amending the constitution is a serious matter and the public deserves to know it doesnt save taxpayers money and it does concentrate the governors powers, Nelson said.

Former Treasurer Jack Voight has said shifting the elected treasurers duties to employees of state agencies risks a loss of accountability. And it may not save any money, because agency employees are paid to do the things the treasurers office workers once did, Voight said.

Current Treasurer Matt Adamczyk, who was elected in 2014, favors eliminating the office. The treasurers salary is $69,936 a year.

The lead author in the Assembly, Rep. Mike Schraa, R-Oshkosh, said he expects a large majority of voters will approve the amendment. But Schraa says if a majority votes to reject it, he will work to restore powers of the office.

The Senate approved the amendment Tuesday by an 18-15 vote.

Both houses of the Legislature also passed the resolution last year. If voters approve in April 2018, the change would take effect in 2019.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead at his home in Southern California. He was 34. Representatives for Carters family confirmed the singers death Saturday. They did not provide any immediate further comment. A sheriff's official says deputies responding to reports of a medical emergency found a person deceased at the home in Lancaster. Aaron Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brothers boy band, and appeared on the familys reality series, House of Carters.
The Uttar Pradesh CM seems to be desperate to create a post-poll alliance against the BJP. However, there would not have been any such need had he agreed to stitch the same alliance before the Assembly election.

By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: It may be a fit case of late realisation of their strength. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav reportedly indicated on March 9 - the day exit polls for the state Assembly elections were declared - that his Samajwadi Party was ready to join hands with Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party than to see the state under President's Rule.

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Akhilesh reportedly also said all "secular forces" should come together to keep the "communal" BJP away from power in case there is a hung Assembly when the result is declared on Saturday.

The Uttar Pradesh CM seems to be desperate to create a post-poll alliance against the BJP. However, there would not have been any such need had he agreed to stitch the same alliance before the Assembly election.

In fact, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad had made sincere efforts to create a Bihar-style 'Grand Alliance' in Uttar Pradesh. But that did not fructify. SP entered into a pre-poll alliance only with Congress and missed to create a formidable grand alliance with BSP keeping away.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pointed out that any grand alliance would have been possible if both SP and BSP would have come together like the JD(U) and RJD did in Bihar.

THE BIHAR EXPERIMENT

In Bihar, Janata Dal (U), RJD and Congress had come together to deal a resounding defeat to BJP in the 2015 Assembly election. SP, BSP and Congress could have done a Bihar in UP too. However, they missed the chance.

Except for the Bihar's non-BJP grand alliance, there are several similarities between the conditions of the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections and the recently-held Uttar Pradesh polls. In Bihar, this mahagathbandhan swept the polls because the caste and Muslim factors weighed heavily in its favour.

The same story could have got repeated in UP if the ruling SP, BSP and Congress had come together on a single platform. This unprecedented combination would most likely have proved invincible.

UP'S SIMILARITIES WITH BIHAR

As in Bihar, BJP did not declare its chief ministerial candidate for UP. It banked upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi's magic and BJP president Amit Shah's poll management.

Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad had encashed on the "Baahri versus Bihari" sentiment. The same sentiment was repeated in UP when SP leaders, including Akhilesh's wife Dimple Yadav, called Modi and Shah outsiders. Even Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Vadra attacked the two top BJP leaders on that score.

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As in the case of RJD in Bihar, Yadavs and Muslims form the mainstay of SP in UP. It had come back to power in 2012 with their solid backing. While Yadavs constitute 15 per cent of the state's total votes, Muslims form 18 per cent.

In the 2012 elections, SP had registered its highest vote share of 29.15 per cent of total votes polled, winning 224 of the total 403 seats.

SP's traditional rival BSP had polled 25.91 per cent of the total votes cast, winning 80 seats. The Congress, which had fought elections under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, won 28 seats, polling 11.63 per cent of votes.

On the other hand, BJP managed to win only 47 seats, polling only 15 per cent of total votes cast.

Hence, together SP, BSP and Congress could have made BJP run for its money.

FACTORS WHICH COULD HAVE FAVOURED SP-BSP-CONGRESS ALLIANCE

SP's anti-incumbency would have been offset by the presence of BSP. The Muslim votes would not have got split. They would have gone to the grand alliance in Bihar. Brahmins and a large section of Dalits would also have chosen this mahagathbandhan over BJP.

The template had already been cast in Bihar where the Yadavs and Muslims - RJD's votebanks - polled aggressively in favour of the mahagathbandhan. In Bihar, while Yadavs constitute 14 per cent the voters, Muslims are 17 per cent. Kurmis, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's castemen who comprise 4 per cent of the voters, too voted for the grand alliance.

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The experiment was successful. The RJD and JD(U), which had fielded 101 candidates each on the total 243 constituencies, won 80 and 71 seats respectively. Congress, which fielded 41 candidates on 41 seats, won 27. Total, they won a whopping 178 of the 243 seats.

While RJD polled 18.4 per cent of the votes cast, JD(U) polled 16.8 and Congress 6.7 per cent.

On the other hand, BJP failed to match the grand alliance's combined strength. It won just 53 of the 157 seats it contested. Strike rate-wise, its performance was poorest than all the three parties of the mahagathbandhan. However, on individual level, it polled the highest percentage of votes - 24.4 per cent.

But with Mayawati deciding to stay away from any grand alliance, a Bihar redux may remain elusive. An alliance between SP and Congress, with BSP and Ajit Singh's RLD not included in it, left the field open for BJP. With BSP and SP remaining split over the question of pre-poll alliance, it may be a case of crying over split milk over forming a post-poll alliance.

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Also Read

AajTak exit poll results: Why Akhilesh, Rahul failed in Uttar Pradesh

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UP Assembly election 2017: Exit polls predict massive BJP win. Who could be the chief minister?

Akhilesh Yadav's Plan B: Join hands with Mayawati to avoid President's Rule in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election Results 2017 LIVE: Tough fight between BJP, SP-Congress

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Lyla Jean Hadden

Lyla Jean Hadden, 90, of Janesville, joined her husband, Richard, on March 6, 2017, in heaven at Star Number 045-460. Richard was gifted a star upon his death.

Jean was born in Poynette on Nov. 29, 1926, where she met and married her lifelong friend, (since grade school), Richard Dick Hadden. They were married for 66 years. She was the daughter of Lyle and Minnie (Schmidt) Rose. Jean was preceded in death by her husband, Richard; her parents, Lyle and Minnie; and two sisters, Carol (Bill) Howard and Sally (Charlie) Schultz.

Jean spent almost 10 years in a courageous battle with Parkinsons and leukemia. She graduated from a prestigious school of business and spent her working career as an accountant. She worked in her native-born Wisconsin to pay for her husbands education at the University of Wisconsin, where he graduated with a double degree. They moved to Illinois in 1949, and she took a job heading the accounting department for Stone Container Corporation for 27 years, loving her job. They both retired in 1985, Jean six months after Dick, but only because he forgot to pick her up from work one night until 7 p.m. (Something they laughed at years later). Otherwise shed probably have worked another several years with the numbers she loved so much. Once retired she was very happy with the decision. She was a voracious reader, consuming two or three books per day since her childhood. She once confessed to reading every book in her small-town school library of Poynette. Her mother called her a Blue Stocking. Shortly after her marriage she read an entire set of encyclopedias. Jean was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, enjoyed community service and was a humanitarian who helped and donated to many. She and her husband were totally devoted to their family and were very loving, with all-forgiving natures.

Jean was blessed with two daughters, Suzanne and Diane, who share very fond memories of all the camping trips they took every year when camping was exactly that  a tent and a little gas stove or a fire to cook over. No glamping. They mapped out each trip in advance and over the years, except for Alaska and Hawaii, drove through every state and most of the Canadian provinces. Jean loved traveling with Dick and after their camping trips stopped, they went to many countries around the world visiting Europe 18 times. One of Jeans favorite trips was aboard a boat on the Yangtze River in China enjoying all of the wonderful sights before the Three Gorges Dam was built and the area was flooded. Beyond travel her greatest journey was enjoying her grandchildren and great-granddaughter, Lyla.

When Jeans health began to fail she was greatly encouraged by frequent visits from her grandchildren. Jean was never idle (unless reading) and was a Girl Scout leader for years, worked for the census which supplied many entertaining stories, cooked and kept her home, covered furniture, wallpapered, painted and made clothing for her then young children when sewing was popular. Jean loved being a Sunday school teacher and was volunteer as well as the church accountant for many years in two states of residence. She helped with ECHO lunches and also delivered Meals on Wheels. Jean kept up with the times by taking night classes; one being a computer language class for the new computer which was very novel at the time and you needed to know DOS, a now primitive computer language, to run simple programs. She knitted and sewed and even knew how to tat which is the lost art of making lace. She had an enterprising family history, including a meat market, a farming business and a poultry enterprise which was modeled after a University of Wisconsin Study.

Jean saw and participated in many great industrial changes. she saw farming with horses change to machinery, outhouses to plumbed bathrooms, party lines to cell phones, walking seven miles to school uphill both ways in a blizzard, to a man landing on the moon. In later years she had an avid interest in her family tree, something her daughters will continue to pursue. She had a huge stockpile of information, personal stories, letters, photographs and original documents of immigration, marriages and graduations dated as old as 200 years. Many family stories are recorded including building houses and then letting the pigs run rampant in the old house enjoying the wallpaper.

She is survived by her brother, Willard (Esther) Rose; daughters, Suzanne (Gene) Oakley and Diane (Claude) Lewis; four grandchildren, W.C. Ryan Lewis, Richard Lewis, Perry Lewis and Tatianna (Luke) Jenson; and one great-granddaughter, Lyla Jenson; her special cousin, Linda Packard; plus many more cousins, nieces and nephews.

Jean will be forever dearly missed by her family and friends for her compassion, wit and kindness. She had unconditional love for her family and will be remembered by all as a woman with special humor and generosity.

Services will be at noon, Monday, March 13, at Trinity Episcopal Church, Janesville, with the Rev. Kathy Monson Lutes officiating. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until the time of services Monday at the church. The family is being assisted by Henke-Clarson Funeral Home (608-741-1713).

I love you dearly
HILL POINT  Holly Dwyer never knows when shes going to wake up in pain and unable to move.

The 21-year-old college student from Hill Point has a condition many associate with old age: arthritis. Dwyer has lived with the condition since she was about 6 years old, and now shes working to spread the word about juvenile patients.

Holly has been chosen as the adult honoree for this years Walk to Cure Arthritis in Dane County. Prior to the May 6 event, Hollys family will host a few fundraisers to raise money for their team. The funds will support research efforts to find a cure.

Fighting through tears

Most days Holly can find a way to stretch and manage her pain and stiffness but there are times where she needs to stay home. She said shes studying psychology at Viterbo University in La Crosse and doesnt like to miss out on school or work but sometimes her body gives her no choice.

There are days where I try to make it down the steps of my apartment and Im crying, she said. Its days like that where you have to hope for a better tomorrow.

Hollys struggles started in kindergarten when her gym teacher noticed her unusual gait while running. Her mother, Kathy Dwyer, was advised to take her daughter in for medical evaluation. Kathy said she hadnt noticed anything off about Holly but heeded the teachers advice. Holly said she initially believed she was flat footed but doctors finally figured out what was wrong around her 8th birthday.

Kathy remembered being shocked by the diagnosis.

Your initial reaction is you just cant believe a child can have this, she said.

Holly said she has juvenile idiopathic arthritis, which differs from rheumatoid or osteoarthritis. No one knows what causes this condition and it affects everyone differently.

To this day, Holly needs to take NSAIDs and low-grade chemotherapy medication to treat this autoimmune disease. She started with pills but ended up needing injections. Kathy said adults administered the shots in the beginning but Holly was brave enough that she could do them on her own by age 10.

The chemotherapy has lovely side effects like grogginess and nausea, she said.

Shes also had several surgeries. She had her first total hip replacement at age 16, followed by the other at age 18. She also needed nerve relocation in her hand and elbow to prevent muscle atrophy and loss of sensation. Holly said almost all her joints are affected in some way by arthritis.

The surgeries were necessary for her to attend college and pursue a career, so she perseveres through the pain. Stiffness is common in the morning so she uses stretching and monitors her physical activity. Its been this way ever since she was a little kid.

My family used to joke and call me Grandma, she said.

Sometimes she needs crutches to get to class but she does all she can to make it, she said.

Common condition

Juvenile arthritis is more frequent than most people think. More than 300,000 children and teens are living with arthritis in the U.S. Of those, about 6,000 live in Wisconsin, said Hana Johnson, market relations coordinator for the Arthritis Foundations Madison-area office.

Johnson said the walk not only tries to raise money but also spread the word about the far-reaching effects of arthritis.

A lot of people think of arthritis as an old persons disease, she said.

She said the office chose Holly as an honoree because she has been active with the Foundation since she was a little girl. She previously attended Camp MASH for children with autoimmune disorders and now volunteers as a counselor. Holly has also been willing to tell her story.

Holly will speak during the Dane County walk and will help kick it off with other honorees. Participants do not need to be residents of Dane County to participate, Johnson said.

Holly said shes glad to be part of the Arthritis Foundations efforts to support patients and their families.

We dont have to accept the pain as a forever situation, she said. We may have arthritis but arthritis doesnt have us.
Friede & Associates in Reedsburg received several accolades at the 2016 Projects of Distinction Awards.

The honors are presented by Associated Builders and Contractors, otherwise known as ABC. Every year the Wisconsin chapter recognizes construction and renovation of various sizes throughout the state.

Friede received Gold Awards for its work on the B-Lux Grill & Bar and Klondike Slide Tower replacement at Wilderness Resort, both in Wisconsin Dells, the Sanimax fire restoration in Deforest and new Nelson True Value store in Prairie du Chien.

Friede also took home Silver Awards for Casa de Oakes senior housing, the new Reedsburg Country Club and Reedsburg Municipal Airport terminal.

These projects were all completed last year.

In addition, the company was honored with the Built on Merit Award for using the most ABC members in a project that was submitted for consideration. Its the companys fifth consecutive year of receiving the acknowledgement, said Scott Truehl, executive vice president of Friede & Associates.

He added that the business has accrued 15 Projects of Distinction honors in the last three years.

Truehl attributed Friedes success to its aptitude with unusual projects. Clients hire the company because it specializes in diverse tasks.

We dont build the same building every time, he said.

Unique challenges

Every Friede project brings its own set of difficulties, which makes each one all the more exciting and rewarding, Truehl said.

The Reedsburg Municipal Airport, like many other locations, needed to keep operating while crews worked so Friede employees needed to be mindful. They also had to adhere to FAA requirements and notify airport personnel if they would be using cranes over 25 feet, said Todd Krcma, who managed the airport project.

He said that effort called for a complex wing design and attractive wood trim, and the walls were constructed to withstand wind.

Workers had to use special guardrails and lights that Friede ended up buying because of high rental costs.

Krcma said hes pleased with the outcome and called it an asset for the city.

It was a really great project to work on, he said. It really shows off what Reedsburg has to offer. Its a gateway to the rest of the city.

Project Manager Ethan Kent worked on B-Lux, the Wilderness Slide Tower and Casa de Oakes. He said the B-Lux site had been used as a restaurant in the past so it had some old construction styles that required upgrades.

The Slide Tower was so massive and heavy crews were afraid theyd need to take off the roof to haul the pieces in with a crane. However, Friede came up with a solution: Using fiberglass instead of steel. Kent said fiberglass is lighter and less expensive yet still functions well for water parks. As a result the roof stayed put and parts were hauled in using smaller machines and sheer manpower.

Casa de Oakes serves multiple uses so the project was done in phases, he said. Workers had to build areas used for offices, assisted living and memory care. It helped that the walls were built off-site and then brought to the property. Kent said that option sped up construction.

Its not unusual for managers to oversee several jobs at once but Kent doesnt mind the pace.

I really like it here, he said. Theres a multitude of different projects Im working on.
Recurrence of xenophobic attacks in South Africa

Recurrence of xenophobic attacks in South Africa

We, the undersigned civil society organisations write to you to raise concerns about the continued recurrence of xenophobic attacks against non-nationals living in the Republic of South Africa. In the past, we approached the Commission with similar concerns highlighting the need to impress on the government of South Africa to end xenophobic attacks perpetrated against non-nationals living in the country. As human rights organisations, we are particularly concerned about the absence of appropriate and practical action including the lack of serious interventions, poor policy response and inappropriate action by the government of South Africa to stop the recurrence of these attacks. We are also concerned about the limited responses by the criminal justice system to deal with the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators. We believe that the government of South Africa should undertake practical and policy measures to address the root causes of these attacks including addressing its social and economic obligations in order to meet the countrys constitutional, socio-economic and human rights obligations.

South Africa has experienced large scale xenophobic violence on numerous occasions.[1] In February 2017, parents reported that xenophobic prejudice was being extended to local schools.[2] Markedly, the Eastleigh Primary School in Edenvale, Gauteng, issued a letter to all foreign parents threatening to refuse their children access to education and to have children arrested if their papers are not in order. Targeting children for the purposes of immigration enforcement is a grave concern. Children must never be detained for immigration purposes. And all children in South Africa are equally entitled to education regardless of their immigration status or documentation. To this end, the South African Schools Act prohibits discrimination of any form when it comes to admission to school.

We believed that the notice given to parents by the Eastleigh Primary School were linked to the violent attacks against refugees, migrants and asylum seekers during February 2017. While the exact number of people affected by xenophobic attacks in South Africa is not known yet, there is need to take action to end these prejudicial and intolerant practises. We recall that between 2000 and 2008 close to 67 people died due to what became identified as xenophobic attacks in South Africa.[3] In May 2008, 62 people were killed and 600 injured as a result of xenophobic attacks.[4] Twenty-five of those killed were South Africans who were believed to be non-nationals. Since 2009, the number of attacks against refugees and migrants in South Africa escalated. At least one attack occurs annually. In April 2015 at least 5 people died and about 5000 others were displaced when there was an outbreak of xenophobic attacks in the KwaZulu Natal province. As in the past, these attacks caused loss of lives, injury, loss of livelihood and irreparable damage to property.

We note statements and requests from several governments of foreign communities resident in South Africa to provide assistance to individuals leaving the country. While those who wish to leave should be assisted to do so, we reiterate that the solution to the xenophobic violence should not be to repatriate non-citizens, but to ensure an environment in the country in which their rights are respected and protected.

In the context of South Africa, historical racial categories still dominate the public imagination, often obscuring the link between xenophobia and ethnic prejudice. This connection is clearly demonstrated by the victimisation of national minorities and the deaths of 25 South Africans during the 2008 xenophobic attacks. As a form of ethnic prejudice, xenophobia often claims justification from immigration laws; hence, stereotypes reduce all members of the ethnically, linguistically or culturally different group to illegal migrants regardless of their actual immigration status.[5]

We recall the African Commissions response to our open letter referred to above when it issued Resolution 304[7] calling upon the government of South Africa to take the necessary measures to ensure that the rights of all migrants are protected in accordance with the applicable international and regional human rights instruments. The Resolution also urged South African authorities to take all the necessary steps to end the violence against refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, investigate the circumstances leading to the xenophobic attacks and to bring to justice the perpetrators of the attacks. In essence, these recommendations aimed to hold South African authorities to account to their obligations under the African Charter and other international and regional treaties. The 2015 Resolution of the African Commission remains relevant to the current situation in South Africa.

The relatively recent attacks against non-nationals which occurred in February and March 2017 in Pretoria shows that much needs to be done in order to stop these deadly and persistent attacks against foreign nationals. It is evident that further action needs to be taken to address xenophobia at the community level including by carrying out campaigns aimed to raise awareness and educate the public about the negative effects of xenophobia, protect potential victims and make clear that such harmful practices are unacceptable.

We urge the Commission to:

Issue an urgent appeal asking the South African government to take urgent measures to protect non-citizens in the country as obligated under regional and international human rights treaties to which it is a party;

Raise the above and other concerns relating to the attacks on refugees, migrants and asylum seekers with the South African government during the Commissions planned promotion mission to the country; and

Remind the South African Government of its international and domestic obligations to ensure that every individual enjoys their rights to life and dignity regardless of their ethnicity or migration status.

We also urge the Commission to call on the South African government to:

Implement all the provisions of Resolution 304 and to report to the Commission on the steps taken to implement those provisions;

Recognise and strengthen those policies and laws which will promote tolerance and cater for appropriate sanctions for perpetrators of xenophobia;

Investigate and bring to justice perpetrators of xenophobic attacks in fair and transparent trials;

Put in place appropriate and practical socio-economic and other measures to address the root causes of xenophobic attacks; and

Ensure adequate protection for all refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in South Africa; and

Signed by the following organisations working on human rights issues on the African continent:

Southern Africa Litigation Centre, South Africa; Humanitarian Information Facilitation Centre (HIFC), Zimbabwe; Khulumani Support Group, South Africa; Childrens Dignity Forum, Tanzania; The Paralegal Alliance Network, Zambia; Southern African Christian Initiative, Namibia; Masimanyane Womans Support Centre, South Africa; Communities Holistic Initiative for Social Advancement, Malawi; Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance, Malawi; Equal Education Law Centre, South Africa; South Africa; Centre for Human Rights and Social Advancement, Nigeria; Associacao OMUNGA, Angola; Centro dos Direitos Humanos da Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique; Namibia Womens Health Network, Namibia; Secion 27, South Africa; Ladder for rural development organization, Malawi; MBAKITA, Angola; Association of Human Rights Organizations, Uganda; SAfAIDS, Zimbabwe; Mozambican Bar Associations Human Rights Commission, Mozambique; Zambia Alliance of Women, Zambia; Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, Zimbabwe; WoMin African Alliance, South Africa; Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Zimbabwe; Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa; Lawyers for Human Rights, South Africa; Legal Resources Foundation, Zambia; Legal Assistance Centre, Namibia; Women and Law in Southern Africa, Zambia; I nternational Community of Women Living with HIV in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe; Independent Advocates for Children, Adolescents and Young people in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe; Legal Resources Centre, South Africa; Corruption Watch, South Africa; Child Rights Advocacy; Institute for Security Studies, South Africa; Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, South Africa; Org, South Africa; Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Zimbabwe; Pan African Positive Women's Coalition, Zimbabwe; African Men for Sexual Health and Rights, Senegal; Lawyers against Abuse, South Africa; International Alliance on Natural Resources in Africa, South Africa; Africa Legal Aid , The Netherlands; and COSPE, Swaziland; Centre for Applied Legal Studies, South Africa

[1][1] For example, in May 2008 more than 60 people were killed, more than 600 injured and over 20 000 people were displaced in the Gauteng and Western Cape Provinces, according to Amnesty Internationals report, Talk For Us Please published in September 2008. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr53/012/2008/en/

[2]. See details at http://www.lhr.org.za/news/2017/joint-press-release-%E2%80%93-eastleigh-primary-school, (accessed 3 March 2017).

[3] See CSOs open letter to the African Commission regarding xenophobic attacks in South Africa, available at http://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/2015/04/23/open-letter-to-the-african-commission-regarding-the-xenophobic-attacks-in-south-africa/, (accessed 23 February 2017).

[4] As above.

[5] Report on the SAHRC Investigation into Issues of Rule of Law, Justice and Impunity arising out of the 2008 Public Violence against Non-Nationals

http://pmg-assets.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/docs/101124sahrcrep_0.pdf, (accessed 3 March 2017).

[6] See 2015 Open letter to the African Commission regarding the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, available at http://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/2015/04/23/open-letter-to-the-african-commission-regarding-the-xenophobic-attacks-in-south-africa/, (accessed 3 March 2017).

[7] Full text of the Resolution available on website of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights at http://www.achpr.org/sessions/56th/resolutions/304/, (accessed 3 March 2017).
The BJP has scripted a spectacular win Uttar Pradesh winning over 300 seats in the 403-seat Assembly. But who will the party pick as the chief minister? Here are some of the top contenders.

By Shashank Shantanu: It's a tsunami of a win for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP has taken a massive lead over rivals - Samajwadi Party, Congress combine and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) winning a three-fourth majority in the crucial state.

As per the latest trends and results available, the BJP is winning 302 seats while the Samajwadi Party-Congress combine may manage to pocket just 62 seats in the 403-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Mayawati's (BSP) has been decimated to a distant third spot with 18 seats.

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The headache, however, will begin now for the BJP as it has to decide on the CM face. Who will be the next Uttar Pradesh chief minister? Here is a list of probable chief ministerial candidates:

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2017: FULL COVERAGE

Keshav Prasad Maurya: The state party unit chief, who represents Phulpur in the Lok Sabha, is said to be one of the top contenders for the CM post. The 47-year-old leader was not seen much in the public sharing stage with 'star campaigners' PM Narendra Modi or Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Sources say Maurya worked tirelessly to galvanise support for the BJP on the ground.

There are several factors which may work in favour of Maurya. With him the BJP may want to consolidate more support from the non-Yadav OBCs which the party has been missing since Kalyan Singh was sidelined. However, ruling a huge state like Uttar Pradesh could prove to be a daunting task for Maurya, who lacks administrative experience.

INFOGRAPHICS: Who worked the hardest for UP?

Rajnath Singh: The Home Minister was the last BJP chief minister that Uttar Pradesh had in 2002. The Ghaziabad MP campaigned extesively in the state addressing nearly 120 big, small rallies. Rajnath, who has been the BJP's president for two terms, has been at the forefront of BJP's rise after leader's like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani took a backseat. His experience at holding important posts makes Rajnath one of the top contenders for the post. However, it remains to be seen whether he would opt to return to state politics from New Delhi.

Manoj Sinha: The Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur could also be considered for the top UP post. Sinha, who is currently the Telecom and Minister of State for Railways, has BTech and MTech degrees from IIT-Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Sinha is another leader who believes in working at the grassroot level. Sinha enjoys a huge support of the party cadre in his constituency and eastern UP.

Manoj Sinha (File Photo: PTI)

While The 57-year-old's organisational skills make him one of the best bet for the CM post, however, the biggest factor which may work against him is his caste. Is the BJP ready to promote a Brahmin on the CM post in Uttar Pradesh? The answer could be just a few hours away.

Yogi Adityanath (File Photo: PTI) Yogi Adityanath (File Photo: PTI)

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Yogi Adityanath: The firebrand Gorakhpur MP could be the BJP's surprise selection for UP CM post. However, considering his hardliner image, the party may not want to upset the minority votebank ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Adityanath may enjoy the RSS's backing but the BJP would not want to risk its future chances by naming him as the CM.

Varun Gandhi (File Photo: PTI)

Varun Gandhi: Though completely sidelined from party's campaign in the run up to the bitterly fought Assembly election, Varun Gandhi could be the BJP's surprise pick. Varun enjoys a massive support of party cadre in his Lok Sabha constituency Sultanpur but he has been sidelined for reasons best known to the BJP. In June 2016, supporters of the Sultanpur MP virtually plastered the whole city of Allahabad with his posters asking the party top brass to declare him as the CM candidate.

Varun Gandhi as BJP's choice for UP CM may seem to be a far-fetched thought but the saffron party has surprised many with its choices in the past. Who will the BJP favour? Answer just a few hours away.

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WATCH VIDEO | Assembly election results 2017: Who will become Uttar Pradesh's chief minister?

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Rahul Gandhi: Bihar exit polls were wrong, we are winning Uttar Pradesh, will talk tomorrow

AajTak exit poll results: Why Akhilesh, Rahul failed in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh exit poll: BJP set to win 251-279 seats, SP-Cong combine trails at 88-112, BSP decimated

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Under Armour, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the developing, marketing, and distributing performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth. The company offers its apparel in compression, fitted, and loose fit types. It also provides footwear products for running, training, basketball, cleated sports, recovery, and outdoor applications. In addition, the company offers accessories, which include gloves, bags, headwear, and sports masks; and digital subscription and advertising services under the MapMyRun and MapMyRide platforms. It primarily offers its products under the UNDER ARMOUR, UA, HEATGEAR, COLDGEAR, HOVR, PROTECT THIS HOUSE, I WILL, UA Logo, ARMOUR FLEECE, and ARMOUR BRA brands. The company sells its products through wholesale channels, including national and regional sporting goods chains, independent and specialty retailers, department store chains, mono-branded Under Armour retail stores, institutional athletic departments, and leagues and teams, as well as independent distributors; and directly to consumers through a network of 422 brand and factory house stores, as well as through e-commerce websites. It operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Under Armour, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
He met with an accident last week while attending a programme organised at Kozhikode by district Congress committee. His untimely resignation has shocked the Congress party in Kerala as he was close to No. 10 Janpath.

By Jeemon Jacob: VM Sudheeran has announced that he has offered his resignation as Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president due to health grounds.

He met with an accident last week while attending a programme organised at Kozhikode by district Congress committee. His untimely resignation has shocked the Congress party in Kerala as he was close to No. 10 Janpath.

Sudheeran was appointed as KPCC chief in 2014 when the state was heading for Lok Sabha poll as a surprise. Then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy or KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala never supported him as PCC chief. But he was appointed by Congress high command and with the support of AK Antony, CWC member.

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Sudheeran's efforts to kill the infighting in the Congress unit in Kerala was opposed by all factions.

OPPOSITION

Even Chandy and Ramesh factions in Congress blamed him for the humiliating defeat in the Assembly poll held in May 2016.

According to his loyalists, Sudheeran feels that there is no point in heading the party in Kerala while everybody was working against his efforts to reactivate the party cadres.

He is rated as the most clean politician among the Congress leaders in Kerala.

When he had health problems earlier, Sonia Gandhi took initiative to treat him in the US.

He was elected as legislator and Member of Parliament several time and served as Minister of Health in Antony government.

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By Press Trust of India: London, Mar 10 (PTI) The worlds oldest known crocodile eggs laid some 152 million years ago have been discovered in the cliffs of Portugal.

The remarkably well preserved eggs give an insight into the "mother croc" that laid them, researchers said.

They are similar to the eggs of modern crocodiles, suggesting crocodile eggs have changed little in shape in the last 150 million years.

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Palaeontologists say the prehistoric crocodile ancestor would have spanned two metres, based on the size of the larger eggs.

"The fact that they are from the Late Jurassic makes these eggs the oldest crocodilian eggs known so far," said Joao Russo of Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.

"This new discovery from Portugal extends the knowledge of this type of egg by approximately 40 million years," said Russo.

Crocodilians arose some 200 million years ago, when they prowled the land with early dinosaurs.

The eggs were laid by a group called crocodylomorphs, close relatives of "true" crocodiles, BBC News reported.

"The fossil record tells us that crocodiles and their relatives (forming the larger group of crocodylomorphs) were much more diverse in the past, with different feeding habits, ecological niche distribution or morphology," Russo added.

The eggs were found over a number of years during excavations of a dinosaur nest near the village of Lourinha, north of Lisbon. They were found in several clutches and appear to be of two different types. PTI SAR SAR

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Fan Jinshi has spent half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province. [Xinhua]

Hadn't it been for Fan Jinshi and her team, the world cultural heritage at Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by sand, weather or humans.

Born and raised in Shanghai, Fan has spent half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in Northwest China's Gansu province.

"It was not that I favored my job over my family, I just could not bear the guilt of having our ancestors' legacy destroyed," she told in Beijing while attending the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The 1,600-year-old Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are a huge collection of Buddhist art -- more than 2,000 Buddha figures and 45,000 square meters of paintings spread among 735 caves.

It is China's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Desert Warfare

Archaeologist Fan was sent to Dunhuang after graduating from Peking University in 1963. Her college sweetheart was assigned a teaching job in Wuhan, thousands of miles away.

While in Dunhuang, a desert outpost then, Fan lived in an abandoned temple. At first, she did not even dare go out to the toilet at night.

"I saw a pair of shining eyes in the dark. I thought it was a wolf," she said, before finding out that the eyes belonged to a donkey.

To protect the treasures from sand and dampness, Fan and other workers put doors on the caves, planted trees and started monitoring temperature and humidity in the caves. They also control the number of visitors.

"The carbon dioxide people exhale in the caves accumulates and will damage the paintings, so we allow a maximum of 3,000 tourists each day."

In the late 1990s, with tourism booming nationwide since national holidays were extended, the local government planned to go public with Dunhuang Mogao, but found Fan firmly in their way.

"The legacy would have been destroyed if it had been listed," she said.

The academy has now photographed and cataloged online all the sculptures and paintings. "Despite our efforts to minimize damage, we can't completely stop them from being eroded. But the digital database will last."

Fan was grateful when her husband joined her in Dunhuang in 1986 after 19 years of separation. Her two sons grew up in Shanghai with their aunt.

"I have not been a good mother or wife. With regard to my family, I'm full of guilt," she said.

Never give up

Fan, 79, retired two years ago as the director of Dunhuang Academy but continues her efforts as a national political advisor.

She has spent International Women's Day in Beijing for the past 25 years as CPPCC typically convened for its annual sessions in early March.

As one of the longest-serving CPPCC members, Fan has raised many proposals for protecting China's heritage. Some have been accepted and led to changes in policy.

Fan recalls the proposal she made in 2003 which led to the establishment of the Dunhuang Tourism Information Center. The digital center opened to public in 2014 after 11 years of research, verification, planning and construction.

"The center helps tourists have a better understanding of what we do here, and doubles our tourist capacity," said Fan.

Another proposal resulted in changes to a planned railway line, which she thought would damage the grottoes.

For the past two years, she has been working on a proposal to use technology to protect sites across the country.

She proposed the Ministry of Science and Technology prioritize cultural heritage protection, have more sites digitized, and combine traditional antique repairs with modern technology.

"Dunhuang has benefited from digital technology and I hope our experience can be replicated in the whole country," she said.

This year, Fan has decided to retire from the advisory body. "I'm too old for the CPPCC job," she said. "But I will keep on working for our heritage protection."

(Source: China Daily)
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In 2017, Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States becoming the latest of a line of the head of states which goes back 241 years to the first president after attaining of self-rule from the United Kingdom. Over the course of its history, the United States has had its share of presidents who had a remarkable influence on the nations history as well as elevating its reputation on the global stage. 10 of the presidents have had their legacy outlive their terms as Commander in Chief and will forever remain as national heroes. Historical Gallup has been tracking the approval ratings of American Presidents since 1937. Presidents who served before that date will not be included on this list.

10. Ronald Reagan - 71%

Ronald Reagan served as President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Prior to being President, he was the Governor of California from 1967 to 1975. His 1981 election was his third attempt at running for president. Much of Reagan's legacy surrounds his public speaking ability, and his brand of political optimism. President Reagan introduced new political and economic ideas, which later would be tagged "Reaganomics". Reaganomics were characterized by the lowering of taxes. He is also responsible for introducing the War on Drugs to the United States. He served two terms, the second reelection occurring with a landslide victory. Reagan is regarded highly, particularly among conversative and Republican Americans, who are called Reagan coalitionists.

9. Bill Clinton - 73%

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Before being president, he was the Governor of Arkansas. Upon election, Clinton introduced a new tax system which increased taxes on the rich and decreased them on the poor. Despite an unprecedented scandal that occurred during his presidency which led to Clinton's impeachment, his reputation still reached an all-time high in December of 1998. Throughout Clinton's near decade of presidency, the United States never had to borrow money to pay for its budget. This, paired with a strong economic legacy, has helped contribute to his strong approval rating.

8. Jimmy Carter - 74%

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr. was the President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. Throughout his time as president, he is known for creating two new departments at the cabinet level, the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. Prior to becoming president, Carter was the governor of Georgia. Some well-known aspects of his term of presidency include his efforts to encourage resolution between Israel and Palestine, and an attempt to reach and agreement with the then-USSR regarding nuclear weapons. He also helped to form a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Early in his presidency, there was a hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Iran. They were released on Carter's last day as president. His approval rating reached its apex of 74% in March of 1977.

7. Dwight Eisenhower - 77%

Dwight Eisenhower served as president from 1953 to 1961. Born into a poor family, he studied at the United States Military Academy at Went Point. Throughout his presidency, he created the space program NASA, and encouraged the creation of nuclear weapons for possible use in the Cold War, a tactic known as massive retaliation. Eisenhower created the interstate system and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. A strong economy and prosperous environment helped approval ratings for Eisenhower reach a high of 77% in 1956.

6. Lyndon B. Johnson - 79%

Commonly known by the abbrevation LBJ, Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th President of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. His presidency began at a time when the United States had been thrown into a state of panic after the assassination of his predecessor, President John F. Kennedy. Lyndon is best known for continuing President Kennedys efforts for racial equality by campaigning for the passing of the civil rights bill, a move that saw his support from the Southern white population decline. President Johnson is also remembered for his administrations passing of legislation which ultimately benefited the health and education sectors of the economy. In March of 1964, his approval rating hit an all-time high of 79%.

5. John F. Kennedy - 83%

John F. Kennedy was the 35th United States President who served from the time of his election in 1961 until his death by assassination in 1963. His presidency was highlighted by the African American Civil Rights Movement, the Space Race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the construction of the Berlin Wall, among other events. He is also known for having been an excellent public speaker. His charismatic personality constantly ranked high in public approval polls, and reached a high of 83% in 1962.

4. Franklin D. Roosevelt - 84%

President Roosevelt is the only president to gave served four terms, spanning 12 years from March 1933 to April 1945. His presidency coincided with two of the most destructive events in US history, The Second World War and the Great Depression. President Roosevelt is primarily remembered for his administrations policies which included support for farmers and unemployed Americans who were devastated by the Great Depression. He is also remembered for appending his signature on the Declaration of War in 1941 officially plunging the United States into the Second World War. His approval rating reached 845 in 1942.

3. George H.W. Bush - 89%

George H. W. Bush was elected as the 41st President of the US and served from January 1989 to January 20th, 1993. He is known for his foreign policies where his administration oversaw several military campaigns in the Middle East and Latin America. It is during his presidency that the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union two years later. President Bush was also involved in talks with the apartheid government of South Africa for the unconditional release of Nelson Mandela who was released in 1990. In February 1991, his approval rating was 89%.

2. George W. Bush - 90%

George Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States, a position he held from January 20th, 2001 to January 20th, 2009 when he was succeeded by Barack Obama. His presidency was highlighted by the Iraq Invasion which was described by his administration as retaliation for the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York. In the invasion, the US troops along with its allies succeeded in toppling Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein who had been accused of possessing weapons of mass destruction. In September 2001, just weeks after the tragedy of September 11, Bush's approval rating shot up to 90%.

1. Harry S. Truman - 91%

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States from 1945 to 1953. It was Truman who decided to release the atomic bombs on Japan during World War II, as well as getting the US involved in the Korean War. Truman also helped to create the United Nations. Although the difficult events of his presidency had an effect on his approval ratings throughout his presidency, he is now considered by many historians to have been an excellent president. In 1945 it was reported that his approval rating was a staggering 91%.
The British Virgin Islands are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom found in the Caribbean Sea. The country is located east of Puerto Rico and covers the four main islands of Anegada, Jost Van Dyke, Tortola and Virgin Gorda, as well as over fifty smaller cays and islands. The country is known for its scenic beaches, reefs, rainforests and as a destination for vacationing and yachting.

Some the country's major tourist attractions

Sage Mountain National Park

Sage Mountain National Park was established in 1964 as the first national park in the British Virgin Islands. It was given to the government of the country with a grant that was provided by Laurance Rockefeller (1910-2004). The national park covers 96 acres on the island of Tortola, including the land around the highest peak in the country, Mount Sage. Mount Sage stands at 1,716 feet (523 meters) tall. The park has a semi-rainforest type of vegetation with moist winds generated by Mount Sage that fall on the north side of the park. Sage Mountain National Park features old-growth forest that has been undisturbed for centuries. Animals in the park include hermit crabs, red-tailed hawks and the Caribbean martin among others. For tourists that visit the park there are many trails for trekking and hiking along the park. There is also various stunning views of outlying islands and the ocean that can be seen from the north coast overlook in the park.

Anegada Island

Anegada island is the second largest island that makes up the British Virgin Islands, at 15 square miles (38 square kilometers). It is notable because it is not volcanic in origin like all of the other islands or mountains. Instead, it was formed by limestone and coral. The highest point on the island is only 28 feet (8.5 meters) above sea level. The island only has a population of about 285 people, with about 200 living in the only city called The Settlement. Tourism is the major business for the island, and tourists are drawn to the island to experience the secluded beaches and scenic views. They also snorkel and scuba dive to experience the largest barrier coral reef in the Caribbean, the Horseshoe Reef. The island also has unique large salt ponds on its west end, which are home to the Caribbean flamingos. Other endangered species on the island are the Anegada rock iguana and several species of turtles.

Tourism is the lifeblood of the British Virgin Islands

In 2006 around 825,000 people visited the British Virgin Island, with more than half being passengers from cruise ships. The global recession caused about a 12% decline in these numbers, but they have been steadily recovering in recent years. These numbers are mind-boggling, since the country only has a population of around 25,000 people. According to numbers from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) tourism and travel made up 27.0% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013. The WTTC also said that tourism and the jobs that indirectly employed 90.1% of the population in 2013.
Jamili

By: Tanya Clark WorldWideWeirdNews.com

Workers at a zoo in North Carolina, are sad after arriving one morning to find a dead giraffe entangles in one of its toys.

On Tuesday morning, keepers at the North Carolina Zooas giraffe habitat found Jamili, a 9-year-old female giraffe, unresponsive in her behind-the-scenes living quarters.

Jamili died after accidentally getting entangled in a mental and physical engagement item used with the giraffe herd. This enrichment item, and others like it, had been used for many years with the giraffe herd without incident.

aThe North Carolina Zoo takes special pride in the care we provide to our animals, and the expansive natural habitat and other services that enrich their lives.

aWe are reviewing all of our animal safety policies and procedures a including the enrichment items that the animals use in their behind-the-scenes living quarters a to ensure the safety of all our animals,a the zoo said in a statement.

Jamili, a reticulated giraffe, was born at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Jamili came to the North Carolina Zoo 8 years ago.

Keepers were immediately taken by Jamilis easy-going personality. Jamili gave birth to one female calf, Juma, 5 years ago.

Juma is now at the Maryland Zoo, and last month had a female calf of its own.

The North Carolina Zoo, which is located in the center of the state in Asheboro, is convenient to visit from anywhere in North Carolina.

The North Carolina Zoo welcomes nearly 800,000 guests each year.
Wrexham Illustrator Embarks on Food Story Project After Winning 2,500 Arts Council of Wales Prize

This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 10th, 2017

A local illustrator is embarking on a project to unearth food stories and recipes from the community in Wrexham after winning a 2,500 prize.

Rhi Moxon has been named as the recipient of the Eirian Llwyd Memorial Award for 2016/17 by the Arts Council of Wales.

The 26-year-old Wrexham Glyndwr University graduate says the award will allow her to press on with a project which she started last year, working with Wrexham primary schools.

I asked students to bring in a recipe with a reason or story as to why it was important to their family, said Rhi. And I was astounded by the quantity and diversity of recipes we got back.

It was a true representation of our towns cultural diversity and I loved that. It made me wonder about how many stories and recipes there are within the community so I want to work with local groups to create a body of work which represents our vast cultural makeup.

I was absolutely over the moon to discover I had been nominated for, let alone won, the Eirian Llwyd Memorial Prize. I couldnt believe it when I found out Id won.

Its an Arts Council of Wales award so its very prestigious and has given me the confidence and financial support to push forwards with the project.

Rhi spent a year studying for a degree in Spanish and Politics before deciding her passion lied elsewhere and joined Wrexham Glyndwr Universitys BA (Hons) Design Communication: Illustration course from 2010-13.

Her work is inspired by travels in Eastern Europe, sparked initially by a placement which Rhi completed at Katowice in Poland as part of her course.

She said: Id always wanted to study a creative subject but while I was at school I wasnt exposed to the different avenues through which art could become a career. I knew nothing about the Creative Industries and it wasnt until later on that I realised it was the best possible thing you could choose for a job.

Since graduating Ive worked in a shared studio in Liverpool, then returned to Poland to study print-making at postgraduate level.

Ive been working closely with Oriel Wrecsam since moving back home, on projects with primary schools, over 60s and adults with mental health challenges. I also continue to work as a freelance illustrator on all sorts of jobs.

Its great to get the chance to share what I love with people of all ages, and I love feeling part of the wider community here in Wrexham.

Studying at Wrexham Glyndwr University gave me a really strong work ethic. I loved the studio environment and the tutors were fantastic at widening our exposure to all sorts of different visual styles. The course was very much centred around creative briefs, which was great practice for the industry.

Rhi said she hopes to be able to play a part in the future of Wrexham as a creative town.

Im really keen to be engaged in the future of Wrexham and see how the Creative Industries can have a positive impact on the community as a whole. I believe in the power of creativity.

Pauline Amphlett, senior lecturer in graphic design at Wrexham Glyndwr University, said: Were delighted to hear about the recognition which Rhi has received for her work since graduating.

Were very proud to have Rhi as an alumni and its fantastic that she continues to work within North East Wales. Her story and success is an inspiration to all.
Emergency Called After Concerns For Safety of a Man in Caia Park

This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 10th, 2017

Emergency services were called to Caia Park last night after concerns for safety of a man.



Shortly before 7pm emergency services were seen blocking the road around the Queensway / Y Wern area.

Officers were reportedly diverted traffic away from the Prince Charles Road area  with the Welsh Ambulance Service also in attendance at the incident.

Locally there had been reports that a person had been attacked. However North Wales Police have this morning confirmed that they were called to concerns for a persons safety on Y Wern  not a criminal incident.

A spokesperson for Welsh Ambulance Service said: We were called at about 6.55pm on Thursday 9 March to the Queensway area of Wrexham.

We sent a paramedic in a rapid response vehicle and a crew in an emergency ambulance and a man was taken to Wrexham Maelor Hospital in a serious condition.

*Picture tweeted to Wrexham.com by Shannon
Inspire Youth Work Project at Wrexham Maelor Hospital Celebrates 10th Birthday!

This article is old - Published: Friday, Mar 10th, 2017

A Youth Work Project which offers one to one support to young people in need of help has celebrated its 10th birthday.

The Inspire project, which is based at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital is a partnership between Wrexham County Borough Council and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board that supports Young people aged 11-18.

Inspire was set up in August 2006 and went live in February 2007. It was initially funded by The Big Lottery for five years, however 10 years later it is still proving its success thanks to Welsh Government funding via The Area Planning Board and Families First.

The primary focus of inspires work is to provide support young people on a one to one basis who present at the hospital with self-harming behaviours, with the overall aim of reducing readmission rates for this.

Young people are referred to the project by a health professional where a holistic approach is used to support them to identify goals which they feel would help them in their current situation.

Each young person then receives an individualised approach to attaining their goals which may consist of helping them to develop functional coping strategies, engaging them in activities with the aim of helping them to reduce social isolation, specific work on confidence and self-esteem, managing their anger, or sleep hygiene.

Inspire can also support young people with education, training and employment, relationships and many other areas of their life.

The project also provides support to young people who are admitted to hospital during their stay. Inspire are able to provide distraction activities and will spend time with patients to assist them during their stay, linking them in with relevant services who may be able to support them following discharge where appropriate.

The importance of early intervention is recognised by the team with them providing informal education sessions to high schools across Wrexham on topics linked to emotional health and wellbeing.

The Inspire team is dedicated to providing young people with a high level of support to empower them to make informed choices in their life. Promoting independence is key to inspire, and it is hoped that this can continue for many years to come.

Welcoming Inspires achievements, Cllr Ron Prince, Lead Member for Youth Services and Anti-poverty, said: I am delighted that Inspire continues to support young people within the Maelor Hospital.

This project is a great example of public services thinking differently and working together to improve the lives of young people.
Dozens of flights have been disrupted at airports across southern and western France this week, as air traffic controllers and Air France trade unions called strikes, amid rising opposition among workers to contracts signed by the trade unions.

Air traffic controllers are protesting new work time rules agreed in June 2016 by the National Union of Air Traffic Controllers (SNCTA) and the National Union of Autonomous Unions (UNSA). UNSA, which represents roughly 20 percent of Frances 4,000 air traffic controllers, called a strike for March 6-10 for Brest and Bordeaux, and March 7-9 for Aix-en-Provence.

The unions criticized the dogmatism of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC), who wants to go from a system of six days worked every 12 days to seven every 12 days. The DGAC is arguing that since the Reims and Paris-Charles de Gaulle airports have already adopted the more taxing work schedule, the workers in Brest, Bordeaux and Aix should do so as well.

The sharpest warnings must be made about the role of the union bureaucracies. The SNTCA and UNSA are calling out the air traffic controllers against contracts that they themselves have signed. As in many other strikes in the air industry in France and across Europe, they will seek to demoralize the workers and force them back to work so that the contracts can go into effect despite workers opposition. The air traffic controllers struggle must be taken out of the hands of the trade unions.

With many workers not honoring the unions strike call, the DGAC recommended that airlines cancel only a quarter to a third of flights over southern and western France.

Air France announced that it would continue with 100 percent of long-haul flights, 99 percent of medium-length flights, and 80 percent of local flights. It did not rule out delays, however. EasyJet for its part canceled 38 flights starting Monday.

The French unions are isolating the air traffic controllers struggle from other strikes in the European air industry: British Airways flight attendants were on strike on March 3-7 demanding pay increases and Lufthansa pilots have been striking at various points over two years to demand pay increases.

After having made limited concessions, Lufthansa is planning to compensate the resulting fall in profits by externalizing certain operations, such as by chartering 40 flights under conditions not covered by the current contract. Lufthansa management thus intends for the initial concessions to serve as an opening gambit in a plan to slash wages and conditions by hiring workers under conditions violating the contract.

Within France two trade unions at Air France scheduled strike actions separate from those of the air traffic controllers for March 18-20. Flight attendants are protesting demands for speed-up and the creation of a new, low-cost, long-haul airline, under conditions where the company has boosted pay for top management by 17.6 percent.

This is only the latest in a string of attacks on Air France workers since 2014 made possible by the capitulation of the National Pilots Union (SNPL). When pilots took strike action to oppose the creation of a low-cost subsidiary, Transavia, and wage cuts for workers who were being shifted to this company, the union imposed a return to work just two weeks into the strike.

They justified this total capitulation, when victory for the strike was at hand, by claiming that their role was to protect the company from harm. They said that they wanted to prevent Air France from taking major financial losses due to the strike.

The union was also acting to save Frances deeply unpopular Socialist Party (PS) government, as the strike, which caused hundreds of millions of euros in losses for Air France, was also widely seen as a struggle against President Francois Hollandes austerity agenda. The unions feared that a victory of the Air France pilots strike could provoke a broader wave of strike struggles and undermine the PS government and the European Union (EU).

As the SNPL moved to force pilots back to work without any guarantees from management after weeks of strike action, the WSWS wrote: If Air France faces irreversible financial damage from the strike, this means that strikers are in a strong position. Precisely at this moment, however, the union is declaring its willingness to end the strike and work with management to carry out attacks on the workers it falsely claims to represent. The pilots are at a crossroads. If they end the strike now, management will wage brutal attacks to recoup the hundreds of millions of euros they have lost and make an example of the pilots to discourage strikes by other sections of workers.

As the WSWS had warned, the unions reactionary sell-out soon produced a disaster for the pilots. A few weeks after the end of the strike, Air France and the trade unions signed an agreement to slash wages for the low-cost subsidiary. In 2015, Air France management and unions signed an agreement to cut 2,900 jobs. Overall, restructuring has eliminated 15,000 jobs, or one-quarter of the 63,000 workers employed at Air France in 2012.

Workers in the airports cannot expect anything from trade unions who capitulated to management in order to impose attacks on social gains and jobs or airport workers. The only way forward is a struggle for a broader mobilization of workers, creating independent organizations of rank-and-file workers to coordinate struggles internationally on a socialist and internationalist perspective opposed to the PS and the EU.
Chancellor Philip Hammond meant his Spring Budget to be as uncontroversial as possible, given that the government is to trigger Article 50 beginning the process of the UK exiting the European Union (EU) by the end of this month.

However, the media seized on his decision to increase Class 4 National Insurance contributions (NICs) for the self-employed from 9 pence to 11 pence. The move will hit 2.5 million people (many on low incomes) out of 4.8 million self-employedraising 500 million a year for the Treasury. It brings the rates paid by the self-employed closer to workers directly employed by businesses.

The increase breaks a promise made in the 2015 Tory election manifesto promising no tax rises over the five-year parliament.

But of greater import still for all working people is that Hammonds budget was based on a commitment to continue with five more years of austerity.

Hammonds speech painted a rosy picture of an economy that continued to confound the commentators with robust growth. But he made clear that the expanding wealth of the major corporations and the super-rich will not lead to an end in austerity because their enrichment depends on the impoverishment of the working class.

The budget confirmed what David Cameron, Prime Minister Theresa Mays predecessor, said in 2009that the UK was entering an age of austerity.

Hammond told MPs there would be no retreat from the attacks on the jobs, wages and living standards of the working class: As we prepare for our future outside the EU, we cannot rest on our past achievements. We must focus relentlessly on keeping Britain at the cutting edge of the global economy. The deficit is down, but debt is still too high. And our task today is to take the next steps in preparing Britain for a global future.

The central task was getting Britain back to living within its means, Hammond declared.

The Financial Times noted that Hammond left in place every austerity policy launched by Camerons chancellor, George Osborne, including cuts to in-work benefitsthat will lead to a large increase in income inequality over the next few years. Despite the rhetorical commitments, there is very little help for families who are just managing.

Daily Express columnist Leo McKinstry said the government was correct to continue the policy of austerity and Hammond rightly warned the job is far from complete.

To underscore what this means, the Institute of Fiscal Studies made a public statement on the budget, with Paul Johnson declaring that Britain faces a third parliament of austerity.

He noted that Britain was still due to be borrowing around 20 billion in 2020, which is 30 billion more than intended a year ago. That leaves a lot of work to do in the next parliament to get to the planned budget balance. It looks like being, Im afraid, a third parliament of austerity.

Johnson noted that forecasts suggest that by 2022 people will have gone 15 years without an effective pay rise and average earnings will be no higher in 2022 than they were in 2007. Im rather lost for superlatives, he said. This is completely unprecedented.

When Hammond replaced Osborne in Mays first Cabinet after becoming prime minister last July, claims were made that the austerity agenda was being relaxed, with Hammond shelving Osbornes target of reaching a budget surplus by 2020. The reality is that austerity is to be extended for years into the future and must necessarily be intensified as the UK exits the EU.

Hammond said that in the autumn (2016 budget) Statement, I set out our plan to return the public finances to balance in the next Parliament.

To further facilitate the privatisation of education, Hammond announced that another 110 free schoolsstate-funded but privately run outside of Local Education Authority controlwill be opened, including a new generation of grammar schools.

The only extra spending that Hammond was prepared to pledge was a drop in the ocean. With many forecasting that adult social care provision was on the brink of going under within 12 months, Hammond pledged just 2 billion to social care in England over the next three years, with a paltry 1 billion available in 2017-2018. Social care funding has been eviscerated by nearly 5 billion in cuts over the previous five years.

Even a recent report by parliaments Tory-dominated Communities and Local Government Committee estimated that the funding gap in adult social care ranges from 1.3 billion to 1.9 billion in 2017-2018, and will increase from 1.1 billion to 2.6 billion in 2019-2020.

Nothing is to be provided in extra funding or resources for the National Health Service (NHS), despite its situation being described by the British Red Cross as one of a humanitarian crisis. Hammond rolled out the governments standard line that an extra 10 billion in annual funding is being given to the NHS by 2020.

He never mentioned that the NHS is having more than 40 billion slashed from its budget in efficiency savings from 2010 to 2020. These are to be imposed via Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) being implemented in 44 regions of the UK. Hammond said the Treasury will work closely with the Department of Health over the course of the summer as the STPs are progressed and prioritised.

While poverty now affects at least a third of the population, with the social right to health, education and housing being destroyed, the demands of the sated ruling elite for further enrichment were met by Hammond. I am listening to the voice of business, he declared. My ambition is for the UK to be the best place in the world to start and grow a business.

He boasted how In 2010 Corporation Tax was 28 percent. From April this year, it will fall to 19 percent, the lowest rate in the G20. In 2020, it will fall again to 17 percent, sending the clearest possible signal that Britain is open for business.

Labours leader Jeremy Corbyn described the budget as complacent, while presenting no alternative beyond demands for trifling amounts of money to be allocated to the NHS. The money ought to be made available now. Because this government ducks really tough choices, like asking corporations to pay a little bit more in tax, he said.

The fact is that Labour in office under Corbyn would continue the same austerity agenda and protect big business. Corbyn told MPs that under the austerity programme, council services are suffering, noting that 67 libraries nationally were closed last year, along with 700 Sure Start centres and 600 youth centres.

He said, These painful decisions being taken by councils not because they want to do it, but just because they dont have enough money even to keep essential services running because of the slashing of their budgets, year on year.

This is staggering hypocrisy. Austerity is the official policy of the Labour Party. Labour controls the vast majority of councils in the UKs main towns and cities. These councils do want to do it and have been faithfully imposing every cut demanded by successive Labour and Conservative cuts since mass austerity was initiated, following the 1 trillion bailout of the banks by the 2007-2010 Brown Labour government.

Corbyns election as Labour leader made not an iota of difference. At Labours last conference, councils under its control were instructed to continue imposing austerity and not to set illegal budgets. Councils were warned in a letter from Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell that disciplinary measures would follow if austerity was not imposed.
Workers, young people and others from more than 55 countries have signed up to participate in the International Committee of the Fourth Internationals (ICFI) online lecture series to commemorate the centenary of the Russian Revolution.

David North, chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, will give the first lecture, Why Study the Russian Revolution? The lecture will be streamed on YouTube on Saturday, March 11 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (time zone conversions here).

Edwin from Zimbabwe wrote that he is interested in fighting capitalism and empowering the working class. Throughout the world, particularly in Africa, most ordinary people are exploited. The capitalists all over the world use the poor and give them peanuts.

David from Australia said, I am attending to deepen my understanding of the Russian Revolution and to learn how the working class can apply these lessons in working towards revolution today.

James from Michigan wrote that he was attending to learn how to overthrow the tsars of this current society.

Humair from Pakistan said he was participating to learn the work of Lenin, Trotsky and other people associated with the October Revolution to bring the good of that ideology to the country I live in.

Last Sunday, supporters of the ICFI in India held a public meeting in Chennai, World War and the Russian Revolution as part of the ICFIs commemoration of the centenary. During their campaign to build the meeting, ICFI supporters discussed the significance of the lectures and won a warm response from workers, youth and students.

Seninban, an information technology worker who participated in Sundays meeting said he had registered to attend the online lecture series. History demonstrates that capitalism in its decay was driven towards war for the re-division of the world. Was it not true? In this regard, socialists must understand the need to reread Marxism.

The Fourth International categorically states that we must move forward in the footsteps of our founders of communism, to mobilize the working class internationally. Let us congratulate the initiative taken by the ICFI in this regard and make it a successful event.

Several youth expressed their interest in the online lectures.

Aiyanar, a student at Pachaiyappa College in Chennai, spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modis attacks on farmers and his interest in the centenary commemoration of the Russian revolution.

I come from an impoverished farmer family near Poonadamalli. In our village, small and middle farmers are in dire crisis. Their stress drives them toward suicide attempts. They dont get any help from either central or state governments. The poor people are the worst affected as a result of Modis demonetization measure.

I read the brochure you have distributed on World war and Russian Revolution. Today we witness similar tendencies that were characterized by Lenin as War and Revolution. I have read about the Russian Revolution in history books. But I have learned more about it from your brochure. I read the WSWS and will support your efforts to build a world party.

Kesavan, a second year student from an agricultural family in Madurai said: I like your world party and the World Socialist Web Site. Because I understand that today, under the globalized economy, we need an international movement. I am happy to participate in your online lecture series on the Russian Revolution. I have learned from your publication that the CPI and CPM [Indias main Stalinist parliamentary parties, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)] in this country are not real communists. I dont like their alliance with AIADMK, DMK, VCK and DMDK [regional bourgeois parties in Tamil Nadu]. They dont talk about the fight against war or the fight for socialism.

Daniel, a second year student at Pachaiyappa college who is also from an impoverished farmer family said: I understand very well that the present political situation is more similar to the situation a century ago when the First World War and socialist revolution erupted. We dont see any future in the present system. There is a need to fight for an alternative.

I see a big difference in what I have learned in history books and your analysis about the world war. So I am interested to register to participate in the full lecture series.
Hunter Harrison, a railroad executive notorious for implementing cuts to boost short-term profits, has been appointed the CEO of CSX Railroad, one of the largest American railroads. For months, activist investor Paul Hilals Mantle Ridge investment firm fund worked to gain sway with the CSX Board of Directors. On March 7, it was announced that Harrison had been appointed CEO and that Mantle Ridge had gained five seats on the CSX Board of Directors.

Harrison is expected to get more than $200 million in pay and stock benefits, but claims he also missed out on $84 million by leaving early from his position as CEO at Canadian Pacific Railroad. He is demanding that $84 million from CSX, which depends on a shareholder vote, and has threatened to resign if it is not approved. With stock prices up 30 percent since talks of the Mantle Ridge takeover of CSX began, they will likely approve his lavish pay as they expect him to boost share prices even higher through cuts. This is despite strange clauses during negotiations that indicate the 72-year-old would not disclose his medical condition, and would be paid in full regardless of whether he could fulfill a four-year term.

CSX operates in 23 states across the US East Coast, South and Midwest, as well as Quebec and Ontario in Canada, and has 21,000 miles of track. It is one of four giant US railroads. CSX and Norfolk Southern are the eastern duopoly; BNSF and Union Pacific form the western duopoly. Harrison previously was CEO of Canadian National Railroad. Then, in 2012, corporate raider Bill Ackman and his Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund waged a battle to gain control of Canadian Pacific Railroad and installed Harrison as CEO there.

Harrison has effectively served as the point man for financial interests to gut the railroad industry. At Canadian Pacific, he doubled the share price, laid off 34 percent of the workforce, and tripled the amount of profit per worker. Harrison and Bill Ackmans Pershing Square also made several failed attempts to merge with CSX and Norfolk Southern over the last two years, waging campaigns that claimed to shareholders that the railroads were bloated and inefficient, prompting them to enact a range of cuts. After those efforts failed, Ackmans protege Paul Hilal and his Mantle Ridge hedge fund moved directly to appoint Harrison to CSX.

A remarkable aspect of the takeover is that CSX has already enacted substantial cuts in the last two years and earned billions in profits, yet Wall Street salivates at cutting deeper. Just before Harrison was appointed, CSX laid off 1,000 management employees, over 20 percent of its management staff. In the first quarter of 2016, 2,500 union and nonunion employees were laid off. Several repair facilities have been closed, a main route was shut down, and train lengths have been greatly increased to reduce the amount of train crews needed.

The financial press talks endlessly of Harrisons precision railroading bringing efficiencies, using only financial performance metrics as a guide. The legacy of Harrison at Canadian Pacific, and before that, Canadian National, shows a process of cutbacks, a boosted stock price, and then leaving the mess for the next CEO. At Canadian Pacific, efficiency meant deferred maintenance of infrastructure, shutting yards and facilities, and fewer employees to do the work. Even major customers had complaints, as they received less regular service and their transit times went up.

Canadian Pacific is a smaller railroad than CSX, yet from 2012 to 2017, more than 7,000 people lost jobs through layoffs and attrition, amounting to 34 percent of the workforce. Management was pushed to aggressively discipline and fire employees for even the most minor infractions, prompting dozens of legal cases against the company. In one case, an employee was fired for not wearing his safety glasses, and the majority of firings that went through legal proceedings were deemed excessive and unjustified. A look at hundreds of low Glassdoor ratings for Canadian Pacific shows the common hatred toward Harrison from operating employees.

Additionally, operating employees were forced to accept even more flexibility with their already on-call schedules, leading to longer times away from home and rest. At both Canadian Pacific and Canadian National, Harrison has cross-trained management and administrative employees to operate trains and serve as strikebreakers.

While union engineers and conductors may take months to become qualified on a route through daily work, as they learn its unique and challenging features, office employees were pulled from their desks, thrown into the operating world and qualified after minimal amounts of time. In British Columbia, one derailment happened when a nonunion crew unfamiliar with a route failed to stop and caused a collision. Supposedly, nonunion employees are only trained to be ready in the event of a strike (there were two under Harrison), but exposes have shown that Canadian Pacific now uses nonunion employees regularly to fill in the short staffing that has resulted from the layoffs, an obvious violation of the Teamsters contract.

Railroaders have little doubt what is to come at CSX, as analysts speak of labor costs being the item to reduce at CSX. Harrison is expected to cut thousands of operating employees, close down yards and maintenance facilities, and possibly even sell off certain routes. Since the 1980s, under the greater pressure of Wall Street investors who want quick profits, large railroads have reduced a portion of their overall mileage by selling lower-traffic routes to short line operators. Those operators can be nonunion. To the extent that they are sold or leased a route with clauses asserting they can only exchange traffic with the larger railroad, they effectively serve as cheap subcontractors.

Railroad workers are also in union contract negotiations that have dragged on into their third year. Railroads have reportedly taken a hard line, pushing low wage increases, a further loosening of work rules, and increases in health care costs. The appointment of Harrison to one of the four largest American railroads suggests a further level of assault, as Wall Street will want to see the severity of cuts Harrison imposes replicated at every underperforming railroad.
In the run-up to this weeks Euro summit, EU foreign and defence ministers agreed to set up a joint command centre for military operations. The move is part of a plan by the EU to develop a foreign and security policy independent of NATO and the United States.

The headquarters is expected to begin operations in March and be fully operational in June. The training of EU armed forces in Mali, Somalia and Central Africa will then begin under the control of the new planning and leadership centre. In the medium term, the headquarters will also oversee executive EU military deploymentsi.e., comprehensive war operations, such as in Syria or Iraq, which up to now have been led by headquarters in the respective EU member states.

Officially, the European Union designates the new command centre as military planning and leadership capabilities rather than as a military headquarters. According to Der Spiegel this is due to the resistance against the construction of a European army in the still current EU member Great Britain, as well as other capital cities, which primarily rely on NATO or, like Austria, are neutral.

But this is precisely the point of the new centrethe gradual creation of a European army dominated by Germany, which can wage war independently of NATO.

The new command centre is a great step towards a common defence and security policy, said German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD), while Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) applauded a step that has been tried and failed for many years. European security and defence policy had been put to one side for too long. Now, however, the EU was on the right path.

The European military offensive is currently being advanced first and foremost by France and Germany. According to a report by the German Defence Ministry, the decision goes back to a Franco-German initiative. Von der Leyen and her French colleague, Jean-Yves Le Drian, had already implemented measures for a renewal of the Common Security and Defence Policy (GVSP) last year, including the notion of a headquarters to create a permanent military planning and implementation capacity.

The World Socialist Web Site reported extensively on the common military policy paper at the time, warning that Paris and Berlin were seeking to use the exit of Great Britain from the European Union to press ahead with an independent European military and great-power policy.

At the beginning of the six-page document, Renewal of the GVSP: Towards a comprehensive, realistic and credible defence in the EU, Von der Leyen and Le Drian referred to the new EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy (EUGS), which was presented by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini at the first EU summit after the Brexit referendum in July 2016.

The transformation of the EU into a military union was at the centre of Mogherinis paper, which was developed in tandem to the German White Paper in the spring of 2016 and bears the hallmark of Berlin. NATO is to protect its members from hostile attacks, according to the Global Strategy, but Europeans must be better equipped, trained and organized to make a decisive contribution to this collective task and, if necessary, act autonomously.

Under conditions of the deepest social and political crisis in Europe since the end of the Second World War and growing conflicts with the US following the election of Donald Trump, Berlin and Paris are pressing ahead with the militarization of the continent.

In an interview on Monday, the outgoing French President, Francois Hollande, urged Europe to build up its defence capacity: On the one hand this would ensure its own security, but on the other it allows it to act in the world, to seek solutions to conflicts that threaten it.

A recent strategy paper of the German Society for Foreign Affairs (DGAP) states: The military is once more gaining importance for world politics. Without the ability to limit massive violence, states cannot tackle non-military security problems. Germany has committed itself to a pioneering role and is driving ahead with the Europeanisation of defence structures. Berlin should now set up a European Division, of around 20,000 soldiers, in stages by 2020, and at the same time offer participation to its European partners.

The strategy of German imperialism to establish the Bundeswehr as a so-called Anchor Army for European NATO states, and then subordinate the latter to the command structures of the Bundeswehr was previously formulated by von der Leyen in a publication for the Munich Security Conference.

The ruling class in Germany is preparing to deploy military means to defend its economic and geostrategic interests all over the worldincluding against its main ally of the post-war period, the US. At the same time, the aggressive policy of Berlin is aggravating tensions between the European powers and increases the danger of war in Europe itself.
Europe

French air traffic controllers strike

French air traffic control (ATC) staff, members of the UNSA union, at airports in Brest, Bordeaux and Aix-en-Provence, came out on strike Monday. Colleagues at Nice and Marseille airports joined them Tuesday.

The ATC staff are seeking parity of pay and working conditions in line with other ATC staff in other European countries. Airlines using French airspace said the action led to the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights.

Striking British Airways staff protest in Brighton

British Airways (BA) cabin crew on mixed fleet flights began a seven-day strike on Friday March 3. On the following day BA strikers, members of the Unite union, held a protest outside the BA-sponsored worlds tallest moving observation tower on the Brighton seafront. They rallied from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to highlight their dispute.

UK rail staff on Merseyside begin limited action

Train guards employed by Merseyrail, members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), began a ban on working rest days on Tuesday. The action will continue indefinitely. The action is to protest the plans by Merseyrail to increase the use of Driver Only Operated (DOO) trains, eliminating the critical safety role played by train guards. They voted by more than an 80 percent majority to hold a one-day strike on Monday March 13.

Deliveroo courier riders protest in Leeds

Courier riders working for Deliveroo are to hold a mass protest cycle ride in Leeds today. It is to protest the sacking of two of their colleagues and the cut in hours for another five, who had posted on an online union chat site. The company has 300 staff in the city, but only 30 are employed on a full-time basis. Some are members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Further strike by bus drivers in Oxford

Bus drivers working for the Oxford Bus Company, members of the Unite union, held a second 24-hour strike Monday. A vote resulted in a 90 percent majority in favour of the action. They are seeking a pay increase and additional payments for working public holidays. The company returned profits in excess of 4 million in 2015.

Further strike by rail staff in Athens

Employees on the STASY fixed rail system in Athens held a 24-hour strike March 3, the most recent of a series of strikes. They are protesting proposals to allow the commercially run Athens urban transport network, OASA, to have access to publicly owned STASY facilities. They fear this will pave the way for the privatization of the STASY rail system.

Fire brigade staff in Irish capital hold rally and plan strikes

Staff working for the Dublin Fire Brigade, members of the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), held a well-supported rally Monday to protest plans to remove the ambulance call and dispatch function from its operation. Following an over 80 percent majority vote last month, they will also hold two 24-hour stoppages on March 18 and March 27.

Rally by striking Irish garage staff

Workers at the Tim Hastings Volkswagen garage in Westport rallied outside a meeting of Mayo County Council Monday. They were publicising their strike, which began on February 3, in support of three colleagues who have been made redundant. The strikers are demanding the three receive their full redundancy entitlement.

Planned strikes of Spanish dockers cancelled

The union representing Spanish dockworkers, the Sea Workers Union (CETM), has once again cancelled planned strike action. It called off strikes scheduled to take place on February 20, 22 and 24 saying the action would take place instead on Monday and Wednesday of this week. However the CETM then cancelled these planned strikes.

The strikes were originally called in response to an EU ruling that the system requiring Spanish ports to give preference to dockers organised in stevedoring societies in each port, known as a Public Limited Company of Dockworkers Management (SAGEP), was a restraint on trade and must end. The SAGEPs recruit and train port workers before they are made available to employers.

It is not clear at this stage whether strikes planned for March 10,13, 15, 17, 20, 22 and 24 will go ahead.

Transport strike in Italian capital

Italian transport workers on the ATAC buses, trams, metro and light rail system together with workers at Cotral, which serves the greater Rome area, took strike action Wednesday.

Middle East

Israeli foreign ministry staff in dispute

Staff working for the Israeli Foreign Ministry are taking action after the government failed to fully implement an agreement on pay and improved working conditions. Their action includes refusing to process papers for thousands of Chinese construction workers drafted to work on a house-building project.

Africa

Kenyan doctors defy return to work order

Kenyan doctors resolved to continue their 95-day strike, despite the governments order for them to return to work. The doctors union, the Medical Practitioners, Pharmacist and Dental Union (KMPDU), accuses the government of threatening the very existence of the union by referring them to the health ministry to review its function.

The doctors accuse the government of continuing to shift positions in negotiations. A collective bargaining agreement (CBA), settled Monday, which was to be signed by government negotiators, has now been delayed.

The date for signing was shifted 30 days forward and its registration even later, without the unions consent.

The doctors also accuse the federal state of having an agenda to destroy the health service on behalf of corporate interests.

Doctors claim the government is opposed to signing a CBA, as it would be regarded as equivalent to a constitutional agreement, which has to be adhered to.

The union is looking to the directive of the Court of Appeal under the mediation of religious leaders.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said, If the mediation by religious leaders fails, we will have a problem with them and we will sort them out.

Kenyan nurses prepare to resume strike

Kenyan nurses have threatened to resume their strike on March 13 if there is no response to their proposals on harmonising their collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Nurses are demanding the conditions of county nurses be brought into line with those of federal state nurses, who were deployed to the counties under a reconfiguration of the health service.

Union members say although they do the same job, the now combined national and local nurses have different conditions.

Nurses were instructed to return to work on December 13 last year by the Kenyan National Union of Nurses (KNUN), ending a two-week strike over the CBA.

The strike was ended on the basis there would be further negotiations to resolve outstanding issues with the 2013 CBA. KNUN, which is opposed to resuming the strike alongside the doctors, has given the government an extra week to respond.

The KNUN chairman said the union would not be negotiating the terms of the CBA.

More Kenyan health employees to strike

Health workers in Kwale county Kenya came out on strike March 1, joining medical workers already on strike. Health workers from a broad range of disciplines joined the strike over non-payment of allowances and demands for pay increases. They include laboratory technologists, counsellors, physiotherapists, biological engineers, nutritionists, and pharmaceutical and health record keepers.

They are also protesting against discrimination and harassment, as well as a lack of promotions and are demanding improved working conditions.

A spokesman for the health workers said they would not be deterred from pressing their demands by threats to lay them off.

Kenyan lecturers continue strike

Kenyan lecturers demonstrated Wednesday to demand implementation of their 2013-17 collective bargaining agreement. The lecturers, members of the University Academic Staff Union, have been on strike for over six weeks and have been in official and unofficial negotiations without success.

They say the university negotiating bodies, the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum and the SRC, are responsible for the impasse, as they will not address their demands.

Police assault Kenyan water and sewerage workers

Police lobbed tear gas canisters at Kenyan water and sewerage workers as they protested outside the offices of the Kisumu Water and Sewerage Company (Kiwasco). They were calling for the removal of the company managing director.

Residents, who had gone to the offices to pay bills, had to run for cover to avoid the police attacks.

Strike by Nigerian health staff

Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) members came out on strike Monday with the health ministry threatening no work no pay.

The NUAHP president had threatened an indefinite strike at a February demonstration if nothing was done to change the deplorable conditions in the health service. He accused the health ministry of reneging on the implementation of agreed conditions set out in the 2009 collective bargaining agreement.

After three previous demonstrations without response from the government, the unions are concerned to maintain credibility. The indefinite strike will affect tertiary level health care, such as clinics.

South African bus workers dispute goes to arbitration

The nationwide dispute of South African transport workers has been referred to the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) process in an attempt to avoid a national stoppage by 16 bus companies.

Three unions involved are the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) and the Transport and Omnibus Workers Union (TOWU). They are demanding a 30 percent pay increase over the year and a 40-hour work week without loss of pay.

The companys negotiating body, the Bus Passenger Council, is said to have offered a straight 6 percent pay increase this year and 6.5 percent next year, in a two-year deal.

The unions also want a R1,500 (US$114) housing allowance, a R1,200 (US$91) sleeping out allowance, a time-and-a-half overtime rate and double time paid for working holidays.
The annual Euro Summit meeting of the 28 EU heads of government, which began Thursday, was dominated by sharp transatlantic tensions and a deep crisis of the European Union (EU).

Conflicts between Germany and the United States intensified ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkels first meeting with President Donald Trump next week. On Monday, Peter Navarro, Trumps economic adviser, described the USs trade deficit with Germany as a serious matter and as one of the most difficult issues for American trade policy.

I think that it would be useful to have candid discussions with Germany about ways that we could possibly get that deficit reduced outside the boundaries and restrictions that they claim that they are under, Navarro said in Washington.

Germany has responded to Washingtons increasingly belligerent rhetoric by attempting to bind Europe together under its leadership and prepare for a trade war with the United States, as the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper put it.

The European powers are seeking to exploit Trumps cancellation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership to expand economically into Asian markets. In a piece entitled Europe counters Trump the Suddeutsche Zeitung reported on the draft statement for the summit: At their meeting in Brussels, the EU heads of government want to stand up to Trumps America first policyand are determined to fill the hole that the United States will leave behind following Trumps withdrawal from world trade.

The EU is striving to rapidly conclude a trade agreement with Japan, which is the second-largest Asian economy after China, and is currently negotiating free trade deals around the world with a further 20 countries, among them Singapore and Vietnam.

Before travelling to Brussels, Merkel noted in a statement to the German parliament that Europe will act together against unfair and protectionist trade practices, and firmly defend its interests, whenever and wherever this is necessary. In the future, she said, the EU had to be capable of carrying out independent crisis management. Germany was reliant not only on having access to the single market, but also to global markets.

In order to pursue these global interests militarily, Germany and other European powers are seeking to establish a European army. Ahead of Thursdays summit, a meeting of European foreign and defence ministers on Monday agreed to the creation of a joint command centre for military interventions. According to diplomats, the headquarters will begin work this month and be fully operational by June.

Germanys aspirations to rise to the position of Europes hegemon, and its mounting conflict with the United States, which as a military protective power and arbitrator has supported European unity since the end of World War II, are intensifying the already sharp divisions within the European Union.

This found expression at the summit in a sharp dispute over the re-election of European Council President Donald Tusk. Although the Polish government vehemently opposed the re-election of Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, the summit extended his term in office. The election of a politician into a senior position within the EU against the will of his own government is an unprecedented event in the history of the EU. Tusk is a member of Polands largest opposition party, Civic Platform (PO), which is engaged in a bitter dispute with the governing PiS.

PiS chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski described Tusk prior to the summit as Germanys candidate. Polands foreign Minister, Witold Waszczykowski, spoke in the aftermath of the election of a diktat from Berlin. We now know that it is an EU in which Berlin calls the shots, he told the Polish media. The Polish delegation announced it would block all further decisions at the summit with its veto.

In an effort to keep the right-wing, anti-Russian Polish government on board, Berlin has adopted a more strident tone against Russia. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) demonstratively stopped off in Warsaw on his way to a visit in Moscow. Along with the three Baltic States, Poland is among the four Eastern European countries where NATO is in the process of deploying 4,000 military personnel, together with tanks and other heavy weapons. Gabriel visited the battalion being led by the German army in Lithuania last week.

Speaking in Moscow, Gabriel vehemently defended the first stationing of German troops in Eastern Europe since the genocidal war launched under the Nazis and blamed the violation of borders in the centre of Europe on Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected Gabriels accusation that his country was threatening NATOs eastern members. We have different statistics on that, he stated. In fact, Russia was being encircled by NATO weapons, NATO units NATO ground troops are appearing on our borders, including from the Federal Republic of Germany.

The intensifying crisis in the Balkans was also on the agenda of the EU summit. The region was being subjected to challenges and tensions, the EUs foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned in Brussels, far more than ever. She warned that the Balkans were increasingly becoming a chessboard for great power games.

Britain accused Russia at the beginning of the week of fomenting tensions in the region. Moscow was involved in the undermining of countries in the Western Balkans, which was completely unacceptable, British foreign Minister Boris Johnson stated. In truth, it is the Western powers that are fomenting conflict in the Balkans. In the 1990s, they tore Yugoslavia apart and bombed it. Less than a year ago, in spite of Russian warnings, NATO accepted Montenegro as a new member in the military alliance.

The growing tensions over the Balkans are only the most visible manifestation of the parallels in Europe to the run-up to the First World War over a hundred years ago. With world capitalism gripped by an ever-deepening economic and political crisis in every country, divisions within Europe and between the European powers and America increasingly take the form of protectionism, backed by rearmament and the threat of military force.
The 528 immigrant detainees who are imprisoned at Theo Lacy jail in Orange County have been fed spoiled meat, forced to use moldy showers, and endured harsh solitary confinement punishments, according to a report released Monday by the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of the Inspector General. The report is based on a surprise facility check-in conducted by federal inspectors in November, 2016.

The facility uses solitary confinement to punish prisoners at the discretion of sadistic guards. The investigators determined through observation and interviews that detainees under solitary confinement are not permitted any recreation time, visitation, access to religious officials, or telephone use. These prisoners are permitted access to one book from the library for the duration of their solitary stay, which can last up to 30 days.

During a review of the food services at the prison, investigators found different types of unwrapped lunch meat being stored in unlabeled, uncovered containers with no information describing contents, processing dates, or expiration dates. Detainees told inspectors that their lunchmeat was often so rotten they had to wash it before eating.

The facility also intentionally houses immigrants without criminal histories with hardened criminals in order to create dangerous and intimidating conditions for detainees. Detainees are prevented from using telephones and are charged for each minute when allowed to make calls. The report confirmed that multiple phones booths for detainee use were unusable and that communication with family and attorneys is nearly impossible.

The report said day-to-day living quarters for the inmates are unkempt and cluttered with trash due to lack of regular cleaning by the jailers. Inspectors documented shower stalls that contained trash, mildew, and mold. According to Orange County Sheriff Department (OCSD) regulations, detainees are required to clean their showers daily, but the inspectors report revealed that detainees are not provided with proper cleaning equipment to combat mold and mildew.

A class action lawsuit filed by detainees of a privately owned, for-profit facility in Colorado recently alleged that the facility regularly required forced labor and placed immigrants in solitary confinement if they refused.

The inspectors also report that ICE personnel do not document or track oral grievances from detainees, and detainees do not receive a documented response. Through interviews with OCSD staff, the inspectors found that grievances are maintained in a database owned by a private contractor that is not accessible to ICE officials. Detainees complained that they were not given the opportunity to appeal their grievances with ICE.

The Orange County Sheriffs Department and ICE have responded to these claims with sneering disdain for the lives of migrants. Tom Dominguez, president of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs reacted to the investigation by saying, We are pleased that the Inspector Generals findings were not of a more serious nature.

The snails pace at which the Inspector Generals office has reacted to the findings reveals a similar sentiment. The criminal activities of ICE and Theo county jail became known to government investigators in November 2016. The 18-page government report took four months to be published. Predicted deadlines to rectify the grievances laid out within the report are scheduled as far out as October of 2017. This means that the prisoners of Theo County jail may have to wait almost a full year before they are provided clean showers and unexpired meat.

These conditions are neither new nor unique. In 2013 this same jail was investigated by an Orange County grand jury, which found sheriffs deputies regularly dodged duties by sleeping in the guard station, playing video games and encouraging criminal inmates to punish other inmates.

In 2015, a group of immigrant inmates at the Theo county jail filed a federal lawsuit alleging that sheriffs deputies physically abused and denied medical treatment to detainees. Allegations of similar crimes and worse at detention facilities have become a daily occurrence since Trumps executive orders. However, there is a long documented history of these crimes since the onset of immigration detention over three decades ago.

There currently exists virtually no oversight to the 200+ ICE facilities scattered throughout the United States. Every single one, without exception, has had complaints of a similar nature filed against it.

The inspections process for each facility is incredibly limited and underenforced. The jails adopt the standards by which they are monitored, eliminating any genuine oversight.

ICE officials pointed out in Mondays report on the Theo Lacy jail for example, that the facility was in fact meeting ICE standards regarding food services, despite the service of rotten meat. ICE does not require that facilities abide by US Department of Agriculture methods or protocols.

Legislation was passed in 2009 that required ICE to stop contracting with any facility that failed two inspections in a row. The Obama administration boasted this fact as proof of its humanitarian credentials. Recently released documents from a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that not a single facility has been closed as a result of failing two inspections in a row.
Japan boosts Furlas results

Worldwide

The Italian leather goods brand has reported a 24.5% increase in revenue for 2016 mainly driven by sales in Japan and retail points at international airports.

Furlas turnover in 2016 totalled 422 million, representing a 24.5% increase at current exchange rates and +22% at constant exchange rates. EBITDA recorded a 48% increase compared with 2015, and like-for-like international sales rose 9%.

The Italian brand says sales has progressed in all its major markets; Italy (+18%), EMEA (+23.5%), U.S. (+16.3%) and APAC (+28.3%), as well as in its top market, Japan (+31.7%).

The company is reported to have more than doubled its turnover in the past five years thanks to its strategy of offering quality leather products at accessible prices.

In the outlook for 2017, Furla expects further growth in travel retail, where it holds over 260 sale points in 63 different countries, with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region.

In May 2016, Furla signed a 30 million investment deal with merchant bank Tamburi Investment partners, which plans to list the firm this year.

Sources: Reuters/Piambanco News
Speaking at a cybersecurity conference at Boston College Wednesday, FBI Director James Comey said, there is no such thing as absolute privacy in America. Every activity that Americans engage in, including conversations between spouses and with members of the clergy and attorneys, is within judicial reach. He declared, In appropriate circumstances, a judge can compel any one of us to testify in court about those very private communications.

The FBI director did not add, although he could well have, that a judicial order is completely irrelevant to the US military-intelligence apparatus. The US government has far more direct methods than court orders to learn what its citizens are thinking and talking about, through the use of sophisticated cyberweapons. These include the thousands of hacking tools whose existence was made public Tuesday by WikiLeaks, in a data release exposing efforts by the CIA to turn millions of ordinary electronic devices, from cellphones and smart TVs to the computer systems running most cars, into spy weapons.

The FBI directors declaration that there is no right to privacy was greeted with a yawn by the corporate media, which barely reported his comments, and by Democratic and Republican party politicians. This is in keeping with the overall treatment of the WikiLeaks revelations, which has been one of indifference to the threat to democratic rights exposed in the CIA cyberweapons cache.

As far as the media is concerned, anyone who raises concerns about the right to privacy, or other democratic rights, being threatened by the national-security apparatus is an agent of Russia. This position was put most bluntly by the Washington Post, in its lead editorial Thursday, headlined, WikiLeaks does Americas enemies a big favor.

The editorial begins with a flat-out, 100 percent defense of the CIA, declaring, The first thing to say about the archive of cyberhacking tools stolen from the CIA and released by WikiLeaks is that they are not instruments of mass surveillance, but means for spying on individual phones, computers and televisions. There is no evidence they have been used against Americans or otherwise improperly 

The editorial continues, It follows that the targets of the hacking methods, and the prime beneficiaries of their release, will be Islamic State terrorists, North Korean bombmakers, Iranian, Chinese and Russian spies, and other U.S. adversaries. The editorial goes on to smear WikiLeaks as a tool of Russia, and denounces privacy zealots who are, in effect, advocating unilateral U.S. disarmament in cyberspace.

In response to such a brazen defense of the CIA, one is tempted to ask, why doesnt the Washington Post simply announce that it is a propaganda arm of the U.S. government, tasked with the ideological and political defense of the military-intelligence apparatus? There is not a shred of an independent, critical attitude in this editorial. The newspaper swallows whole the CIAs assurances that its agents are legally prohibited from spying on Americans. And it denounces WikiLeaks for acting as real journalists do, collecting information about government misconduct and making it public.

This from a newspaper that, 46 years ago, in conjunction with the New York Times, published the Pentagon Papers, over the vehement objections of the Nixon White House and the CIA and military leaders of the day, who raised the same cry of national security. One can only conclude that if someone brought the equivalent of the Pentagon Papers to the Post (or the Times ) today, the editors would immediately call up the FBI and have the leaker arrested.

The line of the Post has been repeated in innumerable forms in newspapers and on television. Former director of the CIA and the NSA Michael Hayden has been brought forward on nearly every news program to deliver the official government line. None of the major broadcasters adopt a critical line or seek to interview anyone who supports WikiLeaks and its exposure of CIA crimes.

A concrete demonstration of the relationship between the media and the military-intelligence apparatus is provided by a report posted on the web site of the New York Times earlier this week by David Sanger, the newspapers principal conduit for information that the CIA and Pentagon wish to make public.

Sanger wrote about how he and another Times reporter, William Broad, prepared last Sundays front-page report on US efforts to counter North Korean missile launches, headlined, Trump Inherits a Secret Cyberwar Against North Korean Missiles, which suggested that the US military had developed methods for causing North Korean missile launches to fail. The main thrust of this article, splashed across the newspapers front page, was that the countermeasures were insufficient, and more drastic actions were required against the supposed threat of a North Korean nuclear strike against US targets.

In a remarkable paragraph, Sanger describes the sensitive part of these investigations: telling the government what we had, trying to get official comment (there has been none) and assessing whether any of our revelations could affect continuing operations. He explains, In the last weeks of the Obama administration, we traveled out to the director of national intelligences offices, where, Sanger says, it was important to listen to any concerns they might have about the details we are planning to publish so that we can weigh them with our editors.

In plain English, the New York Times front-page exclusive was nothing more than a press release from the military-intelligence apparatus, aimed at spreading fear of North Korean nuclear capabilities in the upper-middle-class readership of the Times, and setting the tone for national media coverage of the issue. The political goal was to shape public opinion to support a preemptive US military attack on North Korea, an impoverished country the size of the state of Mississippi.

The main significance of the media response to the WikiLeaks revelations is that it demonstrates the complete erosion of democratic consciousness in all the institutions of the American ruling elite. In any serious accounting of the threats to American democracy, the CIA would be in first place: Americas own Gestapo, what even President Lyndon Johnson described as a damned Murder Incorporated for its brutal methods of assassination and provocation across the Caribbean and Latin America.

There is no greater danger to the democratic rights of the American people than the military-intelligence apparatus of the American government itself, the last line of defense for a crisis-stricken and historically doomed ruling elite.
Five months before the end of the fiscal year, West Virginias Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) funding for its Indigent Burial Program has run out.

Frederick Kitchen, president of the West Virginia Funeral Directors Association, told the Intelligencer/ Wheeling News Register March 5 that the spiraling drug overdose death rate is the cause of the funding shortfall. The DHHRs budget for indigent burials is $2 million per year, and the department typically allocates $1,250 for funeral homes to provide burial services to the poor. Weve got five months with no money available, Kitchen said. Funeral directors do what they can, but this creates a hardship for a lot of funeral homes.

The fiscal year ends June 30. So far, according to Allison Adler, spokesperson for state DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch, 1,508 burials have been committed for payment through the Indigent Burial Program.  There are funds remaining for 63 additional burials. Every year since 2013, the fund has been depleted before the end of the fiscal year.

Kitchen explained that many overdose deaths require an autopsy that can take two or three weeks before a funeral. It puts a lot of hardship on families after getting the worst news of their lives, he said.

Most of our families [of overdose victims] are worn out leading up to it, said Eric Fithyan, a funeral director and planner for James and Chambers funeral homes in the Northern Panhandle of the state. However, a lot of times we deal with the families asking the what ifs.

Fithyan told the Intelligencer, The biggest and hardest thing is dealing with those left behind. A drug overdose death is almost like a suicide or unplanned death, and there is no way to alleviate the grief.

Many of the overdose victims leave behind young children, for whom grandparents and even great-grandparents must assume responsibility, creating severe financial and sometimes health hardships for them. In West Virginia, 5,182 children were in foster care in 2016, most orphaned by the heroin epidemic.

Relatives often spend down their resources before an overdose happens, trying to battle the addiction, Fithyan explained, leaving them little money to pay for a burial. Many overdose victims are penniless and lack life insurance.

The deaths are traumatic even for funeral home staff, Fithyan said. It can be especially overwhelming for the younger staff seeing a segment of their society dying from these drugs.

Gene Fahey, vice president at Altmeyer Funeral Homes, echoed the sentiments of Fithyan. Its the unnatural balance of life when parents are burying their children.  It affects all of us. Younger people on our staff are seeing people their own age, 20s and 30s, dying. They are coming eyeball to eyeball with mortality.

The states drug overdose death rate stood at 41.5 per 100,000 in 2015, according to the latest available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is the highest rate in the country, nearly three times the national average.

Last year, at least 818 people died from overdoses in the state, according to a February 13 analysis by the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, a 13 percent increase over the 725 who died in 2015. The Register-Herald newspaper reported that the vast majority of 2016s overdose deaths involved at least one opioid. We are seeing an unprecedented rise in the overdose deaths related to opioids, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the state health officer and commissioner of the DHHRs Bureau for Public Health, told the Register-Herald March 7. It seems we have not yet peaked.

The death toll translates into an average of one fatal overdose every 12 hours in the state. Many of the deaths are due to fentanyl or carfentanil, extremely potent opioids that have been introduced into the heroin trade in the United States. These drugs are many times stronger than morphine, and can cause nearly instantaneous asphyxiation and death. Gupta warned that carfentanil in particular presented dangers to both users and anyone near the drug. You dont necessarily have to be injecting a drug like this, because its so potent, he said in a statement last October. A first responder or a parent who may find their childs drugs is at risk, too. Just by simply cleaning the drug off the floor, if a person isnt wearing gloves or a mask, its possible for them to overdose just from being exposed.

In cities like Huntington, West Virginia, the rate is far higher. Data from the states Health Statistics Center Drug Overdose Database indicates that as of January 2017, Huntingtons Cabell County recorded a fatal overdose rate of nearly 100 per 100,000 in 2016.

Jim Johnson, Huntingtons director of the Mayors Office of Drug Control Policy, told the Exponent Telegram in an article published February 7 that first responders in the city had prevented 300 fatal overdoses using the anti-opioid naloxone. Thats 300 people that are somebodys mother, son, father or daughter. Were doing a good job at saving people, but the question is whats next, he said.

According to Gordon Merry, the executive director of Cabell Countys Emergency Medical Service, the situation is already markedly worse in 2017. In the first three weeks of the year, crews responded to 60 overdoses. The week of January 22-28 saw 32 more overdoses, more than double the number in the same period last year. Merry told the Huntington News Network that those numbers did not include deaths. All told, in 2016 Huntington saw 1,163 overdoses, and Cabell County recorded another 241.

Across the border from Huntington in Boyd County, Kentucky, overdoses have similarly spiked. The countys ambulance service spent $2,500 in 2015 on Narcan, the branded version of naloxone. In 2016, the cost rose to $12,000, and the county is on track to spend $20,000 in 2017. Merry said Cabell County spent $50,000 on Narcan last year.

Carfentinal, the drug responsible for the 26 overdoses in the span of a few hours August 15 in Huntington, had taken at least 60 lives within the city and another 12 in the county last year. Its getting worse, Merry said. Theres no end to this. Its becoming a revolving door. Thats whats so frustrating. We need to get these people in treatment, and thats not happening.

The average age of an overdose victim in Huntington is 35. The youngest victim, who survived, was only 11 years old. The oldest nonfatal overdose victim was 65. Two-thirds of the overdoses were seen in men, and 93 percent of the victims were white.

Huntington is the epicenter of the heroin epidemic, but areas decimated by the collapse in coal employment are similarly crippled by the growth of drug addiction. When jobs leave the area, people lose focus and dont have anything to do, so they can end up turning to drugs, said John Deskins, executive director of the Bureau for Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University. At least five counties in the state10 percent of all countiesare considered in economic depression by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. In former coal-mining regions, the unemployment and poverty rates stand in double digits, and thousands of people have moved away in the past decade.

Johnson, in Huntington, said the rise in heroin addiction had brought in the risk of another serious health epidemic. Twenty-eight counties in West Virginia have already been notified by the Centers for Disease Control that they are in deep danger of an HIV and hepatitis outbreak, Johnson told the Exponent Telegram. When they started a harm reduction program and a needle exchange program in Huntington, 28 percent of the patients admitted to sharing needles. Over 50 percent of the patients were hepatitis positive.

While there is a crying need for vastly expanded drug treatment options along with many other social services, the budget situation has worsened at the state, county and municipal level. The state is currently in the midst of a half-billion-dollar shortfall, and Democratic Governor Jim Justice is proposing sweeping cuts to virtually every department. Counties and cities are on the verge of insolvency, and have been axing basic social outlays (see Report reveals deepening poverty in West Virginia).

In January, the city of Huntington laid off dozens of police and firefighters to close a reported $2.2 million budget shortfall. The reduction in emergency responders will have an inevitable effect on the citys death toll from overdoses. Firefighters are often the first on the scene of an overdose. According to Fire Chief Jan Rader, We have had over 100 saves on the Huntington Fire Department alone [in 2016].

In response to the budget cuts, which included the layoff of seven firefighters, fire stations erected a banner, photographed and posted to social media, that was swiftly ordered removed. It read, This fire truck out of service due to lack of manpower. Dont feel safe? Call your mayor. Ray Canafax, a spokesperson for the fire department, told local television news WSAZ January 23 that the departments overtime was cut and short staffing had resulted in taking one of the citys two ladder trucks out of service. Were short four people, he said. When were short four people, that leads to us having to close a truck down.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Deputies say a Tallahassee man accused of raping a victim while they were sleeping has been arrested.

According to a probable cause document, Leon County deputies were called to a home on Wiggington Road about a sexual battery. When they arrived, they met with the victim.

The victim told them that her and a group of friends were having a party at her best friend's house on West Georgia Street. She said that they party was mostly confined to a bedroom for the majority of the night.

The victim told deputies that she had been drinking an unknown amount of alcohol and was getting a massage from a male friend before she fell asleep between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.

According to court documents, the victim woke up several hours later to Shane Heeling having sex with her.

She told deputies that she was initially disoriented, asking what was going on, turning around to see that it was Heeling. The victim told deputies that she, "didn't give anyone permission to have sex with me." She told them that she had felt like she was in a safe place where she could freely drink without fear of being, "raped."

The document said that the victim had known Heeling from middle school and high school, but told deputies that had never been friends.

As soon as the victim began talking though, Heeling stopped.

The victim told deputies that she told her friends right away that Heeling had raped her.

Deputies said that her friends corroborated her statements, saying that they confronted Heeling and told him to leave.

The document said that Heeling attempted to evade deputies after the fact, as they were unable to make contact with him.

However, Heeling was arrested on Thursday and booked into the Leon County Jail. His bond has been set at $10,000.
DECATUR COUNTY, Ga. (WTXL) - A man wanted in multiple Georgia counties for burglary has turned himself in to Decatur County deputies.

The Georgia State Patrol reported that the fugitive Ronnie Arron Parrish turned himself in to local authorities on Thursday.

On March 1, Decatur County reached out to Georgia State Patrol for help in arresting Parrish. By March 8, authorities were confident that Parrish was staying at a home outside of Decatur County.

Troopers said that they surrounded the area, mobilizing troopers on the ground as well as the aviation unit in the air.

A person they saw driving Parrish near the area was arrested for driving on a suspended license and was found to have a warrant for his arrest. They believed that another accomplice drove to the area and helped Parrish escape.

They say that Parrish soon decided that that his best course of action was to surrender.

Parrish was wanted in connection with burglary, entering auto, and theft by receiving charges in Decatur County.




Stealing ideas and/or products to create something of lesser value. To take credit for something that is not their own. To slightly alter an existing idea and product for personal benefit. Disregard the origin of the true creation in attempt to make a quick buck and turn a few heads.

When patents can be extended through the creation of brand loyalty, the patentee will strive to maximize her rents not over the twenty-year patent term, but rather over the combined period of patent and trademark protection. Hence, a forward-looking patentee will consider not only current output, but also the effects of current output on future demand. Specifically, a profit-maximizing patentee will charge less than the monopoly price during the patent period if doing so enhances its branding and leads to higher profits over the long run.

the tendency people have to embrace information that supports their beliefs and reject information that contradicts them.

. 1. As a rule, strong feelings about issues do not emerge from deep understanding (quoting Sloman and Fernbach, The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone).



2. Providing people with accurate information doesnt seem to help; they simply discount it.

There are instances when a few well-chosen words are repositories of profound meaning and times when they betray a lack of understanding. An excellent example of the former is the medieval Jewish rabbinic commentator of religious texts, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, popularly known by the acronym  Rashi . Frequently, Rashi will pause to ponder a single word in a religious text and offer a lengthy commentary on its significance. Rashis genius, echoed in the work of commentators from other religious traditions, reflects a culture where a word will embody deeper meanings, if one chooses to look for them. How different is the role of words in our own time where, instead of conveying a sense of understanding, they signal the opposite. IP is not immune from this. Consider a recent radio interview on Bloomberg radio, later rebroadcast as a podcast. The discussion was about product roll-outs of a certain pharma company. At one point, the interviewer, generally knowledgeable with a substantial feel for financial markets, responded to a reference to a biosimilar medical product, by characterizing such products as rip-offs.Just so all Kat readers are on the same Kat page, Urbandictionary.com defines rip-off as follows: The interviewee pointed out that while biosimilar and generic products differ, they are close enough in their underlying characteristics. Other than that, he did not challenge her characterization of them as a rip-off. For a listener who paid close attention to the interview, the take-away was clear-- biosimilar and generic products are undesirable. It seems to this Kat that the IP community should be concerned about the level of understanding of IP embodied in this brief interview exchange. Remember that Bloomberg is a large, business-oriented media empire. As such, one might expect an appreciation of the complexity of the subject, especially from the perspective of the various stakeholders involved.Start with the consumer, who enjoys the benefit of paying less for the medical products. No rip-off here. Hold on Kat, that is the easy part. What about the patent owner or licensee. Isnt it being ripped-off? The answer is yes, only if you dont believe that patented inventions are for a limited period and that the public domain is what it says (see here for a report on patents and the public domain). One can quibble out how to best structure the transition from proprietary to generic, given the sums involved by both the proprietary and generic manufacturers. But such differences of opinion are not about who is getting ripped-off.Indeed, if there is a complaint about pricing, it will more likely be directed towards the proprietary owner, as the public conversation debates when the price for a patented drug is fair. But even here, in looking at the entire product cycle, from proprietary to generic, the matter is nuanced. Gideon Parchomovsky and Peter Siegelman published a fascinating article in thein 2002 entitled, Towards an Integrated Theory of Intellectual Property. In it, they argue,, as follows (pages 1462-1463):Under this view, trademark leverage (in the words of the authors) leads to lower prices. If so, Kat readers can decide whether there has been any rip-off.What we find is that the term rip-off is inapplicable to any of the main stakeholders. Yet this Kat assumes that the interviewer, in using the term, is secure in her belief. Perhaps even more, reasoned argument will not likely get her to consider changing her mind. In the February 27, 2017 issue ofmagazine, Elizabeth Kolbert, in her piece  Thats What You Think, discusses several recent books, all directed at the question, Why reason and evidence wont change our minds. She focuses on how our views are shaped by confirmation bias, which she describes as From this follows the following observations:All of this suggests that, at least for this Bloomberg interviewer, biosimilar and generic products, being a form of rip-off, is something to be decried, and there is apparently little that can be done to get her to alter her view. It is certainly a long way from how Rashi approached and understood words. How this is then filtered by listeners is a separate question; this Kat cannot be very optimistic.(Photo lower left: romankac/Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons
If state Sen. Jim Honeyford has his way, the sun will set on moving clocks back and forth twice each year on the West Coast. (iStock)
A Board of Appeal member remains in limbo having been suspended, but the Enlarged Board of Appeal three times (showing admirable and rare backbone) having declined (also noted here) to propose his removal from office.

The staff representation has been emasculated, and the main staff union SUEPO has been constantly under attack, with four of its officers either sacked or demoted on dubious charges (see posts here and here).

The Boards of Appeal have likewise been emasculated and banished to Haar, approved by the AC last October, seemingly in retaliation for the lack of compliance of the Enlarged Board of Appeal with the President's wishes.

Examination quotas have been continually increased for Examiners, and while the mantra about "quality not affected" is often raised, there is actually no proper assessment of examination quality, with many reports that it is suffering. The astonishing 40% increase in granted patents in 2016 has been widely reported, although this is presumably partly due to the changed examination priorities which, inter alia, involve progressing rapidly to grant cases that are clearly allowable.

The social situation at the EPO has deteriorated with repeated amendments to the employment regulations, and the atmosphere between Examiners and managers grows increasingly toxic.

As many kind readers have pointed out, the frequency of Merpel's visits to the EPO has been decreasing of late. This is, alas, not a sign that all is well there, but rather on the contrary that the worrying and depressing developments have been proceeding at a pace that she has, to her great regret, not been able to keep up with.For nearly three years Merpel has been documenting the troubles of this increasingly problematic organisation, which she dubbed "Eponia" in an early satirical blogpost The current EPO President Benoit Battistelli has been attacking all parts of the EPO with ruthless efficiency. The strands of this are almost too numerous to enumerate, but Merpel will attempt a brief summary. (Most of the posts on this topic are labelled "Eponia" so a search on this should reveal to any keen readers the majority of Merpel's posts.)The ILO-AT (the international tribunal that adjudicates employment issues for a number of international organisations including the EPO) has a huge backlog of cases, many from the EPO, so that cases take many years to reach judgment, meaning that effective justice is denied to EPO employees. A recent decision found that the EPO's internal appeals process used a wrongly-constituted Appeals Committee, and this may invalidate a number of decisions (if you are so inclined you can watch a video of the session that announced four judgments including this one). But a Dutch court decision lifting the immunity of the EPO from national jurisdiction, on the basis that the delay at ILO-AT denied EPO employees effective access to justice, was overturned on appeal.The EPO question is now also being raised increasingly in political circles in France, the Netherlands, and Germany. But so far such political pressure does not seem to have been effective either directly against the administration, or indirectly via the Administrative Council.Of course Merpel did not expect that the writings of a fictional feline would alter the course of EPO history. But she did hope that documenting and raising the public profile of the issues might cause some of those who actually have oversight of the EPO to take note of the developments. Depressingly, the Administrative Council, to whom oversight of the EPO and its President is entrusted, has failed in its task and on countless occasions has agreed to the reforms proposed, usually with just some token abstentions to indicate concern.Most of the damage has now been done with many of the harmful changes already implemented. Several of SUEPO's committee have stepped down, and now Merpel feels the time is right for her to do the same. She has many other calls on her time, and now she wishes to spend some more time with her kittens. She will from time to time write about other matters, but she will no longer be covering the situation at the EPO.There are signs that the EPO situation is being caught in the wider press as well as in political circles - EPO-related stories have at last begun to appear in the regular press with reasonable frequency, and even in everyone's favourite satirical magazine Private Eye. Merpel hopes that this will continue, and perhaps change will finally come. The Register recently opined that "Time is running out for European Patent Office president Benoit Battistelli", but this seems premature to Merpel even now, as he is an astute political operator and has weathered many apparently career-terminating storms before.Merpel would like to thank the readers and commenters that have made the comments sections of earlier posts so informative.
State Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, has proposed legislation that would put the state permanently on Pacific Standard Time. Should the Legi
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Last week, House Republicans in Congress moved their replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act through the Ways and Means Committee, finall
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson listens to a question at a news conference about the state's response to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban Thursday, March 9, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Of course the government has taken remarkable steps but if the resistance economy had been implemented fully and widely, we could witness a tangible difference in peoples lives, Khamenei was quoted as saying. In previous months, he had already called for the renewal of his own resistance economy plan, which involves domestic development aimed at making the nation more capable of weather the storm of international economic sanctions, as distinguished from Rouhanis plan of reaching out to Western powers in order to alleviate those sanctions.

Khameneis recommendations thus serve a dual purpose. In the first place, they further undermine the prospects for further rapprochement between the Islamic Republic and the West. And secondly, they defray blame for economic woes away from the supreme leaders office and its hardline affiliates, putting it instead onto the Rouhani administration, which faces a contentious reelection bid in May.

But recently released intelligence strongly suggests that the supreme leader and hardline authorities like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps bear a great deal of responsibility for the economic struggles of Iranian citizens, as a result of the systematic misappropriation both of budgetary funds and financial resources earned through Irans private sector. On Wednesday, the National Council of Resistance of Iran held a panel discussion coinciding with the release of an e-book titled, The Rise of the Revolutionary Guards Financial Empire.

In both the discussion and the document, the leading Iranian opposition group explained that a recent push toward widespread privatization of the Iranian economy has actually resulted in the private acquisition of more than half of the countrys gross domestic product by front companies and other affiliates of the IRGC and the supreme leader himself.

The Washington Times reported upon some of the findings presented in that document, emphasizing the fact that the regime is using these privately acquired assets to channel billions of dollars into regional terrorism, paramilitary activities, and weapons development. The article notes that the intelligence gathered by the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran found that approximately 100 billion dollars was being spent annually just on salaries for militant fighters in the Syrian Civil War.

The Washington Times credits the NCRI with presenting a clear warning to Western businesses and policymakers. And the document itself says, Foreign investors cannot in practical terms avoid entanglement by affiliation in the Iranian regimes behavior, including its support for terrorism, continued aggressive policies towards regional countries, manufacture and testing of ballistic missiles, and systematic egregious human rights violations inside Iran.

To critics of Irans clerical regime, this entanglement is worrying in its own right because of Tehrans traditional behavior. And it is made more worrying by the fact that the above-mentioned ballistic missile program is being used alongside other types of weapons as a tool of explicit anti-Western propaganda.

This fact was highlighted once again on Friday when the Associated Press reported that General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the IRGCs aerospace division, had boasted of the successful testing of another ballistic missile. The launch was aimed at naval targets and took place amidst three days of large-scale training exercises by the Iranian Navy, which is separate from the naval forces of the IRGC.

The IRGC conducted its own naval operations the previous week, and both demonstrations were accompanied by boastful rhetoric about readiness for war with proclaimed enemies including the United States. In a separate example of the same propaganda trends, Iran also premiered an animated film depicting a military officer modeled after IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani leading a small number of Iranian vessels in destroying a much larger American fleet.

In January, the IRGC conducted the test launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile barely a week after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. Such tests take place in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution calling on Iran to refrain from work on weapons that could carry a nuclear warhead, but a half dozen other such launches had been carried out before Trump was inaugurated but after the conclusion of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.

The January incident was apparently the immediate impetus for a statement by the Trump administration putting Iran on notice over its provocative behavior. But various observers including US Navy officers have declared that that behavior remains unchanged, and that the IRGC continues to act unprofessionally and confrontationally in the region. Last weekend, for instance, several fast-attack vessels belonging to the IRGC positioned themselves about 600 yards away from a US Navy surveillance ship and three British vessels, compelling them to change course.

The AP reported on Friday that Iranian officials had since made exactly the opposite claim about the incident: that the American and British vessels had changed course specifically to approach the Iranian boats. But considering that this is at odds with the accounts of various other Iranian-initiated close-encounters, it seems to suggest an effort on Tehrans part to justify its missile tests and defiant rhetoric, by suggesting that the US is the more aggressive party.

Assuming that this particular Iranian claim is indeed a deceptive one, it is certainly not the only one of its kind. The ongoing propaganda campaign also appears to involve an effort to present Iran as being much better positioned than it is for global conflict. This is suggested by the aforementioned film and the statements accompanying military demonstrations and missile tests. But the tendency is perhaps much more clearly on display in allegedly false Iranian claims of advanced weapons development.

The National Interest recently pointed to this phenomenon as it concerns the Qaher F-313 fighter jet, which is supposedly equivalent to an American F-35 stealth fighter, and which Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan claimed was ready for operational testing. In fact, independent analyses of photographs of the craft are broadly in agreement that it is merely a non-functional mockup, and a poorly structured one, at that.

Similar claims have been made about other Iranian weapons and equipment, including drones supposedly cloned from captured American technology. Other military hardware unveiled by the Iranian Army and the Revolutionary Guards has been shown to be little more than outmoded technology affixed with purely cosmetic upgrades. But to the extent that the regime is able to use its tightly controlled state media to present these so-called developments to a domestic audience, it may evoke a more war-ready image of Iran than is defensible in reality.

Whats more, this messaging dovetails with Supreme Leader Khameneis statements on the Iranian economy, insofar as it suggests Iran is capable of greater-than-expected domestic military development, while also concealing the fact that much of the countrys military allotment is being spent in foreign territory like Syria and Yemen instead of on advanced domestic development, whether military or civilian.
When the Israeli public is not in some sort of state of existential anxietythe government is in a state of anxiety, and vice versa, which is why the leadership goes to the trouble of providing the public with regular doses of anxiety in order to keep it addicted to fear. The fear secures the publics dependence on its leaders.

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While for the army the intimidation serves as a cover-up or as a need to maintain security tensions for budgetary purposes, for the political leader its a cynical manipulation of facts, a sort of brainwashing.

We have yet to recover from the fear of the tunnels which has been aroused again by the state comptroller, and we have already been hit by a new anxiety: The Iranians test-fired the S-300 missiles, the Air Force will no longer be able to operate freely in Iranian skies. In short, we are doomed.

We still have no leader to explain that while this is an advanced weapon system, it is not that relevant to the future aerial battlefield. Not to mention the fact that the Iranians have received the export model, which is less advanced.

S-300 missiles. Not that relevant to the future aerial battlefield (Photo: AP)

The Air Force and NATO are likely familiar with the S-300 missiles. Foreign reports have revealed that IAF planes conducted an exercise in Greece against this missile. Greece, a NATO member, received the S-300 from Cyprus in 2000, and its safe to assume that the missile has been investigated by the Americans, who usually cooperate with Israel in the technological field.

In addition, the Air Force is arming itself with stealth aircraft. There are weapon systems in the world which are launched from the air, from the ground and from the sea in ranges which are beyond the S-300 missiles destruction area.

Air forces in the world use remote-piloted vehicles which attack targets without endangering pilots, including RPVs with stealth abilities. But someone up there has no problem encouraging the climate of national anxiety in the face of a weapon system which has become a demonic symbol.

For years, Israel lived in the shadow of the SA-5 anti-aircraft ballistic missile, which was deployed in Syria and was supposed toupon receiving the ordershoot down any Israeli plane flying over the Mediterranean Sea. That didnt happen.

In the 1980s and 1990s, when the Navy wanted to advance the purchase of new missile boats, it launched a widely-covered campaign warning that all the Arab naviesfrom Tunisia to Egyptwere prepared to launch hundreds of anti-ship missiles from dozens of missile boats and ground-launched cruise missiles, so that if a war were to break out, even a sack of flour wouldnt reach Israel via the sea.

The Navy enjoyed its brilliant idea so much, that it went on to describe how these missile boats would show up off Israels shores and erase all its strategic sites. That didnt happen of course, because it was unfeasible. But the public was given its injection of foreboding. And the Navy? It was given the finger.

Lebanon serves today as a main intimidation arena. Because the public, rightfully, will never have the deep intelligence information about this arena, and those who represent the public in the government, and are exposed to the information, have no interest in reducing the anxiety level.

This is why the Yakhont missiles, which Hezbollah is believed to have, are perceived as a concrete threat that is capable of paralyzing all of Israels ports. As far as estimations go, Hezbollah isnt there yet, but the potential has already turned into a concrete fact preserving the level of anxiety.

The same applies to Hezbollahs accurate missiles. In the publics imagination, the Kirya base in Tel Aviv has already been erased. Public representatives have spoken in the past and continue to speak today about a death toll of thousands in the home front, reinforcing the paranoia which is factually based on nothing.

The panic reaches its highest level when it comes to Gaza. Hamas has regained all the weapons it lost in Operation Protective Edge. We are doomed again.

That may be true from a quantitative point of view, but in light of the Egyptian-Israeli siege, Gaza is incapable of producing missiles with the quality of an Iranian or Syrian military industry, like the ones that were smuggled from Sinai at the time. Leaders should tell the people the truth and instill security in them, rather than terrify them just in order to retain their grasp on power.
In a historic, unanimous ruling Friday, South Korea's Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil and worsened an already-serious national divide.

Two people later died during protests against the court's decision, which capped a stunning fall for Park, the country's first female leader who rode a wave of lingering conservative nostalgia for her late dictator father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency crumble as millions of furious protesters filled the nation's streets.

The ruling by the eight-member panel opens Park up to possible criminal proceedingsprosecutors have already named her a criminal suspectand makes her South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.
President Donald Trump will be holding a telephone call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday evening for the first time since being sworn into office one-and-a-half months ago.

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The phone call is expected to take place at around 12pm (EST).

On several occasions during his presidential campaign, and after entering the White House, Trump has expressed his desire to achieve what he has described the ultimate deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

President Trump (Photo: Reuters)

To that end, Trump will be sending his chief Israel affairs advisor Jason Greenblatt to the region next week, perhaps to lay the initial groundwork for future negotiations between the parties.

During Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus visit to Washington last month, Trump said that he was assessing the possibility of a one state solution or a two state solution, depending on what the two sides could agree on.

However, he also told Netanyahu during their joint press conference that both sides would have to make compromises. You know that, right? he said as he turned to the Israeli premier and smiled.

Moreover, to the disappointment of many on the Israeli Right, who forecast a significant departure from past US policy against settlements in the West Bank with the election of Trump, the US president, who throughout his campaign claimed to be the most staunch supporter of the Jewish state, publicly asked Netanyahu to hold back on construction for a little bit.

Since Trumps inauguration, Netanyahu has embraced Trump, extolling him as a strong supporter of Israel and has thanked him for his unwavering commitment to fighting anti-Semitism in the US.
Investigators believe one man using a voice changer and phone spoofing device is behind a large number of threats made against US Jewish institutions this year.

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NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism John Miller appeared on the show CBS This Morning on Thursday and described the attacks as coordinated.

The cemetery desecrated in St. Louis (Photo: Reuters)

The spoofing device makes it appear as though the call is not coming from the number the caller is using, and makes it seem as though its coming from within the institution, he said.

We have an offender with some technical prowess here, Miller said.

On Friday last week, Juan Thompson, 31, was the first to be arrested in relation to the wave of threats made against US Jewish institutions this year. He completed a brief court appearance Friday afternoon, and is expected to eventually be transferred to New York for prosecution.

Thompson made a number of threats against Jewish institutions using his ex-girlfriends name, as well as other threats in his own name, said Oren Segal of the Anti-Defamation League.

Prosecution says that Thompson, a former New York City journalist who was fired from the online publication The Intercept last year after he was accused of fabricating several quotes and creating fake email accounts to impersonate people, is responsible for at least eight of the threats targeting Jewish institutions.

Juan Thompson. Wanted to get back at his ex

He was charged with cyberstalking, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, authorities said.

Despite this, sources in the US and UK Jewish communities say that they believe that Thompson's threats are not related to the larger wave of threats against their institutions.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says 148 threats targeting Jewish institutions have been received across the country since January. Just yesterday (Thursday), a Jewish museum in Brooklyn was evacuated after its management received a threatening email saying that a bomb was planted inside.

A demonstration in Philadelphia demanding President Trump denounces anti-Semitic incidents (Photo: AFP)

The Reuters news agency reported that sources in both Britain's Scotland Yard and United States' FBI say that there is evidence that some of the threats made against Jewish institutions in those countries are linked.

Sources from both countries who listened to the recordings of the threats say that in most of them a man or woman with an American accent is heard and that their voice was distorted by a voice changer.
A soldier in the IDF's intelligence division who was convicted of sexual assault received a lenient sentence, partially due to his contributions to national security.

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The incident took place in Beit Hachayal in Tel Aviv when the soldier was sleeping in a room with another soldier. At some point during the night, a female soldier joined the bed of the second soldier and according to the indictment, the female soldier woke up shocked to find the defendant groping her body.

The convicted individual was then indicted and put on trial. The plantiff wrote to the judges, telling them that since the incident, her life has changed.

"I went back to live with my parent. I can't seem to move forward from this." She requested that the judges take a hard line against her attacker, mainly to deter others from committing similar assaults.

During the trial the commanding officers of the defendant gave testimony, saying that during his service he significantly contributed to national security and performed his duties with notable distinction.

They also stressed that he suffered from health problems that could have warranted permission excusing him from service, but he insisted on being enlisted.

The prosecution and defense reached a plea bargain in which the convicted man admitted to his actions in exchange for a more lenient punishment.

The judges sentenced him to three months incarceration, two of which will be served in prison while the other will consist of military work. He will be exempted from receiving a criminal record, meaning his civilian life will not be affected by the incident.

They reasoned that they decided on this verdict after considering his lack of past criminal offences, his enlistment into the IDF, the contribution he made to national security and the praises he received from his commanding officers, in addition to his admission of guilt and his show of regret and apology to his victim.

The defense stated that "the court had a positive impression of the defendant's character and gave a brave verdict. For its part, the prosecution requested to give a harsher verdict and is currently examining the court's decision and considering whether to appeal.
Twenty-six years after the murder of an Israeli woman, Miraim (Mimi) Sharon, who was brutally murdered in her apartment in The Hague in 1990, Hollands authorities may ask Israel to exhume her body in order compare the DNA of a freshly arrested Israeli suspect.

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The possible request comes half a year after the dramatic announcement by the Dutch police that they had arrested the Israeli Daniel (Danni) Amona on suspicion of her murder

DNA could still be found under Sharons fingernails, since there is a possibility she struggled with her killer, the authorities said.

Miriam (Mimi) Sharon (Photo: Courtesy of the family)

According to the reports, the prosecutor submitted an official request for assistance from Israel on the case, which has hitherto eluded investigation teams and crime detectives.

However, the request needs to be approved by the judge. It remains unclear, therefore, when her body will be disinterred, if at all.

The 52-year-old Amona, who is suspected of the murder, was recently hospitalized and has remained in a coma for two weeks fighting for his life.

It is currently unknown what state he is now in. However, he was not present during discussions in The Hague over the matter.

The new development stems from the fact that DNA supposedly matching that of Amonas was found on a cigarette butt that was located in Sharons apartment.

Nevertheless, question marks remain over whether this new discovery will prove robust enough to hold water in court. Moreover, even if the DNA does match, the task remains to demonstrate a direct link to the murder.

Amona denied any involvement whatsoever the entire time and if he did commit the crime, it is still unclear as to his possible motive.

Daniel Amona

Sharon left Israel in 1979. During a trip in Holland, she met a local artist and later married him, before she gave birth to a son and a daughter. A few years later, the two separated.

On October 8, 1990, when riots broke out on the Temple Mount in which 17 Palestinians were killed, Sharons body was found in her apartment in The Hague.

Suspicion arose in the initial investigation that she was stabbed to death in a revenge attack for the incidents unfolding in Jerusalem, but the motive was later ruled out as a possibility.

Half a year ago, 26 years later, Dutch police announced that a man suspected of her murder had been arrested.

Amona, who is suspected of slitting Sharons throat, was a renowned criminal who had been in and out of prison in Israel since the age of 17.

He had been involved in a number of drug-related, violent and other crimes for which he served prolonged prison sentences. He was also considered a drug addict and begged a judge to allow him to attend a rehabilitation center in Jaffa.

From the outset of the investigation, Dutch police suspected that Sharons killer or killers were Israeli who fled back home after.

According to the police, Amona was first arrested immediately the murder, but was eventually discharged due to lack of evidence before returning to Israel.
A colleague of Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, who recently made more derogatory remarks about homosexuals as well as voicing objections to female integration into combat units in the IDF, has expressed opposition to his comments.

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While acknowledging that life in the IDF does undoubtedly inhibit a soldiers ability to maintain a genuinely religious lifestyle, Rabbi Eli Sadan, founder and director of the pre-military academy Bnei David in Eli, said that all soldier of the IDF, including females, reform Jews, homosexuals are Tzadikim (righteous individuals).

Sadan reached out to the students and graduates of the academy, where Levinstein delivered his inflammatory speech, in an attempt to assuage the anger that has arisen over his colleagues comments.

Rabbi Levinstein (L) and Rabbi Eli Sadan

Anyone who serves in the IDF, soldiers and female soldiers, religious or secular, reform or messianic or people with a reverse orientation (is a Tzadik), said Sadan.

It doesnt matter. If he serves three years as a soldier and is ready to act only for the people of Israel, and sometimes even despite the risks to his own life, he is a Tzadik.

Rabbi Sadan added, however, that there were other important questions on a set of issues that needed to be addressed, particularly regarding a womans role in the military and in society.

We, for example, think that without doubt there are many things that women can do and when there is no choice you dont take anything into account because you are fighting for your life. Women are gentle and empathetic. They have a great talent to listen and not to fight, he said.

To take a woman and use propaganda which says you have to be a fighter, you have to learn how to kill, was the concept over which Sadan registered reservations.

I served 38 years in the paratroopers and I was in the professional business of killing. Of course she can also and a lot of the times women have more dedication that men. The question is whether this is the society that we want to build, Sadan asked.

While not saying that women should be prohibited from serving in combat roles, the rabbi averred that they should remain givers of life, rather than takers of life.

But as you know, no one is asking us. The State of Israel does a lot of things without asking us and we still dance on Independence Day and still trust the army. The sole struggle that is legitimate is that we demand from the army to remain a military that (David) Ben-Gurion gave us, he continued.

Ben-Gurion ruled that a religious soldier could serve any part of the army. Today, this is not entirely the case. There are units that have been closed, which created a reality in which a religious soldier cannot be.

Sadans comments were made after Levinstein recently made headlines for homophbic, and disparaging comments against women, not for the first time, a mere seven months after issuing an apology for making disdainful remarks about the LGBT community, labelling them as perverts.

Sadan also noted that the religious sects of society feel attacked and that their identity as observant Jews is not assured in the army.

In the last two years, a process has begun in the army that in one moment has undermined our trust in the possibility that young, religious people can integrate into the army without losing their independent identity.

It seems that elements outside the armyfeminists, liberals, radical etc.identified the army as the right sphere in which to shape the face of Israeli society and as a result...we feel under attack by them, the rabbi stated.

While dissenting against Levinstein, he also came to his defense before the students. He himself was interviews and apologized for (things) even he himself did not agree with and you all know that he did not teach these kinds of things during these years, he said.
The Syrian government has called on the United Nations to force Turkey to pull "its invasion forces" out of Syria, state media said on Friday.

Turkey's military shelled Syrian government forces and their allies in northern Syria on Thursday, causing deaths and injuries, state-run SANA news agency reported.

Turkey launched its first major military incursion into Syria in August, deploying tanks and air power in support of rebel groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Turkey's operation aims to drive ISIS from the border and stop Kurdish militias from gaining ground in their wake.
China said it would "resolutely strike" against the "Dalai Lama clique's separatist activities" as protesters planned demonstrations in major world cities on Friday to mark the anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

The sensitive anniversary coincided with the yearly news conference of Tibet's delegation to China's annual meeting of parliament, under way in Beijing. Che Dalha, Tibet's governor, said the government would "hold a clear-cut stand against separatism, resolutely strike against the Dalai clique's damaging and separatist activities".

Chinese troops marched in and took control of Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a "peaceful liberation." China views the Dalai Lama, Tibet's Buddhist spiritual leader who fled into exile in India after the failed uprising, as a dangerous separatist. The Nobel Peace laureate denies espousing violence and says he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet.
US President Donald Trump and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are due to speak over the phone on Friday. He is said to be planning to once again stress his commitment to peace with Israel.

Abbas called Jordanian King Abdullah II earlier Friday to discuss reigniting the ISraeli-Palestinian peace processs. Abdullah stated that Jordan supports any and all efforts to conduct serious and effective negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians based on a two-state solution, which is "the only" solution that can end the conflict.
The joint statement issued by Saudi Arabia and Malaysia that condemned Irans meddling in the Middle East, is one example. It left the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman no choice but to express Tehrans utter regret. The Islamic Republics principled policies are based on non-interference in the affairs of other countries and abiding by an approach hinging on good neighborliness, said Bahram Ghasemi, according to Irans semi-official ISNA news agency.

In an article by Amir Basiri for The American Thinker, he writes, Saudi King Salmans visit to Malaysia followed strong remarks made by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubair against Irans meddling in the region, and Riyadh announcing its readiness to dispatch troops to Syria aimed at containing Iran.

In yet another such example the United Arab Emirates envoy in the United Nations Human Rights Council also targeted Irans regional meddling.

Irans meddling in Arab states and supporting Houthis militias has a role in deepening the current crisis and conflict in Yemen, said Anwar Qarqash, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Iran directly arms the Houthis, providing them with a variety of weapons, ballistic missiles and drones. The Houthis have to this day launched thousands of missiles received from Iran into Saudi soil.

Irans own media have also published reports vividly depicting Irans growing concerns in this regard. The latest measures taken by United Against Nuclear Iran has raised eyebrows amongst senior Iranian regime officials.

This groups intends to go the limits to prevent Iran from going nuclear, according to the Tabnak website, voicing the views of former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaie, currently the secretary of the regimes Expediency Council that oversees disputes between the parliament and ultraconservative Guardian Council.

A recent agreement signed between Austria and Iran to cooperate in the oil industry has been describe by UANI as terrifying and concerning. The international organization wrote letters to several companies, including Caterpillar, Terex, and Komatsu, and asked them to end their economic relations with Iran, and they have responded positively. This group has formed based on the idea of introducing Iran as a global nuclear threat to public opinion across the globe. On the other hand UANI is continuing its efforts to place pressure on major international firms to literally sanction Iran, according to the semi-official Fars news agency citing Irans Ministry of Intelligence.

Following the election of Donald Trump as the president, a variety of senior American leaders have been voicing strong remarks against Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trumps administration pledged on Tuesday to show great strictness over restrictions on Irans nuclear activities imposed by a deal with major powers, according to Reuters.

Tehran must be prevented from obtaining ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. Considering the fact that Irans Revolutionary Guards is behind a wide slate of the regimes illicit activities, this should be the first target of the Trump administrations crosshairs against Tehran. Designating the force as a foreign terrorist organization is a first step in such a blueprint, writes Basiri.

On Tuesday, during a London press conference the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) unveiled the existence of 90 secret docks controlled by the IRGC to distribute arms to a network of militias across the region and smuggle $12 billion worth of goods into and out of the country annually.

The harsh reality Iran must realize is that the global balance of power across the globe has changed. To this end, isolation inflicted on Tehran will only expand considering with all regional countries and correspondents throughout the world are demanding an end to Irans meddling and support for terrorism.
These days, it is impossible for anyone to unequivocally state who the next Palestinian president will be following 82-year-old Mahmoud Abbas. Not among western intelligence, and not behind the closed doors in Ramallah. Abbas himself cannot answer this question. There are plenty of candidates, and also quite a few positions that will need filling, as Abbas is simultaneously the Palestinian president, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Authority (PLO) and the political party Fatah. It would not be far-fetched to assume that all three focal points will not remain in the hands of one person after after Abbas's time is over.

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Taking a stand against Israel, while accepting a one-state solution

Last month, Mahmoud Al-Aloul was elected as Abbas's deputy within the Fatah. Though this does not necessarily mark him as the heir apparent, at present he is the only designated deputy that Abbas has in any of his three roles.





Mahmoud Abbas (Photo: AFP)

Al-Aloul laid down his hawkish political stance several days ago in an interview to a major Arab newspaper. The interview emphasized a truth that many in Israel continue to ignore; namely, that any successor to Abbas will take up a far less convenient position where Israel is concerned, and might destabilize the region as a result.

When it comes to Israeli-Palestinian relations, the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is sacrosanct. In this matter, Al-Aloul seems to have adopted a "shoot, don't talk" attitude akin to that of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's (Yisrael Beytenu). As such, Al-Aloul expressed contempt for the empty threats his compatriots have voiced regarding ending this cooperation. "People have already made threats but then balked at carrying them out. I say that in the end, we have no choice but to reevaluate all the components in the connection with Israel." Abbas, it should be mentioned, has continually called the Israel-Palestinian security coordination "sacred," something that Al-Aloul is more than aware of.

In keeping with his support of concrete moves as opposed to statements, Al-Aloul has made it clear that he is in favor of a people's revolt against Israel, hinting that a more severe grassroots resistance is in order. "I oppose dismantling the Palestinian Authority, but I'm for navigating the authority toward deepening the resistance against Israel. The authority won't be dismantled. It might collapse under the siege, due to the blocking of funds or another reason. But our mission is to deepen the rebellion."

And yet, Al-Aloul's would-be call to action does not signal an all-or-nothing approach. He has, for example, gone on record as accepting a hypothetical one-state solution, so long as it adheres to conditions laid down by the Palestinians. "This one state we are talking about is a democratic state where everyone lives with equal rights," said Al-Aloul. "We'll accept it under our conditions, no problem."

A softer side of Hamas

As Fatah's leadership offers a stronger stance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Hamas has been working on a new plan, following the primaries within the terrorist group-turned-political party. The plan is to provide Hamas with its fundamental guidelines and is due to be made public somewhere between the end of March and beginning of April. Meanwhile, parts of the plan leaked to Arab media paint a more conciliatory tone toward Israel.

Khaled Mashal (Photo: AFP)

Top Palestinian official Ahmed Yousef stated that party's plan will include the Hamas agreeing to found a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, without recognizing Israel, without giving up on land the party considers to be part of historical Palestinemeaning, Israel at largeand without Hamas giving up on the Palestinian Right of Return.

On the other hand, the party's new plan will stress that the Palestinian people's conflict is only with Zionism and the occupation, and not with Jews around the world. Yousef further stated that Hamas will encourage reaching out to international forums that support Palestinians. Finally, Yousef mentioned that Hamas now finds it necessary to disconnect from its affiliation to global Muslim movements. One such movement is the Muslim Brotherhood.

But while this all seems to be a relatively positive step toward some sort of reconciliation, it would behoove all those involved to remember that at its core, Hamas is an opportunistic organization. Shaking off the Muslim Brotherhood would mainly be a way to ingratiate itself to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in light of the improving bond between Gaza and Cairo, the all-out humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Hamas's desperate need to ease restrictions along its border with Sinai. Hamas would never be putting out such a statement if deposed Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, would still be in power. Additionally, the organization understands that it is to its own benefit to make itself more appealing to the West.

It should also be stated that this isn't the first time Hamas has mentioned adhering to the '67 borders. In 2014, top Hamas official Naif Rajoub told Yedioth Ahronoth that Hamas would accept such an agreement as long as the majority of Palestinians would accept it, and as long as it would not recognize Israel. In addition, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal has previously mentioned that Hamas's fight is not against the Jews but against the Israeli occupation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Turkey to stop invoking Berlin's Nazi past in criticizing cancellations of Turkish ministers' rallies in Germany, and said she would do everything possible to keep Turkish domestic conflicts from spilling onto German soil.

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who survived an army attempt to topple him in July, is working to win the votes of Turks abroad in an April referendum that would give him sweeping new powers. But unease is spreading in Europe over the dispatch of ministers to communities themselves sometimes deeply divided.

The paper featuring a Hitler-like Merkel

"To the many people with Turkish roots who are German citizens or have lived here for a long time, I say: you are part of our country," Merkel said on Thursday.

Erdogan (Photo: Reuters)

"We want to do everything we can to make sure that possible internal Turkish conflicts are not carried over into this life together (here).

"Let us support our way of life together and even improve it where possible. That is a matter of the heart."

Some took a harsher line than Merkel. Andreas Scheuer, head of her CSU Bavarian sister party, said the campaigner Erdogan and his henchmen" were not wanted in Germany.

The dispute over cancellations has become entangled with other tensions between Turkey and its NATO allies.

West European politicians have accused Erdogan of using the coup as a pretext for mass arrests and dismissals that stifle dissent. Erdogan, for his part, accuses European powers of racism, harboring enemies of Turkey, including Kurdish militants, hardline leftists and people linked to the July coup.

Scores of Turks, including diplomats and army officers, have applied for political asylum in Germany, Greece, Switzerland and other countries.

Merkel spoke unusually bluntly in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, calling for the release of a German-Turkish journalist being held in a Turkish prison. She said she was saddened by deep differences between the allies.

Erdogan's references to Germany's Nazi past were, however, "so misplaced that you can't seriously comment on them".

"These comparisons of Germany with Nazism must stop. They are unworthy of the close ties between Germany and Turkey and of our peoples," she said.

Turkey's Foreign Minister effectively repeated the comparison within hours.

"We are not calling the government Nazi. Its practices recall that era," NTV television quoted Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying.

Austria has proposed an EU-wide ban on Turkish referendum rallies.

Cavusoglu said on Thursday he would not succumb to "fascists and racists" like Dutch nationalist politician Geert Wilders, who has called for a ban on Turkish rallies in the Netherlands.

"I will go to the Netherlands, no such obstacle can stop us," Cavusoglu told reporters. His comments contradicted earlier reports that he had canceled a Rotterdam rally.

Switzerland declined on Thursday to block the Turkish foreign minister from speaking in Zurich on Sunday, although the Zurich-area hotel where he had planned to appear canceled the event at its facility.

"The Swiss federal government authorities responsible for security matters are of the opinion that Sunday's planned visit of the Turkish foreign minister in Zurich does not at the moment pose an elevated threat to internal security," the foreign ministry said. "Consequently, there are no reasons to forbid the visit."

Zurich officials who had asked for a ban said they were disappointed but would do their best to preserve order, given what they expect will be massive counter-demonstrations.

Erdogan, a divisive figure but by far Turkey's most popular leader, says the strong presidency is vital to a country threatened by Islamist and Kurdish militant attacks and dogged by a history of unstable coalition governments.
For the first time since he took office, US President Donald Trump hspoke on Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. According to Abbas Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abbas was invited by Trump to an officail Washington visit, to discuss possible ways to work toward peace with Israel.

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The statement also reported that Trump reiterated to Abbas that he is committed to reigniting talks that would lead to real peace between Palestinians and Israelis. Abbas, for his part, stated that he, too, is committed to peace, as a strategic achievement in an overall effort to found a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Abbas (L) and Trump (Photos: AP; AFP)

Prior to their conversation, Abbas spoke on the phone with Jordanian King Abdullah II to discuss recent developments in the region and specifically in regard to the peace process. Abbas also reportedly updated Abdullah on diplomatic moves he had recently carried out to reignite this process. Adullah responded by stating Jordan's support of any serious negotiation between the Palestinians and Israel that is based on a two-state solution, which he views as the only viable solution to the conflict.

Trump has repeatedly described brokering peace between the Palestinians and Israel as "the ultimate deal" and has stated his eagerness to achieve this. To this end, Trump advisor to Israel Jason Greenblatt is due to arrive in the region next week.

During Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington last month, Trump stated that both Israel and the Palestinians will have to make certain concessions, while expressing his wish that Israel "pull back" on settlement development. When asked about a two-state or one-state solution to the conflict, Trump said, "I can live with either one. I thought for a while it looked like the two-state, looked like it may be the easier of the two, but honestly if Bibi and if the Palestinians if Israel and the Palestinians are happy, I'm happy with the one they like the best."
Iranian Envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Reza Najafi accused Israel on Thursday of being behind the assassinations of several scientists working on Iran's nuclear energy plan.

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While nuclear scientists all across the Middle East have been assassinated by the terrorists hired by this regime, the nuclear experts of this regime have access to the nuclear facilities of some countries of the region, said Najafi.

The International Atomic Energy Agency flag (Photo: EPA)

The Iranian representative also criticized Israel for repeatedly ignoring international calls to join the global Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Unfortunately, the Zionist Regime has ignored the rightful requests of the international community in the last years, and having the blind support of some western countries and with infringing all international laws and regulations, has pushed its dangerous military nuclear program forward, added Najafi.

Over the past few years, Israel has occasionally been accused of ordering the assassinations of several scientists working on Iran's nuclear program.
I have a tremendous amount of appreciation and respect for school board members.

They serve the students and patrons of their communities in a very selfless manner as they receive no pay. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. School board members often deal with difficult policies and situations that can divide communities and create darned if you and darned if you dont scenarios.

As a principal or superintendent, Ive been lucky to work for school boards in West Point, Franklin, and York and have found them all to be very conscientious, inquisitive and dedicated to the children of their communities. As a leadership consultant, Ive been fortunate to work with over 35 more school boards of all sizes in all areas of the state. One common thread of each school board Ive worked with or for is PRIDE in their school and community. They understand the important connection that communities and their public schools share.

School board members are extremely accountable, just like the school districts they serve. They have to ensure their school district adheres to state mandated spending and tax levy lids. They have to make sure they follow all of the Rule 10 guidelines that are laid out for public schools to meet or exceed. They must maintain policies that meet special education guidelines, assessment and accountability measures and more red tape than most folks can imagine. They also remain accountable, as locally elected officials, to their patrons to provide a high quality education while also being wary of the local tax burden.

It is the issue of local tax burden that motivated me to write this. Im tired of seeing school board members blamed for high property taxes. Low levels of state funding for education is at the heart of Nebraskas property tax issues, not school spending. The 2015 Legislative Fiscal Office report showed that school spending growth over the past decade was at its lowest level in the past 30 years. Numerous districts, like York, have average annual spending increases of less than 1.6 percent.

Nebraska ranks 49th in the country in the percentage of K-12 funding that comes from the state. Nebraskans pay the 7th highest effective property tax rate in the nation. Our state has a school funding problem.

Nebraska K-12 schools receive 33 percent of their funding from state sources while the national average is 47 percent. Nebraska K-12 schools receive 49 percent of their funding from local property taxes while the national average is 29 percent. We need to reform the way schools are funded and we need to rely much less on local property taxes.

Now is the time to address how we can adequately fund high performing schools without such an extreme over-reliance on local property taxes. Were not going to be able to cut our way to excellence. We need our elected officials in Lincoln, many of whom made campaign promises of lowering local property taxes, to stay true to their word. Adequate and sustainable funding of high quality K-12 public education is imperative for the future of Nebraska and we need to find a way to do so without damaging agriculture producers.
YORK  Todd C. Hill, 48, of Northglenn, Colo., has changed his plea in a case in which he was accused of attacking a couple at the Fuel Mark property at the Henderson interchange last year.

He was originally charged with two counts of second degree assault, which were felonies.

According to court documents, a trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol was finishing up a traffic stop on Interstate 80 when he was approached by a man and a woman who had pulled over to speak with him.

The trooper says, in his report that was filed with the court, that the woman was bleeding from both knees and said shed been attacked and tazed by a man at the Henderson Fuel Mart. The man said he was also attacked and tazed while he attempted to stop the attack on his wife.

The trooper said the couple indicated to him that they were from Michigan and had parked at Fuel Mart to sleep. When they woke up, they said they found a truck was blocking them in.

According to court documents, the woman said she asked the truck driver, Hill, to move so they could leave but he flipped her off and did not move the truck.

According to the documents, the woman said she then got one of her dogs out, walked over to the truck and had it urinate on the truck tire.

It was alleged that when Hill saw the dog urinating on the tire, he allegedly produced a stun gun and attacked her.

The man said he tried to wrestle Hill away from the woman and he was tazed as well.

The trooper said that both people had physical signs of being tazed.

The trooper said the couple took a picture of the truck and an investigation began. Eventually, they were able to obtain Hills phone information and they called him.

In court documents, it says Hill told the troopers he was at the Waco interchange and indicated his actions were in self-defense.

The troopers went to Hills location in Waco and arrested him. They also indicated they took a stun gun from the holster he was wearing, as well as a sheathed knife.

This week, in York County District Court, Hills no contest plea was entered and the charges were amended to one count of third degree assault, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Sentencing has been set for a later date.
Lenten Services in Exeter

EXETER  Lenten Services will be held at the Exeter UCC at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 12.

Yorks First Presbyterian Church offering events

YORK  The York First Presbyterian Church will be holding an inquirers class for all people interested in learning more about the Presbyterian tradition and/or interested in joining their church family. They can join the congregation on Sunday, March 12, from 3:30-4:30 p.m., in the parlor, at 414 North Delaware Ave. Call the church at 402-362-5176 to talk with Pastor Mike about any questions.

The First Presbyterian Church will also be offering an afternoon at the Sun Theater to see the movie, The Shack, on March 19. The time will be announced. Anyone interested can also join the congregation at the fellowship hall at 414 Delaware Ave., following the movie, for a short discussion. Call the church office at 402-362-5176 to reserve a ticket.

Lenten Services at Zion

BENEDICT -- Lenten services will be held Wednesday, March 15, at Zion Lutheran Church. Supper will be served at 6 p.m., and the service will start at 7 p.m.

Lenten services at St. Peters

GRESHAM -- St. Peter Lutheran Church will hold a Lenten service on Wednesday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m., with fellowship to follow the service.

Lenten services in Gresham

GRESHAM -- The Presbyterian Church will hold a Lenten service on Wednesday, March 15, at 7 p.m., with fellowship to follow the service.

Fish Fry in Exeter

EXETER -- St. Stephens Alter Society and the Knights of Columbus Exeter-Milligan-Friend are hosting a Fish Fry on St. Patricks Day, Friday, March 17, from 5  8 p.m. at St. Stephens Parish Hall in Exeter. A free will offering will be taken.

St. Josephs Fish Fry

YORK -- The Annual St. Josephs Fish Fry will be held on Friday, March 17 and will continue every Friday night through April 7. Serving will take place from 5 - 7:30 p.m. at St. Josephs Cullen Hall/School Gym, located at 5th and East Ave. in York. The meal consists of fish, scalloped potatoes, coleslaw, bread, coffee, tea and a dessert bar. Carry-outs available at Curb Service or in the main dining room. Adults (12 & Up) are $8, children (4-11) are $4 and children under 4 are free.

Biscuits & Gravy Feed

BENEDICT -- The Benedict Community Sunday School Annual Biscuits & Gravy Feed will be at the Community Center on Sunday, March 19. Serving will be from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon. Half of the proceeds will go to their Mission Project, Samaritans Purse. The biscuits and gravy are provided by PKs in Benedict.

Lenten Services in Milligan

MILLIGAN  Lenten Services will be held at the Milligan UMC at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 19.

Session and Trustees to meet

GRESHAM -- Presbyterian Session and Trustees will meet Sunday, March 19, following worship services.

GFWC Exeter Womans Club to meet

EXETER -- The GFWC Exeter Womans Club will meet Tuesday, March 21 at 1:30 p.m. at the UCC Fellowship Hall. Guests are welcome and the program Exeter Memorabilia will be presented by Bob and Sharon Mueller. Hostesses for the meeting are Kathy Due and Marsha Jorgensen.

Lenten Services in Friend

FRIEND  Lenten Services will be held at the Friend UMC at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 26.

Combined Choir practice

FAIRMONT -- Fairmont Community Church will hold a Combined Choir Practice on Wednesday, March 29 at 7 p.m.

Moms in Prayer

STROMSBURG -- Moms in Prayer meet on Wednesday mornings at 9 a.m. at Salem Lutheran Church in Stromsburg for an hour of prayer. Childcare is provided. This local prayer group covers Cross County Community Schools and Polk County Christian Schools in prayer. Please prayerfully consider joining Moms in Prayer on Wednesdays!

2nd Cup Cafe in Bradshaw

BRADSHAW -- The 2nd Cup Cafe community coffee is held at the Bradshaw United Methodist Church fellowship hall each Thursday morning from 8:30-10 a.m. Proceeds from the weekly coffee benefit the Green Beans Coffee Co. program Cup of Joe For a Joe, which provides coffee for service personnel overseas. Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy a cup of coffee and morning pastry.
LINCOLN  Republican lawmakers in Nebraska, one of two states that proportionally divide their electoral votes, are seeking to return to a winner-take-all approach after Democrat Barack Obama capitalized on the system during the 2008 campaign.

Sen. John Murante of Gretna argued to a legislative committee Thursday that his proposal would allow the state to speak with one voice in presidential elections.

The bill is backed by the Nebraska Republican Party and GOP elected leaders. Democratic opponents say it would reduce the incentive for Omaha-area voters to participate in elections because conservatives hold a lopsided majority in the state.

Now is the time once and for all to dispense with this issue and return Nebraska to a winner-take-all format, said Murante, a Republican.

Nebraska and Maine are the only states where its possible to divide electoral votes between opposing presidential candidates in a general election. The states award one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district and the other two to the statewide winner. California allocates its electoral votes by district in Republican primaries.

Republican senators have fought for years to reinstate a winner-take-all system, with little success. But the bill gained unusual traction last year, advancing through two of three required rounds of voting before a filibuster blocked it.

Murante noted that no other state has followed Nebraska since it shifted away from a winner-take-all approach in 1991. If other states had done so, he said, state legislatures throughout the country would have an even stronger incentive to adjust their congressional districts and sway the presidential vote.

It would be gerrymandering on steroids, he said.

Nebraska rarely sees presidential hopefuls, but in August, Democrat Hillary Clinton campaigned in Omaha and one of her national staffers referred to the 2nd District as a battleground. Clinton lost the district and the entire state to Republican Donald Trump. In the 2008 race, Obama, Republican nominee John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, all visited Omaha.

Nebraska is one of the nations safest locks for Republican presidential nominees, who havent lost the statewide popular vote since Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson carried it in 1964.

Kenny Zoller, the Nebraska Republican Partys executive director, said presidential candidates should have to make their case to voters across the entire state, not just one congressional district.

But former state Sen. DiAnna Schimek, a Democrat who helped create the current system, said Nebraskas approach helps reflect the states diverse opinions.

I thought it would be a good safety valve for when there was apparently some differences between districts, she said.

Committee members took no action on the bill on Thursday.
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers will continue investigating whether a longtime state senator lives in his district.

A special legislative committee decided Thursday it had jurisdiction to hear the case against Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha. Lawmakers have spent the past month questioning whether the investigation could move forward because challenger John Sciara failed to meet all legislative rules.

Former Nebraska Supreme Court Justice William Connolly says Sciara fulfilled all statutory requirements.

Sciara says he is pleased the case is moving forward but disappointed it didnt happen sooner.

Sciara, who lost the 2016 election to Chambers by more than 6,000 votes, contends Chambers really lives in Bellevue. Chambers has provided senators and reporters with utility bills from his north Omaha home as proof of address.
Leadership and key personnel from the 920th Rescue Wing gathered to discuss the wings mission, vision, priorities and more during a strategic alignment event here March 7-8.

Col. Kurt Matthews, 920th Rescue Wing commander, brought together leaders within the wing and the 943rd Rescue Group headquarters here for the two-day meeting.

We looked at where we want to be three years from now and brought senior leadership from across the wing together to get on the same page, Matthews said. By going through this process, we identified the state of the wing and got consensus on our goals and priorities.The 943rd RQG is a geographically separated unit of the 920th RQW, which is headquartered at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. Matthews, who took command of the wing in December, said the purpose of this event was to develop the wings new mission and vision statements, determine the priorities, goals and objectives, share his leadership philosophy, identify areas for improvement and solutions, and get buy-in from key wing personnel. Matthews said he strives to lead by the philosophy of mission-focused servant leadership, and wants his priorities and goals to reflect that.We need to take care of the Airmen who are doing the mission, he said.Matthews said he was satisfied with the outcome of the event and believes each of the 15 participants added value.Everyone did an outstanding job contributing, Matthews said. At the end of the day, everyone realized that the way we are now focused and moving toward the future captures all of our agenda items and all of our personal goals. Different commanders challenges and priorities fit under this construct of how we are going to achieve our priorities and goals as a wing.Tom Ades, a continuous process improvement specialist contracted by Air Force Reserve Command, facilitated the event and led the group through the process of aligning the wings vision, goals and priorities with its mission and higher headquarters priorities. Ades said having wing leadership that is open to continuous improvement and positive change is imperative to mission success.Colonel Matthews gets it, Ades said. As the commander he has taken this to heart, and I think the wing will be better for it.

Col. John Beatty, 943rd RQG commander, hosted the event, which comprised participants primarily from Patrick AFB. He said he was happy to host wing leadership and thinks it was beneficial for his Airmen to get some visibility from headquarters.

The hard thing here is that most of my people will never go to Patrick, Beatty said. Knowing the wing exists is one thing, but getting them to truly embrace and internalize the wing mission and vision truly comes from the wing commander.Beatty said Matthews presence this week helped his Airmen feel more connected to the wing and showed them leadership is interested in how they support the mission. He said the new mission and vision statements will further help connect them to headquarters.Matthews plans to unveil the wings new mission and vision statements at a commanders call at Patrick during the April unit training assembly. He said communication is a challenge and an opportunity, but he believes the messages will resonate with Airmen across the wing.The 920th RQW, Air Force Reserve Commands only combat search and rescue wing, also has personnel at Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon, and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
During a press conference given by the NCRI in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, Westminster, London, 7 March, 2017, it was demonstrated how under the direct supervision of the Iranian regimes Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and organized by his faithful IRGC commanders, a large smuggling enterprise is carried out.

Through these smuggling activities, the IRGC has put together a comprehensive economic setup can be said to control the bulk of Irans exports and imports.

Intelligence obtained by the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), through dependable sources within the regime itself, particularly in the IRGC in recent months, it has been revealed that 90 docks inside Iran, accounting for approximately 45 percent of its official 212 docks, are under the control of the IRGC and through front companies, which are used to smuggle arms to its affiliated groups, particularly insurgents in Yemen.

In 1982, under the direct orders of Ruhollah Khomeini, the IRGC had covertly set up docks under the radar of both the government and customs, concealing their existence from international organizations. These docks became known as Bahman Docks. When Ali Khamenei became Supreme Leader, he saw to it that the activities at these docks was greatly expanded, and to keep the IRGC faithful to him, he increased the Guards engagement in vast areas of the countrys economy, in an effort to evade international sanctions, according to information provided by the PMOI/MEK.

Further, Ali Khameneis orders ensured that no authority is allowed to oversee the activities of the IRGC at border areas, so using these entry points. the IRCG can import anything in any quantity without paying customs fees. It smuggles a variety of items including oil, petrol, gas, chemical products, cigarettes, narcotics, alcoholic drinks, mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, hygiene materials and energizing drugs, the proceeds of which, is a sum that is said to amount to around $12 billion annually.

Investigations by PMOI sources concluded that unlawful exports of arms are also carried out through these docks, supplying forces that fall under the umbrella of the IRGC. A series of front companies was set up by the IRGC to dispatch arms through these docks, giving its Quds Force the ability to strike at its enemies, while claiming plausible deniability.

The Iranian resistance gathered information proving that the smuggling of arms is prolific through these docks, and suggests that a very small portion of these illegal arms dispatches have been uncovered. The PMOIs network inside Iran has identified three IRGC front companies engaged in smuggling arms, particularly to Yemen. Yemeni docks are closed to Iranian shipping, so these companies use three ports in Oman: Soltan Qaboos Port in Muscat, Sohar Port in North Oman and Salah Port in South Oman.

The Admiral Group Shipping Company is one such company named by the PMOI, as being used by the IRGC. The company started its activities in 2012, and is owned by the children of former Commander of the IRGC Naval Force and former Minister of Defence, Ali Shamkhani.

Hossein and Hassan Shamkhani are the main directors of the Admiral Group. The company has offices in Tehran and Dubai. Hassan represents the company in Dubai, and Hossein is based in Tehran. This company, which has four subdivisions, including Admiral Feeders, and is said to be specifically engaged in the dispatch of arms to Yemen.

When direct sea routes were closed in 2015, the company was forced to send its consignments to docks in Sohar Port, or by crossing land borders. The arms were then transferred to Yemen. The shipments included AK47 machine guns, RPG rocket launchers, explosives, caches and mines.

Also named by the PMOI, is The Hafez Darya Arya Shipping Company, which has 29 vessels used for transporting containers. Several IRGC companies are said to use it. Using docks in Port Asalouyeh, Bandar Abbas, and Bushehr, the company reportedly offloads goods belonging to the IRGC. It also carries some container cargoes of the IRGCs major engineering arm, Khatam-al-Anbiya Headquarters. Said to manage the company is an individual by the name of Keshavarz. Captain Gostari is said to be the companys head of operations, and Tafzali is in charge of marketing.

It carries cargo to numerous countries in the region, including the UAE, Qatar, Iraq. Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and Saidi Arabia. One of the ports to which it ships cargo is Port Sohar in northern Oman, but up until the internationally enforced blockade, its ships had carried cargo to Port Hodeideh in Yemen.

One of the most important companies affiliated to the IRGC is the Valfajr Shipping Company, which was founded by them in 1986. It was originally named Valfagr8 after an IRGC operation during the Iran/Iraq War in 1985. In 2003, the name was simplified to the Valfajr shipping company.

Valfajr is affiliated with Khatam-al-Anbiya. It allegedly carries IRGC cargoes and consignments, and the manager of the company is Majid Sojdeh. The companys ships have transferred passengers, cargoes, containers, and IRGC personnel from the IRGC ports in Khuzestan, Bushehr, and Hormozgan provinces in Iran to all of the major ports in the Persian Gulf, including Dubai, Manama, Muscat, Aden, and also in Yemen.

Valfajr Company transfers IRGC consignments to Yemen through Muscat. The companys vessels avoid flying the Iranian flag so they wont be identified or searched. Officially and publicly, this company has relegated all of its activities to Hafez Darya Arya shipping company, but has continued activities on its own, in secret.

The specifications and types of ships and vessels used by this company are identical to IRGC vessels, the only exception is that the name of the Valfajr Company has been placed on them. Despite being identified on its website as affiliated to the organization of ports and shipping, in reality it is affiliated to Khatam-al-Anbiya Headquarters. Individuals by the names of Lotfollah Saeedi, and Mansour Islami are among the managers of this company.

Information about dozens of the 90 ports that are under IRGC control throughout southern Iran has been revealed by the network of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). One of the many ports exposed by the PMOI document, is the IRGC dock in Bostaneh port, located in the central district of Bandar Lengeh (Hormozgan Province). The IRGC uses this port for smuggling weapons and goods on small vessels.

Two other IRGC docks are on each side of Abu Musa Island, also the location of an IRGC tactical base called Abolfazl Abbas. This base houses IRGC marines and rangers of the Imam Sajad Brigade, which is under the command of IRGC Brigadier Sadeq Amoie. The brigade is in charge of protecting the island. The smuggling of weapons and goods is carried out from these docks, under the supervision of Amoie.

A full list of docks, plus other information is available in the PMOI exposure document.

Dr. Mathew Offord, Conservative MP for Hendon, presented an introduction to the meeting, which was also attended by Mr. Hossein Abedini, of the NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee, who presented a slide show, and Struan Stevenson, president of the European Iraqi Freedom Association, who also lecturers on Middle East policy. Stevenson presented a report on The Destructive Role of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the Middle East.
Miller discuss priorities with House Caucus

Leaders from each branch of service spoke about their top priorities at the caucus-sponsored breakfast. Lt. Gen. Maryanne Miller, the chief of Air Force Reserve and commander, Air Force Reserve Command, focused on manpower and budget as the top priorities for the Air Force Reserve.



Miller said the AFR part-time pilot force is manned at nearly 90% while the full-time pilot force percentage is lower.

Miller said that although retention is at 92 percent, the AFR had to recruit 38 percent non-prior service Airmen to meet end strength demands.



It takes longer and takes more funding to train an Airman who comes in right off the streetabout $70,000 per Airman, compared to our accessions gained from the active component said Miller. So we are watching our accessions and how we better go after airmen leaving active duty.



Miller concluded with describing the impact of sequestration to the Air Force Reserve.



We have unique challenges in managing a part-time force without a stable budgeting process, said Miller. Predictability in equipping and training our Airmen is key to our success when it comes to utilizing our Reserve Citizen Airmen.



Miller said the Air Force Reserve is working with Congress, the Department of Defense and other stakeholders for the right resolution, so it will limit the impact on readiness in the future.



The NGRCC was formed in 1996 and has been active in pursuing National Guard and Reserve legislative and policy initiatives with DoD and Congress.



For many of us of a certain age, to watch what you have done to transform this into an operational reserve that is a key component to the defense of this nation, is absolutely incredible, said Rep. Timothy Walz, (D-Minn.), co-chair of the NGRCC.



NGRCC is sponsoring the Reserve Component Benefits Parity Act of 2017, which is designed to mitigate the benefit disparities in the 12304b mobilization authority.



The 12304b mobilization authority was established in 2012 as part of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, that allowed DoD to deploy reserve forces for preplanned missions in support of combatant commanders. Under this authority, reserve forces are not provided with pre and post-mobilization Tricare, Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, reduction in retirement age and credit for time spent deployed.



Building this coalition over the many years, we have made progress and made a difference in national security and the warriors doing the job, said Walz.


This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism.

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Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited.

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Hezbollah joined the fight in Syria in 2013, and Badreddine was chosen to lead the factions there, along with Irans Qassem Soleimani, who led Quds Force. However, Badreddine discovered that Soleimani was favoring the lives of the Revolutionary Guards over those of Hezbollah. Soleimani put pressure on Nasrallah to remove Badreddine from the battlefield.

Badreddine was reported to have arrived at the international airport on May 14, 2016, accompanied by three people. It was there that Badreddine was killed.

Initially, Israel was blamed for the fatal attack, as reported by Al-Mayadeen. That article was later removed. Later reports said that the cause of Badreddines death was assumed to be a vacuum bomb, as a fighter group was 12 km away from the Damascus airport, placing it well within artillery range. However, no gun powder residue found at the scene. Additionally, images obtained by Al Arabiya of the site on May 14, reveal that aerial views of the site where Mustafa Badreddine was killed, show the site unscathed.

Recounting the events of the night, an airport employee said that as the operation was taking place, all employees were barred from entering the workplace. As I was approaching to go to work, I saw a lot of people crowding near the airport. At approximately 10 PM that night we suddenly heard a loud bang and what sounded like fire from three rifles, he said, adding, We tried approaching the scene to see what was going on but we were stopped by Hezbollah fighters telling us we werent allowed to enter. They did not even allow Syrian senior army officer or the Syrian police from entering the airport.

Shiite cleric Abbas Hoteit declared to the south Lebanon website Janoubia that, Badreddine was killed by two treacherous bullets.

Eyewitness accounts place four people at the security building near the Damascus airport that night  one of them being Badreddine himself. A number of people reported on Twitter that they saw Soleimani leaving the site minutes before the operation, and he is believed to be the second person. The third person was Badreddines bodyguard, who could not save his commanders life. Also according to eyewitnesses, the fourth person was identified as Ibrahim Hussein Jezzini, the person who Badreddine reportedly trusted the most.

According to an article in Al Arabiya, it was Jezzini, the Hezbollah man, who waited for the right moment to eliminate his friend zul faqar, Mostafa Baddredine. Al Arabiya says, No bomb or shell killed Badreddine, but instead, a conspiracy plotted by his one-time friends Hassan Nasrallah and Qasem Suleimani.

And there goes the story of an erratic murderers death who was killed at the hands of a friend, continues Al Arabiya, and further, Baddreddine fell on the altar of Suleimanis ambitions and Nasrallahs reputation, raising the question of whether it was an individual incident, or the beginning of dire divisions and a period of darkness within the ranks of the Hezoballah Shiite sect in Lebanon.
<b>Muharram in Karbala</b> <br><br> The origin of Muharram lies in the prosperous city of Karbala. The roots of it can be traced to the aftermath of the battle of Karbala in 680 BC. One of the most important cities of Iraq, it saw the killing of Prophet Muhhamad`s grandson Husayn Ibn Ali. He was killed by the military forces of Yazid I, the man who was the then Umayyad caliph. <br><br> Muharram is also symbolic of the divide between Shiah and the Sunnis as the former observe the occasion while the latter dont. It is due to the fact that the Shiah sects belief was in the instatement of someone from Muhammads lineage as the next Caliph while the Sunnis wanted to choose a leader from the community itself. <br><br> The Karbala Mazaar (tomb) is significant as Muharram started from here, after the death of Imam Husayan was observed on this spot. Millions of pilgrims from all over the world visit the 1300 year old Mazaar, situated a hundred kilometres away from the capital city of Baghdad. It is believed that the heavens gates are opened for those who breathe their last here. <br><br> Its significance to the Shiah Muslims is next to the holiest centres of Mecca and Madina. <br><br> However, it was never recognised by Saddam Hussain, who was a Sunni supporter. It was under his reign that the Karbala mosque was attacked and damaged. It is from this place that the Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is trying to bridge the divide between the two sects of Islam. <br><br> It is believed that a mere touch of the tomb of Imam Husayan can make a persons wishes come true. Muslims the world over observe a fast on the day of Muharram and many Shiah followers also self-flagellate as a mark of their sorrow towards the battle of Karbala and the death of Imam Husayan. <br><br> A huge inflow of Shiah pilgrims starts from ten days before the festival. <br><br> The mosque, made up of gold, silver and precious stones, is a true symbol of sacrifice and martyrdom even today.
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Kirgizstan Almazbek Atambayev held a meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan and other PMs of EEU member states in Bishkek, ahead of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Councils (EIC) session, the governments press service told ARMENPRESS.

Kirgizstans President welcomes the delegates in Bishkek and mentioned the EIC is a productive platform for developing dialogue between EEU states, deepening integration and discussion of issues of mutual interest.

Atambayev assured that Kirgizstan, within the framework of chairmanship in EEU structures in 2017, will put maximum efforts for progress in the abovementioned directions.

Prime Minister Karapetyan thanked the President on behalf of the Armenian governmental delegation for the warm reception and organizing the session on high level. In PM Karapetyans words, this session marks the launch of events of the Kirgizstan chairmanship in EEU, which will boost the further deepening of Eurasian integration processes.

Several issues of the EEU agenda were discussed during the meeting.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian community of France doesnt have a concrete stance on supporting any candidate in the upcoming presidential election in the country yet, Murad Papazian  Co-Chairman of the Coordination Council of the Armenian Organizations of France, told Armenpress, adding that this is due to the fact that the candidates as well didnt have enough input.

We continue working. Whether some organizations and parties of the community will express concrete stance or not, as of now there are no such signs. Today there is no call, we must try to work so that regardless of who becomes the President, we must establish ties with him/her. However, I think the situation will not be same as under Hollandes presidency, he said.

Papazian said the Armenian community has had ties with President Francois Hollande over 15 years before his election. He was the communitys candidate. During these 5 years he provided a chance to present the Armenian Cause to the French top officials, the Armenian issues, the Genocide issues, the security issues of Artsakh and Armenia. Now he has decided not to run, so we need to start working again, he said, adding that as of the moment the internal political situation in France is quite difficult since the main two political parties, Socialists and Republicans, will not be in the second round probably. This is the main picture. Most likely, we will see the candidates of National Front party and En Marche! Movement, Murad Papazian stated.

The French presidential election will be held on May 7.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. Halal Food Certification is already available to entrepreneurs in Armenia, reports Armenpress.

Minister of Economic Development and Investments Suren Karayan told reporters that the process will provide a chance to the Armenian businessmen to make their product more affordable in 57 Islamic countries. The entry to the Iranian market will be affordable and easy for our businessmen. It will also boost tourism, the Minister said.

Director of Halal Office in Armenia Abdul Huseyin Sakhari said seminar will be held for the businessmen on March 13 during which the process of acquiring Halal world standard and its advantages will be presented in-detail. We are working in Armenia for more than two years and have provided a certificate for two slaughters. We hope our office will boost the development of trade ties between Armenia and the Muslim states, he said.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. Greece supports the peaceful negotiations and the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs over the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said at a joint press conference with Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan on March 10, reports Armenpress.

We support the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs aimed at peacefully settling the conflict. Priority must be the safety of the people, the Greek FM said.

He added that during the meeting with FM Nalbandian they talked about the Cyprus issue.

In his turn the Armenian FM stated that they agreed that there are no military solutions to the Cyprus and Nagorno Karabakh conflicts and they must be settled through agreed formats.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Government presented an investment program of 3.2 billion USD the sources, sectors of which are fully clarified.

The programs of 830 million USD are expected to launch in 2017, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said in Sisian, Armenpress reported.

55 out of 830 million USD programs relate to Syunik province. We know clearly at what direction these funds must be directed. The emphasis in connection with Syunik will be put on the mining industry, animal husbandry, other branches of agriculture, as well as directing the business towards the Iranian market. At this stage we are negotiating with Iran on establishing free economic zone in Meghri which will be by the participation of public-private sector, the PM said.

He informed that an export company will be created with the Iranian partners which will buy the product from the Armenian market and will export to Iran. Armenia will involve the Iranian Halal institute aimed at solving the products qualification issue. We clearly understand where we will move on, the PM said.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of an ongoing probe, the Investigative Committees General Department of Investigations revealed a grand theft case, the Investigative Committee told ARMENPRESS.

A Cuban citizen Gomez, currently in Yerevan, contacted Armenian law enforcement agencies in 2016 and notified that he had given large amounts of money to somebody in order to organize a permanent residency for him and his family, overall 6 people, in the United States, however the departure wasnt organized and neither did he receive his money back.

Based on the Cuban citizens report the Investigative Committee launched a probe. Amid large scale investigative actions it was revealed that a woman identified as Barbara, promised Gomez, while the latter was living in Cuba, to organize a permanent residency for him and his family in the United States in Armenia.

Based on the agreement, the 6 family members had arrived in Armenia on the Havana-Moscow-Yerevan flight. In Armenia, two other Cuban nationals met with them and, based on initial information, took 36,300 USD and 2000 Euros from them, with the pretext of organizing the residency issue documents in the US.

The investigation revealed the identity of Barbara and the circle of the criminals.

The Cuban national, IDd only as Barbara, was charged on March 4 with fraud. She was remanded in custody.

Law enforcement agencies are currently taking all measures to discover others involved in the crime.

According to the investigation, other Cuban citizens were victims of Barbara and her accomplices actions.

Victims of the fraud are requested to contact the General Department of Investigation of the Investigative Committee  011 880-089, 011 880-007, address  46/5 Mamikonyants Street, Yerevan, Armenia.

Notice  Suspect is innocent until proven guilty by the Court of Law.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Artsakh are always committed to the international humanitarian law, conventions, the obligations deriving from them, one of which is the return of bodies, Armenias Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a joint press conference with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias in Yerevan on March 10, in response to a question why Armenia returns the bodies of Azerbaijani soldiers, who appeared in the Armenian side as a result of their sabotage attempt, in case when Azerbaijanis do not do this, reports Armenpress.

We cannot be at the same level with Azerbaijan. The civilized world differs from Azerbaijan with the values, humanism, a country where the saboteurs, murderers are declared as national heroes. Both Armenia and Artsakh are always committed to the international humanitarian law, conventions, the obligations under it one of which is the return of bodies, Nalbandian said.

One of the reporters asked the FM to comment on the statements of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov who, after the meeting with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, said there are two-tree concrete topics which are at the discussion stage.

Edward Nalbandian said first of all it is necessary to compare the statements of the Russian and Azerbaijani FMs and it will be clear how they are different from each other. The Azerbaijani side speaks about one or two points, pretending that the talk is about it. For many years it was stated that the principles developed by the three Co-Chairs, are on the negotiation table, they have been developed as a whole, they cannot be separated. The Co-Chairs issued statements on this, we have stated that they are in accordance with our approaches, we are ready to go to settlement based on those principles, the FM said.

FM Nalbandian said Armenias approach is in accordance with the approach of the international community and it is Azerbaijan that refuses to implement the agreements. He recalled that Azerbaijan refused from agreements on strengthening the trust mechanisms that were held in Vienna and were reaffirmed in St. Petersburg.

Asked whether Russia presented a new initiative over the conflict settlement, Nalbandian said if there is such thing, it will not be kept secret from the public.

He once again emphasized that the Azerbaijani side must be ready to negotiations, rather than pretend that it is ready. They have entered themselves into a blockade. They justify themselves before the public that they have the same approaches on certain issues as the international community. However, the reality is different, Edward Nalbandian said.








YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian-Greek business forum will be held in Yerevan in yearend 2017, foreign minister of Greece Nikos Kotzias told a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan on March 10.

An imbalance is seen in the Armenian-Greek relations, and the existing potential isnt used. With the purpose of deepening economic ties, a business forum is planned to be held in Yerevan with the participation of Greek businessmen to study investment opportunities in the end of 2017, the minister said.

The minister reassured the willingness of the Greek side in assisting the deepening of Armenias relations with the EU. Speaking on prospects of liberalizing the vise regime, the minister said it proves that Armenia is a part of the European culture and history, as well as the future of Europe.
Volkswagen Ag plead guilty to criminal charges in the emissions-cheating scandal in addition to $17.5 billion that the company already agreed to pay in settlements with car owners, dealers and for environmental cleanup

German automaker Volkswagen AG on Friday pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the emissions-cheating scandal, closing an important chapter in the saga that has rocked the company sice 2015.

The company in January agreed to plead guilty and pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil fines to settle charges that it defrauded the United States and conspired to violate the Clean Air Act by installing so-called defeat devices on diesel-powered cars that evaded emissions standards.

"Volkswagen deeply regrets the behavior that gave rise to the diesel crisis," Volkswagen spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said in a statement.

"The agreements that we have reached with the US government reflect our determination to address misconduct that went against all of the values Volkswagen holds so dear."

The settlement with the Justice Department also requires the company to hire an outside compliance monitor for three years.

The guilty plea entered Friday is in addition to $17.5 billion that the company already agreed to pay in settlements with car owners, dealers and for environmental cleanup.

One aspect of the case that remains unresolved is the fate of VW executive Oliver Schmidt who US authorities arrested in Miami in January, one of six company officials charged in the matter.

Prosecutors this week rejected defense arguments that Schmidt should be released pending the outcome of his case and described him as a flight risk. The other five company officials charged are believed to be in Germany.

Regulators in 2015 discovered that Volkswagen diesel cars marketed as clean in fact spewed up to 40 times the permissible limits of nitrogen oxide during normal driving, but this was hidden during emissions testing.

As many as 11 million vehicles sold worldwide were configured to cheat emissions tests.

The company developed the illegal technology in 2009 and, according to court documents, prosecutors believe senior employees attempted a coverup after learning of the illegal technology in 2015.
Exxon Mobil sought $12 billion in compensation from Venezuela in compensation for nationalizing a company project

A World Bank panel has overturned part of a ruling ordering Venezuela to pay $1.4 billion to ExxonMobil in compensation for nationalizing a company project 10 years ago.

In an 85-page ruling, the Washington-based International Centre For Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) agreed with Venezuela's argument appealing the amount of compensation to the US oil giant, and overturned that part of its 2014 decision.

The ICSID ruling was dated Thursday, but released on Friday.

ExxonMobil originally had sought $12 billion in compensation over the loss of what it said it had already invested and what it expected to reap from the Cerro Negro project, which was nationalized in 2007.

In October 2015, the three-member ICSID arbitration panel rejected ExxonMobil's arguments that Venezuela's action represented an illegal expropriation, but awarded the company payment as "just compensation" under an international investment treaty.

The ruling released on Friday cancels the portion of the original award that dealt with compensation for the Cerro Negro project.

"As far as we know, this is the largest annulment in ICSID history," said George Kahale III, who represented Venezuela.

"We were always confident in our legal position and are very pleased that the annulment committee agreed."

ExxonMobil did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.

Venezuela's oil ministry celebrated what it said was "an incontrovertible legal triumph."

A founding member of OPEC, Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, but its leftist government has been mired in a deepening political and economic crisis.

"We reaffirm to ExxonMobil and other international companies our willingness to continue working together on energy projects... within the framework of national and international law," the ministry said.

Venezuela, which withdrew from ICSID in 2012, still faces a slew of unresolved demands for compensation stemming from a wave of nationalizations during the government of the late president Hugo Chavez.
BATON ROUGE, La.As pretty much everyone in the adult industry must know by now, despite occasional claims to the contrary, it is not illegal to shoot sexually explicit content in any of the 50 United States. This includes, of course, Louisianaand all it takes to get a Bayou State gal (or guy) legally in front of the XXX cameras is a government-issued ID certifying that the person is over 18 years of age. At that point, she can engage in oral, vaginal and anal acts while partially dressed or even completely nude.

What she can't legally do, however, is get up on a stage in a Louisiana bar and take off her clothes, thanks to an amendment passed by the Louisiana legislature passed last June, to take effect August 1, 2016or at least, that was the case before three dancers filed a lawsuit challenging the statute, and a judge blocked its enforcement last October.

Specifically, the law states, "Subject to the provisions of Subsection D of this Section, entertainers whose breasts or buttocks are exposed to view shall perform only upon a stage at least eighteen inches above the immediate floor level and removed at least three feet from the nearest patron and shall be twenty-one years of age or older." Everything except the part in italics has been existing law in the state for several years; it's the "twenty-one years of age or older" that was added in June. (Funny story: One of those jackasses, state Sen. Kenny Havard, had also wanted to amend the law to set a maximum age of 28 for the dancers and a maximum weight of 160 pounds, but for some reason[!], that change was voted down.)

The lawsuit by Jane Does I, II and III, filed September 22, 2016, targets Commissioner Juana Marine-Lombard of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control under 42 U.S. Code 1983 and 1988, charging that, "under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia," Marine-Lombard violated the dancers' civil rights to practice their profession.

"Act No. 395 introduces age-based restrictions to Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:90(E) and 286(E) which did not exist prior to the enactment of Act No. 395," the Does' complaint charges. "Specifically, Act No. 395 prohibits adults who have reached the age of majority in Louisiana but who have not yet reached the age of twenty-one from performing as erotic dancers in establishments that are licensed pursuant to Title 26 of Louisianas Revised Statutes."

While the bill's author, Sen. Ronnie Johns, stated during consideration of the bill that it is "strictly an anti-human trafficking bill," the suit quotes other Louisiana legislators who clearly had a different motive.

"Representative Robby Carter, a supporter of Act No. 395, commented during a legislative session: 'We need to do something to get these people [to] recognize that theres another way of living, you know. I wish there was something we could do to make them [erotic dancers] go to church or something,'" the complaint states. "Representative Beryl Amedee, another supporter of Act No. 395, made the following statement to the Louisiana House of Representatives: 'Now I know a lot of people in the room are thinking of their daughters, their younger sisters, perhaps, and theyre thinking, "well I dont want my daughter doing that." But think about the girls who do these jobs, who dont have a dad, who dont have a big brother, who would say "I really dont want you doing that for a living, I dont want you in that environment." ... [Act No. 395 is] about trying to protect people from being in environments where theyre going to be taken advantage of.'"

But if there's one thing that should be obvious in the 21st century, it's that adult women don't want to be "protected" from their own choices by legislators with their own agendas.

One legislator who did seem to "get it" was Rep. Julie Stokes, who stated during the debate over Act 395, "Looking out over this body [the House of Representatives], Ive never been more repulsed to be part of it. I cant even believe the behavior in here. I think we need to call an end to this. I hear derogatory comments about women in this place regularly, I hear and I see women get treated differently than men .... That was utterly disrespectful and disgusting."

The complaint goes on to give personal details about each plaintiff, noting that one "began dancing at age eighteen"; that prior to her work as an erotic dancer, she "helped care for her disabled mother," working "multiple retail jobs that required her to work between 90-120 hours per week to meet her financial obligations." However, as an erotic dancer in New Orleans, she "sets her own work schedule," "highly values the scheduling control her vocation allows her, and she enjoys expressing herself through dancing" and "is able to earn enough money to meet her financial obligations, and put a portion of her income into a[n] ... Individual Retirement Account," which she was unable to do prior to working as a dancer. The other two plaintiffs have similar stories.

One of the plaintiffs' primary arguments in the case is that the age restriction on dancers runs afoul of the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of expression, which the U.S. Supreme Court stated, in its 1991 decision in Barnes v. Glen Theatre and in 2000, in City of Erie v. Pap's AM, applies to erotic dancenot to mention Louisiana's own Constitution, which "guarantees the same liberties granted by the First Amendment, and is designed to serve the same purpose and provide at least coextensive protection."

The suit also challlenges the law as being overbroad, since it would prevent 18, 19 and 20-year-olds from appearing nude in mainstream theater productions or other non-dance venues if the venue served alcohol. The plaintiffs also argue that the law violates their Fourteenth Amendment rights of due process and equal protection.

"Act No. 395 denies Plaintiffs the ability to engage in protected free expression on the basis of age, and serves no compelling, substantial, or otherwise sufficient government interest permitting or justifying these constitutional violations, nor does it serve any such interests in an adequately tailored manner," the complaint says. "Moreover, Act No. 395 serves no rational basis for discriminating against Plaintiffs on the basis of their age. Although the so-called purpose of Act No. 395 is to reduce human trafficking, there is no evidence that the Acts age restrictions will have any impact on human trafficking."

Just yesterday, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier issued his "Order and Reasons" for having issued the preliminary injunction blocking the law back in October. In his 41-page decision, the judge found that while Act 395 appears to be a "content-neutral restriction," and even though the state provided "sufficient evidence" that dancers under 21 years of age are at greater risk of falling prey to pimps and the like if they dance nude, the statute was nonetheless overbroad, in that it could apply to mainstream theatrical or dance productions in venues where the performers would be in no danger from outsiders.

"[T]he overbreadth doctrine of the First Amendment permits a facial challenge when 'a substantial number of [a statutes] applications are unconstitutional, judged in relation to the statutes plainly legitimate sweep'," the judge opined. "Plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success on their overbreadth claim because there is little doubt that Act No. 395 sweeps up a fair amount of constitutionally protected speech. Although overbreadth protections are more limited for conduct than speech, Act No. 395 still violates the First Amendment because it proscribes nudity for women younger than twenty-one in more settings than those where the risk of human trafficking is present. Act No. 395 could result in eighteen to twenty year-olds being precluded from participating in theater or similar artistic productions if such participation entails nudity."

The judge similarly found that the prohibition against exposing "breasts and buttocks" appeared to be unconstitutionally vague, and that the plaintiffs' rights would be "irreparably harmed" by enforcement of the statute.

What will happen next is unclear, as the state may decide to amend the statute to cure its problems, or it may proceed to trial. If it adopts the latter strategy, its first step is likely to appeal Judge Barbier's decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals which, while generally conservative, nonetheless struck down Texas' ban on sex toy sales in Reliable Consultants v. Earle, and so may be disposed to look favorably on the dancers' arguments.
The Constitutional Court in South Korea upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye on Friday. She has now been formally removed from office over a bribery and big business corruption scandal that dragged on for months. Park is the first democratically elected leader in South Korea to be kicked out of office. The nation's constitution states that presidential election shall be held in 60 days.

And now the question is, will they "lock her up"?

Early report from South Korean Yonhap News Agency:

The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye Friday, removing her from office after a 92-day leadership crisis and triggering a presidential election in the weeks to come. The ruling, which was announced by the court's acting chief and televised live, made Park the nation's first democratically elected leader to be ousted. She was impeached by parliament on Dec. 9 on charges of letting a close friend meddle in state affairs, colluding with her to extort money from conglomerates, and neglecting her duties during a 2014 ferry sinking that killed more than 300.

An election to pick her successor must be held within 60 days and many expect it to fall on May 9.

More at Reuters.

South Korean judges uphold President Park Geun-hye's impeachment, removing her from office https://t.co/uHHO1YtEzX  BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 10, 2017

(LEAD) Chronology of major events leading to Park's ouster https://t.co/RS5PDGUxTn  Yonhap News Agency (@YonhapNews) March 10, 2017

BREAKING: President Park Geun-hye is no longer president. She's just been fired by the Constitutional Court.  Sam Kim  (@samkimasia) March 10, 2017

South Korean president Park Geun-hye forced from office by constitutional court https://t.co/cPHA7LzfDg  The Guardian (@guardian) March 10, 2017

South Korea: Park Geun-hye's lawyer is saying that he will appeal the court's decision to impeach the president  Anna Fifield (@annafifield) March 10, 2017

Protests work. Organizing works. https://t.co/aIxjw7Prg5  People For Bernie (@People4Bernie) March 10, 2017
Two of the NSA's mass surveillance programs revealed by Edward Snowden are Prism (which give the NSA "bulk data" access to the servers of Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others) and Upstream (through which the NSA taps the internet's fiber optic backbones). Both are possible because of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires this year.



The NSA have come back to Congress for reauthorization of 702, with the support of both the outgoing Obama administration and the Trump administration. Members of the House and Senate committees that oversee 702 have renewed their longstanding requests for the most basic facts about these programs, such as number of Americans that the NSA is spying on through these programs.





The Obama administration stonewalled on this, and it looks like the Trump administration will as well. It also looks like the Republican Congress will reauthorize this black-box mass spying on Americans, just as the Democratic Congress did before them.



This isn't the first time lawmakers have been stonewalled on the issue. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had asked for the information in 2011, 2012, and 2014, and he's renewing the request again. Despite the lack of information, Congress has repeatedly renewed the programs even before Snowden revealed them. "I and other members of Congress have been seeking an answer to this question since 2011. We posed the question again in the context of the reauthorization of Section 702. It is now central to the debate this year over the reauthorization of the program, which you have described as your 'top legislative priority.'" Wyden wrote in a letter to Daniel Coats, Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence. Coats, however, has told Wyden he would "do everything I can" to "get you that number." However, Coats did not guarantee he would do it.



US spies still won't tell Congress the number of Americans caught in dragnet

[David Kravets/Ars Technica]
I returned from my recent trip to Vienna bringing back not only an obsession with Johann Georg Pinsel, but also with Isabella von Parma (1741-1763), who lived at the same time as the mysterious 18th century sculptor. Isabella was one of the most remarkable personalities of the 18th century, admired for her achievements in art, music, and philosophy. The reason I became fascinated with her, however, was an excerpt from a letter she wrote to her sister-in-law, Marie Christine of Austria. I am told that the day begins with God. I, however, begin the day by thinking of the object of my love, for I think of her incessantly.

I am once again struck by the narrow lenses through which we see women in history. In many books Isabella is repeatedly described as mad, tragic, or odd. People search for the roots of her melancholy moods in the family tree and discuss at length the mental problems of her father and her mothers cold attitude. What about the fact that princesses in the 18th century were little more than breeding mares, and Isabella had half a dozen miscarriages during her short marriage to Joseph II of Austria? The couple was under enormous pressure to produce a male offspring to the Hapsburgs.

In a letter to Marie Christine, she writes,

What should the daughter of a great prince expect? Her fate is unquestionably most unhappy. Born the slave of the peoples prejudices, she finds herself subjected to this weight of honours, these innumerable etiquettes attached to greatness In the end the effort is made to establish her. There she is condemned to abandon everything, her family, her countryand for whom? For an unknown person, whose character and manner of thinking she does not know sacrifice to a supposed public good, but in fact rather to the wretched policy of a minister who can find no other way for the two dynasties to form an alliance which he pronounces indissolubleand which, immediately it seems advantageous, is broken off*

Joseph, it must be said, experienced similar anxieties on the eve of his marriage, a desire for companionship mixed with the apprehension of marrying someone he hasnt even seen. But Joseph was taken with Isabella, especially with her erudition, wit and learning, even if he remained too immature to fully appreciate her. Remember, he was the same emperor who complained to Mozart that his music had too many notes.

By the time she was twenty, she was already impressively accomplished, having had written several treatises on education, philosophy and military strategy. She wrote music and directed plays, painted and created interior designs, some of which can still be seen at the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. The complex and rich personality of Isabella comes best of all in the letters she shared with Marie Christine between 1760 and 1763.

The confusion which reigns in a certain drawer which lives in my room, where are to be found together and without rhyme or reason a political tract, a pile of letters, a comic opera, a vaudeville, a treatise on education, a clavier part, some moral reflections. A sermon jostles a treatise on all types of foolishness, prayers are mixed up in a paper devoted to declaring my love to you, letters from the emperor muddle up with letters of a hundred persons who are indifferent to me, and with those letters which are so dear to me and constitute the sweetness of my life.*

Historians debate whether the relationship between Isabella and Marie Christine was more than platonic, but it seems like an irrelevant discussion to me. Prince Albert, Marie Christines husband, collected and preserved the letters after his wifes death as proof of Marie Christine being friends with such a brilliant personality as Isabella. (Apart from one letter, Marie Christines correspondence didnt survive.) But love can come in many forms and Isabellas letters are full of passion. When I read them, everything around me recedes, and all Im conscious of is the strength of her emotion and longing.

I am writing you again, cruel sister, though I have only just left you. I cannot bear waiting to know my fate, and to learn whether you consider me a person worthy of your love, or whether you would like to throw me into the river. I can think of nothing but that I am deeply in love. If I only knew why this is so, for you are so without mercy that one should not love you, but I cannot help myself.

My dear angel, my most precious treasure, my consolation, says Isabelle to Marie Christine. I am madly in love with you, virtuously or diabolically, I love you and I will love you to the grave.

Isabella lived but for a short time after writing that letter. She contracted smallpox and passed away at the age of twenty two. Realizing that she would soon die, she wrote to Marie Christine offering advice on how to navigate the complicated court life of Vienna and win the confidence of Maria Theresa. Isabellas death left the entire royal family in morning for far longer than etiquette required, and Joseph never fully recovered from losing his wife and companion.

As for Marie Christine, she must have followed Isabellas advice, because she was the only one of Maria Theresas daughters to make a love marriage. Her suitor was Prince Albert of Saxony (1738-1822), a handsome and impeccably educated man, but with neither riches nor throne. Their marriage was very happy, and with Marie Christines generous income, the couple amassed an impressive collection of art, now at the Albertina in Vienna, and build a palace in Brussels, where they resided until the revolution in 1792. The Royal Castle of Laeken is the current residence of the Belgian royal family.

Unfortunately, Isabellas letters arent translated into English, and the only full version is

Je meurs damour pour toi Lettres de Isabelle de Bourbon-Parme a larchiduchesse Marie-Christine 1760-1763. Edition etablie par Elisabeth Badinter. La Lettre et la Plume. Editions Tallandier, 2008. The women like most of the European nobility at the time used French, although a couple of Isabellas letters are written in German. Another source is Hrasky Josef. Die Personlichkeit der Infantin Isabella von Parma, Mittelungen des osterreichischen Straatsarchivs. 12. Wien, 1959, although Hrasky suppressed some of the raunchier letters. The princesses were not above discussing such mundane matters as hemorrhoids and chamber pots.

*The translated quotes I used in this article come from the excellent biography of Joseph II by Derek Beales, pp. 72-76.

First image: Isabella von Parma by Jean-Marc Nattier. Second: by Anton Raphael Mengs.
A Bombardier Transportation employee in Sweden has been arrested and others questioned by police in connection with contracts for a railway modernization project in Azerbaijan.

Swedish prosecutor Thomas Forsberg said the employee who was arrested is a Russian national who works for Bombardier Transportation in Sweden.

According to Forsberg, the investigation is based on allegations that bribes were given to Azerbaijan officials "in order to adapt a contract" to fit Bombardier.

The Russian employee is considered a flight risk and will remain in custody, Forsberg said.

U.K. shell company served as intermediary

The contracts in question were for signalling and IT equipment upgrades at 46 stations in Azerbaijan. The project was financed in large part by the World Bank and involved sums in the hundreds of millions.

The contract bid was led by the company's Russian affiliate, Bombardier Transportation (Signal) Ltd.

According to the Radio-Canada program Enquete, which had been investigating the contracts, the business structure under investigation by the Swedish authorities saw equipment built by Bombardier's Swedish affiliate for the project sold to a shell company in the United Kingdom called Multiserv Overseas.

The equipment was then sold to Bombardier's Russian affiliate at a steep markup.

Enquete said the costs were inflated by 400 per cent in some cases, according to documents obtained from Swedish public broadcaster SVT and TT News.

In one instance, the documents show signalling equipment was sold to Multiserv for around $19 million US.

Multiserv then sold the same equipment to Bombardier's Russian affiliate for $104 million, a markup of $85 million, the documents show.

Forsberg said it's believed Multiserv kept some of the profits and the balance was passed long to officials in Azerbaijan as bribes in exchange for "having favoured the Bombardier contract."

Belize-based company involved

Bombardier officials told SVT and TT News last month that Multiserv supplied equipment delivery logistics and other elements related to the railway project.

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The officials said the company had been verified and checked out.

Radio-Canada said its own investigation found that Multiserv is owned by a company based in Belize.

The company has business interests in a number of other tax havens and links to Russian businessmen, Radio-Canada reported.

Radio-Canada requested comment from Bombardier about its findings, but the company has yet to respond.

Bombardier Transportation in Sweden issued a news release Friday confirming that a number of its employees have been questioned.

"At this time, it is premature to make any statement as to the outcome of the investigation and proceedings," spokesperson Claas Belling said in an email.

"We will continue to co-operate fully with the Swedish authorities and will provide additional information when available and appropriate. As always, we are committed to operating in full compliance with all legal rules and requirements and our own high ethical standards."

Questions in Parliament

News of the bribery investigation in Sweden sparked questions in Parliament on Friday about Canada's pledge last month to lend Bombardier $372.5 million.

Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains said the investment was "critical" and the government did its due diligence in advance of the agreement.

"This investment that we made was for the aerospace sector, a critical sector in the Canadian economy that contributes over $28 billion to our overall growth, that contributes over 211,000 jobs to our economy," he said.

Bains said his ministry is monitoring developments in Sweden, but said it would be premature for the government to consider suspending its agreement with Bombardier.
This famous (and super cool) rock formation just collapsed into the ocean

Sheesh, yall. One day, were feeling all upbeat and peppy about this amazing planet, and the next day were mourning the loss of one of the worlds most famous rock formations. In case you havent heard, Maltas famous Azure Window collapsed into the ocean. As Cosmo reports, a heavy storm swept through the area earlier this week, completely decimating what we deemed one of the 10 reasons to see the world.

According to NPR, a 2013 study declared the collapse of Maltas landmark  referred to by the Maltese as Tieqa tad-Dwejra  as inevitable due to ongoing erosion, but didnt predict it for decades to come.

If youre a regular Game of Thrones viewer, youll might recognize the picturesque oceanside formation from the show.

Heres a look at the remaining storm-ravaged rock:

According to the Times of Malta, Maltese resident Roger Chessell witnessed the natural rock arch collapse in person.

There was a big raging sea beneath the window, he said. Suddenly, the arch collapsed into the sea with a loud whoomph, throwing up a huge spray. By the time the spray had faded, the stack had gone too.

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It is a very sad day for Malta. The iconic Azure Window collapsed this morning, succumbing to the forces of nature and the passage of time. pic.twitter.com/ovc8Yj9gWH  VisitMalta (@VisitMalta) March 8, 2017

Both locals and travelers took to social media to express sadness over the natural limestone formation, post their favorite photos:

Blown away by the news the Azure Window in Malta is now destroyed. Glad I was able to see it 6 months ago #azurewindow pic.twitter.com/3QpMDnwOqI  Melissa O'Grady (@TurnKeySocialMe) March 8, 2017

Bye Bye Tieqa. The best shot I ever took of the iconic landscape. Always wanted to give it another shot #Dwejra#AzureWindow#Maltapic.twitter.com/UvOFGpPm5m  Alan Grech (@Alan_Grech) March 8, 2017

As one of Europes most recognizable locations, the Azure Window stood on Gozo Island, the second largest in the Maltese archipelago. It seems that people all around the world are in mourning over one of natures most wonderful creations, including Maltas Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who referred to the aftermath of the storm as heartbreaking.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras waits to welcome his Maltese counterpart Joseph Muscat at the Maximos Mansion in Athens, Greece March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday there had been significant progress with lenders on a bailout review, and that he hoped for a comprehensive deal by April.

Tsipras, speaking after a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, said he expected peace talks on ethnically-split Cyprus to remain stalled until after a Turkish referendum on April 16.

Creditors started fresh negotiations with Athens last week on signing off on a new bailout review under the terms of the country's 86 billion euro ($91 billion) financing facility.

(Reporting By Renee Maltezou)
Snap went public on the NYSE on March 2nd. Source: AP

Last week Snap (SNAP), the parent company of the Snapchat app, one of the most popular social networks, held its initial public offering to immense fanfare and hype. Almost immediately, the stock shot up by $10 from the $17 price it had initially been priced as investors scrambled not to miss out on the next Facebook, which has almost quadrupled its value in the past five years.

While metaphorical lines were out the door, many institutional and retail investors did not partake in the frenzy. The reason? Snap isnt yet part of the most popular index, the S&P 500, whose components are frequently purchased through an index fund or ETF. Since these index funds and ETFs are how huge numbers of people invest, admittance into the index is a big deal.

However, S&P Index Chair David Blitzer tells Yahoo Finance that as things stand right now, its not going to happen. They dont have profits at this point. Right now Snap is not eligible. According to SEC filings, the company posted a net loss of $514 million last year.

In addition to having been profitable, there are a few more factors for a company. The main ones: It has to be large, $5.3 billion or bigger; at least 50% of its shares have to be public (not preferred stock held by founders, for example), and liquid, with its yearly shares traded at least equalling its market cap; and it has to be domiciled in the US and traded on a major exchange. And when a new one goes on, one often come off.

With a market capitalization of $26 billion and hot trading, Snap will likely have no issues meeting many of these criteria. But even if Snap becomes profitable, it will be some time before investors find out the answer. Getting on the index usually takes at the minimum six months, but a year is typical. If it were going to be expedited it still has 5-and-three-quarter months to go, Blitzer told Yahoo Finance. But that doesnt mean its going to be expedited.

In the end theres no hard and fast formula at Standard & Poorsits up to the committee to decide. And with Snaps unique corporate governance, which has troubled many potential investors, the committee may decide to bar the company, something that groups like the Council of Institutional Investors have recently advocated. Unusually, Snap issued shares stripped of voting rights in its IPO, issuing Class A shares with no votes. Snap Class B shares, which have one vote each, will be offered to execs and pre-IPO investors, and Class C shares, with 10 votes each, are exclusively held by Snaps CEO Evan Spiegel and CTO Bobby Murphy. This means the two co-founders have most of the power.

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While there is no precedent for a company issuing no public voting shares, there are a few companies that do have non-voting stock that are still listed on the S&P 500. Back in 2014, Alphabet announced that it would issue vote-less class C shares (GOOG) in a stock split. This left the index in a pickle.

We could have said we dont want Class C, said Blitzer. In that case, we would have been telling an index fund: Sell the Class Cs and turn around and buy Class A. And that would be a big trade. Big trade is an understatement, as Google was one of the biggest companies in the index. Had we done that, we [would have been] telling everyone to sell 1.25% of the index and buy it back. Index funds dont like big trades.

Instead, says Blitzer, S&P just changed the index after discussing the situation with ETF and fund managers. Thats when we changed the rules to allow multiple share classes in the S&P. (The S&P 500 index has both GOOG shares, which are non-voting, and GOOGL shares, which do have voting rights.)

According to Blitzer, this is unusual. There are only five different cases of multiple share classes in the index. However, dealing with a new non-voting class for one of its biggest and most important companies is not the same as a new upstart company run by a 26-year-old listing only non-voting shares.

For now, says Blitzer, its a moot point. The methodology requires the company be making money under GAAP. And Snap is not making money.

Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. Got a tip? Send it to tips@yahoo-inc.com.

Read more:

Multibillion-dollar Chinese play for American insurer likely doomed

We still dont know how much Trumpcare will cost

Snapchats privacy standards lag Facebook, Apple, Google

Trumpcare to defund Planned Parenthood
ITEXPO Opens call for papers for February 2018 Event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Trumbull, CT  March 8, 2017  TMC today announced the call for papers has opened for ITEXPO, held February 14-16, 2018 at the Greater Ft. Lauderdale/Broward Country Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ITEXPO is the only event dedicated to exploring communications solutions for the enterprise mid market, resellers and service providers. ITEXPO is the annual meeting point where buyers of communications hardware and services can sit face-to-face with 100s of manufacturers and solutions providers in one place, for three incredibly productive days. As one of the first events of the year, ITEXPO offers speakers and panelists a unique opportunity to speak directly to thousands of attendees who are at a critical point in their spending cycle, said Rich Tehrani, TMC CEO and conference chairman. ITEXPO is a powerful forum dedicated to fostering communication, innovation and the development of new business partnerships. Were eager to build next years agenda and look forward to exploring new topics presented by the industrys thought-leaders. Although all submission topics will be considered for ITEXPO, conference organizers will be most interested in proposals featuring a special focus on the following topics:

Artificial Intelligence and Automated Communications

Brand Reputation/Management

Business Process Automation

Business Continuity Planning and Management

Call Recording

Cloud Services

Communications APIs and Service Integration

Conferencing/Collaboration

Customer Engagement/Interaction

Customer Experience

Data Analytics and Business Intelligence

Digital Transformation

Government Solutions

Hosted and Cloud-based services

Fraud and Identity Management

IP Communications Development Trends

Mid-Market Business IP Communications

Mobility

Monetization Opportunities

Managed Services

MSP Trends and Solutions

Network and Cloud Management/Optimization

Open Source

Regulation

SDN / NFV

SD-WAN

Security

Service Provider/Carrier Trends and Solutions

SIP/SIP Trunking and Connectivity Solutions

Skype for Business

Social Business

Trends and the Future of Communications

VAR/Reseller Strategies

Video Conferencing/Telepresence

Wireless/Cellular Communications

Wi-Fi/WLAN

WebRTC/Real Time Web Solutions

To submit a proposal, interested speakers should complete the online form by April 17, 2017 here: https://www.itexpo.com/east/call-for-papers.aspx. ITEXPO speakers must adhere 100 percent to TMCs no commercialism policy. If speakers cannot avoid commercialism, please do not submit a proposal.

Questions regarding speaking opportunities at ITEXPO should be sent to Dave Rodriguez at 203-852-6800 x146 or Erik Linask at 203-852-6800 x284.

For more information or to register for ITEXPO, contact [email protected]. For media inquiries, contact Jessica Seabrook. Companies interested in exhibiting, sponsorship or advertising packages for ITEXPO should contact TMC's Joe Fabiano at 203-852-6800 x132 or Maureen Gambino at 203-852-6800 x109.



For the latest ITEXPO news, updates and information follow the event on Twitter at @ITEXPO.

About TMC

Global buyers rely on TMCs content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. This presents branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities for vendors/sellers.

TMCs Marketplaces:

Unique, turnkey Online Communities boost search results, establish market validation, elevate brands and thought leadership, while minimizing ad-blocking.

Custom Lead Programs uncover sales opportunities and build databases.

In-Person and Online Events boost brands, enhance thought leadership and generate leads.

Publications, Display Advertising and Newsletters bolster brand reputations.

Custom Content provides expertly ghost-crafted blogs, press releases, articles and marketing collateral to help with SEO, branding, and overall marketing efforts.

Comprehensive Event and Road Show Management Services help companies meet potential clients and generate leads face-to-face.

For more information about TMC and to learn how we can help you reach your marketing goals, please visit www.tmcnet.com.

Media and Analyst Contact:

Jessica Seabrook

Marketing Director

TMC

203-852-6800 x 170

[email protected]

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Edited by Alicia Young
Reuters/ David Ryder

Starbucks released a letter from a market research firm that refutes that the coffee giants brand perception dropped after the company vowed to hire 10,000 refugees in response to President Trumps travel ban order.

The market research firm, Kantar Millward Brown, has worked with Starbucks since 2013 to commission brand perception insights on behalf of the coffee chain. The study is conducted online with a nationally representative sample of adults 18 and older. They didnt find any substantive changes to the Starbucks brand, according to a letter they sent the company.

Kantar Millward Brown has provided continuous Brand Equity measurement for Starbucks since 2013. Following the recent release of results from a YouGov Brand Index Survey, several news organizations have reported that Starbucks is suffering from consumer backlash related to its announcement to hire 10,000 refugees globally over the next five years. Such backlash or declines are not substantiated in our own measurement of Starbucks Brand Health and Consumer Sentiment, Brian James, the president of Kantar Millard Brown, wrote in a letter to Matt Ryan, Starbucks chief strategy officer.

The letter continued: Kantar Millward Brown has conducted on-going monthly measurement of Starbucks Brand Perceptions and Consumer Sentiment toward the Brand and saw no such impact in February 2017. In fact, in February 2017after the announcementwe did not observe any substantive impact on Customer Consideration, Future Visitation Intent or Brand Perceptions or any other key performance metrics for the Starbucks brand.

In mid-February, YouGov released a report that Starbucks (SBUX) brand perception had fallen by two-thirds after Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz released his letter promising to hire refugees.

YouGov

More recently, Bloomberg News reported that xAd  a market insights firm that uses customers mobile phone apps to track foot traffic  showed Starbucks share of foot traffic dropped to 11% in February, down from 12% in January. xAds methodology uses location data from ad requests from 100,000 mobile apps each month. A visit to a location is only recorded when the app is open and the ad has been served.

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On Jan. 29, Schultz sent out a company-wide letter following Trumps decision to sign an executive order temporarily halted citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the US. (That order has been stymied in court. This week, Trump signed a new travel ban executive order that excludes Iraq.)

In the letter, Schultz detailed plans to hire 10,000 refugees in the countries where the coffee chain operates. This was met with some backlash on social media, with some users calling for a boycott of Starbucks.

We have a long history of hiring young people looking for opportunities and a pathway to a new life around the world. This is why we are doubling down on this commitment by working with our equity market employees as well as joint venture and licensed market partners in a concerted effort to welcome and seek opportunities for those fleeing war, violence, persecution and discrimination, Schultz wrote.

He continued: There are more than 65 million citizens of the world recognized as refugees by the United Nations, and we are developing plans to hire 10,000 of them over five years in the 75 countries around the world where Starbucks does business. And we will start this effort here in the U.S. by making the initial focus of our hiring efforts on those individuals who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel in the various countries where our military has asked for such support.

Afterward, the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks started trending on Twitter, with some criticizing the company for not hiring 10,000 veterans. Starbucks already has a program in place dedicated to hiring military veterans.

Others, however, showed their support for the coffee giant on social media.



Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.



Read more:
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) logos are seen outside of a branch in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, May 26, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares in Toronto-Dominion Bank (Toronto:TD.TO - News) on Friday had their biggest one day decline since December 2014 after CBC News reported that employees of the bank were being pressured to meet high sales revenue goals, traders said.

In an emailed response to Reuters regarding the CBC story, Toronto-Dominion Bank said, "The environment described in the media report is very much at odds with how we run our business, and we don't recognize it from our own perspective, experience or assessments."

Shares in TD fell as much as 5 percent to C$66.39.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham)
Coal_mine 16-9

Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TECK.B)(NYSE:TECK) enjoyed a massive rally in 2016, but the stock has given back a hefty chunk of the gains, and investors are wondering if more downside is on the way.

Let?s take a look at Canada?s largest diversified mining company to see if it should be in your portfolio.

All about commodities

Teck produces metallurgical coal, copper, and zinc. It is also a 20% partner in the Fort Hills oil sands development.

Coal wasn?t supposed to do much last year, but a policy shift in China triggered a rally that contributed significantly to Teck?s outsized gains.

What happened?

Last March, the Chinese government decided to restrict the number of days a mine can operate per year, setting the limit at 276. As the changes went into effect, production fell and the impact on the market turned out to be stronger than expected.

In the summer, the met coal spot price was about US$90 per tonne. By early November, it had surged above the US$300 mark.

China then reversed its position in an effort to calm the market, and that has definitely had an impact. Coal dropped as much as 45% from the November high, and analysts are trying to decide where it will settle.

Copper and zinc also had strong runs in 2016, and those moves have continued into 2017. Recent action suggests the two metals might be taking a breather, and pundits are split on whether or not the upward trend can continue.

What about oil?

Oil might be the biggest risk for Teck in 2017. Fort Hills is expected to begin production by the end of the year, which means the site should stop being a cash drain on the capital plan and begin to generate revenue.

Whether or not it will be profitable is the big question.

Investors don?t have any way of knowing what the true operating costs will be until the facility actually starts producing and Teck reports the results.

If oil can extend its 2016 rally through 2017, Teck might pick up a new tailwind on positive expectations. If oil tanks again, Teck could get hit hard as investors start to worry about the ability of Fort Hills to make money.

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Should you buy?

Teck?s pullback from $35 per share to $26 might look enticing, but downside risks remain, especially if copper, zinc, and oil decide to roll over in the coming months.

At this point, I would stay on the sidelines until there is a clear indication the commodities have started another strong move to the upside.

Six "pro" strategies for today's highly uncertain market

Motley Fool Canada's $250,000-real-money-portfolio service, Motley Fool Pro, is currently closed to new members. But lead advisor Jim Gilles is doing something special for investors who are worried about the market and where it will head in 2017.

He's revealing the six strategies he uses in Pro to help members guardrail their portfolios and make money in up, down, and sideways markets.

For a limited time you can download this "Pro 2017 Survival Guide" free of charge by simply clicking here.

More reading

Fool contributor Andrew Walker has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Six "pro" strategies for today's highly uncertain market

Motley Fool Canada's $250,000-real-money-portfolio service, Motley Fool Pro, is currently closed to new members. But lead advisor Jim Gilles is doing something special for investors who are worried about the market and where it will head in 2017.

He's revealing the six strategies he uses in Pro to help members guardrail their portfolios and make money in up, down, and sideways markets.

For a limited time you can download this "Pro 2017 Survival Guide" free of charge by simply clicking here.

Fool contributor Andrew Walker has no position in any stocks mentioned.
The White House foretold the next big battle over health care reform this week, in a strange attack on a government agency thats actually one of the most competent in Washington.

During one of his daily briefings, White House spokesman Sean Spicer assailed the credibility of the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan group of professional analysts that estimates the cost of proposed legislation. Whats up with that?

Heres what: The CBO is in the process of scoring the health-reform bill officially unveiled this month by House Speaker Paul Ryan, which is supposed to repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act and impose new laws instead. Trump backs the Ryan plan and recently tweeted that the Republican effort to repeal and replace the ACA will end with a beautiful picture. He has also promised that every American will have insurance under his plan.

But the picture is going to get uglier before it gets prettier. The Ryan plan would eliminate all the new taxes passed under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, which almost certainly means it will add more to the national debt. Obamacare, by contrast, essentially paid for itself through those taxes. The Ryan plan would still provide subsidies to help lower-income Americans buy health insurance, but theyd be less generous than those offered under Obamacare. That means fewer people will use subsidies to buy health insurance. The Ryan bill would also cut federal spending on Medicaid, the health care program for the poor, pushing even more people off health insurance.

Some private analyses have attempted to predict what the CBOs much-awaited predictions will be. The Brookings Institution, for instance, thinks the Ryan plan will reduce the number of Americans with health insurance during the next decade by 15 million or more. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget points out that the tax cuts in the Ryan bill would deplete federal coffers by about $60 billion per year. The CBO is usually considered the official arbiter of such estimates, with sound accounting principles meant to assure credible numbers when it comes to the use of taxpayer dollars.

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How wrong (or right) was the CBO?

Spicer, presumably anticipating bad news, tried to argue that the CBO was way off on its Obamacare estimates back in 2010, when the law passed. If youre looking at the CBO for accuracy, youre looking in the wrong place, Spicer said. They were way, way off the last time in every aspect of how they scored and projected Obamacare. By that logic, the CBOs estimates on the Republican replacement ought not be credible, either.

But Spicers wrong; the CBO actually did a pretty good job on the ACA, especially considering that the law endured unanticipated Supreme Court challenges, years of bad publicity and dreadful technical glitches when it first rolled out in 2013. In 2015, the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund analyzed the CBOs predictions regarding the ACA from a few months before the law passed in 2010. Despite the many unforeseen factors surrounding the laws rollout, Commonwealth found, the CBOs forecast was reasonably accurate.

CBO predicted, for instance, that 7 million Americans would sign up for subsidies to help purchase insurance during the ACAs first year. The actual number was 6 million. So CBO overshot by 17%. But it was still the most accurate of 5 major estimates. As for cost, CBO estimated the price tag for subsidies in the first year would be $19 billion; the actual cost turned out to be $15 billion: Again, too high, but only one of the four other projections was closer.

Spicer says the White Houses own projections on the Republican plan are likely to be more accurate than the CBOs. But this would be the same White House that has made dubious claims about federal wiretaps on Candidate Trump last year, and peddled myriad other alternative factson voter fraud nobody else can find, an escalating murder rate that in reality is declining, terrorist attacks that didnt happen, and the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan, even though Obama won by bigger margins, twice.

So the next phase of the Obamacare repeal will pit good-faith estimates on cost and coverage from the CBO against alternative facts from the Trump White House. Where the Ryan legislation goes from there probably depends on whether theres a public backlash once the CBO figures are out. Ryan already faces blanket opposition to his plan from Democrats and select opposition from some Republicans, with passage far from guaranteed.

A key factor is whether Trump can use the persuasive powers of the presidency to unify Republicans and neutralize doubt among voters. Trump relishes conflict, and he might think that picking a fight with the CBO will pay off among the portion of voters who distrust everything about the government. But we have to believe something when it comes to actual legislation that will affect real people, and GOP efforts to repeal Obamacare could turn out to be a test of the power of alternative facts. Starting any moment.

Read more:

Why Trumps tax cuts are looking iffy

Trumps absurd claim about the US labor force

Trump now owns Obamacare

Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman
Hundreds of Haitian migrants who travelled to Tijuana, Mexico hoping to cross the U.S. border and be granted asylum say they're now setting their sights on Canada.

Radio-Canada went to the border city to speak with dozens of migrants, who have the support of several groups that want to bring them to Toronto. However, this city is already feeling the pressure of an influx of would-be refugees in its shelter system.

Rony Desir, the coordinator of the Haiti House of Greater Toronto, said he's counting on Canadian kindness to get the asylum seekers into the country.

"We know all of our citizens in Canada have a big heart," he said.

Desir has helped launch a petition that calls on the federal government to allow more migrants into the country on humanitarian grounds.

Humanitarian groups estimate there are between 5,000 and 13,000 Haitians in Mexico, many who are in Tijuana.

Rosemond Dorelus and his five-year-old son are among the many migrants who spent several months getting to Mexico from Brazil. Previously, the U.S. government had been allowing a small number of Haitians to cross the border, he said, but that appears to have stopped now that President Donald Trump is in office.

Now, Dorelus said he's not sure if he should risk crossing the border.

"We don't know when we're going to get through, or how we're going to get through," he said in French.

Immigration lawyer Joel Etienne said it could be difficult to get into Canada, too, as the federal government hasn't announced any plans to allow a large number of Haitians into the country  even if they were privately sponsored by Haitian communities that have done well here.

Etienne also warned that the asylum seekers are in a "precarious situation" in Tijuana, a city that has a violent reputation and where they don't speak the language.

Father Mike Pace, of St. Benedict Parish and the Archdiocese of Toronto, runs a shelter in Tijuana where he helps many of the Haitians, including some who are completely out of money by the time they make it to northern Mexico.

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He calls the situation a "humanitarian crisis."

More refugees using city shelters

Meantime in Toronto, city officials have been keeping a close eye on the number of would-be refugees arriving in recent months.

On any given night, shelter staff say there are some 877 refugees using city-run shelters  though that number could be higher, as nobody is required to provide their immigration status to receive help in Toronto, which is a designated sanctuary city.

Not all of those refugees have just arrived in the city, but there has been a major increase over the same time last year.

Mayor John Tory recently asked the federal and provincial governments for more support to settle the refugees, and on Thursday, city council welcomed about $100,000 in provincial funding for its newcomer office.

On Wednesday, Tory said he recently met with the immigration minister and is "very hopeful" there will be some new funding for the city in the upcoming federal budget.

Coun. Joe Cressy said he supports welcoming more to Toronto  "When one country closes its borders, others must do more to open their own," he said  but cautioned the city's shelters are already running at full capacity.

He said the city, which axed 10 shelter worker positions in its latest budget, needs to step up.

"Should the federal government provide increased support given the refugee influx? Absolutely. Should the city of Toronto be cutting shelter staff at the very same time? Absolutely not."

Groups supporting the Haitians stuck in Tijuana, meanwhile, are set to hold a meeting later Friday to discuss their next steps.
London police seized weapons, including a sawed-off shotgun and a crossbow, along with cocaine and marijuana after a raid on a Bridle Path home Wednesday.

Members of the guns and drug unit executed the search warrant. A 26-year-old man and a 25-year-old man, both from London, face a battery of weapons and drug charges.

Police also seized a replica machine pistol, a pellet gun, .86 grams of crack cocaine, 11 grams of marijuana, 10 rounds of .22 calibre ammunition and six spent .22 calibre casings.
By Gabriela Baczynska and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The leaders of the European Union delivered a withering snub to Poland's right-wing government on Thursday by steamrolling its objections and reappointing former Polish premier Donald Tusk to chair their summits. Tusk's successor as prime minister Beata Szydlo, acting on orders from her party boss and long-time Tusk adversary Jaroslaw Kaczynski, had vowed to stop him securing a second 30-month term. But the other 27 leaders wasted no time in moving to a cold-blooded vote in which she was the lone objector. Warsaw portrayed the issue as one of fundamental principle, in which vital national interests had been ignored by a Brussels machine dominated by "German diktat". Its crushing defeat showed how far the biggest of the ex-communist states that joined the EU after the Cold War appears isolated, even in Eastern Europe. The row, albeit driven by Polish domestic politics, clouded attempts at the meetings in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to forge a common front as Britain prepares to deliver its formal notice that it will exit the bloc in 2019. Kaczynski said the vote showed the EU was run by Germany and was trampling on national interests: "If the EU does not abandon this road, it will be consigned to history," he said in Warsaw. Hours after the vote on Tusk, Szydlo refused to sign off on the official record of summit "conclusions" -- a routine roundup of endorsements and exhortations on economic, immigration and foreign policies. It was signed by the other 27, however, and EU officials said Poland's rejection did not affect the outcome. Szydlo had first tried to get the other leaders to postpone a decision on Tusk but found no backing. They gave her time to repeat her reasons for withholding her support, citing Tusk's criticism from Brussels of her government's policies - policies many in the EU see as a threat to democracy. But Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who holds the rotating EU chair, moved swiftly to record a 27-1 vote to reappoint the 59-year-old Tusk. Tusk had left the room during the discussion and was clapped back in by all but Szydlo, according to people who were present. He will play a key role over the next two years in overseeing Brexit negotiations with London. Prime Minister Theresa May was attending her last summit before launching the process. Tusk, who led a centrist government for seven years until 2014, offered an olive branch to Szydlo, telling the Council in broadcast comments that he would work with the leaders "without any exceptions - because I am committed to European unity". He urged Warsaw to be "reasonable" and not "burn bridges" with EU allies and said he would work to avoid its "isolation". EAST-WEST DIVIDE The leaders will meet again on Friday, minus May, to prepare for a "unity" summit to be held in Rome on March 25, the 60th anniversary of the treaty that laid the EU's foundation. The row with Poland has highlighted a deepening split between eastern members reluctant to cede new-found national freedoms to Brussels and the richer western states that want to deepen EU integration in the hope it can boost prosperity and security and thus stem the rise of Brexit-inspired euroskeptics. Talk of a "multi-speed" Europe has intensified in recent months. Germany's Angela Merkel and other leaders say allowing willing states to pull closer together is crucial to the EU's survival, but wary easterners fear they could be left behind. Tusk said leaders agreed to press ahead with free trade pacts despite "protectionist tendencies" elsewhere - a reference to concerns about new U.S. President Donald Trump. They also pledged continued support - and possible EU and NATO membership - to Balkan states where they are worried about growing influence from Russia. The leaders also reviewed plans to curb illegal migration from Libya to Italy, as numbers crossing rise. (Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Warsaw and Philip Blenkinsop, Waverly Colville, Jan Strupczewski, Francesco Guarascio, Julia Fioretti, Robert-Jan Bartunek, Alissa de Carbonnel, Elizabeth Piper, Jean-Baptiste Vey, Andreas Rinke, Noah Barkin and Farah Salih in Brussels; Editing by Noah Barkin and Mark Trevelyan)
By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Three families who helped shelter former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden in Hong Kong in 2013 after his mass leak of information about surveillance programs have asked Canada for asylum, their lawyer said on Friday. The families - three Sri Lankan adults, a Filipina, and three stateless children - have had long-pending asylum claims in Hong Kong that they fear may soon be rejected, lawyer Marc-Andre Seguin said in a phone interview from Hong Kong. Seguin said the families had been thrust into the spotlight after the September release of the Oliver Stone film "Snowden" which referred to their role in Snowden's flight from the United States in 2013 and, eventually, to Russia. Seguin said the families and Hong Kong-based lawyer Robert Tibbo, who introduced his clients to Snowden, now face increasingly adverse circumstances in Hong Kong. They said that they have been "actively sought by Sri Lankan operatives" in recent months and fear for their safety in Hong Kong, Seguin said. Reuters could not independently verify their stories. A spokeswoman for Canada's immigration minister said his office does not comment on current or possible cases and could not confirm or deny having received the applications. Snowden's leaks of classified information about government surveillance programs caused an international furor over the reach of U.S. spy operations. His defenders see him as a whistleblower who exposed the extent of government snooping on citizens. He has been allowed to remain in Russia for another three years and will next year qualify to apply for Russian citizenship, his Russian lawyer was quoted as saying in January. (Additional reporting by Andrea Hopkins; Editing by Frances Kerry)
By Joyce Lee and Cynthia Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Constitutional Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving the country's conglomerates at a time of rising tensions with North Korea and China. The ruling sparked protests from hundreds of Park's supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court, and a festive rally by those who had demanded her ouster who celebrated justice being served. "We did it. We the citizens, the sovereign of this country, opened a new chapter in history," Lee Tae-ho, the leader of a movement to oust Park that has held mostly peaceful rallies in downtown involving millions, told a large gathering in Seoul. Park becomes South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of paralysis and turmoil over the corruption scandal that also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in detention and on trial. A snap presidential election will be held within 60 days. Park did not appear in court, and a spokesman said she would not be making any comment. She also would not leave the presidential Blue House residence on Friday. "Park is not leaving the Blue House today," Blue House spokesman Kim Dong Jo told Reuters. Park was stripped of her powers after parliament voted to impeach her but has remained in the president's official compound. The court's acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the constitution and law "throughout her term," and despite the objections of parliament and the media, she had concealed the truth and cracked down on critics. Park has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing. The ruling to uphold parliament's Dec. 9 vote to impeach her marks a dramatic fall from grace of South Korea's first woman president and daughter of Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee. Both her parents were assassinated. Park, 65, no longer has immunity and could now face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power in connection with allegations of conspiring with her friend, Choi Soon-sil. Graphic: Who's Who in Korea scandal http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/SOUTHKOREA-POLITICS/010030H812T/SOUTHKOREA-POLITICS.jpg MARKETS RISE Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was appointed acting president and will remain in that post until the election. He called on Park's supporters and opponents to put their differences aside to prevent deeper division. "It is time to accept, and close the conflict and confrontation we have suffered," Hwang said in a televised speech. A liberal presidential candidate, Moon Jae-in, is leading in opinion polls to succeed Park, with 32 percent support in one poll released on Friday. Hwang, who has not said whether he will seek the presidency, leads among conservatives, none of whom has more than single-digit poll ratings. "Given Park's spectacular demise and disarray among conservatives, the presidential contest in May is the liberals' to lose," said Yonsei University professor John Delury. Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign, after the U.S. military this month started deploying the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in South Korea in response to North Korea's stepped-up missile and nuclear tests. Beijing has vigorously protested against the deployment, which was agreed last year between Washington and Seoul, fearing its radar could see into its missile deployments. China has curbed travel to South Korea and targeted Korean companies operating in the mainland, prompting retaliatory measures from Seoul. The U.S. military said on Friday it would keep delivering THAAD components, separating the issue from South Korea's internal political crisis. The new U.S. administration has been keen to install the system as quickly as possible due to concerns that a new government in Seoul could block the deployment. "We have a strong relationship and will continue to work with South Korea," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. "It's a domestic issue in which the United States takes no position in the outcome of that election." The Seoul market's benchmark KOSPI index <.KS11> and the won currency rose after the ruling. The prospect of a new president in the first half of this year instead of prolonged uncertainty would buoy domestic demand as well as the markets, said Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong. "The hope is that this will allow the country to have a new leader that can address long-standing challenges such as labor market reforms and escalated geopolitical tensions," he said. Park was accused of colluding with her friend Choi and a former presidential aide, both of whom have been on trial, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives. The court said Park had "completely hidden the fact of (Choi's) interference with state affairs." Park was also accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group for government favors, including backing a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that was seen as supporting family succession and control over the country's largest "chaebol," or conglomerate. Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee has been accused of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal and is in detention. His trial began on Thursday. He and Samsung have denied wrongdoing. Graphic: South Korea's impeachment - http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/SOUTHKOREA-POLITICS/010030NC1EQ/SOUTHKOREA-POLITICS.jpg 'COMMON CRIMINAL' The scandal and verdict have exposed fault lines in a country long divided by Cold War politics. While Park's conservative supporters clashed with police outside the court, elsewhere most people welcomed her ouster. A recent poll showed more than 70 percent supported her impeachment. Hundreds of thousands of people have for months been gathering at peaceful rallies in Seoul every weekend to call for Park to step down. On Friday, hundreds of Park's supporters, many of them elderly, tried to break through police barricades at the courthouse. Police said one 72-year-old man was taken to hospital with a head injury and died. The circumstances of the second death were being investigated. Six people were injured, protest organizers said. Police blocked the main thoroughfare running through downtown Seoul in anticipation of bigger protests. Park will be making a tragic and untimely departure from the Blue House for the second time in her life. In 1979, having served as acting first lady after her mother was killed by a bullet meant for her father, she and her two siblings left the presidential compound after their father was killed. This time, she could end up in jail. Prosecutors have named Park as an accomplice in two court cases linked to the scandal, suggesting she is likely to be investigated. North Korean state media wasted little time labeling Park a criminal. "She had one more year left as 'president' but, now she's been ousted, she will be investigated as a common criminal," the North's state KCNA news agency said shortly after the court decision. Graphic: Falls from grace around the world - http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/SOUTHKOREA-POLITICS-IMPEACH/0100404008D/SOUTHKOREA-PARK-IMPEACHMENT.jpg (Additional reporting by Ju-min Park, James Pearson, Heekyong Yang, Jeong Eun Lee, Suyeong Lee and Dahee Kim in SEOUL, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON; Writing by Robert Birsel and Jack Kim; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Nick Macfie and Leslie Adler)
At least 7 other states are considering not allowing people with certain illness to be executed.





People who can prove they were affected by severe mental illness when they committed a capital crime would be exempt from the death penalty under a new Texas law introduced Tuesday.





Mental health advocates joined state Rep. Toni Rose (D) as she introduced HB 3380 and presented it as a humane and cost-saving measure that would still allow a convicted killer to be punished.





"The bill would not allow an offender to walk free," Rose said Tuesday in a press conference. "It doesn't prevent individuals for being held accountable for their actions."





The Texas bill would only provide exemptions for what Rose called "severe illnesses" - which include schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, obsessive disorder and depression - and would require proof that the individual had a qualifying illness or symptoms of one at the time of the crime.





A judge would determine before trial whether a defendant's illness merited an exemption.





The bill would bring Texas' death penalty into alignment with laws that bar executions for vulnerable groups like juveniles and the intellectually disabled, according to Rose and mental health advocates.





Greg Hansch, the director of public policy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Texas, said allowing the severely mentally ill to be executed is "a broken aspect of our criminal justice system."





"This bill is ability for us to close a clear, costly loophole," he said as HB 3380 was being introduced.





"Pro-lifers believe we should protect the most vulnerable in our society, not kill them. - Marc Hyden, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty





Among the 32 states that have the death penalty, Texas is considered the most aggressive: Since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, the state has executed 540 people - almost 5 times as many people as the next highest states, Oklahoma and Virginia.





A growing number of states are considering laws that would prevent executions of people with severe mental illness. Lawmakers in at least 7 other states, including Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia, have introduced or announced plans to introduce such legislation.





Organizations like the American Bar Association and the American Psychological Association have also taken clear stances in support of such exemptions.





"This is something we're seeing across the U.S. - a lot of conservative states are moving in this direction and you're going to see more Republican support," said Marc Hyden, the ?national advocacy coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.





"If there's any state that should be pushing this, it is Texas," Hyden said. "That's where Scott Panetti was sent to die."





Panetti's case has been cited by advocates of severe mental illness exemptions (including a former Tennessee attorney general) as an example of why such death penalty reforms are needed.





Panetti had been diagnosed with "early schizophrenia" following his discharge from the Navy in 1978. He was hospitalized 15 times for mental health-related issues between leaving the military and 1992. He was convicted of killing his in-laws that year, and displayed bizarre behavior while representing himself in the trial. Panetti remains on death row in Texas after a 2014 execution attempt was halted.





Even conservatives who aren't ready to support full-on abolition of the death penalty tend to think the mental health exemption makes sense, Hyden said.





"Every single one I've met thinks it's a miscarriage of justice to execute ill people," he said. "I'm pro-life, and so our most of our supporters. Pro-lifers believe we should protect the most vulnerable in our society, not kill them. People with the severe mental illness are the most vulnerable in society."





Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he had "no comment" on the bill.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

Source: Huffington Post, March 8, 2017
Rugged individualism runs from the founding throughout America, but it has never been traced or understood well, said David Davenport at a lunch discussion about his new book, Rugged Individualism: Dead or Alive? co-authored with Gordon Lloyd and published by the Hoover Institution this year.

Davenport, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, specializes in international law and treaties, constitutional federalism, and American politics and law. He has been writing on values in a free society and legal threats to American values. Lloyd is a senior fellow at the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University and a professor Emeritus at Pepperdine University.

A major debate on American individualism took place in the 1932 presidential election. President Herbert Hoover described the race against Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a contest between two philosophies of government. Hoover was a strong defender, and many say the inventor of the expression rugged individualism, whereas Roosevelt advocated a New Deal to shift power from the general public and free market to the federal government.

Davenport and Lloyd avoid immersing readers in a complex debate of political philosophy, but instead examine the ups and downs of American individualism throughout historical events and in the present context. Notably, the authors are most concerned about the ways in which government policy affects individualism.

They argue that individualism is a unique component of Americans DNA and inextricably intertwined with American character. From the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution, individualism was at the center of American political lives. Pioneers who continued their westward expansion after the civil war were classic rugged individuals  they chose hardship to travel into unsettled lands over comfort at home. In other words, America was founded by people pursuing independence and individual rights.

Davenport and Lloyd suggest that these rugged individuals were replaced by central planning and the forgotten men in the Progressive Era and the New Deal, which they call a the near-death experience of rugged individualism. They trace American political history from the late 1890s to 1930s, to the Great Society programs that followed to show the trend of an increasing level of state policymaking and declining individualism.

One major challenge facing individualism in this era was the Progressives label of robber barons and laissez-faire. The authors emphasize that rugged individualism means to protect individual freedom in the economic sphere and in philosophical and political sense. But as a result of Roosevelts victory, the federal government expanded enormously during the New Deal in the name of temporary economic emergency. Many of the expansions remain today.

Davenport and Lloyd relate individualism to todays policies. One example is the Affordable Care Act, which federalizes health and welfare, and challenges rugged individualism on its face by requiring individuals to make purchases. Secondly, federal education policy limits the freedom of parents, students and even teachers to choose the education they deem best.

The federal allocation of recourses and government regulations could be supported by massive amounts of information and data or formulated by the most advanced statistical models, but there is always a discrepancy between policy predictions and real-life scenarios: regulations never completely capture the preferences of consumers. Moreover, as the authors highlight, individual decision rights are always at risk under government regulations and standardization.

Davenport is optimistic about individualism among the young today. I think young people are rediscovering individualism in their social media lives, and business lives, Davenport told me at a meeting at the Hoover Institution in Washington, D.C. The book ends with predictions of the future of individualism in America, presenting reasons to be both positive and negative. Davenport and Lloyd close by concluding that to keep the American dream vital and alive, we will need rugged and resourceful American individualism.

A fair and clear understanding of American individualism is much needed nowadays. Davenport and Lloyd provide readers with an insightful perspective on examining American political history and analyzing government policymakingfollowing the flourishing and declining of rugged individualism. The book will appeal to a wide range of people, not only history lovers, individualists or political thinkers, but also to those who seek to answer the question as to whether American individualism is alive or dead.

Yao Sun is a contributor to E21.

Interested in real economic insights? Want to stay ahead of the competition? Each weekday morning, E21 delivers a short email that includes E21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington. Sign up for the E21 Morning Ebrief.
DOE Wants Comments on Possible Changes to Uranium Transfers

The U.S. Department of Energy is asking for comments and information by April 10 about a possible change in its transfers of uranium for cleanup services at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio.

The U.S. Department of Energy is asking for comments and information about a possible change in its transfers of uranium for cleanup services at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio. DOE is considering a new Secretarial Determination covering potential continued transfers and issued a Request for Information last July seeking information about uranium markets and domestic uranium, conversion, and enrichment industries and the potential effects of DOE uranium transfers on the domestic industries; the agency also commissioned an independent analysis of the potential effects of various levels of uranium transfers. The public review now under way will contribute to and aid in deciding on the Secretarial Determination.

DOE wants comments, data, and information on or before April 10. They may be emailed to RFI-UraniumTransfers@hq.doe.gov or mailed to Ms. Cheryl Moss Herman, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Mailstop NE-32, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290. If possible, DOE asks that all items be submitted on a compact disk, in which case it is not necessary to include printed copies.

DOE holds inventories of uranium in various forms, including low-enriched uranium (LEU), highly-enriched uranium (HEU), depleted uranium (DU), and natural uranium (NU), that have been declared excess and are not dedicated to U.S. national security missions. DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Environmental Management, and National Nuclear Security Administration coordinate the management of these uranium inventories, and DOE in recent years has managed its excess uranium inventory in part by transferring uranium in exchange for cleanup services at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and for down-blending of highly-enriched uranium to LEU. DOE currently transfers approximately 2,100 metric tons of natural uranium equivalent per year.

DOE has commissioned a report by ERI that analyzes four scenarios involving different volumes of DOE transfers.
Finnish English

PIHLAJALINNA PLC STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 10 March 2017 at 8.00

Pihlajalinna Plc: Notice to the General Meeting

Notice is given to the shareholders of Pihlajalinna Plc to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on Tuesday, 4 April 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at Yliopistonkatu 55, 33100 Tampere, Finland (Tampere Hall, conference room Sonaatti). The reception of participants who have registered for the meeting and the distribution of voting tickets will commence at 2:00 p.m. Coffee will be served before the meeting.

A. Matters on the Agenda of the Annual General Meeting

The following matters will be considered at the Annual General Meeting:

Opening of the Meeting Calling the Meeting to Order Election of Persons to Scrutinize the Minutes and to Supervise the Counting of Votes Recording the Legality of the Meeting Recording the Attendance at the Meeting and Adoption of the List of Votes Presentation of the Annual Accounts including the Consolidated Annual Accounts, the Report of the Board of Directors and the Auditor's Report for the year 2016

- Review by the CEO

Adoption of the Annual Accounts including the Consolidated Annual Accounts Resolution on the Use of the Profit Shown on the Balance Sheet and the Payment of Dividend

The Board of Directors proposes that a dividend of EUR 0.15 per share would be paid based on the balance sheet adopted for the financial period ended on 31 December 2016. The dividend would be paid to a shareholder who on the dividend record date 6 April 2017 is registered as a shareholder in the Company's shareholders' register held by Euroclear Finland Ltd. The Board of Directors proposes that the dividend would be paid on 13 April 2017.

Resolution on the Discharge of the Members of the Board of Directors and the CEO from Liability Resolution on the Remuneration of the Members of the Board of Directors

The largest shareholders of the Company, representing approximately 41 percent of the shares and votes in the Company, propose that a full-time Chairman of the Board of Directors would be elected for the Company on the agenda point 12 and the remuneration of the Chairman of the Board of Directors would be increased accordingly. The Chairman's full-time participation to the development of the Company would be in the Company's best interest inter alia because of the strong expansion of the Company's operations and the ongoing changes on the Company's field of operation. On these grounds the above-mentioned shareholders propose that the annual remuneration to the members of the Board of Directors would be paid as follows: to the Chairman EUR 250,000 to the Vice-Chairman EUR 48,000 and to other members EUR 24,000.

In addition, the above-mentioned largest shareholders propose that the meeting fees would be paid as follows: each member of the Board would be paid EUR 500 per meeting of the Board and of a Committee. In addition reasonable travelling expenses would be paid according to the Company travel rules.

Resolution on the Number of Members of the Board of Directors

The largest shareholders of the Company, representing approximately 41 percent of the shares and votes in the Company, propose that the number of members of the Board of Directors would be six (6).

Election of Members of the Board of Directors

The largest shareholders of the Company, representing approximately 41 percent of the shares and votes in the Company, propose that Jari Eklund, Timo Everi, Leena Niemisto, Jari Sundstrom, Seija Turunen and Mikko Wiren would be re-elected as members of the Board of Directors for a term ending at the end of the next Annual General Meeting. All of the board candidates have notified the Company that if they are elected as members of the Board of Directors, they will elect Mikko Wiren as the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Further information on the proposed nominees to the Board of Directors and the evaluation regarding their independence is presented on the Company's website http://investors.pihlajalinna.fi.

Proposal by the Board of Directors to appoint a shareholders' Nomination Board

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting would resolve to establish a Shareholders' Nomination Board to prepare future proposals concerning the election and remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors to the General Meetings. The Nomination Board is established for an indefinite period. In addition, the Board of Directors proposes that the General Meeting adopts the Charter of the Shareholders' Nomination Board in the form set out as appendix of the Board's proposal available on the company's website at http://investors.pihlajalinna.fi.

The Nomination Board shall consist of four members nominated by the shareholders of the company. In addition, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company participates in the work of the Nomination Board as an expert. The right to nominate members shall be vested with the four shareholders of the company having the largest share of the votes represented by all the shares in the company annually on September 1 based on the company's shareholders' register held by Euroclear Finland Ltd. However, if a shareholder who has distributed his/her holdings e.g. into several funds and has an obligation under the Finnish Securities Markets Act to take these holdings into account when disclosing changes in his/her share of ownership makes a written request to such effect to the Chairman of the Board of Directors no later than on August 31, such shareholder's holdings in several funds or registers will be combined when calculating the share of votes which determines the nomination right. Should a shareholder not wish to exercise his/her nomination right, the right shall be transferred to the next largest shareholder who otherwise would not be entitled to nominate a member.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors shall request the four largest shareholders of the company, based on their shareholding on September 1 each year, to nominate one member each to the Nomination Board. The Nomination Board shall elect a Chairman from among its members. The term of office of the members of the Nomination Board expires annually when the new Nomination Board has been appointed.

Resolution on the Remuneration of the Auditor

The Board of Directors proposes, based on recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, to the Annual General Meeting that the Auditor's remuneration would be paid against an invoice approved by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.

Election of the Auditor

The Board of Directors proposes, based on recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, to the Annual General Meeting that KPMG Oy Ab, a firm of authorized public accountants, would be re-elected as Auditor for the financial year 1 January - 31 December 2017. KPMG Oy Ab has announced that Ms. Lotta Nurminen, APA, would be the Auditor with principal responsibility.

Amending the Articles of Association

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that sections 4 and 8 of the Articles of Association be amended to read as follows:

"4 . The Company has a Board of Directors, which consists of no less than four (4) and not more than ten (10) members. The General Meeting shall elect the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. The term of office of a member of the Board of Directors shall expire at the close of the first Annual General Meeting following the election. In case the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors resign or become otherwise unable to act as the Chairman during their term of office, the Board of Directors may elect from among its members new Chairman of the Board of Directors for the remaining term of office."

"8 . The Company shall have one (1) auditor that shall be a firm of authorized public accountants with an APA certified auditor acting as the auditor with principal responsibility."

Authorizing the Board of Directors to Resolve on the Repurchase of the Company's Own Shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting would authorize the Board of Directors to resolve on the repurchase of an aggregate maximum of 2,061,314 of the Company's own shares, which corresponds to approximately 10 percent of all the existing shares in the Company at the date of this notice. Own shares may be repurchased on the basis of the authorization only by using non-restricted equity.

Own shares may be repurchased at a price formed in public trading on the date of the repurchase or otherwise at a price formed on the market. Own shares may be repurchased using, inter alia, derivatives. The Board of Directors resolves on how shares are repurchased. Own shares may be repurchased otherwise than in proportion to the shares held by the shareholders (directed repurchase) if there are weighty reasons for the company.

The authorization cancels the authorization given by the Annual General Meeting on 4 April 2016 to decide on the repurchase of the company's own shares. The authorization remains in force until the end of the next Annual General Meeting, however, no longer than until 30 June 2018.

Resolution on the Authorization of the Board of Directors to Decide on Issuance of Shares and Other Special Rights Entitling to Shares

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the Board of Directors would be authorized to decide on the issuance of shares and other special rights entitling to shares referred to in Chapter 10, Section 1 of the Finnish Companies Act by virtue of one or several decisions as follows.

The number of shares issued pursuant to the authorization shall not exceed 4,122,629 shares, which corresponds to approximately 20 percent of all the existing shares in the Company. The authorization concerns both the issuance of new shares as well as the transfer of the Company's own shares.

The Board of Directors decides on all other terms and conditions of the issuance of shares and other special rights entitling to shares. The authorization includes a right to deviate from the shareholders pre-emptive right to subscription (directed issue) if there are weighty reasons for the company. The authorization may be used, for example, to finance acquisitions or other business arrangements and investments or the implementation of the Company's share-based incentive plans as well as other purposes determined by the Company's Board of Directors.

The authorization cancels the authorization given by the Annual General Meeting on 4 April 2016 to decide on issuance of shares and other special rights entitling to shares. The authorization remains in force until the end of the next Annual General Meeting, however, no longer than until 30 June 2018.

Closing of the Meeting

B. Documents of the Annual General Meeting

The proposals for the decisions on the matters on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting as well as this notice are available on Pihlajalinna Plc's website at http://investors.pihlajalinna.fi as of 14 March 2017 at the latest. The Annual Accounts, the Report of the Board of Directors and the Auditor's Report of Pihlajalinna Plc are also available on the above-mentioned website. The proposals for the decisions on the matters and other above-mentioned documents are also available at the meeting, and copies of these documents and of this notice will be sent to shareholders upon request. The minutes of the Annual General Meeting will be available on the above-mentioned website as of 18 April 2017 at the latest.

C. Instructions for the Participants in the Annual General Meeting

Shareholders registered in the shareholders' register

Each shareholder, who is registered on 23 March 2017 in the shareholders' register of the Company held by Euroclear Finland Ltd., has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting. A shareholder, whose shares are registered on his/her personal Finnish book-entry account, is registered in the shareholders' register of the Company.

A shareholder, who is registered in the shareholders' register of the Company and who wants to participate in the Annual General Meeting, shall register for the meeting no later than 30 March 2017 at 4:00 p.m. by giving a prior notice of participation. The notice has to be received by the Company before the end of the registration period. Such notice can be given by using a registration link on the Company's website at http://investors.pihlajalinna.fi; by e-mail to agm@pihlajalinna.fi; by regular mail to Pihlajalinna Plc, yhtiokokous2017, Kehrasaari B, 33200, Tampere, Finland; or by telephone +358 20 770 6896 (Monday-Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.).

In connection with the registration, a shareholder shall notify his/her name, personal identification number, address, telephone number and the name of a possible assistant or proxy representative and the personal identification number of a proxy representative. The personal data is used only in connection with the general meeting and with the processing of related registrations.

Shareholder, his/her assistant, or proxy representative shall, where necessary, be able to prove his/her identity and/or right of representation at the venue of the meeting.

Holders of Nominee Registered Shares

A holder of nominee registered shares has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting by virtue of such shares, based on which he/she on the record date of the Annual General Meeting, i.e. on 23 March 2017, would be entitled to be registered in the shareholders' register of the Company held by Euroclear Finland Ltd. The right to participate in the Annual General Meeting requires, in addition, that the shareholder on the basis of such shares has been registered into the temporary shareholders' register held by Euroclear Finland Ltd. at the latest on 30 March 2017 at 10:00 a.m. As regards nominee registered shares this constitutes due registration for the Annual General Meeting.

A holder of nominee registered shares is advised to request without delay necessary instructions regarding the registration in the temporary shareholder's register of the Company, the issuing of proxy documents and registration for the Annual General Meeting from his/her custodian bank. The account management organization of the custodian bank has to register a holder of nominee registered shares, who wants to participate in the Annual General Meeting, into the temporary shareholders' register of the Company at the latest by the time stated above.

Proxy Representative and Proxy Documents

A shareholder may participate in the Annual General Meeting and exercise his/her rights at the meeting by way of proxy representation. A proxy representative shall produce a dated proxy document or otherwise in a reliable manner demonstrate his/her right to represent the shareholder at the Annual General Meeting.

When a shareholder participates in the Annual General Meeting by means of several proxy representatives representing the shareholder with shares at different securities accounts, the shares by which each proxy representative represents the shareholder shall be identified in connection with the registration for the Annual General Meeting.

Possible proxy documents should be delivered in originals to Pihlajalinna Plc, yhtiokokous2017, Kehrasaari B, 33200 Tampere, Finland before the end of the registration period.

Other instructions and information

Pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Companies Act, a shareholder who is present at the Annual General Meeting has the right to request information with respect to the matters to be considered at the meeting.

On the date of this notice to the Annual General Meeting, 9 March 2017, the total number of shares in Pihlajalinna Plc and votes represented by such shares is 20,613,146. The Company or its subsidiaries do not own shares of the Company.

Helsinki, 9 March 2017

Pihlajalinna PLC

The Board of Directors

For further information, please contact:

Siri Markula, Head of Communications and IR, +358 40 743 2177, siri.markula@pihlajalinna.fi
Rummage, bake sale planned

MATTOON -- St. John's Lutheran Church, located at 200 Charleston Ave., will host a spring rummage sale and boutique shop with a bake sale from 8 a.m.-noon Saturday.

Trinity Episcopal to hold pipe organ recital

MATTOON -- Trinity Episcopal Church is scheduled to host a pipe organ recital on Sunday as part of a concert series celebrating the centennial of this church's pipe organ.

Michael Fisher, organist at Emmanuel Memorial Episcopal Church in Champaign, will present his recital at 3 p.m. Sunday at Trinity Episcopal, 2200 Western Ave.

Fisher's studies as an organist took him to Vienna, Austria, and earned him a master's in music from Northwestern University. He has served as a college music faculty member, a church musician, and as a WILL Radio announcer/producer and music programming director over the years.

Sunday's recital will feature the Reuter Pipe Organ's Opus 2 that was installed at Trinity Church in 1917, an organ that was just the second to be built by this company. Reuter built Opus 1 for Trinity Church, but this first organ was destroyed when a tornado struck the company's factory in Trenton in 1917.

Trinity Episcopal will host a reception following Fisher's recital on Sunday. Future dates for the centennial organ concert series are June 11, Sept. 10 and Nov. 19.

St. Mary of the Assumption to host annual soup supper

NEOGA -- The Women's Council of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Neoga invites the public as they host their annual Soup Supper.

Serving will be from 3-6:30 p.m. Sunday at Assumption Hall located just sough of the church at 670 North Walnut St. in Neoga.

The menu will feature chili, vegetable and the popular potato soups along with peanut butter sandwiches and hot dogs. Tea, lemonade and coffee will also be available. All menu items are a la carte.

They will also feature basket raffle prizes along with chances to win a quilt or a $250 cash grand prize. Everyone is welcome to attend.
AIR NOSTRUM, LINEAS AEREAS DEL MEDITERRANEO, S.A. delivered a CRJ200 MSN 7975 to APEX AIR, China in a deal arranged by Engage Aviation LLC. This is the second of two aircraft, the first; MSN 7915 was delivered on the 14th of November 2016.



SARASOTA, Fla., March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Engage Aviation, a worldwide commercial aircraft sales and marketing company based in the United States, is pleased to announce the delivery of the second of two CRJ200 to the business chartered flight services provider Apex Air Co. Ltd. on behalf of Air Nostrum.

The delivery of the first aircraft took place on 14th of November 2016.

About Air Nostrum, Lineas Aereas Del Mediterraneo, S.A.

Air Nostrum was born in Valencia in 1994 with the aim of becoming the regional airline of reference in southern Europe. Today, with more than 75,000 flights and 4 million passengers per year, Air Nostrum is the leading regional aviation company in Spain and one of the largest European airlines in its class. Privately-owned, it operates for the Iberia Group under the Iberia Regional Air Nostrum brand, invoices more than 400 million euros per year and has about 1,400 employees. Learn more at http://www.airnostrum.es

About APEX AIR, China

Apex Air Co. Ltd. was established in July 2014 with the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority of China as an A-Category CCAR-135 aviation enterprise, mainly engaged in business jet services, aircraft management, group charter services, FBO, flight support services, air tours and flying clubs, etc. APEXAIR has its main operating base in Nantong Airport and the target market centering in East China area, Yangtze River Delta and Chu Chiang Delta. Total number of aircrafts, self-owned or under trusteeship will reach twenty (20) in the coming five years. Learn more at http://www.apexair.com

About Engage Aviation

Engage Aviation is a commercial aircraft sales and marketing company, specializing in regional and short to medium range commercial aircraft. We were established in 1999 as Britannia Aviation. During the past seven years, we have successfully delivered over thirty commercial and private aircraft to more than twenty discerning clients worldwide. We pride ourselves on providing clients with a flexible and expeditious approach to aircraft acquisition, marketing, leasing and sales. Learn more at http://www.engageaviation.com
Finnish English

Tikkurila Oyj

Press Release

March 10, 2017 at 09:00 a.m. (CET+1)



Tikkurila's sustainable solutions used to paint the Finnish Pavilion at the World Expo 2017

The 2017 World Expo will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan between June 10 and September 10, 2017. The theme of the expo is "Future Energy" - promotion of sustainable energy and sustainable design. More than 100 countries have informed to participate in the Astana Expo 2017.

Finland is represented at the Astana Expo 2017 with its own pavilion, carrying the theme "Sharing Pure Energy". Finland will present the Finnish energy efficiency know-how and clean-tech expertise as well as digital solutions, education, health technologies and healthcare through known Finnish brands.

Tikkurila is one of the key partners of the Finnish pavilion. At the expo, Tikkurila will promote its sustainable solutions for energy efficiency and a more sustainable living. All the interior and exterior surfaces of the Finnish pavilion will be painted with Tikkurila's surface treatment solutions.

The Finnish pavilion, designed by Atelje Sotamaa, will consist of 5 freestanding buildings made of cross-laminated timber. Each of the buildings has its own interior decoration, atmosphere and story supporting the expo theme.

"The architecture of the Finnish pavilion and the exhibition intertwine in an unforeseen way. One of the buildings is dedicated to energy production, another to energy efficiency, the third to clean water, the fourth to education, while the fifth building houses a cafe. The atmosphere of each building is built at the intersection of nature and the digital world," says Kivi Sotamaa, one of the two architects of Finland's pavilion.

"We designers selected the surface treatment solutions of the pavilion in cooperation with Tikkurila. Paint plays a major role, as color and lighting link each building's architecture, surfaces and atmosphere to its theme and content. Our goal is to create strong contrasts and experiences and use various means to invite the exhibition visitors to participate," Sotamaa explains.

Tikkurila has had operations in Kazakhstan since 2006, and the company is present in all Central Asian countries. Tikkurila, which is the market leader in Kazakhstan in premium products, was the first Western paint producer to start local production in the country.

"Tikkurila is an active player in Kazakhstan. In 2015, we opened a factory in Almaty, and currently employ around 40 people in the country. Our new ecological factory produces water-borne decorative paints to meet the needs of Central Asian market," says Petri Miettinen, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Management & HSEQ at Tikkurila.

"We want to drive change in the painting and construction industry, and promote high-quality, safe, and environmentally sustainable products. Our presence at the World Expo is an important opportunity for us to showcase our products and expertise as a surface treatment professional, as well as to introduce the wide possibilities of surface protection and decoration with sustainability on top of our mind," Miettinen adds.

www.expo2017.fi

For further information, please contact:

Tikkurila Oyj

Petri Miettinen, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Management & HSEQ

Tel. +358 50 311 1281, petri.miettinen@tikkurila.com

Tikkurila is the leading paints and coatings professional in the Nordic region and Russia. With our roots in Finland, we now operate in 14 countries. Our high-quality products and extensive services ensure the best possible user experience in the market. Sustainable beauty since 1862.

www.tikkurilagroup.com
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The roar of gunfire echoes through the rubble-strewn streets of the Tayaran neighborhood in west Mosul, as a group of civilians scurries for cover.

A man carrying his child in his arms, looks back over his surroundings with unease after huddling in his home for days as intense fighting raged outside.

Suddenly, a huge blast erupts nearby; scattering Iraqi soldiers and civilians in the city's war-torn streets as a massive plume of black smoke rises.

This is the dramatic footage, shot by freelance cameraman Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, more than two weeks after the offensive to drive ISIS out of west Mosul began.

The scenes are a snapshot of the complex conditions facing the country's military as soldiers work to clear the region of militants. Since then, Iraqi forces have been fighting house-by-house, block-by-block against ISIS extremists.

ISIS' weapon of choice

The source of the explosion: a suicide car bomb just down the street, which sent shreds of metal and cement flying into the air and clanking onto the pavement.

An Iraqi Federal Police Humvee is in flames. A soldiers sits on the curb, clutching his chest. Screams of others -- whose limbs were blown away -- can be heard down the street. Another soldier runs away from the burning vehicle with a wounded comrade slung over his shoulder.

The police responded to the car bomb by shooting thousands of rounds. Suicide car bombs are ISIS's preferred weapon here and car bombs are often followed by ISIS counterattacks. Dozens have been driven toward Iraqi troops.

Despite this, Iraqi forces have managed to retake half of western Mosul since the western offensive began on February 19.

Earlier this week, the Iraqi Prime Minister told remaining militants to surrender or face death. The warning was issued after security forces made significant gains in western Mosul -- retaking key government buildings and a bridge.

It is the first time these buildings have been under Iraqi government control since Mosul -- Iraq's second largest city -- fell to ISIS in 2014. Over 70,000 people have been displaced as a result of the ongoing operation to retake Mosul and surrounding areas, according to Iraq's ministry of displacement and migration.

Residents trapped amid operation

Caught in the middle of this battle are as many as 800,000 civilians, according to the United Nations. It said UN humanitarian agencies in Iraq are preparing to aid civilians caught in the fighting.

The Iraqi Air Force has dropped millions of leaflets on western Mosul, where food and water are scarce and electricity sporadic, warning residents of the ongoing offensive and remain in their homes if they feel safe. The leaflets also advised residents to hang white flags or sheets outside their homes to indicate civilians are inside.

One family in the Tayaran neighborhood couldn't leave. The grandmother is wheelchair bound; her new-born granddaughter equally vulnerable. Federal policemen came to their home to find them huddled in a back room for safety. They wheeled the old woman out into the street while another one carried the baby girl.

Iraqi forces have continued their push into Mosul's old city, an area of narrow streets and narrower allies, which forces are seeking to recapture. Officers believe Islamic State militants have dug in deep there, knocking holes between adjoining buildings to allow them maximum mobility with minimum exposure to Iraqi and US drones and aircraft. ISIS have also built a complex system of tunnels and bunkers, and no doubt will unleash even more suicide car bombs as Iraqi forces move in.

US officials believe that around half of the once-5000-strong ISIS fighters in Mosul at the beginning of the overall offensive last October have been killed or severely wounded.

But that still leaves 2,500 militants alive, and clearly many are ready to fight to the death.

CNN's Eliza Mackintosh contributed to this report.
He made the fierce 4,050-mile journey alone at sea over 93 days, crossing from Agadir, Morocco to Antiguas English Harbor, Joinfo.com reports with reference to Mashable.

He stood, he paddled, and he prevailed, traveling an average of about 43 miles a day and pulling through an incredible 60 miles on one of the last days.

Of course crossing the second largest ocean in the world doesnt come without its challenges. Upon arriving in Antigua, Bertish said at a press conference that his last night was so intense, he didnt know if hed survive.

#thesupcrossing #carrickwealth @chrisbertish arrives in English Harbour to a heroes welcome. #passionwithapurpose   Kieron McRae (@kieronmcrae)  9 2017  7:15 PST

4500 nautical miles over 93 days = #badass. Congrats to @chris_bertish and his record breaking feat across the Atlantic. pic.twitter.com/bzCEC9SRiI  Titans of Mavericks (@titansofmavs) 9  2017 .

When I look at the conditions we had last night, it just seems mind-boggling that Im just alive at all, to be perfectly honest, he said at the conference, a video of which was posted to Facebook by paddling outlet Sup the Mag.

Among one of his more harrowing stories was the time he faced giant squids and whales in the midst of a storm in the Canary Islands. With 20-foot waves raging around him, the animals before him threatened to topple over his giant board.

I was getting pulled down through waves by a creature, he said. It was like something out of some science fiction film.

The big wave surfer and sailor also won the world-renowned Mavericks Surf Contest in California, with waves at the beach there reaching up to 60 feet high.

His journey across the Atlantic was completed on a custom built board thats 20 feet long, costs about $120,000 and took six months to construct.

Now all he has to do is cross the Pacific Ocean.
On 3-5 October 2017 Kyiv is going to host the Space and Future Forum to network international experts and youth, many of whom will also participate at the first CosmoHack in the world. Joinfo provides media coverage of the Forum, and some of its topics were already discussed ...
Head of Libyas internationally recognised parliament Ageela Saleh has informed the High National Electoral Commission about the organization of fresh parliamentary and presidential elections no later than February 2018 in a move to get out of the current political stalemate.

Given the difficult conditions the country is going through and the political mess, you are called upon to take necessary steps to prepare for the organization of presidential and parliamentary elections before February 2018, Saleh wrote.

The decision of the snap elections has been confirmed by spokesman for the House of Representatives (HoR) Fathi Al-Maryami.

Last month, the political crisis protagonists, including Head of UN-backed Presidency Council Faiez Serraj, and HoR-backed military marshal Khalifa Haftar agreed in Cairo to organize new presidential and parliamentary elections, although they did not hold direct talks.

The country has been ruled by two different administrations; a HoR-backed government based in the East and the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) installed in Tripoli.

The HoR has refused to endorse the GNA, arguing that it is imposed to Libyans to carry out a foreign agenda.

The HoR and the GNA have been haggling over the UN-endorsed Libyan Political Agreement LPA signed in December 2015. The HoR contests the LPA article placing the future Libyan national army under the GNAs authority. The HoR also contests the LPA Annexe 1, which names the members of the Presidency Council.

The future role of Haftar is also a thorny issue, as he refuses to collaborate with Serraj, whom he describes as a foreign puppet.
On Wednesday, Lincoln Airport officials told local business people they felt they were close to getting new air service.

Airport Authority board member Nick Cusick told the crowd at the monthly Face the Chamber luncheon that one airline has the airport on a "short list" of cities it is considering for new service.

A consultant for the airport also mentioned that the airport has had serious discussions with American Airlines about the potential for new Lincoln service to Dallas and possibly Chicago.

On Thursday, American announced new service to several of its hub airports, including Dallas and Chicago. Among the cities to receive new service were Billings, Montana, Rapid City, South Dakota, Colorado Springs and Omaha, which will get a new daily flight to Miami starting July 5.

Not on the list was Lincoln.

But Airport Executive Director David Haring said he wasn't expecting it to be.

By the time those new routes are announced, local airport officials have known for weeks or months that new service was coming, he said.

Haring said it was pure coincidence that the American announcement came so close on the heels of Lincoln Airport officials' presentation Wednesday.

Lincoln also recently missed out on new flights from United Airlines, which last month announced new and expanded service to many smaller cities, including Columbia, Missouri, and Rochester, Minnesota.

Rather than be discouraged that other small airports are getting service instead of Lincoln, Haring said he takes it as a positive sign.

"If you take any sign out of these (announcements), it is that (the airlines) are growing markets," he said.
Children in Sweden and the US experience their daily life as highly structured and regulated. But while US children state that homework and long schooldays are what makes everyday life difficult, Swedish children point to the continuous nagging and stress that occur in relation to daily routines. These are some key findings of a new study from the University of Gothenburg.

'The children in both countries talked about progressively less time available for own activities, but the things they focus on in their stories differ,' says education researcher Ylva Odenbring.

Her interview-based study involved Swedish and US middle-class children 67 years old, all of whom had the economic means to participate in leisure activities.

'Schoolification' of childhood

Previous research indicates that in the Western world, children's daily life is largely focused around the time they spend in educational institutions and the time they spend participating in various leisure activities. Researchers talk about a 'schoolification' of childhood as children spend a large portion of their time in various educational institutions from early childhood through adolescence.

Besides the time spent in educational institutions, children spend time engaging in leisure activities, and school-age children also have homework. Yet few previous studies have studied these issues from the children's perspective.

Over-organised lives

'The US children mention homework, long schooldays and leisure activities as the main reasons for why their daily life is so regulated. In contrast, the Swedish children point to the daily routines in connection with being taken to and picked up from school and the nagging and stress they associate with them,' says Odenbring.

The study brings attention to some of the trends observed in many Western societies: that people's daily lives, and this is also true for children, are becoming increasingly regulated and structured. The children's descriptions of their everyday lives give an impression of overly organised lifestyles.

'From a wider societal perspective, the study brings attention to the question of how children's voices are included in the discussion on how to make everyday life less stressful and increase children's wellbeing,' says Odenbring.

The results of the study are published in the scholarly journal Early Child Development and Care. The title of the article is Childhood, free time and everyday lives: comparing children's views in Sweden and the United States.

More information: Ylva Odenbring. Childhood, free time and everyday lives: comparing children's views in Sweden and the United States, Early Child Development and Care (2016). Ylva Odenbring. Childhood, free time and everyday lives: comparing children's views in Sweden and the United States,(2016). DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2016.1250081
Stress granules and P-bodies. Credit: University of Ottawa

Recent study out of the University of Ottawa opens door for new disease therapies in cancer, ALS, Fragile X Syndrome and others.

Part of what makes cancer cells so devastating is their ability to fight back against treatmentssometimes they work, sometimes they don't. But what if we could take away cancer cells' defences altogether?

Researchers from the University of Ottawa have taken an important step forward to doing just that. Dr. Kristin Baetz says the results of a three-way research collaboration could open doors to new therapeutics to treat a variety of diseases, including cancer.

Dr. Baetz is an associate professor at uOttawa's Faculty of Medicine and Director of the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology. Her lab studies stress granules (SGs), which are structures produced by the body's cells to protect against environmental stressors. Unfortunately, SGs also help cancer cells defend themselves against chemotherapeutic treatments, which can then lead to resistance to the common therapy.

"The first step in figuring out how to prevent this from happening is to understand how stress granules are formed and disassembled," explains Dr. Baetz, "and we now have key information."

Using yeast cells, her lab has identified a class of enzymes that play an active role in regulating SG formation. Deactivating this class of enzyme has a direct correlation to lowering SG levels.

Yeast cells are a highly relevant source of information about human cells as they mimic human cell biology.

"On the surface we may be very different, but at the cellular level humans and yeast are very much the same," says Dr. Baetz. "Given that similarity, our research is of direct relevance to human cancer biology, and metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases."

The findings come at an opportune time, when a new group of drugs are being developed against these enzymes. When administered to the yeast cells, Dr. Baetz found, the new drugs were successful in lowering SG production.

Through collaboration with labs of mammalian cell biologists and cancer specialists, the team applied their findings from yeast cells to a breast cancer cell lineand again showed the drugs had the effect of reducing SGs.

"We've discovered one way to decrease stress granule formation, plus we have therapeuticsso we're well positioned to explore how this strategy might work on diseases," Dr. Baetz says.

The research collaboration between the three labs has led to a paper being published in PLOS Genetics. The paper highlights the research efforts of the labs of Dr. Baetz, professor Jocelyn Cote, and assistant professor Morgan Fullerton, all of uOttawa's Faculty of Medicine.

Dr. Baetz anticipates her team's work may lead to many new avenues of research, and is optimistic with regards to the fight to disarm the warriors that are cancer cells.

More information: Meaghen Rollins et al, Lysine acetyltransferase NuA4 and acetyl-CoA regulate glucose-deprived stress granule formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, PLOS Genetics (2017). Journal information: PLoS Genetics Meaghen Rollins et al, Lysine acetyltransferase NuA4 and acetyl-CoA regulate glucose-deprived stress granule formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae,(2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006626
Credit: Wikimedia Commons

A team of doctors affiliated with the University of Western Ontario in Canada has documented a case in which a terminal patient removed from life support continued to experience brain wave activity for approximately 10 minutes after they had been pronounced clinically dead. In their paper published in The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, the team describes the circumstances of the unusual event and acknowledge that they have no explanation for what they observed.

For many years, doctors have used a handful of tools to determine if someone has dieda lack of pupil dilation, heart stoppage, lack of breathing, etc. But one test has stood above all othersan EEG reading. Even if the heart is beating and a person is breathing, if the brain stops processing electrical signals, that person is considered clinically deadthough in some cases they may be labeled as brain dead. But what if a person's heart stops beating, meaning there is no blood flow to the brain, and the brain continues to show delta wave bursts for up to ten minutes? Prior to this event occurring in Canada, it was thought to be an impossibility.

The unusual circumstance came about as the team in Canada was conducting routine research regarding the process of death in humans. As four terminal patients were removed from life support, their vital signs were monitored for a length of time. Three of the patients ceased emitting brain signals almost immediately after their hearts stopped, but the fourth instead began emitting signals that are normally seen in a person that is in a very deep sleepdelta wavesand continued to do so for 10 minutes and 38 seconds. The team conducted a series of tests to make sure it was not an equipment malfunction, and after finding no problems, reported that they had no explanation for what they had observed. But they also suggest further study, because their findings indicate it is likely that others have experienced brain activity after death as well, but no one has bothered to look for it.

They also noted that the prolonged brain activity did not resemble the "death waves" reported by another team recording brain wave activity in decapitated mice six years ago.

More information: Loretta Norton et al. Electroencephalographic Recordings During Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Therapy Until 30 Minutes After Declaration of Death, Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques (2016). Loretta Norton et al. Electroencephalographic Recordings During Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Therapy Until 30 Minutes After Declaration of Death,(2016). DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2016.309

 2017 Medical Xpress
Bedcovers which form a barrier to house dust mites appear to reduce asthma flare-ups in children, according to new research conducted in Manchester.

Mite allergy is one of the most common asthma triggers, and in partnership with viral infection can greatly increase hospital admission risk.

In the study, led by Dr Clare Murray, clinical senior lecturer at The University of Manchester and consultant respiratory paediatrician at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, children were enrolled aged 3-17 years who had tested positive for mite allergy, and suffered an asthma flare-up or exacerbation that required being treated in accident and emergency or as a hospital inpatient.

After encasing their mattresses, duvets and pillows with mite-proof covers or placebo covers, the children were followed for a year. Neither the children, the investigators nor their health care professionals knew which set of covers the children received.

The findings have been published online ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Results demonstrate that children sleeping with the mite-proof covers compared to the placebo arm of the trial:

Were less likely to have a severe asthma exacerbation that resulted in an accident and emergency visit or hospital admission (29.3 percent vs. 41.5 percent).

Had a 45 percent reduced risk of having an asthma exacerbation that resulted in an accident and emergency visit or hospitalisation and the requirement for systemic corticosteroids.

Went a significantly longer time to their first exacerbation that resulted in an accident and emergency visit or hospitalisation and the requirement for systemic corticosteroids.

Patients were recruited from 14 hospitals with acute pediatric secondary care services in the North West. The study was funded by The JP Moulton Charitable Foundation, and infrastructure support was provided by the North West Lung Centre Charity, situated at University Hospital of South Manchester, where Dr Murray's research team is based.

"Asthma exacerbations are among the most common reasons for hospitalizing children living in the developed world," said Dr Murray. "It's a frightening experience for children and their parents, and a single exacerbation can increase the annual cost of treating asthma by three-fold."

Dr. Murray added that viral infections, especially those causing the common cold, are a major risk factor for asthma exacerbations in children sensitised and exposed to allergens. "Other studies have shown that these two risk factors act synergistically to increase the likelihood of hospital admission by nearly 20-fold," Dr Murray said. "We have no means of protecting people from cold viruses, but our study indicates that allergen avoidance may be a cost-effective intervention."

The authors estimated the cost of the bedcovers would be about 130 for a single bed. "This simple measure may reduce asthmatic exacerbations that lead to accident and emergency visits or hospitalisation, particularly in younger children who are allergic only to dust mites," Dr Murray said.

The mite-proof covers did not significantly reduce the number of children whose exacerbation was treated outside the hospital with only an oral corticosteroid. The authors said it was not clear why this was the case. "It may be that the bedcovers did not prevent the exacerbation, but did reduce its severity," Dr Murray explained.

Limitations of the study, which is believed to be the first to study the effect of mite-proof bedcovers and asthma exacerbations, include the fact that the exacerbations and oral corticosteroid use were reported by parents or guardians, not physicians, and the researchers had no information about viruses or other exacerbation triggers.

Although the study was not large enough to conclusively define the subgroups that benefitted the most from the intervention, the authors wrote that their results suggested that younger children testing positive for only house dust mite allergy and living in non-smoking households were more likely to benefit from the mite impermeable bed covers.
Dr. Alicia Becerra, pictured in white cap, performs awake brain surgery in Lima in November 2016. Becerra was a clinical fellow in Epilepsy Surgery at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry in 2013/14. Credit: Western News

One surgery can change the life of a person living with epilepsy. It can mean the difference between daily seizures and none at all. In Canada, approximately 200 epilepsy surgeries are performed every year, but before 2011, it wasn't an option at all in Peru, a country whose epilepsy rates are three times higher than Canada's.

When the International League Against Epilepsy initiated a program called 'Partnering Epilepsy Centres in the Americas' looking for doctors with formal training in epilepsy to pair with an epilepsy program in Latin America, Dr. Jorge Burneo, a neurologist and professor at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, put his name in the hat in an effort to improve the lives of epilepsy patients in his home country.

Burneo said epilepsy rates are that much higher in Latin America because of a lack of access to proper perinatal care and brain infection caused by poor sanitation.

"I wanted to be able to give something back to my native country," he said. "I thought it would be great to be able to contribute my knowledge and expertise, and to share what I'm already passionate about."

A little more than five years ago, Burneo and his colleague, Dr. David Steven, a neurosurgeon and professor at Schulich, began making trips to Lima, Peru, to help set up the first epilepsy surgery program in the country.

Epilepsy surgery is an operation on the brain to control seizures and improve the person's quality of life. There are four main types of epilepsy surgery  surgery to place electrodes inside the skull in order to determine where the seizures are originating; surgery to remove the area of the brain producing seizures; surgery to interrupt the nerve pathways through which seizure impulses spread within the brain and surgery to place devices that can deliver electric impulses to the brain to help control seizures.

"The point was to have a sustainable process," said Steven. "The way we are approaching this is we want to have a lasting impact, so we can develop a local program that is independent. That way, they can make their own mistakes and have their own successes."

The idea wasn't to fly in with all their equipment and expertise, perform the surgeries and then leave, he said. Instead, the team wanted to create a program that could function on its own and also be in a position to train the next wave of young neurosurgeons to manage the program for generations to come.

To do this, Burneo and Steven have made yearly visits to Peru to train local doctors on the surgery using the equipment available to them in their local hospitals. The neurosurgeons and neurologists in Peru have also travelled abroad for further training, and the Canadian and Peruvian doctors maintain contact through Skype, email and phone calls.

"We are really proud to say they have two established epilepsy surgery programs that are performing many cases and publishing papers. Residents are also being exposed to the surgery, and they've got some momentum now," said Steven.

The very first patient who the team in Peru operated on, more than six years ago, remains seizure-free today. They have since performed the surgery on more than 60 other patients.

Steven and Burneo were in Peru in November. On this trip, they brought along anesthesiologist, Dr. Miguel Arango, a professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, to assist in mentoring the Peruvian team on performing an awake craniotomy. This surgery involves keeping the patient awake as the surgeons operate on their brain. By keeping the patient conscious, they can determine if they are able to remove an epilepsy-causing lesion without disrupting vital functions, like movement and language.

As they wrap-up their work in Peru, and are ready to hand over the reins to the team there, Steven and Burneo are reflecting on the impact they've had.

"At first, I looked at this as something interesting to do," said Steven. "Now, I can look back and realize that we've really accomplished something remarkable. We've actually permanently changed the management of epilepsy in the country."
Corruption Watch has released its 2016 Annual Corruption Report, which illustrates the scourge of corruption and its damage to the country.

According to the report, the public are increasingly intolerant of corruption and the abuse of power by those in positions of leadership.

2016 was the year in which South Africans decisively and publicly rejected corruption, said David Lewis, director of Corruption Watch.

From ordinary voters and community members, through to leading public officials and cabinet ministers, there was a groundswell of opposition to corruption and its perpetrators.

During 2016, a total of 4,391 reports of corruption were received  which amounts to an average of 11 reports a day.

This represents a substantial increase on previous years.

The most prevalent types of corruption reported in 2016 centre on the abuse of power, followed by bribery and procurement corruption.

Corruption in South Africa

The graphic below illustrates the big corruption problem in South Africa.
Fighter jet crashes in Saudi Arabia

Armenia parliament vice-speaker: There is very important note in Sochi statement

New York bank robberies up 42% this year

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World oil prices falling

Mirzoyan, Blinken, Bayramov to meet in Washington today

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Azerbaijan army units open fire in direction of Armenia positions

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Boris Johnson from fighting for Conservative Party leader over fears of losing income

Greece slams Turkish authorities' temporary ban on Greek official's entry

Scientifically proven: EU is inscrutable

OPEC: To avoid unrestrained volatility we need to invest in oil

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Kishida pledges to strengthen Japan's naval and military capabilities

Germany and eight other EU member states plan to expand sanctions against Iran

NYT: Kyiv plans total evacuation in case of power outage

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IRGC neutralizes terrorist group in southwestern Iran

Bahrain to continue building relations with Israel after Netanyahu's victory

Iran says it confiscated a large batch of U.S.-made munitions

Iran successfully launches Ghaem 100 rocket, making the US nervous

U.S. sends warplanes to Iran

Washington Post: US privately urges Ukraine to show willingness to negotiate with Russia

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Fars: Iranian Foreign Ministry reported UAV deliveries to Russia a few months before the start of the UAS

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France, Singapore and Switzerland begin joint testing of experimental digital currencies

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White House tries to explain Biden's statement about freeing Iran

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Pentagon and U.S. weapons manufacturers to discuss Russia, human resources and supply chain

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IMF: Turkey should tighten monetary policy and give the Central Bank more independence

Pope urges religious leaders to keep the world from brink of abyss

Putin awards Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II with Order of Honor

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Round-the-clock curfew is introduced in Kherson

Borrell says they can't put China and Russia on same level

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Poland asks EU to suspend fines

Putin: Situation in Ukraine was deadly for Russia

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Richard Kauzlarich: Azerbaijan, Armenia FMs meeting in Washington 'will send message to Putin'

Russia ratifies protocol on requirements for length of service of EEU bodies' employees for pensions

Armenia deputy defense minister in Russia, discusses military cooperation

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Health minister: We will work with fallen Armenia detainees relatives one more time after which bodies will be buried

Putin allows mobilization of citizens with unexpunged criminal record for serious crimes

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Iran parliament speaker to visit Armenia

Ruling force MP: Canada is opening embassy in Armenia because we are one of worlds most democratic countries

Girl with Armenian roots ends up in Vladimir orphanage


STEPANAKERT.  The adversary violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani opposing forces more than 30 times, from late Thursday night to early Friday morning.

During this time the Azerbaijani armed forces fired over 550 shots toward the Armenian position-holders, and with different-caliber shooting weapons, the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) Defense Army informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In particular, the adversary fired 92 shots from sniper rifles, in the eastern direction, and one mortar shell, in the northeastern direction of the line of contact.

The Artsakh defense army vanguard units, however, continue to have full control over the frontline and confidently carrying out their military service.
In 1947, Seretse Khama, the prince of Bechuanaland, was in London to study law as he prepared to take over leadership of an African country. There he met office worker Ruth Williams.

The pair fell in love and, in 1948, defying her father, his uncle, norms in both England and Bechuanaland (now known as Botswana) and, critically, the British government, married before he had to return home.

Thats the setup of A United Kingdom, director Amma Asantes film based on the true story of Khama, Williams and Botswana that, while set in the not-so-distant past, resonates today.

As written by Guy Hibbert from the book by Susan Williams, A United Kingdom is a romance that is a fight for love and country, for equality and decency and a struggle for acceptance. Along the way, it is a glimpse into prejudice and apartheid, the South African policy that triggered the British opposition to the marriage.

Thats conveyed in oily, arrogant fashion by Jack Davenport, who plays the British governments representative for Southern Africa, who, among many efforts at intimidation, turns up at Ruths work to tell her she cannot marry.

Williams, who is played with period perfect restraint and resolve by Rosamund Pike, defies him then -- and marries Khama. Hes played by David Oyelowo, who superbly portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma and is just as good playing another historical character, giving Khama a grounded intelligence, determination and simmering passion.

Flying to Africa, the pair encounter apartheid reaching into Bechuanaland from neighboring South Africa, questioning looks from the people Khama is to lead and, pivotally, the opposition of Khama's uncle Tshekedi Khama (Vusi Kunene), the countrys ruling regent, who has prepared his nephew to take the throne, then tries to force him to abdicate.

Theres no reason to further detail the story, which gains much of its power from the political drama that finds the couple thrust onto front pages of papers in England, and, perhaps, permanently torn apart.

Set in London and Botswana, including in and near Serowe, Khamas village, A United Kingdom has a look that conveys much of its central premise -- the English streets and government buildings dark, dank and imposing, the African savannah and even inside the Khamas modest home, bright and somehow hopeful.

Those hopes, however, have to survive through the couples struggles and through Khamas efforts to ensure that his country would be independent from both England and South Africa.

A United Kingdom has been criticized by some for being too chaste and for coming too close to romantic formula. But neither of those takes is valid -- the restraint and chastity of its only love scene fit both the people and the period and the story is based on real people and real events -- formulas are developed for a reason.

In fact, A United Kingdom is a splendid sweeping epic romance that connects through its characters and the fine acting and its powerful true story.
YEREVAN.  The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Board approved Armenias EITI candidature application at the EITI board meeting on Thursday in Bogota, Colombia, and the country attained EITI candidacy status.

Thereby, Armenia became the 52nd country that implements the EITI Standard, the Press Office of the Government of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Implementing EITI will lead to transparency in the mining sector and increase accountability to citizens, said Chief of Staff-Minister and MSG Chair Davit Harutyunyan. These factors are essential for improvement of the business environment in the country. A well-managed natural resource extraction can become more profitable for the citizens of Armenia, and the EITI is the right tool to achieve this goal. By dint of EITI a huge amount of relevant data and useful information will be available to the all beneficiaries. And the most valuable aspect of the EITI process is the fact that the multi-stakeholder critical engagement will lead to increased trust and cooperation between all involved parties.

The EITI in Armenia creates a platform for the government, companies, and civil society to hold a dialogue on financial accountability in the extractive industries. A delegation from the country participated in the EITI Board meeting in Colombia.
YEREVAN.  Greece is supporting peace talks on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the efforts of co-chairs within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, Foreign Minister of Greece Nikos Kotzias stated during a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan on Friday.

As the minister emphasized, ensuring safety of people should be a priority.

During the previous press conference, the ministers presented details of the situation around the conflicts of Cyprus and the Nagorno-Karabakh.

It was stressed that there is no military solution to the conflicts, and they should be settled in coordinated formats, Edward Nalbandian said.
YEREVAN.  The Caucasus region cannot be viewed without considering the relations of Greece and Armenia with Turkey.

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian stated the aforementioned at Fridays joint news conference with the visiting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, Nikolaos Kotzias, in capital city Yerevan.

When asked about the chances of normalization of relations between Yerevan and Ankara, the Armenian FM reminded the Armenian presidents initiative toward normalizing these ties.

But Turkey refused to fulfill the agreements, despite the signed protocols, added Nalbandian. In fact, it disregarded the most important precept of international relations: respecting the agreements.

Armenia is open to the normalization of relations without preconditions. [And] we hope that Turkey likewise will start to think so and respect the agreements that were reached with other countries.
YEREVAN.  The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) peace talks are not conducted because too much damage has been done to the process, and in the form of Azerbaijans new aggression in [early] April [2016] against Artsakh.

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian said the abovementioned at Fridays joint news conference with the visiting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, Nikolaos Kotzias, in capital city Yerevan.

In Nalbandians words, these negotiations have been pushed back.

And for this reason, Armenia and the co-chairs [of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group] took steps and continued the efforts toward creating conditions for change, noted the FM. But the international community and Armenia speak in one language, whereas Azerbaijanin another. Baku itself refuses to fulfill the agreements that are reached.

But negotiations have no alternative, and, for that reason, the co-chairs continue the efforts toward moving the negotiations forward.

Nalbandian added that Azerbaijan presents these talks in a manner that is convenient for itself.

It wasnt said once that the developed precepts are a whole, and that one thing cant be separated [from them], recalled the Armenian FM.

In his words, Azerbaijans attempts to blackmail make this country itself meet an impasse.

And to the remark that the Armenian side is always more humane when it comes to returning the dead, Edward Nalbandian noted: We [i.e. the Armenian side] cannot descend to their level (). Armenia and Artsakh are inclined to uphold the principles of the International Humanitarian Law, and the Geneva Convention.
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Azerbaijan army units open fire in direction of Armenia positions

Minister: Britain's government faces tough decisions

Boris Johnson from fighting for Conservative Party leader over fears of losing income

Greece slams Turkish authorities' temporary ban on Greek official's entry

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Kishida pledges to strengthen Japan's naval and military capabilities

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NYT: Kyiv plans total evacuation in case of power outage

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Bahrain to continue building relations with Israel after Netanyahu's victory

Iran says it confiscated a large batch of U.S.-made munitions

Iran successfully launches Ghaem 100 rocket, making the US nervous

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Washington Post: US privately urges Ukraine to show willingness to negotiate with Russia

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U.S. decides to block number of seats on planes because of the increase in passenger weight

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Blinken calls on Israel and Palestine to urgently de-escalate tensions

Romania signs deal with Norway for purchase of over 30 F-16 fighters

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Teenagers hacks Uzbekistan senate website

Artsakh Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis fired at tractor in Khramort village of Artsakh

Rally participants' statement: Artsakh can't be a part of Azerbaijan

Person accused of arson in Russia cafe confesses

Fars: Iranian Foreign Ministry reported UAV deliveries to Russia a few months before the start of the UAS

Bayramov: Azerbaijan, Armenia leaders next meeting will take place in Brussels this month

Unity rally of participants start march in downtown Yerevan

North Korea launches 4 ballistic missiles

Council of Border Guard Troops commanders discusses situation at CIS external borders

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan joins rally in downtown Yerevan

Russia oil, natural gas companies plan to collaborate with Iraq

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Rally of unity in support of Karabakh kicks off in downtown Yerevan

Pentagon announces sending 8 NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine

Armenian Apostolic Church Supreme Spiritual Council meeting ends, Armenia and Artsakh security discussed

Tropical Storm Nalgae death toll climbs to 155 in Philippines

Artak Beglaryan is appointed advisor to Artsakh Minister of State (PHOTOS)

US House committee extends deadline for Trump to produce documents on Capitol attack

Over 200 elephants die in Kenya amid drought

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Armenia Security Council chief to head for Poland, Netherlands, Lithuania

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Qatar FM slams hypocrisy of calls to boycott World Cup

France, Singapore and Switzerland begin joint testing of experimental digital currencies

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YEREVAN.  An Armenian-Greek business forum will be held by the years end in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.

This was announced at Fridays joint news conference of Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian, and the visiting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, Nikolaos Kotzias, in Yerevan.

As per Nalbandian, his Greek colleagues visit and the talks along the lines of this visit created a good opportunity for continuing active discourse, and discussing the prospects for making relations grow deeper.

The parties shared the view that the current level of bilateral state relations is lower than that of the age-old friendship and mutual feelings, and they agreed to make extra efforts to further deepen ties.

Also, the interlocutors reflected on the avenues for making ties grow deeper in economy, defense and culture, and discussed Armenia-European Union (EU) relations. In addition, a document was signed on education and training of diplomatic personnel.

Kotzias, for his part, noted that the existing potential in bilateral relations is not used. In his words, an Armenian-Greek business forum is planned to be held by the years end in Yerevan, in order to deepen economic ties.

Furthermore, the Greek FM assured his countrys willingness to assist in making EU-Armenia relations grow deeper. He added that the prospects for visa liberalization bespeak the fact that Armenia is a part of the culture, history, and future of Europe.
Ukraine's consul to Azerbaijan met blogger Alexander Lapshin who is under arrest in Baku.

As Lapshin's attorney, Edward Chernin told RIA Novost, the detainee has no complaints about the conditions of detention and is waiting for the end of investigation.

After his visits to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in 2011 and 2012, blogger Alexander Lapshin was blacklisted by Azerbaijan.

In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan--but with a Ukrainian passport--and, subsequently, he published several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities.

Afterward, Azerbaijan issued an international search for this famous blogger. On December 15, 2016, Lapshin was detained in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk, and based on this search.

On January 26 of the current year, the Minsk city court dismissed the blogger's appeal of the Belarusian General Prosecutor's Office decision to extradite him to Azerbaijan.

On February 7, the Supreme Court of Belarus dismissed the appeals that were filed into this case, and upheld the aforesaid decision by the General Prosecutor's Office.

On the evening of the same day, the famous blogger was extradited to the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku, where he was taken into custody.

According to analysts and human rights defenders, however, Alexander Lapshins case may become an appalling precedent that curtails the freedom of speech of foreigners and the freedom of movement of Armenian citizens.
Julieta is another classic from the great Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, a mother-daughter story thats part Alfred Hitchcock mystery and part Douglas Sirk melodrama filtered through the directors brilliant colors and a moody score.

The picture opens with the title character (Emma Suarez) in middle-age packing up her Madrid apartment, preparing to move to Portugal with Lorenzo (Dario Grandinetti), a writer about whom we will learn more later.

But a chance encounter on the street with a friend of her daughters sends Julieta into a tailspin. Suddenly in emotional disarray, Julieta stops the move, refusing to tell Lorenzo why, and takes her possessions to the old apartment building where she had lived with Antia, the daughter she has not seen in years.

Sitting at a desk she opens a blank journal and begins to write to Antia, explaining, at first, her relationship with Antias father. Trigger the flashbacks and the story truly begins.

It is a tale of romance between classics professor Julieta (Adriana Ugarte, as the younger woman) and fisherman Xoan (Daniel Grao), who meet on a train (Hitcockian enough for you?). Then when she visits him in his seaside village, she encounters a housekeeper (a bewigged Almodovar regular Rossy de Palma) whos essentially Mrs. Danvers from Hitchcocks Rebecca.

Theres no reason to divulge any more specifics about the story, which is a mystery of the most deeply human fashion filled with family parallels, stunning events, a couple of shocking twists and capped by a perfect, if nebulous ending.

Its execution is masterful, from Almodovars writing -- he adapted the picture from three short stories in Alice Munros Runaway -- to the heightened visual sensibility that recalls the Technicolor masterpieces of the '50s and '60s and its evocative transitions from the younger Julieta to the older, traumatized woman.

Ugarte and Suarez are similar enough in appearance to portray the same woman, and, importantly, have similar relationships with the camera, opening themselves to reveal their inner turmoil.

As always, Almodovar perfectly captures how women talk to one another in the script, be it Julieta speaking with Beatriz (Michelle Jenner), Antias childhood friend now an international magazine editor, or Ana (Imma Cuesta), an artist with whom she becomes forever entangled when she moves to the seaside village.

The seaside, of course, is gorgeous. But so is the rest of Julieta as Almodovar creates another of his visually brilliant films that heighten the drama on screen. What Almodovar doesnt do this time -- separating Julieta from his melodramas Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and All About My Mother -- is camp things up.

Rather, Julieta is played with a quiet reserve, an homage to Hitchcock, Sirk and Munros stories. That makes Almodovar's 20th film ever more enveloping and one of his very best.
YEREVAN. - The activities carried out by Armenia so far have been in line with the European conception.

Deputy Finance Minister of Armenia, Karen Tamazyan, said the aforementioned on Friday at the meeting with the representatives of the National Academy for Finance and Economy of the Netherlands.

The meeting was held upon the initiative of GIZ, the press-service of the Armenian Finance Ministry informed Armenian News  NEWS.am.

The Dutch side presented a report on the conception of internal state finance control. In this context, Deputy Minister Tamazyan noted that from this standpoint Armenia is on the right track.

The coordinator of Internal Relations of the National Academy for Finance and Economy of the Netherlands, Jan van Tuinen, stressed that Armenia and the Netherlands are in the same group of the World Bank (WB) International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Netherlands being delegated with chairmanship in the group.

According to Mr Tuinen, their colleagues working in Washington also present the interests of Armenia. He expressed satisfaction with such cooperation, noting that they have great expectations. Apart from this, Jan van Tuinen underscored the importance of applying the conception tools in practice.
An event entitled Day of Armenian Culturewas held in Vallicelliana Library of Rome on Thursday.

Being composed of two partsconference and artistic partthe event was held under the auspices of the Armenian Embassy to Italy, Biblioteca Vallicelliana, Albatross cultural company and Colombia travel agency.

At the conference, Armenian Ambassador to Italy, Victoria Baghdasaryan, Deputy Minister of Culture of Italy, Antimo Cezaro, as well as director of Biblioteca Vallicelliana and seminar coordinator, Paola Paesano, delivered a welcome speech, the Armenian MFA informs Armenian News  NEWS.am.

Ambassador Baghdasaryan briefed the participants on the history of Armenian people and the rich cultural heritage created by them, the achievements of Armenia during the years of its independence, the age-long presence of Armenians in Italy, as well as their contribution to the development of the economic and cultural life of Italy.

Referring to the relations between the two countries, the Ambassador stressed that March 17 will mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Italy. She also noted that the ties and cooperation between the two peoples have a millennial history. Furthermore, the Ambassador informed that the inaugural meeting of the Armenian-Italian Intergovernmental Commission will be held in Rome on May 9.

The Italian Deputy Minister of Culture, Antimo Cezaro. for his part, lauded the level of cultural cooperation between the two countries. He also touched on the upcoming session of the Armenian-Italian Intergovernmental Commission and the program of opening a center for restoring cultural heritage with the support of the Italian Government, noting that these are important factors contributing to the development of cooperation between the two countries.

Apart from this, he referred to the cultural values created by the Armenia people, as well as the role and significance of culture in preserving the historical memory of nations.

The conference speakers were the sociologist of La Sapienza University of Rome, Maria Immacolata Macioti, Professor at the Chair of Armenian Studies at Bologna University, Anna Sirinian, journalist Claudia Sugliano, writer Magda Vigelante, professor at the National Conservatory of Santa Cecilia, Carla Conti, director of Albatross cultural company, Agostino Bagnato and journalist Sonya Orfalian.

In their speeches, the speakers touched on the different directions of the rich Armenian cultureliterature, music, architecture, manuscripts, Armeian language and alphabet, and Armenian historical and cultural monuments. They also referred to the peculiarities of the Armenian cuisine, the activity of Armenian poet Hrand Nazariantz, who found refuge in Italy in the beginning of the 20th century, as well as the Armenian contemporary culture.

Apart from this, the report of academic researcher of Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, Ara Khzmalyan, on the establishment and activity of Matenadaran, as well as the manuscripts kept there, was read out.

During the event, the documentary Armenia inside us shot by Albatross cultural company director, Agostino Bagnato, was screened.

After the exhibition, Armenian and Italian musicians performed the classic pieces of Armenian composers and folk music, as well as the poems of Hrand Nazariantz were recited.

The Day of Armenian Culture ended with the exhibition of Armenian artists.
YEREVAN. - No concessions should be made to Azerbaijan, former Deputy FM of Armenia, Ambassador Arman Navasardyan told journalists Friday.

According to him, the statement of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan made during his recent official visit to France turned out to be absolutely correct in the current situation, the tough statement of Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan becoming a wake-up call for Baku. In Navasardyan's words, it was necessary to act like this long ago. ''Why did we then put our signature under the Madrid Principles? This mistake should be corrected at least now, since nothing should be given to Azerbaijan,'' Navasardyan stressed.

Earlier, in an interview with AFP, President Sarsgyan said the following: "Public opinion in Armenia is that the resumption of hostilities is a matter of time -- maybe weeks or months -- and the commander-in-chief and defence minister must be prepared that a war could start tomorrow. I don't think a fresh war is an immediate threat, but nothing is ruled out when one deals with an unpredictable neighbour.''
YEREVAN. - The first session of the interagency working group on implementing the localization process of sustainable development goals, organized by the staff of the Armenian Government and UN Office in Armenia was held on Friday.

The event was attended by the representatives of state agencies and civil society, as well as international partners.

Chairman of the interagency working group, Vahe Sargsyan, underscored the importance of the process of realizing the sustainable development goals in Armenia, the press-service of the Armenian Government informed Armenian News  NEWS.am. In his words, their realization contributes to the economic, nature protection, social, and legal spheres of Armenia.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ashot Hovakimian, and UNDP Permanent Representative in Armenia, Bradley Busetto, also delivered welcome speeches.

Director of the Center for Strategic Initiatives of Armenia, Alexander Khachaturyan, presented the programs of the center, noting that they are in line with the localization process of the sustainable development goals in Armenia. In his words, the Center for Strategic Initiatives will serve as an open and available platform for the parties concerned.

Deputy Chairman of the group, Vahram Kazhoyan, for his part, presented the roadmap of the process and the list of the classified goals.

During the session, the representatives of NGOs were urged to take part in the work related to them.

The group will hold extended-format meetings once in three months.
The activity of Yelk (Way Out) alliance is hindered in Vanadzor, the third largest city of Armenia.

In particular, unidentified persons tore up and poured black paint on the posters depicting Yelk alliance candidate Edmon Marukyan.

Another Yelk candidate, Hrant Ayvazyan, told Armenian News  NEWS.am that it is yet unknown who exactly did this, and why only Marukyans posters were damaged. But, according to him, the vandals can be supposed to have done this since these posters were the first to appear on Vanadzor streets. Ayvazyan also added that the posters were damaged only in the town of Spitak.

According to the candidate, the posters were painted at night but several surveillance cameras recorded the occurrence. Currently, these videos are examined by the police.

The main difficulty of working in the provinces is that people are not sufficiently aware of how the upcoming elections will be held, he noted.

Many of them dont know that they will first have to elect a party, and only then a candidate. Ayvazyan has also got an impression that people in Vanadzor are passive and frightened, and thus dont attend the meetings with the alliance candidates. In his words, the situation is even worse in rural communities: the community leaders promise bribes to residents in exchange for the agreement to vote for certain candidates.

Ayvazyan also added that the OSCE observers and members of the alliance visited Yelk headquarters in Vanandzor on Friday, where they were briefed on all these issues.
Bill Smith loved music.

The good-natured gentle giant who grew up playing the French horn not only attended concerts, but served as a board member on many local music organizations.

Thats why his death March 4 has been lamented in Lincolns music community. He died from complications from pneumonia, according to his partner, Marcia Laging Cummings. Smith was 87.

He was a key to so many different organizations, said Becky Van de Bogart, Nebraska Chamber Players artistic director. I knew him for 20 years. I cant remember exactly when I met him, but he started coming (to our concerts) at the very beginning. Since then, he continued to show loyalty to us.

Born William Donald Smith Jr. on Nov. 16, 1929, in Hutchinson, Kansas, Smith graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and served in the Air Force. He was a banker, salesman and entrepreneur.

But he was best known in Lincoln for his arts advocacy.

He just had a lot of fun doing it, Cummings said.

Smith served on or led boards of Abendmusik, Lincolns Symphony Orchestra, the Nebraska District Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Nebraska Chamber Players, Meadowlark Music Festival and the Lincoln Organ Showcase.

He won a Mayors Arts Award in 2004 and accepted a Governors Arts Award on behalf of the Meadowlark Music Festival in 2006. He regularly attended NET Radios Friday Live, a weekly arts and humanities program broadcasted from The Mill coffee house.

Anybody who knew Bill thought of him as a friend, Van de Bogart said. Hes going to be missed. He was so full of constant enthusiasm.

Smiths interests extended beyond music. He also worked as a Stephen Minister for First-Plymouth Church, and he enjoyed architecture, trains and gourmet cooking.

He is survived by his partner, a brother, four sons, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Smith will be remembered at a service at 1 p.m. April 22 at First-Plymouth. Memorial donations can be made to the church.
YEREVAN. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Friday sent a congratulatory message to Donald Tusk on being reappointed to the high post of the European Council President.

In particular, the Armenian President lauded the frank, constructive and warm dialogue between them during Mr Tusks mandate, which served in the best way possible to the progress in Armenia-EU relations: Not only the bilateral Armenia-EU collaboration, but also that in the framework of the Eastern Partnership significantly deepened, Sargsyan noted.

Recalling with special warmth his latest visit to Brussels and the meaningful discussions held there, the Armenian leader expressed conviction that the conclusion of negotiations on the Armenia-EU framework agreement and its further entering into force will open a new page in the history of bilateral relations, bringing them to a qualitatively new level.

Apart from this, Sargsyan noted that Armenia is determined to fulfill all the arrangements, since the cooperation with the EU greatly contributes to the process of reforms in the spheres of efficient administration, democracy, human rights, rule of law, etc.
Armenia needs to leave the Eurasian Union, this also being beneficial for its gas tariffs, former Prime Minister of Armenia Hrant Bagratyan, who is also the Chairman of Freedom Party and candidate of Free Democrats Party, stated on Friday.

According to him, Armenia receives gas for $150 on the border, selling it to the public at the price of $290. Bagratyan also added that Belarus receives gas for $132, selling it to the population for $180.

Beneficial gas price on the border is out of the question in Armenia, since it is sold by Gazprom, the buyer in Armenia also being Gazprom. That is, this is an extra charge, Bagratyan noted.

The gas operator in Belarus also belongs to Gazprom (it acquired Beltransgaz in 2012).

And if Russia decides not to sell us gas, we will buy it from Iran. Let it sell gas to us for $200. We will be able to sell it to the end consumers for $220-230, he said.
YEREVAN. - The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is running an active campaign, Spokesperson for RPA, Eduard Sharamaznaov, told the aforementioned to journalists after the RPA Executive Body session on Friday.

According to him, issues related to the election campaign were discussed at the joint session of the RPA Executive Body and headquarters.

Each of the nine political forces of the election campaign tries to present its vision without refraining from crowd-pleasing assessments, he added.

To the question on the video released by Reincarnation band, Sharmazanov said: Such attention indicates its success. If most part of the society discusses it, then the video has performed its campaign function. The meaning of the video shouldnt be overestimated, the Spokesperson said.

In his words, the RPA respects all the members of the political campaign. We dont specially target anyone. We are moving by our program, competitive team, performed work, and, most importantly, realistic promises, he said, stressing that all the inquiries show that in case of combined work, the RPA has good chances of achieving success.

The RPA has good starting positions. Moreover, the political rating of our President is quite high. It remains to run the campaign correctly, our people being the decider,he noted.

Nevertheless, Shamazanov said that during the campaign certain forces express crowd-pleasing and non-professional views and give promises, to which they intend to respond.

To the observation that in his statement former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan referred to the existence of political prisoners in Armenia, the Spokesperson said: Let it be on his conscience. Before being dismissed from his post as a minister, I never heard any public hint on persons detained in Armenia for political reasons, whereas we seem to have no detainees after his dismissal.
A fight over financial transparency and cybersecurity has left State Treasurer Don Stenberg fuming at a quasi-public entity that helps finance housing and other developments across the state.

Stenberg wants the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, or NIFA, to post records of all its thousands of expenditures each year on a transparency website managed by the treasurer's office.

NIFA has refused, citing cybersecurity concerns.

The dispute has simmered for more than a year, and this week Stenberg requested a state audit of the entity and accused its director of waging a "campaign of obstruction" during a public hearing at the Capitol.

"When I look at NIFA, I see red flags everywhere," Stenberg told members of the Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

NIFA issues bonds, buys mortgages and provides other financial assistance for first-time homebuyers, farmers and ranchers, as well as for rental housing and community developments.

While its board of directors is appointed by the governor and includes state officials, its assets are independent from the state. That allows it to issue and incur debt, which government agencies are generally prohibited from doing under the Nebraska State Constitution.

The arrangement is similar to that of the Nebraska State Fair Board, Highway Commission, Board of Pardons and other quasi-governmental entities.

Because it isn't a state agency, NIFA isn't shielded from liability if its records are misused, said Tim Kenny, its executive director.

Kenny said his office has questions about security with Stenberg's site and fears the data  however harmless on its face  could be collected en masse and "weaponized" by overseas cybercriminals.

His office backed a legislative bill (LB437) this year that would allow NIFA to post the data on its own website instead, using the same searchable format as the treasurer's site, statespending.nebraska.gov.

Hosting the data itself would allow NIFA to monitor and control access, limiting the potential for misuse, Kenny said.

No other quasi-public entities have had problems posting their data on the treasurer's website since lawmakers passed a bill explicitly requiring it last year, Stenberg said. And he knows of no examples from other states where such data was misused once it was made public.

Stenberg said he suggested an amendment that would shield NIFA from liability in state courts, which NIFA called insufficient.

On Thursday, Stenberg mailed a formal public records request to NIFA seeking all the information that would otherwise appear on the treasurer's website. He also spoke with State Auditor Charlie Janssen about an audit of the entity.

"We will find out exactly what Mr. Kenny is hiding," Stenberg told lawmakers Wednesday. "Hopefully, it will not be the kind of scandal that we have seen recently at the Tourism Commission, the Brand Committee and Goodwill of Omaha."

Courtney Dentlinger, NIFA's chairwoman and director of the state Department of Economic Development, referred questions to Kenny.

Kenny said most of his senior staff members are certified public accountants, and NIFA is the subject of independent audits every year.

He shrugged off Stenberg's "fabricated allegations."

"It was just all bluster."
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As anyone who visits an art museum and reads the descriptive labels knows, these institutions rely heavily on the largesse of art collectors, who often loan and sometimes gift great works to museums around the world.

Thus, art museums cultivate relationships with collectors, whose passions museums can help share with the larger community. This is true at Milwaukee Art Museum, too, of course, and the museum explores and celebrates those relationships with area art aficionados in its new exhibition, "Milwaukee Collects," which opens today and runs through May 21 in the Baker/Rowland Galleries of the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion.

You can see it for free on Sunday, March 12 when the admission to the museum is free all day thanks to Friends of Art.

The show includes nearly 200 works in a variety of media  painting, photography, decorative arts, etc.  lent by 46 Milwaukee collectors, many of whom have had longstanding relationships with the museum. As always, a range of related event programming augments the exhibition.

"Milwaukee Collects is an idea, as you might imagine, that really is about celebrating local collecting in our community, but it emanates from a larger strategy that we have as an institution for really being able to paint in the public imagination the story of how our permanent collection grows over time as a museum," says Marcelle Polednik, the museums Donna and Donald Baumgartner director (pictured above).

"We started with a list of about 80 collectors and then we whittled it down  obviously there's only so much room in this space  celebrating the ones that we know about, learning about others that we may be less familiar with and ultimately galvanizing a love of collecting, and an interest and passion for collecting in new generations in our community, because clearly we want to continue and nurture the relationship that we have with local collectors."

To create the show, the museums entire curatorial staff connected with collectors and went out to see their collections. Then they worked in concert to pull together the roughly 190 works you see in "Milwaukee Collects."

"Fortunately, as I'm sure you all know, we have a tremendous group of curators at the museum who were willing and able to take this project on, and to do it in a very collaborative fashion," Polednik says. "This really has been the work of the entire curatorial team."

Whats most striking about the show is the variety and quality of work that resides in the homes and offices of some Milwaukeeans. Included are works by the likes of French poster master Jules Cheret, pop art pioneer Roy Lichtenstein and photographer Edward Weston, as well as Thomas Sully, Ed Ruscha and John Sloan, among many others.

A few of the works may feel familiar, having been lent to the museum for specific exhibitions in the past, but most are on view here for the first time.

Some of the most striking are Jules Bretons painting "Elodie with a Sunshade: Bay of Douarnenez (Woman with Parasol)," with its explosion of color; Jeremiah Paul's "Manumission of Dinah Nevill," a rare look at the official freeing of a slave; Erika Rothenbergs playful and cutting "Another Century of Progress" church signboard (pictured below at right); Glenn Ligons sprawling, wall-sized "Come Out #5" text-laden silkscreen (see above); and Sophie Calles "Purloined (Picasso, Head)" which will have you seeing double, since it is a photograph that includes Jean Dubuffets portrait "Louisette Vicaire au renard de profil," which is displayed right next to it.

"Many visitors will walk through here and say, I've seen that work before," says Margaret Andera, MAMs adjunct curator of contemporary art. "It doesn't have to be, This is the one shot that we have at showing work from the community. We have things on loan from local collectors all the time."

In addition to cementing relationships with long-lived partnerships between the museum and area collectors, the show also allowed the museums curators to get to know some of the newer, perhaps younger, collectors who have emerged since the last time MAM hosted an exhibition like "Milwaukee Collects" about 30 years ago.

"The hope is we're also learning about new collections that are not part of this display," says Polednik. "That was very intentional on our part, to also announce our interest in developing new relationships with collectors."

"There were a few younger collectors, but we knew about them, by and large," says Andera, about this process. "One was bit of a surprise, I think. But in the process, we did discover others. So that will be part of the follow up after this exhibition ends: collections that aren't represented in this exhibition, but that certainly will be on our radar now. We'll start building relationships."

Andera says she was encouraged by the landscape of the collecting scene in Milwaukee today. It reflects passion, of course, but also more than ever, new approaches to collecting than curators mightve expected to find 30 years ago.

"I think what's really interesting is that the way people are collecting things," Andera says. "It's not traditional; not necessarily, We're going to the auctions and we're going to buy something from the auction. It's a lot of buying from local galleries. Buying from local galleries when traveling in other cities. It's easier now than 30 years ago to keep tabs on the art world because of the internet.

"People have a better understanding of the types of works they're interested in, which artists they're interested in. So it's kind of easier to have access to them in that way. It opens up people's options. It's not as tightly controlled because you don't have to go to those places. You can go to art fairs, like the flourishing art fair business for the last couple decades. Even things like charity events. In New York, you'll see school (fundraisers) where well-known artists have donated a drawing. With the internet you can have access to all of that. So people are smarter about how they collect."

Ultimately, "Milwaukee Collects" serves a dual purpose. As an engaging assemblage of works that will draw in visitors, it surely seems like it will work. There is a wealth of great art on display.

Then there are the collectors.

"One of the things that is incumbent upon us as the largest collecting institution in our community is to make sure that we're doing our part to support collecting interest in the moving forward," says Polednik.
Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket will be joining the annual global Earth Hour celebration on 25th March 2017 together with people around the world.

On this occasion, special campaign called SWITCH OFF AND LET THE EARTH SHINE has been created to combine with its favorite Bella Italia Buffet at La Trattoria  award-winning Italian restaurant.

Participants will dine in the flair of candlelight for 60 minutes and take this time to embrace the planet with their hearts.
French president Francois Hollande, French Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Segolene Royal, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo during a meeting in Paris, on March 9, 2017

The United States will meet its climate agreement goals, UN special envoy for climate change Michael Bloomberg said in Paris on Thursday.

"They have given us a roadmap of what we must do to save this planet. And I can only tell you that in America we will meet our COP21 goals," the former New York mayor said.

The United States is one of 60 countries committed to the COP21 climate deal struck in Paris in December 2015, though recent comments by President Donald Trump have raised concern among environmentalists.

Bloomberg's comments came as the incoming head of the US Environmental Protection Agency said that carbon dioxide is not the main driver of global warming, a position starkly at odds with the scientific consensus on climate change.

Trump's team is reportedly divided over whether the United States should withdraw from the Paris climate accord, negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Bloomberg, in the French capital for talks with President Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, said he hoped Trump would "be a leader" on the issue.

"My hope is that the new president of the United States, once he gets into office for a period of time, will come to understand that he can also be a leader as President Hollande is in terms of helping us prepare for our future," he told AFP.

He added the US was "basically" 60 percent of the way to achieving its COP21 climate goals.

"It's being done by the private sector helping close coal power plants, corporations looking at their environmental footprint and trying to improve it... and the average citizen in America understanding that climate change is real," he told AFP.

Hildago said city mayors in France, the United States and elsewhere "know that the measures to reduce carbon emissions also contribute towards clear air, boost the economy and improve the quality of life."

 2017 AFP
The latest proposal to scrap Nebraska's distinctive presidential electoral system and adopt a statewide winner-take-all vote attracted support Thursday from Secretary of State John Gale and Nebraska's Republican Party.

Former state Sen. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln, who authored the current system, countered with an argument that splitting votes among congressional districts works best in giving Nebraska voters "a sense of power" and prompting political grass-roots activity that is good for the state.

Sen. John Murante of Gretna, author of the latest proposal (LB25), told the Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee that winner-take-all "allows our state to speak with one voice" in allocating its five electoral votes to the statewide winner.

Gale said casting all five electoral votes for the winner "maximizes our power in presidential elections."

Under the current system, Nebraska awards one electoral vote to the winner in each of its three congressional districts while allocating two votes to the statewide victor.

Noting that the state has split its electoral votes only once in 26 years, Gale said the current system "hasn't worked; it hasn't made much difference."

But Schimek said she did not anticipate that a split would occur often, but that such an opportunity "provides a good safety valve when there are differences between districts."

Former President Barack Obama won metropolitan Omaha's 2nd Congressional District electoral vote in 2008, marking the only Democratic breakthrough since the system was initiated.

Kenny Zoeller, executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party, described Nebraska's current electoral vote system as "a political ploy" supported by former Democratic Gov. Ben Nelson.

It contributes to a rural-urban divide, he said.

In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton campaigned in Omaha and GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence made a late Omaha stop, both in an effort to lock down the competitive 2nd District electoral vote.

The Clinton campaign established a substantial footprint in the district patterned after Obama's successful 2008 effort.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who campaigned in Omaha in advance of Nebraska's spring Republican primary election, ultimately won all five of Nebraska's electoral votes in November.

Only Nebraska and Maine allocate any of their electoral votes by congressional districts.

Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, a committee member, suggested that Nebraska is comfortable with being unique, pointing to its nonpartisan, one-house Legislature.

Last year, a winner-take-all bill came within one vote of passage in the Legislature.

A motion to invoke cloture and bring an end to a legislative filibuster at the final stage of floor consideration fell one senator short of the 33 votes required to proceed with the bill. That 32-17 count signaled enough support to enact the measure.
Prior to the record mass bleaching in 2016, the coral had a few years between episodes to recover

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is experiencing an unprecedented second straight year of mass coral bleaching, scientists said Friday, warning many species would struggle to fully recover.

The 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) reef suffered its most severe bleaching on record last year due to warming sea temperatures during March and April.

Bleaching is once again occurring, the government's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said after an aerial survey off Australia's eastern coast on Thursday.

"Regrettably, the temperatures have been high on the Great Barrier Reef this summer as well and unfortunately (we) are here to confirm... a mass coral bleaching event for the second consecutive year," the Authority's reef recovery director David Wachenfeld said in a Facebook video.

"And importantly, this is the first time we've ever seen the Great Barrier Reef bleached two years in sequence. We've seen heat stress build since December."

The agency said more bleaching was being observed in the central part of the reef, which last year escaped widespread severe bleaching.

The 2016 bleaching was more severe in the northern areas of the bio-diverse site.

The back-to-back occurrence of widespread bleaching also meant there was insufficient time for corals to fully recover, Neal Cantin from the Australian Institute of Marine Science said.

"We are seeing a decrease in the stress tolerance of these corals," Cantin added in a statement.

"This is the first time the Great Barrier Reef has not had a few years between bleaching events to recover.

"Many coral species appear to be more susceptible to bleaching after more than 12 months of sustained above-average ocean temperatures."

The reef contributes billions of dollars to the Australian economy through tourism, fishing, and scientific research

'Fight climate change'

Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour.

Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonise them.

But researchers said in January coral reefs which survive rapid bleaching fuelled by global warming would remain deeply damaged with little prospect of full recovery.

The Barrier Reefalready under pressure from farming run-off, development and the crown-of-thorns starfishescaped with minor damage after two other bleaching events in 1998 and 2002.

Conservation group WWF-Australia said Friday the latest bleaching increased the urgency of tackling climate change in Australia, one of the world's worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters.

"I did not anticipate back-to-back bleaching this decade," WWF-Australia's oceans division head Richard Leck said.

"Scientists warned that without sufficient emissions reductions we could expect annual mass bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef by 2050. Consecutive bleaching events have arrived 30 years early."

Advocacy group the Australian Marine Conservation Society added Friday that the construction of a mega India-backed coal project near the reef should be abandoned as it would put further pressure on the natural wonder.

The reef scientists plan to conduct further surveys over the next few weeks to determine the extent and severity of the bleaching.

Canberra in 2015 narrowly avoided UNESCO putting the reef on its endangered list, and has committed more than Aus$2.0 billion (US$1.5 billion) to protect it over the next decade.

Nearly two-thirds of shallow-water corals in a 700-kilometre stretch of the reef's northern section were lost to last year's bleaching event, scientists have said.

 2017 AFP
When universities engage in technology transfer, the process of commercializing the innovations and inventions of academic faculty members, "seed capital" to fund start-up companies often comes from entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from outside of the university system. These necessary funds have far-reaching effects and benefits; however, additional benefits, both for the community and the institution, can be realized when the seed capital comes from the innovation and invention-founding academic institutions. "University Seed Capital Programs: Benefits Beyond the Loan," a paper outlining these benefits, has been published in the current issue of Technology and Innovation, Journal of the National Academy of Inventors.

Benefits to be derived from university-based funding for start-up companies include "expanded funding opportunities, hiring and retention of top entrepreneurial faculty, goal setting, entrepreneur development, economic development, and university engagement," said paper lead author Donna L. Herber, University of South Florida (USF) Research and Innovation.

University-based startups are at greater risk for failure than other start-up ventures because their products and technologies are typically in earlier stages of development than those not university-based, the authors write. The level of risk can be offset with funding originating from the university by utilizing the university foundation and office of research and technology transfer. Because the university is part of the community, the effects of this bridge funding extend beyond the campus and into the community, said the authors.

"Getting that first dollar is a huge challenge," explained Herber. "Seed loansalong with founder money and sweat equitycan provide those crucial first dollars....Where no matching [funds] programs exist, the university program can be used as a catalyst to bring partners to the table with matching money."

University seed cap programs can also be useful in developing entrepreneurship among faculty members and students and helping the start-up founder remove his or her 'academic cap' and take on the mantle of the business person, wrote the authors.

Included in the paper are several case studies that demonstrate the benefits of university seed funding for start-ups that blossomed with the help of university offices of technology transfer.

Case studies

The USF Research Foundation's Seed Capital Accelerator Program for companies affiliated with the Tampa Bay Technology Incubator (TBTI) supports and provides funding for existing start-ups that formed based on licensing USF technologies. To help better the odds toward successful commercialization, the program provides up to $50,000 for these start-ups.

"The objective," said Herber, "is to help companies reach specific goals in one year or less, allowing start-ups to reach critical development milestones and get to market more quickly. TBTI and USF Patents & Licensing provide support and training along the way."

Among the startups in Florida that received the $50,000 funding were ClearSpec LLC, founded in 2011 to develop a medical device; Moterum Inc., founded in 2014 to commercialize a walking assistive device for stroke patients; and Scientific League LLC, founded in 2011 to create STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) educational materials for K-12 students.

The paper also outlines similar success stories coming out of Purdue University, the University of Texas, the University of Chicago, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Washington State University.

Measuring the success of university funding programs

"How do we measure the success of university funding programs?" is a question the authors also tackled, a question that is complicated by the variety of ways in which success can be measured.

Direct measurements of success can include loan repayment or equity payout rates, which demonstrate positive return on investment. Indirect measurements may include numbers of license agreements executed, companies formed, jobs created, sponsored research generated, and products launched. "There are direct and indirect measures of success," wrote the authors. "Ultimately, success depends on the goals of the program."

"Programs based at the university are uniquely poised to bridge the gap between academic research and commercialization, as they are housed at the very institution that spawned the technology," concluded the authors. As co-author Paul Sanberg, senior vice president for research, innovation, and economic development at USF, notes, "In essence, there is a sense of ownership that strives for, and drives toward, a company's success. The company's success is then the university's success."

More information: Technology and Innovation, DOI: 10.21300/18.4.2017.305
Artist's concept of a terraformed Mars (left) and an O'Neill Cylinder. Credit: Ittiz/Wikimedia Commons (left)/Rick Guidice/NASA Ames Research Center (right)

The idea of terraforming Mars  aka "Earth's Twin"  is a fascinating idea. Between melting the polar ice caps, slowly creating an atmosphere, and then engineering the environment to have foliage, rivers, and standing bodies of water, there's enough there to inspire just about anyone! But just how long would such an endeavor take, what would it cost us, and is it really an effective use of our time and energy?

Such were the questions dealt with by two papers presented at NASA's "Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop" last week (Mon. Feb. 27th  Wed. Mar. 1st). The first, titled "The Terraforming Timeline", presents an abstract plan for turning the Red Planet into something green and habitable. The second, titled "Mars Terraforming  the Wrong Way", rejects the idea of terraforming altogether and presents an alternative.

The former paper was produced by Aaron Berliner from the University of California, Berkeley, and Chris McKay from the Space Sciences Division at NASA Ames Research Center. In their paper, the two researchers present a timeline for the terraforming of Mars that includes a Warming Phase and an Oxygenation Phase, as well as all the necessary steps that would precede and follow.

As they state in their paper's Introduction:

"Terraforming Mars can be divided into two phases. The first phase is warming the planet from the present average surface temperature of -60 C to a value close to Earth's average temperature to +15 C, and recreating a thick CO atmosphere. This warming phase is relatively easy and quick, and could take ~100 years. The second phase is producing levels of O in the atmosphere that would allow humans and other large mammals to breath normally. This oxygenation phase is relatively difficult and would take 100,000 years or more, unless one postulates a technological breakthrough."

Before these can begin, Berliner and McKay acknowledge that certain "pre-terraforming" steps need to be taken. These include investigating Mars' environment to determine the levels of water on the surface, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and in ice form in the polar regions, and the amount of nitrates in Martian soil. As they explain, all of these are key to the practicality of making a biosphere on Mars.

So far, the available evidence points towards all three elements existing in abundance on Mars. While most of Mars water is currently in the form of ice in the polar regions and polar caps, there is enough there to support a water cycle  complete with clouds, rain, rivers and lakes. Meanwhile, some estimates claim that there is enough CO in ice form in the polar regions to create an atmosphere equal to the sea level pressure on Earth.

Nitrogen is a also fundamental requirement for life and necessary constituent of a breathable atmosphere, and recent data by the Curiosity Rover indicate that nitrates account for ~0.03% by mass of the soil on Mars, which is encouraging for terraforming. On top of that, scientists will need to tackle certain ethical questions related to how terraforming could impact Mars.

For instance, if there is currently any life on Mars (or life that could be revived), this would present an undeniable ethical dilemma for human colonists  especially if this life is related to life on Earth. As they explain:

Artists impression of the terraforming of Mars, from its current state to a livable world. Credit: Daein Ballard

"If Martian life is related to Earth life  possibly due to meteorite exchange  then the situation is familiar, and issues of what other types of Earth life to introduce and when must be addressed. However, if Martian life in unrelated to Earth life and clearly represents a second genesis of life, then significant technical and ethical issues are raised."

To break Phase One  "The Warming Phase"  down succinctly, the authors address an issue familiar to us today. Essentially, we are altering our own climate here on Earth by introducing CO and "super greenhouse gases" to the atmosphere, which is increasing Earth's average temperature at a rate of many degrees centigrade per century. And whereas this has been unintentional on Earth, on Mars it could be re-purposed to deliberately warm the environment.

"The timescale for warming Mars after a focused effort of super greenhouse gas production is short, only 100 years or so," they claim. "If all the solar incident on Mars were to be captured with 100% efficiency, then Mars would warm to Earth-like temperatures in about 10 years. However, the efficiency of the greenhouse effect is plausibly about 10%, thus the time it would take to warm Mars would be ~100 years."

Once this thick atmosphere has been created, the next step involves converting it into something breathable for humans  where O levels would be the equivalent of about 13% of sea level air pressure here on Earth and CO levels would be less than 1%. This phase, known as the "Oxygenation Phase", would take considerably longer. Once again, they turn towards a terrestrial example to show how such a process could work.

Here on Earth, they claim, the high levels of oxygen gas (O) and low levels of CO are due to photosynthesis. These reactions rely on the sun's energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into biomass  which is represented by the equation HO + CO = CHO + O. As they illustrate, this process would take between 100,000 and 170,000 years:

"If all the sunlight incident on Mars was harnessed with 100% efficiency to perform this chemical transformation it would take only 17 years to produce high levels of O. However, the likely efficiency of any process that can transform HO and CO into biomass and O is much less than 100%. The only example we have of a process that can globally alter the CO and O of an entire plant is global biology. On Earth the efficiency of the global biosphere in using sunlight to produced biomass and O2 is 0.01%. Thus the timescale for producing an O rich atmosphere on Mars is 10,000 x 17 years, or ~ 170,000 years."

However, they make allowances for synthetic biology and other biotechnologies, which they claim could increase the efficiency and reduce the timescale to a solid 100,000 years. In addition, if human beings could utilize natural photosynthesis (which has a comparatively high efficiency of 5%) over the entire planet  i.e. planting foliage all over Mars  then the timescale could be reduced to even a few centuries.

Finally, they outline the steps that need to be taken to get the ball rolling. These steps include adapting current and future robotic missions to assess Martian resources, mathematical and computer models that could examine the processes involved, an initiative to create synthetic organisms for Mars, a means to test terraforming techniques in a limited environment, and a planetary agreement that would establish restrictions and protections.

Quoting Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Red Mars Trilogy, (the seminal work of science fiction about terraforming Mars) they issue a call to action. Addressing how long the process of terraforming Mars will take, they assert that we "might as well start now".

Artists concept of a possible Mars terraforming plant. Credit: National Geographic Channel

To this, Valeriy Yakovlev  an astrophysicist and hydrogeologist from Laboratory of Water Quality in Kharkov, Ukraine  offers a dissenting view. In his paper, "Mars Terraforming  the Wrong Way", he makes the case for the creation of space biospheres in Low Earth Orbit that would rely on artificial gravity (like an O'Neill Cylinder) to allow humans to grow accustomed to life in space.

Looking to one of the biggest challenges of space colonization, Yakovlev points to how life on bodies like the Moon or Mars could be dangerous for human settlers. In addition to being vulnerable to solar and cosmic radiation, colonists would have to deal with substantially lower gravity. In the case of the Moon, this would be roughly 0.165 times that which humans experience here on Earth (aka. 1 g), whereas on Mars it would be roughly 0.376 times.

The long-term effects of this are not known, but it is clear it would include muscle degeneration and bone loss. Looking farther, it is entirely unclear what the effects would be for those children who were born in either environment. Addressing the ways in which these could be mitigated (which include medicine and centrifuges), Yakovlev points out how they would most likely be ineffective:

"The hope for the medicine development will not cancel the physical degradation of the muscles, bones and the whole organism. The rehabilitation in centrifuges is less expedient solution compared with the ship-biosphere where it is possible to provide a substantially constant imitation of the normal gravity and the protection complex from any harmful influences of the space environment. If the path of space exploration is to create a colony on Mars and furthermore the subsequent attempts to terraform the planet, it will lead to the unjustified loss of time and money and increase the known risks of human civilization."

In addition, he points to the challenges of creating the ideal environment for individuals living in space. Beyond simply creating better vehicles and developing the means to procure the necessary resources, there is also the need to create the ideal space environment for families. Essentially, this requires the development of housing that is optimal in terms of size, stability, and comfort.

In light of this, Yakolev presents what he considers to be the most likely prospects for humanity's exit to space between now and 2030. This will include the creation of the first space biospheres with artificial gravity, which will lead to key developments in terms of materials technology, life support-systems, and the robotic systems and infrastructure needed to install and service habitats in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

These habitats could be serviced thanks to the creation of robotic spacecraft that could harvest resources from nearby bodies  such as the Moon and Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). This concept would not only remove the need for planetary protections  i.e. worries about contaminating Mars' biosphere (assuming the presence of bacterial life), it would also allow human beings to become accustomed to space more gradually.

As Yakovlev told Universe Today via email, the advantages to space habitats can be broken down into four points:

"1. This is a universal way of mastering the infinite spaces of the Cosmos, both in the Solar System and outside it. We do not need surfaces for installing houses, but resources that robots will deliver from planets and satellites. 2. The possibility of creating a habitat as close as possible to the earth's cradle allows one to escape from the inevitable physical degradation under a different gravity. It is easier to create a protective magnetic field.

Mars south polar ice cap, as seen in April of 2000 by the Mars Odyssey mission. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

"3. The transfer between worlds and sources of resources will not be a dangerous expedition, but a normal life. Is it good for sailors without their families? 4. The probability of death or degradation of mankind as a result of the global catastrophe is significantly reduced, as the colonization of the planets includes reconnaissance, delivery of goods, shuttle transport of people  and this is much longer than the construction of the biosphere in the Moon's orbit. Dr. Stephen William Hawking is right, a person does not have much time."

And with space habitats in place, some very crucial research could begin, including medical and biologic research which would involve the first children born in space. It would also facilitate the development of reliable space shuttles and resource extraction technologies, which will come in handy for the settlement of other bodies  like the Moon, Mars, and even exoplanets.

Ultimately, Yakolev thinks that space biospheres could also be accomplished within a reasonable timeframe  i.e. between 2030 and 2050  which is simply not possible with terraforming. Citing the growing presence and power of the commercial space sector, Yakolev also believed a lot of the infrastructure that is necessary is already in place (or under development).

"After we overcome the inertia of thinking +20 years, the experimental biosphere (like the settlement in Antarctica with watches), in 50 years the first generation of children born in the Cosmos will grow and the Earth will decrease, because it will enter the legends as a whole As a result, terraforming will be canceled. And the subsequent conference will open the way for real exploration of the Cosmos. I'm proud to be on the same planet as Elon Reeve Musk. His missiles will be useful to lift designs for the first biosphere from the lunar factories. This is a close and direct way to conquer the Cosmos."

With NASA scientists and entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Bas Landorp looking to colonize Mars in the near future, and other commercial aerospace companies developing LEO, the size and shape of humanity's future in space is difficult to predict. Perhaps we will jointly decide on a path that takes us to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Perhaps we will see our best efforts directed into near-Earth space.

Or perhaps we will see ourselves going off in multiple directions at once. Whereas some groups will advocate creating space habitats in LEO (and later, elsewhere in the Solar System) that rely on artificial gravity and robotic spaceships mining asteroids for materials, others will focus on establishing outposts on planetary bodies, with the goal of turning them into "new Earths".

Between them, we can expect that humans will begin developing a degree of "space expertise" in this century, which will certainly come in handy when we start pushing the boundaries of exploration and colonization even further.

Provided by Universe Today
Mary Jane Kelly's grave. Credit: Carl Vivian University of Leicester

Members of the University of Leicester team who undertook genealogical and demographic research in relation to the discovery of the mortal remains of King Richard III have now been involved in a new project to identify the last known victim of Jack the Ripper - Mary Jane Kelly.

The researchers were commissioned by author Patricia Cornwell, renowned for her meticulous research, to examine the feasibility of finding the exact burial location and the likely condition and survival of her remains. This was done as a precursor to possible DNA analysis in a case surrounding her true identity following contact with Wynne Weston-Davies who believes that Mary Jane Kelly was actually his great aunt, Elizabeth Weston Davies.

Now, in a new report, 'The Mary Jane Kelly Project', the research team has revealed the likelihood of locating and identifying the last known victim of Britain's most infamous serial killer known as 'Jack the Ripper', who is thought to have killed at least five young women in the Whitechapel area of London between August and November 1888.

The research team consisted of Dr Turi King, Reader in Genetics and Archaeology at the University of Leicester and lead geneticist of the Richard III project, Mathew Morris, Field Officer for University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) who discovered the remains of Richard III, Professor Kevin Schurer, Professor in English Local History who carried out the genealogical study of Richard III and Carl Vivian, Video Producer, who was video producer for the Richard III project.

As any DNA analysis would rely on the unambiguous identification of the remains being those of Mary Jane Kelly before such a project could even be considered, the University of Leicester team conducted a desk-based assessment of the burial location of Mary Jane Kelly.

The team visited St Patrick's Catholic Cemetery, Leytonstone, on 3 May 2016 in order to examine the burial area. Research was carried out in the cemetery's burial records and a survey of marked graves in the area around Kelly's modern grave marker was undertaken.

Their work was commissioned by Patricia Cornwell who is a crime writer, known for writing a best-selling series of novels featuring the heroine Dr Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner, and has also written two books on Jack the Ripper.

Wynne Weston-Davies is a surgeon and author of The Real Mary Kelly, an investigation into the life and death of the Ripper's final victim. In his book published in 2015, Weston-Davies claimed that the woman known to everyone as Mary Jane Kelly was living under a pseudonym and was in fact his great aunt Elizabeth Weston Davies.

Patricia Cornwell contacted Dr Turi King at the University of Leicester to assess the possibility of testing the DNA from the remains of Mary Jane Kelly and matching them against those of Weston-Davies.

Dr King said: "During initial discussions, two issues arose - it was widely reported in the press in 2015 that the Ministry of Justice had indicated that it would issue an exhumation licence to Wynne Weston-Davies - however in fact, they had only acknowledged that they would consider such an application if submitted.

"Secondly, to complete any exhumation application to the Ministry of Justice, a compelling case for the exhumation as well as detailed information on the location and state of the grave would be required, not only for the exhumation of Kelly's remains, but also to determine if any other remains might be disturbed in the process.

Burial records of Mary Jeannette Kelly from 1888 St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetary. Credit: Carl Vivian University of Leicester

"However, the precise location of her grave is unknown and, not only that, it rapidly became clear that as such, the remains of a number of other individuals would have to be disturbed and that her remains are highly likely to have been dug through when the communal gravesite she was buried in was reused in the 1940s making accurate identification of any of her remains highly problematic if not impossible."

Mathew Morris said: "There have been several modern markers in the cemetery which have commemorated Kelly since the 1980s and its location is likely to have little or no relevance to the real location of the grave. Problems surrounding the location of the grave stem from the fact that this area of the cemetery was reclaimed in 1947, with earlier grave positions being swept away to make way for new burials."

"Based on numerous calculations, we concluded that in order to locate Mary Jane Kelly's remains, one would most likely have to excavate an area encompassing potentially hundreds of graves containing a varying, and therefore unknown, number of individuals."

Furthermore, current law relating to the exhumation of human remains in England and Wales states that consent from the next of kin for each set of remains would be required - and in cases where there are a large number of remains within a grave, it is unlikely licences will be granted.

Professor Kevin Schurer, said: "In order to make an application to the Ministry of Justice for a licence to exhume Mary Jane Kelly's remains, the case for Kelly being Elizabeth Weston Davies needs to be compelling, not least because to test the theory by exhuming the remains will almost certainly involve disturbing the remains of other individuals buried in the vicinity.

"Relatives of these individuals would need to give consent and therefore traced and permission sought. Given the number of individuals whose remains would likely be disturbed, it would take months, possibly years, of genealogical research to trace them all."

The team concluded that without a full review of the evidence cited by Weston-Davies, much of the case for Mary Jane Kelly and Elizabeth Weston Davies being the same individual appears to be circumstantial or conjectural.

However, the report also found that DNA testing of the remains of Mary Jane Kelly - should she be discovered - would allow for a comparison to be made between those remains and Weston-Davies in order to determine if the genetic data is consistent with them being related, and therefore likely to be Elizabeth Weston Davies.

Dr King said: "As information presently stands, a successful search for Kelly's remains would require a herculean effort that would likely take years of research, would be prohibitively costly and would cause unwarranted disturbance to an unknown number of individuals buried in a cemetery that is still in daily use, with no guarantee of success.

"As such it is extremely unlikely that any application for an exhumation licence would be granted. The simple fact is, successfully naming someone in the historical record only happens in the most exceptional of cases.

"Most human remains found during excavations remain stubbornly, and forever, anonymous and this must also be the fate of Mary Jane Kelly."
Credit: shutterstock.com/Rice University

The opening of Mexico's energy sector to private investment, along with more critical public attitudes on the environmental and community toll of energy extraction activities, may increase the incidence and visibility of socio-environmental conflict in Mexico, according to a new paper from the Mexico Center at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

The paper, "The Implementation of the Energy Reform and Socio-environmental Conflicts Regarding Hydrocarbons in Mexico," was authored by Alberto Abad Suarez Avila, a professor at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico's Institute for Legal Research in Mexico City. Suarez Avila discusses the history of socio-environmental conflict in Mexico, the potential emergence of such conflicts in urban and rural areas in the future and the role the judicial branch may play in resolving socio-environmental challenges.

The paper focuses on the hydrocarbons industry, which Suarez Avila believes will experience the greatest variation and concentration of socio-environmental conflict over the short and medium terms.

"The new legislation establishes some conditions to decrease risks, such as the inclusion of residents' right to be consulted and compensated for the use of community land for extractive activities," Suarez Avila wrote. "Even in this manner, it is foreseen that Mexico will have to accept a future with greater socio-environmental conflict. It is predicted that, in addition to the traditional extra-institutional arrangements to resolve such conflicts and the expertise of the new players who will participate in the sector, an avenue for resolving conflicts through the judicial system will be created. Greater institutional autonomy with respect to the executive branch, a new constitutional paradigm guided by international human rights laws, the introduction of collective or class action proceedings and the reform of amparo proceedings would make Mexican judges arbitrators of the predicted new socio-environmental conflicts regarding energy issues."

The paper was written for a Mexico Center research project examining the rule of law in Mexico and the challenges it poses to implementing the country's energy reform. The project's findings are compiled in a Spanish-language book and are being posted on the Baker Institute's website in English.

Mexico's energy sector had been under strict governmental management since 1938. This changed in 2013 and 2014 when Mexico amended its constitution and passed legislation overhauling its energy sector to allow private and foreign investments.

"The change of the regulatory paradigm for hydrocarbons is accompanied by significant transformations in the structure of the political and social environment in which the industry will operate," Suarez Avila wrote. He said that previously, the state monopoly represented by the Mexican company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) operated in an environment that was mainly characterized by three factors: a public discourse that promoted a development model based on oil dependency; public acceptance of the social and environmental impact resulting from the work of PEMEX; and PEMEX's opacity with respect to its operations.

"Despite the fact that the socio-environmental conflicts related to energy matters in other Latin American countries have multiplied since the 1990s and continue until the present, the three characteristics  allowed PEMEX's activities to have a low incidence and perception of scarce conflict," Suarez Avila wrote. "Within the context of a liberalized energy sector, it is noted that such characteristics will hardly be maintained; therefore, there is a higher risk of the emergence and visibility of socio-environmental conflicts.

"The distance that the state will maintain with respect to the new economic players, a public opinion that is more critical of the socio-environmental impact of energy and extraction activities, and greater transparency in the sector make it possible to foresee the emergence of a social context with greater conflict, which will bring Mexico closer to a scenario similar to cases in other parts of Latin America."

More information: "The Implementation of the Energy Reform and Socio-environmental Conflicts Regarding Hydrocarbons in Mexico," www.bakerinstitute.org/media/f  Law_Avila-030317.pdf
Optical setup for coaxial holographic digital data page recording. Credit: University of Electro Communications

Holograms offer a means of increasing data storage density that may help to meet the demands of ever decreasing device sizes and increasing memory requirements. Kohta Nagaya, Eiji Hata and Yasuo Tomita at the University of Electro-Communications in Japan demonstrate that coaxial holographic digital data storage in a thiol-ene based nanoparticle-polymer composite can achieve competitive symbol error rates and signal-to-noise ratios.

Using changes in refractive index to optically record data, holograms record in three dimensions instead of being limited to the surface alone, thereby increasing the amount of data recorded. To diminish symbol error rates and increase signal-to-noise ratios the recording material must undergo large refractive index changes with a high recording sensitivity and be resilient to shrinkage during the process.

Inorganic nanoparticle-polymer composites are excellent candidates for meeting holographic data storage criteria, and the UEC researchers have already demonstrated holographic storage in nanoparticle-polymer composites by use of thiol and ene-monomers, 'so-called thiol-ene monomers'. By shifting the storage medium within a few tens of micron-size beam spot during the recording process holographic shift-multiplexing storage was achieved.

Now the UEC researchers have demonstrated co-axial holographic data storage in thiol-ene based nanoparticle-polymer composites. Coaxial data recording positions the reference beam around the signal beam and has been proposed as a means of increasing data density and transfer rates for a more competitive data storage technology.

The researchers used silica nanoparticles uniformly dispersed to secondary thiol and an allyl triazine triene monomer components. Optimum symbol error rates (less than 10-4) and signal-to-noise ratios (higher than 10) were achieved when silica nanoparticles were used at 25 vol.% concentrations and the composition of thiol-ene monomers was stoichiometric.

The researchers conclude, "These results show the usefulness of thiol-ene based nanoparticle-polymer composites as coaxial holographic data storage media."

More information: Kohta Nagaya et al. Readout fidelity of coaxial holographic digital data page recording in nanoparticle(thiolene) polymer composites, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics (2016). DOI: 10.7567/JJAP.55.09SB03
Eample of birefringence in calcite (Iceland spar). Credit: MIPT Press Office

Physicists from MIPT have predicted the existence of transparent composite media with unusual optical properties. Using graphics card-based simulations, scientists studied regular volume structures composed of two dielectrics with close parameters, and found that the optical properties of these structures differ from both those of natural crystals and artificial periodic composites, which are currently attracting a lot of interest.

The theoretical study conducted by senior researcher Alexey Shcherbakov and sixth-year student Andrey Ushkov, who both work in the Laboratory of Nanooptics and Plasmonics, is devoted to specific composite media that were simulated by means of an approach elaborated by the group. These media allow for the existence of an effect called birefringencewhen illuminated by a light beam, the original beam splits in two inside the medium. In their article published in Optics Express, the physicists predicted the existence of composite crystal structures of a new type, in which birefringence occurs in a rather different manner to the way it does in natural crystals.

The splitting of a beam in two in birefringent materials is due to the dependence of the properties of a crystal on the direction of light wave propagation, and the polarization of light waves. Polarization is the direction of the electromagnetic field oscillations in the wave; ordinary light is a chaotic mixture of waves with different polarizations.

To understand polarization, imagine a long rope attached at one end to a wall. If someone stretches the rope and starts to periodically move the free end of the rope, waves will appear. The free end can be moved either horizontally or vertically. The whole rope would then move either in a horizontal or vertical plane respectively, and these are the two different polarizations of waves in the rope.

When the light propagates through a birefringent crystal, some of the waves with one polarization shift in one direction, whereas the others, with another polarization, shift in a different direction. Using this property, researchers can use the crystal to filter partly or fully polarized light depending on the polarization state of the initial incident beam. This phenomenon could have been used by Vikings, who detected the position of the sun in a cloudy sky with Iceland spar. Nowadays, birefringent crystals are widely used in laser techniques.

Isofrequency surface of a cubic crystal, which always possesses seven optical axes. Axis scales are chosen in such a way to illustrate differences between the two parts of the isofrequency surface. In fact, for most crystals, both parts of the surface are almost spherical and practically indistinguishable from each other. Credit: MIPT Press Office

The theory of birefringence involves the concepts of optical axis and isofrequency surface. The first term refers to a direction in the crystal in which the incident wave does not split in two. For example, Iceland spar has a single optical axis, and salt crystals have none, as they do not possess birefringence. There are materials with two optical axes, such as Glauber's salt, the basic constituent of which is widely used in the glass industry and detergent manufacture. Within classical crystal optics, excluding magnetic and gyrotropic (related to polarization rotation) effects, all crystals are divided into three types: isotropic, and anisotropic with one or two optical axes.

The second concept, isofrequency surface, illustrates the dependence of the speed of light in a crystal on spatial direction. This surface is drawn in such a way that the length of a vector starting from the coordinate frame origin and ending at a surface point equals the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in the crystal in the direction indicated by the vector. The isofrequency surface of an isotropic crystal is a sphere whose radius is equal to the crystal refractive index since the light propagates in an isotropic medium at the same speed in any direction. The refractive index of transparent materials is always greater than unity.

For birefringent media, the shape of the isofrequency surface differs from the sphere. Moreover, the surface itself looks as if it consists of two parts, an inner and an outer part. These two parts illustrate how slower the light propagates in the crystal than in a vacuum in each direction for two different light polarizations. Points where the parts of the surface intersect indicate the optical axes, directions in which the speed of light does not depend on the polarization. The figure below shows isofrequency surfaces for salt, Iceland spar and Glauber's salt.

Beyond classical crystal optics, the basics of which are commonly taught to physics students, it appears that even crystals with a simple cubic lattice, such as salt, are optically anisotropic, i.e., the light there propagates in different directions differently. In the simplest case, this anisotropy was described by Hendrik Lorentz in the early 20th century. As many as seven optical axes were found in such crystals. This effect was confirmed experimentally in the late 20th century when scientists began to use lasers in research. However, the two parts of the isofrequency surface appeared to be almost indistinguishable (a relative difference of an order of 10-5-10-6), so that such anisotropy practically vanishes. In modern technologies, it is only taken into account in ultra-high-precision optical projection mountings for deep ultraviolet nanolithography, which is used in modern microelectronic fabrication.

In addition to natural crystals, such as birefringent Iceland spar, scientists are able to manipulate the crystal structure using artificial materials. Advances in micro and nanofabrication during the last two decades pushed studies of these artificial materials, including metamaterials and photonic crystals, toward the edge of optical science. The regular atomic or molecular arrangement is replaced by a regular geometric pattern in these structures. This pattern can be compared with an ornamental design on a wooden jewel box, but in three dimensions and with a scale from dozens of nanometers to hundreds of micrometers.

These are an unusual anisotropic properties of transparent crystallic composite media. Credit: MIPT Press Office

Artificial regular structures, photonic crystals and metamaterials can exhibit rather unusual optical properties, which dramatically differ from the properties of natural crystals. For example, periodical structuring at micro and nano scales enables scientists to overcome the diffraction limit on microscope resolution, and create flat lenses. Metamaterials can have a negative refractive index and be strongly optically anisotropic. The new article by Alexey Shcherbakov and Andrey Ushkov bridges the gap between natural crystals and the mentioned artificial photonic materials, and describes optical composites which on the one hand cannot be described within the scope of classical crystallography, and on the other hand are not traditional photonic crystals or metamaterials.

The authors of the newly published research used their own model and method, which they ran on NVidia graphics processing units, to simulate composite dielectrics periodically structured in three dimensions, i.e., a 3-D lattice of two transparent materials. In contrast to metamaterials and photonic crystals, where the optical contrast between lattice constituents is strong, MIPT physicists studied a combination of low refractive index and low optical contrast media with a relatively small period, about one tenth of the wavelength. Despite the fact that this combination was not commonly implicitly assumed to yield any interesting effects, the research demonstrated that some interesting physical phenomena were overlooked.

For low values of periods of investigated structures their optical properties are indeed indistinguishable from the optical behavior of natural crystals: composites with a cubic lattice are practically isotropic, whereas composites with, for example, tetragonal and orthorhombic lattices display uniaxial and biaxial properties. However, increasing the period while keeping valid the description of the composite as an effective medium, as the authors demonstrated, can cause very unusual behavior.

First, there appear new optical axes (up to ten axes in an orthorhombic crystal). Moreover, while the directions of optical axes are fixed within classical crystallography, the directions of some of the new optical axes turn out to be dependent on the period to wavelength ratio. Second, in the direction where the maximum difference of the speed of the light for two polarizations occurs for small periods (the maximum distance between the two parts of the isofrequency surface), this difference can practically go to zero, or, in other words, the direction can become an optical axis, at a certain relatively large period. Besides, owing to the use of the rigorous method, the authors obtained quantitative assessments on the validity of the effective medium approximation.

"Scientists actually mentioned that it may be possible for a crystal to possess numerous optical axes in the mid-20th centurythis was stated, for example, by the Russian Nobel prize winner Vitaly Ginzburg. However, in natural crystals such effects are impossible due to the smallness of the period, and there were no technologies to fabricate a good quality composite. Additionally, the power of computing machines was also insufficient to estimate the necessary corrections to anisotropic dielectric permittivity coming from lattice anisotropy. Our result is based on the joint use of modern methods of computational physics together with the high computing power provided by graphics cards. In our work we also developed an approach which allows us to calculate an effective optical response of a complex composite with controlled precision by virtue of so called first principle calculations (in our case, a rigorous solution of Maxwell's equations)," said Alexey Shcherbakov describing the results.

Possibilities for practical applications may come after experimental validation of the theoretical predictions. Modern technologies allow in principle the fabrication of composites of interest for operation in various optical bands. For example, 3-D high resolution multiphoton lithography can be used for the infrared band, whereas for the terahertz band one can apply microstereolithography. The discovered effects make artificial crystal anisotropy strongly dependent on the radiation wavelength, which in not the case for transparent natural crystals. This may enable scientists to develop new types of optical polarization control elements.

More information: Andrey A. Ushkov et al, Concurrency of anisotropy and spatial dispersion in low refractive index dielectric composites, Optics Express (2017). DOI: 10.1364/OE.25.000243 Journal information: Optics Express
As well as imaging in high resolution and in different wavelengths, the key to assessing change in vegetation is to image the same place frequently. The Sentinel-2 mission is based on a constellation of two satellites orbiting 180 apart, which along with their 290 km-wide swaths, allows Earths main land surfaces, large islands, inland and coastal waters to be covered every five days. This is a significant improvement on earlier missions in the probability of gaining a cloud-free look at a particular location, making it easier to monitor changes in plant health and growth. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

Following three days of intensive work, mission control today declared the newly launched Sentinel-2B satellite fit and ready for commissioning.

The 1100 kg Sentinel was launched on Tuesday atop a Vega rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Joining its orbiting twin, the new satellite will double the high-resolution coverage from the Sentinel-2 mission for the EU's Copernicus environmental monitoring system.

Information from the mission is helping to improve agricultural practices, monitor the world's forests, detect pollution in lakes and coastal waters, and contribute to timely disaster mapping.

The Vega upper stage delivered Sentinel-2B into the targeted orbit just under an hour after a flawless lift off and powered flight.

Shortly after it separated from Vega, the satellite sent its first radio signals via the ground station at Yattaragga, Australia, to ESA's mission control in Darmstadt, Germany.

Engineers could establish full data and command links and then shift into the most complex part of the challenging 'launch and early orbit ' phase.

Critical steps

During these three days, the mission control team worked shifts 24 hours per day, overseeing a critical series of initial actions.

These brought the satellite into a stable operational mode, started moving it into its final orbit and checked out the health of its systems.

"Our satellite is healthy and the entire mission control team supported by industry and colleagues from the Sentinel project have worked extremely hard to get Sentinel-2B into its planned configuration for the start of the mission," says flight director Pier Paolo Emanuelli.

Sentinel-2B liftoff. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace

"We can declare this phase complete and, as of 20:00 GMT today, revert to routine working hours for flight control starting tomorrow."

Fine tuning a complex system

Since the satellite's arrival in orbit on Tuesday morning, the team has performed numerous tasks, including confirming the solar wing was fully deployed to generate power, verifying its star trackers and GPS receiver, releasing the protective cover of its multispectral camera and conducting a test manoeuvre by firing its thrusters for nine seconds.

This period for Sentinel-2B was all the more demanding because part of the team had also to maintain, in parallel, routine control of Sentinel-2A, which has been in orbit since June 2015.

"Everything's functioning very well, and the team has completed all steps in the timeline as planned," says Paolo Ferri, ESA's head of mission operations.

"With support from specialists across our centre, the team worked together to fly not one but two satellites and I am proud of the contributions made by everyone."

Commissioning the new ship

Now that the craft is stable and flying normally, teams will commission it over the next three months, starting with manoeuvres that will position it in the next few weeks in its final working orbit  the same as its twin Sentinel-2A but on the other side of Earth.

During commissioning, the two main objectives are to check the satellite's performance and to calibrate and validate the camera.

In addition, the satellite's ability to transmit its crucial images to the ground via its laser link will be tested and commissioned.
Ata children and elders inside a nipa hut during a workshop where bamboo musical instruments were used as percussion. Credit: Maria Christine Muyco

Preserving cultural heritage, including access to and use of ancestral lands, can be a real challenge for indigenous communities. A range of cultural memory recall and music workshops with the indigenous Ata of the Philippines aims to empower communities and validate legal claims related to the Indigenous People's Rights Act.

The Ata, a coastal people living on the Boracay Island of Visayas in the Philippines, have long sought to validate their ancestral land claims. Even though the Certificate for Ancestral Domain Title was provided by the government, some individuals and businesses continue to claim the Ata land as their own. To support this legal challenge and simultaneously document the Ata's language and cultural practices, Dr Maria Christine Muyco is conducting participatory action research that emphasizes collective inquiry and experimentation grounded in experience and social history.

Muyco uses cultural memory recall and music workshops to record indigenous practices. People are encouraged to share their culture through storytelling as well as playing musical instruments. In addition to providing a valuable cultural record, this process also serves to pass on local knowledge and practices to members of the community.

It is not only historical knowledge being preserved. New talent is also nurtured as members from across the community are encouraged to compose new music, all of which is professionally recorded and subsequently distributed to villages for communal use and public listening.

Muyco hopes that the stories and songs will serve as "voices of cultural value and in some ways [provide an opportunity to] protest against injustice" to help ensure their cultural self-definition, identity and ultimate survival.

Provided by University of the Philippines Diliman
Credit: Yale University

Salmonella and many other bacterial pathogens use a nano syringe-like device to deliver toxic proteins into target human cells. Now scientists at Yale and University of Texas Medical School-Houston have used cryo-electron tomography to reveal the molecular structure of this device, which is about 1/1000th the width of a human hair.

The nano-syringe, called Type III protein secretion machine, features an injection point at one end and a sort of staging area at the bottom, where proteins are selected and sorted for delivery into target cells.

"The device is like a stinger and injects ready-made bacterial proteins into mammalian cells to commandeer them for the benefit of the pathogen," said Jorge Galan, the Lucille P. Markey Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis and co-senior author of the paper.

Knowledge of the structure could help researchers devise new anti-infective strategies against a variety of bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella, Pseudomonas, Escherichia coli, Yersinia pestis, and Chlamydia. The research was published March 9 in the journal Cell.

More information: In Situ Molecular Architecture of the Salmonella Type III Secretion Machine. Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.02.022 Journal information: Cell
A 43-year-old Fremont man caught in Lincoln with a quarter pound of methamphetamine has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for a conspiracy to distribute drugs in the area.

Christopher Arneson pleaded guilty to the charge.

Chief U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp sentenced him Monday to the prison time, plus five years of supervised release.

According to court records, Lincoln police were investigating Arneson last year after getting information that he had meth inside a motel room near the North 27th Street exit of Interstate 80.

On March 11, 2016, police saw him and Charles Stuart, 34, leaving the motel, made contact with them and found a pipe and 1.7 grams of meth on Arneson. Police then searched the SUV they were getting into and found just over a quarter pound of meth packaged in separate baggies inside a black duffel bag and 1.3 grams more meth in Arneson's motel room, according to a probable cause affidavit for his arrest.

Arneson was indicted in U.S. District Court.

Police allege Stuart had a gram of meth and a pill on him. He is awaiting trial in state court on suspicion of possession of meth and possession of Carisoprodol.
At a time Acting President Yemi Osinbajo should have been enjoying his 60th birthday, he made a very timely visit to Sokoto state, just in time to take part in a two-day clinic organised for the development of small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria.

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

He was received at the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and members of his cabinet.

Before the commencement of the event proper, the Acting President paid a visit to Sultan Muhammad Sa'ad at his palace in Sokoto.

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Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

The MSMEs Clinic had in attendance Governors Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi.

Recall that Osinbajo was in Lagos on Tuesday, March 7 where he flagged-off the Lagos-Ibadan rail line construction, a major project embarked upon by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and expected to be completed in December 2018.

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

READ ALSO: 8 reasons Osinbajo is loved by Nigerians

The acting president, who was receiving birthday wishes from Nigerians as he clocks 60, was in Sokoto on Thursday, March 9.

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

While in the state, he embarked on an inspection tour of projects, hold interactive sessions with government agents and financial institutions, as well as operators and stakeholders in the MSMEs sub-sector.

He also visited His Eminence, Sultan Muhammad Saad Abubakar III at his palace in Kanwuri, Sokoto.

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

A statement from Imam Imam, the spokesperson for Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Osinbajo is to further take part in a two-day nationwide clinic organised for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

READ ALSO: Osinbajo storms Lagos, to flag-off Lagos-Ibadan rail line project

The statement said Osinbajo would also inspect sample of works by small and medium scale enterprises from across the federation.

Below are more photos from the Vice President's august visit.

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Economic growth: Osinbajo pays timely visit to Sokoto

Source: Legit.ng
The special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, has expressed excitement over the return of president.

Femi Adesina speaks on Buhari's return

Adesina, described today, March 10, as a day of joy. He went on to say that the President's return should serve as a lesson to politicians who peddled rumours concerning his health.

President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived back to Nigeria on Friday at about 7.40a.m., 51 days after he left the country on a medical vacation.

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The president arrived at the Presidential Villa on Friday morning and was received by acting president Yemi Osinbajo and members of his family, including his wife, Aisha and daughter, Zahra.

He then proceeded to meet with governors, ministers, service chiefs and top government officials in State House.

Watch the video below:

Source: Legit.ng
Preston Harris, a candidate for the Lincoln Board of Education, was fined $300 for possession of a small amount of marijuana in 2015, court records show.

Harris, 28, who is challenging incumbent Lanny Boswell for his District 5 seat in southeast Lincoln, said he learned a lot from the incident.

It was two years ago and I was running Men With Dreams (a mentoring group created by he and two friends) and we were doing really, really well, he said. I made a poor choice being with the wrong people at the wrong place and time downtown.

It was a difficult time, he said. He was suspended from Men With Dreams for a year and he felt, for a long time, thats all people saw.

I felt there was so much more I bring to the table than this one thing, he said. It taught me about the responsibilities you have when youre in a leadership position and what people expect of you.

The business owner and motivational speaker is running as an independent, and hes the only challenger in the April primary in which Boswells fellow incumbents Kathy Danek (District 1), Barb Baier (District 3) and Don Mayhew (District 7) are running unopposed.

Harris was cited for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana in downtown Lincoln on Aug. 23, 2015, as well as with possession of drug paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty to the possession charge and prosecutors dismissed the drug paraphernalia charge.

He said he doesnt see the experience as a deficit but as something that helped him grow. For many families, marijuana is a part of life and he can now speak from experience about how its not necessary for young people, and what it cost him.

I hope voters dont hold it against me, he said. It doesnt affect my ability to make decisions that affect education policy, education instruction and just dealing with people.

Harris also was cited twice for driving on a suspended license after his drivers license was suspended because he failed to pay traffic-related fines.

His license was suspended the first time on June 5, 2013, when he failed to pay a $75 ticket for a stop sign violation in Lincoln. On Dec. 12, 2014, he was stopped for speeding on Holdrege Street and for driving with a suspended license. On Dec. 23, 2014, he paid the fines and his license was reinstated.

It was suspended a second time on Nov. 30, 2016, for failing to pay an Illinois speeding ticket from July 2. He was cited a second time for driving on a suspended license on Jan. 13, 2017, and not having proof of insurance. That case is pending, but he paid the Illinois parking ticket and his license was reinstated on Jan. 18.

He said those incidents happened because he was struggling to make ends meet and couldnt immediately afford to pay the fines.
Following his return to Nigeria today, March 10, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is likely to go back to the United Kingdom in three weeks.

It seems the President is not back in the country to stay for long as sources in the Presidency and his medical team have reportedly said the President will likely return to the UK to continue treatment for an unnamed ailment, Sahara Reporters reports.

There are reports that the president's medical team did not necessarily give him a go ahead to travel but he reportedly went against medical advice to travel because some members of his political circle were afraid that their influence was about to slip and they pressured him to come home and reduced anxiety among his followers.

President Buhari and Vice President osinbajo

READ ALSO: Nigerians jubilate as Buhari arrives Kaduna Airport

A source reportedly disclosed that the president finally succumbed to his people's pleas that he should leave the UK late yesterday, adding that the schedule left little room for preparation.

Due to the unplanned decision to leave UK, the presidential jet took off from Stansted Airport in London shortly after 1 a.m. and his plane touched ground in Kaduna at 7:41 a.m.

Recall that President Buhari travelled out of the country on January 19, 2017 for a ten-day vacation which eventually was extended indefinitely due to undisclosed medical reasons.

Sources of Sahara Reporters also said that, given Mr. Buharis feeble health, the president was bound to maintain a highly light schedule with few, if any, public engagements before returning to the UK in a few weeks to continue his treatment.

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Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has said he is a little bit tired even as he gave Vice President Yemi Osinbajo the go ahead to continue as acting president.

Buhari made the remark while addressing members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), all heads of security agencies and the governors Kogi, Yahaya Bello and Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari, in a closed door meeting shortly after his arrival to the country.

Source: Legit.ng
Guatemala on Friday held the first funeral for 36 teenage girls killed in a horrific fire in a government-run shelter at the center of allegations of sexual abuse and other mistreatment by staff. Flowers and prayers filled a small church in Ciudad Peronia, a southern neighborhood of Guatemala City, as family and friends said farewell to Siona Hernandez, 17. She was among those who died in the blaze Wednesday in the Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home for children in San Jose Pinula, a village just east of the capital. The fire broke out in the girls' living quarters of the walled facility, killing 19 immediately. The other 17 died in hospital of horrific burns. Another 10 patients are in critical condition, with burns to all of their body and severe damage to their lungs and throat. Few are expected to live, according to the director of the San Juan Dios Hospital, Antonio Villeda. All of the victims were girls aged between 14 and 17. Siona Hernandez had been sent to the shelter under court order after running away from home. She shared a dormitory with others in the same situation, or girls taken in to escape domestic abuse at home. "We are all appalled. We still cannot believe this. What we see is there was a criminal hand in those looking after this area," the local pastor, Jose Alpirez, told AFP. "This cannot go unpunished. The law must be applied," he said. - Public anger - The blaze was believed to have been set by girls protesting dire conditions they were subjected to inside. Human rights prosecutors say the girls were locked up together, unable to escape the flames. An investigation has been launched to determine the exact circumstances and criminal responsibility. In the meantime, President Jimmy Morales has sacked the shelter's director and ordered the facility temporarily closed. The shelter was built to house 400 children, but nearly twice that many lived there. The 750 children who survived the fire have been sent to other public and private shelters. Some have been given to families for care. UNICEF, the UN children's fund, has called for an end to the systematic institutionalization of minors in the country. Public criticism has swelled against Morales' government over the tragedy. Social networks feature posts blaming Morales for the "massacre." And on Thursday, protesters left dolls on piles of charcoal in a demonstration in front of the presidential palace. Although the facility was under the supervision of the social welfare ministry, Morales has not fired that minister, Carlos Rodas. He said he was awaiting the results of the investigation. "I'm hoping the law falls on those responsible, because it's not right what happened," said Sebastian Garcia, Siona Hernandez's uncle, as he tearfully attended the funeral.
For many years, SingTel shares have been great to own. With a market capitalisation of S$63 billion as of the time of writing, SingTel is Singapores biggest public listed company.

SingTel also pays out great dividends to it shareholders. For every 1,000 shares, SingTel shareholders can enjoy dividends of about $175 per annum (based on FY2015).

What you probably not know however is that some of your parents or even grandparents may own SingTel shares. This may happen even if they never ever invested in stocks before, or do not even have a stock brokerage account.

These SingTel shares they unknowingly have are also known as Discounted Singapore Telecom (SingTel) shares. Incredibly, the CPF website also talks these shares.

Source

There is also a complete FAQ on the CPF website specifically to address questions pertaining to them.

How Did These Singaporeans Came To Own These SingTel Shares?

Back in 1955, SingTel was a statutory board known as the Singapore Telephone Board (STB). In other words, it was part of the government. These changed in October 1993 when the company was listed on the Singapore Exchange.

Unlike the Initial Public Offering (IPO) that we typically see these days, where a large majority of the available shares would be privately placed via major financial institutions and a much smaller proportion made available for retail investors to subscribe to, SingTels IPO was done in a different and much more unique way.

Singapore citizens were able to subscribe to the SingTel shares offered during at a discounted price. This was part of the governments initiative then to encourage Singaporeans to participate in the nations wealth building and for them to partially own a company, which forms a big part of the country.

The shares were offered in various tranches. A Singaporean who subscribed fully would have about 1,540 shares today inclusive of bonus shares. The shares could only be bought through CPF savings.

How Many Singaporeans Own SingTel Shares Today?

Due to this unique exercise back in the 90s, more than a million Singaporeans still own SingTel shares to date. In comparison, a similar sized Singapore company such as DBS have about 66,000 shareholders in total.

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Because a large group of Singaporeans may have subscribed to the discounted SingTel shares without monitoring them over the past 20 years, there is a good chance that many older Singaporeans would still be SingTel shareholders today without even being aware of it.

In fact, it was reported in 2013 by SGX that about 15,000 SingTel discounted shareowners are not even contactable, as they do not have CDP accounts.

The good news though is that because SingTel have generated good returns as a stock both in terms of dividends payout and stock price appreciation since the 90s, most Singaporeans today will be sitting on a tidy profit from their original investment.

How Can I Find Out If Own Some SingTel Shares?

To find out if you own some SingTel shares, simply log on to your CPF Account to check. Alternatively, you can also check your CDP account to see if you have some SingTel shares.

Because the IPO for SingTel shares was done in 1993 for those of the age of 21 and above, you need to be at least 45 years old to have a chance of owning some of these SingTel shares.

Happy checking!

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The post Why Do Older Singaporeans (Who Never Bought Stocks) Have SingTel Shares In Their CPF Account? appeared first on DollarsAndSense.sg.
AFP News

The UN's COP27 climate summit kicked off Sunday in Egypt with warnings against backsliding on efforts to cut emissions and calls for rich nations to compensate poor countries after a year of extreme weather disasters. An alarming UN report said the past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, with an acceleration in sea level rise, glacier melt, heatwaves and other climate indicators. "As COP27 gets underway, our planet is sending a distress signal," UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement, calling the report a "chronicle of climate chaos". Just in the past few months, floods devastated Pakistan and Nigeria, droughts worsened in Africa and the United States, cyclones whipped the Caribbean, and unprecedented heatwaves seared three continents. The conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh also comes against the backdrop of Russia's war on Ukraine, an energy crunch, soaring inflation and the lingering effects from the Covid-19 pandemic. But Simon Stiell, the UN's climate change executive secretary, said he would not be a "custodian of backsliding" on the goal of slashing greenhouse emissions 45 percent by 2030 to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above late 19th-century levels. "We will be holding people to account, be they presidents, prime ministers, CEOs," Stiell said as the 13-day summit opened. "The heart of implementation is everybody everywhere in the world every single day doing everything they possibly can to address the climate crisis," he said, noting that only 29 of 194 nations have presented improved plans as called for at COP26 in Glasgow last year. Current trends would see carbon pollution increase 10 percent by the end of the decade and the Earth's surface heat up 2.8C, according to findings unveiled last week. Promises made under the 2015 Paris Agreement would, if kept, only shave off a few tenths of a degree. Britain's Alok Sharma, who handed the COP presidency to Egypt, said that while world leaders have faced "competing priorities" this year, "inaction is myopic and can only defer climate catastrophe." "How many more wake-up calls does the world -- and world leaders -- actually need?" he said. - 'Loss and damage' - The COP27 summit will focus like never before on money -- a major sticking point that has soured relations between countries that got rich burning fossil fuels and the poorer ones suffering from the worst consequences of climate change. The United States and the European Union -- fearful of creating an open-ended reparations framework -- have dragged their feet and challenged the need for a separate funding stream. After two days of intense pre-summit negotiations, delegates agreed on Sunday to put the "loss and damage" issue on the COP27 agenda, a first step towards what are sure to be difficult discussions. Stiell said inclusion of loss and damage on the agenda after three decades of debate on the issue showed progress. "The fact that it is there as a substantive agenda item I believe bodes well," he told reporters. COP27 president Sameh Shoukry of Egypt said it would be unproductive to speculate on what outcome the negotiations will lead to, "but certainly everybody is hopeful." "Anything that we do effectively has to be on the basis of our common efforts and that we leave no one behind," he said. Shoukry also noted that rich nations have not fulfilled a separate pledge to deliver $100 billion per year to help developing countries green their economies and build resilience against future climate change. He lamented that most climate financing is based on loans. "We do not have the luxury to continue this way. We have to change our approaches to this existential threat," he said. - US-China tensions - After the first day of talks, some 110 world leaders will join the summit on Monday and Tuesday. The most conspicuous no-show will be China's Xi Jinping, whose leadership was renewed last month at a Communist Party Congress. US President Joe Biden has said he will come, but only after legislative elections on Tuesday that could see either or both houses of Congress fall into the hands of Republicans hostile to international action on climate change. Cooperation between the United States and China -- the world's two largest economies and carbon polluters -- has been crucial to rare breakthroughs in the nearly 30-year saga of UN climate talks, including the 2015 Paris Agreement. But Sino-US relations have sunk to a 40-year low after a visit to Taiwan by House leader Nancy Pelosi and a US ban on the sale of high-level chip technology to China, leaving the outcome of COP27 in doubt. A meeting between Xi and Biden at the G20 summit in Bali days before the UN climate meeting ends, if it happens, could be decisive. One bright spot at COP27 will be the arrival of Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose campaign vowed to protect the Amazon and reverse the extractive policies of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro. bur-lth/mh/lg
Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (Yahoo Singapore photo)

In its bid to correct potential conflicts of interest, the proposed amendments to the Town Councils Act perpetuate the biggest conflict of all by giving the Ministry of National Development (MND) tremendous power to look into the affairs of particular town councils (TCs), said Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament Sylvia Lim.

Speaking in Parliament on Friday (10 March), the Workers Party chair gave a sharp critique of the proposed amendments, singling out one point in Clause 24. The point empowers MND to devise strategies for compliance reviews on town councils and to order investigations into TCs.

The scheme as proposed perpetuates the biggest conflict of all: who is the gatekeeper of this regime? Lim pointed out that the National Development Minister himself runs a town council. His comrades in arms, including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers, are also responsible for running all but one of the 15 town councils in Singapore.

Calling the scheme fundamentally flawed, she added, It is in our view dangerous to arrogate to a partisan minister the solemn duty of overseeing town councils, which are essentially political institutions. What amounts to a reasonable suspicion of material irregularity (Part 6A of Clause 24) is very subjectiveWhat would trigger such an investigation is purely up to the minister to interpret.

Lim claimed that the new provisions were a likely response to the outcome of a court case brought by MND against the former Aljunied Hougang Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) in 2015. She noted that both the High Court and the Court of Appeal had ruled that MND was not the proper party to sue town councils, and also held that the National Development Minister was only entitled to intervene in very few and specific circumstances, and did not have the general power of oversight.

The Aljunied MP took further aim at MND, saying that it was far from a politically neutral body and had been an active campaigner against the WP during the campaign period for the 2015 General Election. It issued regular statements on the alleged misconduct of AHPETC and then took a break after Polling Day.

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Lim tabled two suggestions. Firstly, that the government revive the previous scheme of town councils being audited by the Auditor Generals Office on a rotational basis. Such a scheme of AGO audits would engender greater public confidence that the exercise is impartial and focuses on the public interest, she said.

Secondly, that the government set up an independent housing tribunal to resolve any disputes between government agencies and town councils. Lim noted that the current dispute resolution mechanism is the courts, which is time consuming and costly and also adversarial in nature. To be chaired by a judge and filled with members qualified in relevant fields such as architecture and engineering, the tribunal would provide for a more considered and just resolution of disputes, Lim said.

Aljunied GRC MP Pritam Singh also addressed the issue earlier in Parliament, saying that the empowerment of MND would not necessarily ensure good outcomes for Singapore but rather good outcomes for any ruling party. If the specific amendments are passed, it could lead to two undesirable outcomes.

First, it risks politicisation of the public service, where MND risks becoming a tool of the ruling party of the day to fix the opposition. Second, it causes the elected MPs to answer to the unelected bureaucracy, subordinating the elected mandate of MPs to the executive branch, Pritam said.

The WP is determined to make the best of a less than equitable situation managing not with the cards we wish we have but those that are in our hands, Pritam concluded.
By Sofia Menchu GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - The blaze that has killed at least 37 and maimed others at an overcrowded Guatemalan shelter for abused teens broke out in a tiny room they were locked in to control them after a riot at the center, authorities and witnesses said. The inferno in the 16 square metre classroom packed with 52 teenagers left survivors of Wednesday's blaze with such severe injuries that burn specialists were flown in from the United States and medics said they needed hundreds of blood donors. Hospital officials on Friday said two more girls had died overnight and that more than a dozen remain hospitalized in critical condition. The government has sacked the director of the Virgen de la Asuncion home, temporarily closed the center, declared three days of mourning and vowed to reform a childcare system that experts say is critically underfunded. "The staff left the girls in an extremely reduced space, a four-metre by four-metre room, for 52 teenage girls," said Claudia Lopez, Guatemala's deputy ombudsman for human rights on Thursday. "It was a terribly thought out decision." Police and witnesses say the fire appeared to have been started by one of the girls, who set light to a mattress in the room, possibly as a protest after hours inside. "If it really was the girls who started the fire - why did they have matches in their hand, why were they not searched if they were going to be locked into this tiny space?," Lopez said. ATTEMPTED ESCAPE The Virgen de la Asuncion home houses youths up to 18 years old on the pine-wooded outskirts of the municipality of San Jose Pinula, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of the capital Guatemala City. Its residents are an unusual mix of victims of violence and young offenders, with children with disabilities in another wing. Years of problems at the home boiled over at lunchtime on Tuesday when a group of teenagers complaining about the conditions inside feigned a fight in the lunch hall as a distraction, before attacking staff and trying to escape, one eyewitness said. After hours of rioting, police captured most of those who had fled and they were separated from the hundreds of other residents in the complex, according to an account written by the government's human rights department and seen by Reuters. During five hours of negotiations that evening, the leaders of the rebellion alleged abuse by the staff including rotten food and the use of bleach on their skin and pepper spray as punishment for bad behavior, according to the document. SMOKE SEEPS OUT At around 1 am, the 52 girls were locked into a classroom and given thin mattresses to sleep on, local police chief Wilson Maldonado told a congressional commission. Boys involved in the trouble were kept in a separate area, an employee at the home said. At about 9 am, police stationed outside the room noticed smoke seeping out, Maldonado said. However, one witness said the fire started 30 minutes earlier and police initially ignored the cries for help, thinking the girls were protesting. "I heard shouting and loud noises all night," said a teenage girl who witnessed the fighting in the lunch hall and said she spent much of the Tuesday cowering under a bed in her dorm after some of her peers tried to make her join the riot. "The fire was at about 8.30 am, the boys came running down to say that a girl had died," she said. "The police grabbed the boys and a carer began hitting them and telling them off for having left the room they were left in." "TIP OF THE ICEBERG" The Virgen de la Asuncion center has a history of abuse accusations documented by Guatemalan media. Over the last three years more than 250 of its residents have fled, newspaper reports said. Human rights reports and interviews with people inside the center paint a complex picture. Some residents felt the center provided them shelter and education their families couldn't, and blamed a few "rebels" for the tensions. Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, an employee who has worked there for six years attributed many of the problems to low funding, poor staffing levels and judges who sent a steady flow of youth offenders to the home, rather than to detention centres. "We had 15-19 new arrivals a day, every carer had 34 children to look after, and we were on one day on, one day off shifts of 24 hours because there were not enough staff, "the employee said, adding she faced death threats and verbal abuse from her wards. Guatemala has Latin America's worst rates of child malnutrition. Street gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha prey on minors. And, the Central American nation's public institutions are underfunded, racked by corruption and widespread overcrowding. The situation has contributed to the exodus of at least 67,000 Guatemalan children to the United States since 2013. "What happened in the secure home yesterday is just the tip of the iceberg of an entire system of not protecting children and teens in Guatemala," said Enrique Maldonaldo, a specialist in child studies at the Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales. "Guatemala has not been capable of guaranteeing a minimum level of social protection," he said. (Additonal reporting by Enrique Andres Pretel; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
The evening will feature storytellers Rohina Malik, Kim Schultz and Susan Stone, who will share stories from their own faiths  Christian, Jewish and Muslim  to transcend differences through shared belief in the power of compassion.

The women travel throughout the country to share their stories. Malik is a critically acclaimed playwright and solo performance artist. Her plays include Unveiled, The Mecca Tales and Yaminas Necklace. Stone has been a professional storyteller and teaching artist for 30 years. Her stories have appeared in many anthologies, including The Voice of Children: A Siddur for Shabbat, Yom Kippur Readings. She has won the National Jewish Book Award. Schultz is a Chicago-based author, actor and refugee advocate. In 2009, she traveled to the Middle East as an artist/activist to meet with Iraqi refugees, where she fell in love with one. She has turned their stories and her own into a critically acclaimed solo play, No Place Called Home.
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2016 file photo, members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces arrive as part of a first batch who have a broader mandate to use force at the airport in Juba as Japanese peacekeepers landed in South Sudan in the first such deployment of the country's troops overseas with those expanded powers in nearly 70 years. The Japanese government has decided to end its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan after five years. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday, March 10, 2017, that Japan will not renew the mission after the current rotation returns in May. The 350-person infrastructure team was focused on road construction. (AP Photo/Justin Lynch, File)

TOKYO (AP)  Japan is ending its peacekeeping mission in troubled South Sudan after five years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday.

Abe said Japan would not renew the mission after the current rotation returns in May. The 350-person team has focused on road construction.

The team, which arrived in South Sudan in November, was Japan's first with an expanded mandate to use force if necessary to protect civilians and U.N. staff. The Japanese military's use of force is limited by the post-World War II constitution.

Abe said Japan would continue to assist South Sudan in other ways such as with food and humanitarian support, and will keep some personnel at the U.N. peacekeeping command office.

"As South Sudan enters a new phase of nation-building, we have decided that we can now put an end to our infrastructure building efforts," Abe told reporters.

The announcement came amid concern about the safety of the Japanese troops in South Sudan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, however, denied that led to the decision.

"The decision is a result of our comprehensive considerations and not because of the deteriorating security situation," he said.

Ateny Wek Ateny, a spokesman for South Sudan President Salva Kiir, said he was not aware of the Japanese decision. Japanese officials said Tokyo has notified both South Sudan's government and the United Nations of its decision.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed that Japan informed the U.N. that it was withdrawing its roughly 350-member engineering contingent at the end of its current rotation in May.

"They've been in that post for many years and they've been performing a very valuable function and have been a key part of the efforts by the U.N. mission there to protect civilians," he said. "We appreciate the work that they've done, and certainly we'll continue to engage with the government of Japan to make sure that Japan can contribute usefully to other peacekeeping missions in the future."

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Haq was asked what message Japan's withdrawal sends in light of U.N. officials raising alarm bells about the risk of genocide in South Sudan.

"I don't think it needs to send an overall message," he said. "It's a fact of life that different countries contribute troops and rotate them out at different times. We'll try to make up for the loss of that engineering component as quickly as we can."

Japanese defense officials have recently come under fire over their reluctance to explain the deteriorating security situation in the area where Japan's troops operate. The peacekeepers' daily log from last July, which the defense ministry initially said had been destroyed, described nearby clashes and concern about becoming embroiled in the fighting. Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has repeatedly refused to acknowledge any local combat action.

Opposition lawmakers and peace activists have accused the government of trying to cover up the worsening safety situation. They say the government violated Japan's war-renouncing constitutional principles by continuing with the mission despite the nearby fighting.

Japan's earlier missions in South Sudan and other areas, including Golan Heights and Cambodia were limited to post-cease-fire assistance and noncombat roles.

The departure of the Japanese peacekeepers is a setback for international support of South Sudan's government. In a speech last month, Kiir singled out Abe and Japan for "continued support to the government and people of South Sudan."

Hopes were high that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011. But the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 between forces loyal to Kiir and those loyal to his former vice president.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 has failed, and clashes last July between the two forces set off further violence, killing tens of thousands of people and forcing 3.1 million to flee their homes. An estimated 100,000 people are experiencing famine, and 1 million others are on the brink of starvation.

The U.N. Security Council decided in August to send 4,000 more peacekeepers after clashes the previous month killed hundreds in South Sudan's capital, Juba. Some progress was mentioned in a U.N. secretary-general's report this week.

___

Associated Press writers Ken Moritsugu in Tokyo, Cara Anna in Johannesburg, Justin Lynch in Kampala, Uganda and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
FILE - In this Saturday, July 16, 2016 file photo, Turkish soldiers secure Istanbul's Taksim square, as supporters of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul. In the wake of last years coup in Turkey, scores of military officers are seeking asylum in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe. Three who spoke to AP tell Kafkaesque tales of a life in hiding, charged with crimes against the state. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File)

BRUSSELS (AP)  In the days after rogue soldiers tried to take over Turkey last year, the fax machine in the Turkish delegation's offices at NATO headquarters started spitting out lists of names.

The lists from armed forces headquarters in Ankara often arrived on Friday evenings as personnel were packing up for the weekend. At first, each carried 20 or 30 names. But the one that came through more than two months after the July coup attempt made even seasoned Turkish officers in Brussels anxious.

It gave 221 colonels, majors and other mid-ranking officers at NATO facilities around the world three days to get back to Turkey.

"Normally you would be told where you are going on your next assignment, get an allowance to move your family, have some time for your children to leave school," one major who appeared on the Sept. 27 list told The Associated Press. "It didn't make any sense."

The lives of the individuals named were about to be turned upside down. Considered suspects in the coup, dozens of Turkish officers assigned to NATO are refusing orders from the country they spent their adult lives serving and no longer trust. Instead, they are seeking asylum abroad or have gone into hiding, fearing they could be arrested and imprisoned as terrorists if they return.

More than 150,000 people have been taken into custody, fired or forced to retire from Turkey's armed forces, judiciary, education system and other public institutions since the thwarted July 15 coup. Yet few first-person accounts have emerged from those caught up in the unprecedented purge, in part because the crackdown has extended to journalists and news outlets in Turkey.

Three officers, each with more than 20 years' experience in the armed forces and at least a year at NATO, shared their experiences  as well as lists, documents and photographs  with an AP reporter. Assigned to posts in Belgium while the failed power grab played out, they believe they have water-tight alibis.

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When the big list came in, men gathered around the fax machine trying to grasp what the order meant, how badly the failed coup had shaken up the armed forces. They compared notes in offices, at the cafeteria, and later in the homes of some 150 Turkish officers whose careers and paychecks were about to end.

"People came together to understand why and what to do. Was it legal? How would it affect our lives? What was next?" the major said. He spoke on condition of confidentiality during a cautiously arranged interview, expressing fear for his safety and the welfare of his family.

Three days after the officers were ordered back to Turkey, another fax arrived. It contained 19 more names and a new order: Return immediately. No explanation. No instructions for the city or military base where they were expected to show up.

"It gave us only a few hours to return. We were told to buy a ticket and come back," the major recalled. "We couldn't work out what was going on, what it meant. But from that letter, we could understand that we had already been purged."

The army long has been the guarantor of secularism in predominantly Muslim Turkey. Past military coups were conducted to remove leaders considered too Islamist and to uphold the republican ideals of modern Turkey.

Over the years, though, a series of trials involving army officers accused of anti-government conspiracies  many based on disputed evidence  has weakened the army's political influence.

The officers being excised, particularly the ones at NATO, are bright, western-educated men  including West Point graduates  whose experience they say was vital to building and running one of the biggest armies in the Western military alliance.

With little help apart from the bond of solidarity the officers have formed, the specter of deportation and arrest seems all too near.

"I have a brilliant military career, and I'm not new to the armed forces," one colonel said, producing a glowing recommendation letter from a non-Turkish superior officer at NATO. "We are good people, we are good officers. We are not terrorists. We are trying to understand why we were targeted."

In a decree handed down on Nov. 22, the officers who spoke to AP, along with many others, were branded as members or contacts of terrorist groups or structures that Turkey's National Security Council accused of "activities against the national security of the state."

At first, they were determined to return and prove their innocence. As a precaution, the major went to a doctor to establish a current health record. The doctor, a man of North African origin warned him: "We have seen this kind of thing before in my country. Don't go back."

It was probably good advice. Amnesty International has reported cases of prisoners being severely mistreated since the coup attempt, subjected to beatings and sometimes even sexual assault. Food, water, legal counsel and medical treatment are routinely denied.

"Some of the worst reported physical abuse was linked to military personnel and senior military personnel," Amnesty researcher Andrew Gardner told the AP. "It's fair to assume that they were among the people targeted for the most extreme abuse."

The colonel and his family, along with about 100 other Turkish personnel, have applied for asylum in Belgium. Scores of other officers are seeking asylum in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway.

"I don't want to be a refugee," he said. For now, it is the only guarantee of safety he and his family have, he said.

The Turkish government alleges that the failed military power grab was plotted and directed from the United States by Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric and former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan says vast numbers of Gulen's followers have infiltrated the army and much of Turkish society like a virus.

On that summer night, rebel officers launched simultaneous attacks in Ankara and Istanbul, striking at police stations and killing dozens. Fighter jets bombed the Turkish parliament while lawmakers were in session. Top military commanders, including the chief of military staff, were kidnapped.

The hastily arranged coup ended up crushed amid a popular uprising by Turks frightened at the prospect of a military takeover. From southwest Turkey, the vacationing Erdogan used a smartphone to urge supporters into the streets. In the weeks that followed, thousands of people were taken into custody under sweeping emergency laws allowing 30 days' detention.

"I was surprised and angry. From the very first moments it looked unreal," the major said. "Generals were beaten and treated like dogs in front of the cameras. Many of our friends and the people we knew of the highest caliber were being arrested."

Defense officials say Gulen supporters who did not participate in the coup can still be threats, given past examples of officers ignoring their commanders to take instructions from high-ranking people in the movement.

The officers in Belgium insist they are not Gulenists; they agree that Gulen supporters have infiltrated Turkish life. They also argue that the government's purge has been arbitrary and ill-conceived.

European intelligence officials were surprised by the speed with which the coup suspect lists were drawn up, according to a report by the EU Intelligence Analysis Center. Turkey is trying to join the European Union, and must bring its laws and human rights practices in line with the bloc's standards.

The Intcen report, which was reviewed by the Times of London newspaper, concluded that the huge wave of arrests that followed the aborted coup "was already previously prepared."

"Erdogan exploited the failed coup and the state of emergency to launch an extensive repressive campaign against the opponents of the (governing Justice and Development Party) establishment," the Times quoted the report as saying.

The purged officers think the plot was exploited by the Turkish authorities. Other Erdogan critics say the president has used the coup as a pretext to seize control of the judiciary and the armed forces, two of the country's most independent institutions.

The officers who haven't requested asylum hang on as exiles, living in virtual hiding and without salaries, scared they are being watched and with no idea when or if they will be able to go home.

The legal limbo is unnerving for the men, who have been refused consular assistance to help fight charges for crimes they say they did not commit. Turkish authorities say the charges must remain a state secret, and the officers have neither seen nor heard the evidence against them. They struggle to find lawyers to represent them.

An official at the Turkish embassy in Brussels declined to say how purged officers would be treated if they came for help or documents, saying only "We don't deal with that kind of thing." A further AP request for information went unanswered.

The accused men speak highly of NATO and have been moved by private gestures of support. One German colleague invited the colonel for Christmas. As he was leaving, he was handed an envelope with money inside.

"I said that I could not accept it," the colonel said. "But his lady hugged me and cried. 'We want to wholeheartedly give you this,' she said."

At NATO, the official position is that this is all a matter for the Turkish government. Only NATO's top general, Curtis Scaparrotti, has spoken publicly of "a degradation on my staff" due to the loss of about 150 "talented, capable people" from Turkey. He said he had no indication they were coup-plotters.

Despite the risks, some former colleagues in Turkey ask why the men haven't come back if they have not committed crimes against the state as they claim. Relatives and friends also wonder why the men don't take a chance and return.

Under pressure, deprived of their work routines and in some cases afraid for families in Turkey, these officers are also wary that Turkey's military attache or the country's the MIT intelligence agency might be tracking them. The strain shows.

"My wife's family are having a hard time understanding why we are not going back. The whole society is divided," a second colonel, visibly more restless and tense than his colleagues, said.

He has chosen not to apply for asylum in Belgium.

"I'm just keeping a low profile," he said. "We are waiting for a change to happen in Turkey because this just isn't sustainable."

The signal this colonel hopes to see may not materialize for a while.

Last month, the Turkish armed forces removed a ban on Islamic-style head coverings, allowing female officers to wear them. In a country where Erdogan and his Islam-rooted party are working to consolidate power, the move represented a symbolic neutering of the army's role as the guardian of secularism.

Meanwhile, with a state of emergency still in place almost eight months after the coup attempt, new lists have trickled off the fax at Turkey's NATO delegation in recent months. More officers have joined the ranks of those seeking international protection.
Last year, the government banned motorbike-based ride-hailing services such as GrabBike and UberMOTO

In 2016, the Thailand government announced a ban for motorbike-based ride-hailing services, forcing companies such as Uber and Grab to halt their motorbike services. Startups are only allowed to provide food delivery and courier services through this mode of transportation, and none has changed since the ban was announced in May.

Last week, the government has begun to step up the effort to curb ride-hailing service in the country by conducting raids. Officials booked car services through Uber and Grab apps, and once the driver arrived, arrested and fined them. The movement began in Chiang Mai and was later conducted in other cities such as Bangkok, with at least 23 drivers have been arrested as of Thursday.

Department of Land Transport (DLT) chief Sanit Phromwong told Bangkok Post on Thursday that the officials are doing this for fear of passengers safety.

All of these measures are aimed at protecting passengers from unwanted incidents and offences  But none of those drivers who are operating the illegal taxi services was verified by such procedures, he said.

He also cited violation of Vehicles Act, that forbids the use of personal vehicles as public transportation, as reasons behind the arrest.

However, Phromwong also stressed that platforms that are using conventional taxi services such as GrabTaxi or All Thai Taxi, are legal and supported by the department.

Also Read: Didi rival UCAR announces US$1B funding, sparks speculation of another ride-hailing war

Meanwhile, Uber responded to the issue by calling for a legal amendment.

Since we arrived in Thailand in 2014, Uber has engaged with the department to clarify that we are not a taxi service. There are currently no existing regulations that recognise ride-sharing services provided by smartphone applications. The technology that enables ridesharing is different from existing public transportation, which is why we cannot register as public transportation, the statement reads.

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We are committed to continuing dialogue with the department authorities to explain what Uber is, but we believe it is time to amend the legal framework to accommodate this much needed new technology and realise the full benefits it is bringing to riders, drivers and cities.

Uber has also released a petition to support the law amendment, as the company has done in the other markets it operates in, from London to Mumbai.

Recently, Uber has admitted to employ a technology called the Greyball which it uses to prevent authorities from using their service, and eventually using it as a mean to crackdown its business.

On Wednesday, the company stated that it will stop using the technology after it conducted reviews on the different ways the technology has been used these days.

Also Read: Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi is testing international credit cards and English interface on its app

Crackdown on ride-hailing services continue to happen in many parts of Asia. In Taiwan, where Uber operates in four cities, the company has recently been forced to move out of the market.

Friction between ride-hailing services and traditional public transportation also continued to happen in Indonesia, where mini-bus drivers in Bandung staged strikesto protest against motorbike-based ride-hailing services such as Go-Jeks Go-Ride and Grabs GrabBike on Thursday.



Image Credit: ponsulak / 123RF Stock Photo

The post Thailand steps up effort to curb ride-hailing services, citing fear for passenger safety appeared first on e27.
FILE - In this March 10, 2017 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks in Brussels. President Trump will have his first face-to-face meeting with the German leader at the White House on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, File) FILE - In this March 10, 2017 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks in Brussels. President Trump will have his first face-to-face meeting with the German leader at the White House on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, File)

By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will ask Chancellor Angela Merkel for advice on how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. officials said on Friday, as the U.S. and German leaders meet next week after sometimes pointed disagreements in recent months.

Merkel will visit the White House on Tuesday for talks with Trump and a joint news conference in what will be their first face-to-face meeting since the new U.S. president took power on Jan. 20.

They are expected to discuss Germany's level of defense spending for the NATO alliance, the Ukraine conflict, Syrian refugees, the European Union and a host of other issues, said three senior Trump administration officials who briefed reporters.

During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Trump regularly criticized Merkel for her open-door refugee policy, contrasting it with what he promised would be tighter controls in the United States if he won office. Merkel has been a leading critic of Trump's effort to ban travelers temporarily from seven Muslim-majority nations, a list that has since been pared back to six.

"My expectation is that they'll have a very positive, cordial meeting," said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump has long expressed desire for warmer U.S. relations with Russia but some of his top Cabinet officials are skeptical.

The president will be very interested in hearing the chancellors views on her experience interacting with Putin," said another official. "He's going to be very interested in hearing her insights on what its like to deal with the Russians."

Trump will also ask for Merkel's advice on what role the United States can most helpfully play in ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has pitted Ukrainian forces against Russian-backed separatists.

The officials described Trump as impressed by Merkels leadership, particularly in Germany's role alongside France in seeking peace in Ukraine, and on Afghanistan.

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Trump has been critical of NATO allies who he says do not pay their fair share, and the officials said he would raise with Merkel the need for Germany to increase its defense spending as he tries to rally European allies to contribute more to NATO.

Germany should be "leading by example" on increasing contributions to NATO, one official said.

"We are heartened by the German governments determination to reach NATOs benchmark of committing 2 percent of GDP to defense by 2024, the official said. The president believes that all allies must shoulder their share of the defense burden, the official said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Frances Kerry)

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How closely does your business listen to its customers? A well-known candy company could teach all business owners a thing or two about giving customers what they want.

Starburst just announced that limited edition bags of All Pink Starburst candy will soon be available in stores.

The pink flavor has long been considered one of the most popular offered by the company. And some customers have even lamented having to pick through all of those yellow and orange ones in order to get to those beloved pink wrappers.

A post shared by ShanStar (@shanstarlive) on Feb 7, 2017 at 11:30am PST

@Starburst I am SO happy yall have finally listened to everyone and are making all #pinkstarburst for a limited time. ???  ?Leslie? (@Lucky_One_13) March 9, 2017

The moment you find out Starburst is releasing on all pink bag. #pinkstarburst pic.twitter.com/aY25siuibc  Cindy? (@autumnsmom2) March 8, 2017

Giving Customers What They Want

For businesses, the lesson is clear. Listen to what your customers want. Theyll make it clear through their buying habits, reviews, social media posts or any number of other methods. And if you give them what they want, theyre likely to support your business even more.
The American Health Care Act Republicans have proposed to replace Obamacare, has faced criticism from both sides of the aisle. But Speaker of the House Paul Ryan argues that its only one part of a larger plan. Other parts of the plan may come later in the form of executive actions from Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price as well as future legislation.

Right now there is an uneven playing field. It is those self-employed individuals and small businesses that are paying the penalty for this. Theyre the ones who suffer right now. By giving them more options and driving down cost, were leveling the playing field, said White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a briefing.

For small businesses, the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act could potentially lead to major changes. But since the current bill doesnt include all of the potential updates, its not clear yet what exactly the effects might be.

Stay Nimble in the Face of Small Business Healthcare Uncertainty

What is clear is that the countrys healthcare system is in a state of flux. And businesses may be forced to make changes and adjustments along the way, as theyve already had to do in recent years. So staying nimble and having the ability to make adjustments as laws and policies change is an absolute must for todays small businesses.
Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now...
Parliament to consider proposed reform of the regulator later in March.

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As instructed by Prime Minister Robert Fico, the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (URSO) has set back electricity prices to 2016 levels. The old-new prices are effective retrospectively from the beginning of 2017.

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In January, Fico responded to a steep increase in utility prices by ordering URSO  which is notionally independent of government  to return prices to those that had applied in 2016. In the storm of criticism that ensued, URSO head Jozef Holjencik resigned from his post.

Now, electricity distributors are sending new invoices to their clients. While they have recommended that customers pay the original, higher-priced, invoices, they have promised not to cut off those who do not or impose late-payment fines.

Nevertheless, they complain that the chaos in electricity prices has resulted in a spike in non-payment. Michal Hudec, the head of the Association of Electricity Suppliers said that after Fico tore up invoices for supply of electricity in a live broadcast, electricity consumers not only stopped paying bills for January and February but also failed to make settlement payments for electricity consumed in 2016, i. e. bills that were not even affected by the changes.

Read also:

Read also: Changes in utility tariffs cause backlash Read more

URSO has also reversed price changes for natural gas and water supplies. In the case of the latter, it cancelled the division of the final price. Fixed monthly fees were also cancelled. As a consequence, people should pay less for water.

Who will lead URSO?

After Holjencik resigned from his post on February 8, the names of several possible candidates emerged. Lubomir Jahnatek (Smer), a former minister of economy and agriculture, was mentioned first as a possible candidate, but his response was negative.

Later, the name of ex-spy chief Jan Valko emerged. However, some cast doubt on his competence, as his only previous experience in the utilities sector was at the helm of the Nuclear and Decommissioning Company (JAVYS) between 2007 and 2011. He then served as the director of the SIS intelligence service for four years. He resigned from that post last July.

Valko does not therefore meet the statutory requirements for being appointed to the post. The law requires at least 10 years experience in network industries or in pricing or policymaking in the energy sector, including five years in a managerial post.

The ruling coalition has not agreed yet upon a new head for URSO, but first wants to revise legislation governing the regulatory authority. Primarily, it plans to separate the position of head of the regulatory authority from the role of head of the regulatory council. Under the current set-up, the head of the regulatory council supervises himself in his role as director of URSO.

We agreed upon a significant revision of the law that would adjust the position of the regulatory authority, Fico said in February.

Apart from separating the two positions, the Economy Ministry will propose measures to secure better information about the activities of URSO for the cabinet.

Economy Minister Peter Ziga indicated in early March that performance criteria for the head of URSO might change too. As part of this, the requirements for candidates for the job might be reduced.

Based on current legislation, it is the cabinet that proposes a candidate to lead URSO, while the president appoints him or her. This may change too, so that a new head of URSO can be appointed by the cabinet alone, the Pravda daily wrote. Ministers have so far offered no explanation for why they think such a change is necessary.

The next parliamentary session will start on March 21 and it is not clear whether the Economy Ministry will be able to prepare a draft revision to the law on the regulatory authority by then.

Nevertheless, MPs will have at least one proposed revision to consider, which was already submitted to parliament by Karol Galek and Jana Kissova, deputies for the opposition party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS). The main aim of their draft bill is to change the position of URSO as a whole, to secure greater transparency in the regulation of utility prices, and to separate the positions of chief of regulator and the head of the regulatory council, among others.

Employers complain about electricity prices

Employers, producers and distributors of electricity, energy experts, and others have been complaining about high electricity prices for several years. Miroslav Kiralvarga, president of the Republican Union of Employers (RUZ) pointed out that while final electricity bills in 2016 were equivalent to those in 2010, the share of the price of electricity actually consumed as a proportion of the bills decreased from 57 percent to 40 percent in 2016. This is because while the price of electricity as a commodity has decreased, fees related to the production and distribution of electricity have increased.

Now they are calling for a wider discussion about the operation of the regulator.

During this time when the new heading of URSO is being discussed, we are turning to the government to push for a strengthening of its independence and transparency, and a systemic approach to regulating the energy market in Slovakia, said Tomas Malatinsky, president of the Federation of Employers Associations (AZZZ), as quoted by the TASR newswire.

They claim that regulatory policy has to respect the principle of equality of stakeholders, and the rule of protection from unpredictable, excessive and frequent legislative changes that destabilise the commercial environment.

Controversial tariff may change

The so-called tariff for operation of the system, part of final electricity prices, is one of the fees most often criticised by energy experts. In Slovakia, electricity consumers support the generation of green energy, as well as loss-making production of electricity from local brown coal, via this tariff. It is set by URSO and has increased significantly over the last few years, up from about 5 MWh in 2005 to current 26.2030 MWh.

The Economy Ministry has promised to deal with the tariff by the end of this year.
The next airshow will take place in Sliac between August 26 and 27

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The first participation of the organisers of the Slovak International Air Fest (MLD SIAF) in the convention of the European Airshow Council has already resulted in exceptional success. The Slovak Aviation Agency won the award for an exceptional contribution to the world of European airshows and the award in the category of Media & Marketing. The annual EAC convention took place in Malta between March 2 and 4.

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This is a huge success, said Hubert Stoksa, general director of MLD SIAF and director of the Slovak Aviation Agency as cited by the SITA newswire. EAC is an international authority in aviation and such acknowledgement confirms that the Slovak International Air Fest is an internationally accepted project.

The award also brings the challenge to ensure that each following festival is better than the previous one. Also thanks to them the organisers now have an excellent position when negotiationg with partners and participants for future shows.

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Read also: The sixth annual Sliac airshow broke record Read more

The Slovak International Air Fest is the biggest airshow held in Slovakia. The Slovak Aviation Agency has been organising the fest at the airport in Sliac since 2011. This year it will take place between August 26 and 27.
People perceived justice differently in the Middle Ages.

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Today we can hardly imagine what life in mediaeval Bratislava, then Pressburg, was like. At that time between 5,000 to 10,000 citizens lived here with no sewer system. Each household had a yard, in which they raised livestock and poultry. As a consequence, a perpetual stench engulfed the area.

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Yet people lived similarly as they do today; committing crimes just as contemporaries do: stealing, fornicating or murdering. The only difference is in which deeds were considered criminal offences and which interrogation methods and punishments were used. This is because torture used to be an inseparable part of legal proceedings, and of course, of punishment.

Mediaeval man did not differ at all from contemporary man in terms of mentality, states historian Vladimir Seges from the Institute of Military History and author of a book about crimes from mediaeval Bratislava, Presporsky Pitival, during a lecture about criminality in Pressburg organised by the non-profit organisation Bratislavske Rozky and dedicated to the history of Bratislava.

Criminality in the Middle Ages

The topic of criminality in the Middle Ages only recently came into the focus of attention of Slovak historians. Also Seges came upon this theme only by chance when he was researching the history of warfare in mediaeval Bratislava.

When studying historical materials he found not only a great deal of information about warfare but also about the common life of people at the time. Particularly the so-called Kammerbucher, a kind of accounting books kept by towns, proved to be a rich source of information for him.

In the Middle Ages, most people were illiterate. They did not travel and were bound to the place where they were born. Only certain groups of citizens used to travel, for example, nobles, merchants, soldiers and of course apprentices.

During those days the system of law was very multifarious when several partial law systems co-existed: for the nobility, the municipal law or the canon law. Also guilds had their own system of law.

Mediaeval justice (Source: Bambergische Peinliche Halsgerichtsordnung - Constitutio Criminalis Bambergensis from 1507)

During the Middle Ages no complex and unified criminal law was adopted, i.e. a criminal code for the entire [historical] Hungary, said Seges.

Criminal offences

Criminal offences were divided into public and private. The first group included treason, but also unfulfilled promises, offences against life, decency or property. The second group included, for example, libel. Many of these historical offences are crimes today.

Manslaughter or assassination is still manslaughter or assassination today, said Seges.

But in modern times criminal offences are assessed and punished differently. For example, in the Middle Ages punishment by imprisonment did not exist.

Three times of torture

Trials were held on the first floor of what is now the Old Market Hall at the Main Square. Characteristic of trials was a kind of theatrical ritualism and formality.

Confession played a key role, while the court did not scrutinise whether it is true or not, i.e. whether the person really committed the crime or whether he made the confession himself, or whether he was forced to make it by torture.

Each of the accused was investigated three times, except those caught red-handed when committing a crime. In such a case there was no need for investigation and the culprit was convicted and punished immediately.

The whole process of interrogations and torture usually lasted about two weeks. Preserved historical documents mention that in Pressburg, clamps and candles for burning were the most often used torture instruments.

But also sticking the accused with a needle, nail or emblazed iron were popular.

At first, the hangman only showed the torture instruments to the accused, said Seges. During the second seating, when the accused did not make the confession, he was tortured. In case he did not confess, he was interrogated and tortured also for a third time. In case he did not confess the third time, and there were some such cases, he was simply released as innocent.

Death sentence

The most serious punishment was the death sentence; the method of execution based on the seriousness of the committed offence. For example, for thievery, the culprit was hanged by the neck. In Bratislava, the gallows used to stand in front of Michalska Brana gate, on the border of Zupne and Hurbanovo squares.

A depiction of punishments in the mediaeval justice system. (Source: Bambergische Peinliche Halsgerichtsordnung - Constitutio Criminalis Bambergensis from 1507)

But other techniques included hanging by the ribs, burning at the stake, drowning or execution by the breaking wheel. The latter, which was an exceptionally cruel way of execution, was used for executing thieving killers.

The most frequently mentioned non-capital punishment in Kammerbucher was pillorying. The pillory stood on the Main Square close to the town hall.

The Pressburg law book also allowed for mutilation punishments.

In the Middle Ages people perceived justice and satisfaction differently, said Seges. This means that everybody took these punishments as something normal and natural. Man in the Middle Ages believed in fulfilment of justice much more than they do today.
Tips for the top 10 events in the capital between November 3 and November 13, plus regular services in different languages, training, temporary exhibitions and highlights of the year.

4. nov
Health

High-Tech Sleep Pods Help New Mexico Students

In New Mexico, two high schools in the Las Cruces Public Schools (LCPS) district and two in the Gadsden Independent School District (GISD) are using sleep pods  EnergyPods made by MetroNaps.

The high-tech pods, consisting of a reclined chair with a domed sensory-reduction bubble that closes around ones head and torso, were purchased through grants from the New Mexico Community Foundation and the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico to be used in the school-based health centers, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News.

The pods vary a little from school to school. They generally feature a one-touch start button which activates a relaxing sequence of music and soothing lights. Some have headphones for nappers to wear. At the end of 20 minutes, the pod begins to vibrate gently and an up-tempo beat gradually starts playing to wake the student.

Currently, LCPS and GISD are the only school districts in the nation using the pods.

The first one, purchased in 2008, was installed at Gadsden High School. Linda Summers, an associate professor in the School of Nursing at New Mexico State University, helped secure the grant after discovering the pods which at the time were being used in a sleep lounge in the basement of the Empire State Building.

Tired New Yorkers would go down there for a short nap in the middle of the day, she told the Las Cruces Sun-News.

The pods have proved better than cots for sleep-deprived students. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night for teens to function at their best. However, most teens do not get enough sleep, the NSF reports on its website. One study found that only 15 percent reported sleeping 8.5 hours on school nights, and teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns across the week  they typically stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks and harm the quality of their sleep.

Summers also discovered that the pods had other benefits.

If they came to us and they were tired, we stuck them in there, she said. If they had a headache, we stuck them in there. If a teacher had high blood pressure, we stuck him in there.

The sleep pods helped all of them. Of 100 students who used it, 99 were able to return to class within 20 minutes  with tremendous increases in energy and mood, Summers said.

It even helped calm down agitated students who had been involved in fights, the Sun-News reported.

In 2011, Summers secured federal funding for three more pods, which were installed at Chaparral High School, Onate High School and Las Cruces High School.

Daniel Salinas, a senior at Las Cruces High, said he has used the sleep pods about six times.

With the sleep pods, no matter how haggard or distraught you feel, it brings back vitality and grants you the peace of mind that you can continue the day without collapsing, he said. If we didnt have it here in our school, I think there would be a lot more absences and missed educational opportunities.

Restworks, the company that distributes the sleep pods, asked Summers if she could help test a less expensive prototype. The SleepWing is a device that provides music and vibration while laying on a sofa or cot. The subject wears an eye mask to reduce stimulation and listens through headphones.

Summers applied for and received permission to conduct research on the SleepWings, and found that they were just as effective as the more expensive pods.

Some students actually preferred them, she said.

To read more about the sleep pods in New Mexico schools, visit the Las Cruces Sun-News.
Broadband

Younger Americans Abandon Broadband While Older Gens Buy in

In the United States, where the majority of the population uses the internet, age may influence whether an individual relies more on their smartphone or uses cable broadband services to browse the web at home. Millennials are more likely to ditch broadband and just use their smartphones at home, while older generations prefer a broadband connection.

That analysis comes from ReportLinker Insight, which surveyed 500 individuals who were connected to the internet at home, in an effort to better understand American browsing habits and how new mobile technologies have impacted their internet usage.

Image Credit: ReportLinker Insight.

Research from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the move to mobile internet is accelerating: Mobile-only use has doubled in just a few short years, from 10 percent in 2013 to 20 percent in 2015. ReportLinker expects this trend to accelerate, with 55 percent of the millennial generation (respondents ages 18 to 24) using their smartphones to connect to the internet at home, according to its survey. Meanwhile, 69 percent of older respondents (ages 55 to 64) prefer a broadband connection.

One key explanation for this trend is the availability of affordable, unlimited data plans for smartphones. About 31 percent of respondents said they do not use a broadband connection at home since they have unlimited data. The second most common response was that you can do everything you want with a smartphone, according to the survey findings. Other reasons people opt out of having a broadband connection at home include:

Its cheaper to only have one connection (15 percent of respondents);

Its faster than home broadband connection (15 percent); and

Home broadband is not reliable (8 percent).

On the flip side, 34 percent of respondents with a home broadband connection said that they view broadband as an essential utility. The second most common reason is that the connection is part of a package deal (according to 22 percent of respondents). The rest responded:

Cable broadband is much faster (21 percent);

They use much more data than the limit on their cell data plan (17 percent); and

Not everyone in their household has a good data plan for their smartphone (5 percent).

Other key findings from the survey include:

The most popular mobile service providers are Verizon (29 percent), AT&T (20 percent), T-Mobile (15 percent) and Sprint (12 percent);

The most popular broadband service providers are Comcast (39 percent), Charter Communications (9 percent) and Cox Communications (9 percent);

In some markets, a specific broadband provider was picked since it is the only option in the area (unlike mobile service providers that serve markets nationwide); and

One in five broadband users were convinced by a package deal that combined TV, internet and home phone.

Furthermore, young Americans mobile-only habits may drive growth in the smartphone market, which has been forecast to make a comeback in 2017. They have already captured the attention of major carriers, who are rolling out unlimited data plans to attract more customers. For instance, ReportLinker noted, Verizon finally caved this past February and brought back its own unlimited plan.

To view all of the survey findings, visit the ReportLinker site.
(Adds Escondida comment)

By Fabian Cambero

SANTIAGO, March 10 (Reuters) - Chile (Stuttgart: 704599.SG - news) 's Escondida copper mine, the largest in the world, has invited its union to resume talks as a first step towards ending a month-long strike, it said Friday.

The strike, which began Feb.9 and has lasted for 30 days, is the longest in Escondida's history. With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) stoppages also in place at other important copper mines worldwide, global copper prices have risen on tighter supply expectations.

"The company is insistent in its call to the union to restart talks, in order to arrive at a deal that will allow the strike to end as soon as possible," Escondida said in a statement late Friday.

Escondida, controlled by BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) , has spoken to the union and is preparing a new contract offer that seeks to address some of their concerns, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters, without giving details on the fresh offer.

The union did not give an immediate response to Escondida's statement. Union spokesman Carlos Allendes said earlier Friday that the company had not been in contact with the union.

The company has the right to use temporary replacement workers, but has previously said it would not exercise that right for the first 30 days, as it seeks to keep a lid on simmering tensions.

It said Friday it "would evaluate day by day" whether it may begin to use temporary workers. However, there were no immediate plans to do so, the source said.

After 30 days, workers can also break from the union and individually agree to accept the company offer. But the strikers remained determined to push for a good deal, Allendes said, and were unlikely to take the bait.

When Escondida does restart, the initial focus will be on maintenance and projects such as the construction of a desalination plant and concentrator expansion, Escondida said. "We are not thinking of producing from day one," said corporate affairs head Patricio Vilaplana.

Story continues

Escondida produced over 1 million tonnes of copper last year, around 5 percent of the world's total, and economists are expecting an impact to Chile's economy in February as a result of the strike, which has meant that no copper is leaving the site.

Contract talks collapsed after the union and company disagreed on a number of points, including the treatment of new workers, changes to shift patterns, and the level of a one-off bonus.

Rio Tinto (Hanover: CRA1.HA - news) and Japanese companies including Mitsubishi Corp (LSE: 7035.L - news) hold minority interests in the mine.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero, Writing by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Andrew Hay and Diane Craft)
By Jessica DiNapoli and Makiko Yamazaki NEW YORK/TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. nuclear firm Westinghouse Electric Co LLC has hired bankruptcy attorneys, in a sign that owner Toshiba Corp <6502.T> is more seriously weighing a Chapter 11 filing as an option to help it rein in a multibillion dollar financial maelstrom. People familiar with the matter said the nuclear engineering company had brought in law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP as an exploratory step, and had not yet taken a decision on a bankruptcy filing. The news comes as the Japanese conglomerate faces huge pressure to meet a Tuesday deadline to publish audited earnings, postponed a month ago so that it could probe potential problems at Westinghouse further. It is also pushing forward with the sale of most or even all of its prized flash memory chip business, as it seeks to plug not only an upcoming $6.3 billion writedown for Westinghouse but also to create a buffer against future financial problems. Toshiba said it was not aware of any intention for Westinghouse to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Sources familiar with the company have said, however, it is one of several options being considered as it struggles to limit losses in the United States where it is facing cost overruns at two projects. It has also hired a Japanese law firm to help estimate the impact of a U.S. bankruptcy for the broader group, those sources said. Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko said on Wednesday that a Chapter 11 filing would not necessarily be a negative step and that Westinghouse was one topic that he may discuss with U.S. officials when he visits in the near future. "If the U.S. side raises the issue, it will be necessary to discuss it," he told a parliamentary committee. One complication may be financing guarantees given by the U.S. government to help fund the construction of reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia, one of the two projects at the core of Westinghouse's problems. According to a 2014 statement on the U.S. Department of Energy Website, the loan guarantees totalled $8.3 billion. CRUNCH WEEK NEXT WEEK The most immediate challenge for newly appointed Chief Executive Satoshi Tsunakawa - who comes from the healthcare side of Toshiba's business and has no direct nuclear experience - is to get third-quarter earnings over the line. One source with direct knowledge of the matter said the likelihood of Toshiba meeting its March 14 deadline was 'fifty-fifty' as Westinghouse auditors and lawyers were fussing over details. If it fails to meet that deadline it has until March 27 to file or it could face a delisting. Toshiba's shares slid to end down 7 percent, giving it a market value of just $7.5 billion, hurt both by investor concern it may not make the deadline and Westinghouse's hiring of bankruptcy lawyers. The TVs-to-construction conglomerate must also submit next week a report to the Tokyo Stock Exchange on its internal controls in the wake of its latest financial woes as well as a separate 2015 accounting scandal. That could eventually also lead to a delisting if the bourse finds Toshiba's efforts unsatisfactory. Even with all those items on its plate, it needs to proceed with the sale of much of its flash memory chip unit - a business it values at least 1.5 trillion yen ($13.1 billion), with bids due at the end of the month. Toshiba has sent invitation letters to around 10 potential bidders, a source said. Taiwan's Foxconn <2317.TW>, the world's largest contract electronics maker, is so far the only suitor to acknowledge publicly its plans to bid. SK Hynix Inc <000660.KS> has said it is considering a bid. Sources have said other potential bidders include Taiwan's TSMC <2330.TW>, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, data storage firm Western Digital Corp which operates a Japanese chip plant with Toshiba, rival Micron Technology Inc , as well as financial investors such as Bain Capital. While Foxconn has said it is very confident it can buy into Toshiba, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said it is not a favoured bidder due to Japanese government's opposition to its close ties with China. Desperate for cash, Toshiba is also hiving off peripheral assets, from a $2 billion smart meter unit to minority stakes in smaller affiliates, like molding machine maker Toshiba Machine. ($1 = 114.4800 yen) (Additional reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, Kentaro Hamada in Tokyo and JR Wu in Taipei)
Belaruss President Alexander Lukashenko has suspended a tax on those not in full-time employment, after public opposition sparked mass protests. Popularly known as the law against social parasites, it targeted those who work less than 183 days a year. These people were required to pay the government the equivalent of over 230 euros in compensation for lost taxes. A protest against the tax in Minsk last month drew around 2,000 people, the largest demonstration in the country for six years. Similar protests have since been held beyond the capital and more were planned by the opposition for March. Protesters score an enormous victory against Belarusian President Lukashenko, who wont tax parasites this year. https://t.co/y1Vu8hH5FF pic.twitter.com/SdsakIdNB8 The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) 9 mars 2017 Lukashenko has run the economy along Soviet-style command lines since 1994. In a rare concession to a public outcry, he has put the tax on hold but stressed that it has not been scrapped entirely. Seeking to improve ties with the European Union and lessen Belaruss dependence on Russia, Lukashenko has over the past year heeded calls from the West to show greater lenience towards political opposition. with Reuters
By Maria Tsvetkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - A force of several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia operated until last month in a part of Libya that is under the control of regional leader Khalifa Haftar, the head of the firm that hired the contractors told Reuters. It is the clearest signal to date that Moscow is prepared to back up its public diplomatic support for Haftar -- even at the risk of alarming Western governments already irked at Russia's intervention in Syria to prop up President Bashar al-Assad. Haftar is opposed to a U.N.-backed government which Western states see as the best chance of restoring stability in Libya. But some Russian policy-makers see the Libyan as a strongman who can end the six years of anarchy that followed the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. The presence of the military contractors was, according to the head of the firm, a commercial arrangement. It is unlikely though to have been possible without Moscow's approval, according to people who work in the industry in Russia. Oleg Krinitsyn, owner of private Russian firm RSB-group, said he sent the contractors to eastern Libya last year and they were pulled out in February having completed their mission. In an interview with Reuters, he said their task was to remove mines from an industrial facility near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, in an area that Haftar's forces had liberated from Islamist rebels. He declined to say who hired his firm to provide the contractors, where they were operating or what the industrial facility was. He did not say if the operation had been approved by the U.N.-backed government, which most states view as the sovereign ruler of Libya. Asked whether the mission had official blessing from Moscow, Krinitsyn said his firm did not work with the Russian defence ministry, but was "consulting" with the Russian foreign ministry. The contractors did not take part in combat, Krinitsyn said, but they were armed with weapons they obtained in Libya. He declined to specify what type of weapons. A U.N. arms embargo prohibits the import of weapons to Libya unless it is under the control of the U.N.-backed government. Krinitsyn said his contractors were ready to strike back in case of an attack. "If we're under assault we enter the battle, of course, to protect our lives and the lives of our clients," Krinitsyn said. "According to military science, a counterattack must follow an attack. That means we would have to destroy the enemy." Military and government officials in eastern Libya said they were not aware of the presence of the contractors, while Haftar did not respond to a request for comment. Officials in Western Libya, where the U.N.-backed government is based, were not immediately available to comment. The Russian foreign ministry said it was working on a response to Reuters questions bit had not commented by Friday. MOSCOW'S PROXIES Underscoring Libya's volatility, Haftar's forces have this week been fighting to regain control over the Mediterranean oil terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, which a rival faction seized earlier this month. Russia has a record of using private military contractors as an extension of its own military. In Syria, military contractors have been widely used in combat roles in conjunction with Russian regular forces and their Syrian allies, according to multiple accounts given to Reuters by people involved in the operations. Moscow has not acknowledged using private contractors in Syria. Russian security companies do not reveal the background of people they hire but the contractors usually are special forces veterans. Krinitsyn, the owner of the company which hired the contractors for Libya, was an officer of the Russian border guard service based in Tajikistan, on the border with Afghanistan, where he said he gained battlefield experience. Krinitsyn said some of the contractors he hired for Libya has previously worked in Syria, though not in combat roles. He declined to say how many contractors were involved in the mission in Libya, citing commercial secrecy. However, he said that in general, a de-mining operation of this type would require around 50 mine clearance experts and around the same number for their security detail. HAWKISH CAMP Haftar has been seeking outside help to consolidate his control over parts of Libya. Russia has shown a willingness to engage with him that contrasts with the more cautious approach of Western governments. Haftar visited Moscow in November last year and met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In December, Haftar went on board a Russian aircraft carrier off the Libyan coast and spoke with the Russian defence minister via videolink. In recent weeks, Russia has taken in 100 of Haftar's wounded fighters for medical treatment. Moscow also received Haftar's rival, Fayez Serraj, the head of the UN-backed government, for talks this month. President Vladimir Putin, newly confident from the Russian military intervention in Syria, is anxious to restore stability in Libya. But foreign diplomats familiar with Russian thinking say there is so far no consensus on how to achieve that. They say the foreign ministry wants Haftar to join forces with the U.N.-backed government. But the diplomats say there is a more hawkish camp, centred on the Russian defence ministry and some people in the Kremlin, which favours backing Haftar to establish control over the whole of Libya. Krinitsyn, the contractors' boss, said that while in Libya his employees had run into a group of local militants. He said the militants were initially hostile, but became friendly when they realised the outsiders were Russians. "It was an uncomfortable situation but the image created by Putin in Syria played a positive role. We realized that Russia is welcomed in Libya more than other countries are," he said. (Additional reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli in Benghazi, Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli and Christian Lowe in Moscow; Editing by Giles Elgood)
IWD celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world (Blend Images/REX/Shutterstock)

Celebrated on 8 March every year, International Womens Day (IWD) was first marked by the United Nations in 1975 and celebrates womens achievements.

The day marks a call for action for boosting gender parity and includes a range activities such as political rallies, and conferences. This years theme is aimed at working towards a more gender inclusive working world.

Yahoo News UK asked five women leading the charge in the historically male-dominated science and tech world about how they worked their way into their current roles and what challenges they faced along the way. Heres what they told us

Kim Nilsson

CEO

Pivigo

Kim Nilsson, CEO, Pivigio

What does your current job involve?

Im the CEO and one of two founders of Pivigo, a data science marketplace and training provider. We connect freelancing data scientists with organisations and businesses looking to become more data driven on our online platform. As CEO of a start-up I tend to get involved in everything that goes on in the business.

What route did you take to your current role?

Oh, a very long one. I decided when I was 13 years old that I wanted to become an astronomer, and from there it was a straight path to my PhD in Astrophysics. I continued with two more science positions before I finally came to terms with the fact that I wasnt enjoying it as much as I thought I would.

I ended up doing an MBA at Cranfield School of Management in the UK, just to learn about business and figure out what my place in industry was going to be. I would never have thought it would be as an entrepreneur, although perhaps I should have known given that I am in fact a fourth-generation female entrepreneur in my family.

What is the biggest challenge youve faced?

Starting a tech business as a female PhD graduate was not easy. There is a lot of prejudice towards women still, unfortunately, and on top of that also towards academics. It has taken me several years of hard work to earn a certain level of respect in the industry, and to prove that I can do business as well as anyone in this industry.

Story continues

Fortunately, outright examples of discrimination are still rare, but they do happen. Most recently I tried to network with a VC at an event who clearly only had interest in the male CEO of another start-up that was standing next to me. Still, I do find that these individuals come around quickly once they do listen to me and understand that I have something of relevance to say, and that I can say it with authority.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into a similar role?

Just do it! If you are new to starting a business, make sure you have access to advice. If you dont have a co-founder, this could be via an accelerator programme, via your University, or via your wider network. Also set yourself a goal and a decision point. For example, decide how many clients you want to have, or how far you want to get with your product launch, by a certain date and agree with yourself to evaluate at that point whether it is worth continuing or not. That way you are taking a calculated risk, and whether it works or not you will have gathered incredibly valuable experience.

Professor Claire J. Carmalt

Head of Chemistry Department and Professor of inorganic chemistry

University College London

Professor Claire J. Carmalt, Head of Chemistry, Department and Professor of inorganic chemistry, University College London

What does your current role involve?

Im responsible for the organisation and general conduct of the department, as well as participating in its teaching and research. Im the first female head of department since it was established in 1828! I have an active research group developing innovative new routes to technologically important inorganic materials.

What route did you take to your current job?

I have worked at UCL since 1997 and before that, I was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Science and Technology Center, University of Texas at Austin, USA and I did both my BSc and PhD at University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

What is the biggest challenge youve faced?

While teaching and management roles can be challenging the biggest challenge is raising research funding, getting grants funded and finding appropriate partners who are willing to invest in your ideas.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into a similar role?

It can be tough sometimes but it is a hugely rewarding role particularly the interaction with students, seeing their delight when they get great results in their research project and their enthusiasm for learning and understanding topics at the undergraduate level. Make the most of collaborations and ensure that you manage your time effectively so that you can achieve a good work-life balance.

Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE

CEO

Stemettes

Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, CEO, Stemettes

What does your current role involve?

Im currently CEO at award-winning social enterprise Stemettes: working to inspire and support girls & young women into technical roles.

My role includes managing an excellent team to run events, workshops and programmes centred on our free, fun, food ethos around the country; doing interviews & speaking at events; and sitting on calls with our industry partners or travelling to meetings.

What route did you take to your current job?

I used to work in technology at an investment bank in something called Enterprise Collaboration and saw an industry problem. After doing some research and blogging for a while, I has an idea that I acted on, and ended up starting Stemettes. three years in, I went full-time on the project.

What is the biggest challenge youve faced working in your industry?

My biggest challenge has been learning to work well with people, rather than the technology itself! Technology is fantastic but it only does as well as the people using it; I find people a lot more complicated than technology. Everyone has different motivations and personal challenges, so you have to learn to listen and work in mutually beneficial ways.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into a similar role?

Id say to become a social enterprise CEO or work in technology takes lots of research and a willingness to always be learning. I also live by the mantra Seek forgiveness, Not permission  dont ask too many people for permission to do new things. Its very easy to be told No, but theres no reason why you cant be the first to do something.

Libby Jackson

Human Spaceflight and Microgravity Programme Manager

UK Space Agency

Libby Jackson, Human Spaceflight and Microgravity Programme Manager, UK Space Agency

What does your current role involve?

I manage the UKs activities in human spaceflight and the science that is undertaken on the International Space Station (ISS) and other space analogue facilities such as parabolic flights, drop towers and bed rest studies.

What route did you take to your current job?

Ive always been fascinated by space, and human spaceflight in particular, ever since I was a young child, but through my teenage years and even my degree I didnt think that I would work in this area as at the time the UK did not contribute to human spaceflight programmes.

I studied Physics at university, and then did a Masters degree in Astronautics and Space Engineering. I started out working in satellite operations in the UK for Airbus, and then moved to Munich, where I worked in the European Space Agencys Mission Control for the International Space Station (ISS).

I worked there for seven years, as an instructor, flight controller and flight director. I left there in 2014 to work at the UK Space Agency, managing the education programme for Tim Peakes mission and recently moved into my current role.

What is the biggest challenge youve faced?

The locations. Ive followed jobs that I want to do, and as the industry is relatively small and specialised I havent had the luxury of choosing where to work. Every new job so far has resulted in a move to a brand new place on my own, starting over with making new local friends, getting to know the areas and even learning a new language.

Every move has been a challenge, but one that Ive embraced and the rewards for doing so have been the most amazing opportunities in my job and the chance to explore new areas.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into a similar role?

Never lose sight of your dreams and ambitions, no matter how impossible they seem. With hard work and determination, anything is possible and you can find yourself achieving those dreams. Find your passion and go for it.

The space sector is very broad and multi-disciplinary, so there really is a route into if for everyone. Make contacts (UKSEDS are great for young people interested in the space sector), network and keep your ear to the ground  then grab any opportunities that come your way and make the most of them.

Jyoti Shah

Consultant Urological Surgeon

Jyoti Shah, Consultant Urological Surgeon

What does your current role involve?

I am a full-time Consultant Urological Surgeon, working in the West Midlands, with a special interest in prostate cancer. Although this is my paid job, I have many other roles (unpaid and done in my own time) including: an External Examiner for final MBBS examination, Editor-in-Chief of Medical Woman and reviewer for numerous international medical journals. I have published four books, nine book chapters and have over 60 peer-reviewed publications in medical journals.

What route did you take to your current job?

After completing my medical degree, I took some time out of clinical training to undertake research culminating in an MS and an MD. I then resumed my clinical training and took up this consultant post in 2008 after I passed my FRCS Urology exit examination.

I have eight degrees and believe that, in order to be respected in my profession, I need to better than the men, both clinically and academically.

What is the biggest challenge youve faced working in your industry?

Firstly, the constant changing face of the NHS and the continued demoralisation of the medical workforce resulting in early retirements or doctors leaving this country; and secondly, being a female surgeon working in a male-dominated environment. In my own hospital with over 30 consultant surgeons, I am the only female surgeon.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into a similar role?

Follow your passion; work hard and do not worry about what others say. You have to believe in yourself.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Self Defense Force will withdraw from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan when its troops return home around the end of May, closing a controversial episode in the prime minister's push to expand the military's overseas role. The primary task of Japan's 350-strong military contingent, based in Juba for the past five years, has been to build infrastructure in the war-torn country. Oil-rich South Sudan has torn by civil war since 2013, when President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer. Fighting since has increasingly fractured the world's youngest country along ethnic lines, leading the U.N. to warn of the risk of genocide. "As South Sudans country-building is entering a new phase, we can draw a line under the activities of the self-defense forces," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters at his residence in Tokyo on Friday. Japan would continue providing development aid, however, he added. The withdrawal will ease political pressure on Abe, who had vowed to resign if any troops were killed, as his support amongst voters erodes after his wife was linked to a school accused of involvement in a murky land deal. The end of the mission will also help Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, who rejected opposition calls to resign because she refused to describe the conflict as "fighting." Doing so would have forced Abe's government to evacuate the troops, because a halt to fighting in the area is a condition for the SDF to participate in U.N. peacekeeping missions. In a move that stoked controversy in Japan, the contingent was allowed, from November, to mount rescue missions and escort U.N. staff and personnel of non-government bodies (NGO). That was in line with a 2015 security law pushed by Abe that expanded the SDF's overseas role, a change critics say has weakened Japan's war-renouncing constitution. (Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo, Tim Kelly and Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Nigel Farage

Jonathan Bachman / Getty

Emails leaked to Business Insider show long-standing links between Nigel Farage and WikiLeaks' Julian Assange.

Farage visited the Ecuadorean Embassy on Thursday but declined to say whether he had met Assange, who lives in exile there.

UKIP has campaigned in the European Parliament on behalf of Assange.

LONDON  There was much confusion Thursday when Nigel Farage was spotted by BuzzFeed leaving the Ecuadorian Embassy in London  the residence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Asked why he was there, Farage replied that he couldn't remember what he was doing in the building, adding, "I never discuss where I go or who I see."

Emails leaked to Business Insider, however, reveal that UKIP under Farage's leadership had long-standing links to Assange.

In February 2011, after a European Arrest Warrant had been issued in a case in which prosecutors sought to question Assange in connection with a sexual-assault allegation, UKIP repeatedly reached out to Assange to see how they could work together. Assange has not been charged in the case.

The office of UKIP MEP Gerard Batten contacted Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens about "the possibility of meeting Mr Julian Assange."

They added: "So far, UKIP London has been only British political party to openly support Mr Assange fight against EAW and his freedom of speech, and we would very much like to continue doing so."

UKIP Assange

Business Insider

Leaked minutes of a subsequent meeting between Batten and Stephens reveal that Batten promised to table a motion in support of the WikiLeaks founder in the European Parliament. The party also offered the opportunity of a joint video press conference in Brussels.

Assange minutes

Business Insider

The Farage-led Europe of Freedom and Democracy group subsequently tabled a motion attacking "the possible abuse of the European Arrest Warrant for political purposes."

Sitting alongside Farage, Batten called for the Parliament to debate Assange's arrest warrant.

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"Is the Assange case about the alleged crimes committed or is it about the desire of America to extradite him from a compliant European country?" Batten asked MEPs.

When the European Parliament denied the chance for a debate on Assange, Batten later called them "contemptible."

In an appearance on the Russian state broadcaster Russia Today, Batten also labelled the attempts to extradite Assange as a "legalised kidnap."

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A month later, the party organised a House of Lords event on the European Arrest Warrant with Assange's lawyer as the star guest.

House of Lords Assange

Business InsiderSenior UKIP figures including Farage and Steven Woolfe met with potential UKIP donors and journalists to speak out against the warrant.

One leaked email, sent by Farage's former assistant Annabelle Fuller, suggests that he spoke with Assange's lawyer at the event.

Fuller

Business Insider

The Trump connection

Farage has also advocated on behalf of Assange since WikiLeaks' involvement in the US presidential election.

Speaking on his LBC radio show in January, Farage repeated Assange's denial of Russian involvement in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton during the election.

"Julian Assange ... is absolutely clear that all the information he has got is not from Russian sources," Farage said.

The question of Farage's trip to meet Assange was raised at a White House press conference on Thursday.

The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, was asked whether Farage had visited Assange "on behalf" of Trump. Spicer did not answer the question, saying only that "I don't keep [Farage's] schedule. I generally don't worry about what's going on across the pond."

Watch Trump's spokesman questioned about Farage and Assange.

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A representative for Farage was contacted for comment.

NOW WATCH: The Trump family's lavish lifestyle is costing taxpayers a fortune

See Also:

SEE ALSO: The real reason the press are so annoyed by Hammond's self-employed National Insurance hike
Pamela Anderson has rubbished claims shes dating Julian Assange following her recent trips to visit the famous computer programmer at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

(AP Photo)

Rumours have swirled that the 49-year-old actress is romantically linked with the WikiLeaks editor-in-chief  who has claimed diplomatic asylum in London since 2012  and despite having had more stimulating conversation with him than with any of her exes, she has insisted their intentions are not be become an item.

She wrote in a statement on her website: Julian Assange is the most intelligent, interesting, and informed man in existence.

Yes, I think hes quite sexy.

I met Julian through Vivienne Westwood. We mixed up our dates  I ended up at the embassy on the wrong day but was able to meet with Julian privately. I asked him how he thought I could be more effective as an activist.

Outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London (Getty Images)

Since then I feel a genuine closeness to Julian. I have had more stimulating conversation with this man than all my ex-husbands and lovers combined. Our intentions were not to become romantic, but to join forces. The rumours are flattering. I think I might have what it takes to be an effective First Lady. If I had to choose a World Leader to stand beside and support whole heartedly it would be Julian Assange.

After she visited Julian at the embassy in London last week, Pamela attended Sushi Sambas Sambazonia party hosted in support of charity Cool Earth and told Yahoo Celeb UK: Londoners someone who needs your support at the moment is Julian Assange, I spent three hours with him this afternoon  you all need to be in his corner.

Pamela Anderson urges people to back Assange at the Sushi Samba Cool Earth event in London.

Pamela has also accused Australia of turning its back on the WikiLeaks whistleblower and said they are failing to exercise diplomatic protection over Julian.

She added in her statement: Australians must not forget. They have a fellow citizen trapped in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London who has not been able to go outside, feel the sunshine, hug his children or see his mother for four and a half years. He has been detained for 6 years 

The Julian Assange Case is incredibly complex. Australia has failed to exercise diplomatic protection over Julian, an Australian Citizen, refusing him the most basic assistance.
By Justyna Pawlak and Pawel Sobczak WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's ambition to be central Europe's leader within the EU suffered a humiliating blow when Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic defied its call to block the re-election of Donald Tusk as European Council president. The lack of support from the other three "Visegrad" countries left Prime Minister Beata Szydlo in uncomfortable isolation at an EU summit on Thursday - one leader out of 28 refusing to back Tusk, a former Polish leader who is loathed by her Law and Justice (PiS) party. The emphatic defeat exposed the Polish conservatives' inability to unite their ex-communist neighbours under a shared wish to gain more sway for the region in Brussels. Particularly painful was the desertion by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has defended the PiS against EU accusations it is undermining the rule of law by seeking more control over the justice system and the media. "We are disappointed by Prime Minister Orban's attitude," said Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the co-founder and head of the PiS who has never hidden his enmity towards Tusk. Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said the Visegrad four (V4) group continued to function, and Poland, by far its largest member, "didn't have to be the leader". "We can be its spokesman," he told reporters. Divisions among the four, which joined the EU in 2004 in the bloc's biggest expansion into ex-communist Europe, are numerous. They differ on relations with their former communist master Russia, ties with Germany, membership of the euro currency and the place of religion in society. All three of Poland's regional peers view Tusk as a safe pair of hands who can forward the region's agenda in Europe. Poland's official reason for wanting to veto him was that he had unfairly criticised the government from his seat in Brussels. "Tusk understands our world view and our view of how the European Union should work," Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told reporters. He added that Poland would also have to explain its refusal to sign off on the official record of the summit in protest against Tusk's reappointment, suggesting a potential new rift within the V4. "Poland will have to explain it well because it simply is not possible for one member state to veto European Council conclusions without giving specific, factual reasons," Sobotka said. Andrzej Rychard, sociologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences, said: "The PiS has paid a tremendous amount of attention to the V4 group but (the Tusk vote) was a spectacular demonstration of how the V4 is divided and how Poland is alone." "CONSEQUENCES ARE DIRE" The PiS' euroscepticism and what some western capitals see as Poland's tilt towards authoritarianism had already pushed it towards isolation in Brussels.Among other issues, Warsaw is frustrated about its failure to find support in a push against EU action on global warming, which it sees as a menace to its coal-powered energy industry. While EU officials and diplomats also consider Hungary's Orban an authoritarian, they generally see him as a more cunning player who would eventually sit down for talks to hammer out deals, whereas Poland's Kaczynski is seen as a rigid ideologue that people outside Poland do not understand. Even so, the two come together more often than Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which have strong economic ties with Germany and are often concerned about Kaczynski's nationalist rhetoric against Berlin. Orban's Fidesz party belongs to the same political grouping in the European Parliament as Tusk, the European People's Party. Kaczynski's PiS is part of the European Conservatives and Reformists, a smaller centre-right group that is more sceptical on EU integration. In the coming years, Warsaw will need to build alliances in negotiations over how much of Europe's budget will go to Poland's poorer regions and how big a hit it will take when Britain leaves the bloc and stops paying its dues. Poland, the biggest recipient of EU funds, and Hungary, stand to lose more than Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which are somewhat richer in per capita terms. "The V4 group has been struggling for a long time, though I wouldn't say it's dead," said Anna Materska-Sosnowska, a political scientist at Warsaw University. "(But) the consequences are dire," she said of the Tusk vote. "Not only did the government expose itself to ridicule but it also showed it doesn't understand diplomacy and EU rules, and doesn't know how to forge alliances." (Additional reporting by Marcin Goettig, Agnieszka Barteczko, Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw, Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Robert Muller in Prague, Tatiana Jancarikova in Bratislava and Gergely Szakacs in Budapest; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-backed Syrian forces said on Thursday they were closing in on Islamic State-held Raqqa and expected to reach the city outskirts in a few weeks, as a U.S. Marines artillery unit deployed to help the campaign. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia alliance including the Kurdish YPG, is the main U.S. partner in the war against Islamic State in Syria. Since November it has been working with the U.S.-led coalition to encircle Raqqa. SDF spokesman Talal Silo said: "We expect that within a few weeks there will be a siege of the city." Coalition spokesman U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian said the additional U.S. forces would be working with local partners in Syria - the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Arab Coalition - and would not have a front line role. Some 500 U.S. personnel are already in Syria to help the fight against IS. A 400-strong additional deployment which arrived in recent days comprised both Marines and Army Rangers, Dorrian said, adding they were there temporarily. Coalition airstrikes killed 23 civilians, including eight children, in the countryside north of Raqqa on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor said. The coalition said it was investigating the incident. Islamic State is also being fought in Syria by the Russian-backed Syrian military, and by Syrian rebel groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner with Turkish backing in northern Syria and Jordanian backing in southern Syria. On the other major flank of the assault on IS, Iraqi forces aim to dislodge the militant group from west Mosul within a month. This week, the SDF cut the road between Raqqa and the jihadists' stronghold of Deir al-Zor province - the last main road out of the city which is bordered to the south by the Euphrates River. Dorrian said the effort to isolate Raqqa was "going very very well" and could be completed in a few weeks. "Then the decision to move in can be made," he told Reuters by telephone. The artillery will help "expedite the defeat of ISIS in Raqqa", he said, using another acronym for Islamic State. The Marines were armed with 155-millimetre artillery guns. Asked if they had been used yet, Dorrian said he did not believe so. "We have had what I would describe as a pretty relentless air campaign to destroy enemy capabilities and to kill enemy fighters in that area already. That is something that we are going to continue and intensify with this new capability." A Kurdish military source told Reuters that further U.S. reinforcements were expected to arrive in the coming days. SDF RULED OUT TURKEY ROLE The U.S. military alliance with the SDF and YPG has strained relations with U.S. ally Turkey, which views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey. Fearing deepening Kurdish influence in northern Syria, Turkey has been pressing Washington for a role in the final assault on Raqqa. SDF spokesman Silo said the SDF had ruled out that idea during a meeting with U.S. officials last month. "The Turkish side is an occupation force and it cannot be allowed to occupy more Syrian land," he told Reuters. The meeting in northern Syria was attended by U.S. Senator John McCain and U.S. military officials, he said. Dorrian said the Army Rangers were on a different mission to the Marines in a previously announced deployment near the city of Manbij to "create some reassurance" for Turkey and U.S. partners in Syria - a reference to the SDF. Turkey says the Kurdish militia maintains a presence in Manbij. The YPG denies this. Dorrian said a possible role for Turkey "remains a point of discussion at military leadership and diplomatic levels". He added that a new shipment of armored personnel carriers had been supplied to the Syrian Arab Coalition, part of the SDF which has been vetted by the U.S.-led coalition, since an earlier delivery was announced in late January. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Toby Chopra)
By Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Patpicha Tanakasempipat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police ended their search of Thailand's biggest temple on Friday after laying siege to it for more than three weeks without finding the former abbot, who is wanted for suspected money-laundering. The standoff at the Dhammakaya temple between thousands of police and saffron-robed monks has posed one of the greatest challenges to the military government since it took power in 2014 and largely neutralized opposition. The influential Phra Dhammachayo, 72, is wanted for questioning over suspected money-laundering and numerous charges of building on land without authorization. But there are deeper roots to a confrontation between the military-led and royalist establishment and a scandal-hit temple whose practices jar with conservatives and which is widely seen as having had links to an ousted populist movement. Paisit Wongmuang, director-general of the police Department of Special Investigation, told reporters after another day of searching on Friday that the authorities would still try to track down Phra Dhammachayo. But restrictions on the temple area would be lifted "when everything returns to normal". The government used the emergency law Article 44 to allow police to enter the temple. "We are glad there is a sign of peaceful resolution but cannot rest assured until Article 44 is revoked," senior monk Phra Pasura Dantamano told Reuters. The temple - 10 times the area of the Vatican City and topped by a UFO-shaped gold dome - dwarfs Thailand's 40,000 or so other temples in wealth as well as size. It claims millions of followers, although still a small minority of Thai Buddhists. Phra Dhammachayo helped found the temple and remains influential. Aides say they have not seen him for months and that he is too sick for questioning. They say the charges against him are politically motivated. STALEMATE The situation was a stalemate, said Kan Yuenyong of the Siam Intelligence Unit think-tank. "Nobody wins or loses," he said. As the search was ending, Thailand's top religious body gave a green light for the first step in a process that could lead to the disrobing of the monk. Phra Dhammachayo has been stripped of his monastic rank by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, but secular authorities have no power to remove the protection afforded by his monk's robes. The head of the National Office of Buddhism, Pongporn Pramsaneh, told reporters that the top religious body, the Sangha Supreme Council, acknowledged the case against Phra Dhammachayo at a meeting on Friday. The government would now forward the case to a senior governing monk who might proceed with steps that could lead to his disrobing even if he can't be found. "This is the first step, and the last step will be the disrobing of Phra Dhammachayo," Pongporn said. Traditionalist Buddhists accuse the temple of commercialism and say it has put Nirvana up for sale. It says it is just as dedicated to Theravada Buddhism as them and its money is only to do good works. Although it rejects any suggestion of political links, it is widely seen as having had ties to the populist movement of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, overthrown in 2006, and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who led the government that was ousted in the most recent coup in 2014. (Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Nick Macfie)
In todays world, there is too much to digest.

And the Iraqi-born, now Albuquerque resident Rahim AlHaj feels fortunate.

Im lucky that I have the tools to make some difference, he says. Thats what Im excited about. When you have the ability to make a difference, its really pleasant.

AlHaj will perform music from his new album, Letters From Iraq at the Outpost Performance Space on Saturday, March 11.

AlHaj is no stranger to speaking out.

In 1991, he fled Iraq, leaving behind his native land after being imprisoned twice for this political outspokenness.

On Letters From Iraq, the two-time Grammy nominees eight pieces for oud, string quintet and percussion convey the story of contemporary Baghdad, from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day through what Western music scholars call program music  narrative compositions intended to give rise to imagery or tell a story.

AlHaj began writing Letters From Iraq after reading touching personal letters he received form Iraqi women and children during a 2014 trip to his homeland  his first in a decade and only his second since he left the country.

The letters told of the American occupation and the sectarian violence that arose in its wake.

One story even came to AlHaj in person, relayed by a handicapped nephew who had been trapped during a car bombing and firefight.

With these eight letters, AlHaj creates a chamber music using his oud, strings and percussion to depict a city in crisis but not without hope.

It was painful to read these stories, he says. Its excruciating to feel that pain and the desperation and surviving the horror. At the same time, it was rewarding to tell these stories. I wanted to document these stories. I felt like this music had to be heard. The art is really faithful, and we need music that is meaningful to make change and make a difference.

For his performance, he will present the eight letters, which will be projected with each composition.

Then we will talk about it, he says. Its about starting that conversation. We need to talk about it. Artists tend to be the origin for change. Thats why the record is timely important and need to put a human face to this. Its a story and its real and its not unimaginable. We can really open our hearts and eyes. Thats what Im trying to do.

AlHaj once received a letter from President Barack Obama, encouraging him to continue his music, quoting I hope you take pride in the ways your accomplishments are now imprinted on the landscape of American art. Now, AlHaj must cancel part of his tour due to President Donald Trumps travel ban.

Its always difficult to cancel a show, he says. Due to some of my band members not being able to travel. Its something that affects me directly.
Like a book, a restaurant cant by judged by its cover.

Your first glimpse of Fresh Bistro in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque is that of an unassuming house with a plywood sign pointing to a gravel driveway.

Your second glimpse is of a compound of smaller buildings and an old refurbished city bus, with a sign pointing you to what feels like the houses front door.

As far as book covers go, you should know that this place is a literary classic wrapped in cardboard and masking tape.

Once inside, youll notice the not-quite-rustic decor and the modern impressionist portraits, paired well with the fresh roses floating in crystal water bowls atop each table. Next, you will notice the friendly young staffers who greet you warmly and show you to your table.

Our Pepsi guy didnt show up, my waitress told me before recommending a bottled root beer. I went along with her recommendation and was rewarded with a sugarcane-sweet Zuberfizz from the Durango Soda Co., a boutique bottler in Colorado started by college roommates.

Tell your Pepsi guy not to come back, I said jokingly.

If you order the penne pasta with chicken, youll be presented with a perfectly portioned dish with no frills, no magic, just a plump and juicy chicken breast sliced into huge wedges and sitting on a bed of steaming pasta.

Youll find just the right amount of sun-dried tomatoes  too few and theyre forgettable, too many and they drown out the taste  mixed in with finely chopped red onions in the most delicate cream sauce youll ever taste.

After the first bite, youll notice the faint but distinct signature of fresh garlic, not powdered or pre-minced, and will realize that you are eating as simple and honest a plate of pasta as you can find in this city for $14.

The key is timing, chef Jon Young said about the sauce as he sat down at my table to check on my meal. He genuinely cares about, and takes pride in, the experience at his humble restaurant.

Here, you will think, style is not a substitute for substance. Everybody deserves good food, he says.

If you have $4 more to spare, you can finish your meal with a small but astonishingly good dessert of fresh cherries jubilee  flambeed in a light liqueur and poured over vanilla ice cream so fresh youll swear its homemade. (The ice cream might be the only part of your meal that isnt made by Jons hand. At least for now.)

So far, from scratch is working for Fresh Bistro, which is itself a bit of a spinoff from the mobile restaurant parked outside. Co-owner Melissa Young, a native New Mexican, says the demand for a full-service version grew out of the popularity of the bus (freshabq.com).

Now, an assortment of regulars and newcomers has been streaming in since the restaurant opened at the beginning of the year, she says, and the place is growing.

Slowly, she says. We dont want to get too big, too fast.

Starting March 18, Fresh will serve a complete dinner menu Wednesday through Sunday by reservation. The dinners will feature heartier plates such as poached salmon in a lemon cream sauce and pan-seared pork loin with shiitake mushrooms in a brandy demi-glace. If youre a traditionalist, you might enjoy the filet au poivre, a choice cut of beef tenderloin seared with green peppercorns for a fair $35. Fresh has applied for a license to serve beer and wine.

An open-air patio is available for events, and a taproom and small outdoor performance stage are expected to open this spring.

You will be forgiven for passing by Fresh without giving it a second thought, unaware that beneath the forgettable exterior lies a gem with ambition and plenty of promise. If you take the chance and venture inside, you might discover a new leather-bound classic.

3 stars
The spring 2017 movie season brings one of the most anticipated sequels of our time, one of the most anticipated prequel-sequels of our time, new looks at one of the most famous movie kings of all time  and a couple of fictional adaptations of amazing true-life stories from the 20th century.

In chronological order, the most prominent releases on the radar:

T2 Trainspotting  Two decades after Danny Boyles tunning, electric, utterly original work, we pick up the characters lives, well, two decades down the road. Ive seen this one, and all Ill say for now is if I were compiling a list of the greatest sequels of all time, T2 would be just behind the likes of the Godfather, Terminator and Alien follow-ups. Its that strong. (March 24)

Life  In the movies, when we find life on other planets  in this case, Mars  we never, ever, ever just say, Were gonna leave you be, see ya later! We always have to capture/study/tamper with those alien life forms. Hows that working out for us? Dopey title aside, Life sounds like a winner. Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson and Ryan Reynolds star in the story of a crew on the International Space Station tangling with an organism from the Red Planet that is growing up at an alarming pace and is becoming something not entirely friendly. (March 24)

Ghost in the Shell  More sci-fi, this time based on the Japanese manga of the same name.

This is actually the fifth film of the franchise, but the first intended for United States audiences. As you might have gleaned from the eye-popping trailer that dropped on the Super Bowl, Scarlett Johanssons Major is some kind of human-cyber, almost naked-looking, combo-platter creation, leading an elite force of soldiers. But as Major is told, They did not save your life  they stole it. (March 31)

The Zookeepers Wife  The invaluable Jessica Chastain and two actors who always turn in first-class work  Johan Heldenbergh and Daniel Bruhl  star in an adaptation of the best-selling book about the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, who during World War II saved dozens upon dozens of lives (human and animal) by using the zoo as a hiding place and as a passageway to escape. (March 31)

The Lost City of Z  Another true-life drama. Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), stars as Col. Percy Fawcett, who in the early 20th century led several expeditions in the search for a lost city in the Amazon. Sounds like the stuff of a Jules Verne adventure, but there really was a Col. Percy Fawcett, and he really did embark on multiple quests for a forgotten city once populated by an advanced ivilization, and he really did  Well. Ill go no further. Sienna Miller and Robert Pattinson co-star. (April 21)

The Circle  This is the one Im most looking forward to. Directed by James Ponsoldt (who gave us the wonderful films The Spectacular Now and The End of the Tour), The Circle is based on the brilliant novel by the greatly talented Dave Eggers.

Emma Watson stars as Mae, a millennial fresh out of college who goes to work for The Circle, an all-powerful, all-knowing technology company. Among their innovations: the SeeChange, a lightweight camera politicians can wear 24/7 in order to provide complete transparency.

Lots of timely stuff here about privacy and surveillance and sharing ones entire life with the world.

Tom Hanks stars as the head of The Circle, and the late Bill Paxton has his final film role as Maes father. (April 28)

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2  Its the sequel to the hilarious, touching, fantastic, wildly successful Guardians of the Galaxy, so, yeah. (May 5)

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword  Its a Charlie Hunnam twofer this spring!

Pioneering director Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Sherlock Holmes) directs this sure-to-be-fresh take on the legend of the brave Arthur (Hunnam), the fair Guinevere (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) and the evil Vortigern (Jude Law). The outstanding supporting cast includes Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Eric Bana and Annabelle Wallis. (May 12)

Alien: Covenant  Hey, werent we just talking about Aliens? The one and only Ridley Scott directs this sixth installment of the film series. As far as the timeline goes, were getting into Star Wars territory here, as Covenant is the sequel to Prometheus (2012), which makes it something of a prequel to the original Alien.

Michael Fassbender is perfectly cast as the synthetic android Walter, with Noomi Rapace, James Franco, Guy Pearce, Billy Crudup, Demian Bichir and Katherine Waterston also on board, so to speak. The alien creatures in Covenant are said to be spectacularly hideous and lethal. Nice. (May 19)
A U.S. military investigation has determined that an American-led raid in Yemen killed up to a dozen civilians, a senior official said Thursday, the most specific admission yet that the January operation resulted in unintended loss of life.

Gen. Joseph Votel, who heads U.S. Central Command (Centcom), told lawmakers that a probe into the Jan. 29 raid had concluded that between four and 12 civilians died as a result of U.S. actions.

Military officials had previously said that noncombatants were likely killed. Yemeni reports have put the civilian death toll as high as about 30.

The raid, which also resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL, has become the object of intense scrutiny early in the Trump administration. While the White House has insisted its first major counterterrorism operation was a highly successful maneuver against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), critics have questioned the series of mishaps that befell the Special Operations forces on the ground.

Some within the U.S. government have also cast doubt on the value of the intelligence obtained in the operation, which targeted a remote village believed to be inhabited by AQAP militants.

According to Yemeni security and tribal officials, an intense firefight and U.S. air attacks were elements of a chaotic nighttime scene in which villagers not connected to AQAP sought to defend their homes and became caught up in the fight. They allege that a large number of women and children were among the dead.

Votel, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, provided no details of who those killed were believed to include but said that, as the Centcom commander, he took responsibility for what occurred.

We lost a lot on this operation, he said. We lost a valued operator; we had people wounded; we caused civilian casualties; lost an expensive aircraft.

Maj. Josh Jacques, a Centcom spokesman, said it was not clear whether further information from the investigation would be made public. While Centcom has a system to investigate claims of civilian deaths, its probes often find much smaller civilian death tolls than those identified by activists and advocacy groups.

Votel said that a separate investigation into the crash and scuttling of an Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft during the operation was continuing. But he said an after-action review had not found any indication of negligence or poor decision-making that would require yet another investigation that could lead to recommendations for disciplinary action.

I think we had a good understanding of exactly what happened . . . and weve been able to pull lessons learned out of that we will apply in future operations, Votel said.
JACKSON, Miss.  The Texas tour bus hit by a freight train in a deadly crash wasnt supposed to have taken the road where it got stuck at a rail crossing earlier this week, a federal official said Thursday.

National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said the driver may have followed a GPS set for commercial vehicle use rather than directions from the tour company, WLOX-TV reported (http://bit.ly/2moDCRR ).

Speaking at a news conference, Sumwalt also said two other buses apparently followed the route provided by Florida-based Diamond Tours to the casino where they were headed in Biloxi, Mississippi.

In Texas, survivors and family members of the dead began filing lawsuits as more details emerged of Tuesdays crash, in which the CSX freight train slammed into the bus at a humped rail crossing on Biloxis Main Street.

The NTSB official Sumwalt said a forward-facing camera on the train took clear color photos of the bus leading up to and immediately after the crash, The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/2n50RUf) reported.

Sumwalt didnt give details of what the pictures showed and said investigators havent yet interviewed the driver. He said the investigation is continuing and a team will be traveling to Dallas to meet with bus owner Echo Transportation, and to Florida to meet with Diamond Tours.

A survivor said Thursday that after bus became lodged on the crossing, the bus driver yelled for all the passengers to get off shortly before the train hit. The female passenger was seated right behind the driver.

He told us to get off, and he was trying to see that everybody got off, said Justine Nygren, speaking by phone with The Associated Press after returning to her Texas home. He stuck with the bus, I know that. He didnt get off when we did.

Nygren said she left through the front door of the bus and walked a short distance alongside the tracks, not looking back. As she did, the train struck the bus and pushed it past her, she said.

Another bus returned her and seven other uninjured survivors Wednesday night to Bastrop, Texas, the Austin American-Statesman reported (http://atxne.ws/2m4c3Lz). The weeklong trip was organized by a senior citizens center in Bastrop, about 30 miles east of Austin.

Among the lawsuits, Mitch Toups of Beaumont, Texas, sued CSX and Echo on Thursday in a Dallas County court on behalf of survivors Darwyn and Marie Hanna. Both were injured, according to the lawsuit. It doesnt describe the injuries but said they probably will endure physical pain, suffering, and mental anguish for  the rest of their life.

Attorney Mikal Watts said he filed suit Wednesday against the railroad, the bus company and its unidentified driver in state court in Dallas for Peggy Hoffmans son. His lawsuit, like Toups, requests at least $1 million in damages.

The two others killed were identified as Clinton Havran, 79, of Sealy, Texas, and Deborah Orr, 62, of Bastrop, Texas.

Sumwalt had said earlier that the crossing on Biloxis Main Street has a hump that has caused tractor-trailers to bottom out, and the federal agency is looking into whether the steep grade played a role in Tuesdays crash.

A soft drink delivery truck and a tractor-trailer also were hit by trains after getting lodged at the same crossing in January of this year and August 2014, respectively.

Watts lawsuit said CSX Transportation allowed ultra hazardous conditions at the crossing, and that the Echo Transportation driver failed to follow traffic signs.

The crossing has a warning sign about low clearance, topped by a graphic of a tractor-trailer stuck on a railroad track.

CSX was responsible, Watts said. Instead of fixing it they put up a sign warning that vehicles could get caught. The bus driver either didnt see the sign or, if he did, went over anyway, resulting in the deaths of four good people and injuries to 25 or 30 others.

CSX spokeswoman Laura Phelps and Echo spokesman John Ferrari said in separate emails that their companies dont comment on pending litigation.

Phelps said Wednesday that the railroad can only work four to five feet out from its tracks on a public road, so creating a more gradual slope would be up to the city.

The crossing has had at least 17 accidents involving vehicles and trains since 1976, though 11 involved moving cars or trucks  including one in which an automobile hit the 38th car of a train that had stopped on the crossing.

Two other wrecks involved cars which were stalled or stuck on tracks; neither report had any clarifying details.

___

McConnaughey reported from New Orleans.
Scott Pruitt, the nations top environmental official, strongly rejected the established science of climate change on Thursday, outraging scientists, environmentalists, and even his immediate predecessors at the Environmental Protection Agency.

I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and theres tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that its a primary contributor to the global warming that we see, Pruitt, the newly installed EPA administrator, said on the CNBC program Squawk Box.

But we dont know that yet, he continued. We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis.

His comments represented a startling statement for an official so high in the U.S. government, putting him at odds not only with other countries around the globe but also with the official scientific findings of the agency he now leads. President Donald Trump in the past has called the notion of human-fueled climate change a hoax. Other cabinet members, including Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, have questioned the scientific basis for combating global warming.

But Pruitts attempt to sow scientific doubt where little exists alarmed environmental advocates, scientists and former EPA officials, who fear he plans to use such views to attack Obama-era regulations aimed at reining in pollution from the burning of coal and other fossil fuels.

The world of science is about empirical evidence, not beliefs, Gina McCarthy, the EPAs most recent administrator, said in a statement. When it comes to climate change, the evidence is robust and overwhelmingly clear that the cost of inaction is unacceptably high. Preventing the greatest consequences of climate change is imperative to the health and well-being of all of us who call Earth home.

She added, I cannot imagine what additional information the Administrator might want from scientists for him to understand that.

Pruitts climate change comments resulted in instant headlines. As criticism mounted, White House press secretary Sean Spicer batted back a question about Pruitts comments from a reporter who cited Pruitts words and how they contradict the scientific consensus on climate change.

Thats a snippet of what Administrator Pruitt said, said Spicer. I dont think we know conclusively, this is what we know.

Pruitt, who was visiting the energy industry conference CERAWeek in Houston, waded into related controversial topics during his CNBC interview. He questioned whether it was EPAs role to regulate carbon dioxide emissions  something undertaken through the agencys Clean Power Plan, the Obama administrations most significant policy to combat climate change  and challenged the Paris agreement on climate change.

Nowhere in the equation has Congress spoken, said Pruitt on whether his agency is obligated to regulate carbon dioxide. The legislative branch has not addressed this issue at all. Its a very fundamental question to say, Are the tools in the toolbox available to the EPA to address this issue of CO2, as the court had recognized in 2007, with it being a pollutant? 

(Pruitt was apparently referring to the 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, in which the court ruled that harms associated with climate change are serious and well recognized and that the EPA had been arbitrary and capricious in failing to issue a determination on whether greenhouse gases endanger public health .

The remarks appeared to fundamentally call into question whether the EPA has a role in the regulation of greenhouse gases that drive global warming, including carbon dioxide and methane. Last week, Pruitts agency withdrew an agency request to oil and gas companies to report on their equipment and its methane emissions, which could have laid the groundwork for tighter regulations.

Pruitt also dismissed the international Paris climate agreement, which the Obama administration helped lead and which was joined by nearly 200 countries in late 2015, as a bad deal for the United States.

Its one thing to be talking about CO2 internationally, Pruitt said. But when you front-load your costs, as we endeavored to do in that agreement, and then China and India back-loaded their costs for 2030 and beyond, thats not good for America. Thats not an America first type of approach.

On the science of climate change, Pruitts statements fly in the face of an international scientific consensus, which has concluded that it is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. They also contradict the very website of the agency that Pruitt heads.

The EPAs Climate Change website states: Recent climate changes, however, cannot be explained by natural causes alone. Research indicates that natural causes do not explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20thcentury. Rather, it is extremely likely that human activities have been the dominant cause of that warming.

Pruitt spoke with CNBC amidst growing anticipation that the Trump administration will soon begin a formal rollback of President Barack Obamas Clean Power Plan, an EPA policy capping emissions from electricity generating stations, such as coal-fired power plants.

Pruitt himself sued the EPA over the Clean Power Plan in his previous role as the attorney general of Oklahoma  one of many

lawsuits that he filed against the agency. Others were over mercury and air pollution, the agencys attempts to regulate pollution of waterways, and methane emissions from oil and gas facilities.

The EPA chief has made several statements that are similar to the present one, perhaps, but not so strongly worded.

In his Senate confirmation hearing, meanwhile, he stated that the climate is changing, and human activity contributes to that in some manner.

Another of Pruitts predecessors also commented on the science of climate change in the context of his remarks.

The time for debate on climate change has passed, Lisa Jackson, Obamas first EPA administrator and now vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple, told the Post.

Certainty is what business needs, said Jackson. And relying on science is something that we do every single day. So now if were going to question science, I think it has an impact on more than just some federal rules, or some law, it has a huge impact on human health, the environment, and our economy.



VIDEO:

1) President Trump and many of his top aides have expressed skepticism about climate change, while others say human activity is to blame for global warming. So whats the administrations real position? (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

http://wapo.st/2moqfkl



2) White House press secretary Sean Spicer downplayed EPA head Scott Pruitts comments on March 9 that carbon dioxide isnt a primary contributor to global warming. (The Washington Post)

http://wapo.st/2m7eb6j


Among several bills attempting to nip into New Mexicos public records access law is a piece of legislation that would allow Spaceport America to keep secret a wide range of its business and client information.

Senate Bill 429 proposes a Spaceport Confidential Records Act that would exempt from the Inspection of Public Records Act many aspects of spaceports business dealings. The bill is sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, and is scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Public Affairs committee Friday.

Under the proposal, prospective and current client information including identities, correspondence, agreements, client names, payments, activities, visitor logs, policies and security protocols could be kept confidential and not viewable or retrievable by the public.

Papen did not respond to requests for comment.

Spaceports overall revenue stream as well as its spending could still be made public, according to Spaceport America Executive Director Dan Hicks. He said such confidentiality is expected in the hyper-competitive commercial space industry where spaceport is working to attract clients.

Having spent 34 years in the Department of Defense, I thought secrecy was big there, he said. It is nothing compared to the commercial space industry.

Many companies in the emerging new space industry are upstarts still in the research, development and testing phases where business secrets are closely guarded, said Tammara Anderton, Spaceport vice president of business development.

When it gets down to doing the deal and we have to put that we are subject to IPRA, then the corporate lawyers go, oh my gosh,' Anderton said. Its a race. It always is. They have competitors; they are trying to keep a cutting edge.

Gregory Williams, president of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, says the bill is a concern.

In a purely private business situation, businesses can often keep information private, he said. But this is not purely private; this involves a lot of New Mexico taxpayer money. Anyone who wants to take our states money needs to be accountable.

Spaceport America is asking the Legislature for $444,000 to fund operations this coming fiscal year, an amount flat with last year.

Residents of two southern New Mexico counties, Sierra and Dona Ana, paid for construction of the $218.5 million facility through gross receipts taxes. More generally, New Mexico taxpayers have paid nearly half a million dollars annually to make up for the revenue shortfall to cover operational costs every year since Spaceport began operations in 2013.

SB 429 could make the spaceport more competitive in an increasingly crowded marketplace, in which new spaceports nationwide are competing for limited clients, Hicks said.

Williams said Spaceport needs to convince us that the overall benefit to the public is better if we have more confidentiality.

But just because they are claiming they are at a business disadvantage doesnt necessarily mean thats the case, he said. They are going to have to come forward with more information to demonstrate that confidentiality has a significant impact on their business.
The state of Utah is poised to adopted the toughest drunken driving standards in the nation, lowering the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) standard for impairment from .08 percent to 0.05 percent.

Researchers and public health experts who study alcohol impairment, including the National Transportation Safety Board, have been clamoring for years for all 50 states to adopt a .05 threshold, following the example of nearly every other wealthy country. So far, however, every state other than Utah has kept its limit at .08.

The logic behind Utahs change is simple: Your odds of getting into a car crash while driving at .05 are dramatically lower than the odds at .08.

At a BAC of .08, a drivers odds of getting into a crash are about four times greater than a sober drivers. At .05, however, the crash risk is halved relative to the risk at .08  although its worth pointing out that even at .05, your odds of a crash are still double what theyd be if you were completely sober.

Utah was the first state to lower the drunken driving limit from .10 to .08, way back in 1983. Delaware was the last state to do so, in 2004, and only then under threat of losing federal highway funds.

The current shift to .05 in Utah has been opposed by Democrats worried about harm to the states tourism industry, as well as alcohol industry trade groups like the American Beverage Institute, which characterizes the change as criminalizing perfectly responsible behavior.

But laboratory research shows that most peoples critical driving skills are significantly impaired at .05 BAC, according to a review of the literature by James Fell and Robert Voas of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.

A separate literature review conducted by Fell and Voas on countries that implemented the lower BAC found the evidence is consistent and persuasive that fatal and injury crashes involving drinking drivers decrease at least 5-8% and up to 18%.
ANKARA  In a world where some countries despair over Donald Trump and others see him as a breath of fresh air, Turkey is decidedly in the second category.

The last seven or eight months of the Obama administration were marked by its total absence as far as Ankara was concerned, said Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman and senior adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. From what Turkey saw as his mistaken Syria policy to his foot-dragging on U.S. extradition of the alleged mastermind of last years coup attempt here, Barack Obama simply was not there, Kalin said.

Now, after an extended period of tension between the two NATO allies, we have positive opinions of the new administration, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Thursday. Trump and Erdogan have spoken, and Yildirim met in Europe recently with Vice President Mike Pence.

Trumps order to the Pentagon to beef up its anti-Islamic State strategy has sparked a belief here that Turkeys views will be paid more heed. Ankara also hopes for an early decision to extradite Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen from his Pennsylvania residence.

But despite the warm words and intimations of change, Turkey is likely headed for disappointment, as Trump, who prides himself on dealmaking and straight talk, finds that his ability to satisfy Ankaras demands is limited.

So far, at least, Trumps direction on the issues Turkey cares about most shows little sign of differing from that of his predecessor.

Senior officials, who met here this week with a group of U.S.-based reporters invited to hear Ankaras official concerns, insisted that Turkey, despite recently strengthening its relations with Russia, remains firmly tied to the West. But some of our Western friends genuinely have a hard time understanding these complicated stories that drive Turkey, said Mehmet Simsek, the deputy prime minister and a former finance minister.

Syria is among the most complicated stories of all. Turkey thinks that the U.S. reliance on Syrian Kurds to fight the Islamic State in that country is both misbegotten and insulting. As the Pentagon completes plans for an upcoming offensive to conquer the city of Raqqa, the militants Syrian capital, Turkey has offered its own troops and Syrian Arab allies as alternatives.

This operation should be carried out jointly by the United States and Turkey, Yildirim said. Turkey believes the Kurdish force, known as the Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, is a terrorist organization allied with Turkish separatists that both Ankara and Washington have designated as terrorists. You cannot simply eradicate a terrorist organization by making use of another terrorist organization, Yildirim said.

If Washington insists, he said, the friendship between the United States and Turkey will be significantly damaged and undermined.

Kalin acknowledged that some in the new U.S. administration are pushing for the old plan drawn up under Obama. But Turkey thinks that within the Trump administration, there are those who say we have to take Turkeys concerns into account and consider other alternatives.

But a new version of the plan submitted to Trump late last month is much the same as the old one, calling for an alliance with the YPG and the United States own Syrian Arab forces. U.S. officials privately dismiss Turkeys view of the YPG and have little confidence in the ability of Turkey and its allied Syrian rebel forces to substitute for the Kurds on what has become a tight timeline to launch the invasion of Raqqa during the first half of this year.

Rather than directly communicate that view to Ankara, however, the Trump administration is seeking to convince Turkey that it will not allow the Kurds to occupy Raqqa and will find a significant role for Turkey and its Arab allies in a later phase of stabilizing the city.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has met several times in recent months with his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Hulusi Akar, including a two-day session in the city of Antalya this week that Russias military chief of staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, also attended.

Their immediate goal was to deconflict military operations in what has become an increasingly chaotic battlefield in and around the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which was seized from the Islamic State last summer by the Syrian Democratic Forces, consisting of Kurds and Arabs. In recent days, U.S. troops have taken up positions around the town to prevent fights between the SDF and other U.S. allies in a force backed by Turkey.

Syrian government forces and Russia  which has been building its own relationship with the Syrian Kurds  have moved between the sides to form a buffer. In an unusually pointed message that highlighted Turkeys frustration, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that his country would fight the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces if they did not withdraw from the town and would have a problem with Russia if it interfered.

Turkish sensitivities are particularly acute at the moment, with Erdogan fighting for approval of an April 16 referendum that would change Turkeys governing system from a European-style parliamentary system to a U.S.-like presidential system. Even as it gingerly approaches Washington, the Erdogan government has engaged in outright shouting matches with Germany and other European countries that have barred Turkish cabinet members from campaigning for diaspora votes.

Perhaps even more than either the referendum or Syria, no issue has been as vexing to Ankara as Washington, D.C.s declining to extradite Gulen, the alleged mastermind of last years failed coup attempt that killed more than 250 people, traumatized the nation and unleashed a broad and staggering purge of suspected enemies that has reached into virtually every state institution.

Turkish officials say, with some justification, that there is broad consensus in Turkish society that Gulen, a U.S. permanent resident, should be turned over  an opinion shared by even some government opponents who hope that his return might calm a crackdown that has extended far beyond his followers and swept up many other dissenters in the news media and civil society.

Turkish officials adamantly assert that they have provided the U.S. Justice Department with voluminous evidence of Gulens direct involvement in the failed coup. Its crystal clear, the Turkish justice minister, Bekir Bozdag said Thursday, although he declined to detail the evidence that U.S. officials have privately said is largely hearsay that is unlikely to stand up in a U.S. federal court, which would have to agree before Gulen could be extradited.

Bozdag said he was told as much by Obamas attorney general, Loretta Lynch. He said Lynch told him that the process was taking so long because the United States wants our hand to be strong.

But that reasoning has not satisfied Turkish officials, who liken the coup attempt to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Comparing Gulen to Osama bin Laden, Bozdag said: We believe that if he is not extradited, then for us, no one can be extradited.

Turkey sees the lack of action against Gulen as a symptom of a broader problem: that many of Turkeys allies, including the United States, do not take seriously the threats Turkey perceives to be posed by Gulen and the Kurds.



Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report.
JACKSON, Miss.  The Latest on fatal crash between a tour bus and freight train in Mississippi: (all times local):

5 p.m.

A National Transportation Safety Board member says the Texas tour bus hit by a freight train was not supposed to have taken the road where it got stuck at a rail crossing.

WLOX-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2moDCRR ) that Robert Sumwalt told a news conference the driver may have followed a GPS set for commercial vehicle use rather than directions from a Florida-based tour company. Sumwalt is a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.

He said two other buses apparently followed the route given by Diamond Tours to the casino where they were headed in Biloxi (bih-LUX-ee), Mississippi.

The crash killed four bus passengers and injured dozens.

The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/2n50RUf ) reports that investigators plan to interview the bus driver in coming days. Sumwalt didnt identify the driver.

___

A National Transportation Safety Board member says investigators have downloaded video and engine data from the Texas tour bus that got stuck on railroad tracks and was hit by a train in Mississippi, killing four.

Board spokesman Robert Sumwalt says investigators downloaded video and engine data, and plan to interview the bus driver.

He says the train crew completed all safety checks and reported the train to be functioning well.

The agency put a test vehicle on the tracks and found unobstructed visibility.

Sumwalt says the board is nearly done with its work in Biloxi, but the investigation is just beginning. The team will travel to Dallas to meet with bus owner Echo Transportation, and to Florida to meet with tour organizer Diamond Tours.

___

3:30 p.m.

A survivor of the deadly bus crash in Mississippi says she was sitting right behind the driver when the bus became lodged on a railroad crossing.

Justine Nygren of Austin, Texas, says the driver yelled for everyone to get off, but stayed on the bus himself, trying to ensure that people did leave.

Speaking in a telephone interview from her home, Nygren said she left through the front door of the bus and walked a short distance alongside the tracks, not looking back. She told The Associated Press that while she was walking, the train hit the bus and pushed it past her.

Nygren says the rest of her memory is a fog.

Four people died and dozens were injured.

Nygren says another bus returned her and other uninjured survivors Wednesday night to Bastrop, Texas. The Austin American-Statesman reports (http://atxne.ws/2m4c3Lz ) eight people were on that bus.

___

2:30 p.m.

Friends say one Mississippi train crash victim always planned the best parties.

Sixty-two-year-old Deborah Orr was one of four people killed Tuesday when a train hit a charter bus in Biloxi (buh-LUX-ee). The native of Bastrop, Texas, died after surgery.

Judy Seymore of Cedar Creek, Texas met Orr through the Red Hat Society, a worldwide organization for women over 50. She says Orr choreographed dances to songs like One Singular Sensation and Dancing Queen and had a knack for bringing people together. Seymore says Orrs holiday parties were legendary.

Susan Lawson, another Red Hat, met Orr when they volunteered to help the community of Bastrop after fires in September 2011 killed two people and destroyed 1,660 homes.

She remembers one of Orrs best costumes: a Little Mermaid Ursula in red and purple, the Red Hat colors.

___

1 p.m.

Heirs of a Texas couple killed when a train slammed into a tour bus in Mississippi are going to court.

Attorney Mikal Watts has sued the railroad, the bus company and its unidentified driver in state court in Dallas for Peggy Hoffmans son.

Watts said Thursday that attorney Broadus Spivey is suing separately for heirs of Hoffmans husband, Ken Hoffman, but theyre working together.

The Hoffmans were among four people killed and dozens injured after their tour bus got stuck on a humped train crossing in Biloxi (buh-LUX-ee) and was hit by a CSX freight train.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday says CSX Transportation allowed ultra hazardous conditions at the crossing, and the Echo Transportation driver failed to follow traffic signs.

Spokespeople said the companies dont comment on pending litigation.

___

3:30 a.m.

The mayor of the Mississippi city where a train slammed into a bus, killing four Texas tourists, says hell work with the railroad to close some crossings and make others safer.

Biloxi Mayor Andrew FoFo Gilich said Wednesday that hell use recommendations from CSX Transportation to minimize the chances of another fatal wreck.

The city had already scheduled a hearing March 21 to discuss closing six railroad crossings when the CSX freight train hit a bus stuck on the tracks Tuesday. However, the Main Street crossing, where 40 were injured in addition to the deaths, isnt on the closure list.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

The crossing has a warning sign about low clearance, topped by a picture of a tractor-trailer stuck on a railroad track.

___

The second item about the NTSB news conference has been corrected to say NTSB nearly done with work in Mississippi, not done.
WASHINGTON  The State Department says top U.S. diplomat Rex Tillerson has recused himself from TransCanadas application for a presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Environmental group Greenpeace has called for Tillerson, former CEO of oil giant Exxon Mobil, to take that step.

The pipeline, which would bring oil from Canada to the U.S., was halted by then-President Barack Obama. In one of his first decisions as president, Donald Trump invited the Keystone builder, TransCanada, to resubmit its application to construct and operate the pipeline.

Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday that Secretary of State Tillerson decided in early February to recuse himself from TransCanadas application. He has not worked on it at the State Department and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of the application.
WASHINGTON  Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday said he is in favor of bringing new enemy combatants to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, reversing eight years of Obama administration policy aimed at shrinking the population at the military detention facility in the hopes of eventually closing it.

Sessions also said he supports trying detainees there instead of in the federal courts.

Its just a very fine place for holding these kinds of dangerous criminals, he said of the prison.

They are like prisoners of war, and prisoners of war can be held throughout the time of the conflict, Sessions said on the Hugh Hewitt radio show. At the same time, if they have violated the rules of war, they can be prosecuted. And weve got to work our way through this. It would be done, if done, by the United States military.

He added, In general, I dont think were better off bringing these people to federal court in New York and trying them in federal court, where they get discovery rights to find out our intelligence and get court-appointed lawyers and things of that nature.

His comments echo the views he expressed as a U.S. senator on the Armed Services Committee, but now that he is the nations top law enforcement official, they are drawing more scrutiny.

Military commissions have just not been a practical success, said John Bellinger, legal adviser to the National Security Council and the State Department during President George W. Bushs first term.

More than 15 years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, none of the five men accused of helping orchestrate the plot have undergone a military trial, much less been convicted. Instead, those prisoners and a handful of others have been locked in years of pretrial hearings.

Bellinger said the reason military commissions have struggled is that they were created fairly recently  after the 9/11 attacks  and there are limited precedents to guide judges. The judges are acutely aware the world views them as a kangaroo court and are at every opportunity giving the defendants the benefit of the doubt, he said.

Military tribunal decisions have been reversed by the federal courts, he noted, so its really not clear whether future convictions will be upheld.

Bellinger added that he hoped that Justice Department officials explain to Sessions the difficulties that the military commissions have faced.

By contrast, hundreds of terrorism suspects have been convicted in federal courts, including al-Qaida members captured overseas. This week, a trial involving an alleged al-Qaida operative opened in Brooklyn. The defendant, Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, whose nom de guerre is Spin Ghul, is accused of a 2003 attack in Afghanistan that killed two U.S. troops.

Courtney Sullivan, who has prosecuted terrorism cases in federal courts and at Guantanamo, said she thinks in some cases the federal courts are the better venue because, among other things, the judges have more experience and can move through pretrial proceedings more quickly. If the 9/11 case had stayed in the Southern District of New York, where the five co-conspirators were indicted in December 2009, she said, the trial would have been completed by now.

Lawyers questioned Sessions assertion that federal courts are unable to handle defendants requests for discovery without exposing sensitive intelligence.

It is clear that there has been extensive litigation and assertion of rights to pretrial discovery by Guantanamo defendants, and if anything, the federal court system has shown itself to be more willing to draw a line and bring to a close pretrial discovery, said a former senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of sensitivities with his current employer.

Pursuing prosecutions of Islamic State members in military commissions or holding them at Guantanamo Bay opens the prospect of judicial review of the 2001 authorization for the use of military force and whether it properly applies to the group, analysts said.

The statutory footing to hold ISIS members is pretty strained under the AUMF, Bellinger said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

  

The Washington Posts Missy Ryan and Julie Tate contributed to this report.
For 70 years, the LSAT has been a rite of passage to legal education, a test designed to gauge students ability to learn the law.

But its dominance could change. Beginning this fall, Harvard Law School will allow applicants to submit their scores from either the Graduate Record Examination or the Law School Admission Test.

The significant change in admissions, a pilot program at Harvard, is part of a broader strategy to expand access. Because many students consider graduate school as well as law school, and because the GRE is offered often and in many places worldwide, the decision could make it easier and less expensive for people to apply, school officials said.

Harvards decision was announced this week, just before the arm of the American Bar Association that accredits law schools considers changing its standards to allow tests other than the LSAT.

Last year, the University of Arizona College of Law became the first law school in the country to allow applicants to submit GRE scores rather than LSAT scores. Two other schools followed. But for Harvard, which has one of the best law schools in the world, to do so could upend the admissions process for legal education.

This is a very big deal, said Bill Henderson, a professor at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University at Bloomington, who has written extensively about legal education and rankings. This is a wise move. It makes them better off, by allowing them to consider applicants in a more comprehensive way without worrying that their median LSAT score, and hence their ranking, will drop. It means they can look for leaders and academic brilliance and countless other qualities, even if those dont always align with extraordinarily high LSAT scores. It loosens the vise grip of these numerical admissions criteria on the legal academy. . . . This is really exciting, good news.

I cant imagine other top law schools not following suit.

In a sense, it brings admissions full circle: You go back to the 1940s, 1950s, Harvard and Yale were the folks that put these tests in place to begin with. In the postwar years, they were getting this tremendous rush of applicants, Henderson said, and they were gauging aptitude for the law largely based on whether students were able to pass the first year. And the LSAT was a huge success, he said, providing an excellent measure that allowed both students and schools a way to determine that without wasting a year. The trouble came in more recent years, he said, as schools developed a lopsided dependence on the test scores because of their effect on rankings.

Something else has flipped since that time: the volume of applicants.

Kyle McEntee, executive director of Law School Transparency, thinks many law schools have already been considering this change because schools across the board have been struggling with applications  not only applications, but the quality of applicants.

The other schools have come under criticism for basically just trying to expand their consumer base by not requiring the LSAT, McEntee said. That criticism is clearly not going to apply to Harvard.

Nationally, he said, law schools have struggled in recent years in the wake of the Great Recession as people learned that job prospects were threatened.

Schools are trying to find new ways to find people. Will other schools follow? Probably, McEntee said.

By the end of last week, there were more than 42,000 applicants for the 2017-2018 academic year, a decrease of 1.5 percent from the year before, according to the Law School Admission Council.

The current numbers arent directly comparable with past numbers because of the way they are tallied, but there has been a significant decline in applicants; nearly 89,000 people applied in the fall 2006 admissions cycle, according to the Law School Admission Council.

Harvard, by contrast, had a 5 percent increase in applicant volume both last year and this year, said Jessica Soban, associate dean for admissions and strategic initiatives.

Regardless of the number of applicants we have, this initiative is about making sure the most qualified candidates continue to consider us, she said. We have been out pretty publicly with a message that some of the cutting-edge legal issues rely on an understanding of science and technology and engineering problems. These are the questions that require not only great legal training, but the technical underpinnings really do help to understand the issues. She said the school is up to double digits in people coming with science and technical backgrounds, and many of them may have initially considered other graduate degrees.

About 17 percent of its current first-year class is made up of international students, she said, so broader access to the GRE was a significant factor.

A study by the school examined the GRE scores of current and former students who took both the GRE and the LSAT and determined that the GRE is an equally valid predictor of first-year grades.

Harvard Law School is continually working to eliminate barriers as we search for the most talented candidates for law and leadership, Dean Martha Minow said in a statement. For many students, preparing for and taking both the GRE and the LSAT is unaffordable.

All students benefit when we can diversify our community in terms of academic background, country of origin, and financial circumstances. Also, given the promise of the revolutions in biology, computer science, and engineering, law needs students with science, technology, engineering and math backgrounds. For these students, international students, multidisciplinary scholars, and joint-degree students, the GRE is a familiar and accessible test, and using it is a great way to reach candidates not only for law school, but for tackling the issues and opportunities society will be facing.

Its all part of broader efforts, Soban said, to make the school more accessible. Some of the changes include using Skype for interviews, wiping out the requirement of a deposit for accepted students and beginning a deferred-admission pilot program to encourage applications from juniors at Harvard College who commit to two years of work experience before law school.

The decision has the potential to create a domino effect among other law schools, Jeff Thomas, executive director of pre-law programs at Kaplan Test Prep, wrote in an email. When Harvard changes their admissions strategy, other law schools take notice.

If other schools follow, it would provide more options for students. The GRE is offered almost every day, Thomas noted, compared with the LSAT, which is available only a few times a year.

Kaplan Test Prep surveyed 125 law schools in May, and 56 percent said they had no plans to adopt the GRE as an admissions alternative to the LSAT. Just 14 percent said they planned to do it. But the remaining 30 percent said they were not sure, which Thomas said signified a lot of room to grow. We think that number is likely to increase over the next few months, he said.

The council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, an agency of the ABA, has planned a meeting from Thursday through Saturday in California at which the question of whether the LSAT is fundamental will be considered.

Barry Currier, the sections managing director, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that his organization will consider changes to Standard 503 dealing with admission tests at its meeting this weekend and whether to put these changes out for notice and comment. For that reason, at this point we will defer for now any comment on any individual law schools proposal or pilot program on testing of prospective students.

Minow said in a statement, We look forward to working with the American Bar Association on finding the most effective ways to encourage the best students to enter the legal profession.
WASHINGTON  FBI Director James Comey huddled with top lawmakers Thursday as pressure grows on the Justice Department to either substantiate or denounce President Donald Trumps accusation that the Obama administration tapped his phones during the presidential campaign.

Intelligence Committee and party leaders in the Gang of Eight  senior congressional leaders that receive the highest-level briefing  held meetings in both chanmbers of Congress. Members emerging from the meeting, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Mark Warner, D-Va., were tight-lipped about the contents of the conversation.

The meetings come as lawmakers sent letters to Comey and acting deputy attorney general Dana Boente demanding a full accounting of any wiretapping applications, orders or warrants issued in an effort to conduct surveillance on Trump or his surrogates and associates during the campaign.

The president charged in tweets Saturday morning that President Barack Obama ordered the wire-tapping of his New York offices in the fall, presumably in an attempt to gain more information about Russias meddling in the U.S. election. The House Intelligence Committee is probing that charge, as well as allegations that Trump associates have links to Russia  Trump has also asked that the wire-tapping charge be included in the probe. The FBI is investigating Russias suspected intervention in the election, as well as the links of Trumps team with Russia.

House Intelligence members may get their chance to grill Comey in a public hearing scheduled for March 20. The invitation list includes Comey, Adm. Michael Rogers, National Security Agency director, former acting attorney general Sally Yates, former director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former CIA director John Brennan, and two senior officers of CrowdStrike  the company that found proof Russia hacked the Democratic National Committees servers. No subpoenas have been issued.

Comeys trip to Capitol Hill comes at a time when lawmakers are divided  and not always along party lines  over whether the director is keeping the Gang of Eight adequately informed about the intelligence the FBI and Justice Department have collected that could bear on the congressional investigation into alleged Trump-Russia ties.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., sent a letter dated Wednesday to Boente, who took over ultimate responsibility for much of the departments probe after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from all matters pertaining to the Trump campaign. In the letter, they asked for copies of any wiretapping applications, orders or warrants from 2016 relating to Trump, his surrogates, associates, family members and friends. Senate Judiciary Committees Crime and Terrorism panel heads Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., also sent a letter to Boente and Comey Wednesday asking for a similar list of documents.

Few members of Congress believe the presidents allegations about the Obama-ordered wiretap, and several are demanding the Trump administration produce evidence to substantiate the claim. Thus far, the White House has refused to do so, calling on Congress to conduct an investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, Graham and Whitehouse sent their letter to the FBI and the Justice Department Wednesday with the blessing of Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, he said Thursday. He explained that asking for those records was a proper thing to do as part of a hearing on Russias alleged involvement in the 2016 elections that Graham and Whitehouse are expected to schedule soon.

But Grassley is dissatisfied with Comeys lack of response to those and other requests for relevant information

Grassley and Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) called Comey on Monday, he said, in an attempt to schedule a briefing they had previously requested from him, aimed at discussing Russias alleged election meddling.

We get this excuse: Im talking to the DOJ now to get, more or less, to get clearance, Grassley said, frustrated. And I said . . ., Did you have clearance when you talked to the Intelligence Committee last week? 

It surprised me, but heres the bottom line: Four days later we still havent heard back from him, Grassley said.

Warner and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., however, met with Comey on Thursday, and have expressed satisfaction with the level of candor and access he has been offering them to collected intelligence relevant to their investigation.

But in the House, some Intelligence Committee members are markedly unsatisfied with the access Comey has been giving them.

We need the confidence of knowing that theyre briefing us on the most significant issues, Schiff told reporters last week. And at this point, I think thats very much in question.

Rank-and-file Intelligence members have begun to make trips to CIA headquarters to review documents made available to them by the intelligence community. Those trips began earlier this week in the Senate.

House Intelligence Committee member Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said Thursday that access for House members only recently became available. He also credited Schiff and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., for pushing, as far as Ive been told to make sure access to other information and officials is expanded to the full membership of the committee.
From the start of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged total change, delivering his promises with a scorched-earth political vocabulary  Lyin Ted, Crooked Hillary, drain the swamp, lock her up. Some found his language appalling, but others found it refreshing enough to make him president.

Now, in the Oval Office, Trump and his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, have moved beyond the campaigns embrace of political incorrectness to shake official Washington with a new vocabulary that breaks from the usual liberal-conservative terms of debate.

Bannon rails against the corporatist, globalist media. Trump talks about a global power structure. Bannon promises the deconstruction of the administrative state. With evident relish, the president stands before Congress and enunciates every syllable of radical Islamic terrorism, even after his own national security adviser protests that the phrase is unhelpful.

The populist rhetoric is so systemic, its hard to believe its not a deliberate effort to change the language of politics, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who taught history at the University of Oklahoma before entering politics. This is obviously very populist language  the idea that theres finally somebody here to protect you from these international and corporate forces that are making you feel lost.

The purpose of the new rhetoric is to break through the partisan paralysis of recent years, pull the country into an America-first nationalism and persuade Trump supporters that the new president meant it when he announced at his inauguration that the hour of action has commenced.

The language of the Trump administration rubs many politicians  Republicans and Democrats alike  the wrong way, just as it is intended to.

I dont like the name-calling, former president George W. Bush said last month. Nobody likes that.

Nobody except those who consider Trump a much-needed provocateur who realizes that a linguistic poke in the face may be necessary to force the government to address the needs and pains of what the president calls the forgotten men and women.

What youre hearing is genuine change, said former House speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., a Trump supporter and occasional adviser. Its an assertive language and a focus on America that cuts against the norm of what weve seen from our elites over the last 30 years.

And that is exactly the point, said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because, he said, the terminology of the movement is something for historians to look back on and analyze. Its a little strange to talk about it in real time.

The official said that the rhetoric of the Trump administration is designed to be neither left nor right but a common-sense approach that shines light on a very out-of-touch small group of people in a few big cities who have been the big winners and who try to portray the mainstream of America as being abnormal.

A lot of the language youre seeing is about one question: Are we reindustrializing America or deindustrializing America? the official said. Sometimes the language falls into a left bucket and sometimes a right bucket, but the consistent theme is that the proper role of the American nation-state is to create more prosperity for American citizens.

During the campaign, Trump promised to rein in his rhetoric and become more presidential than anybody, other than the great Abe Lincoln, but he also said he would keep up the tough, street-level vernacular that thrilled crowds at his rallies.

As president, Trump has continued to make statements that are factually incorrect or are based on opinions he heard on TV. It is a pattern he followed throughout his business career. I play to peoples fantasies, he wrote in his first book, The Art of the Deal. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. Its an innocent form of exaggeration  and a very effective form of promotion.

In addition to exaggeration, Trump has long used insults and dire descriptions to diminish rivals. With help from Bannon and senior adviser and speechwriter Stephen Miller, Trump has portrayed the country as a mess, beset with the crime and the gangs and the drugs that the president summed up in his inaugural address as American carnage. (The full sentence in which that phrase appeared  This American carnage stops right here and stops right now  is, according to the administration official, a statement of hope, and if it took the word carnage to get the community, and especially the media, to look at whats really happening, then thats what has to be done.)

Trump and his strategists have turned their rhetorical guns on coastal elites, academics, journalists, financiers and Hollywood celebrities  a fairly traditional roster of targets for a populist.

The ideology that Bannon calls economic nationalism is a very recognizable, quite common strategy that weve seen in Europe for many years, said Bart Bonikowski, a sociologist at Harvard who studies the appeal of populism and nationalism. They use language that vilifies elites, combined with glorification of the people and a pretty strong anti-intellectualism and skepticism about expertise. Its a very powerful mix that taps anxieties and fears.

The rhetoric Trump and Bannon use is not conservative Republican language, said Manfred Steger, a political scientist at the University of Hawaii who studies globalization. Its really the language of the left, the same rhetoric we heard in the late 90s in the demonstrations against corporations that scour the planet for profits.

By using rhetoric outside the usual right-left or Republican-Democratic debates, Trump and Bannon seek to establish the administration as the sole protector of the forgotten men and women against the elites, Steger said.

Cole said Trump is playing to resentments among Americans who feel theyre not part of the cultural elite in New York. Nobody in Oklahoma had anything to do with the economy imploding. Those werent our banks.

Trump has managed to blend left-wing populism, which tends to target Wall Street billionaires and corporate leaders as oppressors of the working class, with right-wing populism, which generally targets civil servants, intellectuals, the media, and racial minorities and immigrants.

By talking about globalism and corporatism, Cole said, Trump seeks not to unite the country but to solidify his support with a very important target group  people who voted for Obama but were willing to try something different.

Although Trumps rhetoric is distant from the GOP mantras of lower taxes, smaller government and social conservatism, it is hard for Republicans in Congress to oppose a president who was elected under the GOP banner and who has a habit of tagging opponents as part of an enemy elite.

Bannon and Trumps message of economic nationalism is the opposite of what Republicans have been preaching for 20 years, said Patrick Buchanan, who ran for president twice in the 1990s as a populist Republican. But what we saw in the speech to Congress was amazing: [House Speaker Paul] Ryan and those guys, standing and cheering for economic nationalism! Cheering for enormous public-works undertakings  the Republicans! Its Trumps party now.

Cole said Trumps foundation of support is strong enough to let him use divisive language  if he gets things done. He has to show real progress on four things: border security, replace Obamacare, tax reform and rebuilding the military, Cole said. If we dont get those four big things done, itll all collapse into finger-pointing and division.

Administration officials agree that words go only so far; the presidents success will be measured, they said, by his ability to get big things done, with jobs and wages at the top of the list.

If many Americans consider Trumps rhetoric an attack on intellectuals, academics, the media and science, theyre right, Gingrich said.

Im pretty happy being anti-intellectual, he said. We have a lot of academics and intellectuals in this country who are just wrong. If youre the elites, you dont care that globalism failed because youre still making money. Look, I helped pass NAFTA, and I will tell you that the experience weve had has not been good. Bannon and I have a very similar critique of American elites. Trump is tapping into that with effective language.

Asked whether the president shares or understands Bannons theories of nationalism, Gingrich said, No, of course not. The president has a very broad sense of what he wants America to be. His philosophy is based on four basic principles: anti-left, anti-stupidity, anti-political correctness, pro-American. And thats what you hear from him.

Some of Trumps comments about the forces he blames for the decline of the middle class strike some listeners as a resort to classic anti-Semitic tropes.

In one of Trumps most powerful TV ads near the end of the campaign, he spoke against a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class [and] stripped our country of its wealth. Those searing words were illustrated with images of billionaire hedge fund king George Soros, Federal Reserve Chair Janet L. Yellen and Goldman Sachs banker Lloyd Blankfein, all of whom are Jewish.

Steven Goldstein, director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, a civil rights group based in New York, said the administration is using the code words of anti-Semitism. . . . Youd have to be living in the Stone Age not to connect the dots.

But the senior administration official called any suggestion of anti-Semitism libelous and ludicrous, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group based in Los Angeles, said it is too early to conclude that such language is intended to condone anti-Semitism.

When people on the far right say global bankers, they mean Jews, he said, and these terms have a history to them and can serve as kindling. But I dont jump to say anti-Semitism because I dont yet see an administration that has its structure and people in place. We have to be careful not to cry wolf.

The rhetoric deployed by Trump and Bannon rejects the idea that open global markets and international institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the European Union will lift all boats.

But even as George H.W. Bush and the next three presidents, Republicans and Democrats alike, embraced globalism, it grew increasingly unpopular in some corners of the left and the right. The patriot and militia movements of the 1990s, the leftist and anarchist anti-globalization demonstrations in 1999, and the tea party and Occupy movements all blamed globalism for the decline of the middle class and the fraying of social bonds.

To the evangelist Pat Robertson, globalization was part of a conspiracy by international elites to build a new order for the human race under the domination of Lucifer and his followers. CNN and Fox News anchor Lou Dobbs wrote bestsellers calling globalism a war on the American dream.

Now, Buchanan, who crafted many of President Richard M. Nixons speeches blasting the elites and the media, hears in Trump and Bannons language echoes of his own slogans.

 America First was my slogan in 92, he recalled. I was at the Battle of Seattle in 99 and so was Ralph Nader, just like Trump and Bernie Sanders were saying many of the same things.

Buchanan says Trumps opponents are correct to note the mismatch between his anti-globalist, anti-elite, anti-Wall Street rhetoric and the reality of a Cabinet filled with wealthy executives.

Ive never seen so many billionaires and bankers in there, he said, so it is an apparent contradiction. Trump is going to have to go beyond the rhetoric and deliver.
Whistleblower laws protect all of us against government corruption. They allow workers to tell the truth without fear of retaliation when government officials are misbehaving in ways that put our families in danger and our community at risk. Senate Bill 299 puts this important way of holding our government accountable at risk. It essentially eviscerates the provisions that encourage workers to tell the truth rather than remaining complicit and quiet when corruption is happening behind our backs.

Instead of making it easier for workers to reveal the truth to the public, the bill makes it harder, thus making it less likely that we, the public, will ever learn about corrupt activities happening in our own government. The bill would create additional steps workers must go through before they are allowed to bring cases against corrupt government officials. It would require workers to exhaust all administrative remedies  essentially causing complaints of government corruption to be caught up in bureaucracy  before a case can ever be brought before our courts. Furthermore, the bill would require that the grievance procedures under the Human Rights Act must first be followed. But the Human Rights Act deals with discrimination cases, and most whistleblower and corruption cases have nothing to do with discrimination. They are usually about fraud, embezzlement and sweeping dangers to our community under the rug.

Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque and the bills sponsor, has stated that SB 299 would help reduce the cost and stress and anxiety of litigation. But the real result is that it would stop litigation. Workers would no longer have protection from retaliation by their corrupt employers as they would be caught in the bureaucracy of administrative claims that can take months with no satisfactory result. And the people who are accused of corruption would have time to clean up and cover up their acts before they ever have to face litigation. As we have seen time and again, litigation is how the public finds out the truth and gets change that protects our families and our community. This bill would put a stop to that important truth-finding.

Supplementing existing law by creating channels of administrative relief for all whistleblowers is a worthy objective. Future legislation aimed at this goal could easily win enthusiastic support from representatives of workers rights and employers interests alike. But it has to be done right, with meaningful protections that encourage workers to come forward and tell the truth, rather than push them and their secrets into a dark corner. Public workers who blow the whistle on wrongdoing take enormous personal and professional risks. In doing so they perform a courageous service of incalculable value to the people of New Mexico. The peoples representatives in the Legislature must safeguard the rights of the people of New Mexico to know what is happening in our government and protect the workers who have the courage to come forward and tell the truth. Senate Bill 299 should be defeated.
The state Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) is a seriously flawed statute. The statute is a hodgepodge of good intentions and hidden traps.

Take, for example, a city or town clerk. Every city and town clerk in New Mexico is an at-will employee. At-will means the employee can be fired for any reason, or no reason, but not an illegal reason (e.g., race or gender or religion). But the WPA adds another layer of protection. If the employee alleges she was terminated, even in small part, because she had a good-faith belief that an improper act had taken place, she can make a claim under the WPA.

The statutes definition of good-faith belief is a reasonable basis (which) exists in fact. The WPA defines an improper act to include a waste of funds. Let us imagine a town clerk is not re-appointed by a newly elected mayor. Because of the WPA, the town clerk can claim she was not re-appointed because, in good faith, she reported an improper act. For example, the town rejected her suggestion that it buy electric vehicles. This meets the WPAs definitions of good faith or a reasonable basis in fact, and improper act, or a waste of funds. Now imagine the town clerk files her WPA lawsuit two years after she is not re-appointed. And then assume that the case does not come to trial for two years. The WPAs remedy is two times her back pay  in this case, two times four years or eight years of back pay, plus attorneys fees. To add insult to injury, the WPA also requires the employer to re-hire the employee into her former job. In the real world, the former town clerk and her lawyer will hold this over the defendants head like a club, with the goal of extracting a severance package the former town clerk is not entitled to.

The Journal would do its readers a service if it examined all the whistleblower lawsuits filed in the past two years and determined how many had real merit and how many were extortion attempts.
Every once in a while my teenage son gets in the car after school and complains that he didnt get enough to eat at lunch, so struggled through the last period with a raging headache and inability to concentrate. The next morning, he gets eggs for breakfast and I pack him a double lunch, loading up on protein snacks like peanuts and cheese. I dont want anything to impede his ability to learn, least of all an empty stomach.

Unfortunately, for over 13 million kids in this country, going to school hungry is the norm. One in five children in the United States live in food insecure households, which means they lack consistent access to enough food.

There are food insecure and hungry kids in every congressional district and every demographic, says Lucy Melcher, the director of advocacy and government relations for the nonprofit Share Our Strength, which runs the No Kid Hungry campaign. Food insecurity is a family that has enough money to buy groceries three out of four weeks; its a mom skipping dinner; its having to choose between buying groceries and paying rent.

Being hungry has an enormous impact on a students ability to learn, so much so that Melcher characterizes food as a basic school supply, akin to textbooks and pencils. Kids who go to school hungry may suffer an inability to concentrate and often fall behind academically. Hungry kids are more likely to miss school because of illness, and more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, and develop behavioral problems as teenagers. They are more liable to drop out before graduation, which leads to lower paying jobs and a greater probability of being food insecure adults.

Theres a lot of potential being squandered because kids are going to school hungry and the ramifications go beyond a growling stomach.

Education is very important to grow businesses, and to grow the economy, said Virginias first lady, Dorothy McAuliffe. Making sure every child has the full opportunity of education and success is part of a larger picture. I spoke with McAuliffe just days before she co-moderated a plenary session entitled Ending Childhood Hunger: Improving Lives and Investing in Americas Future at the National Governors Association Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Children going without is something my husband and I have thought about since our first baby was born, from the very beginning of being parents, said McAuliffe, a mother of five, who says she is using her political platform to attack the issue of childhood hunger, and is chair of the No Kid Hungry Virginia campaign.

In 2015, the state of Virginia received a grant of $8.8 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to run a two-year pilot project to reach food insecure kids. It was the largest dollar amount awarded of five grants, and McAuliffe says she hopes the state  which is working with numerous organizations  can become a national model for ending childhood hunger.

Schools are ground zero in the fight. McAuliffe said she believes schools have the best, most scalable, sustainable and practical way to end childhood hunger because they are anchors in the community.

Currently, 22 million students across the country rely on reduced-price or free school lunches through the National School Lunch Program (funded by the USDA). More than half that number relies on free or reduced-price breakfasts, which Melcher says reaches about 56 percent of the kids in need. Thats a record high, according to a recent study, but Melcher says there is still a long way to go.

Traditionally, breakfast has been served before school hours in the cafeteria, which excludes large numbers of eligible students who arent able to arrive early, and can be humiliating to those who participate. The big push among advocates is incorporating breakfast into the school day.

McAuliffe described what she called an alternative breakfast, which can take a variety of forms. Theres breakfast in the classroom, grab and go models, and a second-chance breakfast between first and second periods.

There is tremendous stigma of children going into a cafeteria before the bell, said McAuliffe, whereas with the alternative breakfast model, it normalizes it, creates community in the classroom around a meal, and starts the day off strong.

Underscoring the crucial impact a healthy breakfast can have, a 2013 study done by Deloitte for No Kid Hungry found that kids who have regular access to breakfast score 17.5 percent higher on standardized math tests.

Breakfast and lunch programs in schools are making great strides in attacking childhood hunger, but a huge gap remains. According to No Kid Hungry, a quarter of all low-income parents worry their kids dont have enough to eat between school lunch and breakfast the next day; and three out of four public school teachers say students regularly come to school hungry. Increasingly, advocates are focusing on programs that ensure kids have enough to eat when they are not in school, and after school and summer meal programs are on the rise.

In my home state of New Hampshire, a mother and 20-year veteran of the Navy saw a need to feed kids on the weekends, and founded the organization End 68 Hours of Hunger. Back in 2010, Claire Bloom was at a book club meeting in her affluent town of Dover, when a teacher in attendance mentioned that she had students who went from lunch on Friday to breakfast on Monday with nothing to eat.

I was appalled; absolutely stunned and appalled, Bloom, 70, told me recently, adding that she never dreamed there was poverty in her community.

She went to the school and offered to throw some money at the problem, and was told that they didnt need money. They needed someone to create a program to pack food to send home with kids on Fridays. Without blinking an eye, Bloom took on the project. She enlisted volunteers, found a place to store and pack food, partnered with grocery stores, and figured out how to create three dinners, two lunches and two breakfasts for under $10.

The concept is remarkably simple. Volunteers pack knapsacks with meals for the weekend for one child, and the knapsacks are left outside the classroom. Students in the program pick them up on their way out the door, and drop the empty bags off on Monday mornings. School nurses identify children in need and contact parents privately.

In 2011 Bloom delivered 19 knapsacks to three elementary schools in Dover. Today her organization operates in eight states and more than 40 communities, and is still growing. The nonprofit has an annual budget of $1.1 million made up entirely from monetary and food donations. Everyone involved, including Bloom, is a volunteer, and one hundred percent of donated funds are used to feed at-risk children.

Other organizations run backpack programs, but I find Blooms story particularly inspiring because it begins with one mother caring about someone elses children. And all the statistics in the world fail to convey the urgency and heartbreak of the issue as powerfully as Blooms recollection of what happened in the first school she worked with in Dover.

The school nurse called a 6-year-old girl into the office and explained the program. She took out a bag and showed her the food. The little girl reached out with both arms, grabbed the backpack and hugged it. She didnt want to let it go.

  

Jaimie Seaton is a freelance writer and journalist. She tweets @JaimieSeaton
Most Americans, I suspect, have the attitude that if the government is spying on someone there is probably a good reason.

In the latest document dump by WikiLeaks, Julian Assanges outfit may cause some to rethink that premise.

Assange, who is viewed by some as a patriot and by others as a traitor for exposing American secrets and putting the country in jeopardy, has, reports The Washington Post, obtained a vast portion of the CIAs computer hacking arsenal and has begun posting the files online in a breach that may expose some of the U.S. intelligence communitys most closely guarded cyber weapons. The trove, reportedly, exceeds in scale and significance the massive collection of National Security Agency documents exposed by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

Assange claims that the 8,761 CIA documents account for the entire hacking capacity of the CIA. He promises there are more documents to come.

Certain malware allow the CIA access to familiar U.S. and European commercial products, including Apples iPhone, Googles Android, Macintosh Windows and even Smart TVs, which, once enabled, could pick up your living room chatter.

Attorney John Whitehead, who heads The Rutherford Institute, which self-describes as a nonprofit conservative legal organization dedicated to the defense of civil, especially religious, liberties and human rights, says he is not surprised at the extent of government spying. In a statement, Whitehead writes: government agencies such as the CIA and the NSA have been spying on the citizenry through our smart TVs, listening in on our phone calls, hacking into our computerized devices (including our cars) and compromising our security systems through the use of spyware and malware.

Whitehead calls the latest WikiLeaks revelations a confirmation of what he and his organization have warned about for years, namely, that the government remains the greatest threat to our freedoms and these government programs are illegal, unconstitutional, unwarranted and illegitimate. The only way things will change is if we force the government to start playing by the rules of the Constitution.

I used to regard such statements as extreme and coming mainly from the left, but now Im not so sure. There is no doubt that terrorists and American enemies, such as China and Russia, can and have used our U.S. Constitution, the freedoms it guarantees and the protection against government intrusion on our privacy and liberties against us, but does that mean that in order to protect those liberties the government must undermine them? Doesnt that seem self-defeating?

In its oversight capacity, Congress needs to explore what these documents have revealed about the CIA and its tactics. If limited government means anything, surely it means limiting government from the power to invade the privacy of its citizens without warrants and due process.

As John Whitehead puts it: That means putting an end to this shadow government  with its secret agencies, secret military operations, secret surveillance, secret budgets, secret court rulings and secret interpretations of the law  all of which exist beyond our reach, operate outside our knowledge, and do not answer to we the people.

This ought not be a partisan issue, though some can be counted on to turn it into one. Freedom is a precious commodity, which can never be taken for granted. It is always in danger of being reduced by the powerful without proper safeguards and watchdogs.

There may be damage done to some of these government agencies and their ability to pursue real enemies, but the damage caused to the Constitution and our freedoms could be worse. Congress has an obligation to look into this flood of documents and what they reveal.
SANTA FE  Gov. Susana Martinez on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have allowed teachers to take more sick leave without damaging their annual evaluations.

The bill had overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers of the Legislature, and one of the sponsors said he will push for a veto override.

Martinez said that although she understood the desire to help teachers, the proposal went too far. The attendance component of evaluations, she said, had resulted in a substantial drop in absences, saving money and helping students learn.

I believe in the importance of having our full-time teachers, not short-term or long-term substitutes, in our classrooms with the students who depend on their expertise, Martinez, a Republican, said in the veto message.

House Bill 241 was sponsored by a mix of Democrats and Republicans, and it won approval 64-3 in the House and 39-0 in the Senate. It would take support of two-thirds of the members in each chamber to override.

One of the bills sponsors, Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, said Thursday that he planned to move to override the governors veto today.

People are nervous about overriding a governors veto, especially a governor of their own political party, but I feel that strongly about it, he said.

Brandt said he didnt know whether a similar attempt would be launched in the House, but he said he felt action needed to be taken before the legislative session ends March 18.

If the governor was being reasonable, she would have just signed the damn bill and I wouldnt be doing this, Brandt said.

The bill proposed to allow teachers to take all their contractual free time  10 days annually in most school districts  without facing a deduction on their evaluations.

Under the current system, educators can be absent from the classroom for three days without penalty but lose points on the fourth day.
A federal magistrate judge has rejected a motion by Santa Fe city government to dismiss a wrongful-death lawsuit over a police officers shooting of an elderly neighborhood caretaker as both men were responding to a middle-of-the-night burglar alarm three years ago.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William P. Lynch said in his Feb. 8 order that there is a material, or substantial, dispute over whether the Santa Fe officers use of force was reasonable, enough to keep the judge from granting the request for a pre-trial summary judgment in the citys favor.

Lynch also declined to give Officer Charles Laramie the qualified immunity that can shield officers from liability in deadly force cases if their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights.

Lynchs decision could send the case toward a trial or a settlement. But the city last week filed notice that it will appeal the ruling to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, putting progress in the case on hold for now.

The caretaker shot by Laramie was Robert H. Bobby Dominguez, who had served as both a Santa Fe city policeman and a county sheriffs deputy. He died at age 78 about 10 months after the March 4, 2013, shooting. His family said that he was shot three times and that he died from complications from the gunshot wounds after a long period of suffering.

Dominguez looked after neighbors houses when their owners were away and was known by residents of his east side neighborhood as the mayor. On the night he was shot, he arrived before Laramie, the responding Santa Fe Police Department officer, at a home on Johnson Lane where the burglar alarm went off about 3:30 a.m. No one told Laramie that Dominguez would be there.

The main factual dispute is whether Dominguez threatened Laramie with a gun after the officer arrived, not knowing who was in the house. Dominguez was said to have been searching for a light switch when confronted by Laramie, who was using a flashlight.

Laramie says he identified himself as a police officer and told Dominguez to keep his hands down, but Dominguez instead drew his gun and pointed it at the officer, prompting Laramie to fire five shots. The officer also says Dominguez raised his gun again after going down, prompting him to fire two more shots.

Dominguezs family maintains that Dominguez had put his gun down when he tried to shut off the alarm and that what Laramie saw before the officer started firing was an empty holster and Dominguez beginning to put his hands up.

Judge Lynch essentially ruled that there is enough doubt about what happened to let a jury decide.

Officer Laramie faced an uncertain and potentially dangerous situation when he responded to the burglar alarm, the judge wrote. If, as Laramie contends, Mr. Dominguez pointed his gun at him, Officer Laramie was constitutionally permitted to use deadly force to defend himself.

But taking the facts and the reasonable inference from them in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs (Dominguezs family), as I must when ruling on a motion for summary judgment, there is material dispute about whether Officer Laramies use of force was reasonable under the circumstances  .

Under established law, the mere presence of a gun is not sufficient to justify the use of force and lethal force may be used only when an officer or another person is threatened with the weapon, Lynch wrote.

Lawyers for Laramie and the city have argued that, even if Dominguez didnt point a gun at the officer, Laramie still qualifies for immunity from liability because he reasonably believed that Dominguez drew the weapon.

But Lynch ruled that because the gun was found after the shooting a few feet away from Dominguez on a chair  according to Laramies own account  a jury might reasonably decline to believe the officer really felt threatened. The judge also noted that this case was not like legal precedents derived from other officer-involved shootings in which the person shot by police had made threats.

Officer cleared

When Officer Laramie arrived at the house on Johnson Lane, according to Judge Lynchs written order, he could hear someone inside and the alarm go off and on, and he saw a man in an open doorway.

Laramie was wearing a belt tape recorder. Its recording released after the shooting showed that Laramie fired seven shots at Dominguez after identifying himself as an officer and telling Dominguez to keep his hands down, while the high-pitched alarm still squealed.

When Laramie called for an ambulance, he told the dispatcher that Dominguez had pulled a gun on him. On the tape, he asked Dominguez why he pulled a gun and Dominguez said he didnt mean to. I was trying to get the alarm, Dominguez said. I heard a voice or something, then bang.

Dominguez gave a statement to investigators later in which he said he had put his gun and holster on the ground prior to being shot.

Lynchs opinion mentions recordings in which Dominguez made similar statements at other times, although the judge said the recorded statements are not admissible evidence. He noted that the city cites one instance in which, according to a nephew, Dominguez said he had raised his gun during the encounter with Laramie. But the judge pointed out that the same nephew also testified that on multiple other occasions Dominguez said the gun wasnt in his hand or that he didnt point it at Laramie.

Three weeks after the shooting, then-District Attorney Angela Spence Pacheco cleared Laramie of any wrongdoing, saying the late-night situation was a recipe for disaster. Pacheco told reporters that Dominguezs gun was on the ground when police began investigating after the shooting, and that his holster was still on his belt.

Lynchs ruling gives another version of the guns whereabouts that had not previously been disclosed. It says that Laramie has acknowledged he did not see where the gun went after Dominguez was shot and didnt see it in Dominguezs hand or on the floor. Laramie said the gun was on the chair a few feet away and that the didnt know how it got there. Another officer claimed the gun was, in fact, near Dominguezs left hand after the shooting, but Laramie  who was with Dominguez for several minutes before the second officer arrived  disputed that the gun was near Dominguez, says Lynchs written decision.
In a recognition of diversity, Albuquerque Public Schools will offer the state a Seal of Bilingualism-Biliteracy for graduating seniors who are fluent in two or more languages.

On Wednesday, the APS board policy and instruction committee unanimously backed the designation, which was introduced by the New Mexico Public Education Department in fall 2015.

High school seniors who are proficient in Spanish, Native American languages, French or German are eligible to receive the seal on their diplomas.

Lisa Harmon-Martinez, lead language arts and dual language enrichment teacher at Albuquerque High School, told the board that the seal demonstrates how essential language is for our students identity.

Language is not seen as a deficit, but instead is seen as something that is valued and meant to be celebrated, Harmon-Martinez said.

To earn the designation, students must meet several requirements, including successful completion of state assessments in the language, written and oral presentations, and a minimum GPA in a number of language courses.

Speakers of tribal languages will undergo a proficiency assessment designed in cooperation with the tribe.

Kendra M. Becenti, a Navajo student at Eldorado High School, praised the effort for celebrating culture.

I was able to take dual-language Navajo, and it was empowering, she said.

APS has long offered its own bilingual seals, which have rigorous requirements but are limited to Spanish and Native languages.

The state seal can cover any language  board president Dave Peercy said he hopes to eventually see it expanded to Chinese or Japanese.

Neighboring Rio Rancho Public Schools, which approved the state seal in 2015, offers Chinese and Italian in addition to Spanish, Native American languages, French and German.

Education Secretary Hanna Skandera called the designation an ideal avenue for students interested in showcasing and leveraging their proficiency in one or more languages other than English, in a letter that introduces the seal handbook.

The state seal was backed by the Legislature in 2014 and signed into law by Gov. Susana Martinez.

Californians Together, a non-profit organization based in the Los Angeles area, created the seal concept in 2008 and it has since spread to over 165 districts in 24 states and Washington, D.C.
Albuquerque native and Petty Officer 1st Class Desiree Gonzales has been named the U.S. Navys 2016 Shore Sailor of the Year for the 7th Fleet for her exemplary personal and professional performance.

She was selected from among six nominees who spent a week in Japan last month participating in several professional development events to further cultivate their leadership.

You get to work with senior leadership and learn things from them first hand, Gonzales, an electronic technician, said in a statement. They want to share their knowledge with you. But, mostly, its working with every other Sailor of the Year that has taught me something new this week that I definitely wasnt prepared for.

Chief Petty Officer Thomas Hinkel, the lead coordinator for the program, said the recognition gives all the participating sailors an experience that they will take back to their commands and talk to their sailors about, and in turn give them something to strive for.

The Sailor of the Year program was established in 1972 by the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Whittet to recognize an individual sailor who best represented each command and ultimately the Navy.

The winner of the Sea and Shore 2016 Sailor of the Year will represent U.S. 7th Fleet at the U.S. Pacific Fleet competition.

We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com.
John McCluskey  an infamous New Mexico murderer whom federal prosecutors tried to put on death row  died in federal custody this week at 52.

Elizabeth Martinez, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Mexico, said McCluskey died Tuesday after spending time in a maximum-security federal prison outside Florence, Colo.

Prison officials didnt return calls for comment about how McCluskey died. During his court proceedings several years ago, attorneys said McCluskey was in poor health.

Gary Mitchell, one of McCluskeys attorneys, couldnt be reached for comment on Thursday. But during a closing argument in 2013, he suggested that McCluskey was dying.

Were going to decide if youre going to kill a man already dying of Crohns disease, hepatitis C, and gout, he said in court, according to a transcript of the proceeding.

McCluskey on July 30, 2010, escaped from a state prison in Kingman, Ariz., along with inmates Tracy Allen Province and Daniel Renwick, with the help of Casslyn Mae Welch, McCluskeys girlfriend and cousin. Days later, McCluskey and Province carjacked Gary and Linda Haas, both 61, of Oklahoma, from a rest stop along Interstate 40 just inside the New Mexico line.

The couple were driving to Pagosa Springs, Colo., for a camping trip when they encountered the fugitives. Province told authorities that the three were tired of driving and sleeping in a sedan, and they targeted the Haases after seeing them with a pickup and trailer, according to a criminal complaint.

McCluskey shot and killed the couple in their trailer near Tucumcari, and the group then drove the trailer to a remote spot in Guadalupe County and set fire to it with the couple inside.

Province was arrested in Wyoming about a week later, and McCluskey and Welch were arrested in Arizona on Aug. 19 after a highly publicized nationwide manhunt.

In 2013, federal prosecutors in Albuquerque tried McCluskey in a death penalty case. The prosecution was rare because New Mexico had already outlawed the death penalty at the time, but the state law didnt affect federal prosecutions.

A jury found McCluskey guilty of all counts after an eight-week trial and found that McCluskey was eligible for the death penalty. But a jury in the capital trial that followed was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and McCluskey was sentenced to life in prison.

Province is serving a life sentence in a state prison in Arizona. Welch is in a federal prison in Fort Worth, according to prison websites.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

A couple injured after being rear-ended by a tribal casino limo driver 70 miles from the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut  and off the reservation  would like to sue him.

Seems simple, but the case has landed in the U.S. Supreme Court with the parties wrangling over just how far Native American tribes immunity from lawsuits should extend.

The Mohegans say the case is a simple money grab and worry it could open a floodgate of lawsuits and diminish tribal power  a closely watched issue here in New Mexico.

The couples lawyer, Eric Miller, sums up the case differently in written arguments: A tribal employee transporting gamblers to and from a casino should not be treated as somehow akin to a foreign ambassador.

The case has caught the attention of New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, who, along with attorneys general from four other states, and lead attorneys from the Navajo Nation and other New Mexico tribes, has joined the National Congress of American Indians in the groups amicus brief to the Supreme Court. They all side with the Mohegan tribe.

They are at odds with the Obama administrations Justice Department, which sided with the couple and said the tribe wants sovereign immunity protection that is even greater than the federal government has.

Tribes, which are basically independent nations, cant be sued unless they agree to be sued. Thats called sovereign immunity. States, the federal government, other countries  along with tribes  have it.

This lawsuit, though, targets only the employee himself for a crash that happened off the reservation while he was working for a private company that provided limo services for the tribe under a contract.

The limo driver, who is not a tribal member, says the tribes sovereign immunity extends to him, so he cant be sued. That, he says, is because he was doing his tribal job at the time of the crash, and because the tribes insurance covers him so the tribe would pay any damages awarded.

The basic question comes down to this: Can a plaintiff sidestep a tribes sovereign immunity protection by suing an individual worker doing a job off the reservation?

If not, then plaintiffs like the Connecticut couple would be left with fewer methods of recourse for life-changing incidents caused by tribal employees off the reservation, a ruling that could extend to New Mexico.

As a practical matter, the Connecticut couple would have to sue in Mohegan tribal court, which doesnt provide for jury trials or allow punitive damages.

Sovereign immunity

Sovereign immunity is complicated.

Kevin Washburn, a University of New Mexico law professor and the former assistant secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior, explains it like this:

States have it, the federal (and foreign) government has it, and tribes have it. It comes from the king, comes from England long ago, that the king can do no wrong.

But it confuses people, because how could it be that with a government by the people, for the people, how could the people not sue it? Now most governments have waived it in some ways for limited purposes.

And in this case, the Mohegan tribal government agreed to be sued, but only in its tribal gambling court.

Instead, the couple sued the individual driver  not the tribe  in a state court.

Main sides in case

The tribes attorney says the couple sued in state court, rather than tribal court, to try to get more money from the tribe. And the couple sued the employee himself to try to avoid triggering the tribes sovereign immunity.

But since the tribes insurance covers the driver, William Clarke, and since he was doing a tribal job when the accident occurred, the tribe is on the hook  and the tribe contends that triggers immunity wherever the lawsuit is filed.

They might say they want to sue Clarke, but in practical effect theyre not suing Clarke, tribal attorney Neal Katyal argued before the Supreme Court in oral arguments in January.

The couples attorney, though, says just because the tribe has voluntarily agreed to pay for an employees lawsuits doesnt extend the blanket immunity. If it did, that would create more protection for tribal employees than state, federal or foreign nations employees have when they are sued.

In siding with the Connecticut couple, the federal government argues that even in lawsuits against state or federal employees such suits seeking to recover damages from the officer or employee personally are not considered suits against the sovereign, even though they arise out of the agents work for the sovereign, and they therefore are not barred by sovereign immunity.

Tribes from New Mexico and Attorney General Balderas disagree, and they side with the Mohegan tribe.

The pueblos of Cochiti, San Ildefonso, Jemez, Taos and Laguna argue in their amicus brief that individual lawsuits against tribal employees could change how tribal employees behave  even law enforcement and officials.

Forcing these public servants to face suit, and potentially devastating personal liability, in foreign courts creates disincentives to provide these vital services.

Moreover, subjecting tribal employees to a maze of state and local court jurisdiction would be flatly contrary to Congresss consistent and oft-repeated policy of tribal self-government and self-determination.

For Balderas and his staff, though, the lawsuit is less about the tribes sovereign immunity and more about who should manage a tribes relationships: a federal government rule or negotiations between states and tribes.

Its not about how any given lawsuit should come out; it is about New Mexico tribal and state government working together and local governments working together and not a rule coming out of Washington, D.C., said Kenneth Stalter, general counsel for the AGs Office. What were afraid of is for the U.S. Supreme Court to lock in a rule across the country to limit our ability to continue to negotiate and have relationships with the tribes in New Mexico.

New Mexico tribes

But for some tribes in New Mexico, the federal rule would be preferable to the states current stance on lawsuits against tribes. In New Mexico, tribes are regularly sued in state courts.

Unlike in Connecticut and other states, under negotiated agreements, lawsuits related to gambling operations against New Mexico tribes or tribal employees can be brought in state courts, where payouts are higher than in tribal courts. Policy on lawsuits is even in the language of the states gambling contracts, in a way.

Some tribes with gambling in New Mexico dont like this arrangement and would prefer to handle lawsuits in tribal courts.

So why is New Mexico like this?

Many tribes waive some of their sovereign immunity as part of the agreements they make with states in order to get state permission to operate casino gambling. These agreements are usually called gambling compacts.

And each state with gambling tribes has different types of agreements.

In the Connecticut compact with the Mohegan tribe, the tribe agreed to allow lawsuits in its tribal courts but it did not agree to be sued in state courts. Their tribal court, though, offers no jury trials and no punitive damage payouts, and limits other payouts.

New Mexicos current gambling compact has a specific phrase that allows gambling-related lawsuits to be heard in any court of competent jurisdiction.

State courts have interpreted this phrase to mean them  a leap some tribes object to.

What court that is, remains to be determined. Our argument is that the state couldnt just agree to transfer jurisdiction because that was precluded by federal law, said Indian law expert and attorney Richard Hughes.

Hughes has for decades helped draft the states gambling compacts, and he represents the Pueblo of Santa Ana. The pueblo has filed an amicus brief in a case currently pending before the 10th District Court of Appeals in Denver brought by the Navajo Nation over the interpretation of the language that has led to lawsuits against tribes in New Mexico state court.

That states original gambling compact created by the Legislature in 1997  a contract that was not actively negotiated with the tribes  allowed gambling lawsuits against tribes in state courts.

Tribes fought against this, and in subsequent compacts won inclusion of the language that allows suits in a court of competent jurisdiction. State courts still consider this to include them.

Hughes said the states interpretation has kept lawsuits out of tribal courts though many of the suits in state courts are dismissed over tribal sovereign immunity issues.

Ive never heard of, at least in New Mexico, Ive never heard of a tort case (lawsuit) arising at a gambling establishment arising at a tribal court, Hughes said.

Theres just a knee-jerk assumption, which is not entirely unjustified, that theyre (plaintiffs) not going to get a fair hearing in tribal court. But its not fair to say that tribal courts will never give a non-Indian a fair hearing, and its also not true to say a state court will not give an Indian a fair hearing.

A ruling in the Connecticut case in favor of the Mohegan tribe could affect this issue in New Mexico and could force a reinterpretation or even a replacement of the compact language.

The Supreme Court has literally been wrestling with the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity for years, and its very possible that this case might provide an occasion to start imposing some limitations on the doctrine, Hughes said. A lot of factors are at play here that could give rise to a decision that, for the first time, the court might find ways to get around the immunity defense.
COLUMBUS  After 100 years, citizens in Columbus are still ringing the bells for the Americans killed during Pancho Villas historic raid on the border town.

The Columbus Historical Society has consistently held a memorial service for the American lives lost in town and celebrates the memory of the departed by laying a wreath at the base of a monument that stands as a constant reminder of the raid. Several of the villages locals attend the festival which is held on the actual day of the raid following the designation of the memorial service by former Columbus Mayor Dr. Dabney in 1917.

These services are for those who were killed in that infamous raid by a foreign group, said Columbus historical Society President Richard Dean. This is an American celebration and and we hope it will forever stay that way.

Several of Columbus village trustees were present at the services which included a color guard from the U.S. Border Patrol to honor the fallen. A crowd of nearly 20 people participated in the ceremonies which also covered local Columbus hero Susan Parks who was a switchboard operator and called for assistance during the raid.

Following the memorial services, Concordia Heritage Association President Patricia Kiddney spoke of the event and the history of the fallen soldiers during the raid. The memorial services serve at the beginning of a weekend celebration and commemoration of the raid as well as the partnership the border town has developed with Mexico.

What gets me interested in the entire history, said Kiddney. The ceremonies every year enlighten you about a bit about a different part of the history.

Villas troops entered the village in the early morning hours of March 9, 1916 and began raiding the town for supplies and causing terror. Many members of the 13th Cavalry stationed at, then, Camp Furlong retaliated against the Villista army and eventually drove them back into Mexico. The result was the foundation of the Punitive Expedition in which General John Pershing led a division of men into Mexico in search of Villa and his revolutionary army. The party was unsuccessful and eventually returned to the U.S.

Columbus celebrates the anniversary of the event every year with friendship and partnership gestures with Mexico including the Cabalgata ride into Columbus. During this gesture, riders on horseback travel from the Palomas Port of Entry in to Columbus and are welcomed to the village with an annual festival. The Cabalgata is set to arrive around 11 a.m. March 11 in Columbus.

Jesse Moya can be reached at 575-546-2611 (ext 2608) or at jmoya@demingheadlight.com.



If you go

Who: Village of Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Pancho Villa State Park

What: Cabalgata Binacional and Camp Furlong Day celebrations

When: 11 a.m., Saturday March 11

Where: Village of Columbus



2017 The Deming Headlight (Deming, N.M.)

Visit The Deming Headlight (Deming, N.M.) at www.demingheadlight.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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FARMINGTON  A Farmington man who owned a company that provided medical transportation for Arizona Medicaid recipients pleaded guilty on Thursday to one charge of health care fraud in federal court in Albuquerque.

Cory Werito, 33, of Farmington, was arrested in June on nine counts of health care fraud, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. He also faced an aggravated structuring charge.

He and co-defendant, Rosita Toledo, 47, of Kirtland, allegedly defrauded the federal Medicaid program of almost $2 million through their medical transport company, CW Transport.

CW Transport provided non-emergency medical transportation for Arizona Medicaid recipients and was funded by reimbursement payments through a health care benefit program, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.

Between 2011 and 2013, the company submitted more than 18,760 claims for reimbursement, according to the release. The majority of those claims were allegedly false or substantially false and fraudulent, the DOJ claims.

Werito, who owned CW Transport, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud on Thursday. Toledo pleaded not guilty.

Weritos attorney, Darrell Allen, said the other eight counts were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

RELATED: Farmington and Kirtland residents arrested in $2M Medicaid fraud case

Allen said the aggravated currency structuring charge was also dismissed. The charge stemmed from allegations that Werito withdrew a total of $800,000 from bank accounts between August 2011 and July 2013, but withdrew less than $10,000 at a time to avoid filing currency transaction reports.

While the other charges were dismissed, they will likely be taken into account during the sentencing hearing, which has not been scheduled.

Werito faces up to 10 years in federal prison and could be order to pay as much $1.2 million in restitution.

A trial date for Toledo has not yet been scheduled.

Hannah Grover covers government for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4652.



2017 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.)

Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at www.daily-times.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Im very pleased to announce the great company ExxonMobil is going to be investing $20 billion in the Gulf Coast and the Gulf Coast region. . . . This was something that was done to a large extent because of our policies and the policies of this new administration having to do with regulators and so many other things. President Donald Trump, video message on Facebook, March 6

President Trump made a promise to bring back jobs to America. The spirit of optimism sweeping the country is already boosting job growth, and it is only the beginning. White House news release on ExxonMobils investment program, March 6



President Trump claimed undue credit for ExxonMobils investment announcement  the latest example of the new presidents now-predictable formula: A company announces a U.S. jobs plan that predates Trumps presidency. The company gives a nod to Trumps anti-regulation policies. Trump then takes credit for bringing jobs back to the United States. Repeat.

Among the many problems with this exercise is that hiring pledges arent binding. Plans change, and the jobs dont always come to fruition.

For example, in 2013, Foxconn announced it would create 500 jobs at a new high-tech factory in central Pennsylvania. The factory was never built, and the jobs never came, The Washington Posts Todd Frankel reported. Yet the company recently announced a plan to invest $7 billion and hire up to 50,000 workers  a plan that Trump then touted.

We took a look at ExxonMobils investment program, and a host of other corporate decisions that Trump falsely touts as a fulfillment of his promise to bring jobs back to the United States.



ExxonMobil

On March 6, the oil giant announced its Growing the Gulf investment plan to spend $20 billion over 10 years in projects in Texas and Louisiana. The company said its plan would create 35,000 construction jobs and 12,000 full-time jobs, through 11 chemical, refining, lubricant and liquefied natural gas projects. The company acknowledged that its investments began in 2013 and are expected to continue through at least 2022.

ExxonMobils spending plan may seem like a lot, but it represents only 10 percent of the companys current capital spending levels, our colleagues reported: Those levels would probably increase with higher oil prices. Moreover, ExxonMobil has been a major operator and investor in the Gulf of Mexico region for decades. The gulf accounts for nearly a fifth of U.S. domestic oil production.

Indeed, ExxonMobil and other oil companies have been expanding and investing in the Gulf Coast for years, using new hydraulic fracturing technologies to extract natural gas and export it overseas.

In 2013, when ExxonMobil began its investments, there were more than 120 petrochemical construction projects totaling $80 billion that were announced for the Gulf Coast region, the Houston Chronicle reported at the time.

The White House news release quoted Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive of ExxonMobil, as praising Trumps commitment to a pro-growth approach and a stable regulatory environment.

The energy industry has proven it can operate safely and responsibly. Private sector investment is enhanced by this Administrations support for smart regulations that support growth while protecting the environment, Woods said, acknowledging Trumps pro-business policies but stopping short of giving any credit to the administration for his companys business decisions.

Trump has credited himself for a host of other corporate decisions. (In fact, his claims about creating jobs are among the most common claims we recorded so far in our 100 Days of Trumps Claims project, tracking every false or misleading claim in Trumps first 100 days.)

Heres a running list:

Ford. Ford decided to expand in Michigan rather than in Mexico. But the decision has more to do with the companys long-term goal  particularly its plans to invest in electric vehicles  than with the administration. Heres what Ford chief executive Mark Fields said about the companys decision to abandon plans to open a factory in Mexico: The reason that we are not building the new plant, the primary reason, is just demand has gone down for small cars.

Fiat Chrysler. The company announced its plan to invest $1 billion in Michigan and Ohio plants and create 2,000 jobs. Sergio Marchionne, the Fiat Chrysler chief executive, said his companys plan to invest $1 billion for a factory in Michigan had been in the works for more than a year and had nothing to do with Trump. Marchionne credited instead talks with the United Auto Workers in 2015.

General Motors. The company plans to add or keep 7,000 jobs in the United States and invest $1 billion. Trump touted the decisions on Twitter, but a company spokeswoman said the decisions had been in the works for some time but that the timing was good for us to share what we are doing. Just two weeks before GMs announcement, Trump had blasted the company on Twitter over its Mexican-made models of the Chevy Cruze.

Walmart. Walmart said it would create 10,000 jobs in the United States in 2017  a part of a $6.8 billion capital spending plan announced in October, before the presidential election, Reuters reported.

Intel. Intel announced it would create at least 10,000 jobs at a new plant in Arizona. But Intel actually announced a $5 billion investment in this factory in 2011 with then-President Barack Obama. The factory never opened, making it technically new in 2017. The company told CNN Money that its resuming its factory project because it is expecting a demand in the computer chips to be created there.

Lockheed Martin. Trump says he lowered the cost of the companys F-35 Joint Strike Fighter planes. But the Pentagon had announced cost reductions of roughly $600 million before Trump began meeting with Lockheed Martins chief executive.

SoftBank. The Japanese company announced its $100 billion technology investment fund three weeks before the U.S. elections, when Trump faced a narrow path to victory. After a December 2016 meeting with President-elect Trump, SoftBank announced that $50 billion would go to the United States. But the United States outpaces all other countries in venture capital investments, and it is questionable that none of the $100 billion would have gone to the vibrant and promising tech industry in America  regardless of whether Trump was elected.

Sprint. Sprint announced it would add 5,000 jobs in the United States, and Trump took credit. Sprint later said its hiring plan was a part of a commitment by SoftBank, which owns a controlling stake in Sprint, the New York Times reported.

Alibaba. Chinese e-company Alibaba pledged to create 1 million U.S. jobs. Trump said that until he got elected, Alibaba founder Jack Ma had no intention of investing in the United States. But Ma has been pitching his company as a U.S. job creator since as early as 2015, when Ma outlined a plan similar to what he promised in his announcement with Trump.



Trumps bravado on these jobs announcements is becoming a bad joke. He claims credit when little or no credit is due to his policies. Moreover, he is counting these jobs as jobs in the bank, when corporate plans frequently change according to market or economic forces.

Trump has promised to create 10 million jobs over the next four years, and that ultimately is what he will be judged on. (We are tracking this promise and more on the Trump Promise Tracker https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-promise-tracker/?tid=a_inl.) All the job announcements in the world will mean little if actual hiring does not turn up in the monthly reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the meantime, he earns four out of four Pinocchios for his repeated, inaccurate claims of credit.
If youre already bracing for a long airport security line during the spring break travel season, then you must remember last year.

You do, dont you? Thats when Transportation Security Administration screening wait times doubled under the weight of tighter security and swelling crowds. On just one day in mid-March, 6,800 American Airlines customers reportedly missed their flights, thanks to the lengthy TSA lines.

The agency assigned to protect Americas transportation systems responded with a 10-point plan to speed up airport lines, and the lines abated by the end of the summer. During the winter holidays, the agency estimates that 99 percent of air travelers waited in security lines for less than half an hour and that 95 percent waited less than 15 minutes.

But with spring break 2017 in our sights, air travelers are wondering if history will repeat itself. And if theres anything they can do to avoid getting stuck in line.

Theyre air travelers like Beverly Byrum, a nurse from Louisville, who got a little preview of a worst-case scenario when she returned from a trip to Mexico through Atlanta in January.

The immigration lines were 500 travelers deep, then another long line for TSA, she says. The anger in the crowd was growing. Many people missed connections.

Although Byrum doesnt entirely blame the TSA for the slowdown, she says it was a contributing factor. The TSA hasnt announced any new efforts aimed directly at easing lines during the busy spring travel weeks. Then again, this is a different spring and theres a new administration in Washington.

Change is definitely in the air. One of the solutions that could be quickly put into place if new lines crop up: private security screeners. That has long been a GOP-backed solution for inefficiency in the security process, says Anthony DeMaio, a lobbyist with ONeill and Associates in Washington. He expects to see a renewed push for increased privatization of TSA screeners. Already, more than 20 airports participate in the TSAs Screening Partnership Program, which allows private companies to conduct airport security screening.

Agency observers also expect a renewed push to promote TSA PreCheck, the agencys expedited screening program. And while hyping the pricey program during a busy travel season may seem opportunistic, PreChecks advantages are undeniable.

Bryan Cunningham, who owns an aviation services company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and is a frequent air traveler, says PreCheck membership, which costs $85 for five years, is absolutely, definitely worth the money. TSAs internal metrics indicate that 97 percent of passengers with PreCheck clearance waited less than five minutes in line during the last holiday period.

When youre checking in, it cuts the wait time down by 80 percent, compared to a conventional line, Cunningham says. Plus, you dont have to take off your shoes or remove your computer most of the time.

The benefits are especially clear to inbound international travelers, who can use a kiosk and bypass the lengthy lines after immigration  the same lines Byrum had to contend with in Atlanta.

The TSA says it is taking the threat of longer lines seriously. Although its plan to ease congestion, put in place almost a year ago, has worked so far, we continue to expand on some of the initiatives, says Bruce Anderson, a TSA spokesman. For example, the agency plans to utilize overtime and expedite the hiring of screeners this spring. It also plans to deploy more K-9 teams and, over the long term, to invest in research and development in technologies that will speed up screening.

Will it be enough? Kevin Mitchell, who runs the Business Travel Coalition, an advocacy group in Radnor, Pennsylvania, that represents corporate travel managers, thinks we may be headed for a replay of spring break 2016 unless more is done quickly. In fact, he wants the National Guard deployed during the busy air travel weeks to help move things along.

The only thing that would permanently reduce the lines is to remove the clutter  specifically, the carry-on bags passengers try to drag through the screening area in an effort to avoid checked-baggage fees.

To encourage travelers to check bags and reduce the number of items TSA agents need to inspect, Congress should pass legislation that would require airlines to temporarily reduce baggage fees by 50 percent, Mitchell says.

Thats a long shot, but Congress has an opportunity to do just that in the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Bill. While it may be too late for this year, theres always spring break 2018.

Until then, passengers flying in March and early April should consider arriving at the airport at least a half-hour earlier than they normally would. If you can, fly during nonpeak hours, and check your bags, advises Paul Hudson, the executive director of Flyersrights.org, a nonprofit organization that advocates for air travelers.

Unlike last spring break, the TSA, airlines and their passengers are flying into this busy travel period fully aware of what could happen. And if all goes as planned, the screening experience will be the least memorable part of your vacation.
After a bumpy start of the Legislative session that was marked by uncharacteristic gridlock and rancor, the Legislature over the past few weeks has settled into a flow that is more in line with how the Unicameral is designed to operate.

As former lawmakers, were hoping these calmer times have helped current senators -- and particularly our newest legislators -- appreciate that we really do have something special here in Nebraska with our Unicameral.

Our one-house system streamlines the debate process and enables lawmakers to efficiently craft and implement policies. The Unicameral provides Nebraskans easier access to their lawmakers, which fosters true accountability between lawmakers and their constituents. Every proposed bill gets a hearing and this helps ensure the public gets a say on every piece of legislation.

The Legislatures officially nonpartisan status allows senators to work across party and ideological lines to address issues in ways that benefit the state as whole. This is important in a politically diverse state like Nebraska where about 48 percent of registered voters are Republican, 31 percent are Democrat and 20 percent are Independent.

While the officially non-partisan status doesnt completely remove partisan or ideological influences and tendencies, it has largely protected our Legislature from the divisive gridlock that plagues Congress and other Legislatures.

Some developments this session, however, were concerning in that they led to logjams that arent typically experienced in Nebraska. This includes a long delay caused by the Legislative rules debate. The debate centered on the votes needed to stop a filibuster, and the gridlock, which consumed about one-third of the 90-day legislative session, was fought along ideological lines.

Nebraskas Unicameral is not designed for partisanship or ideological divides. With only one house, it is imperative that there are checks and balances within the body. Written and unwritten rules have traditionally fostered cooperation, collegiality and mentorship. Gridlock like that experienced during the rules debate is a consequence of introducing more divisive politics into a nonpartisan body.

As the days were consumed during the rules debate, frustration mounted in the body and among Nebraskans who simply arent used to such impasses. But there was a glimmer of hope offered with a truce that came when the body agreed to operate under temporary rules until the 50th day of the legislative session -- which is March 20.

As the Legislature decided to take a time out from the rules debate, thoughtful comments from several senators highlighted a desire among the body to return to the Unicamerals more cooperative and collaborative nature.

With the rules debate temporarily addressed, spirits lifted among the body as senators, including 18 freshman members, were able to experience what makes the Unicameral experience so rewarding as the body went to work on the business of the state.

We hope their time operating under the temporary rules allowed our lawmakers to further appreciate the unique experience that is serving in the nonpartisan Unicameral, particularly because they have already seen firsthand the effects that divisive politics will have on the body.

Going forward, we hope lawmakers will embrace the Unicamerals tradition of making policy choices not based on what parties say, but on what best serves their constituents. Returning to divisive politics and rhetoric could create consequences that are difficult to undo and cause the political bright spot that is the Nebraska Unicameral to be dimmed for the long term.
When Jonathan Mango pulled out of the Taco Bell parking lot Wednesday afternoon in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, he didnt know his next move would save a life.

The 28-year-old, listening to his radio in his idling car, was watching across the dashboard as an 89-year-old woman  a cane in each hand  hobbled slowly across the train tracks that stretch along the edge of town.

Then Mango watched as the red light before the tracks began to flash, warning those who could see it that a train was fast approaching. But the elderly woman had long passed it.

It was when the safety gates on either side of her began to descend that Mango sprang into action.

No! he can be heard saying on dashboard camera footage recorded from inside his vehicle.

The video shows him darting out of the car, ducking beneath the lowered gate and running onto the train tracks, where he urges the woman along. Another man rushes to help, and the three manage to reach safety just as the New Jersey Transit commuter train barrels past, horn blasting.

Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler called the good Samaritan rescue the miracle on Market Street, reported News 12 New Jersey.

It proves to me that our society is full of good people, Kugler told the TV station, and for whatever reason yesterday, God put Jonathan on Market Street in Saddle Brook to witness this and save this woman from death.

The other man left before authorities arrived on the scene and remains unidentified, the chief told the Daily Voice. Medics came to treat the woman, who Kugler said was startled but uninjured. Mango told News 12 the woman, who didnt speak English, resisted his help at first as if she feared he was trying to harm her.

The woman is always walking through our community and in all types of weather conditions, attracting many to gaze and many others to offer assistance, Kugler said in a statement, reported CBS News. She certainly had the angels watching over her today. These two individuals, angels themselves without a doubt, saved her from a near disaster.

Authorities also credited the train conductor, who saw the rescue effort as he approached and applied the emergency brake and slowed the train, providing the extra seconds Mango and the other good Samaritan needed to bring the woman to safety, News 12 reported.

Authorities called Mangos employer, reported CBS, to praise his actions, but the 28-year-old said they werent heroic.

Just an ordinary Wednesday, he said.



https://youtu.be/zcqoIlJKo_4
A proposed White House budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could put coastal communities throughout the nation at a major disadvantage as they struggle to adapt to threats from sea-level rise, severe storms and other climate-related events, scientists and other experts said.

Thats because the budget, revealed by The Washington Post last week, targets a handful of programs that provide important resources to help coastal states prepare for the coming effects of climate change.

The programs in the crosshairs include NOAAs Coastal Zone Management grants and Regional Coastal Resilience grants, which come to $75 million combined, according to the document; its $10 million in Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency grants; the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, an annual investment of about $23 million; and its $73 million Sea Grant program.

At a federal advisory committee meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, on Tuesday, the acting administrator of NOAA, Benjamin Friedman, did not dispute the Posts reporting on the proposed budget, although he cautioned that the cuts were only proposed.

Let me just say that this is really preliminary information that is out there, this is part of the normal kind of budget deliberations that are ongoing; nothing is final, Friedman said. The presidents budget isnt due to come out for a few weeks, and then of course it will be months until we get a final FY18 budget, and then nothing will happen till Congress votes on an appropriation bill . . . until then were moving forward, and it really is business as usual at NOAA.

In the meantime, however, the proposed coastal cuts have a lot in common. These are grants and programs that lie at the intersection of oceans, the coast and a changing climate. Experts think the proposed cuts would not only disarm our coasts in the face of warming and rising seas and the growing storm threats that come with them, but that they would disadvantage coastal states, including many states that voted for President Trump, in dealing with threats theyre likely to face.

Most people live near coastlines in our country and around the world, and need to be able to support their economy  and to try to prevent again the kind of devastation that we saw in Katrina and other storms, said Vicki Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center.

To see how the proposed NOAA cuts disadvantage coasts and coastal communities, take the proposed cuts to the Coastal Zone Management grants. These grants are part of a partnership between the federal government and coastal states, including those bordering the Great Lakes, under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act.

 In many cases its local governments or state governments that have the responsibility, and most  especially the local governments  dont have the wealth of information that the federal government does, and they dont have immediate access to experts or resources to do a lot of the planning that they need to do, said Jane Lubchenco , an environmental scientist at Oregon State University and former NOAA administrator under President Barack Obama. So through the Coastal Zone Management grants, a lot of that information and expertise is made available to them.

According to NOAA, all coastal and Great Lakes states participate in the Coastal Zone Management program, except Alaska. Among these are more than a dozen states that voted for Trump, including historically red states such as the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana and swing states such as Florida.

Or consider the proposed cuts to Regional Coastal Resilience grants, which deal more specifically with bracing communities for adverse climate and weather events. These programs build resilience of coastal communities to the negative impacts from extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions, according to a recent NOAA presentation.

Much like these are the Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants , which are more focused on restoring ecosystems so they can adjust to changing conditions in a way that also benefits humans. Wetlands, when healthy, can help keep pace with sea-level rise. They can also help weaken hurricane storm surges. At a time when oceans are ticking upward and getting closer to communities  yes, including Trumps Mar-a-Lago retreat  this seems like a no-brainer.

Also proposed for the chopping block are several research and education initiatives that provide valuable information to help coastal communities plan for the future. The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a group of 29 sites throughout the coastal United States  including spots along the East and West coasts, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Hawaii and Alaska  that have been set aside specifically for the study of estuarine systems, or the areas where rivers flow into the sea. The program produces scientific data on these unique ecosystems and provides training and education for local communities and policymakers on protecting and managing them.

Its not a basic science program, said Don Boesch , who directs the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Its pretty applied to management of those research reserves and areas they represent throughout the whole state.

This is important for the preservation of the plants and animals that call these areas home  but because wetlands are critical buffers against storm surge and sea-level rise, its also a significant form of preparation for future climate change.

Of similar importance is the Sea Grant program, a partnership between NOAA and universities across the nation, which supports coastal research and education. The program relies on on-the-ground agents, who help establish a real connection between academics and coastal communities, said Jeff Carney , an architecture professor and director of the Coastal Sustainability Studio at Louisiana State University, which houses the Louisiana Sea Grant program. These programs can be vital sources of information on everything from fisheries management to storm preparation.

Theyre a conduit of information from the communities to scientists and universities, and a conduit of information from universities to communities so that they can take advantage of the newest breakthroughs in science, Lubchenco added.

Its a popular program, according to Boesch, who noted that Sea Grant typically enjoys bipartisan support among lawmakers. This is just one aspect of the White House plan that may make it a hard sell in Congress. Additionally, Lubchenco noted, Sea Grant programs in individual states often rely on a system in which funding from the federal government is matched with funding from states, universities or industry partners.

The federal dollars leverage a lot of additional financial resources, she said, adding that by cutting the federal funding, you hurt states big-time.

For now, the budget cuts remain only a proposal  but one that could place coastal communities at a disadvantage in the face of sea-level rise, natural disasters and other impending environmental changes. In fact, well-planned adaptation efforts could make the difference in whether cities such as Miami and New Orleans survive into the next century.

But although the effects of climate change remain among the greatest risks to the U.S. shoreline, one also doesnt necessarily have to believe in anthropogenic global warming to acknowledge the services provided by these programs. In addition to climate adaptation efforts, they also support resilience against storms and other natural events, research on fisheries management, the preservation of wetlands (which have value for recreation and biodiversity as much as coastal buffering) and general community planning processes.

Just from a dollars-and-cents perspective, avoiding human suffering, why would you do anything to pull back on support where most people live and where most of the infrastructure is built? said Arroyo of the Georgetown Climate Center. Thats not cost effective.
DETROIT  By cooperating with federal investigators and quickly agreeing to compensate car owners, Volkswagen likely will avoid a massive criminal fine for cheating on diesel emissions tests and trying to cover it up.

The company on Friday pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and conspiracy over a brazen scheme to program nearly 600,000 vehicles to deceive the Environmental Protection Agency.

VW also agreed to pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties. While that is the largest-ever fine imposed by the U.S. government on an automaker, the company could have been on the hook for much more.

Federal sentencing guidelines called for fines from $17 billion to $34 billion due to the size of the plot and because VW employees destroyed documents and data after learning of the government investigation.

The crimes were well-planned and went to a very high level in the corporate structure, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Neal told the court.

VW wont know its punishment for sure until sentenced April 21 by U.S. District Judge Sean Cox in Detroit. But prosecutors said that VW got a big discount on the penalty because it cooperated after fessing up to the crime.

The automakers general counsel, Manfred Doess, who was in court to agree to the plea, acknowledged the scheme lasted for nine years, from 2006 to 2015, and went to the level of just below the companys management board.

VW attorney Jason Weinstein said VWs cooperation enabled U.S. authorities to quickly file charges against six German supervisors in the case. Only one is in U.S. custody, though, and its unlikely the others will be extradited from Germany. One U.S. employee also was charged.

Ive never seen a company act more swiftly or aggressively to hold itself accountable for what it did wrong, Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor, told the court.

VW agreed to compensate owners for more than they would have received under criminal statutes, Neal said. Car owners combined will get up to $11 billion for vehicle buybacks and compensation as part of a civil settlement agreed to last year. The company also agreed to environmental remediation and electric vehicle investment, and its behavior will be watched by a monitor for three years.

Although both sides asked Cox to sentence VW on Friday, Cox said he wanted more time to study the terms of the punishment  including a $2.8 billion criminal fine. If Cox rejects the recommendation, VW can withdraw its plea. If the company wants to stick with a guilty plea, Cox still could order harsher penalties.

An attorney for 300 VW owners who have opted out of a larger court settlement objected to the penalty, contending that owners should get restitution through the criminal court. But the Justice Department and VW argued that the $11 billion in restitution VW agreed to give owners in the civil lawsuit was sufficient. That was part of a $15 billion settlement with U.S. environmental authorities and car owners approved last year.

VWs total cost of the scandal now has been pegged at more than $21 billion. Although the cost is staggering and would bankrupt many companies, VW has the money, with $33 billion in cash on hand.

After the hearing, Weinstein said he wasnt surprised that Cox delayed the sentencing because a presentence report is typical in criminal cases. He also said Cox wanted more time to consider the objection. Hes optimistic the judge will accept the negotiated deal.

U.S. regulators confronted VW about the software after West Virginia University researchers discovered differences in testing and real-world emissions of harmful nitrogen oxide. VW later admitted that the cars were programmed to turn pollution controls on during testing and off while on the road.
DENVER  Colorado livestock could be eating hemp under a bill that awaits the governors signature.

The state House voted 63-0 Friday to direct the Colorado Department of Agriculture to study the feasibility of allowing farmers to use hemp in animal feed. Currently the practice is forbidden.

Hemp is a non-intoxicating cousin of marijuana. The federal government started allowing farmers to grow hemp under limited circumstances in 2014.

The Washington state Legislature passed a similar bill in 2015.

However, agriculture authorities in that state concluded that hemp is not yet safe to use in poultry feed, saying there isnt sufficient research on whether marijuanas intoxicant, THC, could pass to the birds.

Colorado has about 300 hemp growers.

The hemp measure has already passed the Senate.
PHOENIX  Phoenix and Glendale police are investigating a carjacking and a subsequent shooting that police say apparently involved the same suspects.

Police say a car was stolen at gunpoint in Phoenix early Friday morning and that a short time later a young man was wounded when someone in the stolen car fired shots at a vehicle in Glendale.

Phoenix police later tried to stop a vehicle and the occupants fled on foot.

Glendale police Officer Tiffany Smith says the shooting victims wounds arent life-threatening.

Phoenix police Lt. Wayne Dillon said the incidents appeared to be random acts of violence.
One of the first things Jesse Bright did after being pulled over by police on a recent Sunday afternoon was turn on his phone and begin filming.

Bright was driving for Uber to make some extra cash, but he works full-time as criminal defense attorney in North Carolina. As a lawyer, he said, he believes strongly that when people record their interactions with police, it helps reduce confusion if their cases end up in court.

As he aimed his phone in the direction of officers and recorded, Bright was surprised to hear Wilmington police Sgt. Kenneth Becker tell him that there was a new state law that prohibited him from recording police.

Bright told The Washington Post that he knew better  no such law exists in North Carolina.

Hey, bud, turn that off, okay? Becker said.

No, Ill keep recording, thank you, Bright responded. Its my right.

Dont record me, the police sergeant said. You got me?

Look, Bright said, youre a police officer on duty. I can record you.

Be careful because there is a new law, Becker said. Turn it off or Ill take you to jail.

For recording you? the video shows Bright asking Becker. What is the law?

A tense exchange followed, with Becker telling Bright to step out of his car, calling him a jerk, then warning him that he better hope officers didnt find something in his vehicle.

Bright continued to record, saying, I know my rights.

I hope so, said Becker, the police sergeant. I know what the law is.

I know the law, Bright said. Im an attorney, so I would hope I know what the law is.

And an Uber driver? Becker asked.

Bright told The Post that he is working for Uber to help pay off his law-school loans. He said he had been hired to take his passenger on a round trip from the mans home to a location several miles away where, the man said, he was picking up a paycheck on the final Sunday in February.

After the passenger returned to the car holding a piece of paper, Bright said he was pulled over moments later.

Officers searched the passenger and told Bright that hed brought the man to a drug house that was under surveillance.

They said I should have known it was a drug house, and I tried to tell them I was an Uber driver, Bright said. They thought it was some sort of cover.

Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous said in a statement this week that his department has launched an internal investigation into the Feb. 26 incident.

Taking photographs and videos of people that are in plain sight including the police is your legal right, the statement said. As a matter of fact we invite citizens to do so when they believe it is necessary. We believe that public videos help to protect the police as well as our citizens and provide critical information during police and citizen interaction.

The chief added that a copy of this statement will be disseminated to every officer within the Wilmington Police Department.

Bright said officers eventually searched him and his car but didnt find anything. He said both he and his passenger were told they were free to go and neither man was charged.

In a statement sent to The Washington Post, Uber said: We encourage all riders and drivers to follow the law.

Bright said he never had any doubt that Becker was lying to him about the do-not-film law.

If a police officer gives you a lawful command and that command is disobeyed, theyll arrest you, Bright said. The fact that I wasnt arrested and he didnt even try to arrest me is proof that he was being dishonest.

He said Beckers command to stop recording and the searches  to which he didnt consent  were a violation of his constitutional rights. He noted that suppressing video is in an officers best interest because it allows police to dictate the narrative later if a case arises.

I was mainly surprised because one of the officers who was there has had a trial in court with me and so he recognized me, he said. Id think that once theyd recognized that I was a trial lawyer they wouldve changed their tone and stopped violating my rights.

During his interactions with Becker, Bright also asked a New Hanover County sheriffs deputy at the scene to tell him whether a new law had, in fact, been passed that would prohibit him from recording police.

Ive never heard of this law that youre not allowed to record the police anymore  it must be brand new, Bright said.

Well, they just recently passed it, the deputy responded.

Like super recently? Bright asked. It seems like a strange law.

New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon told ABC affiliate WWAY that after reviewing the video, it was clear that his deputy was incorrect and has been counseled.

The sheriffs department said in a statement that not only does the Sheriff agree that it is legal to record encounters, he invites citizens to do so.

Bright said he didnt initially want to share his story to the media, but when Becker refused to return his phone calls and the department never apologized, he decided to go public.

He said he doesnt want the officers involved to be punished, but he does hope to let people know that the public has the right to film police.

His story, he said, should serve as a warning.

I think the video shows that the police are willing to lie in order to coerce people into doing what they want them to do, he said. You just have to know your rights.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed an ethics complaint against Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his testimony to a Senate committee that he had no communications with the Russian government.

The complaint, filed with the Alabama State Bars disciplinary commission, comes less than two weeks after The Washington Post revealed that Sessions met with Russias ambassador to the United States twice last year and did not disclose those communications when asked during his confirmation hearing in January. The March 1 report by The Posts Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller intensified calls for a congressional investigation on Russias alleged involvement in the presidential election.

Chris Anders, deputy director of the ACLUs legislative office in Washington, claims that Sessions had violated Alabamas rules of professional conduct preventing lawyers from engaging in conduct involving dishonest, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation,' according to the complaint, which cites The Posts story.

Sessions has been a member of the Alabama State Bar since 1973.

The complaint, filed Thursday, says the report of the meetings with the Russian ambassador does not square with Sessionss sworn testimony in the Senate.

During the Jan. 10 Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., asked Sessions what hell do if anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign had communications with the Russian government.

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, Sessions said.

Sessions submitted written statements a week later in response to questions by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt. Leahy asked, 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?

Sessionss response: No.

Following The Posts article, Sessions acknowledged briefly speaking with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July and again at his Senate office in September. But he said there were no discussions about the Trump campaign. Hes also recused himself from Justice Department investigations related to the presidential election, saying he was following the advice of the agencys ethics officials.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice declined to comment and, instead, referred to a letter Sessions wrote Monday to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sessions wrote that he correctly and honestly answered Frankens question about a continuing exchange of information between Trumps surrogates and intermediaries of the Russian government.

I did not mention communications I had had with the Russian ambassador over the years because the question did not ask about them, Sessions wrote.

Anders said Sessionss communications with the Russian ambassador during the presidential campaign raises two concerns.

One is that its highly corrosive of a democracy to have a future AG make false statements to the Senate related to a matter thats under investigation, he said. And then, as part of that, the underlying matter of whether a foreign government illegally influenced the U.S. election goes to the very heart of our democracy and the sanctity of the election process. You cant have a functioning legitimate democracy if foreign governments are influencing the outcome.

Alabamas five-member disciplinary commission will determine whether the complaint has merit. If it does, the complaint will be sent to Sessions, who will then provide a written response. An investigation by grievance committees and the state bars Office of General Counsel will then start, at which point evidence and witness testimony will be presented during a closed hearing.

The committees and the Office of General Counsel will make recommendations to the disciplinary commission, which will determine whether to move forward with disciplinary sanctions. According to the state bars website, punishments range from private reprimand to disbarment, which can either be temporary or permanent. If the commission decides to impose a penalty, that information will be made public.

The possibility of an investigation, let alone a punishment, is far too early to assess. Anders said the whole process could take between six to 18 months, and the bulk of ethics violations for most state bars around the country involve misusing clients money, which is not an accusation against Sessions.

But if the worst-case scenario of disbarment does happen, it will likely be difficult for Sessions to fulfill the responsibilities of the attorney general. That includes advising the president on legal matters and representing the country in foreign and domestic courts  duties performed by a lawyer.

Last month, a group of law professors from around the country filed a similar complaint against White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, The Posts Sari Horwitz reported.

The lawyers accused Conway of ethical violations citing false statements that former president Barack Obama had banned Iraqi refugees from coming to the U.S. for six months following the Bowling Green Massacre (which never happened) and Conways endorsement of Ivanka Trumps products during a Fox News interview.

READ MORE:

Jeff Sessionss denials of contact with Russians are falling apart quickly

Jeff Sessionss Worst Week in Washington

Senate confirms Jeff Sessions as attorney general
Today, March 10, is President Donald Trumps 50th day in office. Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump has governed in a way that poses a unique threat to the integrity of American democracy.

Democracy is bigger than partisanship. Therefore, this is not a critique of Trumps policy proposals. Rather, its a sober assessment of American democracy at a pivotal moment  and a call for Americans of all political stripes to press all politicians to agree, at minimum, on preserving the bedrock principles that make the United States a democracy.

The call is urgent. In just 50 days, Trumps presidency has already threatened American democracy in six fundamental ways:

1. Trump has attacked the integrity of voting, the foundation of all democratic systems. Without any evidence, Trump has repeatedly claimed that millions of people voted illegally in 2016. This claim is not true. Every serious study that has assessed voter fraud, including studies conducted by Republican presidents, has concluded that the scale of the problem is negligible.

Nonetheless, on his sixth day in office, Trump called for a major investigation into voter fraud  now largely forgotten by many Americans. Unfortunately, his assertion has not been forgotten by a large swath of Trumps base. Tens of millions likely now believe Trumps claim  which will certainly prove an important alternative fact when, in the future, attempts are inevitably made to make it harder for certain Americans to vote.

2. After attacking the integrity of his own election, Trump has also undermined the credibility of his own office. Democracy will not function if Americans cannot be sure that the presidents claims are at least grounded in evidence-based reality. And yet, in just 50 days, Trump has made at least 194 false or misleading claims  an average of about four daily. (March 1 was the only day without one, so far.)

Recently, Trumps early morning tweet-storm alleging that former president Barack Obama personally ordered a wiretap of Trump Tower has not been backed up by a shred of evidence. Key Republican senators and representatives have expressed their bafflement at the accusation. Yet there have been no consequences for the president baselessly accusing his predecessor of criminal action. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) went so far as to chide reporters for asking questions about the wiretap claim, saying, I think a lot of the things he says, I think you guys sometimes take literally. How can democracy function when people cant take the president literally?

3. Trumps administration has repeatedly flouted ethics guidelines without consequence. When Trump failed to discipline Kellyanne Conway for brazenly giving a commercial for Ivanka Trumps jewelry and clothing line, the Office of Government Ethics had to send an extraordinary letter reminding Trump that ethics rules apply to the executive branch. Trump has also failed to meaningfully separate himself from his business interests. Most recently, Trump received 38 lucrative trademarks from China, not just a likely violation of the Constitutions emoluments clause but also a benefit that will call into question whether Trumps foreign policy will pursue what is best for the American people or what is best for his profits. That conflict of interest is precisely why democracies set ethics guidelines  and why it threatens democracy to violate them.

4. Trump has attacked the independent judiciary. When U.S. District Judge James Robart defied Trumps travel ban, Trump called him a so-called judge and insinuated that he would lay blame for a terrorist attack squarely at the feet of the judiciary. Presidents routinely object to individual court decisions, but it threatens democracy to go one step further and demonize any judge that dares cross the president. After all, the judiciary is charged with upholding the law and the Constitution  not blindly affirming the presidents worldview.

5. Crucially, Trump has accelerated a long-term trend, prodding tens of millions of Americans to further lose faith in basic institutions of American government. Any experts in federal agencies are now the deep state. Trumps team has begun suggesting that the nonpartisan, independent Congressional Budget Office  a trusted authority for Democrats and Republicans since 1974  is simply a group of hacks. There is virtually no authority trusted by both Democrats and Republicans anymore. Instead, the opposing sides are all too inclined to view government as captured by evil partisans rather than disagreeing patriots. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) made this view explicit, recently calling for a purge of leftists from government in an astonishingly totalitarian tweet. Public trust is part of the lifeblood of democracy, and it is draining faster than ever.

6. Finally, Trump has attacked a cornerstone of every democracy: the free press. He has called legitimate media organizations fake news no fewer than 22 times on Twitter in the first 50 days  and many more times in speeches. Worse, Trump called the press the enemy of the American People, language that echoes Mao and Stalin rather than Ronald Reagan or John F. Kennedy.

Trump only views the press as a legitimate player in American democracy insofar as it is willing to affirm his narrative. To Trump, negative polls are fake. Unfortunately, his attacks are working. A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that 81 percent of Republicans agree that the media is the enemy of the American people. Eighty-six percent of Republicans trust Trump to tell the truth rather than the media (up from 78 percent just two weeks earlier). Throughout history, the blurring of the line between fact and fiction has been a critical precursor to the breakdown of democracy and the creeping advance of authoritarianism.

Whether these six attacks are a deliberate long-term strategy to erode American democracy, or simply a political ploy to poison the electorates view against any anyone that is willing to defy the president, remains to be seen. Certainly, Trump is not fully to blame; he is capitalizing on long-term divisions and a long-term erosion of American institutions. But he has accelerated those trends.

The Constitution and checks and balances are not magical guardians. Documents dont save democracy  people do. American democratic institutions are only as strong as those who fight for them in times of duress. This is one of those times, and this is just the beginning. It will be a long fight. To win it, Democrats and Republicans must set aside policy divides and unite in the defense of democracy.

  

Klaas ( How the West is Aiding and Abetting the Decline of Democracy.
SEOUL  The historic ouster of President Park Geun-hye on Friday means that South Korea will hold elections within 60 days to elect a new leader. That will come as a relief for South Koreans, exhausted by months of scandal and impeachment proceedings, but it should also assuage U.S. policymakers.

In the three months since Park was suspended over corruption allegations, plunging the country into limbo, the regime in North Korea has launched five ballistic missiles and a volley of threats, and is accused of ordering the assassination of the leaders half brother.

Add to that Chinas anger over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system to South Korea and uncertainty about the change in administration in Washington, and the lack of leadership in South Korea could hardly have come at a more sensitive time.

A political vacuum like this in a key ally that borders a major nuclear threat is not good for the U.S., said John Delury, an American political scientist in Seoul. I think its been underestimated as a danger and as a destabilizing factor.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will encounter this problem firsthand when he arrives in Seoul next week for discussions about North Korea with a South Korean counterpart who is on the way out. Tillerson will also hear about the rise of a progressive candidate who could take a sharply different approach toward China and North Korea from the impeached president  and from the United States.

The Trump administration is now conducting a policy review to decide how to deal with North Koreas threats, and there is plenty of talk in Washington about kinetic options  a euphemism for some kind of military action. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, some ruling party lawmakers are now openly pushing for Japan to develop the capacity to preemptively strike North Korea.

Thats the kind of talk that South Korea should be shutting down, Delury said. In addition to its nuclear and missile programs, North Korea has conventional artillery lined up along the demilitarized zone and aimed at Seoul, a city of 25 million people.

The role of a South Korean president, whether liberal or conservative, is to be the person who gently takes that option off the table, Delury said, referring to a preemptive strike. The South Korean president has to be saying, If you take out their missile pad, they take out our capital. But that hasnt been happening.

Park was immediately dismissed from office Friday after South Koreas Constitutional Court upheld a legislative impeachment motion, ruling unanimously that she had continuously broken the law.

Elections will now be held in early May, and the latest opinion polls show Moon Jae-in, a progressive who unsuccessfully challenged Park for the presidency in 2012, holding a strong lead.

Moon is a proponent of the sunshine policy of engagement with North Korea  the liberal idea from the late 1990s that engagement can help open up the closed state and narrow the gap between the two Koreas.

This sunshine policy came to an end in 2008 with the election of a conservative president who took a tough approach toward North Korea, a stance maintained by Park.

Following North Koreas nuclear test at the beginning of last year, Parks government closed the inter-Korean industrial complex that was the linchpin of the sunshine policy, unequivocally stating that South Korean cash was going through economic engagement projects directly to weapons programs.

Moon, however, has said he would like to resume engagement with North Korea and would go to Pyongyang for talks with its leader.

If Moon wins the general election, he will emphasize South Koreas alliance with the U.S. and a strong defense posture, said Lee Chung-min, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University. But his heart will lie in fostering deeper engagement with the North and negotiating an early summit with Kim Jong Un.

Moon has also signaled an openness to reviewing the Park governments agreement to host the United States Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile battery.

The agreement was reached last year to protect against North Korean missiles, and the system was due to arrive in South Korea this summer. But in a surprise announcement, the Pentagon said the first shipment arrived in South Korea on Monday.

This has sparked widespread speculation in South Korea that the United States expected Park to be impeached and wanted to make the deployment more difficult to reverse. The U.S. military command in South Korea said the deployment was being carried out according to schedule.

China has vehemently objected to the arrival of THAAD in the region, viewing its deployment as an American attempt to keep China, not just North Korea, in check. To try to coerce South Korea to change its mind, Beijing has imposed painful restrictions on South Korean imports of everything from toilet seats to pop music.

We are all very clear that the crux of the problem between China and South Korea is that South Korea is ignoring Chinas concerns and is deploying the THAAD antimissile system with the United States, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday.

We once again urge South Korea to focus on the interests of the Chinese and Korean people, he said.

But analysts say that even if the progressive Moon becomes South Koreas next president, he will face difficulties in backtracking on THAAD or returning to the sunshine policy.

While China might expect a U-turn over THAAD if Moon becomes president, it will be extremely difficult for Moon to do that, since THAAD is being placed primarily for the defense of the United States Forces in Korea, said Lee, the Yonsei professor.

Trump could seek to dissuade Moon by making South Korea pay more for its defense costs and speeding up efforts to renegotiate the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement. Despite Moons inclination to oppose THAAD deployment, he will not undo it at the expense of worsening ties with Trump just as Moon begins his term in office, Lee said.

Likewise, it would be difficult to go back to the kind of sunshine policy of previous liberal presidents, said Robert Kelly of Pusan National University. I dont think there is much support for major engagement any more, he said.

This is partly because public opinion has changed dramatically thanks to two North Korean attacks in 2010 that left more than 50 South Koreans dead, as well as the Park governments assertion that engagement money was funding weapons development.

I think Moon would have to fight hard to get that kind of engagement off the ground  hed be pushing against the Americans and against his own people, Kelly said.

But for South Koreans who wanted Park out, there is a sense of opportunity.

Today is just the beginning, said Kim Kyoung, a housewife who attended every rally against the impeached president and returned to central Seoul on Friday night to celebrate Parks departure. South Korea developed very quickly, but now we have an opportunity to move slowly and help our democracy mature.

  

The Washington Posts Congcong Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.
The spring semester is approaching its halfway point on college campuses, and for the graduating class of 2017 that means many seniors will be kicking their job search into high gear.

The good news is that all signs point to a strong hiring cycle this year for new graduates. Eight out of every 10 employers describe the college labor market as good to excellent, according to an annual survey by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University, which received responses from more than 4,300 employers. Nearly 90 percent of them hired a new graduate last year, and all of them expect to hire again this year.

But even such rosy numbers wont give parents of college seniors less anxiety about their return on the college investment until their children move out of the house and start making ends meet on their own. And for this generation of college graduates, making that transition from school to career is more treacherous now than it was for graduates even a decade ago, said Phil Gardner, director of the Michigan State employment center.

College students are enjoying the longest run in job growth since the late 1990s, but that doesnt mean navigating the job market is easy, he told me.

Three primary developments in the job market make it more difficult for todays graduates compared to their parents.

First, Gardner said, the size and makeup of companies recruiting on campuses has shifted, altering the entire hiring process. In the 1980s, campus recruiting was dominated by three primary industries- manufacturing, retail and finance- and a few big corporations controlled each of those sectors. That meant the big employers set the recruiting calendar, and everyone else followed along. It was an easy process for students and campuses to understand. In 1985, GM and Dow Chemical, combined, hired 340 Michigan State graduates, Gardner told me. In recent years, those two companies hired only a few dozen students from Michigan State.

There are more employers today, each of them recruiting fewer students, and all have specific needs and timetables for students to track. Companies that build things no longer dominate the economy; business and professional services that reorganize those old-line companies now do.

Nonprofit and government agencies also loom over hiring in a way they didnt in the past. Teach for America and AmeriCorps are among the top 10 destinations for Michigan State graduates today, and several other nonprofit organizations fill spots in the top 15. In the 1980s, nonprofits occupied none of those spots. In a nationwide survey, more than 40 percent of the class of 2015 said they wanted to work for the government, at the federal, state or local level.

Second, employers have raised the bar on the skills workers need to start a job on day one and are less involved in employee training. Young adults are largely on their own to acquire those skills. Doing so becomes increasingly challenging because the rules keep shifting. Only a quarter of companies have specific hiring targets when they start campus recruiting, according to surveys by Michigan State.

Workplaces are engaging in more on-demand or last-minute hiring, so students cant know even months in advance what they need to know for a job, let alone before signing up for classes or before picking a major.

Were asking 23-year-old new graduates to act like 35-year-old experienced workers, Gardner said.

In the old days, Fortune 500 companies put new hires into rotational programs that allowed them to move around different departments to learn about the company and its culture, as well as various jobs. Many of those programs have been eliminated in corporate cost-cutting.

The third major development, according to Gardner, is the increased velocity of todays economy. Entire industries have been disrupted by technology and globalization in recent years, even stalwarts like law, accounting and medicine.

Yet colleges are under more pressure than ever to help their students find precise routes into careers when those routes dont exist anymore. In a 2015 survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education, two-thirds of college leaders said more discussions about job preparation were occurring on campus compared with just three years earlier.

But what kinds of jobs are campuses supposed to be preparing students for? How does anyone know what the job market might look like in two or four years? Entire industries are disappearing almost overnight, and legacy companies are quickly changing course. In one recent year, Gardner told me, Procter & Gamble hired graduates from 86 different majors at Michigan State, reflecting both its new lines of business and its eagerness to hedge its bets to find the right match.

As a result of these trends in the labor market, college seniors these days no longer have as clear or straightforward a career path as previous generations did. They are part of a much more complex, fragmented workforce with many overlapping pathways. Compared to their parents, who had maps with clearly marked trails for their careers, these soon-to-be graduates face wide-open seas as they chart their next 30-plus years.
Gee whiz, does the support for the "Choose Life" license plates ("Choose Life plates get nod," March 1) mean that we'll reinstate the law against the death penalty? How hypocritical of Nebraska to repeal that law and then have the nerve to authorize production of license plates claiming to support life! I would urge all the legislators who voted for the plates, or did not vote at all, to not let this travesty happen. Vote "No" on LB46.
Ah yes, the satirical Borowitz Report, Andy Borowitzs liberal-leaning reshuffling of the news for the New Yorker. You either love it (funny!), hate it (toothless dad humor!) or dont realize its a joke.

That third group includes Chinese state-run media.

On Tuesday, a Borowitz Report column (Trump Orders All White House Phones Covered in Tin Foil) was picked up online and in print by Reference News, published by the state-run Xinhua news agency, the New York Times reported. By the time the article was removed Wednesday, other Chinese media were likewise fooled by the column, which includes lines about Trump still wearing his bathrobe after what was reportedly a sleepless night and ordering the Secret Service to check every room in the White House for signs of former President Barack Obama.

This has happened before: In 2013, the Xinhua news agency translated an entire Borowitz Report column about Amazon chief Jeff Bezos purchasing The Washington Post by mistake.

Its not just Chinese media; plenty of regular people in the United States read Borowitz headlines as real, particularly when seeing them on social media. And while this kind of dynamic isnt new, is it becoming more worrisome?

Misinformation has become the source of widespread consternation, as political leaders, journalists and concerned citizens worry about the proliferation of fake news stories on Facebook. Even the term fake news has been hijacked; it no longer only refers to satire or intentionally deceptive and fabricated stories.

And the real news cycle is particularly outrageous in the eyes of liberals, the target audience for this kind of satire. Actual headlines contain stunning and eye-popping developments that can rival what a Borowitz can cook up.

Back in April 2016, Borowitz published Ben Carson Says He Has No Memory of Running for President. Eight months later, a Carson adviser told political website The Hill that Carson didnt want to join Trumps Cabinet because he feels he has no government experience . . . The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.

Former presidential candidate Ben Carson says he wont join Trumps Cabinet because he has no government experience, read a Los Angeles Times headline.

And humor site McSweeneys published the real transcript of President Trumps Black History Month remarks as a piece of satire.

Its a weird moment to make political satire online. But is the onus on readers to be more discerning, or satirists and publishers to rethink their approach?

Satire works within a context that signals this is humor. The Onion has deep brand recognition, as its become synonymous with the unbelievable; Not the Onion is shorthand for an article so crazy that it sounds like a joke, but its actually real. And even with that kind of renown, there have been instances of people thinking the Onion was real.

The Borowitz Reports brand is trickier. It appears on the New Yorkers website and is promoted by the sites main social-media accounts. For most casual news consumers, the New Yorker is nowhere near the Onion; it publishes serious work (and the occasional cartoon). The Borowitz Report has its own brand, but its not as widely known as the New Yorkers.

A 2014 piece in the Awl titled the Borowitz Problem argued, Not always, but frequently, these posts are going to go viral as the result of people who dont know theyre jokes.

We never want readers to mistake our satirical pieces for news stories, which is why weve gone to such lengths to label them as satire, said a New Yorker spokesperson. Satires long been an important part of what we do and, given the current media landscape, were paying close attention to how this work is perceived by readers.

In December, the Borowitz Report tagline changed from the news, reshuffled to not the news. And these pieces are more clearly marked as satire when shared online, NewYorker.com editor Nicholas Thompson told the Associated Press last month. Satire from the Borowitz Report appears above (much larger) headlines. Tweets from the New Yorkers account include @BorowitzReport, with images that indicate it is not the news.

Borowitz has said he doesnt try to intentionally trick his readers into thinking his pieces are real news, telling the Ringer in 2016, I am never trying to do a hoax.

The new not the news tagline came from him. It made more sense when people from another country would read one of my stories and not get the joke  that was kind of predictable, Borowitz told AP. But the fact that so many Americans have to go to Snopes.com to find out that Trump didnt really hire El Chapo to be head of the D.E.A. or something like that, thats a reading comprehension problem.

If readers paid closer attention to labels and clicked through to read stories before sharing them, they wouldnt be fooled. But as it stands, plenty of people skim social media and are still reacting to just the headlines, not realizing theyre intended as jokes.

For such satire, headlines serve as the punchline  thats why the Onion focuses on them so much  and signal the pieces are fake. Each outlet has its approach; Reductress (Man With Gender Studies Degree Terrorizes Party) takes a serious-news tone to sarcastically describe common experiences for women; ClickHole (Nowhere To Run: Jason Chaffetz Just Opened Up His Dishwasher And A Horde Of Angry Constituents Spilled Out), often goes for straight-up bizarre absurdity. The Washington Post publishes satirical pieces in its opinion section with headlines that, as standalone sentences, can be an innocuous opening for humor (Does Betsy DeVos know what choice means?) or silly (Great news: President Trump did not bite any bats in half during his address to Congress!).

Critics of Borowitz Report point to the quality of its headline jokes as part of the problem. Slate described the humor as so tepid that people often share it without realizing its supposed to be funny.

Particularly now, if satirical headlines lack bite and are just a hair off the truth, then they arent all that humorous. Especially when things like this are published as straight news:

When Mr. Trump is not watching television in his bathrobe or on his phone reaching out to old campaign hands and advisers, he will sometimes set off to explore the unfamiliar surroundings of his new home, reads a February New York Times article.

Aides confer in the dark because they cannot figure out how to operate the light switches in the cabinet room, it continues. Visitors conclude their meetings and then wander around, testing doorknobs until finding one that leads to an exit.

Its 2017. If youre reading or creating satire online, its time to step up your game.
NEW YORK  Russias ambassador to the United Nations, who collapsed in his office last month, died from a heart attack, and no foul play was suspected, according to a senior city official briefed by the medical examiners office.

The official was not authorized to reveal the cause of death for Ambassador Vitaly Churkin and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday after the medical examiners office, citing diplomatic protocol, said it was instructed not to publicly release the cause of death.

An autopsy was performed on Churkin last month, but the death required further study. The additional tests had been completed, but Julie Bolcer, spokeswoman for the citys medical examiner, said that the citys law department told the office not to release any further information, in order to comply with international law and protocol.

The State Department asked the city in writing on Feb. 24 to not reveal the autopsy results, because Churkins diplomatic immunity survives his death.

The United States insists on the dignified handling of the remains of our diplomatic personnel who pass away abroad (including in Russia) and works to prevent unnecessary disclosures regarding the circumstances of their deaths, wrote James Donovan, minister counselor for host country affairs for the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

In a follow-up letter on March 1, the State Department noted that the Russian Federation raised concerns after the autopsy had been conducted, and voluntary statements reported in the media about Ambassador Churkins medical history prompted complaints from Russian diplomats.

The information reported was very private in nature and included information about which even they had no knowledge, Donovan wrote in the follow-up letter to Mayor Bill de Blasios international affairs office.

Russias U.N. Mission didnt immediately return a message seeking comment on Churkins cause of death. A spokesman for the mission earlier praised the New York City Law Department for asking that it not be released, saying the departments guidance fully complies with the principles of inviolability of private life and diplomatic immunity.

The medical examiner is responsible for investigating deaths that occur by criminal violence, accident, suicide, suddenly or when the person seemed healthy, or if someone died in any unusual or suspicious manner. City policy is to publicly release the cause of death.

Donovan argued that state policies could be overruled by federal authority where it creates an obstacle to the achievement of the Presidents foreign policy as reflected in an international agreement.

Churkin, who died Feb. 20 at a hospital at age 64, had been Russias envoy at the U.N. since 2006. He was the longest-serving ambassador on the Security Council, the U.N.s most powerful body.

He was buried in Moscow, where he was praised by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised as an exceptional professional and peoples diplomat. The Order of Courage, a medal awarded posthumously to Churkin by President Vladimir Putin, was displayed at his coffin.

___

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
Daylight saving time, which takes effect this weekend, seems innocuous: a trivial harassment, an annoying vestige of an earlier age, a pointless hardship imposed on us by technocrats. It is all of those things. The measure was introduced to solve a problem created by the shift from local solar time to standard clock time  as daytime shortened in winter, more productive activity was locked into nighttime hours, in an era when artificial light was far more expensive than it is today. President Woodrow Wilson formally introduced the United States to daylight saving time in 1918, justifying it as wartime thrift. Over the following century it was variously resisted, overturned, reintroduced and modified, reaching its current dimensions with the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Amid all that effort, nobody has been able to demonstrate conclusively that adjusting clock time to the waxing and waning of daylight hours saves energy as intended. (In fact, the opposite seems to be true.)

As a rational policy, daylight saving time may be ineffective. But as a social ritual, it retains real value. Our biannual clock-tuning is a slip of the mask, a glitch in the matrix that reminds us that clock time is always artificial and arbitrary.

Standard clock time is immensely useful. It is no exaggeration to say that the modern world depends on it: Ships once required it to navigate. The GPS systems that guide our cars, planes and farm combines count on standard time to calculate their positions. If you think setting up a phone call between Washington and London is difficult now because of differing time zones, imagine if local time varied by a few minutes between Washington and Pittsburgh, a few degrees of longitude west. In a society dependent on just-in-time supply chains and automated trading that works in microseconds, accurate, precisely calibrated time is as important as electricity.

But standard time can be, and has been, used against us. Whether you get more out of clock time than it gets out of you is largely a function of your economic security. Almost 90 years after John Maynard Keyness prediction that the future would hold 15-hour workweeks and lives of leisure, we feel increasingly time-starved. Sociologist Judy Wajcman, in her book Pressed for Time, calls this the time-pressure paradox: Standard time  in which DST is an archaic wrinkle  contributes to a world of labor-saving innovations. But the time they free up is immediately filled by demands for more work, and greater and more varied demands on our attention.

  

We can sketch out three distinct eras of time reckoning between antiquity and the present. The earliest calendars were linked to the movement of the sun, moon and planets. An enduring legacy of this: Within the days of our week are encoded the names of the sun, moon and five planets visible to ancient Babylonian astronomers. The story of social time since then has been a gradual decoupling from natural reference points. First the seven-day week broke free of the lunar cycle, becoming, sociologist Eviatar Zerubavel argues, the first major rhythm of human activity that is totally oblivious to nature, resting on mathematical regularity alone. As such, he writes, the week ought to be regarded as one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of human civilization. With the Industrial Revolution, clock time liberated the workday from solar time and established labor routines organized by schedules  the 9-to-5 job being the ultimate expression of this. In the 21st century, work has escaped the bounds of the 9-to-5 schedule, organized instead around what media scholar Robert Hassan calls network time. Under network time, were expected to do our jobs whenever the task demands it, no matter what our local time is.

If time can be used to command our attention and impose order on our lives, then the ability to set it, and ultimately to decide how others use it, is a source of tremendous power. When clocks became fixtures in 19th-century British factories, workers complained that their bosses unfairly set the clocks ahead in the morning and back at night, to squeeze more labor out of the day. Workmen, historian E.P. Thompson noted, feared carrying their own watches, since it was no uncommon event for managers to fire any worker who presumed to know too much about the science of horology.

In 1880, Britain adopted Greenwich Mean Time as legal standard time. Four years later, an international conference named GMT as the global prime meridian, against which all other times would be set.The Royal Observatory in Greenwich became a key tool of imperial administration: The time of day in any given place would now be dictated by technocrats in London, rather than by the position of the sun overhead, as it had been for thousands of years. In this way, postal routes, train travel, workdays, markets and meetings could be coordinated. But many found the idea alienating. In 1894, Martial Bourdin, a 26-year-old French anarchist, died in London after a homemade bomb he was carrying exploded in his hands. Police speculated that his target was the Greenwich observatory. It would have been, in the language of modern counterterrorism, a highly symbolic soft target for an anarchist.

In the United States, the adoption of standard time was pushed by the progressive movement as a civilizing project, but it was also championed by railroad titans and business interests for whom coordinating economic activity across large distances was a major advantage. Standard time met opposition from laborers who worried that their time of recreation would be curtailed, the Detroit Free Press reported. Others, worried about economic expediency superseding traditional local control, protested the substitution of railroad tycoon Jay Goulds time for Gods time.

Time clocks remain a site of battle between workers and employers. In 2013, warehouse workers at Amazon (whose owner, Jeff Bezos, also owns this newspaper) sued over rules that required them to clock out before waiting up to 25 minutes for a mandatory anti-shoplifting screening on their way out the door. The Supreme Court sided with Amazon. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, as part of a long-running campaign to curb the power of academics, has proposed a rule requiring professors to report the number of hours they spend teaching, as opposed to conducting other activities such as research. Employers, for their part, worry about hourly employees committing time-clock fraud  for example, by taking breaks while clocked in or clocking in for a worker who hasnt yet arrived.

In a move that would complete the decoupling of social time from natural rhythms, economist Steve Hanke and physicist Dick Henry think we should abolish time zones altogether, in favor of a single global time. Noon in London would be noon in Beijing, regardless of whether it was night or day. That would ease global commerce. But the interests it would serve are mostly those of people who, by advantage or by necessity, carry out work over great distances, regardless of their local temporal context.

  

Sociologist Georg Simmel wrote that the major problem of modern life was how to preserve ones individuality and independence against the overwhelming pressure of society  everyones individual struggle to avoid being levelled, swallowed up in the social-technological mechanism. Standard time, with all the devices and people that make it possible and rely on it, is part of that mechanism.

Weve come a long way from Bourdin and the Royal Observatory. The war for time is over. The anarchists and localists lost. Its telling that these days our major complaint about daylight saving time is that it fouls up standard time, when standard time is the reason we tend to feel rushed in the first place. Complaining about the clock springing ahead or falling back is like grousing about Apples stupid headphone dongle you absolutely need for your iPhone but will immediately lose. It provides a good excuse to griping about the near problem as a way of avoiding the far problem  the fear that were frittering away our lives into a black mirror. Or a ticking clock.

  

Hagen, a doctoral candidate in sociology at Columbia University, studies organizations and the sociology of science, knowledge and technology.
At the center of many allegations swirling around the Trump administrations relationship with Moscow is one man: Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. As U.S. intelligence agencies contend that his country attempted, through hacking and other efforts, to influence Novembers election, Kislyaks discussions with Trump campaign associates  including former national security adviser Michael Flynn (who resigned for not disclosing them) and Attorney General Jeff Sessions (who did not)  have been the subject of intense reporting and speculation.

While it is one thing to question Russias efforts or the truthfulness of American officials, this debate is threatening the time-honored tradition of foreign ambassadors freely meeting political figures in their country of accreditation. There is nothing inherently wrong with meeting a foreign ambassador  even one from a rival nation; even one from a rival superpower on which the United States has imposed sanctions. As Pakistans ambassador to the United States, I saw firsthand, in the assassination of Osama bin Laden, just how essential such consultations were.

We dont know what Kislyaks particular motivations were or what he discussed in these meetings, but the question before the American public is whether Trumps allies comported themselves honorably and legally, not whether Kislyak did. Diplomacy is the process by which foreign enemies are turned into friends and friends are converted into allies. Democratic countries such as the United States have always taken pride in the relative ease with which foreign diplomats can meet Americans of all political persuasions. (This is not the case in more-restrictive nations, such as Russia.) No matter what Moscows policy holds, the free interaction of Americans with foreign ambassadors works to Americas advantage.

I became Pakistans ambassador in May 2008, soon after the countrys return to civilian rule after nine years of military dictatorship under Gen. Pervez Musharraf. The George W. Bush administration had forged an alliance with Musharraf in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, hoping that economic incentives and offers of military hardware would turn Pakistan away from its long-standing policy of supporting Islamist militants, including the Afghan Taliban, as instruments of regional influence.

By 2007, Bush had realized that Musharraf either would not or could not fulfill his promises in fighting terrorism, as he wrote later, and the president welcomed Pakistans return to democracy. The civilian leaders who appointed me as ambassador  President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani  looked forward to U.S. backing in reversing Musharrafs policies at home and abroad. They said they wanted to end Pakistans support for the Taliban, improve relations with India and Afghanistan, and limit the role of Pakistans military intelligence service in defining the countrys foreign policy. In return, they sought generous U.S. aid to improve the ailing Pakistani economy.

I had an advantage most ambassadors did not: Id lived most of the Musharraf years in exile in Washington and had established close ties with members of Congress and others influential in policymaking. But I began my job in the middle of the 2008 election campaign, and I knew that the Bush administrations policies might not continue under a new president. Within weeks of presenting my credentials to Bush that June, I was communicating with campaign officials in both parties, and soon had meetings with aides to both Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.

The State Department facilitated the participation of Washington-based ambassadors in the Democratic and Republican national conventions that year. In Denver and in Minneapolis-St. Paul, we were briefed by officials from both campaigns. More active and better-connected ambassadors, including myself, were able to meet personally with people we expected to have major roles in the conduct of foreign policy after the election. There was nothing unusual, let alone treasonable, in this.

As a presidential candidate, Obama argued that U.S. success in Afghanistan was more important than the war in Iraq, which he had opposed. In a major speech that summer, he pledged to make the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban the top priority. He also had a particular message for my country: He said terrorists and insurgents in Pakistans tribal areas were waging war against the Afghan government. We must make it clear that if Pakistan cannot or will not act, we will take out high-level terrorist targets like bin Laden if we have them in our sights.

From Obamas public positions and from my meetings with his aides, it was clear that a democratic, civilian government in Pakistan could join with him to help attain his objectives in Afghanistan in exchange for support of consolidation of democracy with greater U.S. economic assistance. I sent this message to my bosses in Islamabad and told Obamas campaign team that we would be willing to play ball. Once Obama took office, this is exactly what happened: Civilian aid to Pakistan was enhanced to record levels in an effort to secure greater cooperation in defeating the Taliban.

Whats more, the relationships I forged with members of Obamas campaign team also led to closer cooperation between Pakistan and the United States in fighting terrorism over the 31/2 years I served as ambassador. These connections eventually enabled the United States to discover and eliminate bin Laden without depending on Pakistans intelligence service or military, which were suspected of sympathy toward Islamist militants. Friends I made from the Obama campaign were able to ask, three years later, as National Security Council officials, for help in stationing U.S. Special Operations and intelligence personnel on the ground in Pakistan. I brought the request directly to Pakistans civilian leaders, who approved. Although the United States kept us officially out of the loop about the operation, these locally stationed Americans proved invaluable when Obama decided to send in Navy SEAL Team 6 without notifying Pakistan.

Unfortunately, the United States did not attain victory in Afghanistan, and the Pakistani governments behavior toward militant Islamists did not change on a permanent basis. But for the period I was in office, the two nations worked jointly toward their common goals  the essence of diplomacy.

After I began reading about the affairs of Kislyak, I rummaged through my files and diaries to retrace my steps as ambassador in the fall of 2008. I maintained relations with three teams of American officials, politicians and professional staffers: the Bush administration and the two major-party candidates. I met senior members of the Republican and Democratic national committees, more than a dozen senators and congressmen from each party, and several individuals from both sides who were tipped to emerge in senior government positions after the election. This is totally normal for ambassadors.

Kislyak, who presented his credentials just a couple of months after I did, has probably advanced shared Russian-American interests through similar contacts in the three U.S. presidential election cycles that he has covered as ambassador. I do not know if he reached out to Hillary Clintons camp as vigorously as he did to Trumps (he probably already knew Clintons top foreign policy players from his work with the Obama administration, in which many of them had served), but it does not matter: Ambassadors do not make policy. They only facilitate understanding between countries that leads to policymaking in their respective capitals. Any Russian decision to covertly interfere in the U.S. election would have been made in Moscow, not necessarily with Kislyaks knowledge, just as Pakistans breach of promises with the Obama administration occurred in Islamabad, not in my embassy.

In November 2011, I was forced to resign as ambassador after Pakistans military-intelligence apparatus gained the upper hand in the countrys perennial power struggle. Among the security establishments grievances against me was the charge that I had facilitated the presence of large numbers of CIA operatives who helped track down bin Laden without the knowledge of Pakistans army  even though I had acted under the authorization of Pakistans elected civilian leaders.

Russia is, of course, unlike Pakistan, but U.S.-Russia relations have seesawed, too, and Kislyaks means were no different from what probably every ambassador of every country hopes to use, even if his ends were unique.

Americans have a legitimate interest in figuring out whether Russia tried to covertly influence U.S. politics. Investigating officials who may have perjured themselves about their diplomatic contacts also seems reasonable. It should not, however, create the impression that engagement between a foreign ambassador  even one from a country with which relations are strained  and people who might hold senior positions in a future administration is inherently sinister. Such engagement is essential if new presidents want to translate their foreign policy plans into reality.

 Haqqani, Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute in Washington D.C., served as Pakistans ambassador to the United States from 2008-2011.
Under pressure from civil liberties advocates and the Muslim community, the San Francisco Police Department last month pulled out of the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force amid controversy over the Trump administrations travel ban and concerns that participation in the task force might violate local laws protecting immigrants and religious minorities.

But the move, current and former law enforcement officials said, could weaken efforts to detect and stop terrorist plots in the Bay Area. There are 104 such task forces throughout the country  consisting of cells of analysts, SWAT experts and other specialists from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that collectively assess intelligence and respond to terrorism threats.

Its cutting off your left hand to spite your right hand. It makes no sense at all, said James McJunkin, a former FBI official who once led the nations second-largest Joint Terrorism Task Force, in the nations capital. It thwarts the efforts of hundreds of men and women who go to work every day to fight terrorism.

In New York City, for example, the JTTF was critical last September in capturing in less than 40 hours the accused Chelsea bomber, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, who is charged with setting off an explosion that injured 31 people.

Civil rights advocates say that municipalities such as San Francisco should not be put in a position of cooperating with federal law enforcement agencies that conduct investigations in a manner that conflicts with local laws and that may share information that leads to noncriminal but undocumented immigrants being deported.

This is a problem not just for San Francisco, said John Crew, a lawyer formerly with the American Civil Liberties Union who was asked by the SFPD and the FBI to explore solutions to the issue. Its a problem around the country of local police assigning officers to the FBI under arrangements that have not been scrutinized in the past, where local civil rights and racial profiling policies are going to be reevaluated in the era of the Trump administration.

The SFPD said the suspension of cooperation would have happened regardless of who won the presidential election in November, because a 10-year agreement with the JTTF was expiring this month and any renewal requires police commission review.

We want all persons to feel comfortable in contacting SFPD . . . to report crimes and emergencies without concern as to their immigrations status, SFPD spokesman Michael Andraychak said. The city has a history and tradition of demonstrations and other First Amendment activity, and the SFPD works with the community to help facilitate First Amendment activity.

Officials said they did not think the withdrawal would affect public safety. We are confident that [local, state and federal law enforcement partners] would alert the SFPD to any known credible threat against the city, Andraychak said.

The FBI declined to comment on the issue. But law enforcement officials familiar with the matter said the task forces are not used for noncriminal immigration enforcement.

San Francisco is the first police department to take such an action this year, but other cities and towns may be following suit. Across the bay in the city of Oakland, the citys privacy advisory commission on Thursday recommended the City Council approve an ordinance requiring the police force to follow local rules rather than what the commission thinks are less restrictive strict FBI standards in criminal investigations.

Faith-based groups and civil rights advocates are also spearheading efforts to win similar measures in Indiana, Missouri, Florida, Texas, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Maryland, organizers said.

Were asking them to make a commitment to have local police departments commit to being cities where they will reject any information gathering for undocumented immigrants, for political dissenters and religious minorities, said Michael McBride, director of urban strategies for PICO, a national network of faith-based community organizations. JTTFs, we think, are a Trojan horse for extra surveillance, harassment and information gathering by Trumps FBI.

In Pasadena, Calif., in February, the city manager suspended an agreement between the police department and the Department of Homeland Securitys Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, which authorized joint investigations of human trafficking, drug smuggling and other non-immigration related crimes while the city council considers a resolution declaring Pasadena a sanctuary city. Such a move probably would mean that city police would be barred from asking suspects about their immigration status.

In San Francisco, concerns had been building for some time about the scope of the power the FBI has to investigate people even when there is no reasonable suspicion that they have been involved in crimes, civil liberties advocates said.

In 2015, for instance, a city police officer on the JTTF showed up unannounced at Google headquarters in Silicon Valley to interview an employee, who was Muslim, about his travels and relatives in Pakistan. The Office of Citizen Complaints found last August that the incident was a result of a training failure and that it violated a police department rule that required that the officer document in writing a reasonable suspicion that the target is involved in a crime before asking questions about First Amendment-protected activity.

Advocates also expressed concerns that the JTTF might determine that someone it is interviewing is an undocumented immigrant and that the information may wind up in a database that ICE can use.

Our primary goal was not to get the police department to pull out of the JTTF, though we welcomed it, said Brittney Rezaei, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in San Francisco. But our goal was to make sure that if they are participating, theyre following our laws in the Bay Area.

A federal law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue, defended the bureau. Task force officers do not generally seek to interview anyone without reasonable suspicion, he said. We dont have the resources or bandwidth to waste our time going after people without at least some suspicion that they may have knowledge of potential terrorist activity.

He also said that though a task force officer may learn that someone overstayed his visa, if that person is not linked to terrorist activity, the FBI is not likely to pursue a case. Were not going to scoop a guy up just for an overstay, he said.

And an ICE official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said ICE agents on the task force give priority to cases involving significant criminal and terrorism activity, not to visa overstays.

There is precedent for San Franciscos move. In 2005, Portland, Oregon, pulled its police department out of the local JTTF amid concerns that mass interviews of Muslims being conducted by the task force during the Bush administration violated state anti-discrimination laws.

In Los Angeles, which has the nations third-largest FBI field office, the police department is not likely to withdraw from the task force, said Deputy Chief Michael Downing, who runs the Los Angeles Police Departments counterterrorism and special operations bureau.

If major city police departments pull out of the JTTFs, Downing said, its a potential disaster. Local police have the best connections to the communities they serve, he said, and the FBI cant do this by themselves, and major city police departments cant do this by themselves.

The San Francisco police spokesman, Andraychak, said a decision to rejoin would be up to the city police commission.

Commission member Bill Hing, a University of San Francisco law professor and expert on immigration law, said he is concerned that the Trump administration would take full advantage of whatever partnerships they had with cities to step up deportations.

He said, however, that public safety is our highest priority. He expressed faith that the police department can ensure public safety without violating individual rights. It takes good police work, he said. I know it can sometimes be a very fine line.
BOSTON  Organizers of the citys St. Patricks Day parade reversed course on Friday and said they would allow a group of gay veterans to march in this years parade.

The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council announced on the parades Twitter account that it had signed an acceptance letter that would clear the way for OutVets to participate.

A lawyer for OutVets said late Friday that the group looked forward to marching proudly and representing LGBTQ veterans.

We are honored and humbled by all the outpouring of support that has been displayed for our LGBTQ veterans  who are one of the most unrepresented demographics in our veterans community, said lawyer said Dee Dee Edmondson.

An earlier vote by the council to bar OutVets from marching drew immediate condemnation from high-profile politicians, some of whom said they would not march if the gay veterans were excluded. It caused some sponsors to back out and stirred up a furor on social media.

South Boston Allied War Veterans Council member Edward Flynn said Friday night he was proud the group invited OutVets to be part of the parade. South Boston is an inclusive community, and with this development, we are one step closer to a parade that reflects that spirit, he said.

It was unclear if the reversal of the decision was a result of a second vote by the council.

I decided this is a wrong that has to be corrected, the parades lead organizer, Tim Duross, told WHDH-TV.

Earlier Friday, OutVets executive director Bryan Bishop said the vets had been told the original decision to bar them was because of their rainbow symbols.

Bishop said the council offered to allow the group to march if its members did not display the rainbow flag, a symbol of gay pride, which is on their banner and their jackets.

The group said no.

I almost fell out of the chair at that point, said, You gotta be kidding me,' Bishop said.

He said OutVets has displayed the rainbow at the parade the last two years.

It infuriates me to look at the veterans that I know, gay and straight, who have served this country with valor and honor and distinction, and just because youre a veteran who happens to be gay your service is somehow less than someone who is not of the LGBT community or someone whos not gay, he said.

Edmondson, the OutVets lawyer, earlier Friday described the acceptance letter as generic and said it did not make fully clear whether the gay group would be allowed to display its banner.

Another veterans group, Veterans for Peace, said it also had been denied permission to participate. That group has been trying unsuccessfully for several years to march.

OutVets was first allowed to participate in the parade in 2015, in what was seen as a groundbreaking decision after parade organizers had, for decades, resisted the inclusion of gay groups. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1995 upheld the councils right to bar gay groups on free speech grounds.

The council said in a statement Thursday its decision had been misinterpreted.

The council is accepting of all people and organizations, but it will not permit messages that conflict with the overall theme of the parade, the statement said.

That decision resulted in backlash from other veterans organizations.

The council is made up of representatives from several South Boston American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts.

The Michael J. Perkins American Legion Post said it had withdrawn from the council.

The Perkins post in a statement on its Facebook page didnt mention the OutVets decision but said it decided to withdraw because recent efforts by several non-veteran parade volunteers to guide decision making has resulted in the subversion of the council as an organization being led by veterans.

Another former member of the council, the Thomas J. Fitzgerald VFW Post, assailed the councils decision to bar OutVets.

The Fitzgerald post withdrew from the council last year over the decision to bar Veterans for Peace.

___

Associated Press writers Rodrique Ngowi and Bob Salsberg contributed to this report.
Albuquerques Silent Falcon solar-powered drone will soon monitor agriculture, natural gas and forestry operations throughout Canada under a new partnership with a Vancouver firm.

Silent Falcon UAS Technologies announced the deal this month with Precision Vector Aerial Inc. of British Columbia. That company will exclusively use the Silent Falcon for all its air monitoring services, expected to begin this summer. Precision Vector will also help Silent Falcon sell its systems throughout Canada.

That could put at least 10 Silent Falcon systems, and possibly many more, in Canadian skies within five years, said Precision President and CEO Lorne Borgal. Silent Falcons long-range and long-flight-endurance capabilities make it ideal for Precisions ground teams to fly drones beyond line of sight, he said.

It is by far the most advanced and commercially viable unmanned aerial vehicle for (those) operations, Borgal said. Five hours airborne, 100-kilometer range, and the ability to map 6,000 acres in one flight symbolize what makes this a unique platform.

The partnership could help blaze a new market for Silent Falcon in Canada and elsewhere because most commercial drones operating worldwide today are rotary-type craft made for short flights of less than one hour and up to three kilometers, said Silent Falcon CEO John Brown. As a result, using drones for things like surveying oil and gas pipelines, or monitoring crop health on farms of 2,000 acres and up, is only just beginning.

Its in those large, beyond-the-line-of-sight missions that we see the most opportunities, and thats the market Precision Vector is focusing on, Brown said. That market is still very new.

The Silent Falcon is homegrown technology that Brown and Colorado company Bye Aerospace launched in Albuquerque in 2010. The solar-powered drone is made with light-weight carbon fiber and designed to carry a broad range of sensors. Its equipped with state-of-the-art communications technology for networked, real-time monitoring from the ground.

Its not just an aircraft, but an integral system to collect many kinds of data, from video and photos to hyperspectral imaging, Brown said.

The company assembles the drones at a 5,000-square-foot facility in Albuquerques Southeast Heights. Its targeting foreign markets now because Federal Aviation Administration regulations dont yet permit commercial drones to fly beyond the line of sight in the U.S.

The company earned about $1 million in revenue annually in the last two years, but it now has nearly $20 million in new contracts in the pipeline, Brown said.

Precision Vector flew a demonstration flight for an Alberta gas pipeline company last year.

The company had flown four other unmanned systems, but only the Silent Falcon was able to detect gas leaks, Borgal said. Its the best UAV platform I could find for our operations.
SANTA FE  A man accused of trespassing at Nambe Pueblo after the tribal council had banished him pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to 90 days in prison.

Steve Romero, 32, who has a Santa Fe County address, was charged with a federal misdemeanor trespassing count June 2016. In February last year, the Nambe Tribal Council banished Romero, a non-Indian, from entering any land within the pueblo boundaries.

The Journal has previously reported that the banishment resolution said that Romero posed a grave risk to the health, safety and welfare of members of the community, and that his banishment is specifically to maintain peace within the Pueblo and in respect for the Laws of the Pueblo. There were no specifics cited.

American Indian tribes across the country have in recent years revived the centuries-old practice of banishment as a form of punishment to deal with violent criminals, drug abusers and gang members on reservations.

As part of Romeros guilty plea, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office, he admitted that he was served with the banishment resolution on March 7, 2016, but went back onto Nambe land and stayed four times.

Romero has a criminal record that involves a wide range of offenses, including drug and domestic violence charges.

According to the federal criminal complaint that charged him with trespassing, Romero was found at the same Nambe residence three times in April and each time was ordered to leave the pueblo. Then, on June 13, Romeros wifes sister called the Bureau of Indian Affairs to ask agency officers to escort her to the same residence so she could pick up her 10-month-old nephew, apparently Romeros son.

Steve Romero was holding the baby when law enforcement officials came to arrest him. Court records show that both Steve and wife Jeanette Romero have been arrested multiple times for offenses including shoplifting and drug possession. A record from September of 2013 indicates Jeanette Romero filed for divorce, but the motion was denied in district court.

After his prison time, Romero must also serve a year of supervised release.
CIBOLO, Texas  Officers searched a rain-swollen South Texas creek for a missing woman after her car was swept away by high water and her husband was rescued clinging to a tree.

Emergency personnel on Friday searched Santa Clara Creek near Cibolo (SEE-boh-loh), 20 miles northeast of San Antonio. Cibolo police say the couples submerged vehicle was found Friday afternoon.

Chief Gary Cox says the couple tried to locate a friend whose car broke down around 1 a.m. Friday on Interstate 10. They missed their exit, tried another road and their car was swept away by highway flooding.

Road crews, several hours later, were erecting high-water barricades when they heard screams and found the man in a tree. He suffered minor injuries.

Officials didnt immediately say what happened to the couples friend.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  A Santa Fe County man has been sentenced to 90 days in prison for trespassing onto Nambe Pueblo land despite being banned by tribal leaders.

Federal prosecutors say 32-year-old Steve Romero pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass during a hearing Friday in Albuquerque. As part of his sentence, he must also serve a year of supervised release.

Romero, who is not a pueblo member, was charged in June 2016 after he entered tribal land on four occasions after being banished by the tribal council earlier that year.

Authorities did not say what led to the banishment.

Such federal trespass cases are rare in New Mexico, but Native American communities around the country have been turning to banishment in recent years as a way to tackle problems related to illegal drugs and alcohol.
The Department of Correctional Services will shuffle several wardens to different facilities because of the National Guard deployment of Rich Cruickshank, warden at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, Director Scott Frakes announced Friday.

Robert Madsen has been appointed warden of the Nebraska State Penitentiary to replace Cruickshank, who is a brigade command sergeant major of the Nebraska Army National Guard. He will be deployed with the Guard for about a year.

Madsen has been the warden at the Community Corrections CenterLincoln and has served the department 28 years. He was deputy warden at the penitentiary prior to his appointment in 2015 to the Community Corrections Center.

Frakes said he reorganized the leadership to maintain the quality needed to operate correctional facilities.

Appointing people in a temporary capacity as warden for an extended period of time would hinder the agencys efforts to transform the correctional system, he said in a news release. The permanent assignment of wardens ensures clear leadership and allows progress to continue.

The department highly respects Cruickshanks commitment and service to the country, he said.

"His leadership is invaluable to the mission of this agency, but we also support the National Guards work to keep the nation safe, Frakes said. We look forward to his safe return in 2018 when we will evaluate the needs of the agency and determine where his talents as warden are best suited.

The department hires and supports current and former members of the military. In 2016, 60 Corrections Department employees were active National Guard members, Frakes said.

Charles West, warden at the Community Corrections Center-Omaha has been appointed warden at the Lincoln Community Corrections Center. West has served as warden in Omaha since 2010. He has been with the agency 40 years.

Ryan Mahr, warden of the Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility will be moved to the Community Corrections Center in Omaha, but will also lead the youth facility.

Combining the leadership of these two Omaha facilities works well as they sit approximately two blocks apart and have a combined capacity of 248 beds, Frakes said. Mahr, a 32-year veteran of the department, previously served as warden of the Omaha Community Corrections Center for nine years.
Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School held a protest Friday in Albuquerque and Santa Fe to highlight budget cuts that forced the high-performing charter school to close for a furlough day.

About 30 students, parents and staff gathered in front of the sixth- to 12th- grade school at 7801 Jefferson NE, many holding signs with slogans like Go fund me, Id rather be in class, Stop the cuts and My teacher sacrificed a day without pay.

The group traveled to Santa Fe later in the morning to attend a House Education Committee meeting, where they were joined by an additional 30 people.

We feel like it is a travesty to not fund public education, especially a charter school that has shown that we can compete with the rest of the nation, executive director Sam Obenshain told the Journal.

During several rounds of budget reductions, Cottonwood Classical, a school of 700 students, lost roughly $122,000 for the current fiscal year. Lawmakers are debating additional cuts for fiscal year 2018, which begins July 1.

Obenshain said his staff looked at a number of options to cover the shortfall and agreed to take an unpaid day off so they could all contribute something.

The furlough  which will save about $18,000  was scheduled during the legislative session to make a political statement, Obenshain said.

It is great to see the kind of support we have, he added.

Sixth-grader Alison Unruh attended the protest with her sister, Abigail Unruh, an eighth-grader, and her mother, Elizabeth Clewett.

The 11-year-old said she was sorry to see school staffers take a hit to their paychecks.

One of my teachers almost cried talking about it, Unruh said.

Clewett worried that the budget cuts send students a message that the state doesnt value schools.

These are really serious threats to education, she said.

Several protesters noted that New Mexico is already near the bottom of the nation on most measures of educational success, including test scores and graduation rates. The last thing kids need is reduced classroom time, they said.

(Education) is really not the place to cut, said Martine Edwards, mother of two Cottonwood Classical middle school students.

Across the state, districts are struggling with money woes driven by a decline in oil and gas revenue.

Albuquerque Public Schools lost $25 million for fiscal year 2017, pulling from cash reserves and reorganizing its central office to cover a large portion of the cut.

On Wednesday, during a radio call-in show on budget issues, APS Chief Financial Officer Tami Coleman said it would be hard for APS to absorb a $12 million reduction projected for the 2018 budget year without cutting employee salaries through steps such as furloughs.
DENVER  A Colorado company that owns over a dozen strip clubs around the country is facing a federal lawsuit over allegations that it exploited its dancers by requiring them to pay fees in order to work.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Denver, alleges that the clubs, including PTs Showclubs in Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana and Maine, charged the workers fees based on the time of day they worked, which were sometimes doubled for special events, and also took portions of their tips to pay bouncers and DJs. The lawsuit also claims that dancers had to pay a fee to DJs for every dance they performed, were required to pay for valet parking and also had to pay $6 for bottles of water if they needed a drink.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Georgina Santich, who worked at PTs Showclub in Denver for nine years, but her lawyers are also seeking compensation for potentially hundreds of other women who work in the clubs owned by the Lakewood, Colorado company, VCG Holding Corp. It declined to comment.

Several other lawsuits making similar claims have been filed against strip clubs in recent years. Many allege that clubs wrongly categorized dancers as contract workers rather than employees entitled to at least earn minimum wage.

Last month, a former dancer at a Wisconsin strip club that bills itself as the largest adult entertainment center in the Midwest filed a federal lawsuit alleging that managers required dancers to share so much of their tips that they did not earn minimum wage or overtime.

In 2015, Ricks Cabaret in New York, which was accused of requiring dancers to return some of their tips, settled a class action lawsuit for $15 million.

One of Santichs lawyers, Mari Newman, said many strip clubs continue to operate by charging fees and extracting tips despite the flurry of lawsuits.

My hope is that the tide is turning, said Newman.

She previously sued an unrelated, independently owned strip club in Grand Junction, Colorado on behalf of dancers which resulted in a settlement.
More than four decades ago, comedian George Carlin famously  and profanely  riffed on the seven dirty words you can never say on television.

The District of Columbias email system, it turns out, has a lot more verboten words than that: 42.

The words include familiar profanities, such as the f-word and its variations, the n-word and other racial slurs, and a few that can be heard on network television, according to a list provided to The Washington Post.

This is not prudishness, political correctness or an attempt to raise the level of civil discourse, officials said. Its cybersecurity.

A test email from The Post with one of the offending terms to a dc.gov email address brought a bounceback notice: Your recent message . . . contains unacceptable words or phrases. Please contact OCTO Citywide Messaging for assistance or reword your message.

OCTO is the citys Office of the Chief Technology Officer. Mike Rupert, a spokesman for the agency, said the list of dirty words is part of a spam filter the city instituted about eight years ago.

The filter blocked more than 276,000 pieces of spam last year, Rupert said, and must be robust because D.C. agencies are often confused with federal ones, making them bigger targets. He added that 95 percent of successful phishing attempts stem from human error.

D.C. is especially unique because people think were federal government, so spammers really turn it up for us, Rupert wrote in an email. He was unaware of any significant complaint about the filter.

The filter has changed over time, he said. A previous list of forbidden words topped 100 terms, including some that are less-commonly considered profane, such as bimbos and trailer trash.

Most of the time, an OCTO bounceback message is a quirk of communicating with the District. However, some social workers expressed annoyance with a system that can block descriptions of sexual assault.

Safe Shores is a nonprofit organization that works with the District to identify victims of sexual assault. One version of the agencys forensic interview request form, which is used to schedule interviews with possible victims, contains a warning about the citys spam filter.

Be aware the city email filters can block emails containing inappropriate language (words we often use in working sexual abuse cases), the form reads. The form suggests using email-friendly, professional words and phrases when describing sexual assault allegations, including genitals (not penis or vagina). Safe Shores declined to comment for this article.

Gwendolyn Harter, a clinical supervisor at a nonprofit that works with the city on foster care and adoptions, said she receives bounceback messages a couple of times a month from dc.gov addresses. Using clinical language to describe threats and physical or sexual abuse, she said, can lead to unnecessary ambiguity.

It creates a problem when we just cant report the facts, she said. And the words we can use kind of soften it a little bit.

A spokeswoman with the Districts Child and Family Services Agency, which handles foster care and adoption, said sexual assault is reported to the agency on forms attached to emails, which arent blocked by the filter. The filter also doesnt prevent those with dc.gov addresses from sending emails containing dirty words to each other.

Rupert said agencies that deal with public health or public safety can have the filter turned off.

We have turned off the filter for agencies who have requested due to the nature of their business and need to be easily accessible by certain customers, he said.

In the world of spam, it turns out, each municipality is its own master. A spokesman for Montgomery Countys Department of Technology Services in Maryland said it uses the spam filter that is part of Microsoft Office 365, the countys email platform, but doesnt block outside emails containing specific words.

Michael Dent, the chief information security officer for Fairfax County in Virginia, said the county doesnt use a filter that results in bounceback messages  but that doesnt mean D.C. shouldnt.

The neat thing about locals is that we all have our own sovereign governments and govern our own way, he said. D.C. is a different monster entirely.

Justin Cappos, an assistant professor of systems and security at New York University, said the Districts approach to spam isnt surprising. The only problem: Bounceback messages might help spammers.

Indeed, propriety and the public interest demand that the full list of 42 words remain a mystery. Most cannot be printed in a family newspaper  and even if they could, printing them might compromise D.C. cybersecurity.

Its often the case that you wont do bounceback messages . . . because you dont want to tip them off on how they can bypass your spam filter, Cappos said.
SAN FRANCISCO  A self-driving car company founded by Google is presenting new evidence to support allegations that a former manager stole technology sold to Uber to help the ride-hailing service build its own robot-powered vehicles.

Waymo, a project hatched by Google eight years ago, wove its tale of deceit in sworn statements filed Friday in a San Francisco federal court.

The documents try to make a case that former Waymo manager Anthony Levandowski conceived a scheme to heist key trade secrets before leaving the company early last year to launch an autonomous vehicle startup that he had been discussing with Uber.

Its the latest salvo in a battle that started last month when Waymo sued Levandowski and Uber for alleged theft of the technology for LiDAR, an array of sensors that enable self-driving cars to see whats around them so they can safely navigate roads. Experts say an effective LiDAR system typically takes years to develop.

After leaving Waymo, Levandowski started a self-driving truck company called Otto that Uber bought for $680 million to accelerate an expansion into autonomous vehicles.

Uber brushed off Waymos claims as a baseless attempt to slow down a competitor.

Waymo is mounting its attack with the help of one of Levandowskis former colleagues, Pierre-Yves Droz, the leader of Waymos LiDAR project.

In a sworn statement, Droz said Levandowski confided in January 2016 that he planned to replicate Waymos technology at Otto. A Google forensics expert said he determined that Levandowski began downloading thousands of files containing Waymos trade secrets in December 2015, according to another sworn statement.

Levandowski had previously acknowledged to Droz that he began discussing self-driving cars with Uber in 2015, according to the documents. Levandowski, told me that it would be nice to create a new self-driving car startup and that Uber would be interested in buying the team responsible for the LiDAR we were developing at Google, Droz said in his declaration.

Then, again in January 2016, Levandowski said that he had been at Ubers San Francisco headquarters seeking an investment in his startup, Droz said.

Waymo also filed papers seeking a court order to block Uber from using any of the technology that it believes Levandowski stole.

If a judge grants that request, it could force Uber to halt its current tests of self-driving cars in Pittsburgh and Phoenix. Its unclear how much of the technology targeted in Waymos lawsuit is being used in the Uber self-driving cars that are currently picking up passengers in those cities.

Levandowski wasnt alone in his alleged betrayal, according to Waymo.

Other sworn statements filed Friday identified two other former Waymo employees accused of stealing technology in July 2016 shortly before they joined Uber. They are: Sameer Kshirsagar, Waymos former global supply manager, and Radu Radutu, an engineer in Waymos LiDAR department.

The dispute between Waymo and Uber highlights the high stakes in the race to build self-driving cars that promise not only to revolutionize the way people get around but also the automobile industry. Waymo and Uber are two of the early leaders, while long-established car companies such as Ford, Toyota and General Motors are scrambling to catch up.

Waymo now operates as a subsidiary of Googles corporate parent, Alphabet Inc.
A House committee this week advanced a bill to renew Washington, D.C.s federally funded vouchers program  the only one like it in the country  raising larger questions about whether the federal government should promote the use of tax dollars for private schools.

The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act, known as SOAR, gives federal dollars to low-income D.C. students who want to transfer from struggling public schools to a private school. The program, created by Congress in 2004, also provides additional federal dollars to traditional public schools and public charter schools in the District.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform debated the bill Wednesday and voted Friday to extend the program for five more years. The legislation will next go to the full House for a vote.

The bill represents the first fight over vouchers to play out on a national stage since President Trump, a proponent of education alternatives he calls school choice, won the election.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is a champion of private school vouchers, and Trump has said he wants to spend $20 billion to help states expand such programs.

The American Federation for Children, an advocacy group founded by DeVos, called the bill an educational lifeline for low-income D.C. families and said Fridays vote sends a message that lawmakers consider the program a success.

The Oversight Committee took up the bill, sponsored by Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, after debating another Chaffetz proposal that would encourage federal agencies to move out of the nations capital.

Chaffetz said vouchers allow low-income students to attend private schools that might otherwise be beyond their parents financial means.

The District of Columbia school system has consistently had a host of challenges and certainly rankings near the bottom in terms of its performance, he said.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Districts nonvoting representative, argued that parents in the city already have robust choices, pointing out that half of public school students attend charter schools that are independent from D.C. Public Schools, while 75 percent of DCPS students attend schools that are outside their neighborhoods and chosen by their parents through a city lottery.

Norton said she opposes vouchers, noting there was no evidence that the program resulted in better academic outcomes for students.

The D.C. voucher program has failed its central purpose: It has not improved academic achievement, as measured by math and reading tests and that ought to be the test. The program is therefore patently unnecessary, she said.

But she said the 1,154 students in the program should be allowed to continue until they graduate from high school.

Democrats offered amendments to require private school voucher programs to obey civil rights laws that protect LGBT students and those with disabilities. The proposed changes failed along party lines in the GOP-controlled committee.

D.C. officials have struggled with how to respond to the bill; while they generally oppose using federal dollars for private schools, they do not want to lose the public and charter school funding tied to the voucher program.

A majority of the D.C. Council urged House Republicans to phase out the federal school voucher program, even though Mayor Muriel E. Bowser supports it.

Once the money is appropriated for this program, then well see what kind of beer muscles the City Council has because they dont have to accept the money, Chaffetz said.

Norton explained that federal dollars for the program are distributed by the U.S. Department of Education via a local nonprofit group, so the Council could not reject the money.

Unions representing teachers said vouchers hurt public schools because they funnel scarce tax dollars to private institutions that are unaccountable.

They may discriminate against a student based on his or her gender, disability, religion, economic background, national origin, academic record, English language ability, or disciplinary history, Marc Egan, director of government relations at the National Education Association, said in a letter.

A Washington Post review found that most students enrolled in the voucher program attend Catholic schools but hundreds use their voucher dollars to attend schools that are in unconventional settings, such as a family-run K-12 school operating out of a storefront and a Nation of Islam school based in a converted Deanwood residence.

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-Va., who represents parts of Fairfax County, and Rep. Jamie B. Raskin, D-Md., a freshman from Montgomery County, defended the District. Connolly offered an amendment to impose stricter evaluation standards, which was defeated by Republicans.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said that although Democrats perceive the bills nondiscrimination clause as inadequate, students would be safeguarded by the civil rights protections granted by D.C. law.

That prompted Norton to interject: These are private schools. So the District law does not cover private schools.

The program was a priority for former House speaker John A. Boehner and continues to be important to his successor, Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis. Both Boehner and Ryan are products of Catholic schools, although Ryan attended a public high school. Ryan sends his three children to Catholic school.



Emma Brown contributed to this report.
TV ad-network and media technology company Amagi Media Labs has launched Amagi Measure, a new measuring tool designed to help advertisers assess their geo-targeted campaigns and generate spot level ratings. Amagi Measure is an open interface that enables the measurement of key metrics like GRPs (Gross Rating Points) by matching BARC monitoring report with minute by minute channel ratings data. The platform provides ratings to users across multiple target groups and markets. Moreover, advertisers can also derive reach and frequency of their campaigns using the tool.

Recently, Amagi partnered with BARC India to monitor geo-targeted TV campaigns. All subscribers of BARC India can now access geo-targeted adex through Adsplit module on BARCs BMW software. Subscribers can use this adex information and minute by minute channel ratings to get spot ratings on Amagi Measure. Spot level ratings on Amagi Measure are as accurate as post evaluation report on the BARC India Media Work Station (BMW), a software application specially designed to analyse media and advertising audience results, as it matches spot timing on BARC monitoring report with each minute channel ratings. Amagi Measure is an open platform and does not require any user registration or login.

Commenting on the launch of the new tool, Baskar Subramanian, Co-Founder, Amagi Media Labs, said Geo-targeted advertising metrics have eluded the Indian advertiser for a long time, partly due to lack of robust measurement, trust and transparency. As a pioneer in geo-targeted TV advertising, we have been following the industry and its progress very closely to understand measurement metrics at a microscopic level. Thus, to address this we have introduced Amagi Measure to ensure that advertisers receive accurate ratings, and understand the overall impact of their campaigns.

Amagi Measure also helps advertisers to track the performance of their competitorson the geo-targeted platform with single data extract. Media planners and marketers can now easily measure the efficacy of geo-targeted ad campaigns.
The Federal Council

Bern, 10.03.2017 - The Federal Council wants to strengthen the financing activities of groups in Switzerland. During its meeting on 10 March 2017, it approved the changes to the Withholding Tax Ordinance. The amendments will enter into force on 1 April 2017.

At present, groups established in Switzerland often carry out targeted financing activities abroad. In this way, they avoid withholding tax, which would be due in certain situations were they to conduct the financing via group companies established in Switzerland. The Swiss economy thereby misses out on some of the added value in this sector.

For this added value to be retained in Switzerland, the Federal Council proposed adapting the Withholding Tax Ordinance. This amendment concerns those groups in which a Swiss group company (guarantor) provides a guarantee for a bond of a foreign group company (issuer) belonging to the same group. Forwarding of funds from the foreign issuer to a group company established in Switzerland will be possible up to the maximum amount of the equity capital of the issuer without the interest on it being subject to withholding tax.

Insofar as the ordinance amendment now decided strengthens the establishment of headquarter activities with further central corporate functions in general and treasury activities in particular, value creation will be enhanced. This will give rise to additional tax receipts in terms of these companies' profit tax (direct effect), suppliers' profit tax (indirect effect) and the income tax and VAT of additional employees and higher paid staff (induced effect). In contrast, any short-term reductions in withholding tax receipts should be negligible.

The proposal for a reform of the Withholding Tax Act (switchover to the paying agent principle) submitted by the Federal Council for consultation on 17 December 2014 would sustainably resolve the current problems in principle. However, the reform has been suspended for the time being (awaiting the outcome of the vote on the popular initiative "Yes to protecting privacy"), and the next steps will be decided after the vote.

Address for enquiries

Communications, Federal Tax Administration FTA

Tel. +41 58 464 90 00, media@estv.admin.ch

Publisher

The Federal Council

https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html



Federal Department of Finance

https://www.efd.admin.ch/efd/en/home.html




We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain.
Last week 5G Americas welcomed Samsung Electronics America as a new member of the wireless industry trade association. This is the first time Samsung Electronics becomes a part of the organization, which was previously known as 3G Americas which then became 4G Americas, before it was renamed to 5G Americas in 2016 in order to reflect the groups new interests in expanding 5G technologies across the region.

Up until now, Samsung Electronics had no ties with 5G Americas, despite the fact that the South Korean tech giant already is a member of various organizations whose goals are to push 5G networking into the mainstream. This changed last week when 5G Americas welcomed Samsung Electronics to its board of governors. 5G Americas President Chris Pearson said in a press release that Samsung Electronics achievements and expertise in the wireless ecosystem will be of value in advancing the next generation of wireless technologies. As a new member of 5G Americas, Samsung Electronics joins forces with a wide list of partners who are also part of the wireless industry trade association, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Qualcomm, Intel, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Ericsson, America Movil, Cisco, CommScope, Entel, Kathrein, Mitel, and Telefonica. Its also interesting to note that although Samsung Electronics has been conducting 5G tests and trials on US soil in collaboration with Verizon Wireless, the countrys largest carrier is not a member of the 5G Americas organization. Whether or not this will change remains to be seen, however, as stated by President Chris Pearson, 5G Americas doesnt make guesswork in regards to whom might apply to join the organization and whom might be a valuable asset. Nevertheless, the organization is always open to new members.

5G networking represents a very important step in the evolution of communications, more so than any other prior advancement in mobile networking. This is due to the fact that 5G networking opens up new opportunities beyond traditional mobile networks, and can become the backbone of various technological advancements including automation, self-driving cars, and everything encompassed by the Internet of Things. Samsung Electronics has been working on researching and developing 5G technologies for nearly half a decade, and more recently, the companys latest efforts in this area led to the unveiling of a handful of 5G products at Mobile World Congress 2017. During the same event, Samsung Electronics also demoed 5G Guaranteed Latency (GLA) as an end-to-end network slicing solution in collaboration with Deutsche Telekom.
It seems the latest security update (March 2017) for the Nexus 6 is likely to have been pulled back by Google. The information comes after various reports have now started to surface on social media detailing that there is an issue with the update and Android Pay. More specifically, it seems the issue is with the update and the SafetyNet API, which among other things, underlies part of the running of Android Pay on compatible devices  such as the Nexus 6.

At present there does not seem to be any formal confirmation from Google that the update has indeed being pulled. However, as Android Police has pointed out, it does seem as though the updates are no longer listed on the Android factory image or OTA update pages. Which does in itself act as some form of confirmation, due to the inability for users to be able to directly pull the update. Furthermore, the Nexus account on Twitter has been responding to some questions from users and specifically stating that they are aware of the issue and they are investigating it. The assumption there being that once a fix has been resolved the update for the Nexus 6 will become available again, and likely in an amended form.

Some Nexus users will already be very familiar with SafetyNet, as reports did surface about this particular API not long after Android Pay first became available. The reason being is that SafetyNet essentially looks to identify any tampering with devices. Which did mean that rooted Nexus users were unable to make use of Android Pay  due to SafetyNet identifying rooted Nexus devices as ones which had been tampered with and automatically disabling Android Pay. It is unclear at the moment what the current issue is with SafetyNet, although the user reports do seem to be confirming that SafetyNet checks are failing on devices that have not been tampered with, following the update. As to be expected, once Google has finished its investigation, firmer details on the likely reason for the issue, as well as details on when the update will become available again, will be made known.
Earlier this week, WikiLeaks put out a pretty massive leak about the CIA and their hacking tools. It was unveiled that the CIA can actually use things like your Samsung Smart TV to listen in on your conversations and such. It was also said that the CIA had been able to hack into end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Signal, and see what youre saying and who youre saying it too. Well that is actually not true, and this is because there has been zero evidence to show that it is true.

The deal here is that the CIA can hack devices, but not the messaging apps themselves. Which is a far different thing altogether. And as Edward Snowden had mentioned on Twitter already, the fact that the CIA has to hack vulnerable devices like smartphones and tablets, means that they have not had luck compromising apps like Signal and WhatsApp. The New York Times also mentions that the biggest revelation to come out of this WikiLeaks dump is just how secure these encrypted messaging apps truly are. The CIA has also not mentioned any of these apps in their documentation, which is further proof that the apps themselves have not been compromised. Instead the CIA has had to resort to compromising each device one by one. Which is a pretty daunting task to think about, considering each device is different and secured in a different way.

Many people werent happy with the news that the CIA is spying on everyone, including using their own TV to listen in on what people are saying (even when the TV is off), but this is what the CIA has to do to protect Americans and the country. Its not something that people like to think about, but it is a necessary evil. Especially with terrorist groups using messaging apps to communicate with each other, and recruit new people to their group. But the news here is that your favorite encrypted messaging apps have not been compromised, and likely wont be anytime soon. So you can rest easy and continue using WhatsApp, Signal, Facebook Messenger or any other encrypted messaging app.
The Google Assistant is still rather new, and theres plenty for Google to work on here to make it even better. One of those changes or additions is more languages. Right now, Google Assistant is only available in English. Which is mostly fine, but not everyone in the world speaks or understands English. And now it appears that Google is testing out Canadian French for the Assistant. According to a screenshot sent to Android Central, which shows the Google Trusted Tester site, and that Google Assistant is indeed being tested in Canadian French. They are currently looking for testers to use the Google Assistant in Allo and on Mobile, which with Assistant having just recently expanded to just about every Android smartphone with Marshmallow or Nougat, it means that almost anyone can help them out.

Google has added Hindi to the Assistant, but it only works in Allo. Its also important to point out here that Hindi was added before the Assistant had expanded to other devices, besides the Pixel and Pixel XL. So that could change in the near future. But it is good to see that Canadian French is coming to more than just Allo. Seeing as not everyone uses or may want to use Allo for their messaging needs. Now where Google is preparing to test out Canadian French for Assistant, this doesnt mean that itll be rolling imminently. In fact, its tough to say when it might start rolling out. It could be next week, it could also be months from now. But it wouldnt be surprising for the search giant to announce a slew of new languages supported by Assistant at Google I/O in May.

For those that might be unaware of what Google Assistant is, its the evolution of Google Now, basically. Its also seen as Googles competitor to Amazons Alexa. The Google Assistant can answer simple queries, but it can also turn on your lights, adjust your thermostat and so much more. Its much more powerful than Google Now was, and thats definitely to be expected. Hopefully Google will be adding more languages to Assistant in the near future.
Google is having a machine learning competition for startups and there is over $2 million in prizes to be had. Granted, $2 million is not just one single prize that will be awarded to an individual startup, rather it will be the collective amount that is spread out across all of the winners in regards to the value of the prizes. Nevertheless, thats a big chunk of change and a nice little incentive to entice any potentially interested startups to throw their hat into the ring. Should there be any startups out there that are considering this competition as a launchpad to get them some recognition, theyll want to get started with the process soon as entries will need to be submitted by April 16th of this year, which doesnt leave a whole lot of time to get things in order, though it also isnt just around the corner either. Still, the sooner the better as people are competing for pennies here.

The competition was announced this week during Google Clouds Next conference, with the aim being to make machine learning technology more widely available to startups so they can incorporate the technology into their own services and roll those services out to their consumers, while also being powerful and simple to use.

While applications begin today and must be submitted by April 16th, the finalists wont be selected until sometime in June of this year, with the winners being selected sometime later on in the Summer when Google Cloud holds the Final Pitch-Off for the competition. The grand prize winner will receive $1 Million in Google Cloud Platform credit, as well as ten 12-month G Suite licenses and 1:1 technical support from Google. The runner up will receive $500,000 in Google Cloud Platform credit as well as the same 1:1 support and the same number of 12-month licenses for G Suite. Additionally, Google Cloud will be offering any of the remaining finalists who werent selected for a winner spot $200,000 in GCP credit and ten 12-month G Suite licenses. Alongside the prizes from Google, Google Cloud has partnered up with two investors, Data Collective and Emergence Capital, to offer winners a total of $1 Million in investment ($500,000 from each investor) to put towards further company product and service development. For any startups interested in applying there are a few requirements. Startups must be based in the U.S. and have raised less than $5 Million in funding, and be using machine learning technology in their entry product actively.
T-Mobile CFO, Braxton Carter, was recently noted stating that one of T-Mobiles main goals going forward is to further reduce the LTE gap it has with Verizon. The comments were reportedly made this week during Deutsche Banks 25th Annual Media & Telecom Conference, held in Florida. Carter explained that while T-Mobile has made significant gains in this particular area of late, closing out the last 700,000 square miles in the U.S. that Verizon has an edge on us on is of particular importance to the uncarrier.

While T-Mobile already has agreements in place with a number of carriers to offset the areas where it is more affected, the comments made by Carter suggest that if the quality of the service received by the end user is not up to par, then T-Mobile will want to improve on it. In particular, Carter explained that T-Mobile wants its customers to enjoy the same quality of experience no matter where you go in the U.S. Although, Carter did concede that closing the gap further is not something that is likely to happen overnight or in the immediate short term. Instead, Carter explained that T-Mobile will knock out that last 700,000 square miles over the coming years. Adding that while they have more work to do, T-Mobile has a ton of room to do it.

In explaining as to why it has taken as long as it has to close out the difference in LTE coverage between T-Mobile and Verizon, Carter notes that the companys previous lack of low-band spectrum has played a significant role and placed T-Mobile at a major disadvantage when trying to expand its LTE footprint, compared to the other national carriers. Essentially forcing T-Mobile to focus more on built up urban areas. Further adding that the game changer was when T-Mobile finally did gain access to low-band spectrum. Which did seem to be immediately apparent as early as January of 2016, when T-Mobile announced that it had expanded its LTE network coverage (geographically) in 2015 by as much as 250-percent, due to the 700 MHz spectrum it had managed to secure the year before (2014). One of the major steps that has led the carrier to the point it is at now.
With the UKs new yearly budget, the government will introduce a 20% tax on top of all roaming charges outside of the EU. The UKs Chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced a number of changes for the tech industry as part of the yearly budget. Among these was the controversial announcement that the government would start charging a 20% tax on top of the base roaming costs to bring the country in line with international standard practice.

Roaming charges have been a topic of controversy in recent years, with many claiming that the charges are too high, so the announcement of an additional 20% tax will surely not please many. Initially, these charges will only be applied to countries outside of the EU, possibly due to the fact that the latter is working towards eliminating all roaming charges by June 2017. Unfortunately, though, nothing has been said about what will happen to roaming charges in the EU once the UK leaves the market in 2019 as scheduled. Now, although the government will be introducing a 20% tax, its currently unknown how much of the increased cost will be offset to customers and how much of it will be absorbed by the UKs network providers. Its likely that these details will be announced shortly, but for now, nothing has been confirmed.

Aside from the new tax, not all was bad for the tech industry. The government announced an investment of 500 million to be spread across the tech industry. More specifically for robotics, AI research and even 5G networks. Undeniably the importance of AI and robotics is constantly increasing, so investments into these areas are likely to future-proof the UKs tech industry. Looking at 5G, the network is undeniably the next big step in the mobile market, so guaranteeing network research is sure to please many, especially UK network providers. Although 5G networks are likely to appear in the US first, the UK shouldnt be too far behind. With 4G, the technology initially arrived in the US market back in 2010, with the UK launching its network in 2012. Itll remain to be seen whether this time gap will be reduced with the next generation network, but for now, though, the inclusion of investments into the network is surely a good sign for the industry.
YEREVAN, MARCH 8, ARMENPRESS. The US California Senates law commission created a special committee on exchange of trade, arts and culture of Armenia, Artsakh.

Gandzasar reported the new committee was established at the suggestion of senator Anthony Portantino, for deepening state commercial, cultural and educational ties with Armenia and Artsakh.

Executive Director of the ANCA Elen Asatryan welcomes the establishment of this unique committee, stressing this is the first time a committee of such level concerning Artsakh is being formed. She also thanked senator Portantino, who was able to realize such an initiative three month after taking office.

The Senator said he is proud he could successfully finish the initiative.

We have lots to give each other, and I am sure Armenia and Artsakh will be wonderful partners for California, he said.

Portantino visited Armenia and Artsakh in June of 2016 with Zareh Sinanyan, member of the Glendale City Hall Council, where he met with Armenian businessmen, heads of innovation centers, mass media and government officials

Other members of the committee include Kevin De Leon, Tony Mendoza, Scott Wilk and Josh Newman.
SUV

Gaydon is reportedly preparing to introduce a mid-engined supercar, a more... down to earth approach compared to the Valkyrie , which should land in 2021.At the Geneva Motor Show, Aston Martin CEO mentioned the mid-engined gene pool that will be created by the said hypercar, as autocar writes.The head honcho discussed the supercar that will follow the halo vehicle, stating that the model will be built on the "form follows function" priciple, while betting on the Aston Martin beauty card.More and more supercars, as well as hypercars (Valkyrie included), come up with hidden aerodynamic moves, which are placed underneath the vehicles. The upcoming supercar will also follow this principle, with Palmer talking about the possibility of the design involving the work of Adrian Newey. It's worth noting that Red Bull F1's aerodynamic genius has also brought a massive contribution to the Valkyrie.Meanwhile, we've brought along a few renderings of a mid-engined Aston, which come from digital artist Adrien Fuinel Max Szwaj, who recently left Ferrari to join Aston Martin as a Chief Technical Officer, will supervise the development of the mid-engined supercar.With the new DB11 having kicked off the twin-turbo era for the British carmaker, the company will also replace the Vantage by the end of the year, while the Vanquish should receive a successor in 2018. One year after that, the company is set to drop its first-ever, the DBX.The automaker's plans also involve a two-vehicle Lagonda range. With this part of the scheme set to be introduced starting from 2020, the idea is to bring an SUV and a sedan under the said banner.Aston Martin had slipped into a corner of the go-fast realm that saw the carmaker periodically needing the kind of "Aston Martin line-up explained" stories, since not all that may aficionados kept track of the company's efforts. And while the expanded model range discussed above might need more attention, its overly appealing nature should be enough motivation for enthusiasts out there.
The dreadful accident happened on the A14 highway, at kilometer 235 + 800, between Loreto and Ancona. Bridge number 167 is the culprit of this tragedy, involving a temporary structure that was supporting the bridge. The two dead were a husband and wife originally from the Italian province of Ascoli Piceno, whose Nissan Qashqai couldnt support the weight of the crumbling overpass.The three injured were construction workers, who were taken to the hospital in Ancona and are reported to be stable. According to officials, there is a reason why this tragedy has happened. Repubblica notes that the temporary structure supporting the overpass wasnt sturdy enough, prompting the head of the Marche region to comment that these things should not occur.Italys Minister of Infrastructure and Transport signed a decree that appoints a commission to analyze how did this catastrophe happen and who will take responsibility for the collapsed bridge and victims. We cooperate with the judiciary branch for a quick determination of liability and truth, said Graziano Delrio, also showing condolences to the victims on behalf of the government.When all is said and done, theres another side to this story that shouldnt be left out. First and foremost, Italys infrastructure is wearing down due to years of economic stagnation, with the countrys output roughly the same as it was back in the late 90s. In truth, the economy has barely grown since Italy had entered the eurozone in 1999. The IMF highlights that Europes third-biggest economy may not recover from the 2008 financial crisis until the mid-2020s.Then theres the problem of earthquakes. Italy s mountainous central region is the epicenter of the quakes, and the Marche region is really close by. The big quake of 2016 that affected most of central Italy affected many towns in Marche, an event that also took its toll on the areas infrastructure.
When asked if he believes CO2 is the primary contributor to global warming, EPA chief Scott Pruitt said "no," on Squawk Box this morning.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see."

NASA and NOAA released independent analyses in January showing earth's surface temperatures were the warmest on record, a change driven largely by CO2, and it is the overwhelming scientific view that human induced carbon emissions are the most important force behind current warming.
The Arts for the Soul music and fine arts series at First Presbyterian Church continued its 10th anniversary season with the annual Sing from the Heart dessert concert and charity fundraiser on Sunday, Feb. 19.

Performing were the First Presbyterian Choir, conductor Dr. Brian Pfoltner, pianist Dr. Charles W. Ore, tenor soloist Malley Keelan and guitar soloist Daniel Martinez.

This year the theme was Our Favorite Things, featuring choir and audience favorites from previous Sing from the Heart concerts. Music included a medley from The Sound of Music, as well as The Phantom of the Opera (complete with an appearance by the phantom himself).

A staple of these concerts is spotlighting a local charity, in this case the Food Bank of Lincoln BackPack program, in which food is sent home with students on weekends to provide for their needs when school is not in session. John Mabry, the Food Banks development director, told the audience about the program and its importance in the city and surrounding area.

At the end of the evening a freewill donation was taken for the BackPack program, bringing in $1,348 for this worthy cause. With great music, fabulous desserts and helping a worthy cause, it was a great evening by all accounts.
The Reentry Alliance of Nebraska (R.A.N.) will host the first of a two-part series on prison overcrowding from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday (March 20) at the Center for People in Need, 3901 N. 27th St. Exhibit tables organized by members of R.A.N. will be open from 6:30 to 9 p.m., allowing attendees to learn more about member agencies.

Moderator for the program, titled Prison overcrowding: How that affects us all, and how you can be a part of the solution, will be Steve Fannon, reentry program manager for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS). Program speakers will be Pastor Ruth Karlsson, director for Released and Restored; Larry Wayne, of Christian Heritage/Community Justice Center; and Grace Sankey-Berman, reentry program administrator for the NDCS.

R.A.N. is comprised of 40-plus service agencies that assist men and women released from incarceration, who are trying to become successful citizens in our communities. R.A.N. would like to provide the public with pertinent information regarding the costs to operate the correctional system, the barriers to attaining immediate improvements and how the community can get involved and help make a positive impact, said Rhonda Mattingly, executive director of Bridges to Hope, 3107 S. Sixth St.
SOMERS  A former Sturtevant village trustee, banished from the state in 2012 for illegal possession of an assault rifle and alleged misconduct with teenage girls, is facing accusations that he sexually assaulted an 8-year-old neighbor.

John H. Thillemann, of the 1100 block of 87th Avenue in Somers, was charged Wednesday with repeated sexual assault of a child, a felony punishable by up to 40 years in prison.

The manager of the apartment complex where the assaults allegedly took place said Thillemann has lived at the building since 2012, Kenosha County Sheriffs Department spokesman Erick Klinkhammer stated Thursday.

Allegations

According to the criminal complaint, a Sheriffs Department deputy was dispatched to the apartment complex for a sexual assault complaint.

When the deputy arrived at the building, he was flagged down by Thillemann, who reportedly asked to get in the back of the squad car and said youre looking for me. Thillemann, 72, then said he was accused of touching a girl, the complaint states.

The deputy then met with the mother of the alleged victim who said a friend told her he thought Thilleman  a family friend who lived across the hall  was being inappropriate with her two daughters, an 8-year-old and a toddler.

The mother then spoke with her 8-year-old daughter, who reportedly curled into a ball and started crying when asked if Thillemann had ever touched her private parts. The girl said Thillemann touched her over her clothes a few times, the complaint states, but she didnt say anything because she didnt want to get into trouble and because Thillemann told her it wasnt a big deal.

Later, during a separate interview with the deputy, the victim reported Thillemann touched her vaginal area four or five times, according to the complaint.

Thilleman eventually admitted to touching the girls genitals during an interview with the deputy, the complaint states. He said the molestations had occurred over the last several months in his apartment and that he had also touched the childs breasts.

He denied touching the toddler.

A search of Thillemans apartment reportedly turned up a brand new childs bikini, as well as two pairs of child-size underwear hidden in a cigar box.

Previous case

The sexual assault charge comes about five years after Thillemann was banished from the state for alleged misconduct with teenage girls and a weapons charge.

Under the unusual plea deal  reached by Thillemanns attorney and the Racine County District Attorneys Office in July 2012  Racine County Circuit Court Judge Allan Pat Torhorst ordered Thillemann to put his house up for sale and move out of Wisconsin within 60 days.

Thillemann, then 67 and still living in Sturtevant, had been charged with a felony and several misdemeanors in December 2011 after Racine County sheriffs deputies began investigating an allegation of misconduct with underage girls and discovered an AK-47 assault rifle beneath a bed in his home.

He was initially charged in 2011 with possession of a machine gun, a felony; theft, and two counts of intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child. He was accused of paying for motel rooms so two girls, who were age 16 and 17 at the time, could party with friends, and of supplying them with liquor, the complaint stated.

Investigators who searched Thillemanns home in 2011 reportedly found a wooden cigar box that contained five pairs of bikini underwear. Also inside the cigar box was a Christmas card, signed by one of the teens, and containing two unopened condoms, according to the complaint.

Thillemann later told the court he was moving to Texas, and in exchange for pleading guilty to a new misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, Thillemann was required to leave Wisconsin and pay a $1,000 fine plus court costs.

Attorneys hammered out the unique agreement after a psychological evaluation of Thillemann indicated his behavior was the result of post-traumatic stress stemming from his time serving on a military fire base.

In November 2012, attorneys reported to the court that Thillemann had not moved to Texas, but rather to Illinois, and the state moved to dismiss the felony weapon charge.

Thillemann made his initial appearance on Wednesday in Kenosha County Circuit Court, where his bond was set at $100,000. He remains at the Kenosha County Jail.

A preliminary hearing in the case has been set for 8:30 a.m. March 16.
Fleetmatics Group yesterday marked the official opening of their Network Operations Centre (NOC) in Tallaght, Dublin, a custom-built facility housing the companys operations and application support engineers.

Fleetmatics, a Verizon company, enables businesses to meet the challenges associated with managing local fleets and improve the productivity of their mobile workforce by extracting actionable business intelligence from real-time and historical vehicle and driver data.

The announcement was made as part of Engineers Week 2017, an annual campaign to inspire the next generation of engineers and excite students about the possibilities a career in engineering can offer.



Fleetmatics workforce in this country are primarily engineers with talent based here playing a leading role in delivering cutting edge UX, SaaS, Mobile, IoT and data analytics projects.



To celebrate the official opening of the NOC, a class of students from Cnoc Mhuire Senior School in Tallaght toured the facility and took part in fun Engineers Week activities.



Speaking yesterday, Director General of Engineers Week, Caroline Spillane said, "Engineers Ireland is delighted to join with Fleetmatics in marking this important milestone for the company during Engineers Week. Ireland is known internationally for its engineering talent and its great to see Fleetmatics investing in a new Network Operations Centre to ensure that its customers around the world benefit from the innovation that takes place here."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Modified On Mar 10, 2017 05:25 PM By Raunak

Czech Automaker Skoda to represent Volkswagen Group in this strategic alliance. The initial outcome of this joint venture will be introduced in the Indian market by Tata Motors latest by 2019.

Tata Motors, Volkswagen Group and Skoda Auto have entered into a strategic alliance to co-develop cars for both Indian and international markets, especially in the economy segment. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD Tata Motors, Matthias Mueller, CEO Volkswagen AG and Bernhard Maier, CEO Skoda Auto.

The press release issued by Tata Motors stated that the Czech automaker Skoda Auto will represent Volkswagen Group in this coalition. For the uninitiated, Skoda is a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, which also owns brands such as Audi, Seat, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, and others. The homegrown automaker Tata Motors, on the other hand, owns the British marques, Jaguar and Land Rover. Let us see what the head honchos of these brands have said on this JV!

Guenter Butschek, CEO and managing director, Tata Motors, said, We are delighted to announce our potential cooperation with Volkswagen Group and Skoda. We strongly believe that both the companies, by working together, can leverage from each others strengths to create synergies and develop smart innovative solutions for the Indian and overseas market."

Bernhard Maier, CEO, Skoda Auto, said, We are looking forward to the joint project with Tata Motors. Delegating project responsibility to Skoda underscores the great confidence of the Volkswagen Group in the ability of our brand. Together with Tata, we will be specifying the concrete opportunities for collaboration over the coming months.

Tata Motors recently announced its two new platforms under Advanced Modular Platform (AMP) moniker. These platforms will underpin its entire near future portfolio and will support electrification, hybridisation, and autonomous driving tech as well. Volkswagen Group might share this platform for making cars for developing markets and others. Tata Motors also collaborated with Microsoft for connected car tech recently. All in all, there is a lot to look forward to in this strategic alliance and how it benefits both the automakers. Tata Motors said that it will, along with Skoda, outline partnership terms in coming months, following which the two companies will start joint development work. Interestingly, the first product from this coalition is expected to be launched in India latest by 2019.

Check out: Check Out Tata Nexon Geneva Edition
Modified On Mar 10, 2017 04:03 PM By Rachit Shad

The list includes three hatchbacks, two sedans, one SUV and one crossover

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) has ruled the Indian roads ever since it began operations in the 80s. The company took its early-comers advantage by the scruff of its neck and planted its roots so deep in Indias DNA that none of the carmakers have been able to match its growth. But as is the case in every industry, a company has to move on with the times and deliver satisfactory products to its consumer base. The Japanese car firm has been doing that successfully as its modern products like the Vitara Brezza, Ciaz and Baleno have completely outgunned their respective rivals from esteemed car manufacturers.

MSIL is on the verge of reaching 50 per cent market share in India. However, to tackle the onslaught from its competitors in the country, Maruti must keep updating its product portfolio. Heres a list of cars that will roll out of Marutis factory floors in the coming years.

All-New Swift

The new Swift was unveiled in Japan last year and it will surely arrive on our shores as well. It is likely to make its Indian debut during the 2018 Auto Expo and will be launched soon after. The Swift has had an amazing fan-following in India and the new one is likely raise the bar further. While the new Swift is shorter in length and lower in height, its wheelbase has gone up by 20mm. It is likely to carry forward the same basic engines as the current Swift, but with improved performance figures.

Expected Launch: March 2018

Expected Price Range: Rs 5-7.25 lakh

All-New Alto

(Photograph above: Current-gen Alto 800)

The Alto has been a sales phenomenon for the company. For over a decade it has topped the charts of the best-selling cars in India month-on-month. In recent times, though, its sales figures have been toppling down. With new comers like the Renault Kwid and the Datsun redi-GO, consumer expectations in that segment have gone up. Thats what the new Alto is slated to address. Like the Swift, the new Alto is expected to break cover during next years Auto Expo. No confirmed details have surfaced yet but expect the new Alto to be big on space and features.

Expected Launch: Mid 2018

Expected Price Range: Rs 2.5-4 lakh

Celerio Facelift

(Photograph above: Current-gen Celerio)

Maruti Suzuki recently knocked off the diesel engine option for the Celerio. The company is now working on an updated version of the hatchback and it is likely to make the cars recipe more enticing for customers who are looking for options in the same category. The refreshed Celerio is expected to feature styling tweaks on the outside, updated feature-list on the inside and possibly a CNG option. It will be one of the important updates for the company as the Celerio competes directly with the Tata Tiago, which has set high standards on almost all fronts.

Expected Launch: Late 2018

Expected Price Range: Rs 4-5 lakh

All New DZire

(Photograph above: Current-gen Swift DZire)

The DZire has been a customer favourite in the sub-4 metre sedan segment for quite a while. Even though it faces tough competition from the Honda Amaze and Hyundai Xcent, the Maruti product has enjoyed a flawless run. But against more powerful products like the Volkswagen Ameo and the Ford Figo Aspire, the current-gen DZire seems quite dated. Time for an update then. Around the same time as the all new Swift, the Japanese firm will launch the new DZire sedan as well. It will share all its underpinnings with the Swift and will feature updated engines, more creature-comforts and bigger cabin.

Expected Launch: Early 2018

Expected Price Range: Rs 5.5-8 lakh

Ciaz Facelift

Since its launch in October 2014, the Ciaz has been very well received. It has gone on to become the segment leader by outselling the Honda City and the Hyundai Verna, both of which are its main rivals. Later this year, Maruti Suzuki will launch the updated Ciaz in India, which will receive a host of cosmetic and feature updates both inside and outside the cabin. Once launched, Maruti will retail the Ciaz via its premium range of Nexa dealerships. Mechanically, it will remain unchanged.

Expected Launch: Second Quarter 2017

Expected Price Range: Rs 8-11 lakh

S-Cross Facelift

Tagged by Maruti Suzuki as a premium crossover, the S-Cross hasnt really clicked with the audience yet. Retailing via Nexa range of dealerships, it is the most expensive Maruti Suzuki product currently on sale in India. Since it falls in the price range of more enticing products like the Renault Duster and Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki is gearing up to launch the facelifted S-Cross soon in India. It was unveiled at the Sao Paulo Motor Show last year and is slated to come to India with an aggressive exterior styling and updated features list.

Expected Launch: Late 2018 or Early 2019

Expected Price Range: Rs 9-12.5 lakh

Vitara Brezza Petrol

Maruti Suzuki launched the Vitara Brezza in March 2016 and it has taken the market by storm. It simply annihilated all its direct rivals and rose up to the pole position. This is when it is being retailed with the Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre DDiS engine only. However, Maruti Suzuki, in all probability, will introduce the petrol-powered Vitara Brezza later this year. The option of a petrol engine will further boost its sales figures, thanks primarily to a lower price and Marutis frugal set up. The Brezza is expected to feature the tried-and-tested 1.2-litre K-series petrol engine with a few tweaks for better overall performance.

Expected Launch: Late 2017

Expected Price Range: Rs 6.5-8.5 lakh
New York City public advocate Letitia Tish James announced her most recent crusade this week: to ban New York City from doing business with any company that assists in building President Trumps promised walla monument to racism and bigotry, as she calls it. We will use our significant economic leverage to fight this xenophobic wall, James says, by divesting the citys pensions from wall-connected companies. This is not the first time that James has used her position to advance an unrelated ideological agenda: following Omar Mateens Orlando dance-club massacre in 2016, she tried unsuccessfully to force banks to stop lending money to gun manufacturers.

However dubious Jamess efforts to stymie national policy, she remains second in line to the mayoralty. Given the federal investigations into Bill de Blasios growing corruption scandals, its worth considering what the mayor-apparent could have in store for New York, were de Blasio suddenly to leave office.

The role of the public advocate in New York Citys government is one of the great mysteries of local politics, not least of all to the people who hold the title. Even the city charter is vague about the purpose of the office: In addition to other duties and responsibilities, the public advocate shall serve as the public advocate. Aside from presiding over meetings of the city council (though without a tiebreaking vote) and filling the vacancy if the mayor is removed from office, the public advocate is allowed by statute more or less to run a complaints bureau, to perform investigations into areas of concern, and to report findings.

Public Advocate James, an attorney by training and the only black woman to win a citywide election, comes out of the same milieu of progressive politics that nourished Bill de Blasio, her predecessor in the office, who managed to turn the post into a springboard to executive power. James and de Blasio, representing adjacent council districts in Brooklyn, were both nurtured by the union-funded Working Families Party.

As a councilmember, Jamess record mixed the sublime with the ridiculous. She was the first to warn that Mayor Bloombergs CityTime payroll system was shot through with enormous cost overruns and fraud; she was vindicated when several consultants involved in the program fled the country, indictments were issued, and the city sued for the return of hundreds of millions of overbilled dollars. But she also demanded action against a restaurant that offered a Tuesday night 50-cent special on chicken wings, after a series of violent melees involving students attracted by the deal. I want this Tuesday restaurant promotion stopped, or the lease of this business revoked, thundered James.

During her campaign for public advocate, James swore to take an activist role in litigating for the downtrodden. She quickly swung into action, filing suit against the city on behalf of foster children and disabled tenants. Some of these suits were dismissed; James was removed from others for lack of standing. She did achieve some victories in suing the government that employs her, but in relatively minor cases, including those involving the temperature of certain school buses or the transparency of School Leadership Team meetings.

Seeking a wider profile, James has staked out a number of dubious positions. One of her signature initiatives calls for New York City to sponsor a retirement-security investment fund for workers in the private sector. This universal retirement system would presumably be run either together with or parallel to New York Citys existing pension system, which covers hundreds of thousands of employees and retired workers. The current system is painfully underfunded, and annual city contributions to the plan eat up an ever-increasing percentage of the municipal budget. The city pays more than $9 billion, or 11 percent of the annual budget, in order to keep its employee-pension plan solvent. Though James does not explicitly advocate giving private-sector workers defined-benefit retirement pensions, the idea that the city government is best equipped to help people with their investment planning is ludicrous.

James is also pushing a proposal that would ban employers from asking job candidates their salary history as part of the interview process. According to the public advocate, this question perpetuates the existing wage inequities women face. In a triumphant shared press conference last November, Mayor de Blasio, appearing with James, signed an executive order banning the salary question for city agencies, almost all of which are either unionized or have rigorously defined (and publicized) salary schedules.

Women working in the city government face a wage gap . . . three times as large as women working in the private for-profit sector, James said, but that prompted a question: why did a unionized public sector do such a bad job of providing fair pay for women? James fumbled for an answer, suggesting that women in the private sector have more educational background, and are in executive positions and are in a better position to negotiate. Most women in the private sector, of course, are not senior executives able to negotiate lavish perks atop their seven-figure salaries. Like other pay-equity advocates, James fails abysmally to explain even the simple mechanics of wages, betraying her poor understanding of real-world economics.

Tish James is an ambitious, popular politician who surely covets a bigger role for herself. If de Blasios trajectoryfrom public advocate to mayors officebecomes the new path to political power, then New Yorkers should brace themselves for many more years of populist posturing and anti-business innumeracy.

Seth Barron is associate editor of City Journal and project director of the Manhattan Institutes NYC Initiative. He blogs about New York City politics at City Council Watch.

Photo by Lars Niki/Getty Images
CALEDONIA  A Milwaukee man is facing charges after allegedly scuffling with a Caledonia officer during a traffic stop.

Aaron L. Jordan, 47, of the 4000 block of West Spencer Place, was charged Friday with disorderly conduct, resisting or obstructing an officer and operating a vehicle with a revoked license, all misdemeanors.

According to the criminal complaint:

The incident began at 8 p.m. on Feb. 12 when Jordan stepped out of his vehicle during a traffic stop at a convenience store in the 13600 block of Seven Mile Road.

According to the report, the officer used "stun techniques" to subdue Jordan after he reportedly refused various verbal commands at least 12 times including "get back into your vehicle" and "stop resisting."

The officer described the incident as "fighting" and stated Jordan at one point pulled the officer's radio off of his vest. A back-up officer arrived shortly after and Jordan was taken into custody.

The report states that Jordan smelled of alcohol and his vehicle reportedly had several empty beer cans and remains of marijuana blunts too small to test.

According to Racine County Jail records, Jordan has been in custody since he was arrested Feb. 12.

Racine Court Commissioner Alice Rudebusch on Friday set Jordan's bond at $750.

Jordan is scheduled for a pretrial conference on April 6. He has a conviction record dating back to 2002 that includes drug possession, battery and resisting an officer in Milwaukee.
Under new European data protection rules, data protection officers must report directly to either the chief executive or most senior person in their charity, a data protection expert said yesterday.

Mark Child, an IT auditor and managing director of the business consultancy Newable, told delegates at the Charity Finance Group IT, Data and Cyber Security Conference yesterday that part of the changes introduced by the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) made the role of data protection officers massively important.

The reality is there are some new requirements which mean that as the data protection officer you are going to have a huge amount of responsibility, he said, and this means you need to report to the chief executive or the most senior person in the organisation.

He said it must be the highest authority in the business so that you cant be unduly influenced.

Not all charities will have a data protection officer, he said. It is acceptable to outsource data protection to an agency. However there has to be someone with overall responsibility for the charitys data protection reporting directly to the chief executive, or equivalent.

Role for trustees

After a delegate asked whether for charities this actually meant they should be reporting directly to trustees, Child said he wouldnt have a problem if that was the case.

He added: They really should be taking an active interest in terms of awareness.

Risk to reputation

Child also warned that the biggest risk from data protection breaches was the damage that is done to charities reputation, which in turn has a serious impact on donations.

The law is already in place  dont delude yourselves, he said. If you dont get appropriate consent and dont evidence it you are going to fall foul of the rules.

If charities do breach data protection rules it will lead to people cancelling their regular donations he said.

Civil Society Media is hosting a breakfast seminar discussing the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ahead of its introduction in May 2018. For more information, including on how to book, see here.
Franziska Jahn-Madell explores whether the concepts of stewardship and responsible ownership are gaining momentum in the UK.

Economist Rudiger Dornbusch once said: In economics, things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could. The first version of the UK Stewardship Code was published in 2010 by the UKs Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The code was issued in response to criticism about the role played by institutional investors in the run-up to and during the 2008 financial crisis, and was aimed at improving the quality of engagement between investment managers and companies.

Following the publication of the UK code, other countries followed suit with their own versions including the Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Kenya and Italy. Stock exchanges in other jurisdictions have taken the lead by implementing mandatory or voluntary listing rules focusing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues as is the case in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Mexico. The focus is to encourage companies and investors to incorporate some form of stewardship into investment decisionmaking process.

Shareholder spring, summer  and autumn next?

In 2012, there was a notable breakdown in discussions between several corporate boards and institutional investors over concerns that companies were persistently rewarding executives with mult-imillion-pound bonuses despite anaemic performances. This breakdown and several subsequent voting outcomes at the AGMs of large listed UK companies led to the so-called shareholder spring.

In October 2013 the UK government responded by giving shareholders an additional tool by introducing binding votes on companies pay policies every three years. With regards to executive pay and collective shareholder stewardship the proof will be in the pudding when shareholders vote on the second round of binding votes in 2017. A foretaste of possible things to come could already be observed during the 2016 voting season. Shareholder disapproval was felt at many AGMs such as BP, Shire and Smith & Nephew, all of which saw their remuneration reports rejected by a large number of their shareholders.

Reason for hope?

Does the change in voting habits shown by the example of executive pay warrant drawing the analogy further, and concluding that stewardship and responsible ownership are now taken more seriously at investor and asset owner level? If one trusts the increasing number of signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), (as of April 2016 the PRI had 1,500 signatories from over 50 countries, representing USD 62tn assets under management), or the rapid adoption of the stewardship code in Japan, it may be concluded that stewardship responsibilities such as active voting, placings of shareholder resolutions, collaborative engagement with other shareholders or engagement with policy makers and industry groups are indeed integrated more strategically into the process.

Being able to pool resources and combine ownership stakes for the purpose of engagement can be very effective for investors, especially since it can take months or years to achieve an outcome from such engagement efforts. Shareholder stewardship in general, and ESG engagement specifically, may be seen as an integral part of the investor toolbox for managing risk, advancing ethical values or international norms, and contributing to more sustainable companies. It is a long-term process, which requires a structured approach and patience.

Stewardship in manager selection

A charity can actively align its core values with the fundamental practices inherent in responsible ownership and stewardship by including them in the investment manager selection process. A good place to start is to formalise a responsible investment policy by identifying core high-level beliefs. It is likely that the responsible investment policy will be informed by these beliefs and strategic investment approach. Charities may want to seek to select managers who are committed to both the integration of ESG factors into their investment process, and who conduct active stewardship with the companies they invest in on their behalf. Charities concerned about responsible ownership should enquire whether a (prospective) managers voting and engagement activities are in line with their expectations. To ensure that ESG-related criteria are systematically applied, co-operation between the charity and the investment managers is required to ensure that this is fully integrated into the investment managers investment process.

As a next step it may be important to understand whether the investment manager discloses these activities in a timely, meaningful and robust manner. Furthermore the charity may want to monitor if investment managers escalate engagement where there are concerns in regards to a companys performance, strategy, governance or the management of environmental or social risk. To further a charitys intrinsic values investment managers may be encouraged to engage on a charitys behalf. Positive cooperation between a charity and their investment manager with regards to stewardship activities such as such active voting and goal-oriented engagement can challenge and change corporate conduct, channel innovation, increase risk awareness as well as extend the communication and implementation of a charitys fundamental beliefs into their investment decision process.

The regulator is naming and shaming laggards

Outside the manager appointment process charities will also be able to understand the level of stewardship an investment manager undertakes once the FRC publishes the results of its review. It announced in December 2015 that it would undertake a review of the Stewardship Codes signatory statements to distinguish those whose reporting is of high quality and those where improvement is required.The review will conclude with assessing and rating fund managers on their level of engagement with the UKs Stewardship Code. The regulator will rate fund managers as tier 1 if they are meeting all requirements and tier 3 that are failing to do so. The review aims to improve the quality of reporting so that asset owners can understand the approach to stewardship of the manager they are employing.

Future launches of Stewardship Codes in several countries including Singapore, Brazil and South Korea are part of a broader move towards global adoption of stewardship rules, as regulators increasingly recognise the role of investors as enforcers of improved corporate governance and responsible corporate behaviour. The concept of stewardship is further strengthened by regional mandates such as the European Shareholder Rights Directive and global standards such as the G20 OECD Principles of Corporate Governance.

Where are we now?

The corporate and investment management worlds are undergoing a seismic shift. Sustainable or responsible investing is crossing the so-called chasm into the mainstream of the investing world. Being a signatory to the PRI is no longer a nice-to-have but a necessity, especially when managing monies for charities. But while enormous progress has been made in this regard, there is clearly more still to do.

Franziska Jahn-Madell heads up Ruffers ESG and responsible investment team

Civil Society Media wishes to thank Ruffer for its support with this article
03/09/2017

When debating the possible benefits or drawbacks of farming with genetically modified seeds, a popular narrative touted by the agriculture industry, experts, and the mainstream media has been that GMOs could solve world hunger and that anti-GMO activists are standing in the way of seed companies trying to feed the world.

In their profile three years ago of Vandana Shiva, an outspoken anti-GMO activist in India, the New Yorker magazine portrayed their subject in an unflattering light that followed such a narrative. In contrast to most agricultural ecologists, Shiva remains committed to the idea that organic farming can feed the world, the magazine wrote. Owing almost wholly to the efforts of Shiva and other activists, India has not approved a single genetically modified food crop for human consumption."

A Newsweek article the following year made a similar assertion, writing that a rice genetically modified to contain Vitamin A could save 2.8 million children a year from blindness. Yet it sits in labs, unused, the article says, before suggesting, with circumstantial evidence, that Greenpeace is responsible for that tragedy. The notion of GMOs has spooked environmental groups such as Greenpeace, which has resisted GMOs with violent action, including destroying an experimental Golden Rice field last year in the Philippines.

On the public speaker side, author Mark Lynas, a former anti-GMO activist from Britain, was a focus of celebration in the press several years ago when he began giving interviews and speeches praising the agrochemical industry and criticizing his former comrades. The truth is that there is no more of a debate on the safety of GE crops than on reality of climate change, he said last year in an editorial for Cornell University.

Much higher on the public celebrity scale are Bill and Melinda Gates, who have partnered with agrochemical giant Monsanto in the past through their foundation, and who similarly say that genetically modified seeds can solve world hunger.

What are called GMOs are done by changing the genes of the plant, Bill Gates said in one interview last year. Its pretty incredible because it reduces the amount of pesticide you need, increases productivity, can help with malnutrition by getting bio-fortification. For Africa this is going to make a huge difference, particularly as they face climate change.

A Boston Globe editorial, penned by the chief executive officer of a lab in New England, goes further, saying: How many children must suffer before this anti-GMO propaganda is called out for being what it is  a crime against humanity? And a Scientific American editorial, authored by a fellow at Harvard Medical school, argues that GMOs are "the best bet for feeding the world."

"Dangerously misleading"

But major cracks are emerging in this popular talking point. The latest comes in the form of a report put out by experts from the United Nations, who say that pesticide use has actually increased, not decreased, in developing countries where genetically modified seeds are used.

... it is commonly argued that intensive industrial agriculture, which is heavily reliant on pesticide inputs, is necessary to increase yields to feed a growing world population, the report notes. They describe this argument however as little more than a marketing tactic.

The assertion promoted by the agrochemical industry that pesticides are necessary to achieve food security is not only inaccurate, but dangerously misleading.

Framing food and pesticides as human rights issue

The United Nations Human Rights Council appoints what it calls a Special Rapporteur, or an unpaid, independent expert, to prepare reports on food from an international human rights perspective. The Rapporteur focusing on pesticides, published this week, uses government figures across the world, industry data, news reports, and research from the Pesticide Action Network to document the often ignored consequences of pesticide-intensive farming.

Evolving technology in pesticide manufacture, among other agricultural innovations, has certainly helped to keep agricultural production apace of unprecedented jumps in food demand, the Rapporteur acknowledges. However, this has come at the expense of human health and the environment.

The report blames major players in the agrochemical industry -- Monsanto and Bayer, Dow and DuPont, Syngenta and ChemChina -- for sowing doubt about the risk of pesticides and aggressively promoting pesticides, noting that the companies have a vested interested in selling both their herbicide-resistant seeds and the correct herbicide to accompany them. "...genetically engineered crops may create a cycle of entrapment for farmers, with herbicide-tolerant crops eventually requiring more herbicides to fight pest resistance, the Rapporteur says.

The Rapporteur presents evidence for why pesticide-intensive farming is damaging to food production, the bee population, farmers, pregnant women, indigenous communities, third-world countries and consumers everywhere. But there is limited data that draws a conclusive link between pesticides and specific health problems, a gap that the Rapporteur blames on industry.

While scientific research confirms the adverse effects of pesticides, proving a definitive link between exposure and human diseases or conditions, or harm to the ecosystem presents a considerable challenge," the Rapoorteur charges. "This challenge has been exacerbated by a systematic denial, fueled by the pesticide and agroindustry, of the magnitude of the damage inflicted by these chemicals, and aggressive, unethical marketing tactics remain unchallenged.



The Rapporteur also points to regulatory loopholes and is critical in particular of the United States government for approving new crops based on the concept of substantial equivalence, or a corporations argument that its new crop does not need additional regulations or safety tests because it is substantially equivalent to an existing crop on the market.

And even in cases where the United States has not approved or allowed a certain pesticide, there is no prohibition on exporting that unapproved pesticide overseas. Such a loophole is not limited to the United States, however. In a similar example, the Rapporteur cites Syngenta, the agriculture company based in Switzerland, which sells its Paraquat pesticide in countries overseas, even though paraquat is banned in Switzerland. To subject individuals of other nations to toxins known to cause major health damage or fatality is a clear human rights violation, the Rapporteur adds.

The Rapporteur follows a report that the New York Times published in October of last year, which used United Nations data to show that food yields in the United States have not increased even as pesticide spraying has, challenging the popular notion that GMOs will bring people more food without as much harmful spraying.

Industry responds

In a statement, Bayer spokesman Utz Klages points to voluntary international guidelines that are already in place regarding the spraying of pesticides. Klages otherwise does not heavily dispute the UNs findings. Bayer strongly agrees with the UN Special Rapporteur that the right to food must extend to every global citizen, and that all citizens have a right to food that has been produced in a way that is safe for human health and for the environment, Klages writes to ConsumerAffairs.

Pointing to a different UN report prepared by the agencys Food and Agriculture Organization, Klages says that without crop protection tools, such as pesticides, farmers could lose as much as 80% of their harvests to damaging insects, weeds and plant disease.

Syngenta referred questions to CropLife International, the trade group that represents all of the major agrochemical companies. The trade group has similar talking points. The plant science industry agrees that the right to food must extend to every global citizen, and that all citizens have a right to food that has been produced in a way that is safe for human health and for the environment, the group says in a statement.

However, we disagree with many of the unfounded and sensational assertions made throughout the Special Rapporteurs report. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that without crop protection tools, such as pesticides, farmers could lose as much as 80% of their harvests to damaging insects, weeds and plant disease.

And what about independent, non-governmental organizations that have also promoted the idea that genetically modified crops can feed the world? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation insists authoritative studies have found "no sustained risk" from GM crops.

"The 2016 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicines Genetically Engineered Crops Study brought together an expert committee to systematically review all evidence accumulated over the last two decades and is viewed as the most comprehensive overview of the potential benefits and risks of GM crops to date. That report found that there are no sustained risks to human or environmental health from GM crops," the Gates Foundation said in a statement to ConsumerAffairs.

Pesticide Report by Toast da Most on Scribd
P&O Cruises has announced it will base the Oceana in Dubai for an Arabian Gulf fly-cruise program.

Between January 10 and April 4, 2019, P&O will sail five 10-night cruises from Dubai on Oceana.

The Arabian Gulf fly-cruise program goes on sale to top tier Peninsular Club members from March 23, 2017 and on general sale from March 30, 2017.

The ten-night Arabian Gulf cruises will be round trip from Dubai and will visit Sir Bani Yas Island, Manama, Khasab, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Salalah and Muscat.

P&O Cruises senior vice president Paul Ludlow said: "Although there have been P&O Cruises ships cruising in the Arabian Gulf for years, this is the first time that we will have cruised in that region for an entire season. This is exactly the kind of exotic mix that our guests love and they know they can trust us to deliver this fantastic experience in surroundings that are both comfortable and secure. We fully expect to fill these cruises in the first year enabling us to expand to many more after that  with guests either just taking the fly/cruise with our airline partner Emirates or including one of our add-on land packages."
FBI special agents working undercover as credit union loan officers arrested a Georgia man Monday who allegedly used a fake ID to apply for a car loan at the $377 million Kinetic Federal Credit Union in Columbus, Ga.

Retired FBI special agent Randall Allen, who works as a security officer for KCU, reported to the FBI that two people each used two different counterfeit drivers licenses to represent their identities to open accounts.

Allen became suspicious when he noticed discrepancies on the drivers licenses of both male suspects.

The first suspect applied for a car loan, which was denied by KCU.

The second suspect, later identified as James Theron Brown, applied for a $31,925 car loan. In addition to the fake license, Brown also allegedly submitted a bogus Georgia utility power bill and other fake documents.
Not long ago, Swiss researcher Oliver Bendel warned that having sex with robots could mean the death of the human race. Westworld fans were dismayed; the rest of us were a mix of alarmed and confused.

What Bendel didnt mention, however, was doing the deed with sex dolls which is great news for patrons of a new establishment in Barcelona called LumiDolls, Europes very first sex doll brothel.

Clients of the agency will pony up between 80 and 120 euros for the service, which can last an hour, an hour and a half, or two hours. Custom prices can also be arranged for special services like whole nights and couples.

The hyper-lifelike dolls come in four models: blonde Katy, Asian-featured Lily, dark-skinned Leiza, and Japanese anime character Aki. The website promises they are totally realistic dolls, both in the movement of their joints and in their feel, that will allow you to fulfill your fantasies without any limit.

Should you be worried that the experience of shacking up with a sex doll would be cold and unfulfilling, LumiDolls promises every effort is made to ensure comfort. Each room boasts candlelight, a large plasma TV, and a collection of films to set the mood. Guests can request how they want their doll to be dressed and positioned, and share any other details that will help the agency create the perfect experience.

Broadly was quick to point out that the brothels debut comes just in time for Mobile World Congress, a major European tech festival currently being held in Barcelona. Could it be that LumiDolls scheduled its launch to coincide with the citys influx of rich, socially awkward tech bros? And could this be the birth of a new kind of tourism?

Time and horniness will tell.
Beaver County preparing for robust Election Day turnout

As the Nov. 8 midterm election approaches, nearly 114,000 people are registered to vote in Beaver County.
SOMERS  Its one thing to read about history. Its another thing to be a part of it, and that is exactly what 13 University of Wisconsin Parkside students did when they took a field trip to Standing Rock Indian Reservation this January.

The trip to the protest site of the Dakota Access Pipeline in Morton County, North Dakota, culminated a four-week political science class led by their Mohawk native American professor Heather Kind-Keppel.

The group asked to be a guest on the reservation and was granted access.

I think they were surprised someone would ask, Kind-Keppel said during a presentation Thursday at UW-Parkside about the trip. My students wanted to be a part of history and make a difference.

Even though they were guests, Kind-Keppel said she made clear the students were not allowed to join in on the protesting. Fourth-year student Dream Ramirez considered it for a hot second.

It was an aspect of interest for sure. We wanted to know what this was about. People were being attacked for prayer or just playing their drums, Ramirez said. The first thing that happened to us when we got there was we got hugged. It was love and respect and community.

There to help

The students instead turned their attention to service, helping people with chores and manual labor at the tent city that had been in operation on the plain since mid-2016.

There was so much work to be done. We were exhausted. But none of us wanted to leave, sophomore Alivia Gipson said.

What surprised them the most was the impact of the mass crowds, estimated to be 30,000 at one time. Some of those who traveled there came as professional protesters or eco-tourists.

There were full tents of stuff that was just left behind. They had no thought of the impact, Kind-Keppel said.

The students stayed close to the tribal leaders from nearly 150 tribes from across the country, many represented with the flags that lined the dirt road thoroughfare through the camps.

Senior and self-described environmentalist Austin Klopstein said a tribal member asked him about all the non-tribal people who came there holding their cell phones up to the sky.

He said he thought that was how they prayed to God, Klopstein said. They were just trying to get a signal on what they called Facebook Hill.

The students said they saw things that never seemed to be discussed in the mainstream media or the left- or right-leaning publications they had studied before the trip.

One tribal member said he asked a police officer to pray for the pipeline, what he called the black snake, to go away. The officer stepped over the invisible line and prayed for it too, Ramirez said.

A peaceful protest

Ramirez said the tribal elders and the young members all unanimously decided to make it a peaceful protest of prayer and reflection. It was the outside world again that was invading their issue and taking over their standing  a colonization  something that has been done to them since the 1850s.

I saw a picture of a man called Standing Bull inside his burned out tepee and I just cried, Ramirez said. We have family there now.

On Tuesday, a U.S. district judge denied a motion to stop construction of the final piece of the pipeline, which had been filed by the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes.

Im sick. Ive very saddened, Ramirez said. This is not a liberal or conservative issue, its a moral issue. Its not about a pipeline anymore. This is about Native Americans who have been struggling for the (U.S.) government to respect them as a sovereign nation to make decisions about their land and the culture.

About the trip

It was a nontraditional learning environment. We were the first formalized curriculum taught on the DAPL issues in the entire country, Kind-Keppel said.

The trip was paid for in part by the Political Science Department at Parkside, including funds for rental car, gas and one night in a hotel.

We were very creative, Kind-Keppel said. We wanted to make it low cost. I brought a big thing of granola bars.

I wish all my college classes were like this, Gipson said. I would have walked away from this with an F and still had a smile on my face. This gave me such an experience I wouldnt have had otherwise.
The study identifies the gene that causes Opitz C syndrome in the only patient diagnosed with this ultra-rare disorder in Catalonia.

Opitz C syndrome is a genetic disease that causes severe disabilities in patients and has been diagnosed in three people in the Iberian Peninsula, and sixty people in the world. A team led by the professors Daniel Grinberg and Susana Balcells, from the Group on Human Molecular Genetics of the University of Barcelona and the Biomedical Research Networking Center of Rare Diseases (CIBERER) has now identified a gene that causes the Opitz C syndrome in the only patient in Catalonia diagnosed with this severe congenital disease. This new scientific advance is a first step to discover the genetic bases of this syndrome which, so far, does not offer treatment possibilities, prenatal diagnosis or genetic counseling.

The new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, has the participation of several researchers at the CRG, including members of the Genomic and Epigenomic Variation in Disease laboratory, the genomics unit, and the bioinformatics unit. It also had the participation of John M. Opitz (University of Utah, United States), Giovanni Neri (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Italy) and experts at the Department of Clinical and Molecular Genetics of the University Hospital Vall d'Hebron (VHIR).

Opitz C syndrome: rare but not invisible

The genetic bases of this ultra-minority disease, described for the first time in 1969 by John M. Opitz, are still unknown. It is generally thought that its origin is caused by the apparition of dominant -maternally silenced- novo mutations. At the moment, the diagnose is clinical and it is based on the symptomatology presented on patients with different degrees (trigonocephaly, learning disability, psychomotor disability, etc.) and which, in lots of cases, coincides with similar minority pathologies such as the syndromes of Schaaf-Yang, Bohring-Opitz and Prader-Willi.

In the new study, the experts described for the first time, the existence of a novo mutation -p.Q638*- located in the gene MAGEL2 of the only diagnosed person with Opitz C syndrome in Catalonia. Identifying this mutation, found in the Prader-Willi Region on chromosome 15, widens the knowledge horizons on genetics and the possibilities for a diagnosis on these rare diseases.

"The p.Q638* mutation, identified in the gene MAGEL2, coincides with the one described concurrently and independently in a patient with Schaaf-Yang syndrome, a new minoritary disease affecting fifty people in the world. The first cases were described on a scientific bibliography in 2013 by the team of Professor Christian Schaaf, from the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston", says Professor Daniel Grinberg, member of the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), the Research Institute of Sant Joan de Deu (IRSJD) and CIBERER.

"Consequently, from a genetic diagnosis perspective -says DanieL Grinberg- this patient initially diagnosed with Opitz C in Catalonia would correspond to the group of patients with Schaaf-Yang syndrome"

Genetics will define the limits of rare diseases

Identifying the genes that cause a disease is a breakpoint to understand the pathology and set new future therapeutic approaches that improve the quality of life of the patients. In the new study, the teams of the UB and the CRG applied techniques of DNA massive sequencing (exome and genome), a powerful methodology that allows identifying altered genes in each patient.

According to Luis Serrano, director of CRG, "projects like this one show the important role of genomics in the future of medicine and the way on which we diagnose and treat diseases. To understand the diseases and offering not only a diagnosis but also approaches to possible treatments is very relevant in minority diseases. It is a satisfaction for the CRG to contribute with our knowledge and advanced technologies in a project that gives hope to a vulnerable collective" concluded the researcher.

Susana Balcells, tenured lecturer at the UB and also member of IBUB and CIBERER, added "what we can see from a clinical symptomatology view in these kinds of diseases which are so hard to study and diagnose, is far from the initial molecular defect that generates the disease".

"All these clinical doubts -continued Balcells- will be solved with genetics, which will define the limits of these rare diseases and will ease the scientific consensus on the diagnosis and genetic causes that create them".

Crowdfunding: when society supports scientific research

The members of the Group of Human Molecular Genetics of the University of Barcelona and the CRG are currently in contact with the team of Professor Schaaf and three families of patients diagnosed with Schaaf-Yang syndrome in the Iberian Peninsula.

In December 2026, the first author of the study published in Scientific Reports, Roser Urreitzi, researcher of CIBERER and lecturer at the UB, coordinated the meeting between the experts and the affected families. The meeting took place at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona and was a new encouragement for the collaboration of researchers and affected families in future projects with the participation of the UB, CRG and CIBERER Biobank, in Valencia. This cooperation has also allowed the three patients to be examined by the same clinical expert: the pediatrician Dr Anna M. Cueto, assistant doctor and clinical geneticist at the Department of Clinical and Molecular Genetics of the University Hospital Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona. This is clearly a new progress in the field of ultra-minority diseases.

It should be noted that this research obtained financial support thanks to the crowdfunding PRECIPITA (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, FECYT).

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The 4DHeart project (4D Analysis of Heart Development and Regeneration Using Advanced Light Microscopy) was launched on January 1 2017. This European Commission financed European Industrial Doctorate (EID) project is coordinated by Prof. Miguel Torres at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) and has a total funding of 1.5 million spread over 4 years. The goal of the project, part of the European Union H2020 Programme, is to foster research partnerships between academia and industry.

The benefits of free and open exchange between universities and industry might seem obvious, and likely to have a positive impact on society; however, the industrial and academic sectors often work in separate worlds. For Prof. Torres, turning this situation around is one of the key challenges of this new project.

The project will support 6 predoctoral researchers in universities across Europe. The students will be incorporated through a rigorous selection process that will take account of their academic record. Each of the predoctoral researchers will be jointly supervised by one investigator from the academic sector and another from industry, and will spend half their training period in the industrial partner's installations. At the end of the project, each student will defend his or her doctoral thesis at one of the host universities in the project.

The business partners in 4DHeart are renowned world leaders in industrial innovation:

- Acquifer combines experience in the development of assays, instruments, and tools for screening programs in animals and cells. - Leica Microsystems, Life Science Division, supports the scientific community in imaging technology through advanced innovation and technical experience in the visualization, measurement, and analysis of microstructures. - Philips Iberica is a product division of Royal Philips Electronics. - Bitplane is a leader in interactive microscopy imaging.

The predoctoral trainees will be based at one of the participating academic centers:

- The University of Bern (UBERN) is a research leader in areas of high social and scientific importance. The representative in 4DHeart is Prof. Nadia Mercader. - The CNRS Optics and Biosciences laboratory at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. 4DHeart students will be hosted by an interdisciplinary group of investigators led by Prof. Willy Supatto. - The Institut de Genetique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC) near Strasbourg is one of the leading multidisciplinary research centers in Europe. The host lab is led by Prof. Julien Vermot. - The Idiap Research Institute (IDIAP) participates through the Computational Bioimaging group, led by Prof. Michael Liebling. - Other participants are the Autonomous University of Madrid, the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M), the University of Starsbourg, and the IE Business School, Madrid. Students on the project will also receive training from Juan Sarasua of Science Communication Strategies.

Beyond preparing the participants for their future postdoctoral research, 4DHeart will broaden the professional opportunities available to them at the end of their training period. The training offered through this EID project is broad and comprehensive, so that at the end of the program, participants will be able to choose among careers in academic or industrial research, patent protection, or science communication, and could even be inspired to form their own start-up.

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About the CNIC

The Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), directed by Dr. Valentin Fuster, is dedicated to cardiovascular research and the translation of knowledge gained into real benefits for patients. The CNIC, recognized as a Severo Ochoa center of excellence by the Spanish government, is financed through a pioneering public-private partnership between the government (through the Carlos III Institute of Health) and the Pro-CNIC Foundation, which brings together 14 of the most important Spanish private companies.
Heidelberg, 10 March 2017 - How close to reality are brain organoids, and which molecular mechanisms underlie the remarkable self-organizing capacities of tissues? Researchers already have succeeded in growing so-called "cerebral organoids" in a dish - clusters of cells that self-organize into small brain-like structures. Juergen Knoblich and colleagues have now further characterized these organoids and publish their results today in The EMBO Journal. They demonstrate that, like in the human brain, so-called forebrain organizing centers orchestrate developmental processes in the organoid, and that organoids recapitulate the timing of neuronal differentiation events found in human brains.

The development of the human brain from just a few cells to a thinking organ is one of the great mysteries of biology. In the past decade, Knoblich and his team at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have pioneered brain organoid technology to investigate this intriguing process. Understanding normal organoid development is a prerequisite to using this powerful system to explore the possibility of modeling human developmental diseases.

The neocortex is the part of the mammalian brain involved in higher-order cognitive functions. It has expanded substantially in the course of the mammalian evolution and is highly complex in humans. Building such an intricate system relies on a precise orchestration of different developmental processes - the division of progenitor cells, and the generation of distinct cell types at the right time and the right place. So-called forebrain organizing centers play a key role in orchestrating the development of the neocortex. Organizing centers secrete factors that work long-distance to induce neighboring tissue to give rise to specific cell types. In normal brain development, an organizing center called the cortical hem lies just under the crown of the head, while the antihem marks the opposite side of the cortex and is located at the right and left side of the brain. The researchers found that both these organizing centers are present in organoids.

When the brain grows, new cells are added in a precise order. Cells formed earlier will differentiate into neurons of the inner layers of the cortex, while cells born later migrate further outwards, and glial cells - non-neural cells of the brain - are added towards the end. Finally, nerve cells grow long protrusions and connect with each other to form a complex network. These processes are also mimicked in brain organoids, stressing the value of organoids in investigating a broad array of brain developmental processes.

In the past years, Knoblich and his team have already expanded their research on organoids towards growing them from patient cells to investigate the cellular basis of developmental disorders. However, a thorough knowledge of normal organoid development is required to be able to interpret the aberrations in an organoid model of a developmental disease. The detailed description of organoid development in the current study of Knoblich's laboratory is an important step in this direction.

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Developmental patterning and differentiation in cerebral organoids

Magdalena Renner, Madeline A. Lancaster, Shan Bian, Heejin Choi, Taeyun Ku, Angela Peer, Kwanghun Chung and Juergen A. Knoblich

Read the paper: emboj.embopress.org/content/early/2017/03/09/embj.201694700

About EMBO

EMBO is an organization of more than 1700 leading researchers that promotes excellence in the life sciences. The major goals of the organization are to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers, stimulate the exchange of scientific information, and help build a European research environment where scientists can achieve their best work.

EMBO helps young scientists to advance their research, promote their international reputations and ensure their mobility. Courses, workshops, conferences and scientific journals disseminate the latest research and offer training in techniques to maintain high standards of excellence in research practice. EMBO helps to shape science and research policy by seeking input and feedback from our community and by following closely the trends in science in Europe. ?For more information: http://www.embo.org
Boulder, Colorado, USA: A new field guide in conjunction with GSA's Joint Northeastern and North-Central Section meeting details three trips around the area. Each trip is designed so it can be done in one day or shorter.

The first highlights a seven-"Pitt-stops" walking tour of downtown Pittsburgh, providing an introduction and overview of the geological, archaeological, and historical aspects of the first Gateway to the West. The second trip explores periglacial features, including glacial Lake Monongahela and a rock maze formed by frost wedging. The third investigates hydrologic aspects of the 1889 Johnstown, Pennsylvania, flood, largely following the progress of the flood from its point of origin to the city of Johnstown.

Editors Joseph T. Hannibal, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Kyle C. Fredrick, California University of Pennsylvania, have dedicated this volume to John A. Harper, "a true ambassador of our discipline." They praise him for being as "enthusiastic and knowledgeable about regional geologic information as he is about connecting people that share interests on the topics."

Individual copies of the volume may be purchased through The Geological Society of America online store, http://rock.geosociety.org/Store/detail.aspx?id=FLD046, or by contacting GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.

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Book editors of earth science journals/publications may request a review copy by contacting April Leo, aleo@geosociety.org.

Forts, Floods, and Periglacial Features: Exploring the Pittsburgh Low Plateau and Upper Youghiogheny Basin

Edited by Joseph T. Hannibal and Kyle C. Fredrick

Geological Society of America Field Guide 46

FLD046, 63 p., $37; GSA member price $26

ISBN 978-0-8137-0046-5

View the table of contents: http://rock.geosociety.org/store/TOC/FLD046.pdf

Learn more about the meeting at http://www.geosociety.org/nc-mtg.

http://www.geosociety.org
When David Gisselsson Nord, a cancer researcher at Lund University in Sweden, read a history book last summer, he was struck by the similarities between how cancer and insurgencies evolve over time. Could military strategy be used as inspiration for cancer treatment? He teamed up with Robert Egnell at the Swedish Defence University to find an entirely novel approach to his field.

?There are actually a great number of similarities between the US Army's field manual on how to counter insurgencies, or COIN doctrine, and cutting edge thinking in cancer treatment," says David Gisselsson Nord, a pathologist and cancer researcher at Lund University in Sweden.

A core principle is that you don't succeed simply by defeating the enemy; you also have to win the trust and loyalty of the local population - by addressing the root causes of the insurgency.

A British field marshal, Sir Robert Templer, expressed it this way: 'The answer lies not in pouring more troops into the jungle, but rests in the hearts and minds of the people'," explains Robert Egnell, a strategist at the Swedish Defence University in Stockholm.

Both cancer and insurgencies are complex systems of many different cells, or groups, interacting. Initially, they may both seem easy to defeat: the bulk of a tumour, a so-called major clone, is successfully treated with a high dose of chemotherapy and shrinks dramatically, or even goes away. Similary, using armed force against a guerilla can quell a major rebellion at first.

The problem? There are still small genetic variants of cancer cells - or subclones - that remain throughout chemotherapy. They become resistant to treatment, and when they are no longer suppressed by the major clone, the tumour can either regrow locally or metastatise in a different part of the body. In the same way, underground paramilitary movements that aren't easy to detect can surface in the power vacuum following an intervention. They can be unpredictable, and may appear in the same province as before, or pop up in other areas.

The resurgence can only happen if it is supported by the civil society of the country. Therefore, transforming society so there is no popular support for underground movements (such as finances, food and vehicles) is what ensures long term stability. When it comes to cancer, David Gisselsson Nord wonders:

"Could we target the microenvironment of a patient so it doesn't support cancer? How do we harness the patient's own resources? There has been some success with immunotherapy, that is, using the body's own immune system to fight cancer. I believe there is more that could be done. Currently, we simply know too little about the host cells that allow certain cancer cells to survive and cause relapses", says David Gisselsson and Robert Egnell.

A summarising tactical brief from the COIN doctrine is: shape, clear, hold, build. Shape the environment to hinder insurgencies (shape), implement a military intervention (clear), then temporarily take over responsibility for the nation (hold), only to finally rebuild the country in a sustainable manner (build).

Analogous to COIN doctrine, in certain cases the focus could be on keeping the cancer in check (hold), thereby dealing with a more stable disease which responds to treatment.

? One way of achieving this, in theory, is to treat the tumour in such a way as to maintain the biodiversity of the main tumour, so that new types of cancer cells which are untreatable do not take over. Such strategies have rarely been investigated", David Gisselsson Nord explains.

In addition, increasing numbers of studies show that physicians need to repeat biopsies and double-check biomarkers to enable continuous modification of treatment and prevent the cancer from becoming resistant. It is increasingly clear that, in most forms of cancer, the tumour's genetic code changes over time. In order to keep up with the unpredictable growth of the insurrection of cancer, the warfare must be intelligence-led and flexible.

Fighting a guerrilla exclusively with military means, or conducting civil activities which are not specifically adapted to the surrounding political and social context, is doomed to fail according to Robert Egnell.

"Physicians need to become better at the clinical ?intelligence work? so that medication can be adapted to changes in the tumour's properties, because a tactic that works for one patient today does not necessarily work a few months away for the same patient", concludes David Gisselsson Nord.

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WATCH VIDEO STORY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKFOH2-Ivk8
For the past eight years, Operation IceBridge, a NASA mission that conducts aerial surveys of polar ice, has produced unprecedented three-dimensional views of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, providing scientists with valuable data on how polar ice is changing in a warming world. Now, for the first time, the campaign will expand its reach to explore the Arctic's Eurasian Basin through two research flights based out of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the northern Atlantic Ocean.

The mission is surveying the region as part of its 2017 Arctic spring campaign, which completed its first flight on March 9 and will continue until May 12.

"This is IceBridge's ninth year in the Arctic and we're expecting this to be one of our most extensive campaigns to date," said Nathan Kurtz, Operation IceBridge's project scientist and a sea ice scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "We are expanding our reach to the Eurasian sector of the Arctic, so we're hopefully going to get more sea ice coverage than we ever have."

Traditionally, IceBridge's Arctic campaigns operate from three bases: Thule Air Base in northwest Greenland, Fairbanks in Alaska, and Kangerlussuaq in southwest Greenland. The addition of Svalbard will allow the mission to collect data on sea ice and snow in a scarcely measured section of the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas, along with measurements of a few glaciers in the Svalbard archipelago. Researchers think that the sea ice characteristics in the Eurasian side of the Arctic might be different from those of its Amerasian counterpart. In particular, they suspect that they may see a thicker snow cover on the Eurasian sea ice, but they will not be able to confirm it until IceBridge flies over.

"Most of the available data on snowfall in the Eurasian Basin is outdated, from drifting stations that operated between 1954 and 1991," said Ron Kwok, a member of IceBridge's science team and a sea ice researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "When those surveys were done, we still had a lot of thick sea ice in the Arctic. Now it's mostly thinner, first-year ice, so the snow we're going to see on top is going to be different than what was there before."

Having precise measurements of snow on sea ice is essential for NASA's upcoming Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2). ICESat-2 will use laser beams to measure the elevation of sea ice floating on the ocean, which can then be used to infer its thickness, but lack of knowledge of the snow that sits on sea ice can make these sea ice thickness retrievals less accurate.

Supporting ICESat-2, which is scheduled to launch in 2018, is one of the primary goals for Operation IceBridge. But the large volumes of data on Arctic sea and land ice that IceBridge has collected during its nine years of operations there have also enabled scientific discoveries ranging from the first map showing what parts of the bottom of the massive Greenland Ice Sheet are thawed to improvements in snowfall accumulation models for all of Greenland.

This year, the IceBridge team and instruments will be again flying on NASA's P-3 Orion, which had been unavailable for the past two years while it was being fitted with new wings.

"We have our favorite airplane and crew back," said John Sonntag, IceBridge mission scientist. "This makes us more effective, because there aren't many other crews in the world that are as experienced with polar flying as this team is. They know how to prevent cold-related damage to the aircraft, they know Arctic weather, they know what we need. They keep us flying very effectively. I'm very optimistic that we'll have a very productive campaign."

The P-3 Orion, based at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, will carry IceBridge's most comprehensive instrument suite: a scanning laser altimeter that measures surface elevation, three types of radar systems to study ice layers and the bedrock underneath the ice sheet, a high-resolution camera to create color maps of polar ice, and infrared cameras to measure surface temperatures of sea and land ice.

This year, the mission's most essential instrument, the laser altimeter, has been upgraded.

"The new laser has a very narrow pulse that fires 10,000 pulses every second, compared to the old laser's wider pulse at 3,000 pulses per second," said Jim Yungel, Wallops program manager for the laser altimeter. "We'll be able to triple our data collection rate and see finer detail within steep structures, like crevasses or sea ice leads, in addition to measuring ice elevation more accurately."

IceBridge will also deploy three other experimental instruments that will be tested during the research flights.

As with every Arctic spring campaign, IceBridge scientists will collaborate with several international teams to collect and compare measurements of snow and ice. The largest collaboration this spring will be with CRYOVEX, a campaign dedicated to validating data gathered by the European Space Agency's (ESA) CryoSat-2 satellite. Weather permitting, in March, IceBridge's P-3 Orion will be one of up to four aircraft that will simultaneously fly under one of the lines orbited by CryoSat-2. IceBridge will repeat this CryoSat-2 orbit again in April. Other planned collaborations include a group of European adventurers that will be collecting snow depth data while doing a traverse toward the North Pole; a team from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis taking measurements of sea ice and snow near Thule; and with ESA's Sentinel-3 satellite, which uses radar altimetry to study ice and snow.

The mission of Operation IceBridge is to collect data on changing polar land and sea ice and maintain continuity of measurements between ICESat missions. The original ICESat mission ended in 2009, and its successor, ICESat-2, is scheduled for launch in 2018. Operation IceBridge is currently funded until 2019. The planned overlap with ICESat-2 will help scientists validate the satellite's measurements. For more about Operation IceBridge and to follow this year's campaign, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/icebridge

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You're much more likely to get a flu shot if your doctor makes the appointment for you, Rutgers researchers have discovered.

A Rutgers study has found that doctors who take a proactive stance and schedule flu shots for patients can dramatically increase vaccination rates.

In the study, published in the journal Behavioral Science and Policy, Rutgers researchers report that patients are three times more likely to get vaccinations when their physicians make appointments than when they are invited to make the appointments themselves.

"Vaccination is the single most important thing to do to prevent communicative diseases, and not nearly enough people get vaccinated," says Gretchen Chapman, a lead author of the study and a professor of psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "Prescheduled appointments are a simple intervention that clinics can use to increase vaccination rates."

The vaccine administered in the study was for viral influenza - a disease against which doctors recommend patients be vaccinated annually.

To conduct their study, researchers divided the 886 patients at a medical practice into three groups. They found that 16 percent of the patients who had appointments made for them showed up for the vaccine, while only 5 percent of those who were invited to make their own appointments did so. Only 2 percent of those who got no instructions showed up for vaccinations.

Chapman and her co-authors wanted to know whether pre-scheduling appointments merely attracted patients to the doctor's office who were planning to get vaccinated anyway at work, or at their local pharmacy. They found that the "displacement effect" - the moving of vaccinations from one venue to another - didn't happen.Getting doctors' offices to take the extra step to reduce the risks of influenza could get more people vaccinated.

"Every year, the particular group of viruses is mutable, keeps modifying genetically, so the shot you got last year may not work this year," says Elaine Leventhal, professor emerita of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in whose practice the study was conducted.

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The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Coauthors on the study were Howard Leventhal, also a professor of psychology in Rutgers' School of Arts and Sciences; Elaine Leventhal, who, until her recent retirement, was professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; and Meng Li, now a professor of Health and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Colorado-Denver, who was a graduate student at Rutgers when the research was done.
It has been estimated that up to 85% of medical research is wasted because it asks the wrong question, is badly designed, not published or poorly reported. Health research around the world depends heavily on funding from agencies which distribute public funds. But a new study has found that these agencies are not as open as they could be about what they are doing to prevent this waste and that governments responsible for the public money they distribute are not holding them to account.

The findings come in response to a question posed by a letter published on-line today, 9th March 2017, in The Lancet. It asks how transparent the funding agencies are about the policies and procedures they use to reduce waste and support methodological research and research infrastructure, and what they are doing to secure best value for taxpayers. The study was carried out by an international team of researchers led by Dr. Mona Nasser of Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry.

It arose from challenges laid down in The Lancet's series on reducing waste and increasing value in medical research, published in 2014.

The research team have investigated how research funders monitor and take steps to reduce waste in the research they support. They also examined how funders support methodology research (research about research) and the development of research infrastructures to reduce waste.

The research team worked through the websites of 11 national research funders which distribute public funds in the UK, Australia, Canada, USA, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. They looked for information on how the agencies decide what to fund and what not to fund, and how they ensure that what they do fund is not wasteful.

The research team found the approaches taken by each funding body to be quite varied, with weaknesses which were applicable across them all and some that were specific to each funder.

These weaknesses included: the domination of some grant committees by academics, which is a problem because the priorities of patients, clinicians and policymakers can differ from those of researchers, and the fact that practice and policy decisions were often made without the systematic assessment of existing research evidence.

Some funders, such as the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) in the UK and ZonMW in The Netherlands have already addressed one of the weaknesses with extensive involvement of members of the general public; and the only funder to require reference to relevant systematic reviews in all funding applications is NIHR.

Only six of the 11 funding agencies require the publication of full reports of the research they have funded, and no funder has a comprehensive strategy to make data from all research projects freely available.

The authors of the letter do not advocate that governments should necessarily reduce their spending on medical research, but rather that more should be done to ensure transparency and accountability.

Dr. Nasser commented: "In simple terms there is a two-pronged requirement for medical research funding bodies which distribute public funds. The first is that they need to be fully responsible for how and why those funds are distributed, because they are ultimately answerable to every tax payer in their home countries. The second is that they need to ensure that public funds are not only invested wisely in research projects which represent both good value and waste-limited practice, but also to ensure that the results of these studies are made available in a usable format to the people who need them"

She added: "Our investigation has shown that, on the whole, information about the policies and processes used by national funding agencies across the funding landscape are not transparent or readily available. It would appear that governments around the world often do not hold funding these agencies accountable for adding value to research and reducing research waste. This is not a call for governments to reduce spending on medical research, but rather as public funds become increasingly squeezed, there is no better time for funding agencies and governments to work together to ensure that we will all get the best 'bang for the buck'."

Professor Mike Clarke, one of the letter's authors from Queen's University Belfast, said: "While our findings make for sobering reading, there are moves afoot in some nations to address the issue. I am delighted that here in the UK the NIHR has taken leadership to encourage discussions how we can add value to research in funding agencies."

Fellow author Sir Iain Chalmers from the James Lind Initiative added: "I am delighted that NIHR, in partnership with Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) in the US and ZonMW in The Netherlands , has convened international discussions with other funding agencies about ways to add value and reduce waste in research."

Internationally, the Evidence Based Research Network is one of the initiatives that might help. It is led by Hans Lund at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and is attempting to address the practical and methodological questions about using a systematic assessment of existing research to inform the selection and design of all proposed new research.

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Related links

REWARD initiative - http://researchwaste.net/

Evidence based research network - http://www.ebrnetwork.org

Cochrane Priority Setting Methods Group - http://methods.cochrane.org/prioritysetting/welcome
Spotlight on innovation highlights biases against women in science; finding teachers to nurture students who are future scientists/engineers; good reasons for technology transfer; understanding the next industrial revolution

Tampa, Fla. (Mar. 10, 2017) - The new issue of Technology and Innovation, Journal of the National Academy of Inventors  (18:4) (full text) highlights papers from the Fifth Annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI): "Building on the Foundations of Innovation." The NAI Annual Conference, held last year on April 14 and 15, 2016, in Washington, DC, provides an annual forum for celebrating academic invention and inventors, recognizing and encouraging invention, and enhancing the visibility of university and non-profit research. This issue contains a special conference section and a general section.

"This issue of T&I pays tribute to where we have been and where we are going in the world of innovation and in the National Academy of Inventors," said Dr. Paul Sanberg, president of the NAI and co-editor-in-chief of T&I. "It's an exciting moment for academic invention."

SPECIAL CONFERENCE SECTION HIGHLIGHTS

Although the National Academy of Inventors is a young organization, it has a compelling history, writes Arthur Molella of the Smithsonian Institution. Drawing on an extensive interview with NAI founder Paul Sanberg and a careful contextualization of the NAI's place in innovation history, Molella explores the genesis of the organization.

For Arthur Daemmrich, director of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution, understanding how an impending fourth industrial revolution--driven by artificial intelligence and distributed small-scale manufacturing--will impact inventors and innovation systems requires analysis of the past three industrial revolutions.

Yolanda Comedy (AAAS) and co-authors discuss efforts to create innovation "ecosystems," focusing on the need for "invention ambassadors" who have a passion for solving problems and teaching their students to change the world.

Women pursuing a career in science are often subjected to gender biases, say NIH emerita scientist Florence P. Haseltine and co-author Mark Chodos. Looking at contributions in science and innovation, this paper explores reasons behind why women entering the sciences are often asked "why" they want to be scientists while men entering the sciences are often instead asked "what" field they want to enter.

Katrina Cornish of The Ohio State University Departments of Horticulture and Crop Science and of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering discusses the importance of natural rubber, a strategic raw material essential to the manufacture of 50,000 different kinds of rubber and latex products, noting that steadily increasing demand requires viable alternative crops.

The NAI Fellow Profile features Dr. Emery N. Brown, noted anesthesiologist, neuroscientist, and statistician, who was a keynote speaker at the Fifth Annual Conference of the Academy of Inventors.

GENERAL SECTION HIGHLIGHTS

While some might view university technology transfer as a source of revenue generation, in most cases this is not and should not be the primary motivation for technology transfer, write authors James K. Woodell, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and Tobin L. Smith, American Association of Universities. If done right, they say, technology transfer aims at the university's primary goals: research, education, and service, all carried out in the public interest.

Seed funding for start-up companies provides advantages well beyond the monies received, particularly for university-based start-ups. According to Donna L. Herber, University of South Florida Research & Innovation, and her co-authors, benefits include expanded funding opportunities, hiring and retention of top entrepreneurial faculty, goal setting, entrepreneur development, economic development, and university engagement.

Victor Poirier, University of South Florida Research & Innovation, and his co-authors offer thoughts on improving innovation through education, addressing the key question: "What are the characteristics of innovation and how can we cultivate them?" Their aim is to formulate a process to educate individuals to better use their innovative traits by fully utilizing those traits they have and helping awaken traits that are "dormant."

For a special subset of U.S. students deemed young innovators-in-the-making, who score high on tests of spatial thinking skills, Paul Swamidass of the Harbert College of Business at Auburn University and co-author Christine Schnittka of Auburn University's College of Education, using research evidence, argue that a number of questions need to be answered about these talented students' K-12 teachers, including how teachers can keep young minds engaged and creative while still in school, and how teachers can best understand and help them reach their full potential as future innovators.

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The National Academy of Inventors is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 3,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 200 institutions, and growing rapidly. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. The NAI offices are located in the USF Research Park in Tampa. The NAI publishes the multidisciplinary journal, Technology and Innovation. http://www.academyofinventors.org
Tampa, Fla. (Mar. 10, 2017) - When universities engage in technology transfer, the process of commercializing the innovations and inventions of academic faculty members, "seed capital" to fund start-up companies often comes from entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from outside of the university system. These necessary funds have far-reaching effects and benefits; however, additional benefits, both for the community and the institution, can be realized when the seed capital comes from the innovation and invention-founding academic institutions. "University Seed Capital Programs: Benefits Beyond the Loan," a paper outlining these benefits, has been published in the current issue of Technology and Innovation, Journal of the National Academy of Inventors (full text).

Benefits to be derived from university-based funding for start-up companies include "expanded funding opportunities, hiring and retention of top entrepreneurial faculty, goal setting, entrepreneur development, economic development, and university engagement," said paper lead author Donna L. Herber, University of South Florida (USF) Research and Innovation.

University-based startups are at greater risk for failure than other start-up ventures because their products and technologies are typically in earlier stages of development than those not university-based, the authors write. The level of risk can be offset with funding originating from the university by utilizing the university foundation and office of research and technology transfer. Because the university is part of the community, the effects of this bridge funding extend beyond the campus and into the community, said the authors.

"Getting that first dollar is a huge challenge," explained Herber. "Seed loans--along with founder money and sweat equity--can provide those crucial first dollars....Where no matching [funds] programs exist, the university program can be used as a catalyst to bring partners to the table with matching money."

University seed cap programs can also be useful in developing entrepreneurship among faculty members and students and helping the start-up founder remove his or her 'academic cap' and take on the mantle of the business person, wrote the authors.

Included in the paper are several case studies that demonstrate the benefits of university seed funding for start-ups that blossomed with the help of university offices of technology transfer.

Case studies

The USF Research Foundation's Seed Capital Accelerator Program for companies affiliated with the Tampa Bay Technology Incubator (TBTI) supports and provides funding for existing start-ups that formed based on licensing USF technologies. To help better the odds toward successful commercialization, the program provides up to $50,000 for these start-ups.

"The objective," said Herber, "is to help companies reach specific goals in one year or less, allowing start-ups to reach critical development milestones and get to market more quickly. TBTI and USF Patents & Licensing provide support and training along the way."

Among the startups in Florida that received the $50,000 funding were ClearSpec LLC, founded in 2011 to develop a medical device; Moterum Inc., founded in 2014 to commercialize a walking assistive device for stroke patients; and Scientific League LLC, founded in 2011 to create STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) educational materials for K-12 students.

The paper also outlines similar success stories coming out of Purdue University, the University of Texas, the University of Chicago, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Washington State University.

Measuring the success of university funding programs

"How do we measure the success of university funding programs?" is a question the authors also tackled, a question that is complicated by the variety of ways in which success can be measured.

Direct measurements of success can include loan repayment or equity payout rates, which demonstrate positive return on investment. Indirect measurements may include numbers of license agreements executed, companies formed, jobs created, sponsored research generated, and products launched. "There are direct and indirect measures of success," wrote the authors. "Ultimately, success depends on the goals of the program."

"Programs based at the university are uniquely poised to bridge the gap between academic research and commercialization, as they are housed at the very institution that spawned the technology," concluded the authors. As co-author Paul Sanberg, senior vice president for research, innovation, and economic development at USF, notes, "In essence, there is a sense of ownership that strives for, and drives toward, a company's success. The company's success is then the university's success."

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Co-authors on the paper include: Joelle Mendez-Hinds and Paul Sanberg, USF Research & Innovation; Jack Miner, Office of Technology Transfer, University of Michigan; Marc C. Sedam, The Office of Research, University of New Hampshire; and Kevin Wozniak, Office of Industry Engagement, Georgia Tech Research Corporation.

The National Academy of Inventors is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 3,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 200 institutions, and growing rapidly. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. The NAI offices are located in the USF Research Park in Tampa. The NAI publishes the multidisciplinary journal, Technology and Innovation. http://www.academyofinventors.org
Despite preventative measures against bankruptcy fraud and money laundering, criminals are finding ways to exploit differing regulations in the United States and Europe.

In a recent study published online in the International Journal of Arts and Sciences, two UT Dallas alumnae examine the frequency and implications of bankruptcy fraud and money laundering. They also assess the degree of cultural and ethical differences between these acts in the United States and Europe, where the crimes are more prevalent.

Brenda Limon BS'16 and Pamela Wong BS'16 are the authors of the paper, which they wrote in their International Business class with Dr. Shawn Carraher during their undergraduate studies.

"The lack of uniformity between the financial systems and their regulations makes a lot of room for criminals to participate in these illegal activities. If somehow the nations of the world were able to create uniformity within their financial systems and the way regulations work, it would eliminate a lot of the crime that is happening right now," said Limon, a corporate finance graduate. She is working toward a master's degree in environmental geology.

The pair was among a group of students Carraher took to Harvard University last summer for the International Journal of Arts and Sciences' conference, where Limon and Wong presented their work to a panel.

Carraher, clinical professor of organizations, strategy and international management and undergraduate research director in the Naveen Jindal School of Management, said presenting research benefits students by differentiating them in the marketplace.

"In 2014, a group of international business students in the Jindal School of Management studied the present value of an annuity of presenting papers at Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge, and the present value of an annuity of presenting a paper at Harvard is $280,000," he said.

Limon and Wong's study found that while auditors and financial analysts are in the process of reducing bankruptcy fraud and money laundering, completely nullifying these issues may never be possible without a uniform structure of financial regulations.

The researchers analyzed Hofstede's cultural model and how it pertains to financial regulations between the U.S. and Europe.

"It was interesting to see the cultural differences across different nations and how they manifest in the policies and financial regulations," said Wong, who graduated from the accounting program and is pursuing a master's degree in the Jindal School. "Specifically for the U.S., one of the dimensions is low power distance, which means Americans prefer an equal distribution of power amongst individuals. This is exactly why the U.S. has strong whistleblower protection against retaliation for people who speak out against corporations that commit these types of fraud."

According to the study, Americans also measure performance on a short-term basis, meaning they prefer quick results.

"We found this tendency to look for short-term results sometimes pushes people in influential positions to commit crimes, either money laundering, bankruptcy fraud or the manipulation of financial statements," Limon said. "Because they find themselves under pressure to show stockholders that the company is growing, or has closed a deal, that pressure instigates them to make the mistake of doing whatever it takes to get quick results.

"On the other side of the coin, the United States has been one of the most active in trying to create uniformity in the rules. They're one of the countries trying to come up with regulations that fit not only their standards, but standards of other countries that are strongly tied to them financially."

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The University of Washington took an ambitious step today to assert its leadership in computer science education, research and entrepreneurial innovation with the establishment of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. The Board of Regents voted Thursday to name the school after Allen -- the internationally renowned entrepreneur, philanthropist and computing pioneer -- in recognition of his longstanding support for the mission of the University and CSE. A $50 million endowment for the new school will propel the UW to the forefront of computer science education and innovation for generations to come.

"There's probably no institution that has had a greater influence on me than the University of Washington. I spent hour after hour in the University library devouring everything I could on the latest advances in computer science. And it was access to UW computers as a high school student that served as a springboard for the eventual launch of Microsoft," Allen said. "So it is a great honor to have the school of computer science and engineering named after me. We are entering a new golden age of innovation in computer science, and UW students and faculty will be at its leading edge. My hope is that the school will have the same influence on them as it did on me -- that they will continue to dream big, breaking through technological barriers and using their skills to solve some of the biggest problems our world faces."

The move to elevate CSE from a department to a school signifies its growing size, stature and impact, and acknowledges the increasing importance of computer science in the modern university and in the modern world. By naming the school after Allen, the UW is linking in perpetuity its top-tier computer science program with a visionary renowned for game-changing innovation.

"We have a deep commitment to both access and excellence. We want our doors to be open to the full range of visionaries, and we want to help them become the best in their fields so that they can have a positive impact on our world," UW President Ana Mari Cauce said. "We're truly fortunate to have such a generous supporter in Paul Allen, who not only shares our commitment to fostering broad-based excellence, but who has demonstrated it throughout his career. We're honored to name our new School of Computer Science & Engineering for such a forward-thinking, steadfast supporter of our University and our region."

The creation of the school is also a tribute to Allen's vision of the role that science should play in society, by coupling technological innovation with the quest for solutions to humankind's greatest challenges. This vision led him to establish the Allen Institutes for Artificial Intelligence, Brain Science and Cell Science. These leading-edge research institutes have opened new frontiers of discovery and new collaborations with UW faculty and students.

The $50 million endowment for the school comes in the form of $40 million from Allen, enhanced by a gift of $10 million from Microsoft Corporation in Allen's honor.

"When Paul Allen and Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 with a vision of a computer on every desk and in every home, they ignited what would become the modern-day software industry. While much has changed in the past 40 years, one ideal endures: computer science education is a gateway to progress, innovation and opportunity. We are delighted to honor Paul's tremendous impact on our company, and his continuing support for computer science will have a lasting impact on generations to come," said Brad Smith, president of Microsoft.

With his latest gift, Allen attains the rank of Regental Laureate, an honor reserved for those whose lifetime giving to the UW totals $100 million or more.

Allen has a longstanding connection to and affinity for UW CSE. As a student at Seattle's Lakeside School in the late 1960s, Allen would visit the UW campus to access the leading-edge computers of the day. Just over three decades later, in 2003, doors would open to the state-of-the-art Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the heart of the UW campus, which catalyzed UW CSE's growth into one of the top computer-science programs in the nation. CSE has risen to prominence by generating innovations with global impact and by advancing leading-edge research in emerging areas of the field:

Mobile health: UW researchers are leveraging increasingly sophisticated sensors in smartphones to diagnose and manage disease in ways that will improve the quality of life for people around the world.

Neural engineering: UW is at the forefront of groundbreaking research at the intersection of computing and neuroscience -- developing novel brain-computer interfaces that could enable people suffering from paralysis to move again.

Artificial intelligence: UW has developed formidable expertise in one of the most exciting and dynamic areas of the field, spanning artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing and robotics. Several UW researchers split their time with other leading AI organizations, including the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

Next-generation data storage: UW and Microsoft Research have launched an ambitious project to revolutionize data storage based on DNA. Last year the team set a world record for the amount of digital data encoded and retrieved using strands of synthetic DNA.

Data science: UW is a leader in the data science revolution, advancing the tools and techniques of data-intensive discovery and putting them to work in the physical sciences, life sciences, environmental sciences and social sciences.

As the Allen School, UW CSE will have the flexibility and resources to build on these successes and compete at the highest level for faculty, students and new investments in research -- aggressively pursuing new opportunities to accelerate discovery and real-world impact. The school will provide a creative springboard for young innovators to boldly drive forward technologies that change the world for the better, inspired by the example set by Allen himself.

"In becoming the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, we will be forever linked with an internationally revered pioneer and visionary -- an 'idea man' who left an indelible mark on science, on technology, on the Pacific Northwest and on the world," said Ed Lazowska, Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering at the UW. "The aspirational and reputational value of this connection is incalculable. Thanks to him, CSE will be more nimble, more competitive and have an even greater impact on students, on science and on society."

"Our school and its contributions to education and innovation will become part of Paul's legacy, along with the many outstanding research institutes he has independently created," said Hank Levy, Wissner-Slivka Chair in Computer Science & Engineering and director of the new school. "Every day, every one of us will work hard to make Paul as proud to be associated with us, as we are to be associated with him."

The endowment comes in addition to UW CSE's efforts to raise $110 million for a second computer science and engineering building across the street from the Paul G. Allen Center. UW CSE broke ground on that project in January. Allen's latest gift comes in the midst of the University's most ambitious philanthropic campaign in its history, "Be Boundless -- For Washington, For the World." The campaign seeks to raise $5 billion by 2020.

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For more information, contact Ed Lazowska at lazowska@cs.washington.edu.

The web version of this release is posted here: bit.ly/AllenSchool
DETROIT - Just as a sprinter's body and muscles are ready for action as they wait for the starting gun to fire, brain networks at rest appear to be waiting in a state of potentiation to execute even the simplest of behaviors.

This evidence comes from a new paper published this week in the journal PLoS One, reporting on a study led by professors Vaibhav Diwadkar, Ph.D., at Wayne State University's School of Medicine and Steven L. Bressler, Ph.D., interim director of Florida Atlantic University's Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences.

In the study, "Potentiation of motor sub-networks for motor control but not working memory: Interaction of dACC and SMA revealed by resting-state directed functional connectivity," the researchers used a simple experimental task, having each participant perform a simple motor control behavior (tapping their forefinger to a visual cue) that alternated between behavior and rest. Brain activity was acquired using functional MRI (fMRI), a technique that allows collection of dynamic signals from within the brain when the subject is doing a task as well as when they are at rest.

Using relatively complex modeling of fMRI signals, the team studied brain network interactions between two important brain regions: the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), used for control, and the supplementary motor area (SMA), used for motor movements. In their previous studies, the team highlighted the importance of directional network interactions from the dACC to the SMA during simple motor behavior. In the PLoS One paper, they showed a compelling and opposite effect: during the rest periods that alternated between the motor behavior task, network interactions from the SMA to the dACC were now increased.

According to Diwadkar, who co-directs the Brain Imaging Research Division in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences, "These results suggest that directional interactions from the SMA to the dACC during the rest period may in fact potentiate task-related interactions in the opposite direction." He further noted that the studies confirm what has been long suggested and independently demonstrated: that the brain's networks are always in a state of potentiation for action, precisely because it is impossible to predict what they will be required to do at any given time. Therefore, it is unlikely that the brain can ever be at true rest.

This paper is one of the few attempts to systematically investigate directional interactions between brain networks in the resting state and show how this state might potentiate the opposite direction of the same network task-related processing.

"Our findings are compelling because brain networks are in patterns of incessantly complex directional interactions," said Diwadkar. "Directionality is difficult to measure, and our complex analyses show that it is possible to estimate this from fMRI data."

According to Diwadkar, the team's findings reveal aspects not only of normative brain function but may also provide new directions for characterizing disordered network interactions in neuropsychiatric syndromes. They will be investigating these questions in obsessive-compulsive disorder with David Rosenberg, M.D., the Miriam L. Hamburger Endowed Chair of Child Psychiatry and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Wayne State University; and in schizophrenia with Dr. Jeffrey Stanley, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry. Diwadkar and Bressler are continuing to collaborate on several directions of research focusing on brain network function and dysfunction.

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Diwadkar's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers: MH068680, MH111177 and MH059299).

About Wayne State University

Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit research.wayne.edu.
Friday, March 10, 2017

The importance of being aware and reflexive on how your philosophical paradigm background will frame your whole approach to evaluation.

In the context of empowerment measurement and evaluation, a transformative approach adds particular value because of its take on whose knowledge counts. A transformative approach places emphasis on how measurement (i.e. in context of evaluation, research, monitoring) can increase social justice by tackling unequal power structures that marginalize women and girls, across other intersectional markers. This involves attention to many of the issues discussed under the transformative philosophical assumptions of axiology, ontology, epistemology and methodology (i.e. dealing with ethics, whose knowledge counts, importance of context). It recognizes the value of mixed methods approaches to understanding complex issues such as empowerment.

The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Feminist Issues in Evaluation (FIE) TIG Week with our colleagues in the FIE Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our FIE TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the

aea365 webpage

so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to

aea365@eval.org

. aea365 is sponsored by the

American Evaluation Association

and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

Hi, we are, Professor Emeritus at Gallaudet University and a long time member and past President of the American Evaluation Association and, Senior Advisor in the Gender Team at the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in the Netherlands. We connected because of Julies interest in innovative evaluation strategies to measure the empowerment of women and girls, and my involvement with the development and application of the transformative paradigm in evaluation as a guide to increase the contribution of evaluation to social justice and improvement of the lives of members of marginalized communities, including women and girls. We share perspectices on the use of feminist- and gender-focused evaluation resources. Here we share our learnings and associated resources with you.: CARE provides a glimpse into how to develop gender indicators inspired by an outcome mapping approach that can be found here . CARE adapted this participatory approach framed by social justice principles and inclusion of the concept of complexity. CARE demonstrates how M&E systems can be designed to enhance learning about complex processes such as empowerment and support for more flexible and adaptive programming.The Journal of Mixed Methods Research published a special issue on research and evaluation with members of marginalized communities, including examples of the application of transformative approaches for women and girls.We have found three books that are great resources about the use of a feminist lens in evaluation: Feminist evaluation and research Feminist research practice , and Program evaluation theory and practice A new publication, Qualitative Research for Development: A Guide for Practitioners , developed for Save the Children, provides guidance to practitioners on how to integrate principles of qualitative research into monitoring and evaluation. It provides guidance on how to use participatory approaches to engage project participants (particularly children) in shaping the learning objectives of evaluations and at different stages of the project cycle.
Nearly 200 police officers, volunteers and staff from partner agencies teamed up last night in a major operation to tackle rural crime.

Operation Checkpoint ran from 5pm on Wednesday 8 March to the early hours of Thursday 9 March.

It is the largest rural policing operation of its kind in the country.

North Yorkshire Police worked alongside five other forces  Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire and Northumbria  by co-ordinating intelligence-led deployments, along with static vehicle checkpoints and visits to vulnerable premises.

Intelligence shows that organised crime groups from across the north of England are involved in thefts, burglaries, handling stolen property and targeting rural areas.

These criminals use their extensive knowledge of the road networks across the region in an attempt to avoid detection.

In North Yorkshire, police arrested six people  three on suspicion of poaching, one for breach of a restraining order, and two on suspicion of burglary. A suspected stolen hydraulic breaker and a combi boiler, worth a total of 3,500, were seized.

The three suspected poachers, aged 15, 29 and 41, were arrested near East Harlsey in Hambleton at about 6.30pm. They have been released on bail as enquiries continue. A silver Subaru Legacy was seized  three dogs were also seized, and taken to a secure location.

'Illegal activity will not be tolerated'

In total, the operation saw 97 vehicles stopped for checks across the Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Northumbria areas.

North Yorkshire Police officers were joined by 17 local Rural Watch volunteers, who gave up their own time to assist the police operation.

Inspector Jon Grainge, of North Yorkshire Polices Rural Taskforce said: Operation Checkpoint sends a clear message to criminals using road networks to target our rural communities that their illegal activity will not be tolerated. By working very closely with colleagues across the region, we can clamp down on criminals wherever they are from, and wherever they are going.

Cleveland Polices Rural Crime Reduction Co-ordinator Paul Payne added: I would like to thank all those who took part in last night's operation and for their continued support in tackling organised criminal gangs, and those who blight the lives of those living in our rural communities.
Ofcom has today (March 10) announced that BT has agreed to separate legally from Openreach, with the rural community saying it should not distract from the rollout of broadband to rural areas.

Openreach will become a distinct company with its own staff, management, purpose and strategy.

The Countryside Alliance has said the legal separation of BT and Openreach 'must not distract us all' from the rollout of broadband to those communities which are receiving a poor level of service.

The Countryside Alliance is concerned that it could take several years for this separation to be completed and challenges Ofcom to ensure the separation is swift to ensure that Openreach can focus on broadband delivery in the countryside.

59% of rural homes

1.4 million premises remain unable to access broadband speeds over 10 Mbit/s, the speeds required to meet a typical households digital needs, which is also the proposed speed of the Governments Universal Service Obligation.

Superfast broadband, measured at 30 Mbit/s, is now available to 89% of UK homes, but only 59% of homes in rural areas are able to access superfast speeds.

Head of Policy at Countryside Alliance, Sarah Lee, says: Separating Openreach from BT has often been presented as the panacea to all broadband woes. I fear that many who expect this institutional separation to make a significant contribution to addressing the frustrations of rural communities without adequate broadband provision could be sorely disappointed.

Ofcom must now ensure that Openreach places customers at the heart of their decision-making process, as it is vital at the end of this that we end up with a competitive market that delivers the modern digital services and the infrastructure Britain desperately needs.

100% commitment to investment

The CLA has welcomed the news that BT has reached an amicable agreement with Ofcom regarding the future of Openreach, ending what could have been lengthy negotiations.

Dr Charles Trotman, Senior Economics Adviser for the CLA, has said: It is good news that BT and Ofcom have reached an amicable agreement and hopefully ended what has been a long running political and legal row.

Openreach must now focus 100% on delivering the investment needed to connect rural communities. The CLA will continue to work with all parties to find new ways to get the best possible connections into rural areas and end once and for all the rural-urban digital divide.
An elderly farmer, who has been on trial for shooting a man he believed was trying to steal his diesel, has been found not guilty today (10 March).

Father-of-three Kenneth Hugill, 83, used a double-barrel shotgun to shoot Richard Stables, 44, as he walked out to challenge him in pitch darkness outside his farmhouse in Wilberfoss, near York.

Mr Stables, of Bradford, who had been out lamping with a lurcher dog told a jury at Hull Crown Court he and a friend had stumbled on the farm when he was shot in the foot without warning.

The jury heard Stables has convictions for burglary and theft, possession of an offensive weapon and was on a police intelligence crime list as a person active in rural crime.

Giving evidence from the witness box at Hull Crown Court, Mr Hugill said he had gone to bed at 9pm with wife Sheila, 78, when he was alerted by a light outside at around 2am before seeing a vehicle entering the farm with its lights off.

He said: "I thought initially it was someone with a flash light. It was black. The next thing was a slight silhouette of a vehicle going past the farmyard entrance. The vehicle did not have its lights on. I thought it was up to no good.

"I got up. Got dressed, came down stairs, put my boot and cap on opened the gun cabinet, took out two cartridges and went out to investigate what was in the yard."

'It petrified me'

He said he walked across his yard and saw the vehicle outside his farm building.

"It revved up loudly and drove towards me. It petrified me. I thought it was coming at me," he said.

"I fired a shot down the side of the vehicle, near to the floor in to the ground to stop it coming at me.

"At this point there were no lights on. I thought there were people in the car. I did not want to hit anybody. I just wanted to frighten them away.

"I fired a second shot up in the air. After the vehicle had gone I went back to the house. I contacted my son."

Prosecutor Christopher Dunn told Hull Crown Court that Mr Hugill accepts he fired a shotgun and that the injuries were caused by him.

But, the prosecutor said, what is an issue is exactly what happened at the time the shot was fired, and why it was fired.
Scientists at NASA and the International Potato Centre (CIP) have conducted a farming experiment to see if potatoes will be able to grow on Mars.

The experiment was conducted in soil in the Atacama Desert in Peru, which is most similar to what is found on Mars.

The team wants to raise awareness of the resilience of potatoes, which will put pressure on authorities to fund further research and farming in devastated areas around the world.

A live stream from the CubeSat, at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, shows the potato in bloom, giving hope to both future astronauts and humans at risk of famine.

We have been looking at the very dry soils found in the southern Peruvian desert. These are the most Mars-like soils found on Earth. Chris McKay of NASA ARC. This [research] could have a direct technological benefit on Earth and a direct biological benefit on Earth, says Chris McKay of NASA ARC.

'Extreme conditions'

Joel Ranck, CIP Head of Communications, said: "How better to learn about climate change than by growing crops on a planet that died two billion years ago? We need people to understand that if we can grow potatoes in extreme conditions like those on Mars, we can save lives on Earth."

Julio Valdivia-Silva, a research associate with the SETI Institute and who works at UTEC in Lima said: Growing crops under Mars-like conditions is an important phase of this experiment,

If the crops can tolerate the extreme conditions that we are exposing them to in our CubeSat, they have a good chance to grow on Mars. We will do several rounds of experiments to find out which potato varieties do best.

We want to know what the minimum conditions are that a potato needs to survive, he said.

The CubeSat houses a container holding soil and the tuber. Inside this hermetically sealed environment the CubeSat delivers nutrient rich water, controls the temperature for Mars day and night conditions and mimics Mars air pressure, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. Sensors constantly monitor these conditions and live streaming cameras record the soil in anticipation of the potato sprouting.

With a potato able to grow in simulated Martian soil, the results of this experiment  and follow-up testing  are also likely to be reaped by low-tech subsistence farmers around the world.
An Oxfordshire farmer is the latest victim of sheep worrying as expectant ewes were attacked by dogs running free without a lead.

Andrew Reid, of Bishops Court Farm, Dorchester-on-Thames, reported one ewe had suffered mauling to the face and another had lambed early when two dogs were allowed by their owners to run free beyond designated public footpaths.

Mr Reid, who bought the 303 acres adjacent to public rights of way last autumn, has been left frustrated by Historic Englands delayed response to an application to replace existing fencing which has left the sheep exposed to dog walkers ignoring basic countryside rules and dog management.

Mr Reid, who also owns Belmont Farm in north London, which is actively involved in community outreach and education, bridging the gap between the public and farming, says: I continue to be shocked by dog owners who allow their dogs to run free in close proximity to ewes in lamb, and in our case well off the designated public footpaths.

Our sheep have a right to a secure and safe environment, and I would urge all dog owners walking their dogs in the countryside to keep their dogs on a lead around sheep, most especially at this time of year.

We have been pushing Historic England to agree an application to replace existing old fencing with new fencing for over four months now. This separates the footpaths from the fields where sheep are grazing and lessens the responsibility on people with dogs, but unfortunately the delayed response has cost us. We need to replace the existing fencing with urgency, before there are any other, and potentially worse, attacks.

Pregnant lambs

Particular care is needed throughout the winter and spring when ewes are likely to be pregnant and with newborn lambs, and the stress from being chased by dogs has a high chance of causing abortion or premature lambs.

Mr Reid, who highly commends the South Oxfordshire police force for their excellent work in this area, says: The difficulty is once a dog gets the scent it is very hard to stop them, and often the damage can be catastrophic.

Its not only the physical attack, and among the estimated 15,000 sheep killed by worrying in 2016, there have been some nasty incidents of mauling, but the raised levels of potassium in the ewes initiated by the stress can cause premature abortion. This has a profound effect on the ewes as well as the farmer.

While I appreciate that we all have different priorities in the countryside, even those not involved in farming know that this is the time of year sheep lamb, and I believe we need to educate and engage the public about the impact of sheep worrying. We would encourage signage at each point of entry of footpaths, similar to that produced by the NFU and LEAF, explaining about the land, the risks and creating an understanding and cooperation.

Improvement to the land

When Mr Reid, who has been farming since 1981, bought the property in Dorchester-on-Thames, it was in need of significant restocking and refencing. With his farm manager, Scott Ruck, he has planned extensive investment to improve the land.

As a landowner and custodian of the farmland, I have a duty of care to reinvigorate and enhance the land and its features. We are currently working with The Woodland Trust to put 3km of hedging and new trees on the farm, and we have signs requesting people respect the countryside code, including keeping their dogs under control.

Unfortunately, a number of these have been ripped down, and fenceposts cut. Farmers are often seen as the villains for limiting access, but actually I believe enjoyment of the countryside should be an act of mutual respect.

The owner or those in charge of a dog that is dangerously out of control is committing an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and can be prosecuted, and the dog killed.

Aside from the act of worrying, dogs on the hill enormously increases the risk of neosporosis, which can cause abortion, and sarcocystosis, which can cause neurological disease and death in sheep. Litter is another issue as it poses a danger to livestock if ingested.
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has joined National Park rangers this week on a tour of bridges and footpaths that have been repaired as part of Routes to Resilience, a 3m flood recovery project.

Announced in November, the 3m pot from the RPA has enabled rangers to begin an 18-month programme to reinstate bridges, repair and improve paths, and replace stiles and gates to improve the access for visitors in rural areas, which have previously been devastated by past storms.

Andy Tordoff, Head of Northern Region for the RPA, also met with businesses from the Lake District National Park Partnership to discuss the future of European funding opportunities for the Lake District.

Tourism infrastructure, business development and food processing are all areas that could benefit from current European funding opportunities.

'Excellent start'

The Partnership is also keen to begin initial discussions about the potential impact ahead of the UK departing the EU.

"We've made an excellent start on our flood recovery project, so it was fantastic to be able to show the RPA our appreciation of the 3million and share some of progress made so far," said Steve Ratcliffe, Director of Sustainable Development at the Lake District National Park.

"We are focused on not just repairing the vital rights of way network affected by flooding, but to also make it more resilient for the benefit of our important rural and visitor economy.

"However, 3million wasnt the total repair bill for the Park following Storm Desmond.

"So we are continuing to explore funding options to cover the shortfall; this is currently estimated at a further 2m for the rights of way network and 5m for the Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Path reconnection."
It's been clear from the beginning that Alaska Air's (ALK 2.33%) acquisition of Virgin America was bad news for United Continental (UAL 4.08%). Alaska Air's management viewed the deal as a springboard for growth in California -- especially in the Bay Area. Meanwhile, United is the dominant airline in San Francisco.

On Thursday, Alaska Air revealed just how much of a threat it could be to United. The carrier announced an aggressive expansion in San Francisco that will break United Airlines' monopolies on many routes. As Alaska's growth ramps up later this year, it could start to put pressure on unit revenue in one of United Continental's most important hubs.

The source of the threat

The key to Alaska Air's success is that it offers a very good product at a low cost. Indeed, Alaska Airlines has been the highest-rated "traditional airline" in J.D. Power's annual North America Airline Satisfaction Study for nine years in a row. (United Airlines has been at the bottom of the rankings in recent years.)

Meanwhile, including the results at Virgin America, Alaska Air's mainline cost per available seat mile (CASM) excluding fuel and special items declined slightly to 8.04 cents in 2016. On a comparable basis, United Airlines' CASM was 20% higher at 9.66 cents last year. This gap is growing as Alaska Air has a long track record of reducing its unit costs over time.

This is clearly a source of concern for United Continental shareholders. Producing a lower-quality product at a higher cost is not a recipe for long-term success.

Of course, United does have some advantages over Alaska Air. Most importantly, it has a broad global route network. Yet Alaska's partnerships with more than a dozen other airlines give its customers access to a wide variety of destinations that Alaska Airlines doesn't serve directly.

A fast start in San Francisco

Over the past decade, Virgin America has built a large base of devoted fans in San Francisco. It did so despite having a very small route network. In fact, Virgin America flies nonstop from San Francisco to just 21 destinations, covering 19 cities. By contrast, United Airlines serves about 100 nonstop destinations from San Francisco, with 275 daily departures.

After closing its acquisition of Virgin America in December, Alaska Air moved quickly to build up its presence in San Francisco. Before the end of the year, it announced three new nonstop routes from San Francisco, including four times daily service to Orange County, California, two daily flights to Minneapolis, and a daily roundtrip to Orlando, Florida.

More recently, Alaska Air won tentative approval to begin daily flights from San Francisco to Mexico City, a key business market. However, the carrier saved its biggest move for this week.

Another round of expansion

On Thursday morning, Alaska Air announced plans to add another nine nonstop routes from San Francisco. Between Aug. 31 and Dec. 14, it will inaugurate daily flights to Albuquerque, New Mexico; Baltimore; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Kona, Hawaii; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans; Philadelphia; and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. The new flights will use a combination of Virgin America A320s and Alaska Airlines-branded E175 regional jets.

With the exception of San Francisco-Philadelphia -- a route served by American Airlines -- United Airlines is the only carrier flying nonstop on any of these routes today. This typically allows it to command high prices.

On some of these routes, United does offer reasonable fares for advance purchase, despite its monopoly position. Raleigh-Durham is an outlier, with roundtrip fares for nonstop flights in early May exceeding $1,000. However, for last-minute bookings, roundtrip fares of around $1,000 on these routes are the norm, not the exception. Alaska Air is likely to undercut these fares, forcing United to drop its prices.

Alaska Airlines has also announced a handful of additional routes at San Jose International Airport (in California). Its new daily flights to Austin, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona, and four daily flights to Los Angeles will give Bay Area customers more travel options.

A long slog for United Continental

Based on its current plans, Alaska Air will offer about 125 daily flights to 42 destinations from the three Bay Area airports by the end of 2017. That is far more competition than United Airlines has faced in San Francisco in recent years.

To make matters worse, Alaska Air seems to be gearing up for a multiyear campaign of double-digit annual growth in the Bay Area. Pricing pressure in the lucrative San Francisco market may just be a fact of life for United Airlines in the coming years.
What happened

Shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals (NAK -0.12%), a mineral exploration and development company, dropped more than 49% last month following a critical report and letter from Kerrisdale Capital that urged investors to sell the stock and announced its short position in the stock.

From the start of the new year up until the release of the analyst's note, shares of Northern Dynasty Minerals had been up more than 63%. However, Kerrisdale's opinion quashed the Street's enthusiasm -- enthusiasm that shows few signs of reappearing.

So what

Arguably, the success of Northern Dynasty's enterprise relies solely on its ability to bring the Pebble Project to fruition. Characterizing the project as "indisputably one of the world's largest undeveloped copper/gold deposits with a potential mine life that is measured in decades" on its website, Northern Dynasty obtained 100% ownership of the deposit in 2005. Currently, development of the project is mired in the permitting phase, and there is little to suggest the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will grant the necessary permits, leaving construction of the mine nowhere on the horizon.

Although the Pebble deposit has tremendous potential, its economic viability has been consistently questioned for years. For example, Kerrisdale Capital cited in an article published on an investing website that AngloGold Ashanti decided to end a partnership in 2013 with Northern Dynasty -- after funding $573 million -- because it decided that "building the mine would destroy billions of dollars of value." Recognizing the poor economics of the project and a variety of other reasons, Kerrisdale Capital concluded that "Northern Dynasty is worthless."

Following Kerrisdale Capital's article, Northern Dynasty published a response on its website, attempting to assuage investors' concerns. For one, the company makes it clear that Kerrisdale has an incentive to see the company falter, stating "Kerrisdale stands to realize significant gains in the event that the price of the Company's stock declines." Management further refuted the claim that the project could not prove to be economically viable, stating that "mining companies are profitably mining lower grade ore within a few hundred miles of it [Pebble deposit], as well as at other operations around the world." And attempting to cast doubt on Kerridale Capital's credibility, Northern Dynasty's response stated Kerrisdale Capital is "apparently a troubled organization, which has recently been in the news for major client and staff defections and alleged senior staff personal misconduct."

Now what

The stock's sell-off should come as no surprise. After all the company is unable to generate revenue and has been unable to bring the project further along in over a decade. Kerrisdale Capital's credibility aside, investors' skepticism that gold will ever be poured at Pebble Project is certainly justifiable.

Currently, the only thesis for investing in Northern Dynasty must be predicated on the company's ability to begin and maintain efficient gold production at the Pebble Project. At this point, there's little -- if anything -- to suggest this is likely.
After years of hard work, Kinder Morgan (KMI 0.72%) finally won approval to move forward with its controversial Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project last fall. However, getting the green light from the government of Canada was just one of the many steps needed before the company starts construction on that project. One of the crucial remaining steps was to complete a cost estimate review to ensure that the project was still economically viable.

The company announced the completion of that critical step this week. While the price tag of the project did move higher, which caused some shippers to back away from supporting it due to an associated increase in tolls, an overwhelming majority of shippers remain committed to the project. Because of that, the pipeline expansion still looks excellent from an economic standpoint for the company.

Drilling down into the numbers

One result of the lengthy regulatory process was that the company would need to make changes to the scope of the project. Overall, the National Energy Board added 157 conditions and plan changes such as a thicker pipe wall, additional drilled crossings in environmentally sensitive areas, and the Burnaby Mountain tunnel. Those extra costs pushed the project's final cost estimate to 7.4 billion Canadian dollars ($5.5 billion), up from its most recent estimate of CA$6.8 billion.

To offset the added costs, the company increased the tolls on the project to ensure that it will earn a high enough economic return on that investment. Because of that increase, shippers had the option to keep their volume commitments or turn them back in and pay for their share of the development costs thus far. Shippers, however, turned back only 22,000 barrels per day of the 708,000 barrels per day of capacity they committed to in 2012. This means 97% of the available volumes remain fully committed. The company is now openly marketing that last 3%, which it shouldn't have any problem filling.

Given the updated price tag and tolls, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets believes that the project will earn a return of 6.5 times enterprise value to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), which is higher than expectations. In fact, that multiple is slightly better than the average of the company's high-graded backlog, which stood at 6.7 times EV/EBITDA earlier this year, an improvement from 7.4 times at the beginning of 2016 after the company jettisoned low-return projects to improve returns.

What's the next step?

With the final costs nailed down, Kinder Morgan has the economic incentive and shipper commitments to move forward with the project, which it hopes to start constructing later this year. The company's next step is to find the right financing for the project, which is a process that's already well underway. The company is running a dual-track process for funding, including exploring an IPO, as well as looking for joint venture partners to finance a portion of the project.

According to a report by Reuters last month, the company is looking at a variety of alternatives as it seeks the best option for all stakeholders. If it goes the IPO route, the company would probably look to raise 20% to 40% of the targeted budget, which could be as much as CA$3 billion given the recently increased cost estimate. That would make it one of the biggest IPOs in Canadian history. Kinder Morgan also has a number of options in how to structure that company, including spinning off just its Trans Mountain Pipeline or forming an entity around its entire Canadian asset base, which also includes terminal assets in Alberta.

Meanwhile, if the company went the joint venture route, it could seek to sell up to 50% of the project to pension or sovereign wealth funds. This strategy is one the company has used in the past, with it recently securing private equity joint venture partners for two large infrastructure projects. What the company likes about these ventures is that the partners paid it an up-front fee to both reimburse a portion of capital expenditures spent to date, as well as an additional amount to recognize the value Kinder Morgan created on the project. That's in addition to agreeing to finance a portion of the project's capex through completion.

Kinder Morgan could also look for a funding partner among other Canadian energy infrastructure companies like Enbridge (ENB 3.05%) or TransCanada (TRP 1.99%). While both companies currently have no shortage of projects to finance, both have been aggressively adding to their backlog over the past year via acquisitions. Enbridge would make the most sense of the two. While it won approval to move forward with the Line 3 Replacement, the company's Northern Gateway project was rejected by the Canadian government. That pipeline would have competed with the Trans Mountain Pipeline to move oil to the West Coast. Because of that, the company might be interested in joining Kinder Morgan's project. Meanwhile, TransCanada currently has two export pipelines in limbo, Keystone XL and Energy East. However, the company did recently resubmit for approval to build Keystone XL, which makes it less likely that it would be interested in joining Kinder Morgan.

Once financing is in place, Kinder Morgan will be able to make a final investment decision on the project. If all goes according to plan, the company should be able to begin construction this September and complete it by December of 2019. The project's lucrative economics suggest the company's cash flow should move meaningfully higher starting in 2020.
Philip Morris International (PM 1.86%) is seeking to revolutionize the tobacco industry with its iQOS alternative to conventional cigarettes, and so far, performance in test markets has been extremely strong. Philip Morris has high hopes for iQOS, expecting it eventually to contribute to a portfolio of reduced-risk products that could entirely replace traditional cigarettes. Yet in order to do so, Philip Morris will have to be sensitive to the needs of each market it serves while meeting anticipated strong demand. Fortunately, the tobacco company's experience in rolling out iQOS in Japan has taught it some valuable lessons that should improve how it handles introducing the product in other key markets worldwide.

When you have a hot product, you have to be able to meet demand

One huge problem that Philip Morris has faced in Japan is that iQOS was even more successful than the company anticipated. As a result, Philip Morris hasn't been able to produce enough HeatSticks tobacco inserts to satisfy consumers once they've purchased the iQOS device, and that in turn has led to a less than ideal experience for customers. Moreover, it has forced Philip Morris to slow introduction of iQOS systems, because it doesn't want to be in a position of having disappointed customers early in the introduction process.

In response, though, Philip Morris has dramatically boosted production. The company expects to have capacity of 32 billion units annually in 2017, but even that boost isn't necessarily going to be enough to satisfy demand. As CFO Jacek Olczak said at a recent conference:

I wish I knew what the volume will be in Japan in this year because we continuously have to revise the forecast and therefore are holding essentially all of our markets at the city test [level]. Because once you go national, the availability of the product [and the] need to ship the product up to the demand in the market [leaves you with] no way back. ... So we play all of our markets to contain the demand, while we know that Japan is the market that has priority.

The worst situation for Philip Morris is when it has built up demand for the iQOS product but then faces out-of-stock challenges at key retail distribution locations. The ramp-up in production should alleviate some of those concerns, but further steps are also necessary.

When you have production constraints, you have to be measured in the pace of growth

Even with dramatic increases in production of HeatSticks, Philip Morris still can't afford to grow as quickly as the market might otherwise support. To sustain forward momentum while keeping control of the market going forward, the tobacco giant has limited the availability of the iQOS system in certain markets. By doing so, Philip Morris has artificially depressed demand for HeatSticks. As long as the tobacco inserts are the chokepoint in the capacity vs. demand equation, measured system sales can keep demand lower.

Yet that strategy comes at the risk of disappointing would-be customers who would like to use iQOS but can't find the device. That's an especially bad result, because early evidence shows that those who try iQOS tend to stick with it. When Philip Morris looked at its post-launch markets, it found that only a low-single digit percentage of customers who fully convert to iQOS end up switching back to cigarettes. If Philip Morris can't get all of those would-be customers on the path to iQOS conversion, then it's missing out on a long-term opportunity that's essential to its long-term core strategy.

When you have a strong brand, use it

Finally, Philip Morris has found that smoker awareness of its Marlboro brand has helped in raising awareness of iQOS. Customers pay attention when the maker of a well-known product creates an innovative new offering, and Philip Morris believes that much of the uptick in Japan stemmed from the fact that 90% of smokers were at least familiar with Marlboro.

As Philip Morris International rolls out the iQOS system in more markets across the globe, it can learn a lot from its experience in Japan. If product introductions are as successful worldwide as they were in the island nation, then Philip Morris will have to prioritize dramatic production capacity increases in order to meet skyrocketing demand and achieve its long-term vision for the tobacco industry going forward.




Haiti - Quebec : Donation of Granby firefighters' equipment





The Consulate General of Haiti in Montreal recently received a lot of equipment from the Fire Department of Granby, a Town of the Cantons de lEst of Quebec. This lot includes 17 boxes containing 55 intervention suits, 9 coats and 10 firefighter helmets.



This donation follows an interview last summer between Consul General Justin Viard and Pierre Lacombe, the City of Granby Fire Chief, during which he expressed the City's desire to put these Equipment at the service of Haitian firefighters.



To this end, the Municipal Council of Granby passed a resolution in November 2016 confirming the granting of these equipment to the Haiti Fire Department. Subsequently, the City Council sent a correspondence last December to the Consular Mission to inform it of this decision.



The Consulate General of Haiti in Montreal, on behalf of the Haitian Government, thanked the City Council and the City of Granby Fire Department for their generosity and hoped that this gesture would pave the way for cooperation in other areas, betwwen the City of Granby and some cities in Haiti.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - France : Training Program on Solar Energy





Wednesday, Jean David Geneste, the Secretary of State for Vocational Training, signed a letter of intent with Michel Le Devehat Representative of the Department for the Promotion of Mobility and International Training of the French Ministry of Education and Francois Milioni, Representative of the Schneider Electric Foundation to set up a training program on solar energy in Haiti.



This letter mentions the creation in early 2018 of a Franco-Haitian vocational training center for the solar energy trades. An agreement is expected to be finalized within the next 6 months.



The Secretary of State welcomed the support of France and hoped that this cooperation would be fruitful.



Michel Le Devehat, said that Haitian professionals will be trained at the international standard level in three satellite centers where French experts will mainly participate, stressing that "The training of trainers and the elaboration of the curriculum are the first steps to be taken to make the project operational." This initiative should ultimately lead to the creation of secondary and advanced training courses in the solar energy sector.



Schneider Electric will be responsible for supplying the necessary materials for the practical work, said Francois Milioni, convinced that the collaboration between France and Haiti will give excellent results in training on renewable energies and will open the door to the creation of new businesses in Haiti.



HI/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





Shots on the car of the Director of the BMPAD

Wednesday in the middle of the day, the car in which was Patrick Norame, Director of the Bureau of Monetization of Development Assistance Programs (BMPAD), his driver and his close security officer suffered shooting at the corner of Casseus and Bellevue streets in Pacot. No victim has been deplored in this aggression whose perpetrators have not been identified.



Words of Jovenel Moise

"My vision of a self-sufficient Haiti in terms of food goes through a strengthening of agriculture-related institutions... Makes profitable natural resources of Haiti, is a task to which my administration will tackle without delay," declared President Jovenel Moise during a visit to the Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine of Damien https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20289-haiti-politics-jovenel-moise-promises-$4-million-to-the-faculty-of-agronomy.html



Lafontant filled his documents in the Lower House

On Wednesday the Prime Minister appointed Jack Guy Lafontant filled he documents required by the Constitution in the Chamber of Deputies which should soon form a Commission to analyze the conformity of the documents deposited



Rene Preval, funeral reminder

Friday, March 10: exhibition of the body of Rene Preval at the Museum of the National Haitian Pantheon (MUPANAH); Saturday 11 March: Mass sung at the Oxide Jeanty kiosk; Sunday, March 12: Burial in Marmelade, his hometown.



150 cases before the BCEN

No fewer than 150 challenge cases concerning local elections have been lodged with the National Electoral Litigation Office (BCEN), said Uder Antoine, Executive Director of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), stressing that they will all be addressed during the month of March.



The OHDH calls for the closure of the National Penitentiary

The Haitian Observatory of Human Rights (OHDH) calls for the closure of the National Penitentiary for restructuring. These recommendations follow a guided tour of the country's largest prison center, OHDH officials believe that this prison is a center of torture. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20013-haiti-flash-nightmare-at-the-national-penitentiary.html



Condolence Book in Miami

The Consulate General of Haiti in Miami informs the public that a book of condolences is open to all those who wish to transmit their words of recomfort, Thursday, March 9 and Friday, March 10, 2017, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, at the Consulate located at 259 SW 13th ST, 2nd Floor, Miami, FL 33130.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Sandburg volunteer makes farewell tribute to Brandyburg

Tyrone Brandyburg

FLAT ROCK  A volunteer with the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara has made a video tribute to Tyrone Brandyburg, who was named superintendent of Harpers Ferry National Historic Park in West Virginia after serving for 4 years as superintendent at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock.



Richard Labunski, a retired journalism professor and resident of Flat Rock, made the six-minute video about Brandyburgs accomplishments and the major projects at the park, including a new amphitheater that will be available to the community. Click here to watch.

Hes made it so easy for people to cooperate, Nancy Pew, president of the Friends of Connemara, a nonprofit agency that supports the Carl Sandburg Home site, says in the video. Hes put together a phenomenal team here. He was just a really good catalyst for making everything pop. Hes a tremendous businessman. You have to learn the government. I think hes been pretty savvy and I think thats why the park was able to benefit.

Among the achievements Labunskis tribute documents are trail rehabilitation, acquiring funding for the new amphitheater, acquisition of a new van to carry visitors from the parking lot to the home and renovation and repair of the Sandburg home and goat barn.

Brandyburg deflected credit to the employees and volunteers he worked with during his service here.

Im looking forward to the challenge (at Harpers Ferry) but very saddened by the fact that I will lose not just employees, volunteers and community people but friends, he said.
New Delhi : The Supreme Court asked the Centre to release funds for fencing India-Bangladesh border to check cross-border influx of illegal Bangladesh nationals into Assam, saying the task has to be completed soon.

A bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R F Nariman perused the Centres status report on the progress made in the works relating to securing and fencing the international border and said the Madhukar Gupta committee would oversee and supervise it.

Without going into the merits of the submissions, we are of the view that the task of border fencing and physical manning of the border (where fencing could not be done) has to undertaken and concluded, the bench said.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) PS Patwalia, appearing for the Centre, said some tenders have been finalised and work orders issued to successful bidders to undertake the exercise of border fencing.

He also apprised the court that in some cases, the process of re-tendering have been initiated and effort was on to acquire land.

Assam government has sought Rs 2.96 crore for acquiring land to be used for creating infrastructure to secure the border, Patwalia said.

On the issue of releasing funds, the ASG said the Expenditure and Finance Committee would meet on March 10 to decide the issue, which would be attended by the Home Secretary also.

The apex court also made clear that the updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to identify original residents of Assam would continue under state coordinator Prateek Hajela, who said the task was tedious and taking time.

We are making it very, very clear (to the state) that whatever manpower they (Hajela committee) want, has to be given. We want this work to be done quickly, the bench said and posted the matter for further hearing on April 19.

It was hearing the pleas of Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha, Assam Public Works and All Assam Ahom Association filed in the aftermath of large-scale riots in 2012 and 2014 resulting in the death of a large number of persons.

It was alleged that sovereignty and integrity of India was at stake as a massive influx of illegal migrants from the neighbouring country has affected the core constitutional values.

Earlier, the bench had passed a slew of directions, including an order to the Centre to complete the fencing work along the Indo-Bangla border to check cross-border influx of illegal Bangladesh nationals into Assam and streamline the process to deport them back.

The bench had decided to keep monitoring the implementation of its directions.

The apex court had also laid down a time-table for updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam so that the entire updated register is published by the end of January, 2016.

It had earlier appointed a panel of three former High Court judges, headed by Justice Aftab H Saikia, to monitor the NRC updation.

The apex court had also asked NRC to consider the request for registration by persons in Assam who were not residents of the state till March 24, 1971, if they provide proof of their citizenship of other Indian states.

In December 2014, the apex court had referred to a larger bench the issue of constitutional validity of section 6A of the Citizenship Act with regard to the cut-off date for awarding citizenship to the migrants.

It had asked the Centre to detect and deport all illegal migrants who have come to Assam after March 25, 1971 and hold discussions with the Bangladesh government to ensure that illegal migrants are sent back.

It had ruled that the foreigners, who came to India between January 1, 1966 to March 24, 1971, be awarded citizenship as per law.

Source : Economic Times
STRs preliminary February 2017 data for Melbourne, Australia, indicates significant occupancy levels.

Based on daily data from February, Melbourne reported the following in year-over-year comparisons:

Supply: +2.8%

Demand: +2.2%

Occupancy: -0.6% to 88.1%

Average daily rate (ADR): -5.4% to AUD191.63

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -5.9% to AUD168.89

Despite the slight decline, the absolute occupancy figure would be near the highest for a February on record in the market. STR analysts note that level as impressive considering significant supply growth, which also placed pressure on ADR.

STR will release actual February 2017 results later this month. The February edition of STRs Market Forecast is now available.

STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com.
Interjet announced it has added additional non-stop flights between New Yorks JFK airport and Mexico City effective immediately. These additional flights operate Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday complementing two other daily flights Interjet operates between the two cities.

Our business traveler market is booming between New York and Mexico City, said Jose Luis Garza, Interjet, CEO. Adding this additional frequency helps us keep up with the demand for our service, he added.

The A320 aircraft departs JFK at 12:55 arriving Mexico City 17:05 in time for late afternoon meetings or business dinners. An early morning 06:05 departure from Mexico City arrives JFK 11:55 in time for afternoon business meetings in the New York metropolitan area. In addition to convenient departures and arrivals, Interjet offers more legroom between seats, inflight service that includes free light snacks and drinks, no fees for checked baggage on specific fares and female-only lavatories.

Interjet is an international airline based in Mexico City providing air service to 53 destinations in seven countries, including 37 cities in Mexico. Its network includes service to nine U.S. markets: Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando/Sanford and San Antonio. Other international routes include Havana, Santa Clara and Varadero,Cuba; Bogota, Colombia; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Lima, Peru; and San Jose, Costa Rica. The airline operates a fleet of 70 aircraft including 45 Airbus A320s, three Airbus A321-200s and 22 Sukhoi Superjet 100s.
The term customer service has become common place within the business world. Many discuss providing great service and talk about the importance of customer satisfaction. There seems to be an accepted understanding that a satisfied customer translates into a successful business. The more satisfied a customer is the better for the business as a whole. So, why is it that so many customers, across so many industries, leave an interaction with their expectations unmet? Many companies recognize the importance of customer service and many even incorporate the concept into their vision and mission statements. Companies try to meet the customers expectations, however, often times miss the mark. The reason for this is, many times, due to lack of training given to employees, on which companies rely on to maintain customer satisfaction. Employees spend most of their training times learning about systems, policies and human resources procedures. While all of that is important, less time is given to training employees on how to communicate with their customers. Without the proper training customer service representatives can struggle with how to deal with any unexpected question or situation. This can leave the customer frustrated and dissatisfied. As Impact Learning Systems recognizes, nothing improves customer satisfaction like dealing with employees who exhibit world-class customer service or sales skills, are proud of t...
Introduction Ask most sales managers what they require of their sales people when it comes to account management and you will get a variety of responses. Typical of these responses are the following: 'I want my sales people to':-  Have a clearly defined strategy for each key account.  Demonstrate that they have all angles covered with an account management plan.  Identify and manage key decision-makers.  Understand how buying decisions are made.  Use a process to actively manage the account. Ask customers what they look for in a good account manager, and the responses take on a different emphasis. They express the skills in some or all of the following ways: 'I want account managers to:-  Have a clearly defined strategy for each key account.  Demonstrate that they have all angles covered with an account management plan.  Identify and manage key decision-makers.  Understand how buying decisions are made.  Use a process to actively manage the account. In summary, the supplier sees the account manager as someone whose job it is to PROTECT AND GROW the account. The customer sees the account manager's primary role as someone whose job it is to CARE FOR AND CULTIVATE their account. The reality is that the account manager has to fulfil both roles, and bridge the gap between these two sets of requirements. The tensions facing account managers surround the issue of how they ...
Achieving and maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction is related to everything that anyone in the organization does. This is true because every management and non-management function  from the janitors job to the CEOs  affect a customers buying decision. I believe that the organization chart for a corporation ought to show the customer, not the CEO, at the top. Service should be a part of everyones job description. Service should be the umbrella over every corporate organization plan. Quality of service is more important than price. Price will bring shoppers, but not customers (But), give the customer something worthwhile and she or he will pay what its worth.  Tom Peters and Nancy Austin, A Passion for Excellence. To clarify the value of quality service, I believe that service retains the customers you already have, attracts more customers, and develops a reputation that encourages customers to do business with you in future. How do we do that? The best we can do is to put ourselves in the customers shoes: Do things for a customer the way that the customer would do them for himself/herself. Case in point Graebel Graebel Companies is a more than $350 million household goods relocation provider. It is the largest privately owned integrated household goods company. It has typically produced annual growth rates exceeding 10 percent for many years. Dave Graebel, CEO, has focus...
Two former Department of the Interior officials who once worked together are on opposite sides of a gaming debate in Connecticut.

On one side is George Skibine , a former top official at the Bureau of Indian Affairs . He's been hired by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe to help them make the case for a third casino in the state.

On the other side is Ken Salazar , who served as Secretary of the Interior from 2005 through 2009. He's working for MGM Resorts International , a non-Indian firm that opposes the new development.

Skibine, a citizen of the Osage Nation who left Interior in 2011 , was in charge of Indian gaming for most of his tenure at the BIA. He and the tribes are disputing Salazar's claims that a third casino would violate existing Class III gaming compacts in the state.

I would humbly submit that he (Salazar) probably didnt review one gaming compact himself, Mohegan Chairman Kevin Brown said at a public hearing on the casino on Thursday, The New London Day reported. He had people do it for him.
Work continues on the new headquarters for the new radio studio in Eagle Butte. Listeners can find the station, which should be operational by July 1, at 93.5 FM on the radio dial. Photo by Tom Eagle Staff



A radio station for Eagle Butte

By Ernestine Chasing HawkNative Sun News TodayManaging Editor

EAGLE BUTTE  For decades the airwaves above the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation were filled with the tunes of Credence Clearwater Revival, Waylon, Willie and the Boys streamed live from KLND 89.5 FM radio in Little Eagle, South Dakota.

But beginning July 1st, members of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe will begin enjoying their very own radio station, streaming live from Cheyenne-Eagle Butte at 93.5 FM on the radio dial.

According to project manager Tom Eagle Staff, Cheyenne River relied on KLND for broadcasting and the sister tribes enjoyed a good working relationship for years.

What they were doing before then is Tribal Ventures was working with KLND and trying to enhance their programming so that it would include Cheyenne River programming as well, Eagle Staff said.

In 2003, CRST was one of three tribes chosen by the Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF) to address the root causes of poverty. NWAF invested $9.5 million dollars, with a CRST match of $1.5 million with the goal of boosting the reservation economy. Cheyenne River Tribal Ventures was the entity created to administer the grant and devise a ten year plan for poverty reduction.

Part of the plan they mapped out for Cheyenne River included an initiative to improve communication reservation wide to strengthen unity amongst the people. So in 2011 they partnered with KLND and created a remote broadcast studio located in the Lakota Technologies Inc. building with equipment and a portable broadcast unit purchased with funding from the initiative.

However KLND began experiencing problems with continuity in their broadcasting and Eagle Staff set out to help them but found himself on a different path.

If you remember for two years in a row KLND went off the air for about six months. The second year it went off the air, I came in and approached Eileen Briggs director of Tribal Ventures at that time to see if they could help KLND, he said.

Briggs informed him about the CRST initiative for improved communication and gave him the nod to conduct a feasibility study on possibility of Cheyenne River constructing their own radio station.

Briggs gave him back ground information she had received from a Federal Communications Commission workshop she attended.

I started following up on that and found that the FCC had a new rule at that time called the Tribal Priority Rule. Because the FCC didnt have any windows open at that time for new non-commercial FM radio stations like KLND, KILI, KINI and other PBS radio stations, Eagle Staff said.

Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: A radio station for Eagle Butte

Copyright permission Native Sun News

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Business Business Community: Govt Must Clarify Laws to Secure Investment

Bloomberg Televisions Ms. Haslinda Amin and businessman U Zaw Zaw at Bloomberg Invest Myanmar at the Sedona Hotel, Rangoon on March 9. / Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Local and international business leaders urged the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) government to clarify the countrys laws to secure significant foreign investment.

The comments were made at a forum on promoting business in Burma at the Sedona Hotel in Rangoon on Thursday organized by international media company Bloomberg and attended by more than 100 representatives of embassies, businesses, consultancy groups and banks.

Lack of clarity in Burmas laws and poor infrastructure are affecting investors confidence, said U Ko Ko Gyi of the Capital Diamond Star group, despite the NLD government adopting a 12-point economic policy and amending the countrys investment law during its nearly one year at the helm.

The governments 12-point policy is so broad, they should provide detail on which sectors they want to emphasize. For example, will they develop water and irrigation? U Ko Ko Gyi asked.

Burmas power supply is another factor negatively affecting investment. Burma currently produces less than 3,000 megawatts per day country wide, much less than neighboring Malaysia and Thailand.

Investors are not only looking for reasonably priced, reliable power. They seek sustainable government policies, stable taxation, and rule of law, said U Zaw Zaw, chairman of the Max Myanmar Group.

U Zaw Zaw suggested the government expand ports and docks to decrease transportation costs for companies.

Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC)s by-laws and rules and regulations for foreign investment have not yet been rolled out, despite some foreign factories already operating in Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which commenced its second phase in February.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) accused the governments SEZ management body of failing to follow international standards and committing human rights violations in a report last month. The research group suggested amending SEZ laws in order to protect Burmas citizens.

U Zaw Zaw said with the change in Burmas political climate and the lifting of US sanctions, Burmas tycoons are expecting foreign partners to help grow the countrys economy.

The country was isolated 50 years  we dont know how to lead investors to reach a global level. So, we should look at foreign partners to work together, he said.

He said that his hope is that working with foreign partners can also change the standards of local companies to be more responsible toward society.

Bloomberg Televisions Southeast Asia correspondent Ms. Haslinda Amin questioned U Zaw Zaw on whether he thought mass foreign investment was being delayed by the countrys instability, and referred to armed clashes on the Chinese border and the plight of the Rohingya in Arakan State.

U Zaw Zaw said this would have a little impact but was not the only reason.

Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce Peter Beynon told The Irrawaddy that the controversial Rohingya problem could be resolved by increasing the wealth and prosperity of those in the concerned area.

If you look at what happened around the border with Thailand, the ethnic armed groups signed peace accords  and they are benefiting from increased prosperity as a result of the border trade, he said.

Access to finance, land, utility, power, and human capital are the major elements that need to be addressed by the government for much more investable opportunity for foreign investors, he concluded.

Regarding armed conflict, he said that after ethnic armed groups along the border with Thailand signed peace accords, they benefitted from an increase in trade and prosperity.

According to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, the government is expecting that foreign investment in Burma will reach US$6 billion per year from 2016-2020 and $8 billion per year from 2021-2030.
Burma Economist U Hla Myint Dies at 97

U Hla Myint. / Gavin Allan-Wood/ London School of Economics

RANGOON  One of Burmas few internationally renowned scholars and pioneering welfare economist U Hla Myint passed away at the age of 97 in Bangkok on Thursday.

Born in Pathein, Irrawaddy Division in 1920, he was a bright child who was officially enrolled in Rangoon University when he was only 15 years old.

He later studied at the London School of Economics where he got a Ph.D. in 1948 with a thesis on theories of welfare economics. He acted as an advisor to Burmas post-independence government in the 1950s under the countrys first prime minister U Nu.

The prime minister rejected his advice to liberate the countrys rice trade from state control, in favor of an inward-looking model. Failing to convince U Nu to take an export-oriented economic strategy, he left the position and the country. The young scholar joined Oxford University as a lecturer until he returned to Burma in the late 1950s to serve as the rector of Rangoon University.

However, the 1962 coup by dictator Gen Ne Win forced him to leave the country again. He spent nearly two decades teaching development economics at the London School of Economics.

While he was little known in his home country, his theories were exhibited in the economic policies of Asias tiger economies, Australian economist Sean Turnell wrote in a 2014 paper. Sean Turnell called U Hla Myint a sage and a classical economist in the same paper.

U Hla Myint returned to Burma in 2012 under the quasi-civilian government led by former military general U Thein Sein for an economic forum entitled An Agenda for Equitable and Sustainable Development for Myanmar. Even five decades later, his view on the countrys economic strategy remained the same; growth of the agricultural sector within a free market system.

During an interview with Nikkei Asia in 2015, U Hla Myint noted that U Thein Seins approach to the countrys economic development was inefficient despite roughly trying to follow the right policy.
Burma Karate and Wooden Guns: Arakan States Insurgent Group

Policemem stand at a checkpoint outside a Rohingya displaced persons camp in Arakan State capital Sittwe / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

SITTWE, Burma & LEDA, Bangladesh  The emergence of Harakah al-Yaqin, the first Rohingya Muslim insurgent group to organize in Burma in decades, signals a dangerous new phase in a crisis that is increasingly attracting the attention of extremists in Pakistan and the Middle East.

Unknown six months ago, the group has ignited a conflict in Arakan State that has marred Burmas transition towards democracy and confronted leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi with her biggest crisis yet.

Our people have been persecuted for 50 or 60 years, so support for the insurgents is there, said Rahim, a teacher from the village of Dar Gyi Zar, who is among more than 70,000 Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh since the fighting began.

Communal tensions have long-festered in northwestern Arakan State, where 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims live in apartheid-like conditions, often disliked by the Buddhist majority. Serious ethnic clashes erupted in 2012, but the recent violence is the first sign of a Rohingya insurgency entrenching itself inside Arakan since at least the early 1990s.

Reuters spoke to around a dozen Rohingya from villages in the conflict zone about the activities of the group in their area, as well as a police officer who led the interrogations of several captured insurgents and a military intelligence officer.

Their accounts, which could not be independently verified, shed new light on how the group prepared for its campaign. They describe how a small group of leaders, including one born to Rohingya parents in Pakistan, recruited several hundred young men, training them clandestinely for months in fields and forests.

Mohammed Shah, 26, from Yae Khat Chaung Gwa Son village, was not approached to join the group, but said he was aware of its activities for about six months before it launched its first attacks in October. Once he came across 30 people training in a forest clearing near his village with wooden dummy weapons.

I support them, he said. We have been persecuted for decades and they are working to bring us justice.

Clandestine Training

On Oct. 9, Harakah al-YaqinArabic for Faith Movementlaunched three coordinated attacks on separate police border posts, killing nine officers.

The group claimed responsibility for the attacks in videos posted online.

The security operation launched by the military in response has been beset by allegations of mass killings and gang rapes that the United Nations says may constitute crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

The crisis could not come at a worse time for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, whos near year-old government is contending with renewed ethnic insurgencies elsewhere in Burma that threaten to undermine the Nobel laureates signature peace process.

Burmas government says the allegations of human rights abuses are serious, but that security forces are dealing with an insurgency that threatens the regions stability and development.

Residents of northern Arakan and security officials told Reuters that Harakah al-Yaqin had organized its campaign across the border in Bangladesh, and that it involved leaders with links to Pakistan.

In the village of U Shey Kya, adult men were approached in early 2016 and asked to join the group, three residents told Reuters. Some agreed and took part in training, they said.

Some villagers were recruited first, then these agents persuaded other people one by one, said one man. They would go to a grocery store or in the tea shop, they would talk to people.

A senior member of Harakah al-Yaqin, Mohammed Noor, was last month sentenced to death for leading one of the three attacks, the first such verdict to be handed down.

Police Captain Yan Naing Latt, the lead interrogator of suspects at the jail in state capital Sittwe, told Reuters the groups goal was to seize control of the northern part of Arakan to create a Muslim democratic state for the Rohingya.

There were six cells in total, said Yan Naing Latt, but only three were able to successfully launch attacks. Leaders like Mohammed Noor were sent with some weapons to each village, recruited and trained locals there.

They trained karate and practiced firing guns, said Yan Naing Latt. Some of the attackers came from refugee camps in Bangladesh and brought with them weapons that had been stolen there, he said.

Call for Jihad

A report from the International Crisis Group in December identified Ata Ullah, a Rohingya believed to have been born in Pakistan and raised in Saudi Arabia, as the leader of Harakah al-Yaqin.

He appears in the videos posted online by Harakah al-Yaqin, citing Koranic verse and calling for a jihad in Arakan. Rohingya villagers who have seen the videos say the same man was one of those who led recruitment and training.

He used to come to the village very oftenhe told the villagers that he will fight for our rights, said a school teacher from the village of Kyar Gaung Taung.

Four residents said some of the men providing training did not speak the Rohingya language but conversed in Urdu, the language of Pakistan, or English.

Refugees and residents said community support for the group was based on frustration with the Burma governmentwhich says the Rohingya are interlopers from Bangladeshrather than religious ideology.

Nonetheless, diplomats and analysts say the involvement of foreign militants has the potential to radicalize and enflame the conflict.

Burmas government has said it believes Ata Ullah and another Harakah al-Yaqin member, a Pakistani citizen, attended terrorist training with the Taliban in Pakistan.

While no firm evidence linking Harakah al-Yaqin to extremist organizations has emerged, several Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, and Islamic State have raised the Rohingya cause in their publicity materials.

A senior Burma military intelligence officer said Harakah al-Yaqin has tried to organize resistance since 2013, but was only able to gain a foothold and attract funding in 2015.

They targeted young and educated Muslims and organized several meetings in Bangladesh, said the officer, citing information from informers monitoring the movement of people across the border.

The group was still active, the officer said, with the military expecting further attacks.

A fresh video surfaced in February showing young, masked men wielding swords and sticks, calling themselves Harakah al-Yaqin. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the clip.

They are moving from one place to the next and organizing short five- to 10-days-long training sessions in different villages, said the intelligence officer.

While that suggests the group is becoming entrenched, the violence its campaign has unleashed has cost it some support.

Were ready to inform the government if the people involved in the training come back, said the U Shey Kya villager.
Burma Thingyan Holiday Cut Short

Devotees attend Dhamma class during the Thingyan holiday in April 2015. / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  If you were planning a long trip during the Thingyan water festival this year, you might need to change your plans.

The Presidents Office and its spokesperson U Zaw Htay have announced a government plan to shorten the Burmese New Year holiday from 10 to five days.

The announcement on Thursday stated that the 10-day public holiday had hindered office work and banking services, with delays in transportation and commodity flows due to the long break.

It stated that the days taken from the Thingyan holiday would be added to Thandingyut, Tazaungdine and international New Year, but the substitution is not yet clear.

It also suggested that despite the change, civil servants might still enjoy 10 days off as originally planned.

U Zaw Htay said for those who had already booked travel arrangements, they could keep their plans but that the official holiday was only five days.

Thingyan will be celebrated from April 13 to 17.

The 10-day holiday started under the former military junta in 2007, two years after the Union government relocated the administrative capital to Naypyidaw.

Many civil servants from the capital and internal migrants across the country return home for the holiday, and those who continue to work earn at least double for their time.

The announcement came on short notice, after many had already made travel plans. Many people have complained that this benefits employers and hurts employees.

It is completely unfair to employees, a civil servant said.

She said civil servants do not have proper holidays throughout the year as they work overtime on weekdays, weekends and on public holidays.

Thingyan is the only time that we all go home, to see our relatives and get some rest, she said, adding that five days is not enough for those who have to spend two days traveling to their hometowns.

Additional reporting by Htet Naing Zaw.
Burma Thousands Flee Laukkai Clashes

(Photo: People fleeing clashes between the Burma Army and Kokang ethnic armed forces arrive in Mandalay (Photo: / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

RANGOONThousands of people including locals and migrant workers have fled clashes between the Burma Army and the Northern Alliance in Laukkai, the administrative capital of the ethnic Kokang region of Shan State.

People have been fleeing the area since renewed clashes broke out on March 6. More than 20,000 have reportedly fled to border camps in China, and more than 2,000 arrived in Mandalay on Thursday after taking shelter in Man Su Monastery in Lashio, according to U Pinna Nanda, the abbot of the monastery.

There are more migrants from around the country than Laukkai locals, he said, adding that local civil society organizations (CSOs) and government officials had provided aid for the people.

Ko Thant Zin, a volunteer helping war victims in Laukkai, said people without documents to cross the border were escaping to China through the forest. Chinas Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that more than 20,000 people from northern Shan State had flooded into its border camps in recent months.

Around 1 a.m. on March 6, Kokang armed ethnic troops raided hotels and casinos in Laukkai and carried out attacks on police stations and Burma Army outposts on the China-Burma border.

The Northern Alliance coalition, which includes the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Arakan Army (AA), was involved in the attacks.

Burmas State Counselors Office released a statement on Monday claiming that five civilians and five traffic police officers died in the clashes. Around 20 burnt bodies were found, the statement said, and four traffic police officers were taken hostage.

Clashes continued the following day with both sides yet to release new statements.

Hotels, markets, restaurants, casinos and other businesses have been shut down because of the fighting, making thousands of internal migrant workers redundant overnight.

Volunteer U Sithu Tun said most of the migrant workers are from central Burma and work on sugarcane plantations among other businesses.

Some dont have the money to go back, he said. We are also helping them. This time, the fighting is different from the clashes in 2015. The military has tightened security because the other side wore plain clothes when they launched the attacks.

In February 2015, MNDAA troops, who were trying to retake the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, attacked Burma Army outposts outside Laukkai. The fighting lasted for four months before the MNDAA declared a unilateral ceasefire in June.

A police officer in Laukkai who asked for anonymity said Burma Army troops were deployed in the town and there were ongoing clashes in the surrounding area.

Tensions have remained high between Burma Army and Northern Alliance troops since last November when the alliance launched attacks on military outposts and police posts at the Muse 105th Mile Border Trade Zone and in Mong Ko in northern Shan State. The coalition said that the attacks were intended to counter the Burma Armys continuous assaults on its mountain outposts.
Commentary Is U Wirathu Above the Law?

U Wirathu. / The Irrawaddy

It is 66(d) again. This time, the target is Myanmar Now chief correspondent Ko Swe Win, who was accused of insulting nationalist monk U Wirathu.

But the question many are asking is who will suppress U Wirathu, the controversial monk who promotes hate speech, instigates racial violence and recently voiced his praise for a high-profile assassination.

If Daw Aung San Suu Kyis administration cannot protect or defend Ko Swe Win and stop U Wirathu, the legitimacy and credibility of the government is in danger, as its popular mandate slips at an alarming rate among activists and ethnic minorities.

U Kyaw Myo Shwe, a follower of U Wirathu, recently opened a case under Burmas Telecommunications Law against the Myanmar Now journalist at a police station in MandalayBurmas second largest city where U Wirathu also lives.

Several political prisoners have been arrested and detained under the controversial law, which has been used to silence dissent.

Many suspect that U Wirathu, who leads the nationalist Ma Ba Tha movement, receives backing from influential people, nationalists and some in the Buddhist spiritual community.

Under the previous government, U Wirathu led Ma Ba Tha and the 969 movement to oppose the expansion of Islam and boycott Muslim-owned shops in the predominantly Buddhist country.

In 2013 and 2014, Wirathu and some Ma Ba Tha members spread hate speech as violence erupted against the Muslim community, killing hundreds.

Powerful businessmen and high-ranking authorities backed the movement, some political observers suspect.

And while the nationalist monk does have supporters, many Burmese are disgusted by his words and actions.

On his Facebook, Ko Swe Win shared a Myanmar Now news story that stated that U Wirathu was no longer in the monkhood as he had thanked the assassins who killed U Ko Ni. Many Burmese Buddhists agree that U Wirathu is no longer a monk as he disgraced the essence of his religion.

In actuality, the Myanmar Now story quoted a senior abbots comments on U Wirathu.

The monk, known as U Seinda, said thanking and encouraging murder was an unforgivable offense in the monastic practice.

Ko Swe Win rightly questioned the rule of law in the country.

I have to question the rule of law in a country where people who support an assassination and spread hate speech over the Internet go unpunished while people like me are being sued.

There was some hope in July when Rangoon chief minister U Phyo Min Thein boldly declared that Ma Ba Tha was unnecessary and redundant, because there was already a state Sangha body in place to oversee the activities of monks and Buddhists across the country.

The 47-member Sangha committee said Ma Ba Tha was not a recognized Buddhist group. But then, nothing happened. Surprisingly, Parliament under the control of the NLD and lawmakers who were elected by the public has not discussed the issue of amending Article 66(d).

U Wirathu went back to his routine: spreading hate-speech on social media, receiving donations and praising extreme nationalism.

It is as if he and Ma Ba Tha have been operating with the states blessing or at least authorization. The NLD government seems toothless in the matter.

If the government cannot contain U Wirathu and protect or defend Ko Swe Win, the public will begin to question whether U Wirathu and his group are above the law. No doubt, many Burmese will lose faith and hope in the government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
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By: Ramzy Baroud | (Maan News Agency) |  

At a glance, Israel appears a true democracy. Take a closer look, and that facade of democracy will soon dissipate, turning into something else entirely.

Tuesday, Feb. 28 was one of those moments. The chain of events was as follows:

An official Israeli State Comptroller issued another report on the Israeli governments handling of the July 2014 war on Gaza; it chastised Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , and then-Defense Minister, Moshe Yaalon  among others  for the lack of preparedness and for their mishandling of the subsequent 50-day conflict; Netanyahu reacted angrily; Yaalon took to Facebook to defend his record; the opposition in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) went on the offensive; politicians lined up, taking sides; a media frenzy followed; the country was in an uproar.

This is not a precedent. It is a repeat of a recurring scenario that often follows Israels military plunders.

When such reports are issued, Israelis sort out their differences in fierce parliamentary and media battles.

While Israelis begin to examine their failures, demanding accountability from their government, Western mainstream media finds the perfect opportunity to whitewash its own record of failing to criticize Israels military onslaught at the time.

(Over 2,200  of whom over 70 percent were Palestinian civilians  were killed and thousands more wounded in Israels so-called  Operation Protective Edge  in 2014.)

According to US media logic, for example, Israels investigation of its own actions is a tribute to its thriving democracy, often juxtaposed with Arab governments lack of self-examination.

When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, instigating a war that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians, culminating in the Sabra and Shatila massacres, a familiar scenario ensued: The United States did its utmost to prevent any international intervention or meaningful investigation, while Israel was allowed to investigate itself.

The outcome was the Kahan Commission Report, the conclusion of which was summarized by international law expert, Professor Richard Falk, as such: The full measure of Israels victory is rather its vindication, despite all, as a moral force in the region  as a superior state, especially as compared to its Arab rivals.

The US media touted Israels moral victory, which, somehow, made everything okay, and with a magic wand, wiped the record clean.

The Washington Post editorial led the congratulatory chorus : The whole process of the Israeli reaction to the Beirut massacre is a tribute to the vitality of democracy in Israel and to the countrys moral character.

This sorry state of affairs has been in constant replay for nearly 70 years, ever since Israel declared its independence in 1948.

International law is clear regarding the legal responsibility of occupying powers but since Israel is rarely an enthusiast of international law, Israel has forbidden any attempt at being investigated for its actions.

In fact, Israel abhors the very idea of being investigated. Every attempt by the United Nations, or any other organization dedicated to upholding international law, has either been rejected or failed.

By Israeli logic, Israel is a democracy and democratic countries cannot be investigated over their armys involvement in the death of civilians.

This was, in fact, the gist of the statement produced by Netanyahus office in June 2010, soon after Israeli army commandos intercepted a humanitarian aid flotilla on its way to Gaza and killed ten unarmed activists in international waters.

Israel is an occupying power under international law and is held accountable to the Fourth Geneva Convention. The international community is legally obliged to examine Israels conduct against Palestinian civilians and, needless to say, against unarmed civilians in international waters.

Israels record of investigating itself, aside from being spun to praise Israels moral superiority, has never been of any help for Palestinians.

In fact, the entire Israeli justice system is systematically unjust to occupied Palestinians.

Israeli rights group Yesh Din reported that out of the 186 criminal investigations opened by the Israeli army into suspected offenses against Palestinians in 2015, just four yielded indictments. Such indictments rarely yield prison sentences.

The recent indictment of Israeli army medic Elor Azarya sentencing him to a (now postponed) term of 18 months in prison for the killing in cold blood of an alleged Palestinian attacker is an exception, not the norm. It has been years since an Israeli soldier was sentenced. In fact, several thousand Palestinian civilians have been killed between the last time a manslaughter conviction of an Israeli soldier in 2005 and Azaryas indictment.

Azarya, now perceived by many Israelis as a hero, has received such a light punishment that it is less than that of a Palestinian child throwing rocks at an Israeli occupation soldier.

Some United Nations officials, although powerless before the US backing of Israel, are furious.

The 18-month verdict also stands in contrast to the sentences handed down by other Israeli courts for other less serious offenses, notably the sentencing of Palestinian children to more than three years imprisonment for throwing stones at cars, UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in response to the Israeli court decision.

While pro-Israel social media activists and media pundits went on to praise the supposedly unmatched Israeli democracy, a campaign in Israel to pardon Azarya continues to garner momentum. Netanyahu is already on board .

Not only is the Israeli justice system unjust to Palestinians, it was never intended to be so. A careful reading of the recent comptrollers remarks and findings would clarify that the intent was never to examine war against a besieged nation as a moral concept, but the governments inability to win the war more effectively: the breakdown of intelligence; Netanyahus lack of political inclusiveness; the death of an unprecedented number of Israeli soldiers.

Israels appetite for war is, in fact, at an all-time high. Some commentators are arguing that Israel might launch yet another war so as to redeem its mistakes in the previous one, as stated in the report.

But war itself is a staple for Israel. Hard-hitting Israeli journalist Gideon Levys reaction to the comptrollers report says it best. He argued that the report is almost a plagiarized copy of the Winograd Commission Report which followed the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

All wars since 1948 could have been avoided, Levy wrote in Haaretz . But they were not, frankly, because Israel loves wars. Needs them. Does nothing to prevent them and, sometimes, instigates them.

This is the only way to read the latest report, but also all such reports, when war is used as a tool of control, to downgrade the defenses of a besieged enemy, to create distraction from political corruption, to help politicians win popular support, to play, time and again, the role of the embattled victim, and many other pretenses.

As for Palestinians, who are neither capable of instigated or sustaining a war, they can only put up a fight, real or symbolic, whenever Israel decides to go for yet another bloody, avoidable war.

No matter the outcome, Israel will boast of its military superiority, unmatched intelligence, transparent democracy and moral ascendancy; the US, Britain, France and other Europeans will enthusiastically agree, issuing Israel another blank check to defend itself by any means.

Meanwhile, any attempt at investigating Israeli conduct will be thwarted, for Israel is a democracy and, for some reason, self-proclaimed democracies cannot be investigated. Only their sham investigations matter; only their dead count.

Ramzy Baroud is an internationally-syndicated columnist, author, and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gazas Untold Story.

The views expressed in this article are the authors and do not necessarily reflect Maan News Agencys or Informed Comments editorial policy.

Via Maan News Agency

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Related video added by Juan Cole:

Al Jazeera English: Gazas medical care crumbling under Israeli siege
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By Danny Sjursen | ( Tomdispatch.com |  

The other day, I found myself flipping through old photos from my time in Iraq. One in particular from October 2006 stood out. I see my 23-year-old self, along with my platoon. Were still at Camp Buerhing in Kuwait, posing in front of our squadron logo splashed across a huge concrete barrier. It was a tradition by then, three and a half years after the invasion of neighboring Iraq, for every Army, Marine, and even Air Force battalion at that camp to proudly paint its unit emblem on one of those large, ubiquitous barricades.



2nd Platoon, B Troop, 3-61 Cavalry, Kuwait, October 2006. The author is standing on the far left.

Gazing at that photo, its hard for me to believe that it was taken a decade ago. Those were Iraqs bad old days, just before General David Petraeuss fabled surge campaign that has since become the stuff of legend, a defining event for American military professionals. The term has permanently entered the martial lexicon and now its everywhere. We soldiers stay late at work because we need to surge on the latest PowerPoint presentation. To inject extra effort into anything (no matter how mundane) is to surge. Nor is the terms use limited to the military vernacular. Within the first few weeks of the Trump administration, the Wall Street Journal, for instance, reported on a deportation surge.

For many career soldiers, the surge era (2007-2011) provides a kind of vindication for all those years of effort and seeming failure, a brief window into what might have been and a proof certain of the enduring utility of force. When it comes to that long-gone surge, senior leaders still talk the talk on its alleged success as though reciting scripture. Take retired general, surge architect, and former CIA Director Petraeus. As recently as 2013, he wrote a Foreign Policy piece entitled How We Won in Iraq. Now win is a bold word indeed. Yet few in our American world would think to question its accuracy. After all, Petraeus was a general, and in an era when Americans have little or no faith in other public institutions, polls show nearly everyone trusts the military. Of course, no one asks whether this is healthy for the republic. No matter, the surges success is, by now, a given among Washingtons policy elite.

Recently, for instance, I listened to a podcast of a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) panel discussion that promoted a common set of myths about the glories of the surge. What I heard should be shocking, but its not. The group peddled a common myth about the surges inherent wisdom that may soon become far more dangerous in the go big military era of Donald Trump.

CFRs three guests  retired General Raymond Odierno, former commander of Multinational Forces in Iraq and now a senior adviser to JPMorgan Chase; Meghan OSullivan, former deputy national security adviser under President George W. Bush; and Christopher Kojm, former senior adviser to the Iraq Study Group  had remarkably similar views. No dissenting voices were included. All three had been enthusiastic promoters of the surge in 2006-2007 and continue to market the myth of its success. While recognizing the unmistakable failure of the post-surge American effort in Iraq, each still firmly believes in the inherent validity of that strategy. I listened for more than an hour waiting for a single dissenting thought. The silence was deafening.

Establishing the Bona Fides of Victory in Washington, If Not Iraq

With the madness of the 24-hour news cycle pin-balling us from one Trump crisis to another, who has time for honest reflection about that surge on its 10th anniversary? Few even remember the controversy, turmoil, and drama of those days, but believe me, its something Ill never forget. I led a scout platoon in Baghdad and my unit was a few months into a nasty deployment when we first heard the term surge. Iraq was by then falling apart and violence was at an all-time high with insurgents killing scores of Americans each month. The nascent central government, supported by the Bush administration, was in turmoil and, to top it all off, the Sunni and Shia were already fighting a civil war in the streets.

In November 2006, just a month into our deployment, Democrats won control over both houses of Congress in what was interpreted as a negative referendum on that war. A humbler, more reticent or reflective president might have backed off, cut his losses, and begun a withdrawal from that country, but not George W. Bush. He doubled down, announcing in January 2007 an infusion of 30,000 additional troops and a new strategy for victory, a temporary surge that would provide time, space, and security for the new Iraqi government to reconcile the countrys warring ethnic groups and factions, while incorporating minority groups into the largely Shiite, Baghdad-based power structure.

Soon after, my unit along with nearly every other American already in theater received word that our tours had been extended by three months  15 months in all, which then seemed like an eternity. I sat against a wall and chain-smoked nearly a pack of cigarettes before passing the word on to my platoon. And so it began.

Less than nine months later, the administration paraded General Petraeus, decked out in full dress uniform, at congressional hearings to plug the strategy, sell the surge, and warn against a premature withdrawal from Iraq. What a selling job it proved to be. It established the bona fides of victory in Washington, if not Iraq.

The man was compelling and over the next three years violence did, in fact, drop. The additional troops and new counterinsurgency tactics were, however, only part of the story. In an orgy of killing in Baghdad and many other cities, the two main sects ethnically cleansed neighborhoods, expelling each other into a series of highly segregated enclaves. The capital, for instance, essentially became a Shiite city. In a sense, the civil war had, momentarily at least, run its course.

In addition, the U.S. military had successfully, though again only temporarily, convinced many previously rebellious Sunni tribes to switch sides in exchange for money, support, and help in getting rid of the overly fundamentalist and brutal terror outfit, al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). For the time being, AQI seemed to the tribal leaders like a bigger threat than the Shiites in Baghdad. For this, the Sunnis briefly bet on the U.S. without ever fully trusting or accepting Shiite-Baghdads suzerainty. Think of this as a tactical pause  not that the surges architects and supporters saw (or see) it that way.

Which brings us back to that CFR panel. The most essential assumption of all three speakers was this: the U.S. needed to establish security first in Iraq before that countrys government, set in place by the American occupation, could begin to make political progress. They still dont seem to understand that, whatever the bright hopes of surge enthusiasts at the time, no true political settlement was ever likely, with or without the surge.

Americas man in Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, was already in the process of becoming a sectarian strongman, hell-bent on alienating the countrys Sunni and Kurdish minorities. Even 60,000 or 90,000 more American troops couldnt have solved that problem because the surge was incapable of addressing, and barely pretended to face, the true conundrum of the invasion and occupation: any American-directed version of Iraqi democracy would invariably usher in Shia-majority dominance over a largely synthetic state. The real question no surge cheerleaders publicly asked (or ask to this day) was whether an invading foreign entity was even capable of imposing an inclusive political settlement there. To assume that the United States could have done so smacks of a faith-based as opposed to reality-based worldview  another version of a deep and abiding belief in American exceptionalism.

A Surge Believer as National Security Adviser?

Sadly, that panel still epitomizes respectable thought on the Iraq surge and what followed from it. Heres the problem: Republican (and some Democratic) policymakers, along with supposedly outside the box military commanders, confused new tactics with an effective strategy, which, in the wake of the disastrous decision to invade, may have been a contradiction in terms. Add in an additional myth  that the U.S. military turned on a dime in 2007, empowering a set of truly creative, open-minded thinkers, who brought America to the edge of victory  and you have the makings of the surge legend.

While surge-era generals like Petraeus and Odierno and younger colonels like John Nagl and Peter Mansoor were intelligent, competent officers, when it came to Iraq their strategic insights and worldview remained surprisingly narrow and conventional. Their bedrock belief was that somewhere in the Iraqi chaos there just had to be an American military solution. Enamored with the magical efficacy of counterinsurgency tactics, they bet wrong on the capacity of the U.S. government or its military to transform the chaotic, unmovable facts on the ground in Iraq.

This might matter little today if senior officers who led the Army and Marine Corps during the surge hadnt found their way into key positions in the Trump administration. To take one example, new National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster is something of a legendary figure in the U.S. Army. A hero of the First Gulf War of 1991, he taught history at West Point, commanded a regiment in Iraq in the post-invasion years, fought national-level corruption in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, and recently led the Army Capabilities Integration Center  the organization charged with developing the Armys future concepts and force modernization.

A classic soldier-scholar with a doctorate in history, he authored a well-regarded book on the Vietnam War. I count myself among his many admirers. Nonetheless, his elevation to a policy-making position should raise troubling questions, since he, too, is a surge admirer. In 2005-2006, then-Colonel McMaster commanded the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Tal Afar, Iraq, a city wracked by insurgency and riven with sectarian divisions. According to surge lore, he oversaw a miracle turnaround of the situation in that dangerous city, previewing the Petraeus surge to come.

Its a story that briefs well and McMasters unit did indeed achieve some notable successes during its one-year deployment, but  and this is a big but  those gains proved fleeting. The Sunnis of that city were never reconciled with the Shiite-dominated Baghdad government nor were their grievances addressed, so violence returned. In 2014, just three years after the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq, Tal Afar became one of the first Iraqi cities conquered by the militants of the new Islamic State.

Remember that the whole purpose of the surge had been to provide time and space for Iraqi national reconciliation. That never truly occurred  not in Tal Afar or elsewhere. McMasters own academic expert, Army reservist Ahmed Hashim, recognized the essential issue back in 2006: The problem is, what happens when this unit leaves? Its only a one-year vision, and then we rotate out.

The Real-World Costs of Strategic Failure

Difficult as it is to predict the future, theres something ominous about seeing Generals H.R. McMaster, James Mattis, and John Kelly, all holdovers of sorts from the surge generation, take key positions in Donald Trumps administration where they will once again face surge-like issues and dilemmas in the Greater Middle East. The question is: Has their thinking on such problems developed since the surge era?

Keep in mind that a surprising number of military officers and policymakers still subscribe to the idea that just a little more effort, a couple of more years, a few thousand extra troops, a bit more political gumption, and it might all have spelled victory in Iraq. Such wouldve-couldve-shouldve apologetics are, of course, historically dangerous. The German Wehrmacht carefully cultivated a similar stab-in-the-back myth to explain that it was the politicians, not the army, that had actually lost World War I. A decade later, many of those disgruntled German military professionals embraced the bellicose language of a certain well-known fascist demagogue.

In less drastic but still detrimental fashion, in the years after 1973, the new all-volunteer U.S. Army grew increasingly estranged from the civilian population. This was, in part, because many veteran officers blamed Americas defeat in Vietnam on home-front antiwar protestors who were (gasp!) simply exercising their constitutional rights. Perhaps in place of self-serving, vindicating myths, an honest, critical, and realistic assessment of the past would better advance future strategy and operations.

Those Council on Foreign Relations panelists, the vast majority of my fellow military officers (in my experience), and a surprisingly bipartisan array of congressional representatives still perpetuate  and seemingly believe  not only the surge myth, but the stale, discredited ideologies at its root: American exceptionalism, this countrys supposed status as the globes indispensable nation, and the magical capabilities of our high-tech military.

Ironically, U.S. military doctrine purports to value critical and creative thinking. Unfortunately, that emphasis hardly fits with the realities of promotion and command selection. A recent empirical analysis by faculty from West Points Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership concluded that promotion and command boards may actually penalize officers for their conceptual ability. In other words, more intelligent, educated, and skeptical officers  those with higher cognitive ability, according to the study  dont fare so well in the competitive promotion game.

Which helps explain much, since truly critical thinkers would have challenged the various myths surrounding the surge and the unbalanced tactics that inspired the legend. The defense establishment has just given President Trump the preliminary draft for the comprehensive strategy he requested to beat ISIS. What will you bet that their suggestions are still infused with surge thinking?

Colonel Dale Eikemeier and Arthur Lykke Jr. have suggested that effective strategy involves the balancing of ends (desired outcomes), ways (methods), and means (available resources), while limiting risk. At least retrospectively, it boggles the mind that, in 2006-2007, a plurality of political and military thinkers presumed Washington could successfully achieve such an equilibrium in Iraq by military means. As they defined them at the time, their desired outcomes were outrageous: halt a brutal sectarian civil war, defeat a nationalist-Islamist insurgency, facilitate a political settlement in an ethno-religiously divided synthetic state, and restore essential civil services. In what universe did policymakers expect our means  a finite professional (non-conscripted) army in an alien land with help from the State Department (whose staff globally is about the size of one army division)  to achieve such wildly inflated ambitions?

As for ways, the outrageous size disparity between that military and an undersized diplomatic corps ensured that either American methods would be almost purely military in nature or require that soldiers transform themselves into diplomats, social workers, and city councilmen. (In those days, it was called nation building.) Armed with eternal, can-do optimism, the Army tried a bit of both.

The band-aid momentarily stemmed the bleeding, but proved predictably incapable of healing the wound. In the process, the militarys sacrifice was substantial (960 dead in the surges first year alone), but the long-term results were negligible. The shocking imbalance between the three strategic legs of the stool (ends, ways, and means) guaranteed an unacceptable level of risk. American troops and Iraqi civilians bore the brunt of that peril. No surprise there. Still, it boggles the mind how few dissenting voices emerged from our military and political ranks at the time. Even more frightening is the continuing resonance of the surge myth 10 years later in the face of overwhelming evidence of Iraqs turmoil and the ineffectiveness of foreign nation-building more generally. (See: Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya.)

Memory is a tricky thing. As historian Dale Andrade wrote, No matter how the war in Iraq ends, it seems likely that it will soon replace Vietnam as the militarys new touchstone for lessons learned. Under the circumstances, thats scary. Just as the military and public misunderstood Vietnam, too many contemporary officers and politicians rely on a mythical rendering of the ongoing Iraq War. That memory will, in turn, deeply influence what Americans learn from the enduring campaigns in the Middle East and so tragically shape future U.S. military strategy.

Now, look at that photo of mine one more time and consider the real-world costs of strategic failure. Four of those men are dead; one is paralyzed; and three of the others were wounded. That was 10 years ago, and as for the Middle East, its worse than we found it. Thought about a certain way, in the end it wasnt the U.S. military, but various terror groups that surged most effectively.

Call me a skeptic, but my sense is that those painted concrete barriers in the Kuwaiti desert will one day serve as so many American ziggurats, monuments to a profound failure of the imagination. Lets hope the Council on Foreign Relations invites some genuinely creative, dissenting voices to its 20th anniversary panel commemorating the famous Iraq surge. But I wont hold my breath.

Major Danny Sjursen, a TomDispatch regular, is a U.S. Army strategist and former history instructor at West Point. He served tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has written a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War, Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge. He lives with his wife and four sons near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

[Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author, expressed in an unofficial capacity, and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Command and General Staff College, Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.]

Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, John Feffers dystopian novel Splinterlands, as well as Nick Turses Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardts latest book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World.

Copyright 2017 Danny Sjursen

Tomdispatch.com
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

The US had about 500 troops embedded with the Peoples Protection Units (Kurdish acronym YPG) until this week, when another 400 were deployed, along with heavy artillery. It is rumored in the Arabic press that yet more troops, perhaps as many as 2000, will soon be deployed to Syria.

Why is the Trump administration doubling down on US military involvement with Syria?

As the Mosul campaign in neighboring Iraq proceeds apace, Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) fighters are fleeing to Raqqa and other areas in Syria, from which they could regroup to fend off the US-backed coalition. Iraqi prime minister Haydar al-Abadi is promising hot pursuit, with the Iraqi military and Air Force hitting Daesh on the Syrian side of the border (they assert that Syrian strong man Bashar al-Assad has given them permission for these cross-border incursions.

At the same time, there is a dispute on the Syrian side about which forces will be taking al-Raqqa, the capital of the collapsing Daesh caliphate. Turkey would like it to be its own proteges, Arab militias with a tilt toward Muslim fundamentalism. The Obama Pentagon under Ash Carter had developed a plan to back the leftist Kurdish militia, the YPG along with a few of its Arab allies, in taking Raqqa.

That plan still appears to be the Pentagon favorite, but it has gotten enormous pressure from Turkey not to follow through. Turkey views the YPG as a terrorist organization tightly linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and worries that if it secedes from Syria that act will encourage separatism among Turkish Kurds.

My guess is that Trump is sending a Marines artillery unit so as to bring heavy weaponry to the battlefield against Daesh. Having the Americans handle this weaponry avoids a raging back and forth with Turkey about the propriety of giving heavy weapons to the Kurdistan militias or YPG.

If so, this deployment is political more than it is military. US commanders are talking about staying in the region after Daesh is defeated to pacify it.

These are a whole series of Very Bad Ideas. If any number of US troops are killed, that could been seen as requiring US reprisals and a troop escalation.

US Marines shouldnt be put in harms way in an attempt to make Turkey less angry. The Kurds already have much of al-Raqqa province and if they take the city from Daesh, it wont make them more or less militant about separatism. Turkey has lost the Syrian war to Russia and Iran, and might as well suck it up.



Related video:

CGTN:  U.S. deploys troops to Syria to aid in Raqqa assault
TORONTO, March 10, 2017 /CNW/ - New Gold Inc. ("New Gold") (TSX:NGD) (NYSE MKT:NGD) is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced bought deal financing of 61,640,000 common shares, including the exercise in full by the underwriters of the over-allotment option, at a price of US$2.80 per share (the "Offering") for aggregate gross proceeds to New Gold of approximately US$173 million.

New Gold intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to finance the completion of the construction of the Rainy River gold project in Ontario, Canada.

The Offering was made through a syndicate of underwriters led by RBC Capital Markets and Scotiabank and including CIBC Capital Markets, J.P. Morgan, TD Securities Inc., BMO Capital Markets, Merrill Lynch Canada Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., National Bank Financial Inc., Paradigm Capital Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (Canada) Inc., Eight Capital and GMP Securities L.P.

The Offering was completed by way of a short form prospectus (the "Prospectus") in all of the provinces and territories of Canada and was registered in the United States pursuant to a registration statement on Form F10, as amended (the "Registration Statement"), in accordance with the Multijurisdictional Disclosure System established between Canada and the United States.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of New Gold's common shares pursuant to the Offering in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification of the offered shares under the securities laws of that jurisdiction.

Before you invest in New Gold, you should read the Prospectus or the Registration Statement, as well as the other documents that New Gold has filed with the securities regulatory authorities, for more complete information about New Gold and the Offering. You may obtain these documents at no charge by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website, at www.sec.gov, or on the SEDAR website, at www.sedar.com. Alternatively, New Gold, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the Offering will arrange to send you a written Prospectus, or you may request the Prospectus in Canada by contacting RBC Capital Markets, Distribution Centre, RBC Wellington Square, 8th Floor, 180 Wellington St. W., Toronto, Ontario, M5J 0C2 (Tel: 416-842-5349; E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or Scotiabank, Scotia Plaza, 66th Floor, 40 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5W 2X6, Attention: Equity Capital Markets (Tel: 416-862-5837), and, in the United States, by contacting RBC Capital Markets, LLC, 200 Vesey Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10281-8098; Attention: Equity Syndicate; (Tel: 1-877-822-4089; E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., 250 Vesey Street, 24th Floor, New York, New York, 10281, Attention: Equity Capital Markets (Tel: 212-225-6853).

ABOUT NEW GOLD INC.

New Gold is an intermediate gold mining company. The company has a portfolio of four producing assets and two significant development projects. The New Afton Mine in Canada, the Mesquite Mine in the United States, the Peak Mines in Australia and the Cerro San Pedro Mine in Mexico (which transitioned to residual leaching in 2016), provide the company with its current production base. In addition, New Gold owns 100% of the Rainy River and Blackwater projects located in Canada. New Gold's objective is to be the leading intermediate gold producer, focused on the environment and social responsibility.
Calgary, Alberta (FSCwire) - BANYAN GOLD CORP. (Banyan or the Company) is pleased to announce that further to its news releases of February 28, 2017 and April 28, 2017, it has signed definitive agreements (the Agreements) for options to acquire up to 100% of the Aurex property, from Victoria... Read More
Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Qiu Guohong on Thursday urged South Korea to suspend the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in the country.

"The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery must be scrapped immediately. If that is impossible, it should at least be suspended to leave room open for Seoul and Beijing to negotiate," the envoy was quoted as saying by Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling Liberty Korea Party.

Yoon said he held a private meeting with the ambassador to discuss the latest Seoul-Beijing tension.

The United States began moving the THAAD battery system to South Korea with the first elements of the anti-missile system arriving here Monday.

China has been protesting Seoul and Washington's decision to deploy the THAAD system, rolling out economic retaliation such as banning tour agencies from selling trips to South Korea.

"South Korea is speeding up the process (of the deployment) too fast. The situation is very grave. China is also preparing for the worst situation," the envoy was also quoted as saying.

The diplomat said the on-going economic retaliation is only being made at the private level, and that its government is not behind it.

He also said Seoul's plan to take legal steps against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not help in solving the problem.

The South Korean government said earlier it will consider appealing to international legal procedures as China's actions may violate the agreement of the WTO and the Seoul-Beijing free trade pact. (Yonhap)
Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

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Deutsche Post AG operates as a mail and logistics company in Germany, rest of Europe, the Americas, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through five segments: Express; Global Forwarding, Freight; Supply Chain; eCommerce Solutions; and Post & Parcel Germany. The Express segment offers time-definite courier and express services to business and private customers. The Global Forwarding, Freight segment provides air, ocean, and overland freight forwarding services; and offers multimodal and sector-specific solutions. This segment's business model is based on brokering transport services between customers and freight carriers. The Supply Chain segment delivers customized supply chain solutions to its customers based on modular components, including warehousing and transport services; and value-added services, such as e-fulfilment and returns management, lead logistics partner, real estate solutions, service logistics, and packaging solutions for various industrial sectors. The eCommerce Solutions segment provides parcel delivery and cross-border non-time definite international services. The Post & Parcel Germany segment transports and delivers mail communication, parcels, physical and hybrid letters, and special products for the delivery of goods; and offers additional services, such as registered mail, cash on delivery, and insured items. This segment also provides digital products, including stamps with data matrix codes and various postal services. Deutsche Post AG was founded in 1490 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.
Maximus, Inc. provides business process services (BPS) to government health and human services programs. It operates through three segments: U.S. Services, U.S. Federal Services, and Outside the U.S. The U.S. Services segment offers various BPS solutions, such as program administration, appeals and assessments, and related consulting works for U.S. state and local government programs, including the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, child support programs, Preadmission Screening and Resident Reviews, and Independent Developmental Disability assessments. This segment also provides program eligibility support and enrollment; centralized multilingual customer contact centers, multichannel, and digital self-service options for enrollment; application assistance and independent health plan choice counseling; beneficiary outreach, education, eligibility, enrollment, and redeterminations; person-centered independent disability, long-term sick, and other health assessments; and specialized consulting services. The U.S. Federal Services segment offers centralized citizen engagement centers and support services; document and record management; case management, citizen support, and consumer education; independent medical reviews and worker's compensation benefit appeals; Medicare and Medicaid appeals; and federal marketplace eligibility appeals. This segment also provides modernization of systems and information technology infrastructure; infrastructure operations and support services; software development, operations, and management services; and data analytics services. The Outside the U.S. segment offers BPS solutions for governments and commercial clients outside the United States, including health and disability assessments, program administration for employment services, and other job seeker-related services. The company was incorporated in 1975 and is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia.
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an international oil and gas giant founded in 1920 to explore for oil in California. The company made its name in the early 1960safter discovering the Lathrop Gas Field in Lathrop, California. The company expanded into chemicals manufacturing in 1968 and then in 1972 it became a pioneer in the quest to extract oil from shale. In 1993, the company made a historic move by exiting its coal operations, and then it did so again when it embraced a lower carbon future.

The company worked to realign its goals with a carbon-free future in 2021. After extensive review, new carbon emission targets were laid out along with a plan that the Transition Pathway Initiative recognized as being 1 of 3 coming from major oil companies that could realistically result in net-zero emissions by 2050. Since then the company has laid interim goals that include net zero from operations and energy by 2040 and no routine flaring by 2030.

Today, Occidental Petroleum is an integrated energy company with operations in the US, the Middle East, Africa, and Columbia along with some other smaller operations. The company operates a network of best-in-class production, delivery, and storage facilities with operations centered in the US. On a net basis, the companys US operations accounted for more than 75% of the total in 2022 with 19% from Middle East operations and the remainder from Columbia and elsewhere.

The company engages in the oil & gas business as an explorer, producer, and mid-stream infrastructure operator. The company operates through three segments that include Oil and Gas, Chemicals, and Midstream & Marketing.

The oil and gas segment explores for oil, develops new fields, and produces hydrocarbon liquids, gasses, and condensates. The chemicals segment manufactures a range of chemicals including chlorine, potassium chemicals, and vinyl. The midstream segment transports, stores, and markets hydrocarbons. It is the 6th largest oil and gas producer in the US by market cap. The company attained the position after its acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, the 4th largest oil and gas acquisition at the time.

Berkshire Hathaway became Occidental Petroleums largest shareholder in mid-2022. The firm had purchased more than 26% of the shares as of 10/14/2022 and had regulatory approval to purchase up to 50% of the company in total.
By BRETT ZONGKER and MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN, Associated Press Writers Brett Zongker And Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON  One Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another at the height of the capital city's Monday evening rush hour, killing at least six people and injuring scores of others as the front end of the trailing train jackknifed violently into the air and fell atop the first.

Cars of both trains were ripped open and smashed together in the worst accident in the Metrorail system's 33-year history. District of Columbia fire spokesman Alan Etter said crews had to cut some people out of what he described as a "mass casualty event." Rescue workers propped steel ladders up to the upper train cars to help survivors scramble to safety. Seats from the smashed cars spilled out onto the track.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said six were confirmed dead. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin said rescue workers treated 76 people at the scene and sent some of them to local hospitals, six with critical injuries. A search for further victims continued into the night.

A Metro official said the dead included the female operator of the trailing train. Her name was not immediately released.

The crash around 5 p.m. EDT took place on the system's red line, Metro's busiest, which runs below ground for much of its length but is at ground level at the accident site near the Maryland border in northeast Washington.

Metro chief John Catoe said the first train was stopped on the tracks, waiting for another to clear the station ahead, when the trailing train, one of the oldest in the Metro fleet, plowed into it from behind.

Officials had no explanation for the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board took charge of the investigation and sent a team to the site. DC police and the FBI also had investigators at the scene to help search the wreckage for any overlooked injured or dead passengers and evidence.

Each train had six cars and was capable of holding as many as 1,200 people. Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said the trains were bound for downtown. That would mean they were less likely to be filled during the afternoon rush hour.

The trains had pulled out of the Takoma Park station and were headed in the direction of the Fort Totten station.

More than 200 firefighters from D.C., Maryland and Virginia eventually converged on the scene. Sabrina Webber, a 45-year-old real estate agent who lives in the neighborhood, said the first rescuers to arrive had to use the "jaws of life" to pry open a wire fence along rail line to get to the train.

Webber raced to the scene after hearing a loud boom like a "thunder crash" and then sirens. She said there was no panic among the survivors.

Passenger Jodie Wickett, a nurse, told CNN she was seated on one train, sending text messages on her phone, when she felt the impact. She said she sent a message to someone that it felt like the train had hit a bump.

"From that point on, it happened so fast, I flew out of the seat and hit my head." Wickett said she stayed at the scene and tried to help. She said "people are just in very bad shape."

"The people that were hurt, the ones that could speak, were calling back as we called out to them," she said. "Lots of people were upset and crying, but there were no screams."

One man said he was riding a bicycle across a bridge over the Metro tracks when the sound of the crash got his attention.

"I didn't see any panic," Barry Student said. "The whole situation was so surreal."

At Howard University Hospital, Dr. Johnnie Ford, an emergency room doctor, said a 14-year-old girl suffered two broken legs in the accident. A 20-year-old male patient "looked like he had been tumbled around quite a bit, bumps and bruises from head to toe," Ford said.

Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said less than two hours after the crash that federal authorities had no indication of any terrorism connection.

"I don't know the reason for this accident," Metro's Catoe said. "I would still say the system is safe, but we've had an incident."

Monday's crash was the third major subway or commuter rail crash in a big city in the past nine months. In the earlier accidents:

 In September 2008, a commuter rail train and a freight train crashed in Los Angeles, killing 25 people. The crash was blamed on an engineer on the commuter rail sending text messages on a cell phone.

 Last month about 50 people were injured in Boston when one trolley rear-ended another. The conductor admitted to sending a text message when the crash occurred.

No reason was given for the Washington crash, but some safety experts are concerned about the recent increase.

"I'm not sure if everyone in the safety system is paying the proper attention that needs to be paid," said Barry Sweedler, a San Francisco-based safety consultant and former investigator and manager at the National Transportation Safety Board. "These things shouldn't be happening."

However, Robert Lauby, a former NTSB rail investigator, said the increase in accidents could well be mere coincidence.

"Just because you had them doesn't mean there's a specific issue that caused them," Lauby said.

The only other time in Metrorail's 33-year history that there were passenger fatalities was on Jan. 13, 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment underneath downtown. That was a day of disaster in the capital  shortly before the subway crash, an Air Florida plane slammed into the 14th Street Bridge immediately after takeoff in a severe snowstorm from Washington National Airport across the Potomac River. The plane crash killed 78 people.

___

Associated Press Writers Brett J. Blackledge, Eileen Sullivan, Richard Lardner, Jim Kuhnhenn and Seth Borenstein in Washington and AP researcher Judith Ausuebel in New York contributed to this report.
British artist Sir Howard Hodgkin has died at the age of 84.

The Turner Prize-winner was well known for saying in interviews how much he hated painting.

People have often said to me, arent you lucky to be able to do this for a living and I say no, thank you, Im not lucky, he told the BBC in 2014.

I may be lucky with the result but to go through the horrors of painting pictures is not something I ever look forward to.

So why did he carry on?

Its what I do. I have no other skills. [But] its always been agony, he explained to the New Statesman.

The abstract painter and printmaker, who died in hospital in London on Thursday, was a central figure in contemporary art for over half a century, Tate galleries said.

Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota said he was one of the great artists and colourists of his generation.

Sir Howard won the Turner Prize in 1985 and represented the UK at the Venice Biennale the previous year.

He was knighted in 1992.

Sir Howard Hodgkin was an important artist whose use of colour and memory gave his largely abstract works great potency.

He didnt leave you looking, as some do, for the art in his art  it was there, on the canvas, to see and be seen: immediate and memorable.

For me, he took the essence of Matisse and Degas, mixed it with European abstraction and Indian light to conjure up, through his own unique talents, beautiful, sensitive images.

His work is held by major galleries and museums around the world, including the British Museum, Tate and MoMA in New York, and two exhibitions of his work are opening in the UK in the coming months.

Sir Nicholas said: His sensuous, intense paintings were infused with his love and understanding of late 19th-Century French painting, especially Degas, Vuillard and Bonnard, and by his feeling for the heat and colours of India, which he visited on many occasions.

His characteristic subject, the memory of a meeting or a conversation with a friend, resulted in paintings that radiate the emotions of life: love, anger, vanity, beauty and companionship.

Sir Nicholas added that over the past 30 years, the artists international standing has grown, with key exhibitions in Europe and the US.

The Royal College of Art described Sir Howard as one of the painters of our generation  who gave us emotion in the form of colour.

Paul Moorhouse, 20th Century curator at the National Portrait Gallery, said: Howard is probably one of the truly great British artists of the last 60 years  a really distinctive voice, someone with his own artistic identity, someone who has really extended our understanding of the way artists represent the world.

His death comes days before the National Portrait Gallery opens the first exhibition of portraits by the artist. Howard Hodgkin: Absent Friends features more than 50 works, dating from 1949 to the present. His portraits include those of fellow artists David Hockney, Patrick Caulfield and RB Kitaj.

India inspiration

Works he produced on his latest visit to India are to go on display at The Hepworth Wakefield in Howard Hodgkin: Painting India, which opens in June.

Simon Wallis, director of the gallery, said the Hepworth was deeply saddened by news of his death, adding: He was one of the most important artists of our time.

We are enormously grateful for Howards generosity with his time and his enthusiasm. We are proud to be realising an exhibition about the influence of India on his work, a place that he was so passionate about, and from which he drew such inspiration throughout his life.

At the time the exhibition was announced, Sir Howard said he was excited by the idea of it, adding of his work: I fell in love with Indian art when I was at school, thanks to the enterprising art master, Wilfrid Blunt.

I longed to visit India, but only managed to do so in my early 20s. It proved a revelation. It changed my way of thinking and, probably, the way I paint.

Sir Howard also designed one of 12 posters for the London 2012 Games. His poster, called Swimming, featured a figure swimming through the water.

Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin was born on 6 August in Hammersmith, London, in 1932.

In 1940 he was evacuated with mother and older sister, Ann, to the US where they lived on Long Island. He first decided he wanted to become an artist aged just five, and was inspired by seeing the works Stuart Davis, Matisse and Picasso at Manhattans Museum of Modern Art.

When he returned to the UK he ran away from school to become an artist.

In 1952, he had his first show in a public gallery at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath.

He later studied at the Camberwell School of Art and then Bath Academy of Art, where he went on to teach, and was a trustee of the Tate and National Gallery.

Lonely occupation

Speaking to Desert Island Discs in 1994 he said he had had a hard road to recognition in the UK, describing it as enemy territory for painters.

Sir Howard had told the BBC in a 2012 interview that he was looking towards the end of his life, adding: Death is always hovering in the distance. I want to get out as much as I can.

And last year, he told the Daily Telegraph being a painter was a lonely occupation, adding: I dont consider myself successful. Being well-known or having lots of exhibitions has nothing to do with being an artist  those things are just chance.


Abuja (AFP) - President Muhammadu Buhari arrived back in Nigeria on Friday after nearly two months in London receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment.

The 74-year-old landed at the airport in the northern city of Kaduna at about 7:40 am (0640 GMT) and was flown by helicopter to the capital, Abuja, according to an AFP photographer and TV pictures.

In Abuja, the head of state, wearing a black kaftan and hat, stepped off the helicopter and walked across the tarmac to be greeted by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

A Periscope video on the Twitter account of the presidency's digital communications team showed him greeted by security chiefs and other senior government officials.

He was then driven away in a black official car.

Buhari flew to London on January 19, officially on holiday and to have what his office said were "routine medical check-ups" for an undisclosed condition.

But while he was away, aides had to counter persistent rumours online that he was seriously ill or even dead, despite photographs showing him meeting senior Nigerian politicians.

Buhari had previously travelled to London in June last year to receive treatment for what was described as a persistent inner ear infection.

The presidency announced his return on Thursday evening. Earlier in the day he looked painfully thin in photographs of his meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
Economist and Head of Finance at the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin has attributed the cedi's fall to the weak fundamentals of the economy.

According to him, the health of the cedi is a reflection of the real sectors of Ghana's economy which are currently weak and unstable.

Figures available to Citi Business News from the Bank of Ghana as well as Forex bureaus across the country show that the cedi has depreciated by about 5.4 percent between January and February of this year alone on the interbank forex exchange market and as much as 6.72 percent in the same period across forex bureaus in the country.

Speaking at post budget analysis programme organized by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce, Professor Bokpin warned that the instability of the cedi should tell government that the increase for import goods must be reduced.

What is happening to the cedi is a true reflection of what is the fundamental level of our economy, the structure of our economy. So you may even add more heads to the currency notes against one head and it will not work, because the competition is not [about]the number of heads, it is about what is backing your currency, he said.

He explained that the currency of a country to large extent determines the value of goods and services, hence the macro stability.

He stated that with Ghana's high level of imports, the cedi will always be under pressure since it will trade among other currencies backed by the value of their exports.

What is backing the cedi?, it's a small open economy where more than 70 percent of business input cost in this country is imported. How do you expect the cedi to behave differently? Certainly not, until we look at the fundamentals, the cedi will continue to do what it has been doing. It has to adjust to reflect the new equilibrium. It is as simple as that, he said.



By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
By Benjamin Mensah, GNA

Accra, March 9, GNA - Dr Kwabena Donkor, Former Minister of Power has called for more investment and manufacturing of energy and power equipment if Ghana is to become hub of electricity power supply in the West African sub region.

He explained that Ghana had to become a supplier of power equipment as she positioned herself to be a leading supplier of electricity to her sister African countries.

Dr Donkor, MP for Pru East made the call in a contribution to the debate on the 2017 Budget Statement and Financial Policy of the Government.

He commended the Finance Minister for acknowledging in the budget that the NDC in 2016 added 800 megawatts of power, and called for all efforts to attain the 1200 additional projected megawatts of power this year.

Dr Donkor said he was excited that the proposed sale of the GRIDCO announced by President Nana Addo Dankw Akufo-Addo, was dropped from the budget following issues raised by the public.

Meanwhile, the Minority, at the commencement of the debate predicted a gloomy economic growth for the country and threatened to boycott debate on the government's maiden budget over anomalies in statutory funds.

The NDC MPs faulted the financial statement of President Akufo-Addo over several anomalies in the statutory funds including the District Assemblies Common Fund, saying it was a clear breach of the constitution.

Former Deputy Finance Minister and Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam MP, Ato Forson said the MPs will be left with no option than to boycott the debate on the budget.

The NDC MPs also questioned the absence of the Finance Minister on the opening day of the debate, to which the Majority Leader Osei Kyei- Mensa-Bonsu replied that he had been around.

On their part, the Majority MP's led by Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr Mark Assibey Yeboah lauded the policies by the NPP government including the abolition of taxes.

GNA
The Writer

09.03.2017 LISTEN

Womens Day is celebrated globally on 8th March every year in honour of women and their remarkable contribution to our society.

This day, is worth reminding us of the notable work of our women and our mothers.

The Global Theme is #BeBoldForChange

Action Aids theme: #TaxJustice for Womens Rights Global Days of Action

Ghanas Theme: Ghana is beautiful, I love Ghana, its a peaceful country so investors can come and invest.

Shalom Word Foundation's theme for the celebration is Love a woman? Save the Environment!

The greatest abuse any of kind is, to destroy the environment.

Anytime the environment is destroyed, the adverse effects are directly on women.

Climate change, deforestation, and desertification are leading to declining water supplies, that means women, and in some cases young girls, might need to spend more time finding water  time that could otherwise be spent on education or earning an income.

Detrimental effects of climate change can be felt in the short-term through natural hazards, such as landslides, floods and hurricanes; and in the long-term, through more gradual degradation of the environment.

The adverse effects of these events are already felt in many areas, including in relation to, inter alia, agriculture and food security; biodiversity and ecosystems; water resources; human health; human settlements and migration patterns; and energy, transport and industry.

In many of these contexts, women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than menprimarily as they constitute the majority of the worlds poor and are more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources that are threatened by climate change.

Today, 80% of women are farmers, just to protect the home with food, yet the men are running around destroying the environment.

Anytime the climate changes the basic effects goes to the woman first. 90% of rural women are traders mostly seen in the sun with their wares.

If the men will continue the cutting down of trees, then they are intentionally increasing the hardship of women. If all the rivers dry up how will women get water to irrigate their farms. If the sun is becoming warmer and hotter, how will women manage their business under the hot sun.

Today, the basic thing anyone can do is to protect the environment.

"Love a woman, save the environment"

"If you want women to live longer, stop burning the bush.

Frustration from the world against women

Since decades, women had struggled and are still fighting to express their right to speech, to vote, to equality, to education, to income and most importantly, to freedom. Women are symbol of Hope for the nation, work, and family but unfortunately, across the world, women had to fight for their independence and protection of rights.

From childhood, women always like to have their first child as girls in order to help them take care of their younger ones. You could find a girl as young as four years old taking care of her younger siblings, but with boys you cannot trust your little children with them. From childhood, women have been custodians of important things.

A woman could keep all the family safe and sound by providing food for them. Women are just naturally caretakers, caregivers, nurtures and transformers. But over the years, women have been subjected to discrimination and marginalization.

When a woman dresses poorly they tag her as archaic and outmoded, when she dresses fancifully then she becomes a sex object. The world is gradually positioning women on a stage where they cannot do anything by themselves, while dictating when they should get married, when they should afford their own houses etc.

The world wants women to please them rather than women living their own lives and achieving their own success.

Hence women who have risen above these frustrations must be celebrated, in order to urge and empower other women to avoid intimidation.

Some families do not make women their family heads. Some company cannot tolerate women bosses, some churches will not allow women to preach yet, the battle is still on, and women are still fighting for recognition and acceptance.

Even though society refuses to accept them, they won't give up either.

In homes and marriages, some husbands have decided to increase the frustrations of their wives by using their fellow women against them. Bringing other women home to compete with her, comparing them to other women, making them feel useless and less important.

It looks like, the women are set as ruling presidents whiles the husbands become opposition party leaders, criticizing everything the woman does, just to make her frustrated. Making a woman feel less important signifies, an unworthy man.

In the corporate world, women are still subjected to minor positions, its only a few companies who are raising the standards of women, even most of them do not do this with 100% trust in them.

Today, women must rise above such frustrations and stand up for what they stand for.

On this note, I use this opportunity to celebrate my mother and woman of substance. Happy birthday mummy.

May you continue to be celebrated
09.03.2017 LISTEN

By Christopher Tetteh/ Daniel A. Ashietey, GNA

Sunyani, March 9, GNA -The Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) says the country is losing huge revenue in connection with the burning down of the Fiapre toll booth, situated on the Sunyani-Nsoatre highway.

According to the Authority, as at February 22, this year, the country has lost GH 110,400, since the toll booth was set ablaze in December 2016, by some unidentified people.

Mr. John Arthur, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Accountant of the GHA, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani that the Authority had put up a temporal structure but the toll collectors could not operate at night.

He explained that previously collectors were operating 24 hours, but added that since the incident happened they now operated only 12 hours, which had affected daily revenue mobilization, dipping from GH 3,000.00 to GH 1,800.00.

Mr Arthur said the newly erected wooden structure had neither electricity nor an office for the supervisor, which was also affecting the smooth operations of the booth.

In December 9, 2016, the Fiapre toll booth was set ablaze by some unidentified people.

Subsequently, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police command arrested two suspects in connection with the arson.

The suspects, Mark Tetteh, Assemblyman for Dumasua Electoral Area in the Sunyani West District, and Bismark Baafi, a 23-year-old unemployed are on court bail.

They are standing trial at the Sunyani District Court 'A' presided by Mr Jojo Hagan.

GNA
Nigerias fourth GSM operator, Etisalat, was on Wednesday, March 9, taken over by three of the countrys leading financial institutions for failing to repay a $1.72 billion loan facility.

According to reports, Etisalat had obtained the loan in 2015 from a consortium of some foreign and Nigerian banks including Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank. The loan was to enable the telecom operator to finance a major network rehabilitation and expand its operational base in Nigeria.

Market sources said both Etisalat and Airtel had long been struggling financially to meet obligations in the Nigerian market, leaving MTN and Globacom as the two financially stable operators in the Nigerian market.

Etisalat which began operations in Nigeria in 2009 had blamed the current recession in Nigeria for its inability to pay the loan. The affected banks had dragged the telecom firms before the banking sector regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Nigerian Communications Commission over the loan default.

Reports said several attempts by NCC to persuade the banks to give Etisalat more time to repay the loan were unsuccessful as the banks insisted that their inability to recover the loan could incur the wrath of government agency, Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) which had demanded a reduction in non-performing loans in Nigerian banks.

Emirates Telecommunications, EMT Group trading as Etisalat, own a 40 per cent stake in its Nigerian affiliate.

Ibrahim Dikko, Vice President for Regulatory Affairs at Etisalat Nigeria, confirmed the development, saying the company missed payments due to an economic downturn in Nigeria, currency devaluation and dollar shortages at the countrys interbank market. We are in discussions with our bankers and have been for quite a while. They have not taken over the business and we are hoping that we can resolve the issue and find a way to renegotiate terms, Dikko admitted that Etisalat Nigeria signed a $1.2 billion medium-term facility with 13 Nigerian banks in 2013, which it used to refinance an existing $650 million loan and fund the modernisation of its network. He said loan repayments had been up to date until recently.

Although Etisalat has an impressive customer base of more than 21 million and reputed for its generous freebies, the company had been unable to break even since launch.

The third largest operator, Airtel, is also said to be facing similar financial crisis in Nigeria and is relying on injection of funds from its parent company, Bharti Airtel of India, to stay afloat in Nigeria. The company which began operations in Nigeria in 2001 had undergone ownership changes in a bid to remain in business, from Econet Wireless to Vodacom, to Vmobile, to Celtel to Zain and then to Airtel.

From indications, the only financially sound telecom service providers in Nigeria are South African Operator, MTN, and Globacom, owned by Nigerian business mogul, Dr. Mike Adenuga. However, MTN recently announced operating losses for 2016, attributing the situation partly to the $1b fine imposed on it for failing to disconnect unregistered SIMs.

A meeting is being scheduled to find a way to save Etisalat. The meeting will have the management of Etisalat, the Nigerian regulator and the Nigerian central bank and the creditor banks in attendance.
10.03.2017 LISTEN

So I eavesdropped on a heated argument between some folks regarding the recent suicide cases; and I tried really hard not to interrupt their argument although I was really pushed when I heard one say that stupidity is when you jump from a storey building to die because you are hurt, you must be a disappointment to your parents.

I stared at the fellow who uttered those words; I was not surprised at all, but I wondered how its been possible for us to have such Psychologists or Archimedes in our country and yet every now and then, somebody takes his or her life.

I dare say that, it is hypocritical when we carry ourselves about as though we have never experienced one form of excruciating pain or the other.

The Akans say ento wo a da, which literally means experience is the best teacher.

You may want to try wearing a shoe that fits too tight on your legs, and yet you have to use it for some time because you do not have any other - The pain it causes your toes is unbearable, and no other can best understand that pain no matter how you describe it to them unless they wear those shoes.

It is a different thing if you do not know pain or have never experienced pain, that, I can understand; but if you know pain, then you must be a hypocrite to judge acts of suicide.

No; I am not in any way endorsing acts of suicide; but I have been there before and I know the extent to which one can be pushed to want to think death is an escape route.

Maybe it is time people, especially role models stop painting to us that life as all beautiful, a bed of roses, and all the fantasies young ones see on social media and think it is all about life.

Our role models should be brave enough to share their darkest moments when it felt all was lost and ending it was the only option one could think of.

I have become really uncomfortable with the so called inspirational books that tell us how it became rosy living out the narrow-slippery road that led to the bed of roses.

Cowardice is thinking death is the way to end your troubles, actually you may forever be remembered as the coward who could not fight on.

Oh again, the Akan say Obra ye oko meaning life is a battle; and the early we get that into our heads that God is the only one who doesnt disappoint, we may face an early grave putting our trust in humans.

Well, it takes a lot of grace to even arrive at this reality, the more reason I dont just judge these acts because a good number of them even go beyond frustration to manipulations. Each human being has an extent to which they can take and handle pain. The fact that you survived yours does not give you the guts to condemn others.

I think we take for granted a number of things in this country. We can talk, and really a lot of times I am amazed at the level of analysis people can put across.

But on a more serious note, very few of such analysis are channelled into tangible results. People are scared to confide in even religious leaders because your pain may be a topic for discussion and ridicule when you least expect it.

In modern Ghana, a problem shared is no more half solved; but a problem complicated, no such thing as a brothers keeper; everyone for himself God for us all. A good number of deaths are as a result of frustration and pain, instead of finding a long-term solution to our problems, we think it is stupid for people to end their lives and it ends there.

Instead of parents teaching their children self-love and respect, they prefer to set strict boundaries in the name of protecting you and the minute these children get the least chance outside these boundaries they misbehave. Parents have left their parental roles to friends and housemaids.

Maybe if we teach our young ones to love God, have self-respect, love themselves and their neighbours, we will keep them away from taking their lives.Let us teach the young ones to appreciate who they are and the fact that everyone is unique, none is better than the other.

Let us teach the young ones that romantic relationships most likely end in marriage, and so there is no sense in being in a romantic relationship if you are not ready for marriage. Let us tell the young girls every now and then how much we love them, and how precious they are so that no irresponsible boy can lie to them.

Let us not be ashamed to share our darkest moments with our young ones; for if they know you survived it, they will appreciate the virtue Patience. They will know that with determination and positive energy, they can break through the odds of life.

Let us create a problem solving environment where people can share their pain knowing it will get solved and not complicated. Let us bring people to the understanding that there is no ordeal they are going through that is new under the sun.

Finally, let us bring people to the understanding that problems only come to bring the best out of you; God said He will not let that which is more than you befall you. May I use this opportunity to appeal to the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection, to find a long-term solution to these acts of suicide.

My humble appeal to the media which is supposed to play a watchdog role is that, in discussing issues such as suicide, they should be extremely circumspective and sensitive instead of being sensational.

The media should also be interested in sustaining such discussions for the benefit of society since it will save many lives from being destroyed.

It breaks my heart how we discuss issues of this kind in the media for a couple of days and it ends there till there is another occurrence, where is that spirit of advocacy?

When we sit aloof thinking STUPIDITY is when somebody commits SUICIDE, it is only a matter of time and we will understand the adage that when a neighbours beard is on fire, you dont fetch water and put by yours, rather you help them put out their fire.

For if I can take my own life; then taking anothers life shouldnt be a problem.

By: Princella Selasi Yawa Amevor

Email: [email protected]
The upswing in the mining industry, which was reflected at the 2017 Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town in February, has opened up exciting opportunities for a wide range of companies active in the sector.

Among them is global audit and advisory firm, Moore Stephens. The improved outlook towards commodity prices, particularly iron ore, coal and base metals, has been a boost for the sector, while the upbeat tone of the Mining Indaba this year is expected to cascade into new ventures.

The 2017 Investing in African Mining Indaba released updated figures recently, revealing that 71% more investors had attended the event this year than in 2016. There was also a 50% increase in the number of small cap and small private mining companies attending the week-long gathering in Cape Town. A total of 6,080 people attended the Mining Indaba this year.

Laura Pingree, Director of the Mining and Energy team for global audit and advisory firm, Moore Stephens, said the mood at the Mining Indaba this year was more positive than last year and has consequently led to more opportunities.

Weve been doing groundwork for the past couple of years, and working really hard. Now that the market has picked up, people are coming to us. Companies are interested in a more serious African footprint.

People were also interested in meeting up with Moore Stephens representatives through its growing spread of member firms around Africa.

Given the increasing interest in mining opportunities across West Africa over the past two years, Moore Stephens is expanding its member firm network growth strategy to encompass the enrolment of quality firms in Mali, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Guinea Conakry during 2017.

The firm already has a very strong presence in countries like South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana.

It is essential we have coverage in these key countries to support the Moore Stephens clients with local knowledge and expertise, said Moore Stephens Africa Strategy Advisor, Jeff Blackbeard.

Other developments have also prompted interest.

We are currently working on a corporate finance transaction that will bring a world class product manufactured in South Africa to the world market, said Hans Hillermann, Corporate Finance Partner for Moore Stephens Durban.

This innovation provides mining operations cost-effective products in the period when the pressure is to reduce cost reduction.

Michael Simms, Moore Stephens Mining and Energy leader, based in London, was upbeat about the prospects for mining projects which have survived the downturn cycle.

Simms said despite the more positive outlook, he expected the recovery in the sector to be gradual, with political risk in some African countries and compliance pressures still causing some uncertainty. He has noted an increasing trend towards opportunities in renewable projects.

Improved commodity demand from China during 2016 has been a positive sign with the potential for increased spending on infrastructure in 2017 an important element driving this upturn in demand, said Olivier Barbeau, Moore Stephens South Africa Mining Leader based in Johannesburg.

Barbeau, who has recently advised several Chinese mining operations entering the South African marketplace, has experienced first-hand the increased interest in the Southern African mining sector.

David Tomasi, Mining Partner based at Moore Stephens Perth, said it was clear companies that had tightened up on their costs over the past few years were in a stronger position.

Small to mid-cap projects are finding it easier to be funded, as investors start to look for value. This is a real sweet spot for us.

Since the beginning of 2016 we have seen increased interest in potential Africa opportunities as well as South African clients of Moore Stephens firm seeking to enter the Australian mining market with innovative mining technologies, said Tomasi.

Tomasi said copper, unconventional gas and renewables were definitely starting to generate interest, particularly in Africa where reliable power supply is such an issue.

I expect nickel, platinum and lithium to have a bit of a run as the world craves better sustainable energy solutions, with power storage being a key component on this, he added.

Besides its regular audit and advisory work with clients, Moore Stephens is also at the forefront of conducting country reconciliations for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), having completed the process for countries ranging from Mali and Zambia to Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Myanmar.

Fifty-one countries are either fully compliant or are going through the process to be part of the EITI, a global standard which promotes the open and accountable management of natural resources, mainly of oil, gas, metals and minerals.

ABOUT MOORE STEPHENS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

Moore Stephens International Limited is one of the world's leading accounting and consulting associations, with 626 offices of independent member firms in 108 countries, employing 27,997 people and generating revenues in 2015 of $2.7 billion.
Joachim Bamberger

10.03.2017 LISTEN

The partner of Interconnect Clearinghouse operator, Afriwave Telecoms Ghana in fighting SIMBOX fraud, SIGOS, also provides quality of service testing and billing monitoring solutions for Vodafone Ghana and the National Communications Authority.

This came to light at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, Spain, where SIGOS showcased an array of its end-to-end, fraud detection and revenue assurance solutions for the telecom industry around the globe.

SIGOS is helping in the fight against SIMBOX fraud in Ghana, but the telcos, including Vodafone Ghana, are completely opposed to the curative strategy being employed in that fight, and are pushing for a preventive measure that makes SIGOS's work unnecessary.

Meanwhile, the German-based SIGOS, which has over 27 years of experience in supporting telecoms regulators and operators to be efficient in monitoring and monetizing their operations, first came to Ghana in 2009 through Vodafone, when they acquired Ghana Telecoms.

Executive Vice President, Sales at SIGOS, Joachim Bamberger told Adom News in an exclusive interview at the just ended MWC "we actually came to Ghana through Vodafone and they continue to remain our key client, using our quality of service testing solutions as well as our revenue assurance tools like the billing and roaming solutions to ensure they bill their customers properly, both locally and abroad."

He explained that in the face of several bundles that offer a complex mix of freebies calls and special data and SMS rates, the billing could sometimes get very confusing so SIGOS offers the solutions to micro-manage it to ensure effective billing in such instance.

"Vodafone also uses our roaming solution called GlobalRoamer that helps to ensure quality of service for customers on roaming, and effective roaming billing for the operator," he said.

Meanwhile, in terms of roaming, SIGOS also provides managed services for telcos by negotiating roaming deals with carriers across the world to ensure that telcos got the best deals that are mutually beneficially to all partners, whiles customers also got the best of roaming service.

NCA

Joachim Bamberger also said since last year, SIGOS has been engaged by NCA to help monitor how telcos are billing customers, to ensure that customers are not billed unfairly.

This, he said, stemmed out of several consumers complaints to the NCA about unusual loss of air time and data credit.

"So we have deployed our billing monitoring systems to provide NCA with information on the billing activities of telcos, particular under the data and airtime bundle regimes to ensure the customer is not shortchanged," he said.

He said the company has also trained NCA to manage the billing monitoring systems it deployed for the regulator.

SIMBOX fraud

Touching on SIMBOX fraud, the SIGOS executive noted that the SIMBOX fight is a huge one because to the extent that there is a huge gap between the minimum floor price of incoming international calls into Ghana and domestic call tariffs, that makes a good business case for the fraudsters.

He thinks one of the ways to stop SIMBOX fraud is to reduce the floor price (as the telcos have always argued), and also properly regulate SIM card acquisition with a biometric ID system and policies that prevent one person from acquiring too many SIM cards.

"It is all down to government policy - to the extent that the revenue generated from the floor price is needed for national development, the option is to properly regulate SIM card acquisition and continue to fight SIMBOX fraud, which SIGOS is helping Afriwave to do," he said.

Joachim Bamberger is confident the fight against SIMBOX in Ghana will eventually be won given the commitment with which SIGOS continue to generate calls into Ghana and the rate at which it keeps detecting SIMBOX numbers.

He said SIGOS also comes on board with equipment and solutions that actually locate SIMBOXES in the hideouts.

Recently, the CEO of Afriwave Ghana, Philip Sowah told journalists SIMBOX fraudsters have adopted a new strategy to avoid detection; they put the simboxes in vehicles and move around from location to location.

"We have noticed this and we are working around the clock to counter it and ensure the simboxes are detected even when they move around," he said.

Footprints

Beside revenue assurance, roaming, quality of service testing, and fraud detection, SIGOS also boasts of quality of experience testing, network testing (radio, fixed, IP, core), boundary free testing and managed services.

From five key offices in Europe, America and Asia, working with partners in 50 countries around the world, SIGOS serve about 410 customers in the telecom industry, including most of the top 100 operators in the world.

"All of these players benefit from our comprehensive range of active testing, tracing and reporting solutions across all technologies; 2G, 3G and LTE," Bamberger said.
TCL Communication, one of the world's leading mobile device makers, caught the attention of Mobile World Congress patrons this year with the launch of several handsets, including that all new BlackBerry KEYone.

TCL is known mainly for making and marketing Alcatel handsets, but it has now added BlackBerry KEYone following the inking of a licensing agreement with BlackBerry in late 2016.

TCL Chairman and CEO Tomson Li said that BlackBerry licensed its security software and service suite, as well as related brand assets, to TCL Communication, who would design, manufacture, sell and provide customer support for BlackBerry-branded mobile devices.

The 4G BlackBerry KEYone smartphone comes with key legacy features known to Blackberry users, yet goes miles beyond the traditional Blackberry device.

It, for instance, combines the touch screen with a typical physical Blackberry QWETY keyboard, providing users with a large input space in comparison to what one gets with the standard 5.5-inch full-touch-screen smartphone.

The phone comes with a 4.50-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1620 pixels by 1080 pixels at a PPI of 433 pixels per inch.

The BlackBerry KEYone is powered by 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor and it comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 2000GB via a microSD card.

As far as the cameras are concerned, the BlackBerry KEYone packs a 12-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 8-megapixel front shooter for selfies.

It runs Android 7.1 and is powered by a 3505mAh non removable battery. It measures 149.30 x 72.50 x 9.40 (height x width x thickness) and weigh 180.00 grams.

The BlackBerry KEYone is a single SIM and its connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, FM, 3G and 4G, while sensors on the phone include Compass Magnetometer, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor and Gyroscope.

The latest BlackBerry product was one of TCL's highlights at MWC and it became an instant hit as soon as it was launched and received nine awards from media organizations, making it one of the most highlighted products at MWC.

The BlackBerry KEYone receved its first honor, the Top Picks award, from the authoritative UK-based technology media brand Tech Advisor, at the MWC. It was also the first award that Tech Advisor gave out at the event.

The phone was also awarded the Best of MWC 2017 by Pocket-lint, the largest independent product evaluation platform in the UK, for its unique design.

It also won the Best Business Hardware Award from IT Pro, a leading IT website in the UK, at the start of the MWC.

Meanwhile, at MWC, TCL also released the Alcatel A5 LED, the high-definition Alcatel A3 and the easy-to-use Alcatel U5 smartphones as well as the 2-in-1 Alcatel PLUS 12 tablet.
14-year-old boy held on charge of knife attack

Police on Thursday arrested a 14-year-old boy for his alleged involvement in attacking Dipendra Pariyar, 19, of Maidi-7, Dhading, currently residing at Bijeshwori, KMC-15 with a knife.
WAGENINGEN  Potatoes grown from Dutch seeds yield 2 to 4 times bigger harvests for small-scale, poor farmers in East Africa than potatoes grown using local seed potatoes. These findings are the result of initial tests using experimental varieties grown from potato seeds by Wageningen-based agro-tech company Solynta in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As such, potatoes grown from seeds may prove to be an effective means to provide not only the growing population of Africa, but also those of India, Bangladesh, and China with more and better food and thus contributes reducing hunger.

For several years now, Solynta has been working on breeding potatoes grown from the actual seeds of potato plants. This method allows one to develop new varieties of potatoes faster, varieties that are better able to withstand potato blights, in turn making the use of pesticides obsolete.

These varieties produce increased yield and are easier to transport, because only 25 grams of seed can be used to sow the same number of new potatoes as 2,500 kg of seed potatoes.

Thanks to its groundbreaking techniques, Solynta was named a National Icon in 2014, and given a 2.5 million euro grant by EU programme Horizon 2020, because of its huge importance to the global food supply.

Solynta expects that they will be able to bring the first marketable potato varieties to the market in 2021. But really, we cant afford to wait that long, because 30,000 people die of hunger and malnutrition every day, says general director Hein Kruyt.

The test in Congo has shown us that Solyntas True Potato Seeds can contribute solving a serious problem, including in other countries where hunger is an issue. That is why Solynta is looking for partners and support to be able to supply potato seed sooner to developing countries and other countries where the farmers are looking to increase yield.

The results of the experiment were rather unexpected. Solynta sent an envelope containing the seeds of ten experimental potato varieties to Nioka in Congo, a representative location for overall potato cultivation in the highlands of East Africa. These seeds were then sown throughout the first half of 2016.

Although the test was performed under tough conditions and there was barely any rain for ninety days, the seeds yielded between 8 and 29 tonnes of potatoes per hectare, two to four times the usual yield in Africa. Keep in mind that this experiment wasnt even conducted with our best seeds  just think of what kind of yield those could produce! says Kruyt.

After rice, corn, and wheat, potatoes are the most cultivated staple food in the world, and they are grown on all continents. The millions of small-scale farmers in Africa who grow potatoes to provide themselves with sustenance buy their seed potatoes on the local market. The average yield per hectare ranges from 5 tonnes of potatoes per hectare in Uganda to 15 tonnes in Kenya.

The yield depends on the quality of the seed potatoes. These are often poor quality, because the propagation, storage, and distribution of seed potatoes leave something to be desired. The farmers save part of their harvest to sow in the coming year, which further diminishes the quality of the crop.

Seed potatoes from the Netherlands are unaffordable. On top of that, the containers full of seed potatoes coming out of Europe often spend weeks just sitting there in the harbour, and it takes even longer for them to be transported to the hinterland. A good portion of the seed potatoes may spoil in that time. Kruyt: We are able to send an envelope full of good, clean seed, instead of a container, within 24 hours, for farmers to use to get started on their harvest."
Ken Ofori- Attah is not a small man. He is an economist and a co- founder of Databank. He is used to budgeting and he knows a budget is not more than an organization's expected revenue and a detailed proposal of what the organization intends to spend the expected revenue in a specific period.

Ken Ofori- Attah had the burden of delivering a budget that was unusual to him. A politician had opened his mouth too wide to promise the people heaven and earth to outdo his opponent in an election. It was the politician's last best chance to clinch power in fulfillment of his lifetime dream.

The politician had promised among all other things a free SHS and a reduction of taxes. This is unusual with economic best practices.

You are either reducing taxes for the people to have relief in their daily economic lives or you tax them to provide some social benefits for them. It is not normal for a government to promise a significant reduction of taxes and at the same time to promise the people an increase in welfare benefits.

The experienced economist knows that. Like me, he has become bored with the usual at Databank and he desires for a new challenge to bring some new excitement into his life.

He takes the offer for a minister of finance job knowing how daunting it would be. He goes away somewhere with some economic' gurus' to fashion a budget for his government. He wracks his brain and realized it would be difficult to come out with a budget that would satisfy the public's desire to see the president's promises fulfilled; especially when it comes to the matters relating to the reduction of taxes and providing the promised FREE SHS in the same budget.

He went to tell his master that the job is difficult. It is not possible to deliver all the President's promises in the first budget. Cabinet couldn't accept this from him. Someone suggested the use of the ' heritage fund' for the free SHS. Another raised the point that Ghanaians would not accept that proposal. In the end , there was a decision to leak this thought to the public to test how the people would receive it.

The next morning we saw on social media that government intended to use the ' heritage fund ' to fund the free SHS policy. The public was unanimous in rejecting that idea at birth.

Government is in a fix. It has run out of ideas on how to prosecute his free SHS policy come September 2017. But the budget must be read. Ken was asked to try and present something to the people.

Ken was told to try to at least reduce some taxes for the people to see that the government intended to fulfill its promises to the people. Ken went back to wrack his brains.

But nothing much came out. On March 2nd 2017, he delivered something to the people. His utterances in reading the budget was largely characterized by 'we would......' . He sounded not certain about what his government intended to do in the budget.

He managed to make some people happy. The government intends to reduce taxes on imports of 'spare parts'. Although, ' Kayayes' do not by law pay taxes to central government, he told the people that taxes payed by 'kayayes' have been abolished. Maybe, he meant District Assemblies and the Metropolitan Assemblies daily levies on 'Kayayes' had been abolished.

Ken mentioned that Vat NHIL on financial services and other locally produced goods had been abolished.

This only means that government is doing away with a source of fund for the Health Insurance scheme . Already, the NHIS is collapsing for lack of funds to pay service providers.

Government was silent on where it would get money to finance the free SHS next September. I bet the NPP MPs in parliament don't have a clue about it.

But one thing is certain. The NPP would implement the free SHS come September. You know all our educational institutions are now fitted with pre- payed meters.

Come September, the students wouldn't pay anything to the schools on entering . The schools pre-payed meters would run out of units. The Heads of Schools would have to write to the District Directors of Education for imprests to buy units for the meters for the schools to be lited. The District Director of Education would also write to the Regional Director of Education .The Regional Director of Education might also have to write to the Director General of Education for the imprest to buy as we call it here ' pre- paid' for say Klenormadi S.H.S to lit its Science laboratories. Your guess is good as mine.

The Databank man is a worried man. But Ken has been assured that everything would be fine. He has been told that some 'juju man' from Dahome- Benin is arriving at the Flagstaff House to remove the difficulties in the budget. Even if it comes to the worse, the ' juju man' had promised to conjure some money enough to finance the free SHS.

Ken Ofori - Attah is himself skeptical about the 'jujuman's' trick in helping to deliver his budget.

But what can he do than to trust in the ' vodoo' man's powers to deliver. In any case, he has also been assured that even if the Dahome ' juju man' could not deliver, NPP would call 'God's juju men' : ( pastors, seers and prophets) in here to help in seeking the face of God in delivering the budget.

#TALKINGBLUES.

PAUL ZOWONU

TUTOR - ACCRA
Pupils of the Ashaiman Presby A and B basic schools, are appealing to the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly to close down a major refuse damp which is very close to the school.

According to the pupils, they have no choice than to go home earlier than the normal closing time due to the smoke that emanates from the dumping site.

Apart from that, they say they have to put up with house flies in their classrooms as a result of the proximity to the dumping site.

The pupils who spoke to Citi News noted that, the situation makes learning difficult and uncomfortable.

We dont feel like schooling here anymore because we dont like the smell that comes from the dumping site as well as the houseflies and the smoke. All the time, we have to inhale the thick toxic smoke and be killing houseflies with our bare hands. Our school uniforms are always smelly because of the problem we face here. Just yesterday one of our friends collapsed because the smoke was very thick and it lasted all through our school hours they complained

A teacher who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity also noted that, they have petitioned the Municipal Assembly several times but to no avail.

He said our school often than not closes the kids earlier than the normal closing hours because even we the teachers just cannot take the smoke and the stench from the site. Most of us teachers are contemplating leaving the school because our health is at stake

Meanwhile Citi News has gathered that the pupils last week staged a mini demonstration when the Greater Accra Regional Minister Ishmael Ashitey paid a working visit to Ashaiman.

They appealed to the Regional Minister to as a matter of urgency order the Assembly to relocate the dumping site since it is having a negative effect on their health.



By: Elvis Washingon/citifmonline.com/Ghana
As part of activities to mark the International Women's Day (IWD), Women in Engineering (WIE), has held a breakfast meeting at the Engineers Centre, Roman Ridge, Accra on Wednesday, 8th March, 2017.

WIE President, Ing. Mrs. Rita Ohene Sarfoh said the WIE subcommittee of the World Federation of Engineers (WFEO) has been recognizing IWD and impressed on national bodies to do same.

IWD is celebrated globally every year in honour of the remarkable contribution of women to our society. The day also commemorates the inspiring role of women around the world to secure womens rights and build more equitable societies.

The day also remembers the voices of many women that go unheard and who continue to be dominated from securing their rights and realizing their full potential.

Mrs. Rita Ohene Sarfoh continued that this year WIE have come a step further to recognize the day by organizing the meeting to address issues under the international theme Be Bold for Change.

She hinted that the African Chapter of WIE intends to have an African Session next year. The host country and venue for the African event shall be discussed during the WIE International meeting and would be communicated to members.

She concluded that I wish to take this opportunity to thank the GhIE for their continuous support for WINE, and prays that this shall continue to enable female engineers in Ghana to take all the boldness it require to impact change wherever we find ourselves to promote WIE and GhIE in general.

The President of Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE), Ing. Dr. Kwame Boakye delivered a cutting edge keynote address under the theme: Be Bold for Change; How Female Engineers can be change Agents. He charged the Female Engineers to have a clear vision and be able to communicate the vision clearly with others. He charged WINE to make an impact with the young generation by mentoring young girls right from the primary and Junior High schools.

The Chairperson of the program was Ing. Mrs. Carlien Bou-Chedid, who coincidentally, is the President-Elect of the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE).

Her presidency will go down well in history as the first female President of GhIE. In attendance was Past President of GhIE, Ing. Magnus Lincoln Quarshie, Executive Secretary of GhIE, Ing. George Essandoh and other Council members of GhIE.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | GN
Chairman of the Council of State, Daasebre Otuo Serebour II is asking Ghanaians from all the political divides to assist members of the new council to excel by volunteering information on national interest.

He believes such important information would adequately inform members of the council to enable them to offer constructive criticism to President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Daasebre Otuo Serebour who is also the Omanhene of Juaben in the Ashanti region believes national interest should come first before any political interests.

He made the appeal when officials of Jackson College of Education called on him at his palace and presented a plaque on his appointment as chairman of Council of State on Wednesday.

According to Daasebre Otuo-Serebour, the success of the council will partly depend on how Ghanaians will support it by volunteering information devoid political affiliation.

Meanwhile, Daasebre Otuo-Serebuor has commended the management of Jackson College of Education for their contribution to education.
Introduction:

This proposal is the result of the enormous need to harness the huge talent pool of Ghanaian professionals in the diaspora to help in the critical task of nation building and the development of the key sectors of the economy.

It is an attempt to get this pool of talent to participate both in government and private sector ventures that help create jobs and development in our local economy. Ghana can be great because of the different talent pool it has from Ghanaians from home and around the world with diverse expertise and ideas.

Government must visualize the opportunity that exists in harnessing this talent pool and instituting a constructive process through a national policy.

Efforts of previous governments in initiating and capturing this essential pool of professional talent for our national development must be recognized, namely - Ambassador Alan Kyeremanteng, initiated a professional data bank under President Kufuors administration; the setting up of the Office of Diaspora Affairs within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under President Mahama.

Now, President Nana Akufo- Addo has taken the next step of creating an executive level Office of Diaspora Affairs - a position at the presidency responsible for the diaspora (a suggestion I made to the Mahama government and to the current government).

Below are some facts to support this thought process?

Ghanas 2016 Revised Budget - $3b((@ an exchange rate of GH4 to $1) Foreign Direct Investments (F.D.I.) - $1.41b 2016 Diaspora Re-investments/Financial Transactions in Ghana  $6b plus per annum The per capita contribution is in excess of $6000 per each Ghanaian in the diaspora (est. of 1,000,000 people). Ghanas diaspora is its largest foreign partner vis-a-vis all foreign donors combined per year. Our commitment is interest free. It is not a sovereign loan and there is no collateral attached to it.

Other areas of significant contribution include the following:

Banking Institutions and Savings  Over 50 percent of Ghanaians in the diaspora have bank accounts at home. Many invest in stocks and T-BILLS. We saw what happened to the dollar flight when it was announced that the dollar accounts were being immobilized. The flight had a significant effect on dollarized investments in the country and adversely impacted the exchange rate markets. Mortgage payments  about 20% of the diaspora hold mortgages in Ghana today. Home Town Associations (HTA)  They are key institutions of transnational engagement with our motherland. They represent a significant conduit of identity and purpose and help promote social development. Their contributions are significant and are not limited to development activities like scholarship schemes; healthcare assistance; schools; rural electrification and access to clean drinking water etc. Telecommunications  Ghanaians in the US alone spend in excess of $100M per year in making phone calls to Ghana. This does not only benefit The US carriers but the Ghanaian providers as well. Consumables Diaspora local food consumption is in the millions  again strengthening the local Ghanaian economy.

Even though the relationship between remittances and development is multifaceted and complex, financial leverage is very relevant to improving the impact foreign savings has on the individual household. The diaspora community is a critical source to knowledge; expertise; resources and markets for the development of our nation.

A successful relationship between the two i.e. (Ghana and those in the diaspora) is predicated on:

The governments ability to project a coherent, motivated and progressive body.

The capacity for of our leadership in Ghana to help create an environment and institutions for a sustainable and symbiotically rewarding engagement.

Today, the Ghanaian Diaspora constitutes a significant and successful economic, social and cultural force in many parts of the world. The last few decades have seen a sea change in the character of Ghanaian migration and it is led by the new Diaspora. These include skilled professionals in the diaspora who have acquired their basic college education in Ghana and have received advanced degrees abroad; first generation children of Ghanaian parentage in the diaspora who by the laws of Ghana are entitled to Ghanaian citizenship and therefore ought to be encouraged to take a stake in our nations development.

To look at the potential Diaspora contribution only through the prism of remittances and financial flows is to take a myopic view. We cannot measure ones contribution towards development singularly through our financial transactions to our mother Ghana. The added value is the exchange of ideas between the local professionals and the diaspora professionals in the assimilative process of development is the unquantified value of this proposition. This fusion of ideas is how the middle class can grow to help build our nation.

Our beloved Ghana is beginning to recognize the need to pursue and promote the dynamic of the Diaspora and development. The Ghanaian Diaspora community is diverse and heterogeneous, representing different regions and tribes with its accompanying cultures language and faith. I can say that the common thread that binds us is the IDEA OF GHANA and the values this idea affords us. The Ghanaian diaspora share a very strong bond with our mother Ghana and this is manifested in our remittances back home; the return of many to live, work and engage in many development projects.

Our partnership ought to start with the RIGHT TO VOTE. The Representation of the People Amendment Act (ROPAA), Act 699 should be enforced under the laws of Ghana, particularly Articles 17(2), 42 and 33(5) of the 1992 constitution. The absence of its implementation is a major threat to our relationship.

I strongly propose the following:

The preparation of a Ghana Diaspora Policy

The Involvement of the Diaspora in the realization of the Ghana National Development Plan to be recognized especially in driving investments in the priority sectors of the economy such as education

The need for the government to engage with the Diaspora in a sustainable and mutually rewarding way across the socio-economic- cultural and political space is at the heart of our argument for a standing Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.

Mandate:

This Ministry shall serve as a one-stop address for Ghanaians in the Diaspora. There shall be an appointed Cabinet Minister from the Diaspora. The Ministry shall have its budget from parliament just like any of the other ministries.

The Ministry will be the nodal institution for all matters relating to Ghanaians overseas, which will include Persons of Ghanaian Origin, Non-Resident Ghanaians and Overseas Citizens of Ghanaian decent. The Mission is to establish a vibrant institutional framework to facilitate and support mutually beneficial networks with and among Overseas Ghanaians to maximize the development impact for Ghana and enable the Diaspora to invest in and benefit from the opportunities in Ghana.

Policy Imperatives:

The Ministry shall be guided by some key policy imperatives.

To bring a strategic dimension to Ghanas engagement with the Diaspora. Provide customized solutions to meet the different expectations of the Ghanaian Diaspora community including our economic migrants and professionals. Tap the investable diasporic community for their knowledge and resources. Anchor our professional skills for overseas employment initiatives in Ghana.

With these policy imperatives, some of the entities to be established within the Ministry shall include:

Ghanaian Diaspora Facilitation Centre  to serve as a one stop shop for economic engagement; investment and business.

 to serve as a one stop shop for economic engagement; investment and business. Diaspora Development Foundation - a non-profit trust to serve as a credible single place to facilitate Diaspora philanthropy that channel philanthropic capital into Ghanas social development.

- a non-profit trust to serve as a credible single place to facilitate Diaspora philanthropy that channel philanthropic capital into Ghanas social development. Diaspora Data Bank  a platform that will facilitate the transfer of and or leveraging the expertise, skills and experience of the Diaspora professionals.

 a platform that will facilitate the transfer of and or leveraging the expertise, skills and experience of the Diaspora professionals. Diaspora Global Advisory Council (to advise the President)  will be a body that draws upon the talent of the best Ghanaian minds wherever they reside to counsel the President on the strategic placement and dynamic of the diaspora project.

(to advise the President)  will be a body that draws upon the talent of the best Ghanaian minds wherever they reside to counsel the President on the strategic placement and dynamic of the diaspora project. Diaspora Officers at selected missions abroad  they will serve as field officers on matters relating to the Ghanaian Diaspora ( this has been already effected under President Mahama, but I believe it ought to be manned by professionals from the diaspora who would have a deeper understanding of this endeavor ).

 they will serve as field officers on matters relating to the Ghanaian Diaspora ( ). Diaspora Investment and Development Bank  to cater to the professional needs of the diaspora, regarding financial and investment transactions.

Ghana must join the more than fifteen other countries who have taken the lead in this critical area of development.

Examples  India; Israel; Ireland; Albania; Armenia; Azebaijan; Bangladesh; Chile; Dominica; Gambia; Georgia; Haiti; Indonesia; Mali; Morocco; Senegal; Serbia and the list goes on.

Policy Coherence:

To be able to affect this we have to overcome the challenge of internal policy incoherence. A key constraint is the failure to make the Diaspora and Migration Policy as one that is a Development Policy on a Government -wide basis. There has to be a convergence of perspectives across government to recognize the Diaspora as serious and formal partners.

Ghana must transform the Brain-drain to Brain-gain  We can secure this important bridge to access knowledge, expertise, resources and markets only if we are able to establish conditions and identify institutions for application of this knowledge in areas relevant to the development imperatives.

The state of Israel over thirty years ago embarked on a similar campaign which continues today to help recruit all Jews in the diaspora with special emphasis on professionals to come home to help in nation building. The Jewish state is now considered a developed nation. I had the opportunity of working as a junior economist in the Mayors office in Tel-Aviv, Israel during this campaign. I believe this is the time to nationalize such a policy at the highest level of government.

Operational Strategy:

We must do the following;

Identify the best outreach program to reach most of the Diaspora population.

Develop effective communication between Government and the Diaspora in all the specialized skill set groups.

Leverage our demographic dividends as a bank for skilled labor

Create a platform for dialogue with all political stakeholders.

Set up our own Ghana Diaspora Volunteers Corps.

Set up summer Youth orientation and work camps to assist in the assimilation process.

Act as a lobbying body to seek Ghanaian interest abroad.

Funding:

Option 1  Funding for the construction of the Diaspora Ministry  this I believe ought to be part of the national budget. After all, the numbers listed above demonstrate that with a per capita contribution to the national economy of $6000 US plus, this is the least the government should commit to.

Option 2  Funding from donor countries that have implemented similar diaspora Ministries/International development institutions who understand that this is a development issue.

Our first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah said these words that are relevant today and I quote I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me. He further stated this and I quote The forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the superimposed influences that keep us apart.

My fellow Ghanaians, our government needs to take a very bold step forward to create a standing Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. I believe that there is a huge opportunity for significant steps to be taken to embrace this simple idea that rests in our core competencies. This idea needs a leader with a vision to imagine and to accomplish. I believe President Nana Akufo-Addo is in the seat of a very few of our visionary leaders to accomplish this mission. Ghana wins - by becoming a melting pot of both local and diaspora expertise and ideas. Ghana can win and Ghana must win in this endeavor.

Thank you

Adolf Kofi Afful  former Chairman  Council of Ghanaian Associations (Washington D.C. metro).

Contact: [email protected]
The Rotary club of Accra Spintex in partnership with the Trans-Atlantic Environmental, Incorporated (TAE), has initiated plans to erect Solar Street Lights in two remote communities; Logba Abayeme and Logba Dufi in the Afadzato District of the Volta Region to boost education and economic activities in the areas.

The two farming communities with a total population of about 600 are not connected to the national electricity grid, partly owing to their inaccessibility, a situation that hinders learning and economic activities at night .

This was revealed when the Rotary club of Accra Spintex, and Trans-Atlantic Environmental Inc, initiators of Light The World Campaign, assisted school children and Teachers of Logba Abayeme and Logba Dufi with solar rechargeable lamps and stationery valued at GHS9,000.

The Light the World Campaign is aimed at reducing the negative effects of kerosene lanterns on people, promote socio-economic development, and help offset carbon dioxide emissions from kerosene lanterns by replacing these lanterns with solar alternatives.

Speaking at the presentation of the rechargeable lamps and stationery to the beneficiaries, President of the Rotary club of Accra Spintex, Jennifer Delasi Brock expressed that it was her hope the donation will shine light on the communities so that they will receive the needed attention from the government.

She encouraged children in the two communities to look beyond their challenges and study well. In addition, Mrs Brock lauded the contributions of the two communities to the economy of Ghana through farming.

Dr. Kwame Acquaah, a Rotarian from The Rotary Club of Laguna Sunrise California and President of Trans-Atlantic Environmental Inc. also challenged the indigenes to look beyond the light provided through the solar lamps donated and fix their eyes on the source of light eternal, Jesus Christ. He stressed the importance of Education and urged the children to make that their priority.

Located east of the Volta Lake in the mountains of the GhanaTogo borderland, the two communities lack basic infrastructural amenities like good roads, health posts and potable drinking water.

Logba Abayeme for instance has a dilapidated school structure that has up to class 4, with only one teacher handling all the classes. Only foot paths lead to and connect both communities. They equally depend on streams and springs for their potable water supply.
10.03.2017 LISTEN

In the last two years the quest for self-determination amongst the numerous ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria has reached a crescendo. This is especially so with many from the younger generation.

Millions of young people are infuriated, disgusted and fed up with the injustice and evil that they have been subjected to by the Nigerian state for virtually all of their lives.

They are energised and propelled by their passion and desire for a fairer deal and a better future.

Consequently they have keyed into that quest and are agitating for, at the very least, a total constitutional overhaul and restructuring of the federation and, at the very best, outright and complete secession and the establishment of a new country.

The agitation is particularly strong in the areas that are known as the Middle Belt, the Niger Delta, the south-east and the south-west and, in all cases, such calls have been backed by the elders of those zones.

Members of the detained and deeply courageous Nnamdi Kanu's Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) together with the Movement For The Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and other Igbo nationalist and self-determination groups have been the trail blaizers in this respect and have taken the lead.

Such has been the potency of their agitation and campaign that they are getting solid and increasing backing from the new and exceptionally dynamic Chief John Nnia Nwodo-led Ohanaeze, the leading Igbo socio-cultural organisation which represents and speaks for the elders and leaders of the Igbo nation.

Self-determination groups in the Middle Belt such as the Southern Kaduna People's Union (SOKAPU) are also on the rise and they are demanding for the emanciptation of the people of Southern Kaduna and the northern minorities generally from the clutches of the hegemonists and internal colonial masters.

Similar groups are dotted all over the Middle Belt and the north central zone and they have the full backing and endorsement of the Northern Christians Elders Forum, the Middle Belt Forum, the Core Middle Belt Forum and the Middle Belt Dialogue Forum.

In the south-west Afenifere has recently offered similar support for the traditional Yoruba nationalist groups like the Dr. Frederick Fasheun-led and Gani Adams-led Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) and the Oodua Liberation Movement (OLM).

As a glaring testimony to this just a few days ago, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the number two man in Afenifere and one of the most reverred and respected voices in the country, said that if Nigeria was not restructured soon the Yoruba people would have no choice but to go their own way and establish Oduduwa Republic.

The Niger Deltans and the people of the south-south zone have refused to be left out. They have consistenly voiced their desire for a better deal for their people and their insistence on resource control and self-determination through groups like the Ijaw Youth Congress, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and relatively new and even more militant groups like the hard-hitting and elusive Avengers.

Finally one cannot but mention the Shiite Muslims of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria who have suffered relentless persecution at the hands of the Nigerian state, who have been slaughtered in their thousands by officers of the Sunni Muslim-controlled Nigerian Army and whose leader Sheik El Zakzaky remains in unlawful detention up until today.

For many years the Shiites have been treated with brutality, disdain and contempt by the traditional institutions in the north and the Sunni-Muslim ruling elite and they are yearning for their freedom from bondage and religious persecution and agitating for a safer space under the sun.

From the foregoing it is clear that all is not well in the artificial mega-nation and super-state that was christened "Nigeria" (meaning "area of darkness" in latin) by the British just over one hundred years ago.

As each day passes more and more people from all over the country are doubting the continued viability of our forced union.

They are also questioning the wisdom and expediency of the 1914 amalglamation and "arranged marriage" of what were originally the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria by Lord Frederick Lugard and our erstwhile British colonial masters.

Unfortunately the response of the traditional defenders and apologists of the Nigerian state, rather than calm frayed nerves, has only compounded the problems and hardened hearts.

Instead of coming to terms with this new thinking and attempting to appeal to those that feel aggrieved they have opted to be confrontational, uncompromising, unreasonable, unrepentant and aggressive.

Instead of attempting to convince others that things can still get better and that there is still some hope for a united, indivisible and unrestructured Nigeria, the powers that be, our internal colonial masters and those that believe that the status quo must be maintained and that say that any talk of restructuring or a break up is not only criminal but also blasphemous and heretic, have continued to threaten, insult and attempt to intimidate those that do not share their narrow and retrogressive views.

It is in this context and from this prism that I view the intervention of Lt. General Tukur Buratai, Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff, to the debate. On the 6th March 2017 he said as follows:

"I want to call on all the agitators for separation that they better forget it: not in this era, not in this millennium. Agitators for Nigeria's separation will wait for another four millenia".

Buratai's counsel and intent are as bellicose and menacing as they are arrogant and self-serving.

One wonders whether those that espouse such views and voice such sentiments actually believe that they have the power to control our destiny and determine our future.

Does General Buratai believe that he isGod? Is he aware of the fact that no country in the history of the world has ever survived two civil wars?

His are the words and thoughts of the self-proclaimed guardians and enforcers of the Nigerian state and the defenders of the Nigerian empire.

They are an eloquent reflection of the sheer determination of those that are hell-bent on preserving the nebulous and iniquitous status quo and on preserving and protecting what the French call the "ancien regime" in our country.

They are also a manifestation of contempt, over-confidence and hubristic pride: a rare display of what I have decribed elsewhere as the biblical "I am and there is no-one besides me" Isaiah 47 complex.

Such boastful assertions have been made by others before and they are nothing new.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Yugoslavia said before their country broke into six pieces and established Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the Soviet Union said before their country broke into fifteen pieces and Russia, Turkestan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the Sudan said before their country broke into two and Southern Sudan was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Indonesia said before their country broke into two and East Timor was established.

They are the sort of things that the white Boer leaders of South Africa said before the fall of apartheid, before the establishment of black majority rule and before their country was broken into two and Namibia was established.

They are the sort of things that the white leaders of Rhodesia said before losing the war, before the coming to power of the blacks, before the establishment of Zimbabwe and before Rhodesia ceased to exist.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of India said before their country broke into two and Pakistan was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Pakistan said before their country broke into two and Bangladesh was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Malaya said before their country broke into two and Malaysia and Singapore were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Czechoslovakia said before their country broke into two and the Czech Republic and Slovakia were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Ethiopia said before their country broke into two and Eritrea was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the United Arab Republic said before their country broke into two and Egypt and Syria were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the United Kingdom said before their country broke into two and the Republic of Ireland was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the Austro-Hungarian empire said before their country broke into two and Austria and Hungary were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the Ottomon Empire said before their empire broke into numerous pieces and Hungary, Albania, Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, southern and Caucasian Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and others were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Sweden said before their country was broken into four and Denmark, Norway and Finland were established.

They are sort of things that the leaders of Denmark said before their country was split into two and Iceland was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Korea said before their country was split into two and North and South Korea were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Vietnam said before their country broke into two and North and South Vietnam were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Peru said before their country broke into two and Bolivia was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Gran Colombia said before their country was split into three and Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Haiti said before their country split into two and the Dominican Republic was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Great Britain said before their empire slowly crumbled and broke into thirty new and independent sovereign nations who all became members of the British Commonwealth.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Spain, France and Portugal said before their respective empires crumbled and collectively gave birth to over one hundred new countries.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of China said before their country broke into two and Taiwan was established. I could go on and on. (TO BE CONTINUED).
President Akufo-Addo has revealed that the Zimbabwean leader, who lived through the independence struggle of Ghana, Robert Mugabe, commended him for his address at the 60th Independence Day Parade in Accra.

There is sharp disagreement between members of the CPP (Party founded by Dr. Nkrumah) and some academics on one hand, and the New Patriotic Party on the other, over the address that sought to project other contributors on Ghanas path to independence.

Some have accused the President of attempting to play down the influence and role of Dr. Nkrumah in the struggle for liberation from colonial rule.

Speaking at the Ghana Unity Ball 2017, Thursday, the President said his critics do not have a full grasp of Ghanas history.

This has been a very strange week. On Monday, I made a speech to the country which I tried to speak about how we became Ghana. And like everything I say, its ended up in controversy. But that is how it should be. A politician who doesnt generate controversy is a dull politician, he said.

The amusing part of it is that, the people who did not live through the independence era, young people who came much after, claim that I distorted the history of Ghana and belittled the role of Kwame Nkrumah. The one man there who actually lived through the era, [who] was here in Ghana at the time, embraced me as having enhanced the image of Kwame Nkrumah. And that tells you everything about Ghanaian politics. That is President Mugabe. He gave me a big hug, he added.
10.03.2017 LISTEN

I decided to go break from writing to psychologically accommodate the ecstasy and elation in me, having been crowned the best student writer, 2017, in the National Union of Ghana Students Award night put together by UEW-K branch. I'm most grateful to the good Lord. In today's piece I decided to use this controversial title to preach Pan Africanism.

I keep asking myself why Africa is lagging behind though we keep yearning for progress and prosperity at a time we are suffering from economic catastrophes, lamentable developmental progress and moral decadence with its accompanying social vices. These issues keep embittering me and some times, make me feel like we are living in a world of cognitive subconsciousness and convoluted society with it social and moral values completely eroded. Hmmm No wonder, we are where we are!

Firstly, any research about why Africa still remains an undeveloped continent would not be complete if it does not critically trace the historical antecedents of our social and political set up as well as the chronology of metamorphoses accompanying the occupation of the African continent by the "white man" and the repercussions of their well orchestrated colonization. Though this piece is not an academic research work, I am not oblivious of that basic fact. It is a verifiable fact that Africa was very rich, economically resilient and relatively peaceful with strong social bonds before the white man's influence. I can't still fathom how gullible we were, to have subjected ourselves to manipulation by the white man, which has adversely affected us in every faculty of our lives. That notwithstanding, we still had enough time to examine the losses immediately after colonisation but it is obvious that we can't simply revisit our African values, to reshape our identities.

One very big damage the white man caused us, is the introduction of western culture through religion. They undermined and despised our very rich culture, and described it as "primitive". We gave up so cheaply and sole our dignity and pride to them. Is it that the white man had injected some long lasting drug into our brain boxes to make us unable to reason? Under the cloaks of Christianity, we were gradually deceived to sell our spiritual powers to them. Powers they are now using to control us like remote controls. The proliferation of churches in Africa today, has still not done enough to shape the attitude and morality of society. We rather continue to encounter alarming rates of social vices. No wonder prostitution, same sex marriage, war among others have come to find a comfortable place among us.

The black man could produced whatever he wanted to use and produced what he eats but today we cannot say same yet we cannot still see. We continue to import whatever we wear and eat. People are proud of foreign goods and despises our own. We ignorantly continue to create employment in foreign countries and deprive ourselves with improved standard of living. The worse of it all, is the political confusion among us, couple with leadership paralysis, catalysing our problems. As chunua Achebe put it in his book things falls apart, " the centre cannot hold". The people who are supposed to be the ambassadors of change of attitude are in the comfort of their luxurious green pastures, enjoying the ungodly fruits of corruption.

Africans were noted of their very strong social bonds from the family, clan, community and tribe. Today, it is indisputable fact that such a cherished social bond that instilled love among us is disintegrated. They brought the nuclear family system, and then democracy and succeeded in indoctrinating us.

Today, in some parts of the continent, we are fighting and killing ourselves and spilling blood all over. What a pathetic situation! With all these, we still cannot see, that we need our cherished African values.

We had inherited a Europeanized education system long ago and have since not being able to localized it. The early formal education was mainly meant to train Africans to speak and interpret the language of the whites so as to join the crusade of diminishing the value of our culture. Perhaps that is why we are only good at speaking flamboyant English language and shamelessly take pride in that. Unfortunately, we have lived with it for decades and and are producing only English speaking graduates instead of problem solving graduates. Well, the African educational structure is another subject matter I will fully elucidate subsequently in another article.

Let's look at our natural resources and how they are being tapped by foreigners. In my country Ghana, they are foreigners all over our green forest depleting our resources through illegal lumbering and illegal mining. Our water bodies are polluted and we are a testimony to the climatic ramifications but we are still playing around the gallery with political rhetorics. We are so helpless and cannot profess any pragmatic remedy. What happened to the curses from our rivers, deities and shrines? If western culture is giving us this unbearable pain by contributing to our abject poverty, why don't we revisit our culture? I will support it wholeheartedly!!

The most common issue that even make us a laughing stock to the rest of the world, is our political leadership. Leadership coated with loot and share through gargantuan corruption, abuse of power, dictatorship and political violence. Yes! that is political leadership in Africa. It is about winner takes all, survival of the fittest and the worse of all, divide and rule. All these are throwing away the dignity of Africa. We must be leaving under a curse.

In the midst of all these, continental leadership like the African Union, remains a toothless dog that cannot only unite the continent but can't even address political crisis in some member countries. Leaders in the continent rather secretly make allies with other forces in other continents, leaving to themselves, shamelessly, a questionable loyalty to the African continent.

I think the problems of the continent ranging from education, unemployment, moral decadence, poor political leadership among others, are uncontrollably unbearable as they continue to escalate daily. We need to adopt a radically paradigm shift from our current approaches of depending on so called developed countries to solving our problems, to a more rejuvenated self attitudinal approach. We don't need any skyrocketing science to do that!! We have the solutions right in our homes. We need to apply them. It is better late than never.

Shall be back.................

Denis Andaban

[email protected]
After deal, Morcha ready to take bodies

The protesting Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha has agreed to receive the bodies of the victims killed in police firings in Maleth after a four-point agreement with the local administration.
By Christabel Addo - GNA

Accra, March 09, GNA - The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, (MGCSP) on Thursday, treated the Female Caucus in Parliament to a reception, in Accra, as part of the activities to mark this year's International Women's Day.

The meeting was also to initiate a discussion on how the Ministry could strategise to support the female Parliamentarians so that they could in turn increase the participation of more women into leadership in both politics and socio-economic spheres.

The platform was also to gather concerns that would enable the Ministry to present a better argument at the upcoming United Nations Summit on the Status of Women.

The women, from both sides of the political divide, who gathered around the dinner table, were ably supported by their male counterparts from the Gender Committee of Parliament.

They heartily discussed the challenges they had encountered individually during the political campaign periods, and raised critical concerns ranging from the need to mobilise massive social support for women to gain leadership positions, to sustainable capacity building programmes for female Parliamentarians on important gender issues.

They said these provisions would not only help in increasing the number of women in leadership positions across board, but also build their knowledge and skills to be able to negotiate and engage properly on crucial policy dialogues and debates on both the Floor of the House; and in other circles to promote gender equality, among other developmental issues.

They urged the Gender Ministry to be more proactive in pushing for the Affirmative Bill, which would provide for a strong legal backing for the increase of females in leadership positions, particularly, at the District Assembly levels, as District and Municipal Chief Executives.

Madam Otiko Afisah Djaba, the Sector Minister, congratulated all females, particularly, in Ghana, for their tremendous roles both at the household, social-economic and political levels.

She also commended her female colleagues in politics for their tremendous display of courage, perseverance and leadership skills that pulled them through the electioneering system; and encouraged them to mentor others young ones to follow their footsteps.

She described them as 'trail blazers' who must be further encouraged especially, by their male counterparts in Parliament, to collaborate in ensuring better policies and decisions that would ensure the holistic development of Ghanaians.

Madam Otiko Djaba said it was the Ministry's dream to ensure gender parity at all levels and strengthen its collaboration with all stakeholders to achieve this objective.

GNA
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has left Ghana for Mauritius to attend that countrys National Day Celebrations as a special guest.

His three day stay in Mauritius will see him hold bilateral talks with Her Excellency Mrs Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister and other senior officials of the Mauritius government.

The aim of the meetings is to strengthen the ties between the two countries.

Dr. Bawumia is also expected to attend a Breakfast Business Meeting hosted by the Mauritian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, in Collaboration with the Board of Investment.

Accompanying Dr. Bawumia to the Southern African country are Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications; Ibrahim Awal, Minister for Business Development; Reginald Grant, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre; and other government officials.

The Vice President and his entourage will return to Accra on Monday March 13, 2017.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
Traditional leaders and members of the inland fishing and aquaculture fraternity from the Lower Volta basin have proposed the establishment of an authority to address the challenges of the communities.

The groups indicated at a meeting with former President Jerry John Rawlings in Accra last Tuesday, that the establishment of the authority was necessary as the Lower Volta communities have continually encountered serious unresolved challenges since the construction of the Akosombo dam decades ago.

The former president who hosted the delegation from the Fisheries and Aquaculture Alliance, chiefs, and queen-mothers from the affected communities, supported the proposal and expressed the hope for its consideration by he government.

Some members of the delegation informed the former President about how they had to migrate further up north because of dire economic circumstances.

Many complained about the harassment by the locals in and around those areas.

President Rawlings encouraged the delegation to embrace the cultivation of the black shrimp, pointing out that they have been found to feed on bilharzia-causing larvae.

The former president was emphatic that the cultivation will go a long way to protect the health of the lower basin communities.

The delegation presented to the former President, a study report on how to develop small-scale commercial aquaculture in the Lower Volta basin.

They sought his support to help transmit the report's findings to government, development partners and other national and international stakeholders.

Former President Rawlings assured the delegation that their concerns will be passed on to the appropriate ministry, with the hope that when they reach out to the ministry they are fully represented by delegates stretching from Akuse to Ada.

The delegation, which was led by Simon Ogah, National Coordinator of the Inland Culture Fisheries Association of Ghana, included Togbe Akliku Ahorney II of Mafi Dadoboe, Togbe Azagba III of Mepe, Mama Gbemu I of Mafi Tove, Mama Aflo-Vuiede II of Mafi Aflokope and Mamaga Asieku IV of Battor.



By: citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, has predicted that many of the campaign promises by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) will remain unfulfilled.

I am profoundly optimistic that the ruling NPP government will choke with credibility problems in honouring their lousy and mouth-watering promises to the electorate, he told the Daily Graphic in an interview moments after the country celebrated its 60th Independence Anniversary last Monday.

NPP Campaign promises

The NPP, during the 2016 general election campaign promised many things to the Ghanaian electorate. Some of the flagship promises were, Free Senior High School (SHS), one village one dam, paying of teacher and nursing trainee allowances, free maternal care, and reducing tariffs and abolishing some taxes.

Others are one district one factory, $1m each to all 275 constituencies, payment of all DKM customers, reducing corporate tax, creating the Western North Region, and providing jobs.

Others are the expansion of the school feeding programme, implementing strong anti-corruption policies and National Identity (NI) Cards for all Ghanaians and the elections of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) among many other promises.

Mr Iddrisu mentioned that whilst the NDC was wishing the NPP well, only time would tell about what they could do to redeem the campaign promises.

Comparing records

He said the future was very bright for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) because the Ghanaian electorate would have an opportunity to compare the records of the NDC and those of the NPP.

The NDC, he said, had a good record of massive infrastructural development yet we lost the elections. Meaning there was something amiss. What did the Ghanaian want and we failed to do. This is what the election review committee, under Dr Kwesi Botchwey, can help to unravel.

According to Mr Iddrisu, the NDC needs to understand the Ghanaian electorate and what influences their political choices.

Personally, I believe that addressing the growing unemployment was key and remains a critical measure of the current NPP government, he pointed out.

I believe that the election review committee should work and work well and their recommendation should drive the rebuilding of the NDC party from the grass roots to the national level, he opined.

What NDC needs to do

Going forward, the Minority Leader advised the partys members to stop the blame game and focus and work hard for the victory of the NDC at the 2020 polls.

Furthermore, he appealed to NDC members and supporters to pick up the pieces and move on.

Internal wranglings and undermining within the NDC did not allow us to build internal cohesion from the grass roots to the top; Some of our policies and interventions did not also reflect our philosophy and values as a social democratic party. The NDC needs to have an unbiased thorough analysis of why we lost and that can and should redefine the NDC and its future, he reasoned.

Giving the outcome of the 2016 elections, Mr Iddrisu said it manifested that some of our policies failed and need to be tweaked.

He cautioned that a flawless diagnosis of autopsy is impossible, saying, If there was nothing wrong we would not have lost the 2016 elections.

2020 must win for NDC

As Minority leader in the Seventh Parliament, Mr Iddrisu indicated that he had the onerous duty to defend the legacy of the NDC, re-brand and reposition it towards the 2020 presidential election.

As part of his key agenda, he said he would strive to help the NDC work to improve public policy for the public good, work to ensure value for money and work to protect the public purse as well as deepen openness and transparency in the workings of Parliament to make Parliament more responsive to the needs of the people.

He said the Sixth Parliament was NDC-led and currently as Minority Leader in the Seventh Parliament, now working from opposition, he had the onerous responsibility to defend NDCs legacy for it to be attractive to the Ghanaian electorate.

He said working from opposition was also an opportunity to serve the people of Ghana.

One feels very re-energised and re-engaged to focus on re-branding and rebuilding of the party to improve on its electoral fortunes in 2020, he stated.

I am relating to all the structures of the party, working hard to promote unity and cohesion to recapture political power in 2020, he assured, saying the 2020 election must be a must win for NDC.

He said the NDC party was very attractive except that there was discontentment and internal wranglings among its ranks.

Building bridges with NPP

On whether the NDC was building bridges with the NPP for regular dialogue as was reported in the Daily Graphics front page lead story of Wednesday, March 8, 2017, he said, This harmony is to understand the work of Parliament and what Parliament does.

In that story, it was reported that the Majority and the Minority in Parliament took a major step towards building bridges when they held a joint press briefing for the first time in Parliament holding on the same position.

Explaining further, he, however, stressed that; Inherent in multi-party democracy is disagreement and alternative policy options, and gave an assurance that the NDC would work to provide superior policy options to the NPP.
Government has announced plans to establish a special regulatory authority and agency for the railways sub-sector.

Minister of Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, made the disclosure on Thursday in Accra while bidding farewell to the outgoing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Railways Development Authority (GRDA), Alidu Abubakar Sadique.

According to the minister, the establishment of the Regulatory Authority would ensure that certain standards are adhered to.

He said due to the huge investment that government intends to make in the sector, there was the urgent need to get a strong regulatory body.

We are doing things according to the law, he said.

He said unlike other sectors like the aviation and maritime, the railways sector does not have a regulatory mechanism to ensure compliance to the standards.

Currently, the GRDA acts as both the regulator and developer in the sector as stipulated by the Railways Act 2008, (Act 779), and the minister believes there is a need for separation of powers.

Touching on the proposed agency, the Minister indicated that it would supervise the infrastructural development of the railway sector.

These measures are part of the bigger plan of repositioning the railway subsector to compete favorably with other sectors like the aviation and roads subsectors.

The minister paid glowing tribute to Mr. Sadique and pledged to engage his services even outside active service.

He said Mr. Sadique had served the nation diligently and must be praised for his hard work.

Mr. Ghartey appealed to staff of GRDA to work together in order to improve the sector.

Mr. Sadique thanked the minister for recognising his efforts and pledged to offer his advice when needed.

He is said to have joined the Ghana Railway Corporation in 1986, as a National Service Personnel and rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Chief Engineer.

In 2011, he was transferred to the Ghana Railway Development Authority where he served in served various capacities before assuming the position of CEO in 2013.

By Melvin Tarlue


Dr. Fredrick Kwatey taking officials of GLICO General round the new ward.

GLICO General, as part of its 10th anniversary celebration, has renovated the female orthopedic ward of the Accident Department of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).

The 23-bed ward, which was previously rejected by patients because of its deplorable state, has been refurbished at the cost of GH100,000.

The floors were tiled, portions of the roof were changed, and the toilets and baths were redesigned.

Nana Efua Rockson, Group Head Corporate Affairs & Marketing, speaking on behalf of GLICO, said the insurance company constituted a committee for the celebration which suggested that the ward be rehabilitated as part of the 10th anniversary.

As we searched around, and we decided to settle on Korle Bu because we are in the heart of Accra and Korle Bu is the biggest place to show love, she said.

She said the members of the committee were directed to the female orthopedic ward at the accident department to undertake the renovation project in August 2016.

She was happy that the refurbished female ward had been handed over to the hospital management.

Dr. Fredrick Kwatey, Head of Department of Accident Center, said the ward, prior to the renovation, was in an appalling state and patients refused to stay there.

He said it was a very difficult situation and management planned to raise funds to support the renovation of the ward.

Dr. Kwatey said while the fund raising process was going on, GLICO fortunately came to their rescue.

While we were mobilizing funds, I was in my office when two gentlemen from GLICO came to ask if they might be of help to the department, so I brought them to Ward C and they agreed to help renovate this place, he said.

He said the new ward would greatly improve health delivery at the hospital.

Dr. Roberta Lamptey, Acting Medical Director, KBTH, who represented the Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), was grateful for the king gesture.

At least our female clients will have a better place for recovery. We, at KBTH, believe our patients deserve the best so we put them first and we are grateful that you will help us improve on our services, she said.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri


The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) has recommended a stakeholder consultation to review the implementation and costing plan of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.

According to the coalition, which is a network of civil society organizations interested in promoting quality education, the national dialogue will allow for objective analysis and ensure buy-in from all Ghanaians.

GNECC is calling for a national dialogue involving all stakeholders to arrive at a consensus for a long-term and sustained implementation of the Free SHS policy, the coalition stated.

Addressing the media yesterday, Bright Appiah, GNECC Chair, said funding of the free SHS has generated a lot of debate because of the importance of the sustainability of the policy.

He indicated that in the absence of a publicly available fully costed implementation plan, how the policy would be funded in the medium to long term would become a subject of speculation.

Mr. Appiah noted that research done by the coalition indicated that the budgeted figure which government intends to use to implement the free SHS is inadequate to cater for the expenditure.

With the estimated annual percentage increase in enrollment of 6% for SHS, it is estimated that the intake for the 2017/2018 academic year will be 432,780 and the recurrent expenditure per student from the 2016 Educational Sector Report of GH2,114 per student, gives a total expected expenditure of GH914,896,920.00, he noted.

However, according to the Minister of Finance, the policy, which will start with first-year students in all public senior high schools across the country, will be funded with the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) from Ghana's petroleum resources at an estimated cost of GH400 million.

Also, he said the current total enrolment for TVET education stands at 48,356, which means the annual enrolment will be 16,119. The recurrent expenditure per student for TVET education is GH5,610.00, giving an annual total TVET recurrent expenditure of GH90,427,590.00.

This means that the estimated total annual recurrent expenditure for SHS and TVET education stands at GH1,627,365,321.00, translating to GH542,455,107.00 per term, Mr. Appiah observed.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri & Abigail Owiredu-Boateng
Jennifer Nyarko

10.03.2017 LISTEN

A day after the sad death of the University of Ghana, Legon student, we are beginning to understand more than ever before the challenges of mental health and how we have ignored this reality for too long to our detriment as a people.

The question as to whether what happened to our poor girl could have been avoided is a definite affirmative.

Even more intriguing is the similar path taken by a 16-year-old girl outside Accra, an occurrence which surprised many given her tender age.

Chances are that this girl too posted unusual tendencies but nobody bothered to intervene.

She certainly could have withdrawn to herself to the extent that she could no longer contain the situation she found herself in. The parents did not see it, let alone seek medical health.

We live in a country or society where mental health invites an automatic stigmatization by even family members. When a person who has ever suffered a depression and sought mental attention gets incensed about a situation and screams, just anybody else in the society would react to the situation saying he or she is suffering a relapse of the earlier mental health. This suggests that the person would live with the mental health till death.

Ignorance has many negative fallouts, one of which is how we react or not to a mental condition overlooking the expert intervention in a facility set up for such purposes.

We largely think erroneously that the only persons, who need the intervention of psychiatrists, are those who strip naked and walk about in the street.

With the high incidence of, especially, girls committing suicide in recent times, we think it is time that we mount a massive educative campaign on what constitutes a mental condition and which require intervention of experts.

Thankfully, we have in place a Ghana Mental Health Service; an ample recognition by the state of this all important medical service.

The death of the latest victim of depression has triggered a national conversation which we hope would be sustained until Ghanaians understand that when there is something unusual about, especially, their children, the need to engage a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist should not be marginalized.

It was sad learning that the Legon student was exhibiting obvious symptoms of depression which could have easily been managed long before the untoward happened.

We have learnt how suicide occurs when the mental state of a victim of depression hits a crescendo and the brain can no longer cope with the situation in which the victims find themselves.

Suicide is not a simple thing to undertake and would only take place when those around the victim fail to observe that something unusual is taking place about them.

Let us assist those who exhibit unusual traits by insisting on having them consult experts, otherwise we would be confronted with situations which visited the University of Ghana, Legon a couple of days ago.

What is the state of counseling on our campuses? From what we are hearing, these facilities are hardly patronized.

Indeed many students do not know where they are sited let alone seek the attention of the experts there when the need arises.

Many persons even outside our tertiary institutions require the intervention of clinical psychologists, especially, married women because of the conditions they find themselves in as a result of certain factors.
Two houses have been set ablaze in a renewed chieftaincy clash in Bimbilla in the Nanumba North District of the Northern Region.

The situation has created fear and panic among residents living in the area.

On Wednesday at about 2pm, one Abdulai Sang was arrested by the police in connection with the murder of some persons in Bimbilla.

Information available to DAILY GUIDE indicates that the suspect was mentioned by some victims who alleged that he entered their rooms and murdered some women.

Some youth stormed the police station in Bimbilla demanding the immediate release of the suspect from police custody.

The suspect has since been transported to Tamale and will be moved to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, which is in-charge of the case.

The Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Yusif Mohammed Tanko, who confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, said at about 1:00 am on Thursday, the police received information that two houses had been set ablaze and quickly deployed personnel to the scene.

According to him, there is a manhunt for the perpetrators of the act.

ASP Mohammed Tanko indicated that the police were on the ground to protect innocent lives in Bimbilla and its surroundings.

He urged residents to report anything they suspect could lead to the breach of peace in the area to the nearest police station.

It will be recalled that the death toll in the renewed chieftaincy clashes barely a month ago in Bimbilla reached 11.

The police found nine bodies in addition to the previous two, with some others sustaining various degrees of injury and several houses set ablaze.

According to the Northern Regional Police Command, 17 persons had been arrested in connection with the deadly clash.

Those who were injured  some children, two men and three women  are receiving treatment at the Bimbilla Hospital.

The Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, has extended the curfew hours in Bimbilla from 4pm to 6am with immediate effect.

FROM Eric Kombat, Bimbilla


State prosecutors are unsure when the much anticipated Attorney's General advice on the case involving the two serving police officers who allegedly attempted to rob a Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) bullion van at Donkorkrom in the Eastern Region will be ready.

According to Detective Chief Inspector Simon Apiorsornu, the prosecution was still awaiting the AG's advice on the matter.

The prosecution last month told the court that the docket on the case it had sent to the state prosecutors had not been assigned any attorney.

Again, at the last court sitting, Detective Chief Inspector Apiorsornu said that officials at the AG's Department had informed him that the docket had been assigned to an attorney.

Although it had been two clear weeks since the last excuse was given, the prosecution said it wanted more time as it waited for the advice.

The trial magistrate, Stephen Owusu, adjourned the case until March 23.

General Lance Corporals Daniel Kissi Abrokwah and Solomon Elvis Mensah are in the dock with their alleged civilian accomplice Hafisu Mohammed aka Danjuma, over the death of Daniel K. Sarpong, 52, the driver of the GCB Bank bullion van with registration number GN 1354-15 in the Donkorkrom robbery case.

According to the prosecution, the two Lance Corporals had the intention to rob the vehicle which had always come to Donkorkrom to supply money to the bank.

The two accused policemen, who were on duty at the GN and GCB Banks respectively, decided to exercise their plan of robbing the bullion van of any cash it was carrying, according to the prosecution.

The three, on August 16, 2016 at Mame Krobo, near Tease in the Eastern Region, reportedly conspired and acted together with a common criminal objective to commit crime, to wit, murder.

The two policemen have been slapped with additional charges of attempted robbery and murder.

In the murder case, the prosecution stated that the cops at the same place and date caused the death of Daniel K. Sarpong.

The prosecution disclosed that on the said day, the policemen discussed the plan to rob the van with Danjuma, a cabbie who is their friend.

The policemen, according to the prosecution, waylaid the van at a spot between Tease and Mame Krobo  each armed with an AK 47 assault rifle  at about 10:30 am, stressing that Danjuma drove his vehicle towards Ekye Amanfrom to monitor the arrival of the van.

[email protected]

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson


At least 24 killed in Jajarkot bus plunge

At least 24 people were killed and 37 others injured when a passenger bus fell over a cliff at Bherimalika Municipality-4 along the Chhinchu-Jajarkot road section on Thursday.
10.03.2017 LISTEN

Whatever reason is assigned to this occurrence, four deaths at a work-place within one month, is alarming. That is one reason why

The Chronicle is calling for an urgent investigation into the circumstances leading to the loss of lives of four workers at the 340 megawatts thermal plant being constructed at Kpone, near Tema, in the Greater Accra Region.

We are told that four workers of Group 5 Structured Ingenuity, a South African company undertaking the construction have lost their lives within the past four weeks and this has triggered panic among the work-force.

We are further informed that following these mystery deaths, the entire workforce have laid down their tools. Apparently, they are all scared-stiff.

In Africa, one cannot discount superstitious beliefs in matters of this nature. This notion has been fed into us and this might be what has created so much fear and panic among the work-force, such that none of them wants to go back to work.

It is an unfortunate development. But it is one that has brought the progress of the construction to a halt. In an economy in where electric power supply is paramount, the developments at Kpone, is worrying.

All sorts of weird interpretations are being read into the unfortunate development. The Chronicle has learned at the site that the workers' fear is founded in the knowledge that the construction of the nearby Sunon Asogli Power Plant was preceded by a cleansing exercise, during which a cow was slaughtered to appease the gods.

The workers have minced no words in what they believe the problem is. In their estimation, it is the failure of the South African company to pacify the gods before construction begun, and that is the reason why workers' are losing their lives in circumstances that is bordering on spirituality.

No one wants to lose his or life unless that person is on a suicide mission. That is what accounts for the stalling of the project at a time energy is in great demand in Ghana.

The Chronicle would like to recommend an urgent solution to the problem. Without necessarily pointing to the spiritual realm for solution, we would like to believe that there is no harm in making the kind of sacrifices that would put the workers' mind at rest.

Without sounding holier than the Pope, The Chronicle would also like to suggest that a non-denominational prayer session could be organized at the site to seek the blessing of our creator to guide the construction to its logical conclusion.

There is also an urgent need for a hard look at the work ethics at the site, to ensure that something has not gone amiss with the equipment and its use. If workers are not abreast with the right use of the equipment and their chemical composition, there would be the need for training and re-training.

We are not playing God here. But we are unable to bring ourselves to believe that all four deaths, within a month, could be traced to natural occurrence. There must definitely be something wrong.

As it is, all kinds of interpretations are being assigned for what most of the workers believe are un-natural deaths.

In any case, we cannot afford to waste more time dithering when the 340 megawatts energy are urgently needed to augment power supply in the country. The thermal plant at Kpone should not be delayed unnecessarily.
Abuja (AFP) - President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday returned to Nigeria after nearly two months' medical leave in Britain but said his deputy would remain in charge for several days as he needed more rest.

A Nigerian Air Force jet carrying the 74-year-old landed at the airport in the northern city of Kaduna at about 7:40 am (0640 GMT). He was then flown by helicopter to Abuja.

In the capital, the head of state, looking gaunt in a billowing black kaftan, stepped off the helicopter and walked across the tarmac to be greeted by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

He also met security chiefs and senior government officials before being driven away in a black official car to meet ministers and officials of his ruling All Progressives Congress party.

At the meeting, he did not give any indication of what illness he was suffering from but said "I have received, I think, the best of treatment I could receive.

Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari said he couldn't remember being so sick since he was a young man

"I couldn't recall being so sick since I was a young man," he added, referring to "blood transfusions, going to the laboratories and so on and so forth".

But he said he was "pleased to be back", although he disclosed that he may need "further follow-up within some weeks".

Buhari's return from London was announced on Thursday evening and he said he "came back towards the weekend, so that the vice president will continue and I will continue to rest".

The president's spokesman Femi Adesina later clarified that Buhari would not resume his duties at least over the weekend but would formalise his return to power next week.

Adesina said in a tweet that he will send a letter to the National Assembly on Monday, adding: "That makes his return to work formal, and constitutional."

Former military ruler Buhari flew to London on January 19, officially on holiday and to have what his office said were "routine medical check-ups" for an undisclosed condition.

Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari met military leaders upon his return from London

But while he was away, aides had to counter persistent rumours online that he was seriously ill or even dead, despite photographs showing him meeting senior Nigerian politicians.

On Thursday he was shown in photographs looking painfully thin at a meeting with the most senior cleric in the Anglican communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

His admission that he needs at least a few more days rest and further treatment will undoubtedly fuel speculation about the seriousness of his condition.

His office has repeatedly maintained he was "hale and hearty" throughout his time in London.

Persistent rumours

Buhari has been dogged with rumours about his health even before he came to power in May 2015 after a landmark election win against president Goodluck Jonathan two months previously.

Jonathan's Peoples Democratic Party claimed Buhari was critically ill from prostate cancer. He dismissed the assertion as an unfounded smear designed to show him as unfit for high office.

The PDP repeated its claim about Buhari's health in May last year after he appeared frail at a security summit and cancelled a series of engagements.

Buhari then travelled to London the following month to receive treatment for what was described as a persistent inner ear infection.

He left for London again in January but on the eve of his expected return on February 5, his office announced he had to extend his stay to receive medical test results.

The health of Nigeria's president has become a sensitive issue following the 2010 death of president Umaru Musa Yar'Adua from a long-standing, but previously undisclosed, kidney complaint.

Yar'Adua's initial illness and treatment in hospital abroad triggered months of political uncertainty. His deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, took over on Yar'Adua's death.

Buhari's office has been keen to avoid the impression of a political vacuum and Osinbajo, a 60-year-old lawyer and church pastor from the southwest, has been a visible presence.

His consensual style has contrasted with that of Buhari, who has been criticised for ruling with a close-knit, tight-lipped inner circle.
10.03.2017 LISTEN

We need culture to know where we came from, says her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Tuscany Camilla Habsburg-Lothringen. In a time where society is complaining, is frustrated and not making the best of what we have, there we need culture. The cultural field enables us to build up dialogues better and faster than administrations can. Contributing to a better world, that is why the descendant of the Habsburg house which leads back to Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Therese of Austria, chose the cultural field over a more political career.

How does it feel be the great-great-great-granddaughter of such historical figure like Maria Theresia?

This year we celebrate the 300th anniversary of Empress Maria Theresias birth. She was bright and very advanced for her time. Great policy such as the obligation to go to school, the vaccination against chicken pox, the opening of the stock market and the founding of the academy for diplomats was one of the many actions implemented by her. Her strong charakter and personality as a ruler, wife and mother impresses me strongly

It is a big responsibility to carry this name, it will always be imprinted on me. As it is not easy to fullfill all peoples expectations but I try to be true to myself, not to loose my focus and keep remembering my history, where I come from.

Do you consider this responsibility to be political?

No, there is no role for me in politics. The time to get involved is very limited. First you have to get elected, and during the mandate you try to do as much as you can  lets hope so- and then the electorate either replaces or re-elects you. All this makes it difficult to make real changes not mentioning the opponent parties that block every suggestions even if they are good ones

Politicians mostly take responsibility over a certain period. This is understandable because they receive legitimacy over a certain time. But the downside is that many do not understand the responsibility for future consequences of their actions. Monarchies, nobility and family run companies they all have to make carefull decisions as these leave an impact and imprint on the future of generations and the empires or business. Politicians should learn from this and vow to take consequences for the effects of their actions in the future.

Besides that I feel that real change should be realised via initiatives.

Do you feel that we need change?

I am pretty thankful to live in a peaceful country with a strong stability like in Austria. But it worries me that people dont recognize that. In the last years nearly all over Europe I observe the encrease of a complaining and unsatisfied society that is questioning everything. Also greed and materalism has become very dominant in our times and this leads to a feeling of emptiness. And so its understandable that people become very scared and receptive to any kind of manipulative information that theats this artificial way of life

In our times there is a strong destabilizing fear for the future and other cultures. The result is a lack of focus and investments. Constant worrying will lead us nowhere and wont enable us to build a strong future. That is something we need to change.

I would say that there is a need for respect. Respect is much stronger than tolerance. The population is growing fast, everybody is getting closer, and more people will live in our countries. Just tolerating others will not be sufficient, we need to respect each other and other cultures and learn from them

Do you see any role for yourself in this?

I have a background in PR and advertising, besides that I am also very active in the field of networking. But most important for me are values: the stability of a society and passing on of ideas and sending impulses. I was never involved in representing companies, firms, but always more looking into the direction of a so called atmospheric PR if you understand what I mean. That is a kind of seismographic feeling towards our environment and our global thinking and acting. Searching for solutions, to get together those people who feel and think in a similar way and then move things into action.

Do you consider that to be diplomacy?

Yes. Diplomacy has a very important stabilizing function in this world. I prefer the cultural field because it is neutral and makes it easier to bind people and nations on a diplomatic base. A few months ago I became Director Euro-Mediterranean Diplomacy and Intercultural Affairs at the International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES). In this function I would like to connect the Euro-Mediterranean and Balkan regions and give a voice to those without one. For me that is one of the important aspects of diplomacy.

Do you feel that the European Union contributes to a better world?

The European project -the European Union, brought prosperity and peace to the continent. But now they are getting lost in a big contruction of burocracy and regulations like on what kind of energy saving light bulbs we are allowed to buy. There are too many paragraphs blocking any fast action. I find this a waste of energy, time and money. There is a real need for solutions for the bigger problems, like immigration for instance. The European Union should focus on the bigger political issues and on the cultural field

The near future might be challenging, but we need to keep the dialogue going, because together we can tackle every crisis.

First published by the Dutch Diplomat Magazine
The chairman of Civil Technical Division of Ghana Institution of Engineers Joseph Oddei has called for reconsideration of current structure designs being used in constructing educational facilities in all levels. According to the Civil Engineer, security of students are being compromised for beauty and modernity, a situation he said if not reversed could lead to more tragedies in schools. Engineer Joseph Oddeis comment came at the back of final year Legon student who allegedly fell to her death.

Reports of a level 400 student of the University of Ghana, Jennifer Nyarko, hit the mainstream media on early hours of Wednesday. The Consumer Science and Agric student was reported to have jumped to her death from the balcony of the Akuaffo Hall, Legon. It is still unclear what might have caused her to jump to her death, although speculations largely have it that she may likely suffered from Hay Fever.

In an interview with Bright Kwesi Asempa on Onua Fm morning show Yen Nsem Pa Civil Engineer at the Ghana Institution of Engineers Joseph Oddei contended that both school administrators and policy makers must consider psychology of students as integral part of the decision which informs the type of architectural design to be used in constructing lecture theatres and hostels. He observed that it was for nothing at all that the early educational facilities were built with perforated wall balconies.

You see how the early buildings were done; it was just to prevent happenings such as the one that occurred recently. I think it is time we start having discussions as to the structural designs being used now. It is time we think beyond the engineering and beautiful architectural designs alone but factor in psychology of the students

The chairman of Civil Technical Division of Ghana Institution of Engineers Joseph Oddei also cited an incident that took place at Adisadel College when a final-year Science student died after jumping from the fourth floor of the school's new classroom block in attempt to avoid being punished.

Engineer Joseph Oddei opined that if the buildings are constructed with high banisters which are well secured, it will be difficult for students to even conceive the idea of committing suicide by jumping.

We should start rethinking of these new designs on our campuses. The buildings that we are putting up now are taller than what we used to have and it is likely these deaths will not end any time soon. Sometimes you visit the schools and you see the students either sitting or leaning dangerously on the banisters. It must concern all of us and our policy makers and architects must rethink. We either do higher banisters for construct walls with perforation holes for ventilation
NAIROBI, Kenya, 10 March 2017,-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The era of rapid technological growth has forced technology and telecom companies to adopt multifaceted approaches to survive and thrive in a challenging environment. Each new innovation brings a new wave of disruption, forcing companies to innovate and meet increasingly demanding customer expectations by delivering superior value.

Leading this trend is the telecommunications industry which sits at the convergence of all modern technologies. The promise of delivering content to any screen is finally becoming a reality enabled by advances in network technology, higher data speeds and enhanced content at the carrier level. The telecoms industry's performance is closely linked to the provisioning of high-quality, reliable, and affordable data and voice services, as well as operators' ability to align with the changes in market behaviour.

Jamii Telecommunications Ltd. (JTL) is a Kenyan telecommunications company offering Data Carrier Services, Satellite Backbone Services, Internet Backbone Services, International Gateway Services, Broadband VSAT Services, Signal Distribution Services and Broadband Wireless Services.

JTL required a platform that would allow it to orchestrate multiple systems, including billing and provisioning engines, as it grew and evolved through mergers and acquisitions. This meant that the company required a technology system that would enable it to analyse, process and consolidate information received from multiple systems in a concerted effort to run simple and faster - not just in its IT landscape, but across business processes, data structures and its way of doing business.

Enter SAP S/4HANA, the digital core that enables JTL to fulfil this ambitious business and technology vision.

According to S.Iyer, CEO of IMARK, the SAP implementation partner in charge of managing the JTL implementation, JTL faced multiple challenges at the outset of the project implementation. "The customer experienced a lack of integration within systems, low visibility of customer information, planning, execution and cost monitoring, a lack of cost analysis of projects, insufficient controls for material procurement and utilisation, and low visibility of payments to external vendors. They required a system that was able to integrate all function areas and deliver a single window, providing greater visibility and tracking of information."

JTL adopted SAP S/4HANA with SAP CRM, with the project going live on time on 1 January 2017. "By leveraging SAP S/4HANA and its integrated capabilities, JTL has been able to develop system workflows to ensure timely flow of data ensuring all SLA's are met. This has led to an improvement in customer experience and engagement as well as greater control and monitoring of costs and revenues, through better tracking and visibility. JTL has the distinction of being the first S/4HANA site in East Africa and the first S/4HANA-CRM site in Africa," explains Iyer.

Joshua Chepkwony CEO and Chairman of JTL said: "It gives me great pleasure to see the fruition of the journey we embarked on in 2016. This is a great achievement for the company and a continuation of an automation and change process that is geared towards transforming how we do business."

Dr Gilbert Saggia, Managing Director: East Africa at SAP Africa, said: "This is an excellent example of how SAP's vision to make the world run simpler is brought to life in a challenging business environment. By putting SAP S/4HANA at the core of its business processes, JTL is able to execute decisions quicker, ensure faster on-boarding of customers, reach new geographies quicker and gain key insights into customers. This has the added benefit of delivering a superior customer experience while providing real-time visibility of key business information. We look forward to seeing how SAP S/4HANA transforms JTL's business processes and sets it up for success in the highly competitive and fast-paced telecoms industry."
Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Gambian coalition parties that united last year to deliver the first new president in 22 years are unlikely to run together for legislative elections next month, a senior government source told AFP.

President Adama Barrow said in January his coalition government would "continue as a family" in selecting candidates for the national assembly poll on April 6, a declaration now thrown into doubt.

"We cannot reach an agreement on how to contest the parliamentary election," a senior figure within Barrow's administration told AFP late Thursday.

"One of the parties wants 36 of the 53 constituencies to be reserved for them. We are parting ways," the source said.

Candidate registration began on Thursday and lasts until Sunday, pressuring the parties to find a deal.

The coalition figure voiced frustration that the infighting was likely to embolden the party of former president Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the country with an iron fist for two decades until leaving for exile in January.

Yankuba Colley, chief campaigner for Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), said he was confident of the party's chances.

"We are going to defeat our opponents in the forthcoming election and dominate the National Assembly. We are going to field candidates in all the constituencies. We are the biggest party," Colley told AFP.

The Gambia at a glance

Barrow was formerly a member of the United Democratic Party (UDP), the largest opposition grouping in the Jammeh era, but resigned to run as the coalition flagbearer.

His cabinet is made up of the heads of the seven parties and single independent candidate who formed the coalition, and he had barely finished putting his government together before the disagreements began.

On Thursday, six new ministers were sworn in, just hours before talks broke down between the coalition parties.

However the position of vice president remains vacant as Barrow's appointment of Fatoumata Tambajang was declared unconstitutional.

She becomes the country's new women's affairs minister.
A total of 2,305 poor people currently benefit from free health care in the sagnarigu district of the Northern region under the National Health insurance Scheme, (NHIS). Also, a total of 687 households benefit from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme in the district with all beneficiaries being enrolled on to the National Health Insurance Scheme

These people includes; the physically disabled, and people whose poverty level is high in the district and the leap beneficiaries. These were revealed by the Districts social protection Officer Imoro Abdul-Fatawu in an interview with Radio Tamale.

The sagnarigu district according to him, joined the leap programme in May 2015 with a number of 687 beneficiaries who have been registered onto the e-zwich system making accreditation easier.

As I indicated earlier, sagnarigu district got onto leap in May 2015, and by September 2015, which was the 38th payment, we have already got all our leap beneficiaries benefited from the payment. We have also enrolled all our beneficiaries onto the e-zwich and they are being paid by UT Bank, and in terms of payment, is hundred percent He noted.

He also said since the inception of the leap in the district, the department has made nine payments to beneficiaries without a challenge in disbursing moneys to all the beneficiaries.

He however wished that, all social protection related issues are put under one umbrella to enable easy access to data and programme implementations.

According to him, the supervisory role play on social protection and its related issues are scattered, making monitoring and supervision difficult.

we want to see going forward, how all these social interventions are put under one basket for social protection, then the ministry will have supervisory role, this will trickle down to the district assembly level to be manage by one desk he explained.

He appealed to citizens to visit the district assemblies always and also enquire about the availability of social interventions which they can benefit rather than waiting for officers to come. Adding that, there are many available social interventions at the various district assemblies but citizens are ignorant of them.

What we expect from the citizens is for them to come forward; I have heard of A, B, C, how does it work? How do I benefit? Then we take it up from there, instead of them always waiting for us to come to them. Is like, we are searching for them he stated.
The management of the University of Ghana has urged the public to desist from spreading rumours about the circumstances leading to the death of a Level 400 student of the school, after she fell from the 4th floor corridor of the Akuafo Hall residence.

The deceased, crashed her head when she fell on the dawn of Wednesday, March 10, 2017.

The school in a statement copied to citifmonline.com, said it is yet to receive a full report on details surrounding the death of the student from the police, and therefore cannot draw conclusions about the development.

The University is aware of the many speculations currently going on, assigning reasons for the death; and calls on members of the University community and the general public to refrain from making any speculations on the incident and allow investigations to be completed, the statement signed by the school's Director for Public Affairs, Mrs. Stella Amoah said.

It added that, the school is distraught by the incident and has initiated processes to have close friends and family of the deceased undergo counseling to help them deal with the associated stress and trauma.

The University is distraught by the incident, and University officials led by the Vice-Chancellor, have had initial interaction with the parents of the deceased. The University's Counseling Centre is currently offering counseling services to the deceased's roommates, immediate family members as well as fellows and employees at Akuafo Hall, Annex A.

Read details of the statement below


A group of suspected armed robbers operating on the Tamale-Salaga road, have shot and killed a worker of Engineers and Planners (EP) Company, Williams Boamah.

The deceased, together with two colleagues, were returning from Tamale when the incident occurred.

According to the Public Relations Officer for the Northern Regional Police Command, ASP Tanko Mohammed, the robbers shot several times into the bus when the driver failed to stop after they had flagged them.

When they got to a section of the road, according to some of the people on board, they saw some flashlight, but they decided not to stop and drive on. But the person shot into the vehicle and hit one William Boamah, who was sitting behind the driver of the vehicle at the time.

ASP Mohammed said although William Boamah was one of the company's drivers, he was not the one driving the vehicle as at the time the incident occurred.

The Police PRO further noted that, a complaint was subsequently made at the Salaga Police station while the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital morgue.

They made a report at the Salaga Police station and the body was deposited at the Tamale Teaching hospital while investigation is ongoing. So far we've not been able to make any arrest, but investigation is ongoing and we are trying to identify the persons who perpetrated the act and ensure that they are brought to book, he added.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Cabinets decision to give clean chit to Ncell criticised

Ministers have criticised the Cabinets decision to give a clean chit to Ncell over its capital gains tax controversy saying that tax related issues were beyond its jurisdiction.
'Women's empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power, are fundamental for the advancement of equality, development and peace' (From the Beijing Declaration).

Last Wednesday, the 8th of March was the International Women's Day, an occasion I believe is celebrated globally to appreciate the role of women in building the world, the challenges that confront them in their bid to raise their heads above the crowded path of men dominated life. I loved it and got glued to my TV set when I watched 2nd Lady, Mrs. Samira Bawumia hosting a programme with very distinguished career women in the persons of Charlote Osei, Mona Quartey, Joyce Aryee and this brilliant lawyer whose name has escaped me. Pardon me my lady for missing out your name.

On other platforms, the 1st Lady Mrs. Rebecca Akufo Addo and another former 1st Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings were together on this issue of celebrating women. On yet another platform, the current Minister for Gender and Social Protection and the immediate past occupant of that position were together addressing concerns about women and how to help them out of their predicament.

Their views and experiences as women, their chosen professions and their contributions generally towards society are not just immense but inspiring to younger females in our society. The sad and unfortunate reality of our times is that many men in positions of trusts would want to take advantage of women before opportunities are offered them. Sexual harassments are some of the major problems confronting young professional women in their quest to find jobs. So intense is this social canker that it is foolishly believed that any woman who rises to a top position in public life got there via the route of sexual acquiescence. Are we saying that when we were in school, we never had female class mates who were academically better than many of the male students?

The world in the year 1995 recognized, at least officially, that women had been relegated to the background for a very long time. In most primitive and developing societies, women were treated as second class citizens in their societies, their efforts were not recognized and appreciated, women were treated as hewers of wood and drawers of water for the comfort of their male counterparts.

It is the global recognition of the oppressed women that the 'Platform for Action and the Beijing Declaration', dubbed 'Fourth Conference on Women' took place in Beijing, China from September 4-15, 1995. Apart from the Beijing Declaration itself, the platform called for:

Action to protect and promote the human rights of women and the girl child as an integral part of universal human rights;

Action to eradicate the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women;

Action to remove the obstacles to women's full participation in public life and decision-making, at all levels-including the family;

Action to eliminate all forms of violence against women;

Action to ensure equal access for girl children and women to education and health services;

Action to promote economic autonomy for women, and ensure their access to productive resources; and

Action to encourage an equitable sharing of family responsibilities.

The Beijing Declaration itself, among others had stated a determination to advance the goals of equality, development and peace for all women everywhere in the interest of all humanity, acknowledging the voices of all women everywhere and taking note of diversity of women and their roles and circumstances, honouring the women who paved the way and inspired by the hope present in the world's youth, recognizing that the status of women has advanced in some important respects in the past decade but that progress has been uneven, inequalities between women and men have persisted and major obstacles remain, with serious consequences for well-being of all people..

Twenty-two years after the Beijing Conference, a lot in the world of the woman has happened in the global arena. In Ghana for example, political leaders have become conscious of the need to increase women participation in decision making at all levels. Are we not proud to have the first female Chief Justice in Ghana? We should be proud to have the first female Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, an area 'preserved' for men, first female Chief of Staff, had a first female Vice Chancellor in a public university, don't forget Mrs. Akua Kuenyehia, the legal brain who made Ghana proud in the international circles, the list is tall.

Today, I can say without any contradiction that there are always more girls than boys at the basic educational level in this country, an indication that we are offering and encouraging girls to have education. But as they progress towards the academic ladder, the number falls. Have we found out what the reasons are? The problems of women begin when they are children. I have always held the view that a girl's educational situation is a major determinant factor in who her husband will be in future.

Speaking as a man, it is extremely difficult for a young man who himself did not have any education to make any proposal to a girl who has completed SHS, Training College, Nursing Training College etc. unless that relation defies all other social considerations but money. The hypothesis is that the higher educated women are, the better their chances are to have better husbands who will in turn respect and appreciate them.

Conversely, young girls without education or any vocation or training that empowers them economically to be independent, become easy prey to some irresponsible young men and male adults. That is why teenage pregnancy and other unplanned pregnancies are very common and rampant in poor communities in this country. There is no social protection for them, poverty stares them in the face on a daily basis, a situation exploited by men. Such exploitations further worsen their plight when indeed they had thought that a relationship with the opposite sex was going to give them some salvation.

An empowered woman of tomorrow, resourced academically and professionally to be independent enough to be able to contribute effectively to herself, children and society must come from an empowered girl of today. There are so many girls and young women out of schools, without opportunities to learn any kind of trade or vocation in preparation for the future. They are found in the most difficult, challenging and hazardous occupations to eke out existence on the streets, markets, on the farms where they are not the landlords. Their partners for co-habitation are found within the same environment they operate. They procreate and their children become worse off than the parents.

The question is what are we doing today for the girl child so she does not grow up to be an oppressed and abused woman in our society tomorrow? These children endangering their lives in 'Traffic' selling all manner of things instead of being in school, the young girls competing for space on the streets instead of learning some vocation, in the market places and other such difficult terrains of human endeavour, potters popularly referred to as kayayei are just living for today without knowing what tomorrow holds for them.

As I watched the upper class and middle class women on various platforms last Wednesday, I understood them and shared their aspirations. But were they sharing the aspirations of the most vulnerable females in our society? House maids are mostly found in the homes of the affluent women in our societies, and the maids are always from poor backgrounds. Sometimes they are horribly treated by the same women who are supposed to be speaking for the oppressed women in our societies. Some of the maids work 18 hours a day in the homes of their Madams.

As our women still think about women, the only practical support they could offer the woman of tomorrow is to help raise the poor girl child of today. If some of the tithes we pay to the churches can be directed to the care of a school girl at the basic level to meet some of her basic needs, she can progress on the educational ladder. Then she can be part of the celebration of women tomorrow.

[email protected]

By Kwesi Biney
The beneficiary students in group photo with the founder, coordinator of the foundation

The Tang Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) aimed at promoting education, is offering scholarship package to some 25 brilliant but needy Ghanaian students to study in tertiary institutions in China.

Currently, the Foundation is providing full scholarship which covers feeding fee, boarding house fee, healthcare and personal for about 25 children in Desks Educational Institute in Tema.

Beneficial students were selected from across the country after passing examinations and going through interview.

Mr. Hong, Founder of the Tang Foundation, said the gesture forms part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of his company CAITEC Group.

The Chairman of the Ghana Association of Chinese Societies in Ghana disclosed that he has instituted a fund to sponsor students at Desks Educational Institute to study in any tertiary institution in China.

He was of the view that sponsoring the students to study further outside the country would go a long way to boost human resource development of Ghana.

Mr Hong, who is the Chairman of Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China in Ghana, urged all well-to-do people in the area to emulate the shining example of Foundation.

Yaw Tsey, Coordinator to the Foundation, said the award of the scholarship to the students brings to 25, the number beneficiaries across the country.

He said the students were selected due to their academic performance at their various schools, adding that the selected students successfully passed a special examination organised by a committee formed by the Foundation.

Mark Dei, the General Manager of Desks Educational Institute, was grateful to the Tang Foundation for partnering his outfit to educate the selected students.

He was optimistic about the performance of the students, saying that some of them placed first, third and fourth in the last term examinations. They will surely improve, because I have noticed improvement in their studies. We will keep pushing them.

The beneficiary students expressed their gratitude to the Tang Foundation for the gesture.

From Vincent Kubi, Tema






President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will appoint chief executives for metropolitan assemblies in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi in the coming days.

Acting General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, stated that the committee, led by Mac Manu, had successfully vetted MMDCE aspirants.

We are done with vetting of people who are hoping to be appointed as metropolitan chief executives for places like Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi.

It is now left with the president to select people he thinks can best manage the metropolis and bring the needed development, he noted.

Musa Superior, an aide to President Akufo-Addo and Nii Adjei Sowah, Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the NPP, have been tipped for Tamale and Accra respectively.

According to Mr. Boadu, the names of MMDCEs for the other assemblies would also be released by the Presidency in the coming weeks.

Six Regions

He announced that the vetting committee, of which he is a member, had completed the vetting of hopefuls in six out of the 10 regions in the country.

Mr. Boadu stated that the vetting committee would soon complete the four remaining regions.

Rejects Bribe

The acting NPP General Secretary flatly debunked reports that some MMDCE aspirants had bribed members of the vetting committee.

According to him, the vetting committee doesn't have any control over who becomes MMDCE.

The NPP guru indicated that no party member can help you to get appointment as MMDCE, it is only President Akufo-Addo, who has that sole right so don't try to bribe anyone.

You cannot bribe the president so it is better you stay aside and let the presidency select the suitable person, he told Kofi Asante of Nhyira FM in an interview.

Mr. Boadu indicated that the vetting committee discharged its duties professionally without any fear or favour.

He was hopeful President Akufo-Addo, who is very experienced politician, would select competent and suitable people as MMDCEs to help steer the affairs of the country.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
Members of Parliament (MPs) commended the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings for her bold decision to contest in the 2016 presidential election on the International Day for Women, which fell on Wednesday.

They added that this year's theme, 'Be Bold For Change' further gave credence to her resolve to vie for the highest position of the land.

The MPs also dedicated this year's celebration of Women's Day to the Chief Justice of the country, Justice Theodora Wood, for the professional and impartial manner in which she discharged her duties to ensure the socio-economic development of the country.

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisah Djaba, who made a statement on the floor of Parliament in commemoration of the day on Wednesday, called on Parliament to quickly pass the Affirmative Action Bill into law to empower women in Ghana.

She said the draft bill seeks to promote gender equality in all spheres of national development and added that women are not in competition with men but to complement them.

I will ensure that the draft bill is finalized and brought to this House for approval, she said.

She said the government intends to review the Intestate Succession Law passed in 1985 because there are still problems with inheritance in the country.

The Gender Minister said this year's celebrations must be a reminder to intensify the fight for the empowerment of women since former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan had rightly observed that there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.

She said in line with the NPP government's policy to empower more women, the government would introduce the free secondary school education policy to enable more women to be empowered.

We are also extending the Ghana Household Registry to all the regions and intensifying the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme to cover many more vulnerable women in the twilight of their lives, the minister said.

She said it was unfortunate that as the world celebrates women, some men in Ghana continue to trample upon the rights of women with impunity.

She cited the Marwako restaurant case where a supervisor allegedly dipped the face of a female worker into hot pepper and the lady in Kumasi, who was stripped naked and assaulted by men for allegedly stealing from a shop.

This is the reality of the existence for many of our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, being honourable members, we trust you will join us to condemn these heinous acts against daughters of Ghana and support us to ensure that the perpetrators are properly sanctioned as prescribed by the laws of Ghana, she said.

By Thomas Fosu Jnr
Nana Agyenim Boateng, popularly called Gyataba, the 2016 presidential candidate of the United Front Party (UFP), has dragged Chief Superintendent C. O. Lomotey, the Suame District Police Commander, and four heavily built men to a Kumasi High Court for forcibly seizing two Fiat pickups belonging to him and two others.

Gyataba, who is a businessman, took the legal action with UPF and Tanink Ghana Limited, a Tema-based automobile dealers, as plaintiffs, against the police chief and the four, Francis Asante, Nana Prempeh, Dada Nasco and Saliu.

The plaintiffs are praying the court to declare the defendants conduct of storming its worksite at Fufuo, near Barekese in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of the Ashanti Region and forcibly towing the two vehicles to the Suame Police Station as unlawful and unconstitutional.

They are also praying the court for an order for the release of the vehicles with registration numbers GM 1413  16 and GM 1842  16 to them.

Plaintiffs are praying the court for general and special damages jointly and severally against the defendants.

In a writ of summons dated February 7, 2017, filed by William Osei Kuffuor Esq. lawyer for the plaintiffs, it was stated that sometime in 2016, the UFP represented by its flagbearer, Agyenim Boateng, entered into an agreement for the purchase of the two vehicles from Tanink Ghana Limited.

By the agreement, UFP was to pay for the cost of the vehicles by installments, whereupon on completion of payment the title documents of the vehicles would be transferred into the name of the party.

Agyenim Boateng took possession of the vehicles thereafter, and used them for UFP activities until the defendants forcibly seized them on March 2, 2017 allegedly on the instructions of the Suame District Police Commander.

When Agyenim Boatengs workers resisted the seizure of the vehicles, the defendants threatened to shoot and kill anyone who would interfere with their operation.

The UFP founder and leader said the vehicles were towed to the Suame Police Station, adding that they were damaged as a result of their poor handling.

The several and collective conduct of the defendants in depriving us of the exclusive access to our property is unlawful and a breach of our constitutional rights, the plaintiffs contended.

Gyataba claimed his party was entitled to general and special damages from the defendants and that only the intervention of the court would ensure fairness and justice in the case.

From James Quansah, Kumasi


The Paramount Chief of Bunkpurugu Alhaji Abuba Nasinmong has expressed his gratitude to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on behalf of Bimobas for appointing the Member of Parliament for Bunkpurugu, Solomon Boar as the Deputy Northern Regional Minister.

According to him, for the president to appoint the MP as a minister means he recognizes Bimobas.

He assured the president that Solomon Boar will help him achieve the vision of the party because he is a hard working Member of Parliament for the constituency.

The Bunkpurugu Chief indicated that the MP has brought a lot of developments to the constituency and now that he has been given the deputy ministerial position, he believed, he would work harder to bring more development to the Northern Region.

In an exclusive interview with DAILY GUIDE, he urged the MP to use his ministry to find a lasting solution to the chieftaincy problems in Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo to bring peace and unity to the area.

The Paramount Chief of Bunkpurugu lamented bitterly about the deplorable state of roads in the area indicating that he has been having sleepless nights over the problem.

According to him, Bunkpurugu is currently second in terms of border revenue collection target in Ghana stressing that when the roads are constructed it will boost business activities in the area since it is a border town with the Republic of Togo.

Even with bad road network we are second in Ghana how much if our roads are good then we will be first, of course'.

He has therefore appealed to the President to help shape the roads.

The chief disclosed that even though there is a health facility in the area, it is nothing to write home about because the facility is in a deplorable state and needs a facelift.

FROM Eric Kombat, Bunkpurugu
IGP David Asante-Apeatu, Osu Mantse (3rd left) Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona (second left) with other dignitaries that the event

Inspector General of Police (IGP) David Asante-Apeatu has called for serious measures to address the issue of obesity which has become one of the contributing factors to increased cases of kidney diseases in the country.

Mr Asante-Apeatu, addressing an audience at the commemoration of the 2017 World Kidney Day at the Police Hospital in Accra, disclosed that obesity or overweight increases insulin resistance, leading to diabetes which is among the major causes of kidney diseases.

Globally, about one in every 10 people has some form of kidney damage. It is further observed that about a third of those diagnosed with chronic kidney disease suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure or both.

The IGP further mentioned that the two conditions are exacerbated if one is obese or by definition overweight.

It does follow that by tackling obesity, there will be an associated reduction in the number of kidney related cases, he stated.

Mr Asante-Apeatu advised the public against unhealthy eating habit which predisposes one to weight gain and diabetes.

The trend in Ghana indicates that 28 percent of men and 38 percent of women are overweight or obese, he said.

The IGP observed that in show of its commitment to providing seamless service and promote awareness of kidney diseases, the police service will be offering free screening for uniformed personnel, their dependants as well as members of the public.

He also stated that the Ghana Police Service (GPS) is planning to expand the kidney dialysis unit of the hospital to accommodate the increasing number of patients.

The Police Hospital Dialysis Centre carried out a total number of 2,479 dialysis procedures in 2015. In 2016, there was an increase to 2,793 and the numbers are going up, he added.

Godfried Nyante, Chairman of Health Education on Wheels (HEOW), the main organisers of the event, highlighted the core vision of the organisation, which is to educate and prevent the occurrence of non-communicable diseases in Ghana.

He said the organisation went a step further to establish the kidney dialysis unit at the Police Hospital to provide treatment at very low cost to kidney patients.

World Kidney Day

World Kidney Day, themed: 'Kidney Disease and Obesity Healthy Lifestyle for Healthy Kidneys', is meant to create and promote awareness and sensitise the public on how important kidneys are to the body's overall health.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
The Writer

10.03.2017 LISTEN

The first day of life is full of anxieties for the young mother especially those giving birth for the first time (primps) or those who have had one or two sad experiences in the past.

BREATHING

Because the most obvious sign of life in a human being is breathing, young mothers often watch the breathing of their newborn babies very closely. Unfortunately, because the breathing pattern of the new born baby is not normal like that of adults, some mothers rush to the doctor with complaints that the baby is not breathing well. A newborn baby sometime breathes fast; at other times he seems to suspend breathing for some time and then starts off once more. This should not be a cause for concern. It is not an indication that the baby is not well. This breathing pattern changes a few days after birth.

A common fear of the mother is whether the baby was suctioned well after delivery and that if this is not properly done the baby will develop respiratory problems. Any baby whose airways are not properly cleared may not be able to leave the delivery room because of irritation. Mothers should rest assured that so far as the baby is breathing normally, the airways are clear. However any rapid respiration especially when associated with grunting should be reported to the doctor. Noisy breathing sounds from the baby should also be reported to the doctor.

EARLY FEEDING

In some of our cultural beliefs babies are not supposed to be given anything except plain water in the first two days of life. This is believed to help wash the babys stomach before real feeding can be started. This practice is dangerous especially for babies that have gone through difficult or prolonged labour. The reason is that the calories in the baby gets burnt out during labour because of the intermittent contractions of the uterus and the caloric demands from the baby to meet the needs. The longer this persists, the lower the caloric stores in the body and the baby is either delivered with low caloric stores or may already have low blood sugar. Starving the baby further by giving only plain water tips the baby into low blood glucose (hypoglycaemia). This can lead to seizures (convulsions) and if not immediately controlled, can cause irreversible brain damage.

If the mother is not stable or fit after delivery, the baby can be started on artificial formulaon doctors prescription until the mother improves. Exclusive breastfeeding, except where not indicated is the feeding of choice. Babies should be put to breast within 30minutes of delivery if the baby and the mother are stable. Contrary to the belief in some quarters, the first flow of milk from the mother after birth is NOT harmful to the baby; it is actually very beneficial to the new born baby as we are going to see in further discussion on breast feeding.

Professor Adimora is the medical director of Favouredchild Clinic, Enugu. A Consultant Paediatrician with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu and Senior Lecturer in the department of paediatrics, college of medicine, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria. A bible teacher. He is also the author of the book 'Anxieties of a young mother'. Authors website: www.authorsden.com/gilbertadimora E:mal: [email protected]

[email protected] Tel: 08055054442, 08033257771

08055054442; 08033257771
Police in Kumasi has arrested a 27-year-old man believed to have played a major role in the assault of a taxi driver leading to his death at Nima, a suburb of Kumasi.

Earlier, they had said four faces identified in the video had escaped arrest but Nhyira News is informed one of them has been arrested.

Awudu Ibrahim accidentally knocked down a motor rider, who was treated and discharged same day at the Manhyia Hospital.

But the mob chased the taxi driver to a gas station and subjected him to severe beating until he became unconscious on January 8, 2017.

A video recording of the assault received public condemnation after it went viral on social media.

But police have declined to give details of the suspect, saying more people are being pursued in the matter.

Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Yaw Nketiah-Yeboah tells Nhyira FM the suspect is assisting police investigations as it hunts for more suspects.

There are more people in line to be arrested. Efforts are underway to get accomplices of this dastardly act arrested, ASP Nketiah-Yeboah revealed.

The Ashanti region is gaining notoriety over instant mob action in recent times. This is the second time such an incident has been recorded this year after a 27-year-old lady was stripped naked and molested for allegedly stealing at Kejetia.

The police command is concerned about this development, which it has described the incident unfortunate.

Even if it's a murder; assuming the taxi driver had killed somebody with his own hands, nobody has the right to lynch him. There are laws in the country.

"So under such circumstances, relatives, sympathisers should rather report the suspect to the police. How much more traffic offence? And sadly too, the man I understand got up after the accident. Its very very unfortunate, he said.

ASP Nketiah-Yeboah warned police will deal ruthlessly with perpetrators of instant justice.

I'm pleading with our youth and everybody in the Ashanti region in particular and Ghana as a whole to always follow due process whenever one is aggrieved," he advised.

He, however, warned that "when you are arrested for murdering somebody for harming somebody taking the laws into your own hands, the law will deal drastically with you.
Nouakchott (AFP) - A jihadist alliance uniting Malian insurgents loyal to Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 11 soldiers close to Mali's border with Burkina Faso, its first such attack.

The Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) announced their merger in a video released earlier this month showing five jihadist leaders seated together, led by Iyad Ag Ghaly of Islamist organisation Ansar Dine.

Mauritania's ANI news agency, which closely tracks jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region south of the Sahara, late Thursday cited a GSIM spokesman claiming responsibility for the assault on a military base in the village of Boulikessi on March 5.

It was their first operation as an alliance.

The spokesman for the jihadist coalition also confirmed the looting of military hardware and the destruction of vehicles, adding that two of their own men were injured.

Beyond Ansar Dine, the groups who joined the merger included Al-Murabitoun, led by Algerian extremist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, and the Macina Brigades, active in central Mali.

The groups already had ties to Al-Qaeda, and some were involved in an onslaught that saw northern Mali fall out of government control in 2012.

The extremists were later expelled from the region by a French-led international military intervention.

Nonetheless large swathes of northern and central Mali continue to come under attack from jihadist groups.

The area is also seen by governments battling the jihadist threat as a launchpad for attacks against other countries in the region.

A Malian security source had previously blamed the attack on Ansarul Islam, an organisation led by Malam Ibrahim Dicko, the radical preacher from Burkina Faso who experts say wants to create an Islamist "kingdom" in the region.
Some weeks ago, I wrote an article under the title, When President Trump Spoke to a Ghost. In the said article, I wrote about Trumps call to President Buhari who was then in London for medical attention. Some unprofessional journalists (if they are not so-called) went to work claiming the US president never spoke to the Nigerian leader.

Even after the White House spokesperson, Sean Spicer, confirmed his boss spoke to several world leaders, including the Nigerian president, these chronic doubting Thomases continued to pull their Breaking News through that the US president probably spoke to a dead man in his grave.

Never in my life have I seen the kind of hatred for an individual than I have witnessed on the past few weeks for Buhari on some sections of the social media. A simple content analysis on these matter reveals these elements wishing the president dead probably intended to inherit the mans property of some sort. Aside from this, I do not know why anyone, for that matter will hate someone so much that they will wish such a person dead. Even when lions fight, they dont wish each other dead. In even that one dies in a fight, the other do not resort to celebration after his rival dies. If beasts understand life more than some of us do, I honestly do not understand why some people count themselves part of the human community!

Like most Nigerians, I received the news that President Buhari was to return to the country on Friday 10 March, 2017 in a State House Press Release signed by the Presidents media adviser, Mr. Femi Adesina on Thursday night. I was so happy, not because I support the president or that I have any tangible benefit I will derive from his arrival, but simply because I am human and part of the human community. The question of how he will arrive was raised by those who had earlier reported him dead. Was he to arrive in an air ambulance that will land straight in the Presidential Villa without anyone seeing him or hearing from him? Will he arrive under the cover of darkness to cover his lifeless body? Were the airports closed just because the cabals are trying to hide the president from public view?

I couldnt provide immediate answers to these questions when one of the chronic doubters sent me this message: hw was ur day, hope all is well, Lekan? I just want to let u knw that there is something I want to ask u now which Ive been hiding from u for a very long time, sometimes when I tell u I feel discouraged cos I dont knw if u re gona respond negatively, I just want to let u knw dat what Im about to tell has been a burden to me for a very long tym n I jst cant keep it in my mind any longer, so pls dont feel upset when I say dis to you, just knw dat its from my heart and its real, pls pls be sincere and tell me the truth, Is Buhari back?

I did not bother responding to him because this young man has made a nuisance of himself before me since our first contact when he read my article, Self-Determination: What If We All Have It? I knew where he was coming from so responding to him is like flogging the dead horse.

Leaving frivolities aside, what are the implications of Buharis return considering his fragile health? My simple suggestion is that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) should be in the best position to assess the state of the presidents health to determine his fitness or otherwise to continue as President or not.

There are those suggesting the President should resign. While I have no problem against this position, we must realize it is Buharis sole responsibility to know whether he will resign or not since the Nigerian Constitution did not at any point state at what point or the number of days the President can absent himself from work on health grounds. The only thing the Constitution stated is for the President to transmit a message communicating his decision to proceed on vacation to the National Assembly which he has always done.

I honestly do not see any problem or power struggle arising between the president and his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. The Constitution states that the Vice President should act when for whatever reasons; the president cannot perform his constitutional responsibilities. Those creating division in the presidency are obviously ignorant of the constitution or simple administrative procedures.

So far, while I do not have issues with President Buharis extended leave, my position has always been the poor ways his communication team has been going about it. They should simply have come out clean ab initio saying The president is proceeding on medical leave to return soon. While it is true there are those who will make some noise, let us wait to hear from those gods who have never fallen ill all their lives to question why Buhari is proceeding on medical leave!

Aside this, there would have been no need of trying hard to explain a simple issue all the time.

OlalekanWaheed ADIGUN is a political analyst and independent political strategist for wide range of individuals, organisations and campaigns. He is based in Lagos, Nigeria. His write-ups can be viewed on his website http://olalekanadigun.com/ Tel: +2348136502040, +2347081901080

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Follow me on Twitter @adgorwell
The New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Policy of setting up factory in every District , known as "One-District-One-Factory has received a big boost from Government of the People's Republic of China and the Private sector.

The Director of Bureau of Economic and Information Technology of Zhaoqing City, Mr Wang Zhe applauded the Government of Ghana for creating a friendly business environment for the private sector to flourish.

He indicated China in the past 20-30 years was like the present Ghana and same or similar policy was implemented by the then Government of the Republic of China and the results is what China is today.

We will champion and support the Ghana Government to implement the policy successfully; He said.

We are committed to setting up an organisation to assist the Ghana government and Chinese private investors with operational and technical advise and expertise, a strategy to mobilise investors and create educational and investment platform to boost the two countries economy.

Mr. Wang said these on Monday during an interaction with Ghanaian representatives who honored the Zhaoqing Municipal Government invitation.

Speaking to the Ghanaian Representatives in an investment conference organised by ACIG and Zhaoqing Entrepreneur Management Association, the Managing Director of Zhaoqing Television Station, Mr He Jing Ming described the Ghana Government policy as a transformational plan to change the face of Africa into an industrialised economy.

He indicated that, the media has a role to play to see to the realisation of this policy. He disclosed a lot has been said about African countries to the West and the East and no one can tell the African story better than Africans and therefore, it's time for African leaders to go out there boldly and tell the world about the good things on the continent. The One District One factory policy of the Ghanaian Government is also one of the best plans , also on the African soil to help Private investors flourish no matter which country you are coming from; He concluded.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government One District One Factory Policy which has received boost in the Peoples Republic of China is yet to move most Chinese investors from the Gold mining sector into the manufacturing sector.
10.03.2017 LISTEN

By Daniel A. Ashietey, GNA

Sunyani, March 10, GNA - The Women Ministry of the Sunyani Central Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church has presented items worth GH25,000.00 to the Sunyani Central Prisons.

The items comprise 50 bags of cement, toiletries, several tooth paste, sanitary pads, boxes of soap, bottled water, as well as second hand clothing for male and female inmates.

Pastor Lambert Badge Owusu, the Youth Chaplain Director of the Mid-West Ghana Conference, said the items were to support in the upkeep of the inmates.

He indicated that aside the spiritual development of the members, there was the needs for the church to support the vulnerable in society to enable them cope with societal challenges.

Pastor Owusu said the interest and welfare of members ought to be the priority of every godly church, saying 'it is important to support for the church to support the needy in society'.

The Reverend Dr Gideon Ibrahim Ndebugri, the Assistance Chaplain at the Sunyani Central Prisons thanked the church for the gesture.

He said the prison ministry was putting up a church building which contained conference hall, offices, sanitary facilities, and appealed to the general public for support.

GNA
Mildred Siabi-Mensah, GNA

Effia (WR), March 10, GNA - Dr Dzifa Dey, Rheumatology Entrepreneur on Tuesday asked Ghanaian youth to identify their talents and live uprightly to fulfil their God given roles.

She said finding one's purpose meant painstakingly searching and providing solutions to societal needs and bettering the lives of others.

Dr Dey who was speaking at the 'Tenth MTN springboard road show' in Takoradi encouraged the youth to always aim to be the best, ask for help and build a good network, adding, "networking is the most valuable tool".

She urged them to acquire more knowledge in different areas to make them better persons capable of ruling their world.

Mrs Jemimah Kotei Walsh, Customer Service Executive of MTN delivering a paper on personal leadership entreated Ghanaian youth to acquire the trait that would enable them to become top managers in future.

She said a leader was the one who 'knows, goes and shows the way', adding 'do not stop building yourself for the task ahead.'

She noted that hard work, humility and the desire for excellence were key to becoming great leaders and therefore urged them to strive for those attributes.

The springboard Road Show is the foremost point of convergence and preparation of Ghana's youth and grooming point for emerging entrepreneurs and corporate leaders.

It is the only nationwide road show of with overwhelming presence and significant impact in all ten regions of Ghana.

GNA
By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA

Essakyir (C/R), March 10, GNA - The students and staff of Essakyir T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School (SHS) in Ekumfi District of the Central Region are facing an acute water problem, which is disrupting teaching and learning at the school.

Mr Mohammed Quantson, Headmaster of the school in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), described the situation as one that was unbearable for school authorities as it affected academic work.

The school spends about Gh900.00 every week on water and that, he said was taking a toll on the finances of the school.

He said the school has since its establishment not been connected to the Ghana Water Company's system and appealed to the Government to help bring portable water to the school.

'The only borehole supplying about 1,251 students and over 80 teaching and non-teaching staff of the school is very salty and difficult to use,' he said.

Mr Quantson also mentioned the increasing student population as another problem and expressed fear that overcrowding in the dormitories could be worse, indicating that 'it will be a great relief to us if the dormitory block is completed for us'.

Other challenges enumerated by the headmaster included inadequate classrooms, staff accommodation and poor road network in the school.

He has therefore appealed to old students, non- governmental organisations, philanthropists and other corporate institutions to come to the aid of the school.

GNA
By Julius K. Satsi

Accra, March 9, GNA - The Young Investor Network (YIN) is to host series of activities to commemorate the Global Money Week 2017 in Ghana from March 28 to April 2 with the aim of instilling in young people, financial literacy.

A statement signed by Mr Joshua Mensah, YIN President, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said as part of the activities marking the week, children would be organized to ring the opening bells of Stock Exchanges and visit the Central Bank.

There would also be 'financial education programme in schools and walks to raise funds as well as create awareness for local youth charities'.

The statement said: 'Global Money Week 2017 in Ghana is part of a global celebration'. Countries from every continent are participating in order to raise awareness of the importance of financial education and financial inclusion for children and youth.

'The overall coordination of Global Money Week 2017 is being led by Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI), a non-profit organization based in Amsterdam,' the statement said.

CYFI is a global system change organization working with partners in 132 countries. It had taken on the challenge of ensuring that everyone works together to reshape financial systems in order to economically and socially empower children and youth worldwide.

GNA
A namby-pamby London-based newspaper that goes by its appropriate name, Observer, falsely observed that former President Goodluck Jonathan purportedly rejected an offer from the British government to help rescue the abducted Chibok girls during the Jonathan administration.

This is not the first time a foreign based newspaper would stoop so low to allow itself be used by spin doctors of the current administration in Nigeria to continue to futilely attempt to smear Jonathans gargantuan image and whose records have remained unmatchable, hence, a source of concern to this government, and exposure of their ineptitude and perfunctory approach to governance nearly two years after the former president left office.

As usual, to complement the falsehood churned out by partners in the Enemy-of-Progress venture, Lai Mohammed quickly responded to Jonathans explanation that at no time did he or his government reject any offer of help from the British to rescue the Chibok girls contrary to reports by the Observer. Lai attempted to push the false narrative down our throats and went as far as inferring that Jonathan should not only accept the false accusation but that he should also stop finger-pointing.

But then who is surprised at this? Is Lai Mohammed not known for his knack to reduce serious State matters to issues of propaganda and witch hunt? Acting on the springboard of guilt, he was forced recently to try and explain to the gods how Nigerians accuse him of being a liar when, in his own estimation, he is the opposite. But we all know the truth about Lai!

Then came his partner, the Emperor of Kaduna who took his own reaction to the story to a new lowly and mundane level using his twitter handle. Reacting to the story, El Rufai had written on his handle: JONATHANIANS, WE HAIL THEE!: Nigeria rejected British offer to rescue seized Chibok schoolgirls  World News.

In another tweet, he had this to say: JONATHANIANS!!  JUST SHAKING MY HEAD: How Jonathans administration shockingly rejected British offer to rescue

This is nothing but an incitement to hate. For a public official to use his twitter handle to spread falsehood against a former president is nothing but an incitement against the former president, and by extension, his supporters whom he correctly but mockingly refers to as Jonathanians. To think that this is the same man of very dwarfish height who had caused the harassment, intimidation, arrest and detention of Audu Maikori for incitement, is most unpardonable.

Contrary to his claims at the recently concluded Social Media Week held in Lagos, the grizzly gnome of Kaduna had spoken of himself in glowing terms about how he uses the social media responsibly while advocating that others should do the same. He had boasted at the event that he has the largest followership among public officials on twitter at one million, but what he did not tell Nigerians, which has always been part of his life as a harbinger of falsehood, is that his one million followers are actually 902,570. An independent twitter audit of his account shows that a whopping 37% of them amounting to 333,951, are fake, while twitter is not even sure who the others making up the one million are. One of the ways of generating fake twitter followers is to buy them in order to boost ones presence on the platform and his/her popularity, but most times, like in this case, to a vain end.

The saddest part of the event was when the Emperor defended the most inciting comment ever made among the tweeting Nigerian community. In the comment, El Rufai had said We will write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan repayable one day no matter how long it takes. This is a threat that has come to pass in Kaduna under the supervision of El Rufai as governor. Rather than be conciliatory in his remarks in the aftermath of the Kaduna genocide, this dwarfish emperor sounded so offish in his explanation of that devilish tweet at the Social Media Week.

He had said quite emphatically and most unfortunately that what he wrote was a statement of fact and that he wrote it in the context of the operation of soldiers who attempted removing Fulani settlers in Jos, Plateau State, a supposed Christian state. Now, we all know why the killings of indigenes of Southern Kaduna who are predominantly Christians by their terrorist Fulani herdsmen settlers who are Muslims have been allowed to thrive for that long under El Rufai as governor of the State.

To even think that he compensated the killers rather than ensure their arrests and prosecution leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

This same El Rufai who is quick to accuse others and pontificate on the responsible use of the social media had also tweeted another highly inciting statement on 27th of January, 2013 thus: @zebbookIf Jesus criticizes Jonathans govt, Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept with Mary MagdaleneLWKMD

The fact is, if the above tweet had the name of the Islamic prophet in place of Jesus, hell would have been let loose on this country. It is therefore most hypocritical of El Rufai to be the one that would be pontificating on the responsible use of social media when he has proven to be an abrasive provocateur himself over time.

He uses his twitter handle to promote lies and dissension only to turn around to accuse the Audu Maikoris of this world of doing the exact thing he is guilty of just to parry attention away from his own gross incompetence and divisiveness as governor who allowed an avoidable crisis to fester for so long leading to loss of precious lives in his state.

It is therefore not surprising when he acted true to type by promoting the falsehood about Jonathans purported rejection of British offer to help rescue the Chibok girls. To his shame, and like it always is with propagandists, sophists and peddlers of hate, their towers of falsehood built on the pedestal of resentment for other peoples region and religion, soon fall like a pack of cards right before them when the truth eventually unravels and they run away with their tails between their legs.

The British High Commission had described the story that Jonathans administration rejected an offer by the Britons to help rescue the Chibok girls as false. In debunking the story, the Commission had said a more cordial, collaborative and unified approach between Nigeria and her allies than the reported differences was used.

Furthermore, Ambassador Mathew Rycroft, the UKs Permanent Representative to the United Nations Security Council and head of the delegation to the Lake Chad region, confirmed that nothing was true in the Observer newspaper report about Jonathan rejecting any help from Britain. It is therefore a pity that in a bid to attempt to drag former president Goodluck Jonathan down, the likes of El Rufai and Lai Mohammed keep promoting falsehood against the country they serve as long as that would serve their primordial and pecuniary purposes.

The reason why the country is currently in such a shamble as it is today is because government officials have been expending most of their valuable times and energies on attacking Jonathan rather than focus such bubbling energies on good governance and providing dividends of democracy to the people they all so deceived to vote for them in 2015.

The fact that APC goons are the architects of the Chibok charade is not lost on anyone of us. They should all be quick in winding up their script to save the remaining girls from this politically motivated humiliating pain they are going through, and leave Jonathan out of their script gone awry!

[email protected] ; Twitter: Stjudendukwe
The Malawian authorities must step up action to protect people with albinism who are being targeted for ritual murders, Amnesty International said today, following another attack in the countrys capital Lilongwe.

Last night four men attempted to drill through the wall of the home of Gilbert Daire, former president of the Association of the People with Albinism, as he slept. They fled the scene after his neighbours intervened.

This brazen attack happened in the middle of the countrys busiest city, and sends a chilling message about the lack protection, safety and security of all people with albinism, said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty Internationals Regional Director for Southern Africa.

In the past two years we have seen an alarming surge in attacks on people with albinism. We have documented dozens of individuals being hunted down like animals for their body parts, but these brazen attacks seem to continue unabated. Malawian authorities must end this cycle of impunity of perpetrators of these crimes.

Since the beginning of 2017, two people with albinism have been murdered, while three others have survived clearly targeted attacks, including two stabbings.

Background

Late on Thursday night four men tried to force entry into Gilbert Daires house, where he was sleeping with his family. They were chased away by neighbours who heard his cries for help.

One of the suspected perpetrators was later arrested after community members turned him over to the police.

People with albinism in Malawi have come under increased risk of being abducted or killed in murders associated with witchcraft in recent years, with a surge since November 2014.
President Akufo-Addo has nominated four Metropolitan Chief Executives for Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale, subject to approval by the respective assemblies.

This leaves the President with 212 more persons to be named for the various assemblies.

They are Iddrisu Musah, also known as Musa Superior, who is headed for the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, a former Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the NPP for Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Anthony K.K Sam, also a former Western Regional Secretary of the NPP for Sekondi/Takoradi, and Osei Assibey Antwi for the Kumasi Metrpolitan Assembly.

The President has also appointed Charles Bissue, current Western Regional Secretary of the NPP, as presidential staffer.

MMDCEs to be appointed by end of March

The move follows the announcement by the Minister of Local Government, Hajia Alima, that the various assemblies will all have their chief executives by the end of March.

The process is ongoing. We have finished the vetting at the regional level so we are now validating them at the national level. Definitely, by the end of this month [March]we would have appointed them, Hajia Mahama said.

She noted that, government had put in place measures to minimize the agitations that normally accompanied such appointments.

She explained that one of the measures was to open invitation for applications at the district level, which preceded the screening and vetting.



By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @EfeAnsah
U.S. Chamber of Commerces Vice President of African Affairs and President of the U.S.-Africa Business Center Thursday met with President Nana Akufo-Addo to discuss ways to strengthen their bilateral economic relationship.

Scott Eisner said, "Ghana has proven its capacity to be a strong economic partner for American businesses.

"A robust economic relationship benefits both of our countries, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is committed to promoting commercial ties in Ghana and throughout Africa.

He disclosed this when he led a business mission to Ghana to meet with the president and other senior government officials, including the CEO of the Ghana Investment and Promotion Center, Yoofi Grant.

In addition to the U.S.-Ghana bilateral relationship, the business mission also addressed ways the U.S.-Africa Business Center can support further cooperation with the broader Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the worlds largest business federation representing the interests of more than three million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

Its International Affairs division includes more than 70 regional and policy experts and 25 country and region-specific business councils and initiatives. The U.S. Chamber also works closely with 117 American Chambers of Commerce abroad.

The U.S.-Africa Business Center is the preeminent voice in the global business community advocating for increased trade between the United States and Africa.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim
CPN-UML resumes Mechi-Mahakali campaign

The CPN-UMLs Mechi-Mahakali campaign, which was halted for three days following the saptari incident, has resumed from Hetauda of Makawanpur district on Friday.
10.03.2017 LISTEN

2017 begins with good news for the shareholders of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Consortium: in fact, the total balance for the Pipeline will be lower than expected, approximately 4.5 billion euros, much less than the previously estimated 5-6 billion. A good sign, especially for Italian entrepreneurs and investors, who will pay special attention to the construction works of the final section of the Pipeline between Azerbaijan and Italy, through the so-called Southern Corridor.

The TAP will depart near Kipoi, on the border between Greece and Turkey, where it will connect itself with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP). Then, it will continue on the mainland through Northern Greece, in its longest stretch, moving westwards across Albania until reaching the Adriatic coastline. The underwater section will begin by the Albanian city of Fier, crossing the Adriatic Sea to eventually connect itself with the Italian gas transportation network in the Salento, the southern tip of Italy's Puglia region.

The TAP project will cover a 878-Kilometer distance (550 Km in Greece; 215 Km in Albania; 105 Km in the Adriatic Sea and 8 Km in Italy). It will reach the maximum altitude of 1,800 metres among the Albanian mountains, and the maximum depth of 820 metres below sea level. Economic analysts have been clear about the Pipeline: it will particularly benefit Mediterranean Countries.

The Southern Corridor will link European customers - especially Italian ones - with the producers of Azerbaijan, and potentially with other Central Asian producers, like those from Israel, Iraq as well as any other Country interested in letting the gas pass through these ducts. The Italian market will receive the most benefits from the program, obtaining gas from Azerbaijan at extremely competitive prices and taxation, with stable supplies as well. This situation will likely produce a positive influence on Italys economy as a whole. Some recent comments made by the Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, seem to strengthen this vision: [The TAP] project is of great economic importance for Italy, with an investment of over $45 billion, representing a significant contribution to Europes Energy Policy.

The TAP is among those strategic programs for the Italian economy. Italy wants to win, that is, bringing Azerbaijani gas to Italy in 2020. Thanks to this project, new investment opportunities for Italian entrepreneurs have also emerged in Albania, mainly linked to the full realization of the Albanian section of the Pipeline. In 2017, Albanian investments in the TAP will amount to around 400 million euros, as recently pointed out by TAP Albania Country Manager, Shkelqim Bozgo. According to him, the building of the Pipeline has now entered a new phase, with a planned investment amounting to the 4% of Albania GDP.

Mr. Bozgo has underlined that this will be the largest project ever realized in the Albanian economy, whose trend of development should remain stable in the coming years, reaching a total investment volume of 1.5 billion euros. Moreover, according to the Country Managers words, in 2020, the Pipeline will be ready to transport gas from the Shah Deniz fields in Azerbaijan to Europe. Local press reports that there are currently 1,800 people employed in Albania for the realization of the energy program, from which the government expects a 150 million-euro increase of its GDP, meaning additional investment opportunities for Italian firms.

* Mr. Domenico Letizia, Ph.D.  Political Analyst  Masters Degree in Historical Sciences, President of the Association Amici dellAzerbaigian Centro Sud Italia  338 4162841  [email protected]

Translation by:

Mr. Fortunato Materazzo, Ph.D.  Political Analyst  Masters Degree in International Relations - Relations and Institutions of Asia and Africa, Member of the Association Amici dellAzerbaigian Centro Sud Italia  [email protected]

Original source (in Italian): http://www.eurasianbusinnessdispatch.com/ita/archivio/Il-Tap--il-Mediterraneo-e-le-nuove-reti-energetiche-di-Domenico-Letizia--344-ITA.asp
10.03.2017 LISTEN

Accra, March 10, GNA - The Rotary Club of Accra Spintex has partnered with the Trans-Atlantic Environmental, Incorporated (TAE), to erect Solar Street Lights in two remote communities; Logba Abayeme and Logba Dufi in the Volta Region.

The 'Light the World Campaign' is aimed at reducing the negative effects of kerosene lanterns on people, promote socio-economic development, and help offset carbon dioxide emissions from kerosene lanterns by replacing these lanterns with solar alternatives.

The initiative was started in February by donating Solar Rechargeable Lamps, exercise books and Mathematics Text books valued at GHE9, 000.00 to the school children and teachers.

It is to facilitate their studies and enable them to study at night.

The solar street light is to help boost education and economic activities in the two farming communities, which are not connected to the national electricity grid.

These were contained in a report, issued by the Club, and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

Mrs. Jennifer Delasi Brock, President of the Rotary Club of Accra Spintex, expressed the hope that the donation would address some of the needs and bring their plight to the attention of the Government.

The communities, with a total population of about 600, lack basic infrastructural amenities such as good roads, health posts and potable drinking water.

Logba Abayeme has a dilapidated school structure that has classes for up to Primary Four, with only one teacher handling all the classes.

Only foot paths lead to and connect both communities.

They also depend on streams and springs for their potable water supply, the report says.

Mrs Brock, however, urged children in the two communities to look beyond their challenges and study well.

Mrs. Brock also lauded the contributions of the two communities to the economy of Ghana through farming.

Dr. Kwame Acquaah, a Rotarian from The Rotary Club of Laguna Sunrise California, and President of Trans-Atlantic Environmental Inc. also encouraged the indigenes to have faith in Christ.

He reiterated the importance of education and urged the children to make that their priority.

GNA
By Iddi Yire, GNA

Accra, March 10, GNA - The Melcom Care Foundation, the charity wing of the Melcom Group of Companies, on Friday donated an amount of GHE3,000.00 to the Graphic Needy Fund.

The donation is towards the cost of an eye surgery of a three-year old girl, Latifa Karim of Zoosali, a village in the Savelugu-Nanton Municipality of the Northern Region.

The Thursday, March 2, 2017 edition of the Daily Graphic carried an appeal item on Latifa Karim's plight.

She is suffering from cancer of the eye and would need about GHE10,000.00.

Mr Godwin Avenorgbo, the Director of Communications, Melcom Group of Companies, speaking during the donation in Accra, noted that the Chairman of the Melcom Group of Companies, Mr Bhagwan Khubchandani was struck with deep sorrow, when his attention was drawn to the publication.

"We are therefore, happy to make a contribution of GHE3,000.00 to the Graphic Needy Fund in aid of the medical bills of three-year old Latifa Karim," the Communications Director stated.

Present at the event was Mrs Soniya Sadhwani, the Director of Brand Management, Melcom Group of Companies.

Ms Mavis Kyerewaa Boateng, Senior Corporate Affairs Officer, Graphic Communications Group Limited, expressed her gratitude to Melcom Group of Companies for supporting Latifa Karim.

She also appealed to philanthropists, banks, corporate entities to come to the aid of Latifa Karim.

GNA
Hands up if you have a spare US$4 billion to fund a European factory. Anyone?

Oh dear. Its not going to be easy for Peter Carlsson. Thats the amount the former Tesla executive needs to set up a new lithium-ion-battery factory in Scandinavia.

Carlssons got his eye on the growth of electric vehicles; he wants to steal market share from existing Asian manufacturers. Apparently, hes worried about Europes supply of the necessary strategic minerals needed to make the batteries as well.

This battery trend is getting very complicated and competitive. Last month came the news that hedge funds have been stockpiling cobalt  another strategic mineral lithium-ion batteries need  to cash in on the demand.

Most cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thats not a country known for stability and respecting the rule of law. No wonder Carlsson is a little nervous about supply.

Thats not his only problem. Chinese firms have been locking up resources where they can. Theyve taken stakes in key lithium projects worldwide in recent years.

Its unlikely therell be a shortage of supply if current trends in the lithium market persist. Bloomberg reports that Argentina could flood the world with lithium if rumoured projects go ahead.

There are already miners digging all over Australia and Chile, as well as the US, on the hunt for lithium. Will hindsight show lithium as the resource worlds next fad to complete a boom and bust cycle? Maybe. Ive seen a few come and go in my time covering markets.

And yet Chinese firms are quite public about their ambitions to displace the South Koreans and Japanese as the premier global experts in batteries.

The trend to electric cars is here. What the cars need is batteries with the energy density to drive for longer periods. Theres no guarantee theyll be lithium-ion batteries, though.

One Aussie company to keep an eye out for is 1414 Degrees. Its hoping to smash the economics of lithium batteries by using silicon instead. Its reported that it will look to raise cash this year and list on the ASX.

Silicon is not the only rival. Colleague Sam Volkering sent out a note recently to subscribers of his advisory service, Revolutionary Tech Investor, saying that the man who played a key role in inventing the original lithium-ion battery may be working on a new technology to make it redundant.

Tread carefully, as always, in the market. Lithium is hot now. I remember when that was true of copper, rare earths, oilyou get the point. The market is always moving. Catch the trends where you can, but be prepared to hop off if the wind changes.

You can apply the same principle to Australian retail. This can be for both the good and bad. I happened to see Beacon Lighting Ltd [ASX:BXL] in the press recently saying that it was finally free of the Masters hardware chain gouging its margins.

Beacon sells lighting fixtures, globes and fans. It also designs and develops its own products.

The liquidation of Masters hurt Beacon because Masters was offloading its stock at low prices. You can see how any liquidation is a bit of a nightmare for competitors.

Granted, eventually, they can take the market share thats left behind. Before that happens, they have to withstand fire-sales. The business being liquidated snatches at whatever cash it can for its creditors.

Actually, I just saw this dynamic at work with the collapsed Pumpkin Patch chain. Pumpkin Patch sold cute childrens clothing and shoes at high prices. As the stores sold off, their remaining inventory was going for 7090% off.

My partner and I scooped up a few things for our daughter Ema. Obviously, the remaining retailers cant compete at those prices. They withstand the pain as best as they can, knowing that it cant last.

The distressed selling from Masters took sales away from Beacon Lighting. It also hurt its margins, as the company was forced to drop prices to defend its market share.

That hurt the share price. Now Masters is gone. Beacon has every opportunity to get back on track.

The company released its earnings announcement in late February for the first half of the financial year. Sales were up 10.9%, but profits were down on lower margins.

Thats all in the share price now. Whats of interest is Beacons potential growth from here. The company plans to open six new stores in Australia per year. 2017 could see a record number of new openings for the company.

Its also launched an international division, as well as an energy-efficiency solar component, to the business. A strong housing market will flow to Beacon, both in terms of orders and consumer confidence.

I dont mean to imply Beacon as any sort of recommendation. I think Beacon is a handy stock to keep an eye on to track the housing market from a slightly different angle. Its a national chain.

Growing sales and a rising trend in price suggest calmer seas than some headlines would have you believe. Furniture retailer Nick Scali is rising higher after its recent positive earnings announcement too. I take these as positive signals for Aussie real estate and consumer confidence.

Regards,

Callum Newman,

Editor, Cycles, Trends and Forecasts

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

Special Report: Marijuana Mania News.com.au is calling it Australias next billion-dollar industry. Our investigator calls it the biggest legal drug deal in history Dont miss a cent of it.

This ground-breaking medical mega-trend has already spawned levels of wealth we havent seen since the tech boom of the early 2000s. Jaw-dropping stock gains like 1,380%, 1,102% and 13,627%! If youve got the guts  and a few coins in your pocket to play with  this mega-trend has the power to potentially nab you a high-bagger gain of 1,233% by this time next year. But only if you act NOW [More]

Money Morning: The Reserve Bank of Australia is Terrified of Raising Rates

Money Morning: Will You Become Superhuman to Keep Your Job?
One of the things I like about my job is the autonomy. For the most part, Im left to my own devices, which means I can get on with my work with very few interruptions.

But several of my friends arent so lucky. They lament the number of meetings they have to attend (often back to back), labelling them a huge time-waster.

Dont get me wrong. Ive participated in some amazing brainstorming sessions with co-workers, past and present.

But Ive also sat through my fair share of dead-end meetings, where everyone is bored, distracted, or resentful of the fact that they have to attend in the first place.

So, how do you stop that from happening? Ill hand you over to Mark Ford, who has some ideas.

Making Meetings Great Again: Bringing a Business Mindset to Political Meetings

Mark Ford

After his election, and before becoming the 45th US president, Donald Trump managed to upset some folks when he stopped attending the traditional daily national security intelligence briefings.

When asked why he refused to participate in such an obviously important practice, he explained that 80100% of each briefing repeated the information of prior reports.

Im a smart guy, he explained to the sceptical reporters. Hearing the same information day after day wasnt helpful, he said. Quite the contrary, he suggested; it was a waste of his valuable time.

If new information comes in, he added, Im available 24/7, on a moments notice.

This behaviour is a direct extension of one of Trumps defining qualities: He is not a politician; hes a businessman. Since business is all about maximising gains and cutting losses, Trump views these repetitive briefings as a waste of time and resources.

Whether or not electing a president with this business-savvy mindset will pay off for America remains to be seen. But there is something important to be learned from President Trumps intolerance of unproductive meetings.

For anyone in the world of business  whether youre an employee or entrepreneur  its important to see the world through a similar lens. This is nowhere more true than when youre dealing with meetings.

Why?

Meetings are rarely well run. Inefficient meetings are a waste of time. Wasted time is money lost.

The less time that is wasted, the more time there is to be spent on important but non-urgent activities.

With new startups, scheduled meetings are rarely needed. When a group needs to have a conversation or make a decision, it tends to happen organically. Any new decision quickly and naturally makes its way to the rest of the group. However, as businesses begin to grow, so does the unavoidable necessity for formal, planned-in-advance meetings.

In Ready, Fire, Aim, I explained the importance of managing your business while keeping the dangers of bottlenecks at bay. Bottlenecks are people or procedures that slow things down.

All bottlenecks are bad for business, and they should all be eliminated. Otherwise, they can creep in and start costing a business both money and time.

Luckily, most bottlenecks can be fixed by your intervention.

Like Trump, its important to ensure that no time is wasted on unnecessary or repetitive material. To make sure your meetings are deliberate, organised and productive, follow these three rules:

Schedule no more meetings than what is absolutely necessary. Ensure the purpose of each meeting is clear and vital. Communicate in a way that is streamlined, to the point, and understood by the entire room  so that all meetings require as little repetition as possible.

If youre a manager, you have the financial power to approve of policies that cut down on the number of meetings. You also have the leadership power to demand that your teams work together and come up with creative solutions on their own, without needing to meet.

The good thing about bottlenecks is that you usually hear about them pretty quickly. Frustrated employees will find a way to let you know whats going on. If you are smart, you will notice that meetings are cutting into peoples productive hours.

But there is one kind of bottleneck you may not notice, because everyones afraid to tell you or because everyone is so accustomed to it. That bottleneck is you.

If youre calling endless meetings  or, if youre an employee, youre constantly requesting one-on-one feedback from your boss  you might be responsible for creating a serious bottleneck in your business.

Should this be the case, one of the best things you can do is to let up on the reins a bit. In other words: Let go and let people figure it out on their own!

Trump recognised the absence of these principles in his security briefings, and so he did not hesitate to fix that.

In the world of business, there is no sense in scheduling a meeting when no one has any vital information to communicate. If your meetings carry meaning, your employees will have more respect for them when they occur.

Whatever you do, dont accept the argument that bottlenecks cant be fixed  especially when it comes to meetings.

*****

Thanks, Mark. I guess I do have something in common with President Trump after all  we both loathe pointless, unproductive meetings!

Some great insights there for entrepreneurs and employees alike. The next time you schedule or attend a meeting, make it count.

Regards,

Michelle Hammond,

Director, Wealth Builders Club Australia

Editors Note: Mark has spent more than three decades dispensing wisdom like thisand now hes compiled it into the most comprehensive wealth-building program in existence

Its called the Wealth Builders Club. It includes everything from extra income blueprints (which have the potential to generate thousands of dollars per month) to investment strategies outside the stock market, plus several of Marks bestselling books, including Ready, Fire, Aim. Click here to learn more.
Apple, founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976, is one of the most reputable tech companies in the world.

The company which is responsible for creating the iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac computer, is the world's largest information technology company by revenue, the world's largest technology company by total assets.

Working at such a successful company that pays really well is the dream of many Nigerians. Most people would do whatever it takes to get a job at Apple.

Not surprisingly, there are no fewer than 6 Nigerians working at Apple. Here they are:

1. Tope Bello

He studied at the University of Lagos from 1997 to 2002 and graduated with a BSc in Urban and Regional Planning. He holds a masters degree in Geographic Information Sciences from the University of Texas. Tope, who joined the company in November 2016, works on the Apple Maps team in California. He speaks English and Yoruba.

READ ALSO: 7 brilliant Nigerians working at Facebook

2. Tobi Ayanleke

Tobi, who joined Apple in November 2016, works with the sales team. He worked with HP before joining Apple. He holds a BSc in System Engineering and Informatics from the University of Pardubice and an MBA in global management from City University of Seattle. He was a student of Airforce Comprehensive School, Ibadan, Nigeria.

3. Debola Olufon

He joined Apple in 2010 as a workshop facilitator and then he rose to mentor and recruitment co-ordinator. He is presently a HR admin at the company. He has a B.A in Criminology & Sociology from the University of Westminster (2007  2010). He also has a degree in Human Resource Management (CIPD) from the London Metropolitan University.

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4. Emmanuel Chukwuezi

He joined Apple in July 2014 as a senior iOS and Mac support specialist at Apples European Headquarters in Ireland. He graduated from the University of Calabar with a degree in Geology. He has a post graduate diploma degree in Strategic Business & Information Technology from the Griffith College Dublin and an MSc in same from the University of Portsmouth, UK.

5. Sefunmi Osinaike

Sefunmi is a 3B Electrical and Computer Engineering student at the University of Waterloo in Canada. In 2015, he launched Pave, a time management application. He co-founded Tilde, a gesture control tool (out now on iOS in paid or free versions). He joined Apple at the companys Cupertino headquarters in August 2016 where he works in product operations.

READ ALSO: Meet Nigerian born Facebook engineer (photos)

6. Adejoh Ogbe

He holds a bachelors degree in geography and town planning from the Kogi State University. He also has a masters in Geography from the University of Northern Iowa. He joined Apple in January 2016 as GIS technician consultant from Apex.

Whenever you see people doing amazing things do not ever look down on yourself, thinking they have something you do not have. You can also do amazing things.

Source: Legit.ng
Defence Minister vows govt will foil attempts to hurt territorial integrity

Defence Minister Bal Krishna Khand has said the government is minutely studying and analysing all kinds of activities that might have been directed against Nepal's national interests.
- A former United States ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell has written on corruption in Nigeria

- Campbell specifically wrote on Nigeria's former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke

- He wrote the piece on foreignpolicy.com

A former United States of America ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell has described Nigeria's former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke as arrogant, greedy, and vain.

Ambassador John Campbell

Campbell noted this in a piece published on foreignpolicy.com. He however used the term 'seemingly,' which means his conclusion was most likely made on assumption.

Campbell, 74, says Diezani's extravagant lifestyle  ranging from multiple hotel suites in the same city on the same trip to private planes to private palaces costing millions (if not billions) of naira was notorious.

READ ALSO: A $37.5 million mansion on Banana Island and 12 other properties seized from Diezani

The rumor mill had her close to then-President Goodluck Jonathan, rivaling his wife, Patience (also popularly excoriated for her conspicuous consumption),  he added.

He went further to write that Diezanis public persona in Nigeria evokes disdain, but quickly added that her culpability in stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from government coffers remains to be proven.

Known for hobnobbing with the Nigerian elite, Campbell sits on the board of American University of Nigeria (AUN).

AUN is a private university in Adamawa state that offers American style higher education programs at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels. It was founded in 2004 by Nigeria's former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Interestingly, Atiku has also been accused of corruption by several individuals and groups, but Campbell has refrained from the writing on the topic.

READ ALSO: INEC to suspend 227 officials over Diezani bribe

Meanwhile, the trial of Alison-Madueke and four others for alleged corrupt practices is set to kick off in London in June.

Source: Legit.ng
- President Muhammadu Buhari is due to return to Nigeria on Friday, March 10

- The president's plane will land at the Kaduna Airport from where he will be choppered to the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock

- The president's arrival has generated frenzy and excitement among his supporters

The return of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigeria on Friday, March 10 has generated frenzy and excitement among his supporters.

Excitement, frenzy as President Buhari returns to Nigeria

According to a Twitter user, a trader and ardent supporter of the president refused to collect money from him after he purchased water melon.

He said the trader's decision was based on his excitement about the president's imminent return.

READ ALSO: Reno Omokri speaks on Osinbajo's performance in Buhari's absence

Meanwhile, supporters of the president has started using the hashtag #BabaOyoyo loosely translated as 'Baba Welcome' to express their happiness.

READ ALSO: President Buhari has delivered only one of 13 campaign promises on corruption  Buharimeter

Recall that the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina had announced President Buhari's planned return via his Facebook page on Thursday, March 9.

Source: Legit.ng
President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived back to Nigeria on Friday at about 7.40a.m., 51 days after he left the country on a medical vacation.

President Buhari arrived Nigeria on the jet in the early hours of friday, March 10

According to Thisday, as a result of the closure of the Abuja airport his plane was scheduled to land at the Kaduna airport in the wee hours of Friday, following which he was to be flown by helicopter to the President Villa, Abuja.

The sources also revealed that the president might address the nation Friday after his long absence, in order to quell any concerns over his capacity to govern.

The news of his return Friday was broken last night in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Femi Adesina.

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Confirming the incident, Kaduna state governor, El Rufai wrote on his Facebook page:

"WELCOME BACK PMB: The President is back. He has landed safely in Kaduna and received by Acting Governor Barnabas Yusuf Bala and senior KDSG officials. The government and people of Kaduna state are proud to receive our First Citizen back to his home to face the task of rebuilding Nigeria. Alhamdulillah. Jumaat Mubarak to everyone," he said.

Recall that the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina disclosed in a statement on Thursday March 9 that the president will return on Friday March 10.

Buhari left the country on January 19, 2017, for a vacation, during which he received medical treatment for an undisclosed ailment for over 50 days.

READ ALSO: Kwara State University courses offered

The vacation was supposed to last for 10 days but was extended indefinitely when the president sent a letter to the National Assembly asking for more time to attend to medical issues as suggested by his doctors.

The uncertainty surrounding the president's health had fueled rumours of his death in sections of the media.

Watch video of the president's return.v

Source: Legit.ng
Documents on air safety actions to be sent to EC

Documents related to the air safety improvements that Nepal has made will be sent to the European Commission (EC) so that Nepali airlines can be removed from its blacklist.
As President Buhari returns to Nigeria after 51 days in the United Kingdom, Journalists and reporters were barred from asking him questions.

President Buhari touched down at the Air Force Base, along Mando Road in Kaduna at about 7:47am on Friday.

It was revealed that only cameramen and photojournalists were allowed to take photographs and video recordings, before the President boarded a chopper which conveyed him to Abuja.

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Reporters had initially gone to the Kaduna International Airport before converging on the base.

President Muhammadu Buhari arrived back to Nigeria on Friday after he left the country on a medical vacation.

Confirming the incident, Kaduna state governor, El Rufai wrote on his Facebook page:

"WELCOME BACK PMB: The President is back. He has landed safely in Kaduna and received by Acting Governor Barnabas Yusuf Bala and senior KDSG officials. The government and people of Kaduna state are proud to receive our First Citizen back to his home to face the task of rebuilding Nigeria. Alhamdulillah. Jumaat Mubarak to everyone," he said.

Source: Legit.ng
A video has emerged of Nigerians shouting and waving welcome as President Buhari's plane landed at Kaduna Airport, Nigeria on Friday Morning.

Twitter user, Kadari Ahmed, shared a video of Nigerians dancing and waving as the President's plane landed in Kaduna.

The crowd can be heard shouting "Baba Oyoyo" which can be loosely translated as "Baba welcome."

President Buhari returns

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Recall that the President left the country on January 19, 2017 for a vacation and extended his 10-day leave indefinitely to enable him focus on his health.

Watch video of Nigerians singing as the plane landed below:

Source: Legit.ng
Doval calls PM Dahal to convey Modis sadness over Kanchanpur incident

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his grief over the death of a Nepali man in an alleged firing by SSB in Nepal-India border in Kanchanpur.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said he is a little bit tired even as he gave Vice President Yemi Osinbajo the go ahead to continue as acting president, The Sun reports.

According to the report, Buhari made the remark while addressing members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), all heads of security agencies and the governors Kogi, Yahaya Bello and Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari, in a closed door meeting shortly after his arrival to the country.

Buhari directs Osinbajo to keep acting, says he needs more rest

At the meeting, Buhari expressed his gratitude to Nigerians who prayed and called for more support as he rededicated himself to service.

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He said he feels much better now and appealed to all Nigerians to continue to pray for him.

He said: Whatever the case Im still grateful to Nigerians.

I deliberately came back towards the weekend so that the vice-president will continue and I will continue to rest. Thank you very much."

He said he was conscious of the cost his treatment abroad but added that he received the best of treatment.

Buhari directs Osinbajo to keep acting, says he needs more rest

President Buhari returned to Nigeria at around 7.40am on Friday, March 10, after an extended medical leave in London

President Muhammadu Buhari arrived 8.37 am at Presidential Villa and emerged from the Presidential Chopper 8.42 am.

The announcement comes 50 days after the President Muhammadu Buhari wrote a letter to the Senate seeking a ten day leave.

The President left the country on January 19, 2017 for a vacation, during which he had routine medical check-ups.

However, the holiday was extended based on doctors' recommendation for further tests and rest.

Source: Legit.ng
Editors note: The agitation for the secession of Nigeria by Biafra agitators prompted Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, the chief of army staff to proclaim that they should forget it.

In this opinion by Femi Fani-Kayode, he points out that Buratais statement was boastful which was the same things leaders of some countries said before the countries broke-up.

The call to break-up Nigeria

In the last two years the quest for self-determination amongst the numerous ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria has reached a crescendo. This is especially so with many from the younger generation.

Millions of young people are infuriated, disgusted and fed up with the injustice and evil that they have been subjected to by the Nigerian state for virtually all of their lives.

They are energised and propelled by their passion and desire for a fairer deal and a better future.

Consequently they have keyed into that quest and are agitating for, at the very least, a total constitutional overhaul and restructuring of the federation and, at the very best, outright and complete secession and the establishment of a new country.

The agitation is particularly strong in the areas that are known as the Middle Belt, the Niger Delta, the south-east and the south-west and, in all cases, such calls have been backed by the elders of those zones.

Members of the detained and deeply courageous Nnamdi Kanus Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) together with the Movement For The Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and other Igbo nationalist and self-determination groups have been the trailblazers in this respect and have taken the lead.

READ ALSO: Corrupt politicians, 4 other categories of Nigerians that will be sad Buhari is back

Such has been the potency of their agitation and campaign that they are getting solid and increasing backing from the new and exceptionally dynamic Chief John Nnia Nwodo-led Ohanaeze, the leading Igbo socio-cultural organisation which represents and speaks for the elders and leaders of the Igbo nation.

Self-determination groups in the Middle Belt such as the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) are also on the rise and they are demanding for the emancipation of the people of Southern Kaduna and the northern minorities generally from the clutches of the hegemonists and internal colonial masters.

Similar groups are dotted all over the Middle Belt and the north central zone and they have the full backing and endorsement of the Northern Christians Elders Forum, the Middle Belt Forum, the Core Middle Belt Forum and the Middle Belt Dialogue Forum.

In the south-west Afenifere has recently offered similar support for the traditional Yoruba nationalist groups like the Dr. Frederick Fasheun-led and Gani Adams-led Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) and the Oodua Liberation Movement (OLM).

As a glaring testimony to this just a few days ago, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the number two man in Afenifere and one of the most revered and respected voices in the country, said that if Nigeria was not restructured soon the Yoruba people would have no choice but to go their own way and establish Oduduwa Republic.

The Niger Deltans and the people of the south-south zone have refused to be left out. They have consistently voiced their desire for a better deal for their people and their insistence on resource control and self-determination through groups like the Ijaw Youth Congress, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and relatively new and even more militant groups like the hard-hitting and elusive Avengers.

Finally one cannot but mention the Shiite Muslims of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria who have suffered relentless persecution at the hands of the Nigerian state, who have been slaughtered in their thousands by officers of the Sunni Muslim-controlled Nigerian Army and whose leader Sheik El Zakzaky remains in unlawful detention up until today.

For many years the Shiites have been treated with brutality, disdain and contempt by the traditional institutions in the north and the Sunni-Muslim ruling elite and they are yearning for their freedom from bondage and religious persecution and agitating for a safer space under the sun.

Nigeria as an artificial entity

From the foregoing it is clear that all is not well in the artificial mega-nation and super-state that was christened Nigeria (meaning area of darkness in latin) by the British just over one hundred years ago.

As each day passes more and more people from all over the country are doubting the continued viability of our forced union.

They are also questioning the wisdom and expediency of the 1914 amalgamation and arranged marriage of what were originally the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria by Lord Frederick Lugard and our erstwhile British colonial masters.

Unfortunately the response of the traditional defenders and apologists of the Nigerian state, rather than calm frayed nerves, has only compounded the problems and hardened hearts.

Instead of coming to terms with this new thinking and attempting to appeal to those that feel aggrieved they have opted to be confrontational, uncompromising, unreasonable, unrepentant and aggressive.

Instead of attempting to convince others that things can still get better and that there is still some hope for a united, indivisible and non restructured Nigeria, the powers that be, our internal colonial masters and those that believe that the status quo must be maintained and that say that any talk of restructuring or a break up is not only criminal but also blasphemous and heretic, have continued to threaten, insult and attempt to intimidate those that do not share their narrow and retrogressive views.

It is in this context and from this prism that I view the intervention of Lt. General Tukur Buratai, Nigerias Chief of Army Staff, to the debate. On the 6th March 2017 he said as follows:

I want to call on all the agitators for separation that they better forget it: not in this era, not in this millennium. Agitators for Nigerias separation will wait for another four millennia.

Buratais counsel and intent are as bellicose and menacing as they are arrogant and self-serving.

One wonders whether those that espouse such views and voice such sentiments actually believe that they have the power to control our destiny and determine our future.

Does General Buratai believe that he is God? Is he aware of the fact that no country in the history of the world has ever survived two civil wars?

READ ALSO: Apo six judgement belated - MASSOB

His are the words and thoughts of the self-proclaimed guardians and enforcers of the Nigerian state and the defenders of the Nigerian empire.

They are an eloquent reflection of the sheer determination of those that are hell-bent on preserving the nebulous and iniquitous status quo and on preserving and protecting what the French call the ancien regime in our country.

They are also a manifestation of contempt, over-confidence and hubristic pride: a rare display of what I have described elsewhere as the biblical I am and there is no-one besides me Isaiah 47 complex.

Such boastful assertions have been made by others before and they are nothing new.

The example in other nations

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Yugoslavia said before their country broke into six pieces and established Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the Soviet Union said before their country broke into fifteen pieces and Russia, Turkestan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the Sudan said before their country broke into two and Southern Sudan was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Indonesia said before their country broke into two and East Timor was established.

They are the sort of things that the white Boer leaders of South Africa said before the fall of apartheid, before the establishment of black majority rule and before their country was broken into two and Namibia was established.

They are the sort of things that the white leaders of Rhodesia said before losing the war, before the coming to power of the blacks, before the establishment of Zimbabwe and before Rhodesia ceased to exist.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of India said before their country broke into two and Pakistan was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Pakistan said before their country broke into two and Bangladesh was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Malaya said before their country broke into two and Malaysia and Singapore were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Czechoslovakia said before their country broke into two and the Czech Republic and Slovakia were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Ethiopia said before their country broke into two and Eritrea was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the United Arab Republic said before their country broke into two and Egypt and Syria were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the United Kingdom said before their country broke into two and the Republic of Ireland was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the Austro-Hungarian empire said before their country broke into two and Austria and Hungary were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of the Ottomon Empire said before their empire broke into numerous pieces and Hungary, Albania, Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, southern and Caucasian Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and others were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Sweden said before their country was broken into four and Denmark, Norway and Finland were established.

They are sort of things that the leaders of Denmark said before their country was split into two and Iceland was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Korea said before their country was split into two and North and South Korea were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Vietnam said before their country broke into two and North and South Vietnam were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Peru said before their country broke into two and Bolivia was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Gran Colombia said before their country was split into three and Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador were established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Haiti said before their country split into two and the Dominican Republic was established.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Great Britain said before their empire slowly crumbled and broke into thirty new and independent sovereign nations who all became members of the British Commonwealth.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of Spain, France and Portugal said before their respective empires crumbled and collectively gave birth to over one hundred new countries.

They are the sort of things that the leaders of China said before their country broke into two and Taiwan was established. I could go on and on. (TO BE CONTINUED).

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President Muhammadu Buhari returned to Nigeria at about 7.40am on Friday, March 10, after an extended medical leave in London.

He landed at the Kaduna airport, following which he was flown by helicopter to the President Villa where he arrived at 8.40am.

Buhari left Nigeria on January 19, on a 10 day vacation which eventually extended to 51 days. He was supposed to return on February 6 but on February 5, report surfaced that his vacation had been extended indefinitely based on doctors' recommendation for further tests and rest.

READ ALSO: Buhari, Osinbajo meet as president arrives Nigeria

His return has been greeted with so much mixed feeling. While some are excited he is back, others are not as they never expected him to return.

Shortly after his arrival, the president addressed government officials at the State House in Abuja.

Here are some notable things Buhari has said since he came back to the country this morning.

1. I have never been this sick

I couldnt recall being so sick since I was a young man, including in the military with its ups and downs.

2. He thanks Nigerians for their prayers

I am deeply grateful to all Nigerians, Muslims and Christians alike who have prayed and have continued to pray for my good health."

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3. Even in hardship, Nigerians still support his government

"This is a testimony that in spite of the hardship being experienced, Nigerians support the government in its effort to tackle our countrys challenges.

4. The best way to repay Nigerians

The best way for me to repay you is to rededicate myself to serving you, protecting your interest and keeping your trust. I thank you very much."

READ ALSO: Medical vacation: The difference between Buhari's 2016 return and 2017 (see photos)

5. He might be admitted again sometime soon

There may, however, be need for further follow up within some weeks."

6. Appeal to Nigerians

"May I appeal to all Nigerians to continue to pray for our country's unity, progress and prosperity."

7. Osinbajo will continue as Acting President

"I deliberately came back towards the weekend so that the vice-president will continue and I will continue to rest. Thank you very much."

Source: Legit.ng
Nepali killed in Kanchanpur SSB firing declared martyr

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi has said the government has declared Govinda Gautam as a martyr. Gautam was killed in an alleged firing by Indias Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) in Punarbas of Kanchanpur on Thursday.
Just hours after his death, indications emerged that former Governor of old Bendel (now Edo and Delta states), Chief Samuel Ogbemudia, had the premonition of his death.

Ogbemudia reportedly died in Lagos on Thursday, March 9

Ogbemudia is said to have prepared his final resting place before his demise.

The former military and civilian governor reportedly died at 84 in the night of Thursday, March 9 at a Lagos hospital, but the news broke on Friday, March 10, 2017.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Former governor Samuel Ogbemudia is dead

Samuel Ogbemudia Junior, the eldest child of the deceased, revealed to journalists at the Iheya family house that the late leader died on Thursday night at a Lagos Hospital.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ogbemudias son confirmed that his father had prepared his grave years ago, besides that of his late mother within the family compound.

Anybody can do that, he said when asked if there was a particular reason the late Ogbemudia prepared his grave.

READ ALSO: Anti-corruption: Oba of Benin commends Buhari

I will miss everything about him. I, and all those who had contact with him, have all learnt a great deal from him; he was a father, not just to his children, but to all. He was a great man, he said.

Source: Legit.ng
Kano residents on Friday, March 10, expressed gratitude to God for the safe return of President Muhammadu Buhari to the country.

President Buharis Aircraft landed at the Kaduna Air Force base at about 7:40am on Friday after spending over a month in the UK.

Some of the residents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they were happy that the President returned to the country safely and in good health.

READ ALSO: 6 things Nigerians blame Buhari him for while in London

I heard the news of his return and since then I have been very happy, because Buhari meant well for our country, a resident Lawal Garba said.

Another resident, Mukhtar Dahiru-Rigachikun said he had no words to express his happiness on the safe return of President Buhari.

I have no words to express my happiness and gratitude to God for bringing him back to the country safety and in good health.

The only thing I want to add is that Nigerians should thank God for returning him safely and those wishing him dead should desist from such wishful thinking, he said.

He urged Nigerians irrespective of religious and political inclination to continue to pray for the sustenance of peace and unity in the country.

Even the diehard cynics know that Buhari has done well in tackling the security challenges which bedeviled the country especially in the Northeast region, he said.

Also commenting, Malam Bala Confirm, expressed happiness on the safe return of the President and advised Nigerians not to relent in their prayers for Buhari and his administration.

READ ALSO: See the plane that brought Buhari back to Nigeria

Malam Jalaluddeen, a civil servant, expressed the hope that the President would continue with the good works he had started especially the fight against corruption and insurgency.

Even though the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has done well in his absence but they will now put heads together to move the country forward, he added.

Source: Legit.ng
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his grief following reports that a former governor of the defunct Midwest region and old Bendel state, Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, passed away last night.

In a statement by Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Buhari said that Ogbemudia left an impressive legacy of hardwork, discipline and commitment to communal, state, regional and national development.

Buhari mourns Ogbemudia

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He extended his heartfelt condolences to the Ogbemudia family as well as the government and people of Edo state on the death of the former governor.

The statement added: President Buhari joins them and other admirers in mourning the elder statesman who diligently served the country with courage and dedication at crucial moments in her history, both as military governor and a democratically elected civilian governor.

The President believes that the late Ogbemudia, who had a distinguished career as a military officer, administrator and Federal Minister, has left an impressive legacy of hardwork, discipline and commitment to communal, state, regional and national development.

The President recalls the unique role of the elder statesman in the nations return to civilian rule in 1999 and trusts that, as a tireless advocate for equity, he will be long remembered and honoured for his dedication to the advancement of his people, especially in the fields of education, social welfare and infrastructure.

President Buhari prays that God Almighty will comfort all who mourn the late Brig.-Gen. Ogbemudia and grant his soul eternal rest.

Ogbemudia passed away about 11pm at a private hospital on Thursday, March 9.

He was a former two time military governor and was appointed military administrator of Mid-West state in September, 1967 - 1975 following the liberation of state from the Biafran forces.

Years later , Ogbemudia was elected civilian governor of Bendel state after winning the August 1983 gubernatorial election under the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN).

Source: Legit.ng
- Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, says the return of President Buhari from the United Kingdom is a happy moment for Nigerians

- Atiku calls on Nigerians to unite behind their common interests and speak with one voice instead of nursing bitterness against one another because of political differences

Atiku has prayed for God to bless the president with many more years of good health and energy to serve Nigeria successfully.

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has described the return of President Muhammadu Buhari, as a development that will end the growing uncertainty and conspiracy theories regarding the presidents state of being.

READ ALSO: UPDATED: Politicians, dignitaries who welcomed Buhari (FULL LIST)

The former vice president, in a statement by his Media offficer, Abubakar on Friday, March 10, said the return of President Buhari from the United Kingdom is a happy moment not only to fellow party members, but also to Nigerians who have best wishes for the president, Vanguard reports.

He said: The return of the President at this time would put to an end the uncertainty and the conspiracy theories that attended his 50 days absence.

READ ALSO: Buhari was joking, he will resume work on MONDAY - Presidency

"With the Presidents return, Nigerians should unite behind their common interests and speak with one voice instead of nursing bitterness against one another because of political differences.

Atiku prayed for God to bless the president with many more years of good health and energy to serve Nigeria successfully.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has praised his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo for doing a fantastic job while he was on a medical vacation abroad.

Buhari gave his assessment of the work Osinbajo did with the presidential powers he delegated to him in a statement issued on Friday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.

The president also expressed his appreciation to all who prayed for him and expressed their goodwill towards him.

Source: Legit.ng
Residents of Ihieya area in Benin, Edo where the late Dr Samuel Ogbemudia lived before his death and the adjourning streets, on Friday lamented the death of a man they described as a good neighbour.

Ogbemudias eldest Son, Samuel Jr, had earlier confirmed his fathers death at a Lagos hospital on Thursday at 84 years.

READ ALSO: Ogbemudia had his grave prepared before his death - Son

Some of the residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), at Ishieya on condolence visit, also described Ogbemudias death as a big loss to the community.

They said Ogbemudia represented everything good to them.

Mr Ehigie Aigbiremolle, a neigbour to the Ogbemudias and who said he had has lived in the area for over 25 years, described the late Ogbemudia as a man with good heart.

He did not only attract infrastructure to the area through his influence.

Another resident, who identifies himself as Gabriel, described Ogbemudias death as shocking and called on other influential Nigerians to emulate what the late Ogbemudia represented to the people.

He was a good man who will be remembered for a very long time to come.Nobody around here has anything bad to say about him, he said.

He said t was through the initiative of the late former two-time Governor of old Midwest and Bendel that the area and the entire state witnessed infrastructure development.

Samuel Ogbemudia was born in Benin City in 1933 and attended Benin Baptist School (19411945), Government school, Victoria in the Cameroons (19451947) and the Western Boys High School, Benin City (19471949).

READ ALSO: Former governor Samuel Ogbemudia is dead

He joined the Nigerian army in 1957 and had a brilliant career and training, culminating in being appointed as the Military Administrator of the defunct Mid-West in September, 1967 among others.

His administration was associated with various achievements in the social, economic and social life of the people of both the old Bendel and Edo.

Source: Legit.ng
- Suspected Fulani herdsmen have shot an aide to Senator Shehu Sanni along the Abuja-Kaduna road

- Lawal Adamu who was shot by the gunmen says he heard the attackers speak the Fulani language fluently

- The FCT police command says it has not been briefed about the attack

Abuja-Kaduna-expressway, photo credits: Premium Times.

Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have kidnapped two people and shot another along the Abuja-Kaduna road.

READ ALSO: Herdsmen attacks: My 2012 tweet was not to incite violence

Premium Times reports that the gunmen launched an attack on motorists on the highway which serves as an alternate route that links the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to Kaduna state on Thursday, March 9.

The shot victim, Lawal Adamu, who narrated the attack from his hospital bed at the national hospital, Abuja, said the robbers, who were up to six, were Fulani herdsmen.

They are Fulani; they were speaking the Fulani language fluently. I am very sure of what Im saying, he said.

Mr. Adamu, an aide to Kaduna senator, Shehu Sani, said he was on his way back to Kaduna alongside his brother after he visited the lawmaker in Abuja.

The victim, who was driving his car, said he ran into the armed persons in Bwari on Thursday evening.

He said the bandits blocked the road and opened fire on him.

According to him, he sustained two gunshot wounds on his back for which he was being treated at the national hospital.

Adamu said when the robbers searched the vehicle and were not satisfied with what they got, they kidnapped his brother and another person whose car they also stopped.

READ ALSO: Fulani herdsmen kill 6 in Benue community again

An aide to Senator Sani has confirmed that the robbers had made contact and were demanding N10 million for the release of Mr. Adamus brother.

As at the time of filing this report, Mr. Adamu was still at the national hospital, awaiting surgery to remove the remaining bullets from his body.

When contacted about the incident, the FCT police command, the spokesperson, Mamzah Anjuguri, said he had not been briefed but would find out more on it.

In a related news, A Delta state House of Assembly lawmaker has raised an alarm on how some herdsmen in a community in the state receives supplies from a helicopter.

Evance Ivwurie, the lawmaker who represents Ethiope East said an unknown helicopter was always landing inside Ovre-Abraka desert where scores of herdsmen reside.

Ivwurie who has also launched an Operation Arrest, Meet and Engage Their Sponsor campaign against herdsmen in Ethiope said the activities of the herdsmen is a time-bomb waiting to explode.

Source: Legit.ng
- The major roads in Kaduna state has been literally shut down

- This is due to celebrations by thousands of President Muhammadu Buharis supporters

- Many of them took to the streets to celebrate the president's return

A report by Daily Post indicates that major roads in Kaduna state has been literally shut down by supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari.

President Buhari returned back to Nigeria on Friday, March 10 after 52 days in London for medical vacation

According to the report, the supporters poured into the streets in celebration of the president's return on Friday, March 10

Majority of the supporters were on vehicles, others were on Keke motorcycles while others trekked, chanting Sai Baba.

Massive crowd pours into Kaduna streets to celebrate Buhari's return. Photo credit: Daily Post

They expressed gratitude to God for restoring the good health of the president, praying that he would continue with the task of taking the country to greater heights in all spheres of life.

READ ALSO: 7 notable things President Buhari said as he arrived Nigeria

They urged Nigerians to continue to pray to God to grant the president better health and wisdom to be able to accomplish the greater task that is before him.

The return of President Buhari to Nigeria has generated frenzy and excitement among his supporters scattered all over the nation.

Earlier, a trader and ardent supporter of the president refused to collect money from his customers after they purchased water melon.

On Twitter, supporters of the president are using the hashtag #BabaOyoyo loosely translated as 'Baba Welcome' to express their happiness.

The hometown of President Buhari in Daura, Katsina state is not left out as ut has been jubilation galore in the president's locality.

See the video below:

READ ALSO: Buhari reveals scary details of his sickness

Meanwhile, President Buhari has said he is a little bit tired even as he gave Vice President Yemi Osinbajo the go ahead to continue as acting president. The president said he needs more rest before he can fully take over.

Source: Legit.ng
Morcha cadres torch bus for defying strike in Saptari

The Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) cadres n Thursday night torched a bus for defying the general strike in front of the industrial corridor in Rajbiraj.
- Jubilations erupted in Bauchi state on Friday, March 10 as President Muhammadu Buhari returned to the country

- Residents trooped out to the streets to celebrate the return of Nigeria's leader

- They marched on to the Government House where they were received by Governor Mohammed Abubakar

There were jubilations in some parts of Bauchi state on Friday, March 10 as news went round the state about President Buhari's return.

Jubilation erupts in Bauchi state over President Buhari's return

Residents trooped out to the streets to celebrate especially in the capital city singing and dancing out of excitment.

Jubilation erupts in Bauchi state over President Buhari's return

Youths were seen carrying pictures of President Buhari chanting songs in praise of the president.

Jubilation erupts in Bauchi state over President Buhari's return

Songs to celebrate the return of the president blared from big loudspeakers mounted on cars while people danced to the tune.

READ ALSO: Buhari reveals scary details of his sickness

Jubilation erupts in Bauchi state over President Buhari's return

The jubilant crowd thronged the residence of the state governor, Mohammed Abubakar to felicitate with the state's chief executive.

Bauchi governor, Governor Mohammed Abubakar addressing the jubilant crowd

Receiving the crowd, Governor Abubakar thanked them for their prayers and goodwill towards the president. He promised to intimate President Buhari of the enormous support shown by the people of the state.

Governor Abubakar speaking to the jubilant crowd

He also prayed that the Allah Almighty give the president strength to continue steering the affairs of the nation.

Similarly, major roads in Kaduna state has been literally shut down by supporters of President Buhari.

Majority of the supporters were on vehicles, others were on Keke motorcycles while others trekked, chanting Sai Baba.

READ ALSO: 7 notable things President Buhari said as he arrived Nigeria

The hometown of President Buhari in Daura, Katsina state is not left out as it has been jubilation galore in the president's locality.

See the video below:

Source: Legit.ng
The Nigeria police force has beefed up security on the Kaduna-Abuja highway to protect lives and properties of road users and residents.

IGP Idris feels there is need to better protect those using the Kaduna-Abuja highway because of attackers

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Inspector-General of Police on Friday, March 10 announced the deployment of 350 armed personnel to provide security along Kaduna-Abuja Highway.

READ ALSO: Jubilation erupts in Bauchi state over President Buhari's return

It quoted Muazu Zubairu, the commissioner of police in Niger state, as confirming this in an interview in Minna, the state capital.

Zubairu said that a comprehensive operational order was issued to commissioners of Police in Abuja, Kaduna and Niger commands, on securing motorists along the way.

The commissioner said that police officers deployed were well equipped to tackle any form of security threat along the highway.

We are even ready to confront cattle rustling, kidnapping and activities of armed bandits especially in the North Central region.

The IGP stressed that police personnel nationwide have been mandated to flush out criminals and ensure their prompt prosecution, he said.

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He solicited the support of Nigerians in the task of ridding the nation of criminals.

It is the civic responsibility of all citizens to provide adequate information to security agencies to track down and curtail all forms of criminal activities, he said.

He urged traditional rulers to mobilise their subjects to embark on community policing and remain security conscious, to reduce criminality.

Meanwhile, major roads in Kaduna state was literally shut down by supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to the report, the supporters poured into the streets in celebration of the president's return on Friday, March 10

Majority of the supporters were on vehicles, others were on Keke motorcycles while others trekked, chanting Sai Baba.

Source: Legit.ng
The leadership of the National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators on Friday expressed happiness over the return of President Muhammadu Buhari to the country from his medical trip in the United Kingdom.

The group, led by Israel Akpodoro, after an enlarged meeting in Ughelli, Delta state, agreed that President Buhari has made sterling progress in the nation, noting that his administration has helped to recover the nation from financial rot.

Akpodoro, who said Buhari has good intention for the nation, stated that it is only in Nigeria that citizens wish their president death for want of cheap money.

Former militants in the Niger delta

It said irrespective of the hate and death wishes unpatriotic Nigerians have for the president, he has put them to shame having returned hale and hearty to the country on Friday, March 10, 2017.

The coalition stated that undermining the plots of the enemies of the president, Buhari will definitely finish his tenure in 2019.

READ ALSO: Buhari's arrival: Now Nigerians can believe Femi Adesina

Akpodoro said the youth population of the Niger Delta cannot wish the president anything less than good health, stressing that his group has permeated all the nooks and crannies of the region with the gospel of peace.

Akpodoro said: The youths of the region have accepted to support President Buhari led All Progressives Congress administration and are ready more than ever before to give peace a chance and with this development we shall be experiencing a stronger economy in terms of trade in oil and gas."

He said with the return of the president, the war against corruption shall be renewed, noting that it was corrupt individuals who read and fear the president's body language negatively noting that Nigerians who are not corrupt have nothing to fear but have cause to roll out the drums to welcome the president back to the country.

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The Delta born former militant leader called on the President to pay backlog of ex agitators, noting that most of them rely solely on the stipends from the federal government amnesty program which he said, fuels the need for urgent attention.

"We are grateful to God that after all the evil wishes of the enemies of Nigeria state as it concerns the presidents health he has returned to the country hale and hearty.

Nothing justifies the goodness of God more in human life than what He has done for our nation in the presidents health, Akpodoro stated.

He called on the president to facilitate the payment of the former militants saying their sustenance depends on the stipend.

Source: Legit.ng
The convoy of Borno state governor Kashim Shettima was involved in a road crash on Friday, March 10.

Reports say Governor Shettima has lost a close aide in a fatal accident his convoy was involved in on Friday, March 10

According to the report, the crash led to the death of Shettimas senior special assistant on intergovernmental affairs Farouk Farouk.

READ ALSO: PDP welcomes Buhari, demands to know his health status

The accident occurred along the Abuja Kaduna expressway, a source told The Cable.

A driver, who sustained injuries in the accident, has reportedly been taken to the hospital.

It could be immediately confirmed the governor was on his way to welcome the president who returned to the country after around 49 days on vacation in London, United Kingdom.

But an aide said Shettima arrived in Kaduna at about 4pm aboard a Medview airline flight to head to Abuja when the ugly incident occurred.

Farouk Farouk, Shettima's aide who reportedly died in the fatal accident on Friday, March 10. Photo: The Cable

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Shettima was not among the governors who were with Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.

Only the Hilux carrying the deceased was involved in the accident. Three persons survived the accident, the governors aide said.

The Prado was said to be coming from the opposite lane (from Abuja) and decided to make a fast U-turn onto the road leading to Abuja from Kaduna.

The pilot leading the governors convoy was said to have avoided the Prado while the ill-fated vehicle next to him tried dodging towards the right, but the vehicle skidded off the road and the driver lost control resulting in the Hilux turning upside down as a result of which occupants sustained various degrees of injuries.

The deceased, aged 45 years, was said to have been thrown out the vehicle following which he sustained internal injuries.

Governor Shettima led the convoy back to Kaduna and the victims were first taken to St Gerald hospital where the governors aide was pronounced dead on arrival in the presence of Mr. Shettima, he added

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force has beefed up security on the Kaduna-Abuja highway to protect lives and properties of road users and residents.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Inspector-General of Police on Friday, March 10 announced the deployment of 350 armed personnel to provide security along Kaduna-Abuja Highway.

Source: Legit.ng
Before there were pussy hats, there were the women of Revolutionary-era America.

We possess a Spirit that will not be conquered, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband in September 1776, as the fight for independence raged. If our Men are all drawn off and we should be attacked, you would find a Race of Amazons in America.

This month, the female patriots are getting some new rooms of their own at the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, which is opening a Center for Womens History on the fourth floor of its building on Central Park West. First up on the agenda? Saving Washington.

Thats the title of the inaugural exhibition  and fighting words, perhaps, to those who take a more fatherly view of the founding. Take heart, patriarchal patriots: Its a nod to Dolley Madisons famous rescue of a portrait of George Washington from the White House during the War of 1812, before the British arrived and burned the place.
Government condemns Kanchanpur shooting incident

The government has condemned the killing of an innocent Nepali national Govinda Gautam on Thursday due to fire opened by the Indian security forces at Nepal-India border near Anandabazar at Punarbas Municipality, Ward No. 8 of Kanchanpur District, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Howard Hodgkin, a British artist whose lush, semiabstract paintings, aquiver with implicit drama, established him as one of the most admired artists of the postwar period, died on Thursday in London. He was 84.

The Tate Galleries announced his death but did not specify a cause.

Mr. Hodgkin was a relative latecomer to fame. A slow, methodical worker who could spend years building up a paintings surface, he did not have a solo show until he was 30, and for years thereafter toiled against the grain, his work at odds with prevailing fashion.

His globs and stipples and smears  seemingly brisk and impulsive, but painstakingly applied and endlessly revised  ravished. On the Tates website, Nicholas Serota, the departing director of the museums, called Mr. Hodgkin one of the great artists and colorists of his generation.

But his coded emotional settings seemed elusive, even baffling, as did his stylistic relationship to current art. In Britain he was seen as an abstract painter, in the United States as representational  a puzzle.
For the most part, Wolfe made his book pieces from a combination of oil paint, modeling paste, lithography or screen prints and carved, painted wood, a thorough mixing of media to fashion work that melds art with literature and music. If a cover had a metallic finish, like Kenneth Angers Hollywood Babylon, he also used bronze-casting.

The first clue to the specialness of Wolfes painted sculptures (his words) is that they hang on the wall, inviting scrutiny and savoring that usually reveal signs of artifice and process. These are especially evident in the studies, which vary often, but not strictly, according to book type. Studies for books with black-and-white covers tend to be executed in graphite. Those for paperbacks usually depict only the front, as with Nabokovs Speak Memory, whose white cover Wolfe set aflutter with brushwork. For hardback books (but also some paperbacks), their typically ragged dust jackets are usually splayed open to expose front, back and spine  more than in the final piece. One example, Gertrude Steins 1948 monograph on Picasso, plays with perception: You cant tell if the textured brushwork of the painting on the cover is meant to show Wolfes hand or imitate Picassos.
It was only a matter of time before big data came for literature.

Ben Blatts new book, Nabokovs Favorite Word Is Mauve, slices and dices the texts of classic and contemporary books to generate charts and graphs with titles like: Use of Exclamation Points per 100,000 Words in Elmore Leonards Novels.

You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose, Leonard once wrote about the enthusiastic punctuation mark. He actually used 49 per 100,000 words, according to Blatt, but that still makes him the stingiest of the writers Blatt surveyed. You might guess Tom Wolfe would be the obvious leader of the exclamatory pack, and hes close. But his 929 per 100,000 words comes in second to James Joyces 1,105.

Who uses the most cliches? (Like much else in Blatts book, the definition of cliche is both explained at length and open for debate.) James Patterson has the highest rate, and Jane Austen the lowest, but there are still surprises. Veronica Roth, author of the best-selling Divergent series, relies on them less than William Faulkner did, and F. Scott Fitzgerald called on them more (just) than Ayn Rand.

Blatt studied applied mathematics at Harvard, and while some of his charts require wonky parsing before diving in (Percent of Non-Neutral Speaking Verbs That Are Loud), others are immediately understandable, like the one showing that after a critically acclaimed debut, 72 percent of novelists publish a longer second book.
An important public health question  whether the tax has deterred people from using tanning beds  remains tricky to answer, researchers say. It is clear that fewer teenagers have been using indoor tanning facilities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of indoor tanning among high school students decreased to 7.3 percent in 2015, from 15.6 percent in 2009, a year before the A.C.A. and its taxes took effect.

But other factors could also have a role, including that a growing number of states have banned or restricted indoor tanning among minors. Not only that, but there is a growing awareness of whats becoming well accepted  that indoor tanning is a cause of melanoma, said DeAnn Lazovich, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota whose research focuses on skin cancer. Her study published in JAMA Dermatology last year found that women who tanned indoors were six times more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma before they turned 30.

The American Suntanning Association, an industry group, says the number of tanning salons around the country has shrunk by about half, dropping to about 9,500, from about 18,500 in 2010. And while it is hard to confirm the accuracy of those numbers, Chris Sternberg, a spokesman for the group, said most of the closings stemmed from the tanning tax and various state and federal efforts to regulate indoor tanning.

It certainly takes away the negative perception that the government has over the last number of years tried to cast upon the industry, Mr. Sternberg said of the planned repeal of the tax, which the Joint Tax Commission estimates will cost the federal government $600 million over 10 years. We think lifting the tan tax is an important step to letting folks know its O.K. to tan.
But it has also drawn renewed focus on the murders of four men. Mr. Tartaglione, a retired police officer from Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, was charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan in December in the quadruple homicide and drug conspiracy. Mr. Tartaglione is being held without bail in federal jail in Brooklyn.

One of the people with knowledge of the matter said that the murders, which took place near a bar in Chester, a town about 30 minutes northwest of Haverstraw, resulted from a cocaine selling operation that had gone awry. One of the men, a landscaper, had been dispatched to Mexico to buy some cocaine that was then sold successfully by the operation upon his return.

But after a second trip, the man, who had been given a larger sum of money to buy a larger quantity of cocaine, returned from Mexico with neither the money nor the drugs, having apparently been robbed, the person said.

The men who had sent the landscaper to Mexico eventually concocted a scheme to lure him to the Likquid Lounge, a bar in Chester, the person said. The man believed he was going to meet someone who wanted to hire him for construction work, so he brought along two relatives and a friend, the person said. But the promise of day labor was just part of the plot to kill him, the person said, and the other three men were simply collateral damage.

Image Gerard Benderoth, a former police officer under investigation by the F.B.I., shot and killed himself on Wednesday.

It was unclear precisely what role the federal agents and police officers, as well as the prosecutors overseeing the case, believed that Mr. Benderoth had in the case, but they were investigating his involvement, the person said. And while they hoped to win his cooperation, they were prepared to arrest him if need be, the person said, though there were no sealed or unsealed charges against him.
Dear Diary:

The snowstorm in New York City on Feb. 9 reminded me of one 48 years ago.

On Feb. 9, 1969, a Sunday, the city was hit by an unexpected blizzard best remembered by most people for creating a political crisis for Mayor John V. Lindsay when snow removal, especially in Queens, was delayed and streets were impassable for a week.

In my family, the storm is best remembered for something else.

The morning of the storm, my family had to drive from the Bronx to a catering hall in Great Neck on Long Island for my bar mitzvah, the religious service having been held the day before, on my 13th birthday.

Somehow we made it, but only 40 of the 120 guests who had been invited were able to attend. We realized that afternoon that we were going to be snowed in, along with the four or five other bar mitzvahs and wedding receptions being held there.

All was not lost, though, as the bands were snowed in as well. That night, disappointed brides and grooms, who expected to be on their honeymoons, and bar mitzvah boys in their rented tuxedos gathered with their families into a large reception hall for a jam session and party that lasted until the early morning.
Under the proposed change, prosecutors would essentially have to try a case twice, at a hearing and then at the trial, while making it easier for defendants to claim a right to shoot first (or stab or club or otherwise attack someone) and argue against prosecution on the basis of their fears.

The defects of the Stand Your Ground law, which was enacted in 2005, were highlighted in the case of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, who was shot to death in 2012 by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman. Amid national furor, Mr. Zimmerman was acquitted after claiming self-defense at a trial in which the Stand Your Ground law was included in jury instructions.

More than 20 states have enacted similar laws. In Florida it has sparked a boom in self-defense claims that have left courts, prosecutors and the police wrestling with contradictory interpretations. Stand Your Ground immunity was quickly invoked by killers in barroom brawls and gang wars, according to a detailed 2012 study of nearly 200 cases by The Tampa Bay Times. Almost 7 in 10 people making the claim were not charged, while in 68 percent of the cases the victims were unarmed.

The Wild West mayhem invited by the law is currently the focus in a Florida courtroom, where a retired policeman is on trial for shooting a man to death in a movie theater over the use of a cellphone during the previews. Witnesses saw popcorn thrown at the shooter during the dispute, then heard a gunshot. In a pretrial hearing, the defendant insisted the victim had been ready to attack. The shooter said, I would have to take decisive action if I wanted to survive this thing. A ruling is pending.

Research by legal institutions, including the American Bar Association, found that the Stand Your Ground law, far from advancing public safety, has been followed by an increase in homicides, diminished victims rights and heightened racial injustice in enforcement.
That shattering sound you hear coming from the Belasco Theater is the celebrated director Sam Gold taking a hammer to everything thats delicate in The Glass Menagerie. The jagged, glistening shards of Tennessee Williamss breakthrough play are available for inspection in the revival that opened on Thursday night.

Dont expect these pieces to be reassembled into an illuminating portrait of the anguished Wingfield family from this 1944 drama. Mr. Gold and his cast, led by an intrepid Sally Field, have dismantled a venerable classic, but darned if they can figure out how to put it back together again.

The objective would seem to be to reverse what the plays soliloquizing narrator, Tom Wingfield (Joe Mantello), promises the audience. Comparing himself to a magician, he says: He gives you the illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of an illusion.

That is not what Mr. Gold has in mind. He wants the flat-out truth, raw and bleeding, and hang all that illusion business. That means scrapping Williamss lyricism, too, and every theatrical trick he uses to conjure the fragile web of a mans recalling a past he longs to forget.
President Trumps executive order banning travel from six predominantly Muslim countries faced a new front of opposition from the states on Thursday, as the attorney general of Washington announced that he would seek to block the order from taking effect next week.

Backed by several fellow Democratic attorneys general, Bob Ferguson of Washington said he would ask a federal district judge, James Robart, to extend an order freezing the first version of Mr. Trumps travel ban and apply it to the updated restrictions the White House unveiled on Monday.

In a news conference on Thursday, Mr. Ferguson acknowledged that Mr. Trumps updated order was less sweeping than its predecessor. But he argued that the travel restrictions remained effectively a Muslim ban, with many of the same legal weaknesses as the first version.

Its fair to say that the revised executive order does narrow the scope of whos impacted by it in an adverse way, Mr. Ferguson said. But that does not mean it has cured its constitutional problems.
WASHINGTON  President Trump showed an affinity for working the referees in his race to the White House, criticizing a federal judge as biased, panning polls as rigged and even questioning the aptitude of the nations intelligence agencies.

Now, with Mr. Trumps administration aggressively pitching the House Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Capitol Hills official scorekeeper  the Congressional Budget Office  is coming under intense fire. As it prepares to render its judgment on the cost and impact of the bill, the nonpartisan agency of economists and statisticians has become a political pinata  and the latest example of Mr. Trumps team casting doubt on benchmarks accepted as trustworthy for decades.

If youre looking to the C.B.O. for accuracy, youre looking in the wrong place, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said on Wednesday, arguing that the agencys failure to accurately project enrollment in the Affordable Care Acts online marketplaces had essentially killed its credibility.

Mr. Spicers criticism echoed that of some House Republicans who raised questions this week about the C.B.O.s record.
PM Dahal vows to bring guilty of Kanchanpur incident to justice

Prime Minister Pushpa Dahal has expressed his commitment to punish the guilty of Kanchanpur incident in which a Nepali man died in an alleged firing by Indias Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) on Thursday.
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From The New York Times:

Its a goat on a bridge eating a flaming rug pulled from a collapsing sand castle!

Heres some figurative language Republicans have used in the past to describe the Affordable Care Act.

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From New York Magazine:

My code is Amazonism. I want weapons.

Camille Paglia watches the Real Housewives franchise but doesnt like the Kardashians. She loved the womens march on Washington, but hated the hats. She also was not surprised by the Trump victory, and has some characteristically bold opinions about our new president. Heres what one New York Magazine interviewer learned when she checked in with one of the most famous public intellectuals of the 1990s.

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From Elle:

Before women can strike effectively, we need to redefine what female labor consists of.

Yesterday, of course, was not the first time women in this country have gone on strike. One writer argues that previous demonstrations, like the Womens Strike for Equality in 1970, were successful because they shed light on specific kinds of labor defined as womens work. However, as feminism progresses, and women do more kinds of work, what does a general strike in the name of gender truly mean?

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From The New York Times:

Is it a good or a bad thing if Mr. Trump becomes the first political unicorn?

Defying political norms, the president has embraced the philosophy of disruption and management styles that have powered successful start-ups.

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From The Baffler:

He was an authoritarian, and proud of it.

If you loved Hamilton the musical, you still might not have loved Hamilton, the politician. Thats at least according to one Baffler writer who sees this newly lionized founding father enjoying a reputation he doesnt deserve.

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From Aeon:

The new authoritarian does not pretend to make you better, only to make you feel better about not wanting to change.

A quick survey of how 20th century authoritarians compare to todays strongmen lands on this distinction: Authoritarians of the last century were like strict dads, exercising tough love with exacting expectations of their citizens.
WASHINGTON  If Dan Coats, President Trumps nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence, had any illusions about what he was getting into, the past seven weeks have certainly made clear the challenges he will face in a job created after the Sept. 11 attacks to coordinate the activities of the entire intelligence community.

Mr. Coats, 73, a former senator from Indiana, has already had to fend off a move by Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trumps chief strategist, and Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law, to bring in a New York private equity billionaire to run a White House review of the intelligence community  a plan that Mr. Coats and many senior intelligence officials saw as a White House attempt to curtail their independence and reduce the flow of information that contradicts the presidents worldview.

Once confirmed  the Senate intelligence committee voted on Thursday to send his nomination to the full Senate  Mr. Coats will face a far trickier political balancing act. He will be overseeing the same intelligence agencies that are examining Russias meddling in the election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow, while also trying to assuage Mr. Trumps deep distrust of the nations spies.

It is an extraordinarily difficult job, particularly in the current environment, said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and a member of the intelligence committee. But she said she was confident that Mr. Coats would know how to manage the Trump White House.
GUATEMALA CITY  Guatemalan human rights officials said Thursday that they believe that the 35 girls who were killed when a fire swept through a dormitory at a childrens home had been unable to escape because they were locked inside.

As new questions arose over the fire at the Virgen de la Asuncion home, evidence emerged that the girls had been confined to a small room after they had escaped from the residence and been recaptured by the police.

There were 52 girls in that room, and if someone locked the doors, the consequences are serious, said Hilda Morales, the adjunct prosecutor for human rights.

The locked doors were still a presumption that had to be confirmed by Guatemalas attorney general, Ms. Morales added. The responsibility lies with the staff, the director and the secretary for social welfare.

Mayra Veliz, general secretary of the attorney generals office, said a team of 16 prosecutors would handle the investigation.

The Health Ministry said 23 girls remained hospitalized. Officials began to transfer other children and adolescents who lived in the home to other facilities. The children, some of them orphans, came from poor families and many have suffered abuse.

But questions were also raised about the response of firefighters and the police. Speaking to a congressional panel on Thursday, police officials and fire officials blamed each other for a 40-minute delay in reaching the victims.

Legislators also heard that only three of the 64 security cameras were working in the home, which housed some 750 children in space meant for 500.

The fire early Wednesday has led to an outpouring of grief and anger as evidence of negligence at the home mounted.

Officials have cited troubles at the home since 2013. Last October, a prosecutor recommended shutting down the home.

Eric Rosenthal, the executive director of Disability Rights International in Washington, said that officials from the human rights prosecutors office believed that the girls had been locked in as punishment for the protest. It is still unclear how the fire started, he said.

Mr. Rosenthal said he was particularly concerned about the fate of residents with disabilities. There is a tendency to dump them in other places to get rid of them, he said.
SEOUL, South Korea  A South Korean court removed the president on Friday, a first in the nations history, rattling the delicate balance of relationships across Asia at a particularly tense time.

Her removal capped months of turmoil, as hundreds of thousands of South Koreans took to the streets, week after week, to protest a sprawling corruption scandal that shook the top echelons of business and government.

Park Geun-hye, the nations first female president and the daughter of the Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee, had been an icon of the conservative establishment that joined Washington in pressing for a hard line against North Koreas nuclear provocations.

Now, her downfall is expected to shift South Korean politics to the opposition, whose leaders want more engagement with North Korea and are wary of a major confrontation in the region. They say they will re-examine the countrys joint strategy on North Korea with the United States and defuse tensions with China, which has sounded alarms about the growing American military footprint in Asia.
This newsletter is one small attempt to bring you, our audience, into the process of journalism as The New York Times expands in Australia  but how else might we listen and learn from readers and subscribers?

How about a tool that lets you submit links to improve a story youre reading? Or a form in an article that lets you contact the writer anonymously? Or a Facebook Messenger bot that helps you choose what to read next based on your mood?

These are some of the ideas I was asked to judge this week at a two-day hackathon focused on audience engagement, led by the Walkley Foundation and the Global Editors Network. Dozens of journalists, developers and designers from various media outlets, including SBS, The Australian and Storyful, joined together to develop prototypes for deepening connections between journalists and those who support us.

As is often the case, I heard a mix of concern about journalisms future and excitement about all the new ways to tell stories and connect people to the issues they care about.
For the International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, Bosnias suit against Serbia for genocide was the first such case involving large-scale deaths and displacements. More commonly, the court deals with treaty or border violations and other disputes between nations.

In 2007, the court ruled that while a massacre in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica, where Bosnian Serb forces killed nearly 8,000 men and boys in 1995, was genocide, it did not find proof that Serbia was responsible for the killings.

But the courts ruling did say that Serbia violated the Genocide Convention because it should have prevented the genocide and punished the military commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic. It did not describe the killings of 1992 as genocide.

Two weeks ago, just before the 10-year window to ask for a review of the case expired, Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of the tripartite presidency, directed a team of lawyers to file a request for the court to revise the 2007 ruling. A revision is the only available option because the court does not allow appeals.

The request argued that since 2007, a great deal of evidence had become available in other trials that would demonstrate the active role of the Serbian state, and the scale of its involvement, during the Bosnian war.
Irans top leader criticized the pace of national economic growth on Thursday in what appeared to be a rebuke of the president, who had forecast prosperous times after the 2015 accord that lifted international sanctions in exchange for nuclear limits.

The critical comments by the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, came two months before elections in which President Hassan Rouhani is expected to seek a second term. The comments suggested some tension between them as the vote draws nearer.

We receive complaints from people, Ayatollah Khamenei said in the remarks reported on state television, as translated by Reuters. People should feel improvements regarding creation of jobs and manufacturing. It is not the case now.

It is not yet clear who may run against Mr. Rouhani, a moderate cleric. While he is said to enjoy a longstanding relationship with Ayatollah Khamenei, the president is not well liked by some other hard-line conservative elements of Irans political hierarchy.
Whipped Cream  Schlagobers at its June 1924 premiere  was a resounding failure when it was created, said Wayne Heisler, the author of The Ballet Collaborations of Richard Strauss. Vienna was in a time of economic crisis, and the ballet cost a fortune and was seen as frivolous, Mr. Heisler said. The score is, in some ways, a great one, Strausss masterpiece of high and low art. Its really honest in that the spectacular aspect of it is not framed as high art or something transcendent.

Mr. Ratmansky discovered the music by chance in the early 1990s, when he spotted a CD on a trip to Japan soon after he and his wife, Tatiana Kilivniuk, had left Kiev to join the Winnipeg Ballet. At the time, food was scarce in the Ukraine, you could buy nothing, and suddenly there was all this stuff, he said. Tatiana loves whipped cream and would run to the stores to buy those cans you can squirt. After I found the music, I did a little extract for a choreography workshop where I was the whipped cream and she was a little boy, eating it.

The music stayed in the back of Mr. Ratmanskys mind, and a few years ago he began to discuss the project with Benjamin Millepied, at the time the director of the Paris Opera Ballet. I felt very strongly that I needed a really powerful design element, because its a fantasy land that has to become a very specific world onstage, Mr. Ratmansky said. Benjamin and I had a lot of ideas, but we didnt find the designer that both of us felt was it.

They abandoned the idea. Mr. Ratmansky, who had decided that Mr. Rydens strange, surreal melange of kitsch and gore (his work inspired Lady Gagas famous meat dress) would be perfect, took the project to Kevin McKenzie, the artistic director of Ballet Theater, who had been interested in co-producing the ballet. I was amazed there was a ballet by Strauss that I didnt know, Mr. McKenzie said.
The virtue of Yankee upbringing, spiritually speaking, he once wrote, is of more downright value to me than any past heritages. And its this rugged, lush, transcendentalist northern woods heritage that forms the backbone of Marsden Hartleys Maine, opening Wednesday, March 15, at the Met Breuer, with 90 paintings and drawings testifying to the early and late power of one of the 20th centurys most important American painters. Work from the late 1930s and early 1940s will include his beloved coastal scenes, his homoerotically tinged heroic folk portraits and views of Mount Katahdin, Hartleys New England answer to Mont Sainte-Victoire, the craggy peak immortalized by his idol, Cezanne. (Through June 18, metmuseum.org.)
A figure in a translucent kimono coyly holds a fan. Another arranges an iris in a vase. Are they men or women?

As a mind-bending exhibition that opened Friday at the Japan Society illustrates, they are what scholars call a third gender  adolescent males seen as the height of beauty in early modern Japan who were sexually available to both men and women. Known as wakashu, they are one of several examples in the show that reveal how elastic the ideas of gender were before Japan adopted Western sexual mores in the late 1800s.

The show, A Third Gender: Beautiful Youths in Japanese Prints, arrives at a time of ferment about gender roles in the United States and abroad. Bathroom rights for transgender people have become a cultural flash point. The notion of gender fluidity  that its not necessary to identify as either male or female, that gender can be expressed as a continuum  is roiling traditional definitions.
World Kidney Day: Govt preparing to offer free transplantation

The government said on Thursday it is working to offer free transplantation services to the patients of chronic kidney diseases.
NEW YORK YOUTH SYMPHONY, March 5

A Disappearing Act

The New York Youth Symphony gives budding orchestral players the chance to shine in high-profile concerts at Carnegie Hall. But at the beginning of an afternoon performance, the young musicians put their considerable skill to the task of making themselves disappear. The concert opened with the world premiere of Ethan Brauns Mojave Music  from a certain perspective, a diaphanous haze of brittle string harmonics that drifts almost imperceptibly through smoky dissonances that coalesce, here and there, into a broody brass chorale. Coming before vivid readings of works by Beethoven and Sibelius ruled by a purposeful pulse, Mr. Brauns piece offered a heady taste of pure weightlessness. CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM

THE HANDEL PROJECT, MARCH 8

Cliffhanger, Two Ways

Talk about cliffhangers. Julian Wachner and his Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, having performed all of Bachs sacred works at St. Pauls Chapel in recent years, are now turning to Handel and his oratorios: serializing them, an act at a time, on consecutive Wednesday afternoons. But rehearsal time for the initial installment, the first act of Jephtha, ran out, and the performance ended after the fourth scene, with three to go. So not only did listeners have to put off hearing of the battle of Jephtha and the Israelites against the Ammonites, but the concluding chorus of Israelites also ended musically on a half cadence, the harmonic equivalent of waiting for the other shoe to drop. It will, on Wednesday, March 15. JAMES R. OESTREICH
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. What do you think of it? What else are you interested in? Let us know: thearts@nytimes.com.

Pay-Per-View Politics

When Jimmy Kimmel heard that Senator Ted Cruz and President Trump had dinner on Wednesday night, he wanted more. He said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday that hed pay to watch every bite the former campaign rivals ate  presumably through clenched teeth.

Last night, the president and first lady had dinner with Senator Ted Cruz and his wife, Heidi, which, that must have been a  after all the lyin Ted and sniveling coward stuff  forget taxes. You know how the government could really make some money? Put that on pay-per-view. I would gladly pay $100 to watch Donald Trump and Ted Cruz eat dinner together. It would be the best episode of Celebrity Wife Swap ever.  JIMMY KIMMEL

Legislation Agitation
When I was growing up, I watched The Smurfs on Saturday morning, said Rich Greenfield, an analyst specializing in technology and media at BTIG Research, referring to the NBC cartoon show from the 1980s. That was the definition of kids TV. Kids today dont even think about turning on the TV networks or cable on Saturday. They want it on demand, and thats how theyre used to getting it.

For the streaming services, in particular, their treasure trove of data clearly show what their viewers crave: According to Netflix, more than half of its 93 million members in nearly 200 countries, for example, regularly watch its childrens shows.

Childrens content is important, because its our first opportunity to build brand love for Netflix that we hope will last a lifetime, said Andy Yeatman, director of global kids content at Netflix.

The real targets, of course, are parents who pay the subscription fees. Kids content gives the household a reason to subscribe, because kids watch every single day, Mr. Greenfield said.

Following their schmooze with the puppets, Ms. Andrews and Ms. Hamilton discussed the birthing process for their show over scones and coffee in a conference room at the Creature Shop. The women have an easy rapport, built up not only as mother and daughter but also as the co-authors of more than 30 popular childrens books, including the Dumpy the Dump Truck and The Very Fairy Princess series. (Ms. Andrews has four other children, including two stepchildren, as well as 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.)
BURBANK, Calif.  Grandma is mad. Her grown daughter, Bex, who got pregnant as a teenager, just blazed back into town and let a big secret slip. Grandma had raised 13-year-old Andi to believe that Bex was her older sister. Well, the truth is a tad more complicated.

Meanwhile, Andis school life is only a little less unsettling. A boy is coming to terms with his sexuality. And Andi has her own budding love life to consider.

The latest from MTV?

Hang on to your mouse ears: Disney Channel  land of safe, sweet sitcoms  is exploring this charged terrain with Andi Mack, a comedic drama aimed at children 6 to 14 and their parents.

While it is just one show, it represents a startling new direction for the squeaky-clean network, whose ratings are decaying as children, reaching puberty earlier and raised on the oh-so-cool Netflix, gravitate to live-action programming with more edge and authenticity.
If the idea of cozying up to Russia strikes you as harmless, or all those Syrian refugees are too far away to seem real, the HBO documentary Cries From Syria is something you ought to watch. But be prepared for an unrelenting blast of misery without a lot of context.

The film, which is being broadcast on Monday night, draws on the mass of footage shot by journalists and citizens with cellphones or other devices since Syria descended into civil war in 2011. We see bombings as they happen. We see mangled bodies in still-smoking ruins. The documentary, by Evgeny Afineevsky, presents the perspective of the rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad, who is supported by Russia, and it does not hold back in depicting the horrors being inflicted on civilians all over the country.

What have the children done? a grieving man shouts at no one as he stands amid rubble in Aleppo, holding a severed foot. What have the civilians done?
As long as you dont care too much about facts, you can learn a lot from a Sean Spicer daily briefing.

The White House press secretary has said that whatever your lying eyes told you, President Trumps swearing-in had the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period. He has insisted that the presidents travel ban against majority-Muslim countries, which the president called a ban, was not a ban. He has claimed, falsely, that former President Obama tapped a Fox News reporters phones.

But Mr. Spicers performance  strident, defensive, stressed-out  carries a wealth of information: about Mr. Trumps image obsession, about what the president expects of his underlings, about the impossibility of contorting ones self into a human bridge between reality and Mr. Trumps agitated mindspace.

The real story, every briefing, is what Mr. Spicer cant say and how he doesnt say it.

Press secretaries have always jousted and spun for the boss. But Mr. Spicers attempts to jam the square pegs of Mr. Trumps fancies into the round holes of fact  plus his defining mockery by Melissa McCarthy and Saturday Night Live  have made for must-watch cringe TV.
AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000) 8:15 p.m. on HBO. Christian Bale stars as Patrick Bateman, the unhinged Wall Street narcissist who moonlights as an insatiable murderer, in Mary Harrons adaptation of the 1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis. The books numbing catalog of high-end consumer items has been drastically edited, Stephen Holden wrote in The Times, and the body count is lower. The trimming demonstrates once again that less is often more, he added. What remains of the story is a sleek, satirical, yuppie-era Jekyll and Hyde that blithely tap-dances along the fault lines separating movie genres. Also streaming on HBO Go and HBO Now.

DATELINE NBC 9 p.m. on NBC. In Finding Sarah Goode, Andrea Canning reports on the missing daughter in a tight-knit Long Island family, and its efforts to locate her.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES 9 p.m. on CW. Eight seasons later  and seemingly light years away from the vampire romance craze wrought by Twilight  this steamy drama is coming to an end. In the finale, Stefan and Damon will face off with their greatest enemy for one last battle. Catch up on highlights from the entire series with the retrospective The Vampire Diaries: Forever Yours, at 8 p.m.
March 10, 2017

10 Things to Do in NYC Now

Its a big city, with plenty to do, see, hear and watch. This guide is a sampling of cultural highlights taking place in New York this weekend and over the week ahead. And theres much more where these came from.

Image Regina Spektor performing in January. Credit... Larry Hirshowitz

Pop & Rock

A Deeply Human Synthesis

Regina Spektor at Radio City Music Hall

The classically trained pianist Regina Spektor was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated in 1989 to the United States, where she mastered her instrument at the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College in New York. But since releasing her debut album, 11:11, in 2001, Ms. Spektor has expanded upon her classical sensibilities to include cabaret stylings, orchestral pop and gorgeous balladry, all of which will be on display in this Saturday night performance. That hybrid sound is most fully realized on her latest album, Remember Us to Life, on which Ms. Spektor also shares gripping storytelling with a dark and subversive edge. Somewhere below the Grand Hotel, she sings in a beguiling, fluttery voice on the stunning Grand Hotel, there is a tunnel that leads down to hell. KEVIN ODONNELL
BEFORE THE WAR

By Fay Weldon

298 pp. St. Martins Press. $26.99.

It seemed to be one of lifes wonders, observes Sherwyn Sexton, the not wholly unlikable cad at the center of Fay Weldons lively if sometimes frustrating new novel, Before the War, that nothing happens and nothing happens and all of a sudden everything happens. The line is a sly wink in a novel full of playful authorial interjections, in this case channeling an aphorism widely attributed to Weldon herself.

Eventfulness is indeed what fuels this comedy of aristocratic manners, set in a bygone era when Britain is in a state of collective shell shock and relative deprivation. We like to dream the costume drama of Edwardian times, all fine clothes, glittering jewels and clean sexy profiles, Weldon writes, but we are less drawn to the 20 years between the wars.

We first meet 20-year-old Vivien Ripple in 1922 as she awaits a London-bound train, en route to meet Sherwyn Sexton. He is handsome, but under 5-foot7  some four inches shorter than Vivien. Size matters in this novel, not just in height but in, er, length, about which we learn plenty. But here physicality isnt at issue: This will be a marriage of convenience. Vivien has money; Sherwyn cant afford to resole his shoes. Hes an aspiring writer; her father is a publisher. So begins this maelstrom of twisty plot points, complicated entanglements, pregnancies of ambiguous etiology and colorful if sometimes stock characters.

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Historical details, which abound, are often fascinating. (Who knew that beards interfere with gas masks?) And Weldons descriptions can beguile. Adela, Viviens self-absorbed mother, is observed in a mink coat, hiding inside it, as if she were some tiny furry Alpine creature evading predators. Adela, who first appeared in Weldons Love and Inheritance trilogy, is grimly funny and entirely oblivious. She never understood the fuss about Germany invading Austria. Apart from a few details like what they ate for breakfast and what kind of bed they slept in, Austrians and Germans seem to her to be the same.
Watsons apparent mastery of the ingredients and recipes of all the sciences might stagger a general reader used to the works of mortals. What will stagger the knowledgeable is the confidence with which he presents nonsense. No one who knows anything about modern physics could write, as Watson does in attempting to define antiparticles, that the positively charged electron, called the negatron at one point, was later identified in cosmic rays as the highly penetrating positron, midway in mass between the proton and the electron. (The masses of the positive and negative electron must be the same if they are antiparticles; and why a positive particle should ever have been called a negatron must be a mystery of convergence.) The hash Watson makes of particle physics may be expected, for, as he admits on behalf of others, it is difficult; but there is no excuse for identifying the Manhattan Project as a special study session of theoretical physicists . . . called at Berkeley; for relocating the facilities at Oak Ridge to Los Alamos; for confusing John Herschel with his father; and so on.

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The main reason Watson has been able to compile so much varied material is that he has perfected the journalists art of epitome. Whether accurately or not, he can boil a book down to a striking sentence or two and an article to a sound bite. When he has read the primary material himself, he can make a very good job of it. But in areas where he lacks time or competence, he relies on secondary literature, and that not always of the best. One of these secondary authors is Watson himself, whom he copies substantially, as in his accounts of the discoveries of X-rays and Plancks quantum, which come from his book The German Genius. The high marks Watson deserves for epitomizing, however, scarcely compensate for his errors or for his abandonment of good journalistic practice by being a cheerleader for the story he is reporting.

Does it matter that some, perhaps much, of Watsons material is unreliable? If you believe with him that the sciences are converging, by which he usually means reduction to physics and sometimes unification under unstated principles, you might not care. He can be read for introductions to wide swaths of subjects most people know nothing about, and for such jaw-dropping generalizations as Humans are an amalgamation of biology and mathematics. Perhaps his quasi endorsement of the propositions that the Fall in Genesis records the birth of agriculture (by the sweat of thy brow . . .), and that the knowledge conveyed by eating the forbidden fruit was that coitus would be required to sire the human race, may give even his best-disposed readers pause. To be sure, he does not insist: These are tentative arguments, but their main strength lies in the consistent picture they paint.

To historians and other skeptics, Watsons errors matter very much indeed. They know that science, like all human activities, has been formed by a great many contingencies. No doubt it has developed so as to give us extraordinary control over our environment, in many cases to our advantage and improvement. This control is a product not of convergence, however, but of specialization, of individuals coming to know more and more about less and less. It does not follow that the stories we tell to tie this knowledge together guarantee convergence to a unique Science, or that we would be able to discover such a Science if it exists. To return to our opening metaphor, the primary reason for what appears to Watson as a convergence of the sciences is that they have been cooked in the same kitchen, or, to speak plainly, in their contemporary forms they all try to progress by the application of increasingly precise instruments and strong mathematics to artificially constructed experiments.

The physicist Steven Weinberg, who believes, or has believed, in the imminence of the creation of a Theory of Everything, but more recently has expressed doubts about fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics, devised a metaphor to answer historians who argue from the contingencies of scientific discoveries that theories are to some extent social constructions. Mountain climbers may try many paths, the metaphor goes, run to and fro (the classical method of acquiring knowledge), scramble and slip on their ascent; but if they reach the top, no one doubts they have gotten there. The metaphor can be developed further: A successful ascent does not remove the contingencies in the choice of the mountain. There may be something in Ernst Machs remark that the only reason physicists based their science on mechanics and not thermodynamics or acoustics is that human beings have hunted and made war by throwing things.
How WHO can support health

Despite unprecedented positive health outcomes, Nepal continues to have many challenges to overcome
EVERYTHING BELONGS TO US

By Yoojin Grace Wuertz

356 pp. Random House. $27.

The title of Yoojin Grace Wuertzs debut novel, Everything Belongs to Us, is a statement of defiant optimism. It echoes a line from early in the novel, when an officer admonishes a rebellious protester he has jailed. Not everything is your plaything, the officer says. Not everything belongs to you.

The year is 1978, and that protester is named Jisun, who, along with Namin and Sunam, is Wuertzs literary conduit for 1970s Korean history  a time when President Park Chung-hees fixation on economic recovery after the Korean War entailed suppressing all forms of political dissent and allowing inhumane working conditions to flourish. The title of Wuertzs novel is therefore steeped in irony too: Under a program of authoritarian industrialization, everything belongs to something else  to country, to patriarchy, to capitalism. Wuertz has written a rich and descriptive case study  or a Gatsby-esque takedown, if you will  of 1970s South Korea. Reading Everything Belongs to Us is as much an education in sociology and history as it is a story about people, and the characters are so memorable they lend an intimacy to that history.

Namin wants to save herself from abject poverty by becoming a doctor, and she plans to provide for a younger brother with cerebral palsy, even if it comes at great personal cost. It was an exhilarating idea, she tells herself, thinking about how she would find her brother again after he had been left to the care of her grandparents. Like being allowed to breathe cold fresh air after being trapped all her life in an underground cave.

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By contrast, her best friend, Jisun, is from one of the wealthiest families in the country and views her own privilege with disdain: By the time Jisun arrived at the lauded gates of Seoul National University, she wanted to burn the whole place down. Not just for democracy or the repeal of the repressive constitution or anything else that the student activists shouted about every day. . . . She was fueled by personal vengeance. Her sense of independence is intertwined with tearing down the establishment  a goal that Namin cannot understand.
Hamids enticing strategy is to foreground the humanity of these young people, whose urbanity, romantic inclinations, upwardly mobile aspirations and connectedness through social media and smartphones mark them as normal relative to the novels likely readers. At the same time, he insists on their difference from readers who may be Western. Their city is besieged by militants who commit terrible atrocities, evoking scenes from Mosul or Aleppo. As for Nadia, she was always clad from the tips of her toes to the bottom of her jugular notch in a flowing black robe. But while this robe seems to be a form of conservative Islamic dress, one of the starkest signs of difference between Nadia and non-Islamic readers, she is more daring than Saeed. She is the one who offers him marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms, and she is the one who initiates sex. The robe, it turns out, is camouflage to allow Nadia to be an independent woman.

The backdrop for Exit West is both the plight of refugees from places like Syria and the specter of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. Hamid takes full advantage of our familiarity with these scenes to turn Exit West into an urgent account of war, love and refugees. Politics also matters as it does in his other novels, which likewise dealt with pressing issues: the troubles of contemporary Pakistan (Moth Smoke); 9/11 and the tensions between being Pakistani and American (The Reluctant Fundamentalist); and naked capitalism and ambition in an unnamed country (How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia). Throughout his oeuvre, Hamid envisions an interconnected world in which East and West inevitably meet as a consequence of complicated histories of colonization and globalization. The dramas and love stories of individuals like Saeed and Nadia cannot be separated from these histories, even if, in their own lives, those histories are not necessarily preoccupations. Until, that is, those histories erupt.

Image Credit... Patricia Wall/The New York Times

When they do, people die. They do so often, unexpectedly and in violent circumstances. Hamid offers a few incidents like this, and in their spare detail they are enough, as when Nadias cousin is blown by a truck bomb to bits, literally to bits, the largest of which, in Nadias cousins case, were a head and two-thirds of an arm. Refusing to dwell on the morbidity of such a scene, Hamid declines to turn the destruction of the city and its people into a spectacle, the way they would normally be visible to those outside the country, watching its doom from a digital distance. Examining the destruction at a slight remove, Hamid discourages readers from pitying the citys residents. Instead, focusing on Saeed and Nadia, and removing the particularities of the city, the country and its customs, Hamid aims to increase the depth of a readers empathy for characters who can be, or should be, just like the reader. The reader, of course, must think about what would happen if her own normal life was suddenly, unexpectedly upended by war.

Most likely, the reader, like Saeed and Nadia, would flee. They do so through the sudden, unexplained doors that appear throughout the city and that are portals to other places. While the city is unnamed, these sites of refuge are named  Greece, London, the United States. In their concreteness, versus the deliberate vagueness of Saeed and Nadias city, they call for identification from readers of the novel who live in these kinds of desirable places that the refugees want to go. The novel implicitly asks these readers why doors should be closed to refugees, when those readers might become refugees one day? How these doors work is not Hamids concern. The doors can be manifestations of magic realism, fantasy or science fiction, or all three, but they simply stand in for the reality that refugees will try every door they can to get out.
THE GESTAPO

The Myth and Reality of Hitlers Secret Police

By Frank McDonough

309 pp. Skyhorse Publishing. $24.99.

What would it be like to live in a police state? Sinclair Lewis wondered if it cant happen here in his 1935 novel. Well, what happened over there, when Nazis took power in 1933? Germany was not an unfamiliar place. Citizens drank Coca-Cola, cherished walks on Sundays, scrimped to buy a motorcycle and went to the movies. With Hitlers dictatorship, they also lived with the Gestapo, or secret police. Its agents have long been imagined as standing on every street corner. As one Nazi boasted, The only people who still have a private life in Germany are those who are asleep. Sorting out reality from myth in The Gestapo, Frank McDonough, who has written several books on the Third Reich, promises a new understanding of terror in Nazi society. The picture is more frightening than Orwellian ideas about Big Brother and his thought police.

Underresourced and overstretched, the Gestapo employed some 15,000 officers who policed 66 million Germans. As a result, it had to rely on denunciations from ordinary citizens. It is vexing to imagine how readily people felt licensed to vilify colleagues and neighbors, although McDonough exaggerates incidents of wives turning in husbands or children their parents. Law-abiding citizens could find themselves interrogated because they listened to the BBC or joked about Hitler, but the circumstances of denunciation usually resulted in lenient treatment.

In fact, most Germans rarely bumped into the Gestapo. They were satisfied with the dictatorship because they believed its promise to eliminate disruptive elements from public life: Communists, repeat offenders and so-called asocials who contributed nothing to the national community. Many citizens shared Gestapo fantasies of cleaning up the country by throwing riffraff into concentration camps. Family doctors and social workers joined Gestapo officers to identify disabled or work-shy individuals for incarceration or sterilization.
Hayes moved from San Francisco after the death of his partner from a heart attack. Sacks contacted Hayes after reading his book The Anatomist, about the classic 19th-century medical text Grays Anatomy. Hayes didnt suspect Sacks was gay, but they eventually connected, and by the end of 2009 they were lovers. Hayes was 49, Sacks 76. Sacks had not had sex in 35 years; this was his first sustained physical relationship.

Image Credit... Sonny Figueroa/The New York Times

The author is very good about the day-to-day life of the couple, giving us their routines of food, music, affection and sleep. The best details are from his journal, where Sacks is called O. We learn that O enjoyed pot, which he always referred to as cannabis; that in this age of laptops he continued to write with a fountain pen; and that he was initially very nervous about going out in public with Hayes. They visited Iceland and had lunch with Bjork  Sacks didnt know her work, but she was a great fan of his. One Fourth of July he went into raptures when the fireworks triggered some lovely hallucinations. He stood on their rooftop crying out: The primary cortex! The genius of the primary cortex!

Hayes was present when Sacks heard the terrible news from the cancer doctor; he watched Sacks examine the CT scan of his own liver. Sacks decided to forgo chemotherapy and not prolong life just for the sake of prolonging life. He wanted to enjoy as best he could the six to 18 months left to him.

Throughout the book, Hayes includes portraits of New York strangers: skateboarders, cabdrivers, people met on the subway, the dealer at their local newsstand. Theres an innocent gee whiz quality to his writing here that some readers will find charming, but these characters are pale distractions in comparison with Sacks; a little of them goes a long way. We end the book hungry to know more about the good doctor.

His death is still recent, and Hayes probably needed more time to bring his memories of the man into sharper focus. Whats gained in immediacy is lost in weight. Sacks comes across as a gentle, learned, highly eccentric academic, but he was so much more. If you havent read any of his books, you would never know what an extraordinary talent he was: cerebral, tender, alien, mysterious.
 No comment.

That was a Justice Department officials response when asked if Mr. Trump was the subject of an investigation.

The official added that the White House press secretary had not relied on any information from the department when he denied the existence of such an inquiry. Last weekend, the president accused his predecessor of tapping his phones, but he provided no evidence.

 South Korean leader is ousted.

In a first in the nation, a court removed the president, Park Geun-hye, today for committing acts that violated the Constitution and laws.

The downfall of Ms. Park, who has pressed for a hard line against North Koreas nuclear provocations, is expected to shift power to the opposition, whose leaders want more engagement with Pyongyang.
 At his heaviest, Paul Mason weighed nearly 1,000 pounds. After surgery gave him a new body, he had to figure out how to be a new man. [GQ]

 Some people obsessively comb stills of Westworld for visual clues about the shows deeper meaning. Others painstakingly catalog and analyze the art that adorns the walls of The Brady Bunch. This is a link for those interested in the latter. [We Are the Mutants via Metafilter]

 For a story that is at once heartbreaking and hopeful, read about what happened when a young woman discovered that her biological father was in fact her mothers fertility doctor. [Hazlitt]

 Its a marketing problem sure to be taught in business schools across the world: How do you stay true to your companys mission of sustainability while also selling lots of stuff for people to consume? Retail giants Patagonia and The North Face are excellent case studies in this question of corporate responsibility. [The Guardian]
 A South Korean court ousted President Park Geun-hye from office, a first in the nations history that could reshape the strategic landscape in Asia.

Hundreds of thousands of people had taken to the streets in recent months to protest a sprawling corruption scandal that reached the presidency.

Her downfall is expected to shift South Korean politics to the opposition on the left, whose leaders want more engagement with the North.
HOUSTON  Often turbulent, the oil market had become almost boring the past few months, with prices moving little and hovering around $51 to $56 a barrel.

No one is yawning anymore.

The American oil benchmark price has swooned by 9 percent since Tuesday, falling below $50 a barrel for the first time since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to cut production in November to support the market.

The immediate impetus for the drop in prices was a report by the Energy Department that United States oil stockpiles had bulged by 8.2 million barrels over the past week.

Concerns about the glut grew after Harold Hamm, chief executive of Continental Resources, a major oil producer, said publicly that domestic production was growing so fast it could kill the market.
Already, Volkswagen has paid heavily for its crimes, as the American government has tried to take a tougher approach to corporate wrongdoing. After being accused of treating Wall Street too gingerly in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Justice Department, under the Obama administration, pushed in its final months to hold more companies and corporate executives accountable.

Volkswagen, which admitted to equipping cars with software to cheat emissions tests, has been a prime example of the aggressive new posture. The company formally pleaded guilty in a Detroit courtroom on Friday to federal charges that included conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and obstruction of justice. Six executives have so far been charged in the United States, and one engineer has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud regulators and car owners.

It is too soon to tell whether the new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, will adopt the same approach as the previous administration. Separately, the fate of the executives cases is unclear, since five of the six people indicted are believed to be in Germany, which does not usually extradite its citizens outside the European Union.

But Volkswagens exposure in the United States has already dwarfed previous cases for vehicle manufacturers in pollution cases and safety malfunctions. Volkswagen agreed to pay $4.3 billion in civil and criminal penalties in the case brought by the Justice Department. It was just a piece of the overall $22 billion in settlements and fines in the United States.

Volkswagen deeply regrets the behavior that gave rise to the diesel crisis, the company said in a statement. The agreements that we have reached with the U.S. government reflect our determination to address misconduct that went against all of the values Volkswagen holds so dear.
West Coast fashion stalwarts like Josh Peskowitz and Greg Chait mingled with art honchos such as the gallerist Shaun Caley Regen and Michael Govan, the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Mens wear editors like Nick Sullivan of Esquire made the trip from New York.

Burberry, Tom Ford and Yves Saint Laurent have presented here in recent years, suggesting a westward tilt for the fashion industry, and Hermes was following suit with an event designed to embrace the citys dazzling spirit.

After models wearing crisp knit polos, buttery leather pants and pieces from a new Hermes collection called Dwntwn Men made their way down a runway, the warehouse opened into a party space with separate chambers where guests could shoot baskets, try their luck at Donkey Kong and play D.J. by digging through the soundtracks of previous Hermes shows while sipping Champagne.
Kabul attack condemned

The government said on Thursday that it is deeply saddened by the news of a brutal attack at a military hospital in Kabul on Wednesday, in which dozens were killed and scores others injured.
Mr. Edwards wore his most recently purchased pair, black velvet with embroidered golden lions, to his best friends wedding, held last month during the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans. To walk the bride down the aisle, he paired the shoes with shredded jeans, an oxford-cloth shirt bought for $6 at a thrift shop and a blue blazer.

Mr. Edwards is on his 11th pair of Stubbs & Wootton slippers, which he buys new and used and which, he said, deliver more value and style than the $900 Gucci sneakers his friends splurge on. Im very image-savvy and Im very frugal, he said.

After years of being a wardrobe staple for the lockjaw set from Palm Beach to Newport, Stubbs & Wootton shoes are enjoying a surge in popularity among younger customers drawn to their old-money wryness and Instagram-bait imagery. I call them emoji shoes, Mr. Edwards said.

The brand is a big deal on college campuses these days. Its a really fun shoe because its like a bumper sticker for your foot, said Grace Wiener, 21, the president of WFUStyle, a fashion club and website run by students at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Yet a surprising proportion of those caring for older adults are younger. The National Academy of Sciences noted that of people providing care for family members over age 65 (excluding nursing home residents), nearly 15 percent were ages 20 to 44. Almost 24 percent were 45 to 54.

Beyond the challenges that caregiving brings at any age, these people face particular disruptions.

Among the youngest group, what particularly concerns them is the negative impact on their pursuit of education, said Feylyn Lewis, a doctoral candidate at the University of Birmingham in England, whose dissertation looks at 18- to 25-year-old caregivers.

Caregivers closer to midlife contend with pressures at work and sometimes have to reduce their hours, refuse promotions or retire early. Ms. Rinehart took a personal leave from her school, but when her absence exceeded the maximum number of months allowed, she resigned. I loved my job, she said wistfully. I miss the kids.

In turn, job loss increases current and future financial strains.

Younger caregivers may also have children at home. They feel pulled, said Carol Whitlatch, assistant director for research and education at the Benjamin Rose Institute in Cleveland. They need to be there for their kids who are still dependent, and they have parents who are growing more dependent.

Colleen Kavanaugh calls herself the classic stereotype of a caregiver, the firstborn daughter who lives nearby and puts everything on hold. In 2004, when she moved back into her parents home in Martinsville, N.J., she was newly divorced, with a 5-year-old son. Then 33, she planned to regroup, find another job and, within a few months, move out and resume her independent life.

But her mother learned she had breast cancer; after multiple surgeries and increasing disability, she died in early 2009. Then Ms. Kavanaughs father, who had been experiencing memory loss, was found to have Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease.
Since leaving the F.D.A. a decade ago, Dr. Gottlieb has been a prolific commentator on drug policy and his views are seen as more moderate than those of Mr. ONeill, an associate of the billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, who had supported bringing drugs to market even if it was not yet clear they worked.

The possibility that Mr. ONeill might be the choice drew an unusually sharp rebuke from several leaders of small pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, who traditionally have favored speeding up the process for which drugs are approved. They said weakening those standards could destabilize the market for pharmaceuticals and harm patients.

Daniel Carpenter, a professor at Harvard University who studies the F.D.A., described Dr. Gottlieb as the least problematic of a very sorry pool of candidates. But he said that if Dr. Gottlieb were confirmed, he would be the most interest-conflicted commissioner in American history, by far.

He added, These are not relationships whose influence just disappears once he resigns from a corporate board. The Senate should scrutinize the conflicts of interest carefully.

Indeed, Dr. Gottlieb was the clear choice of the pharmaceutical industry  when the Wall Street firm Mizuho Securities surveyed 53 drug companies in February, nearly three-quarters said they preferred him.

Some industry executives said the public shouldnt read too much into his industry connections. People have sought Scotts advice because they want to understand what the agency is looking for, said Steve Holtzman, president and chief executive of Decibel Therapeutics in Massachusetts. It doesnt mean that hes been bought and sold. I think thats a naive view.

Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan, said it is tough to please everyone. A commissioner with ties to the drug industry is suspected of giving profits higher priority than patient safety, he said, but one with no ties is suspected of not understanding how to get drugs to patients who need them.
Vivian Yee, a national immigration correspondent, grapples with the question on a regular basis  and acknowledged that readers reactions tend to break predictably along political lines. Conservatives, she said, often insist on using the term illegal immigrants, while liberals tend to push for undocumented immigrants.

The article on Tuesday, which Ms. Yee helped to report, offered one example of how The Times attempts to navigate this linguistic quandary.

We decided that a story written with the intention of explaining the starting points of the immigration debate shouldnt take sides on the semantics of the debate, Ms. Yee said in an email, explaining that the article deliberately included a mix of different terms: illegal, undocumented, and unauthorized.

And, of course, she added, we tried to show that there are real, live human faces to the issue by telling a few of their stories.

The Timess style guide, a 368-page reference manual that offers guidance on everything from grammar and punctuation to particularly thorny issues of usage, acknowledges that the term illegal immigrant may be considered loaded or offensive by some readers. Without taking sides or resorting to euphemism, the guide states, consider alternatives when appropriate to explain the specific circumstances of the person in question or to focus on actions: who crossed the border illegally; who overstayed a visa; who is not authorized to work in this country.
Each leg of the way must have been terrifying for him  it certainly was agonizing for me.

What if the Indonesian authorities stopped him from boarding the plane, or Taiwanese authorities detained him in transit? Would they deport him back to Afghanistan instead of Indonesia? Or would he end up in an airport lockup in Los Angeles?

These fears consumed me as I waited throughout the day for a message from Samie, or for the phone to ring with his face and phone number on the screen. I started feeling physically ill as the day wore on, and actually had to lie down for 30 minutes because I thought I was going to either faint or vomit.

I finally got the call the next day: Samie had arrived in Los Angeles and been admitted into the country. He had already been approved for settlement so he wasnt turned away. The next day, he flew to his new home in Washington State to start the next chapter in a life that has seen a lot in only 16 years. I am not going to disclose which city for security reasons, and to protect his privacy.

The uncertainties that dogged him for so long still remain.

He is currently living in a boardinghouse reserved for refugees who are minors, run by a nonprofit aid organization. He had wanted to be resettled with an American family, in hopes of regaining what he lost in that bomb blast in Afghanistan. But that didnt happen, and its unknown if it will. In our last phone call, Samie said he was comfortable in the boardinghouse, had his own room, had made friends with other refugees there, and was hoping to resume schooling or some kind of vocational training.

But he also said that he was bored out of his mind, with nothing to do. He asked if I knew a family who might take him in as a foster son, because he is not sure how he will feel about the boardinghouse a few months from now, after the euphoria of being in the United States wears off.

This made me feel as bad as I did that day in late January. Samies mad dash to America was brave and awe-inspiring to me. But in so many other ways, his journey toward a new life is only beginning.

Since we first published a story and aired two podcasts about Samie and other refugees in limbo following President Trumps first executive order, The New York Times has received numerous emails from concerned Americans across the country  and even Canadians  who have offered to make donations to help Samie or adopt him or become his foster parents. This was a pleasant surprise for a journalist who has spent the last 20 years living in Southeast Asia, and it gave me great pride in being an American. I am trying to assist Samie in learning his options for remaining at the boardinghouse or moving in with a foster family. In the meantime, he has asked for privacy as he figures things out, so this will be the last story on him for a while. But I am determined to make sure it is not the last one about this singular young man.
RE: THE FUTURE OF WORK ISSUE

The Feb. 26 issue was dedicated to the future of the working class, with articles on universal basic income, retraining, automation and the American work force.



Great issue on the future of work. Our educators should read this issue and start to focus more attention on preparing our youth for the jobs of tomorrow. The needs of employers are changing. Our schools should recognize that the world is changing. So should curriculums. Paul Feiner, Greenburgh, N.Y.

In Barbara Ehrenreichs engaging article on evolving methods of organizing workers, the co-authors of important collaborative research on rising working-class mortality rates are identified as Angus Deaton, a Nobel laureate in economics, with his wife, Anne Case. Anne Case holds an endowed professorship in economics at Princeton University, and she has won several prizes and awards for her research on health and economics. These, not her marital status, are her relevant qualifications in the context of this article. Given that The Times has published articles in the past critiquing yourselves and other media outlets for this very manner of understating the qualifications and contributions of women when they collaborate with men, using this same couple as an example, it is discouraging that you still cant get this right. Deborah Beck, Austin, Tex.


You could look at it as a metaphor for our troubled times.

Or simply as one of those revelatory moments that occur in the dense understory of New York City when an old building is torn down and an unexpected perspective opens. (Passers-by have been marveling for months at the newly exposed west facade of Grand Central Terminal.)

In either case, there is a bridge to nowhere in Lower Manhattan.

It used to connect Trinity Church, at Broadway and Wall Street, to the 25-story parish house at 74 Trinity Place. But ever since demolition of the parish house was finished last August, the pedestrian footbridge has ended in midair. It is closed off by a gate on the churchyard side.

The 85-foot-long bridge should reopen in late 2019, when it leads from the churchyard cloister to a new $300 million, 26-story parish building designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.

Scripture tells us that faith is the evidence of things not seen, the Rev. Dr. William Lupfer, Trinitys rector, said. The new Trinity parish hall will soon serve this community, neighborhood, and the City of New York for a fourth century.
Christopher Platt, the chief branch library officer, said that, to his knowledge, This is the first educational gift to public libraries of this scale in the country.

The New York Public Library, which has branches throughout Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island  Brooklyn and Queens have their own systems  receives just over half its overall operating costs, and more than 80 percent of the operating costs of its branches, from the city. The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio has increased funding to the citys three library systems by $43 million in the last two years, allowing the libraries to expand offerings and opening hours.

The New York Public Library is also in the process of renovating many branches, including five of the original libraries financed by Andrew Carnegie.

Apart from city agencies, the library is the primary provider of free adult literacy and English language classes in the city, and in recent years it has quintupled the number of seats in such classes, serving 12,000 people at 42 locations. But Mr. Platt said that the demand for such classes was much greater than that.

Thats a drop in the bucket, he said.

Similarly, he said, the library currently reaches some 350,000 people per year with popular early literacy programs like story time. But, he said, theres a lot of potential to build out what early literacy and family literacy is.
Omar T. Mohammedi, a lawyer who has represented Muslim groups in such cases, said he was expecting the government to pursue some enforcement of religious land-use claims because Mr. Trump has said he will be strong on religious freedom issues. But not to the level that Obama was doing it, he said.

The number of religious land-use discrimination cases involving Muslims is growing. The federal government investigated 17 such cases from 2010 to 2016, compared with seven from 2000 to 2010. Locally, the New Jersey townships of Bernards and Bridgewater have faced investigations, and a lawsuit was recently filed claiming discrimination against a proposed mosque in Yonkers.

In Bayonne, a working-class city of some 63,000 people, Muslims lived for decades without their own mosque. In 2009, a diverse coalition from the community decided it was time to change that. They formed a nonprofit organization and rented a 1,500-square-foot room in the basement of a former Roman Catholic school, St. Henrys, on a main street across from City Hall.

For years, said Mr. Akbar, 38, a founder and secretary of the group, we never got any negativity from the neighbors. Everyone was very helpful, But that changed when the group bought the two-story warehouse at 109 East 24th Street with the intent of renovating it into an Islamic center. The center would host prayers five times a day, religious classes for children, and a soup kitchen open to all.

The warehouse, which had been used by a roofing company and a marine supply business, seemed out of the way, tucked into Bayonnes quiet, residential East End, which is isolated from the rest of town by Route 440 on one side and a set of train tracks on the other.

But what seemed to Mr. Akbar an advantage was a huge issue for some locals.

Its quiet and peaceful, thats what we moved here for, said Eric Loarte, 48, who lives a few doors down from the proposed mosque and was primarily worried about traffic. Thats going to be taken away from us.
Two people have died following an outbreak of listeria linked to a popular artisanal raw milk cheese made in upstate New York, the authorities said this week.

The deaths occurred in Vermont and Connecticut, local officials said. Four other people in New York and Florida reported feeling sick after eating Ouleout, the artisanal cheese, which is produced by Vulto Creamery in Walton.

Illnesses started on dates from Sept. 1 of last year to Jan. 22, the Food and Drug Administration said. All six people were hospitalized and two people died.

Ouleout has been celebrated across the United States as much for its unusual back story as for its flavor: It was created by Jos Vulto, a Dutch artist linked to the Museum of Modern Art, who started making cheese in his apartment and aging it under a sidewalk in Brooklyn.
Kanchanpur local dies in Indias SSB firing

A 32-year-old man from Ananda Bazaar of Punarbas Municipality-8 in Kanchanpur district died when Indias Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) allegedly opened fire on locals on Nepal-India border on Thursday.
Mr. Bastian said that he had spent his first several years getting rid of teachers who were weak, disengaged or, in one case, unhinged. In 2009, the teachers union chapter leader, who had been reassigned after a physical altercation with a student, barricaded himself in a classroom and claimed that he had planted a bomb in the library. (He had not.)

I started in a very tumultuous way, Mr. Bastian said, adding that, as a new principal, he had not had many allies in the department or the school. But over time, he said, he was able to remove the ineffectual teachers and, in the process, gain the trust of the more talented and energetic ones.

District 9, where the schools are, is considered hard to staff because of its concentrated poverty, distance from Manhattan and dearth of public transportation. But Mr. Bastian has seen relatively low turnover in recent years.

He is using money from the Renewal program to pay four of his most experienced teachers extra to serve as mentors to colleagues. He has formed a cabinet, including three of those experienced teachers, the assistant principal and a staff member from the Center for Supportive Schools, a nonprofit that is working with all three schools in the building as part of the Renewal program. The group gathers weekly in his office, laptops ready, to whip through a digital agenda using meeting practices learned in training from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Laura Weiss, a member of the cabinet and an English teacher in her ninth year at the school, said that the opportunity to move into a leadership position was one of the reasons she had stayed at the school instead of leaving to teach in the suburbs, where the work might be easier but where she thought she would learn less.
Those efforts failed or fell well short of their aims. Afghanistan remains in the grip of a resolute insurgency and a kleptocratic, dysfunctional governing elite. The Afghan state has been rapidly losing control of districts across the country to Taliban factions and Afghan forces are getting killed and injured at a rate American commanders call unsustainable.

As the Trump administration settles in, American commanders are making the case for another troop surge. Testifying before the Senate last month, Gen. John Nicholson, the current top commander in Afghanistan, said Americas longest war is in a stalemate and lamented what he called a shortfall of a few thousand troops. There are currently 13,000 international troops in Afghanistan, including about 8,400 Americans. On Thursday, Gen. Joseph Votel, the commander of Centcom, said military leaders are drawing up a new strategy that will require more American troops.

White House officials and members of Congress should consider this request with skepticism. The challenges that have stymied American generals in Afghanistan for years  including havens for insurgents in Pakistan, endemic corruption and poor leadership in the Afghan military  remain unsolved. In the absence of a dramatically different approach to those problems, any new reinforcements can only be expected to shore up the fledgling Afghan government for a year or two.

Sending troops into harms way is among the most difficult responsibilities of a commander in chief. Yet there is little evidence that President Trump and his national security team have given the matter substantial consideration since his inauguration. Mr. Trump in 2013 favored a full withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling the war a waste of money. Last year, he said he would stay in Afghanistan, although, he said, I hate doing it so much.
Though Im sure hell take credit for it, Trump didnt originate the idea of a border wall. Both the Bush and Obama administrations advocated for one, and after George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 to protect the American people, The Times called on 13 architects and urban planners to design proposals for it (several abstained). In response to Trumps calls for a wall, the Third Mind Foundation, created by a group of architects, designers and artists, sponsored a Build the Border Wall competition last year. Then as now, the border wall project promises to be an enormous construction boondoggle. And then as now, companies that are signing up want to make a profit. But the Trump context has made this controversial issue even more incendiary.

I got in touch with Fonna Forman, a political scientist, and Teddy Cruz, an architect, both professors at the University of California, San Diego, who who co-direct the UCSD Cross-Border Initiative, for their thoughts on the border wall quandary.

O.K., fine, lets imagine that a certain degree of pragmatism might guide some decisions right now, the pair said in an email, that Trump might surprise us and take a more functional problem-solving approach to investing in public infrastructure. The problem for us is that problem solving or business smartness without ethics, and without respect for human dignity, and without a sensibility toward social justice  is simply just business.

The Architecture Lobby, an organization that advocates for such things as wage transparency, fair labor practices and structural change within the architectural profession, has called for a day of action today in opposition to the proposed southwestern border wall.Participating in this R.F.P., even by not submitting what is asked, Quilian Riano, an architectural designer and Architecture Lobby coordinator, wrote to me in an email, is playing into the political ideology that allowed this R.F.P. to be released in the first place.

The architect Keefer Dunn, national organizer for the lobby, added in an email, Companies like the ones I work for have a longstanding pre-existing relationship with D.H.S. and an extensive working knowledge of the federal building procurement process  this is not a system we can game in our favor. Refusal to apply our expertise to projects like this is a form of participation, and the best tool of resistance we have. But others, like Ronald Rael, whose book Borderwall as Architecture: A Manifesto for the U.S.-Mexico Boundary will be published on April 4th, right around the time the government will be deciding on border wall submissions, can be seen as both a protest against the wall and a forecast about its future.

Im really hesitant to say the wall has provided an opportunity, he told me over coffee in Berkeley last week, but he makes the argument that we should view the nearly 700 miles of wall as an opportunity for economic and social development along the border  while at the same time encouraging its conceptual and physical dismantling.
Volkswagens diesel emissions fraud, exposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2015, is finally rocking Europe, where cozy relations between government regulators and industry have allowed VW  and other diesel car manufacturers  to pollute with impunity for too long.

Between 2008 and 2015, 11 million VW cars worldwide were equipped with software that lowered emissions of dangerous nitrogen oxides to legal limits during testing and then allowed them to return to levels up to 40 times greater. After lying and obfuscating about their clean diesel cars, VW finally pleaded guilty in January to criminal charges in the United States and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines. The cost to VW for its fraud in the United States so far is some $25 billion, including fines, customer claims and buybacks. In addition, six VW executives face criminal charges. One, Oliver Schmidt, was arrested in Florida in January and will be tried in April.

The others are believed to be in Germany, which does not normally extradite citizens. But Germany is conducting its own investigation. On Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel testified before a parliamentary committee on when, and how much, she knew about VWs fraud. She said she learned of the allegations against VW from the media only after the E.P.A. went public. And she hedged on VWs culpability, saying: I explicitly reject describing this incident as a gigantic scandal. She also emphasized that automakers provide jobs.
Mr. Hardt, the trans-Atlantic coordinator, said that he was overall more relaxed today than right after the election, regarding security politics and trade relations, and that Mr. Pences public commitment to NATO at the Munich conference reflected the administrations stance as a whole.

German foreign policy experts are not blind to the obvious divide between ideologues and pragmatists in Mr. Trumps administration. He will always have to do something to keep his people excited, Mr. Hardt said. Thats what Stephen Bannon is in there for. Just as all populists, Donald Trump runs the risk of being a captive to his own populism.

But Germany seems a little too confident that pragmatism will prevail, that Mr. Trump has too much to gain from Europe and that he will cooperate with Germany and Europe, if somewhat more grudgingly, just as his predecessors have.

The problem is that while previous presidents have tried to govern from somewhere near the middle and reflect some version of the public consensus, Mr. Trump governs as he campaigned: from his right-wing base. And that base, as I found during a recent trip to the United States, has a dim and divisive view of Germany, and Europe generally.

If you search for Germany on Breitbart News, the far-right website, youll find nothing but reports of terrorist attacks, crime rates and forced child marriages. On Jan. 3, Breitbart reported that 1,000 men chanted Allahu akbar and set Germanys oldest church alight in the northwestern city of Dortmund. But the facts were different: According to the local police, there really had been a gathering of some 1,000 people in central Dortmund, but local reporters say that only a small group chanted Allahu akbar. There really was a fire, but it came from some errant fireworks that had been caught in a nearby net. (Oh, and its not the oldest church in Germany.)

But such details dont matter. Mr. Trumps base and the news media he consumes believe that Europe is being overrun by violent Muslim refugees. Do you still feel safe, a woman asked me, I mean, after letting all those Muslims in?

This shouldnt be a surprise; Mr. Trump is no different from the European populists we have come to know so well over the last few years  they all depend on the narrative of the liberal Wests self-destruction by lassitude and multiculturalism. Germany and Europe  or rather their blurry alt-right media twins  present dystopian futures for the United States if Mr. Trumps movement doesnt succeed. And Mr. Trump is well aware of this. Its what he was alluding to when he said to supporters at a rally in Florida in February, Look at whats happening in Sweden.

True, Mr. Trumps alt-right allegiance doesnt preclude behind-the-scenes cooperation. But it does present severe limits to what can happen publicly. How would Mr. Trump explain to his voters that he is cooperating with Germany and Europe in sensitive fields such as national security  while in the minds of his supporters they are at the brink of chaos and civil war? It is this distorted image that German foreign policy makers will be up against in the years to come.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Americans are relying on leaders in Washington to fix health care, not engage in yet another unproductive partisan standoff. In 2010, one side of the political aisle in Congress, the Democrats, chose to fix health care unilaterally, without bipartisan support. The result was Obamacare, which has run up government spending while failing to drive down the cost of health care.

Now, with the political tables turned in Washington, the Republicans are starting down the same unilateral path, a course that can only further divide the nation. A true and lasting reform of the health insurance system must be accomplished by bringing the two sides together, not by replacing one divisive wedge with another.

Throughout my career, Ive learned that meaningful change happens only with bipartisan support. When I was chairman of the House Budget Committee in the 1990s, we were able to make over Pentagon spending, revamp welfare and balance the federal budget for the first time in decades because Democrats and Republicans made a commitment to work together. We disagreed and debated, but in the end we agreed to changes that strengthened our country.
NEW DELHI  India is proud of its argumentative tradition. But that culture of debate and tolerance has been increasingly attacked by Hindu nationalists since the 2014 election of their standard-bearer Narendra Modi as prime minister, with several particularly disturbing incidents last month.

In late February, a college at Delhi University arranged a seminar on nationalism, free speech, dissent and sedition. As panelists discussed Indias caste system, a mob of hundreds from the student wing of the Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to which Mr. Modi belongs, surrounded the college.

Hindu nationalists led by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (A.B.V.P.), the student body of the R.S.S., had earlier objected to the inclusion of Umar Khalid, who attained prominence last year after being arrested along with other student leaders in connection with a protest over Kashmir. Mr. Khalid and his fellow activists  graduate students with a gift for oratory  emerged as powerful critics of Mr. Modis policies and positions upon their release from prison.

The organizers of the seminar agreed to drop Mr. Khalid as a speaker. Nonetheless, the mob charged the auditorium, hurling rocks, breaking windows, and cutting off electricity. Scores of professors and students were trapped as the bricks and stones rained and as the police, which reports to Mr. Modis government, stood by watching. The seminar was called off.
Jet lag makes everyone miserable. But it makes some people mentally ill.

Theres a psychiatric hospital not far from Heathrow Airport that is known for treating bipolar and schizophrenic travelers, some of whom are occasionally found wandering aimlessly through the terminals. A study from the 1980s of 186 of those patients found that those whod traveled from the west had a higher incidence of mania, while those whod traveled from the east had a higher incidence of depression.

I saw the same thing in one of my patients who suffered from manic depression. When he got depressed after a vacation to Europe, we assumed he was just disappointed about returning to work. But then he had a fun trip out West and returned home in whats called a hypomanic state: He was expansive, a fount of creative ideas.

It was clear that his changes in mood werent caused by the vacation blues, but by something else. The problem turned out to be a disruption in his circadian rhythm. He didnt need drugs; he needed the right doses of sleep and sunlight at the right time.

It turns out that that prescription could treat much of what ails us.

Clinicians have long known that there is a strong link between sleep, sunlight and mood. Problems sleeping are often a warning sign or a cause of impending depression, and can make people with bipolar disorder manic. Some 15 years ago, Dr. Francesco Benedetti, a psychiatrist in Milan, and colleagues noticed that hospitalized bipolar patients who were assigned to rooms with views of the east were discharged earlier than those with rooms facing the west  presumably because the early morning light had an antidepressant effect.
Like much of the world, Ive been trying to understand Stephen K. Bannon, the chief strategist and guiding force behind the chaos of Donald Trumps bizarre presidency  chaos by design.

He has been called the most dangerous political operative in America, the second most powerful man in the world and the great manipulator. He reportedly compared himself to Vladimir Lenin, the murderous architect of the Soviet Union  not his politics, but his goal to blow up the state. In a rare interview last fall, Bannon mentioned some role models.

Darkness is good, he told The Hollywood Reporter. Dick Cheney, Darth Vader. Satan. Thats power. You certainly cant accuse him of lacking ambition, but I think he cited that villainy all-star list to throw people off. In the same interview, he made another, more accurate comparison:

I am Thomas Cromwell in the court of the Tudors.

Its well known that Trump doesnt read; he watches Fox News, then sends out inaccurate tweets about something he was unable to process. But Bannon is a voracious reader  of philosophy, theory and the hinge moments in history. Cromwell, who altered the course of the Western world in ways still being felt today, was Steve Bannon in feathered Tudor finery.
Divide and conquer. Thats the way to understand President Trumps informal offer to Planned Parenthood: Stop doing abortions and you can keep the federal funding that the House Republican bill to replace Obamacare would otherwise eliminate. The president was reportedly trying to placate both conservatives and his daughter Ivanka, who, during the campaign, apparently pushed him to recognize that millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood.

The Trump pitch came cloaked in a guise of supposed reasonableness: Since most of the care women receive at Planned Parenthood involves services like cancer screenings, contraception and testing for sexually transmitted diseases, why not simply leave the abortions to other clinics and providers? Planned Parenthood could spare itself a lot of political trouble and Ms. Trump would get to broker a deal.

But the Republican approach to health care for women in this legislation is not reasonable. The House bill goes so far as to prohibit a health care organization from receiving Medicaid funds for a year if it is affiliated with Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood has rightly rejected the presidents proposal. Abortion-rights groups see it as the latest in a long line of efforts not only to reduce access to abortion as part of the spectrum of health care for women but also to weaken their cause.
House meet: Morcha MPs picket rostrum, chant slogans

The Members of Parliament affiliated to the agitating Smayukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha have picketed the rostrum during the meeting of the Legislature-Parliament on Friday in protest against Saptari incident.
To the Editor:

Re Trump to Begin Undoing Vehicle Pollution Restrictions (news article, March 4):

The Trump administration appears poised to take a wrecking ball to a rule that increases the mileage for cars, trucks and S.U.V.s, saves consumers money (on average $1,500 a vehicle), cuts oil use and reduces harmful pollution.

The automakers were key architects of these standards when they came out in 2012, but now some are trying to back out of their commitment, even though they are experiencing record sales, and new technologies are coming on line to make it faster and cheaper than expected to meet these standards.

It is a travesty that the Trump administration would let the car companies renege on such an important agreement. But it will be a long hard fight. It will take years to repeal the rule, and at the end of the day, the Trump administration will have to persuade a skeptical court that there is new information that justifies changing course.

Supporters of this rule are ready for that fight.

KEN KIMMELL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

The writer is president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
For a guy who has spent his life delivering messages  as a businessman, reality TV star, presidential candidate and now president  President Trump is doing an abysmal job explaining his view of the world and Americas place in it. Normally, that would increase the importance of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. But if Mr. Trumps messages are confusing, Mr. Tillersons are almost nonexistent.

Secretary of state has traditionally been seen as the premier cabinet position. But Mr. Tillerson has shown little interest in asserting a public role for himself or his department. Instead, he has been avoiding public accountability on matters of war, peace and pretty much everything else. That includes pressing issues like the administrations plans for pumping up the fight against the Islamic State. Mr. Tillerson risks diminishing his position, that of his department and possibly the influence of his successors.

For instance, after Mr. Trump signed his Muslim ban 2.0 on Monday, Mr. Tillerson and his counterparts at Justice and Homeland Security held a press event and dutifully read out statements about the new order. But they refused to answer questions, making it clear they saw reporters as mere pawns in their P.R. tableau. And at Mr. Tillersons photo op with the Ukrainian foreign minister the next day, he ignored Andrea Mitchell, the veteran NBC correspondent, who was firmly ushered out of the room by State Department employees when she tried to question the secretary about China and North Korea.

Its not that previous secretaries didnt sometimes duck questions. But Mr. Tillerson has been shockingly inaccessible since he was sworn in last month. On top of questionless photo ops, there have been no news conferences and no Sunday talk show appearances. Compounding the problem, Mr. Tillerson silenced the State Departments institutional voice for six weeks by suspending the press briefing, which had been conducted by a spokesperson on a regular basis (usually daily) for decades. The briefings resumed Tuesday after an internal debate over their value; plans are to hold two public briefings and two conference calls per week.
To the Editor:

I call for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate President Trumps claim that President Barack Obama wiretapped phones in Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential election.

I would like to know which of the following statements is true:

1) President Obama conducted illegal wiretaps.

2) A specialized surveillance court authorized legal wiretaps.

3) An intelligence agency conducted illegal wiretaps on its own.

4) President Trump is a liar.

These answers will go a long way to determine if changes are needed and who has the integrity and moral authority to lead us into the future.

NIELS CAPPEL, WINTERS, CALIF.
INTERNATIONAL

An article on Thursday about Americans imprisoned in Iran misstated the month that Karan Vafadari, an American citizen who owns a Tehran art gallery, and his wife, Afarin Niasari, a permanent resident of the United States, were arrested in Iran. It was July, not September.

NATIONAL

An article on Wednesday about efforts by Londonderry, N.H., to change the towns search image on Google described its location incorrectly. Londonderry is northwest of Boston, not northeast.

NEW YORK

An article on Thursday about the purchase of the New York media company Gothamist by DNAinfo, a media company owned by Joe Ricketts, misidentified which of Mr. Rickettss sons was nominated to serve in the Trump administration as deputy secretary of the Department of Commerce. His son Todd, not Pete, is the nominee. (Pete Ricketts is the governor of Nebraska.)

BUSINESS DAY

An article on Thursday about the effect large companies may have had on a decline in workers share of income misspelled the surname of an author of the study on such superfirms. He is John Van Reenen, not Van Reenan.
On todays episode:

 Over the past seven years, the Affordable Care Act has woven its way into American lives. As the Republican health care bill moves rapidly through Congress, we talk with Mitch Jacques, a doctor at a clinic in rural West Virginia, about what the repeal of Obamacare might mean for his community and the paradox of many of his patients loving the coverage they get under the Affordable Care Act but hating Obamacare.

 From Solange to Rufus Wainwright, what can music tell us about this moment in time? We listen to clips from The EP, a new multitrack collection thats tied to The New York Times Magazines annual music issue. You can find The EP on Apples Podcasts app, Stitcher, RadioPublic, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Background reading:

 How President Trump is marshaling the full power of his office to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

 Why Republicans are battling Republicans over the repeal of Obamacare.

Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Tweet me at @mikiebarb. And if that isnt enough, we can even text.

How do I listen?

If you dont see an audio player on this page or to subscribe to The Daily for free, follow the instructions below.
Editors here explained the overhaul when the changes were made.

This space will provide a quick and engaging roundup of whats going on in the world of The New York Times  the contents of the print paper, highlights from our video, live journalism and social media. Youll also get a snapshot of what people are reading on our website and an inside look at how the newspaper operates. We even made room for a mini crossword!

On the exclusion of the corrections, one reader wrote:

While I understand the need to have an open mind and appeal to modern sensibilities, a fatal error has been made by banishing the daily Corrections from Page 2. Downgrading Corrections to any convenient space at the back of the A Section is a clear and telling signal to your readers that published textual inaccuracies are no longer important and or significant  a message that totally belies the recently instituted branding message of seeking and printing only truth. Chris Deatherage, Brooklyn, N.Y.

We asked Tom Jolly, an associate masthead editor who helped lead the overhaul of these pages, to address the changes.

We recognize that change is not always welcome, although The Times has changed over the years more than readers sometimes recognize. The changes to Pages 2 and 3 didnt happen on a whim. Our strong feeling was that we owed it to our readers to do a better job of sharing the vast amount of content that we produce, not only in print but online  and Pages 2 and 3 seemed the ideal place to do that since they come before our full news report begins. The overall vision for the pages is that they represent us in conversation with our readers and the masthead is the most visible representation of us. We eliminated the news summaries on the page, but we are still giving readers plenty of guidance to our content: In addition to the six stories that run on Page 1, we generally summarize a dozen more there too, and the Of Interest facts at the top of Page 3 serve a similar utility in that they provide input into the most interesting stories of the day elsewhere in the paper. All other content that was on Page 2 or 3 appears elsewhere in the paper, including Corrections, which is the first item listed in the Table of Contents on Page 2. The new features on Pages 2 and 3 represent content that was not a part of the newspaper before. Were gratified that many readers tell us they find the new content inviting and engaging and hope that others will come to look forward to them as they get used to the changes.

The public editors take: Its clear that a lot of thought and design work went into these two pages; Im curious to see how readers respond in coming weeks. I agree with this reader that displaying corrections in prominent fashion is a long and admirable tradition. It demonstrates The Timess transparency when mistakes are made  all mistakes, but especially large ones. Readers shouldnt have to dig to find them.

Robert Osborne, the host of Turner Classic Movies, died on Monday, and his obituary in The Times noted that David Staller, a longtime friend, had confirmed the death.

Several readers who wrote in were perplexed by The Timess description of Staller.

I was intrigued by the lack of mention of the nature of Osbornes relationship with David Staller  many other news outlets made it clear that Staller was his partner of 20 years, whereas The Times noted that Staller was a longtime friend, and that Osborne died without family survivors. In this era, I would assert that a continuing effort to highlight same-sex partnerships as youve lately done so beautifully in the Weddings section would be of value  but I cannot presume to know whether Mr. Osborne and Staller preferred privacy in this matter. Stephen Case, Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.

We asked the writer of the obituary, Richard Sandomir, about the decision, and he said, I reached out to David Staller and ultimately close friend was how he said he wanted to be identified.

The public editors take: Looks like the obituary desk called it right.

On Tuesday, WikiLeaks released what appeared to be the largest leak of C.I.A. documents in history describing the agencys tools and techniques for breaking into computers, smartphones and even Internet-connected televisions.

A few readers were displeased with the decision to run a story on a WikiLeaks release.

I was disheartened to see that the article made no mention of WikiLeaks seeming alliance with Russia and the Trump administration, as evidenced by the selective leaking of DNC documents but not RNC documents during last years campaign. I fear that this paper is becoming complicit in attempts by WikiLeaks and the Trump Administration to distract from other important issues. Paul Stephan, Philadelphia

We asked The Timess managing editor, Joseph Kahn, to comment on the decision.

We do consider national security when we write about revelations from WikiLeaks or a wide variety of stories that involve sensitive information. There are times when we withhold publication of information that in our view jeopardizes national security or the safety of individuals. But we put a high priority on transparency and the public interest in knowing about their government. The revelation that the C.I.A. had previously undocumented capabilities to monitor a wide array of devices in everyday use by many millions of people around the world is clearly newsworthy. It is not the sort of information we would withhold from our readers. We have written extensively about WikiLeaks and its political motivations. We have also written extensively about the ties to Russia of people connected with President Trump. We will not stop covering either of those issues even as we assess the C.I.A data released by Wikileaks.

The public editors take: Im with the editors. As long as care is taken, the public good often outweighs the risk.
Kipton Cronkite, a salesman at Douglas Elliman, has also noticed this. Clean lines are really important to millennials, he said, and theyre looking for an apartment that doesnt necessarily remind them of their parents or grandparents.

Millennials also tend to be very conscious of the aesthetics and also the function of finishes, said Jos Dudgeon, a principal of Tristate Sustainable, a general contractor in Manhattan. Moldings, profiles, traditional cabinets  theyre not really interested in that. Theyre really interested in something more modern and definitely more linear.

For starters, crown molding is out  I find it tends to close in the space, especially when youre dealing with apartments, said Mr. Dudgeon  and baseboards are becoming flatter, permitting the eyes to look up rather than being drawn downward.

Thats definitely where you see a lot of the modern detailing, said Andrew Mikhael, an architect who has spent the past five months overhauling a co-op in Park South Tower, a 1927 building in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan, for Diego Gomez and Jeanne Haney, a couple in their 40s. Some baseboards are flush to the wall, Mr. Mikhael said, while others feature what is known as a gap reveal, or separation of wall and floor that creates a feeling that the wall is just floating.
Like other New Yorkers, Alex Story occasionally rents out her home through Airbnb, relinquishing her East Village townhouse to strangers who sleep in her bed, eat in her kitchen and lounge on her sofa. But she has found a less intrusive way to profit from her property: She rents it out by the hour, instead.

In the last three years, a handful of companies have entered the New York City marketplace, providing an internet platform that allows people to list their properties for parties, corporate events and photography shoots. Companies like Splacer, Peerspace and Thisopenspace allow ordinary New Yorkers to turn their living rooms into venues for corporate retreats or baby showers, charging as much as a guest is willing to pay.

For New Yorkers who want to make money off their apartments, but are reluctant to skip town to do it, these companies offer a viable alternative to vacation rentals. You dont have to wash your bedsheets, you dont have to find another place to sleep, said Yashar Nejati, 31, the founder of Thisopenspace, a company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that opened in New York last year. You can rent out your space while you go run errands.

Splacer, which started in Tel Aviv, has attracted 700 New York City listings since it entered the marketplace in 2014. A third of the spaces are residential, and the rest are commercial, like restaurants, galleries and warehouses. Peerspace, a San Francisco-based company, arrived in New York in November 2015 and now has 600 listings in this market, about 150 of which are residential. And about a third of Thisopenspaces 300 listings in the city are residential.
In a stunning set of close-ups, Pan, a diminutive moon of Saturn, looks like a floating ravioli lost in space, or a wrinkled flying saucer.

NASAs Cassini spacecraft took the photographs on Tuesday, passing within 15,268 miles of the moon, which has a diameter of about 20 miles, roughly the size of New York City.

Carolyn C. Porco, a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, who leads Cassinis imaging team, was asleep when Cassinis shots were transmitted to Earth. She first saw an image on Twitter.

I saw this picture, and I thought, thats an artists conception, she said. Then I realized it was real.
After decades of failures and misunderstandings, scientists have solved a cosmic riddle  what happens to the tons of dust particles that hit the Earth every day but seldom if ever get discovered in the places that humans know best, like buildings and parking lots, sidewalks and park benches.

The answer? Nothing. Look harder. The tiny flecks are everywhere.

An international team found that rooftops and other cityscapes readily collect the extraterrestrial dust in ways that can ease its identification, contrary to science authorities who long pooh-poohed the idea as little more than an urban myth kept alive by amateur astronomers.

Remarkably, the leader of the discovery team  and co-author of a recent paper in Geology, a monthly journal of the Geological Society of America  turns out to be a gifted amateur who devoted himself to disproving the skeptics.

A noted jazz musician in Norway, he rearranged his life to include eight long years of extraterrestrial sleuthing. His hunt has now produced a significant discovery, a colorful book for lay readers and what scientists call a portrait gallery of alien visitors.
More US states challenge Trump travel ban

Three US states have joined Hawaii in a legal challenge against President Donald Trump's revised travel ban.
The extraordinary offer put many of the tech companies in an awkward position. Should they cooperate with someone who is essentially an outlaw? (Mr. Assange has lived in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, when he sought refuge there from a sexual assault investigation in Sweden.) Would it even be legal for them to receive stolen information? And wouldnt they need to consult with the federal government?

On Thursday, Sean Spicer, President Trumps press secretary, said anyone thinking about working with Mr. Assange should first check with the United States Justice Department about the legal repercussions before proceeding.

The tech companies themselves have mostly kept mum.

More tech news:

Spicer jobs report tweet may break a rule. President Trumps press secretary proclaimed great news 22 minutes after the Labor Department release. A federal rule bars comment for an hour.

Airbnb raises another $1 billion.The company is expanding its war chest at a time of increased investor interest in fast-growing businesses.

The valuation shell game: Silicon Valleys dirty secret. Private companies must hire outside firms to value shares issued to employees. The result is reports with curiously precise numbers that often have a dubious practical value.
The people who stand to lose the most in tax credits under the House Republican health plan tended to support Donald J. Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, according to a new Upshot analysis.

Over all, voters who would be eligible for a tax credit that would be at least $1,000 smaller than the subsidy theyre eligible for under Obamacare supported Mr. Trump over Hillary Clinton by a seven-point margin.

The voters hit the hardest  eligible for at least $5,000 less in tax credits under the Republican plan  supported Mr. Trump by a margin of 59 percent to 36 percent.
Good morning.

(Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Lets turn it over to Adam Nagourney, our Los Angeles bureau chief, for todays introduction.

LOS ANGELES  The Hollywood Reservoir is nestled in a basin surrounded, usually, by dusty brown hillsides, broken up by the occasional dry wisp of shrubbery. Not these days. After yet another burst of rain the other day, the hills were transformed into lush fields of knee-high grass, spotted with purple flowers. And the reservoir? As high as it has been in years.

In Northern California, snow could be seen on top of Mount Diablo outside San Francisco last weekend. Across the state, dams are under siege and reservoirs are overflowing. The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada  a source of water once winter ends and the dry months settle in  was nearly twice its normal level last week. (And that was before even more snow arrived.)
A 22-year-old undocumented immigrant who was detained by the authorities last week after speaking out about her deportation fears was released on Friday, her lawyers and rights groups said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said that the woman, Daniela Vargas, would be freed under an order of supervision, although it did not disclose the terms of the order, according to a statement from the Elmore and Peterson law firm, which is representing Ms. Vargas. The officials, the statement said, also did not disclose why her release from a detention center in Jena, La., was being ordered now.

We expect Daniela to return to her friends and community in Mississippi shortly to resume her daily life, the firms statement said. Court filings regarding the reason and manner of arrest and detention continue to be pursued in an effort to secure Danielas rights.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, Thomas Byrd, confirmed on Friday in a telephone interview that Ms. Vargas had been released. He declined to provide further details about her specific case.
What did voters in your district tell you about supporting President Trump?

Not a lot of direct conversation about why they did. But some people confided to me, look, Im voting for Donald Trump and Im going to vote for you.

We were putting signs up back in August, and I was personally engaged in that activity because I like physical activity, and were using post hole diggers and putting signs up on the side of the road. It was hot as you might expect it to be in Florida, and so Im drenched and wearing a T-shirt and shorts and sneakers and its midday, and all of a sudden this white pickup truck comes pulling off the side of the road where we were putting up the sign. And it was a Caucasian gentleman, probably in his mid-50s and not terribly svelte, if you will, and he gets out of the truck, and it has a Trump sticker on the back. And Im the Democratic nominee, and Im thinking, this may not be so good.

And he comes up to me and he goes, Arent you Charlie Crist? And I said, Yeah, and he goes, Can I get a picture with you? And Im like, Yeah, sure. Im thinking, O.K., this is all turning out all right.
The White House said that Mr. Trump did not know that Mr. Flynn was acting as a foreign agent when Mr. Trump appointed him national security adviser, a position that gave him access to classified meetings and materials. But a person briefed on the matter, who insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations, said Mr. Flynns lawyer contacted a lawyer for Mr. Trumps transition team before the inauguration to ask whether Mr. Flynn should register given his work for Inovo.

The transition lawyer offered no advice, saying it was up to Mr. Flynn. After the inauguration, the person said, Mr. Flynn and his lawyer each raised it again with a White House lawyer, only to be told once more it was up to him. Mr. Flynn had no comment on Friday. His lawyer wrote the Justice Department that Mr. Flynn decided to register retroactively to eliminate any potential doubt.

The White House said its lawyer considered it a private decision and saw no reason to intervene. Its not a question of raising a red flag, said Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary. Its a question of whether or not they gave him the advice that they are supposed to, which is it is not up to them to make decisions as to what you need to do or not do.

Vice President Mike Pence, who was upset that Mr. Flynn had misled him about the conversation with the Russian ambassador that got him dismissed, seemed less forgiving. News reports on the matter were the first I heard of it, the vice president said during an interview on Fox News Thursday night, and I think it is an affirmation of the presidents decision to ask General Flynn to resign.

Throughout the campaign, Mr. Flynn positioned himself as someone willing to call out a national security establishment that was too corrupt to keep America safe. When former colleagues criticized him for becoming overtly partisan, he shot back by castigating them for using their titles to enrich themselves by joining corporate boards.
As was the case in prior transitions, many of the United States Attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice, she said in the email. The Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition.

The abrupt order came after two weeks of increasing calls from Mr. Trumps allies outside the government to oust appointees from President Barack Obamas administration. Mr. Trump has been angered by a series of reports based on leaked information from a sprawling bureaucracy, as well as from his own West Wing.

Several officials said the firings had been planned before Friday.

But the calls from the acting deputy attorney general arose a day after Sean Hannity, the Fox News commentator who is a strong supporter of President Trump, said on his evening show that Mr. Trump needed to purge Obama holdovers from the federal government. Mr. Hannity portrayed them as saboteurs from the deep state who were leaking secrets to hurt Mr. Trump. It also came the same week that government watchdogs wrote to Mr. Bharara and urged him to investigate whether Mr. Trump had violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which bars federal officials from taking payments from foreign governments.

In Mr. Hannitys monologue, he highlighted the fact that the Clinton administration had told all 93 United States attorneys to resign soon after he took office in 1993, and that nobody blinked an eye, but he said it became a scandal when the George W. Bush administration fired several top prosecutors midway through his second term.

Several Democratic members of Congress said they only heard that the United States attorneys from their states were being immediately let go shortly before the Friday afternoon statement from the Justice Department. One senator, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect the identity of the United States attorney in that state, said that an Obama-appointed prosecutor had been instructed to vacate the office by the end of the day.
SONOYTA, Mexico  Reiner Rios Gomez, who is from Hondurass capital, Tegucigalpa, lifted his shirt last week to expose a scar about 12 inches long in the middle of his back, where he said a machete hit him as he fled the robbers who were trying to steal his pay: 2,800 lempiras, or about $119, for half a months work in construction.

To escape that life, he set out for the United States on Jan. 15, making it as far as Sonoyta, Mexico, a city on the Arizona border where roadside stalls sell the camouflage clothes and backpacks that migrants use to cross to the other side. Then he called a cousin in Houston.

Why are you coming? he said his cousin asked him. Theyre going to send you back.

So Mr. Rios, 33, settled down at a shelter in Sonoyta, unsure of what to do next. I have nothing to go back to, he said. And I dont know if theres anything for me on the other side.

Customs and Border Protection reported this week that the number of people caught trying to enter the United States illegally from Mexico had fallen in February to the lowest level in five years. The Trump administration said the sharp decline was a sign that its promises to hire more enforcement agents, deport more people and wall off the border were discouraging people from even trying to cross.
Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts, the owners of the Cork Wine Bar in Washington, are no strangers to publicity.

Shortly after they opened Cork in 2008, one prominent food critic said that the bar and restaurant was so popular that its phone had better rest near a thick pad of paper. In 2016, Bon Appetit raved about the selection at the bars sister retail store. And recently, Food and Wine named Cork one of the 19 best wine bars in the country.

But, this week, Mr. Pitts and Ms. Gross, who are married, are getting attention for something other than the wines and food they sell: On Wednesday night, the couple filed a lawsuit against President Trump and a business that bears his name.

Mr. Pitts and Ms. Gross claim that the Trump International Hotel, in the Old Post Office building in Washington, and the restaurants within enjoy an illegal advantage in the citys restaurant market because of their association with Mr. Trump and that Cork has suffered as a result.
LONDON  President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria returned home on Friday after spending seven weeks in Britain on a vacation that turned into an extended medical leave, with questions about his health and about the stability of Africas most populous country remaining unanswered.

Nigerians have been kept in the dark about the medical condition of the 74-year-old president. The government did little other than praise his return, say he needed additional tests and rest, and announce that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would continue to act as president.

This is a day of joy, Mr. Buharis spokesman, Femi Adesina, said in a video posted on Friday. Its a splendid day. Its a day to give glory, honor, majesty to God in Nigeria. The president is back.

Mr. Buhari flew into the northwestern city of Kaduna and then boarded a helicopter for Abuja, the capital. (The Abuja airport is closed for renovations.)
MPs slam transfer of funds to non-budgetary headings

Lawmakers have expressed concern over the practice of transferring resources to non-budgetary headings saying it will harm financial discipline.
UNITED NATIONS  A terse note from the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner on Friday saying that it could not disclose the cause and manner of a senior Russian diplomats death in February set off a flood of conspiratorial posts on Twitter, but both Russian and American officials said the announcement was a matter of diplomatic protocol.

In order to comply with international law and protocol, the New York City Law Department has instructed the Office of Chief Medical Examiner to not publicly disclose the cause and manner of death of Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, the statement read. As outlined in formal requests from the United States Department of State, Ambassador Churkins diplomatic immunity survives his death.

The State Department said it could not say any more about the results of the autopsy, which was conducted to determine why Ambassador Vitaly I. Churkin died on Feb. 20. And the United States Mission to the United Nations said, through a spokesman, that it was not in a position to comment or to provide any details on the autopsy consistent with our obligations under the Headquarters Agreement between the United States and the United Nations.

In fact, it is not unusual for the United States, as the host country, to leave it to a diplomats home country to announce a cause of death. That was the case when a Nigerian diplomat died in 2015 in Washington, for instance.
The Trump administration, in its fight against the deep state, could risk exacerbating the very problems it has pinned on shadowy bureaucratic forces: leaking, internal conflict and the politicization of institutions like intelligence agencies.

American institutions do not resemble the powerful deep states of countries like Egypt or Pakistan, experts say. Nor do individual leaks, a number of which have come from President Trumps own team, amount to a conspiracy.

The diagnosis of a deep state, those experts say, has the problem backward.

Mr. Trump has put institutions under enormous stress. He has attacked them publicly, implied he would reject intelligence findings that cast his election in a poor light, hobbled agencies by failing to fill critical positions and cut off bodies like the National Security Council from shaping policy.

That has forced civil servants into an impossible dilemma: acquiesce, allowing their institution to be sidelined, or mount a defense, for example through leaks that counter Mr. Trumps accusations or pressure him into restoring normal policy-maker practices.
BEIJING  Its that time again, when more than 5,000 delegates to Chinas National Peoples Congress and its advisory body, the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, meet in Beijing to endorse legislation and discuss government plans for the coming year. They talk about their policy ideas with the local media too, and coverage of their proposals and the online comments they attract provide glimpses into some of the issues on the minds of Chinese today.

End All Birth Restrictions. Lower the Marriage Age.

In 2015, China announced it was ending its decades-long one-child policy, allowing all couples to have two children. But Huang Xihua, a National Peoples Congress delegate from Guangdong Province, said China should lift all controls on births and lower the legal marriage age to 18, from 22 for men and 20 for women.

You cant turn peoples willingness to have babies on and off like a water tap, Ms. Huang told Southern Metropolis. Once having fewer children becomes a trend, its hard to reverse.

As for marriage, she added: Females reach sexual maturity at around 14 years old, and males at 16. That means Chinese people are sexually mature for six years before being allowed to marry. Lowering the legal marriage age is a way to protect civil rights and preserve social harmony.

E-tee-wee-tee: This would undermine womens right to education. Although it would only be an option, in China, where parents are obsessed with maintaining the family bloodline, it would result in more women dropping out of school early. Banzhixiangyan007: Its only a proposal, aimed at giving people the choice to marry at 18, not forcing anyone to get married then. If theyre adults and want to get married, why not let them? And if you want to get married later, you do it later. Isnt more choice a good thing? Ziqidonglaizhenren: First you punish people for having too many children. Now that you want people to have more kids, people should do as you wish? Besides, being a parent isnt just about giving birth, its about responsibility. What do 18-year-olds know when theyre kids themselves?

Drop English from the University Entrance Exam



English is a compulsory subject on the gaokao, the university entrance examination. According to Li Guangyu, a National Peoples Congress delegate from Hunan Province and chairman of the Yuhua Education Group, this has caused students to devote too much time to English at the expense of other subjects. English imposes too much pressure on Chinese students, Mr. Li said on sohu.com.

Ahuhua: Most people dont need English in their everyday life. They need Chinese. But they dont learn Chinese well either. Their grammar is terrible. They cant write characters correctly. People who keep stressing the importance of English are actually threatening the position of Chinese in school. Songbeibeipifalatiao: English is one of the most widely used languages in the world. How can we drop it from the gaokao? Why not cancel math? Do you need math to communicate in your everyday life? Fanxiaopi Superpi: In China, if its not compulsory, who spends any time on it? Have you ever seen Chinese kids studying philosophy, which isnt tested?

Make Parental Negligence a Crime

A group of 13 delegates to the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference have proposed that parents whose negligence results in their childs injury or death should be prosecuted. According to one delegate, Li You, quoted in Chengdu Business Daily, every year, 10 million children in China are injured in accidents, 100,000 fatally, often caused by parents negligence. In February, two children slipped and fell five floors to their deaths in a Tianjin shopping mall when their father held them over a railing. In January, a 4-year-old boy drowned in a bath as his mother, who was beside him, remained engrossed in her cellphone.

Demoiselle-Crane-flying: Agree, and I suggest parents should have to get a certificate before theyre allowed to have children. Being qualified to marry isnt the same as being qualified to raise kids. Phantom1205: Its already so painful for parents if their children are killed or injured. Wouldnt putting them in jail only add to the familys misfortune?

More Holiday Time

The Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, known as Spring Festival, is often called the biggest human migration in the world, as millions return to their hometowns for family reunions. Lai Xiaomin, a delegate to the National Peoples Congress from Hunan Province and chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, wants the seven-day holiday most workers are granted to be extended to 15 days, sina.com reported. With the long distances they must travel, he said, many people are unable to spend much time with their relatives on this most important of Chinese holidays.

Qinggetalang: Fabulous! Even 15 days is too short, maybe 30? Tianxiongboke: Does he understand Chinas situation? With companies hurting so much with worker shortages and the rising cost of labor, I cant imagine what would happen if the holiday was even longer. Luoxuerushuang: I suggest we have seven days off a week. Wed no longer have to work, and I suppose our food would drop down to us from heaven. Jujibeijixing: First, how about making sure every company gives its employees all the holidays theyre entitled to under current laws?

Stack the Dead

In many urban areas, the price of a burial plot is soaring  costing more, by square meter, than an apartment, said Song Xinfang, a National Peoples delegate from Shandong Province. He proposes that China build tower-style cemeteries to save land and money.
Thousands of people fled from their homes, offices and schools six years ago after a devastating earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. To this day, few have returned, leaving behind ghost towns where eerie signs of the departed linger under a caking of dust.

Tomioka, a little more than six miles south of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, was home to 15,830 people before the accident. They left in a hurry. At a ramen restaurant in Okuma, on the main road to town, dishes were left in the sink.

Some towns, like most of Futaba, just four miles north of the nuclear plant, may never be reoccupied. Wandering its deserted streets, catching a glimpse of a piece of a childs artwork here, a workers old Rolodex file there, I am hit by an unstinting sense of loss and devastation.
KATHMANDU, Nepal  Protests flared on Friday along the border between Nepal and India, a day after Indian security forces fatally shot a Nepali man who was protesting their presence on disputed territory.

Indian troops had prevented the Nepalis from completing the construction of a culvert in the disputed area, setting off the protest.

A day after the killing of the man, Govinda Gautam, 25, thousands of Nepali protesters gathered and chanted anti-Indian slogans, demanding that the construction of culvert be completed and that the land be returned to Nepals control.

Indian border forces opened fire with tear gas shells and live ammunition as the protesters approached. Some of the protesters threw stones at the Indian forces.
SEOUL, South Korea  The foes of South Koreas likely new leaders have called them blindly naive, closet North Korea followers and anti-American  an unsettling accusation in a country where the alliance with Washington has been the military bedrock for seven decades.

Now, after being out of power for almost 10 years, the South Korean liberal opposition is on the verge of retaking the presidency with the historic court ruling on Friday that ousted its conservative enemy, President Park Geun-hye, who had been impeached in a corruption scandal.

The liberals presidential hopeful, Moon Jae-in, wants a profound change in the countrys tense relations with North Korea, pushing outreach and dialogue. He also is deeply skeptical of the hawkish stance embraced by the conservatives and South Koreas most important defender, the United States.

Mr. Moon and his liberal partners are especially worried about a new antimissile shield the Americans are installing in South Korea, citing Chinas fury over it and warning of a standoff reminiscent of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Silence fell over thousands of supporters of South Koreas president, Park Geun-hye, as the countrys Constitutional Court announced it was removing her from office on Friday. The unanimous ruling capped months of turmoil for a country that has been gripped by the corruption scandal that brought down Ms. Park.

Since November, the center of Seoul, the capital, has been the site of weekly demonstrations, some of them enormous, demanding Ms. Parks ouster. Her powers were suspended in December, after a legislative impeachment vote.

Her opponents were in the streets on Friday for the ruling, cheering as the court verdict was read.
OTTAWA  A judge who became known throughout Canada for asking a complainant why she could not just keep her knees together during a sexual assault has resigned from Federal Court. It was the latest in a series of episodes that have prompted questions about the handling of sexual assault cases in Canada.

The resignation of the judge, Justice Robin Camp, on Thursday was a rare event in Canadas judicial system and followed the release of a scathing report from the Canadian Judicial Council recommending his firing.

The judges misconduct was manifestly serious and reflected a sustained pattern of beliefs of a particularly deplorable kind, the council wrote in its report.

The release of that finding and Justice Camps resignation followed an announcement by prosecutors on Tuesday that they would appeal the acquittal of a former taxi driver in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in another sexual assault case. The provincial court judge in that case concluded that the complainant  who was found drunk, semi-naked and unconscious by the police in the back of a cab  had consented to sexual activity with the driver. Clearly, a drunk can consent, Judge Gregory Lenehan had ruled.
There are well-known drawbacks to working from home: the isolation, the need for self-discipline.

But here is a new one: the invasion of the toddlers.

Robert E. Kelly, a political-science professor at Pusan National University in South Korea, learned this the hard way on Friday when he appeared as an expert on the BBC via Skype to discuss the South Korea impeachment scandal.

He appeared to be in a home office, with a door closed behind him. Shortly before the interview, he innocently let his Twitter followers know he would be on TV.
Nepali envoy draws Indias attention towards Kanchanpur incident

Nepal has formally drawn the attention of India towards the death of a Nepali man in alleged firing by Indias Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) in Punarbas Municipality-8 of Kanchanpur District on Thursday.
The comment alarmed many because it underscored an approach by Mr. Trump, like the rejection of migrants from certain predominantly Muslim countries, that has stripped much of the moral component from American foreign relations and left him being lectured by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and others about his duties under international law.



Her foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, has gone one step further, reminding America of its moral duty as the most powerful Western country and one founded by Christian refugees.

The United States is a country where Christian traditions have an important meaning. Loving your neighbor is a major Christian value, and that includes helping people, he said recently. This is what unites us in the West and this is what we want to make clear to the Americans.

Behind the rhetoric is the idea that moral authority  as amorphous and idealistic as that can sound  has imbued America with a special kind of clout in the world, with a power that is different from that wielded by autocrats and dictators or by big countries like Russia and China.

While the Soviet-era dominance across Eastern Europe undoubtedly was undermined by an expensive Cold War arms race with the United States, it was the Western Democratic system and America that many people looked to emulate, former diplomats said.

The Berlin Wall didnt come down because people were responding to American howitzers, said Joseph Nye, a former senior State Department official and now a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. It came down under hammers and bulldozers wielded by people whose minds had been affected by the ideas of the West.

The acting State Department spokesman, Mark C. Toner, rejected any suggestion that the United States was walking away from its international obligations or that the administrations statements and policies to date had diminished Americas standing.
MOSCOW  The Kremlin plans to sit out the centenary of the Russian Revolution.

Never mind that the upheavals of 1917 transformed the country and the world, abruptly ending the long rule of the czars, ushering in the Communist era and spawning an ideological confrontation with the West that still resonates.

There will be no national holiday on Sunday, March 12, the date generally recognized as the start of the uprising. Nor will there even be a government-issued official interpretation, like the one mandating that World War II was a Great Victory.

The official reason proffered for ignoring the event is that Russia remains too divided over the consequences of that fateful year.

The more likely explanation, some Kremlin officials, historians and other analysts say, is that President Vladimir V. Putin loathes the very idea of revolution, not to mention the thought of Russians dancing in the streets to celebrate the overthrow of any ruler. Moreover, 1917 smudges the Kremlins version of Russian history as a long, unified march to greatness, meant to instill a sense of national pride and purpose.
GENEVA  Turkeys military and police forces have killed hundreds of people during operations against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey, the United Nations said on Friday in a report that listed summary killings, torture, rape and widespread destruction of property among an array of human rights abuses.

The report, by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, details how operations by the Turkish infantry, artillery, tanks and possibly aircraft drove up to half a million people from their homes over a 17-month period from July 2015 to the end of 2016.

Though the report is focused on the conduct of security forces in southeastern Turkey, the 25-page document underscores the deepening alarm of the United Nations over the measures ordered by Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, since a failed coup attempt last July.

The state of emergency Mr. Erdogan imposed after the coup attempt appeared to target criticism, not terrorism, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said here on Tuesday.
He decided to study Arabic so he could read Islamic scriptures for himself and traveled to Sudan before settling in Egypt. There he got a job presenting an English-language religion program on a Saudi-funded television station, but he fell out with the channels management over his interest in current affairs and quit. He later made documentaries in Libya, Rwanda and elsewhere for an Islamic channel in Britain.

In 2012, he went to Syria to document how Islamist fighters who held territory were operating, and Syria has been his focus since. Early on, he collaborated with Western news outlets to produce reports about foreign fighters. But he felt that they only wanted bad guy stories that sensationalized the fighters, he said.

So he and some friends founded On The Ground News to produce original videos and articles from Syria that he distributes through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. He said he received some funding from sympathetic individuals he declined to name.

Now 46, Mr. Abdul Kareem is married with five children, who live with their mother outside Syria. He declined to say where for fear that their association with him could cause them problems with the authorities.

Besides his family and being able to communicate with people in English, he misses Italian pizza from New York, he said.

He has covered different aspects of the war, including civilians wounded in airstrikes, the destruction caused by rocket attacks and the views of fighters, often near the front lines.

Running through his work is the view that the battle against the government of President Bashar al-Assad is a just Islamic cause against a brutal oppressor, and outrage that the world is not doing more to help out.
A few pugnacious companies out there are skeptical about the age-old maxim that the customer is always right. But the Haggler has never encountered a business that delights in calling its customers wrong, and then insults those customers in obscenity-filled emails and YouTube videos.

Well, he hadnt. Until now.

Q. For Christmas in 2014, I bought a knapsack that holds a gun and ammunition, for my adult son, from a company in Tennessee called Special Operations Equipment. It cost $177. Days later, I asked via email when the item would be shipped, and this totally incensed John Willis, the owner of S.O.E., who wrote back that the site had stated plainly that the company didnt know when the item would be in stock. He told me he would denounce me in a YouTube video, which he did, without using my name.

A year passed. I wrote asking for a refund. Mr. Willis replied that there would be no refund and that Id need to wait until the product was restocked. When I then said I would post a complaint to the Better Business Bureaus site, he wrote back and called me a derogatory word that cant be published here. He added that he would post my name and a link to my bureau complaint to social media sites, and then run a sale in which customers who used my name as a coupon code would get 25 percent off.

I doubt that I can get my money or the knapsack at this point. But perhaps people need to be warned about S.O.E.
Even more important over the short term is the administrations declared policy of cracking down on unauthorized immigrants with waves of deportations, detentions and incarcerations, a program that will require a vast expansion of federal resources. Financial analysts say this could mean that newly detained immigrants will flow into underused buildings owned by the two companies, filling idle space and significantly bolstering profits.

The deportation crackdown is doing very good things for these companies, said Terry Dwyer, an analyst with KDP Investment Advisors. On a personal level, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth, but I guess business is business.

When the companies executives reported earnings in February, it was too early for hard numbers on how the shifts in United States policy were affecting their companies bottom lines, but their excitement was evident.

In a conference call with Wall Street analysts on Feb. 22, for example, George C. Zoley, chief executive of the Geo Group, said that when it came to protecting the southern border of the United States, his company was the largest provider of detention services to the three federal agencies involved: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the Marshals Service.

What the country is seeing, he said, is really an escalation of capacity need for all three federal agencies as a result of the presidents new executive orders. Geo, he said, is prepared to help meet those needs.

Mr. Zoley spoke in detail about the probable impact of one change ordered by Mr. Trump, the end of the so-called catch-and-release program. Under that effort, as Mr. Zoley put it, As people were caught illegally crossing the border, they were held very temporarily and just let go instead of being detained.

Now that Mr. Trump has ordered that many of those people will no longer be released immediately, Mr. Zoley said, the government needs detention and informal processing, a service that will require several thousands of beds more.
As for our current legislative drama, it starts with a fairness problem that doesnt get enough attention: If you get health insurance from your employer, youre not paying taxes on the value of the policy. Holman W. Jenkins Jr. of The Wall Street Journals editorial page memorably referred to this mammoth giveaway as something that perversely treats the richest taxpayers as the neediest. Hence the original desire to give tax credits to everyone shopping for insurance on their own.

Then, however, the congressional maneuvering takes an interesting twist. If the Obamacare replacement bill had come forward (and become law) without any income caps on the health insurance tax credits, there was a good chance that employers would have stopped offering insurance to millions of employees. Not a good look. (The reasons are a bit complicated, but Christopher Jacobs of Juniper Research Group wrote a helpful explainer on it in The Federalist.)

But why the $75,000 and $150,000 benchmarks? There are two possible explanations. The first is principles: Congressional staff might have made a concerted effort to figure out at what income people might be able to afford future premiums without any help, given their other budgetary needs.

The second is practical and mathematical: Giving away tax goodies to even more affluent people would have cost enough to throw the numbers off when the Congressional Budget Office analyzes the bill in the coming days. A spokeswoman for the Ways and Means Committee said that both, in fact, were in play.

So, about those $150,000 families: Is that middle income label that the Republicans used truly applicable? Some experts do use income to define the middle, with the Pew Research Center putting middle in a range from 67 percent to 200 percent of median household income. That works out to roughly $48,000 to $145,000 for a family of four, based on numbers that the federal government published in 2015. Edward Wolff, a New York University economics professor, prefers a net worth measurement and a middle range up to $400,000.

Curious about where you stand? There are online calculators that will put you in your percentile based on household income. And the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation whipped up a tool this week to help people visualize the impact of the proposed tax credits.

Still, demographics do not capture feelings. Plenty of people with incomes above $200,000 are one missed paycheck (or a four-figure health insurance premium spike) away from real financial trouble. Sometimes they are to blame for picking an expensive community or getting into too much debt. But often they or their family members have fallen gravely ill, or an unexpected, undeserved and extended job loss has left them vulnerable even after they return to six-figure status.
Mr. Ellwood also advised people to register for a hotels loyalty program before going. It shows the guest is a frequent visitor, or has the potential to be.

And the complaints of high-end travelers are usually of the type that can be avoided  and would seem easy to fix. What should travelers do, particularly when what they want is a great experience and not the free nights or drinks that get rolled out to make amends?

Ms. Verger said that during her stay at the Hotel Boscolo, she sought out a manager to fix her problems  and they were fixed. Most memorably, she said, the day after her disappointing breakfast, she got a cappuccino to her liking and fresh, tasty pastries.

When these problems were addressed politely and firmly  I dont believe in yelling  they were fixed, she said. Id go back and stay in that hotel.

Ms. Vergers story struck a chord with me. It reminded me of similar hotel problems Id had. Over Presidents Day weekend, I was with my family at the Four Seasons in Baltimore, where rooms range from $350 a night to over $2,500.

On the first night, we waited nearly an hour for ice and water to be brought up. On the second day, we returned to our room at 3 p.m., and it hadnt been cleaned. On the third day, we had to talk our way into brunch in the hotel restaurant  even though we were staying there.

There was another time, at the Ritz-Carlton in Miami Beach, where my wife and I were celebrating a birthday without our children. Rooms with a view of the ocean hover around $1,000 a night in the winter.
NHRC concerned over obstruction

The National Human Rights Commission has expressed its concern over continued obstruction of its monitoring works in Province 2, particularly in Saptari.
NEW BRITAIN, Conn.Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry discussed the condition of the federal banking system during remarks at Central Connecticut State University last night. The speech came as part of the Distinguished Banking and Finance Lecture Series at the university. His comments also highlighted the importance of diversity in the federal banking system and what the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has done to support community banking, and in particular federal savings associations and mutual savings associations.

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It has become something of a local fixture on Boston's north shore, the brightly colored international flags fluttering atop The Greenhouse School in Salem. It's been called 'The school with the flags.' And when weather takes its toll or when they are down for any period of time, someone around town will eventually point it out, says Director Dan Welch. "Yes, I've had people approach me and say 'Danny, when are you going to put the flags back up. My kids miss them when we drive by!'"

But the flags are much more than an adornment, says Welch. The school began rotating the flags on the small cupola on its Loring Avenue roof over twenty years ago. Each flag represents the native country of a current or former student, parent or staff member. Given the school's small size, it is surprising that its community has hailed from over 60 countries over the years.



International flags newly installed on school roof

(Image by Greenhouse School) Details DMCA



In fact, Welch is fond of saying that without immigrants, there would be no Greenhouse School. The school is currently run by Welch and his wife and co-Director Julia Nambalirwa-Luggude, herself an immigrant and a native of Uganda. "It's who we are," Welch insists. And with the current controversy swirling around immigration policy and the old flags taking a particularly fierce pounding this winter, Welch thought it appropriate to up the ante a bit with brand new, better and more weather resistant ones. To reassure the immigrants in the school community and beyond that its commitment wasn't, er, flagging, as it were.

"With the increasing attacks on immigrant groups across the country and in Europe as well, it is certainly not the time to be silent," Welch vows, promising that the school will remain fiercely internationalist in its orientation. Welch speaks five languages, Nambalirwa-Lugudde three, and the couple insists that now more than ever it is essential to rise above xenophobia and scapegoating of immigrants.



Greenhouse School students proudly pose with flag display

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The school's flag display was vandalized back in 2006, though Welch insists there was no evidence this was related to any anti-immigrant sentiment. As to the question of whether being so outspoken has had an impact on business over the years, Welch shrugs. "I suppose it might have had. I mean people say that we are like 'a piece of Africa' or a 'throwback to the old country.' And when prospective parents aren't feeling the international vibe, it is quite apparent. "Oh, yeah, we can tell right away if it rubs people the wrong way." Still, the school remains unapologetic in its pro-immigrant views.

During this same period the backlash was more obvious. The school marked the so-called Day Without Immigrants on May 1, 2006 by posting signs along with the flags, saying "We are all immigrants" in both English and Spanish. One passerby actually stopped at the school to voice his displeasure, wherupon he received quite and earful from staff. An unrepentant Welch explains "Look, this is who we are. You're not going to step to us with this racist nonsense without getting a lecture in world history and a lecture in human rights."

The couple maintains that they are teachers and historians first. It is not only because of their personal experience that they reject the new jingoism, but from a deep sense of history. Welch points out that ethno nationalism ravaged Europe not only during the Nazi period, but for most of its previous 1,000 years of history. He also notes that anti immigrant fervor is virtually always fueled by racist undertones. "It is essential that kids know about this, and US schools are particularly weak in this area." He finds it particularly odd that so many Americans cling to the idea of a white ethno state. "Think about it," he muses. "It takes a certain level of historical amnesia for Europeans to claim a white nation on land populated by one set of brown people and built up with the forced labor of other set of brown people."

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Watch/embed video interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-xsvDBpdh4

Listen or download the podcast: http://bit.ly/2m6mgbx

Wisdom of Nelson Mandela, "It always seems impossible until it's done", has only deepened in relevance and context when we review the fight against tuberculosis (TB), a curable disease which continues to be one of the top ten causes of death globally.

With 1.8 million TB deaths globally (480,000 TB deaths in India alone) in 2015, urgent and well-coordinated multi-sectoral response to #endTB is a compelling public health imperative today.

In lead up to World TB Day 2017, CNS (Citizen News Service) spoke with Dr KK Chopra, Director of New Delhi TB Centre, who has invested over 30 years in this battle against TB. Dr Chopra reflected on key gamechangers in past decades and shared key insights on upping the pace to end TB. This interview is part of CNS Inspire series -- featuring people who have had decades of experience in health and development, and learning from them what went well and not-so-well and how these learnings can shape the responses for sustainable development over the next decade.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as WHO End TB Strategy are two major demonstrations of political commitment to end TB. But the ground reality puts these commitments in stark contrast against the abysmally slow pace of TB decline - year after year. In fact, TB cases and TB deaths actually rose in 2015 as per the latest data.

NTP to RNTCP: Major wins but challenges ahead

"When I was a postgraduate student we practiced domiciliary treatment for TB. Back then, we had the National TB Programme (NTP), in which treatment was based on X-Ray examination, and its duration was of two years. We routinely asked patients while taking their history if they had taken '90 injections' to find out about previous treatments. Short-course therapy for TB was just beginning in those years. Although there was a reporting mechanism in NTP but complete data was not available of patients put on treatment or treatment outcomes" shared Dr KK Chopra.

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Hawaii Wednesday (March 8) became the first US State to challenge President Donald Trump's new Muslim Ban order rolled out on Monday.

The State of Hawaii lawyers have called the travel ban nothing more than "Muslim Ban 2.0" and asked a federal judge to temporarily block the order.

"Nothing of substance has changed: There is the same blanket ban on entry from Muslim-majority countries (minus one)," Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said of the new order. "Under the pretense of national security, it still targets immigrants and refugees. It leaves the door open for even further restrictions," Chin added.

U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii said the state could add to its initial lawsuit, which had challenged Trump's original ban signed in January.

A hearing is set for March 15, a day before the new ban is to go into effect.

The complaint enumerates eleven instances where Trump made comments related to intending a Muslim ban, including promises during his campaign and statements like "If I win, they're going back!" about Syrian refugees.

Hawaii says its state universities would be harmed by the order because they would have trouble recruiting students and faculty. It also says the island state's economy would be hit by a decline in tourism. Hawaii asserts that the new order violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment because it is essentially a Muslim ban.

The revised travel order changed and replaced an original, more sweeping ban issued on Jan. 27 that caused chaos and protests at airports and was challenged in more than two dozen lawsuits around the country. A federal judge in Seattle put the first order on hold, in a decision upheld by an appeals court in San Francisco.

"President Trump's new Executive Order is antithetical to Hawaii's State identity and spirit," lawyers for the state wrote. "For many in Hawaii, including State officials, the Executive Order conjures up the memory of the Chinese Exclusion Acts and the imposition of martial law and Japanese internment after the bombing of Pearl Harbor."

Just hours after the new order was signed, a group of plaintiffs led by the Arab American Civil Rights League announced its intention to file an amended complaint in a case challenging the original order. Shortly after the new order was announced by the White House Monday morning, the American Civil Liberties Union said it expects continued legal challenges over the constitutionality of the order, which the group referred to as "Muslim Ban 2.0." "The Trump administration has conceded that its original Muslim ban was indefensible. Unfortunately, it has replaced it with a scaled-back version that shares the same fatal flaws," Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, said in a written statement. "The only way to actually fix the Muslim ban is not to have a Muslim ban. Instead, President Trump has recommitted himself to religious discrimination, and he can expect continued disapproval from both the courts and the people."

Travel ban 2.0 is still wrong, irrational and illegal: Los Angeles Times

Writing an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, Erwin Chemerinsky, Professor of 1st Amendment Law at the UC Irvine School of Law, said President Trump's new travel ban is wrong, illegal and irrational, just like the old travel ban. "It is both wrong and illegal to assume that a person is more likely to be dangerous because of his or her religion, national origin, race or ethnicity. It is irrational to believe that refugees fleeing persecution are a national security threat."

There is no good reason to believe that travelers or refugees from the listed countries pose a special threat to the United States, Prof Chemerinsky argued and added: Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia, in enjoining the earlier travel ban, quoted 10 national security professionals who have served in top government positions and who declared that since the Sept. 11 attacks, "not a single terrorist attack in the United States has been perpetrated by aliens from the countries named in the order." The Sept. 11 attacks -- which were mentioned several times in the initial order -- weren't carried out by citizens of the named countries, either; the attackers were mostly from Saudi Arabia.

The Ninth Circuit panel similarly stated: "Government has pointed to no evidence that any alien from any of the countries named in the Order has perpetrated a terrorist attack in the United States."

There are other serious legal problems with the new travel ban, according to Prof Chemerinsky. In 1965, Congress enacted the Immigration and Nationality Act, which states that no person can be "discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person's race, sex, nationality, place of birth or place of residence." Absent a specific authorization by Congress, the president cannot simply decide to exclude Somalis, Iranians and so forth.

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From Palestine Chronicle

At a glance, Israel appears a true democracy. Take a closer look and that facade of democracy will soon dissipate, turning into something else entirely.

Tuesday 28 February was one of those moments. The chain of events was as follows:

An official Israeli State Comptroller issued another report on the Israeli government's handling of the July 2014 war on Gaza; it chastised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon -- among others -- for the lack of preparedness and for their mishandling of the subsequent 51-day conflict; Netanyahu reacted angrily; Ya'alon took to Facebook to defend his record; the opposition in the Israeli Knesset went on the offensive; politicians lined up, taking sides; a media frenzy followed; the country was in an uproar.

This is not a precedent. It is a repeat of a recurring scenario that often follows Israel's military plunders. When such reports are issued, Israelis sort out their differences in fierce parliamentary and media battles.

While Israelis begin to examine their failures, demanding accountability from their government, western mainstream media finds the perfect opportunity to whitewash its own record of failing to criticize Israel's military onslaught at the time.

(Over 2,200 -- of whom over 70 percent were Palestinian civilians -- were killed and thousands more wounded in Israel's so-called "Operation Protective Edge" in 2014.)

According to US media logic, for example, Israel's investigation of its own action is a tribute to its thriving democracy, often juxtaposed with Arab governments' lack of self-examination.

When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, instigating a war that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians, culminating in the Sabra and Shatilla Massacres, a familiar scenario ensued: The United States did its utmost to prevent any international intervention or meaningful investigation, while Israel was allowed to investigate itself.

The outcome was the Kahan Commission Report, the conclusion of which was summarized by international law expert Professor Richard Falk: "The full measure of Israel's victory is rather its vindication, despite all, as a moral force in the region -- as a superior state, especially as compared to its Arab rivals."

The US media touted Israel's "moral victory," which, somehow, made everything okay and, with a magic wand, wiped the record clean.

The Washington Post editorial led the congratulatory chorus: "The whole process of the Israeli reaction to the Beirut massacre is a tribute to the vitality of democracy in Israel and to the country's moral character."

This sorry state of affairs has been in constant replay for nearly 70 years, ever since Israel declared its independence in 1948.

International law is clear regarding the legal responsibility of Occupying Powers but since Israel is rarely an enthusiast of international law, it has forbidden any attempt at being investigated for its actions.

In fact, Israel abhors the very idea of being "investigated." Every attempt by the United Nations, or any other organization dedicated to upholding international law, has either been rejected or failed.

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Exclusive to OpEd News: Life Arts 3/10/2017 at 11:26 AM EST H3'ed 3/10/17

In his blog, Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, Jeremiah Moss noted that on Tuesday night, "someone slathered the East Village with posters of the President of the United States explaining his method of sexual assault."

Post commenter X Gempler wrote: Genius!





Gordon Douglas posted on March 9 at 3:21 pm:

And taken down incredibly quickly, unfortunately. Just walk down 4th there and saw they've all been removed (or covered up).

Jeremiah got photos, luckily before they were removed. Those photos are reprinted here with Jeremiah's permission.

The posters read:

"I did try and f*ck her. She was married. I moved on her like a b*tch, But I couldn't get there. And she was married. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful. I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. You can do anything" Grab them by the p*ssy. You can do anything." The President of the United States of America
From The Nation

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer appeared to be imitating Melissa McCarthy's Saturday Night Liveimitation of him when he tried to make the argument for replacing Obamacare with Trumpcare by placing a copy of the final version of the 974-page law next to the sketchy Republican substitute.

Forget about the contents, argued Spicer. "Our plan, in far fewer pages, 123 -- much smaller, much bigger -- so far we're at 57 for the repeal plan and 66 pages for the replacement portion. We'll undo this. And remember, half of it, 57 of those pages, are the repeal part. So when you really get down to it, our plan is 66 pages long, half of what we actually even have there."

Say what?

"[Look] at the size. This is the Democrats, this is us. You can't get any clearer in terms of this is government, this is not," said Spicer during Tuesday's press briefing, as he moved back and forth, hovering over the two stacks of paper. "And I think that part of the reason the visual is important is that when you actually look at the difference, you realize this is what big government does.... I think the greatest illustration of the differences in the approaches is that size."

Needless to say, the Spicer "size" video went viral.

But it was another Spicer statement -- or, to be more precise, alternative fact -- that should have gone viral, that should have been noted by the reporters in the room, and by the commentators on the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act with a scheme that Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva says "ends affordable healthcare," and that Congressman Keith Ellison says "hurts nearly all working Americans by gutting Medicaid, defunding Planned Parenthood, stripping protections and benefits and increasing costs." "At the same time," notes Ellison, "it provides a huge handout to the wealthy and insurance corporations. Which begs the question: who exactly are the Republicans trying to help with this legislation?"

Click Here to Read Whole Article
Oli accuses ruling parties of trying to kill UML leadership

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Thursday accused the governing allianceCPN (Maoist Centre), Nepali Congress and Samyukta Loktantarik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM)of trying to kill the UML leadership, without offering clear evidence of the charge.
In 2015, Congress temporarily did away with the US government's fictional "debt limit." I call that limit fictional because it's not really a limit. Every time the government gets close to it, Congress raises it. It's as if signs on the highway changed to display a number five miles higher every time you got within a mile of the existing "speed limit." So anyway, Congress decided to stop pretending the limit actually exists, through March 15 of this year.

After that? The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the government can continue to operate until this fall without busting the new debt limit, but US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is already asking Congress to raise it ASAP.

I've got a better idea: This time, Congress should refuse to increase the debt limit, and in fact should provide for that limit to automatically decrease as the existing debt (now closing in on $20 trillion) is paid down.

As of 2014, government spending came to more than 40% of the country's Gross Domestic Product annually. Yes, you read that right: American politicians spend 40 cents from every dollar of wealth created in our economy.

About 25% of that looting is overt taxation. The other 15% is borrowed. Borrowing is just deferred taxation. Those who loan American politicians money are told -- and believe -- that for every dollar it borrows, the US government will find a way to take a dollar, plus interest, out of your hide at some point in the future.

The politicians are spending all of the money they directly pick out of our pockets. Then they're borrowing more and pretending we're their co-signers.

If a regular person ends up in deep debt, he knows that the very first step to getting out of the hole is to cut up the credit cards and stop borrowing money.

Supporters of continuously growing government debt try to make the matter seem more complicated for Congress than it is for you or me. In reality, it is exactly as simple. The first step is to stop the borrowing.

And after the borrowing stops? Well, there's always bankruptcy -- repudiation of the debt in its entirety -- or, as president Donald Trump suggested during his campaign, at least negotiating with creditors to settle for less than the government owes.

Sooner or later, the borrowing IS going to end. It can end with fiscal discipline or it can end with political and economic disaster. Your call, Congress.
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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"We're at a paradigm-shift moment in history, where we will look back at it and realize that a particular model of how we govern our affairs together became outdated. Kall's book Bottom-Up offers great alternatives and solutions that are not found in conventional governing models."



Carne Ross , is a former British diplomat, a strategy coordinator for the UN, and author of the book, The Leaderless Revolution.
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"We need a more Open digital world -- that's good for business, the economy and the future of humanity. To get there is going to take "bottom-up" effort and Rob Kall's book is an exciting roadmap for how that can happen."



Rufus Pollock, author of "The Open Revolution", Founder of Open Knowledge, and formerly Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Human survival depends on learning to organize the way all successful living communities organize as they adapt to ever changing local conditionsfrom the Bottom-Up. A timely contribution to confronting the transformation imperative confronting humanity."



David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World, The Great Turning, and Change the Story, Change the Future
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Our basic needs first

China will lose goodwill in Nepal if it prioritises OBOR over other agreed issues
From Wallwritings

On Monday, March 6, the Israeli Knesset passed a travel ban which strongly resembles a U.S. travel ban scheduled to go into effect the middle of next week.

The U.S. ban is a second effort by the Trump White House to ban travelers entering the U.S. from six predominantly Muslim nations, a white nationalist action which strongly resembles Israel's travel ban against supporters of boycotts against Israel, Israeli settlements or Israeli institutions.

As Palestinians and Palestine supporters who have traveled to Palestine can testify, the new law will codify what unofficially has been operational for decades.

This new Israeli ban blocks travelers identified as supporters of BDS.

Specifically, the law states: "No entry or residency permit of any kind will be given to a person who is not a citizen of Israel or a permanent resident, if the person, the organization or body that he is active on behalf of, has called for a boycott of Israel in any public media or who committed to participate in such a boycott."

When President Trump ordered "that entry to the U.S. be suspended for residents from six Muslim-majority countries and blocked refugees from around the world Monday, retooling the executive order that stoked chaos at airports and drew international condemnation and a rebuke in the courts."

"Trump removed Iraqis from the list of travelers who were temporarily banned, clarified that holders of visas and green cards can come to the U.S. and took other steps aimed at ensuring the order holds up in court."

Trump and Netanyahu are now partners in crime through the linkage of their respective nationalisms. Israel sells itself as an increasingly isolationist nation, at the same time it continues, unabated, an illegal and brutal occupation which produces its isolation.

Trump's white nationalism, which was a big factor in his 2016 presidential election, links him to Netanyahu through their nationalisms soaked in religious exceptionalism.

The Forward reports that sponsors of Israel's anti-boycott bill argue that calls to boycott Israel represent "a new front of war against Israel." Knesset member Roy Folkman of the Kulanu party said, "we can defend the state of Israel's name and dignity and it's not an embarrassment."

Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights attorney, described the impact of the new law:

"In theory, the law could target a huge swath of travelers -- from outspoken activists who join West Bank protests, to foreign nationals including several European politicians like the British Jeremy Corbyn who have called for boycotting economic, academic and cultural institutions in Israel or the West Bank."

Cornel West is a long-time supporter of BDS. West said he would obviously be a target for this ban. In an interview with Ha'aretz, he said:

"BDS is not a homogenous movement. There are a lot of different voices, but it is the only non-violent response I can see to the very ugly occupation, and I would do exactly the same if there was a Palestinian occupation of Jews. It's a moral issue, a spiritual issue."

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Imperial War Fascism in the USA

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"The ruling class has decided to sacrifice the credibility and legitimacy of the bourgeois state in order to effectuate regime change in Washington."

When Donald Trump charged that President Obama wiretapped the Republican campaign in the weeks after the November election, the bulk of corporate media chose to treat the allegation as another example of Trump's "alternative facts." They trotted out folks like Ben Rhodes, a former deputy National Security Advisor to Obama, who dismissed the charge as ridiculous. "No President can order a wiretap," Rhodes huffed.

This may be technically true, but it's an objective lie. Presidents can cause anybody to be spied upon, simply by indicating a desire to see it happen. In 1963, the Kennedy brothers -- formally acting through Bobby Kennedy's office as Attorney General -- gave FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover permission to tap Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's phones and bug his home and offices. Hoover's goal, according to a 2008 CNN "Black in America" report, was to "neutralize King as an effective Negro leader." The Bureau didn't find evidence that King was under "communist influence," but did discover "embarrassing details about King's sex life," which the FBI used to encourage King to kill himself. When he declined to take his own life, someone else did the job.

"Every human being on Earth with an electronic device is being spied upon by the United States."

Technically, neither Robert nor John Kennedy ordered the FBI to spy on MLK. But that's immaterial; Hoover had reason to believe that the Kennedy brothers wanted King bugged. Hoover offered his clandestine services to the White House, and "went fishing" for any dirt he could get. By the end of 1969, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark and scores of other Black Panthers had joined Dr. King in martyrs' graves, and many more were consigned to social death in an American gulag that would expand more than ten-fold over the next four decades -- proof that those of us who used to greet each other innumerable times a day with "Power to the people -- Death to the fascist pigs!" were correct in our analysis of the forces at work.

Today, the covert capabilities of the National Security State have grown beyond J. Edgar Hoover's (and the Kennedy brothers') wildest dreams. Not just Americans, but every human being on Earth with an electronic device is being spied upon by the United States -- which is absolutely logical, given the imperial claim to "exceptional" (supra-legal) prerogatives over its global dominion. Back in 2013, when asked by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden if the NSA collected "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans," James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, replied, under oath: "No sir, It does not."

Clapper kept his job, despite having committed perjury on prime time television -- proof, in the court of common sense, that his boss, President Obama, was both fully aware and approved of the NSA's surveillance of Americans and homo sapiens in general. For the same reasons, Hoover kept his job under Kennedy's successors, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, until his death in 1972.

"A consensus has emerged among international capital that there is no escape from the crisis except to quickly complete the task of global conquest,"

An essential aspect of what people call the "deep" state is its continuity despite formal (or nominal) changes of regime. We might call this the "real" state, whose continuity and impunity is derived from its masters: the capitalist ruling class.

That class, and the system it has created, is in general crisis, the result of a cascade of contradictions it can no longer "export," having spread its structural disease of infirmity across the globe. A consensus has emerged among international capital that there is no escape from the crisis except to quickly complete the task of global conquest, and to accelerate the financialization of all aspects of life, including in the "home" countries of imperialism. The rulers believe -- with objective justification -- that they are in a race against the clock, and that Russia's resistance to the massive imperial offensive begun in 2011 could cause the clock to run out, and the ultimate death of their class.

Their fears were compounded by the wholly unexpected capture of one wing of the electoral duopoly by the billionaire real estate developer, Donald Trump, who is personally rooted in a political current of domestic capital that is fixated on using the state to inflate land values and related assets. In a profoundly racist society such as the United States, the manipulation of land values is inextricably tied to race: it requires the ability to control and remove less desirable populations from real estate that is to be "developed," and to enlist whites in a general "uplift" project ("Make America Great Again") whose subtext is always racial.

"In a profoundly racist society such as the United States, the manipulation of land values is inextricably tied to race."

Trump's foreign policy ("America First") bears a strong resemblance to post-Emancipation southern Democrats, who generally opposed U.S. imperial annexation of non-white territories (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines) for fear that native populations would inevitably find their way into the United States, polluting the gene pool and causing social disruption. (During slavery, these same southern Democrats pressed for annexation of Cuba and sought an expanded slave-holding southern "empire" in the Americas.) Trump's opposition to "regime change" and "nation building" -- like the "anti-imperialism" of turn of the 20 th century southern racists -- is not pro-peace but rather, opposed to undue contact with the "lesser races." It is quite consistent with his anti-immigration position.

Regardless of his policy's racist roots, Trump's oft-stated opposition to regime change and his desire for a lessening of tensions with (white-led) Russia caused panic in the larger ruling class, dominated by finance and international capital, which had consolidated itself as the "War Party" in Hillary Clinton campaign "Big Tent."

Trump's opposition to "free trade" does not represent a contradiction to his foreign hotel and resort dealings, which do not amount to serious intervention in the economies of the host countries, and are largely branding agreements. He was simply smart enough to take possession of an issue that appealed directly to his target voters: outsourcing of jobs. A glance at his cabinet shows Trump has no problem at all with the global movement of capital.

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Stop the "Thank you for your service" litany of bullshit. You think that word is more vulgar than war? There is no glory in war. No war should be praised. War is the vulgar obscenity of the human species who are willing to be controlled by the elites.

I saw this Thank you for your service phrase after trying to confirm to no avail a source used in Susan Lee Schwartz's comment on a Daily Kos article, "Trump Breaks Faith: Executive order drops protection for families of deployed military".

The article starts by saying, "The Trump administration's draconian and hastily drafted immigration orders rescind a key protection for military families so that now even military spouses and children can be rounded up and deported."

So I followed what I thought was the link, and after reading all thirteen pages I searched to find any reference to military service. Nada.

But I did find this in the Kos article:

"Non-citizens do extremely well in the military." And this:

"The importance of providing for these men and women, and their families has been explicitly supported by Republican and Democratic administrations for obvious reasons of national security.



Military Industrial Congress Complex

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"Even the rabid Republicans in Congress during the Obama administration supported the continuation and expansion of this program."

And the following broke my camel's back: "As of Monday, February 20, 2017, any so-called conservative who applauds Trump's actions while applauding the service of active duty military is a hypocrite."

And therein is a mountain-sized kernel of truth. Way back in the Roman Empire, there was a saying, ad laudem et gloriam belli -- To praise the glory of war. The Romans loved war, conquering other lands, taking their bounty and bringing it home followed by a requirement of tribute, a form of rigorish or rent by another word I suppose.

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War is a Racket

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When the Bush/Cheney gang was in control, the 'bought and paid for' Congress kept allotting more and more billions (over 50% of our federal tax dollars) for military spending. You see, it really did not register in the so called 'Defense budget' because it was slotted as 'Discretionary spending', thus the scam.

We protestors would stand on a busy street corner of our town each and every Tuesday during rush hour because of the illegal and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq. Congress kept voting for more and more Supplemental military spending ( as they labeled it) destined for the Pentagon's continued 'War of Terror' in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Republicans and Democrats in the two party--'One Party'--Congress kept taking our tax dollars and throwing them down the rabbit hole. The only people who benefited from this were of course A) The contractors who got hundreds of billion$ from Uncle Sam to either keep the war going or to rebuild the infrastructure of the two nations that we destroyed, or B) The fanatical jihadists mixed in with the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan who got the greatest recruiting PR possible from our destructive attacks and invasions... oh yes, and our use of torture to the Nth degree.

In 2011, after Mr. 'Hope and Change' was 'handled' as Commander in 'Grief', guess what: Military spending soared to almost 56% of our federal taxes. Imagine how we could have had a 'Medicare for All' public option that Obama turned his back on in 2009 for 'lack of funding'.

To the Pentagon and the War Economy it matters not which of the two phony political parties occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, or which party controls the Congress. They're all owned by what Eisenhower himself (too late of course) labeled in 1961 during his farewell address: The Military Industrial Complex.

The easiest way to get the 'sheeple' to follow the pied piper is to propagandize a threat to their existence. After it is drummed into their heads long enough, they will forget about their immediate needs and march with flag and banners waving. It worked for awhile with Korea and Vietnam, and then in spades with Iraq 1 and Iraq 2. What was resolved in all these instances was a draining of our treasury... and the loss of lives on all sides!

This writer has had firsthand experience with the scam that is now the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Without even needing to look at the figures, one can deduce that FEMA does not have the budget to help the millions who are in need after disasters strike. It has become a public relations scam and patronage mill instead of a government agency that should help those either without insurance or with inadequate insurance. The same goes for that disgrace in not just Flint, Michigan regarding lead filled water pipes and impure drinking water, but in thousands of small towns throughout. If our federal government did not spend so much of our tax money on phony wars and bloated military spending (with around 1000 military bases in over 100 countries), our states and cities would have the needed infrastructure repairs and safety nets. All that our previous presidents (and now Trump) have done is to keep increasing this 'War Economy' until things at home just implode completely!

We never belonged in Southeast Asia in the 50s and 60s. We never belonged in the Middle East in the 90s or 2000s... period! When the day comes that many of our friends and neighbors stop drinking the Kool-Aid of this 'War on Terror' and realize that they have been bamboozled for generations... we can maintain our strength as a nation by keeping the hell of what George Washington warned about: 'Foreign entanglements'. The America that many of us love has never been the 'Policeman of the world' ; rather it has been the 'Goon squad' for its corporate masters.

Major General Smedley Butler's 1935 essay said it: 'War is a Racket'. Wake up sheeple!

PA Farruggio

March, 2017

{Philip A Farruggio is son and grandson of Brooklyn, NYC longshoremen. A graduate of Brooklyn College ( class of '74 with a BA in Speech & Theater), he is a free lance columnist posted on World News Trust, Nation of Change Blog, Op Ed News,TheSleuthJournal.com, The Intrepid Report, Information Clearing House, , Activist Post, Dissident Voice, Counterpunch and many other sites worldwide. Philip works as an environmental products sales rep and has been a street corner protest activist leader and Green Party member since 2000. In 2010 he became a local spokesperson for the 25% Solution Movement to Save Our Cities by cutting military spending 25%. Philip can be reached at PAF1222@bellsouth.net
From Alternet

Don't be fooled by the watercolors; he's still responsible for the death of a million Iraqis.



George W. Bush

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So, he's back. George W. Bush leaves his Dallas attic and his paintbrushes to visit the television studios. He has a book to flog -- Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors.

Since he left the White House, Bush has taken refuge in his canvases, on which he has painted the faces of about 100 of the veterans he sent to war. "I was thinking of their stories, their troubles, their joys," he told Sandra Sobieraj Westfall of People magazine in one of the many fluff pieces that have come out on his book tour.

On Ellen DeGeneres' television show, Bush spoke with evident sentimentality about his close relationship with Michelle Obama. "She likes my sense of humor," said the ex-president. Pictures of Obama hugging Bush are not uncommon on social media. It is as if her hug is a sign of his rehabilitation.

Bush has been reticent to talk politics, but seems to have made an exception in the Trump years. This is personal. Trump not only belittled Bush's brother, Jeb, but also his mother, Barbara, and Trump suggested that Bush's war on Iraq was a fiasco. George W. Bush came out of retirement to stump for Jeb in South Carolina. He intimated that he would not vote for Trump. During his book tour, Bush made critical noises about Trump's immigration policies and his attack on the press. "We need an independent media to hold people like me to account," Bush told Matt Lauer with a smirk.

Dismay at Trump's presidency is allowing for the rehabilitation of George W. Bush. It is now a cliche' for people to say that they look back longingly at the Bush years as an antidote to the harshness of Trump. In November 2016, Mehdi Hasan of al-Jazeera wrote an op-ed in the New York Times called "Why I miss George W. Bush." Hasan considered Bush's statements after 9/11 where he distinguished between Islam and terrorism. The "miasma of anti-Muslim hate and fear-mongering" of the present, Hasan suggested, made Bush admirable.

Certainly, Bush made favorable noises after 9/11 about the difference between Islam and terrorism. But Bush's policies of war in West Asia, notably Iraq, and his rhetoric of warfare collapsed any possible distinctions. One forgets that on October 6, 2005, Bush gave a speech to the National Endowment for Democracy where he discussed the "murderous ideology of the Islamic radicals," which he called the "greatest challenge of our century." Such language dovetailed with the gurgle in the sewers of American fascism, which had incubated the term "radical Islamic extremism" (preferred by Donald Trump), and with the snarls in the Republican Party, which used the term "radical Islam" as an explanation for all the world's ills.

Bush's Iraq War

It is one thing to curl one's lip in disgust at ISIS and to sneer at the Eastern maladies of dictatorship and religion that seem to curdle the social worlds of West Asia. It is another to acknowledge the authorship of the United States in the destruction of nations in the region, and its role in the incubation of groups like ISIS. How does one even begin to consider that Bush -- the instigator of the destruction of Iraq -- is now considered to be an avuncular figure among liberals?

It is a sign of his own anxiety that Bush decided to paint veterans. Perched in his study, he must ponder the cost of the war on those who wear the uniform of the United States. But there are no paintings of Iraqis, civilians, or soldiers. There is no mention of the million Iraqis who died as a consequence of Bush's decision to conduct what the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called an "illegal war." Not one of the profiles in courage includes the Iraqis who collaborated with the U.S. occupation and now find themselves unable to enter the United States as a consequence of Trump's Muslim ban.

Illegal war: On 15 February 2003, 15 million people marched across the countries of the world to protest the anticipated U.S. war against Iraq. This was the largest known protest in world history. Our slogans warned not only that the war was illegal, but that it would have a catastrophic impact on West Asia. We were ignored. When asked about this protest on March 6 by Fox News' Jim Angle, Bush brushed aside any warnings. "We will respect innocent life in Iraq," he said with a straight face. At that time, UN Secretary General Annan was silent about the illegality of the war. A year later, on BBC, Annan said, "I have indicated that it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal."

Horrendous war: The U.S. opening salvo against Iraq followed the "shock and awe" doctrine. Harlan K. Uliman, who developed the theory, told CBS' David Martin, "You take the city down. You get rid of their power, water. In two, three, four, five days, they are physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausted." A Pentagon official said at that time, "There will not be a safe place in Baghdad. The sheer size of this has never been seen before, never been contemplated before." Hundreds of cruise missiles rained on Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, 400 on the first day and a comparable number on the second. UN Assistant Secretary General Denis Halliday said at the time, "The United States and Britain are proceeding with plans to annihilate Iraqi society, a catastrophe that would be heightened by the threatened use of tactical nuclear weaponry." In fact, the U.S. used depleted uranium shells, which in Fallujah produced cancer rates higher than in Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb.

Destruction of the State: When the United States occupied Iraq, it systematically -- and against the Geneva Conventions -- dismantled the state. Bureaucrats of the ministries and officers of the military were fired, and U.S. officials arrived to privatize Iraq to the benefit of multinational corporations. On May 27, 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfled wrote in the Wall Street Journal that Bush wanted to "favor market systems" and "encourage moves to privatize state-owned enterprises." There was to be no Iraqi vote on these moves. They were to be dictated by the United States, which would also deliver a Constitution for Iraq. As Rajiv Chandrasekharan's Imperial Life in the Emerald City documents, the White House sent "loyalists" from the Republican Party to help privatize Iraq and hand it over for profit. The country was to be gutted. And it was.

Torture Occupation: When the Iraqi insurgency broke out against the occupation, the United States found itself ill-prepared to tackle the rise of Iraqi patriotism. Harsh torture, as at Abu Ghraib, and massive violence, as against the city of Fallujah, defined the U.S. reaction. A defeated and captured Saddam asked to negotiate. If he had been treated with some dignity and allowed to bring in his followers, the insurgency might have been quelled. It would have been possible, at that time in December 2003, to allow the various sections of Iraq to come together. But instead the U.S. occupation used sectarian divisions to consolidate its fading power, breaking Muqtada al-Sadr's attempt at Shia-Sunni unity, building up the most sectarian forces against each other and delivering Saddam's loyalists to the more hardened extremists who would appear (such as later, ISIS). Iraqi society, fragile during the sanctions years of the 1990s, broke under the pressure of the U.S. occupation.

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I just finished watching a video of Rob Kall interviewing Ross Rosenberg. It is called Trump the Narcissist, his Narcissist Supporters, How to Handle Donald Trump. This is the description:

"In this interview I interview Ross Rosenberg, author of Human Magnet Syndrome, an expert on narcissists. We discuss the criteria used to assess Donald Trump and diagnose him as a narcissist-- and Rosenberg goes on to explain why many of his supporters are also narcissists."

Ross believes that Trump displays the classic narcissistic personality, but not the malignant variety which would include sociopathy because Trump displays cravings of love and affection, and gives that to others as well. Characteristics absent in true sociopaths. At the end Rob brings up Trump's twittering habits to see if Ross can add some insight.

That brought to my mind the type of social environment Trump has lived in throughout his life. He was a very rich kid - which automatically creates a self-conception as being a special person compared to most people. It can inflate a narcissistic bubble the narcissist comes to live within if that person isn't given an environment to counter that effect. There has been a tradition among many long time wealthy family dynasties to "breed in" a civilizing culture to their children in order to breed out the lower-class tendencies of narcissism and other social or ethical and moral failings that one can develop due to being born into an elite social standing.

Traditionally a lot of families sent their kids to schools where the proper morals and ethical values were stressed to "befit" their special status in society. Those types of families were different from the nouveau riche, the newly rich. The people from "new money" were usually not easily accepted into the social circles of people from "old money" based upon those dynastic self-respecting ideologies on "good breeding" by the purposeful development of high morals and ethics in the children by being sent to special elite schools, in order to combat the snobbery and narcissism which may develop due to being born to the elite class. Snobbery and narcissism were and are looked down on by many old money families. Instead they value social service and manners. But the nouveau riche in general do not have that parental ideology ingrained in them. Their kids tend to fall prey to what the old money families long ago learned to try to avoid the hard way - the need to bring their kids up in a special way so they don't develop into narcissists, rude and snobby, or bullies.

Trump was born into a nouveau riche family. And it has been said by biographers that he is and was seen by the old money establishment as the "wrong type" of person due to his nouveau riche upbringing.

We add to that problematic aspect of his upbringing, another - the fame aspect of Trump's life. That came to him in his 20s when the New York media started to treat him as a rich playboy to gossip about in the society pages. He would remain a celebrity the rest of his life.

Then we add to that the social milieu of the construction, real estate, hotel and casino business world he operated within. Which in the Tri-state area means organized crime to a great extent since those are areas they have traditionally worked in and controlled to a large extent through direct business control, political patronage, bribery, or through unions. So we have this nouveau riche celebrity playboy who had close socializing with narcissistic sociopaths in organized crime throughout his life because of the businesses he and his father were involved with at that time in those places. And if you think that it is unusual for very famous businessmen to have those types of associations in their family's past, do a search on the many famous billionaire businessmen of the Ferttita clan: Frank Jr., Lorenzo, and Tilman - who support Trump.

So what does that mean for someone like that who runs for political office? He comes from those social circles where you need to be seen as an alpha male or you lose respect and trust. Therefore the belief you might develop if you come from his background is that you need to be seen as the fighter who never gives in - otherwise you may think you will lose faith from those in your social business circle as being a guy who can be trusted, who can be counted on to keep secrets - especially the kind of secrets that corrupt politicians, corrupt business associates, organized crime figures and others rely on you to keep your mouth shut about, especially if those are the ones who have supported your rise in politics.

Someone like that maybe subconsciously fears that they need to feel secure and safe in the knowledge that he won't rat them out or betray their trust in him to fulfill promises and agendas he was put in office to accomplish for them. And because in those social circles it is seen as a sign of weakness to back away from an attack of any kind, even an attack based on politics from political adversaries, therefore that type of person maybe always sees a need to fight back regardless of whether or not he has the facts on his side or any kind of good argument. It isn't about winning an argument with superior information - it is about keeping the faith and trust of his social circle by never giving in to an attack without fighting back even if it is lies, misleading information and so on.

If some political attack comes to a person like that, maybe he sees a need to assert himself in the way you see from someone like a Joe Pesci in a Scorsese movie. Pesci plays those characters who believe they are above the laws, ethics, and morals of "normal" society. The people in the social circles his characters exist in, organized crime, believe the same about themselves as well. They take it as a sign of weakness and therefore distrust if you allow people from "normal" society to "disrespect" your superior position by criticizing you or embarrassing you in public. That is why in those circles the idea of being a "man of respect" is so valued. They have a sociopathic and narcissistic view of morality and ethics when it comes to respect and trust from others. If you lack their morality and ethics then you can maybe lose their respect and trust if they are in business with you.
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Every now and then, I think back to the millions of people who turned out in this country and across the globe in early 2003 to protest the coming invasion of Iraq. Until the recent Women's March against Donald Trump, that may have been the largest set of demonstrations in American history or, at the very least, the largest against a war that had yet to be launched. Those who participated will remember that the protests were also a sea of homemade signs, some sardonic ("Remember when presidents were smart and bombs were dumb?"), some blunt ("Contain Saddam -- and Bush"), some pointed indeed ("Pre-emptive war is terrorism"). In one of those demonstrations, I was carrying a sign which read "The Bush administration is a material breach" (a reference to that crew's insistence that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was in "material breach" of a U.N. resolution for not fully disclosing its efforts to produce weapons of mass destruction... you know, those non-existent nukes that were slated to create future mushroom clouds over American cities). There was even one humorous sign I noted then that seems relevant to our Dystrumpian moment and the president's stated wishes to "keep" Iraqi oil: "How did USA's oil get under Iraq's sand?"

But here's the essential thing: the invasion to come had disaster written all over it and millions of people saw that perfectly clearly. They were, of course, the ones who weren't consulted then and would never be remembered when what they feared actually occurred and played out so catastrophically. Unlike those who got us into the Iraq nightmare, one of the great blunders of modern times, or those who later prosecuted the ongoing war there, they would never be asked for their reflections on it.

They are now largely forgotten, as is the thought that, then as now, it didn't necessarily take an expert to tell you the obvious: that America's never-ending wars in the Middle East would come to no good; that all the promises about "winning," whether then or today, have been or will prove so much hogwash. It didn't take an expert, then or now, to know that Washington's military-first efforts to "win" across the Greater Middle East were fated to end badly, whether we're talking about the famed "surge" of 2007 in Iraq, President Obama's "surge" in Afghanistan in 2009, or, in the age of Trump, the sudden surge of American air strikes in Yemen in the wake of a failed and now-controversial raid in which a Navy SEAL and possibly 10 children died. It seems that those included the most intensive day of drone strikes ever ordered and, more generally, an intensification of the Obama era campaign in that country. (This from a president who was supposed to be a noninterventionist!)

From 2003 on, it hasn't been all that difficult to see just how poorly all of this would play out even as it happened. Of the surge in Iraq, for example, I wrote in 2008: "If you want a prediction, here it is and it couldn't be simpler: This cannot end well. Not for Washington. Not for the U.S. military. Not for Americans. And, above all, not for Iraqis." And I was hardly alone in my "insight."

Nonetheless, no matter what I or others outside the American mainstream media wrote at the time (and since), the surge's cachet remained -- and remains -- strong indeed. That's why it couldn't be more useful to hear from an actual expert on just what went wrong and why. On the 10th anniversary of the original "surge" in Iraq, Major Danny Sjursen, TomDispatchregular, former history instructor at West Point, and the author of Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge, offers a personal look at the building of a legend, which helped make careers, including those of Trump's top generals, and kept a disastrous war going. Tom

The Surge Delusion

An Iraq War Anniversary to Forget

By Danny Sjursen The other day, I found myself flipping through old photos from my time in Iraq. One in particular from October 2006 stood out. I see my 23-year-old self, along with my platoon. We're still at Camp Buerhing in Kuwait, posing in front of our squadron logo splashed across a huge concrete barrier. It was a tradition by then, three and a half years after the invasion of neighboring Iraq, for every Army, Marine, and even Air Force battalion at that camp to proudly paint its unit emblem on one of those large, ubiquitous barricades. 2nd Platoon, B Troop, 3-61 Cavalry, Kuwait, October 2006. The author is standing on the far left. Gazing at that photo, it's hard for me to believe that it was taken a decade ago. Those were Iraq's bad old days, just before General David Petraeus's fabled "surge" campaign that has since become the stuff of legend, a defining event for American military professionals. The term has permanently entered the martial lexicon and now it's everywhere. We soldiers stay late at work because we need to "surge" on the latest PowerPoint presentation. To inject extra effort into anything (no matter how mundane) is to "surge." Nor is the term's use limited to the military vernacular. Within the first few weeks of the Trump administration, the Wall Street Journal, for instance, reported on a deportation "surge." For many career soldiers, the surge era (2007-2011) provides a kind of vindication for all those years of effort and seeming failure, a brief window into what might have been and a proof certain of the enduring utility of force. When it comes to that long-gone surge, senior leaders still talk the talk on its alleged success as though reciting scripture. Take retired general, surge architect, and former CIA Director Petraeus. As recently as 2013, he wrote a Foreign Policy piece entitled "How We Won in Iraq." Now "win" is a bold word indeed. Yet few in our American world would think to question its accuracy. After all, Petraeus was a general, and in an era when Americans have little or no faith in other public institutions, polls show nearly everyone trusts the military. Of course, no one asks whether this is healthy for the republic. No matter, the surge's success is, by now, a given among Washington's policy elite. Recently, for instance, I listened to a podcast of a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) panel discussion that promoted a common set of myths about the glories of the surge. What I heard should be shocking, but it's not. The group peddled a common myth about the surge's inherent wisdom that may soon become far more dangerous in the "go big" military era of Donald Trump. CFR's three guests -- retired General Raymond Odierno, former commander of Multinational Forces in Iraq and now a senior adviser to JPMorgan Chase; Meghan O'Sullivan, former deputy national security adviser under President George W. Bush; and Christopher Kojm, former senior adviser to the Iraq Study Group -- had remarkably similar views. No dissenting voices were included. All three had been enthusiastic promoters of the surge in 2006-2007 and continue to market the myth of its success. While recognizing the unmistakable failure of the post-surge American effort in Iraq, each still firmly believes in the inherent validity of that "strategy." I listened for more than an hour waiting for a single dissenting thought. The silence was deafening. Establishing the Bona Fides of Victory in Washington, If Not Iraq With the madness of the 24-hour news cycle pin-balling us from one Trump "crisis" to another, who has time for honest reflection about that surge on its 10th anniversary? Few even remember the controversy, turmoil, and drama of those days, but believe me, it's something I'll never forget. I led a scout platoon in Baghdad and my unit was a few months into a nasty deployment when we first heard the term "surge." Iraq was by then falling apart and violence was at an all-time high with insurgents killing scores of Americans each month. The nascent central government, supported by the Bush administration,was in turmoil and, to top it all off, the Sunni and Shia were already fighting a civil war in the streets. In November 2006, just a month into our deployment, Democrats won control over both houses of Congress in what was interpreted as a negative referendum on that war. A humbler, more reticent or reflective president might have backed off, cut his losses, and begun a withdrawal from that country, but not George W. Bush. He doubled down, announcing in January 2007 an infusion of 30,000 additional troops and a new "strategy" for victory, a temporary surge that would provide time, space, and security for the new Iraqi government to reconcile the country's warring ethnic groups and factions, while incorporating minority groups into the largely Shiite, Baghdad-based power structure.

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From The Guardian

If these documents are genuine, then they prove that encryption still offers broad protection. That's one reason to download Signal and similar apps now

The latest release from WikiLeaks detailing how the CIA has allegedly stockpiled a plethora of tools to hack a variety of everyday devices -- from phones, to televisions to cars -- is a stark reminder about the fragile state of Internet security. The US government has amassed extraordinary hacking powers largely in secret -- and this leak might just force us to grapple with whether we are comfortable with that.

The most widely reported aspect of the purported leak is the allegation that the CIA has myriad ways to hack popular smartphones like iPhone and Android devices -- and that the agency could be allowing its hackers to t ake control of internet connected televisions and covertly listen in on conversations in people's living rooms. This type of attack has been the worry of many privacy advocates for years, as more and more televisions and other household devices (collectively known as the "Internet of Things") are increasingly connected to the Internet while always "listening."

There was never a doubt that the US and other governments around the world would quickly move to leverage the ability to exploit these features, as more and more consumer electronics companies have made them standard in all sorts of household items. The former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper even made clear in testimony to Congress last year. But just how often governments have exploited this type of technology is still largely unknown.

While many of the headlines accompanying these documents will send a shiver down the spine of readers, there is some good news in the WikiLeaks documents. Contrary to early reports suggesting that the CIA can "defeat" popular end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp, the WikiLeaks release is further evidence that encryption does work to protect people's privacy.

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Constant legal squabbles are nothing new to Trump. Hes been involved in thousands of lawsuits during his many years as a prominent international businessman. Trumps extensive legal history began when he was first taken to court along with his father in 1973 by the federal government for refusing to rent apartments to African-Americans (I know, I knowyoure shocked) without cause in NYC. Donald Trump is also no stranger to the shredding of documents, bending of the law and outright deceit to avoid paying plaintiffs and judgments against him.

When I get sued, I take it rightjust take it all the way. You know what happens? If you settle suits, you get sued more was Donald Trumps oft-repeated refrain on the campaign trail when asked about legal topics such as Trump Universitys ongoing lawsuit, further outlining his brave, take-nothing-from-no-one attitude that so many voters (well, some voters) found inspiring. In November though, the then-president-elect did, in fact, settle lawsuits related to Trump University and did so to the tune of $25 million, which, although a large sum, wasnt nearly close to what he had bilked out of hopeful Americans seeking to improve their lives. It was the presidential sack of spoiled, hateful tangerines with Labrador hair stapled to the tops first foray into presidential legal affairs, and it would mark the beginning of a torrent of legal actions involving the White House unlike anything our country has previously seen.

Compare Trumps 55 lawsuits in his first two weeksmore have since been filedas president to Bill Clintons 5, George W. Bushs 4 and Barack Obamas 5. When recalling the calamitous disorder surrounding Dubyas controversial election and the fact President Obamas lawsuits had mostly to do with the preposterous birther claims put forth by people like Donald Trump, the discrepancy becomes all the more glaring. Most of the legal actions have to do with Trumps ill-fated and ill-advised travel bans, as the chaos and fear they wrought upon the country received an unprecedented response from all corners of the United States. People banded together to stand up to Trumps illegal and un-American commands and resisted them. After the 9th Circuit of Appeals froze the travel ban, Donald responded in typically Trumpian fashion, by tweeting SEE YOU IN COURT (Yes, the judges no doubt thought, we are judges after all) and petulantly called his newfound judicial nemeses so-called judge[s]. This prompted President Orange Tangs (Now available in racist!) own nominee for the Supreme Court to chastise him, calling his comments disheartening and demoralizing.

After President Trump presented his revised travel ban, many of the states that resisted the first edict sprang into action, altering their motions to reflect that of the new banwhich bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen and temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.

SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017

To quote the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge James Robart (the aforementioned so-called judge), No one is above the lawnot even the president. So get comfortable folks. This is, unfortunately, going to be a long, bumpy ride. Well be continually updating this as the legal battles continue, feel free to notify us of anything we missed in the comments. Perhaps youre even preparing to sue the president as I type this.

 Washington State vs. Donald Trump: Washington was the first state to file a suit against President Trumps first travel ban, and they were among the first to file against his revised oneand states like Oregon and New York have quickly joined the team. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said of the revised ban, After spending more than a month to fix a broken order that he rushed out the door, the Presidents new order reinstates several of the same provisions and has the same illegal motivations as the original.

California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia have all also filed briefs supporting Washingtons initial lawsuit.

 The State of Hawaii vs. Donald Trump: When filing his states latest suit against Trump, Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin said the courts need to hear that theres a state where ethnic diversity is the norm, where people are welcomed with aloha and respect. Chin also made note of the fact the revised ban came out almost 75 years to the day of Americas shameful placing of Japanese citizens into internment camps during WWII.

 Gavin Grimm and the ACLU vs. Gloucester County School Board: Transgendered student Gavin Grimm sued his Virginia school district in 2014, alleging their bathroom policy was discriminatory. After some setbacks, a federal appeals court ruled in Grimms favor, deferring to the Obama administrations interpretation of Title IX. Late last month however, the Trump administration revoked federal guidelines stating that schools must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity. For his part, Grimm, who has undergone treatment for severe body dysmorphia, isnt giving up, vowing to keep the fight going as long as it takes. When you are in a position where you are individually singled out in an environment where your school board has sent this direct message to you and your peers and community that theres something about you that deserves to be segregated from the rest of the student body, it can add an extra level of stress and duress, Grimm, who now uses the nurses bathroom, said.

We can all recall how cruel some kids can be to anyone who is differentits a shame one of those cruel children now works in the oval office.

 The States of Washington and Minnesota vs. Donald Trump: In a ruling that eviscerated Trumps order at every turn, three judgestwo Democratic appointees and one appointed by a Republicanunanimously said the administration had not shown an urgent need to have the order go into effect immediately and that, The Government has pointed to no evidence that any alien from any of the countries named in the Order has perpetrated a terrorist attack in the United States. When attorneys for Trump bafflingly asserted that the court had no right to question Cheetolini the Great and Powerfuls orders, the court reminded them of a document known as the Constitution, saying, There is no precedent to support this claimed un-reviewability, which runs contrary to the fundamental structure of our constitutional democracy Indeed, federal courts routinely review the constitutionality ofand even invalidateactions taken by the executive to promote national security, and have done so even in times of conflict. The decision went on to note that the states named in the suit had proven their universities, businesses and families would be adversely affected by the banwhich they also said constituted religious discrimination.

 Darweesh vs. Donald Trump: Hameed Khalid Darweesh assisted the United States government for over a decade after the US invaded Iraq, and did so at great peril to himself and his family, like all those who assisted the American military. Darweeshs reward for his service in Trumps America? Being detained at JFK in New York City, barred entry into the country he selflessly served for ten years. The message sent here is as disturbing as it is clear: the United States word means little under President Trump. The Pentagon has since said it is compiling names of those who assisted the military so they can more easily receive waivers under the bansomething that absolutely should have been done before the ban was implemented, but the bansand its authorshaphazardly careless nature prevented this.

 Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington vs. Donald Trump: On January 23, 2017, liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a civil action against Trump, alleging that he is in violation of a constitutional provision barring him from taking gifts or payments from foreign governments and/or profiting from the presidency, i.e. the emoluments clause. The Constitution states, no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under the United States, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. Trump has said many times that his sons will take over his businesses in a blind trust, proving he clearly has no idea what a blind trust isor that he simply doesnt care. An inmate in Oregon also sued Trump over the Emoluments Clause, demonstrating his command of Constitutional law to be, at the very least, on par with that of the 45th president.

 Over 100 leading tech companies vs. Donald Trump: Basically every leading American tech company joined forces to take Trump to court over his travel ban, with the brief the groups lawyer prepared stating that, The Order makes it more difficult and expensive for U.S. companies to recruit, hire, and retain some of the worlds best employees. It disrupts ongoing business operations. And it threatens companies ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States. Of the pillars of American tech, only Oracle, Palantir (co-founded by Trump ally Peter Thiel), Qualcomm and IBM were absent from the lawsuit, and IBM ominously told ominously told Forbes theyd already conveyed the companys views directly to the president during a recent meeting between their CEO and Mr. Drumpf. Interestingly, both of the companies Elon Muskthe lone remaining tech executive on Trumps business councilis CEO of, Tesla and SpaceX, joined the suit as well.

 The Council on American-Islamic Relations vs. Donald Trump: The CAIR sued the administration in Virginia on behalf of 27 individuals affected by the ban on the basis that Trumps travel ban was actually a ban on Muslims entering the country. In a statement, Lena Masri, CAIRs national litigation director said, There is no evidence that refugeesthe most thoroughly vetted of all people entering our nationare a threat to national security. This is an order based on bigotry, not reality.

 The Arab Civil Rights League vs. Donald Trump: The ACRL filed this suit on behalf of six travelers from the Detroit area who were not allowed back into the US, stating Plaintiffs file this present suit due to the fact that the existing orders do not encompass green card holders that were not en route or detained by the United States.

 The City of San Francisco vs. Donald Trump: One of Cheetolinis many targets of derision have been American metropolitan areas that have proudly proclaimed themselves as sanctuary citiesplaces that welcome refugees and usually forbid their police or municipal employees to inquire about a persons immigration status or share such information with immigration enforcementin the wake of Trumps election. San Francisco district attorney Dennis Herrara said in a statement that, The presidents executive order is not only unconstitutional, its un-American. That is why we must stand up and oppose it. We are a nation of immigrants and a land of laws. We must be the guardians of our democracy that President Obama urged us all to be in his farewell address. Herrara also referenced a University of California, San Diego study showing sanctuary cities have less crime, fewer people in poverty and lower unemployment that other counties.

 Labeeb Ibrahim Issa vs. Donald Trump: Yet another charming tale of the Trump White House forsaking people who risk their lives to help our military overseas, Labeeb Ibrahim Issa was denied entry into the US in Texas despite being granted a special visa on January 13th after he was targeted for his work helping the US in Iraq. Issas injuries left him confined to a wheelchair, and after he proved he was facing an ongoing threat and cleared as not being a threat to the country, he boarded a plane from Baghdad to Qatar with hopes of ending up at Dallas-Fort Worth airport and beginning a new life. Due to Trumps first travel ban, Issa was told in Qatar he would have to return to the country where his life was under constant threat for helping out the ole Red, White and Blue. Eventually, Issa made it to the USbut even then he was detained for 14 hours before being granted an emergency hearing with his attorney.

 The State of Washington vs. Donald Trump: Washington State, quicklyand proudlybecoming one of Donald Trumps least favorite places, filed a complaint alleging Trumps travel ban was separating Washington families, harming thousands of Washington residents, damaging Washingtons economy, hurting Washington-based companies, and undermining Washingtons sovereign interest in remaining a welcoming place for immigrants and refugees.

 Asali vs. Donald Trump: The story of Sarmad and Sarah Asali family troubles clearly illustrates how haphazard and rushed Trumps ban was. The Asaliswho are legal US citizensfamily members arrived at Philadelphia International Airport, they were given two choices: return immediately to Doha, Qatar or have their visa revoked. Good! Damn Muslims, an awful person reading this article might say. The problem with that hillbilly logic is the Asalis relatives are Orthodox Christians, one of the most persecuted groups in Syria. Philly mayor Jim Kenneywho is among the many mayors who have reiterated that their cities are and shall remain sanctuary citiesworried that, The Trump administration may have well given these families death sentences.

 Vayeghan vs. Kelly, Trump et al: After Ali Khoshbakhti Vayeghanwho has a visawas detained by Department of Homeland Security officers, he filed a suit in a California federal court requesting a temporary restraining order in hopes he could be released. Before a court could even rule on the request, orders came from on high stating Vaheghan was to be sent back to Iran by way of Dubai. Vayeghan sued on the grounds that he had a previously approved visa and a federal judge granted his request.

 Louhghalam vs. Trump: The ACLU filed a suit on behalf of two UMASS-Dartmouth professorsIranian nationals who are permanent residents of the US and earned PhDs at Johns Hopkins Universitywho were detained in Boston until federal judges (once again) ruled that a person couldnt be detained under Trumps travel ban. State Attorney General Maura Healey had this to say about the matter, The executive order is harmful, discriminatory, and unconstitutional It discriminates on the basis of religion and national origin, denies our residents access to due process and equal protection of the law, and violates federal immigration law.

 Eric Schneiderman vs. Donald Trump: New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman has succeeded in being a thorn in Donald Trumps bloated side for years now. The presidential 240-pound bag of sweet potato vomit someone glued a blonde merkin on top of was hate-tweeting Schneiderman long before he took on Little Marco Rubio or Lyin Ted Cruz, as the attorney general was at the helm of the lawsuits over Trump Universitythe same suit Trump was talking about when he said he never settles and the one which he promptly settled late last year. Although largely unknown nationally, Schneiderman and his team of over 700 lawyers are emerging as leaders in the resistance against Trump, an idea thats very popular in New York State, where Trump lost by a massive 22%.

 Asgari vs. Donald Trump: An Iranian genetic researcher living in Switzerland filed this lawsuit after the travel ban blocked her from joining a lab in Boston, where she planned to study tuberculosis.

 County of Santa Clara vs. Donald Trump: Santa Clara County officials sued Trump over an executive order that cuts funds to sanctuary cities, calling it unconstitutional.

 Doe vs. Trump: A lawsuit filed against Trumps travel ban by a Chicago businessman is an Iranian-born permanent resident of the US, filed under the pseudonym John Doe, who was stranded after traveling to Iran to care for his ailing mother.

 Fatema Farmad vs. Donald Trump: The ACLU of Southern California filed suit on behalf of two U.S. residents from Iran who flew into LAX and were promptly detained.

 Unite Oregon vs. Trump: A lawsuit against the travel ban filed on behalf of Oregon immigrants and refugees seeking to enter the state.

 Public Citizen, Inc. et al vs. Trump: Watchdog groups including Public Citizen, the Natural Resources Defense Council Inc. in New York, the Communications Workers of America in DC and the AFL-CIO sued to block Trumps one-in, two-out executive order requiring federal agencies to repeal two federal regulations for every new rule they issue. The Executive Order will block or force the repeal of regulations needed to protect health, safety and the environment, across a broad range of topicsfrom automobile safety to occupational health, to air pollution, to endangered species, the 49-page complaint read in part.

 Garcia vs. President of the United States of America: An immigrant in New Hampshire alleged the government unlawfully failed to renew his work visa.

 Hagig vs. Trump: A Denver community college student from Libya sued over the travel ban, saying it prevented him from seeing his family in Libya and then returning. There are hundreds of similar incidents occurring throughout the country.

 International Refugee Assistance Project vs. Trump: IRAP, the refugee-assistance nonprofit mobilized over 1600 lawyers at airports across the country to assist detainees, and then sued Trump over the travel ban, saying it unconstitutionally discriminates against Muslims.

 Pars Equality Center vs. Trump: Iranian nationals and Iranian-American groups combined to sue Trump and Co. in a Washington, D.C., federal court over the travel ban.

 The State of Hawaii vs. Trump: The state of Hawaiis lawsuit against the travel ban.

 Zadeh vs. Trump: A lawsuit against the travel ban filed on behalf of Iranian and Somali travelers who had obtained visas to enter the U.S.

 Muslin [sic], Jews and Christians Against Terrorism vs. United States of America: This misspelled and self-filed lawsuit is in favor of the travel ban and asks Trump to issue an executive order implementing extreme vetting on foreign travelers and to punish American sanctuary citiesand was clearly written by a genius. This man will probably be Betsy Devos right hand by the end of the week.
Punarbas area in Kanchanpur tensed

Tensions have been running high at Punarbas area in Punarbas Municipality-8 in Kanchanpur district since a clash between locals and Indian nationals regarding the construction of culvert in the local road ensued on Thursday and continued till Friday.
When it comes to clean water, the intersection of human health, environmental stewardship and economics create murky depths difficult to fathom. A stunning example of this is still playing out in Flint, Michigan. It started in August 2014 when positive tests for contaminants in the citys tap water prompted an advisory for citizens to boil their water for safety. The crisis grew until a state of emergency was declared in January 2016 due to excessive lead contamination that was poisoning children. The fact that the richest country in the world would not provide safe drinking water for its citizens just to save money made international headlines. Yet 452 miles to the south, the creation of contaminated ground water around the Kayford Mountain in West Virginia is largely unknown.

Located in the heart of the Appalachian Mountain chain, many of Kayfords peaks have been dynamited and dumped into the valley below. The dumping buries creeks and streams, leaching lead and other toxins into the groundwater below. The dynamiting, which occurs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, sprays dust and rock into the air, spreading coal dust and contaminants farther. Regular and devastating flooding occurs because water running off the mountains has no place to go, spreading more toxins into the water supply and soil of nearby communities. The reason for this destruction and its consequences is a single word: coal.



At least 500 more mountaintops have disappeared forever as a result of strip mining for coal. Called mountaintop removal (MTR), the process strips the land of all trees, bushes, topsoil and other vegetation. The remaining rock is dynamited and removed to reach coal seams. All of this material, called overburden, is legally dumped over the side of the mountain. According to a 2010 report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a total of 1,408,372 acres of rich forest had already been cut down by Appalachian surface mining operations. Thats 2,200 square miles, which is approximately the size of the state of Delaware.

Those mountaintops converted to rubble renamed valley fill when it buries naturally occurring creeks and streams. In its report Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Mountaintop Mining/Valley Fill in Appalachia, the EPA estimates that MTR valley fills have buried more than 2,000 miles of vital Appalachian headwater streams, and are poisoning many more. The water downstream of mountaintop removal mines has significantly higher levels of sulfate and selenium, and increases in electrical conductivity, a measure of heavy metals, according to Appalachian Voices. The group explains thatchanges in water quality will kill aquatic species, or disrupt their life cycles to the extent that entire populations will dwindle, and possibly disappear.

Mountaintop removal mining site in the Appalachian Mountain Range. Photo by Lynn Willis, flight courtesy of Southwings

The Appalachians are described as one of the most diverse assemblages of plants and animals found in the worlds temperate deciduous forests, according to the World Wildlife Fund. But the current U.S. administration is choosing the permanent destruction of this unique place on the planet to cater to coal companies that are only providing three percent of all electricity used in this country.



The Stream Protection Rule was adopted by the U.S. Department of the Interior in December 2016. The purpose was to update rules that are over 30 years old in order to more completely implement the law, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, to better protect the health and safety of people and the environment from the adverse effects of surface and underground coal mining. Republicans bragged about quashing the rule as a means TO destroy the Obama administrations effort to protect the environment.

The way they did it, without even considering the scientific evidence behind the rule, was devastating, says Deborah Murray, attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, who actively engaged participated in the public comment process for the rule making.

Its mind-boggling to think that Congress can, in an instant, get rid of a rule that took the Department of Interiorafter careful analysis, numerous public hearings, consideration of more than 150,000 written comments and statements and reliance on the best scientific information on the impacts of mountaintop miningnearly nine years to adopt, she says.

Characterizing the SPR as job killing is false. Certain members of Congress early on seized upon the rule-making effort as their poster child for what they falsely called the Obama administrations War on Coal. There was no analysis of any of the proposed provisions of the SPR or any explanation of how they would allegedly kill jobs. By contrast, the Department of Interior was required to do an economic analysis of the effect of the Rule, and DOI found that any loss of jobs would be more than offset by an average annual gain of 280 full-time jobs, prompted by the rule changes.



Describing the rule as common sense, Murray explains that one new requirement was more monitoring of groundwater and surface water. This alone would have added new jobs because coal mining companies arent doing this enough. This process would establish the baseline conditions in an area before mining begins. During and after mining, the testing would assess the impact on water quality. Murray believes, Citizens have the right not only to have access to clean water, but to also know what is in their water and how mining might be affecting their water. Similar demands for water-quality transparency have been made in Flint and will be playing out in the courts as lawsuits go to trial this year.

But the likelihood of another SPR being considered in the future seems unlikely.

The way in which the rule was killed matters because the Congressional Review Act forbids the adoption of any substantially similar rules absent congressional approval, Murray says. We dont know what substantially similar means, as the Congressional Review Act has only been used on one other occasion thus far. But Congresss repeal of the rule will greatly hinder any future administrations efforts to curb the worst excesses of mountaintop mining and protect public health and drinking water in these communities.

Now the destruction of streams and mountaintops in Appalachia caused by mountaintop mining can continue unchecked.

Top photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture

Margo is a science writer poking her nose into everything that piques her curiosity, from NASA and sea turtles to climate change and green tech.
The Rural Fire Authority will hand back the Christchurch Adventure Park this afternoon. Having the park returned is only the start of what will be a fairly long 'make safe' and damage assessment process.There are extreme tree and rock fall hazards all across the park that need to be addressed by the team before they can fully assess the site. When the park is made safe they will be working with insurers to assess the extent of the damage. The Park will also be working closely with the landowners as the fires ripped through significant areas of the forest causing extensive damage to trees and their root systems. Unfortunately, this does not appear that it's going to be a quick process.The Park is closed to the public until further notice and the public are advised that access to the park is strictly prohibited. People breaching this warning will stretch the park's resources and jeopardize the time to assess and ultimately rebuild the Park. The team at the Christchurch Adventure Park take health and safety extremely seriously.As soon as the team has more information on the extent of the damage they will be able to schedule the remedial works and only then will there be an estimate a re-opening date.
It took until the early morning hours, but the 2017 PokerStars Festival Rozvadov 5,300 King's High Roller has determined a champion.

At just after 4:30 a.m. local time, Vladimir Troyanovskiy defeated Eugene Katchalov in heads-up to lift the trophy and claim a payday of 52,208.

Troyanovskiy cut a deal with Katchalov before the one-on-one battle got underway, and the duo left 2,000 as well as the elusive PokerStars Festival High Roller trophy on the side with the Russian coming out on top.

Before the start of Day 2, another four players reentered the competition to bump the total field to 37 entries (including nine reentries), and the top six spots were guaranteed a portion of the 179,450 prize pool in the most expensive tournament of the festival at the King's Casino near the German border.

Final Result of the King's High Roller

Place Winner Country Prize (EUR) 1 Vladimir Troyanovskiy Russia 52,208* 2 Eugene Katchalov Ukraine 50,972* 3 Tomas Soderstrom Sweden 26,920 4 Jonas Lauck Germany 20,640 5 Andreas Eiler Austria 16,150 6 Martin Staszko Czech Republic 12,560

*denotes deal of the last two players

PokerStars Team Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier was the shortest stack coming back for Day 2 and became the first casualty after just two hands. Grospellier three-bet shoved with pocket queens and was called by Vladimir Troyanovskiy and Aviv Meiri.

Troyanovskiy then bet the turn of a king-high board to isolate successfully and showed ace-king for top pair. ElkY only had queens and bowed out. Right after, Pierre Neuville lost a flip with pocket jacks against the ace-king of Eugene Katchalov when an ace appeared on the flop.

Papa Guy's pocket aces were cracked by the pocket kings of Eugene Katchalov. Marcin Chmielewski and Mateusz Chwastek, both from Poland, were sent to the rail next along with Almedin Imsirovic.

Jonas Lauck, who reentered before the start of Day 2 and doubled up twice with ace-king, then dodged the ace-king of Czech poker pro Martin Kabrhel and held up with pocket sixes despite two over cards, a straight and flush draw for Kabrhel.

Steven Thompson, Tomas Jozonis and Vlado Banicevic then all failed to make the unofficial final table and bowed out in quick succession. Banicevic three-bet with pocket jacks and eventually called the four-bet shove of Andreas Samuelsson for 30 big blinds only to find himself up against pocket kings. Another king hit on the river and that was it for Banicevic.

Down to the last nine, Troyanovskiy was in the lead closely followed by Tomas Soderstrom.

Seat Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Eugene Katchalov Ukraine 272,000 68 2 Viliyan Petleshkov Bulgaria 75,000 18 3 Tomas Soderstrom Sweden 340,000 85 4 Andreas Samuelsson Sweden 260,000 65 5 Martin Staszko Czech Republic 205,000 51 6 Andreas Eiler Austria 48,000 12 7 Vladimir Troyanovskiy Russia 385,000 96 8 Aviv Meiri Israel 29,000 7 9 Jonas Lauck Germany 250,000 62

Within one hour, Andreas Samuelsson twice picked up pocket kings and his stack was reduced to zero. The Swede first lost to the pocket aces of Andreas Eiler and then became the second casualty of the hot run of Vladimir Troyanovskiy in back-to-back hands.

First, Aviv Meiri three-bet shoved with pocket tens and Troyanovskiy called with queen-jack suited with a jack appearing on the flop. Exactly one hand later, Samuelsson four-bet shoved with pocket kings and Troyanovskiy called with ace-king to find an ace from space on the river.

On the money bubble, Viliyan Petleshkov was the shortest stack by far and managed to double once before three-bet jamming with ace-jack. Vladimir Troyanovskiy called with ace-king suited and a king on the flop all but sealed it.

Martin Staszko was the first player on the rail in the money when his ace-queen suited found no help against the ace-king of Tomas Soderstrom and that reduced the field to the last five.

Andreas Eiler lost his momentum and fell to the last spot in the counts before open-shoving from the small blind with the jack-four off suit. Vladimir Troyanovskiy looked down on pocket queens from one seat over in the big blind and Eiler failed to get there on an ace-high board.

The run of Jonas Lauck then came to an end in fourth place. He open-shoved for just 11 big blinds with pocket fives and Eugene Katchalov reshoved with pocket eights. There was no miracle on the board and Lauck had to settle for a payday of 20,640.

Down to the last three, 28-year-old Tomas Soderstrom, who only started playing live tournaments in late 2015 and then finished third in the 2016 Irish Poker Open in Dublin, eventually claimed the very same position here in Rozvadov as well.

Soderstrom shoved for 10 big blinds from the button with king-nine and Vladimir Troyanovskiy called with ace-ten in the small blind. An ace hit the flop and the Swede was drawing dead on the turn.

Both Eugene Katchalov and Vladimir Troyanovskiy were almost even in chips and agreed to an ICM deal, but the prestigious trophy had to wait another two and a half hours before being lifted into the air. Troyanovskiy fell back and doubled twice, the second time with ace-six suited versus pocket eights, before pulling into a dominating lead.

Eventually, Katchalov shoved with nine-eight suited and Troyanovskiy called with queen-jack suited. A ten-high flop gave Katchalov middle pair and his opponent had a ton of outs with an open-ended straight flush draw. Another diamond on the turn completed the flush for Troyanovskiy and that was all she wrote.

That marks the end of the PokerNews live reporting from the 5,300 King's High Roller, but the action recommences in just a few hours. As of 2 p.m. local time, the second of four starting days of the 1,100 Main Event gets underway. Day 1a saw 183 participants and that brings the tournament on par with the excellent turnout of the previous PokerStars Festival in London at the end of January.
A 19 year old has been eating pictures of the actor for the last three weeks straight

The world is a very strange place currently, and with the sheer amount of insane things occurring socially and politically it's hard to gage exactly how weird things have gotten. But to give you a small example of exactly what we're dealing with here, a 19-year-old Toronto man has gone viral with his plan to eat a photo of actor Jason Segel everyday until the actor eats one photo of him. Yup you read that correctly, a man is videotaping himself eating a printed out picture of the star of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I Love You, Man while promoting the hashtag #EatMyFaceSegel. And if you're thinking, "Oh this is just some cry for attention they'll give up in a couple days", know this experiment is currently going on day 21.

Understanding the depths of what is going on, the question I'm left to ponder is should we be laughing or terrified? The man in question is Noah Maloney, a college student part of a comedy troupe that has seen their profile heightened exponentially since beginning his experiment. Because of this, it's easy to write Maloney and his team off as absurdist comedians in the vein of Eric Andre, willing to push their limits and the limits of their audience in pursuit of a laugh. Maloney himself has been notably low key about the entire endeavor, claiming to hold no strong feelings about Segel and just selected him for the sake of randomness.

Yet as he maintains his commitment to enduring the challenge until he gets his validation from the former How I Met Your Mother star, its easy to see this getting from weird to scary pretty quickly. Segel has become increasingly more private life, only sporadically using social media, so it may be a long time before he engages with Maloney's challenge if he ever does. And at the same time any person whose willing to stare silently into camera and chew on a piece paper with your face on it silently before ending the video with "Hi, Jason" isn't exactly the person I'd want to invite over to hang with. That's not even including the fact he was also filmed getting Segel's name tattoo-ed on him.

Still with over 600,000 views for the challenges first video, Maloney has proven there is an audience for performers dreaming of making it big eating pictures of other performers. And if that doesn't inspire you well that's probably a sign you're a sane, productive member of society.
The Fourth edition of SR() Socially Relevant Film Festival New York features four Dutch films about spiritualism, environmentalism, war and child-free food production. The films include Prophecy by Zuri Rinpoche, The Toxic Circle by Wilfried Koomen, 9 Days From my Window in Aleppo by Floor van der Meulen, Thomas Vroege and Issa Touma and the opening film of the festival, The Chocolate Case by Bethe Forrer.

By: SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York

1 2 3 The Chocolate Case 2017-SR-FilmFestival- Poster 9 Days from my Window in Aleppo

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--, directed by Benthe Forrer is the incredible journey of three Dutch journalists who try to persuade large corporations to end the use of child labor in the chocolate industry and finally decide to take matters into their own hands by creating the world's first slave-free chocolate bar.Trailer: http://dai.ly/ x59ympr H.E. Consul General Dolph Hogewoning, Consul of the Kingdom of Netherlands in New York Vera Kuipers, Senior Policy Officer, Performing Arts, Film, Literature at the Consulate General of the Netherlands.Cinepolis Chelsea260 West 23rd StreetTuesday, March 14 at 7 pmThe film will be preceded by Founding Artistic Director Nora Armani's welcome address, introductions, and the following two short films:a short music video campaign about the environment from Indonesia, directed byDematra. This music video is also the soundtrack of the documentary about the Minister of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia.directed by, where Martin Sheen presents how Garry Davis gave up Broadway to stand up for the world in which Humanity is United.The world seems to have lost its way  filled with fear, exclusion and building walls. The amazing story of World Citizen #1 Garry Davis may be just the roadmap needed to find our way  to a better future! See the short film about his life, "My Country Is the World," at the wonderful SR Socially Relevant Film Festival in NY  then watch for the forthcoming feature documentary as well.Arthur Kanegis, director.by Floor van der Meulen, Thomas Vroege and Issa ToumaOne morning in August 2012, renowned Syrian photographer Issa Touma saw young men lugging sandbags into his street. It turned out to be the start of the Syrian uprising in the city of Aleppo.6 pmIssa Touma* * *by Wilfried Koomen Campania, the area around Naples, is known as the biggest illegal landfill for chemical waste in Europe.Trailer: http://dai.ly/ x5a0k5w Wilfried Koomenby Zuri RinpocheAn immortal ancient prophecy awakens the truth of humanity. Two men set out in search of a Terton, a treasure revealer.Trailer: http://dai.ly/x59ym51Zuri Rinpoche* * *: www.ratedsrfilms.orgThe Official Trailer of SRFF 2017 (http://dai.ly/x5dpu9t)www.SRFF2017.eventbrite.comChiara Spagnoli Gabardi (929) 228 7663 clairespanish@hotmail.com
By: South Shore Chamber of Commerce

Shannon Hoeg

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-- The South Shore Chamber of Commerce announces that Shannon Hoeg, Owner and President of JSS Communications has been named to the Chamber's Board of Directors for a two-year term.JSS Communications, headquartered in Pembroke, is a family-owned and operated full service telecommunications company.Hoeg graduated from the University of Massachusetts  Boston with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.In addition to her position on the Chamber's Board of Directors, Hoeg is Chairman of the South Shore Young Professionals.Originally from Carver, Hoeg now lives in Weymouth.Peter Forman, President and CEO of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, said, "Attracting more younger professionals to the South Shore is an important goal of our economic strategy for the South Shore's future. As Chair of the Young Professionals and President of JSS Communications, Shannon will bring an important perspective and voice to our Board in moving the South Shore into the future."The South Shore Chamber of Commerce has long been recognized throughout the state as one of the most active and forceful advocates for the business community and numbers among the larger Chambers of Commerce nationally. The South Shore Chamber is a not-for-profit association of businesses in the communities south of Boston. It is committed to helping its members grow their businesses and to improve the business climate in the region. Members range in size from major international corporations headquartered on the South Shore to small local firms and sole proprietorships. For additional information on the Chamber, please visit www.southshorechamber.org or call 781-421-3900.
Peterbilt parts and service dealer, The Larson Group, was named a top-performing Peterbilt 2016 Dealer of the Year and adds three platinum oval awards to its abundant collection of honors.

Media Contact

Barbie Langston

***@tlgtrucks.com Barbie Langston

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-- Peterbilt Motors Company has named The Larson Group (TLG) as its 2016 North American Parts and Service Dealer of the Year at its annual Dealer Meeting, citing the dealer's "commitment to support and service that spans the entire truck ownership experience."Also recognized as PACCAR's Best In Class Parts and Service Dealer of the Year in 2016, as well as accepting service excellence awards for two of its dealerships, the recent Peterbilt honor further demonstrates TLG's exceptional dedication to service."Every member of our team is committed to creating an unparalleled ownership experience for our customers, and that includes maximizing their uptime and minimizing their costs for the entire life of their truck," said Glenn Larson, President and Dealer Principal of TLG.The Best in Class Awards were based on a combination of the Peterbilt's Standard of Excellence scores, financial performance, parts and service performance and utilization of PACCAR training and programs."The Larson Group fully utilized parts, service and support technologies offered by Peterbilt and PACCAR Parts in 2016," said David Danforth, PACCAR Parts General Manager and PACCAR Vice President. "They achieved outstanding performance in each Standard of Excellence category, maintained an excellent absorption rate, and were the first in the Peterbilt network to open a TRP all makes parts store."In addition to being classified as one of Peterbilt's top-performing Dealers of the Year, the leading provider of Peterbilt parts and accessories also received three platinum oval awards.Kyle Quinn, Peterbilt General Manager and PACCAR Senior Vice President, said, "The entire team of The Larson Group takes great pride in their business, the Peterbilt brand and focuses on the needs of the customer. They embrace and invest in the full range of Peterbilt and PACCAR Parts programs, including full parts and service support of PACCAR MX engine family."Larson said, "We will continue to invest in the skilled technicians, technologies and training that ensure that our customers' expectations are not only met, but exceeded. It is that commitment that has resulted in the honor of being named the Peterbilt Parts and Service Dealer for 2016."###About The Larson Group PeterbiltThe Larson Group has been providing quality Peterbilt products and exceptional service across the Midwest for more than 25 years. TLG has built teams of qualified, highly-trained professionals to provide customers with the best service for their commercial transportation needs at 18 Peterbilt facilities located across Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Ohio.For more information about The Larson Group's Peterbilt parts inventory or to experience its exemplary customer service first-hand, call 417.865.5355, visit TLGtrucks.com or contact Barbie Langston at blangston(at)tlgtrucks(dot)com.
Teach Anti Bullying Inc. honored to be nominated by NJ State Elks Association

By: Teach Anti Bullying Inc.

Contact

Maria L. Novak

***@maria-l- novak.com Maria L. Novak

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-- Teach Anti Bullying Inc. (TAB), a Pennsylvania based non-profit organization, has been nominated for the prestigious New Jersey Governor's Jefferson Award (http://www.njgovernorsawards.com/). The Jefferson Awards were founded in 1972 by Sam Beard, Jacqueline Kennedy and Senator Robert Taft to honor people who do outstanding community service.Safety and Security Coordinator for the NJSEA, Bill Applegate, nominated the organization stating, "It is my understanding that since they first started on their pathway to helping those in need, they have reached over 60,000 children " The organization, TAB, had presented at the New Jersey Elks Association's Pathway to Leadership Conference. He continued, "Issues concerning bullying, child abuse and drug abuse are all too often swept under the rug. Thank you for being a champion for the abused and unheard."Teach Anti Bullying's Founder, Dr. Claudio Cerullo responded, "It is truly an honor to be nominated for this Award. But that is not why we do what we do. The children and families we help every day make our efforts all worth it."The announcement of the winners of the Governor's Jefferson Awards is expected in the next few months.Teach Anti Bullying Inc is an anti-bullying and school violence prevention non-profit that assists schools, communities, and organizations nationwide in the programmatic development of both bullying prevention and school violence preparedness. To support their mission, they offer education, school and community presentations, student assemblies, and conferences throughout the United States. More information is available at www.TeachAntiBullying.com
NCC divested land in Copenhagen to a private investor for a purchase price of approximately 9.92 Million (SEK 95 Million). The company has owned a large area of land on Teglholmen in southern Copenhagen since 1993, which has gradually been developed with offices and housing. NCC has now sold the

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Refugees who sheltered Edward Snowden seek Canada asylum

Refugees who sheltered rogue National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden in Hong Kong are seeking asylum in Canada.
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The final legal arguments in the Maruti Suzuki workers Trial case concluded on 18 February, 2017 with arguments by Advocates Vrinda Grover, Rebecca John and RS Cheema against the State Prosecution.

The ongoing case, State of Haryana vs Jiyalal & Others could see possible convictions for 216 workers today (10th March, 2017) at the Gurgaon Additional District and Sessions Court. Maruti Suzuki workers case (State of Haryana vs Jiyalal & Others) is going on since July 2012. In the meantime, 546 permanent workers and 1800 contract workers have faced terminations (and labour cases). A separate case is on against 111 workers in Kaithal since 2013.

3 strikes had been undertaken in 2011 voicing concerns against exploitive conditions at the factory. Maruti Suzuki Workers Union, Manesar (Reg. No.1923) was formed on 1 March 2012. A Charter of Demands was submitted in April that year. It asked for the contract worker system to be done away with, among other demands. The already tense atmosphere was furthered complicated on 18 July 2012, when a clash inside the plant led to the death of an HR manager, Awanish Dev. The postmortem report says Awanish Kumar Devs death was due to asphyxiation. The day prior, a worker Jiyalal was suspended from duty after a supervisor attacked him and resorted to casteist abuse.

To date, 147 workers have served jail term without bail for more than 3-and-a-half years. Charges against them include murder, attempt to murder, rioting, looting, setting fire to private property and various Sections of the IPC. At present, 11 workers (members of the then Union Body) are in jail without bail. 66 more workers are charged under a range of non-bailable sections.

A High Court order in May 2013 rejected bail saying, this is one one of the unfortunate incident that has lowered the reputation of India in the world. Foreign direct investment is likely not to happen due to fear of growing labour unrest.

Thus far, state expenditure on the case has run into crores of public money. A RTI revealed the government paid Advocate KTS Tulsi R.5.5 crore in only 2 years, a whopping 11 lakh per appearance in the Gurgaon Additional District and Sessions Court. His three assistants recieved payment of Rs. 66000 for each appearance. Clerkage was shown at over Rs. 1 lakh for his expenses for each appearance.

The Full Appeal
When experiencing a stroke, people who are brought to the hospital in an ambulance with a CT scanner and telemedicine capabilities are evaluated and treated nearly two times faster than people taken in a regular ambulance, according to a study published in the March 8, 2017, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

An ischemic stroke is the most common kind of stroke, when a blood clot blocks blood flow to the brain. It can often be treated with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA), a clot-busting drug, but the drug ideally should be given within four-and-a-half hours of the start of symptoms to improve chances of recovery.

"The sooner someone is treated for stroke, the better chance they have for survival and an improved recovery," said study author Muhammad S. Hussain, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, and member of the American Academy of Neurology. "Telemedicine makes it possible for a neurologist to see a stroke patient, and possibly treat them, before they even arrive at the hospital."

To improve treatment times, the Cleveland Clinic created a mobile stroke treatment unit, an ambulance equipped with a mobile CT scanner and telemedicine technology. It was first used in the city of Cleveland in 2014. The medical team on board includes a registered nurse, a paramedic, an emergency medical technician and a CT technologist.

For the study, researchers compared the stroke care of the first 100 people transported by the mobile stroke unit to the stroke care of 53 people brought to the hospital by a regular ambulance in 2014. People in both groups had similar stroke severity.

A vascular neurologist evaluated each person transported in the mobile stroke unit on the way to the hospital. A neuroradiologist and vascular neurologist also assessed CT scan images taken during the ride.

Researchers found there was a significant reduction in the time from the initial call for help to getting a CT scan, an average of 33 minutes for those transported by the mobile stroke unit compared to 56 minutes for those transported by regular ambulance. Average time from the first call for help to receiving clot-busting drugs was 56 minutes compared to 94 minutes. Average time between arrival at hospital to treatment with clot-busting drugs was 32 minutes compared to 58 minutes. Average time from the start of symptoms to receiving clot-busting drugs was 97 minutes compared to 123 minutes.

Of those evaluated in the mobile stroke unit, 16 people received clot-busting drugs and 25 percent of them received the drugs within an hour of the start of symptoms.

"Overall, people transported by the mobile stroke unit received clot-busting drugs nearly 40 minutes faster," said Hussain. "Also, 44 percent of them received clot-busting drugs within an hour-and-a-half, compared to just 8 percent of other patients. More people were given the treatment they needed, faster."

Limitations of the study include its small sample size and that those transported by regular ambulance were taken to facilities in just one hospital system. Questions remain about the cost-effectiveness of mobile stroke units, especially in rural areas, as well as their feasibility since fast wireless networks are needed to transmit images quickly.

In an accompanying editorial, Andrew M. Southerland, MD, of the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville and member of the American Academy of Neurology, said, "Ongoing efforts are needed to streamline mobile stroke unit costs and efficiency before achieving road-readiness for widespread health system deployment."
Scientists made a surprising discovery on their mission to find better indicators for impending volcanic eruptions: it looks like tree rings may be able to predict eruptions, report the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL and the ETH Zurich.

Nicolas Houlie, a geophysicist at ETH Zurich, first came to know about this potential early warning system in 2001. While looking at a satellite image, he noticed a three kilometres long green line on the north-east flank of Mount Etna. The line reflects the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI): the higher the value, the more vegetation is thriving in the area. But what made the discovery really astonishing is the fact that the volcano erupted along that exact line just one year later.

Volcanologists and dendrochronologists join forces

Dendrochronologists agree that NDVI values are connected to tree growth, and thus reflected in tree-ring width. With that in mind, geographer Ruedi Seiler, a PhD student at WSL, and dendrologist Paolo Cherubini, Head of Dendrochronology at WSL, teamed up with Nicolas Houlie four years ago to embark upon a cross-disciplinary research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Their unusual idea -- namely that tree rings give information about volcanic processes prior to eruptions -- has now been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The rings formed in tree trunks during trees' growth periods are valuable repositories of environmental information: the ring width reflects the tree's growth conditions, which are a combination of the temperature, precipitation and nutrient conditions during a given growing season. "The ring width may also be influenced by volcanic activity on Mount Etna and in other volcanic regions," speculates Seiler.

Short pre-eruptive phase?

Under Cherubini's direction, the researchers conducted their initial fieldwork alongside the lava flows that ran down Mount Etna's west flank in January 1974. This was the location where Italian researchers also spotted an anomaly on satellite images in 1973, prior to the eruption.

Seiler took over fifty tree samples in the aim of identifying any pre-eruptive signals in the tree rings. However, the researchers found that the tree rings for summer 1973 were neither exceptionally wide nor exceptionally narrow.

"If volcanic activity does influence tree rings, then the pre-eruptive phase of the 1974 eruption can only have begun when the trees had already ceased their seasonal growth," concludes Seiler. That said, the calculated duration of the pre-eruptive phase -- which would be just a few months in this case -- is actually consistent with the results of earlier geochemical and geophysical studies.

Restricted growth following an eruption

Although there were no changes to the trees' growth before the 1974 eruption, the researchers' article in Scientific Reports points out that the trees grew less in the two summers following the eruption than in other years. "I see great potential in this observation: we may be able to use tree rings to reliably date minor flank eruptions," says volcanologist Houlie. This is significant because a volcano's past behaviour can provide information about its future activities and thus contribute to improving measures to protect the population.

Thanks to real-time monitoring with GPS, seismometers and gas monitoring devices, the eruptions of the last twenty years are well documented. By contrast, volcanic eruptions occurring in the 2,000 years before that cannot be dated reliably, while the dates of even older volcanic events can be determined relatively accurately using the C14 method. Houlie is optimistic: "Tree ring data could help to close the information gap for the period stretching from 20 to 2,000 years ago." In any case, the researchers want to continue their investigations into whether tree rings may be helpful in predicting volcanic eruptions.
For the past eight years, Operation IceBridge, a NASA mission that conducts aerial surveys of polar ice, has produced unprecedented three-dimensional views of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, providing scientists with valuable data on how polar ice is changing in a warming world. Now, for the first time, the campaign will expand its reach to explore the Arctic's Eurasian Basin through two research flights based out of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the northern Atlantic Ocean.

The mission is surveying the region as part of its 2017 Arctic spring campaign, which completed its first flight on March 9 and will continue until May 12.

"This is IceBridge's ninth year in the Arctic and we're expecting this to be one of our most extensive campaigns to date," said Nathan Kurtz, Operation IceBridge's project scientist and a sea ice scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "We are expanding our reach to the Eurasian sector of the Arctic, so we're hopefully going to get more sea ice coverage than we ever have."

Traditionally, IceBridge's Arctic campaigns operate from three bases: Thule Air Base in northwest Greenland, Fairbanks in Alaska, and Kangerlussuaq in southwest Greenland. The addition of Svalbard will allow the mission to collect data on sea ice and snow in a scarcely measured section of the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas, along with measurements of a few glaciers in the Svalbard archipelago. Researchers think that the sea ice characteristics in the Eurasian side of the Arctic might be different from those of its Amerasian counterpart. In particular, they suspect that they may see a thicker snow cover on the Eurasian sea ice, but they will not be able to confirm it until IceBridge flies over.

"Most of the available data on snowfall in the Eurasian Basin is outdated, from drifting stations that operated between 1954 and 1991," said Ron Kwok, a member of IceBridge's science team and a sea ice researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "When those surveys were done, we still had a lot of thick sea ice in the Arctic. Now it's mostly thinner, first-year ice, so the snow we're going to see on top is going to be different than what was there before."

Having precise measurements of snow on sea ice is essential for NASA's upcoming Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2). ICESat-2 will use laser beams to measure the elevation of sea ice floating on the ocean, which can then be used to infer its thickness, but lack of knowledge of the snow that sits on sea ice can make these sea ice thickness retrievals less accurate.

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Supporting ICESat-2, which is scheduled to launch in 2018, is one of the primary goals for Operation IceBridge. But the large volumes of data on Arctic sea and land ice that IceBridge has collected during its nine years of operations there have also enabled scientific discoveries ranging from the first map showing what parts of the bottom of the massive Greenland Ice Sheet are thawed to improvements in snowfall accumulation models for all of Greenland.

This year, the IceBridge team and instruments will be again flying on NASA's P-3 Orion, which had been unavailable for the past two years while it was being fitted with new wings.

"We have our favorite airplane and crew back," said John Sonntag, IceBridge mission scientist. "This makes us more effective, because there aren't many other crews in the world that are as experienced with polar flying as this team is. They know how to prevent cold-related damage to the aircraft, they know Arctic weather, they know what we need. They keep us flying very effectively. I'm very optimistic that we'll have a very productive campaign."

The P-3 Orion, based at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, will carry IceBridge's most comprehensive instrument suite: a scanning laser altimeter that measures surface elevation, three types of radar systems to study ice layers and the bedrock underneath the ice sheet, a high-resolution camera to create color maps of polar ice, and infrared cameras to measure surface temperatures of sea and land ice.

This year, the mission's most essential instrument, the laser altimeter, has been upgraded.

"The new laser has a very narrow pulse that fires 10,000 pulses every second, compared to the old laser's wider pulse at 3,000 pulses per second," said Jim Yungel, Wallops program manager for the laser altimeter. "We'll be able to triple our data collection rate and see finer detail within steep structures, like crevasses or sea ice leads, in addition to measuring ice elevation more accurately."

IceBridge will also deploy three other experimental instruments that will be tested during the research flights.
China has expanded its Marine Corps by adding a third brigade. Like the other two, the third marine brigade is an existing army brigade (the 77th Motorized Infantry Brigade) that will undergo a transformation consisting of new equipment, new uniforms, special training and learning how to carry out amphibious operations. Even with the third brigade the Chinese marines are still a small force. The three Chinese marine brigades contain a total of 14,000 troops, plus another 4,000 troops in support and training units. A year ago the marines had only 12,000 troops.

There also two army divisions trained to undertake amphibious operations and they regularly train with the marines. This is not, in a Western sense, a "marine corps" but the Chinese marines have come to be considered elite troops and for that reason Chinese brigades consider it an honor to be converted to marine units. This first occurred in 1980, with a second conversion in 1998.

In the West the nature of China's amphibious forces has been misunderstood for decades. Until the 1980s, the Chinese didn't have a distinct marine force, only army units that were trained to conduct amphibious operations. China didn't start building its own large amphibious ships until the 1980s, at the same time they organized marine brigades.

Marine brigades are equipped with amphibious armored vehicles and self-propelled artillery, anti-tank, and anti-aircraft missiles. All of these marines are volunteers and undergo strenuous training. Each brigade also has a reconnaissance battalion, with several hundred men (and thirty women) trained to use scuba gear to get ashore and look around. These are actually special operations troops and are carefully selected and trained. In Western terms, the Chinese marines share some characteristics with both the U.S. Marine Corps and the British Royal Marine Commandos in terms of training and intended capabilities. The Chinese appear to be going more for their marines to be considered special operations troops. The U.S. Marine Corps is doing the same thing following the example of what the British Royal Marines did during World War II and continued doing so ever since. .

Interestingly, the Chinese marines are not stationed where they could be used for an invasion of Taiwan but in the south, where they can grab disputed islands in the South China Sea. While these islands, which control fishing and potential oil fields, are considered disputed, China has already laid claim to some of them by force. In 1974, China fought a naval battle with Vietnam off the Paracel islands. In 1988, China and Vietnam fought another naval battle, off the Spratly islands. Both of these battles were followed by Chinese troops establishing garrisons on some of the islands. In 1992, Chinese marines landed on Da Lac reef, in the Spratly Islands. In 1995, Chinese marines occupied Mischief Reef, which was claimed by the Philippines.

Initially Chinese marines were trained and equipped for raiding, not for large scale landings against a defended shore. The latter task is apparently left to army divisions that have been drilled on how to get on, and off, amphibious ships. While the Chinese marines might play a part in a Taiwan invasion, their full time job appears to be in the South China Sea, where the Chinese stand ready to grab more islands, if the economic advantages seem high enough. The navy supplies the amphibious ships and any air support (fixed wing aircraft and helicopters) needed. Detachments of marines have accompanied the warships China sends to the anti-piracy patrol off Somalia. Chinese marines are also being trained to seize islands Japan currently holds but China claims.

The U.S. Navy has come to view the Chinese marines as tip of the spear for any Chinese amphibious operations. While China has other special operations forces, only the marines regularly practice operations at sea. The marines have been used against Somali pirates and to provide security for Chinese aid efforts in dangerous areas. As China practices to use military force in the South China Sea or other disputed offshore areas, the marines always tend to be present. So American intel tracks the Chinese marines carefully, for these amphibious troops will often be the first in if China decides to fight.
Russia and the United States are trying to prevent the offensive against ISIL from being disrupted because of growing hostility between the Turks and the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) rebels. This is all about Turkey trying to prevent the Syrian Kurds from establishing an autonomous region in northern Syria. The Turks are the only member of the anti-ISIL coalition that wants to keep the Kurds out of the final offensive to crush ISIL in Syria. The Turks are also opposed to the growing Iranian presence in Syria and Iranian plans to make that presence (and control of the Syrian government) permanent. Israel also opposes the Iranian presence but is neutral about the Kurds and has the support of Russia and the United States for that.

Meanwhile the war continues to go badly for the rebels, who are often more eager to fight each other than the government forces. Assad (Syrian government) troops continue to destroy or chase away rebels in the suburbs of Aleppo. The Assad forces are doing the same around the capital (Damascus) and trying to maintain control of the Lebanese, Israeli and Jordanian borders. The Assads are also contributing forces for the advance on Raqqa, but that is mainly to assert the government claim on Raqqa. Meanwhile the Kurdish led SDF rebels are continuing to lead the move on Raqqa. ISIL seems to be concentrating its forces in Syria and withdrawing many of those it had in Iraq. While there is general agreement that ISIL will be eliminated (or reduced to a minor faction in Syria) by the end of 2017 the outcome of the Syrian civil war is still in doubt. While Iran and Russia have been backing a peace deal that keeps the Assads in power, the new U.S. government appears more intent on crushing ISIL as well as helping unite the rebels against the Assads. The United States has sent about a thousand additional troops into Syria since late February. The latest of these is a U.S. Marine artillery unit (six 155mm towed howitzers that can use GPS guided shells with a range of over 40 kilometers) as well as a company of U.S. Army Rangers. Most of the American reinforcements have been special operations troops and artillery units (including at least one truck mounted MLRS HIMARS rocket launcher system. These carry one, six rocket, container. The 227mm rockets are GPS guided and have a range of over 70 kilometers. The 12 ton HIMARS truck can fit into a C-130 transport as can trucks carrying additional 227mm rockets. There are also at least six American Stryker wheeled armored vehicles in Syria, mainly to provide protection for American forward observer teams near the front line calling in air and artillery strikes for SDF forces. The Strykers are also apparently being used to make it clear to the Turks where American forces are. The rangers and artillery are there to take part in the advance on Raqqa and to prevent Turkish forces from interfering with SDF efforts. SDF has been moving towards Raqqa for over a year and insists it now has sufficient ground forces to take Raqqa, but only if the Turks leave them alone.

Turkish Tribulations

Turkey and the U.S. are both NATO members but since pro-Islamic Turkish leader Recep Erdogan took power in 2003 relations with the U.S. and Israel have suffered. Since 2012 a lot more Turks have turned against Erdogan because of what they perceive as increasingly authoritarian behavior by Erdogan. The common complaint is Erdogans self-righteousness, arrogance and increasingly autocratic behavior. The arrogance can be attributed to Erdogans personal and very public disrespect for his political opponents (both domestic and foreign). Many Turks believe that Erdogans personal animosity extends to any Turk who disagrees with any of his policies and decisions. Such profound and ingrained disrespect has led to disregard for the law and the use of state power to silence his critics. Erdogan threatens reporters with lawsuits and criminal charges and often follows through. He threatens opposition media and uses his authority to shut down offending media outlets. Erdogans political party identifies and punishes public workers who oppose the Erdogan government. Public employees are vulnerable to this type of party-line intimidation and Erdogan loves to intimidate. Erdogan has won three national elections since 2002 but now charges of corruption are hurting him in the polls and the next election may be different. Erdogans bad habits influence his decisions on how to deal with Syria. That means the traditional regional superpower, the nation most able to settle the mess in Syria, has been sidetracked by messy domestic politics. This has led to difficult relations with Russia and the United States. On March 7th Erdogan ordered the expulsion of a major American aid group operating in Turkey and northern Syria to care for over 400,000 Syrian refugees. This effort employs over 300 people, most of them Syrians and Turks. This shutdown is supposed to persuade the Americans to allow the Turks to interfere with SDF rebels in Syria. At present such interference is not realistic because SDF units are often accompanied by American troops. Erdogan is visiting Russia today to try and persuade Russian leaders to back him in his efforts to oppose the Americans in Syria.

Turkey has troops in Syria mainly to seal its border with Syria and keep Islamic terrorists and Kurdish separatists out of Turkey. Turkey is hostile to the Assad government but is mainly concerned with Islamic terrorists and Kurdish separatists seeking to attack inside Turkey. Back in November 2016, as Turkish and rebel forces completed surrounding al Bab (east of Aleppo) the Turks made it clear that once they had driven ISIL out of al Bab the next objective would be the nearby town of Manbij, which had been controlled by U.S. backed SDF. The Turks persuaded the SDF to back off on their plans to take al Bab and let the Turks do it. But now the Turks are trying to force the SDF out of Manbij. The cause of all this friction is Turkish hostility towards Syrian Kurds, especially the radical Kurdish YPG faction of the SDF. This goes back decades because of the continued fighting between Turks and the PKK (Turkish Kurdish separatists).

The PKK is again at war with the Turks and have always had close ties with the YPG (Syrian Kurdish separatists). In the past the Assad government would provide sanctuary for PKK rebels in return for the YPG. Even before 2011 the Assad government agreed to stop providing any aid for the PKK. The Turks made it clear that it was either that or a few divisions of Turkish troops would enter Syria to force compliance. But the Assads got away with refusing to go after their own YPG, mainly because the YPG was willing to negotiate deals with the Assads and continued to do so after 2011 as the YPG joined the rebels but remained flexible. The Turks understand but making deals with Kurds is very unpopular in Turkey right now.

While the Kurds of northern Iraq will cooperate with the Turks in controlling the PKK, some of the Syrian Kurds (the YPG) have worked closely with the PKK before and the Turks do not trust them to behave like the Iraqi Kurds. Meanwhile Turkey is willing to work with Kurdish militias not associated with the YPG (like the FSA). The problem here is that the Kurdish dominated SDF rebels are leading the attack on the ISIL capital of Raqqa no one fighting ISIL wants to interfere with that.

Nevertheless Turkish politics has the final say and the Turks managed to keep the SDF from going after al Bab. While the Turks say they dont want their troops, or their FSA rebel allies to fight the SDF (and by extension YPG Kurds) because that would cause friction with the other NATO countries, especially the Americans, there have been skirmishes between Turks and SDF as the Turks move to take control of Manbij. The Syrian Assad government prefers that the YPG take al Bab because the Kurds in general, and the more radical YPG in particular are willing to make deals. The Turks are less willing to make deals. Thus in November 2016 FSA rebels cut the main highway between al Bab and SDF controlled Manbij, which is 43 kilometers northwest of al Bab and 60 kilometers southwest of the Kurdish border town of Kobane. Manbij was captured (from ISIL) by the SDF in early August 2016. Since mid-October Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish YPG rebels trying to take al Bab have persuaded the SDF to back off and the airstrikes are largely then concentrated on ISIL targets inside al Bab rather than any YPG forces in the area. Sometimes the Turkish airstrikes on YPG forces hit non-YPG members of the SDF and a few times came close to hitting the American Special Forces advisors working with the SDF. The Americans and Turks has some tense discussions over that.

In the east SDF rebels continue to get closer to Raqqa. The SDF points out that 70 percent of SDF forces advancing on Raqqa are Arab, the rest are from various Kurd factions. At the moment the only ones concentrating on Raqqa are the SDF coalition of Syrian Kurd and local Arab groups supported by Western and Arab nations. The SDF advance has been slow but that has kept SDF casualties down. Since the advance began in November the SDF has driven ISIL out of nearly 4,000 square kilometers of territory and killed over a thousand ISIL fighters and even captured some. The SDF suffered a few hundred casualties (less 100 dead) but recruited over 3,000 additional fighters from the liberated populations as well as Arab tribes throughout eastern Syria. Most of this progress has been made in 2017. The SDF has Western (mainly American) special operations troops assisting, mainly to call in airstrikes from the U.S. led air coalition that includes warplanes from several Western nations as well as Arab Gulf states. The SDF did not initially plan to take Raqqa by itself and concentrated on surrounding the city. SDF had hoped the Turks and the Assads (or even the Iraqis) to join the effort to clear the city of ISIL forces. Iraqi participation less likely because the Iraq government has been saying publicly and more frequently that they will keep the Iraqi Shia militias out of Syria.

Turkey is also having problems with Iran because senior Turkish leaders openly accuse Iran of attempting to destabilize Syria and Iraq in order to increase Iranian influence in those countries. While many people in those countries, both pro and anti-Iran, would agree, the official Iranian line is that their military efforts in Syria and Iraq are simply to help fight ISIL. Turkey is largely Sunni and has been trying to improve its relations with all Moslem majority nations in the region since 2000. That is proving difficult with the growing struggle between Shia (led by Iran) and Sunni (led by Saudi Arabia). Turkey has tried to stay out of this conflict but that is proving impossible.

While Russia is in Syria to defeat ISIL (officially) and keep the Assads in power (semi-officially) they also want to maintain good relations with Israel. But Israel has made it clear that there can never be peace in Syria if Iran tries to establish a permanent presence there. The Iranians say they will and the Russians (so far) have said they oppose that. Iran wants to stay in Syria as part of its decades old effort to destroy Israel. Meanwhile Israel says it can live with the Assads as long as Iran is no maintaining a military presence in Syria. Many Turks agree with Israel on that point.

Most Israelis back the rebels and because of that many Syrians have come to see Israel as a friend rather than a threat. For example Israel continues to quietly provide medical care for badly hurt Syrians who show up (usually at night) on the Israeli border. Since 2011 nearly 3,000 Syrians have been treated, most of them in the last two years. Israeli border guards regularly allowed badly wounded Syrians in and sent them to Israeli hospitals for medical care. Until mid-2015 Israel would transport badly wounded Syrians to Israeli hospitals after they showed up at border crossings on the Golan Heights. After 2015 treatment was provided at the border, using a temporary hospital set up there. By 2015 over a thousand Syrians had received such treatment. In 2013 Israel set up a military field hospital on the Golan Heights to deal with the growing number of wounded Syrians. Israel lets some of these in for treatment but considers doing this long-term a security risk. So a heavily guarded field hospital right near the Syrian border is now used to treat all the injured. No Syrians will be moved to the interior because of fears that Islamic terror groups are seeking to infiltrate their people into Israel via the hospital care program.

The Iraq Effect

Intel analysts, taking all available data (refugee reports, prisoner interrogations, Internet chatter, aerial surveillance and captured documents) are pretty certain that ISIL has shifted most of its personnel into or towards Syria and the ISIL capital Raqqa. From there ISIL is trying to get a lot of their veteran operatives out of Syria. ISIL leaders are telling their followers to prepare for setbacks and a shift to clandestine operations (and lots of terror attacks) rather than administering territory. This is not great for morale since a lot of people joined ISIL by answering a call to live and work in an Islamic State. The state is disappearing and the new ISIL announcements appear to be one response to that because ISIL can either try to catch and execute all the recent ISIL recruits deserting or let them go with instructions on how to continue the battle back home. This worries Western nations who have noted lots of their Moslem citizens going to Syria to join ISIL. Rather than being killed in combat (or executed for deserting) these foreign volunteers are now encouraged to go home and continue the fight. Not all who return are full of fight and some go to work for the police (often when the alternative is prison) to catch the true believers before they can do some damage.

About 6,000 ISIL fighters appear to be in Iraq where about 2,000 are defending Mosul while the rest are in smaller concentrations along the border trying to keep roads open to Syria. A thousand or more are in still smaller groups in or near cities to plan, prepare and carry out terror attacks.



In Syria ISIL is under heavy pressure and being forced, by advancing government and rebels forces, to concentrate around Raqqa, the ISIL capital and largest city in eastern Syria. While there are few new recruits for ISIL in Iraq the situation is different in Syria. As the rebels continue losing ground in Syria many of the most fanatical rebels are joining ISIL. Many of the less fanatical rebels are quietly deserting the cause and trying to get out of Syria. Foreign recruits are not as abundant as they used to be because hostile governments control all the borders of Syria and Iraq and are, for the moment, very strict with their border control. Those tight border security not only keeps new recruits out, the bad news about ISIL and what happens to foreign recruits means fewer foreign recruits are coming. This blockade has also sharply cut (by at least half) income from smuggling out oil, antiquities or whatever. That means ISIL has less cash to buy (on the black market) essential supplies (like food, ammo, weapons) or pay key staff. Being on the defensive means theres a lot less loot. ISIL has been trying to move key people (and their families) out of Syria and Iraq since early 2016 and that has become increasingly difficult. Even getting key people moved fr0m Mosul to Raqqa (where the final battle will be) is becoming more dangerous and difficult. Soon it will be impossible because Iraqi forces have surrounded Mosul and the few routes still available are dangerous and often not usable at all. Morale is declining as well and paranoia among the leadership (about who is still trustworthy and who is not) is causing problems. More ISIL members are accused of deserting (or preparing to) or, even worse, being disloyal (backing rival leaders or providing target information to the enemy). Thus there are more executions which hurts morale even more because a growing number of those executed are innocent. This sort of thing is common in situations like this and speeds up the disintegration of the organization, at least in Syria and Iraq. Survivors will go on to help form the next outbreak of Islamic terrorism a cycle that has been around for over a thousand years.

In Syria Aleppo back in hands of the government the war is concentrating on destroying ISIL, which is now rapidly shrinking. A year ago over 2,000 foreigners a month were joining ISIL in Syria. That is down over 90 percent and falling. In both Syria and Iraq more painfully accurate attacks (usually from the air) are killing key ISIL personnel and important facilities (headquarters, ammo storage, training areas, bomb building workshops). In part this is because it is more dangerous to travel, especially across borders. Thats because the professional smugglers are generally anti-ISIL and now assist the government or their own tribe militia, to stage ambushes, usually at night, for ISIL movements. ISIL leaders are a particularly lucrative target because these men usually have more expensive electronics and weapons with them. The government and Americans also pay cash for valuable and timely tips. Another reason for more dead leaders that there are more deserters and refugees are available for questioning and the U.S. has moved in additional aerial ELINT (electronic intelligence collecting) aircraft and satellites. Improved data analysis software has increased the quantity and quality of potential targets. ISIL and al Qaeda are openly (via the Internet) complaining about the loss of so many veteran senior people. Fear is a two way street and ISIL is increasingly on the receiving end.

ISIL Survival Tactics

The U.S. believes that ISIL only has about 12,000 armed members in Syria and Iraq. That means ISIL has lost about 40 percent of the armed personnel it had a year ago. Most ISIL fighters now appear to be in Syria and while there are few new recruits for ISIL in Iraq the situation is different in Syria. As the rebels continue losing ground in Syria many of the most fanatical rebels are joining ISIL. Many of the less fanatical rebels are quietly deserting the cause and trying to get out of Syria. Foreign recruits are not getting to ISIL in Syria in significant numbers because hostile governments control all the borders of Syria and Iraq and are very strict with their border control. That means ISIL has less cash to buy (on the black market) essential supplies (like food, ammo, weapons). Being on the defensive means theres a lot less loot. ISIL has been trying to move key people (and their families) out of Syria and Iraq since early 2016 and that has become increasingly difficult.

Al Qaeda Tries To Cope

In the northwest (Idlib province) about a thousand rebels, formerly with the local al Qaeda coalition, have deserted and formed Ahrar al Sham and allied themselves with local FSA (secular rebels) factions. This is another example of rebels getting fed up with the Islamic terrorist approach to the rebellion. Ahrar is still largely composed of Islamic radicals but they are trying to convince the Turks and the Americans that their battle is with the Syrian government, not other rebels. Al Qaeda pretends to do that but has not been convincing. In Syria the main al Qaeda presence is Jabhat Fatah al Sham, which is still the largest rebel coalition and composed mainly of Islamic terrorist groups. In January it expanded to include four new member groups and adopted a new name; Tahir al Sham. This is the second name change since July 2016 when the Al Nusra rebel coalition renounced any connection with al Qaeda, adopted a new name (Jabhat Fatah al Sham) and declared it was now simply a Syrian rebel group which, like most Syrian rebel organizations, was full of devout Moslems who really wanted to become recognized by the United States as cooperative (and not to be bombed). But the Americans still considered al Nusra an ally of ISIL or, at the very least, still friendly with al Qaeda. Some al Qaeda leaders have admitted publicly that the al Nusra split was temporary. Until early 2016 al Nusra was allied with ISIL but that alliance was always temporary because ISIL wanted to eventually absorb al Nusra. The two groups put that battle off to deal with the Assad government first. Even before mid-2016 al Nusra tried to distance itself from ISIL and began openly fighting ISIL in places like Aleppo. As recently as late 2016 more than half the Sunni Islamic terrorist rebels belonged to groups hostile to ISIL and most of these are controlled or allied with the al Qaeda affiliated al Nusra/Jabhat Fatah rebels.

March 3, 2017: War related deaths in Syria were apparently about 2,000 in February. A lot of the fighting is low-intensity stuff because the country, especially areas not controlled by the government, have turned into chaos where even getting aid trucks in is often impossible.

March 2, 2017: In the east (Deir Ezzor province) Assad forces recaptured Palmyra, with a lot of help from Iran and Russia.

February 26, 2017: In the northwest (Idlib) an American UAV used a missile to kill Abu al Khayr al Masri, the al Qaeda second-in-command and senior al Qaeda leader in Syria. He had been sought by the United States since 1998 because he was one of the original group of Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood Islamic terrorists who fled to Afghanistan to seek sanctuary and came to form much of the senior leadership of al Qaeda. After 2001 al Masri spent about a decade hiding out in Iran (usually under house arrest). The current head of al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiri, is another of this Egyptian group and he succeeded founder Osama bin Laden (a Saudi Arabian) in 2011.

February 25, 2017: In the central Syria (Homs) a Jabhat Fatah Al Sham suicide bombing in the government held city of Homs left over 60 dead and many more wounded. One of the dead was a senior Syrian intelligence officer.

February 24, 2017: In the north (east of Aleppo) ISIL used two suicide truck bombs near the town of al Bab, The two bombs killed over 60 people (most of them civilians) including at least six pro-Turk rebels. A few hours later two Turkish soldiers died nearby when something exploded while they were clearing landmines.

Iraqi warplanes, for the first time, his ISIL targets inside Syria. The airstrikes were in Boukamal and Husseibah, two Syrian towns on the Iraqi border that have long been controlled by ISIL. Iraq made these attacks because ISIL continues to carry out terror bombings against civilians in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq (especially Shia religious shrines and Shia neighborhoods).

The U.S. is leading an effort to have the UN impose new sanctions on Syria for continuing to use chemical weapons. Russia said it would use its veto in the UN to prevent that.

February 23, 2017: In the north (east of Aleppo) the key town of al Bab was captured by a Turkish led force. The came after two months of fighting the ISIL forces that had held the town since 2013 were driven out. Some ISIL forces are now holding out in villages near al Bab.

February 22, 2017: Lebanese media reported that Israeli warplanes attacked Hezbollah efforts to move weapons from Damascus to Lebanon. Syrian army targets were hit as well.

February 20, 2017: In the south near where the borders of Syria, Jordan and Israel (Golan Heights) intersect ISIL forces advanced towards the Israeli border seizing several villages and a town from FSA rebels. These FSA forces are based in Jordan, where they have the support of Jordan, the United States and, very discreetly, Israel. ISIL has been battling FSA along the Jordanian and Israeli borders for over a year.

February 19, 2017: Russia announced that it would ensure that Iranian forces in Syria (including Hezbollah) leave Syria once the civil war there was over. Israel was happy with that, Iran was not.

February 16, 2017: In central Syria (near Homs) four Russian troops died and two were wounded by a roadside bomb. Russia has managed to keep its casualties very low in Syria but as the Assad government it supports reclaims more territory from the rebels Russian troops are going to be at greater risk.

February 14, 2017: In the northwest (Idlib) two days of fighting between rival Islamic terrorist groups left over 70 dead and many more wounded. Most of the casualties were members of Jabhat Fatah al Sham. The smaller, more radical Jund al Aqsa was more like ISIL but not as brutal. The latest round of fighting began yesterday when Jund sent a suicide bomber to attack Jabhat headquarters in an effort to kill the senior leadership. That failed but nine people died and Jabhat decided to hit back hard. Jabhat Fatah al Sham is ten times the size of Jund.

In the south a rocket fired from Syria landed in an uninhabited area of Israel (Golan Heights). There was no return fire. When the fire from Syria is deliberate the Israelis always fire back, but if it appears to have been the result of fighting between government and rebels forces inside Syria, which is the cause of most bullets, rockets and shells crossing the border, there is a verbal protest but no artillery or air strikes in response. When it is unclear, the Israelis fire back.

February 13, 2017: A second battalion of Russian police arrived to help protect bases used by Russian forces and other vital facilities (like hospitals). This battalion recruited police (most of them Moslem) in the Caucasus, mainly Ingushetia. The first Russian police battalion arrived in December 2016 and was assigned to Aleppo. Russian media played up the fact that so many Moslems were in the second battalion and that this was an example of Russian Moslems helping Middle Eastern Moslems. There hasnt been much of that since the Cold War (1947-91).
Black Diamond Group Limited rents and sells modular space and workforce accommodation solutions. It operates through two segments, Modular Space Solutions and Workforce Solutions. The Modular Space Solutions segment provides modular space rentals to customers in the construction, real estate development, education, manufacturing, health care, financial, government, and defense industries in North America. Its products include office units, lavatories, storage units, large multi-unit office complexes, classroom facilities, banking and health care facilities, custom manufactured modular facilities, and blast resistant structures. This segment also sells new and used space rentals units; and provides delivery, installation, project management, and ancillary products and services. The Workforce Solutions segment provides workforce housing solutions, including rental of accommodations and surface equipment, and provision of turnkey lodging and travel management logistics services in Canada, the United States, and Australia. This segment also provides associated services, such as installation, transportation, dismantlement, and sale of used fleet assets. This segment primarily serves the resource, infrastructure, construction, disaster recovery, and education sectors. company also provides specialized field rentals to oil and gas industries. Black Diamond Group Limited markets its rental assets, custom sales, and ancillary products and services through in-house sales personnel, its website, social media, web campaigns, and its digital marketplace. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
SE Turkey unrest 'has killed 2,000'

Unrest in south-eastern Turkey has killed 2,000 people and displaced up to 500,000 in a year and a half - UN
Alesja Daehnrich doesn't know what it is about her husband, Alex, that made their rescue pig, Holly, fall madly in love with him. From the moment they met, Holly has wanted everything to do with Alex, and nothing to do with Alesja. "She was sweet with me but seemed to trust Alex more," Alesja, the cofounder of Blind Spot Sanctuary, a North Carolina animal haven where Holly currently lives, told The Dodo. "They have a bond like I've never seen before."

Alesja Daehnrich

The day after Christmas, Dr. Laureen Bartfield, a veterinarian and good friend of the Daehnrichs, had found Holly wandering along the road on her farm. Bartfield used a muffin to coax her onto a horse trailer, and move Holly to safety.

Alesja Daehnrich

While no one really knows where Holly came from, the 5-year-old potbellied pig had obviously been through hell - scars and burns covered her skinny body, and she was missing a lot of hair.

Alesja Daehnrich

"Her life prior to rescue must have been horrific," Alesja said. "She must have been straying for a while as well as her feet were cut. She had some open and infected wounds which indicated dog bites." The next day, Bartfield contacted Alesja and Alex and asked if Holly could stay at their sanctuary. The couple quickly agreed (although they originally intended to just foster Holly), and they went to the farm to pick Holly up.

Alesja Daehnrich

After everything Holly had been through, Alesja expected Holly to be a bit skittish, but she immediately took to Alex.

Dodo Shows Faith = Restored Couple Meets A Beach Dog In Mexico Who Changes Their Life

Alesja Daehnrich

"She didn't come to me or Dr. Bartfield, but went straight for Alex, which was so unusual as pigs are hesitant with new people," Alesja said. "She came up to him and laid down for a belly rub. It was very strange but also melted our hearts. Alex was scratching her belly and she was just very content as if she has known him forever."

Alesja Daehnrich

Back at the sanctuary, Holly and Alex's bond grew even stronger. Holly followed Alex everywhere that first day.

Alesja Daehnrich

But when it was time for bed, Holly wouldn't go into the special enclosure the Daehnrichs had prepared for her.

Alesja Daehnrich

"She clearly has been an outside pig," Alesja said. "As it started to get towards the evening, she made herself a bed out of cold and wet leaves outside."

Alesja Daehnrich

Alesja put a blanket over Holly, but still couldn't get her to go inside her little house. But Alex was able to.

Alesja Daehnrich

"Alex coaxed her inside the warm enclosure and spent almost all evening there with her rubbing her belly, giving her treats and just being there for her," Alesja said. "She eventually fell asleep and we were able to leave her for the night. We even left a light on in case she got confused about where she was at night."

Alesja Daehnrich

Now it's become a habit. Holly waits for Alex to tuck her into bed each and every night.

Alesja Daehnrich

"She comes up on the porch and waits for him," Alesja said. "If I come, she ignores me and keeps staring at the door. When Alex comes, she follows him down and they go into her house and Alex rubs her belly. She eventually starts getting ready for bed and Alex puts a blanket over her."

Alesja Daehnrich

"This is not a short routine - it does take a while," she added.

Alesja Daehnrich

Holly loves her bedtime routine so much, she gets grumpy when Alex isn't around.

Alesja Daehnrich

"One night Alex wasn't able to bring her to bed and I had to," Alesja said. "Holly was making the funniest grumpy noises. It was very cold that night, therefore, along with heat, we had lots of hay for her to bury herself into. Without wanting any belly rubs, she just dove into the hay while still making complaining noises. As Alex came home, he still went to check on her and of course, put a blanket over this pile of hay ... which Holly was inside [of].

Alesja Daehnrich

Though Holly clearly prefers Alex, Alesja doesn't mind at all - she loves how bonded they are.

Alesja Daehnrich

"It almost feels like they 'get' each other," Alesja said. "Perhaps there was a man who once was nice to her in the past. Usually when we get new animals, he is the one who spends a lot of time with them, so they can get adjusted faster and feel safe. He is often just sitting there and allowing them decide when it's time to communicate and make contact. Maybe that contributes, as there is no pressure."

Alesja Daehnrich

It didn't take long for the Daehnrichs to decide to keep Holly forever - she now lives permanently at the sanctuary with seven other rescue pigs.

Alesja Daehnrich

"Normally, as animals recover, we try to find them a loving home, but in this case we realized Holly found her forever home," Alesja said. "She adores Alex so much that we could never separate them." Holly has lived at Blind Spot Sanctuary for several months now, and her health and well-being continues to improve.

Alesja Daehnrich

"Some of the bald spots on her body are now slowly being covered with hair again," Alesja said. "She seems to have more energy and, most importantly, she is enjoying life. You can just tell by looking into her eyes that she is happy."

Alesja Daehnrich

"She is spending her time snoozing in the sun, having a safe and warm house, she gets visitors quite often, and she has her favorite person who she lights up for every time she sees him," Alesja added. "I sometimes joke and say maybe they want to move in together."
MONTREALPrime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadian companies operating abroad are expected to obey the law after a Bombardier employee in the Swedish offices of the plane and train maker was detained Friday in pretrial custody on suspicion of aggravated bribery.

Evgeny Pavlov, a Russian national living in Stockholm, was one of several Bombardier employees suspected to have been colluding with Azerbaijan railway authorities in order to adapt a contract to fit Bombardier, Swedish prosecutor Thomas Forsberg said.

Forsberg said Pavlov worked with Bombardier Transportation Sweden AB. On LinkedIn, Pavlov described himself as Head of sales, Marketing and Country co-ordinator for the north region.

Pavlov was ordered held in pretrial custody for two weeks to prevent him from fleeing or tampering with evidence. Two others were briefly detained during the week, but were released, Forsberg told The Associated Press. Both remain suspects while the investigation continues. Formal charges have not yet been made.

Trudeau was asked about the legal controversy facing Bombardier, a company that the federal government has heavily invested in.

The Canadian government expects Canadian companies and Canadians working abroad to uphold the highest standards of ethical and legal behaviour, said Trudeau, who was attending a global oil conference in Houston.

He said he didnt believe the case has any bearing on his governments decision to offer the companys aeronautics division a $372.5-million loan last month to support its CSeries and Global 7000 jet programs.

Read more:

Bombardier to get $372.5 million in government loans

Metrolinx to Bombardier: Stop blaming others for your mistakes

At this point I cant predict that it will have any impact, he said. I think that its very clear that this was an entirely separate issue.

Pavlovs lawyer, Cristina Berger, said her client denies any wrongdoing and it will be up to the Stockholm District Court to decide March 24 whether to remand him in custody.

Bombardier Transportation confirmed that employees working in its office in Sweden have been questioned by police and it said it is co-operating with Swedish prosecutors. But its premature to comment on the outcome of the investigation or court proceedings, the company added.

As always, we are committed to operating in full compliance with all legal rules and requirements and our own high ethical standards, Claas Belling, a spokesperson for Bombardier Transportation, said in an email.

Forsberg said emails seized in October 2016 during a search of Bombardier offices in Sweden were considered evidence in the case. He said the suspicion was that Azerbaijani officials co-operated with Montreal-based Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) to receive rewards for having favoured the Bombardier contract.

Despite the fact that Bombardier was in fifth place in terms of price, it won the contract in 2013 and competitors with better prices were disqualified by the railway authority in Azerbaijan, Forsberg said.

In 2013, Bombardier was part of a consortium awarded a $288-million contract to supply signalling equipment for a 503-kilometre track along a corridor connecting Asia and Europe to Azerbaijan Railways. Bombardier then said it was its first major signalling contract in Azerbaijan.

Forsberg said Azerbaijani companies made $56 million in earnings from the contract.

Karl Moore, professor at Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, said he doesnt think Pavlovs arrest will affect Bombardiers ability to win government contracts in Canada. The Quebec and federal governments have placed restrictions on companies whose directors have been convicted of violating the Canadian Criminal Code.

Thats a very small possibility at this point, so I dont think its a big worry, said Moore on the companys future ability to win government contracts. But well see how things unfold.

Michel Nadeau, executive director of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations, said he too doesnt think the arrest will affect the companys relationship with governments in Canada.

I would say its part of the daily life of big companies that do business with governments, to be, eventually now and then, accused of corruption, he said.

Nadeau used to be president of the investment arm of Quebecs pension fund, which in 2015 bought a 30-per-cent stake in the holding company of Bombardier Transportation  the companys rail division, headquartered in Berlin.

With files from The Associated Press

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NEW YORKRobert James Waller, whose bestselling, bittersweet 1992 romance novel The Bridges of Madison County was turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood and later into a soaring Broadway musical, has died in Texas, according to a longtime friend. He was 77.

Scott Cawelti, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, told The Associated Press that Waller died early Friday at his home in Fredericksburg, Texas. He had been fighting multiple myeloma, a form of cancer.

In Bridges, a literary phenomenon which Waller famously wrote in 11 days, the roving National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid spends four days taking pictures of bridges and also romancing Francesca Johnson, a war bride from Italy married to a no-nonsense Iowa farmer. One famous line from the book reads: The old dreams were good dreams; they didnt work out but Im glad I had them.

Wallers novel reached No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list and stayed on it for over three years, longer than any work of fiction since The Robe, a novel about Jesus crucifixion published in the early 1950s. The Eastwood-directed 1995 movie grossed $182 million worldwide.

Many critics made fun of Bridges, calling it sappy and cliche-ridden. The Independent newspaper said of the central romantic pair it is hard to believe in, or to like, either of them. (Publishers Weekly was more charitable, calling the book, quietly powerful and thoroughly credible.)

The New York Times was dismissive: Waller depicts their mating dance in plodding detail, but he fails to develop them as believable characters, reviewer Eils Lotozo wrote. Instead, we get a lot of quasi-mystical business about the shaman-like photographer who overwhelms the shy, bookish Francesca with his sheer emotional and physical power.

Readers, however, bought more than 12 million copies in 40 languages. Bridges turned the unknown writer into a multimillionaire and made Madison County, Iowa, an international tourist attraction.

I really do have a small ego, Waller told The New York Times in 2002. I am open to rational discussion. If you dont like the book and can say why, I am willing to listen. But the criticism turned to nastiness. ... I was stunned.

The novel prompted couples across the world to marry on Madison Countys covered bridges. Around the town of Winterset, population 4,200, tourists arrived by the busloads, buying Bridges T-shirts, perfume and postcards. Thousands signed in at the Chamber of Commerce office, where they could use restrooms marked Roberts and Francescas.

Waller told The Des Moines Register in 1992 that Bridges was written in his mind as he drove from Des Moines to Cedar Falls after photographing the covered bridges in Madison County.

Its something thats difficult to explain, he recounted. As I drove home, it just came to me. I had some sort of Zen feeling, a high. When I got home, I threw my stuff on the floor and immediately started writing.

The film version was greeted warmly by audiences and critics. The New York Times said that Eastwood had made a moving, elegiac love story. The New York Daily News said, On that short shelf of classic movie romances Seventh Heaven, Brief Encounter, An Affair to Remember you can now place The Bridges of Madison County.

After the novels success, Waller left Iowa, where he had grown up, and moved to a ranch in Alpine, Texas, 50 miles from the nearest town. He also divorced his wife of 36 years, Georgia, with whom he had a daughter, and found a new partner in Linda Bow, who worked as a landscaper.

Waller grew up in Rockford, Iowa, and he was educated at the University of Northern Iowa and Indiana University, where he received his doctorate. He taught management, economics, and applied mathematics at the University of Northern Iowa from 1968 to 1991. Wallers seven books include Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend, which unseated Bridges on the bestseller list, Border Music, Puerto Vallarta Squeeze and A Thousand County Roads: An Epilogue to The Bridges of Madison County.

The last, a sequel to his monster hit, was prompted by thousands of letters from people who wanted to know more about the characters. Finally, I got curious and decided Id find out  I wrote the book, he told the AP in 2002.

A musical was made of The Bridges of Madison County in 2014 starring Kelli OHara and Steven Pasquale with a score by Jason Robert Brown, but it closed after just 137 performances on Broadway. A national tour kicked off in 2015.

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Los Angeles Police recently visited Richard Simmonss house on a welfare check after rumours persisted that his housekeeper was holding him hostage.

They found him perfectly fine and very happy, People reported Thursday. The article did not say when police made the check. But TMZ, quoting law enforcement sources, said it was about two weeks ago.

On Feb. 15, 2014, the fitness guru disappeared from the public eye and stopped speaking with close friends. He hasnt been seen since, leaving many to wonder about his safety. Recently, interest in the reclusive celebrity has grown with the launch of Missing Richard Simmons, a new podcast hosted by former The Daily Show producer Dan Taberski. Its quickly become the most popular podcast on iTunes.

On it, an old rumour resurfaced: that Simmonss maid Teresa Reveles is holding the aerobics instructor at his home against his will.

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Why Missing Richard Simmons is the podcast you need to be listening to

Richard Simmons exercises his right to be alone: Menon

There was something about his housekeeper holding him hostage and not allowing people to see him and preventing him from making phone calls and it was all garbage and thats why we went out to see him. None of it is true, Detective Kevin Becker told People.

The fact of the matter is we went out and talked to him he is fine, nobody is holding him hostage. He is doing exactly what he wants to do. If he wants to go out in public or see anybody he will do that.

Added Becker, I dont know what he is going to do, but right now he is doing what he wants to do and it is his business.

In March last year, Simmons tried to silence the rumours by calling into the Today show.

No one is holding me in my house as a hostage, he said. You know, I do what I want to do as Ive always done so people should sort of just believe what I have to say because like Im Richard Simmons.

When asked about the rumour that Reveles had him under house arrest, Simmons responded, Thats just very silly. Teresa Reveles has been with me for 30 years. Its almost like were a married couple.

Instead, he claimed to just want some alone time.

I just sort of wanted to be a little bit of a loner for a little while, he said. You know, I had hurt my knee, and I had some problems with it, and then the other knee started giving me trouble because Ive taught like thousands and thousands of classes, and you know right now I just want to sort of take care of me.

Taberski doesnt seem to fully believe the phone call, though.

It was a weird, concerning phone call. It was weird that it was a phone call and not an in-person thing. It sort of raises the question of why was he hiding? he told Los Angeles Magazine.

Simmons spokesperson Tom Estey, however, doubled-down on Simmons statements.

He made a choice to take a break from public life, which he has the right to do, Estey told People. People need to respect that and not surmise that theres something wrong, when theres nothing wrong. For 40 years, he took care of everyone else but himself. And so its not that hes being selfish, hes just being a person, a regular person, taking care of himself.

Why then is there a popular podcast about a missing man who isnt actually missing?

Some have accused Taberski of attempting to make a name off the reclusive celebrity. The Washington Posts Dan Zak called the podcast a loving invasion of Simmons privacy.

Taberski, though, claimed he wants to do more than merely find Simmons  or an audience.

What were doing is something of a grand gesture, Taberski told Zak. We are reminding him that what he did was important and that he helped countless people and they love him for it. Theres something about him, maybe, that he doesnt believe, and hopefully this will jar that part of him.

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Scaachi Koul didnt set out to write One Day Well All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter.

She began working on her personal essay collection two years ago, at age 24, intending the book  which she refers to as a catalog of misery  to be a much lighter read. But when Kouls editors at Doubleday Canada pushed her to dig deeper into her garbage soul, the underlying tenor of the book shifted.

Its a lot about loneliness and trying to make a connection, and its a lot about how your history informs where youre going, Koul says. Im happy where it went, but sometimes you do need an editor to tell you that you dont have to be glib all the time. That was a hard lesson for me.

Those who follow Kouls work as an editor on BuzzFeed or on Twitter know that shes an all-caps force who doesnt suffer fools or anonymous online trolls gladly. The sly, cutting sarcasm  and the misery  still reverberate through One Day Well All Be Dead, but theyve been tempered, leaving breathing room for Koul to share more vulnerable observations of her life and her roles as a young woman, a girlfriend, a best pal and a daughter of Indian immigrants.

She wrestles with Western beauty standards and ethnic stereotypes, and the horrifying reality of rape and surveillance culture, familiar to any woman who has spent a night at a bar watching her drink in fear of getting roofied.

Its much easier to write down an anxiety or a fear you have, but then cut the tension with a joke. There are portions of the book where I didnt do that. People were telling me sometimes you have to let a moment land, says Koul, who describes the feeling of releasing the book as being akin to photocopying your diary and handing it over to a gang of junior-high girls.

As much as my instincts were telling me to say, Heres a terrible thing that happened, but dont worry, everythings fine, thats not always the right move. Writing generally is an exercise in being insecure. Of course, it feels uncomfortable and exposing.

Koul also didnt anticipate that her relationship with her family would become the heart of One Day Well All Be Dead. Each chapter opens with an email exchange with her father, whose own surly charm will be familiar to anyone who follows Koul on Twitter. Although Koul talks about the specific ways in which shes inherited her parents anxieties and the generational disconnect she feels as a child of immigrants, theres a universal quality to her interactions with her family that is reminiscent of American humorist and essayist David Sedaris, whose writing she loved from a young age.

I have to write like theyre already dead; otherwise every essay will come out as very stilted. Im sure theres stuff that will make them uncomfortable reading it, Koul says. I dont think my dad wants to read a chapter about my pubic hair, so I wont recommend it. My mom will read it and shell cry, but shell get over it.

One group of readers that Koul isnt worried about is the legion of online trolls who have been harassing her for the past few years. In One Day Well All Be Dead she covers the personal toll the threats have caused but says she doesnt expect that theyll actually make an effort to buy, let alone even pick up, her book.

Theres a fee to enter. With the Internet you can yell at me and it costs you nothing and so thats where they live, she says. Im not super-concerned and honestly, at this point, I dont know what they can say that I havent heard already. Do your best. What can you say at this point to take this away from me?

Sue Carter is the editor of Quill and Quire.

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When Daniel Voshart first saw the shaky cell phone video of a white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., shooting a black man in the back five times, he couldnt look away.

Waves of disgust washed over him as Walter Scott fell to the ground and as, moments later, officer Michael Slager crept over and appeared to drop and then retrieve what looked like a Taser next to Scotts body.

Hundreds of miles away, in his Toronto apartment, Voshart, a then-28-year-old cinematographer who had recently been toying with video stabilization, thought he could unravel the mystery of the Taser and help get Slager indicted.

Within an hour, he had stabilized that portion of the clip and posted a gif that he says nabbed the most comments on Reddit.

But within weeks, he had discovered something else in the clips 394th frame that had him cancelling his plans, consulting ballistics experts and reaching out to the FBI.

It threatened to upend Slagers trial and has become a key part of Frame 394  a short documentary following Vosharts insatiable quest for the truth, which is up for a prize this weekend at the Canadian Screen Awards.

The idea for the 30-minute documentary, which screens free on CBCs website, came after Voshart called his friend, filmmaker Rich Williamson, to his apartment in April 2015.

By then, Voshart had made the footage so clear that as Slager reached to unholster his gun, Scott could be seen holding what looked like Slagers Taser  potentially enough to make Slager fear for his life and maybe meet the grounds needed to use lethal force.

Vosharts discovery was, perhaps, the proof Slager needed to fight the life sentence he could get if found guilty.

I wasnt quite sure if I was losing it, Voshart said. There were hundreds of thousands of views on the footage online and I assumed people would have noticed the Taser by then.

In a state of disbelief, he reached out to Williamson, with whom he had studied film at Ryerson University.

I want you to tell me if I am having my Beautiful Mind moment, Williamson recalled Voshart asking, implying he was worried he might have become too invested in the project.

Williamson didnt think so. Something about the video and Vosharts dedication intrigued him.

I said to (Voshart), maybe for future things, we should document it, but we didnt plan to make a film. It was more creating a video journal, so that he might have something to look at afterwards, Williamson told the Star.

Voshart agreed a video journal was a good idea, but with Black Lives Matter and the media rallying around the case, it didnt take long for them to realize Vosharts work was meant for something more.

With the CBCs backing, they started turning it into a documentary.

At first, Voshart says it was bizarre to have a friend pointing a camera in his face, but he quickly grew comfortable and even stipulated that his pal abide by a journalism code of ethics to ensure their friendship didnt get in the way of the film being objective, factual and authentic.

I knew I had to have no control and give him freedom to do whatever he wanted with the footage, said Voshart. I knew I would look weird and ugly in half the footage and my neckbeard would show up or here I am in a dress shirt and shorts, looking bizarre and being filmed in my sh--tty apartment.

The camera was also rolling when Voshart headed to the U.S. to show Slagers lawyer the stabilized video and discuss potentially becoming an expert witness in the case, and when he chatted with a then-incarcerated Slager via Skype.

I asked countless people if I should even do that, Voshart said. Someone who (taught) political ethics at the University of Toronto said the best thing to do was to delete what I found.

But even when calls to the FBI to show the video were fruitless, he refused to forget about it and says, I dont have many regrets because it was me making peace with the situation.

Not everyone has seen his work or Frame 394 that way.

Some have attacked him online. One person wanted me to die in a fire, he says.

But for the most part, the film has been met with praise.

Its sparking people to have conversations where they might be uncomfortable with each other, said producer Shasha Nakhai, adding the awards season attention its been getting was a pleasant surprise. The short doc had also been shortlisted for an Academy Award.

The Oscars and Canadian Screen Awards are something that people see as a far-off thing and I wasnt necessarily aiming for that, but I lined the dominos up and hoped they would fall in the right direction and they did, but it ended up being a runaway train.

That runaway train took Frame 394 to film festivals in St. Louis, Rhode Island, New Orleans, Edmonton and Amsterdam.

And though the documentary made a whirlwind tour of North American festivals and screened at Hot Docs and the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Voshart said he hasnt turned into a local celebrity yet.

There are a lot more famous Internet cats out there, he jokes. I was looking forward to touching Ryan Goslings face, but those dreams are gone.

As for Slager, hes on house arrest awaiting his next day in court after his case ended in a mistrial.

Voshart turned down a retainment offer from Slagers lawyer and doesnt expect to testify in the case, but says, Ive kept up with the court proceedings as much as I can.

I feel invested in it. I want to follow it all the way through. I just have to know the verdict.

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The TBS comedy program Full Frontal With Samantha Bee apologized Thursday for broadcasting a segment in which a writer who has talked about his cancer diagnosis was mocked for having what the program called Nazi hair.

Full Frontal, a topical satire hosted by Bee, a Toronto native, ran the segment Wednesday. It featured Michael Rubens, a correspondent for the show, attending the Conservative Political Action Conference in February.

Talking about how the conference had changed over time, a narrator for the segment said, Just last year, CPAC was dominated by Ted Cruz supporters and chirpy little (expletive) with bow ties.

The narrator added: This year, the bow ties were gone and replaced by Nazi hair. Nazi hair. Nazi hair. Each time the phrase was spoken, an image was shown of conference attendees with short haircuts.

One of those people was Kyle Coddington, a writer who contributes to publications like OUTSET, which covers conservative and libertarian politics and culture.

In a post at OUTSET on Thursday, its editor-in-chief, Stephen Perkins, wrote that Coddington was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer and recently completed his first round of chemotherapy and radiation.

Coddington wrote in a post last month on his Twitter account that his hair slightly resembles that of the far-right activist Richard Spencer, but at least I have an excuse . . . cancer.

In tweets posted early Thursday morning and directed at Bee, Coddington wrote: Please delete this episode. I look like a balding potato. He added: Also, its not a Nazi haircut. Richard Spencers is, but mines from cancer.

Perkins said in his post on OUTSET: On a personal note, as someone who has the pleasure of working with Kyle here at OUTSET, I urge Samantha Bee to release an apology for this sick attempt at a joke. Perhaps labeling someone because of their appearance is not the best approach.

A Twitter post from the official Full Frontal account said Thursday: We deeply apologize for offending @_that_kyle in our CPAC segment. We only learned of his condition today & have removed him from the piece.

On Thursday afternoon, Full Frontal had removed the segment from public viewing on its YouTube site, though Perkins had embedded it in his OUTSET post.

Jo Miller, a Full Frontal executive producer, said in an email Thursday: Weve apologized to Mr. Coddington and his family members and we are donating to the GoFundMe account for his treatment. We wish him all the best in his fight against cancer and sincerely, deeply regret offending him and his family.

Coddington and Perkins did not immediately respond to requests for further comment Thursday afternoon.

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OTTAWAOntario Sen. Don Meredith will not face criminal charges over allegations he had a sexual relationship with a young woman that began when she was a teenager, the Star has learned.

Senate ethics officer Lyse Ricard is resuming her preliminary review of allegations published in the Star last June from a young woman who said she had a two-year sexual relationship with the married Pentecostal pastor that began when she was 16 years old.

The Senate Ethics Officer has resumed her review since she was recently advised that the Ottawa police has ceased its own investigation into this matter, said a statement from her office emailed to the Star Thursday by Deborah Palumbo, the assistant Senate ethics officer and general counsel.

Meredith, 51, quit the Conservative caucus shortly after the Star published a story last June about a woman who said her relationship with the Toronto-area senator appointed on the advice of former prime minister Stephen Harper progressed from sexually explicit online chats to physical intimacy, kissing and touching.

She alleged they had sexual intercourse twice after she turned 18 and said Meredith ended the relationship in May 2015.

The story prompted Ricard to launch a preliminary review under the Senate Ethics and Conflict of Interest Code, which she suspended last October pending the outcome of an investigation into this same matter by another authority.

The code allows for her to resume a preliminary review once a police investigation is over and no charges are laid.

The young woman who told her story to the Star said that when the police contacted her last fall, she told them to close the case.

I did not want my name to come out, she said. I found the whole thing very confusing and very upsetting.

I was worried about the stress of dealing with all of this if it came to court, the woman said.

The woman said she is pleased she came forward with her story and is glad the Senate ethics review has been restarted.

If asked to co-operate with them, the woman she said will.

Ottawa Police Service spokesman Const. Marc Soucy said they do not confirm or deny investigations unless and until charges are laid.

Earlier Thursday, Meredith addressed the allegations for the first time since they were published when approached by a reporter on a sidewalk in downtown Ottawa.

I have nothing to say to you, absolutely nothing to say to you, until everything is cleared up. Well move forward, Meredith said.

Im delighted that Im here as a Canadian senator, working on behalf of my community and my country. I will continue to do so, he said.

Asked directly about the allegations raised by the young woman, Meredith said: I have no comments on that and the media can twist things and turn things the way they want to, but I have no comments.

Meredith also refused to say much about the inquiry that Ricard launched into separate allegations of workplace harassment.

I have no comments on the process that is going on right now, so I have nothing to say, Meredith said.

The inquiry is confidential but the report will be made public.

Colin Baxter, a lawyer representing Meredith, said by telephone Thursday that he has nothing to add since he provided a statement last August regarding the confidentiality of the process outlined by the Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senators.

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South Korea's President Park Geun-hye ousted by court

South Korea's President Park Geun-hye has become the country's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office.
HONG KONGLawyers for three families who sheltered Edward Snowden in Hong Kong say they have formally asked the Canadian government to grant them asylum.

They issued a statement Thursday saying that the families want to move to Canada because they face persecution in Hong Kong.

Snowden fled to Hong Kong to avoid prosecution over the leak of classified material about the U.S. governments surveillance programs.

Read more:

Russia extends residence permit for Edward Snowden

U.S. should cut a deal allowing Snowden to go home: Editorial

How Edward Snowden hid with asylum seekers in Hong Kong

Snowden willing to return to U.S. with guarantee of fair trial

A congressional inquiry into the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor concluded that he compromised national security by the leaks.

The families have been publicly quoted as saying they hid Snowden in their apartments for weeks in 2013 before he went to Russia.

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussens office did not immediately respond to an email on the matter.

A statement posted on the website of For the Refugees, a group set up to help the families, said its critical for Canada to act quickly.

These families, including three young and stateless children, face persecution in Hong Kong and in their home countries, the statement said.

We are encouraged by Prime Minister Trudeaus commitment in taking a clear lead internationally in welcoming refugees, Canadian lawyer Marc-Andre Seguin said in the statement.

Its up to Canada now to do the right thing, he said.

The lawyers said they filed refugee claims in January and are calling on Hussen to do what he can to speed up the applications.

Snowden remains in exile in Russia. He has been charged with espionage in the U.S. and could face 30 years in prison.

His lawyer has said he wants to return to the United States, if he could be guaranteed a fair trial.

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OTTAWAClaims by a Conservative senator that residential schools were well-intentioned is like trying to find some good in the Holocaust, says an NDP MP who spent 10 years in a system that isolated thousands of indigenous children from their families and traditions.

Romeo Saganash (Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou) was among the sharpest critics Thursday as politicians of all stripes were quick to condemn the comments by Conservative Senator Lynn Beyak as ill-informed and hurtful.

Were talking about genocide here, and no one can say that there were good parts of genocide and bad parts, said Saganash, who was taken from his home as child to attend residential schools.

Its like saying, Well, there are some good sides to what Hitler did to the Jewish community, he told reporters outside the Commons.

Saganash called for Beyak, named to the Senate in 2013 by former prime minister Stephen Harper, to resign her seat. Others questioned how Beyak could continue to sit on the Senates aboriginal affairs committee.

Related:Tory senator says good deeds of residential schools were overshadowed

Beyak made the comments Tuesday in the Senate during a debate around the overrepresentation of indigenous women in prisons.

The Ontario Senator said little about that topic and instead presented what she called a somewhat different side of the residential school story.

She spoke of the kindly and well-intentioned men and women... whose remarkable works, good deeds and historical tales in the residential schools go unacknowledged for the most part and are overshadowed by negative reports.

Obviously, the negative issues must be addressed, but it is unfortunate that they are sometimes magnified and considered more newsworthy than the abundance of good, Beyak said.

In her speech, Beyak did acknowledge the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which over five years compiled the harrowing stories of the residential school system and issued 94 recommendations.

Mistakes were made at residential schools  in many instances, horrible mistakes that overshadowed some good things that also happened at those schools, she said.

Senator Murray Sinclair, who led the commission before his appointment to the senate, immediately pressed Beyak on her views following her speech.

I am a bit shocked, senator, that you still hold some views that have been proven to be incorrect over the years, but, nonetheless, I accept that you have the right to hold them, he said in the chamber Tuesday.

Beyak wasnt talking Thursday. Shirley Molloy, Beyaks executive assistant, responded to an interview request by pointing to the senators speech on Tuesday.

The senator has nothing further to add to her remarks in the Senate Tuesday, wherein she commented on both the negatives and positives of the residential school system, Molloy wrote.

But the condemnation flowed on Parliament Hill as politicians urged Beyak to read the findings of the commission report, which found that residential schools permanently damaged many students and left their lives disrupted and scarred.

Residential schools were a systematic, government-sponsored attempt to destroy Aboriginal cultures and languages and to assimilate Aboriginal peoples so that they no longer existed as distinct peoples, the report stated.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett called the comments unfortunate and misguided.

The purpose of the residential schools was wrong. It was to take the Indian out of the child, Bennett told reporters on Parliament Hill.

Bennett said that Beyaks viewpoint underscores the need for better education to make all Canadians aware of the history of residential schools and its ongoing impacts that she said remain a black mark for our country.

Others stopped short of calling for Beyaks resignation, but nonetheless distanced themselves from her viewpoint.

Its a terrible comment. I think the senator should do some research to find out what happened to indigenous people, said Senator Patrick Brazeau, former national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

Senator Vern White, a long-time police officer and former police chief who worked in indigenous communities for years, added: Ive seen nothing good come out of residential schools, and Ive seen a lot of heartache and death and suicides, so you will never hear me espouse one good word about residential schools.

Conservative MP Cathy McLeod, her partys indigenous affairs critic, offered no defence and instead encouraged Beyak to read up on the topic because clearly it has been a sad chapter of our history.

Whats important for her is to reflect on the comments, reflect on how her comments hurt people who are already struggling, McLeod said.

At least 150,000 First Nation, Metis and Inuit youth went through the residential schools and an unknown number  estimated to be in the thousands  died.

In 2008, then prime minister Stephen Harper delivered an emotional apology on behalf of Canadians for the residential schools system.

He said the two objectives of the schools were to isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.

Today we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm and has no place in our country, Harper said in the Commons.

He said its now recognized that the consequences of residential schools were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language.

There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian Residential Schools system to ever prevail again, the prime minister said.

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OTTAWAA Supreme Court judge says Canadians should not worry about the arrival of refugees and migrants because Canada has the legal tools to ensure human rights and Canadian democratic values are respected when different cultural identities clash.

In a wide-ranging speech to mark the 150th anniversary of Canadas constitution, Supreme Court of Canada Justice Richard Wagner offered a candid look at how identity politics have played out in the courts since the Charter of Rights equality guarantees took effect in 1985.

He ended his remarks on an optimistic note, saying judges understand questions of personal and group identity better now and analyze claims of discrimination in a way that aims to ensure substantive equality.

Wagner said the notions of identity, human dignity and democratic values permeate the Charter and lay the foundations for looking beyond our own borders.

We can welcome refugees and migrants with the confidence that our society is able not only to manage our differences, but to thrive on them, said Wagner.

Speaking to reporters later, Wagner acknowledged that, while his speech was delivered to a legal and academic audience, there was a message for Canadians concerned about the influx of refugees and migrants.

We should, I think, welcome all those people and we should be willing to accommodate them and not change them, he said.

People should not be afraid of having migrants and refugees in their own countries. I think were strong enough and . . . we have strong moral values, and one of those values is the respect for human dignity. And, if we take our role seriously, well look, well adopt the perspective of the other, and it could only, I think, as far as Im concerned, grow society much better in the future.

Asked if that means there should be room for face veils and other individual expressions of religious identity, Wagner declined to answer, saying: I dont know if those cases will come before the court, so I dont want to comment.

Wagner holds one of the three high court seats reserved for Quebec. Quebecs legislature is now studying a bill to require religious neutrality of those who deliver or receive public services, amid calls to ditch the bill in the wake of the slaying of six Muslims at a Quebec City mosque.

Wagner said judges have an obligation to try to understand the perspective of a person who says their equality rights are breached, but he added that doesnt mean that the claimant is right . . . that doesnt mean that I would adopt his way, or his reasoning, or his opinion, or his end result.

In his speech, Wagner admitted early approaches to how judges analyzed discrimination did not stand up to the task. He said Charter interpretation is still a work in progress, but, he added, over the past 150 years the constitution has enabled us to navigate difficult questions of identity.

Personal and group characteristics are the starting point of Charter equality jurisprudence, but identity is not about labels; it is a shorthand for how people see themselves, how others see them, and how those two things interact in peoples lives.

Wagner said the Supreme Court looks to the context and experiences of a person claiming discrimination, and seeks to understand the persons perspective, which is an especially important consideration in cases of aboriginal law or where there are overlapping characteristics of a persons identity that influence how they experience discrimination.

Wagner said the experience of a woman who is part of a visible minority can be totally different from that of a young man who has the same characteristics. If one of the two is not a citizen, or has a different sexual orientation, their experience could be even more different.

When the court eventually faces a question touching on trans-gender identity, these two propositions will provide essential frames of reference: that identity is not fixed, but changing, and that identity is not innate, but contextual, he said.

Wagner predicted that, although the principle of dignity fell out of favour in judicial analyses of equality claims, it would find new traction in future Charter litigation. It is a crucial consideration when judges weigh whether a rights violation is reasonable and justified. Equality infringements ought to be increasingly difficult to justify to the extent that it strikes at the heart of someones individual or group identity and, with it, their recognition as full participants in Canadas ongoing democratic dialogue, he said.

University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes said Wagners speech would please equality-seeking groups on the one hand, but he said Wagner also emphasized democratic values and substantive equality over any superficial concept of equality.

To Mendes, it was a signal from a judge who some suggest could one day become the chief justice of Canada, that the balance wont always tip in favour of those who feel their rights are breached.

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In 1992 I studied for a school year in Paris. My roommate was French. One night, over cheap port from the local grocery, we got to talking about World War II. Everyones grandparents fought in the Resistance, my roommate said. He paused for a beat. The Resistance wasnt that big.

He was paraphrasing J.B.S. Haldane, who said, The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. War, my roommate was implying, is so horrible that just about nobody dares look it in the face.

This is obvious to most Europeans and hard for most Canadians to understand. Their war happened at home; ours happened an ocean away. A consistent thread in Canadian veterans accounts of their return home was the widespread lack of interest in hearing what the soldiers had seen and done. A rough consensus among Canadians whod stayed home during the war was that no good could come from knowing.

The news this week is that Chrystia Freelands maternal grandfather worked on a Nazi-operated newspaper in Krakow during the war. Canadas foreign minister would prefer not to say so. When first asked about it at a news conference on Monday, she bobbed and weaved. Its public knowledge that there have been efforts, as U.S. intelligence forces have said, by Russia to destabilize the U.S. political system, Freeland said. I think that Canadians, and indeed other western countries, should be prepared for similar efforts to be directed at us.

Freelands answer was true, as far as it went. Canadians should indeed be prepared for Russia to lead efforts to destabilize Canadas political leadership. It makes sense that Freeland would be a target. Shes already banned from travelling to Russia, as part of the tit-for-tat game of escalating sanctions the Russians played with the West in the wake of Vladimir Putins illegal annexation of Crimea, in Ukraine. Freeland is obviously the leading voice in the government for rebutting Russias actions there.

And indeed, tales of Freelands grandfather Michael Chomiak have been circulating on pro-Putin social media accounts and websites since January.

The tales also appear to be founded in demonstrable fact. The truth of Chomiaks stint at a Nazi-controlled newspaper in occupied Krakow has been known to Freeland for more than 20 years. Her uncle, historian John-Paul Himka, wrote about Chomiak in a 1996 journal article. Freeland helped edit the article.

Theres no evidence Chomiak wrote any of the anti-Jewish diatribes that flowed like sewage through the pages of the newspaper, Krakivski Visti. His state of mind at the time cannot be known to us. After the war he told his family he had worked with the anti-Nazi resistance, helping its members get false papers. Perhaps its true. Perhaps its one of the stories people tell themselves later, as they try to live with the things they did to stay alive in hell.

What we know is that if Chomiak was still alive at the end of the war, its because he took pains to stay on the right side of the murderers who had occupied Ukraine and Poland for the wars duration. Everyone did. Everyone had to. You might be a resister for three hours a day after collaborating the other 21. Those who didnt manage to escape to the West, as Chomiak and his family did, stayed behind and spent generations staying on the right side of the new occupiers, the Stalinist murderers who took over from the Nazis.

Today in central Europe there are political parties that believe they can draw clean moral distinctions through the countless layers of betrayal and accommodation that characterized those terrible lost decades. One of them is in power now in Poland. That countrys current government seeks to blame and penalize people today for their behaviour under Communism. Its a terrible waste of effort because no coherent allotment of blame and absolution is possible. Thats what totalitarianism does to a society. As Winston Smith learns by the end of 1984, Under the spreading chestnut tree / I sold you and you sold me.

The point of such black eras in history is to survive them and avoid repeating them. Chrystia Freeland is in the business of helping societies  ours, Ukraines, the worlds  stay on the side of sanity. It makes her a target. The fact that her family existed in the damned 20th century gives her opponents ammunition. None of this takes away the legitimacy of her important work.

Paul Wells is a national affairs writer. His column appears Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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OTTAWACanadas Beijing-bound ambassador says the government will have to sell any possible Canada-China free trade to Canadian workers in order to overcome rising anti-trade sentiment.

John McCallum says hes aware of the populist anger toward liberalized trade in the Western world.

While hed like to see negotiations move forward, McCallum says Canadians will need to see tangible economic benefits  new jobs, in particular.

McCallum cites tourism as a potential growth sector if Canada can attract even a fraction of the hundreds of millions of Chinese travellers that are estimated to be venturing abroad in the next five years.

His message echoes the hard-hitting speech Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered in Germany last month, telling business leaders to get real about the anxieties of workers who fear being left behind by globalization.

McCallum says the consultations the government launched last week will be a key step in determining a way forward on deepening Canadas trade and economic relations with China in a way that is palatable to a large number of Canadians.

The crucial point will be whether we can persuade the average Canadian or the average Canadian worker whether its good for him or her, McCallum said in an interview this week.

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Trudeau confirms Canada exploring free trade agreement with China

Canadas ambassador to Beijing says openness to global trade is key

Human rights, cyber security on the table during Canada-China free trade consultations

We have to understand theres a certain anti-free trade sentiment across the Western world. We are among the few who are actively pursuing free trade, open borders.

Trudeau and his cabinet ministers have stressed the need for politicians to address the anxieties of working people amid strengthening populist anti-trade sentiment, evident in Britains decision to leave the European Union and Donald Trumps victory in the November U.S. presidential election.

There has been plenty of tension between the Trump administration and China. Trump has made provocative statements about Chinese actions in the South China Sea, and angered Beijing by speaking with the leadership of Taiwan. He has also threatened to raise duties on Chinese imports.

McCallum said hes not worried about Canada getting caught in any potential crossfire between the U.S. and China, nor is he concerned that pursuing deeper Canadian ties with China will undermine the governments attempt to work closely with Trump administration on Canada-U.S. relations.

We have set our own course. We want broader, deeper relations, maybe a free trade agreement, he said. That also means expanded investment and increases in people-to-people ties, including more Chinese tourists in Canada, he added.

If the United States has a different course, then so be it. But I think its too early to know exactly what the United States is going to do.

McCallum was appointed to the China ambassadorship during Januarys cabinet shuffle that saw him leave the immigration portfolio.

He was one of two high-profile political appointments to Canadas diplomatic corps, along with former foreign minister Stephane Dion, who was offered a new, double-hatted posting to the European Union and Germany.

Dion did not appear enthusiastic about his new job offer and took weeks to decide, unlike McCallum, who immediately embraced the new position after his successful political stewardship of the Liberal governments plan to bring more than 30,000 Syrian refugees to Canada.

Opening up to an influx of Chinese tourists could well be a driver of Canadian growth, he said: Chinese President Xi Jinping has predicted that 800 million Chinese people will be taking overseas trips in the next five years.

If Canada attracted one per cent of that total  eight million  that would be a boon to Canada because it would lead to new jobs in the tourism sector, he said.

China is so large and the growth is so fast that it doesnt take a very large percentage of the total to have a big impact on Canada, he said.

Thats one of the things we could do to sell the proposition to Canadians.

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A lawyer for the accident victim in a case of alleged double-dipping by a Toronto law firm says the firms contracts are illegal and former clients should get money back.

Lawyer Peter Waldmann told an Ontario Court of Appeal panel that the contingency fee agreements signed by former clients of Gary Neinstein and his firm, Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers, were flawed and the firm owes clients money for taking more fees than Ontario law allows.

Lawyers are expected to follow the laws of the province, Waldmann told the three-judge panel.

Our concern is that the contracts are illegal. We are asking for the costs to be disgorged.

In simple terms, lawyers working on contingency  you dont pay unless we win  cannot take a sum of money called costs in addition to a percentage of the settlement, according to the Solicitors Act, legislation governing Ontario lawyers.

Waldmann told the court that plaintiff Cassie Hodge, 45, is only one of many, many former Neinstein clients who should be eligible to get money back, including a man named Ryszard Kolbuc of Mississauga, a Polish immigrant who became paraplegic after he was bitten by a mosquito with West Nile virus.

Waldmann also said that Hodge, who alleges she received a fraction of her insurance settlement, worried about losing her home if she got her lawyers bill reviewed.

The three Court of Appeal judges have been asked to determine whether Hodges case should be certified as a class action lawsuit, which would potentially involve up to 6,000 former clients of the Neinstein firm.

An ongoing Star investigation found personal injury lawyers in Ontario routinely take the second payment for costs, which critics call double dipping.

Originally, a Superior Court judge refused to certify the Neinstein case as a class action. Then a Divisional Court reversed that decision.

If the Court of Appeal panel decides to keep the class certification, it will proceed to trial or a settlement, barring any further appeal. The case, which wrapped up Thursday afternoon after two days, could have wide-ranging ramifications for other personal injury cases in Ontario.

In court Thursday, Waldmann disputed claims made the previous day by lawyers for Neinstein and the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, which represents about 1,600 personal injury lawyers, clerks and staff, who argued that the firms contingency fee agreements were enforceable even if they stipulated that the lawyer would take costs in addition to a percentage of damages.

Waldmann said that double-dipping is what makes the contracts illegal and therefore unenforceable. At the end of the day, Waldmann said, the costs were taken and the clients never found out about it.

Kolbuc was one of those clients, Waldmann said.

Kolbuc, who speaks no English, sued for damages after a West Nile mosquito bite left him a paraplegic. A plasterer, he was bitten while working on a project in downtown Toronto. He signed a contingency fee agreement with Neinstein in 2005. The agreement said the firm would take 30 per cent of damages plus costs, Waldmann said. Kolbuc lost at trial against the insurance company and appealed. Kolbuc wasnt told at the time that Neinstein hired Chris Paliare of Paliare Roland to fight the appeal in court, Waldmann said.

Kolbucs case was eventually settled for $195,995. After legal fees, costs and disbursements, Kolbuc ended up with $93,141  less than half of the total. When Kolbuc received his bill, it showed that Neinstein took $12,000 in costs and Paliare took $16,737.64 in costs, Waldmann said. Kolbucs affidavit said that if he had known he was going to be charged so much, he would have found another lawyer, Waldmann said.

Odette Soriano, arguing for Neinstein, said that even though Kolbucs account includes a portion for fees and costs, when you look at the actual dollar amount, its less than the percentage fee in the agreement if you dont count Paliares share.

In addition to Kolbucs case, Waldmann produced 10 other contingency fee retainer agreements from Neinstein and said they were all the same standard form boilerplate retainers.

Clients unhappy with their legal bills can have them reviewed by a Superior Court assessment officer, who will decide if the fees the lawyer charged are fair and reasonable.

When the question was raised of assessing Neinsteins bill in Hodges case, Waldmann said that Neinstein threatened to give her a revised, larger bill and Hodge was afraid she might lose her house.

If she went ahead with an assessment, Hodge said she felt she was risking costs and possibly my home.

Soriano, Neinsteins lawyer, told court that was in relation to an adverse cost award if she didnt settle.

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OTTAWASenators are condemning the disgusting behaviour of Don Meredith and want the disgraced Ontario senator to quit his seat after an ethics probe concluded he broke the rules with his sexual relationship with a teenage girl.

Its pretty disgusting behaviour and certainly we have no place for that kind of behaviour from people sitting in the Senate, Sen. Vern White said Friday, after the release of a damning ethics investigation into Merediths conduct.

I thought he should have resigned back when it first came out He should find himself another place to work, said White, a former police officer.

Conservative Sen. David Wells said that Meredith should not walk through the doors again.

I dont think the Senate is any place for a person of that character. The things he has done are disgusting. Theyre wrong by any measure, Wells told reporters in the Senate foyer Friday.

I would also encourage Sen. Meredith to do the right thing, for once, and resign, Wells said.

Sen. Elaine McCoy said she personally told Meredith in a phone conversation Friday that he should step down, imploring him to do what she called the honourable thing.

Hes considering what his next steps will be but when I spoke to him earlier he had not made a decision, McCoy said. I dont think hes had a chance really to consider all his options.

McCoy leads the Independent Senators Group in the upper chamber. Meredith had joined the group after he quit the Conservative caucus when the Star first revealed details of the affair in 2015.

On Friday, Meredith was asked to leave that group too, McCoy said.

Released Thursday, the 30-page report by Senate ethics officer Lyse Ricard goes into disturbing detail about Merediths relationship with the teen, referred to as Ms. M.

It concludes that Meredith used the weight, prestige and notability of his senate position to lure or attract Ms. M, a teenager, who by virtue of her age, was necessarily vulnerable.

His conduct was substantially intermingled with his role as a senator, the report said, noting that he used his Senate cell phone to call the teen and invited her to his Senate office.

He also tried to get the woman a committee appointment and an internship on Parliament Hill and engaged with her parents about doing business together.

Sen. Meredith failed to uphold the highest standards of dignity inherent to the position of the Senate, Ricard wrote.

The findings of the investigation have now been referred to the Senates ethics committee for deliberation. While the senate is not due to resume sitting until the end of March, senators are calling on the committee to meet as quickly as possible.

The committee could decide on sanctions, to be confirmed by the Senate, that could include suspension, as it did in 2013 when it suspended three senators without pay over their expense claims.

But senators were unsure Friday whether they have the power to outright expel a senator, a move that would be unprecedented.

It is debatable as to whether or not the Senate has the authority to force a resignation, said Sen. Peter Harder, the government representative in the Senate.

However, like others, Harder urged Meredith to quit now and save the Senate and himself and his family further humiliation.

Harder said that he found the report  which detailed how Meredith would hold web chats with the young woman, asking her to take off her top as he masturbated  very disturbing.

Harder said he was unable to reach Meredith Friday and instead wrote him a letter, urging him to exhibit judgment and give up his Senate seat.

I would urge you to adopt the proper course of action to prevent further trauma to persons who have been directly affected by your conduct, Harder said in his letter.

Meredith did not respond to a request for comment.

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MONTREALDepending on how one looks at it, former prime minister Kim Campbell is either the last federal minister to have tried to recriminalize abortion in Canada or the first to have conceded that the federal government had to leave women free to choose whether to carry a pregnancy to term.

As Brian Mulroneys attorney general in the late 80s, Campbell authored a bill designed to fill the legal vacuum created by the Supreme Courts finding that the existing law was unconstitutional.

Her bill  for those who forgot  would have made it a criminal offence to induce an abortion unless it was done by or under the direction of a medical practitioner who was of the opinion that, if the abortion were not induced, the health or life of the female person would likely be threatened. For the purpose of the legislation, the definition of health was a wide one.

The proposed law was passed in the Commons in 1990 only to die on a tied vote in the Senate a few months later. It was that last vote that led the then-justice minister to close the books.

This week Campbell returned to the floor of the Commons for the first time since she led the Progressive Conservatives to a crushing defeat in 1993. On the same day, the current justice minister introduced legislation to scrub the Criminal Code of the last remnant of Canadas restrictions on abortion.

Both Campbells reappearance and Jody Wilson-Rayboulds announcement were meant to mark International Womens Day. Whether it was intended or not, there was more synchronicity between the two events than met the eye.

Almost 30 years after the fact, Wilson-Raybould is picking up where Campbell left off on the morning after her bills defeat at the hands of the upper house.

As part of a larger effort to rid the Criminal Code of so-called zombie laws, i.e. dispositions that remain on the books decades after having been struck down by the courts, Justin Trudeaus government is the first to bring the abortion debate back to Parliament since Campbells bill was up for debate.

There have been eight parliaments since 1991 and the issue of abortion was put to a vote at least once in every one of them but always at the initiative of an individual MP rather than as part of the legislative agenda of the government of the day.

The act of removing the abortion section of the Criminal Code 30 years after it was struck down is essentially symbolic.

In theory, a government could have resuscitated the provision by using the notwithstanding clause of the Constitution to shelter it from the prescriptions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But that was a move too politically toxic even for a government such as Stephen Harpers whose caucus was home to an anti-abortion majority.

There is a reason why successive Conservative and Liberal prime ministers steered clear of asking Parliament to scrub the Criminal Code of the inoperative section. None of them could have put such a plan to a free vote without risking public divisions within their ranks.

In contrast with his predecessors, Trudeau has decreed that the pro-choice option is Liberal policy. He told the candidates who ran under his banner in 2015 that if and when the issue came up for a vote they would be expected to toe the party line.

The Conservatives have yet to take an official position on the governments plan to clean up the Criminal Code, but it predictably stands to divide them.

For the Liberals, Wilson-Rayboulds proposed bill comes with the potential partisan bonus of bringing more Conservative divisions to the fore.

But a bonus play should not be confused with a free game.

Even as they have accepted Trudeaus edict on abortion rights not all government MPs are overjoyed at the notion of having to fall in line on a vote on the issue. They will comply, albeit with a heavy heart.

A few weeks ago, more than a few Liberals also bristled privately at their governments refusal to find common ground with the Conservatives on the wording of M-103, the anti-Islamophobia motion.

And then earlier this week, an overwhelming majority of Liberals brushed off the prime ministers warnings that a Senate bill dealing with genetic discrimination was unconstitutional. They voted with the Conservatives and the New Democrats to pass the bill.

No government is ever immune to caucus restlessness, but most take care not to exacerbate it.

Chantal Hebert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Mayor John Tory strongly supports the latest Toronto police crackdown on marijuana dispensaries even though the federal government will soon introduce legislation to legalize pot.

While Tory says he supports legalization, the people who have been selling pot out of city storefronts have jumped the gun.

I just think when you have a law that you have to make your best efforts to enforce it, he said Friday a day after the raids on pot shops in Toronto, Vancouver and Hamilton.

Police arrested the owners of the seven Cannabis Culture locations, Marc and Jodie Emery, at Pearson International Airport. The Vancouver-based couple, known as the Prince and Princess of Pot, face trafficking and possession charges as well as conspiring to commit an indictable offence.

They were released on bail Friday.

While some pot advocates have expressed surprise about the raids and arrests, Tory said he has made it clear the vast majority of people do not want pot sold in wild west fashion.

Since pot dispensaries spread across the city last year, Tory said he has received significant public feedback that residents dont want dispensaries on every corner and neighborhood, even in a legalized environment.

The mayor also applauded members of the citys licensing and standards division for seeking an injunction in Ontario Superior Court of Justice to close a chain of dispensaries called Canna Clinics.

Marijuana activists Marc and Jodie Emery are facing multiple drug charges, including trafficking, after Cannabis Culture dispensaries were raided in several cities. A small group protested the raids outside a Vancouver dispensary.

The application says the pot dispensaries on 213 Ossington Ave., 350 Broadview Ave., 2352 Yonge St., 1556 Queen St. W., 44 Kensington Ave., 527 Eglinton Ave. W., and 2087 Dundas St. W., are contravening zoning bylaws.

While the city failed in its attempt to obtain a court injunction to force Uber to stop operating two years ago, Tory said he has confidence city lawyers would not have commenced the proceedings if they didnt think there was a reasonable chance of success.

The mayor said he expects the courts will conclude these are not appropriate uses under current law, and theyre not, thats a fact and so is it a fact that marijuana is still illegal under the laws of Canada, we cant just have people selling it on every street corner.

Police and city staff say pot sales are legal only if Health Canada-approved patients get it, via mail or courier, from a federally approved distributor located in an area zoned industrial.

Pot activists insist there is a legal gray area surrounding Canadas medical marijuana laws which a judge has struck down as unconstitutional.

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A Toronto private school teacher pleaded guilty Thursday to sex offences involving minors and making child pornography.

Because of a publication ban, the media cant name the accused, the victims or the school he taught at.

The teacher, now 43 years old, taught physical education and music at the school in question from 2003 to 2016. He pled guilty to sexual interference, sexual exploitation and making child pornography.

According to an agreed statement of facts, he tutored the first complainant, who was 14 years old at the time, in math on an almost weekly basis at his home. During those sessions, which spanned from late June 2009 to early September 2009, he kissed the complainant on the mouth and fondled her hips, buttocks, and breasts over her clothes. He also sent sexualized text messages to the complainant.

He was my teacher and supposed to protect me, not hurt me, the victim said during the hearing Thursday.

She said the defendant used his charm and charisma on an insecure young girl.

There were no boundaries with him, he blurred the lines of my understanding of what was appropriate and what healthy intimacy should look like, she said. My former teacher was so good at making me feel as if this sexual abuse was something I wanted and not what it is  violence.

She said her family has spent thousands of dollars on therapy following the ordeal.

The second victim began receiving sexualized text messages from the teacher in September 2012, when she was 16 years old, according to the agreed statement of facts.

During the hearing, she said the defendant groomed her to believe that the scariest thing to say to him was no.

She was also convinced by the defendant to share sexualized pictures and videos of herself.

During their acquaintance, the defendant kissed the victim, digitally penetrated her and performed oral sex on her.

I now never take my emotional or physical safety for granted. I feel extremely scared, the complainant said during the hearing.

During his appearance in court, the teacher, a father of two, was emotional as he apologized to the victims and their families.

Words cannot express the self-loathing and horror Im confronted with daily, he said. I was selfish, unkind and oblivious to all the lives I would end up hurting.

Defence lawyer Owen Wigderson argued the accuseds name should be included in the publication ban because it could reveal the identity of the complainants given the history between himself and the victims and the detailed facts regarding the offences, according to documents covering the ban.

In certain instances to protect the identify of the victim, youll have to do more than just not publish their name, Wigderson said in an interview.

Crown attorney Patricia Garcia agreed with the ban on the victims names and the schools name but argued effectively, the cat was out of the bag regarding the accuseds name as hed been identified in media reports prior to the ban.

The ban would have little effect regarding protection of the complainants identities going forward, Garcia argued, according to documents surrounding the ban.

Under the Criminal Code, if sexual assault victims, or victims under 18 of any offence, ask for a publication ban, it is automatically granted.

Its extraordinary and unusual anytime theres a publication ban on an accuseds name, said Iain MacKinnon, a lawyer representing the Globe and Mail and CBC, who attended the hearing Thursday to contest the publication ban that was ordered in February.

A judge will decide later this month whether to hear arguments against the publication ban of the accuseds name.

Its critical for the public to know the identities of people charged with crimes, MacKinnon said. Its even more critical for them to be aware of people convicted of crimes, especially something like a sexual assault case.

This ban, he said, completely undermines the open court system.

Sentencing for the case will take place in July. The Crown has asked for a prison sentence of three years while the defence has asked for 16 months.

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SSB initiates enquiry on death of Nepali at Indo-Nepal border: India

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that its border security froce Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has initiated an enquiry on the death of a Nepal man, allegedly in a firing by SSB, at Nepal-India border in Kanchanpur district on Thursday.
At a discussion panel on GTA sprawl last year, Ontarios Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe said land use planning is Ontarios oil sands. It was a provocative statement, equating a controversial environmental issue with one that lurks all around us in plain sight.

Its not an issue that ignites province-wide political wildfires the way hydro rates or gas plants do, but its a scandal that should. Land is our most valuable non-renewable resource. Provincial Greenbelt legislation, preserving a ring of land around the Golden Horseshoe, has been a global leader in how to contain sprawl, encourage smart growth, and preserve both farmland and wild spaces next to a massive metropolis.

Yet inside the greenbelt and across the province, school, hospital and LCBO planning undermine its noble efforts, a trifecta of bad land-use planning.

As the population of children drops in many areas, more than 600 schools could close across the province. A sign of the heightening tension, or perhaps sensing political opportunity, this past week Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown called for a moratorium on school closures. Whatever Browns motivation, what happens to these buildings weve invested considerable public resources in, is important.

Take 19 Glen Agar Dr., the site of a former Etobicoke school near Martin Grove and Rathburn Rds. that the Toronto District School Board declared surplus in 2013. The school site, backing onto a grassy hydro corridor, was partially sold off to a developer who will build 53 single-detached houses there. The public nature of the site is partially preserved with a new park, but building more single-family homes inside Toronto is a failure of this neighbourhood to carry some of the citys growth burden.

Initially, 104 townhouses were proposed, along with 12 detached houses, however that plan was nixed, in part, by residents objections that they didnt fit the neighbourhood. This is the kind of gentle density often lauded by urbanists but that is off limits in large areas of Toronto, sometimes called the Yellow Belt, as its the colour of detached-only areas on planning maps.

All homeowners in Toronto are reaping the windfall of owning property in a prosperous, growing city like Toronto, but only some absorb it, like the Liberty Village and Yonge and Eglinton areas, hero neighbourhoods that accommodate growth while cowardly Yellow Belt neighbourhoods object to even expensive townhouses, hiding behind stable neighbourhood rhetoric.

A school closing suggests neighbourhoods are stable in appearance only, but that a publicly owned parcel of land was developed with the lowest possible density in a city with a housing crisis is especially regrettable. There are other options available too.

Near Queen St. W. and Ossington Ave., the Senhor Santo Cristo Catholic School is being turned into a community hub, part of a core hold policy that keeps schools intact and in community use should they need to reopen if demographics change in the coming decades.

Though there are lost opportunities to add denser housing inside the Greenbelt, other parts of the province dont even have this kind of legislation, like Windsor, a city surrounded by some of the best farmland in North America that is slowly being gobbled up by sprawl, some of it government led.

Hows your old high school doing? Mine, a publicly funded Ontario Catholic school, used to be in the middle of the town of Tecumseh (which I like to call the Pickering of Windsor), an easy walk or bike commute for a large portion of the student body. It was closed and part of the site has been redeveloped as single family homes, with the other half of the school currently abandoned, and a new school was built far out of town in what was until recently a field where corn and soybeans grew. Now, most everyone has to drive or be bused to this exurban school.

Also in Windsor, a city with an abundance of large brownfield sites  that is to say, former industrial areas waiting for their next life  the province has plans to build a new mega-hospital outside of town, gobbling up more farmland and squandering all the much needed economic and civic revitalization benefits an urban site would bring to Windsor.

Then there are the LCBOs. Even in the older, dense parts of Toronto these big-box boozy blights are foisted on the landscape, like the one-storey, half-block long shop on The Danforth between Broadview and Chester subway stations. That such a thing was built atop a subway line, without any additional residential units on top of it, undermines the efforts of so many planners and housing advocates trying to make this city more affordable.

The old Ontario motto was Keep It Beautiful, but in the shadow of the Greenbelt, were doing our best to keep it sprawling.

Shawn Micallef writes every Saturday about where and how we live in the GTA. Wander the streets with him on Twitter @shawnmicallef

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Its one of those things police caution people never to do.

On a frigid Friday morning, a mother in the Jane St. and Lawrence Ave. area started her Toyota Camry and left it idling to warm up the engine as it sat in the driveway.

The mother ducked back into her home for just a moment, leaving her 4-year-old daughter sitting inside the car with the door unlocked, so she could take a second child out the door.

But that was all it took.

Police said that when she returned outside, at about 6 a.m., someone had entered the car and driven away.

Do not leave your child in the car alone, ever, Det. Ranbir Dhillon cautioned parents on Friday.

The incident sparked an Amber Alert for Christina Nguyen that lasted nearly three hours as Torontonians searched for the black Toyota Camry with the little girl inside.

Drivers reported to police they spotted the vehicle on major highways in the west end of the city. When approached, a suspect was seen speeding away erratically on the shoulder of the highway.

Later that morning, Christina was found safely in the car after it was abandoned in a parking lot near the family home. A member of the public had heard about the Amber Alert and phoned police after recognizing the vehicle as they walked by.

The car was running and Christina was still inside at the time.

Shes OK, said Dhillon, adding paramedics would be checking on her during the day.

The good news came just minutes before a scheduled press conference at 9:30 a.m. Dhillon said an investigation is underway.

After Christina returned home at about 10:15 a.m., her cousin Tony Lam provided a statement to the media on behalf of his aunt and uncle.

Wed like to thank everyone, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Toronto Police Service and the local news and radio stations for helping us find Christina, Lam said outside the family home.

The familys relieved and in good spirits. Christinas in good health and I just want to give a special thank you to everyone on social media for sharing the story and helping us find her. Wed like to request privacy for the family and give them an opportunity to recover from this traumatic situation.

Toronto Police Sgt. Juan Quijada-Mancia told media outside the home no information is available yet on a possible suspect and that a police investigation is ongoing.

The little girl is in good health. Christina was found safe. The family is requesting privacy, he said. Its a very difficult situation for them so shes trying to get back to a normal life.

With files from Brennan Doherty and the Canadian Press

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Racism is not quite the same as jerk-ism, although a Venn diagram of the two sets would result in a huge overlap.

An incident at Kingsway Theatre last weekend left Torontonians squabbling when the black actress, Wendy Olunike Adeliyi, posted on Facebook her experience of being denied entry to watch a film (ironically about race) because she was carrying a backpack.

Was it racism or was it not?

Readers, not just of colour, described similar bad experiences with the theatre in emails to the Star and on social media. On Yelp, the theatre owner Rui Pereira appeared to respond to negative reviewers with f-bombs.

So how did racism become an element here? For Adeliyi, it happened when Pereira called the police on her and described her as black and threatening.

In his defence, Pereira said Adeliyi was rude and belligerent to the staff, which is why he called the police. He says he mentioned race in response to questions by the police.

Did the police ask, Is she black? or What is her race? or Describe this woman, including her skin colour? The police wont say.

If Adeliyi was white, would Pereira have said, She is a white woman with black clothes?

I have a problem with her skin colour being brought into the equation at all. Adeliyi doesnt. What bothers her is that he equated that description of me with being threatening.

My skin is not threatening.

Pereira says she banged her backpack on the counter. Adeliyi says with her camera and laptop in it, she couldnt have banged her backpack.

He was taking pictures and video of me. If I was threatening, it would show up in that video.

When a petty argument around what to bring inside a theatre throws together the police and a black person, one described as threatening at that, it suddenly becomes combustible and changes the stakes entirely.

Of course I was worried, Adeliyi tells me. I was so scared at the time ... I know situations can be amplified for no reason.

Thank God, he (the police officer) was decent.

As in the case with sexual assault, in any allegation of racism, we want evidence  preferably a video  that it occurred at all. As if people walk around recording their every interaction.

Theres no evidence of Adeliyis threatening behaviour either, other than Pereiras word, yet we dont demand more.

An astonishing amount of ignorance surrounds the dissection of Pereiras words as if the only way to validate the accusation of racism is if its overt. To be considered racist, one would have to mention race, mention it in a way that damned all people of that race and verbally confirm that their actions were motivated by anger about that race.

How little we understand it.

In the larger picture of racism, these details dont account for much. For black people, racism is a daily occurrence sometimes subtle, sometimes overt and always systemic.

On Monday evening, an erudite panel discussed the challenges of Canadian blackness at the University of Torontos Hart House. Rashelle Litchmore is a learning strategist completing her PhD on the experience of black high school students in Toronto. She talked of the challenges for students who have been continuously told by teachers they are stupid or they are not going to make it.

Having to push through not just getting the academic work done but getting through the mental, psychological, the sociological anguish is a particular challenge, she said.

Canadas parliamentary poet George Elliott Clarke recalled being told during his doctorate in English at Queens University in the early 90s that they were not studying black writers because none of them are good enough.

The damage from lowered expectations begins much earlier in life. Onye Nnorom, a family doctor and public health specialist, remembered the tearful devastation of the Ds on her Grade 2 report card, an inexplicable drop from the previous Bs, and of the teacher not even asking for a meeting with the parents.

Adeliyi, who says she is a student of Critical Reasoning and Caribbean Studies at U of T, has had similar experiences. You know, as a black person, its (racism) always happening.

Its the first time Ive made it public that its unacceptable.

Im not here to label Rui Pereira a racist or a non-racist. The truth is we are all racist. That acknowledgement is often used to end conversations about racism or to excuse it. In reality, it only scratches the surface.

If you agree that we are all racist, and look at the consequences of that racism, then you understand that dark-skinned people and blacks in particular, who bear a disproportionate brunt of prejudice, have no reason to ascribe racial innocence to those who are unpleasant, least of all to those who benefit from a power structure that was wielded so cruelly against blacks.

The real issue here is not whether Pereira is racist, it is that Adeliyi was carelessly profiled in a way that put her in danger.

Nobody deserves that.

Shree Paradkar tackles issues of race and gender. You can follow her @shreeparadkar

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Its an issue that few Americans saw coming after President Donald Trump was elected.

As the new administration trumpeted its new ironfisted approach toward immigrants and refugees, the public and media attention focused on the wall to be built between the United States and Mexico, as well as the executive orders to keep Muslims out.

The crossing of migrants into Canada that has now become a thorny issue on the U.S.s northern frontier was certainly not on horizon  not until a surge in the number of asylum-seekers coming through Emerson, Man. and Lacolle, Que., became apparent.

With Ottawa looking for collaboration from Washington to slow down the influx of refugees, American experts wonder how much co-operation Canadians will be getting from the Trump administration.

I could not imagine in a million years that this would ever happen between the U.S. and Canada. Its a bit of a joke, said Catherine Tactaquin, executive director of the California-based national Network for Immigrant and Refugee rights.

I cant imagine the administration would cave in to the pressure from Canada to stop these people from the U.S.

In February alone, the Mounties intercepted 290 people entering Canada at unguarded parts of the border through Quebec, 90 in Manitoba and 51 in British Columbia.

The skyrocketing land-border refugee claims  1,700 in the first two months of 2017 vs. a total of 728 over the same period in 2016  prompted Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to seek help from Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who made his first official visit to Ottawa on Friday.

Every immigration policy of this administration is based on the premise that immigrants take away resources from Americans, they are criminals and terrorists, said Sameera Hafiz of the Washington-based We Belong Together, a grassroots advocacy group for migrant women and children.

They are forcing migrants into more extreme and dangerous situations. Whats happening now is at another level of fear and panic that is beyond my imagination.

Donald Kerwin of the Center for Migration Studies, a New York-based think tank, believed neither country had foreseen the illegal border crossings by refugees, even though Trump would hope it would happen.

The president has talked about mass deportations and would be pleased the draconian policies would be forcing people to leave on their own. It seems to me thats what the (presidents) executive orders are trying to accomplish, Kerwin explained.

It would be hypocritical for the U.S. to deny Canadas request as we continue to force Mexico to intercept refugees trying to cross into the U.S. from Latin America.

The Safe Third Country Agreement, established in 2004 to stop migrants from asylum shopping, restricts refugees to filing asylum claims in the country of their arrival. It has a few conditions for exemptions and does not apply to those who cross at unmarked border entry points.

While advocates are calling on Canada to suspend the pact as Trumps America is deemed unsafe for refugees, Kerwin said a suspension is unlikely because that would be an acknowledgment the U.S. asylum system is not at par with Canadas.

After September 11 terror attacks, the U.S. implemented the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, rescinded by former president Barack Obama in December, subjecting non-citizens to fingerprints, photographs and interviews.

Kerwin said many U.S. immigrants at the time attempted to cross into Canada to avoid the registration and an arrangement was made between the two countries for these peoples safe arrival. The process was supposed to be orderly but it just didnt seem that orderly, he noted.

In February, Kelly paid an official visit to Mexico, but Tactaquin said there was little transparency and no detail has been revealed on the border security arrangement.

The U.S. and Canada have a friendlier relationship. With recent news of people crossing the borders, we would be interested in the details of the meeting and the deliveries and outcomes, she said.

While no one can predict what the Trump administration would do, Hafiz is certain that the border-crossing issue is not going to go away anytime soon.

It is hard to see the trend of fear and anxiety among refugees is going to change in the next four years with Trump as president, Hafiz said.

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In the early morning of March 28, 1997, Zuan Zhong and his wife heard crying at their doorway and found a baby girl in a red jumpsuit in a basket.

A red slip tucked under the newborn stated the babys birth date and begged the family to look after the girl as their own because her biological parents could not afford to have another child in the household under Chinas then one-child policy.

The couple took the girl in, named her Shanrong and raised her without telling her she had been abandoned.

I picked up the baby and she immediately stopped crying. Its a new life in my hand and I couldnt abandon her again, said Zhong, 45, now a Toronto resident. Although we are not related by blood, she is my daughter in every way, in my flesh. She is an inseparable part of the family.

However, Shanrong, now 20, is not part of the family according to Canadian immigration officials at the Hong Kong visa post, who refused to let the girl join Zhong in Canada because a DNA test showed theyre not biologically related.

Despite stacks of family photos since Shanrong was a baby, her school records and personal ID listing the couple as her parents, the Immigration Department refused to reconsider the decision.

Zhong and his wife are the girls de facto parents, no doubt about it. A family cannot be just defined by your DNA, said lawyer Avvy Go of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, who successfully appealed to the Federal Court against the visa officers decision.

We dont form relationships by blood only. There are reasons why the couple still did not adopt the girl and has not told her she was abandoned by her biological parents. There could be so much social and cultural stigma against the girl.

Zhong, a Catholic, fled China to Canada seven years ago and was granted asylum in 2013 on the grounds of religious persecution. He applied for permanent resident status the same year and included his wife and Shanrong as family members in the application.

In March 2015, immigration officials requested the DNA test. When the result showed she wasnt their biological child, Zhong told officials of Shanrongs story.

Officials, however, insisted a child must either be the biological offspring or be adopted, and they removed Shanrong from the familys permanent residency application.

In December 2015, with the help of Go and MP Adam Vaughans office, the family asked the Canadian visa post in Hong Kong to reconsider the decision, this time on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

They argued that the girl was too old to be adopted by law and said officials could use their discretion in the departments own de facto family policy to assess the case.

However, the visa officer would not budge, ruling that the merits of the application did not overcome the girls ineligibility as a member of the family class, and that there was no evidence of financial and emotional dependency between her and the parents.

The officer went as far as saying its in Shanrongs best interest to be living in the country where she was born, raised and educated, and was familiar with the language and culture.

In rejecting the visa posts decision, Federal Court Justice Keith Boswell said the officer had overlooked a significant document in the submission: a Chinese government certificate about the couples relationship with the girl.

It unequivocally states that: the applicant was abandoned; has been living with Mr. Zhong and (his wife) since she was found; is a registered member in the household; and is in a de facto adoptive family relationship, wrote Boswell in his recent ruling that sent the case back to immigration officials for a fresh assessment.

This certificate makes the officers reasons unintelligible and, therefore, unreasonable.

Zhong, who has not seen his wife and daughter since he fled China in 2010, was thrilled with the news but wonders how much longer it will take for his family to join him in Canada.

The court has given us a new ray of hope, but there is still no guarantee the next visa officer will let Shanrong come, said Zhong. How can we abandon her? She is our baby, our only child. My wife and I cant live without her or our family will be incomplete.

Both Zhong and Go hope the Immigration Department can fast-track the case.

The delay of the familys reunification is so unnecessary, said Go. Its wasting the familys time, the courts and immigrations time, not to mention taxpayers money.

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The Royal Bank of Canada has closed dozens of accounts linked to the Panama Papers, becoming the first Canadian bank to publicly confirm it has severed ties with customers identified in the leak.

The admission came some 10 months after the names of all clients of Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm at the centre of the leak, were published online.

We reviewed all accounts related to Mossack Fonseca in depth, said J.F. Courville, chief operating officer of Royal Banks wealth management unit.

The bank later said it closed about 40 customer accounts, without being more precise.

The relationships with Mossack Fonseca  basically relationships initiated by the client using that law firm as an adviser  represented an extraordinarily small proportion of our total client base, Courville said.

As recently as December, RBC refused to confirm it had closed any accounts linked to the Panama Papers. National Bank and Scotiabank say they conducted reviews, but found no links to the Panama Papers and didnt close any accounts. TD, BMO and CIBC did not respond to questions about customers linked to the database.

RBC bore the brunt of the early public pressure last spring when the Panama Papers revealed the bank had registered at least 429 offshore companies with Mossack Fonseca.

At the time, CEO David McKay said he was concerned for the banks brand and reputation.

Shortly afterward, the federal government took RBC to court, demanding the bank turn over its client files to aid the Canada Revenue Agency in its investigation. RBC did not oppose the demand.

The CRA is now investigating 85 Canadians named in the leak, 60 of whom are being audited.

Last April, RBC began a detailed review of four decades of internal records to fully understand its ties to Mossack Fonseca. During this process, Courville said, the bank identified accounts that no longer fell within its risk tolerance levels, based on current industry principles and the banks own criteria.

Due to the operation of your accounts, we feel that we cannot achieve the requisite level of comfort with you, read a letter RBC sent to a client named in the Panama Papers database last November. Therefore, after careful consideration, we must advise you that we are not in a position to continue our banking relationship.

Read The Canada Papers series:

Part 1: Snow washing

Part 2: 9203-9619 Quebec Inc.

Part 3: Signatures for sale

Part 4: Lessons for Canada

The letter, which was viewed by the Star, gave the client 30 days to close his accounts and repay his loans, including a nearly million-dollar mortgage on his house. RBC sent similar letters to the clients teenage children, informing them that the risk profile of their Leo accounts  RBCs savings accounts for people under 19  has changed substantially and that the bank was not in a position to maintain the Account.

It was difficult. I had to cancel the trip to India with my teenage son to deal with it, the client said.

The client, who works as a wealth manager, had very little contact with Mossack Fonseca, according to an analysis of the Panama Papers database conducted by the Star. He showed up in the leak because he incorporated a Panamanian company on behalf of a group of clients in order to manage an investment property in Panama.

The Star has agreed to not name the client because it could find no evidence he did anything wrong.

None of this is fair, said the client. The bank is acting upon unreasonable pressure being put on it by the government and public opinion  Its guilt by association.

RBC would not confirm the details of its decision to close the clients account and those of his children.

Our decision that an account is outside our risk parameters or does not meet our own standards does not mean that clients have engaged in inappropriate activity, wrote RBC spokesperson Lisa Hutniak in an email.

With files from Star wire services

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The limestone arch stood stately against a cloudless sky, towering in the background as Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen wed (and dozens died) in the Game of Thrones series premiere. The violent wedding may have been a fictional feature of Essos, but the stone formation was anything but.

Called the Azure Window or Tieqa tad-Dwejra, the natural landmark jutted sharply off the 64-sqaure-kilometre island of Gozo, one of the three forming the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean. Travelers have long sought a view of the striking structure, particularly since its existence has always been fleeting.

The Azure Window has finally closed. During a strong storm on Wednesday morning, it collapsed and fell into the Mediterranean Sea.

Read more:Game of Thrones will be back July 16

There was a big raging sea beneath the window, Xaghra resident Roger Chessell, who witnessed the collapse, told the Times of Malta. Suddenly, the arch collapsed into the sea with a loud whoomph, throwing up a huge spray. By the time the spray had faded, the stack had gone too.

Calling it heartbreaking, Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wrote on Twitter, I have just been informed that the beautiful Tieqa tad-Dwejra in Gozo has collapsed. ... Reports commissioned over the years indicated that this landmark would be hard hit by unavoidable natural corrosion.

That sad day arrived, he concluded.

Today Gozo has lost one of its iconic beauties, the Gozo Tourism Association wrote on Facebook. The inevitable and the much feared has happened. The flagship of the Gozitan touristic sites has sunk in its same birth place. ... The much promoted Azure Window is no more, and only millions of photographs remain as testimony of this touristic spot.

Scientists believe the 9-metre-tall arch, one of 26 in the Maltese Islands, formed as the pounding of sea and rain water eroded the limestone below. Eventually, it grew into the tourist destination it is today. The Gozo Tourism Association estimated that 80 per cent of the islands guests visited the arch. According to a report from the European Commission, that comes out to about 850,000 visitors each year.

In 1998, it was included on a tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites, though it didnt progress further.

Eventually, it became a popular filming location, particularly for mythological epics.

In addition to Game of Thrones, it was featured in Clash of the Titans, NBCs The Odyssey, and the 2002 version of The Count of Monte Cristo. It found its way onto the worlds iPhones as well, becoming something of a social media star. Nearly 50,000 Instagram images are tagged with #azurewindow. Countless more were geotagged there.

But its always been at risk from nature. In 2013, the Times of Malta published a story with the foreshadowing headline, The Azure Window is still safe ... for now.

The arch was comprised of two layers of different types of limestone, as explained by Geoscience Consulting head geologist Peter Gatt. The top layer was upper coralline limestone, which is hard-wearing, not too susceptible to erosion. The other layer was blue clay limestone, which is much softer. In 2013, Gatts firm issued a report stating, About 90% of the lower layer of rock has collapsed in the past 30 years.

Most of this weakening was caused by the very erosion that created the arch, Gatt told the Times of Malta. Waves crashing against the cliff formed the striking window and they will also destroy it, he said.

At the time, though, he was hopeful.

It is safe to say that the Azure Window is not facing any imminent collapse as was previously believed, Gatt said. This still doesnt mean it will last forever - this is a process.

Last January, though, a large slab of the arch was lost to sea, battered by rough waves.

It didnt help matters that tourists regularly scrambled across it for photographs and striking views of the Mediterranean Sea. The European Commission report stated that human activity was causing such accelerated erosion that Drastic action was essential to save this loved feature by the locals.

Last month, the Maltese government instituted $3,100 fines for anyone caught climbing on the arch. But by that point it was too late. All it would take was one strong storm to send the structure back to the sea - and that storm arrived Wednesday.

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SEOUL, KOREA, REPUBLIC OFIn a historic, unanimous ruling Friday, South Koreas constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil, worsened an already-serious national divide and prompted calls for sweeping reforms.

It was a stunning fall for Park, the countrys first female leader and the daughter of a dictator who rode a lingering conservative nostalgia for her father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency descend into scandal.

The ruling by the eight-member panel opens her up to possible criminal proceedings, and makes her South Koreas first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy came in the country in the late 1980s.

Parks acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust, acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said. The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big. Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye.

South Korea must hold an election within two months to choose Parks successor. Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys. Whoever becomes the next leader will take over a country facing a hostile North Korea, a stagnant economy and deep social and political divides.

Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70 to 80 per cent of South Koreans had wanted the court to approve Parks impeachment. But there have been worries that Parks ouster would further polarize the country and cause violence between her supporters and opponents.

Read more:

South Korean president impeached in stunning fall

Samsung chief indicted on bribery, embezzlement charges in South Korea

South Korean president cries during first public appearance amid scandal

Turnout for South Korea anti-president rallies may be at 1.5 million  but counting is difficult

Sensing history, thousands of people  both pro-Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who wanted Park gone  gathered around the constitutional Court building and a huge public square in downtown Seoul.

A big television screen was set up near the court so people could watch the verdict live. Hundreds of police were on hand for any protests, wearing helmets with visors and black, hard-plastic breastplates and shin guards. The streets near the court were lined with police buses and barricades.

Parks parliamentary impeachment in December came after weeks of Saturday rallies that drew millions who wanted her resignation. Overwhelmed by the biggest rallies in decades, the voices of Park supporters were largely ignored. But theyve recently regrouped and staged fierce pro-Park rallies since.

People on both sides have threatened not to accept a constitutional Court decision that they disagree with. One of Parks lawyers told the court last month that there will be a rebellion and blood will drench the asphalt if Park is booted from office. Many participants at anti-Park rallies had said they would stage a revolution if the court rejected Parks impeachment.

If Park accepts the ruling and soothes those who opposed her impeachment, things will be quiet, said Yoon Tae-Ryong, a political scientist at Seouls Konkuk University. But looking at what shes done so far, I think that might be wishful thinking.

Others disagreed, saying violent protests wont be supported by the general public.

Prosecutors have arrested and indicted a slew of high-profile figures over the scandal, including Parks confidante Choi Soon-sil, top Park administration officials and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong. But Park has avoided a direct investigation thanks to a law that gives a sitting president immunity from prosecution for most of alleged crimes.

Since shes now no longer in power, prosecutors can summon, question and possibly arrest her. Her critics want to see Park appear on TV while dressed in prison garb, handcuffed and bound like others involved in the scandal. But some analysts worry that could create a backlash by conservatives.

Even after the election, imprisoning Park could still be a burden for a new government, which must pursue national unity to overcome security, economic and other problems, said Chung Jin-young, a professor at Kyung Hee University. Others say it wont be difficult.

Thousands of people rallied in the South Korean capital on March 4 to demand the formal end of President Park Geun-hye's rule.

Among the most serious problems facing South Korea is Chinas retaliation against the deployment of a U.S. high-tech missile defence system in the South. Ties with North Korea are terrible, with Pyongyang seeking to expand its nuclear and missile arsenal. Japan hasnt sent back its ambassador, which it recalled two months ago over history disputes. South Korea also worries about the Trump administration asking for a greater financial contribution for U.S. troop deployment in the South.

Park rose to power in 2012 largely thanks to the support of voters who believed her father guided the country out of poverty after the 1950-53 Korean War and that his daughter would show the same charismatic leadership to revive the economy.

But her father was also a burden because there are many who remember the senior Park as a ruthless thug. These critics have linked her alleged unclear and high-handed decision-making and attempts to infringe upon freedom of speech to her fathers high-handed style.

The nostalgia for Park Chung-hees developmental dictatorship, which has existed as a sort of myth since the 60s, has been shattered along with Park Geun-hyes impeachment, said Lim Jie-Hyun, a professor at Sogang University. When people voted for Park Geun-hye, they didnt do so because of her.

Park Geun-hye has offered a public apology several times and acknowledged she got some help from Choi for editing speeches and on the issue of public relations. But Park has denied any legal wrongdoing.

The two women became friends in the 1970s, around the time when Park began serving as first lady after her mother was killed during a failed 1974 assassination attempt on her father. Park Geun-hye said Choi helped her when I had difficulties in the past. The two women had 573 phone calls between April 18, 2016 and Oct. 26, 2016, according to an investigation report by prosecutors.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has led the government as acting leader since Parks impeachment and he will continue to do so until South Korea elects new president by May. Some media reports said Hwang might run for presidency as a conservative candidate. If that happens, he should resign to run and a deputy prime minister will serve as another interim leader.

In 2004, then President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached by parliament for alleged election law violations and incompetence, but the constitutional Court later reinstated his power.

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St. Patricks Day will soon be upon us, and Team Trump would like you to know that for just $50 (U.S.), you can purchase a green Make America Great Again hat embroidered with a symbol that has nothing to do with St. Patricks Day.

The hats went on sale last week in advance of the holiday, celebrated March 17, and had a four-leaf clover  instead of a three-leaf shamrock  stitched on the back. A four-leaf clover is not a symbol of Ireland. It is just a plant.

On Wednesday afternoon the hats disappeared from U.S. President Donald Trumps online store. A spokeswoman for Trump did not respond to questions about why the hats were taken off the website.

The original advertisements for the hat encouraged Trumps supporters to capture the luck of the Irish.

Social media users, especially those in Ireland  where Trump is deeply unpopular  were quick to pounce, as were news media in the U.S. The Irish Independent, a popular daily newspaper, described the four-leaf clover as a sugary oat piece that youll find in a box of Lucky Charms cereal that has nothing to do with St. Patricks Day or Ireland.

Mixing up the number of leaves on a shamrock is an easy mistake to make, especially in the United States, where St. Patricks Day is widely celebrated even by people with no substantive connection to Ireland.

The Obama campaign made the same mistake in 2012, producing a line of Irish-themed campaign swag covered in four-leaf clovers (it soon reversed course). Trumps former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, himself an Irish-American, used a four-leaf clover on Twitter last year. Even the Irish beer company Guinness is not immune: it used a four-leaf clover in a series of advertisements in Canada last year.

Niall ODowd, the publisher of several Irish-American media outlets, said these slip-ups were par for the course on St. Patricks Day in the United States, where some of the finer points of Irish culture often get lost in the green-tinged melee of parades and bar crawls. (In case youre wondering why the shamrock is part of the holiday at all, legend has it that St. Patrick used its three leaves to illustrate the Holy Trinity in Christianity.)

That sort of things is so common, ODowd said. Its not exactly earth-shattering that theyve used a four-leaf clover.

Another common misunderstanding is referring to the holiday as St. Pattys Day, he said. (The Independent sneered about the American pronunciation: St. Pattys Day as they insist on calling it.)

Patty is not the nickname used for a man named Patrick. It is the nickname used for a woman named Patricia. Men named Patrick  including the saint honoured March 17  are referred to casually as Paddy. Like many Americans, the Republican party made that mistake, too, in its advertisement for the Trump hat.

ODowd said he thought that misspelling was a forgivable offence.

If you listen to an Irish accent it does sound like Pattys Day, he said. People get offended by it, but I think its one of those things that gets overblown. Peoples intent is noble, and thats just how the word sounds to them.

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MOGADISHU, SOMALIAA man who has been called everything from a terrorist, a visionary, a clan elder, a religious scholar, a killer and a statesmen greets me on his driveway with a wave and a grin.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys seems eager for visitors. House arrest does not agree with those who pride themselves as leaders, not captives.

It has been a decade since our last interview in Mogadishu, when he was the spiritual head of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which the George W. Bush administration warned was Africas Taliban.

Aweys, listed both by the U.S. and United Nations as global terrorist associated with Al Qaeda, hasnt changed much in 10 years; his face is relatively unlined for a septuagenarian, his beard still dyed vibrant henna red, his opinion that Somalia should be governed by Islamic law unwavering.

But Somalia  and the world  has. Bush to Barack Obama to Donald Trump, four Somali presidents and seven prime ministers, the rise and (somewhat) decline of East Africas Al Qaeda branch, Al Shabab, the rise and (somewhat) decline of Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

In an exclusive interview inside his home where he lives with some of his wives and 28 children, Aweys spoke at length about his history with the ICU, the Shabab and eventual split with the groups leaders. A decade ago he could have shaped Somalia  today the country seems at a loss over what to do with him.

The conversation ranged from African geopolitics to religion and, as is so often the case in terrorisms theatre of the absurd, the bizarre and personal. He wanted to know my marital status, was horrified that I did not have kids and said he wished he could offer me one of his. When he asked my religion and I hesitated, he started shouting, both accusingly and gleefully, Atheist. Atheist!

Ask Somali government officials or community leaders what they think of Aweys and the word most often used, also accusingly, is stubborn.

Which is one reason why Aweys, once one of Somalias most influential men due to his clan affiliation and militant pedigree, remains confined to his home in forced retirement.

The interview with Aweys was conducted while Obama was in power and before Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known popularly as Farmajo, was elected Feb. 8 as Somalias president.

I had been granted rare access last year on the condition that the story would not be published immediately. There were sensitive diplomatic negotiations underway with Qatar at the time  reportedly to provide Aweys sanctuary in Doha.

Aweys ostensibly could face terrorism charges for his association with Al Shabab, but a trial is unlikely. He is a prominent member of Somalias influential Habar Gadir, a subclan of Hiwaye, and the previous government was unwilling to risk the backlash if he were prosecuted or, if found guilty, sentenced to death.

The talks with Doha have since broken down and, according to a Somali security official, Aweys remains under house arrest. He has been in government custody since his 2013 surrender, which followed months of negotiations with clan elders and government officials.

At the time he left the Shabab, the groups executive was fractured and Aweys life was threatened by leader Ahmed Godane. American Omar Hammami, who was wanted by the FBI for a bounty of $5 million, was among those dissidents who were assassinated by Godanes men. (Godane was later killed by a U.S. drone in 2014).

Aweys claims he was not a member but merely associated with Al Shabab. Theres a difference between supporting them and joining them. We supported them in that theyre not our enemies, but I didnt join them, he said, leaning forward on his plastic lawn chair. They used to fight with our enemies so we supported that. I disagreed with some of their actions though.

Aweys had once ruled a breakaway Islamist faction known as the Hizbul Islam that fought against Al Shabab. But in December 2010, the two groups officially merged.

He said he condemned the groups killing of civilians, citing friends whom had been victims. But thats easy to say while under house arrest. During his years with the Shabab, the group launched some of their most devastating assaults, including the attack at Kenyas Westgate Mall, which killed 67.

Aweys was one of the public faces of Al Shabab and he did not condemn the deaths of innocents at the time. When asked why, Aweys at first tells me he used to read Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci, and the socialist movements used to kill anyone who was their enemy.

When pressed further, he concedes that it is not right to condemn 100 people to death when youre trying to get one.

Then why not speak out?

He continued to dodge the question, saying that Islam forbids such slaughter of innocents.

Why. Not. Speak. Out. At. The. Time?

We were fighting a war and that is not wrong in itself, sometimes there are going to be crimes committed, he said.

In a military sense it is normal.  The government is killing innocent people on the other side as well. So its not right  war allows for unbelievable things to happen.

Understanding Aweys today means going back to 2006. Mogadishu was a completely different city.

There were only a few flights a week and the airport runway was a concrete strip marred by the carcass of a crashed Russian plane. Just a handful of Westerners travelled to the capital during the Islamic Courts Unions six-month rule, as it was almost impossible to arrive without the groups prior permission.

Foreign passports were stamped at the airport with a visa that cost US$250, even though the ICU was not an official government. Luggage was thrown in pile on the tarmac so men with metal detectors could conduct a symphony of beeps and squeals, although they didnt actually open any of our bags.

Today, flights come and go throughout the day and passengers enter a pristine airport, with functioning metal detectors and luggage belts, shining like a lounge for Dubais Emirates Airlines rather than a typical East African terminal.

Throughout my interview in 2006, Aweys, felled by the flu and listless during his Ramadan fast, mainly answered questions with questions. Most critically, it was hard to determine what influence he exerted over the ICU leadership, whose other members were considered moderate.

But the most surprising aspect of our visit to Mogadishu was not that Aweys agreed to an interview or what he said, but that Mogadishu looked nothing like we expected.

The idea was to write the Taliban of Africa story, but what we found was different. Somalis, weary of war, were ready to give the ICU a chance. The group had done what no power before had managed since the collapse of the government in 1991  overcome clan politics and the never-ending fighting of rich and corrupt warlords.

In a country awash in weapons, there were few AK47s on the streets. There was cautious optimism. There was a chance for diplomacy and negotiations.

Aweys at the time told me that the ICU should be given a chance.

They were not.

Two months after our interview, Ethiopia invaded Somalia with implicit U.S. support to oust the ICU  one of the most catastrophic foreign policy decisions in Somalias history. Somalis rose to defend their sovereignty against longtime rival Ethiopia. A small militant youth movement within the ICU known as Al Shabab grew to a fighting force during the two-year bloody war.

When Ethiopia was eventually pushed back across the border, Al Shabab, hardened by war and pumped up on power, could not be contained. It turned their nationalistic agenda into a global one

Former ICU leader Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was appointed the countrys president. Then-U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton shook his hand at the United Nations and said he was the best hope for Somalia in a long time.

Essentially, two years of war and thousands upon thousands of deaths served only to keep the same man in power.

In 2010, Al Shabab officially pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and was listed by governments worldwide as a terrorist group. On Dec. 23, 2010, Aweys, who had fled to Eritrea during the war, merged his Hizbul Islam faction with Al Shabab.

Terrorism is often, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and again today, regarded in black-and-white terms. Terrorist or not. As George W. Bush famously said, youre with us, or with them.

The reality is never so obvious when put in context.

Interviewing Aweys today is as frustrating as it was 10 years ago. He is verbose, but says little. The only clear fact is that he believes a strict, literal interpretation of sharia, or Islamic, law should govern Muslim countries.

Aweys told me he doesnt support Daeshs incursion into Somalia or its members nihilistic attacks on the West, but spoke glowingly of Abu al Baghdadis declaration of a caliphate in Syria and Iraq in a fashion that was similar to his praise of Osama bin Ladens vision a decade ago.

But unlike many hardliners he does not rule out the possibility of Western alliances, whether they are political or financial. During our interview he name dropped various diplomats he had met, such as the European Union human rights adviser. Most hardliners would also not surrender even if their lives hung in the balance.

Until he renounces his past though, he will not be given amnesty as other high-profile Shabab defectors have, along with hundreds of foot soldiers.

At the end of the interview I ask him if hes the same person I interviewed a decade ago, or if experience had changed him.

Aweys hesitated and then looked at the translator: She can decide that for herself.

Timeline

1991 Mohamed Siad Barre ousted amidst a deadly power struggle between clan warlords.

1992 U.S. marines arrive to help UN peacekeepers restore order.

1993 U.S. army Rangers are killed when Somali militias shoot down two US helicopters in Mogadishu.

1995 UN peacekeepers leave, having failed.

2006 Following fierce fighting, militias loyal to the Islamic Courts Union defeat clan warlords and take Mogadishu; Ethiopian troops enter Somalia.

2007 UN Security Council approves six-month peacekeeping mission; African Union troops land in Mogadishu amid battles between Islamist insurgents and government forces backed by Ethiopian troops.

2010 Al Shabab announces alliance with Al Qaeda and launches a major offensive in the capital.

2011 (July) UN declares famine in Somalia and airlifts aid to Mogadishu; Al Shabab pulls out of Mogadishu.

2011 (October) Kenyan troops enter Somalia to attack rebels they accuse of kidnappings in Kenya.

2012 MPs elect Hassan Sheikh Mohamud president over incumbent Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

2013 (June) Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys is arrested by government troops.

2013 (September) Al Shabab kill 60 people in a Nairobi shopping centre in retaliation for Kenya's military involvement in Somalia.

2016 February African Union leaders increase their military presence after weeks of Al Shabab attacks.

2017 Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo elected president.

Source: BBC

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Strike enforcers torch bike in Sunsari

The general strike called by the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) to protest the Saptari incident has affected normal life in eastern Nepal.
SEOUL, KOREA, REPUBLIC OFSouth Korean police on Saturday braced for more violence between opponents and supporters of ousted President Park Geun-hye, who was stripped of her powers by the constitutional Court over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into a political turmoil.

Three people died and dozens were injured in clashes between police and Parks supporters after the ruling Friday, according to police, which detained seven protesters for questioning.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency was planning to deploy nearly 20,000 officers and hundreds of buses to separate the two crowds, whose passionate rallies have divided the streets near the presidential palace in the past several weekends as the scandal worsened.

The courts decision capped a stunning fall for the countrys first female leader. Park rode a wave of lingering conservative nostalgia for her late dictator father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency crumble as millions of furious protesters filled the nations streets.

The ruling allows possible criminal proceedings against the 65-year-old Park  prosecutors have already named her a criminal suspect  and makes her South Koreas first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.

It also deepens South Koreas political and security uncertainty as it faces existential threats from North Korea, reported economic retaliation from a China furious about Seouls co-operation with the U.S. on an anti-missile system, and questions in Seoul about the new Trump administrations commitment to the countries security alliance.

Parks acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust, Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said. The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big. Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye.

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Lee accused Park of colluding with longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort tens of millions of dollars from businesses and letting Choi, a private citizen, meddle in state affairs and receive and look at documents with state secrets. Those allegations were previously made by prosecutors, but Park has refused to undergo any questioning, citing a law that gives a sitting leader immunity from prosecution.

It is not clear when prosecutors will try to interview her.

Park hasnt vacated the presidential Blue House yet, as her aides are preparing for her return to her private home in southern Seoul, according to her office. Park has not made a public statement on her removal.

Parks lawyer, Seo Seok-gu, who had previously compared her impeachment to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, called the verdict a tragic decision made under popular pressure and questioned the fairness of what he called a kangaroo court.

South Korea must now hold an election within two months to choose Parks successor. Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys.

Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70 to 80 per cent of South Koreans wanted the court to approve Parks impeachment. But there have been worries that Parks ouster would further polarize the country and cause violence.

Sensing history, thousands of people  both pro-Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who wanted Park gone  gathered around the constitutional Court building and a huge public square in downtown Seoul.

Thousands of people rallied in the South Korean capital on March 4 to demand the formal end of President Park Geun-hye's rule.

Some of Parks supporters reacted with anger after the ruling, shouting and hitting police officers and reporters with plastic flag poles and steel ladders and climbing on police buses. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the acting head of state, pleaded for peace and urge protesters to move on. Anti-Park protesters celebrated by marching in the streets near the Blue House, carrying flags, signs and an effigy of Park dressed in prison clothes and tied up with rope.

Police and hospital officials said three people died while protesting Parks removal. A man in his 70s, believed to be a Park supporter, died after a large speaker that had been mounted on a police truck fell on his head, police said. They are questioning a Park supporter who allegedly knocked off the speaker by stealing a police bus and crashing it into the truck.

Police said that another man in his 70s died early Saturday after collapsing near the court. An official from the nearby Kangbuk Samsung Hospital said another man brought from the pro-Park rally died shortly after receiving CPR at the hospital.

Prosecutors have arrested and indicted a slew of high-profile figures over the scandal, including Parks confidante Choi, top Park administration officials and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.

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All signals out of Ottawa suggest that the upcoming federal budget will be a modest affair, constrained by slow growth, sagging commodity prices and uncertainty around the undefined policy of an unpredictable U.S. president. When Finance Minister Bill Morneau tables his second budget on March 22, it will likely put the governments much-touted march toward middle-class fairness on hold until the economic outlook clears and brightens.

So it goes. No political agenda is immune from global pressures and shifts, of course.

Yet, as the Star has argued before, at least one major Liberal promise ought not to wait. It is, in fact, made more urgent by our current economic uncertainty and Justin Trudeaus commitment to active government: namely, closing tax loopholes that both compound economic unfairness and compromise Ottawas fiscal position.

Every year, the federal government forgoes about $100 billion through so-called tax expenditures. These breaks, often offered as politically micro-targeted giveaways, have proliferated in recent decades. Yet, while their total cost is roughly equivalent to a quarter of all government spending, tax expenditures are not subjected to the same oversight or accountability as other outlays. And what little we do know about these measures suggests that many are both unfair and ineffective.

Morneaus first promise upon taking office was to review tax expenditures with the goal of finding $3 billion in annual savings, a plausible, if modest aim, to be delivered in the 2017 budget. Now, however, Morneau says the review, like much else, will have to wait until Donald Trumps promised tax reforms take shape.

The notion that Canada will be better placed to revise our own tax code once we understand the larger competitive dynamics may have merit. But there are some hugely costly loopholes currently on the books the wrong-headedness of which cannot possibly be altered by Trumps policies.

Morneau might look at three in particular, as a means both of providing an immediate down payment on his promise of tax fairness and of laying the groundwork for future investments.

1. The tax break on executive stock options: Currently, compensation received in the form of stock options is taxed at a much lower rate than regular income. The tax break was conceived, in part, to help capital-starved start-ups attract top talent, but has been co-opted by executives at established companies as a way to dodge taxes. Ottawa loses about $1 billion every year through the loophole, more than 90 per cent of which goes to the top 1 per cent of earners.

In 2013, for instance, 75 of Canadas 100 top-paid CEOs received part of their income as stock options. This allowed them to accrue combined savings of $495 million, or $6.6 million each. Thats half a billion dollars of forgone revenue to subsidize 75 very rich people.

Moreover, its not at all clear that incenting companies to compensate employees with stock options is really such a good idea. The evidence suggests it encourages CEOs to drive up expectations, and thus stock prices, not necessarily results.

Some start-up executives have expressed concern that closing the loophole might drive innovators out of the country, particularly if Trump follows through on his low-tax promises. Of course, those who benefit from the break have every reason to say that, whatever the merits. In any case, surely there is a way to help these small enterprises that doesnt require an annual billion-dollar public gift that mostly benefits people who have nothing to do with start-ups.

2. The tax credit on corporate dividends: Even more costly, and nearly as skewed toward the rich, is the tax break on dividend income. Every year Ottawa loses about $4.1 billion through this loophole, 91 per cent of which goes to the top 10 per cent of earners and as much as 50 per cent to the top 1 per cent.

This is meant to spare corporate profits from so-called double taxation. Corporations already pay tax on their profits, the logic goes, so that money should not be taxed again when paid out to shareholders.

Some dispute that this is of double taxation given that corporations and shareholders are distinct economic units. But in any case the same principle doesnt seem to apply to ordinary Canadians. As a recent report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives points out, double taxation is actually quite common  for everyone. When we buy goods or services, we use money that has been taxed as income, yet we are not spared from paying sales tax. When we buy gas, we are essentially triple-taxed.

Simply putting a cap on this currently unlimited credit would save Ottawa a huge amount of money and begin to address the unfairness of a credit that would seem to give a special break to those who need it least.

3. The Canada Education Savings Grant: Ottawas most significant post-secondary program is another tax expenditure we know to be largely ineffective. Last year, a government study, uncovered by CBC News, confirmed what critics had long maintained: the $900-million annual grant disproportionately benefits the well-off.

Surely the goal of the credit is to increase access to education, not simply to help those who can already pay for school do so more easily. Yet roughly half of the money goes to families with annual household incomes above $90,000 and a third of it goes to those making $125,000 or more.

For years, economists warned that the program wasnt working. They pointed out that the grant is available only to those with registered education savings plans (RESPs)  that is, to those already able to save for school. As one might expect, high-income families are far more likely to be in such a position.

Its a shame that Ottawas richest post-secondary grant does not appear to be significantly expanding access to education. Every year the program remains unchanged is another year in which hundreds of millions of public dollars are ineffectively allocated. The report makes clear Ottawa understands this. Trumps presidency does nothing to alter the pressing need for a fix.

During Justin Trudeaus recent cross-country tour, he admitted there is more to do on tax fairness. While global conditions may mean a comprehensive review of Canadas tax code will have to wait, the government should not pretend there is nothing that can be done today.

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What if all the women who have faced bullying and harassment in online spaces stood together and decided we will not take it any more?

What if all the women  and men  who know that this cyber misogyny is wrong stood with them in protest and solidarity?

What if together we found a way to name and shame those deplorables who harass and aim to intimidate women in online public platforms?

What if this pressing problem was truly taken seriously? Could we finally find solutions that go beyond simply telling women to ignore online hate?

It is depressing that in 2017 we must still ask these what if questions, that we are still seeking solutions to the soul-destroying reality of online harassment of women. Numerous studies over the past decade have made clear this is a critical problem, with the most vile personal attacks directed at racialized women.

Of course, online harassment affects men as well. But as a recent report entitled Online Harassment, Digital Abuse and Cyberstalking in America concludes, Women experience a wider variety of online abuse, including more serious violations.

As well, Women were more likely than men to be angry, worried, or scared as a result of online harassment and abuse.

Not surprisingly, given that our work gives us a public voice, women in media are prime targets for online harassment that seeks to silence our voices. And too often, we are silent and stoic about harassment that targets us as women.

That reality was the focus of a Canadian Journalism Foundation J-Talks event held on the eve of International Womens Day. No safe space: Online Harassment of Women in Media brought together more than 100 people  mostly women  to explore this issue.

Many women experience online hate for simply doing their jobs, moderator Piya Chattopadhyay, host of CBC Radios Out in the Open, said. How can our newsrooms help create safe digital spaces for women?

The panelists, Toronto Star columnist Heather Mallick, Vice.com senior writer Manisha Krishnan, and Globe and Mail business writer Janet McFarland shared their experiences of harassment online.

Mallick struggles not to allow online hate to silence her strong voice but now no longer tweets her views and accepts few public speaking engagements, fearful of the large amount of online hate she receives crossing into her real world. I isolate myself. My work is not harmed but it has harmed me personally, she said.

Krishnan, who writes widely on race and gender issues, receives, the most heinous slurs you can imagine, including having the n-bomb hurled at her.

There are memes of me being hanged, a 20-minute YouTube video of a guy reading my columns in a southern accent, she said. And, she told the group, the hate isnt limited to the digital world. Once she picked up her phone and received a voice mail stating, youre gonna die, bitch.

McFarland said she experiences gender-based online harassment only when she reports on women in business. I hear the b-word, the c-word exclusively when I write about womens issues.

As The Guardian reported recently, an Australian study conducted last year found that harassment of women online is at risk of becoming an established norm in our digital society.

This is not acceptable, a reason why this event aimed to go beyond sharing stories of harassment and hate to empower us to explore solutions. How can individual women deal with online verbal abuse, beyond blocking abusers, ignoring hateful postings and being determined not to let anyone silence our voices? Beyond urging women to develop a thick skin what should or can news organizations do?

Given that most news organizations now expect their journalists to participate in online platforms, there was a consensus that newsrooms should determine policies and practices around such harassment. All agreed that begins with news organizations taking this issue seriously and listening to female journalists to understand how such harassment on public platforms can cause mental distress and affect our work.

And, to understand that the harassment women face online is considerably different than what men face. Women are most often harassed because they are women. As a 2014 Time magazine piece on this issue arguing that there is no comparing male and female harassment online stated, For girls and women, harassment is not just about un-pleasantries. Its often about men asserting dominance, silencing, and frequently, scaring and punishing them.

Practical steps news organizations might consider include maintaining a database of instances of online harassment and making sure one person in the organization is alerted when journalists are bullied online. When that harassment could constitute possible hate crime, police may need to be brought in (as has happened at the Star in cases of online harassment involving both male and female journalists.)

The panelists and audience talked of measures to fight back individually and collectively, including outing the nastiest of harassers to their employers and others through public means. The reality that we must do something drew strong support from the crowd and from longtime journalist Sally Armstrong, a Canadian feminist icon who has long battled for womens equality.

Shouldnt we be taking some action? My feeling is we are being too passive, Armstrong said.

Indeed, the time for silent stoicism must end.

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Agricultural commodity processor Archer Daniels Midland's (ADM) Swiss business is looking to acquire a stake in National Co., an Egyptian sweeteners maker. This is a signal that Egypt's currency float has made local companies more desirable to foreign investors, Bloomberg reports.

The deal would be between ADM's Swiss unit and Misr Capital Investment for a 43% stake.

"This deal tells us about the attractiveness of the Egyptian market for mergers and acquisitions activity because it has become very cheap," Radwa El-Swaify, head of research at Pharos Holding told Bloomberg. "They are buying a much cheaper asset compared to what they would pay if they build a similar factory."
Akzo Nobel NV (AKZOY) shares extended gains to a record high Friday as investors bet that PPG Industries' (PPG) $22 billion bid for the Dutch chemicals group will unlock value in the previously dormant stock.

AkzoNobel shares were marked 4.7% higher by mid-day in Amsterdam, changing hands at a record high 76.11 each and valuing the group at just over 19.15 billion ($20.32 billion). Friday's rise extends the stock's two-day gain to around 18%.

Reuters also reported Friday that Henderson Global Investors, one of the company's biggest shareholders according to FactSet data, has urged Akzo Nobel management to return to the negotiating table.

"We would like to urge the management of Akzo Nobel to engage with their counterparts at PPG," Reuters reported Henderson's head of European equities John Bennett as saying. "We would also encourage PPG's management to talk with Akzo shareholders to allow us to assess the merits of this initial proposal."

Earlier in the session, Citigroup lifted its price target on the stock by 22 to 90 each after it rejected PPG's approach Thursday and said it would look at selling or floating one of its key business units in order to boost investor returns. Citi had only established its previous 68 target on Feb. 16, which at the time represented and 8% premium to its trading price.

Akzo said PPG offered to buy the Dutch chemicals group for around 83 per share, in cash and shares, a 29% premium to Akzo's Wednesday closing price of 64.42 that would value Akzo at around 21 billion. Azko rejected the unsolicited bid, but said it would look at strategic alternatives, including the sale of its Specialty Chemicals business, which had 4.8 billion in sales last year.

Dutch politicians, who are gearing up for a contentious election next week, have voiced concerns about the merger. The minister for economic affairs Henk Kamp said a combination was not in the best interest of the country.

Pittsburgh-based PPG said it continued to believe there was a strong strategic rationale for the proposed transaction, adding that it will carefully evaluate how it will proceed with the transaction.

"We believe a combination of our two companies is a very compelling strategic opportunity. We are confident that this combination is in the best interests of the stakeholders of both companies as it presents a unique opportunity to build on the successful legacies of our businesses," CEO Michael McGarry said Thusday.

The combination of would create a stronger competitor in the global market "offering a broader line of products and technologies cost-effectively to a more diverse customer base," he added.

PPG shares were indicated 1.09% higher in pre-market trading after closing 3.65% lower at $102.93 each in New York Thursday.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recused himself from issues related to TransCanada's (TRP) application for a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, the State Department said in a letter to environmental group Greenpeace, Reuters reports.

The letter came after Greenpeace wrote to officials at the State Department and the Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday, urging Tillerson recuse himself from any decisions on the multibillion-dollar pipeline, given his former role as CEO of ExxonMobil (XOM) , according to Reuters.
Emirates' first Athens to Newark, N.J., flight will arrive in Newark Sunday night, a sign that so far the U.S. government has done nothing to limit the ability of the subsidized Middle East carriers to menace the U.S. airline industry.

Newark is a hub for United (UAL) . United also flies between Newark-Athens, but only in the summer. The route has not had year-round daily service since 2012.

American (AAL) , Delta (DAL) and United have battled incursions by the big three Middle East carriers - Emirates, Etihad and Qatar -- for two years, but they are stepping it up for the Athens-Newark flight, which is particularly unsettling because it is a fifth freedom flight.

In aviation law, fifth freedom flights operate between two foreign countries. Despite their rapid buildup on U.S. routes, the Middle East three operate only one other fifth freedom flight to the U.S. ---Emirates' Milan to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

On Wednesday, 25 members of Congress from New York and New Jersey wrote to President Trump, urging him to limit the Middle East carriers' U.S. operations.

On Sunday, United employees, labor leaders and Congressmen Josh Gottheimer and Donald Payne, both New Jersey Democrats who signed the letter, will stage a demonstration at the airport.

"We want to express our displeasure with the continued expansion by these massive subsidized government entities, in direct competition with our employers, and with the adverse effect it will have on our employers and our jobs," said Tim Canoll, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents United pilots.

"It's working for {the Middle East carriers}," Canoll said. "They're buying market share with subsidies, and they are not restrained by the price of fuel or the demand for seats. Because they are subsidized, they operate outside the market.

"They take deliveries of widebody aircraft every month," he said. "They have to fly them someplace."

In their letter, the members of Congress urged Trump to prohibit the Athens-Newark flight. (This seems unlikely.) They also asked that he enforce Open Skies agreements.

The agreements were intended to promote competition, absent subsidies, but they have turned into lopsided deals where the Middle East airlines fly nearly two dozen daily flights to the U.S., while U.S. airlines do not fly a single flight to Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi.

"We're hoping the president will take this issue up," Canoll said. "It meets his objective to enforce our trade agreement and do what's right for American workers."

The CEOs of American and Delta have said their main interest is to prevent the fifth freedom flights.

Like Emirates, American, Delta and United all fly between New York or Newark and Milan. But since the Emirates flight began in 2013, the U.S. carriers have lost 20% of their market share, according to an economist's report prepared for the Partnership for Open and Fair Skies, which represents the three U.S. carriers and most of their labor unions.

"Local fares between EWR/NYC and Milan have been driven to the lowest of any major European city from Newark/New York," the report said. "The fact that Emirates' local EWR/NYC filed fares to Athens are even lower than those to Milan suggests that Emirates' motive for entering this route is not to earn a profit, but rather, is provocative, predatory, and meant to drive the U.S. carriers permanently out of this market."

In a prepared statement, Emirates President Tim Clark said, "The Greek Government and Athens International Airport approached Emirates some time ago to consider serving the route between Athens and New York. After careful review, Emirates concluded that extending one of our Dubai-Athens flights to Newark would be commercially and operationally feasible.

"We are pleased to be able to help meet a strong consumer need long neglected by other airlines," Clark said. "The availability of high quality, daily international air services is essential for the development of business and cultural ties."

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Binod Ghimire covers parliamentary affairs and human rights for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2010, he has reported primarily on social issues, focusing on education and transitional justice.
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Ltd, Kinetic Worldwide Limited, LLC GroupM, LLC Wavemaker, Landor LLC, M Media Group Pty Ltd, M2 Digital Inc., Marketeers Vietnam, Marketing Direct LLC, Marketing Perspectives Limited, Mather Direct GmbH, Maxus Communications (UK) Limited, Media Club SpA, Media Insight SNC, MediaCom - Warszawa Sp.z.o.o., MediaCom AS (Norway), MediaCom Agentur fur Media-Beratung GmbH, MediaCom Communications Pvt Ltd, MediaCom Danmark A/S, MediaCom Group Limited, MediaCom Istanbul Medya Hizmetleri A.S., MediaCom TWENTYFIVE GmbH, Mediacom AG, Mediacom Australia Pty Limited, Mediacom Canada, Mediacom Iberia SA, Mediacom Italia Srl, Mediacom LLC, Mediacom Middle East & North Africa Holding W.L.L., Mediacom North Limited, Mediacom Paris SA, Mediacom Worldwide LLC, Mediaedge:CIA Worldwide Limited, Mediaedge:cia India Pvt Ltd, Medialets, Memac Ogilvy & Mather Holding Inc, Mind Share Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., MindShare Canada, MindShare GmbH, MindShare Hong Kong Limited, MindShare Polska Sp. z.o.o., Mindshare Media UK Limited, Mindshare SA, Mindshare South Africa (Gauteng) (Proprietary) Limited, Mindshare SpA, Mindshare Spain SA, Mindshare USA LLC, Mirum LLC, Mirum S.A. de C.V., Motion Content Group Limited, OPR AGENCY PTY LIMITED, Ogilvy & Mather Brasil Comunicacao Ltda, Ogilvy & Mather Group (Holdings) Limited, Ogilvy & Mather Pvt Ltd, Ogilvy & Mather S.A.S, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide LLC, Ogilvy Australia Pty Ltd, Ogilvy Commonhealth Worldwide LLC, Ogilvy Public Relations GmbH, Ogilvy Singapore Pte. Ltd., Ootworld, OpenMindWorld LLC, P Four Consultancy, PTR Comunicacoes Ltda, Penn Schoen & Berland Associates LLC, Penn Schoen Berland, Pep LLC, Plano.Trio Comunicacao, Potato London Ltd, Premiere Group Holdings Limited, Prism Sport + Entertainment, Promotion Execution Partners LLC, Public Strategies Inc., Quasar Media Private, Quinn Gillespie & Associates, Quirk, RLM Finsbury, Rasor Holdings LLC, Ray + Keshavan Design Associates, Real Media, Red Fuse New York LLC, Regional Management Group SAS, Russell Square Holding BV, Salmon Limited, Salmon Ltd, Sandtable, Scangroup, Set Management LLC, Shanghai Easycom Advertising Co. Ltd., Shanghai Linjie Marketing Services Co. Ltd., Shanghai Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Ltd, Shire Hall Group, Spafax Airline Network Limited, Spafax Networks LLC, Stickleback Limited, Sudler & Hennessey LLC, Superunion Limited, Swift + POSSIBLE LLC, Syzygy AG, TMARC, Taxi, Taxi Inc., Team Garage LLC, The Brand Union, The Cocktail Global S.L., The Finsbury Group Limited, The Glover Park Group, The Glover Park Group LLC, The GroupM ESP Clever Company S.R.L. de C.V., The Lacek Group LLC, The Marketing & Communication Agency, The Ogilvy Group LLC, The Performers Group, The Young & Rubicam Group of Companies ULC, Triad Digital Media LLC, Twist Image, Two Circles, VML LLC, VMLY&R, WPP (Thailand) Ltd, WPP 2005 Limited, WPP AMC Holdings, WPP AUNZ, WPP Beans Limited, WPP Brands (UK) Limited, WPP Brands Development Holdings (UK) Limited, WPP Brands Holdings (UK) Limited, WPP Deutschland Holding GmbH & Co. KG, WPP Finance 2013, WPP Finance 2015 Limited, WPP Finance Co. Limited, WPP Finance SA, WPP Group (UK) Ltd, WPP Group Canada Finance Inc., WPP Group U.S. Finance LLC, WPP Group USA Inc., WPP Health Limited, WPP Holdings Spain S.L., WPP Jubilee Limited, WPP Luxembourg Gamma Three Sarl, WPP Luxembourg Sarl, WPP Luxembourg Turris S.a r.l., WPP Marketing Communications (Hong Kong) Limited, WPP Marketing Communications Germany GmbH, WPP Media Ltd, WPP Montagu Square LLC, WPP Mexico S.R.L. de C.V., WPP Ottawa Ltd, WPP Samson Limited, WPP Sigma Limited, WPP Sphinx Limited, WPP Square one B.V, WPP UK Germany Holdings, WPP Unicorn Limited, WPPIH 2001 Inc., Warwicks, Wavemaker A/S, Wavemaker Australia Pty Ltd, Wavemaker BV, Wavemaker Canada ULC, Wavemaker Czech s.r.o., Wavemaker Global LLC, Wavemaker Global Limited, Wavemaker GmbH, Wavemaker Hong Kong Limited, Wavemaker Hungary Kft, Wavemaker Italia S.r.l., Wavemaker Limited, Wavemaker MENA FZ LLC, Wavemaker Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Wavemaker Publicidad Spain S.L., Wavemaker Sp.z.o.o, Wavemaker Taiwan Ltd, Wavemaker  Servicos Publicitarios Ltda, Who Digital, Witgoud Investments B.V., Worldwide Mediacom Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Wunderman A/S, Wunderman Thompson (UK) Limited, Wunderman Thompson LLC, XMKT Group, Xaxis LLC, Xaxis US LLC, Y&R Propaganda Ltda, Young & Rubicam, Young & Rubicam LLC, clarus digital, dBOD, groupm Germany GmbH & Co. KG, mPlatform LLC, plista GmbH, thjnk, and thjnk AG.

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Anixter International Inc., through its subsidiary, Anixter Inc., distributes enterprise cabling and security solutions, electrical and electronic wire and cable solutions, and utility power solutions worldwide. The company operates through Network & Security Solutions (NSS), Electrical & Electronic Solutions (EES), and Utility Power Solutions (UPS) segments. The NSS segment offers copper and fiber optic cable and connectivity, access control, video surveillance, intrusion and fire/life safety, cabinet, power, cable management, wireless, professional audio/video, voice and networking switches, and other ancillary products for the technology, finance, transportation, education, government, healthcare, and retail industries, as well as telecommunications service providers. The EES Solutions segment provides electrical and electronic wires and cables, shipboard cables, support and supply products, low-voltage and instrumentation cables, industrial communication and control products, security cables, connectors, industrial Ethernet switches, and voice and data cables to the commercial and industrial, and original equipment manufacturer markets. The UPS segment supplies electrical transmission and distribution products, power plant maintenance, repair and operations supplies, and smart-grid products, as well as arranges materials management and procurement outsourcing for the power generation and transmission, and electricity distribution industries. The company serves contractors, installers, system integrators, value-added resellers, architects, engineers, and wholesale distributors in various industries, including manufacturing, resource extraction, telecommunications, Internet service providers, finance, education, healthcare, retail, transportation, utilities, and defense, as well as government customers. The company was formerly known as Itel Corporation. Anixter International Inc. was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Glenview, Illinois.
GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, HIV, immuno-inflammation, oncology, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, and dermatology. It also provides consumer healthcare products in wellness, oral health, nutrition, and skin health categories. The company offers its consumer healthcare products in the form of nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, lozenges, gum and trans-dermal patches, caplets, infant syrup drops, liquid filled suspension, wipes, gels, effervescents, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, denture adhesives and cleansers, topical creams and non-medicated patches, lip balm, gummies, and soft chews. It has collaboration agreements with 23andMe; Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.; Novartis; Sanofi SA; Surface Oncology; Progentec Diagnostics, Inc.; Alector, Inc.; and CureVac AG., as well as strategic partnership with IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. The company was formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline plc and changed its name to GSK plc in May 2022. GSK plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Brentford, the United Kingdom.
The following companies are subsidiares of International Flavors & Fragrances: 1456111 Ontario Limited, A. Boake Roberts And Company (Holding) Limited, ASA Ventures Inc., Agtech Products Inc., Alpris Ltd., Amco SP Z.O.O, ApS Syntetic, Aroma S.A., Aromatics Holdings Limited, Aromco Ltd., Aromor, Arvin Company, Asian Investments Inc., Atelier du Parfumeur IFF Grasse SAS, BKF Vision Ltd, BSA India Food Ingr. P. Ltd., Belden Company, Branch office of DuPont Protein Technologies International Sales LLC, Bremil Industria e Comercio de Ingredientes Alimenticos Ltda. , Bremil S/A Industria De Produtos Alimenticos , Bush Boake Allen (New Zealand) Limited, Bush Boake Allen (Pension Trustees) Limited, Bush Boake Allen Australia Pty Ltd, Bush Boake Allen Benelux B.V., Bush Boake Allen Chile S.A., Bush Boake Allen Controladora S.A. de C.V., Bush Boake Allen Enterprises Limited, Bush Boake Allen Holdings (U.K.) Limited, Bush Boake Allen Inc., Bush Boake Allen Inc., Bush Boake Allen Limited, Bush Boake Allen Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, Bush Boake Allen do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC, Chemical Process Materials and Equipment S.A., CitraSource Holdings L.L.C., Columbia PhytoTechnology LLC, Columbia Phytotechnology LLC, Cometra ApS, Crestmont Investment Co., Cultor Oy, DDP Specialty Products Germany GmbH & Co. KG, DDP Specialty Products Poland Sp. z.o.o., DSP Germany N&B Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Daivd Michael Netherlands B.V., Dandy Lions Limited, Danisco (China) Co. Ltd., Danisco (China) Holding Co. Ltd., Danisco (India) Private Limited, Danisco (Zhangjiagang) Textural Ingredients Co. Ltd., Danisco Argentina S.A., Danisco Australia Pty Limited, Danisco Austria GmbH, Danisco B.V., Danisco Biosciences (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Danisco Brasil Ltda., Danisco Canada Inc., Danisco Chile S.A., Danisco Colombia Ltda., Danisco Cultor (Switzerland) AG, Danisco Cultor Sweden AB, Danisco Cultor Trading Ltda., Danisco Czech Republic a.s., Danisco Deutschland GmbH, Danisco Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Danisco Egypt Trading LLC, Danisco Flexible Brasil Ltda, Danisco France SAS, Danisco Guatemala S.A., Danisco Holding USA Inc., Danisco Holdings (UK) Ltd., Danisco Holland B.V., Danisco Ingredients Belgium N.V., Danisco Italia S.p.A., Danisco Japan Limited, Danisco Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Danisco Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Danisco Mexico S.A. de C.V., Danisco New Zealand Limited, Danisco Nutrition & Bioscience Greece Ltd., Danisco Nutrition & Biosciences Korea Ltd., Danisco Nutrition & Biosciences Malaysia SDN. BHD., Danisco Nutrition & Biosciences Taiwan Limited, Danisco Nutrition and Biosciences India Private Ltd, Danisco Peru S.A.C., Danisco Poland Sp. z.o.o, Danisco Singapore Pte. Ltd., Danisco South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Danisco Sweeteners Oy, Danisco Switzerland AG, Danisco UK Ltd., Danisco US Inc., Danisco USA Inc., Danisco Ukraine LLC, Danisco Zaandam BV, David Michael & Company (Canada) 1986 Ltd., David Michael Europe S.A.S., Du Pont de Nemours Nigeria Limited, DuPont (Shanghai) Enterprise Co. Ltd., DuPont Acquisition LLC, DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, DuPont Denmark Holding ApS, DuPont Electronics Holding LLC, DuPont LA Holding 1 BV, DuPont Lanka (Private) Limited, DuPont Nutrition (Thailand) Ltd, DuPont Nutrition Biosciences ApS, DuPont Nutrition Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, DuPont Nutrition Food Ingredients (Beijing) Co. Ltd., DuPont Nutrition Ingredientes BRASIL LTDA, DuPont Nutrition International, DuPont Nutrition Ireland, DuPont Nutrition Italy SRL (f/k/a FMC Chemical Italy SrL), DuPont Nutrition Manufacturing UK Limited, DuPont Nutrition Mexicana S.A de C.V., DuPont Nutrition Mexico S.A de C.V., DuPont Nutrition Norge AS, DuPont Nutrition Philippines Inc., DuPont Nutrition USA Inc, DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences Iberica S.L., DuPont Protein Technologies International Sales LLC, DuPont S&C Holding LLC, DuPont Shineway Luohe Food Company Limited , DuPont Shineway Luohe Protein Company Limited , DuPont US Holding LLC, DuPont de Nemours Kenya Limited, ERELEM, ETOL SK s.r.o., ETOL-RUS Ltd., Eden Essentials Inc., Envoltec Industria de Embalagens Ltda. , Enzymotec Australia PTY LTD, Enzymotec Singapore Pte. Ltd., Enzymotec USA Inc., Etol Aroma Ve Baharat Gida Urunleri San.Ve Tic.a.s., Etol JVE d.o.o., Etol Proizvodnja Arom D.O.O, Etol Skopje DRUSTVO ZA TRGOVIJA ETOL UVOZ-IZVOZ DOOEL, FYMSA Real Estate LLC (23), FYMSA del Caribe S.R.L , Fangchen International Trading Ltd. (6), Finnfeeds Finland Oy, Finnfeeds Oy, Finnsugar Bioproducts Inc., Flavor Systems International Inc., Flavors and Essences UK Limited, FoodBlenders Limited, Foreign Trade Representative of Danisco Singapore Pte. Ltd., Fragrance Resources, Fragrance Resources (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fragrance Resources Asia Pacific Ltd., Frutarom (Asia Pacific) Limited, Frutarom (Marketing) S.R.L., Frutarom (UK) Holdings Limited, Frutarom (UK) Ltd., Frutarom - Etol (UK) Limited, Frutarom Belgium N.V., Frutarom Chile S.A., Frutarom Czech Republic S.r.o, Frutarom Do Brazil Industria E Comercio Ltda., Frutarom Etol RO SRL, Frutarom Etol Ukraine LLC., Frutarom F&F Trading (Shanghai) Co., Frutarom Finance EUR AG, Frutarom Flavors (Kushan) Co Ltd., Frutarom Flavors Mexico S.A. de C.V., Frutarom Flavours (India) Private Limited (14), Frutarom France S.A.R.L, Frutarom Germany GmbH, Frutarom Gida Urunleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Frutarom Global Ltd., Frutarom GmbH, Frutarom Industries Ld, Frutarom Industries Ltd., Frutarom Italy S.r.l, Frutarom Kenya Limited, Frutarom Ltd., Frutarom Netherlands B.V., Frutarom Nigeria Limited, Frutarom Nordic A/S Flachsmann Scandinavia A/S Aksel Holm-Essensfabrik A / S, Frutarom Norway A.S, Frutarom Peru S.A. (Montana Food activity), Frutarom Production GmbH, Frutarom Savory Solutions Austria GmbH, Frutarom Savory Solutions Germany GmbH, Frutarom Savory Solutions Switzerland AG, Frutarom Savory Solutions Ukraine, Frutarom Switzerland Finance CHF AG, Frutarom Switzerland Finance GBP AG, Frutarom Switzerland Finance MXN AG, Frutarom Switzerland Finance USD AG, Frutarom Switzerland Ltd., Frutarom Trade & Marketing (1990) Ltd., Frutarom UK Investments Limited, Frutarom USA Holding Inc., Frutarom USA Inc., Frutarom do Brasil GRU Industria e Comercio Ltda., Genencor (China) Bio-Products Co. Ltd., Genencor International B.V., Genencor International BVBA, Genencor International Holding BV, Genencor International Indiana Inc., Genencor International Oy, Genencor International Wisconsin Inc., Genencor Mauritius Ltd., Genentech Ventures Inc., Grow Company Inc., Hagelin Flv (UK) Ltd., Hexachem Sociedad Anonima, IB EMEA Holding 2 B.V., IFF (BVI) Limited, IFF (Korea) Inc., IFF Aroma Esans Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, IFF Augusta Holdings LLC, IFF Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, IFF Benicarlo S.L., IFF Bio-Technology (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., IFF Capital Services, IFF Chemical Holdings Inc., IFF Delaware Holdings LLC, IFF Essencias e Fragrancias Ltda., IFF Flavors & Fragrances (Hangzhou) Trading Co. Ltd., IFF Fragrance GmbH, IFF Hungary Global Kft, IFF International Inc., IFF Latin American Holdings (Espana) S.L., IFF Mexico Manufactura S.A. de C.V., IFF Murcia Natural Ingredients S.L., IFF Sabores y Fragancias de Chile Ltda., IFF Turkey Aroma Ve Esans Urunleri Satis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, IFF West Africa Limited, IFF Worldwide LLC, Ingrediants dooel Skopje, Institut Europeen de Biologie Cellulaire, International Aroma Group, International Flavors & Fragrances (Canada) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Caribe) Inc., International Flavors & Fragrances (China) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Greater Asia) Pte. Ltd, International Flavors & Fragrances (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Hong Kong) Limited, International Flavors & Fragrances (Japan) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., International Flavors & Fragrances (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Mexico) S. de R.L. de C.V., International Flavors & Fragrances (Middle East) FZ-LLC, International Flavors & Fragrances (Myanmar) Limited, International Flavors & Fragrances (Nederland) Holding B.V., International Flavors & Fragrances (Philippines) Inc., International Flavors & Fragrances (Poland) Sp. z o.o., International Flavors & Fragrances (Vietnam) Limited Liability Company, International Flavors & Fragrances (ZhangJiagang) Co. Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Zhejiang) Co. Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Zimbabwe) (Private) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances Ardenne S.a r.l., International Flavors & Fragrances France Holding I SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances France Holding II SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances France Holding III SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances Holdings LLC, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Chile) Limitada, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Espana) S.A., International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Hungary) Kft, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Nederland) B.V., International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Norden) AB, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Rus), International Flavors & Fragrances IFF (Deutschland) GmbH, International Flavors & Fragrances IFF (France) SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances Irish Acquisition Company Limited, International Flavors and Fragrances Colombia S.A.S., International Flavors and Fragrances I.F.F. (Israel) Ltd., International Flavors and Fragrances IFF (South Africa), International Flavors and Fragrances Ingredients Ltd, International Flavors e Fragrances IFF (Italia) S.r.l., International Flavours & Fragrances (Australia) Pty Ltd, International Flavours & Fragrances (CIL) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (GB) Holdings Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (Mauritius) Ltd, International Flavours & Fragrances (NZ) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (Pension Trustees) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (Thailand) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances I.F.F. (Great Britain) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances India Private Limited (13), International Frutarom Corporation, Inventive Food Technology (ZQ) Ltd., Inventive Technology Ltd., Irish Flavours and Fragrances Limited, K-Vision Consulting and Investments Ltd, Kelp Industries Pty. Ltd, Leagel GmbH (11), Leagel S.r.l. (19), Les Ingredients Alimentaires BSA Inc., Les Laboratories Bio ForeXtra Inc., Lucas Meyer Cosmetics, Lucas Meyer Cosmetics Australia Pty Ltd, Lucas Meyer Cosmetics Canada Inc., Lucas Meyer Cosmetics S.A.S., M.P. Equity Holdings Ltd, MISR Company for Aromatic products, Manseg S.A., Mark Services Holdings Inc., N&B Chemicals Germany GmbH, N&B EMEA Holding B.V., N&B Germany Verwaltungs-GmbH, N&B International Holding B.V., N&B NL BV - Saudi Branch, N&B Real Estate Verwaltungs-GmbH, N&B Services BV, N&B Switzerland  UAE Branch, N&H EMEA Holding 1 BV, N&H EMEA Holding 2 BV, N&H EMEA Holding B.V., N&H International Holding 1 B.V., N&H International Holding 3 BV, N&H Switzerland Holding Sarl, Nardi Armoas Ltda., Neptune Merger Sub I Inc., Neptune Merger Sub II LLC, New Asia Holdco B.V., Nutra-Lease Ltd. (16), Nutrition & Bioscience (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Nutrition & Bioscience (Switzerland) GmbH, Nutrition & Bioscience (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Nutrition & Bioscience Pakistan (Private) Ltd, Nutrition & Biosciences (Finland) Oy, Nutrition & Biosciences (France) SAS, Nutrition & Biosciences (Sweden) AB, Nutrition & Biosciences (UK) Ltd, Nutrition & Biosciences Argentina S.A.U., Nutrition & Biosciences Australia Pty Ltd., Nutrition & Biosciences Brasil Ingredientes Ltda., Nutrition & Biosciences Canada Company, Nutrition & Biosciences Chile SpA, Nutrition & Biosciences Colombia S.A.S, Nutrition & Biosciences Hong Kong Limited, Nutrition & Biosciences Hungary Limited Liability Company, Nutrition & Biosciences Inc., Nutrition & Biosciences Italy S.r.l., Nutrition & Biosciences Japan K.K., Nutrition & Biosciences Korea Ltd., Nutrition & Biosciences Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Nutrition & Biosciences Netherlands B.V., Nutrition & Biosciences New Zealand Limited, Nutrition & Biosciences Singapore Pte. Ltd., Nutrition & Biosciences USA 1 LLC, Nutrition & Biosciences USA 2 LLC, Nutrition & Biosciences USA 3 LLC, Nutrition & Biosciences Vietnam Company Limited, Nutrition Biosciences USA 4 Inc, Nutrition and Biosciences South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Nutrition and Biosciences Spain S.L., OOO WIBERG Rus, P.T. Essence Indonesia, PARMA FA, PIASA USA (24), PM Taiwan Inc., PT Blue Cube Indonesia, PTI Astana LLC, PTI CA LLC, PTI Center LLC, PTI Group of Companies LLC (GK PTI), PTI-BEL TUE, PTI-MOL LLC, PTI-NN LLC, PTI-Ukraine LLC, Platinum Absolut LLC, Pointer Specialty Chemicals LLC, Protein Technologies Do Brasil Ltda., Protein Technologies International Asia Pacific LLC, Protein Technologies International Development LLC, Protein Technologies International Europe LLC, Proveedores de Ingenieria Alimentaria S.A. de C.V. ("PIASA") (17), Prowin International Ltd., Pucheng Yongfang Fragrance Technology Co. Ltd. , Redbrook (UK) Limited, Redbrook Blentech Limited, Redbrook Ingredient Services Limited, Rene Laurent SAS, Representaciones FYMSA S.A. de C.V (FYMSA) (18), Rohm and Haas Wood Treatment LLC, SP EMEA Holding 8 BV, SP Holding IB Inc., SP Nutrition and Health (Singapore) Inc., Sabormax Industria de Alimentos e Representacao Ltda., Savoury Flavours (Holding) Limited, Savoury Flavours Ltd., Solae (UK) Limited, Solae Argentina S.A., Solae Australia Pty Limited, Solae Belgium N.V., Solae Company India Private Limited, Solae Denmark ApS, Solae Deutschland GmbH (f/k/a CSY Agri-Processing (Deutschland) GmbH), Solae Do Brasil Industria E Comercio De Alimentos Ltda., Solae Europe S.A., Solae Holdings LLC, Solae Investimentos LTDA, Solae LLC (SMLLC of Solae Holdings), Solae Overseas B.V., Solae Trading (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Solae de Mexico S.A. de C.V. (formerly PTI Mexico), Solae do Brasil Holdings Ltda., Sonarome Private Limited (15), Southern Cross Botanicals Pty Ltd, Specialty Products Balkans d.o.o., Specialty Products FZE, Specialty Products N&H Inc, Specialty Products US LLC, Speximo AB, TNI Investments NV, Tastepoint Flavors (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Tastepoint Inc., Tastepoint OOO, Tastepoint Polska Sp.z o.o, Tastepoint SA (Pty) Ltd., Tastepoint Tovarna arom in etericnih olj d.o.o., Taura Natural Ingredients (Australia) Pty Limited, Taura Natural Ingredients (North America) Inc., Taura Natural Ingredients Holdings Pty Limited, Taura Natural Ingredients Ltd., Taura Natural Ingredients NV, Tekhnomol Soya Products LLC, The Additive Advantage LLC, The Additive Advantage LLC, The Foote & Jenks Corporation, The Mighty Company Limited (21), Thorungaverksmidjan HF (12), UFC America Inc., Unique Flavors Proprietary Limited, Unique Food Solutions Proprietary Limited, Unique Ingredients Limited, VAYA PHARMA HONKG LTD, VITIVA proizvodnja in storitve d.d., Vantodio Holdings Limited, Vaya Pharma Inc., Vaya Pharma Pte Ltd. (20), Venezuela Protein Technologies Internationla -PTI C.A., W.W. Holdings Inc., WIBERG Italia S.r.l., Wiberg Baharat San.Tic.A.S, Wiberg Canada Inc., Wiberg Corporation of California, Wiberg Corporation., Yderns 1 ApS, ZAO Danisco, extrakt chemie Dr. Bruno Stellmach GmbH, iDrug Delivery Inc.(Delaware) (22), nternational Flavors & Fragrances S.R.L., van Ameringen-Haebler Inc., and world wide WIBERG GmbH.

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Up to the task

More struggle is necessary to get Nepali women into real decision-making positions
Materials testifying to Russia's involvement in the shelling of a passenger bus near the town of Volnovakha, Donetsk region, on January 13, 2015, were sent to the International Court of Justice court in The Hague.

First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Dmytro Storozhuk said this at the briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We once again confirmed the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The investigation established a person who had directly led the DPR militants in the war against the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Storozhuk said.

According to him, the materials were given to the Ukrainian delegation to the International Court of Justice as the evidence of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

As reported, 12 people were killed and another 18 were injured in a terrorist attack near the town of Volnovakha, Donetsk region, on January 13, 2015.

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Six Ukrainian servicepersons were wounded and injured over the past day in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO issues Andriy Lysenko stated this at a press briefing on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. No Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the past day as a result of combat actions, but six were wounded and injured, Lysenko said. iy
The Government of Ukraine has revoked a number of legislative acts, which slowed down business activity in Ukraine, but there is still no proper climate for doing business.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said this at the Cabinets meeting, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"During the last week, I held a number of meetings with the business representatives, who say that poor-quality regulation hinders economic growth and slows down investment in Ukraine. This means that proper climate has not been created in various areas, although certain positive steps have been made," Groysman noted.

He recalled that the Government had adopted the decision to abolish 367 legislative acts at the end of 2016.

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Canada could become a target for Russian information attacks, and Ukraine is ready to share its experience in countering them.

This was stated by Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"It should be understood that Russia is waging the war against the entire free world, not just Ukraine. It can be called hybrid war, unusual war, or somehow elsewise, but it will still remain the war, and this is how it is treated in the Russian Federation. I am sure they will seek new targets in the free world, so I would encourage our Canadian friends to get ready for this and remain strong, and we will gladly share our own experience in countering the information warfare. We know what should be done," Shevchenko said.

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Youths demonstrate outside PMs residence, Indian Embassy to protest Kanchanpur killing [with photos]

Infuriated by the death of a Nepali man in an alleged firing by Indias Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) in Punarbas of Kanchanpur on Thursday, youths in Kathmandu gathered outside the Prime Ministers official residence in Baluwatar and the Indian Embassy in Lazimpat on Friday to protest the incident.
The judgment of the International Court of Justice in The Hague will provide not so much political as legal arguments for continuing pressure on Russia to stop aggression against Ukraine.

This was stated by Ukraines Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsyntsadze, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Indeed, there are few real instruments for compelling the Russian Federation to comply with the judgment of the International Court of Justice. In addition, this provides not purely political, not purely diplomatic but legal arguments to continue to exert pressure on the Russian Federation in order to stop its aggression against Ukraine," Klympush-Tsyntsadze said to journalists in Kyiv.

As you know, Ukraine in The Hague accuses Russia of violating two international conventions - the fight against the financing of terrorism and the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination.

As reported, March 6, the International Court of Justice in The Hague began the first hearings on Ukraine's claim against Russia regarding the violation of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

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Ukraine and the Kingdom of Belgium have become reliable partners and built a dynamic political and inter-parliamentary dialogue over 25 years of diplomatic relations, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reports.

Today we celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and the Kingdom of Belgium. Belgium had been one of the first countries that believed in the independent Ukraine.

Within these years, Ukraine and Belgium have become reliable partners and built up a dynamic political and inter-parliamentary dialogue, reads the report.

The Foreign Ministry stated that sharing common values of freedom, democracy and respect for international law, Ukraine and Belgium efficiently cooperate in various formats in order to address the common challenges, especially in ensuring human rights and the fight against terrorism.

The Foreign Ministry also emphasized that Ukraine highly appreciates the principled and unwavering position of Belgium on restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

Today Ukrainians defend their European future, working on reformation and modernization of the Ukrainian state. In our convergence with Europe, we rely on solidarity and support of our Belgian partners. Our partnership is an integral part of Ukraine's relations with the EU, the ministry stressed.

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Berlin supports everything that will contribute to a speedy resolution of the conflict in Ukraine in any format.

German Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Sebastian Fischer has stated this on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported from Germany.

"We support everything that can lead to a resolution of the conflict. It does not matter in what format the negotiations take place," Fischer said.

According to him, it seems that the new US administration, with which the issues on implementation of the Minsk agreements and work in the "Normandy format" have been always closely coordinated, will not change its position.

As for the Minsk agreements, this is the only document that was accepted by all parties, Fischer noted.

ish
1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process.

2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive.

3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents.

4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance.

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The Swedes, it seems, contribute more than their fair share of sanity to the global psyche. And Thursday nights smorgasbord of chamber music by Anders Hillborg  part of the Phillips Collections Leading International Composers series  seemed to reflect the country. That is, it was both intellectually engaging and warmly approachable, marked by a kind of playful, inclusive modernism that drew on everything from Renaissance music to the driving pulse of rock.

Less bleeding-edge individualism, in other words, than an embrace of musical community  even down to the Phillipss seating arrangement, which exchanged the usual strict rows for an intimate semicircle around the performers. And although the first work was a rather stately Opening Fanfare (written for the Swedish Parliament, hence the stately) played by the Axiom Brass ensemble, the sense of open-minded curiosity that runs through Hillborgs music quickly emerged.

His 1998 Brass Quintet, for instance, contrasted passages of lazily smeared notes with others of punchy, hard-driving power, while two fine works for string quartet drew intriguingly from composers from Stravinsky to Bach. In the Kongsgaard Variations (built around the gorgeous Arietta theme from Beethovens last piano sonata, Op. 111), Hillborg channeled Beethovens dramatic lyricism in a free-flowing meta style that slipped effortlessly from Renaissance dances to the ultramodern coda that closed the work. The Calder Quartet turned in an expressive and deeply felt performance, as they did with the seven dark, meditative movements of Hillborgs 2007 Heisenberg Miniatures.

The Kongsgaard Variations was the most revealing and impressive work of the evening. But there were other delights as well. Clarinetist Moran Katz turned in high-powered performances of several short works, from the spare staccato lines of Tampere Raw to the darting, birdlike gestures of The Peacock Moment. Her reading (with violinist Andrew Bulbrook) of Primal Blues was pure fun, as was Close Up, with taped tablas providing accompaniment.

But it may have been pianist Amy Yang who stole the show. After joining Katz in Tampere Raw, she delivered a jaw-dropping reading of Corrente della Primavera. A pianistic tour de force from 2002, the works scintillating, white-hot cascades of sound demand both power and exceptional lightness of touch, and Yang brought it off with effortless finesse; a memorable performance of a remarkable work.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of the pianist.


Rancher Dusty Crary and his son Carson Crary in the film Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman. (Discovery Channel)

Dusty Crary is everything youd expect a cowboy to be. The subject of the documentary Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman is a fourth-generation rancher, and hes a rugged dude with a big hat who trots around on a horse wearing fringed chaps and a bandanna around his neck.

Hes also a conservationist.

When you got more shingles than grass, its too late, partner, he says in the movie, just before we see him surveying the pristine Montana plains and mountains around his home. Youre not gonna get that back.

In an era when environmentalism seems exclusively the Democrats purview, its surprising to see a movie about conservation starring a tough guy from Trump country. But its also a good reminder that the issue wasnt always so politicized.

On Tuesday, the 25th Environmental Film Festival gets underway in Washington, and with movies like Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman, the fest is hoping to appeal to both sides of the aisle.

Perhaps thats why, in her welcome statement, the festivals new executive director, Maryanne Culpepper, leads with a quote from none other than Ronald Reagan: Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, its common sense.

And, lest we forget, Richard Nixon is the president who pushed plans for the Environmental Protection Agency through the House and Senate.

How we got to a place where saving the planet is viewed as a job for hippies and liberals is a long story  I mean environmentalists did not invent the word tree-hugger, Culpepper said during a recent sit-down. But in the meantime, conservationists are trying to remind everyone that taking care of the planet should be a no-brainer for people of all political affiliations.

And yet, President Trump has proposed to cut the EPA staff by one-fifth and eliminate dozens of programs dedicated to cleaning up the nations air and water. Instead, he wants to prioritize rebuilding the military and making critical investments in the nations security, according to a March 2 report in The Washington Post.

In that case, the White House may want to look into another surprising film at the festival.



A scene from the film The Age of Consequences. (Flashpoint Films)

The documentary The Age of Consequences examines how climate change influences  what do you know?  national security. Through interviews with military personnel, intelligence officials and security experts, the film unravels, for example, how historic droughts in the Middle East led to migration, which led to destabilization, which led, in part, to the Arab Spring.

The movies director, Jared P. Scott, intentionally shied away from politics. He used neither high-ranking Democrats nor Republicans as talking heads in the final cut. We even thought at one point of not including the term climate change,  he said, because of the political baggage that comes with the phrase. But it didnt make any sense; we couldnt really do it.

The Age of Consequences was practically reverse-engineered to appeal to an audience beyond progressives. We started this process by trying to figure out how we could talk to people that might not consider themselves to be in the climate choir, Scott said. That was the starting point. From there we tried to figure out, okay, whats the story?

The movie has the feel of a thriller, with suspenseful music and military characters warning of the butterfly effects of natural disasters around the world. There are no heartstring-tugging images of child refugees. Instead, the film frames the issue in a systematic way, showing how extreme weather breeds chaos, resource scarcity and political turmoil.

According to Culpepper, Consequences is part of a larger trend of documentaries embracing the characteristics of feature films, focusing on main characters with story arcs instead of broad topics. Before heading up the festival she was a filmmaker and president of National Geographic Studios. Shes also seeing an increased emphasis on accuracy and science in films that strive to be more than opinion-based polemics.



A scene from Water & Power shows green orchards and fallowed orchards along a highway in the Central Valley of California. (Fresh Water Films/Bryan Harvey/ Tim Gould)

Water & Power: A California Heist, for example, looks nothing like a typical documentary. Its aptly billed as a real-life Chinatown.

The movie was produced by documentary king Alex Gibney and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, shocking audiences with the tale of water barons who have taken advantage of privatization to hoard and reroute natural resources while entire California towns have dried up, leaving residents with no drinking water.

Director Marina Zenovich had made a lot of profile films before this project  she may be best known for Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired  so Water & Power was a departure, but a welcome one.

I think its a public-service film, she said during a recent phone conversation. Its kind of a duty to do this kind of work. . . . I think the time has come for us to pay a little more attention to it.

She doesnt see this as a political movie so much as a movie about breathtaking greed. Likewise, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman director John Hoffman  also head of documentaries for Discovery  sees his film as more than a movie about three unlikely conservationists in the heartland.



A baby panda clutches a tree in the film Born in China. (Disneynature )

Our power as a nation, and the power of any country, so much depends on sovereignty, and sovereignty depends on the ability of a country to feed itself, he said. If these landscapes are not productive, if we deplete the soil and arent able to grow the food to feed this country, if we deplete our oceans so that we cant fish them to feed the U.S. population, then we put ourselves and our sovereignty at risk.

Talk about national security.

Culpepper is quick to point out that not all of the movies at the festival are issue-driven documentaries. Theres also Born in China, a new Disney nature doc about panda bears and golden monkeys. The highly anticipated adventure film The Lost City of Z, starring Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson, also gets its local premiere at the festival.

Still, she knows there will be people with preconceived notions.

I sometimes wish we could call it the Natural World Film Festival or something else, because I think the name does ring certain bells for people, she admitted. Sometimes it sounds like were earnest do-gooders.

It doesnt sound fun, her colleague Helen Strong, the festivals public relations director, chimed in.

Its more fun than it sounds, Culpepper said with a laugh. Well use that as our tag line.
This review appeared in The Washington Posts 2017 Spring Dining Guide as No. 10 on a list of the years 10 best new restaurants.



The patio at Colada Shop, tucked just off bustling 14th Street, is made for spring. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

10. Colada Shop

Not yet rated

Coffee? Cocktails? Something fried? Colada Shop excels at all three, in a storefront awash in fruit bowl colors and on a patio brightened with tangerine chairs. The tribute to Little Havana brims with pedigree. Chef and co-owner Mario Monte was born in Miami to a Cuban dad and an Italian mom, then raised in Venezuela, while his business partner, Juan Coronado, famously tended bar at Barmini. Meanwhile, the beans for the dozen-plus brews come from the respected Compass Coffee. One ham croqueta, rich with bechamel, inevitably leads to another, and the empanada stuffed with chicken thigh and sofrito is elevated street food. Come 4 p.m., cocktails are served. Make mine a daiquiri, a true-tasting bargain at $8.

Previous: Charleston | Next: Fish by Jose Andres (Best new restaurant  No. 8)

1405 T St. NW. 202-332-8800. coladashop.com.

Open: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

Prices: Breakfast dishes $2 to $4.75, sandwiches $9.98.

Sound check: 73 decibels / Must speak with raised voice.

More of Tom Sietsemas top 10 new restaurants

10. Colada Shop

9. Kobo

8. Fish by Jose Andres

7. Bindaas

6. Tiger Fork

5. Ambar

4. Arroz

3. Himitsu

2. Sfoglina

1. Mirabelle

--

The following was originally published March 10, 2017.

Colada Shop in D.C. reviewed: Little Havana done right, and an $8 daiquiri

Heres what I think whenever I drop by the District branch for an elegant empanada stuffed with spinach and cheese, or a bracing colada (four shots of espresso with sugar): Miami feels closer than ever with this shout-out to Little Havana. A slip of a place thats open throughout the day, the storefront treats coffee like an art and benefits from the talent of, among other partners, Coronado, best known locally as the former bar wiz at Barmini.

Colada Shops chef, co-owner Mario Monte, 29, brings plenty of street cred to the notion, having been born in Miami to a Cuban father and an Italian mother, then raised in Venezuela. His Cuban sandwich layered with roast pork, Swiss cheese and pickles is pleasing. Even better is the vegetarian version: a jumble of marinated portobellos, roasted cauliflower, cilantro aioli and more between slices of bread that have been all but fused on the griddle. I enjoy a plant-based lifestyle, the chef says of the meatless bestseller. I like to give options.



Chicken croquetas. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

Where the menu also succeeds is with the fried snacks, savory pastries and sweets. One stubby golden ham croqueta, creamy with bechamel, is never enough, and the empanadas  slender and satisfying with the likes of chicken thighs flavored with sofrito  elevate street food to something finer. Dense and delicious, Montes caramel-sauced flan derives from an old family recipe. (If theres a weak link, its the breakfast sandwich filled with oddly bland pork and scrambled eggs.) Handsome packaging, inspired by the bags used by Cuban bakeries in Miami, gives the food the appearance of a gift.

Starbucks this is not. Awash in fruit-bowl colors, Colada Shop buys its beans from Compass Coffee, where one of the owners fathers is Cuban, and turns them into more than a dozen robust brews. (The hard part, says Coronado, was finding an elegant but strong blend that could stand up to condensed milk and sugar.) Beginning each day at 4 p.m., cocktails are added to the playlist. The eight selections include Hotel Nacional, the classic rum drink that Coronado tweaks with both aged and light spirits, lime and apricot puree, meaning its brighter and less sweet than the original.



Colada Shop flan with caramel sauce comes from an old family recipe. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

The Mary Pickford is one of the reasonably priced cocktails. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post)

The original Colada Shop set sail in Sterling last summer. The spinoff made its debut in February. The time between cafes gave the owners a chance to test and hone their ideas, says Coronado, who suggests there might be more Colada Shops on the horizon. (Ill drink to that.)

Ten stools and two ledges inside the District shop are too few. You may want to take your order outside, on the patio dressed with tangerine-colored tables. Or wait until the end of the month, when the cafe expands to another room with 24 seats.

Then again, why wait? A true daiquiri or floral Cuba Libre created by one of the best in the business will set you back a mere $8. You read that right. Coronado disapproves of high-priced cocktails.

At the end of the day, its super-doable to make a drink for under two digits, says a man who should know. If I can do it, anyone can do it.
Ritesh Batra isnt a household name  just yet.

The Indian-born director burst onto the scene in 2013 with his debut feature The Lunchbox, a romantic drama about a lonely, middle-aged Indian widower who develops a relationship, via letters, with the young, unhappily married woman who prepares his lunch every day, delivered through an elaborate system of couriers, called dabbawalas. The movie won Batra a prize at Cannes and went on to become an art-house hit. Offers to direct started pouring in, which led to the filmmakers latest project: a high-profile adaptation of Julian Barness Man Booker Prize-winning novel, The Sense of an Ending.

Written for the screen by playwright Nick Payne (The Art of Dying), the film centers on an English camera-shop owner named Tony (Jim Broadbent), who is jogged out of his complacent lifestyle by a letter announcing the death of an old acquaintance who has bequeathed to him a mysterious diary. This stirs up old memories of Tonys former flame, Veronica (Charlotte Rampling), and their backstory  which involves a startling secret  unspools through a combination of present-day encounters and flashbacks.



Charlotte Rampling and Jim Broadbent on the set of Thhe Sense of an Ending, a film based on the Booker Award-winning novel of the same name by Julian Barnes. (credit: Robert Viglasky/CBS Films)

The 37-year-old Batra, who is putting the finishing touches on his third feature, the forthcoming Netflix drama Our Souls at Night starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, phoned from New York to talk about beginnings and endings.

Q: The Sense of an Ending leaves an exquisite ambiguity as to the resolution of its mystery. Without revealing spoilers, can you talk about how you handled the books central enigma?

A: When I picked up the book, which I loved, one of the first things I thought, regarding its ambiguities, is how much is between the lines  and the beautiful thing is that its only the size of a novella. I was really conscious about preserving that ambiguity. From an acting standpoint, in order to ground the performances, you have to play something specific. The work of preserving ambiguity is not glossing over something. Its actually delving deeply into it.

Q: Ambiguity, then, requires more clarity, not less?

A: Thats a much better way to put it.

[Review: Is The Sense of an Ending as good as the book? No, but it is an excellent adaptation.]

Q: The Lunchbox also had something of an unresolved ending. Whats the appeal of leaving things hanging?

A: I dont know if that does appeal to me so much. When I was making Lunchbox, I wrote on the first page of the script, Less is more. I underlined it. The crew and the actors would make fun of me: Here comes less-is-more. It became a running joke. But I dont want to say that ambiguity is my forte. We live in an age when people are seeing everything. They dont want to feel things. They want to see things. When youre directing or writing something, or even editing it  editing is like rewriting  youve got to be very conscious about What do I want people to feel here? Not What do I want people to see?

Q: And what is it that you want people to feel here, with The Sense of an Ending?



Ritesh Batra attends a screening of The Sense of an Ending at the Museum of Modern Art on March 6, 2017. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

A: The feeling I got when I read the book, and when I was making the movie  I just felt that everything ends badly, invariably. Youth goes away. We love people and then they leave us. Thats the whole point. Nothing has a happy ending. But its still a gift to be here. That question  Why is it a gift to be here? Why dont more people commit suicide?  that is the conundrum of life. Nick and I were just trying to present that question, all the time.

Q: Does The Sense of an Ending share a theme of human connection  or disconnection  with The Lunchbox?

A: I don't think about the threads a lot, between those two films, or between them and this third movie. Maybe theres something there about urban loneliness. Maybe Im lonely. I wish I could give you a smart answer.

Q: Youve said that adapting the book turned out to be a bigger challenge than you expected. How so?

A: Julian was very generous. When I met him the first time, he said, Go ahead and betray me. I was thinking about what that means. It also means, Dont disappoint me. It means, Dont just take my book and make it into a movie. Do something with it. Those are great marching orders to have from a writer.

Q: Did that give you a kind of license?

A: Absolutely. The hardest thing about adapting it was that the book is basically one mans interior monologue, with an audience. We fleshed out certain relationships, with Tonys ex-wife, for instance. We created a relationship with Tonys daughter, out of air, to frame the story with. The book has a Part 1, set in the past, and a Part 2, set in the present. We subsumed Part 1 within Part 2, creating the structure of the film in the editing.

In the casting, we were looking for the best actor, not the best resemblance. The actor Billy Howle, for instance, who plays the young Tony  he looks nothing like the young Jim Broadbent. But he took upon himself some of Jims mannerisms and quirks.

Q: Charlottes performance reminds me of her Oscar-nominated role in 45 Years, another film about an old couple and the emergence of a long-buried secret. Do you see similarities?

A: I actually always wanted to see that movie, because Im good friends with the producer. But I try to avoid seeing my actors in other films when Im working. I wanted to see Charlotte as Veronica.

Q: Were you caught off guard by the success of The Lunchbox?

A: Maybe I havent experienced a whole lot of it, but I think thats the nature of success. If it doesnt catch you off guard, then theres something wrong with you. The Lunchbox was a very small movie, very difficult, sewn together with European government funds, grants from Germany and France, a little equity from India and a lot of donated time from people in America. I had spent a lot of my 20s trying to get a movie made that never got made, but I made a lot of relationships through that process. Basically, every friend I had in the world contributed something to The Lunchbox.

The movie played at Critics Week at Cannes, and it exploded from there. I remember shooting Our Souls at Night last September, in Florence, Colorado, a small town of 3,800 people with one cinema, and people there told me they had seen The Lunchbox. Thats crazy. Its a town with a supermax prison, and not much else.

Q: Youve described The Lunchbox as a very Indian story. Is there something especially English about The Sense of an Ending, perhaps in its characters British reserve  the way they leave things unsaid?

A: Yes. It took me awhile to understand British reserve. I was used to being in Bombay, or New York or Mexico City, where people talk more directly. During preproduction, I would tell the crew, I would like you to do this, and they would answer, That will be slightly difficult. If its only slightly difficult, then lets do it. I come back a week later, and its not done. Well, it turns out that slightly difficult means that its impossible. Youd hear them saying, The director is a real a------. Once you get to understand British reserve, its endearing.

Q: You were recently named one of 10 Directors to Watch by Variety, along with Barry Jenkins of Moonlight and other rising stars. Is the pressure on now?

A: I take it in stride. What else can you do? This is not an easy job, in many ways. Its a real privilege to be doing this  telling people what you want and trying to get it out of them. It doesnt get any better than that. But it also doesnt get easier because of an honor.

The Sense of an Ending (PG-13, 108 minutes). Opens March 17 at area theaters.
MARYLAND

Two men charged in fatal shooting

Two men were arrested Thursday in the February death of a 20-year-old man in Montgomery County, officials said.

Montgomery County Police said Samuel Fayomi Brown, of Hyattsville, Md., and Tierek Ty Jay Thomas, of Northwest Washington  both 20  were involved in the fatal shooting of Wassi Harron Raheem Young of Hyattsville on Feb. 10 in Montgomery Village.

Brown and Thomas face charges including first-degree murder and armed robbery.

 Dana Hedgpeth

VIRGINIA

Thief picks ex-officers home. Big mistake.

A thief definitely picked the wrong house to burglarize.

Police said the intruder was rummaging around a Reston home about 3 a.m. Wednesday when the noise woke the owner: a retired Fairfax County police detective.

Former detective Bruce Wiley grabbed a flashlight and a collapsible baton, police said. Wiley found the intruder, who was wearing a black mask, gathering up items.

Wiley pointed his flashlight at the intruder and told him to get on the floor. When the person did not comply with repeated commands, Wiley struck him once with the baton and took him to the floor, police said.

Officers took the 17-year-old suspect into custody, police said.

 Justin Jouvenal

THE REGION

Metro system gets new inspector general

Metro has named a new inspector general to lead the agencys independent office of investigations and audits: Geoffrey Cherrington, the current assistant inspector general for investigations at the State Department.

The Metro boards audits and investigations committee unanimously approved Cherringtons appointment Thursday, with the full board expected to make his hiring official at a meeting this month. He is expected to start work April 17.

Cherrington, who will be paid $235,000 per year when officially hired, has also worked in inspector general offices at the Department of Agriculture, the General Services Administration and the Department of Defense.

 Martine Powers
A House committee advanced a bill Friday to renew D.C.s federally funded vouchers program  the only one like it in the country  raising larger questions about whether the federal government should promote the use of tax dollars for private schools.

The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act, known as SOAR, gives federal dollars to low-income D.C. students who want to transfer from struggling public schools to a private school. The program, created by Congress in 2004, also provides additional federal dollars to traditional public schools and public charter schools in the District.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform debated the bill Wednesday and voted Friday to extend the program for five more years. The legislation will next go to the full House for a vote.

The bill represents the first fight over vouchers to play out on a national stage since President Trump, a proponent of education alternatives he calls school choice, won the election.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is a champion of private school vouchers, and Trump has said he wants to spend $20 billion to help states expand such programs.

The American Federation for Children, an advocacy group founded by DeVos, called the bill an educational lifeline for low-income D.C. families and said Fridays vote sends a message that lawmakers consider the program a success.

The Oversight Committee took up the bill, sponsored by Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), after debating another Chaffetz proposal that would encourage federal agencies to move out of the nations capital.

[Drain the swamp? No, just move it, Chaffetz suggests]

Chaffetz said vouchers allows low-income students to attend private schools that might otherwise be beyond their parents financial means.

The District of Columbia school system has consistently had a host of challenges and certainly rankings near the bottom in terms of its performance, he said.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the Districts nonvoting representative, argued that parents in the city already have robust choices, pointing out that half of public school students attend charter schools that are independent from D.C. Public Schools, while 75 percent of DCPS students attend schools that are outside their neighborhoods and chosen by their parents through a city lottery.

Norton said she opposes vouchers, noting there was no evidence that the program resulted in better academic outcomes for students.

The D.C. voucher program has failed its central purpose: It has not improved academic achievement, as measured by math and reading tests, and that ought to be the test. The program is therefore patently unnecessary, she said.

But she said the 1,154 students in the program should be allowed to continue until they graduate from high school.

Democrats offered amendments to require private school voucher programs to obey civil rights laws that protect LGBT students and those with disabilities. The proposed changes failed along party lines in the GOP-controlled committee.

[11 revealing answers DeVos gave to Democratic senators questions about vouchers, Common Core and more]

D.C. officials have struggled with how to respond to the bill; while they generally oppose using federal dollars for private schools, they do not want to lose the public and charter school funding tied to the voucher program.

A majority of the D.C. Council urged House Republicans to phase out the federal school voucher program, even though Mayor Muriel E. Bowser supports it.

Once the money is appropriated for this program, then well see what kind of beer muscles the City Council has because they dont have to accept the money, Chaffetz said.

Norton explained that federal dollars for the program are distributed by the U.S. Department of Education via a local nonprofit group, so the council could not reject the money.

Unions representing teachers said vouchers hurt public schools because they funnel scarce tax dollars to private institutions that are unaccountable.

They may discriminate against a student based on his or her gender, disability, religion, economic background, national origin, academic record, English language ability, or disciplinary history, Marc Egan, director of government relations at the National Education Association, said in a letter.

A Washington Post review found that most students enrolled in the voucher program attend Catholic schools but hundreds use their voucher dollars to attend schools that are in unconventional settings, such as a family-run K-12 school operating out of a storefront and a Nation of Islam school based in a converted Deanwood residence. The Nation of Islam school recently left the program, said Michael Musante, director of government relations for FOCUS, a voucher and charter school advocacy group.

[Quality is a blind spot when it comes to D.C. voucher program, manager says]

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), who represents parts of Fairfax County, and Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), a freshman from Montgomery County, defended the District. Connolly offered an amendment to impose stricter evaluation standards, which was defeated by Republicans.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said that although Democrats perceive the bills nondiscrimination clause as inadequate, students would be safeguarded by the civil rights protections granted by D.C. law.

That prompted Norton to interject: These are private schools. So the District law does not cover private schools.

The program was a priority for former House speaker John A. Boehner and continues to be important to his successor, Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). Both Boehner and Ryan are products of Catholic schools, although Ryan attended a public high school. Ryan sends his three children to Catholic school.

Emma Brown contributed to this report. This story has been updated.
On a spring day in 1977, members of a fringe Muslim group, armed with shotguns and swords, took 100 members of a Jewish organization in Washington hostage. The group then stormed a rival mosque, holding prayergoers at gunpoint. And two blocks from the White House, the militants shot their way into the Districts government building, killing a reporter and a security guard, and leaving Marion Barry, then a council member, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest.

Forty years after one of the Districts most terrifying days, survivors of the Hanafi siege gathered for the first time in decades Thursday night to recount the dramatic if largely forgotten episode in Washington history.

It was an unbelievable time, but I guess so many other things have eclipsed it, said Mark Tuohey, then an assistant U.S. attorney, who entered the District building with police during the 40-hour hostage situation that followed. We shouldnt forget, because . . . in Washington, it may just be a matter of time before a reprise.

In the national capital, where law enforcement officers often talk about the next terrorist attack as a question of when and not if, survivors Thursday searched for lessons that still apply. With hate crimes surging across the nation, they said one lesson seemed especially timely: Pay attention to those who feel marginalized.

The leader of the Hanafi siege, Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, had been a victim four years earlier of one of the Districts most horrific crimes. An Indiana native who became an admired jazz musician and converted to Islam, Khaalis in 1973 had begun publishing letters critical of a leader in the Nation of Islam. Months after doing so, he returned to his Shepherd Park home to find seven members of his family murdered, including his 9-day-old grandson, drowned in a wash basin.

From left, former D.C. police chief Maurice Cullinane, former U.S. attorney Earl Silbert and former assistant U.S. attorney Mark Tuohey discuss the 40th anniversary of the Hanafi siege on March 9, 2016, in Washington. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

[March 11, 1977: Tiny Hanafi sects followers devoted, U.S.-born]

A group of Muslims from Philadelphia later were convicted of the killings. But for the next four years, hate festered in Khaalis, prosectors would later say. He grew unstable and isolated, stockpiling weapons in his 16th Street NW home and recruiting fellow followers of the Hanafi sect of Islam to carry out his plan for revenge.

I think its symbolic of the problem we face today, said Arrington L. Dixon, a former council member who spent the siege barricaded in his office down the hall from the gunmen.

We need to have people who know how to talk to them, to understand the tensions and results, Dixon said, speaking at a panel discussion in the D.C. Council chambers. Those people needed to have some more attention after this, when they went through this and lost their family the way they did. . . . Sure its been 40 years, but theres a lot we can take from this.

But the Hanafi siege was also an event from another era, before Twitter, Facebook or 24-hour cable news.

It took place during a decade of hostage-taking, from the deadly attack on Israeli Olympians in Munich in 1972 to Americans held in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran from 1979 to 1981.

In those incidents, the terrorists used hostages as bargaining chips for some larger goal, and negotiators believed the longer a situation could be drawn out, the better the odds for minimizing casualties.

A photograph from an exhibition by the D.C. Council on the Hanafi attacks in Washington. (N/A/Courtesy of Council of the District of Columbia)

You just keep talking. You keep waiting them out, Maurice Cullinane, who was D.C. police chief at the time, said Thursday.

They said they were going to die

At about 11 a.m. on the morning of March 9, 1977, the mayhem began at the headquarters of the Jewish community service organization Bnai Brith International, near the intersection of 17th Street and Rhode Island Avenue NW.

Khaalis and other men with guns and machetes stormed the building threatening to cut peoples heads off.

[Hanafis threatened hostages with death ]

Inside, they corralled prisoners into a construction area and set up what they told hostages was an execution room.

A half-hour later, gunmen entered the Islamic Center on Embassy Row. They used string from venetian blinds and rope to tie up more than a dozen people, including visiting students.

Then, before 3 p.m., two men with shotguns exited a cab on Pennsylvania Avenue with a plan to take Mayor Walter E. Washington at gunpoint. On the fifth floor of the Districts government building, they made a wrong turn and settled for a dozen council staffers and lobbyists.

Security guard Mack Cantrell went to investigate, and as he opened a door to the council suite, he was shot in the head. Maurice Williams, a 24-year-old reporter, also was struck and killed, and a shotgun pellet ricocheted down the hall and struck Barry an inch from the heart.

[Barry a very lucky man]

Soon Khaalis was talking to police and reporters. He blamed a Jewish judge for not doing more to convict conspirators in his familys killing and demanded that the men who committed the murders be delivered to him.

Afraid of more attacks, police rushed judges out of D.C. courtrooms. Federal monuments were closed. At the White House, a planned gun salute to honor the visiting British prime minister was canceled for fear the hostage-takers would think they were under siege.

Ambassadors from Egypt and Iran, whose citizens were among the 149 hostages, became involved in negotiations. Before dawn on the third day, Khaalis accepted a deal to set everyone free. Prosecutors agreed that he, too, would be allowed to go home pending trial.

On March 12, 1977, the lead story in The Washington Post began: For once, the news from Washington was joyous: a great city, our nations capital, had hovered on the edge of a terrible bloody tragedy. Then it was spared.

Khaalis was convicted of armed kidnapping and conspiracy. He died in prison in 2003.

[Sept. 7, 1977: Hanafis given stiff sentences]

Tuohey, the assistant U.S. attorney, said it is scary to imagine how differently such an attack might end today.

The current climate doesnt really permit reasoning. Its all about blowing it up, and you go with it  its the martyrdom, he said.

Cullinane, the police chief, said he would do it all the same again. It never entered my mind to storm the hostage rooms, he said. And if it meant saving the 149 lives, I would still be talking to [Khaalis] on the phone.

[Even Hollywood would have called the Hanafi plot outlandish]
THE DISTRICT

Man pleads guilty to robbing taxi drivers at Union Station

An 18-year-old man pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbing two taxi drivers he had hailed on separate days at Union Station and asked both to drive him to the same street in Northeast Washington, according to the U.S. attorneys office.

Johnathan Waddell, who lives in Northwest, is to be sentenced May 15.

The first robbery occurred about 6 p.m. on Dec. 12, when prosecutors said Waddell got into a taxi at the station and was taken to the 300 block of Evarts Street NE. Prosecutors said Waddell threatened the driver with a handgun and took between $100 and $200.

Six days later, prosecutors said Waddell again took a taxi from Union Station to Evarts Street, and robbed the driver of $16.

 Peter Hermann

MARYLAND

More than 30 guns

stolen in Rockville

More than 30 weapons were stolen early Thursday from a gun shop in Rockville, authorities said.

Police in Montgomery County said in a statement they received an alert about an alarm going off about 3:50 a.m. Thursday at the United Gun Shop in the 5400 block of Randolph Road. When they arrived, they found the front door pried open and glass display cases smashed after two suspects caught on video used crowbars to open the stores front door, the statement said.

About 24 handguns and seven long guns were taken from the store. Police asked anyone with information about the incident to contact the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) at 888-ATF-TIPS (888-283-8477) or send an email to ATFTips@atf.gov.

 Justin Wm. Moyer

Swastikas found on

two desks at school

School officials are investigating swastikas discovered on two student desks at a Rockville, Md., middle school, according to a letter sent home to parents Wednesday.

The incident March 3 at Julius West Middle followed another involving anti-Semitic text messages a day earlier at Winston Churchill High School, among the most recent in a string of hate-based acts in suburban Montgomery County in recent months.

The swastikas were found on classroom desks shortly after a lesson on diversity in the world that included examples of hate speech, said the letter to parents, written by principal Craig W. Staton.

Statons letter came during the same week that school officials reported a student at Churchill High School in Potomac received anti-Semitic text messages.

Police: District man

killed in Pr. Georges

A D.C. man was killed late Wednesday in Prince Georges County, police said Thursday.

Timothy Wimbush, 31, of Southeast was found about 11:25 p.m. in the 5200 block of Marlboro Pike in Capitol Heights by a police officer who was patrolling the area, police said.

Wimbush was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Prince Georges police. They are investigating Wimbushs death as a homicide.

 Dana Hedgpeth

VIRGINIA

Rabies test comes

back positive

A fox that bit a woman and attacked a cat in Fairfax County on Tuesday has tested positive for rabies, police said.

The fox was euthanized after a rabies test, according to Officer Tawny Wright, a Fairfax County police spokeswoman. She said the local health department is trying to make sure the woman receives proper care and that the cat is under quarantine for at least 45 days.

The attacks began about 3 p.m. as the woman was walking in the 600 block of Ad Hoc Road in Great Falls. The fox came from behind and bit her at least twice in the lower body, officials said. She turned to try to get the animal off, according to police, and was then bitten a few more times.

She was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, police said.

About an hour later, police said, a cat was attacked about three miles away in the 400 block of Chesapeake Drive.
Marylands House of Delegates on Friday passed legislation to ban hydraulic fracturing in the state, but a major hurdle remains in the Senate, where a key lawmaker has resisted efforts to permanently prohibit the controversial gas-extraction method.

The bill passed the Democratic-majority House 97 to 40, with eight Republicans supporting it.

Sen. Joan Carter Conway (D-Baltimore), who chairs the Senate committee in charge of reviewing the proposal, has said she sees little sense in trying to move the measure to Republican Gov. Larry Hogans desk unless both legislative chambers can approve it with veto-proof majorities, the Baltimore Sun reported Friday.

Hogan has said he supports hydraulic fracturing as long as the state implements strict safeguards for the practice, commonly known as fracking.

The 141-member House needs 85 votes to override a veto from the governor, while the 47-member Senate needs 29 votes for such action. Anti-fracking advocates say they are a few votes short of that number in the Senate.

If Joan Carter Conway declared today that she too supports a ban, then its going to go to Hogans desk, because not only will we have her vote, but several people have said theyll support it if she does, said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Fracking involves injecting water, sand and chemicals deep underground to break up rock and release oil or natural gas.

A two-year moratorium on the practice is in effect until October. Conway has proposed a bill to extend the hold another two years and require counties to hold referendums in 2018 on whether to allow the extraction method.

Environmentalists want a permanent ban, saying no regulations can eliminate frackings potential to cause water contamination, air pollution and earthquakes, all of which have occurred to varying degrees in states where fracking has become common in recent years.

Science has spoken, and we should terminate this practice here in Maryland, said Del. Kumar P. Barve (D-Montgomery), who heads the House environmental committee.

Proponents of hydraulic fracturing say it can be done safely and that the practice would bring jobs, economic benefits and new tax revenue to Garrett and Allegany counties, where the activity is most likely to occur.

Del. Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany) said his county needs the fracking industry. Were poor  were very, very poor, he said. A chance for someone to get a thirty- or forty- or fifty- or sixty-thousand-dollar-a-year job driving a truck might make a little bit of difference in that.

Marylands Department of the Environment proposed hydraulic fracturing regulations last year that would bar drilling in four Maryland watersheds and require four layers of steel casing and cement around fracking wells to prevent water, gas and other fluids from migrating to other areas. Ben H. Grumbles, the states environmental secretary, said the rules would be among the most stringent in the nation.

Del. Wendell R. Beitzel (R-Garrett), a fracking supporter, said the states draft guidelines are so strict they would essentially have the same effect as prohibiting fracking in Maryland. Theres not a gas or oil company in the world that would want to come in there and drill, he said.
Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) said Friday that Maryland plans to join Washington in its lawsuit against President Trumps travel ban, the first legal action by Frosh since the General Assembly gave him authority to sue the federal government.

Frosh called the ban unwise, illegal and un-American and said it makes the country less safe, not more safe.

President Trumps second executive order is still a Muslim ban, Frosh said in a statement. It makes us less competitive and sends a message to the most talented academics, scientists and engineers around the world that they are not welcome. It will harm Marylands universities and our economy.

The decision by Frosh comes less than a month after the Maryland General Assembly empowered him to sue the federal government without first having to get permission from the governor.

The General Assembly approved the resolution after the attorney general sent a Feb. 1 letter to Gov. Larry Hogan (R) asking for permission to take legal action against Trumps controversial entry ban but never received an answer.

Raquel M. Coombs, a spokeswoman for Frosh, said Maryland is one of at least five states that will formally join Washington in the lawsuit. The lawsuit is expected to be amended on Monday.
Maryland employees of companies that have 15 or more workers would be able to earn up to five days of paid sick leave under a bill that received preliminary approval from the Maryland Senate on Friday.

The full Senate reduced the number of paid leave days approved by the Senate Finance Committee last week. Under the original Senate version of the bill, employers would have been required to provide six days, or 48 hours, of sick leave each year.

The House version of the bill requires seven days.

Advocates said that despite the reduction in hours, they are thrilled that after years of proposing legislation, Maryland appears poised to become the eighth state in the country, in addition to the District, to require employers to provide the benefit.

We are now closer than ever to making earned paid sick days a reality for hundreds of thousands of Maryland families, said Liz Richards, director of the Working Matters coalition.

Maryland Sen. Thomas M. Middleton (D-Charles), left, at a recent session. (James A. Parcell/For The Washington Post)

The legislation still has hurdles to clear. If it receives final Senate approval, the House and Senate will still have to reconcile differences in their bills.

And the outcome of those negotiations will affect whether Gov. Larry Hogan (R)  who has proposed his own sick-leave bill  would sign a different version if it advances in both chambers.

As was clearly evidenced by the debate in the legislature today, this bill still has a long way to go, Hogan spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said. We strongly encourage the Senate to adopt something much closer to the governors common sense proposal.

Hogans bill has the same number of sick-leave days as the Senate version, but the governors bill applies the mandate only to companies with 50 or more employees. If the governor vetoes the measure, the Senate probably would not have enough votes to overturn it.

During a nearly three-hour debate on the Senate floor, close to 20 amendments were offered, mostly by Republicans, to lessen the impact of the bill on business owners. They included exempting businesses with 50 or fewer employees from the requirement but offering them tax credits to entice them to offer paid sick leave; and exempting seasonal workers from receiving sick days.

The tax credit idea is part of Hogans paid sick-leave legislation, which has not moved out of committee. It was rejected, along with all the other amendments, except for the reduction in the number of sick-leave days.

The Senate plans to consider another amendment, introduced by Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County), when the bill is considered for final approval Monday.

The amendment would provide a significant hardship exemption for small businesses that employers could seek. Under the proposal, the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation would create rules to define a significant hardship and determine whether a business should be granted a waiver from the sick-leave requirement.

A couple of Democratic senators, mainly from Republican-leaning Baltimore County, offered support for the amendment.

Sen. Delores G. Kelley (D-Baltimore County) said she was not against sick leave for workers but was concerned about the impact on mom-and-pop businesses and putting into place a structure that is so legalistic.

Sen. Thomas M. Middleton (D-Charles County), the lead sponsor of the sick-leave bill, said he would be willing to consider Brochins amendment but it must be tightly worded.

This weeks debate in the Senate was the first time, after five years of advocates pushing for paid sick leave, that a bill requiring the benefit has made it to the Senate floor.

The House passed a measure last year, but the bill died in a Senate committee.

This year, the issue became even more personal for Del. Luke H. Clippinger (D-Baltimore), the House sponsor, after he was diagnosed with cancer.

During recent debate in the House, Clippinger, who is now in remission, expressed his desire that people have the same advantage he has to take days off from work when they are sick.
A burglar definitely picked the wrong house to break into.

The would-be thief was rummaging around a Reston home around 3 a.m. Wednesday, when police said the noise awoke the owner: a retired 28-year veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department.

Former detective Bruce Wiley grabbed a flashlight and a collapsible baton and went to investigate, police said. Wiley found the intruder, who was wearing a black mask, in the process of stealing items from the home.

Wiley pointed his flashlight at the intruder and told him to get on the ground. When the person did not comply with repeated commands, Wiley struck him once with the baton and took him to the ground, police said.

Wileys wife called police.

Officers took the 17-year-old suspect from Reston into custody, police said. The teen will be charged with burglary.
In February 2015, Sheriff Dana Lawhorne (right) congratulated Charles Romain (second from left) and other inmates for passing their GED examinations. Lawhorne joined a police chase this week that ended with Romain arrested on charges of first- and second-degree murder in a fatal shooting in Prince Georges County, Md. (Alexandria Sheriffs Office)

When a slaying suspect, wanted by Prince Georges County and described as armed and dangerous, abandoned his vehicle Wednesday night in Old Town Alexandria and took off running, Sheriff Dana Lawhorne had one reaction  chase him.

No matter that its been at least 12 years since Lawhorne (D) got into a footrace with a suspected criminal, or that the 59-year-old sheriff is more than twice as old as the suspect.

I was like Seabiscuit with a broken leg, Lawhorne said, adding that his chief deputy, Tim Gleeson, who also joined the pursuit, took off like a bolt of lightning and actually helped Alexandria police corner the suspect.

It was canine officer Carlos Rolon who arrested Charles Romain in an alley near the King Street Metro station. Romain faces first- and second-degree murder charges in connection with the shooting death of Lafeal Sinclair, 29, on Tuesday in Suitland.

Lawhorne was a city police officer for 27 years before being elected sheriff in 2005. Since then, as best he can recall, he has not run after a suspect.

Charles Romain (Prince George's County Police)

I live in the city. Im always here, Lawhorne said, adding that he listens to the police radio when hes in his car. If Im in the area, Ill stop and back them up.

About 9 p.m. Wednesday, Lawhorne and Gleeson were leaving a ceremony honoring a deputy at the American Legion near City Hall. In their cars, they heard an undercover officer report that hed spotted Romain driving near police headquarters, in the 3100 block of Duke Street, a little less than 2 miles from their location.

Lawhorne figured that Romain would head to the freeway or into town. Lawhorne drove west until he spotted Romains car, trailed by the undercover officers vehicle, coming east on King Street near the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.

The sheriff followed and joined in the police effort to block Romains vehicle.

Soon, Romain jumped out and ran, pitching his gun en route, Lawhorne said. The sheriff chased him, as did his deputy and the city police, but lost him.

I let the younger officers finish the job, Lawhorne said. But there was a day . . .

On Thursday, Lawhorne found out that he had come in contact with Romain before. Two years ago, the sheriff honored him along with several other inmates at the Alexandria detention center for earning their general equivalency diplomas while incarcerated.

But Lawhorne said he didnt recognize Romain when he saw him bailing out of the car Wednesday night. He was just responding to a police call to be on the lookout for a suspect.
Four Maryland police officers who fatally shot an armed carjacking suspect in 2015 in the District will not face criminal charges, prosecutors said Friday.

[Carjacking suspect shot by police had been out of prison for 2 months]

On Nov. 2, 2015, 62-year-old James W. Covington Jr. was shot in Southeast Washington by officers from Prince Georges County and Forest Heights, Md., after he was pursued into the District following a carjacking and assault in Fort Washington, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement.

Covington failed to stop after an officer activated his lights and siren, and led police vehicles and a helicopter on a 10-mile chase at speeds up to 95 mph, the statement said. The chase continued after Covington, who allegedly carjacked a 2011 Toyota Camry, hit a curb and got a flat tire, and ended when he bailed out of the vehicle and fled in the area of the 2800 block of Gainesville Street SE, according to the statement.

Prosecutors said Covington did not respond to orders to stop and was armed with a gun that he pointed at police. Four officers opened fire, and two later said Covington fired as well, though prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to determine whether that was correct.

Covington had a long criminal history and had been out of prison just two months before he was shot.
People caught for the first time with a small amount of marijuana in Arlington County, Va., no longer must fear the possibility of jail time. But whats billed as common-sense reform could have dire consequences for immigrants, both legal and undocumented.

The Arlington General District Court this month imposed the new policy for handling many misdemeanor marijuana possession cases, a change the top prosecutor said would make the court process quicker and less stressful for first-time offenders. But the countys public defender and immigration advocates are objecting because the shift also means that poor defendants in those cases will no longer get a free lawyer to help them understand  and perhaps fight  the charge.

At issue is the growing divide between the way the criminal justice system and the immigration system treat drug possession. Although many jurisdictions have eased restrictions for carrying small amounts of marijuana and have even legalized possession, immigration laws written at the height of the drug war have not changed.

Because marijuana is still classified federally as one of the most dangerous drugs, illegal immigrants risk being deported if theyre convicted of possessing marijuana  even if its their first offense and the amount is small. Legal immigrants who leave the country could be blocked from returning.

With a White House that has pledged more deportations and taken a harsher line on marijuana use, advocates fear that a move toward leniency by the local court paradoxically will lead to more deportations.

Theres lots of good reasons for this kind of program, said Rachel Jordan of the Capital Area Immigration Rights Coalition. The problem is the unintended consequences for noncitizen residents of Virginia are so harsh that it really needs to be looked at again.

Across the nation, many prosecutors have announced that they will not seek jail time for marijuana possession, although experts know of no other place where the policy has been codified the same way as in Arlington. Only people facing jail time are entitled to a free lawyer, and advocates say waiving incarceration can actually hurt indigent defendants who opt to plead guilty but may have won at trial.

Its a problem creeping up around the country as jurisdictions are strapped for assets, said Barry Pollack, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Particularly in an administration that has promised extremely aggressive enforcement of the immigration laws and an emphasis on deporting individuals who have criminal convictions, the consequences of a conviction can be far greater than a couple days in jail would be.

Arlington Public Defender Matthew J. Foley said the problems extend beyond immigrants. A criminal conviction can endanger a persons student loans and drivers license. It can also lead to harsher sentences after any subsequent conviction.

It makes it easier to grind people through the system, and theres no reason for it, he said.

He is pushing for an agreement that public defenders will be appointed for indigent defendants regardless of whether they face jail time.

Arlington Commonwealths Attorney Theo Stamos pushed back against the criticism, saying the new policy is a step forward, not back. Just over the border in the District and Maryland, she noted, it is not a crime to have small amounts of marijuana. Although most people accused of carrying pot will plead guilty, in her view its helpful to take away the threat of jail time and get them through the system quickly.

This is a sensible criminal justice reform effort, and Im really astounded and confused that the public defenders office is asking us to impose jail time on their clients, she said. The suggestion that somehow these individuals are being railroaded is quite offensive.

It makes no sense, she said, for prosecutors to pretend they will seek jail time when they have no intention of doing so. She said the change was made by the court, which has the power to decide on appointing counsel. Chief District Court Judge R. Frances OBrien did not respond to a request for comment.

Under the policy, all first-time offenders charged with possession of a half-ounce or less of marijuana will be dealt with separately from other defendants.

Some will be eligible for deferred disposition, which means that if the person complies with certain rules, their charges will eventually be dismissed. But in Virginia, those records cannot be expunged; they will remain public. Those who do not qualify for deferred disposition will be told that they are not facing jail time and thus are not entitled to a lawyer.

Both sets of defendants will be told to come back in two weeks and that, for immigration consequences or otherwise, they might want to consult an attorney. After a years-long battle waged by civil rights lawyer Victor M. Glasberg, all judges in Virginia tell defendants without a lawyer about the potential immigration fallout of a guilty plea.

But few, Jordan argued, will understand that a conviction dismissed in criminal court will still affect immigration status. An illegal immigrant will be glad to avoid going to jail, where in Virginia a sheriff would notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement of their status. But if he or she is arrested later and taken into deportation pleadings, a guilty or no-contest plea will close off opportunities to stay in the country.

Legal permanent residents would not face mandatory deportation, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, but Jordan said that if they leave the country they will not be able to get back in.

Its going to hit every type of immigrant, in lawful status or unlawful undocumented status, Jordan said.

J.D. King, a professor at Washington& Lee School of Law who studies the right to counsel, said nonimmigrants likewiseare usually ignorant of the ramifications of a plea.

Very few criminal defendants are going to say, Well, wait a second, this is terrible news, Id rather face the jail time but have a lawyer next to me,  King said. It solves the short-term problem, but theres all these other long-term consequences that nobody is advising the client about.

Foley said the warnings are hardly the same as providing a lawyer, because poor defendants still wont have the means to hire one.

It will help no more than a doctor advising an uninsured, cash-strapped patient how to remove his tonsils, set a broken leg or cure his cancer, he wrote in a letter to Arlington community leaders.

He argues that prosecutors are doing defendants no favors by promising to waive jail time, because, in his opinion, no jury in Arlington would impose a jail sentence for marijuana possession in the first place. And he says his office often successfully contests these cases, such as when marijuana is found in a search of a car that has multiple passengers.

If prosecutors dont think that marijuana possession cases merit a trial, advocates for legalization say, then they should stop charging them altogether.

We need to move forward with real decriminalization and not court-sentencing decisions, because you run into these issues, said Kaitlyn Boecker of the pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance. Were extremely excited that theyve decided to eliminate jail time . . . but we believe that people should still have access to attorneys, especially because folks arrested on marijuana charges tend to be from marginalized communities.

From 2003 to 2013, her organization found, marijuana arrests in Virginia increased 76 percent; in Arlington they went up 81 percent.

Several localities across the country have decriminalized marijuana. But Virginia state law blocks local officials from doing so.

Some state leaders, however, appear to be warming to the idea. Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City), a longtime foe of legalization, said last fall that its absolutely crazy that we continue to lock people up for possession of a modest amount of marijuana. The state crime commission, he said, could study the idea.

But his spokesman soon dampened any hopes of immediate change. Virginia is a loooong way from changing its drug laws, he said.
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and acting police chief Peter Newsham address the rise in hate crimes in the District during a news conference March 10, 2017, at the Sixth and I synagogue. (Peter Hermann/The Washington Post)

The number of hate-related crimes reported in the District rose last year from 2015, with an increase in incidents targeting religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, D.C. police and the mayors office said Friday.

Authorities noted in particular that crimes motivated by religious bias, such as threats and assaults, jumped from five in 2015 to 18 last year. Acting police chief Peter Newsham, who is awaiting confirmation by the D.C. Council, said 12 of the 18 incidents targeted people of the Jewish faith.

There were 107 hate crimes reported in the District in 2016, up from 66 the previous year, which was the lowest number in five years. Certainly, the level of anxiety among Washingtonians has increased, said Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D).

The numbers were made public at a news conference at the Sixth and I synagogue, attended by Bowser and Newsham, who were flanked by members of the Districts diverse faith community.

[Man charged with anti-Semitic writings near Gallery Place]

Although D.C. leaders attributed the increase in part to residents feeling more comfortable and confident in reporting crime to police  I believe we have a city that is less tolerant of this type of behavior, the mayor said  they also noted the contentious presidential election and divisive rhetoric embedded in the nations discourse.

Telephone threats to Jewish community centers and other institutions have increased across the country this year, with several occurring in suburban Washington. The FBI reported a 6 percent rise in hate crimes across the nation in 2015, the latest available statistics.

In the District in August, anti-Semitic graffiti was found near Gallery Place  the word Jew written in a drawing of a Chinese zodiac rat decorating a sidewalk, and swastikas drawn on windows and tables of a Starbucks. A 60-year-old man was arrested.

Rabbi Batya Steinlauf, director of communal affairs for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said she is not surprised by the increase in hate crimes in general and those directed at Jews.

[D.C.police 2016 report on hate crime]

The Jewish community has been well aware of the undercurrent of anti-Semitism, Steinlauf said. She added, Any attack on any faith community, any ethnic community, any vulnerable group, effects the entire culture, and how everyone feels in society. . . . I feel grateful that we in D.C. have relationships so that we can stand together to make it clear that this is not what our society is about.

Other increases in hate crimes in 2016 included those targeting people based on ethnicity and national origin, up from three to 12; sexual orientation, up from 27 to 40; and gender identity, up from 10 to 19. Hate crimes based on race went down from 19 in 2015 to 14 reported last year.

Bowser said she is redoubling efforts to reach out to the Districts transgender community. This week, prosecutors secured hate-crime indictments against three men charged with killing a 22-year-old transgender woman and for targeting two other transgender women in robberies. Authorities said the crimes were motivated by prejudice because of the gender identity of the victims.

[Newsham takes over liaison office for transgender, gay residents]

And earlier this year, Newsham took direct oversight of a police office that helps transgender, gay and lesbian and other residents in groups that often experience discrimination, signaling those efforts are being given top-level priority.

Bowser said she wants to send a message that everyone feels welcome and is welcome in our city. She added, We are a place of tolerance and respect, a place where every resident has a pathway to opportunity. We are a Washington that values respect, inclusivity and diversity.

Newsham noted that 107 crimes is a small fraction of the more than 35,000 crimes reported in the District in 2016. But he said it is important that everybody knows about the increase in hate crimes. We will not accept this as the new norm.
A federal judge in Maryland will hear arguments on President Trumps new travel ban the day before the measure is set to take effect. (Shawn Thew/EPA)

A federal judge in Maryland will hear arguments on President Trumps new travel ban the day before the measure is slated to take effect  offering the bans opponents one of their last opportunities to block it.

Judge Theodore D. Chuang scheduled a hearing on the new ban for March 15 at 9:30 a.m., less than 24 hours before administration officials say they will begin enforcing it.

Unless another court takes action before that, the date could be a significant one. A federal judge in Hawaii also is slated to hear arguments at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday on whether he should immediately block Trumps order, which suspends the U.S. refugee program and temporarily bars the issuance of new visas to citizens of six Muslim-majority countries.

The state of Washington, supported by several other states, separately has asked a federal judge in Seattle to declare that his freeze on Trumps original ban applies to the new one. If the judge does so, that could obviate the need for more hearings, said Lee Gelernt, the deputy director of the ACLUs national Immigrants Rights Project and a lawyer in the Maryland case. Another group in Washington also has sued to immediately block the new ban, and a judge ordered the parties to participate in a telephone hearing Monday to lay out a schedule.

At this point, we are seeking an injunction because we have no idea whether the Seattle injunction will remain in place, Gelernt said. What we are hoping is that the Seattle judge will continue the injunction nationwide. If he does that before the 15th, then there may not be a need for urgent action on our part.

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) said Friday that his state would join Washington states lawsuit.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.

The hearing scheduled for Wednesday in Greenbelt stems from a lawsuit brought by the International Refugee Assistance Project and HIAS Inc., a refugee resettlement group. Both sued over the presidents first travel ban, which temporarily barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States and suspended the refugee program.

The new ban is different from the old in significant ways. It reduces the number of affected countries from seven to six  removing Iraq, while keeping Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Syria. It also applies only to the issuance of new visas, instead of revoking visas from those who already have them.

Several states and civil liberties groups, though, have said the new order suffers from the same legal problems as the first one because it discriminates against Muslims under the guise of being a national security measure. In deciding whether to suspend the new ban, federal judges will have to weigh the extent to which it differs from the first and whether it imposes immediate harms.

More than 130 former U.S. officials, including former Secretary of State John F. Kerry, sent an open letter to the Trump administration Friday saying the revised executive order has the same defects as the previous version, and will weaken national security and undermine U.S. leadership.

The letter was signed by officials who worked in Democratic and Republican administrations going back to President Reagan, and included many of the same well-known names who signed a Jan. 30 letter objecting to the original ban on refugees and travelers from several Muslim-majority nations. But the latest letter was signed by even more people, many of whom served under President Obama and President George W. Bush. They included cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, members of Congress and generals.

Bans like those included in this order are harmful to U.S. national security and beneath the dignity of our great nation, said the letter, addressed to five senior Trump administration officials.

We must remain vigilant to keep our nation safe from terrorists, whether foreign or homegrown, the letter states at another point. At the same time, we must remain true to our ideals.
A 23-year-old man has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman he met over the Internet by pretending to be a customer interested in buying a cellphone she was selling, according to D.C. police.

Andre Lucas, of Hyattsville, in Prince Georges County, Md., was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree sexual abuse, burglary and robbery.

[Police establish safe zones for sales made over Internet]

Police said the incident occurred Monday after the suspect answered an ad posted by the victim on the Offer Up application. Police said the man came to the womans house in the 300 block of W Street NE about 4 a.m.

Once inside, the suspect sexually assaulted the victim, police said in a statement. The suspect stole electronic items from the victim before fleeing the scene.

Police have long warned about the dangers of people meeting strangers after arranging sales over the Internet. Police in the District have set up safe exchange zones at three police stations: the Special Operations Division Harbor Patrol at 550 Water Street SW; the Third District station at 1620 V Street NW and the Sixth District station at 5002 Hayes Street NE.

More than 50 robberies from mid-2015 to mid-2016 were linked to prearranged sales over the Internet and subsequent meetings to complete the transactions, most often involving cash.
More than four decades ago, comedian George Carlin famously  and profanely  riffed on the seven dirty words you can never say on television.

The Districts email system, it turns out, has a lot more verboten words than that: 42.

The words include familiar profanities, such as the f-word and its variations, the n-word and other racial slurs, and a few that can be heard on network television, according to a list provided to The Washington Post.

This is not prudishness, political correctness or an attempt to raise the level of civil discourse, officials said. Its cybersecurity.

A test email from The Post with one of the offending terms to a dc.gov email address brought a bounceback notice: Your recent message  contains unacceptable words or phrases. Please contact OCTO Citywide Messaging for assistance or reword your message.

OCTO is the citys Office of the Chief Technology Officer. Mike Rupert, a spokesman for the agency, said the list of dirty words is part of a spam filter the city instituted about eight years ago.

The filter blocked more than 276,000 pieces of spam last year, Rupert said, and must be robust because D.C. agencies are often confused with federal ones, making them bigger targets. He added that 95 percent of successful phishing attempts stem from human error.

D.C. is especially unique because people think were federal government, so spammers really turn it up for us, Rupert wrote in an email. He was unaware of any significant complaint about the filter.

The filter has changed over time, he said. A previous list of forbidden words topped 100 terms, including some that are less-commonly considered profane, such as bimbos and trailer trash.

Most of the time, an OCTO bounceback message is a quirk of communicating with the District. However, some social workers expressed annoyance with a system that can block descriptions of sexual assault.

Safe Shores is a nonprofit organization that works with the District to identify victims of sexual assault. One version of the agencys forensic interview request form, which is used to schedule interviews with possible victims, contains a warning about the citys spam filter.

Be aware the city email filters can block emails containing inappropriate language (words we often use in working sexual abuse cases), the form reads. The form suggests using email-friendly, professional words and phrases when describing sexual assault allegations, including genitals (not penis or vagina). Safe Shores declined to comment for this article.

Gwendolyn Harter, a clinical supervisor at a nonprofit that works with the city on foster care and adoptions, said she receives bounceback messages a couple of times a month from dc.gov addresses. Using clinical language to describe threats and physical or sexual abuse, she said, can lead to unnecessary ambiguity.

It creates a problem when we just cant report the facts, she said. And the words we can use kind of soften it a little bit.

A spokeswoman with the Districts Child and Family Services Agency, which handles foster care and adoption, said sexual assault is reported to the agency on forms attached to emails, which arent blocked by the filter. The filter also doesnt prevent those with dc.gov addresses from sending emails containing dirty words to each other.

Rupert said agencies that deal with public health or public safety can have the filter turned off.

We have turned off the filter for agencies who have requested due to the nature of their business and need to be easily accessible by certain customers, he said.

In the world of spam, it turns out, each municipality is its own master. A spokesman for Montgomery Countys Department of Technology Services said it uses the spam filter that is part of Microsoft Office 365, the countys email platform, but doesnt block outside emails containing specific words.

Michael Dent, the chief information security officer for Fairfax County, said the county doesnt use a filter that results in bounceback messages  but that doesnt mean D.C. shouldnt.

The neat thing about locals is that we all have our own sovereign governments and govern our own way, he said. D.C. is a different monster entirely.

Justin Cappos, an assistant professor of systems and security at New York University, said the Districts approach to spam isnt surprising. The only problem: Bounceback messages might help spammers.

Indeed, propriety and the public interest demand that the full list of 42 words remain a mystery. Most cannot be printed in a family newspaper  and even if they could, printing them might compromise D.C. cybersecurity.

Its often the case that you wont do bounceback messages  because you dont want to tip them off on how they can bypass your spam filter, Cappos said.
Metro passengers make their way to train connections alongside an escalator undergoing maintenance at the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station in 2016. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

The Metro board finance committee voted Thursday to raise fares for bus and rail riders, reduce train frequencies and slash some bus routes, advancing the agencys austerity budget to a final vote  but not before slipping in three last-minute amendments to preserve a slew of bus lines that were slated for cancellation or reduction.

Board members approved the $1.8 billion operating budget in the face of numerous concerns, chiefly: whether fare hikes and fewer trains would accelerate a ridership decline that has driven the nations second-busiest subway into financial distress.

Metro is facing a $290 million budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year, and ridership and parking revenue losses  exacerbated by the year-long SafeTrack maintenance program  make up about a third of the shortfall. As board members cautiously advanced the spending plan, Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld defended the cuts, which have drawn the ire of riders and transit advocates.

The way that we bring back ridership is through basically more reliable service, Wiedefeld said at a news conference after the board meeting. We have not been able to deliver what we said we were going to deliver. So I think its more important to the customer [to] just tell me what Ive got and then deliver it. 

[Metro moving forward with fare increases for coming year]

Rail ridership was down 12 percent compared with a year earlier, the latest figures showed, and has fallen by about 100,000 trips from its 2009 peaks. Metro estimates that the fare increases will result in a total loss of 10 million trips during the 2018 fiscal year. But even with the ridership loss, Metro estimates the fare increase will boost revenue by $21 million.

Rush-hour rail fares would increase by a dime, with $2.25 as the new minimum and $6 as the maximum one-way fare. The plan increases off-peak rail and bus fares 25 cents. The frequency of trains, most of which are scheduled to arrive at least every six minutes, would be reduced to every eight minutes, with more service in the systems core.

The full board is expected to approve the budget March 23, and the fare increases and service changes would go into effect July 1.

There was little debate over the need for drastic cuts. Wiedefeld, who has eliminated 500 jobs and is in the process of cutting 500 more, has said there are few other sources of savings left for the beleaguered transit agency.

But board member Malcolm Augustine said the fare increases and service cuts are the wrong approach. The lone dissenting vote, he worried the changes would only hasten the ridership decline.

This is basic economics. Youre raising the price. Youll lose riders, he said. That is a bad business move.

Wiedefeld, however, called the changes a strategy to improve performance.

If we provide consistent reliable service then that market will come back, he said.

[Metro riders, officials fear communities of color may be targeted in service cuts]

Aimee Custis, deputy director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, an advocacy group that promotes pro-transit policy, said its illogical to think riders will return with Metro offering less service.

The thing that will eventually bring people back is frequent, reliable service, and we are headed away from that, Custis said.

But other board members agreed with Wiedefeld, saying the measures are necessary to balance the agencys budget.

Board member Jim Corcoran said the fare hikes will help stabilize ridership because a stable budget helps pay for safety and reliability improvements that will win back riders in the long run.

I think this is a very good business decision to improve the product because an improved product will bring back riders, he said.

Echoing Wiedefeld, board member Christian Dorsey said Metro could stem the ridership losses by adhering to its promised wait times.

If we can deliver on what we say were putting out there, that would be an improvement, he said.

Meanwhile, board members from the District, Maryland and Virginia scrambled to insert last-minute changes into the budget to help their constituents. The 11th-hour effort to save bus routes around the region was an about-face for the members, who arrived at the meeting with printed amendments detailing the list of bus routes that they planned to rescue from the chopping block  causing some to question whether the move was an act of long-planned political showmanship.

[Where is the light? frustrated Metro board member asks of systems grim outlook]

The District rallied to save routes B8 and B9  the Fort Lincoln Shuttle Line  and to modify the H6, which runs between Brookland and Fort Lincoln.

Virginia board members offered several changes that they estimated would cost about $500,000 in subsidies for the year. Their list included the full restoration of the 3T in Pimmit Hills, the 1C in Fair Oaks, and the 16G/H/K/X routes that run along Columbia Pike, from Columbia Heights West to Pentagon City.

They also approved some changes to local routes meant to help serve riders affected by the cancellation of the 28X, 7X, 17A and 17F lines.

Members representing Maryland pushed an amendment restoring the following routes: T14 (between Rhode Island Avenue and New Carrollton stations), F1 and F2 (running along Chillum Road), C8 (between College Park and White Flint stations), and the J1, J2 and J3 routes (operating between Bethesda and Silver Spring stations).

Maryland representatives also persuaded the board to allow Metro to continue to operate the J7 and J9 buses through at least October. Those are express buses that run along Interstate 270.

After the meeting, finance committee chairman Michael Goldman said he believes Maryland will be able to pay the approximately $2 million necessary to retain some of those local routes, because there appears to be extra money in the subsidy appropriated by the state legislature to Metro for next years bus budget.

Goldman said Metro staff has been asked to come up how much it will cost to save those routes, and the state will pay for them if the cost falls within what it can afford.

[Proposed bus cuts might actually harm Metro in the long-term]

If it fits within the wiggle room, all those services could be restored, Goldman said.

Dorsey praised the amendments for ensuring the cuts dont adversely impact riders of Metrobus, relatively the shining star of Metro at this point, he said.

But concerns lingered.

Augustine was afraid increasing the bus fare a quarter, to $2, would have a dramatic impact on Metrobus ridership and target low-income and minority riders.

In the original version of the fare increases proposed by Wiedefeld last fall, Metro came close to failing a Title VI analysis  a federally mandated statistical test to ensure that low-income and minority riders are not disproportionately harmed by changes to transit fares or service. Metro said Thursday that the agencys decision to preserve the $17.50 price of a weekly bus pass was aimed at helping it steer clear of civil rights violations.

Augustine, however, pointed out that only a small percentage of Metrobus riders use the weekly bus-only pass. Following his lone no vote, it was announced that the budget had been approved.

But a brief moment of confusion ensued when board members realized they hadnt heard from member Corbett A. Price, who was looped in via conference call. Perhaps a sign of the general discontent with the situation, Price chimed in: You may record my vote in favor of it, reluctantly.


The diary and 1918 scrapbook of Gen. George S. Patton are part of an exhibit at the Library of Congress to mark the centennial of the U.S. entry into World War I on April 6, 1917. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

Army officer George S. Patton Jr. was pinned down by German machine gun fire. His tanks were scattered, and many of his men had been hit. Armed only with his revolver, he was afraid to go forward but knew he couldnt go back.

Trembling, and fighting the urge to run, he looked up and seemed to see his warrior ancestors watching from the clouds. Suddenly calm, he realized he was about to give his life, like his Patton kin in the Civil War.

He rose, made for the enemy lines and was felled by a machine gun bullet.

It was Sept. 26, 1918. And the future World War II hero was then a 32-year-old lieutenant colonel, his fame and notoriety years ahead. Yet it was in that fall, near the end of World War I, in northeastern France, that scholars say the combat legend of George Patton was born.

Next month, the Library of Congress will open a major exhibit on World War I that touches on the role the war played in the life of Patton, who is best known as a brilliant but controversial general in the Second World War.

[In the cold and rain, his soldiers bid farewell to Gen. Patton]

It is surprising, said Sahr Conway-Lanz, a manuscript historian at the library. Most people think of George Patton as a figure of World War II and dont remember that Patton also fought in World War I.

This is where he gets his first experience . . . commanding tanks, which is what hes known for in World War II, he said.

It was during World War I that Patton became the first U.S. soldier assigned to the new tank corps, which he helped create. He built the Armys first tank school from scratch. He helped come up with the tank corps original triangular, tricolor shoulder patch.

One of many photos of tanks in the 1918 scrapbook of Gen. George S. Patton. (Library of Congress)

And it was during World War I that he was wounded in what remains the biggest battle in U.S. military history  the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which claimed the lives of 26,000 U.S. soldiers.

It may have been the only time that Old Blood and Guts, as he came to be known, shed blood on a battlefield. The bullet struck him in the upper left thigh and came out through his buttocks, just missing a crucial nerve and artery.

What was he trying to accomplish by charging the machine guns, biographer Martin Blumenson wondered. Was he inviting the glory of death . . . on the field of battle? Was he fulfilling his destiny?

Fellow biographer Carlo DEste said Patton was defining himself in the Great War.

I think it was the basis for what he did later, DEste said in a telephone interview. Ive always thought, personally, that his accomplishments in World War I were more significant than almost what he did in World War II.

The legend of . . . Patton the warrior was born in 1918, DEste wrote.

The First World War was also where Patton showed some of the grim tendencies that would stain his image in World War II. During the latter war, he was condemned for striking and cursing soldiers suffering from battle fatigue.

[A rousing march for the general]

Twenty-five years earlier, Patton bragged that he had struck a soldier over the head with a shovel because the man would not work during a trench-digging operation under fire.

He told his wife that he thought the blow might have killed the man.

A few days earlier, he wrote his father, he had spotted a soldier malingering in a shell hole and went to cuss him out, according to DEstes biography. When he reached the man, he discovered that the soldier had a bullet wound in his head and was dead.

The librarys exhibit, titled Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I, opens April 4, two days before the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into the war.

Planned for a gallery in the librarys Thomas Jefferson Building, across the street from the U.S. Capitol, it will feature hundreds of rotating items  letters, music, film, posters, photographs and scrapbooks.

Artifacts related to, among others, Army Gen. John J. Pershing, African American soldier and future civil rights lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston and Red Cross volunteer Dorothy Kitchen ONeill, who survived the influenza pandemic, will be included.

Two Patton items, from 100 boxes of his papers at the library, will be on exhibit: his pocket diary and a bleak poem called Peace  November 11, 1918, which he wrote lamenting the end of the war that day.

We can but hope that ere we drown

Neath treacle floods of grace

The tuneless horns of mighty Mars

Once more shall rouse the Race

When such times come, Oh! God of War

Grant that we pass midst strife

Knowing once more the whitehot joy

Of taking human life.

A passage from Pattons World War I poem called Peace  November 11, 1918. (Library of Congress)

A few decades later he would get his wish.

Patton is perhaps best known for his World War II feat of speeding his Third Army to relieve besieged Americans around the town of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge.

DEste called it his finest hour. Blumenson called it the sublime moment of his career.

Patton wrote that the German attack that produced the bulge in the Allied lines in 1944 reminds me very much of . . . [a German offensive in 1918] and I think will have the same results. He was correct. The enemy was defeated.

Patton was profane, courageous, narcissistic and anti-Semitic, according to historians. He was disciplined, driven and thoughtful, and wrote voluminously.

But his achievements were marred, and his career ended, by lapses away from the battlefield, such as the slapping incidents, his rash public statements and his contempt for the wars displaced Jews, whom he called sub human and lower than animals.

He believed in destiny, primarily his own, and reincarnation  claiming that, in past lives, he had been a warrior with the Romans, the Vikings and Napoleon, among others.

He believed he was watched over by his paternal grandfather and a great-uncle who were killed fighting for the Confederacy, according to DEstes biography. Although he was born in California, he had deep family roots in Virginia.

Patton also played polo, fenced and wrote a book of poetry, much of it about war.

The more one sees of war, the better it is, he wrote to a family friend after he arrived in Europe in 1917. Of course there are a few deaths but . . . the party is worth the price of admission.

On Dec. 9, 1945, seven months after World War II ended in Europe, Patton suffered a broken neck in a car accident in Germany while headed out pheasant hunting.

He was paralyzed from the neck down and succumbed 12 days later, at the age of 60. After a lifetime of study and glorification of war, and numerous close calls in combat, he remarked of his fatal injury: This is a hell of a way to die.
Workers excavate coffins from a construction site on Thursday in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia. Crews working on an apartment building got a shock last month when their backhoes started hitting coffins and unearthing fully intact human remains. (Matt Slocum/AP)

COLORADO

State Senate approves marijuana clubs

The Colorado Senate on Thursday passed a first-in-the-nation bill expressly permitting marijuana clubs. But Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) is hinting that he will veto the measure unless it bans indoor smoking.

The bill allows local jurisdictions to permit bring-your-own pot clubs, as long as those establishments do not serve alcohol or any food beyond light snacks.

The bill does not say whether those clubs could allow people to smoke pot indoors. That means it would be possible for a membership club that is closed to the public and has no more than three employees to permit indoor pot smoking.

Sponsors say the bill is necessary because Colorado already has a network of underground, unregulated pot clubs, and towns are not sure how to treat them.

Pot clubs could help alleviate complaints that Colorados sidewalks and public parks have been inundated with pot smokers since the state legalized recreational weed in 2012.

The measure sets up a showdown with the governor, who has told reporters that clubs could invite federal intervention in Colorados pot market.

Ten Republicans voted against the pot club bill. Some of them said they fear it will be impossible to stop people from sharing or selling weed inside the clubs, even though marijuana sales in clubs are banned under the bill.

The bill passed on a 25-to-10 vote and heads to the House, where its prospects are strong. One possible sticking point is that the bill bars food service in the clubs but allows them to sell light snacks that are not defined.

State liquor regulations already bar the sale of alcohol and marijuana at the same place, so the clubs would look more like Amsterdam coffee shops than pot bars.

 Associated Press

PENNSYLVANIA

Jury selection begins in barracks ambush

Lawyers began the process of picking a jury Thursday in the capital murder trial of an antigovernment sharpshooter charged with killing a Pennsylvania State Police trooper and critically wounding another in a 2014 ambush at their barracks.

Eric Frein, 33, could face a death sentence if he is convicted in the attack in northeastern Pennsylvania that killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and injured Trooper Alex Douglass. He led police on a 48-day manhunt in the Pocono Mountains before his capture by U.S. marshals.

Frein, wearing a dark suit and tie, chatted quietly with his lawyers and occasionally glanced at his parents, Michael and Deborah Frein, who sat in the gallery.

The first round of more than 100 potential jurors arrived for jury selection at the courthouse in Chester County, outside Philadelphia, and answered questions from the judge about their knowledge of the case and their views on the death penalty.

The prosecution and defense agreed to pick an outside jury because of blanket news coverage of the Sept. 12, 2014, sniper attack in Pike County and its prolonged aftermath. The courthouse where the jury is being picked is about 150 miles away from the shooting scene at the Blooming Grove barracks.

Prosecutors say Frein spoke of wanting to start a revolution in a letter to his parents and describe Dicksons slaying as an assassination. Frein allegedly told authorities he wanted to wake people up and make a change [in government].

Frein, who has pleaded not guilty, will be held in Chester County for the duration of jury selection. Opening statements are scheduled for early April. The trial is expected to last four or five weeks.

 Associated Press

Construction unearths centuries-old coffins

Construction crews working on an apartment building in Philadelphias historic district got a shock last month when their backhoes started hitting coffins and unearthing fully intact human remains.

Now, forensic scientists and students at Rutgers University-Camden are working to recover as many of the 18th-century remains as they can, to analyze them and find out who these people were, said Kimberlee Moran, an associate professor and director of forensics at the university.

The site near the Betsy Ross House was supposedly a decommissioned burial ground for the First Baptist Church, established in 1707. When the church moved to a larger location around 1860, all remains were to have been exhumed and reinterred at Mount Moriah Cemetery north of the city, according to historical documents.

But as PMC Properties, the general contractor and owner of the site, started work on the 10-story, 116-unit apartment building, it became apparent not all of the remains were moved.

In the fall, workers found a smattering of bones at the site. When they hit coffins, the company contacted archaeologists.

As many as 60 individuals have been found since February. On Thursday, workers uncovered about two dozen intact coffins and were to continue working through the weekend, she said.

After they are studied by researchers, officials hope to reinter the bodies at Mount Moriah Cemetery.

 Associated Press
For months, Teresa Christensens 87-year-old mother, Genevieve, complained of pain from a nasty sore on her right foot. She stopped going to church. She couldnt sleep at night. Eventually, she stopped walking except when absolutely necessary.

Her primary-care doctor prescribed three antibiotics, one after another. None worked.

Doctor, cant we do some further tests? Christensen remembered asking. I felt that he was looking through my mother instead of looking at her.

Referred to a wound clinic, Genevieve Christensen was diagnosed with a venous ulcer resulting from poor circulation in her legs. A few weeks earlier, she had had a procedure to correct the problem and returned to her home in Cottage Grove, Minn., a suburb of St. Paul.

Teresa Christenson wondered: Would her mother benefit from seeing a geriatrician? And, if so, she added in an email to me, how would she go about finding one?

I reached out to several medical experts, and they agreed that a specialist in geriatrics might help a patient like this, someone with a history of breast cancer and heart failure, someone who had had open heart surgery at age 84 and whose mobility was now compromised.

Geriatricians are experts in complexity, said Eric Widera, director of the geriatrics medicine fellowship at the University of California at San Francisco.

No one better understands how multiple medical problems interact in older people and affect their quality of life than these specialists on aging. But their role in the health-care system remains poorly understood and their expertise underused.

Interviews with geriatricians offer insights useful to older adults and their families:

Basic knowledge. Geriatricians are typically internists or family physicians who have spent an extra year becoming trained in the unique needs of older adults.

They can serve as primary-care doctors, mostly to people in their 70s, 80s and older who have multiple medical conditions. They also provide consultations and work in interdisciplinary medical teams caring for older patients.

Recognizing that training programs cant meet expected demand as the population ages, the specialty has launched programs to educate other physicians in the principles of geriatric medicine.

Weve been trying to get all clinicians trained in what we call the 101 level of geriatrics, said Rosanne Leipzig, a professor of geriatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

Essential competences. Researchers have spent considerable time in recent years examining what, exactly, geriatricians do.

A 2014 article by Leipzig and others defined 12 essential competences, including optimizing older adults functioning and well-being; helping seniors and their families clarify their goals for care and shaping care plans accordingly; comprehensive medication management; extensive care coordination; and providing palliative and end-of-life care.

Underlying these skills is an expert understanding how older adults bodies, minds and lives differ from middle-aged adults.

We take a much broader history that looks at what our patients can and cant do, how theyre getting along in their environment, how they see their future, their support systems and their integration in the community, said Kathryn Eubank, medical director of the Acute Care for Elders unit at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. And when a problem arises with a patient, we tend to ask, How do we put this in the context of other concerns that might be contributing? 

Geriatric syndromes. Another essential competence is a focus on issues that other primary-care doctors often neglect  notably falls, incontinence, muscle weakness, frailty, fatigue, cognitive impairment and delirium. In medicine, these are known as geriatric syndromes.

If youre losing weight, youre falling, you cant climb a flight of stairs, youre tired all the time, youre unhappy and youre on 10 or more medications, go see a geriatrician, saidJohn Morley, a professor of geriatrics at Saint Louis University. Much of what we do is get rid of treatments prescribed by other physicians that arent working.

Recently, Morley wrote of an 88-year-old patient with metastasized prostate cancer who was on 26 medications. The man was troubled by profound fatigue, which dissipated after Morley took him off all but one medication. (Most of the drugs had minimal expected benefit for someone at the end of life.) The patient died peacefully eight months later.

Eubank tells of an 80-year-old combative and confused patient whom her team saw in the hospital after one of his legs had been amputated. Although physicians recognized the patient was delirious, they had prescribed medications that worsened that condition, given him insufficient pain relief and overlooked his constipation.

Medications contributing to the patients delirium were stopped. We made his room quieter so he was disturbed less and stopped staff from interrupting his sleep between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., Eubank said. We worked to get him up out of bed, normalized his life as much as possible and made sure he got a [hearing device] so he could hear what was going on.

Over the next four days, the patient improved every day and was discharged to rehabilitation.

Finding help. A geriatric consultation typically involves two appointments: one to conduct a comprehensive assessment of physical, psychological, cognitive and social functioning, and another to go over a proposed plan of care.

For help in finding a geriatrician, you can consult the American Geriatrics Societys website. Also, you can check whether a nearby medical school or academic medical center has a department of geriatrics.

Many doctors claim competence in caring for older adults. Be concerned if they fail to go over your medications carefully, if they dont ask about geriatric syndromes or if they dont inquire about the goals you have for your care, advised Mindy Fain, chief of geriatrics and co-director of the Arizona Center on Aging at the University of Arizona.

Also, dont hesitate to ask pointed questions: Has this doctor had any additional training in geriatric care? Does she approach the care of older adults differently? If so, how? Are there certain medications she doesnt use?

Youll be able to see in the physicians mannerisms and response if she takes you seriously, Leipzig said.

If not, keep looking for one who does.

This column is produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service that is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. To submit a question, go to kaiserhealthnews.org/contact-insuring-your-health.


Abdelillah Dribigi, chief of security at the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., outside the mosque after Friday prayers on March 3. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)

The FBI was back for the third time in two weeks, but agents didnt have much news to offer.

They were still looking into the threats that had arrived in the mosques voice mail two weeks earlier. And they were still looking into the newer drawing of a pig and a mosque that had come in the mail, a rendering so childish and crude that despite the accompanying message  KILL ALL MUSLIMS  one of the mosques security guards said he couldnt help but laugh when he saw it.

But you cant take chances with these things, the mosques leaders said. Not in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and certainly not now, when many Muslims feel that suspicion  or even harassment  of those who practice their religion is officially condoned in the United States.

Theres a climate that says, Thats okay, thats acceptable now,  said Johari Abdul-Malik, an imam at the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Fairfax County, Va., and the mosques outreach director. And although most callers will never act on their words, one must always consider the possibility that someone will.

[A group that thinks Islam threatens America says it now has a direct line to the White House ]

It was a Friday, the sixth since President Trump took office, when the FBI paid its most recent visit, and before the day was over, there was another strange incident at Dar al-Hijrah that left mosque leaders feeling deeply unsettled: a homeless man caught taking pictures of the premises with an expensive camera as hundreds of people streamed into the building to pray. Security escorted the man off the grounds, but they were never able to ascertain why he was taking pictures.



Security staff review incident details after removing a man from the premises for suspiciously taking photographs of the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center property. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)

Hate crimes against Muslims shot up 67 percent in 2015, according to FBI statistics released at the end of last year, and hate crimes overall since then appear on track to outpace that year, according to new statistics compiled by Brian Levin, a criminologist at California State University at San Bernardino who tracks hate crimes.

Preliminary hate crimes statistics for half a dozen state and local jurisdictions across the country show a precipitous rise in 2016, a trend that appears to be continuing into 2017, Levin said Wednesday. Hate crimes in New York City are up 113 percent from the same period last year, he said. In Chicago, there was a 24 percent increase in 2016; in Seattle, 6 percent.

[Hate crimes against Muslims hit highest mark since 2001]

Hate crimes in Montgomery County, Md.  a 30-minute drive from Dar al-Hijrah  were up more than 42 percent in 2016, Levin said, and more than 40 percent of them were religiously motivated.

What I think is happening is weve seen a normalization of faith-based bigotry and its translating in a variety of different ways, one of which, unfortunately, is hate-crime spikes, he said.

Scores of Jewish institutions across the country, including schools and synagogues, have been the targets of bomb threats during the past two months. In separate incidents, vandals defaced headstones at three Jewish cemeteries.

[As more Jewish facilities get threats, all 100 senators ask Trump administration for swift action]

Law enforcement officials in Texas and Florida are investigating fires at three mosques, at least two of which have been ruled arson. Last month in Kansas, a white man shouting Get out of my country shot dead an Indian engineer, who he apparently believed to be from the Middle East. Near Seattle this month, a masked assailant wounded a Sikh man  a member of an Indian religious minority who are sometimes confused for Muslims because the men wear turbans  after shouting at him to go back to your country, and authorities are investigating it as a hate crime. Police in South Carolina are investigating the shooting death of an Indian man there the day before.

Under pressure amid mounting threats against American Jews, Trump late last month publicly condemned the threatening calls to Jewish institutions and the attacks on cemeteries.

He has said no such thing about attacks on Muslims, some of whom he has barred from entering the United States via an executive order that blocks immigration from several Muslim-

majority countries.

Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman, said in an email that President Trump condemns hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms.

To Shaker Elsayed, Dar al-

Hijrahs lead imam, the harassment of American Jews is a bellwether of how bad things have gotten.

The Jewish community has been here for centuries, and if theyre being attacked, we shouldnt feel safe at all, he said. Elsayed immigrated from Egypt decades ago.



A young boy plays as men pray at the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)

Get . . . out of here

At Dar al-Hijrah, the man with what sounded like a Tennessee accent and a man with an apparent Boston accent called on a Friday, but no one noticed their messages until the following Monday evening.

The first message, left at 7:47 a.m. on Feb. 17, contained a quick slew of expletives and instructions to get the f--- out of here.

The second caller, who left his message at 4:10 p.m., said, You motherf---ers better leave the country because if you come to the U.S., and start training f---ing Muslim terrorists, were going to f---ing bomb you, you f---ing piece of s---.

The first voice mail came from a phone number that, in public records, links to a man living in the small, predominantly white town of Dayton in rural east Tennessee. The other matches a man living in the working-class town of Taunton, Mass., about 20 miles east of Providence, R.I.

No one at the mosque called them back, and the FBI didnt offer any insights. The FBI said it is aware of the threats reported by Dar al-Hijrah, and it confirmed that it responded.

On March 3, agents sat down with mosque leaders in the quiet back room where they usually meet and told them what they already knew, Abdul-Malik said: The threats werent specific enough; they werent actionable; they didnt name a time or place. So there would not be any charges filed.

The leaders of Dar al-Hijrah have prepared for this moment. They have sought over the years to maintain an active relationship with the men and women charged with protecting them, even as many suspect that the FBI also spies on them. And a week before Trump assumed office Jan. 20, they invited the FBI to speak to their community. They hoped that it might provide mutual reassurance that everything would be okay under a new administration.

Abdul-Malik brought Paul Abbate, then the head of the FBIs Washington Field Office, up to the podium after a Friday sermon and clapped him on the back.

You see all these people in suits? he said, smiling at the rows of silent congregants on the carpet. Theyre not here to arrest you. Theyre my friends.

The essence of our mission is to keep people safe, Abbate said. And we do that fairly and equally for everyone under the Constitution of the United States.

It was a nice gesture, some congregants said afterward, but it would have helped more if the message had come directly from the president.

Dar al-Hijrahs 3,000 regular congregants hail from more than two dozen countries, including Libya, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Iran  the countries targeted under Trumps new travel ban.

The order is being interpreted at this mosque the same way it has been by civil rights organizations and in other Muslim communities across the country: as a ban on Muslims and, more broadly, as a statement that Muslims are not welcome in the United States.

Nobody has the feeling that because my country is not on the list that Im safe, Abdul-Malik said. The feeling that they have is that because Im Muslim, the ban is going to affect me. 

To Abdul-Malik, that means the threats carry extra weight; an added likelihood that someone might act.

[This is how the Trump administration could freeze out Muslims in America]

Few mosques are as vigilant as Dar al-Hijrah, where guards and security cameras keep watch 24 hours a day. A perimeter fence has provided an extra barrier since 2015, when people with bullhorns showed up and began to shout slurs at families as they entered the center in the wake of a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., that killed 22 people and was carried out by a Muslim couple. The San Bernardino couple had no connection to the mosque.



A man removes his shoes for Friday prayers at Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)

Dar al-Hijrah is one of the largest and most politically active mosques in the country, and its address and phone number are easy to find in a Google search. So, too, is the conspiracy website that describes the mosque as a front for terrorists, and the blog post by a man who claims to have conducted researches at the mosque and uncovered violent materials.

Dar al-Hijrah has fought for 15 years to scrub its legacy, after FBI agents found that two of the 9/11 hijackers, as well as Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, had worshiped there. The imam at the time, Anwar al-Awlaki, left the mosque and went on to become a proponent of extremist ideology from a hideout in Yemen; he was later killed in a U.S. drone strike.

None of the callers to the mosque ever seem to mention these things. Often it feels more as if they are reacting to a terrorist attack that has just occurred 3,000 miles away, or to something they saw on the news the night before, said Colin Christopher, the mosques director of government affairs.

Often, it seems as if people just want to call a mosque, and Dar al-Hijrah is the first thing that comes up.

Several days after the deadly 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris  and after a man, reacting to those attacks, had burst into Dar al-

Hijrahs lobby and told people to leave the country and to accept Jesus  the mosque suffered hundreds of dollars in damage when someone tried to break through the gate in the middle of the night and tossed two smoke bombs and a molotov cocktail over the fence.

None of the threats during the past year have materialized into violence, but those at the mosque fear someone one day might again take it a step further.

Its awful to know that youre hated by some people, Elsayed said. But he has come to expect such things. Thats a sad statement, but its true.
Mother Divine standing next to a portrait of herself and her late husband at her home in Gladwyne, Pa., in 2003. (Jacqueline Larma/AP)

Sweet Angel Divine, who was the Spotless Virgin Bride and for five decades the widow of Father Divine, a self-styled religious figure who proclaimed himself God in the 1930s and led one of the most unusual cults of personality in the countrys history, died March 4 at her estate in Gladwyne, Pa., outside Philadelphia. She was about 91. (One of the tenets of her religious movement was a disregard for chronological age.)

The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported her death. The cause was not disclosed.

Mother Divine, as she was generally known, was a tall, blond 21-year-old Canadian when she married Father Divine, the aging, rotund 5-foot-2 African American founder of a religious movement called the International Peace Mission.

A charismatic preacher since the early 1900s, Father Divine  or the Rev. Major Jealous Divine, to give him his full title  declared in 1932 that he was God and attracted legions of devotees drawn by his message of racial equality, clean living, communal living and cash-only financial transactions.

Among other strictures, his supporters could not drink, smoke or curse and were required to be celibate. Married couples who joined the flock were separated and given new names  including Edna Rose Ritchings, who legally changed her name to Sweet Angel Divine after she and her husband were married in Washington in 1946.

Mother Divine in the dining room of her Pennsylvania estate in 1988. (Michael Mercanti/AP)

Historian Jill Watts, who wrote a biography of Father Divine, believes he was born in Rockville, Md., in 1879 and was named George Baker Jr. at birth. Other accounts suggest that he was born in Georgia, anytime from the 1860s to the 1880s.

He was living in Baltimore in about 1900 when he began to preach. He borrowed from several Christian denominations and other popular philosophies of the time to develop his set of beliefs, which included the idea that a divine spirit resided within each person.

Spreading the word from coast to coast, he was often accused of blasphemy and was jailed on occasion, but at the height of his glory in the 1930s he claimed to have millions of followers of all races.

At a time when Jim Crow practices were widespread, Father Divine rejected the concept of racial identity, and his message of self-empowerment had wide appeal.

His supporters, many of whom were women, were expected to turn most of their earnings over to him. He opened a network of religious centers and cafeterias around the country, offering free meals to anyone who wanted them.

Through hard-to-trace cash arrangements, Father Divine controlled dozens of businesses, including hotels, barbershops, dry-cleaning establishments, apartment buildings and restaurants. He was surrounded by an adoring entourage and was driven around in a Rolls-Royce.

How big a figure was he in the 1930s? Huge, Robert Weisbrot, a history professor at Colby College in Maine, told Newsday in 2005. He was one of very few African American leaders who were frequently in the news in mainstream papers, not simply African American journals.

Father Divines organization was based at a mansion in Sayville, N.Y., in the early 1930s when he was convicted of maintaining a public nuisance. The judge who sentenced him to a year in jail died within days.

I hated to do it, Father Divine reportedly said, although historians have cast doubt on the statements veracity.

After losing a court case filed by a onetime disciple who grew disillusioned and wanted her money back, Father Divine moved his headquarters to Philadelphia in the early 1940s, while continuing to preach all over the world.

His future wife first heard him speak in her native Vancouver when she was 15.

When I heard about Father Divine and what he was doing, intuitively, I felt like he had the answers, she told Newsday. Father was for peace, and people of all nations and of all races coming together.

She was 20 when she and a friend took a bus to Philadelphia. She and Father Divine were married on April 29, 1946, which became a sacred day in the movements history. (The first Mother Divine had died in 1943.)

At the time of the marriage, her father, a florist in Vancouver, said, Everyone liked her. She was a fine, healthy girl . . . perfectly normal.

She eventually lost touch with her Canadian family.

In 1950, Mother Divine wrote about her marriage in Ebony magazine, answering the question about whether she and her husband led lives of purity and chastity.

I am as virtuous today as the day Father took me unto himself as his spotless bride, she wrote. I am a sample and example for all to copy if they desire to be supernaturally and eternally blessed.

Edna Rose Ritchings was born in Vancouver in April 1925, according to public records. She may have worked in Montreal before moving to the United States.

Father Divine died in 1965, although his adherents disavow the concept of earthly death.

He has just gone away for a spell and he will come back to earth in bodily form, Mother Divine said soon afterward.

She became the leader of her husbands organization and the heir to his estate, worth an estimated $10 million. She lived with her aging staff in the lavishly appointed Pennsylvania mansion, called Woodmont. To maintain solvency, she sold off properties from Father Divines vast holdings.

In 1971, cult leader Jim Jones tried to take control of the dwindling movement, claiming he was the reincarnation of Father Divine. His efforts were rebuffed by Mother Divine. Jones moved on to California and later to Guyana, where he and about 900 followers died in a mass suicide in 1978.

At home in Pennsylvania, Mother Divine continued to address her husband in the present tense, and a place was set for him at every meal. His bedroom was left unchanged after his death, and during interviews, Mother Divine sat next to his chair, occasionally seeking his guidance.

I represent the angelic race. Were married to God. We dont procreate, she said in 2005.

It was just my calling, she added. I think Im a pretty balanced person. I dont go off the deep end one way or another.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Sweet Angel Divine and Father Divine were married in Washington in 1946 because because Pennsylvania did not allow interracial marriage at the time. That information was based on numerous articles written about the couple. Interracial marriage has been legal in Pennsylvania since 1780.
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Areas of patchy fog early. Rain showers in the morning with scattered thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon. High near 80F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 64F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
RUSSIA

Help curb Irans rising influence, Israel urges

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought reassurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that his countrys presence in Syria would help Israel block arch-foe Iran from exploiting the chaos to position itself permanently on Israels northern border.

Until now, Israel has stayed relatively quiet about the conflict in next-door Syria. But as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad receives a boost from the strategic alliance between Russia and Iran, Tehrans growing influence in the region is causing alarm in Israel.

At his meeting with Putin in Moscow, Netanyahu noted the progress made by Russia and other players in the region in fighting Islamist militant groups. He added, however, that this cannot lead to an upsurge in terrorism by Iran and its proxies.

Iran has provided billions of dollars to shore up Assads regime and contributed much of the manpower that has sustained his depleted armys capabilities.

Although Russia is unhappy with some of Irans strategic objectives in a postwar Syria, it is unclear how far Putin would go in supporting Israeli action to prevent Iran from building a sphere of influence from Tehran to Lebanon, via Syria and Iraq.

Moscow has been unwilling to make predictions about what would happen with Irans military buildup after the end of hostilities in Syria.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, in an interview with the newspaper al-Hayat on Sunday that was quoted by the Interfax news agency, said any decision on the withdrawal of Iranian forces would rest with Syrias leaders.

 David Filipov and Ruth Eglash

SCOTLAND

Sturgeon: 2018 vote on independence possible

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland could make a second bid for independence within 18 months to avoid being dragged out of the European Union with the rest of the United Kingdom.

Sturgeon said in comments broadcast Thursday that fall 2018 is the common-sense time to hold a referendum, if that is the road we choose to go down.

She insisted that no decision has been made about whether to ask Scottish voters for a mandate for independence.

Sturgeon, who leads the pro-independence Scottish National Party, has complained about Britains decision to withdraw from the E.U. Overall, the U.K. voted 52 percent to 48 percent last year to quit the bloc  but Scotland voted 62 percent to 38 percent to stay in.

Sturgeon has warned repeatedly that she will not allow Scotland to be taken out of the E.U. against its will.

British Prime Minister Theresa May plans to invoke Article 50 of the E.U.s key treaty  the trigger for two years of exit negotiations  by March 31, putting the U.K. on course to leave the E.U. by early 2019.

Scottish voters had rejected independence in a 2014 referendum. Sturgeon said the Brexit vote has changed the situation dramatically.

 Associated Press

Iran reportedly tests ballistic missile: Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps has successfully tested a ballistic missile, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported. The report quotes the chief of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division as saying that the missile destroyed a target from a distance of 155 miles. It said the sea-launched ballistic missile, Hormuz 2, was tested last week. The Hormuz 2 is capable of hitting floating targets with high accuracy within a range of 186 miles, Fars said. It provided no details.

Death toll in Guatemala fire rises to 31: The death toll in a fire at a shelter for troubled youths in Guatemala rose to 31 as a dozen more girls died overnight. Nineteen girls were found burned to death or dead of smoke inhalation in the rubble of their dormitory. The inferno grew out of a mass escape attempt. Dozens of teens held in the overcrowded shelter flooded through the gates, most only to be caught and locked in their dorms. Later, someone set fire to mattresses in their section of the campus, authorities said. The blaze quickly spread. It was unclear who set the fire or why.

20,000 refugees have crossed from Burma, China says: More than 20,000 people from Burma have fled across the border into China, the Chinese government said, after months of violence between ethnic rebel groups and government forces, including fighting this week that killed at least 30 people. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that China is calling for an immediate cease-fire and that authorities in the border area have offered shelter and assistance to the refugees.

 From news services
Alexandrias public schools closed Wednesday after about 300 staff requested the day off [Alexandria schools set to close on Wednesday, Metro, March 7]. According to Alexandria City Public Schools, 58 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. It is likely these working-class families can least afford child care when schools are closed yet workplaces remain open. Will school staff who didnt ask for leave be forced to take an unpaid day off? Infringing on their right to earn a living and smothering their right to work are concerning. As a volunteer in the school system for several years, I know many of these hard-working professionals.

The state reports that the citys high school, a middle school and two elementary schools are only partially accredited, and Jefferson-Houston School is accreditation denied. With only 16 schools, Alexandria having five schools on these lists is a concern. All 32 Arlington County schools, all four of Falls Churchs rated schools and 93 percent of Fairfax Countys nearly 200 schools are fully accredited. Alexandria? Sixty-nine percent. In January 2015, The Post reported that Alexandria spent $17,041 per student while Fairfax County spent $13,519 per student. Just a few weeks ago, the school board approved a budget of $280 million. City officials recently announced possible property tax increases. They compare our tax rates with those of neighboring jurisdictions. I wish they would compare our school systems as well. Other schools were open Wednesday, while the struggling, high-spending Alexandria schools made a political statement.

Sean Lenehan, Alexandria
Marc Ambinder, a fellow at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, is a co-author of  Deep State.

President Trump and his administration, according to reports, are worried that government employees are allied against him. Between his accusations of wiretapping and leaking, adviser Stephen Bannons campaign to dismantle the administrative state and the hunch (not without evidence) that government employees lean left, the White House seems to buy the deep state theory of governance  the notion that the will of a duly elected president can be thwarted by bureaucrats, especially in the national security realm. While civil servants and the 5.1 million people with security clearances do sometimes act in concert (when fighting a war, for instance), many misconceptions persist about them, their ties to previous administrations and their degree of independence.

Myth No. 1

Its the hidden source of national security policy.

According to some on the right, there exists a group of unaccountable men and women who have collectively decided to go rogue. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was ousted by former Obama officials to protect [the] Iran Deal, reported the Blaze, a conservative site. And according to some on the left, including civil libertarian Glenn Greenwald, deep-state officials want to make sure Russia remains an enemy of the United States.

The reality is that the deep state is a major, hidden amplifier of national security policy that is set by elected officials and carried out primarily through public communication, concentrated diplomacy and overt military action. After 9/11, for instance, the George W. Bush administration decided that preemptively killing terrorists before they could strike the homeland was a top priority. The military carried out that policy by war, as did the CIAs drone fleet. Similarly, the CIAs enhanced interrogation program morphed quickly into a state-sanctioned torture regime, because the Bush administration wanted it to work and assumed it was working. The policy was approved at the highest levels of our government by citizens we elected to serve us. Congressional leaders knew the gist of what was happening, even if they didnt get all the details.

If President Trump decides to reach out to Vladimir Putin, the deep state will help him, even if the product of its intelligence-gathering suggests wariness and caution. These operations are merely meant to assist difficult political choices made by the executive branch.

Myth No. 2

The deep state evades oversight.

As former congressman Alan Grayson put it, oversight is a joke. Congress has neither the staff nor the remit to direct or micromanage the execution of national security policy. And administrations withhold details from Congress, often by omission and because policies really are confusing, but occasionally on purpose. For a long time, the FBI routinely harassed American political dissidents; the National Security Agency opened telegrams sent to (and from) U.S. citizens abroad; and the CIA ran an entire secret war in Southeast Asia.

But in the 1970s, the Vietnam War and Watergate emboldened Congress. After a series of investigations, known to history by the last names of the senators who chaired them  Pike and Church  a more modern oversight system was born for the intelligence and defense worlds. Military policy, defense spending, intelligence agencies and homeland security all have separate committees before which officials must regularly testify under oath and justify their actions. At least some members of Congress must be notified before the start of any CIA covert operation, and the most highly classified of all defense activities, known as waived Special Access Programs, must be orally briefed to bipartisan congressional leadership.

Increased public access to information has also made sleuths of everyone, and the ability of less-powerful actors in our democracy to instigate larger investigations of the deep state has become a significant check. In the long run, the national security apparatus cannot attract the best and brightest when it does bad things.

Myth No. 3

The deep state is unchangeable.

Mike Lofgren, a former congressional staffer with significant experience in the defense budget world, calls the deep state almost impervious to change. Versions of this argument persist on talk radio. The people in Washington are not just going to sit idly by and let election results determine whether or not [change] happens to them, Rush Limbaugh said this month.

But the deep state is highly fragile  vulnerable, by its nature, to single-point failure, usually in the form of individuals who have something theyd like to tell the world. Think of Edward Snowdens intellectual revolt against the National Security Agency, or the decision by a lonely Army private in Iraq to steal diplomatic cables, or whomever gifted WikiLeaks with the CIAs phone and television hacking tools. In this way, a single person can completely alter the way an institution conducts tradecraft.

Further, bureaucrats cannot avoid the consequences of misbehavior directed at the president. Budgets can be slashed. Programs can be curtailed. And policy can be changed. The Obama administration made it harder for the government to assert its state secrets privilege, directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify and disclose a significant amount of information about the NSAs legal wrangling with federal courts, and asked the NSA to disclose to companies many of the zero day (or previously unknown) vulnerabilities found by its hackers.

Myth No. 4

The deep state leaks gratuitously.

The president has complained a number of times about those perfidious spies and their dangerous secrets, saying they have illegally disclosed classified information to the press. And yes, people with security clearances occasionally leak classified information to the media. Before Watergate, leaks often served as a genuine check on unconstrained executive power.

But nowadays, the deep state seems to be the source of fewer leaks of classified information than political officeholders and their staffs. The knowledge we have about the inner workings of Trumps White House appears to be coming from his own top aides. We have no way of knowing whether the officials who told reporters that Trump was keeping information about Flynns contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak from his vice president came largely from Trumps own team. But given how tightly held that information was, at least some of them had to be close to the president.

Myth No. 5

The military-industrial complex is the deep state.

Presidents have often felt threatened by the national security apparatus. In 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower presciently warned about the militarys Cold War prerogatives, labeling a group of postwar elites as the military-industrial complex. And John F. Kennedy was shaken enough about the CIAs own sense of grandeur that he appointed his brother to oversee all covert operations.

While Eisenhowers military-industrial complex was white, male, Christian and ruled by a priesthood that sanctified nuclear doctrine above all else, the national security bureaucracy today is professionalized, rule-based and highly diverse. It is organized around counterterrorism.

Furthermore, the deep state contains multitudes, and they are often at odds with one another. Defense contractors exulted at Trumps election, as did a plurality of rank-and-file soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who voted for him. But top generals and career civilians, whose interests converge around the public good, civic norms and global stability, fretted. And the CIAs senior officer cadre blanched.

The constituent parts of the deep state often do not align. They do not form one conspiracy.

Twitter: @marcambinder

Five myths is a weekly feature challenging everything you think you know. You can check out previous myths, read more from Outlook or follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter.
THE STORY begins with a pair of Nike Air Max 95 shoes with neon-green soles. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was photographed wearing them; emails stolen from his iPhone by dissident Russian hackers show they, along with several other articles of clothing Mr. Medvedev has been seen in, were ordered online and delivered to an address linked to a web of companies and charities controlled by close confidants and relatives. After months spent probing the network, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, headed by opposition activist Alexei Navalny, has released a video and documentation it says show that Mr. Medvedev has accumulated more than $1 billion worth of property, including vast estates in Russia and Tuscany and two yachts.

Mr. Medvedevs spokesperson shrugged off the story, as did the Kremlin. But as of Thursday, Mr. Navalnys biting, often humorous and slickly produced video (in Russian with English subtitles) had been viewed 7.4 million times on YouTube and attracted 40,000 comments. Its a testimony not only to the staggering corruption of the regime of Vladimir Putin, but also to the power of the Internet and social media to expose it and inform Russians about it.

Mr. Navalny guides viewers through a dazzling tour of Mr. Medvedevs purported properties, recorded by drones that flew over the high walls surrounding the estates. A sprawling chalet in Sochi, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, contains distinctive lampposts that appear in the background of Mr. Medvedevs own Instagram photos. One of his yachts was photographed at the dock of his huge estate outside Moscow. In the Kursk region, home of Mr. Medvedevs ancestors, another vast estate includes vineyards, as does a property in Tuscany.

Mr. Navalnys conclusion is stark: Medvedev can steal so much and so openly because Putin does the same, only on a grander scale; because everyone in government does the same, because the judges and the prosecutors and the special services are also doing the same. . . . The system is so rotten that there is nothing healthy left.

The opposition leader, who shook up the Kremlin by leading street protests in 2011 and 2012 and capturing a reported 27 percent of the vote in Moscows 2013 mayoral election, appeals to Russians to do their part by sharing the video with friends and by signing petitions in support of his candidacy for president in 2018. It is doubtful that Mr. Navalny will be allowed to run in that election, presumably against Mr. Putin; that was the point of the recent criminal case against him. But the exposure of Mr. Medvedev  who has portrayed himself as a corruption-fighting technocrat  and the impressive online response to it offer hope that Mr. Putins regime can be weakened by the revelation of its crimes.

The Trump administration, which has been backed up by Russian propaganda outlets in denouncing reports on its own activities as fake news, can hardly be expected to assist courageous dissidents such as Mr. Navalny in exposing truths about the Kremlin. But other Western governments and nongovernmental organizations should do what they can to help. Disseminating evidence of Mr. Putins corruption would be an appropriate response to Russias disinformation campaigns in the West.
Rex Tillerson is off to an agonizingly slow start as secretary of state. That matters, because if Tillerson doesnt develop a stronger voice, control of foreign policy is likely to move increasingly toward Stephen K. Bannon, the insurgent populist who is chief White House strategist.

Tillersons State Department has been in idle gear these past two months. He doesnt have a deputy or other top aides. His spokesman cant give guidance on key issues, because decisions havent yet been made. Tillerson didnt attend important meetings with foreign leaders.

As a former chief executive of ExxonMobil, Tillerson is accustomed to a world where a visible display of power is unnecessary, corporate planning is meticulous and office politics are suppressed. But this is Washington.

I am an engineer by training. I seek to understand the facts, Tillerson said at his confirmation hearing. That sounds reassuring, but it doesnt fit the glitzy, backstabbing capital that spawned the television series House of Cards.

He may pay some cost up front for not meeting Washington expectations, notes Stephen Hadley, national security adviser for President George W. Bush and a Tillerson supporter. The short-term buzz was that hes out of the loop, but Tillerson is playing for the long game.

(The Washington Post)

[No news at the State Department]

Tillersons future impact at State depends on his relationship with President Trump, but so far, that has seemed lukewarm. Tillersons candidate for deputy, Elliott Abrams, was rebuffed  reportedly at Bannons urging  after Trump had seemed initially supportive. Strangely, the 64-year-old Tillersons best opportunity is his friendly relationship with Jared Kushner, Trumps peripatetic 36-year-old son-in-law and adviser.

An example of the role Tillerson could play is an exchange in February about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. During a White House meeting, Trump complained that the anti-bribery statute cost the United States billions of dollars in lost sales overseas and millions of jobs. According to one insider, Tillerson dissented and described how he had walked away from an oil deal in the Middle East after a leader there demanded a payoff  but later was invited back.

Youre Exxon! Trump countered, but the former chief executive dissented again. No, people want to do business with America. This pushback from an experienced person is what Trump needs  as in Defense Secretary Jim Mattiss rebuff on the efficacy of torture.

Tillersons first big setback was his failed advocacy of Abrams, an experienced former State Department official. From the beginning, Bannon was a problem. Back in December, a prominent Republican personally recommended Abrams to Bannon, but Bannon said the administration didnt need someone who was outspoken as a globalist, an interventionist, a neoconservative. Tillerson persisted and offered Abrams the job in early January.

Trump seemed enthusiastic during an Oval Office meeting on Feb. 7 that included Tillerson, Kushner and Abrams. As they were leaving the Oval Office, Bannon, in a true House of Cards moment, said to Abrams: Huge fan.

Several hours later, reportedly after Bannon showed Trump some critical comments Abrams had made about him during the campaign, Tillerson was informed that the nomination had been nixed. Tillerson tried to reverse the decision but failed. Hes still looking for a deputy.

The dilemma for Tillerson, the methodical engineer, is how to connect with the mercurial tweeter in chief. A fascinating example was Tillersons conversation with the president just before Trump placed a telephone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Tillerson tried to explain the tricky Kurdish problem in detail, but that wasnt what engaged Trump, according to one well-informed source.

The president interjected with an explanation of why Erdogan had survived an attempted military coup last summer: You know what saved him? Facebook and social media. It was a revealing, and probably accurate, presidential insight.

[Tillerson pushes back on White Houses proposed cuts to State Department and USAID]

Trumps business pragmatism may be the best hope for a coherent foreign policy that avoids Bannons often-proclaimed goal of challenging globalization and the international order. A telling example came when Tillerson and Kushner advised the president last month that Chinese President Xi Jinping would not talk on the phone until Trump clarified that he supported the long-standing one-China policy. Trump is said to have responded: So clarify.

Tillerson and Mattis can be the nexus for sound international strategy, working with Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the new national security adviser. As was said of Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates when they were secretaries of state and defense, respectively, this would be the Adult Swim group, checking a noisy, chaotic, ideological White House.

But first Tillerson must get in the pool and start making some waves.

Read more from David Ignatiuss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Its time to put an end to the myth that Republicans believe in fiscal responsibility. Saving taxpayer dollars takes a back seat to the ideological imperative of blaming and shaming the poor.

Witness the GOPs long-awaited plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. House committees are moving forward on the legislation before the Congressional Budget Office has even had a chance to estimate how much the measure will cost. Why the rush? Because if the plan doesnt snatch away health insurance coverage from millions of people  and both President Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) swear it wont  then its surely going to cost a ton.

The Republican plan would take away the ACAs subsidies and replace them with refundable tax credits based on age for incomes up to $75,000 for an individual and $150,000 for a married couple. This means a windfall for those who are older and well-to-do. In essence, the plan would expand government assistance to encompass many who dont really need it  in order to avoid targeting help toward those who do.

The GOP plan would also eliminate the ACAs penalty fee for not having health insurance, which goes into the public till  and replace it with a different penalty fee that goes to the insurance companies. Apparently Republicans have no problem committing what they once called extortion if the benefit goes to private companies, not the common good.

Keep in mind that Trump and GOP leaders in Congress promise that after dealing with health care they will seek huge tax cuts, including for the wealthy. As fiscal policy, how does this make sense?

It doesnt. It only makes sense as ideology. In todays Republican Party, policies have to satisfy the belief that the less fortunate are poor by choice.

Rarely do Republicans just come out and accuse the poor of being lazy freeloaders, but Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) came close. He suggested that rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care.

The priciest iPhone advertised on Apples website is a 7 Plus model with 256 gigabytes of storage and all the bells and whistles. It costs $969. If Chaffetz will cancel his health insurance plan, I will write him a check for that amount  and wish him the best of luck providing health care for his family. Maybe hell be able to pay for a single visit to the emergency room.

It would be one thing if the GOPs mean-spirited ideology actually saved money, but it doesnt. Quite the contrary, in fact.

When you ask Republicans what theyre going to cut, they mention foreign aid  which totals about $35 billion , or slightly less than 1 percent of federal spending. They threaten to eviscerate smaller agencies by cutting $6 billion here or $8 billion there  but at the same time, they applaud Trumps pledge to increase the nearly $600 billion defense budget by an incredible 10 percent.

Theyre going to end up spending more  perhaps lots more  and collecting less in tax revenue. And this is the party that claims to care about deficits and debt?

But wait, Republicans say, were going to save the big entitlement programs by trimming benefits. Yeah, sure. Im not holding my breath. The problem is that Medicare and Social Security serve middle-class and upper-crust taxpayers, including many who share the GOPs punish-the-poor belief system. If you think these ACA-focused town halls are hostile, just you wait.

The fact is that among recent administrations, at least, Democratic presidents have been the relative skinflints. Bill Clinton, you will recall, actually balanced the budget  and yes, he had help from Republicans in Congress. Barack Obama spent heavily at first to save the economy, which was teetering on the edge of a dreadful abyss, but he ended up slashing the deficit in half and presiding over years of uninterrupted economic growth.

George W. Bush, on the other hand, fought hugely expensive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq without accounting for them in his budgets. He also convinced Congress to expand Medicare to cover prescription drugs, which was compassionate but costly.

Trump promises to be even more of a big spender. Among other things, he promises a trillion-dollar program to renew the nations infrastructure. Imagine the Republican howling if Obama had suggested such a thing.

The GOP will surely persist in its sanctimony about balanced budgets, but no one should pay any attention. Republicans, we see what youre doing.

Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.
There is a deep divide in the United States, and it isnt blue-red or liberal-conservative. Its between those who believe in applying the law as it exists and those who think they have the right  through various government authorities  to ignore laws they dont like.

Rule of law conservatives are a subset of the coalition that elected President Trump. They were concerned about the vacancy on the Supreme Court (and a hundred federal bench vacancies below it); executive orders and regulations that greatly overreached existing statutory authority; and the general idea  spreading like kudzu  that dulyenacted laws can be ignored by federal, state and local officials when inconvenient to the perceived will of the people.

They were concerned, in other words, about preserving constitutional government.

Sanctuary cities and marijuana legalization statutes are examples of local and state governments ignoring federal law. But federal authorities and elected officials who vent about those subjects should look to their own disregard of the law. Two recent instances of the lawlessness of Beltway elites concern the U.S.-Mexico border barrier and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im).

The Secure Fence Act of 2006 called for the construction of 700 miles of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. Not even the most shameless sophist will argue that anything like that happened. Far fewer than even 100 miles of high fencing followed. The feds did lay down vehicle barriers and counted those as miles toward compliance, but its laughable to contend that the law was implemented in any meaningful way.

Then there is Ex-Im. A small slice of conservatives  the sort who enjoy Hayek/von Mises cruises on the Danube  hate the bank with a passion. Most ordinary Americans dont know what Ex-Im is, while most of those who do say that of course the U.S. government should use export credits  subsidies  to favor U.S. companies fighting for international business against foreign competitors backed by their own governments subsidies. Ex-Im levels a lopsided international trading field. It operated for decades  in the black, without controversy  until purists decided they needed a ritual sacrifice to the Austrian school. They fought hard to kill Ex-Im. Fine. Thats their right. But they lost. And it wasnt close.

Congress and President Barack Obama reauthorized the bank. In 2015, a House supermajority voted to fully fund Ex-Im after a broad, bipartisan coalition broke the blockade of the true believers. In the Senate, the vote was 64 to 29 in favor.

Did the bank then spring back into action and fund the long line of credit guarantees for U.S. companies waiting for approval? Nope. About 40 transactions, worth $30 billion in U.S. products, are stuck in limbo because anti-Ex-Im dead-enders have blocked the banks board from getting the quorum of confirmed members. Without this quorum, transactions of more than $10 million cannot move forward. Thousands of U.S. jobs are imperiled by this lawless obstructionism.

Last year, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) refused to allow the committee to consider confirmation of two pending nominees  one Republican and one Democrat  needed for a quorum. This year, three spots need to be filled. Ex-Im is the law, but as with the border fence, sanctuary cities, and states purporting to legalize marijuana, the law is being ignored. In each case the storyline is the same: Do we respect our constitutional forms, and the laws those forms produce, or do we get to pick and choose?

Consistency is key. Ex-Im should get its board, the fence should get built, and state and local governments should obey federal law on every subject. (It is not called the supremacy clause of the Constitution for nothing.) You cant call yourself a conservative if you dont stand with the Constitution over your personal preferences. Im not sure you can even brand yourself a good citizen if you view the laws of the land like choices on a menu.

The president has again and again drawn the ire of media elites after speaking on controversial topics. In many of these instances  and especially with regard to immigration issues and national security leaks  he is referencing an underlying lawlessness that the public perceives and resents. Social instability is inevitable when protected classes and individuals operate under a separate set of rules than those that apply to everyone else.

The answer, of course, is to apply the federal law as passed  in every case  and for the president and the Justice Department to insist on it. As for defenders of sanctuary cities, Ex-Im plotters, marijuana defenders and border-fence foes, they should ask themselves: Do we really want government, at any level, to pick and choose which of the Constitutions provisions will apply today?

That way lies arbitrary application of law. Once the law is whatever any authority says it is, the result is chaos. Lets stick with the Constitution. It has worked since 1789.
Protestors block Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and clash with her security detail as she arrives at the Jefferson Junior High School in the District in February . (Don Baxter/Don Baxter/Media Images International)

Last month, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited Jefferson Middle School Academy in the District. Prior to her visit, I sent a letter to teachers at Jefferson letting them know that I, along with other Washington Teachers Union representatives, parents and other education advocates, would be outside Jefferson when DeVos arrived  not to protest her visit but to make it clear that we support strong, walkable public schools in every Zip code of our city.

Although the Washington Teachers Union opposed DeVoss nomination, we want her to be successful now that she has been confirmed.

The union was hopeful that, once DeVos spent time with the children and teachers at Jefferson, she might understand why public education is very important to our city, our nation and our democracy. We saw the secretarys visit as an opportunity for her to stand behind public schools  and the teachers, parents and students at Jefferson Academy.

Instead, DeVos chose to disparage Jeffersons teachers and, in so doing, show her contempt for the hard work that these dedicated educators do every day to help our children succeed  in and outside of the classroom.

This is what happens when someone who has never spent a day in a public school as a classroom teacher or student believes she is capable of passing judgment on the work that teachers do on a daily basis.

DeVos told the conservative online publication Townhall that teachers at Jefferson Academy seemed to be in receive mode.

Theyre waiting to be told what they have to do, and thats not going to bring success to an individual child, DeVos said.

As you might expect, DeVoss opinion of teachers at Jefferson did not sit well with the teachers union or with Jeffersons staff. The brave teachers at Jefferson immediately took to Twitter to school the secretary and educate her on some of Jeffersons outstanding teachers and programs.

JA teachers are not in a receive mode,  one tweet said. Unless you mean we receive students at a 2nd grade level and move them to an 8th grade level.

Jefferson is one of the 11 community schools in the District that provide additional support to underserved students. Community schools recognize and address the detrimental effects of poverty on teaching and learning by establishing community partnerships that help to coordinate educational, developmental, family, health and after-school-care programs  available during school and non-school hours for students, families and communities. These schools boost academic achievement; reduce absenteeism; build stronger relationships involving the school, students, parents, the community and community partners; and enhance the well-being of residents of the community.

If DeVos is serious about empowering teachers at Jefferson and other public schools, as she suggests she is, then she should support and fund community schools and not, as she has done in Michigan, push privatization schemes that lead to separate and unequal educational opportunities for our children and undermine local control and accountability for all of our publicly funded schools.

DeVos should also stand up for teachers unions, which are the leading advocates for ensuring that classroom teachers have a voice in the workplace and quality professional development and that great teaching is at the heart of great public schools.

The 4,800 members of the Washington Teachers Union, along with parents and our allies, believe that public education is the cornerstone of our American democracy. Public schools prepare the nations young people  rich, poor, native- and foreign-born, and of all abilities  to contribute to our nations society, economy and civic life.

We urge DeVos and the Trump administration to speak up on behalf of public schools at every opportunity  and not scapegoat our schools and our educators or use them as photo ops. Our children deserve better.

The writer is president of the Washington Teachers Union.
President Trump, trailed by senior counselor Stephen K. Bannon, boards Air Force One to return to Washington after spending the weekend at the Mar-a-Lago Club. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

From the start of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged total change, delivering his promises with a scorched-earth political vocabulary  Lyin Ted, Crooked Hillary, drain the swamp, lock her up. Some found his language appalling, but others found it refreshing enough to make him president.

Now, in the Oval Office, Trump and his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, have moved beyond the campaigns embrace of political incorrectness to shake official Washington with a new vocabulary that breaks from the usual liberal-conservative terms of debate.

Bannon rails against the corporatist, globalist media. Trump talks about a global power structure. Bannon promises the deconstruction of the administrative state. With evident relish, the president stands before Congress and enunciates every syllable of radical Islamic terrorism, even after his own national security adviser protests that the phrase is unhelpful.

The populist rhetoric is so systemic, its hard to believe its not a deliberate effort to change the language of politics, said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who taught history at the University of Oklahoma before entering politics. This is obviously very populist language  the idea that theres finally somebody here to protect you from these international and corporate forces that are making you feel lost.

The purpose of the new rhetoric is to break through the partisan paralysis of recent years, pull the country into an America-first nationalism and persuade Trump supporters that the new president meant it when he announced at his inauguration that the hour of action has commenced.

(The Washington Post)

[The terms Trump and Bannon use: a glossary]

The language of the Trump administration rubs many politicians  Republicans and Democrats alike  the wrong way, just as it is intended to.

I dont like the name-calling, former president George W. Bush said last month. Nobody likes that.

Nobody except those who consider Trump a much-needed provocateur who realizes that a linguistic poke in the face may be necessary to force the government to address the needs and pains of what the president calls the forgotten men and women.

What youre hearing is genuine change, said former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), a Trump supporter and occasional adviser. Its an assertive language and a focus on America that cuts against the norm of what weve seen from our elites over the last 30 years.

And that is exactly the point, said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because, he said, the terminology of the movement is something for historians to look back on and analyze. Its a little strange to talk about it in real time.

The official said that the rhetoric of the Trump administration is designed to be neither left nor right but a common-sense approach that shines light on a very out-of-touch small group of people in a few big cities who have been the big winners and who try to portray the mainstream of America as being abnormal.

1 of 83 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  See what President Trump has been doing since taking office View Photos The beginning of his term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. Caption The beginning of the presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. March 17, 2017 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

A lot of the language youre seeing is about one question: Are we reindustrializing America or deindustrializing America? the official said. Sometimes the language falls into a left bucket and sometimes a right bucket, but the consistent theme is that the proper role of the American nation-state is to create more prosperity for American citizens.

During the campaign, Trump promised to rein in his rhetoric and become more presidential than anybody, other than the great Abe Lincoln, but he also said he would keep up the tough, street-level vernacular that thrilled crowds at his rallies.

As president, Trump has continued to make statements that are factually incorrect or are based on opinions he heard on TV. It is a pattern he followed throughout his business career. I play to peoples fantasies, he wrote in his first book, The Art of the Deal. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. Its an innocent form of exaggeration  and a very effective form of promotion.

In addition to exaggeration, Trump has long used insults and dire descriptions to diminish rivals. With help from Bannon and senior adviser and speechwriter Stephen Miller, Trump has portrayed the country as a mess, beset with the crime and the gangs and the drugs that the president summed up in his inaugural address as American carnage. (The full sentence in which that phrase appeared  This American carnage stops right here and stops right now  is, according to the administration official, a statement of hope, and if it took the word carnage to get the community, and especially the media, to look at whats really happening, then thats what has to be done.)

Trump and his strategists have turned their rhetorical guns on coastal elites, academics, journalists, financiers and Hollywood celebrities  a fairly traditional roster of targets for a populist.

The ideology that Bannon calls economic nationalism is a very recognizable, quite common strategy that weve seen in Europe for many years, said Bart Bonikowski, a sociologist at Harvard who studies the appeal of populism and nationalism. They use language that vilifies elites, combined with glorification of the people and a pretty strong anti-intellectualism and skepticism about expertise. Its a very powerful mix that taps anxieties and fears.

The rhetoric Trump and Bannon use is not conservative Republican language, said Manfred Steger, a political scientist at the University of Hawaii who studies globalization. Its really the language of the left, the same rhetoric we heard in the late 90s in the demonstrations against corporations that scour the planet for profits.

By using rhetoric outside the usual right-left or Republican-Democratic debates, Trump and Bannon seek to establish the administration as the sole protector of the forgotten men and women against the elites, Steger said.

Cole said Trump is playing to resentments among Americans who feel theyre not part of the cultural elite in New York. Nobody in Oklahoma had anything to do with the economy imploding. Those werent our banks.

Trump has managed to blend left-wing populism, which tends to target Wall Street billionaires and corporate leaders as oppressors of the working class, with right-wing populism, which generally targets civil servants, intellectuals, the media, and racial minorities and immigrants.

To connect with certain elements of his base, Trump has revived terminology and phrases from previous Republican administrations, including some that critics have called veiled appeals to racism. And although Trump denied that his first immigration executive order was the Muslim ban he promised during the campaign, federal judges used his own descriptions of its intent to demonstrate discrimination.

By talking about globalism and corporatism, Cole said, Trump seeks not to unite the country but to solidify his support with a very important target group  people who voted for Obama but were willing to try something different.

Although Trumps rhetoric is distant from the GOP mantras of lower taxes, smaller government and social conservatism, it is hard for Republicans in Congress to oppose a president who was elected under the GOP banner and who has a habit of tagging opponents as part of an enemy elite.

Bannon and Trumps message of economic nationalism is the opposite of what Republicans have been preaching for 20 years, said Patrick Buchanan, who ran for president twice in the 1990s as a populist Republican. But what we saw in the speech to Congress was amazing: [House Speaker Paul D.] Ryan and those guys, standing and cheering for economic nationalism! Cheering for enormous public-works undertakings  the Republicans! Its Trumps party now.

Cole said Trumps foundation of support is strong enough to let him use divisive language  if he gets things done. He has to show real progress on four things: border security, replace Obamacare, tax reform and rebuilding the military, Cole said. If we dont get those four big things done, itll all collapse into finger-pointing and division.

Administration officials agree that words go only so far; the presidents success will be measured, they said, by his ability to get big things done, with jobs and wages at the top of the list.

If many Americans consider Trumps rhetoric an attack on intellectuals, academics, the media and science, theyre right, Gingrich said.

Im pretty happy being anti-intellectual, he said. We have a lot of academics and intellectuals in this country who are just wrong. If youre the elites, you dont care that globalism failed because youre still making money. Look, I helped pass NAFTA, and I will tell you that the experience weve had has not been good. Bannon and I have a very similar critique of American elites. Trump is tapping into that with effective language.

Asked whether the president shares or understands Bannons theories of nationalism, Gingrich said, No, of course not. The president has a very broad sense of what he wants America to be. His philosophy is based on four basic principles: anti-left, anti-stupidity, anti-political correctness, pro-American. And thats what you hear from him.

Some of Trumps comments about the forces he blames for the decline of the middle class strike some listeners as a resort to classic anti-Semitic tropes.

In one of Trumps most powerful TV ads near the end of the campaign, he spoke against a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class [and] stripped our country of its wealth. Those searing words were illustrated with images of billionaire hedge fund king George Soros, Federal Reserve Chair Janet L. Yellen and Goldman Sachs banker Lloyd Blankfein, all of whom are Jewish.

Steven Goldstein, director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, a civil rights group based in New York, said the administration is using the code words of anti-Semitism. . . . Youd have to be living in the Stone Age not to connect the dots.

But the senior administration official called any suggestion of anti-Semitism libelous and ludicrous, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group based in Los Angeles, said it is too early to conclude that such language is intended to condone anti-Semitism.

When people on the far right say global bankers, they mean Jews, he said, and these terms have a history to them and can serve as kindling. But I dont jump to say anti-Semitism because I dont yet see an administration that has its structure and people in place. We have to be careful not to cry wolf.

The rhetoric deployed by Trump and Bannon rejects the idea that open global markets and international institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the European Union will lift all boats.

But even as George H.W. Bush and the next three presidents, Republicans and Democrats alike, embraced globalism, it grew increasingly unpopular in some corners of the left and the right. The patriot and militia movements of the 1990s, the leftist and anarchist anti-globalization demonstrations in 1999, and the tea party and Occupy movements all blamed globalism for the decline of the middle class and the fraying of social bonds.

To the evangelist Pat Robertson, globalization was part of a conspiracy by international elites to build a new order for the human race under the domination of Lucifer and his followers. CNN and Fox News anchor Lou Dobbs wrote bestsellers calling globalism a war on the American dream.

Now, Buchanan, who crafted many of President Richard M. Nixons speeches blasting the elites and the media, hears in Trump and Bannons language echoes of his own slogans.

 America First was my slogan in 92, he recalled. I was at the Battle of Seattle in 99 and so was Ralph Nader, just like Trump and Bernie Sanders were saying many of the same things.

Buchanan says Trumps opponents are correct to note the mismatch between his anti-

globalist, anti-elite, anti-Wall Street rhetoric and the reality of a Cabinet filled with wealthy executives.

Ive never seen so many billionaires and bankers in there, he said, so it is an apparent contradiction. Trump is going to have to go beyond the rhetoric and deliver.
President Trump and his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, have introduced a new political language to Washington  a populist and nationalist rhetoric that cuts across traditional Republican vs. Democratic divisions.

Some of the words and phrases the administration has injected into Washingtons political vocabulary previously thrived on the far reaches of both left and right. Here is a glossary of terms that Trump and Bannon have been using, with some background on where the language came from and how its been deployed.

economic nationalism  Bannon and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller have described the overall philosophy driving the Trump administrations policy initiatives as economic nationalism, which Bannon defined as a singular focus on American jobs. The idea, according to two senior administration officials, is to pull back from multilateral trade agreements, multinational organizations, and the free flow of goods (and, to some degree, workers) that the previous four presidents emphasized. This was the new world order that President George H.W. Bush envisioned after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989  a system of interlocking, international agreements and alliances that he hoped would replace the Cold War faceoff between communism and capitalism.

That system, Bannon and Miller believe, has failed. Bannon wants to replace it wholesale  a blizzard of change as exciting as the 1930s, greater than the Reagan revolution, he said  with a system that used to be known as protectionism, using tariffs and other government action to press U.S. companies to bring offshored jobs back home and make their goods here. Most economists dismiss the idea of economic nationalism, saying that automation, far more than globalization, has reduced the supply of manufacturing jobs. They cite Adam Smith, the 18th-century Scottish economist, who called the concept of a balance of trade absurd and wrote that tariffs are a tool of national prejudice and animosity.

[The political lexicon of a billionaire populist]

enemy of the people  From the internecine political battles of ancient Rome through the Leninist purges within the Soviet Unions sprawling bureaucracy, the term enemy of the people has been used by revolutionaries and reactionary states alike to tar the opposition as disloyal. During the French Revolution, a tribunal was created to punish enemies of the people who, among other crimes, spread false news. Vladimir Lenin used the term as the basis for collaring political opponents, especially landowners and capitalists, and bringing them before his revolutionary court. In 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev eliminated the term from the Soviet lexicon because it had been specifically introduced for the purpose of physically annihilating those who opposed the government. The slur has been wielded through the past century against czars and rebellious subjects, and against Jews and imperialists.

globalist  Trump said during the campaign that in deciding between him and Hillary Clinton, voters faced a choice between Americanism and her corrupt globalism. To Trump and Bannon, what Trump called the false song of globalism connotes jobs shipped abroad, out-of-control immigration and an international elite of political and financial leaders who profit from a globalized economy, at the cost of good jobs and wages for middle-class Americans. To many  including large majorities in Congress over the past two decades  who have supported the worlds movement toward closer economic ties across national borders, globalism is not an insult but an aspiration. But Trump said during the campaign that Clinton was part of a global conspiracy with bankers to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty. Globalism for many decades has been used by nationalists in many countries as shorthand for a drive by elites to demean national cultures and traditions, seeking instead a one-world, single-market system. Starting in the 1990s, some on the far right focused their critique of the U.S. political system on the new world order, the system of economic alliances that conspiracy theorists of various stripes saw as a nefarious conspiracy against working people.

corporatist  Although Bannon and many other Trump supporters billed his candidacy as a rejection of corporatism  the system of regulations and subsidies by which government helps boost corporate profits  Trump himself has defended subsidies and other public support of corporations throughout his career.

Leftists and rightists alike have used the term corporatist to denounce politicians who put profits and stock values ahead of the interests of working people. The word was used to criticize both President George W. Bush and his successor, Barack Obama, despite their stark political differences. In Trumps case, the word is being used to reject policies in support of companies that ship American jobs abroad. Corporatism used to be part of Americanism, said a senior administration official. People used to say whats good for GE is good for America.  But then came globalization, and the corporation was disaggregated from the country, the official said, because some American companies made more money by investing outside the country than they did within its borders.

Corporatism started out as an ideal advanced by 19th-century European thinkers, including leaders of the Catholic church, who envisioned a system based on private enterprise and religion in which workers, entrepreneurs and the state could come together for the common good. But in the 1960s, leftist academics and libertarian theorists retooled the term to reject aspects of American capitalism, either because it was too oriented toward corporate profits, as some on the left saw it, or because it was too limited by government regulation and welfare benefits, as libertarians argued.

fake news  Phony news stories ginned up to support or undermine politicians or governments have been around as long as real news has. Trumps use of the term to diminish the credibility of news organizations whose reports he objects to is also not new. Politicians around the world, and especially populists and nationalists, have long found it useful to attack independent or oppositional news sources as propagandists and liars.

As far back as the 16th century, Roman political operatives composed nasty sonnets about the candidates they opposed and posted them for voters to read, according to the historian Robert Darnton. In the United States before the Civil War, fake news about rapes and assaults by slaves sometimes sparked attacks against slaves by white mobs. And in the 1930s and 40s, Adolf Hitlers Nazi party used fake news accounts of purported crimes by Jews to spur Germans to attack their Jewish neighbors. Accusations of fake news by political extremists have been used through the centuries to deepen divisions in societies to help minority parties gain a foothold on power.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, President Richard Nixon carried on a sustained attack on newspapers and TV networks that he believed were fomenting opposition to his policies. We saw the media as the part of opposition, just as Bannon does, said Patrick Buchanan, an architect of Nixons anti-media strategy. The media had power, so you have to go ahead and do the things you need to do to defeat them. The media provided the intellectual support for the Democrats on the Hill.

Trumps criticism of news reporters works, Buchanan said, because it appeals to exactly the group of voters who support him  people who often believe that news companies are elitist institutions with a condescending attitude toward their customers.

America first  From this day forward, its going to be only America first, President Trump said in his inaugural address. America first is not merely a statement of nationalist pride; its a slogan that candidates and movements have used periodically in three centuries of American politics to connote various degrees of isolationism and opposition to immigration and foreign influences.

From George Washingtons warning against foreign entanglements in 1796 through congressional opposition to America joining Woodrow Wilsons League of Nations in 1919 and on to the grass-roots resistance to engaging in World War II, some Americans  usually through fringe movements such as Charles Lindberghs America First Committee in the 1940s or the American First Party that supporters of Patrick Buchanan created in 2002  have argued that the nations economic health and cultural identity require taking advantage of our oceanic distance from other world powers to stick primarily to ourselves.

To Lindbergh, America first meant staying neutral in World War II to maintain an independent American destiny. It also meant blaming American Jews for pushing the United States toward war and for twisting public opinion through their purported control of the media. America first supporters have almost uniformly contended that most Americans supported their cause but that the news media refused to reflect that reality. Lindbergh, Buchanan and Trump have all made that argument, despite opinion surveys to the contrary. Until Trump, candidates from America first movements have failed to win elections. Now one has.
FBI Director James B. Comey huddled with top lawmakers Thursday as pressure grows on the Justice Department to either substantiate or denounce President Trumps accusation that the Obama administration tapped his phones during the presidential campaign.

Intelligence Committee and party leaders in the Gang of Eight  senior congressional leaders who receive the highest-level briefing  held meetings in both chambers of Congress. Members emerging from the meeting, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), were tight-lipped about the substance of the conversation.

The meetings come as lawmakers sent letters to Comey and acting deputy attorney general Dana Boente demanding a full accounting of any wiretapping applications, orders or warrants issued in an effort to conduct surveillance on Trump or his surrogates and associates during the campaign.

The president charged in tweets Saturday morning that President Barack Obama ordered the wiretapping of his New York offices in the fall, presumably in an attempt to gain more information about Russias meddling in the U.S. election. The House Intelligence Committee is probing that charge, as well as allegations that Trump associates have links to Russia  Trump has also asked that the wiretapping charge be included in the probe. The FBI is investigating Russias suspected intervention in the election, as well as the alleged links of Trumps team to Russia.

House Intelligence members may get their chance to grill Comey in a public hearing scheduled for March 20. The invitation list includes Comey, National Security Agency Director Michael S. Rogers, former acting attorney general Sally Yates, former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., former CIA director John Brennan, and two senior officers of CrowdStrike  the company that found proof Russia hacked the Democratic National Committees servers. No subpoenas have been issued.

FBI Director James Comey . (Brian Snyder/Reuters file photo)

Comeys trip to Capitol Hill comes as lawmakers are divided  not always along party lines  over whether the director is keeping the Gang of Eight adequately informed about the intelligence the FBI and Justice Department have collected that could bear on the congressional investigation into alleged Trump-Russia ties.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter dated Wednesday to Boente, who took over ultimate responsibility for much of the departments probe after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from all matters pertaining to the Trump campaign. The letter asked for copies of any wiretapping applications, orders or warrants from 2016 relating to Trump, his surrogates, associates, family members and friends. The heads of the Senate Judiciary Committees crime and terrorism panel, Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), also sent a letter to Boente and Comey Wednesday asking for a similar list of documents.

Few members of Congress believe the presidents allegations about the Obama-ordered wiretap, and several are demanding that the Trump administration produce evidence to substantiate the claim. The White House has refused to do so, calling on Congress to conduct an investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, Graham and Whitehouse sent their letter to the FBI and the Justice Department Wednesday with the blessing of Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), he said Thursday. Grassley said that asking for those records was a proper thing to do as part of a hearing on Russias alleged involvement in the 2016 elections that Graham and Whitehouse are expected to schedule soon.

But Grassley said he is dissatisfied with Comeys lack of response to those and other requests for relevant information

Grassley and Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) called Comey on Monday, he said, in an attempt to schedule a briefing they had previously requested from him, aimed at discussing Russias alleged election meddling.

We get this excuse: Im talking to the DOJ now to get, more or less, to get clearance, Grassley said, frustrated. And I said . . ., Did you have clearance when you talked to the Intelligence Committee last week? 

It surprised me, but heres the bottom line: Four days later we still havent heard back from him, Grassley said.

Warner and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), however, met with Comey on Thursday, and have expressed satisfaction with the level of candor and access he has been offering them to collected intelligence relevant to their investigation.

But in the House, some Intelligence Committee members are markedly unsatisfied with the access Comey has been giving them.

We need the confidence of knowing that theyre briefing us on the most significant issues, Schiff told reporters last week. And at this point, I think thats very much in question.

Rank-and-file Intelligence Committee members have begun to make trips to CIA headquarters to review documents made available to them by the intelligence community. Those trips began earlier this week in the Senate.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the Intelligence Committee, said Thursday that access for House members just recently became available. He also credited Schiff and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) for pushing, as far as Ive been told to make sure access to other information and officials is expanded to the full membership of the committee.

Read more at PowerPost
Maintenance and improvements at condo and co-op buildings are often contingent on the language found in bylaws. (Joseph Victor Stefanchik/For The Washington Post)

When it comes to major construction projects at condominiums, what can the board of a community association do on its own and when does it need the advice and consent of the membership?

For instance, can a condo board opt, for security reasons, to build a wall around the premises without the members approval?

The answer can be found in the associations legal documents, usually in its bylaws. In general, there are two provisions: One is called Maintenance and Repair and the other is Additions, Alterations or Improvements.

For the first, the board generally has full authority to maintain, repair and replace the common areas of the property regardless of cost, although in a very few associations there is a dollar cap, above which the board needs the approval of a majority of the owners.

[More Kass: Do your homework if youre considering a condo purchase]

Additions, alterations or improvements, however, usually impose a financial limit on the boards authority, and the members must approve any work over that dollar cap.

Thats the technical and legal definition. The problem is determining what is maintenance and what is an improvement. Take this real-life example: A cooperative association in the District had a very old phone system  one in which an operator answered all incoming calls and then literally plugged the caller into the appropriate apartments house phone. Some of us older folks may remember Judy Holliday as Ella Peterson, telephone operator, in Bells are Ringing.

After many years, the cooperatives phone system failed. The board arranged to pay and install a different system. The board based its decision on maintenance and repair and did not seek members approval. A member filed a lawsuit, claiming this was an improvement that needed the vote of a majority of owners. The D.C. Superior Court upheld the boards decision. According to the court, while the new system clearly was an improvement since it was impossible to replace the old one, this was, in effect, merely a repair of the existing system.

In a 1999 Ohio case, the court provided an interesting definition: An alteration or improvement involves the change of things from one form or state to another, where maintenance contemplates the restoration of a thing to its original condition.

[More Kass: Your condo probably has a rule against renting your unit out on Airbnb]

Unfortunately, the court cases are inconsistent. I have read cases with identical facts in which one judge called it an improvement and another said it was maintenance. Even the Internal Revenue Service has struggled with these definitions, but you can get guidance from Publication 523, Selling Your Home (free online at irs.gov ). According to the IRS, you cannot claim anything as an improvement if, when installed, it has a life expectancy of less than one year.

In addition to determining whether the board needs membership approval, there is yet another reason it is important to determine in which category the work falls: If it is an improvement, association owners may be able to claim their percentage ownership interest in the amount for income tax purposes.

If you bought your condo unit many years ago, it may have increased significantly. Your association has spent a considerable amount of money improving the property  maybe it added a new roof (or roofs), installed a swimming pool or made similar improvements.

You own a percentage interest of the community association. Let us assume the association spent $300,000 in improvements from the time you bought the property, and that your percentage interest is 1.5. If you multiply your interest times the total improvements, you get $4,500, and this amount could be added to your basis as improvements. Confirm this with your own tax advisers.

It is surprising to me that many community association owners are not aware of this tax benefit. This is especially helpful for the elderly owner who is selling his or her last property, and does not want to have to pay a lot of tax on the gain that was made. Remember, if the gain is more than $500,000 (if you file a joint tax return) or $250,000 (for single filers), you have to pay capital gains tax on the overage.

In most community associations, the records should be available as to the total expenditure for improvements on a year-to-year basis. Please understand that maintenance and repair items are not added to basis, but capital improvements  generally items which have a useful life of one year or more  are indeed legitimate items to be added to basis.

As far as the wall around the condo is concerned, such a project would be considered an addition, alteration and improvement, requiring membership approval. Why? You did not have a wall before and now you do.

Benny L. Kass is a Washington and Maryland lawyer. This column is not legal advice and should not be acted upon without obtaining legal counsel. Send questions to blkass@kmklawyers.com.
Park Geun-hye, who was ousted as South Koreas president Friday, salutes during her inauguration on Feb. 25, 2013, at the National Assembly in Seoul. (Lee Jin-man/Associated Press)

After the historic ouster of President Park Geun-hye on Friday, scandal-weary South Koreans began turning their attention to a new election due within 60 days  and to the prospect that her successor could try to reset relations with neighboring North Korea and its powerful patron, China.

In the three months since Park was suspended over corruption allegations, plunging the country into limbo amid protracted impeachment proceedings, the regime in North Korea has launched five ballistic missiles and a volley of threats, and is accused of ordering the assassination of the leaders half brother.

Add to that Chinas anger over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system to South Korea and uncertainty about President Trumps administration in Washington, and the lack of leadership in South Korea could hardly have come at a more sensitive time.

[ Chinas anger over U.S. antimissile system poses challenge to Trump ]

A protester wearing electric lights attends a rally in Seoul calling for impeached President Park Geun-hyes arrest on Friday. (Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press)

A political vacuum like this in a key ally that borders a major nuclear threat is not good for the U.S., said John Delury, an American political scientist in Seoul. I think its been underestimated as a danger and as a destabilizing factor.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will encounter this problem firsthand when he arrives in Seoul next week for discussions about North Korea with a South Korean counterpart who is on his way out. Tillerson will also hear about the rise of a progressive candidate whose approach toward China and North Korea could differ sharply from that of the impeached president  and from the stance of the United States.

The Trump administration is conducting a policy review to decide how to deal with North Koreas threats, and there is plenty of talk in Washington about kinetic options  a euphemism for some kind of military action. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, some ruling-party lawmakers are openly pushing for Japan to develop the capacity to preemptively strike North Korea.

That is the kind of talk that South Korea should be shutting down, Delury said. In addition to its nuclear and missile programs, North Korea has conventional artillery lined up along the demilitarized zone and aimed at Seoul, a metropolis of 25 million people.

The role of a South Korean president, whether liberal or conservative, is to be the person who gently takes that option off the table, Delury said, referring to a preemptive strike. The South Korean president has to be saying, If you take out their missile pad, they take out our capital. But that hasnt been happening.

Park was immediately dismissed from office Friday after South Koreas Constitutional Court upheld a legislative impeachment motion, ruling unanimously that she had continuously broken the law.

[Presidential scandal shows that Korean disease of corruption is far from cured]

(Jason Aldag,Anna Fifield,Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post)

Elections will be held in early May, and the latest opinion polls show Moon Jae-in, a progressive who unsuccessfully challenged Park for the presidency in 2012, holding a strong lead.

Moon favors the sunshine policy of engagement with North Korea  the liberal idea from the late 1990s that engagement can help open up the closed state and narrow the gap between the two Koreas.

This sunshine policy ended in 2008 with the election of a conservative president who took a tough approach toward North Korea, a stance maintained by Park.

Following North Koreas nuclear test at the beginning of last year, Parks government closed the inter-Korean industrial complex that was the linchpin of the sunshine policy, accusing the North of using South Korean cash from economic engagement projects to bankroll its weapons programs.

Moon, however, has said he would like to resume engagement with North Korea and would go to Pyongyang for talks with its leader.

If Moon wins the general election, he will emphasize South Koreas alliance with the U.S. and a strong defense posture, said Lee Chung-min, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University. But his heart will lie in fostering deeper engagement with the North and negotiating an early summit with Kim Jong Un.

Moon has also signaled an openness to reviewing the Park governments agreement to host the United States Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile battery.

[ U.S. military deploys advanced defensive missile system to South Korea, citing North Korean threat ]

The agreement was reached last year to protect against North Korean missiles, and the system was due to arrive in South Korea this summer. But in a surprise announcement, the Pentagon said the first shipment arrived in South Korea on Monday.

This has sparked widespread speculation in South Korea that the United States expected Park to be impeached and wanted to make the deployment more difficult to reverse. The U.S. military command in South Korea said the deployment was being carried out according to schedule.

China has vehemently objected to the arrival of THAAD in the region, viewing the deployment as a U.S. attempt to keep China, not just North Korea, in check. To prod Seoul to change its mind, Beijing has imposed painful restrictions on South Korean imports ranging from toilet seats to pop music.

We are all very clear that the crux of the problem between China and South Korea is that South Korea is ignoring Chinas concerns and is deploying the THAAD antimissile system with the United States, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday.

We once again urge South Korea to focus on the interests of the Chinese and Korean people, he said.

But analysts say that even if the progressive Moon becomes South Koreas next president, he will face difficulties in backtracking on THAAD or returning to the sunshine policy.

While China might expect a U-turn over THAAD if Moon becomes president, it will be extremely difficult for Moon to do that, since THAAD is being placed primarily for the defense of the United States forces in Korea, said Lee, the Yonsei professor.

Trump could seek to dissuade Moon by making South Korea pay more for its defense costs and speeding up efforts to renegotiate the Korea-U.S. free-trade agreement. Despite Moons inclination to oppose THAAD deployment, he will not undo it at the expense of worsening ties with Trump just as Moon begins his term in office, Lee said.

Likewise, it would be difficult to go back to the kind of sunshine policy of previous liberal presidents, said Robert Kelly of Pusan National University. I dont think there is much support for major engagement any more, he said.

This is partly because public opinion has changed dramatically, thanks to two North Korean attacks in 2010 that left more than 50 South Koreans dead, as well as the Park governments assertion that engagement money was funding weapons development.

I think Moon would have to fight hard to get that kind of engagement off the ground  hed be pushing against the Americans and against his own people, Kelly said.

But for South Koreans who wanted Park out, there is a sense of opportunity.

Today is just the beginning, said Kim Kyoung, a housewife who attended every rally against the impeached president and returned to central Seoul on Friday night to celebrate Parks departure. South Korea developed very quickly, but now we have an opportunity to move slowly and help our democracy mature.

Congcong Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.

Read more

The South Korean political scandal started with a card game in Macau

Little-known governor runs as the hope and change candidate in South Korea

China tried to get the U.S. to negotiation with North Korea. The U.S. declined.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
South Korean President Park Geun-hye was removed from office Friday, as the countrys Constitutional Court unanimously upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach her for her role in a corruption and influence-peddling scandal.

Elections for a new president must now be held within 60 days, and polls point to a change in political direction for South Korea. Progressive candidate Moon Jae-in holds a strong lead over the conservatives who were once loyal to Park.

The court dismisses President Park Geun-hye from her position, said Lee Jung-mi, the acting chief justice, delivering the highly anticipated verdict Friday. There is no other choice but to decide this verdict.

Park did not make any comment on the decision and remained in the presidential Blue House on Friday afternoon. Hwang Kyo-ahn, the caretaker prime minister who is now acting president, declared South Korea to be in an emergency situation, saying he would try to ensure stability and assuage international concerns.

The impeachment marks a historic moment in a country that adopted democracy only 30 years ago. In sharp contrast with South Koreas history of military coups, peaceful protests this time led to the removal of an elected leader. But supporters of Park wasted no time in venting their anger Friday morning, clashing with riot police and breaching cordons around the court. Two people were reported to have died during the protests.

The case has rocked South Korean society because of the sheer extent of the alleged corruption: Not only is the presidential Blue House implicated, but also the chiefs of leading companies such as Samsung, a high-profile prosecutor and the head of the national pension fund, the worlds third-largest.

The case comes at a time of high tensions in the region, with North Korea firing missiles and issuing threats, and an angry China retaliating against South Korea for hosting an American antimissile battery, which Beijing views as an effort to curtail China.

All eight justices on the Constitutional Court voted to uphold the impeachment motion against Park, which passed by an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly in December. The justices said the president had continuously violated the law and the constitution.

The court concluded that the president had helped her friend Choi Soon-sil extract bribes from South Korean conglomerates and had personally asked big business for donations. She had leaked confidential documents to Choi, tried to cover up her wrongdoing, then lied about it. The justices also chastised Park for refusing to answer questions about the case.

The negative impact of the presidents legal violations is serious, and the benefits to defending the constitution by dismissing her from office are overwhelmingly large, the acting chief justice said in reading out the courts ruling.

[ South Korean prosecutors say president colluded in corruption scandal ]

Analysts had expected the impeachment decision.

People celebrate in front of the Constitutional Court in Seoul after hearing that President Park Geun-hye's impeachment was affirmed. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

It was such an obvious case that there was no room for the court to rule other than impeaching the president, said Kim Seon-taek, a professor of constitutional law at Korea University.

Through the Choi-gate investigation, we found serious violations of laws and evidence of meddling with law and order of the nation by both Choi Soon-sil and Park Geun-hye, Kim said.

But Parks lawyers vowed to fight on.

I cannot accept todays conclusion, attorney Suh Suk-koo told reporters outside the court, saying they would consider appealing. The biased Korean media, coupled with left-leaning and North Korean sympathizing labor unions, have led anti-Park protests to the streets of South Korea.

Parks supporters, mainly older, conservative Koreans, began protesting outside the court immediately after the decision, pushing through riot police and climbing over barricades around the court. Several people were seen unconscious on the ground.

[ Samsung scion to be indicted on bribery charges]

The political scandal  extraordinary even by the standards of South Koreas tumultuous democracy  revolves around Park and her lifelong friend, Choi, who held no official position but turned out to wield huge influence over the president, much more than her official advisers and ministers.

Choi is accused of extracting bribes from big business  Samsung alone is accused of planning to give her $37 million  in return for using her relationship with the president to ensure favorable treatment for the companies.

Special prosecutors tasked with investigating the case, known here as Choi-gate, said in a 101-page report released this week that they had found evidence that the president colluded with Choi. Park refused to be questioned by the special prosecutors.

Prosecutors have recommended 13 charges against Park, including abuse of power, coercion of donations and the sharing of state secrets. Park had immunity from prosecution while she was in office but has lost that now that she has been removed from the presidency.

The release of the prosecutors report coincided with the conclusion of the Constitutional Courts 10-week-long deliberation on the impeachment case. Park declined to appear before the court, although she issued statements through her lawyers in which she had steadfastly denied wrongdoing.

The case couldnt have been any clearer, said Chung Tae-ho of Kyung Hee University. With this verdict, the Constitutional Court has sent an unequivocal warning to the people in power not to take advantage of their positions and seek personal gains.

[Presidential scandal shows that Korean disease of corruption is far from cured]

Park was suspended from office in December after weeks of enormous protests, with hundreds of thousands of people packing the streets of Seoul every Saturday, calling on her to resign or be impeached.

The outrage against her was triggered by revelations that the president, who seldom consulted with her ministers and official advisers, had been taking secret counsel on everything from North Korea policy to her wardrobe choices from a friend who held no official position.

Making matters worse, it turned out that Choi, the daughter of a shaman cult leader, had appeared to take advantage of her relationship with the president to enrich herself and win favors for her family.

She is accused of receiving about $70 million in bribes from big business groups. Park adamantly denied all the allegations.

Samsungs de facto head, Lee Jae-yong, went on trial Thursday on charges including bribery, embezzlement and perjury, and Choi has been on trial for months.

Both strongly deny wrongdoing, although at a parliamentary hearing in December, Lee admitted that Samsung had given a $900,000 horse to Chois daughter, an Olympic equestrian hopeful.

Now that Park has been ousted permanently, new elections must be held within 60 days.

The conservative faction is in disarray, with the ruling party splitting into those who supported the president and those wanting to distance themselves from her.

The latest polls put Moon, a progressive from the Democratic Party who ran against Park in the last presidential election, in the lead, although he is facing a surprise primary challenge from An Hee-jung.

Moon has taken a much more conciliatory approach toward North Korea than the conservative governments that have held power since 2008, and his election would likely see the resumption of a sunshine policy of engagement with the North.

[South Koreans gather en masse to protest president]

Park, 65, is the daughter of former military strongman Park Chung-hee, who served as president from 1963 to 1979 and oversaw South Koreas transformation into an economic powerhouse by supporting conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai.

Park Geun-hye has long been considered a kind of princess figure in South Korea, and one with a traumatic past. While she was in college, her mother was killed by a bullet meant for her father, shot by a North Korean sympathizer. Even today, Park wears an old-fashioned hairstyle reminiscent of her mothers.

She effectively became South Koreas first lady at 22, and during this time became close to Choi Tae-min, the founder of a religious cult that incorporated elements of Christianity and Buddhism. He would deliver messages to Park from her dead mother, according to local reports. A U.S. Embassy cable noted that the local media described Choi as a Korean Rasputin.

Park also became close to Chois daughter, Choi Soon-sil, and their friendship continued after both their fathers died.

Parks father, still president, was killed in 1979 by his own spy chief, and Park disappeared from public view for almost two decades.

Read more:

South Korean court to begin considering presidents impeachment

Little-known governor runs as the hope and change candidate in South Korea

Blaming fake news, Ban Ki-moon drops presidential bid in South Korea

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report.
In a world where some countries despair over Donald Trump and others see him as a breath of fresh air, Turkey is decidedly in the second category.

The last seven or eight months of the Obama administration were marked by its total absence as far as Ankara was concerned, said Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman and senior adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. From what Turkey saw as his mistaken Syria policy to his foot-dragging on U.S. extradition of the alleged mastermind of last years coup attempt here, Barack Obama simply was not there, Kalin said.

Now, after an extended period of tension between the two NATO allies, we have positive opinions of the new administration, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Thursday. President Trump and Erdogan have spoken, and Yildirim met in Europe recently with Vice President Pence.

Trumps order to the Pentagon to beef up its anti-Islamic State strategy has sparked a belief here that Turkeys views will be paid more heed. Ankara also hopes for an early decision to extradite Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen from his Pennsylvania residence.

But despite the warm words and intimations of change, Turkey is probably headed for disappointment, as Trump, who prides himself on dealmaking and straight talk, finds that his ability to satisfy Ankaras demands is limited.

So far, at least, Trumps direction on the issues Turkey cares about most shows little sign of differing from that of his predecessor.

Senior officials, who met here this week with a group of U.S.-based reporters invited to hear Ankaras official concerns, insisted that Turkey, despite recently strengthening its relations with Russia, remains firmly tied to the West. But some of our Western friends genuinely have a hard time understanding these complicated stories that drive Turkey, said Mehmet Simsek, the deputy prime minister and a former finance minister.

Syria is among the most complicated stories of all. Turkey thinks that the U.S. reliance on Syrian Kurds to fight the Islamic State in that country is both misbegotten and insulting. As the Pentagon completes plans for an offensive to conquer the city of Raqqa, the militants Syrian capital, Turkey has offered its own troops and Syrian Arab allies as alternatives.

[U.S. forces in Syria try to keep warring allies apart]

This operation should be carried out jointly by the United States and Turkey, Yildirim said. Turkey believes that the Kurdish force, known as the Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, is a terrorist organization allied with Turkish separatists that both Ankara and Washington have designated as terrorists. You cannot simply eradicate a terrorist organization by making use of another terrorist organization, Yildirim said.

If Washington insists, he said, the friendship between the United States and Turkey will be significantly damaged and undermined.

Kalin acknowledged that some in the new U.S. administration are pushing for the old plan drawn up under Obama. But Turkey thinks that within the Trump administration, there are those who say we have to take Turkeys concerns into account and consider other alternatives.

A new version of the plan submitted to Trump late last month is much the same as the old one, calling for an alliance with the YPG and the United States own Syrian Arab forces. U.S. officials privately dismiss Turkeys view of the YPG and have little confidence in the ability of Turkey and its allied Syrian rebel forces to substitute for the Kurds on what has become a tight timeline to launch the invasion of Raqqa during the first half of this year.

Rather than directly communicate that view to Ankara, however, the Trump administration is seeking to convince Turkey that it will not allow the Kurds to occupy Raqqa and will find a significant role for Turkey and its Arab allies in a later phase of stabilizing the city.

Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has met several times in recent months with his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Hulusi Akar, including a two-day session in the city of Antalya this week that Russias military chief of staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, also attended.

Their immediate goal was to deconflict military operations in what has become an increasingly chaotic battlefield in and around the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which was seized from the Islamic State last summer by the Syrian Democratic Forces, consisting of Kurds and Arabs. In recent days, U.S. troops have taken up positions around the town to prevent fights between the SDF and other U.S. allies in a force backed by Turkey.

Syrian government forces and Russia  which has been building its own relationship with the Syrian Kurds  have moved between the sides to form a buffer. In an unusually pointed message that highlighted Turkeys frustration, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that his country would fight the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces if they did not withdraw from the town and would have a problem with Russia if it interfered.

Turkish sensitivities are particularly acute at the moment, with Erdogan fighting for approval of an April 16 referendum measure that would change Turkeys governing system from a European-style parliamentary system to a U.S.-like presidential system. Even as it gingerly approaches Washington, the Erdogan government has engaged in outright shouting matches with Germany and other European countries that have barred Turkish cabinet members from campaigning for diaspora votes.

Perhaps even more than either the referendum or Syria, no issue has been as vexing to Ankara as Washingtons declining to extradite Gulen, the alleged mastermind of last years failed coup attempt that killed more than 250 people, traumatized the nation and unleashed a broad and staggering purge of suspected enemies that has reached into virtually every state institution.

[What Turkey was looking for when Trump called Erdogan]

Turkish officials say, with some justification, that there is broad consensus in Turkish society that Gulen, a U.S. permanent resident, should be turned over  an opinion shared by even some government opponents who hope that his return might calm a crackdown that has extended far beyond his followers and swept up many other dissenters in the news media and civil society.

Turkish officials adamantly assert that they have provided the U.S. Justice Department with voluminous evidence of Gulens direct involvement in the failed coup attempt. Its crystal clear, the Turkish justice minister, Bekir Bozdag, said Thursday, although he declined to detail the evidence that U.S. officials have privately said is largely hearsay that is unlikely to stand up in a U.S. federal court, which would have to agree before Gulen could be extradited.

Bozdag said he was told as much by Obamas attorney general, Loretta E. Lynch. He said Lynch told him that the process was taking so long because the United States wants our hand to be strong.

But that reasoning has not satisfied Turkish officials, who liken the coup attempt to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Comparing Gulen to Osama bin Laden, Bozdag said: We believe that if he is not extradited, then for us, no one can be extradited.

Turkey sees the lack of action against Gulen as a symptom of a broader problem: that many of Turkeys allies, including the United States, do not take seriously the threats Turkey perceives to be posed by Gulen and the Kurds.

Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report.
U.S. military guards walk within Camp Delta at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2006. (Brennan Linsley/AP)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday said he is in favor of bringing new enemy combatants to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, reversing eight years of Obama administration policy aimed at shrinking the population at the military detention facility in the hopes of eventually closing it.

Sessions also said he supports trying detainees there instead of in the federal courts.

Its just a very fine place for holding these kinds of dangerous criminals, he said of the prison.

They are like prisoners of war, and prisoners of war can be held throughout the time of the conflict, Sessions said on the Hugh Hewitt radio show. At the same time, if they have violated the rules of war, they can be prosecuted. And weve got to work our way through this. It would be done, if done, by the United States military.

He added, In general, I dont think were better off bringing these people to federal court in New York and trying them in federal court, where they get discovery rights to find out our intelligence and get court-appointed lawyers and things of that nature.

[The Trump era has stranded these five men at Guantanamo Bay]

His comments echo the views he expressed as a U.S. senator on the Armed Services Committee, but now that he is the nations top law enforcement official, they are drawing more scrutiny.

Military commissions have just not been a practical success, said John Bellinger, legal adviser to the National Security Council and the State Department in the administration of President George W. Bush.

More than 15 years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, none of the five men accused of helping orchestrate the plot have undergone a military trial, much less been convicted. Instead, those prisoners and a handful of others have been locked in years of pretrial hearings.

Bellinger said the reason military commissions have struggled is that they were created fairly recently  after the 9/11 attacks  and there are limited precedents to guide judges. The judges are acutely aware the world views them as a kangaroo court and are at every opportunity giving the defendants the benefit of the doubt, he said.

Military tribunal decisions have been reversed by the federal courts, he noted, so its really not clear whether future convictions will be upheld.

Bellinger added that he hoped that Justice Department officials explain to Sessions the difficulties that the military commissions have faced.

By contrast, hundreds of terrorism suspects have been convicted in federal courts, including al-Qaeda members captured overseas. This week, a trial involving an alleged al-Qaeda operative opened in Brooklyn. The defendant, Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun, whose nom de guerre is Spin Ghul, is accused of a 2003 attack in Afghanistan that killed two U.S. troops.

Courtney Sullivan, who has prosecuted terrorism cases in federal courts and at Guantanamo, said she thinks in some cases the federal courts are the better venue because, among other things, the judges have more experience and can move through pretrial proceedings more quickly. If the 9/11 case had stayed in the Southern District of New York, where the five co-conspirators were indicted in December 2009, she said, the trial would have been completed by now.

Lawyers questioned Sessionss assertion that federal courts are unable to handle defendants requests for discovery without exposing sensitive intelligence.

It is clear that there has been extensive litigation and assertion of rights to pretrial discovery by Guantanamo defendants, and if anything, the federal court system has shown itself to be more willing to draw a line and bring to a close pretrial discovery, said a former senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of sensitivities with his current employer.

Pursuing prosecutions of Islamic State members in military commissions or holding them at Guantanamo Bay opens the prospect of judicial review of the 2001 authorization for the use of military force and whether it properly applies to the group, analysts said.

The statutory footing to hold ISIS members is pretty strained under the AUMF, Bellinger said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

Missy Ryan and Julie Tate contributed to this report.
The Justice Department announced Friday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked all 46 remaining Obama administration U.S. attorneys across the country to submit their resignations immediately.

As was the case in prior transitions, many of the United States attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice, agency spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement. The Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition.

Flores said that until new U.S. attorneys are confirmed, the career prosecutors in the nations 94 U.S. attorneys offices will oversee cases. No new U.S. attorneys have yet been nominated by the Trump administration.

Flores said the action is not unusual. A similar step was taken at the start of the Bill Clinton administration. Sessions himself was asked to resign as the U.S. attorney in Alabama in March 1993 by Clintons attorney general, Janet Reno.

But the George W. Bush administration eased U.S. attorneys out gradually while officials sought replacements, as did Barack Obamas Justice Department.

Justice officials said they could not say whether Preet Bharara, the fiercely independent U.S. attorney in Manhattan, would be forced to resign. They said that the Justice announcement told all U.S. attorneys to tender their resignations, which means that Sessions could choose to keep some in place.

A spokesman for Bhararas office declined to comment.

In November, Trump personally met with Bharara and asked him to stay on, as did Sessions. Bharara, who was born in India and brought to the United States as a child, heads one of the highest-profile U.S. attorneys offices in the country.

[The brash New York prosecutor whos indicting left and right]

The president-elect asked, presumably because hes a New Yorker and is aware of the great work that our office has done over the past seven years, asked to meet with me to discuss whether or not Id be prepared to stay on as the United States attorney to do the work as we have done it, independently, without fear or favor, for the last seven years, Bharara said in a brief statement to reporters after meeting with Trump at Trump Tower in November.

We had a good meeting, Bharara said, adding, I agreed to stay on. I have already spoken to Senator Sessions, who is as you know the nominee to be the attorney general. He also asked that I stay on, and so I expect that I will be continuing to work at the Southern District of New York.

Yet on Friday, Bharara received the same call from the Justice Department as the other U.S. attorneys did, according to people familiar with the matter. Those people said acting deputy attorney general Dana Boente, who made the calls, told Bharara the Obama holdovers were being asked to leave. There was, however, some confusion as to whether the administration had specifically decided Bharara, despite the earlier conversations about staying on, should go.

A White House official said the president did not accept the resignation of Boente as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Boente was made acting attorney general in January by Trump after he fired acting attorney general Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover, when she refused to defend his first executive order banning travel from some Muslim-majority nations. Boente became acting deputy attorney general when Sessions was confirmed and sworn in.

The president also did not accept the resignation of Marylands U.S. attorney, Rod Rosenstein, who has been nominated to take over as deputy attorney general but needs to win Senate confirmation, the official said.

Most of the resignation discussions were straightforward. Robert L. Capers, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said he was asked to resign. It has been my greatest honor to serve my country, New York City and the people of this district for almost 14 years, with the last 17 months serving as United States attorney, he said.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that by asking for the immediate resignation of every remaining U.S. attorney before replacements have been nominated, the president is interrupting ongoing cases and investigations and hindering the administration of justice.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she had met with Vice President Pence and White House Counsel Donald McGahn in January and asked specifically whether all U.S. attorneys would be fired at once. Mr. McGahn told me that the transition would be done in an orderly fashion to preserve continuity. Clearly this is not the case. Im very concerned about the effect of this sudden and unexpected decision on federal law enforcement.

Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
Under pressure from civil liberties advocates and the Muslim community, the San Francisco Police Department last month pulled out of the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force amid controversy over the Trump administrations travel ban and concerns that participation in the task force might violate local laws protecting immigrants and religious minorities.

But the move, current and former law enforcement officials said, could weaken efforts to detect and stop terrorist plots in the Bay Area. There are 104 such task forces throughout the country  consisting of cells of analysts, SWAT experts and other specialists from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that collectively assess intelligence and respond to terrorism threats.

Its cutting off your left hand to spite your right hand. It makes no sense at all, said James McJunkin, a former FBI official who once led the nations second-largest Joint Terrorism Task Force, in the nations capital. It thwarts the efforts of hundreds of men and women who go to work every day to fight terrorism.

[Theyre young and lonely. The Islamic State thinks theyll make perfect terrorists.]

In New York City, for example, the JTTF was critical last September in capturing in less than 40 hours the accused Chelsea bomber, Ahmad Rahimi, who is charged with setting off an explosion that injured 31 people. And task force work led to the 2012 arrest of a Virginia man charged with attempting to blow himself up in the U.S. Capitol.

Civil rights advocates say that municipalities such as San Francisco should not be put in a position of cooperating with federal law enforcement agencies that conduct investigations in a manner that conflicts with local laws and that may share information that leads to noncriminal but undocumented immigrants being deported.

This is a problem not just for San Francisco, said John Crew, a lawyer formerly with the American Civil Liberties Union who was asked by the SFPD and the FBI to explore solutions to the issue. Its a problem around the country of local police assigning officers to the FBI under arrangements that have not been scrutinized in the past, where local civil rights and racial profiling policies are going to be reevaluated in the era of the Trump administration.

But current and former officials said that the activists concern is misplaced.

The real danger here is youve got a singular political issue that is uprooting a well-founded proven benefit to a community, McJunkin said. The driving purpose of the JTTF is to spot and assess terrorism threats. Not to go around and gobble up illegal immigrants. Ive never seen an example of that.

The SFPD said the suspension of cooperation would have happened regardless of who won the presidential election in November, because a 10-year agreement with the JTTF was expiring this month and any renewal requires police commission review.

We want all persons to feel comfortable in contacting SFPD . . . to report crimes and emergencies without concern as to their immigrations status, SFPD spokesman Michael Andraychak said. The city has a history and tradition of demonstrations and other First Amendment activity, and the SFPD works with the community to help facilitate First Amendment activity.

Officials said they did not think the withdrawal would affect public safety. We are confident that [local, state and federal law enforcement partners] would alert the SFPD to any known credible threat against the city, Andraychak said.

The FBI declined to comment on the issue. But law enforcement officials familiar with the matter said the task forces are not used for noncriminal immigration enforcement.

[Stories of refugees and immigrants barred from the U.S.]

San Francisco is the first police department to take such an action this year, but other cities and towns may be following suit. Across the bay in the city of Oakland, the citys privacy advisory commission on Thursday recommended the City Council approve an ordinance requiring the police force to follow local rules rather than what the commission thinks are less restrictive strict FBI standards in criminal investigations.

Faith-based groups and civil rights advocates are also spearheading efforts to win similar measures in Indiana, Missouri, Florida, Texas, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Maryland, organizers said.

Were asking them to make a commitment to have local police departments commit to being cities where they will reject any information gathering for undocumented immigrants, for political dissenters and religious minorities, said Michael McBride, director of urban strategies for PICO, a national network of faith-based community organizations.

In Pasadena, Calif., in February, the city manager suspended an agreement between the police department and the Department of Homeland Securitys Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, which authorized joint investigations of human trafficking, drug smuggling and other non-immigration related crimes while the city council considers a resolution declaring Pasadena a sanctuary city. Such a move probably would mean that city police would be barred from asking suspects about their immigration status.

[How sanctuary cities work]

In San Francisco, concerns had been building for some time about the scope of the power the FBI has to investigate people even when there is no reasonable suspicion that they have been involved in crimes, civil liberties advocates said.

In 2015, for instance, a city police officer on the JTTF showed up unannounced at Google headquarters in Silicon Valley to interview an employee, who was Muslim, about his travels and relatives in Pakistan. The Office of Citizen Complaints found last August that the incident was a result of a training failure and that it violated a police department rule that required that the officer document in writing a reasonable suspicion that the target is involved in a crime before asking questions about First Amendment-protected activity.

Advocates also expressed concerns that the JTTF might determine that someone it is interviewing is an undocumented immigrant and that the information may wind up in a database that ICE can use.

A federal law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue, defended the bureau. Task force officers do not generally seek to interview anyone without reasonable suspicion, he said. We dont have the resources or bandwidth to waste our time going after people without at least some suspicion that they may have knowledge of potential terrorist activity.

He also said that although a task force officer may learn that someone overstayed his visa, if that person is not linked to terrorist activity, the FBI is not likely to pursue a case. Were not going to scoop a guy up just for an overstay, he said.

And an ICE official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said ICE agents on the task force give priority to cases involving significant criminal and terrorism activity, not to visa overstays.

There is precedent for San Franciscos move. In 2005, Portland, Ore., pulled its police department out of the local JTTF amid concerns that mass interviews of Muslims being conducted by the task force during the Bush administration violated state anti-discrimination laws.

In Los Angeles, which has the nations third-largest FBI field office, the police department is not likely to withdraw from the task force, said Deputy Chief Michael Downing, who runs the Los Angeles Police Departments counterterrorism and special operations bureau.

If major city police departments pull out of the JTTFs, Downing said, its a potential disaster. Local police have the best connections to the communities they serve, he said, and the FBI cant do this by themselves, and major city police departments cant do this by themselves.

The San Francisco police spokesman, Andraychak, said a decision to rejoin would be up to the city police commission.

Commission member Bill Hing, a University of San Francisco law professor and expert on immigration law, said he is concerned that the Trump administration would take full advantage of whatever partnerships they had with cities to step up deportations.

He said, however, that public safety is our highest priority. He expressed faith that the police department can ensure public safety without violating individual rights. It takes good police work, he said. I know it can sometimes be a very fine line.

This story has been updated.

Read more:

Trump wants to empower local police to enforce immigration law, raising fears of racial profiling

Three words  radical Islamic terrorism  expose a Trump administration divide

What it will take for President Trump to deport millions and build the wall
A US airstrike on the northern Syrian village of Al-Mataba near the Syrian city of Raqqa claimed the lives of at least 23 civilians Wednesday night. Many of the victims were from one family, whose house was demolished in the bombardment. The dead were reported by Syrian monitoring groups to have included at least six children and four women.

The carnage from the air coincided with a dramatic escalation of the US military intervention on the ground with the deployment of a US Marine battalion armed with powerful M777 howitzers, artillery capable of firing as many five rounds per minute over a range of more than 20 miles. The amphibious task force was taken off Navy ships at the US Special Forces base at Djibouti, flown into Kuwait and then into Syria, a Pentagon official told the Washington Post.

The deployment of the Marines from the San Diego-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, along with a contingent of Army Rangers, roughly doubles the number of US troops inside Syria, which was previously limited to just over 500 special forces trainers and advisers.

The new troops are to provide fire support for the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, a militia dominated by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), which operates as a proxy ground force for the US intervention in Syria. Washington is preparing these forces for an assault on Raqqa, a Syrian city of 300,000 which is under the control of the Sunni Islamist militia, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The US military command is operating on the pretense that the deployment of the new American forces is only temporary, but their arrival likely signals the escalation of the US intervention in Iraq and Syria that the Trump administration has advocated. The Pentagon presented a report to the White House outlining proposals for such an escalation at the end of last month.

Testifying before the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Gen. Joseph Votel, the chief of US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees military operations in the region, claimed that the authorization to use military force (AUMF) passed by the US Congress in 2001 following the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington provided the authority to escalate the deployment in Syria (a country that had nothing to do with 9/11) in order to fight ISIS (which did not exist in 2001). Votel also made it clear that the US intervention was being carried out without the permission of the Syrian government.

It was further reported Thursday that the Pentagon is preparing to send nearly 1,000 additional troops to Kuwait to serve as a reserve force that US commanders on the ground in Iraq and Syria could call into the country as they see fit.

These changes are part of a shift in the rules of engagement for the US intervention in the region, which is ostensibly directed at defeating ISIS. US commanders are to be given far greater discretion in terms of calling in airstrikes and ordering other offensive actions, which previously had to be approved by the senior brass. Also being lifted are restraints that were supposedly in place to limit so-called collateral damage, i.e., the slaughter of Iraqi and Syrian civilians.

The past several weeks have seen a major escalation of the US-led bombing campaign leading to a steady increase in the number of civilian deaths in both countries. This toll will only increase with the deployment of US artillery.

The Pentagons spokesman for the US intervention in Iraq and Syria, referring to the deployment of the Marine battalion, told Reuters, We have had what I would describe as a pretty relentless air campaign to destroy enemy capabilities and to kill enemy fighters in that area already. That is something that we are going to continue and intensify with this new capability.

According to statistics released by the US Air Forces Central Command, US and allied warplanes dropped 7,494 bombs, rockets and other munitions on targets in Iraq and Syria during the first nine weeks of this year. This represents an increase of nearly 50 percent compared to the same period in 2016, and is nearly double the number of airstrikes conducted in 2015.

The group Airwars, which monitors airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, has estimated that as many as 370 Iraqi civilians have been killed in the US bombardment of the densely populated neighborhoods of western Mosul just since March 1. The assault on the ISIS-held area of the city has turned whole blocks into rubble and forced 40,000 civilians to flee their homes over the last week alone.

According to Airwars, as many as 130 civilians died on March 5 in an assault on a government compound in the Dawassa district of Mosul, which reportedly involved US Apache attack helicopters. Another 50 to 80 were killed in a March 1 airstrike against a mosque that was being used as a shelter for refugee families.

The monitoring group estimates the number of civilians killed in both Iraq and Syria by the US air war since its beginning in 2014 at nearly 2,500.

Part of the US escalation in Syria has consisted of sending Army Rangers aboard Stryker armored vehicles into the area around Manbij, northwest of Raqqa. This intervention, dubbed by the Pentagon as a reassure and deter mission, is aimed at forestalling an armed clash between the US proxy forces in the Kurdish YPG and Washingtons NATO ally in the region, Turkey.

Turkey has threatened to attack YPG forces--which Ankara describes as terrorists-- in the area in order to prevent linking up the two cantons of Kobane and Afrin to form a Kurdish autonomous zone along Turkeys border with Syria.

What is important for us is to clear Manbij of YPG elements. Why did the YPG come there? To establish its terrorist canton and to gain more territory, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday.

For its part, the YPG has denounced Turkish troops inside Syria as an occupation force and has insisted that they cannot be allowed to participate in the planned offensive against Raqqa. Unconfirmed reports circulated on social media Wednesday that elements of the YPG had used a US-supplied TOW missile to attack a Turkish tank in northern Syria.

The increasingly tense situation in the region was discussed in a three-way meeting held in the Turkish port city of Antalya Wednesday between the US, Russian and Turkish military chiefs of staff. Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Hulusi Akar, and Russias Chief of the General Staff, Gen. Vasily Gerasimov.

The Pentagon issued a statement saying the meeting was necessary because the area surrounding Raqqa had become a crowded battlespace and the conflicting interests of the different armed forces operating there had created a dangerous situation.

The growing dangers in Syria are the outcome of the nearly six-year-old US-orchestrated war for regime change and the attempt by US imperialism to utilize the conflict as a means of weakening the positions of regional and global rivals, particularly Iran and Russia. The growing US military presence in the region poses the threat of the conflict in Iraq and Syria escalating into a far wider war.
In October 1917, in the midst of the slaughter of World War I, the Russian working class, acting under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, overthrew the capitalist provisional government headed by Alexander Kerensky and established the first workers state in world history. Less than nine months earlier, Russia had been ruled by a monarchical dynasty headed by Tsar Nicholas II. The revolution was the beginning of the end of the imperialist war.

The Russian Revolution marked a new stage in world history. The overthrow of the capitalist Provisional Government proved that an alternative to capitalism was not a utopian dream, but a real possibility that could be achieved through the conscious political struggle of the working class. Despite the ultimately tragic fate of the Soviet Unionwhich was destroyed by the betrayals and crimes of the Stalinist bureaucracyno other event in the past century had such a far-reaching impact on the lives of hundreds of millions of people on every part of the planet.

On this page, readers will find many essays and lectures published over more than 20 years on the World Socialist Web Site examining the significance and lessons of the revolution and its impact around the world.
New evidence suggests that eating soy could be protective against breast cancer  even estrogen-negative breast cancers, an effect that no one expected.

Breast Surgeon Dr. Kristi Funk explains that the possible effects of soy on breast cancers have long been confusing. In some parts of the body the isoflavones in soy act like estrogen, while in other body parts the isoflavones suppress estrogen.

75 percent of American womens breast cancers are linked to estrogen, so isoflavones might theoretically lower risks -- or make they might make the risks even higher.

Watch: Balance Hormones Naturally

But now a new study published in the journal Cancer found that women who were high soy consumers had a 21 percent drop in breast cancer incidence and recurrence. And weirdly, the study found an even bigger effect, a 50 percent drop, in estrogen-negative cancers.

Apparently, soy also has a protective effect completely aside from its effects on estrogen. Dr. Funk speculates that it might be due to antioxidant or anti-inflammatory properties in soy that we dont yet understand.

Soy foods widely are available, whether its tofu, edamame, or soy milk. These were not truly high soy consumers, says Dr. Funk of the women who saw the benefits. They were getting an average of 1.8 milligrams a day, while just one cup of soy milk provides 27 milligrams.

Watch: Can Breast-Feeding Prevent Cancer?

Her conclusion is, Everything in moderation. You dont need to eat five pounds of tofu for lunch!

Every study that comes out seems to support the boring mantra of everything in moderation, ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork observes. Read more about the study, here.
If youre looking for an alternative to toothpaste and to add a little bling to your mouth, The Doctors might have what you need! But, how well does it work?

We look into Lushs toothpaste alternative Bling!, which is a pill you chew and then brush your teeth with. It contains papain extract, Brazilian orange oil, almond oil, frankincense oil, guarana seed powder and edible gold.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Ordon put the product to the test and reports back with, [My teeth] feel very good. It feels a little bit like baking powder I dont mind the taste at all I kind of like the feeling it leaves in your mouth.

Watch: What Orange Tongue Says about Your Health

But is using a product with edible gold good for your oral health? The Doctors speak with dentist Joe Willardsen to find out if its worth swapping it for your traditional paste.

Dr. Willardsen questions if the gold used is real gold, saying, I dont think [the gold] is doing anything positive I dont want any metal in my mouth."

According to the companys website the gold is made of potassium aluminum silicate, titanium dioxide and iron oxides.

Watch: How Hard You Should Brush

Dr. Willardsen adds, "If youre looking to whiten your teeth, I dont think this is the product."

Tell us, would you swap your toothpaste for these gold tablets?

Dr. and Mrs. Guinea Pig Present The Only Guide You'll Ever Need to the Best Anti-Aging Treatments is published by Ghost Mountain Books, which is owned, in part, by The Doctors Executive Producer.
Somerville Brewing Company is throwing something new into its beer recipe, and its not a bonsai tree or Kernza . The Massachusetts-based brewery is using Capn Crunch Berries cereal in its new Belgian-style ale called Saturday Morning, which will launch later this month. The Belgian ale...

Somerville Brewing Company is throwing something new into its beer recipe, and its not a bonsai tree or Kernza. The Massachusetts-based brewery is using Capn Crunch Berries cereal in its new Belgian-style ale called Saturday Morning, which will launch later this month.

The Belgian ale was named as a tribute to everybodys favorite Saturday morning cereal, at least according to local brewer Mike Johnson, who first dabbled with the recipe in 2000, Beverage Daily reported.

To create the beer, the company used a base recipe similar to its Trekker Trippel beer, a Belgian golden ale, then added Capn Crunch Berries and flaked corn during the mash-in stage.

In terms of the brewing process, the crunch berries are just one more grain and sugar source for the wort, Caitlin Jewell, co-founder of Somerville Brewing Company, told Beverage Daily.

Saturday Morning is just over 9 percent ABV and will be served at the brewerys taproom. The brewery also has plans to can the beer and release it as a limited edition through distributor Mass Bev Alliance.
The neighborhood was known in Albuquerque as the War Zone, and the squat concrete building at the end of the road, its paint peeling in the New Mexico sun, didnt do much to try and dispel the nickname.

But back then, the building was the only homeless shelter in the area that would take kids without a parents signature, so it was the only place she could go in order to stop sleeping out on park benches or inside the slide at the school playground.

Then she could focus on her future, her schoolwork, her 4.2 GPA, her college applications. She could stop running for a change  from her violent mom, her moms creepy addict boyfriend, their drug-filled, filth-ridden home, and an existence that had, for her entire life, been one of rootlessness, homelessness.

The War Zone could actually be the way forward.

It seems almost too perfect, now, that her name was Hope. I was really surprised I made it this far. I didnt think I was going to make it to 16 because of the circumstances, she says now, looking up at the building through its chain-link fence.

Hope was born in Albuquerque to a 16-year-old single mom who was homeless.

The family, which quickly included a baby brother, stayed in shelters and with family members until her mom qualified for government help. Her extended family lived hours away, on a Navajo reservation in Chinle, Arizona, one they visited frequently, even for extended periods, but never permanently.

Related: How Native Women Survive the Sex Trafficking Epidemic

About 50% of Native American children are raised in single-parent homes, and nearly three-quarters of those home are considered low-income. For Hope, life as a young Navajo girl, from the time she became one, meant trying to find a home, a place in the world.

It also meant trying to find safety.

Hopes mother experienced serious violence at the hands of her own parents and Hopes father, and was, in turn, violent toward Hope and her brother growing up. She would fly into rages at a moments notice and react to crying or fear with more rage. Hope says she taught herself to stay calm to make the rages end more quickly. It was a coping method that worked for other problems, like her moms boyfriend, who seemed to always smell of alcohol, or seem sort of out of it.

Story continues

When he moved in, no one really knew about the drugs, but he quickly became as violent as Hopes mom was, or more so. He fought Hopes mom, and she fought her kids. There were broken doors, broken glasses. She tried to stay away. School, extracurriculars, studying  anywhere but home.

(Photo: Courtesy of Hope Alvarado)

But she couldnt ignore some of it. The way he looked at her sometimes. The way her mom had started to dabble in whatever drugs he was selling. The times she slept out and came back to find her moms boyfriend in her child-sized bed. One night, when she was 15 and still living in the nice ranch house, he came up to her, started talking closely, started touching her shoulders.

Related: Fighting for Their Lives, Indigenous People Rise Up Around the World

Hope has ways of coping, and this time, she ran. She ran that night down her quiet residential Albuquerque street, and though he chased her, screaming, she made it to a friends house, called her mom and told her what had happened.

Her mom picked her up after her graveyard shift, around 2 a.m. And then she brought her home. It didnt take Hope long to decide that it was safer to be on her own than in her home. That night, running down her sleepy Albuquerque street, running from danger, seeking refuge: that night defined much of Hopes life for years to come. It may define it forever.

Hope Alvarado, second from top left, and Cheyenne Antonio, bottom left, in their work as part of the Red Nation activist group. (Photo: Courtesy of Hope Alvarado)

That night  the threat of sexual violence, the presence of drugs and alcohol, the absence of her mom because she was out working late trying to make ends meet, the poverty, the injustice, the search for safety and a home  thats what Hope is fighting against now.

Native American women experience dramatically higher rates of violence than any other group in the United States  truly staggering rates: 85% of Native women have experienced violence in their lives, 56% have experienced sexual assault, and nearly 40% have experienced sexual assault in the last year.

Related: From Welfare Mom to Author, This Native Woman Defies Statistics

And Like Hope, those experiences of violence often happen at a young age: More than 40% of Native children experience two or more acts of violence by the age of 18. And yet only 13% of reported cases result in arrest, according to the Department of Justice.

Hopes life was filled with violence  her family was under investigation for 11 years by the state Children Youth and Families Department due to her mothers physical abuse  but she first became a victim of sexual abuse at the age of 5. After it happened, she started telling adults that she wanted to grow up to be a prostitute after being told that was all she was going to be good for. She was sexually assaulted at ages 14 and 15, and raped when she was a senior in high school.

Hope Alvarado leading a protest march with Red Nation. (Photo: Courtesy of Hope Alvarado)

While Hopes mom did in fact, get help with her violent outbursts and became less physically abusive, she also got addicted to meth. She got clean again, but the two dont really talk all that much.

Her family, like many Native families, is fractured but still connected, drawn back to celebrations at her great-grandmothers house on the reservation. They are still in contact with generations of aunts and cousins and uncles and grandparents, but are broken by the violence and drugs theyve experienced.

The challenges that Hope faced, statistically, all propelled her to bright future.

When her moms boyfriend moved into Hopes house, she ended up spending more time at school to avoid him. She got there at 6 a.m. to help with clubs and stayed until 8 p.m. for extracurriculars and meetings. If there were a dance one of her committees were helping to organize, she would stay until midnight or 1 a.m. setting up for it  anything to avoid going home.

Related: Take Action  Tell President Trump to Respect Tribal Rights

Hope Alvarado is 21 now, a poised, assured, and eloquent student at the University of New Mexico campus. Shes a student activist, who has decried the racism of the administration and its decision to host Milo Yiannopoulos on campus, and rhapsodized over the next event the Native student group KIVA has planned for indigenous pride on campus. She showed off a pile of donated goods for the water protectors at Standing Rock  shes been four times since the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline began  and even introduced herself in her native language, Navajo.

We introduce ourselves not only as a person but who we are as a community and where were from, she says. Thats how we greet each other.

The activism, the passion, the march across campus: they are fueled with this fire, the memories of what happened in this building and before it  the violence of her childhood, the homelessness and poverty. Hopes identity as young Navajo activist is tied up in the trauma of growing up Native in the US today, with all of the systemic challenges and inequities that brings.

At the Oceti Sakowin camp on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation last year, Hope stood with thousands of others just like her.

Hope is part of a new generation of young Native American women who, by being at the frontlines of the activists movement unified in standing up for their rights, are overcoming the systemic challenges of poverty, substance abuse, mental health challenges, domestic and sexual violence, health and educational inequities, marginalization and racism.

Together, they are standing together with a message that Native people deserve to be heard.

And for a change, the world finally seems to be hearing them.

Read the rest of Hopes story and the inspiring tales of other activists like her in Global Citizens project: Native Girls Rise: How a New Generation of Native Women are Standing Up & Fighting Back.

Read More from Global Citizen:



28 Girls Killed in Orphanage Fire in Guatemala After Protests Over Abuse, Overcrowding

Child Sex-Trafficking Victims Treated as Criminals in Most US States, Advocates Say



Orphanage Sells Babies for $2K, Tells Mothers Their Children Were Stillborn


Michael and Sharon have been happily married for 20 years. They had no idea that their lives could change in an instant  until the night of March 20, 2016, when Michael found himself in the middle of a robbery in progress. Michael was untouched by the hail of bullets, but he still bears the emotional wounds of his terrible experience and hes desperate for help.

Michael worked for the Pennsylvania Transit Authority, driving a cargo van and collecting deposits from toll booths. That night a toll booth attendant told him theyd just been robbed. The guard who worked with Michael went to investigate. The robber shot the guard, and then killed the toll collector.

Michael fled for his life on foot as the masked robber shot at him repeatedly. He suffered minor injuries in his escape, but none of the bullets struck him. However, hes far from unscathed.

Watch: Mass-Shooting Survivor Lives with PTSD

He walks in fear. Even though Michael dodged 17 bullets, he is wounded deep inside, says Sharon, blinking back tears.

Michael adds, I play it over and over in my head.

I can see the pain in your eyes, recounting that, says ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork.

"I didnt know how to take care of him, says Sharon. Theres no manual to help you through the process.

Watch: Homeless Veteran Mom Facing PTSD

Although its been a year since that terrible night, it feels to Michael just like yesterday. Loud noises panic him, and he no longer enjoys walking or seeing people. His little dog Jemma has been his inseparable companion and comfort.

Psychotherapist Erin Foster explains, He has all the classic symptoms of PTSD. The danger is that he might move into a major depressive disorder.

Owner Pat Manley and Cofounder and CEO Thomas Isbell of Sabino Recovery are in The Doctors audience. Sabino Recovery is a residential program that treats trauma, alcoholism, and addiction in an idyllic Arizona desert setting. We have a place that is such a safe and healing environment because that is so important in treating PTSD.

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Dr. Stork asks Michael whether he would be willing to try a program like the one at Sabino Recovery. Michael says thats just what he wants.

Watch: Shocking Gas Station Attack Lives Young Woman Disfigured

You came to a safe place today, you came to a place you can get help, Dr. Stork assures him.

Pat offers Michael a scholarship to Sabino Recovery so he can heal from his trauma. Michael is overcome, and Jemma the pup is brought out to celebrate with him.

Dr. Stork reminds viewers that if they or someone they love is living with PTSD, not to be afraid to ask for help.
Photo credit: Getty

From Redbook

Mom guilt (or the pestering feeling that you somehow aren't ever doing enough for your kids) is a problem for so many women. It's particularly rough when you pile on top of that the guilt often associated with being a working mom instead of a stay-at-home mother  the so-called "abandonment" of your kids for a job. But in a new interview, Victoria Beckham opened up about why fellow working moms should feel pride, rather than guilt, for their career woman status.

Beckham recently discussed travel, family, and her career as part of British Airways' Make Your 2017 #unforgettable campaign. On the subject of being a working mom, she noted that she loves getting on a plane and "unplugging," calling it "the only time when [her] phone is switched off." For the woman formerly known as Posh Spice, who parents her 4 kids with David Beckham and runs a fashion line, air travel is an important opportunity for that "mom time"  and she doesn't feel bad about it.

"When you're a busy mum, you don't really have a lot of time to really, really relax. As a working mother, you should never feel guilty, you should feel proud," the fashion designer said. "You're inspiring your children in the right way, being a strong woman going to work."

But Beckham hasn't always felt this way about being a working mom  she used to experience mom guilt, too. In a 2013 interview with Vogue China, Beckham said that though "[m]illions and millions of women around the world are doing this every day," you can't help but "feel guilty every time you walk out of the door to go to work."

Her tune had changed by the time she made a Good Morning America appearance in 2015. She recalled then what Diane von Furstenberg had once told her when she asked whether her fellow designer had ever felt that mom guilt: "[S]he said, 'Absolutely not. It's a waste of time, a waste of energy, it's aging [...] Actually, you're setting a good example with the fact that you're a woman, you're going to work. You really are setting a good example,'" Beckham remembered.

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Clearly, Beckham took von Furstenberg's words to heart and is now spreading that sentiment.

(h/t Babble)

Follow Redbook on Facebook.

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Liam Neeson at press conference for Operation Chromite on July 13, 2016 in Seoul, South Korea (Photo: Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)

Liam Neeson is not a man to be trifled with, as proved again and again in action hits like Taken, Unknown, The Grey, Non-Stop, and Run All Night. His next man-on-a-mission turn comes in Hard Power, in which he stars as a snowplow driver  yes, you read that correctly  who vows revenge against the drug dealers he suspects killed his son. But now it seems that mission wont be taking him to at least one corner of the Rocky Mountains.

Related: Authentic Stories About Native Americans Need Hollywoods Attention

As reported by CBC News, Hard Powders request to film in a Canadian portion of the Rocky Mountains national parks has been denied, due to the fact that the film is set to feature a First Nations character (played by First Nations actor, musician, and Order of Canada member Tom Jackson) whos a gang leader. Apparently, that negative characterization drove enough opposition to stymie the productions plans, which were to film in Banff, the Lake Louise townsite and ski hill, and the Columbia Icefields. Said location manager Mark Voyce, They expressed a real concern that this was not something they would favor.

As Parks Canada recounted in an email, their decision was informed by the films depiction of Jacksons villain:

Parks Canadas commitment to reconciliation and respect for indigenous peoples was an important factor in the agencys final decision on this matter. Parks Canada maintains the right to refuse applications that are not in line with Parks Canadas mandate or operational priorities.

Related: Justice League Cast Supports Dakota Access Pipeline Opposition

The rejection was reportedly a death blow to the films intentions to begin shooting on March 20, and came despite a letter from Jackson himself in which he voiced support for the film, stating, As a consultant to this production, I have taken a strong stance to ensure that the humility and integrity of First Nation roles do not cross the line of disrespect to my culture. I dont feel my culture is insulted even slightly by the script. Hard Powder will be made regardless. The question is whether we deprive our own, or do we harvest for our own?

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Despite this ruling, Hard Powder currently remains set for a 2018 release. You can read more about the controversy at CBC News and the Calgary Herald.

Liam Neeson employs his own particular set of skills in a mall Santa audition, from the Late Show With Stephen Colbert:

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Photo credit: Marc Urbano

From Road & Track

I remember, early in my career, the excitement of the Detroit auto show. The anticipation, the adrenaline, wondering who would unveil what. But like Christmas, the Detroit show is starting to feel routine and predictable.

Is it just me? Jaded? Too old to get it?

There was a certain flatness, a mediocrity about this year's show. Maybe it's because all the hot autonomous and connected stuff was downstairs, as Detroit tries to counterpunch Las Vegas's CES, which is supposedly a consumer electronics show but is attracting more and more major car introductions. It might be another deplorable sign that we are at a point of convergence: Are these cars with onboard computing power, or are they computers with four wheels and an engine thrown in?

In Detroit, where were the vehicles that are the objects of our careers, our dreams, and our desires? Alas, there wasn't much of that. Several brands stayed away entirely. The show floor was sparse enough that GAC, a Chinese producer, scored a prominent stand, featuring four vehicles poised to invade the United States. Many an inland Chinese peasant may aspire to a GAC, but I believe Americans will give it a pass.

Concept cars were scarce. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles showed what might be symbolic of the show: a nonautomotive shape that looked like a major appliance (the Chrysler Portal concept, fresh in from CES). Audi unveiled its new full-size crossover concept, the Q8, in a hideous bright blue. The design is unremarkable, but Audi has discovered a new multi-theme front end, which I'll let others judge for themselves. Mercedes showed a crossover concept with a blue-LED-lit grille, putting garish accent on a boring shape. Volkswagen had yet another "historic VW Bus" concept, the I.D. Buzz (electric, of course), and this time they got it right.

There were few dramatic debuts of production cars, and much of what was revealed was in the crossover category. GMC updated the Terrain, with a slick new body and a soon-to-be-cliche "floating" C-pillar. The new Chevrolet Traverse, now posing as a slightly smaller Tahoe, is not a major step aesthetically, but it will be hugely successful. Ford did not unveil the long-awaited new Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, reportedly out of fear of embarrassing CEO Mark Fields, who had just delivered a speech at CES on the future of connected mobility. Volvo brought a really cool new wagon, the V90, which will sink into irrelevance, like all wagons in the U.S.

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The new, big Lexus LS sedan is daring, but none of its lines and masses are quite in the places they should be-and that absolutely huge Darth Vader grille belongs nowhere at all. It makes for a sales-proof Lexus sedan. (Akio Toyoda must love that front end, because I don't think anyone else does.) The new Camry is a stylistic hodgepodge, marking one more negative milestone in Toyota design. (Mind you, these are all great cars, but so what? Every car out there is a great car; why saddle yourself with ugly?)

There was one new car that gladdened the hearts of enthusiasts. The Stinger was a totally unexpected rear-drive mid-size sedan from Kia that has superb proportions and generally manages to look pleasingly Teutonic.

In summary, lots of walking, lots of connectivity, not much new for the enthusiast. Maybe next year we'll see the long-rumored mid-engine Corvette. That would give me that boyhood pre-Christmas thrill again.

Bob Lutz has been The Man at several car companies. Ask him about cars, the auto industry, or life in general.

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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP)  At least 26 people died and 36 more were injured when an overcrowded bus veered off a mountain road in Nepal, officials said Friday.

Government administrator Krishna Chandra Poudel said the bus plunged off the road Thursday near a village about 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu. The bus rolled about 200 meters (650 feet) down a slope before crashing into the Pasagad river.

Local villagers helped police and soldiers pull the bodies and the injured from the wreckage.

Poudel said rescue helicopters reached the accident area late Thursday and were able to fly 18 of the injured to a hospital in Nepalgunj city.

Another eight injured people were being flown out on Friday but had to wait for the weather to clear up.

Accidents in Nepal are mostly blamed on poorly maintained roads and vehicle conditions. The country is covered by mountains and the roads are also usually narrow.
Five people were murdered in Stockholm, Sweden, over the past weekand seven were slain since the beginning of the year, indicating a recent spike in violent crime in Sweden's capital city. The murders were the product of at least 12 ongoing gang conflicts in the nation's capital, authorities said.

"We have had a large number of serious crimes and shootings in Stockholm recently. In the past few days we've had five murders in Stockholm. Of course it is alarming and very serious," regional police chief Ulf Johansson said at press conference Thursday.

Read: Is Sweden Safe? Military Draft Enacted Amid Russian Aggression, Security Fears

Two men died from gunshot wounds to the head after they were found in a car parked in front of a school Wednesday night in the Swedish suburb of Kista, local media reported. Local TV station SVT said that a witness reported seeing a car drive away from the scene at high speeds. One of the victims was a 26-year-old leader of a local gang. The other victim, a 20-year-old, was a convicted drug dealer, reported Dagens Nyheter, a national daily newspaper in Sweden. Armed officers were deployed to the scene and police conducted door-to-door interviews to collect data, SVT said.

Patrick Ungsater, a senior police officer representing the Northern Stockholm area, said the public should not be concerned for their safety, The Local reported.

"We see them as isolated gang environments," Ungsater said.

But just a day before, a middle-aged married couple was brutally murdered in Hallonbergen, another Stockholm suburb just a few miles west of Kista. Police arrived at the scene while the crime was ongoing and arrested three people, a 20-year-old, a 16-year-old and a 21-year-old, Dagens Nyheter reported.

Murders in Sweden, a country of roughly 10 million people, are relatively rare. The country had 112 cases of lethal violence in 2015, up from 87 in 2014 and 68 in 2012, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention. In contrast, the U.S. had 15,696 murders in 2015 in a population roughly 32 times larger than Sweden's.

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Photo: Reuters

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The stormy political climate in the U.S. has some people dreaming of life in a country where calm and civility reign supreme. For many, Canada is that country.

"It's the kinder, gentler neighbor up north," says Nuri Katz, president of Apex Capital Partners and an immigration and residency planning expert, repeating an oft-used description of the country. However, moving there isn't as easy as people might think. "Canada is a separate country," Katz says. "It's not the 51 st state."

Before you head for the border, consider these tips for retiring to Canada.

1. Living in Canada part time is the easiest route. While traveling to Canada is relatively easy for U.S. citizens, retiring there permanently is a different story. Katz explains immigrants must fit specific criteria such as being a skilled employee or have Canadian family members willing to sponsor them. When applying for entry through some immigration programs, age may be a factor, making it difficult for older Americans to gain permanent residency. Fortunately, you don't have to jump through any hoops if you're willing to split your time between the U.S. and Canada. You could buy a second home in the country and stay in it for up to six months of the year as a tourist.

[See: 10 Tips for Finding a Great Place to Retire.]

2. Seek out immigration experts if you want permanent residency. Jordan Waxman, managing partner at HSW Advisors at HighTower in New York City, was born in Montreal and says Canada is a great place to retire. "Obviously, I'm Canadian, so I'm a little biased, but I think it's a gorgeous country," Waxman says. However, like Katz, he says the immigration process isn't necessarily easy or simple.

To save time and avoid costly mistakes, Waxman recommends contacting an immigration attorney to discuss your options. Using a professional familiar with Canadian tax laws is also essential. That person can walk you through the process of having assets properly appraised and trusts set up to protect your finances should you pass away while in the country.

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3. Look into the provincial sales tax. Taxes in Canada are generally much higher than in the U.S., says Marc Lovell , a director in the tax group at CBIZ MHM. Lovell is a U.S. citizen, but was born in Toronto and has spent many years there. He says while most people moving to Canada expect an income tax, they overlook the sales tax, which can be significant.

There is a federal goods and services tax of 5 percent on most purchases. Plus, most provinces have their own sales tax or apply a harmonized sales tax that combines federal and provincial levies. Those combined taxes are as much as 15 percent in the Maritime Provinces. Alberta and the Northern Territories do not have a provincial tax, so only the 5 percent GST applies in those areas.

4. Understand your U.S. and Canadian tax-filing requirements. Not only is the sales tax different in Canada, but income-tax rules diverge significantly from the U.S. as well. "It's a whole different tax world," Lovell says. In particular, Canada offers limited deductions, which can make it hard to reduce tax liabilities. Before moving, Lovell recommends his clients run a simulation to see what their taxes will be like. "Let's pretend you actually live in that country and see how the rates affect you," he says.

What's more, U.S. citizens living abroad still need to file U.S. returns. While double taxation isn't a concern, thanks to foreign income and housing exclusions, Lovell says there are specific disclosure requirements for foreign bank accounts. Failure to file the correct forms could result in stiff penalties.

[See: 10 Places to Retire on a Social Security Budget.]

5. Buy international health insurance before you go. Canada ranked 10 th for retirement security in Natixis Global Asset Management's 2016 Global Retirement Index, in large part because of the excellent health insurance coverage it provides to residents. However, that coverage isn't going to help you if you are living there part time and get sick. Your U.S. policy probably won't pay your expenses, either. Before moving north, make sure you have a health insurance plan that will cover you on foreign soil.

6. Leave your U.S. car at home. Lovell says some of his clients have made the mistake of trying to take their cars with them to Canada. "It gets very expensive," he says. "The car might not be worth it." That's because Canada has very different emissions and safety standards than the U.S. Before a vehicle can be legally licensed in the country, it must be modified to meet government requirements.

[See: 10 Retirement Hot Spots in the U.S.]

7. Don't relinquish your U.S. citizenship. For those tempted to give up their citizenship in response to the current state of political affairs, Lovell has this advice: Don't do it. He's seen too often someone leave the country for a few years and then decide to return. Unfortunately, it can be an uphill climb to reclaim citizenship once it's been relinquished.

There may be obstacles, but that doesn't mean you still shouldn't consider retiring to Canada. "It's a fantastic place," Waxman says. "It's a great country." Just be sure to do your homework before packing your bags.
Sixers lead owner Josh Harris was among a group of business executives who met with President Trump this week to talk about infrastructure.

Harris, co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and the other execs joined the president over lunch Wednesday, according to the White House.

Trump has vowed to put $1 trillion into the nation's crumbling infrastructure but has not offered details on what that would fund or where the money would come from.

Harris' precise role at the meeting is unclear.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer described the lunch as a discussion "looking at infrastructure from a businesspersons perspective."

An account from the Wall Street Journal, which was "invited to observe" the private meeting, did not offer any specifics about Harris. The 76ers owner's participation "made sense given his firm's broad industrial and real estate holdings," the news site Axios noted.

Others at the meeting included Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao; Energy Secretary Rick Perry; Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt; Le-Frak real-estate CEO Richard LeFrak; Vornado Realty Trust CEO Steve Roth; General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford; Nature Conservancy managing director Lynn Scarlett; McKinsey partner Tyler Duvall; and Tesla founder Elon Musk

Trump told the executives that he wanted to streamline local permitting, favor renovations of existing roads and prioritize projects that can get underway quickly, according to the Journal's report.

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An American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyer asked the Alabama State Bar, in an ethics complaint filed Thursday, to determine if Attorney General Jeff Sessions violated the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct while giving a testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee rejecting claims of any contact with Russian officials.

Jeff Sessions told a falsehood to the Senate, and did nothing to correct his statement until he was exposed by the press more than a month later. No attorney, whether just starting out as a new lawyer or serving as the countrys top law enforcement officer, should lie under oath. The Alabama bar must investigate this wrong fully and fairly, Christopher Anders, deputy director of the ACLU's legislative office, who filed the complaint, said in a statement.

Read: Al Franken Calls Jeff Sessions' Russian Contacts Explanation 'Ridiculous'

In January, during his confirmation hearing, Sessions testified under oath saying he "did not have communications with the Russians" throughout the U.S. presidential campaign. However, the Washington Post reported on March 1, citing Justice Department officials that Sessions  who was still Alabama senator  was in touch with the Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak. According to the officials, the attorney general spoke to Kislyak in July and September "at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race.

On March 2, Sessions held a press conference, in which he agreed to have been in contact with one Russian official a couple of times.

Let me be clear: I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign, Sessions said at the time. The idea that I was part of a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government is totally false.

In retrospect, I should have slowed down and said, Yes, I did meet with one Russian official a couple of times,' the attorney general said. He added that he recused himself from investigations into President Donald Trump's presidential campaign and its alleged contact with Russians.

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Following this, Democrats have called for Sessions resignation. Also, according to a Quinnipiac University released Wednesday, 52 percent of respondents voted that Sessions lied under oath. Another 51 percent of voters said that he should have stepped down after admitting instead of recusing himself.

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A video of a kid and his nanny playing with thousands of plastic balls in the back of a pickup truck driving through a California neighborhood has led to two child endangerment arrests.

Read: Gone With the Wind: Young Girl Clings to Door as Gust Blows It Open

The YouTube clip of a child named Rocco and his 20-year-old nanny, Rebecca, riding in the bed of the vehicle filled with thousands of Orbeez (water and gel based plastic balls) led authorities to issue charges against two adults.

The video showed "dangerous driving behavior involving children," Police said in a statement.

As the truck turned around corners, Rocco and Rebecca coming close to being tossed right out of the vehicle, but no injuries were reported.

Later, the balls can be seen dumped out of the back of the truck for fun. They naturally rolled down the street and eventually clogged storm drains and reportedly triggered a major cleanup operation.

Police in Corona, California, issued citations to Holly Piazza, 45, the mother of the boy in the video, and Brian Chase, 37, for child endangerment after watching the video. They were also cited for illegal dumping and were ordered to pay for cleanup.

Read: Couple Brings Toddler to Home Invasion Robbery: Cops

Piazza produces a YouTube channel that features the escapades by her son Rocco, who has millions of fans on the video-sharing site.

"We have never put Rocco in harms way, he wears protective gear, we make sure he is safe. Although I, as a parent, chose to break the law and allow him to be in the back of a truck, I knew that day I was in control," Holly told Inside Edition. "We are not going to do it again. It is against the law. We learned our lesson."

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By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just over 1,400 visas are left in a special program for Afghans who worked for the U.S. government in Afghanistan, less than a tenth of what is needed for all the Afghans who have applied for such visas, a State Department official said on Friday. U.S. military forces have been engaged in Afghanistan for a decade and a half, and often rely on Afghans to serve as interpreters or provide other crucial support. Those individuals face serious threats by the Taliban insurgency for their work, and the Special Immigrant Visa program allows them to resettle in the United States. The State Department said in an online bulletin on Thursday that it had halted interviews for Afghans applying for the visas because it anticipated exhausting the visas, whose numbers are allocated by Congress, by the middle of this year. Of 8,500 special immigrant visas authorized by Congress for Afghan applicants, just 1,437 remained as of March 5, a State Department official said on Friday on condition of anonymity. "There are more than 15,000 Afghan principal applicants at some stage of the SIV application process," the official said. "We do not expect to resume scheduling appointments unless new SIV numbers are allocated by Congress." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Aden (AFP) - An air strike by a Saudi-led Arab coalition on a market in Yemen killed 20 civilians and six rebels on Friday, medical and military sources said.

The aircraft tried to target rebels at a roadblock on the southern outskirts of the Red Sea port of Khokha, but the fighters fled to a market where they were attacked, the sources said.

The raid took place at the entrance to the market that sells the mild narcotic leaf qat, which is very popular among Yemeni men.

A military source close to Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi said that by fleeing to the market, the rebels had used civilians as "human shields".

The rebel television channel Al-Masirah also reported the air strike, but give a slightly higher toll of 27 killed and said dozens more were wounded.

The Saudi-led coalition which has been battling Shiite Huthi rebels opposed to Hadi was not immediately available for comment.

The Arab force has come under repeated criticism over civilian casualties in Yemen.

In December, it acknowledged that it had made "limited use" of British-made cluster bombs but said it had stopped using them.

On Thursday, Amnesty International accused the coalition of using banned Brazilian-manufactured cluster munitions in raids on residential areas in northern Saada province, a Shiite stronghold.

In mid-February, a coalition air strike killed eight women and a child at a funeral reception near the rebel-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Meanwhile, the rebel news agency Sabanews.net reported Friday that a coalition boat hit a mine off the coast of Yemen's historic port of Mokha on Thursday and exploded, causing casualties.

Pro-Hadi forces took Mokha from the insurgents on February 10 and said they aimed to push north to retake the country's main Red Sea port of Hodeida next.

On Monday, at least 16 Huthis were killed in a coalition air strike northeast of Hodeida and 23 others were wounded, medical and military sources said.

Khokha is south of Hodeida.

The conflict in Yemen has left more than 7,400 people dead and 40,000 wounded since the coalition intervened on the government's side in March 2015, the United Nations says.
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and a young Yazidi woman who was enslaved and raped by Islamic State fighters pushed Iraq on Thursday to allow a United Nations investigation into crimes by the militant group. Britain is drafting a United Nations Security Council resolution to establish a U.N. investigation, but Clooney said the Iraqi government needs to send a letter formally requesting the inquiry before the 15-member council can vote. Islamic State is committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the minority religious community through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes, U.N. experts reported in June last year. Clooney, who represents Nadia Murad and other Yazidi victims of Islamic State, said that despite public support by Iraq for a U.N. investigation, the government has not yet made a request. "We do want to see an investigation take place with the cooperation of the Iraqi authorities," Clooney told Reuters in an interview after speaking at a United Nations event on accountability for crimes committed by Islamic State. "But ultimately if that support is not forthcoming in terms of real action, then the U.N. has to think of other ways in which to achieve accountability," she said. The Yazidis are a religious sect whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions. Islamic State militants consider the Yazidis to be devil-worshippers. Clooney said the Security Council could establish an inquiry without Iraq's consent, the 193-member U.N. General Assembly could establish a special team to preserve evidence and prepare cases - as it did for Syria in December - or the Security Council could refer the case to the International Criminal Court. "All these options are on the table. They must be seriously considered, because victims like Nadia can't expect to wait forever," said Clooney, adding that it was extremely important that evidence was preserved for future prosecution. When asked what may be preventing Iraq from requesting the investigation, Murad, 23, speaking through a translator, said: "They think that all Iraqis are persecuted by Daesh and they have to seek justice for everybody." Daesh is another name for Islamic State. "We will be seeking help and assistance," Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohamed Ali Alhakim, told the U.N. event where Murad also spoke. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why Iraq had not yet requested a U.N. inquiry. Britain's U.N. ambassador, Matthew Rycroft, told the U.N. event that he was working with Iraq on the issue. "The proposal should support Iraq's national efforts and fully respect it national laws and sovereignty. But it is also an urgent task. And we look forward to finalizing that proposal with you very, very soon," he said. Murad was abducted and held by Islamic State fighters for three months in 2014 in Mosul. She told her story to the U.N. Security Council in December 2015 and since then has been campaigning for justice. An exhausted Murad told U.N. ambassadors on Thursday: "My words, tears and my testimony have not made you act. I wonder whether there is any point in continuing my campaign at all." (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By Estelle Shirbon TUAM, Ireland (Reuters) - Catherine Corless has been haunted all her life by childhood memories of the skinny children from the local Catholic home for unmarried mothers and their babies in the small cathedral town of Tuam in the west of Ireland. Known locally as the home babies, the children lived in secrecy behind the dark, high walls of the home run by nuns from the Bon Secours order. Some of them attended the same school as Corless, but they were kept apart from the other children. Once, egged on by classmates, Corless played a trick on one of the home babies, handing over what looked like a sweet but was in fact only an empty wrapper. "I'm so sorry for that. It's stuck me with, that memory. It was only later I thought 'that poor child never got a sweet, they would have loved a sweet'," Corless told Reuters in an interview at her home in the countryside outside Tuam. Now a grandmother and amateur local historian, Corless has spent years painstakingly researching records to discover what happened behind those high walls, where unmarried pregnant women were sent to have their babies in secret. Alone, often met with silence and obstruction from Church and state bureaucracies that held long-forgotten records, Corless eventually exposed the existence of a mass grave of babies and toddlers in a sewer on the grounds of the home. The discovery, confirmed last week by the results of archaeological excavations, has horrified Ireland and caused a new wave of soul-searching about how women and children were treated at Catholic institutions in the past. TENDERS FOR COFFINS "The recent horrifying revelations of a mass grave of babies in Tuam, discovered as a result of the relentless work of local historian Catherine Corless, often impeded, rarely assisted, is another necessary step in blowing open the locked doors of a hidden Ireland," said President Michael D. Higgins on Wednesday. Born in 1954, Corless grew up on a farm near Tuam, worked as a typist-receptionist as a young woman, then married and raised her four children at home. In the 1990s, she became interested in local history and took a part-time course on how to conduct historical research using primary sources. In 2012, she offered to write an article for a local journal on the mother-and-baby home about which very little was known. At first she tried archival newspapers, but all she could find were advertisements tendering for child-sized coffins for the home. There were precise size specifications and the coffins were required to have brass handles and a brass crucifix on top. "That got me thinking, there must have been a lot of deaths in the home if they were putting out tenders for coffins every six months," said Corless. The breakthrough came when she obtained the death certificates of all the children who died at the home. She had no idea how many there would be. When the answer came, she was stunned: in the 36 years the home was open, from 1925-1961, 796 children died. "It was like a bolt of lightning. It just went through me. Is that possible?" said Corless, describing that moment. There was no trace of those children in any of the local cemeteries, and no written records of their places of burial. Government records show that in the 1930s-1950s more than one in four babies born out of wedlock in Ireland died, a rate more than five times that of children born to married parents. The records do not show how many children were living in the Tuam home at any given time, but suggest mortality rates that were even higher. In 1947, 49 babies were born in the home and 30 more admitted under the age of one. Forty-six children died there, most before their first birthday; the oldest was three. "A MOTHER'S GRAVE" The vacant home was demolished in the 1970s. A housing estate was built in its place, with a large playground tucked away behind some of the back yards. It had long been rumored locally that there was an unmarked children's graveyard on the site, and a grassy corner near the playground had been tended for years by residents who installed a small grotto with a statuette of the Virgin Mary. By comparing old and new maps of the site, Corless established that the mysterious, informal children's graveyard was located in the same place as a very old sewage tank. Her research was published locally, and eventually made national and international headlines in 2014, causing widespread revulsion and prompting the government to set up a commission of inquiry into the Tuam home and 17 other mother-and-baby homes. So far, there have been two test excavations at Tuam and only a sample of remains were recovered for analysis. They were found to range from 35-week-old fetuses to three-year-old children. "It's only the start. They have to find out. Are they all there?" said Corless. "They have to be counted if it's possible, because if they're not all there the question remains: where are they?" Since her research became public, Corless has been contacted by more than 100 people with connections to the home, and has helped some of them locate long lost relatives or the graves of mothers who were forced to part from them when they left the home. "I'm here for them. I'm happy I can help them. A lot of the time it's just a grave I find for them, a mother's grave. My work continues. I have a box of files of people who are looking for help," said Corless. She said many of the siblings of the lost babies wanted them re-interred in a consecrated graveyard. "They want a place to come to visit. It's hard for them to come in there and stand over a patch of ground in the middle of a housing estate and pay their respects." (Editing by Peter Graff)
In case you were craving an almost-too-close-to-home dystopian escape, Amazon's got you covered.

In conjunction with its series Man in the High Castle, Amazon Studios has created an immersive, narrative experience called "Resistance Radio."

The point is to give viewers the ability to experience the world where pirate radio stations broadcast in secret from basements, boats and pickup trucks. Resistance Radio DJsMiss Evangeline, Bob Montez and Jake Rumielwill host four hours of narrative storytelling, broadcasting the Resistance movements underground message to all with the hope that they can keep the memory of a former America alive.

Check out Mashable's exclusive look at the Resistance Radio music video (above). It features Sam Cohen performing the '60s hit The House of the Rising Sun."

Resistance Radio is available at www.resistanceradio.com and on Amazon Echo.

Amazon is also setting up a Resistance Radio experience at South by South West March 11 - March 14.
Paris (AFP) - The United States will meet its climate agreement goals, UN special envoy for climate change Michael Bloomberg said in Paris on Thursday.

"They have given us a roadmap of what we must do to save this planet. And I can only tell you that in America we will meet our COP21 goals," the former New York mayor said.

The United States is one of 60 countries committed to the COP21 climate deal struck in Paris in December 2015, though recent comments by President Donald Trump have raised concern among environmentalists.

Bloomberg's comments came as the incoming head of the US Environmental Protection Agency said that carbon dioxide is not the main driver of global warming, a position starkly at odds with the scientific consensus on climate change.

Trump's team is reportedly divided over whether the United States should withdraw from the Paris climate accord, negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Bloomberg, in the French capital for talks with President Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, said he hoped Trump would "be a leader" on the issue.

"My hope is that the new president of the United States, once he gets into office for a period of time, will come to understand that he can also be a leader as President Hollande is in terms of helping us prepare for our future," he told AFP.

He added the US was "basically" 60 percent of the way to achieving its COP21 climate goals.

"It's being done by the private sector helping close coal power plants, corporations looking at their environmental footprint and trying to improve it... and the average citizen in America understanding that climate change is real," he told AFP.

Hildago said city mayors in France, the United States and elsewhere "know that the measures to reduce carbon emissions also contribute towards clear air, boost the economy and improve the quality of life."
Animal rights activists have criticized Norway after a documentary recently broadcast on a public television claimed that 90 percent of minke whales killed each year in Norwegian waters are pregnant. The documentary, named The Battle of Agony, showed images of pregnant whales being cut open and fetuses being removed.

The majority of common minke whales caught in Norway have a fetus in their bellies, according to the documentary, which was broadcast earlier this month on the Norwegian public television NRK.

Read: Slaughtered Minke Whale Found On Japanese Ship, Crew Attempts To Cover It With Tarpaulin

Whale experts and hunters told the television that killing of pregnant whales is common.

Lots of slaughtered animals are sent to the slaughterhouse when they are pregnant, a veterinarian specializing in whale hunting, Egil Ole Oen reportedly said.

We have a professional approach and therefore we don't think about it, Dag Myklebust, the captain and harpoonist on the whaling ship Kato reportedly said in the documentary, adding that whales being pregnant is a sign of good health.

Norway, along with Iceland, allows commercial whaling, despite a 1986 international moratorium. According to the International Whaling Commission, the two countries take whales commercially at present, either under objection to the moratorium decision, or under reservation to it.

Japan is also involved in whaling. However, the country argues that it hunts whales only for scientific reasons.

Norway, on its part, maintains that it has enough whale stocks to sustain the killing and has authorized the hunt of 999 whales this year  an increase by 199 from the quota allotted in 2016, AFP reported.

Following the release of the documentary, several animal rights activists slammed Norway.

"Whale hunting is now even more unacceptable," the head of Greenpeace Norway, Truls Gulowsen, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Wednesday. "On the one hand because it's in violation of an international ban but also because ... it's indefensible from the point of view of the animal's well-being to hunt them during an advanced stage of gestation."

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Swiss animal rights group OceanCare also criticized the killing of pregnant whales.

It is horrific to learn that such a high rate of the whales killed in Norway are female and pregnant, OceanCare told AFP. The whalers are not only killing the current but also part of the next generation of whales.

Animal Welfare Institute, a U.S.-based animal right group, issued a statement Thursday condemning the killing.

Norway is now the leading killer of whales for commercial purposes; in 2016, it killed more whales than Iceland and Japan combined, the institutes statement read.

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Apple is still strongly against Nebraskas proposed Right to Repair bill. A representative for the Cupertino giant even pointed out recently how this proposed piece of legislation could open the doors for more shenanigans if passed.

This Friday, BuzzFeed learned of what Apple rep Steve Kester said about the proposal in a recent meeting with State Senator Lydia Brasch. Kester had apparently warned Brasch that the passage of the bill will very likely make Nebraska the Mecca for bad actors  his way of saying hackers will flood the state should the bill be approved.

Interestingly, the Apple rep divulged that the tech giant is more concerned with its famous smartphone line, the iPhone, than the other products. In fact, Kester told Brasch that Apple is not opposing the bill if it were not include phones in its scope. By the way, the Right to Repair bill encompasses a variety of electronic devices aside from smartphones, namely: tablets, computers, printers and even computerized farming equipment and tractors.

It is not surprising why Apple is against the proposal, which is also dubbed as LB67. The Cupertino-headquartered tech company has, after all, blocked previous attempts of the government to make its products serviceable or available for repair through third-party repair shops. Apple has already insisted that the devices it makes should only be serviced by its qualified technicians.

Moreover, bills such as the LB67 require manufacturers to provide manuals and diagnostic tools to third-party shops. Perhaps Apple is not pleased with this as well as it could expose its clients to more issues. And Apple is not the sole company to think like this. Even its biggest rival Samsung, as well as John Deere, also agree that such repair laws could open the door for more security and safety concerns, as per Apple Insider.

At Thursdays hearing about the Right to Repair bill, the Judiciary Committee in Nebraskas legislature concluded that the bill will not likely be considered this year. Thus far, a total of eight states are pushing for this legislation, and they are Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Wyoming, Massachusetts, New York and Illinois.

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Photo: Reuters/Charles Platiau

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Photo credit: U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Avery Cunningham

From Popular Mechanics

The U.S. Army is researching a new way to resupply troops: by bombing them with mortars. The service was recently granted a patent for a method that uses hollow artillery shells, GPS, and parasails to deliver goods to soldiers pinned down on the battlefield.

In this era of automatic weapons, it's relatively easy to run out of ammunition. A soldier's basic load of 180 rounds for his weapon might run low during a firefight, prompting a need for more ammunition. But in the confusion of battle it can be hard to figure out where friendly ammo supplies are, and enemy fire may restrict a unit's movement.

Photo credit: Picatinny Arsenal

That's why the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey came up with the "Ammunition Resupply Projectile" (ARP). ARP is a hollow mortar round that can be packed with ammunition-say, 5.56-millimeter rounds for the Army's M4A1 carbine. As Picatinny Arsenal describes it, "a tail section is secured to the payload deployment section, which includes a steerable decelerator system. That system also houses a guidance and navigation system made up of electronics, power supply and a parafoil control mechanism."

How would ARP be used? Let's say an infantry unit is caught in a hours-long firefight with enemy forces. It's running out of ammunition fast, so the commanding officer requests an ARP ammo resupply mission. He radios the battalion mortar platoon the coordinates of a safe location where he wants the ammo to land. Several kilometers away, the mortarmen spring into action, packing ARP shells with rifle bullets. The mortarmen enter the provided coordinates, drop the mortar bombs down the tubes, and let fly.

Photo credit: U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jose Rivera

The ARP shells fly through the air, guided toward the patrol by GPS. Once near the location, the shell slows down, the parafoil deploys, and the shell guides itself to a soft landing. The besieged grunts break open the mortar shells and equip themselves with the new ammo, allowing them to hold out until help arrives.

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ARP is just a concept for now, but it's an intriguing one. One possible issue with the system is that the Army's mortar bombs max out at an external diameter of just 4.7 inches, leaving relatively little internal volume for ammunition. Still, assuming the shell has a three inch by eight inch cavity for cargo that means at least 150 5.56-millimeter rounds per mortar bomb. Picatinny Arsenal also claims the shell could be used to send other resupply items, surveillance electronics, or even a submunition at an enemy target.

Here's a video of a U.S. Army M120 mortar in action:

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Sydney (AFP) - Australia's Great Barrier Reef is experiencing an unprecedented second straight year of mass coral bleaching, scientists said Friday, warning many species would struggle to fully recover.

The 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) reef suffered its most severe bleaching on record last year due to warming sea temperatures during March and April.

Bleaching is once again occurring, the government's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said after an aerial survey off Australia's eastern coast on Thursday.

"Regrettably, the temperatures have been high on the Great Barrier Reef this summer as well and unfortunately (we) are here to confirm... a mass coral bleaching event for the second consecutive year," the Authority's reef recovery director David Wachenfeld said in a Facebook video.

"And importantly, this is the first time we've ever seen the Great Barrier Reef bleached two years in sequence. We've seen heat stress build since December."

The agency said more bleaching was being observed in the central part of the reef, which last year escaped widespread severe bleaching.

The 2016 bleaching was more severe in the northern areas of the bio-diverse site.

The back-to-back occurrence of widespread bleaching also meant there was insufficient time for corals to fully recover, Neal Cantin from the Australian Institute of Marine Science said.

"We are seeing a decrease in the stress tolerance of these corals," Cantin added in a statement.

"This is the first time the Great Barrier Reef has not had a few years between bleaching events to recover.

"Many coral species appear to be more susceptible to bleaching after more than 12 months of sustained above-average ocean temperatures."

- 'Fight climate change' -

Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour.

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Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonise them.

But researchers said in January coral reefs which survive rapid bleaching fuelled by global warming would remain deeply damaged with little prospect of full recovery.

The Barrier Reef -- already under pressure from farming run-off, development and the crown-of-thorns starfish -- escaped with minor damage after two other bleaching events in 1998 and 2002.

Conservation group WWF-Australia said Friday the latest bleaching increased the urgency of tackling climate change in Australia, one of the world's worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters.

"I did not anticipate back-to-back bleaching this decade," WWF-Australia's oceans division head Richard Leck said.

"Scientists warned that without sufficient emissions reductions we could expect annual mass bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef by 2050. Consecutive bleaching events have arrived 30 years early."

Advocacy group the Australian Marine Conservation Society added Friday that the construction of a mega India-backed coal project near the reef should be abandoned as it would put further pressure on the natural wonder.

The reef scientists plan to conduct further surveys over the next few weeks to determine the extent and severity of the bleaching.

Canberra in 2015 narrowly avoided UNESCO putting the reef on its endangered list, and has committed more than Aus$2.0 billion (US$1.5 billion) to protect it over the next decade.

Nearly two-thirds of shallow-water corals in a 700-kilometre stretch of the reef's northern section were lost to last year's bleaching event, scientists have said.
By Tom Westbrook WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Major Australian political parties backed a ban on foreign donations on Friday, which will bring the country in line with western nations such as the United States, Britain and Canada, which ban or restrict such payments, if it becomes law. The issue has gained traction with a prominent Australian politician resigned after failing to declare a Chinese company had paid for travel and legal bills. A parliamentary committee comprised of members of all major parties recommended the ban in a report, although they have not yet agreed on whether the donations block would also apply to groups such as trade unions. Committee chairwoman Senator Linda Reynolds, from the ruling center-right Liberal Party, said in the report that only Australians should have the power to influence national politics and elections. "It should be of great concern to all Australians that, in the absence of bans on foreign donations, so many voters share the belief that the views and decisions of our political parties could be influenced by donations from foreign sources," Reynolds said. There is growing wariness of foreign influence in Australia where protectionist sentiment has surged, particularly since the election last July of populist politicians critical of foreign involvement. The 2015 sale of the Port of Darwin to Chinese government-affiliated interests sparked a backlash over the security implications and even a rebuke from U.S. government officials. (Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Vienna (AFP) - An Austrian town on Friday banned a rally which a senior official from Turkey's ruling AKP party was set to attend, in a growing international row over the country's referendum campaign.

The gathering was due to take place in the western Austrian town of Hoerbranz but police said it was called off over "risks of public disorder" ahead of Turkey's controversial April 16 referendum on expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers.

Turkish ministers have been heading to Europe to whip up support for a "yes" vote among millions of Turkey's voters who live abroad. Some 360,000 people of Turkish origin call Austria home, including 117,000 Turkish citizens.

But the ministers have been sparring with governments -- especially Germany's -- after a string of their events were cancelled by local authorities, ostensibly for logistical reasons.

Experts from rights watchdog Council of Europe's independent Venice Commission said on Friday the proposed changes to the Turkish constitution were a "dangerous step backwards" for democracy.

Erdogan has angrily compared the cancellations of events in Germany linked to the referendum campaign to "Nazi practices", drawing sharp criticism from Berlin.

Friday's event in Austria was billed as a "book presentation" attended by former Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz, but police said organisers were in reality planning a "political rally" gathering some 400 people.

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz on Friday urged Ankara "not to export domestic politics to Austria".

"This hinders integration in Austria," he said in a statement.

Local officials have also called for a Turkish gathering due to take place Saturday evening in the northern town of Linz, attended by AKP lawmaker Muhammet Mufit Aydin, to be banned.

Ties with Ankara have been strained over the crackdown that followed last July's attempted coup against Erdogan.

Austria's ruling coalition has been divided for several days over a possible bill to ban all foreign politicians from campaigning on national territory.
Busan-based professor Robert E. Kelly went on BBC World News on Friday to flex his knowledge of South Korean politics, but it was his kids who wound up stealing the show.

Kelly, who, according to his Twitter bio, is a professor of political science at South Koreas Pusan National University, was being interviewed via Skype about the recent impeachment of South Koreas former president, Park Geun-hye, when a little girl bounded into the room behind him.

Our favourite live TV moment of the week by far ???????? pic.twitter.com/GXSCUl5hYI  BBC Newsbeat (@BBCNewsbeat) March 10, 2017

Kelly managed to keep his cool, gently pushing his pigtailed daughter out of the shot as he continued to weigh in on the Korean political upheaval. But she wasnt the only member of the family who wanted in on the spotlight. As Kelly mused about a potential change for relations between North and South Korea, a fast-moving baby in a rolling chair apparently managed to outrun a woman who slid into the room to scoop up the kids seconds later.

By the time the sun was up in the U.S. Friday morning, the interview with Kelly and his family had gone viral.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the so-called Benelux countries, invited Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia for talks in the Netherlands on the future of the European Union, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. EU leaders are to meet in Rome on March 25 to celebrate the EU's 60th anniversary and chart a way forward for the bloc after Britain decided last year to leave it and there is rising euro-sceptic sentiment in many European countries. Standing together with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Rutte told reporters the three Benelux countries wanted to play a positive role in shaping the future of the EU. "We have decided to invite the members of the Visegrad countries to come to the Netherlands to have a meeting jointly with the Benelux and later this year we will also have a meeting with the three Baltic countries, also to discuss the future of the European Union," Rutte said. The Visegrad countries are Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. The Benelux invitation follows a clash on Thursday between Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and the other 27 leaders of the EU over the re-appointment of Donald Tusk for another term as chairman of EU summits, which Warsaw vehemently opposed. "We are pulling together and are contacting the Visegrad countries and the Baltic states to say we are stronger together even if it is not that easy sometimes," Luxembourg's Bettel said. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski and Robert-Jan Bartunek)
Beit Jala (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Hundreds of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli women marched through the West Bank on Friday against the Israeli occupation, in an International Women's Day event.

Around 200 women marched to two military bases, with some carrying banners reading "End the occupation" or "Our tears are one colour".

The Parents Circle Families Forum brings together families of those killed in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and includes more than 600 families.

Robi Damelin, an Israeli woman whose son was killed near Ramallah in 2002, lit a candle in honour of the many victims of the conflict.

"My son was a reserve Israeli army officer, and before he was summoned he was doing a master's degree at Tel Aviv University," she said.

He was killed in the West Bank in 2002 by a Palestinian sniper in a famous incident in which 10 Israelis were killed.

"I wrote several letters to my son's killer saying I wanted to meet him. He sent me one which said he was willing to meet me, but the authorities have prevented it," she told AFP, calling on the Israeli government to make peace.

Some Israeli settlers in the area insulted the women from their cars, telling them to go to Syria.

Palestinian Bushra Awad, 45, lost her 17-year-old son Mahmoud in 2008.

"I joined the forum because I am trying not to lose any another son," she said.

Suha abu Khdeir, whose son Mohammed was burned alive by Jewish settlers in July 2014, also addressed the women.

"I can't sleep at night -- every day it's me who's burning because of what happened to my son," she said.

The women also demolished a wall symbolising the barrier that snakes through the occupied West Bank.
Vatican City (AFP) - African bishops have asked Radio Vatican, the official radio of the pope, to restore shortwave transmissions to the continent, the Catholic agency Fides reported on Friday.

Catholics are estimated to number more than 150 million in Africa, the poorest of all continents, and the world's largest seminary is located in Nigeria.

The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), meeting in the Ghanaian capital Accra, has written a letter expressing "concern about the recent shutdown of the shortwave services of the radio, which afforded millions of Africans the opportunity to hear (the) Holy Father and share in the Churchs concerns and mission," Fides said.

In 2012, the then director general of the Vatican broadcast service, Father Federico Lombardi, had cut medium- and short-wave services by half, citing measures of economy and stopped transmitting to Europe and the Americas.

"Webcasting and satellite transmissions, along with rebroadcasting by local, regional and national radio stations, guarantee the widest possible outreach to Vatican Radios programming and services," he had said.

This was why "Vatican Radio believes the time has come to reduce its reliance on traditional technologies, like short- and medium-wave broadcasts, and to develop its resources in new directions".

This year, services to Africa, Asia and the Middle East will be slashed, Fides said.

"While recognising that Vatican Radio services can still be received through the Internet," the SECAM said "many Africans simply do not have the means or the technology to enjoy such services".

"Vatican Radio has always been a credible source for accessing news about the Universal Church and a ready channel for sharing news about Africa with the rest of the world," they said.

Radio Vatican was created in 1931 and has services in 45 languages.

With the latest move "a heritage is in the process of being destroyed," a Fides journalist told AFP.
For most people, chocolate is purely tasty  but some of its history can be hard to swallow.

One reason to explore that history launched this week when chocolatier Jacques Torres opened a museum dedicated to the history of chocolate at his store in Manhattans SoHo neighborhood. Dubbed Choco-Story, the exhibit is the latest branch of chocolate museums curated by Belgian chocolatier Eddie Van Belle, who collected various pots, mortars and other materials that Mayans, Aztecs and 16th-century Spaniards used to make and serve hot chocolate before the industrial revolution, around the mid-19th century, led to the creation of a process by which chocolate could be turned into solid pieces. Though the exhibit hits the high points too, it doesnt shy away from the most surprising tidbits about the dessert on display.

The first known use of cacao is believed to have been discovered in southern Ecuador near Palanda at Santa Ana La Florida in the region of Zamora Chinchipe, where 5,500-year-old ceramic pots and a piece of a mortar were found to contain traces of theobromine, a marker for cacao. Shamans among the Shuar Indians are said to have used this equipment to prepare hallucinogenic potions. At the first chocolate factories, workers crushed cacao beans by using a heavy cylindrical stone called a mano to crush the beans on a grinding stone known as a metate, equipment featured in the exhibit. A fire would be going underneath to soften the cacao to form a paste that, after being left to dry, was grated or diluted in water to make hot chocolate.

The cacao beans themselves, which also grew in the equatorial region of Veracruz and Mexico, were used as currency until 1737 (proof that money did grow on trees, at least in some parts of the world). A turkey was 100 cacao beans, says Cameron L. McNeil, author of Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao and an archaeologist at The Graduate Center at The City University of New York.

In the 14th century, only merchants, warriors, the nobility, and members of royal families could obtain cocoa drinks, and drank them out of golden cups and engraved or painted goblets.

According to the museum, after the Spanish colonized Mexico in the 16th century, they acquired the recipe for this hot chocolate and tried to keep it a secret from others. Jacques Torres says he believes its only logical that Hernan (or Hernando) Cortes  the Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Aztec kingdom  must have been the one who discovered this concoction and brought it back to the European continent. In a 1520 letter to Charles V, Cortes is believed to have described their currency as beans that are somewhat like almonds and to have said the natives caffeinated with the hot chocolate. Christopher Columbus is also said to have remarked on the trading of almond-like beans during his Fourth Voyage and after landing in what is now Nicaragua about two decades earlier, where he saw the beans and was greeted by the indigenous people with a bitter, spicy chocolate drink.

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However, historians say its hard to say that Cortes was definitely the first.

Everyone assumes it was Cortes, but there was not functional proof of who brought it, says Howard-Yana Shapiro, Chief Agricultural Officer of Mars, Incorporated, who co-wrote Chocolate: History, Culture with Louis Gravetti, an expert on the history of nutrition at UC Davis.

He may have done so, but cacao is not in the inventory of goods that he took to show to Charles V, echoes McNeil. She notes that The True History of Chocolate, by Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe, traces the first evidence of cacao brought to the Spanish court to the friars who escorted Kekchi Maya to meet Prince Phillip. The friars would have had regular access to chocolate, she says, because many Mesoamericans continued their pre-conquest tradition of bringing cacao as a religious offering to places of worship. According to some sources, she says, the friars would turn around and sell the offerings and make a lot of money doing this. They could also consume a certain amount of the offerings themselves. Lets be honest, the friars were often as greedy as the conquistadors.

Another reason to believe that clergymen rather than conquistadors brought chocolate across the ocean is timing. By the time chocolate is coming back from New Spain or Mexico, the era of conquistadors was long gone, says Marcy Norton, author of Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures: A History of Tobacco and Chocolate in the Atlantic World. Members of the clergy, however, were regularly making the transatlantic journey to build churches. One of the things that facilitated its spread is that chocolate is very much a social practice, a feature of hospitality, something you offer friends and colleagues, so people got into the habit of offering it.

Eventually, chocolate spread across Europe, perhaps thanks to Jewish traders who were expelled from Spain and ended up going to the Netherlands.

By around 1580, regular deliveries of cacao began to cross the ocean. (The exhibit also traces the first chocolate shop to Spain around the same time, but historians disagree on whether that one can be proved, too.) You start seeing it in trade records in 1580s, the shipping of chocolate and its paraphernalia, says Norton, who adds that any imports before then were more like souvenirs or samples. The first time you see evidence of it being sold within Spain tends to be female vendors selling small amounts in stands in the street in places like Madrid in the 1630s.

The royal families of Spain and France got the word out about cacao to various circles of the aristocracy in Europe, whether it was through marriages, hunting parties, diplomacy or jet-setting. In the mid-19th century, the removal of a tax on chocolate meant that everyone could benefit from what he believed were its nutritional benefits, and machines were developed that sped up the process of crushing the beans and that facilitated the production of solid chocolate pieces.

Chocolate was the first stimulant beverage used in Europe, says Norton. It predates coffee or tea. Think of it, she says, as a gateway drug for coffee and tea.
Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that a border tax proposed by the US government would be "bad" for both Canada and the United States.

"Without a doubt, a border tax would be bad, not just for Canada, but for the United States as well," the prime minister told a news conference in Houston, Texas, where he gave a keynote address at a gathering of oil executives.

The tax proposed by the US Congress as part of sweeping new trade and fiscal initiatives would apply to imports into the United States.

US President Donald Trump has said he would prefer tariffs that target specific countries which he has accused of trading unfairly, such as China and Mexico.

"I think that we're a long way from (the border tax) being adopted and as I said we still don't know exactly what form it will take," or how it would affect Canada, Trudeau said.

He noted Canada and the United States's highly integrated economies

"I think that anything that creates extra barriers or impediments to the smooth flow of goods will hurt our businesses and will hurt our workers and will limit our capacity to continue to be extraordinarily competitive as a North American entity on the world stage," he said.

Asked about US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross's announcement that Washington would launch the formal process to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada "in the next couple of weeks," Trudeau said the end result must be a win for all involved.

"One of the things that we always emphasize and we look for as a country is not a zero-sum gain," he said.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  Brazil's new justice minister is criticizing indigenous communities, saying they promote land disputes instead of looking for good conditions of living.

Justice Minister Osmar Serraglio says in an interview published Friday by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo that land, in his words, "will not fill the stomachs of natives."

Serraglio is an agribusiness leader in Brazil's Congress who took over as justice minister this week from Alexandre de Moraes, who was appointed to Brazil's top court.

Indigenous groups criticized Serraglio's comments, accusing him of siding with agribusiness interests against the indigenous.

Activists have previously charged there is an agribusiness bias in the government of President Michel Temer. In November, Temer scrapped the completed demarcations of 13 territories where indigenous peoples live and ordered the processes restarted.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazilians buckling under austerity measures had a novel experience Friday -- an invitation to put extra cash in their pockets.

Salaries in Brazil include a mandatory contribution to a savings fund which is meant to remain untouched except in case of unemployment, sickness or home buying.

But President Michel Temer's government allowed Brazilians from Friday to stick their hands in the cookie jar.

Temer is trying to wrestle the floundering economy out of a two year recession. Suspending the requirement for compulsory reserves is meant to get Brazilians back in the spending habit and stimulate the wider economy.

"Workers can take out money which they can now consume, save or invest," the finance minister, Henrique Meirelles, said.

From early Friday branches of the state-run Caixa bank were filled with people eager to take the government up on its offer. About 30 million people are eligible to withdraw from the fund, which contains some 43.6 billion reais ($13.7 billion dollars).

Banks opened two hours early for the occasion, and within three hours 700,000 people had made withdrawals, reported G1 news site.

Monica Neves, a 42-year-old store manager, said she had about 1,300 reais ($411) stored up. In a country where the minimum wage is 880 reais a month, that's worth something.

"I'm going to pay off debts," she said at a Caixa branch in Rio de Janeiro.

The government says there'll be a lot of people like Neves, given that about a quarter of the population has debts.

Others waiting to take out their reserves echoed a common refrain across the corruption-riddled Latin American giant.

"It's the least they can do," said unemployed Rio resident William Souza, 58. "Give the money back to the people before they steal everything!"

- Belt tightening time -

The measure, which will run until the end of July, goes against the grain of the hugely unpopular government's belt tightening policies.

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Congress recently approved a 20 year budget spending freeze and Temer is trying to pass pension reform, all to impose discipline on the budget and rein in spending before the country goes bankrupt.

In Rio de Janeiro, which hosted the Olympics last August, the state government has run out of money and relies on a federal bailout.

Nationwide, things are getting better, the government says. Although a deep recession passed the two year mark this month, Meirelles says that growth will return later this year.

The stimulus measure is popular and could put a bit of a spring in the step of a population weighed down by record 12.6 percent unemployment. But analysts are not sure how much the stimulus plan will boost the economy.

The expectation is that about $9.5 billion will be withdrawn from the available fund. That's no more than half a percent of Brazil's GDP.

And only roughly half of that is expected to go directly into consumption, with the rest going to paying debts or investment.

But "it will have a psychological impact, showing that the government is trying to improve" the situation, said Alex Agostini, chief economist at Austin Rating.
LONDON (Reuters) - The lead Brexit negotiator for the European Parliament wants to ensure that Britons can retain the benefits of European Union citizenship after the UK leaves the block, he told BBC radio on Friday. Guy Verhofstadt said last year's Brexit vote was a tragedy for both the UK and the EU but said he hoped to convince European leaders to allow Britons to retain a number of rights if they were applied for on an individual basis. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty to launch two years of divorce talks later this month. Verhofstadt noted that all British citizens as EU citizens currently enjoy benefits such as consular aid, participation in European elections and freedom of travel. "We need to have an arrangement in which this arrangement can continue for those citizens who on an individual basis are requesting it," he said. Verhofstadt also said there were several issues on which the European Parliament was not prepared to compromise and he warned it could use its power to veto any deal it did not like. (Writing by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered 20 years ago today at the dawn of the information age when humanity was grappling with a very big question  can nerds ever be cool?

Sarah Michelle Gellar and and her crew did their best to convince us. The conventionally hot outcasts who wouldn't take any bullshit from demons spent most of their time hanging out in the library with teachers researching ancient monsters.

Shockingly, the gang's not very lucky in love  it is not chill to ask out a high schooler when you're a vampire who has been alive for centuries... and that's actually one of the more successful relationships. In "I, Robot. You, Jane," the show gets to the root of a great modern evil  the endless stream of creeps you encounter while trying to find love online. The episode originally aired April 21,1997, and to this day, it is still the most powerful art created about Tinder.

SEE ALSO: Here's why the theory that Taylor Swift is a satanist clone absolutely checks out

Jenny Calendar, the impossibly cool technopagan computer science teacher, makes her debut. She's enlisted the students to help scan a bunch of books from the library to make digital copies. Having a searchable database of knowledge is pretty cool. Later on, she totally drags the librarian, Giles, "You think knowledge should be held in these carefully guarded repositories where only a handful of white guys can get at it!" It's great.

Unfortunately, one of them is cursed and dear, sweet Willow ends up a dating a literal monster who she thinks is just a high school student named Malcolm.

"I met him online," Willow explains to Buffy, to which she responds, "On line for what?"

Ah, remember when those jokes were new? Was anyone ever so young?

Image: THE WB

He doesnt talk like someone who would have a hairy back, says Willow defending her new love. Girl, a hairy back is the least of your worries!

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See, "Malcolm" is actually an Italian demon named Moloch from the 1500s who is released upon the world again when Buffy opens an old book.

Apart from being a bad boyfriend, he also invents fake news by hacking into some student's computer and changing his report to say, "Nazi Germany was a model of a well-ordered society." Angry men on the internet truly never change.

Xander is jealous because he's not the center of attention for once and fails to coin the term catfishing.

"Sure he says he he's a high school student, but I can say I'm a high school student." he says, which Buffy points out is true. "I can also say I'm an elderly Dutch woman, get me? Who can say I'm not if I'm in the elderly Dutch chatroom."

Moloch obviously got a bunch of lonely dudes at the school to do his bidding. One of them even repeats, "I'm jacked in. I'm jacked in. I'm jacked in," while carving an M into his arm with a razor blade. Not cute! You will probably meet a guy like this on Bumble. Run away.

Buffy asks a computer science nerd what's up with online dating profiles and he tells her, "They write the profile themselves, so they can say anything they wanted."

That's when Buffy determines that she needs to dox the creep and figure out the location the "e-letter" was sent from. Since she doesn't know that IP addresses are a thing, she does some good, old fashioned detective work and trails a shady classmate.

Willow's a smart girl and starts getting nervous when Malcolm makes a classic online dating mistake: proving he's a cyberstalker. After he brings up information from Buffy's permanent record to use against her to try and isolate Willow, as scumbags do, she's not really feeling it as much.

They try to get rid of the demon by simply deleting a file, but obviously that does not work. Meanwhile, Willow is trying to ghost Malcolm but the just won't take the hint and one of his minions kidnaps her. This is a great reminder to download Find My Friends.

Back at Sunnydale High School, old man Giles is figuring out what we already know.

And Ms. Calendar is all, "bitch, I know. I'm a technopagan."

So she start casting spells with her keyboard and Giles realizes she's the hottest woman alive. Later in the episode, he takes off his glasses while explaining the reason why he likes books more than computers because they smell nice.

Willow dumps Moloch multiple times, but he doesn't give up and Buffy finally just has to kill him. This is not the ideal conclusion of a bad online dating experience, so Mashable encourages our readers to block and report losers the second they start making you feel uncomfortable. It's not worth it.
Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he will not resume power immediately and instead leave his deputy in charge after returning from nearly two months' medical leave in Britain.

A Nigerian Air Force jet carrying the 74-year-old landed at the airport in the northern city of Kaduna at about 7:40 am (0640 GMT). He was then flown by helicopter to Abuja.

In the capital, the head of state, looking gaunt in a billowing black kaftan, stepped off the helicopter and walked across the tarmac to be greeted by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

He also met security chiefs and senior government officials before being driven away in a black official car to meet his cabinet and officials of his ruling All Progressives Congress party.

At the meeting, he did not give any indication of what illness he was suffering from but said "I have received, I think, the best of treatment I could receive.

"I couldn't recall being so sick since I was a young man," he added, referring to "blood transfusions, going to the laboratories and so on and so forth".

But he said he was "pleased to be back", although he disclosed that he may need "further follow-up within some weeks".

Buhari's return from London was announced on Thursday evening and he said he "came back towards the weekend, so that the vice president will continue and I will continue to rest".

No timeline was given for how long Osinbajo, who was officially conferred powers as acting president, would be in charge.

Former military ruler Buhari flew to London on January 19, officially on holiday and to have what his office said were "routine medical check-ups" for an undisclosed condition.

But while he was away, aides had to counter persistent rumours online that he was seriously ill or even dead, despite photographs showing him meeting senior Nigerian politicians.

Earlier Friday he was shown in photographs looking painfully thin at a meeting with the most senior cleric in the Anglican communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

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Buhari had previously travelled to London in June last year to receive treatment for what was described as a persistent inner ear infection.

He left for London again in January but on the eve of his expected return on February 5, his office announced he had to extend his stay to receive medical test results.

The health of Nigeria's president has become a sensitive issue following the 2010 death of president Umaru Musa Yar'Adua from a long-standing, but previously undisclosed, kidney complaint.

Yar'Adua's initial illness and treatment in hospital abroad triggered months of political uncertainty. His deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, took over on Yar'Adua's death.
Since President Donald Trumps surprise election, some stateless U.S. migrants are choosing arrest by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police over risking deportation in America.

Situations like this will become increasingly common, says Canadian immigration lawyer Richard Kurland in an interview with CBC News Thursday. And thousands will be seeking refugee status, he said.

According to NPR, the Mounties can only detain those illegally crossing the border for 24 hours. After that, the migrant is either released or brought before a judge. Once Canadian officials are sure the individual isnt a threat to national security, theyll help the migrant start the immigration process.

In the short run we can expect to see thousands of new cases streaming over the Canadian border and theres nothing we can do about it, Kurland told the CBC. They see and hear President Trump  they know whats coming. To save themselves, they will not go home  they will come to Canada to either buy time or buy a solution.

But he also added that gaining refugee status in Canada may not be as simple as it seems.

Its a very difficult wall to mount  you have to prove genuine fear of persecution from the government in the United States, he said to CBC.
The Daily Beast

GettyIt only took a few hours after Russias Vladimir Putin hailed his mobilization as a sparkling success Friday for a torrent of humiliating reports to emerge that suggest the war effort has been more successful in turning the country against him than defeating mythical Nazis in Ukraine.The most staggering contradiction to the Russian presidents boastful claims came perhaps in Kazan, where dozens of drafted troops were captured on video late Friday berating military leadership outside a colle
Cardinal Timothy Dolan said Thursday that President Trump shouldnt be tweeting, comparing the potential of a post on social media to road rage.

I dont think so, said Dolan when asked by Fox News Neil Cavuto whether the president should be tweeting. I tweet but in a carefully orchestrated way where other people read it before it goes out. Tweets tend to be the subject of impetuosity. When you write a letter, you let it sit for a little while, then you mail it. When you get a tweet, when you get mad, its like driving a car. You say things driving a car you wouldnt say at a dinner table. Thats what a tweet can be.

Since President Trumps inauguration in January  at which Dolan read a prayer during the ceremony  he has continued to be active on Twitter, suggesting any terrorist attacks would be the fault of a so-called judge who ruled against his travel ban, saying any negative polls are fake news, and calling the New York Times, NBC News, ABC News , CBS News and CNN the enemy of the American people. Trump also accused former President Barack Obama of ordering a wiretap and declared there were millions of illegal votes in the 2016 election, without providing evidence for either claim.

Dolan also said that most presidencies do not start smoothly, citing the early days of former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clintons terms in office as examples.

That weve got a rocky start, I dont think that should shock us as Americans, said Dolan. That we do have a rather unprecedented style? That could be shocking, but some people find it refreshing.

Read more from Yahoo News:
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP)  A Kentucky jail employee has been cleared of charges brought after a fight with a sheriff's deputy.

The News-Enterprise in Elizabethtown (http://bit.ly/2mspEOR ) reports charges were dropped Friday during a hearing for 28-year-old Joseph Funk. Funk had been charged with menacing, resisting arrest and third-degree assault of a police officer.

Special prosecutor Mike Mann of Bullitt County said later that "things just got out of hand."

Jailer Danny Allen said earlier that Funk got into an argument with Deputy Sheriff Clennon Smith, who was turning over an inmate's property in a backpack. Allen said the argument escalated into a fight after Smith tried to hand the bag over to Funk through a window.

The fight, which was caught on camera, was broken up and Funk was taken into custody.

___

Information from: The News-Enterprise, http://www.thenewsenterprise.com
The Hague (AFP) - The world's chemical watchdog Friday condemned the use of the deadly VX nerve agent in the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half-brother last month.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said its executive council "unequivocally condemned the use of any chemical weapon by anyone under any circumstances."

The council, made up from 40 member states, called "for those responsible for the use of chemical weapons to be held accountable."

It also asked the OPCW's director general Ahmet Uzumcu to "provide technical assistance upon request from Malaysian authorities for its national investigation."

"The council underscored its deep interest in receiving and considering the official results of the investigation" once completed by Malaysia.

Malaysia's police chief on Friday confirmed that the man assassinated at Kuala Lumpur's international airport on February 13 was Kim Jong-Nam, half-brother of Kim Jong-Un.

Malaysian authorities had earlier declined to officially confirm the victim's identity or release his body, saying they needed a DNA sample from next-of-kin.

The 45-year-old's wife and children, who were living in exile in the Chinese territory of Macau, have since gone into hiding over fears that his 21-year-old son, Kim Han-Sol, could be seen as a potential rival by his uncle Kim Jong-Un in a country roiled by bloody purges.

The brazen Cold War-style killing has triggered a bitter diplomatic row between the previously friendly Asian nations, which have expelled each other's ambassadors and refused to let their citizens leave.
HARRISBURG - With former Pennsylvania treasurer Rob McCord lined up as the star prosecution witness, the federal trial of a Chester County businessman in a case alleging pay-to-play corruption got underway Friday.

The defendant, Richard Ireland, 79, is charged with seeking to bribe McCord with more than $500,000 in actual or pledged campaign donations  secretly funneling much of it through fronts  and by promising McCord a high-finance job after he returned to the private sector.

In return, a grand jury alleged, Ireland wanted McCord to award millions of dollars in government contracts to financial firm to which Ireland had financial ties.

Ireland, who lives on a 160-acre horse farm outside West Chester, has been a major political donor for decades. At the same time, he has worked as a finder, a kind of super-salesman recommending financial firms to government officials to manage public money and getting paid a share of the contract in return.

His trade has been very lucrative. Records show that his clients included five firms that were paid $65 million in fees to invest treasury funds over a dozen years. Ireland 's deal with such firms called for the fees to be split 50/50 with him, often for years after the contract was first awarded.

For many years, one of his key clients, Valley Forge Asset Management, of King of Prussia, was the No. 1 recipient in state Treasury Department fees.

In July, the grand jury charged Ireland with 79 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and other offenses, saying that he conspired to defraud the public of the honest services of McCord.

McCord was not charged in the case. Indeed, prosecutors have said in pre-trial court papers that they need not prove he actually took any action to assist Ireland. They said it is enough for a conviction to show that Irelands intent was criminal.

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Still, McCord, 58, a Democrat, faces his own serious legal problems completely apart from Ireland. He stepped down from office and pleaded guilty just over two years ago to attempted extortion, agreeing that he has used the power of his office to try to bully potential contributors into making campaign donations. Ireland was not a factor in that case.

Before his plea, sources say, McCord was secretly taped by John H. Estey, a top lobbyist who had formerly worked for many years as an aide to Edward G. Rendell, the former governor and Philadelphia mayor. Estey, like McCord, is awaiting sentencing on a guilty plea in federal court.

To win leniency, McCord, too, began surreptiously taping his acquaintances  including Ireland. In all, the government says it has assembled nearly 20 tapes of McCord and Ireland talking, some recorded with McCords knowledge and others picked up on wiretaps unknown to both men.

Now, McCord is to deliver on the next stage in his cooperation  testifying in open court. He is certain to face a tough cross-examination from Irelands lawyers, who likely try to paint McCord as an admitted shakedown artist and Ireland as his victim.

On the day of Irelands indictment, Irelands lawyer at the time dismissed the charges as half-truths, gross distortions of fact and innuendo by a desperate man.

Irelands legal team now includes the prominent Washington, D.C., lawyer Reid H. Weingarten, whose clients have included top corporate and political figures caught up in high-profile investigations.

The prosecution team includes two assistant U.S. attorneys, Michael A. Consiglio and William S. Houser, who pursued the so-called kids for cash case in which two former Luzerne County judges were imprisoned in a kickback scheme involving for-profit juvenile-detention centers.

Consiglio is also among the prosecutors bringing a

, a Republican who later switched parties to become a Democrat.

Hafer, 73, treasurer from 1997 until 2004, is charged with lying to the FBI in denying that she received $675,000 from Ireland after leaving office  the same kind of arraignment that Ireland allegedly offered McCord. Before stepping down, Hafer had greatly boosted the financial-management contracts given Irelands clients. She is to go on trial in June.

Joseph M. Torsella, the Democrat elected treasurer last November, has already banned any firms that use finders from doing business with his agency. In the fall, federal regulators are expected to impose a nationwide ban on campaign donations from such salespeople.

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By Adam Jourdan and Cynthia Kim SHANGHAI/SEOUL (Reuters) - Pressure in China on travel firms forced airlines and cruise operators to cut routes to South Korea, as the fallout spread on Friday from a diplomatic row over Seoul's plans to deploy a U.S. missile defense system against Beijing's objections. China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd <600115.SS> and Spring Airlines Co Ltd <601021.SS> stopped offering flights on their websites between the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo and popular South Korean tourist island Jeju from next week. Korea's Eastar Jet said it was halting flights between the South Korean cities of Cheongju and tourist hotspot Jeju with various Chinese cities including Ningbo, Jinjiang and Harbin. This followed Carnival Corp's Costa Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises cutting South Korean visits by their China ships. Royal Caribbean cited "recent developments regarding the situation in South Korea". The moves reflect a more aggressive and blatant stance against South Korean business in China, although Beijing has not directly said it is targeting South Korean firms. An internal South Korean government document seen by Reuters said Chinese authorities gave a "7-point" verbal instruction to travel firms to curtail or ban trips to South Korea. These included a ban on tour groups visiting South Korea from March 15, cruise ships not being allowed to dock in South Korea ports and a warning that those who violated the guidance would face "severe punishment". Reuters could not immediately reach China's tourism administration for comment. China Eastern and Spring Airlines did not respond to requests for comment. The crackdown has sent a chill across South Korea's retail and tourism sectors, which rely heavily on China trade, and prompted South Korea to say it will consider filing a complaint against China to the World Trade Organization. South Korea sold $124 billion worth of goods and services to China last year, about five times the amount it exported to nearby Japan and double the amount it shipped to its second-biggest overseas market, the United States. Tourism is a particularly sensitive sector, with official South Korean data showing almost half of the visitors to the country come from China. Asked about cruise operators cancelling South Korean port visits, an official from South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy told Reuters the ministry was checking if any WTO rules have been violated. "If we are to launch a dispute, we still need to make sure if anything has been ordered by Beijing," the official said. "RELEVANT DEPARTMENTS" Political risk analysts said the widespread actions against South Korean firms pointed to centralized coordination. Princess Cruises, also owned by Carnival, said in a statement on Friday it would remove visits to South Korea from routes after talks with "relevant departments". "Due to the current situation, Princess Cruises' China team has been in close dialogue and prudent discussions with relevant departments," the firm said. "All routes which involve South Korea have been altered." The diplomatic problems with its biggest trade partner have come at a difficult time for South Korea. On Friday, South Korea's Constitutional Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving the country's conglomerates. Analysts said the upheaval had given China the opportunity to put pressure on Park's possible successors to ditch or delay the installation of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile system. "I think they'll keep up this pressure well into the period where we get a new government in South Korea," said Andrew Gilholm, director of analysis for China and North Asia at risk consultancy Control Risks. "Possibly the reason they're pushing so hard is that they are trying to influence whatever policy the next government in Seoul takes." Meantime, South Koreans living in China have been advised by business groups to adopt a low profile, while residents and shopkeepers in a Shanghai neighborhood where many South Koreans live told Reuters of a growing sense of anxiety. "I feel wherever I am people are watching me. On the street, in the car and at restaurants, I don't feel I can freely speak Korean," said Seo Lan Kyung, 48, a housewife who said she has been living in China for 18 years. "I want to keep living here but increasingly there's a feeling of impending crisis." (Additional reporting by Christian Shepherd and Muyu Xu in BEIJING, Alexandra Harney in SHANGHAI, Heekyong Yang and Hyunjoo Jun in SEOUL; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
BEIJING (AP)  China assailed what it called America's "terrible human rights problems," in its annual report on rights abuses in the United States, citing police brutality, high levels of incarceration, racial prejudice and money politics.

The report issued Thursday by the Information Office of the State Council is a tit-for-tat response to the U.S. State Department's yearly report on human rights around the world that said repression and coercion of those involved in civil and political rights in China remained "severe."

As in previous years, China's report accused the U.S. of sitting in judgment of the human rights situations in other nations while ignoring its own defects. Mainly citing facts and figures from the U.S. media and civil rights groups, the report focused heavily on what it called a deterioration of race relations in 2016.

"With the gunshots lingering in people's ears behind the Statue of Liberty, worsening racial discrimination and the election farce dominated by money politics, the self-proclaimed human rights defender has exposed its human rights 'myth' with its own deeds," the report said.

The report specifically mentioned the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police and the killing of five officers in Dallas, Texas, and pointed to a pattern of what it called law enforcement treating people of color more harshly than whites. It also said blacks and Hispanics were discriminated against in incarceration, employment and education, earning less and facing harsher penalties for violations.

Its final section dealt with what it called "gross violations of human rights in other countries," pointing to reports of civilian deaths from U.S. military action in countries including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. It also criticized Washington's failure to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and the U.S. government's electronic surveillance of other countries and foreign nationals.

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China has issued the report every year since 2000 as a means of countering U.S. criticisms.

China, whose population of 1.37 billion is more than 91 percent Han Chinese, portrays itself as a multi-ethnic state where all groups live in harmony. However, members of the Tibetan and Turkic-speaking Uighur minorities allege rampant discrimination in employment and education and religious minorities including Christians and Muslims are subject to heavy restrictions on their activities.

The one-party authoritarian communist state also brooks no political opposition and heavily polices the internet and public forums, censoring and sometimes imprisoning those perceived to be challenging its authority.

The State Department's report focused mainly on Chinese legal abuses and restrictions on constitutionally guaranteed civil rights, including free speech and freedom of religion. It said China locked up "tens of thousands" of political prisoners, sometimes denying them medical treatment and said authorities continued to harass them even after their release.

Lawyers, dissidents and those petitioning for redress of official abuses have been rounded up, while high profile prisoners such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo remained in prison, the report said.

This year's U.S. report was issued amid concerns the U.S. was backing away from its traditionally vocal advocacy on human rights under President Donald Trump.

In a departure from past practice, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson skipped the launch of the report.

Trump has made little mention of human rights during his campaign or presidency, and Human Rights Watch, whose research is cited by the State Department in its reports, said his administration's commitment to human rights is already in question due to his policies related to Muslims and his plan to drastically cut the foreign aid budget.
Photo credit: STR/AFP / Getty

From Popular Mechanics

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is developing a new crewed spacecraft capable of flying low-Earth orbit missions as well as landing taikonauts on the moon, according to the Associated Press. The state-run newspaper Science and Technology Daily cited CNSA engineer Zhang Bainian as saying the new spacecraft would accommodate multiple taikonauts and be similar in design to the Orion spacecraft currently under development by NASA and ESA. Additional information about the new spacecraft design was not made public.

China achieved crewed spaceflight relatively late, launching its first manned mission in 2003. Since then, however, the nation's space program has made rapid and impressive strides. Last year China launched 22 rockets, the first time it matched the number of U.S. launches. At the end of 2016 the People's Republic launched its second space station, and CNSA plans to launch an advanced space telescope as well as a third space station in the early 2020s.

China also has some of the most extensive and ambitious plans to explore the moon in the near future. A sample return mission is planned for this year, CNSA is developing a rover to explore the far side of the moon next year (which would make China the first country land on the far side of the moon), and ultimately China aims to land taikonauts on the moon by the mid-2030s, which will be the primary mission of the new spacecraft.

With the United States, Japan, and India all targeting the moon for near-term missions as well, our one natural satellite could see a lot more activity in the next 20 years.

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Just days after China announced plans to grow its defense budget, the country's largest missile maker has started developing military drones with stealth abilities that can evade anti-aircraft weapons, local media reported Thursday. The move comes as China continues to advance in its military modernization program amid growing threats from its neighbors and the West.

"Drones have become an indispensable weapon in modern warfare because they can play an important role in high-resolution reconnaissance, long-distance precision strikes, anti-submarine operations and aerial combat," Wei Yiyin, deputy general manager of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, told the China Daily.

China has been working to develop new weapons, including stealth fighters and aircraft carriers but has clarified that its investment to upgrade its military prowess has no hostile intent.

Amid tensions with U.S. over the South China Sea, and the recent threats from North Korea after its missile launches, China, which is ranked third in the list of biggest military in the world has stepped up research into military drones.

China spends about $145 billion to defense and last week Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that the budget will be increased by 7 percent, a spending enough to ensure Beijing remains the second-biggest defense spender in the world.

Tensions between China and the U.S. erupted after Beijing's island building and military advancement in the disputed South China Sea, through which over $5 trillion of maritime trade passes annually. Beijing claims most of the territory with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan, also making claims to the water.

China has also raised concerns over the U.S. and South Korea's military drills that have escalated the tensions with North Korea. The U.S. also has begun deploying its missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), to the Osan Air Base in South Korea, despite warnings for Pyongyang.

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China rejected Friday claims made by the Philippines that Beijing sent survey ships into the latters 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. On Thursday, the Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Chinese ships were found in recent months near its coast and a warship was spotted 70 miles off its western coast in the South China Sea.

Lorenzana said satellite images showed Chinese ships for three months in 2016 in Benham Rise, an area the United Nations has declared a territory of the Philippines' continental shelf.

Read: China Begins Cruise To Disputed Paracel Islands In South China Sea

Last year, they [Chinese ships] were monitored there for about three months, Lorenzana said. The very concerning thing is they have several service ships plying this area, staying in one area sometimes for a month as if doing nothing. But we believe they are actually surveying the seabed.

However, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang dismissed the concern, saying the Chinese vessels had right to freedom of navigation in the waters.

"But this is purely carrying out normal freedom of navigation and right of innocent passage, and there were no so-called other activities or operations," Geng said. "Comments from individuals in the Philippines on this do not accord with the facts."

To the northeast of Luzon is the Western Pacific, where China is increasingly carrying out military drills.

The two countries both make claims to the South China Sea, a region that has long been disputed. China has laid claims to almost all of the South China Sea region, upsetting its other claimants, which include Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. The country has also built runways and ports on some islands in the region, claiming it adds to the safety of the region through which about $5 trillion worth of maritime trade passes every year.

In February, Wang Guoqing, a spokesman for the fifth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said freedom and safety of navigation in the South China Sea is more important to China than for any other country. His comments came after the U.S. sent its aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea.

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By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China has put into service its new generation J-20 stealth fighter, a warplane it hopes will narrow the military gap with the United States, as senior naval officers said the country was building a "first class" navy and developing a marine corps. Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing a sweeping modernization of the country's armed forces, the largest in the world, including anti-satellite missiles and advanced submarines, seeking to project power far from its shores. In a report late on Thursday, state television's military channel confirmed that the J-20 had now entered service, though it gave no other details. The aircraft was shown in public for the first time in November at the Zhuhai airshow and was first glimpsed by Chinese planespotters in 2010. However questions remain whether the new Chinese fighter can match the radar-evading properties of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air-to-air combat jet, or the latest strike jet in the U.S. arsenal, Lockheed's F-35. The F-22, developed for the U.S. Air Force, is the J-20's closest lookalike. China showed off another stealth fighter it's developing, the J-31, at the last Zhuhai airshow in 2014, a show of muscle that coincided with a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama for an Asia-Pacific summit. China hopes the J-31, still in development, will compete with the U.S.-made F-35 stealth aircraft in the international market, according to state media reports. The navy is another key focus for China. China's navy has been taking an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and new Chinese warships popping up in far-flung places. With President Donald Trump promising a U.S. shipbuilding spree and unnerving Beijing with his unpredictable approach on hot button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, China is pushing to narrow the gap with the U.S. Navy. Wang Weiming, deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army Navy, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the annual meeting of parliament that China is speeding up the development of a marine corps, adding destroyers and frigates and will step up air and sea patrols. "We will intercept any intruding aircraft and follow every military vessel in areas under our responsibility," Wang said. "Our sailors should stay vigilant and be able to deal with emergencies at all times." China's second, domestically-developed aircraft carrier is in "good shape" and now awaiting fitting, he added, in comments reported late Thursday. Experts expect it will enter service around 2020, joining China's existing, Soviet-built carrier the Liaoning. Another senior officer, Li Yanming, political commissar of the Navy's armaments department, said a "first-class navy should be equipped with first-class armaments", the report added. Navy arms manufacturing would have "better quantity, quality, scope, and functionality", Li said, without elaborating. China's military ambitions, including taking a more assertive stance in the disputed South China Sea, including building artificial islands and ramping up defense spending, have long rattled its neighbors. China this year initially failed to publicly release its defense budget on the opening day of parliament as it has done in previous years, finally saying a day later on Monday that it would rise by 7 percent to 1.044 trillion yuan ($151.12 billion). China's defense spending amounts to only about a quarter of the U.S. defense budget, though many experts believe its actual spending on the military to be higher than the official figure. China denies it is a military threat to anyone. Wang Huayong, deputy political commissar of the Eastern Theatre Command, told Xinhua that Chinese forces are for defensive purposes only. "The aircraft carrier is still in training and trial stage. The marines remain weak, and the number and quality of long-distance vessels do not meet expectations." (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry)
BEIJING/SYDNEY/TAIPEI (Reuters) - China said it would "resolutely strike" against the "Dalai Lama clique's separatist activities" as protesters planned demonstrations in major world cities on Friday to mark the anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. The sensitive anniversary coincided with the yearly news conference of Tibet's delegation to China's annual meeting of parliament, under way in Beijing. Che Dalha, Tibet's governor, said the government would "hold a clear-cut stand against separatism, resolutely strike against the Dalai clique's damaging and separatist activities". "The most important task is to protect our motherland's frontier regions, build up our homes, absolutely not allow any groups to separate even one inch of our land from the motherland," said Tashi Yangjen, a representative of the tiny Lhoba ethnic minority of southeast Tibet. Chinese troops marched in and took control of Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a "peaceful liberation". China views the Dalai Lama, Tibet's Buddhist spiritual leader who fled into exile in India after the failed uprising, as a dangerous separatist. The Nobel Peace laureate denies espousing violence and says he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet. International human rights groups and exiles routinely condemn what they call China's oppressive rule in Tibetan areas. They say pervasive surveillance and displays of military force are being used to intimidate and quell dissent, which has included Tibetan Buddhist monks self-immolating in protest at lack of religious freedom. Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said Chinese authorities were again shutting off travel and holding military parades "to bully the Tibetan population into silence". "Progress on human rights is only going to happen if the Chinese government replaces its intimidation tactics with a more open approach to information, expression and peaceful dissent," she said. Foreign journalists are not allowed to travel to Tibet without government approval, while all foreigners have been barred during sensitive periods. Tibet's most senior Communist Party official, Wu Yingjie, said foreign reporters were welcome as long as "they objectively and accurately report the changes in Tibet, the blissful lives of the masses, Tibet's ethnic unity and religious harmony". INTERNATIONAL PROTESTS In Sydney, 200 protesters marched to the Chinese consulate to protest against the lack of human rights in Tibet, with larger demonstrations planned later on Friday in cities including Taipei and London. The protesters, many dressed in traditional Tibetan chupas, waved flags and shouted, "Human rights for Tibet," as they made their way past shoppers and office workers. "We hope this kind of movement might bring the message to the world that we are still under Chinese suppression," third generation Tibetan Tashi Gyatso said. Chinese university student Nancy Cao, from Shijiazhuang, the capital of the northern province of Hebei, said she was confused about the protest. "Tibet is always a part of China in our history," said Cao, adding that the Chinese government had helped Tibet develop. In an interview with comedian John Oliver which aired this week, the Dalai Lama said Chinese hardliners had parts of their brain missing and suggested he might be the last Dalai Lama, prompting China to brand him a "deceptive actor". In self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, about 100 people gathered for a candlelight walk in Liberty Square in Taipei, the capital. "Tibet's situation is quite similar to Taiwan's," said Chen Jing, 25, a Taipei rally participant in previous years. "If you support Taiwan independence, you would also support Tibet independence. "I think it's very important to hold these rallies because a lot of people who watch are curious about Tibet, and if you haven't been exposed you might not know why it's fighting for itself, since in the past it has been described in teaching materials as part of China." Proudly democratic Taiwan has shown no interest in wanting to be ruled by autocratic China. In the Indian capital of New Delhi, hundreds of Tibetans, waving flags and shouting anti-China slogans, marched towards the Chinese embassy, only to be halted by police. "Tibet is not part of China," said Tenzin Metok, a protester. "We want freedom." (Reporting by Philip Wen in BEIJING, Benjamin Weir and Aaron Bunch in SYDNEY and Jess Macy Yu in TAIPEI; Editing by Nick Macfie and Clarence Fernandez)
The number and proportion of people in China over 80 is growing, but their mental and physical fitness appear to be declining, scientists reported Friday.

Comparing medical data and surveys from 1998 and 2008 of nearly 20,000 people aged 80 to 105, researchers found that the ranks of China's 'oldest old' had expanded since the turn of the century.

For octogenarians and nonagenarians, mortality fell by nearly one percent over that decade, they reported in the medical journal The Lancet.

For the 100-and-up club, death rates dropped nearly three percent.

The 'over 80' cohort is by far the fastest rising age group in the country.

At the same time, however, physical and cognitive function showed a small but significant deterioration.

Simple tasks -- standing up from a chair, for example, or picking up a book off the floor -- were harder to perform, while scores on memory tests slumped.

"This has clear policy implications for health systems and social care, not only in China but also globally," the authors concluded.

"Many more state-subsidised public and private programmes and enterprises are urgently needed to provide services to meet the needs of the rapidly growing elderly population," especially those over 80.

Paradoxically, the 2008 respondents reported less difficulty in performing daily activities -- such as eating, dressing and bathing -- than those born a decade earlier.

The scientists, led by Yi Zeng, a professor at the National School of Development at Beijing University, chalked this up to improved amenities and tools, but said more research was needed.

The findings illustrate the tug-of-war between two approaches to assessing ageing populations, whether in rich or developing countries.

One emphasises the "benefits of success": people living longer with lower levels of disability because of healthier lifestyles, better healthcare and higher incomes.

By contrast, the "cost of success" theory suggests that living longer might mean that individuals survive life-threatening illnesses but live with chronic health problems as a result.

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The new study shows that both theories are at play, and that governments will need to adapt under either scenario.

"The findings provide a clear warning message to societies with ageing populations," Yi said in a statement.

"Although lifespans are increasing, other elements of health are both improving and deteriorating, leading to a variety of health and social needs in the oldest-old population."

Whether it means providing long-term care for the disabled, or work and social opportunities for healthy octogenarians, adjusting to an ageing population will require planning and investment, the researchers concluded.
Chris Ruddy is the Zelig of the Trump administration.

Hes on CNN, blasting the White House chief of staff. Hes in The New York Times, discussing turmoil inside the White House. Hes tweeting from the Oval Office the day after President Trumps first speech to a joint session of Congress. Hes offering a readout from an after-hours conversation with the president at Mar-a-Lago. Hes calling repealing Obamacare a big quagmire, and saying that tax reform should have come first.

Ruddy, the CEO of the conservative-media organization Newsmax, has emerged during the early weeks of President Donald Trumps administration as an unofficial conduit from the official inner sanctum of the presidency to the outside world. Ruddy sees and speaks to the president frequently, and has popped up repeatedly on cable shows and in news stories as a sort of character witness for and explainer of Trump, who is a personal friend. Hes even inserted himself into internal White House conflicts.

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Ruddys display of access shows the unusual degree to which Trump relies on informal outside advisers and on familiar faces from his former life, even now as president. Its also put Newsmax in the spotlight. Because Ruddy isnt just a friend of the presidentshes also in control of a media organization that played a crucial, and largely unheralded, role in Trumps ascent.

On the evening of Friday, February 10, Ruddy shared a drink with the president at Mar-a-Lago. Two days later, he went on Brian Stelters CNN show and delivered a shot across the bow to the presidents chief of staff. "I think Reince Priebus, good guy, well-intentioned, but he clearly doesn't know how the federal agencies work, he said. He doesn't have a real good system. He doesn't know how the communications flow."

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Ruddys comments sparked a media frenzy. Was he speaking for the president? Had Trump said this to him?

The walk-back came later that same day, with Ruddy tweeting Reince just briefed me on new WH plans. Impressive! CNN today my personal view. Told him I have 'open mind' based on his results.

Ruddy told me the president had not spoken to him about Priebus at Mar-a-Lago. The president Id seen on Friday night after the Abe dinner, we had a drink together, Ruddy said. It was never raised, Reince.

I was just giving my opinion, Ive done that always, Ruddy said. And the incident hasnt discouraged him from doing so; in my interview with him, Ruddy speculated that Trump might not run for a second term, arguing that certain people need it emotionally. I dont think he needs it emotionally.

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According to Ruddy, Trump appreciates his media efforts on his behalf. After a CNN appearance in December, he said, Trump called me a few days later during my Christmas party and said Thank you, I cant always go on these shows and defend myself.

And the weekend after the controversy over Priebus, Ruddy was spotted having dinner with Trump, Priebus, and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in Palm Beach.

Newsmax took Trump seriously early on, well before he finally followed through with his oft-repeated threats to run for president. No disrespect to Breitbartbefore there was Breitbart, there was Newsmax, said the Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who is friends with Ruddy and worked on Trumps campaign. Before the president was probably an avid reader of Breitbart he was an avid reader of Newsmax. Chris and the president developed a relationship several years ago primarily through and with Newsmax.

The only outlets who took us seriously were Newsmax, Breitbart, and Fox News, said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump adviser. And even Fox News wasnt that serious about him running, they would just have him on out of ratings. Our two major outlets were Newsmax and Breitbart.

For Nunberg, Breitbart was useful as the ideological messenger that would fight for Trumps agenda. But Newsmax was where Trump was able to refine his political image as an outsider, entrepreneur, and independent Republican over the course of several years.

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Breitbart was stronger on immigration but Newsmax overallI thought it was more helpful for shaping [Trumps] overall political profile, Nunberg said.

Newsmax is one of the earliest promoters of Trump, said Roger Stone, the Republican operative and informal Trump adviser. They were in fact promoting Trump for president in 2012. Ruddy has always been a Trump promoter when others were not yet taking his candidacy seriously or his potential candidacy seriously.

Ruddy launched Newsmax in 1998 with $300,000 in investments, according to a 2014 profile in Bloomberg Businessweek. At the time, Businessweek reported that the organization, which was then launching its TV channel, had 260 employees; Ruddy told me this week that it currently has 225.

The business today is built around the website, 17 print publications, a TV channel (which is on Verizon and Fios but has not yet been picked up by major cable systems like Comcast and Time Warner), and a set of large email lists which are significant money-makers for Newsmax. Its lists cover a broad range of topics, and according to Ruddy, it has over 6 million individual email subscriptions.

The size of Newsmaxs email lists help account for some of its influence in Republican politics, as campaigns and advocacy groups buy the lists in order to reach Republican voters. The Trump campaign used Newsmaxs list for fundraising, raising $800,000 using it, Nunberg said. They advertised with us as did many other campaigns, Ruddy said in an email. I think their total spend was around $100K to $200K, some super pacs did buys in 2016, not a huge amount.

According to one Republican operative with knowledge of Newsmaxs lists, a sendthe opportunity to send an email through one of the listscosts anywhere between $3000 (for testing purposes) and $15,000.

They have a price sheet of the cost of the send per thousand addresses. Sometimes, there is a profit sharing arrangement instead of a fixed cost, or a combination, the operative said. Tea Party groups and failed presidential candidates were popular.

Ruddy said he wouldnt disclose the companys exact finances but said the business is profitable, apart from the TV channel, which has been losing some money but we like the progress were making.

Its not just Trump who has seen Newsmaxs potential to reach the Republican base. A New York Times story from 2011 described how Republican candidates ritualistically visited Newsmaxs Florida headquarters. But Ruddys personal connection to Trump combined with his role running a conservative outlet with wide reach made him a key contact for the Trump campaign, though Ruddy says he wasnt close to the campaign.

Chris was high on my list of somebody I would talk to for guidance when I worked for Trump and in the rest of the political cycle, Nunberg said.

Ruddy says he first met Trump about 20 years ago. Both men split their time between New York and Palm Beach, where they are part of an established Republican social milieu. South Florida is home to some of the most important figures in Republican politics, including Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh. Ruddy is a member of Trumps club, Mar-a-Lago, where entry fees now reportedly start at $200,000 a year and where Trump has been spending nearly every weekend since being sworn into the presidency in January.

Hes been very social and active, Ruddy said. He meets a lot of people, including myself, down there pretty frequently.

Thats something else Ruddy shares with Trump; both men are avid socializers. He loves dinners, he loves to talk, he loves to meet people, said the conservative commentator Larry Kudlow, a Ruddy friend whom Ruddy floated for an administration job last year. Kudlow described how Ruddy, a practicing Catholic, brought Kudlow and other friends to Rome for the canonization of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII in 2014.

Ruddy dines at Mar-a-Lago frequently in season, he said, visiting the club on Friday or Saturday nights. Ruddy said he does not see the president every night Trump is there. Over the years, the two men have had contact in Florida, sometimes in New York, and occasionally talked on the phone, Ruddy said.

Obviously I do have a relationship where I do understand the president, Ruddy said. I dont know his thinking on every major issue but I sometimes understand how he approaches things.

And he has taken it upon himself to offer that understanding of the president to the press. I think theres a lot of people close to him and friendly with him who are afraid of talking to the press because they think press is so hostile to him, Ruddy said. I felt I had a comfort level with many in the press and understand the press so I figured it might be a good thing for me to go out and talk about my relationship with the president and his ideas.

Ruddy said hed made his visit to the Oval Office last week to take Nancy Brinker, a longtime friend of mine and Donalds and the founder of breast-cancer charity Susan G. Komen, to talk to the president about cancer priorities.*

Ruddy, 52, founded Newsmax in 1998. His media career began as a journalist; he worked for the New York Post and later for the Richard Mellon Scaife-backed Pittsburgh Tribune-Review during the 1990s. During this time Ruddy played a key role in the conservative medias war against the Clinton administrationand in the conspiracy theories that blossomed around the Clintons.

His book The Strange Death of Vincent Foster: An Investigation, published in 1997, explored the suicide of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster in 1993. Fosters death became a linchpin for conspiracy theories about whether the Clintons actually had him killed. A Slate review of Ruddys book described him as the Inspector Clouseau of the Foster casea determined, if bumbling, former New York Post reporter who has virtually single-handedly spawned a cottage industry of conspiracy buffs dedicated to the proposition that a foul and monstrous cover-up surrounds the circumstances of Foster's death.

Curiously enough, Ruddy has since become a Clinton friend, and has donated large sums to the Clinton Foundationa fact that earned him negative coverage in Breitbart last year. Ruddy defended the Clintons against claims made in Peter Schweizers book Clinton Cash during the campaign; he told me he still has a good relationship with Bill Clinton.

Despite his early work on Clinton, like Trump, Ruddy himself is not an ideologue.

He leans right in the way that I lean left but I think we like each other because we both believe in rebuilding the center, said Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, a friend of Ruddys. Hes a centrist Republican but I think he has a populist streak in him. But hes not a hard-right guy. I dont see him as a Breitbart-Bannon guy.

Im not a registered Republican but I always said truth in advertising: My sympathies are with the Republican Party, Ruddy told me. I consider myself a Reagan conservative.

The pace of Ruddys media appearances defending Trump has only increased since the Priebus incident. This past weekend, Ruddy again inserted himself into the middle of the biggest story: this time, Trumps unfounded allegations on Saturday that Barack Obamas administration ordered wiretaps of Trump Tower before the election.

I spoke with the President twice yesterday about the wiretap story, Ruddy wrote on Newsmax.com on Sunday. I havent seen him this pissed off in a long time. When I mentioned Obama denials about the wiretaps, he shot back: This will be investigated, it will all come out. I will be proven right.

But Ruddys defense of Trump went slightly awry. He had a rough time of it on Chris Matthewss MSNBC show on Tuesday when Matthews pressed him on a story in Newsmax.com from 2016 that reported that Trump had met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak at a VIP reception with three other ambassadorsa significant tidbit considering the swirling controversy over Kislyaks contacts with Trump campaign officials during the campaign.

What is the crime even if he did meet with the Russians? Ruddy asked. Ruddy also seemed unfamiliar with the Newsmax report Matthews was referring to. (We publish like 10K articles a year, Ruddy told me in an email later. He referenced an article, it was actually a story we picked up from the Wall Street Journal, didnt originate w[ith] us, he knew that and didnt share that fact w[ith] the audience.)

Its a better time than ever to be a media mogul with a direct line to the president. A recent Washington Post column speculated that Ruddy might be trying to use his relationship with the president to re-position Newsmax for the Trump era in the face of ascendant competitors like Breitbart.

Or it could be simpler than that. Hes a guy who likes knowing a lot of people, said one friend of Ruddys who spoke on condition of anonymity. He likes knowing Bill Clinton, he likes knowing Donald Trump. Hes fond of having a broad circle of famous acquaintances.

Hes got an eye to his brand, I guess everybody has to these days, the friend said.

* This article has been updated to clarify that it was Ruddy who arranged the visit to the Oval Office.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
On Friday, South Koreas constitutional court unanimously ruled to remove the countrys president, Park Geun-hye, from office.

Park had already been impeached by the National Assembly in December on allegations of corruption, including that she shared confidential business documents with a friend, Choi Soon-sil. Park allegedly worked with her to extort millions from businesses; a more sensational version has the now-former president essentially under the control of that friend, who is the daughter of a cult leader. The scandal also embroiled the head of Samsung.

The constitutional court had six months after that National Assembly vote to decide whether Park should stay or go. It made its decision in three.

And so now South Korea is in a bit of a pickle. The populace is divided by Parks corruption and ouster. South Korea is under increasingly scary threat from North Korea and pressure from China, a reprisal for Seouls efforts to bolster regional defense against showers of missiles (which, in a twist, may have brought the country closer to Japan).

South Korea now has two months to hold snap elections. Moon Jae-in, liberal and leader of the Democratic Party, is currently ahead in the polls. Moon last ran for president in 2012 and lost to Park.

It is widely believed that nostalgia for her late father, the authoritarian leader Park Chung-hee, brought her to the presidency. Her political career has notched a pair of firsts: She was the countrys first female leader, and is now also the first democratically-elected leader of South Korea to be removed from office. Worse for her, losing the office potentially opens her up to criminal prosecution.

Although polls showed South Koreans overwhelmingly supported Parks removal, the country was divided after the verdict, which was greeted with protests in the countrys capital, Seoul, that already killed two and injured thirty. The countrys acting president called for unity and acceptance. It is still to be seen whether South Koreans will heed those calls.

Photo credit: ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images
SEATTLE (AP)  In stepping up legal challenges to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban, Democratic attorneys general are trying to use the court system to thwart the executive branch in the same way their GOP counterparts did under President Barack Obama.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday he was asking a federal judge to find that his order last month halting the old travel ban applies to the new one, too.

Ferguson's action came a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit. Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, New York and Massachusetts planned to file a new complaint challenging the revised travel ban Monday. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced in a statement Friday that Maryland plans to join the lawsuit filed by Washington state.

"My message to President Trump is: Not so fast," Ferguson said.

Ferguson and his fellow Democratic attorneys general are now doing what Republicans did when Obama was in office  filing lawsuits to block policies. Republican attorneys general took Obama to court over a variety of issues, most notably his health care legislation.

Attorneys general are the chief lawyers for state governments and can sue more broadly on behalf of their states. Most are elected and can act independently of their legislatures or governors, although Ferguson, for example, has the support of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, also a Democrat.

Trump's revised ban bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.

Unlike the initial order, the new one says current visa holders won't be affected, and removes language that would give priority to religious minorities.

Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said that the state could not stay silent on Trump's travel ban because of Hawaii's unique culture and history. Hawaii depends heavily on tourism, and the revised ban would hurt the state's economy, he said.

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The courts need to hear "that there's a state where ethnic diversity is the norm, where people are welcomed with aloha and respect," Chin said.

In the original lawsuit targeting the first ban, Ferguson said it was unconstitutional and hurt the state's businesses and universities.

Ferguson said it's not the government, but the court, that gets to decide whether the revised order is different enough that it would not be covered by previous temporary restraining order.

"When a court enjoins a defendant from implementing policies, the defendant cannot evade that injunction simply by reissuing the same basic policies in a new form," Washington state Solicitor General Noah Purcell said in the state's new court filing. "Courts do not issue injunctive relief in a game of whack-a-mole, forced to start anew at a defendant's whim."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration believed the revised travel ban will stand up to legal scrutiny.

"We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given," Spicer said.

Ferguson said he was pleased other that attorneys general had sought to take part in the legal action. On Thursday, the Seattle judge granted Oregon's request to join Washington and Minnesota in the case opposing the travel ban; New York and Massachusetts say they'll also join the case.

All of those states except Pennsylvania and Iowa were won by Trump's Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, in last year's presidential election.

"We have a strong case and they are willing to join our efforts," Ferguson said of his fellow Democrats. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement called the executive order "a Muslim ban by another name."

Other states that have filed briefs supporting Washington's initial lawsuit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

___

Sinco Kelleher reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Tarek Hamada in Phoenix and Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump's immigration agenda, laid out in his first few weeks in office, prioritized deportations for any immigrants charged with committing crimes in the U.S., including American military personnel on visas or green cards.

But a former marine is hoping the new president will make an exception for him and dozens of other former legal residents who served in the military before being deported for various crimes.

Read: How Donald Trump May Be Creating Fake News About Immigrants Every Week

Antonio Romo was 12-years-old when he immigrated across the U.S.-Mexico border to Lynwood, California, before serving as a marine during the liberation of Kuwait, a U.S.-led military operation to free the nation following the 1991 Iraq invasion.

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Photo: Reuters

He witnessed violence and bloodshed during his military service, suffering psychological trauma and turning to drugs on his return to the states, an Associated Press profile published Thursday showed.

Romo was eventually arrested in 2001 and convicted of conspiracy to distribute and sell cocaine, before eventually being deported to Mexico in 2008. The veteran was dropped off in a dangerous region of the Rio Grande controlled by local drug cartels.

"I was scared," Romo said. "We offered our lives, in exchange for nothing."

The Deported Veterans Support House, an organization advocating for the re-entry of U.S. veterans charged with crimes, supports Romo's calls for the president to reconsider his deportation policies when it comes to former members of the military.

"Just the fact that 22 veterans commit suicide every single day in this country should inform the president these men and women are witnessing unspeakable horrors that lead to mental health problems and other issues," Hector Barajas, director and founder of the Deported Veterans Support House, told International Business Times. "We need legislation that helps immigrant veterans facing these problems. Theres a lack of loyalty as the law currently stands. Support for our veterans shouldnt end when the uniform comes off."

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By Madeline Kennedy (Reuters Health) - - Pain and other symptoms of chronic sinus problems might cause sufferers to miss work or school but depression is their biggest source of lost productivity, a small study suggests. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), or long-lasting sinus swelling, is often caused by infection, growths in the sinuses or nose injury and can seriously affect peoples quality of life, the study team writes in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. In addition to facial pain and difficulty breathing through the nose, CRS can cause emotional symptoms like depression, the researchers add, and treatment in the future may need to focus more on these issues. We found that it was more severe depression symptoms that were associated with missing work or school due to CRS, said senior author Dr. Ahmad Sedaghat, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston. These findings were extremely surprising because none of the symptoms typically associated with sinusitis were associated with patients missing work or school, Sedaghat told Reuters Health by email. More than 12 percent of U.S. adults have chronic sinusitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lost productivity due to missed work or school, or to showing up while sick, as well as lost productivity at home because of sinusitis are estimated at $10,000 per patient each year, the authors write. To determine which symptoms are linked with missed work or school days, the study team collected data on 107 adults living with chronic sinus problems. The participants completed questionnaires asking about sleep disturbance, nasal issues, ear or face pain and emotional functioning. They also rated their symptom severity and completed specific screens for nasal congestion and depression. The researchers asked participants how many days of work or school they had missed in the past three months because of CRS. On average, the answer was three days. But people who reported more emotional symptoms were significantly more likely to have missed work days, compared to people without these symptoms. Having more ear or face pain or more nasal symptoms was not linked to missing days of work or school compared to people without those symptoms. Even patients missing out on sleep because of their sinus problems were not any more likely to have lost productivity, researchers found. While it is difficult to determine whether CRS actually causes depression, the many symptoms of the disease may affect patients ability to cope with the daily activities of life, said Jess Mace, a senior research associate at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. Patients should understand that receiving a diagnosis of CRS may increase the likelihood of lowering emotional status over time, Mace, who was not involved in the study, said by email. Understanding that and working proactively with your doctor to identify symptoms of depression and pursuing early treatment, if necessary, may help many patients experience better treatment outcomes and a higher quality of life, he said. If someone you know has chronic sinus problems, it is important to be aware that depression symptoms may be impacting their life, Sedaghat said. Our findings now suggest that depression may also be a very specific driver of missed work or school due to CRS and seeking out treatment of depression will not only lead to a significant improvement in quality of life, but it may also improve productivity in the setting of this chronic condition, Sedaghat said. SOURCE: bit.ly/2mLKB9R Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, March 2017.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  That Duindorp has no immigrant community to speak of is part of its charm for Willem van Vliet, who runs the "Willem and Toet" fish bar in the neighborhood's small parade of shops, serving crispy homemade shrimp croquettes and other Dutch snacks.

When Van Vliet, a friendly bear of a man, leaves the quiet confines of Duindorp, with its neat brick houses, fresh sea air and cackling gulls wheeling overhead, and travels the few miles (kilometers) into the center of The Hague to the city's more culturally diverse neighborhoods, the cook sees a Netherlands not enriched by immigration, but ravaged by it.

"In the last years, too many people have come to Holland with no education, no work experience, and they are coming here only for money from the government, and enough is enough," he said. "We lost our country."

Such views make this corner of the Netherlands one of the epicenters for the disruptive wave of populism sweeping across Europe, gate-crashing its politics, testing its institutions and clouding its future. European populist leaders are exploiting the concerns of people like Van Vliet that immigration, particularly Muslim immigration, threatens to swamp them and their traditions, with the eventual risk of them or their children becoming strangers in their own lands.

Of the Netherlands' 17 million people, just over one in five now has a foreign background. That number rises to roughly half-and-half in the four largest melting-pot cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague.

The specter of uncontrolled floods of migrants from countries that don't share Europe's Christian heritage is a principal selling point for the extremist, far-right brand of politics promoted by firebrand populists Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Marine Le Pen in France.

For critics, Wilders and Le Pen are stoking anti-immigrant feelings, not simply diagnosing them. By harping on anti-Islam themes, they are accused of making the xenophobic views that Europe shunned after the Nazi horrors of World War II more mainstream again. Wilders was convicted in December of inciting discrimination for a rabble-rousing speech against the Moroccan population, which he has said includes "a lot of Moroccan scum."

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For their supporters, Wilders and Le Pen simply tell it like it is. Paradoxically, hostility against immigrants is sometimes sharpest in places, like Duindorp, that have not absorbed large numbers of people from overseas. Some of those who most vehemently repeat Wilders and Le Pen's arguments that Islam is poisoning Europe don't actually have regular personal contact with Muslims. Many cite terrorism claimed by Islamic extremists in Europe as a major cause of their concerns.

The No. 1 pledge on Wilders' election manifesto, which fits onto just one page, is to "de-Islamize the Netherlands," by banning the Quran and immigration from Muslim countries and shutting the country's estimated 475 mosques. About 5 percent of the Dutch population, at least 850,000 people, is now Muslim.

Duindorp has no mosques and few Muslims. Its several thousand people are overwhelmingly white, most born locally.

Yet Duindorp is Wilders territory. When his Party for Freedom got hammered in the last parliamentary election in 2012, Duindorp bucked the trend. At Duindorp's community center that serves as a polling station, where retirees come for billiards and company, 352 people cast votes for Wilders, more than for the two largest parties combined.

Wilders should score well again on March 15, when the Netherlands votes in the first of a series of European elections, followed by France, Germany and possibly Italy. The elections will show whether the populist storm that broke last year with Britain's "Brexit" vote is gathering strength or blowing over.

Leo Pronk, a community leader in Duindorp, said Wilders' anti-Islam message hooks voters who "don't know any better." There are jobs in Duindorp, with many self-employed in building trades, but few of its kids attend university, Pronk said. Because "windows were smashed, people were threatened" in the past, immigrants "don't want to live here," he said. To describe the neighborhood's suspicions of outsiders, Pronk quoted a Dutch saying: "What a farmer doesn't know, he doesn't eat."

"Wilders is saying what the low-educated people want to hear ... 'Immigrants are taking our jobs, they are raping our women,'" said Pronk, who doesn't vote for him.

In his Duindorp workshop, sailmaker Frederik Quaedvlieg agreed that people perhaps fear what they don't know.

"Here you get accepted or not. If you are accepted, everyone says 'Hi!' No problem. If you are not accepted, you feel it and you have to get out," he said. "I think there's a lot of people here who really complain about immigration and about foreigners taking their jobs, but they get the social welfare and they stay at home and smoke weed all day."

Islam is relatively new in the Netherlands, and its spread has come as increasing numbers of native Dutch have abandoned religion. Those attending religious services at least once per month have dropped from about one in four in 1999 to about one in six now.

In The Hague's most culturally diverse neighborhoods, many women wear Muslim headscarves. In the market, young Muslim women eating battered fried fish, a Dutch favorite, took dainty, careful bites to avoid splashing grease on their hijabs.

The Netherlands' oldest mosque, in The Hague, was built in 1955. Its imam, Naeem Ahmad, dismisses as "not possible" Wilders' call for the country to rid itself of Islam.

He says the Muslim community is thriving and generally integrated. The Mobarak Mosque gets New Year greeting cards from its Dutch neighbors. And before the ubiquity of GPS, people would lead worshippers who had trouble finding the building right to the door, he said.

"In what other country would that happen?" he asked. "The majority of the people in the Netherlands are still very liberal, very welcoming."

The mosque does community outreach, posting leaflets about Islam through doors and gluing stickers around town. One, stuck on a beam in the mosque's basement, reads: "Muslims for peace. Love for all, hatred for none."

Ahmad hopes those who disagree with Wilders will stand up and be counted in the election.

"Otherwise the small group, the minority, will take over," he said.

Those who are receptive to Wilders' arguments also include wealthier people who could be hurt economically by his proposed policies were he to take power.

The crew of the Maarten-Jacob makes a handsome living, as much as 8,000 euros ($8,450) each per month, trawling fish from the murk of the North Sea. Five of the six men who work the vessel said they'd be voting Wilders, even though his desire to pull the Netherlands out of the European Union could be disastrous for the country's fishing industry, likely limiting access to European fishing grounds.

As it is, the trawler's captain already is worried that Britain's "Brexit" will bar them from English waters, where they catch much of their fish. But for him and his shipmates, anxieties about Islam appear greater still. They come from Urk, a fishing town with roughly 20 churches, all Protestant, for a population of 20,000 people who are among the most devout churchgoers in the country. Urk has no mosque and few immigrants.

The captain, Jan de Boer, said as they repaired their nets that he has never met a good Muslim.

"Islam is very dangerous," De Boer said. "It's a religion of hate."

"Shut the doors, no more people," he added. "I'm very scared and I mean it, honestly."

Fear cuts both ways.

For immigrants and their Dutch-born children, Wilders' success in thrusting immigration to the top of the political agenda is making them question their place in a country long known for its tolerance and exploration of the world. Dutch mariners were the first Europeans to sail as far as New Zealand, in 1642; they founded New York and gave the word "yacht" and other nautical terms to the English language. More recently, the Netherlands was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage  in 2001.

Yet now many are buying into Wilders' arguments that tolerance has gone too far, and that the Netherlands cannot risk opening itself any further to a religion he calls dangerously intolerant, Islam. Although other politicians say they won't work with Wilders, they have shifted to the right to catch some of his electorate.

"The Netherlands that I grew up in are not the Netherlands I live in today," said Sylvana Simons. The 46-year-old former TV presenter of Surinamese descent has been subjected to sickening online abuse, including photos doctored to make her look like the hanged victim of a lynching, after speaking out about discrimination.

"We've told ourselves and we desperately wanted to believe  and believed  that we were the most tolerant country in the world," she said. "It has proven not to be enough."

Wilders supporters cite a lack of space as another reason to close the Netherlands' doors. The Netherlands is densely populated, with some of its land reclaimed from the sea. The country is full, they argue.

"I think 80 percent of people who vote Wilders are afraid of change," said Denice Spaans, a 30-year-old educator who works with asylum seekers. Those voters include her father, Fred, a hairdresser. The two of them swim together in the North Sea in the mornings but don't see eye-to-eye politically.

He blames Islam for "80 percent of the crime and the dangers" in the world. He used to cut out and collect newspaper crime stories that involved immigrants until the clippings took up too much space.

"If you have educated Muslims, then it's not a problem," Denice said. "But I think it's uneducated people with old-fashioned mindsets which don't fit into a modern society like here in Holland."

Born in The Hague, and seeing himself as part-Dutch and part-Moroccan, 36-year-old Latif Boujada said he no longer feels at home in either country. He sells hijabs, let's-learn-Arabic books, recordings from the Quran and other Muslim apparel in The Hague's market. Legions of foreign workers the Netherlands took in the 1970s when it needed labor included Boujada's father, who moved from Morocco's Rif Valley for work in the textile industry.

"The Dutch didn't want to do the dirty jobs. We helped make the country rich. Now they want us to go back," Boujada said.

Sounding vexed, he said he was stopped by Dutch police and asked to show ID when recently visiting his parents, who have retired to a town northeast of The Hague. In Morocco, he's treated as a foreigner, too, he added.

"We're not welcome here or there," he said. "Holland is not the Holland of 20, 30 years ago."

But he added defiantly: "We're not going anywhere. We are staying."

___

Mike Corder in The Hague contributed.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch military has been "gravely neglected" under Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government and even if spending is increased, it will not be in a state of "basic readiness" until 2021 at the earliest, a key government adviser said on Friday. In a scathing report less than a week before a national election, the Netherlands' Advisory Council on International Affairs advised any incoming government to boost spending to the European average for the coming four years, and to the NATO norm of 2 percent for the subsequent four. NATO has previously criticized the Netherlands for inadequate military spending, notably on ground forces and operational support. The Dutch spend a little more than 1 percent of GDP on their military, versus the European NATO average of around 1.4 percent. The Dutch vote in a national election on March 15. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
(BRUSSELS)  The leaders of the European Union delivered a withering snub to Polands right-wing government on Thursday by steamrolling its objections and reappointing former Polish premier Donald Tusk to chair their summits.

Tusks successor as prime minister Beata Szydlo, acting on orders from her party boss and long-time Tusk adversary Jaroslaw Kaczynski, had vowed to stop him securing a second 30-month term. But the other 27 leaders wasted no time in moving to a cold-blooded vote in which she was the lone objector.

Warsaw portrayed the issue as one of fundamental principle, in which vital national interests had been ignored by a Brussels machine dominated by German diktat. Its crushing defeat showed how far the biggest of the ex-communist states that joined the EU after the Cold War appears isolated, even in Eastern Europe.

The row, albeit driven by Polish domestic politics, clouded attempts at the meetings in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to forge a common front as Britain prepares to deliver its formal notice that it will exit the bloc in 2019.

Kaczynski said the vote showed the EU was run by Germany and was trampling on national interests: If the EU does not abandon this road, it will be consigned to history, he said in Warsaw.

Hours after the vote on Tusk, Szydlo refused to sign off on the official record of summit conclusions  a routine roundup of endorsements and exhortations on economic, immigration and foreign policies. It was signed by the other 27, however, and EU officials said Polands rejection did not affect the outcome.

Szydlo had first tried to get the other leaders to postpone a decision on Tusk but found no backing. They gave her time to repeat her reasons for withholding her support, citing Tusks criticism from Brussels of her governments policies  policies many in the EU see as a threat to democracy.

But Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who holds the rotating EU chair, moved swiftly to record a 27-1 vote to reappoint the 59-year-old Tusk.

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Tusk had left the room during the discussion and was clapped back in by all but Szydlo, according to people who were present. He will play a key role over the next two years in overseeing Brexit negotiations with London. Prime Minister Theresa May was attending her last summit before launching the process.

Tusk, who led a centrist government for seven years until 2014, offered an olive branch to Szydlo, telling the Council in broadcast comments that he would work with the leaders without any exceptions  because I am committed to European unity.

He urged Warsaw to be reasonable and not burn bridges with EU allies and said he would work to avoid its isolation.

The leaders will meet again on Friday, minus May, to prepare for a unity summit to be held in Rome on March 25, the 60th anniversary of the treaty that laid the EUs foundation.

The row with Poland has highlighted a deepening split between eastern members reluctant to cede new-found national freedoms to Brussels and the richer western states that want to deepen EU integration in the hope it can boost prosperity and security and thus stem the rise of Brexit-inspired eurosceptics.

Talk of a multi-speed Europe has intensified in recent months. Germanys Angela Merkel and other leaders say allowing willing states to pull closer together is crucial to the EUs survival, but wary easterners fear they could be left behind.

Tusk said leaders agreed to press ahead with free trade pacts despite protectionist tendencies elsewhere  a reference to concerns about new U.S. President Donald Trump.

They also pledged continued support  and possible EU and NATO membership  to Balkan states where they are worried about growing influence from Russia.

The leaders also reviewed plans to curb illegal migration from Libya to Italy, as numbers crossing rise.

Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Warsaw and Philip Blenkinsop, Waverly Colville, Jan Strupczewski, Francesco Guarascio, Julia Fioretti, Robert-Jan Bartunek, Alissa de Carbonnel, Elizabeth Piper, Jean-Baptiste Vey, Andreas Rinke, Noah Barkin and Farah Salih in Brussels
Thursday morning, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt left those who believe in climate change going through a wide range of emotions after saying he does not believe that carbon dioxide emissions are a primary contributor to global warming. Science says hes wrong, and the evidence is abundant.

Pruitt denied the impact of CO2 created by human activity on climate change in an interview on CNBC, just days after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that the 2016-2017 winter was the eighth warmest winter on record in the United States, and February was the second warmest February on record.

Pruitt, who has close ties to the fossil fuel industry, was criticized for his lack of concern on the topic of climate change in his confirmation hearings before joining President Donald Trumps administration. Last month thousands of Pruitt's emails revealed his relationship with the fossil fuel industry, according to the Washington Post. Trump himself is a climate change skeptic, he once blamed climate change on the Chinese and campaigned on the promises to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement and to revive the coal industry.

On Thursday morning, when asked: Do you believe that its been proven that CO2 is the primary control knob for climate? Pruitt replied, "No, I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and theres tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact. So no I would not agree that its a primary contributor to the global warming that we see...But we dont know that yet we need to continue the review and the analysis."

But the EPAs website states otherwise : "Recent climate changes, however, cannot be explained by natural causes alone. Research indicates that natural causes do not explain most observed warming, especially warming since the mid-20th century. Rather, it is extremely likely that human activities have been the dominant cause of that warming."

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Most scientists are in agreement with the EPA. The link between CO2 associated with human activities with global warming is an issue that was settled decades ago, David Wolfe, a Cornell professor and Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future Faculty Fellow, told International Business Times. "We not only know that CO2 is a contributor to global warming, but that it is a major contributor, by quite a long shot."

global temperature change

Photo: EPA

As this chart (from the EPA) shows, had the temperature only changed due to natural factors the world would be a cooler place right now. When natural and human factors are looked at together, the rise in temperature is far more drastic, especially in the postindustrial years and around the 1960s when consumerism really started to take off.

While its true that the Earth has historically experienced natural warming and cooling cycles that are directly tied to CO2 levels, natural CO2 levels do not explain the drastic uptick in climate change over the last century. Climate data from hundreds of thousands of years ago show that in accordance with natural variations in the Earths orbit and various feedback systems that heat and cool the planet, CO2 levels have always risen and fallen.

"For close to 500,000 years there were some ups and downs in the atmosphere and then just not more than about 150 years ago it started raising from 280 parts per million to 330 parts per million in the 80s, and now even more quickly," Wolfe explained, "Its [the amount of CO2] going up exponentially every decade."

The swift uptick on graphed data, and that Wolfe describes, indicates an unprecedented rate of warming, and shows that something other than those natural forces had an impact on the CO2 levels of the last century.

co2 emissions graph

Photo: NASA

How are CO2 levels from long ago measured?

Scientists are able to determine CO2 levels from hundreds of centuries ago by studying glacial ice. Essentially they drill into ancient glaciers, like those in Greenland, and pull out tubes of ice. The air bubbles trapped in the ice from centuries ago contain whatever gases were in the air at the time it was trapped. By studying that air, and breaking down the gases it contains, scientists can determine how much of the air at the time was CO2 gas. Additionally, tree rings, ocean and rock sediment also serve as proxy records of climate conditions of the past.

How does CO2 contribute to climate change?

Carbon dioxide is a key climate change contributor because it traps heat within our atmosphere and stays there for a long time. CO2 is now being released faster than the Earth can handle and once its released into our atmosphere, either through the burning of fossil fuels or naturally, it hangs out there and keeps heat from escaping into space. CO2 is also contributing to sea level rise because as CO2 enters the ocean, it warms up the water and the water expands, and when it expands it has to go somewhere meaning the ocean will get bigger and our beaches will get smaller.

So CO2 levels have risen as human activity increased and we figured out how to use fossil fuel to power our homes, cars and everything else we rely on. Multiple studies show that roughly 97 percent of scientists believe human activity contributes to climate change.

IBT reached out to the EPA via phone and email but the EPA had not responded at the time of this post.

Related Articles
Brussels (AFP) - EU leaders clashed Friday over plans to build unity in the wake of Brexit, a day after a row with Poland over Donald Tusk's re-election as the bloc's president underscored deep divisions.

European heavyweights Germany and France backed a "multi-speed" Europe after Britain's divorce with the union.

But Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said she would never back such a plan, which is also opposed by some eastern European states that fear being left behind.

The 27 EU leaders -- without British Prime Minister Theresa May -- struggled to draft a declaration that is to be unveiled at a March 25 summit in Rome to mark the EU's 60th birthday.

"The motto is that we are united in diversity," Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the talks in describing what message would carry the day in Rome.

Leaders have stressed the need to pull together as the European Union comes to terms with Britain's seismic decision to leave the bloc.

The EU 27 will "work together to promote the common good on the understanding that some of us can move closer, further and faster in some areas, keeping the door open to those who want to join later," said a draft of the Rome proposals.

- 'Blackmail' -

The wording clearly prioritises a "multi-speed" Europe and drew ire from countries like Poland who are loath to see EU heavyweights go it alone, but also fear for the large subsidies they get from Brussels.

"We disagree with any talk of a multi-speed Europe," said Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo a day after fighting her EU leader counterparts over Tusk.

Szydlo singled out outgoing French President Francois Hollande for criticism, accusing him of trying to "blackmail" Poland at the summit.

"Am I supposed to take seriously the blackmail of a president who has a four percent approval rating and who soon won't be president?" she said, without giving further details of what Hollande had done.

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Tusk, a former Polish premier, backed the drive for unity but also cautioned: "If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together."

- No 'iron curtain' -

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker insisted that any plans to integrate at different speeds after Brexit will not create a "new iron curtain" between east and west.

"This is seen as introducing a new dividing line, a new kind of iron curtain between the east and west. That is not the intention," Juncker said.

The struggle to forge a more unified future for Europe was overshadowed by the clash with Poland over Tusk's re-election as head of the European Council, which groups the bloc's political leaders.

Most of the 28 leaders who gathered on Thursday night -- Britain still being present then -- had hoped to push through Tusk's re-election with a minimum of fuss so they could concentrate on the bloc's future.

Instead, they ran into outright opposition from the staunchly eurosceptic Polish government which cast the only "no" vote against 27 in favour.

Szydlo accused her EU partners of setting a "dangerous precedent" by railroading their pick over the opinion of the candidate's home government.

Szydlo, whose right-wing eurosceptic Law and Justice party has nursed a long and bitter enmity with the centrist Tusk, blocked the summit's final statement in response.

"It's not acceptable that one member says 'I don't want that', and then the other 27 are paralysed," Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said of the Polish move as he arrived for the talks Friday.

Britain's May, who left Brussels after the first day of the summit, said she wanted to "get on with" leaving the European Union -- and her fellow EU leaders agreed.

The EU summit was May's last before her self-imposed deadline to trigger the Article 50 withdrawal process by the end of March.

Juncker on Friday said he regretted Britain's decision but hoped that one day it would return to the EU "boat."
Brussels (AFP) - European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday voiced hope that Britain will one day return to the EU fold despite voting to leave.

"I do not like Brexit because I would like to be in the same boat as the British. The day will come when the British will re-enter the boat, I hope," Juncker said after a meeting of the remaining 27 EU leaders on the bloc's post-Brexit future.

Juncker, who says he regrets but respects Britain's decision, is a committed European who favours closer EU integration, if necessary allowing some member states to take the lead while the others catch up later if they wish.

Others, notably newer member states in eastern Europe such as Poland and Hungary, oppose this "multi-speed" approach for fear of being left behind.

Juncker told a press conference after the meeting of the 27 leaders that Brexit was not the end of the European Union and had in fact given it fresh purpose.

"I had the impression the Brexit issue is encouraging the others to continue... integration is (gaining) a larger adherence of the population," he said.

"I regret Brexit but it is not the end."
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye on Friday, removing her from office over a graft scandal involving big business that has gripped the country for months. Following are some details about the main figures in the graft scandal and the accusations they face. PARK GEUN-HYE, 65 Former president of South Korea Accused of violating constitutional duty as president. Special prosecutors said on March 6 that Park colluded with her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to take bribes from the Samsung Group aimed at cementing Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee's control of the conglomerate, and was instrumental in blacklisting more than 9,000 artists, authors and movie industry professionals and excluding them from government assistance. South Korean law does not allow a sitting president to be indicted unless the charge is treason. No formal charge has been brought against Park. After the court's ruling removing her from office, she has lost immunity from prosecution. She has denied wrongdoing. CHOI SOON-SIL, 60 Park's confidante of about 40 years Charged with receiving bribes, hiding proceeds of a crime, influence-peddling and abuse of authority to hinder the exercise of others' rights Special prosecutors said on March 6 that Choi colluded with Park to take bribes from South Korea's biggest conglomerate, Samsung Group [SAGR.UL], aimed at cementing the control of the group of its chief, Jay Y. Lee. She has denied wrongdoing. She has been detained and is on trial. JAY Y. LEE, 48 Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> vice chairman and de facto leader of the Samsung Group. Charged with bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas, hiding proceeds of a crime, perjury Special prosecutors said on March 6 that Lee pledged 43 billion won ($37.19 million) in return for support from Park and Choi for a variety of steps, including a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 and the 2016 domestic listing of a loss-making drug maker Samsung BioLogics Co Ltd <207940.KS> . Lee and Samsung have denied wrongdoing. Detained and on trial CHOI GEE-SUNG, 66 Former Samsung Group vice chairman. Charged with bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas, hiding proceeds of a crime Special prosecutors said on March 6 that Choi also participated in Lee's pledging of 43 billion won in return for support from Park and Choi for a variety of steps, including a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 and the 2016 domestic listing of a loss-making drug maker Samsung BioLogics Co Ltd He has denied wrongdoing Not detained but on trial MOON HYUNG-PYO, 61 Former minister of health, former National Pension Service chairman. Charged with abuse of authority to hinder the exercise of others' rights, perjury. Special prosecutors said on March 6 that during Moon's tenure as chairman in 2015, the National Pension Service voted in favor of a merger of two Samsung Group affiliates, despite anticipating a 138.8 billion won ($119.87 million) loss. Denied wrongdoing. Detained and on trial KIM KI-CHOON, 77 Park's former chief of staff Charged with abuse of authority to hinder the exercise of others' rights, coercion, perjury Special prosecutors said on March 6 that Kim colluded with Park, Choi and others to blacklist more artists, authors and movie industry professionals and exclude them from government assistance. He has denied wrongdoing. Detained (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
SEOUL (Reuters) - The competition to lead Asia's fourth-largest economy got off the marks on Friday after the Constitutional Court dismissed President Park Geun-hye from office over an influence-peddling scandal. Park's replacement, who will have to win a election to be held within 60 days, will face a host of problems: a growing threat from nuclear-armed North Korea that prompted deployment of a U.S. missile-defense system, Chinese retaliation against Korea businesses over that move, and pressure to reform the family-run conglomerates that played a key role in the scandal that caused Parks downfall. Following is an introduction to the leading candidates and their key policies. MOON JAE-IN The 64-year-old former lawmaker and ex-leader of the main opposition Democratic Party lost to Park in the 2012 election by 3 percentage points. Moon favours closer engagement with North Korea. He has also called for the next government to review a decision to deploy the U.S. THAAD missile defence system, which prompted China to squeeze Korean companies on the mainland and clamp down on tourism to South Korea. He has also pledged to get tougher on South Korea's conglomerates, saying they need reform. Moon has been at the top of polls, registering 32 percent in the latest one released by Gallup Korea on Friday. The polling company is not affiliated with U.S.-based Gallup Inc. AN HEE-JUNG A youthful-looking provincial governor, An, 51, surged to second place in opinion polls after former U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon dropped out of the race. An was an aide to former President Roh Moo-hyun, a liberal, when Moon was Roh's chief of staff. He is a two-term governor of rural South Chungcheong province. Some supporters have nicknamed him the "Obama of South Korea". An came second in the latest poll, with support of 17 percent of the 1,005 people questioned. An also favours more engagement with North Korea but has said the THAAD deal should be respected as South Korea and the United States have agreed to deploy it. He has called for a fair, transparent market economy. AHN CHEOL-SOO Ahn, 55, is a former doctor and computer businessman. Ahn's popularity has waned in recent months after stepping down as co-chair of the new opposition People's Party, after it became embroiled in a kickback scandal over advertising funds. Ahn was not implicated. He is a member of parliament. He got the support of 9 percent of respondents in the latest poll. He is open to dialogue on North Korea, though has also advocated a tough line. He says the THAAD system must be deployed and South Korea must make greater efforts to convince China it is not aimed at them. On the economy, he advocates the expansion of small- and medium-sized enterprises. HWANG KYO-AHN Prime Minister Hwang, 59, became acting president after parliament voted to impeach park on Dec. 9. Hwang was a state prosecutor for nearly 30 years before launching a career in politics and is considered a loyalist in Park's cabinet. He has not said if he will run for president but has, nevertheless, emerged as a top conservative candidate. Hwang got 9 percent in a latest poll. Hwang reflects Park's tough line on North Korea and whole-hearted support for THAAD. His economic thinking is conservative. LEE JAE-MYEONG Lee, the 52-year-old mayor of Seongnam, a city southeast of Seoul, has surged in opinion polls as an outspoken critic of Park since the scandal that led to her impeachment erupted. A member of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee has said he wants to be the South Korean Bernie Sanders, after the U.S. Democratic Party insurgent who ran against Hillary Clinton. He got the support of 8 percent in the latest poll. Lee has billed himself as the inheritor of the "Sunshine policy" of engaging with North Korea. He recently told Chinese media the THAAD deployment should be called off. He is well known for his staunch criticism of the chaebol. (Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Robert Birsel and Bill Tarrant)
SEOUL (Reuters) - The competition to lead Asia's fourth-largest economy got off the marks on Friday after the Constitutional Court dismissed President Park Geun-hye from office over an influence-peddling scandal. Park's replacement, who will have to win a election to be held within 60 days, will face a host of problems: a growing threat from nuclear-armed North Korea that prompted deployment of a U.S. missile-defense system, Chinese retaliation against Korea businesses over that move, and pressure to reform the family-run conglomerates that played a key role in the scandal that caused Parks downfall. Following is an introduction to the leading candidates and their key policies. MOON JAE-IN The 64-year-old former lawmaker and ex-leader of the main opposition Democratic Party lost to Park in the 2012 election by 3 percentage points. Moon favors closer engagement with North Korea. He has also called for the next government to review a decision to deploy the U.S. THAAD missile defense system, which prompted China to squeeze Korean companies on the mainland and clamp down on tourism to South Korea. He has also pledged to get tougher on South Korea's conglomerates, saying they need reform. Moon has been at the top of polls, registering 32 percent in the latest one released by Gallup Korea on Friday. The polling company is not affiliated with U.S.-based Gallup Inc. AN HEE-JUNG A youthful-looking provincial governor, An, 51, surged to second place in opinion polls after former U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon dropped out of the race. An was an aide to former President Roh Moo-hyun, a liberal, when Moon was Roh's chief of staff. He is a two-term governor of rural South Chungcheong province. Some supporters have nicknamed him the "Obama of South Korea". An came second in the latest poll, with support of 17 percent of the 1,005 people questioned. An also favors more engagement with North Korea but has said the THAAD deal should be respected as South Korea and the United States have agreed to deploy it. He has called for a fair, transparent market economy. AHN CHEOL-SOO Ahn, 55, is a former doctor and computer businessman. Ahn's popularity has waned in recent months after stepping down as co-chair of the new opposition People's Party, after it became embroiled in a kickback scandal over advertising funds. Ahn was not implicated. He is a member of parliament. He got the support of 9 percent of respondents in the latest poll. He is open to dialogue on North Korea, though has also advocated a tough line. He says the THAAD system must be deployed and South Korea must make greater efforts to convince China it is not aimed at them. On the economy, he advocates the expansion of small- and medium-sized enterprises. HWANG KYO-AHN Prime Minister Hwang, 59, became acting president after parliament voted to impeach park on Dec. 9. Hwang was a state prosecutor for nearly 30 years before launching a career in politics and is considered a loyalist in Park's cabinet. He has not said if he will run for president but has, nevertheless, emerged as a top conservative candidate. Hwang got 9 percent in a latest poll. Hwang reflects Park's tough line on North Korea and whole-hearted support for THAAD. His economic thinking is conservative. LEE JAE-MYEONG Lee, the 52-year-old mayor of Seongnam, a city southeast of Seoul, has surged in opinion polls as an outspoken critic of Park since the scandal that led to her impeachment erupted. A member of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee has said he wants to be the South Korean Bernie Sanders, after the U.S. Democratic Party insurgent who ran against Hillary Clinton. He got the support of 8 percent in the latest poll. Lee has billed himself as the inheritor of the "Sunshine policy" of engaging with North Korea. He recently told Chinese media the THAAD deployment should be called off. He is well known for his staunch criticism of the chaebol. (Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Robert Birsel and Bill Tarrant)
Ankara (AFP) - Four heavyweights of a far-right Turkish nationalist party were expelled on Friday for opposing the party's line in favour of expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers.

On April 16 Turkish voters will cast ballots in a referendum on a bill that would create an executive presidency, which the government argues would be like that of France or the United States.

The government also argues the changes will ensure stability and create more efficient governance but opponents say it would lead to one-man rule and further inflame tensions in its diverse society.

The disciplinary committee of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) removed three lawmakers: Ismail Ok, Yusuf Halacoglu, Nuri Okutan as well as rising star and party member Sinan Ogan, MHP said in a statement.

They are accused of violating party rules after publicly voicing their opposition to MHP supporting constitutional changes proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) co-founded by Erdogan.

The four were expelled over misusing their rights of being members to deliberately harm the party as well as being accused of acting against party unity and leader, state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

The MHP is led by Devlet Bahceli, who first became leader in 1997, and is the country's fourth-largest faction in parliament.

Bahceli met regularly with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in recent months and lent his support to the AKP bill, giving the party the necessary votes to call a referendum.

Those unhappy in the party accuse Bahceli of cosying up to Erdogan for his own ends, with many speculating -- without any proof -- over whether he has been promised a vice presidential role under the new system.

The role of premier would be axed while there would be one or more vice presidents.

Less than a year ago, Bahceli's position was fragile after former interior minister Meral Aksener was trying to run for the party's leadership.

The attempt failed and she was expelled from the party last September.

Polls show the April referendum will be a tight race with some pro-government surveys suggesting the changes will be approved while opposition newspapers publish polls showing the "No" side ahead.
Los Angeles (AFP) - Adriana is preparing for the worst: deportation. She's worked it out in her head, but she still doesn't know how to tell her kids, who are terrified of losing her.

The Mexican-born mother of three began preparations after reading a pamphlet obtained at her son's school in a Los Angeles neighborhood with many undocumented Hispanics.

It spells out what to do in case of an immigration emergency -- a real and growing threat since President Donald Trump arrived in the White House on a promise to expel the 11 million people in the country illegally.

Trump's Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has said he is prepared to break up families, ratcheting up the pressure for parents like Adriana.

Although there have been no mass deportations since Trump's inauguration January 20, ICE, the agency that enforces immigration rules, has been given broader authority to detain undocumented immigrants.

Everyone is now theoretically on the radar, even those living in a so-called sanctuary city or who are protected under DACA, an Obama-era policy that defers deportation for undocumented immigrants brought into the country as children.

Adriana -- who like others interviewed for this story asked that her last name not be used for security reasons -- crossed the border into the United States with her parents when she was just six years old.

Although the 31 year-old now enjoys certain protections under DACA, that is cold comfort.

"We don't know. (Trump) is capable of coming and saying it's over, and just like that I lose my work permit," she said.

Adriana has spoken with her American cousins to ask them to take care of her children, who are nine, 10 and 14 years old, if something happens to her or her husband, who also has a work permit.

"The children don't know. We don't want them to be afraid," he said.

She doesn't want to go back to the land of her birth because it is no longer home to her.

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"I don't know Mexico. If I were to go, I'd be lost," she says.

- Alarm bells -

Alarm bells went off in Adriana's corner of Los Angeles last week when immigration agents arrested the father of a 13 year-old girl as he was driving his daughter to school.

The girl, Fatima Avelica, captured the arrest on video that soon went viral, sparking street protests.

The agents behaved as if "my dad is a criminal, and he is no criminal," the teenager told AFP.

"He is a hard worker, he came to this state for us, for his daughters, to have a better life so he didn't come to do bad stuff. He's a very good person."

The incident sent shock waves through Fatima's school, Academia Avance, where Adriana's children also are enrolled along with many other Hispanics.

Socorro, the 38 year-old mother of another Avance student, says she's a nervous wreck.

"In the street you can't be calm, you have to be looking around you," she said.

Socorro has lived in the United States for the past 18 years working as a hairdresser. Now she plans to apply for Mexican passports for her children so she can take them in case she is deported.

- Contingency plans -

Giovani, a 38 year-old restaurant worker whose children also go to Avance, intends to sit down this weekend with his wife Silvia to map out contingency plans.

"The family is going to stay together, either there or here, but it will be impossible to separate us," he says. "It will be a bit hard on the kids because they are very used to the United States, but they'll adapt."

The government has said that although the priority is to capture and deport undocumented immigrants with criminal records, anyone in the country illegally is subject to deportation.

The arrest last week in Seattle, in the northwestern state of Washington, of DACA recipient Daniel Ramirez Medina is a case in point.

Agents had entered Ramirez's house to arrest his father, but took his son into custody after he allegedly confessed to being a gang member. Ramirez, who has no criminal record, denies having said any such thing.

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time is all it takes to run afoul of the immigration authorities.

A recent operation in San Jose, California netted a dozen gang members, but also 11 other undocumented immigrants with no criminal records.

"One never knows now. It can happen to anyone," said Socorro.

She says her 14 year-old daughter knows just what to do if there is an arrest: "Tape it with your cellphone."
By Anne Harding (Reuters Health) - Just a small fraction of adolescents with opioid addiction will receive medications that can help them quit, new research shows. These medications, usually methadone or suboxone, are prescribed to reduce craving for opiates and ease withdrawal symptoms, and studies show they help opiate users to abstain. In 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised doctors to consider medication-assisted treatment, specifically suboxone, for adolescents with severe opioid use disorders. To get a baseline sense of medication-assisted treatment in adolescents with opiate or heroin addiction, Kenneth Feder of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore and his colleagues looked at data on 139,092 patients receiving treatment at publicly funded programs in the United States in 2013. While 26 percent of adult heroin addicts received medication-assisted treatment, that was true for just 2 percent of adolescents. Among patients addicted to opiates, 12 percent of adults received medication, compared to less than 1 percent of adolescents, the researchers reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Theres more that needs to be done across the board to facilitate access to these treatments when theyre medically necessary, Feder told Reuters Health by phone. The best validated treatment for somebody struggling with an opiate addiction is treatment that includes some sort of medication assistance. Patients seeking medication-assisted treatment face a number of obstacles. Methadone is only offered at specific substance abuse treatment centers, and these centers need a waiver to treat anyone under 18. Also, Medicaid rules state that adolescents with opiate addiction must have failed treatment twice in order to be prescribed methadone. Doctors can prescribe suboxone, the other main drug for this purpose, to patients 16 and older, but only if they have a waiver. These treatments may not be covered by a states Medicaid program, Feder added. And if they are medically necessary, we think they should be covered by a states Medicaid program. The difference in medication-assisted treatment rates between adolescents and adults is really striking and very concerning, Dr. Lisa Marsch of Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Lebanon, New Hampshire, told Reuters Health by phone. Marsch has studied medication-assisted treatment but did not participate in the new study. Medication-assisted treatment is clearly more effective for adults and adolescents, Marsch said, and by not extending the treatment to more patients, we are doing a real disservice based on the science and the data. About a half-million US adolescents use prescription opiates every year, and just under 10% will become addicted, Marsch added. We want a chance to stop this problem early. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2lLuWYN Journal of Adolescent Health, online March 1, 2017.
2017 Nissan Leaf

It seems fair to say that the new presidential administration may have increased the generalized level of worry among many Americans, not to mention the rest of the world.

Among the things to worry about are the future of incentives, infrastructure, and legislation encouraging the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, primarily electric cars.

These are the five questions we've been mulling over on that front.

DON'T MISS: Six new electric cars coming for 2018 and 2019

(1) What does the Trump Administration mean for electric cars?

The new administration has already said it intends to kill the Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation.

Yesterday, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said carbon dioxide released by human activity is not a major cause of climate change, directly contradicting the scientific consensus.

It's hardly the first time he has denied climate science, but it does appear to conflict directly with his testimony during his Senate confirmation hearings.

Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, 2014

The administration has now embarked on the process of reopening the comment period for the EPA's emission limits for 2022 through 2025 vehicles.

That midterm-review period was cut short by more than a year when the agency finalized the proposed limits just before Trump took office.

But the real question to watch is whether the EPA under Pruitt will go after the routinely granted waivers since 2009 that allow California to set its own emission limits, and states to adopt either the national rules or the stricter California onesalthough no others.

Early signs are that it will indeed do so, imperiling California's zero-emission vehicle mandate just as its numbers start to ramp up for 2018.

READ THIS: Nissan Leaf leases can extend until all-new 2018 electric car late this year

(2) How will Volkswagen's $2 billion "Electrify America" infrastructure plan for zero-emission vehicles roll out?

This is composed of several sub-questions that we're watching but don't have a feel for as yet:

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Will the Trump Administration go after that part of the VW diesel scandal settlement to prevent that money from being spent as intended?

What will be the split between electric-car charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure, in dollars?

Will court challenges from existing charging networks delay or derail VW Group's plans?

2015 Volkswagen e-Golf Vs. 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI

(3) How serious is GM about selling the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV in volume?

Following a lot of confusion not only among buyers but its own dealers, Chevrolet issued a state-by-state breakdown of when the Bolt EV could be ordered and arrive at dealers over the first nine months of this year.

But reports of dealers not being able to get delivery dates for ordered cars, and general confusion over the process, are continuingeven beyond some level of dealer recalcitrance in selling electric cars in the first place.

CHECK YOUR STATE: When can I buy a Chevy Bolt EV electric car? See state-by-state schedule

With Bolt EVs also being assigned to GM's Maven car-sharing service and the Lyft ride-sharing company it has invested in, it remains unclear how many Bolt EVs will be available for retail buyers.

After being burned on projecting Volt sales years ago, the company no longer says anything about production volumes.

One supplier suggested two years ago that first-year production would be 30,000 or more, equaling the 2014 sales of the Nissan Leaf, the highest verified annual sales of any plug-in car in the U.S.

2017 Nissan Leaf

Some analysts suggest the demand could be considerably higher, while others question the ability of cell supplier LG Chem to provide the needed volume of lithium-ion cells.

GM has said only that it can manufacture as many Bolt EVs as the market demands.

Only time will tell what the market demand is, but in our view, the question of whether GM is going the extra mile to overcome the hurdles of selling the Bolt EV remains open.

(4) After 6 years, how is it that no marketing experts have emerged who know how to make electric cars exciting and compelling?

The lack of smart marketing for electric cars after six years remains one of the most baffling and frustrating problems identified by electric-car advocates.

Ask any consumer to name an electric-car company, and you'll get Tesla.

Tesla Model 3 design prototype - reveal event - March 2016

That's despite Nissan having sold more Leafs than any Tesla vehicle, Chevrolet now offering the first mass-market electric car with more than 200 miles of range, and so forth.

Those companies simply don't registerand the conspiracy theorists among advocates tend to mutter darkly into their adult beverages that it's deliberate.

But, seriously, folks ... after six years, what advertising or marketing have you seen from a major automaker that highlights the practical advantages of electric cars, including that they're much nicer and peppier to drive?

Those same conspiracy theorists will suggest that the major makers don't want to sell electric cars at all.

And that highlighting their advantages would cast their lineups of vehicles with gasoline engines (which is to say, the profitable ones) in a lesser light.

We don't believe in conspiracy theories here at Green Car Reports. But sometimes it's very tempting.

BMW i3 and Volkswagen e-Golf electric cars using Combined Charging System (CCS) DC fast charging

(5) Who "owns" CCS fast charging? How quickly will it go to 150 kilowatts? What will it cost?

The lack of any planned, coherent DC fast-charging network for the two non-Tesla standards now in useCHAdeMO and Combined Charging System or CCS, also known as "SAE Combo"is brought into sharp relief by the comprehensive Tesla Supercharger network.

While Nissan is the only major user of CHAdeMO fast charging, it clearly has no intention of funding a Supercharger-like rollout of charging stations across the U.S. that would enable long-distance road trips.

But in some ways, the situation is even worse for CCS. Because it's been adopted by every U.S. maker except Tesla and every German maker, no one owns it.

READ THIS: Chevy Bolt EV: 800-mile trip in 238-mile electric car shows challenges remain

In other words, no one is driving the bus.

GM has said it won't put a penny into charging infrastructure, while BMW, Nissan, and Volkswagen have partnered on a few corridor rollouts.

Among commercial charging networks, "fast" charging speeds and costs vary widely, and separate memberships are required for each network.

The expectation these days seems to be that the $2 billion VW infrastructure fund will create the skeleton of a national network. To that, see point 2 above.

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV

On top of that is the problem of different "fast" charging speeds among vendors like ChargePoint and EVgo.

Then there's the question of when charging speeds over 50 kilowatts will arrive.

The Chevy Bolt EV is said to be capable of charging at up to 80 kw, and the Hyundai Ioniq Electric tops that at up to 100 kw.

But while EVgo and KBB got a lot of press for installing a California charging station capable of 150 kw or more, what was missed in a lot of the coverage was that the station is experimental and not open for public use.

To sum it all up ... we worry.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)  A Florida judge on Friday denied a "stand your ground" defense for a retired Florida police officer who fatally shot a man in a movie theater over texting, which means the 74-year-old could stand trial on second-degree murder charges.

Judge Susan Barthle ruled that Curtis is not immune from prosecution in the death of 43-year-old Chad Oulson. The shooting happened in a movie theater in a suburb north of Tampa in January 2014 after the two men got into an argument because Oulson was texting his daughter's day care during the movie previews.

The two men and their wives were seated near each other during a showing of the movie "Lone Survivor."

Reeves is free on bond.

Florida has been a leader in giving citizens immunity in cases of self-defense, with its stand-your-ground law serving as an emotional point of debate after several high-profile shooting deaths. That includes the death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

During a two-week hearing to determine whether Reeves would have to stand trial, Reeves testified he shot Oulson after he was either punched or hit in the face with a cellphone.

"I realized I was in a life-or-death struggle. He was no longer a loudmouth; he was a definite threat," Reeves said in court. "He was reaching for me. ... He was getting ready to punch me. I perceived that. That's when the pistol came out."

The judge said a videotape of the events captured that afternoon by a movie theater surveillance camera didn't support Reeves' testimony that he felt physically threatened. The video did show Oulson throwing popcorn at Reeves. An instant later, Reeves pulled a gun from his pocket and fired. Oulson was shot in the chest.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

"The physical evidence contradicts the defendant's version of events," the judge wrote in her ruling. She found that while Reeves testified he was hit in the outside corner of his left eye with a cellphone or a fist, "common sense and the credible testimony of the medical examiner" casts doubt that he was hit in the eye beneath his glasses.

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"The logical conclusion is that he was trying to justify his actions after the fact," she said.

Reeves also is charged with aggravated battery because the shot hit Oulson's wife in the finger.

Dino Michaels, a Tampa lawyer who is a member of the defense team, said Friday that Reeves will appeal Judge Barthle's ruling.

"We respect the decision of the court," Michaels said. "I don't think it's proper to comment on the court's order at this point, and we're taking the next step available for our client."

The attorney for Nicole Oulson, T.J. Grimaldi, told The Associated Press on Friday that he and his client are "thrilled" with the judge's ruling.

Grimaldi said they're prepared for a long delay; if the appeals court agrees with the lower court, Grimaldi said a trial probably wouldn't happen until next year.

"But this is without a doubt good news," Grimaldi said. "In my opinion, this was the defense's only shot. I really feel this was a bastardization of the 'stand your ground' law. You cannot convince me that the legislature's intent was to pass a law that when someone throws popcorn on someone else, that person can shoot them."

Richard Escobar, the attorney for Reeves, did not immediately return a call for comment.

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Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  A South African man and his pregnant Ukrainian fiancee won't face charges in the United Arab Emirates following their arrest for having sex outside of marriage, a South African newspaper reported Friday.

Charges against Emlyn Culverwell and fiancee Iryna Nohai were dropped in Abu Dhabi, The Herald reported. It quoted the South African's mother, Linda Culverwell, as saying her son telephoned to say he and Nohai, who were released Wednesday on bail, wouldn't be prosecuted.

"Emlyn was excited and relieved to see Iryna" after their release, Linda Culverwell said, according to the newspaper.

The couple was arrested Jan. 29 after Nohai sought treatment for stomach cramps and a doctor informed authorities that she was pregnant, South African media reported.

Enforcement of UAE morality laws regarding sex and alcohol is rare. Arrests tend to follow official reports to police, whether from members of the public or occasionally the unwitting arrestees themselves.

Emirates officials haven't spoken publicly about the case, and local media largely haven't reported on it.

The couple has been working for years at a waterpark in Abu Dhabi, The Herald newspaper reported. The waterpark, Yas Waterworld, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Emirates' desire to promote itself as a cosmopolitan and tolerant corner of the Middle East has at times run up against local laws, which are based in part on Islamic legal codes and forbid sex outside of marriage. Similar laws are on the books across much of the Islamic world.

The 2013 trial of a Norwegian woman who reported being raped in Dubai sparked international outrage after she was sentenced to 16 months behind bars on charges of unwed sex and alcohol offenses. She was soon pardoned and allowed to leave the country.

The sheikhdoms of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the largest and wealthiest of the seven that make up the United Arab Emirates federation, a country of over 9 million residents where foreigners vastly outnumber the local population.

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Associated Press writer Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed.
President Donald Trump has been at the receiving end of criticism for many of the steps he has taken less than two months after entering office and, according to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, these may be enough to bolster efforts to impeach the president.

Reich, who served under Bill Clintons administration, posted the reasons on Twitter, adding, By my count, there are now four grounds to impeach Trump. The fifth seems to be on its way.

A professor of public policy at University of California, Berkeleys Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, Reich has been critical of Trump before and after the election, listing out grounds on which the president could face impeachment.

Read: Hawaii Becomes The First State To Challenge President Donald Trumps New Travel Ban

Reichs first attack was on Trumps accusatory remarks against former President Barack Obama, who he accused of wiretapping him  an illegal (and impeachable) act  before the presidential elections. The second ground listed by the former official was the possibility that Trump may be making money for his private ventures using his position as president.

Reich also mentioned Trumps travel ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority nations, which he initiated, advocated for, and oversees, and his repeated attacks on the freedom of press as grounds for impeachment.

The fifth reason listed by Reich is the Trump administrations alleged links to Russia, the country that  according to U.S. intelligence agencies  attempted to influence the result of the 2016 elections that got Trump elected as president.

Reich, however, does mention that impeachment is only possible if the political will exists, adding that it is currently absent because of the Republican control over the House of Representatives, where a motion for impeachment originates.

Read the full post below:

1. In taking the oath of office, a president promises to faithfully execute the laws and the Constitution. But Trump is unfaithfully executing his duties as president by accusing his predecessor, President Obama, of undertaking an illegal (and impeachable) act. 2. Article I Section 9 of the Constitution forbids government officials from taking things of value from foreign governments. But Trump is making big money off his Trump International Hotel by steering foreign diplomatic delegations to it, and will make a bundle off Chinas recent decision to grant his trademark applications for the Trump brand  decisions Chinese authorities arrived at directly because of decisions Trump has made as president. 3. The 1st Amendment to the Constitution bar and law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. But Trumps ban on travel into the U.S. from six Muslim countries  which he initiated, advocated for, and oversees  violates that provision. 4. The 1st Amendment also bars abridging the freedomof the press. But Trumps labeling the press the enemy of the people and choosing whom he invites to news conferences based on whether theyve given him favorable coverage, violates this provision. 5. Article III Section 3 of the Constitution defines treason against the United States as adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Evidence is mounting that Trump colluded with Russian operatives to win the 2016 presidential election.

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The question is no longer whether there are grounds to impeach Trump. The practical question is whether there is the political will. As long as Republicans remain in the majority in the House (where a bill of impeachment originates), its unlikely. Another reason why its critically important to flip the House in 2018.

Related Articles
By Michel Rose and Andrew Callus PARIS (Reuters) - Former prime minister Alain Juppe on Friday threw his support behind Francois Fillon's French presidential bid, hoping to heal party divisions days after he sharply criticized the conservative candidate in a speech. Juppe, who was defeated by Fillon in the center-right primaries in November, had been seen by many conservatives as a potential 'plan B' after Fillon became embroiled in a scandal over his wife's pay. On Monday he ruled out taking Fillon's place and a rebellion that was forming behind him fizzled out. "Even if just a passenger, I'm not jumping ship during the storm," Juppe tweeted on Friday. The move could help The Republicans come from behind in opinion polls by encouraging Juppe's more centrist supporters to stick with the party rather than switch to the favorite, independent Emmanuel Macron. Fillon now has a fine campaign line to tread because victory also depends on attracting voters away from the other leading candidate, Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Front leader. Only two top candidates from a first round vote on April 23 will contest the second round on May 7. Opinion polls show Fillon coming third in the first round and Macron going on to become president. Two polls on Friday showed Macron and Le Pen level in the first round vote with Fillon lagging well behind in third. In his speech on Monday renouncing the chance to run, Juppe, the 71-year-old mayor of Bordeaux, had harsh words for Fillon, who expects to be placed under formal investigation over payments to his wife when he sees investigating magistrates on March 15. Juppe accused Fillon of wasting the strong lead his party was enjoying before the scandal broke, called him obstinate, and expressed disquiet at his attacks on the media and judiciary investigating the case. MACRON BROADENING SUPPORT Polls have shown that some of those who backed Juppe are reluctant to support Fillon, offering an opportunity for Macron. He has already this week won support from a former Communist party head, the previous Socialist mayor of Paris, a right-wing former minister, and is in talks with the popular outgoing Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Macron was campaigning on Thursday and Friday in Juppe's territory in Bordeaux, where he hailed Juppe as "a great leader" and dismissed left-wing and right-wing politicians for trying to place him in either camp. "We have to build a majority for this project. Don't believe that the candidate of the left which is tearing itself apart can achieve it, but don't believe that the National Front candidate can build a real majority," Macron told a campaign rally. "And don't think either that the sad candidate of the right that is uniting reactionaries and opportunists can build anything." Macron, who was previously economy minister under Socialist President Francois Hollande, has faced blistering criticism since Thursday from Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon. Currently lying in a distant fourth place, Hamon said Macron was "immature" and labeled his program dangerous for the country. "I don't think he will be ready to tackle the challenge of being the head of state, which means facing the European question, Mr Trump, Mr Putin and especially facing his own people," Hamon told France 2 television. (Editing by John Irish and Robin Pomeroy)
Shati Camp (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - In the heart of the Gaza Strip's Shati refugee camp, machines buzz as Mohammed Abu Shanab's employees sew small, round pieces of cloth: Jewish skullcaps for export to Israel.

It may seem an unlikely product to be made in the Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas and hit by three wars with Israel since 2008, but with unemployment and poverty rampant, some in Gaza will take any business they can get.

"The Israelis appreciate our products for their quality and our proximity to their market," Abu Shanab said.

"On the other hand, they fear the crossings will be closed and the delivery of goods will be delayed."

Israel controls all crossings into and out of the Gaza Strip, apart from one bordering Egypt. One terminal on the Israeli border -- Kerem Shalom -- is designated for goods.

With about a dozen sewing machines, Abu Shanab's small textile factory, located near the home of Hamas's former leader in Gaza Ismail Haniya, produces other products such as shirts and trousers as well.

But his production level is not what he would like.

In 2006, when Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, he says he shut down. The three wars that followed completely or partially took out some 50 companies in the Gaza Strip, according to industry representatives.

Abu Shanab's factory only reopened last year, he said.

Gaza's textile sector as a whole remains a far cry from the early 1990s, when it employed some 35,000 people in more than 900 companies.

Abu Shanab, also a member of the Union of Palestinian Textile Industries, said that at that time four million pieces were sent to Israel each month.

Since the blockade, the figures have fallen to 4,000 Gazans employed in the sector and some 150 companies, whose products are mainly aimed at the local market, union figures show.

Some 25 of the companies export to Israel and the occupied West Bank, the other Palestinian territory separated from Gaza by Israeli territory. They send between 30,000 and 40,000 pieces each month.

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Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing weapons or materials that could be used to make them.

UN officials have called for the blockade to be lifted, citing deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

- Business not politics -

According to the World Bank, the blockade has caused Gaza's exports to evaporate and badly hurt the economy of the territory of some two million people.

Hassan Shehadeh, who employs some 50 Palestinians in textile work, says he has managed to regain 20 percent of his business since last year.

In his factory in the upscale neighbourhood of Sheikh Radwan, in the north of Gaza City, he produces jeans amid the deafening din of machines and the generators that power them -- an indispensible tool in the Gaza Strip, where electricity shortages are chronic.

Each month, Shehadeh says he exports between 5,000 and 10,000 pairs of trousers to Israel.

"I could produce a lot more, but the issue of the crossings worries Israeli businessmen and hinders our work," he said.

The market is difficult within Gaza, where unemployment stands at around 45 percent and more than two-thirds of the population depend on humanitarian aid.

"The local market is weak, while trade with Israel is very good," he said.

"We have expertise and we could export even further."

For Abdel Nasser Awad, director general in the Gaza economy ministry, exporting to Israel is "a purely commercial affair".

"All that we are interested in is boosting our economy and fighting unemployment," he said.

Shehadeh puts it much more bluntly.

"Politics and business are not the same thing," he said.

"You can be an enemy in politics, but not in business."
Dortmund (Germany) (AFP) - A 19-year-old man who stabbed a nine-year-old boy to death and bragged about the murder in an online video has confessed to a second killing, German police said Friday.

Marcel Hesse, after three days on the run, was arrested late Thursday after he went into a restaurant in the northern town of Herne and shouted "Call the police, I'm wanted", Bild newspaper reported.

Authorities had been hunting for Hesse since Monday night after the video clip had appeared on the "darknet", a hidden online arena notoriously used by criminals to trade weapons, drugs and child pornography.

Police discovered the child's corpse on Monday when they searched the cellar of the suspect, who has been described as an unemployed and socially withdrawn man not previously known to authorities.

After his arrest, police said Hesse led them to the remains of the second victim, a 22-year-old man, whom he knew from a job training college, and whose flat he set on fire after the murder.

After killing the child, Hesse had gone to the man's apartment, had a meal, played computer games with him and spent the night there, said the lead investigator into the killings, Klaus-Peter Lipphaus.

The victim confronted Hesse the next morning after seeing that he was being hunted by police.

"That was his death sentence," said Lipphaus.

The 19-year-old allegedly turned on him, stabbing him 68 times.

Prosecutor Danyal Maibaum said Hesse "acted out of a lust to kill", while Lipphaus described him as "extremely ice-cold, emotionless".

Hesse also confessed to setting his friend's apartment on fire before leaving the scene, police said.

He told police he had "not give any thought" to whether the fire could put other people's lives in danger, added Lipphaus.
Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a setback Friday when the upper house of parliament rejected a proposal to declare three North African states "safe countries of origin" in refugee law.

The proposed designation for Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco aimed to make it easier for Germany to deny asylum requests from their citizens on the grounds that they were safe in their home countries.

The designation, which presumes a government does not systematically persecute opponents, would also aim to deter citizens of the three Maghreb countries countries from illegally heading to the EU in future.

Germany has taken in one million refugees and migrants since 2015, under a generous policy which Merkel has defended in the teeth of criticism including from new US President Donald Trump who called it a "catastrophic mistake".

But the "safe countries" plan was rejected by the leftist Greens and Linke parties, which had voiced concerns over the rights records of those countries, including on the treatment of homosexuals.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the decision marked "a bad day in our efforts to stop illegal immigration", charging that "especially the Greens carry the responsibility".

He said that "today's 'no' can only be explained by party politics" ahead of September elections.

The interior minister of the conservative southern state of Bavaria, Joachim Herrmann, branded the vote "an entirely wrong signal".

"We have to be in a position to quickly and easily reject asylum requests that are not based on political persecution but purely on economic reasons," he was quoted as saying by news agency DPA.

Refugee rights group Pro Asyl welcomed the defeat of the bill which it said would have paved the way for fast-track asylum denials, saying that each case deserves careful consideration and the possibility of an appeals process.
Dortmund (Germany) (AFP) - German police arrested a 19-year-old man suspected of stabbing a nine-year-old boy to death and bragging about the murder in an online video -- and discovered another body.

The man, named as Marcel Hesse, was arrested after he went into a restaurant in the northern town of Herne Thursday night and shouted: "Call the police, I'm wanted", Bild newspaper reported.

Authorities had been hunting for Hesse for several days after they were alerted by people who had viewed the clip on the "darknet", a hidden online arena notoriously used by criminals to trade weapons, drugs and child pornography.

A team of police discovered the child's corpse on Monday when they searched the cellar of the suspect, who has been described as an unemployed and socially withdrawn man not previously known to authorities.

The child had been Hesse's neighbour and investigators Monday said they could not rule out that he had also killed a woman.

After his arrest Thursday night, Hesse put the investigators on the trail of an apartment he had just burned and in which a second dead body was found.

In a conversation on the internet Hesse had said that he had "fought a beast of 120 kilos" (260 pounds) and that "she put up more of a fight than the child."
A first-term congressman who previously worked as a doctor is facing criticism after saying poor people just dont want health care and arent going to take care of themselves.

Rep. Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas, has quickly become part of a group of doctors taking a lead on replacing the Affordable Care Act. The House Republicans released their health care plan on Monday to intense criticism from both liberals and conservatives, with some estimates predicting as many as one in six people could lose health insurance under the GOP plan.

So when Marshall made his comments to STAT, a health care-focused website, many saw them as insensitive and out of touch. The remarks came in an interview last week when Marshall was talking about Medicaid, which expanded to more than 30 states under Obamacare, including Republican states.

The Congressman told the publication he does not believe Medicaid has helped people. Just like Jesus said, The poor will always be with us, Marshall said in the interview. There is a group of people that just dont want health care and arent going to take care of themselves.

He added that morally, spiritually, socially, poor people and homeless people just dont want health care.

Medicaid advocates struck back. These are people who are out there, working hard, paying their bills, and to have their elected member of Congress pointing their finger at them Im sure is disappointing, David Jordan, executive director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, told the Kansas City Star.

In defending himself, Marshall said he was trying to explain that creating a national health care policy focused on one segment of the population does not work because of various peoples needs, according to the Washington Post. When I said, the poor will always be with us, it was actually in the context of supporting the obligation we have to always take care of people, but we cannot completely craft a larger, affordable health-care policy around a comparatively small segment of the population who will get care no matter what, Marshall said in a statement.
GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  Guatemala's president called for a restructuring of his country's youth shelter system following a fire that killed at least 36 girls at an overcrowded government facility for children, sending a nation into shock and anger.

The death toll mounted slowly Friday as girls succumbed to gruesome burn injuries in Wednesday's mattress-fueled blaze. Parents and relatives said many had been sent to the shelter because of abuse, poverty or family problems. But questions remained over why someone among the girls set the blaze, and whether doors at the shelter remained locked even as the girls pleaded for their lives.

Claudia Lima broke down and cried at the entrance to Guatemala City's Roosevelt Hospital Friday. Her daughter Sara Noemi, 15, was being treated inside for burns that covered 70 percent of her body.

"The doctors say there isn't much hope she will live," Lima said, weeping.

"I heard on the news that my daughter was one of the girls who set the fire at the shelter, that's not true," she said. "My daughter wouldn't try to take her own life."

That was a reference to widespread reports  including some by other victims' relatives  that some of the girls set mattresses on fire to protest their re-apprehension and return to the facility they said they had fled because of mistreatment, bad food and fears of rape.

Nineteen girls died at the scene of the fire and another 17 later succumbed to their injuries in area hospitals. Many were there because their parents couldn't handle them, or they had problems at home.

Geovany Castillo said his 15-year-old daughter Kimberly suffered burns on her face, arms and hands but survived. She was in a locked area where girls who took part in the escape attempt had been placed, he said.

"My daughter said the area was locked and that several girls broke down a door, and she survived because she put a wet sheet over herself," Castillo said.

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"She said the girls told her that they had been raped and in protest they escaped, and that later, to protest, to get attention, they set fire to the mattresses," he said.

Many believed reports that the doors at the overcrowded shelter had remained locked even as the fires spread, though authorities say the circumstances are still under investigation.

Vianney Clareth Hernandez was waiting outside a morgue with a photo of her daughter, Ashley, 14, who she was searching for. Ashley was at the shelter but her mother hasn't found her at local hospitals.

"It was a crime they didn't open the doors, they didn't do anything to get the girls out, even though they were screaming," Hernandez said.

But the real motives and sequence of events may never be known for sure; Castillo said Kimberly had testified to police that the girls who started the fire were among those who died in the blaze. And the few surviving girls at the hospital were placed under police guard Friday for their own protection as witnesses.

Other grieving families began receiving the bodies of girls whose remains had been identified.

The shelter outside Guatemala City held some 800 children and mixed victims of abuse or dysfunctional homes with youthful offenders.

"This is a rigid system that has become insensitive," said President Jimmy Morales, adding that there are 1,500 children in government facilities across Guatemala, the vast majority of whom have families.

Morales called for the system to be decentralized. Despite his promises of change, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the seat of government calling for the president's resignation.

Late Thursday night, in a low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Guatemala's capital, relatives and friends gathered for the wake of 14-year-old Madelyn Patricia Hernandez Hernandez.

A wooden casket swathed in white silk and flanked by tall candles sat inside the family's humble home. A picture of Madelyn stood between purple flowers.

Madelyn had been orphaned since gang members killed her mother for not paying extortion when the girl was 3 years old, said her grandmother, Maria Antonia Garcia. Her father had not been involved in her life.

Madelyn had misbehaved, but was expected to get out of the shelter on March 30 after several months in the facility, Garcia said. However, a judge did not want to return the girl to the custody of her 73-year-old grandmother because of her age.

Garcia said Madelyn had complained that she and other girls were beaten.

"She never told me who beat them," the grandmother said, demanding justice from authorities. "If there isn't justice now, they are going to keep doing the same. It's going to happen again."

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This story earlier corrected the spelling of Madelyn.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  Several thousand Haitians filed past the remains of former President Rene Preval on Friday ahead of a state funeral that a senator sought to delay until further tests are conducted to definitively establish the cause of death of the two-term leader.

Preval lay in an open, flag-draped casket at a museum dedicated to heroes of the country's independence. The procession of people who came to pay their respects included dignitaries and civil society figures as well as groups of school children and other citizens. President Jovenel Moise came and expressed condolences to the family and then left without making a public statement.

A funeral was scheduled for Saturday, capping six days of mourning for a president who led the country during the devastating January 2010 earthquake and its chaotic aftermath.

Family members have said that Preval, who died March 3, had a heart attack on the way to the hospital. The 74-year-old former leader had health problems including prostate cancer in the past.

Attorney General Donton Leger told reporters on Thursday that an autopsy did not clearly establish a cause of death and more tests would be required. He acknowledged rumors that the former president had been poisoned, though he did not cite any evidence.

Sen. Jean Renel Senatus, chairman of the Commission on Justice and Security in the upper house of parliament, urged the Justice Ministry to conduct a formal investigation before the funeral.

The government has not responded and preparations were moving ahead for the funeral, which was to be conducted from a temporary stage in the Champ de Mars, a huge plaza in downtown Port-au-Prince.

Preval was the only democratically elected president to win and complete two terms in Haiti, a country that has been characterized by political upheaval throughout its history. An agronomist by training, he kept a low profile in office even in the aftermath of the earthquake, which led some to criticize him for not showing leadership at a time of crisis.

He was elected by a landslide in 1995 as the chosen successor of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who has not commented publicly on his death and did not come to the viewing on Friday.

His second term was characterized at the start by a sharp rise in kidnappings and widespread hunger due to higher food prices followed by the earthquake. The government said the disaster killed about 310,000 people but the precise death toll is unknown.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Friday denounced planned Israeli legislation that would quieten mosques, warning such a law would face stiff resistance.

The Israeli parliament on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to two controversial measures that would limit calls to prayers from mosques in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, including one prohibiting the use of loudspeakers at all hours.

Ismail Haniya, deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, condemned the move.

"This decision will not pass," he said after Friday prayers in the Gaza Strip, which the Islamists run.

"Our people and nation will raise the Azan all over the world," he said, using the Arabic word for the Muslim call to prayer.

While the bills in theory would apply to any religious place of worship, Muslims say they are clearly meant to silence the traditional call to prayer at mosques.

The measures have become commonly known as the "muezzin law" after the Muslim official charged with calling the faithful to prayer, often through powerful speakers mounted on minarets.

The notion of Israeli legislation silencing mosques has sparked outrage around the Arab and wider Muslim world.

Supporters of the move say it is needed to prevent daily disturbance to the lives of hundreds of thousands Israelis.

Wednesday's bills were approved after a heated discussion that turned into shouting matches between ruling coalition members and Arab lawmakers, some of whom tore copies of the legislation and were ejected from the chamber.
STAT is working with other news organizations to collect and analyze letters and emails elected officials have sent to constituents on the Affordable Care Act. You can submit a lawmakers correspondence below.

Dismayed by the results of the 2016 election, Meg Godfrey decided she needed to do more than vote, share social media posts, and sign online petitions. So she went to the website of Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and typed a note in support of the Affordable Care Act.

I asked him to use my tax dollars to provide health care to his constituents just like my tax dollars provide health care for him and his family, she said she wrote.

A short while later, Godfrey received an email reply from Blunt, essentially a form letter explaining why he supported the laws repeal. When President Obama signed this bill into law, he assured Americans that they would be able to keep their plans and doctors, while promising choice and affordability, Blunt wrote. Since the law has gone into effect, I have heard from countless Missourians who were unable to keep their insurance plans and/or providers.

The email then gave a number of statistics to buttress Blunts position that the law is failing.

Something about the letter didnt sit right with Godfrey, so she forwarded the email to ProPublica, asking us to fact check it. Our assessment: The note was misleading and lacked important context.

That led ProPublica to wonder about the accuracy of responses sent to constituents by other members of the House and Senate on the Affordable Care Act and its future. Today, ProPublica is teaming with journalists at STAT, Kaiser Health News, and Vox to gather those missives from our readers. On Monday, House Republican leaders unveiled their official proposal to repeal and replace the law. As the legislative debate begins in earnest, we plan to look at the representations made by elected officials from both parties and share what we find.

Fill out this form if a lawmaker wrote to you about the ACA

Fact-checking Blunts email

ProPublica asked Timothy Jost, an ACA expert and emeritus professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law, to review Blunts email. Some of this information is inaccurate, the rest of it is spin, he concluded.

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A spokesman for Blunt provided citations for the data in the senators note but did not respond to a follow-up email.

Jost helped us break down Blunts message:

Blunts email: By the end of 2013, over 4.7 million Americans had their health care plans canceled.

Analysis: The 4.7 million figure came from an Associated Press article from December 2013, Blunts office said. Subsequent analyses, however, showed that the figure was overstated. Two researchers from the Urban Institute, writing in the journal Health Affairs, estimated that the number was closer to 2.6 million. Moreover, Jost notes, the Obama administration said states could allow insurers to leave transitional plans in place after Jan. 1, 2014. Missouri was one of the states that did so. So if a plan was cancelled in Missouri, it was the decision of the insurer, not a federal requirement, Jost wrote.

Blunts email: This year, Missourians who purchase health insurance on the ObamaCare exchanges will see an average of a 25 percent increase on their premium.

Analysis: The average premium for a Missouri plan did indeed increase by 25 percent this year, according to ACAsignups.net, a website that tracks the law and was cited by Blunts office. But that isnt the entire story. First, the vast majority of marketplace enrollees in Missouri and nationwide receive hefty subsidies that reduce their cost.

Second, if you step out of the aggregate and look instead at a hypothetical person shopping for an affordable plan, the increase is lower. The Obama administration often compared monthly premiums for a 27-year-old in a benchmark plan (the plan upon which the government calculates subsidies). In Missouri, the premium actually decreased from $235 to $233 between 2014 and 2015. It increased 10 percent in 2016 and another 18 percent, to $305, for this year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

But most enrollees arent paying the sticker price. Some 78 percent of Missouri marketplace consumers in 2016 could obtain coverage for $100 or less per month in 2017, after accounting for subsidies from the government, federal data show.

Blunts email: In addition to increased costs, families in Missouri and across the nation have lost the ability to choose a plan that best suits their health care needs. Missourians in 97 of 114 counties and the city of St. Louis will only have one option on the exchange.

Analysis: Blunt is technically correct, but again the statistic lacks context, according to Politifact Missouri. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, of Missouris roughly 6 million residents, about 63 percent live in the 17 counties and one city that will continue to have at least two provider choices, the fact checker wrote in February.

Whats missing: Blunts email did not mention that more than 200,000 Missourians receive coverage through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. It also didnt mention that health insurance premiums routinely increased by large amounts before the law took effect and that many Missourians with preexisting conditions effectively had no insurers to pick from, Jost said.

The number of people without insurance has gone down under the ACA, falling from 13 percent in 2013 to 9.8 percent in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the Census Bureau.

Blunt spokesman Brian Hart declined to say how many people have written the senator about the ACA and what percentage of them were for or against the law.

Godfrey, who wrote to Blunt, is currently employed as a brand communications manager for a lighting manufacturer. She and her husband live in Northern California but are moving to St. Louis later this year. Im getting a head-start on my political activism in the state, she wrote in an email to ProPublica. We had planned to retire and get insurance on the exchange. Now we still plan to move but will, most likely, continue to work until we are eligible for Medicare.

Godfrey, 62, said Blunts response to her was infuriating.

I asked about what he was doing to take care of the people who elected him and he spouted misleading statistics, she wrote. I am surprised he didnt bring up death panels [which do not exist]. I hate being treated like an idiot.
(Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday: HEALTHCARE The Trump-backed Republican plan to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system clears its first hurdle but chances for passage in Congress look uncertain amid opposition by Democrats, conservatives and industry groups. ENVIRONMENT EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt says he is not convinced carbon dioxide from human activity is the main driver of climate change and wants Congress to weigh in on whether it is a harmful pollutant that should be regulated. DEFENSE AND SECURITY Trump's plan to boost military spending comes amid mounting evidence that potential enemies have new weapons that are able to destroy much of the United States expensive fleet of aircraft carriers. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host a 68-nation meeting in Washington this month to discuss the next moves by the coalition fighting Islamic State militants, a Trump administration official says. REGULATION Trump meets with community bankers and promises them he will to strip away some Dodd-Frank financial regulations and ensure they can continue giving small businesses access to capital. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt says he aims to reduce regulatory uncertainty for industry and will put out an announcement on fuel efficiency standards very soon. DIPLOMACY Reports that Jon Huntsman will be the next U.S. ambassador to Russia stir anxiety in Moscow, with one politician calling him a hawk and pro-Kremlin media recalling what they said was his worrying history of hostile rhetoric. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approves Trump's nominee as ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, an outspoken bankruptcy lawyer aligned with the Israeli right. TRAVEL BAN Washington state's attorney general will ask a federal judge in Seattle to confirm that a previous court ruling halting Trump's temporary travel ban applies to a revised order signed by Trump this week. RUSSIA CNN reports that the U.S. Senate intelligence committee wants Michael Flynn, forced out as Trump's national security adviser, and other former Trump aides to testify in its investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. EX-SPY A former U.S. spy, newly pardoned by Italy in connection with the CIA kidnap of a terrorism suspect in Milan, credits the Trump administration with saving her from an Italian jail. MISSING AMERICAN The Trump administration marks the 10th anniversary on Thursday of the disappearance of Robert Levinson in Iran with a pledge to bring the former FBI and DEA agent back to the United States. (Compiled by Bill Trott; Editing by James Dalgleish and Grant McCool)
Tegucigalpa (AFP) - Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez vowed Thursday to go after drug traffickers, days after a narco-boss imprisoned in the US gave explosive testimony implicating the previous president, Porfirio Lobo.

Hernandez, in a national broadcast, pledged "a full-frontal fight against criminals, no matter who they are."

"Nobody is above the law," he said.

Lobo, who ruled 2010-2014, was alleged to have taken bribes from and done money-laundering business with a Honduran drug cartel known as the Cachiros, according to testimony given Monday in a New York court by one of the cartel's bosses, Devis Leonel Rivera Madariaga.

Rivera, who was arrested by US anti-narcotics officers in December 2015, was giving evidence in a pre-sentencing hearing against Lobo's son, Fabio Lobo.

The younger Lobo was arrested in Haiti in 2015 and last year was convicted in New York of conspiring with the Cachiros to send cocaine to the United States.

Rivera said Honduras' current security minister, Julian Pacheco, two lawmakers, a mayor and a wealthy family, the Facusses, had all also been involved with the Cachiros.

The former crime boss -- who told the court he had murdered 78 people -- said he had photos and videos to back his claims.

All those implicated have denied the allegations.

But Honduras prosecutors have started an investigation, backed by the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras, a body set up the Organization of American States.
Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Eclipsed in the rush for so-called designer dogs, some famous British breeds are now threatened with extinction, the world's biggest dog show Crufts warned as it kicked off its annual showpiece event.

Globally-famous native breeds are being squeezed out by handbag-sized pooches better suited to modern busy lifestyles and smaller homes, said the famous dog show.

But Crufts is trying to raise their profiles before the 160,000 visitors expected at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, central England, for the four-day extravaganza, which closes Sunday.

"We could see these breeds effectively become extinct," said Bill Lambert, health and breeder services manager at The Kennel Club, which runs Crufts and is the governing body for all matters canine in Britain.

"We have seen a trend in Britain away from larger dogs to smaller dogs due to lifestyles and people living in cities more. It's a vicious circle: they become less popular, then people see them less and forget about them," he told AFP.

The Kennel Club registers newborn puppies, with Labrador Retrievers (33,856), Cocker Spaniels (21,854) and the increasingly popular French Bulldogs (21,470) topping the charts last year.

But some native former favourites are now down at the bottom and classed as vulnerable British breeds, including Bloodhounds (53), King Charles Spaniels (84) and Mastiffs (102).

- World famous to extinct? -

Greyfriars Bobby, who held a 14-year daily vigil at his master's grave in Edinburgh until his own death in 1872, remains a world-famous dog.

But Skye Terriers like him now top the vulnerable British breeds list, with just 28 puppies registered last year.

There are an estimated 600 to 800 left in Britain and only 3,000 worldwide, meaning extreme care must be taken with bloodlines to avoid inbreeding.

"They've become unfashionable. It's horrendous and awful. I wish people would get to know them," said Margaret Samuel, a Skye owner and enthusiast who brought along her pet Donald.

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"He'll lick you to death!" she said.

"They look funny and I think they have a sense of humour. They certainly have their own opinion."

Dandie Dinmont Terriers were all the rage in the 1800s, with queen Victoria jumping on the craze.

"Dandies were the first celebrity breed," said owner Kevin Noble.

But only 91 puppies were registered last year. They typically cost around A1,000 ($1,200, 1,150 euros).

Dandies were bred to hunt badgers and like Otterhounds, their working purpose has been outlawed, harming numbers.

- 'Chilled out' hounds

However, Otterhounds have adapted to become docile family dogs.

"I don't think Heather would know what to do with an otter," Daryl Brotchie, an Otterhound Club committee member, said of her beloved pet.

"They're very chilled out. Look into their eyes and they look into your soul."

Some 400 Otterhounds are left in their native Britain and 800 worldwide.

"You fall in love with the breed. But the gene pool is now really small," said a worried Brotchie. Just 40 newborn puppies were registered last year.

Some hope a celebrity owner could revive the fortunes of vulnerable breeds.

But even Pembroke Welsh Corgis -- famously beloved of Queen Elizabeth -- are on the vulnerability watch list, with just 393 puppies registered in 2016.

- Top dogs -

Now in its 126th year, Crufts sees dog owners from Britain and around the world bring their pets to compete at the 25 acre (10 hectare) site.

Dogs are judged for best of breed, with winners competing for Best in Show -- the ultimate Crufts prize.

"At heart it is a very serious dog show, but Crufts is an extravaganza," said The Kennel Club's Lambert.

"It is an institution in British culture and winning Crufts is like winning Wimbledon -- it's the pinnacle."
Conservative Republicans are warming up to the replacement to Obamacare, brightening the laws prospects of passing the House of Representatives.

On Friday, two key conservative leaders in the House said they were willing to accept controversial measures in the bill, including maintaining the Medicaid expansion and giving tax credits to lower-income insurance buyers  as long as Republican leadership and the White House would accept some changes in the law.

Their comments reflect a turning point. Earlier this week, conservatives were ridiculing the Republican bill.

In good faith negotiations you have to look at different tactics to accomplish the same thing, said Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, the leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus. The message Im getting from the White House is negotiations are still open and they are open to making this bill better.

The replacement package proposed by Republican leadership and House Speaker Paul Ryan, dubbed the American Health Care Act, includes federal tax credits to help lower income households purchase insurance. It also maintains Obamacares expansion of Medicaid benefits until 2020.

Both those measures are anathema to conservatives, who threatened to derail the bill for including new entitlements. That dog doesnt hunt, said Meadows two weeks ago.

But with the Republican replacement already passed through two committees this week Ways and Means and the Energy and Commerce Committees  resistance to the bill is softening.

What may have been a strident position weeks ago  I was just on the House floor with a number of my colleagues, discussing how do we take the tax credits issue and make it a nonissue, said Meadows.

Conservatives are now talking about negotiating the particulars of the bill, rather than opposing it outright.

A spokesperson for the Freedom Caucus, Alyssa Farah, said that the caucus members want to see significant changes to the refundable tax credits. It would be extremely difficult for Freedom Caucus members to support the AHCA without substantial changes to the structure of the refundable tax credits portion, she said.

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Rep. Mark Walker, the head of the influential Republican Study Committee, said that he would be willing to support tax credits to low-income earners as long as there were changes to the current Medicaid plan. He said that instead of freezing the Medicaid expansion in 2020, as House leadership has proposed, they would want to see it freeze at the end of 2018.

Walker added that if he were to support tax credits, he also wanted to see work incentives for Americans receiving Medicaid benefits.

If we had to give some ground on tax credits we would certainly have to have some areas, when it comes to an earlier freeze on Medicaid expansion, and we would have to have some work requirements on the 9- to 10 million on Medicaid that are able-bodies, Walker said in an interview with TIME.

If we got swept or shut out on those things, it would be hard for us to get there, Walker added.

Opposition towards the Republican replacement is also softening among conservative grassroots groups.

Conservatives had previously opposed tooth-and-nail the new tax credits, which are viewed as a costly government entitlement and merely a replacement of the much-maligned Obamacare subsidies, which provide federal assistance to low-income families to pay insurance premiums.

But a top official at a leading conservative group suggested in an interview that there may be room to negotiate on the tax credits. Specifically, conservatives want to see a repeal of the Obamacare regulations on insurance markets.

We dont love the refundable credits, but they look a whole lot better to me if you get rid of the regulatory scheme in the insurance markets, said the official, who declined to speak on the record as the group settles its position. Its the regulations that are going to be pushing prices up.

Rep. David Brat, a member of the Freedom Caucus who has opposed the Republican leadership bill, said Friday he wanted to know what kind of insurance regulations could be repealed before passing the current bill.

Its the cart before the horse. We need to know what the insurance regs are going to look like, he said. If you dont know what the regs look like, how do you structure the rest of the healthcare plan around that when thats the key cost driver.

The problem is that because the Republican replacement to Obamacare is being passed through a limited process known as reconciliation, regulatory changes cannot be made part of this bill.

Instead, the regulatory changes would either have to be part of a subsequent bill, or administrative changes made by the executive branch, or by a more controversial process: overruling Senate rules to allow regulatory changes to be made.

It is unfortunate that were being constrained by a Senate rule, said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy at a press conference Friday morning.

The tax credits in the Republican bill would lead to an average 36% reduction in federal assistance to low-income earners buying insurance compared with Obamacare, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The Republican bill limits tax credits to $4,000 for older individuals, and $2,000 for younger.

Outside Washington, however, even Republicans are concerned about the new bills tax credits being too small.

Obamacare pretty much covered everything. Its really good for us, said Phyllis Mutters, a lifelong Republican who voted for Trump.

Mutters lives in rural North Carolina, in Rep. Patrick McHenrys congressional district, and pays $179 in healthcare premiums through Obamacare to take care of a special needs daughter and for medication after a brain tumor caused her to have a stroke.

If they do repeal the subsidies, we will not be able to afford insurance, Mutters said.
A little-noticed bill moving through Congress would allow companies to require employees to undergo genetic testing or risk paying a penalty of thousands of dollars, and would let employers see that genetic and other health information.

Giving employers such power is now prohibited by legislation including the 2008 genetic privacy and nondiscrimination law known as GINA. The new bill gets around that landmark law by stating explicitly that GINA and other protections do not apply when genetic tests are part of a workplace wellness program.

The bill was approved by a House committee on Wednesday, with all 22 Republicans supporting it and all 17 Democrats opposed. It has been overshadowed by the debate over the House GOP proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but the genetic testing bill is expected to folded into a second ACA-related measure containing a grab-bag of provisions that do not affect federal spending, as the main bill does.

What this bill would do is completely take away the protections of existing laws, said Jennifer Mathis, director of policy and legal advocacy at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, a civil rights group. In particular, privacy and other protections for genetic and health information in GINA and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act would be pretty much eviscerated, she said.

Employers say they need the changes because those two landmark laws are not aligned in a consistent manner with laws about workplace wellness programs, as an employer group said in congressional testimony last week.

Read more: Top wellness award goes to workplace where many health measures got worse

Employers got virtually everything they wanted for their workplace wellness programs during the Obama administration. The ACA allowed them to charge employees 50 percent more for health insurance if they declined to participate in the voluntary programs, which typically include cholesterol and other screenings; health questionnaires that ask about personal habits including plans to get pregnant; and sometimes weight loss and smoking cessation classes. And in rules that Obamas Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued last year, a workplace wellness program counts as voluntary even if workers have to pay thousands of dollars more in premiums and deductibles if they dont participate.

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Despite those wins, the business community chafed at what it saw as the last obstacles to unfettered implementation of wellness programs: the genetic information and the disabilities laws. Both measures, according to congressional testimony last week by the American Benefits Council, put at risk the availability and effectiveness of workplace wellness programs, depriving employees of benefits like improved health and productivity. The Council represents Fortune 500 companies and other large employers that provide employee benefits. It did not immediately respond to questions about how lack of access to genetic information hampers wellness programs.

Rigorous studies by researchers not tied to the $8 billion wellness industry have shown that the programs improve employee health little if at all. An industry group recently concluded that they save so little on medical costs that, on average, the programs lose money. But employers continue to embrace them, partly as a way to shift more health care costs to workers, including by penalizing them financially.

Read more: Do workplace wellness programs improve employees health?

The 2008 genetic law prohibits a group health plan  the kind employers have  from asking, let alone requiring, someone to undergo a genetic test. It also prohibits that specifically for underwriting purposes, which is where wellness programs come in. Underwriting purposes includes basing insurance deductibles, rebates, rewards, or other financial incentives on completing a health risk assessment or health screenings. In addition, any genetic information can be provided to the employer only in a de-identified, aggregated form, rather than in a way that reveals which individual has which genetic profile.

There is a big exception, however: as long as employers make providing genetic information voluntary, they can ask employees for it. Under the House bill, none of the protections for health and genetic information provided by GINA or the disabilities law would apply to workplace wellness programs. As a result, employers could demand that employers undergo genetic testing and health screenings.

While the information returned to employers would not include workers names, its not difficult, especially in a small company, to match a genetic profile with the individual.

That would undermine fundamentally the privacy provisions of those laws, said Nancy Cox, president of the American Society of Human Genetics, in a letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce the day before it approved the bill. It would allow employers to ask employees invasive questions about  genetic tests they and their families have undergone and to impose stiff financial penalties on employees who choose to keep such information private, thus empowering employers to coerce their employees into providing their genetic information.

If an employer has a wellness program but does not sponsor health insurance, rather than increasing insurance premiums, the employer could dock the paychecks of workers who dont participate.

The privacy concerns also arise from how workplace wellness programs work. Employers, especially large ones, generally hire outside companies to run them. These companies are largely unregulated, and they are allowed to see genetic test results with employee names.

They sometimes sell the health information they collect from employees. As a result, employees get unexpected pitches for everything from weight-loss programs to running shoes, thanks to countless strangers poring over their health and genetic information.
When Hurricane Sandy made a devastating left hook into the Mid-Atlantic on Oct. 29, 2012, killing nearly 150 people and causing about $70 billion in damage, a narrative took hold in the weather community and the media that made its way to Capitol Hill.

U.S. weather models were late in forecasting that storm's bizarre track when compared to the top model from Europe, which locked onto it more than a week in advance. Many in and out of government began to criticize what they saw as a growing modeling gap across the Atlantic Ocean.

The weather model wars are continuing, and new evidence has emerged that instead of making a leap forward in forecast accuracy as Congress has directed, the U.S. may be about to take a step back, at least when it comes to high-impact events such as hurricanes and tropical storms are concerned.

SEE ALSO: Looking for hope on climate change under Trump? Cities are where the action is.

The issue concerns a looming upgrade to the National Weather Service's top weather forecasting model, known as the Global Forecast System, or GFS. Staff at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, which issues hurricane watches and warnings, are pushing back against a plan to implement changes scheduled for May after simulations revealed the new version would make hurricane track forecasts less accurate for storm systems spinning in the Atlantic Ocean.

In short, their argument is that no upgrade is better than a bad upgrade, and that if the upgrade goes forward as planned, forecasts will suffer. This could put millions of coastal residents in the path of a hurricane at risk, depending on the forecast error.

Example of a GFS computer model projection.

Image: weatherbell analytics

The planned changes, which the leadership of the National Weather Service have already signed off on, are highly technical, but they amount to attempts to better capture how the atmosphere works.

Computer models are a mainstay of modern weather forecasting. Each takes in thousands of observations from satellites, weather balloons, commercial aircraft, ground stations and more, and then uses complex physics equations and other techniques to project the state of the atmosphere out several days in advance.

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In a series of presentations posted to a National Weather Service website, the Hurricane Center documented a decline in forecast reliability, and made known their objection to putting this new model upgrade into service.

Other centers within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented either slight improvements, no change, or slight degradations in forecast accuracy with the next model iteration.

Slide from a National Weather Service presentation showing reduced forecast skill for hurricane forecasts.

Image: NOAA

Specifically, when forecasters ran the upgraded model on past tropical weather systems, they found storm track forecasts in the Atlantic were about 9 to 10 percent lower than the previous GFS in service already, and there was also a small drop in the accuracy of track forecasts in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

One slide, which was presented to senior management, summarized the Hurricane Center's reservations.

It bluntly states: "The loss of short- to medium-range [tropical cyclone] track and intensity forecast skill for the Atlantic basin in the proposed 2017 GFS is unacceptable to the National Hurricane Center."

The Hurricane Center also expressed concern about how changes in the GFS model would affect other hurricane models that receive inputs from the GFS. Those possible impacts have not been analyzed.

"Therefore, we oppose this implementation," the presentation says.

In response to questions from Mashable, Bill Lapenta, the director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, which oversees the Hurricane Center, said the upgrade is designed to "make strategic architectural infrastructure improvements to move our entire modeling suite forward," and does not make many science alterations.

"As is typically the case with model upgrades, we expect slight performance improvements in some NWS service areas (i.e., aviation, severe, winter, etc.) and slight degradations in others," he said in a statement.

Fiddling with a computer model is a bit like trying to put together a piece of Ikea furniture: you may succeed in solving one part of the challenge, but in the process of using that allen wrench you'll accidentally knock another part out of place in the process. So too do model improvements tend to improve forecasts for some weather phenomena while causing others to be more problematic.

Lapenta said that further investigation revealed that most of the increase in forecast errors with the upgraded GFS model was coming from mistakes in how it handled three particular storms, rather than all storms.

However, that finding was not reflected in a presentation from the Hurricane Center, which showed a more frequent forecast degradation based on more than 700 test cases in the Atlantic. Also, if one of those high error storms in the future happens to be a high-impact storm like Sandy, it could cause major problems for coastal residents in particular.

It would also be another black eye on an already maligned computer model.

In addition, he noted that hurricane forecasters in Miami have access to the full range of data from other models, and aren't locked into a GFS-based forecast.

Series of tune-ups

The weather agency contends that the model has become far more advanced and reliable since 2012, thanks in part to post-Sandy funding to improve its power and capabilities.

A bill passed in the wake of the disaster provided $48 million for NOAA to improve its forecasting operations, with $25 million going to boosting its computing capabilities to try to bring the GFS on par with the model run by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts, or ECMWF.

High on the priority list for Congress and the Weather Service has been improving the forecasting of high-impact weather events such as hurricanes. So it is particularly concerning for hurricane forecasters to see a coming deterioration in forecast accuracy.

After Sandy we spent all this money in supplemental modeling money" to improve hurricane forecasts and better predict the next Sandy further ahead of time, said Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at WeatherBELL Analytics, a private company. "I honestly I dont know if we ever accomplished that.

Maue has reviewed the Weather Service presentations and the Hurricane Center's objections. He says the testing clearly shows a step backwards for the forecasting agency.

This is a severely negative result that would have real-world impacts on forecasting hurricanes especially in the short term," he said of the next GFS model upgrade.

We're right back to where we started five years ago when we all knew that the GFS sucked, he said.

The Hurricane Center has not supported some of the other GFS upgrades since Sandy either because they have shown little improvements or even degradations in forecast skill.

He faults the Weather Service for increasing the horizontal resolution of its flagship model without also addressing the vertical resolution, since weather happens both above and at Earth's surface. The European Center, he says, has superior vertical resolution.

The European Center, for its part, is planning to build a next-generation supercomputing center in Italy and continues to outpace the U.S. in terms of forecast accuracy and computing power. Lessening the impact of this disparity, though, is the fact that American forecasters do have access to the European models' simulations.

Florian Pappenberger, the director of forecasts at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in Reading, England, said at his agency, there are cases where the model is tinkered with and the results backslide in accuracy rather than taking a step forward.

Its a bit of a shame that this seems to be not working out as had hoped," he said of the GFS model changes. He said sometimes agencies know they will take a hit in forecast accuracy in the short-term in order to reap greater longer-term benefits from future tune-ups.

However, the next upgrade after this one isn't scheduled until the next, completely new GFS is rolled out in 2019.

During the past five years, NOAA has been busy trying to improve its computing power to bring its forecasting models to parity with the Europeans as well as other groups in Japan, China, Korea and the UK. This includes a jump in computing power in 2016, and a new 4D" system of inhaling data  technically known as data assimilation  into the model.

Critics within and outside the agency have long said the Europeans have a superior way of ingesting data and turning it into useful information for its models.

In late July of 2016, NOAA announced its intention to build a new, "state-of-the-art" global forecasting model to eventually replace the current GFS.
A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer was convicted on federal charges after he accepted $75,000 in bribes along with sex in exchange for work papers.

New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced the charges for 39-year-old Arnaldo Echevarria on Thursday, March 9, NJ.com reports, who was found guilty of harboring an undocumented immigrant, along with six charges of bribery and making false statements.

Between 2012 and 2014, Echevarria gave undocumented immigrants employment authorization documents in exchange for bribes that amounted to $75,000, authorities said.

There was one instance where Echevarria exchanged a document for sex, according to NJ.com. He also concealed his girlfriends immigration status.

Were going to look and review the trial transcripts and were going to see what our options are of where we are going to proceed next, Echevarrias attorney Michael Koribanics told TIME.

His sentencing will take place on June 19. He can face up to 15 years in prison, the Associated Press reports.
There are few things more destructive in a relationship than assembling flatpack furniture. But, IKEA might have created a genius solution that could bring peace to households the world over.

SEE ALSO: Ikea designed a refugee shelter and it lasts 6x longer than traditional emergency tents

IKEA has just announced its most recent invention  furniture that snaps together in minutes without any tools whatsoever. Sounds like a dream come true!

The "wedge dowel" is the brainchild of three engineers working in the IKEA prototype lab in Almhult, Sweden. According to an IKEA blog post, the nifty new invention is "a small plastic or wooden fitting with milled grooves all around". It clicks into holes that have been pre-drilled into the furniture, and therefore removes the need for screws and tools. IKEA claims that the invention will cut down assembly time by half.

Where has this been all our lives?

"The first wedge dowel was born ten years ago, when our prototype engineers made a trestle with less fittings and better stability than the existing ones. But nothing happened until we found somebody who believed in the idea," Christer Collin, former project leader of Project Enjoyable Assembling Experience at IKEA, said in the blogpost.



The innovation process behind the wedge dowel began when engineers wanted to make the assembly process easier and more fun. They also wanted to make the flatpack furniture more aesthetically pleasing by removing visible fittings.



IKEA representative Jesper Brodin told the Evening Standard that furniture made by the retailer often contains a lot of fittings, which can present some challenges in people's time and interest. "I tried it myself and actually put together a table which used to take me 24 minutes to assemble but instead took me three minutes to click together."



IKEA will launch the new system across all of its furniture lines, starting with the tricky-to-assemble Lisabo table.
Authorities allege a Chicago woman killed her boyfriend by pouring bleach down his throat during a fight, PEOPLE confirms.

The Cook County Medical Examiners Office said the cause of Darrius Ellis death was complication of forcible administration of a caustic substance, an agency spokesperson tells PEOPLE.

Yasmine Elder, 24, was arrested Monday and charged with murder.

She and Ellis, 26, were sitting in a van early Monday when they got into an argument, police said in a news release. Elder allegedly overpowered Ellis and poured the bleach in his mouth around 1:45 a.m.

The father of a 5-year-old son was later found lying on the ground and taken to a hospital, where the medical examiners office says he was pronounced dead at 3:26 a.m.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

He was a good kid, Ellis maternal grandfather, Clarence Hebron, told the Chicago Tribune. Everybody loved him.

Police found Elder on the street where she lives and arrested her about 5:30 p.m. Monday, according to the release.

She was in court Thursday and ordered held on a $1 million bond, reports the Associated Press.

Prosecutors alleged in court that Elder pinned down her boyfriend with her knees, grabbed Ellis by the hair, and poured the bleach  some of which he swallowed  over his face.

 Pick up PEOPLEs special edition True Crime Stories: Cases That Shocked America, on sale now, for the latest on Casey Anthony, JonBenet Ramsey and more.

The medical examiners office ruled the manner of Ellis death to be homicide.

It could not be determined whether Elder has been assigned an attorney or had entered a plea.




North Korea launched four missiles into the sea near Japan Monday, fueling already-high regional tensions and stress-testing President Donald Trumps crisis response chops.

Japan, South Korea, and China all condemned the launch. While the U.S. Strategic Command told Foreign Policy the missiles didnt post a threat to North America, future tests could. Coupled with its nuclear program, North Koreas stubborn pursuit of the bomb has U.S. policymakers worried.

North Korea is developing an offensive doctrine for the large-scale use of nuclear weapons in the early stages of a conflict, warned arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis Thursday in a piece for Foreign Policy.

Experts at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies for the Nuclear Threat Initiative put together an infographic that shows just how big this threat is. Heres the arsenal North Korea has in development  and how its range covers the United States and allies in Japan and South Korea.

Screen Shot 2015-08-10 at 11.44.56 AM

At least two of the missile variants North Korea is developing, the Musudan and KN-14, potentially have the range to reach the mainland United States. North Korea has at least six launchers for these missiles, but has not yet tested them.

The missiles launched Monday flew up to a height of 160 miles and traveled 600 miles, or 1,000 kilometers, indicating they were of a smaller missile variant. They landed in the sea, some 300 miles off the coast of Japan.

A day after the launch, the United States deployed elements of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to South Korea to counter the threat from the Hermit Kingdom. The move sparked a sharp rebuke from Beijing, which claimed THAAD could undermine Chinas own nuclear deterrent.

Image Credit: The Center for Nonproliferation Studies / Nuclear Threat Initiative
It's even clearer now how much the GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act will change health insurance for just about everyone.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office Monday released its estimates of the cost and impact of the House Republican plan known as the American Health Care Act. Chief among its findings is that the number of people without health insurance would increase by 14 million in 2018. By 2026, that figure would hit 24 million.

And the total number of people without insurance would reach 52 million in a decade, compared with 28 million if the ACA remained in place, says the CBO.

The changes wrought by the proposed legislation will have a much bigger effect on some groupsespecially those who get insurance through their employers and those on Medicaidthan estimated by recent analysis from independent healthcare policy experts such as the Brookings Institution and credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings

House Speaker Paul Ryan, reacting to the report, said the loss in coverage is a concern but that additional steps by the Trump administration and Congress haven't been taken into account. Ryan also noted that the CBO projects that House plan would reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion over the next decade.

But those savings would be to the government, not individuals, says Caroline Pearson, senior vice president for policy and strategy at Avalere Health, a healthcare consulting firm that has analyzed the GOP legislation. In fact, the CBO estimates that premiums would rise sharply in the first few years.

Many consumers tell us they are worried. In a recent nationally representative CR Consumer Voices Survey, 55 percent of consumers said they are not sure they or their loved ones will be able to afford insurance to secure quality healthcare.

The Congressional Budget Office confirmed the grave doubts weve had about the American Health Care Act," says Laura MacCleery, vice president of policy and mobilization for Consumer Reports. "Lawmakers promised more for less but this bill delivers the oppositefewer people with skimpier coverage and higher costs."



Story continues

Based on the legislation as it stands and the CBO's projections, heres how you could be affected:

If You Buy Your Own Insurance

Under the Affordable Care Act, if you don't get insurance from your employer or a government program, you have to buy insurance on your ownor pay a penalty. For 2017, that comes to $695 for each uninsured adult and $347.50 for everyone younger than 18 without insurance (though the total penalty can't come to more than 2.5 percent of your household income).

The House plan does away with that penalty. If you dont want to buy insurancesay, because you are young and healthy and feel invincibleyou dont have to.

Supporters of the House plan say that gives individuals more choice. But they also recognize that if too many young, healthy people opt out of insurance, it will drive up rates for everyone else.

That's what the CBO analysis projects will happen. In 2018 and 2019, the average premiums for individuals buying insurance on their own would be 15 percent to 20 percent higher than under the ACA.

And that, the CBO predicts, would drive millions of Americans to drop coverage: According to the CBO analysis, about 9 million people will drop out of the individual market in 2020. "Some people will leave because they don't face a penalty and others because insurance will be unaffordable," Pearson says.



The House plan tries to encourage people to maintain coverage by allowing insurers to charge 30 percent higher premiums for one year if people let their policies lapse. But that could get pricey, and could dissuade some people who opt out of insurance from joining again later.



If you opt to continue buying insurance, the GOP plan also changes how you will get help paying for your premiums.



Under the ACA, you can get tax credits to subsidize premiums based on your income and where you live. The less you make, the bigger your credit: Last year, subsidies averaged $290 per month, which covered a big chunk of the $396 average monthly premium for ACA marketplace plans. About 85 percent of people on ACA plans qualified for subsidies, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

And because healthcare costs vary dramatically across the country, the ACA also gives more financial help to people who live in states where insurance tends to be more expensive.

The GOP formula, on the other hand, is based mainly on age, though in contradictory ways. On the one hand, it gives larger credits ($4,000) to people 60 and older, and smaller ones ($2,000) to those 30 and younger. But it also allows insurers to charge older people up to five times more than younger ones (vs. just three times more under the ACA).

The net result: Under the House plan, if youre younger and healthy and live in places where healthcare is relatively inexpensive, insurance could be less expensive for you than under the ACA. In fact, the tax credits might fully cover your premiums and even leave extra to put away in a health savings account, says Timothy Jost, a health policy expert and emeritus professor at Washington and Law School of Law.

But if youre older, poorer, or live in an area where healthcare is more expensive, the cost of insurance may be less affordable, according to an analysis comparing tax credits under the GOP plan and the ACA by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research firm focused on health policy issues.

If You Get Insurance Through Your Job

The CBO report projects a larger impact on people with employer-based insurance than anticipated, where more than half of Americans get health coverage. About 7 million workers are expected to lose health insurance in the next decade under the House plan.

The impact is two-fold. Under the ACA, individuals who can have insurance through their employer but don't take it face a penalty. Without that motivation, some people will choose not to get coverarge. In addition, the House bill would remove the penalty imposed by the ACA on companies with 50 or more employees if they did not offer insurance to their workers.

Although some employers complained about that penalty, saying that it was a job killer or costly, it did help many previously uninsured Americans get health insurance.

Jost says that companies with more than 200 employeesmost of which offered insurance to workers even before the ACAwould probably continue to offer insurance, even without the penalty, because it helps them retain and attract workers.

But in an effort to save money, some companies with 50 to 200 employees might stop offering health insurance, Jost predicts. If you work at a company in that size range, you could find yourself having to decide whether to buy insurance on your own or go without.



Eventually, the House plan might also have another effect people who continue to get insurance through their employers. Though the GOP plan does away with almost all the taxes that fund the ACA, it does keep one: the so-called Cadillac tax on employers that offer generous healthcare coverage. Although that tax wouldn't kick in till 2025, it could prompt your employer to offer less comprehensive coverage or plans where you shoulder more of the cost.

If You're on Medicaid

The biggest group of people expected to see changes are those on Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income Americans. The CBO estimates that under the House plan, 14 million people will drop out of Medicaid coverage in the next decade because of changes to how the program is funded.

But those changes will come more gradually, with most occuring in 2020. If youre getting health insurance through the Medicaid expansion program now, youll be grandfathered in and still receive it. But starting in 2020, if you have a break in coverage for more than one month you wont be able to re-enroll.

In addition, the federal government now gives states money, allowing them to expand Medicaid to a broader group of low-income earners. As a result, more than 11 million people in 31 states newly qualified for coverage. The House bill proposes to freeze that expansion on Jan. 1, 2020, so you wouldn't be be able to enroll after that date.

Another change is that the federal government currently matches what state's put toward Medicaid, even if those costs continue to rise. But the GOP bill caps the amount of federal funding that states can receive. That would mean that when costs go up, states would either have to reduce coverage or come up with funds to offset the extra expense, according to a report by the Center on Budget Policies and Priorities, a progressive think tank..

Under the GOP plan, even if you remain in Medicaid there will be changes in your coverage. Now all insurance plans, including Medicaid, must cover 10 "essential" health services, including maternity coverage, prescription drugs, and mental healthcare. But under the GOP proposal, that requirement would go away starting in 2020.

There are always trade-offs. The ACA had them, too," Jost says. "This bill will help some people, but for millions of Americans who are dependent on Medicaid, this is very bad news.

If You're on Medicare

Medicare is separate and apart from the ACA insurance marketplaces, so the current House plan to repeal the ACA wont cause Medicare premiums or co-pays to change.

But the GOP proposal still has some implications for people on Medicare, or at least those who hope to be in the future. Thats because the House bill eliminates virtually all taxes used to fund the ACA starting in 2018, including a 0.9 percent payroll tax on higher-income workers that funnels money into Medicare.

Without those funds, Medicare could be insolvent in 2024 and have to start reducing the amount of benefits it pays outfour years sooner than previously predicted, according to the AARP, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of people 50 and older and another analysis by the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities.







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Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright  2006-2017 Consumers Union of U.S.
Iranian navy Commander Mehdi Hashemi blamed the U.S. for the weekends incident that involved a U.S. Navy ship and Tehrans vessels, Iranian media reported Wednesday. On Saturday, the USNS Invincible spy ship was forced to change its course after Revolutionary Guards fast-attack vessels sailed in close proximity in the Strait of Hormuz.

Hashemi also called the incident as unprofessional and unconventional and warned Washington of consequences.

"The unprofessional actions of the Americans can have irreversible consequences," Hashemi said, according to Irans Mehr News Agency. The ships unprofessional and unconventional conduct in deviating from its main path toward IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] speed boats in the Strait of Hormuz would have far-reaching consequences; their presence in the Persian Gulf threats the security of world energy path, and their approaching up to distance of 550 meters would fuel the tension in the region.

A U.S. official told Reuters Monday that the Revolutionary Guard vessels sailed within 600 yards of the USNS Invincible spy ship. The official called the Iran's move as unsafe and unprofessional and attempts to contact the Iranian vessel by radio were not successful.

There have been several such incidents in the Strait of Hormuz in recent months. In January, a U.S. Navy destroyer fired warning shots at Iranian patrol boats, which sailed toward it in the strait. In November 2016, an Iranian vessel was reported to have pointed a gun at a U.S. Navy helicopter.

Also in January, Iran carried out a ballistic missile test triggering concern. The U.S. said at the time that it is considering imposing fresh sanctions on Tehran. President Donald Trump also warned the country it had been put on notice.

I think it is now time for the Congress to take Iran on directly in terms of what theyve done outside the nuclear program, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last month at a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference.

Story continues

However, Irans Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif shot back saying that imposing sanctions on the country will not get any results.

Related Articles
Photo credit: YOUNES KHANI / Getty

From Popular Mechanics

Iran's Defense Minister claims that his country's indigenous fighter, the F-311 Qaher ("Conqueror") is nearing production. The fighter was first unveiled in 2013, when it was widely ridiculed as a fake.

The Qaher jet is supposed to be Iran's first locally designed and produced fighter plane. First revealed in 2013 to great fanfare, a full-size mockup was shown to the public. The plane then disappeared into obscurity.

The plane was designed and the mockup built by the Iranian government's Aviation Industries Organization. "The fighter jet is Iranian-made and all its parts have been manufactured domestically," Qaher's project manufacturer told Iranian state television at the introduction. AIO claimed the plane was made with "high tech materials"-without specifying what kind-and able to act in both the air-to-air and air-to-ground roles. It is allegedly capable of flying "very low to the ground" and will also carry homemade weapons.

At the time of rollout, FlightGlobal polled several aviation experts about Qaher's airworthiness. The experts were united that the "plane" was not a viable aircraft and was likely being shown off for propaganda purposes. Qaher's weird design, which included droopy wings and thick wing leading edges, appeared to make the plane unstable and not particularly stealthy.

Photo credit: AMIR POURMAND / Getty

The worst part of Qaher's originally rollout, however, was the fact that the plane appeared too small to actually house a human pilot. In a photograph taken at rollout with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a pilot sitting in the plane appears to sit uncomfortably in the cockpit with his knees showing.

Iran's Farsnews no longer describes Qaher as a "fighter", instead saying it is "a logistic aircraft for short distances and is a light fighter jet used for military and training operations." Describing it as a logistics aircraft is strange as the plane appears to have zero cargo-carrying capability.

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This would not be the first time Iran was caught fibbing to increase its defense capabilities. In 2010, Iran paraded what it said were S-300 surface-to-air missiles in truck-mounted launch canisters. The "missiles" were obviously 55 gallon oil drums welded together and painted. In 2008, the media arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards organization disseminated a photo of a mass rocket launch with several elements cloned to show more launches than actually took place.

H/T The Aviationist

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday there could never be peace in Syria as long as there was an Iranian presence there. "We discussed at length the matter of Iran, its objectives and intentions in Syria, and I clarified that there cannot be a peace deal in Syria when Iran is there and declares its intention to destroy Israel," Netanyahu said in footage supplied by his office after their meeting. Iran, Israel's arch-enemy, has been embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's staunchest backer and has provided militia fighters to help him in the country's civil war. "(Iran) is arming itself and its forces against Israel including from Syria territory and is, in fact, gaining a foothold to continue the fight against Israel," he said in reply to a reporter's question. "There cannot be peace when they continue the war and therefore they have to be removed." Russia, also Assad's ally, is seen as holding the balance of power in achieving a deal on Syria's future. In Geneva last week, the first U.N.-led Syria peace talks in a year ended without a breakthrough. Israeli leaders have pointed to Tehran's steadily increasing influence in the region during the six-year-old Syrian conflict, whether via its own Revolutionary Guard forces or Shi'ite Muslim proxies, especially Hezbollah. Last year, Avi Dichter, the chair of Israel's foreign affairs and defence committee, said Iran had tried several times in the past to move forces into the Syrian Golan Heights, next to territory that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Dichter said those moves were repelled, but gave no details. Netanyahu has said that Israel has carried out dozens of strikes to prevent weapons smuggling to the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah via Syria. Two years ago, Israel and Russia agreed to coordinate military actions over Syria in order to avoid accidentally trading fire. (Writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Andrew Roche)
Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi special forces battling the Islamic State group on Friday pushed deeper into west Mosul, where a commander said jihadist resistance is showing signs of weakening under repeated assaults.

The jihadists are also facing simultaneous offensives in Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, piling more pressure on IS.

But the battle for Mosul's Old City -- which could see some of the toughest fighting of the operation -- has not yet begun, nor has fighting inside the city of Raqa, IS's main bastion in Syria.

Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service attacked the Al-Amil al-Oula neighbourhood of west Mosul early on Friday, and were battling the jihadists inside it, said Staff Major General Maan al-Saadi, a CTS commander.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command later announced that CTS had retaken that area along with another neighbourhood, Al-Amil al-Thaniyah.

Saadi said that following a string of losses since the launch of the government's assault on west Mosul on February 19, IS resistance had diminished.

"After we broke the (first) defensive line, they lost many fighters," he said.

"The enemy has begun to collapse. They have lost many of their combat capabilities. Today, the enemy sent (suicide car bombs), but not in the numbers that they sent at the beginning of the battle."

In another sign that the jihadists are feeling the squeeze, their chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reported to have abandoned Mosul, leaving local commanders behind to oversee defence of the city.

Iraqi forces launched their operation to retake Mosul in October, and recaptured the whole east bank of the Tigris River that runs through it in January.

- More than 215,000 displaced -

They then set their sights on the smaller but more densely populated west side of the city.

More than 215,000 people are displaced as a result of the battle for Mosul, according to the International Organization for Migration. Others fled their homes but later returned.

Story continues

Almost a quarter of the displaced -- more than 50,000 people -- have fled west Mosul since February 25, the IOM said.

But that is only a small fraction of the 750,000 civilians estimated to have stayed on in west Mosul under IS rule.

In neighbouring Syria, the jihadists lost more ground to a Russian-backed offensive by government forces east of second city Aleppo.

Russian warplanes and regime aircraft and artillery pounded IS positions around Jarrah airbase, held by the jihadists since January 2014.

Russia's military said on Friday that it had carried out more than 450 air strikes in support of the offensive over the past week, killing more than 600 IS fighters, and destroying 16 infantry fighting vehicles and 41 machinegun-mounted pickups.

Washington too has turned up the heat on IS in Syria, more than doubling its troop numbers in the country with the deployment of 400 reinforcements to back the offensive on Raqa.

Around 500 US military advisers were already deployed alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters that Washington regards as the force best equipped to drive IS from its stronghold.

- Feuding US allies -

But the operation is complicated by the implacable opposition to the SDF of US NATO ally Turkey, which is leading a rival offensive against IS in northern Syria.

Ankara regards the dominant force within the SDF, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), as a terrorist organisation, because of its links to a Kurdish rebel group that has waged a deadly 33-year insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

Ankara has said its intervention is aimed as much against the YPG as IS, and there have been repeated clashes between Turkish forces and the Kurdish militia.

Asked about the standoff at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, the top US commander for the region, General Joseph Votel, acknowledged that tensions between Ankara and the Kurds were near breaking point.

Efforts have been made to address the issue at a military level, "and there has to be an effort at the political level to address this," Votel said.

Some of the US troop reinforcements being sent to Syria are to be deployed to SDF-held areas near the front line to deter further clashes between Turkish forces and Washington's Kurdish-Arab allies.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow, however, are much improved even though they have supported opposite sides in the conflict between the rebels and the regime.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Moscow on Friday for a new round of consultations with President Vladimir Putin.
The Iraqi military and its allies have nearly defeated militants loyal to the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, in its final and largest Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, the Economist reported Thursday. The jihadists' collapse in Iraq came as the U.S. and Russia showed rare signs of cooperation in neighboring Syria.

Iraqi Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati, head of the Counterterrorism Service, predicted ISIS would be defeated within a month. Iraqi troops, assisted by the U.S., Kurdish forces and Iran-backed Shiite Muslim militias have broken through ISIS' defenses in western Mosul, which fell to the militants in 2014. The pro-government forces took the eastern half of the city in January and have faced fierce resistance from the hardline Sunni Muslim militants. As their control over the war-torn city has crumbled, however, ISIS' fate looked bleak in Iraq.

"Despite the tough fighting ... we are moving ahead in persistence to finish the battle for the western side within a month," Shaghati told Reuters at a conference in Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Read: Where Is ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

On the other side of ISIS' self-proclaimed "caliphate," the jihadists faced international resistance from an unlikely and uneasy coalition of the U.S., Russia and Turkey. The U.S. and Russia, once supportive of opposing forces in Syria's six-year civil war, have since found themselves supporting a mutual ally, the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, which has grown close to the Moscow-backed Syrian army in recent months. As U.S. support for Syrian rebels dried up over leaks to jihadist militants such as ISIS and al-Qaeda-affiliated organizations, Turkey launched an invasion into northern Syria in August to support opposition forces and block further advances by the SDF. In the past week, U.S. troops and the Syrian army, backed by Moscow, have strategically blocked Turkey's attempt to route the SDF from the northern town of Manbij.

Story continues

Read: Syrian Army, Kurds Win As US, Russia Team Against Turkey

The U.S. also indirectly helped the Russia and the Syrian army and allied militants recapture the ancient city of Palmyra from ISIS last week. The U.S. and Russia conducted separate airstrikes against ISIS as the Syrian army, along with allies such as the Lebanese Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, took back the city and its historic sites, some of which were badly damaged by ISIS. The U.S., Russia and Turkey are poised to make a final move on ISIS' de facto headquarters of Raqqa in northern Syria, but it has not yet been made clear how or if the powers would coordinate such an assault.

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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iraqi U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim said on Friday there was "no evidence" that Islamic State had used chemical weapons in Mosul, where the militants are fighting off an offensive by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. Alhakim said he spoke with officials in Baghdad at midday on Friday and "there was really no evidence that Daesh has used this chemical weapon." Daesh is another name for Islamic State. The United Nations said last Saturday that 12 people, including women and children, had been treated for possible exposure to chemical weapons agents in Mosul since March 1. The United Nations Security Council was briefed behind closed doors on the situation in Mosul on Friday by U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien and U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Kim Won-soo. British U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, president of the council for March, said the 15-member body believed that Iraq's investigation into possible chemical weapons attacks was ongoing. "We expressed concern over reports of possible use of chemical weapons by Daesh and we look forward to the results of Iraq's investigation into those allegations," Rycroft told reporters after the briefing. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Sandra Maler)
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Iraq's UN envoy said Friday there was no evidence that the Islamic State group had used chemical weapons in the battle for Mosul.

Ambassador Mohamed Alhakim said he conveyed the information to the United Nations after speaking with his government in Baghdad on Friday.

"There is really no evidence that Daesh has used this chemical weapon," Alhakim told reporters ahead of a Security Council meeting on Iraq. Daesh is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (IS).

The Red Cross had reported that seven people, five of them children, had been hospitalized near Mosul in early March suffering from exposure to a chemical agent.

The US Defense Department said that IS militants were developing rudimentary chemical weapons such as mustard gas at the University of Mosul.

Iraqi forces launched an operation to retake west Mosul, the largest population center still held by the jihadists, on February 19.

Alhakim said Iraq had been in contact with The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition for Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which could dispatch a team of experts in the event of a suspected toxic gas attack.

Following the closed-door Security Council meeting on Iraq, British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the Iraqi investigation of the alleged chemical attacks had not been completed and that the council had expressed concern.

"We look forward to the results of Iraq's investigation into those allegations," said Rycroft, who holds the council presidency this month.

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A former Tampa, Fla. police captain charged with second-degree murder will now stand trial. Curtis Reeves was charged with the 2014 fatal shooting of Chad Oulson in a movie theater after an argument ensued over texting. Reeves claims he shot Oulson in self-defense. A judge has denied Reeves motion to apply Floridas controversial stand your ground law to the case because she said Reeves was not in imminent danger or death or great bodily harm and was not justified in using lethal force.
By Wa Lone, Simon Lewis and Krishna N. Das SITTWE, Myanmar/LEDA, Bangladesh (Reuters) - The emergence of Harakah al Yaqin, the first Rohingya Muslim insurgent group to organize in Myanmar in decades, signals a dangerous new phase in a crisis that is increasingly attracting the attention of extremists in Pakistan and the Middle East. Unknown six months ago, the group has ignited a conflict in Rakhine State that has marred Myanmar's transition toward democracy and confronted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with her biggest crisis yet. "Our people have been persecuted for 50 or 60 years, so support for the insurgents is there," said Rahim, a teacher from the village of Dar Gyi Zar, who is among more than 70,000 Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh since the fighting began. Communal tensions have long-festered in northwestern Rakhine State, where 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims live in apartheid-like conditions, often despised by the Buddhist majority. Serious ethnic clashes erupted in 2012, but the recent violence is the first sign of a Rohingya insurgency entrenching itself inside Rakhine since at least the early 1990s. Reuters spoke to around a dozen Rohingya from villages in the conflict zone about the activities of the group in their area, as well as a police officer who led the interrogations of several captured insurgents and a military intelligence officer. Their accounts, which could not be independently verified, shed new light on how the group prepared for its campaign. They describe how a small group of leaders, including one born to Rohingya parents in Pakistan, recruited several hundred young men, training them clandestinely for months in fields and forests. Mohammed Shah, 26, from Yae Khat Chaung Gwa Son village, was not approached to join the group, but said he was aware of its activities for about six months before it launched its first attacks in October. Once he came across 30 people training in a forest clearing near his village with wooden dummy weapons. "I support them," he said. "We have been persecuted for decades and they are working to bring us justice." CLANDESTINE TRAINING On Oct. 9, Harakah al-Yaqin - Arabic for "Faith Movement" - launched three coordinated attacks on separate police border posts, killing nine officers. The group claimed responsibility for the attacks in videos posted online. The security operation launched by the military in response has been beset by allegations of mass killings and gang rapes that the United Nations says may constitute crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The crisis could not come at a worse time for Suu Kyi, who's near year-old government is contending with renewed ethnic insurgencies elsewhere in Myanmar that threaten to undermine the Nobel laureate's signature peace process. Myanmar's government says the allegations of human rights abuses are "serious", but that security forces are dealing with an insurgency that threatens the region's stability and development. Residents of northern Rakhine and security officials told Reuters that HaY had organized its campaign across the border in Bangladesh, and that it involved leaders with links to Pakistan. In the village of U Shey Kya, adult men were approached in early 2016 and asked to join the group, three residents told Reuters. Some agreed and took part in training, they said. "Some villagers were recruited first, then these agents persuaded other people one-by-one," said one man. "They would go to a grocery store or in the tea shop, they would talk to people." A senior member of HaY, Mohammed Noor, was last month sentenced to death for leading one of the three attacks, the first such verdict to be handed down. Police Captain Yan Naing Latt, the lead interrogator of suspects at the jail in state capital Sittwe, told Reuters the group's goal was to seize control of the northern part of Rakhine to create a "Muslim democratic state for the Rohingya". "There were six cells in total," said Yan Naing Latt, but only three were able to successfully launch attacks. "Leaders like Mohammed Noor were sent with some weapons to each village, recruited and trained locals there." "They trained karate and practiced firing guns," said Yan Naing Latt. Some of the attackers came from refugee camps in Bangladesh and brought with them weapons that had been stolen there, he said. (For a graphic on the rise of Rohingya insurgents, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2mNFA0R) CALL FOR JIHAD A report from the International Crisis Group in December identified Ata Ullah, a Rohingya believed to have been born in Pakistan and raised in Saudi Arabia, as the leader of HaY. He appears in the videos posted online by HaY, citing Koranic verse and calling for a "jihad" in Rakhine. Rohingya villagers who have seen the videos say the same man was one of those who led recruitment and training. "He used to come to the village very often...he told the villagers that he will fight for our rights," said a school teacher from the village of Kyar Gaung Taung. Four residents said some of the men providing training did not speak the Rohingya language but conversed in Urdu, the language of Pakistan, or English. Refugees and residents said community support for the group was based on frustration with the Myanmar government - which says the Rohingya are interlopers from Bangladesh - rather than religious ideology. Nonetheless, diplomats and analysts say the involvement of foreign militants has the potential to radicalize and enflame the conflict. Myanmar's government has said it believes Ata Ullah and another HaY member, a Pakistani citizen, attended "terrorist training" with the Taliban in Pakistan. While no firm evidence linking HaY to extremist organizations has emerged, several Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, and Islamic State have raised the Rohingya cause in their publicity materials. A senior Myanmar military intelligence officer said HaY has tried to organize resistance since 2013, but was only able to gain a foothold and attract funding in 2015. "They targeted young and educated Muslims and organized several meetings in Bangladesh," said the officer, citing information from informers monitoring the movement of people across the border. The group was still active, the officer said, with the military expecting further attacks. A fresh video surfaced in February showing young, masked men wielding swords and sticks, calling themselves Harakah al-Yaqin. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the clip. "They are moving from one place to the next and organizing short five- to 10-days-long training sessions in different villages," said the intelligence officer. While that suggests the group is becoming entrenched, the violence its campaign has unleashed has cost it some support. "We're ready to inform the government if the people involved in the training come back," said the U Shey Kya villager. (Editing by Antoni Slodkowski and Alex Richardson)
Kabul (AFP) - The bruises, scabs and chain markings have long faded but Haji Ghulam is still visibly traumatised by his month-long abduction, one of dozens of victims of a violent crime surge that has beset the Afghan capital.

While the relatively rare kidnappings of foreigners instantly grab international headlines, this chilling wave of abductions of ordinary Afghans such as Ghulam remains a hidden scourge that has put the city on edge.

Afghan police, already stretched on multiple insurgent battlefronts, are struggling to rein in kidnapping rings that target not just the wealthy -- but anyone that appears to have money.

"On a cold spring day last year I was driving home from work with my son and cousin when we were waylaid by two cars with armed men in military uniforms," Ghulam, a 53-year-old professional money changer, said with a stammer, his lips and face twitching.

"I thought they were policemen, but they beat my son and cousin and dragged me to their vehicle. I was blindfolded, slapped, beaten. They drove for an hour and dropped me in a tiny hole in the ground," he told AFP at his home in Kabul.

His kidnappers tortured him and sent his recorded screams to his family, demanding a ransom of $2 million, a gargantuan sum in one of the world's poorest countries. He was fed little more than a piece of bread every day.

A month later, security officials discovered Ghulam in that hole in a small house on the outskirts of Kabul, maimed, emaciated and enchained. His kidnappers are still at large.

Ghulam, who now walks with a limp and uses an armoured vehicle and private guards for his protection, is one of the lucky ones.

In one case, a 14-year-old Afghan boy was abducted and then brutally murdered, his body dumped in downtown Kabul. In another incident, a city shopkeeper's ear was sliced off by his kidnapper and sent to his family to press them to pay up.

Recently a Kabul businessman sold off his entire property to pay ransom for his kidnapped son, but he remains in captivity.

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Reliable official statistics are hard to obtain, but Afghanistan's Chamber of Commerce and Industries says around 80 businessmen were kidnapped around the country last year. Experts believe many other cases went unreported for fear of reprisals from the kidnappers.

- Crime city -

Kidnappings and extortion have become a cottage industry, while car thefts are common. In fact Kabul, is a city so riddled with crime that displaying wealth can be tantamount to a death sentence.

The situation is exacerbated by rampant poverty and rising unemployment.

The kidnapping rings appear to be feeding off growing insecurity as Afghan law enforcement remain stretched by the Taliban, Islamic State jihadists and other militant groups.

The fledgling and under resourced police force is struggling to effectively combat crime, which has contributed to an unprecedented exodus of Afghans towards Europe.

"In addition to the threat of bombings, the city is plagued by kidnappers and extortionists," Haji Zeerak, a spokesman for money changers in Kabul's Shahzada market, told AFP.

"Because of this business is down and more people are fleeing the country," he said, adding that nearly 100 money changers were kidnapped last year.

In another shocking incident, armed men recently stole $1.2 million from a money changer in Kabul after stopping his car. When the money changers took the issue to President Ashraf Ghani, police arrested a criminal gang said to be behind it but the money is yet to be recovered, Zeerak said.

- Threat to investment -

Criminal gangs often sell abductees, especially foreigners, to insurgent groups for a higher price, who transfer them to the badlands across the border in Pakistan, officials say.

But the police force insist a crackdown has begun, citing the 3,000 criminals -- including 16 top kidnappers -- in the past year.

"There has been a substantial increase in crime, but we are making progress in fighting it," said outgoing Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi.

He added: "We will chase every kidnapper."

After propping up the Afghan economy for years with billions of dollars, international donors are pushing the government to wean itself off its dependence on foreign aid. But those efforts are thwarted partly by rising crime, which is forcing much needed investors to flee.

"Investment in Afghanistan is falling due to insecurity and kidnappings," Siamuden Pasarly, spokesman for Afghanistan's Chamber of Commerce and Industries, told AFP.

The government's inability to curb kidnappings has led many like Ghulam to suspect that some criminals are in cahoots with security officials.

He added: "If the Afghan government cannot stop insurgent attacks, can they at least focus on fighting crime?"
Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders has spent more than a decade encouraging popular resentment against Muslims, the E.U. and immigrants. What were once fringe views have turned into a national movement, which has many asking whether the March 15 Netherlands elections will turn into another populist revolt against the established liberal order.

Polls currently show Wilders anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV) running neck and neck with Prime Minister Mark Ruttes Liberals. With elections in France, Germany and potentially Italy on the horizon, how Wilders fares in Holland will be viewed as a bellwether for the future of the E.U. Heres what we know about him:

Why is he compared to Donald Trump?

Wilders gained the nickname of the Dutch Trump for his ability to court controversy, his effective use of social media, his demonization of immigrants, and his peroxide blonde bouffant hairstyle. Now it seems like he is lagging in the polls due to what is being described as the Trump effect. Pollster Peil.nl told Bloomberg that Dutch voters might have been scared off following the measures taken by President Trump.

What are his policies?

The 53-year-old relies mainly on familiar talking points of European Islamophobics: bleak warnings about the tsunami of Muslim immigration, while calling Islam a totalitarian ideology. His partys one-page election manifesto is focused mainly on anti-Islam measures, which includes the closure of all mosques, the ban of headscarves in public, to De-islamize the Netherlands and zero asylum seekers and no immigrants anymore from Islamic countries.

He was put on trial in 2010 for inciting hatred against Muslims, a charge of which he was acquitted. However in Dec. 2016, Wilders was found guilty for the same charge after he led an anti-Moroccan chant at a political event which led to him surging in the polls.

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Wilders is also virulently anti-E.U. After U.K.s 2016 vote to leave the union, he called for a Dutch referendum on membership to the bloc. He likes to describe the archetypal yet imaginary Dutch couple Henk and Ingrid, who have suffered at the hands of a tyrannical E.U. and out-of-touch political elite.

Where is he from?

He was born to a middle-class family in the small Roman Catholic town of Venlo, on the eastern edge of the country. His father worked at a printing company and his mother was half-Indonesian a side of his family tree that he has distanced himself from.

The youngest of four siblings has a difficult relationship with his older brother Paul, who routinely criticizes the politician on Twitter and has reportedly not spoken to Wilders since he posted a photomontage of Angela Merkel with blood on her hands following an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin last year.

My brother knows that some of his supporters take his messages literally, and that they use Facebook to call for acts of violence, Paul Wilders told Der Spiegel. Geert doesnt want violence, and yet he accepts the potential consequences of such messages. His brother also described teenaged Geert as a horrible pest, egocentric and aggressive.

Wilders aversion to Islam is thought to have been cultivated before university, when he travelled to the Middle East in the early 1980s. There he travelled to Syria, Iran and Egypt. He also spent around a year working on a kibbutz in Israel, a country he has since developed a longstanding affinity for he is known to be on close terms with current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

How did he get into politics?

In 1988, Wilders joined the centre-right Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD), where he became a local councillor in Utrecht in 1997 and assistant to its leader, Frits Bolkestein a politician who opposed multiculturalism, immigration and E.U. integration. During his early days in politics, Politico reports, Wilders took media training classes and began bleaching his wavy brown hair to blonde.

After getting elected into Parliament in 1998, he refused to toe the party line and instead warned parliament about the dangers of Islamic extremism. His exhortations gained traction after the killing of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004, by a Dutch Moroccan upset by a film he had made that was critical of Islam. Wilders, who helped make the film, was immediately placed under police protection which he has remained under ever since.

He refuses to go out to a restaurant or cinema, and only sees his Hungarian-born wife, Krisztina, no more than twice a week, the New Statesman reports. He also lives in a series of safe houses. Its a strange existence Wilders has capitalized upon to bolster his central argument that Islam is an ever present danger.

Why is his party likened to a sect?

Because he is its only member. In 2004, he started his own party which was later renamed PVV. Its lawmakers and councillors are seen merely as supporters, and rarely make public statements or appearances  and so Wilders is effectively their only public face. Being a one-man show means he does not receive government subsidies, relying entirely on outside donations, such as New York-based company FOL Inc and the conservative American think-tank, the David Horowitz Freedom Centre.

Will he become Prime Minister?

Probably not. PVV could top the ballot, but Wilders chances of becoming Prime Minister are slim. This is because the Netherlands has a proportional voting system, where Parliamentary seats are distributed by the proportion of total votes. Wilders party is highly unlikely to gain the majority needed (75 seats) to form a government, and make him Prime Minister. Major parties on the left or the right have vowed to not join him in a coalition.

Despite that, Wilders has had a major impact on the race. The other front-runner, Rutte, published an open letter that echoing Wilders anti-immigrant sentiment, advising immigrants to accept Dutch culture or leave.

He might not become Prime Minister, but his invective has helped tilt the Netherlands into a more nationalistic direction.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye was fired Friday as a court upheld her impeachment over a corruption scandal that has paralysed the nation at a time of mounting tensions in East Asia.

The unanimous decision brought to a climax months of political turmoil that saw millions of people take to the streets in weekly protests, and triggers a new presidential election to be held within 60 days.

That will offer South Korea a chance to draw a line under the scandal, which has occupied its attention for months, even as the North has unleashed new missile launches and threats that have raised international alarm.

Park, the country's first female president, also becomes its first leader to be removed by impeachment.

She loses her executive immunity from prosecution and is obliged to leave the Blue House -- although she did not do so Friday, with a spokesman saying her private residence still needed to be prepared.

Reading the verdict, constitutional court chief justice Lee Jung-Mi said Park's actions "seriously impaired the spirit of representative democracy and the rule of law".

"President Park Geun-Hye has been dismissed," she said, sending opponents watching live on giant television screens outside the nation's top court into eruptions of joy.

"We won, we won," they chanted, cheering and hugging each other, some breaking down.

"I am so pleased that I cannot hold back tears," said Shin Seo-Young, 43, clasping her friend. "This is a sweet revenge."

A few hundred metres away, and separated by a huge police presence, a rival protest by the president's flag-waving supporters were stunned.

"We don't accept this decision," said Cho Bong-Am, 60, a kindergarten operator. "We will take to the streets to fight to the end."

Scuffles broke out as the largely older pro-Park crowd tried to drag away buses and break through the police barricades to reach the court.

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Police -- more than 20,000 of whom were deployed in the capital -- used pepper spray to try to subdue them and two protestors died, one of them apparently killed when a speaker fell on him from a police vehicle.

- Rule of law -

The court found Park broke the law by allowing her friend Choi Soon-Sil -- who is already on trial for abuse of power -- to meddle in state affairs, and by breaking rules on public servants' activities.

"Park's breaching of the constitution and the laws betrayed the trust of the people," said judge Lee, describing her actions as "a serious and unacceptable violation of the laws".

One of Park's lawyers expressed "strong regrets" over the verdict.

But her own Liberty Korea party apologised, with its interim leader saying it had "failed to protect the dignity and pride of South Korea".

Kwon Seong-Dong, a lawmaker and a member of the parliamentary indictment committee, said the verdict confirmed the rule of law and that "all people including the president are equal in front of the law".

Park, the daughter of a late army-backed dictator, secured the highest vote share of any candidate in the democratic era when she was elected in 2012.

But her aloof style and a series of controversies, coupled with mounting economic and social frustrations, saw her ratings plunge and millions take to the streets to demand her removal.

She was impeached by parliament in December on charges including bribery and abuse of power, and an overwhelming majority of South Koreans -- around 77 percent -- supported her removal in opinion polls.

Park repeatedly apologised for the impact of the scandal, but rejected all allegations of wrongdoing when she submitted a written statement to the court's last hearing in February.

"I've never sought private gains or abused power as president... I plead with the court to make a wise decision," she said.

- 'Witch of Chongwadae' -

South Korea's National Election Commission opened applications for the presidential poll, which is expected to be held on May 9.

The winner will have to try to deal with the troublesome North, which US President Donald Trump has vowed to rein in, and a furious China.

Beijing, angered over America's THAAD missile-defence system which is being rolled out in the South in response to the North's missile threat, has imposed a series of measures seen in Seoul as economic retaliation.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency, which has repeatedly described Park as a "traitor" and "the witch of Chongwadae" (Blue House), reported her dismissal in a brief, factual dispatch.

With thousands of US troops stationed in the South, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington would "continue to meet all our alliance commitments, especially with respect to defending against the threat from North Korea".

The impeachment, he added, was a "domestic issue" and the US had no position on it. "It is up to the Korean people and their democratic institutions to determine the future of their country, and we respect their decisions."

Washington looked forward to a "productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next president", he said.

The current electoral front-runner is Moon Jae-In, former leader of the opposition Democratic Party, who had the support of 36.1 percent in a Realmeter poll released on Thursday, with conservative acting president Hwang Kyo-Ahn a distant second.
By Joyce Lee and Cynthia Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Constitutional Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving the country's conglomerates at a time of rising tensions with North Korea and China. The ruling sparked protests from hundreds of Park's supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court, and a festive rally by those who had demanded her ouster who celebrated justice being served. "We did it. We the citizens, the sovereign of this country, opened a new chapter in history," Lee Tae-ho, the leader of a movement to oust Park that has held mostly peaceful rallies in downtown involving millions, told a large gathering in Seoul. Park becomes South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of paralysis and turmoil over the corruption scandal that also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in detention and on trial. A snap presidential election will be held within 60 days. Park did not appear in court, and a spokesman said she would not be making any comment. She also would not leave the presidential Blue House residence on Friday. "Park is not leaving the Blue House today," Blue House spokesman Kim Dong Jo told Reuters. Park was stripped of her powers after parliament voted to impeach her but has remained in the president's official compound. The court's acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the constitution and law "throughout her term," and despite the objections of parliament and the media, she had concealed the truth and cracked down on critics. Park has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing. The ruling to uphold parliament's Dec. 9 vote to impeach her marks a dramatic fall from grace of South Korea's first woman president and daughter of Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee. Both her parents were assassinated. Park, 65, no longer has immunity and could now face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power in connection with allegations of conspiring with her friend, Choi Soon-sil. MARKETS RISE Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was appointed acting president and will remain in that post until the election. He called on Park's supporters and opponents to put their differences aside to prevent deeper division. "It is time to accept, and close the conflict and confrontation we have suffered," Hwang said in a televised speech. A liberal presidential candidate, Moon Jae-in, is leading in opinion polls to succeed Park, with 32 percent support in one poll released on Friday. Hwang, who has not said whether he will seek the presidency, leads among conservatives, none of whom has more than single-digit poll ratings. "Given Park's spectacular demise and disarray among conservatives, the presidential contest in May is the liberals' to lose," said Yonsei University professor John Delury. Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign, after the U.S. military this month started deploying the U.S. THAAD missile defence system in South Korea in response to North Korea's stepped-up missile and nuclear tests. Beijing has vigorously protested against the deployment, which was agreed last year between Washington and Seoul, fearing its radar could see into its missile deployments. China has curbed travel to South Korea and targeted Korean companies operating in the mainland, prompting retaliatory measures from Seoul. The U.S. military said on Friday it would keep delivering THAAD components, separating the issue from South Korea's internal political crisis. The new U.S. administration has been keen to install the system as quickly as possible due to concerns that a new government in Seoul could block the deployment. "We have a strong relationship and will continue to work with South Korea," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. "It's a domestic issue in which the United States takes no position in the outcome of that election." The Seoul market's benchmark KOSPI index <.KS11> and the won currency rose after the ruling. The prospect of a new president in the first half of this year instead of prolonged uncertainty would buoy domestic demand as well as the markets, said Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong. "The hope is that this will allow the country to have a new leader that can address long-standing challenges such as labour market reforms and escalated geopolitical tensions," he said. Park was accused of colluding with her friend Choi and a former presidential aide, both of whom have been on trial, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives. The court said Park had "completely hidden the fact of (Choi's) interference with state affairs." Park was also accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group for government favours, including backing a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that was seen as supporting family succession and control over the country's largest "chaebol," or conglomerate. Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee has been accused of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal and is in detention. His trial began on Thursday. He and Samsung have denied wrongdoing. 'COMMON CRIMINAL' The scandal and verdict have exposed fault lines in a country long divided by Cold War politics. While Park's conservative supporters clashed with police outside the court, elsewhere most people welcomed her ouster. A recent poll showed more than 70 percent supported her impeachment. Hundreds of thousands of people have for months been gathering at peaceful rallies in Seoul every weekend to call for Park to step down. On Friday, hundreds of Park's supporters, many of them elderly, tried to break through police barricades at the courthouse. Police said one 72-year-old man was taken to hospital with a head injury and died. The circumstances of the second death were being investigated. Six people were injured, protest organisers said. Police blocked the main thoroughfare running through downtown Seoul in anticipation of bigger protests. Park will be making a tragic and untimely departure from the Blue House for the second time in her life. In 1979, having served as acting first lady after her mother was killed by a bullet meant for her father, she and her two siblings left the presidential compound after their father was killed. This time, she could end up in jail. Prosecutors have named Park as an accomplice in two court cases linked to the scandal, suggesting she is likely to be investigated. North Korean state media wasted little time labelling Park a criminal. "She had one more year left as 'president' but, now she's been ousted, she will be investigated as a common criminal," the North's state KCNA news agency said shortly after the court decision. (Additional reporting by Ju-min Park, James Pearson, Heekyong Yang, Jeong Eun Lee, Suyeong Lee and Dahee Kim in SEOUL, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON; Writing by Robert Birsel and Jack Kim; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Nick Macfie and Leslie Adler)
The corridors of power have been home to South Korea's Park Geun-Hye as a child, de facto first lady, and president.

She leaves them in disgrace, crippled by a corruption scandal that made her the country's first head of state to be removed by impeachment.

Now 65, Park grew up in the spotlight at the Blue House, the presidential complex just north of one of Seoul's royal palaces, enjoying a pampered life as the eldest child of military dictator Park Chung-Hee.

Despite rights abuses, her father oversaw the country's rapid economic development during his 1961-1979 rule, with the first family treated as royalty by some supporters and Park dubbed the young "princess" -- a nickname that endured for decades.

The assassinations of both her parents five years apart in the 1970s only further fanned sympathy for her.

Park's mother -- widely praised as a dutiful wife and caring mother in the still traditionalist society of the day -- was murdered by a Korean-Japanese believed to have been acting on Pyongyang's orders.

A student in France at the time, Park returned home to assume the role of first lady until her father was killed by his own security chief in 1979.

She subsequently kept a low profile for nearly two decades, until she made a successful 1998 bid to become a lawmaker as the South reeled from the fallout of the Asian financial crisis.

She became an instant political star among older conservative Koreans who fondly remembered her mother and revered her father for helping pull a war-ravaged nation out of poverty.

Adept at taking advantage of the nostalgia for them and the sympathy for her, she frequently peppered her campaign speeches with the phrase, "After I tragically lost my parents to assassins' bullets."

- Virgin Queen -

Park rose quickly up the political ladder, earning the nickname "the queen of elections" due to her voters' unwavering loyalty.

The fact that Park never married and was estranged from her two siblings was part of her appeal, in a country where leaders had often been embroiled in major corruption scandals involving relatives.

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"I'm married to the Republic of Korea. I have no children. South Koreans are my family," Park once said, citing her role model as Elizabeth I of England -- known as the 'Virgin Queen'.

Eventually Park was elected the South's first female president in 2012, winning the highest vote share of any candidate in the democratic era.

But it was the family of a shady religious figure she chose as a mentor who ultimately sowed the seeds of her downfall.

Her relationship with Choi Tae-Min, the seven-times-married founder of a cult-like group 40 years her senior, began in the 1970s when he sent her letters claiming that he had seen her dead mother in his dreams.

His influence grew until a US diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks noted widespread rumours that he had "complete control over Park's body and soul".

He died in 1994, and his daughter Choi Soon-Sil -- already a friend who handled Park's daily life including her wardrobe choices -- inherited his role.

Park is accused of colluding with her for years to squeeze tens of millions of dollars from South Korean businesses, including many of the country's biggest companies, in exchange for governmental favours.

Choi is on trial for coercion and abuse of power, while Lee Jae-Yong, the de facto leader of the world's biggest smartphone maker Samsung, has been indicted for bribery, corruption and other offences.

Park apologised several times in tearful televised addresses, painting herself as a lonely, isolated leader whose main offence was to place too much trust in a friend.

"South Koreans, since I took office, I have lived a lonely life," she said. Choi "stayed with me during my most difficult times," she added. "It is a fact that I let my guard down."

But the scandal was too much even for many of her supporters, prompting millions to take to the streets calling for her ouster and sending her once-bulletproof approval ratings to record lows.

Many in her own party turned against her to vote for her impeachment in parliament, leaving it to the constitutional court to have the final say.

- 'Obsession with power' -

The scandal has exposed allegedly corrupt ties between politics and business, as in Park's father's time, and his divisive legacy has always dogged her political career, with critics accusing her of inheriting his authoritarian streak.

State probes have portrayed Park as a solitary, aloof figure who preferred staying at her residence to meeting advisors at the office, overly focused on her appearance and showing little tolerance for criticism.

One official who was her chief of staff for two years told a parliamentary hearing he had often gone entire weeks without seeing her at all -- an experience echoed by many other senior personnel.

Park was also accused of negligence over the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 -- when more than 300 people, mostly schoolchildren, drowned in the South's worst disaster for decades.

Separately, Park is accused of ordering officials to crack down on and punish thousands of artists who voiced criticism of her.

"Instead of the father's intelligence, insight and determination to build economy, she only inherited the worst part of him -- obsession with power... and intolerance for critics," Chun Yu-Ok, a former ally and senior lawmaker in Park's party, wrote in a recent memoir.

"Her downfall is a reminder for all South Koreans that now is time to finally say goodbye to our past."
BEIRUT (AP)  The Latest on the developments related to Syria's civil war and the expected push against the Islamic State group's main stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria (all times local):

2:50 p.m.

Syria has blasted Turkey over its intervention in the country and backing opposition forces trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power, calling on the U.N. Security Council to press Ankara to withdraw its troops.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry in a letter sent to the U.N. Security Council on Friday accused Turkey of supporting "terrorism that killed tens of thousands" and destroyed part of the country's infrastructure.

Turkey has been a main backer of the opposition since the country's crisis began in March 2011. In August it sent ground forces into northern Syria to fight the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters.

Friday's statement came a day after Syria's state media reported that Turkish troops shelled Syrian army positions north of the country, killing and wounding several troops.

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1:55 p.m.

President Vladimir Putin is hosting his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for Syria-focused talks.

Putin greeted Erdogan at the start of the talks in the Kremlin on Friday and hailed close interaction between the two nations' militaries and special forces in Syria. He noted that few could expect "so efficient and confiding contacts" between Ankara and Moscow.

Turkey and Russia brokered a cease-fire in December and co-sponsored two rounds of talks this year between Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and the opposition. The two also coordinated their operations against the Islamic State group in Syria.

The increasingly close cooperation marked a sharp turnaround for the two nations, which have backed opposing sides in Syria, with Moscow siding with Assad and Turkey supporting his foes since the start of the Syrian conflict.

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12:30 p.m.

The Russian military says its warplanes have killed more than 600 militants in just one week while backing the Syrian army's offensive against the Islamic State group.

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Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the military's General Staff said on Friday that Russian aircraft have carried out 452 airstrikes in support of the Syrian government forces' push east of the city of Aleppo.

He says Russian airstrikes also destroyed 16 armored vehicles and scores of pickup trucks and other cars in the area over the past week. Rudskoi also says that Syrian government forces have recaptured 92 towns and villages across a territory of 479 square kilometers, or 185 square miles, from IS in the past week.

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12:15 p.m.

The Russian military says its combat engineers have been deployed to clear the ancient town of Palmyra from explosives and mines left behind by the Islamic State group.

Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the military's General Staff said on Friday that 187 Russian sappers have begun to defuse land mines in Palmyra with the help of robotic equipment.

He says Syrian government troops are now pushing further east of Palmyra after recapturing it from IS last week. It was the third time the town, famed for its ancient Roman ruins, changed hands in just one year.

Rudskoi says the Syrian forces also reached the banks of the Euphrates River east of the town of Khafseh and now control a stretch of 15 kilometers, or 9 miles, along the river.

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11:55 a.m.

U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces say they have enough fighters to take the Islamic State group's de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria.

The spokeswoman for the Syrian Democratic Forces said on Friday that their numbers are increasing, with residents of areas newly liberated from IS joining the ethnically mixed force.

Cihan Sheikh Ehmed says the SDF has been on the offensive in the Raqqa area since November and have closed major supply roads used by the Islamic State group. SDF has captured wide areas from IS since then, under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

She says troops from the U.S.-led coalition have increased in numbers and are taking a bigger part in the battle for Raqqa. Earlier this week, the United States sent a couple of hundred Marines into northern Syria in preparations for the push on Raqqa.

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10:55 a.m.

Turkey's military says Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition forces have killed  or "neutralized"  71 Syrian Kurdish fighters in northern Syria this week.

The operations are part of Turkey's months-long incursion into its war-torn neighbor in a push against the Islamic State group but also in an effort to restrict U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militias, which Ankara has declared a terrorist organization and which it considers to be linked to its home-grown Kurdish insurgency.

Friday's military statement says that since the Turkish operation started in August, the joint Turkish and Syrian opposition forces killed as many as 2,647 IS militants and 425 Syrian Kurdish fighters in Syria.

It says that more than 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) in northern Syria are now under control of the Turkish-backed forces.
Paris (AFP) - France's Marine Le Pen ignored a summons Friday by a magistrate investigating allegations that she and members of her National Front party misused money from the European parliament, legal sources told AFP.

Le Pen "was summoned this morning and did not turn up," a judicial source said.

Two FN officials including Le Pen's personal assistant have been charged with breach of trust in the probe into allegations that the National Front defrauded the European Parliament of about 340,000 euros ($360,000).

Le Pen, a European parliamentarian despite her opposition to the EU, had said she would not cooperate with the investigation ahead of presidential elections in which she is seen as a frontrunner.

"I asked for an investigating magistrate to be named for this affair more than a year ago. It was refused," she told France Bleu radio.

"Then by chance, this move is made a few days before the presidential election. No one is fooled," she said, adding that the justice system was being used to discredit her.

Le Pen faces a separate investigation into the funding of National Front campaigning in 2014 and 2015, and another over the distribution of violent images of atrocities by the Islamic State group.

Rightwing candidate Francois Fillon is also set to be charged next week for misuse of public funds over the employment of his wife as a parliamentary assistant for 15 years.

She is suspected of not having worked for her salary. Fillon insists that she did.

Polls suggest independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, 39, would win the two-stage election on April 23 and May 7 if it were held today, but analysts warn against making firm forecasts.

burs-adp/kjl
Philadelphia officials know that the leaked budget proposal that suggested the Trump administration considered cutting billions from the Department of Housing and Urban Development was just that  a proposal.

But the fact that it was floated at all sent an alarming signal to the citys housing advocates, who say that large cuts to the agency could have a dramatic impact on Philadelphians.

I have no idea what we would do, said Council President Darrell Clarke. Unlike in prior years, the Republicans control all facets of government  there was always a president to put a stop gap on those drastic cuts. Given the makeup of our current government, Im really concerned about where the backstop will be.

The city benefits from millions in federal housing funds, including grants that help fight foreclosures and funding for its ambitious, controversial redevelopment plan for North Philadelphias Sharswood neighborhood.

The proposal, reported in the Washington Post on Wednesday, suggested cutting $6 billion from HUD, slashing funds to city and state housing authorities by 13 percent and eliminating the Community Development Block Grant program  which, Clarke said, Philadelphia relies on for a number of neighborhood support programs across the city.

HUD spokesman Jereon Brown said the document leaked to the Post was an early one, and part of a budget process with a lot of back and forth between agencies. The current HUD budget proposal has since changed, he said, but he said he hadnt seen the latest proposal.

This is a normal process of going back and forth, he said. I'm not sure how you would be able to determine the impact on Philadelphia, because the document the Post reporter was given was a very early document.

Indeed, a spokesman for the citys Planning and Development department declined to comment until the Trump administration releases its formal budget proposal.

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Kelvin Jeremiah, the head of the citys housing authority, said the proposed cuts would be catastrophic: but said that because the leaked document was only a preliminary proposal, it is important not to panic.

Clarke said that even preliminary proposed cuts were cause for concern.

Community Development Block Grant funds  which, under the leaked proposal, would be eliminated entirely  have helped residents facing foreclosure keep their homes and repaired dilapidated houses for poor homeowners. Theyve also provided assistance to small businesses in commercial corridors in far-flung neighborhoods of the city that havent experienced the retail boom Center City has. The Post story suggested that the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which the city has used to develop affordable housing, would also be cut under the proposal.

Brown said that, though he had not seen the leaked document, officials compiling the budget proposal had suggested other programs that could offset those cuts.

Rasheedah Phillips, the managing attorney for the housing unit at Community Legal Services, said housing advocates find themselves in a difficult spot -- everythings so speculative that its really hard to know what to do.

I think [the proposal] sends a lot of mixed signals, said Phillips, who organization provides legal assistance to low-income Philadelphians. I think what youre hearing from the administration is that they want to help inner cities and they want to stabilize urban communities, but this would contribute to the destabilization of communities and families.

Federal housing funds have been decreasing in Philadelphia for more than a decade. In 2002, according to city financial records, the city received $88 million from HUD. This year, it got $47 million.

Block grant proposals have been significantly diminished, and were already in a downward spiral, Clarke said. With these proposed reductions, it would close doors and eliminate programs. I don't know how we would absorb this level of cuts -- I anticipate a significant increase in homelessness, and it would impact a number of employment opportunities and existing jobs.

Jeremiah said any cuts to HUDs capital funding program  which, in the leaked document, would be cut by 32 percent -- would jeopardize renovations on older PHA buildings. And the citys Sharswood development plan  which aims to essentially remake the North Philadelphia neighborhood with new affordable housing units and a revamped commercial corridor, and which opened its first 57 houses in November, could be affected by the cuts considered in the proposal, Jeremiah said.

At the ribbon-cutting for the new Sharswood houses, Clarke said, I told Kelvin, You better hurry up and schedule the next groundbreaking, because Im not sure what we're going to see in the near future once this administration takes off. And this is exactly what I was talking about.

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Vivian (Andrea Savage) continues to persuade Liv (Rose McIver) to join Fillmore Graves zombie army in a new promo clip for Season 3 of iZombie.

In the 30-second video, Liv meets up with Vivian, who tries to give the assistant medical examiner a picture of what the world would look like once humans find out that there are zombies living among them. What happens when humans learn that theres highly contagious zombies in their midst? Vivian asks Liv in the clip.

READ: Is there going to be an iZombie musical?

While the video doesnt show Livs answer, Major (Robert Buckley) knows exactly what would happen to their kind once the humans become aware of their existence. Once they hear that we eat brains, Boom! Major tells Liv as he puts his hand to his head and mimes shooting himself with a gun.

While the synopsis for Season 3 reveals that Major ends up joining the zombie army, Livs decision remains to be seen.

During the shows panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July, McIver said that Liv is very conflicted at the beginning of the new season. [Vivians plan is] a military operation, McIver said of Vivians quest to make Seattle the capital of the zombie homeland. This is a bunch of zombies she didnt know about. ... It definitely has a sinister feel about it.

In an interview with TVLine in May, McIver said that she doesnt know whether Liv should make friends with Vivian. I don't know what to make of her, the actress said of the shows new villain. Im cagey. I mean shes a dodgy character. But at the same time Liv doesnt have any female zombie friends. You cant be too picky.  [On the other hand, shes] quite [like] Who this woman is and what she stands for?

iZombie Season 3, episode 1, titled Heaven Just Got a Little Smoother, premieres on Tuesday, April 4 at 9 p.m. EST on The CW.

Rose McIver as Liv

Photo: The CW

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Formally removed from office by a historic Constitutional Court ruling Friday, Park Geun-hye has lost her presidential immunity from prosecution over a corruption scandal that has sent dozens of high-profile figures to face criminal trials.

They include Park's friend of 40 years, Choi Soon-sil, Samsung's de-facto leader Lee Jae-yong, top presidential advisers, two former culture ministers and a music video director. Their charges include bribery, extortion, abuse of power and perjury.

A look at the allegations facing Park, and the key criminal defendants caught up in a scandal that has roiled South Korea for months.

___

PARK GEUN-HYE

Park has refused to undergo prosecutors' questioning, citing a law that provides a sitting leader with immunity from prosecution except for grave crimes like treason. But now that she's a former president, Park is stripped of that privilege and will likely face a direct investigation.

Prosecutors have accused Park of colluding with Choi to pressure 16 companies to donate a total of 77.4 billion won ($66.7 million) for the launch of two foundations controlled by Choi. They also allege that Park, along with Choi, took millions of dollars in bribes from Samsung's Lee, who is accused of seeking government support to strengthen his control over the business empire.

Park is also accused of conspiring with Choi and top officials to draw up of a blacklist of cultural figures critical of her policies to deny them state support.

Prosecutors also believe Park had one of her presidential aides convey dozens of documents with state secrets to Choi.

Park has acknowledged that she got help from Choi to edit some of her speeches. But she denies legal wrongdoing.

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CHOI SOON-SIL

Choi has been arrested and charged with abuse of power, extortion and attempted fraud. Those charges could mean up to 15 years in prison if she is convicted. Prosecutors later added more charges including bribery, meaning Choi could face longer prison terms if convicted.

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Choi has acknowledged that she received some of Park's speech drafts in advance but didn't know they included sensitive information. She denies other allegations.

Choi is also charged with pressuring Hyundai Motors and the KT telecommunication firm to sign $6 million and $5.7 million worth of ad contracts, respectively, with Playground, an ad agency she ran.

She also faces charges that she pushed Hyundai to buy $930,450 worth of car components from a company owned by an acquaintance.

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LEE JAE-YONG

The 48-year-old Samsung Electronics vice chairman faces bribery, embezzlement and three other charges punishable by at least five years in prison if he's proven guilty. A team of Samsung lawyers denied all charges against Lee during a preliminary court hearing Thursday.

Prosecutors allege that Lee and his aides used Samsung corporate funds to buy expensive horses for Choi's daughter. According to prosecutors, Samsung allegedly gave or promised 43.3 billion won ($38 million) to four entities controlled by Choi.

Prosecutors allege the money was given to obtain government backing for a contentious merger of two Samsung companies in 2015 that served as a key step in passing corporate control to Lee from his ailing father.

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AHN JONG-BEOM

Park's former senior secretary for policy coordination, Ahn was allegedly involved with Choi in extorting money from 16 companies at Park's order. He is charged with extortion, abuse of power and bribery.

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JUNG HO-SUNG

Jung is one of Park's close associates and worked for her since she entered politics in the late 1990s. He's been charged with passing on classified presidential documents to Choi, including information on ministerial candidates.

___

CHO YOON-SUN

Park's culture minister, Cho, was arrested and indicted over the blacklist allegations. She became the first incumbent Cabinet member to be arrested over the scandal, and quickly resigned. Former Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok and ex-presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon were also indicted over the blacklist.

___

CHA EUN-TAEK

A well-known music video director, Cha is on trial for allegedly using his close ties with Choi to win key culture-related projects from government agencies.
By Emily Chow and Rozanna Latiff KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called for unity on Friday as he tried to bring home nine Malaysians stuck in North Korea amid a growing row over the murder of Kim Jong Nam, while warning Pyongyang not to abuse Malaysia's "hospitality". North Korea barred Malaysians from leaving the country on Tuesday, sparking tit-for-tat action by Malaysia as relations soured over its probe into the Feb. 13 murder of Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Nam was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Malaysian police say he was assaulted by two women who smeared his face with VX, a chemical classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction. Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar officially confirmed the identity of the body as Kim Jong Nam on Friday, but gave no details about the identification methods, citing the need to protect the "security and safety of the witnesses". The man carried a passport under the name of Kim Chol. In a blog posting, Najib said Malaysia would fall back on its experience dealing with crises such as the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia airlines flight MH370 where multiple countries were involved in the search. Flight MH370, carrying 239 people, went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Australia, Malaysia, and China jointly called off a two-year underwater search for the aircraft in January. "I want to call on all Malaysians, including the leaders of the government and the opposition, to unite in giving us full support towards all efforts that are ongoing to resolve this problem," Najib said. "Malaysia always ensures good relations with all countries. However, this does not mean any one of them can abuse our good treatment that Malaysia has given all this while and break the laws of our country, or do anything they like without respecting Malaysia as a sovereign nation." Malaysian police have identified eight North Koreans in connection with the case. They say three are still in Kuala Lumpur, hiding at the North Korean embassy. Malaysia is one of the few countries outside China that has for decades maintained ties with the isolated North Korea. But as relations plunged in the wake of the murder, Malaysia recalled its envoy from Pyongyang and expelled the North Korean ambassador. On Thursday, Najib said North Korea had guaranteed the safety of Malaysians banned from leaving the country, as two Malaysian U.N. employees left the state in a possible sign that diplomatic tensions had begun to settle. Najib, who said any negotiations with Pyongyang would be conducted behind closed doors, called for nationwide prayers on Friday for the safety of the Malaysians barred from leaving North Korea. Malaysian police would hand over the body to the ministry of health, since no family member has come forward to claim it, Khalid said. Days after the murder, police said it would not release the body until it had received DNA samples from next of kin. (Reporting by Emily Chow; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Nick Macfie)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysian police on Friday formally identified Kim Jong Nam as the victim of a fatal nerve agent attack at Kuala Lumpur's airport, an expected but significant development in a case that has broken down the once-warm ties between North Korea and Malaysia.

Kim is the long-estranged half brother of North Korea's ruler, and the North has refused to acknowledge he was the victim of the Feb. 13 murder. Instead, North Korea refers to him as Kim Chol, the name on the passport Kim was carrying when he was attacked in a crowded airport terminal.

"We have established that Kim Chol is Kim Jong Nam," Malaysian national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said. "We have fulfilled the requirements of the laws on his identification."

He refused to say how police identified Kim, saying "the safety and security of the witnesses" were at stake.

Malaysian authorities have asked for Kim's immediate family to provide DNA samples to identify the body, but nobody has come forward. Malaysia's prime minister has said they may be too scared.

Khalid said Kim's relatives have been notified but have not claimed the body.

Malaysia's investigation into the killing has infuriated North Korea.

Although Malaysia has never directly accused North Korea of being behind the attack, many speculate that it must have orchestrated it. Experts say the VX nerve agent used to kill Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, and North Korea is widely believed to possess large quantities of chemical weapons.

Malaysian authorities say the two women who allegedly poisoned Kim were recruited by a team of North Koreans. North Korea has denied any responsibility and accused Malaysia of being swayed by the North's enemies.

Relations have steadily deteriorated, with each country expelling the other's ambassador. On Tuesday, North Korea announced that it was blocking all Malaysians from leaving the country until a "fair settlement" of the case was reached. Malaysia then barred North Koreans from exiting its soil.

Four of the seven North Korean suspects being sought by Malaysia are believed to have left the country the day Kim was killed. Police say the remaining three suspects, including a North Korean diplomat, are believed to be in hiding at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The attack was caught on surveillance video that shows two women going up to Kim and apparently smearing something on his face. He was dead within 20 minutes, authorities say. Two women  one Indonesian, one Vietnamese  have been charged with murder but say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank.
Two industries that President Donald Trump repeatedly vowed to revitalize during his campaign, coal mining and manufacturing, saw employment gains in the February jobs report. But one analyst says his nascent presidency is not necessarily responsible for those gains.

Theres a perception that just because things are happening now that its associated with other events that are happening now and thats not at all the case, said Tara Sinclair, an Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University. A lot of this is build up of several years from economic improvement.

Manufacturing jobs increased by 28,000 in February, for a total increase of 57,000 over the last three months dating back to the end of Barack Obamas presidency, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. At this time last year, the United States had lost 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, according to CNN.

Jobs in the mining industry increased by 8,000 in February, the same month Trump rolled back an Obama-era coal mining regulation aimed at preventing the industry from putting mining waste in nearby water. Mining jobs have increased by 20,000 since hitting a recent low in October 2016.

Workers in these industries are the type of people Trump appealed to frequently on the campaign trail, vowing to bring back their jobs. So are they getting what they wished for? Its not quite that simple,. Sinclair acknowledged the positive trends for these two industries, but said it wasnt as if Trump entered the Oval Office, waved a magic wand, and revitalized them.

That is definitely the wrong takeaway, Sinclair said. Its going to take a lot more than that.

Rather, Sinclair said, the increases could be the result of an economy that was already during Obamas presidency, long before the first jobs report of Trumps presidency beat economists expectations.

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Milder than usual winter weather has also been credited for the positive jobs report overall.

Trade organizations like the National Mining Association and National Association of Manufacturers, however, were inclined to give more credit to the Trump Administrations emphasis on promoting deregulation and domestic manufacturing as a cause for these gains.

National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons released a statement praising the Trump bump in the jobs report. Across America, manufacturers confidence is high, and business optimism continues to soar, because of President Donald Trumps laser focus on policies that will accelerate a jobs surge in America, Timmons said.

Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers, said that in anticipation of these policies, manufacturing companies were hiring more.

When I talk to a bunch of manufacturers they are optimistic about things coming down the pipe, he said in an interview. Its too early to say if he is fulfilling campaign promises because its February but youve seen regulatory rollback that I think gives manufacturers reasons for hope.

Moutray did echo Sinclair, though, in noting that the gains were also partially due to an expanding global economy.

Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association, said the increase in coal jobs is further proof the industry is on the upswing.

Our industry has noticed an improvement in fortunes since he [Trump] was elected and the regulatory relief that he offered, said Popovich, who wrote shortly after the election about the positive impact Trumps presidency could have on the coal industry.

Sinclair did not rule out the possibility that deregulation could improve employment prospects in coal mining. But overall, she said, these gains are only a fraction of the lost jobs Trump has pledged to bring back.

Particularly with manufacturing, were never going back to the peaks that we saw before, particularly in terms of employment, she said. There are still people who didnt see job gains that voted for Trump and he is going to have a hard time meeting those expectations.
There's a powerful connection between characters and the fans who love them.

Anyone who scribbled Harry Potter fanfiction or dissected the latest teen drama with their friends knows. And the line between actor and character is often completely muddled for viewers that live far beyond the realities of Hollywood.

SEE ALSO: MashReads Podcast: 'History Is All You Left Me' is a heartbreaking novel about teenage grief

But what if those same fans were stuck on a road trip with the object of their obsessions? That's the idea behind the most recent book from Glee star and bestselling author Chris Colfer, Stranger than Fanfiction.

Colfer is best known in the literary world for his popular middle grade series The Land of Stories. In his latest novel, Colfer explores the world of television fandom and the trials and tribulations of teenagers on the brink of major life changes.

Stranger than Fanfiction follows four best friends who've bonded over nearly a decade of watching their favorite sci-fi show. As the group embarks on an end-of-high-school road trip, they impulsively invite the star of said show. When he actually shows up to join them, all five begin a journey full of misadventures, mayhem, and secrets revealed.

In a special episode of the MashReads Podcast, MashReads spoke to Colfer about his return to YA and the inspirations behind the story, from both sides of passionate fandoms.

Then, as always, we close the show with recommendations. Colfer recommends:

The Demonologist by Gerald Bittle, which explores the career of the famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in a documentary fashion. "The facts are scary enough by themselves," said Colfer.

Intimacy Idiot by Isaac Oliver, a collections of essays and stories about finding love and intimacy in New York. To Colfer, "It's the gay man's manifesto, in a way."

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher, the first memoir by the late actress, based on her one-woman show. It's also one of Colfer's all-time favorite books. "Parts of that book I felt she wrote just for me"

Sage-ing While Age-ing by Shirley MacLaine, a book that is part memoir and part life advice from the actress. "It's just fantastic."

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And if you're looking for a book to sink your teeth into, we recommend A Separation by Katie Kitamura, which is this month's official MashReads book club book.

And if you're looking for more book news, don't forget to follow MashReads on Facebook and Twitter.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican forces have detained a high-level member of the Italian mafia in Mexico wanted for drug trafficking, the federal attorney general said on Friday. Giulio Perrone, 64, who is on Italy's most wanted list, was arrested in Ciudad Madero, in the state of Tamaulipas, which is on the U.S.-Mexico border and is one of the country's most violent areas, the attorney general (PGR) said in a statement. Perrone was a fugitive from Italy for more than a decade after a court in Naples sentenced him to nearly 21 years in prison, the PGR said. He was turned over to Italian authorities, the PGR said. "There were some coordinated operations between Mexican traffickers and groups in the Italian mafia," said Antonio Mazzitelli, the U.N. representative on drugs and crime in Mexico. "... It is normal in the criminal world for criminal organizations to collaborate on trafficking (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Michael O'Boyle; Editing by Bill Trott)
By Timothy Mclaughlin

(Reuters) - Missouri's system for providing lawyers to represent poor people accused of crimes is so under-funded that defendants wait months for an attorney and plead guilty in cases they could easily have won, a lawsuit filed Thursday said.

The suit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other organizations is the latest development in the state's long-running feud over how much to spend on legal representation for indigent defendants that has pitted the public defender's office against multiple governors.

"I've done everything short of setting myself on fire to draw attention to the situation that the state has put us in," Michael Barrett, director at the Missouri State Public Defender's Office and himself a defendant in the suit, said by email.

Last year, Barrett tried to emphasize the severity of the problem by appointing the state's then-governor, attorney Jay Nixon, as a defense lawyer for a poor defendant.

In testimony before the state legislature in February, Barrett said that the public defender's office would need an additional 333 lawyers to provide even basic representation. That would nearly double the 349 currently on the staff, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper.

In the lawsuit filed in state court in the state capital, Jefferson City, the ACLU said state's indigent defense budget is grossly inadequate, with an average of just $356 spent per case. That ranks Missouri 49th out of 50 states in per capita indigent defense funding.

People accused of crimes can wait months, often in jail, for representation, the complaint said. In 97 percent of cases public defenders are forced to devote fewer than the minimum hours recommended by the American Bar Association, the civil rights legal organization said.

The suit does not seek monetary damages, but is asking the court to order changes in the state's public defender system.

Shondell Church, one of five plaintiffs in the case, pleaded guilty in a plea deal - even though a public defender told him he could win his case - because he would have been forced to spend six months in jail simply waiting for an available lawyer, the suit said.

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"When the states public defense is short-changed, the entire criminal justice system falters," ACLU attorney Jason Williamson said in a statement.

The organization is seeking class action status for the suit.

A spokesman for Governor Eric Greitens, also named in the suit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(This version of the story corrects paragraph 9 spelling to Shondel instead of Shondell)

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Dan Grebler)
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be hoping to tighten his grip on power Saturday when results are announced from a string of state elections, including the key battleground of Uttar Pradesh.

Exit polls show Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning most seats in at least three of the five contests while the beleaguered opposition Congress faces more humiliation, two years before general elections.

The results could also strengthen Modi's hand in parliament's upper house where his lack of a majority has stalled his reform agenda.

The main focus will be on Uttar Pradesh (UP) -- home to 220 million people and the biggest electoral prize in the world's largest democracy.

But the contest in Punjab will also be closely watched to see if the fledgling Aam Aadmi Party can secure a breakthrough and results are also due in the smaller states of Goa, Uttarakhand and northeastern Manipur.

Since winning the first overall majority in three decades in the 2014 general election, Modi's dominance has been largely unchallenged and he already looks well-placed for re-election in 2019.

Even the major cash shortages which followed November's shock ban on high denomination bank notes appears to have done little damage to his standing, particularly with Congress in disarray.

"If the BJP wins in UP, it will not only bolster its position but quell all the fears about the BJP and Modi's image being eroded by demonetisation," said veteran political commentator Bharat Bhushan.

"A victory in UP will make Modi more confident... and he will be able to do what he wants to do."

But the two biggest setbacks of his premiership came when the BJP was roundly beaten in elections for Delhi's local assembly and the state of Bihar in 2015 so Modi won't be taking anything for granted.

The multi-phase elections, which began in February, ended on Wednesday after which exit polls -- that have proved unreliable in the past -- were allowed to be published.

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Nearly all predict the BJP will come out on top in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa.

The AAP -- an anti-corruption party led by Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal -- is tipped in some surveys to win Punjab.

- Congress crisis -

The only crumb of comfort for Congress -- which has led India for most of the post-independence period -- was in Manipur where forecasts give it the edge.

Uttar Pradesh has been ruled since 2012 by the socialist Samajwadi Party whose leader and current Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav went into an alliance for the election with Congress.

Yadav has been trying to tap into the pain from Modi's cash ban, campaigning alongside Congress' frontman Rahul Gandhi.

The BJP fared poorly in the last UP elections, winning only 47 out of 403 assembly seats, but it clinched 73 out of 80 parliamentary constituencies in 2014 with Modi standing in the holy city of Varanasi.

Even if the BJP fail to win, it will undoubtedly improve on its previous showing which could have significant implications for the make-up of the Rajya Sabha -- the upper house of parliament.

Several of Modi's key reforms such as a nationwide sales tax have stalled in the chamber due to his lack of a BJP majority.

Its make-up is based on parties' strength in the state assemblies, with the biggest states supplying the largest number of MPs.

Nistula Hebbar, political editor of The Hindu newspaper, said Modi could find himself with the kind of power not seen for decades.

"These polls will tell us whether we are going back to the 1960s and 1970s, when there was only one strong national party. Back then it was the Congress, now it's the BJP. The rest are all regional," Hebbar said.

Congress did have high hopes of winning Punjab where the ruling party which is allied to the BJP has been tarnished by corruption scandals but Aam Aadmi now looks likely to be the beneficiary.

"If Congress loses Punjab it'll have to think long and hard about its future," Hebbar said.
Paris (AFP) - The subject of centuries of scrutiny and debate, Mona Lisa's famous smile is routinely described as ambiguous. But is it really that hard to read?

Apparently not.

In an unusual trial, close to 100 percent of people described her expression as unequivocally "happy", researchers revealed on Friday.

"We really were astonished," neuroscientist Juergen Kornmeier of the University of Freiburg in Germany, who co-authored the study, told AFP.

Kornmeier and a team used what is arguably the most famous artwork in the world in a study of factors that influence how humans judge visual cues such as facial expressions.

Known as La Gioconda in Italian, the Mona Lisa is often held up as a symbol of emotional enigma.

The portrait appears to many to be smiling sweetly at first, only to adopt a mocking sneer or sad stare the longer you look.

Using a black and white copy of the early 16th century masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, a team manipulated the model's mouth corners slightly up and down to create eight altered images -- four marginally but progressively "happier", and four "sadder" Mona Lisas.

A block of nine images were shown to 12 trial participants 30 times.

In every showing, for which the pictures were randomly reshuffled, participants had to describe each of the nine images as happy or sad.

"Given the descriptions from art and art history, we thought that the original would be the most ambiguous," Kornmeier said.

Instead, "to our great astonishment, we found that Da Vinci's original was... perceived as happy" in 97 percent of cases.

- All in the context -

A second phase of the experiment involved the original Mona Lisa with eight "sadder" versions, with even more nuanced differences in the lip tilt.

In this test, the original was still described as happy, but participants' reading of the other images changed.

"They were perceived a little sadder" than in the first experiment, said Kornmeier.

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The findings confirm that "we don't have an absolute fixed scale of happiness and sadness in our brain" -- and that a lot depends on context, the researcher explained.

"Our brain manages to very, very quickly scan the field. We notice the total range, and then we adapt our estimates" using our memory of previous sensory experiences, he said.

Understanding this process may be useful in the study of psychiatric disorders, said Kornmeier.

Affected people can have hallucinations, seeing things that others do not, which may be the result of a misalignment between the brain's processing of sensory input, and perceptual memory.

A next step will be to do the same experiment with psychiatric patients.

Another interesting discovery was that people were quicker to identify happier Mona Lisas than sad ones.

This suggested "there may be a slight preference... in human beings for happiness, said Kornmeier.

As for the masterpiece itself, the team believe their work has finally settled a centuries-old question.

"There may be some ambiguity in another aspect," said Kornmeier, but "not ambiguity in the sense of happy versus sad."
Good morning. These are todays top stories:

South Korea ousts its leader

South Korea has removed the impeached President Park Geun-hye from office in a historic move by the countrys Constitutional Court. Park has been embroiled in a corruption scandal. She was the nations first female president and is the first elected leader in the country to be booted from office. Heres what happens next.

Bernie Sanders says Trump lies all the time

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders accused President Donald Trump of lying constantly and on purpose in a new interview with The Guardian published today. Trump lies all of the time and I think that is not an accident, there is a reason for that. He lies in order to undermine the foundations of American democracy, said Sanders, who ran against Hillary Clinton last year in the Democratic primary for president.

Mark Zuckerberg announces wife is pregnant again

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are expecting another daughter. We cant wait to welcome our new little one and do our best to raise another strong woman, Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post.

Also:

A man attacked people with an axe at a Germany train station, wounding at least seven.

Americas infrastructure received a D+ grade again in a new quadrennial report.

Women are better investors than men, new research has found.

Game of Thrones will officially return for its seventh season on July 16.

Scientists think potatoes may be able to grow on Mars.

Daylight Saving Time begins early Sunday. Clocks will jump forward by one hour.

The Morning Brief is published Mondays through Fridays. Email Morning Brief writer Melissa Chan at melissa.chan@time.com.
Brussels (AFP) - The idea of a so-called multi-speed European Union is not new, and some might argue that it already describes the bloc in its current form.

But as 27 EU leaders without Britain discuss their post-Brexit future, the concept has come to dominate debate on what the union should look like.

- What is 'multi-speed'? -

The central idea of a multi-speed Europe is that some member states may choose to go faster, or slower, with European integration than others on certain policies and topics.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker made this one of five possible scenarios for the future of the EU in a white paper earlier this month.

Debate has heated up over the idea with national leaders divided between firm backers, including Germany and France, and less powerful members, particularly in the East, that are bitterly opposed.

- What exists already? -

Ironically, today's EU is already very much a multi-speed Europe. Some of the EU's most far-reaching policies are limited to smaller groups of member states, notably the euro single currency with its 19 members, or the visa-free Schengen zone and its 22 countries.

Since its foundation with the treaty of Rome in 1957, the bloc has grown in fits and starts with some countries -- notably Britain and Denmark who joined in the early 1970s -- demanding exceptions and opt-outs as a condition for joining the club.

Moreover, according to EU rules, groups of at least nine member states can embark together on policies in a process called "enhanced cooperation".

Controversial proposals currently on the table, such as the creation of a European prosecutors office or a tax on financial transactions, have been launched using this procedure.

- Why more? -

The EU holds a long tradition of deciding everything by unanimity, which worked when the bloc was a cozy club of a dozen members, not the current 28. Proposals seen as urgent by a majority of member states can easily be vetoed by one.

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A multi-speed Europe is seen as a solution to the deadlock. Tighter groups of member states could deepen ties, with more independent-minded states opting out.

Under this regime, it is thought that the EU could become more ambitious and pave the way to a more coherent and unified future.

Backers of such 'multi-speed' policies believe this is the way that seemingly impossible goals such as harmonised tax polices or an EU army could finally see the light of day.

- Who is for? -

Paris and Berlin are the key backers of a multi-speed Europe, with Italy and Spain also on board.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking after talks with her counterparts from those countries last week, urged Europeans to "have the courage to accept that some countries can advance more rapidly than others".

"Unity does not equal uniformity," French President Francois Hollande said earlier this week.

- Who is against? -

Historically, the biggest opponent was always Britain but after Brexit, the Netherlands and Scandinavia are likely to take up the role of the northern Europe awkward squad, fighting against Berlin and Paris.

The newer, former-Soviet members in the east are also strongly opposed, fearing they could be frozen out of decision making which could potentially affect the billions in subsidies they get from Brussels.
By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of Native American demonstrators and their supporters marched to the White House on Friday to voice outrage at President Donald Trump's support for the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines, which they say threaten tribal lands. The protest follows months of demonstrations in a remote part of North Dakota, where the Standing Rock Sioux tribe demonstrated in an attempt to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing upstream from their reservation. That pipeline is being installed now, after Trump signed an executive order last month smoothing the path for construction. He also cleared the way for the Keystone XL project that would pipe Canadian crude into the United States. The protesters, some wearing traditional tribal garb, carried signs reading "Native Lives Matter", "Water is Life", and "Protect the Water" while marching. A White House official did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "You stood with us at Standing Rock and now I ask you to stand with our indigenous communities around the world," Dave Archambault, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, said at the rally. Among Republican Trump's first acts in office was to sign an executive order that reversed a decision by the previous administration of Democratic President Barack Obama to delay approval of the Dakota pipeline, a $3.8 billion project by Energy Transfer Partners LP. The Standing Rock Sioux and the Cheyenne River Sioux lost a legal bid to halt the construction of the last link of the oil pipeline under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The pipeline is due to be complete and ready for oil by April 1. At the rally, Archambault's remarks were interrupted intermittently by both supportive cheers and boos from people who shouted that he "sold out" protestors by allowing the main anti-pipeline protest camp, Oceti Sakewin, to clear out. "I don't care what you guys say and it's ok for you to be upset," Archambault said in response. "But the real thing is we are here for our youth and here for our future." Protest organizers erected tipis on the National Mall to represent the camp. Oceti Sakewin was populated by protesters for months, who at times clashed with law enforcement officers. Opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline have vowed to keep up protests against pipelines. (Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Grant McCool)
It's easy to understand why regular investors get excited about Netflix, Inc. (ticker: NFLX) stock -- but when veteran Wall Street analysts start getting giddy, it's time to pull up a chair and pay attention.

Exhibit A is UBS analyst Doug Mitchelson, who, on March 6, forecast a share price hike on NFLX from $139 to a whopping $175 per share over the next 12 months (the stock is trading at about $140 per share, up from $128 at the start of 2017.)

Mitchelson, who upgraded Netflix from "hold" to "buy," had this to say about the video streaming giant in a new research note: "We believe Netflix's core competencies in both content and technology will drive a virtuous circle of greater subscribers and increased viewing time, enabling ever higher average-revenue per user and revenue, which can fuel content spending to attract even more subscribers, and so on, positioning Netflix to sustain its position as the clear global leader in the emerging online video-subscription business."

[See: 10 Important Investments Before Having a Baby.]

At 94 million global users through 2016, Netflix is growing fast as the term "cord-cutting" becomes part of the cultural lexicon. But a share price of $175 by 2018 -- is that for real?

Apparently so, other market mavens say.

"Netflix is a raging bull on fire," says Eric Schiffer, chief executive officer at The Patriarch Organization, a private equity firm, in Los Angeles. "Their CEO, Reed Hastings, is the boldest visionary in content today, and has the quintessential mix of guts, taste and savvy. He's created audiences who basically have IVs hooked up to Netflix's smash-the-mold programming."

Schiffer says Netflix's content keeps improving and its domination in international markets is growing "faster than Alexander the Great."

"Netflix's bigger push into reality is bold and will pay off with several smash hits and inroads to new customers and cult-like loyalty," he says.

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But a deeper dive into the numbers reveals several red flags that could threaten Netflix growth potential, says Brent Wilsey, a 30-year Wall Street investment veteran, and owner of Wilsey Asset Management in San Diego.

"Netflix provides a lot of excitement when it comes to subscriber growth and expansion across the world," Wilsey says. He notes sales growth of 30.3 percent over the last 12 months and earnings-per-share growth of 51.5 percent over the same time -- a performance "that also excites investors."

"While these are impressive numbers, it's important to understand what we are paying for Netflix stock," he says. "The current P/E for the company is 332.49 versus an industry average of 21.03. Price-to-sales ratio is 6.89 versus, an industry average of 2.53. Plus, there is no tangible equity in the company as it has $7.3 billion in intangible assets on the balance sheet."

That scenario concerns Wilsey, as intangible assets can be hard to measure and may result in writedowns against earnings down the line.

"The balance sheet used to be very clean for Netflix, but now there appears to be some question marks," he says. "A current ratio of 1.25 is all right, but debt/equity of 125.5 percent is above levels we like to see."

In addition, Netflix has borrowed a tremendous amount of money over the last couple of years. At the end of 2014, the company had just $885.9 million of debt on the balance sheet.

[See: 7 ETFs That Allow You to Invest in Space.]

"Now, fast-forward to the end of 2016 and it now has $3.4 billion of debt on the balance sheet," Wilsey says. "Looking forward to December 2018, Netflix is estimated to have GAAP EPS of $1.98. If we use a forward multiple of 16.5 on 2018 estimated EPS we arrive at a target sell price of $32.67. That is currently well below the current price of $140.70. Due to the high valuations we would place a "sell" on Netflix."

But if you believe in game-changers that transform entire industries (and create emerging ones with huge potential), Netflix is at least certainly worth a look.

"NFLX is a disruptor to the media space, much like Tesla ( TSLA) is to the auto space," says Michael Kramer, a portfolio manager at Covestor, the Boston- and London-based online investing company, and president of Mott Capital. Kramer currently holds Netflix in the Covestor Thematic Growth portfolio and covers the company closely.

Kramer says NFLX is "changing the way" viewers receive and watch content today.

"NFLX can create its content or license content, which gives it a tremendous advantage over traditional media players," he says. "Plus, the international stage for NFLX is even bigger than the U.S. opportunity, multiple times bigger."

As a game-changer, Netflix offers investors sustainability, too, Kramer says.

"Give a 5-year-old a Roku remote and a subscription to Netflix and watch with amazement how the child not only will dominate the programming selection, but also how quickly the child can find what they want to watch without even needing to know how to read," Kramer says. "These kids -- the on-demand generation -- are growing up finding what they want to watch with ease, whenever they want it, and without interruption. They're forever reshaping the way we get our content."

Ask a kid what NBC, CBS, or ABC are, they have no clue, Kramer says.

[See: 8 Ways President Donald Trump Will Affect Wall Street.]

"But ask about NFLX and watch their eyes light up and they will tell you about all their favorite shows, as Netflix has become ingrained into their everyday life," he says. "The only question that remains is if any cable or networks will be left."

Brian O'Connell is a contributing financial writer for U.S. News & World Report. A former Wall Street bond trader and the author of two best-selling books; "The 401k Millionaire" and "CNBC's Creating Wealth", he has 20 years experience covering business news and trends, particularly in the financial, technology, political and career management sectors. His byline has appeared in dozens of top-tier national business publications, including CBS News, Bloomberg, Time, MSN Money, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, TheStreet.com, Yahoo Finance, CBS Marketwatch, and many more. Visit his web site at: https://brianoco.contently.com/. Or, visit this Amazon.com link for a list/review of some of his book titles. Reach out to him on LinkedIn.
Britains Nigel Farage, the right-wing former leader of the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) who led the campaign for Brexit, has said that he and President Donald Trump have one thing in common: that theyre probably the two most vilified people in the west.

Speaking to the BBC, Farage, who was one of the first foreign politicians to meet with Trump after he was elected president, said that the pair have had shedloads of abuse thrown at them. Weve sort of been through the same baptises of a fire as it were with the media and with other political commentators, he added.

Farage, described by the BBC as Britains man in Trumpland, said that his battle for Brexit inspired the presidents team and led to Trumps victory. I think team Trump believe that they would not have won had it not been for the dynamism and optimist that Brexit gave people who dont normally bother to vote, he said.

The controversial politician, who is a Fox News contributor, said the U.S. president has very strong moral courage. He added: This guy believes he has a contact with the American people  he was elected on a ticket, on a manifesto, and come hell or high water he is going to deliver that manifesto and I think in democratic terms thats refreshing.
Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria's next presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in February 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced.

INEC said on Thursday the early release of the election timetable was "to allow for proper planning by the commission, political parties, security agencies, candidates and all stakeholders".

Presidential and national assembly elections will be held on Saturday, February 16, 2019, while regional and local elections to elect new governors and local assembly members will be held two weeks later on Saturday, March 2, 2019.

Nigeria's constitution stipulates that elections must be held in the closing months of the president's term, within a period not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before it officially ends.

The last elections in March 2015 saw Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress defeat sitting president Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party.

It was the first time in Nigerian political history that an opposition candidate had won at the ballot box against an incumbent head of state.

Buhari took office on May 29, 2015.

The vote was initially postponed from February 14, 2015 as the government said the military could not provide security at polling stations because of operations against Boko Haram insurgents.

The election passed off broadly without a hitch, despite a history of widespread voter fraud and election-linked violence that left hundreds dead across the country in previous polls.
By Felix Onuah and Ulf Laessing ABUJA/LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Friday he would need more rest and health tests after coming home from nearly two months of medical leave in Britain during which his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, stamped his authority on economic policy. Shortly after arriving back from London, the 74-year-old former general told officials he was feeling "much better" but wanted to rest over the weekend, raising questions about his ability to run Africa's biggest economy and most populous nation. Osinbajo, a lawyer who is seen as more business-friendly than Buhari, played an active role in driving policy changes during the president's seven-week absence. The Nigerian stock exchange <.NGSEINDEX> jumped to a one-month high when Buhari returned, but trimmed gains after his comments about his ill-health raised fears of policy confusion and a power vacuum. Dressed in a dark kaftan and Muslim prayer cap, Buhari walked stiffly but unaided from his plane after it landed at an air force base in the northern city of Kaduna. After greeting a handful of provincial and military officials, he boarded a helicopter to the capital Abuja to address Osinbajo and his top military and security commanders in a brief speech. "I deliberately came back towards the weekend so that the Vice President will continue and I will continue to rest," Buhari said at the presidential villa. "All I need is to do further follow-ups within some weeks." He said he was "conscious" of the needs of the economy, mired in its first recession in 25 years due to a collapse in oil revenues, but failed to clarify Osinbajo's role. His spokesman Femi Adesina later said Buhari would formally notify parliament on Monday that he was back in charge. He had made Osinbajo acting president during his absence. Buhari has not revealed any details about his illness. "I couldn't recall when last I had a blood transfusion," he said. About his treatment in London he added: "Blood transfusions, going to the laboratories and so on and forth." Buhari, who first led the country from 1983 to 1985 after taking power in a military coup, was elected democratically two years ago. Since then he has travelled to Britain several times to consult doctors. GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS He is a northern Muslim, while Osinbajo is a lawyer from Nigeria's predominantly Christian south, a political arrangement that reflects Nigeria's broad geographic and religious divisions. Reflecting his popularity in the north, armed police had to control hundreds of cheering supporters as Buhari's plane landed in Kaduna. Hundreds also celebrated in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state in the northeast, where the army under Buhari's command has retaken territory previously lost to Boko Haram jihadists. Osinbajo played an active role in Buhari's absence, chairing cabinet meetings and finishing an economic reform plan needed to secure a World Bank loan to help plug a deficit caused by low oil revenues in Africa's biggest producer. He also travelled several times to the commercial capital Lagos and the Niger Delta oil hub to calm tensions with militants attacking oil facilities - two regions Buhari had largely ignored. NAIRA TALK While Buhari was away, the central bank also devalued the naira for retail customers and investors hope for more. The currency slipped against the dollar on Friday in the non-deliverable forward market, which enables companies or investors to hedge their naira exposure, as devaluation talk gained momentum on expectations that Osinbajo would keep a prominent role. "The big question must be how many of the changes were carried out with the president's blessing," said Simon Quijano-Evans, emerging markets strategist at Legal & General Investment Management in London. With Abuja airport closed for six weeks of repairs, fewer visitors will flock to the presidential villa. Buhari may be able to keep a low public profile without raising too much suspicion about his health while Osinbajo can work on the economic file. A trade conference has been shelved. The transparency over the temporary handover to Osinbajo stands in marked contrast to the secrecy and confusion that surrounded the illness of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who died in 2010 after a long period of medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. (Reporting by Garba Mohammed, Felix Onuah, Ulf Laessing, Lanre Ola and Karin Strohecker; Writing by Ed Cropley and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
By Felix Onuah and Ulf Laessing ABUJA/LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Friday he would need more rest and health tests after coming home from nearly two months of medical leave in Britain during which his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, stamped his authority on economic policy. Shortly after arriving back from London, the 74-year-old former general told officials he was feeling "much better" but wanted to rest over the weekend, raising questions about his ability to run Africa's biggest economy and most populous nation. Osinbajo, a lawyer who is seen as more business-friendly than Buhari, played an active role in driving policy changes during the president's seven-week absence. The Nigerian stock exchange <.NGSEINDEX> jumped to a one-month high when Buhari returned, but trimmed gains after his comments about his ill-health raised fears of policy confusion and a power vacuum. Dressed in a dark kaftan and Muslim prayer cap, Buhari walked stiffly but unaided from his plane after it landed at an air force base in the northern city of Kaduna. After greeting a handful of provincial and military officials, he boarded a helicopter to the capital Abuja to address Osinbajo and his top military and security commanders in a brief speech. "I deliberately came back towards the weekend so that the Vice President will continue and I will continue to rest," Buhari said at the presidential villa. "All I need is to do further follow-ups within some weeks." He said he was "conscious" of the needs of the economy, mired in its first recession in 25 years due to a collapse in oil revenues, but failed to clarify Osinbajo's role. His spokesman Femi Adesina later said Buhari would formally notify parliament on Monday that he was back in charge. He had made Osinbajo acting president during his absence. Buhari has not revealed any details about his illness. "I couldn't recall when last I had a blood transfusion," he said. About his treatment in London he added: "Blood transfusions, going to the laboratories and so on and forth." Buhari, who first led the country from 1983 to 1985 after taking power in a military coup, was elected democratically two years ago. Since then he has traveled to Britain several times to consult doctors. GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS He is a northern Muslim, while Osinbajo is a lawyer from Nigeria's predominantly Christian south, a political arrangement that reflects Nigeria's broad geographic and religious divisions. Reflecting his popularity in the north, armed police had to control hundreds of cheering supporters as Buhari's plane landed in Kaduna. Hundreds also celebrated in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state in the northeast, where the army under Buhari's command has retaken territory previously lost to Boko Haram jihadists. Osinbajo played an active role in Buhari's absence, chairing cabinet meetings and finishing an economic reform plan needed to secure a World Bank loan to help plug a deficit caused by low oil revenues in Africa's biggest producer. He also traveled several times to the commercial capital Lagos and the Niger Delta oil hub to calm tensions with militants attacking oil facilities - two regions Buhari had largely ignored. NAIRA TALK While Buhari was away, the central bank also devalued the naira for retail customers and investors hope for more. The currency slipped against the dollar on Friday in the non-deliverable forward market, which enables companies or investors to hedge their naira exposure, as devaluation talk gained momentum on expectations that Osinbajo would keep a prominent role. "The big question must be how many of the changes were carried out with the president's blessing," said Simon Quijano-Evans, emerging markets strategist at Legal & General Investment Management in London. With Abuja airport closed for six weeks of repairs, fewer visitors will flock to the presidential villa. Buhari may be able to keep a low public profile without raising too much suspicion about his health while Osinbajo can work on the economic file. A trade conference has been shelved. The transparency over the temporary handover to Osinbajo stands in marked contrast to the secrecy and confusion that surrounded the illness of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who died in 2010 after a long period of medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. (Reporting by Garba Mohammed, Felix Onuah, Ulf Laessing, Lanre Ola and Karin Strohecker; Writing by Ed Cropley and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
By Felix Onuah ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari will return to the West African nation on Friday after extended medical leave in Britain, the presidency said on Thursday. Buhari, 74, left Abuja on Jan. 19 for treatment in Britain. He had originally planned to stay 10 days but stayed longer to rest after consulting his doctors. Officials have refused to disclose his illness, triggering fierce speculation in Nigerian media and on social media. "President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to return to the country tomorrow, Friday March 10, 2017," the presidency said in a statement. "President Buhari expresses appreciation to teeming Nigerians from across the country, and beyond, who had prayed fervently for him, and also sent their good wishes," it added. The statement gave no medical details. The presidency had earlier on Thursday published pictures of a smiling Buhari meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in Abuja House, part of the Nigerian High Commission in London. No official pictures of Buhari's meetings in London had been posted since Feb. 15. The government had sought to allay concerns of a void at the helm of Africa's biggest economy by stressing that Buhari had given Vice President Yemi Osinbajo full powers as acting president during his leave. Osinbajo, a lawyer, held in Buhari's absence cabinet meetings and finished work on an economic reform plan needed to secure a World Bank loan to help plug a deficit caused by low oil revenues. The central bank also devalued the naira for retail customers two weeks ago. (Reporting by Felix Onuah and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew Roche)
Abuja (AFP) - President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday returned to Nigeria after nearly two months' medical leave in Britain but did little to quell fears about the state of his health by saying he would not start work again immediately.

The 74-year-old, who has been in London since mid-January, said that although he felt better, he still required rest and further treatment in the coming weeks.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo would remain in charge at least over the weekend, he added.

Buhari, who looked gaunt in a billowing black kaftan, did not specify when he would resume his duties but his spokesman, Femi Adesina, said his return would be formalised on Monday.

He will write a letter to the National Assembly on Monday, Adesina said in a tweet, adding: "That makes his return to work formal, and constitutional."

Buhari's unspecified illness has been an increasing source of speculation in Nigeria ever since he left for London on January 19 for medical tests during a period of annual leave.

Aides had to counter persistent rumours online that he was seriously ill or even dead, despite a series of photographs showing him meeting senior Nigerian politicians.

On Thursday he was shown in photographs looking painfully thin at a meeting with the most senior cleric in the Anglican congregation, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

His office has maintained throughout his absence that Buhari was "hale and hearty".

But Buhari appeared to contradict that in a rambling address to ministers and senior members of his ruling All Progressives Congress party that touched on the importance of education and technological advances, and appeared to warn against the dangers of self-medicating.

He made no mention of what illness he was suffering from but said had thought he had received "the best of treatment I could receive".

"I couldn't recall being so sick since I was a young man," he added, referring to "blood transfusions, going to the laboratories and so on and so forth".

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He was "pleased to be back", although he disclosed that he may need "further follow-up within some weeks", without elaborating.

Buhari's return from London was announced on Thursday evening and he said he "came back towards the weekend, so that the vice president will continue and I will continue to rest".

The presidency maintained the comment was light-hearted but was quickly followed by his spokesman's tweet clarifying the constitutional position.

- Persistent rumours -

Buhari has been dogged by rumours about his health even before he came to power in May 2015 after a landmark election win against president Goodluck Jonathan two months previously.

Jonathan's Peoples Democratic Party claimed Buhari was critically ill from prostate cancer. He dismissed the assertion as an unfounded smear designed to show him as unfit for high office.

The PDP repeated its claim about Buhari's health in May last year after he appeared frail at a security summit and cancelled a series of engagements.

Buhari then travelled to London the following month to receive treatment for what was described as a persistent inner ear infection.

He left for London again in January but on the eve of his expected return on February 5, his office announced he had to extend his stay to receive medical test results.

The health of Nigeria's president has become a sensitive issue following the 2010 death of president Umaru Musa Yar'Adua from a long-standing, but previously undisclosed, kidney complaint.

Yar'Adua's initial illness and treatment in hospital abroad triggered months of political uncertainty. His deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, took over on Yar'Adua's death.

Buhari's office has been keen to avoid the impression of a political vacuum and Osinbajo, a 60-year-old lawyer and church pastor from the southwest, has been a visible presence.

His consensual, energetic style has contrasted with that of Buhari, who has been criticised for his personal but slow style of governance with a close-knit, tight-lipped inner circle.
By Anna Ringstrom STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Nordic forestry firms racing to replace paper business lost to the internet are trying to transform their pulp mill by-products into glue, biofuel and carbon fiber for aircraft and wind turbines. A new generation of energy-efficient pulp mills are allowing the likes of Stora Enso, UPM-Kymmene, Metsa Group, SCA and Holmen to look for more profitable uses for by-products they have traditionally mostly burned to help power the mills. Growing global demand for fossil-free materials is also helping to spur the innovation. Much of the research is at an early stage, and many companies have not even decided which markets to target. But after years of painful restructuring, some investors are starting to hope the industry could get a new lease of life. "If they can develop new materials to replace fossil based materials, the market is endless for them," said Sasja Beslik, head of sustainable finance at Nordea, one of the Nordic region's biggest asset managers and Stora Enso's seventh largest shareholder. One early success story has been Stora Enso's work with kraft lignin - a refined version of lignin, a substance which accounts for at least a quarter of wood and binds tree fibers together. The Finnish company opened a kraft lignin plant in 2015, the first of its kind in the region, using a new technology developed in Sweden and marketed by Finland's Valmet, and decided to focus on using the material as a replacement for petroleum-derived phenols in glue. At the end of last year, it signed its first order with a glue manufacturer, which it has not named. "We're now in business with a glue maker and deliveries are already ongoing," CEO Karl-Henrik Sundstrom told Reuters. Stora Enso's kraft lignin plant, which is integrated with its Sunila pulp mill in Finland, has capacity to produce around 50,000 tonnes a year of refined kraft lignin, according to Mikael Hannus, the company's head of innovation. Kraft lignin differs from sulphonated lignin, an older-type industrial lignin which is derived from a less used pulping method, and used mainly in concrete. It's largest producer is Norway's Borregaard. EXPLOSION OF MATERIALS Forestry has been a pillar of the Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian economies. Despite a 25 percent drop in European publication paper demand in the past decade, it still is a key Nordic export industry as firms have managed to refocus towards other parts of their businesses, such as packaging and hygiene products. Seeing the potential to make more efficient use of its wood, however, companies that have traditionally put relatively little money into research are now stepping up spending on innovation, aiming to diversify further as more readers turn from newsprint and magazines to glowing screens. Much of the lab work focuses on cellulose-based materials, such as greener textile fibers and the high-strength material nanocellulose. But projects looking at a range of applications for kraft lignin and other by-products, such as hemi-cellulose, have also multiplied. The market for lignin-based carbon fiber, for example, is potentially large, ranging from composite parts for more fuel efficient cars and aircraft, to alternatives to the heavy glass fiber in wind turbines, enabling bigger turbines. However, commercial production of lignin-based carbon fiber is still 5-10 years away, according to Stora Enso's Hannus. Meanwhile SCA, which expects to have a surplus of energy after 2018 following a 7.8 billion Swedish crown ($867 million) investment in a new pulp mill, is this month launching trials with lignin-based biofuel. That could also be a decade away from commercial sales, said Anders Hultgren, head of development of biofuel at SCA. Others have not yet even decided which applications to target with their kraft lignin. Metsa Fibre, part of Metsa Group which recently exited paper altogether, is building a 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) pulp mill, a record investment for Finland's forest industry, able also to make a range of bioproducts including kraft lignin-based products. Head of research Niklas von Weymarn said Metsa was closely following research on lignin for glue, biofuel and composite materials, still trying to pin down which application had the best market potential. "What we have at this moment is an explosion of types of new materials and nobody quite knows which will survive," said Petri Vasara, head of biofutures at Poyry Management Consulting. UPM Kymmene, also engaged in multiple "bioinnovation" projects, is minded to follow Stora Enso in building a kraft lignin factory, said Christian Hubsch, head of lignin business at UPM's biochemicals division. Choosing the right applications and markets are vital. "The transition from being more or less just a paper producer towards a differentiated producer of products based on renewable raw materials has not necessarily led to growth yet. The growth part needs to come from these new activities," Hubsch said. ($1 = 8.9934 Swedish crowns) ($1 = 0.9390 euros) (Editing by Mark Potter)
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called for a "great wall of iron" to safeguard the restive western region of Xinjiang after a top official said Islamist separatists pose the "most prominent" challenge to the country's stability. Xi make the comments at a meeting of Xinjiang's lawmakers on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing, marking his first ever visit to the regional delegation since taking office. Beijing has long said it faces a determined campaign by a group known as the East Turkestan Independence Movement, or ETIM, in Xinjiang, where hundreds of people have been killed in recent years in attacks and unrest between mostly Muslim ethnic Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese. "(ETIM) is the most prominent challenge to China's social stability, economic development and national security," Cheng Guoping, State Commissioner for counterterrorism and security, was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper. The comments come about a week after a video purportedly by the Islamic State group surfaced showing Uighurs training in Iraq, vowing to plant their flag in China and saying that blood will "flow in rivers". "Just as one loves one's own eyes, one must love ethnic unity; just as one takes one's own livelihood seriously, one must take ethnic unity seriously," Xi told the delegation, according to the state broadcaster. The daily evening news showed Xi meeting delegates in traditional Uighur dress, with one individual presenting him with a photo of a Uighur family whose relative once met Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China. "I'm too excited. In 1958 old Kuerban met Chairman Mao in Beijing and now I'm meeting Chairman Xi," he said in heavily accented Mandarin. China is worried that Uighurs have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight for militant groups there, having travelled illegally via Southeast Asia and Turkey. Rights groups say the unrest in Xinjiang is more a reaction to repressive government policies, and experts have questioned whether ETIM exists as a cohesive militant group. China denies there is any repression in Xinjiang. Cheng told the China Daily that China should "closely check in on whether Afghanistan is becoming another paradise for extremist and terrorist groups. Such a major development may pose a serious challenge to the security of our northwestern border". The Global Times, an influential state-run tabloid, said Xinjiang authorities would issue a new anti-extremism regulation this year, possibly later this month, that would "prevent the spread of extremist ideas". It said the regulation would supplement an existing counterterrorism law that is focused on acts of terrorism, but did not give details. "Lawmakers need to distinguish between ethnic habits and extremist practices and understand that not all extremist ideas constitute a crime," the paper cited Dong Xinguang, deputy director of the standing committee of Xinjiang's regional legislature, as saying. (Reporting by John Ruwitch, Michael Martina and Christian Shepherd; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Jerusalem (AFP) - An imprisoned Palestinian journalist ended a 32-day hunger strike on Friday after receiving assurances Israel would not extend his detention without trial next month, his wife and lawyer said.

It will be the second time within a year that 34-year-old Mohammed al-Qiq, who works for the Saudi television channel Al-Majd, has been released by Israel from so-called administrative detention following a prolonged hunger strike.

An Israeli military court said Thursday that Qiq's detention would not be extended when it expired next month, his lawyer Khaled Zabarqa told AFP.

Qiq's wife, Fayha Shalash, said that the journalist, hospitalised near Tel Aviv, has ended his hunger strike and called his release expected on April 14 a "judicial victory".

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner stressed to AFP that "there was no agreement" under which Qiq would stop his hunger strike in return for his release.

"He'll be released as planned," Lerner said of Qiq's three-month sentence.

The Israel Prison Service confirmed to AFP that Qiq had stopped refusing food and would be released next month.

In May 2016, Qiq was released from a six-month prison term without trial following a 94-day hunger strike.

He was rearrested in January near the West Bank city of Ramallah for "terror activity" on behalf of the Islamist group Hamas, the Shin Bet domestic security service said at the time, a claim he denied.

He was also accused of undermining the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.

A military court in February ordered that he be imprisoned for six months, a sentence later reduced to three months.

The controversial Israeli administrative detention laws allow the state to hold suspects without trial for periods of six months, renewable indefinitely.
Now that Peco has restored power to thousands of customers knocked out by Tuesdays North Philadelphia substation fire, the hard work begins.

The Philadelphia utility must quickly rebuild a large substation at 2634 W. Westmoreland Ave. in Tioga before summertime demand from customers adds more stress to a system patched together after the fire.

Until the substation is rebuilt, 36,000 customers in North Philadelphia are getting electricity rerouted from neighboring areas, supplemented by power produced by 14 large-trailer-sized diesel generators Peco has brought in to support the distribution grid, said Ben Armstrong, the utility's spokesman.

We want to have this system back to normal sooner rather than later, said Armstrong. Some brief service interruptions will occur during the restoration. He said repairs would require at least a few weeks, and maybe a few months.

Armstrong said the Tuesday afternoon fire caused substantial damage to the substation, which converts power from transmission lines to 13,000-volt current that is distributed in the area.

No cause was determined for the fire, and damage estimates are still being assessed. The substation was unoccupied at the time the blaze broke out.

The fire was confined to the distribution side of the facility, Armstrong said, so none of the custom-built transformers that convert high-voltage electricity were damaged.

Engineers are still assessing what equipment can be salvaged, but much will need to be removed and replaced, including up to 60,000 feet of heavy electrical cable, he said.

An immediate concern in the next few days is a forecasted blast of cold weather, which Peco anticipates will drive up demand from customers with electric heating. The utility is swapping some of the portable power generators, which were brought in from as far as Ohio, to try to match supply with expected demand.

Peco said it is trying to notify customers when the generators are disconnected, which will cause outages of about 10 minutes.

Story continues

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By Marco Aquino and Mitra Taj LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski criticized a proposal being considered by the Trump administration to separate women and children crossing illegally into the United States, saying it was "something that shouldn't be happening in the 21st century." Speaking to foreign media on Thursday, Kuczynski also reiterated that he told U.S. President Donald Trump in a White House meeting last month that he opposed Trump's proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Earlier this week, the Trump administration confirmed a Reuters report it was considering separating parents and children who enter illegally from Mexico in a bid to deter the dangerous journey. "I don't want to provoke controversy but for me separating families is something that shouldn't be happening in the 21st century, and the wall either," Kuczynski said in Spanish. "I told the U.S. president that." Kuczynski, a former U.S. citizen and an ardent defender of open economies, has been one of the few leaders of Washington's traditional allies in Latin America to openly oppose Trump's stance on immigration and trade. Kuczynski previously compared Trump's proposed border wall to the Berlin Wall and joked he would sever ties with the United States if Trump, a Republican, won last year's election. He has since praised the Peru-U.S. relationship under Trump and said the U.S. president had helped firm up global prices for copper, zinc and other minerals that Peru exports. (Reporting by Marco Aquino and Mitra Taj; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Photo credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

From Popular Mechanics

In an abandoned gold mine one mile beneath the town of Lead, South Dakota, engineers and physicists with the University of Wisconsin-Madison are working to build a chamber that holds 10 tons of liquid xenon. They hope that in the subterranean realms of the mine, where the experiment will be protected from solar particles and cosmic rays, they will be able to detect dark matter for the very first time.

Dark matter is a perplexing thing. It was first theorized in the 1930s when astronomers realized that galaxies could not have the necessary gravity to retain their structures from just their visible matter-stars and planets and dust. Something else must be binding the galaxies together, preventing them from coming apart. This unseen matter has never been directly detected before, only inferred from gravitational models, but astrophysicists believe that there could be as much as five times more dark matter in the universe than visible matter. UW-Madison wants to find out for sure.

Photo credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The experiment in the gold mines of South Dakota is called LUX-ZEPLIN, or LZ for short. It expands on the previous Large Underground Xenon experiment (LUX) and the ZEPLIN dark matter program. The idea is to detect a particle of dark matter as it interacts with a xenon atom, causing a chain reaction in the chamber that will produce a burst of ultraviolet light and release a flurry of electrons. Immediately after the liquid xenon lights up, gaseous xenon above it in the chamber will react with the released electrons and emit a second, brighter pulse of light. The physicists working on the project describe it as a "bell" that will ring when influenced by a particle of dark matter.

"Dark matter particles could be right here in the room streaming through your head, perhaps occasionally running into one of your atoms," said Duncan Carlsmith, a physics professor at UWMadison, in a press release.

Earlier this month, the Department of Energy approved the final stages of construction for the LZ in the gold mine, officially called the Sanford Underground Research Facility. In the meantime, researchers are working with a smaller prototype device to ensure that when the big LZ goes online in 2020, it won't be susceptible to interference.

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To make sure nothing disturbs the massive vat of liquid xenon except dark matter, the team is constructing two outer chambers that are designed to detect and remove any contaminating particles. The chamber filled with 10 tons of liquid xenon will sit inside that, and more than 500 photomultiplier tubes-vacuum tubes that are ultra-sensitive light detectors-will monitor the LZ for any activity. If something other than dark mater disturbs the xenon's slumber, the photomultiplier tubes should be able to determine that it was a false alarm.

The dark matter detector is being assembled in a clean facility at UW-Madison's Physical Sciences Laboratory that has been scrubbed of radioactive materials like radon. A storage system is being developed to prevent any radioactive material from leaching into the xenon chamber when it is transported and installed, and a system is also being designed to constantly remove any gas that leaches out of the xenon chamber's lining.

Photo credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Once everything is installed in the subterranean mine, and the experiment goes online, all that will be left to do is wait. The physicists will be looking for weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs, which are hypothetical particles thought to be the building blocks of dark matter. WIMPs are thought to pass through normal matter without any trace most of the time, but physicists believe they can occasionally bump into ordinary particles.

"In a year, if there are no WIMPs, or if they interact too weakly, we'll see nothing," says Carlsmith.

The LZ will remain switched on for at least five years, however, and hopefully it will succeed in detecting WIMPs for the first time, or otherwise rule them out as the ethereal substance that makes up dark matter. Other experiments at the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, as well as projects in Italy and China, are also being conducted to search for the elusive direct evidence of dark matter. UW-Madison physicists are also using the Large Hadron Collider in an attempt to detect dark matter that is created during high-energy particle collisions. The race to be the first to find dark matter is in full swing.

If we can find and measure this substance, we will attain a greater understanding of the universe than ever before. It's very possible that dark matter makes up more than 25 percent of the entire cosmos, and once we discover the specific properties of the material, it could unlock secrets that have long remained hidden from us.

Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Warsaw (AFP) - Polish media on Friday underscored their country's isolation in the European Union after the bloc's leaders re-elected liberal Donald Tusk as president despite strident opposition from the rightwing government in his native Poland.

"Tusk won 27 to 1," read the headline splashed across the Gazeta Wyborcza liberal daily, while the centrist Rzeczpospolita daily concluded that "Poland is alone in the EU".

The bloc's leaders voted by 27 to one at the summit in Brussels on Thursday to give former Polish premier Tusk a new two-and-a-half-year mandate, with only Poland's current Prime Minister Beata Szydlo voting against.

Szydlo, whose right-wing eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party has nursed a long and bitter enmity with the centrist Tusk, announced that she would block the summit's final communique in revenge.

Polish media close to her government on Friday welcomed her "courage and the intransigence" in the face of "terrible pressure" in Brussels.

But Rzeczpospolita dubbed Tusk's re-election "the unprecedented failure of the Law and Justice government.

"It's obvious that Warsaw is isolated and has no allies in Europe," the daily said in an acerbic editorial.

Gazeta Wyborcza meanwhile observed that "the open war against the EU will have detrimental consequences for Poland", particularly in terms of the future EU budget and regional policy.

"If (PiS party leader Jaroslaw) Kaczynski forces the government to get angry with the EU, it's not the EU that will lose but Poland," it said.

Radoslaw Sikorski, a former Polish foreign minister, called Poland's failure in Brussels the "political Waterloo", evoking the crushing defeat of its rightwing government.

But according to the nationalist wpolityce.pl news website, Tusk's re-election demonstrates that the EU is "in Germany's sphere of influence."

"It (Tusk's re-election) is an element of German domination in Europe", the site said in an editorial echoing earlier comments by Kaczynski and Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski.

"Poland finally has a diplomatic policy and a prime minister that work in the national interest, without humbly waiting for praise" from others.
Warsaw (AFP) - Poland risks isolation in the European Union after its rightwing government failed in its bitter campaign to derail the re-election of its own citizen Donald Tusk as the bloc's president.

"Alone in the EU" and "Tusk won 27 to 1" read headlines splashed across the front pages of major liberal and centrist newspapers in Poland on Friday, while a high-circulation tabloid declared Tusk "King Donald II".

The bloc's leaders voted by 27 to one at a Brussels summit to give former Polish premier Tusk a new two-and-a-half-year mandate -- with only Poland's current Prime Minister Beata Szydlo voting against.

Szydlo, whose eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party has nursed a long and bitter enmity with the centrist Tusk, on Friday also blocked the summit's final statement in response.

Her government accuses Tusk of having "brutally violated" the rule of "political neutrality" by becoming involved in domestic political disputes.

Since winning power in October 2015 elections, Szydlo's populist administration has pushed through a string of controversial reforms that triggered mass protests at home and an EU threat of sanctions over rule of law violations.

The Rzeczpospolita newspaper on Friday branded Tusk's re-election an "unprecedented failure" for Szydlo's government.

"It's obvious that Warsaw is isolated and has no allies in Europe," the daily said in an acerbic editorial.

Gazeta Wyborcza meanwhile observed that "the open war against the EU will have detrimental consequences for Poland", particularly in terms of the future EU budget and regional policy.

- 'Complete outsider' -

"If (PiS party leader Jaroslaw) Kaczynski forces the government to get angry with the EU, it's not the EU that will lose but Poland," it said.

Although he holds no office other than being an MP, Kaczynski is Poland's de facto most powerful politician.

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"Poland's European policy under the PiS is a total failure. It has positioned itself as a complete outsider," Professor Radoslaw Markowski, a political scientist and member of Poland's Academy of Sciences told AFP.

Remarks by other EU leaders appear to back up the criticism levelled at the government on the home front.

"It's not acceptable that one member says 'I don't want that', and then the other 27 are paralysed," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel as he arrived for the talks Friday.

Bettel also accused Szydlo of "not acting like an adult".

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern was more circumspect, saying that "it's not in Poland's interest to pull out of the process of joint discussions".

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault pointed to "domestic politics" as the real reason behind the clash and disagreed with PiS allegations that Tusk lacked neutrality.

- Bad blood -

Kaczynski called political arch-rival Tusk "Germany's candidate" before the vote, warning that his re-election would sow crisis in the EU.

Poland also accused Germany of forcing its will on the EU after Tusk's re-election, with Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski saying: "We know that this is now a Union under Berlin's diktat."

Adding to the bad blood, Kaczynski has long accused Tusk of "moral responsibility" for the death of his brother Lech, then president, in an air crash in Russia in 2010. Tusk was prime minister at the time.

"They live in two completely different universes," liberal Polish MEP Roza Thun told AFP of the two politicians.

"Kaczynski isn't a democrat -- he has no idea about compromise, cooperation, community, and he regards political rivalry as war rather than dialogue," Thun added.

"Tusk beat him several times as a political rival on the Polish domestic scene. Since then, he (Kaczynski) has become emotional."

Warsaw University political scientist Anna Materska-Sosnowska told AFP the conflict was based in a "vendetta".

"If you look at Kaczynski's reaction to Tusk's re-election -- his insults and degradation, accusing Tusk of betraying Poland -- it's all very personal and shows Kaczynski's inability to put the past to rest," she said, adding: "It's made Poland's diplomatic policy look ridiculous."

The PiS insists it wants Poland to remain rooted firmly in the EU, but it has rejected any notion of the "multi-speed EU" favoured by powerhouse states Germany and France as a means to deepen ties at different speeds.
BRUSSELS (AP)  Belgian authorities say that they have detained two people after launching raids in two locations in connection with a terror financing probe.

Federal prosecutors said the two were picked up during the searches in the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht and the city of Ghent. Both were released after questioning.

No arms or explosives were found during the searches on Thursday, which were part of a probe launched several months ago.

Prosecutors did not link the raids to the suicide attacks on Brussels' airport and subway last year in which 32 people were killed. Belgian authorities have been on high alert since those bombings on March 22.
Despite the Catholic Churchs longstanding prohibition on married men becoming priests, Pope Francis said he might consider making exceptions to ordain married men who are already heavily involved in the Roman Catholic Church in certain circumstances. The idea would be that they could work in rural areas that suffer from a shortage of clergy, according to his interview with the German newspaper Die Zeit published Thursday.

[We] must determine what tasks they can perform, for example, in remote communities, he said, according to the Associated Press.



But why were married men prevented from becoming priests in the first place?

The chastity requirement is spelled out in the churchs Code of Canon Law as such: Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and therefore are bound to celibacy which is a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart and are able to dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and humanity.

Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

But abstaining from marriage hasnt always been a requirement for the sacrament of holy orders, according to America, the leading Catholic news magazine. Things were looser in the early church, although married clergy were often asked not to have sex with their wives, in part due to prevailing attitudes about sex and its impact on the ministers readiness for sacred duty. It wasnt until the 11th century that, based on the growing influence of and admiration for celibate monks, widespread celibacy requirements were adopted.

In 1970, at another moment when the Vatican addressed the topic, TIME explained how the evolution occurred:

Jesus himself was not married; biblical scholars assume that most of his disciples were, since the Judaism of the time frowned upon bachelorhood. There is good reason to believe that the majority of priests and bishops during the first four centuries of Christianity were married; so were many Popes, the last of whom was Adrian II in the 9th century. One reason that celibacy eventually became the rule for clerics was early Christianitys puritanical view of sex, even within marriage, as an evil except for procreation. I feel that nothing more turns the masculine mind from the heights, wrote St. Augustine, the dominant voice of Christian theology until the Middle Ages, than female blandishment and that contact of bodies without which a wife may not be had. At the same time as this austere view took root, the church saw the growth of monastic communities for men and women in which chastity, along with poverty and obedience, was regarded as a virtue essential to those who would give their lives to God. At the urging of Popes and councils, monastic austerity was gradually forced upon the clergy as a whole. Pope Benedict VIII in 1018 formally forbade priestly marriages; the prohibition was solemnly extended by the First Lateran Council of 1123. The rule, however, was not easy to enforce. Until the Reformation, parish priests frequently scandalized the faithful by taking wives, or at least keeping mistresses and concubines, as did Popes and cardinals. After Protestantism rejected celibacy for the ministry as unnatural and unnecessary, the Council of Trent declared it an objectively superior state of life and imposed excommunication on priests or nuns who violated the canon laws prohibiting marriage.

Nowadays, there are some married men who are priests: Episcopal priests who converted to Catholicism, as shown in the book Keeping the Vow: The Untold Story of Married Catholic Priests, which features interviews with 72 married priests and their wives.

The Popes feelings on married priests arent likely to apply to expanding ordination to include women, however, for he told reporters in November 2016 that the churchs restriction on female priests will likely remain in place indefinitely.
Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis will travel to Colombia in September, the Vatican said Friday, after the pontiff closely followed peace negotiations between the government and FARC rebels.

The September 6-11 trip will include stops in the capital Bogota as well as Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena, the Church said, adding that a fuller itinerary for the trip will be published shortly.

The visit is at "the invitation of the President of the Republic and the Colombian bishops", a Vatican statement said.

President Juan Manuel Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his work toward a peace accord, said during a news conference Friday that the pope was coming as "a messenger of peace and reconciliation".

"The presence of His Holiness on our soil, which we look forward to with great hope and excitement, will help Colombians to continue uniting for a more just, more caring, fairer country, and one at peace," Santos said.

Speaking alongside Santos at the headquarters of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia in Bogota, the Papal Nuncio or Vatican envoy in Colombia, Ettore Balestrero, said the pope's visit will be "a religious visit".

"He has a non-political message" for Colombia focused on family values and unity and against corruption, Balestrero said.

The Argentinian pope has followed Colombia's peace negotiations closely, having brought together Santos and his predecessor Alvaro Uribe at the Vatican in December in an unsuccessful bid to persuade them to overcome their differences over a deal with the rebels.

Uribe spearheaded opposition to the peace deal signed in November after nearly four years of negotiations to end more than a half-century of armed conflict.

The former president and his allies argued the deal granted impunity to rebels guilty of war crimes, giving them seats in Congress rather than sending them to prison.

The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, launched its guerrilla war against the Colombian government in 1964, after a peasant uprising that was crushed by the army.

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Over the decades, the conflict drew in several leftist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.

Under the peace deal negotiated by Santos's government, the FARC will transform into a political party and its 5,700 fighters would demobilise over a period of six months.

The group began disarming last week, which UN monitors are overseeing.

Francis's visit will be the third by a serving pope to Colombia. Pope Paul VI visited the country in August 1968 and John Paul II in July 1986.

Vatican officials said the visit to Colombia would last from September 6 to 10 and Francis would be back in Rome on September 11.
President Trump will seek the advice of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on how to approach Russian President Vladimir Putin, Administration officials said Friday.

Merkels March 14 visit to the White Housethe first meeting for Trump and the longtime German leaderis set to be closely scrutinized amid disagreements on a range of policy issues, from Russia policy to refugees. Trumps hasnt been shy about sharing his opinion of Merkel, who support for accepting Syrian refugees he called insane, and suggested in a tweet she was ruining Germany.

Those comments followed Trump telling TIME Merkel was probably the greatest leader in the world today.

White House officials said Trumps initial opinion of Putin is operative. The president is impressed with Chancellor Merkels leadership, an Administration official said Friday

The President will be very interested in hearing the chancellors views on her experience interacting with Putin, the official added, noting she has been negotiating with him for more than a decade. Hes going to be very interested in hearing her insights on what its like to deal with Putin, to deal with the Russians.

An official said that Trump has not yet decided on whether to continue to pursue the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP). As a candidate Trump promised to do away with multilateral trade deals, and he withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership as one of his first acts in office. But the official suggested that T-TIP could be considered as a two-party deal because of the European Unions structure.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan, through posts on Facebook and Instagram on Thursday, announced that they were expecting their second child.

Priscilla and I are happy to share we're expecting another baby girl! the tech mogul announced in the post that accompanied childhood pictures of himself and Priscilla, with their siblings. I cannot think of a greater gift than having a sister and I'm so happy Max and our new child will have each other.

Read: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergs Wife Priscilla Chan Pregnant With Second Child

Zuckerberg talked about the difficulties they faced when Chan was pregnant with their first daughter, Max, making it tough for the couple to decide on whether they wanted more children. He wrote in the post: When Priscilla and I first found out she was pregnant again, our first hope was that the child would be healthy. My next hope was that it would be a girl. 

The couple met during their time at Harvard University. While Zuckerberg dropped out of college to work on Facebook, Chan earned a degree in Biology, following which she taught science at the Harker School in San Jose, California.

Chan, fluent in English, Spanish and Cantonese, went on to attend the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, and graduated on May 14, 2012, the day Zuckerberg turned 28. The couple had been living together at Zuckerberg's $7 million Palo Alto, California house since 2010 and finally got married in a small ceremony at their home soon after, on May 19, 2012.

While Zuckerberg, as the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Facebook, currently has a net worth of $57.9 billion, according to Forbes real-time tracking, Chan has a reported net worth of $14 billion, according to TheRichest.com. Most of this is credited to her marriage to Zuckerberg but Chans initiatives in the health and medicine sphere have also earned her recognition.

Read: Billionaires Looking To Find A Cure To All Diseases In The World

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The couple has been actively involved in philanthropy, recently pledging to spend $3 billion over the next decade to attempt to cure, handle or prevent all disease by the end of the century. In 2015, Zuckerberg and Chan, to celebrate Maxs birth, had announced they will be donating 99 percent of their Facebook shares to their initiative.

Like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than ours today, Zuckerberg wrote in a letter to Max, published on Facebook. We will give 99% of our Facebook shares -- currently about $45 billion -- during our lives to advance this mission. We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others.

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Prosecutors in North Carolina say there will be no charges against three Raleigh police officers involved in a shooting following a break-in last fall.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told local media Thursday that the officers did not use excessive force in the shooting that wounded a suspect and an officer.

Chijioke Kennedy Madueke was shot by police in an apartment Nov. 30 after police say he rushed out of a bedroom toward the officers with a knife. Madueke later acknowledged he had a knife, but gave conflicting accounts about whether it was in his hand or his pocket.

He was hit several times. Officer C.N. Chandler was shot in the abdomen but the bullet was stopped by his vest. He was treated and released from a Raleigh hospital.
PITTSBURGH (AP)  A Pennsylvania woman tried to be an "ideal Christian, loyal mother" but felt overwhelmed by her husband's desire for more children and his religious stance that they avoid birth control before she drowned their two youngest sons in a bathtub, a psychiatrist testified in her defense Friday.

Dr. Robert Wettstein was the second and final witness called by the defense on Laurel Schlemmer's behalf and his testimony was critical to the case. Defense lawyer Michael Machen has acknowledged the 43-year-old McCandless woman's role in the deaths but is arguing she was mentally ill at the time.

Judge Jeffrey Manning said he would issue a verdict next week.

Schlemmer is accused of holding her sons, 6-year-old Daniel and 3-year-old Luke, face down in the water while she sat on them April 1, 2014. Luke died that day; Daniel died four days later.

Wettstein and prosecution witness Dr. Bruce Wright agree that Schlemmer wasn't psychotic  even though she was driven by the false notion that the two boys were autistic and that she could have been a better mother to their older brother, then 7, if the younger boys were "in heaven."

But the psychiatrists disagree about the extent to which Schlemmer's depression and anxiety disorders affected her actions.

Wright has testified that Schlemmer's mental problems diminished her capacity to conform her conduct to the law. But he said Schlemmer "had the capacity to form the specific intent to kill and was fully conscious of it."

In his testimony Friday, Wettstein said that Schlemmer's ability to form the intent to kill was "significantly impaired" and "substantially diminished." Schlemmer suffered significant dissociation, meaning she lost touch with herself and functioned as though she was disconnected from her body, the defense expert said.

Wettstein said people dissociate every day when they steer their cars on highways while they think about other things, but in Schlemmer's case it was severe.

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He said Schlemmer "became concerned that the two boys would never grow up normally," even though a battery of tests she had put them through showed no signs of autism.

Schlemmer met her husband, Mark, on a Christian singles online dating site, and felt "pressured" to have more children, Wettstein testified. She also had three miscarriages, he said.

She considered her younger sons, especially Daniel, to be "foreign" to her and her husband and not as easy to raise as their oldest boy, he said.

Schlemmer has said she tried to kill Luke and Daniel a year earlier by tying their hands and feet with twine then backing over them with her car three times, only to later claim that was an accident, Wettstein said. Police and social workers came to the same conclusion and no charges were filed though Schlemmer told her husband days before the drownings that she wanted to confess to the earlier incident, Wettstein testified.

Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini introduced evidence aimed at getting first-degree murder convictions, which would mean Schlemmer would face life in prison for each boy's death.

The judge also could find her guilty of third-degree murder, which carries up to 40 years in prison; guilty but mentally ill; or not guilty.
Moscow (AFP) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday announced the "normalisation" of ties between their nations, damaged by Ankara downing one of Moscow's warplanes in 2015.

"We can state with confidence that our countries have returned to the path of a true multi-tiered cooperation between partners," Putin told a press conference after the two strongmen met at the Kremlin.

Relations between Moscow and Ankara hit rock bottom after Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane over the Syrian border in November 2015, which Putin then labelled a "stab in the back".

The two have reconciled since, notably cooperating on Syria and backing a ceasefire in December which significantly reduced violence in the war-wracked country.

"In the last few months, the steps we have taken together have meant we have closed the gap in normalising bilateral relations," said Erdogan.

"I believe the normalisation process has ended. We don't want to utter this phrase any longer," he said, adding he expected Russia to "completely lift the sanctions" imposed after the plane's downing.

The two leaders also signed a new economic cooperation plan and agreed to create an investment fund worth up to $1 billion (935 million euros), said Putin.

The Russian leader hailed the joint efforts on Syria, crediting the coordinated actions of Russia, Turkey and Iran for "considerably lowering the level of violence."

He said Russia and Turkey will "continue cooperation in the fight against terrorist groups, especially ISIL", using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State (IS) group.

"Be it in Syria or in Iraq, in both countries our main objective is territorial integrity," said Erdogan.

Earlier this week, top generals of Turkish, Russian and US militaries met in a bid to step up coordination in Syria and avoid clashes.

Turkey initially had threatened to strike former IS bastion Manbij unless the US-backed Kurdish militia pulled back from the city, but later retracted the claim.

Erdogan said Friday that Ankara wants to cooperate with US-backed coalition and Russian forces there.
London (AFP) - Queen Elizabeth II will host Spanish King Felipe VI on his state visit to Britain in June, Buckingham Palace said on Friday, meaning US President Donald Trump's trip will have to be later in the year.

Felipe VI and his wife Letizia, who had been forced to postpone their planned visit last year because of the political crisis in Spain, will now visit Britain on June 6-8, the palace said in a statement.

This means Trump's state visit will be "later in the year," Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said.

British media have reported that October is the most likely date for the US leader, whose trip is expected to be accompanied by massive protests.

The police earlier said they were preparing for Trump to arrive in June but reports citing senior government sources later said this had been delayed.

May extended the invitation for a state visit, a high honour that involves a banquet with Queen Elizabeth II, when she met Trump at the White House in late January.

It was part of a charm offensive intended to strengthen bilateral ties as Britain prepares to leave the European Union.

But coming at the same time as Trump announced his ban on refugees and travellers from seven mainly Muslim countries, it sparked public outrage in Britain.

More than 1.8 million signed a petition asking for the visit to be cancelled, prompting a debate in parliament where several lawmakers condemned the proposal.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has also said he believes Trump should not be allowed the honour of giving a speech to parliament.
In theory, whats prohibited is clear: using ones official position to endorse any product or service, as the director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics put it in a letter on Thursday. The letter expressed his disappointment that the White House would not be disciplining Presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway over her having told FOX News viewers in February to go buy Ivanka Trumps fashion line in what she described as a free commercial.

In practice, things can get a little murky.

The ongoing dispute over Conways statement is just one of the many ways in which President Donald Trumps short time in office has already been marked by several conflicts between the business of governing and business in the more typical sense. Not only has he nominated an extraordinarily business-oriented cabinet  which has presented its own problems for the Office of Government Ethics  but some legal scholars and bipartisan ethics watchdogs still dont think he has done enough to distance himself from his familys business. Also on Thursday, the State Department confirmed that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would recuse himself from working on issues related to the Keystone XL pipeline, due to his history as an oil-business executive.

At its core, the debate is about whether the Presidents having a foot in the business world might sway his official decisions and, conversely, whether his political power and those of his associates might improperly help his business.

But, despite the trouble caused by business interests in the Trump administration, experts say that this debate is in many ways just more of the same. Since the early days of the Republic, the question of whether government officials can do well for the nation and themselves at the same time has simmered  occasionally boiling over.

Good Behavior?

That said, for a couple of reasons, the first decades of U.S. history were relatively scandal-free in terms of conflicts of interest and corruption.

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Between 1789 and 1820, there were hardly any records of ethics scandals or widespread corruption in the federal government, says Robert Roberts, author of White House Ethics: The History of the Politics of Conflict of Interest Regulation and professor of political science at James Madison University. That had a lot to do with who went into the federal government  primarily elites, recruited from very wealthy families, because they were the only ones who had the education to perform the functions of leading government.

But it wasnt just a matter of wealth insulating the Founding Fathers from the financial concerns that might lead to conflicts of interest. The founders were also adamant about establishing safeguards to make sure American leaders were not tempted to profit personally from their positions of political power. They had seen the bribery that was common in Europe at the time, and they knew they knew that their relatively weak, young nation would be a tempting target for the monarchies of France, Great Britain, and the Eastern European regions that now include Austria, Hungary and Russia. (Yes, concerns about foreign intervention and influence in U.S. politics are as old as America is.) That was why the founders ended up including ideas like the Emoluments Clause, which prevents officeholders from accepting payment from foreign states, in the Constitution.

Eventually, however, the founders fears  and their personal wealth  werent enough to prevent conflicts of interest and corruption from becoming a thing.

Mass Politics and Mass Corruption

In some ways, it starts with Alexander Hamilton. He was the one who decided to issue bonds to deal with Americas Revolutionary War debt, a system that  though risky  ended up making the wealthy wealthier. So it was that, when Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans came to power in the election of 1800, explains Roberts, they did so on a wave of populist anger that had been simmering in the 1780s and 1790s. Many felt that the Federalist government had been too close to the rich merchants and other financial speculators who had benefited from Hamiltons system.

So, by the 1820s, government service was no longer seen exclusively as the province of the elite. However, it took some adjusting to figure out what kind of pipeline to office would replace the old one. One early possibility, which was exemplified under the presidency of Andrew Jackson, was the spoils system. This system rewarded party loyalists with federal government jobs. Though some Americans were happy that Jackson was bringing new blood to Washington  in keeping with his campaign promises  the scramble for jobs and profit helped to spread a culture of corruption within government circles.

Eventually, it was simply seen as par for the course that government officials would try to make some money on the side. Customs officials cleaned up especially well, such as Samuel Swartwout, the chief customs officer for the Port of New York from 1829 to 1838, who stole $1,225,705.67 during his eight years of office, according to Roberts book. In another particularly flagrant example, when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War in 1848 and included a provision to compensate those whose property had been damaged by the war, Sen. Thomas Corwin of Ohio who went on to become President Millard Fillmores Treasury Secretary  was paid to serve as an attorney representing a fraudulent claim before the Mexican War Commission.

Thus, a law enacted on Feb. 26, 1853, first prohibited members of Congress and federal employees from receiving anything of value for helping private citizens pursue claims against the government, and secondly, prohibited federal employees from assisting in the prosecution of a claim if they were paid for their efforts.

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Civil War and Uncivil Service

The Civil War, however, was where these conflicts of interest really came into focus as something that was both prevalent and problematic.

After all, a financial conflict of interest was directly tied to the fight over slavery: elected officials and U.S. presidents who also managed large plantations clearly had a bias when it came to addressing slavery as lawmakers. We didnt deal with the issue that caused one of our worst constitutional crises, the Civil War, because of this financial conflict of interest, Richard Painter, who was chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush and now teaches corporate law at the University of Minnesota Law School, argues.

Secondly, on a much narrower level, supplying the Union Army was big business, and the 1853 statute did nothing to stop the widespread corruption among contractors hired to do that.

This was an opportunity for people to get rich quick by promising to sell the federal government horses, arms and uniforms, getting paid for those things and then supplying them with junk, says Kathleen Clark, a professor of law at Washington University School of Law and a member of the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee. And, she says, because many federal employees worked other jobs, too, that meant they were involved with such fraud too. For example, a federal employee who also owned a horse farm might profit by being able to influence a decision on a source of military horses. Or, a person might put in a claim for services rendered when no such services had been supplied, and a government official who helped see the claim through might get a cut of the profit. (One response to this widespread problem was the False Claims Act of 1863, considered the nations oldest whistle-blower law.)

After the war, under the Ulysses S. Grant administration, officials were said to have lined their pockets and traded favors with private-sector representatives. During the era of railroads  a time when government had the power to decide whose rail company got to do what  deals flowed between executives and officials. Despite the laws that had been passed, the spoils system and the culture of corruption persisted. In fact, President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881 by Charles Guiteau, a man who believed the Republican leader owed him a patronage position in the diplomatic corps, according to the National Museum of American History.

All of these problems led to the civil-service reform movement of the 1880s. For example, in 1883, a civil-service reform act  better known as the Pendleton Act  established a testing requirement for certain offices to ensure better-qualified officeholders. And eventually, says Painter, a perhaps more important step was taken: the federal government started paying legislators enough, in theory, to prevent them from needing to keep open any side businesses that could lead to potential conflicts of interest.

Holding The Revolving Door Open

And yet government officeholders continued to raise eyebrows  and more  with the ways they were seen to profit from their positions.

For example, Andrew Mellon of Mellon Bank and Gulf Oil was the Treasury Secretary for Republican Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. Some, like Texas Rep. Wright Patman, argued at the time that Mellons simultaneous roles in the cabinet and the business world violated a prohibition on Treasury officials being directly or indirectly be concerned or interested in carrying on the business of trade or commerce, or be owner in whole or in part of any sea-vessel. (Mellon became a particular target of public ire after the stock market crash of 1929, which his bank survived relatively well.)

Some presidents had profitable businesses themselves, which could cause problems. For example, Herbert Hoover, who cashed out on his mining business after World War I, claimed publicly throughout the years that his money was in what we would consider a blind trust  but his story shows how hard it is to separate the politician for his business life. Congress investigated whether his son Herbert Clark Hoover Jr. was using his White House connection to benefit his radio-technology business. Nothing came of the probe, but as Fortune put it in 1932, the presidents wealth and that of his family remained naturally and logically an object of interest to the citizenry. Hoover made careful that he didnt look like he had conflict of interest, according to Spencer Howard, the archives technician at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. He removed all appearances of impropriety as best he could, but theres really strong circumstantial evidence that his financial advisor was more active than he was claiming. Even if you have divested yourself, you still know people.

In the middle of the Cold War-era defense buildup after the second World War II, scandal racked the Truman administration, in which influence peddlers nicknamed five percenters by New York Herald Tribune secured government contracts for clients willing to pay them 5% of the value of the contract.

After Truman, President Dwight D. Eisenhower filled his cabinet with business leaders, Roberts points out, which progressives argued meant they would use their power to favor interests of the industries they come from. He says scandals exploded during the Eisenhower era. For example, in what TIME called the highest-voltage power controversy of the Eisenhower era, a utility combines claim for damages over a canceled contract was eventually tossed out by the Supreme Court because one banker served as both a vice-president of a bank and a financing expert for the Bureau of the Budget, which both selected the utility company for the project and chose that particular bank to finance it.

On Oct. 23, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed into law the first major attempt to reorganize Americas criminal conflict-of-interest statutes, some of which were a century old. The revisions expanded the types of government matters in which potential conflicts of interest could arise and in which conflicts of interest are prohibited. It also designated a category of special Government employees to cover the growing number of people who may do part-time consulting work for the government on occasion, and it hammered out a way that the government could receive advice from these individuals while not unduly restricting what they could do in their day jobs.

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (signed into law after Watergate) created the Office of Government Ethics. Further changes in 1989 made it easier for business executives to work in government by letting them sell off their financial assets without facing a tax penalty.

Conflict-of-interest statutes continued to be revisited to this day  and yet it is clear that the question of propriety is far from settled. If American history is any indication, concerns about the role of money in government wont go away any time soon.
- The doping scandal that enveloped Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum's Goldophin stable in 2013 shook racing authorities out of a false sense of security, Irish racing's chief vet told AFP. The doping of 22 horses with anabolic steroids at their English stables resulted in an eight year ban for trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni. Dr Lynn Hillyer was a central figure in the case as she then worked for the British Horseracing Authority. Now with the Irish Turf Club she told AFP after the initial shock and negative headlines the affair shook up different racing authorities across the world. "Two good things evolved from it. With anabolic steroids there was a real impetus to co-ordinate policy," she said. "It (also) focussed the minds of individual racing authorities on doping because perhaps when things aren't happening the thought is everything is ok."

AFP
Many Jewish people have been getting ready for Purim  the Jewish holiday that begins on Saturday night  by baking hamantaschen cookies, triangular treats made of dough with poppy seeds or fruit jam in the middle.

Asked what the dessert signifies, many celebrants would quickly answer that theyre in the shape of the triangular hat supposedly worn by Haman, the villain of the Purim story in the Book of Esther. But theres more history than that to the cookie  and clues can be found in its name.

Early versions of the cookies were more commonly known as oznei Haman, meaning Hamans ears. The late Jewish food historian Gil Marks Encyclopedia of Jewish Food traces that phrase  but not the cookie  to the Roman scholar and poet Immanuel ben Solomon (c.1261-1328) who, thanks to a misinterpretation arising from the medieval Italian custom of cutting off a criminals ear before execution, argued that Hamans ears had been cut off after he was hanged, at the end of the Purim story.

Marks traces the first record of oznei Haman as something to eat back to a 1550 satirical Hebrew play that was produced for a Purim carnival in Mantua, Italy, and is the oldest extant Jewish play, drawing from both religious stories and Italian dramatic traditions. The script contains a play on words in which one character thinks that the Biblical story of the Israelites eating manna in the dessert is saying that the Israelites ate Haman; another character responds with an interpretation that it must mean that Jews are commanded to eat oznei Haman.

Rabbi Cheryl Peretz, a dean at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of American Jewish University, says by connecting Purim treats to manna, the play, while satirical, resonated with audiences because it touched on an issue that still comes up today of how you renew customs and traditions in meaningful ways in a contemporary world.

Story continues

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Sometime in the 18th or 19th century in Germany and Eastern Europe, a triangular pastry pocket filled with poppy seeds often called Mohntaschen  mohn meaning meaning poppy seed, and tasch meaning pocket  came onto the scene. The word became a pun around Purim: oznei Haman plus mohntaschen created hamantaschen. The name caught on thanks in part to Eliezer BenYehuda, often called the father of modern Hebrew, for his efforts to promote the ability to speak the language in the modern world, according to Aaron Panken, President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

Whether the story behind the cookies is based on true historical events depends on whom you ask. Jewish-food guru Joan Nathan, whose next book is the upcoming King Solomons Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking From Around the World, notes that the Purim story is based on history in Iran, then Mesopotamia, in about the 8th century B.C. and that Ahasuerus the king might have been based on Xerxes. Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, a professor of religion at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., says that that although the actual story is believed by critical scholars to be fictional, the setting in the Persian court is historically realistic.

The idea of naming a pastry after someone wicked is to turn it into something sweet, as Peretz explains, who notes that such an instinct is particularly important to some this year as, in her circle, many critics of the Trump administration are talking about how were living through the story of Purim.

A more universal interpretation, perhaps, is the central role that pastries and food in general play in Jewish holidays.

Between the fact that the name hamantaschen is a pun and the carnival atmosphere of Purim festivities, it reflects the best of Jewish humor. The tradition forged by life in exile and a vital element in dealing with it, wrote Gil Marks, particularly manifests itself on Purim, a time when joking and frivolity is encouraged.
Less than a month out of prison, Ildar Dadin, was detained again on Friday while peacefully protesting.

Dadin was outside the Federal Penitentiary Service headquarters in Moscow carrying out a one-man protest, which does not require a permit. However, officers are still allowed to ask for protesters documents, and Dadin declined to show his to the officers who requested them. He was then briefly detained.

Dadin was protesting for the dismissal of those he says oversaw his torture in prison in Karelia, where he was imprisoned under Russias controversial laws regarding protests in Dec. 2015. (The laws make some type of non-violent protests criminal. Dadin was jailed for violating those laws more than twice in 180 days. He was sentenced to three years in prison, which were shortened to two and a half years on appeal.)

The Federal Penitentiary Service claimed they investigated and found no proof of torture, but nevertheless had him transferred to another prison. And then he disappeared for over a month, sparking a Twitter campaign calling for his location to be revealed (#).

His wife was allowed to speak with him after 37 days of silence in Jan. 2017. He was released the next month because, though Russias Supreme Court maintained Russias laws regarding protesters are constitutional, Dadin had been a peaceful protester.

In an interview the day of his release, Dadins wife, Anastasia Zotova, said, Im scared that they will free him and arrest him again the next day. I dont want any more [of this.]

Clearly, Zotovas fears were not unfounded.

Photo credit: VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images
Refugees who sheltered former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in Hong Kong are now seeking asylum in Canada, their lawyers said on Thursday.

The three families are at risk for persecution and grave consequences if they stay in Hong Kong, according to their layers from a non-profit called For the Refugees. More than ever, relocating our clients to Canada is a question of life and death, one of the Canadian attorneys, Marc-Andre Seguin, said in a statement.

Snowden fled the United States in 2013 after leaking thousands of files about the NSAs surveillance operations. The refugee families fed and housed him for two weeks before he left for Russia, according to the BBC.

In recent weeks, the refugees lawyers felt they needed to speed up their asylum process, Seguin told the South China Morning Post. Two of the refugees have said they are being pursued by police from Sri Lanka, where they are originally from, according to the newspaper. They fear the Sri Lankan government could torture them if they were captured.

Snowden tweeted about the effort to secure asylum for the refugees on Thursday, and others, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played the whistleblower in the recent film about him, have also tried to raise awareness, according to the BBC.
From Popular Mechanics

In early February, the temperature meanders between -22 to -40 degrees. Add in 28-mph winds and it feels like a bone-shattering -76 degrees. Trees don't grow here; the summers are too short. Tarps rip like wax paper in freezing winds. One place stands out among the shrub-covered foothills, a lone 8,600-foot runway accompanied by one terminal with only two taxi gates.

This is Iqaluit Airport, and it's one of hell of a location for replacing a 18,000-pound jet engine.

Photo credit: Darren T. Brooks

The Flight

Swiss International Airlines (SWISS) flight LX40 took off from Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday, February 1, at 4:20 p.m. Central European Time. The flight plan would have the plane cross the Atlantic, fly over the southern tip of Greenland, down across Canada, and then on toward its final destination in Los Angeles, spending a little more than 11 hours in the air. SWISS had been charting this daily 6,000-mile flight since 2016, thanks to the new Boeing 777-300ER powered by General Electric's GE90-115B-the world's largest jet engine.

It's a long, uneventful journey. But not this day.

Five hours into the flight, with the plane out over the ocean, Captain Roberto Battaglioni is napping in the crew-rest quarters in a small berth above the first class section while the co-pilot and relief pilot manage flight LX40. Suddenly, a flight attendant is pulling on Battaglioni's toe to jolt him out of sleep.

"Roberto, you have to go straight to the cockpit."

This 340-passenger 777 has just become a single engine airplane.

As he steps through the reinforced cockpit door, the captain is told that that the left-side GE90 has automatically shut down after its self-monitoring system detected a problem. This 340-passenger 777 has just become a single engine airplane.

Boeing airliners have redundancies for this exact scenario, and a 777 can still fly comfortably on one engine. But if the second GE90 suffered a similar issue, the LX40 passengers and crew would be in a much more dire situation. When an engine fails over water, standard international aviation procedure calls for diverting to the nearest airport as soon as possible. In this case, that's a small airstrip on Baffin Island in the Canadian province of Nunavut called Iqaluit.

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An Emergency Landing

Iqaluit is the capital of Nunavut, home to about 7,000 people of Inuit and European descent. Although it lies below the Arctic Circle, the city has a polar climate because of the frigid Labrador Current off Baffin Island. The average monthly temperature is below freezing eight months of the year.

Iqaluit's airport was established as Frobisher Bay Air Base by the American Army Air Corps in 1942. With its 8,600 ft. runway, it served the U.S. military until the early 1960s and has been a divert field for trans-Atlantic airline flights ever since. It has scheduled airline service (aircraft are the main transport on and off Baffin Island) and also a terminal, but no large hangars.

"My first thought was where in the world is Iqaluit?"

Once Captain Battaglioni was back in the cockpit, he apologized to the passengers and told the cabin they'd be landing at the nearest airport because of a "technical problem."

"I heard the announcement while half-asleep," passenger and RP Online reporter Judith Conrady wrote in an article two days after LX40's diversion. Meanwhile, Battaglioni and his crew were making an engine-out approach to an airport they'd never seen in a simulator, let alone in real life. As the 777 touched down softly on the runway "everyone claps, even the snobs," Conrady says.

Photo credit: Overflightstock

On the ground, the airplane could not turn itself 180 degrees with only one engine, so ramp tugs towed the 777 to the apron. Iqaluit's Mayor, Madeleine Redfern, offered passengers a tour of the city during their unplanned layover. But with current temperatures at -23 degrees, no hotel space to accommodate the 216 passengers and crew, and no enclosed jetway to connect passengers to the terminal, SWISS decided to keep everyone on the airplane.

After a long and cramped 14 hours, another SWISS Airbus A330 airliner finally came and took them to New York, where they would transfer to yet another plane to take them to L.A. For their former plane the work was just getting started.

And Now For the Hard Part

"My first thought was where in the world is Iqaluit?" Matthias Althammer told Popular Mechanics. The SWISS aircraft engineer got news of LX40 as he arrived for his morning shift on Thursday, Feb. 2. He immediately plugged Iqaluit into Google, showing a small town surrounded by lots of cold.

Meanwhile, #LX40 was already trending on Twitter with pictures of the stranded 777 making its landing.

#LX40 at Iqaluit Airport after landing with one engine. pic.twitter.com/NLEaqq1DWc - Flight Alerts  (@FlightAlerts777) February 1, 2017

#LX40 diverted to Iqaluit with an engine issue (via @tattuinee). Per NOTAM, runway at YFB is currently closed. https://t.co/KTZBMi6XSn pic.twitter.com/zirmqjWq1f - Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 1, 2017

Hours earlier, as the SWISS crew was still wrangling the solo-engine 777 while in flight, airline operations back in Zurich notified the local GE Field Service Engineer (FSE) of the engine shutdown. A GE team in Cincinnati got the word a few minutes later. With SWISS scrambling to get another airplane to Iqaluit, GE started exploring the problem and whether the 777 was still flyable. Most had no idea where Iqaluit was-except for one engineer from Winnipeg who knew well what to expect.

After engine data and photos were sent to the GE team, GE engineers determined that the turbofan wouldn't be running any time soon. They would need to replace the engine at the Iqaluit airport.

Photo credit: Darren T. Brooks

But GE had no spare engine in the U.S. at the time, and the company's closest one was in London. However, SWISS did have a spare engine, but it had to somehow get from Zurich to Iqaluit. The GE90 is twelve feet long and weighs over 18,000 pounds. Its ducted fans measure 10-feet-8-inches in diameter. At full tilt, the GE90-115B creates up to 125,000 pounds of thrust-more power than the RMS Titanic and Alan Shepard's Mercury-Redstone 3 rocket combined.

Since this incredibly large and incredibly powerful cargo is much wider than an average fuselage, few planes can actually transport a GE90. But one such aircraft is the Antonov An-124, a huge military airlifter originally designed for the Soviet Air Force. SWISS contracted with a UK-based charter service to have an An-124 fly the engine and a batch of equipment to Iqaluit on Saturday, four days after the landing.

Photo credit: CBC

With no hangar large enough to house the 777 and no GE90-specific tools on site, GE and SWISS hustled to gather what they'd need to get job done. SWISS technician Eric Ruttimann had done aircraft service in the field before but not in a place quite like Iqaluit. He told the German newspaper Blick im Abend, "I took half an hour to write down everything that came to my mind, and then I began to pack."

The engine, a spare engine stand, cowl replacement stand, cowling slings, and other basic tools provided by SWISS were all finally packed inside the Antonov. GE placed its own Quick Engine Change package including an inflatable tent, materials, and consumables on the Russian freighter. After arriving on Feb. 4, five engineers from SWISS and 12 engineers from GE got to work.

Photo credit: Darren T. Brooks

The Deep Freeze Swap

The SWISS team handled the prep-work and readied systems for the engine swap, but GE performed the actual change. Both would rely on support from the local airline (First Air), the fixed base operator, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who made their hangar available. None of the groups had met previously, but they gelled immediately.

"I was astonished how fast the team was established," Althammer says. Althammer was one of a trio of SWISS technicians working directly on the aircraft. "You could feel each and every one's passion for aviation and that bound us together."

The combined team would need that passion in order to brave the elements. "There was a constant wind that made the whole thing feel even colder," Ruttimann told Blick im Abend. Without wind, -22 degrees is bearable but working unprotected in these conditions... was not worth thinking about."

The inflatable tent brought along by GE proved to be a lifesaver. Generators and lighting provided by the Iqaluit community raised the tent's inside temperature to a relatively balmy 50 degrees and permitted work during the 19-hour-long February nights. Anyone or anything that ventured outside had to be kept from freezing.

Photo credit: Darren T. Brooks

"It was hard to imagine how tough working under these conditions was," Althammer adds. "We had to make sure not to touch anything with our bare hands as we would have immediately stuck to it."

There are about 12 steps for changing the engine  from disconnecting all electrics, pneumatic, fuel, and hydraulic lines to reinstalling the fan cowls and pylon panels and performing a leak check. Once off its pylon, the GE90 was quickly ushered inside the RCMP hangar where the GE team undressed it and transferred necessary components to the replacement engine. Some things, like tending to the 777's auxiliary power unit, air conditioning system, and associated water tanks, had to be done outside.

Photo credit: Darren T. Brooks

Weather stopped work several times when winds made moving large objects too dangerous and threatened frostbite. "The temperatures and winds made it too cold for even local people to be out working," says GE's Chris Chrissman, systems engineer for the GE90 program.

Strangely, these conditions might be dangerous for humans, but they closely replicate the kind of temperatures airplanes routinely battle-usually at much higher altitudes.

Photo credit: Darren T. Brooks

Ready To Fly

Working continuously, weather interruptions aside, the crew had the new engine remounted and ready for leak checks, systems checks, and a ground run. As they labored, media outlets in Switzerland, the rest of Europe, and North America began reporting the story.

Finally on Feb. 9 at 6:00pm local time, and the airliner taxied to the runway under its own power for the first time in a week. LX40 ended its "halfway to LA" flight the following morning, touching down at Zurich Airport at 8:00am.

Photo credit: Darren T. Brooks

Changing an engine-even one as mammoth as the GE90-in five days time is not a remarkable feat. The engine maker and its airline customers practice "stress tests" regularly, working through various maintenance/recovery scenarios. But none of these scenarios factor in Iqaluit's extreme weather. "GE has faced other challenging conditions in the past," Chrissman says. "But we consider this engine change to be one of the most extreme."

But Iqaluit's strange conditions were made much more tolerable because of the thoughtfulness of the Iqaluit community.

"I'm almost sure I'll be back to Iqaluit again," Ruttimann says, "but only in the summer."

Photo credit: Darren T. Brooks

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Immigrants will play the largest part in the growth of the American economy in the next 20 years, according to a report from the Pew Research Center released Wednesday. This is because Baby Boomers  those born between World War II and 1965  are heading into retirement, and for the economy to continue to grow, immigrants will have to be the ones to replace them.

The report was published during a time when the future for many immigrants in the U.S. looked precarious. A few days earlier, President Donald Trump had announced his newest iteration of his temporary immigration ban. The January ban blocked immigrants and travelers from six Muslim-majority nations for 90 days, and it temporarily stopped refugees from entering the U.S.

Trump has also touted his plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to halt illegal crossings.

Read: How Trump Creates Fake News About Immigrants

But according to the Pew study, America will need immigrants for its workforce to grow.

Pew researchers estimated that the number of adults in their prime working age  25 to 64 years old  will rise from 173.2 million in 2015 to 183.2 million in 2035. Athough those numbers may sound high, compared to the past, that growth rate is actually quite low. If the U.S. workforce wants to keep growing, "perhaps the most important component of the growth in the working-age population over the next two decades will be the arrival of future immigrants, the Pew report stated.

Read: As Unions Shrink, Liberals Advocate For Organized Labor

More and more immigrants of working age are expected to come to the U.S. over the next 20 years. The number of working-age immigrants was 33.9 million in 2015, and its expected to grow to 38.5 million by 2035, according to current projections.

Heres the rub: If the projections dont pan out, then the number of working-age immigrants would drop by 17.6 million in 2035. And that would have a rather large effect on the U.S. labor force. Instead of growing, the the number of U.S. workers would fall to 165.6 million.

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Migrant Worker

Photo: Reuters

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U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is moving fast indeed to open talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement.

On Friday, less than two weeks into the job, Ross said sometime in the next couple of weeks he would send a letter to Congress triggering the 90-day notice period before the U.S. can reopen talks with Canada and Mexico on the pact. That would put the start date for the talks sometime around July. He made the announcement at a news conference at the Commerce Department with his Mexican counterpart Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo by his side.

But many economists wonder if renegotiating NAFTA will achieve the effect the Trump administration intends. Trump and White House National Trade Council chief Peter Navarro have assailed trade deficits, claiming they have harmed American workers.

Putting aside the wisdom or folly of making trade policy based on trade deficits, ending NAFTA would devalue the Mexican peso, which would make Mexican goods cheaper and thereby widen the deficit with the U.S., Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said in a post Friday.

Certainly, that is not the end result the U.S. administration would like to see, even if they believe NAFTA to be worst trade deal ever negotiated, de Bolle wrote.

Mexican officials, for their part, have also pointed out that any economic slump at home is likely to lead to an increase in migration pressures northward, another outcome the Trump administration presumably is trying to avoid.

The race to reopen NAFTA is fruit of President Donald Trumps campaign rhetoric, and once elected, he said Ross  and not his designee for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer  would be the point man for negotiations.

Normally the trade rep coordinates administration policy on trade issues, and some trade experts doubt that such nitty-gritty negotiations can be carried out without the trade representative calling the shots. But in any case, Ross isnt waiting for Lighthizer, who still needs a special waiver before he can be confirmed by the Senate. (He worked on behalf of Brazil in a 1985 trade dispute, and for a Chinese firm in a 1991 spat.)

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But ultimately Rosss biggest challenge may not be whether Lighthizer is there to shepherd tough negotiations, but whether Washington will have enough leverage to push for the kinds of politically-agonizing concessions from Mexico that the administration is seeking. Recent efforts to tweak NAFTA were done thanks to the juicy carrot of membership in the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership. Updating a mere three-way deal give the United States a lot fewer carrots to dangle.

In an interview with Foreign Policy, de Bolle added that Mexico has been diversifying supply chains, signing 10 free trade agreements with 45 countries, meaning it doesnt necessarily have to rely on American products.

Given the state of play here, Mexico is exploring other avenues, and there are some very clear ones for them, she said.

Photo credit: AARON P. BERNSTEIN/Getty Images
ROTTERDAM (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will not be allowed to campaign for the Turkish referendum during a visit to Rotterdam on Saturday, the mayor of the Dutch port city said on Friday. "He has diplomatic immunity and everything so we will treat him with respect, but we have other instruments to prohibit things happening in public spaces," Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told reporters. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Neither the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 nor Galaxy S8 Plus have been confirmed, but it is likely the upcoming smartphones will have a lot in common. Rumors surrounding the Galaxy S8 indicate Samsung will bring a host of new features to the smartphone. Those features may then trickle down to the Galaxy Note 8 later in 2017.

Typically, the Galaxy Note line is considered larger and more powerful than Galaxy S smartphones. However, rumors not only suggest Samsung may release two phablets during its spring launch, the larger device, the Galaxy S8 Plus, may have a 6.2-inch display. The device is expected to be around the same size as the Galaxy Note 7, which had 153.5 x 73.9 x 7.9 mm dimensions and a 3,500 mAh battery.

While unconfirmed, it is possible the Galaxy Note 8 could be similar to the Galaxy S8 Plus in terms of size and design. One major difference between the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy S8 Plus would likely be the inclusion of an built-in S-Pen on the Galaxy Note 8. This would make the two devices similar to the Galaxy S7 Edge and the Galaxy Note 7.

The Galaxy Galaxy S7 Edge is a 5.5-inch phablet with a 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7 mm dimensions and a 3,600mAh battery. The Galaxy Note 7 is a 5.7-inch phablet with 153.5 x 73.7 x 7.9 dimensions and a 3,500mAh battery. What is interesting about the devices is the Galaxy Note 7 is slightly larger than the Galaxy S7 Edge, but features a smaller battery. Samsung representative told iDigitalTimes just prior to the Galaxy Note 7 launch that its battery was smaller than the Galaxy S7 Edge battery to make room for the Galaxy Note 7 S-Pen.

If the difference between the Galaxy Note 7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge is any indication, it is possible the Galaxy Note 8 could similarly have a smaller battery than the Galaxy S8 Plus for the same reason.

There are two battery rumors circulating for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. One rumor suggests 3,250mAh and 3,750mAh battery capacities for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus respectively. The other rumor suggests 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh batteries for the devices. Both rumors remain unconfirmed. It is notable that rumors are suggesting the Galaxy S8 Plus may have the same battery capacity as the Galaxy Note 7.

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Some murmurs suggest Galaxy S8 Plus may be a test bed for future Galaxy Note devices. The Galaxy Note 8 could be similar in display size and dimensions to the Galaxy S8 Plus, with the inclusion of a built in S-Pen.

Samsung similarly tested a design tweak on the Galaxy S7 Edge, giving the device more shallow curves and a thinner frame than previous Edge models, before using the design on the Galaxy Note 7.

Samsung is expected to use its dual-edge curved display as a design feature on all future flagships. Both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are expected to have dual-edge curved displays. In the past Samsung has released one flat display device and one curved display device, to give consumers options. But now, the devices be differentiate by size, much like with the iPhone.

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are also expected to feature no home button and thin bezels to create more usable screen real estate for the device. The Galaxy Note 8 will likely also have this design.

While the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are still expected to release without an S-Pen stylus, rumors suggest Samsung may add stylus compatibility to the devices and offer a sold-separately S-Pen for the devices.

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When we think of objects in space, at least the larger ones like stars, planets and moons, we think well-rounded shapes, which are caused by the effect of gravity in objects with large masses. And while comets and asteroids often have unusual shapes, a ravioli-shaped moon is something quite extraordinary.

But thats quite close to what Pan, one of Saturns 62 known moons, looks like. It could also be seen as a walnut, albeit a flat-ish one, if thats what you prefer. Actually, it could also be said to resemble the shape of a UFO, as it exists in popular imagination (not that we actually know what UFOs look like). The unusual shape of the celestial body was discovered by NASAs Cassini spacecraft, which photographed the moon March 7.

Read: Cassini Snaps High-Res Pictures Of Saturns Pandora, Another Weird-Looking Moon

Pan2

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Pan is the second-innermost moon of Saturn, whose existence was first predicted in 1985 due to gravitational disturbances in the Encke Gap within Saturns A Ring  the outermost of the planets unique bright and large rings. It was photographed by Voyager 2, but its shape became clear only with the new photographs from Cassini.

The spacecraft made a flyby of Pan with a close-approach distance of 24,572 kilometers (15,268 miles). The center ridge on Pan is likely made up of ring material the moon has absorbed from the Encke Gap within which it orbits.

Read: Cassini Captures Details Pictures Of Saturns Rings

The Cassini-Hugyens mission is a collaboration between NASA, European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. It launched Oct. 15, 1997, and landed on Titan, Saturns largest moon, in January 2005. The imaging operations center for Cassini is at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

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Schools Strong in Biological Sciences

Students might pursue a degree in biology or biochemistry as a path to medical school or a variety of careers.

Whatever their goals, prospective students can explore the top 10 Best Global Universities for Biology and Biochemistry, as ranked by U.S. News based on academic research performance in this subject area.

Updated Oct. 31, 2017: This slideshow has been updated with ranks from the 2018 U.S. News Best Global Universities rankings.

10. Cornell University

Location: Ithaca, New York, U.S.

Best Global Universities overall rank: 23

Fact: Cornell University offers around 80 undergraduate majors, according to its website, including biology and society, chemistry and chemical biology, and biological engineering.

9. Johns Hopkins University

Location: Baltimore

Best Global Universities overall rank: 10 (tie)

Fact: Johns Hopkins University conducted $2.3 billion in medical, science and engineering research in fiscal year 2015, according to its website.

8. University of California--San Diego

Location: La Jolla, California, U.S.

Best Global Universities overall rank: 16

Fact: The University of California--San Diego's biological sciences division has around 90 research labs, according to its website.

7. University of Oxford

Location: Oxford, England, United Kingdom

Best Global Universities overall rank: 5

Fact: The University of Oxford's biochemistry department offers a four-year program for undergrads that leads to a master's credential, according to the department's website.

6. University of Cambridge

Location: Cambridge, England, U.K.

Best Global Universities overall rank: 7

Fact: The department of biochemistry is one of the University of Cambridge's largest departments, according to the institution's website.

5. University of California--San Francisco

Location: San Francisco

Best Global Universities overall rank: 15

Fact: For globally minded students, the University of California--San Francisco offers a one-year master's program and a doctoral program in global health sciences, according to the school's website.

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4. Stanford University

Location: Stanford, California, U.S.

Best Global Universities overall rank: 3

Fact: In fall 2016, human biology was the second most popular undergraduate major at Stanford University, according to the institution's website. Computer science was the most popular.

3. University of California--Berkeley

Location: Berkeley, California, U.S.

Best Global Universities overall rank: 4

Fact: The University of California--Berkeley has field stations for biology researchers in places as close as San Jose, California, and as far as French Polynesia, according to the school's website.

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.

Best Global Universities overall rank: 2

Fact: Three members of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's biology department faculty are recipients of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, according to the university's website.

1. Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.

Best Global Universities overall rank: 1

Fact: Harvard University is affiliated with more than a dozen hospitals and health-focused research institutes in the Boston area, per its website, creating many opportunities for student research in life sciences fields.

Learn More About Studying Overseas

Learn about global universities that offer free or very low tuition, and consider these factors about residency when looking at international medical schools.

Follow U.S. News Education on Facebook and Twitter for more education rankings and advice.

Kelly Mae Ross is an education staff writer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at kross@usnews.com.


HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  Several states are considering legislation this year to end or curb child marriages.

A Connecticut bill would prohibit marriage licenses for anyone under 18, and is awaiting committee action. Legislation also has been proposed in New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Texas, Missouri, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

While the legal age to marry in Connecticut state is already 18, state law also allows 16- and 17-year-olds to marry as long as they have parental consent. Children, 15 or younger, can marry if they obtain approval from a parent and a probate court judge.

Human rights activists say such exceptions have led to forced and arranged child marriages.

"We know that girls that are married as children are more likely to experience domestic violence," said Fraidy Reiss, the founder and executive director of the New Jersey-based nonprofit Unchained At Last, which works to help women and girls escape arranged and forced marriages.

Reiss is pushing to pass legislation in several states this year. She said Connecticut's law doesn't provide a process to ensure parental consent is not coerced and sets no minimum age for marriage that probate judges must follow.

According to the most recently available statistics, the Connecticut Department of Public Health says 159 females and 28 males under 18 were married in Connecticut between 2011 and 2015, out of a total of 96,452 marriages.

Reiss said the department data she reviewed show about 1,140 children as young as 14 were married in Connecticut between 2000 and 2014, with more than 88 percent of the girls wed to older men.

Legislation also has been proposed in New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Texas, Missouri, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Some bills include exceptions, such as the New York proposal, which would still allow 17-year-olds to marry with a judge's consent. Virginia last year passed legislation that prohibits marriage licenses for people under 18 except for emancipated minors, Reiss said.

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The New Hampshire House on Thursday rejected a bill that would have increased the minimum marriage age to 18. Republican lawmakers argued it would hurt young military members and pregnant teenagers. GOP Rep. David Bates said the legislation would have made it impossible for 17-year-olds who join the military to marry before they deploy, resulting in more children being born out of wedlock.

Bushra Farook, 17, a senior at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, Connecticut, is hoping state lawmakers pass the legislation.

When she was 13, her mother married a man whose extended family lives in Bangladesh. Farook told legislators about how her new stepfather one day questioned her plans for the future.

"I thought he was genuinely concerned about me," she said. "I could not have been more wrong. He was looking to marry me to one of his nephews."

When she turned 16, Farook said, her mother expressed support for her getting married. Farook was then introduced to a man who was eight years older for a possible husband. Farook said the prospects caused her stress and she performed poorly in school, until her mother backed off on the idea of marriage.

"Our relationship is healthy again, and I'm focusing on school and my own individual future," she said. "I cannot help but think, though, that the experiences over the past four years have shaped my life forever."
Sharing is one of the first interpersonal skills we develop as kids. The sandbox toys are for everyone. Bobby gets a turn on the swings, then Belinda does. You dont offer treats to classmates unless you have enough for everyone.

But by that measure, the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition may need to go back to preschool. The journal recently found itself arguing the unarguable when it tried to expel a member of its editorial board who refused to review a manuscript until the authors  gasp!  showed their data.

The journal, which flies under the flag of the American Psychological Association (APA), backed down after the reviewer, Gert Storms, of the University of Leuven in Belgium, refused to quit, as did two other reviewers for the publication. But the parent organization affirmed to Nature that its policy was to let authors decide what data, if any, theyd like to provide.

While we support open sharing of data when it can be ethically shared, we leave the decision of whether to do so to the author, APA publisher Rose Sokol-Chang told the magazine.

Read more: In defense of data sharing, but done in the right way

And theres the rub: Authors often dont want to share. Sometimes, they claim that the data are proprietary, which may well be the case. But there are solutions to that. Data can be shared with reviewers on a confidential basis, as Simine Vazire, a psychologist at the University of California, Davis, suggested to Nature.

Or perhaps the data involve identifying patient information. Fine. Strip away that information, and consider using a trusted middleman like YODA, the Yale University Open Data Access Project. Even pharmaceutical companies  who may have billions riding on proprietary data  are willing to share through YODA.

But sometimes, the reasons for not sharing reflect the hypercompetitive culture of science and its heavy emphasis on publishing in prestigious journals  outlets like the New England Journal of Medicine. NEJM has, to its credit, embarked on one campaign designed to increase data-sharing. In the SPRINT Data Analysis Challenge, the journal made sure that data from a recent trial were available to researchers, and encouraged them to come up with new questions to try to answer.

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But not everyone is happy. Dr. Jackson Wright, a clinical trial researcher at Case Western Reserve University, told Nature that the incentives to do these trials will be dramatically lessened if this is going to be the expectation going forward. Its a huge time commitment.

Weve criticized NEJM before for not doing enough to encourage  some might say force  researchers to do the right thing and share data. They have a rather large club to wield, and they should do it more. But they deserve kudos for their most recent effort. (And perhaps we need better incentives for data-sharing, so that Wright and his colleagues get credit for doing what we and many others argue is the right thing.)

Read more: How researchers lock up their study data with sharing fees

The APA, however, deserves quite the opposite. Their caveat emptor attitude smacks of the same kind of indifference to integrity that journals displayed for decades while allowing fraudsters and other errant authors to write their own retraction notices. Yes, that happened (still does, to a much lesser extent), and its one of the reasons that we didnt know until only recently that most papers are retracted for misconduct rather than honest error: Oh, Dr. Jones, you say you accidentally spliced images from four different experiments into that figure, but the results of your study havent changed? Sounds good to us!

Whats more, the stance is foolishly shortsighted. Given what many say is a sorry state of affairs in psychology research, where published studies are more likely than not to be non-replicable, youd think the APA would demand that authors share their data.

As Vizire told Nature, trying to evaluate a study without being able to see the underlying results is like buying a used car without being able to look under the hood.

Does the APA really want to the publishing equivalent of a shady used car dealer? We hope not.
Brussels (AFP) - The EU has ditched the traditional "family photo" of leaders at Brussels summits as it seeks a more modern image for the bloc, European sources said.

Until the end of last year, the 28 European Union leaders gathering for their regular meetings would pose together for photographers in what was meant to be a show of unity.

But news organisations have been told by the European Council, the body that arranges summits, that as of the latest meeting on Thursday and Friday, the family photo is no longer taking place.

"Part of the idea was to have a more modern visual image" than just the leaders lined up in rows, a senior diplomatic source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The decision was also part of efforts by European Council chief Donald Tusk, who was re-elected on Thursday, to "streamline" summits that often drag late into the night, the source said.

"These photos can actually take quite a lot of time."

EU institutions were trying to offer photographers more time to take pictures of leaders as they get down to business in the summit room, the source said.

The decision comes as the EU is divided on many fronts, with Poland reacting furiously at this summit after leaders re-elected former Polish premier Tusk as EU chief despite objections from Warsaw.

Sources denied it was political at a time when the EU is about to start hosting official summits with both the full 28 members but also at 27 -- when Britain is barred from talks on its impending exit from the union.

Family photos are a tradition at summit meetings of many organisations around the world, often offering a light-hearted moment before leaders discuss serious issues.

It can also be a glimpse into the personal politics and body language behind the political spin as the leaders gather together in one place.

Famously, leaders at the APEC Asia-Pacific summit dress up every year in the national costume of the host country, leading to the sight of US and Russian presidents wearing colourful outfits from around the region.

The EU's own photo opportunities have not always worked out in the past, with leaders being mocked for going on a ride on a huge luxury yacht in Malta in February during a summit focused on the migration crisis in which thousands of people have drowned in the Mediterranean.
By Elizabeth Piper BRUSSELS (Reuters) - It was her last EU summit before launching Brexit, but British Prime Minister Theresa May was keener to talk about pretty much anything else. May, who will trigger Article 50 of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty to launch two years of divorce talks later this month, was keen not to linger on her plans for some of the most complicated negotiations Britain has faced since World War Two. At a meeting held in the shadow of Brexit but dominated by more immediate concerns like re-electing the EU summit chairman, May set out to show her fellow leaders that Britain was still a reliable member, despite choosing "a different path". She offered suggestions on everything from countering Russian "disinformation" to tackling organised crime - topics that helped her to underline Britain's contribution in areas like security and intelligence. Underlying her arguments was an implicit reminder to her partners in the upcoming negotiations that the UK has strengths that they need. "At this summit we've shown once again how Britain will continue to play a leading role in Europe long after we have left the EU," she told reporters, announcing for example that she would boost security cooperation and host a summit for the Western Balkans. But on the EU's most pressing question - the timing of triggering Article 50 - she gave little away, only reiterating that she would launch the talks by the end of this month. WISH THEM WELL May enters the negotiations with a long wish list - wanting the closest possible trading ties, security cooperation, regaining control over immigration and restoring sovereignty over British laws. The EU has balked at her demands, saying they amount to "having your cake and eating it", and May's government acknowledges it is a bold opening position. But she promised to remain "a good friend and ally" to the EU, reminding the leaders of the benefits of cooperation with Britain to try to persuade them to maintain "frictionless trade" and strong economic ties. Apart from justice cooperation, Britain has talked up its deployment of troops on the EU's eastern fringe to stem an emboldened Russia. May's team has also signalled areas for possible compromise, including fisheries policy. She has not ruled out paying into EU coffers to participate in "some specific European programmes". But the fact that May left the summit after a dinner late on Thursday was a reminder that Britain is already, more often than not, out of the room. The other 27 leaders will use Friday to prepare for a "unity" summit to be held in Rome on March 25, the 60th anniversary of the treaty that laid the EU's foundation. "We've chosen a different path and we wish them well," a British government source said on Wednesday when asked whether May will be invited. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Jonathan Oatis)
With Adam Rawnsley

More war. After 16 years of combat in the Middle East and Afghanistan, the United States is ramping up. Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, told Congress Thursday that hell likely recommend troop increases in Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria in the coming months. Its unclear what the Trump administration will do with any such request, but given the presidents calls to crush ISIS quickly, its likely that the troops will soon be moving out.

The call for more troops comes amid rapid changes already happening in the U.S. military posture in the region, FPs Paul McLeary and Dan De Luce point out. Just this week, hundreds of U.S. Marines deployed to Syria and U.S. Army special operations forces were rushed to northern Syria to act as a buffer between the U.S.-backed fighters and Turkish-backed militias. American warplanes have also unleashed a new wave of bombing runs on al Qaeda in Yemen.

More from FP: The deployments raise questions about the overall U.S. policy in the Middle East and other hotspots like Somalia or northern Africa. U.S. military commanders have been careful not to portray the recent moves as a broad change in existing policy, but instead as plans long in the works. One former Obama administration official told FP that the strikes in Yemen and troop increases in Syria are really more of a continuation than a departure from Obama administration counterterrorism policy, albeit significantly accelerated from the ponderous way the Obama team made its decisions.

Yemen. A week of U.S. airstrikes on al Qaeda in Yemen has also raised questions over what the future U.S. role in that countrys bloody civil war might be. But bolder military action without a clear diplomatic plan can bring unintended consequences, De Luce and McLeary write in another story. Focusing narrowly on the military objective of counterterrorism strikes without a strategy to resolve the stalemated Yemeni civil war  and address Saudi and Iranian involvement there  will do little to bring stability to the country, or solve the underlying ethnic and religious tensions that have allowed al Qaedas branch there to flourish, experts said.

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Raid fallout. A Jan. 29 Navy SEAL raid on an al Qaeda compound in Yemen has created controversy after the death of one SEAL, as many as 14 civilians, and the crash of a $70 million U.S. aircraft. Gen. Votel said Thursday hes taking responsibility for the raid. The general told the Senate Armed Services Committee, I am the CENTCOM commander and I am responsible for whats done in my region and whats not done in my region. So I accept the responsibility for this. We lost a lot on this operation. Votels ownership of the operation follows a controversial statement from President Trump disclaiming responsibility for the operation. Referring vaguely to the generals, Trump told Fox News that they lost Ryan  Chief Petty Officer William Ryan Owens, the SEAL killed in the operation.

Back in Syria. Things are getting worse between Turkey and the Kurds. Turkish forces and their Syrian Arab allies said Friday they killed over 70 Kurdish fighters in northern Syria this week, and Syrian Kurds said they can take Raqqa by themselves, and reject Washingtons efforts to enlist Turkish help. Turkish and Kurd forces are currently skirmishing near the city of Manbij, with American special forces having recently deployed to act as a buffer between the two sides. There have also been pictures of Russian troops with the U.S. trained and equipped Kurds, as Moscow continues to make itself into a player in any possible deal between the Kurds and Turkey. Still, Turkey says it has hope for good relations with the trump administration.

Marine scandal widens. What started as a scandal over a Marine Corps-themed Facebook page whose members shared naked pictures and identifying information  along with explicit calls for sexual assault  of female Marines has grown.

Business Insider reports that hundreds of nude photos of female service members from every military branch have been posted to an image-sharing message board that dates back to at least May. A source informed Business Insider of the sites existence on Tuesday. The site, called AnonIB, has a dedicated board for military personnel that features dozens of threaded conversations among men, many of whom ask for wins  naked photographs  of specific female service members, often identifying the women by name or where they are stationed. The new revelation comes after the original scoop by journalist Thomas Brennan. He uncovered the Marines United facebook group, which hosted approximately 30,000 members.

Welcome to SitRep. Send any tips, thoughts or national security events to paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or via Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley.

SEAL raid. An in-depth investigation by The Intercept takes a look at the controversial U.S. special operations raid in Yemen that resulted in the death of a U.S. Navy Seal and several Yemeni civilians. The news outlet reports that the raid was not, as the White House has claimed, an attempt to collect intelligence but instead was aimed at killing Qassim al Rimi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Residents of the village initially believed that the raid was being carried out by Houthi forces. After coming under heavy fire, the SEAL team called in air support. Locals describe Apache helicopters firing indiscriminately and causing many of the casualties among civilians in the village.

Tests. Satellite imagery of North Koreas nuclear test site shows that Pyongyang is gearing up for another test at some point. 38 North reviewed imagery of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site and found signs of activity at the portals leading to the underground test tunnel consistent with signs of preparation for a test. While the site is now capable of supporting a nuclear test on short notice, its impossible to tell so far when the next test might take place.

Retaliation. The U.S. has already deployed its controversial ballistic missile defense system to South Korea, but China is still putting the squeeze on South Korea to show its continued anger at the decision. Reuters reports that Chinese travel and tourism companies have been pressured to cut off flights and cruise stops at South Korean tourist citizens popular with Chinese travelers as a result of Seouls decision to host the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in the south of the country. The U.S. and China say the THAAD battery is there only to defend against North Korean missiles but China is wary of the THAAD radars ability to reach into its own territory.

Discipline. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey intervened to remove mention of a two star generals misuse of government resources to carry on an affair, according to a USA Today investigation. The incident took place when Dempsey was commander of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, and Dempseys intervention in the investigation of Maj. Gen. John Custer  then in command of the Army Intelligence Center and School at Fort Huachuca  led a review board to go easy on the general, allowing him to retire at full rank and pension. The Army inspector general found that Custer had ordered his staff to buy racy clothing for the woman he was having an affair with. Custer was also found to have sent racist and sexist emails.

Kidnap plot. Israeli authorities have arrested a man whom they allege was planning to kidnap an Israeli citizen on behalf of Hezbollah and smuggle him to Lebanon. Ynet News reports that Israels domestic intelligence service Shin Bet alleges that Yousef Yasser Sweilam was recruited by Hezbollah over Facebook and instructed to surveil various targets across Israel, including from military. Hezbollahs kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in 2006 triggered a month-long war between Israel and the terrorist group.

Detention. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says hed be ok with adding new prisoners to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and trying them in military courts instead of civilian federal ones. Interviewed for a talk radio show, Sessions described Guantanamo as a very fine place for holding these kinds of dangerous criminals. He also expressed skepticism about the trials of terrorists in federal civilian courts, lamenting that accused terrorists get discovery rights to find out our intelligence and get court-appointed lawyers and things of that nature.

Photo Credit: DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images
By Thomas Wilson and Minami Funakoshi TOKYO (Reuters) - "Radiation! Bang bang!" Gesturing as if with guns, two boys in Tokyo repeatedly taunted a girl whose family fled to Japan's capital to escape radioactivity unleashed by the Fukushima nuclear crisis of 2011. Tormented by headaches and weight loss, the girl began to skip classes, and switched schools to escape the bullies, her mother told Reuters. But the very radiation that uprooted the family brought more pain in her new home. "For her to be called 'radioactive' was heartbreaking," said the mother, speaking on condition of anonymity. Six years after an earthquake and tsunami sparked the Fukushima meltdown, several cases of "nuclear bullying," as the Japanese media calls them, have prompted discrimination similar to that suffered by survivors of the World War Two atom bombs. Japan has long grappled with bullying, but discrimination against Fukushima evacuees is a serious problem, with a government panel last month urging greater efforts to safeguard such children. It called for better mental care in schools and asked teachers to improve their understanding of the disaster's likely psychological and physical effects, besides watching for signs of bullying, so that it can be stopped. Discrimination over the March 11, 2011 nuclear calamity, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986, appears widespread. Nearly two-thirds of Fukushima evacuees faced prejudice or knew of some who did, a recent poll by the Asahi newspaper showed. One boy suffered years of bullying after fleeing from Fukushima aged around 8, a regional educational board found in an investigation prompted by the family's lawyers. Students in his new home in Japan's second largest city of Yokohama hit and kicked the boy, calling him a "germ." They also demanded a share of the evacuee compensation they believed he was receiving. The boy, who is now 14 and wants to remain anonymous, paid them 1.5 million yen ($13,200) to avoid physical abuse, the family's lawyer said. "I thought of dying many times," he wrote at the time. "They treated me like a germ because of the radiation." The board had initially refused to investigate, heeding only the written request of the lawyers, said one of them, Kei Hida. PRESSURE TO CONFORMBullying, known as "ijime," is one aspect of the immense pressure facing Japanese children to conform, with the most recent data showing a record 224,540 cases in 2015. The new guidelines for disaster-stricken children supplement laws adopted four years ago requiring better measures in schools to detect, and prevent, bullying. The scale of abuse is impossible to gauge, as child evacuees rarely protest. But more than half face some form of it, said Yuya Kamoshita, leader of an evacuees rights group. "Evacuees tend to stick out, and are easily categorized as 'different', which makes them prone to bullying," he said. Schools and education boards' efforts to tackle the problem have fallen short, he and other lawyers said. The cases are reminiscent of victims of the 1945 bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, whose radiation exposure led to discrimination in marriage and at work over mistaken fears of infection, or birth defects in their children. The bullying of Fukushima evacuees springs from similar prejudice, say victims, raising fears of the treatment they will encounter as adults. "Children who were in Fukushima may be unable to get married when they grow up, or their husbands may wonder whether they can have babies," said the girl's mother, who is from Iwaki, a city 50 km (31 miles) south of the nuclear plant. "I think this anxiety will stay with her." Bullying has a corrosive effect, said Masaharu Tsubokura, a Fukushima doctor who has treated disaster survivors and worked to spread understanding of radiation. "Some children can resist bullying, they can talk back," he said. "But others cannot, they just hide themselves away. They lose their confidence and dignity." (Reporting by Thomas Wilson and Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Malcolm Foster and Clarence Fernandez)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump announced Friday that has chosen a conservative doctor-turned-pundit with deep ties to Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry to lead the powerful Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb would be tasked with Trump's goal of cutting red tape at the FDA, which regulates everything from pharmaceuticals to seafood to electronic cigarettes. Trump has called the FDA's drug approval process "slow and burdensome" despite changes to speed reviews, particularly of cutting-edge products.

Gottlieb, 44, is no stranger to the FDA  he served as a deputy commissioner under President George W. Bush. While he has frequently criticized the FDA for unnecessary regulations and urged changes to get safe and effective drugs onto the market faster, he generally has supported its overall mission.

A Senate vote is required before Gottlieb can take over as head of the agency.

Gottlieb is a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a partner in the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. He has spent more than a decade in Washington rotating between the worlds of government, health policy consulting and political think tanks.

Since leaving the FDA in 2007, Gottlieb has served as a board member or adviser to at least nine pharmaceutical or medical technology companies, according to his LinkedIn profile. Gottlieb is a consultant to GlaxoSmithKline's product investment board; a managing director at T.R. Winston & Company merchant bank, which specializes in health care; and a clinical assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine. He also is a policy adviser to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.

There are likely to be questions at his Senate confirmation hearing about how those ties might affect his decisions at the FDA.

Federal ethics rules do not require government officials to sell off their investments, but they must recuse themselves from matters that would affect those investments. As part of the federal vetting process, FDA nominees typically disclose and sell stocks, funds and other investments that could pose a financial conflict of interest.

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Gottlieb generally supports reduced FDA regulation, particularly for emerging products like health apps and wearable devices like the Apple Watch. But he has never embraced libertarian-leaning proposals that would have the FDA abandon its effectiveness reviews of drugs and medical products. Under those plans, the FDA would simply approve products that appear safe, allowing the private sector to determine how well they actually treat diseases or medical conditions.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who serves on the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees FDA funding, said the nomination sends the message that Trump is committed to "rolling back regulations and opening the floodgates to potentially dangerous drugs and medical devices."

The evaluation of medical effectiveness has been a cornerstone of the FDA's mission since the early 1960s and is universally embraced by its staff and the businesses it regulates.

"If FDA were not in business of evaluating effectiveness then these companies wouldn't be able to say much. Where companies distinguish themselves is by being able to claim that their product actually does something," said Michael Gaba, an industry attorney who specializes in FDA law.

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Associated Press writer Matthew Perrone contributed to this report.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  South Korean police on Saturday braced for more violence between opponents and supporters of ousted President Park Geun-hye, who was stripped of her powers by the Constitutional Court over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into a political turmoil.

Three people died and dozens were injured in clashes between police and Park's supporters after the ruling Friday, according to police, which detained seven protesters for questioning.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency was planning to deploy nearly 20,000 officers and hundreds of buses to separate the two crowds, whose passionate rallies have divided the streets near the presidential palace in the past several weekends as the scandal worsened.

The court's decision capped a stunning fall for the country's first female leader. Park rode a wave of lingering conservative nostalgia for her late dictator father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency crumble as millions of furious protesters filled the nation's streets.

The ruling allows possible criminal proceedings against the 65-year-old Park  prosecutors have already named her a criminal suspect  and makes her South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.

It also deepens South Korea's political and security uncertainty as it faces existential threats from North Korea, reported economic retaliation from a China furious about Seoul's cooperation with the U.S. on an anti-missile system, and questions in Seoul about the new Trump administration's commitment to the countries' security alliance.

South Korea must now hold an election within two months to choose Park's successor. Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys.

Kim Yong-deok, the chief of the National Election Commission, said Saturday that the election will be managed "accurately and perfectly" and urged the public to participate in a vote that would "determine the fate of the Republic of Korea," referring to South Korea's formal name.

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Park's "acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust," Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said. "The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big. Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye."

Lee accused Park of colluding with longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort tens of millions of dollars from businesses and letting Choi, a private citizen, meddle in state affairs and receive and look at documents with state secrets. Those allegations were previously made by prosecutors, but Park has refused to undergo any questioning, citing a law that gives a sitting leader immunity from prosecution.

It is not clear when prosecutors will try to interview her.

Park hasn't vacated the presidential Blue House yet, as her aides are preparing for her return to her private home in southern Seoul, according to her office. Park has not made a public statement on her removal.

Park's lawyer, Seo Seok-gu, who had previously compared her impeachment to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, called the verdict a "tragic decision" made under popular pressure and questioned the fairness of what he called a "kangaroo court."

Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70 to 80 percent of South Koreans wanted the court to approve Park's impeachment. But there have been worries that Park's ouster would further polarize the country and cause violence.

Sensing history, thousands of people  both pro-Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who wanted Park gone  gathered around the Constitutional Court building and a huge public square in downtown Seoul.

Some of Park's supporters reacted with anger after the ruling, shouting and hitting police officers and reporters with plastic flag poles and steel ladders and climbing on police buses. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the acting head of state, pleaded for peace and urge protesters to move on. Anti-Park protesters celebrated by marching in the streets near the Blue House, carrying flags, signs and an effigy of Park dressed in prison clothes and tied up with rope.

Police and hospital officials said three people died while protesting Park's removal. A man in his 70s, believed to be a Park supporter, died after a large speaker that had been mounted on a police truck fell on his head, police said. They are questioning a Park supporter who allegedly knocked off the speaker by stealing a police bus and crashing it into the truck.

Police said that another man in his 70s died early Saturday after collapsing near the court. An official from the nearby Kangbuk Samsung Hospital said another man brought from the pro-Park rally died shortly after receiving CPR at the hospital.

Prosecutors have arrested and indicted a slew of high-profile figures over the scandal, including Park's confidante Choi, top Park administration officials and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.

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Associated Press writers Hyung-jing Kim and Foster Klug contributed to this report.
By Denis Dumo JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said on Friday he had pardoned two senior government officials and promised to release other political prisoners, as his rule faces surging resistance, warfare and famine. "I did not come to speak politics. I have come to pardon Gen. Elias Waya and Gen. Andrea Dominic, Kiir said at a gathering in the capital Juba. "Any other political detainees, I will release them all tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Waya is a former governor of Wau state in the country's northwest and Dominic was his deputy. They were arrested in June 2016 and have since been detained at a military facility in Juba. Officials have never given a reason for their detention. South Sudan, Africa's youngest nation, was first plunged into war in December 2013 when a power struggle between Kiir and his then deputy Riek Machar turned into a military confrontation. The ensuing two-year conflict was ended by a peace pact in August 2015. Nearly a year ago Machar returned to Juba and his old post, but lingering animus between the two men, who hail from rival tribes, exploded into fighting between their forces again in Juba in June. War and lawlessness have since uprooted an estimated three million people and decimated the economy. Failed harvests in traditional food basket areas have triggered famine in a country rich in oil resources. On Monday disaffected Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo Swaka accused Kiir of turning the country's military into a "tribal army", launched a new rebel National Salvation Front and vowed to topple him. (Additional reporting by Hakim George; writing by Elias Biryabarema; editing by Andrew Roche)
Photo credit: SpaceX

From Popular Mechanics

Over the past two years, SpaceX has successfully recovered eight of their rockets after they were used to launch payloads into space. Of these, one is permanently on display outside SpaceX headquarters, while the other seven will theoretically be used for additional launches in the future. According to Bloomberg, at least one of those launches is no longer theoretical, and is scheduled for sometime this month.

At an industry conference in DC this week, SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell announced that the first flight of a used Falcon 9 booster is scheduled for sometime in the next few weeks. The rocket will fly a satellite manufactured by Luxembourg-based communications company SES. The SES satellite, SES-10, was originally supposed to launch in the last quarter of 2016, but SpaceX delayed all rocket launches for several months after a launchpad explosion in September of that year.

If this next launch is successful, it will pave the way for SpaceX to make affordable rocket launches a reality. The company's goal is to reuse their boosters multiple times over to bring down the cost per launch significantly. We'll only have to wait a few more weeks now to see if SpaceX can make that happen.

Source: Bloomberg

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Sarnago (Espana) (AFP) - Sarnago lost its last resident 37 years ago but Jose Maria Carrascosa and his association are trying hard to revive the village, an uphill battle in one of Spain's most depopulated regions.

A rural exodus, which began in the 1950s as people moved to find work in factories, has left some parts of Spain with just two people per square kilometre -- the same density as in Siberia.

This is the case in parts of Castile, a vast region in central Spain where Sarnago is located, in the northern Aragon region and the southern provinces of Extremadura.

It makes Spain a "strange country within Europe" since no other similarly sized nation on the continent has such demographic deserts, Spanish writer Sergio del Molino wrote in his travel book "La Espana Vacia" ("Empty Spain"), published last year.

"The depopulation here was brutal," said Jesus Hernandez, the mayor of San Pedro Manrique, a larger town of around 600 residents near Sarnago.

The emigration from the region was especially fuelled by a decision in 1965 while Spain was in the grips of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to plant 22,000 hectares (54,000 acres) of pine trees to feed the paper industry, which pushed out cereal farming.

Two years later, Carrascosa's father moved his family to Tudela, a town further east in the fertile Ebro Valley.

- Not forgotten -

But wind-swept Sarnago, which at one point was home to about 400 people including 30 children, has not been forgotten by its former residents, who have restored 25 of its 40 houses and now have running water and access to electricity.

Carrascosa, who heads an association that seeks to reverse the village's fortunes, is proud of his three-bedroom home in Sarnago, which he visits regularly for short stays.

Through meetings, a magazine and social media, he encourages other former residents to maintain a link with the village too.

The restoration of homes, though, has still not led to any permanent residents, mainly due to lack of public services in the village, located some 200 kilometres (135 miles) northeast of Madrid.

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The nearest public health centre is four km away in San Pedro Manrique but offers only basic medical care.

There is a primary school there as well, with 66 children, but no high school.

Jesus Catalan, a 71-year-old pensioner, and his wife live in Sarnago from March to October but leave in winter when temperatures can drop to minus 15 degrees C (5 degrees F).

"January and February are very hard and if there is a heavy snowfall you are trapped," he said.

Rural tourism has grown in recent years in the region, which boasts picturesque tree-covered valleys, mountains and even dinosaur footprints.

Father of two Gonzalo Esteban, 42, moved to the nearby town of Yanguas, with just 40 residents, in 2001 with his wife from Valladolid, a city of 300,000 residents, 250 km away, to open a rural inn with a restaurant specialising in mushroom dishes.

But Esteban said he was aware that the town, which has just seven young families including his own, could easily die out.

"All it would take is for three families to leave with their children," he said.

Rural tourism is not enough to make up for the decline in agriculture, as farm workers over the decades have been drawn away to factory or administrative jobs in the nearby Basque Country and Navarra.

Elsewhere in Spain, the industrialised regions around Madrid and Barcelona also proved a pull to rural workers, while out-of-date machinery and farming techniques in poorer places sent people in search of better paid jobs.

- Incentives to farm -

Farming is key in revitalising the deserted areas, unions and environmentalists argue.

"If there are no farmers and livestock breeders, villages become depopulated," said Aurelio Gonzalez, head of the regional branch of the union of small farmers and breeders.

European Union agricultural subsidies, which focus on boosting competitiveness instead of "the net amount of jobs created", are also to blame, said Daniel Lopez, of environmental group Ecologists in Action.

He pushes for more support for ecological farming, with similar programmes as in France and Italy.

During the medieval Reconquest, or Christan campaigns to recapture territory from the Moors, livestock farmers received financial incentives to set up on land taken from the Muslims, Carrascosa said.

Juan Antonio Sanchez Quero, who is in charge of fighting depopulation at the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, said it was time to again offer fiscal incentives to livestock farmers to reverse a process that threatens to close many towns.

"Something like that" could help his region and others like it, Carrascosa said.
Madrid (AFP) - A Spanish man has been sentenced to more than 13 years in jail for running a pyramid scheme that swindled 350 million euros ($372 million) from over 180,000 investors in Europe, the United States and Latin America.

Spain's National Court found German Cardona Soler, 46, dubbed the "mini-Madoff" in reference to jailed US conman Bernard L. Madoff, guilty of fraud, money laundering, document falsification and criminal association, according to a ruling published Friday.

Cardona's company, Finanzas Forex, offered returns of as much as 10-20 percent monthly for investments in currencies and instead used the money to buy real estate for himself and colleagues. He was arrested in 2011 in the Mediterranean city of Valencia along with two others.

The court said only five percent of the money was invested in currencies and its clients received "ridiculous quantities" in return for their investments.

The bulk of the money raised was used to buy buildings in Colombia, Spain, Panama and the United States for a total of 81 million dollars.

The company also used the money to buy $107 million in gold, the court said in a ruling dated March 9.

Finanzas Forex, which operated between 2007 and 2010, had over 186,000 clients. They were given false information about the gains their investments were making via a company web page.

Cardona's Colombian wife, Lina Maria Mantilla, 47, was sentenced to three years in jail for money laundering and criminal association.

The court ordered Cardona to pay a fine of 300 million euros while his wife was hit with a fine of 900,000 euros.

Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina after he confessed to running a massive Ponzi scheme that fraudulently took in anywhere between $23 billion and $65 billion, depending on whether interest is included in the tally.

He never actually invested even a penny of the sums his clients entrusted to him, instead drawing on funds from new investors to remunerate the older ones.

But the house of cards collapsed in December 2008 when a growing number of investors, panicked by the financial crisis, attempted to cash out their investments.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has officially stopped scheduling interviews for Afghan military interpreters applying to emigrate to the United States.

Afghanistan is not listed in either of U.S. President Donald Trumps travel bans. Instead, a government program that resettles Afghans who face threats because they worked with U.S. troops has run out of Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs). Its estimated that more than 10,000 applicants are currently still in line to obtain the visas.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) called for Congress to approve new SIVs and said she would soon introduce new legislation.

Allowing this program to lapse sends the message to our allies in Afghanistan that the United States has abandoned them, she said in a statement.

The Afghan SIV program, modeled on a similar one for Iraqi interpreters, has existed since 2009. But advocacy groups have long complained the number of visas was not keeping pace with demand, and that backlogs leave the interpreters in grave danger for years. As U.S. military presence in Afghanistan wound down, interpreters have increasingly been targeted by the Taliban and local militias because of their visibility.

This is a betrayal of the brave men and women who stood by the side of U.S. armed forces in the face of great personal risk, said Scott Cooper, founder of Veterans for American Ideals.

On Thursday, a top U.S. general said more U.S. troops would be needed in Afghanistan to battle ISIS and the Taliban and support the government in Kabul, making the issue of translator visas seemingly even more important.

Last year the future of the SIV program  usually uncontroversial in Congress  became embroiled in larger debates over immigration. Despite a concerted push by Shaheen and Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) for legislation to approve 4,000 new visas for Afghans, new SIVs were not included in the annual defense policy bill for the first time.

By the end of the year, Congress did reauthorize the program, but only allotted 1,500 new visas and tightened eligibility. Those visas are running out even as American military official are requesting to increase troops in Afghanistan and the United States is considering deploying more troops to Syria and Iraq.

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Now that the world has seen how we turn our backs on our Afghan allies, there is almost no chance that local allies in Syria will be inclined to work with us, Mac McEachin, of the International Refugee Assistance Project at the Urban Justice Center, told the New York Times.

The SIV program became a particular focus after Trumps first sweeping travel ban included Iraqis, affecting interpreters who had already received authorization to move to the United States but were suddenly barred from entering. Under pressure from veterans and Pentagon officials concerned about alienating crucial wartime allies, the Trump administration eventually changed course. Trumps revised travel ban, scheduled to go into effect on Mar. 16, did not include Iraq on the list of nationalities barred from entering the United States for 90 days.

It feels like one fight after another to make sure this program isnt torn apart, U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), said in statement. We have a bipartisan coalition in the House and Senate that are working to keep these people safe. Yet, Congress is still failing to do its job. It shouldnt be this hard.

Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
By Sankalp Phartiyal and Devidutta Tripathy MUMBAI (Reuters) - Electronic payment firms got a big boost when India abolished most of the country's banknotes last year, but rival state-sponsored e-payment services are forcing them to raise their game to hang on to their new customers. Until November's move, which scrapped 86 percent of all notes to foil counterfeiting and the black market, more than 90 percent of transactions in India were in cash. Electronic payments providers such as market leaders Paytm and MobiKwik, and smaller players FreeCharge, Citrus, ItzCash and Oxigen, seized the opportunity, snapping up millions of customers and merchants caught out by the sudden shortage of cash. Now the government is rolling out three tools to facilitate rival cashless transactions, including a United Payments Interface (UPI) app that simplifies inter-bank fund transfers, and Aadhaar pay, a bank-linked payment service that relies on the national identity card and can be used with just a fingerprint. It has also promoted Bharat QR, another bank-linked service that uses machine-readable labels as the base for a simple payment system, helped by Visa and MasterCard . It requires only a smartphone and is aiming to sign up 2 million merchants by September. The UPI app was downloaded more than 17 million times within two months of launch, and transaction values jumped 18 times between November and January, albeit from a low base. So e-wallet providers such as Alibaba-backed Paytm, the largest, with more than 200 million clients, are adding services to stay a step ahead. Paytm is betting that its licence to set up a niche bank so it can pay interest on deposits - and connect its systems with the UPI network - will help, and it knows it will need extra services to make the business profitable. "The point is that e-wallets as a standalone business will be massively risky and not viable," said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and Chief Executive of Paytm. FREEBIES In the early stages of their build-up, the companies haven't even paid lipservice to viability - giving a free service to customers and merchants, while burning through their start-up funding. Their only source of income has been commissions on phone and utility bill payments. Paytm's parent company has raised $675 million from Alibaba and more from others, and says its current valuation is about $5 billion, but it has lost about $230 million over the last financial year. MobiKwik, part-owned by American Express and Sequoia Capital, has raised about $80 million and is eyeing a $1 billion valuation as it holds talks with investors for more funding. Both have waived fees to enable free money transfers from wallets to bank accounts. Paytm says transfers within its wallets and accounts will be free forever. And they have been using cash discounts and freebies to lure customers. Mumbai-based management teacher Christina Sundaresan says she started using Paytm when the government pulled the plug on notes, and now uses it so frequently she gets a free movie ticket each weekend. "My laptop repairer, the vegetable vendor and the medical store are all accepting Paytm, so it works well," she said. But she says she would consider other payment options, including UPI. That will make it difficult for Paytm to withdraw the freebies, but they can't keep burning cash. "You can't have a business that says 'pay a 500 bill and take 250 cash back'," said Aditya Puri, head of third-biggest Indian lender HDFC Bank , which has its own payment app. MobiKwik, which started as a simple digital wallet, is looking to partner with mainstream banks to market a host of financial services on its platform, from mutual funds to loans. It aims to triple its wallets user base to 150 million by end-2017, and raise the value of transactions five times to $10 billion. It thinks its head start and extra services will keep it on top of the competition, and that banks, latecomers to e-payment, will struggle to match the scale of its operations and vendor network. "UPI is a solution for bank transfers. UPI is not a payments ecosystem today, as there are no merchants on UPI," said MobiKwik Chief Executive Bipin Preet Singh. Dhruv Chopra, managing director at the Indian unit of South African payments solutions provider Net1, which has invested in MobiKwik, is also betting the start-ups will be too nimble for the banks. But with a large number of small players, many will not survive, he said. Avnish Bajaj of venture capital firm Matrix Partners, which has investments in payments companies ItzCash, Mswipe, and ride hailing firm Ola, which has its own e-wallet, agrees there will be a clearout under competitive pressure. "There's going to be a bit of consolidation in the e-wallets space in the next two years," he said. (Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar in NEW DELHI, Swati Bhat, Suvashree Dey Choudhury and Euan Rocha in MUMBAI and Cate Cadell in BEIJING; Editing by Will Waterman)
(SEATTLE)  Legal challenges against President Donald Trumps revised travel ban mounted Thursday as Washington state said it would renew its request to block the executive order and a judge granted Oregons request to join the case.

The events happened a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit, and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said New York state also asked to join his states legal effort. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said the state is joining fellow states in challenging the revised travel ban.

Washington was the first state to sue over the original ban, which resulted in Judge James Robart in Seattle halting its implementation around the country. Ferguson said the state would ask Robart to rule that his temporary restraining order against the first ban applies to Trumps revised action.

My message to President Trump is  not so fast, Ferguson told reporters. After spending more than a month to fix a broken order that he rushed out the door, the Presidents new order reinstates several of the same provisions and has the same illegal motivations as the original.

Robart on Thursday granted Oregons request to join Washington and Minnesota in the case opposing the travel ban.

Read More: Read the Official Fact Sheet on the Revised Travel Ban

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said the executive order has hurt Oregon, its residents, employers, agencies, educational institutions, health care system and economy.

Trumps revised ban bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.

Unlike the initial order, the new one says current visa holders wont be affected, and removes language that would give priority to religious minorities.

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin said that the state could not stay silent on Trumps travel ban because of Hawaiis unique culture and history. Hawaii depends heavily on tourism, and the revised ban would hurt the states economy, he said.

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The courts need to hear that theres a state where ethnic diversity is the norm, where people are welcomed with aloha and respect, Chin said.

He noted that the new travel ban order comes just after the 75th anniversary of the Feb. 19, 1942, executive order by President Franklin Roosevelt that sent Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during World War II. That order was put in place after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Hawaii had an internment camp.

Ferguson said its not the government, but the court, that gets to decide whether the revised order is different enough that it would not be covered by previous temporary restraining order.

It cannot be a game of whack-a-mole for the court, he said.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration believed the revised travel ban will stand up to legal scrutiny.

We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given, Spicer said.

Ferguson said he was pleased that attorneys general from New York and Oregon had sought to take part in the legal action.

We have a strong case and they are willing to join our efforts, he said of his fellow Democrats. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement called the executive order a Muslim ban by another name.

Other states that have filed briefs supporting Washingtons initial lawsuit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

In his initial lawsuit Ferguson said the original ban was unconstitutional and hurt the states businesses and universities.

A federal appellate court later upheld a temporary restraining order issued against the first travel ban.

The Trump administration says the old order will be revoked once the new one goes into effect on March 16.

In filing a lawsuit Wednesday night, Hawaii said the revised order would harm its Muslim population, tourism and foreign students

Attorneys for Hawaii filed the lawsuit against the U.S. government in federal court in Honolulu. The state had previously sued over Trumps initial travel ban, but that lawsuit was put on hold while other cases played out across the country.

Hawaiis complaint says it is suing to protect its residents, businesses and schools, as well as its sovereignty against illegal actions of President Donald J. Trump and the federal government.

Imam Ismail Elshikh of the Muslim Association of Hawaii is a plaintiff in the states challenge. The ban will prevent his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting him, he said.

The mam is a U.S. citizen, has rights and would be prevented from seeing his mother-in-law, Chin said. The mother-in-law is awaiting approval of a visa to see her relatives in Hawaii.

The woman and others have become victims because of the bans standardless set of waivers and exceptions that werent set by Congress, Chin said.

Read More: President Trump Wants to Build a Wall on the Border. These Border Residents Think Its a Bad Idea

Hawaiis lawsuit challenging the travel ban focuses on damage to the states economy and mainly tourism. Chin says the tourism angle is unique because the state relies heavily on visitors and Hawaii officials have a right to defend the economy.

He said people may fear traveling even within Hawaii because they would be forced to encounter a federal agent every time they get on a plane to visit a neighboring island.

___

Sinco Kelleher reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Tarek Hamada in Phoenix and Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.
By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) - Support programs for new mothers help them to breastfeed their babies for longer periods and to keep breast milk as the baby's only source of nutrition, according to a new review of existing evidence. The researchers concluded that breastfeeding support - whether educational or just encouraging - by trained professionals or lay people generally benefited women and their babies. "Breastfeeding is really important," said lead author Alison McFadden, who directs the Mother and Infant Research Unit at the University of Dundee in the UK. "Good support will help mothers to breastfeed longer and breastfeed exclusively, which of course is good for mothers and babies." McFadden and her colleagues are part of the international Cochrane network of researchers who analyze evidence on health topics. Their new review was published in the Cochrane Library. The World Health Organization recommends that babies be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of life and then given breast milk along with other food until they're two years old. Babies who are breastfed are less likely to develop infections, become overweight and develop diabetes, the researchers write. "For women, it reduces the incidence of breast and ovarian cancer and diabetes," McFadden told Reuters Health. For the review, the researchers analyzed 73 studies that compared women who received breastfeeding support to women who received no support or a different kind of intervention. Overall, 75,000 women and their babies were included in the analysis. Most were from high- to middle-income countries. Support can come in many forms, the authors say - including reassurance, praise, information and the opportunities to discuss problems and ask questions. Women who received support were about 8 percent less likely to stop breastfeeding before six months, compared to women who didn't get the added help. For every 1,000 women who received the added help, 304 stopped breastfeeding by four to six weeks and 510 stopped breastfeeding by six months, whereas for every 1,000 women who didn't receive support, 353 stopped within four to six weeks and 573 stopped by six months. Also, 732 of every 1,000 women who received supported were no longer exclusively breastfeeding at six months, while the same was true for 823 of every 1,000 "unsupported" women. Certain factors may make the support more valuable for mothers and babies, the researchers found. For example, it didn't matter whether a healthcare professional or a trained lay person delivered the support. But, McFadden said, "it needs to be offered, proactive and scheduled so mothers know when to expect support." Additionally, face-to-face contact and support appeared to be better than help delivered over the phone. "The people were hoping will take note of this are those providing the breastfeeding support  the health professional and the people making health policy," said McFadden. The next step for this type of research would be to make these support services available to a large number of women. For new parents and parents-to-be, McFadden said, it's important to ask their healthcare providers about breastfeeding support programs. "If that support is not available, seek it out," she said. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2m7etKo Cochrane Library, online February 28, 2017.
BERLIN (AP)  A 19-year-old man arrested in the death of a neighbor's boy has admitted to killing the child and a 22-year-old acquaintance, citing frustration over a rejected bid to join the German army and the recent loss of his internet connection, authorities said Friday.

The case has shocked the western German city of Herne, not least because the suspect allegedly circulated photos of the bloodied crime scenes online. Hundreds of officers spent three days hunting the suspect, identified by police as Marcel Hesse, until he gave himself up late Thursday.

Bochum prosecutor Danyal Maibaum said Hesse made a comprehensive confession following his arrest and was being held on suspicion of murder.

Hesse allegedly lured a 9-year-old boy out of his home under a pretext Monday, Maibaum said. The child's body was found in a basement with 52 stab wounds, following a tip from a member of the public.

Hesse called police from a Greek restaurant Thursday evening to turn himself in, and informed officers of a fire in a nearby apartment. Police found the body of an adult male in the apartment, believed to be a 22-year-old acquaintance of Hesse's.

Klaus-Peter Lipphaus, the head of the police homicide department for Bochum, told reporters the suspect was speaking freely to investigators and was "ice cold, emotionless" as he detailed his crimes.

During his interview with police, Hesse claimed that he had attempted to kill himself recently after his application to join the German army was rejected and a recent move to a new home resulted in him being unable to access the internet, Lipphaus said.

Hesse said he spontaneously decided to kill somebody else after he failed to take his own life and sought out the neighbor's child, Lipphaus added.

After slaying the child, Hesse contacted a nearby friend, Lipphaus said. They ate dinner and played computer games together before Hesse killed the 22-year-old the following morning, he said.

____

David Rising contributed to this story.
Geneva (AFP) - Swiss police said Friday that a shooting by two gunmen at a cafe in the city of Basel was a targeted killing with no "terrorist" motive.

The assailants dressed in dark clothes burst into Basel's Cafe 56 at around 8:15 pm (1915 GMT) late Thursday and fired several rounds, according to police in the picturesque city on the Rhine river.

The three victims were all Albanian nationals, including two dead aged 28 and 39, while a 24-year-old was seriously injured, police said in a statement.

A bullet hole pierced one of the cafe's windows.

Terrorism is "excluded" as an element of the crime, which appeared to be a "targeted" attack on the victims, the statement said.

Locals said Cafe 56 has a checkered past.

It "was previously an establishment known for its links to the drug world", one resident told local newspaper Basler Zeitung.

"But since the ownership changed several years ago it became an ordinary cafe."

After the shooting, the gunmen believed to be in their thirties fled towards the train station, police said, adding that initial evidence suggests they are also from eastern Europe.

Public broadcaster RTS has previously reported that Albanian criminal organisations in Switzerland have ties to heroin trafficking, but police stressed that the motive for Thursday's shooting was not immediately clear.

A 2013 report from Swiss federal police said Albanian gangs operating in the wealthy Alpine nation have a track record of using commercial businesses like restaurants and travel agencies as a front for drug trafficking.

Gun crime is infrequent in Switzerland, even though the country has one of the highest rates of firearm ownership in the world.

Citizens are allowed to keep their army-issue weapons at home outside periods of mandatory military service.

This right has been controversial as the weapons are sometimes used in domestic incidents.

The number of weapons held at home is believed to be two million for a population of eight million, according to Swiss press.
Taiwans universities are reeling from accusations that they are indulging in widespread academic censorship to secure lucrative fee-paying exchange students from the Chinese mainland.

This week the Ministry of Education launched an emergency probe of pledges allegedly signed by universities with their Chinese counterparts to uphold Chinas official view on Taiwans status and avoid teaching sensitive content like Taiwanese independence.

The controversy has struck at a particularly sensitive time, with the island nation smarting from a strong rebuke last weekend by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who warned that China would not tolerate any activity attempting to separate Taiwan from the motherland.

Taiwan, a democracy of 23 million, has its own parliament, military and foreign policy, but Beijing views it as a renegade province that will eventually be reunited with the mainland  by military force if necessary.

The Education Ministry refused to confirm press reports that at least 80 out of 157 universities may have compromised their academic independence to attract Chinese students, until it completes its full investigation next week.

But Yang Min-ling, head of the ministrys International Department, warned that any institution found guilty of violating laws governing cross-strait relations between Taiwan and China could face fines of up to $16,000.

Fearful that Beijing is trying to erode their jealously guarded academic liberties, Taiwanese professors and students are in revolt.

A new campaign against political restrictions on academic freedom by Professor Fan Yun, who teaches sociology at National Taiwan University, has been supported by professors and students from over 20 institutions.

Universities are supposed to protect the democratic values of a society, says Fan.

I visit Hong Kong universities and whats happening there is quite depressing. They already lost the freedom to talk about what they want to. So I hope that we are overworried, but we dont want to wait until its too late, she argues.

Story continues

We still want to facilitate academic exchange with China, but we have to have our bottom line.

With Taiwans low birth rate fueling fears of a future shortfall in students, however, that line appears to be flexible for many universities competing for funding. Taiwan, which has a glut of universities, gratefully receives over 30,000 Chinese exchange students every year.

The latest controversy began at Shih Hsin University in the capital, Taipei, after it revealed that in letters to some mainland Chinese students it vowed to avoid sensitive subjects.

A spokesman, Yeh I-jan, argued that the letters were nonbinding and only necessary for about 5% of the institutions annual 1,500 Chinese students.

Shih Hsin and other universities claim such documents are a formality to placate the Chinese authorities, denying that teaching standards are compromised. But Yeh did recall several instances where Chinese students had complained about the content of lessons and stopped attending.

Young activists in both Hong Kong and Taiwan have irked Beijing in recent years by pushing for greater autonomy or even independence. In 2014, hundreds of students formed the Sunflower Movement and occupied Taiwans parliament to protest Chinas political influence.

Lin Fei-fan, one of Sunflowers leaders, is alarmed that the letters issued by universities have both violated Taiwans academic freedom and burdened visiting Chinese students with self-censorship. But he also sees an opportunity.

This incident actually gives us a rare chance to rethink how a democratic Taiwan can engage with an authoritarian and inimical neighbor country through education exchange, he says.

Concerns about China using its overseas students for political leverage have occurred elsewhere.

In San Diego, Chinese students protested against a decision by the University of California to invite Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in the U.K. is said to have warned students at Durham University against engaging with human-rights activist, Anastasia Lin.

Its part of how they want to promote their cultural and social agenda in other societies, particularly in Taiwan, said Hsu Yung-ming, a legislator with the government-aligned New Power Party.

We worry that our universities maybe have some under-the-table compromise with China.

But Jason Hsu, a legislator from the opposition party, the Kuomintang, warned the government against a kneejerk reaction.

While opposing pledges to Chinese universities, Hsu believes that the Ministry of Education probe, with the threat of financial penalties, is also overreaching.

He asks: Do we want zero students from China in Taiwan, or do we want to promote more exchange and understanding towards each other? I think I would vote for the latter.
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan authorities detained a Chinese student on Friday on suspicion of breaching national security laws, a court official said, in an unusual espionage case involving a Chinese student on the self-ruled island. No details about the case could be released as it was classified, the official said. China has never renounced the use of force to take back Taiwan, an island it regards as a wayward province. Chinese spy cases in Taiwan usually involve retired Taiwanese military officers. Taiwan media identified the man as 29-year-old Zhou Hongxu from China's Liaoning province, citing his Facebook account. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the Facebook account, which included a growing number of comments being left by visitors accusing Zhou of being a Chinese spy. "A man named Zhou Hongxu has been detained," Liao Chien-yu, a judge and spokesman for the Taipei District Court, told Reuters. Liao said the named suspect was the same individual being cited in local media reports. Prosecutors asked that Zhou be taken into custody on suspicion of violating national security laws and the request was approved by the court, Liao said, adding that Zhou could be held for at least two months. China cut off official communication channels with Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen took office last year to pressure her to concede that the island is a part of China. Her Democratic Progressive Party traditionally favours independence. Taiwan's Education Ministry said it was looking into the case. The Mainland Affairs Council, which decides policy toward China, said the island would continue to welcome exchange students from China. "Our policy is unchanged on mainland Chinese students coming to Taiwan for studies. Mainland Chinese students pursuing studies in Taiwan should respect our laws and their purpose should be to learn," it said. (Reporting by J.R. Wu and Carol Lee; Editing by Nick Macfie)
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday his government was working with American officials to address security concerns stemming from immigrants traveling north from the United States. "We don't compromise on security," Trudeau said during a news conference in Houston. "We are committed to protecting the privacy rights of people in Canada." He also said he was open to working with the Trump administration to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
From Popular Mechanics

Developed during the 1980s, the T-80UD main battle tank was designed to fight NATO on the battlefields of World War III. Weighing 46 tons and armed with a 125-millimeter smoothbore gun, it was a formidable opponent. Until recently, large numbers still served in the Russian Army.

Russia's tank force is largely staffed by teenagers drafted to serve their country for 12-month terms. The T-80UD has a manual transmission.

Maybe you can see where this is going.

This example of tank drifting apparently took place on a Russian Army base, location unknown. The flying sparks are from the metal tracks rubbing on concrete pavement.

Interested in knowing more about the T-80? Here's a very deep dive.

H/T Tank and AFV News

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By Gabrielle Lurie and Melissa Fares SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zander Dejah, 25, pays $1,900 a month rent to live in a downtown San Francisco house with at least 40 other people, many of whom sleep in bunk beds. Dejah is a resident of The Negev, a communal living space that styles itself as a home for millennial tech workers to brainstorm ideas, write code and create apps, even if they have to share toilets and bathrooms with dozens of others. (Related photo essay: https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/san-franciscos-start-up-culture) Houses like The Negev, located in a neighborhood known as "SoMa" or South of Market, have cropped up around San Francisco as an influx of young professionals, many of whom are tech workers, have faced the city's notoriously high rents and apartment shortages. It has three floors and roughly 50 rooms, filled with bunk beds, beer bottles and laptops, according to residents. Dejah, born and raised in New York, graduated last year with a degree in computer science and math from McGill University. Unemployed, he moved to California six months ago and found his room at The Negev on Craigslist. "I thought New York was expensive," said Dejah, who quickly landed a job as a virtual reality engineer at consulting firm moBack. "It's basically an extension of college. We sort of live in a frat house." The home is certainly filled with parties on weekends, but the residents make sure to sit down every Sunday for a communal dinner, akin to a traditional family gathering. While some say communal housing provides a solution for many first-time workers fresh out of college, such housing also has created its share of controversy. Housing advocates have complained that this new dorm-like style of living has pushed up rents and forced longtime residents to move out. Alon Gutman, who co-founded a company called The Negev and began leasing the building on Sixth street in 2014, said, "We have never made somebody move out of that building," adding that his tenants pay 30 percent to 50 percent less than others in the neighborhood. "We are trying to solve the housing crisis and increase density in a positive way." The Negev company runs nine communal properties, three of which are in San Francisco. The others are in Austin, Texas, and Oakland, California. The Negev properties, generally in run-down, low-income neighborhoods, are restructured to accommodate a large number of tenants, Gutman explained. Sarah Sherburn-Zimmer, executive director of the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, said housing problems have arisen because occupants leave buildings being converted to communal homes and cannot afford to move back in or the space is no longer suitable for them. "The Negev house takes affordable housing and makes it unaffordable," said Sherburn-Zimmer. "All they've done is take away housing from people who had it and loved it and pushed them out to make a quick buck." Kumar Srikantappa, 31, who also pays $1,900 a month for a single room at The Negev, said he chose the house because of the social experience. After eight months there, the software engineer for Oracle Corp said he would soon be ready to live elsewhere. "I met a bunch of friends, and I just want to move on to another location and into a bigger place," he said. "It's time." Click on http://reut.rs/2njat9I to see a related photo essay (Reporting by Gabrielle Lurie in San Francisco; Additional reporting and writing by Melissa Fares in New York; Editing by Diane Craft)
By Sonali Paul MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk on Friday offered to save Australia's most renewable-energy dependent state from blackouts by installing $25 million worth of battery storage within 100 days, and offering it for free if he missed the target. The offer follows a string of power outages in the state of South Australia, including a blackout that left industry crippled for up to two weeks and stoked fears of more outages across the national electricity market due to tight supplies. Musk made the offer on social media, and the government said it could consider backing such a battery roll out by Tesla. "The government stands ready through ARENA and the CEFC to work with companies with serious proposals to support the deployment of more storage," Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said in an email to Reuters. ARENA is the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the CEFC is the Clean Energy Finance Corp. Musk made the offer in response to a comment on social media by Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Australian software maker Atlassian Corp, who said he would be willing to line up funding and political support if Tesla could supply batteries that would solve South Australia's problems. 100-DAY GUARANTEE Musk responded by tweeting: "Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?" He quoted a price of $250 per kilowatt hour for 100 megawatt hour systems, which would imply a price of $25 million for the battery packs. "You're on mate. Give me 7 days to try and sort out politics & funding," tweeted Cannon-Brookes. He said he was inundated with calls on Friday after the exchange and was eager to get the plan off the ground. "My phone hasn't stopped buzzing. The support is flooding in, both from individuals in terms of 'Hell yes!' and from corporates who are asking: 'Can we buy power? Can we contribute dollars?'," Cannon-Brookes told Reuters. Tesla launched its Powerwall 2 in Australia, the world's top market for rooftop solar, this week. Battery storage is just one of several options the government is looking at to help ensure reliable power supplies as the country grows more reliant on intermittent wind and solar power. "We have been talking with a number of large-scale battery providers about potential storage solutions, including in South Australia. To the extent Tesla is interested, we'll also talk with them," Clean Energy Finance Corp Chief Executive Oliver Yates said in an emailed statement. After a record-breaking summer, Australia's energy market operator said this week that eastern Australia desperately needed more gas for power stations within the next two years to provide back-up electricity for wind and solar and avert blackouts. (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Randy Fabia and Edmund Blair)
PATTAYA (Reuters) - Thai contestant Jiratchaya Sirimongkolnawin was crowned Miss International Queen 2016 on Friday at a contest billed as the world's largest and most popular transgender pageant. The 25-year-old beat 24 other contestants for the crown, with the second and third place going to contestants from Brazil and Venezuela, respectively. The pageant, which brings together transgender people from around the world, was launched over a decade ago to help transgender women feel more accepted by society. "It's like a new category, but the gender already existed a long time ago," said Jiratchaya, donning a white glittering and black side rim evening gown. The contest, in its 12th year, was held at the Tiffany's nightclub in the Thai seaside town of Pattaya, which is famous for its transvestite cabaret. Like other beauty pageants, contestants paraded in national costumes, evening gowns and swimsuits. For many, the contest represents a springboard for future opportunities. Thailand remains a largely conservative society, with no laws recognizing same-sex unions though it has a prominent lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The 2016 show was postponed from November last year due to Thailand's mourning period of its late King Bhumibol Adulyadej who died at age 88 on Oct. 13. (Reporting and writing by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Patrick Johnston and Leslie Adler)
BANGKOK (AP)  A court in Thailand on Friday sentenced a former high-ranking police officer and aide to the country's king to three years in prison for dereliction of duty and land encroachment.

Jumpol Manmai was also stripped of his retirement rank of police general, according to a statement from the royal palace. King Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun took the throne last December after the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Jumpol was dismissed last week from his duties as a grand chamberlain in the palace by an order declaring that he was unfit to hold such a senior position close to the king and had carried out "extremely evil deeds," which were not detailed. The same reasons were cited in revoking his police rank.

Thai media reported that a court in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima sentenced Jumpol on Friday to four years in prison for dereliction of duty and two years for land encroachment, but halved the sentences because he pleaded guilty. The court also ordered him to remove buildings that he owns on protected forest land and pay an 892,000 baht ($25,500) fine.

The case has attracted attention because Jumpol was seen as a close associate of the current king for many years, from when he was still crown prince.

Jumpol served as a deputy police commissioner and national intelligence chief under former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, losing the latter job when Thaksin was ousted by a 2006 military coup.

Last week, another palace insider was sentenced to prison on lese majeste  insulting the monarchy  and other charges.

Former Air Vice Marshal Chitpong Thongkum had been a medical adviser to Vajiralongkorn and was similarly fired from his position and stripped of his rank and royal decorations. He was accused of using his royal connection for personal gain and disclosing Vajiralongkorn's medical records, among other offenses.

He was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment, but had the term halved because he pleaded guilty.
By Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's top religious council will consider the case of a renegade monk being hunted by police and steps that could go as far as disrobing him, a senior official said on Thursday. A three-week-old confrontation between monks and police at the Dhammakaya temple has become the biggest show of defiance of the junta since the military seized power in 2014. Phra Dhammachayo is wanted for questioning on money-laundering and multiple charges of building without authorization. There are 16 warrants for his arrest and more than 350 cases against the temple. The head of the government's National Office of Buddhism said the matter would be taken to the Supreme Sangha Council of senior monks, who are due to meet on Friday. Any action would be up to them, he told Reuters. Secular authorities have no power to disrobe a monk. If Phra Dhammachayo were disrobed he would lose the protection of the saffron robes in a country that is 95 percent Buddhist and where monks are treated with great reverence. "Disrobing a monk can only be done by other monks. We'll hear what the council decides," said Pongporn Pramsaneh, who heads the government office responsible for Buddhist affairs. "Worldly crimes do not necessarily mean violations of monastic codes and vice versa." Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam also raised disrobing as a possible outcome of Sangha deliberations in comments on Wednesday. The former abbot's aides say charges against him are politically motivated, that they have not seen him for months and that he is too sick to face questions. Senior monk Phra Pasura Dantamano told Reuters the temple would see what the Sangha Council decides. "I believe that the council will uphold the monastic rule and traditions beyond political pressure. As none of the case is finalised, I wish for fair judgment," he said. Monks and soldiers faced off on Thursday at one of the Dhammakaya temple gates - soldiers also raising their hands in prayer before pulling back from the chanting monks and devotees. Thousands of police have surrounded the compound, 10 times the size of the Vatican City and topped by a UFO-shaped golden dome. Police accuse the monks and thousands of devotees of frustrating their search for Phra Dhammachayo. The temple says it has given free access. Its brand of Buddhism jars on conservatives who accuse it of commercialization. The temple says it is as Buddhist as anyone else. Although the temple has no overt political affiliation, the abbot is widely believed to have had links with populist former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in 2006. A government led by Thaksin's sister was toppled in 2014. Making clear the palace's support for the junta's action over the temple, King Maha Vajiralongkorn has stripped the former abbot and his deputy of their monastic ranks. (Additional reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Nick Macfie)
Washington (AFP) - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a former oil executive, recused himself Thursday from any role in approving the Keystone XL pipeline between Canada's tar sands and US refineries.

President Donald Trump has signalled that he will green light the project, which his predecessor Barack Obama had put on hold after a report overseen by the State Department endorsed environmental concerns.

After Trump promised during his successful presidential campaign that he would approve the 1,180-mile (1,900-kilometer) pipeline, Tillerson's department is due to produce a new report that is expected to be positive.

But environmental activists, including Greenpeace, have demanded that Tillerson -- the retired chief executive of America's biggest energy giant ExxonMobil -- has a conflict of interest and should not have a hand in the new recommendations.

"We can confirm that the department received the letter from Greenpeace on March 8," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

"Secretary Tillerson decided in early February to recuse himself from TransCanada's application for a presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline," he added.

"He has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanada's application."

Calgary-based TransCanada announced in late January after Trump's inauguration that it would resubmit its application to the State Department to build a pipeline from Canada's oil sands to the US Gulf Coast.

Environmentalists say tar sand oil contains a corrosive component -- bitumen -- which makes pipeline ruptures or leaks more likely and carries greater health and safety risks.

But TransCanada says that buried pipelines of the kind they plan for Keystone XL are far safer for transporting oil than ships or trains.

They also argue that bringing another 830,000 barrels a day from neighboring Canada would reduce US dependence on the unstable Middle East and Venezuela by up to 40 percent.
TIME is getting dragged after tweeting about Amal Clooney's "baby bump" while she was delivering a powerful speech at the United Nations (UN) about ISIS.

SEE ALSO: 11 incredible women in law promoting social justice for all

TIME tweeted: "Amal Clooney shows off her baby bump at the United Nations," and linked to an article published on TIME Motto about her "chic pregnancy look."



"The mom-to-be (who also happens to be married to George Clooney) stepped out outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Wednesday, showing off her baby bump in a dark gray pencil skirt and matching cropped blazer," read the article on Clooney (written by People magazine) published on TIME Motto, a platform aimed at women.

Amal Clooney shows off her baby bump at the United Nations https://t.co/0Vkr8aad1D  TIME (@TIME) March 10, 2017

The human rights lawyer was at the UN headquarters in New York on International Women's Day for an event titled "The Fight against Impunity for Atrocities: Bringing Da'esh to Justice." Clooney delivered a stirring speech, warning the UN not to let ISIS "get away with genocide."



"Don't let this be another Rwanda where you regret doing too little too late," warned Clooney.



TIME's tweet about the lawyer's baby bump did not go down well on Twitter, and many flocked to point out the real reason behind Clooney's visit to the UN. Hint: it had nothing to do with flaunting her baby bump.

@TIME That's all you guys have to say about an intelligent woman speaking out on atrocities in the world?  RobotBreakPlanet (@PlanetWalter) March 10, 2017

@TIME she was talking about sexual slavery and Isis.  Sophia Cannon (@SophiaCannon) March 10, 2017

"Get your shit together," read one tweet.

Story continues

@TIME seriously? She was at UN giving speech about genocide not "showing off her baby bump". Get your shit together  emmalu (@emmalu) March 10, 2017

@TIME You gotta be so embarrassed for this. She is a world-renowned human rights lawyer.  Kayla Tanenbaum (@KaylaTanenbaum) March 10, 2017

Some questioned whether TIME was serious.

@TIME seriously?She is a world renowned #humanrights lawyer,delivering a powerful speech at #UN & you a NEWS magazine, talks about #babybump  Sandra Weitzel (@GreatLakesHello) March 10, 2017

And, one Twitter user summed up what everyone was thinking.

@TIME fuck wrong with yall  Janie (@janie) March 10, 2017

TIME did not immediately respond to Mashable's request for comment.

UPDATE: March 10, 2017, 4:02 p.m. GMT A spokesperson for TIME responded to Mashable's request for comment. The spokesperson said the publisher had amended the headline on the article to read: "Amal Clooney Addresses United Nations on ISIS."
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  South Korean police on Saturday braced for more violence between opponents and supporters of ousted President Park Geun-hye, who was stripped of her powers by the Constitutional Court over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into a political turmoil. Three people died and dozens were injured in clashes between police and Park's supporters after the ruling Friday, according to police, which detained seven protesters for questioning. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency was planning to deploy nearly 20,000 officers and hundreds of buses to separate the two crowds, whose passionate rallies have divided the streets near the presidential palace in the past several weekends as the scandal worsened.

TOKYO (AP)  Six years ago, more than 18,000 people died or went missing as a tsunami triggered by a massive quake engulfed coastal areas of northeastern Japan. Tens of thousands more people's lives were unraveled when they lost family members, friends, homes and livelihoods. The displacement widened as entire communities fled after meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. Japan is marking the anniversary of the disaster Saturday with somber ceremonies in Tokyo and in cities and towns in the northeast. Most of the towns devastated in the March 11, 2011, disasters have only partially rebuilt, and local authorities are struggling to finance construction.

BEIJING (AP)  Encompassing the area of 24 soccer fields, the Great Hall of the People, where China's ceremonial legislature and its official advisory body hold their annual sessions, is a cavernous edifice that dwarfs the humans who work in it. Aside from the Great Auditorium said to seat 10,000 in all, the building features grand hallways, dozens of meeting rooms and spaces for state banquets where visiting foreign dignitaries and honored Chinese citizens are entertained. While it buzzes with activity during those occasions, especially the roughly two weeks of the legislative session, at other times the hall is strangely quiet, with voices echoing off its marble walls and sentinels standing silently in its forecourt that looks out onto the vast expanse of Tiananmen Square.

Story continues

CHICAGO (AP)  A teenage blogger awaiting a Chicago immigration judge's ruling on his asylum request to stay in the United States said Friday that he's afraid of returning home to Singapore, where he was jailed after posting scathing blog posts about the government. Amos Yee, 18, has been detained in the U.S. since mid-December, when he was taken into custody at O'Hare International Airport. His closed-door immigration proceedings unfolded in a Chicago courtroom on Tuesday, with a judge saying he'll decide within weeks. "I'm most definitely fearful now that the Singapore government knows I am trying to escape to another country so I can continue to criticize them freely," Yee told The Associated Press by phone from a Wisconsin detention center.

NEW YORK (AP)  The brazen killing of a rhinoceros at a wildlife park near Paris by assailants who removed a horn valued at nearly triple the price of gold has put zookeepers on notice that poaching could be spreading beyond the killing fields of Africa and Asia. Demand for the horns is skyrocketing in Asia, where they are ground into a powder and used for medicinal purposes by some who believe it cures everything from cancer to hangovers. More than 90 zoos in the United States housing rhinoceros adhere to rigorous security requirements and comply with regular inspections for accreditation, said Dan Ashe, president and chief executive of the Maryland-based Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  With South Korea's Constitutional Court stripping President Park Geun-hye of power, the country slips into a political whirlwind building up to a presidential election likely in early May. Here's a look at possible scenarios in the frantic weeks ahead and some of the potential presidential contenders vying for the presidential Blue House: ___ INTO THE FIRE With Park now formally unseated, the country, by law, must hold a presidential by-election within 60 days. This means the vote will likely take place on May 9. The winner of the election will be immediately sworn in as the country's leader, according to South Korea's National Election Commission.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  The ouster of South Korean President Park Geun-hye by the country's Constitutional Court on Friday ends a power struggle that consumed the nation for months. Her removal from office over a corruption scandal has the potential to reshape a country whose politics have long been marred by fraud and ideological bickering. The changes may begin with a presidential by-election expected in early May. It's a stunning downfall for Park, a conservative who convincingly beat her liberal opponent in 2012. No longer immune from prosecution, she may soon find herself in a criminal court defending charges that she colluded with a confidante to extort money and favors from companies and allowed the friend to secretly manipulate state affairs.

ISLAMABAD (AP)  Pakistan's parliament is set to debate a bill next week that would legalize trials before military courts for another two years, a measure human rights activists say negates the basic principles of justice and denies those on trial the chance for a fair defense. The bill, designed to combat terrorism, was presented before the lower house of parliament Friday by law minister Zahid Hamid. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government was expected to fast-track the draft before lawmakers amid indications the National Assembly  the lower house of parliament  would unanimously back the constitutional amendment. All parties except for slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party agreed on the government proposed draft.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Formally removed from office by a historic Constitutional Court ruling Friday, Park Geun-hye has lost her presidential immunity from prosecution over a corruption scandal that has sent dozens of high-profile figures to face criminal trials. They include Park's friend of 40 years, Choi Soon-sil, Samsung's de-facto leader Lee Jae-yong, top presidential advisers, two former culture ministers and a music video director. Their charges include bribery, extortion, abuse of power and perjury. A look at the allegations facing Park, and the key criminal defendants caught up in a scandal that has roiled South Korea for months. ___ PARK GEUN-HYE Park has refused to undergo prosecutors' questioning, citing a law that provides a sitting leader with immunity from prosecution except for grave crimes like treason.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  This was not supposed to happen in South Korea. It was too divided, too corrupt, too much in thrall to the rich and powerful who'd always had their way. Four months ago, the idea that the country's leader, along with the cream of South Korean business and politics, would be knocked from command after sustained, massive, peaceful protests would have been ludicrous. Now Park Geun-hye, thanks to a court ruling Friday, is no longer president and may very well face criminal extortion and other charges. The head of the country's biggest company, Samsung, sits in jail, when he's not in a courtroom facing trial for bribery and embezzlement linked to the corruption scandal that felled Park.
By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. Marine made an impassioned plea on Friday for women who may have been affected by a growing scandal involving the sharing of nude photos of women to come forward with their complaints, and vowed to hold those involved accountable. The Marine Corps has been rattled by a scandal involving a private Facebook group called "Marines United" and its surreptitious distribution of explicit images of women in the armed forces - often with obscene, misogynist commentary. "I'm going to ask them to trust us and I understand why that might be a bit of a reach for them right now," Commandant of the Marine Corps General Robert Neller told reporters in a news briefing. "The only way that there is going to be accountability in this is if somebody comes forward and tells us what happened to them," Neller said. Neller said fewer than 10 women had formally come forward so far. He said a task force had been created to examine the underlying cultural issues behind the scandal and make recommendations. "We've been fighting for 15 years, you know, men and women side by side. And women, they did their thing, and I don't know what else they got to do to, like, say 'Yeah, OK, good to go,'" Neller said. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has opened an inquiry into the matter, and senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill have denounced the activity. The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the matter on Tuesday at which Neller will testify. "I was going to go to Norway this weekend and see a bunch of Marines above the Arctic Circle. ... Instead, I'm going to be up on Capitol Hill," Neller said. U.S Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement on Friday that personnel involved in any alleged sharing of nude photos of female colleagues were guilty of "egregious violations of the fundamental values." The U.S. Code of Military Justice explicitly outlaws distribution of sexually explicit photos of others without their consent as an offense punishable by court-martial. On Wednesday, two women identifying themselves as victims appeared with their Los Angeles-based attorney, Gloria Allred, urging others to come forward and calling on Neller to meet with victims in person. The Facebook group in question is reported to have nearly 30,000 followers, mostly active-duty U.S. Marines, Marine Corps veterans and British Royal Marines. (This version of the story was refiled to fix typographical error in 11th paragraph) (Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By Julia Edwards Ainsley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Department of Justice is deploying 50 judges to immigration detention facilities across the United States, according to two sources and a letter seen by Reuters and sent to judges on Thursday.

The department is also considering asking judges to sit from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., split between two rotating shifts, to adjudicate more cases, the sources said. A notice about shift times was not included in the letter.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.

On Jan. 25 President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at speeding up deportations and holding migrants in detention until their cases can be heard. Trump campaigned on a pledge to get tougher on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, playing on fears of violent crime while promising to build a wall on the border with Mexico and to stop potential terrorists from entering the country.

The order called for the end of a policy known as "catch and release," by which immigrants were released from detention and given a date to appear in court. Immigration courts have a backlog of over 550,000 cases, according to the Justice Department's data, so many court dates are set years into the future.

Judges are employed by the Justice Department to oversee cases that determine if immigrants are given protections, such as asylum, or ordered deported. A handful of judges work from detention centers but most work from courts around the country.

Two sources familiar with the Justice Department's plan said the department would ask more judges to volunteer for one or two month deployments at detention centers. If the department cannot find enough volunteers, the department would assign judges to detention centers, the sources said.

Judges who volunteer for the first 50 deployments would be sent to detention centers in Adelanto, California; San Diego, Chicago and elsewhere, according to the letter.

Republican Trump's policy on immigrants has been criticized by Democratic lawmakers and advocates for immigrants, who said he was jeopardizing the rights and freedoms of millions while treating Mexico as an enemy, not an ally, and damaging the country's reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley; editing by Grant McCool)
UK Independence Party's Nigel Farage, a close ally to President Donald Trump, was seen at the Ecuadorian embassy in London Thursday, the same place Wikileaks founder Julian Assange lives in, BuzzFeed reported Thursday.

When asked what he was doing at the embassy, in which Assange has been living in since he claimed asylum in 2012, Farage said he couldnt remember what he had been doing in the building, according to BuzzFeed. When asked specifically if he went to visit Assange, Farage said, I never discuss where I go or who I see.

However, a source close to Farage confirmed to The Independent the politician, who visited the White House last month, was at the embassy to visit the hacktivist.

Farage, who strongly advocated for Britains exit from the E.U., was seen leaving the embassy with the producer of his LBC Radio program, Christian Mitchell, after staying in the building for 40 minutes, according to BuzzFeed.

Farages visit to the embassy comes after Wikileaks released a trove of documents revealing CIA tools used to spy via smart devices, such as TVs and mobile phones. The data also revealed a special hacking division inside the agencys Center for Cyber Intelligence dedicated to developing and gathering flaws to manipulate iOS and Android devices.

There is no known connection between Farage and Assange.

Assange was granted asylum at the embassy to prevent him from being deported to Sweden to answer questions over sexual assault accusations.

Assange is viewed as favoring Trump after Wikileaks released hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta last year. The release of hacked documents strongly affected Clinton, leading her to lose the presidency to Trump.

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President Donald Trumps proposal to slash the U.S. foreign aid budget by 37 percent threatens to undermine U.S. national security. While touting his budget as critical to keep Americans safe, the presidents strategy is shortsighted and fails to recognize the critical role international development assistance plays in addressing complex global security challenges. Indeed, the proposed budget sells short the presidents stated top national security priority, to demolish and destroy the Islamic State. Hard-won victories against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria will be short-lived in the absence of well-funded civilian assistance, which is an indispensable tool in the long-term battle against extremism.

While the soft power aspect of U.S. development assistance is important, increasingly the work performed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and others must be recognized as a strategic asset that is no less powerful than the military in confronting multifaceted challenges, and for a fraction of the cost  less than one percent of the total federal budget. Indeed, in a letter to Congress last month, more than 120 retired military leaders underscored their strong conviction that elevating and strengthening diplomacy and development are critical to keeping America safe. Recognizing the complexity of crises in the 21st century world, they noted that these problems do not have military solutions alone. Nowhere is this more apparent than the Arab world, which suffers from the Islamic States barbaric extremism; wrenching conflicts in Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen; and massive refugee flows to Lebanon, Jordan, and beyond. Youth unemployment, poverty, corruption, and unaccountable governance add to the regions volatility.

The U.S. military has spearheaded the counter-Islamic State campaign, but it is USAID, together with the U.N. and other international partners, that plays a key role in stabilizing areas liberated from the Islamic State. In his March 9 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Joseph Votel, Commander of U.S. Central Command, underscored that military might alone is not sufficient to defeat the Islamic State:

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The military can help to create the necessary conditions; however, there must be concomitant progress in other complementary areas (e.g., reconstruction, humanitarian aid, stabilization, political reconciliation). There are a variety of interagency programs and efforts underway that are essential to translating military gains into actual achievement of stated goals and objectives. Support for these endeavors is vital to our success.

This is where USAID and its partners come in. Beyond providing critically needed humanitarian assistance and insuring access to essential services such as water, electricity, and health care, U.S. assistance helps strengthen local governance and ideally will facilitate the sustainable return of those who have been displaced from their homes. Successful stabilization of these areas will help prevent the emergence of dangerous power vacuums that can lead to renewed conflict, vastly diminishing the prospects that the United States will need to return to battle the Islamic State 2.0.

In Syria, USAID and its partners are pioneering new ways to help build resilience in areas where conflict has diminished, allowing Syrians to stay rather than be forced to seek refuge elsewhere. These programs seek to revitalize agricultural markets, improve food security, and provide Syrians with a means to earn a living, enabling them to stay in Syria rather than flee and add to the refugee flow.

Jordan and Lebanon, which already has the most refugees per capita of any country in the world, host significant numbers of Syrian refugees. U.S. development dollars support these host communities, whose public services and schools have been strained by the refugee influx. USAID and other development agencies are constantly innovating and developing solutions to help ensure that Syrian refugee children have access to education. Not only is this the right thing to do  its the smart thing to do. Ensuring that a generation of Syrian children is not lost to hopelessness and despair by providing them access to education will protect against the emergence of a new generation of extremists and a new source of threats to U.S. national security.

The protection and promotion of U.S. national security interests has traditionally rested on the three-legged stool of defense, diplomacy, and development. In this era of complicated security challenges, development, alongside diplomacy, must retain equal footing with defense. Cutting any of these legs will severely compromise U.S. national security. As the purported master of the deal, Trump should recognize the significant value versus dollar spent on development assistance. Deep reductions in the development budget will do little to reduce the overall budget, while greatly imperiling the United States.

Photo credit: PAULA BRONSTEIN/Getty Images
President Donald Trumps administration is reportedly invoking executive powers to interfere in a lawsuit that aims to hold Americans accountable for their complicity in alleged torture. Dror Ladin, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union appearing on behalf of the plaintiffs, said Thursday the Trump administration is using state secrets privilege to block the testimony of several top CIA officials, including the new deputy director of the agency, Gina Haspel.

The state secret privilege is invoked to ask judges to keep selective information out of the court as it is argued that it may harm national security. Ladin said that the secret doctrine has been applied previously under the administrations of Barrack Obama and George W. Bush to deny justice to survivors of torture by shutting down their lawsuits.

This case has shown that the claims of C.I.A. torture survivors are not too secret for our courts to handle. ... Whether or not the governments new state secrets claims are upheld, theres already more than enough evidence in the record for our clients to prove their case, Ladin told the New York Times.

Read: Trump May Reopen CIA Black Site Prisons With Executive Order

The case filed in October 2015 by two former detainees and the representative of a third who died in custody is being heard in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington. It concerns two defendants  James Elmer Mitchell and John Bruce Jessen  who were psychologists hired by the CIA to create and execute an enhanced interrogation program at an overseas CIA facility.

The three plaintiffs  Suleiman Abdullah Salim of Tanzania, Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud of Libya and Gul Rahman (who was captured from Islamabad and later died as a result of hypothermia while in custody in Afghanistan)  were subjected to various forms of torture ranging from regular beatings, forced rectal feeding, waterboarding, sensory and sleep deprivation, shackling in painful stress positions and confinement in coffin-like boxes, to even mock executions, according to Vice News, ACLU reports and statements recorded in the case.

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The aforementioned techniques were allegedly developed by Mitchell and Jessen to cause a state of learned helplessness in order to break the detainees' wills. A company run by the two psychologists also made $81 million "as private profiteers from torture," Ladin said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Laden earlier said that the case bears significance as it may set a legal precedent that could, in theory, allow other prisoners to similarly claim they were victims of the U.S. war on terrorism.

The question of whether the state secret doctrine can be applied in this case to block testimonies will be resolved by Federal District Court Judge Justin L. Quackenbush. The case is set for trial on June 26.

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WASHINGTON  President Trump will nominate Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a longtime drug industry financier and advocate for deregulation, to run the Food and Drug Administration, the White House said on Friday.

Gottlieb, 44, is a physician and resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. He trained at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, then pursued an unusual career that has taken him from hospitals to Wall Street to the FDA and back to Wall Street. A prolific writer and speaker on medical innovation, Gottlieb served as an FDA deputy commissioner under George W. Bush and has frequently testified before Congress.

His opposition to many regulations at an agency entrusted with protecting consumer safety could draw scrutiny from Democrats on the Senates Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, which must approve nominations at the FDA. The nomination of the current FDA commissioner, Dr. Robert Califf, was stalled for months, with some lawmakers arguing that his close ties to the drug industry should have disqualified him from the job.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity.

But Gottliebs candidacy may benefit by comparison to rivals for the job, among them: Jim ONeill and Balaji Srinivasan, proteges of Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel.

Gottlieb has the support of many former coworkers, who believe his FDA experience and medical background are strong credentials. An author of dozens of articles and speeches on health care regulation, he is a known entity in Washington at a time when few people know what the president-elect plans to do at the FDA.

I worked with a lot of commissioners, said John Taylor, a lawyer who spent 20 years at the FDA and now works at Greenleaf Health, a consulting firm. I think Scott is absolutely qualified. He has good professional credentials and personal integrity, and a track record that shows the ability to make difficult decisions.

Paul Howard, a senior fellow with the conservative Manhattan Institute, also praised Gottlieb. Scott is an exceptional choice for FDA commissioner, Howard said. He has led investments in new medicines and in new approaches in therapeutics. Its extraordinarily helpful for someone who is leading the agency at a time of tremendous technological change to have that kind of vision and experience.

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What Howard views as a resume enhancer could also be seen as a political vulnerability. In addition to his large health care investment portfolio, Gottlieb has worked for many years as an adviser to pharmaceutical firms, and serves on some of their boards.

He is currently a venture partner in New Enterprise Associates, which invests chiefly in early-stage companies in information technology, medicine, and life sciences. Gottlieb is also a senior principal at TR Winston, a health care-focused merchant and investment bank, and a senior adviser and partner to Arcoda Capital Management, a health care-focused hedge fund.

Gottlieb is currently an adviser to GlaxoSmithKline, Cell Biotherapy, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He stopped working with Vertex Pharmaceuticals in 2016.

Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research, a Washington research advocacy group, said she was troubled by the potential for conflicts of interest.

Scott Gottliebs conflicts are much worse in that hes on the board of so many companies, she said. Hed clearly need to divest his own stock and resign from the boards, and unless he swore on a stack of Bibles that he wouldnt return to boards, investments, etc., it would be a good example of the swamp that Donald Trump promised to drain.

Read more: Could the FDA be dismantled under Trump?

Gottlieb served two stints at the FDA, from 2003 to 2004, before going to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and then back in 2005 as deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs under Commissioner Mark McClellan.

He is a cancer survivor, having been successfully treated for Hodgkins lymphoma. Shelley Fuld Nasso, CEO of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, said she believes this experience adds to his qualifications for the job.

His treatment was much easier than what some people have to endure, but Ive found that physicians who have a cancer experience understand the human side of things and how treatment impacts individuals and families, she said.

Gottliebs track record as an advocate for deregulation has put him at odds with some Democrats and public interest groups.

Scott Gottlieb consistently has advocated, among other things, further loosening FDAs standards for approving medical products and lifting restrictions on the promotion of these products for unapproved uses, said Michael Carome, director of Public Citizens Health Research Group. His nomination would confirm Trumps plans to move forward with a dangerous deregulatory agenda at the agency.

Gottlieb has been on Trumps transition team almost since the beginning, but recused himself from the landing team talks with the FDA. Earlier, he was a senior adviser to the presidential campaign of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Before he was nominated, Gottlieb told STAT that his first acts in office would focus on ensuring the safety of the blood supply and cracking down on unsafe foods, which he views as issues that deserve higher priority. Based on his writings, he would be expected to ease off-label marketing restrictions, and revamp the generic drug program to speed approval of complex generics.
President Donald Trump has scheduled a phone call Friday with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time, according to an official schedule released by the White House. The phone call is supposed to take place at 12:15 P.M. EST (7:15 P.M. Israel time).

"Later in the morning, the President will speak with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority by telephone," the release stated on Thursday, Sputnik News reported.

This will be the first time Trump will have a conversation with the Palestinian president. The Palestinian officials complained for the last two months that they have failed to establish contact with the Trump administration after he took office in January.

Read: Israel-Palestine Conflict: All You Need To Know About The Two-State Solution

This phone call has been scheduled days before Jason Greenblatt is expected to meet with Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in separate meetings. Greenblatt is one of Trumps trusted diplomatic advisers and a special envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process who will meet the leaders in his first ever visit to the Israel Palestine region, according to Haaretz.

After Trump's election victory he mentioned quite a number of times about successfully achieving what he calls "the ultimate deal" in order to regain peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Trump met with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month in Washington and this issue was discussed where Trump told Netanyahu that " both sides will have to make concessions" in order to reach peace.

Trump had hinted during this election campaign that after becoming president, he would provide staunch support to Netanyahu and his allies in Israel. He said that he would also support Israel's settlement building activity in the West Bank, move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and scrap the Iran nuclear deal, according to the New York Times.

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Trump has already had conversations with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other countries in the region and after the phone call on Friday, Abbas will be one among the last Arab leaders to speak with the president, Haaretz reported.

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Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Donald Trump on Friday invited Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to visit the White House sometime soon, both sides said after the first phone call between the pair since the US president took office in January.

Trump invited Abbas "to visit the White House soon to discuss ways to resume the (Palestinian-Israeli) political process," the official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted Abbas's spokesman as saying.

The spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said that Trump stressed his "commitment to a peace process that would lead to a real peace between Palestinians and Israelis", Wafa reported.

Abbas told Trump that peace was a "strategic choice" for the Palestinian people that should lead to the "establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel".

In Washington, the White House said Trump "emphasised his personal belief that peace is possible and that the time has come to make a deal."

"The president noted that the United States cannot impose a solution on the Israelis and Palestinians, nor can one side impose an agreement on the other," said a statement from Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer.

"The president invited president Abbas to a meeting at the White House in the near future."

Trump received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in mid-February.

At that meeting, Trump broke with decades of US policy by saying he was not bound to the two-state solution for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The peace process has been deadlocked since April 2014 following the collapse of indirect negotiations led by then US secretary of state John Kerry.

- Lack of access -

Since Trump came to power, having pledged to lead the most pro-Israel US administration in history, Palestinian officials have been quietly alarmed by their lack of access to senior figures in the White House.

On Tuesday, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, met for the first time with the Palestinian envoy to the world body, Riyad Mansour.

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After the talks, Haley tweeted that the Palestinians should "meet with Israel in direct negotiations rather than looking to the UN to deliver results that can only be achieved through the two parties".

Israel has long favoured direct bilateral talks, while the Palestinians argue they need the international community to ensure Israel follows through on its pledges.

On Thursday, Trump's controversial nominee as ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, was confirmed by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Friedman is a longtime supporter of Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank and Palestinian officials have privately expressed dismay over his appointment.

Trump has previously suggested he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, while Israeli right-wingers have encouraged Netanyahu to use Trumps election as an opportunity to formally annex parts of the West Bank into Israel.

In December, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat told journalists that some of Friedman's preferred policies would lead to "chaos".

"I look David Friedman and Trump in the eye and tell them -- if you were to take these steps of moving the embassy and annexing settlements in the West Bank, you are sending this region down the path of something that I call chaos, lawlessness and extremism," he said.

Friedman still needs to be approved by the full Senate.
WASHINGTON (AP)  After accusing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the campaign trail of "ruining Germany" by welcoming refugees, President Donald Trump will have his first face-to-face meeting with the German leader at the White House on Tuesday.

The two were expected to discuss strengthening the NATO alliance, collaborating to fight terrorism and taking steps to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, White House officials said Friday.

Trump's first encounter with Merkel will be aimed at building a personal rapport with a European partner who was among former President Barack Obama's strongest allies and international confidantes, according to the officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity despite the president's recent criticism of anonymous sources.

Merkel, however, will need to look past Trump's past comments, when he accused her of "ruining Germany" because of her acceptance of refugees. Trump often claimed that his Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, was running to be "America's Angela Merkel" and argued that Germany was in the midst of crisis.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer did not address past areas of friction on Friday, telling reporters there was "a lot of excitement on both sides of the ocean for this trip."

"The president looks forward to meeting with the chancellor and discussing areas of shared national interest," Spicer said.

White House officials said Trump would press Germany to set an example on the need for NATO members to spend more on defense, which Germany has resisted. NATO's 28-member countries committed in 2014 to spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense within a decade but only the U.S. and four other members of the post-World War II military coalition are in compliance.

Trump referred to NATO as "obsolete" prior to his inauguration. But he has since told European leaders he agrees on the "fundamental importance" of the military alliance, a message that was reinforced by Vice President Mike Pence during his recent trip to Europe.

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The meeting with Merkel will also allow Trump to discuss peace efforts in Ukraine. Pence and other U.S. officials have said Russia must adhere to a 2015 deal to end fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

White House officials said Trump was eager to hear Merkel's views on her interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many European allies have been rattled by Trump's positive statements about Putin and the meeting will come amid questions about Trump associates' connections to Russia.

The White House said the two leaders may also discuss the Paris accord on climate change. Trump vowed during his campaign to withdraw from the climate agreement, suggesting that global warming is a hoax created by the Chinese to hurt U.S. competitiveness. But the administration said it is still formulating its policy on the issue ahead of the G7 meeting in Italy in May and the G20 gathering in Germany in July.

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On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC
By Luke Baker JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House, an Abbas spokesman said, after the two leaders spoke by phone for the first time since Trump took office. "President Trump has extended an official invitation to President Abbas to visit the White House soon to discuss ways to resume the political process, stressing his commitment to a peace process that will lead to a real peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis," said Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah. White House spokesman Sean Spicer in Washington later confirmed Trump had invited Abbas to a meeting at the White House very soon. Palestinians are concerned at the more favorable approach shown by Washington toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Trump came to power. Netanyahu and Trump have spoken on the phone at least twice since the Jan. 20 inauguration and Netanyahu visited Washington last month. Palestinian officials indicated Abbas would emphasize his concern about Israeli settlement-building on occupied land and the need for a two-state solution to the conflict. "President Abbas stressed the commitment to peace as a strategic choice to establish a Palestinian State alongside the state of Israel," Abu Rdainah said, according to the official Palestinian WAFA news agency. At a Feb. 15 news conference during Netanyahu's visit, Trump was ambivalent about a two-state solution, the mainstay of U.S. policy in the region for the past two decades. "I'm looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like ... I can live with either one," Trump said, causing consternation across the Arab world and in many European capitals. SETTLEMENTS The White House has since been more cautious on the issue, and there has been less talk of moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a promise Trump made during the campaign but a move that would provoke anger across the Muslim world. David Friedman, Trump's nominee for ambassador to Israel, who was approved by the Senate foreign relations committee on Thursday, has said he wants to see the embassy move to Jerusalem and expects to work from the city at least some of the time. While one of the first calls to a foreign leader made by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama was to Abbas, Trump has been cautious in his contacts with the Arab world. He has spoken to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and met Jordan's King Abdullah, who took the initiative and flew to Washington for an impromptu visit. One of the most heated issues between Israel and the Palestinians is Israel's building of settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory the Palestinians want for their own state along with Gaza. During the campaign, Trump said he did not necessarily see settlements as an obstacle to peace. Since his inauguration, Israel has announced plans to build at least 6,000 more settler homes, a substantial increase and an indication that Israel took Trump's softer language as a green light. But during Netanyahu's visit, Trump said he wanted the Israeli prime minister to "hold back on settlements for a little bit", a position that took Netanyahu by surprise. Israeli and U.S. officials are now discussing what the parameters are on settlements. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and David Alexander in Washington; editing by Andrew Roche and Grant McCool)
WASHINGTON  President Trump, who regularly argued that widely accepted government-compiled jobs figures under President Barack Obama were phony, now believes that upbeat employment statistics on his watch are very real, the White House said Friday.

Press secretary Sean Spicer, asked why Trump was so dismissive of the figures on the campaign trail and yet was so ready to celebrate the new jobs numbers released hours earlier, said he had discussed the matter with the president.

He said to quote him very clearly: They may have been phony in the past, but its very real now, Spicer said with a laugh at his daily briefing for reporters.

The spokesmans comments came after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the U.S. economy added 235,000 jobs in February, beating expectations. The figures were largely in line with the previous two Februarys.

When Obama was president, Trump regularly scoffed at jobs numbers released by the Labor Department, arguing that they underestimated economic suffering under Obama.

Dont believe these phony numbers, the entrepreneur told supporters in early 2016. The 5 percent figure is one of the biggest hoaxes in American modern politics, he said in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club in August of last year, referring to the unemployment rate.

Read more from Yahoo News:
These past few weeks were not kind to the State Department, even before the news last week that the White House had asked State to cut 37 percent from its budget. If State employees had any questions left about the value the president and his key advisors place on their work, this request laid those to rest. Interestingly, while the president spent minimal time during his joint address to Congress last week on foreign policy, his team spun his remarks as the introduction of a vision of principled U.S. engagement and leadership around the world.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley put out this statement after the presidents remarks: President Trump spoke for a strong America that is engaged internationally. Thats the kind of new American leadership our friends around the world have been waiting for. Its succinct and pithy, but it has two major flaws.

For one, whatever views one holds on President Barack Obamas foreign policy, the last eight years saw robust U.S. engagement around the world, and leadership that Americas friends and partners welcomed and deeply appreciated. My colleagues and I heard this time and again from diplomatic counterparts, who welcomed the Obama administrations reengagement as a constructive partner on a broad range of issues. In fact, in 2016, according to one index, the United States led the world in ability to use soft power to influence other countries.

Second, and more fundamentally, the ability for the United States to engage and show leadership on the world stage depends on a strong State Department and on the ability to influence and persuade. That ability, in turn, relies on the United States being a committed partner in solving the worlds problems, so that when America comes calling for help  to build a coalition to fight the Islamic State, to rally together to fight Ebola, to build the strongest set of sanctions ever imposed on Iran and North Korea, or to make commitments to shore up U.N. peacekeeping  it is knocking on an open door. Its easy, but ultimately facile, to think that a small group of advisors in the White House could take the place of the thousands of men and women who serve on the diplomatic front lines. Yet between Trumps statement last week that he may not fill many of the currently open positions throughout the federal government to his request that State cut back its work by almost 40 percent, it seems like Trump and his team believe that they will be able to lead on the world stage, and be strongly engaged, even without a team of diplomats to do that work around the world every day, armed with the resources needed to exert influence and leverage.

Even a cursory review shows why the Trump administration cant accomplish its own stated objectives without a fully funded State Department. Just this week, the president signed version 2.0 of his refugee/immigration/travel ban executive order. But the proposed huge cutback of U.S. humanitarian and development assistance will actually lead to more migrants and refugees seeking refuge in Europe, Canada, and the United States. The Trump administration has put an early focus on a renewed counter-Islamic State efforts, which less funding for digital diplomacy will hurt. Indeed, any effective counter-Islamic State strategy necessarily requires the State Department to step in, to help rebuild cities retaken from the group, to create counter-messaging, and to do the diplomacy to keep the 60-plus member anti-Islamic State coalition together and committed. Trump often speaks about persuading partners to step up and shoulder more of the burden, but if the United States cuts back on foreign military financing, it will have fewer capable partners around the world, leading ultimately to more burden on America. Diplomacy, crisis management, and conflict prevention  all led by the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development  are essential to preventing wars. Put simply, less diplomacy means more war, which is something Trump has said he wants to avoid.

Some detail about what the White House has proposed cutting have now leaked, but we still dont know enough about what might be on the chopping block. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is reportedly sympathetic to the presidents goal of major cutbacks at State, but is asking for flexibility in how, where, and when to make budget cuts. Although several Republican senators have indicated they will not support massive cuts to States budget, what will now follow is some sort of negotiation, during which parts of the State Department and USAID are in fact likely to face substantial cuts, even if not on the order of 40 percent.

The combined State Department/USAID budget for fiscal year 2016 was $54.6 billion, of which around $17 billion was for operating expenses, including embassy security, staff salaries, recurring expenditures (for example, treaty-based assessed contributions to international organizations), protecting American citizens overseas, diplomatic and consular activities, and more.

Bureaus at State have reportedly been asked to find ways to cut back on their operating expenses, though there is little detail about where a 37 percent decrease might be found. News reports indicate a possible intention to cut back on embassy security personnel, perhaps in conjunction with closing down certain overseas missions altogether. If the Trump administration is serious about deconstructing the administrative state, in the words of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, we should expect staff cuts at State and USAID, and obviously if entire programs are wiped out, as is expected, layoffs will follow. Word is that the administration is also looking for serious cuts to U.N. peacekeeping contributions and to some of the assessed funding for international organizations. (This includes U.S. treaty-based commitments to the U.N., NATO, and the other 60-plus international organizations in which the United States is a member.)

The remaining almost $36 billion of the fiscal year 2016 State/USAID budget represents the foreign assistance portion, and here a bit more detail has gotten out about where the administration is considering making cuts. The OMB reportedly asked for a 60 percent reduction in economic and development assistance, a 36 percent cut in humanitarian funding, and a 20 percent cut in global health funding. Climate related financing, including for the Green Climate Fund, could be zeroed out altogether. Everything from funding for climate and environment-related activities, funding for programs for women and girls, voluntary contributions to international organizations, development and humanitarian assistance, migration and refugee assistance, global health funding, human rights funding, education and cultural exchange programs, and more could be at risk under the White House plan.

We have fewer specifics on some other foreign assistance accounts, though they are presumably all on the chopping block to some extent. These encompass funding for USAIDs operations (including the Peace Corps and the Millennium Challenge Corporation), international security assistance (including counter-narcotics and law enforcement, nonproliferation, peacekeeping and other international military training, and foreign military sales); counter-Islamic State efforts, multilateral development banks, food aid, and more.

Even without knowing specifics, several things about the OMBs opening gambit to the State Department are clear and troubling. It suggests rather plainly how little value the White House places on the Departments work. But foreign policy is hard, nuanced, and sensitive, and as Jim Goldgeier and Elizabeth Suanders noted in a smart piece for Foreign Affairs last week, the best in foreign policy is frequently invisible, carried out by diplomats under the radar, often over a period of years. It isnt conducted via tweet, and cant rely solely on a small set of political advisors. You may never see clear results  but the results are nonetheless critical to U.S. national security. Its not only that the funded programs and activities help protect against state collapse, resolve conflicts, fight terrorism, protect the climate, save lives, and pull people out of poverty, but also that the United Statess ability to influence and persuade overseas is based on the investments it makes, the people it sends abroad to represent the country in embassies and missions around the world, and the power of example.

Yes, remaining a leader in development, humanitarian, and international organization funding is the morally right thing to do. But its also the self-interested thing to do: It buys the United States leverage and pays real dividends in terms of securing support for U.S. priorities down the road. Funding for international exchange programs  also reportedly under consideration for cut or eliminated altogether  similarly represents a small upfront investment that pays dividends many times over. Leaders of other countries who are American-educated make better partners and citizens of other countries who are American-educated are some of the best proselytizers for the U.S. system of government and way of life. That kind of long-term benefit and value is irreplaceable.

Diplomacy is painstaking and time-consuming work. Almost no matter where they occur, massive cuts to State Department accounts will make U.S. diplomatic efforts less successful, exacerbate conflict and crisis across the globe, and quite possibly lead to more people dying around the world  whether for lack of humanitarian assistance; decreased funding to combat major infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis; or reduced efforts to prevent and end conflicts. Quiet but persistent diplomacy, together with the targeted commitment of resources, helps sustain alliances. Alliances ensure that the United States doesnt have to shoulder the full burden of military engagements like Afghanistan, Iraq, or countering the Islamic State, and they protect both the international order that keeps America and its close friends safe and the rules of the road that facilitate global commerce.

Quiet but persistent diplomacy, backed up by resources as needed, gives the United States leverage  for example, to persuade other countries to maintain sanctions against Russia for its misadventures in Ukraine  and helps it impose and implement the multilateral sanctions regimes, such as the sanctions against Iran, which led it to negotiate an end to its nuclear program. When it comes to battling insurgencies or addressing other internal security challenges, as Jim Jeffrey noted in a piece for Foreign Policy on State Department reform, The underlying threats come from political systems  leaders, states, ideological movements  that field kinetic enemies, while sustained support for U.S. interests flows from allied governments, not someones counterterrorism force. The military cannot easily deal at those levels; that, rather, is the job of the State Department-led interagency team.

This type of work requires countless hours spent in foreign ministries around the globe; on airplanes; on phone calls; at conferences; in the U.N. Security Council chamber, the halls of NATO, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the African Union, and the Organization of American States summits; and in bilateral and multilateral security dialogues. This isnt time wasted, and its not all fat that can be cut  not if your endgame is a United States that still has the wherewithal and support to lead on the world stage. These efforts are not always visible, sometimes grueling, and often boring, but they are the bread and butter of the State Departments work, and they are what ensures that the United States remains the most effective country in the world at influencing partners, friends, and adversaries. To be sure, the State Department could benefit from some smart reforms, as Jeffrey and others have argued. But indiscriminate and overly broad cuts like those the Trump administration is contemplating are no substitute for considered, thoughtful reforms, and would have potentially disastrous consequences.

Cuts on the order of magnitude being discussed would starve the department of the people and resources it needs to operate effectively and to ensure the United States can play the assertive international role that the Trump administration seems to envision. Ultimately, no amount of additional aircraft carriers or fighter jets can take the place of the diplomats who ably represent the United States, and all that it has and hopefully will continue to stand for, on the global stage.

Photo credit: ALEX WONG/Getty Images
Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump has thrown his full weight behind a contested plan to replace Obamacare, battling to overcome resistance from his Republican Party's right wing and meet a key campaign pledge 50 days into his presidency.

With Democrats united against the new health care plan, Trump can ill afford defections from within as he seeks to drive home the top legislative priority of his new administration.

While the bill winds its way through Congress this month, Trump is using his bully pulpit, powers of persuasion, and deal-making savvy in a bid to salvage the controversial plan.

He met Friday with senior congressional Republicans to discuss the way forward on the repeal and replacement of Barack Obama's signature health care law.

"We must act now to save Americans from the imploding Obamacare disaster," Trump said as he sat down with the lawmakers. "This is the time we're going to get it done."

The president has spent much of the week huddling with key health care players, including Republicans who support and oppose the bill, known as the American Health Care Act.

On Wednesday, he hosted several conservative groups that have expressed concerns about how the plan to use tax credits for people to buy insurance on the free market is too similar to the subsidies in Obamacare.

Trump will send Vice President Mike Pence to talk up the bill Saturday in Kentucky -- an arm-twisting gesture of sorts as Kentucky's Senator Rand Paul is one of the plan's chief Republican critics.

With some conservatives like Paul warning that the bill will not pass Congress without significant changes, the president has signalled his openness to "negotiation."

At the heart of the debate, Trump wants to repeal Obama's landmark reforms and remove the federal government from its role as health care architect, while maintaining the high levels of coverage for Americans entitled to Obamacare.

Trump has stated he ultimately wants a plan in place that allows for "insurance for everybody."

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- 'Binary choice' -

The chief champion of the plan in Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan, claimed that millions of US taxpayers would benefit from a rollback of Obamacare's subsidy system.

In a rolled-up-sleeves presentation Thursday, Ryan also sounded a clear warning to Republicans who are considering defying the president.

"This is the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing Obamacare," the charismatic 47-year-old said, describing the path forward as "a binary choice" between reform and the status quo.

House Republican Steve Scalise reiterated the us-versus-them approach Friday on CNN.

"Members are going to have to pick a side: (House Democratic leader) Nancy Pelosi or President Trump," Scalise said.

Polls show that Obama's Affordable Care Act, which helped 20 million Americans gain coverage, remains popular. About half of those people are covered through Obamacare's expansion of Medicaid, the insurance program for the poor.

Under the new plan, that expansion will be phased out by 2020. Some conservatives have said they want a quicker rollback of the expansion, which they view as an unnecessary government entitlement.

The administration is treading carefully on the delicate issue, given that 31 of the 50 states, including several with Republican governors, accepted federal funds to expand Medicaid.

Trump is "willing to listen" to different options, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

Several health-related interest groups, including the American Medical Association, are opposed to the Republican substitute, fearing millions could lose their coverage.

According to The Washington Post, citing figures from New York University research, the plan would strip away vital drug addiction or mental health treatment benefits from up to 1.3 million people.

- How much will it cost? -

The new legislation's cost remains a major unknown. Next week the Congressional Budget Office is expected to release its "score" on the bill's costs and the estimate on how many people who could lose or gain coverage.

A preliminary analysis by Standard & Poor's estimated that between six million and 10 million people could lose coverage under the Republican plan.

With Ryan urging his foot soldiers in Congress to gird for battle, some Republicans are warning against taking a page out of Obama's playbook to ram health policy through with no bipartisan support.

Ohio Governor John Kasich, who challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, said it was time to end the "partisan warfare" on health care.

"True and lasting reform of the health insurance system must be accomplished by bringing the two sides together, not by replacing one divisive wedge with another," Kasich wrote in Friday's New York Times.
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump will on Friday speak by telephone with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the White House said, in the first call between the two leaders.

Trump received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in mid-February.

At that meeting, Trump said he was not bound to the two-state solution for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, distancing himself from a position held by his predecessors for years.

He said he would back whichever solution -- one-state or two -- that the two sides agreed on.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh confirmed Friday's call to AFP and said the Palestinian leader would "reaffirm his commitment to peace."

The peace process has been deadlocked since April 2014 following the collapse of indirect negotiations led by then secretary of state John Kerry.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, on Tuesday met for the first time with the Palestinian envoy to the world body, Riyad Mansour.

After the talks, Haley tweeted that the Palestinians should "meet with Israel in direct negotiations rather than looking to the UN to deliver results that can only be achieved through the two parties."
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump's transition team learned before the inauguration that incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn might register with the government as a foreign agent, White House officials acknowledged Friday.

The disclosure suggests that Trump transition lawyers did not view Flynn's lobbying work for a Turkish businessman as a liability for an official who serves as the president's closest adviser on security and international affairs. It also raises new questions about whether Trump's transition team, and later his White House lawyers, fully vetted Flynn.

Flynn's registration this week with the Justice Department disclosed lobbying by him and his firm that may have benefited the government of Turkey.

Trump fired Flynn last month on other grounds  that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. Flynn's registration comes amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates' potential contacts with Russia. The FBI is investigating, as are House and Senate intelligence committees.

Flynn registered with the Justice Department on Tuesday, citing $530,000 worth of lobbying. His work on behalf of a company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin occurred at the same time he was advising Trump's presidential campaign.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump had not been aware Flynn might register as a foreign agent. He said Flynn's lawyer had raised the possible filing with the transition team, but Trump's attorneys responded that it was a personal matter and not something they would consult on.

"It's a business matter, it's not something that would be appropriate for a government entity to give someone guidance on when they should file as an individual," Spicer said. He dismissed questions about whether Flynn's work should have raised red flags for the new administration, saying the retired Army lieutenant general had "impeccable credentials."

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Among those told of Flynn's lobbying work during the transition was Don McGahn, a campaign lawyer who has gone on to become White House counsel, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversations between Flynn's representatives and the transition team.

A White House official said McGahn and others were not aware of the details of Flynn's work. It's not clear why the Trump advisers did not seek additional information once Flynn's lawyers raised the potential filing.

According to the person with knowledge of the discussions, Flynn's representatives had a second conversation with Trump lawyers after the inauguration and made clear the national security adviser would indeed be registering with the Justice Department. The White House official said the counsel's office had no recollection of that second discussion.

Both the White House official and person with knowledge of the discussions insisted on anonymity in order to disclose the private conversations.

In the filings with the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Unit, Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group, Inc., acknowledged that his work for Alptekin's company "could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey." The lobbying on behalf of Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Alptekin, occurred from August through November.

Flynn's filing said that he and his firm were not certain whether Turkey's government was involved in Inovo's hiring of them as lobbyists. The firm said it was aware, however, that Alptekin "consulted with officials of the Republic of Turkey regarding potential work by Flynn Intel Group."

The firm also acknowledged that Alptekin introduced Flynn to two senior Turkish government officials in September, but it identified them only by their titles. The officials included in the meeting were Turkey's minister of foreign affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law.

In an interview with the AP, Alptekin said Flynn and his firm filed the registration under pressure from Justice Department officials. Alptekin said he disagreed with the decision to register. He also said he had asked for some of his money back.

In an interview Thursday with Fox News, Vice President Pence said he was unaware of Flynn's foreign agent work until this week, but called the disclosure "an affirmation of the president's decision to ask Gen. Flynn to resign."

In November, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, sent Pence a letter warning about conflicts created by Flynn's lobbying work.

"If the vice president had heeded my warnings, it's clear now he could have prevented the problems that occurred with Lt. Gen. Flynn," Cummings said Friday.

After Flynn joined the administration, he agreed not to lobby for five years after leaving government service and never to represent foreign governments. It appears that his work wouldn't violate the pledge because it occurred before he joined the administration. The pledge bars Flynn from ever doing the same type of work again in his lifetime.

Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, U.S. citizens who lobby on behalf of foreign governments or political entities must disclose their work to the Justice Department. Willfully failing to register is a felony, though the department rarely files criminal charges in such cases. It routinely works with lobbying firms to help them get back in compliance by registering and disclosing their work.

According to Flynn's filings, his firm's work involved research, informational materials and a video on the cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkish President Erdogan has accused Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, of orchestrating a botched coup last summer. Erdogan has called for Gulen's extradition, a request the Obama administration rebuffed.

Alptekin, the Turkish businessman, has denied having any ties to Erdogan's government. But he is a member of a Turkish economic relations board run by an Erdogan appointee.

___

Follow Chad Day at http://twitter.com/ChadSDay and Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
By Steve Holland, James Oliphant and Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has launched a charm offensive of the type not seen before in his brief and chaotic tenure, forcefully rallying behind legislation to repeal the Obamacare healthcare law while trying to placate the bills opponents. In doing so, the often blustery Trump faces a test of credibility for the voters that catapulted him into office: How does a celebrity outsider, the CEO president, cut deals in Washington? Does the New York businessman live up to the image of dealmaker in chief? Interviews with more than a dozen White House and congressional aides, members of Congress and conservative activists offer a glimpse into his attempts at conducting the most formidable, high-stakes negotiation of his presidency. They show a more circumspect Trump than many see publicly. While they acknowledge he can make his points with a blunt and combustible style, he appears to be doing more listening than talking, they said, trying to appease both supporters and critics by signaling flexibility over legislation that faces criticism on multiple fronts. Democrats and some influential Republicans say it would rip health insurance away from millions of Americans and increase costs for many others, including voters who helped elect Trump - a problem that could haunt his fellow Republicans in 2018 congressional elections. Conservatives say it does not go far enough in gutting the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform passed by Democrats in 2010. Republicans have long sought to dismantle the law, which they see as government overreach. Trump has called Obamacare a "disaster" and made its repeal and replacement a key campaign pledge. The political stakes are immense for an eight-week-old presidency marked by instability, infighting, battles with the media, questions over temperament and a stubborn investigation into ties between his campaign and Russian intelligence. A lot of times you have politicians who gather in a room to pontificate. Thats not why he has gathered people in the room, a senior White House official said of Trumps negotiation style this week. Hes gathered people in to hear their opinions. I think thats lost a little bit because he does speak so forcefully. He definitely does let them say their piece, and he listens. The president has reached out to influential conservatives such as U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and groups such as the Heritage Foundation and Americans for Prosperity, which have expressed skepticism about the bill. He was gregarious, reasonable. He listened. It was a not a lecture, said Tim Phillips, president of AFP, a group backed by billionaires Charles and David Koch and part of a small group of conservative leaders who met with Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday night. He said: This is a negotiation. Lets figure out ways to make this proposal better, Phillips said of Trump. Trump has indicated he will only go so far to make conservatives happy, insisting the core elements of the bill must remain intact if it has any chance to pass the House of Representatives and then the Senate, both controlled by Republicans. One sticking point involves the use of tax credits to help consumers purchase health insurance, which Trump favors. Hes made it clear this is the vehicle to finally undo the damage of Obamacare and repeal and replace it, said another senior White House official. And if it can be improved in this process, he has encouraged that. THIN MARGIN FOR SUCCESS Trump is operating with a razor-thin margin for success. A defection by 20 or so Republicans in the House could sink the bills prospects. There is already discontent among some in the Senate, where Republicans hold an even slimmer edge. Democrats and groups such as AARP, which advocates for older Americans, and the American Medical Association have come out strongly against the bill. Conservatives in the House and advocacy groups opposed to the bill would like to slow the process and rework its fundamentals. They argue the legislation retains basic facets of Obamacare, including federal assistance to purchase health insurance and penalties if coverage lapses. House Speaker Paul Ryan is hoping to pass the legislation within two weeks so the House can move on to other priorities. That leaves little time for wholesale alterations. Representative Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he expected the bill would largely remain in its current form. I know lots of people have good ideas. Thats terrific. And those will fit in future bills." The White House has tried to persuade conservatives that the House bill is just the first step in a three-step process, and will soon be joined by a companion bill that would embrace some of their policy priorities. Regulations put in place by Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price will also address their concerns, aides said. The challenge for Trump is whether he can convince enough wary conservatives to back the first step of the plan without being able to guarantee the other phases will come to pass. It could leave them on the record voting for a bill they do not feel adequately dismantles Obamacare. Some conservatives may also not see the point of sticking their necks out backing a bill that may die in the Senate. This is a futile effort, said Rachel Bovard, a policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, which opposes the bill. 'MAKING PEOPLE FEEL LOVED' The White House is aggressively making the case that the House bill is the best chance to do away with Obamacare. Moving too far rightward to placate conservatives could stir up opposition from moderate Republicans and lead to a bill that stokes a powerful backlash among millions of Americans who would lose health insurance - including many Republicans. Many Democrats are already planning to run campaigns on the issue. The White House was busy this week trying to reassure moderate Republicans as well. Vice President Mike Pence is holding meetings in Congress, including with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican aide said. Trumps budget director, Mick Mulvaney, a former House member, has invited conservative lawmakers to dinner at the White House next Tuesday. Trump plans to leverage the power of his office in another way, making trips to Kentucky and Tennessee in coming days to sell the House bill to the American public. Earlier this week, Trump welcomed about 30 Republican House members, many of whom said they had never been in the White House before - a contrast in style from Obama, who was often criticized for not attempting to engage more fully with Congress. In the East Room, Trump told them to come back every week. Grover Norquist, a longtime conservative tax advocate, praised Trumps strategy, saying: "He is making people feel loved and appreciated and part of the team. (Additional reporting by Caren Bohan; Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Jason Szep and Peter Cooney)
On March 6, President Donald Trump signed an executive order revising the controversial travel ban he issued on Jan. 27 that banned refugees and people from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US.

The new order scales back some of the original language and restrictions, but in certain industries, the fallout could take longer to recover.

At the ITB travel fair in Berlin on Thursday, Emirates President Tim Clark revealed that the airline has seen booking rates on US flights fall by 35% since the initial ban.

I am concerned. Its the tone of it. We have brought millions of Muslims to the United States, but now they may not feel welcome, they may look at going on holiday elsewhere, he said.

Competitor airline Qatar Airways said it has not experienced a drop in bookings for US flights.

According to the US Travel Association, more than 77 million people from abroad visited the US in 2015, with 38.4 million coming from overseas markets (excluding Canada and Mexico). But following Januarys ban, the airline industry took a hit, with Hopper reporting that flight searches dropped as much as 17% after the original announcement.

Jonathan Grella, the executive VP of public affairs at the US Travel Association, says the administration did some good in revising the ban, but suggests that a simple gesture could do a lot to quell international uncertainty.

The administration didnt follow through with a balancing message including an overt welcome to legitimate travelers, Grella told Yahoo Finance. We have to put our best foot forward to make sure people around the world dont get the wrong impression, or well find ourselves with two problems  a negative impact on security and prosperity.

Indeed, a sharp decrease in international travel could have a negative impact on the US economy. Currently, one out of nine jobs in the US depends on travel and tourism, and those workers earn more than $231.6 billion every year. In the first six months of 2016, international visitors spent nearly $125 billion on tourism related goods, and that spending directly supported 1.1 million jobs in the US, according to the US Travel Association. Simply put, bringing people into the US who spend money without needing our government services, like education or healthcare, is a great way to grow the economy and create jobs.

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Echoing the stats from Hopper, Forward Keys, a travel tracking site, also found that international arrivals have continued to suffer after the Jan. 27 ban. On Feb. 17, when Trump announced that a revised executive order would be introduced, bookings from the seven countries in consideration fell 7% by Feb. 25. More alarmingly, bookings from other countries not mentioned in the ban also fell 4%. Its this stat that concerns Grella.

To think that only the countries upset are the ones mentioned in the ban is to misunderstand the moment, said Grella. Undecided travelers are always making up their minds to stay home or head to a destination, and we shouldnt give them a reason not to come.

Grella adds that Trumps hospitality DNA and career as a businessman make him uniquely positioned to understand the economic impact travel has on the US economy. The administration might want to think about a comprehensive marketing campaign to welcome legitimate travelers to the US, he said.

The revised executive order  which removes Iraq from the list of countries  will go into effect on March 16. The remaining six countries still include Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The revised order also exempts permanent residents and current visa holders and reversed the indefinite ban on refugees from Syria, opting instead for a 120-day free which will have to be reviewed and renewed.

Brittany is a writer at Yahoo Finance.

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By Huda Majeed MOSUL, Iraq, (Reuters) - Extensive excavations by Islamic State militants under Mosul's ancient Mosque of Jonah show they took care to preserve artifacts for loot, a local archaeologist said, in sharp contrast to their public desecration of antiquities. The ultra-hardline Islamists seized the mosque when they stormed through northern Iraq three years ago, bulldozing and dynamiting ancient sites and smashing statues and sculptures, declaring them all idolatrous. Jonah's mosque was blown up in July 2014, but experts surveying the damage after it was recaptured in January by a U.S.-backed Iraqi campaign found a network of tunnels dug by the militants, leading down to a 7th century BC Assyrian palace. The careful way the tunnels were dug show the militants wanted to keep the treasures intact, said archaeologist Musab Mohammed Jassim, from the Nineveh Antiquities and Heritage Department "They used simple tools and chisels to dig the tunnels, in order not to damage the artifacts," he said, standing near the tunnel network which leads from the mosque ruins above ground to the much older subterranean palace. The digging "was carried out according to a plan and a knowledge of the palace," he added. The efforts to avoid damaging the antiquities contrast with the destruction of ancient sites across Islamic State's self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq, from the desert city of Palmyra to the Assyrian capital of Nimrud, south of Mosul. The desecration was recorded on video and widely published by Islamic State supporters, who portrayed it as part of their campaign to erase any cultural history which contravenes their extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam. However the United States has said looting and smuggling of artifacts has been a significant source of income for the militants. In July 2015 the U.S. handed Iraq a hoard of antiquities it said it had seized from Islamic State in Syria. PALACE REVEALED While Islamic State's 30-month occupation of the Mosque of Jonah left a legacy of damage and theft, it has also opened up fresh opportunities for archaeologists. Excavations which were launched in 2004, the year after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, revealed an entrance to the palace of Assyrian king Esarhaddon, guarded by large lamassus - human-headed winged bulls carved from stone. But work halted shortly after because it threatened the foundations of the mosque, built over the reputed burial site of the biblical prophet revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims - who know him as Nabi Yunis. "The whole palace remained untouched by the experts and foreign excavation," Jassim said as he toured the tunnels, still lined with broken bits of pottery as well as sections of stone panel with carved figures and cuneiform text. "So this site, the Esarhaddon Palace, maintained all its features...It contains large collections of sculptures of different sizes and shapes and valuable artifacts". Esarhaddon, who ruled ancient Assyria for 12 years in the early 7th century BC, was the son of Sennacherib whose military campaigns against Babylon and the kingdom of Judah are recorded in the bible. A U.S.-backed Iraqi campaign dislodged Islamic State from most Iraqi cities captured in 2014 and 2015. The militant group is now fighting in its last major urban stronghold, in the western part of Mosul. Iraqi forces earlier this week captured the ransacked main museum of Mosul, where the militants filmed themselves destroying priceless statues. (Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Dominic Evans)
BEIRUT (AP)  The main Syrian Kurdish force fighting Islamic State militants in northern Syria said Friday that it has enough fighters to take the extremists' de facto capital of Raqqa with the help of the U.S.-led coalition  remarks that reflect a veiled warning to Ankara and also to rival, Turkey-backed opposition forces making headway toward the city.

The comments by Cihan Sheikh Ehmed, the spokeswoman of the Syrian Democratic Forces, came as U.S. troops are playing a bigger role on the ground in the battle to capture Raqqa in northern Syria.

Gen. Joseph Votel, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, signaled Thursday that there will be a larger and longer American military presence in Syria to accelerate the fight against IS and quell friction within the complicated mix of warring factions there.

The SDF spokeswoman said their numbers are increasing with more residents of newly-liberated areas from IS joining the ethnically-mixed force, which has been the most effective group on the ground in Syria in the battle against IS.

"We have enough forces to liberate Raqqa with the help of the coalition," Sheikh Ehmed said, adding that their troops received intelligence that the Islamic State group is moving some of its leaders outside the city and are digging tunnels in preparation for intense street battles  much like those underway in neighboring Iraq where the Iraqi forces, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, are fighting to rout IS from the western part of the city of Mosul, the extremists' last remaining urban stronghold in Iraq.

But the spokeswoman's remarks are likely to anger Turkey, which has insisted that Syrian opposition fighters backed by Ankara should lead the offensive on Raqqa rather than the SDF, which is dominated by the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG. Turkey has declared the YPG a terrorist organization and considers it to be linked to its own home-grown Kurdish insurgency.

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As the SDF advances in areas close to the city of Raqqa, came as the U.S.-led coalition aircraft pounded areas in the city of Raqqa and its outskirts, according to the U.S. Central Commander and Syrian opposition activists.

The U.S. command said 13 strikes engaged targets including eight IS tactical units, four vehicles, a fighting position and an IS headquarters near Raqqa.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists around the country, reported airstrikes on Raqqa as well as its outskirts.

Also Friday, Turkey's military said Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition forces have killed  or "neutralized"  71 Syrian Kurdish fighters in northern Syria this week. The operations are part of Turkey's months-long incursion into its war-torn neighbor in a push against IS but also in an effort to restrict the U.S.-backed SDF.

Since the Turkish operation started in August, the joint Turkish and Syrian opposition forces have killed as many as 2,647 IS militants and 425 Syrian Kurdish fighters in Syria, said a Turkish military statement. It added that more than 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) in northern Syria are now under control of the Turkish-backed forces.

Syria blasted Turkey over its intervention in the country and support for opposition forces trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power, saying it has killed thousands, and called on the U.N. Security Council to press Ankara to withdraw its troops.

Friday's statement came a day after Syria's state media reported that Turkish troops shelled Syrian army positions north of the country, killing and wounding several troops.

SDF fighters have been on the offensive in the Raqqa area since November and have closed major supply roads used by IS. They have captured large areas from IS since then under the cover of airstrikes of the U.S.-led coalition.

Late last month, Pentagon leaders sent a new plan on how to defeat IS to the White House, including a variety of options for the ongoing fight in Iraq and Syria. The White House hasn't yet approved the plans, but the recent deployments into Syria suggest that President Donald Trump may be leaning toward giving the Pentagon greater flexibility to make routine combat decisions in the IS fight.

Sheikh Ehmed said troops from the U.S.-led coalition have increased in northern Syria and are playing a bigger role in the battle for Raqqa. She did not provide any figures regarding the number of U.S.-led coalition troops.

Russia is not likely to stay out of the push on Raqqa, either. Nor are Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces, which Moscow backs.

The Russian military said Friday that its warplanes have killed more than 600 militants in just one week while backing the Syrian army's offensive against IS. Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the military's General Staff said Russian aircraft have carried out 452 airstrikes in support of the Syrian government forces.

In addition, Rudskoi stated that Syrian government forces have recaptured 92 towns and villages across a territory of 479 square kilometers, or 185 square miles, from IS in the past week.

___

Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.
By Denis Dyomkin and Tuvan Gumrukcu MOSCOW/ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan sought to build cooperation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday over military operations in Syria, as Turkey attempts to create a border "safe zone" free of Islamic State and the Kurdish YPG militia. Erdogan, referring to Islamic State's remaining stronghold, told a joint Moscow news conference with the Russian President "Of course, the real target now is Raqqa". Turkey is seeking a role for its military in the advance on Raqqa, but the United States is veering toward enlisting the Kurdish YPG militia - something contrary to Ankara's aim of banishing Kurdish fighters eastwards across the Euphrates river. Turkey considers the YPG the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has been fighting an insurrection on Turkish soil for 30 years. Washington, like Ankara, considers the PKK a terrorist group, but it backs the YPG. Russian-backed forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are also operating in the north of the country, close to Turkish borders. Washington and Moscow are concerned fast-moving military developments could lead to serious clashes between Turkish forces and the YPG. "It should now be accepted that a terrorist organization cannot be defeated with another one," Erdogan said, referring to the enlistment of YPG by the United States to fight Islamic State. "As a country that has been battling terror for 35 years, terrorist organizations like Daesh (Islamic State), the YPG, Nusra front and others are organizations we face at all times. TURKISH-KURDISH CLASHES INTENSIFY "We have kept all lines of communication open until now, and we will continue to do so from now on," Erdogan said. "Whether it is Turkey or Russia, we are working in full cooperation militarily in Syria. Our chiefs of staff, foreign ministers, and intelligence agencies cooperate intensely." The Turkish military said on Friday that 71 Kurdish militia fighters had been killed in Syria in the last week in what appeared to mark an escalation of clashes with the U.S.-backed YPG group vying for control of areas along Turkey's border. Including that 71, a total of 134 have been killed since Jan. 5. Syrian state media quoted a military source late on Thursday as saying Turkey's military had shelled Syrian government forces and their allies in northern Iraq, causing deaths and injuries. State-run SANA news agency quoted the military source as saying that the Turkish bombardment targeted Syrian border guard positions in the countryside near the northern city of Manbij. The area around Manbij has been controlled since last year by the Manbij Military Council, a local militia that is a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella organization of armed groups of which the YPG is also a part. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Ralph Boulton; Editing by Daren Butler, Larry King)
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Turkey's foreign minister says he will go to the Netherlands to address Turkish citizens despite Dutch authorities' demands that he not show up for a rally there on the upcoming Turkish referendum.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said he would travel to Rotterdam on Saturday despite "all obstacles and despite all the racist speeches." His comments, made late Thursday following a telephone call with his Dutch counterpart, were reported in the Turkish media on Friday.

Cavusoglu's statement came after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his government had given the strongest possible hints to Turkey not to send representatives for rallies, short of arresting a Turkish minister on arrival. He added Cavusoglu's visit would stir trouble between the two NATO allies.

Turkish ministers' plans for campaign rallies have also caused friction with Germany.

But the visit to the Netherlands is particularly sensitive, coming just days before elections for the lower house of Parliament.

Anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders, who is polling strongly ahead of the March 15 election, has called on the Dutch government to declare Turkish ministers persona non grata and bar them from the Netherlands until after the election.

However, government ministers say they can do little to prevent Cavusoglu making a private visit.

Instead, they have repeatedly tried to talk him out of coming.

"My message was clear: That his visit to the Netherlands is undesirable," Foreign Affairs Minister Bert Koenders told reporters Friday after what he called a "tough" phone call with his Turkish counterpart.

___

Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this story.
After South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye was removed from office after her constitutional impeachment over a corruption scandal Friday morning, two South Korean protesters died later in the day during the massive protests that took place conducted by the president's supporters in central Seoul, local police confirmed.

"We confirm that two protesters against upholding impeachment have died," Lim Jae Beom, an officer at the public relations office of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency told CNBC News.

During the ruling earlier in the day both critics and supporters of the Park gathered in front of the South Korean Constitutional Court, where around 20,000 police forces were deployed because they speculated there would be violent confrontation among groups after the ruling.

Read: Jay Y. Lee Denied Role In South Korean President's Corruption Scandal

After the decision was heard by the public a group comprising of more than hundred people, who were supporters of the president tried to get inside the court even when police forces tried to stop them. Many of them fell and got injured. "We lost our liberty. We lost our Korea," one protestor told CNN's Paula Hancocks live on air.

"We cannot understand impeachment for our president. She is still our president, tomorrow she will be our president," another supporter said.

Soon after the announcement the critics were happy and pumped their fists in celebration and also the whole crowd was heard applauding.

According to CNN, a statement from acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn called for unity. "We all need to respect the decision of the constitutional court. There will be people who cannot accept this and find it hard to submit to this, but now is the time to accept and end the conflict and opposition."

After Park's impeachment, she became first ever president to be impeached successfully before the end of her tenure, after dictatorship was overthrown and democracy was embraced in South Korea in the 1980s. After this, Park also lost her immunity as president and is now liable to prosecution and can be questioned by the authorities anytime.

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A government official also told CNN that an election for a new president will be held within a time span of 60 days and an adhoc cabinet meeting will also be held in the upcoming days.

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Geneva (AFP) - Two men shot dead two people and seriously injured a third on Thursday at a cafe in Basel, north-west Switzerland, police said as they hunt for the suspects.

"Two men came into Cafe 56" around 8.15 pm local time (1915 GMT) "and fired several rounds of shots," police said in a statement, without providing information on a possible motive.

"Two customers were killed. Another is in a critical condition."

The assailants were on the run following the shooting, according to police, who said they had headed in the direction of the railway station after the attack.

"The reason behind the attack is not yet known and will be investigated," the Basel prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Police have asked anyone with information regarding the incident to come forward.

The road next to the cafe has been cordoned off and traffic redirected.

A bullet hole was visible in one of the windows of the establishment, a small cafe in a residential neighbourhood.

An AFP photographer at the scene saw police dressed in white forensic garb collecting evidence at the site.

"Cafe 56 doesn't have a bad reputation," a neighbourhood resident told local newspaper Basler Zeitung.

"It was previously an establishment known for its links to the drug world, but since the owner changed several years ago it became an ordinary cafe," the paper quoted another resident as saying.

Gun crime is infrequent in Switzerland, even though the country has one of the highest rates of firearm ownership in the world.

Citizens are allowed to keep their army-issue weapons at home outside periods of mandatory military service.

This right has been controversial as sometimes weapons are used at home in domestic incidents.

The number of weapons held at home is believed to be two million for a population of eight million, according to Swiss press.

In January, a man clad in military clothing shot and injured two police officers as they searched his home in northeast Switzerland for a suspected cannabis plantation.

The gunman fled but was eventually cornered and after a standoff lasting several hours, which included negotiations over the telephone, he shot himself dead.

Police searching his home found gun publications.
By Courtney Sherwood

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Two men who took part in the armed occupation of a U.S. wildlife refuge in Oregon were convicted of federal conspiracy charges on Friday, in a split verdict that saw two other men cleared of the same counts, prosecutors said.

The men and others participated in a 41-day standoff protesting the federal government controlling millions of acres of land in the West. Before participants eventually surrendered, police shot occupier Robert "LaVoy" Finicum to death during a roadside confrontation

Jason Patrick and Darryl Thorn were each found guilty of conspiring to prevent federal workers from doing their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote eastern Oregon, the U.S. Attorney's office in Oregon said in a written statement.

Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan were cleared of those charges but found guilty of depredation of government property for using an excavator to dig trenches at the refuge during last year's occupation of the site, according to prosecutors.

"Over a period of weeks leading up to and during the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation, these defendants made choices. Now, a jury of their peers has spoken, and the consequences of those choices are quite clear, Loren Cannon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon, said in a written statement.

The U.S. District Court jury of seven women and five men deliberated for three days, also finding Thorn guilty of possessing a firearm in a federal facility, but the panel acquitted Patrick and Ryan of that charge.

Attorneys for the four men were not immediately available for comment.

Defense attorneys argued during opening statements in the trial, which began in February, that the defendants were exercising their constitutional rights to peaceably assemble and seek redress of their grievances.

But prosecutors said that the men were on trial for their actions, not their beliefs.

Last October, another trial ended with the acquittal of anti-government activist Ammon Bundy and six of his followers, who cast their protest as a patriotic act of civil disobedience in opposition to U.S. government control over public lands in the West.

Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan and their father Cliven Bundy are in federal custody ahead of a trial scheduled to begin later this year over another armed standoff with federal officers in 2014 in Nevada. The first of three trials in that case began on Feb. 9.

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Andrew Hay)
Police in South Korea confirmed two people have died in protests following the decision of the countrys Constitutional Court to uphold President Park Geun-hyes impeachment, Associated Press reports.

Police provided no details of the circumstances of the second death, but earlier on Friday afternoon a local hospital official said that a man in his 70s had died from head wounds after falling from a police bus in front of South Koreas Constitutional Court.

Scenes broadcast by CNN showed groups of protesters throwing rocks and other objects amid scuffles with riot police. The news agency reported that the majority of protests were peaceful.

The unrest follows the announcement of the impeachment of Park Geun-hye  the first woman to be elected president in South Korea  which was broadcast live to crowds in Seoul on Friday. We announce the decision as the unanimous opinion of all judges. We dismiss the defendant President Park, Justice Lee Jung-mi said at the time.

Both pro and anti-Park contingents took to the streets to hear the ruling  the latter responded to the announcement with applause and tears of joy, according to CNN. Park supporters, gathered near Seouls Constitutional Court and reportedly numbering in the thousands, were hemmed by a ring of police officers and vehicles. Some attempted to climb the buses barricading them from the court and fought with police.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, South Koreas acting head of state, pleaded for supporters and opponents to disperse from the streets of Seoul early on Friday evening.

There would be people who feel they cannot understand or accept (the court ruling), but its now time to move on and end all conflict and standoff, Hwang said in a televised speech. Its not ideal to expand the conflict by continuing the protests outside on the streets  Precious lives were lost during the rallies today, and this must no longer happen.

Crowds of between 500,000 to 1.5 million people had protested in the streets over the course of six weeks leading up to the National Assemblys December impeachment of Park, whose approval rating had plunged to just 4% after she was mired in a corruption scandal.

Shortly after Fridays decision was announced, South Koreas defense minister Han Min Koo warned the countrys military to be on alert for the possibility of North Korean strategic or operational provocations attempting to exploit unstable situations at home and abroad, according to AP.
By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it plans to forge ahead with building the THAAD missile defence system in South Korea, separating the issue from a political crisis in Seoul that saw President Park Geun-hye's removal from office on Friday. The United States started deploying the first elements of its advanced anti-missile defence system in South Korea on Tuesday in response to North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear tests. Leading candidates to replace Park have split over THAAD. One prominent opposition candidate called for a review while another recently told Chinese media that THAAD deployment should be called off. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis described THAAD as something that had already been decided upon between both nations and which was fully justified by the North Korean threat. He declined to comment on internal politics in Seoul. "Leaders change over time, that's not new," Davis told a news conference. "We made an agreement with the Republic of Korea that this was a capability that they needed ... This is something that is needed militarily. That agreement was reached and we remain committed to delivering on it." Asked whether the United States would continue shipping THAAD components to South Korea, Davis said "Yes." Victor Cha, a Korea expert and former White House official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, played down the chances that THAAD would be rolled back. "If THAAD is deployed prior to the elections and given the North Korean missile threat, I don't think it would be prudent for a new government to ask that it be walked back," Cha said. U.S. officials told Reuters the system could be operational in several weeks, although the Pentagon has declined to say when it will be up and running. South Korea's Constitutional Court removed Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving the country's conglomerates. The ruling sparked protests from supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court. Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign. Beijing has vigorously protested against the deployment, fearing its radar could see into its missile deployments. China has curbed travel to South Korea and targeted Korean companies operating in the mainland, prompting retaliatory measures from Seoul. North Korea missile expert John Schilling, a contributor to the U.S. monitoring group 38 North, said any future South Korean leader would have a hard time objecting to THAAD if it meant jeopardizing the alliance with the United States. But he noted that South Korea still had leverage. "THAAD works best when it is operated in conjunction with existing Patriot and Aegis missiles and an integrated command and control system," Schilling said. "South Korea controls enough of that infrastructure that they could make it not worth the bother for the U.S. to set up a single isolated and poorly-sited THAAD battery." (Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, David Brunnstrom, Matt Spetalnick; editing by James Dalgleish)
By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it plans to forge ahead with building the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, separating the issue from a political crisis in Seoul that saw President Park Geun-hye's removal from office on Friday. The United States started deploying the first elements of its advanced anti-missile defense system in South Korea on Tuesday in response to North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear tests. Leading candidates to replace Park have split over THAAD. One prominent opposition candidate called for a review while another recently told Chinese media that THAAD deployment should be called off. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis described THAAD as something that had already been decided upon between both nations and which was fully justified by the North Korean threat. He declined to comment on internal politics in Seoul. "Leaders change over time, that's not new," Davis told a news conference. "We made an agreement with the Republic of Korea that this was a capability that they needed ... This is something that is needed militarily. That agreement was reached and we remain committed to delivering on it." Asked whether the United States would continue shipping THAAD components to South Korea, Davis said "Yes." Victor Cha, a Korea expert and former White House official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, played down the chances that THAAD would be rolled back. "If THAAD is deployed prior to the elections and given the North Korean missile threat, I don't think it would be prudent for a new government to ask that it be walked back," Cha said. U.S. officials told Reuters the system could be operational in several weeks, although the Pentagon has declined to say when it will be up and running. South Korea's Constitutional Court removed Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving the country's conglomerates. The ruling sparked protests from supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court. Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign. Beijing has vigorously protested against the deployment, fearing its radar could see into its missile deployments. China has curbed travel to South Korea and targeted Korean companies operating in the mainland, prompting retaliatory measures from Seoul. North Korea missile expert John Schilling, a contributor to the U.S. monitoring group 38 North, said any future South Korean leader would have a hard time objecting to THAAD if it meant jeopardizing the alliance with the United States. But he noted that South Korea still had leverage. "THAAD works best when it is operated in conjunction with existing Patriot and Aegis missiles and an integrated command and control system," Schilling said. "South Korea controls enough of that infrastructure that they could make it not worth the bother for the U.S. to set up a single isolated and poorly-sited THAAD battery." (Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, David Brunnstrom, Matt Spetalnick; editing by James Dalgleish)
By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - About 2,000 people were killed and entire neighborhoods razed in southeastern Turkey in 18 months of government security operations characterized by massive destruction and serious human rights violations, the United Nations said on Friday. The U.N. human rights office said in a report on the period July 2015-December 2016 that up to 500,000 people, mostly Kurds, had been displaced, while satellite imagery showed the "enormous scale of destruction of the housing stock by heavy weaponry". U.N. investigators documented human rights violations including killings, disappearances and torture, often during curfews lasting several days at a time. U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said in a statement that Turkey, which denied access for the investigators, had "contested the veracity" of the allegations. "It appears that not a single suspect was apprehended and not a single individual was prosecuted," Zeid said, adding an independent investigation was urgently needed. Zeid's spokesman, Rupert Colville, said an investigation could be international or Turkish but must be independent and impartial. The U.N. would continue investigating and might publish reports on Turkey every three months or so, he said, adding that security operations were continuing sporadically. In a written statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the report was based on "biased, incorrect" information and was "far from professional". "We do not accept the unfounded allegations in the report which correspond exactly to the terrorist group's propaganda," it said, adding the report was a clear violation of the impartiality and objectivity required of U.N. representatives. It was referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is the target of the Turkish security forces' operations in the southeast. Turkey, the United States and European Union designate it as a terrorist group. KILLINGS Almost 800 of those killed were members of the security forces, and some of the other 1,200 may have been involved in action against the state, the report said. Among the documented killings were those of up to 189 people trapped for weeks in basements in the town of Cizre in early 2016, without water, food, medical attention or power. They were killed by fire induced by shelling. One woman's family was given "three small pieces of charred flesh", identified by DNA as being her remains. Her sister, who demanded legal action, was charged with terrorist offences, the report said. Colville said the death toll figures came from the Turkish government. "Definitely if the PKK have committed crimes and violations they need to be analyzed and exposed," Colville said. "The problem is because there has been this void, really, in investigation, nobody knows the scale of who has done what to whom and the precise details," he said. Although Zeid has been invited to Turkey, Colville said a U.N. investigative team needed to go first and it would be "absurd" to think Zeid's visit could be a substitute. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Additional reporting by Daren Butler in Istanbul; Editing by Julia Glover, Larry King)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it will soon run out of visas for interpreters and other Afghans who have worked for the U.S. government during the decade and a half that U.S. forces have been engaged in the country.

At least one U.S. senator, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, said any decision to let the program lapse sends a message to allies in Afghanistan that the United States is not supporting them. She pledged to immediately introduce legislation to provide more visas.

"It's both a moral and practical imperative that Congress right this wrong immediately," Shaheen said in a statement.

Her office said more than 10,000 applicants are still in the process of obtaining visas.

Shaheen and Republican Senator John McCain led a failed effort last year to pass legislation extending to 4,000 more people an existing special immigrant visa program for Afghans who assisted U.S. forces, often risking their lives.

In Afghanistan, where the Taliban has steadily expanded its insurgency and where government forces now control less than 60 percent of the country, there has been deep concern among local contractors working for international forces.

"Most of those working with foreigners are in trouble with their relatives, villagers and even family members," said one translator, who is waiting for medical checks after completing his interview. He declined to give his name because his visa has not yet been granted.

The Taliban has captured biometric equipment to let it identify staff working for the Western-backed government and international forces, heightening the risk for those on official payrolls.

"I cannot go to my home and it has been two years now," the translator said. "If they don't give us a visa, we will be killed or in big trouble, especially once foreigners leave Afghanistan."

The National Defense Authorization Act passed late last year added 1,500 visas to the program, while tightening requirements for eligibility.

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Immigration, particularly from Muslim-majority countries, has been in the U.S. news spotlight lately.

The Afghan visa announcement came as U.S. officials prepared to implement President Donald Trump's executive order signed this week that temporarily bans the admission of refugees and some travelers from six Muslim-majority countries. Afghanistan is not one of the six.

The new travel order, which is set to take effect on March 16, replaced a more sweeping ban issued on Jan. 27 that caused chaos and protests at airports.

Opponents of Trump's orders charge his administration with unfairly targeting Muslims because of their religion. The White House says the intention is to boost national security.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Yeganah Torbati and Mirwais Harooni in KABUL; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States looks forward to a "productive relationship" with the next South Korean president, a U.S. embassy spokesman said on Friday following the removal of President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal. "The United States continues to be a steadfast ally, friend, and partner to the Republic of Korea," the spokesman told Reuters. "Ultimately, it is a domestic issue for the people of Korea to decide through their democratic process and we respect their decisions". The United States has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea. (Reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Hong Kong (AFP) - Uber hit back at Hong Kong authorities Friday after five of its drivers were found guilty of operating without proper licences, in yet another blow to the ride-hailing giant.

The case comes as the ride-hailing app encounters regulatory roadblocks around the world -- it pulled out of Taiwan last month following an impasse with the government, which deems the service illegal.

It also on Wednesday promised not to use a recently uncovered "Greyball" software program to trick regulators trying to catch drivers breaking the law.

The Hong Kong drivers were arrested in a dramatic police swoop in 2015 after furious traditional cabbies in the southern Chinese city smashed up their own taxis with hammers and drove slowly towards the government headquarters calling authorities to act over unlicensed cars.

All five drivers were found guilty Friday at the West Kowloon Court of driving without a permit allowing them to transport paying customers and without third-party insurance, local media said.

They were fined HK$10,000 (US$1,287) each and had their driving licences suspended for 12 months, pending appeals.

"Sharing a ride shouldn't be a crime," Uber said in a statement in response to the verdict.

"We are very disappointed with today's court decision, which we believe goes against the best interests of riders, drivers and the city of Hong Kong itself," it said, adding that it would "stand by" and provide assistance to those involved.

"The transport law is from over 40 years ago," Uber Hong Kong general manager Kenneth She told reporters after the verdict.

"We hope that the government does not only look at outdated laws but truly takes a step forward" he said.

Ahead of the verdict, She told the South China Morning Post that Uber would not withdraw from Hong Kong.

The US firm announced in February it would suspend business in Taiwan after the government raised the maximum penalty for Uber drivers to Tw$25 million (US$804,000) -- the highest in the world.

Uber also halted services in Hungary in July last year due to new legislation that stops drivers from making money with their own vehicles.

It has also faced stiff resistance from traditional taxi drivers around the world, as well as bans in some places over safety concerns and questions over legal issues, including taxes.
Geneva (AFP) - The UN on Friday accused Turkish security forces of serious human rights violations during operations against Kurdish militants in the southeast since July 2015 when a regional ceasefire collapsed.

A report from the UN rights office details evidence of "massive destruction, killings and numerous other serious human rights violations committed between July 2015 and December 2016 in southeast Turkey".

"Government security operations" have impacted more than 30 towns and displaced between 335,000 to half a million mostly Kurdish people, the report further said.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has waged an insurgency against Turkey since 1984, although violence was contained during the truce agreed in 2013.

But fighting resumed when the ceasefire collapsed in summer 2015.

Satellite images of areas affected by the latest unrest "indicate an enormous scale of destruction of the housing stock by heavy weaponry", the report said.

In Cizre, a mainly Kurdish town on the Syrian border, residents described the devastation of neighbourhoods as "apocalyptic", the UN said.

In early 2016, nearly 200 of the town's residents, among them children, "were trapped for weeks in basements without water, food, medical attention and power before being killed by fire, induced by shelling," it said.

The allegations come at a sensitive time for Ankara which is gearing up for a controversial April referendum on whether to create an executive presidency that would expand President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers.

UN rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein criticised Erdogan's government directly, saying he was "particularly concerned by reports that no credible investigation has been conducted into hundreds of alleged unlawful killings."

"Not a single suspect was apprehended and not a single individual was prosecuted," Zeid said in a statement.

So far, Erdogan's government has not agreed to any requests from the UN rights office to visit the areas affected by the anti-PKK operations.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict between the military and the PKK, which seeks greater rights and autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish minority.

The insurgent group is a proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Geneva (AFP) - The UN on Friday accused Turkish security forces of committing serious abuses during operations against Kurdish militants in the southeast after a ceasefire collapsed in July 2015.

A report from the United Nations' rights office details evidence of "massive destruction, killings and numerous other serious human rights violations committed between July 2015 and December 2016 in southeast Turkey".

"Government security operations" have targeted more than 30 towns and displaced 355,000 to half a million people, mostly Kurds, the report said.

According to statistics given by Ankara to the UN, the unrest in the southeast has claimed some 2,000 lives over the last year and half.

That figure includes about 800 soldiers and 1,200 "local residents", the report said, but there was no available breakdown for the number of Kurdish militants and civilians killed.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has waged an insurgency against Turkey since 1984, though the violence was contained during the truce agreed in 2013.

But fighting resumed when the ceasefire fell apart in the summer of 2015.

Satellite images of areas affected by the latest unrest "indicate an enormous scale of destruction of the housing stock by heavy weaponry", the report said, with some neighbourhoods "razed to the ground".

- Three pieces of flesh -

In Cizre, a mainly Kurdish town on the Syrian border, residents described the devastation of neighbourhoods as "apocalyptic", the UN said.

In early 2016, nearly 200 of the town's residents, including children, "were trapped for weeks in basements without water, food, medical attention and power before being killed by fire, induced by shelling," it said.

One man told the UN that his family was summoned by authorities in Cizre to collect his sister's remains but were given just "three small charred pieces of flesh".

The public prosecutor in Cizre said the woman had been identified through a DNA match.

Story continues

The UN allegations come at a delicate time for Ankara, which is gearing up for an April referendum on whether to expand President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein criticised Erdogan's government directly, saying he was concerned that "no credible investigation has been conducted into hundreds of alleged unlawful killings."

The UN rights office said it had for more than a year been seeking access to areas affected by the anti-PKK operations, but Erdogan's government had not approved a visit.

Zeid also denounced Ankara for challenging the "veracity" of the report's findings while refusing to give his investigators access.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict between the military and the PKK, which seeks greater rights and autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish minority.

The insurgent group is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

- Coup's aftermath -

A broad crackdown by the Turkish authorities after a failed coup attempt last July has led to further abuses in the southeast, the report said.

Independent journalists have been harassed and Kurdish-language media outlets have been closed, making it even more difficult to publicise abuses committed during clashes.

Across Turkey in the wake of the attempted coup, more than 100,000 people including journalists have been dismissed or detained by the police, accused of links to coup-plotters and also to the PKK.

Zeid said he understood that Turkey faced difficult challenges in the aftermath of the attempted coup but warned that intensifying a crackdown on basic rights would only fuel further instability.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday asked the Security Council to send an extra 320 UN police to the Democratic Republic of Congo after a deal to end a dispute over elections stalled, raising fresh fears of violence.

In a report obtained by AFP, Guterres said he was "deeply disturbed by the sharp increase in human rights violations," and argued that the new police units for the MONUSCO force would help protect civilians.

Two additional units could be deployed to the DR Congo's second city of Lubumbashi and to Kananga, "which are likely to be electoral hotspots" and where there is no UN police, he said.

"Such rapid intervention capabilities in these key urban areas would enhance the missions capacity to protect civilians, as well as United Nations personnel and premises, in the case of an outbreak of election-related violence," he said.

The UN chief requested 36 armored personnel carriers for UN police and said he was also considering the deployment of "intelligence assets and specialized infantry" to enhance the mission's mobility in the vast African country.

The United Nations has nearly 19,000 troops deployed in the DR Congo, its largest and costliest peacekeeping mission.

The request for more police came after US Ambassador Nikki Haley promised to review all peacekeeping missions with the aim of cutting costs and shutting some down altogether.

In his report however, Guterres argued that UN peacekeepers were needed to help the country avert a slide toward more violence.

"2017 will be a crucial year for the Democratic Republic of Congo," said Guterres in the report sent to the council on Friday.

"MONUSCO presence in the country therefore remains essential to help keep the political process on track, preserve the gains made and shore up the prospects for stability in the country," he added.

The council is scheduled to decide on possible changes to MONUSCO's mandate on March 29.

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- Stalled political deal -

After months of violence, the influential Catholic Church brokered a deal in late December that would have paved the way for elections and possibly an end to President Joseph Kabila's rule.

Kabila's second and final constitutional term ended on December 19.

Guterres said the political deal remained "stalled," with a dispute over the appointment of a new prime minister emerging as a major obstacle.

The risk of violence is "increasing, and is expected to rise further the longer the implementation of the political agreement remains stalled, prolonging the current political uncertainty," he said.

MONUSCO has documented 5,190 human rights violations across the country last year, a 30-per-cent increase from 2015, said the report.

DR Congo security forces were responsible for 64 percent of those violations, which include the extra-judicial killing of 480 civilians.

"The national police remained the main perpetrators of human rights violations, totaling 1,553 abuses," said the report.

This represents an increase in the number of cases of police violence of 30 percent from 2016, and of 65 percent from 2015.

Last year, former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon had proposed cutting 1,700 troops from MONUSCO, but the Security Council decided against the drawdown.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Friday.

Stephen O'Brien told the U.N. Security Council that "without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death" and "many more will suffer and die from disease."

He urged an immediate injection of funds for Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and northeast Nigeria plus safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid "to avert a catastrophe."

"To be precise," O'Brien said, "we need $4.4 billion by July."

Without a major infusion of money, he said, children will be stunted by severe malnutrition and won't be able to go to school, gains in economic development will be reversed and "livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost."

U.N. and food organizations define famine as when more than 30 percent of children under age 5 suffer from acute malnutrition and mortality rates are two or more deaths per 10,000 people every day, among other criteria.

"Already at the beginning of the year we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations," O'Brien said. "Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine."

O'Brien said the largest humanitarian crisis is in Yemen where two-thirds of the population  18.8 million people  need aid and more than seven million people are hungry and don't know where their next meal will come from. "That is three million people more than in January," he said.

The Arab world's poorest nation is engulfed in conflict and O'Brien said more than 48,000 people fled fighting just in the past two months.

During his recent visit to Yemen, O'Brien said he met senior leaders of the government and the Shiite Houthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa, and all promised access for aid.

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"Yet all parties to the conflict are arbitrarily denying sustained humanitarian access and politicize aid," he said, warning if that behavior doesn't change now "they must be held accountable for the inevitable famine, unnecessary deaths and associated amplification in suffering that will follow."

For 2017, O'Brien said $2.1 billion is needed to reach 12 million Yemenis "with life-saving assistance and protection" but only 6 percent has been received so far. He announced that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will chair a pledging conference for Yemen on April 25 in Geneva.

The U.N. humanitarian chief also visited South Sudan, the world's newest nation which has been ravaged by a three-year civil war, and said "the situation is worse than it has ever been."

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"The famine in South Sudan is man-made," he said. "Parties to the conflict are parties to the famine  as are those not intervening to make the violence stop."

O'Brien said more than 7.5 million people need aid, up by 1.4 million from last year, and about 3.4 million South Sudanese are displaced by fighting including almost 200,000 who have fled the country since January.

"More than one million children are estimated to be acutely malnourished across the country, including 270,000 children who face the imminent risk of death should they not be reached in time with assistance," he said. "Meanwhile, the cholera outbreak that began in June 2016 has spread to more locations."

In Somalia, which O'Brien also visited, more than half the population  6.2 million people  need humanitarian assistance and protection, including 2.9 million who are at risk of famine and require immediate help "to save or sustain their lives."

He warned that close to one million children under the age of five will be "acutely malnourished" this year.

"What I saw and heard during my visit to Somalia was distressing  women and children walk for weeks in search of food and water. They have lost their livestock, water sources have dried up and they have nothing left to survive on," O'Brien said. "With everything lost, women, boys, girls and men now move to urban centers."

The humanitarian chief said current indicators mirror "the tragic picture of 2011 when Somalia last suffered a famine." But he said the U.N.'s humanitarian partners have a larger footprint, better controls on resources, and a stronger partnership with the new government which recently declared the drought a national disaster.

"To be clear, we can avert a famine," O'Brien said. "We're ready despite incredible risk and danger ... but we need those huge funds now."

In northeast Nigeria, a seven-year uprising by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes. A U.N. humanitarian coordinator said last month that malnutrition in the northeast is so pronounced that some adults are too weak to walk and some communities have lost all their toddlers.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the U.S.-backed Syrian militia, said Friday it was well-equipped to advance and lay siege to the city of Raqqa controlled by the Islamic State group, thanks to support from the U.S.-led coalition. The news comes after the announcement from President Donald Trump's administration about a conference with ministers from 68 countries to be held in Washington over two days on March 22 and 23, which will focus on defeating ISIS.

The U.S. army announced Friday its plans to send an additional 2,500 ground combat troops to a base in Kuwait to serve as the backup for coalition forces, besides the additional 400 troops to be deployed directly to Syria.

"The number of our forces is now increasing, particularly from among the people of the area, and we have enough strength to liberate Raqqa with support from the coalition forces. ... We have information that the enemy is moving part of its leadership outside the city, as it is also digging tunnels under the ground. We expect they will fortify the city and the terrorist group will depend on street warfare," Jihan Sheikh Ahmed, spokeswoman for the SDF, said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Read: Iraq Defeats Islamic State As US And Russia Protect Kurds In Syria

The question on planning for the battle for Raqqa, the major ISIS stronghold in Syria and the main base of operations, located around 99 miles east of Aleppo, is yet to be answered. Although Turkey is a U.S. ally in the war against ISIS, tensions prevail between the SDF and Arab-backed forces directed by Turkey, deployed west of the Euphrates river. SDF comprises the Kurdish YPG militia who are deeply distrusted by Turkey as it considers them as equals to the Kurdish militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey who have been fighting for independence for the past 30 years.

Although the SDF dismissed any suggestions of Turkey playing a role in the final assault during meetings with U.S. officials last month, Turkey said Thursday that no decision on the matter has taken. The U.S.-led coalition also said that a Turkish role may be possible after discussions, according to Reuters.

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Washington (AFP) - The Pentagon faced a burgeoning scandal Friday as more pictures of naked female service members apparently shared without their consent by male colleagues have turned up on secret social media sites.

General Robert Neller, the commandant of the Marine Corps, appeared embarrassed and uncertain how to deal with the problem, which first surfaced among members of his elite force.

"I am generationally challenged here," he told a Pentagon news conference. "I don't do social media. Maybe that's my mistake."

The scandal broke over the weekend with the revelation that pictures of female Marines in various stages of undress had been shared in a secret Facebook group called "Marines United."

Membership in the group was restricted to current and former Marines, but it had as many as 30,000 members before it was taken down.

The story was first reported by The War Horse, a news group run by Marine veteran Thomas Brennan.

He said some of the photos were taken surreptitiously, while others had been taken by the women themselves but shared without their consent.

The pictures, often accompanied by lewd commentary, gave the women's names and units in some cases.

That was followed by a report Thursday that hundreds of pictures of naked women from all the military services were being shared on another image-sharing site, AnonIB.

Business Insider, an online news site, said the message board was threaded with conversations among men, many of whom asked for naked photographs of specific women, often identifying them by name and where they were stationed.

- 'Be good people' -

Neller, who has formed a working group to deal with online harassment, said fewer than 10 female Marines were known to have been victimized.

"But we would encourage anybody else that has been involved to come forward," he said.

Women have long been part of the US military, and last year former president Barack Obama ordered the military to open all combat units to them.

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Of all the services, however, the Marines have been most resistant to accepting women in combat roles, an issue Neller addressed Friday in almost pleading terms.

"Come on guys, they just want to do their job. Let them do their job and you do yours and you know what, it all works out," he said.

"I need you to be good people -- men and women of character and virtue," he said.

"I need you to read more, drink less, and be PT (physical training) smarter. And if we all do that, that will be good," he said.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, himself a retired Marine four star general, took a tougher tone, denouncing the online behavior as "egregious violations of the fundamental values we uphold at the Defense Department."

"The chain of command is taking all appropriate action to investigate potential misconduct and to maintain good order and discipline throughout our armed forces," he said in a statement.

"Lack of respect for the dignity and humanity of fellow members of the Department of Defense is unacceptable and counter to unit cohesion," he said.

"We will not excuse or tolerate such behavior if we are to uphold our values and maintain our ability to defeat the enemy on the battlefield."

Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis urged members of the military to report online misconduct to their chain of command.

If they weren't comfortable going to their superiors, he said, they could go to family support services, equal opportunity offices, sexual harassment prevention teams, the Pentagon's inspector general's office or law enforcement.
Washington (AFP) - The US state of Arkansas is racing to execute eight death row inmates in 10 days next month to beat the expiration date on a hard-to-get drug used in lethal injections.

Death penalty opponents have denounced the rush to execute, with the New York Times saying it was for a reason "as mundane as it is absurd."

The eight men facing the ultimate punishment have been on death row for an average of two decades, but are now on a fast track to die.

Under a decree signed by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, the first two prisoners will be put to death on April 17, followed by two more on April 20, another two on April 24 and the last pair on April 27.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, an independent organization, no state has ever carried out eight executions in 10 days.

Since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, only Texas has put to death eight people in a single month. That was in 1977, the year executions resumed in the United States.

Scheduling two executions on the same day is in itself "unusual," according to the DPIC.

"States have executed two or three inmates on the same day just ten times in the last forty years, and no state has carried out more than one double execution in the same week," it said.

- No executions since 2005 -

Paradoxically, Arkansas has not executed anyone since 2005. April's executions will reduce its population of death row inmates by a quarter.

The drive to execute stems from the US Supreme Court's refusal last month to take up a challenge to the protocol Arkansas uses for lethal injections, effectively validating it.

The protocol combines three drugs, beginning with midazolam, a controversial sedative that critics say is insufficiently powerful to assure that the condemned is unconscious during the execution, raising the risk he will experience severe pain.

Although midazolam is legal, Arkansas's stocks are nearing their expiration date and it has become extremely difficult to replace them because big pharmaceutical companies refuse to provide the drug to US prisons.

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"I would love to have those extended over a period of multiple months and years, but that's not the circumstances that I find myself in," Hutchinson said.

"It is uncertain as to whether another drug can be obtained, and the families of the victims do not need to live with continued uncertainty after decades of review," he said.

- 'Grotesque rush' -

Hutchinson is likely to find support among the state's conservative voters. The home state of Democratic former president Bill Clinton, it has veered solidly Republican in recent years.

But the measure has set off waves of criticism far from the borders of the rural southern state.

Hutchinson "is justifying a state-sanctioned killing spree driven by the use-by date stamped on a bottle," the New York Times editorialized, calling the decision "absurd."

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, also denounced the "grotesque rush" to execute.
By My Pham HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's prime minister says he is ready to visit the United States to promote ties between the two countries and work with President Donald Trump's new administration, particularly over trade. Vietnam had been one of the top potential beneficiaries of the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement canceled by Trump, but it has also been building links to the United States amid a maritime dispute with China. "Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed he is ready to visit U.S to promote Vietnam-U.S. tie," the Vietnamese government said on its official Facebook page on Friday. Phuc also expressed his wish that the United States continues to be Vietnam's leading trade partner. The former prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited the United States in February 2016 to attend a U.S.-ASEAN summit, but the last official state visit was in 2008. In a telephone call shortly after his election last year, Trump told Phuc he wanted to further strengthen fast-warming ties between the two countries. Vietnam advanced ties with the United States to a new level under former U.S. President Barack Obama, keen on the United States maintaining its security presence in Asia in the face of territorial claims by neighboring China. China claims most of the South China Sea, while Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei claim parts of the sea that commands strategic sea lanes and has rich fishing grounds along with oil and gas deposits. Washington lifted a U.S. lethal arms embargo on Vietnam last May, allowing closer defense links and some joint military exercises. (Reporting by My Pham; Editing by Michael Perry)
We knew it was coming, but now its official: Volkswagen, as part of a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice, pleaded guilty Friday to three felony counts related to its Dieselgate scandal.

Reuters reports that VW general counsel Manfred Doess entered the guilty plea in U.S. District Count in Detroit.

The pleas related to charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, obstruction of justice, and entry of goods by false statement charges as stipulated in the settlement deal reached with the Dept. of Justice in January.

Your honor, VW AG is pleading guilty to all three counts because it is guilty on all three counts, Doess told the court, as reported by Reuters.

The pleas were accepted by U.S. District Judge Sean Cox, who set a sentencing date for April 21.

This a very, very, very serious crime. It is incumbent on me to make a considered decision, Cox said.

A spokesperson for VW tells Reuters that Fridays plea was the first time the company has pleaded guilty to criminal conduct in any court in the world.

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Under the settlement agreement, VW was to plead guilty to the charges and pay $4.3 billion in civil and criminal penalties to the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Customs office.

In addition to the guilty pleas and fines, the settlement included the indictment of six VW employees involved in the decade-long Dieselgate scandal and cover-up.

The individuals allegedly played a part in creating the defeat device technology used in VWs clean diesel vehicles to skirt federal emissions standards.

VWs woes began in Sept. 2015 when the company admitted more than 500,000 of its vehicles in the U.S.  and more than 11 million across the world  were equipped with the defeat devices that allowed as much as 40 times the allowable rate of nitrogen oxide to be emitted during regulator driving.

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The software was first detected during independent analysis by researchers at West Virginia University who were working with the International Council on Clean Transportation, a non-governmental organization. The findings raised questions about emissions levels, and the EPA, along with the California Air Resources Board, began further investigations into the issue.

Since then, the company has been working on a number of settlements with environmental regulators, customers, dealers, and federal prosecutors.





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New York (AFP) - German automaker Volkswagen AG on Friday pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the emissions-cheating scandal, closing an important chapter in the saga that has rocked the company sice 2015.

The company in January agreed to plead guilty and pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil fines to settle charges that it defrauded the United States and conspired to violate the Clean Air Act by installing so-called defeat devices on diesel-powered cars that evaded emissions standards.

"Volkswagen deeply regrets the behavior that gave rise to the diesel crisis," Volkswagen spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said in a statement.

"The agreements that we have reached with the US government reflect our determination to address misconduct that went against all of the values Volkswagen holds so dear."

The settlement with the Justice Department also requires the company to hire an outside compliance monitor for three years.

The guilty plea entered Friday is in addition to $17.5 billion that the company already agreed to pay in settlements with car owners, dealers and for environmental cleanup.

One aspect of the case that remains unresolved is the fate of VW executive Oliver Schmidt who US authorities arrested in Miami in January, one of six company officials charged in the matter.

Prosecutors this week rejected defense arguments that Schmidt should be released pending the outcome of his case and described him as a flight risk. The other five company officials charged are believed to be in Germany.

Regulators in 2015 discovered that Volkswagen diesel cars marketed as clean in fact spewed up to 40 times the permissible limits of nitrogen oxide during normal driving, but this was hidden during emissions testing.

As many as 11 million vehicles sold worldwide were configured to cheat emissions tests.

The company developed the illegal technology in 2009 and, according to court documents, prosecutors believe senior employees attempted a coverup after learning of the illegal technology in 2015.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday that President Donald Trump did not know until this week that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had been working as a representative for Turkey, although the issue was raised with the Trump team before the Republican took office. Flynn acted as a foreign agent representing the interests of Turkeys government in exchange for more than $500,000 during last years presidential campaign even as he was advising Trump, the New York Times said on Friday. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Flynn's lobbying was a personal and business matter, and it was up to him to decide when to register. Asked if Trump had not been aware that former general Flynn was working as a foreign agent, Spicer said: "Correct... You wouldn't know that until he filed. He didn't file until two days ago." Some U.S. lawmakers have questioned Flynn's relationship with the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Before Trump's inauguration, Flynn's ties to Turkey were widely reported and he wrote an article urging the United States to cultivate better relations with Erdogan. Trump fired Flynn last month for discussing U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office on Jan. 20 and misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. Before Trump took office, Flynn's lawyer contacted the presidential transition team about his work for Turkey to ask what he should do, Spicer said. The lawyer was told "it was up to the personal lawyer to work with the appropriate authorities ... to determine what was appropriate and what was not appropriate in terms of filing," Spicer said. "We trust people to fill out the forms that they are required to do so in an honest and legal manner, and in this case he retroactively filed the forms he was supposed to do," he said. "We did the right thing then, and we expect every employee to follow the law." Spicer said he did not know whether Flynn had disclosed his lobbying work in the security clearance review before he became national security adviser. (Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Alistair Bell)
(WASHINGTON)  President Donald Trump was not aware that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had worked to further the interests of the government of Turkey before appointing him, the White House said Thursday.

The comments came two days after Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group Inc., filed paperwork with the Justice Department formally identifying him as a foreign agent and acknowledging that his work for a company owned by a Turkish businessman could have aided Turkeys government. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday called the action an affirmation of the presidents decision to ask General Flynn to resign.

At the White House, asked whether Trump knew about Flynns work before he appointed him as national security adviser, press secretary Sean Spicer said, I dont believe that that was known.

Pence said in an interview later with Fox News that he also did not know about Flynns paid work.

Read More: Democrats Have Asked the White House Counsel for a Wider Russia Investigation

Flynn and his company filed the registration paperwork describing $530,000 worth of lobbying before Election Day on behalf of Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin. In an interview with The Associated Press, Alptekin said Flynn did so after pressure from Justice Department officials.

The filing this week was the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agencys first acknowledgement that his consulting business furthered the interests of a foreign government while he was working as a top adviser to Trumps presidential campaign.

Flynns disclosure that his lobbying  from August through November may have benefited Turkeys authoritarian government led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came as Flynn has drawn scrutiny from the FBI for his contacts with Russian officials. Trump fired Flynn last month for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about his contacts with Russias ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

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In paperwork filed with the Justice Departments Foreign Agent Registration Unit, Flynn and his firm acknowledged that his lobbying could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey. The lobbying contract ended after Trumps election in November, according to the paperwork.

A spokesman for Flynn, Price Floyd, said the general was not available for an interview Thursday. Floyd referred the AP to Flynns filing in response to questions about why he and his firm had decided to register this week.

Flynns attorney, Robert Kelner, declined to comment through a spokesman for his law firm, Covington & Burling. The Turkish Embassy also didnt respond to questions from the AP.

Spicer said he didnt know what Flynn had disclosed about his background and lobbying work during the White Houses vetting of him for appointment as national security adviser.

Spicer said Flynn was free to do the lobbying work because it occurred while he was a private citizen.

Theres nothing nefarious about doing anything thats legal as long as the proper paperwork if filed, Spicer said. He declined to say whether Trump would have appointed Flynn if he had known about the lobbying.

After Flynn joined the Trump administration, he agreed not to lobby for five years after leaving government service and never to represent foreign governments. Flynns newly disclosed lobbying would not have violated that pledge because it occurred before he joined the Trump administration in January, but the pledge precludes Flynn from ever doing the same type of work again in his lifetime.

Under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, U.S. citizens who lobby on behalf of foreign governments or political entities must disclose their work to the Justice Department. Willfully failing to register is a felony, though the Justice Department rarely files criminal charges in such cases. It routinely works with lobbying firms to get back in compliance with the law by registering and disclosing their work.

More than a month before Flynn was appointed as national security adviser, news accounts and Democratic senators had raised questions about potential conflicts of interest regarding Flynns work for the Turkish company. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., criticized Flynns work and late disclosure again Thursday as troubling.



Read More: Kellyanne Conway: Michael Flynn Was Unsustainable After He Misled VP Pence

Gen. Flynns behavior seems to be part of a larger pattern of poor judgment from members of this administration, she said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement that Flynn should return any foreign money he received.

This astonishing admission is more appalling evidence of foreign entanglements and conflicts of interest involving the Trump team, he said. He said a special prosecutor should be appointed to look into ties between Trump officials and foreign governments.

Alptekin told the AP that Justice Department officials had pushed for Flynn and his firm to register as foreign agents in recent weeks. He said the filing was a response to political pressure and he did not agree with Flynns decision to file the registration documents with the Justice Department. He also said that he had asked for some of his money back because of his dissatisfaction with the companys performance.

I disagree with the filing, he said in a phone call from Istanbul. It would be different if I was working for the government of Turkey, but I am not taking directions from anyone in the government.

Flynns consulting firm had previously disclosed to Congress that it worked for Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Alptekin. But neither Flynn nor his company had previously filed paperwork with the Justice Department, which requires more extensive disclosures about work that benefits foreign governments and political interests.

Flynn Intel and S.G.R. LLC Government Relations and Lobbying pressured congressional aides to investigate a cleric who Erdogan had accused of directing a botched coup last summer. The two firms orchestrated meetings with U.S. officials including congressional staffers and Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, a Republican  as well as journalists. They also worked on research, informational materials and a video on the cleric, Fethullah Gulen.

Flynn met privately in September in New York with two senior Turkish government officials, including the governments ministers of foreign affairs and energy. Flynns company did not name the officials, but the current Turkish energy minister is Berat Albayrak, who is Erdogans son-in-law.

Read More: Stephen Colbert Sounds Off on Michael Flynns Resignation: Its Funny Because Its Treason

Alptekin told the AP he set up the meeting at a New York hotel between Flynn and the two officials while the officials were attending U.N. sessions and a separate conference Alptekin had arranged. Alptekin is a member of a Turkish economic relations board run by an appointee of Erdogan, who has accelerated a crackdown against the nations weakening secularist faction since the failed coup last summer.

Erdogan has accused cleric Gulen of orchestrating the aborted coup and called for his extradition from the U.S., where he lives in a compound in Pennsylvania.

According to the filing, Flynn Intels work involved collecting information about Gulen and pressuring U.S. officials to take action against the cleric.

___

Associated Press writer Julie Bykowicz contributed to this report.
Russian election interference is all the rage these days  just ask the United States, France, or Germany. Now the Netherlands is grappling with some new unwelcome meddlers: Americans.

Several wealthy Americans bankrolled the campaign of Geert Wilders, the countrys far-right, anti-EU, and anti-immigrant candidate according to new campaign finance records the Dutch government released this week. One right-wing activist, David Horowitz, donated $150,000 to Wilderss Party for Freedom (PVV) between 2015 and 2017.

Its a drop in the bucket in American terms, but the money goes much further in a small western European country that relies heavily on public funds for elections. Horowitzs 2015 donations to PVV  $120,000  was the countrys largest individual political donation that year, the record shows.

Receiving such large sums from individual donors is highly unusual in our political landscape, Sijbren de Jong, an analyst with the Dutch-based Hague Center for Strategic Studies, told Foreign Policy.

The American involvement comes amid a spate of election meddling by Russia. The Netherlands, France, and Germany have all sounded the alarm bells over Kremlin plots to empower anti-establishment political movements and pump cleverly-disguised propaganda and misinformation into their upcoming elections. And the United States is still reeling from revelations the Kremlin influenced its own 2016 elections to try and tip the scales in favor of President Donald Trump.

The U.S. donations have stirred concerns in the Netherlands. Its foreign interference in our democracy, Ronald van Raak, a member of parliament for Socialist party told the New York Times. We would not have thought that people from other countries would have been interested in our politics, van Raak said. Maybe we underestimated ourselves, he added.

Wilders is widely known as the Dutch Donald Trump for his bombastic rhetoric, anti-immigrant stances, and savvy use of social media. He was convicted of hate speech in December last year. He is running on an anti-Islam platform, advocating policies that include banning immigrants from Muslim countries, closing all the countrys mosques, withdrawing from the EU, and closing the Netherlands open borders policy.

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The PVV is neck-and-neck in the polls with the establishment Liberal party for the countrys parliamentary elections on March 15. Despite strong poll numbers, its unlikely Wilders would win the prime ministership. The Dutch parliamentary system requires a majority 75 seats to form a government and traditional parties on the left and right have vowed not to form a government with the PVV. The PVV is expected to win between 24 and 28 parliamentary seats and 16 percent of the countrys vote.

Despite stirring controversy at home, Wilders found an ally in Horowitz, who has called him the Paul Revere of Europe. As Horowitz put it to Buzzfeed News last June, Hes somebody with incredible courage, making a last ditch stand for democracy.



Horowitz runs the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a California-based think tank dedicated to combat[ing] the efforts of the radical left and its Islamist allies to destroy American values and disarm this country as it attempts to defend itself in a time of terror. The Center did not immediately respond to FPs request for comment.

Photo credit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Malik Obama (Rex)

Long after it seemed the issue of Barack Obamas birthplace was no longer an issue, thanks to his half-brother, the topic is back in the news again.

Malik Obama tweeted a copy of what he claims is a valid birth certificate proving that his half-brother was born not in the USA, but in Mombasa, Kenya.

It is likely that with the tweet, the subject will be picked up again in the fractured world of US politics, where right-wing opponents and conspiracy theorists of the former president have long claimed he was not born in the US.

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The message has been re-tweeted more than 12,000 times

What does the birth certificate claim?

The certificate claims that Barack Obama was born in the Coast Province General Hospital in Mombasa, on August 4, 1961. The former president was born in Honolulu and has previously published a birth certificate to show he was born there on August 4, 1961. His birth details were also published in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper.

Barack Obama has published proof of his US birth (Rex)

Why has Malik posted the birth certificate?

Malik has reportedly long had a strained relationship with his half-brother and has also publicly backed Donald Trump, one of the biggest voices of the birther movement. He also has accused his half-brother of not doing enough to help his Kenyan relatives.

Why does it matter?

The US Constitution says that only natural-born citizens can become President. If Barack Obama was born in Kenya, that would have disqualified him from becoming US president.

Malik Obamas tweet (Twitter)

What has this got to do with the current president, Donald Trump?

Trump was one of the most prominent backers of the Birther movement who claimed in 2011, when he announced he was thinking of running as president, that he did not believe Obamas claims about being born in the US.

In 2012, he even offered $5 million for charity if Obama could prove where he was born, even though that was a year after Obama had published his long form birth certificate to certify that he was born in the US.

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It was only last year that Trump conceded that Obama was born in the US. He then falsely accused Hillary Clinton of being behind the original rumour.

Could it become an issue now?

With the Trump administration carrying out attacks recently on Barack Obama, its not impossible that the issue could become sensitive again, despite the proof from the former president and the denial of the issue from the current one
When it comes to your portfolio, you can't just set it and forget it. Failing to regularly re-evaluate what you're investing in and how those investments are performing could send you skidding off the rails where your goals are concerned. That's especially true in the current stock market climate.

"The political scene and the transfer of power recently in the White House has been the cause of much excitement, as well as much anxiety in our country," says Steve Azoury, owner of Azoury Financial in Troy, Michigan. "These wild swings of emotion can have an incredible impact on your investment plan."

With the first quarter of 2017 winding down, it's a good time to check in with your investments to make sure you're still on track to meet the goals you set at the beginning of the year.

[See: 7 ETFs That Allow You to Invest in Space.]

Don't rush to change your asset allocation. If you have investments whose performance hasn't matched the broader market, you may be contemplating an asset allocation shift, but not so fast, says Mike Falco, a certified fund specialist and investment advisor representative with Falco Wealth Management in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

"Investors need to think long term when making major changes in asset allocation and I don't recommend making those changes based on performance in one quarter alone," Falco says.

Instead, Falco advises considering making larger asset allocation movements on a yearly basis, using your age as a guidepost for decision-making.

"If you haven't made an adjustment in your portfolio for more than a year, it's time to take a closer look and make sure it's lining up with your age," Falco says. "For example, your portfolio should look different and be much more conservative in your 60s than in your 40s."

James Speir, founder of Speir Financial Services in Southfield, Michigan, says investors need to consider their asset allocation and performance within the context of risks versus rewards.

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"Investment performance is all about the results of your portfolio but the way you evaluate those results is equally important," Speir says.

Investors need to understand how the amount of return correlates to the amount of risk taken, Speir says. One way to measure risk and return volatility is by assessing the standard deviation, and the higher the standard, the higher the risk.

"An investor needs to measure how the standard deviation and return of their holdings compare to other investments similar to it," Speir says. "This is a tool you'll want to utilize when performing your quarterly portfolio review."

Do look at the bigger picture when making investment shifts. If you're considering changing some of your investments, it's important to consider all the relevant variables prior to making a move, says Jimmy Lee, CEO of Las Vegas-based Wealth Consulting Group.

"Overall investment goals, risk tolerance and time horizon are always a good foundation to start with," Lee says. He also cautions investors against focusing solely on an investment's most recent performance.

"Chasing performance can lead to buying asset classes or sectors near the highs of a cycle," Lee says. "It's natural to want to buy into the best-performing stock but an investor is wise to consider additional factors such as long-term performance and historical averages of an asset class."

It's also important to keep your overall investment objectives in sight before executing any significant adjustments within your portfolio.

"When considering changes, the primary focus should be on any changes to the goals of the investments," says Cameron Hinds, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank in Lincoln, Nebraska.

"As life circumstances change, investment plans and asset allocation need to adjust. Long-term asset allocation should match your long-term goals and longer time horizon goals should typically be approached with a higher weight to growth-oriented investments," Hinds says.

[See: 10 Important Investments Before Having a Baby.]

Don't rebalance on a whim. Periodic rebalancing is important for ensuring that your investments aren't exposing you to more risk than you're comfortable with but you must be sure that the timing -- and the price -- are right.

"Some studies show that returns may be enhanced from quarterly rebalancing but one must take into consideration the costs of rebalancing," Lee says.

That includes trading costs and taxes on gains and Lee says it all comes down to what's practical for the investor. He says that for investors who are interested in rebalancing quarterly, scheduling it to occur automatically eliminates the hassle of trying to time it correctly.

Falco says that beyond the trading fees and potential tax implications, investors also need to pay attention to the liquidity of their current investments as well as any new investments they're considering.

"Be sure the investments you have are liquid and that you won't get hit with surrender charges or fees for getting out early," Falco says. "Depending on where the investment is held, you can get slammed with fees just by moving things around."

For Hinds, separating short-term cash needs from a long-term portfolio is of the highest importance when making changes from a liquidity perspective.

"Typically, the long-term assets in a portfolio should maintain a minimum amount of liquidity," Hinds says, which is usually 5 percent or less.

[See: 13 Ways to Take the Emotions Out of Investing.]

Do leave emotions out of the equation. If you're concerned about what the next quarter is going to bring investment-wise, the last thing you want to do is let emotions like fear take over your decision-making.

"The biggest mistakes investors make are emotional," Speir says. "They sell at market lows or buy at market highs and end up hurting the overall returns of their portfolios."

Azoury say the primary drivers of irrational behavior are overreaction, herd mentality and overconfidence. When investors respond in the extreme to the latest market noise, that can lead to erratic swings in their investment decisions.

He says that diversification, discipline and an understanding of your time horizon and risk tolerance are the most important factors to keep in mind as you complete your quarterly portfolio review.

"Tweaking your investment choices periodically can make a huge difference in returns by eliminating poorly performing investments," Azoury says but your goals and objectives should dictate what changes are necessary, not your emotions.

His final piece of advice is simple: "Don't just make changes to make changes," Azoury says.

Rebecca Lake is a freelance Investing & Retirement reporter at U.S. News & World Report. She's been reporting on personal finance, investing and small business for nearly a decade and her work has been featured on The Huffington Post, Business Insider, CBS News and Investopedia. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter or email her at rlake0836@gmail.com.
At the Women's March in January, there was a line of screaming women in pink pussy hats stretching as far as the eye could see. While there isn't an official headcount of how many participated in the Women's Strike on Wednesday, the visuals told a far different story.

Just over a thousand people were estimated at the strike's major protest outside Trump Tower in New York City, compared to 400,000 people who demonstrated in Manhattan in January. More than 3.2 million women participated in the Women's March, the largest protest in American history. Of course, the strike can't be expected to produce the same kind of turnout as an international march. Still, millions of women still showed up to work on Wednesday or only partly participated.

Women approached this strike with hesitance, and that has everything to do with how they feel about work.

SEE ALSO: What to do when you're so overwhelmed by the Trump presidency you can barely move

Protests make great photos. But a strike, especially one tied to demonstrations, can be more disruptive than a protest and thus harder to ignore. Anxiety about the level of disruption it would cause to their work lives  some of it real, some of it exaggerated  drove many women away.

Yes, there are important, concrete reasons why women couldn't participate on Wednesday, but a good part of their hesitance was psychological. Americans, economists argue, are addicted to work  and this includes women. They work 25% more than their European counterparts, or an extra hour per day. A study released by the US Travel Association found that more than half of American workers don't take all of their paid vacation days.

Our sense of self-worth is wrapped up in the role we play in the economy. The Puritan work ethic is alive and flourishing in 2017. Friends of mine who chose not to observe the Women's Strike, for example, told me that they felt like they "didn't deserve a day off of work," and that whole idea of it made them feel "guilty and lazy."

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Nearly all of them had attended the Women's March with enthusiasm. This time around, they used the classic, "I think it's great, but," excuse to explain their non-participation in "A Day Without a Woman."

They totally believed in the Women's Strike but they personally couldn't attend because of something going on at work, even when they were privileged enough to take the time off. They weren't surgeons in a hospital, and their clients' or customers' lives didn't depend on them. Their employers didn't threaten to terminate them. Though their wages and livelihoods weren't immediately at stake, some still chose to sit this protest out. Their job just needed them too much.

Some were panicked that even if their employers didn't fire them, they would think of them negatively in the future.

Then there were those who loved the Women's March, but the Women's Strike just didn't sit well with them. As privileged women, they didn't want to take part in a strike that only other privileged women could participate in (an interesting shift, given that working-class women were the driving force behind so many of the strikes of the 20th century. Multiple unions also participated in Wednesday's strike).

Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock

They were nervous, because they had never done something like this before.

When it comes to strikes, it has always been people who have had most to lose who have made most impact. STOP w/ the privilege nonsense.  Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) March 8, 2017

Their inexperience shouldn't come as a shock. Striking may have played a huge part in American history, but it's deeply unfamiliar to most millennial women, the majority of whom don't belong to a union. Just 10.7 percent of all American workers belong to unions, who can legally protect their members' right to strike. Compare that to the United Kingdom, where the number stands at 25.1 percent, or Sweden, where it rises to 62.3.

In parts of Europe, striking is simply a part of life. In 2009, for example, more than a million French citizens participated in a strike against layoffs and the government's handling of the recession. In the United States, where the recession cut even deeper, the reaction was far more muted.

"But in the United States, where G.M. plans its biggest layoffs, union members have seemed passive in comparison," Steven Greenhouse wrote in The New York Times in 2009. "They may yell at the television news, but thats about all. Unlike their European counterparts, American workers have largely stayed off the streets, even as unemployment soars and companies cut wages and benefits."

The Poland Women's Strike on October 3rd is perhaps the best model for Wednesday's strike  involving hundreds of thousands of women in more than 150 cities and 60 countries across the globe.

In America, that strike was hardly heard.

None of this is to say that people didn't have perfectly legitimate excuses for not participating, outside of cultural norms. The United States is the only highly developed nation that doesn't require employers to give their workers paid time off. For some women, especially those in the low-wage marketplace, participation could have very well resulted in lost wages or perhaps even termination. A day off was not an option. Their panic was both palpable and grounded. Their non-participation was critical to their very livelihood.

There are plenty of other reasons why Wednesday's turnout wasn't as super-sized as some of us idealistically hoped it would be. Movement fatigue has likely set in. Employers and their staff may not have been prepared to strike, however sympathetic they were to its aims. It's much more challenging to ask for a general strike, where the enemies are broader and more nebulous, than one against a specific company.

Participating in a general strike is just a much bigger ask than showing up for a weekend protest. It's also a more invasive, riskier act of disobedience, one with potentially dramatic economic consequences.

That doesn't stop it from feeling a little bit disappointing. Once upon a time, general strikes were used to procure labor rights Americans now take for granted  including the minimum wage, the concept of the weekend, and health and safety standards. A 24-hour strike in India in October cost the economy an estimated $2.7 billion. In the U.S. on Wednesday, Wall Street hummed along like normal.

None of this is to minimize the genuine success of "Day Without a Woman." At least three whole school districts shut down for the day. Thousands still showed up to rallies in cities nationwide. In the Capitol, Democratic congresswomen and their allies wore red and spoke out in support. And hey, Sean Spicer got into a huff. People were listening.

Democratic House Reps - women and men - led by @NancyPelosi head out of Capitol for #daywithoutawoman to enthusiastic cheers pic.twitter.com/brvbqfJCrl  Katherine Gypson (@kgyp) March 8, 2017

If nothing else, the strike set the stage and created a powerful framework for an even larger general strike in the future. The Women's March organizers, a few of whom were arrested outside Trump tower Wednesday, likely knew this fate when planning it. Even though it was harder to drum up enthusiasm for a strike, that never seemed to lessen their commitment.

"If social justice movements were convenient, everybody would be out in these streets," Linda Sarsour, one of the March organizers, recently said on Twitter.

"It takes sacrifices and struggle. Always has."
Washington (AFP) - A World Bank panel has overturned part of a ruling ordering Venezuela to pay $1.4 billion to ExxonMobil in compensation for nationalizing a company project 10 years ago.

In an 85-page ruling, the Washington-based International Centre For Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) agreed with Venezuela's argument appealing the amount of compensation to the US oil giant, and overturned that part of its 2014 decision.

The ICSID ruling was dated Thursday, but released on Friday.

ExxonMobil originally had sought $12 billion in compensation over the loss of what it said it had already invested and what it expected to reap from the Cerro Negro project, which was nationalized in 2007.

In October 2015, the three-member ICSID arbitration panel rejected ExxonMobil's arguments that Venezuela's action represented an illegal expropriation, but awarded the company payment as "just compensation" under an international investment treaty.

The ruling released on Friday cancels the portion of the original award that dealt with compensation for the Cerro Negro project.

"As far as we know, this is the largest annulment in ICSID history," said George Kahale III, who represented Venezuela.

"We were always confident in our legal position and are very pleased that the annulment committee agreed."

ExxonMobil did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.

Venezuela's oil ministry celebrated what it said was "an incontrovertible legal triumph."

A founding member of OPEC, Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, but its leftist government has been mired in a deepening political and economic crisis.

"We reaffirm to ExxonMobil and other international companies our willingness to continue working together on energy projects... within the framework of national and international law," the ministry said.

Venezuela, which withdrew from ICSID in 2012, still faces a slew of unresolved demands for compensation stemming from a wave of nationalizations during the government of the late president Hugo Chavez.
Seoul (AFP) - South Korean President Park Geun-Hye is one of a long list of world leaders to have gone through an impeachment process or forced to resign following legal proceedings against them.

Not all impeachment proceedings are successful: The best-known survivor is probably former US president Bill Clinton, who remained in office despite an attempt to remove him owing to a sex scandal in 1999.

- Impeached by parliament -

- VENEZUELA: Then-president Carlos Andres Perez, accused of embezzlement and illegal enrichment, was suspended in May 1993 and his dismissal was confirmed by the Congress on August 31, 1993.

President Nicolas Maduro is now battling opposition demands for a referendum on whether he should remain in office.

- ECUADOR: Abdala Bucaram, accused of siphoning off public funds, was dismissed on February 6, 1997 for "physical and mental incapacity", six months after his inauguration as president.

In April 2005, Lucio Gutierrez was accused of packing the supreme court with associates in the midst of a popular uprising and also dismissed from the presidency.

- PERU: Alberto Fujimori on November 21, 2000 resigned from the presidency by fax from Tokyo, claiming Japanese nationality through his parents.

Congress refused to accept the resignation and instead voted to sack Fujimori and ban him from public office for 10 years. Extradited, he was jailed for 25 years for having ordered massacres of civilians and for corruption.

- INDONESIA: Abdurrahman Wahid, accused of incompetence and corruption, was dismissed from the presidency on July 23, 2001.

- LITHUANIA: On April 6, 2004, president Rolandas Paksas was ousted by impeachment after being charged with granting Lithuanian citizenship to a Russian businessman in exchange for a payout. He was banned from standing for office in Lithuania, but was elected to the European Parliament in 2009.

- PARAGUAY: Fernando Lugo was forced from the presidency on June 22, 2012 for dereliction of duty following his handling of a land dispute that left 17 people dead.

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- BRAZIL: Dilma Rousseff was ousted after the Senate voted on August 31, 2016 to impeach her for illegally manipulating the national budget.

- Forced to resign -

- UNITED STATES: President Richard Nixon resigned in August 1974 to avoid almost certain impeachment over the Watergate scandal.

- BRAZIL: Fernando Collor de Mello, accused of corruption, resigned from the presidency on December 29, 1992 at the beginning of his impeachment hearing before the Senate.

- ISRAEL: Following a tax fraud and corruption scandal president Ezer Weizman resigned in July 2000, preferring to throw in the towel rather than face possible impeachment proceedings.

In June 2007 president Moshe Katsav resigned as part of a plea bargain after being accused of rape and other sexual offences. In 2011 he was handed a seven-year prison term, before being freed in December 2016.

- GERMANY: Christian Wulff resigned from the federal presidency in February 2012 after being stripped of his immunity following an accusation of influence peddling. He was later cleared.

- GUATEMALA: Otto Perez, accused of being part of a ring of officials who took bribes to allow companies to import goods without paying import taxes, was stripped of his presidential immunity by parliament on September 1, 2015. Facing impeachment he stood down two days later, before being remanded in custody.

- Procedures that failed -

Other heads of state have been subject to impeachment procedures which did not succeed.

They include Russia's Boris Yeltsin in 1999, Luis Gonzalez Macchi in Paraguay in 2003, Roh Moo-Hyun in South Korea in 2004 and Hery Rajaonarimampianina in Madagascar in 2015.

On two occasions the US House of Representatives launched impeachment proceedings against the president, the first against Andrew Johnson in 1868 and then against Clinton in 1999. Both were later cleared by the Senate.
FAYENCE, France (AP)  Simon Yates peeled away on the final climb of the day to win the sixth stage of the Paris-Nice, while Julian Alaphilippe retained the lead on Friday.

Yates moved into overall contention, but the British rider remains 1 minute, 37 seconds behind Alaphilippe with two climbing stages remaining.

"I was quite far back in the general classification this morning, which gave me a bit of freedom," Yates said. "I thought the other riders would follow me when I attacked, but I found myself all alone. At that point there was only one thing to do: Go for it. I will try and attack again tomorrow."

The 193.5-kilometer (112-mile) trek from Aubagne to Fayence featured three category 1 climbs, the second toughest under race classification.

At least riders did not have bad weather to contend with, and Yates thumped his chest as he crossed the line with the sun shining in southern France.

He cleared the day's three steepest climbs by the time he got to the short but sharp climb up to Fayence, and had enough of a lead to cross the line comfortably ahead. The Orica-Scott team rider clocked a winning time of 4 1/2 hours.

The chasing riders left it too late, with two-time champion Richie Porte of Australia (BMC Racing) and then Sergio Henao of Colombia (Team SKY) launching strong attacks up Fayence but running out of time to catch Yates.

Those two were both injured in a crash-marred road race at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, with Henao breaking his pelvis and Porte breaking his shoulder blade.

Henao crossed the line 17 seconds behind Yates, while Porte was 26 seconds behind in fourth. Alaphilippe was :29 back in fourth, while two-time champion Alberto Contador of Spain was :32 behind in eighth spot.

In the overall standings, Alaphilippe is 36 seconds ahead of French countryman Tony Gallopin and 46 ahead of Henao.

Contador is lurking 1:34 back in seventh overall and will likely attack on Saturday's seventh stage.

The 177-kilometer (110-mile) route starts from Nice and finishes with an ascent up Col de la Couillole, the third and final of the day's three category 1 climbs.

There will be two more category 1 climbs on Sunday's final stage, which ends with a downhill finish to Nice.
Amal Clooney wearing a skirt suit to the U.N. (Photo: Getty Images)

Amal Clooneys a renowned international human rights expert and is frequently invited to speak on the subject at the United Nations. In fact, on Wednesday, which also happened to be International Womens Day  she gave a speech at the New York headquarters with her client, ISIS survivor and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Nadia Murad. The next day, Clooney was back at work, urging the international agency to investigate allegations of genocide against the terrorist group.

And yet, while Clooneys a top lawyer taking on high-profile and important cases, many in the media (Yahoo Style included) wrote about Clooneys appearance solely in the context of her body, as shes presently pregnant with twins with her husband, actor George Clooney.

Case in point: Time magazine, which tweeted the following:

Amal Clooney shows off her baby bump at the United Nations https://t.co/0Vkr8aad1D  TIME (@TIME) March 10, 2017

The tweet, to many across the Internet, felt a little tone-deaf. To note that one of the preeminent experts in her field is rocking a baby bump almost reduces the identity of the woman in question to no more than a vessel for the progeny of the Oscar winner to whom she is married.

Oh, c'mon. Better headline: Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney calls for action at U.N. against genocide and mass rape of the Yazidi people. https://t.co/KUGKW16XzX  Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) March 10, 2017

Amal Clooney went to UN on International Womens Day to discuss genocide. TIME talks about her "baby bump" and shows her on the red carpet. pic.twitter.com/2kTWfrrPnJ  Michael Arnovitz (@MichaelArnovitz) March 10, 2017

I look up to Amal Clooney sm for who she is and what she does, this is disappointing coverage of her https://t.co/k6CFd7ChRO  Grace Bailey (@GraceBai1ey) March 10, 2017

@TIME Just unfollowed. Considering cancelling subscription. Amal Clooney's address to the UN is worthy of real journalism. smh https://t.co/6EpRxNebXC  Travels With Tadji (@TadjiKretschmer) March 10, 2017

You have to worry about our society when a baby bump is seemingly more remarkable than a speech to the UN on genocide ????#amalclooney  Emily McCulloch (@emmyloumac) March 10, 2017

@NicolaSturgeon A stupid misogynistic comment. Amal Clooney is smart, committed, and passionate lawyer, she also happens to be pregnant, so what.  Chris (@OllieNewYork) March 10, 2017

@TIME @motto You misspelled "Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney addresses UN on ISIS crimes against humanity."  So-Called Anna ???? (@girlvanized) March 10, 2017

Fixing this tweet/headline: Amal Clooney called on UN to bring ISIS to justice for its atrocities in Iraqhttps://t.co/cePq3x2hkZ  Anup Kaphle (@AnupKaphle) March 10, 2017

I wish we would apply the Amal Clooney standard to Trump. "Our president looked saucy in a green polo as he accused Obama of wiretapping!"  Don Zolidis (@donzolidis) March 10, 2017

Amal Clooney: A Woman  bing bong (@funksocks) March 10, 2017

The Twitter reaction rightfully reflects the ridiculousness of the situation, while also underscoring the larger socio-cultural problem of the kinds of identities we, even in the year 2017, feel uncomfortable about letting women assume  and the kinds of identities we restrict them to in the name of comfort and security with a certain sort of understanding about gender.

The Time-Twitter snafu belies the way in which, even as Barbies career goals are allowed to evolve from pageant queen to president, women are still expected to still basically be like Barbie  that is, careers are OK, as long as you can still be posed and looked at within the context of what youre wearing and whether or not Ken is sold separately.

The default with women remains to talk about them as bodies, something that is often exaggerated even further when it comes to pregnant bodies and the feverish bump-watches that often consume celebrity culture  a process that renders women into objects, and not people. This dynamic is further complicated by the double-edged sword of locking women into identities rooted in motherhood, letting the work of parenting override work that women may do outside that capacity, something that diminishes nonparenting work done by women  women who have the right to work whether or not they choose to ever become mothers. If a woman works but is not a mother, but is told through cultural messaging that she should best be identified by her capacity to carry a child, her work is quietly erased by her not checking this other box.

And this experience creates a tricky, self-reinforcing cycle in which its harder for women to get into and move up in the workforce. After all, you cant break the glass ceiling when you show up to do your job and Time talks about your baby bump.

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Welcome to Beauty Boss, a reoccurring series in which we spotlight the power players driving the beauty world forward. Consider this your chance to steal their get-ahead secrets, and grow from the real-life lessons they've learned on the job.

French born Sylvie Chantecaille has one of the most recognized last names in the beauty biz. Why? She's the founder of Chantecaille, a makeup, cosmetic and skin carel line made from pure botanicals, flowers, essential oils, and vitamins (yes, all the good stuff). We chatted with the beauty about how she built this incredible line from the ground up.

What is your background?

I studied history of art and theater in Paris, where I was raised. It was really the perfect preparation for my career. When I moved to New York City, I created my first cosmetic company with my friend Diane von Furstenberg (the cult perfume Tatiana was part of that line).

In 1979 I was asked by the Lauder family to create a new beauty company, which became Prescriptives. With this new approach to cosmetics, I led some of the most innovative developments in the beauty industry, including offering custom blend shade-matching to help women identify their perfect foundation shade, an unprecedented concept at that time. We also launched Calyx, a best-selling fragrance which is still loved today.

How did you fall into beauty?

By accident! I was "supposed" to be an art dealer, but I loved makeup and I had a lot of friends who loved it, too. The success I saw with the fragrance I created with Diane was the start of it, and then beauty opportunities just kept coming.

How did you come up with the concept for Chantecaille after launching Prescriptives?

I launched Chantecaille in 1997, driven by a desire to create a company that reflected my own spiritual and holistic passion. I wanted to be the first skincare company based on flowers--totally pure and incorporating luxurious quality, scientifically-forward technology and botanical ingredients. Chantecaille first started as a niche French fragrance house with four original scents based on natural essential oils. Within a year and a half, I realized that my passion for high quality skincare, natural products, Chinese medicine, and aromatherapy were begging to be expanded into a line of beauty. This is really how it all began.

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What makes it unique?

Chantecaille's most important distinction is our commitment to quality and purity in our products. We source the most effective botanical ingredients and we work with experts around the world, with different scientists and technical labs chosen for their strengths in particular aspects in our business. For example, we do most of our foundations in Japan, develop our skincare in Switzerland, and produce all of our fragrances in France.

We are also a company that puts a commitment to philanthropy and conservation at the forefront. Since 2006 Chantecaille has launched 22 limited edition "cause-metics" collections to benefit conservation efforts to protect the ocean, the environment, and endangered animal and plant species. Each season we donate a percentage of proceeds from sales of these palettes directly to charitable organizations that support these causes. We are supporting the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Elephants and Bees foundation with the release of our spring 2017 Mermaid Matte Eye Trio.

What's the best compliment you ever received?

Women saying things like, "where have you been all my life? Now that I have your products, I'll never change!" Another beautiful client told me that she felt safe using our products during chemotherapy treatments and that our Gold Cream got her skin through it.

What was your "aha moment" when you realized Chantecaille had really become a success?

When Angelina Jolie applied our Brilliant Gloss on the air at the Golden Globes--that was huge. She also chose to use all of our products a few years ago on the cover of Vanity Fair, and then continued to order tons of colors for the movie she was shooting in Venice. I was also incredibly proud this year to learn that Chantecaille is the number two brand at Bergdorf Goodman, a trendsetting beauty mecca for women in New York and all around the world.

What makeup products do you never leave home without?

I never leave home without Future Skin In Nude in winter and Just Skin in Tan in the summer. Future Skin is a gel-based formula that is water packed with soothing ingredients like chamomile and aloe vera. It gives a gorgeous dewy finish rather than flat and matte, and the coverage is buildable.

I can't live without our Pure Rosewater - I won't fly without the travel size bottle. It's the first thing I reach for in the morning and the last thing I treat my face with at bedtime. Ours is the only rosewater that is made from 100% of the very rare Rose de Mai-- the extract from 1,000 petals is in every bottle.

What one product from the line is your absolute favorite right now?

I am obsessed with our Faux Cils Longest Lash Mascara. It actually increases lash length in two weeks by 25 percent!

What's one mistake most women make when it comes to skincare or makeup that they could easily fix?

Women often tend to use the wrong foundation for their skin type or tone. Too much of the wrong formula can make skin look dry - which can age them. Women with oily skin are often afraid of using moisturizers, when actually oils and creams are great for regulating and protecting oil-prone skin. Serums are great for this type of skin, and our Bio Lifting Oil Free Fluid is mattifying, which is perfect for them. Most importantly, after the age of 35 everyone should be using anti-aging skincare to repair and prevent future damage to their skin.

Who do you think has the most beautiful skin in Hollywood?

I think a lot of women have beautiful skin. My personal favorites are Emma Roberts, she is positively luminous. The gorgeous Emma Stone has stunning pale skin, and Cate Blanchett is a timeless beauty with a radiant complexion.
Its been a rough few months for struggling footwear retailer Payless ShoeSource and several of its domestic and international suppliers.

A source close to the situation told Footwear News today that about 200 unpaid Payless suppliers and factory workers protested against the company Thursday at a container freight station (CFS) in Xiamen, China. (A CFS is the location where manufactured goods are packed into containers at a port of origin to be unpacked later at a port of destination.)

According to the source, the group  which had been organizing the protests for several weeks  demanded that Payless make good on several hundred million dollars of unpaid debt. Demonstrators attempted to prevent the shipping of containers filled with shoes and other wares to the Topeka, Kansas-based firm, the source added.

This is the latest development in an ongoing situation involving Payless and several of its affiliates that have claimed nonpayment on the part of the retailer since last August. While multiple sources have said that the company will file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks, other sources close to the matter told FN today that the retailer has made no final decision in that regard.

Reports out of Taiwan this week suggested that the retailer owes at least one major Taiwanese shoe factory a past-due sum of $100 million. Meanwhile, one Taiwanese bank has an outstanding debt of $37 million from Payless-associated firms. Amid speculation that the cash-strapped firm will be unable to make good on its past-due bills, Zhenmao Zheng, vice chairman of Chinas Financial Supervisory Commission, said dozens of Payless suppliers could go bankrupt and the bank would have to write off its losses.

Last week, speaking exclusively to FN, one China-based agent said he and multiple China-based factories, for which Payless is a top revenue source, have been cracking under the weight of Payless unpaid debt. The source alleged that when some of the factories contacted the retailer for payment, Payless had not been forthcoming about when payments will be made but warned that if they stop supplying the shoes, Payless would not do business with them in the future.

Story continues

Out of desperation, the factories [have complied], the source said, adding that he and others are hoping Payless can recover and resume payments.

In January, Payless announced that it had laid off 165 employees, or 2 percent of its total associate base. FN also exclusively revealed in September Payless plans to close between 350 and 500 of its 4,400 stores within the next three years. More recent reports have suggested that the number of store closures could be closer to 1,000.

Earlier this week, the retailer also confirmed that it has outsourced 80 of its Topeka-based information technology positions to a New Jersey-based company and over the next two months will eliminate 20 IT positions.

FN has reached out to Payless as well as company co-owner Golden Gate Capital for comment on the protest; both declined to comment. (Payless was bought by private equity firms Golden Gate Capital and Blum Capital Partners in 2012.)

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Payless' Financial Struggles Could Send Multiple China-Based Factories Into Bankruptcy

FN Exclusive: Payless Suppliers in the U.S. & China Grow Anxious as Bankruptcy Looms

Payless Will Reportedly Close 1,000 Stores as it Edges Closer to Bankruptcy
Miss Bulgaria recently competed in the 2017 Miss Universe pageant. (Photo: Getty Images)

Miss Bulgaria 2016, Violina Ancheva, didnt take home the top prize at the 65th Miss Universe pageant in January, but she still might have helped someone else secure her very own crown  at a high school prom, that is.

After the competition ended, Ancheva decided to gift her evening gown, a blue Sherri Hill ensemble featuring a full skirt and a crop top, to a teen in a need of a prom dress. She posted a note on Facebook to her followers in the Philippines  where the pageant was held  urging someone to send her a personal message before she left the country.

Out of the thousands of responses she received, Ancheva selected 15-year-old Zhyra Nicole Cifra, the daughter of single mother of two, Issay Gallano. Cifras mother sent a message to Ancheva explaining that she was struggling to obtain funds to purchase her daughter a prom dress, and the two met to exchange the dress after her daughter was selected as the lucky recipient.

Ancheva recently posted a collage of her wearing the dress alongside Cifra modeling the dress at her prom and noted how excited she was for the teen to have attended the event, which took place on Friday night in the Philippines.

Zhyra looked stunning in the dress, and it appeared to fit her perfectly. Today is a big day for me! Its Zhyras prom  the beautiful filipina that was chosen to wear the dress I was wearing on Miss Universe pageant! I am so excited! Good luck, Zhyra! Bulgaria loves Philippines, she captioned the image.

When Zhyra received the dress in January, her mother posted a shot of her modeling it on Facebook in which she looked overjoyed.

Regardless of whether she was made prom princess, Zhyra was certainly outfitted like a princess.

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Photo credit: Getty

From Cosmopolitan

The Victorias Secret Fashion Show is moving to China. Shanghai to be precise, according to WWD.

Victorias Secret has a long history with China. In addition to manufacturing most of their products there, they also began opening stores in China in June 2015. They now have 26 locations across the country with an additional five locations in Hong Kong, making China an increasingly important market for the American lingerie giant.

The news comes as Victorias Secret models Josephine Skriver, Sui He, Ming Xi, and Alessandra Ambrosio are busy touring China with the brand, attending store openings and posting like crazy all over social media.

It's only March and the countdown to the next Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is on. It is so on.



Get non-boring fashion and beauty news directly in your feed. FollowFacebook.com/CosmoBeauty.

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By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross gave no indication of any plans to change U.S. privacy protections underpinning a pact enabling billions of dollars of data flows during a meeting with the EU digital chief, a source said on Friday. U.S. President Trump's administration has stoked concerns in Brussels that it may undo some of the privacy protections put in place by the previous administration that were crucial to a transatlantic pact allowing companies to store EU citizens' data on U.S. servers. EU Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip met Ross in Washington on Thursday, the first European to meet the new Commerce Secretary since he took office. Ross confirmed his support for the crucial pillars of the data transfer pact - the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the source briefed on the meeting said on Friday. The source said there were no indications from Ross of any plans to change Obama's privacy directive issued in January 2014. On Twitter, Ansip said Ross and him had agreed "on the need for robust and predictable #PrivacyShield for safe and secure U.S.-EU data flows." The U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment. The Privacy Shield was agreed in 2016 following more than two years of difficult negotiations over how data transferred by companies to the United States would be protected in line with tough EU data protection. Obama's Presidential Policy Directive 28 (PPD28) gave foreign citizens some privacy protections from U.S. surveillance activities and was issued after revelations of mass U.S. spying in 2013. The EU's top court struck down Privacy Shield's predecessor in 2015 for allowing U.S. spies unfettered access to EU citizens' data. Cross-border data transfers are used in many industries for sharing employee information, when consumer data is shared to complete credit card, travel or e-commerce transactions, or to target advertising based on customer preferences. EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova - whose team negotiated the Privacy Shield - will travel to Washington at the end of this month to prepare the annual review of the framework and discuss any concerns. (Additional reporting by Dustin Volz in Washington; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
Samsung has reportedly made a last-minute addition on how biometric authentication will work in its next flagship phone.

If you've been following all the Galaxy S8 rumors, the handset will likely offer iris scanning and a built-in fingerprint reader, but it seems that those features aren't enough.

The Galaxy Note 7 used an iris scanner, but the S8 will likely go further. Credit: Jeremy Lips/Tom's Guide

The Galaxy Note 7 used an iris scanner, but the S8 will likely go further. Credit: Jeremy Lips/Tom's Guide

Samsung has decided to complement the planned iris-scanning feature in its Galaxy S8 with facial recognition that you can use to unlock your handset, an unidentified company official told the Korean Economic Daily this week. According to the person, the iris scanner was having trouble with "speed and accuracy," leading Samsung to add the facial-recognition feature.

"With a face scanner, it will take less than 0.01 seconds to unlock the phone," the Samsung official told the Korean Economic Daily. Sammobile earlier reported on the Korean Economic Daily report.

MORE: Get Up Close with the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

To be clear, the iris scanner will still be offered in the Galaxy S8, but Samsung made the decision to add the facial scanning to offer you another way to unlock your device, and perhaps do it more efficiently.

Samsung pans to unveil the S8 at a press event in New York City on March 29. The device will reportedly come in two sizes -- a standard 5.8-inch model and a Galaxy S8 Plus with a 6.2-inch screen. Both devices will offer curved displays and will not have a physical home button beneath the display.

Since the home button has been removed, Samsung has reportedly moved the fingerprint scanner to the back of the device next to the rear camera.

After its announcement on March 29, Samsung is believed to planning to release the Galaxy S8 line in April. A recent report by VentureBeat says the on sale date has been ushed back a week to April 28.

Either way, the Galaxy S8 is coming soon.

See also : 40 Best Free Android Apps
The release of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL this past October represented a significant shift in Googles overall smartphone strategy. Whereas Google in the past was more or less content with letting hardware partners like Samsung and HTC shape the Android user experience, the Google Pixel was a decidedly Google-only affair, with the search giant exerting more control than ever before over the entirety of the Android experience.

Don't Miss: New leak shows how incredible Samsungs Galaxy S8 design really is

Because the Pixel was designed by Google from the ground up, there have been more than a few growing pains along the way. More recently, Google finally conceded that a number of Pixel devices have faulty microphones incapable of recording audio.

In a comment thread on the issue found on Googles support forums, Brian Rakowski  a VP of Product Management at Google  explains that the problem is a hardware issue that unfortunately cant be addressed via a software fix. Consequently, users with affected devices will have to send them back in order to rectify the issue.

We are taking additional steps to qualify refurbished phones to make sure they dont have this mic problem, Rakowski said. Its possible that some replacement phones were not properly qualified before we understood this issue, but thats no longer the case.

Also, we have been taking additional steps to reinforce the connection at time of manufacture on phones built since January, Rakowski added. Phones manufactured in the last month should not have this problem. For phones manufactured before then, the incidence of the problem is <<1%. I know this thread makes it seem much more prevalent, but there is a selection bias at work here.

If youre a Pixel owner with a faulty mic, you can process a return via Google if thats where the original purchase was made. If you picked up your Pixel from a third-party retailer, Google advises to go back to that retailer as they can replace the phone more quickly. Google further adds that their retail partners should be well-informed and trained on the issue.

Story continues

Notably, you can still process a return through Google if you purchased your Pixel from a third-party. The only downside is that you wont receive a replacement device until Google receives your faulty device, a process that might take a few weeks.

Notably, this isnt the first time weve heard Pixel owners voice complaints about the device. Just a few months back, a number of Pixel owners were beset by a wide range of software issues, including faulty alarms, the inability to play music and the inability to make or receive calls.

On a more positive note, were already starting to hear rumblings about the Google Pixel 2, a device which, believe it or not, will follow in the footsteps of the iPhone 7 and do away with the 3.5 mm headphone jack.

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See the original version of this article on BGR.com
Zachary Levi, who is the voice of Flynn Rider on Disneys Tangled, stopped by Conan to promote Tangled: The Series, and while there he made a shocking claim: That the turkey legs served at Disneyland are actually emu legs. I have friends that work for Disneyland, and I was talking about how the turkey legs tasted more like ham than they taste like turkey, which was already befuddling, and theyre actually emu. A big old emu leg.

Although this claim sounds like an urban legend, Conan thought maybe theres something to it, perhaps explaining all those emus in wheelchairs hes seen at the theme park. The Orlando Sentinel calls this The Great Theme Park Turkey Leg Rumor, with executive chef Robert Adams saying, We hear that all the time. Theyre real turkeys. Its what they are.

Conan airs weeknights at 11 p.m. on TBS.

Watch: Malin Akermans 3-year-old sons hilarious obsession with his peeper:

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From the small town of Kokofu in the Ashanti Region, to the shores of Accra, 26-year-old Dr Ellen Boakye is a long way from home. At the young age of 6, her career path had already been destined when tenants in her compound started to call her Doctor Ellen, possibly due to her excitement whenever there was a new birth in the compound she grew up in.

The doctor that swept 10 outstanding awards at the University of Ghanas medical school graduation set the bar high, with a riveting story to go with it. And it all started, with a nickname.

Dr. Ellen Boakye

I dont remember, but for some reason they began to call me Doctor Ellen at the age of 5 or 6. At the time I did not dream of becoming a doctor but I went to secondary school with the intention of studying science, she says.

During her studies in secondary school, she discovered she loved Biology, and added to her nickname Doctor Ellen, it seemed her destiny was already set and so she went on to pursue medicine, and she has never looked back.

Ellen comes from a family of six, with two older brothers and a sister, born to parents with no formal education of their own but believed that their children deserved the education they never had.

From a basic education at Petra International School in Breman to a secondary school education in Yaa Asantewaa Girls Secondary School, scoring As in all subjects except English.

But of course that did not deter her, as she wrote the supplementary examinations known as Nov/Dec and scored all As across board.

Due to a delay in the results from her Nov/Dec, her application to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technologys medical school was switched to a Pharmacology program. After two weeks, she realized the school was not going to switch her courses and that sparked her decision to move to the University of Ghana medical school.

It was late in the night, my brother came to pick me up, and we just hurriedly packed my belongings and left. There were some dishes I had left undone but I packed them anyway. Ellen says with a slight chuckle.

Photography by Vine Imagery

At the time, the medical school in Legon required all students to read biological science in their first year before proceeding to full-time medicine.

And six years down the line, I made it by the grace of God and won 10 awards.

I am so happy not just because of the recognition and money that comes with it, but also because it shows other women that they can achieve anything they put their mind to and also inspires children from disadvantaged backgrounds to not give up.

Was she expecting her time at the medical school to reap such amazing benefits? Well, I was. I wanted to be the best, not necessarily to win the awards but the best student overall, and I suppose such a position comes with the recognition, she says.

The young doctor has actually 18 instead of 10 awards. During her Bachelor of Science graduation, Ellen received 8 out the 9 awards presented.

Is that my greatest achievement? Possibly. But there are other instances that I consider an achievement. I really love children, so if a child is brought in sick to the hospital and I help to make them better, I consider that a very fulfilling achievement, a beaming Ellen states.

Ellen attributes her success also to the learning environment in her school, and her class of 2016 whom she said always kept her on her toes. The mutual determination we all had to be our very best, really kept me on my toes to strive for excellence.

Photography by Vine Imagery

Ellen started her journey through medical school with one thought in mind; to help people, and to help people, one needs the knowledge.

 Whenever we started a rotation, I used to tell myself that, imagine a patient brings a problem to you and you have no idea how to help them, that notion fueled me to learn as much I could, be as practical as I could.

Of course it could not have been easy in medical school. Ellen recalls almost giving up in her final year; not just on school but in other aspects of her life as well. Those were trying times especially with financial difficulties, but the constant conversations with mentors and friends kept her going.

She attributes the most profound lesson she learned in life, perseverance, to her time in medical school.

Touching on the health services in Ghana, Ellen uses her final year research project about Maternal Satisfaction in Ghanas Health care system as an example. She explained her research discovered that many mothers did not visit the ante-natal clinic, which they were supposed to, because of the attitude of the nurse and doctors that treated them.

Ellen believes that while there are strides being made in Ghanas Healthcare delivery system, there is a need for attitudinal change.

Every budding young doctor has a specialization in medicine that they wish to follow, and Ellens love for children has her looking towards pediatrics, especially pediatric cardiology. Her motivation stems from an experience where she watched two children with cardiovascular diseases die due to unavailability of the treatment in Ghana.

Ellens gratitude for her success goes to her parents, who pushed through to ensure she had a good education, her uncle who supported her when she most needed it, and her brother who motivated her throughout her studies. She also thanks Dr Genevieve Mensah, her school mother from her days in secondary school, whose unwavering support during her studies kept her going, and her best friend Dr Christine Anabelle Anowa Ellis.

One iconic person I was looking up to during my school days was Dr Ben Carson. I read all his books and I initially thought of neurosurgery as a field for me but I did not enjoy my rotation that much. However he is not an inspiration to me anymore because well when we put our hopes in you and you come out that way she says, with a sigh of disappointment.

Where does Ellen see herself in the next couple of years? In Ghana maybe opening a pediatric cardiology center, she replied, with sheepish smile.

Photography by Vine Imagery

With her newfound recognition, Ellen uses her social media platform to speak up for causes she is passionate about including child marriages and girl-child education. She has been contacted by numerous stakeholders to use her story and current platform to encourage and inspire young women.

Do you have a story to share or want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us an email at info@yen.com.gh or visit our Twitter and Facebook pages.

Source: YEN.com.gh
ANGOLA  A Butler man is in custody after allegedly shooting a shotgun at a vehicle in rural Angola.

Derek Failey Bryner, 22, allegedly shot at a vehicle during a pursuit at about 1 a.m. Thursday on C.R. 20N near C.R. 100E, which is just north of Angola High School.

The Steuben County Sheriffs Office in a news release says an individual reported the incident at about 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

There allegedly was a verbal altercation in the parking lot of an Angola store. The victim and Bryner left the area and the shotgut blast or blasts allegedly occured in rural Angola.

Through witness interviews and investigative efforts, sheriffs investigators identified Bryner as the suspect, the news release said.

Bryner was subsequently located in the 3900 block of C.R. 57 near Butler and taken into custody without incident.

Following an interview with sheriffs detectives, Bryner was booked into the Steuben County Jail on one count of criminal recklessness involving a firearm, a Level 5 felony. Bryner is being held in lieu of a $5,000 bond.

The incident remains under investigation by the Steuben Sheriffs Office and additional charges may be sought.

Assisting in the investigation were the Angola Police Department, Butler Police Department, the DeKalb County Sheriffs Office and the Indiana State Police.
LAKE CHARLES  Six plus one businesses were honored with Invest Steuben awards for their investments in the community during a presentation held during the first meeting of the year of the Steuben County Industrial Guild.

Six of the businesses were those that helped Angola/Steuben County receive a top rating from Site Selection Magazine for development in 2016. The one was honored for being the first entrepreneur to start operations in the business incubator in The Enterprise Center.

The six companies honored included Univertical, Eva-Lution and Ventra Angola, all of Angola; Miller Poultry, Orland; and Cold Heading and Cardinal IG, both of Fremont.

The six companies added 150 jobs with a total investment of nearly $34 million.

Also honored was Price Automation, a startup that is the first company to locate in The Enterprise Center incubator.

Its always a pleasure to recognize businesses that make a significant investment in our community, said Isaac Lee, executive director of the Steuben County Economic Development Corp. and presenter of the awards.

The honorees, in order of presentation, were:

 Eva-Lution, Angola, which helped turn a $50,000 loan from the Angola Investment Fund into a $2.5 million expansion.

 Univertical, Angola, which expanded its chemical processing capacity and installed a second casting line and plating equipment. It was a $1.2 million expansion.

 Cold Heading, Fremont, doubled its size to 148,000-square-feet and added 30 manufacturing jobs.

 Cardinal IG, Fremont, which did a $2.3 million expansion and plans to add 38 new jobs by 2019.

 Miller Poultry, Orland, which increased significantly, adding to its labor force thats not more than 700 and has 52 new contract growers.

 Ventra, Angola, which invested $8.1 million in its operation, increasing production by 70 percent and adding 88 new jobs.

 Price Automation, Angola, which is an original equipment manufacturer of aquatic rehabilitation systems.

Lee said the companies will add some $36.9 million in payroll.

We owe it all to you for the projects you have announced, Lee said.

The meeting held at 6 Autumns, Angola, was sponsored by Freedom Academy.

Melissa Carpenter, Freedom Academys executive director, praised the employers for the commitment to the organization. She said more training is done in Steuben County, particularly at the Angola Training Center, than any other county served by Freedom Academy.

Thank you, Steuben County, for being such a great supporter of Freedom Academy, Carpenter said.

For 2017, the Industrial Guild will include the following officers and board: Kristie Trick, Freedom Academy, president; Gordon Cooper, vice president, Angola Area Chamber of Commerce; Shirley Renfrew, Cardinal IG, treasurer; Melissa Palmer, Koester Metals, secretary; and board members Jessica Christen, SCEDC; Dee Davis, Miller Poultry; Kevin Diehl, Miller Poultry; Sue Essman, city of Angola; John Freudenberger, Triton Metal Products; Ben Schafer, Indiana Physical Therapy; Anita Shepherd, Freedom Academy; Ken P. Wilson, JICI and Industrial Contracting & Engineering; and Scott Wilson, Ivy Tech.
LIGONIER  Anxiety. Unpredictability. Ana Fernandez described the emotional atmosphere for Hispanics under President Donald Trumps administration as a succession of what-ifs.

What if he deports the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, as he promised in his campaign?

What if he follows through on the construction of a border wall between Mexico and the U.S. in a bid to deter illegal immigration?

What if the undocumented immigrants protected under former President Barack Obamas administration dont receive the amnesty promised to them?

Fernandez, who is president of the Ligonier Hispanic business association The Bridge, said some members of the citys Hispanic population are feeling unsure and uneasy about their futures, and they are preparing for what they consider the worst: deportation.

That possibility has been top of mind for many in the community, even before Trump took office and made illegal immigration a cornerstone issue of his first 100 days.

When Fernandez arranged an event for residents to learn more about the citizenship process and immigration issues from a local attorney and case worker in mid-January, some questioned if the session could be used against them.

The meeting was meant to assuage fears, but there were those who were so afraid of possible negative consequences they didnt attend.

Some people were even afraid to come, because what if we are all together there and then someone would call immigration and then we are going to all be in one place? Fernandez said. Theyre insecure about whats going to happen.

With a lack of trusted resources and facing a lot of unfounded rumors, Fernandez said some Hispanics are unsure of what to believe when it comes to the new presidential administration.

Some in the community arent waiting for answers. Fernandez said shes spoken with individuals who are currently putting plans in place in case theyre separated from the families, homes and careers theyve built here.

The plans outline who will take care of children born in the United States if the parents are taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and who will assume ownership and responsibility of a house thats still being paid for.

Its the fear of not knowing whats going to happen, Fernandez said. Theyre taking care of business now, then waiting to see if everything is going to change. Theyre getting prepared just in case things do happen.

Theres also an underlying fear of being tricked by the government, so people are being overly cautious, Fernandez said.

She said Mexican immigrants living here legally are afraid to return to their home country because theyve heard stories of others being persuaded to sign paperwork that forfeits their rights to come back to United States.

Some arent starting the process to become citizens, because theyre afraid of coming into contact with ICE and being deported before theyre naturalized, Fernandez said.

Those fears also are trickling down to the younger generation. West Noble School Corp. Superintendent Dennis VanDuyne said the district is doing its best to address concerns on a case-by-case basis, but its a hard issue to confront when the future is so uncertain.

Its hard to address the issues until we know what the issues are. We have people that are scared because they dont know the situation, VanDuyne said.

The community needs to be aware that there are fears out there, he said. Because the president hasnt been as predictable, it creates an atmosphere of unknown, and thats scary. And even if its not scary to their families, they still have friends or relatives or neighbors that it may affect. It causes a lot of stress.

In a rural city of 4,500 residents, even if the number of undocumented immigrants is small  totaling about 1,347 in Noble County, according to the 2015 population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau  the effect of a deportation roundup in the area could be widely felt.

Ligoniers economy relied on the immigration of workers to the area to fill vacancies in its manufacturing industry in the mid-20th century. That welcoming history is one to be proud of, Ligonier Mayor Patty Fisel said.

She sees herself as a product of the same system, as her grandparents immigrated from Germany.

The city is currently dealing with a shortage of skilled labor, and reducing its workforce could further exacerbate the issue.

We have very responsible families here, and they seem to want to bring in responsible families, and I think that will continue to happen, Fisel said. I see our immigration as a positive.

She hopes the Trump administration will allow avenues for immigrants who came to the United States illegally and since have gone on to have productive lives to make their way through the citizenship process.

I would hope that there would be a way we could do it, Fisel said. We have to do what we have to do.

Fernandez has heard the naturalization process can take anywhere from six months to two decades, depending on a persons case worker or attorney. But she believes Trump may end up being more talk than action.

He can talk all he wants. He can only do so much, Fernandez said. Immigration is immigration. If youre doing your paperwork through immigration and doing it legal, how can he stop you from doing that?

Fernandez hopes residents continue to be aware of whats happening nationally and locally. For those who may be here illegally, she advises them to remain cautious, follow the rules and obey the law.

She said she will continue helping those who need assistance through The Bridge and its monthly meetings.

Hopefully, nothing happens. At the same time, what can we do? Fernandez said.

Its just the waiting. It seems like its all waiting.
Bird flu cases discovered this past week in Tennessee and Wisconsin have prompted a new wave of anxiety for poultry producers.

The first new outbreak was discovered late last week in a chicken flock in Tennessee, and a second case was confirmed this week on a Wisconsin turkey farm.

These cases are a different virus than the one that devastated poultry two years ago in Minnesota and other states. That outbreak infected more than 100 farms in the state, forced the destruction of millions of birds and cost the state economy nearly $650 million.

University of Minnesota avian influenza expert Carol Cardona said these two infections demonstrate that bird flu is still active, and still a potential threat.

These are really stressful times for people, Cardona said. 2015 was stressful, and whats happening now is really bringing a lot of it back for people. I hope we make it through this season unscathed.

Two different strains of the virus, with different levels of lethality, are involved in the latest outbreaks.

In Tennessee, it was the most dangerous category of bird flu, known as a highly pathogenic virus. Cardona said most likely a low pathogenic virus originally infected the flock and evolved into the deadly, highly pathogenic form. More than 70,000 chickens owned by poultry giant Tyson were destroyed to limit the risk of spreading the disease.

In Wisconsin, it was different genetic strain, and the less dangerous low pathogenic virus, found on a Jennie-O turkey farm. Low-path strains, as theyre known, produce relatively few symptoms in poultry. In a statement, Jennie-O said the birds will be monitored. The company called the low pathogenic virus a common form of avian influenza.

Avian influenza is not considered a risk to the food system.

In 2015, a virus existed in wild ducks and geese in its deadliest form, the highly pathogenic variety. Wild birds were less vulnerable to the disease, but when it reached a poultry flock, birds started dying immediately. With the low pathogenic version, Cardona said, theres more time to react. Although the 2015 virus hasnt shown up in a poultry flock recently, tests in the last six months did find the bug in wild ducks in the U.S.

Weve seen evidence, in a bird in Alaska and one in Montana, that the 2015 virus is still out there, somewhere, Cardona said, So I know our poultry producers are on extreme alert right now.

Steve Olson, head of Minnesotas poultry trade groups, said the news from Tennessee and Wisconsin was disappointing, but not surprising. As ducks and geese migrate north for the summer, he said, the danger of a bird flu infection increases. As we see migration happen in the fall and the springtime, thats when we elevate our level of biosecurity and our testing protocols.

This has been a year of elevated bird flu activity around the globe. Europe and Asia have been hard hit. Over a hundred people in China have died from avian flu infections. Still, even with the Tennessee and Wisconsin cases, the U.S. has avoided the large-scale devastation of 2015 so far.

Poultry producers hope that bit of luck continues.
Standing at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, at top of the African continent was an incredible experience for two Barre Mills men.

In early February, Mark Jungck, his colleague and neighbor Raunaque Oshan and four friends, Mustafa Ozer, Michelle Hammer and Steve and Josephine Borene, set out on a mountain climbing expedition up the infamous mountain.

Eight days of sheer exertion and force of will carried the group through tropical rain forest, frigid moorlands and rocky glaciers to the top of the African continent 19,341 feet above sea level.

Theyd weathered treacherous climbs, bone-chilling nights, frozen water bottles and the ever-present threat of hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency, in the thin mountain air. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation plagued them every step of the way.

As the sun rose over the gently arching horizon, Jungck was overcome by a state of euphoria.

For Oshan, it was a moment hed been waiting 24 years for.

A little over seven years ago Oshan, 40, hatched a scheme to return to his homeland in Tanzania. He wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, something hed only attempted as a 16-year-old on a class trip.

I had this in the back of my mind since high school, Oshan said.

As Oshans plan came together, he began searching for people to go with him.

He began asking everyone he knewfriends, coworkersif they would be interested in hiking Kilimanjaro. Jungck fell in the later category, and, after mulling it over for two weeks, he agreed to accompany Oshan on the trip.

We didnt know each other well, Oshan said. While the two had worked at the hospital, they only got to know each other on the trip.

Two things struck me, he said. I am 60; I want to do something different and something challenging.

Jungck said had it been anyone else he might not have gone, but the idea of hiking to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro with a native of Tanzania was more genuine.

When the group of six arrived in Tanzania, they had just 12 hours to sleep off the 18-plus hours of jet lag before they began their hike up the mountain.

Oshan said Borene had planned the trip to one of the quieter times of the year before the tour companies shut down for the monsoon season.

The first day of the hike passed through the tropical regional. Above, monkeys hopped from tree to tree as Jungck scrambled to get photos of the chatty primates.

Jungck had expected to stay warm for most of the hike. He was used to a rapid pace that had kept him warm even during the chilliest of Wisconsin winters.

As he discovered on the first day of the ascent, their pace up the mountain would be anything but rapid.

Pole, pole, slow, slow, Jungck said translating the often uttered phrase used of the porters and guides to describe the slow rhythmic half-step pace.

We had to practice walking slow, he said. At first you were thinking this is absolutely crazy.

Oshan said as the group acclimated to the ever-growing altitude the pace ended up looking fast.

We could keep our pace, he said, recalling the many others they passed who could not.

The biggest key is acclimation, Jungck said.

Despite adjusting to their environment, the group struggled with sleep through the chilly nights.

On the hard uneven ground and in his cramped tent, Jungck said he struggled to sleep for more than an hour at a time.

Its hard to sleep at altitude, Oshan said.

He said the altitude pills didnt help them sleep any easier. Instead they left them answering natures frequent calls.

Each morning they would break camp and begin their hike, led by the guides to next campsite four or five hours up the mountain.

By the second day, the group emerged from the rainforest and into the heather moorland. Here the dense foliage of the jungle fell away abruptly, replaced by rocky outcroppings and dense shrubbery.

Here the weather became unpredictable and could change in a matter of minutes dropping 20 or more degrees with the clearing of the clouds.

You couldnt get comfortable, Oshan said.

He said just as he was getting warm again the clouds would clear and the temperature would drop causing him to scramble add another layer.

Jungck said this was among his favorite parts of the journey because as the rainforest fell away he could make out the vast expanses and vistas beyond.

The group quickly fell into the rhythm of things.

To help them acclimatize the guides would often have them hike up higher and then descend to their campsite.

We hiked high and slept low, Jungck said.

As they grew more comfortable with their environment their slow but steady pace carried them to the last leg of the journey.

The final climb to the top of Stella Peak  where Jungck, Oshan and the rest of their group would achieve their goal and reach the highest point on the African continent  proved to be the most harrowing.

The hike through the dark was lit only by torches and the trail had given way to rocky outcroppings which the group was forced to climb over. Not only that, Oshan was often surprised to find that a gap between the rocks was a sheer drop off. To make things worse, in the chilly temperatures their water froze, and they were forced to finish the climb without hydration.

Jungck said the group became lethargic and as they neared the summit he felt the effects of hypoxia creeping in narrowing his vision.

At last, when the group crested the top of Stella Point, there was little time to spare.

Oshan said down the mountain a path of headlamps lit the trail like a string headlights in heavy traffic.

My biggest disappointment was they didnt let you be up there for very long, Jungck said. It was an incredible feeling being on top of the world, the African world.

As they began their day-long descent down the mountain, Oshan said he remembered watching the sun rise and thinking, I finally did it.

Kilimanjaro and Tanzania left a lasting impression on both Jungck and Oshan who said they plan to return.

I want to take my family back on a safari, Jungck said.

Oshans journey inspired his family to make the journey as well. He hopes to return to climb the mountain a second time with is daughter five years from now.
If The Ultrasonic Duo was going to do a tribute show, it was only natural for them to salute Simon and Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers.

For one thing, The Ultrasonic Duo is a twosome that emphasizes vocal harmonies, just like the Everly Brothers and Simon and Garfunkel. And Don D. Harvey and Greg Grokowsky already had a good share of songs in their Ultrasonic repertoire from the other two duos.

Then there is the connection between the Everly Brothers and Simon and Garfunkel. In 1957, the same year that Phil and Don Everly topped the charts with Bye Bye Love and Wake Up, Little Susie, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel made the charts at age 15 with Hey Little Schoolgirl, recording as Tom and Jerry. The Everly Brothers influence in Tom and Jerrys one and only hit is inescapable, from the close harmonies to the herky-jerky guitar accents.

Grokowsky recalls going to a Simon and Garfunkel concert on their 2003 Old Friends Tour, and right in the middle of the show they bring out the Everly Brothers. They brought them on as their idols, Grokowsky said.

Harvey and Grokowsky might share the affinity for harmonies with the more famous duos, but they get along much better. I think the common sensibility of being school teachers has something to do with it, Harvey said. You know how to be diplomatic and not fly off the handle.

The two taught together for years at Holmen High School, first meeting when Grokowsky was a student and Harvey was a young teacher there. Harvey, who has retired from teaching, was moonlighting in bands back then, and Grokowsky used to go see him play. Grokowsky even tried to hire Harveys best known band, Tennessee, to play at his wedding, but the band broke up just before he was to get hitched.

When Grokowsky came back to Holmen High School to teach biology, their classrooms were across from each other, and they often talked music. They discovered a shared love of The Byrds, although they came at it from different angles, with Harvey favoring the bands later country-rock phase and Grokowsky leaning toward the earlier folk rock.

Grokowsky was an accomplished guitar player (he especially likes surf rock), but had never played in a band before. Hed been watching Harvey perform solo over the years, thinking it looked like fun, and finally about six years ago they formed The Ultrasonic Duo.

Early in their partnership, after digging into The Byrds catalog, they started adding Simon and Garfunkel and Everly Brothers songs. It was a good fit for us, Grokowsky said. 

They have an incredibly varied song list up to about 300 these days  500 if you count the other songs they know but havent done together yet  and since November when they decided to do the tribute show, theyve added 13 or 14 new ones.

The tribute show will lean a little more heavily toward Simon and Garfunkel songs and tunes from Simons solo days. There will be plenty of Simon-penned hits, like Mrs. Robinson, Homeward Bound, The Boxer, The 59th Street Bridge Song and Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, which makes good use of Harveys world-class whistling skills.

But they also will dig deep into the catalogs to come up with songs that will surprise people. My nature is to go for that song that people probably havent heard in a while, Grokowsky said. I was always impressed with the band that played the B side. Thats the reaction that I like.
Thing 1 and Thing 2 and the Cat in the Hat visited Viking Elementary to say readings where its at.

Gifts for students the trio had, and when kids received books, their hearts were glad. A donation from the Wisconsin Education Association Council it was, to celebrate Dr. Seuss birthday and just because.

Read Across America is an annual tradition, and the National Education Associations makes reading the programs mission. Having written more than 40 childrens books in his day, Theodore Geisel as the programs face was the easy play.

A gift of $500 WEAC President Ron Martin did share, to honor this years flagship school and all the teachers do there. To promote literacy is Read Across Americas goal, and books he did read not in part but in whole.

Reading is essential, the teachers union president did say. If students cant read, theyll have trouble all day.

A morning assembly the students had, and all had fun and none left mad. The Cat in the Hat was read and songs in praise of Seuss were sung, and as a special treat cupcakes from Festival Foods were brung.

To honor students who achieved their mission, one in each grade was named assistant principal  an important position. And though Dr. Seuss has long been dead, a song for his 113th birthday the Viking Express choir led.

And Dont Stop Reading, they also performed, to the tune of Dont Stop Believing and a fun reward. As a final treat, leftover green eggs from breakfast were found, and students competed in a green eggs and ham relay, full of raucous sound.

A week of events the school employed, but it was crazy hair day the fifth-grader Tess Molling most enjoyed. Her classmate Audra Newman, a blond-haired lass, said both of them loved reading, without the slightest hint of sass.

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was Newmans favorite read. She said it was funny and a good imagination is all you need.

Another Seuss book as favorite, chose Tess. She likes Green Eggs and Ham best.

Said Audra, Its just really fun that our school does this. To have her school chosen from all those in Wisconsin is bliss.

The reason Viking was chosen Martin revealed. Holmens teachers and community sealed the deal.

He said, WEAC is proud of communities like Holmen that put public education first. The students are proud of the school, and as readers theyre well-versed.

By 10:30 a.m. the festivities were done, and students returned to their rooms for more reading fun.
MABEL, Minn./BURR OAK, Iowa  Lawrence Larry Baumler, 76, of Mabel, formerly of Burr Oak, died Monday, March 6, 2017, at Green Lea Senior Living, Mabel. Funeral Mass will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Assumption Catholic Church, Canton. Burial will be in St. Agnes Cemetery with military honors from the American Legion. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Mengis Funeral Home, Mabel, and one hour prior to the services Saturday at the church.
WASHINGTON  Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt said he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to climate change, casting doubt on his willingness to have the agency address the phenomenon.

Measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and theres tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, Pruitt said on CNBCs Squawk Box on Thursday. So no, I would not agree its a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.

Pruitt, who was sworn in last month to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said during his confirmation hearing that humans were responsible for global warming, but said he wasnt sure how much. His comments Thursday, delivered ahead of an address to the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, went further to discount the role of people.

They also buck the conclusions of climate scientists, who have attributed a string of record hot temperatures to heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Last year was the hottest on record, the third consecutive record year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Pruitt said more debate and analysis is needed on the issue.

His comments drew a swift rebuke from critics in Congress.

I would suggest that Mr. Pruitt has very little understanding of what climate change is about and that his views are in direct opposition to what the overwhelming majority of scientists believe in this case and that really is sad given the fact is he is the administrator of the EPA, Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, said in an interview.

In his prior role as Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt joined a lawsuit challenging the EPAs conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions posed a risk to human health and welfare.

Its why we should have never confirmed him. Its why he is unqualified to do that job, said Senator Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat who has been active on climate change and vigorously opposed Pruitts nomination. He held it together for one hearing, but he is a climate denier there is no doubt about it.

Pruitt has already described plans to roll back a suite of Obama-era environmental rules, including the Clean Power Plan that forces states to slash greenhouse gas emissions from generating electricity. He also is targeting regulations governing potent methane emissions from oil and gas wells.

In his CNBC interview Thursday, Pruitt also criticized the process behind the EPAs January decision to uphold rules to slash vehicle greenhouse gas emissions through 2025, a controversial move automakers say was rushed through by the Obama administration.

He said the agency will take action on the vehicle standards very soon without offering specifics. People familiar with the situation have said the agency is planning to reopen the midterm evaluation of the emissions rules, which aim to boost fuel economy to more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025 from around 36 today.

His comments are an embarrassment and will not be forgotten by those who oppose his efforts to dismantle the agency, Liz Purchia, who served as an acting associate administrator in the agency during the Obama administration, said in an email. As his comments show, he apparently hasnt listened to the scientists who work for him at EPA.
BARRE MILLS  Standing at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, at top of the African continent, was an incredible experience for two Barre Mills men.

In early February, Mark Jungck, his colleague and neighbor Raunaque Oshan and four friends, Mustafa Ozer, Michelle Hammer and Steve and Josephine Borene, set out on a mountain-climbing expedition up the infamous mountain.

Eight days of sheer exertion and force of will carried the group through tropical rain forest, frigid moorlands and rocky glaciers to the top of the African continent 19,341 feet above sea level.

They weathered treacherous climbs, bone-chilling nights, frozen water bottles and the ever-present threat of hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency, in the thin mountain air. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation plagued every step.

As the sun rose over the gently arching horizon, Jungck was euphoric.

For Oshan, it was a moment hed been waiting 24 years for.

A little more than seven years ago, Oshan, 40, hatched a scheme to return to his homeland in Tanzania. He wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, something hed only attempted as a 16-year-old on a class trip.

I had this in the back of my mind since high school, Oshan said.

As Oshans plan came together, he began searching for people to go with.

He began asking everyone he knew  friends, coworkers at Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare in Onalaska  whether they would be interested in hiking Kilimanjaro. Jungck fell in the later category, and, after thinking it over for two weeks, he agreed to accompany Oshan.

We didnt know each other well, Oshan said. While the two had worked at the hospital, they only got to know each other on the trip.

Two things struck me, Jungck said. I am 60; I want to do something different and something challenging.

Jungck said had it been anyone else he might not have gone, but the idea of hiking to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro with a native of Tanzania was appealing.

When the group six arrived in Tanzania, they had just 12 hours to sleep off their jet lag before they beginning their hike up the mountain.

Oshan said Borene had planned the trip for one of the quieter times of the year before the tour companies shut down for the monsoon season.

The first day of the hike passed through the tropical region. Above, monkeys hopped from tree to tree as Jungck scrambled to get photos of the chatty primates.

Jungck had expected to stay warm for most of the hike. He was used to a rapid pace that had kept him warm even during the chilliest of Wisconsin winters.

As he discovered on the first day of the ascent, their pace up the mountain would be anything but rapid.

Pole, pole, slow, slow, Jungck said, translating the often-uttered phrase used by the porters and guides to describe the slow rhythmic half-step pace.

We had to practice walking slow, he said. At first you were thinking this is absolutely crazy.

Oshan said as the group acclimated to the ever-growing altitude the pace ended up looking fast.

We could keep our pace, he said, recalling the many others they passed who could not.

The biggest key is acclimation, Jungck said.

Despite adjusting to their environment, the group struggled with sleep through the chilly nights.

On the hard, uneven ground and in his cramped tent, Jungck said, he struggled to sleep for more than an hour at a time.

Its hard to sleep at altitude, Oshan said.

He said the altitude pills didnt help them sleep any easier. Instead they left them answering natures frequent calls.

Each morning, they would break camp and begin their hike, led by the guides to the next campsite four or five hours up the mountain.

By the second day, the group emerged from the rainforest and into the heather moorland. Here the dense foliage of the jungle fell away abruptly, replaced by rocky outcroppings and dense shrubbery.

Here the weather became unpredictable and could change in a matter of minutes dropping 20 or more degrees with the clearing of the clouds.

You couldnt get comfortable, Oshan said.

He said just as he was getting warm again the clouds would clear and the temperature would drop causing him to scramble add another layer.

Jungck said this was among his favorite parts of the journey because as the rainforest fell away he could make out the vast expanses and vistas beyond.

The group quickly fell into a rhythm.

To help them acclimatize, the guides often had them hike up higher and then descend to their campsite.

We hiked high and slept low, Jungck said.

As they grew more comfortable with their environment, their slow but steady pace carried them to the last leg of the journey.

The final climb to the top of Stella Peak  where Jungck, Oshan and the rest of their group would achieve their goal and reach the highest point on the African continent  proved to be the most harrowing.

The hike through the dark was lit only by torches, and the trail had given way to rocky outcroppings which the group was forced to climb over. Not only that, Oshan was often surprised to find that a gap between the rocks was a sheer drop. To make things worse, in the chilly temperatures their water froze and they were forced to finish the climb without hydration.

Jungck said the group became lethargic and as they neared the summit he felt the effects of hypoxia creeping in narrowing his vision.

At last, when the group crested Stella Point, there was little time to spare.

Oshan said down the mountain a path of headlamps lit the trail like a string headlights in heavy traffic.

My biggest disappointment was they didnt let you be up there for very long, Jungck said. It was an incredible feeling being on top of the world, the African world.

As they began their day-long descent, Oshan said he remembered watching the sun rise and thinking, I finally did it.

Kilimanjaro and Tanzania left a lasting impression on both Jungck and Oshan, who said they plan to return.

I want to take my family back on a safari, Jungck said.

Oshans journey inspired his family to make the journey as well. He hopes to return to climb the mountain with his daughter five years from now.
How many business ventures can the Idea Fund fund now that its been funded by the Badger Fund of Funds?

At least a dozen, Idea Fund of La Crosse managing director and La Crosse native Jonathon Horne hopes as his venture capital firm gets off the ground. Horne, the son of Judge Scott Horne, moved back to La Crosse about a year ago after working as an investment banker with J.P. Morgan in New York City to help grow the amount of venture capital  money that funds high-risk, high-reward startup companies  invested in the region.

Wisconsin struggles with starting new ventures, and the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurship ranks the state last out of the 25 large states in the nation. While Wisconsin is ranked number two for small business creation, Horne said, the state lags behind the nation and neighboring states such as Minnesota in investing money in new ventures.

The numbers are really staggering, he said. There is a real need for it in the state.

The Wisconsin Legislature created the Badger Fund of Funds, a privately-managed firm, in 2013 with a public investment of $25 million and more than $10 million in private investment to date. The Idea Fund is one of the first to receive financial backing from the Badger Fund of Funds, along with local support from the Weber family of La Crosse and other investors.

That is a huge advantage for us, Horne said. We get the first look at the backlog of investment opportunities in the state.

Horne, a 2002 graduate of Central High School, said his company hopes to invest $8 million in up to a dozen companies in the state, with a focus on La Crosse and western Wisconsin. As part of each investment, his firm will take an equity position with the company, becoming minority owners and providing around $300,000 to $500,000 in startup cash and potentially additional funding later.

The Idea Fund will invest in new companies in their early stages, Horne said, and will focus on novel ideas, technologies and products, such as engineering and software design. These kinds of companies are small slivers of the economy, he said, but will generate lots of high-paying jobs for their communities and, he hopes, large returns for investors.

Young companies can be risky investments. Half such investments are total losses. But, Horne said, the one or two that are really successful can drive return on investment when the funds stake in the company is sold after three to five years.

The biggest risk is we never sell that stock and lose the investment, Horne said. We cant predict or promise anything.

Despite the risks, Horne said, he was excited about the opportunities his fund will provide entrepreneurs. Horne said his firm is reviewing two dozen companies that have made the funds initial cut for potential investment.

This is the lifeblood of entrepreneurship, he said. This is what keeps the economy vibrant.
WASHINGTON  Lets hope theres generous funding in Republicans new health-care bill to prevent and cure tone-deafness.

Wednesday was International Womens Day, and to observe this annual commemoration, House Republicans formally took up their legislation defunding Planned Parenthood, the nations largest provider of health services for women.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, at a news conference Wednesday morning, boasted about ending the funding of Planned Parenthood, listing it as one of the things weve been dreaming about doing. And what better time to make this dream come true than on International Womens Day, on the eighth day of Womens History Month?

This could be the beginning of a new legislative style in Congress:

Bills to build the wall could be marked up on Cinco de Mayo.

The Iranian nuclear deal could be scrapped later this month on Nowruz.

Plans to cut military assistance to Europe could be rolled out on D-Day.

Its enough to give new meaning to National Awkward Moments Day  observed on March 18.

President Trump, in a morning tweet, marked International Womens Day by hailing women as vital to the fabric of our society. But thats not quite the message his administration and its allies in Congress have been sending. Womens rights activists held a strike and protests Wednesday, declaring it A Day Without a Woman. In the Trump White House, it must often feel like that kind of day  and not only because Melania is in New York.

A USA Today analysis last month found that men outnumbered women by more than 2 to 1 among top White House aides. Trump named only four women to his Cabinet, the fewest in a generation, and none to the top jobs at the State, Treasury, Defense and Justice departments. His nominee for labor secretary withdrew as opponents made an issue of the way he and his company treated women, and Trump fired acting attorney general Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover, after she refused to back his first travel ban.

Meeting with the nations governors recently, Trump welcomed the governors and their wives and daughters, as if no women were governors. Trumps vulgar statements about women, caught on tape, were a prominent part of the campaign, and, according to the media outlet Axios, he requires women working for him to dress like women. He has hired as his executive assistant in the White House a 26-year-old barre fitness instructor who served as the elevator greeter at Trump Tower.

And it isnt just about appearances, as Emilys List, a Democratic group that supports abortion rights, notes. On Jan. 23, two days after the huge Womens March in the nations capital and other cities, Trump signed an executive order reinstating the global gag rule denying international funding to any organization that discusses abortion, even if the group doesnt perform abortions. A photo of the signing showed Trump surrounded by men.

Trump on his first day in office signed an order to ease the burden of Obamacare and has blessed the congressional legislation that could end Obamacares Medicaid expansion and its rule requiring insurance plans to cover maternity care. The bill is silent on the provision in Obamacare requiring contraception to be provided at low cost.

Trump, who promised to appoint justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, nominated to the court Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the appellate decision in the Hobby Lobby case exempting employers from providing birth control as part of employer health plans if it conflicts with managements religious beliefs.

As of the end of last week, only eight bills had been passed by the new Congress and signed into law by Trump, half of them noncontroversial suspension bills. But it isnt for lack of trying.

Republicans in Congress have introduced a variety of abortion bans. The House passed the No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act, which opponents charge could block even private insurance from covering abortion.

The House passed a bill overturning a rule President Barack Obama signed in December forbidding discrimination against Planned Parenthood and other family planning providers under Title X  clearing the way, Democrats say, to reducing access to contraception. The Senate, likewise, used the Congressional Review Act in its vote to overturn Obamas Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, designed to protect against, among other things, sexual harassment in the workplace.

Thats quite a bit, and its still early. If this is how Trump and his allies in Congress celebrate International Womens Day, one shudders to think how they will observe April 5: National Go for Broke Day.
Once again, Vince Hatt launches a blistering attack on Cardinal Raymond Burke and to a lesser degree on Pope Francis. He accuses these leaders of the Roman Catholic Church of playing hardball and using big bats. I find this characterization of two good and holy church men to be extreme and vengeful, especially as it regards Cardinal Burke.

Hatt seams to be most upset because when Burke was the bishop of the La Crosse Diocese, he objected to several speakers who were being sponsored by the Franciscan Spiritually Center when Hatt was director. He goes on to pedantically explain the advice he gave Bishop Burke regarding relationships, inclusion and discernment, but he only did so in his head.

Hatt boasts that on one occasion he stood his ground when then-Bishop Burke insisted that a presentation by sister Joan Chittister be canceled, Chittister is well known for her dissident views and feminist activism. She castigates those opposed to abortion on demand as only caring about the baby being born with no concern for the mother or the baby after its birth, which is absolutely preposterous. She says she is only interested in inquiry while challenging Catholic teachings in a number of areas.

Hatt and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration then arranged to have Church Women United sponsor Chittisters appearance. This in spite of the fact that after extensive research on CWU, I had disclosed in the diocesan newspaper its vigorous support of abortion- friendly legislation that of course is in direct opposition to Catholic teaching. This issue generated a lot of controversy and then Pat Slattery, staff writer of the Catholic Times, arranged for a print debate between Doris Younger, the then-president of CWU and myself.

Younger clearly enunciated the position of CWU regarding abortion on demand when she stated the pro-abortion argument that the decision was up to the pregnant women as to whether to have an abortion or not.

Certainly Bishop Burke was exercising his responsibility and his authority in opposing Chittistens appearance sponsored by Hatt and the FSPA.

The FSPA has a history of rebellion, as when the United States Catholic Bishops opposed the passage of Obamacare because of the abortion issue, and the sisters supported it.

In the Feb. 2 Tribune, ultra liberal columnist E.J. Dionne seems to criticize Steve Bannon, an adviser to President Trump, for reminding the world that radical Islam has a long history of attempting to force its religion and views on Christians and Jews. Dionne quotes Jason Horowitz of The New York Times as reporting that during a visit to Rome in 2014, Bannon met and bonded with Cardinal Burke, as if to infer some kind of guilt by association. Guilty of what, acknowledging recorded history?

An AP article in the Feb. 17 Tribune states that Cardinal Burke has been criticized for his record of handling cases of abusive priests. It is true that he has questioned whether this abuse was always perpetrated by pedophiles or often by homosexuals, which is, of course, considered culturally incorrect, and unacceptable. They like to insist that homosexuals would never prey on children.

In Dionnes article he hints at the possibility of schism in the Church. Certainly his own agitation as well as that of Hatt and Chittister as well as segments of the FSPA and some radical homosexuals, could influence some to consider that horrible thought. But the Church as endured worse in the last 2,000+ years and will withstand this challenge as well.

Cardinal Burke has the good character and tenacity to withstand attacks even when they are patently absurd. But they raise the question of why there attacks are so obviously vindictive, punitive and without merit to the point of calumny. I believe he is praying that God will forgive them for they know not what they do. I invite you to join me in praying for Cardinal Burke as he defends the holy Roman Catholic faith with vigor and truth.
MADISON (AP)  Republican state Rep. Mike Schraa expects a high majority of Wisconsin voters will approve a constitutional amendment eliminating the state treasurer position.

The state Assembly, on a bipartisan 68-31 vote Thursday, put the measure on the April 2018 ballot. Schraa predicts state voters will pass it next year with 65 percent approval.

But Schraa says if voters reject it, he will work to restore powers of the office. The Legislature has taken away nearly all of the offices duties in recent years. The treasurers only remaining job is to sit on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.

Opponents say instead of eliminating the treasurer position, it should be given more responsibilities so it can serve as a check and balance on the executive branch.

The office would be eliminated in 2019.
New Lisbon and Camp Douglas Police and Fire Departments responded to a 5:33 a.m. call of a semi-truck crashing into the New Lisbon Travel Mart March 9. Only two people, an employee and a customer were in the store at the time of the accident. New Lisbon Chief of Police Brent Granger said no one was injured.

The truck driver was Scott Walter, 45, of Monroe.

Due to the damage, the New Lisbon Travel Mart has now decided to close the Subway, A&W and New Lisbon Family Restaurants until further notice.

Store manager Diane McNew said the store will not have store and gasoline services available for an estimated period of two to three weeks. However, because certain parts have to be ordered to fix the gas pumps, she said it could take a while longer for those services to resume.

The cause of the accident had not been released as of Friday afternoon. The accident is still under investigation by the New Lisbon Police Department.
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CNN reports that the state of Washington, joining Hawaii, has asked a federal district court to block President Donald Trump's new Executive Order and travel ban, claiming that White House officials have admitted "current motivations are no different than the first time around."

Upon filing a "Response to Defendants' Notive of Filing of Executive Order" yesterday, Ferguson, who previously prevailed in the Ninth Circuit over the Trump administration, issued this statement

"In documents filed in federal court Thursday, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson contends that the injunction he obtained blocking key sections of President Trumps previous immigration Executive Order applies to the new version.

This is not a new lawsuit. Rather, Ferguson asserts that the burden is on the Trump Administration to argue that the injunction the AG obtained no longer blocks the ban.

My message to President Trump is  not so fast, said Ferguson. After spending more than a month to fix a broken order that he rushed out the door, the Presidents new order reinstates several of the same provisions and has the same illegal motivations as the original. Consequently, we are asking Judge Robart to confirm that the injunction he issued remains in full force and effect as to the reinstated provisions.

On Monday, January 30, Washington filed the first state lawsuit challenging the Administrations move to restrict immigration from seven majority-Muslim nations and the resettlement of refugees.

U.S. District Court Judge James Robart, presiding over Fergusons challenge to the Trump Administrations initial travel ban, issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on February 3, halting implementation of that Executive Order nationwide. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld that order in its entirety.

Key provisions of President Trumps new Executive Order remain largely the same as the original travel ban and thus still subject to Fergusons lawsuit and injunction.

Fergusons ongoing lawsuit asserts that President Trumps travel ban unconstitutionally violates the First Amendments Establishment Clause and the Equal Protection Clause, by disfavoring Islam. Washington need not demonstrate that the ban impacts all Muslims, that it covers only Muslims or that it was motivated solely by anti-Islam animus. Rather, the state must establish that such animus was one motivating factor behind the Executive Order.

The AGs lawsuit also claims that the Presidents actions violate the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as well as the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). Similar allegations that the Obama Administration did not comply with the APA formed the basis for court decisions suspending President Obamas immigration reform programs in Texas v. United States .

The Attorney Generals Office anticipates filing an amended complaint on the underlying merits of the case early next week. Oregon and New York will seek to join the case."

KJ
Friday, March 10, 2017

The Alaska Supreme Court has dismissed charges against an unnamed judge

Following a disciplinary sanction, a judge was not recommended for retention by the Alaska Judicial Council. Although the judge chose not to campaign, an independent group supported his retention and campaigned on his behalf. After the election the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct filed a disciplinary complaint against the judge and later imposed an informal private admonishment on the judge because he did not publicly address allegedly misleading statements made by the independent group. Because the statements clearly originated with the independent group rather than the judge, and the judge had no knowledge of one statement, the judge had no duty to publicly address any of the statements. Accordingly, we reverse the Commissions admonishment and dismiss the Commissions complaint against the judge.

The story after the judge declined to campaign

A close friend of the judges wife learned about the Councils recommendation and decided to fund an independent campaign to support the judges retention. She was careful not to share her decision with the judge or his wife. A few weeks before the election she hired a local agent and told him to put a face to the name and tell folks about [the judge]s background and experience. The agent registered an independent expenditure group called Friends of [the Judge], and his team produced mailers, billboards, social media advertisements, and a website for the campaign. The friend was the sole financial contributor, and the agent exercised nearly complete control over the campaigns messaging.

The judge was kept ignorant of the independent campaign, and the judge had no control over the campaigns activities. The friend stated that she did not tell [ the judge or his wife] of [her] plans, did not involve them in any way in any of the campaign activities, did not solicit or seek their input, and did not request their review or approval of the plans or any materials. Likewise, the agent said the judge had no awareness or influence . . . . He didnt approve anything that we put out there. The agent did arrange to meet the judge in person and snap[] a couple photographs for the campaign, but the judge seemed a little confused as to who [he] was. The agent told the judge only that he was a fan of [the judge] and [they had] mutual friends.

Although the judge was aware that he had supporters, he was not aware that there was a campaign. The judge avoided campaigning himself but understood from his counsel that allowing an anonymous supporter to take his photograph would not be improper. He rejected all other requests, telling supporters who wanted to help that he was not involved in any campaigns.

Shortly after the election, the Commission initiated a complaint against the judge, alleging material misrepresentations in the items circulated by the campaign. The Commission later clarified that it was investigating the judges duty to correct the independent campaigns alleged misrepresentations. The Commission focused its attention on three specific campaign items: a mailer, the website, and a social media advertisement...

The social media advertisement featured an image of the judge tied to a stake and surrounded by flames with the caption: Witch Hunts are so 18th century. The agents team had digitally altered the judges facial expression, added the stake and flames, and come up with the concept and text. The witch hunt image was used only online.

The court had the power to consider the merits

As a preliminary matter the Commission argues that we should not exercise our power of review over its informal private admonishments. The Commission makes three arguments: (1) the statute governing the Commissions disciplinary authority does not contemplate our review of informal admonishments; (2)informal admonishments are an important tool that will be compromised if they are subject to our review; and (3) an informal admonishment is not a sanction and therefore not a formal action to be reviewed. We are not persuaded.

The merits

We agree with the judges argument that a judicial candidates awareness of an independent campaign is not, by itself, enough to impose a duty to monitor and address the campaigns statements. Such a duty might force the candidate to wade into the fray, creating tension with the candidates obligation to maintain the dignity appropriate to judicial office. Such a duty might also chill others protected speech in violation of the U.S. and Alaska Constitutions.

But we do not suggest that a judicial candidates failure to address a known third party misrepresentation would never violate a canon. There may be situations where a candidate must address an independent statement in order to uphold judicial integrity and independence, avoid impropriety, or maintain dignity...

This duty is one of taking reasonable precautions to avoid having a negative effect on the confidence of the thinking public in the administration of justice. 

The independent campaign produced a mailer and a website containing two prominent quotes. The Commission found that the quotes gave the false impression that another judge and the Commission endorsed the judges retention. Both the mailer and the website stated that they were Paid for by Friends of [the Judge] and that the communications were not authorized, paid for or approved by the candidate. As required by law, the disclaimer was placed so as to be readily and easily discernible.

We conclude that the judge had no duty to publicly address the quotes or these materials. We reject the Commissions conclusion that the judge knowingly misrepresented facts in violation of Canon 5A(3)(d)(iii); the record contains no evidence suggesting that the judge had knowledge of the mailers before they were distributed, let alone involvement or control in the selection of the quotes.

As to the witch hunt imagery

The independent campaign also produced a social media advertisement featuring an image of the judge tied to a stake with the caption, Witch Hunts are so 18th century. The Commission stated that the image was inappropriate to the dignity appropriate to judicial office. The judge agrees that the image was clearly inappropriate and that the independent group should not have used the image. However, the judge maintains that he did not see the image until well after the election.

We conclude that the judge had no duty to publicly address the image. There is nothing in the record to contradict his claim that he had no knowledge of the advertisement until well after the election; therefore he could not have knowingly misrepresented facts in violation of Canon 5A(3)(d)(iii). We also see no appearance of impropriety; a reasonable person viewing the ad would not believe that the judge had authorized the image or was involved in its production merely because he was the images subject. And because the judge did not learn about the image until months after the election, he could not have taken any steps to avoid such an appearance and accordingly could not have violated Canon 2. The judges consent to be photographed did not give rise to a duty to seek out and monitor an independent campaign he could not legally control, let alone a duty to stop any independent group from publishing any image. The judge should not be admonished for his failure to publicly address a social media image which he had no duty to address and which he did not even know about until months after the election.

Complaint dismissed. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/03/the-alaska-supreme-court-has-dismissed-charges-against-an-unnamed-judge.html
The deadline to sign up for this free community event that is open to all is Nov. 16.

Kennebunk Post

"We need to invest in our kids," said resident Brenda Robinson. "That's how we keep graffiti out of Waterhouse Center and mischief out of the downtown on Saturday night."


The South Korean Constitutional Court has removed President Park Geun-hye from office.

All eight members of the court agreed with a National Assembly measure calling for her removal.

The eight worked to rule on the case by Friday before term limits reduced the normally nine-member court to seven justices.

The South Korean constitution requires at least six justices to agree on any impeachment vote by the National Assembly.

Chief Justice Park Han-chul was forced to leave the court in January when his term ended. Monday will be the last day of Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mis term.

Constitutional courts ruling

Lee read the ruling from the courts offices in Seoul on Friday. She said Parks acts of violating the Constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust.

The court also criticized Park for being uncooperative and evasive in the investigations. It said she tried to stop the legislature from acting as a check and balance on presidential powers.

The court said Park worked with a close friend to pressure large Korean companies to donate nearly $70 million to two organizations. Government lawyers had also accused the friend, Choi Soon-sil, of sending some of the money to businesses that she and her friends owned.

These violations undermine the rule of law and a representative democracy, said the acting chief justice.

Government lawyers studied reports that people close to the president were using her office to raise millions of dollars. Park has repeatedly denied the charges against her.

Until the reports of corruption appeared, many South Koreans believed she was a strong and honest leader.

Protests near the court house

Two people died in protests near the court building after the ruling was announced. Thousands of Park supporters and opponents held competing demonstrations in the area. More than 21,000 police officers were sent there to prevent clashes between the groups.

The constitution requires Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn to set a date for a new presidential election. The vote is to be held within 60 days.

U.S. reaction to the ruling

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner released a statement after the courts ruling. It said the United States will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang for the remainder of his tenure as acting president, and we look forward to a productive relationship with whomsoever the people of South Korea elect to be the next president.

The statement said the United States will continue to be a steadfast ally, friend and partner to South Korea, especially with respect to defending against the threat from North Korea.

The South Korean military has been watching North Korea closely since the impeachment vote to guard against North Korean interference in the Souths politics.

Parks family in South Korean politics

The 64-year-old Park was the countrys first female head of state. She is now the first democratically elected South Korean president to be removed from office.

Park had been part of the nations political community since she was a child. She is the daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, who ruled from 1961 to 1979.

She helped her father for five years after her mother, who was well-liked in South Korea, was shot to death by a North Korean agent. The killer was aiming for the president.

Park Chung-hee was killed by the head of South Koreas intelligence agency in 1979.

Before becoming president, Park Guen-hye served five terms as a lawmaker. She campaigned unsuccessfully for president before winning election to a five year term.

In December, 234 members of the 300-seat National Assembly voted to impeach her.

Park said any actions she took were to benefit the country. She said she has never personally benefited from her time in office. She apologized publicly three times for not knowing that people close to her may have been involved in some wrongdoing.

While in office, she could not be tried on criminal charges. Earlier this week, a special prosecutor was named to investigate the charges of corruption.

Im Mario Ritter.

VOAs Brian Padden, Youmi Kim and Fern Robinson reported this story for VOANews.com. Padded and Kim reported from Seoul. Robinson reported from Washington. John Smith adapted their report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

impeach  v. to charge (a public official) with a crime done while in office

betray  v. to do something that does not agree with (your beliefs, principles, etc.)

evasive  adj. not honest or direct

checks and balances  n. a system in which the different parts of an organization (such as a government) have powers that affect and control the other parts so that no part can become too powerful

tenure  n. the amount of time that a person holds a job, office or title

steadfast  adj. very devoted or loyal to a person, belief, or cause; not changing

benefit  v. to be useful or helpful to (someone or something)
This is Whats Trending Today

Schoolchildren across the United States have been taking part in local and state spelling competitions. These competitions are called spelling bees. The young competitors spell words that even some adults may never have heard of.

More than 280 local winners will earn the right to compete in this years Scripps National Spelling Bee. The event will take place from May 28 to June 3 near Washington, D.C., at the National Harbor in Maryland.

Most competitors in the National Spelling Bee are between the ages of 12 and 14.

But this year, one competitor will be less than half that age -- five-year-old Edith Fuller.

Last weekend, she won an area spelling bee in her home state of Oklahoma. The five-hour competition lasted 37 rounds. Edith correctly spelled words like sevruga (a kind of Russian caviar); jacamar (a kind of bird); and Nisei (a child of Japanese immigrants).

Her winning word? Jnana, a sanskrit word that is related to having a higher level of knowledge.

Remember, Edith is five.

She is the youngest person ever to qualify for the National Spelling Bee.

Not so long ago, when she was just four, Edith surprised her parents when she was able to spell the word restaurant. At that moment, her mom and dad realized their child might have a mental gift.

Her mother told the Tulsa-World newspaper this week, We knew there was something special there.

Edith is homeschooled. So, her parents are able to spend a little more time teaching her to spell.

Her mom says learning new words is fun for Edith. She told Tulsa-World that studying for the spelling bee helped Edith learn about different countries and cultures and different kinds of food.

About two percent of U.S children are homeschooled. Yet, homeschooled kids usually make up 8 to 10 percent of those who make it to the National Spelling Bee.

Her father spoke with Tulsas KJRHs TV about the benefits of homeschooling Edith. We have the freedom to answer her questions, to help her advance at her own pace, he said.

Now, the Fullers must prepare young Edith for the national bee. But no matter how she does there, Edith is already being called a spellebrity.

And thats Whats Trending Today.

I'm Caty Weaver.

Ashley Thompson wrote this article. Caty Weaver was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

qualify - v. to give (someone) the right to do, have, or be a part of something

gift - n. a special ability

homeschool - v. to teach your children at home instead of sending them to a school

benefit - n. a good or helpful result or effect

advance - v. to go forward : to make progress

pace - n. the speed at which something happens
The social networking website Twitter has put new measures in place to try to stop users from being harassed or from seeing things that offend them.

Some free-speech activists are worried that the changes could lead to unpopular ideas being censored.

The measures were announced last week. They include hiding possibly threatening messages even if no one has complained to the company that the person who sent them is abusive.

In a statement announcing the change, the company said, Were working to identify accounts as theyre engaging in abusive behavior -- even if this behavior hasnt been reported to us."

The company said it would take action only when it strongly believes abuse has taken place. It uses software to identify abuse.

Risk to free speech?

But some free speech supporters are worried about the changes.

Suzanne Nossel is the executive director of the free speech activist group PEN America. She said Twitter is considering taking action, in her words, where there is really no problem that needs to be solved. To take action when there hasnt been a complaint raises the concern of whether there will be mistaken blocking of accounts or suspending of accounts, she said. That raises a risk.

Twitter has been pressured to deal with abusive speech in the past few months after some famous people complained about long-term, planned abuse campaigns.

Actress Leslie Jones left Twitter for a brief time last year after she received many racist messages and death threats. Several months after she met with the head of Twitter, the company announced it had developed new ways to deal with abusive messages.

Those ways included strengthening the ability of users to stop receiving messages that had certain words or expressions in them, and expanding the ability of users to report abuse.

Twitter also retrained its workers on how to deal with online abuse.

Esha Bhandari is a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Unions Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. She told VOA that she supports these kinds of changes, which permit users to have more control over what messages they see and from whom they receive messages.

She said the ACLU encourages companies to focus less on ways it can stop abuse and more on tools that allow users to control their experience on the platform."

Low-quality tweets and safe search function

But some tools launched by Twitter give the company a lot of power to decide what messages are seen. In February, the company began hiding what it called potentially abusive or low-quality tweets. The messages will still be able to be seen, but only if people search for them.

VOA asked Twitter many times for more information on how it decided which messages are low-quality. Twitter did not answer our questions.

Also in February, Twitter introduced a safe search function that removes messages that have potentially sensitive content from search results. VOA also asked the company how it identified this kind of message, but Twitter again did not answer our questions.

Global town square

As a private company, Twitter is not forced to permit free speech. However, spokespeople say the service permits free expression. And they say they believe in speaking truth to power.

PEN America and the ACLU support this role. Nossel and Bhandari say they consider Twitter a kind of global town square, where everyones voice has equal weight.

Bhandari said, As a practical matter, decisions made by Twitter have a huge impact on the messages that we receive, and I hope that Twitter and other companies take those responsibilities seriously."

Nossel noted that Twitter has financial reasons to be careful as it seeks to balance free expression and stopping abuse.

The power and influence of their platform depends on the free flow of ideas, so I think there are commercial reasons why they would not want to limit (free speech), Gnossel said. And I think for their users, they do have a kind of softer, implicit contract that they are going to be a platform in which you can express things freely.

Im Ashley Thompson.

VOA News Writer Joshua Fatzick reported this story from Washington. John Smith adapted the story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

account  n. an arrangement in which a person uses the Internet or e-mail services of a particular company

complain  v. to say or write that you are unhappy, sick, uncomfortable, etc., or that you do not like something

engage in  phrasal verb to do (something)

encourage  v. to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen

allow  v. to make it possible for someone or something to have or do something

focus  v. to direct your attention or effort at something specific

racism  n. the belief that some races of people are better than others

potentially  adv. capable of becoming real

function  n. the special purpose or activity for which a thing exists or is used

platform  n. something that allows someone to tell a large number of people about an idea, product, etc.

practical  adj. likely to succeed and reasonable to do or use

impact  n. logical and reasonable in a particular situation

implicit  adj. understood though not clearly or directly stated
Ishmael Delgado has been living in the United States since the early 1990s.

Delgado entered the country without legal permission. He came alone across a desert.

Two years ago, the U.S. government told him to return home because he is an undocumented immigrant. A short time later, Delgado fled to a church in Phoenix, Arizona.

Today he sleeps on a bed in the bottom floor of the building.

I came alone with my clothes, and the first day I don't remember, too much things passing in my head.

Delgado has exchanged his freedom for the safety of Shadow Rock Church.

Pastor Ken -- at the beginning, I saw him, I saw his eyes. He wants to help me. He says The doors of Shadow Rock are open for you -- oh my God.

The Reverend Ken Heintzelman is the head of the church.

He (Delgado) needs a chance and our system doesnt allow for many chances for people.

Delgado admits the U.S. immigration system might not give him another chance. But he says living in the church has changed him.

Right now I dont say bad words. I dont need alcohol to live. I dont smoke. I dont need it.

Sixto Paz, another undocumented immigrant, joined Delgado at the Shadow Rock Church nine months ago.

I feel like my son, my little son is my power. This is something that can give me more strong to stay and fight.

Sixto sees his son from time to time, but he misses have a job.

Sometimes its good, sometimes its bad. In the morning, sometimes you feel like everything is going fine. If you go check TV, someone coming like saying Trump doing this law, Trump just signed this up. It changed. You feel like whats going on? What happened with the world?

Other undocumented immigrants are living in fear of the U.S. government. They know the protection offered by some religious groups can last only so long.

Im Marsha James.

VOA Correspondent Katherine Gypson reported this story from Phoenix, Arizona. John Smith adapted the story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has made an appeal to scientists, drug manufacturers and governments.

The WHO wants them to work together to develop drugs to fight 12 bacteria. These bacteria are able to resist powerful antibiotic drugs. The resistance is so unusually strong all 12 have been given a special name: superbug.

The United Nations agency reported this week the 12 superbugs are a threat to human health. It said they have the ability to turn easily treatable infections into killers.

A few examples are blood, lung and brain infections, food poisoning and gonorrhea, a disease spread by sexual activity.

The WHO says superbugs can also pass along genetic material that helps other bacteria become resistant to drug treatment.

Marie-Paule Kieny is the U.N. agencys assistant director-general. She said antibiotic resistance is growing and we are fast running out of treatment options. She urged governments to give drug companies reasons to develop new treatments.

If we leave it to market forces alone, the new antibiotics we most urgently need are not going to be developed in time, she said.

Antibiotic drugs can lose their effectiveness when people take more or less of than the amount required by doctors. When this happens, infections that were at one time easily treated become resistant. Germs can also be spread in nature from air, water and animals.

Im Jill Robbins.

VOAs Kenneth Schwartz reported this story from Washington. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

gonorrhea - n. a disease of the sex organs that is spread by sexual contact

option - n. the opportunity or ability to choose something or to choose between two or more things

market forces - n. the actions of buyers and sellers that cause the prices of goods and services to change without being controlled by the government
The Diablo Trust is hosting its next Day on the Land March 25 at the Vermillion Cliffs. Participants will learn about the endangered California condor conservation in northern Arizona with Chris Parish from the Peregrine Fund and his team. The trip will include a visit the condor center to observe the largest North American bird, see some beautiful scenery and experience what it's like to work in the field as a conservation biologist.

The trip will meet to carpool (passengers should bring gas money) from the Phoenix Avenue public parking lot at 7 a.m. and return at 7 p.m. This field trip is free of charge, but participants are responsible for bringing their own food and supplies and must be prepared for any weather. All participants should bring: food (snacks and lunch), plenty of water (3 liters), jacket, raincoat, sunscreen, hat, sturdy shoes/boots (good for walking in the sand) and a camera.

According to its Facebook page, "the mission of the Diablo Trust (a non-profit organization) is to ensure the long-term economic, social and ecological sustainability of the Diablo Trust land area by providing a forum for active community participation in a collaborative land stewardship process."

Visit diablotrust.org for more information.

Beethoven Meets the Magic Flute Sunday in Sedona

Texas-born cellist Ralph Kirshbaum will make his Sedona debut along with pianist Shai Wosner Sunday, March 12, at 2:30 p.m. at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road, Sedona. The duo will perform its all-Beethoven program Beethoven Meets the Magic Flute taken from their recent double-CD recording.

The Seattle Times recently wrote: Kirshbaum's accuracy in the extensive double stops and his amazing facility were matched by his commitment to and involvement in the music; this is a cellist any music lover would want to hear regularly."

The program includes Seven Variations in E-flat Major on Bei Mannern welche Liebe fuhlen from Mozarts Die Zauberflote, WoO 46; Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 5, No. 2; Twelve Variations in F Major on Ein Madchen oder Weibchen from Mozarts Die Zauberflote, Op. 66; and Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69.

Last season, Kirshbaum and Wosner performed Beethoven cycles in the U.S. and Great Britain, highlighted by a performance of the complete cycle in Londons Wigmore Hall, in conjunction with the celebration of Kirshbaums 70th birthday.

Were delighted once again to bring two artists of international renown to our series for a continuation of the one-composer concept, said CMS artistic director Bert Harclerode.

An on-stage artist Q&A, hosted by Harclerode, will take place immediately after the concert, and tickets to the Meet & Greet post-concert reception at Courtyard by Marriott may be purchased by calling 204-2415.

For additional information visit www.ChamberMusicSedona.org.

Monday lecture to cover Lee's Ferry Cemetery history

The focus of the next Brown Bag Lecture series will cover "The Lee's Ferry Cemetery from Beginning to End." The free lecture will be held Monday, March 13, from 12:15-1 p.m., at Riordan Mansion. Bring a sack lunch and learn why there is a cemetery  although small one  at a remote location like Lee's Ferry.

At the head of the Grand Canyon and along an important migration route from Utah into Arizona, the location was determined by the first burial in 1874. Ironically, more is remembered about the first burial than the last, which occurred about 1933. Among the 20 known graves, holding 21 bodies, are four children from Lonely Dell Ranch who died from diphtheria in 1891.

Why was Waddy Ligon, a retired miner from Bisbee, buried so far from home in 1924? In many ways, a walk through the cemetery is a review of the history of the Ferry.

For more information, call 779-4395.
Amir Shah, Kabul

Hundreds of mourners gathered yesterday at a graveyard on the northern edge of Kabul to bury a 37-year-old pharmacist  one of 31 people killed in an attack on a hospital in the Afghan capital the previous day that was claimed by the Islamic State group.

The brazen daytime assault saw four gunmen in white lab coats storm the military hospital in a highly secure part of the city Wednesday, setting off an hours-long gunbattle with security forces. Initially, the death toll was reported to be 30 but one of the wounded died overnight.

Behroz Behnam, who left behind three small children, was gunned down on the third floor of the hospital, said his brother, Behzad, also an officer in the Afghan army.

Behzad, who had been deployed with the military outside the hospital during the attack, said the gunmen went floor by floor in a killing rampage. When they came to Behnam, they opened fire at him and two other officers, said Behzad.

When he made it inside the hospital, Behzad found his brother dying from gunshot wounds to the chest and arm.

When I finally got to him, it was just moments before he died, Behzad said. All that was left for me to do was to tell my family and bring his body home.

All the attackers, including two who detonated their suicide vests, were killed by the time the assault ended.

Standing beside Behnams graveside covered with flowers, his father, Afghan army Gen. Jalandar Shah made an impassioned plea to the international community to help war-battered Afghanistan put an end to the fighting.

As a father, as a human being I am calling out to the international community to please pay attention, he said. Stop the killing of Afghans. It is enough all this killing. Its enough.

Inside the hospital, experts were scouring every inch of the facility for evidence that IS was behind the attack, which also wounded 53 people, said deputy defense ministry spokesman Mohammed Radmanish.

Radmanish told The Associated Press that even though IS claimed the assault, Afghan authorities must do our own investigations to know who is responsible.

Afghan forces have been under increasing pressure by the Taliban and also from Islamic State militants, mostly in the countrys east.

The attack reflected the Afghan militants capability to strike at the countrys heavily guarded capital despite government efforts to improve security for ordinary Afghans.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack in the strongest terms and underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors to justice.

Council members reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. They urged all countries to combat by all means [] threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

The assault lasted for several hours, with Afghan helicopters circling over the hospital building, troops rappelling onto rooftops and security forces going floor-by-floor in a gunbattle with the attackers. By mid-afternoon, the attack was over and a clean-up operation was underway.

Abdul Qadir, a hospital worker who witnessed the attack, said an attacker in a white coat shot at him and his colleagues. Ghulam Azrat, another survivor, said he escaped through a fourth floor window after attackers killed two of his friends.

IS claimed the attack in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency.

An affiliate of the extremist group has carried out a number of attacks in Afghanistan in the last two years, and has clashed with the more powerful and well-established Taliban, who carried out another complex attack in Kabul last week.

Mohammad Nahim, a restaurant worker in Kabul, said he worries that IS militants are getting stronger. Daesh has no mercy on the humanity, he added, using an Arabic name for the group.

Afghan security forces have struggled to combat both groups since the U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, switching to an advisory and counterterrorism role.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack during an address in honor of International Womens Day, calling it an attack on all Afghan people and all Afghan women.

The foreign ministry in neighboring Pakistan condemned the Kabul attack, describing it as a heinous terrorist attack and expressing Islamabads condolences to the victims.

The acting U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, Adele Khodr, warned in a statement that hospitals, medical staff and patients must never be placed at risk, and under no circumstances be subject to attack and urged all parties in the conflict to abide by and respect all medical workers, clinics and hospitals in compliance with international law.

She said that in 2016, at least 41 attacks on health care facilities and workers were recorded across Afghanistan  an appalling catalogue of attacks that ultimately further hinders delivery of essential and life-saving health care to all Afghans across the country. MDT/AP
Across China by Bike 2017 Charity Fund Raising Gala, organized by Jacks Kitchen, is expected to commence tomorrow at 6.30 p.m. at Albergue SCM.

Co-organized by Albergue SCM and sponsored by the Macau Foundation, the event was founded by the chef of Jacks Kitchen, Jack  as cited in a statement issued by Albergue SCM.

In 2007, Jack and his partners travelled from Zhuhai to Beijing by bike.

During the trip, he made a list of materials and items which were needed by the underprivileged groups of people he met in China.

The list was then sent to the Macau team to acquire the items and send them back to China. The team also helped to restore old schools and bought bicycles for the children in need.

This year, Jack decided to travel again and launched the project Across China by Bike 2017, where he will travel across Zhuhai, Shanghai and Chongqing, a total distance of 3,600 kilometers for charity.

According to the statement, the French chef hopes to spread the spirit of the Tour de France bicycle race  sportsmanship, environmental friendliness, and love and care to the community  through the event.

The money raised from the project will be used to buy books and necessities for underprivileged in China.

Across China by Bike 2017 will take place between April and May. The funds raised from the gala on Saturday will be used to acquire books, school supplies, and other necessities for people in need.
Cambodias national carrier Angkor Air launched a new Cambodia-Macau route, which will operate two weekly flights on Wednesday and Sunday, in a ceremony at the Macau airport on Wednesday.

The flight will connect Sihanoukville International Airport to Macau. It is the airports second international route after Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and the airlines eighth international route after Bangkok, Danang, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai.

Angkor Airs marketing manager Eng Molina told the Khmer Times in Cambodia that the airline added the route because of an increase in passengers wanting to travel between the destinations.

Molina said the airline has a partner to sell tickets in Macau, which makes the route a good business opportunity and added that Angkor Air expects most passengers to fly from Macau to Preah Sihanouk province, rather than in the opposite direction.

There is high demand for seats from Macau to Preah Sihanouk province, so we will depend on customers from the Macau market, he said.

We are also studying the possibility of a route from Phnom Penh to Macau, but we are not 100 percent sure because we are waiting to see how this route works [first].

Angkor Airs Deputy CEO, Lim Kao, said after the inauguration that a flight to Siem Reap is a strong possibility, as the place is home to UNESCO heritage sites like Angkor Wat.

According to the Cambodian Tourism Ministry, about 830,000 Chinese tourists visited Cambodia last year, representing a 19.5 percent hike year-on-

year. Chinese nationals are the countrys second-largest group of visitors after the Vietnamese, in a country that reported more than five million visitors last year.

The Cambodian government has said it hopes to increase the number of Chinese tourists from 830,000 at present to about two million by 2020. The new flights are a part of this initiative.

Sihanoukville is a coastal city on the peninsula, facing the Gulf of Thailand. The location is known as Cambodias premier beach town, with long white sand beaches, excellent seafood and several tropical islands nearby. It has been compared to some of Thailands most visited beach destinations. RM
Two backpackers were subjected to a terrifying ordeal on a remote Australian beach, where a man sexually assaulted one of the women before beating her friend in the head with a hammer and repeatedly ramming her with his four-wheel drive as she tried to flee for help, a prosecutor said yesterday.

Grim details of the attack emerged in South Australias Supreme Court on the opening day of the trial of a 60-year-old man charged in the 2016 assault. The man, whose name has been suppressed by a court order, has pleaded not guilty to a series of charges including attempted murder, kidnapping and assault.

Prosecutor James Pearce said the man connected with the women, who are from Brazil and Germany, on a classified advertising website, where one of the women had been looking for a ride to the city of Melbourne.

He drove them to an isolated beach in the Coorong National Park in South Australia, where they set up camp, Pearce said. When one of the women fell asleep in the car, he suggested the other take talk a walk with him to look for kangaroos.

After they were away from the car, Pearce said, the man threw the woman to the ground, tied her up, cut off her bikini with a knife and sexually assaulted her.

In a bid to survive, the woman tried to reason with him, and suggested they go back to the tent, Pearce said. The man agreed and adjusted the ties binding her so she could walk. The woman then screamed for help, waking up her friend, whom she told to run.

The man then attacked the woman who had been in the car, striking her several times in the head with a hammer, Pearce said. Despite blood streaming into her eyes, she fled across the sand on foot. The man then got into the four-wheel drive and chased after her, hitting her with the car and knocking her to the ground several times.

Realizing she couldnt outrun the vehicle, she then jumped onto the roof of the car and hung onto the roof racks as the man tried to fling her off, Pearce said.

The women eventually managed to escape.

There have been a string of high-profile attacks on foreign tourists in Australia in recent years. On Sunday, a British backpacker who officials say had been sexually assaulted and held captive for weeks in the Outback was rescued by police who pulled over the car she was driving.

The officers noticed the woman had facial injuries and appeared distressed, and subsequently found a man hiding in a storage alcove in the back of the vehicle. He has been charged with a string of offenses, including multiple counts of rape and strangulation. AP
The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) is planning another edition of the Tap Seac Handicrafts Fair. The fair, which took place for the first time in 2008, has been scheduled for April and is expected to have 200 stands for cultural and creative participants from Macau, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia, as well as IC artists. The fair will also feature concerts and craft workshops, which will run for two consecutive weekends, from April 21 to 23 and April 28 to 30. The IC is currently accepting applications for local participants. The deadline for registration is March 27.

MAF tickets go on sale this Sunday

Tickets for the 28th Macau Arts Festival (MAF) go on sale via telephone and online bookings from midday on March 12 (Sunday), according to the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC). Queuing vouchers will be distributed on the same day from 9 a.m., according to the IC, for the convenience of the public. The 28th MAF, which is themed Heterotopia and will be held from April 28 to May 31, features a variety of performances comprising music, theater and other performing arts. Various discounts will be offered, including 30 percent off early bird tickets as well as discounts for purchases via Bank of China, MasterCard, Visa and UnionPay cards from ICBC.

EUAP-M to hold seminar on EU citizenship today

The European Union Academic Programme in Macau (EUAP-M), under its Speakers and Visiting Speakers Seminar Series, will hold a seminar today at 3 p.m. at the University of Macau. Roel De Meu from the Institute for European Law in Leuven, Belgium, will discuss the nature and importance of EU citizenship in a talk titled Citizenship of the European Union: A Dynamic Balance between EU and Member-States. The talk will also tackle topics such as the conceptualization and possible new directions for the ever-evolving case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Since its introduction in the Maastricht Treaty, EU citizenship has proven to be fertile ground for the development of CJEU case law, according to a statement by the organizer.
Passion Cinematheque will have its grand opening at the end of the month to mark the venues re-launch under the administration of a private institution.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) awarded the cinema to CUT Ltd., a company affiliated with Associacao Audio-Visual CUT, for a three- year tender beginning January 2017.

According to the cinemas new operators, the venue will host an opening ceremony on March 30 for local film-makers and representatives of Macaus cultural authorities. It will officially open to the public the next day.

Three local artists will showcase their film productions on the opening night, namely Antonio Faria, Chao Koi Wang and Tracy Choi. Choi recently exhibited her work at last years International Film Festival & Awards  Macau (IFFAM).

According to Albert Chu, the film crews for all three movies are based in Macau with some of them Portuguese, and others Chinese and Macanese.

The launch of the venue, which includes an intimate 60-seat cinema and a library space for storing a movie database and books on film, aims to promote Macau film- making and nurture film knowledge among locals.

Passion Cinematheque chief executive officer Rita Wong describes the venue as a space for people who love film and love art.

This is a place for many people, including cinema-goers and the general public, where we will screen Macau movies and non-commercial, independent films. It will be a place for film appreciation and criticism and film marketing, she told the Times in an interview yesterday.

Every month we will have screenings and workshops. Then later, we will have film director residences and they will stay for two or three weekends.

Three types of events will be held on a monthly basis. The first will be the screening of a new independent or non-commercial film. Separately, special focus topics will be held with the first two, local films and a Hong Kong residency, during the months of April and May, respectively.

For the first month, April, we will be focusing on local talent and showcasing works from Macau over the last 20 years. These include short films  which are very popular in Macau  and feature-length films, explained Chu, chairman of the CUT association.

The cinema will also dedicate two weekends each month to re-screenings of local films from the past 20 years. Organizers have said that admission will be free and that the events are open to both locals and tourists.

We are trying to build a film culture in the city. This is a place where young filmmakers can screen their films, said Chu.

We are about bringing local people with expertise together to grow the film society and knowledge in Macau.

In recent years, international film directors have commented that Macau may be in the early days of a film renaissance. Former IFFAM director Marco Muller and Macau-based Portuguese director Ivo Ferreira have both testified to the emergence of a new movement in Macau film.

I think film-making [in Macau] will be more diverse in the future, said Chu.

Already, we have several platforms and competitions to grow the Macau film movement, and for training people, like [some activities] at the Macau Cultural Center.

This cinema is more specialized, added Wong, while other places are more general in their culture [promotion].
An Indonesian court sentenced a former Reuters war correspondent to seven months in prison yesterday for possessing hashish.

The sentence announced at the Denpasar District Court in Bali was less than the one-year prison term sought by prosecutors.

British national David Fox was arrested Oct. 8 along with Australian Giuseppe Serafino on the tourist island, where police confiscated a total of 10.09 grams of hashish from Foxs clothing and house.

With time already served, Fox is due for release in May.

Through his lawyer, Fox thanked supporters and said he accepted the courts judgment.

I am very grateful for this lenient sentence, he said.

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.

In his indictment, presiding Judge Erwin Djong noted Foxs testimony that he used hashish to cope with the trauma suffered from covering conflicts but said there was no justification for drug use, which was a negative influence on Indonesias youth. AP
A twin suicide bombing struck a village wedding north of Baghdad as the wedding party gathered in the evening hours, killing at least 26 people and wounding dozens, a government spokesman said yesterday.

The attack, which took place yesterday [Macau time], began when one suicide bomber wearing an explosives-laden belt walked into the wedding party assembled in an open area in Hajaj, near the city of Tikrit, about 130 kilometers from Baghdad.

The bomber detonated his explosives, only to be followed by the second attacker who blew himself up when people had gathered to help the victims of the first explosion, provincial spokesman Ali al-Hamdani told The Associated Press. He said 26 people were killed, most of them children, and up to 67 were wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on the Islamic State group, which has staged similar attacks in the past. The wedding party was for a family that had been displaced from Iraqs western Anbar province and that is affiliated with a major anti-IS tribe there.

IS had captured Tikrit during its blitz across Iraq in the summer of 2014 when the Sunni militant group seized nearly a third of the countrys territory. Iraqi forces drove the militants from the city in April 2015, but IS has since then managed to launch deadly attacks in and around Tikrit.

IS has also used large-scale attacks in an effort to distract from its losses as Iraqi forces battle to retake all of Mosul, the countrys second-largest city, from the group.

Iraqi forces in Mosul have over the past week fought their way into the heart of the western part of the city, separated by the Tigris River from the eastern sector, capturing a government complex and the citys antiquities museum where IS had destroyed priceless relics.

Mosul also fell to IS in the summer of 2014, along with Tikrit and large swaths of northern and western Iraq, but now remains the militant groups last significant urban area in the country. Sinan Salaheddin, Baghdad, AP
Two Malaysian employees of the U.N.s World Food Program who were stranded in North Korea because of a travel ban have left the country, the U.N. said yesterday. Nine other Malaysians are believed to still be stuck there after the two countries diplomatic relations broke down over the killing of the estranged sibling of North Koreas leader.

The U.N. employees were among hundreds of ordinary citizens caught up in the escalating diplomatic battle.

The two arrived in Beijing yesterday, said Jane Howard, the WFP coordinator for global issues. The staff members are international civil servants and not representatives of their national government, she said.

When North Korea issued its travel ban earlier this week, Malaysia responded in kind, barring North Koreans from leaving its soil. The nine Malaysians still believed to be there are three embassy workers and their family members.

About 1,000 North Koreans are believed to be in Malaysia, until recently one of the few countries where North Koreans could travel without a visa.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the government was in the process of establishing the reasons and motives behind North Koreas drastic measure. He reiterated that diplomatic relations will not be severed to keep the communication line open for negotiations.

Najib said he spoke on the phone to Mohamad Nur Azrin, the counselor at the Malaysian Embassy in North Korea, who told him that all Malaysians there are safe.

I have given him my assurance that the government will do everything we can to ensure that they return home safely soon. The whole of Malaysia is praying for them, Najib said in a statement on Facebook. The government will continue to work on reaching the best solution on this issue.

Malaysia has never directly blamed North Korea for the killing of Kim Jong Nam at the Kuala Lumpur airport Feb. 13.

In an attack caught on security camera footage, two women approached Kim as he waited for a flight and wiped something on his face. Malaysian authorities say the substance was VX nerve agent and the two attackers were recruited by a team of North Koreans. North Korea has denied any responsibility and accused Malaysia of being swayed by the Norths enemies.

The women, a Vietnamese and an Indonesian, have been arrested and charged with murder. They say they were duped into thinking they were taking part in a harmless prank.

Yesterday, dozens of Indonesian workers and activists protested the murder charge against the Indonesian suspect, Siti Aisyah, outside the Malaysian embassy in Indonesias capital, Jakarta.

Men and women from a trade union and several Islamic groups called on the Indonesian government and the international community to investigate the killing ofKim Jong Nam and work to free Aisyah.

One of the speakers at the protest told the crowd it was impossible that a naive migrant worker such as Aisyah could be knowingly involved in the murder. Protesters waved green flags and held up banners such that read Save Siti Aisyah and Siti Aisyah is only a victim of political conspiracy interests. Eileen Ng, Kuala Lumpur, AP
Myanmar could be the next Vietnam or Thailand, with the economy having the potential of growing as much as 10 percent, a senior British diplomat said.

The Southeast Asian nation, which is opening its economy to investors after decades of military rule, has to overcome challenges including a shortage of power supply, lack of policy clarity and high cost of doing business, Andrew Patrick, the U.K.s Ambassador to Myanmar, said yesterday at a Bloomberg conference in Yangon.

Growth takes time, Patrick said. The main thing is youve got to go at the fastest pace you can. He added that 6 percent to 8 percent, even 10 percent growth going forward is perfectly realizable.

Myanmar began democratic and economic reforms in 2011 in a country long controlled by state-owned firms. The International Monetary Fund estimates the economy was among the fastest growing in the world last year at 8.1 percent.

On the financial sector, this is a blank sheet, Patrick said. With few people owning bank accounts, the nation is an untapped market. Its like Vietnam 20 years ago, he said.

Telenor Myanmar formed a joint venture with Yoma Bank to start Wave Money, which seeks to reach the countrys unbanked population, CEO Lars Erik Tellmann said in a Bloomberg Television interview with Haslinda Amin in Yangon. Wave Money will tap rural areas where theres no access to physical banks, he said.

While growth may be accelerating, the country has some way to go before it can catch up with its neighbors. Poverty persists and the economy faces risks including a weaker currency and slowing investment. Bloomberg
The Consulate General of Ireland in Hong Kong and Macau and the Irish Chamber of Commerce are jointly planning a series of events and activities to celebrate St. Patricks Day.

Among these is the headline St. Patricks Day parade, which will be held on Avenida da Praia, near the Taipa Houses-Museum, on March 18 at 4 p.m., the same location as its debut last year.

At sunset on the previous day, March 17, the Ruins of St Pauls will be officially greened with a lighting effect to celebrate the festival.

In conjunction with these two events, the Irish Chamber of Commerce has organized a variety of supplementary activities, including the bringing of Irish artists over to the MSAR as part of a cultural exchange.

For example, on Tuesday, two Irish animation producers held a workshop in the city, while an Irish craft workshop is currently being planned for Monday next week.

The combination of all of these events helps to introduce Ireland and our culture, music and F&B [food and beverage] to Macau, Niall Murray, Chairman of the Irish Chamber of Commerce, told the Times. As the government is supporting the cultural and creative industries, we wanted to do a cultural exchange and bring over some Irish artists.

Murray added that awareness of the cultural event is growing in Macau, especially among the local youth, many of whom study at schools that employ Irish teachers.

A lot of teachers in Macau are from Ireland, so they may be teaching [St. Patricks Day] in the curriculum  particularly the Catholic schools, he proposed.

According to organizers, there will also be an exhibition held at the Taipa Houses-Museum and a treasure hunt activity starting from 1 p.m. on March 18.

St. Patricks Day is a cultural and religious occasion that commemorates the death of Irelands foremost patron saint, Saint Patrick. The Roman-British missionary is thought to have heralded the arrival of Christianity in the Emerald Isle during the late-5th century.

According to popular tradition, St. Patrick is also credited with driving the snakes out of Ireland, though this account is treated as an allegory for his evangelizing of the indigenous pagan population and their druids.

A St. Patricks Day parade was held in the Macau SAR for the first time last year and was well- attended by Irish and Anglophone expatriates.

Around 20 groups participated, including Chinese cultural performers and traditional Irish folk music and dance troupes. The occasion also warranted a visit from the then-Lord Mayor of Dublin, Criona Ni Dhalaigh.

Last year, there was a wonderful turnout [] we have involved so many groups this year, so we expect many people will turn up to the event, said Murray.

The multiple events are the continuation of a recent campaign to promote awareness of Ireland in the two SARs, spearheaded by the Consulate General of Ireland in Hong Kong and Macau.

We have a lot of catching up to do in Macau, because for so long we didnt have an office here, Consul General Peter Ryan told the Times last year.

Roadhouse joins celebrations

The Roadhouse bar is joining the St Patricks Day celebration on March 17, featuring a group of Irish performers and artists, including Declan Carruthers and Declan Greene. Barry Jazz Finnegan is a self-taught artist specialized in photorealism with charcoal on a large scale, will be drawing a special portrait for The Roadhouse which will then be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Drug Abusers Rehabilitation Association (ARTM).
Chinese citizens who have worked for at least a year, or who study at universities in Macau, will be eligible to apply for Taiwan travel permits through an online application system starting on March 28.

This move is part of a series of measures that Taiwan is undertaking in a bid to attract more visitors from the territory.

As previously reported, Taiwans National Immigration Agency has eased the administration burden for Macau and Hong Kong residents who intend to apply for a Taiwan visa.

The simplified procedure  which is currently under an experimental period until March 27  allows residents to apply online, instead of having to visit the office in person.

The online system will shorten the time it takes to process a travel permit from two to three weeks, for a paper application, to five workdays, said the head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macau, Lu Chang-shui, at an event promoting Taiwan tourism.

His remarks came in the wake of recent tourism growth between Taiwan and Macau, Focus Taiwan reported.

Lu recalled that Macau received some 1.07 million visitor arrivals from Taiwan in 2016, an 8.8 percent year-on-year increase; while about 140,000 tourists from Macau visited Taiwan in 2016, up 10 percent from the previous year.

As Taiwan is introducing a series of tourism promotions and measures to streamline visa procedures, the neighboring region is seeking to attract foreign visitors from a wider range of countries.

The move implies a particular focus on Southeast Asia, despite a decline in Chinese tourists due to strained relations between Taiwan and mainland China.
The new police force that commenced operations this week comprises officers who are proficient in both Mandarin and English, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) told the Times.

In order to fulfill the specialized functions of the Tourist Police, the officers selected for this task, besides having the professional knowledge in the police field, were all subject to specific language training, namely [in] Mandarin and English. The PSP added that such skills are necessary as these officers will be stationed prominently in the busiest touristic sites of the city and reaffirmed that the new forces mission is to provide professional and quality services to citizens and tourists.

The PSPs public relations department also said that the new force would be tasked with general policing, preventing and fighting crime and paying particular attention to the people flow, diverting and managing them, and implementing crowd control measures.

The new force commenced operations on Sunday with 40 officers. They can be easily distinguished by their factions unique uniform, which has a more informal design and a distinctive color scheme. RM
Hawaii has become the first state to file a lawsuit against President Donald Trumps revised travel ban, saying the order will harm its Muslim population, tourism and foreign students.

Attorneys for the state filed the lawsuit against the U.S. government yesterday in federal court in Honolulu. The state had previously sued over Trumps initial travel ban, but that lawsuit was put on hold while other cases played out across the country.

Hawaii gave notice earlier this week that it intended to file an amended lawsuit to cover the new ban, which plans to goes into effect March 16.

The revised executive order bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries and temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program. It doesnt apply to travelers who already have visas.

Hawaii is special in that it has always been non-discriminatory in both its history and constitution, said Attorney General Douglas Chin, whose office has also asked for a temporary restraining order against the ban. Twenty percent of the people are foreign-born, 100,000 are non-citizens and 20 percent of the labor force is foreign-born.

Chin, who noted the state has budgeted about USD150,000 for an outside law firm to help with the lawsuit, said people in Hawaii find the idea of a travel ban based on nationality distasteful because they remember when Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during World War II. Hawaii was the site of one of these camps.

People in Hawaii know that the fear of newcomers can lead to bad policy, Chin said.

The move came after a federal judge in Honolulu said earlier yesterday that Hawaii can move forward with the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson granted the states request to continue with the case and set a hearing for March 15  the day before Trumps order is due to go into effect. It bars new visas for people from the six predominantly Muslim countries and temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.

Officials in heavily Democratic Hawaii previously sued to stop Trumps initial ban but that suit was placed on hold amid legal challenges around the country.

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The state will argue at the March 15 hearing that the judge should impose a temporary restraining order preventing the ban from taking effect until the lawsuit has been resolved.

Hawaiis complaint says it is suing to protect its residents, businesses and schools, as well as its sovereignty against illegal actions of President Donald J. Trump and the federal government.

The order affects people from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya. It does not apply to travelers who already have visas.

Imam Ismail Elshikh of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, a plaintiff in the states challenge, says the ban will keep his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting.

Trumps executive order inflicts a grave injury on Muslims in Hawaii, including Dr. Elshikh, his family, and members of his mosque, Hawaiis complaint says.

A federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order halting the initial ban after Washington state and Minnesota sued. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the order.

While Hawaii is the first to sue to stop the revised ban, the restraining order is still in place and could apply to the new one, too, said Peter Lavalee, a spokesman for the Washington attorney generals office.

University of Richmond Law School professor Carl Tobias said Hawaiis complaint seemed in many ways similar to Washingtons successful lawsuit, but whether it would prompt a similar result was tough to say.

He said he expects the judge, an appointee of President Barack Obama who was a longtime prosecutor, to be receptive to at least some of it.

Given that the new executive order spells out more of a national security rationale than the old one and allows for some travelers from the six nations to be admitted on a case-by-case basis, it will be harder to show that the new order is intended to discriminate against Muslims, Tobias said.

The administrations cleaned it up, but whether they have cleaned it up enough I dont know, he said. It may be harder to convince a judge theres religious animus here.

Tobias also said it is good that Hawaiis lawsuit includes an individual plaintiff, considering that some legal scholars have questioned whether the states themselves have standing to challenge the ban.Jennifer Sinco Kelleher & Caleb Jones, Honolulu, AP
In attendance will be Otter, First Lady Lori Otter, Lt. Gov. Brad Little, Department of Agriculture Director Celia Gould, Department of Labor Director Ken Edmunds, Department of Commerce Director Megan Ronk, Department of Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore, Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron, Department of Parks and Recreation Director David Langhorst, Office of Emergency Management Administrator Brad Richy, Office of Energy and Mineral Resources Administrator John Chatburn, Division of Building Safety Administrator Chris Jensen; John Barrett, executive director of the Idaho Rural Partnership; Devin Rigby, District Four engineer for the Idaho Transportation Department; and Corey Skinner, Department of Water Resources regional manager, according to a news release from Otters office.

Its been a tough winter throughout Idaho, and towns in the Magic Valley and Mini-Cassia areas have been hit especially hard by once-in-a-generation if not once-in-a-lifetime storms, snow and flooding, Otter said. Hearing directly about the challenges of folks in and around Hansen will help those of us in State government to do our jobs better and bring help more efficiently where its needed most. Our immediate focus is on infrastructure damage. But well also be listening to citizens ideas for improving how we do business long after the repairs are done.
TWIN FALLS  A Twin Falls man abused and violently shook his girlfriends 2-month-old baby, sending the infant to an intensive care unit in Boise with bleeding in the brain and bruises on his arms and testicles, police said.

Timmothy Lee Evangelista, 27, made an initial appearance Thursday in Twin Falls County Magistrate Court on a felony charge of injury to a child.

Prosecutors and police say Evangelista held the baby by its arms and shook it back and forth causing significant cerebral injury. On March 2, the infant was listed in critical condition in an intensive care unit at St. Lukes Boise Medical Center.

The abuse was first discovered March 2 when paramedics responded to a home in the 800 block of Fourth Avenue West for the report of an infant having breathing problems, court documents said. Paramedics took the baby to St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center, where an emergency room doctor believed his injuries were caused by abuse; the baby was then flown to St. Lukes in Boise.

Twin Falls Police Detective Ken Rivers questioned Evangelista and the infants mother in Boise. Evangelista initially said several dogs in the house ran into a baby carrier the infant was sleeping in, but he later admitted to accidentally shaking the baby four times.

Evangelista told me the first time he shook the baby, he was picking him up out of his carrier and he and the baby got caught up in the blanket, Rivers wrote in a probable-cause affidavit. Evangelista said he pulled the baby out of the blanket and must have stepped on the blanket, causing the baby almost to fall out of his hands. Evangelista said he then tripped over the dog, again shaking the baby.

Rivers later brought a doll into the interview room and asked Evangelista to demonstrate how he shook the child.

I showed Evangelista how I thought he actually shook the baby, by holding the baby by the arms and shaking him back and forth, Rivers wrote. Evangelista admitted that the way I was demonstrating was correct, but he kept claiming that he shook the baby because of being tripped.

Evangelista also denied deliberately pinching the infants testicles after Rivers confronted him about the babys bruises.

Evangelista is in custody in lieu of $250,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 17.
JEROME  Juan Carlos Vargas family waited 14 agonizing months for justice to be served against the man responsible for his death, so it was a pleasant surprise this week when a trial expected to last four days lasted only two.

Even better for the family was the verdict: Guilty on a felony charge of vehicular manslaughter.

Steven Anthony Pomrenke, 35, of Wendell will be sentenced in May after a Jerome jury returned the guilty verdict Wednesday.

This is going to help to give us some closure, Vargas sister Mireya Orozco told the Times-News Thursday. Nothing is going to bring my brother back, but knowing the law applies for everyone makes us feel better.

Jerome County prosecutors needed less than two full days at trial to prove Pomrenke was responsible for killing Vargas on Jan. 25, 2016 during a police pursuit that Gooding County Sheriff Shaun Gough called a suicide mission. Pomrenke left a bar that morning in a Ford F-250 pickup and was driving erratically when he refused to stop for a sheriffs deputy, smashed into several street signs and a power pole and drove the wrong way on Interstate 84 with a flat tire.

The chaotic pursuit ended when Pomrenke crashed into an oncoming semitrailer while driving east in the westbound lanes, killing Vargas, 40, who was in the passenger seat.

(It was) like he was trying to kill himself, Gough said shortly after the crash. Its the damnedest thing Ive ever seen.

The jury deliberated only two hours before convicting Pomrenke.

With all the evidence provided, it was so clear that he indeed was responsible for all this, Vargas niece Yesenia Vargas told the Times-News. My family and I are content with the fact that the jury decided that he was guilty; now we just wait for the sentencing.

Pomrenke faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine up to $15,000. Hes also set to stand trial later this month in Gooding County on a felony eluding charge.

We understand that to his family, it must be heartbreaking, but for our family, its worse; we will never see my uncle again, Yesenia Vargas said. To this day, Mr. Pomrenke has shown no remorse for what he has done, especially to my grandfather who lost a son. No father should have to go through the pain of burying his own child.

Pomrenke took the stand during the trial and testified that he didnt remember anything from the morning of the crash because Vargas drugged him, Orozco said.

He showed no remorse, not even a little remorse, and claimed he didnt remember anything because my brother put something in his drink, Orozco said. His defense was he didnt remember, but the blood work would have shown some kind of drug in his system, and it didnt.

Vargas family still doesnt know why he got in Pomrenkes truck that morning and will likely never know. But theyre happy that after more than a year of waiting, Pomrenke was held accountable for his death.

Now, they hope District Judge Richard Bevan will impose a prison term at Pomrenkes May 26 sentencing.

Hopefully, Orozco said, hell have some time to think about what he did.
TWIN FALLS  She may be in charge of Idahos public schools, but Thursday, Sherri Ybarra got a lesson from a first-grader.

Harrison Elementary School student Alexii Christman was surrounded by LEGO pieces in the school library as he made a toy truck.

Kneeling down next to him, Ybarra  state superintendent of public instruction  asked how he put it together.

After the Twin Falls boy gave an explanation, he promised to teach Ybarra how to make her own.

Ybarra and Tim McMurtrey, chief performance officer for the Idaho Department of Education, toured Harrison Elementary during the schools sharpen the paw day.

Once a quarter, students participate in activities including yoga and making play dough as part of the schools The Leader in Me initiative. It exposes children to different enrichment activities they may not experience anywhere else.

On Thursday, Ybarra was already in Twin Falls for a career and technical education leadership class at the College of Southern Idaho.

Harrison Elementary has used The Leader in Me initiative for at least five years.

This school year, the model expanded to two more Twin Falls schools  I.B. Perrine and Lincoln elementary schools  and Canyon Ridge High School is piloting it.

The Leader in Me incorporates Stephen Coveys The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Students are encouraged to develop character traits like responsibility and teamwork.

On Thursday at Harrison Elementary, fifth-graders Chererene Bimenyimana, Julianna Warner and Jose Garcia gave state education officials a tour of the school.

It was particularly interesting for McMurtrey, who began his education career at Harrison Elementary.

Starting 37 years ago, he taught sixth-grade at Harrison for two years and at Morningside Elementary School for one year.

Promoting leadership is a good thing for schools, McMurtrey said, but added adopting an initiative such as The Leader in Me is a decision left up to local schools.

This is awesome to walk around and see all this, he said.

During the tour, Chererene pointed out banners near the front office of colleges Harrison Elementary teachers attended.

Julianna showed Ybarra a timeline nearby of how many pages Harrison students have read so far this school year.

Husky dog paper cutouts  a nod to the schools mascot  show the progress: about halfway to the 1 million goal.

In one classroom, students were doing Zumba and singing along to the Pitbull song, Feel This Moment. Other activities throughout the school included yoga, drawing and 1980s board games.
BOISE  With no public testimony, a Senate panel voted Thursday to move on a bill that will give primary care coverage to some uninsured people.

The bill, brought by Meridian Republican Sen. Marv Hagedorn, would extend primary care and limited prescription coverage to some people who make less than the poverty level and are not eligible for other government health care programs. It would cost the state about $10 million a year, to come from the states Millennium Fund, which was set up after the settlement of a lawsuit with tobacco companies in the 1990s. Hagedorn was part of a group of lawmakers who studied the issue over the interim before the session.

Ever since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that left it up to the states whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, Idaho lawmakers have argued about whether and how the state should cover the estimated 78,000 Idahoans who fall into the Medicaid gap where they dont qualify for Medicaid but also dont make enough money to get tax credits to buy insurance on the state exchange. Generally speaking, Democrats have favored Medicaid expansion, but Republicans have been more wary. Gov. C.L. Butch Otter came out with a bigger proposal in 2016 to extend primary care coverage to the uninsured, but it stalled in the Legislature. This year, many in leadership have been saying they dont want to act without seeing what the federal government does because President Donald Trump and the Republicans who control Congress have promised to repeal and replace the ACA.

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Hagedorns bill to the Senates amending order to make some tweaks, with only Boise Democrat Maryanne Jordan  the only Democrat on the committee  dissenting. Jordan said she appreciated what Hagedorn was trying to do, but that the Affordable Care Act repeal proposal the U.S. House Republicans unveiled yesterday includes more money for states that choose to expand Mediciad.

From a fiscal responsibility standpoint Medicaid expansion is clearly the best thing for Idaho in some form, she said.

The bills House sponsors include Rep. Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, and House Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Fred Wood, R-Burley, who introduced a similar bill in the House this year but pulled it because he didnt think he had enough votes to get it out of his committee.

The audience at Thursdays hearing was packed with Medicaid expansion supporters wearing white doctors coats and patches saying Idaho needs a plan not a delay. None of them were allowed to testify before the committee.

Most of the meeting was taken up by two other bills, and there were about 20 minutes left when Hagedorn started to present his bill. The Senate was scheduled to be back on the floor at 4 p.m., so rather than take testimony committee Chairman Sen. Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, asked for a show of hands to see peoples opinions. Most people in the audience were against the proposal.

Medicaid expansion supporters held a news conference at the Capitol a few hours before the meeting, arguing that expanding Medicaid now would still make sense even under the Republicans ACA repeal plan, since it gives additional money to states that expanded Medicaid.

Donald Trump has said its going to continue, said Billy Galligar, a doctor who grew up poor in Fruitland and whose own mother is in the gap. Medicaid expansion is going to continue.

Hagedorn, who at the end of last years session sponsored a bill to ask for a waiver so Idaho could design its own Medicaid expansion proposal, met with a group of white-coated expansion supporters in the hall after the meeting. He said he agreed with them that his bill doesnt do enough, but said there is no chance of Medicaid expansion passing in Idaho.

We have been talking about this on both sides of the rotunda, he said. Its not an option. There is not support to do that.

Hagedorn said his bill is the best thing to help the uninsured that has a chance of passing.

I know its not enough, he said. But weve just got to do something, and I think this is the best that we can do.
RUPERT  Remaining patches of snow in northern Minidoka County have officials bracing for more running water, even as crews have begun to repair roads washed out by this winters devastating floods.

Parts of the county are in recovery mode after floods wreaked havoc in the past few weeks, but other areas may get hit again as snow continues to melt and forecasts call for rain, said Roger Davis, operations chief for the county local emergency planning committee.

No homes that I know of are flooded, said Kim Vega, Minidoka Countys emergency management coordinator.

Several roads in the county remained closed because of damage.

But a lot of roads are open that were closed, Davis said.

Minidoka Irrigation District has been pumping water out of Camp Hawley, the irrigation drainage area for Minidokas north side and its canal system. Camp Hawley is the low-lying area at 300 N. 100 W.

At its fullest, the water at Camp Hawley measured 2.75 miles wide and 1.5 miles long.

Davis said officials are confident that enough water has been removed from Camp Hawley to accommodate the water in the remaining snow in that area.

Recent rising temperatures have also helped in many areas, allowing the standing water to absorb into the ground.

Private wells in the region have tested positive for E. coli, and officials urge anyone that had standing water around their homes to have their wells tested. Sample bottles that come with instructions are available at Minidoka Memorial Hospital.

The flood has also impacted the farmers, Davis said, and much of the damage will not be known for months or longer.

Farmers are still being impacted. Even if they dont have standing water in their fields they are concerned about the ground being so saturated that they may miss their window for spring planting, Davis said.

Repairs to infrastructure may take as long as three to five years. Asphalt companies will be in demand, and there may be a waiting list to get roads repaired, he said.

We are trying to make some repairs right now, Davis said, but its going to come down to funding.

In Rupert, road crews poured asphalt patch into potholes Thursday on Oneida Street, and an Idaho Transportation Department crew continued to work to restore one lane of road that was washed away on Idaho 24 at milepost 12.5.

This was one of the worst spots in the county, Brian Davidson, a transportation technician operator for ITD, said about the stretch of Idaho 24 reduced to one lane.

The flood washed the ground out from under the southbound lane and cut into the asphalt.

The crew has been working on the project for a couple of weeks and was repacking the base.

Its really a mess this year, Davidson said.
Frances Schow, 95, of Twin Falls, Idaho passed away on March 08, 2017 with loving family at her side. Arrangements are pending under the direction of Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home of Twin Falls, Idaho.

Merlin Reed, 72, Twin Falls, Idaho passed away March 8, 2017 at his home. Arrangements are under the direction of Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home, Twin Falls, Idaho.

Harry Eldon Wilson, 95, of Eagle, Idaho and formerly of Twin Falls area, died Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at a Boise hospital. Arrangements are pending at Summers Funeral Homes, Ustick Chapel, Meridian.

Colleen L. Barnes, age 90, of Burley, died Wednesday, March 8, 2017, at Cassia Regional Hospital. Arrangements are pending and will be announced by the Rasmussen Funeral Home of Burley.

Beverly Ann Henry, 75, a resident of Gooding, passed away on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at her home in Gooding. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced under the direction of Demaray Funeral ServiceGooding Chapel.

Richard Ray Vickers, 63, a resident of Hagerman, passed away on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at his home in Hagerman. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced under the direction of Demaray Funeral ServiceGooding Chapel.

Mary Opal Cedoline, 94, of Twin Falls, passed away on March 8, 2017 at Grace Assisted Living in Twin Falls. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of White Mortuary, Chapel by the Park.
September 18, 1925  March 7, 2017

TWIN FALLS  Our beautiful mother, Dorothy L. Howard, passed away Tuesday, March 7, 2017 at Bridgeview Estates, stirring in our hearts a quiet pain.

Born in Wymore, Nebraska on September 18, 1925 to John and Louise Ottersberg, Dorothy was baptized in the Lutheran Church on Christmas day 1925. After graduating from Campbell High School in 1944, she married her high school sweetheart, Dale Heinrich, and moved to Twin Falls, Idaho in the same year. Their daughter, Linda, was born in February 1949 and in September that year, Dale died in a tragic train accident.

Dorothy was remarried in January 1951 to Don Rudolph and their daughter, Becky, was born in February 1952. They were later divorced.

In 1961, Dorothy married Dean Howard. They farmed in Hazelton and worked together in various businesses before moving to Twin Falls, where they spent the remainder of their 41 years together. Adventures abroad, traveling to Europe, Hawaii, New York and the Midwest were balanced by their enjoyment of long summers spent together at their cabin, north of Ketchum. They had a very special relationship and all who were acquainted with them knew they were always handin-hand until Deans death in 2002.

Dorothy enjoyed a long life and her greatest joy was being with her children and grandchildren. She was a determined woman with impeccable taste. An excellent cook, she always had a warm welcome for all who visited her beautiful home. Dorothys strength of character and love for her family were evident in her battle with Alzheimers; she worked hard to keep her memory alive and recognized her close family to the end.

Dorothy is survived by her daughters, Linda Heinrich and Becky (Rod) Rudolph of Twin Falls; grandchildren Kelli Rudolph (Dunstan Lowe) of Canterbury, England and Joshua (Catherine) Rudolph and three great-grandchildren, Mercedes, Maclaren and Maverick of League City, Texas; sister, Vall (Leonard) Mills and brother, Wayne (Shirley) Ottersberg both of Twin Falls as well as her many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands, her sister, Erma Devers, and her great-granddaughter, Celandine Isla Rudolph Lowe.

Moms love for us was limitlessshe was our greatest supporter, our best friend and the strength of our family. The depth of our sadness at her departure bears witness to the strength of our love for her. We miss her more than words can express.

The funeral will take place on Monday March 13, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at White Mortuary Chapel by the Park, 136 4th Ave E. in Twin Falls with Pastor Clay Ramirez officiating. There will be a viewing for family and friends on Sunday, March 12 between 6:00 and 8:00 pm at White Mortuary Chapel by the Park.
March 26, 1948  March 5, 2017

Humberto Shorty Ibarra passed in his home on Sunday March 5, 2017. Born March 26, 1948 in Guadalajara, Mexico Shorty was always quick with a smile and had a passion for futbol. Humberto met his wife of 38 years in California and for the last 26 years made Jerome, Idaho his home. He was proud to apply his craft to Spears Manufacturing during the last 35 years.

Shorty is survived by his wife Valerie, son Randy, daughter Melissa, grandsons Oliver and Quincy, as well as his many friends who share in their loss. Those that knew him would not be surprised that he did not wish to have a formal service, instead he asked to be remembered by making a donation in his name to Idaho Public Television or the Idaho Community Action Network.
July 8, 1924  March 9, 2017

Robert Fredrick Heidemann passed away March 9th 2017 with his family by his side, just over 7 months after losing his beloved wife, Aileen.

Robert was born on July 8, 1924 in Orange County, California to Fred and Pauline Heidemann. Robert was the youngest child of six; brothers, Gerald, Lauren, Aaron, and sisters, Vera and Marcene. The family moved to Idaho in 1926.

He attended school in Kimberly. In 1944 he married his high school sweetheart, Aileen Alldritt. Robert felt strongly about serving his country. Later in 1944 he enlisted in the Army and served in Japan. After his discharge he returned home to Twin Falls and worked at Hoosier Furniture. While working there as a salesman his boss decided to send him to school to learn about carpet installation. He was one of the first professionally trained installers in the Magic Valley. Installing carpet became his career for the remainder of his working years.

Robert and Aileen had three children, Ben, Gary, and Pauline.

Robert was preceded in death by his parents, siblings, sons Ben and Gary, and wife Aileen. He is survived by his daughter, Pauline Beams, son-in-law Mark Beams, and daughters-in-law, Joey Heidemann Payne and Connie Heidemann. Also surviving Robert are nine grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to a charity of your choice.

Viewing for Robert will be held on Friday, March 10th from 6-8 p.m. at Rosenau Funeral Home. Services will be held at 1:00PM, Saturday, March 10th at Amazing Grace Fellowship, Twin Falls with burial to follow at Sunset Memorial Park. Family and friends are encouraged to share their memories at www.rosenaufuneralhome.com
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In April there are many deadlines for taxpayers wanting to receive tax reduction benefits on their homes in Cassia County which they occupy. There are two programs which property owners are entitled, if they meet the qualifications. First is the Idaho Property Tax Reduction Program (Circuit Breaker) which may be available to low-income seniors and others who meet some of these following qualifications or categories:

Total 2016 income which does not exceed $29,640

Age 65 or older

Legal citizens and permanent residents of the county

Blind

Widow(er) of any age

Former prisoner of war or hostage

Disabled

Fatherless or motherless child under 18 years old

This program has a positive impact for many residents of Cassia County. This program has the capability of reducing ones taxes on a lot or acre of land and their primary residence by as much as $1,320. This program must be applied for on an annual basis to continue to qualify, and this year the deadline to have your application signed is April 17.

The second program which all homeowners in Cassia County are able to apply for is the Homestead Exemption (homeowners exemption). The amount of exemption for 2017 is $100,000 or up to 50 percent of the parcel value, whichever is less. This exemption is a value which the Idaho Legislature has set, and will not fluctuate unless the Legislature makes adjustments. To qualify for this exemption, the home must be owner occupied, be your primary residence, not receiving this exemption in another state, county or on another parcel. The homeowner must fill out the application to receive this exemption. The property owner need only apply once unless they no longer reside where they initially qualified for the exemption. If someone has moved, purchased an existing home or has built a new home, they must re-apply to receive this exemption which in effect reduces the taxable value of ones property. We encourage all who qualify to make sure that they are signed up for this program. The deadline to sign up for 2017 is April 17.

After that date, according to state statute 63-602, the exemption will not be in effect until the following year.

If you have questions or concerns on either of these two programs, I would encourage you to call the assessors office at 208-878-3540 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Our office would be available to address your questions and concerns.

As for the direction of the assessed value and market conditions of the county, we are seeing ag values holding steady as commodity prices are continuing to experience downward pressure. The housing market is strong currently, and has shown increased values on both residential/building lots and existing homes. Where our state certified appraisers have seen these indicators over the entire county, this will have an impact on assessed property values for 2017, and what you may be asked to pay in taxes for 2017. Our neighboring counties have been seeing these same indicators in their respective counties as well. Our area is growing, and causing pressure on the residential properties in our county. We are required by Idaho State statutes to assess all properties within Cassia County at market values, using the mass appraisal method. We do not base our values on individual appraisals, but look at homes and properties with similar characteristics and qualities in all areas of the county. Assessment notices will go out by the first Monday in June, and every property owner has the right to appeal their assessed value. The taxpayer, by Idaho Code, has the right to do this by the fourth Monday in June, or June 26, 2017. I encourage all to review their assessment notice and contact our office with any questions you may have.

The appraisal process is a yearlong process where state certified appraisals make every effort to appraise property accurately and fairly in accordance with Idaho state law. Adjustments in values are made based on market conditions within our county for similar types of property. Again I would advise every taxpayer to review their assessment notice, not just file them away like most of us do, and contact my office at 208-878-3540, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with any concerns you may have.

It has been an honor to serve as your assessor these past 6+ years. I am fortunate to have a great staff. They are committed to serve all the taxpayers of Cassia County in a fair and equitable manner. I am reminded of a quote by Abraham Lincoln I never had a policy, I just try and do my best, each and every day This is what we try to do daily in the Cassia County Assessors Office. Try and do our best, to serve the public, each and every day.
The 21st session of the Algeria-Tunisia High Joint Commission ended in Tunis with the signing of eight agreements and Memoranda of Understanding in diverse areas, covering, among others, security, social and cultural cooperation.

The session was co-chaired by Prime Minister Yousef Chahed of Tunisia and his Algerian counterpart Abdelmalek Sellal. One of the major highlights of this edition was the exchange of instruments of the ratification of Algeria-Tunisia offshore boundary delimitation.

Improving trade relations between the two countries is currently under consideration according to Chahed as he hinted that they held consultations on the reactivation of the preferential trade agreement leading to a free trade zone between the two countries.

Prime Minister Sellal hailed the signing of the security cooperation as a boost to ensuring stronger collaboration between their security forces considering the effects that the Libyan crisis can have on the two countries. He reiterated Algerias stance for a peaceful solution to the turmoil while stressing that the UN must assume its responsibilities in the implementation of the decision taken by the Security Council to safeguard the unity, sovereignty and stability of Libya far from any foreign interference.

Observers opined that security concerns helped reaching the security cooperation accord as fears increase that the Libyan crisis could empower extremist groups in the region, endangering the security and stability of neighboring countries. Both Tunisia and Algeria have repelled attacks by extremist groups that tried to have foothold in their territories.
The US has increased its presence in Syria with the arrival of 400 troops ahead of a planned assault on Raqqa; the Islamic States de facto capital in the country.

The US troops arrival could be seen as the implementation of the crystal clear message made by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, according to acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner. Washingtons top priority in the Middle East is to defeat the extremist group, Mark Toner said.

The arrival of the troops is expected to expedite the defeat of ISIS in Raqqa, coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian. He claimed that efforts to isolate the city are going very, very, well and could be completed in a few weeks, which would facilitate reaching a decision to move in.

This week, the road between Raqqa and the extremists stronghold of Deir al-Zor province, the last main road out of the city, was cut off by anti-ISIS forces.

The presence of US forces in Syria is deemed illegitimate by the Assad government but that has not stopped Washington from increasing its ground forces and carrying out operations against ISIS while supporting other rebel groups.

As Washington prepares for what could be the final assault on Raqqa, Tillerson is expected to host a two-day meeting as of March 22 of Foreign ministers and senior officials from 68 nations and international organizations.

The war against the Islamic State has been ongoing since 2014. The offensive against the group has increased and reports of the whereabouts of its self-proclaimed leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is unknown since his last audio message in November 2016.
After Saudi Arabia rejected, through the voice of its ambassador to Beijing, Chinas proposal to mediate between Riyadh and Tehran in overcoming their differences, Iran welcomed the goodwill gesture from China.

A statement issued by the Iranian Embassy in China underlined that Tehran welcomes all constructive efforts, like the most recent proposal made by Kuwaits Emir to establish dialogue in the region, and for the same reason, welcomes the constructive role played by China in the region.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have been at odds over several issues in the past couple of years that have transpired in other countries in the region. Analysts say the two countries are engaged in a regional proxy war for dominance in the sub-region.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries were paralyzed at the beginning of last year when protesters against the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia, breached the walls of Riyadhs embassy in Tehran. Saudi Arabia reacted by severing diplomatic ties.

The statement issued by the Iranian embassy in china acknowledged that there is discord with Saudi Arabia due to basic disagreements over approaches, actions, and stated and practiced policies.

It went on to accuse Riyadh of destabilizing the region and the world through sectarian policies, fueling ethnic and religious discrepancies, and offering material and non-material support to terrorists and Takfirists.

Saudi Arabia has also leveled similar allegations against Tehran.

Both countries are being held responsible for playing a part in the armed conflict in the Middle East especially in Syria and Yemen. Efforts to warm up relations between the two countries widened due to their military activities, which are often considered as provocative acts against each other.
Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to reaffirm the strong bilateral relationship between the two countries, the White House said in a statement.

Conversation between the two leaders also focused on economic partnership and mutual dedication to overcoming terrorism and other regional security challenges through close cooperation, the statement said.

President Trump expressed appreciation for Kenyas significant contributions to the African Union Mission in Somalia and recognized Kenyan troops sacrifices in the fight against Al-Shabaab, the statement added.

Kenya, a key player in peace efforts in Somalia, has agreed to contribute troops to a new UN regional force for South Sudan.

The East-African nation is one of the top recipients of US aid, around $1 billion a year, much of that dedicated to counterterrorism efforts in the region where Al Shabaab, al Qaedas branch in Somalia, is resurgent.

While the group has been seriously weakened in Somalia after U.S. drone strikes killed several top leaders last year, it has gained strength in Kenya.

Since taking office in January, Donald Trump has had phone talks with several African leaders.
The mayor of Senegals capital, Dakar, has been arrested and placed under arrest warrant after investigations by the countrys anticorruption watchdog found him guilty for embezzling public money.

According to the watchdog, about $2.9m is missing in the citys coffers.

The judge on Wednesday charged Khalifa Sall with fraud, criminal conspiracy and money laundering. The mayor denies any wrongdoing and his lawyers claim his arrest is politically motivated.

One of his lawyers, Cledor Ly told reporters that the allegedly funds were used to support inner communities of the capital city, Dakar.

Almost half of the Senegalese population lives below the poverty line and many require assistance to feed their families. The money had been taken from the citys coffers over the last six years.

Khalifa Sall is seen as a possible presidential contender for elections in 2019.

Many say his arrest is political motivated by incumbent president Macky sall.

Senegals next presidential election is scheduled to be held in 2019 with incumbent president Macky Sall eligible to stand for a second term.

This is the second high-profile corruption case in Senegal.

Karim Wade, son of former Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, was also arrested and sentenced to 6 years in prison for money laundering. He was granted a presidential pardon last year.
Ukrainians and Georgians can qualify for NATO

By Messenger Staff

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says only Georgians and Ukrainians can make a decision over their prospective membership in the alliance if the NATO 28 member states decide to admit them.Meanwhile, he told the Swiss newspaper Le Temps that there are no guarantees and assurance that the alliance will be expanded.In answer to the question of whether it is time to reject the idea of accepting Georgia and Ukraine into NATO, Secretary General replied by saying, "It would be extremely dangerous. If NATO starts to say that it is ready to close the door for countries such as Ukraine or Georgia in order to ease relations with Russia, we will face an unacceptable situation: the restoration of spheres of influence, where large countries make decisions in the name of the small countries.I want to emphasize that NATO is a reliable partner of Georgia, with which we have open and honest dialogue, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Gen. Petr Pavel, said in Tbilisi at the end of the last week.He praised the ongoing reforms and welcomed the readiness of Georgia to improve interoperability of its armed forces with the NATO forces.Georgia decided long ago to become a member of NATO, yet despite consistent praise of Georgia's reforms, the country was not given even a Membership Action Plan.Georgia and Ukraine will have to overcome Russia's influence and the moves to block their admittance in NATO. And the organization if it genuinely wants and needs these two countries to join NATO has to more efficiently and consistently put pressures on Moscow and ignore its imperialistic ambitions.
The News in Brief

Japanese MFA on S.Ossetia Referendum, Abkhazia Crossing Points Closure



The Japanese Foreign Ministry said in its March 1 statement that it expresses deep concern over the so called referendum in South Ossetia, scheduled for April 9.



It also expressed its deep concern over the closure of so-called crossing points along the occupation line of the Abkhazia region, which is causing grave violations of human rights.



It is Japans consistent position that peaceful resolution of the conflict in Georgias occupied regions of Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia and Abkhazia in line with the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders is essential for the peace and stability of the country and the entire South Caucasus region, the MFA statement said.



The Japanese Foreign Ministry added that the country opposes any attempts to change Georgias internationally recognized borders.

(civil.ge)







Georgias ruling party postpones switch to indirect election of president



The Georgian Dream party is backing down on a previous pledge to phase out the use of direct elections to select a president already from next year. Instead, the ruling coalition plans to introduce the change from the 2023 election.



The rules of presidential elections have been a topic of a lot of speculation,



Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze said at a meeting of the constitutional commission on Thursday.



We think we should eliminate any excuse for such speculation. Therefore, the stance of the leadership of the ruling team is that it is desirable, in order to avoid such speculation, to hold direct elections next time and afterwards we can switch [to the alternative system].



The constitutional commission comprises politicians from the ruling party and opposition, as well as members of civil society and experts. It is tasked with improving the current Constitution. However, the opposition and many civic activists fear that Georgian Dream is planning to adjust the Constitution to fit its political agenda. These fears are well-founded as GD holds a constitutional majority in the parliament, i.e. over three quarter of seats, and can adopt any amendment it wants. Curtailing the powers of the President is regarded as part of this process.



The incumbent President, Giorgi Margvelashvili, was elected with the strong support of then-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, but afterwards they engaged in a bitter rivalry.



Margvelashvilis term expires in 2018.



Ivanishvili, a Georgian billionaire and the founder of GD, is believed to have a strong influence on the ruling party, although officially he retired from politics in 2013. He has repeatedly underlined the need for the president to be elected by Parliament, claiming that direct elections do not correspond to the real powers of the office of the president.

(DF watch)







Tbilisi modernises public bus fleet, welcomes new buses



Brand-new buses continue to modernise Tbilisis fleet as route 87 gets an upgrade.



The new buses began operating on March 1 along a popular Tbilisi bus-route that serves the citys central districts  from Baratashvili Bridge to Vake and on through to Saburtalo districts.



City Hall announced today that the new buses will be able to transport 425 passengers per route completion, instead of the former yellow bus capacity of only 240 passengers.



The first blue buses arrived in Georgia on October 6, 2016 and began circulating on route 61, which travels through Tbilisis two central streets  Rustaveli Ave and Chavchavadze Ave.



New buses were put into operation on routes 51 and 37 this year as well. Route 51 connects the outlying districts of Tbilisi - Gldani to Baghebi through Dighomi, Didube, Saburtalo and Vake districts, while route 37 shuttles passengers from Tbilisi Railway Station (Tbilisi Central) to Tbilisi Shota Rustaveli International Airport.



All new buses are more environmentally-friendly than the current yellow ones as they run on compressed natural gas (CNG).



Furthermore, new buses are able to accommodate people with wheelchairs and other disabilities.



A leading international provider of commercial vehicles, Man Truck, provides new buses for Tbilisi. An agreement signed last year between Man Truck and Bus AG Company provides for 143 new buses that will be added to the Tbilisi public transport service by April 2017.



Currently, there are 522 public buses operating in Tbilisi.

(Agenda.ge)






@PatriciaMazzei

The panel of three local mayors discussing how the United States should approach doing business with Cuba was going predictably Friday until Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, a likely Democratic candidate for Florida governor, brought up a word that, once upon a time in Miami, might have caused a political maelstrom: invasion.

Why arent we discussing the invasion of the island? Levine said.

He wasnt endorsing the idea of a military incursion. A few moments earlier, Levine had argued that the best way to help Cubans themselves was to engage in open commerce with the island.

But he had no support for the expanded-business position from his colleagues, Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason and Doral Mayor J.C. Bermudez. Cason, a Republican former head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, had in fact espoused the opposite view, questioning the ethics of any business that would enrich the pockets of the Cuban military.

So Levine made his provocative remark, predicting that a U.S.-led military operation would probably take 24 hours at best.

A few people in the crowd chuckled. Neither Bermudez nor Cason took him seriously. Levine later told the Miami Herald hed been trying to highlight  perhaps inartfully  that opponents of the Obama administrations Cuba opening, like Cason, couldnt offer any better solutions.

The surprising exchange reflected how much the conversation on Cuba has changed in Miami. The suggestion that American troops might land on Cuban shores  a failed strategy under former President John F. Kennedy  is now a laugh line. The question of what to do instead, however, remains difficult for local politicians to answer.

More here.

Photo credit: Emily Michot, Miami Herald staff


@PatriciaMazzei

Bolstered by the White Houses apparent interest in protecting at least one group of unauthorized immigrants, Miami Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo on Thursday re-filed legislation that would allow people brought illegally as children to remain in the country.

The Recognizing America's Children Act would offer an eventual path to U.S. citizenship to immigrants who entered illegally before Jan. 1, 2012, and were 16 years old or younger.

The legislation is essentially a new version of the DREAM Act, which failed in the Senate in 2010. Curbelo first proposed the bill last June, as he was running for reelection to Floridas swing 26th congressional district.

He said hes bringing it back because President Donald Trump, in his executive order on immigration, left in place the Obama administrations Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program  known as DACA  which shields so-called DREAMers from deportation.

This White House has sent a very strong message by preserving the executive order that protects these young people, Curbelo said in an interview with the Miami Herald. We know that theyve been very aggressive when it comes to immigration policy, so it certainly stands out that they have left the DACA executive order untouched.

More here.

Photo credit: Jose A. Iglesias, el Nuevo Herald
State Rep. Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, answers questions about his plan to kill Enterprise Florida during a debate on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives on Thursday. State Rep. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican and ardent defender of the agency, watches on. (Scott Keeler/Tampa Bay Times)

@JeremySWallace

The Florida House voted on Friday to kill the agency Gov. Rick Scott has relied on for the last six year to hand out tax credits to lure business to the Sunshine State to create jobs.

State Rep. Paul Renner, a Republican from Flagler County, said tax credits to private businesses are "fundamentally unfair" because the government gets to pick some companies and industries over others to receive the credits.

These incentives are also wrong because they do pick winners and losers, Renner said.

He said a better use of incentive money would be to put it into education, public infrastructure or broad based tax cuts.

The House voted 87-28 for Renner's bill.

The vote comes even after Scott traveled the state in February going to Republican districts and publicly calling out members for supporting the bill the would kill Enterprise Florida. And on Tuesday, Scott used his State of the State Address to the Legislature to fight back against the idea that the agency is picking winners and losers.

Scott has asked the Legislature for $23.5 million to fund Enterprise Floridas base operations next year and another $85 million of economic incentives to convince companies to move to Florida.

The vote came moments before the House voted 80-35 for a separate bill that would enact strict reforms on Visit Florida, the state's primary tourism marketing agency. The House originally sought to kill that agency as well after criticism mounted over a $1 million secret contract with pop music star Pitbull. Instead, Renner said the bill keeps Visit Florida alive, but with new guardrails to assure they are using taxpayer dollars wisely.

Scott responded quickly to both votes.

"Many politicians who voted for these bills say they are for jobs and tourism," Scott said in a statement. "But, I want to be very clear  a vote for these bills was a vote to kill tourism and jobs in Florida. I will continue to fight for Florida jobs and never stop standing up for the families and businesses whose livelihood depend on a strong and growing economy.


@PatriciaMazzei

In a setback for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, an appeals court this week reversed a ruling against a Broward County mortgage company accused of defrauding hundreds of homeowners at the height of the housing crisis.

The Fourth District Court of Appeals in West Palm Beach ruled Wednesday that the states case against Outreach Housing must go back to trial. The decision also did away with the $8.3 million judgment that had been imposed against the company.

According to the appeals court, the trial judge erred in quickly ruling in the states favor after incorrectly accepting the states argument that Outreachs principal, Blair Wright, had admitted wrongdoing in the case. Wright had been representing himself in court before three defense attorneys stepped in, working on a pro bono basis.

He literally got railroaded, said Robyn Sztyndor, one of Wrights attorneys. There were disputes on every single issue, and there was evidence on both sides. He did not get his day in court.

Circuit Court Judge Michael Gates was also wrong to award $880,000 in restitution and $7.45 million in damages, the appeals court ruled.

More here.

Photo credit: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press
@amysherman1

Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam has proposed that the city create a "safe zone" for undocumented immigrants in response to President Donald Trump's immigration ban.

Messam brought up his proposal during a March 8 commission meeting to require federal immigration agents to have a warrant to enter city-owned facilities and voluntary pre-kindergarten schools for immigration enforcement purposes.

"We want to make sure that our parents at least, regardless of their immigration status, that is one less fear that they have -- in regards to the prospect of their child being disrupted due to what we have seen going on across the country," Messam said at the meeting.

The commission didn't vote on his proposal but no one objected to Messam's request for city attorneys to draft the resolution. It wasn't clear when the commission will vote on the resolution but the next meeting is March 29.

The city resolution follows a vote earlier this week by the Broward school board to become a safe zone for immigrant students and their parents and the Miami-Dade school board plans to vote on a similar resolution March 15. Broward County approved a resolution showing support for diversity without mentioning immigration enforcement or creating any sanctuary policy.

Such safe zone policies being pursued by Broward politicians, many of them Democrats, are in response to immigration enforcement actions and promises by Trump.

The safe zone policies may not lead to any practical changes for federal officials because many such facilities aren't known for immigration raids -- U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement already has policies that generally protect school sites from enforcement actions. But the policies allow politicians to go on record opposing Trump's immigration plans.

Messam, the son of Jamaican immigrants, was elected in 2015 as mayor in Miramar, a city where about 44 percent of the population is foreign born. A Democrat, Messam was a surrogate to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign in Florida and South Carolina.

Photo by Gregory F. Reed of former President Bill Clinton, center, and Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam, right, attending a September meeting of faith and community leaders at the Miramar Cultural Center and a tour of city hall.




@MichaelAuslen

In one of their first decisions this year, the Florida Legislature on Friday sent Gov. Rick Scott a bill that will require juries to vote unanimously to sentence a convicted murderer to death.

Mandated by a Florida Supreme Court ruling in Hurst vs. Florida that found the state's existing 10-2 jury vote requirement unconstitutional, the Legislature's move will allow prosecutors to pursue new death row cases as soon as Scott signs it.

"Your vote today allows cases to move forward and victims and their families to have justice," said Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, the House judiciary chairman and the bill's sponsor.

The Florida House voted 112-3 Friday for the legislation (SB 280). Opposed were Reps. Joe Geller, D-Aventura, Robert Asencio, D-Miami, and Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill.

"Our current law's been found unconstitutional, and so it is tempting to vote for this because at least requiring unanimity is better than what we have," Geller said. "(However,) I think it's morally and ethically wrong for the state to take life."

Geller filed legislation (HB 6045) to abolish the death penalty, but it has not been scheduled for a hearing.

The Senate voted unanimously for the measure making juries unanimous on Thursday. A spokeswoman for Scott said he is "reviewing" the legislation, but he has been a supporter of the death penalty, executing more people than any other governor since capital punishment came back into practice in 1976.

Photo: State Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, who sponsored legislation requiring juries to vote unanimously to put someone to death. (SCOTT KEELER | Tampa Bay Times)
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The Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival nearly set a record this year.

There were 49 groups from middle-school through college level signed up to attend the 39th annual festival at the University of Montana. Alas, one backed out.

Regardless, approximately 850 students from Washington, Idaho and Montana will flood onto campus next week for workshops, clinics and two evening concerts with festival guest artists.

The guests have active teaching and musical careers, a quality jazz program director Rob Tapper favors.

They're "amazing players that are out there doing it" and can also "pass along a lot of information to middle-school, high-school and college musicians," he said.

There are six total, making for a sextet that can entertain the general public.

Alto saxophonist Brad Leali has played with vocalist Harry Connick Jr.'s orchestra and the Count Basie Big Band. He was a member of that group when it won Grammy Awards for large jazz ensembles.

Leali teaches at the University of North Texas, where Tapper met him and saw his work with students. "He cared a lot about kids and music education," he said. (See interview with Leali for more information.)

Trumpet player Jim Sisko is based in Seattle, where he teaches at Bellevue College and gigs in the jazz and classical scenes.

Pianist Dana Landry is returning for a second year. Landry is based in Denver and teaches at the University of Northern Colorado, which has a well-respected jazz program. In 2005, Landry recorded a solo album, "Journey Home" featuring vibraphone virtuoso Gary Burton, that was nominated for a Grammy.

"I've known Dana for 20 years. I know what he's about," Tapper said.

Trombone player Nate Kimball comes from the University of North Las Vegas, where he composes and arranges contemporary music for big band. He has a new album, "Gaia," coming out this spring.

Drummer Chris Smith, another returning guest, teaches and gigs in New York City. In addition to playing, he's written a book about the drummer Mel Lewis.

Bassist Ashley Summers hails from Victoria, British Columbia, by way of Chicago and its thriving jazz scene.

Summers has a new album of original compositions, "True North," coming out this month, featuring saxophonist Seamus Blake.

"It's exciting to have new blood in the mix," Tapper said, and to have female guest artists at the festival.

"There are more young women involved in our jazz program" and having good examples for them is important, he said. He estimates that between 25 and 30 students in the program out of 80 are women.

***

During the daytime, the student ensembles will work with guest artists. Those workshops and classes are open to the public. They start off every day at 8:30 a.m., with improv classes at 11 and master classes at 1. They're taking place in the Music Building, the Dennison Theatre and the Masquer Theatre. If you're interested, stop by the music building for a schedule.

Then in the evening, the guest artists will perform in the Dennison Theatre. Along with them, audiences will hear a high school big band comprising the best sections from that day's classes. They'll also hear the best high school soloists and vocalists, and UM's big band with the guest artists.
Teresa Waldorf, who's well known in the local theater community for her comedy work, has stepped in to guest-direct plays at the Missoula Community Theatre before.

When she read the script for Joe DiPietro's play, "Over the River and Through the Woods," she called and asked if she could direct before they could hire anyone else.

In the script, Nick, a young man, heads to Hoboken, New Jersey, to break the news to his two sets of grandparents, both of Italian descent: He's lined up a job in Seattle. Over the course of several visits, some of his family tries to convince him to stay.

"I just know these people," Waldorf said of the grandparents. Her late husband, Rick Waldorf, grew up on the East Coast, where there were a lot of Italians in the family.

Directing the play, "I have had the pleasure of being in a room" with people who remind her of them, she said.

The characters are "funny, passionate and their whole lives revolve around family and food, and they're huge personalities."

Waldorf, who writes and directs original comedy shows with collaborator Rosie Seitz-Ayers, went straight into work on "River" from another show. In the fall, she directed the University of Montana's "Legally Blonde: The Musical," a sprawling production with a cast of 40 to a straight play with a cast of six.

Nick, played by MCT's facilities manager Ian Tooley, returns to New Jersey to visit his Italian grandparents and break the news of his move to Seattle.

The cast and crew had a short rehearsal process of only four weeks, so Waldorf relied on veterans for the bulk of the roles.

"I made the decision to case some very experienced actors here in town who are playing people older than themselves, but their character work is just beautiful and spot-on," she said.

Frank, is played by Mike Verdon of the Virginia City Brewery Follies and MCT's "The Complete Abridged Works of William Shakespeare," and Aida is played by Anne Marie Williams (MCT's "Steel Magnolias").

The other set of parents are Nunzio (Paul Ronaldo) and Salina Chatlain (MCT's "Abridged" Shakespeare, the Montana Repertory Theatre's "Broomstick.")

To sway Nick from moving, they invite over a potential girlfriend, Caitlin, played by Brit Garner (MCT's "Mary Poppins: The Musical"), whom Waldorf described as "perfect for the role because she's kind of spicy."

Unfortunately for the family members who support Nick's move, she fits in right away. For his part, Nick finds it disconcerting, Waldorf said, as he was ready to watch the attempt fail.

While it's a comedy, there are "very believable slices of life" at its heart.

"You laugh and you cry and then you want to have a cannoli," she said.

DiPietro's writing is smart and fast-paced, she said.

"He obviously has an amazing ear for how people really speak," she said, citing the way characters talk over one another, and how he relies on situational humor instead of capital-J jokes.

What's more, for a cast in western Montana the script amounts to an exercise in dialect work.

One set of grandparents grew up in Italy before coming to America, while the other were born and raised by Italian parents on the East Coast.

"They have very thick Hoboken Jersey dialects," Waldorf said. The cast has worked to ensure they're fleshed out and don't cross that fine line into caricatures.

"They're playing all these roles with dignity and love," she said.

The set and costume designs hearken back to the early 1990s, with period-appropriate pleated Dockers and two-tone button-up bowling shirts.

"We've really had fun bringing back that look," she said.

For a small play with a single set, "River" is "prop-heavy," she said.

The script centers on food at the dinner table, meaning the prop crew has to keep a steady flow of Italian dishes prepared back stage and ready for Aida to serve.

"It all revolves around that Italian kitchen and the idea that food is love. If I love you, I'm going to feed you. A lot. And food makes everything better," Waldorf said.
HELENA  Some seasonal outdoor workers like rafting guides or horse tour leaders might see a drop in pay if the proposal of a Laurel legislator is supported by the Montana Senate as it was in the House.

House Bill 496 would exempt employees of seasonal outdoor recreation providers from minimum wage and overtime laws. It passed the House last week on a 55-44 vote, with four Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.

Republican sponsor Rep. Vince Ricci said those rules dont make sense for some temporary jobs where businesses have to provide training to unskilled, often young, employees.

This is not intended to do away with minimum wage, Ricci told the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee during a Friday hearing. You value your employees and are not going to try to bring harm to them by reducing their wages.

Leaders from the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association said current law forces them to pay some workers more than they deserve given their inexperience and other benefits provided, such as room and board or tips. If the bill passes, the groups members suggested they could instead raise pay for veteran workers and would be freed from a pinch on profit margins that deters them from hiring more people.

President Pat Tabor, who owns several companies in the Flathead Valley, including one that provides horse rides in Glacier National Park, insisted the bill was not about greedy business owners looking to undercut workers, noting that market forces likely would set most wages higher than minimum wage anyway.

You cant pay people ridiculous wages. Nobody is going to come work for you for $2 an hour, he said.

Jobs on dude ranches or as outfitting assistants often dont fit the 9-to-5" model, he said, with long or irregular hours and often without clear delineation between when someone is working and when they are simply sitting around the campfire. Many employees, he said, see the experience as more valuable than monetary considerations.

They come in effectively with no training, no skill set. Most of them are kids that come in. Theyre looking for a wonderful time, to make a little money, Tabor said. It makes sense to pay them something right sized to the contribution theyre making.

He noted that some employers would like to pay an hourly or monthly rate rather than by the hour, which would be easier for all involved and might not change overall pay by much.

The Montana Department of Labor and Industry as well as the states largest union, opposed the bill.

I dont see any folks who would be directly impacted by this here in front of you saying, Reduce our wages, said Montana AFL-CIO Spokesman Chris Cavazos, comparing the proposal to a similar bill last session requested by religious summer camp workers. This is a bad idea.

Sen. Frank Smith, D-Poplar, echoed the Labor and Industry department, arguing the language was too broad and might inadvertently allow other types of seasonal businesses to pay workers such as carnival operators and those at ski resorts less than minimum wage.

Tabor said he would support amendments that would exempt businesses of concern, but warned that simply listing eligible employers could be overly restrictive. He said that is, in part, the problem with existing state and federal labor laws that recognize only some outdoor recreation businesses as amusement providers exempt from some rules. He said Riccis bill would complement reforms to federal law that national industry groups think are likely to be implemented this year.

Sen. Tom Facey, D-Missoula, was skeptical that the employees were as inexperienced as described by some supporters, and questioned whether commercial permits issued by the U.S. Forest Service or U.S. National Parks actually would prohibit them from hiring new employees because of caps on the number of trips they can provide.

Recreation companies already have enough flexibility under current law to defray some costs, such as by counting tips toward wages or charging employees for room and board, said Sen. Gene Vuckovich, D-Anaconda.

The committee took no action on the bill Friday. If approved, it would move to the full Senate for consideration. Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock, however, indicated he was not supportive of the idea but did not directly say whether he would veto the proposal if it landed on his desk.

"Exempting seasonal outdoor recreation workers from basic rights is harmful to the hard-working Montanans who support Montanas $6 billion thriving outdoor economy," Bullock spokeswoman Ronja Abel said in a written statement.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked Friday for the immediate resignations of 46 United States attorneys appointed by the Obama administration, including Michael Cotter, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana.

Replacing U.S. attorneys when a new administration comes in is not unusual, but giving an incumbent only an afternoon to vacate the office is.

Cotter told the Missoulian Friday he received a call from Dana Boente, acting U.S. deputy attorney general, shortly before 1 p.m. saying President Donald Trump was requesting he file a letter of resignation and leave the office by the end of the business day.

I will submit a letter as ordered by the president, he said.

What was surprising to Cotter is the abruptness of how soon he was told to leave office. Standard procedure in the past, he said, has been for a U.S. attorney to remain in place until a replacement has been confirmed to assist in the transition process.

Thats not happened in this case, he said, calling the move terribly short sighted and unprofessional.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores in a statement, As was the case in prior transitions, many of the U.S. attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice. The Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition. 

According to the Washington Post, Flores said that until new U.S. attorneys are confirmed, the career prosecutors in the nations 94 U.S. attorneys offices will oversee cases.

In Montana, Cotter said assistant U.S. attorneys, who are career employees and not political appointees, will manage the case work until a new leader is confirmed.

Cotter met with staff in the Helena office on Friday, but said hes discouraged that he wont have the time to make the rounds to the other offices in the state.

I am not going to be able to see and visit with people and say goodbye, he said. I will truly miss this job and working with the prosecutors and agents in the field.

Cotter was confirmed by the Senate in December 2009 after President Barack Obama nominated him on the recommendation of Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus, both members of the president's party. Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, will recommend candidates for the Montana job to his fellow Republican, President Trump.

Throughout his tenure, Cotter said he has placed an emphasis on prosecution of violent crime, a goal he said was shared under Obama's two attorneys general. On a conference call with Sessions on Wednesday, Cotter said he had reaffirmed that commitment.

Saying he had no specific plans for what he would do next, Cotter said hes likely to take some time off before deciding on his next move. He indicated he wants to continue to work to help people in Montana, and that he could see places outside the Department of Justice where he could have an impact on civil rights and voting rights issues.

Cotter said he felt he was leaving Montanas U.S. Attorneys Office in a good position, saying he worked hard to hire young staff and attorneys who are dedicated to their work. Originally from Miles City, Cotter worked as a private attorney in Great Falls and Helena before his appointment.

This is the best job that I have ever had. It came at a great time in my career and it was a capstone, he said. Its been a great ride, a fun ride.

A spokesperson for Daines' office said he is in the process of reviewing candidates, but had not made a decision as of Friday. Among the names being floated around the state is Yellowstone County District Court Judge Russell Fagg. Anyone interested in federal jobs should apply through greatagain.gov, then contact the senator's office.

The Senator wants to see as many Montanans in the administration as possible," Daines spokeswoman Katie Waldman said.
Winter isn't done with Montana yet.

Despite several spring-like weekends to lead off March, several inches of new snow fell Wednesday evening and through the day Thursday in a large swathe from Alberton to Anaconda.

Missoula got an additional 4.6 inches of snow as of Thursday evening, bringing the winter total to 63.5 inches.

More snow remains in the forecast for much of northwestern Montana on Friday.

Although Kalispell only received a half-inch of snowfall Thursday, National Weather Service Meteorologist Travis Booth said they're looking at up to eight inches Friday.

"As far as traveling, that might be the area to avoid if possible," Booth said.

The overnight snow dump caused two-hour delays for school starts in Florence, Victor, Corvallis and Hamilton on Thursday morning, according to the Ravalli County Sheriffs Office. Travel on Interstate 90 was reported very difficult between Garrison Junction and Butte, and was likely to remain so through much of Friday.

The Montana Highway Patrol's incident report logs exploded from around 6 to 9 a.m. with more than 20 crashes, mostly on I-90.

Montana Department of Transportation reported several road blockages, including a jackknifed semi truck blocking both westbound lanes on I-90 near Alberton and a two-vehicle crash south of Hamilton in the northbound lanes.

The National Weather Service predicted an arctic air mass moving down the Rocky Mountain Front and pushing through low areas to the west.

That has resulted in heavy snowfall in the Marias Pass, Polebridge and Essex areas along Glacier National Park. Forecasters have updated their winter storm watch to a full winter storm warning for the West Glacier, Flathead Valley and Tobacco Valley regions of northwest Montana. Lower elevations can expect 8 to 14 inches of accumulation, with up to 2 feet possible in higher elevations.

But an active Pacific jet stream flow will bring warmer air across the region on late Friday and Saturday, with highs in the mid-40s. That could turn lower elevation snowfall into a snow-rain mix, while mountain passes will keep accumulating snow.

The West-Central Montana Avalanche Center posted a High-Extreme warning Thursday morning for travel in the backcountry. It noted both wind slabs and storm slabs are increasing through Friday morning on an already unstable snowpack.

Snow lines are predicted to increase in all ranges by Friday morning bringing a snow-rain mix to (elevations) 5,500 feet and above, Center analyst Travis Craft said. This will add wet slabs and wet loose releases to our avalanche problems in the mid and low elevations in the west-central Montana backcountry.

The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center also warned of high avalanche danger in the mountains around Cooke City after about 2 feet of snow fell between Tuesday and Thursday morning. Winds were gusting up to 40 mph on the ridgetops and light snow was expected to continue to fall.

The recent storm started out cold and then got warmer, putting heavy snow on top of lighter density snow. Officials say continuing snow falling on the unstable snowpack will increase the avalanche danger.
The second-largest segment of recent refugees to Missoula comes from one of the worlds fastest-emptying nations.

That those attempting to flee Eritrea have to dodge troops at the border with shoot to kill orders only underlines the desperate, despotic conditions in the northeast African nation on the Red Sea.

A one-party government jealously guards the independence it gained from Ethiopia in 1991, two experts from the Horn of Africas war-torn region told a crowd of 200 Wednesday evening at the University of Montanas University Center Theater.

Eritrea has a program of national service whereby the Eritrean population less than 50 years of age are obliged to serve in the military, said Solomon Gofie, a visiting adjunct at UM from Addis Ababa University.

Though intended to last just 18 months, national service can extend for decades, at the discretion of the government.

Theres no way they get out, Gofie said. After doing the (military) services, the government orders them to construct boats, to engage in projects like mining or manufacturing. It means the chance of a young Eritrean man or woman going freely after the service is almost nil. Authorities have to decide when one has to be set free. The family and the community dont have any say on that.

Often, way into their 50s, theyre still being paid $10 a month for their service in the military, said Kimberly Maynard, a UM Mansfield Fellow in International Affairs who spent 20 years in conflict zones in northeastern Africa and works part time for the United States Agency for International Development.

Since winter arrived in November, Missoula has become home to seven Eritrean families who found refuge first in Ethiopia or the Mediterranean island of Malta after sneaking out of their home country. Theyre outnumbered only by those from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who began arriving in August.

Gofie said hopes were high for a progressive future when Eritrea, the former northern province of Ethiopia, earned its independence in 1991. Its status as a nation was officially recognized by the United Nations in 1993.

But Isaias Afwerki, the enigmatic guerrilla leader who became the nations first president, remains in power. Eritrea, a small nation with between five and six million people, has lost half a million of those people prohibited outmigration, Maynard said.

The country has never held an election nor ratified a constitution. A United Nations commission has said the system of forced labor and other alleged human rights violations may constitute crimes against humanity.

One of the challenges is the ability to get information out of Eritrea, Maynard said. There is no foreign aid organization, no humanitarian organization, and the media is very, very controlled. Its only internal media, theres no foreign media. So its hard to get numbers.

What knowledge the outside world acquires of conditions in Eritrea comes mostly from those whove fled, she said. But even that avenue is unreliable as their access to in-country information is limited. Many fear reprisals against family and friends back in Eritrea who helped fund their escape.

War with Ethiopia in 1998-2000 resulted in nearly 100,000 deaths on both sides and devastated the Eritrean economy. Although there was a peace accord at the end, that didnt solve the hostilities between the two countries, Gofie said.

Eritrean officials accuse the United States of siding with Ethiopia, and while theres a chief of mission in the U.S. embassy in the capital of Asmara, a position Natalie E. Brown assumed last fall, an ambassador is not allowed.

Just two weeks ago, and last week also, the Ethiopian government is accusing Eritrea of sending armored people across the border, Gofie said.

All this, he added, makes outmigration one of very few options for the hopeless.

Maynard traced the common routes those fleeing Eritrea take, to Ethiopia and Sudan initially, and later on to Malta, Israel, Italy and other European nations. The journey involves dangerous and costly sea travel. In October 2013, a reported 366 Eritrean migrants drowned off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. Most who survive end up in refugee camps, often separated from family and still facing uncertain futures.

A few navigate the vetting process and gain acceptance to the United States. Those whove landed in Missoula are by and large Christian Orthodox, and they're already sharing vestiges of a rich culture developed over thousands of years, which Maynard emphasized in her talk.

Its adding diversity and interest to our community, and most are heroes for having gone through what they went through, she said. But theyre also bringing so much, and the culture itself just offers so much.

By sharing such things as traditional foods, art and music in a sort of cross-pollination, the dignity of both cultures is realized, said Maynard.

I think thats when its a full welcome and theyre really now at home and living in Missoula.

Wednesday nights program, sponsored by UMs African-American Studies Program and Political Science Department, as well as Montana Model UN, was the third presented by Soft Landing Missoula in a series intended to foster understanding of the families arriving in Missoula through the auspices of international and United States refugee resettlement programs.
Flathead County received an anonymous donation of $1 million that will be put toward a new jail.

County administrator Mike Pence announced the donation was made Wednesday, and that the donor  who requested anonymity  said additional donations may be made in the future.

The announcement said the money will be used on a future county jail project. Last year, Flathead County started a $1.3 million expansion of its detention center that, like many in Montana, has been at or above capacity for several years.

Sheriff Chuck Curry has stated in the past the expansion wont be enough to alleviate jail overcrowding and a new facility still will be required at some point.

Pences announcement said the county has saved approximately $6 million for a new jail, and indicated voters will at some point be asked to approve a bond issue for additional funds.
The Montana Legislature is proposing to cut almost $100 million from Medicaid healthcare services. A majority of these cuts will impact essential personal care services for our fellow Montanans who are elderly or low-income adults, and children with disabilities.

The Department of Public Health and Human Services and the Governors Office are supporting cuts to these services basing their decision on unspent service dollars in 2016, which appear to be excess. What DPHHS is failing to consider is the staggering number of Medicaid recipients not receiving care because Medicaid reimbursement rates and wages for direct care workers are so low it isnt possible to hire nurses and caregivers. This leaves hundreds of children and adults who are authorized for services not receiving care; leaving funding unspent.

The Legislature also recently voted not to fund direct care worker wages. The failure to provide adequate and necessary funding for nursing and caregiving wages means we have tens of thousands of hours of unstaffed nursing shifts across the state. Not only do we have a 43 percent turnover in our nursing staff, a minimum of 10 additional full-time nursing staff would be required to fill the hours which have been authorized by the state to care for those in need.

While we will continue to provide services to the best of our ability within these funding and staffing constraints, we fear further funding restrictions will mean we cannot continue to provide the level or amount of nursing services required by children with disabilities in our state.

Consumer Direct Care Network was started in Montana in 1990 and has since expanded to 14 states across the U.S., providing Medicaid and Medicare services. Nowhere else in our network do we find the staffing shortages as egregious as here in Montana. We are committed to our home state, our employees here, and the caregivers and participants we serve.

Please contact your legislators today! Urge them to support increased direct care worker wages and vote against the Medicaid budget cuts proposed in House Bill 2.
Water is a scarce resource in our semi-arid state. The last few summers of drought conditions have highlighted that fact, and raised concerns for those of us growing crops and raising livestock in Montana.

Why then is our state Legislature so eager to create a law that worsens droughts impacts and may burden senior water right holders? House Bill 339 is moving quickly through the state Legislature and has us worried. It revives and modifies the exempt well loophole recently declared invalid by the courts, and gives developers a free pass to appropriate water without a water right.

In 1987, forward-thinking legislators provided sideboards to a provision in Montana state law that exempts small, individual wells from water use permits. Wells pumping less than 35 gallons per minute and no more than 10 acre feet per year were exempt. Importantly, projects with multiple wells drawing from the same aquifer had to get a water right permit.

But things went off the rails in 1993, when the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation specified in a rule that projects with multiple wells drawing from the same water source did not need a permit if they were not physically piped together. This loophole swung open the door to construction of large subdivisions, each home with its own exempt well drawing from the same source. No water right permit required. No consideration of drawdowns on ground water or nearby streams. No discussion of impacts to other permitted senior water users.

Since the implementation of that development-friendly rule, 75 percent of new homes built in Montana have been permit exempt and over 72,000 exempt wells have been drilled. Most of these wells were drilled in basins closed by the state to new water appropriationsplaces like Ravalli, Gallatin and Madison counties, where water supplies are limited and big subdivisions, some with hundreds of homes, are increasingly common.

The Montana Supreme Court closed the loophole in 2016 after years of litigation, because it flies in the face of the prior appropriation doctrine, which governs the distribution of water in this state. Unfortunately, HB 339 ignores this recent ruling, and codifies language that the court rejected. In other words, HB 339 cooks the poison right into the bill and leaves senior water right holders at risk.

The worst part of this bill is that senior water rights holders have no recourse if their wells or streams begin drying up. You cant object to, or make call on, an exempt well. This bill codifies special privilege for subdivision developers. It lets developers cut in line before other water users. Thats just not good policy.

HB 339 does attempt to compromise by requiring spacing between wells. The proposed spacing would allow up to 64 new exempt wells per square mile in basins that are closed to new appropriations, each pumping up to 10 acre feet per year. Thats 640 acre feetenough to irrigate over 400 acres. In the states other basins, HB 339 would double the number of exempt wells allowed. Farmers that irrigate 400 acres need a valid water right. Why should subdivisions be given a free pass?

In the bigger picture, HB 339 is reckless. Lets use hydrologic science, common sense and respect for senior water rights to ensure the best possible future for our water resources and the people, fish and wildlife that depend on them.

Water is precious. We need to conserve it for generations to come. Please contact your legislators and ask them to stop this irresponsible bill.
BILLINGS  The bison bull illegally shot and butchered by a Pryor man on a Fort Smith area ranch in 2014 was no ordinary bison.

The animal was prized for its bloodlines going back 25 years and a key member of a bison-calf livestock operation on the CH Land and Cattle Company, owned by Brandon and Tricia Siemion.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Watters of Billings sentenced Tyler Dale Medicine Horse Sr., 58, to two years of probation and ordered $8,000 restitution for his guilty pleas to two misdemeanor charges.

The bison was more than just a buffalo to the Siemion family, Watters told Medicine Horse.

The judge called the bison a magnificent animal with valuable bloodlines from years of breeding. The bull also was valued for the calves he produced in the livestock operation, she said.

For the Siemions to find the animal butchered with only its head and ribs remaining would have been a rather shocking discovery, dont you agree? Watters asked Medicine Horse.

Yes, he replied.

Watters also noted the emotional, physical and financial toll the bisons loss has had on the Siemions.

Referring to Medicine Horses American Indian heritage, the judge said she thought he would have respected the buffalo."

Yes, Medicine Horse responded.

The Siemions, who attended the sentencing hearing said afterward they were grateful the case was prosecuted and that Medicine Horse was held accountable. The Siemions raise bison for the food industry.

The bull that was shot was about 7 years old and could have been bred into his 20s, Brandon Siemion said.

The bull also was the fourth bison to be shot on his ranch, Siemion said. The three previous shootings several years ago were not prosecuted, he said.

Medicine Horse apologized. I know what I did was wrong, he told the judge. I am willing to pay for the animal they lost. I accept responsibility for my actions.

In addition to pleading to theft for the bison killing, Medicine Horse pleaded guilty earlier to illegally possessing a bald eagle carcass.

He faced a maximum one year in prison and a $100,000 fine on the theft.

Prosecutor John Sullivan recommended three years of probation and $8,000 restitution as part of a plea agreement.

Assistant Federal Defender David Merchant asked for two years of probation and the restitution.

Prosecutors said an investigation beginning in December 2014 led to the law enforcement finding an eagle carcass and bags of meat at the home of Medicine Horses estranged wife.

Medicine Horses wife told a game warden that her husband had texted her that his nephew had shot an eagle and that they had shot a bison that had run away from a bison ranch.

Two days later, Medicine Horse contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He gave a voluntary statement that he had found the bald eagle on the side of the road near Crow Agency and that someone had shot and killed it and removed its tail.

Medicine Horse also admitted to shooting a bison near Fort Smith about the same time as when he found the eagle, Sullivan said earlier.

Medicine Horse initially said he shot the bison by Wyola with a .243-caliber rifle, butchered it and took the meat to his brothers house for storage. Later, he admitted he lied about the location of the shooing and said he actually shot it near a ranch closer to Fort Smith and took investigators to the kill site.
BILLINGS  Self-care, mood mandalas, depression, suicide.

These words arent typically part of an art lesson, but they are in Tori Wardrips Creative Courage class at Lewis and Clark Middle School.

The school day is over when Wardrip sits at a table with 10 teenagers and asked them to weigh in on their emotional state. Each student is asked to give a number between 1 and 10 representing their emotional status. Most say theyre in the middle, around 5 or 6.

The session includes a five-minute guided meditation, then Wardrip invites students to finish their mood mandalas or construct a comfort box.

Like Wardrip, some of these students have battled clinical depression and suicidal tendencies. School counselors and teachers recommended students for the class, and others were hand-picked by Wardrip from her regular art classes. One Senior High freshman, who was in Wardrip's art class last year, commutes from her school.

The group invited me to participate one day last month. It is not an art therapy session, but rather a self-healing class guided by Wardrip. She is not a licensed therapist, but she is one of them  a survivor.

Wardrips expressive face and smiling eyes belie her nine-year struggle with depression. A college student, then a new teacher, Wardrip felt like she couldnt let the world know of her battle with mental illness. It wasnt until her first year of graduate work at the University of Montana that Wardrip revealed her depression and started to heal using art and mindfulness. Now, shes teaching those practices to her students.

"The most important thing is to care for yourself and your mental health," Wardrip said.

Its important to erase the stigma of depression. Thats why Wardrip and her students were so willing to have me join them. Im more used to writing about art, not mental health. But the students were so honest and willing to share their art and stories with me, it was easy to see how Wardrip's self-healing techniques are influencing them.

One student showed me a painting she produced during a happy moment, and another darker piece she made when she was hospitalized for depression.

At the beginning of the series of after-school classes, Wardrip read an excerpt from a book she wrote about her depression.

Students were stunned that their successful and talented teacher struggled with depression, too.

I am so proud of this program because I feel like I can finally give back to my kids; they kept me going for so long when I was at my worst, and now there is such a beautiful synergy and honesty that exists between us as we accept that it is completely OK to not always be OK, we are all human, Wardrip said.

Wardrip said the class usually runs an hour, but often students stay longer. Its a place of comfort and freedom, and even as a guest, I could feel that.

Remember, you dont feel better by feeling less, Wardrip told students, then asked them what that phrase means.

A student responded, If you keep bringing yourself down, youll start believing you dont deserve happiness.

From the hushed reaction, it was obvious that the comment hit home with students.

Later, students worked in their "place books."

"It's not a diary, it's a place to spill out whatever you want to spill out," Wardrip said. "They all have their own place book. They treat these books like their baby and carry them with them."

Wardrip said she never infringes on students' privacy and has not seen all of the students' place books. I was honored that a few students showed me theirs.

Eighth-grader Baxter Porter said he likes the program because it gives him the chance to step back and reflect on how hes feeling.

It's nice being able to hang out; Ive also more emotionally attached to my art, Porter said.

Another eighth-grader, Lilly Taylor, said art has become a form of communication for her.

Sometimes I draw things just for fun; sometimes I draw to get feelings out that I cant say out loud. I dont really care if it comes out good or not, I just want to express myself, Taylor said.

Eighth-grader Maliea Malloy said she enjoys the non-judgmental atmosphere in Creative Courage.

Im able to express myself fully in here. I feel like Im not judged on how I feel, Malloy said.

Chrissy Forslund, also an eighth-grader, said when she feels anxiety taking over, she calms herself by thinking of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Forslund showed me how she used flowers in her self portrait to symbolize areas of her life are just begging to open and those that are in full bloom.

I love this class. It has helped me a lot," Forslund said.

Wardrips honesty about her own clinical depression has helped her students address their mental health. That may encourage them to get the help they need to heal themselves before it's too late.

Is this art? Yes, it's the art of healing  something we could all use.
BILLINGS  Montana's two-year community colleges could take a hit if current state funding proposals pass the Legislature.

Recommended changes to the way appropriations are formulated for two-year institutions would mean fewer dollars going to Miles Community College, Dawson Community College and Flathead Valley Community College.

The Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education in the Montana Legislature discussed funding proposals before the break. House and Senate appropriations committees will consider a recommendation as part of the larger budget.

The community college funding formula is codified in Montana law, so changing it would mean altering the statute with a companion bill.

Leaders of those schools are pushing to keep the formula as is to avoid making up the losses by other means.

Certainly thats a big impact on the colleges," said Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas. "At our college, it would be about a 23 percent tuition increase.

The three schools serve about 1,900 full-time-equivalent students this semester, typically offering various associate degree and specialized vocational programs. As with some of Montana's larger institutions, the community college system has seen enrollment drops over the past decade.

The schools typically see more part-time students who work while taking classes. Karas said 70 percent of applicants to Flathead qualify for some sort of financial assistance.

The formula that determines funding from the Legislature has multiple factors, including the number of resident full-time students, the cost of education per student and a baseline budget from a previous year. Those factors mingle to form a projected total cost of education.

A percentage of that total cost, set by the Legislature, makes up the state's funding to community colleges. That had been set at 50.8 percent.

The subcommittee recommendation was to reduce that percentage to 47.05 percent. The end result is a cut similar to what Gov. Steve Bullock included in his budget proposal.

If the proposal goes through, the three colleges will receive about $2 million less than they would with the original formula and roughly $1 million less than in the previous biennium.

The proposed state funding is about $3.5 million for Dawson, $5 million for Miles and $17 million for Flathead, which has a substantially larger student population.

The schools also draw revenue from tuition and local levies.

While this might roil the community colleges, the smallest school in the system fears more cuts may come.

The other one that concerns Dawson directly is there was some early indication that Dawson was probably going to receive additional cuts," said Dawson Community College President Scott Mickelsen. "The word was even used, 'get ready because this is gonna be drastic.

Mickelsen sent out a press release ahead of its Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, asking the public to show its support. The release warned that the Legislature would "further reduce or eliminate" its state funding.

No bill has been drafted to outline proposed changes or additional cuts to the funding, but legislators are looking at options with Dawson. Enrollment at the college has dropped more sharply than that of its cohorts.

The school has 228 full-time-equivalent students this spring.

The number of students is going down at Dawson, and they're still being funded at normal levels, said state Rep. Alan Doane, R-Bloomfield.

Dropping state funding to Dawson for the biennium is not off the table, said Rep. Donald Jones, R-Billings, who chairs the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education.

He said that as Dawson's enrollment declined, it maintained a larger amount of state funding per resident student. The college also has the lowest resident tuition in university system.

When you look at their numbers and how they're going downhill, its an option, Jones said.

Another proposal has been to cap the amount of funding per resident student that makes it to community colleges, Jones said.

Those options will be discussed in appropriations committees as the Legislature resumes next week.
Heres a look at St. Patricks Day activities planned for the Butte area. Events are subject to change:

Butte

SONS BANQUET

The 109th annual Friendly Sons and Daughters of St. Patrick banquet and gathering is Thursday, March 16, at the Front Street Station, 800 E. Front St. Cocktails are at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7. The Friendly Sons and Daughters was founded in 1908 by Judge Jeremiah Lynch, Maurice English, and John H. OMeara. Guest speaker is Mark Schulte and Master of Ceremonies is Ned Ellingwood. Tickets are $25 and are available at Cavanaughs County Celtic, or contact Brendan McDonough at 406-498-3983, or Lori Maloney at 406-723-7771.

SHILLELAGH SHINDIG

The 45th annual Shillelagh Shindig, a benefit for the Butte-Silver Bow Democrats, begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 16, at the Mile High Events Center (Star Lanes), 4600 Harrison Ave. The evening includes live music by the Judy Powers Band and the Edmonton Pipers, a silent auction, liquor basket raffle, cash bar, and free snacks. A $5 donation at the door is requested.

ST. URHOS

East Side Athletic Club, 3200 Dexter, Buttes Finlanders host a traditional celebration Thursday, March 16. The crowning of St. Urho --Dean Petersen and Princess Urho Elena Nelson -- starts at 6 p.m. The Great Scots will perform at 5:30, 6:30 and 10 p.m. Anaconda Pipe and Drums will be at the club at 8:30 p.m. In addition, F.O.G., a rock and dance band, will perform from 7 p.m. to midnight. Details: 406-782-7539.

Uptown Butte, the celebration begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 16, with the Butte Central High School pep band playing until 6 p.m. Heavens Cake bakery will have a giant grasshopper cake (made out of cupcakes), and the Finnish throwing game of Molkky will be set up. St. Urho, Tommi Haikka, is crowned at 6 p.m. from a man-lift. After that, 2,017 balloons will be released. Local bands, King Friday and Mile High Voltage will play throughout the night, with bagpipers making random appearances. A pub crawl will include stops at the M&M, Maloneys, Acoma, Goodwill Tavern, Cinz, The Times and Party Palace.

SPECIAL MASS

To honor St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, a special Mass will be held at 8:30 a.m. Friday, March 17, at St. Patricks Church, 329. W. Mercury St.

PARADE

Butte's annual St. Patrick's Day parade starts at noon Friday, March 17, at Arizona and Granite, proceeding west on Granite to Montana, south to Park Street, and east to Arizona. No parking along parade route. Parade participants can print or submit entry forms online at www.butteamericafoundation The fee is $40 for general entries and $30 for non-profit entries.

LIVE MUSIC

Immediately following the parade, live music will kick off with the Heather Lingle Band in the Corette Black Carlson & Mickelson P.C. parking lot on West Park Street. The band will perform from 1 to 4 p.m. Next on stage will be Letter B, from 5 to 7 p.m.; and Voodoo Horseshoes, from 8 to 10 p.m.

FOR KIDS ONLY

The Butte YMCA, 2975 Washoe St., will host the T.A.S.C. (Teens Advocating a Safe Community) St. Patrick's Day party from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, March 17, for kids in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The event is free for all Active Teens in those grades. DJ Doc Savage will provide music. Swimming, games, food, and other activities add up to one huge night of safe fun. Details: 406-782-1266.

HANDING DOWN HERITAGE

Dublin Gulch and the Tiernan Irish Dancers will be celebrating the 14th annual Handing Down the Heritage show at 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 17, at the Butte Civic Center, 1340 Harrison Ave. The event is a great multi-generational St. Patrick's Day celebration the way Butte used to celebrate with food, beverage, music and dance. Admission is $13 for adults and $5 for students with children 13 and under free when accompanied by an adult. Tickets are available at Cavanaugh's County Celtic, the Civic Center and Tiernan Irish Dance families.

ST. PAT'S SUNDAY DANCE

Finish off the St. Patricks Day weekend with a dance from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 19, at the Elks Lodge, 206 W. Galena St., with the music of the Highlites (John Fox). Cover charge is $10 per person. Details: Frank Snyder, 406-494-6614 or 406-490-3329.

Anaconda

PARADE

Anacondas parade starts at 2 p.m. Friday, March 17, at the AOH Hall on East Commercial and includes the Anaconda AOH Pipes & Drums. This year marks the groups 30th anniversary of participating in the annual parade. Other features include the Irish Washer Womens drill team and floats. Anyone can be in the parade; lineup begins at 1:30 p.m. at the hall.

Deer Lodge

COMEDY NIGHT

Cutler Brothers of Deer Lodge will present its second annual St. Paddys Day comedy sketch show at 8 p.m. Friday, March 17, at the Montana Bar, 412 Main, Deer Lodge. The show will be in the brothers' usual SNL-styled sketch format with St. Patrick-themed skits. Admittance is free. Best dressed wins a prize. Details: 406-846-2895.

Melrose

DINNER, BUNCO

The Melrose School will host a St. Patricks luncheon at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 18, at 333 Hecla St., Melrose. The cost is $5. Following the luncheon, a game of Bunco, a social dice game, will be played. The cost is $10. Proceeds go towards repairs to the schools auditorium.

WHITEHALL

OLD-TIME FIDDLERS

The Montana Old-time Fiddlers will play their first jam of the year from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 19, at the Mint Bar, 1 E. Legion, Whitehall. In celebration of St. Patricks Day, a selection of Irish tunes will be played. The program is free, lunch will be available, and dancing is encouraged. Guitar, mandolin, and banjo players are welcome to participate  or just come in to hear old time fiddle music.
MISSOULA  Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked Friday for the immediate resignations of 46 United States attorneys appointed by the Obama administration, including Michael Cotter, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana.

Replacing U.S. attorneys when a new administration comes in is not unusual, but giving an incumbent only an afternoon to vacate the office is.

Cotter told the Missoulian Friday he received a call from Dana Boente, acting U.S. deputy attorney general, shortly before 1 p.m. saying President Donald Trump was requesting he file a letter of resignation and leave the office by the end of the business day.

I will submit a letter as ordered by the president, he said.

What was surprising to Cotter is the abruptness of how soon he was told to leave office. Standard procedure in the past, he said, has been for a U.S. attorney to remain in place until a replacement has been confirmed to assist in the transition process.

Thats not happened in this case, he said, calling the move terribly short sighted and unprofessional.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores in a statement, As was the case in prior transitions, many of the U.S. attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice. The Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition. 

According to the Washington Post, Flores said that until new U.S. attorneys are confirmed, the career prosecutors in the nations 94 U.S. attorneys offices will oversee cases.

In Montana, Cotter said assistant U.S. attorneys, who are career employees and not political appointees, will manage the case work until a new leader is confirmed.

Cotter met with staff in the Helena office on Friday, but said hes discouraged that he wont have the time to make the rounds to the other offices in the state.

I am not going to be able to see and visit with people and say goodbye, he said. I will truly miss this job and working with the prosecutors and agents in the field.

Cotter was confirmed by the Senate in December 2009 after President Barack Obama nominated him on the recommendation of Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus, both members of the president's party. Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, will recommend candidates for the Montana job to his fellow Republican, President Trump.

Throughout his tenure, Cotter said he has placed an emphasis on prosecution of violent crime, a goal he said was shared under Obama's two attorneys general. On a conference call with Sessions on Wednesday, Cotter said he had reaffirmed that commitment.

Saying he had no specific plans for what he would do next, Cotter said hes likely to take some time off before deciding on his next move. He indicated he wants to continue to work to help people in Montana, and that he could see places outside the Department of Justice where he could have an impact on civil rights and voting rights issues.

Cotter said he felt he was leaving Montanas U.S. Attorneys Office in a good position, saying he worked hard to hire young staff and attorneys who are dedicated to their work. Originally from Miles City, Cotter worked as a private attorney in Great Falls and Helena before his appointment.

This is the best job that I have ever had. It came at a great time in my career and it was a capstone, he said. Its been a great ride, a fun ride.

A spokesperson for Daines' office said he is in the process of reviewing candidates, but had not made a decision as of Friday. Among the names being floated around the state is Yellowstone County District Court Judge Russell Fagg. Anyone interested in federal jobs should apply through greatagain.gov, then contact the senator's office.

The Senator wants to see as many Montanans in the administration as possible," Daines spokeswoman Katie Waldman said.
Last night, at dinner time and with no warning, I received a call from Senator Steve Daines. A robotic voice greeted me announcing a "telephone town hall" and an aide introduced the Senator who launched into a campaign ad for Gorsuch saying that it's imperative to fill the Supreme Court seat that has been vacant for a year (per his choice to vote down all nominees introduced last year).

Since it was a one-sided unmoderated conversation, no one could interrupt him. The robot came back with directions to "vote" for or against Gorsuch; it felt like a charade. Nevertheless, I persisted, determined to have my voice heard, I punched in *3 to ask a question. Eventually, a real human cut into a Daines' diatribe about selling public lands. I asked the aide why Daines refuses to meet with Montanans in person and instead is choosing to ski with people who will pay 3K next weekend at Big Sky Resort. I was thanked and sent back to the "meeting" where Daines flippantly spoke about how "we" have to clean up Butte while he defended his vote for Pruitt -- amazing!

Then the phone line went blank. I thought there was just dead air so I waited patiently for the voices to return. After a few more seconds, I held my phone away from my ear in disbelief -- Daines was gone. Was I dropped from the conversation? I tried to call Daines back, it went straight to voicemail.

I don't trust these telephone town hall meetings. I don't trust the numbers that Daines is throwing out about the participants of the "meetings." I'm not even sure the "telephone town hall" is actually taking place at the moment that I'm on the line. How does this method build trust and how exactly does this constitute governing? Why does Daines make the time for people who will pay huge sums of money to meet with him but he refuses to meet with his constituents in person?

Perhaps instead of spending St. Patrick's Day at a private resort, Daines needs to put on his best green hat and come to Butte and spend some time with his constituents and ask us about the EPA, public lands, and the ACA.

Senator Daines, where are your priorities? Montana doesn't need a long distance Senator who only has time for the super rich.

-- Meagan Thompson, Butte
MUSCATINE, Iowa  As a film crew began checking microphones and setting up cameras, Marvin Krieger said he was looking forward to the exposure Muscatine will soon receive.

Krieger Auto Group will appear in a new show, "Volo, House of Cars," which is expected to air in June on the History Channel, and Accord Productions visited Muscatine to film on Wednesday and Thursday.

The show follows Brian Grams and his brother, Jay, of Volo Auto Museum, as they travel the country searching for classic cars, a search that brings them to Muscatine and the Krieger family.

The brothers are looking for a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K in the show, rumored to have been sold in the area for about $12 million.

Marvin, 91, founded Krieger Auto Group in Muscatine in 1956 with his father, Joseph. His sons, Doug and Mark, and now his grandsons, John and Joey, have been part of the family business.

Marvin said being on the show will be good publicity for the family's business, and featuring Muscatine on national television will introduce people to the city.

"I think it's great for the city, more than anything else," he said.

Joseph Krieger, Marvin said, immigrated to the United States from a German community in Poland in 1906 when he was 16 years old.

"His brother was his sponsor  in those days you had to have a sponsor, you had to have a job and you had to have a place to live," Marvin said. "His brother sponsored him and he had a job in the button company here in Muscatine."

Joseph went to work in coal mines in Iowa and Canada, and returned to Iowa when World War I began to work at the Rock Island Arsenal, Marvin said.

After the war, he went to school in Council Bluffs to learn how to be a mechanic before moving back to Muscatine to work.

"Then he met a guy by the name of Charles Henderson, he was a mechanic there also," Marvin said.

They opened a garage together, Henderson's Garage, on Mississippi Drive.

"And one day a guy came up and said 'Why don't you sell Chevrolets?'" Marvin said.

They added different brands of cars over the years, buying out dealerships to build the business into what it is today.

The Volo Auto Museum is also a fourth-generation family business, which John said he felt made the connection with the show stronger.

"Their business is four generations, ours is four generations, so that tied right," John said. "And then with the history of it, it allowed us to bring in the whole town of Muscatine and what it's about."
MUSCATINE, Iowa  A Muscatine man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder in connection with the stabbing of a man at AmericInn Wednesday.

Patrick Johnson, 41, has been charged with attempted murder, a class B felony. He is accused of stabbing Robert William Butler, 43, with a six-inch knife after an altercation between the two, according to the criminal complaint.

Butler went to the emergency room at UnityPoint Health-Trinity Muscatine Wednesday night with multiple stab wounds, according to a news release from the Muscatine Police Department.

The emergency room reported Butler's condition to the police around 9:57 p.m. He was treated and then transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City.

Johnson's preliminary hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Monday, March 20 in Muscatine County District Court.

Anyone with information can call the Muscatine Police Department at 563-263-9922, ext. 614. Callers may remain anonymous.

Emily Wenger
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Tension mounted Thursday night at the Muscatine City Council meeting between residents, council and the mayor as the date and time of a hearing on Brodersons possible impeachment was set.

The council unanimously approved a hearing to begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, March 23, but not before a couple impassioned speeches from members of the public.

Although advised by City Administrator Gregg Mandsager to answer no comment to residents questions, Councilman Santos Saucedo responded to Nathan Baker, of Muscatine, after Baker said the recent actions of the council were making Muscatine a statewide laughing stock. Baker said that the mayor would not have retained her seat through the next election in November, and the council should have waited instead of trying to impeach her.

"I wouldnt vote for her again except for that you guys have created this problem," he said. "The right thing would be to let her finish her term, and for you guys just to do your thing."

Saucedo was visibly upset after Bakers remarks. Saucedo said he was doing what he felt was right and promised that the reasons behind the charges filed for the mayors removal would be revealed at the March 23 hearing.

"All the information is going to come out," Saucedo said.

Mayor Broderson asked Councilman Bob Bynum, Mayor Pro Tem, to read the motion to set the hearing. She listened calmly and then said simply, Thanks, Bob.

After Bynum made the motion, the mayor asked if anyone in the audience would like to speak. Council members corrected her and said a second was needed on the motion before comments. Saucedo seconded.

Those listening in council chambers shifted in their seats and muttered to each other in anticipation as the first resident got up to speak. Max Kauffman, of Muscatine, asked if the council had an estimate of the cost of the removal process to taxpayers.

Broderson said she did not have an estimate.

Kauffman also accused Mandsager of not being liked in his previous job, and Councilman Allen Harvey spoke.

"The city administrator is not at particular issue at this time," he said, but Kauffman continued.

He likened the council to high school cheerleaders.

"Like one popular cheerleader is telling the other cheerleaders, 'If you talk to that cheerleader I wont like you and youre not going to be popular like me,'" Kauffman said.

Councilman Philip Fitzgerald said he had spoken to Kauffman before on the phone, and like that time found his comments "irritating."

"You dont know for a fact," Fitzgerald said.

As Kauffman continued, Fitzgerald said he disagreed with him, which Kauffman said he could do.

"But you dont have the right to smirk at me with your fellow councilmen while I'm speaking, thats disrespectful sir," he said.

Baker also accused Mandsager of not being liked in his previous job, and said as he travels for work the perception of his hometown has changed.

"This process is making us a laughing stock of the entire state," he said.

Bynum called point of order after Baker spoke, citing Roberts Rules of Order, because Baker had spoken longer than the allowed three minutes.

"The mayor has discretion, go ahead," Broderson answered.

After Baker finished speaking, Bynum continued, calling the question, which, according to Roberts Rules of Order, would cease discussion on the motion.

"I understand what you're saying Bob, however, the mayor does run the meeting and has discretion to change the meeting," Broderson said.

Bynum noted she "did not cease."

Baker stepped down, and those listening shifted in their seats and muttered to each other. Broderson asked for a role call vote, and the motion was passed with all ayes.

In other business:

The Mississippi Drive Corridor Project bids were rejected, and the project will be re-bid. The process, Mandsager said, will hopefully be completed in about a month.
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 []
TOKYO  Japan is ending its peacekeeping mission in troubled South Sudan after five years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday.

Abe said Japan would not renew the mission after the current rotation returns in May. The 350-person team has focused on road construction.

The team, which arrived in South Sudan in November, was Japans first with an expanded mandate to use force if necessary to protect civilians and U.N. staff. The Japanese militarys use of force is limited by the post-World War II constitution.

Abe said Japan would continue to assist South Sudan in other ways such as with food and humanitarian support, and will keep some personnel at the U.N. peacekeeping command office.

As South Sudan enters a new phase of nation-building, we have decided that we can now put an end to our infrastructure building efforts, Abe told reporters.

The announcement came amid concern about the safety of the Japanese troops in South Sudan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, however, denied that led to the decision.

The decision is a result of our comprehensive considerations and not because of the deteriorating security situation, he said.

Ateny Wek Ateny, a spokesman for South Sudan President Salva Kiir, said he was not aware of the Japanese decision. Japanese officials said Tokyo has notified both South Sudans government and the United Nations of its decision.

Japanese defense officials have recently come under fire over their reluctance to explain the deteriorating security situation in the area where Japans troops operate. The peacekeepers daily log from last July, which the defense ministry initially said had been destroyed, described nearby clashes and concern about becoming embroiled in the fighting. Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has repeatedly refused to acknowledge any local combat action.

Opposition lawmakers and peace activists have accused the government of trying to cover up the worsening safety situation. They say the government violated Japans war-renouncing constitutional principles by continuing with the mission despite the nearby fighting.

Japans earlier missions in South Sudan and other areas, including Golan Heights and Cambodia were limited to post-cease-fire assistance and noncombat roles.

The departure of the Japanese peacekeepers is a setback for international support of South Sudans government. In a speech last month, Kiir singled out Abe and Japan for continued support to the government and people of South Sudan.

Hopes were high that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011. But the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 between forces loyal to Kiir and those loyal to his former vice president.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 has failed, and clashes last July between the two forces set off further violence, killing tens of thousands of people and forcing 3.1 million to flee their homes. An estimated 100,000 people are experiencing famine, and 1 million others are on the brink of starvation.

The U.N. Security Council decided in August to send 4,000 more peacekeepers after clashes the previous month killed hundreds in South Sudans capital, Juba. Some progress was mentioned in a U.N. secretary-generals report this week.
The American Canyon Police are asking for help searching for a man suspected of robbing the US Bank on American Canyon Road on Wednesday night.

The man made off with some cash after demanding money from the bank via a note he gave to a teller, police said. The note claimed he had a gun and two pipe bombs. The man left the bank and no one was injured.

Police described the man as a black male age 30-35 with short or no hair, between 6-feet and 6-feet-4 and weighing between 180 and 190 pounds. He was wearing black clothing with a red flannel shirt underneath, dark sunglasses and a black hat.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact Napa County Sheriffs Investigators at 707-253-4591.
Discussions about building housing on Napa Valley Colleges empty northwest corner have bubbled up and ebbed for more than a decade. But the schools superintendent hopes to put those aspirations back on track, as soaring wine-country rents place students under increasing financial pressure  or force more of them into lengthy commutes.

A proposal outlined by Ronald Kraft would open up a vacant stretch near the Napa River for a campus village, a rental development offering more affordable housing for up to 200 NVC students, staff and faculty than they could find almost anywhere else in the county.

The project, which would join about a dozen at other two-year institutions in California, could offer relief to a student body of which nearly a third suffers housing insecurity, according to school leaders  couch-surfing or otherwise lacking a fixed address due to inflated rents.

As two-year schools increasingly receive older students trying to build or change a career  and without a parents home to return to  NVC will need a way to attract them and make it possible for them to see their education through, Kraft told the schools board of trustees Thursday.

The nontraditional 20-to-29-year-old student? That is now the traditional student, he said. Its no longer about the 17-to-20-year-old who lives at home. Its precisely these mid-20s people who are working, who are trying to figure things out.

The on-campus village is one of eight areas targeted for development as part of a master plan NVC is preparing to guide its next 20 years of expansion. Key to the schools continued growth is a refuge from punishing rents that have led nearly a third of its estimated 8,000 students to commute from homes outside the county  or in some cases to find a bed or couch as best they can.

Concepts the NVC board reviewed last August included a cafe, grocery store, bookstore and fitness gym, clustered to nurture activity at all hours and tie resident students more firmly into campus life, close to the schools support services.

How new housing will be funded  and by whom  remains unclear, however.

To insulate NVC from direct responsibility for building and operating a complex, Kraft suggested partnering with a private developer on a 30- to 40-year contract. Such an arrangement would allow the sale of tax-exempt bonds on the private market without forcing the school to turn to voters, and the property would revert to NVCs control once the contract ends, according to Kraft, who said rent revenue would cover the bond payments.

But the idea of tying student or faculty housing to a developer raised doubts for some trustees who foresaw conflicts between NVCs mission of offering cheaper housing and a builders need to turn a profit.

How does that affect affordability for students? asked Rafael Rios. If the developer needs his minimum percentage, can we still do lower-than-market rents for the apartments?

So after 30 years, do we get it back just as its starting to fall apart? said Amy Martenson. Does the developer get his profit on the top before it falls apart?

Theres nothing to skim, replied Kraft, saying the earmarking of most units for students and faculty would set it apart from conventional apartment projects. For rental income in a (nonprofit), our best interest and the developers best interest is to keep rents low. You dont want a bad project, but you want a lean project.

NVC will likely recruit potential private partners by late April to review their qualifications, and launch a study to gauge the demand for on-site housing, Kraft said. The study could look into other funding strategies, such as having the colleges nonprofit foundation take charge of a fundraising campaign.
A 40-year-old Vallejo man was arrested in American Canyon on Wednesday morning after allegedly grabbing a womans dog and threatening to kill it, according to American Canyon Police.

When police arrived at the scene at 2 Eucalyptus Drive at about 10:10 a.m., two women said that they were just walking their dogs when they stopped at the address to check out the paintball business, police said. The manager of the business, later identified as Zoroaster Delia, approached the women, accused them of trespassing and told them to leave, identifying himself to them as Jesus, police said.

Delia then swung a knife at one of the women who was holding a dog, cutting the dogs leash, taking the pooch from her arms and threatening to kill it, police said.

The woman pulled her dog back and headed to her car. Delia allegedly got into his car and as he drove away, he swerved the vehicle toward the woman, nearly hitting her. The woman had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck, police said.

When police arrived, Delia said that he had shown the knife and cut the leash to make the point that the women were trespassing.

Delia was arrested and booked at the Napa County jail on suspicion of brandishing a weapon and assault with a deadly weapon.
Mascot is badge of honor

The Napa High Indians mascot is a badge of honor and not racist. Our own military uses Indian names with respectful distinction by naming its helicopters.

The Army in the 1950s, while developing this new technology, envisioned the helicopter as a fast, mobile, stealthy machine using terrain and vegetation to an advantage similar to the (Indian) Tribes. Shortly thereafter, the Armys helicopter name became the H-13 Sioux, the iconic Korean War aircraft most famous for its appearance in the television show M*A*S*H*.

Helicopter names such as Shawnee, Choctaw and Chickasaw soon followed. In 1959, the Army introduced the UH-1 Iroquois, although aircrews would refer to it as the Huey. In the 1960s, however, the Army briefly broke with tradition when it introduced called Cobra and Chinook.

Nevertheless, some Native American leaders were actually taken aback that the new aircraft were not named for a Native American tribe. Though Army officials broke with tradition in an effort to not offend Native American tribes, the gesture actually backfired. Quickly, the Army revived the tradition, with the, AH-56 Cheyenne, OH-58 Kiowa, AH-64 Apache, RAH-66 Comanche and Blackhawk.

Army Material Command actually gets approval from Native American tribes before naming its aircraft. Some Native American tribes dont just approve of the Armys naming convention, they give their outright blessingliterally.

In 2012, Native American leaders were on hand to bless two new LUH-72 Lakota helicoptersnamed for the Indian nation that handed the Army one of its most notorious defeats at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. The two helicopters, christened Eagle and Turtle for prominent Native American symbols, carried honor feathers in their cockpits, gifts from the tribe to the North Dakota Army National Guard.

Napa Highs and our Armys naming convention isnt about a whitewash nor ignorance of history. Its not racism. Its respect.

Jim Nagel

Napa
We met at a local business in Napa County that caters to the Hispanic community. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing a shirt with the word California scrolled across it. The day before she was willing to do the interview using her real name, but after hearing about the arrest of 22-year-old Daniela Vargas, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after speaking at a news conference in Jackson, Mississippi, she thought it best that she keep her identity to herself.

She isnt a criminal, but she is undocumented.

The woman, now 31, left Mexico to come to the United States a decade ago with her 4-year-old son. It was July 2007. She had a tourist visa.

My mother had just died of cancer, she said in Spanish. Her home life in Mexico was difficult and her mother had provided a lot of the support for the family. She left school, where she was studying business administration, and moved to Napa to give her son a better life.

She stayed with family temporarily and secured a job working at a store within a week. She still works there.

Now, a single mother of two, she said that she is afraid of being separated from her children. Like many undocumented immigrants, she said she doesnt feel safe anywhere.

We dont have confidence in opening our doors, taking our kids to the park, or going to the store. Instead, she said, she tries to stay under the radar.

Shes in the process of making plans for her children just in case. If she does get deported, she said, she wouldnt want her children to grow up in Mexico.

Theres nothing for them there, she said. They were raised here and this is their country.

When Donald Trump became president, she said she felt betrayed  like shes been living a lie.

Theres always been discrimination (but) hes allowed discrimination to be more freely expressed, she said. His approach to undocumented immigrants is very harsh. He has put a sticker on each of us  every one of us is being generalized as a criminal.

Although she said she knew there was implicit racism before, now it seems more blatant and accepted, even in Napa. On social media and in the opinion pages of the Register, she said people are writing nasty things about immigrants.

Its sad because we want them (the Trump administration) to see us as hardworking people, to see that we have dreams and that we came here to better ourselves, she said. If there were a way for her to get citizenship, she said, she would absolutely do it no matter the difficulty or cost.

Parents are scared of being deported and children are worried that theyre going to come home from school and that their parents wont be there, said Juan Lopez of Latinos Unidos del Valle de Napa y Solano.

That very scenario happened this week in Napa.

Melissa Patrino, executive director of Puertas Abiertas, said that a woman came into the center this week because her husband was picked up by ICE after dropping his daughter off at a Napa school. As of Wednesday, the man was at an ICE detention center in San Francisco.

Since the beginning of February, Patrino said four other families have come to the center with deportation stories. As far as she knew, each individual was targeted by ICE. Patrino didnt know whether the individuals had criminal convictions or not.

If ICE has you on a list, its very difficult to not go with them, she said.

Many families in the community are terrified, Patrino said. Under Obama, she said, there was a clear directive and people knew who was being targeted, but the Trump administration is different. People feel like theyre a target even if theyre documented. The immigrant community is feeling uncertain about the future, she said.

Paul Sloderbeck, a staff attorney at the International Institute of the Bay Area in Napa, said that theres been a definite uptick in the number of calls his office is getting from people wanting to apply for green cards, and even naturalized citizens wanting to know if it is safe to travel.

Its a fear I havent seen before, he said. If youre a naturalized citizen, youre not at risk of being denaturalized.

We feel like he (Trump) is going to finish democracy in the United States, Lopez said. Lopez said it seems like the Trump administration is trying to separate people, but in response the Latino community is becoming more united.

This administration is stereotyping our community, saying that we are the worst of the worst but we are not, Lopez said. The economy needs immigrant labor, especially in Napa County where immigrants work in agricultural and hospitality industries.

Wall or no wall, he said, people are going to continue coming here.

Daniela Gamez was 13 years old when she came to Napa with her family on a tourist visa. The family had visited the area before and Gamez was under the impression that they were only staying for a year while her father was able to get back up on his feet financially.

That year came and went.

We overstayed our visa, said Gamez, now 22. When she found out that they werent going to be going back to Guanajuato, Mexico, she was sad.

It was really hard to get used to this environment, she said. I wasnt happy with that decision but now I wouldnt go back.

Gamez feels like Napa is her home now. She hasnt been back to Mexico since she left.

I havent been back because of the risk, she said. My dad is actually there now so I havent seen him in almost five years. Her father hasnt been allowed back in the U.S. since authorities realized he had overstayed his visa. The two talk over the phone and on Facebook.

Although she knew that her family wasnt here illegally, Gamez said she didnt realize what that meant for her until she turned 16. Everyone (at school) was asking if I was getting my drivers license  back then I couldnt  and I lied  thats when it hit me that I was different, that I had limitations, she said. They were all getting their permits and I couldnt.

Until then she tried to ignore her status. Gamez said her fellow students didnt know that she was undocumented, that it was something people are told to hide.

I guess when youre younger youre a little more embarrassed about your status, as I grew up I started getting help from organizations in the community  that empowered me to be myself, Gamez said. I realized that with my status I could be powerful and I can help people.

Even though its risky Im not afraid to share my story, she said. Although she doesnt qualify for federal protection for immigrants brought into the U.S. as children and is unable to get a work permit, Gamez has put in a lot of hours trying to improve her community and help others.

Gamez has been involved with various organizations focused on helping the Latino community in Napa County, at Napa Valley College and at University of California in Davis, where she is studying communications.

I do worry, Gamez said. Im worried about what can happen. Im worried about our future  my dreams, my moms dreams, my sisters dreams are being threatened.

Gamez said that she hopes for immigration reform so that she can become a citizen and be a teacher here in Napa.

I have hope for a better community where everyone can have equal rights and equal treatment, Gamez said. I hope that the higher up people  I hope that they realize how valuable undocumented people are.

Laura Lopez, 29, said that her parents crossed the border from Guanajuato, Mexico illegally when she was only a baby. Her siblings were all born here and her parents were able to become citizens in 2012. Lopez is the only one in her family who remains undocumented.

Every time they hear the news they want to check back in to see how it affects me, she said. Her parents are worried, she said. But she isnt panicking yet.

Its one thing to have executive orders signed, its another to see what the agencies actually do, she said.

Lopez, a graduate of Vintage High School, is now studying law at Penn State's Dickinson School of Law.

Im trying to take a calm approach to it because the community can quickly come into a panic, she said.

Her plan is to come back to the Bay Area, practice immigration law and do outreach.

Ive been in this country for almost 28 years, with Deferred Action (DACA) I have legal presence, Lopez said. Shes been waiting to become a citizen since her parents became citizens more than a decade ago and between backlogs and quotas, she anticipates that she has a long time to wait.

I worry that this could go nowhere and I could spend my whole adult life waiting, Lopez said. She had hoped that after graduation she could go to Mexico to visit her grandfathers grave as a tribute, but if she left the country, she said, shes afraid she might not be able to get back in.

Theres just so much unknown still under the current administration, she said.

In the meantime, local organizations are encouraging people to know their rights and be prepared.

Undocumented individuals can prepare themselves by having all their paperwork, including character letters, in a safe place that can be accessed by a relative in case they are detained, Sloderbeck said. The paperwork can help someone apply for relief in immigration court, he said. Parents with school age children can prepare by filling out a caregivers affidavit and filing it at the school, that way, if a parent is detained, someone else can pick their kids up from school, he said.

ICE agents usually will visit someones home or workplace early in the morning between 5 and 9 a.m., Sloderbeck said. If ICE comes to your door, you dont have to answer unless they have a warrant signed by a criminal court judge. Sloderbeck said that if you dont have proper documentation, you have the right to remain silent.

Both the Napa Police Department and Napa County Sheriffs Office have said that they do not enforce immigration laws and that immigration is a federal responsibility, so victims and witnesses to crimes should feel comfortable reporting to local authorities.

The Napa County Department of Corrections will notify ICE if they get a computer hit on an individual, however they will not delay or hold anyone unless an immigration warrant is received, said Director Lenard Vare. If ICE issues a warrant, then the individual would be notified of the new charge.

Vare said that the jail has not processed an ICE warrant in quite some time.
After spending a few days tasting wine in Central Virginia, I was already impressed by the quality of wines being produced by winemakers in both the Monticello and Shenandoah Valley AVAs.

Aromatic yet acidic viognier, velvety cabernet francs, as well as albarino, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, petit manseng, petit verdot are all being made with success. And, while anyone who had tasted Virginia wine in the past might remember thinking, Ill drink the white wines, but the red winesnope, that is changing.

There is a quality revolution happening in the mid-Atlantic and that was the theme this year at USBevX, a conference and trade show dedicated to helping drive the quality reputation for eastern and midwest wine and beverage producers, when they hosted the second annual conference in Washington, D.C. in February.

Winemaker Gabriele Rausse, who has been called The Father of the Modern Virginia Wine Industry, was one of the first to plant vinifera in Virginia. He came to Virginia from Italy and was quoted in the feature documentary Vintage: The Winemakers Year as saying that when he arrived in 1976, it was a dark landscape, a somewhat primitive situation and he did not have much hope. But, Everybody was against it so what can be better than the challenge of what they say you cannot do.

Today, there are 250 wineries in Virginia; there are 50 producers on Long Island; there are 75 wines in Maryland. There is wine in Ohio, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania and beyond.

It is a challenge to make wine in these places as compared to the West Coast. Weather plays a large part in the production of wine. The weather can be extremely hot; there can be hurricanes, snow storms, deer and insects. As David Pollak of Pollak Vineyard said in a tone of serious humor, It is no more challenging to make wine here than anywhere else, except for the frost, humidity and hurricanes.

But, as many of the winemakers I listened to at the conference said, you can be one of many in California or Europe but in these regions, you can be one in an area that has an open future.

Four winemakers from different states shared their insight into the evolution of quality wine at the conference:

 David Collins, winemaker and co-owner, Big Cork Vineyards, Maryland

After studying horticulture at Virginia Tech, David Collins began his career at Loudoun County Virginias first winery, Willowcroft Vineyards, in 1987, followed by being winemaker at Breaux Vineyards in 1997. In 2011, Collins partnered with Randy and Jennifer Thompson to open Big Cork Vineyards in Washington County, Maryland. Today they have 30 acres planted primarily to vinifera, with plans to plant more.

In the beginning, everyone made wine on the East Coast modeled after California but there was very little to guide them. Collins notes some pivotal points that shifted winemaking in the mid-Atlantic.

One was the Virginia Farm Winery Bill in 2006 that enabled more wineries to open. Another significant moment was the publication of the book Sunlight into Wine by Dr. Richard Smart.

It revolutionized winemaking by advocating for canopy management. At this time, wineries shifted to a cordon system with catch wire and with the vines vertical, the fruit started to get sun. No longer were they picking unripe fruit at 19 brix.

We understood clones and rootstock and the vineyards got better, Collins said. Then came agritourism, which drove the market and interest in wine. And finally, the anything-but-chardonnay movement opened door to new white wines, such as viognier, sauvignon blanc and reisling.

 Joyce Rigby, vineyard and winery consultant at Rigby Viticulture, North Carolina and instructor of enology and viticulture at Harrisburg Area Community College, Pennsylvania

Involved in eastern viticulture for more than 35 years, Rigby has worked with vineyards and wineries in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Maryland.

Rigby, an industrial engineer, married a winemaker in 1982 and moved to Virginia.

There were 12 wineries at the time, and now there are 200. After two decades, Rigby and her husband moved to North Carolina. In 2002, there were only 12 wineries in North Carolina and they were going through the same growing pains as Virginia had the previous decades. But, the knowledge and insight she gained in Virginia was applied to North Carolina. Rigby moved to Pennsylvania in 2011 but is back in North Carolina consulting on-site evaluation, viticulture, winery design and business planning, as well as teaching viticulture.

When Rigby started, she said, pruning, time and harvesting were our plan. We did the best we could but we did not know anything. Over three decades, the regions have evolved and now they do much more than tying vines up for canopy management. And because of the better management in the vineyard, they have been able to eliminate pyrazines (green pepper, herbaceous notes) from the wines.

 Richard Olsen-Harbich, winemaker, Bedell Cellars, Long Island, N.Y.

A pioneer in Long Island winemaking, Olsen-Harbich started in 1981. After graduating from Cornell with a degree in plant science, Olsen-Harbich went to work in the Finger Lakes at Hermann J. Wiemer before moving to the east end of Long Island and helping to establish that region. He wrote the petition for the North Fork of Long Island appellation in 1986. Long Island currently has 2,400 acres of vinifera planted.

In the beginning, many thought Long Island was not a suitable region for vinifera. There was a flurry of planting vines in the late 1970s and 1980s, but they did not have a great understanding of plant material and root stock.

There was information from California and Europe but no guide book on what to do. Olsen-Harbich said, The only thing we have in common with California is that we both speak English.

The evolution in the production of wine on Long Island has been one of understanding our region, soils, types of vines that grow in our terroir and embracing it, Olsen-Harbich explained. It has been a learning process. Europe went through it; California went through it; we are going through it.

Long Island looks more to France, Germany and Northern Italy for insight. We are not reinventing the wheel, Olsen-Harbich said. We are taking information and varieties from the old world and putting them here and learning how they work. We are not the only people with climatic issues. It is a learning curve.

Known for the lower alcohol, crisper, highly aromatic wines, Long Island has taken a while to reach the point that they are at. But, they are doing it and getting better every year.

Maybe we are hardened to it but we dont freak out when we have rain in spring, Olsen-Harbich said. My take on the weather in the East is that we have cold winters and sometimes warm ones, sometimes frost and sometimes spring rains. We generally have a dry harvest season and then it starts raining around Thanksgiving, followed by snow and then the cycle repeats. Disease comes with rain but we understand what is coming and how to take care of it. We have it figured out.

 Jim Law, owner, Linden Vineyards, Virginia

Jim Law owns Linden Vineyards, located on the Virginia Blue Ridge. He purchased the farm in 1983. He did not buy the land based on the soil types because little was known then. He observed the microclimates, the high altitude and the cool air.

The soil part is harder to figure out, Law said. Originally, he had cabernet sauvignon planted on silky clay and merlot on granite. But, on the second generation of planting, they planted the cabernet on granite soils and merlot in the silky clay, finding the right conditions for each grape.

Law is focused on making the best wine possible in his region. I love what I do and will do it until I cant anymore, he said. Law has mentored many people, and today is one of the most influential winemakers in Virginia.

The Mid-Atlantic region is a challenging place to make wine. But, with hard work and todays know-how, there is a quality revolution happening in the Mid-Atlantic wine regions.
Blue Origins new engine isnt good enough for some congressmen, Ars Technica

At the end of February, two US representatives, Mike Rogers of Alabama and Mac Thornberry of Texas, decided to push a little harder. On February 28, they sent a letter to Lisa Disbrow, the acting secretary of the US Air Force, and James MacStravic, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics. In addition to reiterating a desire that ULA continue to fly a second rocket, the Delta IV Heavy, the letter urges the Pentagon officials to be skeptical about the BE-4 engine.  Although both Rogers and Thornberry are members of the House Armed Services Committee, it is difficult to avoid ascribing at least some political motives to the letter. In January, Aerojet Rocketdyne said it would produce the AR1 rocket engine in Huntsville, Alabama, creating 100 new jobs near NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center. Already, another Huntsville company, Dynetics, has become a subcontractor for the engines main propulsion system. (A spokesman for Rogers didnt not reply to a request for comment).

Keiths note: Of course Dynetics is where Steve Cook (who was on the Trump landing team at NASA HQ) and other Ares V/SLS veterans from MSFC went after they left NASA. And Cook is one of the usual suspects often seen in league with Doug Cooke, Dan Dumbacher, and Mike Griffin pushing their own Alabama-centric Apollo-on-Steroids notions in op eds and behind the scenes in Congress.

 Former NASA Leaders Who Still Ignore Reality, earlier post

 More False Memories About the Origin (and Cost) of SLS, earlier post
Various events took place at NATO Headquarters to celebrate International Womens Day (8 March) and to raise awareness of gender perspectives and the principles of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

Promotion of gender equality and inclusive security is our core business as a matter of both institutional excellence and operational effectiveness. Because it is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do, said Marriet Schuurman, the NATO Secretary Generals Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security. She was speaking at an event to launch registrations for the second edition of the solidarity run known as She runs, He runs, We run at NATO Headquarters.

Corporal Pellegrina Caputo was a guest speaker at the same event. Telling her inspirational life story as an active duty soldier of the Italian Armed Forces, a veteran, a survivor and also a Paralympic champion with many awards, she had a strong message in line with this years theme for International Womens Day, Be Bold for Change.

Women are part of the community and so the military. I always wanted to serve people and my country. That is why I returned after I recovered from my injuries back to active duty. I am happy I got the chance once again, she concluded. Corporal Caputo lost her left lower limb in a car accident during her deployment in the NATO-led Kosovo Force but returned to duty just two years later.

In the spirit of the motto of the day, Ambassador Schuurman later moderated an informal discussion on principles and personal stories of boldness and change. Civil society activists, who are also members of the Civil Society Advisory Panel on Women, Peace and Security, participated as did a representative of NATOs International Military Staff.

NATO ambassadors gathered the day before to discuss progress in implementing the action plan for the implementation of Resolution 1325 developed by NATO together with partner countries.

Diversity makes us stronger and more effective. We have made considerable progress, but further efforts have to be taken to sustain what has been already achieved but also ensure consistency, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will meet the state Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Algeria, Mr. Ramtane Lamamra, at NATO Headquarters on Monday, 13 March 2017.

There will be no media opportunity.

Still imagery of the meeting will be available after the event on the NATO website.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg)
California ordered to release suppressed information about the dangers of cell phones

According to Pew Research Center, 92% of American adults owned a cellphone in 2015, a significant jump from 65% in 2004. This increasing reliance on technology has made our lives easier and more convenient in many ways, but its also lead to some unfortunate consequences. Perhaps most significantly, excessive cellphone use can hinder the development of social skills in all Americans but particularly in young adults. Now, its believed that cellphones can cause physical harm as well, prompting a Superior Court Judge to order the state of California to release crucial information on the matter.

Documents from Californias Environmental Health Investigations branch are believed to contain information regarding cellphone radiation risks and other potentially harmful effects. California has now been ordered to release those documents to the public. (RELATED: The natural extract from this plant could prevent brain tumors.)

Initially, the state refused to release the information after a request was made by a director at University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. This prompted Joel Moskowitz, PH.D., to sue under the California Public Records Act.

I would like this document to see the light of day because it will inform the public that there is concern within the California Department of Public Health that cellphone radiation is a risk, and it will provide them with some information about how to reduce those risks, explained Moskowitz, who is the Director at the Center for Family and Community Health at UC Berkeleys School of Public Health.

Moskowitz also offered his opinion as to why the state of California would be trying to hide the information from the public. They claim that this would lead to chaos and confusion among the public, I suspect that they were afraid of the reaction from the telecommunications industry should they publish this document. In fact, they even argued that in their brief, he explained.

In the lawsuit, Moskowitz cites research that found a correlation between years of cellphone usage and an increased risk of brain tumors. (RELATED: Read about the top seven causes of cancer and learn what you can do to prevent it.)

The Superior Court judge ruled on Friday that the Department of Public Healths investigation into the harmful effects of cellphone usage is in the interest of the public.

Although the FCC says that there is no definitive link between wireless devices and cancer or other illnesses, Moskowitz believes very strongly that there are serious health risks associated with cellphone usage. He encourages the public to do their best to limit the amount of time spent talking on the phone, and hopes that the judges ruling will make people more aware of the health risks and potential consequences.

Sources:

SanFrancisco.CBSlocal.com

PewInternet.org
Welcome to Navigating the Storm

 Navigating the Storm  is dedicated to providing a revolutionary analysis on the current crisis of the capitalist world-system and to facilitating ongoing strategic discussion between revolutionary anti-imperialists forces (i.e. revolutionary nationalists, communists, anarchists, etc.) towards the building of a collective orientation and program to guide our action over the course of the next four years and beyond.



This blog is facilitated by Kali Akuno and will be updated regularly with new installments of the  Navigating the Storm  series, articles and information on the development and resolution of the current crisis, and commentary and analysis by various organizations, individuals, and subscribers to the blog.



UNITY and STRUGGLE


PALM BAY, Florida  The Palm Bay Police Department is searching for a black male suspect in connection with an attempted bank robbery that occurred at a Bank of America located at 4710 Babcock Street NE in Palm Bay, Florida.

According to police, the attempted robbery occurred around 9:42 a.m. Friday. However, the suspect did not have a weapon and nothing was taken from the bank.

According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, most bank robberies in the southern United States on Fridays between the hours of 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

An active investigation is ongoing and police ask that anyone with information please contact Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 3:45 am, Mr Howard Allen< howardalen692@gmail.com > wrote: Contact Name:Mr Howard Allen

Company Name:Loan AND Finance Company

Contact E-Mail mailto:Address: howardalen692@gmail.com



Dear



Sir i am Mr Howard Allen from Loan AND Finance Company here in Nigeria

regarding the loan you want to receive from us through your Visa

Credit Card Green dot in respect from Mr Ibrahim Mustafa Magu which

gave you a code of conduct please the card have been loaded just

waiting for the documentations from you as our head office demanded

from Arizona to enable them give us approval to enable the bank here

transfer your fund so please kindly comply with your partner by

tomorrow morning you will have card will-draw from the ATM MACHINE so

please you are the 3rd person now to receive your fund please kindly

get back to him and send the 400USD to him today please,



Sir please confirm with us if this is not your details,



1. Full names. . . . . .

2. Card name. . . . .

3. Card number. . . . . .

4. Billing address. . . . .

5. S.S Number . . . . .

6. 1-800 number. . . .

7. expire date and issues date. . . . .

8. 3 digit number at the back of the card. . . .

9. Issues bank. . . .

10.Date of birth. . . . .

11. Phone number. . . . .

12. Card limit. . . . .

13. email address. . . .



Thanks For Loan AND Finance Company



Waiting To Hear From You,



Mr Howard Allen On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 3:57 am, Mr Howard Allen< howardalen692@gmail.com > wrote: Contact Name:Mr Howard Allen

Company Name:Loan AND Finance Company

Contact E-Mail mailto:Address: howardalen692@gmail.com



Dear



Sir i am Mr Howard Allen from Loan AND Finance Company know problem

sir once the payment is been confirm from him and the Attorney and we

have the document sent to the head office tonight tomorrow morning

when you wake up just check your card it will be there so please try

and send the 400USD to him today and let us know,



Thanks For Loan AND Finance Company



Waiting To Hear From You,



Mr Howard Allen On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 5:26 am, Mr Howard Allen< howardalen692@gmail.com > wrote: Contact Name:Mr Howard Allen

Company Name:Loan AND Finance Company

Contact E-Mail mailto:Address: howardalen692@gmail.com



Dear



Sir i am Mr Howard Allen from Loan AND Finance Company your payment

have been release but Mr Magu did not complete the rest payment for

the document to the Attorney which the last document is what they

needed to send to the United State Government to approve it Mr Magu

only send 3000USD AND THE 400USD making 3400USD so you need to try and

come up with 580USD and you people need to be fast i need to go for

vacation by 22nd so i only have next week to make all transfer to the

paying bank before they can now transfer direct to your account so try

and send the 580USD to Mr Magu,



Thanks For Loan AND Finance Company



Waiting To Hear From You,



Mr Howard Allen On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 6:13 am, Mr Howard Allen< howardalen692@gmail.com > wrote: Contact Name:Mr Howard Allen

Company Name:Loan AND Finance Company

Contact E-Mail mailto:Address: howardalen692@gmail.com



Dear



Sir i am Mr Howard Allen from Loan AND Finance Company well i really

understand you but if you can send the 580USD by next week or Month

ending i will wait for you then i will wait for you here we all are

human bein so please kindly get back to me,



Thanks For Loan AND Finance Company



Waiting To Hear From You,



Mr Howard Allen On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 12:05 pm, Mr Howard Allen< howardalen692@gmail.com > wrote: Contact Name:Mr Howard Allen

Company Name:Loan AND Finance Company

Contact E-Mail mailto:Address: howardalen692@gmail.com



Dear



Sir i am Mr Howard Allen from Loan AND Finance Company first i will

like to tell you the gospel through because i receive the email you

sent Mr Magu the message was very bad and you need to apologies to him

because the man did everything to make sure that they secure the

papers first,





Sir the 580USD you are sending is for the completion of the document

and you will have your fund and pay us back our loan so 580USD we not

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here in our office so telling him that this is 419 IS VERY BAD and is

very bad,



Sir regarding your wedding that was going to be yours A

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Sir you will get married and everything will be solve and by God grace

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Building upon an already stellar 2017, the Emory Black Law Students Association (BLSA), along with the entire Emory Law community, can now boast that Janiel Myers 18L has been named the first black editor-in-chief of the Emory Law Journal, the law schools oldest publication.

Myers, the chapters Academic and Professionalism Success chair, credits the BLSA leadership for encouraging her to participate in the write-on competition.

If it werent for the BLSA leadership last year, I probably wouldn't be where I am today," Myers says. "They poured all of their energy and resources to make sure that I (and my classmates) succeeded.

Her own stellar performance, however, is what garnered her the coveted position. Her election demonstrates the evolution of the 65-year-old publication and reflects the depth of talent and breadth of experience within the Emory student body.

I hope my appointment will have a future impact on the diversity at the law school. I hope that prospective black students and other students of color will see Emory Law as a place of community and inclusion when making their admission decisions, Myers explained.

Robert Schapiro, dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, mirrors those sentiments.

Even as we continue our critical efforts to advance both the diversity and inclusiveness of our community, we do well to celebrate Janiels achievement," Schapiro notes. "It is an important moment for the law school and for the Journal.

Myers, who was born in Jamaica and recently naturalized as an American citizen, will work as a summer associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges this year. She plans to parlay this opportunity, and the rest of her legal education, into a career of service  first as a bankruptcy lawyer and then as a professor and mentor.

Lawyers are given the opportunity to help others in ways that they can't really help themselves," she says. "I believe it's important to invest in people the way others invested in me. [Law school] is a tough undertaking, and positive, committed mentors are vital to the success of their mentees. I hope to educate and inspire the minds of future lawyers.

Myers is humbled by this honor but acknowledges that she is buoyed to the task by her Journal cohort: People are often saying that they're proud of me for this accomplishment. However, the true praise belongs to my fellow 2L Journal members and the outgoing executive board. They elected me to this position and were the most important agents of diversity and inclusion for the Journal.

Founded in 1952, the Emory Law Journal was the first journal sponsored by Emory University School of Law. Originally titled the Journal of Public Law, the Journal focused on issues of public law.

Its name changed in 1974 to the Emory Law Journal, and its scope widened to include matters of general law, while maintaining an emphasis on public law. In 1978, the editorial board decided to abandon an editorial policy emphasizing the publication of pieces that explored the political and sociological aspects of the law.

Since then, the Journal has been restricted editorially only by the limits of legal scholarship and interest. Today, it publishes six issues a year, featuring professional and student articles on a broad range of legal topics, and remains entirely student edited.
Julian Jefferies, assistant professor of literacy and reading education, center, with Cal State Fullerton students at the Los Guachimontones archaeological site near Guadalajara, Mexico.

To further his research on immigrant students, Julian Jefferies, assistant professor of literacy and reading education, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar. Jefferies will conduct research in Guadalajara, Mexico, focusing on the experiences of adolescent migrants who have returned to Mexico, their reintegration into school, and teacher perceptions of these students.

I hope to learn more about what these adolescents are experiencing in schools and how theyre adapting to a new life in Mexico, said Jefferies. It has been a lifelong goal to be able to collaborate with researchers from Mexico on this topic.

Jefferies will spend six months collaborating with scholars at the Universidad de Guadalajara, beginning in January 2018. His research also will seek to better understand the consequences of immigration policies in the U.S. and implications for public policy regarding how teacher education can better serve these students in Mexico and the U.S. He also will create curricula, lesson plans and resources that high school teachers in Mexico can use in order to better serve these students.

While in Mexico, Jefferies also plans to strengthen relationships with Universidad de Guadalajara for CSUFs Guadalajara Transnational Migration Program, which he directs. This study abroad program at the Mexican university offers CSUF students the opportunity to engage in service-learning related to Latino/a immigration issues to the U.S.

Jefferies arrived in the United States as an undocumented student from Argentina, became a permanent resident in 2010, and three years later, a U.S. citizen. His work as a Fulbright Scholar is relevant to the immigration issues at the forefront of todays national discussions.

This is an important time for a scientific study of immigration, said Jefferies, who earned his doctorate in education from Boston College. We need a more humane and rational description of why immigrants move and how U.S. policy affects their labor and human rights.
Stitch by stitch, row by row, a bright and vibrant coral reef is growing at UC Santa Cruz.

It's made out of wool, but it looks a lot like the real thing, with swirls, loops, coils, and squiggles galore.

The Crochet Coral Reef is a massive participatory art project that was created in 2005 by the sisters Christine and Margaret Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring, a Los Angelesbased organization that delves into the aesthetic and poetic aspects of the sciences.

Since then, the project has spread across the globe. In fact, the Crochet Coral Reef is the biggest participatory science and art project on Earth at the moment, according to the Wertheim sisters.

The Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery is running an exhibition of the Wertheim sisters' art, Crochet Coral Reef: CO2CA-CO2LA Ocean, through May 6, 2017. The exhibit features the coral reef crochet of the Wertheim sisters and their collaborators.

The sisters, who grew up in Queensland, Australia, near the Great Barrier Reef, describe it as a worldwide wooly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world. Since the projects humble beginnings, it has expanded to include satellite coral reef projects in 35 cities and countries worldwide, and as far-flung as Ireland, Germany, and Latvia.

Santa Cruz satellite

One of those satellites has been established at UC Santa Cruz, under the auspices of UC Santa Cruzs Institute of the Arts and Sciences (IAS), which is funding and organizing the project.

So far, more than 200 UC Santa Cruz students, and 200 area residents, have contributed to the satellite reef, which will go on display at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center starting on May 4, 2017. The participants are hoping the display will look like a three-dimensional grotto of coral.

It would be a mistake to call the satellites spin-off projects because each satellite reef is part of one enormous whole. In this sense, the project mirrors nature; every coral reef is the work of thousands of tiny organisms.

Crochet soiree

One chilly January evening at UC Santa Cruz, a group of crochet enthusiastsa dozen students and four Santa Cruz community membersmet for a student-led crochet circle at a multipurpose space known as the Red Room at Rachel Carson College to work on the satellite project. They concentrated on their work, adding wooly flourishes to the simulated reef.

Some students sat stock-still, in total silence, as they worked, while others chatted away. I want to be spontaneous, one whispered to a friend. I want to go against the grain. I love how free-spirited this is!

No one in the crochet circle strives for absolute perfection. To do so would be unnatural.

There is something really beautiful about (the fact that) organic patterns arent perfect, said Sarah Skikne, a Ph.D. student in environmental studies, and a 2016 Switzer Environmental Fellow, awarded for her research in environmental science. You make mistakes and you add mistakes.

Artmakers say the reef-building experience is deeply meditative and a great excuse to shut off annoying smartphones and other devices. It is a material thing that demands the attention of your eyes and hands in a continuous way so you can't really get distracted by other things, said Sophia DiMatteo (Merrill 17, history of art and visual culture), one of three interns selected for year-long paid internships with the IAS. DiMatteo and fellow interns Gracia Brown (College 10 18) and Lucy Ashton (Kresge 18, history of art and visual culture) are leading the student crochet circles.

Replicating life forms

But the project is more than just relaxing. The crocheting circles heighten awareness of coral reefs and their plight, while emphasizing the power of positive action, said Rachel Nelson, curator and program manager at the IAS. She also teaches in the History of Art and Visual Culture Department. At the same time, she said, this is a way to talk about the science and math of coral reefs.

Thats because the crocheting circles use a method that allows them to make fanciful but convincing re-created life forms. The technique, developed in 1997 by Cornell mathematician Daina Taimina, is called hyperbolic crochet.

By following a surprisingly basic algorithm, but also varying and mutating the pattern, the crochet artist can replicate the squiggles of brain coral, and make all sorts of fringed, loopy, curly, swirly, crenelated forms that can be found in life forms under the sea.

In the Red Room, members of the Santa Cruz community sat next to their undergraduate cohorts, offering advice and chatting freely. One of them, Kathleen Roberts (Cowell 71, art), loves the free-form aspect of the project. Ive taught so many people how to crochet, she said, referring to UC Santa Cruz students involved with the project. Most have never crocheted before, but their pieces are going to be (part of the project.)

That imperfection is perfectly fine with Roberts, who says that crocheting is supposed to be funky. Overplanning simply doesnt work.

Roberts is happy with the "come one, come all" aspect of the crocheting circles, which have been meeting weekly. She was amazed when she showed up to one of the early sessions for the coral reef project on campus, and there were 175 people at Stevenson College, and all this yarn.

Men with yarn

Though the website describes crocheting as a feminine handicraft, the crocheting circles have attracted an unusual number of male student participants, Nelson said. And a fair amount of them already knew how to crochet before joining the circles, she added. It took away the gender expectations.

Nelson said that in any given satellite project, only 3 percent of the participants are men. At UC Santa Cruz, its more like 30 percent, she said.

She attributed that high participation to an art course taught by Art Department lecturer Kathleen Perry, who asked her students to take part in the Crochet Coral Reef.

To find out more about the crochet circles at UC Santa Cruz and the ongoing project, visit the homepage for the satellite project. The contact email for the crochet group is ias@ucsc.edu.

Participants are also invited to crochet on their own and leave the results at a drop-off box set up at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences, room 204, or create their own crocheting groups if they wish. If they choose, they can even mail in their crochet coral projects to:

The Institute of the Arts and Sciences

UC Santa Cruz MS: Porter Faculty Services

1156 High Street

Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Ghadge, 32, sustained a bullet injury in the head in Thursday's firing at the Line Of Control in Poonch district.

He served in the 15 Maratha Light Infantry.

The soldier from Satara district is survived by his elderly parents, Jagannath and Shobha, wife Nisha, son Shambhu, 4, and one-year-old daughter Pari, besides a sister who is married.

As the news of his death was received late on Thursday, the entire village of around 1,600 residents plunged into sorrow and observed a spontaneous shutdown on Friday.

The body was scheduled to be brought here on Friday, but has been delayed due to severe weather conditions in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a military spokesperson, the body will be able to reach Satara only by Saturday afternoon for the last rites.

The Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked firing in Krishna Ghati sector of the Line of Control in Poonch district, according to the Army.

--IANS qn/py/vt

( 195 Words)

2017-03-10-16:00:08 (IANS)
India on Friday repatriated to Pakistan the two teenagers who were suspected of involvement in the terrorist attack on an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri. "Two Pakistani juveniles, Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khurshid Chaudhry, following the completion of investigation and confirmation of their nationality, were repatriated via Attari-Wagah on March 10," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a release. Indian border authorities handed over Awan and Chaudhry to the Pakistan Army at the Wagah-Attari border checkpoint. The two youths, who are said to be Class X students, were arrested in a joint operation by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Indian Army at Angoor Post in Uri town a few days after the September 18 Uri attack. They were suspected to have acted as "guides" for the terrorists from across the Line of Control. They were brought to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in New Delhi for interrogation. The NIA last week clarified that the two had run away from home to avoid studies, and filed a closure report in the case. The probe agency on Wednesday handed them over to the Indian Army. Speaking of India giving highest importance to all humanitarian issues, the Ministry of External Affairs in the release urged the Pakistani side for "early release and repatriation of all eligible Indian prisoners and fishermen". --IANS rs/nir/vt ( 239 Words) 2017-03-10-20:54:08 (IANS)
The Comptroller and Auditor General also pointd out significant understatement of losses by the national carrier in its financial statements.

"Air India is claiming an operating profit of Rs 105 crore for financial year 2015-16. But based also on the statutory auditors' reports, the airline had an operating loss of Rs 321.4 crore last year because the required provisions were not made," Director General in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)'s office V. Kurian told reporters here.

Kurian was presenting the CAG's audit report on the financial restructuring plan of Air India tabled in Parliament on Friday.

The official auditor said that the understatement of losses was to the extent of Rs 1,455.8 crore for 2012-13, Rs 2,966.66 crore for 2013-14 and Rs 1,992.77 crore for 2014-15.

"Considering the effect of these qualifications on the financial statement, the EBITDA (earning before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation) of Air India would be negative (up to March 2015)," the report said.

--IANS bc/nir/vt

( 208 Words)

2017-03-10-16:56:08 (IANS)
The flight AI-171 had departed from Ahmedabad at 7 a.m. on Friday with 231 passengers and 18 crew members.

En route over Hungarian airspace, it lost contact for some time with the ATC, due to frequency fluctuations, AI officials said.

The flight landed at 11.06 hrs, local time, in London safely, and AI has launched a probe into the incident.

The incident comes barely three weeks after a Jet Airways Mumbai-London flight with 345 persons on board had lost contact with the ground over German airspace and was escorted by fighter jets on February 19.

--IANS qn/rn

( 137 Words)

2017-03-10-21:50:08 (IANS)
After making a public apology over his sexist and misogynistic tweet on International Women's Day, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma on Friday said he never intended to be insensitive and was simply expressing himself through freedom of speech. While interacting with the media, the ace director said, "If some women got offended by my tweets, then I never intended to be insensitive. I just expressed my feelings as we are living in a country where there is freedom of speech, but in case anyone was offended, I apologize. But I don't apologize to those people who threatened to take law into their hands." "The apology of mine was prompted in response to lot of women and people I know, who are sensitive about certain things. I just thought I have responsibilities towards them, due to which I clarified on Twitter," he added. Earlier on Tuesday, Varma tweeted, "I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives." And soon after the tweet a women's organisation filed a police complaint against him, saying Varma has gravely insulted women with his tweet. Ranragini, which has affiliation to Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, filed a complaint with Mapusa police last evening with its local office-bearer Vishakha Mhambare demanding that Varma be booked under Cyber laws and section 292 of IPC. On Friday evening, he put out a series of tweets apologising. "Was just expressing my feelings but I apologise to all who were offended due to my unintended insensitive tweets in context of women's day," Varma said. "My apology is only to those who genuinely got offended and not to those who ranted for publicity nd threatened to take law into their hands," he added. (ANI)
"Namaste India. Wishing you a very Happy Holi and don't forget to watch 'Beauty and the Beast' this March in cinemas near you," she said.

In the film, Emma plays Belle, a young woman taken prisoner by a beast in his castle in exchange for her father's freedom.

Directed by Bill Condon, the film also stars Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline and Ewan McGregor.

The film is a live-action remake of Disney's 1991 film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's fairy tale.

--IANS hp/rb/mr

( 129 Words)

2017-03-10-11:58:08 (IANS)
The female lead in acclaimed TV series 'Atlanta' has been roped in to play a mutant mercenary with the power of subconscious telekinetic probability manipulation, in other words, her special power is that she can create "good luck" for herself and those around her.

Taking to his Twitter page, 'Deadpool' star Ryan Reynolds announced the big news, sharing a cryptic picture with the words "Domino Effect."

Later, the 40-year-old actor also shared a little mockup of what Beetz might look like in the role.

'Deadpool 2' will hit the theatres in March of 2018. (ANI)
"I am hopeful that the people of Manipur will give a clear mandate to our party. We are confident of getting a clear majority this time. We will win anywhere between 40 and 42 seats," he said.

Exit polls have predicted a remarkable victory for the Congress in Manipur.

For 60 Assembly seats in Manipur, C- Voter has given 25 to 31 seats to BJP, 17 to 23 seats to Congress. While India today- Axis has given majority to Congress with 30 to 36 seats and 16 to 22 seats to BJP. (ANI)
Iron ore futures in China were little changed on Friday, but were headed for their biggest weekly drop since December as the rally in steel prices lost steam and stockpiles of iron ore at Chinese ports rose to the most in at least 13 years.Iron ore prices have rallied with steel this year despite a sustained increase in stocks of imported ore at China's ports. But as steel prices pulled back, concerns emerged in the market over the growing mountain of the steelmaking raw material that could increase further.The most-traded iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was flat at 654.50 yuan ($95) a tonne by midday. The contract, which touched a record high of 741.50 yuan last month, has lost 3.5 percent this week, the most since the week ending Dec. 23.The most-active rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 0.2 percent at 3,396 yuan per tonne. The construction steel has dropped 7 percent since scaling a three-year high on Feb. 27.Stockpiles of iron ore at major Chinese ports reached 130.05 million tonnes as of March 3, SteelHome said, the most since 2004 when the consultancy began tracking the data. SH-TOT-IRONINV >The continued inventory buildup shows Chinese "demand is failing to consume the surplus volumes," UK steel consultancy MEPS said in a note."With reduced export opportunities, as a result of trade actions in various countries, China now looks to its own domestic market and its investment in infrastructure to consume the oversupply," it said.China's steel exports fell to a three-year low of 5.75 million tonnes in February.As iron ore futures slid this week, so did spot prices with deals slow in physical markets, traders said.Iron ore for delivery to China's Qingdao port < .IO62-CNO=MB > fell 0.5 percent to $86.79 a tonne on Thursday, the lowest since Feb. 10, according to Metal Bulletin.The spot benchmark was down 5 percent so far this week, on course for its biggest such loss since mid-November.Reuters cj NS1037 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1182119.Xml
The border security force (BSF) personnel handed over the body of the slain Griha Rakshi Bahini (home guard) personal of Bangladesh Mir Nausad Ali last night to his family through it's Bangladeshi counterpart who was killed at Siddhinagar village of Belonia in south Tripura along Bangladesh border on March 8. The injured Bangladeshi national Suman Mia, an auto-rickshaw driver has been undergoing treatment in a local hospital in Belonia and police arrested him for illegally entering into zero and attacking Indian villagers. Extra deployment has been made in the entire stretch of border following the incident to cease the tension in both sides of the border. The BSF officials held flag meeting with Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) to maintain peace in the border and ensure security of the citizens living both the sides and later had handed over the body of Nausad. Based on the statement of arrested injured Suman Mia police said, a group of home guards along with some locals including two civil servants of Bangladesh government intruded into the locality outside the wire fencing along border on March 8 night to conduct raid into the houses of Indians, allegedly involved in drug paddling. "They hired my auto from Feni town of Bangladesh stating that the raid will be conducted by the security men in the bordering villages of Bangladesh. When they reached to the locality, I saw it was outside the wire fence and I believed it was Bangladesh only and had to engage in helping the force to conduct raid. But when I caught by the residents I got to know that it is a fenced out part of the Indian village," Suman confessed to police. He further stated that during raid a large number of contrabands were recovered. The villagers carried out organized attack on Bangladeshi raiders with sharp weapons and the home guards used rubber bullet on the villagers, which left six of the villagers injured. The villagers hit Nausad's head with a cutter and he fell down. Suman wanted to rescue him from the attackers and he had been detained by the villagers. Meantime, all other in the group managed flee away from the spot but Nausad was hacked to death on the spot and Suman was beaten up severely. The BSF jawans reached to the spot and rescued Suman and sent both of them to hospital, he added. Meanwhile, one of the Indian victims Kabir Ahmed said that Bangladeshi nationals suddenly stormed his house at mid-night when most of the villagers had gone in sleep with carried . 303 rifles and other weapons. "They demanded from all members of the neighbour to hand over gold jewelers and other valuables. The villagers assembled getting alarm from us and restored counter attack in which Nausad was killed and Suman was detained," Kabir said. Police said six persons were injured with rubber bullets shot by Bangladeshi home guards.UNI BB BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1182155.Xml
After a spending spree stretching from hotels to electronics distribution in 2016, Chinese conglomerate HNA Group says it is now investing in financial services, betting on asset managers and consumer finance for growth at home and overseas.The owner of Hainan Airlines Co inked about $20 billion in deals last year, snapping up a stake in Hilton Hotels and investing in catering and logistics firms - spending that raised concerns the group was borrowing too heavily and spreading itself too thinly.With more than $100 billion in assets, investments this year have included a hedge fund platform, a New Zealand lender and a 3 percent stake in Deutsche Bank.The moves reflect a broader push by China into financial services globally as Beijing encourages its corporate sector to expand overseas, although they face increased regulatory scrutiny in the United States and Europe.More than a dozen Chinese firms - not all with financial background - are scouting for financial sector targets from Portugal to New York, the Asia head of financial sector M&A with a European bank in Hong Kong said. HNA is among those leading the charge."We know the demand for wealth management is going to be very strong," Guang Yang, the chief investment officer of HNA Capital, the group's financial arm, told Reuters."We have a very large customer base, frequent flyers and people staying in our hotels," he said, a readymade client list.A person familiar with HNA strategy said the group saw financial services - particularly asset management - as a natural extension of its aviation and logistics businesses: first it moved people, then freight and now cash."As the Chinese are getting wealthier and their demand for investment opportunities grows, the ability to manage assets on a global basis will (be important and) a good business to get into early," this person said, declining to be identified in the absence of permission to talk to the media.HEDGE FUND, LENDER, INSURERChina's domestic asset management industry has ballooned in recent years, with the country's 108 fund managers, 12 qualified securities firms and one qualified insurer overseeing mutual fund assets alone worth 9.2 trillion yuan ($1.34 trillion) at the end of 2016, according to the Asset Management Association of China.Financial services produced almost a fifth of group operating revenue and more than a quarter of gross profit in 2015, an HNA Group bond prospectus showed in September.The unlisted group does not publish up-to-date financial figures. The prospectus showed long-term borrowing had increased more than 40 percent from a year earlier to $28.25 billion.In HNA's latest deals, it bought a large stake in hedge fund platform SkyBridge Capital from Anthony Scaramucci, a high profile supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump and spent $460 million on New Zealand's largest non-bank lender UDC Finance.Two people with knowledge of the matter said HNA is bidding for UK-listed insurer Old Mutual's $900 million controlling stake in its U.S. asset management business. HNA declined to comment.RISKS, REWARDSBoth SkyBridge and UDC Finance, which mainly provides car loans and equipment finance, offer stable revenue, while allowing HNA to increase yields by borrowing in the institutional market and lending in the retail market.The Auckland-based company also boasts a management system that HNA could potentially utilise in China, where consumer finance is blossoming from a low base.Still HNA's rapid expansion has prompted concerns it is spreading itself too thinly."The real risk for HNA is a loss of strategic focus," said Brock Silvers, founder and managing director of Kaiyuan Capital, a Shanghai-based investment advisory firm."Their plan to build a financial empire takes a lot of human capital, resources and time."Carol Yuan, an analyst with Aberdeen Asset Management, said she was concerned with HNA's debt, which can sit anywhere in the group financial structure and can be issued by any part of the group."It's hard to get comfortable around how they manage risks," Yuan said.REUTERS CJ RAI1159 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1182188.Xml
In an unprecedented step, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against Justice C.S. Karnan of the Calcutta High Court as he did not appear before it as directed. A seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar asked the West Bengal Director General of Police to serve the bailable warrant to Justice Karnan and sought his presence before it on March 31. The bench also asked him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000. The order came as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that Justice Karnan had refused to appear before the court in a contempt case initiated by it suo moto. The court also said that the Registry of the Supreme Court had received a text message from Justice Karnan on March 8, "seeking a meeting with CJI and other judges so as to discuss certain administrative issues which primarily seem to reflect allegations against certain judges. "The letter can't be considered as response to contempt petition. In view of the above, there is no alternative but to ensure his presence in the court by issuing bailable warrant." Besides Chief Justice Khehar, other judges on the bench are Justice Dipak Misra, Justice J. Chelameswar, Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Kurian Joseph. Earlier, the Supreme Court bench had issued contempt notice to Justice Karnan for writing letters casting aspersions on several judges. It is for the first time in the Supreme Court history that it has invoked powers to initiate contempt proceedings against a sitting judge of a High Court. The apex court had earlier said Justice Karnan would not discharge any judicial and administrative functions during the pendency of the proceedings. At the outset of the hearing, Rohatgi told the court that the contempt notice had been served to Justice Karnan and "we got to know that he wrote two letters to the CJI" with allegations against some Madras High Court judges. --IANS gt/mr ( 343 Words) 2017-03-10-12:16:09 (IANS)
The long, staggered assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, whose results are to be announced on March 11, would be remembered for innumerable reasons. While, like most similar tests at the hustings, this one too had its share of the avoidable -- be it use of words like Kasab, gadha (ass) or below the belt jibes against political opponents, there were many firsts in the staggered, seven-phased polls spread over a month of voting. It was for the first time since 1999 that Congress President Sonia Gandhi did not campaign in Uttar Pradesh, from where she and her son Rahul Gandhi are members of the Lok Sabha. Citing poor health and doctors' advice, especially after the near-fatal bout of asthma she suffered in Varanasi during a road show last year, she thought it best to avoid the hurly-burly of campaigning. Samajwadi Party (SP) mentor and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav too largely skipped the campaign and only canvassed for daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who is contesting from Lucknow Cantt on an SP ticket, brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in Jaswantnagar and old aide Parasnath Yadav in Ghazipur. This is the first time since he started practising active politics in the 1960s that the Yadav chieftain largely missed a campaign. Completely sidelined this time by his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who edged him out as President of the SP, Mulayam had addressed some 100 rallies in the 2012 assembly polls. Shivpal Singh Yadav, who until not long ago was the number two in the party and its chief strategist, had no work this time around. He was neither invited nor did he go anywhere to campaign for party workers. The other first from the first family of Uttar Pradesh was the public statements by Mulayam's second wife Sadhna Gupta, who, just hours before the last round in Poorvanchal, gave an hour-long interview to a TV news agency, alleging slight and saying that Akhilesh should not have humiliated Neta-ji'. Largely in the background over the past two decades, this was Sadhna's first outing in public. It was also for the first time that the Yadav clan stepped out of Saifai to contest state elections. While most members of the Mulayam clan are from in and around the Saifai belt, this time nephew Anurag Yadav was fielded from Sarojininagar and, of course, Aparna Yadav from Lucknow Cantt. The state polls also had a first in the fact that Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Vadra figured in the list of all phases as a star campaigner though she obliged with just one rally in Rae Bareli, her mother's Lok Sabha constituency. It was also the first time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or for that matter any Prime Minister, spent so much time and energy on a state assembly election. At the end of the seven-phase polls, Modi had addressed 23 mega rallies and had done two roadshows. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah also got into the "first list" by addressing 210 rallies. It was, incidentally, also the first time that BJP veterans L.K. Advani and Kanpur MP Murli Manohar Joshi did not hit the campaign trail. Once the faces of all BJP campaigns, they were a complete washout in the Uttar Pradesh polls this time. Sheila Dixit, the former Delhi Chief Minister, who was pitched as the "UP bahu" and the presumptive Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister before the Congress struck an alliance with the SP, was also nowhere to be seen during the campaign. For the state police, there were many firsts too. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljeet Chowdhary said there were "highest seizures of unaccounted money, illicit liquor and illegal vehicles" during the campaign. The state police seized almost Rs 40 crore of the total Rs 119.42 crores of illegal cash caught during elections. A staggering 2.23 million bulk litres of liquor, costing a whopping Rs 64.17 crore, was seized and 3.62 million people were booked under various sections of the IPC and of the warrants issued against 22,400 people, 21,653 were served. Police also undertook a mammoth task on depositing 870,000 licensed weapons. "The experience of conducting smooth elections is satisfying," a senior official told IANS, while pointing out that despite a huge influx of VVIPs, there was no untoward incident. Intelligence officials concede that the road shows undertaken by Modi in an open SUV in Varanasi and another SPG protectee, Rahul Gandhi, in Meerut, Agra, Allahabad, Varanasi and Lucknow were "security nightmares". But now that all has ended well, they have heaved a sigh of relief. Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha, while talking to IANS on phone from New Delhi, said there were many firsts for the poll panel too during the Uttar Pradesh elections. "Many first-time initiatives were undertaken by the state CEO -- like launch of many mobile applications for helping voters and a grievance redressal portal," he informed. Incidentally, it was for the first time that a suspected terrorist was killed in a gun battle on the day of polling -- the last phase in Poorvanchal -- on March 8. (Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in) --IANS md/vm/ky/sac ( 870 Words) 2017-03-10-12:34:08 (IANS)
"I am stepping down as I am unable to discharge my duties as my health does not allow me to do so," he told reporters.

"I could have taken leave from the post but I felt that this is a time that the party has to be led on a day-to-day basis and hence I feel I have to go," said Sudheeran.

Sudheeran last week suffered a fall while taking part in a party meeting and was hospitalized for a few days.

Just like his appointment in February 2014, his resignation also came as a bolt from the blue.

Sudheeran's tenure saw serious difference between then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over the liquor policy and then over distribution of ticket in the 2016 assembly polls.

Sudheeran's exit was "a surprise and who his successor is going to be will be decided by the party high command", senior Congress leader K. Sudhakaran said.

"I don't think there will be any opposition from any quarters if Chandy is asked to take over as the President," he said.

--IANS sg/mr/sar

( 205 Words)

2017-03-10-14:20:09 (IANS)
"Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance is coming to power in Uttar Pradesh. I had seen the exit polls in Bihar (too)," Gandhi told the media.

Most exit polls had predicted a close contest between the Grand Alliance of the Janata Dal-U-RJD-Congress and the BJP in the 2015 Bihar assembly election. But the Grand Alliance registered a huge victory.

--IANS and/mr

( 99 Words)

2017-03-10-14:10:08 (IANS)
A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav hinted at an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said the former was misquoted while adding that there are no permanent friends and foes in the politics. "Chief Minister was misquoted though there are no permanent foes or friends in politics, and 'impossible' word has no place in it," Agarwal told ANI. Rubbishing the victory of the BJP in the assembly elections as per exit polls, Agarwal said, "I don't trust exit polls as they are manipulated." Akhilesh yesterday hinted at sewing an alliance with the BSP, if need be, in order to form the state government, and most importantly, in a bid to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of fray. "We are sure that the SP- Congress will win maximum seats in the assembly. But, we don't know about the circumstances after results. So, let's see, if it's required to form a government... Nobody would want President's rule in the state and that the BJP runs it through a remote control. Nobody would want that," Akhilesh told a TV Channel when asked about the possibility of the alliance. This comes close on the heels of March 11, when the results of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections come out.(ANI)
The Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) course seminar on "Landslide and Debris Flow Systems: Prediction, Control and Reclamation" is underway in the Department of Geography of the Nagaland University (NU) at Lumami under Zunheboto district, sponsored by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) under the GIAN. According to a statement today the welcome session was held on Tuesday in the conference hall of the Department, wherein welcome address was delivered by host faculty & course coordinator, Professor MS Rawat. He highlighted the course schedule and introduced Prof Martin Haigh (Foreign Faculty), Emeritus Professor of Geography, Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom. The Controller of Examinations of NU Dr Abemo conveyed the best wishes to the participants and applauded the University for creating a platform of national exposure. He exhorted the participants to be attentive, learn, and utilize the knowledge. A special presentation was made by Assistant Professor of the Department of Geology, NU, Dr Temsulemba Walling. Professor Martin Haigh, briefly highlighted the GIAN Programme. Commenting on how 'GIAN' in Sanskrit means 'knowledge', he said India wanted to be globally connected. He said through GIAN India wanted to tap the talent pool of the Diaspora, those who left the country and made it big, and gained much respect for their contributions. It may be mentioned that the GIAN, as a programme initiated by MHRD, is aimed at tapping the talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs, internationally to encourage their engagement with the institutes of Higher Education in India so as to augment the country's existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and elevate India's scientific and technological capacity to global excellence, it said. UNI AS RN 1418 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0311-1182424.Xml
For the second consecutive day today Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh admired the father of slain terrorist Saifullah for refusing to accept the body of his son saying that "Jo Desh ka na hua woh hamara kya hoga" (the person who could not be loyal to his country, cannot be belong to us). "The country is proud of Sartaj for his gesture," said Mr Singh amid thumping of desks.He made a statement in the Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour on the encounter by ATS, Uttar Pradesh and some revelations made by Madhya Pradesh government on terror links to explosions in Bhopal-Ujjain train.The Home Minister said, "Our sympathies are with him as he lost his son. But he has shown a unique gesture and declared that a man who could not be his country's, cannot be his son also".He said in Lucknow, information about Mohammad Saifullah alias Ali, resident of Kanpur, renting an accommodation in Haji Colony, Police Station Kakori was received. The ATS Uttar Pradesh laid a siege of the house and made vigorous attempts to arrest the suspect Saifullah. However, he refused to surrender and started firing on the ATS team. Ultimately, after 12 hours of efforts, the ATS team entered the room in which Saifullah was holed up and in the ensuing encounter, this suspected terrorist was killed, the Home Minister said. He said eight pistols, 630 live cartridges and other materials including Rs 1.5 lakh cash, about 45 grams gold, three mobile phones, four sim cards, two wireless sets and some foreign currency were recovered from the room. A case has been registered at ATS police station, Lucknow, he said adding that ATS Kanpur unit has meanwhile arrested one more suspect."Two more accused, one each from Etawah and Auraiya have been arrested by UP police on charge of supplying weapons to the gang of suspected terrorists," the Home Minister said.On the train blast in Madhya Pradesh, the Home Minister said, "On March, 7 at 0941 hrs a blast took place in the general compartment of train no 59320 Bhopal-Ujjain Passenger in which 10 passengers were injured and railway property was also damaged. The injured were immediately rushed to the hospital. All the injured are presently out of danger". He said initial inspection of the scene of crime indicated that the the blast was caused by IED.The Madhya Pradesh Police coordinated with central agencies for the investigation of the incident. Subsequently, based on available intelligence, three suspects were taken into custody by Madhya Pradesh Police during vehicle checking. Interrogation of these suspects indicated their involvement in the aforesaid incident and they were arrested. Further investigation of the case is being done in coordination with central agencies and information is being collected about other accomplices of the accused, the Minister added.Complimenting the role of police force both in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Mr Singh said the above sequence of events presents an excellent example of coordination amongst the state police and central agencies."Due to the prompt action taken by the police of both the states, a possible threat to the national security was successfully averted and further investigations will be handed over to NIA," he said.UNI MK-RBE RSA 1407 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0427-1182386.Xml
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh too greeted the force on its Raising Day.

Rijiju said: "From a modest beginning in 1969, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) today secures government buildings and provides security to most high-risk installations such as airports, harbours, atomic power plants and space research facilities."

Rijiju said providing foolproof security to Delhi Metro, which records a ridership of more than 30 lakh passengers daily, for a decade, is a big achievement of the CISF.

"CISF is also providing security to 78 VVIPs presently."

He pointed out that a CISF contingent was deployed under the United Nations flag to help conduct peaceful presidential elections in far off Haiti in November 2016. The force is also deployed at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu in Nepal.

Rijiju congratulated the CISF personnel for bagging the best marching contingent trophy during this year's Republic Day Parade.

He presented medals to CISF personnel after reviewing the parade and took salute at the march past.

Speaking on the occasion, CISF Director General O.P. Singh said the CISF security at many Indian airports has been adjudged among the best in the world by the Brussels-based Airport Council International.

Modi said on Twitter: "Greetings to the CISF on their 48th Raising Day. This dynamic force plays a vital role in securing key units and establishments across India."

--IANS rak/tsb/vt

( 277 Words)

2017-03-10-16:50:08 (IANS)
China's envoy to India, Luo Zhaohui, has urged the Indian media to report on India-China relations in a "more balanced way", while also praising the media for helping foster bilateral ties. Addressing a gathering of the Indian media invited for a Holi reception at the Chinese embassy here on Thursday evening, Ambassador Luo said: "I humbly request the media here to report on China-India relations in a more balanced way." Luo said in the six months since his posting as envoy, he has been very impressed by the "big progress of the media" in India compared to when he was in the country 28 years ago. He said the media in India has developed very fast, and the traditional media, social media and the 24-hour TV with a lot of breaking news, shows there is an "information explosion, and freedom of speech in India". With the media also covering foreign affairs news shows that India is an open society, integrated deeply with the world. "Thirdly, India media pays more attention to China and China-India relations. It promotes better understanding between our two peoples, and also helps China to understand Indian perspectives. I appreciate what you have done to bridge China-India interactions and friendship. As a diplomat and reader, I read almost 10 newspapers and watch TV programmes and get a lot of valuable information every day," the envoy said, according to a statement from the Chinese embassy. He then requested the Indian media for a "more balanced" coverage of the bilateral ties and for more coverage on news related to China. His comments come as the Indian media has focused on Beijing repeatedly blocking the move to slap a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohamed chief Masood Azhar, who India blames for the Uri and Pathankot terror attacks, and also for styming India's bid for the Nuclear Suppliers Group membership. Speaking on his country's progress, the envoy said: "Last year China's economy has registered a slower but stable performance. The economic growth scored 6.7 per cent and the GDP totalled 11 trillion USD and the GDP per capita reached 8,000 USD. This year we set a target of around 6.5 per cent. India's GDP growth last year is estimated at 7.1 per cent. China and India are the fastest growing economies." --IANS rn/bg ( 394 Words) 2017-03-10-16:54:08 (IANS)
A police official said today that both the accused Gurnaam Singh and Dilbagh Singh were apprehended from the border on a tip-off that a big consignment of drugs would be exchanged near a petrol pump in the nearby area.

Cash Rs 20 lakhs in denomination of Rs 2000 notes, two kilograms of heroin worth Rs eight crore, mobile phones were recovered from them and a car was seized, he said.

The official said that during interrogation both of them revealed that they get supply of heroin from drug traffickers of African origin residing in the Dwarka area of the city.

"They also disclosed that these African Nationals procure the supply of heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan. A case under NDPS Act was registered," he said.

The police official said that further investigation is in progress.UNI DS SHK 1718

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0177-1182758.Xml
The Consul General of India at Australia, Manika Jain accepted the appeal and campaign for the implementation of the 33 per cent reservation for Naga women in Nagaland and assured that the matter would be brought to the attention of the Government of India. In a release by the Australia India Institute (AII) stated that as part of the celebration of International Women's Day, Inotoli Zhimomi and Dr Dolly Kikon attended a special event organised by the Consulate General of India at Melbourne. This was reported by the organising committee of "Women's Rights in India celebrating International Women's Day" held at Australia India Institute. During the discussion hour, the opposition to the 33 per cent reservation for Naga women in Nagaland by Naga male bodies received special attention. International media, journalists, policy makers, advocacy groups, including the academic community recognised the turn of events in Nagaland as a disturbing action that blocked an affirmative action seeking to narrow down the existing gender gap across societies. The Australia India Institute (AII), a public institute funded by the Australian government department of education at Melbourne celebrated International Women's Day with a panel titled "Women's Rights in India." The AII is the only national center in Australia that focuses on India and carries out extensive research and policy analysis. The panelists consisted of Dr Dolly Kikon, Dr Amanda Gilbertson, Inotoli Zhimomi, and Dr Amy Piedalue. chaired by the research director of the institute professor HaripriyaRangan, the panelists shared their research and advocacy work on India. There was a special discussion on the recent violence in Nagaland regarding the opposition to 33 per cent reservation for Naga women in urban local bodies, a press release from the organisation stated on Tuesday. During the discussion hour, the opposition to the 33 per cent reservation for Naga women in Nagaland by Naga male bodies received special attention, the release said. UNI AS AKM 1640 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-1182680.Xml
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today asserted that Modi wave has been sweeping across northeast like rest of India, which was began from Assam. Mr Sonowal this was said while addressing a mammoth rally of BJP at Vivekananda stadium here. He said, Narendra Modi has brought change in the governance and development by his hard work and dedication, which influenced the common people of the country to shift their allegiance towards BJP party. He reiterated that BJP would install government in Manipur because of the development initiatives of Modi led government at the centre. The BJP has it's footprint in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram and now Tripura in turn in next assembly election. Blaming Manik Sarkar led left front government, Sonowal said Tripura is the backward most state in the country due to faulty policy of the leftists. More than one fifth of the total population, about eight lakh is unemployed and more than 65 per cent of the people living below poverty line in the state. " Despite having surplus power, left front government could not able to establish industries in the state. The government is utterly failed to providing security to the common people and because of lawlessness maximum number of crime against women is reported in Tripura," Sonowal alleged. He further alleged that the left front government was failed to tap the potential of the central support toward the development of northeast and there is massive scale of corruption in centrally sponsored schemes at the behest of the party in power that emerged as main hindrance of development. The rally was organised demanding CBI probe into the murder of BJP tribal front leader Chanmohan Tripura in December last year at Dalapati village of Gandacherra in Dhalai district and arrest of CPI(M) MLA Lalit Mohan Tripura of for his involvement in the murder. Sonowal announced financial help of Rs 5 lakh from Assam BJP to the victim family in the rally and warned that BJP will go for mass movement across the country seeking justice of Chanmohan. The party observer Sunil Deodhar alleged that Chanmohan was battered for nine long hours to death by the CPI(M) cadres under the instruction of MLA Tripura because he was warned to leave BJP but he refused. Police did not even register case against Lalit Mohan and his cadres despite specific complaints lodged by the victim family. "We have to shift the entire family from Dalapati village to Agartala town recently after they got life threat from CPI(M) cadres and police becomes inactive over the serious of crimes and perpetration on the family," he stated. UNI BB AKM 1727 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-1182799.Xml
Gen Rajan Ravindran today took over the reins of thecountry's premier defence training establishment--the Officers Training Academy. He took over as the 30th Commandant, in a traditional Military ceremony organised at the Academy. The Officiating Commandant Maj Gen VD Chowgule handed over the baton to the new incumbent. The General was the senior most serving OTA Alumni and only the second officer from OTA to take over the mantle of this prestigious institution. He is the first Tamilian in the rank of Lieutenant General to command the OTA. Born in Febraury 1958 at Bengaluru, a graduate of Loyola College, Chennai Gen Ravindran was commissioned in September 1978 in the 13th Battalion of The Grenadiers Regiment of Infantry. The General commanded the same battalion from June 1998 to December 2001. During his career, the General Officer has held important appointments including Instructor at Indian Military Training Team, Bhutan. As a Brigadier, he commanded a coveted Independent Mountain Brigade Group. As a Major General, the General Commanded an Infantry Division in the Western Sector and was the Chief Instructor (Army) in DSSC, Wellington. During his tenure as General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, the General was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal. Prior to being appointed as Commandant, OTA, Chennai the General was serving as Chief of Staff, Central Command, Lucknow.UNI GV 1745 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1182862.Xml
"The way police has killed the suspect was wrong," Maulana Amir told ANI, adding, "this encounter was same as the Batla House fake encounter."

"The police held the suspect hostage and it was the police who were firing from inside, not the former. The photo of the encounter which went viral on social media is the proof that it was a fake encounter," he added.

The RUC president, who had visited terror suspect Saifullah's father Sartaj Mohammed, further targetted Uttar Pradesh's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary, questioning his silence on the encounter.

Earlier on March 8, the terrorist holed up inside a house in the outskirts of Lucknow at Thakurganj locality under Kakori police station, was killed by security forces late last night following a 12-hour long anti-terror operation. (ANI)
The entire northeastern region, like other parts of the country, is in the grip of a massive BJP wave, the party's National General Secretary Ram Madhav said here on Friday, adding the BJP will form the government in Manipur on Saturday and in Tripura next year. "Like all parts of India, a BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) wave has gripped the entire northeastern region. People want BJP government everywhere for good governance," Ram Madhav said while addressing a mammoth gathering here in Left-ruled Tripura. He said: "BJP governments have been installed in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the party is a part of the Nagaland government and it would wrest power in Manipur on Saturday, after the counting of votes. The BJP will also come to power in Tripura next year after voting out the Left parties." He claimed that the BJP would come to power in Tripura in the 2018 assembly elections as the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist)-led Left Front government had failed in every sphere and other opposition parties had been unsuccessful in dislodging the Left parties from power. "We would field candidates in all the 60 assembly constituencies to fight against the Left parties. Once a BJP government comes to power in Tripura, unemployment in the state will make way for industrialisation," the BJP leader added. "During the 24-year rule of Left parties, unemployment and poverty has increased. No industrial activity has taken place here despite Tripura being a power-surplus state. The Left government misused the central funds and made only the party prosperous," said Ram Madhav, who is the party's in-charge of northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir. BJP leaders earlier announced that Friday's rally was being organised in protest against the murder of the party's village committee member Chanmohan Tripura last year and to demand a CBI probe into the killing, but all the speakers dwelt upon the party's prospects to come to power in Tripura. Friday's gathering galvanised the local BJP leaders, who claimed that such an enormous crowd had never gathered in the party's rallies in Tripura. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, echoing other BJP leaders, claimed that the party would come to power in Tripura in next year's assembly elections. "BJP is the only party that can make Tripura a developed state. In the name of chit funds, thousands of crores of rupees of people have been looted, while the state government remained a mute spectator," Sonowal said. The Assam Chief Minister said that all the northeastern states must go together and that his state would always remain with Tripura for the latter's all-round success and development. "Over eight lakh people are unemployed in Tripura and a large number of people remain poor. If BJP comes to power in Tripura, it will give right status to all people," he added. BJP's Tripura observer Sunil Deodhar alleged that the Left government in Tripura had turned the state into a corrupt one, making crime and killing a part of life due to mis-governance. "Over a hundred BJP functionaries were killed in Kerala and many party men murdered in Tripura. Over 11 crore BJP members across the country are protesting these killings in both Left-ruled states," Deodhar said. State BJP President Biplab Kumar Deb said that the CPI-M had got scared following the growth of the BJP in Tripura, and that is why their cadres were killing BJP members. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was instigating criminals and nepotism in the state, he alleged. --IANS sc/nir/bg ( 593 Words) 2017-03-10-19:40:08 (IANS)
M J Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs said today that India and Africa can join together for skill development and knowledge sharing. Speaking at the 12th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India Africa Project Partnership, Mr Akbar added that the Indian Prime Minister's visionary initiatives, such as Jan Dhan Yojana, Digital India, and Make in India can be emulated to address similar issues in Africa.He remarked that open economies are turning to protectionism whereas emerging economies are now the torchbearers of free trade. The basis of India Africa Partnership in this field should address skill development and knowledge sharing, to contribute to the opportunities and therefore better lives for people. He complimented the efforts undertaken at the tri-annual India Africa Forum Summit, which in 2015, brought together 54 countries, and concluded with the sanctioning of 600 million dollar in grants from India to African nations and 50,000 dollar in scholarships.Mr. Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament, Republic of Ghana, noted our common colonial heritage and the evolution of a historically close political alliance into a strong economic partnership. The partnership is one of opportunities and benefits for both sides. Encouraging joint ventures could be the road ahead. It would be a fallacy to paint Africa with a common brush. There is a need to acknowledge diversity within the continent.The trade between India and Africa for FY15-16 amounted to 57 billion dollar with a significant increase in exports and maintained imports. Mr. Manoj Dwivedi, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, noting this, complimented deepening bilateral ties between these two partners. While infrastructure development is important, priority should be given to education, health, and agricultural development.Mr. Adi Godrej, Chairman, CII Africa Committee and Chairman, Godrej Group, highlighted the complementarities between what Africa needs, to develop its growth potential, and the kind of resources and expertise that India can offer. Indian companies will need to enter new markets in Africa so they can continue being global players in the 21st century.UNI ADP SHK 1940 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-1183146.Xml
India's highly skilled and educated manpower and Finland's high-end research and technology could be synergized to a develop a business framework, creating a win-win situation for both countries. This was stated by Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Government of India, here today at the First Meeting of Indo-Finnish Business Working Group on Energy & Mining organized by FICCI and Embassy of Finland, New Delhi. The meeting was a follow up of the high level visit of Mr. Goyal to Finland in November 2016 and later a visit by the Finnish delegation to India.Mr. Goyal said that it was commendable that Indian and Finnish companies had come together in just three months to step up the bilateral relations in sectors such as waste-to-energy, solar, bioenergy, flexible fuel technologies, electric mobility, energy efficient lighting, smart grids, coal and miningto strengthen the cooperation between the two nations in areas of waste-to-energy, solar, bioenergy, flexible fuel technologies, electric mobility, energy efficient lighting, smart grids, coal, mining, etc..He said that India had surplus electricity and the technology of converting waste to energy was in use in the country. Thus, India needed technology to transform waste to other forms such as bio-energy. He added that Finland with its small population had made great strides in the field of innovation, technology and research and India could learn from such Finnish endeavors.The Minister said that Finnish companies could help India to scale up technology. Fruitful partnerships could be built between the two nations if Finland could align its processes and technology to make them efficient and cost effective for India.Mr. Goyal said that Finnish companies could partner with their Indian counterparts under various government initiatives such as 'Make in India'. Finnish technologies should be leveraged to improve processes in India. He added that Indian private sector should play a proactive role towards forging alliances with their Finnish counterparts. Nina Vaskunlahti, Ambassador, Embassy of Finland, New Delhi, said that Finnish companies were already working in various sectors in India and had the capacity to scale up its technology and processes for India and were competitive. She added that Finland would like to contribute to the Government of India's initiative 'Make in India' and look forward to favorable tariffs.Ms. Vaskunlahti said that the aim of the Working Group was to enhance business prospects between Finland and India. With the support of Finnish and Indian industry the platform had become active in three months of Mr. Goyal's visit to Finland which exhibits the keen interest of the two sides in augmenting bilateral relation.Mr. Pankaj Patel, President, FICCI, said that Finnish companies were specifically looking at collaborating with local partners to leverage the local knowledge and expertise. India was looking at the scale that was needed to expand and technological solutions to drive down the costs. To address the challenge of availability, accessibility and affordability of energy resources India needed to enhance the domestic growth drivers, remove structural constraints and harness the technology and innovation for energy management.UNI ADP SHK 1950 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-1183164.Xml
India is committed to continuing its political, technical and economic cooperation with Uganda in the manner that Kampala requires for meeting its developmental goals, President Pranab Mukherjee has said. Indian companies were keen to participate in the development of the Ugandan oil sector, Mr Mukherjeetold Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda when the latter called on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday. Welcoming the visiting premier to India for participating in the CII-EXIM Bank Conclave, the President said India valued his presence and contribution. He congratulated Dr. Rugunda and his party for their victory in the Presidential and Parliamentary elections last month and expressed happiness that India could be of assistance in the electoral exercise by providing indelible ink. The President said ''We, in India, appreciate President Museveni's stellar contributions to peace and security in Uganda and his contribution to peace in the East Africa region and the African continent as a whole.'' Reciprocating the President's sentiments, the Ugandan Prime Minister congratulated India for having organised an excellent conclave bringing business and political leaders from Africa to India. He said the Indian business community in Uganda is doing wonderful work. They are a ''blessing to Uganda and India. Even though they are small in number, they have a prominent role in the Ugandan economy,'' he told Mr Mukherjee. Mr Rugunda thanked India for the developmental assistance provided to Uganda and expressed his country's commitment to further strengthen relations with India, an official release here said. UNI SD ADG 2043 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-1183266.Xml
Chief Minister Mukul Sangma today refuted claims by the Opposition that his government over the non-payment of rehabilitation package to former militants disbanded Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) and its splinter group ANVC-B. Replying to the debate on the Governor's address, he said rehabilitation packages was disbursed to 363 out of the 367 cadres of the AVCB and 139 cadres of the disbanded ANVC (B). He informed the House that three of the members of the disbanded ANVC members did not avail the rehabilitation package while one expired. Dr Sangma also informed that out of the 139 members of the disbanded ANVC (B) only 11were able to take advantage of the rehabilitation package while cases of 53 cadres were sent for minor corrections and 74 cadres were yet to submit details of their bank accounts. "There is no point in blaming the government. The government has ensured that the rehabilitation packages reach the cadres," the chief minister told the assembly. Dr Sangma said the state in the past had a temporary sense of achieving peace as it did in 2004 when the ANVC signed tripartite agreement. On the issue of dealing with crimes against women and children, Dr Sangma said that in such cases filing charge-sheet and prosecution becomes crucial to act as deterrents for criminals. He said the government needs to give police the right support so that they can deal with such cases in an efficient manner. "The government will review the whole approach of dealing with crime against women and children," he said. The chief minister also assured the House that his government will pursue the drug menace with the right earnest. He said there was a need to strengthen the Health Department and Inspectorate of Drugs. "There is a need to regulate the sale of psychotropic drugs and nothing should be sold without prescription," the chief minister said. Expressing concern over the menace of pharmacies running without licences, Dr Sangma disclosed that in Garo Hills youths from Tura visit the weekly markets where vendors illegally sell drugs. On the education sector, Dr Sangma pointed out that with the kind of vitiated atmosphere in campuses in metros there is a need to invest in all categories of schools. Earlier, opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) legislator Paul Lyngdoh expressed concern over the spurt in the use of drugs among youths in Shillong. Mr Lyngdoh said despite the seriousness of the issue there was no mention of the menace in the Governor's address. The UDP legislator was surprised at the inability of the police to zero in on the leaders of the drug cartel and pointed out that arrests were being made of only the "small fries" who were at the lowest rung of operation. "Why was not a single big shark arrested so far?" Mr Lyngdoh asked even as he said that it was the job of the police to identify the persons who run the drugs cartel and it was the responsibility of the other stakeholders in the society to create awareness on the problem of drugs. The UDP legislator said law was lenient on persons who indulge in drugs trade and added that it was indirectly encouraging growth of drug operators who take advantage of the loopholes in the act. Moreover, ruling Nationalist Congress Party legislator Sanbor Shullai suggested the government for stringent laws to deal with cases of rape. He pointed out that laws in the Gulf countries and Afghanistan gave instant justice to victims of rape while the law in India was tedious and long drawn. UNI RRK AD2130 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-1183367.Xml
The audit report presented in the Assembly today noted that Delhi has been experiencing outbreaks of Dengue since 1967 but the steps taken by the government over the decades were not adequate to control it. The audit findings are that MCD neither developed a Standard operating procedure for epidemiological and entomological surveillance nor was there any lab facility for this purpose.Four audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India relating to the government of NCT of Delhi for the year ended March 2016 were placed in the Delhi legislative Assembly today.The four reports were Audit report number 3 of 2016 on social sector (Non-public sector undertakings); Audit report number 1 of 2017 on social, general and economic sectors (Non-PSUs); Audit report number 5 of 2016 on Revenue and social and economic sectors (PSUs) and Audit report Number 4 of 2016 on state finances.The first report ie the Audit report number 3 of 2016 on Social Sector (Non-Public Sector Undertakings) contains a performance audit on "Prevention and Control of Dengue in National capital Territory Of Delhi" with a financial implication of of Rs 53.69 crore and audit findings of relating to "redevelopment of Rajiv Gandhi Chowk'' and ''advertisement and publicity campaigns of the government of NCT of Delhi'' involving Rs 83.28 crores.In its first report, the audit has noted that though the MCD deployed domestic breeding checkers to target larvae in houses within their jurisdictions to check dengue but no monitoring or assessment of their effectiveness was done. Moreover, there was also no assessment to the effectiveness of the methods adopted in vector control.The Delhi cantonment board could not utilize 74 per cent of funds totalling Rs 1.80 crore allocated for anti-mosquito operations during 2013-14 to 2015-16. Moreover, Rapid Response teams were not constituted in MCD and NDMC for taking emergency action to reduce transmission and eliminate mosquito breeding sites. As far as Redevelopment of Rajiv Chowk was concerned, the audit found that restoration of the facade was completed only in the outer and inner circles while study to ascertain the structural stability of the buildings was not carried out and the expenditure amounting to to Rs 14.67 crores on utility corridors , surface development and water supply was rendered unfruitful.MORE UNI SY ADG 2200 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0093-1183309.Xml
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer Shantmanu today said that over 73,000 migrant voters will franchise an exercise at special polling stations to be set up in Jammu, Udhampur and New Delhi for bye-elections to parliamentary constituencies of Srinagar and Anantnag which would go to poll on April 9 and April 12. ''Approximately 27 lakh voters will cast their vote in these bye-elections and special polling stations have been setup at Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi for more than 73,000 migrant voters,'' Mr Shantmanu here today said. Seeking maximum participation of voters in the polling, the CEO informed that bye-elections to parliamentary constituencies of Srinagar and Anantnag would be held on April 9 and April 12, 2017. He further informed that the notification for Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary constituencies would be issued on March 14 and March 17, 2017 respectively while the last date for filing nominations has been fixed as March 21 and March 24, 2017 respectively. The scrutiny of nominations would be done on March 22 and March 27, respectively while as the candidates can withdraw their nominations till March 24 and March 29 respectively, the CEO added. He added that counting of votes would be held on April 15 and the election process would be completed on April 16. ''The model code of conduct came into force in seven districts of both the parliamentary constituencies yesterday to ensure that bye-elections can be conducted in free and fair manner'', he added. The CEO said Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) would be used for conducting these bye-polls and all steps have been taken to ensure that the bye-polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines. The CEO informed that Deputy Commissioners, Srinagar and Anantnag have been nominated as Returning Officers for their respective constituencies. He appealed the electors of both the parliamentary constituencies to ensure their maximum participation in the bye-polls for strengthening the democratic setup in the State. The CEO said that basic facilities would be provided in all the polling stations in both the parliamentary constituencies and ensured that election process would be done with utmost care in free and transparent manner. He further informed his Office has received requests for changing few polling stations but clarified that this would be done only after the consultation of all the stakeholders.UNI VBH SHS GC2228 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1183410.Xml
US and Iraqi officials believe the leader of Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has left operational commanders behind with diehard followers to fight the battle of Mosul and is now hiding out in the desert. It is impossible to confirm the whereabouts of the IS "caliph", who declared himself the ruler of all Muslims from Mosul's Great Mosque after his forces swept through northern Iraq in 2014, The Telegraph reported on Thursday. But US and Iraqi intelligence sources say an absence of official communication from the group's leadership and the loss of territory in Mosul suggest he has abandoned the city, by far the largest population centre his group has ever held. He has proved to be an elusive target, rarely using communication that can be monitored and moving constantly, often multiple times in one 24-hour cycle, the report said. From their efforts to track him, officers believe he hides mostly among sympathetic civilians in familiar desert villages, rather than with fighters in their barracks in urban areas where combat has been under way, the sources say. At the height of its power two years ago, IS ruled over millions of people in territory running from northern Syria through towns and villages along the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys to the outskirts of Baghdad in Iraq. --IANS sku/ ( 230 Words) 2017-03-10-04:58:08 (IANS)
The reports of Trump's April 2016 encounter with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak came just days after two of Trump's top advisers -- former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Attorney General Jeff Sessions -- became embroiled in controversy following the revelation that they each spoke with the ambassador prior to the Inauguration, ABC News reported on Thursday.

Kislyak was seated in the front row as Trump delivered a 45-minute foreign policy address at Washington's Mayflower Hotel.

The Centre for the National Interest, which sponsored the event, released a statement on Thursday saying that Kislyak was among about two-dozen people invited "a short reception prior to Trump's speech" where the candidate greeted them in a receiving line.

"The line moved quickly and any conversations with Trump in that setting were inherently brief and could not be private," the statement said.

"Our recollection is that the interaction between Mr. Trump and Ambassador Kislyak was limited to the polite exchange of pleasantries appropriate on such occasions," it added.

White House officials dismissed the significance of Trump and Kislyak meeting in this manner.

--IANS sku/

( 227 Words)

2017-03-10-05:36:08 (IANS)
According to CNN, the Police believe the suspect, a 36-year-old man who lives in Wuppertal, was alone when he attacked, however, speculations are rife that he could have had other accomplices, as suspects are being rounded up.

But local authorities believe the man, who has been arrest, has mental problems.

German media reported that one attacker tried to flee from police by jumping from a bridge onto the street below before being caught by officers.

The station remained closed late Thursday as investigators swarmed over the scene and cordoned the area.

Meanwhile, the motive for the attack remains unclear.

More details to follow. (ANI)
Expressing no fear whatsoever with Pakistan trying to seek a Red Corner Notice against him, Baloch Republican Party (BRP) chief Brahumdagh Bugti said that the step was simply 'childish' and an attempt by Islamabad to divert the attention from their rampant crimes and attrocities in Balochistan. "Pakistan's aim is to go after anyone who stands up for the rights of Balochistan or speaks out against the atrocities that are rampant there. They are trying to divert the attention from their crimes by trying to issue a Red Corner Notice against me. However, I'm confident that the international community will not pay any heed to it," Bugti told ANI here. Talking about his request for political asylum in India, Bugti clarified that he had made the decision not because he had any problem in Switzerland, but that his movements had been restricted. "My problem is that I can't travel. If a political person's movement is restricted then his career is affected. And my goal is to spread my movement across the globe," he said. Earlier this month, Pakistan approached the Interpol seeking Red Notices in the names of Bugti and his aide Sher Mohammad Bugti, who are in Geneva, and their arrest. In the letter to Interpol, Director General of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency said that both Brahamdagh Bugti and Sher Mohammad Bugti were "involved in various terrorist attacks in Balochistan province of Pakistan". Brahumdagh fled Balochistan after his grandfather and Bugti tribe head, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, was killed in a Pakistan Army offensive in 2006. He was first given asylum in Afghanistan from where he shifted to Switzerland in 2010 following threat to his life. (ANI)
A floating target was destroyed from a distance of 250 kilometers, Russian news agency TASS cited Tasnim news agency as saying.

However, this missile is capable of engaging targets at a distance of up to 300 kilometers.

"The naval ballistic missile called Hormuz-2 has successfully destroyed a target that was 250 kilometers away," Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force, was quoted as saying.

The announcements follow earlier reports by the US media of an Iranian missile test.

Fox News had reported on Monday that the IRGC had fired two short-range missiles over southeastern Iran -- one on March 4 that missed its target and another on March 5 that hit its intended target.

--IANS sku/

( 145 Words)

2017-03-10-07:30:08 (IANS)
According to BBC, the anti-secrecy website has published thousands of the US spy agency's secret documents, including what it says are the CIA's hacking tools.

Founder Julian Assange said that, after some thought, he had decided to give the tech community further leaks first.

"Once the material is effectively disarmed, we will publish additional details," Assange was quoted as saying.

US federal agencies have launched a criminal investigation into the release of the documents.

In response to the revelations, CIA spokeswoman Heather Fritz Horniak told the BBC: "As we've said previously, Julian Assange is not exactly a bastion of truth and integrity.

"Despite the efforts of Assange and his ilk, CIA continues to aggressively collect foreign intelligence overseas to protect America from terrorists, hostile nation states and other adversaries," Horniak added.

In the first tranche of leaks, Wikileaks alleged that the CIA had developed "a giant arsenal" of malware to attack "all the systems that average people use".

Tech firms, including Google and Apple, have said that they are developing counter-measures to combat any malware that the CIA may have developed.

--IANS sku/

( 209 Words)

2017-03-10-07:52:08 (IANS)
Citing the daily Prensa Libre, Xinhua news agency reported that another 21 children were in critical condition with second and third degree burns over at least 50 per cent of their bodies.

"The chances that the minors admitted to the hospitals of San Juan de Dios and Roosevelt will survive are low," the daily said while citing hospital officials.

The blaze broke out late Tuesday night at the Virgen de la Asuncion Shelter in San Jose Pinula in the central department of Guatemala.

Children rioting at the shelter to protest poor treatment reportedly set fire to mattresses and the flames spread through the facility.

The daily said stories of abuse were emerging following the tragedy, including sexual abuse, violence, drugs and general mismanagement.

--IANS sku/

( 161 Words)

2017-03-10-07:56:09 (IANS)
Two suspects in relation to the attack were arrested, police officers at the scene said, adding that among those who sustained injuries one was seriously injured, Xinhua news agency reported.

One attacker jumped out from the crowd waving his axe at the people and blood was spilled everywhere, Xinhua cited local newspaper Bild as saying.

The attacker attempted to run to the street but was caught by police officers at the scene while another suspect was also taken at the train station. Their identities and motives were not disclosed.

Federal police have described the incident as an "amok attack."

Federal police's special unit was dispatched to the train station and would search for further fellow perpetrators.

--IANS sku/

( 157 Words)

2017-03-10-08:00:08 (IANS)
His reappointment until the end of 2019 means he will play a crucial role in Britain's negotiations to leave the EU.

Poland refused to approve some summit texts, raising unease at a time when the E.U. is looking for unity as the crisis-prone bloc is faced with the painful departure of Britain.

"I will do my best to make EU better," Tusk said in a tweet.

The leaders voted 27 to one to give him another two-and-a-half-year term.

The Polish Government insisted that Tusk had violated his mandate by interfering in domestic politics.

According to the Guardian, Polish Prime Minister, Beata Szydlo, confirmed that Poland would retaliate by blocking the EU summit communique, a statement summarising EU policy on economic growth, migration and the western Balkans. But the document can still be approved in a different procedure, a manoeuvre likely to deepen the wedge between Warsaw and other EU capitals.(ANI)
Officials in the northern region of Liguria announced plans to enforce the ban in what is described as an attempt to defend women's freedom, the Daily Mail reported.

If it is approved, it will become the latest case of traditional Islamic attire being prohibited after a number of bans on the burqa.

Regional president Giovanni Tot, said the burqa headscarf was "the worst symbol of the oppression of women".

Defending the ban, which has been accused of discriminatory, he told The Local: 'Those who live in Italy need to grasp and respect at least the minimum rules of equality between men and women.'

Last month, it was revealed Bavaria would ban the full-face veil in schools, universities, government workplaces and polling stations.

There has also been similar bans in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Norway.

--IANS ksk

( 177 Words)

2017-03-10-10:24:09 (IANS)
The United States looks forward to a "productive relationship" with the next South Korean president, a U.S. embassy spokesman said on Friday following the removal of President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal."The United States continues to be a steadfast ally, friend, and partner to the Republic of Korea," the spokesman told Reuters. "Ultimately, it is a domestic issue for the people of Korea to decide through their democratic process and we respect their decisions".The United States has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.Reuters cj NS1040 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1182103.Xml
Two American security experts have called on the Donald Trump Administration to seriously consider fresh options in dealing with a terrorist supporting and irresponsible nuclear weapons state like Pakistan. In an article appearing in The National Interest, a web site dealing with security-related issues, Congressman Ted Poe, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade and James Clad former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia in the George W. Bush administration said, "The United States has acquiesced in a toxic relationship with Pakistan, putting up with this nominal ally whose military and security leaders play a lethal double game. Most dangerously, the "game," if one can call it that, involves head-long nuclear-weapons production and exporting Islamist terrorism." "Something must change in our dealings with a terrorist-supporting, irresponsible nuclear-weapons state, and it must change soon. Acquiescing in the current trends is not an option," they added. Maintaining that successive Pakistani military leaders have held their country's civilian governments on a tight leash, both Poe and Clad said, "The Pakistani military plays to its various constituencies in Washington very well-especially defense corporations, some residual voices in the intelligence community and parts of the foreign policy establishment for whom "maintaining access" in Islamabad edges out realism." Both Poe and Clad said that changing the United States' reactive accommodating stance with respect to Pakistan won't come quickly, and added that it must change irrespective of trends in U.S.-India relations, which have steadily come to be on a sounder footing since the time of the George W. Bush administration. "There's a tendency to think of Pakistan as part of a troubling duality, with India and Pakistan in a death spiral. That's out of date-and we have our issues with India too," they said. They described Pakistan as a quasi-adversary, receiving hundreds of billions (of dollars) through the years in direct and indirect U.S. support, adding that it seemed like "a strange hostage-like arrangement in which we pay Islamabad to do what it should be doing any way to protect its own domestic security and buttress Afghan stability." Suggesting that over the years, the broad strategic balance has shifted against Pakistan which, unlike its neighbor to the east (India), fails to invest in human capital, they said, "It's time that the United States sets, unilaterally, the limits of its indulgence." They suggested three ways for Washington to finally put this toxic relationship with Islamabad behind them: Don't let the next crisis in South or Southwest Asia deflect our focus. Don't rush to shore up Pakistan's balance of payments via the IMF or other intermediaries, as we've done in the past. Let China pay that, if the Pakistanis wish to mortgage their future in that way. (China's "one belt, one road" infrastructure plans for Pakistan are running into big problems). (ANI)
China said it would "resolutely strike" against the "Dalai Lama clique's separatist activities" as protesters planned demonstrations in major world cities today to mark the anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.The sensitive anniversary coincided with the yearly news conference of Tibet's delegation to China's annual meeting of parliament, under way in Beijing.Che Dalha, Tibet's governor, said the government would "hold a clear-cut stand against separatism, resolutely strike against the Dalai clique's damaging and separatist activities"."The most important task is to protect our motherland's frontier regions, build up our homes, absolutely not allow any groups to separate even one inch of our land from the motherland," said Tashi Yangjen, a delegate representing the tiny Lhoba ethnic minority group of southeast Tibet.Chinese troops marched in and took control of Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a "peaceful liberation".China views the Dalai Lama, Tibet's Buddhist spiritual leader who fled into exile in India after the failed uprising, as a dangerous separatist. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate denies espousing violence and says he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet.International human rights groups and exiles routinely condemn what they say is China's oppressive rule in Tibetan areas. They say pervasive surveillance and displays of military force are being used to intimidate and quell dissent, which has included Tibetan Buddhist monks self-immolating in protest at lack of religious freedoms.Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said Chinese authorities were again shutting off travel and holding military parades "to bully the Tibetan population into silence"."Progress on human rights is only going to happen if the Chinese government replaces its intimidation tactics with a more open approach to information, expression and peaceful dissent," she said.Foreign journalists are not allowed to travel to Tibet without government approval, while all foreigners have been barred from entering during sensitive periods.Tibet's most senior Communist Party official, Wu Yingjie, said foreign reporters were welcome as long as "they objectively and accurately report the changes in Tibet, the blissful lives of the masses, Tibet's ethnic unity and religious harmony".INTERNATIONAL PROTESTSIn Sydney, 200 protesters marched through the central business district to the Chinese consulate to protest against the lack of human rights in Tibet, with larger demonstrations planned later on Friday in cities including Taipei and London.The protesters, many dressed in traditional Tibetan chupas, waved flags and shouted "human rights for Tibet" as they made their way past shoppers and office workers."We hope this kind of movement might bring the message to the world that we are still under Chinese suppression," third generation Tibetan Tashi Gyatso said.Chinese university student Nancy Cao, from Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province in north China, said she was confused about the protest."Tibet is always a part of China in our history," said Cao, adding that the Chinese government had helped Tibet develop.In an interview with comedian John Oliver which aired this week, the Dalai Lama said Chinese hardliners had parts of their brain missing and suggested he might be the last Dalai Lama, prompting the Chinese Foreign Ministry to brand him a "deceptive actor".(Reporting by Philip Wen in BEIJING and Benjamin Weir and Aaron Bunch in SYDNEYREUTERS CJ VP1328 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1182342.Xml
"I have been here for almost half a year this time. What impressed me most is the big progress of the media, compared with my first term in India 28 years ago. Firstly, the media has developed very fast. Traditional media, social media, 24-hour television shows a lot of breaking news. It really means information explosion, and freedom of speech in India," he said.

The ambassador lauded the Indian media for paying more attention to China and its bilateral relations with India.

"The media covers not only many domestic events, but also foreign affairs news. It shows India is such an open society, integrated deeply with the world. India media pays more attention to China and China-India relations. It promotes better understanding between our two peoples, and also helps China to understand Indian perspectives. I appreciate what you have done to bridge China-India interactions and friendship," he added.

Zhaohui requested the media to report on China-India relations in a balanced way.

He was speaking at the Holi Reception for Indian media organized by Chinese Embassy. (ANI)
The landmark Hindu marriage bill was passed by the Pakistan Parliament on Thursday and it now only needs the signature of the president to become a law. The Hindu Marriage Bill 2017 is the first personal law in Pakistan to regulate the marriages in the Hindu community. The bill will provide mechanism for registration of Hindu marriage which includes conditions for contracting the marriage, procedure for dissolution of the marriage and the grounds on the basis of which such a marriage can be dissolved. It also provides the concept of judicial separation where marriage remains intact, however, parties are no longer under obligation to cohabit each other, reports Geo News. The bill will help Hindus documentary proof of their marriage. The bill was presented in the National Assembly by Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael who said that it was a constitutional obligation to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities and to protect the marriage, the family, the mother and the child. "There was no law to regulate the registration of Hindu marriages and ancillary matters thereto", he added. The bill was finalised after numerous consultations with relevant ministries/divisions and representatives of the Hindu community. According to the bill, minors cannot get married as the minimum age of 18 has been prescribed as a condition precedent for contracting the marriage. It also protects customs and customary rites of the Hindu community. The ministry also obtained resolutions form the provincial governments to regulate the marriage under one law applicable to whole of Pakistan. It will, however, be the first personal law for Pakistani Hindus, which will be applicable in the province of Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Sindh province has already formulated its own Hindu marriage law. (ANI)
According to the Dawn, a citizen, Mahmood Akhtar Naqvi, challenged the appointments of Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to Prime Minister Sharif on Foreign Affairs and Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs.

The petitioner also questioned the appointment of Sardar Mehtab Abbasi as Sharif's advisor on aviation.

The petitioner's counsel argued that Aziz and Fatemi had been running the Foreign Ministry like ministers. The counsel pointed out that the Prime Minister could appoint five advisors, but a big number of advisors had been working in violation of the rules.

A deputy attorney general objected to the maintainability of the petition and asked the court to dismiss the same. He argued that the petitioner had relied upon nothing concrete but press clippings.

The Chief Justice observed that the courts could be petitioned on the basis of clear and reliable media reports.

The Chief Justice said powers/roles of ministers and advisers had been clearly defined in the laws and an adviser could not assume the powers of a minister.

Chief Justice Shah adjourned further hearing till March 16 and sought more arguments from both sides - the petitioner and the government. (ANI)
Indian border guards killed a Nepali citizen over a local dispute in a rare shooting at the border, the Prachanda government said.Anti-India protests subsequently erupted in the area and in the national capital today.India and Nepal share a 1,751-km long and open border and thousands of people cross over each day to work and trade, but Nepali politicians have often accused New Delhi of meddling in its affairs.Dozens of people were protesting over a damaged culvert in Nepal's Anandabazaar near the border with India yesterday when Indian border guards opened fire, killing a 25-year-old man, a government statement said.An Indian foreign ministry spokesman said India's border guards had opened an inquiry and had asked Nepal to provide a forensic and post mortem report on the victim.It said officials from the two countries had met and agreed to take steps to maintain calm.But today, fresh protests erupted in Anandabazaar, which is 477 km southwest of Kathmandu, with an even bigger group of Nepalis attacking a local government office, Home Ministry spokesman Bal Krishna Panthi said."The area is tense," a police official in the region said.Another group of demonstrators tried to march on the Indian embassy in Kathmandu in protest over the shooting, but were stopped by police, leading to scuffles, police official Chhabi Lal said.Nepal's ties with India were strained towards the end of 2015 and into last year after it blamed South Block for tacitly supporting a months-long blockade on fuel and goods by Indian-origin plainspeople who are opposed to Nepal's constitution.REUTERS SW-RP1705 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0101-1182726.Xml
The South Korean Constitutional Court unanimously upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye on Friday, removing her from office after a 92-day leadership crisis and triggering a presidential election in the weeks to come. The ruling, which was announced by the court's acting chief and televised live, made Park the nation's first democratically elected leader to be ousted, Yonhap news agency reported. Park, the 65-year-old daughter of a former President, was impeached by Parliament on December 9 over a corruption and influence-peddling scandal centred on her close friend. The court's decision strips Park of her immunity from criminal prosecution, which will force her to undergo interrogation by prosecutors over her alleged crime. Park's supporters and detractors rallied outside the court and in nearby Gwanghwamun Square. The demonstrations turned violent after the court ruling and two pro-Park protesters died from their injuries while several others were wounded, the police said. "The negative effects of the President's actions and their repercussions are grave, and the benefits to defending the Constitution by removing her from office are overwhelmingly large," Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said in the ruling. The National Assembly accused Park of letting her friend Choi Soon-sil meddle in state affairs, colluding with her to extort money from conglomerates, and neglecting her duties during a 2014 ferry sinking that killed over 300. Choi, who had no post in the government and no security clearance, allegedly edited drafts of Park's speeches, received classified documents from the presidential office, and recommended the appointments of senior government officials, according to the report. The court acknowledged the illegality of Park's actions in letting Choi Soon-sil handle state affairs. It dismissed the other charges, such as her abuse of power in dismissing government officials, citing a lack of evidence. In the ruling, the court accused Park of "thoroughly hiding" Choi's involvement in government affairs. Park abused her power to help her friend of 40 years establish foundations and "continuously" violated the law and the Constitution throughout her term, it said. The foundations were allegedly used to collect "donations" from conglomerates, including Samsung Group. "The President's violations of the Constitution and the law amount to a betrayal of the people's trust and are grave actions that cannot be tolerated from the perspective of defending the Constitution," Lee said. By law, South Korea is required to hold an election to pick Park's successor within 60 days, and most expect it to take place on May 9, according to Yonhap. Meanwhile, Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn took steps to restore order in the wake of the highly-charged scandal. He held a meeting and instructed ministers to ensure the stable management of state affairs, prevent further social divisions and make preparations for the upcoming presidential vote. In an address to to the nation, Hwang made an emphatic appeal for national unity. Park's Liberty Korea Party apologised to the nation as it accepted the court's decision. The minor People's Party called the court's decision a victory by the people, while the Bareun Party, which spun off from the Liberty Korea Party in the wake of the scandal, called on political circles to accept the ruling for the sake of national unity. The US also reacted to the news, saying it will continue to be a "steadfast ally" of South Korea and "look forward to a productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next President". Park's supporters and detractors rallied outside the court and in nearby Gwanghwamun Square. The demonstrations turned violent after the court ruling and two pro-Park protesters died from their injuries while several others were wounded, the police said. --IANS soni/vt ( 624 Words) 2017-03-10-17:58:08 (IANS)
Chinese President Xi Jinping today called for a "great wall of iron" to safeguard the restive western region of Xinjiang after a top official said Islamist separatists pose the "most prominent" challenge to the country's stability.Xi make the comments at a meeting of Xinjiang's lawmakers on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing, marking his first ever visit to the regional delegation since taking office.Beijing has long said it faces a determined campaign by a group known as the East Turkestan Independence Movement, or ETIM, in Xinjiang, where hundreds of people have been killed in recent years in attacks and unrest between mostly Muslim ethnic Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese."(ETIM) is the most prominent challenge to China's social stability, economic development and national security," Cheng Guoping, State Commissioner for counterterrorism and security, was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper.The comments come about a week after a video purportedly by the Islamic State group surfaced showing Uighurs training in Iraq, vowing to plant their flag in China and saying that blood will "flow in rivers"."Just as one loves one's own eyes, one must love ethnic unity; just as one takes one's own livelihood seriously, one must take ethnic unity seriously," Xi told the delegation, according to the state broadcaster.The daily evening news showed Xi meeting delegates in traditional Uighur dress, with one individual presenting him with a photo of a Uighur family whose relative once met Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China."I'm too excited. In 1958 old Kuerban met Chairman Mao in Beijing and now I'm meeting Chairman Xi," he said in heavily accented Mandarin.China is worried that Uighurs have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight for militant groups there, having travelled illegally via Southeast Asia and Turkey.Rights groups say the unrest in Xinjiang is more a reaction to repressive government policies, and experts have questioned whether ETIM exists as a cohesive militant group. China denies there is any repression in Xinjiang.Cheng told the China Daily that China should "closely check in on whether Afghanistan is becoming another paradise for extremist and terrorist groups. Such a major development may pose a serious challenge to the security of our northwestern border".The Global Times, an influential state-run tabloid, said Xinjiang authorities would issue a new anti-extremism regulation this year, possibly later this month, that would "prevent the spread of extremist ideas".It said the regulation would supplement an existing counterterrorism law that is focused on acts of terrorism, but did not give details."Lawmakers need to distinguish between ethnic habits and extremist practices and understand that not all extremist ideas constitute a crime," the paper cited Dong Xinguang, deputy director of the standing committee of Xinjiang's regional legislature, as saying. Reuters SW VP1730 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0101-1182779.Xml
Turkish government officials cannot invoke German constitutional rights in seeking to enter the country for political appearances, Germany's Constitutional Court said today.The ruling was published as tensions escalate over the cancellation of Turkish rallies in Germany in support of an April 16 referendum that would give Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers.German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel's spokesman said he did not expect the ruling to change the government's view about appearances by Turkish ministers, which were generally hosted by private organisations covered by German law.However, he said Germany had made clear that it expected Turkish officials to respect German laws and abide by common rules of decency.The ruling was issued in response to a complaint filed by a German citizen against a Feb. 18 appearance by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in the town of Oberhausen.The court rejected the complaint, saying the rights of the citizen were not violated. However, it said the Turkish head of state and other leaders could not claim German constitutional rights to enter Germany, or in justifying their speeches.Turkish officials have given Germany a list of potential appearances by the Turkish sport and family ministers and other officials, but no formal request for Erdogan to visit Germany.Erdogan, who survived an army attempt to topple him in July, argues that he needs more powers to avert the instability of past coalition governments. But rallies by Turkish officials backing the change are causing growing unease in Europe.Some 83 percent of Germans think Turkish politicians should not be allowed to campaign in Germany for the referendum, while 15 percent think such appearances were acceptable, a poll by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen for broadcaster ZDF showed today.Martin Schulz, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) candidate seeking to unseat Merkel, told Bild newspaper that Erdogan, as president of an allied country, was welcome to visit, but internal Turkish conflicts should not be played out in Germany.Yildirim spoke to thousands of Erdogan supporters in Oberhausen last month as part of a broad drive by the Turkish government to rally support among the 1.5 million Turkish citizens who are eligible to vote in the April 16 referendum.Speeches planned by several other Turkish officials, including its justice and economy ministers, in other German towns were subsequently banned by local officials citing security concerns, drawing sharp criticism from Turkey.Erdogan criticised the decisions, likening them to "fascist" tactics used during the Nazi era in a series of speeches that stunned German leaders."When Turkish government officials accuse us of Nazi tactics that is crossing a red line," Schulz said. "That's when a chancellor must say, 'That's enough.'" Reuters SW VP1732 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0101-1182781.Xml
The leaders of the European Union tried to put a poisonous row with Poland behind them today but struggled to agree on ways to hold the bloc together following the shock of Britain's vote to walk out.Prime ministers and presidents of the 27 surviving members met for a second day in Brussels, after Britain's Theresa May had left. Their goal was to set out guidelines for officials to draft a rousing declaration of unity and progress which they will then endorse at a ceremony in Rome in two weeks' time.But that event on March 25, the 60th anniversary of the signing of the bloc's founding treaty in the Italian capital, has been overshadowed by May preparing to launch the two-year Brexit process in the coming days and by a furious row yesterday with Warsaw, the major eastern power in the EU.Beata Szydlo found herself totally isolated in a vain attempt to block the reappointment of Donald Tusk, her predecessor as Polish prime minister, as the chair of EU summits. It was a relatively minor issue but touched a raw nerve with Tusk's nemesis Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Szydlo's party leader.That personal enmity, fed by a heated domestic political debate in Poland, saw the Warsaw government alienate even its closest allies like Hungary and Slovakia. They lined up with all the rest to back Tusk and sweep aside Szydlo's objections.POLISH PETULANCEThe Polish refusal to compromise -- Szydlo even withheld her approval from the entire official record of the summit, forcing officials into awkward legal nuances -- angered many and cast a pall over Friday's proceedings.Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel accused Szydlo of childish petulance: "This is a boycott," he said. "A reaction of defiance from the corner, not behaving like adults."Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said: "I see no sense in getting offended and retreating into a corner, whether for the Poles or the rest ... The Poles have the same interest as we have, to make progress in terms of security and the economy."Leaders today morning were studying a series of proposals for a Rome Declaration drafted by Tusk's staff and the Italian hosts. Diplomats said no formal proposed draft of the March 25 text would be produced today but that officials would work on it over the coming two weeks.It will need to navigate competing demands; rich, western states led by Germany and France argue that the lesson of Brexit should be that the EU should deepen integration, at least among some countries in certain areas such as the economy and defence, in order to shore up flagging popular support for the Union.Poland and others in the east, where public support for the Union is bolstered by subsidy payments funded by the west, are loath to give up any national sovereignty again - secured only after the Cold War - to an EU that Warsaw's foreign minister described yesterday as being subject to "German diktat".REUTERS SW PR1821 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0101-1182847.Xml
About 2,000 people were killed and entire neighbourhoods razed in southeastern Turkey in 18 months of government security operations characterised by massive destruction and serious human rights violations, the United Nations said today.The UN human rights office said in a report on the period July 2015-December 2016 that up to 500,000 people, mostly Kurds, had been displaced, while satellite imagery showed the "enormous scale of destruction of the housing stock by heavy weaponry".UN investigators documented human rights violations including killings, disappearances and torture, often during curfews lasting several days at a time.UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said in a statement that Turkey, which denied access for the investigators, had "contested the veracity" of the allegations."It appears that not a single suspect was apprehended and not a single individual was prosecuted," Zeid said, adding an independent investigation was urgently needed.Zeid's spokesman Rupert Colville said it could be international or Turkish but must be independent and impartial. The UN would continue investigating and might publish reports on Turkey every three months or so, he said, adding that security operations were continuing sporadically.KILLINGSAlmost 800 of those killed were members of the security forces, and some of the other 1,200 may have been involved in action against the state, the report said.Among the documented killings were those of up to 189 people trapped for weeks in basements in the town of Cizre in early 2016, without water, food, medical attention or power. They were killed by fire induced by shelling.One woman's family was given "three small pieces of charred flesh", identified by DNA as being her remains. Her sister, who demanded legal action, was charged with terrorist offences, the report said.Colville said the death toll figures came from the Turkish government. It says it is targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which it regards as a terrorist group."Definitely if the PKK have committed crimes and violations they need to be analysed and exposed," Colville said."The problem is because there has been this void, really, in investigation, nobody knows the scale of who has done what to whom and the precise details," he added.Although Zeid has been invited to Turkey, Colville said a UN investigative team needed to go first and it would be "absurd" to think Zeid's visit could be a substitute. REUTERS SW PR1815 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0101-1182875.Xml
The Syrian government has called on the United Nations to force Turkey to withdraw "its invasion forces from Syrian land", state media said today.Turkey launched its first major military incursion into Syria last August, an operation meant to drive Islamic State out of the border area and to stop Kurdish militias from seizing ground in their wake. REUTERS SW PR1829 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0101-1182915.Xml
President Mukherjee received King Mswati-III of Swaziland at Rashtrapati Bhavan and hosted a lunch in his honour.

According to a statement from the President's House, welcoming the King, the President recalled their last meeting when the King visited India in October 2015 to participate in the India-Africa Forum Summit.

The President said India and Swaziland traditionally enjoy a friendly and co-operative relationship.

India appreciates the support that Swaziland has consistently extended to India in multilateral forums. India has been happy to partner Swaziland in its development through scholarships and capacity-building.

President Mukherjee said he was delighted to know that the Royal Science and Technology Park is now near completion as it is a symbol of the King's progressive vision and commitment to the development of Swaziland.

The President said India offers Swaziland a large market, affordable technologies and finance. He called upon the King to create conditions to attract Indian investments in areas of interest of Swaziland. The President also assured him that India would be happy to assist Swaziland achieve its developmental goals.

On his part, King Mswati said India's expertise was valuable for the countries of Africa and they are grateful to New Delhi for its willingness to transfer the same. (ANI)
Chinese officials in Germany have warned of a diplomatic row over a clothing line producing T-shirts emblazoned with jokey English slogans that they said insult China. According to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), the officials have also demanded an apology from a German company, Spreadshirt, and asked it to stop selling the T-shirts, which come inscribed with slogans like "Save a dog, eat a Chinese" and "Save a shark, eat a Chinese." A third T-shirt depicts two Chinese-style characters having sex, with the caption "Now I understand Chinese" written underneath. The controversy could even taint relations between the two countries, the embassy warned on Friday. The embassy said in its statement, "At the same time, we demand from the German supervisory authorities to exercise their duties with regard to the business activities of the company and the website so that the friendly feelings between our two people will not be damaged." The statement also said that trade and economics officials have already met with representatives from the company "to express our great displeasure" with the T-shirts. China's "People's Daily" reported that the website had pulled the shirts, but a cursory check on the company's website found that the items were still being sold as of Friday. According to the "Global Times," another Chinese state-run news outlet, a spokesperson for the Leipzig-based Spreadshirt said they were not responsible for the shirts, as the company serves as a platform for other designers to sell their clothing. (ANI)
Four branches of the US military are looking into the posting of nude photos of what appear to be female service members on various websites, a Pentagon official said. The news follows reports about lewd photos being posted by a group of Marines and former Marines, and goes beyond the Corps and some private Facebook groups like Marines United, CNN reported on Friday. Photos of nude and clothed female service members also have been posted to another image-sharing message board, according to reports. A CNN review of the site found photos of women in uniforms from different branches of the military -- and nude and partially nude images. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the Marines United scandal. There is no Defence Department-wide investigation as of Thursday evening, the Pentagon official said. The US Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy made statements on the new report. "After being made aware of the photo sharing site today by Business Insider, we are looking further into the matter and taking it seriously, but cannot immediately verify any details about the site, the source of its content, or whether there has been any involvement by any airmen," the Air Force said. "As members of the Army team, individuals' interaction offline and online reflect on the Army and its values. The Army defines online misconduct as the use of electronic communication to inflict harm, which includes, but is not limited to, instances of harassment, bullying, hazing, stalking, discrimination, retaliation, or any other types of misconduct that undermines dignity and respect," Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Jennifer R. Johnson said. "Soldiers or civilian employees who participate in or condone misconduct, whether offline or online, may be subject to criminal, disciplinary, and/or administrative action," she said. "We fully expect that the discovery of Marines United will motivate Marines to come forward to notify their chain of command of pages like it. Things may seem to get worse before they get better; Marines will attack this problem head-on and continue to get better," Capt. Ryan E. Alvis said. "It is a call to arms in the wake of recent reports of unprofessional and inappropriate social media behaviour by some who have lost sight of that most fundamental purpose they themselves are duty-bound to serve," Acting Secretary of the Navy Sean Stackley said. Earlier this week, the scandal focused on Marines United, a private Facebook group with 30,000 members and hundreds of photos of women in different stages of undress. Thomas Brennan, founder of the military news site, The War Horse, first reported the group page to the Marines and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). After the NCIS announced its investigation members were redirected to new pages where some taunted investigators. --IANS soni/vt ( 464 Words) 2017-03-10-20:40:09 (IANS)
US-backed Syrian militias said today they were strong enough to seize Raqqa from Islamic State with support from the US-led coalition, underlining their opposition to any Turkish role in the planned attack.The campaign against the city, Islamic State's Syrian base of operations, is gathering pace as Iraqi forces press ahead with their efforts to recapture Mosul, the jihadists' base in Iraq. The overlapping US-backed campaigns threaten to deal Islamic State (IS) a double blow.Iraqi state TV said about half of western Mosul had been taken. Iraqi forces dislodged the militants from the eastern part of Mosul in January, after 100 days of fighting to reclaim the city seized by the jihadist group in 2014.The Raqqa campaign received a boost in recent days with the deployment of a US Marines artillery unit, adding to the several hundred US special forces already in Syria supporting the operation backed by air strikes from the US-led coalition.The Syrian Democratic Forces, the main US partner in Syria, this week cut the road from Raqqa to Islamic State's stronghold in Deir al-Zor - the last main road out of Raqqa, and declared it would reach the city limits within a few weeks.NATO member Turkey is deeply concerned by the influential role of the Kurdish YPG militia in the SDF, and is pressing Washington to take part in the operation itself. Turkey views the YPG as a threat to its national security.Underlining the SDF's determination to press ahead, a spokeswoman said on Friday it had enough fighters to take Raqqa."The number of our forces is now increasing, particularly from among the people of the area, and we have enough strength to liberate Raqqa with support from the coalition forces," Jihan Sheikh Ahmed said in a statement.TURKEY AND KURDSThe SDF, which includes YPG-allied Arab groups, says it ruled out any Turkish role during meetings with US officials last month. Turkey says no decision had been made yet on who would carry out the final assault. The US-led coalition said a possible Turkish role remained a point of discussion.Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish government for decades. The YPG controls swathes of northern Syria, where it has battled IS for several years."We have information that the enemy is moving part of its leadership outside the city, as it is also digging tunnels under the ground. We expect they will fortify the city and the terrorist group will depend on street warfare," Ahmed said.Islamic State is also being fought in northern Syria in separate campaigns by the Russian-backed Syrian army, and by the Turkish army and Free Syrian Army rebel groups Turkey backs.Islamic State has withdrawn from swathes of northern Syria in the last few weeks, a sign of the strain the group is under in both the Syrian and Iraqi halves of its self-declared "caliphate"."For many months the Coalition has been working to enable simultaneous, or overlapping operations," US Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, the spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, told Reuters."Conducting operations to isolate and liberate Raqqa while also working to liberate Mosul presents the enemy with more dilemmas than their command and control capabilities can manage," he added in emailed comments.DAWN ATTACK IN MOSULIn Mosul, Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) and Rapid Response units captured new blocks.US-trained CTS units battled sniper and mortar fire, often moving from house to house, reaching the Aamel district of western Mosul on Friday, in a push to tighten the noose around Islamic State fighters dug into the old city centre."Fighting has entered the first Aamel district today, there was a CTS attack at dawn, and they ran away, retreated," said Captain Muthanna al Saadi of the CTS 2nd division.Seif Rasheed, 28, a medic with the CTS unit operating from a house behind the lines in the Shuhada district said it received one dead and one wounded in the early hours today."The martyr was shot in the head and the wounded in the neck and hip," he said. "Daesh (IS) are hiding in homes, opening the doors and firing at troops from just a few metres."Supplies to the IS-held parts of Mosul have dwindled over the past week as the army shut the main route westward."We used to get potatoes, vegetables and milk from Badoosh, but these areas are no longer accessible," said a man in Zanjeely district over the phone. "The entire family lives in one room and mortars are falling like rain."REUTERS SHS GC2205 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1183406.Xml
File photo taken on Oct. 16, 2016 shows South Sudan's government troops on a military truck preparing a journey to the frontline in Malakal, South Sudan. (Xinhua/Gale Julius)

JUBA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A senior South Sudanese official who resigned from the country's army (SPLA) in February has formed a new rebel movement, vowing to overthrow the current administration of President Salva Kiir.

Thomas Cirillo Swaka, former deputy chief of logistics, resigned from the SPLA accusing the army of turning into a tribal army dominated by ethnic Dinka.

Swaka said in statement on Tuesday that his rebel group, the National Salvation Front (NAS) would use all avenues to fight the current government.

"The National Salvation Front (NAS) is convinced that to restore sanity and normalcy in our country, Kiir must go. He must vacate the office without further bloodshed, with a clear conscience and with determination, we declare the birth of a citizen-imposed change," he wrote in his letter.

It still remains unclear how strong the new rebellion will be, or whether it will join ranks with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLA-IO) led by Deputy President Riek Machar.

SPLA spokesman Lul Ruai Koang downplayed any major threat the new rebel movement would pose on Juba, claiming that Swaka has no capacity as a new rebel leader to mobilize a strong rebel force.

"His announcement and formation of a new movement will not have any bearing on the national army and the government because when he defected, he defected alone and it doesn't affect our overall performance," Koang told Xinhua by phone.

South Sudan has been devastated by a civil war that broke out in December 2013 after President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized a rebel force.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 led to the formation of a transitional unity government in April, but was again devastated by fresh violence in July, 2016.

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have been killed, with over 2 million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure, since December 2013.
Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed (R, Front) welcomes his Algerian counterpart Abdelmalek Sellal (L, Front) at an airport in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, on March 9, 2017. The Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and his Tunisian counterpart Youssef Chahed co-presided on Thursday the 21st session of the Tunisian-Algerian joint high commission during which several agreements were signed between the two neighboring countries. (Xinhua/Adel Ezzine)

TUNIS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalak Sellal and his Tunisian counterpart Youssef Chahed co-presided on Thursday the 21st session of the Tunisian-Algerian joint high commission during which several agreements were signed between the two neighboring countries.

The session of the High Joint Tunisian-Algerian Commission was crowned by the signing of nine cooperation agreements in the economic, logistical, technological and commercial fields.

During this session, the two countries also signed a Memorandum of Understanding and of cooperation in the consumer protection and the quality control of products and services.

"The volume of cooperation between Algeria and Tunisia in various fields reflects the deep friendships between our two countries, thanks in particular to a fruitful coordination between the two presidents Abdelaziz Boutaflika and Beji Caid Essebsi," said The Algerian PM Sellal at the Tunisian Presidential Palace of Carthage, north of Tunis.

Tunisian National Union Leader Chahed affirmed that his country will welcome Algerian tourists in the best conditions by guaranteeing them a pleasant stay on all levels.

"At this session, we discussed issues of common interest, including economic issues and the development of border areas between the two countries," Chahed said at the opening of a joint protocol signing ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding and Partnership.

According to him, the two neighboring countries are currently working to "finalize, as soon as possible, consultations on the reactivation of the preferential trade agreement" which should give rise to a free trade zone between the two country.
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Head of U.S. Central Command Joseph Votel said on Thursday that the Pentagon would need additional forces in Afghanistan to break a stalemate in the country.

"We are developing a strategy and we are in discussions with the secretary (of defense) and the department right now," Votel told lawmakers here at a hearing. "I do believe it will involve additional forces to ensure that we can make the advise and assist mission more effective."

Votel did not reveal how many more troops would be needed to break the stalemate in America's longest war. However, at another congressional hearing back in February, top U.S. commander in Afghanistan John Nicholson told lawmakers that a few thousand more troops are needed there to break the stalemate between Afghan forces and the Taliban.

"We have a shortfall of a few thousand," Nicholson said. "This is in the NATO train-advise-and-assist mission, so this can come from the U.S. and its allies."

Currently, there are about 8,400 U.S. troops and another 5,000 NATO forces on the ground in Afghanistan with a dual mission of training, assisting Afghan forces against the Taliban and conducting counterterrorism missions.
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host a multinational meeting in Washington later this month on fighting against the extremist group Islamic State (IS), the State Department announced on Thursday.

Secretary Tillerson will host foreign ministers and senior officials from 68 nations and international organizations which have joined the U.S.-led coalition against the IS on March 22, according to a State Department statement.

The meeting will include a detailed discussion of priorities for the coalition's multiple lines of effort, including military, foreign terrorist fighters, counterterrorist financing, counter-messaging, and stabilization of liberated areas, to increase the momentum of the campaign, said the statement.

"Additionally, ministers will discuss the ongoing humanitarian crises in Iraq and Syria that are affecting the region," it added.
SKOPJE, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Ending the political stalemate and restoring stability must be the top priority of Macedonia's political class, visiting OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said Thursday.

Zannier made the remarks after concluding his visit to meet with Macedonia's main party leaders on the issue.

Macedonia is still in a political deadlock and unable to form a new government, three months after the snap elections on Dec. 11, 2016.

Macedonian president Gjorge Ivanov has refused to give a mandate to Social Democratic Union (SDSM) leader Zoran Zaev after he secured a majority of parliamentary seats -- 67 out of 120.

Ivanov's view is that Zaev's platform -- which includes greater constitutional rights for ethnic Albanians -- puts Macedonia's very existence and independence in jeopardy and threatens its sovereignty.

Expressing concern about these latest developments in Macedonia, Zannier called on political leaders to put an end to the protracted crisis in the interest of the country's citizens.

The key to the solution lies in the hands of the political actors, who need to rise to the challenge and resolve the crisis for the benefit of all, Zannier told reporters.

He noted that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, its institutions, and the mission to Skopje would continue to promote a multi-ethnic and democratic society and provide assistance in several key areas such as the rule of law.

Earlier, Zannier said that the results of the elections provided a solid basis for forming a government and called for the Macedonian parliament to begin its work.
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) walks to the Oval Office after returning to the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Feb 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

SAN FRANCISCO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson challenged Thursday again U.S. President Donald Trump's revised travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries.

In documents to be filed in federal court, Ferguson contends that the injunction he obtained a month ago blocking key sections of the president's previous immigration executive order applies to the new version signed Monday.

Judge James Robart of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, based in Seattle, ruled on Feb. 3 in favor of the states of Washington and Minnesota and put the travel ban on hold, prompting the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to appeal.

Three judges sitting on the motions panel of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, Northern California, ruled on Feb. 9 against reinstating the travel ban.

While the initial travel ban imposed on Jan. 27, a week after Trump was inaugurated, bars entry into the United States by nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for 90 days, the revised version drops Iraq from the list. The new executive order also contains other changes.

Washington filed on Jan. 30 the first state lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's move to restrict immigration and resettlement of refugees. And this time, Hawaii became the first state Thursday to file a lawsuit against the revised travel ban. Massachusetts and New York declared the same day that they will follow.

Compared with the initial ban, "nothing of substance has changed: There is the same blanket ban on entry from Muslim-majority countries," Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said of the new order.

Chin's assertion was echoed by Ferguson and Noah Purcell, Washington state Solicitor General, at a press conference Thursday morning in Seattle about their approach to challenge the travel ban, arguing that it is not a new lawsuit, rather an effort to seek court confirmation that a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the ban is still effective.

"My message to President Trump is -- not so fast," Ferguson said in a statement. "After spending more than a month to fix a broken order that he rushed out the door, the president's new order reinstates several of the same provisions and has the same illegal motivations as the original. Consequently, we are asking Judge Robart to confirm that the injunction he issued remains in full force and effect as to the reinstated provisions."

The burden is on the Trump Administration to argue that the injunction the AG obtained no longer blocks the ban, argued the state attorney general.

As the lawsuit against the Trump administration is ongoing, the Washington state Attorney General's Office anticipates filing an amended complaint on the underlying merits of the case early next week. Oregon and New York are expected to join the case.
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt drew fire on Thursday for denying that carbon dioxide is a main cause of global warming.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," Pruitt told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Pruitt also called the Paris Agreement, an international accord aimed at tackling climate change, "a bad deal" for the United States.

The stance of the EPA chief was at odds with the international scientific consensus on climate change and even his own agency, which stated on its website that "carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas that is contributing to recent climate change."

Pruitt's comments outraged scientists, environmentalists, and even Gina McCarthy, his immediate predecessor at the EPA.

"The world of science is about empirical evidence, not beliefs," McCarthy said in a statement. "When it comes to climate change, the evidence is robust and overwhelmingly clear that the cost of inaction is unacceptably high."

"I cannot imagine what additional information the administrator might want from scientists for him to understand that," she added.

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, co-chair of the Senate Climate Action Task Force, slammed Pruitt's views as "extreme" and "irresponsible."

"If there was ever any doubt that Scott Pruitt is a climate denier, this settles it," Schatz said in a statement. "Anyone who denies over a century's worth of established science and basic facts is unqualified to be the administrator of the EPA."

Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, said that Pruitt has demonstrated that he is "unqualified to run the EPA or any agency."

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, an environmental organization, called for Pruitt to resign.

"The arsonist is now in charge of the fire department, and he seems happy to let the climate crisis burn out of control," Brune said in a statement. "Any sensible Senator should demand he is removed from his position immediately for misleading Congress and being unfit and unwilling to do the job he has been entrusted to do."
BERLIN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A man armed with an axe mounted attack on people at the main train station in Germany's western city of Dusseldorf on Thursday, injuring six people, police said.

Two suspects in relation to the attack have been arrested, police officers at the scene said, adding that among those who sustained injuries one was seriously injured.

One attacker jumped out from the crowd waving his axe at the people, and blood was spilled everywhere, the local newspaper Bild quoted some witnesses as saying.

The attacker attempted to run to the street but was caught by police officers at the scene while another suspect was also taken at the train station. Their identities and motives were not disclosed.

Federal police have described the incident as an "amok attack."

Federal police's special unit was dispatched to the train station and will search for further fellow perpetrators. Local eyewitnesses said the train station was closed off while a police operation is in progress.

German railway company Deutsche Bahn said via social media that currently train services at Dusseldorf Hbf station were suspended, reminding travelers to look for alternatives or to postpone their trips.

German authorities have beefed up security measures after the Dec. 19, 2016 terror attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people and wounded some 50 others.

In February this year, the police carried out a series of raids in Berlin, Goettingen and Northeim, etc, and several arrests were made. Some of the arrested were reported to have links with the Islamic State group.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives aboard Air Force One at Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida, U.S. March 3, 2017.(REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

SAN FRANCISCO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson challenged Thursday again U.S. President Donald Trump's revised travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries.

In documents to be filed in federal court, Ferguson contends that the injunction he obtained a month ago blocking key sections of the president's previous immigration executive order applies to the new version signed Monday.

Judge James Robart of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, based in Seattle, ruled on Feb. 3 in favor of the states of Washington and Minnesota and put the travel ban on hold, prompting the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to appeal.

Three judges sitting on the motions panel of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, Northern California, ruled on Feb. 9 against reinstating the travel ban.

While the initial travel ban imposed on Jan. 27, a week after Trump was inaugurated, bars entry into the United States by nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for 90 days, the revised version drops Iraq from the list. The new executive order also contains other changes.

Washington filed on Jan. 30 the first state lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's move to restrict immigration and resettlement of refugees. And this time, Hawaii became the first state Thursday to file a lawsuit against the revised travel ban. Massachusetts and New York declared the same day that they will follow.

Compared with the initial ban, "nothing of substance has changed: There is the same blanket ban on entry from Muslim-majority countries," Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said of the new order.

Chin's assertion was echoed by Ferguson and Noah Purcell, Washington state Solicitor General, at a press conference Thursday morning in Seattle about their approach to challenge the travel ban, arguing that it is not a new lawsuit, rather an effort to seek court confirmation that a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the ban is still effective.

"My message to President Trump is -- not so fast," Ferguson said in a statement. "After spending more than a month to fix a broken order that he rushed out the door, the president's new order reinstates several of the same provisions and has the same illegal motivations as the original. Consequently, we are asking Judge Robart to confirm that the injunction he issued remains in full force and effect as to the reinstated provisions."

The burden is on the Trump Administration to argue that the injunction the AG obtained no longer blocks the ban, argued the state attorney general.

As the lawsuit against the Trump administration is ongoing, the Washington state Attorney General's Office anticipates filing an amended complaint on the underlying merits of the case early next week. Oregon and New York are expected to join the case.
Delegates of China's heavy equipment companies attend the Dialogue on Brand Competitiveness of Chinese Construction Machinery during 2017 CONEXPO in Las Vegas, the United States, March 7, 2017. Chinese heavy equipments targeting the U.S. 100-billion-dollar construction market has taken a strong foothold at 2017 CONEXPO held Tuesday. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)

by Peter Mertz, Huang Heng

LAS VEGAS, Mar. 9 (Xinhua) -- Long-term projections for the lucrative global construction equipment market had been rosy enough to attract record crowds to the 2017 ConExpo in Las Vegas this week.

"The recovery is here and we are offering amazing incentives to buy," Sany America's Marketing Director Tim Rogers told Xinhua Thursday.

Rogers pointed to a 5-year, 5,000-hour warranty package unveiled this week by Sany as just one new incentive offered by his company.

Sany is been described as the Caterpillar of China, the No. 1 construction company in the country, with revenues close to 7 billion U.S. dollars for 2016.

Industry projections released this week by Britain's Off-Highway Research was data the Chinese construction equipment industry had been awaiting and expecting.

With sales expected to jump from 70 to 90 billion U.S. dollars in the United States by 2020, 2,600 companies from around the world lined up in the Nevada desert to show their steel for a piece of the pie.

While China's big equipment producers -- Sany, Zoomlion, and XCMG -- burst into the global "Top-10" producers in 2012, their entry into the American market had been careful and strategic.

"We offer a track record of success and a wide array of incentives to attract American buyers," Wan Chun Zhou, Sany's General Manager, told Xinhua Thursday.

Zhou, along with other Chinese industry leaders, are confident they can compete in price with other equipment producers.

"Cost is just one piece of the puzzle," Chicago distributor Barry Hubscher told Xinhua. "The Chinese will need to offer a broad-based strategy to succeed in the USA."

Zhou said one feature of Sany America's strategy would be "a unique service model," that offered

"7-24 hour" service, as well as strict evaluation requirements to expedite service and minimize downtime.

Sany also developed a "3-tiered management" plan to insure customers get parts, and a plan to manufacture parts in North America that would also reduce costs to the end user.

Likewise, Zoomlion Vice-President Yanming Xiong told Xinhua that his company's focus would be localizing as much as possible, focusing on customer service, and offering consistent innovations in engineering and design as efforts to address customer needs.

Both Xiong and Zhou stated this week their companies focused on "research and development" allocating between 5 to 15 percent of revenues toward having their engineers answer customer design suggestions.

"People don't realize that the Chinese have been in the construction business for 60 years, and their equipment is used and seen in 170 countries around the world," said Xianbiao Zhou, publisher of China's Construction Industries CMTM Magazine.

And while the big Chinese companies may seem like new players in the 200 billion U.S. dollars construction equipment game, their products had been used to build the most modern, affluent country in the world.

"When you know that the airplane is going to crash, would you be willing to get on the plane," XCMG's CEO Wang Min told a press conference audience this week.

"Chinese products are durable and reliable, and our plan to supplement these excellent products is ambitious," Min said.

According to Off-Highway Research, global equipment sales would move from 650,133 units in 2016 to around 810,000 machines by 2021.

Specifically, that translates into an expected resurgence in some higher value types of equipment over the coming years, most notably crawler excavators and rigid dump trucks.

The Chinese players don't have to look far to find a blueprint for success in America.

Japanese giant Komatsu, which stepped into the USA since 1970 along with Hitachi, had 2016 revenues totaling 14 billion U.S. dollars and had been the No. 2 equipment producer in the world for the past 15 years.

"We certainly want to be known as a company that prioritizes research and development," said Raleigh Floyd, Komatsu America Corp.'s Director of Public Relations.

"But I have to say that the number one thing about Komatsu is dependability, the second is innovation, and the third thing we do is support our customers," he said, "It's all about helping our customers make money."

In response to Sany's "24-7" repair strategy, Raleigh said Komatsu works closely with its dealers, "who are our public face to our customers, some dealers do, some dealers don't," he said.

Sany Marketing Manager Summer Xia told Xinhua that her company had also recruited Japanese consultants to assist them in entering the American market.

ConExpo dates back to 1925 in Chicago, when 15,000 people attended. This year's show brought a record 130,000 attendees with equipment sprawling over 2.5 million square foots (232,000 square meters) of space.
THE HAGUE, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders called his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday to tell the latter that the Dutch government found a Turkish political campaign in the Netherlands "undesirable".

According to a statement by his ministry, Koenders told Cavusoglu that the Dutch government is against plans by the Turkish government to campaign in the Netherlands for a "yes" vote in the constitutional referendum in Turkey. He added that the visit will not be facilitated in any way and that Koenders will not meet his counterpart.

The Turkish government plans to campaign in the Netherlands, and for instance also in Germany, for a referendum that is set to give Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more power. The Turkish government aims to urge Dutch citizens of the Turkish nationality to vote for a stronger position for Erdogan.

The Dutch government had already objected the campaign by Turkish ministers and investigated whether it is legally possible to prevent the Turkish campaign. Despite cancellation of the event by local authorities, the Turkish foreign minister visited a rally with the Turkish community in Hamburg on Tuesday.

The fact that Koenders has indicated his strong opinion on Thursday does not mean the visit is now definitely off. It is not a ban and Cavusoglu has announced that he still intends to visit the Netherlands.

Cavusoglu was planning to hold a meeting in a hall in Rotterdam on Saturday and Turkish Minister of Family Affairs Fatma Betul Kaya Sayan intended to attend a campaign meeting in Hengelo on Friday. These meetings do not go through because the hall owners cancelled the availability of their facilities for the events. Otherwise the meetings were likely to be banned by the local authorities because of a danger to public order and for security reasons.

"The Netherlands is responsible for public order and security in the Netherlands and nobody else," Koenders stated. "That is why the Netherlands does not want these events to take place... we think the visit of a member of the government of Turkey to our country to conduct political campaign for the referendum is undesirable. We will not cooperate."

The subject of the Turkish campaign in the Netherlands is linked to sensitive election issues such as integration and the Dutch identity and is therefore not insignificant in the current last phase of the Dutch election campaign. Especially anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders showed his displeasure. On Wednesday he protested at the Turkish Embassy, holding a banner reading "Stay away! This is our country". Wilders demanded a temporary travel ban for members of the Turkish government.

On Thursday Wilders asked for a debate on the issue in the Dutch parliament. His request was not granted. The other parties did not support Wilders' proposal.

An offer by Cavusoglu to come and campaign after the elections on March 15 was not welcomed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. "We do not want that, not before and not after the elections on March 15," Rutte said.
LONDON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The financial crisis and its aftermath has led British government since 2010 to cut government spending, and in the wake of the government's budget on Wednesday further reductions in spending beyond 2020 are inevitable, according to an economic think-tank.

"It looks like being a third parliament of austerity," Paul Johnson, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director, said in a post-budget briefing in London on Thursday afternoon.

The government budget is based on Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) figures, whose director Richard Chote on Wednesday announced the biggest ever revision to forecasts between autumn and spring, revising down its expectations for government borrowing in this financial year from 68 billion pounds (82.8 billion U.S. dollars) to 52 billion pounds.

Johnson commented on Thursday that the forecasts for the next four financial years beyond 2016/17 told a different story.

They were almost exactly the same at this spring budget by Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond as they were in his autumn financial statement in November. Government borrowing continues to fall over this period but at no faster rate, and from the same levels as forecast in November. In other words, the strong positive move downwards for government borrowing in 2016/17 is not a permanent structural change but a temporary one which will not be repeated.
SYDNEY, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Up to 150,000 emergency visits to Australian hospitals in the last year were attributed to users of the dangerous drug methamphetamine, a study has found.

As the abuse of the drug, commonly known as ice, in the state of Victoria continues to spiral out of control, research has revealed telling figures of the pressure placed on hospitals and medical facilities by ice users.

The ice has had devastating impacts on many individuals and communities across the country, particularly in the state of Victoria where local governments have implemented many campaigns, Geelong's "Our Town's ICE Fight" among the most notable.

A study by the Monash University in Victoria has found the growing crisis is placing large pressure on staff and services at emergency and psychiatric hospitals, increasing costs in the process.

"Methamphetamine use adds between 29,700 and 151,800 additional emergency department visits in one year," the report says.

Due to the drug users' reckless approach to their health care, researchers believe the growth in these visits has coincided with fewer visits to GPs and counsellors due to the immediate and psychedelic impacts the drug can have.

The study, in conjunction with the University of New South Wales, Curtin University in Western Australia and the University of Newcastle, highlights the need to consider how services are provided and spread to deal with future incidents.

With many cases of violent and aggressive patients attacking hospital staff, and a struggle to prevent countless users re-lapsing, researches have advised continuous rehab and larger out-patient support systems are necessary to avoid further costly acute emergency medical events.
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Two separate gunfights and protests in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir have claimed lives of three militants and two civilians respectively, officials said.

Two militants were killed in fierce gunfight at Padgampora village of Pulwama district on Thursday, about 29 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. However, two civilians died after villagers took to streets in anti-India protests and clashed with government forces.

"Two militants were killed in a gunfight with police and troops in Padgampora area of Awantipora," a police official said. "The gunfight triggered after militants present in a residential house fired upon army and police on being cordoned off."

The slain militants were identified as local cadres of Lashkar-e-Toiba militant outfit.

The stand-off lasted for around six hours. According to police, government forces have not suffered any damage in the standoff.

Police fired dozens of tear smoke shells and warning shots to chase protesters.

However, two civilians including a 15-year-old boy died during protests. Health officials said the teenager was hit by a bullet, while another civilian died because of cardiac arrest. Reports said several people were injured during clashes.

Police officials said the local residents defied the order to stay indoors and tried to target government forces with stone pelting.

Meanwhile, another militant was killed and a trooper wounded in a brief gunfight in northern district of Bandipora.

"One militant of HM was killed after he fired upon a police party in Bandipora, this evening. The police party has set a barricade on a specific information about movement of militants," a police spokesman said. "During the checking militant opened fire wounding an officer of army and in retaliation the said militant was killed."

On Sunday, two militants and an Indian policeman were killed in a similar gunfight in Tral village of Pulwama.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.

Reports said authorities have placed the top separatist leaders under house detention following the death of two civilians, in a bid to prevent them from leading protests on Friday.
SEOUL, March 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's constitutional court will make a historic ruling on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment on Friday, almost four months after the passage of an impeachment motion in the parliament.

The eight-judge court will read its final ruling around 11 a.m. local time (0200 GMT), which will be broadcast live as public attention is centered on the scandal-hit president's fate.

If more than six out of eight justices uphold the impeachment bill, Park will be removed from office permanently. If over three judges reject the motion, she will be reinstated immediately.

The bill to impeach President Park was passed in the National Assembly on Dec. 9 by an overwhelming majority.

A total of 20 hearings had been held since Feb. 27. Tens of witnesses appeared in the courtroom for questioning.

In recent months, almost 80 percent of South Koreans had supported Park's impeachment, but some 15 percent had opposed it.

If the court upholds the motion, President Park will become the first South Korean leader to be ousted through impeachment.

In 2004, late President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached, but he was reinstated two months later.
XI'AN, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Anyone want a free chicken? It is not a swindler's trick, but a business model that has helped hundreds of rural families cast off poverty in Yan'an City, the cradle of the Chinese revolution.

Business today is a far cry from how things were fifteen years ago for Zhang Chunpu, 53. Today, he does not have to sneak up to farmer's yards under cover of darkness, like he did then. He does not need to sneak chickens into farmers' yards and run away anymore.

His rent-a-chicken program is essentially a free loan of chickens to farmers who then make money by selling the free-range eggs back to Zhang's cooperative.

Over the past decade, rent-a-chicken has helped more than 800 households in Yanchang County, deep in the mountain ravines. Previously, they survived on an annual income of less than 2,500 yuan (around 360 U.S. dollars) per capita.

The idea came to Zhang by accident. In 2003, he saw profits from selling healthy eggs and acquired 6,000 chickens. But there was lot more to poultry raising than he thought. It was not as easy as "let them roam the hillsides."

"The birds nearly ate up all the grass on the whole mountain. They fought with each other. The worst problem was that they didn't lay eggs. I was nearly bankrupt, but I couldn't see them starve to death," Zhang recalled.

He starting knocking on the village doors one by one and offered to give villagers the birds. Few accepted them because they thought he was trying to scam them. Sometimes, he took to placing the uninvited feathered friend in someone's yard and running away.

Liu Xuejin was one of the few who accepted 50 chicks from Zhang 10 years ago when he was living in a cave on a bare hillside.

Rent-a-chicken brought Liu thousands of yuan in the first year and he did not need to go to a city like his fellow villagers to seek work. This could not have been better for him who had an ailing wife and three kids to look after.

"The saying 'borrow chickens for eggs' refers to achieving one's own goal with other's resources. I can't imagine there would be such a good thing in real life," he said. Now Liu has more than 150 chickens and a yearly income of up to 30,000 yuan (4,350 U.S. dollars).

Each week, workers from the cooperative come to collect the eggs which are then taken to Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, more than 400 km away.

"Free-range chickens and eggs sell like hotcakes in big cities where more and more people yearn for healthy food," said Zhang. The birds he rents to farmers roam free in yards and on hillsides, eating pumpkins, cabbage and worms.

Zhang's cooperative earns 0.1 yuan from each egg, while farmers can earn 0.15 yuan. The real profit, however, comes from the chickens.

At two and a half years old, hens begin to lay fewer eggs, so Zhang retrieved about 70 percent of them from farmers. It is more cost-efficient for farmers to raise younger chickens.

Farmers can keep the other chickens for their own use, but each hen means at least 30 yuan of profit for Zhang.

"Raising Chickens does not require much skill or labor. It's easy to make money for poorly educated or physically weak farmers," Zhang said, adding that a farmer earns about 100 yuan per year per chicken and that means a way out of poverty.

According to Yan'an poverty alleviation bureau, around 60 percent of the city's poor population cannot leave to work because of poor health, disability or other reasons. It is a major headache for local governments who are responsible for helping them to a better life.

"Rent-a-chicken is a good answer. The cooperative needs a stable supply of products, while farmers want to sell their apples and chickens," said Zhang Ming, deputy head of Yanchang County.

China aims to reduce the number of poor rural residents by over 10 million this year to meet the goal of building a moderately prosperous society by 2020.

Local governments have been looking for and creating various ways to fulfill their shared goals. Rent-a-chicken is exactly what they need.

To support the program, Yanchang County set up funds to reward the cooperative with 1,000 yuan for each household it helps out of poverty, and subsidizes the rural family to the tune of 1,000 to 3,000 yuan.

There are more than 20,000 poor households registered in Yanchang. More than 98 percent of them had overcome poverty by the end of last year, mostly through cooperatives like Zhang's.

"More people will escape poverty through my program," promised Zhang, who plans to expand the number of rental chickens from 70,000 to 300,000 within next three years.
File photo taken on May 26, 2014 shows Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea. South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state on Friday after the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-scarred leader. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

SEOUL, March 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye was permanently removed from office Friday as the constitutional court upheld the motion to impeach the scandal-hit leader.

The court's acting chief justice Lee Jung-mi read the ruling on the impeachment, broadcast live nationwide, saying it was the unanimous decision of eight justices.

By law, the court's ruling takes effect immediately after the reading. Park will be required to leave the presidential Blue House as she officially lost all of presidential power and her title as incumbent president.
GENEVA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and another one was seriously injured in a shooting attack at a cafe in the northwestern Swiss city of Basel Thursday night, according to local police.

The attack occurred around 8:15 p.m. local time (1915 GMT).

"Two men apparently entered Cafe 56 and shot several times before fleeing," police said in a statement, adding that the attackers were on the run and an investigation is underway.

The victims have not yet been identified and the motive of the attack remains unclear, police said.
File photo taken on May 26, 2014 shows Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea. South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state on Friday after the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-scarred leader. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

SEOUL, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Impeached President Park Geun-hye of South Korea was permanently removed from office on Friday as the constitutional court upheld the impeachment motion.

Park, who had been sworn in as the country's first female president in February 2013, was dishonorably forced to leave her office and became the first elected leader to be ousted, with her five-year presidency unfinished.

She took office as the 18th president four years ago, after winning over a majority of vote in the December 2012 presidential election.

In her early presidency, Park, 65, looked an unassailable icon among conservative voters as she reminded them of her father Park Chung-hee, an assassinated military strongman who was worshipped by right-leaning voters as a leader who sped up industrialization.

Park was born in 1952 as the first child of Park Chung-hee. In 1963, the 11-year-old Park moved into Chong Wa Dae with her father. She served as the "first lady" for five years after her mother was killed in a 1974 assassination attempt on elder Park. She was forced to leave the presidential office after her father was assassinated in 1979.

In 1997, Park returned to politics, joining the Grand National Party (GNP), predecessor of the ruling Liberty Korea Party, and was elected a lawmaker a year later. She acted as deputy chief and chief of the GNP.

Following the aborted attempt in 2007 to become the GNP's presidential candidate, she was picked as the party's candidate for the 2012 presidential election with a landslide victory in primary.

On her campaign trail, she built an image of a candidate free from nepotism and corruption scandals surrounding the first families, saying she has no family member left to care about as she is unmarried and has no children.

The image has been broken apart since the corruption scandal embroiling Park and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil emerged in October last year.

Anger and disappointment was vented on Park as she allowed Choi, a private citizen having no public position, to meddle in state affairs from the shadow and influence the appointment of government officials for personal gains.

Lee Jae-yong, an heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's largest family-controlled conglomerate, has been taken into custody for his alleged involvement in bribery, becoming the first chief in Samsung's 79-year history to be detained. It was reminiscent of the deep-rooted collusive links between politicians and businessmen.

Prosecutors branded Park as a criminal accomplice to Choi for multiple charges, and her approval rating plunged to 5 percent in early November, the lowest for any South Korean leader.

People took to the streets to demand Park's impeachment and immediate resignation, with the Dec. 3 candlelight vigil drawing 2.32 million protesters across the country, the largest ever in history.

Fury exploded on the streets as dissatisfactions amassed with Park's stubborn push for policies without sufficient communications with the parliament and the general public.

Park reached a "final and irreversible" agreement with Japan on comfort women, a euphemism for Korean women who were forced or lured into sexual slavery for Japanese military brothels before and during World War . She pushed for the state-owned history textbook, stoking condemnation that she tries to beautify her father's military dictatorship.

Labor market reforms increased irregular workers, reducing regular employees. Youth unemployment skyrocketed, triggering a phenomenon in which disenchanted young people call their country a "hell". Household debts surged to a fresh new high as they were encouraged to purchase new homes with borrowed money.

Park was under harsh criticism for her bungling of rescue operations in the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster that claimed over 300 lives, mostly high school students on a school trip to the Jeju Island. In 2015, failures to deal with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) made South Korea the most MERS-contagious country outside Saudi Arabia.

With the repeated policy failures and miscommunications with the public, the motion to impeach Park was passed on Dec. 9 in the National Assembly. About three months later, the constitutional court ruled to permanently force her out from office.
HANOI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has just set up eight Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to deal with the situation of avian bird flu H7N9.

Dam Xuan Thanh, deputy chief of the the ministry's Department of Animal Health said on local Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper on Friday that the virus is dangerous as it causes no clinical symptoms on infected poultries but can cause a mortality rate of 40 percent if it is transmitted to humans.

More samples of poultry and surrounding environment will be taken and tested, said Thanh.

In a related move, Vietnamese capital Hanoi's health department has launched two hotlines to help prevent the spread of avian flu to humans.

Local residents should call the two hotlines if they suspect a facility is trading poultry that was illegally imported, has unclear origins or shows signs of disease.

The number of human A/H7N9 cases has increased steadily in neighboring countries, posing a high risk of the virus entering Vietnam. The weather has also created favorable conditions for the spread of respiratory and bird flu diseases, said the department.
WELLINGTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand and the United Kingdom will together push for greater global trade liberalization, New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay said Friday.

McClay said the two governments had also agreed to lay the foundations for their future trade relationship once Britain exits the European Union.

McClay met with British International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Minister for Trade Policy Lord Price in London, following up on the inaugural bilateral Trade Policy Dialogue meeting earlier this month.

"Our dialog will enable us to build on our existing trading framework, towards an agreement in the future," McClay said in a statement from his office.

"Through the dialog we will continue to push for greater global trade liberalization and reform, share expertise, and identify ways to strengthen our trading relationship."

Fox had asserted the importance Britain placed on its trading relationship with New Zealand, with total trade in goods and services between the two countries increasing by 13 percent in 2015.

McClay also welcomed the British commitment to be "a champion of global free trade."

Fox had confirmed his intention to visit New Zealand in the coming months.

"During that visit we will hold a joint public event to highlight the importance and benefits of open markets to our citizens at a time when the global economy is facing a period of uncertainty," McClay said.

Fox had also confirmed that Britain would remain fully supportive of the New Zealand-EU free trade agreement, which is expected to enter the negotiation phase this year after scoping talks were finished earlier this month.
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BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese currency, the yuan, will "automatically" stabilize this year amid a firming economy and global confidence in the country's growth prospects, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Friday.

"There will not be big changes in central bank policies in 2017, and we will have more detailed work on policy implementation and supervision," Zhou said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.

He also noted unpredictability in the foreign exchange market due to uncertainties both at home and abroad, saying fluctuations will be normal.

In the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang, China pledged to continue market-oriented reform in the RMB exchange rate mechanism and maintain the currency's stable position in the global monetary system.
HANOI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The ASEAN International Trucks Invitational is taking place at the Dong Mo Culture and Tourism Village in Vietnam's capital Hanoi from Friday through Saturday.

The tournament was the first time the new sport was introduced to Vietnamese audience, gathering eight experienced drivers with a minimum requirement of five-year truck driving experience from Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei, reported local Vietnam News online newspaper on Friday.

Participants will compete in four teams in categories that highlight safe and fuel-efficient driving, according to Vietnam News.

The tourney is to help drivers from ASEAN countries exchange experience and to ultimately promote the image of the country and people of Vietnam, said the event organizer.
SYDNEY, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The rapid increase in the number of Chinese visitors to Australia has had a huge positive impact on local retailers, according to a new report released on Friday.

According to the Deloitte Access Economics Retail Forecasts report, tourist retail spending from Chinese visitors accounts for 1.05 billion U.S. dollars.

Lead author of the report, Deloitte Access Economics partner David Rumbens told Xinhua that the number is set to increase by four times in the next decade.

"Chinese tourism is a significant contributor to the sector," Rumbens said.

"International tourism accounted for 15 percent of the growth in retail spending last year, and Chinese tourism is the biggest individual component of that international sector."

The report says there are other benefits to the tourism, with increased competition being created, which in turn provides better outcomes for not only the tourists, but locals as well.

Record numbers of Chinese tourists visited Australia in 2016, with figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) pegging the number at 1.2 million tourists. The number is likely to rise in the near future.

With the China-Australia Year of Tourism well underway in 2017, Rumbens said retailers are doing well to cater for Chinese tourists, but could be doing more to provide them with better services.

"The data shows that Chinese tourists are already spending quite a lot in Australia, the retailers are extracting the money, but retailers could offer greater service," Rumbens said.

"Not to extract more money, but as a means of providing greater benefit to the visitors and providing greater encouragement to visit Australia again."

Rumbens said retail sales growth was up last year by 2 percent, adding that the rising number of visitors, particularly from China, will play a big part in continued growth.

"We expect a steady improvement in retail sales through 2017 which is forecast to grow by 2.4 percent for the year to December 2017, then by 2.7 percent over 2018," Rumbens said.
HAVANA, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Oceania Cruises on Thursday became the first major U.S. cruise company to make a port call in Cuba, after years of being barred from the Caribbean destination by U.S. sanctions.

"Oceania Cruises made history this morning when its ship, Marina, pulled into Sierra Maestra cruise terminal in Havana, Cuba, carrying 1,250 guests," the company said in a statement.

On board for this historic occasion were Bob Binder, the co-founder and CEO of Oceania Cruises, and Frank Del Rio, the company's Cuban-born founder and CEO of Oceania's parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

Accompanied by Cuban tourism officials, the two men took part in a ceremony marking the event.

The U.S.-led trade embargo against Cuba remains in place. However, since the two countries resumed diplomatic ties in 2016, certain travel restrictions have been relaxed, allowing for the restoration of regular flights and cruises.
Photo taken on March 10, 2017 shows the scene of a plenary meeting of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) deputies from Tibet Autonomous Region during the annual NPC session in Beijing, capital of China. The meeting was opened to media. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)

BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The regional government in Tibet hailed social stability and religious harnomy in the autonomous region, citing over 1,700 ethnic and religious activities held there in a peaceful and orderly manner, according to a report released Friday.

Neither a single accident, including stampede, fire or traffic accident, nor any criminal case or case of undermining public security occurred in these religious activities, said the report.

The report was released during a panel discussion of national lawmakers from Tibet at the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC).

Tens of millions of people attend Saga Dawa Festival activities every year, and millions take part in Shoton Festival activities, it said.

More than 60 Living Buddhas have been confirmed through historical conventions and traditional religious rituals, the report said.

It said that Tibet has more than 1,700 monasteries and venues for religious activities, with about 46,000 monks and nuns.

Though Tibet is geographically distant from Beijing, the hearts of people of all ethnic groups in Tibet are always together with the Communist Party of China Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, the report stated.
by Xinhua Writer Liu Chang

BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- With South Korea's constitutional court ruling on Friday to uphold the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, her scandal-ridden presidency has come to a disgraceful end.

Yet as she is departing the Blue House, the fallout of her reckless decision to allow the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a U.S. missile defense system, in South Korea would continue to haunt the country and the wider region.

With Park's ouster, South Korea must hold a presidential election within 60 days, according to the country's election law.

While it may be too early to tell which presidential candidate is going to win, one sure thing is that the future South Korean leader will have no choice but to face one of the most ticklish geopolitical situations in the region's recent memory.

Because of Park's THAAD policy, Seoul has dealt a massive blow to its relationship with Beijing, a consistent and determined advocate for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The THAAD backlash is very likely to usher in an ice age for the two nations' robust economic and trade exchanges.

Perhaps the biggest irony is that, instead of providing more security guarantees to the country, the collaboration between Park's conservative government and Washington on THAAD has actually generated more reasons for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to continue its nuclear ambitions and missile program.

In fact, the largest benefactor of the entire THAAD episode is the United States.

By placing the anti-missile system in China's close neighborhood, Washington can patch up the missing link of its global missile defense system and put a large part of Chinese and Russian territories under convenient surveillance while letting its allies in the region take the risks.

For anyone who is going to preside over South Korea for the next few years, the most urgent and significant question he has to answer is how the new government can handle the severely impaired ties with China, and cope with the entangling security challenges brought about by THAAD.

If South Korea truly wants peace for itself and with its neighbors, as well as tranquility in the region, it should find ways to neutralize THAAD's security threats against China. It should also reconsider its policy on the DPRK, and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

After all, military coercion and mutual hostilities are like an untamed horse that bolts wildly. The leash has to be kept tight.
by Zheng Jiangua, Grandesso Federico

BRUSSELS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China and the European Union (EU) could team up to champion the multipolar international system as President Donald Trump, who clings to the "America First" mantra on the campaign trail, took up the reins of leadership in the Unites States, experts have said.

"Traditionally for China, the main focus of its foreign policy has been the United States, but the election of Trump has obviously changed the situation a little bit," said Duncan Freeman, a research fellow at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

"It is clear that although the United States will continue to be a primary focus of China's foreign policy, Europe has become more important than it was before," he said, elaborating that the change resulted more from globalization in such areas as climate change and trade, than the evolution of EU-China or U.S.-China relations.

Freeman noted that the United States under the Trump administration is apparently threatening to withdraw from, if not undermining, multilateral cooperation, a move that puts it at odds with both China and the EU.

"The United States has been one of the founding fathers of the system and one of the primary beneficiaries of it, but now Americans are saying they are losers of the system and want to withdraw," Freeman said.

"China believes that although there are problems with the system, it should be sustained." he said.

"The EU also believes in a multilateral global system. It believes that the World Trade Organization (WTO) is important and that agreements like the one reached in Paris are fundamental."

"I don't think China and the EU share completely the same stand, but there are potential grounds for agreements between them," he added.

Freeman's remarks struck a chord with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who said China values Europe's strategic position and important role.

"We would like to work with Europe to respect and address each other's legitimate concerns and remove obstacles to cooperation... to practice multi-lateralism and make the world a multipolar place," Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session in Beijing on Wednesday.

"We would like to work with Europe to re-energize the world economy, improve global governance and ensure a healthy development of economic globalization," he said.

In an annual trade policy agenda document released on March 1, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that the Trump administration might defy WTO rulings that it views as interfering with U.S. sovereignty.

The document is in line with Trump's "American First" doctrine. After taking office, Trump has vowed to adopt tough measures against those countries that have large trade surpluses with the United States.

"In the WTO, if you have one of the major parties like the United States saying that it is not going to respect decisions taken against it, then the system collapses," Freeman warned.

"Potentially the two biggest drivers are China and the EU," he said, adding that whether China could fulfill that role hinges on what China will do at the international level to maintain the WTO system and how it is going to work at the domestic level.

"This year we will probably see potential changes like domestic reforms and opening up of the economy in terms of trade and investment," said Freeman.

Echoing Freeman, Fraser Cameron, director of Brussels-based think tank The EU-Asia Center, told Xinhua that China and the EU are seeking to cement bilateral ties, underlining that several high-level meetings are in the offing, including the EU-China summit and a security dialogue in April which EU foreign policy chief Fedeica Mogherini would probably attend.

Fraser stressed that the most important thing for the EU and China to do is to complete the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) negotiations as soon as possible.

Regarding the potential for security cooperation, he said the key is to have an exchange of views on regional hotspots like the Middle East, parts of Africa and the South China Sea, and to try to understand the source of differences.
File photo taken on May 26, 2014 shows Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea. South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state on Friday after the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-scarred leader. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

SEOUL, March 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state on Friday after the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-ridden leader.

The court's acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi read the ruling on the impeachment, broadcast live nationwide, saying it was the unanimous decision of eight justices.

South Koreans, who had called for Park's resignation, cheered outside the court in downtown Seoul after hearing the impeachment ruling.

A tearful mother and her daughter were among the anti-Park protesters who held placards that read "Impeachment is Victory of Candlelight Vigil" and "No THAAD."

Park's supporters, who rallied just hundreds of meters away on the street, remained silent and burst into tears following the verdict.

Some of the president's loyalists attempted to break into the court building and clashed with the police.

Local media reported that two of Park's supporters died of unidentified reasons during the rally. One of the dead is in his 70s.

Opinion polls have never changed in recent months, with almost eight out of 10 South Koreans demanding Park's ouster. About 15 percent people have insisted on the rejection or no decision on the impeachment.

By law, the court's ruling takes effect immediately after the reading. Park will be required to leave the presidential Blue House as she officially lost all of her presidential power as well as her title as the incumbent president.

A presidential election will be held in 60 days.

President Park became the first South Korean leader to be forcibly removed from office by the impeachment. She was also the second president to be impeached in the country's constitutional history.

In March 2004, then President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached for his call on voters to support his own party in the parliamentary elections of that year. About two months later, he was reinstated as the court ruled that his violation of an election law was not grave enough to boot him from office.

Park's ouster is an unprecedented event in South Korea's modern history, as there is no specific law stipulating that the impeached leader must leave the Cheong Wa Dae by a given date.

Lee Jae-myung from the Minjoo Party, mayor of Seongnam city to the southeast of Seoul, said, "Today is a great day for people. Impeachment is the start to build a fair country free from corruption, foul play and privilege."

"Genuine unity will only be made possible when completely clearing away the legacy of old days," he added.

Cheong Wook-sik, director of local advocacy group Peace Network, believed the result was not surprising.

"President Park breached the constitution and fell short of people's expectations," he said.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday said he respected the court's decision.

Only when people, especially those who protested against the impeachment, accepted the ruling, "can the rule of law, which is the basic value of the South Korean constitution, stand upright," Ban was quoted as by Yonhap news agency as saying.

Since the Dec. 9 passage in the National Assembly of the impeachment bill, a total of 20 hearings had been held in the court. It took 92 days before the court's final decision, longer than the 64 days required for the 2004 ruling on Roh's impeachment. During the 64-day period, only seven hearings were held in 2004.

Park will be subject to indictment and detention by prosecutors as she lost her presidential immunity following the court's ruling.

Prosecutors have identified Park as an accomplice of her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of a corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment for multiple charges including bribery.

Park will also be stripped of most of privileges granted to former president, including monthly pension worth 12 million won (10,400 U.S. dollars) to 13 million won per month, one paid chauffeur and three paid secretaries. Free medicine and costs for a personal office will not be given to the impeached leader.

For the forcibly impeached leader, the period during which the presidential security service provides guards would be reduced from 10 years to five years. After the five-year period, police officers will guard the impeached leader.

Meanwhile, the South Korean military has been ordered to put on vigilance against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea given South Korea's current political situation, according to the Yonhap news agency.

U.S. State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington DC that the United States will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn for the remainder of his tenure as the acting president.

"We look forward to a productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next president," Toner said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will continue to cooperate with South Korea after the country's Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park.
QUITO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The presidential candidate of Ecuador's ruling party Lenin Moreno is leading the polls before a runoff vote on April 2, showed survey results released on Thursday.

In the first round, Moreno of the progressive PAIS Alliance garnered 39.36 percent of the votes, falling just shy of the 40 percent with a 10 percentage point difference needed to secure an outright win.

Guillermo Lasso, the candidate of the conservative coalition CREO-SUMA alliance got 28.09 percent of the votes, with the remainder shared by six other candidates.

More than 12.8 million Ecuadorians are eligible to vote in the race to elect a successor of President Rafael Correa, who has been in power since 2007.

The presidential runoff campaign season will begin on Friday. So far, Moreno, Correa's former vice president, has gotten the backing of Ivan Espinel, the candidate of the Social Commitment Movement, who came in sixth place with 3.18 percent of the votes, as well as the support of the Democratic Center Movement and various social and indigenous groups.

Lasso, a former banker, received the endorsement of Paco Moncayo, a retired general who came in fourth place with 6.79 percent of the votes.

Though Moncayo is the candidate of a center-left coalition, he deeply opposes Correa.

"Lasso represents the neo-liberalism that has done so much damage, but today he is the lesser evil and he is needed to recover democracy. There is no other way to get away from Correa than by voting for Lasso," Moncayo told reporters.

Lasso also has the support of the right-wing Christian Social Party, whose candidate Cinthya Viteri came in third place with 16.32 percent of the votes in the first round.

The March 6-8 survey queried 3,226 registered voters in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Rios and Manabi, as well as in southern Azuay province, and the Andean provinces of Pichincha, Chimborazo and Tungurahua.

The poll has a 2.12 percent margin of error, and a 95-percent accuracy rate.
File photo taken on May 26, 2014 shows Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea. South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state on Friday after the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-scarred leader. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

SEOUL, March 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state on Friday after the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-ridden leader.

The court's acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi read the ruling on the impeachment, broadcast live nationwide, saying it was the unanimous decision of eight justices.

South Koreans, who had called for Park's resignation, cheered outside the court in downtown Seoul after hearing the impeachment ruling.

A tearful mother and her daughter were among the anti-Park protesters who held placards that read "Impeachment is Victory of Candlelight Vigil" and "No THAAD."

Park's supporters, who rallied just hundreds of meters away on the street, remained silent and burst into tears following the verdict.

Some of the president's loyalists attempted to break into the court building and clashed with the police.

Local media reported that two of Park's supporters died of unidentified reasons during the rally. One of the dead is in his 70s.

Opinion polls have never changed in recent months, with almost eight out of 10 South Koreans demanding Park's ouster. About 15 percent people have insisted on the rejection or no decision on the impeachment.

By law, the court's ruling takes effect immediately after the reading. Park will be required to leave the presidential Blue House as she officially lost all of her presidential power as well as her title as the incumbent president.

A presidential election will be held in 60 days.

President Park became the first South Korean leader to be forcibly removed from office by the impeachment. She was also the second president to be impeached in the country's constitutional history.

In March 2004, then President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached for his call on voters to support his own party in the parliamentary elections of that year. About two months later, he was reinstated as the court ruled that his violation of an election law was not grave enough to boot him from office.

Park's ouster is an unprecedented event in South Korea's modern history, as there is no specific law stipulating that the impeached leader must leave the Cheong Wa Dae by a given date.

Lee Jae-myung from the Minjoo Party, mayor of Seongnam city to the southeast of Seoul, said, "Today is a great day for people. Impeachment is the start to build a fair country free from corruption, foul play and privilege."

"Genuine unity will only be made possible when completely clearing away the legacy of old days," he added.

Cheong Wook-sik, director of local advocacy group Peace Network, believed the result was not surprising.

"President Park breached the constitution and fell short of people's expectations," he said.

Although the deployment of the controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) was not the main reason for Park's impeachment, it adversely affected South Korea's foreign policy, he added.

Cheong hoped the new government to be produced in the upcoming election could revoke the THAAD deployment plan and mend South Korea's ties with China.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday said he respected the court's decision.

Only when people, especially those who protested against the impeachment, accepted the ruling, "can the rule of law, which is the basic value of the South Korean constitution, stand upright," Ban was quoted as by Yonhap news agency as saying.

Since the Dec. 9 passage in the National Assembly of the impeachment bill, a total of 20 hearings had been held in the court. It took 92 days before the court's final decision, longer than the 64 days required for the 2004 ruling on Roh's impeachment. During the 64-day period, only seven hearings were held in 2004.

Park will be subject to indictment and detention by prosecutors as she lost her presidential immunity following the court's ruling.

Prosecutors have identified Park as an accomplice of her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of a corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment for multiple charges including bribery.

Park will also be stripped of most of privileges granted to former president, including monthly pension worth 12 million won (10,400 U.S. dollars) to 13 million won per month, one paid chauffeur and three paid secretaries. Free medicine and costs for a personal office will not be given to the impeached leader.

For the forcibly impeached leader, the period during which the presidential security service provides guards would be reduced from 10 years to five years. After the five-year period, police officers will guard the impeached leader.

Meanwhile, the South Korean military has been ordered to put on vigilance against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea given South Korea's current political situation, according to the Yonhap news agency.

U.S. State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington DC that the United States will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn for the remainder of his tenure as the acting president.

"We look forward to a productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next president," Toner said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will continue to cooperate with South Korea after the country's Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park.

International rating agency Moody's said the impeachment of Park has removed the political uncertainty in South Korea.

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn convened a cabinet meeting shortly after the court's ruling.

Hwang will also hold a session of the National Security Council to discuss diplomatic and security issues.
SEOUL, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye will not leave her office on Friday and has no plan to announce any position.

An official with the presidential Blue House was quoted by local news outlets as saying that the former president will stay in the office on Friday due to situations in her home in southern Seoul.

No message and position will be announced on Friday, the official said.

Earlier in the day, the constitutional court unanimously upheld the motion to impeach Park, who became the first South Korean leader to be ousted through impeachment.

The court's ruling took effect immediately after the announcement. The ouster was an exceptional event here, so there is no specific rule on when the impeached president is required to leave the Blue House.
Moscow, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Eastern Military District on Friday started an artillery combat firing practice involving all the 11 artillery ranges in the Primorsky Krai and Amur Region.

During the drill, the self-propelled mortar 2C4 "Tyulpan" and the self-propelled gun "Malka" will defeat immobile targets and group objects from protected positions, said Alexander Gordeev, the head of the Eastern Military District's press service.

The combat firing practice, conducted by tube and rocket artillery and missile formation, will be supported by the air defense and aviation section of the military district, said Gordeev.

The training will last until mid April.

The Eastern Military District is one of the four operational strategic commands of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Headquartered in the Far East city of Khabarovsk, it is in charge of all military affairs in the Zabaikalsky Krai and Far East Region.
A woman smokes marijuana during a demonstration in front of the National Supreme Court of Justice in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, on Nov. 4, 2015. (Xinhua/Alejandro Ayala)

LUSAKA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Zambia could be on its path to start cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes following revelation by the government that the country's laws allow this.

Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo said cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purpose was allowed but those intending to venture into the business must obtain a license from the Ministry of Health.

In a ministerial statement in parliament following increased calls on the government to legalize marijuana cultivation for medicinal purposes, the minister said it was still an offense for anyone to cultivate marijuana, even for medicinal purposes, without a license.

Calls on authorities in Zambia to legalize the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes resurfaced recently when a top doctor called on them to seriously consider the idea.

"How soon can we have an open and objective evaluation of the process of getting our home-grown marijuana to the market? Medicinal marijuana works," Aaron Mujajati, president of the Zambia Medical Association, said on his Facebook page.

And commenting on the minister's announcement that the country has sufficient laws to allow for such cultivation, the doctor said this was a step in the right direction.

"We are happy that this is legal and it is now incumbent upon us to demonstrate to government on what benefits this can have to the country," he told Xinhua in an interview.

He however noted that the government would need to come up with regulations and guidelines to properly guide those who would want to venture into the business.

The government also will have to come up with proper control measures to ensure that there is no illegal activity on the growing of marijuana and to avoid abuse.

"While we welcome the announcement, we feel that more still needed to be done. As you know, marijuana is still a prohibited drug in the country. So we would like the government to come up with clear-cut measures going forward," he said.

According to him, the issue of standards and what form the drug will be administered need to be established.

According to medical experts, marijuana has medicinal values that could go a long way in improving health care delivery in the country.

Marijuana can be used in relieving pain, especially in cancer patients, improve poor appetite and weight loss caused by chronic illness. It is also known to be effective in people with epilepsy.

Cultivation and possession of marijuana is illegal in Zambia and many people have landed themselves in jail.

Last year, Zambia seized 59 tons of cannabis from various offenders across the country, according to the country's Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC).

However the latest calls have ignited debates in the southern African nation on the need to consider the economic and medicinal benefits of marijuana, especially now that the country is calling for the diversification of the economy to wean off copper dependence.

Bwalya Nondo, spokesperson of the opposition National Restoration Party (NAREP), said the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes was long overdue.

The party, he said, had critically looked into the issue and found out that the benefits of legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes far outweigh the disadvantages of legalizing it.

But other people believe that caution is needed as the country prepares to venture into cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

While acknowledging that cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes was good for the country, local people believe that serious studies and analysis needed to be undertaken.

"Firstly as Zambia are we ready for this at this point? History has taught us that despite having good laws to control use of alcohol or drugs, this has not been reinforced. We have failed with alcohol so what assurance will we have that we will succeed with marijuana," Nita Besa Sichamba said.

Others believe that instead of opening up the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes, its cultivation should be restricted to state-run agencies for proper control and monitoring as opening it up could lead to abuse and illegal activities.

So far, the campaign for the legalization of marijuana has been the sole role of an opposition political party that has clearly stated in its policies that it will legalize the cultivation of marijuana if it formed government.

Peter Sinkamba, president of the Green Party, who has so far stood in two presidential elections, believes that marijuana has both commercial and medicinal benefits for the country if properly cultivated in controlled state-run farms.

According to him, marijuana could earn the country 36 billion U.S. dollars annually, especially that the country was promoting the diversification of the economy.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- It is really a rough ride for 47-year-old Luo Yunlian to spend nine days on the 2,000-km journey from her remote village in southwest China's Sichuan Province to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

As a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), Luo scales cliffs, rides a funicular and travels to Sichuan's capital Chengdu by bus before flying to Beijing.

Now she is discussing social and economic development with Chinese leaders and nearly 3,000 NPC deputies.

Behind Luo's journey are people's expectations for increased tourism, and solutions to water and power shortages back home.

NPC deputies are tasked with carrying forth the opinions and expectations of grassroots people and blending them into the country's top-level design. In other words, the deputies will ensure that development is really as the people wish.

In China, democracy means "the people are the masters of the country".

PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACY

People's democracy is the lifeblood of socialism, and the people as masters of the country is the essence and core of socialist democracy, President Xi Jinping has stressed.

This concept rules national political and social life. The composition of NPC deputies and advisors to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee offers an illustration.

Of the nearly 3,000 deputies to the 12th NPC, about 13 percent are workers and farmers, up 5.18 percentage points from that of the 11th NPC. The number of professionals also rose by 1.2 percentage points.

Of the more than 2,000 political advisors to the 12th CPPCC National Committee, 39.9 percent are Communist Party of China (CPC) members and 60.1 percent are non-Communist members, and all 56 ethnic groups have their representative members.

What distinguishes socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics from the West's largely money politics and power-for-money deals is its solid foundation of public opinion, which highlights the people's interests and aspirations.

CONSULTATIVE DEMOCRACY

In China, public matters are often settled through consultation involving all parties. Finding the best way to coordinate the aspirations and demands of the whole of society is the true meaning of people's democracy.

This has been evident in Xi's schedule at the ongoing annual two sessions. Actually, other Chinese leaders have also listened to the opinions of legislators and political advisors in a face-to-face manner.

Speaking with political advisors from three non-Communist parties on March 4, Xi called on intellectuals to make a greater contribution to development. The whole of society should care for and respect intellectuals and cultivate a favorable environment that honors knowledge and intellectuals, Xi said.

At another panel discussion on March 5, Xi touched on issues such as innovation, village governance and reform of education and fiscal and tax systems, exchanging ideas on state governance with deputies.

The draft general provisions of civil law is high on the agenda at this year's legislative session. Last year, the draft went through three readings at the bi-monthly sessions of the NPC Standing Committee, and public opinions were solicited three times. Symposia were held to hear suggestions, and more than 70,000 opinions were collected.

China's system, including electoral democracy and consultative democracy, works because it has developed in accordance with the reality of Chinese society.

SERVING THE PEOPLE

As Xi has noted, "democracy is not a decoration, but a means of solving problems."

Before the two sessions in 2015, Wang Chengdeng, a red army veteran from east China's Jiangxi Province, wrote to Xi asking for support for the tea-oil industry in his hometown.

Wang's letter was brought to Beijing by fellow villager and NPC deputy Ming Jinghua.

Xi read the letter at the scene and asked authorities to carry out research. With Xi's support, tea-oil planting on an area of over 130,000 hectares has become a backbone industry for the old revolutionary base.

Similar stories of listening to the people and meeting their expectations are common during the two sessions.

China reported 6.7 percent GDP growth and contributed to more than 30 percent of global growth in 2016. More than 13 million new urban jobs were created and per capita disposable income increased 6.3 percent in real terms, and the number of people living in poverty in rural areas was reduced by 12.4 million.

While many countries stagnate in state governance, China grows and stays stable. The answer lies in the people's congress system, multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC. It is quite different from the Western system of multiple bickering parties holding office in turn.

It is fundamentally different from other systems under which candidates are often skilled in winning elections but have not enough practical experiences in governance.

Just as the Economist reported, "Direct democracy is fine for things that do not matter, such as the Eurovision song contest. But it is no way to run a country."
Photo taken on March 9, 2017 shows Afghan refugees in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Xinhua/Dai He)

KABUL, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday offered 100 million U.S. dollars to assist the Afghan refugees and returnees and further boost bilateral ties with the neighboring country.

The announcement came as nearly 1 million Afghan refugees returned to their homeland within the past one year while nearly the same number was forced to flee their houses due to ongoing conflicts.

The latest fund for Afghan refugees will be channeled through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and would be rendered to the refugees.

Earlier on Thursday Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Yao Jing joined Afghan Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs Sayed Hossein Alimi Balkhi and Fathiaa Abdalla, country representative of the UNHCR, to distribute assistance to more than 330 refugee families in eastern side of Kabul.

Minister Balkhi expressed gratitude to China and other stakeholders for their assistance to the Afghan refugees and displaced families.
TOKYO, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday accepted the resignation of parliamentary vice Cabinet Office minister Shunsuke Mutai for his repeated gaffes.

Yasumasa Nagasaka, a fellow lower house lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was appointed Mutai's successor, with the latter tending his resignation on Thursday evening to disaster management minister Jun Matsumoto.

His resignation follows him being cautioned last year for being carried across a small puddle in an area devastated by flooding in the wake of Typhoon Lionrock in the northeastern prefecture of Iwate in September.

Mutai was pictured receiving a piggyback from one of his staff across a very shallow area of water as he had neglected to wear the appropriate footwear.

He apologized at the time, but at a fundraising event for himself in Tokyo on Wednesday he joked that the "boot industry really made some money" as a result of his initial gaffe.

Lionrock, which made landfall on Aug. 30 last year, brought heavy rainfall to Hokkaido, Iwate and other northern areas and killed 22 people across Japan, including 19 in a single town in Iwate.

Both main political camps, therefore, took aim at Mutai in parliament the following day for making light of the situation.

"It was an inappropriate and highly regrettable remark that raised the question of whether he was really sorry for what he did," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.

Suga, the government's top spokesperson, made the remarks by way of an apology to the public for Mutai's inappropriate action and remark.

The "boot" comment was made just days before Japan commemorates the sixth anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

The earthquake-triggered tsunami saw wide swathes of land lost to sea water following the powerful earthquake and as with Lionrock left areas devastated by floodwater.

Suga said the government will work hard to ensure that areas still damaged in the wake of the March 11 disasters will be revitalized at the earliest opportunity.
MANILA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Philippine trade grew 14.2 percent in January this year buoyed by export receipts, the government said on Friday, while warning that U.S. protectionist policies may hamper its momentum and global recovery.

The National Economic and Development Authority said in a statement that the Philippines recorded a total 12.6 billion U.S. dollars in January 2017. It said imports grew by 9.1 percent, while exports grew by 22.5 percent.

"Export receipts from nearly all major markets experienced growth," the statement read. It said export to China grew 26.3 percent, to South Korea, 50.5 percent, ASEAN, 19.3 percent, European Union, 82.5 percent, and the United States, 16.5 percent.

"We are not riding the waves of economic growth in the region," said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia. "As such, we must continue to push for innovation and infrastructure development to fuel our momentum and drive us to the forefront of the race."

The agency said that export earnings climbed to 5.1 billion U.S. dollars in January, propelled by growth in most commodities led by forest products, agro-based products and manufactures.

However, it said that import payments decelerated to 7.4 billion U.S. dollars due to the decrease in demand for capital goods, which offset the gains of consumer goods, raw materials and intermediate goods, and mineral fuels and lubricants.

Pernia said that global growth and trade risk remain, warning that U.S. protectionist policies may hamper global recovery, as counter-measures will be imposed but its trading partners.

He stressed the need to support the country's economy by strengthening the production capability and linkages, particularly in agriculture and manufacturing to help the country meeting both internal and external demands.

All Asian economies posted positive trade figures, with the Philippines posting the third highest year-on-year growth which is preceded by Indonesia at 21.1 percent and Singapore at 19.9 percent, and followed by Malaysia at 12.0 percent and China, 11.4 percent.

"This is a signal that our efforts in forging better relations with our Asian neighbors and the E.U. are finally paying off," Pernia said.
Photo taken by mobile phone shows police stand guard outside the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, March 10, 2017. South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state on Friday after the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-ridden leader. (Xinhua/Liu Yun)



SEOUL, March 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state after on Friday the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-ridden leader.

The court's acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi read the ruling on the impeachment, broadcast live nationwide, saying it was the unanimous decision of eight justices.

The acting chief justice said the court had made all-out efforts for a fair judgment, hoping their decision would become a base to lead South Korea towards reconciliation and remedy by ending division and chaos.

Lee, who is scheduled to retire on Monday, dismissed a request for retrial from Park's legal team, which demanded a full court's judgement by nine justices. The former chief justice stepped down on Jan. 31 after his term terminated, leaving one vacancy and Lee was nominated as the acting chief justice.

She said there had been no procedural error in the eight-justice court's decision.

The court dismissed Park's violation of press freedom for lack of evidence, saying Park's inaction to the 2014 ferry disaster is not subject to the impeachment judgment. The ferry disaster claimed more than 300 lives, mostly high school students on a school trip to the Jeju Island.

However, the court ruled that Park allowed her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs from the shadows by leaking many of secret documents and influencing the appointment of government officials.

The ruling said Park also helped Choi seek personal gains by establishing two nonprofit foundations, which were set up with donations from major conglomerates.

South Koreans, who had called for Park's resignation, waved national flags and cheered outside the court in downtown Seoul after hearing the impeachment ruling.

A tearful mother and her daughter were among the anti-Park protesters who held placards that read "Impeachment is Victory of Candlelight Vigil" and "No THAAD."

Park's supporters, who rallied just hundreds of meters away on the street, remained silent and burst into tears following the verdict.

Some of the president's loyalists attempted to break into the court building and clashed with the police.

Local media reported that two of Park's supporters died of unidentified reasons during the rally. One of the dead is in his 70s.

Opinion polls have never changed in recent months, with almost eight out of 10 South Koreans demanding Park's ouster. About 15 percent people have insisted on the rejection or no decision on the impeachment.

By law, the court's ruling takes effect immediately after the reading. Park will be required to leave the presidential Blue House as she officially lost all of her presidential power as well as her title as the incumbent president.

President Park became the first South Korean leader to be forcibly removed from office through the impeachment. She was also the second president to be impeached in the country's constitutional history.

In March 2004, late President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached for his call on voters to support his own party in the parliamentary election of that year. About two months later, he was reinstated as the court ruled that his violation of an election law was not grave enough to boot him from office.

Park's impeachment is an unprecedented event in South Korea's modern history, so there is no specific law stipulating that the impeached leader must leave the Cheong Wa Dae by a given date.

Lee Jae-myung from the Minjoo Party, mayor of Seongnam city to the southeast of Seoul, said, "Today is a great day for people. Impeachment is the start to build a fair country free from corruption, foul play and privilege."

"Genuine unity will only be made possible when completely clearing away the legacy of old days," he added.

Cheong Wook-sik, director of local advocacy group Peace Network, believed the result was not surprising.

"President Park breached the constitution and fell short of people's expectations," he said.

Although the deployment of the controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) was not the main reason for Park's impeachment, it adversely affected South Korea's foreign policy, he added.

Cheong hoped the new government to be produced in the upcoming election could revoke the THAAD deployment plan and mend South Korea's ties with China.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that he respected the court's decision.

Only when people, especially those who protested against the impeachment, accepted the ruling, "can the rule of law, which is the basic value of the South Korean constitution, stand upright," Ban was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.

Since the Dec. 9 passage in the National Assembly of the impeachment bill, a total of 20 hearings had been held in the court. It took 92 days before the court's final decision, longer than 64 days required for the 2004 ruling on Roh's impeachment. During the 64-day period, only seven hearings were held in 2004.

Park will be subject to indictment and detention by prosecutors as she lost her presidential immunity following the court's decision.

The court's ruling said Park had rejected face-to-face interrogations by state and special prosecutors despite her earlier pledge to accept, mentioning Park's rejection of prosecutors' attempt to search the presidential Blue House.

Prosecutors have identified Park as an accomplice of her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment, for multiple charges including bribery.

The scandal surfaced in late October, pushing millions of people into the streets to hold rival rallies for and against the impeachment every week. In its ruling the constitutional court said it hoped the ruling would end national division.

According to the constitution, an election to pick the next president will be held in 60 days and many expect it to fall on May 9.

Meanwhile, the South Korean military has been ordered to put on vigilance against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea given South Korea's current political situation, according to the Yonhap news agency.

U.S. State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington DC that the United States will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn for the remainder of his tenure as the acting president.

"We look forward to a productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next president," Toner said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will continue to cooperate with South Korea after the country's Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park.

International rating agency Moody's said the impeachment of Park has removed the political uncertainty in South Korea.

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn convened a cabinet meeting shortly after the court's ruling.

Hwang will also hold a session of the National Security Council to discuss diplomatic and security issues.
GUANGZHOU, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Already a leader in air conditioners and washing machines, Chinese home appliance giant Midea has set its sights on a new industry: robots.

Midea made the announcement at a strategy conference Wednesday held in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, days after its acquisition of German robotics maker Kuka and Israeli motion control firm Servotronix.

SMART FACTORY

In a livestream at the conference, Wang Xiaojin, head of the Guangzhou plant of Midea's air-conditioning division, showed a "smart factory" full of robotic arms and sensors.

"The factory can make and deliver products within 12 days of receiving an order, as well as track the order throughout the process," Wang said.

"Midea has invested 5 billion yuan (725 million U.S. dollars) in building smart factories in several Chinese cities using a total of 1,500 robots," said Gu Yanmin, vice president of Midea. "Our ultimate goal is to build more intelligent smart factories and use more robots in factories."

Midea is not alone in the automation drive. Other home appliance makers, including Haier, Gree and Galanz, are also building smart factories to enhance production and logistics speed.

"Kuka will help Midea grab more shares in the future robots market," Kuka CEO Till Reuter said at the conference.

"Servotronix will offer Midea the key technology in robots automation system," Servotronix CEO Ilan Cohen told dealers at the conference. "We have rich experience and Midea has a huge global market. There will be more industries looking forward to our cooperation."

In the past eight months, Midea has acquired 94.55 percent of Kuka and 50 percent of Servotronix.

EYEING A BIG MARKET

"China's home appliance industry is already highly competitive. But for the robot sector, it's quite the opposite," Gu said, explaining the strategy shift.

"In 2020, there will be 150 robots for every 10,000 workers in China, four times the level in 2015," Gu said, quoting projections by the International Federation of Robotics.

The 30-billion-yuan takeover of Kuka marks Midea's advance into the robotics business. Despite controversy, the takeover received the green light from regulators in Germany and the United States, and has become a model for Chinese overseas acquisitions.

"It's a standard commercial deal and the world will soon see the results of our cooperation," Gu said.

Reuter said Kuka, which now runs its second-largest assembly plant in Shanghai, wanted to expand its advantage in automotive robots to other sectors, while Midea hoped to explore new markets other than home appliances.

"Midea can open China's doors for us, and we can help Midea get more efficient production in China," Reuter said. "We have also new areas. It's a win-win for Kuka and Midea, and also a win-win for China and Germany."

"The two takeovers can help Midea build a complete industrial chain for upgrading traditional plants into smart factories and to sell models of smart factories to customers at home and abroad," Gu said.

"China's manufacturing sector, which is much bigger than that of Germany, offers unprecedented business opportunities for German robot makers," Reuter said.

China has the largest intelligent manufacturing and robot application market in the world. The government report from the ongoing annual session of China's national legislature called for speeding up the use of big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things, and focusing on intelligent manufacturing.

"China's robot market is expected to maintain robust annual growth of 20 percent, far higher than the 5 to 10 percent growth in the United States and 14 percent growth in Europe," Reuter said.

Apart from the domestic market, Midea has also set its eyes on the huge global market. Gu said that some overseas customers were already in talks over Midea's automation solutions.

"The new business could be exported to other parts of the world and become a global industry leader like China's high-speed trains," Gu said.
HANOI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's military-run telecommunication group Viettel ranks second among the Southeast Asia's 20 biggest telecommunication brands, according to the latest statement by consultancy firm Brand Finance.

Viettel has moved up five steps from the seventh in 2016 to the second in 2017, with brand value of 2.686 billion U.S. dollars, only after Telkom Indonesia in the Southeast Asian region, local Bao Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) online newspaper on Friday.

Viettel also ranks 49th worldwide, but ranks first in Vietnam this year, said the firm, adding that inside the country, Viettel is followed by the state-run giants VinaPhone and MobiFone, whose brands value are 1.040 billion U.S. dollars and 391 million U.S. dollars, respectively.

Viettel is currently the country's biggest network service provider with over 60 million subscribers.
HANOI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam saw a rise in number of inspected smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeiting cases in 2016, according to the National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Fake Commodities.

The Committee handled 211,559 cases of violations last year, up 2.5 percent from 2015, reported local Vietnam News online newspaper on Friday. Around 1,560 cases were prosecuted, with 1,863 people involved.

Total administrative fines submitted to the state budget reached over 18 trillion Vietnamese dong (800 million U.S. dollars), up nearly 33.6 percent against 2015.

In the first two months of 2017, Vietnam inspected and discovered more than 4,900 cases of smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit commodities.
by Peter Mertzn, Gao Shan

LAS VEGAS, the United States, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese multinational construction equipment makers believe that their top obstacle in entering the U.S. market is brand recognition, as they are not well known in the country.

"I've never heard of them," said Barry Hubscher, 56, a distributor and seller of construction equipment in Chicago, the third largest city in the United States.

When given the names like Sany, Zoomlion and XCMG, Hubscher drew a blank.

Sany Heavy Industry Co., Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development Co., and Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co. (XCNG) are the top three Chinese manufacturers, and among the top 10 global heavy equipment sellers with combined sales of some 20 billion U.S. dollars.

Hubscher told Xinhua Thursday, "Cost and dependability are my two biggest concerns," adding that services and financing were also important.

"But if the margins are tight, I'm sticking with the American brand."

Branding could be the biggest obstacle facing Chinese companies in the highly-competitive U.S market, and their marketing efforts are steering toward a more traditional model to gain name identification.

"I don't think our industry relies on social media like other businesses," Sany America's Marketing Director Tim Rogers told Xinhua.

"The guy sitting in the cab might use Facebook, but other platforms like Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram, are probably not in his wheelhouse," Rogers said.

Rogers was recruited by Sany last year to beef up its social media marketing efforts that most American businesses employ daily.

Rogers' unique approach involves a hybrid of traditional marketing with targeted new media applications.

"Perhaps the Chinese have not recognized the fact that the names Caterpillar, Komatsu, Hitachi, Case, and John Deere, are super entrenched here," Hubscher noted.

"It might take a reboot to acclimate Americans to the Chinese players," Hubscher said.

Rogers agreed.

"There are valuable and effective ways Sany can utilize New Media," Rogers told Xinhua, pointing to Youtube videos as an effective way to introduce Sany products.

Rogers also said "old school" branding via traditional media marketing was critical toward allowing social media to perform, such as targeted advertising.

"Without name recognition I'm starting at ground zero ... or below," he told Xinhua.

U.S. construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar and Japan's Komatsu Equipment Co. both tapped social media to promote their brands and products, but Rogers noted that both had been American players for decades.

And with annual sales of 25 and 15 billion dollars respectively, the two global leaders in construction equipment sales had advice for the Chinese to heed.

Caterpillar, the industry leader, was considered the standard bearer for branding, marketing and social media success in the heavy equipment world.

The 91-year-old Illinois company relied heavily on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

These New Media platforms were called "powerful tools that allow us to connect with our customers, investors, potential employees and fans," the company's website claims.

"We've been in this market for almost 50 years," said Raleigh Floyd, Komatsu America's Director of Public Relations, "But never dismiss the impact of social media."

Like Rogers, Floyd was recruited by Komatsu for one reason - his experience and acumen in Internet marketing.

"That's why they hired me," Floyd said. "When I got to Komatsu, their social media needed big help," he told Xinhua.

When Rogers joined Sany, China's biggest construction equipment maker, the company's website had not been updated in almost three years, he said.

Prior to joining Komatsu. Floyd worked at Nielsen Ratings, and did "nothing but monitor trends."

"That's what I did before, and that's what I bring to Komatsu - the ability to steer marking efforts in directions that will identify customer needs and increase sales by addressing those needs," he said.

Zoomlion Vice President Xiong Yanming told Xinhua that his company would also combine New Media and old marketing approaches.

"The traditional way for us to do marketing is through exhibitions and local market exposure," Xiong said. "But in recent years, IT technology has developed very rapidly."

Xiong hoped to utilize social media channels to improve the efficiency of Zoomlion's marketing to make products more intelligent and network connected.

"This is one innovation direction we have already launched," he said.
BRUSSELS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The European Council on Friday conceded that member states failed to reach concensus on summit conclusions for "reasons unrelated to its substance".
LAGOS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to return to the country on Friday following a medical checkup in London, Femi Adesina, the president's spokesperson said late on Thursday.

Buhari left the country on January 19 for a vacation in the British capital, during which he had a routine medical check-up.

The holiday was extended based on doctors' recommendation for further tests and rest.

Adesina said Buhari expressed appreciation to teeming Nigerians from across the country and beyond who had prayed for him and sent their good wishes.

In the past two weeks, Buhari has been quite busy receiving visitors from Nigeria and making phone calls home.

Earlier Thursday, the presidency published photographs of his meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Before leaving Nigeria, Buhari sent a letter to the National Assembly requesting a 10-day vacation. He transferred power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as Acting President.

Buhari could not resume his duties earlier in February when he was expected to return to Nigeria. A letter requesting an extension of his vacation was sent to the Senate. The president said he required further medical tests.
ANKARA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The settlement of the Syrian crisis is expected to top the agenda of the the sixth High-Level Cooperation Council meeting on Friday in Moscow where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet in a bid to enhance bilateral ties, said Syrian expert.

"Syria case, from time to time, has moved ahead in the bilateral relations between Turkey and Russia since the two countries have stepped up rapprochement efforts since August 2016," Aydin Sezer, head of the Turkey and Russia Center of Studies, an Ankara-based think tank, told Xinhua ahead of the meeting.

Russia and Turkey prioritized cooperation in fight against Islamic State (IS) in Syria, after strains were eased as the two sides began a reconciliation process in 2016 following Turkey's apology for downing a Russian jet on the Syrian-Turkish border in November, 2015.

The normalization process was tested over the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov in an armed attack last December. But Putin called the assassination a "provocation" to undermine relations between Turkey and Russia as well as the efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis.

Syria issue is likely to get the forefront in the Moscow meeting and cast shadow on issues such as Turkey's demand of absolute trade normalization since Moscow imposed sanctions after downing of the jet, said Sezer, adding that he is not optimistic that Russia will meet Turkey' s expectations entirely.

SYRIA TO TOP AGENDA

During his meeting with Putin, Erdogan plans to discuss the issues of Iraq and Syria and the outcomes of the recent Antalya meeting of the top generals of the United States, Turkey and Russia, Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told reporters on Thursday.

The Turkish forces in Syria, backed by the rebel Free Syrian Army militants, have been fighting for months to drive out the IS from al-Bab, a town about 30 km from the Turkish border, a move also aiming to block Syrian Kurds from connecting their cantons.

Turkey has repeatedly vowed to prevent the Kurdistan Workers' Party(PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Turkey, or its Syrian affiliates the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Protection Units (YPG), from establishing a corridor of terror on Turkey's doorstep. Yet, both Russia and the United States have separately been collaborated with Syrian Kurds despite Ankara's frustration.

Turkey said its next target after al-Bab will be Manbij to push the YPG forces to the east of the Euphrates River, but Russia forced the Syrian Kurds to hand over the control of the region to the Syrian government.

AGREEMENTS TO BE REACHED

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev Thursday told his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim by phone that Moscow had removed the import ban on some Turkish agricultural products.

Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci Thursday told reporters that Turkey and Russia could sign an swap agreement during the visit for use of local currencies in bilateral trade.

Moreover, a cooperation agreement in the field of mining, and a memorandum on the creation of a joint investment fund between the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Turkish Investment Fund are among the documents that will be signed during the upcoming meeting.

Sezer said energy issues will not be a hot topic in the High-Level Cooperation Council meeting despite Kremlin's statement that Turkish Stream and Akkuyu nuclear power plants would be on the agenda of talks. Russia pursues the realization of two energy projects and Ankara has recently taken necessary procedural steps, said the expert.

A gas price dispute between Turkey's pipeline operator Botas and Russia's state gas producer Gazprom made Botas launch international arbitration proceedings against Gazprom in 2015. Turkey is likely to urge Russia to cut gas prices, said the expert.

TURKEY PROPOSES VISA-FREE TRAVEL

Sezer said Turkey is asking Russia to relaunch visa-free travel, primarily for businessmen and official delegations, but Moscow has some security concerns. Moscow earlier reduced the work permit to recruit Turkish workers in Russian companies and banned imports of some agricultural products from Turkey.

Turkey has proposed to Russia that its nationals be allowed to travel to Turkey without passports and only with their identity cards, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday.

The minister said Turkey expects Russia to ease visa procedures for Turkish business people and truck drivers.
NEW YORK, March 10 (Xinhua) -- WikiLeaks on Tuesday warns that you may have to recheck your privacy settings before your secrets are divulged to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) through smart TVs.

According to WikiLeaks' latest release, Weeping Angel, an attack toolkit designed by the CIA and the British security agency, aims at Samsung's smart TVs to make them appear to be switched off, but in fact they are not.

"There are people out there that you want us to spy on," Michael Hayden, an ex-CIA director, said in the Late Show in response to the Weeping Angel affair.

"You want us to have the ability to actually turn on that listening device inside the TV to learn that person's intentions. This is a wonderful capability," said Hayden.

Smart TVs are new favorites owned by households across the world. Its access to the Internet creates hidden hazards for hacking.

Panic has swept across world-wide among smart TV owners. People are afraid that their viewing habits might be tracked, or their personal conversations are wiretapped.

"The CIA reports show the USG developing vulnerabilities in US products, then intentionally keeping the holes open. Reckless beyond words," former CIA employee Edward Snowden tweeted on Wednesday.
MOSCOW, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Aerospace Defence Forces will receive 16 new Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers in 2017, TASS cited Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Borisov as saying on Friday.

"The Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPA) has a long-term contract with the Russian Defense Ministry for the production of a total of 92 Su-34 strike fighters. We are expecting to receive 16 Su-34fighter-bombers this year," said Borisov after visiting NAPA.

Borisov said nine of the aircraft are in the final stage of assembly, noting the Su-34 aircraft had proved highly effective in the fight against terrorists in Syria.

It has an enormous modernization potential, and could be called a new generation aircraft, he added.

The Su-34 entered service in early 2014. It is designed primarily for tactical deployment against ground and naval targets on solo and group missions in daytime and at night and can operate under adverse weather conditions and in a hostile environment.
JAKARTA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia would send a mission to Shanghai to join Chinas upcoming largest Business to Business (B to B) Meetings, Incentives, Convention and Exhibition (MICE) event from March 21 to 23 to tap potential Chinese visitors, a senior official at Indonesian Tourism Ministry said Friday.

"We hope that through the Incentive Tourism and Convention Meeting (IT&CM) event in Shanghai, our MICE sector can be better promoted, not only to Chinese visitors but also to other nations across the world," Tourism Deputy Minister for International Marketing I Gde Pitana said.

The tourism event of IT&CM was held annually since 2007. Some 640 exhibitors and 440 buyers from 56 countries and regions took part in the event last year.

Pitana said that Indonesian delegation would consist of 10 tourism-related operators, including state-run airlines of Garuda Indonesia.

Besides showcasing the nation's best MICE accommodations, Indonesian cultural performances and diverse of coffees from various regions across the country would also be showed in the event.

Indonesia's MICE tourism sector is well-accommodated in the nation's capital of Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan and Lombok.

Citing the data released by International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA), Pitana said that a visitor in MICE tourism sector may generate significant earnings to the host areas as they spent seven times higher than regular visitor.

He added that through the upcoming IT&CM event, Indonesia aims to receive more visitors from China, the largest market to Indonesian tourism industry.

Indonesia welcomed 1.74 million Chinese visitors last year, or 21.27 percent higher than a year earlier. That figure made Chinese visitors topped the rank of foreign visitors in Indonesia throughout last year.

Indonesia has set target to welcome 15 million foreign visitors this year in which 2.43 million of them were expected to be contributed by Chinese visitors.
PHNOM PENH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian police have arrested a Thai woman and six Cambodians in northwestern Banteay Meanchey province on suspicion of trafficking 1.77 kg of illicit drugs, the National Police website reported on Friday.

Thai national Samruddhi Raumklang, 24, and her six Cambodian accomplices -- four men and two women -- were arrested on Thursday afternoon in Banteay Meanchey province, which shares border with Thailand, said Yin Panharith, head of an anti-drug team at the Interior Ministry's Anti-Drug Department.

"Some 0.98 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 0.79 kg of methamphetamine pills as well as a scale were confiscated during the raid," he was quoted as saying by the National Police website.

Besides, two cars and a pistol with 98 bullets were also seized from the group, he added.

Cambodia has no death sentence for drug traffickers; under its law, a person who trafficks more than 80 grams of illicit drug will face a life imprisonment.

The Southeast Asian country launched a six-month anti-drug campaign on Jan. 1, 2017. According to an Interior Ministry report last week, the authorities had arrested 4,823 drug-related suspects in 2,065 cases in the first two months (January and February) of the campaign.

The report said the number of the drug arrests in the first two months was nearly a half of the total number of people arrested for drug-related offenses in 2016.
NEW DELHI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- India's main opposition Congress party's second-in-command Rahul Gandhi Friday rejected the results of all exit polls that predicted a win for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly elections in the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh.

Almost all exit polls have suggested a clean sweep for the BJP in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh with the state's ruling party and its alliance partner, Congress, trailing in the second place. Votes will be counted Saturday, along with four other states.

"Our alliance is winning. Such exit polls we saw in Bihar also. We will talk Saturday," the Nehru-Gandhi scion told the media in the national capital.

In the neighboring eastern state of Bihar, exit polls had suggested a clear win for the BJP after the assembly polls there two years ago, but the regional ruling Janata Dal (United) led by the state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar got the mandate to rule the state for another five-year term.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has tied up with the ruling Samajwadi Party led by its young Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who is seeking a second straight term. Yadav has not ruled out post-poll alliance with the state's main opposition Bahujan Samaj Party to keep the BJP out of the state.

Most exit polls in India have predicted that the BJP could get over 210 out of the 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh assembly.
TOKYO, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that Japan will continue to cooperate with South Korea after the Constitutional Court there upheld the National Assembly's decision to impeach President Park Geun-hye.

Japan will need to continue to cooperate with the new South Korean government in a variety of areas, as South Korea is an important neighbor with shared strategic interests with Japan, Kishida told a press briefing Friday.

"In light of the North Korean (DPRK) issue, the cooperation and coordination between Japan and South Korea is crucial to regional peace and stability," Kishida added, shortly after the South Korean court reached its decision to oust Park from office, over a scandal regarding corruption and abuse of power.

Kishida went on to express his hope that the new government of South Korea will carry out bilateral agreements reached between Tokyo and Seoul.
CAIRO, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Egypt strongly condemned the suicide bombings in Iraq's northern city of Tikrit on Wednesday, which left at least 26 people killed and 24 others wounded, a foreign ministry statement said on Friday.

"Iraq has Egypt's full solidarity and support in the face of terrorism, which aims to destabilize its security and stability," the statement said.

Egypt has "unwavering stance on the necessity of international cooperation to fight the abominable phenomenon of terrorism, and of studying the reasons behind it and draining its financial resources," it added.

On Wednesday night, two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests detonated themselves at a crowded wedding party in the province of Salahudin, which Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units managed to recapture from Islamic State (IS) militants in June 2014.

The attacks came as Iraqi security forces, backed by an international anti-IS coalition, are carrying out a major offensive to drive out IS militants from their major stronghold in the western side of Mosul in northern Iraq.
Malaysian national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar speaks during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 10, 2017. Malaysian police for the first time confirmed on Friday that a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man killed in Kuala Lumpur airport to be Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung)



KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian police for the first time confirmed on Friday that a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man killed in Kuala Lumpur airport to be Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

"We have now established that Kim Chol is Kim Jong Nam," national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a press conference here, but declined to say if a DNA test had been carried out to identify the body.

"I will not tell you how we did it due to the safety and security of witnesses," he said, adding the police have fulfilled the requirements of laws on Kim Jong Nam's identification.

Malaysian police had previously identified the man as Kim Chol by citing his passport, and insisted that they needed family members to provide DNA samples to further identify the body.

He said the body would be handed over to the health ministry as police had completed the investigation on the identity.

The police have informed the relatives, but "it seems no one is taking (the body)," he added.

During the press conference, Khalid declined to elaborate further on the motive behind the killing.

Malaysia has declined the request by the DPRK government to hand over the body, triggering a diplomatic row between the two countries. In tit-for-tat moves, Malaysia and DPRK have both expelled the ambassador of the other's side and banned each other's citizens from leaving Malaysia or DPRK.

Khalid did not reveal the details of the negotiations, which are key to help Malaysia bring back nine of its nationals back from DPRK.

Malaysia has indicted two females suspects, one Vietnamese and one Indonesian, with murder as the police believed the two smeared a lethal chemical weapon called VX nerve agent on the face of Kim Jong Nam, which killed him within 15 to 20 minutes.

The police said four other DPRK suspects have fled the country. They also want to question three people in connection with the case, including a second secretary of the DPRK embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an employee of the DPRK national carrier Air Koryo.

Khalid said the police will continue to wait for the three to come forward, or arrests warrants will be issued.
ISLAMABAD, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Indian authorities on Friday handed over two Pakistani teenagers who were suspected of helping in an attack on an army camp in India-controlled Kashmir last September, officials said.

The youth were released after the Indian investigators cleared them of charges, according to the Pakistan Foreign Ministry's spokesman.

Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed, who crossed the Wahga border in the afternoon, were received by some of their family members.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said earlier the Indian investigators found nothing against them.

The youth, who belong to Pakistan-administered Kashmir, had mistakenly crossed the Line of Control (LoC) into India-controlled Kashmir on Sept. 21, just three days after the attack.

The attack which left 19 Indian soldiers dead was initially blamed on Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad but later Indian investigators said Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the deadly attack.

Relatives told the media that their months of mental agonies ended after Awan and Khursheed rejoined family. They were, however, seemed upset at the photographs showing them blindfold ahead of their repatriation to Pakistan.

Awan's brother Ghulam Mohiuddin told the media that he was in contact with the Pakistan High Commission's officials in New Delhi, who made efforts to secure the release of the youth.

Mohiuddin said their stance that the boys were innocent was endorsed by the Indian investigators.

Khursheed's mother celebrated the release of son and thanked the Pakistani government for efforts.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that a "great wall of iron" to safeguard national unity, ethnic solidarity and social stability should be built in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during a panel discussion with national lawmakers from Xinjiang at the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress.






MEXICO CITY, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China's anti-corruption efforts have bolstered both the public's and global market's confidence in the government, said Mexican experts.

"It has had a very significant effect on the Communist Party of China (CPC) and across the society," Enrique Dussel Peters, coordinator of the China-Mexico Studies Center (Cechimex) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, told Xinhua in an interview recently.

China's hunt for both "tigers and flies," as high- and lower-ranking corrupt public servants are called, has snared corrupted officials working within the central as well as local governments.

Among the "tigers" brought down by the anti-corruption campaign were Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and Bo Xilai, former Party chief of Chongqing Municipality.

The campaign has even succeeded in discouraging officials from spending lavishly on sumptuous meals out, luxury watches and imported liquors, as the drop in sales of all the three indicates.

The Chinese government is serious about its anti-corruption drive, and the campaign is not a passing phenomenon designed to make headlines and then quietly subside, noted Dussel.

Echoing Dussel's view, Jose Luis Leon-Manriquez, a research professor at Mexico City's Autonomous Metropolitan University, said that the campaign shows the government is serious about eliminating a scourge that has threatened to undermine the economic and social achievements of the world's second largest economy.

Since 2014, China has repatriated over 2,500 people, including some 410 central government officials, who had fled abroad to evade justice, and recovered some 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in stolen assets, according to official figures released by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

There's more to the strategy than just punishing the criminals. Over the weekend, the Chinese government announced that a pilot program to prevent graft through greater oversight, implemented in three regions, was working well, and would serve to draft national anti-corruption legislation.

Details of the program were released for policy review during China's ongoing annual "two sessions."

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 are being held in Beijing on March 3-15.

Oversight committees have been created at the district, municipal and provincial levels as part of a comprehensive strategy to quash wrongdoing.

Abraham Vergara, coordinator of the Accounting and Business Management program at the Iberoamerican University, noted the anti-graft campaign has fostered a climate of certainty and confidence in trade and investment in China.

That is more important as the United States retreats behind a barrier of protectionism, he said.

"Providing that confidence, that certainty is related to the opening up of the Chinese market," while cleaning the house sends a message that China is ready and able to play the role of a leading economic power, said Vergara. "They still have a way to go, but I think they are on the right path."

In the meantime, Latin America should take note of China's anti-corruption campaign, said Cechimex's Dussel.

"A good part of Latin America has a lot to learn from it," said Dussel.




by Naim Ul Karim

DHAKA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi lawyers Thursday warmly lauded the Chinese government's initiative to adopt a civil code, saying it will promote China's international image.

China's national lawmakers on Wednesday started to deliberate draft general provisions of a civil law, which, if adopted, will bring the country one step closer to a long-absent civil code.

With the draft submitted to the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, the country is nearing the end of its crucial first step toward a civil code -- laying down basic principles.

Am Mahbub Uddin Khokon, general secretary of Bangladesh's Supreme Court Bar Association, said the Chinese government's move to enact a new civil law will help ensure the interests of the general public.

"I understand that the law, if adopted, will surely better protect the people's interests, improve state governance, maintain market order, ensure trading security, and promote the sound development of the socialist market economy," he said.

The law expert also said the world's impression of China will also be enhanced with the enactment of the law aimed at protecting the people's interests.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's drives to ensure clean governance and promote the people's welfare have already drawn wide attention from the international community, Khokon added.

Xi's development-boosting plans like the Belt and Road Initiative have now connected China with the outside world more than any other time in the past, he noted.

Last year, the draft civil law went through three readings at the bi-monthly sessions of the NPC Standing Committee.

After the adoption of the general provisions, lawmakers will step up the work on compiling individual books on property, contracts and marriage, among others, which will be integrated into a unified code.

According to the legislation plan, the code will be enacted in 2020.

For his part, Bangladeshi Supreme Court's lawyer advocate Al Mamun said China's emergence as a global economic powerhouse has made it necessary to draft a civil code to ensure the rule of law and human rights.

He said that the move will push China forward in its efforts to achieve an effective administration of justice, and secure the people's interests and the smooth functioning of the government.

"I think that the enactment by the legislatures is an endeavor to demonstrate the long-standing commitment of China to establishing a fair society by having the rule of law," he noted.

"I strongly believe such an attempt will give a very positive message to the rest of the world," Al Mamun added.






BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Tibet has taken a "clear-cut" stance against separatism and has resolutely cracked down on secession and sabotage activities by the Dalai Lama clique in 2016, a regional government official said Friday.

Qizhala, chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region government, said in a speech delivered to a panel discussion of the Tibet delegation during the annual session of the 12th National People's Congress.

"The overall situation of the region has entered a period of lasting stability and harmony," Qizhala said in the speech on the regional government's work in 2016.

The government has sent officials to villages, introduced a "grid management" system in cities, and effectively advanced the multi-layered social management system, Qizhala said, adding the government's capacity in governing according to law has continuously improved.




KATHMANDU, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Nepal, on Friday, summoned a top Indian diplomat in Kathmandu over the killing of a Nepali national in the Indian security force firing at the Nepal-India border recently, officials said.

Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi summoned the Acting Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Kumar to the foreign ministry to express serious concern over the death of Nepali national Govinda Gautam in the firing Kanchanpur District of Nepal, following a scuffle between the Nepali local residents and the Indian security personnel regarding the construction of a culvert in the area.

The foreign secretary handed over a protest letter to the ambassador on behalf of the Nepalese government, condemning the incident, Press Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ekraj Pathak told Xinhua.

On the occasion, the Acting Indian Ambassador said that India would cooperate the Nepalese government to launch probe into the case, calling it very unfortunate.

Meanwhile, the Nepalese Foreign Minister Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat spoke to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on Friday over the same incident and urged to launch investigation into the case and bring the guilty to justice, according to the press advisor.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu stated that the acting ambassador conveyed condolences on the loss of life of the Nepali citizen Thursday.

According to the embassy, India decided to initiate an enquiry on the incident and requested that the Nepalese side may share post-mortem and forensic reports to facilitate the enquiry process.

The Nepali national was killed in course of treatment at a local hospital in Kanchanpur, who was seriously injured when Indian security forces opened fire into a crowd at Anandabazar town of Kanchapur District.

Media reports said that the local residents had resorted to a demonstration since 12 p.m. Thursday after Indian authorities objected to the construction of a culvert in the locality, claiming that was the no man's land.

The construction of the culvert over the river was started on Wednesday.
MADRID, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The Madrid Town Hall on Friday reintroduced the traffic restrictions established as the first level of the protocols to deal with the high levels of contamination in the air.

This first level of the anti-contamination protocol, which was approved in January 2016, restricts traffic to a maximum speed of 70 kilometers an hour on the M30 ring road into the Spanish capital and on major access roads into the city.

These protocols came into effect at 6 a.m. local time on Friday morning after two weather stations measuring the air quality in the capital detected levels of over 180 milligrams of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) for a period of more than two hours.

The Madrid Town Hall has recommended the use of public transport, while at the same time activating increased means of informing citizens, through street signs, social media, its official website, as well as those of public transport companies.

This is only the first level of the anti-contamination to be activated and with the next two days predicting warm, sunny and relatively wind-free weather, the second and third degrees of the protocol could come into force in the coming days.

These protocols include forbidding parking for non-residents within the city center, before banning private vehicles from circulating with cars whose registration ends in even numbers forbidden from driving in the center one day with those who registrations end in odd numbers not allowed to circulate the following day.

This level of the protocol was activated at the start of 2017 as the result of a similar peak in contamination levels.
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Taliban notorious commander Qari Dost Mohammad is among four militants arrested in Dasht-e-Archi district of the northern Kunduz province on Friday, a local official Nasrudin Nazari said.

"Following a special operation conducted today morning in Daftani village of Dasht-e-Archi district, a Taliban notorious commander Qari Dost Mohammad along with three of his armed men were arrested," district governor Nasrudin Nazari told reporters here.

The official, however, didn't provide more details.

A similar operation involving drone strike in Dasht-e-Archi's neighboring Chardara district on Thursday had left six Taliban insurgents dead.

Taliban militants who are active in parts of the troubled Kunduz province have been attempting to overrun the provincial capital Kunduz city 250 km north of Kabul.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Burundian Minister of External Relations and International Cooperation Alain Aime Nyamitwe is to pay an official visit to China from March 13 to 19 at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the announcement here Friday at a routine press briefing.
HOUSTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed here late Thursday the importance of a stronger economy and environmental protection.

"We need to build stronger economies and build up opportunities for citizens while at the same time protecting the environment and thinking about the jobs of the next generation, for now as well," Trudeau said at the ongoing CERAWeek in the U.S. city, an annual international gathering of energy industry leaders, experts, government officials and policy makers.

"We're understanding we've got to get thoughtful and innovate in both our conventional energy sources and the next wave of renewable and solutions that we have," he said.

"Innovating - and pursuing renewables - isn't somehow in competition with more traditional resources," he added.

Meanwhile, Trudeau spoke highly of Canada's ties with the neighboring United States, saying "the ties between our two countries are economic - but also strategic."

He described the Canadian-U.S. economic relationship as the most successful one in the world, saying it supports millions of middle class jobs on both sides of the border.

The Canadian PM said that nothing is more essential to the U.S. economy than access to a secure, reliable source of energy, and Canada is that source.

Currently, Canada, provides more than 40 percent of America's imported crude. It buys more from the United States than any other country and is the number one customer of two thirds of U.S. states.

Last year alone, trade value between the state of Texas and Canada stood at 35.1 billion U.S. dollars.

The 36th annual energy IHS CERAWeek conference, organized by London-based consultancy IHS Markit, opened here on Monday under the theme "Pace of change: building a new energy future."

The five-day event has brought together at least 3,000 delegates, including energy ministers, from more than 60 countries to discuss the most pressing industry issues, state strategies and policies.
NEW DELHI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A local court in India Friday convicted 31 workers for resorting to violence and causing death of a senior manager at a factory of Japanese car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki in 2012, officials said.

"Today Gurugram District Court convicted 31 persons in the case of violence and death at plant of Maruti Suzuki in 2012," a court official said. "In the case, the court however, acquitted 117 others."

The violence believed to have broken over disagreement in wages and contracts in the factory at Haryana in the outskirts of New Delhi.

Over 80 people including two foreigners were injured in the violence. The violence halted production at factory for a month.

Police had arrested 148 workers and charged them with the murder of Awanish Kumar Dev, human resource manager.

Workers' union accused Maruti of "anti-worker and anti-union activities."

The trial lasted four years.

Ahead of Friday's verdict, local authorities had imposed restrictions that prohibits assembly of more than four persons in public place. The police was deployment to enforce prohibitory orders in anticipation of workers having threatened a protest if the judgement did not turn out in their favour.

Maruti Suzuki is an automobile manufacturer in India. It is a subsidiary of Japanese automobile and motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki Motor Corporation. It is the largest car manufacturer and holds 50 per cent share in India's car market.
by Chris Mgidu

NAIROBI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is seeking new strategies to help bring peace and stability in the Horn of Africa nation which is beset with frequent terror attacks by Al-Shabaab.

African Union (AU) Special Representative for Somalia Francisco Madeira also called on the AU troops to step up measures to help the new government and its security forces to stamp its authority in areas already liberated by the AU troops.

"We have achieved a lot in the past ten years; we are keeping the government in place; nobody can question that. We are keeping the regional governments in place; we supported the two elections, the latest one, we secured that election; and the president was elected in a very consensual way; we did all these things," Madeira said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Friday.

The AU envoy who was addressing a high-level meeting of AU officials, donors and other stakeholders in Nairobi on Thursday said the current military onslaught against the militants may not achieve its desired goals, of delivering sustainable stability in the Horn of Africa country.

"The way we handled it militarily is that we would go there, flash out Al-Shabaab and protect the government. We then started training Somalis to take over. We were to liberate Mogadishu. We felt that we could do it and the Somalia National Army (SNA) would come in later," he added.

The AU mission has been in the Horn of Africa nation for exactly a decade this week and the two-day meeting in the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi, is taking stock of the Mission's performance within that period and charting the next way forward.

The meeting is part of events that culminate in May, to mark ten years of the Mission's presence in Somalia.

Madeira said the Somalia security forces in their current state cannot adequately exercise authority on areas liberated by AMISOM.

He said SNA has its inadequacies and has not been able to take full charge of Somalia's security, as it should.

"Those who should be fighting expect us to protect them," he said, adding that AMISOM was fighting Al-Shabaab and protecting the Somalia government, at the same time.

"It's time we made it known that AMISOM is not going to stay forever," he noted, suggesting the key issue to is to form a full functional national Army, have government exercise authority and address the problems facing the population such as historical clan rivalry, land ownership and sharing, power sharing, and reasons that attract the youth to the Al-Shabaab.

"We have to form the army, we have to help the government to exercise its authority all throughout the country and we have to have the government address the real problems that are dividing the people of Somalia," said Madeira who is also the head of Amisom.

He urged donors to stay with Somalia at this critical hour, when the country has a promising and forward-looking federal government.

The AU envoy said AMISOM requires more funds to engage in a comprehensive approach to peace, which involves not just military response, but also mediation, negotiation and engaging an all-inclusive mechanism to conflict resolution.
PHNOM PENH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will pay a working visit to Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, from March 13 to 15 to attend two meetings, said a Cambodian Foreign Ministry statement on Friday.

The two meetings are the 9th Meeting on Cooperation and Development of the Cambodia-Vietnam Border Provinces and the 15th Meeting of the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Commission (JC) on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, the statement said.

"The convening of these two meetings coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, providing opportunity to reflect past achievements as well as to chart future roadmap in the joint endeavor to further enhance the existing excellent bond of traditional friendship, good neighborliness and comprehensive cooperation," it said.

At the end of the JC meeting, Pham Binh Minh and Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn will sign the agreed minutes of the 15th Meeting of the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Commission, the statement added.

While in Cambodia, Pham Binh Minh, who is also a deputy prime minister, will also pay a courtesy call on Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, it said.
TOKYO, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday that the country will withdraw its Self-Defense Force from a UN mission in South Sudan by the end of May.

The prime minister said that the withdrawal was due to the African country's "entering a new phase of nation-building."

Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide denied later that the withdrawal was a result of the deteriorating security situation in South Sudan.

Japan has been sending its Ground Self-Defense Force personnel to build infrastructure as part of a U.N. mission in South Sudan since 2012. The African country gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

The mission, however, has been controversial in Japan, as Japanese laws forbid the SDF to operate in areas where combats take place.

Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has also been under fire for "downplaying" the seriousness of the South Sudan conflict by referring to it as "armed clashes" while daily activity logs of the Japanese troops there mentioned "combats."

The opposition parties demanded Inada to resign over the issue last month, but Inada dismissed the allegation by saying that there was no combat in South Sudan in legal sense even though the logs suggested otherwise.

South Sudan has been mired in crisis since a political face-off between President Salva Kiir and his former Vice President Riek Machar erupted into full conflict in December 2013.

Despite the August 2015 peace agreement that formally ended the civil war, fightings continued between the government and opposition forces and conflict and instability kept spreading in the African country.

The UN Security Council called on all parties in South Sudan to immediately stop fighting last month.
MOMBASA, Kenya, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's tourism stakeholders on Friday welcomed the lifting of travel ban by Britain that barred its citizens from traveling to Lamu County in the coastal region.

Britain had warned its citizens against visiting Kenya's coast and northeastern region, citing terror attack threats by Al-Shabaab and high crime rates.

Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers Coast executive Sam Ikwaye said the decision will assist in the restoration of Lamu that was once a tourist hub in the region.

Ikwaye said the decision was long overdue citing the declining cases of terrorist attacks in Lamu.

"The decision will be a major boost to the tourism sector as such advisories had hurt business owing to the negative effects. We remain optimistic," said Ikwaye.

Heritage Hotels CEO Mohammed Hersi commended the British government and urged the U.S. to also lift the non essential travel advisory in Lamu.

"It was one long painful wait for Lamu. It will let us now pick the pieces and promote Lamu once again. The island was never affected by terror attacks hence the advisory was misplaced," Hersi said.

Lamu County has previously had a series of attacks targeted on non-Muslims in what the police boss said is a mission to divide Kenyans along religious lines.

More than 100 people were killed in a series of attacks in Mpeketoni area, within the County by the militants in 2014.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said Britons are free to visit any national park, reserve and wildlife conservancies in the country.

The country, however, in its notice on Thursday advised against travel to Manda or Lamu Islands by road.

"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office no longer advise against travel to Lamu Island and Manda. If you travel to Lamu Island or Manda you should do so by air and not by road," it said in its advisory on Thursday.

Among areas British tourists are allowed to visit include the Aberdare National Park, Amboseli, Laikipia, Lake Nakuru, Masai Mara, Meru and Mount Kenya.

UK tourists are also allowed to sample attractions in Samburu, Shimba Hills, and Tsavo as well as book reservations at beach resorts in Mombasa, Malindi, Kilifi, Watamu, and Diani.

Britain is concerned about threats from terrorism, especially from extremists linked to Al-Shabaab who are against the country's military operation in Somalia.

In January, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala asked the U.S. government to lift the travel advisory it issued to its citizens against visiting Kenya.

Balala said such advisories were unjustified, citing the reduction of terrorist attacks in the region.
Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, answers questions at a press conference on deepening reforms to commerce affairs administration for the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China's trademark registration and examination process is strictly conducted in accordance with the law, a business regulation official said Friday.

In 2006, 120 Trump trademarks started to be applied in China, with 77 having been successfully registered so far. Recently, 44 trademarks have passed preliminary examinations, said Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

"China's trademark law treats all applications equally, be them from domestic or foreign businesses," the official said.

Zhang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session, in response to a question on the latest approvals of Trump trademarks in the country.
European Council President Donald Tusk (R) and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker attend a joint press conference after the European spring summit in Brussels, Belgium on march 10, 2017. The leaders reportedly discussed how the EU should function in the future and how to maintain unity amid severe political and migration pressures during the two-day summit. (Xinhua/Gong Bing)



BRUSSELS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The European Council on Friday conceded that its member states have failed to reach consensus on summit conclusions for "reasons unrelated to its substance."

"The European Council deliberated on the attached document. It was supported by 27 Members of the European Council, but it did not gather consensus, for reasons unrelated to its substance," said the conclusions of the EU spring summit, released in the name of the European Council president, rather than the council as usual.

"References to the European Council in the attached document should not be read as implying a formal endorsement by the European Council acting as an institution," the conclusions added.

Recognizing difficult situations between the countries, German Chancellor Angela Merkel still assessed positively about the progress on security and defense policy made in the summit.

"We agreed that it's important that the European Union's defense policy should be complementary to NATO, to strengthen it," Merkel told reporters after the summit.

The leaders reportedly discussed how the EU should function in the future and how to maintain unity amid severe political and migration pressures during the two-day summit.

It's believed that Poland, disgruntled over Donald Tusk being re-elected the president of the European Council, refused to give its nod to the conclusions.

Tusk on Thursday won another term despite opposition from his home country Poland.

"The European Council today re-elected Donald Tusk as its president for a second term of two-and-a-half years, from June 1, 2017 to Nov. 30, 2019," the council on Thursday announced in a statement.

Tusk was also reappointed as president of the Euro Summit for the same period.

Poland had earlier proposed Polish member of the European Parliament (MEP) Jacek Saryusz-Wolski for Tusk's position.

After Tusk being re-elected, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo announced that she would block the summit's final conclusions.

"I won't accept the summit conclusions, so the summit won't be valid," Szydlo told a press conference on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Szydlo wrote a letter to MEPs, in which she underlined the lack of Poland's support for Tusk.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chongqing in southwest China does not produce any potassium fertilizer itself, but it will become a sales hub for it thanks to rail routes linking the city to Europe.

"In late March, the first train loaded with 500 tonnes of potassium fertilizer produced in Kazakhstan will reach Chongqing on its return from Germany," said the city's economy and information technology commission.

The city plans to import 3 million tonnes of fertilizer from Kazakhstan each year through the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway by 2020, for domestic distribution and delivery to Japan and Southeast Asia.

"The Belt and Road Initiative creates enormous opportunities for bilateral economic and trade cooperation," said Zhang Jun, board chairman of a potassium company in Kazakhstan.

Chongqing had 420 freight trains to and from Europe last year.

The city has been one of the most active provincial-level regions to implement the China-proposed initiative aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Since 2013, the increasingly influential initiative has boosted trade and investment between China and countries along the routes and offered a solution to global economic difficulties.

China's combined imports and exports with countries along the Belt and Road topped 6.3 trillion yuan (about 912 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, up 0.6 percent from 2015, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

Chinese businesses helped build 56 economic and trade cooperation zones in 20 countries along the routes with a combined investment surpassing 18.5 billion dollars, generating nearly 1.1 billion dollars in tax revenue and 180,000 jobs in those countries.

For example, Chinese-operated Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone in Cambodia has attracted 102 companies from China, Japan, the United States and Europe.

"The economic zone served as a platform for Chinese enterprises to participate in the Belt and Road," said Zhou Haijiang, president of HoDo Group based in China's eastern Jiangsu Province, the developer of the 5-square-kilometer zone.

"Chinese enterprises went global and boosted local development in countries along the Belt and Road on a win-win basis," said Liu Zhibiao, a national political advisor and professor in economics at Nanjing University.

"The Belt and Road Initiative has become the most popular public goods and the platform for international cooperation with the brightest prospects in the world," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.

More than 20 heads of state and government, over 50 leaders of international organizations, over 100 ministerial-level officials, as well as over 1,200 delegates from various countries and regions will participate in the Belt and Road Forum for international cooperation in May in Beijing.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is against narrow-minded protectionism and isolationism," said Sergei Luzyanin, director of the Far Eastern Studies Institute under the Russian Academy of Sciences. "We only had the Western European-American option of integration and economic development in the 1990s, now there is a new option from China."
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday again urged the Republic of Korea (ROK) to stop the deployment of a U.S. missile shield.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a daily press briefing.

When asked about the impeachment of ROK President Park Geun-hye, Geng said that "we will not comment on the impeachment case as it belongs to the ROK's domestic affairs."

"As a neighboring country, we hope the ROK can maintain political stability," Geng added.

Park was ousted as the country's head of state after the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-ridden leader Friday. She became the first ROK leader to be permanently removed from office through impeachment.

Geng said China had spoken positively about efforts Park had made to improve China-ROK relations when she was in office.

"However, as for her decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, China has expressed definite opposition," Geng said.

"As China and the ROK are each other's neighbors that cannot be moved away, the development of bilateral ties in the past 25 years has brought substantial benefits to both peoples," Geng said. ' "China has always been open and positive to cooperation and exchanges with the ROK, a position that has never changed," he said. "But the crux of the current difficulties facing bilateral ties is the THAAD deployment."

"We hope the ROK government can face China's concerns squarely, heed the voices of the public, look at the whole picture of bilateral cooperation and regional peace and stability, and stop the deployment to remove obstacles in bilateral ties and bring them back on a normal track," Geng said.

China has repeatedly said that the ROK and U.S. deployment of THAAD gravely undermined regional strategic balance and the security interests of countries in the region, including China, and runs counter to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.

THAAD is designed to intercept incoming missiles at an altitude of 40-150 km. Its X-band radar can peer deep into Chinese and Russian territories.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday said words by the Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana were groundless conjecture and urged him to do more to contribute to mutual trust.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a daily press conference when responding to a question that Lorenzana said he was concerned by Chinese vessels at various locations close to the Philippines in recent months.

Lorenzana reportedly said that Chinese vessels were found in sea areas near the Benham Rise, which is declared by the United Nations as part of the Philippines' territory.

Geng said, in 2012, the UN Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf (CLCS) approved the Philippines' application for a 200-sea-mile outer continental shelf limit in Benham Rise. Accordingly, the Philippines may exploit natural resources there, but the Philippines can not regard it as its territory, Geng said.

Geng noted that the rights of coastal countries over their continental shelves does not affect the navigational freedom of foreign vessels nor the right of innocent passage in territorial waters, according to international laws, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Geng said some research vessels passed through waters off the northeast of Luzon Island last year and their activities were certainly covered by the terms of "navigational freedom and innocent passage."

Geng added that the foreign affairs departments of both countries exchanged views in January, clarified the facts and made a proper settlement.

The spokesperson also rebutted Lorenzana's claim that China canceled a plan to reclaim land in Huangyan Island due to U.S. pressure.

It is totally within China's sovereign rights to do anything, or nothing, on Huangyan Island, Geng said.

He stressed that China and the Philippines have good momentum in bilateral relations and excellent cooperation.

"We hope some individuals in the Philippines will stop groundless conjecture and exaggeration, and do more to contribute to enhancing mutual trust and development of the bilateral relations," Geng said.
THE HAGUE, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) executive council on Friday expressed grave concern that a chemical weapon was used in a fatal incident on Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The agency called for those responsible for the use of the Schedule 1 nerve agent VX in a killing to be held accountable.

The OPCW council "unequivocally condemned the use of any chemical weapon by anyone under any circumstances as reprehensible and completely contrary to the legal norms and standards of the international community."

The Council asked the OPCW's director general to provide technical assistance upon request from Malaysian authorities for its national investigation.

On March 3, Malaysia confirmed that the VX nerve agent was used in the attack targeting a national from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The victim died en route to hospital.

Malaysia said it will cooperate with the OPCW to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The 192-member OPCW executive council oversees the global endeavor to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons.
MOSCOW, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Russian warplanes launched 452 strikes against Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Syria in the past week, as the government troops continued their advance in the north and east of the war-torn country, the Russian military said Friday.

"Over 600 militants, 16 infantry fighting vehicles, 41 pickup trucks with large caliber machine-guns and more than 30 other vehicles have been eliminated," Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, chief of the Russian General Staff Main Operational Directorate, said at a news briefing.

He said the Syrian troops liberated 92 terrorists settlements on an area of 479 square km in the eastern part of Aleppo province in the last seven days, reaching the bank of the Euphrates River for the first time in the last four years.

After taking control of the ancient city of Palmyra, the Syrian government troops continued their offensive to the east of the city, capturing dominant heights, and extend the security zone to the north and south, Rudskoy said.

Russian and Syrian sappers had started a mine clearing operation at historical monuments of Aleppo, he added.
Red carnations are places in Sultanahmet Square by tour guide Sibel Satiroglu (unseen) at the site where 12 of her German clients were killed last year in a jihadist bombing, in Istanbul on January 12, 2017.(AFP Photo)

ISTANBUL, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish court on Friday released a suspected Islamic State (IS) militant being tried over possible links to a deadly bombing attack that killed four foreigners in Istanbul last year, local media reported.

Erkan Capkin, accused of being an IS member, was freed from custody because of his health problems but not allowed to travel abroad, the Hurriyet Daily News reported.

According to Evrensel news portal, the prosecutor has demanded six times aggravated life imprisonment for Capkin.

The court decided to keep the other four suspects in custody, reports said.

A man named Mehmet Ozturk blew himself up in Istanbul's popular Istiklal Avenu on March 19, 2016, killing three Israelis and one Iranian.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 140 Chinese peacekeeping police officers departed Beijing for a year-long mission to Liberia on Friday, according the Ministry of Public Security.

China's fifth team of peacekeeping police to Liberia were selected by police authorities in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

They have all attended peacekeeping training and passed UN examinations, the ministry said.

Since 2000, the ministry has sent 2,458 police officers to UN peacekeeping mission zones such as Liberia, Afghanistan, Sudan and South Sudan.
KIGALI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- For months, Louise Dushimirimana and her fellow Burundian refugees at Mahama camp have been making handicrafts, a little initiative to reduce dependence on handouts.

On Thursday, Dushimirimana and her colleagues felt their efforts were being recognized.

In stepping up efforts to make the Burundian refugees self reliant, the Rwandan Government and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Thursday inaugurated a business facility for them.

The facility worth 400,000 U.S. dollars will help women and girls with handicraft skills to make various products for sale.

The Rwandan Government and UNHCR strategy aims to empower refugees to stand on their own feet rather than depending on humanitarian assistance over times.

Dushimirimana said that the facility will enable them to produce more handcrafts products and to teach other refugees the life skills.

Jacqueline Murorunkwere, is another refugee, and the social affairs representative of refugees in the camp.

She said in addition to promoting livelihoods, the center will also enhance mutual partnership and cooperation between stakeholders to prevent sexual and gender-based violence in the camp.

"Refugee women are often victims of violence and discrimination. This new facility will contribute to refugees supporting each other to resolve their problems, strengthen their resilience and become self-reliant, as well as preventing sexual and gender-based violence in households," she said.

The mother of three said even when life is not easy for women refugees, the inauguration of the facility was an encouragement to develop oneself, earn livelihoods, and make life worth living.

In the new center, women working in cooperatives are paid for producing high quality, modern design handicrafts which are exported and marketed in the United States, as well as school uniforms.

Through such market-based livelihoods initiatives, refugees are empowered to contribute not only to the economy of the refugee camp, but also to the development of Rwanda and its economy, officials noted.

"Today we were reminded that nothing should stop us from aiming higher in life. Personally, nothing will prohibit me from developing my family, the country that is hosting me, and participating in searching for peace in Burundi," added Murorunkwere.

Mahama refugee camp opened in April 2015 following the influx of Burundian refugees. Today it is home to 53,000 refugees.

Saber Azam UNHCR Rwanda country representative, said while female refugees may sometimes face vulnerabilities they are also normal citizens of the world, and nothing should stop them from dreaming big, participating in building peace in the camp but also for the future when they shall have returned to their country.

"This opportunity centre is among the best things we can do to support refugee women in the camp, which is also critical to building gender equality among the community," he said.

Rwanda's minister of refugees affairs Seraphine Mukantabana said that the center will open doors to skilled women to benefit from their skills instead of folding hands to wait for handouts.
RIYADH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Saudi police killed a Saudi fugitive wanted in a number of security cases when he resisted his arrest, Saudi Interior Minister tweeted on Friday.

The deceased Mustafa Ali Abdullah Al Madad was wanted for a number of terrorist cases against citizens, police personnel and public property, mainly in Qatif region in the Eastern province.

He was accused of armed robbery against two bank employees assigned to transfer money to the bank, assassination attempt of a mayor in the province, the killing of two policemen, abduction of a judge who is still missing and arson attack of a bank that occurred last week.

The ministry highlighted that one of the police forces sustained gunshot wound and was admitted to hospital. It described his injury as minor.

The ministry called upon the public to report fugitives involved in the ongoing Qatif violence or face legal action for hiding information and sheltering them.

Qatif and some nearby areas that are populated with minority Shiite community face arson, vandalism, rioting and attacks against police by violent youth who demand more rights in the Sunni conservative country.
JUBA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Friday prayed for forgiveness during national prayers as the war-torn country seeks to heal and reconcile from ethnic divisions caused by the more than three years of conflict.

The national prayers are to set the stage for the much lauded national dialogue initiated in December 2016 by President Kiir to help reconcile and unite the warring factions in the oil-rich and yet impoverished youngest nation.

South Sudan has been beset with more than three years of violent fighting since December 2013, after political dispute between President Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar led to killings of tens of thousands and displaced more than 2 million from their homes.

A peace agreement in 2015 to end the fighting was further weakened in the aftermath of renewed July fighting last year that led to the now exiled rebel leader Machar being replaced as First Vice President by his former chief negotiator Taban Deng in the transitional unity government.

The UN expressed fears of ethnic cleansing leading to genocide since conflict spread to once peaceful Equatoria region amid reports of rapes, killings and hate speech.

Ongoing intermittent fighting since July, has forced 1.5 million South Sudanese refugees fleeing violence into neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China is considering attending the meeting of the Trans-Pacific Partnership scheduled to take place in Chile next week, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang on Friday.

He made the comments in response to a question about whether China would accept Chile's invitation to the meeting, to be held from March 14 to 15.

China supports Asia-Pacific regional economic integration, and is willing to strengthen dialogue with Chile and countries involved, boost the building of an Asia-Pacific FTA, create an open economy and inject vitality into the development of the Asia-Pacific and the global economy, he said.

"We hope the Chile meeting will contribute to realizing the goal," Geng added.
MOGADISHU, March 10 (Xinhua) -- More than 70 Somali citizens arrived in Mogadishu on Friday after being deported from the United States, a government official said.

Minister of Internal Security of Somalia, Abdirisak Omar Mohamed said this is the second time such people have arrived in the country as Washington launches crackdown on illegal immigrants following President Donald Trump's executive order.

"We were aware of the arrival of 70 Somali citizens here and they arrived today. They had been in detention centers for two years in U.S after missing asylum," Mohamed said.

"Somali embassy in U.S and U.S officials agreed to let these people back home, the embassy facilitated their travel documents and came here voluntarily," he added.

More than 90 people including two Kenyans were deported in January from the U.S. on Jan 26. The deportation came after President Trump's executive order that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries.

Analysts say it's still unclear if President Trump has scrapped plans to undo the 2012 Obama executive order shielding from deportation of nearly 800,000 people brought to the country illegally as children.

Trump promised on the campaign trail to "terminate immediately" a program started by Obama to temporarily protect the young people from deportation and offer them two-year renewable work permits.
A man rests on a couch beside a cyber cafe at Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 18, 2016. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

ADDIS ABABA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The African Union on Friday launched DotAfrica (.Africa), a vehicle for socio-cultural activities by forging a unique online identity which will bring products, services and information under one umbrella throughout the continent.

The DotAfrica generic Top Level Domain (gTLD), an African initiative established by Africans for Africa and the rest of the world, is designed to bring the continent together as an internet community by allowing e-commerce, technology and infrastructure to flourish in the continent.

The launching of dotAfrica on Friday at the African Union's headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa was accompanied by senior AU officials including the outgoing and incoming African Union Commission (AUC) Chairpersons Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Moussa Faki Mahamat respectively.

Nkosazana-Dlamini Zuma, the outgoing Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), said on the occasion that "with DotAfrica, Africa has finally got its digital identity."

"DotAfrica will allow us to spread much more our own information and our own history," the outgoing Chairperson said. "It is a historic moment to realize the Africa we want and a closer step towards regional integration."

Elham Ibrahim, AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, has also lauded the launch of DotAfrica (.Africa) saying that it is "one of the most important flagship projects of the AUC."

According to Elham, the implementation of the DotAfrica (.Africa) project has been AU's interest for the past eight years.

DotAfrica (.Africa), as a proposed new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) for the African continent, will serve as an identity and a vehicle for socio-cultural activities of Africa in the digital era helping the continent to contribute to the global digital economy, according to Lucky Masilela, CEO of ZA Central Registry (ZACR), a non-profit company based in Johannesburg. South Africa submitted an application on behalf of AUC for the adoption of dotAfrica gTLD.
JUBA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Friday said his government will release political detainees as the war-torn country prepares for national dialogue.

Kiir also revealed that he was aware of only three high profile political prisoners being held by his government.

"People are talking that I have political detainees, I don't have political detainees. If they are there I will free them," he said in Juba.

The three political prisoners mentioned include former Wau state governor Elias Waya Nyipuoch and his ex-deputy General Andrea Dominic who were arrested on accusation of inciting the violent tribal clash in Wau in June 2016 that killed over 43 people and displaced 12,000 people.

Although, he didn't mention whether the detained James Gatdet Dak former spokesman of rebel leader Riek Machar who was deported last year from Kenya would benefit from the amnesty.

South Sudan held national prayers on Friday that will pave way for the much lauded national dialogue geared toward forgiveness and reconciliation of warring factions following more than three years of violent conflict.

South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013, following political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar. The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than two million from their homes.

However, renewed violence in July 2016 threatened to tear apart a fragile 2015 peace agreement to end the conflict and intermittent fighting in once peaceful Equatoria region led to massive refugee influx of 1.5 million people fleeing brutal atrocities into neighboring countries.
NEW DELHI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Indian authorities on Friday initiated a probe into the death of a Nepalese man during a clash at the border a day earlier.

Kathmandu has said that Govinda Gautam, 20, was killed due to firing opened by the Indian security forces at the border near Anandabazar in Kanchanpur district on Thursday.

"A probe has been launched to ascertain the facts leading to the death of the Nepalese citizen at the border," a senior official said.

In a statement, the Nepalese Foreign Ministry has condemned the killing and demanded a probe into the incident to bring the guilty to justice.

Sources said Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi has also called up Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and raised the matter.

Clashes broke out between Indian border guards and local residents near Anandabazar over the construction of a culvert on Sano Khola river by the Nepalese authorities. Movement across the border has therefore been suspended.
VILNIUS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, opened its spring session on Friday with more than 500 legal acts for discussions on the agenda.

"Social security remains the main strategic priority on the political agenda; emigration, demographic trends, social exclusion are among the problems which require exceptional unity," Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite said in a letter which was read to the members of parliament at the beginning of their first sitting during the spring session.

The president urged the lawmakers to return during this session for the discussions on the new social model law which includes legal acts related to labor relations and sustainability of the social system.

Reforms of the state-owned sector, including state-owned forest enterprises, the Center of Registers and the Regional Road Administration, must be implemented more willingly and decidedly, the president added.

She stressed that corruption must be eliminated from the state-owned sector in order to make the public sector more efficient.

"These decisions will open a new stage in the state's governance," Grybauskaite said in her address to Seimas.

Saulius Skvernelis, Lithuania's prime minister, called the lawmakers to adopt the reforms of the state-governed sector submitted by his cabinet.

According to the Constitution, Lithuanian Seimas' spring session will continue until June 30.
LAGOS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's oil rich Rivers State has invited investors to take advantage of the rapid ongoing developmental strides to invest in all sectors of its economy, in order to create jobs.

First-time investors would receive attractive tax incentives and easy access to land in the State, Austin Tam-George, the State Commissioner for Information and Communication said in an interview with Xinhua in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub Thursday.

"We have unique plans for investors by providing land approval within 48 hours," he said, adding that "We will also guarantee safety of our Chinese investors.

These investors has a lot to benefit in exploiting the abundant oil and gas resources in the state, he added, noting that it is going to be a collaboration that would provide employment opportunities to the people as well as fasten Nigeria's industrialization initiative.

Tam-George said priority has been given to security of lives and property, infrastructure development and maintenance, education, healthcare delivery and empowerment.

He said government was committed to the provision of quality facilities and restore the state's economy back to a sustained growth path and expand economic opportunities for all.

"In the past 18 months, we have reconstructed over 200 internal roads, bridges and highways in the state and this has improved the micro economy of the state, because where people don't have access before, they now have access," Tam-George added.

The commissioner said the oil rich state looked forward to working with Chinese enterprises in in sectors such as tourism and hospitality, housing and property development, as well as agriculture and information and communications technology (ICT).

"We want to create jobs for our youths, give tax rebate to investors so that they can stay longer in the state. We know skills will be transfer to our youths in the process," he added.

On security, Tam-George who dismissed security concerns about the State, saying that Rivers State is among the safest destinations for investment in the country.

He believes that the security situation in the state is not as bad as being reported and believed.

He argued that incidents of violence are not peculiar to the state as other states across the country have had notable cases of violence.

According to him, Rivers is the only state in the Niger Delta that has not witnessed severe pipeline vandalism in recent times.

The commissioner stressed that the state government through funding of security logistics and community networking has ensured the protection of national assets.

"We are protecting national assets in Rivers State and there has been no pipeline vandalism in the state," he added.

Tam-George said activities marking the Golden Jubilee celebrations in Rivers State in May would showcase the different opportunities for investment in the state.

He assured foreign investors of security and conducive business atmosphere.

Rivers is famous for its vast reserves of crude oil and natural gas. Rivers State has two major oil refineries, two major seaports, airports, and various industrial estates spread across the land.

More than 60 percent of the country's output of crude oil is produced in the state. In 2007, the state ranked 2nd nationwide with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 21.07 billion U.S. dollars and a per capita income of 3,965 dollars.
Two passengers walk past an electronic screen showing cancelled flights at Tegel airport in Berlin, capital of Germany, on March 10, 2017. Ground staff at Berlin's two major airports went on strike on Friday, paralyzing air traffic in the German capital. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

BERLIN, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Ground staff at Berlin's two major airports went on strike on Friday, paralyzing air traffic in the German capital.

Nearly all fights were canceled at Tegel and Schoenefeld airports.

As of Friday morning, Tegel airport reported at least 450 flights cancelled while Schoenefeld reported 204, including Lufthansa, Eurowings, AirBerlin, Brussels Airlines and British Airways.

Verdi, the union representing the around 2,000 ground staff, demanded a 1 euro (1.06 U.S. dollars) pay rise per hour, from the current 11 euro to 12 euros.

The strike started 4 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) Friday and will last 25 hours.

The strike especially impacted the ongoing Internationale Tourismus Boerse, a major tourism trade fair in Berlin. Many exhibitors took a detour to other aviation hubs.
SOFIA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian customs seized 499 liters and 25 kg of smuggled pesticides carried by a bus entering from Turkey, officials said here on Friday.

When the bus arrived at the Lesovo checkpoint checkpoint on Thursday, customs officers inspected the vehicle and spotted black bags containing undeclared pesticides of six different brands.

The National Customs Agency (NCA) said in a statement the goods were produced in Turkey and banned for import into the European Union.

It was found that the smuggled pesticides belonged to one of the passengers, a Bulgarian citizen with residence in the northeastern region of Targovishte.

The smuggled pesticides were confiscated and will be destroyed, the NCA said.
HO CHI MINH CITY, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City said Friday the city will strengthen its friendly and cooperative relations with Lao localities.

At a meeting, Secretary of the Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Dinh La Thang told visiting Lao National Assembly Chairwoman Pany Yathotou that the city is twinned with Laos' Vientiane and Champasak Province and is cooperating with other Lao localities, including Savanakhet, Xiangkhouang and Attapeu in such fields as politics, economy, trade, investment, culture and arts.

For her part, Pany Yathotou said her visit to Vietnam aims to promote relations between the two parties, legislatures and people and tighten cooperative ties between Ho Chi Minh City and Lao localities.

She suggested Ho Chi Minh City enhance efficiency of cooperation with Lao localities.

Ho Chi Minh City is the final stop of the Lao top legislator's six-day official visit to Vietnam.
European Council President Donald Tusk arrives at a press conference at the end of the first day of the European Council spring summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

BRUSSELS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Donald Tusk on Thursday won another term as president of the European Council at a summit here despite opposition from his home country Poland.

"Grateful for trust and positive assessment #EUCO (European Council). I will do my best to make the EU better," Tusk wrote in a tweet.

"The European Council today reelected Donald Tusk as its president for a second term of two-and-a-half years, from June 1, 2017 to Nov. 30, 2019," the Council later confirmed in a statement, adding that Tusk was also reappointed as president of the Euro Summit for the same period.

The Polish national, whose 30-month mandate is due to end on May 31, was reelected by heads of EU member state who gathered here for a two-day summit.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, representing the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, chaired the election process.

Poland had earlier proposed Polish member of European Parliament (MEP) Jacek Saryusz-Wolski for the position instead.

But it's reported that Hungary later made a sudden turnaround, backing off its support to Saryusz-Wolski.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo earlier this week wrote a letter to MEPs underling the lack of Poland's support for Tusk.

According to Szydlo, Tusk abused his authority and interfered with Polish internal affairs, therefore showing lack of neutrality. She alleged he overstepped his European powers and used his authority as the head of the European Council to muscle into national disputes.

In contrast, Szydlo heaped praise on Saryusz-Wolski, stressing that he possessed the required qualities and had more than 40 years of experience in European integration.

Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party last week barred the Polish government from backing Tusk's candidacy, after party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski called Tusk a "German candidate."

Meanwhile, Saryusz-Wolski, who is also from Tusk's Civic Platform party, and a member of the European People's Party (EPP), took the unusual step of accepting the nomination of Poland's ruling party to run against Tusk.

But his acceptance of the nomination has caused bitterness in the EPP, the largest political group in the European Parliament currently monopolizing top posts of the three main EU institutions.

Manfred Weber, leader of the EPP, said: "Tusk is the only EPP candidate for president of European Council. He enjoys unanimous support from the entire party."

Earlier in January, Kaczynski said that Tusk "was in favor of solutions that are extremely harmful to Poland," referring to, among others, financial penalties for EU member states that do not accept a quota of refugees.

Kaczynski argued that such a person cannot obtain Poland's support.

Tusk was last elected European Council president unanimously on Aug. 30, 2014, after serving for seven years as prime minister of his homeland. He took office on Dec. 1, 2014.

According to the Treaty on European Union, the European Council shall elect its president by a qualified majority -- at least 72 percent of member states vote in favor, representing at least 65 percent of the EU population -- for a period of two and a half years, renewable once.

The president's role is to chair European Council meetings and drive forward its work, as well as represent the EU externally at his level on issues concerning the bloc's common foreign and security policy.
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker addresses a press conference at the end of the first day of the EU spring summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 9, 2017. The European Council kicked off its spring summit on Thursday afternoon. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

BRUSSELS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- After Britain's decision to leave the European Union (EU), Europe's trajectory -- even its destiny -- has again become a matter of fierce debate.

Brexit marks both a major constitutional change for Britain and a significant rupture for the EU. Fears that the bloc itself could implode is why its leaders need a new plan to reinvigorate the European project ahead its 60th birthday, and make it fit for future challenges.

EUROPE OF MANY GEARS

Recently, the leaders of the euro zone's four biggest economies threw their weight behind the idea of a multi-speed Europe as the EU ponders over a future without Britain.

That's the idea that "coalitions of the willing" can move forward on big projects even if others want to linger on the starting line. It is already happening with the euro and with the passport-free Schengen area -- not all EU countries are members of everything.

French President Francois Hollande, during his meeting with leaders of Germany, Italy and Spain at the palace of Versailles on March 6, called for unity among the remaining 27 EU members in the wake of Britain's vote to leave, but said this did not mean uniformity.

He called for new forms of cooperation to allow some EU countries to push ahead more quickly in areas such as defense, deepening of economic and monetary union or tax harmonization.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU risks running into trouble unless it allowed members to participate at varying levels of intensity.

"We need to have the courage for some countries to go ahead if not everyone wants to participate," she said.

France and Germany have called for greater fiscal and social harmonization in the eurozone, saying other EU countries like Poland should be allowed to settle for a less integrated union based on the single market.

The idea of a multi-speed Europe is also backed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, or the so-called Benelux, a group of the EU's founding members.

Of all five scenarios recently proposed by EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for the way forward after Brexit, the real scenario is No 3: "Those who want more do more," which is another way of saying that the EU will be multi-speed.

EASTERN OPPOSITION

But some governments, especially in the east, fear this approach could entrench divisions to their disadvantage.

A multi-speed union would threaten the development of eastern members outside the euro area and potentially ignite social unrest, fears Hungarian Economy Minister Mihaly Varga.

The threat, he said, is that the gap between developed and less-developed EU member states "won't narrow significantly" in a multi-speed, post-Brexit Europe and this may carry with it "the potential to generate social unrest."

His fears are shared by the head of Poland's ruling party who warns that any moves toward a two-speed European Union would lead to the bloc falling apart.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski from the Law and Justice party (PiS) said a so-called two-speed Europe would lead to the "breakdown, and in fact the liquidation, of the European Union in its current sense."

The possibility of a multi-speed Europe should not be an objective, but a warning to all of Europe, a senior EU official said as leaders gather in Brussels to discuss which way the bloc should be headed after the Brexit.

"After Brexit, Rome should be not a message of disunity, but the unity of 27," he told journalists.

CONTINENTAL PARTNERSHIP

A possible solution might lie in a recently published paper, the outcome of a dialogue among five authors. In "Europe after Brexit: A proposal for a continental partnership," they propose a new form of collaboration after Brexit, a continental partnership.

This would result in a Europe with an inner circle, the EU, with deep and political integration, and an outer circle with less integration. Over the long-run this could also serve as a vision for structuring relations with Turkey, Ukraine and other countries, the authors argued.

One of the authors, Andre Sapir, professor at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and senior fellow at Bruegel, a think tank, said: "Our proposal is to turn the rupture into an opportunity to reorganize Europe in two circles. The inner circle constitutes the EU with political aims and supranational constitutional structures. The outer circle, of European cooperation, adding countries not in the EU, would have more flexibility and be based on an intergovernmental structure, the Continental Partnership."

On the likelihood of a multi-speed EU, former British member of European Parliament Andrew Duff, a constitutional expert, said: "It's complicated. When people have no idea what to do next they plump for 'multi-speed Europe.' What's needed for it to work is German leadership and a strong Commission -- neither of which we have at the moment."

Britain's former Europe minister Denis MacShane said: "There has been a two-speed Europe since day one of Treaty of Rome -- roughly northern modern economies and southern weaker one. The euro and Schengen further divided Europe. But if core EU rules are thrown out, then it will be a no-speed EU."

The idea of a multi-speed EU is not particularly new but the process has stalled amid reluctance from some member states and diverging views between Germany and France themselves.

No document on the future of Europe is expected to emerge from the meeting of 27 EU leaders on Friday. The picture may become a little clearer later this month when EU's leaders minus Britain are due to make a declaration on Europe's future at the Rome summit marking the 60th anniversary of the bloc.
BRUSSELS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the European Union (EU) member states agreed to keep tabs on inflow of migrants on all routes, as well as accelerate the return of illegal migrants, according to the conclusions of the bloc's spring summit released early Friday.

"The EU will continue to remain vigilant on all major migration routes so as to be able to react rapidly to developments," said the conclusions.

"The European Council welcomes the Commission Communication on a Renewed Action Plan on Return... as well as the accompanying Recommendation to Member States, and invites the Council to rapidly examine them," the conclusions added.

The conclusions also reaffirmed the EU's commitment to supporting the Libyan authorities as well as their North African and southern neighbors in their efforts to address the challenges of illegal migration.

At an informal summit held in Malta in early February, the EU adopted a plan to aid Libya, aiming to bolster Libyan national coast guard's capacity to control its territorial water and support the development of local communities. The EU also intended to torpedo the human trafficking network on the route.

However, The European Council on Friday conceded that its member states have failed to reach consensus on the conclusions for "reasons unrelated to its substance."

"The European Council deliberated on the attached document. It was supported by 27 Members of the European Council, but it did not gather consensus, for reasons unrelated to its substance," said the conclusions of the EU spring summit, released in the name of the European Council president, rather than of the council as usual.

It's believed that Poland, disgruntled over Donald Tusk being re-elected the president of the European Council, refused to give its nod to the conclusions.

Tusk on Thursday won another term despite opposition from his home country Poland.

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, on March 2 toughened its migration policy by floating a renewed action plan and a set of recommendations for its member states, in a bid to speed up the return of illegal migrants.

According to the action plan, the EU would shell out 200 million euros (210 million U.S. dollars) in 2017 to member states for their return efforts.

The EU also plans to improve information exchange to enforce return by collecting information in real time at a national level and sharing it among member states.

To prevent absconding, the EU recommended member states detain illegal migrants who have received a return decision and who show signs they will not comply.

To shore up effectiveness of return procedures and decisions, the EU advised member states to grant voluntary departure only if necessary, adding that if such a request were made, the illegal migrants should be given the shortest possible periods for departure.

Since the summer of 2015, an unprecedented refugee crisis has been a tough nut to crack for the EU, as more than one million migrants from the Middle East and North Africa fled for Europe.
VIENTIANE, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have made a commitment to enhance cooperation on air transport services, the Lao state-run news agency KPL reported on Friday.

During the 35th ASEAN Air Transport Working Group (ATWG) meeting and related meetings held from Monday to Friday here, ASEAN officials made their best effort to build up the comprehensive ASEAN Single Aviation Market (ASAM), which is one of the key milestones in building the ASEAN Economic Community.

At the meeting, the participants kept focuses on key decisions reached at the previous ATWG meeting held here last October, particularly completing key economic and technical elements to implement the open skies policy, said Vanhpheng Chanthaphone, chair of the ATWG.

The meeting also followed up relevant development and actions from the 42nd ASEAN Senior Transport Officials Meeting and the 22nd ASEAN Transport Ministers Meeting held in the Philippines in November.

The tenth package of commitments on air transport services under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) and documentary and procedural requirements for the development of ASEAN common standards and procedures for issuance of Scheduled Flight Permission and Over Flight Permission were also discussed at the meeting.
DAMASCUS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry urged the UN Security Council on Friday to push Turkey to withdraw its forces from northern Syria, state news agency SANA reported.

The ministry branded the Turkish forces as "invading forces" of Syrian territory in the north, saying they should halt aggression "immediately."

The condemnation came a day after the Turkish army fired on Syrian military positions west of the city of Manbij in the northern province of Aleppo, leaving an undisclosed number of military personnel killed or wounded.

The shelling targeted the Syrian border corps, which has recently been deployed in the western countryside of Manbij to separate the Turkish forces and the Kurdish-led groups, which are in control of the city.

Russia and the Kurdish groups in northern Syria recently agreed that the Kurdish-led Manbij Military Council (MMC) should hand over areas in the western countryside of Manbij to the Syrian army, as the Turkish forces and allied rebel groups were closing in on Manbij to dislodge the MMC from the city.

Ankara has recently said it has no problem with the Syrian army taking over Manbij as long as the Kurdish-supported groups are not involved.

Still, the Russian-Kurdish agreement was to give areas west of Manbij to the Syrian army only, as part of what appeared to be a Russian plan to save the area from a Turkish-Kurdish confrontation.

The statement also said many soldiers were killed in the attack, which it described as an attempt to undermine the progress of the Syrian army near Manbij in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo.

It stressed that the war on terror will continue and the Syrian forces will restore peace and stability to Aleppo countryside and all Syrian territories.

The Syrian army is carrying out a crushing offensive against the Islamic State positions in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, and recently reached the town of Khafseh, where water stations feeding Aleppo with drinking water are located.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police in 2016 arrested 4,261 suspects in 1,886 cases related to infringement of citizen's personal information, the Ministry of Public Security said Friday.

Among the suspects, 391 were insiders in industries including banking, education, telecommunications, delivery services, the stock market and e-commerce, said the ministry.

The ministry also said police seized 1,747 suspects involved in 828 cases related to hacking.

Personal information infringements have increased in recent years, leading to a rise in fraud and racketeering, according to the ministry.
ROME, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The Italian parliament on Thursday passed the first ever anti-poverty provision aimed at ensuring a stable economic support to poor families in the country, local media reported on Friday.

So far, the government has allocated 1.6 billion euros (1.7 billion U.S. dollars) to the measure in 2017. Yet, the annual budget would rise to 2 billion euros in both 2017 and 2018, once an expected contribution from the European Union (EU) was added to the domestic resources, according to Italian Labor Minister Giuliano Poletti.

An income worth between 400 euros and 480 euros per month will be provided to deprived families, according to their own earnings, and starting with couples with young children, and unemployed people over 55 first.

"The measure represents an essential pillar of the national plan against poverty, and it fills a long-standing gap in the Italian welfare system in terms of protection of low-income individuals," Poletti said in a statement.

Italy was the only EU country, together with Greece, to lack a structural provision against poverty, the minister stressed.

The supportive income would be provided only under certain conditions, such as the regular attendance of the children at school, and the commitment of the unemployed to seek a job.

Some 400,000 families, or 1.77 million individuals (out of a population of about 60 millions), are expected to benefit from the measure, considering the amount of funds currently allocated.

According to official data, however, the package will not reach all those in need in the country. Families living in absolute poverty in 2015 were in fact 1.58 million -- or some 4.59 million individuals -- the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) said in a report in July 2016.

The rate of absolute poverty was 6.1 percent in 2015, against 5.7 percent in 2014, and 6.3 percent in 2013.

In terms of number of individuals, people in abject poverty were 7.6 percent of the whole population in 2015, from 6.8 percent in 2014, and 7.3 percent in 2013.

The most exposed to extreme deprived conditions were families of four members, couples with two children, and families with all members of foreign origins, ISTAT said.

Yet, after the long and deep recession that hit the country in the last years, a much wider section of the society would be dangerously close to deprivation.

Some 28.7 percent of the Italian population was in fact estimated as being "at risk of poverty or social exclusion" in 2015, according to data released by the statistics agency in December. (1 euro=1.06 U.S. dollars)
NAIROBI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency said on Friday that it has repatriated some 52,591 Somali refugees in Kenya since the return exercise begun in December 2014.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in its bi-weekly Update said out of the figure, some 13,277 were supported in 2017 alone.

"Road convoys were organized from Dadaab to Dhobley respectively on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays," the UN refugee agency said.

It added that flights to Mogadishu have resumed on Feb. 27 after a long suspension due to security restrictions in Mogadishu since December 2016.

The move comes after President Uhuru Kenyatta while meeting the UN Chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said Dadaab refugee camp will be closed.

Kenyatta insisted that the closure is not only good for Kenya in the fight against terror but for the Somali refugees who he said need to replant their roots back home in the interest of rebuilding their nation and restoring their dignity.

"Our policy has been clear for some time, the events that led to the establishment of Dadaab are terribly tragic and the best response to that tragedy is to help refugees to return and rebuild their nation and that is Kenya's policy and our efforts to hasten the repatriation and resettlement of refugees," Kenyatta said.

His comments came after the High Court in Nairobi last week ruled that the planned repatriation of refugees would be unconstitutional, saying government officials had no powers to order closure of the camp, despite claims that there were serious security, environmental and economic concerns.

Kenya is expected to host an extraordinary summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on March 25 to deal with the refugee issue.

The UNHCR said its Monthly Cross Border Coordination Meeting on voluntary repatriation to Somalia held on Feb. 28 and attended by representatives from Government of Kenya, Government of Somalia, UNHCR Kenya and Somalia resolved to step up repatriation despite looming famine in Somalia.

"Participants deliberated on the drought situation and the looming famine in Somalia and its impact on voluntary repatriation. It was agreed that voluntary repatriation from Kenya to Somalia will continue, while the drought situation will be closely monitored," it said.
BRUSSELS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday said a "multi-speed Europe," one of the five scenarios put forward in a white paper of the Commission, is not going to create a "new iron curtain."

"As far as this so-called multi-speed Europe is concerned, by some of our colleagues, this is seen as introducing a new dividing line, a new kind of iron curtain between the east and west. That's not the intention," Juncker said at a press conference with European Council President Donald Tusk.

"The white paper is saying the starting point of each scenario is 27 members move together as the union, that's the principle," he stressed, following an informal meeting of EU27 leaders minus British Prime Minister Theresa May.

The white paper, presented by Juncker on March 1, laid out five scenarios for the EU's remaining 27 member states after Britain leaves the bloc, each offering a glimpse into the potential state of the EU.

The third scenario "Those Who Want More Do More," referring to a multi-speed Europe, has raised concerns among the bloc's eastern members, which fear that they will be excluded from deeper integration in the future.
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ASTANA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Friday approved the amendments to the constitution to cede more power to the parliament and the cabinet.

Nazarbayev's press service confirmed that the changes had been signed into law after a judicial review and parliamentary approval this week.

Under the new constitution, the parliament will have the power to form a cabinet which was used to be appointed by the president.

The cabinet, in turn, will have more power and independence to manage the country's economic activities.

According to Nazarbayev, after the reform, he will focus on general issues of the country, such as foreign policy and national security.
BUDAPEST, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) should boost its Eastern Partnership initiative, said Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto Friday.

He made the remarks while addressing a news conference here with his Moldovan counterpart Andrei Galbur.

Szijjarto acknowledged that recent events in North Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine had taken the spotlight away from the Eastern Partnership (which involves EU's six eastern European partners, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) and focuses on trade, economic strategy, as well as other issues.

The success of the Eastern Partnership is very important to the EU's long-term security, Szijjarto said, adding that peace and stability in Moldova had a direct impact on all of Europe.

Galbur said that Hungary had strongly supported Moldova's European integration process and had also provided financial and technological assistance to his country.

Szijjarto said that Hungary and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) had started up a joint development project in Moldova to which Hungary had contributed 400,000 U.S. dollars to update irrigation technologies. At the same time, he said Hungary's Eximbank was offering Moldova an 85-million-euro (90 million U.S. dollar) line of credit to improve economic ties.

Szijjarto said that bilateral trade had exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars in 2016, but acknowledged that Hungarian exports had accounted for 96 million of that, a tremendous surplus on Hungary's side.

Galbur agreed that bilateral trade had plenty of room for improvement, which made Eximbank's line of credit particularly welcome.

Prior to the news conference, the two ministers signed a two-year agreement on educational and scientific cooperation and a protocol related to incomes acquired in one another's countries.
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police busted 1,488 criminal cases related to theft of crude oil, arresting 1,976 suspects in 2016, according the Ministry of Public Security Friday.

Among the suspects, 517 were suspects in other unsolved cases. Last year, the ministry launched campaigns targeting oil theft and new cases in 2016 decreased by 73 percent.

Rapid urbanization has resulted in reckless construction of buildings and roads within buffer areas for pipelines.

The network is threatened by theft through illegal siphoning.

Those who steal from pipelines receive severe punishments, including the death penalty, under Chinese law.
BRUSSELS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to take steps forward to resume talks for a region-to-region agreement, the bloc said Friday.

The two sides decided to start preparations to re-launch negotiations and committed to taking the lead together on regional and global trade, said a statement from the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm.

Negotiations on an EU-ASEAN trade agreement originally started back in 2007 but were separated into individual talks with ASEAN member states in 2009 as differences emerged in the level of economic development and openness in the bloc, the Commission said.

The EU's announcement came following a meeting between EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and her ASEAN counterparts in Manila, where an ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting was being held.

ASEAN as a whole stood as the EU's third largest trading partner after the United States and China. EU data showed that trade between the two sides had been 208 billion euros (221 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016 and the EU remained the largest external source of Foreign Direct Investment flows into ASEAN states in 2015 with 23.3 billion euros. (1 euro=1.06 U.S. dollars)
YEREVAN, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Armenia is currently in negotiations with southern neighbor Iran over plans to establish a free economic zone in Meghri, a town in the country's southern region bordering Iran, Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan announced on Friday in Syunik.

"For year 2017, we have prepared an investment package of 830 million U.S. dollars," the prime minister announced. "55 million of these funds will be invested in Syunik's mining, agricultural and other industries," he added.

Prime Minister Karapetyan said that an exporting company would be founded jointly with the Iranian side, which would be purchasing products from the Armenian market and sell them in Iran.

Karapetyan's announcement came following the establishment of an Iranian halal meat certification office in Armenia. This is expected to create more incentives for the exports of Armenian meat products to Iran.
by Olatunji Saliu

ABUJA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari on Friday pledged to rededicate himself to the service of the west African nation in an address he delivered few hours after he returned to the country following a prolonged medical vacation in the United Kingdom.

Upon his arrival in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Buhari, though frail-looking, said his health had improved significantly and expressed gratitude to Nigerians for their prayers and show of goodwill.

"The best way for me to repay you is to rededicate myself to serving you, protecting your interest and keeping your trust," he said.

However, there may be the need for him to embark on another medical trip, "for further follow up within some weeks," he added.

Buhari had left the country on January 19 for a vacation in London, during which he had a routine medical check-up.

The holiday was extended based on doctors' recommendation for further tests and rest.

Before leaving Nigeria, Buhari had sent a letter to the National Assembly requesting a 10-day vacation. He transferred power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as Acting President.

Buhari could not resume his duties earlier in February when he was expected to return to Nigeria. A letter requesting an extension of his vacation was sent to the Senate. The president said he required further medical tests.

In the past two weeks, Buhari had been quite busy receiving visitors from Nigeria and making phone calls home.

Early February, he had a phone conversation with the U.S. President Donald Trump, and later in the month he received a call from the Moroccan king.

Earlier Thursday, the presidency published photographs of his meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury in London.

Upon his arrival in Abuja early Friday, Buhari held private discussions with Osinbajo and later, he and Osinbajo had a meeting with some top officials of the country.

Thereafter, he addressed the nation and retired to his presidential residence "to rest for the weekend before resuming work on Monday."

In a statement released Friday, Nigeria's governing All Progressives Congress party said it believes Buhari has returned with new vigor and optimism to fix the challenges facing the people and fulfill the electoral promises of the party.
PARIS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Friday warned against the dangers of protectionism.

In an interview published Friday by Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France newspaper, the IMF chief said: "Current uncertainties are not economic or financial, they are political."

Lagarde also defended the role of globalization in poverty reduction, saying "It (globalization) has provided advantages, the first order of which is a profound reduction of poverty."

According to the IMF chief, globalization has brought 300 million people out of poverty and reduced inequalities between countries.
JUBA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Friday called for increased efforts to safeguard the health and protection of women and girls amid famine in South Sudan.

The UN agency said both women and girls should have access to life-saving food, health facilities, violence prevention and response services, saying famine is especially tough for women.

"In a country that struggles with one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates, severe hunger due to famine could increase risks during pregnancy and childbirth," said UNFPA Country Representative Esperance Fundira in a statement issued in Juba.

The famine in South Sudan, borne out of years of war, political instability and drought, now affects more than 100,000 people.

UNFPA said it's increasingly concerned about the health and well-being of people affected by this crisis, and especially pregnant women as their food supplies are cut short.

According to United Nations estimates, in addition to the 100,000 people who already face famine in South Sudan, 1 million more people are on the brink of extreme hunger, including some 33,000 pregnant women. Up to 253,000 women of childbearing age could be harmed by the crisis this year.

"With increases in premature or low-birth-weight babies and severe postpartum bleeding, the process of giving life becomes even more likely to result in death," Fundira said.

UNFPA also expressed concern that the famine could worsen already existing conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence.

"In the South Sudanese conflict, women and girls are raped, forced into marriage and prostitution to survive. Single women, female-headed households, adolescent girls, elderly women, women with disabilities and children are at particular risk," Fundira said.

UNFPA plans to raise 2 million U.S. dollars for the health and protection needs of women and girls.

The Fund also requires some 19 million U.S. dollars to support reproductive health and gender based violence interventions under the 2017 South Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan.
SANAA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 shoppers and sellers were killed when a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit Khokha market in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Friday evening, a medic and security official said.

"Altogether 16 persons were confirmed killed and 10 others wounded," the medic in Hodeidah hospital told Xinhua. "They were all civilians."

The security official said the victims were shoppers and sellers, as many shops were completely burned up to the ground.

This is the latest in a series of airstrikes hitting Yemeni civilians since the war began in 2015.

Last month, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemeni dominant Houthi rebels killed at least 11 women in an airstrike on a funeral house north of the capital Sanaa.

Also last month, the Saudi-led airstrikes killed a family of six in the Red Sea coast city of Mokha in neighbouring province of Taiz.

Since March 2015, the coalition has been fighting the dominant Houthi rebels, who have seized control of most of northern Yemen, including Sanaa, to restore power to the expelled, internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, and displaced over two millions, according to humanitarian agencies.
RAMALLAH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian president's spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh announced Friday that President Mahmoud Abbas received a phone call by U.S. President Donald Trump who invited him officially to visit the White House soon.

According to the official Palestinian News Agency WAFA, Abbas and Trump discussed the possibilities to resume the political process, stressing commitment to realize peace between Palestinians and Israelis by both sides.

The agency reported that Abbas reiterated to Trump his commitment to peace as a strategic choice to establish the Palestinian state living side by side with the state of Israel.
ANTANANARIVO, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese TV programs, including 52 movies, will be broadcasted on Malagasy national television (TVM), according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on Friday by Madagascar's minister of communications Vonison Andrianjato and the Chinese ambassador Yang Xiaorong in Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital.

"The broadcast of these 52 movies, 10 television series, 5 cartoons and 7 Chinese documentaries will attract great attention of the Malagasy people," the Chinese ambassador said during her speech.

"I hope that the two peoples will know each other better and the traditional friendship between the two countries will be renewed constantly," Yang added.

For his part, Andrianjato said during his speech that this MOU is the renewal of a similar one in force from July 2013 to July 2015 between the two countries.

"These Chinese programs will help the Malagasy people understand and appreciate Chinese culture," the minister said.

"This media cooperation will strengthen our relations, mutual understanding and friendship," the minister added.

The minister also asked to ambassador Yang to screen Malagasy movies in China, noting that a Malagasy movie was shot in China.

Media sector is one of the sectors where cooperation between Madagascar and China are fruitful. Every year, Malagasy journalists were sent to china for training.
By Alex Osei-Boateng

ACCRA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The "Year Abroad" program introduced for Ghanaian students learning Chinese over the years has made them popular in job market after spending time in China and learning more about the Chinese culture, a senior official at the University of Ghana said on Friday.

Dr. Winnand Kofi Azanku, Coordinator of the University's Chinese Department, said students who embarked on the year-long program in China imbibed the Chinese language and culture better as everything and everyone they came across were all in the Chinese language.

He said the program had positive impacts on the students who had benefited from it over the years.

"Those who have already benefited from this program, most of them are already back in Ghana. Some of them are still itching to go. Those who have graduated, they got the opportunity to develop some kind of love for the Chinese people," he told Xinhua in an interview after he addressed members of the Chinese Students Association (CHISAG) at a seminar in Accra.

He advised students already learning Chinese and those who are yet to come to the university to choose the Chinese language.

"As I speak, there are some Chinese companies in Ghana who always call on me to look for Chinese scholars for them. Jobs are on offer for the taking. So I will advise students to study Chinese. For now the market is not choked yet, so those studying Chinese can easily get jobs," he said.

After reaching an intermediate-high level of language proficiency, typically after three years of study, students are eligible to attend the Chinese study abroad course in China.

Currently, about 49 students are in different provinces of China going through the exchange program. Some of the students who will be travelling for the one-year abroad program in various Chinese universities in August this year, are already psyched up for the course.

"We will be going to China in August and I intend to speak more fluently and bring more business opportunities to this country and also have links with the Chinese people," a student Kumah Michael told Xinhua.

Another student, Keith Cleland, said everybody who went and came back from the program, came out with a totally different experience.

"Opportunities are endless for you because once you have the grasp of the language and a good in-depth knowledge of their culture, you are hot cake on the market of the Chinese people. So I am excited and I am looking forward to a different experience, a different culture and a different language altogether, over the next year," he said.

For Shevonna Sophie Ansah, a linguist student, the year abroad program looks very interesting and she hopes to learn a lot, develop her intonation more, and speak fluently like a native speaker.

"But Inasmuch as I am going to study Chinese more, I want to associate and know more about their culture because we don't have much exposure here," she said.

The president of CHISAG, Joseph Koba, appealed to the Chinese embassy, the Confucius Institute and other institutions to increase the number of scholarship opportunities available for Chinese students at the university.
NEW YORK, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC), a global organization committed to ensuring health of women, on Friday said that it is "deeply saddened" that a South African women's group decided to drop out of a UN meeting on women's rights in order to protest the new travel ban signed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

IWHC said in a press release here that its partner, the South African organization, Masimanyane Women's Rights International, has canceled its participation in a meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

"This annual meeting is an important global gathering of diplomats, international delegates, and women's rights advocates that plays a crucial role in determining the focus of the global women's agenda and its progress," the press release said. The annual CSW meeting is to take place at UN Headquarters in New York on March 13-24.

Masimanyane, an international advocacy organization working to strengthen women's rights, reduce HIV/AIDS, and eradicate violence against women, has made this decision in response to the Trump Administration's executive orders targeting women, refugees, travelers, and immigrants.

In a statement, the organization denounced the U.S. travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries, for denying the right of women from United Nations member states to participate in the global forum.

"As such, Masimanyane's decision is an expression of solidarity with the women and advocates of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen," the press release said.

"IWHC believes that the Trump Administration's executive orders display a fundamental disrespect for women, racial justice, equality, religious tolerance, and human rights," the press release said. "Women migrants and refugees, women of color, women living in poverty, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, and other marginalized groups will bear the brunt of this Administration's callous policies."

As a global organization committed to ensuring that women can control their own their bodies and determine their own futures, IWHC is working to oppose policies by the Trump Administration that violate human rights and roll back progress for women and girls.

IWHC is participating in CSW deliberations to ensure that access to sexual and reproductive health remains on the agenda. Family planning is essential for women's participation in the workforce, which is the special focus of this year's gathering. The 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women, is the second held since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, which puts women at the core of a globally agreed set of development goals and targets.

"Separately, IWHC has learned that a number of advocates from various countries have been denied visas to participate in the multilateral meetings held at CSW," the press release said. "Each year, IWHC trains advocates from various countries ahead of the negotiations at CSW."

The CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

"The organization is closely monitoring problems involving visas and entry to the United States," the press release added.

On Tuesday, the UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, voiced his concern about the new U.S. rules, known as the Executive Order signed on Monday by U.S. President Trump, stressing the need to protect people fleeing deadly violence, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

The new executive order prevents nationals of six Muslim countries from entering the United States, excluding Iraq from the list of a previous ban.

The new document maintained a 90-day ban on nationals of Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Iran and Somalia from entering the United States, effective from March 16.

In addition to the travel ban, the order also suspended granting refugee status for 120 days after the effective date. Syrian refugees, which were singled out in the original version as being banned indefinitely, will be given the same treatment with refugees of other origins.

Trump signed a similar executive order on Jan. 27, which imposed a ban on nationals of seven Muslim countries to enter the United States for 90 days, refugees for 120 days and Syrian refugees indefinitely.

A federal judge of the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington later slapped a nationwide restraining order on the travel ban, and the ruling was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
SKOPJE, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The leader of social democratic union (SDSM) Zoran Zaev, who secured a majority of parliamentary seats, unveiled the program of the new government on Friday.

Rejecting the claims that the platform of SDSM threatened the unity and integrity of Macedonia, Zaev said his program abides by the country's constitution and is aimed at providing a better life to citizens and faster integration to European Union and NATO.

He added that his program would be a reformatory one, focused on meeting Macedonia's strategic interests.

He also announced that the new government would adopt a law on enhancement of languages, enabling citizens to have easier communication with state institutions, in compliance with the Constitution.

He said he was personally against changing the country's flag, coat of arms and anthem to include the Albanian community, but was open to a wide and transparent debate on all open issues, which he insisted could only be beneficial.

Further on, SDSM's Zaev called again on President Gjorge Ivanov to award him a mandate to form a government as soon as possible.

President Ivanov has refused to mandate Zaev to form a government, saying that Zaev had presented him with a platform that threatened the interests of the country.

Through this platform, Albanian parties require that the Albanian language is made an official language of the country.

Asked by reporters on the protests staged across country against Zaev's platform on making the country bilingual, Zaev said such claims were "a lie."

He called on protesters to go home, saying that they had been misled by fierce propaganda into thinking that his new government would trade away Macedonia's national interests.

Macedonia held snap general elections on Dec. 11, 2016, but no government has been formed yet.
by Keren Setton

JERUSALEM, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Israel is wavering in a delicate political balancing act amid meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, an expert said Friday.

Israel would be left empty-handed if it asks for a major shift in regional allegiances or Russian promotion of Israeli interests, said Gideon Remez, a researcher of the Truman Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, despite a reality of converging interests for the two countries amid the Syrian civil war.

"Russia has no interest in provoking Israel, but it also see no necessity to stand on Israel's side," he said.

Israel finds itself on the sidelines over Syrian issue, not a major player, and Russia's interests in the Middle East are rarely synchronized with Israel's.

The meeting of Netanyahu and Putin on Thursday in Moscow is the fifth time in the past 18 months. The two discussed the situation in Syria and also, Iran's role in the region.

Iranian involvement in Syria is a major cause for concern in Israel, while being a Russian interest.

Days before the meeting, Netanyahu opened his cabinet session by saying he will express "Israel's sharp and vigorous opposition" to increased Iranian military presence on its border.

Iranian leaders have repeatedly called for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Netanyahu said he told Putin that Israel would not accept Iranian presence in Syria after any settlement. The Israeli PM later told journalists that the Russian leader had "internalized" his message.

Remez noted that he is wary of Israeli reports coming out of the meeting, as there was no press coverage during the meeting, saying that he has difficult in imagining a situation in which Netanyahu lectured Putin.

"It is an illusion that Russia will steer its policy according to Israeli requests," Remez said. "Israelis are in for a rough awakening if that is what they believe."

Israel's border with Syria has been relatively quiet for years, even though officially the countries are at war with each other.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel annexed the territory, a move that is not recognized internationally.

In a press release issued before the meeting, the Israeli PM said the issue of the Golan Heights was off the table.

Syria has said that it wants the territory back, while in a meeting between Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump last month, the Israeli leader said he had asked the U.S. to recognize the Israeli annexation of the territory.

This request, largely stemmed from internal political struggles Netanyahu is involved in, is also hardly objected by Syria's Assad as he has been too busy dealing with his internal strife.

The U.S. response to the request was not clear.

Remez believed the issue of the Golan Heights was raised despite it being "beyond the horizon" because Israel is concerned that a revitalized Assad may have new energy to confront Israel.

"If the Russians succeed in restoring Assad to power, they will start backing his claim to get the Golan back," said Remez. "Russian policy is absolutely clear, it has never recognized the annexation."

In recent years, there have also been several reports that the Israeli air force has struck in Syria militant groups transporting weapons to be used in future attacks on Israel. The most recent was a few weeks ago, when a convoy carrying weapons for the militant Hezbollah group was destroyed by Israeli fighter jets.

Israel did not confirm or deny these reports.

Until now, supposed Israeli attacks have gone with no response from Syria, but this may not be a sustainable reality. "Once the Assad regime is more or less stabilized, Assad may tell the Russians that this can't go on," Remez said.

While Israel has accepted Russian involvement in Syria, it has repeatedly said that it will not hesitate to take action against militant groups such as Hezbollah. Iran has been critical in the armament of the militant group based in Lebanon.

"Russia will not prevent Assad's support for Hezbollah. I suspect proxy action from Lebanon will resume," said Remez, who believes a reinforced Syrian leader will support renewed attacks on Israel.

Russian involvement in Syria increased significantly since it stepped in with direct military presence in September 2015. Russia is at odds with a large part of the international community which wants to see Assad step aside as Syria's leader.

Therefore, Iran, also interested in maintaining Assad's hold on the war-torn country, is a critical partner for Russia, with mutual interests greater than any benefits they can reap from an alliance with Israel.

With the lifting of sanctions against Iran as part of the nuclear deal, Russia has "gained a lot," said Remez.

For Israel, while Assad may be the lesser evil to have on its hostile northern border, Iranian presence in Syria is a difficult pill for Netanyahu to swallow. Thus, cooperation with Russia is clearly a strategic Israeli interest.

Russia is heavily involved in talks aimed at shaping the future of Syria, and any settlement is critical for Israel, which is seeking any influence it can get on the matter, Remez said.
UNITED NATIONS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has reported that intensified hostilities across western and central Yemen continue to force tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, "with many struggling to cope in abysmal conditions."

UN Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq said Friday at the daily news briefing that more than 62,000 people had been reported to be displaced within the last six weeks.

On Yemen's western coast, recent fighting in Taizz governorate had left more than 48,400 people displaced, he said, adding that the majority had fled within Taizz or to neighbouring Hudaydah.

Most of those displaced were in dire need of assistance and had found shelter in communal and public spaces, including schools and health facilities, while others were living in unfinished buildings or even out in the open, he said.

UNHCR, together with partners, had quickly responded to the needs of the newly-displaced people from Taizz, including through the provision of shelter and relief items for those that arriving in districts of Hudaydah and Ibb, said Haq.
Photo taken on March 7, 2017 shows a transformer displayed by China's heavy equipment company Sany at 2017 CONEXPO held in Las Vegas, the United States. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)

by Peter Mertz

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Dan Edwards remembers sitting on his father's lap in a John Deere tractor, plowing the fields of northeastern Pennsylvania, back in the day.

The year was 1958 and Edwards was only seven. The machine was a Deere 440 backhoe-loader. It was a scene painted by Norman Rockwell -- as American as apple pie.

Soon thereafter, Edwards's father, 'Hap' Edwards went from machine operator to running his own John Deere distributorship, and his son jumped in behind the counter as the parts manager.

That was 45 years ago and Edwards is still stocking parts, but this time, on a much larger scale.

Edwards recalled his humble roots Thursday at the 2017 ConExpo in Las Vegas, far from the bucolic, rolling farmlands of America's east coast.

Thursday's setting was much different - in the opulent, corporate setting of XCMG's pavilion at the biggest construction trade show in the world.

It was a scene of controlled chaos.

XCMG's young staff rushed around managing a record convention crowd that topped 130,000 and swarmed through the company's displays of gigantic excavators, massive asphalt rollers, and towering cranes.

In the back of the pavilion, Edwards sat down with Xinhua to reflect on his career.

Edwards's current position, running the multinational corporation's American service and parts division, is quite a departure from his humble beginnings as a farm boy in rural Pennsylvania.

"My mother once told me, 'who would've imagined a boy from a small town in Pennsylvania would be rubbing elbows with one of the biggest corporations in the world, and in China of all places?'" Edwards remembered with a smile.

Today, Edwards is 65, and has been working with Chinese construction equipment giant XCMG for more than 20 years.

XCMG's sales were more than 3 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, making it the world's ninth largest construction equipment maker, exporting to more than 176 countries across the globe.

Edwards represents an enduring, successful relationship between an American businessman and a Chinese multinational corporation.

Back in 1988 when the economy faltered, Edwards went to work for a friend who was selling American-made equipment parts to XCMG.

Edwards and his partner would outsource drive shafts, axels, bearings, engines, and hydraulic pumps to China, and get back assembled machines that they sold to American contractors.

"I knew nothing about China, but through working with them became introduced to the culture and the people," Edwards said, recalling his trips to the world's most populous nation in the late 1990s.

"We would travel together to factories that made our components and I started learning more about Chinese culture and Chinese people in general," Edwards told Xinhua.

It was then when Edwards met Wang Min, who became XCMG's CEO in 2009.

Min, 63, a man who dines with dignitaries and presidents, greeted his old friend Edwards with open arms this week, culminating a long-distance relationship that goes back 22 years.

"I've found that over the years, people do the business, not the companies," Edwards said. "Over my career with the Chinese I have forged some genuine friendships."

"When you have the friendships it makes business a lot nicer," he said.

As the years passed and Edwards's trips to China continued, the dinners, meetings, and friendships he had developed and fostered with the world's most populous nation became a permanent part of his life.

"The culture between America and China is somewhat different, and there are some ways they think about things that night not be the way we view things," Edwards noted.

"You need to learn and listen, and find your way through difficult times," he said. "At the end of the day, it is all about people."

Photo taken on March 7, 2017 shows a scene of 2017 CONEXPO held in Las Vegas, the United States.(Xinhua/Yang Lei)

As XCMG brings its excavators and parts to the U.S., Edwards is filling a warehouse in Nevada with supplies to supplement what the company hopes will be a big push into the lucrative but highly competitive American market.

Edwards has been giving talks to XCMG employees since the late 1990s about the necessity of product support, and remembers the days when Americans questioned the quality of Chinese products.

"It's been a long time," he said. "Maybe it was a hangover of the 'Made in Japan' stigma."

"There were questions to me about welding, and about the quality of the steel...but those questions have not been asked in a very long time," he said.

Today, Edwards will tell you first hand his eye-opening look at the transformation of Chinese manufacturing.

"State-of-the-art," he began. "They use robotic welding, parts assembly with conveyer belts, and automation...it's truly remarkable," he said.

According to Edwards, China's equipment manufacturing facilities are virtually brand new -- many were built or revamped in just the past few years.

And Edwards will tell you that the old American adage of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," is far from the standard in modern China.

"Not them," Edwards said.

"They are always looking for ways to improve their products and manufacturing systems," he said.

Cutting edge cad systems have attracted a new generation of young, talented Chinese engineers who dominate the industry today, according to Edwards.

"These young designers are the wave of the future," said Edwards, the proud father of five children, and five grandchildren.

Edwards is a family man, and happy to mention that his 44-year-old eldest son uses John Deere equipment in his job with the U.S. Forestry Service.

"My family's been in the construction equipment business for a long time," he said with a smile, and still loyal to the John Deere name that began in Illinois in 1836.
Donald Trump invited Abbas officially to visit the White House. (AFP photo)

RAMALLAH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian president's spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh announced Friday that President Mahmoud Abbas received a phone call by U.S. President Donald Trump who invited him officially to visit the White House soon.

According to the official Palestinian News Agency WAFA, Abbas and Trump discussed the possibilities to resume the political process, stressing commitment to realize peace between Palestinians and Israelis by both sides.

The agency reported that Abbas reiterated to Trump his commitment to peace as a strategic choice to establish the Palestinian state living side by side with the state of Israel.
DAR ES SALAAM, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian doctors on Friday opposed plans by the Kenyan government to hire them to fill the gap created by striking medics in Kenya.

Elisha Osati, the Chairman-elect of the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT), said they were opposed to the move, emphasizing that they were only ready for the move after the strike ended and not now.

Tanzania's Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Children and the Elderly Ummy Mwalimu confirmed that the Kenyan government has indeed made the request.

As the Kenyan doctors' strike enters its 95th day on Friday, Osati said: "MAT is not supporting Kenyan government's plans of employing Tanzania doctors."

According to Kenyan media, the country's Council of Governors Chair Peter Munya announced on Thursday that the Kenyan government has embarked on plans to hire medics from Tanzania, Ethiopia and Cuba in the next three weeks to replace striking doctors.

This development comes hardly a week after Tanzanian doctors through MAT, asked the government to make endeavors to recruit over 1,500 newly licensed doctors who are still unemployed.

At a press conference last week, MAT chairman Obadia Nyongole said for over the past two years, the Tanzanian government has not recruited newly licensed young doctors.

On Wednesday the Kenyan government said it had lost patience with the slow pace of talks to end doctors' strike and ordered that the medics resume duty immediately.

President Uhuru Kenyatta directed county service boards and the Health ministry in Kenya to take disciplinary measures against all doctors who would fail to heed the order to resume duty.

Despite government withdrawing a deal negotiated during the meditation process, the doctors now say that they cannot be coerced and bulldozed into returning to work without inking the negotiated deal, local media in Kenya reports.

Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary, Cleopa Mailu, has expressed disappointment in the doctors' union for rejecting the offer that had been proposed by the government. Enditem
HELSINKI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- As the perspective of a European Union (EU) with "variable speeds" aroused heated discussion at the EU summit in Brussels, Finnish observers have been reflecting where their country should stand at the crossroad.

Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said Friday that Finland accepts the various levels of momentum within the EU.

Talking to media in Brussels, he said all projects should be "open to everyone, (some may go first) and some countries could join later."

Sipila said that the Finnish view about the future of the EU is very close to the German view. "Finland wants the EU to focus on economic growth and security, and to be united and able to function."

But just days earlier, Sipila expressed caution towards separate speeds. In a policy article published in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Sipila supported a uniform speed for the EU and warned against political blocks being formed within the EU.

The change of voiced stance shows the ambivalence of the elite of Finland, the only Nordic country that is within the eurozone and a non-NATO country bordering Russia.

Timo Miettinen, researcher at Helsinki University, said the European Commission has been rather weak in recent years. Its initiatives on matters such as improving outer frontier guarding and attempts to improve the monetary union have not been very successful either.

Interviewed by national broadcaster Yle, Miettinen said that development of the eurozone would have required revision of the basic EU documents, and countries outside the eurozone have not been very cooperative. Now the Commission suggests that eurozone countries could do it alone without the cooperation of the rest of the EU.

"Now that improvement in security has become part of the expectation, the variable speeds perspective is suitable for those countries that are not in NATO," Miettinen said. "Those who want can do more."

Commenting on the future role of Finland, the EU correspondent of Finnish business daily Kauppalehti, Kaija Ahtela, warned that Finland could "end up in the grey zone."

Ahtela said that if the EU chooses the option of starting to speed up the integration of the euro currency zone, Finland will be confronted with a difficult choice.

"Finland either returns to the grey zone between Russia and Sweden, or it leans towards Germany-driven Europe. The choice is historic for Finland, once again."

She noted the current Finnish coalition government is reluctant towards a deeper integration. And one of the coalition parties is outright anti-EU. Enditem
Indigenous people from numerous tribes attend a protest in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 10, 2017. Hundreds of indigenous people from numerous tribes protested and marched against the Dakota Access pipeline and President Donald Trump here on Friday. The 3.8-billion-dollar Dakota Access pipeline begins in the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and go southeast to Illinois. It has caused strong protests in North Dakota near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, as local tribes worried the project will pollute their drinking water and cultural sites. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of protesters, many of whom are Native Americans, took to the streets in Washington D.C. on Friday to oppose a pipeline project which they say may harm the environment.

"Water is sacred," protesters of the Native Nations Rise march chanted as they proceeded down the Pennsylvania ave in a light drizzle, demanding the U.S. government retract a decision to lay the 1,172 mile long Dakota Access Pipeline which cuts across the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation.

The longstanding debate over the project has rallied environmental conservationists and other Native American tribes to join the demonstration, and pressured former President Barack Obama to temporarily stall the project, before U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the construction to resume in the first days of his tenure.

"We came here to protect mother Earth," Ronald Day of the Swinomish Tribe said, "We are also concerned about the conservation of the Salish Sea area," Day said, referring to a network of coastal waterways adjacent to the Swinomish historical lands north of Seattle, Washington.

Ricky Boyd, who is from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe tribe in Minnesota, said "lots of nations came out today to honor their land and their beliefs, because not just the Dakota Pipeline but projects of all over are threatening the environment."

The Dakota Access Pipeline is an underground oil project that begins in Northwest North Dakota and runs Southeast to Patoka, Illinois. The project is 87 percent complete but a portion in the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, which was blocked by local Native Americans citing environmental concerns.
GENEVA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- About 15,843 migrants and refugees have reached Italy by sea this year, accounting for over 80 percent of the 19,567 maritime migrants who have landed in Europe since January, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported Friday.

While this year's total of migrant arrivals by sea on Europe is well below the 143,544 entries reported over the same period in 2016, the number of migrant sea entries into Italy is above last year's equivalent of 9,496 arrivals.

According to the figures, IOM has recorded 521 deaths since the start of the year, 50 fatalities more than the number of people who lost their lives over the same period in 2016.

Totally 477 men, women and children have drowned on the central Mediterranean passage linking North Africa with Italy, making it the most fatal route for migrants seeking to reach European shores this year.

A further 44 individuals have lost their lives on eastern and western Mediterranean sea routes, a significant decrease from last year when 374 people died on those particular passages in the reviewed period.

Record 5,079 migrants and refugees died last year while crossing the Mediterranean Sea ,up from 3,771 fatalities in 2015.
GUATEMALA CITY, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Guatemalans on Friday held an early-morning candle-lit vigil outside the president's residence in the capital, in memory and in protest of the scores of minors and teenagers killed earlier this week in a fire at a youth shelter.

The death toll from the blaze -- which occurred late Tuesday or early Wednesday at the Virgen de la Asuncion Shelter in San Jose Pinula, in the central department of Guatemala -- climbed to 37 as several of the most critically wounded succumbed to their injuries.

Police are investigating the cause of the fire, which was initially traced to rioting teenagers setting fire to their dormitory mattresses, to protest poor treatment and squalid conditions.

One donor said the facility "was more like a prison than a shelter," according to the daily Prensa Libre.

The same donor, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said the sponge mattresses had holes in them because the girls used them to make sanitary napkins.

On Thursday, President Jimmy Morales addressed growing anger at the shocking tragedy at a press conference, announcing three days of mourning and pledging to close the shelter.

In the immediate aftermath of the blaze, the director of the facility was fired and 70 of the children were reunited with their families, said Morales.

But critics want more to be done. They point out that Anahi keller, the head of the Social Welfare Ministry, which oversees the shelter and others like it, was a producer for the national TV network, and has no prior experience.

Morales, a former TV personality, defended Kellers appointment at the conference.

The shelter housed some 600 minors and adolescents, mainly young girls from abusive homes.
WASHINGTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- In his meeting here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Donald Trump would ask for advice on Russia and Ukrainian crisis, a senior Trump administration official said on Friday.

"The president will be very interested in hearing the chancellor's views on her experience interacting with Putin," said the official here at a briefing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Apart from hearing Merkel's "insights into what it's like to deal with the Russians," the official said Trump would also ask for advice on how the United States could help resolve the Ukraine conflict.

Also, the two leaders are expected to discuss Germany's level of defense spending for the NATO alliance.

"The message from the administration so far have been strong and consistent, that all allies need to be making progress towards this two percent goal," said the official. "So I expect that will be definitely a topic of their conversation for the concrete plan to meet this commitment."

During his campaign and also after winning the presidency, Trump repeatedly blasted Merkel for making a "catastrophic mistake" with her open door policy on refugees, while Merkel did not shy away from criticizing Trump in the wake of his travel ban order that sought to temporarily ban travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries in January.

Despite the past feud, the White House said the goal of the upcoming meeting would be to "have a very positive meeting."
The meeting of Netanyahu and Putin on Thursday in Moscow is the fifth time in the past 18 months. (Reuter photo)

JERUSALEM, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Israel is wavering in a delicate political balancing act amid meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, an expert said Friday.

Israel would be left empty-handed if it asks for a major shift in regional allegiances or Russian promotion of Israeli interests, said Gideon Remez, a researcher of the Truman Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, despite a reality of converging interests for the two countries amid the Syrian civil war.

"Russia has no interest in provoking Israel, but it also see no necessity to stand on Israel's side," he said.

Israel finds itself on the sidelines over Syrian issue, not a major player, and Russia's interests in the Middle East are rarely synchronized with Israel's.

The meeting of Netanyahu and Putin on Thursday in Moscow is the fifth time in the past 18 months. The two discussed the situation in Syria and also, Iran's role in the region.

Iranian involvement in Syria is a major cause for concern in Israel, while being a Russian interest.

Days before the meeting, Netanyahu opened his cabinet session by saying he will express "Israel's sharp and vigorous opposition" to increased Iranian military presence on its border.

Iranian leaders have repeatedly called for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Netanyahu said he told Putin that Israel would not accept Iranian presence in Syria after any settlement. The Israeli PM later told journalists that the Russian leader had "internalized" his message.

Remez noted that he is wary of Israeli reports coming out of the meeting, as there was no press coverage during the meeting, saying that he has difficult in imagining a situation in which Netanyahu lectured Putin.

"It is an illusion that Russia will steer its policy according to Israeli requests," Remez said. "Israelis are in for a rough awakening if that is what they believe."

Israel's border with Syria has been relatively quiet for years, even though officially the countries are at war with each other.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel annexed the territory, a move that is not recognized internationally.

In a press release issued before the meeting, the Israeli PM said the issue of the Golan Heights was off the table.

Syria has said that it wants the territory back, while in a meeting between Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump last month, the Israeli leader said he had asked the U.S. to recognize the Israeli annexation of the territory.

This request, largely stemmed from internal political struggles Netanyahu is involved in, is also hardly objected by Syria's Assad as he has been too busy dealing with his internal strife.

The U.S. response to the request was not clear.

Remez believed the issue of the Golan Heights was raised despite it being "beyond the horizon" because Israel is concerned that a revitalized Assad may have new energy to confront Israel.

"If the Russians succeed in restoring Assad to power, they will start backing his claim to get the Golan back," said Remez. "Russian policy is absolutely clear, it has never recognized the annexation."

In recent years, there have also been several reports that the Israeli air force has struck in Syria militant groups transporting weapons to be used in future attacks on Israel. The most recent was a few weeks ago, when a convoy carrying weapons for the militant Hezbollah group was destroyed by Israeli fighter jets.

Israel did not confirm or deny these reports.

Until now, supposed Israeli attacks have gone with no response from Syria, but this may not be a sustainable reality. "Once the Assad regime is more or less stabilized, Assad may tell the Russians that this can't go on," Remez said.

While Israel has accepted Russian involvement in Syria, it has repeatedly said that it will not hesitate to take action against militant groups such as Hezbollah. Iran has been critical in the armament of the militant group based in Lebanon.

"Russia will not prevent Assad's support for Hezbollah. I suspect proxy action from Lebanon will resume," said Remez, who believes a reinforced Syrian leader will support renewed attacks on Israel.

Russian involvement in Syria increased significantly since it stepped in with direct military presence in September 2015. Russia is at odds with a large part of the international community which wants to see Assad step aside as Syria's leader.

Therefore, Iran, also interested in maintaining Assad's hold on the war-torn country, is a critical partner for Russia, with mutual interests greater than any benefits they can reap from an alliance with Israel.

With the lifting of sanctions against Iran as part of the nuclear deal, Russia has "gained a lot," said Remez.

For Israel, while Assad may be the lesser evil to have on its hostile northern border, Iranian presence in Syria is a difficult pill for Netanyahu to swallow. Thus, cooperation with Russia is clearly a strategic Israeli interest.

Russia is heavily involved in talks aimed at shaping the future of Syria, and any settlement is critical for Israel, which is seeking any influence it can get on the matter, Remez said.
Immigration activists, including members of the DC Justice for Muslims Coalition, rally against the Trump administration's new ban against travelers from six Muslim-majority nations, outside of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

NEW YORK, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC), a global organization committed to ensuring health of women, on Friday said that it is "deeply saddened" that a South African women's group decided to drop out of a UN meeting on women's rights in order to protest the new travel ban signed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

IWHC said in a press release here that its partner, the South African organization, Masimanyane Women's Rights International, has canceled its participation in a meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

"This annual meeting is an important global gathering of diplomats, international delegates, and women's rights advocates that plays a crucial role in determining the focus of the global women's agenda and its progress," the press release said. The annual CSW meeting is to take place at UN Headquarters in New York on March 13-24.

Masimanyane, an international advocacy organization working to strengthen women's rights, reduce HIV/AIDS, and eradicate violence against women, has made this decision in response to the Trump Administration's executive orders targeting women, refugees, travelers, and immigrants.

In a statement, the organization denounced the U.S. travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries, for denying the right of women from United Nations member states to participate in the global forum.

"As such, Masimanyane's decision is an expression of solidarity with the women and advocates of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen," the press release said.

"IWHC believes that the Trump Administration's executive orders display a fundamental disrespect for women, racial justice, equality, religious tolerance, and human rights," the press release said. "Women migrants and refugees, women of color, women living in poverty, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, and other marginalized groups will bear the brunt of this Administration's callous policies."

As a global organization committed to ensuring that women can control their own their bodies and determine their own futures, IWHC is working to oppose policies by the Trump Administration that violate human rights and roll back progress for women and girls.

IWHC is participating in CSW deliberations to ensure that access to sexual and reproductive health remains on the agenda. Family planning is essential for women's participation in the workforce, which is the special focus of this year's gathering. The 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women, is the second held since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, which puts women at the core of a globally agreed set of development goals and targets.

"Separately, IWHC has learned that a number of advocates from various countries have been denied visas to participate in the multilateral meetings held at CSW," the press release said. "Each year, IWHC trains advocates from various countries ahead of the negotiations at CSW."

The CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

"The organization is closely monitoring problems involving visas and entry to the United States," the press release added.

On Tuesday, the UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, voiced his concern about the new U.S. rules, known as the Executive Order signed on Monday by U.S. President Trump, stressing the need to protect people fleeing deadly violence, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

The new executive order prevents nationals of six Muslim countries from entering the United States, excluding Iraq from the list of a previous ban.

Demonstrators rally against the Trump administration's new ban against travelers from six Muslim-majority nations, outside of the White House in Washington, U.S. March 6, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

The new document maintained a 90-day ban on nationals of Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Iran and Somalia from entering the United States, effective from March 16.

In addition to the travel ban, the order also suspended granting refugee status for 120 days after the effective date. Syrian refugees, which were singled out in the original version as being banned indefinitely, will be given the same treatment with refugees of other origins.

Trump signed a similar executive order on Jan. 27, which imposed a ban on nationals of seven Muslim countries to enter the United States for 90 days, refugees for 120 days and Syrian refugees indefinitely.

A federal judge of the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington later slapped a nationwide restraining order on the travel ban, and the ruling was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
MEXICO CITY, March 10 (Xinhua) -- An Italian Mafia fugitive, who is being sought by his home country for charges of international cocaine trafficking, was arrested in northeastern Mexico.

Mexico's prosecutor-general (PGR) issued a statement Friday stating that Giulio Perrone had been on Italy's most-wanted list for around a decade and was suspected of being a high-ranking member of the Naples crime group, known as La Camorra.

PGR agents detained the 64-year-old man in Ciudad Madero, a city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, after a broad investigation by the two countries.

The statement explained that Perrone had been condemned in absentia to 21 years in jail by a court in Naples and was the subject of a "red notice" by Interpol for his capture and arrest.

Upon his arrest, Perrone had two false photo IDs with him and was in Mexico illegally, added the PGR.

After his arrest, the Mexican government handed Perrone over to Italian authorities.
The helicopter was carrying two pilots, two female and three male passengers. (Xinhua/Cem Bakirci-Depo Photos)

ISTANBUL, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A commercial utility helicopter went down on Friday in Istanbul, killing all the seven onboard including four Russian nationals, the mayor said.

Mayor Kadir Topbas disclosed the figure at an event. Five were confimed dead earlier in the day in the tragedy, in which the ill-fated copter, a Sikorsky S-76 owned by a private company, crashed in the outlying district of Beylikduzu.

The helicopter was carrying two pilots, two female and three male passengers, press reports said.

According to Turkey's Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communications, the copter crashed after hitting a TV tower.

Heavy fog was reported in the disaster area, but the ministry said weather conditions were normal at the time off takeoff.

Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin told the press earlier that the mishap occurred about five minutes after the chopper took off from the city's Ataturk Airport.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a healthcare meeting with key House Committee Chairmen at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 10, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- In his meeting here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Donald Trump would ask for advice on Russia and Ukrainian crisis, a senior Trump administration official said on Friday.

"The president will be very interested in hearing the chancellor's views on her experience interacting with Putin," said the official here at a briefing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Apart from hearing Merkel's "insights into what it's like to deal with the Russians," the official said Trump would also ask for advice on how the United States could help resolve the Ukraine conflict.

Also, the two leaders are expected to discuss Germany's level of defense spending for the NATO alliance.

European Council President Donald Tusk (front, L) talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (front, R) during a meeting on the second day of the European spring summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 10, 2017. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

"The message from the administration so far have been strong and consistent, that all allies need to be making progress towards this two percent goal," said the official. "So I expect that will be definitely a topic of their conversation for the concrete plan to meet this commitment."

During his campaign and also after winning the presidency, Trump repeatedly blasted Merkel for making a "catastrophic mistake" with her open door policy on refugees, while Merkel did not shy away from criticizing Trump in the wake of his travel ban order that sought to temporarily ban travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries in January.

Despite the past feud, the White House said the goal of the upcoming meeting would be to "have a very positive meeting."
HOUSTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Heads of major energy companies have predicted that the oil slump is likely to continue through 2017 and the near future will see petroleum profit growth while natural gas, clean coal, wind and other renewables increase the bottom line of environmentally savvy companies.

During the annual CERAweek by IHS Markit event March 6-10 in the energy capital of Houston, Texas, heads of major energy companies and agencies provided insight into that future. Earlier in the week, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo and International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol took on the question of where the oil energy is in the price cycle.

"We have an arrangements to compare (market) outlooks," Barkindo said. "I agreed with Fatih to break the barrier between producers and consumers. We decided not only to establish a new relationship, but in the best interests of the global community." Birol cited an oil market report on Monday that suggests the oil market is growing but slowing down, with no peek in oil demand but showing a second growth in shale markets.

Oil companies who came together in Vienna in December began implementing a six-month plan committing to readjusting supply by 1.8 million barrels, and Barkindo said the numbers are looking good even ahead of the February review.

"The numbers are trickling in and promising to be much higher," Barkindo said. "In July, we will look at how well we have achieved (the Vienna agreement)."

Birol said the U.S. shale oil market is producing well, as is Canada and Brazil. While 2017 "doesn't seem very promising," he said the U.S. is producing spare capacity to 2 percent of the global demand and investments need to be made without delay.

By 2040, Barkindo said, the industry will need 10 trillion U.S. dollars to meet demand.

"It is incumbent to gear up and meet the losses to maintain a sustainable level going forward," he said.

Barkindo said that though the Russian ambassador is not ready to join OPEC, the 24 oil-producing countries that met in Vienna to update the oil prices were more structured with partners led by Russia.

"We are turning a historic page in oil that has the potential of maintaining stability," he said.

Birol said investments in the oil industry are needed to meet demand at a time when electric cars are expected to permiate the auto industry and a time when Asian trucks are now responsible for one-third of the oil market demand.

"We will still see growth in oil market... but the message to the oil industry in Houston: Invest, invest, invest," Birol said. "We have to find place for everybody here -- co-habitation. Shale, oil, gas, fund managers."

"We in OPEC, we are seeing the shale revolution at the time it was welcome," Barkindo said. "If you recall, there were significant reductions in Nigeria, my country, and in Iran because of sanctions. The market will also rebalance itself in the balance of time, but peek demand does not feature in the forseeable future." Birol said the world is entering the golden age of gas and shale oil, where there has been a 450 percent growth, is replacing coal in the United States and many countries that want to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

"Renewables are mainly focusing on the electricity," Birol said. "Renewables are no longer a rich man's fuel. China is number one in renewables as India is moving to the center of oil energy."
KIEV, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The activists, who are blocking the railway line in eastern Ukraine, warned on Friday they would disrupt train movements between Ukraine and Russia if Kiev does not "revise its trade ties" with Moscow.

"Starting from April 2, our observation units, which will be set up on all major railway crossings with Russia, will begin an active phase of the blockade," Anatoliy Vinogrodsky, one of the activist commanders, told a press conference in Kiev.

In the first instance, the activists will block movements of trains transporting coal from Russia, Vinogrodsky said, adding that the government has to sign contracts on coal supplies from other countries before April 2 to avoid the blockade.

There was no immediate reaction from the Ukrainian government on the ultimatum.

On late January, a group of activists has blocked the movements of trains, transporting coal and other raw products from the non-government controlled areas in eastern Ukraine.

The blockade has led to anthracite coal shortages in Ukraine, resulting in an energy crisis in the East European country and forcing the government to double coal purchases from overseas.

According to the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, Russia was the leading exporter of coal to Ukraine in the first two months of this year, covering 69.1 percent of the total supplies.
KIEV, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The almost three-year-old conflict between government troops and pro-independence rebels in eastern Ukraine left more than 1,000 people missing, the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement on Friday.

"Many people went missing as a result of the conflict, but no one knows exactly their number -- probably, it ranges between 1,000 and 2,000 persons," Peter Maurer, president of the ICRC, was quoted in the statement as saying after his visit to eastern Ukraine.

To speed up the search of the missing people, the ICRC has offered the conflicting sides to work out a joint mechanism for information exchanges, Maurer said.

According to the Ukrainian Security Service, 483 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are formally listed as missing.

Insurgents have not commented on the number of disappeared people among their supporters.

Maurer has started his five-day visit to Ukraine on Monday.
KIEV, March 10 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 civilians were killed and 70 others wounded this year in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Friday.

Alexander Hug, deputy chief of the OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine, said that the civilian casualties occurred as the sides continue ceasefire violations, even in the disengagement areas, despite their commitments to observe the truce.

The presence of landmines and heavy weapons along the contact line is also presenting a danger to the civilian population, Hug told a media briefing in Kiev.

The conflict has been spreading in Ukraine's east since April 2014, when the government troops launched offensives to regain control over the cities and towns seized by pro-independence insurgents.

The confrontation has claimed the lives of some 10,000 people, including civilians and combatants on both sides, and left about 22,000 others wounded.

The latest round of truce started in the restive region on Feb. 20.
MOSCOW, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed improved bilateral ties between the two countries on Friday, as they pledged to keep on working together to end the turmoil in Syria.

The two leaders held talks at the Kremlin to discuss strategic aspects of the development of Russian-Turkish bilateral relations, as well as cooperation to address pressing global and regional issues, especially conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

"The ceasefire in Syria is generally holding thanks to the well-coordinated efforts of Russia, Turkey and Iran." Putin said, "We agreed with our Turkish colleagues to continue our cooperation in fighting terrorist groups, above all ISIS, working together through our military and special services."

Cooperation on the Syria issue between Russia and Turkey marked a sharp turnaround for the two nations, which have supported opposing sides in Syria for years. Both countries are now pushing forward the Astana talks aimed at addressing the fighting in Syria, with the third round of such talks scheduled in the middle of the month.

"As far as security matters in our region are concerned, I believe that it takes joint efforts to end bloodshed in Syria," Erdogan said after the meeting.

During the meeting, the two leaders also discussed bilateral affairs including cooperation in trade, energy, investment and infrastructure.

"I would like to emphasize that we regard Turkey as a very important partner...Key bilateral mechanisms were recently re-established." Putin said.

Erdogan noted that cooperation plans for the natural gas pipeline called Turkish Stream and the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey have also started getting back on track. Both projects were suspended amid the escalated tensions at the end of 2015.

The talks concluded with the signing of multiple agreements, including the wide-ranging cooperation program for 2017-2020 aimed at stabilizing the mutual flow of goods, services and capital, and the establishing of a new joint investment fund with a capital of up to 1 billion U.S. dollars.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan after the talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 10, 2017. (REUTERS PHOTO)

MOSCOW, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed improved bilateral ties between the two countries on Friday, as they pledged to keep on working together to end the turmoil in Syria.

The two leaders held talks at the Kremlin to discuss strategic aspects of the development of Russian-Turkish bilateral relations, as well as cooperation to address pressing global and regional issues, especially conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

"The ceasefire in Syria is generally holding thanks to the well-coordinated efforts of Russia, Turkey and Iran." Putin said, "We agreed with our Turkish colleagues to continue our cooperation in fighting terrorist groups, above all ISIS, working together through our military and special services."

Cooperation on the Syria issue between Russia and Turkey marked a sharp turnaround for the two nations, which have supported opposing sides in Syria for years. Both countries are now pushing forward the Astana talks aimed at addressing the fighting in Syria, with the third round of such talks scheduled in the middle of the month.

"As far as security matters in our region are concerned, I believe that it takes joint efforts to end bloodshed in Syria," Erdogan said after the meeting.

During the meeting, the two leaders also discussed bilateral affairs including cooperation in trade, energy, investment and infrastructure.

"I would like to emphasize that we regard Turkey as a very important partner...Key bilateral mechanisms were recently re-established." Putin said.

Erdogan noted that cooperation plans for the natural gas pipeline called Turkish Stream and the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey have also started getting back on track. Both projects were suspended amid the escalated tensions at the end of 2015.

The talks concluded with the signing of multiple agreements, including the wide-ranging cooperation program for 2017-2020 aimed at stabilizing the mutual flow of goods, services and capital, and the establishing of a new joint investment fund with a capital of up to 1 billion U.S. dollars.
UNITED NATIONS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday called on international community to invest in supporting national security and defense capacity building in Afghanistan to improve the country's security situation.

Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative, made the appeal at a Security Council debate on the issue of Afghanistan.

Wu said in order to better respond to threats of terrorism, transnational crimes and smuggling, Afghanistan needs to enhance its self-defense capability.

In this regard, regional countries as well as organizations like Shanghai Cooperation Organization need to enhance cooperation on security, he said.

Wu said that advancing national reconciliation process is the only way towards long-term peace in Afghanistan

"The international community must fully support the inclusive Afghan-owned and Afghan-led reconciliation process for parties to join peace talks with fruitful results without further delay," he said.

In addition, Wu said the international community must assist Afghanistan in enhancing its governance capacity and supporting the country's integration into international development.

"The international community must truly respect the right of Afghan people in independently choosing political systems and development path," he added.

Wu said China looks forward to early fulfillment of peace, security, stability and development in Afghanistan and will make consistent efforts in this regard.

"We will ally our Belt and Road initiative with Afghanistan's national development strategy together with the international community," he added.
Mirosaw Gajewski, Polish Ambassador to China. (Photo provided by embassy)



By Tian Shaohui

BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The Belt and Road Initiative creates new opportunities of development for countries along the route of this Initiative, said Mirosaw Gajewski, Polish Ambassador to China.

In a recent exclusive written interview with Xinhuanet, he said, though its hard to assess the exact role of this initiative in the global economy at the moment, it could have a huge economic impact.

This initiative will especially strengthen economic connections between east Asia and Europe, he stressed.

It will promote better connectivity, better infrastructure cooperation, as well as more investment and trade between Asia and Europe, the ambassador explained.

He also believed that the Initiative will play a positive role in sustaining peace and stability for countries and regions along the route.

Appreciating Chinas efforts in addressing global challenges, he said he is fully aware of Chinas active and effective participation in institutions of global governance.

China has gained more influence in such key institutions as World Bank or International Monetary Fund, he said.

China is not playing against the existing global governance system, but tries to voice concerns and encourage change, he added.

As Chinas impact can be felt in almost all parts of the world, it is natural for everybody to take an interest in Chinas economy, said the ambassador.

Talking about China's current supply-side structural reform, he held that a lot of courage and determinations are needed to fully achieve the goal.

China has prioritized innovative development, manufacturing upgrading, and development of high-tech industries, he said, which is very crucial for reforms.

Asked about China's Internet Plus strategy, the ambassador held that China is advanced in developing and using Internet, and even well ahead of the developed countries in a few respects.

He also found that China has paid great attentions to sustainable and green development.

He believed measures will be taken for fulfilling those tasks during the 13th Five-Year Plan.

Green development will improve the living conditions of the population and contribute to the transformation of Chinas economy, the ambassador said.

On the China-Poland relations, he expected that regular high-level dialogues could be maintained, and existing and new mechanisms of cooperation could be more effective and dynamic.

He also said cooperation agreements between the two sides should be put into practical actions such as implementation of projects in areas of infrastructure, logistics, telecommunication and transportation.
Bharath disputes Petrotrin loss figures

The truth of the matter, as the minister would have been informed, is that Petrotrin would have brought forward unused capital allowances, accumulated as a result of refinery upgrades as well as the failed WGTL project which cost taxpayers $3.3 billion and a further $3.2 billion in relation to a separate project involving an ultra- low sulphur diesel (USD) plant constructed by South Korean firm Samsung Engineering and Construction Limited. Bharath said both projects had been entered into under the Malcolm Jones-led board in 2009.

Provided the auditors are given sufficient evidence that the company will make sufficient profits in the future, these allowances remain on the companys books as a deferred asset, he said, and noted that a deferred tax asset was an accounting term which referred to a situation where a business has overpaid taxes or taxes paid in advance on its balance sheet.

These taxes were eventually returned to the business in the form of tax relief, and the over-payment was, therefore, an asset for the company, he said.

It is clear that as a result of no such assurances been given to the auditors, they may have had little choice but to write off the asset as being unrelievable against future profits.

This is what has given rise to the alleged loss of $4.2 billion on Petrotrins books. It has absolutely nothing to do with the management of Petrotrin under the Peoples Partnership government and everything to do with the incompetence and mismanagement of the present regime.
Unruly Isis head detained

The gang leader was found with a Beretta pistol loaded with six rounds of ammunition.

It was reported that officers of the Central Division under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner of Police Surujdeen Persad and led by Senior Superintendent Kenny McIntyre and Sgt Andy Mohammed, received certain information and intercepted a vehicle with four occupants.

During a search of the vehicle, the weapon was found.

According to sources, Chaguanas police beefed-up the station after receiving word that members of the Unruly Isis were planning an assault on the station in an effort to free the detained four by any means necessary.

It is understood that officers involved in the arrest have received death threats and were told to transfer out of the division...

or else.

On Wednesday afternoon when news spread of the Unruly Isis gang member some residents of Crown Trace, Enterprise began blocking the roads and condemned the actions of the police in detaining the four persons. Police soldiers were quickly on the scene and managed to disperse the crowd.

Yesterday, ACP Persad told Newsday officers will continue to do their duty but will be on extreme alert. He said officers will not be deterred by any threat. The detained four are expected to be placed on identification parades today.

Also on Wednesday officers raided several drug blocks and detained 21 persons in connection with various offences while four persons from Moruga who were travelling in a vehicle in Couva were detained and a quantity of marijuana seized.

Officers also carried out a search under a bridge in the Enterprise area and seized a rife, two army camouflage army uniforms and a quantity of marijuana.
Blind woman loses at Privy Council

But five Law Lords of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England recently ruled that there was no malice by police in arresting her because they simply followed the law which mandates them to act when something illegal is found on premises and its occupants are present.

The historic judgment was delivered two weeks ago in an appeal filed by Sandra Juman, 53, of Pond Street, La Romaine, who 19 years ago was arrested by officers of the San Fernando Police Station along with five other members of her household for possession of guns and ammunition. One male member of the family pleaded guilty to the offences in the magistrates court and was sentenced. Juman, who is blind, had also appeared before the same magistrate along with members of the family, but they all pleaded not guilty and the case was postponed for trial.

The police search of Jumans La Romaine premises occurred on October 1, 1998 in which they allegedly found a bag containing two homemade shotguns and a shotgun cartridge in a bag next to a couch in the living room.

Juman and the five family members were taken to the San Fernando Police Station where she was also placed in a cell. She was kept overnight and charged the following day. When Juman had appeared before the magistrate, she was granted bail and released. The other male relative who confessed to the guns and ammuntion belonging to him was sentenced by the magistrate.

In 2001, after about 20 subsequent appearances, the case against Juman and the other relatives was discontinued after the police withdrew the charges, having regard to the confession of the male relative who had pleaded guilty. At the time, Juman was assistant secretary of the Blind Welfare Association of Trinidad and Tobago and worked at its South offices.

Attorneys acting on behalf of Juman, filed a lawsuit on her behalf against the State in the High Court for malicious prosecution, on the ground that the evidence suggested that Juman soley occupied the upstairs part of the house and not the downstairs on October 1, 1998 where the gun and ammunition were found by the party of officers who had searched the premises.

Additionally, she was blind and she could not have been deemed to have knowledge of the presence of the guns and ammunition. The police were therefore reckless in charging Juman for the offence, the attorneys had contended before retired judge Shafeyei Shah in the San Fernando High Court.

Shah, however, dismissed Jumans claim for malicious prosecution, saying that based on the evidence of the police who conducted the search, they acted with reasonable cause and without malice in arresting Juman and charging her. In law, a person is deemed to be in constructive possession if he or she is present on premises or have knowledge and control of premises where something illegal is found. At the time when Juman was arrested, the law lords judgment stated, she was in the living room of the downstairs apartment.

Juman filed an appeal against Shahs ruling and she lost there as well when in an oral judgment in 2012, Justice Maureen Rajnauth-Lee and other appellate judges Alan Mendonca and Gregory Smith, upheld Shahs judgment.
Foreigners fined for illegal entry

Decao Yang, 22, of China, pleaded guilty before Senior Magistrate Gloria Jasmath in the San Fernando Magistrates Court.

He legally entered Trinidad and Tobago on September 17, 2014 and left sometime that same year, the court police prosecutor Sgt Harold Ishmael told the magistrate. However, Corporal Howard, attached to the Immigration Department, Portof- Spain, questioned Yang on January 24 at Cipero Street, San Fernando, regarding his passport.

When produced, the prosecutor said, an Immigration stamp showed that the last time he arrived in the country legally was in 2014.

It suggested therefore that Yang came to the country at a port other than a port of entry and failed to report to an Immigration Officer.

Jasmath ordered him to pay the fine within two weeks or serve six months in jail. The fine was paid one hour after by another Chinese national who arrived at the courthouse.

Guyanese national Travais Sampson, 34, pleaded guilty for having a false stamp on his passport. He too was fined $5,000 but was given a month to pay.
Bush fire leaves Moruga family homeless

According to Thomas, at about 4 pm on Wednesday, she was next door at the home of a relative when she was alerted by loud crackling sounds and upon checking observed her wooden two-bedroom house already engulfed in flames.

The fire, she said, started in some dry bushes behind her house. Thomas said all the family was left with were the clothes they were wearing at the time. She said although the Fire Services responded quickly, it was still too late. Yesterday, the distraught woman appealed to the public for assistance. She explained, I tried to run in to save the childrens clothes but everything burn up already so I just had to run back out. She said every year her home is threatened by bush fires but she always gets it under control.

For the first time it did not happen, Thomas told Newsday.

Daughter Chelsea Thomas, 13, is a student of the ASJA Girls College, Barrackpore, while daughters Hope Thomas, 11 and seven- year-old Mandy Stewart are students of the Fifth Company Baptist School.

Thomas son, Malik Thomas, four, attends pre-school. Anyone willing to help can contact the family at 393-1606.
Media has role in suicide prevention

That is what Dr Dan Reidenberg, executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, told members of the print and electronic media on Tuesday, during a Media Sensitisation Workshop on Suicide at the Hilton Trinidad Hotel and Conference Centre, Port-of-Spain. However, he said the media had to be cognisant to the fact that when reporting on a suicide, that there were others who would be affected by the tragedy, including families, friends and even the community.

He said the strategic approach to suicide prevention was the promotion and practice of responsible and ethical media coverage of suicide events. Reidenberg said there was sufficient evidence to suggest that vulnerable individuals may be influenced to engage in imitative behaviours by reports of suicide, particularly if the coverage was extensive, prominent, sensationalist and/or explicitly described the method of the suicide.

He said adding a message of hope in a suicide story could change someone elses life. He said 25 years ago, getting the scoop meant finding the facts, doing independent investigation, but also being guided by ethics, and a story being carefully edited was the way journalists got their stories across.

However, he said now everything was breaking news. He said journalists ran with just enough facts, using any source they found. He said today there was less editorial oversight with the intention to getting the story out to as many people as possible.

Reidenberg also commented on citizen journalists, also known as bloggers, who were reporters and creators of news. He said they had no guidelines, standards, data or facts, but had a very large following. He said their blogging about incidents such as suicide could have very adverse effects on those close to the suicide victim if they were not forewarned by the authorities, but came across it through social media.

He said responsible media reporting could change lives, and could even save them. He also warned about the effect irresponsible reporting could have on adolescents.

The more repulsive, the more they are fascinated, Reidenberg said. He said teens were very quick to copycat such acts especially when they are fed all the gory details. Reidenberg told journalists not to dismiss suicide as a single cause, but instead use the opportunity to explain the
PMs office investigates St Michaels Boys Home allegations

The allegations were contained in an article in the Daily Express newspaper which suggested an alleged conflict of interest involving the official and a 15-year-old inmate who has been living at her residence.

A statement issued yesterday said the minister and other officials at the Office of the Prime Minister are deeply concerned about the issues raised in the article and, pending receipt of the report from the chairman of the Authority, the Office of the Prime Minister will investigate the matter itself. It adds that Government remains committed to ensuring the delivery of the necessary care and protection of all children in the country.

However, in a release yesterday, the Authority said the article contained misinformed and incorrect statements and that at the time of the placement, the child was not living at the St. Michaels School for Boys. It said that the Authority conducted individual assessments of the children at the St. Michaels Home in 2015 to identify ideal placement and the rehabilitative interventions which would best meet the needs of each child including psychological, medical, social and educational needs.

The Authority said that in this case, the assessment of the child recommended foster care as the best placement since the child had no relatives who could take care of him and continued placement at the St. Michaels Home was considered inappropriate. The Authority said that based on this assessment, the court granted a change in its initial order which committed the child to the St. Michaels Home and ordered that he be placed in foster care instead. The release said that after being placed in two successive foster care homes, the arrangements broke down and the Authority sought other arrangements which also broke down.

According to the Authoritys statement, it was after the breakdown of these arrangements and after various placements had broken down, that the child asked to see the director of the Authority, who had mentored him before assuming the position of Director. It said, Placement with the Director was then considered. It must be noted that there is no restriction in the legislation as to who may apply to become a fit person for any child who has no parent, guardian or other person fit or willing to care for the child. An independent investigator was engaged and the recommendation was that the child would be well placed in the care of the Director. The childs mother was also contacted and agreed to the proposed arrangement, while working toward reunification. The Authority says that it was unfortunate that the newspaper article gave the impression of wrongdoing by the Director as the best interest of the child and the views which he expressed were taken into account and the process was followed. The Authority advises the public that from the beginning of this process, the intention was, and continues to be, that the childs placement would be approved by the Court, and monitored independently and not by the Authority, in order to eliminate any conflict of interest, perceived or real.
Deyalsingh: New health lab soon

He was speaking at the post-Cabinet news briefing held at the Ma gdalena Grand Hotel, Tobago.

The agency will be housed at a state of the art facility on nine acres of land at Valsayn, near the teacher training college of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT).

Deyalsingh justified the initiative by saying it had been recommended in a United Nations report of 2013.

He said the new entity will enhance this countrys public health response, regulatory and diagnostic capabilities.

The regulatory role includes that done by the Chemistry, Food and Drugs Division and the diagnostic duty of the National Blood Transfusion Service.

The Trinidad Public Health Laboratorys function will be expanded to a national role inclusive of Tobago.

Asked the cost to establish the new agency, Deyalsingh could not yet say, explaining that Cabinet had only just taken this decision, and that consultancy services must now be sought.

Otherwise, he hoped to alter the current system of blood donation to a voluntary donation system instead of the present situation where an ill person facing surgery and his/ her family must seek out blood donors.

Asked about the status of the Couva Childrens Hospital, Deyalsingh said Udecott has taken over the running of the site from the building contractor and has received five offers, both local and foreign, to operate the facility and that these offers are now being evaluated.
PM celebrates IWD with activists

The breakfast meeting was held at the Diplomatic Centre, La Fantasie, St Anns in celebration of International Womens Day 2017.

The Prime Minister spent the morning engaging with the women and also participated in an open forum where a wide range of relevant issues were examined.

Rowley used the opportunity to listen to their concerns, as they shared their experiences and made suggestions on the ways the Government can assist in the advancement of their causes.

The Prime Minister spoke to the attendees about the close relationship he shared with his grandmother and how her death impacted his life. In turn many attendees paid tribute to the women who have dedicated their life to activism in Trinidad and Tobago.

He also used the event to reiterate his Governments commitment to eradicating the many challenges facing women and girls.

Rowley said Government currently meets with civil society groups on a quarterly basis and is actively looking for ways to strengthen and expand this partnership.

Folade Motota, Executive Director, Womens Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD), in addressing the gathering, commended the Prime Minister for keeping his promise to tackle the issue of child marriage. Motota said, We need timely legislation. We are grateful for the legislation on child marriage.

We met with you in March and by January the following year, the legislation was in Parliament. Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Gender and Child Affairs, the Honourable Ayanna Webster-Roy also attended the event.

Rowley indicated that he placed this ministry within his office because it has a key role to play in pro- .

tecting and supporting vulnerable groups within the society and commended Webster- Roy for her willingness to engage civil society and her commitment to consensus building.
PM Modi addresses Swachh Shakti 2017 - A Convention of Women Sarpanches at Gandhinagar

New Delhi, Fri, 10 Mar 2017 NI Wire

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today addressed Swachh Shakti 2017 - A Convention of Women Sarpanches, at Gandhinagar.

He said that this event is an occasion to honour Sarpanches who have contributed immensely to the movement towards a Clean India. He said that in 2019, we will mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who, he recalled, had stated that cleanliness is even more important than political freedom.

He urged the gathering to maintain the momentum which has been generated towards cleanliness. The Prime Minister asserted that Swachhata, or cleanliness, has to be become our habit. He said the poor gain the most when we achieve cleanliness and eliminate dirt.

The Prime Minister said that the women who were being honoured today have shattered many myths, and have shown how a positive change has begun in rural India.

Shri Narendra Modi asserted that he can see the determination to make a positive difference when he meets women Sarpanches, who, he added, wish to bring about a qualitative change.

Talking about the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' initiative, he said that villages with women Sarpanches can play a key role in the drive to end female foeticide.

The Prime Minister said that a discriminatory mindset cannot be accepted, and both boys and girls should get equal access to education.

Speaking on the theme of technology, the Prime Minister said that it can bring about a phenomenal change to our villages.

Congratulating the award winners, the Prime Minister said that they inspire the entire nation.

Source: PIB
Text of statement of Union Home Minister regarding incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi, Fri, 10 Mar 2017 NI Wire

Following is the text of statement of the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha today regarding incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on March 7-8, 2017:

As per the available information, on 7th March, 2017 at 09.41 hours a blast took place in the general compartment of train no. 59320 Bhopal-Ujjain Passenger near railway station Jabdi, district Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh. 10 passengers got injuries in this blast and railway property was also damaged. The injured were immediately rushed to the hospital. All the injured are presently out of danger.

With regard to the above incident, a case crime number 47/17 u/s 3/4 Explosive Substances Act was registered against unknown accused in police station GRP, Ujjain for investigation on the report of train guard.

As soon as the information about the incident was received, DGP, Madhya Pradesh rushed to the spot along with other senior officers of Police and Administration and initiated necessary action with regard to the investigation of the incident. Initial inspection of the scene of crime indicated that the accused had used an IED prepared by using locally available explosives for the blast.

Madhya Pradesh Police coordinated with central agencies for the investigation of the incident. Subsequently, based on available intelligence, three suspects were taken into custody by Madhya Pradesh Police during vehicle checking at a place Pipariya in district Hoshangabad. Interrogation of these suspects indicated their involvement in the aforesaid incident and they were arrested. Further investigation of the case is being done in coordination with central agencies and information is being collected about other accomplices of the accused.

Based on the interrogation of the above suspects and other available information, Uttar Pradesh Police initiated action at different places in Lucknow, Etawah, Kanpur and Auraiya.

In Lucknow, information was received about one Mohammad Saifullah alias Ali, resident of Kanpur, renting an accommodation in Haji Colony, Police Station Kakori. ATS Uttar Pradesh laid a siege of the house and made vigorous attempts to arrest the suspect Saifullah. However, he refused to surrender and started firing on ATS team. Ultimately, after 12 hours of efforts, the ATS team entered the room in which Saifullah was holed up and in the ensuing encounter, this suspected terrorist was killed. From the room of the deceased, 8 pistols, 630 live cartridges and other material which included cash of Rs. 1.5 lakh, about 45 grams gold, 3 mobile phones, 4 sim cards, 2 wireless sets and some foreign currency was recovered.

A case crime number 2/2017 u/s 307/121A/122/123/124-A IPC, 3/4/25/27 Arms Act and 16/18/23 UAPA has been registered at Police Station ATS, Lucknow with regard to the incident.

ATS Kanpur Unit has arrested one more suspect from Jajmau Police Station area against whom a case crime number 3/2017 u/s 121/121A/123/124A IPC and 16/18/23/38 of UAPA has been registered.

Apart from the above, two more accused, one from Etawah and one from Auraiya have been arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police on the charge of supplying weapons to the above gang of suspected terrorists. Thus, total 06 arrests have been made in these incidents so far.

The above sequence of events presents an excellent example of coordination amongst the State Police and Central Agencies. Due to the prompt action taken by the police of both the States, a possible threat to the national security was successfully averted. Further investigations will be handed over to NIA.

Source: PIB
Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa, Nickelodeon Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP) and Character Licensing & Marketing (CLM) South Africa are prepping a consumer products rollout for Nickelodeon's hit preschool seriesin South Africa that will launch this summer!Spurred by the phenomenal initial response toin the UK and the US, and the popularity of the TV series on Nick Jr. and SABC in South Africa, Mattels Fisher Price is leading the way with the property's master toy line, due to launch at key South African retailers in June 2017. The products will be available at a range of outlets such as Toy Kingdom, Toys"R"Us, Hamleys, Toy Zone and Lilliput Toys, plus mass market retailers such as ShopRite Group, Africas largest retailer, and online retailer Takealot.com.Ackerman has signed on as direct-to-retail clothing partner, and licensees such as PowerHouse, Global Source, First World Trade TCI and Life Authentic have all been commissioned by South Africas top mass and high-end clothing retailers (Edgars, Pick n Pay, Mr Price, Jet, Jam Clothing, Hub and Pep) to develop lines set for a summer 2017 launch. A magical range of outerwear, swimwear, sleepwear, footwear, fashion accessories and luggage is expected to launch in September and October 2017. Just Fun Group is in the midst of developing a peripheral toy program covering affordable puzzles, novelty and pocket money toys, and arts and crafts that will ensuretoys are available at a wide range of price points.There will also be wheeled toys and role-play items from Just Play, musical instruments from HTI, partyware, fun lucky packets, bubble toys and novelty confections from Laceys Distributors, as well as Candy Toys. A local publishing program is also in development via Empire Group. Coloring and activity books will be available in South Africa from December. Starting in October, Character Group will be rolling out-inspired products spanning from bedding, bedroom accessories, fashion accessories, bath and beauty products and beverages.Dan Frugtniet, the Vice President (VP) of licensing and business development at Nickelodeon Viacom Consumer Products, said, A host of early commitments from best-in-class licensees and top South African retailers is a testament to the huge strength and popularity of, and very encouraging so early in the life of this new property.Farnaz Esnaashari-Charmatz, creator and co-executive producer of, commented, Im so excited to bring smiles to the faces of Shimmer and Shines many South African fans by expanding the reach of these well-loved characters beyond the TV screen and giving them the opportunity to touch, play and interact within the real world.Graham Stephen, the managing director of Character Licensing & Marketing (CLM), South Africa, added, The initial response tohas been incredible and CLM is confident that the international success will be mirrored locally. The brand has huge market potential and we are truly honored to be a part of Nickelodeon Viacom Consumer Products strong preschool offering.
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"If it rains today, Alpaca the cart, and you push it."



Kevin Wehrer

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Look for a new photo Monday.
Moroccan authorities have captured two ISIS members who were active in the city of Casablanca, the economic capital of the North African country, which had already been targeted three times by the terrorists.

According to the Interior Ministry, the two jihadists were planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Morocco. They have already started getting components and material used for making explosives.

The police seized in their homes copper cables, a thermometer, electric batteries, a bottle containing a suspect liquid, a bag of powder and other dangerous equipment.

The North African country has placed counterterrorism at the top of its priorities following the Casablanca terror attacks in 2003 and the subsequent attacks of 2007 and 2011. It has worked out a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy that includes vigilant security measures, regional and international cooperation, and counter-radicalization policies.

Moroccos counterterrorism efforts mitigated the risk of terrorism but the country continues to face threats, largely from numerous small, independent violent extremist cells.

The Moroccan authorities have dismantled multiple groups with ties to international networks that included ISIS and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Part of its anti-terror policy, Morocco undertook a reform of its penal code in line with international law and human rights as they are universally recognized. Several measures were taken to criminalize justifications of terrorism and to fight money laundering. The creation of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), known as Moroccos FBI, came to reinforce the legal and security anti-terrorism efforts.

BCIJ head, Abdelhak El Khiame who was participating this Friday in the Moroccan Northern city of Tangiers in a debate on regionalization and security policies called on Moroccan scholars to join in the fight against terrorism through their writings and speeches.

Moroccan thinkers and academics should participate in the anti-terrorist struggle through their intellectual productions, he said, insisting that intellectuals, like judicial services, have a role to play in the protection of citizens and the eradication of terrorist crimes through fostering awareness to the dangerous plague.

Since its creation in 2015, the BCIJ dismantled no less than 45 terrorist cells and arrested at least 548 terrorists who were brought before justice (275 in 2015 and 273 in 2016.)


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Churkins grave, in Moscow. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

The mysterious death of Russian U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin will remain a mystery, the New York City medical examiners office said Friday. The office, which typically makes public the results of autopsies, will keep quiet on Churkins cause of death after a request from the U.S. State Department.

Ambassador Churkins diplomatic immunity survives his death, the medical examiners spokeswoman Julie Bolcer said in a statement Friday.

Churkin died last month, after collapsing in his office on February 20. An initial autopsy was inconclusive and more tests were reportedly needed, heightening the mystery around his death. But four days after his death, the U.S. State Department asked the city to keep the medical examiners results private.

In another letter to Mayor Bill de Blasios international affairs office, dated March 1, James Donovan of the State Department wrote, The United States has an obligation to take all appropriate steps to protect his dignity.

Given the reputation of Russian president Vladimir Putin, foul play is often suspected when a politically powerful Russian drops dead. But Putin was reportedly fond of Churkin and deeply hurt by his death. A day after Churkin died, the Russian president awarded the diplomat a posthumous Medal of Courage for selflessness, perseverance, and high professionalism.

Churkin is at least the third Russian diplomat to die since the start of the year, joining Andrey Malanin, who died in Greece, and Alexander Kadakin, who died in India.
Getting well. Photo: H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStoc/Getty Images

In June 2009  as the Affordable Care Act was taking shape on Capitol Hill  Safeway CEO Steven Burd preached the gospel of corporate wellness from the op-ed page of The Wall Street Journal.

In his column, Burd took on the question at the heart of health-care reform: How can public policy improve citizens health outcomes while also containing the aggregate cost of care? The grocery executives answer was simple: Allow employers to punish the unhealthy behaviors of their workers more severely.

Burd explained that, in 2005, Safeway had instituted a voluntary wellness program, which gave employees the opportunity to undergo tests of their tobacco usage, body fat, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. If they passed all four tests, their annual premiums were reduced by $780 for individuals and $1,560 for families.

Or, put another way, if Safeway employees failed any of the tests  or refused to participate in the voluntary program  their premiums were increased by $780 for individuals and $1,560 for families.

This system allowed Safeway to achieve the unthinkable: Between 2005 and 2009, the company kept its per capita health-care costs flat, even as most American companies saw theirs increase by 38 percent.

Today, we are constrained by current laws from increasing these incentives, Burd noted. If these limits are appropriately increased, I am confident Safeways per capita health-care costs will decline for at least another five years as our work force becomes healthier.

Burds message was cheered on both sides of the aisle. Technocratic liberals appreciated Safeways nanny-state-esque approach to nudging its employees into healthier choices, while conservatives welcomed any opportunity to increase the freedom of bosses to coerce the behavior of their workers.

The Safeway program has proven so successful that the company wants to increase its incentives for rewarding healthy behavior, Mitch McConnell said, shortly after Burds op-ed was published. Unfortunately, current laws restrict it from doing so. One month later, Barack Obama hailed the great job Safeway had done in helping encourage its employees to get fit.

The so-called Safeway Amendment was added to the ACA. Now, if you fail, or refuse to take part in, your employers voluntary wellness test, it can increase your premium by 30 percent  or, if youre a smoker who refuses to quit, by 50 percent.

There is no evidence that this new rule produced a significant drop in Americas health-care costs. And that isnt terribly surprising  since Burds column was composed almost entirely of lies.

[A] review of Safeway documents and interviews with company officials show that the company did not keep health-care costs flat for four years, the Washington Post reported in January 2010. Those costs did drop in 2006  by 12.5 percent. That was when the company overhauled its benefits  the decline did not have anything to do with tying employees premiums to test results. That element of Safeways benefits plan was not implemented until 2009.

In other words, Safeway reduced costs for a single year by raising its employees deductibles. It didnt save money by encouraging its workers to lead healthier lives  it saved money by making its workers pay a larger portion of their health-care costs.

And this is the story of the corporate wellness craze, more broadly. As Slates L.V. Anderson explains:

A government-sponsored 2013 analysis of large employers medical and wellness data by the nonprofit RAND Corporation was unable to detect a statistically significant reduction in health care costs as a result of wellness program implementation. RAND also challenged the notion that financial incentives produce thinner employees: according to their analysis, $10 in incentives is associated with 0.03 pounds of weight loss. At that rate, a company would need to spend $10,000 to get an overweight employee to lose 30 pounds.



So what are employers actually after when they implement wellness programs tied to large financial incentives? Cost-shifting. Under the ACA, wellness programs are a legal way to shift a significant portion of the cost of premiums onto employees deemed unhealthy. Wellness programs dont save money by preventing expensive medical claimsand in fact, they might even increase claims costs due to encouraging unnecessary doctors visits. But wellness programs can save money if enough employees fail them or opt out.

This conclusion isnt just supported by virtually every study on corporate-wellness programs that isnt funded by those who profit from them. Its also supported by common sense. Many serious health conditions arent especially sensitive to behavior (asthma, Crohns disease, etc.). And those that can be impacted by lifestyle interventions arent common in the working-age population. As Anderson writes, cancer, heart attacks, stroke, and diabetes usually dont hit until retirement, even among people who have had bad habits all along.

Now that its public knowledge that the story behind the Safeway Amendment was a lie  and that there is little science to support that lies broader premise  you might think that Congress would scrap the provision.

If so, you dont know Congress.

Rather than roll back the Safeway Amendment, the House GOP is working to expand its reach. Per Stat News:

A little-noticed bill moving through Congress would allow companies to require employees to undergo genetic testing or risk paying a penalty of thousands of dollars, and would let employers see that genetic and other health information.



Giving employers such power is now prohibited by legislation including the 2008 genetic privacy and nondiscrimination law known as GINA. The new bill gets around that landmark law by stating explicitly that GINA and other protections do not apply when genetic tests are part of a workplace wellness program.

The Houses bill is one part of phase two of the GOPs health-insurance-reform plan  a package of regulatory reforms that cant pass through the reconciliation process, and, thus, need Democratic votes in the Senate.

The American Benefits Council, which represents large employers, argues that their inability to coerce workers into presenting their genetic information puts at risk the availability and effectiveness of workplace wellness programs, thereby depriving employees of improved health and productivity.

Under the terms of the bill, employees names would be removed from their genetic tests before those tests are handed over to employers. This would, ostensibly, allow companies to target the aggregate genetic vulnerabilities of their employees through their wellness programs, while preserving individuals privacy rights.

However, at a small company  where it isnt terribly difficult to match a genetic profile to an individual  it could allow a firm to covertly identify workers who present a high risk of becoming expensive in the future. Which is to say: It might provide them an end run around their workers disability protections.

It also might allow the wellness firms that companies contract with to make a quick buck. As Stat notes:

[P]rivacy concerns also arise from how workplace wellness programs work. Employers, especially large ones, generally hire outside companies to run them. These companies are largely unregulated, and they are allowed to see genetic test results with employee names. They sometimes sell the health information they collect from employees.



As a result, employees get unexpected pitches for everything from weight-loss programs to running shoes, thanks to countless strangers poring over their health and genetic information.

Its almost as though entities that define their own wellness by the size of their profit margins cant be trusted to promote the wellness of the human beings that they view as labor costs.
Middlebury College students turn their backs to Charles Murray during his lecture on March 2, 2017. Photo: Lisa Rathke/AP

Heres the latest in the assault on liberal democracy. It happened more than a week ago, but I cannot get it out of my consciousness. A group of conservative students at Middlebury College in Vermont invited the highly controversial author Charles Murray to speak on campus about his latest book, Coming Apart. His talk was shut down by organized chanting in its original venue, and disrupted when it was shifted to a nearby room and livestreamed. When Murray and his faculty interlocutor, Allison Stanger, then left to go to their car, they were surrounded by a mob, which tried to stop them leaving the campus. Someone in the melee grabbed Stanger by the hair and twisted her neck so badly she had to go to the emergency room (she is still suffering from a concussion). After they escaped, their dinner at a local restaurant was crashed by the same mob, and they had to go out of town to eat.

None of this is very surprising, given the current atmosphere on most American campuses. And protests against Murray are completely legitimate. The book he co-authored with Harvard professor Richard Herrnstein more than 20 years ago, The Bell Curve, included a chapter on empirical data showing variations in the largely overlapping bell curves of IQ scores between racial groups. Their provocation was to assign these differences to both the environment and genetics. The genetic aspect could be and was exploited by racists and bigots.

I dont think that chapter was necessary for the books arguments, but I do believe in the right of good-faith scholars to publish data  as well as the right of others to object, critique, and debunk. If the protesters at Middlebury had protested and disrupted the event for a period of time, and then let it continue, Id be highly sympathetic, even though race and IQ were not the subject of Murrays talk. If theyd challenged the data or the arguments of the book, Id be delighted. But this, alas, is not what they did. (I should add up-front that I am friends with both Murray and Stanger  having edited a symposium on The Bell Curve in The New Republic over two decades ago, and having known Allison since we were both grad students in government at Harvard.)

But what grabbed me was the deeply disturbing 40-minute video of the event, posted on YouTube. It brings the incident to life in a way words cannot. At around the 19-minute mark, the students explained why they shut down the talk, and it helped clarify for me what exactly the meaning of intersectionality is.

Intersectionality is the latest academic craze sweeping the American academy. On the surface, its a recent neo-Marxist theory that argues that social oppression does not simply apply to single categories of identity  such as race, gender, sexual orientation, class, etc.  but to all of them in an interlocking system of hierarchy and power. At least, thats my best attempt to define it briefly. But watching that video helps show how an otherwise challenging social theory can often operate in practice.

It is operating, in Orwells words, as a smelly little orthodoxy, and it manifests itself, it seems to me, almost as a religion. It posits a classic orthodoxy through which all of human experience is explained  and through which all speech must be filtered. Its version of original sin is the power of some identity groups over others. To overcome this sin, you need first to confess, i.e., check your privilege, and subsequently live your life and order your thoughts in a way that keeps this sin at bay. The sin goes so deep into your psyche, especially if you are white or male or straight, that a profound conversion is required.

Like the Puritanism once familiar in New England, intersectionality controls language and the very terms of discourse. It enforces manners. It has an idea of virtue  and is obsessed with upholding it. The saints are the most oppressed who nonetheless resist. The sinners are categorized in various ascending categories of demographic damnation, like something out of Dante. The only thing this religion lacks, of course, is salvation. Life is simply an interlocking drama of oppression and power and resistance, ending only in death. Its Marx without the final total liberation.

It operates as a religion in one other critical dimension: If you happen to see the world in a different way, if youre a liberal or libertarian or even, gasp, a conservative, if you believe that a university is a place where any idea, however loathsome, can be debated and refuted, you are not just wrong, you are immoral. If you think that arguments and ideas can have a life independent of white supremacy, you are complicit in evil. And you are not just complicit, your heresy is a direct threat to others, and therefore needs to be extinguished. You cant reason with heresy. You have to ban it. It will contaminate others souls, and wound them irreparably.

And what I saw on the video struck me most as a form of religious ritual  a secular exorcism, if you will  that reaches a frenzied, disturbing catharsis. When Murray starts to speak, the students stand and ritually turn their backs on him in silence. The heretic must not be looked at, let alone engaged. Then they recite a common liturgy in unison from sheets of paper. Heres how they begin: This is not respectful discourse, or a debate about free speech. These are not ideas that can be fairly debated, it is not representative of the other side to give a platform to such dangerous ideologies. There is not a potential for an equal exchange of ideas. They never specify which of Murrays ideas they are referring to. Nor do they explain why a lecture on a recent book about social inequality cannot be a respectful discourse. The speaker is open to questions and there is a faculty member onstage to engage him afterward. She came prepared with tough questions forwarded from specialists in the field. And yet: We  cannot engage fully with Charles Murray, while he is known for readily quoting himself. Because of that, we see this talk as hate speech. They know this before a single word of the speech has been spoken.

Then this: Science has always been used to legitimize racism, sexism, classism, transphobia, ableism, and homophobia, all veiled as rational and fact, and supported by the government and state. In this world today, there is little that is true fact. This, it seems to me, gets to the heart of the question  not that the students shut down a speech, but why they did. I do not doubt their good intentions. But, in a strange echo of the Trumpian right, they are insisting on the superiority of their orthodoxy to facts. They are hostile, like all fundamentalists, to science, because it might counter doctrine. And they shut down the event because intersectionality rejects the entire idea of free debate, science, or truth independent of white male power. At the end of this part of the ceremony, an individual therefore shouts: Who is the enemy? And the congregation responds: White supremacy!

They then expel the heretic in a unified chant: Hey hey, ho ho! Charles Murray has got to go. Then: Racist, Sexist, Anti-gay. Charles Murray, Go away! Murrays old work on IQ demonstrates no meaningful difference between men and women, and Murray has long supported marriage equality. He passionately opposes eugenics. Hes a libertarian. But none of that matters. Intersectionality, remember? If youre deemed a sinner on one count, you are a sinner on them all. If you think that race may be both a social construction and related to genetics, your claim to science is just another form of oppression. It is indeed hate speech. At a later moment, the students start clapping in unison, and you can feel the hysteria rising, as the chants grow louder. Your message is hatred. We will not tolerate it! The final climactic chant is Shut it down! Shut it down! It feels like something out of The Crucible. Most of the students have never read a word of Murrays  and many professors who supported the shutdown admitted as much. But the intersectional zeal is so great he must be banished  even to the point of physical violence.

This matters, it seems to me, because reason and empirical debate are essential to the functioning of a liberal democracy. We need a common discourse to deliberate. We need facts independent of anyones ideology or political side, if we are to survive as a free and democratic society. Trump has surely shown us this. And if a university cannot allow these facts and arguments to be freely engaged, then nowhere is safe. Universities are the sanctuary cities of reason. If reason must be subordinate to ideology even there, our experiment in self-government is over.

Liberal democracy is suffering from a concussion as surely as Allison is.

Meanwhile, of course, President Trump continues his assault on the very same independent truth  in this case, significantly more frightening given his position as the most powerful individual on the planet. He too has a contempt for any facts that do not fit his own ideology or self-image. Thats why the lies he repeats are not just moments of self-interested dishonesty. They are designed to erode the very notion of an empirical reality, independent of his own ideology and power. They are an attack on reason itself. A fact-driven media has to be discredited as fake news if it challenges Trumps agenda. Equally, a bureaucracy designed impartially to implement legislation has to be delegitimized, if its fact-based neutrality challenges Trumps worldview. And so the administrative state, in Steve Bannons words, has to be deconstructed.

Likewise, a health-care bill must be passed through committee before an independent CBO can empirically score it. The overwhelming conclusion of climate scientists  that carbon is warming the Earth irreversibly  is simply denied by the new head of the EPA. The judiciary can have no legitimate, independent stance if it too counters the presidents interests. A judge who opposes Trump is a so-called judge. Equally, intelligence-gathering can have no validity if it undermines Trumps interests. It suddenly becomes intelligence. It can be ignored. Worse, the intelligence agencies are maligned as inherently political, rather than empirical. Last week, Trump went even further, claiming, with no evidence, that the Justice Department colluded in a criminal wiretap with the previous president to target Trumps candidacy in the last election. Maybe this was designed merely as a distraction from the accumulating lies of his campaign surrogates about their contacts with Russian officials. Maybe it was another temper tantrum from a man with no ability to constrain his emotions by reason. But I tend to think Peter Beinarts take is closer to the mark. Trump was delegitimizing the Justice Department so that he can reject the conclusion of any investigation of his campaigns ties to Russia as politically rigged:

No one lives on Mount Olympus. Government lawyers, judges and journalists are all fallible. They are all vulnerable to bias and self-interest. But prior presidents have generally given them the benefit of the doubt. Prior presidents have assumed, absent contrary evidence, that they are motivated by professional standards, not rank partisanship. Trump does not. He has questioned the integrity of Judge Gonzalo Curiel and of vast swaths of the press. And now he is preparing to question the integrity of the career officials investigating his Russia ties.



They are all corrupt. They are all agents of the opposition, part of the massive conspiracy to deny Trump his rightful triumph. And thus, the independent standards by which they judge his actions are a sham. There are no independent standards. There is only the truth that comes from Trump himself.

This is the vortex we are being led into by the most reckless, feckless, and malevolent president in this countrys history. It is a vortex where reality itself must subordinate itself to one political side; where facts are always instruments of power and nothing else; where our entire Constitution, designed to balance power against power to give truth and reason a chance, is being deliberately corroded from within. Its been seven weeks. And the damage done to our way of life is already deep, and deepening.
Want a bite? Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

NASAs Cassini spacecraft has been cruising around Saturn for 13 years, periodically sending pictures of the enormous planet and its many moons back to Earth. On Thursday, NASA published its latest snapshots and theyre the clearest photos yet of Saturns tiny moon Pan, which orbits the planet in a gap of its A ring.

Space ravioli? No, it's Saturn's moon Pan. @CassiniSaturn images are closest ever taken of this odd shaped moon: https://t.co/iXw8VX0682 pic.twitter.com/9B15ZSdyZD  NASA (@NASA) March 9, 2017

Captured at a distance of about 15,000 miles, NASA says these are the closest images ever taken of Pan. Previous shots of the moon had drawn comparisons to a walnut, but NASA is suggesting this one is more ravioli-like, which seems about right. But as Cassini imaging chief Carolyn Porco tweets, other foods have been suggested too.

After 13 yrs, we've come to expect extreme reactions to our images. But hunger? Ravioli, tortellini, empanada, pierogi, hamburger, brie?  Carolyn Porco (@carolynporco) March 9, 2017

Pan is about 22 miles in diameter and that bulge at its equator is the moons most notable feature. It formed over time as Pan accumulated material from the rings it passes through to form the Encke Gap.

Launched in 1997, Cassini reached Saturn in 2004. Later this year, after more than 2 billion miles logged, it will run out of fuel. In a mission dubbed Grand Finale, NASA will send Cassini to its demise in Saturns atmosphere to avoid the possibility of crashing into one of the planets potentially habitable moons.
Obamas economy was not enough to save Hillary Clinton. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The liberal explanation for the result of the election emphasizes Hillary Clintons deep personal unpopularity, which grew out of a combination of her own bad decisions, hostile media coverage, an overblown email scandal, and the decisive intervention of FBI director James Comey. Both the right and the far left have drawn different conclusions, which use Clintons defeat as an indictment of the entire liberal policy agenda. David Brady, a political scientist at the conservative Hoover Institute, tells Tom Edsall, Why did Kankakee, Illinois, and Green Bay vote Obama and then Trump? They didnt become racist and misogynistic over the last 8 years. It has to do with the effects of slow-growth economies over time on peoples psyches.

The left-wing writer Matt Stoller has made the same point repeatedly. Obama cant place the blame for Clintons poor performance purely on her campaign. On the contrary, the past eight years of policy-making have damaged Democrats at all levels, he wrote in January. Trump is the price well be paying for more than 25 years of failed Democratic policy-making, he writes this month.

The argument boils down Clintons election to a simple causal chain. Obamas policies led to slow economic growth, which led to voter anger or disillusionment with Obamas presidency, which voters transferred by proxy onto his successor candidate, Hillary Clinton. This line of reasoning has come to appear so self-evidently true that many analysts on the right and the left have discussed the election as though Trump defeated Obama, with Clintons role almost incidental. Many of them assert that those of us who dont share this belief are in a bubble of elitist denial, failing to grasp the popular discontent with Obamas status quo.

The supposition that Clinton lost because of her association with Obama, rather than despite it, ignores a great deal of publicly available data about both figures. At election time, Obama was quite popular, and Clinton quite unpopular. While Clinton was less unpopular than her opponent through most of the campaign, one recent analysis shows that the floor dropped beneath her support after the Comey letter came out:

If there was a bubble, it was political insiders who saw Clintons email issue as a small-bore routine problem, not the image-defining scandal most Americans came to see it as. I know several Democratic political operatives who heard from swing voters who believe Clinton routinely had people murdered. Insiders never saw how badly the email issue poisoned her image, holding queasy Republicans in Trumps corner and depressing her turnout.

The theory that Obamas economic policies hurt Clinton also has trouble explaining why Obama was able to win comfortably in 2012. After all, the economy was in worse shape in 2012 than in 2016, and Obamas approval was higher. So why did economic discontent with Obama hurt Democrats more in 2016 than in 2012?

Indeed, the more we learn about the economy, the harder it gets to sustain the theory that Obamas economy hurt Clinton. Economic data arrives in lags, and is often revised years later before a truly accurate picture forms. Many of the indictments of Obamas economy rely on old data that does not capture his entire presidency. This turns out to be especially significant. Financial crises tend to produce slow recoveries. The elevated unemployment caused by the worldwide collapse of the financial system took about half a dozen years to come down. During that time, a glut of workers led to stagnant wages. Many of the indictments of the economy during this period reflect data collected in 2013 or 2014. Bernie Sanders repeatedly insisted on the campaign that some huge percentage of wage growth was accruing to the richest 1 percent, which was accurate in the early, slow-growth years of the recovery, but was no longer true at the time he said it.

Since 2015, low unemployment has had the predictable effect of forcing employers to offer better wages to attract and keep their labor force. While incomplete, the data so far suggests wages up and down the income ladder have grown smartly for two years. In 2015, wages actually grew more rapidly at the bottom of the income ladder than at the top:

Growth of jobs and wages continued through 2016 and into 2017, and income trends are likely to show that last year extended the same broad-based growth dynamic as the year before. The slow recovery from the financial crisis eventually yielded an impressive, still-ongoing recovery that is producing broad-based increases in the standard of living.

Many of the indictments of Obamas policies were formed early in his administration. (Stoller, among others, has been making this critique since Obamas first term.) There is a case to be made that the fiscal response to the recession was too small, unnecessarily elongating the recovery. That said, the economy under Obama did reach low unemployment and it has, at last, produced impressive wage gains for the working class. If any number of factors had turned out differently, from Comey to WikiLeaks, people would be talking about the Obama-Clinton boom. The evaluations of his economic record that are able to account for all the data will yield conclusions far more favorable than most people afforded Obama at the time. In the meantime, the political credit will accrue to the president who inherited an economy humming along at low unemployment.

Obamas economic policies may wind up helping Trump after all. But if they do, it will not be because they helped get Trump elected, but because they helped him get reelected.
Photo: Pool/Getty Images

Park Geun-hye, South Koreas first female president, has been removed from office following a corruption scandal that has rattled the nation for the past six months. Her removal is likely to shift relationships across Asia as the region tries to deal with an increasingly belligerent North Korea.

Eight judges on South Koreas Constitutional Court ruled unanimously to impeach Park, upholding a parliamentary vote to strip her of her powers in December. Since that time, the prime minister, Hwang Kyo-ahn, has been acting president. Park is the first South Korean president to be ejected from office.

The scandal broke in the fall, when reporters found a tablet belonging to Choi Soon-sil, the presidents close friend since childhood. It suggested that Choi, who had no government position, was influencing policy, with Park secretly turning to her for counsel and rarely conferring with her official advisers.

Furthermore, a special prosecutor alleged that Choi took advantage of her relationship with the president to enrich herself and her family. She allegedly received about $70 million in bribes from big businesses. Choi has been on trial for months, and Lee Jae-yong, Samsungs de facto head, went on trial this week for bribery, embezzlement, and perjury charges. Park had immunity as president, but now she may be charged with abuse of power, coercion of donations, and sharing of state secrets.

A new election must be held within 60 days, and it appears there will be a political shift in South Korea. The scandal has left Parks conservative party in disarray, and progressive candidate Moon Jae-in is leading in the polls. He is expected to revive the sunshine policy of engagement with North Korea, which is the approach favored by China.

This adds another complication to what was already one of the thorniest issues facing the Trump White House.
Oh Sean. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Twenty-two minutes after the Labor Department released the first jobs numbers of the Trump era, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer jumped on Twitter to celebrate. In so doing, he may have broken a federal rule prohibiting Executive-branch employees from talking about economic numbers for an hour after their release.

Great news for American workers: economy added 235,000 new jobs, unemployment rate drops to 4.7% in first report for @POTUS Trump  Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) March 10, 2017

The rule, as the Times points out, was adopted in September of 1985, with Ronald Reagan in the White House. At the time, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs said the purpose was to preserve the distinction between the policy-neutral release of data by statistical agencies and their interpretation by policy officials.

The tweet from Spicer, who has an uncanny ability to find banana peels to step on, seems like a clear violation of this rule. Lock him up?

Or maybe cut him a break. When youre have trouble putting your American-flag pin on the right way, life must be hard.
Have you seen this secretary? Photo: NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

On Thursday, Greenpeace launched a campaign calling for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to recuse himself from deliberations on granting a permit to TransCanada Corps Keystone XL pipeline, which he praised when he was CEO of Exxon Mobil. The State Department responded with a letter saying Tillerson is committed to full compliance with his ethics obligations, and had recused himself  back in February.

No explanation was offered for why the recusal wasnt announced at the time, but hiding from the press is already one of the hallmarks of Tillersons State Department.

This week, the State Department offered a press briefing for the first time in seven weeks. (While near-daily press briefings have been a tradition for decades, the current plan is to hold just two briefings and two conference calls per week.) Acting spokesman Mark Toner took the opportunity to push back on the idea that Tillerson is out of touch.

I can also assure you that Secretary Tillerson is very engaged with the White House, is very engaged with the president, speaks to him frequently, Toner said. I can assure everyone that the State Departments voice is heard loud and clear in policy discussions at the National Security Council level.

Regardless of Tillersons relationship with the president, his lack of interaction with the public is shocking, particularly because the secretary of State is usually one of the most visible cabinet advisers.

Since taking office, Tillerson has given no media interviews and no press conferences. During his trip to Germany last month, he answered just one question shouted by a reporter. Earlier this week, NBCs Andrea Mitchell was ushered out of the room when she tried to ask the secretary a question during a photo op with Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin.

WATCH: @mitchellreports escorted from room as she tries to question Sec. Tillerson, Ukraine FM on China and Russia. https://t.co/eF3Bawj17n  NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) March 7, 2017

Tillerson has refused to take any reporters on his trip to Asia next week. D.C. bureau chiefs from major news organizations  including the New York Times, Fox News, CNN, the Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal  sent a letter protesting the decision.

We were deeply concerned to hear that Secretary Tillerson plans to travel to Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo to hold key meetings about some of the most important foreign policy issues for the United States without any traveling press. Not only does this situation leave the public narrative of the meetings up to the Chinese foreign ministry as well as Koreas and Japans, but it gives the American people no window whatsoever into the views and actions of the nations leaders. And the offer to help those reporters who want to travel unilaterally is wholly unrealistic, given the commercial flight schedules, visa issues and no guarantee of access once they are there.

CNNs Jake Tapper called the decision insulting:

Not bringing press on a trip like that is unusual & insulting to any American who is looking for anything but a state-run version of events  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 9, 2017

Engaging with the public is not a priority for the CEO of an oil company, but Tillersons press avoidance may have more to do with his boss than his background. According to Carol Giacomo of the New York Times, State Department sources say he doesnt see the importance of engaging the press, a view reinforced by Mr. Trumps attacks on the media.
Sad! Photo: Pool/Getty Images

Back in January, President Trump signed executive orders to begin immediate construction of a border wall, which is so badly needed, as he put it. Two months later, its still unclear what the wall will look like, and even Republicans are questioning how the administration will pay for it. Nobody knew constructing a $21.6 billion, 1,250-mile wall could be so complicated.

President Trump recently insisted, Its not a fence. Its a wall, but others in his administration arent so sure. In an interview with Hugh Hewitt this week, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the barrier might be see-through, noting thats actually what U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials prefer.

Some places, a solid concrete barrier might be desired, Mulvaney said. In other places, the border folks are actually telling us, border controls actually telling us that they like the one you can see through, because it reduces the number of violent attacks on our folks. So its a complicated program.

Last month, a leaked internal Department of Homeland Security report estimated that the project would cost $21.6 billion, but Mulvaney said its impossible to guess the price tag. It just depends on the kind of wall that you want to build, and I dont think weve settled, yet, on the actual construction, he explained.

The administration is taking steps toward figuring that out. U.S. Customs and Border Protection just started accepting bids from contractors to build prototypes of the big, beautiful wall. Officials said they expected to construct several versions near San Diego, and test them out for 60 days. The primary purpose of this effort is to develop design standards for a border wall that may be constructed along the southwest border with Mexico, said CBP spokesman Michael Friel.

CBP began accepting proposals on Monday, and under the original plan they would have whittled down their choices and received final proposals with cost estimates by March 25. According to the Arizona Republic, experts said the timeline for such projects is usually months, not weeks. CBP has extended the first deadline to March 20, without explanation, and the rest of the new schedule is unknown.

CBP did offer some details on what theyre looking for: We anticipate procuring concrete wall structures, nominally 30 feet tall, that will meet requirements for aesthetics, anti-climbing, and resistance to tampering or damage, said the post on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

Senator Claire McCaskill, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, complained this week that its irresponsible to move ahead with the project, calling on Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to explain how much it will cost and how it will be funded.

The administration floated an idea to finance the wall by making deep cuts to the Coast Guard, TSA, and FEMAs terrorism-response program. On Wednesday, Representative Duncan Hunter  a Republican  pointed out that cutting funding to national security programs to boost border security is nonsensical.

On Thursday, Democratic Representative Gwen Moore introduced the No Taxpayer Funding for the Wall Act, which would prohibit the use of federal money to build Trumps wall (or fence). The bill has more than three dozen Democratic co-sponsors, and shes hoping to attract some Republican deficit hawks.

Trump famously promised that Mexico would pay for the wall, but in January he and Paul Ryan began emphasizing that U.S. taxpayers would finance the barrier at first, and later theyd figure out some way to make Mexico reimburse us. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell literally laughed when asked on Thursday if Mexico will pay for the wall. Uh, no, he answered.

Republican senator Cory Gardner went even further during a telephone town hall on Wednesday night, saying, A wall is not the right way to proceed.

We shouldnt just build a wall and add billions of dollars because thats what somebody said should be done, Gardner said  though thats basically the position most Republicans adopted during the campaign. As it turns out, figuring out how to build that wall is less fun than chanting that phrase at rallies.
Starbuckss new cups look like Twitter eggs. Photo: Joshua Trujillo/Starbucks

In a new move for the company, Starbucks released a line of limited-run spring cups. (Usually, the company sticks to taking the Christ out of Christmas with their infamous red holiday cups in November and December.) The cups are color-coded by size, from a tall green to a venti yellow. Grande cups are blue. The Starbucks logo is nowhere to be found, instead replaced by a white circle. At first glance, the brightly colored cups look like they might be Easter eggs. Theyre not  thats a circle, not an egg shape. Still, these white circles on vibrantly colored backgrounds resemble a certain kind of undecorated egg: the Twitter variety. The faceless avatar for Twitter users who havent bothered to upload a profile image  usually because theyre trolling or harassing you, or just using the account to complain directly to American Airlines about their lost luggage.

Starbucks pays tribute to twitter trolls w/ new line of Spring cups. pic.twitter.com/8YQ5qUHJfq  Troy Turbeville (@VilleontheVille) March 10, 2017

Starbucks releases its "But the emails", "Hillary for Prison" and "All Lives Matter" Twitter egg cups pic.twitter.com/ohrkedL8Bx  L. Lee (@LyndsayALee) March 10, 2017

the new Starbucks cups look...familiar! pic.twitter.com/J0XUsrWrrS  Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) March 10, 2017

The new Starbucks cups look like they're here to tell you that the pay gap is a myth pic.twitter.com/CnSUJE3dQE  Megan Lasher (@MeganLasher) March 9, 2017

Last week, Twitter announced a new tool that will let users mute any account with an egg avatar. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely this will be helpful with shielding your eyes from the new cups.
Daniela Vargas was released by ICE Friday. Photo: Rogelio V. Solis/AP

Daniela Vargas, a 22-year-old undocumented immigrant from Argentina, was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials last week just after speaking to the media about Trumps immigration policy. At a news conference in Jackson, Mississippi, Vargas said a path to citizenship was necessary for DACA recipients, but also for the other 11 million undocumented people with dreams. She went on, Today, my father and brother await deportation while I continue to fight this battle.

Vargass lawyer told the Huffington Post that, in Vargass case, ICE would pursue immediate deportation without a court hearing or bond, but on Friday ICE officials announced Vargas would be released under an order of supervision.

New: @ICEgov released Daniela Vargas under an order of supervision pic.twitter.com/EP6y9y2zSR  Sarah Smith (@sarahesmith23) March 10, 2017

Vargas arrived in the United States with her family when she was 7, and she was granted permission to live and work in the U.S. thanks to President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Her father and brother were arrested by ICE officials last month, and Vargas was arrested in early March because her DACA status was out of date  it had reportedly expired in November, and Vargas couldnt afford to pay the $495 renewal fee until February.

Her attorney said her arrest could be retaliation. They had been reading about her in the news, they had seen her at this press conference  [maybe] they didnt want to hear it anymore, she said.
Photo: Gazi Alam/Getty Images

India passed a law to more than double its paid maternity leave, adding 14 weeks to the 12 already guaranteed by the government, reports the BBC. Thats right: 26 weeks, fully paid. With only Canada (50 weeks) and Norway (44 weeks) ahead of it, India now has the third-longest fully paid maternity leave in the world.

The new law comes with a bit of fine print: The 26-week leave is available to mothers only for the births of their first two children. Women who have three children or more will have 12 weeks of paid leave, as will mothers who adopt children younger than 3 months and commissioning mothers (women who use surrogates to have a child). Companies with more than ten employees will be required to offer the full 26-week leave. Supporters hope the increase in available leave will allow more Indian women to keep working. Currently, about 25 percent of women in India leave their jobs after having a child.

And what about Indias working dads? Indias governmental workers have 15 days of paternity leave, which can be used by biological as well as adoptive fathers. According to the Indian Express, Indias private sector has zero legislation guaranteeing paternity leave, though many companies grant paternity leave for a week or two. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, the powerhouse behind the maternity-leave legislation, said in 2016 that if men gave me one iota of hope by taking sick leave for child care, then yes, we can think of  a proposal for paternity leave. But, as reported by DNA India, the passage of the maternity-leave bill prompted some members of Indias parliament to bring up paternity leave, arguing that these days most of the children are born in nuclear families where both the father and the mother have to take care of the child.

Meanwhile, the United States currently guarantees zero weeks of fully paid leave for mothers or fathers.
yes, case closed!

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I am watching this series right now and it is so good.

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omg why did this image come to mind immediately lol

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Lol this brings back memories

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omg my childhood right here!!!

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didn't that homophobe preacher have a song with frank too, smh

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Me: Son, can we crop Kim Burrells voice out of your song??  katonya breaux (@katonya) January 1, 2017

Yeah and then his mom asked if they can crop her voice out of his song lol

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omg i love her

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His mom is so pretty 

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well in that case

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The case is closed in the same way Chaffetz said the case is closed for an investigation into Russia.

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This nigga. Please fucking stop. Put the shovel down.

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lmao mte

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Yes, that's exactly how it works! If you've talked to a gay person, know a gay person, or have a song with a person, you can't be homophobic!

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who knew "i have gay friends" would be the new thing

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Ariana Grande ended homophobia with Into You anyway, why was anyone questioning him in the first place?

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YOU MIGHT

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Madonna ended homophobia when she released Vogue in 1990! She then brought it back to life only to kill it again when she performed at the Super Bowl in 2012!

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What is the trend lately of forgeting the true lord and savior of gay people Macklemore?? He ended homophobia with "Same Love" and now people don't even mention him , smh.

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lolll macklemore came and went, didn't he

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right?! let's not forget he and lady gaga were at the stonewall riots too!

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migos sing bad and boujee right? i'm so over that song and how my 5th graders think it's cute to rap the chorus 

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mmhm it's called slide. it's very meh imo

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Though OPEC has managed to achieve a high standard of compliance, it has mostly been due to the oversized cut by the largest member of the groupSaudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the actions and statements of the second and third largest producers in OPEC are throwing worrying signs at the oil bulls.

Saudi Arabia is in a catch 22 situation. As the defacto leader of OPEC, it is left to implement most of the production cuts to ensure a high level of overall group compliance. Saudis know that OPEC might not get another chance if it doesnt adhere to its production cuts.

Another reason is the forthcoming IPO of Saudi Aramco. Without higher oil prices, Saudi Arabia might not get the valuation it is expecting for its crown jewel. Aramcos successful listing is vital for reaching Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 objective.

However, two OPEC members, Iran and Iraq, are exploiting Saudi Arabias precarious position by taking steps to boost production. The Kingdom will have to contend with increased production from Iran and Iraq, along with tackling the U.S. shale oil producers.

According to the IEA, Iraq will increase its output to 5.4 million barrels per day by 2022, which is significantly higher than the earlier estimates of an increase to 4.6 million bpd by 2021. Similarly, Iran is expected to boost production by 400,000 bpd to reach 4.15 million bpd production in 2022.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry and the Iranian Oil Ministry have signed a memorandum of understanding to bury their differences on joint oil fields and build a pipeline to export crude oil from the Kirkuk fields, in the north of Iraq, through Iran, reported the Al Monitor.

Iraq, which produced 4.47 million bpd in January, well above its quota of 4.35 million bpd, is capable of raising its output to 5 million bpd in the second half of this year, said Iraqs Minister of Oil, Jabbar Ali Al-Luiebi.

"We achieved this great achievement of 4 million barrels per day ... middle of 2016, and now we have climbed up and we are reaching about 5 million barrels per day beginning of second half of this year," Al-Luaibi said during an interview at CERA Week by IHS Markit, reports CNBC. Related: Oil Prices Continue Plunging As Speculators Rush For The Exit

This is bearish for oil because, along with Saudi Arabia, Iraq will also hold spare capacity that can be ramped up during supply outages.

"Obviously, it's bearish. They're going to have to show considerable production constraint having that spare capacity. That's the kind of capacity historically only the Saudis have had," said John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital, reports CNBC.

Meanwhile, Iran has managed to increase its exports to 3 million bpd, its highest level since 1979. The landmark was reached for just a day, in the current Iranian month that began Feb. 19, said the Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, according to state news agency IRNA, reports Bloomberg.

Iran wants to increase its production to 5 million bpd by 2021. However, it needs investments by foreign investors to achieve that target. This will not be a new high in production for Iran, because it used to pump in excess of 6 million bpd in the 1970s, before the Islamic Revolution drove the western investors away. A fresh round of foreign investment is the key, which is yet to take off in Iran.

Nevertheless, with every major oil producer looking to boost production, the oil glut is here to stay.

By Rakesh Upadhyay for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
North Dakota has published January production data for the Bakken and for all North Dakota.

(Click to enlarge)

Bakken production was up 37,617 bpd to 932,817 bpd while all North Dakotas production was up 37,972 to 980,294 bpd.

(Click to enlarge)

Bakken bpd per well was up 3 to 86 while the average bpd per well for all North Dakota wells was up 4 to 76.

(Click to enlarge)

The North Dakota stats have Wells Producing dropping by 189 in December and dropping another 35 in January for a total decline of 224 over the two months. The total number of producing wells in North Dakota in January stood at 12,976.

You will notice these numbers differ quite a bit from Lynn Helms numbers below. I have no explanation for this.

From the Directors Cut:

Oil Production

December 29,211,993 barrels = 942,322 barrels/day

January 30,389,117 barrels = 980,294 barrels/day(preliminary)

(all-time high was Dec 2014 at 1,227,483 barrels/day)

Producing Wells

December 13,337

January 13,333 (preliminary)

(all-time high was Nov 2016 at 13,520)

Permitting

December 35 drilling and 0 seismic

January 81 drilling and 1 seismic

February 45 drilling and 1 seismic

(all time high was 370 in 10/2012)

ND Sweet Crude Price

December $39.93/barrel

January $40.51/barrel

February $42.74/barrel

Today $41.50/barrel

(all-time high was $136.29 7/3/2008)

Rig Count

December 40

January 38

February 39

Todays rig count is 44

(all-time high was 218 on 5/29/2012)

Comments:

The drilling rig count decreased two from December to January, then increased one from January to February, and is currently up 5 from February to today. Operators are shifting from running the minimum number of rigs to incremental increases throughout 2017, as long as oil prices remain between $50/barrel and $60/barrel WTI.

The number of well completions decreased significantly from 84(final) in December to 54 (preliminary) in January.

Oil price weakness is anticipated to last into the second quarter of 2017.

There were two significant precipitation events, five days with wind speeds in excess of 35 mph (too high for completion work), and eleven days with temperatures below -10F. The first half of January was as bad as December 2016, but the last ten days of the month the weather was dry, warm, and a little windy.

More than 98 percent of drilling now targets the Bakken and Three Forks formations.

Estimated wells waiting on completion is 802, down 5 from the end of December to the end of January. Estimated inactive well count is 1,678, up 105 from the end of December to the end of January.

Okay, but what is the rest of the U.S. doing as far as oil production goes? The data below is from the Petroleum Supply Monthly and goes through December 2016, not January as the above North Dakota data does. (The data is in thousand barrels per day.) Related: U.S. Shale Kills Off The Oil Price Rally

(Click to enlarge)

US C+C production was down 91,000 bpd in December. Most of this drop was from North Dakota which they have down 89,000 bpd in December.

(Click to enlarge)

The EIA has Texas down 17,000 bpd in December. Notice that they have Texas virtually flat for the second half of 2016.

(Click to enlarge)

Alaska has stopped their decline, temporarily anyway. Alaska was up 6,000 bpd in December.

(Click to enlarge)

The EIA says the Gulf of Mexico was up 47,000 bpd in December. Related: Is The Oil Price Plunge A Turning Point?





(Click to enlarge)

So, I just subtracted Alaska and the GOM from total U.S. production to see what the Lower 48 were doing in December. They were down 144,000 barrels per day. 89,000 of that was from North Dakota. Therefore, the Lower 48, less North Dakota, was down 55,000 bpd.

By Ron Patterson

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Oil prices plunged on Wednesday and Thursday, dropping to their lowest levels since December when the optimism surrounding the OPEC deal was just getting underway. WTI dipped below $50 for the first time in 2017 on March 9, a two-day loss of more than 8 percent.

The catalyst for the sudden decline in prices was yet another remarkably bearish report from the EIA, which showed an uptick in crude oil inventories by 8.2 million barrels last week. That takes crude stocks to another record high, and it was the ninth consecutive week of inventory builds.

Up until now, oil speculators have taken the unusual increase in crude inventories in stride. Instead of paring back their long positions, hedge funds and other money managers doubled down over the past two months, putting more money into bullish bets, hoping that the OPEC production cuts would outweigh the comeback in U.S. shale.

The result was a shocking level of bullish bets on WTI and Brent, creating a lop-sided position in the futures market. That is not necessarily a problem if market conditions are tightening, as many investors believed, but it begins to look unbalanced if in fact the oil market is still oversupplied.

The pace of adjustment in the physical market for crude oil is starting to drag on, and investors are getting anxious. With so many investors having staked out bullish bets, oil prices are exposed to sharp and sudden corrections if they unwind those positions.

And that may be starting to occur. It was just a matter of time before sentiment shifted, and another week of enormous crude inventory builds might have been a too much to stomach. When you look at a very visible marker like the weekly U.S. inventories and you see that crude stocks are still rising, then some of these market participants may begin losing a bit of faith in the effectiveness of producer restraint, Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity strategy at BNP Paribas SA, told the WSJ.

The sudden downward shift in WTI below $50 per barrel also suggests that the U.S. shale industry might be ramping up too quickly. This week Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm warned at the CERAWeek Conference that shale drillers might crush oil prices if spending and production move too high too fast. Noting that shale production could go pretty high, Hamm warned that "its going to have to be done in a measured way, or else we kill the market." Related: Saudi Oil Minister Says Market Intervention Is Ineffective

Saudi Arabias energy minister also warned industry participants at the Houston Conference that his country would not bail out shale drillers if such a situation occurred. It would be "wishful thinking" to expect that Saudi Arabia and OPEC "will underwrite the investments of others at our own expense" by slashing production further, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said.

The fact that U.S. crude inventories are breaking records every week and oil prices have failed to post any gains so far in 2017 offers some evidence into the notion that the comeback in the U.S. oil industry is undermining the effectiveness of the OPEC deal. OPEC has achieved a much higher compliance rate than the market expected, posting steep cuts in output, yet the market fundamentals are improving at a much slower pace than everyone anticipated. That largely is the result of the sharp uptick in U.S. output, now up nearly 600,000 bpd since last summer.

In the most recent data release alone, the EIA reported an uptick in production by about 56,000 bpd, a large jump for a single week. Production is now up to 9.088 million barrels per day, the highest level in over a year. Related: Will Exxons New $20 Billion Strategy Pay Off?

(Click to enlarge)

And the pace of growth is surprising the market. Since the start of 2017 the average U.S. crude oil production growth has been +35 kb/d w/w. That equates to a marginal, annualized growth rate of 1.8 mb/d, Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB, the leading Nordic corporate bank, said in a statement. That amount of growth is too much, too early.

Oil traders have been optimistic regarding prices for several months now, betting that OPEC would accelerate the adjustment towards balance. But the sharp rise in U.S. production is deflating the rally. Schieldrop went on to sum up the predicament for OPEC: [W]hat will OPEC do in the face of strongly rising US crude oil production? They can decide to make cuts in H2 2017, but does this make sense? We dont think so. The U.S. shale oil production response is too fast and too flexible. If OPEC feels that cutting back is futile, they could pass on a six-month extension. That would certainly mean more losses for WTI and Brent are ahead.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
In a bid to boost its oil products trade in southern Europe and Turkey, Russias oil giant Rosneft is expanding its business ties with oil products trading and logistics firm Petrocas, which has crude storage terminals in the Caspian and the Black Sea regions.

Faced with the EU and U.S. sanctions against Russia over its role in the conflict in Ukraine, Rosneft has not been able to work with Western banks, and has turned to global trading houses such as Glencore and Trafigura.

Petrocas is owned by David Yakobashvili who sold in 2010 what was then his biggest asset, dairy products and juice-making firm Wimm-Bill-Dann, to PepsiCo in a deal that valued the Russian company at US$5.4 billion.



Now Yakobashvili, whose company Petrocas created a logistics and retail joint venture with Rosneft at the end of 2014, will be helping the Russian oil giant trade oil products in Turkey and southern Europe.

We are pursuing joint strategic interests with Rosneft and are discussing joint involvement in infrastructure projects in the south Caucasus and beyond, Yakobashvili told Reuters in an interview published on Friday.

According to the former juice king, Petrocas is helping Rosneft boost its margins when selling refined products and delivering them to users in Europe and Turkey.

Since it struck the joint venture deal with Rosneft, Petrocas has also increased its oil products trading volumes. Petrocas sold around 1 million tons of oil products in 2014, compared to 3.5 million tons it sold last year.



Related: China Teapot Refineries Lobby For Fuel Export Ban Removal

Petrocas and Rosneft have been partners in trading in the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus regions, and plans now are that trading could expand to more markets, mostly in southern Europe. The target markets include Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Italy, and Germany.

Petrocas has deals with oil companies including Kazakhstans Kazmunaigaz, Austrian OMV, Greeces Motor Oil Hellas, Italys Saras SpA and Frances Total SA, according to Reuters.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recused himself from any issues and deliberations around the Keystone XL oil pipeline project, a statement from the State Department revealed. The statement was sent to Greenpeace in response to a call from the environmental organization for Tillerson to do just thatstep aside from decisions around the project.

According to the State Dept statement, Tillerson distanced himself from any decisions regarding the pipeline project a while agoin fact, as soon as he took the helm at the department.

He has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanada's application, it said.

Keystone XL, which would bring 800,000 bpd of heavy crude from Alberta to Nebraska, from where the fuel will be transported to Gulf Coast refineries, was the object of vocal and persistent opposition that eventually led to a presidential veto from Barrack Obama two years ago. The President argued that the project, besides the environmental risks, does not make sense economically.

Incumbent Donald Trump disagrees: the executive order for the resumption of the Keystone XL project was among the first ones he signed after taking office, along with an identical order for the Dakota Access pipeline, likewise the target of environmentalist protests.

Canadians are apparently in favor of the renewed project. According to a recent poll, Albertans, who stand to benefit directly from Keystone XLs construction, are strongly in favor of it, with 77 percent of respondents in the poll saying so.



Related: China Teapot Refineries Lobby For Fuel Export Ban Removal

Nationwide, support for the pipeline comes in at 48 percent, while 33 percent are against it. Interestingly, earlier polls from the same market research company, Angus Reid, on other pipeline projects have seen lower overall support.

After the initial approval from the White House, there was worry that the good news may clash with Trumps decision to ban the use of non-U.S. produced steel in infrastructure projects. However, earlier this week the administration said Keystone XL will be exempted from the new rule.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes annulled an earlier decision that would have seen Venezuela pay more than a billion dollars to Exxon for the nationalization of two projects it ran in the country.

The news was announced by a lawyer for the Venezuelan government, and the sum that has been spared Caracas, according to Reuters, is $1.4 billion. The initial award for damages from the ICSID, dating from 2014, was for $1.6 billion but Venezuela argued that another $908 million that the International Chamber of Commerce ruled to be paid to Exxon should be deducted from the initial reward.

The ICSID said the annulment only concerned parts of the sum, without providing any further details. Still, even at $1.6 billion, the compensation was substantially lower than what Exxon had asked for: $14.7 billion.

Exxon operated the Cero Negro heavy oil project in Venezuela and one smaller one, La Ceiba, before Hugo Chavezs government seized the assets in the mid-2000s, as part of a strategy to redirect the profits away from Venezuelas mineral resources, telecoms, and agriculture industries and toward social programs. However, Exxon, along with many other companies, were naturally unhappy with these developments and challenged the legality of the nationalization at international courts.

At the time, Exxon said that it had discussed possible partnership with PDVSA, the state-owned oil company, and the government, but the two sides had failed to agree on mutually acceptable compensation.



Related: Is The Oil Price Plunge A Turning Point?

An Exxon filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2014 showed that its Venezuelan assets had 425 million barrels of crude in proved reserves and a net book value of $750 million.

After this latest ruling from the ICSID Exxon said it will continue to evaluate its legal rights and determine next steps.

Venezuela is still facing more than 20 court cases related to the nationalization wave.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Japanese government to contribute $7 million for Afghan refugees

ISLAMABAD: The Japanese government on Thursday announced a contribution of $7 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and World Food Programme (WFP) to support Afghan refugees and host communities in Pakistan.



The official announcement was made by Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch and Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Takashi Kurai during a press event in Islamabad.



Acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Indrika Ratwatte, UNHCR Assistant Representative (Protection) Tracey Maulfair, WFP Country Director and Representative Finbarr Curran and representatives from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Secretariat and KP government were also present on the occasion.



The Japanese government has allocated $3 million to UNHCR for implementation of its priority interventions in the provision of legal assistance to refugees in the country and its programmes in the areas of education, healthcare and vocational training. This generous contribution by the government of Japan will, in addition to providing legal assistance to an estimated 22,500 refugees in Pakistan, support an estimated 50,000 persons from the refugee population and the communities hosting them in accessing healthcare and education, as well as some 210 youths who will be undergoing vocational training courses throughout Pakistan.



The Japanese government has allocated the remaining $4 million to WFP to support 82,389 beneficiaries, including 42,874 children of 6-59 months of age and 39,515 pregnant and lactating women over the period of six months. It will enable WFP to procure a total of 1,097 metric tonnes of locally produced quality "ready-to-use supplementary foods" that will be distributed in four districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province - Peshawar, Nowshera, Hangu and Kohat - identified as the districts hosting the highest number of Afghan refugees and host communities.



Speaking at the occasion, Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch said that the "interventions are in line with the government of Pakistan's priorities to ensure" provision of adequate nutritious food to Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan. "The government of Pakistan is committed to maintaining food security and protecting the Afghan population living in Pakistan. The government of Japan has been an active partner of the government of Pakistan in supporting the refugees and [their] returns, which contributes to the peace and stability in the region."



He said that Ministry of SAFRON would be working in close liaison with the UNHCR and the WFP to provide continuous support to Afghan refugees and host communities in Pakistan.



Speaking at the occasion, Ambassador Takashi Kurai said, "The government of Japan attaches great importance to supporting Afghan refugees and their host communities, which have provided shelters - so much needed to them - for more than three decades. With this grant from the people of Japan, assistance will be provided to host communities as well as Afghan refugees. I am sure that this assistance will significantly alleviate the burden on them. Japan has been assisting Afghan refugees in Pakistan and their host communities for more than 10 years with the grant aid of more than $200 million. I hope this grant aid will be fully utilised and put a positive impact, particularly on the young generations."



Acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Indrika Ratwatte expressed gratitude to the government and people of Japan for demonstrating their commitment and supporting the uprooted people. "Japan has always been a strong supporter of global humanitarian efforts," Ratwatte said, adding that with this contribution, the WFP and the UNHCR would be able to provide meaningful support and assistance to those in need.



WFP Country Director and Representative Finbarr Curran said that the government of Japan had been a key partner in ensuring food security and nutrition for temporarily displaced Pakistanis as well as Afghan refugees. "This contribution will provide timely support for the triparty agreement" - signed by the governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran - "for the sustainable return of Afghan refugees to their country of origin," he said. "WFP foresees that the investment in nutrition will have a positive long-term impact on the economic development of both countries."



It may be mentioned here that Pakistan has been home to millions of Afghans for more than 37 years and continues to host the world's largest protracted refugee population.














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...
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The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
What have future generations ever done for us?  Groucho Marx

Last week we took on the controversial subject of climate change. This week, just to demonstrate how reckless a humble blogger can be, well return to the scene of the crime and do it all over again.

When I was in college I took a course called History of Science 101. I took it, naturally enough, because I had to satisfy a science distribution requirement and I sure as hell wasnt going to take Quantum Mechanics. I expected to sleep through the course and get my usual Gentlemans C+. In fact, I was riveted from Day 1.

The history of science, it turns out, is essentially the history of scientific error, a long and sad litany of how smart people go very badly wrong and then stay that way until they die. As Max Planck put it, science advances one funeral at a time. i.e., only after the scientists who are wrong are dead wrong can younger scientists can take over and move the field forward, because scientists never change their minds.

When science goes wrong, what tends to go wrong is that the scientific community reaches a premature consensus and then that consensus gets brutally enforced so that it cant be challenged. In the old days a wrong consensus was usually enforced by religious authorities who were worried about their reputations. After all, if you claim to be speaking directly to God but you think the sun revolves around the earth, people might begin to wonder.

Today though, wrong scientific consensuses are enforced by the scientists themselves. Like the religious authorities of old, scientists are worried about their reputations. The result, though, is that science starts looking a lot less like science, with its skepticism, rigor and careful analysis, and starts looking a lot more like, well, religion.

Typically, a wrong consensus gets enforced when two conditions are present: (a) the science is very complicated, so that mere laypersonsand even most other scientistscant begin to understand it, and (b) the consequences of not heeding the scientific consensus are believed to beor are asserted to becalamitous.

Climate science satisfies both conditions in spades. The field is so complex that no one scientist, let alone any layperson, can understand it. The field requires contributions from many different scientific disciplines, most of which cant really understand each other. For example: climatology, atmospheric science, glaciology, meteorology, hydroclimatology, marine biology, oceanography, biogeochemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, paleoclimatology, paleoceanography, geoengineering, and a whole bunch of other disciplines nobody ever heard of.

And, as we know, climate scientists argue that the consequences of not taking vigorous action right now are horrific. Melting polar ice caps will flood the worlds great coastal cities. Gigantic stretches of farmland constituting the worlds breadbasket will turn to desert. Human civilization will descend into a new Dark Age, and this time there will be no Renaissance to look forward to. Instead, as desperate nations fight over disappearing resources, nuclear holocaust will wipe us out, along with most other earth-based species.

Okay, maybe thats an exaggeration, but only slightly.

But are we really in such a hurry? To try to decide whether we are or not, lets start with the Paris climate treaty, which went into effect just last November. The agreement has been hailed by the climate change community as though it amounted to peace in our time or perhaps the elimination of global poverty.

But before we get carried away, lets ask ourselves, even as supporters of the climate consensus, what the treaty actually accomplishes. The climate consensus insists that, to avoid disaster, the worlds nations must maintain global temperatures at no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above where they were before the Industrial Revolution. (False precision? God Himself doesnt know what the right temperature of the earth is, but the climate scientists know.)

Now, lets assume that all 194 countries who signed the Paris accord do everything they promised to do, even though we know this to be preposterous. Even under Obama, for example, the U.S. did less than half of what was required, and now we have a President who is threatening to pull out of the treaty altogether. Once the U.S. cheats, we can safely assume that everyone else will cheatthat is, if there is anyone else who isnt already cheating.

But lets assume that every country does everything its supposed to do. What would happen to global temperatures? Well, instead of reaching 3.6 degrees above preindustrial levels, temperatures would reach only 3.51 degrees above that level. Yes, thats right, the Paris agreement would get us precisely 2.5 percent of the way to where we need to benot 2.5 degrees, 2.5 percent.

Of course, the professors will argue that Paris is only the first step, that the accord itself ratchets up the requirements over time and that other, tougher, treaties will follow. But my whole point in this series of posts is that it aint gonna happen. So many people of goodwill, so many people who actually agree with the climate consensus, are so annoyed with the way the consensus is enforced that we dont lift a finger. When Trump says hes pulling us out of the Paris agreement, instead of reacting with outrage and calling Congress, we sigh and think, Well, it serves those bastards right.

If the Paris treaty is going to accomplish almost nothing, and if what it accomplishes is mainly to put a whole lot of working people out of their jobs (via major restrictions on CO2 emissions), maybe we shouldnt be in such a hurry in the first place. Maybe we should first build consensus not just in the scientific community and among the global elite, but among ordinary people whose livelihoods are at stake.

Theres a final argument for allowing dissent into the world of climate change, and well get to that next week.

Next up: Loose Change, Part IX
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, on Thursday reintroduced legislation to re-instate the "Year-Round Pell" program to provide supplemental federal education grants to college students for courses taken in summer or other nontraditional semesters.

The legislation, which she also introduced in the previous Congress, gained immediate bipartisan support from colleagues in 18 states.

The legislation  HR 1485  had 24 original co-sponsors  12 Republicans and 12 Democrats -- according to the Library of Congress government information web site.

Original co-sponsors from New York are as follows:

Kathleen Rice, D-Long Island; Peter King, R-Long Island; John Faso, R-Kinderhook; Chris Collins, R-Clarence.

Click here to read more about the proposed legislation.
Glens Falls Hospital has a new director of communications and marketing, the latest in a long line of spokespersons for the hospital.

Jerry Gretzinger, formerly of Channel 6 and SUNY Polytechnic Institute, began work in Glens Falls this week.

We tried to count the marketing heads who those of us in the newsroom have encountered over the past two decades, and the consensus was that there have been 10 to 15 during that time period. Some have lasted just months, some have made it a few years. There doesn't seem to be any common theme with the constant turnover.

The hospital sent out a press release about Gretzinger's arrival that seemed to be missing a little bit of background, that being his most recent state employment.

From the release:

"Gretzinger is best known for his many years at WRGB CBS 6 News in Niskayuna, NY where he was an evening news anchor and reporter. He has worked in communications and marketing management in the theme park industry and higher education and has served as a communications consultant for small businesses and non-profit healthcare organizations. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Marist College."

Omitted was that Gretzinger's last employment was with SUNY Polytechnic Institute as its $155,000-a-year vice president for strategic communications and public relations, and it ended when he was let go last fall shortly after a major scandal at the school unfolded related to alleged bid-rigging. There have been no allegations that he did anything wrong, and he walked away with a stipend of nearly $40,000 for his troubles, according to this published report.

The press release noted that he is a cancer survivor, and he feels "very fortunate to work for an organization dedicated to the health and well-being of upstate New York residents."

Gretzinger is the biggest name among the hospital's parade of spokespeople, hopefully he will improve the hospital's responsiveness to our inquiries and will stick around longer than most of his predecessors.

-- Don Lehman
SOUTH GLENS FALLS  Our beautiful songbird Rachel B. Allen, 37, of South Glens Falls, passed away accidentally Sunday, March 5, 2017 at her parents home.

Born on Nov. 2, 1979 in Saratoga Springs during a power outage under a spotlight at Saratoga Hospital, she was the daughter of Connie (Liebl) Bourdeau (George) of South Glens Falls and Morgan Allen of Norwich.

At an early age she developed a beautiful singing voice. Throughout her early years she performed in talent shows in and out of school.

Rachel attended Corinth Central Schools and received her GED in 1989, and went on to graduate from Bradford Hall in Albany as a medical assistant in 2007. She worked in various nursing homes in Warren and Saratoga counties.

She also used her amazing singing talent to perform for the public, and had the wonderful opportunity to work alongside many talented musicians, including New Country Band, Tony Jenkins Jay Band, Children at Play, 4 of a Kind, Now Playing, Live without Annett, Kelsey Allen Project, Lil R & R (Rich & Rach), NBSB Jazband, and many performances with her cousin, Brandon Weaver.

Rachel enjoyed the spotlight and performing for people to dance and have a good time. She had a big heart and always helped out family and friends. She had an infectious laugh and a way of lifting peoples spirits when down.

She was predeceased by her maternal grandparents, Ray and Agnes Leibl; paternal grandparents, Morgan Sr. Curley and Violet Allen.

Survivors besides her mother and her father include two sisters, Nachole Loomis (Chris Pulver) of Corinth and Wendy Fancher of Sahuarita, Arizona; her nieces and nephews, Damen, Taylor, and Cheyanne; and two aunts, Carolyn Pechtel of Greenfield and Colleen Weaver (Joe) of Greenfield; and several cousins.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 12, at the Densmore Funeral Home, Inc., 7 Sherman Ave. in Corinth with Lane Schermerhorn officiating.

Friends may call from 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday, at the funeral home, prior to the service.

The family wishes to thank Scott Price for making Rachels beautiful tribute at the service.
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Editor's Note: The charges were clarified on March 15.

KINGSBURY  A Vermont man who was sentenced late last year to 5 years on probation for illegally possessing a handgun and felony driving while intoxicated was arrested early Friday for allegedly driving without a license and illegally possessing a switchblade knife, police said.

Brett T. Marini, 40, of Benson, Vermont, was arrested after he was pulled over on Dix Avenue at 1:10 a.m., according to State Police.

Troopers stopped him for failing to dim high-beam headlights at approaching traffic, and found him to not have a license because of a prior DWI conviction, authorities said.

He also displayed a "fire police" badge to the troopers and indicated he was a fire inspector, police said. State Police are investigating whether he should face charges in connection with the badge.

During a search, he was found to have an illegal switchblade knife, which led to a felony count of criminal possession of a weapon in addition to a charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, according to State Police.

Marini was sentenced to 6 months in Warren County Jail and 5 years on probation last November after pleading guilty to felony weapons and DWI counts in connection with the May seizure of a loaded, unregistered handgun in Chester and a July felony DWI arrest in Lake George.

He was arraigned in Whitehall Town Court and sent to Washington County Jail for lack of bail. Trooper Michael Strain made the arrest.
QUEENSBURY  A former local woman who was paroled from state prison less than a month ago was arrested on felony drug charges Tuesday in Queensbury, police said.

Kathina M. Duncan, 36, of Schenectady, was charged with two felony counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, including a count that alleges she possessed the drug with intent to distribute, after an investigation by the Warren County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit, the agency said. She was also wanted for violating parole.

Duncan, a three-time felon, was paroled from prison on Feb. 16, after serving nearly 3 years for a 2013 attempted robbery conviction in Albany County.

She is a former Corinth resident who also has felony convictions for attempted assault and attempted burglary, state records show.

Duncan was arraigned and sent to Warren County Jail without bail.
CAMBRIDGE  Cambridge-Greenwich Police arrested two women Thursday who were wanted on felony charges in Florida for a financial scam, police said.

Police were contacted by the Sarasota County Sheriffs Office earlier in the week asking for local police to look for two women who had fled Florida while under investigation for a check scheme, authorities said.

Cambridge-Greenwich Chief George Bell said police determined that they may be staying at 62 W. Main St., and both were located there and arrested without incident on Thursday.

Both Shaina M. Robertson, 22, and Dara-Lynne S. Percey, 23, were charged with being fugitives from justice on felony charges lodged in Florida, Bell said.

Robertson, who formerly lived in White Creek, faces a felony charge of scheme to defraud, while Percey faces a count of uttering a forged instrument, according to police. Percey also formerly lived in the Cambridge area before going south.

They have been back and forth between here and Florida, Bell said. The investigators in Florida believe they were trying to cash stolen checks.

Both were arraigned before Cambridge Village Justice Phil Sica and sent to Washington County Jail without bail, pending extradition proceedings in Washington County Court. Police in Florida indicated they will come to Washington County to retrieve the women, Bell said.

Bell and Cambridge-Greenwich Police Cory Wagner made the arrests.
QUEENSBURY  Warren Countys plans for a specialized night and weekend court to cut the costs of a new requirement to have most defendants represented by counsel at arraignment has run into a roadblock.

The state Office of Court Administration has not approved the proposal that was put together last summer by those in the countys criminal justice system who were looking to streamline court operations in light of the new arraignment practices.

The county hopes to set up an after hours court in part of the former jail behind the county Municipal Center in Queensbury, which would save counsel and law enforcement officers travel time that would be needed for arraignments held in courts around the county.

The proposal was made after the state Legislature passed a bill earlier this month that would allow counties to create centralized courts to handle off-hour arraignments, as counties around the state dealt with the fallout from a class-action lawsuit related to legal representation for the indigent. Warren County would be the first in the region to create one.

A settlement in the lawsuit has caused counties to have to hire additional public defense staff and prosecutors to staff arraignments at all hours of the night and on weekends. Warren Countys plan would have created a rotating schedule of town and city judges, who would hold proceedings at designated after-hours times in a courtroom to be set up in vacant space in the former county jail wing of the county Municipal Center.

The Warren County Magistrates Association approved the proposal last spring, with Glens Falls Judge Gary Hobbs spearheading the effort, and the hope was to have the court functioning by the end of the year.

Warren County Public Defender Marcy Flores said those involved with the plan are reworking it to address concerns raised about compensation for the judges involved.

Were waiting for OCA approval. Were hoping it will be soon, she said. The judges have been really good. But no one wants to be on call 24/7, she said.

Joanne Haelen, district executive for OCAs Fourth Judicial District office in Saratoga Springs, said OCA has not received a written plan for how the court would operate, but there has been talk of a proposal by the county that will be reviewed.

No plan has been approved by the (OCA) folks in New York City, she said.
State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, is leading a bipartisan push to establish a statewide program to match aging farmers with younger business partners who would eventually buy their farms.

So its a bit of a finding service, Woerner said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Aging farmer mentors would register with an online service that would match them with younger people interested in entering farming.

Once there is a successful match, farming and business advocacy and education organizations would consult with the prospective partners to develop a business and succession plan.

Woerner is supporting a request from the state chapter of American Farmland Trust to allocate $700,000 from the $300 million Environmental Protection Fund in the new state budget for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets to establish the statewide program, modeled after an existing regional program in the Hudson Valley.

Woerner said the proposed Farmland for a New Generation program would meet a strategic goal of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

When the governor did his State of the State this year, he highlighted the need to facilitate the transfer of farmland to a new generation, as we have an aging population of farmers, she said. But he didnt put any resources in the budget for that.

About a third of the farmland in the state is owned by farmers 65 and older, according to American Farmland Trust.

About 90 percent of those older farm owners do not have a farmer younger than 45 working with them to eventually take over the farm.

Woerner and Assembly Agriculture Committee Chairman William Magee, D-Nelson, and 26 other Democratic and Republican Assembly members signed a Feb. 15 letter to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, requesting that the $700,000 allocation be included in the state budget.

Those signing the letter included 16 of 23 members of the Assembly Agriculture Committee.

The request is among several farm succession initiatives that area officials have advocated for in recent years.

The 2014 federal Farm Bill included legislation U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, introduced to establish a federal program providing loans, grants and other incentives for young people to go into farming.

In 2015, Gibson, who left Congress at the end of December, introduced legislation to add farming to professions that qualify for a federal program that forgives education loans for public service careers.

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., reintroduced the legislation on Feb. 15.
An arm of the state Department of Health gave tentative approval Thursday for the sale of a company that owns two local nursing homes.

Capital Living Nursing and Rehabilitation Centres, owner of seven nursing homes, including The Stanton Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Queensbury and The Orchard Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Granville, will sell its assets to two men, one of whom is a member of management with the company that bought a number of county-owned nursing homes in recent years.

The state Public Health and Health Planning Council approved the certificate of need application filed by Amir Abramchik, chief operating officer of Centers Health Care, and Hillel Weinberger, a financial planner.

The state Department of Health reported that the contingent approval was given Thursday and requires that certain quality-control measures are met.

A timetable for the purchase was not released.

Schenectady-based Capital Living & Rehabilitation Centres would receive $85 million for the homes and the land on which they sit. The sale price of the 120-bed Stanton was listed at just over $12.3 million, and the 88-bed Orchard at $6.6 million.

Capital Living has owned the homes since 2003, when it bought them from Hallmark Nursing Centre.

Centers Health Care owns former county nursing homes in Warren, Washington, Essex and Fulton counties, and also operates Indian River Nursing Home in Granville. The company runs 31 nursing homes around the Northeast.

Centers would also serve as a paid consultant in the operation of the seven homes that are being purchased.
In the play The Enemy of the People by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, Dr. Stockman discovers that the town baths, the center of his towns tourist economy, are contaminated and harmful to human health. Although exposing the truth turns the town against him and means he and his family lose their home and jobs and money, he does it anyway.

Ibsen had himself been the subject of persecution as a truth-teller, after the publication of another play  Ghosts  that dealt with infidelity and venereal disease in a way that scandalized Victorian-era audiences. It wasnt only the indelicate subjects but the way Ibsen exposed Victorian hypocrisy and challenged Victorian morality that infuriated people.

So it was gratifying to hear President Donald Trump label the press an enemy of the people. In an Ibsenesque context, that is the highest compliment a president could pay us.

I hope President Trump is correct. I hope, too, beyond reporters, everyday people come to embrace the label of enemy of the people, insisting on truth in the face of powerful pressures to sign on to lies.

If that sounds melodramatic, we are living in extraordinary times. Our impulse is to normalize extreme behavior from someone in a powerful and respected position, like president of the country, but we should resist that.

We should say, for example, how wrong it is to have the president accuse his predecessor of wiretapping him  an act that, if undertaken without judicial authorization, would have been a crime. Trump has offered no evidence for this wild claim, and no one in a position to know has supported it. The FBI director has tried to knock it down.

Its laughable that Trump made this serious accusation on his Twitter account and that he misspelled tap as tapp in the process, but we also have to resist shrugging off his behavior as the antics of the reality TV star and frequent Howard Stern guest he was.

People who have lived under and studied autocratic regimes have been warning since long before Trump got elected that the lies and theater and scapegoating that made up his campaigning and now his governing style make a familiar mix. The tendency, they warned, will be to normalize statements that should be unacceptable and shrug off actions that previously would have led to serious consequences.

The danger, they warn, is that, by the time enough people become alarmed enough to resist the ways the country is being changed, we will have suffered irreparable damage.

I am now 350 pages into Aleksandr Solzhenitsyns monumental 615-page book, The Gulag Archipelago, which digs into the history of the Soviet Unions criminal justice system following the Russian Revolution. On Page 350, he talks about the Petrograd Church Trial of 1922, in which officials of the Russian Orthodox Church were being charged with resisting the requisition of church valuables by the Soviet government.

During the trial of one high church official, the government accuser and tribunal began to refer to the man as an enemy of the people. The logic was that, since the country was being run by a revolutionary government of the people, anyone who resisted its demands was the peoples enemy.

My point is not to claim we are becoming the Soviet Union, nor to raise any more Russian alarms. Most conspiracies are not elaborate schemes but messes created by human bumbling. I do not believe Trump conspired with Putin to undermine the integrity of the U.S. election.

But we should recognize the context of language we are hearing now and the history of behaviors we are seeing now from the Trump administration. When a government justifies its acts by appealing to fear and greed and other passions, when we reject facts we dislike and embrace falsehoods we prefer, were entering a dangerous realm.












[There is an interesting quote below, "The future of Syria might be dictated by Russians, Turks and Syrians..." This may be true, but we can also substitute Syria with Israel as we see Ezekiel 38-39 coming into focus]





















Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin were focused on keeping Iran from filling the vacuum left by the Islamic State in Syria and combating Iranian-sponsored radical Islamic terrorism.









"One of the things that we are fighting against together is radical Islamic terrorism. Of course, there was significant progress last year in the fight against the terrorism of radical Sunni Islam led by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, and Russia has a very important contribution, Netanyahu said ahead of his meeting with the Russian president.





Its obvious that we wouldnt want this terror to be replaced by radical Islamic Shiite terror led by Iran, he said.









While Russia has played a major role over the last year in Syria combating the Islamic State and the Syrian rebels, Israel is concerned that the Kremlin not allow Iran, Russias ally in supporting Syrian strongman Bashar Assad, a permanent foothold in the country.





After their meeting, Netanyahu said Putin had internalized his warning, telling Israeli reporters that he expressed Israels strong opposition to Irans entrenchment Syria.





Iran is seeking to build its military forces, military infrastructure, in order to establish itself in Syria, including an attempt to build a seaport, Netanyahu said, calling this grave for Israels security.

During their discussion, Netanyahu said he also brought up the Golan Heights, telling the Russian leader that Israel will never leave the area. He already knows this issue, Netanyahu said, indicating that he has discussed the matter with Putin during their previous meetings.



The prime minister further said he asked for Putins help in bring back from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip two missing Israeli civilians and the bodies of fallen soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who died in the 2014 Gaza war. Netanyahu said Putin promised to do anything in his power to help us with this.





Absent from the discussion, however, was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Moscows possible interest in Jerusalem as a channel of communication to the White House was also not mentioned, Netanyahu said. We talked about Israeli interests, he indicated.









Following their talk, at the Kremlin, Netanyahu thanked Putin for his wishes ahead of the Jewish festival of Purim, which starts Saturday night, noting that modern Iran now threatens the Jews as the ancient Persians did then.





Twenty-five hundred years ago in ancient Persia, there was an attempt to wipe out the Jewish nation that was unsuccessful, which is being marked with this holiday, the prime minister said.





Here today in Persias successor, Iran, there is another attempt to wipe out the Jewish state. They say this as clearly as possible. They inscribe it on their ballistic missiles, he said. Netanyahu said that Iran was a threat not just to Israel, but to the whole region.

Today, Israel is a state with an army and we are able to defend ourselves. But the threat of Shiite Islamic extremism is not just a threat to us, but rather to the entire region and world peace. I know that we share the desire to prevent any victory for radical Islam from any direction, he said.





During the meeting, Putin said he was very pleased with his close and trusting contact with Netanyahu. We meet regularly in person, are regularly in contact by telephone, and work together at the ministry and agency level, Putin said. You often come to Russia right on the eve of holidays, and so I want to take the opportunity to congratulate you on the upcoming Purim holiday and wish everyone in Israel happy holidays and prosperity.

Netanyahu and Putin were also expected to discuss the ongoing military coordination between the two countries to ensure their forces dont clash over Syrias skies.





Israeli officials have long accused the Iranian Revolutionary Guards of trying to build an anti-Israel front on the Syrian Golan, alongside Hezbollah forces and local Druze opposed to Israel. Netanyahu has sought Russias help in seeking to thwart the attempts of Iran and its terrorist proxy Hezbollah to use Syria as a base from which to attack Israel.





Last week, Chagai Tzuriel, the director-general of the Intelligence Ministry, told The Times of Israel that keeping Iran and Hezbollah from getting a foothold on the Golan was at the top of the agenda for Israels security apparatus.









The future of Syria might be dictated by Russians, Turks and Iranians. And Israel probably wants to share with the Russians its ideas and concerns about such a process, Zisser said. The Golan Heights, which are close to Damascus, pose a particular headache for Israel, he added. The Syrian regime, with the support of the Iranians and Hezbollah, might want to make a comeback and recaptured those territories which were lost several years ago to the rebels, Zisser predicted.

Forces affiliated with the Islamic State group are making territorial gains on the Golan Heights south, which also worries Jerusalem, although they are careful not to engage in a direct confrontation with Israel, he said. They have other priorities, such as fighting each other and fighting the regime. But IS on the border is not something Israel is happy with.

Netanyahu, who flew to Moscow in a small jet, taking with him no press and a small number of advisers, is expected to return to Israel on Thursday evening, leaving Russia immediately after his meeting with Putin. He is accompanied by Minister Zeev Elkin  who also serves as his personal translator  acting national security adviser Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Jacob Nagel, his chief of staff staff Yoav Horowitz, his Military Secretary Brig.-Gen. Eliezer Toledano and the head of the IDFs intelligence branch Herzl Halevy.









































Israel is concerned that Islamic State terrorists facing defeat in the Middle East are heading back to their home countries and may try to carry out attacks in the near future, including a possible chemical attack in Europe, Channel 2 TV news reported Thursday.





The report said Israels Counter-Terrorism Bureau is poised to issue a series of travel warnings ahead of next months Passover holiday calling on Israelis traveling to Western Europe, India and Thailand to exercise extreme caution.





The TV report stressed that warnings have not yet been issued.





Sources in the bureau told Channel 2 that the Islamic States recent defeats in Iraq and Syria are causing many jihadis to return to their countries of origin.





These well-trained fighters could attempt to carry out vehicle-ramming attacks similar to the truck attack in Berlin that killed 12 people, including Israeli Dalia Elyakim, on Christmas.





Officials particularly fear terrorists may attempt to carry out a chemical attack against civilians, using widely available substances. Chemical bombs can be manufactured from products readily available in supermarkets, the report noted. The bureau will soon formally call on Israelis traveling abroad to be alert, especially in crowded locations, and to pay attention to anything unusual, the report said.

The Israeli warning would echo guidance issued by the US State Department on Tuesday telling travelers worldwide to be especially careful of less-sophisticated terror attacks as well and warning of an growing likelihood of non-conventional attacks. Terrorists are increasingly using less sophisticated methods of attack to more effectively target crowds, said the warning, including the use of edged weapons, pistols, and vehicles as weapons.

The State Department also warned that terrorist groups including ISIS, al-Qaida, their associates, and those inspired by such organizations, are intent on attacking US citizens wherever they are. Extremists may use conventional or non-conventional weapons, it said, and cautioned that potential soft targets include high-profile public events (sporting contests, political rallies, demonstrations, holiday events, celebratory gatherings, etc.); hotels, clubs, and restaurants; places of worship; schools; parks; shopping malls and markets; tourism infrastructure; public transportation systems and airports.












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The protest, which United and its unions expect to draw between 150 and 200 people, is in reaction to the inaugural flight of Emirates' new daily service between Newark, New Jersey, and Athens, Greece.

The fury surrounding Emirates' new flight is just the latest episode in the contention between the Middle East's trio of mega-carriers (Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways) and their US rivals (American, Delta, and United Airlines).

Last year, Qatar Airways' inaugural flight to Atlanta proved to be equally dramatic, leading to a showdown with Delta. The soap-opera-worthy incident left more than 500 Qatar Airways passengers without a gate to deplane, an Atlanta landmark without Delta's sponsorship dollars, and allegations of poor etiquette bandied about by both parties.

Over the past decade, the Middle Eastern trio, known as the ME3, have expanded at an incredible pace while garnering critical acclaim.

Emirates, for example, now operates the world's largest fleet of Boeing 777s and Airbus A380 superjumbos by a significant margin. It was also named the best airline in the world by the consumer-aviation website Skytrax in 2016.

However, the US trio, or US3, accuse their Middle Eastern rivals of being fueled by more than $50 billion in subsidies from the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that unfairly tilt the playing field against US airlines. The US3 even contend that most of the ME3's expansion into the US would be untenable without those subsidies.

The ME3 have repeatedly denied these allegations.

"At the end of the day, we have a shareholder who placed equity in the airline who gave us loans to be repaid. That's what people do when they invest in the business," Etihad CEO James Hogan told Business Insider in a 2015 interview. "We've done nothing improper. We've created a great airline with great service, created value  and the accounts are audited by one of the top accounting firms in the world."

Emirates has reported 28 straight years of profitability while returning more than $3 billion in dividends to the airline's investors. In 2015, Emirates released a report that accused the US airlines of receiving more than $100 billion in support from the US government since 2002 in the form of government assumption of pension responsibilities, bankruptcy protection, antitrust immunity, direct grants, loan guarantees, and tax exemptions.

As for Emirates' move into United's New York-area hub, United CEO Oscar Munoz told Business Insider in a recent interview that United believes Emirates would lose an estimated $25 million a year on the Newark-to-Athens route, based on United's experience operating seasonal service to the Greek capital. United declined to elaborate on how it generated that figure.

"At the end of the day, the economics of it is that, if it indeed continues, it's going to affect the jobs in this country because I'm not going to fly from Newark to Athens, Greece, every day," Munoz said. "I fly there seasonally now, because that's where the demand is. If they are going to fly every day, they are going to lose $25 million on that route every year. If they are going to continue to do that, then I have no business in making that route."

An Emirates representative denied these accusations and told Business Insider that the airline's launching of the flight fulfilled consumer demand for a service other airlines weren't offering.

"The New York-Athens route was underserved by other carriers  no airline has operated a year-round, nonstop service between the US and Greece for more than five years," the Emirates representative told Business Insider in an email. "We are launching our New York-to-Athens service following multiple requests from Athens International Airport and the Greek aviation authorities, and after careful study, we believe it will be commercially successful and mutually beneficial to the US, Greece, and the UAE."

The crux of the US3's concern is that the ME3 could enter a market and flood it with many seats at unsustainably low prices made possible by subsidies. This, the US3 contend, would eventually force them to curtail service or even exit certain markets, leading to the loss of US jobs.

"For me, it's the jobs aspect. That's why the unions are so engaged with us and so aligned, because they understand that when demand dies down, we are not going to fly there," Munoz told Business Insider. "Which means I am not going to buy an aircraft for the route and obviously I'm not going to hire people to crew it."

As a result, the US airlines say the ME3 are in violation of the Open Skies agreements that govern air travel between the US and the UAE and Qatar.

Munoz said that even though he understands the ME3 are global marketing machines for their respective countries, he believes the Open Skies agreements should be updated to strike a balance between the need for open competition and the protection of American jobs.

"It would be nice to be able to write something that benefits everyone without being so protectionist, which is sometimes how we come off. Sometimes the industry comes across as a little bit too much of that, and it makes people not want to help you," Munoz said. "Where's the delicate balance? Is the situation unfair? Yes. Do I support what these airlines are doing? Absolutely not."

Emirates' 2015 report hit back at the US3 for what it said was failing to properly show that the US3 had been hurt by the presence of the ME3 while reporting record profits and returning billions of dollars to investors. The report also accused the US3 of failing to note that the ME3's growth was because of their presence in the Asian subcontinent  a market that the US3 have long abandoned.

The US3 and ME3 compete head-to-head on very few routes. This is because, apart from a few exceptions, all of the ME3's flights are routed through their mega-hubs in Abu Dhabi, UAE; Dubai, UAE; and Doha, Qatar. After all, these airlines exist partly to drive trade and commerce to their homelands.
A letter dated March 9, and signed by the Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare said the appointment is pursuant to the establishing law of the Ghana Infrastructural Fund, Act 877 of 2014.

The letter indicated: "I take this opportunity to congratulate you formally on your appointment. Kindly indicate your acceptance or otherwise of this appointment."

The president charged him to discharge his duties with the great sense of professionalism.

Profile of Ameyaw-Akumfi

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi is a Ghanaian academic and politician born on August 21, 1945, at Jema in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.

He had his secondary education at Adisadel College in Cape Coast where he obtained his GCE O and A Levels before gaining admission to the University of Ghana, Legon in 1965 obtaining a B.Sc. Hons and Master in Zoology.

He left the shores of Ghana to Michigan University in the US where he studied for MS and a PhD in Zoology in 1972. He is presently a member of several professional bodies, comprising, the Ghana Science Association, West African Science Association, and Crustacean Society.

READ MORE: Nana Addo appoints new DVLA boss

He is also a past member of the New York Academy of Sciences as well as American Society of Zoologist. He is the Vice President of Ghana Institute of Biology as well. He served as a member on the National Committee on Fisheries, Ghana National Oceanographic Committee, University Rationalizations Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of New Times Corporation on a national level.

He is a member of the New Patriotic Party and was a former Member of Parliament for Techiman Constituency as well as a former Minister for 2001 to 2003 under the Kufuor administration. He is the current Chairman of Natural Science Committee of the National Commission on UNESCO and also served as the Vice Chairman for Commission III at the 28th UNESCO Conference held in Paris, France in 1995.

He has also served as Chairman of the Sunyani Polytechnics Council. Until his appointment as the Minister of Education, he was the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service was the Dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Cape Coast and Policy Adviser to the Ministry of Education.

He is married with children.

About Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund

The Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund has been established pursuant to The Ghana Infrastructure Investment (GIIF) Act, Act 877 of 2014. GIIFs mandate is to provide a financial resource to manage, coordinate and invest in a diversified portfolio of infrastructure projects in Ghana for national development.
"No country would find 173 billion barrels of oil in the ground and just leave them there," Trudeau said in his address to oil and gas industry executives at Houston's CERAWeek conference, discussing Alberta's vast oil sands reserves.

Trudeau's speech was met with a standing ovation from the more than 1,200 attendees  an unordinary reaction to a keynote speaker, conference-goers told the CBC. The prime minister was also given an award for his efforts to balance environmental protection and energy production.

"The resource will be developed. Our job is to ensure that this is done responsibly, safely, and sustainably," Trudeau said. "Nothing is more essential to the US economy than access to a secure, reliable source of energy. Canada is that source."

Trudeau has been under fire from Canada's oil industry after he stumbled while discussing the topic in January. He told an audience in Ontario that the oil sands should be phased out, later telling The Globe and Mail that he "misspoke."

Trudeau's speech also touted his support for the Keystone XL pipeline, one of the few areas where he and US President Donald Trump share common ground.

He further discussed juggling the priorities of combatting climate change and bolstering Canada's oil and gas industry.

Under Trudeau, Canada's Liberal government has approved new pipelines while working with provinces to implement a carbon-pricing scheme.

The prime minister has long maintained that developing fossil-fuel resources can go "hand in hand" with fighting climate change.

"It's a tremendous business opportunity to lead on climate change," Trudeau told The Guardian in December. He said that one of the fundamental responsibilities of his office was to get "resources to market" in "sustainable ways" while also working to strengthen Canada's middle class.

"You cannot make a choice anymore on what's good for the environment and what's good for the economy," Trudeau told The Guardian.

Trudeau on Thursday also took a parting shot at the Trump administration's proposed border adjustment tax, which wouldn't allow business to deduct the cost of imported goods.

"Anything that creates impediments at the border, extra tariffs, or new taxes is something we are concerned with," Trudeau said. "You can applaud against the border adjustment tax."

Watch Trudeau's full speech:
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Google's answer is pretty straightforward: the old-fashioned way. It plans to build out its tech, making it reliable and affordable with just enough differentiation to attract customers.

And when it lands those big customers, it will show them off as references. If Google builds it, they will come.

That's what day one of Google's two-day conference for cloud customers this week was all about. Instead of announcing a bunch of new products (that is set up for day two), the company's cloud chief, Diane Greene, used the three-hour keynote to showcase marquee customers. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt took the stage as well, in a show of support and commitment from the top of the company.

Proud $2 billion home of Snap

In fact, Schmidt's pitch to the 10,000-person crowd was pretty simple: "Just get to the cloud now. Just go there now. There's no time to waste anymore."

His rationale was equally simple: "We put $30 billion into this platform. I know this because I approved it," he only half joked. "Why replicate that?"

He even went so far as credit Google's cloud as one key ingredient in the success of the fast-growing mobile app Snapchat. Snapchat's parent company, Snap, just went public in a blockbuster initial public offering that valued the young company at $33 billion (though the stock has since sunk a bit, valuing it at a mere $24 billion on Wednesday).

How could Snap have made such an incredibly fast rise to the top "with so little capital?" Schmidt said. "They used our infrastructure," he added.

Big, respectable customers

Greene also showcased the new cloud customers HSBC, Colgate, Verizon, and eBay.

She also announced Google's first all-in customer, a large unit of Disney, which she said was doing "a full lift and shift to Google Cloud," meaning it's moving all of its consumer products and interactive media to the cloud. This Disney unit has "500 projects in the cloud" from consumer apps and games to back-office things like its development environment.

Google is also targeting would-be Oracle customers more directly. Last week it released a new database called Cloud Spanner that Schmidt called "a work of art in computer science sense," adding: "It's a way of doing SQL, a database, at a scale thats never been seen before. We use it, it's how Google works, and we released it a week ago for the cloud."

Google also announced new partners, Pivotal and Rackspace, to provide customer support and custom apps. Rackspace was a big one. It used to compete with Amazon in the cloud, and then it became a support partner for Microsoft Azure and later offered support for Amazon, too.

In the long run, Google is setting itself up to be a good cloud platform choice for big data and machine-learning apps, which is one of the big waves of the future.

Still, none of this will scare Amazon. Its execs continually and rightfully point out that Amazon is years ahead of its competitors. Amazon Web Services has more features and more partners and claims millions of monthly customers, including dozens of "all-in" enterprises. At its customer conference last fall, half of its more than 600 technical sessions were even taught by customers, Silicon Angle's John Furrier reports. Even Snap, Google's sexy cloud customer, has also recently signed a deal to use Amazon for some of its infrastructure.

Amazon is still setting the tone for the entire cloud computing infrastructure market and has already won today's enterprise.
The departing exec was Jonathan Davidson, executive VP and general manager of Juniper Development and Innovation.

What the company hinted, but didn't say in that press release, was that this reorganization also included a layoff. Juniper has now confirmed to Business Insider that a layoff happened.

A person in the industry told us that Juniper cut about 9% of its workforce, which would amount to more than 700 jobs gone, and maybe as much as 900, by the time the cutting concludes.

A spokesperson would not comment on size of the layoff except to say the 9% figure was not accurate and characterized the layoff as "small."

"Juniper Networks can confirm that a small realignment of its workforce occurred to increase our operating efficiency and focus on driving long-term growth. We believe this action was necessary to allow us to prioritize our continued investments in the most critical areas that we believe will drive our business both in the short-term and future."

The company laid off 6% of its workforce back in 2014 and in 2015 was the target of activist investor, Elliott Management. It agreed to let Elliot appoint two board members and since then, it looked as if things were getting better for the company, with a fairly steady stream of meets and beats on its quarterly earnings.
The countrys minimum wage currently stands at GHc 8.80 which translates into a minimum monthly salary of GHc 264, but many companies are paying their employees below the nationally agreed pay.

READ ALSO: Antrak Air faces trembling outrage from former workers over unpaid salaries

A research conducted by the Trades Union Congress covering the period 2015 and 2016 has revealed that, about 66 percent of workers in the informal sector are paid below the minimum wage.

20 percent of the underpaid workers are auto-mechanics and traders in textiles. The findings sampled 728 auto-mechanics and textile traders in Accra and Kumasi.

READ ALSO: 35 workers at TV3 sacked

Reports show some workers in the informal sector receiving less than 200 cedis a month, a wage which analyst say is woefully inadequate.

Dr. Baah Boateng is therefore calling for a review of the minimum wage as well as the enforcement of the law to improve such phenomenon. He questioned:

"Why must some informal workers earn less than GHc 200 a month? This is a terrible situation."

READ ALSO:Textile workers put demonstration on hold
My mother always advised me to learn hard but school wasnt something I like. My father took me to Canada to school but after 8 months, he sent me to my mother in the UK since I wasnt taking the schooling serious. In the UK, I exhibited the same truant behavior and my mother sent me back to Ghana.

Since childhood, I always want to cater for myself even though my parents are rich to provide all my needs. I sold ttoffeesi in front of my house during a vacation to earn some money.

The mother-of-one recounted an incidence in school where she wrote only her name on the examination sheet.

I remember during a Science examination, I only wrote my name until the examiners came for the papers.
The X-MEN TOUR, an initiative by Vodafone X and UT Bank is geared to help mentor and groom young business leaders understand the practices and systems that have built and sustained their businesses.

From the best of both worlds, music meets business in a 360 setting where they trade secrets, stories and philosophies among others to inspire and help students aspire to start their own businesses.

The tour has seen stops at KNUST where the journey started about a year ago and continued to UCC under the moderation of Anita Erskine (a media giant).
The accused, who resides at Ajiwe in Ajah area of Lagos State, is standing trial on a charge of obtaining under false pretences.

The prosecutor, Insp. Ingobo Emby, told the court that the accused committed the offence between November 2013 and March 2014 at Dover Hotel at Lekki Phase 1 in Eti-Osa Local Government Area.

He said the accused lodged in the hotel for five months and accumulated bills to the tune of N1.7 million which he refused to pay.

The bill was for the services rendered to the accused for the period of five months he lodged in the hotel, Emby said.

According to him, the offence contravenes Section 313 (a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the section stipulates a 15-year jail term for offenders.

The accused, however, pleaded innocence of the offence.

The Magistrate, Mr Martins Owumi, in his ruling, granted the accused bail in the sum of N300,000 with two sureties in like sum.

He said the sureties must be gainfully employed and also show evidence of three years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
The victim identified simply as Tina, who resides in Ghana, was murdered by the 34-year-old man, Isaac Sackey, for allegedly stealing GH120 after he had solicited her services.

According to Ghanaian media, Sackey reportedly turned himself over to the police after he stabbed the deceased in the thigh and stomach.

ALSO READ: Man who murdered prostitute arrested in Abuja

Punch reports that Sackay approached Tina at a drinking spot in Accra, Ghana, where he had been drinking with some of his male friends.

The pair reportedly settled on a fee before heading to Sackey's home where they spent the night together.

During the interrogation at the Accra Regional Police Command, Sackey narrated the events leading up to Tina's death.

According to him, he left the deceased in the room and went to freshen up in the bathroom at about 2 am only to return and find Tina going through his things and realised that his GH120 cash had been stolen.

Confirming the incident, the Commands Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mrs. Effia Tenge, said that Sackey confessed to the police that he had immediately accused Tina of stealing the missing money, but she denied it.

Tenge said, The suspect lives in a single room in some compound house at Spintex.

In the course of the confrontation, the lady took a kitchen knife from the mans room and threatened to stab him. But the man overpowered the lady and incidentally stabbed her after he managed to take back the knife from the lady.

She added that after the incident, Sackey locked his room and went the Psychiatric Hospital to report what had happened but was directed by the hospital authorities to report himself to the police.

The police reportedly went to Sackey's house where Tina was found in a pool of her own blood.

Following an examination of the body of the deceased, the police discovered that Tina had been stabbed twice, going by the stab wounds in her stomach and thigh.

The body of the deceased was subsequently deposited at the Police Hospital morgue for preservation.

The family of the deceased is yet to identify her as Sackey claims that they met for the first time at the bar.

ALSO READ: Prostitute strangled to death in Lagos brothel

Some of Sackey's neighbours claim that the young man suffers from a mental disorder but that is yet to be verified by the police.
The accused, who resides at Ita-Oshin area of Abeokuta, is facing a two- count charge of assault and malicious damage of property.

The prosecutor, Insp. Olakunle Shonibare told the court that the accused committed the offences on Jan. 14 at Ita-Oshin, Abeokuta.

Shonibare said the accused assaulted Mr Ojo Damilola, his wifes elder sisters husband for refusing to release his children to him after his wife packed out of his house with the children.

According to him, Oladimeji had impregnated his wifes best friend which angered his wife

The wife packed out with her children to her elder sisters house.

The accused went to his wifes elder sisters house and met the husband, Damilola, and told him that he came to pick his children.

Damilola refused to release the children to him because the mother of the children was not at home.

The accused got angry and gave him a blow on the face and also bit his right thumb.

During the fight, the accused willfully damaged one Samsung phone valued at N74, 000, property of Ojo Damilola by hitting the phone on the floor, he said.

The offences contravened Sections 351 and 451 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun, 2006.

The accused pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of N80, 000 with one surety.
All humans require attention. However, extreme attention seekers go to unhealthy lengths that are driven by emotional desperation.

Excess attention seeking appears to be one of them.

But counselor Lutterodt said "Any man you see seeking attention has a brain disorder."

He said women were created from the "rib full of emotions, so when people want to express themselves depending on where they are coming from, there are some choice of words that will come out to explain their feelings.

Speaking on Accra FM, the controversial counselor said "Women have the emotional bank and love is the business of the man, no woman can love."

"We are copying blindly because we are importing everything, except toilet roll, and that is our problem. The African man was not raised to know how to do it. It is not part of our DNA and you put a lot of pressure on us to become criminals by pretending to be what is not," he said.

He added that some Ghanaian women go to the extent of demanding that their marriage proposals should be displayed on billboards.
According to Greenstreet, persons with disability should not be considered as burdens, but rather should be empowered to also achieve their life goals.

Parish Priest of the Christ the King Church in Accra, Rev Father Andrew Campbell also issued a rallying call on all well-meaning Ghanaians to do away with attitudes of discrimination and stigma towards physically challenged people, insisting disables have so much to offer despite how they are.

The Priest lamented that disabled people in society are not accorded the needed attention and respect, leading to their isolation.

Statistics from the United Nations (UN) show that one billion people around the world are disabled  the number constitutes 15% of the worlds population.

In Ghana alone, five million people are believed to be living with various forms of disability. And with little support being given to these people, Father Campbell has called for greater affection to be showed to them.

Lancaster University, Ghana, had a host of other speakers on the pragramme lineup, with doctors of various backgrounds educating the audience on how to deal with disability cases.

The conference was also graced by Mrs. Hannah Awadzi, who particularly spoke against stigmatizations against children with cerebral palsy, and called on parents to give special care to such persons.

Another speaker who lightened the conference was Richard Adanu, who intriguingly educated the audience on the sexual life of people living with disability. According to him, being disabled does not mean one cannot be sexually active.

He explained that most women with disability fear having children because of the backlash that will come their way from family and the society at large. Mr. Adanu continued that physically challenged people also have the right to make families, and called on the society to allow them live like normal people, because they are also normal.

Stella Nartey from the department of Psychiatry, Korle-Bu, Yvonne Otubea (PhD) Lancaster University, Andrew Donkor and Eric Larwer of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Mary Edward of the University of Brighton, UK, Samuel Alesu Dordzi and Dr. Michael Subbey, among others, all delivered various presentations to enlighten the public on the issues persons with disability face  while suggesting ways of improving the situation in the country.

The disability conference was held at the auditorium of the Lancaster University, Ghana. The theme for the programme was Disability and Development: Making Ghana an Enabling Environment for Persons with Disability.
He said the drama by the actor and his colleagues was disgraceful.

"They just wasted our time and its very inhuman for such to happen."

The drama featured stars like Agya Koo, Akwesi Boadi popularly known as Akrobeto, and Matilda Asare among others.

Asiedu Nketia in an interview on Accra-based Neat FM said "For the first time in the history of Ghana, our guest of honour for the occasion did not deliver any speech. None of them [other Presidents] even made a sentence on the day yet they brought Agya Koo for that concert."

He said the planning committee of the anniversary celebration did a poor job.

According to him, the celebration had a lot of setbacks and lacked proper organization.

He added that the planning committee must apologize to the general public for the inconvenience created.

The event which over the years starts at 8:00 am, this year however commenced after 10:00 am, while guests had been seated for hours.
Otiko said this will be done in the 'He For She' campaign she is rolling out.

She said the campaign will expect Ghanaian men to help Ghanaian women achieve their dreams and also meet their topmost desires in all spheres of life.

She said this will prevent men from seeing female gender activists as enemies since they will all be working for the same cause.

"We have to be partners in life but because our men have forgotten about the role mothers plays in their lives, we are going to get them to be the 'He For She' ambassadors," she said.

Mentioning people she believed will help her, she said the former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Baba Jamal would lead the campaign.

Mr Jamal during the campaign ahead of the 2016 general elections was reported to often ridicule his main contender Mercy Ama Sey from the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

It is alleged that he is still behind some trolling on social media after the Mercy Ama Sey made a statement on the floor of parliament in what many described as poor grammar.

"I don't want Akwatia and other people to think that he is the one leading the Mercy Ama Sey ridicule in the media and all over the place."
A letter of appointment dated March 7, 2017 said: "Pursuant to Section 20(1) of the national Disaster Management organisation Act, 2016 (Act 927), I hereby appoint you to act as a Deputy Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), pending receipt of the constitutionally required advice of the governing council of the Organisation, given in consultation with the Public Services Commission.

READ MORE: Nana Addo appoints new DVLA boss

"I take this opportunity to congratulate you formally on your appointment.

"Kindly indicate your acceptance or otherwise of this appointment, within 14 days upon receipt of this letter. Thank you".

Abu Ramadan in the run up to election 2016 has announced his defection to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

"Now I am a two-day old member of the New Patriotic Party," he declared to loud cheers from the thousands of supporters gathered at the Accra International Trade Fair Centre.

His defection may not shock many political watchers following his affiliation with the NPP on various national campaigns waged by pro-NPP groups including the Let My Vote Count Alliance.
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He said this on the floor of Parliament when he contributed to the debate on the budget statement presented by the Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.

He said the money earmarked for the use of the government machinery would be to the detriment of other key sectors of the economy that need only a fraction of that amount.

Ablakwa noted that the money for the Office of the President was far in excess of 100 per cent of what was previously allocated.

A whopping allocation of about GHS1.5billion, the highest ever in the history of this country, has been made to the office of government machinery and Mr Speaker, Ive done full analysis on this and the point Im making is that, [it is] an unprecedented allocation, an elephantine allocation, a gigantic allocation in excess of GHS1.5billion has been made to the office of government machinery while all these cuts are taking place. Mr Speaker, to put this in perspective, in 2012 the office of government machinery was allocated only GHS236million, in 2013 it was only GHS312million, in 2014 it was only GHS326million, in 2015 it was only GHS453million. Mr Speaker, if you combine all those years you will get just about GHS1.3billion. It doesnt come up to the GHS1.5billion that has been allocated to the office of government machinery. This is unacceptable [and] this is worrying.

But responding to Ablakwas statement the Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo Markin justified the allocation saying the money will go a long way to help the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government realise most of the promises it made in the build-up to the 2016 polls.

Mr Speaker, it has been argued with much force that the figure is so high and very unprecedented, but if you pick that to argue, you will get it wrong.

Mr Speaker, in this budget the government is making room for this initiative of One-District-One-Factory and that is being captured in the office of government machinery. Mr Speaker, if you come to small business development, it is also there. Mr Speaker, if you look at Zongo Development Fund, it is also there. Mr Speaker, unlike the previous administration where no such provisions were made, [these initiatives] are there. So its not as if somebody is going to spend it on anything. These are initiatives that are going to benefit Ghanaians, so the facts must be known. These are monies that are going to be spent to alleviate poverty so that Ghanaians will benefit. Mr Speaker, these are the accurate facts.
Cruise companies are hoping that it's no longer just the "newlyweds and nearly dead" who want to vacation on the high seas. Rich millennials  an age group that has been shown to favor spending money on experiences over luxury goods  are becoming a target for the $39.6 billion global cruising industry.
Earlier this week,

I'm signing because, as a woman, I felt like such an outsider in the corporate world," one woman wrote underneath the petition.

The petition had close to 7,000 signatures by 10:20 AM ET on Friday, March 10.

In a tweet, the mayor previously said that the statue would remain until April 2. That lines up with the timeline that State Street had shared with the public. A company spokesman previously told Business Insider that the statue would stay in place for up to a month.

Business Insider has reached out to the mayor's office and State Street to see if there has been any change in plans. Neither immediately responded with an answer.

story on the statue has been read by over 1.2 millionpussy hats
On Tuesday, WikiLeaks released a batch of apparent CIA documents describing the agency's extensive cybersecurity and hacking capabilities, which appear to allow agents to hack into a variety of smart, internet-collected devices.

And as WikiLeaks began promoting its most interesting documents, a conspiracy theory was born.

The theory appeared to emerge first on WikiLeaks' Twitter account about an hour after the group released the Vault 7 documents. WikiLeaks highlighted the alleged abilities for CIA hackers to leave behind trails that resemble other hackers.

Readers jumped on the tweet, leaping to the conclusion that perhaps the CIA could be responsible for the hack and release of private emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's former campaign chair John Podesta's email account.

There are reports in media outlets from The New York Times to Fox News showing in detail Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, including the hack and release of DNC and Podesta emails. Numerous US intelligence and law enforcement agencies have all also blamed Russia for the hacks.

Further, The Intercept on Wednesday reported that the CIA program  called UMBRAGE  seems primarily used a as a shortcut tool for writing code, and does not mention any ways to create a "false flag" operation. Instead, the Intercept reported, the tools for the CIA to hide their tracks appear to be routine security procedures that would be well-known by professional hackers.

But this information didn't stop the theory from picking up steam among many prominent online supporters of President Donald Trump, including social-media figures like radio host Bill Mitchell and Ann Coulter.

The theory spread so fast conservative radio giant Rush Limbaugh had time to tout it on his show on March 7, when he denied Trump had any Russian campaign ties to Russia.

"The CIA has the ability to hack anybody they want and make it look like the Russians are doing it or make it look like the ChiComs are doing it or make it look like the Israelis are doing it," Limbaugh said, using a slang term for Chinese communists.

He continued: "They have the ability to mask and mock various other state actors and make it look like  so I think because of everything that were learning here, the danger that Donald Trump has faced ever since he won the election is greater than weve ever known. And it is obvious to me that this whole business  well, I say obvious, Im leaning toward being near certain that this entire pretext of Trump working with the Russians to affect the outcome of the election, folks, it is so ridiculous."

Right-wing sites weren't the only ones spreading the theory.

It was picked up by Russian state-sponsored English media outlets like Sputnik, which gleefully mocked "evidence-free" accusations that Russia hacked the election, linking to tweets "chock-full of sarcasm and memes" about the CIA's capabilities.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov again denied Russia's involvement in the 2016 election hacking, pointing to the WikiLeaks documents on Thursday and noting "the CIA could get access to such 'fingerprints' and then use them."

But it breached fully into the mainstream when Fox News host Sean Hannity floated the idea on Wednesday, first on his radio show, then on his Twitter account.

"The CIA, according to these WikiLeaks leaks, uses stolen malware to attribute cyberattacks to nations like Russia," Hannity told radio listeners. "In other words, what they're saying is the CIA can actually blame Russia for an attack on an American, because they'll put their fingerprints all over the attack. Meanwhile it came from within."

He added: "Well, did that happen in this case or do you think Hannity's really paranoid right now, losing his you-know-what? Maybe I'm not so paranoid."

Despite Fox News' previous reporting that Russia hacked the DNC, Tuesday's theory made its television debut during Hannity's primetime Fox News show on Wednesday, when Hannity asked several guests about the theory, citing a Breitbart piece titled "WikiLeaks: CIA Uses 'Stolen' Malware To 'Attribute' Cyberattacks To Nations Like Russia."

Former National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney, who quit the NSA over a decade ago amid distaste with the agency's surveillance program, said it was possible for the CIA to carry out the act described by conspiracy theorists, but cited little evidence to support his claim.

Retired Army Lietenant Colonel Anthony Schaffer, a torture advocate who has floated Benghazi and 9-11 conspiracy theories in the past, took it a step further, claiming he had unnamed sources described the conspiracy to him.

"Sean, we did it. Not me, but our guys, former members of NSA, retired intelligence officers used these tools to break in there and get the information out. Thats what the Democrats dont want to talk about because it doesnt fit their narrative," Shaffer said.

"You're telling me this whole Russian story that the media has been running with for months and months and months  that it was our people that did it, and they put the fingerprints of the Russians on it?" Hannity asked.

"That's right," Shaffer said.

"Do you have proof of that?" Hannity asked.

"I don't have proof of that," Shaffer replied.

For now, it seems commentators feel confident supporting the theory, even if there's no evidence to support the charges.

"I consider the idea the CIA faked Russian evidence to be MORE plausible than a sophisticated state-sponsor of cyber-warfare using an off the shelf and easily detected dimestore hack, don't you?" Mitchell asked Business Insider when asked about the lack of concrete evidence on Thursday.

He added: "The whole concept of 'evidence' can be misleading. Clearly, if the CIA did this, they would be careful not to leave "evidence." Regardless, thoughtful men could look at the facts we do know and consider their 'planting drugs in Russia's trunk' on the DNC hack to be plausible."

Hannity, who did not immediately return a request for comment, mocked critics on his Thursday radio show: "'Hannity you've become a conspiracy theorist!' No, I've become a realist," he said.

Attempts by top former campaign figures to downplay the campaign's relationship with Russia have raised suspicion among intelligence officials about the nature of the ties.

As law enforcement officials continue to probe Russia's involvement in the election, Trump associates like national security representative JD Gordon, advisor Carter Page, counselor Michael Cohen, and current Attorney General Jeff Sessions have all altered their stories about contact with Russian officials during the campaign.

Indeed, top US national security figures have noted the argumentative consistency on numerous topics between Russian state-sponsored media outlets and right-leaning US sources like Breitbart, the Drudge Report, and Hannity.

"There are powerful parallels between the Russian narrative and things being said," former CIA Director Michael Hayden told Business Insider in an interview this week.

The spectre of last summer's leaks still hangs over many current and former DNC staffers.

The hack embarrassed many top staffers, exposing some staffers' distaste for Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign, and forcing resignation of many top staffers.

Many of the remaining staffers felt targeted, saying they experienced death-threats following the incident.

"It was a campaign that I've never experienced before, and I have seven presidential campaigns under my belt. When I assumed the chair role, I assumed, 'Well, this will only take a couple months out of my life, and I'll go back to being Donna.' But it transformed me," former DNC chair Donna Brazile told Business Insider.

"I've never gone up against a foreign military intelligence unit," Brazile said. "I don't think no campaign manager, no one in my position has ever had to fight the weaponization of misinformation, to have your files corrupted and then to be used as a form of weaponization to sew discord."

This isn't the first time that WikiLeaks has inspired and stoked a conspiracy theory about the DNC hacks.
According to Interior Minister Carlos Basombrio Iglesias, the drones will be deployed as a complement to the helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft already in use by the police aviation unit and will be "a big step in modernization."

"Police aviation will be in the center of modernity," he said.

Gen. Orlando Velasco Mujica, the director of the Peruvian police's aviation unit, said the force had four drones and was looking to acquire an unspecified number of additional ones.

He said citizen security in Lima and other cities would be a particular focus, but they will also be employed in the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.

Peru, according to US estimates, has the second-largest area under cultivation for coca, the base ingredient of cocaine. The country's 130,966 acres under cultivation is second only to Colombia's 392,898 acres.

Peru is only the latest country in the region to incorporate drones into its security forces.

Argentina announced in October that it was introducing two unmanned aerial vehicles to its flotilla. The drones were in an experimental phase at the time but were intended for intelligence gathering and border control. Argentina is at one end of an air corridor shunting drugs from Peru and Bolivia south and on to points abroad.

In January, community support was granted for the first surveillance drones in Chile.

The drones were slated to begin operating in the Las Condes neighborhood in the capital, Santiago, this month, intended for use in areas where drug trafficking or use were problems.

Farther north, Colombian authorities have put drones in the air for administrative purposes, including aerial mapping of the area in and around the capital, Bogota.

Drone use in the region isn't totally above board, however.

Authorities in northwest Colombia late last year stumbled across 286 pounds of cocaine buried on a beach with parts of an aircraft that would be used to carry the drugs north to Panama.
Foxconn's chairman suggested on Thursday that if Trump wants to see electronics made-in-America, he should be willing to open the government's wallet and offer incentives and tax breaks.

"Does the U.S. offer incentive programs for foreign investors? They'll need to pass bills first, and we'll need to wait for American authorities to make a decision first," Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou said after a groundbreaking ceremony in China last week, according to Nikkei.

Gou suggested that rumored plans for Foxconn to build a $7 billion flat-panel screen factory in the U.S. will depend on governments addressing "investment issues."

"I am concerned as to whether the U.S. can resolve all the investment issues in only a few months' time," he said.

Gou also said that the United States might not have the skilled labor or supply chain for high-tech manufacturing. Late Apple founder Steve Jobs used similar arguments when he told Barack Obama why Apple did not manufacture iPhones in the United States.

Government subsidies are a core part of Foxconns business model
The preliminary injunction comes a few weeks after Waymo filed an explosive lawsuit accusing Uber of stealing the design for its lidar sensor that allows the car to detect obstacles. The injunction asks Uber to stop making and using the devices it claims were built using stolen intellectual property.

Waymo filed a sworn testimony by Gary Brown, a forensic-security engineer, who said Anthony Levandowski, a former employee, had downloaded 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary files relating to Waymo's self-driving-car project.

Levandowski is an original member of Google's self-driving-car unit. He left after nine years to found Otto, a startup focused on autonomous trucks, which was acquired by Uber last year.

Brown claims that Levandowski downloaded the files in December 2015 before leaving the company in January.

Brown accused Radu Raduta, a former Google mechanical engineer, and Sameer Kshirsagar, the former global supply manager for self-driving cars, of downloading other confidential material before joining Levandowski at Otto.
The music executive has been detained againbarely 22 days after his first arrest on February 17, 2017, on charges relating to comments he made about the Southern Kaduna killings.

The activist and lawyer was rearrested two days after he collapsed at an event in Lagos and was subsequently rushed to ST Nicholas hospital.

Linda Ikeji reports the public speaker has been whisked off to Kaduna state.

Details of his re-arrest remains sketchy.

Pulse has reached ou to his reps who are yet to respond.

Maikori was arrested for 'inciting violence' with his social media posts and was released a day later following pleas and interventions from social media.

In the tweets and and Facebook posts, Maikori splashed pictures of 'killings' and violence in Southern Kaduna, interspersing same with loads of commentary.
Barely 24 hours after being released from Kirikiri Prisons, the Canada-based Nigerian stripper granted two exclusive interviews to Sahara Reporters, revealing details of her amorous relationship with the man of God.

Amongst the many things she had to say, here are five of the most shocking.

1) Apostle Suleiman spent over 8000 Euros, including the proceeds from a crusade on Stephanie Otobo.

"He gives me a lot of cash. I am not talking about 8000 Euros, I am not talking about $12, 000, in two weeks.

"If I was a cheap prostitute, how much do you send a cheap prostitute all the way from Nigeria to Canada? I live, I base in Canada. I'm sure there a lot of women that needs money here in Nigeria.

"Like how many people has he sent money to? How many women or cheap prostitutes has he sent money to here in Nigeria?"

2) Stephanie Otobo claimed to have original pictures from her video chats with Apostle Suleiman, including those of his manhood, shared during calls.

She also revealed that the man of God loved sex.

Wellits not very small, its an average size, Ms. Otobo responded.

Hes very good (in bed), he likes to end it off on the back, on your back all the time, I dont know why.

And also, even while sleeping, he doesnt wanna stop, hes dozing off he goes continue, I go Daddy, youre sleeping. He doesnt wanna stop, he wants to keep going while sleeping.

3) Kimora revealed that Apostle Suleiman gave her a substance to drink that almost cost her life.

She said, "Also, I want the police to check on the issue of when he gave me a substance to drink and that almost cost me my life.

"This was what happened, this was one of the main reason that really caused all of this.

"He gave me substance to drink after I got pregnant. He gave me substance to drink and I started bleeding, stooling blood. for over one year. It almost cost me my life.

"I was bleeding for so long, I was so scared and I lost the baby. so that was an abortion from a pastor, an Apostle."

4) Stephanie also claimed that she is not the first lady Apostle Suleiman has had an affair with. She also named Nollywood actress, Daniella Okeke as the cleric's ex-girlfriend.

5) She described the respected man of God as a baby that "cannot eat" and that she had to "pet" him.

But I know he cant eat because I can say things that I saw when spending time with him. He has I dont know you know when the wicked runneth when no one is pursuing them, he just cant eat, hes worried, hes always worried.

He cant eat, he wants me to pet him to eat, then Ill beg him Daddy please eat, and he goes I love you so much.'
ALSO READ: Police confirms filmmaker tried stealing N10million

The pair has been accused of defrauding more than 30 BDC operators of various sums of money in both local and foreign currencies between 2015 and 2017, in Lagos state.

However, Egbegbe and Ayomide pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against them.

As earlier reported, Justice Oguntoyinbo had granted the pair bail in the sum of N5 million each on February 24, 2017, before adjourning the case to Friday, March 1, 2017, for the commencement of trial.

The prosecuting counsel for the police, Mr. Innocent Anyigor, informed the judge that the charge sheet had been amended and increased from 36 to 40 by the courts.

Anyigor prayed the court that the charges be read to the defendants so that their pleas could be taken.

The prayer was granted, with the pair re-arraigned and pleading not guilty as they had earlier done.

The defense counsel, Mrs. A.O. Gbadamosi urged the judge to vary the bail conditions granted Ayomide because he was only involved in three out of the 40 counts.

Justice Oguntoyinbo later adjourned the case until March 24, 2017, for the commencement of trial, as she would prefer to hear testimony from the IPO's before the BDC operators.

In the case marked FHC/L/40c/2017, Egbegbe and Ayomide were accused of swindling the BDC operators by falsely convincing the victims that they had foreign currencies to sell.

Punch reports that the police alleged that on February 2, 2017, Egbegbe and Ayomide fraudulently obtained the sums of N2.45m and ,3,000 from one of the BDC operators identified as Alhaji Isa Adamu in Lagos under the guise that they wanted to see the naira and buy the pounds.

Other victims of the alleged frauds by Egbede were Mohammed Sanni, allegedly defrauded of N2.46m on 2017 New Year day; Jubrila Ado, allegedly defrauded of N1.257m on September 9, 2016; Hassan Amodu, allegedly defrauded of N600,000 in January 2016; Sanni Hassan, defrauded off N1.43 and 2,750 in August 2015; Saidi Abdullahi, defrauded of N700,000 on April 18, 2016; Atairu Abdullahi, defrauded of N1m on June 23, 2016; and Abdullahi Babadisa, defrauded of N650,000 in January 2016.

Others were Abdurawan Hassan who allegedly lost N1.46m to Egbede on January 1, 2017; Suraju Garuba, who lost N850,000 in July 2016; Abdullahi Mumini, who lost N2.15m in September 2016; Garuba Hassan, who lost N700,000 on January 10, 2016, and Sanni Mohammed, who lost N1.89m on January 29, 2017.

Amongst others swindled by Egbegbe were Barowo Abdullahi, who lost N2.6m; Yahu Alidu, who lost N1.75m; Tairu Musa, who lost N2m; Mohammed Bello, who lost $300; Mohammed Usman, N450,500; Suleiman Shehu, who lost N1.276m; Ahmadu Abda, who lost N2m; Nairu Musa, who lost N1.007m; Sanni Mohammed, who lost N1.6m and $3,000.

Others include Umaru Haruna, who lost N1.7m; Abubakar Musa, who lost $4,000; Abdulrasaq Sanni, who lost N1.7m; Abdullahi Babatunde, who lost N2.77m; among others.
Olaogun was brought before Magistrate Sule Aminat for beating his nine-year-old daughter mercilessly, causing her serious grievous harm.

The prosecutor, Cpl Lucky Ihiehie, said the accused, who resides at 7, Shoyemi Maidan, Orile Mile 12, Lagos, committed the offence on March 2, at his residence.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the case was reported to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) by neighbours.

The team coordinator, Mrs Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, said that the team informed the family unit of Ketu Police Station, thus leading to the arrest of the accused.

According to the abused child, her father battered her because she left their door opened, thereby suspecting that a charm had been poured in his apartment by an unknown person.

So, he battered me severally that our neighbours had to call the attention of the team, she said.

The accused pleaded not guilty and was granted a N200,000 bail with two sureties in like sum.

Magistrate Aminat adjourned the case till March 30 for further hearing.
A couple of months ago, a National Youth Service Corps member in Edo state, Oluwamayowaoffical wrote sexually explicit things about an underage female student. His revelation went viral and attracted disgust and anger from people online.

After his disgusting caption Mayowa has now been arrested. Women's and girls rights activist Esther Ijewere has announced that he has been apprehended by the law on Thursday, March 9, 2017.

"OluwaMayowa Gbadamosi, the Edo state youth Corp member who bragged about sleeping with an under age girl online was arrested yesterday.
The road show began in Owerri, travelled to Abuja and finally berthed in the city of Lagos.

The motivational road show headlined activities for the launch of the groundbreaking Scholars Alumni for graduate scholars of both the MTN Foundation Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme and Blind Students Scholarship Scheme.

The alumni and other participants at the well-attended conferences were treated to motivational speeches delivered by top mentors and entrepreneurs from all walks of life.

One of such speakers is the CEO of SLOT Nigeria, Nnamdi Ezegbo, who urged the participants at the Owerri conference to grab opportunities as they come, saying "There is no perfect time for you to strike at success. Every time is the best, but you need to understand the times."

Tonye Cole, Co -Founder and Executive Director of Sahara Group, urged the alumni and other students to believe in their abilities and start winning.

At the Grand Finale event which held yesterday in, Lagos, Bolanle Austen Peters, founder of foremost Art and Lifestyle Centre, Tera Kulture, advised the students and Alumni to build relationships that will be instrumental in helping them develop their businesses.

Okechukwu Ofili of okadabooks.com rounded up by announcing to the students, "Enough of complaints! The country is bad, this is bad! Nothing is working but some people will prosper even in this recession! Whatever you find to do, JUST DO IT!

Scroll down to view some photos from the event...

The Alumni Conference was preceded by the annual employability workshop, where the graduands were taught relevant life skills needed for getting jobs or starting a business.

Since inception of the scheme, the MTN Foundation has awarded scholarships worth over 6 Billion Naira to more than 8,000 blind/science and technology students.

The MTN Foundation has been providing annual scholarships since 2009 worthN200, 000 to 500 eligible students studying a science related discipline and 100 deserving Blind students.

From inception to date, MTNF has awarded 8,454scholarships worth approximatelyN1.6Billion to 3,115 Nigerian students under both scholarship schemes.

A total of1, 030 beneficiaries of the scholarship schemes have since graduated. In addition to the scholarships, graduating students on the scheme go through an employability workshop to prepare them for life after school.

For more information on the MTN Foundation Scholarship Scheme and their Alumni, please go to www.mtnfonline.com
Otobo claimed to have believed everything he said seeing as she looked up to him as a man "close to God"

She said, "That's how it all started, it went on and then he started giving me money, promising to marry me, and he asked me to get pregnant for him.

"After he did, then he is trying to get me out of the way and kill me."

Concerning her father, Rev. Benson Otobo's denial about any introduction held in his home on her behalf, Stephanie denied making any claims that her father had collected anything from the man of God.

She added that she was unaware of the source of those claims, saying that they must have triggered all the terrible things the Reverend said about her.

She, however, refused to say much on the subject adding that she would want to speak with him first, as she would have expected him to do after hearing the false claims.

Stephanie also claimed that she has been in touch with her father and ran to him in Abuja for help in 2015 after Apostle Suleiman gave her a mixture to drink that caused her to bleed heavily.

"Well, he nurtured me back to life when I was thinking I was dying when Apostle Suleiman gave me something to drink and I was bleeding.

"I ran to him in Abuja, that was in December 2015. I don't understand, I don't know he got... I don't know what really triggered all of this I have never spoken to him. I don't want to throw any light on that because I don't want to say anything I can't take back."

Stephanie went on to add that she has more proofs to verify that the screenshot photos released on the internet were not photoshopped, along with bank details for transactions between Apostle Suleiman and herself.

ALSO READ: Man of God denies having romantic relationships with Kimora

In a press release, Festus Keyamo's law firm who is representing the embattled stripper, there are no graphic proofs of the cleric's relationship with Stephanie but that there are other unfortunate victims of his who have come forward to tell their story, with proofs.

As earlier reported, Stephanie accused the General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, of impregnating and abandoning her.

Otobo was remanded in Kirikiri prisons on a charge of blackmail and terrorism and has remained in prison custody since then for failure to perfect her bail conditions.
The accused person, whose address is unknown, is facing a one-count charge of stealing.

The prosecutor, Insp. Akpan Ikem, told the court that the accused committed the offence at Ajangbadi bus stop in the Badagry Area of Lagos State.

According to Ikem, the phones belong to Mr Igwe Chikezie and Mr Ishola Temitope.

The accused committed the crime while in the bus with the complainants.

He took the phones from their pockets but he was caught by a fellow passenger who saw him committing the offence, he said.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.

The accused, who was not represented by any legal counsel, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Magistrate, Mr Jimoh Adefioye, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N50,000 and a surety in like sum who must reside in Badagry.
He said I think one of the terrible things you can have is self drug administration.

I could not recall being so sick since I was a young man, including the military with its ups and downs.

I found out that technology is developing so fast that if you have a lot of confidence you better keep it because you need it.

Blood transfusions, going to the laboratories, and so on and so forth, but I am very pleased that we; when I say we, I mean the government and the people, all over are trying to keep up with technology."

President Buhari also said the only way he can repay Nigerians for their prayers is for him to rededicate himself to serving them, protecting their interests and keeping their trust.

Buhari, who made his feelings known at a brief reception organised in his honour at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Friday, expressed gratitude to all Nigerians  Muslims and Christians alike.

According to him, the constant and persistent prayers offered by Nigerians over his health condition, testifies to their love for him and the country.

I am deeply grateful to all Nigerians  Muslims and Christians alike, who have prayed and continued to pray for my good health.

This is a testimony that in spite of the hardship being experienced by Nigerians, they have continued to support the government in its efforts to tackle our countrys challenges.

The best way for me to pay you all is to rededicate myself to serving you, protecting your interests, and keeping your trust.

I thank you very much. I feel much better now," he said.

The President revealed that he might go back to London in a few weeks for a follow-up to his routine medical check-up.

He appealed to Nigerians stay where they are and continue to pray for the countrys unity, progress and prosperity rather than sending delegations to Abuja to welcome me

"There may, however, be need to have further follow-ups within some weeks.

Rather than sending delegations to Abuja to welcome me, may I appeal to our people to continue to pray for the countrys unity, progress and prosperity.

I thank you very much and may God bless our country.

President Buhari stated that he purposely returned on Friday so he could rest while acting President Yemi Osinbajo would continue.

In his remarks, the acting President thanked Buhari for respecting the constitution and entrusting him with power before travelling.

Osinbajo said it was a tough job going around in borrowed robes.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, thanked God for the safe return of the President, saying, today is a day of joy for Nigerians, Africa and the world as the President arrived safely.

The Chairman of Nigerias Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari and the Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin, also delivered addresses of welcome for the President.

Osinbajo, Yari, Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano and the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari were among the top officials, who received the President o arrival at the helipad.

Others are the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura; National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno; and the Director-General, NIA.
Mohammed, who made the remarks while briefing the Security Council on her recent trip to the Lake Chad Basin for on-the-spot assessment of the Boko Haram crisis.

As the Deputy Secretary-General, as an African and as a Nigerian, I truly welcome the Councils visit to the Lake Chad Basin to witness first-hand the impact of the Boko Haram insurgency.

Even more so that, as a child, I grew up in Maiduguri and know that terrorists are not born but created by a set of circumstances.

The Security Councils field visits around the world have been instrumental in highlighting the links between peace, development and human rights.

I thank you for the much-needed attention you have now brought to this troubled region.

The Lake Chad crisis provides a powerful illustration of the complex multi-dimensional challenges facing our modern world.

A successful response requires mobilising our assets holistically to implement the 2030 Agenda and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, she said.

She said the UN is focused on six main pillars of engagement namely, political; humanitarian assistance; human rights; recovery and development; justice, law enforcement and the financing of terrorism; and technical support to the regional Multi-national Joint Task Force.

Three other dimensions are being added: gender; defections and surrenders by Boko Haram militants, and that has its own challenges given the number of youth and young girls.

And support to Member States to develop a regional plan of action to prevent violent extremism.

It is essential that we address the Boko Haram crisis in a holistic manner.

This means looking beyond the security lens and addressing the root causes, including inequality, exclusion and the full array of economic, social, political, cultural and religious grievances, she said.

According to her, the UN continues through the efforts the Secretary-Generals Special Representatives for Central Africa and West Africa and the Sahel, to encourage Member States and the regional leadership to convene a Joint Summit on Boko Haram.

We and this Council are keenly aware of the deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation which has displaced millions of people in the region.

Some 10.7 million people in the Lake Chad Basin need humanitarian assistance now.More than 7 million require food support, including 515,000 children with severe acute malnutrition.

Drought is inevitable, and there is a real risk of famine, which can be averted with the urgent action that we need now, she said.

The Deputy UN scribe said the World Food Programme had reaching more than one million people in northeast and UNICEF had assisted four million people with basic services.

Mohammed said that despite the considerable contribution of the recent Oslo Donor Conference, demands outstrip resources, Member States need to ensure the 1.5 billion-dollar humanitarian appeal for the Lake Chad region is fully funded.

She implored affected governments to ensure full, safe and unimpeded access to all affected areas and populations.

Mohammed said prevention of future radicalisation and violence will also entail comprehensive responses that benefit all members of society, especially marginalised communities and youth.

I was in Bama just three weeks ago where we have one of the largest camps and to see how children were thriving with the opportunity of education  not in the right circumstances.

But certainly that transition that UNICEF was able to provide was certainly a sign of hope and one that we need to invest in.

She said the situation in the four countries affected by Boko Haram continues to be defined by grave human rights abuses committed by the terrorists and in the context of counter-terrorism actions.

In Nigeria, the UN has been given access to detention facilities in Maiduguri to monitor the conditions under which women and children captured during military operations are being held.

Mohammed said the plight of women and girls associated with and affected by Boko Haram is of particular concern.

According to her, UN and partners have provided care and support to approximately 6,000 women and children formerly associated with or captured by Boko Haram.

But many more are still displaced in camps, detained by the authorities, or are struggling to reintegrate into their communities, where many face stigma and discrimination.

Many are survivors of sexual violation, exploitation and abuse. They need comprehensive assistance.

According to her, addressing the root causes of this crisis is necessary for durable peace in the region.

Let us also note that it will also help alleviate the phenomenon of mass migration to Europe by people who feel they have no choice but to look for better opportunities far from their homeland.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General said one priority to tackle the Boko Haram challenge must be the regeneration of Lake Chad itself, which has now lost 90 per cent of its water due to unsustainable water management practices and climate change.

Your recent visit to the Lake Chad Basin has highlighted the urgency and complexity of the crisis faced by the regions people, and the threat it poses to international peace and security.

My single clear message today is that the solution lies in holistic thinking. The 2030 Agenda provides a blueprint and a tool for providing a better future for the people of the Lake Chad Basin.

Mohammed welcomed the work being done by the World Bank in the Lake Chad Basin as and the commitment of the AU and Africas regional organisations to peace, security and the integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Africas own Agenda 2063.
The three countries, which are members of the UN Security Council, at a news briefing on their recent trip to the Lake Chad Basin region, said on Thursday that there was more to the insurgency.

The roots of the conflict run deeper than the Boko Haram insurgency. They include abject poverty, climate change, and underdevelopment.

Indeed, the situation in the Lake Chad Basin region vividly demonstrates the links between security, development and human rights, the Ambassador of Sweden on the Security Council, Olof Skoog, said.

Skoog explained that more is needed to avoid a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions in the area.

According to him, to begin with, there must be rapid disbursement of the pledges made in Oslo. I am happy to report that Sweden has already done so, and call upon others to follow.

Secondly, every effort must be made to ensure this assistance is able to reach even the most remote and hard to reach areas.

It is clear that the regional nature of the Boko Haram threat requires a regional response.

Countries of the region are working together, including through the Multinational Joint Task Force, which is making progress and deserves further international support.

We urge the rapid deployment of the African Union civilian component. We need to ensure that the response does not increase the suffering of an already brutalized population.

In this regard, we welcome the commitment expressed by all governments in the region to the protection of civilians and human rights, in line with the 2016 Abuja Action Statement.

We encourage governments to develop enhanced prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration approaches to deal with persons associated with Boko Haram and to increase coordination in this regard, Skoog said.

 On Wednesday, we celebrated international womens day; the women we met in Maroua and Maiduguri, despite the challenges they face on a daily basis, are survivors and leaders not victims, he said.

He said faced with the visiting Security Council, they clearly told us their stories  so we would know their realities  and set out their needs  so we would know how to respond.

We must not let them down. It is clear that women play a vital role in prevention, peace-building and de-radicalization efforts.

Improving education, in particular for girls, and ending early-age marriage are central components to development in the region. We were encouraged by the development of National Actions Plans on Women, Peace and Security.

Words must now be translated into actions through the allocation of adequate resources and meaningful implementation.

Now that we have seen the tragedy that is unfolding in the Lake Chad Basin, we must ensure that we actively follow-up on our engagement and on the findings of this trip.

He called on the Council to agree a Presidential Statement that sets out a roadmap for the future that, among other actions, encourages leadership from the Secretary-General, including by visiting the region and reporting back to the Council.

He also suggested developing a comprehensive regional strategy to address the drivers of the conflict, in line with existing plans and supported by development partners and international financial institutions.

Skoog advocated efforts to strengthen the links between humanitarian assistance and longer-term development measures, focusing on early recovery and the provision of alternative livelihoods, not least in local host communities.

Others are organization of a Third Regional Security Summit in 2018 to focus on post-conflict stabilization, early recovery and reconstruction; and enhanced regional organizations capacity to jointly coordinate UN engagement in the region and report on progress in this regard.

We were encouraged to see that coordination within the humanitarian community in Nigeria has improved significantly in recent months, not least demonstrated by the scale up of the humanitarian response.

Frances Ambassador in the Security Council, Francois Delattre and his Uruguayan counterpart, Elbio Rosselli, who were on the trip to the region, regretted the humanitarian disaster created by Boko Haram.

They said that children must be treated as children, and hand over protocols that prioritize child protection should be adopted, in dealing with arrested child soldiers recruited by Boko Haram.

According to the Council members, President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger cited the shrinking of Lake Chad, as a direct and major reason for the rise of Boko Haram.

They pointed out that the crisis is exactly the type of situation that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustaining Peace agenda were created to respond to.

According to them, working within the framework of the 2030 Agenda, must see a coordinated and better linked humanitarian, reconstruction and development response.

They also said that the multidimensional crisis represented an example of where the UN system can take an integrated approach.
The President of the Security Council for the month of March, Amb. Matthew Rycroft, made the remarks during a press briefing on the Councils just-concluded mission to the region.

If I was talking to you about security in the Lake Chad Basin last Tuesday, I would have spoken about how 20,000 people have been killed and how 2.3 million are currently displaced.

What I couldnt have told you was the stories, the lives behind these numbers; the human cost of the fragile security situation.

Last Friday, in Maroua, in northern Cameroon, I saw that cost in the eyes of a 15 year-old boy whose village was attacked by Boko Haram.

He hid for days. Most of his friends had already been killed. I saw that cost in the eyes of a woman crying with her baby in her arms.

I saw it in others who spoke of the murder of their husbands and sons, the kidnapping of their daughters, and the burning of their homes.

We heard from civil society how women were selling their bodies for sex just to eat.

All these people brought home the horrifying consequences of the chaos and insecurity wrought by Boko Haram, he said.

He said, however, that together, the Councils 15 members brought some much needed focus to suffering that has been neglected for too long.

But amid the horror, we also heard of the bravery and commitment of the people of the region as they try to bring stability and security back to the Lake Chad Basin.

And in many ways its working; its undeniable that significant progress has been made in combating Boko Harams reign of terror. We heard chapters from a success story on its way to completion.

Stories from the Multi-National Joint Task Force of liberating 20,000 hostages and successfully winning back territory that will act as future homes for the people of the region, he said.

Rycroft explained that the Boko Haram threat is not over adding, security is not yet entrenched; it is fragile in too many places.

Force commanders and generals outlined continued attacks. Suicide bombings and IEDs are still far too common.

And Boko Harams tactics are getting more barbaric  mothers turned into suicide bombers with infants strapped to them in addition to their bombs.

Boko Haram members are down, but theyre not out yet. And make no mistake, their cruelty knows no bounds. It was clear that international support remains vital for this fight.

He called for the provision of psycho-social services for Boko Haram defectors to enable reintegration without stigmatization.

Rycroft commended the bravery and resilience of the escaped Chibok schoolgirls and thousands of other women freed from Boko Haram savagery.

I met three inspirational young women from Chibok who were attending an International Womens Day event at the UN.

Far from being victims, far from being survivors, they are now campaigners for education for women and girls in poverty.

Despite everything they had endured, despite being caught up in the hell unleashed by Boko Haram, they are determined to look to the future.

They showed what lies ahead. They showed a future possible when the fighting ends, when the guns fall silent, when security stops being a word and starts becoming a reality.

To achieve this reality, its clear that there can be no military solution: only a comprehensive approach will bring stability and peace.
The Commander of Africa Command (AfriCom), Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday that the mission was focusing on regional and continental extremist groups in Africa.

He said Africoms mission in western Africa centres on extremist groups  Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa, an ISIS splinter group.

Since 2011, Boko Haram consistently carried out attacks against civilians and targeted partner regional governments and military forces in the Lake Chad basin region.

Africom works with forces from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria in a multinational joint task force.

The task force has been successful in enabling multinational cooperation to coordinate multinational operations, and placed significant pressure on Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa.

In Central Africa, through the combined efforts of military forces, civilian agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations, Africom works to build partner capacity to address regional threats, he stressed.

Waldhauser said some of the security threats in Africa were maritime security, illicit trafficking of goods and persons, the Lords Resistance Army and other criminal networks and enterprises.

He added that we support the efforts to enable African partners to respond to humanitarian crises, mass atrocities, disaster contingencies and to support peace operations.

Through the National Guards State Partnership Programme, along with their African partners, weve improved disaster management competency and readiness to assist civilian-led efforts.

Africom sees great value in and fully supports the National Guards persistent engagement in the programme. Africoms mission is dynamic and complex, and requires innovative solutions.

Even with limited resources and capabilities, Africa Command aggressively works with partners and allies to execute our missions and mitigate risks.

Moving forward, we will continue to focus our decisive efforts on building African partner capacity, and will continue to work closely with international and interagency partners to make small, wise investments which pay huge dividends in building stable and effective governments.

The general, however, said that parts of Africa remained a battleground.

Parts of Africa remain battlegrounds between ideologies, interests and values. Equality, prosperity and peace are often pitted against extremism, oppression and conflict.

Transregional violent extremist organisations on the continent constitute the most direct security threat to the U.S.
President Buhari who touched down at the Kaduna Airport at 7:41 am, was received by top government officials.

Addressing cabinet members and Governors at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, President Buhari stated that his vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo would continue to lead Nigeria.

President Buhari's comment immediately began to generate reactions from Nigerians.

Here are three reasons why Buhari cannot resume duties as Nigeria's president following his return to the country:

1. President Buhari needs to formally inform the National Assembly of his return

Before leaving for London, President Buhari wrote to the National Assembly to inform the legislature of his planned vacation to the United Kingdom.

The news of handing over power to his vice, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, was also contained in that letter.

Again, the president wrote to inform the National Assembly of the extension of his stay in the U.K.

Although the National Assembly is aware of the president's return, he still needs to formally notify them.

"That makes his return to work formal, and constitutional," says President Buhari's media aide, Femi Adesina.

2. President Buhari is 'so sick'.

Against the 'hale and hearty' proclamation by the trio of Lai Mohammed, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina, President Buhari confessed to being sick while addressing members of his cabinet at the Villa.

I am feeling much better now. There may, however, need to have further follow-ups within some weeks, President Buhari said.

"I have received the best of treatment I can receive. I couldnt recall ever being so sick since I was a real young man including the military goings ups and downs, he added.

3. President Buhari needs more rest

President Buhari told his vice, Osinbajo to continue as acting president while he continues to rest.

I deliberately came back towards the weekend so that the vice-president will continue and I will continue to rest, he said.

But Tolu Ogunlesi, Buhari's aide on digital communication has a different interpretation to the President's comment.
Some of them, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Friday in Makurdi, said that his return had ended tales of woe by detractors.

Mr Baba Agan, a political analyst, said that he was very happy when it was announced that Buhari had entered the country.

This is a great moment for me; treasury looters that wished him dead should bury their heads in shame.

I want to call on Muslims and Christians to learn to pray for our leaders at all times, especially during their trying moments.

Death wishes will not fix the economy and recover stolen funds; such wishes cannot fight insurgency either. So, all we need are prayers so that our president can succeed,  Agan advised.

A legal practitioner, Mr Justin Gbagyir, in his reaction, said that he was happy over the presidents return, and thanked God for healing him.

He said I am sure that the medical vacation has refreshed him and made him ready for the tasks ahead.

But while we celebrate his return, I must say that I am disappointed in mischief makers, who peddled rumours of his death.

Our religions taught us to pray for our leaders and not to wish them dead; those wishing him dead have no religion and are wicked people.

Taraba residents have equally expressed happiness over the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from a medical vacation to London.

Some of them, who spoke with NAN in Jalingo, said that the return of the president had laid to rest, rumours making the rounds about his whereabouts.

Mr Richard Agba, a Jalingo resident, described the decision of Mr President to hand over to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in acting capacity, as the highest level of patriotism.

Agba noted that Buharis action portrayed the change that he promised Nigerians.

It clearly shows that Buhari has placed the interest of Nigeria above self interest and we should all emulate this, he said.

Another respondent, Alhaji Musa Isa, called on Nigerians to continue to pray for complete recovery of the president.

In her reactions, Mrs. Rosemary Manu, from Magami area of Jalingo, thanked God for the return of Buhari.

She prayed God to completely heal the president and grant him the strength to lead the country.

Meanwhile, Mr Taidi Jonathan, former Chairman of the Minna chapter of the Nigeria Bar Association ( NBA), has advised Nigerians to always have positive mindsets about their leaders.

Jonathan told NAN on Friday in Minna, that the political change Nigerians were clamouring for was only possible if followers wished their leaders well.

The return of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigeria this morning brings to an end the speculations about his state of health.

It also saves Nigerians from wild speculations on the issue; the energy deployed to such speculation could have been better utilized in addressing the critical problems confronting the citizens, he said.

He charged the President to tackle unemployment and economic recession so as to shore up the living standards of Nigeria.

He also called on Nigerians to imbibe the culture of praying for their leaders whenever they were confronted with health challenges.

Any body can fall sick; all that is expected of us is to wish ourselves well, he said.
While some of them celebrated wildly, others offered prayers, thanking God for granting their wish to see the president back home, hale and hearty.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that as a sign of the desperation, some had long ago composed music, awaiting Buharis return, which melody rented the air on Friday in Damaturu, the Yobe capital.

In Maiduguri, the once-upon-a-time centre of insurgency, a cross section of the residents interviewed said they were delighted by his return.I am very happy to hear the good news about the return of the president; we missed him for quite some time now, said Malam Jubrin Gunda, a legal practitioner.Gunda said that Buhari had become a hero in the North-East for bringing relative peace to the sub-region.Buhari is the hero of our time because he gave us peace in Borno and the North-East in general.You can imagine what will have happened to us here if Buhari had not assumed leadership of the country in 2015, he said.

Gunda, who is also the Secretary of the prominent vigilante group in Borno, the Civilian JTF, said the recovery of the president was due to the prayers of the people.We are happy that God has answered our prayers by healing him; we will continue to pray for him to succeed in his crusade to make Nigeria a better place, he added.

Mrs Yagana Bakura, a bean cake seller, re-echoed similar sentiment, stressing that majority of the people were behind Buhari.We were disturbed after he failed to come back early, got more confused when we heard rumors that he was very ill, so we began prayers all over; thank God that the prayers have been answered, Bakura said.

In Yola the return of President Buhari dominated discussions, with workers and other members of the public seen in groups discussing in excitement, his return back home.

I heard it on the media and was excited when I saw him alighting from the plane; it is good to see the president back, after speculations about his health, Hussaini Danjuma, a civil servant, said.

Danjuma urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the president and his team to succeed.

Mr Luka Yakubu, a shop owner, said that the return of Buhari was breaking news to him and many others.

It came to me as a pleasant surprise and I hope the development will bring to an end, the lingering debate on Buharis health, he said.

Mallam Haruna Musa, a vendor, said many people were happy with the development and kept coming to ask him for newspapers with the story of Buharis return.

We are expecting bumper sales tomorrow when the papers will carry the details and pictures of the president arrival, Musa said.

For some youth in Bauchi, their delight knew no bounds as they organised rallies along some major roads in the state capital

Some of them who spoke to NAN expressed relief that God had answered the prayers of majority of Nigerians on the health of their leader.

One of them, Mansur Ibrahim, said the return of Buhari was worthy of celebration.

Mrs Aisha Musa, a food seller, said the rally was paramount to residents, adding that the absence of the president and the dangerous rumour peddled by some disgruntled elements, had instilled fear in the minds of the citizens.

Gombe residents, among them, a member of Shiite sect, expressed gratitude to God for the safe return of President Buhari.

Speaking to NAN in Gombe on Friday, leaders of some Christian and Muslim groups said they became excited when they received the news of his arrival at the Kaduna Airport in the early hours of Friday.

Mr Musa Misal, North-East Zonal Vice President, Youth Wing of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), said the Christian faithful had been praying for his good health and safe return so that he would complete the good work he started.

Malam Ibrahim Yusuf, Assistant Public Relations Officer, Rasulul Azam Foundation, a Shiite Islamic sect in Gombe, said they thanked God over the positive development.

Our foundation declared one week prayer and fasting for the president and now God has answered our prayers; we are grateful to Him (God), he said.

He urged the general public to always pray for leaders instead of criticizing them.

Mr Rambi Ayala (PDP), member representing Billiri East constituency at the Gombe state House of Assembly, said they were happy because the President was back in the country to continue with the development projects he had started.

We will continue to support him to achieve the desired goals for the betterment of the people, he said.

Mrs Fatima Ibrahim, a house wife, said today was her happiest day, and would remain so for some time.

In Yobe, prayers were offered in mosques across Damaturu, the state capital on Friday over the safe return of President Buhari to the country.

Ustaz Hudu Muhammad, Chief Imam of Yobe Central Mosque, urged faithful to show their gratitude to God for the recovery of the president.

ALSO READ: Buhari advices Nigerians to shun self medication

A true Muslim is expected to pray for the sick and weak; it is most unfortunate to wish anyone dead, the life of every man is in the hands of his creator he said.
Buhari returned to Nigeria after a 49-day medical vacation in London.

The President had stayed back in the UK following advice from his Doctors.

The Nigerian Air Force 001 which was carrying the President, touched down at the Air Force Base in Kaduna at 7:41am on Friday.

The President was thereafter flown in a helicopter to the Presidential Villa, Abuja where he met with cabinet members and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

ALSO READ: Now that our President is back

He commended Osinbajo for doing a good job in his absence.

Osinbajo was handed the reins of leadership in an acting capacity, while Buhari was away.

Aso Villa officials have just told Pulse that the President asked Osinbajo to continue with running Nigeria while he continues with his rest.

Sources at the Presidency have told Pulse that the President's decision is in keeping with Doctor's orders.

On Osinbajo's watch, the Naira has appreciated in value, the bombings in the oil rich Niger Delta have reduced to a trickle and foreign reserves have risen.
Buhari is returning, 49 days after he left the country on a medical vacation.

As a result of the closure of the Abuja airport, the President's plane landed at the Kaduna airport.

The Nigerian Air Force 001 which was carrying the President, touched down at the Air Force Base in Kaduna.

The President was thereafter flown in a helicopter to the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Reports say Buhari may address the nation today after his long absence, in order to quell any concerns over his capacity to govern.

ALSO READ: President Buhari expected back on Friday

Buhari's media aide, Femi Adesina broke the news of his Friday return on Thursday night, March 9, 2017.

Buhari left the country on January 19 on a 10-day vacation which he said he would also use to have a medical check-up.
Mr Abayomi Adesanya, the APC Publicity Secretary in Ondo, made the observation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.

NAN reports that President Buhari returned from London to Nigeria after 51 days of medical vacation in the early hours of Friday.

Adesanya said: the rumours of the death of the President were the handiwork of some unpatriotic Nigerians and the opposition who were desperate to weaken and derail the anti-corruption fight of the President.

But, we thank the God Almighty for the safe return of the peoples president.

We enjoin Nigerians to continue praying for Buhari-Osinbajo led-Federal Government to succeed in putting our country on the path of glory among the committee of developed nations.

Mr Kehinde Aworele, the National Legal Adviser of Alliance for Democracy (AD), also congratulated President Buhari for his safe return to the country.

I commend President Muhammadu Buhari for making such recovery after much noise about his health.

With the current economic situation in the country, we need the President and I urged Nigerians to continue to pray for him, said.

Chief Taiwo Olatunbosun, the APC Publicity Secretary in Ekiti State, said the Presidents return had shown that he was not terminally ill.

The Presidents return has vindicated our claim that the President is not terminally ill as being portrayed in some quarters opposed to the anti-corruption war of APC-led Federal Government.

I, on behalf of APC, also apologised to Nigerians on the role played by Gov. Ayodele Fayose in making himself the prophet of death while the President was abroad attending to his death

Fayose has been put to shame by Buharis hale and hearty arrival on Friday, he said.
Mrs Buhari, who received the President at about 9a.m. at the official residence in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, thanked Nigerians for their support and prayer for the President.

The wife of the President was joined by Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, the wife of the Vice-President, wives of State Governors, Ministers, family members and her close associates.

Mrs Buhari, who was happy at the return of her husband, expressed gratitude to Almighty God for the successful return of the President.

In the same vein, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, has expressed her happiness for the successful return of the President.

Oyo-Ita urged Nigerians to continue praying for their leaders to enable them deliver good governance to the people.

Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the wife of the President Dr Hajo Sani, expressed her joy for the return of the President to the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, returned to Nigeria in the early hours of Friday from London, after 51 days of medical vacation.
Obaseki, who was represented by his Deputy, Mr Philip Shaibu, gave the assurance when he received on Friday the officials of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Edo state chapter, in Government House, Benin .

He assured the senior civil servants that all the issues they raised would be addressed.

One of them centred on the reinstatement of some of the disengaged staff of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
Mr Muazu Zubairu, Commissioner of Police in Niger disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna.

He said that the deployment was to protect lives and property of road users and residents.

Zubairu said that a comprehensive operational order was issued to commissioners of Police in Abuja, Kaduna and Niger commands, on securing motorists along the way.

The commissioner said that police officers deployed were well equipped to tackle any form of security threat along the highway.

We are even ready to confront cattle rustling, kidnapping and activities of armed bandits especially in the North Central region.

The IGP stressed that police personnel nationwide have been mandated to flush out criminals and ensure their prompt prosecution, he said.

He solicited the support of Nigerians in the task of ridding the nation of criminals.

ALSO READ:Osinbajo summons IGP over kidnap of German archaeologists

It is the civic responsibility of all citizens to provide adequate information to security agencies to track down and curtail all forms of criminal activities, he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some resident in Gwange, New GRA, Damboa went into wild celebration following the news of his return.

NAN reports that the President is held in very high esteem in the state following the return of peace to the area which was largely under the control of Boko Haram insurgents before his assumption of office in May 2015.

Malam Isyaku Muhammad, a resident of new GRA told NAN in an interview that the prayers of Nigerians for President Buhari was not in vain.

The Borno people had embarked on fasting, prayers and supplication over the presidents health when he was announced to be sick in London.

We believe that our prayers have been answered, Muhammad said.

Ibrahim Bashir, who resides in Damboa road area of Maiduguri said the Presidents home coming was a huge relief after the tension over his rumoured health.

The return of President Buhari is worthy of celebration; as you know the president and hiis Vice President were already taking step toward resuscitating our ailing economy.

We need only Buhari and his VP to continue fighting corruption and recovering all the tax payers money stashed away by corrupt politicians.

MalamSale Bulkachuwa, another resident said we must continue to pray for the president for sound health to enable him continue to fight insurgency in the country. We are so happy and our prayers remain with the president.

Malam Audu Sokoto, said that President Buhari remained God chosen for the people of Nigeria.
The Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, made the disclosure when he briefed newsmen on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting in Kano on Thursday.He said that the exercise was aimed at training young Fulani milkmaids on modern milk processing and storage.

Garba said the council also approved N178 million for the payment of 2016/2017 academic session tuition fees for undergraduates of the state origin at Igbinideon University, Okada, in Edo.

He said the council also approved N42 million for the construction of drainage in Darmanawa and Gandun Sarki in Tarauni local government areas.The commissioner said that the council approved one billion Naira for the reconstruction of the 12.3km road from Tanye to Dubagau in Kabo Local Government Area.

He added: N781 million was awarded for the rehabilitation of Gidan Maza western bye-pass road in Kumbotso Local Government Area.

Also, N91.6 million has been awarded to provide Gandu and sharada street light. 

Garba said that the council also approved N25 million for the supply of 350 KVA generator and the repair of two faulty generators in Abubakar Rimi Television station.
Adesina also said Buhari expressed his gratitude to all who prayed for, and wished him well while he was in London.

The presidential aide, in a statement obtained from Daily Post, also said The President is back. This is a day of joy. It is a splendid day. It is a day to give glory, honour and majesty to God.

"The President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his appreciation once again to all those who prayed and all those who expressed goodwill towards him.

He is a man, who loves our country; who is serving the country; who wants to see Nigeria take its place among the comity of nations.

He knows that some people did mischief with what happened to him. He has learnt a lesson from it that there may be many devises in the heart of man, but it is the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. The counsel of the Lord concerning Nigeria is that the President should return, and he has returned to continue with the good work.

While the President was away, the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, who is the Vice-President, did a fantastic job. They will continue to do the job together to the glory of God and to the good of our country.

ALSO READ:Buhari advices Nigerians to shun self medication

President Buhari was in London for over 40 days reportedly as a result of some medical issues.
THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER

Ohanaeze, others condemn judges verdict on killing of Igbo traders

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sentenced two police officers to death yesterday for killing two of six Igbo traders in Apo, Abuja on June 8, 2005. But the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said yesterday that there was nothing to cheer about in the judgment which it described as falling short of the justice expected.

We have no hand in Boko Haram insurgency, says French Ambassador, Denys Gauer

We have no hand in Boko Haram insurgency, French Ambassador in Nigeria, Denys Gauer, declared yesterday. Speaking with The Guardian in Abuja, Gauer stated that a national newspaper, (not The Guardian) recently published a report and photograph of a white man, which it claimed is a French national arrested by the Nigerian military in its operation against Boko Haram.

President Muhammadu Buhari returns today

Barring any last-minute changes, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to return to the country today, the Presidency has said. Buhari left the country on January 19, for medical vacation for which he had sought extension twice through a letter to the National Assembly based on doctors recommendation for more rest.

VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

Buhari expected back today - Presidency

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected back in the country from London today, the Presidency said last night in a statement.

Naira appreciates to N455/$ as foreign reserves hit $30bn

Hopes of further appreciation of the naira brightened yesterday as the nations external reserve rose to $30 billion, the highest in 13 months

Reprieve for Etisalat as NCC, CBN prevail on banks against takeover

Reprieve appears to have come the way of embattled telecoms operator, Etisalat Nigeria, which three Nigerian banks, Wednesday, got approval to take over after it allegedly failed to repay a loan of over N541 billion it secured from them in 2015.

THE NATION NEWSPAPER

Buhari returns today

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected back in Nigeria today  49 days after he left for the United Kingdom on vacation. He also had some medical tests.

Makarfi vows to flush Sheriff out of PDP

The protracted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership crisis boiled over yesterday as Caretaker Committee Chairman Ahmed Makarfi vowed to flush out court-backed party chair Ali Modu Sheriff.

$1bn loan: CBN, NCC launch rescue mission for Etisalat
What better way to ease off the stress of the week than watch a good movie.

With that in mind, check out our list of movies currently showing in cinemas across Lagos and Abuja.

1.

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Ali Larter

Synopsis: Picking up immediately after the events in Resident Evil: Retribution, Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity's final stand against the undead. Now, she must return to where the nightmare began - The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.

Friday - Thursday:9:05pm

Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae

Synopsis: Based on a true story. A team of African-American women provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions.

Friday - Thursday: 5:10pm, 8:15pm

Daily: 4:20 PM, 7:00 PM

Daily: 10:30AM, 6:30PM

Daily: 11:10AM, 1:40PM, 4:10PM, 6:40PM, 9:10PM

Starring: Nicole Ndigwe, Efe Irele, Shawn Faqua, Patience Ozokwor and Segun Arinze.

Synopsis: ZAHRA (15), a young girl in the North of Nigeria, dreams of career success and happiness in marriage. when terrorists attack her village, she ends up in an IDP camp where she hopes to find succour and a comfortable space to grieve the loss of her kin and dreams.

Showing:

Daily: 12:30PM, 4:20PM

Friday - Thursday: 2:10PM, 6:35PM

4.

Starring: Bisola Aiyeola, Omowunmi Dada, Timini Egbuson, Keira Hewatch, and Emem Ufot, Okey Uzoeshi, Adesua Etomi, Ivie Okujaye, Ireti Doyle

Synopsis: Something Wicked is the story of a widow (Hauwa), whose recently orphaned nephew Abel, moves into her home from the violence riddled Northern Nigeria, after the murder of his parents.

Abel has a difficult time fitting into his new family, whilst Hauwa struggles with the challenges of balancing a failing business and single parenthood.

This family's bond is tested when they are thrown in a life threatening situation and we see how easily misunderstandings lead to misconceptions and premonitions are sometimes the only warning we get, in this game of life and death.

Daily: 12:40PM, 9:25PM

Friday -Thursday: 12:40PM, 4:30PM

Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson

Synopsis: A team of explorers and soldiers travel to an uncharted island in the Pacific, unaware that they are crossing into the domain of monsters, including the mythic Kong.

Showing:

Daily: 12:00PM, 2:20PM, 4:40PM, 7:00PM, 9:20PM

Fri & Mon - Thu: 1:00 PM, 3:05 PM, 3:50 PM, 6:25 PM, 8:55 PM, 9:45 PM

Sat & Sun: 1:00 PM, 3:05 PM, 8:55 PM, 9:45 PM

(--VIP SHOWS--)

Daily 5:00 PM

1:10pm, 3:00pm, 4:15pm, 6:00pm, 7:20pm, 8:15pm

10:40AM, 12:25PM, 4:50PM, 9:00PM

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen

Synopsis: In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.

Showing:

Fri & Sun - Thu: 1:45 PM, 3:30 PM, 4:30 PM, 6:15 PM, 7:15 PM, 9:00 PM, 10:00 PM

Sat: 12:50 PM, 1:45 PM, 3:30 PM, 4:30 PM, 6:15 PM, 7:15 PM, 9:00 PM, 10:00 PM

Friday -Thursday: 1:40pm, 3:25pm, 6:30pm, 8:40pm

1:20PM, 3:50PM, 6:20PM, 8:50PM

Friday: 6:45PM, 8:20PMSaturday & Sunday: 1:00PM, 3:55PM, 8:20PM

Monday - Thursday: 1:00PM, 3:55PM, 6:45PM, 8:20PM

Starring:Majid Michel, Hafiz Saka Oyetoro, Mercy Johnson Okojie

Synopsis: Light Will Come tells the story of Lukas (Hafiz Oyetoro) a bumbling and comical personal assistant to his chronic bachelor boss Raymond (Majid Michel).

Raymonds parents have mandated him to get married and the desperate search together with Lukas to find the ideal wife his elite parents would approve of repeatedly goes wrong. Times running out on Raymond and he secretly engages the services of an escort agency who presents Jessica (Nuella Njubigbo Chikere) to pose before his parents as his fiancee but a fall out shatters the plan.

Showing:

Friday -Thursday: 11:20am

Friday -Thursday: 10:40AM, 4:45PM

Friday - Thursday:12:50PM, 2:30PM, 4:10PM, 5:50PM, 7:30PM, 9:10PM

Starring:Richard Mofe-Damijo, Sola Sobowale, Alibaba, Iretiola Doyle, Banky W, and Adesua Etom

Synopsis: Our love birds just want to tie the knot in peace, but will true love stand even the most chaotic of wedding celebrations?

Showing:

Daily: 1:00 PM, 5:35 PM, 7:40 PM

Friday -Thursday: 2:40pm, 6:45pm

Friday -Thursday: 1:00PM, 4:45PM

Friday - Thursday:1:00PM, 3:00PM, 5:00PM, 7:00PM, 9:00PM

Starring: Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet

Synopsis: Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.

Friday - Thursday: 6:00PM, 8:00PM

Starring: AY Makun, Nadia Buari, Emma Nyra, Evan King, Anita Chris

Synopsis: An exuberant, adventurous young, white American man in search of a job lands himself a drivers job of transporting African films stars coming to America for an award show in this extremely funny comedy.

Showing:

Fri - Thu: 9:40 PM

Friday - Thursday: 12:25PM, 7:40PM

Starring: Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson

Synopsis: A group of Boston-bred gangsters set up shop in balmy Florida during the Prohibition era, facing off against the competition and the Ku Klux Klan.

Showing:

Friday - Thursday: 10:30AM

Daily: 11:20am

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jenny Slate, Rosario Dawson

Synopsis: : Bruce Wayne must not only deal with the criminals of Gotham City, but also the responsibility of raising a boy he adopted.

Showing:

Daily: 12:00 PM, 2:10 PM

Friday -Thursday: 10:35AM, 2:40PM

Friday - Thursday: 12:00PM, 2:00PM, 4:00PM

Daily: 12:40pm

Starring: Enyinna Nwigwe, IK Ogbonna, Nancy Isime, Bayray Mc Nwizu, Keppy Ekpeyong, Shaffy Bello and Daniel Lloyd.

Synopsis: The movie was directed by Desmond Elliot (who also plays a role in the movie) and tells the story of a young lady who hires a man to pose as her fiance at a family event, after her younger sisters engagement.

Showing:

Friday -Thursday: 2:24PM, 9:00PM

Friday - Thursday: 12:20PM, 4:30PM, 8:40PM
We are happy to welcome the president from his medical vacation in London. We welcome him home; but we will continue to pry his full recovery, Makarfi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in a telephone interview on Friday in Jos.

The PDP will continue to pray for the president; all Nigerians should do same.

Presiding over Nigeria is a huge task, so we must pray for sound and steady health so that Buhari can effectively handle that tough job, Makarfi said, in his reaction to the news.

Meanwhile, Nigerians across religious and political faiths have taken to the streets in Masaka, Mararaba and Keffi in Nasarawa State, to celebrate the safe return of the president from London.

NAN reports that the jubilant crowds took over the busy Abuja-Keffi highway, causing a heavy traffic snarl.

Some of the residents, who spoke with NAN in Karu, said that they were happy over his safe return, and prayed for Gods guidance and protection to enable him perform his constitutional responsibilities to Nigerians.

Our correspondents, who monitored the jubilation, observed that the residents held placards appreciating God for the safe return of Buhari.

ALSO READ: Buhari asks Osinbajo to continue with governance

Some of the placards read: Baba, Welcome to Nigeria, We thank God for your safe return; Nigerians have been waiting for you; we stand with you and trust you for good governance in Nigeria, while another screamed: Oyoyo Baba Buhari.
In a statement by its spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi, the APC noted that President Buhari had returned with "new vigour and optimism" to fix the challenges facing Nigeria.

The statement reads:

The party believes that President Buhari is now well rested and has returned with new vigour and optimism to fix the challenges facing our people and fulfil the promises our party made to Nigerians during the 2015 elections.

ALSO READ: President Buhari confesses to being very sick

We thank the president for following due process and properly handing over to his deputy, vice-president and thereby saving the country the needless controversies and crises that we experienced in the past.

The Party also commend the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for competently holding the fort on behalf of Mr President and for his loyalty and commitment to the change agenda of our party.
Buhari returned to Nigeria on Friday, March 9, after spending 49 days in London on a medical vacation.

I deliberately came back towards the weekend so that the vice-president will continue and I will continue to rest, he said.

Youth and intelligence is clearly behind him, age and purely military experience is purely behind me, Buhari said.

Buhari also said that he cant remember ever being this sick since he was a young man.

I couldnt recall ever being so sick since I was a real young man including the military goings ups and downs, he said.

Buhari handed over to Osinbajo before leaving Nigeria on January 19 and the latter has been praised for doing a fine job during the presidents absence.
The leader of the caucus, Rep. Leo Ogor, told newsmen in Abuja that the committee which submitted its report to the Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, did not consult PDP lawmakers in the National Assembly.

Ogor also condemned a statement signed by two members of the caucus, under the aegis of Concerned PDP House Members, but insisted that the caucus fully supported the Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee of the party.

The two, Rep. Johnson Agbonayinma (Edo-PDP) and Rep. Oni Olamide (Ekiti-PDP) had endorsed Sheriff and said they were fully disposed to the reconciliatory efforts of the Dickson committee.

However, Ogor stressed that the PDP caucus in the National Assembly was united in backing Makarfi.

Ogor described the statement from Agbonayinma and Olamide as a storm in a tea cup.

He said that the caucus would be meeting with PDP governors over the issue on Tuesday.

The caucus has always been behind Makarfi and that support has not changed.

In a caucus of about 139 members, one or two dissenting voices cannot be ruled out but we are never behind Sherrif.

It is important to understand that there is a matter before the court.

We want to see the truth, we believe in the judiciary and the interpretation of the situation by the Supreme Court.

We dont mind political solution but since injustice to one is injustice to all, the Supreme Court must rule on it and let the truth be known.

We will try political solution but the truth must be known, Ogor said.

He also disclosed that the caucus had not made any decision concerning the partys convention but stressed that it would not hold without the input of the caucus.

We have not taken any position on the convention.
The Publicity Secretary of the Committee, Mr Dayo Adeyeye briefing newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, said that the party could not trust Sheriff with its leadership.

He added that given the lawless and untoward behaviour of Sheriff so far, it appeared that there would be no meeting point in resolving PDP crisis.

Adeyeye also urged Sheriff to stop parading himself as Acting National Chairman of PDP following the judgment of an Abuja High Court delivered by Justice Valentine Ashi on June 29, 2016.

The court judgement according to Adeyeye nullified the 2014 Amendment to the PDP Constitution that produced Sheriff as Acting National Chairman of the PDP adding that the judgement was never appealed.

Adeyeye added that there was another valid judgment delivered on Aug. 17, 2016 by Justice Nwamaka Ogbonnaya of the FCT High Court in Abuja which re-affirmed the sack of Sheriff as PDP Chairman.

He explained that the Feb. 17 Court of Appeal judgement that nullified the National convention of May 21, 2016 limits itself solely on the legality or otherwise of the National Convention.

The judgement is not on the legality or otherwise of the appointment Sheriff as the Acting National Chairman of the PDP.

Adeyeye stated that Sheriff and his co-travellers were in defiant of the Court of Appeal Judgment which they seem to enjoy.

For emphasis, the judgment declared Status Quo Ante May 21, 2016; and Sheriff is in gross violation of it having appointed persons from the comfort of his bedroom to fill purported vacancies.

Adeyeye said that part from the fact that Sheriff was functioning illegally at the partys National Secretariat, by working with only three NWC he did not have the required number of NWC to form quorum.

He, therefore, advised PDP leaders, other members and teeming supporters to boycott proposed congress by Sheriff led NWC in Oyo, Kwara, Sokoto, Lagos and Anambra states, respectively.

Let the public note that this proposal is illegal by an illegal leadership of the Party that is in gross violation of the Constitution of the PDP and the Order of Courts.

All further actions taken by him and his illegal team will be challenged in Court and cannot stand, he said.

Adeyeye speaking on the party standing Reconciliation Committee Chaired by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, said such committee was no longer in existence.

He said that the committee along side three other committees approved by the partys 69th National Executive Committee (NEC) in 2016 prior to the May 21, 2016 National Convention had ceased to function after the convention.

The committees, he said, were National Convention Planning Committee, Reconciliation Committee, Finance Committee; and the Zoning Committee.
It, however, advised the presidency to be more transparent in managing the presidents health, saying Nigerians deserves to know the health status of their president and how its being managed.

He said In the same vein, we thank the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, for holding forth creditably while the president was away.

We urge him to continue to work assiduously to lift the nation out of this debilitating economic recession.

To achieve this all hands must be on deck. And, there is therefore the need to reduce political tension and bring all Nigerians together.

It also called on all Nigerians to continue to pray for Buharis quick recovery and for wisdom for Osinbajo, in the onerous task of steering the ship of the nation.
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 reunification talks between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders collapsed last month in a row over Greek Cypriot schools marking the anniversary of a 1950 referendum in support of union with Greece.

"The Greek side is unfortunately continuing to adopt an aggressive attitude by ignoring the sensitive points," of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Yildirim said during a visit to northern Cyprus.

The TRNC, where Ankara still has tens of thousands of troops deployed, is a breakaway administration set up after the island's division and only recognised by Turkey.

Last month, TRNC head Mustafa Akinci suspended his participation in the talks in protest at the Greek Cypriot parliament's approval of a law on marking the referendum on "Enosis" or union with Greece.

The climate of trust has since deteriorated with each side blaming the other over the stalled process.

"It is clear that this attitude... will not advance the negotiations process," Yildirim said at a news conference in north Nicosia with Akinci at his side.

Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, who is president of EU member state Cyprus, has said he believes the negotiations will remain stalled until after Turkey's April 16 referendum on presidential powers.
"Two customers were killed. Another is in a critical condition."

The assailants were on the run following the shooting, according to police, who said they had headed in the direction of the railway station after the attack.

"The reason behind the attack is not yet known and will be investigated," the Basel prosecutor's office said in a statement.

The road next to the cafe was closed and traffic redirected.

Shootings are rare in Switzerland, but men who have done military service are allowed to keep their weapons at home.

This right has been controversial as sometimes weapons are used at home in domestic incidents.
"There is nothing to justify the cancellation of this visit," a Swiss government statement said, referring to Sunday's scheduled trip to Zurich by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The visit "does not represent a particularly heightened threat from a security point of view", it added.

Zurich on Wednesday asked that the visit be cancelled, with the canton's security spokesman Urs Grob warning of possible "heavy demonstrations" if Cavusoglu were to come.

That followed an acrimonious row between Ankara and Berlin over Cavusoglu's planned trip to Switzerland's neighbour Germany.

The diplomatic tour is aimed at rallying support ahead of an April 16 referendum in Turkey on whether to strengthen the president's powers.

After several German local authorities barred rallies, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Berlin of resorting to tactics "not different from Nazi practices".

Zurich said it had stressed the controversy in Germany in its request to the Swiss federal government.

Bern said it reserved the right to change its decision if the situation evolved.
The appeal was lodged on February 23 under a push by Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, despite opposition to the move from the country's ethnic Serbs and Croats.

According to the Dayton peace agreement that ended the country's 1992-1995 conflict, key decisions cannot be taken without the consensus of representatives of the three main ethnic groups.

Mladen Ivanic, the Serb member of the presidency, argued that the appeal request should have been decided by the presidency as a whole.

He welcomed the court's decision as proof that "no one can make any more decisions on behalf of Bosnia except its institutions".

But Izetbegovic, at a separate press conference, described the court's decision as "politically motivated".

He had claimed there was no need for the presidency to agree on the appeal because the request was made by a lawyer the presidency appointed in 2002.

Many officials in Bosnia had said the move could spark a new political crisis in the deeply divided Balkan country.

In the original case lodged by the Muslim-dominated government of Bosnia in 1993, Sarajevo accused Belgrade of orchestrating a genocide through widespread "ethnic cleansing" during the war, which claimed more than 100,000 lives.

In 2007, the ICJ found only one act of genocide -- the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica -- and said there was not enough evidence to suggest that Belgrade was directly responsible.

The ICJ did find, however, that Serbia, which gave political and military backing to Bosnian Serbs, had broken international law by failing to prevent the slaughter.

Izetbegovic had said that Bosnia had "new arguments" in its case, notably those presented during the trial of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime army chief who is awaiting judgement at a UN tribunal.
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and the guided missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer from the US Navy joined the Japanese destroyers Sazanami and Samidare in the East China Sea to "increase proficiency in basic maritime skills and improve response capabilities," the US Navy said in a statement.

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, the country's navy, said in a separate statement that the exercises focused on "tactical training", without elaborating

But Japan's conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper said the drill was aimed at issuing a warning against nuclear-armed North Korea by "exhibiting the strength and deterrent power of the Japan-US alliance."

The joint drill commenced a day after North Korea launched four ballistic missiles on Monday, with three landing provocatively close to Japan, which the US is obligated to defend under a security treaty.

Pyongyang has claimed the launch was a training exercise for a strike on US bases in Japan and supervised by leader Kim Jong-Un.

Seoul and Washington are separately carrying out annual joint military exercises in South Korea.

The Japan-US training was also meant to display their joint presence in the East China Sea, where Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets, the Sankei said.

In Japan they are known as the Senkakus, while China claims then as the Diaoyus.

Successive US administrations have assured Japan that the islands fall under their security treaty, meaning if they are attacked the US will defend them.

The Carl Vinson was expected to join the South Korea-US drills after the exercise with Japan, the Sankei said.

The two sets of exercises come as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is set to visit South Korea, Japan and China next week for his first trip to the region since he became President Donald Trump's top diplomat.

The US Pacific Command said Monday that the Americans had begun deploying the THAAD anti-system to South Korea, which is designed to defend the US ally from a North Korean attack.

The deployment has outraged Pyongyang ally China, which strongly opposes it as a challenge to its security ambitions in the region.

China responded that it was "firmly opposed" to the deployment and vowed to "resolutely take necessary measures" to defend its security interests.
The minister said the investigation would include his personal use of a charity bank account.

The government of President Adama Barrow, who beat Jammeh in a December election before Jammeh fled into exile, had accused Jammeh of siphoning millions of dollars in public money into various bank accounts.

Reuters found that in 2012 and 2013, more than 8 million dollars cash was withdrawn by Jammeh himself from a bank account in the name of Jammeh Foundation for Peace, a charity founded by Jammeh.

Reuters was, however, unable to determine whether donors intended to support the Jammeh Foundation for Peace, or if donors, charity officials and the bank were aware that Jammeh was using the account to build his personal wealth.

Reuters could not determine how the withdrawn money was spent.

The justice minister told Reuters that we are setting up a commission of inquiry to look into Jammehs financial and business related activities.

We will absolutely look into the Jammeh Foundation as part of this inquiry.

He explained that the inquiry would begin in the next few months and would be carried out in conjunction with the finance ministry.

Tambadou said donations into the foundations account, which according to bank statements included payments from Euro African Group and Selectra AG, would be investigated.

We are going to look at every source of funding that Jammeh had and every withdrawal that Jammeh made.

We will look at these donors and the circumstances under which these payments were made to the foundation, he said.

The financial probe is part of a wider call for justice following Jammehs 22-year rule, which ended in chaos in January when international forces descended on the capital Banjul, leading Jammeh to step down and seek exile in Equatorial Guinea.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Tension mounted Thursday night at the Muscatine City Council meeting between residents, council and the mayor as the date and time of a hearing on Mayor Diana Brodersons possible impeachment was set.

The council unanimously approved a hearing to begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, March 23, but not before a couple impassioned speeches from members of the public.

Although advised by City Administrator Gregg Mandsager to answer no comment to residents questions, Councilman Santos Saucedo responded to Nathan Baker, of Muscatine, after Baker said the recent actions of the council were making Muscatine a statewide laughing stock. Baker said that the mayor would not have retained her seat through the next election in November, and the council should have waited instead of trying to impeach her.

"I wouldnt vote for her again except for that you guys have created this problem," he said. "The right thing would be to let her finish her term, and for you guys just to do your thing."

Saucedo was visibly upset after Bakers remarks. Saucedo said he was doing what he felt was right and promised that the reasons behind the charges filed for the mayors removal would be revealed at the March 23 hearing.

"All the information is going to come out," Saucedo said.

Mayor Broderson asked Councilman Bob Bynum, Mayor Pro Tem, to read the motion to set the hearing. She listened calmly and then said simply, Thanks, Bob.

After Bynum made the motion, the mayor asked if anyone in the audience would like to speak. Council members corrected her and said a second was needed on the motion before comments. Saucedo seconded.

Those listening in council chambers shifted in their seats and muttered to each other in anticipation as the first resident got up to speak. Max Kauffman, of Muscatine, asked if the council had an estimate of the cost of the removal process to taxpayers.

Broderson said she did not have an estimate.

Kauffman also accused Mandsager of not being liked in his previous job, and Councilman Allen Harvey spoke.

"The city administrator is not at particular issue at this time," he said, but Kauffman continued.

He likened the council to high school cheerleaders.

"Like one popular cheerleader is telling the other cheerleaders, 'If you talk to that cheerleader I wont like you and youre not going to be popular like me,'" Kauffman said.

Councilman Philip Fitzgerald said he had spoken to Kauffman before on the phone, and like that time found his comments "irritating."

"You dont know for a fact," Fitzgerald said.

As Kauffman continued, Fitzgerald said he disagreed with him, which Kauffman said he could do.

"But you dont have the right to smirk at me with your fellow councilmen while I'm speaking, thats disrespectful sir," he said.

Baker also accused Mandsager of not being liked in his previous job, and said as he travels for work the perception of his hometown has changed.

"This process is making us a laughing stock of the entire state," he said.

Bynum called point of order after Baker spoke, citing Roberts Rules of Order, because Baker had spoken longer than the allowed three minutes.

"The mayor has discretion, go ahead," Broderson answered.

After Baker finished speaking, Bynum continued, calling the question, which, according to Roberts Rules of Order, would cease discussion on the motion.

"I understand what you're saying Bob, however, the mayor does run the meeting and has discretion to change the meeting," Broderson said.

Bynum noted she "did not cease."

Baker stepped down, and those listening shifted in their seats and muttered to each other. Broderson asked for a role call vote, and the motion was passed with all ayes.

In other business:

 The Mississippi Drive Corridor Project bids were rejected, and the project will be re-bid. The process, Mandsager said, will hopefully be completed in about a month.
Bishop Robert Gruss, who lived and served in Davenport, returns home next week to lead a Lenten Renewal event at historic St. Anthony's Catholic Church.

Gruss, head of the western Roman Catholic Diocese of South Dakota, Rapid City, will lead the Lenten Parish Renewal at St. Anthony's, March 12-15. He will speak on stewardship, "Reclaiming Our True Identity," from 7-8:30 p.m. each evening.

He will also preach at mass, Saturday and Sunday, he said when reached by telephone at his offices in Rapid City, South Dakota. At the time, Gruss was working on the presentations he will make in Davenport.

Gruss is coming back at the invitation of his friend, the Rev. Apo T. Mpanda, the pastor at St. Anthony's. The event is coordinated by Sister Judy Herold, who also serves at the downtown Davenport church.

Gruss, and Bishop Martin Amos, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport, means there will be two bishops in the city for at least a few days.

"This is a very big deal," Herold said. She expects good crowds at the special services.

Stewardship is a way for Catholics to reclaim their religious identity, Gruss said, citing the Biblical challenges of stewardship.

The bishop argues that being a good steward is not the same as volunteering one's time to the church.

"Being a volunteer is not being a faithful, or lively steward. What we should be is living in a faithful stewardship," he said.

Gruss hopes to inspire listeners to live out their true callings, or their true journey to Jesus Christ.

"We like to improve ourselves, and our relationships with others, during Lent," Herold said.

St. Anthony's hosts Lenten Renewal events every few years. The theme for 2017 came after Gruss gave a talk in the diocese on stewardship in 2016.

"We thought it was quite good, so Father Apo asked him," Herold said. Gruss served at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, as well as in other positions in the diocese.

A team of 10 to 12 persons from St. Anthony's has planned the renewal, which includes social media, advertisements, as well as greeters at the events, special prayers and music.

"That's what makes an event like this work," she said.

The bishop has never given a parish renewal before, but agreed to this time because of the priest at St. Anthony's.

"This should be fun," Gruss said.

Mpanda, known by many as "Father Apo," is looking forward to the event. "It's not every day you get a bishop like him coming to town," he said. "We are grateful to him, for this."
Greek Orthodox chancellor to visit East Moline Sunday

Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, will visit Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 4900 Kennedy Drive, East Moline. He will officiate at 10 a.m. Sunday services and visit afterward with the community. A reception is scheduled.

Two Rivers hosts Lenten concerts noon Wednesdays

The 26th Lenten Concert Series at Two Rivers United Methodist Church, 1820 5th Ave., Rock Island, is free and starts shortly after noon on Wednesdays until April 12.

It includes: March 15, Tina Barber, harp; March 22, Edgar Crockett and David Holcomb, jazz duo; March 29, Bret Dale and Friends of the River Music Experience; April 5, Hannah Holman and Benjamin Loeb, lead cellist and pianist from the Quad-City Symphony; April 12, Steven Steely, organist.

Lenten events set at Union Congregational, Moline

Several events for the Lenten season are announced by the Rev. Lisa Powell Williams at the Union Congregational United Church of Christ, 1811 53rd St., Moline.

These include: Saturday Bible Study, 9 a.m. March 11 to April 8, "He Chose the Nails" with Max Lucado; Easter Egg Hunt, 1 p.m. April 8; Palm Sunday, April 9, 10:30 a.m. "Procession of Palms," Maundy Thursday, 7 p.m. April 13; Good Friday, 1 p.m. April 14; and Easter Sunday, 10:30 a.m. April 16.

St. Paul's loss by suicide events start March 16

People who have lost a loved one or friend by suicide have two opportunities to connect with others who have experienced the same. Both are at St. Paul Lutheran, 2136 Brady St., Davenport.

 Suicide postvention presentation, 7 p.m. Thursday: The term "postvention" is used to talk about the alleviation of the effects of stress in survivors. This is a panel discussion about healthy recovery after a family member or friend dies by suicide.

 Monthly suicide loss support: First Monday each month, 6:30-7:30 p.m. People who have suffered a loss from suicide often feel angry, depressed, hopeless and isolated. This group provides a setting that offers nonjudgmental support, compassion and hope. No registration necessary.

Grants for Churches United hunger, shelter programs

A total of $2,500 has been granted to Churches United of the Quad-City Area: $1,000 for the organization's shelter program and $1,500 for its hunger program. These grants are from the Mary Iva Gittens Knouse Charitable Trust. Churches United was organized 56 years ago and is headquartered at 2535 Tech Drive, Suite 205, Bettendorf.

 Do you have a new or interesting event going on at your place of worship? If so, please contact Deirdre Baker, who prepares news items for Saturday's Beliefs page. Send a message to dbaker@qctimes.com or call 563-383-2492.
Late last year, Augustana College sold a sizable amount of land near Amboy, Illinois, to the Illinois Audubon Society, the Rock Island institution announced this week.

The $2.1 million deal gives the society 395 acres of the colleges 410-acre property, formerly called Green Wing Environmental Laboratory, located almost 80 miles east of the Quad-Cities in Lee County.

Augustana students and faculty still will have access to 15 acres at the site  recently renamed Gremel Wildlife Sanctuary  which includes several buildings for research, teaching and outreach activities.

The new name commemorates longtime society member Russell Gremel, whose financial contributions, along with those through a land acquisition grant from the Chicago-based Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, made the purchase possible.

The property, situated two miles northeast of the society's Amboy Marsh Nature Preserve, consists of shallow ponds, extensive upland forests, remnant savanna, wet meadow ecosystems and tall grass prairie. Initial inventories show the land provides habitats for 197 bird species and 418 species of plants, the society reports.

The area also is flooded with numerous invasive species, which will require several years of work to clear and restore, Dr. Steve Hager, professor of biology and interim director of field stations, said.

The sale of Green Wing to Illinois Audubon Society will ensure that the acreage is maintained and preserved well into the future, Hager said.

Meanwhile, the society plans to encourage public access to Gremel Wildlife Sanctuary once crews complete construction of a parking area off Lewis Road.

Proceeds from the sale will fund ongoing operations at Augustanas three environmental field stations and establish an endowed chair in the field of environmental science and conservation. Additionally, money from the sale will contribute to a pending addition to the Hanson Hall of Science on Augustana's campus.

The endowed chair will honor Dr. Bohdan Dziadyk, who taught hundreds of students at Green Wing Lab during his 25-year directorship of the field stations and who carefully oversaw the sale of the property.

Dziadyk, who recently retired after a 36-year teaching career in the biology department, also co-directed the colleges environmental studies program.

He called the Illinois Audubon Society an ideal steward for the land and is pleased with its plans to preserve and restore native ecosystems and natural features on the property.

The colleges two other field stations are:

 Collinson Ecological Preserve, a 75-acre site with upland forest located eight miles south of the college in Milan.

 Beling Ecological Preserve, a 98-acre wetland station located on the Rock River at the Rock Island-Moline border.
The deaths of two men found dead in a home in Clinton are being investigated as a homicide, the Clinton Police Department said in a news release Friday.

At 3:08 p.m. March 6, the Clinton Police Department responded to a report of an unresponsive person at a home at 114 N. 5th St.

Officers discovered two men, Kevin James Lambert, 57, and Steven James Cox, 60, both of Clinton, dead inside, according to the release.

They were transported to the Office of the Iowa State Medical Examiner, where autopsies were conducted, according to the release.

"We are not disclosing manner or method (of death) as this is a very active investigation at this time," Chief Kevin Gyrion said in an email Friday.

The police department is being assisted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Office of the Iowa State Medical Examiner.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call the Clinton Police Department at 563-243-1458 or Clinton County Crime Stoppers at 1-888-883-8015.

 Tara Becker
In the first of what the Republican Party says will be three events across the state, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad thanked supporters in eastern Iowa at a party fundraiser in Davenport on Thursday night.

After a day of official events in the area, Branstad spent a few hours at the Holiday Inn & Suites on Elmore Avenue, signing autographs, chatting with friends and reminiscing about his tenure as the nations longest serving governor.

President Donald Trump has nominated him to be ambassador to China, though he has not yet been confirmed.

The evening was a low-dollar fundraiser for the Republican Party of Iowa, and the two others will be in Sioux City and Des Moines, state GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said. The real aim of the events, he said, is to pay tribute to Branstad, whos been governor for 22 of the last 34 years.

Its an opportunity to say thank you to a person whos really dedicated over half of his life to the citizens of this state, Kaufmann said.

About 200 people attended, and much of the evening was a conversation between Kaufmann and Branstad in which the governor talked about his parents, his wife and past campaigns. The governor said his father instilled in him a work ethic, while his mother stressed education.

He also spoke of Trumps selection of him to be ambassador to China.

Branstad called it an awesome responsibility for a farm kid from Iowa and said that he hopes his friendship with China's President, Xi Xinping, will help, and that the U.S. can increase its exports there. I learned a long time ago the best deal is a win-win situation. Hopefully, well get a win for America and be better for us and also be something that will be a win for China, he said.

Branstad hasnt been confirmed to the post by the Senate yet, so its not clear when he will leave. But he praised Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who also was at the event, and said she is ready to succeed him.

Its not easy to leave, but I feel good about it, Branstad said. And thanks to all of you for all the support and help youve given me for all these years Ive had the opportunity to have all these wonderful memories.
The Scott County Board of Supervisors approved a local disaster declaration that could let county residents affected by Monday nights severe weather apply for individual grant assistance from the state of Iowa.

Gov. Terry Branstad signed the disaster proclamation for Scott and Muscatine counties on Wednesday. Households that meet income guidelines may be eligible to receive up to $5,000 to cover storm-related costs for home or car repairs, temporary housing expenses and replacement of clothing or food.

Although some of the damage was in the city of Davenport, the county must declare a local disaster before residents can apply, County Administrator Mahesh Sharma said.

In other action, Ben Dittmer spoke on behalf of Grandview Farms at a public hearing on a revised plan to expand the familys existing hog confinement operation west of Eldridge. Dittmer told supervisors the primary objectives of the plan are to improve production and the animals health status. The investment in ventilation systems also will improve air quality and disease control, Dittmer said.

Supervisors unanimously approved a recommendation to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in support of Grandview Farms requested permit to construct five new buildings.

 Teresa LaBella
A 22-year-old Pleasant Valley woman was killed early Tuesday in a head-on collision in DeKalb County, Illinois.

The DeKalb County Sheriffs Office says the crash happened about 6:19 a.m. near the intersection of Somonauk and Gurler roads south of Cortland.

According to Lt. Jim Burgh, a 2015 Hyundai Sonata was northbound on Somonauk Road when the car crossed into the southbound lane and hit a 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Joann Elizabeth Weeks.

Weeks was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the Hyundai, Jacob Ensign, 23, of DeKalb, was taken to a local hospital and was later transported to St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois, for serious but not life-threatening injuries, Burgh said.

Ensign was cited for improper lane usage. The crash remains under investigation, Burgh said.

Weeks is the daughter of Randy and Monica Weeks of Pleasant Valley. According to her obituary, she graduated from Rivermont Collegiate in Bettendorf and went on to get a bachelors degree and planned to pursue a masters degree from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois.

She worked as a private nanny to three children, according to her obituary. Obituaries, A8.

-- Tara Becker
As if Iowa's embattled Medicaid system needed more stress.

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan's pitch to replace the Affordable Care Act is already in trouble. House conservatives are blasting it from the right, dubbing it "Obamacare-lite." Democrats are decrying the bill's potential to strip millions of Americans of their health insurance, a claim that will next week be tested when the Congressional Budget Office issues its analysis. President Donald Trump's enthusiasm is, at best, inconsistent. Powerful lobbies representing the elderly and physicians are lining up against it. And four center-right Republicans in the Senate immediately panned it because it would end federal funding for Medicaid expansion, which 31 states have done since ACA's adoption.

It's this last point of contention in which Iowa and Illinois -- both states that expanded Medicaid -- could end up in dire financial straits. The bill, as it now stands, would end federal matching funds for Medicaid expansion in 2020, replacing them with bloc grants. The rollback is essential to pay for the hundreds of billions in tax cuts that are at the core of Ryan's bill, which even Fox News admitted would disproportionately benefit the wealthy.

Iowa's Medicaid program is already in free-fall after last year's privatization. Recent filings from two of the three providers, showing huge financial losses, is evidence that Gov. Terry Branstad should have listened to federal regulators last year and applied the brakes. The third company has said in the past that Iowa's payments simply aren't enough to make it whole.

Medicaid in Iowa is already nearing a tipping point.

And it's within this ecosystem where Ryan, and to a lesser extend Trump, find themselves. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, admitted as much when he immediately panned Ryan's bill after last week's rollout. Illinois "won't do very well," under the House draft, Rauner told the Chicago Tribune. Rauner's comments echoed Ohio's GOP governor, John Kasich, who recently lobbied the White House to salvage the Medicaid funding.

Branstad, who is set to accept a diplomatic job with the Trump administration, was more, well, diplomatic. Branstad, also a Republican, said he wanted to read the bill before commenting.

The fact is, Iowa's Medicaid system has more than doubled since the state expanded Medicaid to include those making up to 138 percent of the poverty level, or $26,000 for a family of three. About 70,000 relied on the program prior to 2013's state expansion, a Department of Human Services spokeswoman told us. Now, between 145,000 and 150,000 Iowans are in the program on any given week. That's 5 percent of the state's population now relying on Medicaid. In Illinois, 650,000 were added after Medicaid expansion.

Does anyone actually believe that, when the federal funds dry up, the state is going to let those people languish? Lawmakers could, but it would be cruel and politically problematic. And, as that population again flees to emergency rooms over primary care, everyone will pick up the tab.

Ryan and Trump are feeling it from all sides. Both men made huge promises, after Republicans spent years lampooning President Barack Obama's premier domestic achievement. House Republicans ceremonially voted dozens of times to repeal the law while Obama was in office. And now, House conservatives -- especially the Freedom Caucus -- are looking to make good on pledges to kill the troubled program once and for all. Meanwhile, the GOP's center is rightly fretting the human and political costs that could accompany such aggressive and swift action.

A lot has been said about ACA's shortcomings. A lot was done to assure Obama's health insurance program failed. A lot has been promised to voters, many of them benefiting from the ACA.

But, as it now stands, states like Iowa and Illinois stand to pay if Ryan gets his victory.
DES MOINES  The Iowa state Senate on Thursday gave Davenport school leaders a victory they have been working toward for years.

On a 47-0 vote, senators approved changes to the state's funding formula that eventually will fix inequities in per-pupil spending that have forced Davenport schools to spend up to $175 less than some other districts are allowed.

"That's great," Davenport Superintendent Art Tate said Thursday afternoon after learning about the vote.

Tate has put his administrator's license on the line this year by spending more per pupil than state law allows to make up for the inequity. He is facing ethics action brought by the state.

The bill, Senate File 455, now goes to the Iowa House for action. If approved there, it would move to Gov. Terry Branstad's desk for his signature.

Richard Clewell, Davenport School Board member and chair of the boards Legislative Advocacy Committee, said, We are pleased that Senate File 455 has passed. Now, well watch what happens in the Iowa House and gear up our advocacy efforts.

The bill fixes the inequity by phasing in increases over 10 years for school districts. The cost is estimated at $15 million to $20 million in the first year and increases annually until fully implemented in 2027. It also addresses issues with transportation costs for districts that span wide areas. Those districts must take money from their general fund to pay for the increased costs of busing students.

Sen. Roby Smith, R-Davenport, was a co-sponsor of the bill and was happy at the result.

Its an exciting day," he said. "Its a long-term fix, and well move it to the House. Well continue to work on the short-term fix as well.

The short-term solution is a effort Smith is pursuing that would allow districts to spend some of their reserve funds while the long-term fix is being implemented.

This bill is pro-education, this bill is fairness, this bill helps Iowa and its children, Smith told his colleagues. It is reasonable, sustainable and prudent. Vote yes for equality.

Although the bill passed the Senate unanimously, it still had its critics. Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, argued unsuccessfully that the cost could create competition for state budget dollars and mean less general school funding for all districts.

Others, however, praised the bill.

This is huge, said Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, who noted the bill addressed problems that have vexed school districts for decades. What an opportunity. Were going to do the right thing.

Sen. Tod Bowman, D-Maquoketa, called the change a bipartisan effort that has spanned multiple sessions in trying to close a gap in transportation costs that range up to $1,133 per student among Iowas 333 school districts.

This is going to be a game-changer. This is big, this is important, said Bowman, who noted some would like to see a faster pace to inequities that will be dealt with slowly over a period of years. Iowans across the state want this regardless of urban or rural.

In other issues:

The senate voted Thursday to take steps to address problems associated with drunken, drugged and distracted driving.

Senators voted 48-0 to establish programs that would require drivers arrested or convicted of driving impaired to participate in twice-daily sobriety monitoring, as well as require some drivers to install ignition interlocks in their vehicles. The sobriety monitoring program is modeled after initiatives in South Dakota and other states.

I believe this is a necessary piece of legislation to create additional tools with the intent of improving safety on our roads, said Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, floor manager for Senate File 444.

The legislation puts in place an evidence-based, innovative criminal justice concept with a non-traditional approach to treat crimes involving alcohol or drug abuse with the goal of preventing repeat occurrences, he said. An offender could be placed in the opt-in program as a condition of bond, pretrial release, sentence probation, parole or a temporary restricted license and be allowed to function in a job free from incarceration if he or she abstains from the use of alcohol and/or drugs for the term of the sanction, he added.

A separate provision of the bill, which now goes to the Iowa House for consideration, 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.

This legislation does do something to promote safety on our public highways. It definitely feels like its a step in the right direction as we find the best way to keep our citizens safe and reduce the number of injuries on our public highways, said Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines.

The recommendations for the legislation came out of a task force Gov. Terry Branstad formed to study ways to keep drunk, drugged and distracted drivers off Iowa highways following a year when traffic deaths spiked to 403  the most since 2008.

Also Thursday, senators voted 26-21 to approve legislation prohibiting union project labor agreements from being mandated on taxpayer-funded construction projects that are financed by state or local governments. All Republicans present voted yes while 20 Democrats and one independent senator opposed Sen. File 438.

"Taxpayers deserve the best construction that they can get at the very best price that they can get," said Sen. Dennis Guth, R-Klemme, the bills floor manager. "This bill will make that happen by encouraging more contractors to bid on a project."

Guth said the bill will increase competition and reduce costs if government entities have options other than project labor agreements that favor union workers. He and others contend non-union contractors shy away from government-financed projects because the bidding process requires the revelation of proprietary information.

Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, said the bill is another example of lawmakers intruding into a local control issue for cities, counties and school districts in trying unsuccessfully to apply the bills provisions solely to state projects.

(Deirdre Cox Baker contributed to this story.)
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Police have arrested a Rapid City man in connection with the killing of a woman found dead at a local motel Wednesday.

Vincent Mousseaux, 23, was arrested Thursday on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the death of 30-year-old Deziree Martinez, according to a Rapid City Police Department release.

Martinez was found dead around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in a room at the Price Motel on 401 E. North St. Police soon began investigating the death as a homicide after finding signs of "trauma" on Martinez's body.

The release said Mousseaux had stabbed Martinez multiple times following an argument while the two and another person were in the motel room late Tuesday night.

It said Mousseaux tried to stab Martinez when the third person, whom police did not identify, stepped in to defend Martinez. Mousseaux attempted to stab that person, but the individual took the knife from Mousseaux, who then grabbed another knife and chased that person from the room.

Mousseaux returned to the room and stabbed Martinez multiple times before leaving, police said.

Mousseaux was found early Wednesday morning in the area of Riley Avenue, less than a mile southeast of the Price Motel. He was intoxicated at the time, the release said, and was placed under arrest for a probation violation. He had since been detained at the Pennington County Jail.

Police spokesman Brendyn Medina said the investigation's turning point came when authorities established that Martinez and Mousseaux had been in the same location.

Medina described Martinez and Mousseaux as acquaintances. He could not confirm reports that they were relatives.

Mousseaux's criminal record, according to court records, includes a misdemeanor conviction for violating a protection order. He also has a felony conviction for possessing tools with the intent to commit burglary, in which a condition of his probation is to refrain from consuming alcohol.

Martinez's killing is the fourth known homicide in Rapid City this year, following three fatal stabbings in January.
Brian Murphy has been through the kind of thing you see in movies and say to yourself, 'that is so ridiculous. No one could ever survive that in real life.'

By all accounts, Brian Murphy should be dead.

The scars on his face, neck, head, legs, arms and hands won't let him forget the day death seemed inevitable. It was sunny Sunday morning in 2012. Dozens of people were gathering to worship in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, at the Sikh Temple.

Murphy was the supervisor on duty that day, not expecting to be out in the field. He was a Lieutenant at the time at the Oak Creek Police Department.

"My radio goes off and I realize I am the closest one to the scene," Murphy said. "I got there in about 2 minutes."

Terror at the temple

The scene unfolding at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin can only be described as an act of terror.

The gunman was an Army veteran on a mission of hate chose that day to enter the temple and start slaughtering people, some as they worshiped.

The Sikh faithful -- highly visible for the colorful turbans some of the men wear -- had no warning that morning; they had no way to fight back. No chance.

"I was in the kitchen. We were making roti (unleavened Indian bread). We heard firing outside. I brought both kids in my hand and said let's go in the pantry," Satpal Kaleka said.

Kaleka was one of 15 women and children who huddled in that pantry together fearing death. The frantic calls to 9-1-1 were streaming in as people were being shot first outside then inside as they worshiped.

"The only woman who was killed actually went into the temple to pray saying 'God will protect me," Murphy learned later. 41-year-old Paramjit Kaur died as she prayed. Five others including Kaleka's husband, the President of the Temple, also were shot to death.

Surviving the impossible

As shots continued to ring out, Murphy arrived in his squad car.

"I get there and I get out. I see two people. It turned out to be two brothers lying across each other. They weren't moving, " he said.

But someone else was. 40-year-old Wade Michael Page had made a plan and was executing it. He was an Army veteran who had become a white supremacist.

Page and Murphy saw each other.

They both fired.

"I missed," Murphy said, clearly annoyed with himself.

Page did not miss.

A bullet pierced Murphy's face.

"It hit my jaw bone went down my throat, ripped apart my voice box and my Esophagus and uh bounced off my spine," He said, adding, "Didn't feel that bad just felt like getting a punch."

He took cover behind a car but then he lost sight of the gunman.

"Tactical mistake on my part," he said.

Page suddenly shot him from behind. Murphy's thumb exploded. His gun was blown out of his hand. And the shots just kept on coming.

"About half way through ... I'm thinking, 'When are you going to be done shooting me?'" Murphy said.

Suddenly Murphy was lying on his back looking eye to eye with the shooter who was standing over him.

The worst was the shot that pierced Murphy's skull.

"It was like the loudest explosion in my head," he said. "That's when I thought, well this isn't good."

As he was being shot another officer, Sam Lenda, arrived.

"He thought he saw someone waving at him but quickly realized it was the shooter," Murphy said. "He was pointing a gun at him."

What Lenda didn't know was, in between leveling the gun at him, Page was shooting at Murphy.

Lenda backed up. Police dash cam video shows a bullet piercing the squad car window. It hit the headrest, narrowly missing Lenda. Lenda got in position and fired six shots.

But Page shot and killed himself.

Murphy lay there, riddled with bullets, 15 to be exact. But he was still breathing.

'Divine intervention'

Of the 15 shots, three hit Murphy's bullet proof vest. Twelve entered his body. Two bullets are still inside him to this day.

A year later, Murphy was approached by a survivor who was inside the temple during the shooting.

"She said, 'How many times were you hit?' I said, 15. She said, 'Yes, don't you get it? One bullet for every one of us who was hiding inside.'"

It turned out there were exactly 15 people hiding in the pantry. Murphy had caught the shooter's eye before he could go back in and continue killing.

"That has to be divine intervention," he said.

"He is our hero. Not just because he took bullets intended for us but because of the work he has done to bring awareness about the Sikh community since then," Pardeep Kaleka said.

Kaleka sits next to his mother. He is the son of the Temple President who was murdered that day.

"I know this sounds strange but in some ways it changed our lives but for the better," Kaleka said. "I wouldn't have said that initially but the loss made us appreciate each other and bond more tightly and never again take our relationships or life for granted."

He also gained a friend. Brian Murphy. The two have formed a brotherhood.

"We can talk and be real with one another. Honest. We learn from each other," Murphy said.

While they love America, They say they are worried about the American they see emerging.

"We are scared. As Sikh people we are often targets," Kaleka said. The attack on the Temple was nearly five years ago, the attacks on Indians in America this monthhas heightened that fear once again.

'Go back to your country'

In Kent, Washington, police are still searching for a gunman who they say confronted and shot a Sikh man, originally from India's Punjab province last Friday.

Police say the suspect confronted the victim in his driveway telling him to "go back to your country" and shot him in the arm after a heated argument.

The victim, who is a US citizen, follows the Sikh faith and wears a turban and has a beard.

The victim sustained non life-threatening injuries. The Kent police department is investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, according to Chief Ken Thomas.

Last month, in a suburb of Kansas City, a gunman walked into Austin's Bar and Grill and targeted two men originally from India.

According to police, Adam Purinton, 51, shot and killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla and injured colleague Alok Madasani.

Both worked at Garmin, a GPS device company.

Patrons who witnessed the shooting told local media they heard the suspect yell, "get out of my country."

Purinton faces charges of one count of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first- degree murder.

Sikh-American group members say they have faced discrimination and abuse,often in ways that are xenophobic or even Islamophobic, though Sikhs are not Muslims.

According to the FBI, anti-Muslim hate crimes in the US surged 67% from 2014 to 2015, to levels not seen since 2001.

The first victim of a so-called "revenge killing" after the September 11th terror attacks was a Sikh man who had nothing to do with the attack. Balbir Singh Sodhi was working at his gas station when he was gunned down by a man who said he wanted to kill "towel heads." The despicable act left the Sikh community reeling.

"I have learned that 99% of the men in the US that you see wearing a turban are Sikh, and not Muslim, but whether you are Sikh or Muslim, being persecuted for what you are wearing is ridiculous," Murphy said.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate crime, has found an uptick of incidents targeting Muslims and other religious minority groups since the election of President Donald Trump.

Murphy got a chance to speak directly to Trump during a CNN town hall held before his November election. Murphy asked Trump what he would do as president to protect all Americans.

"As President he's come out and he's assured us that it's not going to be tolerated. I appreciate that, but I think anyone who is caught in one of these hate crimes needs absolutely to be prosecuted to the fullest," Murphy said.

Murphy is now working for the company that makes the bulletproof vest that saved his life. His job involves talking to other officers who have been shot. When he is in front of a large group of law enforcement officers he does not fail to mention the Sikh religion.

"I use a variety of slides. One shows the Sikh beliefs.And I ask people how different is what they believe compared to what you believe?" Murphy said. "What we need to do right now is come together as a country."

President Obama awarded Brian Murphy and Sam Lenda the Medal of Valor in 2015.
Three documentaries produced by students at St. Thomas More High School have placed in the top tier of winners in C-SPANs national 2017 StudentCam Competition.

Students Carolyn Eckrich, Audrey Cope and Grace Wittenberg took third place and will receive $750 for their documentary about race relations, called "Searching for Justice in the Land of Liberty."

Their classmates Corbin Olson, Dillon Johnson and Austin Nelson received honorable mentions and will receive $250 for their documentary, "Syrian Refugee Crisis," along with Natalie Montoya, Chloe Larson and Eric Fajgl for their documentary, titled "The Ninth Seat," about the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy.

Created in 2006, the annual competition challenges students to create short documentaries on issues of national importance. This years topic was Your message to Washington: What is the most urgent issue for the new president and Congress to address in 2017?

"With the new president and Congress in office, we wanted to hear from students about public policy issues they would like addressed in 2017," Craig McAndrew, C-SPAN's manager of education relations said in a release. "StudentCam offers young people the opportunity to connect with lawmakers and experts and provides them with a platform to voice their opinions creatively."

The winners from St. Thomas More are among 321 students from across the country winning a total of $100,000, including one grand prize winner, four first prize winners, 16 second prize winners, 32 third prize winners and 97 honorable mentions. The 150 winning videos can be viewed at studentcam.org/winners17.htm.
Russian Supreme Court discloses reasons for Dadins release

MOSCOW, March 10 (RAPSI)  The Supreme Court of Russia has disclosed its reasons to acquit activist Ildar Dadin, who was the first person convicted of numerous violations of protest laws, stating that terms for criminal persecution in this case were violated, RIA Novosti reported on Friday.

The Supreme Court explained that the article of the Criminal Code prohibiting violations of protest laws excludes possibility of criminal prosecution if at the time of crime there were no active court rulings regarding administrative liability of a defendant. These rulings have to be issued at least three times in the period of 180 days.

When Dadin became a defendant in criminal case back in December 2014 rulings regarding administrative violations have not come into full force yet, meaning that there were no legal grounds to state that Dadin violated legislation several times.

Dadin was acquitted on February 22 when the Supreme Courts Presidium overturned his 2.5-year prison sentence and ruled to release him.

The court held that criminal proceedings against Dadin should be dismissed because of the absence of elements of a crime in his actions. The activist has a right to rehabilitation, according to the courts ruling.

Earlier, Deputy Prosecutor General Leonid Korzhinek asked the court to reverse guilty verdict, drop criminal proceedings against Dadin and recognize his right to rehabilitation.

On March 7, Dadin filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over unlawful stay in a penal colony.

On February 10, Russias Constitutional Court held that Dadins case must be reviewed. However, the contested Article of Russias Criminal Code was declared not contradictory to the Constitution.

Dadin was convicted and sentenced on December 7, 2015. Initially he received a 3-year prison term. The Moscow City Court later reduced the sentence to 2.5 years.

According to case papers, Dadin was arrested five times during rallies held between August 2014 and January 2015. Administrative proceedings were instituted against Dadin in all cases and he was fined. A criminal case was opened against him for participating in four meetings.

Dadins wife Anastasia Zotova wrote on Facebook in early November that her husband had been beaten and received murder threats when transferred to a penal colony in Karelia. The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) launched a probe into the allegations. Later, the FSIN announced that independent medical commission from a local hospital had not found injuries on Dadins body.

On November 24, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) during a plenary session expressed concern over the welfare of Dadin and called on Russia to immediately release him. MEPs insisted on a thorough and transparent independent investigation into the situation with Dadin who had complained on a number of occasions of prison conditions and torture.

In early January, Zotova wrote on Facebook that Dadin was transferred from a prison in Karelia to Altai.

Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks, said on Twitter that he welcomes the ruling of Russia's Supreme Court.

Spokesman of Russian President Dmitry Peskov told journalists that "this is a decision by the Supreme Court and it is necessary to respect any court rulings, all the more so, judgements by the Supreme Court."
Russian antimonopoly service to examine Lenovo over alleged competition law violations

MOSCOW, March 10 (RAPSI)  The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has launched an examination of Lenovo Eastern Europe/Asia corporation over alleged violation of anti-monopoly legislation during electronic equipment maintenance services, FAS announced on Friday.

According to FAS, examination was initiated after reports of violations. Allegedly, authorized service centers of Lenovo are prioritizing large federal trade networks, which may suggest anti-competitive collusion by Lenovo Eastern Europe/Asia, service centers and the networks.

The Service notes that small and medium-sized companies may be put in unequal conditions compared to large networks.

On November 18, FAS announced that it had begun inspection of Lenovo in relation to anti-cartel probe on government procurements of computers.

Inspections at Lenovo are conducted on suspicion of participation of the company in a large cartel at government procurement of tech equipment, which is active in Russia for several years. Lenovo is obstructing the inspection, a FAS representative told journalists.

Lenovo Group Ltd. is a Chinese technology company operating internationally. It specializes in design, development, manufacture and sales of technical equipment and IT software.
U.S. Congressman Mike Conaway, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, addressed thousands of attendees at the 2017 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, March 3.Congressman Conaway spoke during the popular General Session on Friday, March 3. Serving his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Conaway represents 29 counties in Texas 11th congressional district, including the cities of Midland, Odessa and San Angelo. A native Texan, he grew up in Odessa and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from Texas A&AM University-Commerce. A conservative Republican, Rep. Conaways background as a CPA gives him a unique perspective on fiscal responsibility.In addition to his role as chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, Rep. Conaway also serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.We are very pleased that Congressman Conaway has agreed to address Commodity Classic attendees, said Ed Erickson, Jr., a North Dakota soybean farmer and co-chair of the 2017 Commodity Classic. With the change in administration in Washington, DC, the next Farm Bill due for debate, and discussions on international trade policy, the farmers attending Commodity Classic will be very interested to hear from one of the nations ag policy leaders on a wide range of issues.In addition to Congressman Conaways remarks, the General Session included a presentation from John OLeary, one of the most popular inspirational speakers on the circuit. After suffering severe burns and amputations as a child, OLeary shares a message of navigating adversity through decision-making, revealing a brighter vision for whats possible and living boldly to impact others.The General Session also featured comments from the leadership of the four presenting commodity associations: American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers and National Sorghum Producers. A representative of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), also made remarks.The 2017 Commodity Classic was held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.The 2018 Commodity Classic will be held in Anaheim, CA.
BILLINGS  Greg Gianforte had lost a brutal race for governor just days before David Vap bumped into him at a Bozeman dinner party. It was like the Republican had emerged from a car wreck without a scratch.

I asked him how he was doing, and he was like Im fine, and I couldnt believe it, Vap said. I dont consider myself a wimpy guy, but I couldnt do it. But it was that way at work, too. Everything would just fall off of him in pursuit of what he was trying to accomplish. There was no legacy molasses, and I dont know how he does it.

Vap, as software engineer for the Gianforte-created RightNow Technologies, worked as closely with the entrepreneur as anyone. The two now serve on several boards of directors for companies spawned by employee proceeds from RightNow's $1.8 billion sale to Oracle. He expected his friend to show some political bruising.

During the campaign, Gianforte had been attacked for his religious beliefs and his business. The attacks on RightNow hurt even Vap, who helped build the company and thought his own accomplishments were being tarnished. Gianforte was branded an outsider set on denying Montanans access to public land. In end, he was even accused of wanting to impose a sales tax. The attacks worked.

The candidate took a financial hit. Gianforte spent $5.78 million of his own money trying to unseat Gov. Steve Bullock, but trailed the incumbent by 19,818 votes. The Republican lost Gallatin County, his home of 24 years and the place where he employed hundreds of people.

Campaigning under the banner Sweep 16, Montanas GOP candidates took every statewide race but one, Gianfortes.

But there was Gianforte, chatting up folks at the party seeming concerned only about whether someone would pass the potatoes.

Monday, Republicans selected Gianforte as their candidate for the May 25 U.S. House election to replace Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who resigned Montanas lone congressional seat March 1 to lead the Department of the Interior. County precinct committee people from around the state give Gianforte 74 percent of the vote on the first ballot. Seven other candidates unevenly split the difference. No legacy molasses to be found.

Democrats selected Rob Quist as their candidate Sunday.

I was really humbled by that victory," Gianforte said. "There were 210 delegate seats; 203 were seated with very short notice, just a couple of days. I was very encouraged. I spent the last couple years traveling the state. I was staying in these peoples homes. I got a chance to get to know them. They got a chance to know me, and that was evident the other night.

Its been 21 years since a Democrat won Montanas U.S. House seat. With the exception of 2000, when there was no incumbent and both parties had strong candidates, the race has produced blowouts with Republicans winning by double digit margins.

In 2016, Zinke defeated Democrat Denise Juneau by 79,439 votes.

However, Gianforte doesnt expect this House race to be easy. Nationally, Democrats were slack-jawed at President Donald Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton last November. There are five House seats to be filled by special election in 2017. If Democrats have any chance of stopping the Republican agenda, they will have to win at least some of those special election races, plus whatever they can pick up in the 2018 general election. The number of House wins Democrats need to take control for the first time since 2009 is 24. Montanas seat is first up.

This race in a very real sense is going to be a referendum on the November election, Gianforte said. I believe its the first one in the country. Theres going to be a lot of national attention here. Americans spoke very loudly that theyre not happy with whats going on in Washington D.C. We selected a president who is going to shake it up, drain the swamp.

Supporting Trump

The early message Gianforte is putting out is that Montanans who gave Trump a 20-point victory margin in Montana  where Clinton trailed the president by 101,000 votes  need to send someone who supports Trumps agenda to the House. Hes backing up that argument with some populist reforms that play well in the state.

Special interests and bureaucrats have taken over Washington. We need to get term limits in place, Gianforte said. We need to bar Congressional members from becoming lobbyists after they leave and give the power back to the people.

We need to preserve the Montana way of life, and by that I mean the number one thing Ive heard traveling around the state is that people have issues with all the federal overreach, Gianforte said. They were concerned about Keystone pipeline, the Clean Power Plan, the EPA, the Endangered Species Act. All of those things. All the public lands issues. Im in Montana because of the public lands.

In 2016, both Bullock and Gianforte said they were for public lands, while accusing the other side of lying to voters. Bullocks campaign accused Gianforte of suing the state to shut down stream access. The lawsuit centered on Gianforte arguing that the state had put a public easement in the wrong place. He wanted it moved. The state obliged.

This election, the public lands debate Gianforte wants to have is about more local control of federal lands. Montana is currently allowed to manage beetle-killed timber harvesting on 5 million acres of federal forest land. Gianforte said he would like to see more management like that.

Craig Wilson, Montana State University Billings political science professor emeritus, said Gianforte will have to campaign on the Trump agenda, no matter whether he wants to. Trump is the Republican president. Had Gianforte stood by Trump last year, his chances at the governors office might have been better.

The challenge for Gianforte running to drain the swamp is Republicans now own it, Wilson said. The party controls the presidency, the House and the Senate.

I dont think Gianforte turned to Trump often enough, Wilson said. Trump won by 100,000 votes. He won big. Zinke turned to Trump. He won by 80,000 votes.

In Trump's 20-point Montana win over Clinton last November, the president drew 43,125 voters who didnt continue voting Republican when they got to the circle beside Gianfortes name. Leading up to the Montana GOP nominating convention, Gianforte detractors argued that after an aggressive 2016 campaign, which included 36,000 favorable Gianforte television commercials  the most of any gubernatorial candidate in the country  voters not only knew Gianforte, but had made up their minds about him.

A Lee Montana Newspapers poll last October indicated that more than 90 percent of voters knew who Gianforte is.

Thats not how former RightNow employee Brady Wiseman believes his former boss would see the race. Wiseman, a Bozeman Democrat who served in the Montana Legislature, said Gianforte would look at the 19,818 votes by which the candidate trailed Bullock and like the odds.

Hes a glass is half full kind of guy, and his attitude is, If I got that this time, and if I could just get this much farther in six months, Id win,' Wiseman said. And Id add this: Greg is not known for being humble.

Looking back at 2016, Gianforte said he took a lot of arrows for other Republican candidates who did win. His race was the states most expensive. History was not on his side.

I knew going into that race that the last time a Republican beat a sitting Democrat governor in the state of Montana was 65 years ago," Gianforte said. "That was before I was born. When everyone else said taking on a popular incumbent was impossible, I stepped up. Nobody else did. I wasnt afraid of that challenge. And I think Montanans want a strong voice back in Washington to take on the challenges were facing. Thats all about looking forward, not looking back.
HELENA  The Montana Senate on Wednesday advanced a bill to limit where drones can fly, after a lengthy debate on whether the legislation would actually protect property rights.

Senate Bill 170, carried by Sen. Steve Hinebauch, R-Wibaux, would establish a civil penalty if a person flies a drone over private property below 500 feet. It also would change the minimum fine from $500 to $2,500 if a drone flew over a critical infrastructure facility.

The bill would require drones to follow public roads and land, unless the user had permission to fly over private property.

If you can get there by land, you can get there by air, Hinebauch said. You just have to go the same route.

Although the bill passed on a vote of 30 to 19, members from both sides of the aisle said they were concerned the bill conflicted with Federal Aviation Administration regulations, which say a drone cannot be operated over 400 feet.

The bill was amended to provide certain exceptions to strike a balance between personal property rights and the rights of drone users. The legislation provides exceptions for government or commercial purposes if cleared by the FAA, if the drone is used for land surveying, used by insurance agencies to assess damage or used by law enforcement.

Sen. David Howard, R-Park City, said he recently bought a drone for his grandson and the wind blew it onto a neighbors property. Howard said the legislation would punish people who were intending to follow the law.

I think this is searching for a problem that doesnt exist, he said. We need to think this out a little better.

A business owner opposing the bill said it would impact the economy by making it impossible for aerial filming companies to continue operating.

Pepper Petersen, the CEO of Big Sky UAV, said hes been providing precision aerial imaging since 2011 without a single complaint. If passed, the legislation would make every video hes filmed illegal. He said the legislation blatantly conflicts with federal law and doesnt clarify who the burden of proof falls on if a complaint is filed.

Petersen said he thinks the true intention of the bill isnt about privacy or drones, but that it intends to entirely redefine property rights. Airspace has always been held by the public, and Peterson said the FAA would likely step in and challenge the bill, which would trump state authority.

It just makes Montana look bad, Petersen said.

Hinebauch has said drones were used to spy on people suntanning in their backyard and therefore invade a property owners privacy, Petersen noted. If the bill were about protecting privacy, Petersen said Hinebauch could bring legislation to strengthen Montanas voyeurism laws.

Theres already laws against spying on people and we absolutely support those, Petersen said. Everything in this bill is not allowed. It attempts to supersede federal law.

Petersen said he hoped the governor would veto the bill and instead appoint a commission to study drone use in Montana with help from experts.
A Billings Republican wants to expand an exemption to the states business equipment tax, which has been whittled down repeatedly since 1989.

Senate Bill 327 is another bite of developing a more positive business climate in the state, Sen. Roger Webb said.

The tax on many types of equipment  from swathers and balers to commercial printers and bottling machines  has been at the center of perennial debates about the Montana tax code. Legislators have reduced the tax multiple times since a high of 12 percent in the 1980s. Today, the first $100,000 in equipment value is exempt from taxation. Businesses then pay 1.5 percent on the first $6 million and 3 percent beyond that.

SB 327 would raise the exemption from $100,000 in taxable value to $350,000. It would reduce the number of businesses paying anything from about 7,000 to 3,500 and amounts to an estimated tax cut of $12 million in 2018-19. The state would reimburse local governments and the university system for lost revenue.

Supporters of the measure included the Montana Chamber of Commerce, Montana Grain Growers Association, Montana Beverage Association, Independent Electrical Contractors, Montana Stockgrowers Association and the Montana Association of Counties. They argued it would spur economic growth and improve the states overall business climate without gutting local budgets.

Many business groups said they would prefer eliminating the tax altogether but understand a compromise is necessary given a slump in state revenues.

The Department of Revenue and Montana Budget and Policy Center opposed the bill because of lost state revenues and a shift in tax burden.

Look at the fiscal note and the total impact in the context of the current session, Revenue Director Mike Kadas said, noting that previous reductions typically came in years with a better budget situation. To make a reduction of this magnitude just exacerbates what we understand is a significant challenge because of business cycle and the price of oil. Now is absolutely not the time.

Montana Taxpayers Association Executive Director Bob Story said he opposed the bill because it does not go far enough.

The people left (paying the tax) are the large employers that have a lot of business equipment, he said. That group is getting so small, there wont be a lot of political will to deal with business equipment, so I would rather see a rate decrease that applies to everybody rather than an exemption from the bottom.

Gov. Steve Bullock declined to say outright whether he would sign or veto Webbs bill if it reached his desk, noting he still needed to review the proposal. Broadly, however, he said the state has already made significant efforts to reduce the tax and highlighted a proposal that would expand an abatement for new capital investments.

Im not sure we need to take additional steps, he said.

But long before the bill would reach Bullock, Webb noted his proposal first must move out of the Senate Taxation Committee and clear Senate Finance and Claims.

That will be the test, he said. Thats when well find out if theres money in the budget to do this.
With a little luck, Marvin Strombos good luck flag is on the first leg of its journey home to Japan.

Its been in Strombos possession for more than 70 years, since the day the Marine private from Dixon claimed the distinctive flag and a saber off a Japanese officer killed in the Battle of Saipan in 1944.

The saber was stolen in the 1970s from Strombos home on Fairview Avenue, where Marvin still lives at age 93.

One of his biggest fans, Joe Tachovsky of Wisconsin, came through town on Tuesday to take Strombo to lunch and pick up the flag. On Thursday, Tachovsky will deliver it to representatives of the Obon Society at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon.

Rex and Keiko Ziak founded the Obon Society in 2009 to help repatriate such war keepsakes with relatives in Japan.

I hope the family gets it, Strombo said. I think it would be some comfort to them.

The hinomaru yosegaki flags were traditionally signed with well-wising messages by family and friends and presented to a Japanese man before he went to war.

University of Montana assistant professor Rob Tuck identified the probable bearer of Strombo's flag as Yasue Sadao when Strombo visited Tucks class in November. As Strombo sees it, that information and the fact that Yasue carried a saber and was therefore an officer should help locate descendants.

Tachovsky, an author and restaurateur based in Minneapolis, is the son of Lt. Frank Tachovsky, the commander of Strombos scout-sniper platoon in the 6th U.S. Marine Regiment that operated behind enemy lines on Saipan.

Hes seeking an agent and publisher for his book 40 Thieves: Saipan, which he researched, wrote and reworked after his fathers death.

Strombo is the oldest of three surviving thieves left from his fathers platoon, so nicknamed because they were masters of covert operations and because, as Strombo explained, "every time we needed a bottle of something we somehow got it."

Roscoe Mullins of Culloden, West Virginia, and and Bob Smotts of Dahlonega, Georgia, are the others. Tachovsky has befriended all three and tapped their memories for his book. He's extremely fond of Strombo, and made this stop as part of a cross-country road trip thatll take him down the West Coast and to Las Vegas, visiting grave sites and families of the men from his fathers platoon.

He too will be gratified if the flag can be returned to its rightful family.

Anything I can do for Marvin, Tachovsky said.

The Ziaks and the Obon Society got a boost last Memorial Day when CBS News highlighted their efforts in a feature called The Flags of Their Fathers. The program focused on a successful repatriation of a hinamaru initiated by Terry Stockdale, son of the late Glenn Stockdale of Billings.

It generated an overwhelming number of requests that the Ziaks and their network of researchers and legal assistants on both sides of the Pacific are scrambling to fulfill.

Their most recent success was capped last weekend in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, when Cynthia Kester, granddaughter of a U.S. Marine in World War II, presented a good-luck flag to the grand nephew of a Japanese soldier killed in 1945.

We were enemies then. We are friends now, Kester, 60, told Eisuke Oniike, 58, who traveled from his home in Japan to receive the flag.

The exchanges are good for the souls of both giver and receivers.

"Our first thought was it's purely for the benefit of Japanese families, but we overlooked the fact that this is so enormously important for the Americans," Rex Ziak said.

With the help of his daughter, Sandy Williamson, Strombo composed a short letter that will accompany his flag to Japan if Yasue Sadaos family is found.

In it, Strombo introduces himself and says he was born, raised and continues to live in Montana.

I have wanted to return this flag for a very long time, but we did not know how to do it, Strombos letter says. I hope the return of this flag brings your family some comfort.

He writes that he's always had respect for the Japanese soldiers because they fought so hard.

We were all just trying to survive and fight for what we believed in, Strombo says.

Your loved one was already passed when I found him on the outskirts of Garapan, Saipan. After I brought the flag home, I felt bad.

"I have always believed that it did not belong to me, it belonged to you. I pray this flag finds its way home and, if you are reading this, it has.
A project to thin over 2,300 acres of national forest lands that adjoins an area burned in last summers Roaring Lion Fire near Hamilton will move forward.

Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor Julie King announced Friday that a settlement agreement had been reached with landowners who had sued the agency over concerns about a new road being constructed near their property.

King said the area has been identified as a high priority for treatment under the agencys wildfire protection plan.

The sooner we get started, the better our chances are of reducing the possibility of another high-intensity, devastating wildfire like we experienced last summer, King said.

Last summers 8,700-acre Roaring Lion Fire southwest of Hamilton burned 16 homes and endangered hundreds more.

The project will thin nearly five miles of national forest lands that border private lands between Roaring Lion and Lost Horse creeks in the Bitterroot Mountains. One of the units that will be harvested was partially burned in last summers fire.

Fred Rohrbach and Bitterroot LLC sued the Forest Service last year over the Westside Collaborative Vegetation Management Project. The suit focused on the agencys proposal to build a new, permanent road next to Rohrbach property and the construction of a new bridge over Camas Creek.

As part of the settlement, the Forest Service has agreed to move the location of the new road west a few hundred feet, said Bitterroot Forest Darby District Ranger Eric Winthers. The bridge will be constructed at a later date when funds become available.

In return, Rohrbach will grant access through his property on an existing road to remove timber and do additional treatments to the national forest lands.

That will be very beneficial in making the sale more competitive and cheaper to implement, Winthers said. It should be a win/win for everyone.

While the lawsuit did slow the process down, Winthers said the thinning work envisioned in the project would not have occurred in time to impact last summers fire.

We wouldnt have been able to implement it that quickly even without the lawsuit, he said.

Plans call for finishing the pre-design work this spring and putting the project out to bid by June. Road construction could occur this summer. The logging portion of the project may happen as soon as next winter.

The project includes commercial timber harvest, non-commercial thinning and prescribed burning. The project is expected to provide nearly 6.5 million board feet of timber to Montana sawmills.

Work on a small salvage timber sale in the vicinity of Roaring Lion and Ward Mountain trailheads was completed recently. Those trailheads are now open to the public, Winthers said.
HELENA - People who run puppy mills come to Montana because of the states lax regulations for breeding dogs and cats and when sick and abused animals are seized, it costs counties hundreds of thousands of dollars, people who support a bill to license pet breeders said Thursday.

These unethical breeders not only impact innocent cats and dogs but create a financial millstone around the neck of local taxpayers who must pick up the bill when these facilities are forced to close, said Rep. Willis Curdy, D-Missoula.

Curdys House Bill 570 was heard by the House Business and Labor Committee, which took no action Thursday.

The legislation, which only applies to cats and dogs, would require commercial breeders with more than eight female animals to be licensed by the Board of Veterinary Medicine and pay a licenses fees. Breeders would be inspected annually to see if they are meeting health and humane treatment standards established through rulemaking by the board, which could assess fines from $100 to $1,000.

Past attempts at similar regulations on dog and cat breeders have failed for at least the last four legislative sessions. Arguments against the bill have included that it could be interpreted to ranchers and livestock, as well as disagreements about what state agency would oversee the regulation of breeders.

Lake County Sheriff Don Bell told the committee a puppy mill that was raided last year in his jurisdiction chose the state because of its lack of regulation. About 130 small-breed dogs were taken from a breeder who eventually admitted to charges as part of a plea deal.

The people that had this puppy mill sought out Montana, checked which had the least restrictive laws, and they moved to our state, Bell said.

The sheriff described dogs that had lived their entire lives without ever touching the ground because they were kept on wire mesh and had teeth falling out of their mouths.

It was so torturous to see these animals were treated so poorly.

Marta Pierpoint, the executive director of the Humane Society of Western Montana, said that licensing breeders does not impose excessive regulation and ends up reducing burdens on taxpayers.

Bridget Johnson, a Missoula resident who fostered two dogs from the Lake County seizure, said she spent $600 in care in one month and had $1,400 in donated vet care.

Whether its the tax to the county thats paying for these things or private citizens, your constituents, your folks, are bearing the brunt of these operations that are going crazy with no oversight.

Margaret Duezabou, who has been breeding dogs for over 50 years, spoke in opposition to the bill. She said breeders are motivated to keep dogs healthy because they cant make money selling sick puppies. She also told the committee the state has sufficient animal cruelty laws as well as federal regulations breeders must follow.

Someone is trying to fill a gap in what happens when we have trouble enforcing our cruelty statutes, she said.

Charlotte Lauerman, with the Montana Veterinary Medical Association, said her group also opposes the bill.

While it supports some sort of regulation for pet breeding, the association objected to oversight by the Board of Veterinary Medicine. Though no one from the board attended the meeting, a representative of the Department of Labor said the board unanimously voted Monday to oppose the bill.

A fiscal note said it would cost $33,718 in fiscal year 2018 and $46,793 in 2019 to implement the bill, and then $13,075 the following two years. The cost comes from rulemaking, setting up and carrying out inspections and changing the licensing database. Curdy said the cost to the state is far less than what a county would pay when it must care for animals seized from puppy mills in their area.
HELENA  Those who testified in support of a bill to require interlock devices on people convicted of their first DUI said the legislation would save lives.

"We need to change that behavior, that pattern of behavior, and thats what interlock does," said Rebecca Sturdevant, with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

Senate Bill 280 is carried by Sen. Sue Malek, D-Missoula. It would mandate the use of interlock devices, which require the driver to blow into a machine that confirms their blood alcohol level is below 0.08 before their car will start, after a person is convicted of their first DUI. The device would stay in place for six months on the first offense and a year on the second, along with a requirement of participating in a chemical dependency treatment or education program.

The legislation would also change interlock laws for commercial drivers and in the case of someone refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test. In addition, it removes the requirement that people convicted of their first DUI spend a mandatory 24 hours in jail and changes fine amounts.

No one spoke in opposition to the bill, which was heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Sturdevant, whose son was killed by a drunken driver, told the committee about a friend who was hit by a person driving drunk and lost her leg. She said medical bills put the woman's family in a deep financial hole.

"Consider the cost to someone who survives as well as the cost to the people who don't survive and their families. A DUI is not a harmless crime, it's a very violent crime."

Sturdevant said a third of DUI arrests in Flathead County are after vehicle crashes and 40 percent are near-crashes. She also said that interlock systems are cheaper than other monitoring programs.

"You can pay for it for the cost of your beer, easily."

A representative of Clean Start of Montana, a for-profit business that provides interlock devices, said it costs $80 to install the device, $80 to remove and there's an $80-a-month service fee.

Malek said her brother's life was saved by an interlock device, which is required in Washington state. "It is humiliating and it is difficult. He would have been in jail pounding his head against the bars, but now he's been sober 15 years."

The committee took no action Tuesday.
FAYETTEVILLE, N.Y. - It should come as no surprise that the home owned by Original Italian Pizza owner Rosario Amato allows someone to bake a pie inside and outside.

"I love to cook," he said when describing the chef's kitchen inside his 4,800 square-foot Fayetteville Colonial.

The custom cherry-wood kitchen was designed for someone passionate about cooking, and includes a granite island/breakfast bar and a terrazzo stone backsplash. The kitchen has plenty of cupboard space and includes modern stainless appliances. Amato especially favors the six burner stove.

But in the nice weather, Amato can cook outside on the backyard patio he calls his favorite feature of the house.

Designed by Amato and Angelo La Face, the patio runs along the entire length of the house.

Guests can dine al fresco on this unique patio, which has a hot tub, wine-chiller, fire pit, grill and prep area and an eight-foot granite dining table. A brick oven is perfect for pizza-making.

The entire area is "awesome" according to Amato.

Another feature great for entertaining is the eight leather seat tiered theater, which features a 100-inch screen and surround sound.

It's part of a finished basement, which has its own bedroom, bathroom and recreation room, now being used as a billiard room.

A grand, two-story foyer leads to the formal living and dining areas. Two great rooms have hardwood floors, expansive windows and a gas fireplace in each.

The home includes five bedrooms, four full bathrooms, a laundry room and an attached two-car garage.

Amato chose this house 11 years ago after moving from Pennsylvania because of its neighborhood.

He fell in love with the Briar Brook development in Fayetteville and calls it "very friendly and quiet."

An open house is scheduled for Sunday, March 12 from noon to 2 p.m.

THE DETAILS

Address: 603 Briar Brook Fayetteville, N.Y. 13066

Price: $550,000

Size: 4,800 square feet

Acreage: 0.71 acres

Monthly Mortgage: $2,164 (based on this week's national average rate of 4.25 percent, according to Freddie Mac, for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 20 percent down payment. Fees and points not included.)

Taxes: $19,309 (Based on assessed value of $ $442,600)

Built: 2004

School District: Fayetteville-Manlius

Master suite: The spacious master suite features Amish-crafted oak and granite vanity and two walk-in California closets. There are a total of five bedrooms in the house.

Bathrooms: Amato describes the master suite's bathroom as "lavish." It's one of four full bathrooms in the home.

Living rooms: Two separate great rooms both have hardwood floors, expansive windows and gas fireplaces.

Kitchen: Described by Amato as a "chef's kitchen," its features includes modern appliances, a six-burner stove, a terrazzo stone backsplash and a granite island with breakfast bar.

Basement: Finished basement has another bedroom and full bathroom, as well as, a recreation room and an eight seat theater, with a 100-inch screen.

Outdoors: An "amazing and unique" backyard patio is Amato's favorite feature of the home. Great for entertaining, the patio includes a fire pit, hot tub and brick oven. The home includes an attached two-car garage. The lawn has an irrigation system.

Agent: Sara Feola-Marcoccia

Realty USA

Address: 6866 Genesee Street, Fayetteville, N.Y. 13066

Phone: 315-446-8291

Email: Sfeola@RealtyUSA.com

Website: www.sarasaellssyracuse.com

To nominate a listing for House of the Week, send an email to home@syracuse.com.
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UNITED NATIONS: Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is urging Iraq and the world's nations not to let the Islamic State extremist group "get away with genocide."

The wife of actor George Clooney, who represents victims of IS rapes and kidnappings, told a U.N. meeting Thursday that what's "shocking" is not just the group's brutality but the "passive" response by the world's nations to the campaign to investigate its crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.

She urged Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send a letter to the U.N. Security Council so it can vote to set up an investigation into crimes by the group in Iraq.

"Justice is what the victims want..." Clooney said, "but justice will be forever out of reach if we allow the evidence to disappear."
Guwahati: The Assam police on Thursday announced a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on Sudodh Biswas, national president of Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samanvay Samiti (NBBUSS), one of the prime accused in the All Assam Students Union (AASU) office attack.

Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay said that, the Assam police has announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who will provide information of Subodh Biswas, who was already declared absconding person.

'Following the attack on the All Assam Students Union (AASU) office by miscreants during the rally of NBBUSS at Silapathar in northern Assam's Dhemaji district, police had registered a case (67/2017) and declared Subodh Biswas as a wanted person. On March 6, NBBUSS's Dhemaji district committee had held an open meeting at Sila Janajati High School with gathering of around 5000 people. Some of the attended leaders of NBBUSS delivered provocative speeches. A procession was taken out underleadership of Kripesh Baidya and others following the meeting. When the procession reach at Silapathar town near AASU office, suddenly the processionists got violent and started pelting stones at AASU office and damaged the furniture and other items. Dhemaji police had immediately tried to control the situation and also used tear gas cells to disburse the unruly assembly after issuing warnings. Later the protesters pelted stones on police personnel. However the mob got more violent and caused damaged to the public properties, Swahid Smrity Bhawan of AASU and few vehicles. Later police had managed to control the situation. Following the incident, police had registered a case after Dhemaji district AASU president and general secretary lodged an FIR,' the Assam DGP said.

DGP Sahay said that, police has arrested 27 persons in connection with the incident so far and communicated with the Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal counterparts to trace Subodh Biswas.

On the other hand, Assam police has sounded an alert across the state to prevent violence following the AASU office attack.

We have already sounded an alert across the state and are determined to strictly stop any violence,'A DGP Sahay said.

The Assam DGP said that, if required police will take stern action against those who instigated to create violence.

Mukesh Sahay further said that, following the AASU office attack incident, Assam police has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under SSP CID.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
File a South Korean President Park Geun-Hye bows during an address to the nation, at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, on November 29, 2016. Photo: Reuters

SEOUL: South Koreas Constitutional Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving South Koreas conglomerates at a time of rising tensions with North Korea and China.

Park becomes South Koreas first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of paralysis and turmoil as hundreds of thousands crammed the streets to protest a corruption scandal that has also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in a jail cell.

A presidential election will be held in 60 days, according to the constitution.

The courts acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the constitution and law throughout her term, and despite the objections of parliament and the press, she had concealed the truth and cracked down on critics.

The removal of the claimee from office is overwhelmingly to the benefit of the protection of the constitution.  We remove President Park Geun-hye from office, Lee told the hearing.

Park denied any wrongdoing.

The ruling to uphold parliaments Dec. 9 vote to impeach her over the scandal marks a dramatic fall from grace of South Koreas first woman president and daughter of Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee. Both of her parents were assassinated.

She did not appear in court on Friday.

Park, 65, no longer has immunity as president, and could now face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power in connection with allegations of conspiring with her friend, Choi Soon-sil.

MARKETS RISE

Park was stripped of her powers after parliament voted to impeach her but has remained in the presidents official compound, the Blue House. A spokesman said on Friday she would leave and return to her private home in Seoul.

The Seoul markets benchmark KOSPI index and the rose after the ruling. The top regulator has played down any negative impact on markets and the central bank is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting later on Friday.

As the saga is coming to an end, markets will be relieved that South Korea finally can push forward to press ahead with electing new leadership, said Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong.

The hope is that this will allow the country to have a new leader that can address long-standing challenges such as labor market reforms and escalated geopolitical tensions.

Park, 65, was been accused of colluding with her friend, Choi and a former presidential aide, both of whom have been on trial, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.

The court said Park had completely hidden the fact of (Chois) interference with state affairs.

Park was also accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group for government favors, including backing a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that was seen as supporting the succession of control over the countrys largest chaebol conglomerate.

Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee has been accused of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal and is in detention. His trial began on Thursday.

He and Samsung have denied wrongdoing.

PROTESTS AFTER VERDICT

Hundreds of demonstrators, both for and against Park, have gathered outside the court, which was blockaded by police buses.

After the verdict, Parks supporters and police scuffled but elsewhere in the city, people welcomed her ouster. A recent poll showed more than 70 percent supported her impeachment.

The main thoroughfare running through downtown Seoul was blockaded after the courts decision in anticipation of growing protests later in the day.

Prosecutors have named Park, who now loses her presidential immunity from prosecution, as an accomplice in two court cases linked to the scandal, suggesting she is likely to be investigated and could face legal proceedings.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was appointed acting president and will remain in that post until the election. If Hwang resigns, as some media have speculated he may to run for president, the finance minister will take over as acting president.

The US State Department said it would continue to work with the acting president and whoever becomes the next president.

Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign, after South Korea this month deployed the US THAAD missile defense system in response to North Koreas stepped up missile and nuclear tests.

China has vociferously protested against the deployment, fearing its sophisticated radar could see into its own missile deployments.
Guwahati : Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday said that the state government is committed to in ensuring the grant of ST status to six communities. In fact the State Government has endorsed the demand of the six communities and been pressing the Centre for fulfilling their demands.

Chairing a meeting at the conference room of Chief Minister's Office in Janata Bhawan, Sonowal said that the state government is hell bound to put its demand to the Union Home Ministry for convening a tri-partite meeting involving the Centre, State and the representatives of the six communities.

'I will personally convince the Union Home Ministry for holding a tri-partite meeting and solve the issue once for all,' Sonowal said.

Sonowal also informed that the state government is taking initiatives for the preservation of customs, traditions, language, and literature of different ethnic communities in the State.

'State Government is all set to launch a flagship programme for this purpose. Even the financial outlay for the same has already been earmarked in the budget,'A Sonowal said.

The Assam CM also said that through 'Discovery of Assam' State Government has been aiming at preserving the typical idiosyncrasies of every ethnic group. He also sought cooperation from all ethnic communities in this regard.

On the other hand Sonowal also held discussion with a delegation of Adivasi National Convention and assured it to discuss it with the Centre for granting ST status to the Adivasis.

He also said that the government would take appropriate steps for insurgent groups currently on ceasefire with the government.

Chief Minister's Media Advisor Hrishikesh Goswami, Chief Secretary VK Pipersenia and a host senior officers were present at the meeting.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Kathmandu, Nepal: The general strike called by agitating Federal Alliance (FA) has affected normal life across the country on Friday.

Though the impact of general strike is no more significant in the hilly and mountain region, the normal life is badly affected in the Terai region.

The UDMF has been staging protest in the region since Tuesday to protest the killing of four cadres during the clash at Rajbiraj on Monday.

The shops, industries and the educational institutions schools are completely closed due to the strike. Likewise vehicles are also not moving except few rickshaws and motor bikes.

Security forces have also heavily mobilized in the Teria region with intent to control the untoward incidents.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Security Advisor to Indian Prime Minister Ajit Doval called Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Friday to express sorrow on behalf of Indian PM Modi and the government of India.

During the conversation, Doval also asked Prime Minister Dahal to make arrangements to share the postmortem report of the victim of the incident with India.

It is said that Ajit Doval also extended sympathies to the victims family expressing his sadness over the incident.

During the conversation Prime Minister Dahal demanded to book the culprits for necessary action.
RAJBIRAJ: The United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) will be holding a funeral procession of its four cadres killed during police firing tomorrow in Siraha.

An all-party meeting presided over by Saptaris Chief District Officer (CDO) Krishna Bahadur Katuwal on Thursday took the decision for the procession, National Madhes Socialist Party Central Secretary Gajendra Mandal (Anurag) said.

Secretary Mandal added that the meeting decided to recommend the demands put forth by the Front to the Home Ministry through the local administration. The UDMF has demanded declaring those killed martyrs, providing appropriate compensation to the families of the deceased, providing treatment expenses of those injured and providing a job to one member each from those families.

The UDMF on Monday tried to disrupt the Mechi-Mahakali National Campaign of the CPN -UML at the Ganendranarayan Singh Industrial Corridor in Rajbiraj triggering a clash with the police. Sanjan Mahato (25) of Maleth VDC-2, Pitambar Mandal (50) and Birendra Mahato of Maleth -4 and Saniyar Aheb Ananda Kumar Sah (35) of Tangari , Prasabani VDC- 4 were killed in police firing in the ensuing clash.

Their bodies will undergo postmortem at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences following which a funeral procession will be held on Saturday from Rajbiraj to Lahan. Three of the bodies will be brought back for cremation near the industrial sector in Maleth while Sahs body will be cremated at Prasabani.RSS
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Welcome to the PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE. We are a multi-racial, multi-issue "rainbow coalition" dedicated to social justice, peace and building progressive power. Our key priorities include economic justice; equal rights and equal opportunities for all regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation; international solidarity; humanitarian service; eradicating poverty at home and abroad; environmental protection and sustainable development; and electing progressives to public office and then holding them accountable.




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Boston Underground 2017 released their final demented wave yesterday, and the delights are many --- rejoice, weirdos! We'll have death insurance dealers, music pioneers, Hollywood dog groomers, undocumented immigrants, Irish charlans, American con artists, and of course, an array of shorts from all over the world. Trump would HATE IT!

Truly, a proclivity toward oddness isn't confined to one country.

There will even be a secret screening, a first for BUFF. What could it be? It's got a prime Friday night slot, so you know it's going to be good. There are tons of parties, too, because weirdos know how to have fun. And don't forget, if you want to order fest passes and swag, head over to the BUFF Kickstarter --- which is the only way to get passes (single tickets available at the Brattle Theatre).

Check out the official press release below:

Following up on last weeks feverish announcement, the Boston Underground Film Festival is proud to reveal the remainder of its eclectic 19th edition, taking place from March 22nd through the 26th at the Brattle Theatre and Harvard Film Archive. BUFFs already dynamic lineup is rounded out with even more intriguing films from around the world, including over 80 short films and music videos that promise to disturb, dazzle, and delight.

BUFF is honored and thrilled to be hosting the East Coast Premiere of hotly-anticipated doc A Life in Waves, an intimate portrait of one of the most influential electronic composers of the last 40 years, Suzanne Ciani. Documentarian duo (and BUFF alum) Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason will be in attendance, along with the diva of the diode herself for a post-screening Q&A at the Harvard Film Archive. Fans of synth would be remiss to miss this! On the other end of the documentary spectrum is our New England Premiere of Dean Fleischer-Camps Fraud, an impossible to categorize hybrid-doc and bold experiment in filmmaking that explores the essence of truth in a post-truth era. Come and catch one of the most controversial films to take HotDocs by storm last year.

Lovers of all things dark and disturbing are advised to pencil in this quadruplet of narrative nightmares: A grieving mother and a bullying occultist (Steve Oram) face their demons in black magic thriller A Dark Song, from Irish, first-time director Liam Gavin. First time director, writer and star, Ana Asensio examines an undocumented immigrants day from hell in her gripping Most Beautiful Island, fresh from its World Premiere at SXSW. Valentin Hitzs gorgeous and unnerving Hidden Reserves gives us a peek at the future-that-could-be (ponder this: death insurance) with his Austrian dystopian sci-fi masterpiece. And speaking of hidden, BUFF presents for the first time ever a Secret Screening; we cant tell you what it is, but we can tell you that its one of the most highly anticipated genre titles coming out this year. Take the leap into the rabbit hole with your pals at BUFF and catch it before all your friends.

Lightening things up substantially is a triple threat of comedic treats: A group of awful idiots fail at throwing a party over and over in Slamdance smash Neighborhood Food Drive, with BUFF alum & director Jerzy Rose and writer Halle Butler in the house. Emerson College alum Michael Reich brings his surreal and sensational Shes Allergic to Cats to the Brattle; youll laugh, cry, and ponder duck boobs. Rounding things out is our anniversary screening of oft underappreciated Southland Tales, Richard Kellys gonzo anarchic vision of the near future (which may be closer to the near present), which we lift up and celebrate ten years later.

The festive environ would be incomplete without a set of accompanying parties: BUFF delivers in spades this year with our opening night, All Your Heroes Are Dead-themed shindig at Zuzu (hosted by Moon Button and all things vinyl). Well have a night of karaoke at Tasty Burger, themed Dystopioke (arent you curious), a late-night jaunt out to Boston Bowl for Big Lebowski-themed shenanigans (costumes highly encouraged, dudes), an incredible closing night happening at the Lilypad, hosted by our favorite merchants of awful, The Whore Church, and complete with synth soundscape provided by Dust Witch, Antoni Maiovvi, and Timothy Fife. And, of course, more! Save up your stamina because we work hard and play harder on team BUFF.

Grab Festival Passes, only available through Kickstarter, until March 17th: http://bit.ly/KickstartBUFF19
One of the great pleasures I had in producing all-female horror anthology XX was having the opportunity to work directly with Mexican stop motion animator Sofia Carrillo. I'd had the chance to program some of her short films over the years and have always been a simply enormous fan of her work ... it's both gorgeous and unsettling in equal measures and I have always been convinced that Carrillo is one of the very finest artists working in stop motion anywhere in the world today.

Want a demonstration?

Carrillo's latest short film - titled Cerulia - is set to premiere at the Guadalajara Film Festival and she has released a teaser for the film in advance of the screenings. And, yes, English subtitles are included. Take a look below!
One of the highlights of this years Osaka Asian Film Festival Indie Forum is a colorful coming-of-age drama, Dynamite Wolf. The film follows young misfit Hirota, who falls in love with pro-wrestling after witnessing local superstar Dynamite Wolf in action. With the help of his two equally quirky friends, Hirota begins grappling lessons under the tutelage of an unhinged local layabout  who they believe to be their unmasked wrestling idol.



The film features a fantastic young cast, who are ably supported by real life wrestlers from Osakas Dotonburi Pro Wrestling promotion. Director Taniguchi Kohei has another film due for release soon, Olive House vs. Sekai and on the strength of Dynamite Wolf, it's well worth looking out for.

Check out the trailer for the film below.
Sarah Bolger is set to star in director Abner Pastoll's upcoming crime-thriller, A Good Woman is Hard to Find.

Penned by Academy Award nominated writer Ronan Blaney, A Good Woman is Hard to Find tells the story of a recently widowed young mother who will go to any length in order to protect her children while piecing together the truth behind her husband's murder.

Most recently seen leading in features Emelie and Mary Harron's The Moth Diaries, Bolger has also appeared in hit television series Into the Badlands, Agent Carter and Once Upon a Time. Bolger is currently shooting Counterpart for Starz opposite J.K. Simmons.

Producers on the project include Junyoung Jang, who produced Pastoll's last film, Road Games, along with one of Korea's most successful exports The Host, and Jean-Yves Roubin, whose film RAW releases this weekend from Focus Features.

The project, supported by Northern Ireland Screen, will begin production later this year.
Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

Rain showers early with some sunshine later in the day. High 87F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low 66F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
 US Sentencing Commission releases another big recidivism report on federal offenders | Main | Collateral Consequences Resource Center provides updated 50-state accounting of judicial sealing and expungement laws 

March 9, 2017

"Shaming the Constitution: The Detrimental Results of Sexual Violent Predator Legislation"

The title of this post is the title of this notable new book authored by Michael Perlin and Heather Ellis Cucolo which provides a fitting follow-up to prior posts in this space this week concerning problems with sex offender recidivism data and expanding use of crime registries. Via the publisher's website, here is a summary of the book's coverage:

Convicted sexually violent predators are more vilified, more subject to media misrepresentation, and more likely to be denied basic human rights than any other population. Shaming the Constitution authors Michael Perlin and Heather Cucolo question the intentions of sex offender laws, offering new approaches to this most complex (and controversial) area of law and social policy. The authors assert that sex offender laws and policies are unconstitutional and counter-productive. The legislation largely fails to add to public safety-even ruining lives for what are, in some cases, trivial infractions. Shaming the Constitution draws on law, behavioral sciences, and other disciplines to show that many of the "solutions" to penalizing sexually violent predators are "wrong," as they create the most repressive and useless laws. In addition to tracing the history of sex offender laws, the authors address the case of Jesse Timmendequas, whose crime begat "Megan's Law;" the media's role in creating a "moral panic;" recidivism statistics and treatments, as well as international human rights laws. Ultimately, they call attention to the flaws in the system so we can find solutions that contribute to public safety in ways that do not mock Constitutional principles.

March 9, 2017 at 10:07 PM | Permalink

Comments

Thankful someone's come out with a book with new, corrected facts. Maybe supreme court judges will no longer keep going back to old 1986 Psychology Today articles to get their information.

Posted by: kat | Mar 10, 2017 10:02:18 AM

It's a wonder that the laws that we have passed over the last 25 years dealing with former sex offenders/predators have not yet had a radicalizing effect on those men and women subject to these restrictive (and unconstitutional) laws. You have had individual instances of former sex offenders venting their frustrations on these laws by targeting individual prosecutors, police officers, and other officials for murder or threats thereof. In Michigan a former sex offender shot a judge when he was arrested for failing to register. In Savannah, GA, a former sex offender was charged with making a terroristic threat to a police station's sex offender registry.

So far, however, no collective efforts to my knowledge have occurred where groups of sex offenders who have served their time have banded together like the Black Panthers, the Stonewall gays, the Attica insurrectionists, etc. in launching legal, civil disobedience, or outright violent tactics against those who instigate and enforce these laws.

It could happen in the future, though. Nobody ever suspected that northern ghetto blacks would riot until 1965 when Watts blew up. Nobody thought that supposedly meek gays and lesbians would ever rise up as a group in violent opposition to their persecution until the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Nobody thought that supposedly servile and submissive black inmates would stage a radical uprising until 1971 when Attica broke out.

These laws which are supposedly meant to protect the public could actually endanger the public. I have two scenarios where police enforce residential restrictions and curfews:

1. The first scenario would be the accidental killing by a former sex offender of a police officer during, say a Halloween curfew. The former sex offender inside his or her home with the porch lights out, might mistake the police officer who checks on the house for a burglar or vigilante and use a rifle or pistol (even if these firearms are illegal for former felons)to shoot dead whom they thought was a prowler only to learn that they unwittingly killed a police officer while simply defending their property.

2. Scenario two would involve a deliberate revenge killing of a police officer by a former sex offender who is fed up with police coming to his or her home without a warrant on Halloween, and decides to booby-trap the home with the intention of killing the officer. That former sex offender might think: "Well, I have served my time and continue to have to comply with degrading post-sentence laws that deprive me of equal protection. So, I have nothing to lose any more by taking out a law officer. I don't care if I get the electric chair for this."

Thus, these laws under the right circumstances could put our law enforcement personnel and our lawmakers at needless risk when they deprive one who has served his or her time from becoming a productive citizen once again.

Posted by: william r. delzell | Mar 10, 2017 10:16:26 AM

"and more likely to be denied basic human rights than any other population."

Oh come on....we are a country that believes ideologically in civil rights, not human rights. Human rights and civil rights are diametrically opposed perspectives and to make a paean to human rights in a civil rights society is an exercise in futility.

Posted by: Daniel | Mar 10, 2017 11:24:41 AM

I wonder if Geoffrey Stone's new book on "Sex and the Constitution" covers this some.

Posted by: Joe | Mar 10, 2017 11:28:46 AM

Women obtained suffrage after making a lot of money from inheritances from their robber baron fathers, and after filling factory jobs during WWI. Homosexuals won their rights after homosexual billionaires began their campaigns. The promotion of bastardy became the national standard after the rich feminists took control of our government.

William, other sex offenders will win their rights after they become rich, and pay the politicians for them. Polygamy, polyamory, pedophilia, bestiality, robotophilia. There is no limit to the perversions that will be protected, privileged, and empowered once lawyers get their money.

Animals will get civil standing if they inherit the estates of their dead masters, and get their lobbying going.

Naturally, lawyer employment comes as a priority for each progressive step in entitlement.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 10, 2017 11:34:17 AM

To David Behar:

To set the record straight, I oppose violent sex offences, especially against children and the weak. My point is once a person has served his or her time, he or she should not be subject to the type of restrictive laws that totalitarian countries like Stalinist Russia and the Nazi Third Reich imposed on classes of people they despised. Those totalitarian regimes started out targeting former sex offenders before extending their web to Jews, pacifists, labor organizers, religious dissidents, political activists, etc.

If a man or woman commits a sex offense against another person, especially a child, he or she should be punished severely. But, when the punishment ends, it is supposed to do exactly that: end. If these offenders deserve life imprisonment, then the prosecutors should have prescribed it at the outset instead of waiting until the expiration of their sentence to add new ex post facto punishment.

Try to be an American, Behar!

Posted by: william r. delzell | Mar 10, 2017 5:17:27 PM

DB is a sort of performance art.

Posted by: Joe | Mar 10, 2017 7:31:10 PM

Joe. I hope you join me in supporting all 543 ways people can love. I find the term LGBTQ highly offensive. It is elitist, and discriminatory against the other 538 ways people can love. They are such snobs.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 10, 2017 8:26:01 PM

Mr. Delzell, I agree with you that sex offenses against children should be punished severely. What about those individuals that find images and videos of these crimes on the internet? Free images and videos, with no warnings. Should these individuals who have harmed no one be punished with years of imprisonment, a felony record, and on a public registry for a lifetime?

Posted by: tommyc | Mar 10, 2017 10:46:07 PM

any chance this will be made available in a Kindle edition?

Posted by: Registered Citizen | Mar 10, 2017 11:27:19 PM

Shaming the Constitution

Tell the Publisher!

I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Posted by: George | Mar 10, 2017 11:35:27 PM

@ registered citizen:

On the linked webpage it says that there will be an ebook version available. Even if not purchased through Amazon, you should be able to sideload it using a program like Calibre

Posted by: Guy | Mar 11, 2017 9:37:34 AM

william r. delzell humanity has been corrupted, the judicial system and the many, many attorney's learning corporate law and not the Law of the land has ruined America for Americans. It looks like you are aware of this and how things have changed for profit. Women have learned how to use the system and their children (some for survival) against man. Many men deserve what they get but not forever, justice is supposed to rehabilitate a person from their ways but to punish a person (mankind) for the rest of their lives is cruel and inappropriate behavior by our society. Many people and the justice system are aware that innocent people have been imprisoned and that is against our American values. Families have been torn apart for the breaking of the 9th Commandment. Nothing worst then a liar, hard to defend yourself against lies and the justice system knows this.

Posted by: LC in Texas | Mar 11, 2017 12:09:44 PM

Tommyc:

If a person was not warned that whatever he or she downloaded had child pornography inside it until only after he or she downloaded it too late, then no. That person who did not know beforehand that any images or videos that he or she downloaded contained such stuff should not be punished. The prosecutors should be required to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that such a person DID have such bad intentions. If the prosecutor cannot prove deliberate intent on the part of the computer user, then that person should be found innocent. Prosecutors who attempt to KNOWINGLY implicate a person whom the prosecutors could not prove had deliberate intent should be severely punished for gross prosecutorial misconduct. We should throw the books at such prosecutors just as we should throw the book at somebody who deliberately harms a child.

Posted by: william r. delzell | Mar 11, 2017 12:11:10 PM

Mr. Delzell, I take your response to mean that all those who view child pornography, who have not harmed anyone should therefore be found innocent of criminal intent because there are no warnings for this offense. What is your definition of "deliberate intent" when, again, there are no warnings for this offense, and no monetary exchange was made to view/download this material?

Posted by: tommyc | Mar 11, 2017 2:10:03 PM

You misunderstand me. What I meant is if somebody is looking for something that has nothing to do with child pornography and they somehow ACCIDENTALLY access it, and especially if there was no monetary exchange involved, that person should not be viewed as guilty of accessing that stuff or of trying to access same. However, if they intentionally accessed it, particularly if they did with money involved and used it to target children, then yes, they should be punished to the full extent of the law.

What really gets me was an incident where a woman who worked for the Tea Party forced her little children to perform despicable and perverted sex acts with adult men and women customers who paid this woman to come to her house to abuse her children for this woman's monetary gain and sick mind. Now, if this woman really forced her children to do this, and if adult customers actually came over to her apartment to perform these sordid acts on helpless children, then this woman and her adult customers deserve the maximum penalty under law. Such crimes should never be tolerated. I bring up this incident because this particular woman and the Tea Party for whom she worked pretends to be for victims' rights. In her case, she turned out to be a predator of the worst type instead of a protector of our most vulnerable victims--our children.

I like the way you right-wingers put words into the mouths of those who disagree with you!

Posted by: william r. delzell | Mar 11, 2017 6:13:16 PM

In my opinion: With so much "Intelligence", why haven't the ones that put porn on the internet been punished? I am truthfully sick of seeing it pop up. Help stop these sick people! I have rights too and they are being violated on television and the Internet. Porn and foul language are not Rights!

Posted by: LC in Texas | Mar 13, 2017 5:11:51 PM

william r. delzell | Mar 10, 2017 10:16:26 AM:

The S*x Offender Registries (SORs) have radicalized a good percentage of the people who are listed on them. I would say that it has radicalized nearly 100% of the listed people to some degree at least.

You gave some examples yourself. And although I don't track such things at all, I know for certain that at least 2 innocent children have been murdered in direct retaliation for the SORs (Christopher Barrios (6 yo) and Melinda Hinson (13 yo)). I don't have the slightest doubt that there have been more. I also don't have the slightest doubt that a lot of crimes, including s*x crimes, are being committed because the SORs exist, that would not be if the SORs did not exist. I think the SORs are really, really idiotic social policy.

But what do I know? I just see the actual, real effects of the SORs in actual reality. Evidently I'm not as all-knowing as the criminal legislators who support these laws based on their lies and that they are "common sense".

You said, "These laws which are supposedly meant to protect the public could actually endanger the public." I don't have any doubt at all that the laws create more danger to the public than they could ever hope to prevent.

You described some elaborate scenarios how a listed person might retaliate. It can obviously be a lot more simple than that. A listed person can just decide one day that they have had enough and they start murdering people. I read a very recent article about a couple of Registered people who just murdered people (http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170307/theodore-decker-sex-offenders-prison-treatment-records-should-be-open-to-public). I fully expect that the SORs contributed to those crimes. Perhaps they were even the primary cause.

I have been radicalized by the SORs. I am a COMPLETELY different person because of them. A couple of decades ago I was very supportive of government and law enforcement. The SORs ended that for me. You can firmly count me in the "F the police" group today. I wouldn't help them with ANYTHING even if my life depended on it. Same with government or anyone who supports any of them.

I was listed on the SORs for perhaps a few years or so before I came to understand that the SORs are not really for "public safety", "protecting children", or any of those other lies. I realized pretty quickly that their primary purpose was to harm me, my spouse, and my children. My children were attacked all the time. So it only took me about 5 years or so to realize that the SORs are actually an act of war. And the millions of people who support them are not Americans and they are my enemies for whom I need not have any particular concern.

I promised myself that I would ensure that, at least with respect to me, that the SORs did nothing useful and the opposite of what their supposed purpose was. I promised myself that I would go out of my way to live a successful, normal life, be around random children all the time, and have close relationships with hundreds of people who would have no idea that I was listed on an SOR. I promised myself that I would do anything legal to retaliate for the mere existence of the SORs. I promised myself that for any harm that the SORs caused me that I would retaliate at at least a magnitude of that level. I promised myself that, because the SORs exist every day, that I would set up infrastructure that would cost the criminal governments every day and harm the people who support them every day. And I made all that happen.

And I'm going to keep making it happen. The criminal regimes that have the SORs lost their war a very long time ago. But they are too stupid to know it and too arrogant and hateful to care.

Posted by: FRegistryTerrorists | Mar 16, 2017 2:56:25 PM

The SOR definitely changes people.

You learn to trust no one. You don't trust the knock at the door, you don't trust the men/women in blue, you don't trust the government that encourages this tool of lifetime punishment and banishment to exsist.

You take care of yourself, your family, and that's it.

What a wonderful world, right?

Posted by: kat | Mar 17, 2017 9:50:03 AM

I agree with the two respondents from March 16th and 17th. I am glad to see that somebody else in this blog is finally addressing this issue of how these restrictions on former sex offenders who have served their time actually breeds distrust toward all law enforcement personnel. We all agree that this distrust has already had some blow-back against law enforcement. One would think that at least some high level law enforcement personnel and a few far-sighted politicians (an extremely rare breed indeed) would have enough sense to launch a full-level attack against these stupid laws. Who in law enforcement would want to knowingly endanger their fellow law enforcement personnel with a stupid law just to help some politician score points with voters as being "tough" on crime that simply makes former criminals even more dangerous than before to authority?

Posted by: william r., delzell | Mar 17, 2017 10:56:57 AM

kat | Mar 17, 2017 9:50:03 AM:

Exactly right. It is not wonderful world. It is an awful, hateful world and almost every single person in it has an evil core. The vast majority of people in the U.S. are only decent because it is convenient for them. And it makes them feel good. The second anything gets difficult, their true being takes over.

I see the election of Trump as just a continuing expansion of the Registry mind set. It's all just evil hatred. He may be a talented executive (and of course that is quite debatable) but at his heart, he's shown he's a pile of crap. The U.S. deserves the division that he promotes. They deserve the chaos, they deserve the hate. I'm all for letting it grow. Let's get on with it. I'm going to thrive.

I remember way back right as the Registry stupidity was just getting going and there was some charity group (in Texas, I believe) that was in the middle of a huge scandal because the media and others had "found out" that some of the charity work that they had done on homes for poor people included a Registered person's home. The charity said something equivalent to, "We assure you, we've taken steps to ensure that this won't happen again." That was 1 of 100+ pivotal events that sealed it for me.

It wasn't long after I started Registering that I said "F these people." I used to do regular charity work and contribute to charities. I stopped all of that. I used to give blood as often as I could. I haven't done that for 15 years. I even canceled my organ donation. That is just part of the passive things that I did. Then I got aggressive and made it a business and a hobby. I've gotten better and better at it. I got successful and rich. Today, IF I allow evil people who support the Registries to work for me or live where I own, I will only do it to exploit them. They aren't people after all. I'm a lot like Trump.

Posted by: FRegistryTerrorists | Mar 17, 2017 4:43:19 PM

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The son of Earl Warren, the legendary California Governor and US Supreme Court Chief Justice, may not have presided over such progressive liberal decisions as Brown v. Board of Education, but Earl Warren Jr., also a judge, did make one serious cultural splash in a case emblematic of changing standards of decency and sexual freedom in the late '60s. The case concerned the Pink Pussy Kat a Go-Go in Orangevale, north of Sacramento, and was over "bottomless stripping." famously, Warren encouraged the strippers to "do the dance" in the court room, and now a documentary that takes its name, Do The Dance, from that command is in the works. Written by journalist and filmmaker Ed Fletcher and directed by DQ Hayes, the effort is supported by the Center for Sacramento History, which provided footage.





Do the Dance Trailer 1 from Ed Fletcher on Vimeo.

Fletcher says he was prompted by the death of Doda, the San Francisco godmother of stripping who was asked to testify in the trial, to jump on the project.

Doda herself was arrested along with Condor Club Gino del Prete in San Francisco in April 1965, leading to a judge's decision that year that topless dancing was A-OK, and opening the doors for strip clubs becoming less of an obscene notion nationwide. She made headlines all over because of the case, leading to the Condor getting into totally nude stripping by 1968, and thus Doda was called to be a witness in the Sacramento case in '69.

Fletcher is seeking donations to complete his documentary on Indiegogo: One dollar bills appreciated, though larger sums are perhaps best to reach the $10,000 goal.



Related: Carol Doda, '60s Stripping Sensation And Cultural Icon, Dead At 78
A San Francisco neighborhood already smarting from a wave of burglaries and the subsequent release of the suspect has another reason to be on the lookout today, after yet another break-in netted a thief or thieves a safe filled with guns.

SF's southwest neighborhoods of the Outer Sunset, Parkside, and Lakeshore have been on high alert for about a month, after the area was home to a remarkable spate of burglaries throughout February. Police touted the arrest of a suspect in the crimes later that month, and expressed frustration to the media earlier this week after the man seemingly caught on video committing some of the crimes was released on his own recognizance, perhaps to offend again.

It's still unclear if the release of this suspect, who video surveillance suggests worked as part of a pair, is in any way related to a disturbing new crime reported Wednesday afternoon, when a safe that NBC Bay Area reports contained "more than two dozen guns" was stolen from a home on a quiet street near Lake Merced.

According to NBC, the thief or thieves raided the residence on Morningside Drive at around 1:30 p.m.

"A woman who identified herself only as the daughter of the burglary victims," NBC reports, "said her father told her he was gone maybe 90 minutes and returned to find someone had kicked in the front door, stolen a safe and ransacked the house."

According to a poster on neighborhood website Nextdoor, "My parents live on the same block. Talking with the victim and cops we found out they lost at least 30 firearms, and a lot of jewelry."

"I think they've lost trust, and I think they're going to be a little hesitant every time they leave the house," the woman said of her parents, people who, again, owned at least two dozen guns, maybe more. "They're going to be a little paranoid."

Related: Sunset Residents Enraged As Suspect In Hot Prowl Burglaries Is Released From Jail
Perhaps wanting to take his ongoing Twitter war with the President to the Senate floor, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may be mulling a run for Dianne Feinstein's Senate seat in 2018  though it's unclear whether he would do so as a Republican or as an independent. Politico picked up the rumor via an unnamed GOP strategist who sees the Terminator star and recently former Celebrity Apprentice host as potentially the GOP's best shot at taking a California seat away from the Democrats.

For his part, at least via a spokesperson, Schwarzenegger isn't dismissing the idea, but he's far from declaring his candidacy. And though Feinstein will be 85 years old when she comes up for reelection next year, she's said she has no plans to retire, and she has a penchant for withering takedowns of the President and other Republicans that could prove useful in upcoming debates, not to mention the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

Schwarzenegger spokesperson Daniel Ketchell tells Politico, "Right now Gov. Schwarzeneggers focus is on using his platform to bring some sensibility and coherency to Washington by fighting for redistricting reform, like we did in California. We are keeping all of our options open as far as how we can accomplish that."

A clue as to the former governor's potential candidacy as an independent came in a recent criticism of both parties on the subject of gerrymandering. He posted the video below to Facebook in February saying that everyone in Washington has "rigged the system," and "Republicans and Democrats are incredibly skilled at screwing over the voters  and keeping them in the dark about their trickery."

But can we really keep running reality TV stars and actors for high office?

Fox News notes that "Schwarzenegger and Trump have been battling on Twitter for months," seeming to take pleasure in the possibility of Schwarzenegger being able to bring the fight to the President's doorstep.

As the unnamed strategist put it to Politico, Feinstein's Senate seat "would give Arnold the stage to jam Trump for the next 16 months."

But obviously this would be less useful to the Republican Party if Schwarzenegger votes with the Democrats or otherwise doesn't toe the line in backing Trump.

Anything for one less blue seat, I guess?

Previously: In Preparation For Trump Presidency, Dianne Feinstein Gets Pacemaker
SIOUX CITY | Duwayne Harvey is ready not only with scissors and clippers, but also his kilt in the quest to raise money for childhood cancer research.

Harvey, who owns the Leeds Barber Shop in Sioux City, for a ninth year will help raise money for St. Baldrick's Foundation on March 17, which is also St. Patrick's Day.

Through the shaving of heads, or shaving in solidarity in the St. Baldrick's phrasing, money is raised. Those who get shaved collect money from friends and family and donate to the endeavor. Many people have already committed to having their heads shaved this year.

Harvey has enjoyed wielding his clippers for a cause. Since it falls on St. Patrick's Day, he livens up the events by wearing a kilt.

In 2016, Harvey set the highest local goal yet, of $10,000, and was highly enthused when $18,300 in revenues poured in. He has set the goal at $20,000 this year.

Harvey's barber shop event brought in $8,000 in 2015.

There will be one other way to raise money for St. Baldrick's in the Leeds area of Sioux City. A pancake breakfast will be held from 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Steinbeck's Pub, at 3929 Floyd Blvd. The cost is $5.

Since 2000, hundreds of thousands of people have shaved their heads at 9,000 events, raising funds for childhood cancer research. The head-shaving events began as a challenge between Manhattan businessmen and initially raised $104,000.

St. Baldrick's has invested more than $200 million in childhood cancer research grants worldwide since 2005.

Childhood cancers make up less than 1 percent of all cancers diagnosed each year, but it is the second leading cause of death in children aged 5-14 after unintentional injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Logan is the X-Mens answer to Creed.

Like the reboot of Rocky, Logan gives Hugh Jackmans Wolverine a chance to regroup, reassess and shine. Thanks to James Mangolds smart R-rated script, the concept is razor-sharp.

In the latest X-Men installment, the year is 2029 and mutants are all but extinct. Wolverine (or Logan, as hes known) drives a limousine and takes care of Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), whos a bit addled but still worried about the fate of his former students.

A mutant named Caliban (Stephen Merchant) keeps watch over their dusty compound (shades of Mad Max: Fury Road) and waits in fear that his sensitive skin will be exposed. (Yup, you can guess what happens.)

A woman approaches Logan and asks him to drive a young girl to a compound in North Dakota. Before long, we learn shes another brand of mutant who has become the target of Transigen, a bioengineering company that created her. Naturally, theyre on his tail before he even gets to leave.

The girl  either unable or unwilling to talk  is just as feisty as Wolverine. She possesses the same mad fighting skills and isnt afraid to cut anyone in the process.

Xavier, Logan and the young Laura (Dafne Keen) head out from their Texas home, wind up in a casino and begin the road trip.

Mangold, who also directs, fills plenty of the very long film with action sequences. He doesnt skimp on contemporary parallels and hints that this could be the very way to breathe life into the franchise. That Lord of the Flies compound seems ripe for examination.

The focus, though, is really on Xavier and Wolverine. The two have a feisty relationship that gives both a chance for reflection regret.

At a farm, both get a chance to glimpse what they passed up. Stewart has some moving moments of introspection and a paternal look at Jackman that cant be ignored.

Although the little girl can best be described as feral, she helps prod the story and has a mean set of gymnastics skills. When she does speak (spoiler alert!) she gets the tears to fall, too.

Clocking in at nearly two-and-a-half hours, Logan could have lost some of the fistfights and been just as effective.

Boyd Holbrook and Richard E. Grant play the bad guys and, frankly, the former is given too much time to twirl his mustache.

The latter has that calm demeanor most find unsettling in politicians and a team that looks like it went to the Bane School of Persuasion.

If Jackman is correct  and this is his last outing as Wolverine  its a great farewell. He gets a clip real of character highlights and a softening that suggests hes not just another blades runner.

Logan shows what can be done with a comic book hero if the director isnt held to the mythology. It's definitely a cut above.
SIOUX CITY | Enthused about the possibilities in the 2018 election cycle, Jeremy Dumkrieger will lead Woodbury County Democrats as the party attempts to reverse heavy defeats last fall.

The Woodbury County Democratic Party Central Committee on Wednesday evening selected Dumkrieger as chairman. He is a Lawton-Bronson art teacher who lives in Sioux City.

Dumkrieger was a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont during last year's Democratic presidential primary. The Demcratic nominee, former senator and First Lady Hillary Clinton, lost to Republican Donald Trump, who easily carried Iowa.

Last fall, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley cruised to re-election, and Republicans won three of the state's four congressional seats, and captured both chambers of the Iowa Legislature.

Dumkrieger said the losses serve as motivation for the mid-term elections in 2018.

"I have ever seen the Democratic Party base so energized," Dumkrieger said Thursday. "The Sanders and (Hillary) Clinton wings have come together with renewed enthusiasm and common purpose. We hope to bridle that passion through grassroots campaigns that will communicate our ideas and how they will improve the lives of folks in Woodbury County."

Dumkrieger succeeds Penny Rosfjord as leader of the county party. Rosfjord had served as chairwoman for two terms since 2013.

Dumkrieger and other party leaders will serve for two years, through March 2019.

Sandi O'Brien, of Sioux City, was selected as vice chairwoman, Karen Havlicek, of Moville, will return as secretary and Jeremy Saint, of Sioux City, will be the county party treasurer.
NEWKIRK, Iowa | The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said a manure spill was quickly contained in Sioux County Thursday.

The department said commercial manure applicator Brad Jochum, of Le Mars, was applying the animal waste south of Newkirk when his drag hose leaked and caused a spill of 500 to 1,000 gallons.

The hose contents are under pressure, but because of the quick response little escaped, said DNR specialist Lois Benson in a press release. He built a dam across the creek and pumped out most of the manure, all within a few hours.

An unknown amount reached the Floyd River tributary, the release said.

Benson said little, if any, manure moved downstream after water samples. She did not see any dead fish below the dam.

The DNR will monitor the cleanup and consider appropriate enforcement action, the release said.

Newkirk is about eight miles northeast of Orange City.
Maas assaulted his mother on May 12 at her Sioux City home after she refused to go with him to pick up another person. After she offered him money for a cab, he hit her repeatedly in the face and tried to strangle her.
SOUTH SIOUX CITY | One by one, Adam Smith fed logs through his portable sawmill, turning what were once proud ash trees into lumber that will allow them to live on in the community.

When the sawdust finally settled, Smith had a stack of boards that later this summer will become a cabin at South Sioux City's Community Orchard.

As South Sioux City prepares for the eventual infestation of the emerald ash borer, Smith's work is part of a project that he said can be an example for other cities looking for an alternative to burning or landfill disposal of the ash trees they will likely lose when the ash borer invades their communities.

"This project, when completed, will be a landmark for urban wood use statewide," said Smith, Nebraska Forest Service forest products program leader. "It's something of a showcase for innovation."

City workers in February cut down a dozen storm-damaged ash trees from city parks and some smaller ash trees from a former tree farm. South Sioux City parks director Gene Maffit said he hoped the 35 trees cut down for the project would provide enough lumber for the 325-square-foot cabin, designed by University of Nebraska students, to be built this summer at the Community Orchard.

The cabin will house tools and be used for other purposes. It will also show that the thousands of ash trees that face removal in South Sioux City don't just have to wind up on the woodpile.

"We wanted to show people you can do more with this ash wood than just cut it up for firewood," Maffit said.

The removal of the trees was the first step in a city plan to cut down some 3,000 ash trees as the emerald ash borer nears South Sioux City. Native to Asia, the metallic green-colored beetles were discovered in Michigan in 2002 and have spread to 29 other states, leading to the death and removal of millions of ash trees.

The beetle's larvae eat the water- and nutrient-conducting tissue beneath the tree's bark, basically cutting off the tree's water supply and killing it in as few as two or three years. Once the beetle is found, it's usually too late to save the tree.

The beetle was first found in Nebraska in an Omaha park last spring. It's since been found in a second county between Omaha and Lincoln. It's also been found in 41 Iowa counties, Harrison County being the closest to the Sioux City area. The beetle itself can travel about two miles a year, but it's often transported through the movement of firewood.

Parks officials in states in which the beetle has been found all have faced the decision on how to prepare for the inevitable infestation of their ash trees. Maffit said South Sioux City hasn't planted ash trees for several years and about eight years ago began planting other species of trees in order to diversify the city's tree population and give the young trees time to grow before the ash trees are removed.

Maffit estimated about 25 percent, or about 3,000, of the trees on city property are ash trees. Most if not all of them will be removed in coming years, he said, rather than use costly chemical treatments to try to save them. Under a plan approved by the city council last year, $20,000 is budgeted for the 2017 fiscal year for ash tree removal.

"This project really gives us a good reason to start (the removal)," Maffit said.

There was no evidence of the emerald ash borer in any of the trees recently cut down, Maffit said. If he can find ways like the cabin project to use the trees the city cuts down, he will. Similar to oak, ash is a hard wood useful for building and woodworking.

Smith said he hopes cities planning for the loss of their ash trees find creative ways to dispose of them. South Sioux City's project is a perfect example of the second life a tree can have.

"South Sioux City has always been an innovative community," he said. "It's definitely a unique project."
SIOUX CITY | A woman charged with driving a vehicle involved in a pursuit after which a Woodbury County Sheriff's deputy traded gunfire with one of the passengers has pleaded not guilty.

A formal charge of attempted murder also has been filed against the gunman.

Brittney Hood, 27, of Sioux City, entered her plea Thursday morning in Woodbury County District Court to eluding, an aggravated misdemeanor.

Her plea came a day after Woodbury County Attorney Patrick Jennings filed the formal document charging Melvin Spencer with attempted murder for firing at Deputy Mike Lenz during the Feb. 26 pursuit.

Authorities have said that Hood sped away from a deputy who attempted to stop her on 260th Street near Port Neal Road south of Sioux City. A chase ensued until Hood stopped the car at 235th Street and fled on foot into a field, where the deputy apprehended her.

Spencer, 24, of Sioux City, then drove off in the car, and Lenz, who was responding to the pursuit, spotted it turning onto 225th Street and followed it as it turned north on Allison Avenue, where it got stuck in a ditch at a dead end.

Prior to Lenz exiting his vehicle, authorities said, Spencer leaned out of the driver's side window of the car and exchanged gunfire with the deputy. At least five rounds struck Lenz' vehicle. A male passenger was struck by the gunfire, and Spencer then fled on foot while Lenz administered first aid to the shooting victim. Spencer was spotted three hours later and arrested.

Authorities have not publicly identified the shooting victim, but court documents identify him as Justin Spencer, 34, who was hospitalized for what authorities described as non-life-threatening wounds.
President Trump has thrown down a major challenge for the tea party and its congressional bloc, known as the Freedom Caucus. He is proposing to Congress a massive budget-busting plan that increases military spending by a whopping $54 billion, slashes domestic programs, and leaves Social Security and Medicare intact. And a significant tax cut will soon be on the way.

This presents a crucial test to the tea party movement that has reshaped American politics since 2008. The most obvious challenge is that Trump has chosen to leave Social Security and Medicare alone, two of the biggest components of the federal budget and two prime targets for conservatives like Speaker Paul Ryan.

Trump is going to assure Congress that the draconian cuts to domestic programs like the Environmental Protection Agency, reductions which tea party Republicans love, will balance out the huge increase in military spending. But the reality will be different.

President Ronald Reagan learned in the early 1980s that cutting government programs is extremely hard in practice. When Reagan slashed income taxes and boosted military spending, promising to balance the budget with domestic cuts, he failed. Reagan also backed away from cuts to Social Security and Medicare when he faced a political backlash for trying.

In the end, deficits skyrocketed in the 1980s. Reagan faced a Democratic House. Yet we have seen that Trump is already learning how hard it is to cut government, even in a moment of united partisan control, as he backs away from eliminating increasingly popular parts of the Affordable Care Act. In his speech to Congress, he also promised to move forward with a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which surely won't sit well with fiscal conservatives in his party.

Finally, this increase in military spending is a significant expansion of the federal government. While tea party Republicans might want to distinguish national security from the rest of government, in reality if they swallow this proposal they are revealing that conservatism really is about what kind of government to support, not whether big government is bad.

Tea party Republicans insisted that they would be different and for much of the time that they have had representation in Congress since 2008 they have been true to the word. They have been an intensely ideological coalition, insisting on a commitment to purity on policy that left the Obama administration deeply frustrated and tied up in knots.

Added to all this is the curveball that the president threw when he announced that he is open to immigration reform that would allow a large number of undocumented immigrants to remain in the country. Despite his continued attacks on undocumented immigrants in his address, the mere mention of a proposal to liberalize policy is anathema to many Tea Party Republicans who represent constituencies that are sympathetic to hardline anti-immigration sentiment.

The Republicans went to great lengths to fight Obama on spending cuts. When Obama sought compromise, they stood their ground in the budget battles of 2011, threatening to send the federal government into default. Hawkish Republicans were equally frustrated with their tea party colleagues when Congress could not reach agreement on spending in 2013 and as a result of the rules put into place in 2011, forced the implementation of budget sequestration that imposed caps on military and not domestic spending.

When Republican leaders like former Speaker John Boehner showed that they were willing to give even an inch to the Democrats, the tea party toppled them from power.

The current Speaker, Paul Ryan, has built much of his career around promising tea party Republicans that he would move forward with "entitlement reform" (meaning Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid cuts) despite the political risks. He has been a zealot on this issue and hoped that this moment of unified government would offer an unprecedented opportunity. A frustrated Speaker Ryan, who said after the election that Trump had a "mandate," has now warned: "I've been a big time entitlement reformer for a long time because if you don't start bending the curve in the out years, we are hosed."

By supporting Trump, tea party Republicans would also put themselves on the record as being in favor of big increases in certain kinds of government spending.

Tea party Republicans will soon discover that President Trump's budget doesn't really add up. They will be receiving numbers from a Republican administration, which generally is sympathetic to their goals on most major issues, that will contradict their promise to the reddest constituents that they would hold firm on the anti-government cause. Jim DeMint, the former South Carolina senator, said, "America cannot wait any longer before we get serious about balancing the budget."

Trump is putting the Republican Party in a difficult spot at a moment of united government that could easily have turned into a period of triumph. If tea party Republican members of Congress swallow what the President has sent them, they will quickly reveal to their supporters that they are as craven and opportunistic as anyone else in Washington. They will place themselves at risk to be "tea partied" out of office and they will greatly damage their own credibility with the electorate in the coming election cycle.

If they hold to principle, as they did under President Obama, then the Republicans as a party will be facing a dangerous moment. A Republican President, who has shown that he doesn't have much loyalty when it comes to people getting in the way of his success, will be facing off against a huge portion of the congressional Republicans. The Freedom Caucus, with about 32 votes, has the numbers in the House to tie up the administration.

Will Republicans unite and make the most of their control of Congress and the White House? Or will many of them remain true to their small government philosophy and risk war with a White House that wants to reshape Washington?
WASHINGTON -- The progressive mob that disrupted Charles Murray's appearance last week at Middlebury College was protesting a 1994 book read by few if any of the protesters. Some of them denounced "eugenics," thereby demonstrating an interesting ignorance: Eugenics -- controlled breeding to improve the heritable traits of human beings -- was a progressive cause.

In "The Bell Curve," Murray, a social scientist at the American Enterprise Institute, and his co-author, Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein, found worrisome evidence that American society was becoming "cognitively stratified," with an increasingly affluent cognitive elite and "a deteriorating quality of life for people at the bottom end of the cognitive ability distribution." They examined the consensus that, controlling for socioeconomic status and possible IQ test bias, cognitive ability is somewhat heritable, that the black/white differential had narrowed, and that millions of blacks have higher IQs than millions of whites. The authors were "resolutely agnostic" concerning the roles of genes and the social environment. They said that even if there developed unequivocal evidence that genetics are "part of the story," there would be "no reason to treat individuals differently" or to permit government regulation of procreation.

Middlebury's mob was probably as ignorant of this as of the following: Between 1875 and 1925, when eugenics had many advocates, not all advocates were progressives but advocates were disproportionately progressives because eugenics coincided with progressivism's premises and agenda.

Progressives rejected the Founders' natural rights doctrine and conception of freedom. Progressives said freedom is not the natural capacity of individuals whose rights pre-exist government. Rather, freedom is something achieved, at different rates and to different degrees, by different races. Racialism was then seeking scientific validation, and Darwinian science had given rise to "social Darwinism" -- belief in the ascendance of the fittest in the ranking of races. The progressive theologian Walter Rauschenbusch argued that with modern science "we can intelligently mold and guide the evolution in which we take part."

Progressivism's concept of freedom as something merely latent, and not equally latent, in human beings dictated rethinking the purpose and scope of government. Princeton University scholar Thomas C. Leonard, in his 2016 book "Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics & American Economics in the Progressive Era," says progressives believed that scientific experts should be in society's saddle, determining the "human hierarchy" and appropriate social policies, including eugenics.

Economist Richard T. Ely, a founder of the American Economic Association whose students at Johns Hopkins included Woodrow Wilson, said "God works through the state," which must be stern and not squeamish. Charles Van Hise, president of the University of Wisconsin, epicenter of intellectual progressivism, said: "We know enough about eugenics so that if that knowledge were applied, the defective classes would disappear within a generation." Progress, said Ely, then at Wisconsin, depended on recognizing "that there are certain human beings who are absolutely unfit, and who should be prevented from a continuation of their kind." The mentally and physically disabled were deemed "defectives."

In 1902, when Wilson became Princeton's president, the final volume of his "A History of the American People" contrasted "the sturdy stocks of the north of Europe" with southern and eastern Europeans who had "neither skill nor energy nor any initiative of quick intelligence." In 1907, Indiana became the first of more than 30 states to enact forcible sterilization laws. In 1911, now-Gov. Wilson signed New Jersey's, which applied to "the hopelessly defective and criminal classes." In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Virginia's law, with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes saying that in affirming the law requiring the sterilization of "imbeciles" he was "getting near to the first principle of real reform."

At the urging of Robert Yerkes, president of the American Psychological Association, during World War I the Army did intelligence testing of conscripts so that the nation could inventory its human stock as it does livestock. The Army's findings influenced Congress' postwar immigration restrictions and national quotas. Carl Brigham, a Princeton psychologist, said the Army's data demonstrated "the intellectual superiority of our Nordic group over the Mediterranean, Alpine and Negro groups."

Progressives derided the Founders as unscientific for deriving natural rights from what progressives considered the fiction of a fixed human nature. But they asserted that races had fixed and importantly different natures calling for different social policies. Progressives resolved this contradiction when, like most Americans, they eschewed racialism -- the belief that the races are tidily distinct, each created independent of all others, each with fixed traits and capacities. Middlebury's turbulent progressives should read Leonard's book. After they have read Murray's.
VeriFone Systems, Inc. provides payments and commerce solutions at the point of sale (POS) worldwide. It offers countertop solutions that accept payment options, including contactless, NFC, mobile wallets, and EMV; PIN pads that support credit and debit card, EBT, EMV, and other PIN-based transactions; and multilane consumer facing commerce devices. It also provides portable payment devices, including small, portable, and handheld devices that enable merchants to accept electronic payments wherever wireless connectivity is available; and mobile solutions that attach to and interface with iOS or Android based smartphones and tablets. In addition, it offers integrated electronic payment systems that combine electronic payment processing, fuel dispensing, and ECR functions, as well as secure payment systems for integration with petroleum pump controllers; unattended and self-service payment solutions designed to enable payment transactions in self-service, high-transaction volume, and public transportation environments; and network access solutions. Further, it provides installation, deployment, training, and application development and delivery solutions; project management, client education program, and consulting services; helpdesk support, equipment repair and maintenance, and software post-contract support services; and application libraries and development tools. Additionally, it offers omnichannel commerce, terminal management, and security solutions; and cloud-based managed, transaction payment, and other value added services. It sells its products directly; and through third party and channel partners. It serves financial institutions, payment processors, government organizations, and retailers; petroleum, transportation, and healthcare companies; and quick service restaurants. The company was formerly known as VeriFone Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to VeriFone Systems, Inc. in May 2010. VeriFone Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
ANNAPOLIS (March 09, 2017)After months of Gov. Larry Hogan publicly criticizing a transportation transparency law last year that he refers to as the "Road Kill Bill," one lawmaker has introduced his own interpretation.



Delegate Marc Korman, D-Montgomery, decided a bill was needed that takes the Republican governor's nicknamewhich has been panned by Democratsand attaches it to what he calls a serious subject: dead and decaying animals on the side of the road.



The Roadkill Bill of 2017, which has 32 co-sponsors, is a bill that would require the State Highway Administration to create a regulation allowing residents to report roadkill and have it removed promptly.



Korman told Capital News Service on Thursday he drafted this bill after Hogan's 2017 State of the State Address, where he asked legislators to address the "Road Kill" issue.



Korman said he didn't realize how common roadkill neglect was until he saw a dead squirrel remain on the side of the road for at least three days.



"Because it does not include mandated spending, cannot be mischaracterized as a tax, has a catchy name, polls well, is unopposed by big business, and is unrelated to Donald Trump, it is expected that the Administration will not show up to testify and (will) allow the bill to become law," according to a Feb. 9 press release from Korman's office.



Current law requires the State Highway Administration to "remove any animal carcass that will impede traffic or substantially endanger the safety of the traveling public as soon as it becomes aware of the carcass," according to the Department of Legislative Services fiscal analysis.



Korman said he has not been in contact with the State Highway Administration about this issue, but he has not heard any pushback.



While he did hear testimony on transportation legislation that the Hogan Administration refers to as the "Road Kill Bill" repeal, Korman saidin a solemn tonehe was confused why the term "animal carcasses" was not mentioned. "It's frustrating when people don't take the work we do here seriously," Korman said. "This is a real issue."



Delegate William Folden, R-Frederick, said believes this bill is more burdensome and wastes taxpayers money. "We have more important issues," Folden said in the House Environment and Transportation Committee meeting Thursday. "We're really getting off into the weeds here."



The highway administration can handle the bill's requirements using existing resources, according to a fiscal analysis.



Baltimore County submitted written testimony in support of the legislation Thursday saying the bill would "promote an open and transparent process for reporting roadkill on State highways to the administration and gives the (highway administration) the prerogative of evaluating how best to prioritize clearing roadkil from State highways."



"Indeed, this bipartisan issue unites rural Maryland, urban Maryland, and suburban Maryland," said Delegate Andrew Platt, D-Montgomery, according to the Feb. 9 release. "When it comes to roadkill, we are one Maryland."



Delegate Cory McCray, D-Baltimore, suggested in the committee hearing Thursday an amendment to score the dead animals collected from the side of the road, referencing a scoring system in the contentious transportation bill.



Korman said he was open to the amendment.



McCray laughed.
ANNAPOLIS (March 09, 2017)Legislation in the Maryland General Assembly would enable a court to revoke parental rights of an individual who has been found to have committed rape against the other parent and if a court finds that it is in the child's best interest to remove the parental rights.



The Maryland House of Delegates voted unanimously to send the bill to the Senate Thursday.



"We're so pleased the bill came out of the House," Lisae Jordan, executive director for the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, told the University of Maryland's Capital News Service. "We look forward to seeing what happens with it in the (Senate) Judicial Proceedings Committee."



The pair of companion bills has bipartisan support. The House bill has 94 co-sponsors and there are 36 co-sponsors in the Senate. The bills allow a court to decide whether a parent should have their parental rights revoked if they committed an unwanted sexual act against the other parent that resulted in conceiving a child.



Current law states that a victim cannot have the parental rights of an assailant revoked if the conception of a child came from a sexual assault.



"The purpose of this bill is to provide a process where if a child was conceived without consent, there would be a court process where the one parent could go forward and say 'I would like my attacker's parental rights terminated,'" Delegate Kathy Dumais, lead sponsor for the House bill, told the House Judiciary committee on Feb. 9.



"No one suggests terminating parental rights should be taken lightly. We have tried to make it crystal clear that it's not supposed to be easy."



The bill allows a victim of a sexual assault that has resulted in a pregnancy to ask a court to terminate the parental rights of the assailant. The court must meet certain provisions laid out in the bill before it terminates those rights.



Activists testifying at the hearing emphasized that a suspect could use the threat of parental rights against a victim.



"These legal rights essentially allow him to blackmail his victim by refusing to agree to adoption or continuing to pursue custody unless she makes concessions," Diana Rubin, a commissioner for the Montgomery County Commission for Women, told the committee.



Decisions in the family court, which is a civil proceeding, can't be used in a criminal court. If the family court determines that parental rights can be revoked, that there is clear and convincing evidence that a sexual assault occurred, that decision can't be used against the defendant in any other court.



"The strength in this bill is that there is a great deal of protection for everyone involved," Jordan testified. "This is something we need."



Under current law, the second parent must be notified if the victim wishes to put the child up for adoption. The assailant has rights to halt adoption processes.



Activists who testified at the Judiciary Committee said that often a woman chooses to terminate a pregnancy when they learn that their assailant has parental rights that can't be revoked.



"If someone has forced themselves on someone else, there's no way to just terminate the rapist's rights," Jordan testified. "This is a problem that needs to be solved. The courthouse doors are closed to women who become pregnant as a result of rape."



"A sexual assault is a devastating experience and a pregnancy resulting from that sexual assault is a daily reminder of that violation," Colby Wittenberg, domestic infant program manager for Adoptions Together, testified. "Without the protection of this bill, women who become pregnant as a result of a rape lose their privacy at best. At worst, they face the unimaginable circumstance of potentially co-parenting with their assailant."



Under the bill, a child conceived from sexual assault could also file to have parental rights revoked through a court appointed representative or through a guardian.



Under current law, if the assailant is not known, the woman's name and plans for adoption have to be advertised in local newspapers in an attempt to notify the assailant of the victim's plans.



The court can't terminate parental rights if the parents were married at the time the child was conceived, unless the suspect has been convicted of rape or if there was a protective order in place at the time of conception, under the bill.



In other cases, where the parents were not married, the court can revoke parental rights if there is a conviction or if the court determines there is clear and convincing evidence that a rape occurred, according to a state document, under the bill.



The court must also decide that removing parental rights is in the best interest of the child. The bill says a child's parent can file to have the parental rights of the assailant revoked within seven years of the child's birth, or when the parent should have known the identity of the other parent.



Termination of parental rights means that the parent's rights of guardianship and visitation are revoked. It also removes the parent's responsibility to support the child financially.



"I think this is one of the only bills where the Maryland Catholic Conference and Planned Parenthood will sit at a table together because many of those women who walked away from adoption, elected to terminate the pregnancy." Dumais said. Both groups submitted written testimony supporting the bill.
WASHINGTON

(March 10, 2017)The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities and/or contractors., is being awarded ancost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide support for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's Integrated System Evaluation Experimentation and Test Department (AIR-5.1). Services provided will include flight test engineering, programmatic, administrative, design, execution, analysis, evaluation, and reporting of tests and experiments of aircraft, unmanned air systems, weapons and weapons systems. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in May 2018. Fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $100,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals as a service-disabled veteran owned small business set-aside, one offer was received. The, is the contracting activity (N00421-17-C-0049)., is being awarded amodification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00174-09-D-0003) to extend the ordering period and exercise Option Year 6 for the procurement and support of the transmitting set, countermeasures AN/PLT-5, to support explosive ordnance disposal personnel. The AN/PLT-5 is a man-portable system in support of the Joint Service Explosive Ordnance Disposal Counter Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare program. Work will be performed in Rancho, California, and is expected to be completed by March 2018. No funds are being obligated at the time of this action. The, is the contracting activity., is being awarded afirm-fixed-price contract for runway repair of Phase 2 and Phase 3 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The work to be performed provides for the repair of Runways 14-32 and 6-24 including the design, restoration and modernization of two primary runways and the supporting airfield infrastructure. This project is a three-phased effort intended to maximize airfield capability and efficiency to address runway deterioration impacting the existing and emergent mission-critical programs that rely on the airfield for daily operations. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by January 2020. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance, (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $40,900,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with one proposal received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N40080-17-C-0002)., is being awardedfor modification P00004 against a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00421-15-D-0027) to exercise an option for P-8A aircraft on ground unscheduled airframe engineering assessment and repair. This work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (40 percent); Patuxent River, Maryland (10 percent); Whidbey Island, Washington (10 percent); Kadena, Japan (10 percent); Sigonella, Italy (10 percent); Atlanta, Georgia (5 percent); Misawa, Japan (5 percent); Adelaide, Australia (5 percent); and Kaneohe, Hawaii (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in June 2019. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. The, is the contracting activity.
Based on gay playwright Tarell McCraneys play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, screenwriter/director Barry Jenkins Oscar-winning Moonlight (A24), which took home Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay awards, is nothing less than a breathtaking cinematic achievement. Presented in three separate chapters, Moonlight tells the heartrending story of Chiron  as a child, a teen, and an adult growing up gay in Miamis Liberty City neighborhood.

In the chapter titled Little, Chiron (Alex Hibbert) is rescued from school bullies by drug kingpin Juan (Mahershala Ali), and fed and comforted by Juans girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monae). Juan returns the painfully shy young Chiron to his single mother Paula (Naomie Harris) without so much as a thank you from her. Meanwhile, Chirons best friend Kevin (Jaden Piner) takes it upon himself to try to toughen him up.

Chirons living situation is increasingly unpleasant, so he begins hanging out at Juan and Teresas. Juan takes him to the beach and tries to teach him to swim. At home, Chiron discovers his mother doing drugs with a strange man. Things come full circle when Juan catches Paula freebasing in a car with the crack she bought from one of his sales associates. What follows is a devastating confrontation scene where Paula makes fun of Chiron as Juan defends him.

Shortly after that, there is a scene at Juan and Theresas, where Chiron asks Juan Whats a faggot? To say that what follows is handled with grace and maturity is an understatement.

Set during his high school years, the Chiron segment finds Chiron (Ashton Sanders) relentlessly bullied by Terrel (Patrick Decille). At this point, though Juan is dead, Kevin (Jharrel Jerome) is still his best friend. He continues to spend time at Teresas as his home situation deteriorates due to Paulas increased drug use.

Essentially homeless and sleeping where he can, Chiron runs into Kevin at the beach. With a delicate touch similar to the earlier whats a faggot? scene, the sex scene that occurs is as erotic as it is sophisticated and artful. But such intimacy doesnt last long when Kevin is pressured to beat up Chiron by the ever-bullying Terrel. The next day at school, Chiron finally explodes and assaults Terrel, and is arrested.

In Black, the third and final section, set in Atlanta, the adult Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) is a fierce and muscular force, with a mouthful of gold fronts. He has taken up where Juan left off in terms of running a drug dealing operation. As a nod to Juan, he even has a similar crown-shaped air freshener on his dashboard.

Kevin (Andre Holland) tracks Chiron down by phone and apologizes. He tells Chiron he was reminded of him when he heard a song on the jukebox at the diner where he is a cook. He invites Chiron to come down to Florida and see him. The call has an immeasurable effect on him.

Following an emotional visit with Paula, who is in rehab, Chiron heads to Kevins place of work. From the moment of recognition that occurs between them to their reacquaintance, Moonlight shines brightly as it not only redefines gay cinema, but also black cinema in ways that have to be seen to be believed. Suffice to say, that theres not a false move or performance in the film. DVD special features include deleted scenes and three featurettes.
If there is one thing that has been consistently obvious since the Presidential election, its that people, of all shapes, sizes, colors, and sexual orientations, dont want to be heard, they demand to be heard.

If there was ever a time to stand up for what you believe in, and at the same time help educate others on what your cause is, its right here, right now, at this moment. Its indeed time to rise up and for what you believe in.

This month, a group of prominent African-American women, many with LGBT ties, will do that very thing.

West Palm Beach will host the Black Women Rise (BWR) Conference on March 1718 at the Embassy Suites, 1601 Belvedere Road. The gathering of women will address issues of importance and interest to not only LGBT women or black women, but anyone that finds the topics of healthcare, legal, economic, education and other community-oriented discussions of interest.

Speakers, entertainers, and presenters will take part in events throughout the weekend gathering with the goal of empowering black women, including those who identify with the LGBT community, at a politically-charged time where our country is increasingly divided, and organization and knowledge of how to act on certain subjects are needed most.

There is a resurgence of white dominance which is white centered, anti-black and anti-LGBTQ. Everything we have ever fought for is under attack. Black Women Rise event organizer Denise Walker tells SFGN of the climate this years BWR gathering takes place. Civil rights is taking a back seat to white supremacy. The biggest hurdle is just being heard. We are living in a time where it does not matter that we are the LGBTQ community. This administration will see that we are back in the dark and discriminated against without laws or courts that will back us up. If we don't mobilize and fight back -- be it at the ballot box or public outcry -- we will not be heard. This conference is going to draw every kind of women the supporters as well as the angry, ones who don't want us to mobilize, the racist will also show their ugly faces.

Before Novembers Presidential election, Donald Trump promised to stand by the LGBT community, but that quickly promised proved to be empty. Just weeks into his first term Trumps administration reversed an executive order under President Obama that directed schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choosing, according to the gender they identify with. The move has alarmed many in the LGBT community as to what may be next.

As an African-American lesbian, I am very much worried about the direction that President Trump and this Republican-led Congress is taking this country, said Paulette Armstead, an out-lesbian and Moderator and Panelist on the BWR Political Panel told SFGN. Trump talks about making America Great Again and America First. For me, this is political talk for him to set the agenda and take actions to overturn, erase, and dilute the gains and rights which have been made in the areas of healthcare, education, employment, civil rights on behalf of women, African-Americans, LGBTQ, disabled, and others.

Armstead continued, I am concerned that Trump has done nothing to denounce and speak out against the white nationalists and their hateful rhetoric. This country will become more divided along lines of race, gender, class and sexual identity. One of the biggest hurdles for us in this current political climate is to continue to push back against Trump and his policies. This includes action by the people via holding more rallies, protests and putting pressure on our elected officials to do the right thing for all citizens.

BWR gathering coordinators told SFGN the weekend will be full of LGBT-relevant information. As of now, 14 of the 18 workshops planned have presenters who themselves are members of the LGBT community, including two of which are transgender.

Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida and Aryah Lester, Chair of the State of Florida Health Departments Transgender Work Group, will be leading a Panel discussion titled: LGBTQ issues in the Black Community. They will speak to how LGBT black people find their footing when hostility and rejection come from within our own families and faith communities.

Paulette Armstead will also moderate a Black Women in Mainstream Electoral Politics discussion that hopes to drive home the importance of members of the LGBT community participation in politics as candidates, community organizers, voters, and campaign workers so that they can help enact policies, programs, and laws to ensure equality for all citizens in all areas of life.

Outside of making their own community more informed and better equipped to handle all the obstacles life will inevitably throw at them in the near future, the BWR gathering hopes to get a better grip on how to identify who is with them, rather than who is against them. Finding African-American men and women willing to support one another will be a major goal moving forward.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is identifying credible allies who are willing to observe and educate themselves on ways to support their Black sisters, said Delores Walters, a Cultural Anthropologist who will be a presenter at BWR tells SFGN. Black women and men have paved the way to minimize marginalization in our society for women, LGBTQ people and now various others targeted by the current administration.

Walters added, Now, especially, we must continue to support the next generation of activists, and allies.

Registration will be based on a sliding pay scale depending on how much you can afford ($125-$250). Students and youth activists can attend at a special discount rate of $99. Tickets to just the Saturday night show starring Karen Williams, Nedra Johnson, and Ubaka Hill with the Drumsong Orchestra will cost $30-50. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit BlackWomenRise.net for more information.
For Larry Kramer, its the 80s all over again and Donald Trump is the second coming of Ronald Reagan.

You have no idea how much we are hated again in the halls of power. Its the same system as Reagan, said the author and long time activist. Kramer was at the World AIDS Museum in Wilton Manors Thursday night to discuss activism, ACT UP, and his new book The American People: Volume 1: Search for My Heart: A Novel.

Kramers visit was arranged to highlight the museums new exhibit AIDS Crisis in America: 30 Years of ACT UP  A Convergence of Disease, Art and Human Resilience which will run for eight weeks.

Related: Larry Kramer Coming to the World AIDS Museum

Hugh Beswick, CEO of the World AIDS Museum, said Kramer was the perfect person to choose.

Everybody we talked to said you cant tell the story of ACT UP without Larry.

ACT UP was for AIDS what Martin Luther King was for the Civil Rights struggle, Beswick said. In his own abrasive style, he was the MLK of ACT UP, of the response to the AIDS crisis. And like MLK, he had his detractors. And even his detractors give him credit.

The historical comparison by Beswick, given before Kramer spoke, proved apt for that night.

We have to fight the same fights all over again. Hard times have returned, Kramer told the crowd that filled the museum to come see him speak and get their books signed. He also kept a sense of humor about the expected repeat struggle. This time, he said, hed name ACT UP oh fuck, I didnt know Id have to fight this thing again.

The fights are the same but so too are the tactics he recommended  the same ones hes subscribed to all his life.

You have to be seen and shove it in their fucking faces, he said to applause from the crowd. You cant stay in your little condo or dance [in a club] until dawn. You cant stay hidden ... you mustnt put up with it anymore.

On his book, Kramer said it includes the origins and history of AIDS  Im 100 percent convinced AIDS was intentionally allowed to happen. I have no doubt,  the gay story behind the settlement at Jamestown, and a list of famous Americans who are allegedly gay, including Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton  the latter two, he said, were deeply in love. He joked that the revelations of Lincolns homosexuality would sure shock Republicans.

Volume 2 is planned to be released about two years from now and, at 775 pages, Kramer joked thats how long it will take to read the first volume.

Related: SFGN Interviews Larry Kramer

It became more and more important to tell our history. Thats why I wont go to see [the Broadway play] Hamilton. Its a lie. Alexander Hamilton was very much a gay man. So much of our history is gay. We have to claim that. Thats something to be proud of.

On activism, Kramer said it wasnt some grand sweeping vision or an abstract fight for equal rights that got him engaged. The match which lit his fuse was much closer to home. It was the death of so many friends [because of AIDS] that kicked me in the ass.

But no matter the cause, Kramer told the crowd that anyone can be an activist. I dont think Ive done anything anyone of you couldnt do. Im a writer and I started to write. Its not rocket science.

Larry Elwyn, a gay man who lived in San Francisco at the height of the AIDS epidemic, said hes known of Kramer since back when everyone knew him as an asshole. But it was an asshole and a fighter, said Elwyn, that the gay community needed to gain the attention it needed and deserved to fight AIDS. I had friends who were dropping like flies. They were dropping faster than you could say their names.

During the rest of his trip to South Florida, Kramer will attend An Evening with Larry Kramer, also presented by the museum, on Friday, March 10 at 8 p.m. at Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale. Kramer will discuss HIV/AIDS and the history of the LGBTQ community over the last 35 years with Kevin Sessums, past contributing editor to Vanity Fair and author of Mississippi Sissy. Tickets are $25. Tickets can be purchased at WorldAIDSMuseum.com.

On Saturday, March 11 from 12 to 5 p.m. at ArtServe in Fort Lauderdale, the POZ Millennials Symposium will be held. The World AIDS Museum and Stonewall Museum & Archives will co-sponsor the event, a panel of influential people involved in AIDS crisis activism during the past 30 years. The event is free. Both events are open to the public.

Check out book signing photos on our Facebook page.
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...
Affogato is not on the menu at Broer Bretel, but you can still have one there. Just tell the barista thats what you want. Then exit the shop, walk three doors to the leftto Cremerie Germaineand buy your favorite flavor of gelato in a cup. Retrace your steps, place the acquisition on the bar, and watch as the cold mounds get baptized by a shot (or two) of espresso.

So it went one afternoon late in 2016, although the practicecustomers bringing in goods purchased at point A to enhance their consumption experience at point Bis not unique to the Antwerp cafe that Toon Craen and his brother opened six years ago in February. This cross-fertilization economyprobably most often taking the form of a bagged lunch being unpacked at a watering holecan be observed across Belgiums largest city. (As Bert van Wassenhove, owner of the outside-sandwich-welcoming Caffenation Amsterdam, once told Sprudge: When we go to our pubs in Antwerp and they dont serve food, we are going to grab pizza from the neighbors and have it with our beersthats no problem.)

The spirit of helping out a friendor a friendly businessseems inevitable at Broer Bretel: Broer is Flemish for brother, and bretel means suspenders. Its an accessory that Craens grandfather always wore, and it was he who coupled the two words when speaking to Craen and his three brothers.

When it was our birthday, we would pass by [our grandfathers]. He would take [his suspenders] off and give them to us, Craen explains. The transfer of the straps signified that then we were the broer bretel, which means the brother suspendersthe king of the day.

But neither the happy-to-fraternize gelateria Cremerie Germaine, nor a lot of other local businesses, existed when Broer Bretel set up shop in the northern port-surrounded neighborhood known as the little island, Het Eilandje.

There was nothing. It was kind of a shabby place, recalls Craen. That nothingness inspired his older brother, who back then would pass through the area on a daily commute to the train station. So firstborn said to the second: Hey, brother, we should start a coffee business because theres not enough coffee businesses in Antwerp.

Although guest micro-roasters do make cameos at Broer Bretel, it is the ever-reliable output of Antwerps Caffenation that gives raison detre to the two-group La Marzocco Linea Classic, Marco Re-circulating font brewer, two Anfim Super Caimano grinders, and a Mazzer Robur grinder. Incidentally, Craen attended university near Caffenations cafe, drank his first espresso there, and was briefly an employee.

That the New York Times has recommended Broer Bretelnot once but twicewas the ultimate compliment, even though Craen says the publicity did not really attract new customers. That happened more organically, as shiny apartment buildings and chain restaurants began appearing (sometimes controversially) in the shadows of the nearby MAS and Red Star Line museums.

I had to wait for like three years for a regular customer base, he admits. Now it feels like an established place. We have a nice mix of people, like firemen and policemen, and also a richer crowd, Craen adds, referring to some of his boat-owning regulars who live part-time in the city.

Come who may, the secondhand furniture, retro wallpaper, tacked-up Polaroids, and shelves of multilingual books encourage visitors to linger. With his co-founder having moved to Australia, another brother doing graphic design, and the third still a student, Craen has for some time been running the bar solo. However, that will soon change: This spring, he and a chef friend will embark on a dining venture that will offer coffee, wine, homemade cold cuts, and cured meat all under one roof.

Hes going to be in the kitchen and Ill just be making the coffee, Craen says of the prospective business brotherhood. Its something were missing in Antwerp, I thinkyou have restaurants, but none of them serve good coffee, and we have good coffee places, but none of them serves good food.

Meanwhile, he plans to keep managing Broer Bretelhis babyand to hire a replacement for everyday barista duties. That individual might someday become a kind of surrogate sibling and, by extension, king or queen of the cafe.

Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge.


Mocha Dilemma (12% ABV)

American Solera of Tulsa, OK

An Imperial Milk Stout aged with Double Shot Coffees Maduro and chocolate.

On tap and growlers only

For his first write-up, Sprudge Beer columnist Jason Dominy tackles a whopping 12% coffee beer from American Solera of Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of the hottest breweries in America right now.

As a former coffee professional (three years at Batdorf & Bronson Atlanta) now deep in the beer world, my outlook on coffee beers is informed by the many similarities between those products: the use of grains, how theyre roasted, yeast differences and how they affect flavors, and how preparation changes the ending flavor results. Today Im a craft beer aficionado and advocate, teaching about it around Atlanta, talking about it on a craft beer podcast (The Last Beer Show), and attending events all over the country. Im also known for holding craft beer bottle shares at my own home, some with style themes and some without, but one of my constant favorites is coffee beers, and you can imagine why.

American Solera needs no introduction to beer geeksits one of the most talked about new breweries in America right now, due in no small part to the profile of its founder, Chase Healey. Hes previously the founder of Prairie Artisan Ales with his brother Colin; the duo sold the brand to Krebs Brewing in 2016, with Chase stepping away to launch American Solera shortly thereafter.

American Solera primarily focuses on sours and wild ales, having recently brewed with Texas brewery Jester King and gypsy brewer Evil Twin. In just their first year of public release, the brewery took home big awards (including Best New Brewery in the United States) at the 2016 RateBeer Best Awards.

And the beer? This tasty stout is perfectly balanced between the coffee and chocolate, and the body is syrupy-thick with a crema-like head. The coffee flavor isnt roasty like a lot of other coffee stouts, landing somewhere more in the range of tasting slightly fruity. Thats in no small part due to the coffee in play here, a natural processed Maragogipe from Ariel Montoya at Hacienda El Boton in Bolivar, Colombia. That approach to coffee processingthe natural process, in which gravity and time pull the flesh of the coffee cherry off the coffee seed we then roastcan yield big, sometimes wild fruit flavors. The roaster involved in the collaboration, Tulsas Double Shot, claims it was the first natural-processed Colombian coffee brought in to the United States. So, you know, a rare beer with some rare coffee, thats pretty awesome.

As a coffee beer lover I have to say, the depth of American Soleras stout paired with the natural fruit of this coffee makes for one of the most well-balanced coffee stouts out there right now. I will also mention that this is a pretty rare beerbeer people are laughing at this understatementbut suffice to say, Sprudge readers cant go buy this one at their local beer shop. In future columns Ill mix in stuff thats a bit more accessible, but for now, dont miss this great beer if you can get yourself anywhere near Tulsayes, it is worth the trip, and the wait in line.

Jason Dominy is a content marketing specialist at Pardot, co-host of The Last Beer Podcast, and freelance writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. This is Jason Dominys first feature for Sprudge Media Network.
Be still my heart, but not like, cardiac arrest still. A company in Japan has just created a coffee butter. Well, not a butter exactly, but a butter-like margarine sort of spread. Details, details.

As reported by the Independent, the product is called Snow Brand Coffee Soft (butter-like spreads are called softs in Japan) and will be released on March 1st by Megmilk Snow Brand Company to celebrate the 55th anniversary of their coffee drink, which the articles states is one of the most popular beverages in Japan. Snow Brand Coffee Softs will only be available in Japanese grocery stores, but at only 230 Yen per package$2.03 USDits probably well worth whatever the shipping cost is to get a pat Stateside.

Where this new coffee spread will fall in the pantheon of butters remains to be seen. Will it beat out chaff and cascara butters as coffees supreme spread? Or will it be relegated to merely a tool in the hands of a vengeful barista? My guess is it that ultimately coffee butter will fall somewhere between cocoa and peanut. I remain steady in my confidence that it wont topple the undisputed king: speculoos cookie butter.

The real questions are: how does it taste as an Inception-esque bulletproof coffee and can you make weed butter with it? These are the questions we need some industrious health nuts and stoners, respectively (or not, mix and match), to answer post haste.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and butt nutter enthusiast.
It was a productive Thursday evening for Travis Cullen during Thursdays 10-race card at Woodbine Racetrack, as the high percentage horseman celebrated a three-win performance.

Cullen swept the field in Race 2 with Phoenician Gal who stopped the clock in a time of 1:55.3, and he was back to take the checkered flag just three races later in Race 5 with Outlaw Gunpowder. The pacer was a front-stepping winner in 1:51.4 in the claiming contest.

He capped off his night  and the card  with a win in the finale behind Mac Raider. After a botched front-end attempt last week, the Cullen pupil used come-from-behind tactics to take home the loot in the last dash in a time of 1:53.4.

Cullen has enjoyed back-to-back seasons in which his barn has banked in excess of $1.2 million. With a little more than two months gone from the calendar in 2017, his barn has already banked more than $320,000 in earnings.

To view results for Thursday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Thursday Results  Woodbine Racetrack.
Emeritus Maximus extended his winning streak to three straight thanks to his gutsy score in Thursdays $27,500 Delaware Special Handicap for pacers at Dover Downs.

Yannick Gingras was parked with Emeritus Maximus through the first quarter in :25.4, but they eventually worked their way to the front and proceeded to chop out middle fractions of :54 and 1:21.2. A :28.1 closing quarter earned the Kyle Moore trainee the win by a neck over Sweet Rock in 1:49.3. Blazing Bobby Sox powered home late to be a lapped-on third.

Sent off as the 2-1 choice, Emeritus Maximus improved his 2017 record to 7-1-1 from 10 starts for owners Donald Marine and Brent Hall. It was the 21st lifetime tally for the career winner of $480,368.

Earlier on the card it was Major Uptrend front-stepping to a 1:49.4 score in the $20,000 Open Handicap for pacers. Montrell Teague mapped out the winning trip for the Tim Crissman trainee.

Major Uptrend was parked and driving at the quarter pole in :26.3, and once he cleared to the top he threw down fractions of :55 and 1:22.3 before finishing off his foes with a :27.1 final frame. He drew clear to win by 2-1/2 lengths over Jet Airway. Rockinonby grabbed the show dough.

Sent off as the 6-5 favourite, Major Uptrend pushed his winning streak to three-in-a-row for owner Mildred Ventriglio. The 28-time winner is closing in on $300,000 in career earnings.
Bye Bye Michelle, by Stonebridge Regal, scored in the Thursday (March 9) feature at Saratoga Casino Hotel. The seven-year-old pacing mare has frequently been claimed in the last year, and on Thursday made her return to the Melissa Beckwith stable following a win last week.

Dan Cappello Jr. piloted Bye Bye Michelle who got away third behind the races co-even-money favorites Velocity Vespa (driven by Jim Devaux) and last weeks Open winner, Milky Way Rae (Billy Dobson). Bye Bye Michelle powered past them heading to the three quarters pole.

Bye Bye Michelle, a nine-time winner in 2016, stopped the timer in 1:56.4 for her second victory in 17. Velocity Vespa finished second while Milky Way Rae rounded out the triple in the $10,000 feature for fillies and mares.

Bye Bye Michelle was again claimed on Thursday and returns to the Andy Sardella stable who had her previous to last weeks claim.

Live racing continues on Friday evening at Saratoga with a first post time set for 6:45pm.

(Saratoga Raceway)
On Tuesday, March 7, a North American racing commission handed down a default judgment of a 15-year suspension and a $40,000 fine to a Standardbred trainer after he failed to request a trial into the matter at hand.

According to an article by The Herald Bulletin, trainer Bobby Brower had failed to request a trial by a 20-day deadline, thus the Indiana Horse Racing Commission handed down its ruling.

It was reported in November of 2016 that trainer Bobby Brower was fighting allegations that he beat a horse (B Abland) after it had collapsed at Pace Setter Farm, which is located in Anderson, Indiana.

According to The Herald Bulletin, Browers attorney, Pete Sacopulos, had argued that Brower should have a chance to defend himself in court because of the seriousness of the allegations. Sacopulos was also cited as saying that he was under the impression that entering a not-guilty plea acted as the request for a trial.

In November, Brower said that B Abland had trained at the farm on the day in question "and he slipped and fell on the wet pavement." The trainer stated that a whip was used once on the geldings rear in order to get him up. B Abland did get up, but fell once again. Brower said that others were helping him try to get the horse up by jumping and stomping around him (in an effort to get B Abland to get up). "A horse will just lay there and hurt itself," Brower said in November. He also went on to state that the charges were due to jealousy within the industry. "The incident has really been blown out of proportion," he said, adding, "I'm going to fight this to the max."

(With files from The Herald Bulletin)
When the North American Amateur Drivers Association kicks off its Spring Trotting Series on March 16 participants will be eligible for a trip to France and become a part of an American Team that will challenge the top French amateurs in a Friendship Competition.

Upon the completion of our spring trotting series we will have a lottery drawing among the top five point-earners in the eight-week event to determine three drivers who will be eligible to travel to France and be among the American representatives in the Friendship Competition, noted NAADA president, Joe Faraldo.

The North American Amateur Drivers Association had received a formal invitation for a rematch with the very competent French amateur drivers. The invitation was extended to Joe Faraldo during his recent visit to Paris for the Prix d'Amerique.

The rematch is scheduled to center around races at the famed Vincennes racetrack outside of the City of Lights as well as a racetrack in Normandy (yet to be named).

According to Faraldo, there will be at least two races surrounded by some sightseeing of places popular with tourists and historians. The challenge will require six U.S. amateur drivers and their guests.

The rematch will be an effort to avenge the terrible loss the US amateurs sustained at the hands of the French when they invaded our shores for a similar competition two years ago, Faraldo added.

The selection of drivers will be limited to those who participate in NAADAs upcoming Spring Trotting Series which will commence on March 16 with weekly contests at both Monticello and Yonkers Raceways.

According to Faraldo, his organization will select three other NAADA members for a six-man team needed to challenge Frances best.

The Friendship Competition against the French amateurs is tentatively scheduled for the 2017 Memorial Day weekend at, or about, the same time as the Elitloppet in Stockholm.

(with files from NAADA)
Longtime harness racing industry participant Tim Blair of Calgary, Alta. passed away on Monday, March 6 at the age of 61.

Tim was born in Indian Head, Saskatchewan in 1955. In the early 70s Tim moved to Alberta where he started training Standardbreds of his own. He raced in many places such as Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Windsor, New Jersey, and even as far as Hong Kong. In the early 80s he then started trucking for Moores Horse Transport and Foothills Horse Transport where he travelled all over North America with many stories to tell. Blair then met his wife Dawn Blair (Burrell) who came from a Thoroughbred racing family, and had two children: Bobby and Christy Blair.

Throughout the years Tim has maintained his appearance around the track, getting in bets ANY chance he could whether it be stopping in at a casino in the states or phoning his kids to get down to the track to make that bet for him. As horse racing is what he has lived for he was always taking part any chance he could from involvement in the Standardbred/Thoroughbred industry to helping his buddy Jerry Bremner over the years on the Chuckwagon circuit.

Early in 2015 Tim was sadly diagnosed with ALS & Dementia. ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a rapid, always fatal, neurodegenerative disease with no known cures to date. It attacks the nerves that the body would normally use to send messages from the brain to the muscle, resulting in weakness and wasting. This past Monday, with his loving family around him, Tim lost his battle of this devastating disease. We can all hope that one day a cure will be found.

A Celebration of Tims Life will be held this Saturday, March 11 at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #285, 9202 Horton Road SW.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the ALS Society of Alberta a group that has helped the Blair family tremendously through this tough time in all of their lives.

To view and share photos, condolences and stories of Tim, please visit choicememorial.com.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Tim Blair.
The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie...
Friday, March 10, 2017

This week, Joe Kristan (CPA & Shareholder, Roth & Company (Des Moines, Iowa); Editor, Tax Update Blog) discusses how the House GPO Affordable Care Act replacement plan complicates 2016 tax filing.

Mandate no more? House Republicans released their Obamacare replacement plan yesterday. While the policy implications of the proposal are obviously interesting, this time of year my first question is, does this affect the current tax season? Yes, big league. The proposal would repeal both the individual mandate and employer mandate retroactive to the beginning of 2016. As we are in the middle of the filing season for 2016 returns, thats a big deal. Taxpayers and preparers had a filing season dilemma even before the House GOP announced their plan yesterday. After President Trump issued an executive order telling agencies to be forgiving on ACA enforcement, the IRS changed its plans to allow individuals to file returns without answering health coverage questions  making it possible to file returns ignoring the penalty for lacking ACA-compliant health coverage.

The dilemma is that the tax law still requires the coverage. Practitioners who prepare returns ignoring the coverage questions leave themselves open for penalties from the IRS and to discipline from professional boards that might cover them. But its no fun to tell clients that you are filing a return that may be paying a tax they might safely ignore. The House bill only makes this problem worse for preparers. Unless and until Congress does something, the individual and employer mandates remain in the tax law. What to do? I think the safest approach is for taxpayers who might be subject to the mandate to extend their returns. If they can pay in the amount of any ACA penalties for 2016, that would make it less painful to file the return should the penalties survive. Even if you dont pay the mandate penalty with the extension, you avoid any non-filing penalties and reduce any late payment penalties to 1/2% per month. Unfortunately, doing the right thing professionally might not be the best thing for your clients. If taxpayers really need the big tax refund they will get if they dont have to pay the computed ACA mandate penalty, and you think its likely that either they can get away with ignoring the penalty or that it will be repealed retroactively, can a preparer in good conscience tell them to wait because of practitioner CYA concerns? Should the professional explain that self-filing might get a better, quicker result? At this point, the IRS should come right out and tell people that its OK to ignore the mandate penalties, and that if there are underpayments as a result, they can be paid later without penalty. Otherwise it will be awarding the aggressive and reckless while making compliant taxpayers and practitioners into chumps. House ACA replacment links: Official summary of House GOP plan

Language of tax provisions

Language of non-tax provisions

Monday, March 6, 2017

Annette Nellen, What to tell clients about tax reform (video)

Don Boudreaux, What About Losers from Tariffs? (Cafe Hayek). Or perhaps Adams works in a Ford factory in Michigan. With the price of steel now made higher by the tariff, Ford produces fewer new cars.

Gene Steuerle, Before We Reform Tax Policy, We Need to Know What Is Working (TaxVox). Beyond basic administrative information, the agency could at least on a rotating basis start to evaluate program benefits and costs.

Jared Walczak, Morgan Scarboro, Georgia House Passes Single-Rate Income Tax Bill. (Tax Policy Blog). The legislation which cleared the House, HB 329, replaces the six brackets and rates with a single 5.4 percent rate, with an earned income tax credit designed to retain or even enhance tax code progressivity for many low-and middle-income Georgians.

Jim Maule, The Imperfections of the Philadelphia Soda Tax. But some taxes are so far from perfect that they need to be classified as counterproductive. This characterization surely describes the Philadelphia soda tax, which I have criticized consistently since it was first proposed.

Kay Bell, IRS letter announcing latest private tax debt collection effort going out to affected taxpayers:

Remember that assurance from the Internal Revenue Service that its agents never call you about an overdue tax bill.

Thats changing.

As Kay explains, taxpayers will get a letter before anyone calls. Also, you wont be asked to pay over the phone with a credit card or gift cards.

Leslie Book, Sixth Circuit Holds Potential Misconduct in CDP Hearing Does Not Give Rise to Wrongful Collection Action (Procedurally Taxing).

Lew Taishoff, SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR. Tax Court holds moveable feasts as it traverses this broad land of ours. It stays not over long in any locale. And it alights in some of its far-flung localities but once in a twelvemonth.

News from the Profession. The Banking of Things Could Be the Next Technology Accountants Freak Out About (Megan Lewczyk, Going Concern)

TaxGrrrl, Remember: Some Tax Return Due Dates Are Different In 2017

TaxProf, PwCs Other Debacle: A Tax Boondoggle That Has Ballooned Out Of Control. Links to the Huffington Post, on Section 199, which says: If theres one person to blame for the current 199 predicament, its Manousos, a partner at PwC.

I think the article puts the blame in the wrong place. Section 199, the Domestic Production Activities Deduction, arose in 2004 after a special break for export income was ruled an illegal subsidy by the WTO. Rejecting the opportunity to just lower rates on all businesses, Congress passed a special break targeted for manufacturers to lower the rate on production income. As anyone could have predicted, clever practitioners find ways to call lots of income production income.

The blame for this falls squarely on politicians who were in a frenzy to pass a jobs bill in an election year, not on any practitioner. The provision was actually enacted in a bill called the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.

Section 199 was a bad idea to begin with. The idea of separating the components of manufacturing from all of the support services that contribute to it in a modern economy is foolish. It serves as a lesson, sure to be ignored, of the unwisdom of subsidies for research, patent boxes, or other politically-favored activities.

Tyler Cowen, Should we tax robots? (Marginal Revolution). One reason not to tax the robots is that employers might substitute away from robots and toward natural resources rather than toward domestic human labor.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

House ACA replacment links:

Official summary of House GOP plan

Language of tax provisions

Language of non-tax provisions

Andrew Mitchel, New Form 5472 Filing Requirements for Foreign-Owned U.S. Disregarded Entities

Avik Roy, Improving the American Health Care Acts Coverage for Vulnerable Populations:

On Monday evening, House Republican leadership released their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which they have titled The American Health Care Act. As I describe in a lengthy writeup for Forbes, the bill as drafted would make health insurance less affordable for millions of Americans with low incomes and/or poor health status.

But the bill has many salutary aspects, especially its reforms of Medicaid, Americas broken health insurance program for those below the poverty line. And the bills chief weaknessits system of flat, non-means-tested tax credits that aim to replace Obamacares health insurance exchangesis fixable. Indeed, the bill itself contains the language Republicans could use to fix it.

Howard Gleckman, How Russia and the Affordable Care Act Are Killing Tax Reform (TaxVox). What do Russia and the ACA have to do with taxes? Everything.

Jack Townsend, Search Warrant Executed Against Caterpillar HQ, Apparently Related to Tax. Notice that the company claims in each of these reports is cooperating with the investigation. If that is true, I wonder why the need for a search warrant.

Jason Dinesen, Reminder: Theres No Such Thing as a $500 Non-Cash Charitable Contribution Standard Deduction True.

Kay Bell, Life changes that could affect your tax withholding. And if you dont give your employer a completed Form W-4, your boss must withhold your income taxes at the highest rate. Thats as if you were single and claimed no withholding allowances.

Lew Taishoff, THE BUSINESS OF BEING A LAWYER  PART DEUX. After losing his claim that his law school tuition and fees were deductible, Emmanuel A. Santos, Docket No. 5864-14, filed 3/6/17, tries to wild-card in his health care costs via a shift from Schedule A to Schedule C at the Rule 155 beancount that followed the loss.

Robert Goulder, Reciprocal Taxes and Parallel Universes (Tax Analysts Blog). Another week gone by and were still no closer to knowing whether President Trump will throw his support behind the tax reform blueprint offered by House Republicans.

Robert Wood, Like Wesley Snipes, Lawyers Failed To File Taxes, But Did Not File Falsely. Skipping tax filings is not to be recommended, but filing falsely is in a number of ways even worse

Roger McEowen, IRS To Target Hobby Farmers. The interim guidance would appear to be targeted toward taxpayers that either farm or crop share some acres where the income ends up on Schedule F, but where other non-farm sources of income predominate (e.g., W-2 income, income from leases for hunting, bed and breakfast, conservation reserve program payments, organic farming, etc.).

Russ Fox, Two too Many Sets of Books Leads to 41 Months at ClubFed. Do yourself a favor if youre in business: Keep one good set of books. Your tax professional will appreciate it.

Scott Greenberg, Proposed GOP Healthcare Bill Would Repeal Nearly All ACA Tax Increases (Tax Policy Blog). The Affordable Care Act contained 21 separate measures to raise federal revenue; the House Republican healthcare bill released this evening would explicitly repeal 14 of those

TaxGrrrl, A Quick Look At The GOP Plan To Repeal & Replace Obamacare. Conservatives in the House arent crazy about most of those outcomes  especially revenue-raising (which yes, sounds a lot like new taxes). Others, like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), believe that Republicans arent doing enough to get rid of existing legislation.

TaxProf, Paul Caron Named Dean Of Pepperdine Law School:

A widely respected expert in tax law, Caron has written over 50 books and scholarly articles and is the publisher and editor of Tax Prof Blog, the most popular tax blog on the Internet. He is also the owner and publisher of the Law Professor Blogs Network of more than 50 blogs in other areas of law edited by law professors around the country. He was named the third most influential person in legal education by the National Jurist in 2016 and has been listed as one of the 100 most influential people in tax and accounting every year since 2006 by Accounting Today.

Congratulations to Paul, a good guy who has long been a Dean among tax bloggers.

Tyler Cowen, ACHA, the Republican health care plan, appears to be a non-starter

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Adam Mansfield, TaxSlayer: Technically Acceptable for VITA Returns? (Surly Subgroup). As it stands right now, a month into filing season and 16 months after the contract was awarded, TaxSlayer is not capable of preparing an NRA return and the corresponding state return(s) for 2013, 2014 or 2015.

Arnold Kling, The Making of a Quagmire. On the House GOP healthcare proposal:

It would take a lot of nerve to say: Our plan is to hold households responsible for obtaining health insurance. Some households will lose coverage that was heavily subsidized by the government. But if you cannot stand up and say that, then you cannot change the direction of health care policy away from socialism.

And:

After digesting these and other analyses, I am inclined to think that Obamacare will not be repealed and replaced during the Trump Administration. Instead, it will be repealed and replaced by the Democrats the next time they are in power. And the replacement will not look very market-friendly.

Arnold wrote an underappreciated analysis of health care policy in 2008, Crisis of Abundance. It still is a great read on the problems of health care finance, pointing out the impossible dilemma of insulating consumers from health costs while providing unlimited access without imposing unacceptable costs to whoever does have to foot the bill.

Jack Townsend, Supreme Court Holds Sentencing Guidelines Are Not Unconstitutionally Vague. The opinion, written by Justice Thomas, reasoned from the historic understanding that a sentencing judges discretion to render sentences within the statutory range (such as between 0 months and 60 months for tax evasion under  7201) did not render that statutory discretion unconstitutionally vague.

Jim Maule, Tax Fears: Whom to Believe?. So, should taxpayers be rejoicing at the improved audit lottery odds and perhaps even taking liberties with their returns? Or should they be in panic mode while expecting IRS employees to come knocking on their doors?

Kay Bell, GOP gets tax reform head start by killing Obamacare taxes in its replacement health care plan.

Kelvin Adkins-Heljeson, Tax in Popular Culture: Border Adjustment Tax (Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting Blog). In the advertisement, a salesman mockingly extols the virtues of a wide ranging import tax as a cure-all for the problems of too much dough or the back pains from lugging around too much money.

Kristine Tidgren, First Official ACA Repeal and Replacement Proposal Unveiled (Ag Docket). his proposal is designed to be eligible for passage through the budget reconciliation process, thereby avoiding a filibuster.

Lew Taishoff, MESSAGE DELIVERED? If youre a constant reader of this my blog (in which case, my sincerest thanks), youre aware of my ongoing colloquy with Ch J L Paige (Iron Fist) Marvel about the admission of CPAs to Tax Court, without the need for all that messy examination process, when only eight percent of those taking the exam actually pass. But apparently no more.

Megan McArdle, The Republican Plan Is Even Worse Than Obamacare. Just as Lite foods failed to keep Americans from getting fatter, the GOP version of health-care reform doesnt fix the huge problems that currently exist in the individual market, notably the fact that thanks to Obamacare, in a few years, we might not even have an individual market.

News from the Profession. The Best Line of BS I Ever Heard During My Time in Public Accounting (Rachel Andujar, Going Concern)

Paul Neiffer, House Proposes ACA Replacement  A Battle Begins. This is just the beginning stages of ACA repeal and we know the final result may not look anything like the current proposal, but it is a start.

Peter Reilly, Tax Litigation Is Not The Place For Alternative Facts. There is a bigger challenge to would be real estate pros. You have to spend more time on your real estate trades or businesses than you do on anything else. This is close to an insurmountable obstacle to most part-time landlords, when they are challenged on audit.

Richard Florida, Handing Out Tax Breaks to Businesses Is Worse Than Useless:

Even before being sworn in as President, Donald Trump jumped up and down at the chance to showcase the great deal he and Vice-President Mike Pence made to keep a Carrier plant in Indiana. The company pocketed $7 million in tax breaks in exchange for about 800 jobs. But the broad consensus among economists who study the subject is that such business incentives do little to alter the location decisions of companies. In fact, theyre often worse than ineffectivetheyre counterproductive. My own take on this site is that they are a useless waste of taxpayer dollars.

The Legislative Service Agency will be making a presentation on Iowas tax credits to the House Ways and Means Committee at 10:00 today. I think the above would make a great opening statement.

Richard Phillips, GOP Obamacare Repeal Would Slash Taxes on the Wealthy At the Expense of Middle- and Low-Income Families (Tax Justice Blog). You cant finance a mass benefit with a class tax.

Scott Greenberg, The House GOP Healthcare Bill Would Repeal $574.5 Billion in ACA Tax Increases (Tax Policy Blog).

Stephen Olsen, One Hake of a Taxpayer Friendly Reasonable Cause Holding (Procedurally Taxing). So, why do I think the Hakes got lucky (or more specifically their lawyer)?

TaxGrrrl, Lawsuit Against PayPal Alleges Charities Never Received Donations. When the company receives a gift intended for a charity that is not enrolled in the platform, the company says that it makes multiple attempts to contact unenrolled charities on a monthly basis for at least six months, via email, letter and, in some cases, phone calls.'

Tony Nitti, Where Is The Phenomenal Tax Plan President Trump Promised?

Tyler Cowen, A Border Adjustment Tax just means more new loopholes (Marginal Revolution). Full and immediate expensing is a potent lure, and it will attract a great of gamesmanship.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

David Brunori, Local Income Taxes: Silly, Dumb and Harmful (Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting Blog):

But whatever the details or their motivations, local option income taxes are poor policy choices. I say that with some weariness because I think localism is a normative good. And local political autonomy requires local fiscal autonomy. Still, local income taxes dont work, at least not well, for two reasons. First, local governments cannot effectively redistribute wealth. Local governments that try to take money from the rich and give it to the poor will inevitably end up with more of the latter and less of the former.

Second, local government taxation of business income and capital defies all common understanding of economics. It is hard enough for nations and states to tax mobile capital in a global economy. It is nearly impossible for cities to do so.

Iowa has a local option income tax for school funding. You can increase your income tax bill by moving from West Des Moines to Altoona.

Gordon Mermin, The big tax changes in the House GOP health plan (TaxVox)

Hank Stern, About Repeal & Replace. My initial reaction is that anything over 10 pages is a non-starter (and this one clocks in at 60+, let alone what the final product will actually look like).

Jason Dinesen, Can a Non-Resident of Iowa Take the Deduction for Health Insurance Premiums?

Jeremy Scott, Economic Substance Doctrine Escapes ACA Repeal (Tax Analysts Blog)

Kay Bell, Looking at Pink Tax effects on International Womens Day

Keith Fogg, Finding the Right Appraiser and Writing the Report Correctly (Procedurally Taxing). Practitioners headed into litigation need to vet the expert to make sure that nothing prevents the expert from rendering an impartial opinion.

Leandra Lederman, Death, Taxes, and a Beach Read (Surly Subgroup) Some marketer apparently did his or her homework and identified me as someone with an interest in both tax and chick lit!

Lew Taishoff, I WOULD PREFER NOT TO Takeaway 1- Maybe three years is too short to start shredding records, especially if youre somewhat casual about when you pay what you owe.

Meg Wiehe, State Rundown 3/8: Much Ado About Consumption Taxes (Tax Justice Blog). This week brings more news of states considering reforms to their consumption taxes, on everything from gasoline in South Carolina and Tennessee, to marijuana in Pennsylvania, to groceries in Idaho and Utah, and to practically everything in West Virginia.

Nicole Kaeding, Kyle Pomerleau, Federal Tax Reform: The Impact on States (Tax Policy Blog):

Multiple provisions within the GOP Blueprint and the Trump tax plans would impact state budgets, and how a state conforms to the federal code impacts state-specific revenue projections. For instance, a state that uses federal taxable income or AGI as its starting point would likely see an increase in revenue due to the elimination of most federal itemized deductions. Under the Trump and GOP tax plans, the federal tax base (the definition of taxable income) would become much broader, leading to an expansion of the state tax base. The federal changes include rate cuts to offset the broader bases, but states set their tax rates independently. Absent state-level changes, states would have a much larger tax base without correspondingly lower rates, leading to higher state-level revenue.



Though the change would not have a direct financial cost to state budgets, the elimination of the state-local taxes paid deduction would force high-income filers, particularly in states like New York and California, to feel the full effect of their states high marginal rates. The current federal deduction diminishes the effects of high state rates.

A federal rate reduction actually results in an an Iowa effective rate increase, because it reduces the value of Iowas deduction for federal taxes paid. The uncertainty over federal reform may be one reason Iowa is moving slowly on its own reforms.

Robert Wood, Filing Your Taxes Is Not Self-Incrimination, Rules Court. You cant get out of taxes by taking the Fifth.

Roger McEowen, Deductibility of Soil and Water Conservation Expenses. Expenses for leveling, conditioning, grading, terracing and contour furrowing are all eligible as are costs associated with the control and protection of diversion channels, drainage ditches, irrigation ditches, earthen dams, water courses, outlets and ponds.

Russ Fox, Casinos and ITINs: IRS Confirms Cease and Desist Letters Sent to Several Large Casinos (Update #2)

Senay Redda, Alas! The ACA Repeal & Replace legislation is here (Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting Blog).

TaxGrrrl, Jason Derulo Wants To Deduct $73,000 On His Taxes For Twerk-Related Expenses. While your first reaction might be to laugh out loud at the idea of deducting tens of thousands of dollars in nightclub-related costs as a business expense, its important to read the paragraph above one more time. Maybe hell push for twerkers comp reforms.

TaxProf, NY Times: Dartmouth Prof Accuses Caterpillar Of Tax Fraud In Report Commissioned By Federal Investigators.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Annette Nellen, Taxes and the sharing economy.

Career Corner, 5 Ways to Steal Some Time Back This Busy Season (Megan Lewczyk, Going Concern)

David Henderson, Is Taxing One Item Because Its in a Subsidized Category a Good Idea? (Econlog) So a way to offset the subsidy, if the first-best solution of eliminating or reducing the subsidy is, for some reason, off the table, is to tax the thing being subsidized.

Howard Gleckman, Do The Tax Provisions of the House GOP Health Bill Pass Its Own Tax Reform Test? (TaxVox). Not surprisingly, the answer is: some are, and some are not.

Joseph Thorndike, Liberals Should Take the Credit  And the Blame  for Big Government (Tax Analysts Blog):

It may seem like political genius to trumpet benefits while obscuring price tags, but its just the opposite. People value things they pay for  and they dont value the things they get for free. That can be a problem when new programs come under attack. After all, if something isnt worth paying for in the first place, its probably not worth defending, either.

But its easier to vote for free stuff when someone else is paying for it.

Kay Bell, IRS telephone service is improving, but will it last?. After years of declining telephone assistance, an IRS executive and two other federal agency reps told a March 8 joint hearing of two House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittees that taxpayer telephone service has been improving.

Kristine Tidgren, Will 2017 Be the Year for Iowa Water Quality Funding? (Ag Docket) The bills would both effectively divert sales tax assessments on sales of water by utilities to consumers and users to a new water quality fund.

Leslie Book, Shredding Documents and Proving You Paid a Tax: Lawyer Cannot Prove Payment (Procedurally Taxing). Yet this case is a good reminder that it is on the taxpayer to prove payment, and testimony alone in the absence of proof is likely not enough if IRS records do not reflect payment. Thats for sure.

Lew Taishoff, THE PLOT THICKENS. A lot of electrons have been set in motion by the celebrated case of Estate of Michael J. Jackson, Deceased, John G. Branca, Co-Executor and John McClain, Co-Executor, Docket No. 17152-13, filed 3/9/17. Yes, that Michael J. Jackson.

Megan McArdle, Republicans Should Kill Obamacare or Let It Die. If Republicans cannot get up the will to bear those costs, then they should do nothing, and start preparing their rebuilding strategy while they wait for the flaws in Obamacares structure to bring down the individual market on its own.

Morgan Scarboro, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets for 2017 (Tax Policy Blog):

Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for 36 percent of state tax collections.[1] Their prominence in public policy considerations is further enhanced by the fact that individuals are directly responsible for filing their income taxes, in contrast to the indirect payment of sales and excise taxes. To many taxpayers, the personal income tax is practically synonymous with their own tax burdens.

Forty-three states levy individual income taxes. Forty-one tax wage and salary income, while two statesNew Hampshire and Tennesseeexclusively tax dividend and interest. Seven states levy no income tax at all.

Iowas top stated rate is a deceptively-high 8.98%. Only four states have a higher stated rate. Considering the deduction for federal taxes that Iowa allows, the real effective Iowa rate on highest-income taxpayers is a much less unpleasant 5.18% rate. The effective rate will go up if the federal top rate comes down as expected.

Peter Reilly, Lawsuit Challenging Charities Backing Israeli Settlements Fails On Standing.  When it comes to exempt function, though, it seems the IRS cant please anybody.

Richard Phillips, Debunking the 35 Percent Corporate Tax Myth (Tax Justice Blog):

A new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) reveals the reality that while corporations face a statutory tax rate of 35 percent, the tax code is so packed full of tax breaks that over eight years our nations largest and most profitable corporations paid an average effective tax rate of just 21.2 percent.

This is the national version of the story that Iowas highest-in-the-nation corporation tax doesnt matter because corporations pay less than the stated 12% rate due to tax rates. It ignores the incentive that the high rates provide to game the system. Also, when decisions are made on the margin, the top rate is the relevant rate.

Robert Wood, Can You Opt Out Of Big IRS Offshore Penalties? On the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program: Bottom line? The OVDP is predictable. Opting out is much less so, so think about your facts. The best way to opt out of the penalties, of course, is to not incur them in the first place. Be sure to keep your tax pro informed of any foreign investments you might make.

Sam Brunson, The Taxman and Jazz Radio (Surly Subgroup). And just like that, two of my favorite thingsjazz and taxesintersected.

TaxGrrrl, Taxpayers Slow To File Even Though IRS No Longer Required To Hold Tax Refunds. While refund numbers are still down , so, too, are the numbers for returns received and returns processed. Even trips to IRS.gov are down.

Tyler Cowen, Jason Furman and Olivier Blanchard on the Border Adjustment Tax (Marginal Revolution). As trade deficits eventually turn into trade surpluses, and thus border adjustment net revenues turn from positive to negative, the other tax cuts it initially financed will still be on the books. Sooner or later, taxes will have to increase, or spending will have to be reduced, to compensate for the shortfall.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2017/03/weekly-tax-highlight-and-roundup-1.html
SALEM, Ore.  The chairman of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission has offered to compromise with the Washington commission over their differences regarding the Columbia River salmon reforms.

Earlier this year, the two state commissions approved reforms starting this year in how salmon are allocated between sport and commercial fishermen and allowable commercial fishing methods.

Oregon opted for a plan more friendly to commercial fishing than did the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown then scolded the Oregon commission for reneging on a 2013 agreement to limit gillnetting to off-channel areas and told it to change the policy by April 3.

Michael Finley, chair of the Oregon commission, sent a letter to Brad Smith, chair of the Washington commission, on Tuesday detailing his compromise proposals.

By species, here is a look at Finleys proposals:

Spring chinook  The states agree on an allocation of 80 percent of the Endangered Species Act impacts to sportsmen and 20 percent to the commercials.

Washington prohibits any commercial spring chinook fishery on the main Columbia. Finley proposes Washington authorize the use of tangle nets, which are small-mesh gillnets, but have a much lower mortality on released wild salmon.

Summer chinook  The states also agree here on an allocation of 80 percent of the Endangered Species Act impacts to sportsmen and 20 percent to the commercials.

Finley proposes Oregon accept Washingtons prohibition of large-mesh gillnets during the summer chinook period.

It is acknowledged that there are currently no alternative gears available to access the commercial fishery share of summer chinook harvest but providing this allocation may lead to innovation that will help inform future alternative gear discussions, Finley wrote.

Fall chinook  Washington and Oregon agree that gillnetting with large-mesh nets will be allowed between Woodland and Beacon Rock during the fall run in 2017 and 2018.

Washington adopted an allocation of 75 percent of the ESA impacts to sportsmen and 25 percent to the commercials. Oregon adopted a 66 percent sport and 34 percent commercial split.

Finley proposes compromising at a 70 percent sport-30 percent commercial allocation.

Oregon also commits to working with Washington on evaluating bycatch of summer steelhead and sturgeon during the next two years.

Oregon requests consideration of allowing main stem tangle nets in the spring in return for excluding gillnets in the summer, and splitting the difference of our respective fall allocations, Finley wrote.

We believe that our proposal is a reasonable approach to achieve concurrence for this next phase of Columbia River Fishery management and still honor the needs and commitments made by the two states, he wrote.

Today, the Association of Northwest Steelheaders plan to deliver to Browns office a 5,891-signature petition calling for Oregon to adopt Washingtons position on the Columbia River reforms and to remove Bruce Buckmaster of Astoria from the Oregon commission.

Buckmaster is the leading advocate for gillnet-fishing interests on the Oregon commission.

The Oregon commission next meets on March 17 in Corvallis. Washingtons commission meets next on March 17 and 18 in Olympia.
On Jan. 11, 48-year-old Quoc Van Ngo, his wife and son left the hot, sticky climate in Vietnam and arrived at Portland International Airport in shorts  in the middle of a snowstorm. His newfound American family was waiting for him.

Everything is different, said Ngos wife, Le Le.

For Ngos entire life, he had been wondering if he could ever find his American father. He was adopted by a Vietnamese family as a baby and never knew his biological mother and father. Ngos mother, and the circumstances of their separation at birth, remain a mystery for him. He only knew that he was fathered by a U.S. soldier during the Vietnam War, making him an Amerasian.

But early last year he had a bittersweet discovery  with just a swab of saliva, the nonprofit group Amerasians Without Borders traced his DNA back to Perry Piper, the younger brother of former Cowlitz PUD commissioner Ned Piper. Perry Piper served in Vietnam for two years and died in Longview at the age of 50. About seven months after finding the long-lost connection, Ngo and his family arrived in the U.S. permanently under refugee status.

Amerasians in Vietnam are like second-class citizens, said Thuy Vo, a Longview resident and businessman who helped translate between Ngo and The Daily News. Ngo was not allowed to go to school and had limited job prospects. In Vietnamese theyre referred to as bui doi, or dust of life.

In the 1980s, the U.S. passed the Amerasian Immigration Act and Amerasian Homecoming Act, which eased immigration for Amerasian children into the U.S. But widespread fraud from wealthy Vietnamese families led to stricter U.S. procedures, significantly limiting the number of visas issued to Amerasians in the past few years, said Jimmy Miller, founder of Amerasians Without Borders in Spokane and an Amerasian himself.

After the war ended in Vietnam, they treat us just like blood of the enemy, Miller said. At age 22, he and his family moved to the U.S. in 1990 after a hard life in Vietnam, where he said the government had confiscated his mothers home and business. He estimated at least 400 Amerasians are left in Vietnam.

Wisconsin genealogist Andrea Lea Olmanson, an attorney who volunteers for Amerasians Without Borders, estimated she has tried to reunite about 40 Amerasians with their American families since she started in 2014. About 30 of those attempts remain unsolved.

It just seemed like the right thing to do, said Olmanson, based in Madison.

For volunteers at Amerasians Without Borders, contacting the American families comes with a mix of apprehension. Some dont take it well, and Ngo wasnt expecting to ever hear back even if they could find a DNA link.

But Ned Piper was thrilled. On March 15, Olmanson sent a letter to Piper with the news that he has a Vietnamese nephew.

I apologize in advance for any anxiety, offense, or upset that this correspondence may cause, Olmanson wrote. I do not wish to tarnish anyones memory. My goal is simply to help this Amerasian man. The letter came with photos of Ngo, and there was an uncanny resemblance to Perry.

When Ngos half-brother, Perry Caine Piper, saw the photos of Ngo, he already knew.

He said, I dont know why were bothering with the DNA test, Ned Piper said.  He looks more like Dad than I do. 

Ned Piper said he called Olmanson immediately. His younger brother died at the age of 50, almost the same age Ngo is now. Piper said it was like getting his brother back.

I still cant believe this is happening, Piper said. Its just so wonderful.

Then the organization contacted Ngo, who met the news with more skepticism. He said he convinced himself it couldnt be true. But a week later, Piper called him.

First time I heard the voice saying, This is your uncle, Ngo said. Later on I see the face. Then I knew it was true.

Ngo sent him a heartfelt letter on May 3 expressing his gratitude. Loosely translated from Vietnamese in broken English, the letter said Ngo was happy knowing my fathers family will not abandon me.

I cant wait to see you and the entire family of uncle and aunt, so I can hugs all of you with my loving arms, the letter read. I know that day would be a greatest memory ever until the end of my life.

Now Ngos 20-year-old son, Loi Ngo, is attending classes at Lower Columbia College, and Quoc Ngo had an interview for a job at Foster Farms this week.

Piper wanted to bring Ngos family to the U.S. right away. But U.S. immigration wanted DNA samples from the father as proof, posing a challenge for Pipers family. They used the DNA of Perrys other son and Ngos half-brother, from which they found a match.

It still wasnt enough proof. In September, Ned Piper left for a week-long trip to Vietnam and landed in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), where Ngo and Piper exchanged hugs and tears of happiness.

With a photo album of the family at hand  meant as a gift for Ngo  Piper visited the U.S. Consulate there to try and get Ngo refugee status. The woman asked about the family relations. She told Piper it had been the first time an American family had come to Vietnam to help an Amerasian.

She said, Im accepting you right away, " Piper said.

But one end of the story is more bitter than sweet. When asked how Ngo felt when he found out his biological father died, he had no words but broke down in tears.
Volkswagen has signed an agreement with Tata Motors to explore cooperation in India, company sources close to the matter said, as the German carmaker tries once again to conquer emerging markets.

After months of talks, the carmakers have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deepen exchanges about technology, components and platforms, and analyze overlaps that could come from cooperation, one of three company sources said.

VW, already the biggest carmaker by sales in China, is embracing electric cars and looking for new markets as it battles to recover from its diesel emissions scandal.

A previous VW attempt to expand in emerging markets through an alliance with Suzuki Motor Corp. collapsed in 2015 after a fierce dispute.

Winning emerging market share is an obvious goal for global automakers, but has yet to prove significantly profitable, except perhaps for budget-car champion Renault.

"Covering entry-level segments will be crucial for major carmakers' long-term growth plans," said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, head of the Center of Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

"A successful budget car can be a feeder to the rest of the brand," said Dudenhoeffer, a former sales director of PSA Group's Germany operations.

VW's efforts to make inroads in low-cost markets include China, the world's biggest auto market, where it has scrapped a pre-dieselgate program and redrawn the plans for a budget car, company sources said. VW has pared costs for its MQB mass-market platform, sources told Reuters at the Geneva auto show.

The vehicles will likely be introduced in 2019-2020 and may cost in the area of 8,000 euros to 10,000 euros ($8,500 to $10,500), sources said. VW had repeatedly failed in previous years to hit cost targets for a budget car priced between 6,000-8,000 euros.

An announcement on budget models for China could be made at the Shanghai auto show next month, they said.

VW views the budget car project as essential to protect its market-leading position in China against aspiring local manufacturers.

"They're offering relatively high quality at very aggressive prices," VW brand chief Herbert Diess told Reuters in Geneva. "This is a concern for us."

VW is also working on a budget car for Latin America and has revamped its MQB architecture in a way that allows for greater savings on the models, sources said in Geneva.

"We will continue to work on the budget car and we will offer good solutions here in the foreseeable future," Chief Executive Matthias Mueller told Reuters in Geneva, without elaborating.

In India, the owner of British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is restructuring its car business to cut its platforms to two from six to boost production efficiencies and adjust more quickly to market trends.

"We confirm that we are in talks with VW for a potential alliance but an announcement will be made at an appropriate time," a spokesman for Tata said.

With a very low vehicle penetration rate, India, the world's second most populous country, is a big attraction for Western carmakers as they search for growth.

A spokesman for VW said it was discussing ways to expand its product portfolio with tailor-made solutions in India with both its car brands and potential partners.

Light vehicle sales in India are expected to more than double to 7.1 million cars by 2025 from 3.4 million last year, according to IHS Markit.

Reuters
tech2 News Staff

Lenovo has reportedly launched Vibe B, a smartphone aimed at entry level smartphone market. One thing to note is that the smartphone comes with 4G VoLTE support out of the box at a price of Rs 5,799.

According to the Facebook post by Mahesh Telecom, the smartphone will sport a 4.5-inch FWVGA display with an effective resolution of 480x854. It will run on 64-bit quad-core MediaTek MTK6735M SoC clocked at 1.0GHz.

Vibe B will come with Mali T720 MP1 GPU to power the graphics along with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage. The smartphone does support microSD card up to 32GB to increase the storage space on the device. It will be powered by a removable 2,000mAh lithium-ion battery. Lenovo claims that the smartphone will provide up to 11.3 hours of talktime. Vibe B comes with Android Marshmallow 6.0 out of the box.

The company has added support to 4G, 3G and 2G along with GPRS, EDGE and HSPA+ in terms of data connectivity. The smartphone is equipped with WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS and FM radio support out of the box.

The entry level device will sport a 5MP camera on the back along with a fixed-focus and single LED flash. The smartphone comes with a 2MP camera module on the front. The company has preloaded a bunch of apps out of the box which range from Skype, Twitter, Evernote to Navi+ Maps and UC Browser including Google apps.
PTI

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd has joined hands with telecom equipment maker Nokia for modernising electrical grids with an advanced communications network. Nokia has provided Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (Tata Power-DDL) with Internet protocol/multiprotocol label switching network to support the management of its electrical grids in North and North-West Delhi.Multi protocol label switching (MPLS) technology regulates data traffic and packet forwarding in a complex network.

Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) technology regulates data traffic and packet forwarding in a complex network. The project is very important for the company in its roadmap for smart grid implementation, Tata Power-DDL CEO and MD Praveer Singh told reporters here.

IP-MPLS technology will help provide more scalable and reliable network which is required for moving towards much more smarter grid, Sanjay Malik, head of India market, Nokia said. The deployment has enabled Tata Power-DDL to support both mission-critical operational services as well as traditional business and IT services all on a single communication system.

"The IP/MPLS network provided by Nokia will not only aid in speedier and smart grid implementation but will also help in improving the reliability, scalability, security and efficiency of the power networks," Singh said. Tata Power-DDL is a joint venture between Tata Power and the Delhi government with the majority stake being held by the power firm. Tata Power-DDL distributes electricity in the North and North-West of Delhi.
tech2 News Staff

After levying a 2 percent charge for its customers when recharging Paytm accounts using credit cards, the company today announced that it has withdrawn the same. The service announced that it has rolled back the charge that was put in place to prevent misuse by some customers because it was causing inconvenience to other customers.

The company announced the news about the roll back of charges via its official blog post. Paytm also said that it will introduce a new feature that will would prevent credit card misuse by some customers while adding money to their Paytm wallets.

"we are conscious that this move caused inconvenience to a large segment of our users, including those who are using their credit card for genuine transactions." wrote Paytm in an official post.

"Keeping the millions of customers' and merchants' interest as utmost priority, we have decided to suspend the 2% fees and will continue to build a series of features to curb such misuse."

Not too long ago Paytm noticed a trend where some its customers had begun to misuse the credit card recharge facility that is available with its wallet.

Some users had used the service to get free credit to refill their wallet and would then transfer money to their bank accounts, a move that came free of cost to these customers.

Some financially savvy users (unsurprisingly, many of them were employees of national financial institutions) exploited this model to rotate money. This may surprise normal users like most of us but for a savvy user it meant freebies at Paytms cost. said an older post. Paytm has started implementing the charge from 8 March.
PTI

Telecom tribunal TDSAT today reserved its order on an interim appeal seeking a stay on Reliance Jio's free promotional offer. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) reserved its order after hearing all the parties concerned including regulator TRAI, incumbent operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, and Reliance Jio.

In its interim appeal, Bharti Airtel had sought a stay on regulator TRAI's approval to Reliance Jio to continue with the free promotional offer. It had also sought a direction to TRAI to produce all records related to the regulator's decision. The interim appeal also sought to restrain Reliance Jio from providing its consumers with the zero tariff plan and promotional offers.

It may be recalled that Reliance Jio launched an inaugural free voice and data plan beginning September last year, and in December extended the freebies till March 31, 2017. Following this, incumbent operators like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular moved the telecom dispute tribunal against TRAI for allowing the new operator to continue free promotional offer beyond the stipulated 90 days.

The operators charged the regulator of being a "mute spectator" to the alleged violations. On January 31, 2017, TRAI had said that Reliance Jio's free voice calling and data plan were not in violation of the regulatory guidelines on promotional offers. TRAI had said that its examination had revealed that the 'Happy New Year Offer' launched by Reliance Jio on December 4, 2016 is distinct from its earlier Jio Welcome Offer and could not be treated as an extension of the promotional offer as the benefits under both differed.

TRAI's opinion on the matter came after TDSAT asked it to take a decision "within reasonable time" on Jio's tariffs in the wake of petitions filed by the large operators. Recently, Jio has announced that it will start charging for its mobile services from April 1, 2017.

Last month, Jio said that its existing subscribers and new customers who come on board by March 31, can continue to enjoy unlimited benefits of its Happy New Year Offer for one more year (till March 31, 2018) by paying a one-time fee of Rs 99 and thereafter Rs 303 a month.

Disclaimer: Reliance Jio is owned by Reliance Industries, who also own Network18, the publisher of Firstpost and tech2.
tech2 News Staff

The much awaited Android Nougat 7.0 update is rolling out for Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge users after the company announced the delay because of quality testing. Originally the update was set to roll out at the end of February but the company announced the delay on its Samsung UK Twitter handle pointing out the delay.

@harri_ashley The software update for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge has been delayed while we review its quality. 1/3  Samsung UK (@SamsungUK) February 27, 2017

Days after the delay, the update seems to be rolling out for users. We can assume that the company is done reviewing the quality of the firmware and update and all the problems have been fixed.

Vodafone is rolling out the update in the UK with the new firmware version G925FXXU5EQBG according to a report by Sammobile. Separate reports point to the rollout of the update in Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

The current rollout seems to be limited to Europe and Samsung has not issued any official statement regarding the rollout plans on any of its official channels at the time of writing. We will have to wait and watch about the eventual global rollout and how long before the update comes to India.

This comes days after the announcement that Samsung has delayed the launch date of the upcoming flagship, Samsung Galaxy S8 by a week to 28 April 2017.
PTI

The aggressive instincts of humans, coupled with the fast pace of growth in technology may destroy us all by nuclear or biological war, renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned, adding that only a world government may prevent this impending doom.

Despite the problems of mass species extinction, global warming and the threat of artificial intelligence, Hawking remains optimistic about the future of humanity. He said that he looked back on his life with gratitude and towards the years to come with cautious hope.

However, he is worried that humans may not have the skills as a species to stay alive. If humanity is to survive to see the future, then we might need to form a world government, he said.

We need to be quicker to identify such threats and act before they get out of control. This might mean some form of world government. But that might become a tyranny, Hawking said. All this may sound a bit doom-laden but I am an optimist. I think the human race will rise to meet these challenges, he said.

Since civilisation began, aggression has been useful in as much as it has definite survival advantages, he said.It is hard-wired into our genes by Darwinian evolution. Now, however, technology has advanced at such a pace that this aggression may destroy us all by nuclear or biological war, he added.

We need to control this inherited instinct by our logic and reason, Hawking was quoted as saying by a newspaper. He argued that there were new challenges too among them environmental problems and his concern that artificial intelligence could supplant humans.

Hawking had earlier warned that the creation of powerful artificial intelligence may turn out to be the worst thing ever to happen to humanity despite its potential benefits.
hidden

Wikileaks will provide technology companies with exclusive access to CIA hacking tools that it possesses so they can patch software flaws, founder Julian Assange said on Thursday, presenting Silicon Valley with a potential dilemma on how to deal with the anti-secrecy group.

If the offer is legitimate, it would place technology companies in the unusual position of relying on Assange, a man believed by some U.S. officials and lawmakers to be an untrustworthy pawn of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to share cyber vulnerabilities stockpiled by a secretive U.S. spy agency.

It was not clear how WikiLeaks intended to cooperate with the companies. The group published documents on Tuesday describing secret Central Intelligence Agency hacking tools and snippets of computer code. It did not publish the full programs that would be needed to actually conduct cyber exploits against phones, computers and Internet-connected televisions.

"Considering what we think is the best way to proceed and hearing these calls from some of the manufacturers, we have decided to work with them to give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details that we have so that the fixes can be developed and pushed out, so people can be secure," Assange said during an online press conference from the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Assange took refuge at the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape, which he denies. Microsoft Corp and Cisco Systems Inc, whose wares are subject to attacks described in the documents, said in response to Assange that they welcomed submissions of any vulnerabilities through normal reporting channels.

"We've seen Julian Assange's statement and have not yet been contacted," a Microsoft representative said. "Our preferred method for anyone with knowledge of security issues, including the CIA or Wikileaks, is to submit details to us at secure@microsoft.com so we can review information and take any necessary steps to protect customers." Representatives of Alphabet Inc's Google, Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Huawei, whose products were also featured in the CIA catalog, did not answer requests for comment.

Responding to Assange, CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu, said in a statement: "As weve said previously, Julian Assange is not exactly a bastion of truth and integrity." "Despite the efforts of Assange and his ilk, CIA continues to aggressively collect foreign intelligence overseas to protect America from terrorists, hostile nation states and other adversaries."

WikiLeaks' disclosures this week caused alarmed in the technology world and among consumers because of the potential privacy implications of the cyber espionage tactics that were described. One file described a programme known as Weeping Angel that purportedly could take over a Samsung smart television, making it appear it was off when in fact it was recording conversations in the room.

Other documents described ways to hack into Apple iPhones, devices running Google's Android software and other gadgets in a way that could observe communications before they are protected by end-to-end encryption offered by messaging apps like Signal or WhatsApp.

Several companies have already said they are confident that their recent security updates have accounted for the purported flaws described in the CIA documents. Apple said in a statement on Tuesday that "many of the issues" leaked had already been patched in the latest version of its operating system.

WikiLeaks' publication of the documents reignited a debate about whether U.S. intelligence agencies should hoard serious cyber security vulnerabilities rather than share them with the public. An interagency process created under former President Barack Obama called for erring on the side of disclosure.

CIA Security

President Donald Trump believes changes are needed to safeguard secrets at the CIA, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a news briefing on Thursday. "He believes that the systems at the CIA are outdated and need to be updated." Two U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials told Reuters on Wednesday that intelligence agencies have been aware since the end of last year of a breach at the CIA, which led to WikiLeaks releasing thousands of pages of information on its website.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said contractors likely breached security and handed over the documents to WikiLeaks. The CIA has declined to comment on the authenticity of the documents leaked, but the officials said they believed the pages about hacking techniques used between 2013 and 2016 were authentic.

Contractors have been revealed as the source of sensitive government information leaks in recent years, most notably Edward Snowden and Harold Martin, both employed by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton while working for the National Security Agency.

Assange said he possessed "a lot more information" about the CIA's cyber arsenal that would be released soon. He criticized the CIA for "devastating incompetence" for not being able to control access to such sensitive material, and asked whether Obama or Trump were made aware of the breaches.

Assange's group released Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential campaign that U.S. intelligence agencies say were hacked by Russia to try to tilt the election against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. He is regarded with distaste by many in Washington, although Trump, then the Republican candidate, supported the group's email releases last year.

Ben Sasse, a Republican senator, said in a statement on Thursday that Assange should "spend the rest of his life wearing an orange jumpsuit." He is "an enemy of the American people and an ally to Vladimir Putin" who has "has dedicated his lifes work to endangering innocent lives, abetting despots, and stoking a crisis of confidence in the West," Sasse said.

Reuters
LG creates a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS for its #KarSalaam initiative launched at the start of this year. The initiative involved the whole nation to come forward and send in their good wishes to the Indian Armed Forces for their undying spirit of bravery. With this campaign, LG breaks the Guinness World Records by getting more than 114741 handwritten messages from the Indian citizens.

Through this initiative, LG salutes the soldiers spirit of generous contribution and service towards the nation. The company aims to stand in gratitude for the Indian Armed Forces for assuring that we lead a fearless and safe life in this country while they protect our borders.

Mr. Kim Ki Wan, Managing Director, LG Electronics India said, A million thanks to the people of India for showing their gratitude towards the Indian soldiers. The initiative has been a massive success that can be validated by the overwhelming response that we have received from the people in the form of messages for the soldiers. It is also a very proud moment for us at LG and immensely gratifying to break the Guinness Book of World Records by getting more than 114741 wishes.

Mr. Amit Gujral, Head  Corporate Marketing, LG Electronics India said, We are humbled by the astounding response that we have received from our fellow Indian citizens for our soldiers and are now more determined to spearhead other initiatives that extend LGs core philosophy of Lifes Good to other realms.

Mr. Swapnil Dangarikar, Adjudicator Guinness World Records said, We are happy to announce the entry of LG Electronics India Ltd. as a record beaker for the Longest Line of Sticky Notes messages from the Indian citizens. It is an honour for us to be a medium through which we can partner in wishing the Armed Forces for their immense contribution in ensuring the safety of the citizens. This initiative of LG Electronics India is unique and we hope that they take up many similar initiatives in the near future.

LG rolled out this campaign through radio, digital, outdoor & mall activities to capture the messages and wishes of the citizens of India for our soldiers. The company also engaged the people through social media platforms and encouraged them to share their wishes on www.karsalaam.in.

The #KarSalaam initiative also included a donation of INR 1 CRORE. LG Indias MD Mr. Kim Ki Wan handed over the cheque to the Honorable Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh for CRPF Welfare Fund which is dedicated to the welfare of the soldiers.

@Technuter.com News Service
Ex-MP Iqbal`s wife, 3 children appeal against conviction

bdnews24.com :

Former Awami League MP HBM Iqbal's wife and three children, sent to jail for concealing wealth information, have challenged their conviction in the High Court.

In the appeal filed at the High Court on Thursday, they sought bail besides a stay order on the verdict.

Khurshid Alam Khan, lawyer for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which prosecuted the four, said the corruption watchdog had received a copy of the appeal.

Iqbal had been sentenced to 13 years in jail and fined Tk 5 million in the case initiated during the regime of the military-controlled caretaker

government in 2007 over concealing wealth information and acquiring wealth beyond known his sources of income.

His wife Mamtaz Begum, sons Imran Iqbal and Moin Iqbal, and daughter Naurin Iqbal were sentenced to three years in prison and fined Tk 100,000 each.

The High Court dismissed the charges against Iqbal and stayed the conviction of his wife and three children in 2011.

The four surrendered to the lower court on Wednesday following an Appellate Division order. The court, refusing them a grant of bail, sent them to prison. A former lawmaker from Dhaka, Iqbal is the chairman of Premier Bank. His son Imran is a director of the bank. The other son Moin and daughter Naurin have also served as directors.
Russia to improve ties with Germany: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel speak during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday.

AP, Moscow :

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told the visiting German foreign minister that he would like to improve ties between the two countries that were soured by the Ukraine crisis.

Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine put a strain on a traditionally warm relationship.

Putin on Thursday received German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and extended an invitation for Chancellor Angela Merkel to visit Moscow. Gabriel had met with his counterpart Sergey Lavrov earlier in the day.

Putin told Gabriel in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that that it is "our common goal to fully normalize the relations and to make sure all the difficulties we face are overcome."

Merkel has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine's territorial integrity, which has irked Moscow.

A German diplomat who traveled with Gabriel and asked to be unnamed because he was not authorized to speak publicly described the two-hour talks as "lengthy, good and intensive."

He said Putin and Gabriel discussed bilateral issues, as well as the conflict in eastern Ukraine and how to ensure compliance with a cease-fire agreement between the Ukrainian government and separatist rebels that Germany and Russia brokered.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday for talks focusing on the situation in Syria and Israeli concerns about the role of Iran and its proxies there.

Greeting Netanyahu at the start of their Kremlin negotiations, Putin emphasized a high level of trust between them. Netanyahu's visit to Moscow follows his talks last month with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu praised Russia's role in fighting the Islamic State group and other radical militants in Syria. At the same time, he raised strong concern about the presence of Iranian and Hezbollah forces in Syria.

"Of course, in the past year, there was significant progress in the fight against the radical Sunni Islamic terrorism led by Daesh and al-Qaida," Netanyahu said, using the Arabic acronym Daesh to refer to the Islamic State group. "Russia has made a very important contribution. Naturally, we do not want this terrorism to be replaced by the radical Shiite Islamic terrorism led by Iran."

Russia has sided with Iran and Hezbollah in helping support Syrian President Bashar Assad, but at the same time it has maintained warm ties with Israel. The two nations have coordinated their actions to prevent any possible incidents between their militaries in Syria.




US State Deptt rethinks plan not to take media on Asia trip

Reuters, Washington :

The US State Department held out the possibility on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson might take reporters with him to Asia after it initially broke with decades of tradition by telling the media he would not.

'We are still working out the logistics for this trip, so (we) cannot yet speak definitively as to whether we'll be able to accommodate any press on the Secretary's plane,' State Department spokesman Mark Toner wrote in an email. 'Going forward, the State Department will do everything it can to accommodate a contingent of travelling media on board the Secretary's plane.'

The State Department told reporters earlier this week that Mr Tillerson would not take any of them on a March 15-19 trip to Japan, South Korea and China, countries of strategic, military and economic interest to the United States. Major news organizations complained, among them the BBC, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post and Reuters.

North Korea, which fired four ballistic missiles into the sea off Japan's northwest coast on Monday, angering both South Korea and Japan, is likely to be a key topic of Mr Tillerson's trip.

Asked earlier this week why Mr Tillerson was not taking media with him, a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters the plane 'is too small to accommodate ... he carries a much smaller footprint in terms of personnel, and that's not just press.'

Mr Toner did not respond when asked whether Mr Tillerson had tried to get a larger Air Force plane or how the department would respond to critics who described the plan as self-defeating.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other past State Department officials questioned Mr Tillerson's plan, saying that by including reporters, the chief US diplomat could make the administration's case and prevent other countries from dominating coverage of US policy.

Ms Albright, secretary of state under Democrat Bill Clinton, told MSNBC's 'Andrea Mitchell Reports' on Wednesday taking the news media demonstrates a US commitment to a free press.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, has accused news outlets of 'fake news' and called journalists 'the enemy of the people.'

Richard Boucher, a retired US diplomat who served as State Department spokesman from 2000 to 2005 under Albright as well as Republicans Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, could not recall a time during his tenure when reporters did not fly on the plane.

Since becoming secretary of state on February 1, Mr Tillerson, a former Exxon Mobil Corp chief executive, has travelled to Germany and Mexico, in both cases inviting fewer media than his predecessors for at least the last 50 years.




China stealth jet enters service in modernisation of military

State television channel confirmed that the J-20 had now entered service on Thursday.

Reuters, Beijing :

China has put into service its new generation J-20 stealth fighter, a warplane it hopes will narrow the military gap with the United States, as senior naval officers said the country was building a 'first class' navy and developing a marine corps.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing a sweeping modernisation of the country's armed forces, the largest in the world, including anti-satellite missiles and advanced submarines, seeking to project power far from its shores.

In a report late on Thursday, state television's military channel confirmed that the J-20 had now entered service, though it gave no other details.

The aircraft was shown in public for the first time in November at the Zhuhai airshow and was first glimpsed by Chinese planespotters in 2010.

However questions remain whether the new Chinese fighter can match the radar-evading properties of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air-to-air combat jet, or the latest strike jet in the US arsenal, Lockheed's F-35. The F-22, developed for the US Air Force, is the J-20's closest lookalike.

China showed off another stealth fighter it's developing, the J-31, at the last Zhuhai airshow in 2014, a show of muscle that coincided with a visit by US President Barack Obama for an Asia-Pacific summit.

China hopes the J-31, still in development, will compete with the US-made F-35 stealth aircraft in the international market, according to state media reports.

China's navy has been taking an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and new Chinese warships popping up in far-flung places.

With President Donald Trump promising a US shipbuilding spree and unnerving Beijing with his unpredictable approach on hot button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, China is pushing to narrow the gap with the US Navy.

Wang Weiming, deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army Navy, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the annual meeting of parliament that China is speeding up the development of a marine corps, adding destroyers and frigates and will step up air and sea patrols.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing a sweeping modernisation of the country's armed forces, the largest in the world, including anti-satellite missiles and advanced submarines, seeking to project power far from its shores. In a report late on Thursday, state television's military channel confirmed that the J-20 had now entered service, though it gave no other details.

The aircraft was shown in public for the first time in November at the Zhuhai airshow and was first glimpsed by Chinese planespotters in 2010.
DoE fines Ctg mill for emitting untreated smoke

A Correspondent :

The department of environment (DoE) on Wednesday fined a steel re-rolling mill in Chittagong Tk 3.6 lakh for polluting environment through emitting untreated smoke.

The DoE team led by its director Md Azadur Rahman Mollick conducted the drive and found that Saleh Steel Industries Ltd was emitting untreated smoke in Nasirabad industrial area at Bayezid in the city.

Later, at a hearing held at DoE office yesterday afternoon, the industry was fined Tk 3.6 lakh for emitting the untreated smoke in the air and polluting the environment, said assistant director (AD) Sangjukta Das Gupta of DoE.




A change in character of the administrative unit only

High Court Division :

(Criminal Revisional Jurisdiction)

Abu Bakar Siddiquee J

Judgment

February 17th, 2013

Abdul Hashem & anotherConvict-Petitioners

vs

State.Opposite-Party

Penal Code (XLV of 1860)

Section 379

In absence of specification of land, the case of snatching paddy, suffers from inherent infirmity. It is the complainant who is to say from what specific land, the charge for commission of offence has been formulated. The evidence of theft against each of individual accused is lacking and the Courts below does not came to a clear finding of individual liability of each of the accused for the commission of the offence of theft. The evidence regarding, growing paddy by the complainant is very much scanty and insufficient. Both the Courts below have not considered the materials contradictions and omissions and inherent infirmity for which an error has crept in the judgments of the Courts below which is liable to be set aside.

...... (24,26 & 27)

Abdul Mannan vs State, 44 DLR (AD) 60 and Chand Miah vs State, 26 DLR 232 ref.

Shihab Uddin Mahmood, Advocate-For the Petitioners.

Md Harun-ar-Rashid, DAG with Md Nurul Haque, AAG with Delwara Begum (Bela), AAG-For the State.

Judgment

Abu Bakar Siddiquee J : On an application under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure this Rule was issued calling upon opposite party to show cause as to why the impugned Judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 8-6-2002 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, 1st Court, Noakhali in Criminal Appeal No. 38 of 2000 dismissing the appeal and upholding the Judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 16-5-1985 passed by the learned Magistrate, 1st Class, Noakhali in CR Case No. 1444 of 1979 conviction the petitioners under Section 379 of the Penal Code . and sentencing them to suffer rigorous imprisonment for I (one) year each should not be set aside and or such other or further order or orders passed as to this court may seen fit and proper.

2. The facts, relevant for disposal of this Rule is as follows :-

One Mohammad Abu Bakar filed a petition of complaint as complainant before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Sadar, Noakhali against the convict-petitioners and others alleging inter-alia that the accused persons being armed with deadly weapons rushed to the scheduled land of the complainant and forcibly cut and took away his paddy worth of which Taka 5,500. Hence, the case.

3. On receipt of the petition of complaint, the learned Magistrate examined the complainant under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and issued process for the commission of the offence punishable under Section 379 of the Penal Code.

4. The accused-petitioners were all along absent in this case and in their absence, the. learned Magistrate framed a formal charge against them under the aforesaid Section.

5. In order to prove the charge, the prosecution adduced as many as 4 witnesses. On the other hand, the defence examined none.

6. On closer of the evidence, the convict petitioners were examined under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure whereupon they abjured their guilt.

7. On conclusion of the trial, the learned Magistrate of the Court below found the convict-petitioners guilty of the charge and attributed the impugned order of conviction as stated above.

8. Thereafter, the convict-petitioners preferred a criminal appeal before the learned Sessions Judge, Noakhali and he subsequently transferred it to the court of learned Assistant Sessions Judge who dismissed the appeal and affirmed the judgment passed by the trial court.

9. Being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the judgment and order of conviction, the convict-petitioners moved before this court and obtained this Rule.

10. Mr Shehab Uddin Mahmood, the learned Advocate appearing on behalf of the convict-petitioners strenuously argued that there is no specification of the land and, as such, the order of conviction suffers from inherent infirmity. He further argued that since the convict-petitioner entered into the disputed land in ascertain of their contesting claim of right and the removal of the paddy there from does not constitute any offence of theft. He further argued that in order to commit an offence of theft individual liability must be ascertained. In support of his contention he has referred the decision enunciated in a case of Abdul Mannan vs State, reported in 44 DLR (AD) 60. He goes to argue that there is no iota of evidence on the basis of which an order of conviction can be ordered and the evidence of the witnesses are full of contradictions and, as such, the Rule is liable to be made absolute.

11. On the other hand, Mr Md Harun-ar-Rashid the learned Deputy Attorney-General appearing on behalf of the Brate strenuously around that all the PWs supported the prosecution case in a harmonious voice mentioning the time, place and manner of the occurrence and, as such, the order of conviction and sentence is liable to be affirmed.

12. I have heard the learned Advocate for both the sides and perused the materials on record.

13. The prosecution has come with an allegation that the accused persons formed an unlawful assembly being armed with deadly weapons and cut and took away the paddy of the informant and thereby committed the offence as alleged by the prosecution.

14. Let me proceed the evidence on record as to how far the prosecution witnesses were able to prove its case beyond any shadow of doubt.

15. PW 1, Mohammad Abu Bakar is the complainant of this case. He deposed that on 25th Srabon, 1386 BS, the accused persons on forming an unlawful assembly entered into his land described in the schedule of the petition of complaint and cut and took away his yielding paddy. He also deposed that the accused persons were 35/40 in numbers and lie tried to resist them but the accused persons did not pay any heed to it and they cut and took away the paddy about 35/40 mounds worth of which 5,500. He also stated that he filed a Title Suit No. 24 against the accused persons and obtained decree. Thereafter, it is admitted by him that the accused persons filed a Misc. ease against such decree which was subsequently withdrawn by them. It is further stated that there was no dispute in respect of such land against the accused persons.

16. PW 2, Abu Bakar Siddique deposed that on 25th Srabon, 1386 BS, at about 7/8 am, the accused persons under the leadership of accused Sultan Ahmed formed an unlawful assembly being armed with deadly weapons and entered into the land of the complainant. He also deposed that they cut and took away the paddy worth of which 5,500 and kept the same on the Courtyard of the accused Sultan Ahmed and he was present at that time of occurrence. It is also admitted by him that his homestead is 60/70 yards away from the house of the complainant. He further deposed that the accused persons were being armed with deadly weapons and they were 50/60 in numbers who cut and took away the paddy. Thereafter he deposed that the land in question is totally the land of the complainant. He further deposed that he cannot say as to who much paddy was cut by whom among the convict-petitioners. It is also admitted by him that at the time of commission of the offence there was a title suit pending in between the parties and a salish was held at that time in presence of the local Chairman.

17. PW 3, Abul Hashem deposed that on 25th Srabon, 1386 BS, at about 7/8 am, the accused persons being armed with deadly weapons entered into the land of the complainant and they cut and took away the paddy and kept the same in the house of the accused Sultan Ahmed. He further deposed that at the time of cutting away the paddy, the complainant tried to resist them but they did not pay any heed to it. It is admitted by him that his homestead is situated 3 miles far from the house of the complainant. It is further admitted by him that there was no Waj Mahfil in their locality on the night following the date of occurrence and He is stated in the land of his brother Siddqullah on the night following the occurrence. He further deposed that he has heard the fact that the owner of the disputed land is complainant He also deposed that he cannot say as to whether there was any civil litigation pending in between the parties in respect of scheduled property.

18. PW 4 Nurunnabi deposed that at about 7/8 am the accused persons under the leadership of the accused Sultan Ahmed being formed an unlawful assemble; entered into the land of the complainant and cut and took away 40 mounds paddy worth of which 5,500. He also deposed that the entire paddy was kept in the Courtyard of the accused Sultan Ahmed and he has seen the occurrence. It is also admitted by him that his homestead is situated at Solukia but he was being stayed in Jahanmara village on that day and there was no Waj Mahfil on the night. It is further admitted by him that the complainant himself was staying in his house on the night following the occurrence. It is also admitted by him that there was litigation in between the parties during the period of occurrence and he cannot say who is the real owner of the disputed land.

19. I have perused evidence and also perused the materials on record. On perusal of the evidence, it appears that the occurrence was taken place on 11-7-1989. It is admitted by PW 1 that he has filed Title Suit against the convict petitioners and obtained decree. It is also admitted by him that the accused petitioner filed a Misc. Case against such decree in the year 1979 but the same has been withdrawn by them subsequently. It is further admitted by PW 2 that at the time of such occurrence a title suit was pending between the parties. PW 3 deposed that he cannot say as to whether any title suit was pending in between the parties or not. PW 4 stated in his deposition in the following manner:-

ORwgi `Lj wbqv ZLb ev`x weev`x`i ga gvgjv wQj| Rwgi cOKZ gvwjK K Zvnv Rvbv bB|O

20. From those evidence of PWs. 2-4 it appears that a Title Suit was pending before the relevant Civil Court at the time occurrence. In this respect, the complainant obtained a decree from the Civil Court regarding the disputed land and a Misc. Case has been instituted by the accused persons. It may so happen that the complainant obtained an ex-parte decree behind the back and knowledge of the accused persons who had to file a Misc. Case against such ex-parte decree.

21. Considering the fact and circumstances and the evidence on record I feel inclined to hold that at least it can be said that a contesting claim of right was accrued in favour of the convict-petitioner over the disputed land. It is bonafide principle of criminal jurisprudence that when a property is removed in assertion of a contesting claim of right, however unjustified that claim may he, the removal thereof does not constitute any theft.

22. A reference may he made from the decision enunciated in the case of Chand Miah and others vs State, reported in 26 DLR 232 wherein it has been held that :-

"To sustain a conviction under Section 379 of the Penal Code it must be shown that 'there is no bonafide dispute of title and possession. In this particular case as has been found by the Trial Court that there is a bonafide dispute of title, I hold that the conviction and sentence under Section 379 of the Penal Code is bad in law."

23. Since, the convict-petitioners rushed to the paddy field in assertion of their contesting claim of right. I am of the view that there was no dishonest intention to steal the paddy.

24. From the schedule of the petition of complaint, it appears that the complainant carved out two acres of land out of five acres as disputed land from the Plot No. 507/508 appertaining to Khatian No. 1249 but he has not furnished land specification of his claimed land. From the charge form, it appears that there was no demarcation of complainant's two acres out of five acres land. It is also a bonafide proposition that a charge of snatching paddy from a certain land must be confined by its specification. In absence of such specification of land, the case of snatching paddy, suffers from inherent infirmity. It is the complainant who is to say from what specific land, the charge for commission of offence has been formulated.

25. The learned Advocate appearing on behalf of the petitioners relied upon a decision enunciated in the case of A Mannan vs State reported in 44 DLR (AD) 60 wherein it has been held that:-

Commission of theft is an individual act and there must be clear evidence in respect each individual accused. For the same reason the court is also required to consider the evidence against all the accused separately and record its findings."

26. On proper assessment of the evidence R/10.

on record, it appears to me that neither the trial Court nor the Court of Appeal below consider the evidence in that manner and record their findings as has been required under the aforementioned case law. The learned DAG for the State conceded that the evidence of theft against each of individual accused is lacking and the Courts below does not came to a clear finding of individual liability of each of the accused in this case for the commission of the offence of theft. In the instant case, the complainant has failed to show that there is no bonafide dispute of title or possession over the land rather it is admitted by PW 4 Nurunnabi that there is a land dispute in between the parties at the time of occurrence.

27. Let me proceed to scan the evidence on record and see therefrom as to how far the witnesses were able to corroborate each other. The PW 1, the informant in this case who stated that lie was present, in a Waj Mahfil in the night following the morning of the occurrence and he went to disputed land from that Mosque after offering Fazar prayer and saw the accused persons to encroach into his land. PW 4 Nurunnabi deposed that there held no Waj Mahfil in the night followirig the occurrence. PW 1 stated that he cannot say as to whether there held any Waj Mahfil in the night following the date of occurrence. Thus, all the PWs have contradicted each other regarding the existence of Waj Mahfil. PW 1, the complainant stated that there is no litigation in between him and the accused persons before such occurrence whereas PW 2 & 4 stated that at the time of occurrence a suit was being pending in between the parties. The PW 3 stated that he cannot say as to whether there was any Title Suit pending in between them at the time of occurrence. It is very much necessary to prove on the part of the complainant that he used to grow paddy in the disputed land before such occurrence. But the complainant alone with his witnesses stated that the accused persons cut and took away his paddy and kept it in the house of the accused Suitan Ahmed. But the evidence regarding, growing paddy by the complainant is very much scanty and insufficient. Both the Courts below have not considered the materials contradictions and omissions and inherent infirmity for which an error has crept in the judgments of the Courts below which is liable to be set aside.

28. In the result, the Rule is hereby made absolute. The impugned Judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 8-6-2002 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, 1st Court, Noakhali in Criminal Appeal No. 38 of 2000 dismissing the appeal and upholding the Judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 16-5-1985 passed by the learned Magistrate, 1st Class. Noakhali in CR Case No. 1444 of 1979 is hereby set aside.

29. The petitioners and their sureties are discharged from their respective bail bonds.

Let a copy of this judgment along, with LCR be sent to the concerned court at once.


More involvement of women in edn stressed

City Desk :

A greater degree of women involvement in all spheres of society, including economy and education, can expedite the process for women empowerment and their development in other areas, activists said.

They said once the women were given proper education and life skills, and involved in economic activities, they would become confident enough to become courageous and stand on their own in society.

The observations were made on the 7th instant at a roundtable organized to mark the International Women's Day at the Daily Bhorer Kagoj office in the city.

State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki spoke on the occasion as the chief guest, while the newspaper's editor Shyamal Datta moderated it.

"The change of attitude towards girls and females must start from families," Chumki said, adding when a girl child was recognized with equal status by parents and relatives together, she would grow better with higher degree of confidence and self esteem.

"So, a liberal attitude from families is a must." She also mentioned that boys get training to treat their sisters, mothers and future wives in a way which he has taught from his father or other elders at family. The guardian must have a careful took into it, she observed.

Language movement activist Rowshan Ara Batchu said women in fifties were more courageous than that of today. She said some women in 1952 dared to take part in language movement, but seldom are such instances seen in today's Bangladesh. "Why?" she asked.

Additional Inspector General of Police Fatema Begum said the conventional perception about women must be freed from their physical beauty. Instead, the women should be valued by the virtue of their education and performance.

"The girls should be treated equal at home as a precondition for their empowerment," she said and urged families to change their mindsets and practice equal rights for both boy and girl child in every action at family level.
Samp target Genoa derby, Inter battle Atalanta

AFP, Milan :

Former Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella said respective positions in the league table will be ignored Saturday when Sampdoria face Genoa in derby "battle for 90 minutes".

Sampdoria, sitting 10th at 29 points off the lead, are nine points ahead of Genoa in 15th place in a season where top flight survival for both is the only objective.

Having won their home fixture 2-1 last October, Quagliarella is confident Marco Giampaolo's men can make it two in a row, telling Premium Sport: "We're going into this game totally relaxed, although it's a game that won't take into account our respective league standings.

"Our results recently have shown how well we're doing, but the derby is a match apart. It will be a battle for 90 minutes. Hopefully, we'll win our second this season."

While a shock win for Milan in Turin on Friday could throw the title race back open, the fight for European places continues apace.

Inter Milan, one of several teams battling for a coveted Champions League spot, face the acid test with the visit of high-flying Atalanta to the San Siro on Sunday.

Amid their best Serie A season to date, Atalanta sit fifth, one point ahead of Inter and five points behind Napoli in the third and last Champions League qualifying spot.

Portugal midfielder Joao Mario admits the Bergamo side pose a "difficult" challenge, but said: "On Sunday we can gift everyone at Inter with a win, that's what we want."

Stefano Pioli's men return to the San Siro for the first time since a chastening 3-1 defeat to Roma, who saw Radja Nainggolan stun the stadium into silence with a spectacular double.

A superb 5-1 win at Cagliari last week that saw Croatian midfielder Ivan Perisic hit a brace, suggests Inter are back firing on all cylinders.

Mario added: "We know what we've done up until now, and we want to make amends. Atalanta are a difficult side to come up against, but we're playing at home and we're Inter.

"We really believe we can finish third, that's what we're working towards.

We can't let Napoli get away."

The chances of Napoli slipping up at home to relegation-bound Crotone, however, look slim-even if the strugglers' club officials hope otherwise.

"We hope Napoli will be a little tired, but knowing Sarri that is unlikely," said Crotone sporting director Giuseppe Ursino in comments to Radio Marte.

Maurizio Sarri's Napoli dropped virtually out the title race after a shock home defeat to Atalanta a fortnight ago left them 10 points adrift of Juventus.

But they return to the San Paolo stadium looking to appease fans after crashing out of the Champions League to Real Madrid in midweek.

Ursino added: "We're up against a great side, as they showed against Real.

But we'll go to Napoli looking to win."

Lazio, four points behind Napoli, will maintain their push for a Champions League place with a win at home to Torino on Monday, although keeping tabs on striker Andrea Belotti will be a priority for the hosts.
2 JMB activists arrested

Staff Reporter :

Police have arrested two members of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Mymensingh and Rajshahi districts.

In Mymensingh, police arrested Billal Hossain, an alleged suicide squad member of JMB and a member of Dapunia union parishad,

from Shasyamala Kanapara village in Sadar upazila on Thursday night.

On secret information, a team of police raided the house of Billal at night and arrested him, said Quamrul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Model Police Station. Police also seized five jihadi books from his house.

The OC said, Billal, a suicide squad member of the militant outfit, is accused in five cases, including of murder. "He had long been on the run." In Rajshahi, police arrested Abdur Rashid, 38, son of Yasin Ali of Sreepur village in Bagmara upazila, from his house early Friday. Nasim Ahmed, Officer-in-Charge of Bagmara Police Station, said on a tip-off, a team of police conducted a drive at Rashid's house in the early hours and arrested him.

The OC also said Rashid was a closed associate of executed JMB leader Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai.

A case was filed under the Anti-terrorism Act.
Police vehicle torched in Comilla

Agitated people torched a microbus carrying policemen at Balutupa Bazar area in Comilla Sadar Upazila as a motorcyclist was killed hit by microbus on Friday morning.

Staff Reporter :

Agitating people on Friday set fire to a police microbus as it fatally hit a motorcyclist at Balutupa Bazar in Sadar upazila of Comilla district. The agitators also gheraoed the policemen.

Being hit by the microbus, the motorcyclist skidded off the roadside field and met the tragic end of his life on the spot.

According to witness, carrying four cops of Sadar North Police Station when the microbus chased and hit the motorcyclist, he was killed on the spot.

The microbus also got stuck with a roadside tree when it hit the motorbike that was driving by a youth. However, the identity of the youth has not been known yet.

As soon as the law enforcers tried to take away the body from the spot,

local people captured them and torched their microbus, local added.

Being informed a heavy contingent of police led by Abdullah Al Mamun, Additional Superintendent of Police rushed to spot and rescued the cops from the clutches of the angry people.

Talking to journalists, the locals said when the microbus carrying police chased and hit the motorcyclist it skidded off the roadside field.

"Police chased, hit and killed the youth in presence of us. Later police tried to vanish the body. As the local sensed the ill-motive, they caught the cops and torched the microbus," a local told journalists.

Additional Police Super said at first the cops asked the motorcyclist to stop but he did not respond to the police order.

"As the youth defying the instruction ran his motorcycle hurriedly, police chased him. Being chased the youth lost his control and hit a tree which left him dead on the spot," he said.


Suu Kyi has lost the right to hold Nobel Peace Prize

Editorial Desk :

An online campaign calling for the confiscation of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991 was started late last year. The petition demands the Chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to confiscate or take back the prize and argues that it should be awarded to only those who are serious in keeping the world peace

Is such a petition uncalled for or has its own merit of serious consideration? This campaign has its root in the 2012 conflict between the Rakhines and Rohingyas, which resulted in the death of over hundreds of people and the displacement of hundreds of thousands, mostly the stateless Rohingyas, from their home in Myanmars Rakhine State.

Thousands of people, many of whom are from the Muslim-majority Indonesia, have joined the call for the revocation of the peace prize awarded to Myanmars state counsellor and its de-facto leader Suu Kyi. She also faces mounting criticism for her governments handling of massacre in the Rakhine State from October last year. The government claimed that five soldiers and at least 33 insurgents were killed in clashes that time with an Islamic group it believes has around 400 members, mostly drawn from the Rohingya community.

The main criticism of Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) government is over serious human rights violations, such as killings, looting and sexual assaults committed by the government soldiers against civilians. Suu Kyi and her NLD government are also accused of not doing enough to ensure the entry of international aid workers and other humanitarian assistance groups to the Muslim areas.

The government has so far backed the militarys position that the army is conducting carefully targeted operations against Islamist militants it blames for the October 2016 attacks. The military has also claimed that access to the area was banned or restricted for security reason. Suu Kyi has also come under criticism from some people inside the country as well as the international community arguing that she has given more importance to diplomacy works and international travel than solving Myanmars pressing domestic problems.

The question is does Suu Kyis actions or reticence become serious enough to the point of stripping the Nobel Peace Prize she received more than two decades ago. She was awarded the much-coveted prize in absentia for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

In 1991, Suu Kyi was under house arrest and her political future career was uncertain. She was largely seen as a democratic icon and human rights advocate, rather than a politician. But since then, a lot of political changes have happened and so does the political reality of Aung San Suu Kyi herself.

Suu Kyi is now a politician who wants to lead the country. As the situation demands, Suu Kyi has transformed herself from being an activist to an astute politician. Second, Suu Kyi ethnically belongs to the Bama or Burman or Myanma group, which forms almost two-thirds of the countrys population. Since she is the leader of the party dominated by the Bama group, it is in her political interest to win the support of the Bama voters.

Such political calculation entails the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient to ignore or remain reticent on some of the issues she previously stood for. It is an abnegation of the award which she won for her support of human rights--since the Rakhines are also human beings. She has to be pragmatic but not at a cost of the blatant disregard for human rights seen in Myanmar for the rights of the Muslim minority Rohingya. It is time that she either speaks out with courage or have her award stripped as she denigrates the ideals the award was presented to her for.




Rein in violence at the roots

TWO separate incidents in two different places over the past two days invariably suggest a culture of lawlessness is hitting at the root of Bangladeshi society with the ominous sign of rapid breaking of law and order. According to media report an Ansar member was killed and nine others, including an Executive Magistrate received injuries when drug peddlers attacked the mobile court at a place in Fulgazi Upazila of Feni district on Wednesday night. The Ansar man died on the spot while others were injured on attack by sharp weapons.

The criminals also reportedly abducted a police informant, and took away the firearms of the dead Ansar member. It seems that members of the law enforcing team did not take proper preparation before going to this operation. Their strength was not enough to repulse the attack of drug peddlers. Meanwhile attack on a guard of a catholic church at Chatmohor in Pabna on Friday just shows that criminals are at large everywhere threatening social peace.

In the other incident police arrested two Union Parishad members on Thursday for tying two teenage school boys to a tree and brutalized them at a Durgapur Upazila village in Rajshahi district. They allegedly slapped, kicked and clubbed the boys who are grade 10 students at the local school blaming them for stealing a goat. Torture left the boys traumatized to be admitted to the local health complex for treatment. The UP Chairman who was present at the moment did not intervene and went into hiding now on charge of helping the UP members to commit the crime.

Such reckless incidents of attack are on rise in the country showing how daring the drug peddlers were to mount attack on the mobile court magistrate and his protection team. But it can't be said unprecedented as an Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) faced similar attack and physical assault sometime ago by a local political leader in the area. Impunity in one case is encouraging assault on another and this is how the situation is slipping out of control of the government in many places. We must say the government should prove its effectiveness in holding drug peddlers and criminal gangs under control before more such incidents will bring threat to social stability and peace.

The incident of torture to two school boys, like similar torture to teenagers at many other places throughout the country showed people are losing sense to behave more like inhuman beings. Allegation of stealing goat and beating the boys are something that was not much heard in the past. But cruelty is spreading and it is strange how the local chairman can allow it to happen.

In fact self-styled law enforcers, like local ruling party men, UP members and chairman are creating more panic and disorder at the grassroots than helping to preserve peace and stability at local level. Criminals are at large at all level. It must stop to keep social peace.


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Photo Illustration. Obviously

Louisiana's majority-Republican congressional delegation hasn't exactly embraced the GOP proposal to replace President Barack Obama's health care law, with most members instead offering a cautious, noncommittal response.

Only Rep. Steve Scalise, the third-ranking House Republican and a member of the leadership team pushing the replacement plan, has given a full-throated endorsement to the legislation. He described it Wednesday as a plan to "put patients back in charge of their health care decisions."

Other Louisiana Republicans in Congress are more reticent, saying they're studying the bill.

Rep. Ralph Abraham, a Republican doctor who represents northeast and central Louisiana, said Congress is "on the right road," but he stopped short of backing the legislation, citing outstanding questions.

"Obamacare has failed and must be repealed. This bill seeks to do that, but many of my colleagues have raised significant questions that I agree this Congress must have the courage to address as we move forward," Abraham said in a statement.

Others were equally muted about the GOP legislation.

A spokesman for Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican representing the Acadiana region, said the congressman was "still learning about it" and would have more information on his position soon. A representative for Republican Rep. Garret Graves didn't respond Wednesday to inquiries about the congressman's thoughts on the bill.

Rep. Mike Johnson, a Republican who represents northwest Louisiana, said he's following the legislation and is "actively discussing and researching possible amendments and alternatives with my colleagues."

Both of Louisiana's U.S. senators, Republicans Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, said they're still digging into details of the proposal.

Cassidy spokesman John Cummins said the senator, a doctor who offered an alternative health law replacement proposal, was waiting for Congressional Budget Office estimates of how many people would be covered under the House GOP plan and what it would cost.

Nationally, Republicans are divided on the proposal devised by House GOP leaders, a plan that has the backing of President Donald Trump. Conservatives say tax credits proposed to replace existing subsidies for health insurance would be too pricey, and they object to the long phase-out of parts of Obama's Medicaid expansion. Republican moderates worry about Medicaid changes that could cost states lost financing.

Louisiana's lone Democrat in the congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans, like other members of his party supports Obama's health overhaul and doesn't want it uprooted.

Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is raising objections about the plan's intention to end the higher federal financing rate for Medicaid expansion beneficiaries starting in 2020. States could continue to receive some enhanced federal payments, but only for expansion enrollees covered before that. States would get a lower match for new enrollees.

"The first draft of the replacement fails a critical test for Louisiana by not preserving the Medicaid expansion," the governor said in a statement.

Edwards embraced the expansion program when he took office last year. More than 405,000 people, mostly the working poor, have enrolled in the new coverage.

Edwards said that coverage has caught previously untreated diseases, is offering health care services to people previously without access and is saving the state nearly $200 million this year. Louisiana has taken advantage of enhanced federal financing available through the expansion for services it already was providing to the poor and uninsured.

Louisiana's governor urged Congress to reconsider the GOP's proposed approach to Medicaid expansion and to wait for financial analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office before advancing the bill.

"It's important to remember that many of the faults with the Affordable Care Act exist today because the bill was rushed through Congress. We have to get this right," Edwards said.
Taylor says he filed a lawsuit after a resident complained that Anseman, one of three Republican women vying for the Third Circuit Court of Appeal, did not meet the minimum qualifications to run.

Vanessa Anseman Photo by Robin May

KATC reported late Thursday afternoon that St. Landry Parish District Attorney Earl Taylor is challenging the candidacy of Vanessa Anseman.

Taylor tells the station he filed a lawsuit after a resident complained that Anseman, one of three Republican women vying for the Third Circuit Court of Appeal, did not meet the minimum qualifications to run.

Late this afternoon, The IND reached Taylor by phone. He says he petitioned the court after he received a complaint challenging Anseman's eligibility from attorney Verona Wiltz of Krotz Springs.

"She cited various documents and laws in her complaint," Taylor says. "I think the law is a little vague so the best place to settle this matter is before the court. So, I brought the petition today."

Taylor says the matter will be heard in 27th Judicial District Court Judge Alonzo Harris' court Monday morning.

The IND was unable to reach Wiltz for comment.

The state constitution states that candidates shall "have been admitted to the practice of law in the state for at least" 10 years.

Anseman was admitted to the bar on October 10, 2003, which would appear to make her qualified to seek the appeals court seat. However, she was first certified ineligible to practice law by the Louisiana State Bar Association on May 31, 2013  nine years and 233 days after she was admitted to practice law. According to the LSBA, Anseman was not fully reinstated to practice law until Jan. 13 of this year.

The primary question is whether that period of ineligibility will count against her 10 years.

The IND's Mike Stagg was the first to report on the question of Ansemans qualifications. Read that story here.

One of Anseman's challengers, Susan Theall, sent a letter to 15th Judicial District Attorney Keith Stutes last week requesting that he challenge Anseman's qualifications. Stutes has not responded to several phone calls seeking comment on the issue.

Taylor denies that his actions are tied to the interest of any candidate.

"I don't have a dog in this fight," he tells The IND. "The matter was brought to me, and I think that the best thing to do is let the court decide."

Taylor says he has met with candidates Candyce Perret and Theall on separate occasions but that he has not endorsed nor campaigned for a candidate in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal race.

Anseman, Perret and Theall are candidates in the March 25 special election to fill the unexpired term of Justice Jimmy Genovese, who was elected to the state Supreme Court last year. Genovese's former Division B seat covers Acadia, Allen, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermilion parishes; all three women live in Lafayette.
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CARBONDALE  The present City Council has repeatedly pledged to revitalize Carbondales downtown, but its methods of getting there arent always popular.

A measure that narrowly passed the council this week was first devised as part of the citys Downtown Master Plan, a comprehensive redevelopment guide that envisions a more urban, more vibrant version of Carbondales core downtown district.

At Tuesday nights regular meeting, city leaders voted 4-3 to rezone several properties on East Main and East Walnut streets bounded by South Washington and South Marion streets, including two vacant lots, Holts Tire and Auto Repair, and MAB Paint.

Those properties were previously zoned secondary business, or SB, and are now designated primary business, or BPR.

The rezoning is part of an effort to eventually expand the Town Square and to make the citys downtown more visually uniform.

BPR properties cant have large amounts of parking or open space, and they must be at least two stories tall; they must be built right up against the street, unlike SB properties, which are set back at least 20 feet from the curb. BPR properties also have more restrictive signage regulations.

The change would create a more urbanized feel in the citys downtown, city leaders say. But it could also create some problems for the current owners of the rezoned properties, who have repeatedly spoken out in opposition to the measure.

Holts Tire and MAB Paint wont have to conform to the new BPR standards if they continue operating as they have been. If the owners choose to sell, the new owners will also be able to operate as-is, because the existing structures will be grandfathered in to the city code.

But heres the rub: If those business owners choose to do any redevelopment, they will then have to adhere to the new BPR standards. That means that if Holts Tire wants to add on another bay, they would also have to build another story and move the entire business closer to the street.

Mark Holt of Holts Tire said that he intends to sell his business in order to retire, and the rezoning could make it more difficult to do so.

Its a concern I have for me and for my future, I guess. It makes it very difficult to sell my property, Holt said.

R.E. Bridges, who owns Italian Village, has had one of the vacant lots up for sale and expressed concerns about the rezoning.

Now Im not going to be able to sell it to anyone unless they want a two-story building  and we worked very hard for all these years, Bridges said at the meeting.

Some people also questioned why certain properties in the same block were carved out of the rezoning. Coleman Lawn and Rock Hill Baptist Church will remain SB properties; City of Carbondale Development Services Director Chris Wallace said city staff did not recommend including those properties because Coleman Lawn is located on the way out of the downtown area, and Rock Hill Baptist Church is not a commercial business.

Wallace noted that the BPR properties would not necessarily have to have habitable second stories; a facade could suffice as a second floor in order to achieve the uniformity of height with surrounding buildings.

Councilman Adam Loos said that the city should revisit the zoning code at a later time to smooth out some of the complexities regarding uses, but that after appointing a downtown advisory committee for advice on the matter, it was time to push the BPR rezoning through.

Weve allocated a lot of tax money to this, and now I think we need to see it fulfilled, Loos said.

Mayor John Mike Henry said he was conflicted about the rezoning and that he worried it would hinder development rather than spur it.

Theres been vacant property here for a long, long time and nothing has happened to it. I do see the value of standing all the way across the tracks and looking across Washington Street and seeing some uniformity to the buildings with our design standards, Henry said.

Loos called the measure a test of the councils commitment to revitalization plans.

Our responsibility is to the residents of Carbondale, who have shown, in election after election after election, that they want change in the downtown, Loos said.

Loos, Councilwoman Jessica Bradshaw, Councilman Navreet Kang and Councilman Lee Fronabarger voted yes; Henry, Councilwoman Carolin Harvey and Councilman Tom Grant voted no.
MARION  Four Williamson County residents were convicted of drug offenses March 6 and 7, 2017, in Williamson County Court, according to a press release from States Attorney Brandon Zanotti.

Travis P. Tomlin, 35, of Marion, pleaded guilty March 7 to unlawful possession of a methamphetamine precursor, a Class 1 felony, and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Tomlin was arrested Nov. 25, 2016, after Marion police officers responded to a report of drug activity at the Marion Walmart and encountered a man who claimed that Tomlin offered him methamphetamine if the man would go into Walmart and steal a video game system. Tomlin was found waiting in the parking lot with meth materials in his possession. Tomlin has prior meth-related convictions and has been in Williamson County jail since his arrest.

Wesley A. Miller, 29, of Herrin pleaded guilty March 6 to possession of meth manufacturing materials, a Class 2 felony, and was sentenced to four years in prison.

On July 21, 2016, Williamson County Sheriffs Office, Carterville Police Department and Illinois State Police responded to a possible hostage situation in Carterville. Upon arrival, officers encountered Miller and discovered an active meth lab in the toilet tank of the residence. Miller was arrested at the scene and charged the following day. He had prior theft and drug-related convictions.

On March 6, 2017, Cody J. Parks, 27, of Marion, pleaded guilty to possession of meth, and was sentenced to two years in prison.

On Nov. 24, 2016, Parks was arrested by Johnston City police after providing a false name during a questioning. Parks was processed at the Williamson County Jail. When officers searched him, he had approximately .7 grams of methamphetamine in his possession. Parks has been held in the Williamson County jail since his arrest.

Amanda L. Pulliam, also known as Amanda L. Eubanks, 32, of Marion, pleaded guilty March 6 to possession of meth manufacturing materials, a Class 2 felony, and was sentenced to four years in prison.

On March 31, 2016, Marion police officers responded to a possible disturbance on North State Street. Once at the residence, they encountered Pulliam, as well as several items used in the manufacturing of meth. Pulliam was arrested at the scene and charged the following day.
CHESTER  Key evidence is now filed in the first-degree murder trial of a man accused of causing the death of a Chester police officer.

Jason Stoker, 34, is charged in the death of Chester police officer James Brockmeyer. Stoker, of Chester, allegedly led Brockmeyer on a high-speed chase, which allegedly resulted in Brockmeyer crashing his car; he died in the crash. He was 22.

Stoker appeared in a Chester courtroom Friday for a case management hearing before Judge Richard Brown. Stoker has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated fleeing and eluding and one count each of reckless homicide and first-degree murder.

During the conference, Randolph County State's Attorney Jeremy Walker announced the accident reconstruction from the Illinois State Police had finished. The reconstruction had stalled the progress of the case as it was being prepared. Walker said he received the document Tuesday night and delivered it to the county's public defender, James Kelley, Wednesday, along with another piece of evidence  video surveillance from a gas station the night of the crash that killed Brockmeyer.

Kelley asked Brown for 30 days to review the evidence. Brown granted his request, setting another case management conference for 1 p.m. April 10.

No jury trial date was set, though during previous hearings it was speculated that it could be as late as July before the case is heard.

During Stoker's probable cause hearing Dec. 5, Special Agent Farrin Melton of the Illinois State Police testified that, based on his investigation, he believed that on Oct. 28 Brockmeyer tried to pull Stoker over after reports that Stoker was crossing into Illinois from Missouri. Police have said Stoker was wanted for using an invalid driver's license and for his alleged connection to trafficking methamphetamine.

Melton said a preliminary traffic reconstruction report revealed that Brockmeyer was traveling at a speed of 114 mph when he crashed. Melton said a preliminary cause of Brockmeyers death was blunt force trauma.
Illinois Senate Democrats are critiquing the budget-cutting prowess of Gov. Bruce Rauner's cabinet.

Committee chairmen decried Thursday the performance of agency heads who declined to specify in committee hearings this week where they could cut spending to balance the budget.

In a state Capitol news conference, the Democrats flashed a board titled: "Budget Cuts Offered by Bruce Rauner's Agency Bosses: $0.00."

They grilled the agency chiefs after Republican Rauner announced opposition to the Senate's "grand bargain" budget compromise last week. Democrats canceled votes on key pieces like an income-tax increase and Rauner's coveted property-tax freeze.

Republican Sens. Jason Barickman of Bloomington and Dave Syverson of Rockford followed the Democrats' presentation. They say the GOP is willing to negotiate and that there's still compromise and collegiality in the Senate.

 The Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's office has filed paperwork to ensure a new deputy governor isn't paid from an insurance fund that is $4 billion behind on medical payments.

A letter from Rauner's fiscal officer arrived at the state comptroller's office Friday morning. It requests that a portion of Leslie Munger's $138,000 salary come from a professional services fund.

The letter, dated Thursday, was received more than two days after The Associated Press asked Rauner's office to explain why the group health insurance fund was tabbed to finance half of Munger's paycheck. After the AP reported the arrangement, the governor's office indicated it was a "clerical error" and would be corrected.

The account holds state employee premiums and is used to pay medical providers. It accounts for one-third of the state's $12 billion pile of past-due bills.

Rauner, who has made it a practice to pay gubernatorial staff from sources other than the governor's budget, told reporters Friday that Munger will be paid "in an appropriate way."

"There's no fiscal shell game. What I've been told is there's apparently some kind of accounting error," Rauner said. "Let's be clear: Errors in government, as much as we're trying to eliminate them, they happen."

Munger was hand-picked by Rauner in 2015 to fill a vacancy left by the sudden death of GOP Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka. Munger was ousted in a special election last fall by Democrat Susana Mendoza.

The letter from Rauner's office requesting that half of Munger's pay come from the group health insurance fund is dated Feb. 22.

Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis said Friday that governor's staff members discovered the error Tuesday  the same day the AP first asked about Munger's pay arrangement.

"We were notified of the error in the deputy governor's pay code on Tuesday night and immediately began corrective action Wednesday," Demertzis said.
CARBONDALE  Another apparent victim of the ongoing state budget crisis, Southern Illinois University Carbondales University Museum has been stripped of its national accreditation as a result of recent cuts.

Curator of Exhibits Alison Erazmus said the museum received word last week that it had lost its status through the American Alliance of Museums, the accrediting body that validates museums based on their operations and impact.

We were told that the final determination came down to our low level of staff and our budget cuts that we have endured over the last two years, Erazmus said.

University Museum had held the distinction since 1977.

We plastered it everywhere: we are a nationally accredited museum, she said.

Prior to the state budget impasse  the state has been without a spending plan since July 2015  the museum had a $40,000 annual budget; that has been trimmed down to $15,000 for the current fiscal year.

For a museum our size, with 70,000 objects and a lot of square footage, that is just way too little, Erazmus said.  It just means that we cannot pay our bills  basic bills like phone bills, and paper.

The museum has been operating with a skeleton crew since 2015, when three full-time positions were vacated. Those positions are still open.

Erazmus and curator Susannah Munson are now the museums only full-time staff members; Christopher Walls, who was appointed interim director in January, works at the museum part-time. The staffing cuts have crippled the museums ability to tend to its collections.

Collections dont just take care of themselves  you need stewards, you need people to look after them, she said.

When the museum was fully staffed, workers had more time to focus on grant writing to fund special projects. But the loss of accreditation could also hurt the museums chances of receiving grants at all, since granting agencies like the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities want to give to institutions that are thriving, Erazmus said.

It would be futile for us to write grants for special projects when we dont even have the people to execute those projects. Were just trying to get through the day-by-day, she said.

The re-accreditation process began in 2014, and representatives started paying site visits in the summer of 2015, just as the museum started facing budget and staffing cuts.

The museum does not have an entrance fee. Erazmus said staff has had some recent success with fundraising, and that alumni have been generous and sympathetic to the museums plight.

Thats all we can do, is fundraise and hope for a budget to pass at the state level, she said.

Note: This story has been updated to clarify that three full-time positions were vacated in 2015 and were not filled. The museum did not lay those employees off.
This editorial appeared in Thursday's Washington Post:

In at least two recent shootings, in Kansas and suburban Seattle, it was motive enough for the gunmen that the victims appeared foreign. "Get out of my country!" yelled the shooter in Kansas, according to witnesses, as he opened fire on a pair of Indian tech workers at a neighborhood bar, after demanding to know their visa status. One was killed and the other injured. "Go back to your country!" shouted the assailant in suburban Seattle who allegedly shot a U.S. citizen  a bearded Sikh man wearing a turban  as he worked on his car beside his own home.

Intolerance seems ascendant, and foreigners are increasingly fretful. White supremacist groups have become more visible on dozens of college campuses. A report from the Anti-Defamation League details incidents in which anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and racist fliers have appeared on more than 60 college campuses in 25 states in the past six months. Attacks and threats on mosques are on the rise, and headstones are toppled in Jewish cemeteries.

In India, whence tens of thousands of engineers, computer programmers and other skilled workers apply for work visas each year, the shootings in Kansas and Washington state have unleashed tremors of fear. Many younger Indians, who had fervently hoped for jobs and futures as students or professionals in the United States, are relinquishing their American Dream.

On Facebook, the grieving widow of the 32-year-old computer engineer killed in the Kansas bar, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, asked: "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 India, there was advice issued on social media sites to travelers in the United States to refrain from speaking foreign languages, lest it provoke hostility. The father of the Indian injured in the Kansas shooting, Alok Madasani, appealed "to all the parents in India not to send their children to the United States."

President Donald Trump, having ridden his America First rhetoric to the Oval Office, condemned the Kansas shootings  six days after the fact. Even as he did, his administration was readying an executive order that vilified six mainly Muslim countries by temporarily banning their citizens from travel to the United States, notwithstanding the fact that none had been a particular source of terrorist attacks inside the United States. "Extreme vetting" is his watchword. Germany, France, the United Arab Emirates and other nations regarded as allies have issued travel advisories warning their citizens about the perils of travel in the United States, including rising anti-Muslim sentiment.

The United States has long enjoyed a competitive advantage as a magnet for the world's most ambitious, promising and productive immigrants. If it sends a message that those promising Indians and others are no longer welcome, the loss will be immeasurable.
To the Editor:

I am Chinese-American and live in Naperville, but have a long history of association with your Congressional district covering Carbondale.

I had the honor of working for Sen. Paul Simon for almost 12 years and am now a member of the Board of Counselors at the SIU Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. I have met many distinguished citizens in your district including students, professors, business people and just ordinary folks.

Never have I been referred to as Oriental, a term that was outdated long before the end of the 20th century and is also considered derogatory. Your unwillingness to face your constituents at town hall meetings is a matter with which you will have to deal. I will refrain from commenting since I dont live in your district.

However, judging from your lack of sensitivity on people who dont look like you, you may lack the empathy for people who dont agree with you. By comparing your constituents to the mob during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, you have inflicted the greatest insult you could on the good people in your district.

One thing I always remember what our great Senator, Paul Simon, often told his constituents, I dont always agree with you, but I am willing to listen to you.

I hope you will have the grace to apologize to Chinese-Americans in your district and have the courage to face your constituents by holding town hall meetings to listen to their concerns.

Nancy Chen

Naperville
To the Editor:

I wish to thank The Southerns editorial board for supporting 12th District constituents in the face of Rep. Mike Bosts refusal to hold a face-to-face town hall meeting. In Federalist 52, Madison states, As it is essential to liberty that the government in general should have a common interest with the people, so it is particularly essential that (the House of Representatives) should have an immediate dependence on, and an intimate sympathy with, the people. Rep. Bost seems to have forgotten this vital Constitutional lesson.

As the most locally representative of all Federal elected officials, House members have a special responsibility to engage in dialogue with their constituents and reason honestly and thoughtfully about policy in light of these discussions. That responsibility, and that process, are essential for our democracys survival.

At this turbulent time, when many Southern Illinoisans are apprehensive about how new Federal policies might affect them, Rep. Bost must hold himself accountable to all of us. Tightly controlled telephone town halls are unhelpful and small group meetings insufficient. Furthermore, to insinuate that constituents requesting a town hall meeting are somehow comparable to Maos struggle session goon squads during the Cultural Revolution is not only offensive to Asian-Americans and all patriotic Americans in our district as we exercise our Constitutional rights, it is inimical to the very idea of a democratic polity. Rep. Bosts only reasonable course of action must be to issue an apology and immediately to schedule a town hall meeting for the April Congressional recess.

Felicia Alexander

Murphysboro
A Stellar Award-winning and Grammy-nominated artist will headline an upcoming gospel program in Orangeburg.

WOCS 93.7 will sponsor A Night of Gospel" at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 18, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium on the campus of South Carolina State University.

Vickie Winans, one the best known artists in gospel music with signature songs, such as "How I Got Over" and As Long As I Got King Jesus, will headline the event.

Other artists on the program will include vocalists Sarah Priester, Pastor Henry E. Dixon and Pastor Diane Barrino, the mother of R&B artist and American Idol season three winner Fantasia.

Winans is not only a Billboard-charting gospel artist, but also a producer, director, songwriter, actress and comedienne. As a businesswoman, she heads Viviane Inc., managing herself and booking hundreds of shows each year. In addition, Winans is the president of her own record label, Destiny Joy Records.

She has been profiled in Ebony magazine, USA Today and by the Associated Press. Her profile on BET's Sunday morning TV series "Lift Every Voice" remains the most watched episode in that program's history with over 800,000 viewers.

General admission tickets for the event can be purchased for $25 and VIP tickets for $40. Individuals can purchase tickets at WOCS 93.7, which is located at 1581 Russell St. in Orangeburg. Tickets are also available at Goldsteins and St. Paul Baptist Church in Orangeburg and at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, call 803-997-2372.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority's Nu Tau Omega and Eta Nu chapters will celebrate the founding of the sorority with a program at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 11, in the Samuel Love Faust Building at Denmark Technical College.

Norway native Sybrenda James Holiday of Williston will be keynote speaker.

Holiday and her husband, Pastor James Holiday, have three adult children and two grandchildren. They also mentor five god-daughters.

Mrs. Holiday graduated from Hunter-Kinard-Tyler High school and earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education at Benedict College and Masters of Technology Education from Lesley University. She is a retired educator of 33 years in Barnwell School District 19.

Holiday's honors, awards and memberships include Teacher of the Year (2004 and 2008); District Teacher of the Year (2008); president of the Salley-Springfield Benedict Alumni Club; 2014 recipient of Nu Tau Omegas Womens History Award (Religion). She is a lifelong member of Bushy Pond Baptist Church, where her husband has been the pastor for 24 years. She is the president of the Deaconess Ministry and member of the missionary ministry.

Holiday is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

Tracey Golden, chairperson of the Founders Day Committee, said the purpose of the event is to honor the legacy of the 109-year sorority and its founders.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. had its humble beginnings as the vision of nine college students on the campus of Howard University in 1908. Since then, the sorority has flourished into a globally impactful organization of over 290,000 college-trained members, bound by the bonds of sisterhood and empowered by a commitment to servant-leadership that is both domestic and international in its scope, Golden said.

Douglas Stokes will be recognized as the Distinguished Citizen of the Year by Nu Tau Omega for his work in the community and with Nu Tau Omega. Stokes is chief of Campus Public Safety and Security at Calhoun Technical College. He volunteers throughout the community and serves on a number of committees at Capernaum Missionary Baptist Church in Denmark where he is a member.

The event is open to the public.
Accountant Eve McCoy told Holly Hill Town Council at its March meeting that the water and sewer department needs to stop relying on the towns general fund to cover annual shortfalls.

The water and sewer fund should stand on its own, McCoy said in summarizing the latest town audit at the March 6 meeting. Last year, without $22,000 borrowed from the general fund, the water and sewer fund would not have been able to pay its bills.

The system has failed to generate enough revenue to cover expenses for several years, she added. In all, Holly Hill has used $247,463 from its general fund to keep the water and sewer system afloat, McCoy said. Her certified public accounting firm from Columbia has conducted Holly Hills audits for several years.

This ($247,463) is what your water and sewer fund owes back to your general fund, and this number has been going up and up and up, she said. What that indicates is that the water and sewer fund cannot pay its bills on its own. Basically, what has happened over the years is the general fund, which accounts for all your current day-to-day activities other than water and sewer, has been subsidizing the water and sewer fund.

Revenues from garbage collection service have also come up short of covering expenses, though to a far lesser degree, McCoy said. The imbalance between revenue and expenses in the affected departments could have long-term consequences for Holly Hill, she said.

Thats a problem in a couple of respects, the accountant said. First, (the U.S. Department of Agricultures) rural development (program) is not happy about that balance out there. They recently sent a letter to the town stating that Holly Hill needs to address that.

(They) state that water and sewer should be funded solely by revenues generated by the water and sewer department, McCoy said. That tells you that you need to either increase your rates or decrease your expenses. Their concern is that water and sewer is not being managed in a long-term capacity, and that having that liability could affect Holly Hills ability to get USDA Rural Development loans in the future.

She added that Holly Hill will not have to come up with the entire $247,463 to correct the imbalance immediately. Rather, the town will be able to reduce the balance over a period of time through the budget process, by reducing expenses and, in all likelihood, by increasing water and sewer rates.

Council members also learned that participating in state retirement programs will soon cost the town more.

This audit report is the first year that Holly Hill has had to pick up your retirement liabilities, McCoy said. This is not anything the town has done incorrectly. The town has always paid everything it has been obligated to pay. But a couple of years ago, the rules for accounting changed.

Because of those changes, employees on the towns regular payroll must increase their contributions from 8 to 9 percent. Law enforcement officers participate in a separate retirement program, and they must increase contributions from the 8.41 percent they pay now.

The town will take an even bigger hit.

The towns required employer contribution for fiscal year 2015 was 10.75 percent, McCoy said. (State regulators) are talking about increasing that over a period of time to around 20 percent. The town currently pays 13 percent to the police officers' retirement fund, and that will also go up.

Despite these issues, McCoy said Holly Hill is still in better financial shape than many rural South Carolina towns. It's general fund still has a healthy surplus, she noted.

The bottom line (for the general fund) shows an excess of $150,000, McCoy said of the year covered in the audit report. Thats a pretty strong showing for the general fund. There has been an improvement in the general fund over the last couple of years, and its showing up in that bottom line.

But you have to look not only at tax revenue but, going back to that water and sewer, youve got to look at those revenues, McCoy added. Your garbage expenses also continue to increase, but garbage rates have not been addressed.

After McCoys report, Mayor Pro Tem Jan Wiles reported on councils special meeting held Feb. 27, when it began the tedious process of reviewing and updating Holly Hills personnel manual and town ordinances. Wiles presided at the March 6 meeting because Mayor William Johnson was away on unspecified town business.

Council set the next ordinance review work session for 4 p.m. on March 27 at town hall. The meeting will be open to the public.

Wiles also reported that the area Ministerial Alliance sent the council a letter requesting town officials oppose an effort by the Sons of Confederate Veterans to place a Confederate Memorial just outside town limits.

In addition, she reported the town had begun advertising for a full-time water clerk.

It was also reported that Diane Bergen and Rev. Willie Waring had agreed to serve on the town's election commission with Chairman Marvin Brown.

The Holly Hill Public Works Department reported the following:

 Construction of the new storage building at Folk Park is under way.

 Upgrades to the Way Street lift station were completed and the station is again up and running efficiently.

 Repairs to correct the leak in the water line near Holly Hill Pharmacy were completed, and workers will soon repair the section of roadway that was affected by the work.

Holly Hill Town Council's next regular meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 3.
As the dean of commissioners at Denmark Technical College, having served since the mid-90s, I would like to share some thoughts on Sen. Brad Huttos bill relating to the powers and funding for Denmark Technical College.

I first learned of Sen. Huttos bill on Monday, Feb. 27, while attending a DTC board meeting. This entire scenario came as quite a surprise since I am, in fact, Huttos appointee to the DTC board. On my trip back to Orangeburg, I called and spoke to Hutto to offer my thoughts and discuss his rationale for offering this bill. I pointed out that many of the assumptions he had made about DTC were false. He informed me that he would file his bill the next day. In light of the circumstances, I feel it is important to set the record straight.

I feel it is important to set the record straight. In the March 4 edition of The Times and Democrat, the headline read, State says no plans to close Denmark Tech. The article quotes Hope Rivers, a State Tech vice president, as saying the State Tech Board is not considering closing the school. This statement is entirely false.

A letter dated Jan. 10 from Tim Hardee, State Tech system president, and Ralph A. Odom, state board chair, written to Reps. James H. Merrill and Gilda Cobb-Hunter states that after a special called meeting on Jan. 4, the State Tech Board had decided on two options. Option one was to close Denmark Tech at the end of spring 2017. Option two was to restructure the mission for Denmark Tech to include dissolving the current area commission board, closing the dormitories after the spring semester and reducing focus to only three programs of study. In the face of this evidence, to have Dr. Rivers say that closing DTC is not being considered defies credibility.

The State Tech Board, by law, has oversight of the states 16 tech schools to include DTC. In the spirit of full disclosure, State Tech has had an appointed seat on the DTC Board of Commissioners since its inception; however, no other tech school has this distinction. Have I mentioned that DTC is the only tech school that is an HBCU?

Hutto goes on to say that DTC is underfunded, but that other schools find ways to address their problems. DTC is the oldest of the 16 tech schools. The enabling legislation that created the Area Trade School that is now DTC some 70 years ago stated that the counties in the service area would not be required to provide funds. This has been a fallback position for counties who choose not to contribute.

The DTC Commission has requested funding many times in the past from Barnwell, Bamberg and Allendale counties to no avail. Contrast this to Orangeburg-Calhoun Tech, where in the audit year 2015, Orangeburg County contributed $1,110,740 and Calhoun County contributed $318,000, while DTC received county revenues of only $1,500.

Hutto also mentioned graduation numbers in the March 3 Times and Democrat and cited 884 graduates from Orangeburg-Calhoun Tech in 2016 as compared with DTC. The population of Orangeburg and Calhoun counties totals more than 105,000, while the population of Bamberg, Barnwell and Allendale totals 49,000. Lets not compare apples to oranges. The fact is, the number of graduates from Denmark Tech is on par with the small numbers of graduates from high schools in the service area, just as OC Tech graduates a larger number of students, reflective of both the larger population served, and the disparities in local funding cited previously.

Hutto further maligns associate degrees being offered in criminal justice, arts and sciences, and early childhood education, as if these concentrations are not viable in this market. I beg to differ. As an employer, I have hired many DTC graduates from these disciplines. I know a young lady from Denmark who, upon graduation from high school, enlisted in the Navy. After completing her tour, she used her G.I. benefits to obtain an associate degree from DTC. She then enrolled at Claflin University and received her bachelors degree, after which she earned her masters degree from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. That lady is my wife, and she is just one of many students who have benefited from the institutions academic programs.

In addition, the DTC Department of Economic and Workforce Development works closely with industry partners such as Masonite, Swiss Krono, Kinsouth, Horsehead Corp., Dayco Products, Savannah River Site, UTC Aerospace Systems and Georgia Pacific, among others. Many of these companies cite their reliance upon DTCs flexible, onsite, workforce training programs. Managers consistently praise the high performance results and expert support provided by the college that enable them to save money, avoid down-time, and efficiently educate their employees. Said one, The college has been instrumental to our success  Going forward, we will continue to utilize this wonderful area asset.

The State Tech Board does not need other authority to perform its oversight functions. They have more than enough. What they lack is the will. When problems are uncovered, my experience has been that the State Tech Board circles the wagons to protect its own interests to the detriment of Denmark Tech. The elected officials who represent Bamberg, Barnwell and Allendale have abdicated their responsibilities to the citizens who elected them. In years past, the board of DTC was allowed to shrink to three actual commissioners, causing legal problems in that the bylaws required a certain number of commissioners to conduct business. Those responsible did not appoint the necessary volunteer citizens needed. As of this writing, all of the board slots at DTC still have not been filled.

How is it that the State Tech Board has decided upon solutions without first identifying and assessing the problems, if there are any? This proposed legislation is asking the State Tech Board to do what it has already done, as noted above in its letter of Jan 10. Interestingly, in a letter dated Jan. 5 to Ralph Odom, state chair of the State Tech Board, George L. Kennedy III, CPA, state auditor, writes Our analysis should not be viewed as a conclusion, but rather as a basis to begin a discussion with DTC. This has not happened.

If this discussion were held, the State Tech Board would realize that the fix already decided upon in the two options proposed to take effect in the spring of 2017 would cut hundreds of thousands of dollars from the colleges budget by closing the dorms, thus causing DTC to default on its food service contract and lose the money made on dorm room rentals. Without the dormitory rental funds, we would not have the nearly $900,000 that is now secured in a certificate of deposit.

All of this information is furnished to these same individuals who sit on the State Tech Board and have a seat on the DTC Board of Commissioners. Yet they would vote to reduce the cash flow to this institution, which is not operating in a deficit, has not lost its accreditation and continues to serve the citizenry of the State of South Carolina.

Indeed, the cure is often worse than the sickness. Simple solutions to complex problems will usually be provided by simpletons.
The written content of this blog is copyrighted and may not be reproduced, printed or page saved in any form without my express permission. The views and opinions expressed herein are my own and they are intended for mature audiences only.With regard to images posted on this blog, I do not claim ownership over any images used herein unless otherwise expressly declared. These images remain the property of their respective owners. If you are the legitimate owner of any images used here and wish to have the images removed, please email me and I will remove them.Regarding links displayed within this blog, I am neither responsible, nor do I have control over the content of any external websites to which readers may be directed.All written content unless otherwise attributed, Copyright 2006 - 2022 by Christopher Flournoy.
Chalkdust (Dr. Hollis Liverpool) sees nothing in his winning song for which he should apologise.

In the wake of continued criticism of his winning number Learn from Arithmetic, in the 2017 Calypso Monarch competition in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), the Mighty Chalkdust (Dr. Hollis Liverpool) is standing firm.





Chalkdust created history when he won his ninth Calypso Monarch Title in Trinidad and Tobago, in 2017. He now has one more than the great Mighty Sparrow (Dr. Slinger Francisco).





But even before Chalkdust could begin to revel in his new-found glory, his detractors were upon him.





Among the first to have taken umbrage with Chalkdusts winning number, which addressed the issue of child marriage, and referenced the Hindu communitys position on the issue, was Sat Maharaj - Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, a leading Hindu organization in T&T.

The Hindu leader made a strong, public condemnation of the song.





Since that, according to reports in the Trinidadian media, a member of parliament in T&T has joined the criticism of Chalkdust. MP Barry Padarath said the song fueled misconceptions about child marriages in the country.





According to last Sundays Newsday, Paradath was also critical of Chalkdust for having neglected to mention other religious groups and civil marriages that had no minimum age requirement.





But Chalkdust, speaking with the Sunday Newsday, was unshaken. As far as the Calypso Monarch was concerned, he had nothing about which to apologise.





"No, I am not apologising, he blurted when asked, adding "When I make calypsos, I dont make them for groups. I sing calypsos. If they do not understand calypsos, that is their business. Calypso is for intelligent people.





He maintained that the song "had nothing to do with one race, group or religion, but was a worldwide phenomenon that needed to be properly ventilated, and that the song was not directed to any individual or organisation.





Wider concern





Since his victory, Chalkdust and his Learn from Arithmetic have attracted criticism from wider quarters: His former University colleague Dr. Errol Benjamin, in a letter to the editor (Newsday), opined that the composition "seemed flawed in terms of message and style.





Political analyst Dr Indira Rampersad, in her Trinidad Guardian newspaper column of Saturday 4th March, wrote that Liverpools song was flawed on several counts, including attire for the presentation.





And All Trinidad General Workers Trade Union leader, Nirvan Maharaj, called on Liverpool to apologise to both the Hindu and national community, saying, "It was indeed shocking that one of the best calypsonians, a master of the art form, respected and acknowledged as an objective thinker and one for whom I have the greatest respect, would have descended into the realm of pure bias and subjectivity.. .

Calypso, it seems, remains an art form that still provokes the establishment.
The M. V. Persia, seen here berthed at Kingstown, was a primary means of transport for SVG traffickers goods to and from Trinidad and Tobago.

There were no complaints made about the physical condition of the M.V Persia, the Vincentian cargo vessel that sank 8 miles off Grenada last week Friday.





This is according to Cameron Beache, Director of Maritime Administration (Ag), who told THE VINCENTIAN that a full investigation will take place.





He further explained that vessels usually undergo annual inspections to determine whether or not there are any deficiencies, and if any are found, then the owner is required to do whatever repairs are needed.





The M.V. Persia, registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, left Trinidad and Tobago last week Thursday for St Vincent and the Grenadines and, according to a press release, the vessel encountered some difficulty approximately 8 miles off the coast of Grenada.





One crew member, who asked to remain anonymous, and who was on the ill-fated vessel, told THE VINCENTIAN that he was thankful to be alive.





He said that in all the years that he has spent working on ships, this is the first time that he has had such an experience.





"It was a dangerous situation I tried to secure myself, the source said.

He explained that the trouble started sometime after 2 last Friday morning. The vessel was making its way out of the twin island republic heading towards Grenada.





There were some high waves, and according to the man, the boat slammed on to one of the waves.

The term slam is used to describe the action of a vessel when it rides over a high wave and lands back on the water, usually with some impact.

The said action damaged the underside of the vessel, the crew member said, and water immediately started pouring in.





Attempts to pump the water out proved futile, as the gushes into the vessel were too stronger, the crew member said.





Everything was working, some at the controls, others at the water pump; but the volume of water entering the vessel was too much for the pump to handle.





At one point, the crew member said, three quarter of the hatch was filled with water.

This went on for about six hours, he said, with the crew of nine working to keep the water out all this time, but it was too heavy a task, and they were eventually forced to radio for help.





They were eventually rescued by the Grenadian Coast Guard.





"I thank God for my life. I am thankful that we were all able to make it off safely, the man said.

"Life is more important, and I praise God that I am back on land, and people are happy to see me back too, he continued. (DD)
Bridal Wear from Kimon Baptiste will be on show at Flow Fashion Caribbean 2017.

To kick off its 20th Anniversary, the Image Modelling Agency begins its year of fashion with premier event Fashion Caribbean.





This years event will be the 11th installation and will once again have local telecommunications company Flow as title sponsor.





"Image Modeling Agency and Flow have been partners for many years. Over the years we have watched the agency grow and maintain its legacy for producing quality models and the highly anticipated, regionally recognized Fashion Caribbean product. We were a sponsor of the very first Fashion Caribbean, which took place in 2001, so it was only fitting as Image Modeling Agency celebrates their 20th year in the business that Flow also supports and celebrates this proud achievement with them, said Nikala Williams, Marketing Manager at Flow SVG.





Flow Fashion Caribbean 2017 which is being held in association with the Grenadine House, takes place on Saturday March 25th at the SVG Community College, which is now being referred to as the official home of Fashion Caribbean. Executive member, Maxin Browne, who first suggested the venue last year, said "We have finally found a location that meets all our requirements, including easy access, adequate parking and enough space to expand the show as the years progress and the audience increases.





Flow Fashion Caribbean also receives support from the Grenadine House Hotel, SVG Tourism Authority, Invest SVG, Bank of St. Vincent, Fitness Lab, Vitamalt, Max Digital Dark Room, Oasis Spa and from Coreas Distribution Ltd and their Baileys & Johnny Walker Black brands.





Coreas Distribution Ltd., a main sponsor of the event, has been a part of Fashion Caribbean every year since the shows inception in 2001.





"We can never express our gratitude enough to Coreas, especially to Mr. Teddy James and Mr. Noel Browne who always champion our cause which has ultimately resulted in the development of Fashion Caribbean into the event that it is today said Managing Director Monique Arthur.





This years show has over 15 confirmed designers representing Trinidad, Antigua, BVI and host country St. Vincent & the Grenadines. It will also see the debut of six new designers who will make up the Fresh Face Emerging Designers Segment of the 2017 show.





Fashion Caribbean tickets are available at Oasis Spa, Grenadine House and Famous Ritchies in Heritage Square. (Contributed)
Vincentian songstress Judy Boucher continues to maintain a high profile in the big peoples chart with her brand of easy listening lovers rock.

Vincentian songstress, Judy Boucher, is celebrating an important milestone this year (2017) .





It marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the hit song  Cant be With You Tonight - which catapulted her to international recognition.





To celebrate the occasion, A&A Promotions will host an event in her honour at the Russells Auditorium on Saturday, April 22, 2017, at 8:00 pm.





The event will feature music, dance, drama, poetry and more, all in honour of Judy.

Among the highlights of the show will be a segment in which well-known Vincentian artistes will serenade Judy with hits from her repertoire.





This show will be the first of what is expected to be an annual event in St Vincent and the Grenadines. to celebrate outstanding Caribbean artistes/personalities in the music industry.





The intention is to develop, subsequent to this show and others in the future, a tailored version (featuring Caribbean artistes) to be taken to other markets of the world, including Europe.





This years show, which has at its theme: "A Tribute to Judy Boucher-Cant be With You Tonight, is being co-produced by Ezee Radio, in collaboration with SVG Association of Music Professionals (SVG AMP), Nice Radio, among others.
Mr Speaker, for my contribution I will first give a snap shot of the general circumstances in which we all live, then build upon it the living circumstances of our women and children.





Mr. Speaker, amidst the glitz and glamour, nice words and grand standing we have heard from the government benches during this Budget no amount of longwinded bombast, no amount of studied eloquence, and no amount of compulsive arrogance will be enough to change the undeniable fact that our society is very sick and getting sick by the day: our women, our children, our youth, our environment, our security as a people and nation is under serious threat. Crime is at an all time high and it is a grave concern for every citizen of our Nation!





There is something very nasty and ugly beneath the surface of our people; it is tearing away at the very fabric of society. And added to that there seems to be an atmosphere of dejection, hopelessness and helplessness

Mr. Speaker, statistical records from the Royal Police Force of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the offences reported for period 2015-2016 indicate that there has been 28% increase in sex offences, and of the total number of sex offences reported in 2016 there was a 27.2 % increase for sex with girls under 15 years. Further, there has been a 16% increase in sex with girls under 13 years. This is horrendous! This is painful circumstance!!





In a 2014 regional study called Breaking the Silence conducted by Reid, Reddock and Nickenig, it was found that, "Most alarming, however, is that 47.6% of females and 31.9% of males described their first intercourse as forced or somewhat coerced and attributed blame to family members or persons known to their family.

The rape culture that is rooted in our nation must be eliminated if we are to save this nation! We must lead the way against this scourge that afflict the region and the world. Our National Development Plan states that "if women are left then half the world is left out. Lets save our girls, so that they can be the best women of tomorrow! The government cannot do this by itself and it must support even more organisations such as Leave Out Violence in SVG that are involved in the fight!





Mr. Speaker, in addition to the rise in sex offences there has been 4.16 % increase in offences against property; and of the total number of offences against property 4% are related to theft of agriculture produce and livestock! Mr. Speaker while this percentage amount may sound small one just have to give some consideration to how these offences affect the struggling poor families involved in earning a living from agriculture sector.





Agriculture sector has seen negative growth of 3.31% according to the 2015 preliminary figures from our Statistical Office, and experienced a sharp decline from 2014.





Also last year, Mr. Speaker we peaked at 40 murders! We woke to headlines carried by I Witness News such as: "13 year old student on gun, ammunition charge; "Mother hears gunshots that ended sons life; "Accused drug runner gunned down one week before court hearing; "Another man gunned down in East St. George; "Family shaken up as gunshot victim runs into their house.





Violent crime, in particular gun related violence is out of control. In fact, Mr. Speaker the records from Royal Police Force indicates that there has been a 22% increase in gun related offences. Not only are we living in hard economic times we are also living in rather insecure times. We must not lose sight of the fact the majority of crimes are committed against by and against our young men. Also not too lose sight that at the same time the majority of inmates at the Mental Asylum are young men.





Mr. Speaker, the fact that our young men are at risk is very glaring! Courts are taking a tough stance through its sentencing guidelines for gun related violence but sentencing is post event approach. It does not deal directly with the cause of crime!





The causes of crime are not as simple, and I am sure the Honourable Senator and Parliamentary Secretary would agree that it is not as simple as reducing it to evil in mans heart. Crime affects more immediately and directly the poor and vulnerable; their lives filled with complex issues. If one takes a visit to the magistrate court we would see that the majority of the persons hauled before the criminal court are the poor and vulnerable. Yes may say that we are not as bad as our neighbour Trinidad such a comparison brings no real comfort and security to our people. We need solutions! Neighbour watch is one small step but much more has to be done.





Mr. Speaker, to the foregoing context I now add the context of the circumstances of women who make up 49% of the total population.





Mr. Speaker, based on our human development index women will live approximately 4 years more than men in our life time. 40% of households are single-headed by women. They are the sole income earner. And in our rural communities women are more severely affected by the declining of the declining agriculture sector. 2015 statistics from the Statistical Department reveal that the agriculture sector experienced negative growth -3.3; a steep decline from a growth rate of 9.12% in 2013.





Women continue to dominate the lower paying wages. Their lives are difficult Mr. Speaker. Single mothers who are forced to take their childrens fathers to the Family Court for maintenance received on average received $150 per month! Even if this mother receives social assistance it is still not enough to live on especially in the face of 16% VAT.





Mr. Speaker, we must not be fooled by a government or blinded by a government that point to women in prominent position in our society. Any progress must not be allowed to mask the serious power vacuum between men and women! Because women may have "high positions but they have no power. Behind the many faces of success, women remain deprived, needy and vulnerable; men still see them as objects to be used, abused and discarded. Mr. Speaker, prostitution is one of our growing industries; our young women are increasingly selling themselves for favours. For the men: you give me sex and I will give you what you want. Our women need to be empowered, NOT sexpolited!




Some members of Project Pink and SCORCH, including Project Pinks founder Karen De Freitas (3rd from right).

The Russells Auditorium, Stoney Ground was awash in pink when the Project Pink organization of St. Vincent and the Grenadines staged a dual activity.





First there was the first public viewing of a documentary featuring a number of cancer survivors, and then there was a handing over of a cheque to SCORCH, to be used in providing financial assistance to persons striken with cancer.





The documentary was introduced by Ms. Laferne Fraser. Some of the survivors whose journeys with and through cancer featured in the film, were present. Many persons at the function reported that the viewing created the stirring of the emotions, and expressed that the film could be a very powerful tool for awareness and should be repeatedly used as such.





The story-tellers in the film included Tamara Bishop Jones, Natifah Bonadie, Valerie Joy Cato, Everest Charles, Monifa Farrell  the only survivor who had cervical cancer, Alesia Lewis and Gloria Williams.

A cheque in an amount of $44,000.00 was handed over by Ms. Fraser to Dr. Miller of SCORCH.





Dr. Miller, in expressing thanks for the generous donation, explained that SCORCHs mandate was "to help persons with cancer, not just breast cancer; and we not only provide awareness but we also try to help financially, so this money will go a long way in doing that.





Project Pink is a non-profit organization aimed at increasing awareness of the prevalence of breast cancer in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and raising funds to assist patients battling the disease.





It was conceptualized by Vincentian clothing designer, Karen De Freitas "Soka who, after losing numerous members of her family to cancer, has become proactive in aiding those who have become its victims.

Project Pink, according to Ms. De Freitas, was created as a brand, and has raised $50,000, with $44,000 having already been collected. This was done through a series of fundraisers from March 2016, and concluded with the Project Pink Gala, held on October 29th, 2016.




Left:Orlando Newton, who is spearheading the Festival, described it as the first of its kind in the Caribbean. Right:Glen Beache, CEO/SVGTA, urged local artistes to be professional because somebody big could be watching you.

The organizers of the Roots and Rhythms Festival say that the goal is not just to attract foreign revenue, but also to expose some of the local, hidden talent.





The event is the brainchild of Barbadian Orlando Newton and is being produced by S.O.N. Management Consultancy.





Speaking on Tuesday at the Festivals official launch at Grenadines House, Kingstown Park, Newton explained that the idea for the show came after many visits to the island, from which he discerned that there is a lot of talent waiting to be exposed here.





The two-day event which gets underway Friday, March 31 and continues on April 1, both nights at the Cruise Ship Terminal, Kingstown, features musical greats such as Eric Donaldson, Edwin Yearwood, Sugar Aloes and Romain Virgo on the first evening, and boasts an all-star local line up including Kevin Lyttle, First Lady, Rodney Small, and local reggae artistes Abuza, Dynamite and Yaphatoo on the second.





According to Newton, the producers of Dominicas Creole Festival, the owner of Barbados Reggae on the Hill, and a group calling themselves Pure Grenada are expected to be here.





"The festival is the first of its kind in the region, most are teeming with international artistes, but what we are trying to do is to have the Caribbean market into St Vincent, Newton explained.

It was also anticipated that the event will assist in the process of attracting airlines.





"With the new airport, there is need for additional activities on the island, he said.





This follows on an expression by the producers that the Root and Rhythms Festival is a long term venture in the island, designed to also ignite new economic opportunities at various levels.





Caution to local acts





Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority (SVGTA)  Glen Beache, addressing the launch, said of the Festival, "I think from what I have seen so far, it is heading in the right direction.





But while he applauded the effort of the organizing team, he cautioned the local artistes.

According to Beache, during the days of the Blues and Rhythms Festival, the local artistes who were slated to perform were promoted heavily, particularly since the US cable music channel BET was providing some coverage of the event.





However, the level of unprofessionalism displayed by some of the local acts was unbearable, Beache said.

Against this recall, he urged the locals billed to perform in this event, to be professional and make use of the opportunity being provided to them.





"You never know who is in the audience, who is watching, where the videos are going to go. In this day of technology, all it takes is someone doing a 10 second broadcast, he added. (DD)
Left: Starlift members removed litter from difficult spots along the river bank. Right:Aubrey Ras Boo Burgin doing a good job with the rake.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines most successful steel orchestra  Starlift Steel Orchestra - is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.





To kick off anniversary activities that will climax in December, the Orchestra mounted a clean-up campaign in the New Town/Block 2000 area last Saturday, March 4.





The effort was undertaken in collaboration with the Old Montrose/Lodge Village/ Block 2000 Community group, and with the assistance of the Solid Waste Management Unit/CWSA.





The clean-up was concentrated in and along the river that cuts through Block 2000, the banks of which provided the home of the very beginnings of the orchestra. Residents of the community joined with members of Starlift - seniors and juniors  in effecting the clean-up.





Addressing the significance of its birth place, Errol Sardo Sutherland, Manager of Starlift, said he joined the band in August 1967, and at that time it did not have a name, but was later given the name New City Starlift, since the area in which the orchestra started was called New Town. Today it is known as Block 2000.





Sutherland, in continuing his chat with THE VINCENTIAN, emphasized that the Starlift "is a community band. We look at ourselves as a community-based band because we are in this community for nearly 40 years, and we never had a problem with the community, never had a problem with the neighbours. They say the music puts them to sleep - they go to sleep with the music in their heads.





Roddy Dowers, Leader of Starlift and a member for 32 years, joined in the chorus, and described the clean-up exercise as a way of showing appreciation to the community.





"Fifty years for Starlift is a great achievement in every sense of the word. I like to say we are the longest serving, continuously serving cultural organization in the country, fifty years nonstop, said Dowers.





Starlift will return to the Block 2000 area on National Heroes Day for a grand open air Community Concert, during which they will honour Walton Tanny Peters and the other pioneers of the orchestra.





The next activity of the 50th Anniversary celebration is a Thanksgiving Service at the Kingstown Methodist Church, this Sunday, March 12. (KH)
Introduction





The primary obligation of the State is to provide an appropriate, and effective, framework for an acceptable level of citizen security. Citizens and visitors to St. Vincent and the Grenadines must be made to feel reasonably safe and secure in their homes, their places of work and at leisure, and as they generally go about their lawful business in a free society.

Mr. Speaker, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a small country in which we tend to know one another face-to-face. We are overwhelmingly a law-abiding society. We are an educated and disciplined people. We have a sound system of law and order; and the Police Force is reasonably resourced with personnel and equipment. Yet, we have a level of criminal violence, perpetuated by a small minority, in our country; this is deeply troubling. We must do much, much better, in curbing the incidence of criminal violence committed by this hardy minority. I take this matter very seriously.

It is correctly and widely accepted that the fight against crime is not in the province of the State apparatus alone. This fight is an all-encompassing enterprise involving the State institutions, the family, church, school, community, the mass media of communication, civil society, private security firms, businesses and labour, and individuals themselves in a partnership with appropriate regional and international institutions and government. We must all be on the same page in this fight within the context of a democratic society.





State Institutions





The principal State institutions engaged actively in the quest for optimal citizen safety and security are:





the Law Courts, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the machinery for the administration of justice, the National Commission on Crime Prevention, the Police Force, in concert with relevant regional and international entities, including the Regional Security System, IMPACS (Implementation Agency for CARICOM Security), and INTERPOL. Each of these State institutions is reasonably well-resourced and performs creditably.





The SVG Police Force is on the front-line of crime fighting. On the police establishment are 836 police officers, 15 Traffic Wardens, 20 Rural Constables, 99 Fire Officers, and 91 Coast Guard Officers, a grand total of 1,061 persons. The recurrent budget for the Police Force in 2017 is $27.6 million, for the Fire Services $3.7 million, and for the Coast Guard $4.2 million, an aggregate for these law and order institutions of $35.5 million. Additionally, the Prison Services have 131 prison officers and an annual recurrent budget of $5.8 million. In the 2017 Budget, the functional classification, "Public Order and Safety, has an impressive allocation of $63.8 million or 9 percent of the total recurrent budget, inclusive of amortization and Sinking Fund contribution.





Mr. Speaker, in 2003, the government elaborated, and caused to be approved in this Honourable House a National Strategy on Crime Prevention. It has been updated and refined on an ongoing basis. This many-sided Strategy and consequential Work Plan have been, and are being, implemented. But any Strategy and Work Plan must be effected in practice by real flesh-and-blood beings, and better can always be done.





Over the last sixteen years, the ULP government has done the following, among other things, to build the anti-crime fighting apparatus of the State: Reforming and expanding the Police Force; enhancing the Coast Guard facilities and vessels; attracting quality applicants to the Police Force; increasing the salaries and allowances for police officers; enlarging vastly the training opportunities for police officers; improving markedly the working conditions of the police through the construction and renovation of police stations across St. Vincent and the Grenadines; better equipping the Police Force in several areas including telecommunications, videography and recording equipment, criminal investigation, and vehicles; setting up the Forensic Laboratory; strengthening the legislative framework against crime, including tough laws on illegal guns;





Police Youth Clubs and Community Policing have been established and we have strengthening the links between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and regional and international agencies in the fight against crime.





More Discipline





All of these efforts continue apace and new initiatives, particularly in intelligence gathering and analysis and crime detection, are being rolled out. Undoubtedly, the overwhelming majority of police officers are focussed, courageous, and diligent in fighting crime.





Unfortunately, a minority of them are uninterested in policing and are possessed of a sedentary public service mind-set, trotting out lame excuses for their failure and/or refusal to do their duty with any sense of urgency or at all; often, these very ones are the perpetual complainers of this, that, and the other. The policy-makers and leadership of the Police Force, and the bulk of the disciplined police personnel have to address satisfactorily this challenge of a minority of none-performing police officers. It is a matter on which the public rightly complains.





In 2017, the Police Force intends, according to its targeted Strategic Outcomes, to ramp up the percentage of arrests of persons reasonably suspected of committing crimes, especially violent crimes, and providing the basis for the prosecution of those against whom there is a reasonable prospect of conviction. The public expects that when accused persons are taken to the Law Courts that the presiding judicial officers be firm and fair. The public interest demands that justice be done in accordance with law and without unreasonable delay.

Mr. Speaker, our government has embraced the formal request of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce to afford duty-free concessions to businesses which plan to install security cameras. I have asked that the Chamber work in concert with the Ministry of Information Technology and the Police Force to coordinate this matter. I am interested in providing the tax concessions to the very best security camera systems.





As a mature people we must acknowledge that some persons, mainly a small minority of young men, are bent on a life of crime. Their impulses and pre-dispositions towards criminality, and corresponding criminal activism, are many and varied. Excuses must not, and cannot, be made for such persons particularly those who have no regard whatsoever for human life. We must focus on being tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. In this mix, of especial concern, too, is the violent offender who is mentally twisted or deranged. In this regard, the Mental Health Services must work very closely with the Police, the Prosecutors, the Law Courts, and the Prisons. Often this is not done well enough or at all; the consequences of any neglect in this regard can be deadly.
Left:Victoria Cross recipient Johnson Beharry, was so honoured for two acts of bravery during military action in Iraq.Right:The highly decorated soldier Beharry meeting with the Queen in 2014.

Can it get any worse?





That is the question on the lips of many persons across the globe, as they come to grips with the humiliation suffered by a War Hero, at the hands of US immigration.





Victoria Cross recipient, 37-year-old Grenada-born Sergeant Johnson Beharry, who had fought alongside US troops in the last Iraq war and gained the highest military decoration for valour in the British and Commonwealth forces, was delayed for three hours at JFK Airport in New York, January 27, 2017.





Ironically, Beharry was en route to a charity event for war veterans that was once backed by Donald Trump, where he was to be a guest of honour, the UK Mail Online reported.





Speaking after his release, Beharry said, "I felt humiliated. I think they held me because my passport showed Id been to Iraq. .. Maybe I am a bit Asian-looking, but that doesnt mean I should be treated with the same suspicion as a terrorist. I explained that I had been in Iraq fighting for the British army, but they didnt seem to care.





According to Beharry, "The officials only let me in when I kicked up a fuss.





Beharry relives the ordeal





The Mail Onlone reported that Beharry relived the whole scenario at the JFK for the UK media, describing it as one of chaos that greeted non-US citizens as they entered the country during Trumps ban on people from seven Muslim majority nations.





"We were separated into two queues - people from the US and those who werent. The Americans sailed through while we just waited.





"One immigration official started pulling out Middle-Eastern looking passengers. We kept asking what was going on, but they wouldnt tell us, the Mail Online reported.





The former soldier, who was wounded after a rocket propelled grenade was detonated close to his face in Iraq in 2004, ended up missing the event organised by Sean Connery which featured a fashion show in aid of war veterans.





He told the Sun on Sunday that he became very grumpy with the long wait, the effect of back pains that he gets from standing for long hours, a reoccurring ailment occasioned by his war injuries.





Beharry, who moved to the UK from Grenada in 1999, reached the front of the airport queue at 10:30pm, two and half hours after his plane from Gatwick had landed.





But, he explained, as he approached the airport booth, he was told by an official to go to the back of queue of about 800 non-US citizens.





Another 30 minutes elapsed, the Mail said, before a man returned from other duties and subjected him a a barrage of questions concerning his time in Iraq.





"He stared at my passport for ten minutes. I kept reiterating that I wasnt from Iraq. But again he didnt say anything.





"I was getting more and more angry. I was being treated with suspicion.

"At that moment I hated the place, the airport, New York. I was thinking of never coming back here if this is how they are going to treat me. I felt like a second rate citizen, Beharry related, as reported by the Mial Online.





Beharry was eventually allowed to pass, but only after both his fingerprints were taken.

The disciplined and committed individual he is, a still irritated Beharry dashed for the hotel, where the event was taking place, donned his military wear, turned up at the event venue, only to discover that it had already finished.





The executive order put in place by President Trump in late January sparked widespread condemnation at home and around the world.





As it stands now, the order has been temporarily blocked after a judge in Seattle made such a ruling, and a subsequent reinforcement of the ban by the Court of Appeal, which ruled after the Justice Department had filed an appeal to the first ban.





However, in trying to circumvent the block ion his original executive order, President Trump, on Monday, signed a new travel ban that administration officials said they hope will end legal challenges over the matter by imposing a 90-day ban on the issuance of new visas for citizens of six majority-Muslim nations. (Source: Mail Online)
Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of SVG, admitted that we live in a dangerous neck of the woods.

Participants in a Regional Border Management Training Workshop here have been told that crime and security must be dealt with effectively for a number of reasons, especially in view of the developments currently taking place in the tourism sector.





The admonition came from Prime Minister and Minister of national Security  Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, when he addressed the opening of the Workshop last Monday.





The Prime Minister went on to say that here in St. Vincent, we live in a dangerous neighbourhood, with Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and Colombia making up a major part of that dangerous neighbourhood.

Given our open borders, the Prime Minister reasoned that these countries posed a threat to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





"I am not making any anti Trinidad points when I tell you Trinidad is part of the dangerous neighborhood; they may say that we are too, because we have our own home grown crime and criminals, said the PM, who added that for the first 62 days in Trinidad, 92 murders were committed.





In light of this threat and our proximity to it, the Prime Minister admitted that more has to be done to strengthen this countrys border security, through the deployment of more coastguard assets and intelligence.





The Workshop, hosted by the Passports and Immigration Department, in the Ministry of National Security, in collaboration with the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), continued during the week, and discussed a range of security-related issues.





A number of Immigration and Customs officials were in attendance, with the intention of improving their capacity to operate efficiently at the Argyle International Airport in particular.
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By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

Armenia sees continues fall in the human recourses, while the figure reduces by 100,000 every year.

Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Congress faction, representative of the Congress PPA election bloc Aram Manukyan said this at a meeting with voters in the Armenian town of Hrazdan.

Manukyan drew the attention of public to deaths in the Armenian army, putting a special emphasis on non-combat deaths.

"Only last year 160 people died. People do not want their children to serve in the army. Thousands of guys living outside of Armenia should return to serve in the army, but they are not allowed to come," said Manukyan.

The statistics of non-combat losses of the Armenian Armed Forces continues to grow steadily. Armenian media state that a total of 206 deaths were recorded in the Armenian army from 2010 to 2015, and a considerable part of them, 48, were suicides, while 43 were murders.

As for 2016, a total of 162 deaths were registered in the Armenian Armed Forces, including 51 cases in non-combat conditions.

Frequent death cases, violence, brutality, and non-obedience reign in the army of the Former Soviet republic. Tough economic condition in the country limits Armenian government's opportunities to modernize its army and ensure its growth. Instead, the government is faced with protests and disagreements among people who are unwilling to do their military service. Many youth flee abroad so that not to serve in the army.

Manukyan also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the meeting in Hrazdan, saying that a treaty will save Armenia.

Metamizole [pain reliever] is a very bitter medicine but we drink it. Such is our reality. The signing of peace will be Metamizole," Manukyan said.

Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory became a conflict zone following Armenia's aggression in the early 1990s. As a result of Armenia's armed invasion, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory fell under Armenia's occupation and over 1 million people turned into refugees and IDPs.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

The continuing aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, its territorial claims to neighboring country has lead to Armenias being locked out of all regional projects and fails to gain any benefits. Azerbaijan has repeatedly announced that as long as Armenia does not put an end to its aggressive policy, its participation in any regional project will be impossible.

Despite the constant efforts of Azerbaijan to put an end to the conflict, the Armenian government, on the contrary, is doing its utmost to postpone the negotiation process and to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

Russia intends to continue its mediatory mission regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, together with other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and on the basis of coordinated approaches.

Russian Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced about this at a briefing on March 10.

"Russia considers it necessary to resolve the conflict on the basis of the approaches set forth in the statements of the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries," Zakharova said.

Russia along with the U.S. and France is one of the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

She added that these statements call on the sides to the conflict to resolve disputable issues without the use of force, on the basis of the territorial integrity of states and the right of peoples to self-determination.

"The agreements reached through Russias mediation are important points of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process," Zakharova said.

She recalled that during the April escalation on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Moscow played a decisive role in bringing the sides of the conflict back to the ceasefire regime.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

The American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Richard Hoagland, has arrived in Azerbaijan, the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan told APA on March 10.

Other co-chairs of the MG, Stephane Visconti of France and Igor Popov of Russia will arrive in Baku tonight. The co-chairs will hold meetings on March 11.

The OSCE Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, works to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for over two decades.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
By Azernews





By Kamila Aliyeva

The government and the armed opposition of Syria have not yet confirmed their participation in the third international high-level meeting within the framework of the Astana process, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported.

The next high-level meeting on Syria will be held in the capital of Kazakhstan on March 14-15, 2017.

High-ranking delegations from Russia, Turkey and Iran will take part in the talks, invitations will be sent to representatives of the United Nations, the United States and Jordan.

Preliminary consultations are scheduled to take place on March 14, while on March 15 the meetings participants will hold a plenary meeting.

"Kazakhstan is ready to continue to make its feasible contribution to international efforts to resolve the situation in Syria and to seek a political solution for the intra-Syrian conflict," the Ministry said.

The recent round of talks in Geneva that was supposed to discuss political solution to Syrian conflict ended with no tangible result as it was turned into a polemic between UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and the Syrian opposition, and then between de Mistura and the Syrian regimes delegation.

Two rounds of high-level international talks on Syria were held on January 23-24 and February 15-16, while on February 6, a technical meeting of experts took place in Astana. The meetings resulted in an agreement on establishing a joint group on monitoring the Syrian ceasefire that laid groundwork for political discussions during the Geneva talks in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

Many experts assessed the agreement between Russia, Turkey, and Iran on the establishment of a tripartite mechanism as a step to a political solution which might end the six-year war.

Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed rebel groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since 30 September 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.

The UN has repeatedly tried and failed to end the Syrian conflict, which has killed 300,000 and displaced 11 million since it began five years ago.
By Azernews





By Kamila Aliyeva

Moscow hopes that the upcoming Astana meeting on Syria will be a great help for the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

"On March 14-15, an international meeting on Syria is planned in Astana with the participation of representatives of the Syrian government and armed opposition groups that supported the ceasefire, she said in a briefing on March 10, RIA Novosti reported.

In general, we are satisfied with the way the Astana process is going on, the driving force of which is the trio of guarantors of ceasefire regime - Russia, Turkey and Iran, she said, further adding that Russia believes a new meeting in Astana will be a great help for the fifth round of intra-Syrian negotiations under UN auspices in Geneva scheduled for March 23.

The recent round of talks in Geneva that was supposed to discuss political solution to Syrian conflict ended with no tangible result as it was turned into a polemic between UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and the Syrian opposition, and then between de Mistura and the Syrian regimes delegation.

Two rounds of high-level international talks on Syria were held on January 23-24 and February 15-16, while on February 6, a technical meeting of experts took place in Astana. The meetings resulted in an agreement on establishing a joint group on monitoring the Syrian ceasefire that laid groundwork for political discussions during the Geneva talks in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

Many experts assessed the agreement between Russia, Turkey, and Iran on the establishment of a tripartite mechanism as a step to a political solution which might end the six-year war.

Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed rebel groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since 30 September 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.

The UN has repeatedly tried and failed to end the Syrian conflict, which has killed 300,000 and displaced 11 million since it began five years ago.
SNC-Lavalin is currently conducting a feasibility study for Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) for its 10th generation Technology Pilot Section project, located at EGA's Al Taweelah site in Abu Dhabi, UAE.



The objectives of the study are to define the project and validate the budget in order to launch the execution phase of the pilot section, said the company.



The work is being carried out from EGA's Al Taweelah site. Design and detailed engineering work has already been completed by the EGA technology team.



"We have established a long-lasting relationship with EGA, and we are proud to once again work with them on setting the foundations for another ambitious project," said Jose J Suarez, president, mining and metallurgy. "We are looking forward to the next phase of this project that expands and adds to EGA's already impressive asset portfolio, being one of the largest aluminium producers in the world."



SNC-Lavalin is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure. - TradeArabia News Service
South Korea's Constitutional Court today removed President Park Geun-hye from office over a graft scandal involving the country's conglomerates, a Reuters report said.



The decision sparked protests from her supporters and two people were killed in clashes with police, it said.



Park becomes South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of paralysis and turmoil. Her ouster comes amid rising tension with North Korea and China, and the corruption scandal has also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in jail.



A presidential election will be held within 60 days.



The court's acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the constitution and law "throughout her term", and despite the objections of parliament and the press, she had concealed the truth and cracked down on critics, the report said.



Park denied any wrongdoing.
The sixth edition of Design Days Dubai is set to be a landmark for the fair as its new location at Dubai Design District (d3) puts it both physically and metaphorically at the forefront of the citys creative industries, and a record number of local and regional exhibitors will cement its status as an essential platform for the Middle Easts rapidly evolving design culture.



Design Days Dubai welcomes its largest number of exhibitors ever in 2017, with the strongest representation of design in the region, including a record 20 designers from the UAE. All will debut never-before-seen unique and limited edition series furniture, lighting and decorative accessories.



The range and quality of the local designs on show - from exquisite, artisanal products to high-tech, contemporary objects  is testament to Design Days Dubais status as a benchmark for quality-led modern and contemporary design and the strength of the Emirates emerging design vocabulary. The proliferation of brushed metallic and high-shine finishes throughout the fair reflects global trends, but interprets them in a style that is becoming synonymous with Dubai.



Design Days Dubai remains a catalyst to the development of the design community in the wider region and is a well-known launch pad for nascent designers. This years first-time exhibitors from Dubai are: Ayah Al Bitar, AYKA Design, CarpetsCC by Cecilia Setterdahl, Jafar Dajani, MCML Studio, Michael Rice and Nader Gammas.



At the fairs inaugural edition in 2012, Nakkash Gallery was the only locally-based exhibitor and has returned every year since with increasingly alluring collections from international designers. This year, the father-and-son founders Wajih and Omar Nakkash present their own-designed first collection. It includes a circular, iron-framed, Luna Bookcase which balances space for books and decorative items with natural textures; The Orbit Table Series with delicate, brushed-iron tops supported by dark marble pedestals with built-in plant pots; and the limited-edition, bronze and Murano glass 7 Salutes sculptural installation, a tribute to the national symbol of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoums three-finger salute  win, victory, love.



Multi-disciplinary Emirati designer Aljoud Lootah presents her new Tebr collection of porcelain vases, tableware and table lamps adorned with decorative motifs in 14-karat gold which are inspired by patterns carved on an old wooden door from the Palace of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former UAE President and Founder of the Nation. 1971 Design Space will showcase new work, the Loop chair series, from UAE-based designer Rand Abdul Jabbar, and innovative social enterprise Fatima bint Mohamed bin Zayed Initiative (FBMI) will launch its rebranded retail arm Zuleya, displaying some of the finest handicrafts made in Afghanistan and hosting a live weaving workshop.



Joining the record number of design galleries and studios from across the region are: returning exhibitors Nisreen and Nermaan Abu Dail of Naqsh Collective (Jordan), Iwan Maktabi and Vick Vanlian (both Lebanon), Coalesce (Pakistan); and Aisha Al-Sowaidi (Qatar). The fair also welcomes newcomers Apical Reform (India), Apercu Designs (Jordan), Marie Munier (Lebanon), Dahr (Saudi Arabia) and Ahmad Angawi, represented by King Abdullaziz Center for World Culture (Saudi Arabia).



Design Days Dubais new location at d3 has offered the opportunity to revisit and refresh its layout, introducing a variety of communal areas such as a terrace with adjoining radio station pod for live interviews, and a bookstore with cafe stocking architecture and design books from the region.



For the first time, the fairs popular public programme of talks and workshops will move beyond the fairs venue with an offsite talks programme at Dubais new Etihad Museum, bringing design to the wider city. The talks form part of a programme of initiatives led by Dubai Culture to mark the 2017 UK-UAE Year of Creative Collaboration, led by the British Council, which includes Britain Takes Shape, an exhibition of British contemporary design held at Design Days Dubai.

Design Days Dubai is owned and managed by Art Dubai Group and is held under Art Week, an umbrella initiative bringing together the UAEs arts and culture-centred happenings in the month of March with the aim of promoting the cultural activities of the region to both residents and visitors.



For more information about Design Days Dubai, please visit the website, designdaysdubai.ae. Supporters can also keep up-to-date via social media channels: Facebook Instagram Twitter. - TradeArabia News Service
The Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence & Spa in Bahrain, along with its owning company National Hotels Company BSC, recently honoured employees who had completed 5 to 35 years of service at its Annual Staff Party.



Abdul Rahman Morshed, chief executive officer, said: Employees are the lifeblood of any organisation. Its growth, development, stability and success is through their unwavering service. The company has achieved recognitions over the past 35 years and we are proud to see that they are part of it.



Panos Panagis, hotel general manager, said: There is no doubt that on this important day we celebrate and honour our employees who have completed their long years of service at the hotel. For their loyalty, commitment and continued support, we were able to achieve many of our business goals. Through this occasion, we express our gratitude and appreciation for the allegiance and teamwork.



It is true that every moment matters and this paves way to making sure that our brands 100 per cent guest satisfaction guarantee comes to life," he said.



"Our ethos of Yes I Can! is the driving force behind the success of all employees and is clearly proven by Waheed Ameen (Laundry Valet) for his achievement of 35 years in service.



"Waheed who is a Bahraini, is an example of the companys 'Our Promise  We are powered by Passion, We genuinely care and We act responsibly'. He has over these years attended to all laundry requirements of every guest, whether a walk in or a top VIP, putting the guests on center stage by providing excellent laundry service.



"Another success story is Mahmood Hajji (Bell Captain) who has served 23 years in service and received the Employee of the Year 2016 award. Hajji has built meaningful and lasting relationships with local and international guests ensuring that their experience upon arrival is impeccable. He has been recognised for exemplifying the values of the hotel and the Carlson Rezidor Hotel group.



"Congratulations and well done to all, Panagis said. - TradeArabia News Service
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the worlds leading luxury hospitality company, announced that Forbes Travel Guide has awarded a five-star rating  its highest honour  to 30 Four Seasons properties worldwide.



The recognition marks the largest number of five-star ratings awarded to a hotel brand in a single year in the lists nearly 60-year history.



Our record number of five-star ratings is a tremendous achievement and a direct reflection of the passionate and dedicated people of Four Seasons, says J. Allen Smith, president and CEO, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. It is their commitment to excellence and genuine care for our guests that creates the unforgettable experiences that Four Seasons is known for the world over.



Four properties earned their first five-star designation this year, including Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay, Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan, Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest and Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel.



"We send our sincerest congratulations to the staff and leadership at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts on this monumental achievement. Their unwavering dedication to constantly improving the guest experience and raising global standards continues to receive our deepest admiration," said Gerard J. Inzerillo, CEO, Forbes Travel Guide.



Star ratings are awarded by a team of anonymous professional inspectors. In the words of Forbes Travel Guide, its inspectors travel the world to assess hotels, restaurants and spas against up to 800 objective standards. Star ratings ultimately emphasise quality of service. Five-star properties are defined as outstanding, often iconic properties with virtually flawless service and amazing facilities.



Forbes Travel Guide rates properties in 42 countries throughout the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, with plans to add the Middle East and Africa for 2018.



The 30 Four Seasons properties that earned Five Stars in 2017 are:

 Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta

 Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay

 Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan

 Four Seasons Hotel Boston

 Four Seasons Hotel Chicago

 Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo

 Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva

 Four Seasons Hotel Firenze

 Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris

 Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest

 Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou

 Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake

 Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

 Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

 Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole

 Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills

 Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane

 Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip

 Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

 Four Seasons Hotel New York

 Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach

 Four Seasons Hotel Pudong, Shanghai

 Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, Mexico

 Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco

 Four Seasons Hotel Seattle

 Four Seasons Hotel Toronto

 Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver

 Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC

 Four Seasons Resort and Residences Whistler

 Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel. - TradeArabia News Service
The Organizing Committee of the third-edition of the Bahrain Shopping Festival, Shop Bahrain, recently conducted its final raffle draw to announce the winner of the Taste Tour event.



The popular Taste Tour included a total of 29 participating restaurants and attracted more than 2,000 participants during the course of 30-days of the Festival held between January 18 and February 19.



During the event, visitors were given the opportunity to enjoy special dishes at an affordable price ranging from BD5 ($13) to BD12 ($31.5). Tasters were able to sample the set menus at participating restaurants, and then had to submit their review cards for a chance to win a Q50 Infiniti.



The winner, Nilo Enruques, was announced during a raffle draw held recently at the premises of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. Present were representatives from Shop Bahrain. The raffle draw is the fifth raffle draw held as a part of Shop Bahrain where shoppers had the opportunity to win 12 cars.



We congratulate the winner of the Taste Tour. The event was held as a part of Shop Bahrain and offered residents and visitors the opportunity to discover the culinary treasures of the kingdom and further promote the hospitality sector, said the director of Shop Bahrain, Yousef Al Khan.



Shop Bahrain offered more than 25,000 instant prizes during the 30-day festival including airline tickets and much more. A series of fun-filled activities was also held during the event. - TradeArabia News Service


Emirates returned to ITB Berlin 2017 with its spectacular triple-deck Emirates Infinite Possibilities Stand.



On the first show day, hundreds of visitors explored the futuristic stand and its unique features, such as an enhanced version of the signature Emirates A380 Onboard Lounge that is making its first public appearance during ITB Berlin 2017, a life-size model of a First Class Private Suite, the Business Class seats onboard the new Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft, or another signature onboard product on the Emirates Airbus A380 flagship aircraft, the First Class Shower Spa.



From March 8 to 12, visitors to the airlines stand in hall 2.2 have the opportunity to see some of Emirates iconic onboard features displayed on the ground floor of their stand. One of the tallest single exhibitor stands, the Infinite Possibilities Stand reflects the endless possibilities travellers have with Emirates welcoming ITB visitors and inviting them to take selfies and share their visit on social media. - TradeArabia News Service
TripAdvisor, the worlds largest travel site, has named Samsonite as the Favourite Luggage Brand in 2017 as voted by their worldwide TripAdvisor community in the Travellers Choice Awards.



The annual Travellers Choice Awards for Travel Favourites highlight the top brands that travellers around the world prefer to use on their trips. For the fifth consecutive year, Samsonite took the title of favourite luggage, as voted for by travellers around the world.



Samsonite is thrilled to be honoured by the Travellers Choice Awards. We are proud to reflect the choices of real travellers across the globe. This award underpins Samsonites reputation as the leader in cutting-edge travel solutions, said Shaheen Jamil at Samsonite ME.



As the worlds largest luggage brand for over 100 years, Samsonite strives to meet the needs of todays traveller, much as they did when the brand was created in 1910. Through constant innovation and research, the brand has evolved with travellers to remain at the forefront of the luggage industry. - TradeArabia news Service


Sabre has expanded its agreement with Hertz to make the corporations full inventory of car rental rates available to more than 425,000 travel agents, hundreds of corporations and the worlds largest online travel agencies powered by Sabres application programming interface (APIs).



A longstanding user of Sabres e-commerce technology, The Hertz Corporation chose Sabre as the first global distribution service (GDS) provider to distribute its worldwide rental vehicle inventory  including Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly brands  to shop and book by travel agents, business travelers and online travel agency (OTA) websites using Sabre technology.



With the renewed agreement, The Hertz Corporation is now positioned to market and offer its global car rental inventory through the Sabre travel marketplace, including popular prepay options previously available only on Hertz.com. The strategic collaboration will benefit Sabre-connected travel agents with a global network of car rental pickup locations, and additional payment options to shop and book one of the worlds largest vehicle fleets.



Sabre and Hertz have reached a landmark agreement that will maximise retailing opportunities through a mix of digital channels, said Traci Mercer, senior vice president of hotel, car, cruise and rail in Sabre Travel Network. We continue to offer Hertz seamless connectivity to the largest travel agency network, and making full content available will expand their brands footprint and enable additional sales opportunities to travelers through our technology.



Business travellers and online shoppers will also see immediate benefits, as corporate booking tools and OTA websites using Sabre technology will now display the full range of Hertz car rental inventory worldwide along with all available pricing options. Prior to this first-of-its-kind agreement, the only way to shop all available vehicles and prices would be to monitor multiple channels at once.



Through the enhanced and additional car product offering, travel agents have access to all Hertz rates worldwide, seamlessly integrated into the Sabre Red platform which includes the Sabre Red Workspace and full set of APIs. - TradeArabia News Service


The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, panel discussions, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations.



For local Houston area, Texas or national events, you can e-mail me at transgriot@yahoo.com



For events outside the Houston metro area, I ask that my travel and lodging expenses be covered.



This is separate from my speaking fee.



If you are interested in having me appear as a speaker or panelist, you can e-mail me with the date and details of your proposed event.

Please book as early as possible because my speaking and event calendar slots during the year rapidly fill up.
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Oil broke to a three-month low on Friday, dropping under $49 per barrel as the market struggles with oversupply. Prices are falling as U.S. shale oil drillers have increased production while U.S. imports of oil rose as well, swelling U.S. oil stockpiles to record highs.

Shockingly, oil prices are dropping even as OPEC has maintained its production cuts and geopolitical threats swirl around the world. Under normal conditions, the recent missile tests from North Korea and Iran would spark a major oil rally, but the tests of the past two weeks were received as duds by oil traders.

Crudes collapse also worried stock market investors and triggered a sell-off on Wall Street, leading to the first weekly decline for U.S. stock markets in over a month.

If oil prices continue dropping, many analysts expect U.S. production to decline, eventually hurting oil-producing communities from Texas to North Dakota, as many drillers need $50 per barrel to turn a profit.

USDA report crushes beans

Soybeans tumbled this week after the USDA raised its expectations for Brazils bean crop. Brazil is the worlds second-largest soybean grower and is Americas primary rival for soy exports onto the global market. As Brazils crop grows and exports rise, U.S. farmers are forced to lower prices to keep up with our southern competitors.

These concerns knocked beans to near the lowest price of the year, trading down to $9.93 per bushel Friday morning. This price drop comes at a critical time for U.S. farmers who are preparing to plant a record-breaking number of soybean acres this coming season. If prices keep dropping and producers havent protected their crop values, some could end up working all year just to lose money.

Data in the report added downward pressure to corn prices also as the Brazilian and Argentinian crops would add to large world supplies. Corn traded to a one-month low on Friday near $3.56 per bushel.
Fridays Highlights</&h1>

Friday support meetings

Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 10 a.m., 328 E. A; noon, 500 S. Wolcott; 2 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 5:30 p.m., 1124 Elma, Imitate the Image Church; 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 8 p.m,. 328 E. A; 8 p.m., 328-1/2 E. A, closed; 8 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 10 p.m., 917 N. Beech. Douglas: noon, 805 E. Richards, Ste. 1; 7:30 p.m., 628 E. Richards (upstairs in back). Unless otherwise noted, Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688.

Narcotics Anonymous: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 6 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 8:30 p.m., 302 E. 2nd St., Methodist Church. Web site: www.urmrna.org.

Overeaters Anonymous: 10 a.m., 12-24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott. Info: Candace, 359-6225; Rebekah, 320-6779.

Al-Anon Family: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200, 12-24 Club, all ages welcome. Info: 377-7260 or 258-1444.

International Addictions Program: 7 p.m., Calvary Baptist Church, 1800 S. Conwell. Info: 266-5417.

LGTBQ AA/NA: 7 p.m., A 12-Step AA/NA Recovery Group for gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and questioning persons meets at the United Church of Christ, located at the corner of 15th and Melrose. Info: 259-5026.

Free tax help

The Natrona County VITA Program, a United Way of Natrona County initiative, is open through April 12, for free tax return assistance. This is a first come, first serve program, no appointments will be scheduled. Individuals must bring their Social Security card, photo identification and the appropriate paperwork with them. For a complete listing of required paperwork, please visit the website www.wyomingfreetaxservice.org

Hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Aspen Creek Building, 800 Werner Ct., Ste. 206. Closed Sunday and Monday.

For more information, call (307) 333-5588 during hours of operation or look on Facebook. The initiative is supported by funding from the Wyoming Free Tax Service and local United Way.

NC roof sit for

Make-A-Wish

Natrona County High School is hosting two events over the next week to raise funds for Make-A-Wish Wyoming.

The student councils annual roof sit begins at 1:30 p.m. and ends Saturday afternoon. Students will be located at street corners downtown collecting donations.

NCHS will also be hosting Mr. Mustang on March 16, 2017. The event, which features local students competing in a number of categories, will be held at the Natrona County High School Auditorium beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets will be $3 for adults and $2 for students at the door with all proceeds benefiting Make-A-Wish Wyoming.

For additional information about the events, please contact student representative Brianna Crisp, NCHS student body president, at 258-0706.

Natrona County High School participates in a program called Kids for Wish Kids, which encourages students to raise money to grant the wishes of children who are battling life-threatening medical conditions.

Adult coloring club

Stop by the Natrona County Library anytime between 2 and 5 p.m. for Adult Coloring Club. Coloring books and pages will be available to turn into works of art. Colored pencils, crayons, and markers also will be provided. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

Celebrate Recovery every Friday

Celebrate Recovery meets at 5:30 p.m. every Friday at Highland Park Community Church, just south of Elkhorn Valley Rehabilitation Hospital on East Second Street. We start with a family meal, followed by praise and worship. At 7 p.m., theres either a lesson from Celebrate Recoverys planned curriculum or a testimony by a person who has found recovery through Christ. Then, people go to gender-specific small groups until 8:30 p.m., when dessert and fellowship conclude the evening. Child care is available at no cost. For more information, contact Chris at 265-4073.

Friday Melrose music

Friday music at the Melrose Coffeehouse, 7 p.m., features Barrel House Lite, unplugged. See Barb, Will, and Chase noodle around a little blues and on-the-fly stripped-down city rock, all with an acoustic touch. Family-friendly and free, but donations to the band are so appreciated. Coffee, lattes, desserts, and fun are guaranteed.

Birds of South Africa

Murie Audubons March program is part two of Kent and Meg Sundells July 2015 trip to Africa. The program is 7 p.m., at the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Building, 2211 King Blvd.

The Sundells traveled with a small diverse group of mostly repeat travelers. The trip was billed as more of a cultural trip compared to the specifically wildlife trip in 2012; however, with a former zoo curator, several working ecologists, geologist, pharmacy Ph.D. and everyone being bird and wildlife enthusiasts, the trip focused as much or more on wildlife.

As always, the Sundells will educate as well as entertain, so dont miss this opportunity. And as always, the program is free and open to the public.
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Senior Stompers meet Mondays

Free only for Seniors 60+ who like to have fun, love music and like to dance, tapping and stomping to the beat. Join Joyces Senior Stompers on Monday mornings at 10:50 a.m. and exercise your mind and body. Call Joyce for more information 237-4908.

Swing dance fundraiser Saturday

A 50s style Swing Dance with a 30-45 minute lesson included will be held from 7 to 10 p.m., on Saturday in the new YMCA. Cost is $25 per person or $40 per couple, with kids free. There will be snacks, kids activities, a dessert auction, a 50/50 raffle and of course dancing. All proceeds will be used support a local familys adoption. The event is sponsored by Rick and Stacie McFall.

3 Hip Band at senior center

The 3 Hip Band, featuring the Neefer Dude, Birdy and Jim, will play from 7 to 10 p.m., on Saturday at the Casper Senior Center. Admission is $5. All ages are welcome. Snacks and refreshments will be served after 8 p.m.

Jam session Sunday

Monthly jam session will be held at the Eagles from 4 to 8 p.m., on Sunday, March 12. Join in the fun on stage, listening or dancing. The Eagle Riders will be preparing their juicy hamburgers for hungry attendees. No admission, all talents accepted on stage. Entry at north parking lot door, additional parking across the street or the entire corner lot at A and Durbin streets.

Events at Art 321

March at Art 321, 321 W. Midwest Ave., will feature exhibits by the Pastel Group, as well as works by Ellen Black and Friends, and the All High School Show.

When visiting Art 321 to see the current exhibits, be sure to stop by the reception desk and pick up a 2017 brochure with a schedule of exhibits, workshops, and informal groups for the whole year. Its is a good way to plan ahead for any workshops and exhibits of interest and to find out about the benefits of becoming a member.

There are also many new offerings by Wyoming artists to browse through in the beautiful Gift Shop. Offerings include all sizes of art in many varied media, including fiber work, jewelry, and glass, in all price ranges. The gift shop changes merchandise frequently, so there is always something new.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Opening receptions are held the first Thursday of each month from 5 to 8 p.m.

Apply for Mrs. Casper

The Mrs. Wyoming Pageant is seeking applicants for the title of Mrs. Casper. Once selected, the successful applicant will advance to represent her community in the 2017 Mrs. Wyoming Pageant to be held on May 6 in Cheyenne.

Local titleholders will compete to win a prize package valued at over $8,000 including an all expense paid trip to the national Mrs. America Pageant. Applicants must be at least 18 years old (no age limit), married at the time of competition and a Wyoming resident, no performing talent required.

Celebrating its 41st year, the Mrs. America pageant is the only competition to recognize Americas married woman.

To request the official application or for information, call Sheree Cooke, Wyomings state director, at 720-549-0440 or visit www.mrswyomingamerica.com.

Nostalgic display at Senior Services

The Senior Center, 1831 E. 4th St., is featuring a display that features nostalgic items back to the late 1800s. The display will be up through February and March. Items include baby plates and cups, antique dolls, Steiff collectibles, and many other items, thanks to Tom and Lida Volin. For more information, call 265-4678.
We see them skittering over rocks, up trees and across the plains, but we still dont know much about one of Wyomings smallest mammals, the least chipmunk.

However, were learning, because of a decadeslong study being conducted at the University of Wyoming by Professor Merav Ben-David and her students. Least chipmunks are just 7 to 9 inches long and appear to be wearing a mask because of the black and white stripes around their eyes. But despite their cute appearance, theyre resilient creatures that would rather live in the forest than on the plains, Ben-David said.

Chipmunks are way more interesting than I ever expected, she said. Despite being a small mammal, you wouldnt expect them to be density-dependent. Thats something we didnt expect.

Also unexpected, she said, was to learn that least chipmunks, are more abundant in forest habitats and less so in sagebrush, which is opposite of what people predicted  what literature says about them.

And theyre thriving, she said.

There was a huge population surge in 2010, at the height of the bark beetle infestation (that was killing the pine trees), she said. But, even the bark beetle infestation is long gone and theyre still at high numbers, higher than expected.

She chose chipmunks for the study, she said, because they are plentiful in the Happy Jack area of the Medicine Bow National Forest west of Laramie and are hardy and easy to catch. Typically she has 30 to 40 students participating each year.

This type of study is unique, said Ben-David, because its a laboratory class created around active learning. The active learning element speaks to the process of putting students in the wild on a daily basis, opening traps in the morning and closing them in the afternoon, for about three weeks from late August into September, and tracking the radio-collared animals at least once a day.

Through the years, theyve learned that pine nuts are the main source of food for the chipmunks, but they also feed on berries, insects and even birds eggs. And their resiliency transcends harsh winters, she said, because they are hibernators.

Cold spells do not affect them because they are deep underground and insulated by snow, she said.

Thats the extent of whats known about the hibernation period, she said, other than that the animals must be eating during this time because they stash away food. She imagines theyre much like the ground squirrels that go into torpor, or a state of physical and mental inactivity, for several weeks at a time, but arouse periodically to eat and discharge body waste. The rest is a mystery.

Since they cant put a lot of fat on like bears because theyre so small, we believe they cache in their hibernacula, she said. The truth is, we just dont know.

That may be one of the questions to be examined in the future, she said, because thats how the study works. Each year, early in the fall, the students pose a question to be answered. This year the question was: How do summer conditions affect the reproductive process? They learned, from this years study of 174 chipmunks, that the breeding period is expanding, beginning earlier in the spring and extending further into the fall.

Come spring, the study will continue, as soon as the chipmunks emerge from hibernation.
When Gov. Matt Mead started an initiative to expand the states economy into the rest of the 21st century, he asked his staffers to look to the past.
RIVERTON  Prosecutors have filed a first-degree murder charge against a Riverton man accused of killing his former roommate with a claw hammer during an argument.

Florin Brandon Wyatt, 27, was initially charged with second-degree murder in the death of 56-year-old Keith Stephenson, whose body was found in a home Sunday morning. That charge was changed to first-degree murder because prosecutors believe the slaying was premeditated.

According to an affidavit, Wyatt told investigators he and Stephenson had been arguing March 3 about the Denver Broncos when he retrieved and hid a hammer. Wyatt says Stephenson tried to hit him during an argument later than night, so he grabbed the hammer and struck the man in the head.

It's unclear if he has hired an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
JACKSON  Its not too big of a deal for a Gros Ventre elk feeder to spend a night out.

In other words, be stranded  and with no more than an ever-present colleague and elk for company and only dreams of a warm bed and meal. The cause can be a broken snowmobile or bad weather, or, as was the case earlier this winter for veteran Gros Ventre feeder Jay Hoggan, both.

The mishap struck while on a routine 8-mile trip away from the Patrol Cabin Feedground, his winter home, to feed the elk at Fish Creek. The first sign that the journey was headed in an unpleasant direction was when snowdrifts started shooting up over the front of his sled. Then, around 2 p.m., after the elk had their hay, a faulty clutch put the kibosh on a gas-propelled return trip down valley to Patrol Cabin. The snow was too deep and weather too risky for a horseback ride home, and so an old bully shed became Hoggans home for the night.

I called that shot, which was good, Hoggan said. It was the right thing to do.

An errant ax, some wooden poles lying around and a barrel enabled a fire, which was critical because his clothes were wringing wet.

The wind was blowing so damn hard we couldnt stay out by the fire, Hoggan said of himself and his assistant at the time, Josh Drewes, so wed get warmed up and wed get in that bully shed and stay until we get too cold and get back out.

So it went, at least for Hoggan, through the night. Drewes was a little hobo who had no problem sleeping through the cold.

He knew how to get in that fetal position, Hoggan said. In fact, I had to wake him up. Hed done that before.

Such is life for the elk feeders who tend the three remote Wyoming Game and Fish Department feedgrounds along the snowed-in Gros Ventre Road. Theyre 13  miles past the plowed end of the road, which itself is an hour from town.

Theres a bit less hardship and more monotony, of course, in the day to day. The morning of Feb. 17, Hoggan and his new help, Lucas Bielby, were prepping for their daily elk feeding session after having emerged from a toasty cabin following a hearty breakfast.

Hoisting himself to the top of a 15-foot-high haystack, Bielby warmed up fast and stripped off his coat. It was clear and, for now, still very cold. One by one the Rigby, Idaho, resident lofted down the approximately 100-pound bales to Hoggan, who neatly stacked them on the back of a flatbed sleigh. Up front were two powerful-looking draft horses, Robin and Casino.

By the time the task was completed, more than a ton of the rectangular bales bogged down the sleigh. But with a ged-oop command and a jump, the team easily pulled away.

This is the funnest part of the day for me, Hoggan said. Watching my team scratch out of the yard.

In the process of feeding the elk, the slow-moving sleigh deposited chunks of hay Bielby nudged off the trailer. Hoggan, who drove Robin and Casino, selected long, straight feed lines that cut through fresh snow. Groups of the approximately 1,000 elk gathered at Patrol Cabin Feedground follow the team, eager to get a portion of the breakfast line to themselves.

Hoggan has a clear way with the draft horses, and breaking in and turning around young colts and mares is a passion. After theyve spent three or four years in the Gros Ventre, once the animals are whipped into shape, hell swap in a new, unproven team.

If you didnt like the horse deal, it would be pretty tough, he said. Thats my enjoyment  these guys.

Life up the Gros Ventre in wintertime is isolated.

After the road closes to wheeled vehicles in December, its only snowmobile traffic, and even that can be scant and generally limited to a few winter-keepers, landowners and commercially guided groups. Hoggans relatives come up on occasion to help out and visit. A satellite phone provides regular contact with his young family, which includes a 10-year-old and 17-year-old, who stay back in Hamer, Idaho.

Two of Hoggans farm dogs, Ann and Cowgirl, and Bielbys puppy, Belle, make the winter journey to the Gros Ventre. They join along not as working dogs, but as companions.

In all Game and Fish has 16 contracts for its 21 feedgrounds. At the more accessible elk feeding sites the contracts tend to go to ranchers and other people who live nearby and can afford to peel away and commit a few hours of the day to feeding elk.

Historically, the jobs were typically occupied by actual Game and Fish employees, often younger folks looking for an in into Wyoming wildlife management. Among Game and Fish Director Scott Talbotts first agency jobs, for instance, was a winter spent feeding elk at the Jewett Feedground.

Its not a lucrative position. It never has been, Talbott said. And back in day, when I was doing it, it was really difficult work.

Up the Gros Ventre the duties havent changed much.

Hoggan, who has held the contract for 11 winters, said that an increase in wolves in the Gros Ventre has made his workdays easier. Elk once congregated at all three feedgrounds in the river drainage  at Alkali and Fish creeks and Patrol Cabin. When the wapiti were spread out it necessitated a daily snowmobile ride to each site, and feeding often entailed a long days work.

Nowadays, figuring safety in numbers, the elk herd tends to ball up at one site. Recently this winter the congregation point has been Patrol Cabin, where fewer than 1,000 animals  near record low numbers for the valley  gathered on a mid-February Friday.

Its a rare breed of person who is essentially able to be dumped in the wild with a dry cabin, herd of elk and team of horses and survive self-sufficiently for months while not going crazy. But Hoggans clearly well cut out for it. The abundant free time, monotony of the work and isolation seldom get to him.

If your family calls from home and (things) aint going right, then you can get a little ringy, he said. But man, usually I just cant wait to get up and hook that team and get going again.
As a longtime supporter of our national parks and visitor to Grand Teton National Park as well as a former Wyoming state legislator, I have a long-standing interest in both enjoying and investing in our incredible national parks and treasured lands, which support the states robust tourism economy. Through such support comes the need to speak up for these treasured landscapes and hold our elected officials accountable to do the same.

Following last years 100th anniversary celebration of our National Park Service, visitation at Grand Teton, as well as Yellowstone and beyond, is on the rise. Grand Teton officials recently reported a record-setting visitation of 3.2 million people in 2016. Yellowstone set a similar record, welcoming 4.25 million visitors last year. Tourism is an economic boon for communities surrounding the park, supporting local jobs. In 2015, visitors to Grand Teton spent more than $560 million in communities surrounding the park, supporting more than 8,800 jobs. Across the board, studies have found that every dollar invested in our national parks leads to a $10 return. Contrasting such impressive returns, unfortunately, is the continued inadequate investment in our national parks by Congress.

Across the country, our National Park System is suffering from a $12 billion infrastructure repair backlog. Grand Teton and Yellowstone are in need of some serious repairs, with more than $200 million and $630 million in deferred maintenance, respectively. These repair needs include crumbling roads and bridges, degraded trails, substandard park housing and more.

The repair backlog is the consequence of a continued insufficient investment by our members of Congress in our National Park Service, which leaves the future of our treasured landscapes in a delicate balance. Such inadequate funding forces park managers to make critical decisions about what repairs to make. Ultimately, its up to Congress and the incoming administration to fix the problem by making funding our parks a priority.

During a recent Senate hearing leading up to his confirmation as U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke pledged to prioritize the park service backlog. His promise was well-received by myself and others who care about our national parks as well as the tremendous and far-reaching benefits that they provide.

President Donald Trump also shares infrastructure funding as a priority, by expressing his desire to develop an ambitious infrastructure spending plan that could address some of the needs of Americas national parks. If implemented, this plan could benefit our parks and communities here in Wyoming and beyond.

Locally, I urge Gov. Matt Mead to continue to speak up for the many values that our national parks bring to the state of Wyoming and beyond. I also call on Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and Rep. Liz Cheney to work with Zinke and Trump to prioritize better funding the yearly operations of our parks and to address the backlog of repair needs.

National parks represent who we are as a nation, from iconic landscapes to important history and culture. And we must all come together to ensure they are protected, just as weve done for the last century. Now is the time to stand up for Americas favorite places.
Arizonas employment is expected to grow slower in the next two years than it has in the past two.

New figures Thursday from the state Office of Economic Opportunity project Arizona will add 138,553 jobs between the second quarter of last year and the second quarter of 2018. That translates to 2.4 percent growth on an annualized basis.

By contrast, the similar figure for the prior two-year period was 2.6 percent a year.

Even the Phoenix metro area, which consists of Maricopa and Pinal counties, which grows faster than most of the rest of the state, is seeing some cooling, with a projected 2.8 percent annual growth in the number of jobs. Thats down one-tenth of a percentage point from the prior period.

There are indications that Pima County will finally emerge from its employment doldrums. The state agency figures the area will add 10,068 jobs in the projected period.

But if that doesnt sound like much, consider the fact that the Office of Economic Opportunity figures Pima County added just 4,772 jobs in the prior two-year period for a tepid growth rate of 0.7 percent annually.

Things look a little better for the remaining 13 counties, with a projected job growth of 12,813 over the two years, or 1.5 percent a year.

One significant finding is that the biggest jump in employment will be among non-store retailers. These are the Amazons of the world, companies selling products to consumers online.

The estimate is that sector will grow by 4,752 jobs. But from a pure percentage figure, that computes at a 23.8 percent increase from current employment levels.

From the perspective of pure number of jobs, the states bars and restaurants will add 15,197 workers. Thats a 6.8 percent growth rate over current levels.

This sector of the economy has among the lowest wages.

At the other extreme, the high-paying manufacturing sector is predicted to grow by fewer than 1,600 jobs.

But at least thats growth: The states mining industry, already tiny at about 11,500 jobs, actually is predicted to shed about 500 of them.

Thursdays report also showed the states seasonally adjusted jobless rate for January remained unchanged from December at 5.0 percent. By contrast, the national rate increased a tenth of a point to 4.8 percent.

Overall the total number of people employed in January was 56,700 fewer than the prior month. But that still is nearly 54,000 more than the same period last year when the state jobless rate was 5.5 percent.

Private-sector employment slid by 43,000 month over month.

Those job losses were pretty much across the board, including 14,800 in retail trade, 16,400 in professional and business services, and 400 in manufacturing. Even the leisure and hospitality industry shed 3,000 jobs.
Dos Cabezas WineWorks in Sonoita is releasing its 2017 carbonated pink rose in a rose-covered 700 milliliter aluminum can.

Yep, wine in a can, a perfect mountaintop finish for that romantic hike  sans the broken glass.

Pop the top, pour into a plastic wine flute  or, in a pinch, Todd Bostocks go-to McDonalds sundae cup  and voila, wine now enters beer territory.

But caution: This tallboy is essentially a bottle of wine, four glasses each with a modest 13 percent alcohol by volume. Its meant to be shared.

Like at the end of a springtime hike.

Dos Cabezas owners and winemakers Todd and Kelly Bostock usually pack a snack and about midway into the journey, pop open the can.

There are all these places that beer gets to go and its super great that with the packaging (canned wine), we can now take it to places where they dont normally let you have bottles, like the pool or on a hike, Todd Bostock said.

Dos Cabezas will release its third vintage of canned wine, a slightly frisky, lightly carbonated pink rose, at a $45 release party noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Its at the familys Sonoita winery, 3248 Highway 82.

The Bostocks have been fans of canned wine since discovering it on a trip to Colorado several years ago.

Three years ago, the couple decided to give it a shot and rolled out their first carbonated pink in a can.

We started with 165 gallons, Todd Bostock said; they sold out in a month.

They more than tripled the amount to 550 gallons in year two; it was sold out through presales before it was even officially released.

This years vintage is their biggest yet  660 gallons.

Its been tough to keep up with demand, so we did a little more this year, Todd Bostock said.

Canning wines is not a new thing, although its not common, either. Dos Cabezas is one of only a couple Arizona wineries taking the plunge. Verde Valleys Grand Canyon Wine Co. cans its Traveler red and white wines and its Wayfarer pink wine, all in limited batches.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some March 10 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.
Border Tunnels

In this March 6, 2017 photo, a member of the Border Patrol's Border Tunnel Entry Team ascends an entrance carved out by the Border Patrol leading to a tunnel spanning the border between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, in San Diego. They are known in the Border Patrol as "tunnel rats" - agents who go in clandestine passages that have proliferated on the U.S.-Mexico border over the last 20 years to smuggle drugs. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Pima Community Colleges accreditation sanction has been lifted, ending a four-year process for the college to show its governance and management have improved.

The Chicago-based Higher Learning Commission notified the college Thursday that PCC is no longer considered at risk for not meeting accreditation standards and it changed the schools status from accredited  on notice to accredited.

The final decision by the commissions board of trustees overturns a recommendation by an accreditation team that visited the college five months ago. The visiting team said the school should be kept under sanction for six more months, until September 2017.

This is a reaffirmation that the direction that weve been moving the college in is, in fact, the right step in the right direction, Chancellor Lee Lambert said in an interview Thursday. Lambert was hired in 2013 to turn things around at PCC.

Mark Hanna, Governing Board chairman, said: We know we have a lot further to go. There are still many challenges for Pima, but this is an enormous hurdle that we were able to get over.

PCC has been under sanction since 2013 because it did not meet or barely met quality standards for the management and governance of a school. A 2015 follow-up review found many improvements but noted 11 areas in which PCC was at risk of ongoing problems.

Eight of the 11 problem areas are no longer a concern, the accreditors most recent decision said. It cited many positive changes such as improvements to employee training and complaint-handling procedures and increased attention to ethics and integrity.

One critical change occurred recently when the school hired two new employees to better assess the quality of education PCC students receive, an area that was long neglected.

But three of the 11 areas are still of concern, the accreditors latest decision said.

Theres no proof yet that PCC has proper systems in place for developmental education, or for long-term planning. And the two new employees recently hired to assess educational quality havent been on the job long enough to show improvement in that area, the most recent decision said.

But those few remaining issues dont warrant keeping the college under sanction, the commission decided.

The commission also assigned a new staff member to oversee PCCs progress, replacing a previous commission staffer who failed to recognize the extent of the colleges previous problems.

Mario Gonzales, head of a local watchdog group that alerted the accreditor to PCCs problems, questioned the decision to remove the school from sanction.

In 2010, the commission gave PCC a clean bill of health when the college was awash in critical deficiencies, he pointed out.

Anyone who knows the facts knows the college still has a lot of problems, said Gonzales, president of the Coalition for Accountability, Integrity, Respect and Responsibility. The citizens group includes several retired PCC executives including ex-interim Chancellor Zelema Harris, a former Higher Learning Commission trustee, as well as Gonzales brother, Luis Gonzales, who recently was elected to PCCs Governing Board.

Luis Gonzales, responding to the accreditors decision, said he had mixed emotions.

I have some misgivings about it because the commission has not always paid attention, when problems arose in the past, he said. Even so, the decision is good news because it will allow the college to move forward and start rebuilding its tarnished reputation, he said.

The accreditor acknowledged some citizens groups are still unhappy with the college, but noted that PCC has strong support from civic leaders.

A few months ago, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild sat in on a meeting between Lambert, PCCs chancellor, and accreditation officials to help plead the colleges case, accreditation records show.

While some community groups continue to express concerns, business leaders and the mayor indicated that recent changes were on target and the college is meeting community needs, the commissions final decision said.
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona has teamed up with local politicians to host a free rabies vaccination clinic for dogs on Saturday.

From 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., 150 free rabies vaccinations will be available at Jacobs Park, 3300 N. Fairview Ave., according to a Humane Society news release.

The event, which is hosted by the Humane Society, Tucson City Councilwoman Karin Uhlich and Pima County Constable Bennett Bernal, will also offer $12 distemper/parvo vaccinations and dog licensing for an additional fee.

Dogs must be 3 months or older and on leashes or in pet carriers. People should expect to wait in line and bring water for their dogs.

Because of the special event, the regularly scheduled Saturday vaccination clinic at the Humane Societys main campus is canceled.

For more information about the event, please call the Humane Societys spay and neuter clinic at 881-0321.
PHOENIX  Three Republicans bolted party ranks Thursday as the Arizona Senate killed legislation that would have meant longer minimum prison sentences for people who commit felonies while in the country illegally.

The 16-14 vote against SB 1279 came despite Maricopa Republican Steve Smiths efforts to shame other senators into voting for his bill.

Smith cited 21-year-old Grant Ronnebeck, who was shot and killed two years ago while working at a Mesa convenience store by someone in the country illegally. He said the suspect in that case committed a prior burglary and rape but had been placed on probation.

He didnt serve a day in jail, Smith said.

As the vote tally was going against him, Smith pointed out that Ronnebecks father, Steve, was watching in the Senate gallery along with family members of others who were killed by people in the United States illegally. And when that maneuver failed to move foes of the legislation, Smith told them they should justify their votes directly to family members.

Smith said he thinks he knows why the legislation failed: The hangover from SB 1070, the 2010 Arizona law designed to give police more power to detain and arrest illegal immigrants. It got national attention and had financial implications as tourism and convention bookings fell off.

If that is your reason, because tourism might suffer in Arizona if we pass another immigration bill ... I want you to meet those family members and you tell me how many tourism dollars, if they were to be lost, is worth it to their children not being here anymore, Smith said. And if that sits well in your conscience, let it sit well.

Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa, said later that Smith misrepresented the facts.

None of these laws ... would have saved Grants life, Worsley said.

It was a failure of the prosecutor, he said, adding that if the man who killed Ronnebeck had been tried and convicted of the prior burglary and rape, he would have been sent to prison.

Worsley and fellow Republicans Kate Brophy McGee of Phoenix and Frank Pratt of Casa Grande voted against the bill, along with the chambers Democrats, without speaking against it.

We didnt want to make a scene on the floor, Worsley said. So we got the one-sided crap kicked out of us by Smiths comments, he lamented.

He called Smiths criticism of those who did not side with him over the top.

Brophy McGee said her vote against the measure was based on the belief its not necessary.

She pointed out that last year lawmakers repealed a decade-old law  intended to save the state money  that allowed the Department of Corrections to release illegal immigrants to immigration officials after they had served half their prison terms.

Now they must serve at least 85 percent of their terms, the same as other inmates.

Brophy McGee also said there were questions about whether the state can impose different sentencing standards on people based solely on whether they are violating a federal law by being in this country illegally.

She, like Worsley, said it was wrong for Smith to question her motives.

Every senator is expected to vote their conscience and what they believe is right, Brophy McGee said. And I think its incumbent on fellow senators to respect that.

Smiths legislation would have required judges sentencing a defendant for a felony must impose at least the presumptive sentence required by law if the person is in this country illegally.

That would mean more time behind bars, sometimes years longer, than is now an option for judges.

Potentially more significant, SB 1279 would have eliminated the possibility of parole.

Smith ushered a similar measure through the Senate last year before it died in the House.

This year the slightly altered version did not clear the Senate.
PHOENIX  The attorney for business interests hoping to void the just-approved minimum wage hike urged the Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday to interpret the constitution in a way several justices suggested would undermine the right of voters to ever again propose their own laws.

Attorney Brett Johnson representing business interests opposed to Proposition 206 argued the measure violates a 2004 constitutional provision that says any voter-enacted laws must have a source of revenue to pay for any expenses the state is forced to incur.

Johnson argued the initiative does have such a mandate because it requires the Industrial Commission, which enforces labor laws, to come up with rules to deal with a new requirement in the measure that all employers must provide paid sick leave. And he said there are enforcement costs.

But Justice Ann Scott Timmer said such a literal interpretation of the revenue source rule has major implications. She said, for example, that if a state agency was required to send out one notice about the new mandate that would be an increase in costs to that agency. Thats true, Johnson responded, triggering the rule and the mandate for a funding source.

That clearly left Timmer troubled.

Doesnt that construction essentially eliminate the citizens ability to pass any initiative? she asked. Its difficult to imagine an initiative in this day and age that wouldnt require a letter or something ministerial, required by the government.

The interpretation Johnson was urging that the failure to find dollars for even the smallest expenses also troubled Justice Robert Brutinel. Is there any initiative that wouldnt violate it? he asked.

Johnson did manage to come up with one: Proposition 122, a 2014 ballot measure that enshrined in the Arizona Constitution that the state has the power to refuse to use its resources to enforce federal laws it contends are illegal.

Brutinel pursued the questioning, asking whether even a minor cost to the state would void an initiative that did not include a new revenue source.

If there is a required action of the government that is going to cost money, then, unfortunately, yes, there is no proposition that would not violate the revenue source rule, Johnson responded.

It wasnt just the justices who questioned what voiding Prop. 206 would mean to the future of initiatives. Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who attended Thursdays hearing, said afterward there is a real danger.

You could come up with hypotheticals or scenarios in every single situation that is passed by the voters, he said. And so, you would essentially gut or undermine the state initiative process if you accepted the logic of what the plaintiffs argued today.

If that cost to the Industrial Commission doesnt convince the court to void Prop. 206, Johnson has another theory. He said the initiative will cost the state millions of dollars as the Medicaid program is forced to pay more to the private entities that provide things like home health care for the poor.

But that drew a skeptical response from some of the justices. They questioned whether the initiative itself actually requires the state to pay its providers more or its simply a question of state officials saying they believe its necessary.

And even if there is a mandated expenditure, Assistant Attorney General Charles Grube said that still does not void the entire minimum wage hike.

The remedy is not to say that there was a mandatory expense and so the proposition was wrong, he told the justices. The right way to look at it is ... that public officials have no obligation to act unless there is an appropriation.

Put simply, Grube said, a decision by state officials that they need to pay providers more so they can afford to pay their workers the new $10 minimum is discretionary. He said nothing in the initiative actually directs the state to boost the reimbursement rate.

But Johnson, who is trying on behalf of the business community to void the entire initiative  and not just have the state escape some costs  wants the justices to adopt his legal theory that there are mandatory expenses and that the failure of Prop. 206 supporters to come up with a way to fund them invalidates everything voters approved in November. And that, in turn, would put the state minimum wage for everyone back to $8.15 an hour, what it would have been Jan. 1 had Prop. 206 not passed.

Most of the justices were skeptical of Johnsons claim that there are identifiable expenses to the state linked to Prop. 206.

During the arguments, only Justice Andrew Gould seemed inclined to go along with Johnsons arguments that Prop. 206 does, in fact, mandate the state to spend more. He said the state, in agreeing to take federal dollars, is obligated by federal law to pay its providers enough to ensure there are enough people to provide care to Medicaid recipients.

The justices gave no indication when they will rule.
OPINION: "Im sure you will see, as I have, that for all the 'God talk' that Christian nationalists throw around, their attitudes and actions are starkly antithetical to the gospel of love and inclusion for all advocated by the Jesus they claim to believe in," writes Rev. Gary Nelson, a former conservative pastor in Payson.
Monica Schmidt, a plant geneticist at the University of Arizona, has engineered a strain of corn that shuts off the ability of a plant fungus to produce aflatoxin, which can stunt childhood growth and cause liver disease.

Schmidt said this particular genetic modification has the potential to improve public health and save lives in places like Africa. It can also prevent the waste of tens of millions of tons of grain that have to be destroyed each year because of the toxins presence.

The assistant professor of plant sciences and researcher at the UA Bio5 Institute published her findings Friday in Science Advances, the online open-access arm of the journal Science.

The procedure Schmidt and colleagues designed embeds a snippet of RNA from an aspergillus fungus into the corn plant. When the host plant and fungus exchange small bits of genetic information during infection, the ability to produce aflatoxin is shut down.

The mechanism was 100 percent effective in trials, according to peer-reviewed results published in the journal.

Because the procedure introduces genetic material from the fungus into the corn, it is classified as transgenic  and that has already caused funding problems for Schmidts research, which was conducted with a $100,000 Grand Challenge grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

A proposal for additional funding was turned down after two reviewers for the foundation called it great work, but questioned whether the foundation wanted to get involved in genetically modified organism research. One reviewer gave no recommendation after saying, This is great. This is fantastic. This is the person whos going to do it, Schmidt said.

A second reviewer recommended against funding, saying, Its going to have public acceptance issues because its GMO, Schmidt said.

Schmidt said she understands public distrust of giant agriculture companies, but wishes that distrust did not extend to GMO research aimed at easing disease and famine.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation responded in a statement that only 10 to 12 percent of phase-one grants are awarded a second phase.

While the University of Arizona work was not selected for phase two, the Foundation is funding other approaches to aflatoxin control, the statement said in part.

Schmidt said this particular genetic modification has the potential to improve public health in places like Africa, and prevent the annual disposal of an estimated 16 million tons of corn infected with aflatoxin.

If economic loss from the waste were the only problem caused by aflatoxin, she wouldnt be tackling it, she said.

We take on projects that we think are going to make a difference and, hopefully, people will say, Yeah, people are dying from this toxin, and maybe set aside their differences, Schmidt said. Its implicated in stunting of childrens growth. Its a biggie in liver cancer incidence. Its nasty and its like, Seriously? This is a fungal toxin and we cant get our brains together and stop this?

Schmidt employed a relatively new technique called Host Induced Gene Silencing, or HIGS, after reading scientific reports of small nucleotides being passed between a host plant and its parasitic fungus.

Shed like to see the corn seed eventually made available to farmers in areas of Africa and other locales where heat and humidity provide ideal conditions for growth of the fungus.

Genomic comparison of the aflatoxin-resistant crop with the hybrid corn from which it was developed shows no change elsewhere in the corns genome, said Jianwei Zhang, bioinformatics group leader at the UAs Plant Genomics Institute.

Institute director Rod Wing said the comparison showed the original and modified versions to be substantially equivalent.

Wing, whose center has mapped the full genomes of a variety of corn and rice species, said anti-GMO sentiment worldwide complicates development of crops that could help solve the looming problem of feeding a ballooning world population.

On the local level, Wing said hes surprised the public seems unconcerned that local governments offer tax breaks to weapons manufacturers while vehemently opposing a tax deal with an agricultural company.

He has been engaged for years in research into rice species that can be modified to increase production in adverse growing conditions. He holds an endowed chair at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.

Wing said most of the crops being developed can come from traditional breeding, guided by genomic maps.

Schmidt said she would create a traditionally bred seed to fight aflatoxin in corn and other plants, if that were possible.

Schmidt has taken the long route before. She and her husband, UA plant sciences professor Eliot Herman, spent 10 years breeding a strain of nonallergenic soybean that Herman had already created through genetic modification.

That organic soybean is now being used in trials to feed fish at salmon farms in Norway, she said, and could eventually be available as formula for allergic infants.

Schmidt said her corn work can be applied to other crops, including peanuts, the initial target of her research.

Legumes are her specialty, Schmidt said. She turned to corn when biotechnician Dhiraj Thakare was unable to quickly grow peanuts in the UAs experimental greenhouses.

Corn was easier, though its been a slog for Thakare, who spends seven days a week in the greenhouse hand-pollinating multiple generations of corn plants.

Plant pathologist Peter Cotty, whose lab performed the tests for aflatoxin, is a co-author of the paper with Schmidt, Thackare, Zhang and Wing.

Schmidts next goal is to find a way to fight the fungus as well as the toxin. When the Gates Foundation turned down that research, she was able to get funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Schmidt said she hopes the success of phase one convinces the foundation to take another look at it.

In the meantime, she speaks to civic groups about her work and will be talking about it at the Science City stage at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend. I think people need to see a face and that Im not out for a profit. Im not making money on this. Id just love to see this move forward to African farmers. Its about making a difference.
On art, music, books, movies, politics, life - sometimes with astrology thrown in.
Help India!

By Mohit Dubey

Lucknow, (IANS): The long, staggered assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, whose results are to be announced on March 11, would be remembered for innumerable reasons. While, like most similar tests at the hustings, this one too had its share of the avoidable  be it use of words like KaSaB, gadha (ass) or below the belt jibes against political opponents, there were many firsts in the staggered, seven-phased polls spread over a month of voting.

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It was for the first time since 1999 that Congress President Sonia Gandhi did not campaign in Uttar Pradesh, from where she and her son Rahul Gandhi are members of the Lok Sabha. Citing poor health and doctors advice, especially after the near-fatal bout of asthma she suffered in Varanasi during a road show last year, she thought it best to avoid the hurly-burly of campaigning.

Samajwadi Party (SP) mentor and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav too largely skipped the campaign and only canvassed for daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who is contesting from Lucknow Cantt on an SP ticket, brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in Jaswantnagar and old aide Parasnath Yadav in Ghazipur. This is the first time since he started practising active politics in the 1960s that the Yadav chieftain largely missed a campaign.

Completely sidelined this time by his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who edged him out as President of the SP, Mulayam had addressed some 100 rallies in the 2012 assembly polls. Shivpal Singh Yadav, who until not long ago was the number two in the party and its chief strategist, had no work this time around. He was neither invited nor did he go anywhere to campaign for party workers.

The other first from the first family of Uttar Pradesh was the public statements by Mulayams second wife Sadhna Gupta, who, just hours before the last round in Poorvanchal, gave an hour-long interview to a TV news agency, alleging slight and saying that Akhilesh should not have humiliated Neta-ji. Largely in the background over the past two decades, this was Sadhnas first outing in public.

It was also for the first time that the Yadav clan stepped out of Saifai to contest state elections. While most members of the Mulayam clan are from in and around the Saifai belt, this time nephew Anurag Yadav was fielded from Sarojininagar and, of course, Aparna Yadav from Lucknow Cantt.

The state polls also had a first in the fact that Sonia Gandhis daughter Priyanka Vadra figured in the list of all phases as a star campaigner though she obliged with just one rally in Rae Bareli, her mothers Lok Sabha constituency. It was also the first time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or for that matter any Prime Minister, spent so much time and energy on a state assembly election.

At the end of the seven-phase polls, Modi had addressed 23 mega rallies and had done two roadshows. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah also got into the first list by addressing 210 rallies.

It was, incidentally, also the first time that BJP veterans L.K. Advani and Kanpur MP Murli Manohar Joshi did not hit the campaign trail. Once the faces of all BJP campaigns, they were a complete washout in the Uttar Pradesh polls this time.

Sheila Dixit, the former Delhi Chief Minister, who was pitched as the UP bahu and the presumptive Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister before the Congress struck an alliance with the SP, was also nowhere to be seen during the campaign.

For the state police, there were many firsts too. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljeet Chowdhary said there were highest seizures of unaccounted money, illicit liquor and illegal vehicles during the campaign. The state police seized almost Rs 40 crore of the total Rs 119.42 crores of illegal cash caught during elections.

A staggering 2.23 million bulk litres of liquor, costing a whopping Rs 64.17 crore, was seized and 3.62 million people were booked under various sections of the IPC and of the warrants issued against 22,400 people, 21,653 were served. Police also undertook a mammoth task on depositing 870,000 licensed weapons.

The experience of conducting smooth elections is satisfying, a senior official told IANS, while pointing out that despite a huge influx of VVIPs, there was no untoward incident. Intelligence officials concede that the road shows undertaken by Modi in an open SUV in Varanasi and another SPG protectee, Rahul Gandhi, in Meerut, Agra, Allahabad, Varanasi and Lucknow were security nightmares. But now that all has ended well, they have heaved a sigh of relief.

Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Singh, while talking to IANS on phone from New Delhi, said there were many firsts for the poll panel too during the Uttar Pradesh elections. Many first-time initiatives were undertaken by the state CEO  like launch of many mobile applications for helping voters and a grievance redressal portal, he informed.

Incidentally, it was for the first time that a suspected terrorist was killed in a gun battle on the day of polling  the last phase in Poorvanchal  on March 8.
Help India!

Video by Bhamati Sivapalan and Vidyun Sabhaney for Media Collective

Text by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves

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Soon after its adoption, the Constitution of India was amended in 1951. At the time several progressive judgements by the Judiciary held that laws which curb fundamental rights are essentially unconstitutional and fundamental freedoms could only be curbed in the most extreme of cases. The First Amendment, countered this by amending Article 19 to add the word reasonable before restrictions and to add public order as being one more ground for abridging Fundamental Rights.

The evolution of UAPA has to be seen in the background of this gradual but steady constriction of Article 19 which guarantees the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly, association, etc.

The UAPA, 1967

The next major step in the abridgement of freedom of expression, assembly and association occurred in shape of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1963. Further reasonable restrictions in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India were amended to Article 19 (2). This Amendment occurred in the immediate wake of the Indian Armys defeat in the Sino-Indian War, as well as the threat posed by DMKs contesting elections in Tamil Nadu with secession from India being part of their manifesto. It was in this background that UAPA was enacted on 30th December, 1967- to satisfy the need of the Indian State to declare associations that sought secession from India as unlawful. In this way, UAPA 1967 gave powers to the central government to impose all-India bans on associations. The process of banning associations could simply be done by the government announcing them as unlawful and hence banned (Section 3). Though the original 1967 Act too had provisions for a tribunal to review or to hear an appeal against the ban, this remained a mere farce as seen in the case of SIMI.

2004 Amendment

In 2004, amidst public outcry against the misuse of POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act), the government repealed POTA but majorly amended the 1967 version of UAPA at the same time. The repeal of POTA was an election promise of the then newly elected Congress government. The amended UAPA made substantial changes to the definition of unlawful activity, included the definition of terrorist act, terrorist organisation from the repealed POTA, and also introduced the concept of a terrorist gang. In fact Chapters IV, V and VI dealing with Punishment for Terrorist Activities, Forfeiture of proceeds of Terrorism and Terrorist Organisations respectively were heavily borrowed from the repealed POTA. The Schedule to the POTA Act of Terrorist Organisations too was incorporated into UAPA verbatim. A sunset clause that was earlier part of so-called anti-terror acts like TADA and POTA was done away with.

Even if one were to buy the desperate times call for desperate measures logic, where a restriction to fundamental rights is reasonable given the extraordinary situation of a threat of terrorism, one cannot justify the absence of a sunset clause in the UAPA. In fact the justification to the inclusion of a sunset clause in previous extra ordinary acts like TADA is that when there is a drop in the perceived threat, there would be no need of the legislation.

2008 and 2012 Amendments

On 17 December 2008, another amendment of the UAPA was moved and adopted following the attack by armed gunmen in Mumbai on 26 November 2008. More provisions similar to POTA and TADA regarding maximum period in Police custody, incarceration without chargesheet and restrictions on bail were incorporated into UAPA. The 2012 amendments to the Act further expanded the already vague definition of terrorist act to include offences that threaten the countrys economic security.

What is a Crime and who is a criminal?

Like earlier anti-terror laws such as TADA and POTA, UAPA too, criminalises Ideology and Association. By virtue of declaring an organisation unlawful or/and terrorist and banning them these Acts have de facto criminalised their ideologies. Hence mere possession of any literature of such an organisation or even upholding an ideology common to that organisation in the absence of any violent act is construed as an offence. On the other hand, mere membership or association with such an organisation too becomes an offence. It is by this logic, that very often, organisations advocating the rights of a certain minority community or that of oppressed sections are easily labelled as fronts of a proscribed organisation under the Schedule of the Act. Their activists or members get arrested and remain in prison for years, denied bail.

Repeal of UAPA

If UAPA 1967 made anti-secession law a permanent requirement, UAPA 2004 made anti-terror law permanent. After it effectively substituted POTA in 2004, the UAPA has been used by all law enforcement agencies throughout the country as the foremost anti-terror law. The repeal of POTA was indeed an eye-wash.

In the absence of any sunset clause or provisions for mandatory periodic review, the repeal of UAPA will depend on a mass movement. However, merely mentioning its misuse or low conviction rate may eventually lead to another eyewash, as in 2004. A movement against UAPA should hence clearly stand for its repeal and that of all other state anti-terror laws with similar provisions.

Draconian provisions of UAPA in a nutshell

The Act introduces a vague definition of terrorism to encompass a wide range of non-violent political activity including political protest.

The Act empowers the government to declare an organisation as terrorist and ban it. Mere membership of such a proscribed organisation itself becomes a criminal offence.

The Act allows detention without filing of a chargesheet for up to 180 days, police custody can be up to 30 days.

The Act creates a strong presumption against bail and Anticipatory Bail is out of the question. It creates a presumption of guilt for terrorism offenses merely based on the evidence allegedly seized.

The Act authorizes the creation of special courts, with wide discretion to hold in-camera proceedings (closed-door hearings) and use secret witnesses.

The Act contains no sunset clause and provisions for mandatory periodic review.
Help India!

New Delhi, (IANS): Holding scrapped currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 after the deadline of December 31 is illegal, the central government told the Supreme Court on Friday.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, made the submission before the bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice S.K. Kaul that government will contest petitions against the demonetisation ordinance.

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Rohatgi opposed a batch of pleas seeking order to the government to allow individuals and companies to deposit their scrapped currency notes without any prejudice.

The counsel appearing for the petitioners urged the court that no action should be taken against them for possessing the banned currency notes.

Posting the matter for March 21, the bench said: If required, we will extend the date.

The court was hearing a batch of PILs alleging that people are not being allowed to deposit the demonetised notes till March 31, as promised by the government.

The petitions alleged that the government was breaching the promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made on November 8, 2016, while declaring that the high-value currency notes were legally not valid.

Prime Ministers speech and the subsequent notification on demonetisation had assured that a person shall be able to deposit the notes in special circumstances till March 31, 2017, but in its Ordinance in December 2016, the government has failed to mention it, one of the petitioners told the bench.

A woman said she could not deposit the scrapped currency notes as she was pregnant at that time and that she intended to do so after giving birth to her child.

She said: The confusion regarding the old notes and its validity as a legal tender amongst the respondents (government) is a definite example of bad governance, which is resulting in harassment of the common people at large.

She said the government and the RBI took away that opportunity from her by subsequently restricting the grace period until March 31 to only NRIs and Indians who were abroad in November and December.

Several petitions were filed by companies and individuals over the government going back on its decision to extend the date of depositing demonetised notes till March 31.
Chancellor Phillip Hammond has come in for some severe criticism from members of his own party. There appears right now to be a back bench rebellion over the chancellor's decision regarding small business people.

The budget contained a hike in National Insurance contributions for the self-employed that many think unfair. One reason many Conservative MPs feel this is unfair because in the last Conservative Manifesto it stated the self-employed would not pay higher NI.

Hammond breaks promise

Many in this sector feel betrayed by this apparent about-face by Chancellor Phillip Hammond.

Their other reason for thinking this besides betrayal is small businesses are struggling as it is. Many people who have found themselves unemployed have set up their own businesses with some success and have created jobs.

It is a mantra of the Conservative party to say they are for small businesses but many feel now Phillip Hammond is a liar and hypocrite. One notable backbencher speaking up for the self-employed is one Jacob Rees-Mogg. Mogg has stated that Phillip Hammond should re - examine his decision for the self-employed to pay more insurance and he is not the only one.

Theresa May stated as late as yesterday she backs her Chancellor saying the rise in NI for the self-employed was correct.

Ex - DWP man on the attack

One Tory big beast Iain Duncan Smith weighed into the controversial statement contained in the budget. IDS or Iain Duncan Smith said Hammond should look again at the decision to raise national insurance for small businesses.

When the head of the DWP IDS came in for some stick himself but these days he seems to be trying to be the good guy.

Some regard the self-employed who create employment as the bedrock of the economy in the UK. IDS now able to be freer as a backbench MP seems to be merely reflecting this view when talking to the media.

Hammond's response

It would appear Phillip Hammond is a reasonable man and has stated he is prepared to listen to his critics.

That said Hammond said he came to this decision to equalise the situation regarding benefits. That is self-employed people and employed have the same right to benefits. For this reason, Hammond felt the self-employed should pay more national insurance contributions.

Also with the UK soon to be negotiating about Brexit with the EU that was another reason he did this.
The UK College of Business and Computing welcomed Ilford North MP, Wes Streeting to their Gants Hill campus on Thursday 2nd March.

UKCBC - Wentworth House

Wes Streeting, MP for Ilford North visited the Wentworth House offices of UKCBC to meet with June Dennis, the College Principal and UKCBC student representatives.

The purpose of the meeting was to show Mr Streeting around the Wentworth House premises and to discuss how students are actively engaged in the running of the College.

The Wentworth House meeting was held at 2pm and was attended not only by Wes Streeting and June Dennis, but also UKCBC Director; Bhargav Busa, Gants Hill representative; Doris Aba Anane, and UKCBC's student representatives; Alina Vasile and Elena Popescu.

Meeting with Ilford North MP

The meeting was split into stages to ensure it was beneficial to both the College and to Mr Streeting.

At 2pm, there was a welcome introduction with refreshments, followed by an introduction to UKCBC, its student cohort, and the purpose of meeting at 2.05pm. June Dennis then raised the issue of Brexit.

At 2.15pm, an explanation about how UKCBC engage students within the formal meeting structure on campus was introduced, followed by discussions on engagement with the wider community of businesses and organisations at 2.35pm.

Lastly, at 2.45pm there was a tour of the Gants Hill campus and photographic opportunities.

A successful meeting...

Mr Streeting spoke of how impressed he was with the diversity of the student body at UKCBC and how actively engaged the student representatives are.

Attendees also discussed how Brexit might impact the college and how UKCBC could engage with the local community and business networks more.

June Dennis, College Principal said "It is very evident that Wes has a passion for Higher Education and for ensuring that all people, regardless of age or background, are able to access good quality and relevant education. He was evidently impressed by the engagement of our student representatives. We hope that is the start of our increased profile within the Redbridge area".
If you haven't seen the news already, Theresa May has welcomed Donald Tusk's re-election as President of the European Council. Perhaps she is being 'typically' British and being polite about the result. Maybe her former Remain instincts are kicking in and she is genuinely happy that a passionate supporter of the European project has been re-elected.

Brexit or no Brexit

But it isn't good news for those of us who want a 'hard Brexit.' Donald Tusk will be anything but lenient towards the UK. Sure, many of his EU leaders have re-elected him because he is viewed as a 'safe pair of hands', but this is a man who supports a federal Europe.

His dealings in Poland portray him as a dishonest politician. The only leaders who welcome his re-election are those who also strive towards creating a United States of Europe.

Battle of egos

He has said in the past that the UK must either have a hard 'Brexit or no Brexit.' Yet he is not particularly enthusiastic about the procedure either. He will also have to battle with the egos of other politicians like Juncker and Merkel who are refusing to allow the UK continued access to the Single Market without accepting the free movement of workers.

This is a man not to be trusted. A stalwart Europhile, he will not make these negotiations easy.
Michael Flynn, a notorious conspiracy theorist and President Donald Trumps former National Security Adviser, wasted no time in resigning from his post a couple of weeks ago, and has now been caught with previous ties to the Government of Turkey, having worked for them before being appointed into Trumps America first cabinet. And now that these overseas connections and dubious double-crossings have come to light, the White House has issued a statement saying that Trump had no knowledge whatsoever of Flynns dirty dealings.

Flynn revealed his foreign dealings two days prior to statement

Two days before the White House denied Trump knew about Flynns overseas intelligence work, Flynn made the revelation himself. Probably fearing that it would be found by someone else, he wore his Turkish business on his shoulder like a badge of honour in some paperwork his intelligence firm Flynn Intel Group Incorporated filed to the Department of Justice that made the revelation. Trump has taken two days to deny knowledge of this.

To be fair, Flynns work as a foreign agent isnt as bad as it sounds. It sounds very Cold War-y, but all he did was provide a Turkish businessman with information that couldve possibly been fed to the Turkish government to help them along with a couple of things.

Hes not sharing secrets or committing treason or anything like that, but it does go against Trumps stance that America should be the only country that gets any handouts from Americans. Vice President Mike Pence says that Flynns international dealings are being seen by the White House as an affirmation that Trump made the right decision when he politely asked Flynn to jump ship.

Pence himself said that he too was unaware of Flynns business associations in Turkey.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked by journalists at the White House (so, for now, theyre still allowed in) if Trump knew that Flynn was a foreign agent when he appointed him the National Security Adviser, perhaps the position that ISIS-bashing, Muslim-banning, xenophobic Trump would view as the most important seat in his Cabinet.

Spicer, not really one for providing the press with straight answers in case he needs to backtrack on them, said, I dont believe that that was known.

Flynn says Justice Department pressured him to do it

According to Flynn, officials from the Justice Department pressured him to file the paperwork, which described the $530,000 he spent lobbying for Inovo BV prior to Election Day. Inovo BV is a company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin, but it is based in the Netherlands. This is Flynns first admission of work for a foreign government whilst working under Trump.

Flynns lobbying may have assisted the Turkish government, which is an authoritarian (what a scary word) government run by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, since Flynns problems with lying to Trump and Pence about his connections to Russia (and specifically their US ambassador Sergey Kislyak), which got him fired from Trumps White House and publicly disgraced, is the kind of juicy gossip that governments can use for a lovely bit of blackmail.
Only days after Rep. Pete Sessions announced the Republicans' replacement bill, Paul Ryan has managed to successfully push the American Healthcare Act through the House Ways and Means Committee. It may have taken one 18-hour-long sitting, but the bill has been approved, despite intensifying opposition from major healthcare industry organisations, fellow Republicans and Democrats.

Some of the changes on the cards are Medicaid restructuring, severing funds to Planned Parenthood, and the addition of tax credits. Some more popular elements of ObamaCare will be preserved, such as protections for pre-existing conditions.

American Healthcare Act lambasted

There is growing concern that the ObamaCare Replacement Bill will hurt Americans, claiming that millions of people could be without health insurance. The American Medical Association (AMA) has written to the committee to express concern over the proposed legislation, adding that it was critically flawed. In their letter, they admitted that the Affordable Care Act was flawed, but that the American Healthcare Act is a considerably inadequate alternative.

The American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals have also slammed the new bill, saying that Medicare and Medicaid could also be adversely affected by the measure. The advocacy group AARP, the American Cancer Society and the March of Dimes of also added their objects to the fray.

Democrats, on the other hand, have rejected the absence of a proper cost estimate for the rollout of the bill, and believe that the measure may merely be a gift to the wealthy. Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader, denounced the disturbing lack of evidence or support for the measures in the bill. This is decision-making without the facts, without the evidence ...

afraid of the facts, Pelosi said.

Paul Ryan ignores American Healthcare Act opposition

It seems that the stream of criticism from various corners is falling on deaf ears, as Republicans, led by Paul Ryan, are attempting to steamroll the controversial legislation through Capitol Hill. Paul Ryan is confident that the American Healthcare Act will sail through Congress.

It certainly helps that President Donald Trump is just as eager to pass the legislation. The president has been lobbying members of the Republican party who have expressed concern that the new bill doesn't adequately address the failing of the Affordable Care Act.

Republican Senator Rand Paul has been one of the most vocal opponents of the American Healthcare Act, letting it slip that proponents have been aggressively mounting a charm offensive to entice sceptics into swaying their views in favour of the legislation. Sen. Paul, however, remains steadfast in his resolve to consolidate internal opposition and force a debate and negotiation.

ObamaCare replacement rush: now or never

House Speaker Paul Ryan is pushing for a vote this month in the House of Representatives for the bill to swiftly proceed on to the Senate for debate.

Pundits are saying that the way in which the bill performs in the House will most likely determine its success in the Senate. If there is difficulty in the House, the Senate might respond to the draft law with cynicism. However, if all goes smoothly with Representatives, Senators may be more confident.

If Paul Ryan gets his way, we'll see if the American Healthcare Act can stand its ground within the next few months.
The world is becoming more globalised, social networks make people from all countries can be connected to a single 'click' away, time to write any witty phrase searched on Google or threaten, whether in jest or not, To certain people. The latter has featured as one of the most beloved actors in the "world" of Hollywood: Michael Keaton.

The actor has gained a certain reputation in recent years thanks to films like 'Birdman (or the unexpected virtue of ignorance)' or 'Spotlight', well, now taking advantage of it is becoming fashionable to go swimming against the current systems Politicians, Michael wanted to contribute his grain of sand.

The dark knight is back

Whoever wore the Batman costume for the first time in 1989 has launched a "threat" to Russian President vladimir putin, implying that he would wear the "Dark Knight" costume if the occasion were desperate. The message sent through the actor's Instagram account, accompanied by a photo of the Russian leader carefully observing a Batman symbol on the floor:

"Do not make me put on my suit again." You can see the photo of the text in the actor's account.

What is the cause of all this? For all this is due to the fact that the Russian president has threatened (this time without quotes) to establish certain laws against homosexual propaganda in his country, a fact that has awakened certain events of a homophobic nature in Russia and the rejection of social sectors.

A fast virtualization in social networks

Michael Keaton has been the last to join against this measure. With his publication, the Oscar-nominated actor has already surpassed 5000 likes, and continues to rise, as the measures that Vladimir Putin attempts to implement in the Russian organisational chart are not being well received.

Let us hope that the crusader does not have to act again and we have to add Vladimir Putin as a villain next to Joker or Two Faces.

Other news that may interest you.
Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard University twelve years ago to launch Facebook. While the talented computer programmer whose net worth is $53.6 billion is getting his degree, he isn't getting it by going back to the campus and picking up where he left off over a decade ago. Zuckerberg's situation is very unique.

Zuckerberg's degree

The 32-year-old internet entrepreneur will receive an honorary degree during the same ceremony where he will give the commencement address to the class of 2017. It will be a unique situation because he will be speaking to graduates while he himself is not one.

Everyone listening to his speech probably has an account as a result of him launching Facebook from his Harvard's dormitory room on February 4, 2004.

Other dropouts

Mark Zuckerberg is a philanthropist and the fifth richest person in the world, but he isnt the only person who became successful after dropping out of college. The other famous dropouts also happen to be in the technology field. You might have heard of them.

Steve Jobs, who died on October 5, 2011 at the age of 56, was a college dropout because his parents could no longer afford to keep him in the expensive Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Even after dropping out of college, Jobs went on to become the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple.

Bill Gates left Harvard after two years. He became successful as a co-founder of Microsoft, the world's largest software company. The 61-year-old billionaire said that if things didn't work out with Microsoft, he would return to college.

Invitation to drop out of college

While most people don't advocate for someone to drop out of college, PayPal founder Peter Thiel has done just that.

The Thiel Fellowship offers intelligent young people $100,000 to leave their studies and work on a startup. Thiel is not a college dropout. In fact, the 49-year-old businessman and philanthropist received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in 1989 and his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1992 from Stanford Law School.
Arnold Schwarzeneggers stint as governor of California was less than stellar. After an initial attempt to pass some impressive reform measures that failed in the Golden States famous referendum process, the so-called governator settled back to serve as a relentlessly moderate Republican politician, mouthing talking points about climate change, and vetoing the occasional wacky bills coming out of the Democratic dominated legislature. He did little if anything to halt or even slow down the relentless decline of California as businesses continued to flee the high tax, massive regulatory regime that adheres on the West Coast.

He also managed to destroy his marriage with an ill-considered affair with one of the maids that resulted in an out of wedlock child.

Schwarzeneggers poor performance in public office has not stopped Californian Republicans from dreaming of running the former action star for the Senate. He has three selling points. He is not a Democrat, at least in name. Dianne Feinstein is in her eighties and really needs to retire. Schwarzenegger is locked in a feud with President of the United States Donald Trump, a man none too popular in blue state California.

Its the last bit that would make a Schwarzenegger run for the Senate and a possible term as a Senator more fascinating. He took over from Trump as the star of Celebrity Apprentice to somewhat disappointing ratings, for which Trump tweeted ridicule.

Schwarzenegger later quit the show citing its association with Trump. The president tweeted that Schwarzenegger was actually fired from the show. The former movie actor shot back that the president was clearly in love with him.

Oh, what fun may be in store.

A number of questions arise. Does Trump support Schwarzenegger despite his well-documented contempt for the man?

What is Schwarzeneggers position on Calexit?

To be sure, if Arnold actually becomes a senator he may have to be reconciled with the president. To get things done, he would not be advised to make speeches on the floor denouncing Trump as a girly man. If Schwarzenegger lacks an idea of how to bend the knee to Trump and make it look good, he would need to turn to Ted Cruz. The senator from Texas can give him some pointers.
President Donald Trump is starting to pay some attention to the trillion dollar infrastructure scheme, something that it is said will be partially financed by private capital. Trump, a builder in private life, is certainly keen to get the road and bridge repairs started. However, he is said to be interested in high-speed rail, something that has proven to be a boondoggle, particularly in California where it is behind schedule and over budget. But, Elon Musk, the presidents unlikely tech advisor, is telling him about what he thinks is a better idea, the Hyperloop.

The Hyperloop is an idea developed by Musk that involves building tubes between destinations where capsules filled with people and cargo would be propelled by magnets at supersonic speeds.

One could commute between, say, Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than an hour. Musk claims that he could build such a hyperloop line for a fraction of the cost of high-speed rail. A number of private groups are already working on the technology with one proposed line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The idea of shooting between distant cities faster than an airliner is a beguiling one, though not without danger of nausea depending on how many turns are involved. If the idea works, both economically and technically, the Hyperloop could change transportation in ways that are hard to predict.

It is conceivable that at least a prototype Hyperloop line could be built under Trumps infrastructure scheme, if not in California where rampant environmentalism and corrupt labor unions make it all but impossible to create such projects, then perhaps somewhere else.

Houston to Dallas, where a private group is struggling to build a high-speed rail line, is a possibility. Maybe Houston to New Orleans would work as well.

If the prototype Hyperloop line can be made to work, the technology may gradually start to supplant railroads, an obsolete, 19th Century idea in any case, that is just waiting to be consigned to history,

The idea that Elon Musk and Donald Trump, two men who, albeit of similar expansive visions, are as culturally different as two human beings can be, could make it happen is an only in America story.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden doesnt see why Fbi Director James Comey keeps his Instagram account private, when in fact, the agency demands your data without warrants. Snowdens observation via Twitter follows a remark made by Comey at a cybersecurity conference in Boston College Wednesday, which seems to resonate to the recent controversy CIA is embroiled in.

WikiLeaks dumped a trove of CIA documents revealing the agencys data-gathering tools that turn TVs and smartphones into surveillance devices, prompting a massive uproar. More so, the leaked CIA documents exposed a so-called special hacking unit within the agencys Center for Cyber Intelligence, targeting Android and iOS devices.

There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America, Comey told the audience. There is no place outside of judicial reach. The FBI director also discussed the surge of encryption use ever since Snowden disclosed the agencys invasion of privacy practices in 2013.

Comeys Insta: private

The conference also saw the FBI director revealed that the agency lawfully acquired 2,800 devices from counterintelligence investigations. However, Comey said he values privacy, which led him into telling the audience about his Instagram account. I dont want anybody looking at my pictures, said the director. He added that he has only nine followers, and only family members can view his personal trips. Snowden took to Twitter to respond to the FBI directors revelation with quite a burn.

The FBI Director is bothered by the idea you might see his Insta, but his agency demands your data without warrants: https://t.co/riPF5sh5yI  Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 8, 2017

Comey to finish FBI term amid controversies

The FBI directors Boston appearance comes in the wake of President Trumps accusations via Twitter, saying the Obama administration illegally wiretapped Trump Tower during the election.

Albeit previously accused for causing Hillary Clintons defeat during the 2016 presidential elections, the director said he will be completing his term, which is for 10 years.

Former president Barack Obama appointed Comey in 2013, leaving him with six more years in the post. To stress his stance on keeping the position, he told the audience: "You're stuck with me for about another six-and-a-half years. The FBI director refused several questions from reporters situated within the vicinity, though he did address four queries from the audience that included high-profile members of health care, defense and law enforcement sectors.

Meanwhile, Snowden on Twitter continues his campaign on transparency journalism through the non-profit organization Freedom of the Press in which he is president. The foundation supports encryption tools for journalists to protect communications between them and their respective sources.
In a statement that is causing outrage among left leaning DC politicians and some left wing media, the head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt said Thursday that he does not believe carbon dioxide (CO2) is the major cause of climate change, or what some scientists refer to as global warming. Having made the statement directly to CNBCs Joe Kernan on the cable news outlets Squawk Box program, Pruitt then pointed out that measuring human activity with any degree precision is at best challenging. That said, there still exists much disagreement about the degree of CO2s impact.

He said that as the evidence stands now, he would not agree that CO2 is the primary contributor to global warming.

Global warming debate and analysis to continue

However, according to a report by CNN, Pruitt is not ruling out CO2 as a primary culprit of global warming. But he stresses the need for continued debate, review, and analysis. Its notable if not ironic that Pruitt who now heads the EPA, sued the same government organization several times over while the Attorney General for the State of Oklahoma. Because of those lawsuits, Pruitt was besieged with hard questions and angry comments mostly from Democrat legislators during the recent confirmation hearings in the both the house and the senate.

At that time, Pruitt admitted that science is telling us the climate is changing and that human activity impacts the change. At present, the EPA states that from 1990 to 2010, greenhouse gasses have increased more than 35%. At the same time, CO2 emissions have increased 42%.

Global warming Dems denounce Pruitt

Gina McCarthy, who was Pruitts predecessor at the EPA said she cant imagine what further proof Pruitt needs in order to believe that rising CO2 emissions is exacerbating the speed and threat of global warming.

McCarthy also scorned Pruitt for his alleged plan to layoff up to 43% of existing EPA scientists while eliminating in its entirety, the US Climate Global Research Program. In light of these proposed staff and program shakeups, McCarthy expressed concern over what she foresees as a new EPA devoid of scientific data and so-called facts.

Global warming and climate change denier

CNN also stated in its report that Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz has accused Pruitt of being a climate change and Global Warming Denier and therefore, unfit to head up the EPA. The executive director of the Sierra Club, Michael Brune, who supported Hillary Clinton in the 2017 Presidential campaign, is also said to have expressed similar sentiments. In his defense, Pruitt has pushed back against his opponents by stating the EPA under his command will have many priorities, the improvement of overall clean air quality being one of them.
According to police in Nashville, Tennessee, they have on Wednesday arrested Christopher Drew McLawhorn, 24, for the stabbing of Nashville nurse, Tiffany Ferguson, 23, late in February. McLawhorn has been charged with both criminal homicide and aggravated burglary. The police department tweeted the news Wednesday night.

Nashville nurse stabbed to death in her bedroom

WBIR quoted a statement by the Metro Nashville Police Department, which said Ferguson was stabbed to death in her bedroom in what was reportedly a random attack, while the alleged killer was in the process of robbing her condo.

Police said the nurse, who worked at St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville, confronted the intruder which led to the attack and her death.

McLawhorn caught on video tape

Police said McLawhorn was a suspect after they pulled CCTV video from Fergusons apartment building showing a man trying the doors of parked cars in the early morning of the day Ferguson died. Reportedly the video footage showed the man finding an unlocked car and rummaging through the vehicle at around 5.00 a.m. The video ended up being a key component in the police case against McLawhorn. According to police, McLawhorn had also been seen roaming around different locations in the area where Ferguson lived.

Police believe Ferguson then decided to check for unlocked apartments in the building and that he got lucky with Fergusons door, entering the condo and searching for valuables.

According to police, he left the apartment with stolen goods on at least one occasion, placing them outside before reentering the condo to continue his search.

While Ferguson was initially been arrested on Sunday relating to a marijuana charge, on Wednesday investigators reportedly had enough evidence to charge McLawhorn with Tiffany's death.

Roommate awoken by screams

On the morning it happened, the nurses roommate was reportedly awoken by piercing screams. When she ran out of her bedroom she reportedly saw the front door wide open, then she discovered Ferguson dying in her bedroom and dialed 911.

Arrest made in Nashville nurse's stabbing death https://t.co/qFOxGhbFsU pic.twitter.com/cVO9JYDUp6  WBIR Channel 10 (@wbir) March 9, 2017

Tiffany Ferguson helped homeless people in her area

WSGW quotes Fergusons sister, 32-year-old Molly Cox as saying Ferguson was a caring person, who had lived in the condo for just under a year. She was reportedly a nurse in the intensive care unit at St. Thomas West Hospital and had been known to give money and food to homeless people in her immediate area.
A study conducted by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) found that undocumented immigrants contribute over $11 billion in tax revenue to the US economy each year. The study, which is based upon state and local tax data analysis, also found that undocumented people in the US pay a higher effective tax rate than the top 1% income bracket in 48 States across the country. ITEP executive director and study author Matt Gardner stated that this new data "certainly makes it hard for people to claim that this is a population that doesnt make any contributions.

The facts

ITEP's study debunks an age-old myth in the United States; that Undocumented Immigrants do not pay taxes and are a burden on the economy.

The fact of the matter is that undocumented immigrants pay $11 billion in taxes each year. Sales and excise taxes account for $7 billion, along with $3.6 billion in property taxes. Unsurprising to supporters of populists such as Bernie Sanders and President Trump, ITEP's study revealed that so-called "illegal" immigrants pay a larger share of their income than the top 1% in 48 states across the US.

Future policy

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy also found that if Obama-era policies on immigration were kept in tact and undocumented immigrants were granted green cards, they would contribute an additional $2.1 billion annually added onto the $11 billion they already pay annually. ITEP's Matt Gardner has said that extra wage gains for undocumented immigrants would come from "more people being incorporated into the system and having income tax withheld from their paychecks who arent having that income tax withheld right now. The study also estimated that amnesty for undocumented workers would grant them a 10% wage increase, only helping the US economy.

The candidacy and subsequent presidency of Donald Trump has elevated immigration to major issue-status within US political discourse. With the Trump administration already conducting ICE raids against undocumented immigrants, it appears that information put forth by studies such as this one will have no correlation with White House policy on immigration.
The week after Ryan Owens of SEAL team 6 was killed in Yemen, the then National Security advisor Michael Flynn put Iran on notice as a public provocation for committing hostile acts against U.S. allies Saudi Arabia, through Houthis rebels, as reported by Blasting News.

Since the incident, another operation was completed in Yemen last Thursday and Friday with more than 30 airstrikes against suspected al-Qaeda targets, according to Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis. Davis said there hadn't been any firefights or U.S. ground troops during the raid since the January operation.

SEAL Ryan Owens added to list of casualties

In his statement to reporters, Capt. Davis was adamant about conducting airstrikes on al-Qaeda in Yemen in order to "protect American lives." But the mission with Ryan Owens conducted in January did not only take two American lives, it reportedly also killed more civilians than terrorists. The final report made public on the raid said that 57 people were killed, 16 of which were civilians and the rest, "terrorists" according to Saudi Media.

US launches first military action in Yemen since Navy SEAL Ryan Owens killed https://t.co/G0n3uk7M0x by @LucasFoxNews  Fox News (@FoxNews) March 2, 2017

Many considered the raid a blunder due to the death of the Navy Seal Owens, a six-year-old girl, and the loss of a $75 million dollar military aircraft which even the Trump administration would not accept blame for after attempting to defend it as a successful mission.

President Trump would later isolate the responsibility of the Yemen raid to the generals who carried it out. This is further validated by the fact that in a hearing on Thursday, CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph Votel took responsibility for the losses.

Casualties of Yemen raids

Gen. Votel even acknowledged during the hearing that there were civilian casualties, aside from those carrying out the raid who were wounded.

In 2014, the U.S. conducted another Yemen raid against the same group to save freelance photojournalist for Yemen Times Luke Somers under the Obama administration. It was actually the second attempt to rescue him since being kidnapped in Sana. But he was seriously wounded during that raid and later died from his wounds along with another hostage, South African teacher Pierre Korkie.

Many families have reacted strongly to these losses. Reports of the most recent raid state that all of those killed were militants, the AFP was told eight al-Qaeda militants to be exact, which included a commander named Saad Atef. The details of the raid come from tribal sources in Shabwa, Abyan and al-Bayda provinces, an area that The Pentagon confirmed they conducted airstrikes in. But, those sources also say that U.S. ground troops engaged in a few firefights with militants despite Gen. Jeff Davis saying it was not true.

The aftermath

Military officers arent happy with Trumps tribute to fallen Navy SEAL Ryan Owens https://t.co/XRA6FmcAil pic.twitter.com/CC23oLbeQ2  BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) March 1, 2017

One report by Al Jazeera says that local residents in provinces reported two gun battles between U.S.

troops and al-Qaeda, which the Pentagon has denied. Even with a hint of casualties, however, the overall view from even the "botched" raid in January is that it was successful since the military was able to gather intelligence nonetheless. What's left is the reaction for the death of Ryan Owens in the form of political criticism and anger from his father, who reportedly refused to meet with President Trump when he went to pay his respects at his son's funeral.

In a more symbolic gesture during President Trump's first address to Congress in February, he invited Ryan Owens' widow to the speech who received a standing ovation from both Republicans and Democrats. To go with the criticism, Trump's address is said to be the first time since his inauguration that he appeared "presidential" and less controversial. By paying respects in public during the address to the fallen Navy SEAL, it would serve to improve the president's reputation in the space of public opinion.
Yesterdays news that former national security advisor Michael Flynn belatedly registered as a foreign agent after having been paid $530,000.00 for work carried out for a firm linked to the Turkish government points the spotlight on how the Oval Office chooses its nominations for important positions.

White House

The admission yesterday by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer that President Donald Trump did not know that Michael Flynn was a foreign agent offers proof that the Oval Office does not carry out thorough checking of its nominees.

Michael Flynn had been forced to resign in February due to his contacts with Sergey Kislyak, Russias Ambassador to the United States.

While the ostensible reason for the resignation was his having lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the contents of these discussions, specifically the sanctions placed on Russia by the Obama Administration, the revelation of his new status displays a worrying low level of control by the White House of its nominations for important positions.

This weeks news reported in the Guardian that Heather Wilson may withdraw from consideration as the new Air Force Secretary due to possible ethics reasons following the previous withdrawals by Vincent Viola for the Army and Philip Bilden for the Navy for the same reasons only confirm this impression of incomplete background checks before their names are even considered.

Surprises

The new Administration has had what can only be described as an unorthodox, stormy and controversial start, adding to the mix suspect nominations only creates more confusion that is impeding proper government of the country.

In his tweets President #Donald Trump states that his staff and Administration are running smoothly, yet there are nearly three thousand positions yet to be filled and a shadow still hangs over Attorney General #Jeff Sessions over his own contacts with Russian Ambassador.

This is not the picture of a well oiled machine at work, but of one missing quite a few pieces. The country can only hope that when the pieces are finally inserted that they have been properly checked and certified as suitable for their role and that they do not become other sources of unpleasant news in the future.

The United States has already seen too many surprises since the Inauguration on January 8th. We can all hope that there will not be any more in at least the immediate future, beginning in the White House.
The euphoria of campaign rallies can easily sway politicians, especially those with little self control. During the 2016 presidential campaign #Donald Trump revelled in the atmosphere of his rallies which then became the subject of many tweets bragging about the people number of present. He soon understood what these followers wanted and so certain themes became constants. Now it is the time to pay for these promises and the costs are not just in money.

Mexico

The border wall was a constant theme of the Trump rallies with his comments on bad Mexicans who raped and sold drugs.

Following his Inauguration one of the first orders signed was for its construction and the President delighted in repeating his remarks about Mexicans and how their government would pay for it. He paid the first price that day.

Mexicos President Enrique Pena Nieto immediately cancelled a planned visit to the White House which was seen by all as a response to the newly Presidents remarks. These also became the subject of much derision on the social media and not just by Mexicans.

Economic costs

It is easy to talk about the economic costs and the border wall soon became the subject of much speculation about its apparent cost of over $25 billion, even though no true costing for the project had been carried out.

President Trump answered that the wall would be paid for by the Mexicans, but no explanation was given on how, a now eternal element of orders signed in the Oval Office. At the same time the costs of maintaining the wall have not been determined

One means of making the Mexicans pay for the wall was touted, to increase border taxes on goods coming into the United States but this quickly disappeared because this would have had unforeseen economic and political costs as it would have been paid by the American customers and would also have led to increased costs for the country's population as a high percentage of food items consumed in the country comes from South of the border.

Image

Another non economic cost of the wall was the damage that it is causing to the international image of the United States and its prestige as a place of refuge for people fleeing from dictatorships and hardships for a new life in what was known as the Land of the free.

The international image of a wall is as a symbol of oppression and control of populations and the most famous of these was of course that of the Berlin Wall which stood as a stark symbol of the Cold War.

To many around the world the news that America was building a wall to stop people entering was seen as the end of an era and nobody can say what this will mean in the future.

This image is particularly important on the southern border of the country as it was the means of escape for refugees who each year flee not only the dictatorships in Latin America, but also difficult economic conditions. The end of the dream of escape from oppression is another non economic cost of the border wall and one that damages the reputation of the United States.

Another cost of the wall will be the disruption in many rural activities in those areas where Mexican workers provide the bulk of the labour. The effects of the loss of these workers will be felt for some time in the future and may well lead to reduced production in at least the short term.

Admission

Yesterdays admission by Republican Senate Leader #Mitch McConnell that Mexico probably wont pay for the wall was a surprisingly honest admission that the United States would ultimately end up coveringall the costs, but this does not allow for the other prices that the country will have to pay for it.

In 1987 Republican President Ronald Reagan with a speech in Berlin made history when he called on the Soviet Union to tear down this wall! Now another Republican President, Donald Trump, is making another form of history in building a wall along his countrys southern border.

What has happened since Reagan and what price will America ultimately pay for the wall?
Ok, so it's a new week, which means we got a new batch of official spoilers for the upcoming "The Blacklist" episode 14 of season 4 from the lovely folks over at NBC. They gave us three very interesting storyline reveals that lets us know that we'll be seeing a bigtime undercover operation get set into motion by Aram at one point. Tom is going to keep trying to locate the missing intel about his childhood. We'll also see Red still trying to find out who messed up his business operations, and more.

It's "The Architect"

I'm going to go over the title for a second.

It's named: "The Architect." According to the official description, there's going to be a notorious criminal that's on the loose. What this criminal does, is designs and constructs perfect crimes for cash, and will even go as far as to execute the crime if you pay enough. I'm guessing this is what that "Architect" title is referring to. As in an architect of crimes. It's pretty clever.

Undercover hacker situation

Anyways, they go on to tell us that Aram is going to launch a big undercover operation to try to hunt down this perfect crime, architect criminal. His undercover identity will be a hacker. They didn't reveal if Aram's attempt will be successful or not, so we're going to have to wait and see the episode to see how this plan works out.

It definitely sounds like it'll provide a very entertaining scene or scenes.

Tom takes it to the next level

Next, in this 2nd teaser, we've got Tom back in the mix. They tell us that he is actually going to expand his current search that involves him, trying to discover a lot of details that are missing in reference to his childhood.

Will Tom finally find everything that he's been searching for? Or will the full truth continue to evade him? These are a couple of questions that they definitely need to hurry up and answer, so we can wrap up this storyline. We'll see if they get it done in this episode.

He keeps looking

Lastly, we've got the focus on Red in this final plotline teaser.

It turns out that he'll steal be searching for some answers as to who in the hell had the nerve to compromise his freaking business operations. They didn't reveal if Red will finally track down this culprit, so that's another thing that we'll have to wait and watch the episode for.

However, we do expect NBC to drop a new promo/spoiler clip for episode 14, tonight, after episode 13 finishes up. Be sure to look out for it as it should deliver up some extra details for the episode. It usually does,anyways. According to the press release, episode 14 will ,indeed, be airing next Thursday night, February 16th,2017 at 9pm central time on NBC. Stay tuned.
According to reports, unnamed GOP insiders have claimed that Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering the idea to run for the United States Senate. Conflicts between him and current President of the United States, Donald Trump, are believed to be an influence.

The news is coming from anonymous sources from the GOP

Schwarzenegger would reportedly be interested in running during the 2018 Senate race, when Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, would be up for reelection. One anonymous veteran GOP strategist has claimed that this action could also give Schwarzenegger the opportunity to "jam" President Donald Trump over "the next 16 months."

While both Republican, Schwarzenegger and Trump have had some conflict over the past few months.

After Schwarzenegger took over Trump's role in the series, "The Apprentice," the President criticized the ratings, and compared it to the ratings that the show held when he appeared. A later post featured the President labeling his replacement on the show as a "big, big movie star," which was later given a response from Schwarzenegger, suggesting that they trade jobs. Another post from Schwarzenegger also poked fun at controversy over Trumps tax returns.

Trump and Schwarzenegger once had a better relationship

At one point in their lives, Trump and Schwarzenegger were believed to have a more cordial relationship. They had been seen having a conversation together at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York, that reportedly led to Schwarzenegger transferring his entourage to one of Trump's hotels.

Before taking on Trump's role as host on the series, Schwarzenegger had also made an appearance on the series, "The Apprentice: Los Angeles" in 2007. At the time, Trump was known to describe Schwarzenegger as a "great friend." Trump had also financially supported Schwarzenegger during his 2006 reelection campaign.

It had likely been during Trump's presidential campaign that their relationship became less friendly.

Schwarzenegger supported Ohio Governor John Kasich in the Republican primary. He also appeared to oppose Trump after it had been made clear that he would be the Republican candidate in the presidential election, even releasing a statement emphasizing the importance of supporting ones "country over your party."
Javi Marroquin has gone through a lot since returning home from Qatar last fall. He left to serve the country with a wife and two kids waiting for him and when he returned, he was homeless and on his way through a divorce. Marroquin has been starring on the MTV show, "Teen Mom 2," but now he is hoping to hop onto another show on the same network.

After finalizing his divorce last December, Javi Marroquin is ready to look for love again. According to Wet Paint, "Are You The One?" received an audition tape from Marroquin. He wants to join the show to try and find love because he reportedly has tried every other avenue.

Right now, the show is airing Season 5 and it is very likely they would cast Javi just because he is a recognizable reality star.

What is 'Are You The One?'

This is an MTV-based reality show where 10 men and 10 women are matched by experts and live in a house together. They have to find their perfect match and if they do, the entire group will win a cash prize. Of course, there will be plenty of drama as they navigate the dating pool, especially with the ones who are hooking up but turn out not to be a match. Each week, they will go into a booth to find out if the one they are with is truly who they are supposed to end up with.

If Javi Marroquin is indeed cast for Season 6, it will be the third show he will appear on.

Last fall, he taped "Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars" with ex-wife, Kailyn Lowry to try and learn how to effectively communicate. Rumors circulated that the two were going to get back together but as it turns out, that was not the case at all. This will be airing shortly on the WE network.

Javi deserves happiness

After everything Javi Marroquin has been through, he deserves to find love.

While there are two sides to every story, the way things are playing out on "Teen Mom 2" aren't looking favorable for Kailyn Lowry. She recently announced she was pregnant with her third child, and Marroquin is not the father. When she neglected to tell him, things got more intense. Fans wish the best for Marroquin in his search to find the one.
Disney shareholders and journalists gathered in Denver, Colorado last night and were among some of the first people on the planet to witness for themselves the opening sequence and selected short scenes of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," the highly anticipated sequel to "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." The film is not only a sequel, it's the middle act of a new trilogy that is in fact the 8th episode of three film trilogies that continue the adventures of the Skywalker family as first created, directed and released by George Lucas in 1977. 2017 marks the 40 year anniversary of the franchise.

The reported opening sequence twist

Journalist Daniel Miller, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, wasted no time at all once he saw the footage and began to tweet out a detailed description of what he had just witnessed. While the opening sequence has been known, the movie has always been reported to begin exactly where the last film ended, we finally now have confirmation that Luke speaks to Rey. Luke Skywalker asks Rey, "Who are you?" as the potential Jedi hands over the long lost lightsaber of the Jedi Master. So while Rey knows exactly who Luke is, the Jedi Master doesn't instantly recognize Rey at the start of the film.

We just saw more "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" footage. In it, Luke asks Rey, "Who are you?" Then we see her deftly handle a lightsaber.  Daniel Miller (@DanielNMiller) March 8, 2017

The franchise has lost many of the original actors

2016 was a brutal year of loss in the "Star Wars" franchise and fandom.

Carrie Fisher, best known as Princess Leia Organa Solo, and Kenny Baker, known for his contributions as the droid R2-D2 and the Ewok named Paploo in "Return of the Jedi," were both major losses last year with Fisher directly impacting the future of the franchise with her role in the last film of new trilogy now impossible to complete.

Other notable losses include the 2000 death of Sir Alec Guinness who portrayed Obi Wan Kenobi and Peter Wilton Cushing who died in 1994 and had portrayed Grand Moff Tarkin, a character he posthumously reprised for "Rogue One," a completely digital role that stunned moviegoers.

A variety of landscapes await movie viewers

Miller also gave us an idea about the settings we'd see claiming he witnessed, "Mountains, oceans, forests, deserts," in the new "Star Wars" film.

Fans speculate that a large part of the next film will be spent with Luke Skywalker training Rey on an exotic planet that echoes, "The Empire Strikes Back." The scenery of the franchise has taken us to many epic locations in the past such as Dagobah, Cloud City, Tatooine, Endor, Coruscant and Naboo. Fans are eager to learn of new locations within the "Star Wars" galaxy and "The Last Jedi" will surely take us all somewhere exotic that we've never seen before through the magic of cinema.
Christie's Asia Week auctions start next week and go through March 17, featuring classical Chinese furniture and Chinese art from the Fujita Museum in Japan.

The New York auction house will have seven live auctions and one online sale, with seven of them being Chinese ceramics, fine paintings, snuff bottles, pieces from the Fujita Museum and the Marie Theresa L. Virata collection. It will also have one sale of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian works of art.

The Fujita Museum auction will feature "some of the top, top masterpieces you can find in Chinese art," said Margaret Gristina, senior specialist and head of sales at Christie's.

The Virata collection features rare pieces of Chinese furniture to come on the market, she said.

The Viratas were a prominent Filipino family whose collecting spanned multiple generations, starting with Marie Theresa L. Virata, wife of Leonides Sarao Virata, Filipino economist and former secretary of the Filipino Department of Commerce and Industry.

The family was particularly interested in collecting classical Chinese furniture and focused on provenance, or ownership history, making their collection particularly valuable, according to Christie's. Included among the pieces is an important zitan (rosewood) luohan bed from the 18th century, estimated to sell for $2 million to $3 million.

The Fujita Museum in Osaka has more than 2,000 Japanese and Chinese works of art, and the collection being sold at Christie's contains classical paintings, scholar's objects and important pieces of ritual bronzes from the Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou (c 11th century-221 BC) dynasties. A ram-shaped, rare bronze ritual wine vessel is estimated at $6 million to $8 million.

Gristina dismissed concerns over a continued slowdown in the art or lessened interest from Chinese buyers, saying sales at Christie's Asia Week in September were "very strong" .

"We just had great sales in London this past week ... and it's still early in the year. Just the interest in this sale is a good indication that [the market] is still strong," she said.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com
With global connectivity having fueled its 40-year growth spurt, China is now looking to help its fast-growing neighbors build infrastructure needed to tap international markets.

And that means opportunity for the US,experts said on March 2 at a Belt and Road Initiative conferenceat the Carter Center in Atlanta.

Fueled by billions in infrastructure funds, the ambitious plan aims to restore or enhance millennia-old links between China and its historic trading partners. China has already begun helping countries and international organizations which showed interest in the plan to accelerate their existing growth plans through capital and construction know-how.

So far, about 40 countries and international organizations signed cooperation agreement with China.

Nicholas Kwan, research directorof the Hong Kong Trade Development Council,believes the world is in need of productive capital, especially in a time of "de-globalization".

"We are at a time when capital only goes to quick and easy places and perceivedsafe places after the crisis," Kwan said.

In a venue that housesthe library and nonprofit of US President Jimmy Carter, who normalized relations with China, speakers acknowledged how far bilateralties have come since 1979.

But working together commercially in Asia won't necessarily be easy as many major economies like the US seem to be shifting inward.

Geopolitical tensions are also mounting, asUS President Donald Trump has surrounded himself with economic advisers wary of China's rise and defense officials taking a harder line on China's stance in the South China Sea.

Tian Deyou, minister counselor for economics at the Chinese Embassy,emphasized that Belt and Road Initiative focuses onlong-term growth and is"open and inclusive", providing opportunities for American firms with exposure inChina,like Dell, John Deere, Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar.

GE Power is a tangibleexample. The American giant is working with aconsortium ofChinese utilitiesto build three plants in Pakistan, a deal that made use of its deep China partnerships and financial support of the Chinese government, said James Suciu, GE's vice-president of strategic accounts.

"Chinese engineering-procurement-construction companies are great partners, and with that, because of our footprint we can obviously tap into that financing that's available for Chinese exports, and we do it quite a bit," Suciu said.

These stories show how the bilateral relationship can work, despite the rocky start under the new president, Tian said.

"We respect the choice of the American people, and we are ready to do our best to try and continue the existing China-American relationship," Tian said.

"This is too big of a relationship. We have to treat it with care."

(China Daily USA 03/10/2017 page2)
David Dollar, then Beijing-based World Bank country director for China and Mongolia, plays mahjong during a break at a World Bank-financed project in Chongqing, in a file photo taken around 2007. Photos Provided To China Daily

David Dollar has spent a lifetime studying China, including nearly a decade living and working in China as a professor, World Bank official and US Treasury emissary

David Dollar was about to graduate from high school when US President Richard Nixon made his historic trip to China in February 1972. He enrolled in Dartmouth College to study Chinese language and history.

Now a senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, Dollar recalled that Nixon's trip caught a lot of attention on television in the US "in the sense that China was starting to open up".

"It was the beginning of a new era. So I think that influenced me to study Chinese language and Chinese history," he told China Daily in his Brookings office.

Pictures on the wall show his close connection with China, such as ones with his family on the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall outside Beijing, playing mahjong during a break at a World Bank project site in Chongqing, and a 2006 group photo of him with then Premier Wen Jiabao and other recipients of the Friendship Award, the top prize for foreign experts working in China.

At Dartmouth, Dollar studied Chinese history and politics, everything from the communist revolution to the founding of the People's Republic.

He liked the small classes with specialized faculty at Dartmouth. Some classes had five or six students. The Chinese language was difficult, he admitted.

Finishing Dartmouth in just three years, Dollar received a fellowship to study Chinese at a university in Taiwan. He spent the academic year living with a local family and spoke Chinese every day. "Back then, my Chinese was mamahuhu (so so), not bad," he said.

Taiwan just had a new leader Chiang Ching-kuo, son of former leader Chiang Kai-shek who passed away in April 1975. The Taiwan economy was taking off and exports were booming, very much like what would happen on the Chinese mainland a decade later.

"That was when I got interested in economics, watching the export boom in Taiwan," Dollar said.

Returning to the US, he went in the PhD program at New York University, focusing on international trade and investment. He remembers the macroeconomics exam on balance of payment back then is still quite relevant today.

First trip to China

After graduating in 1984, Dollar went to teach economics at UCLA, a school that had quite a few collaborative programs with China. In 1986, he made his first trip to the Chinese mainland, teaching for six months at the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

China was still relatively poor then. There were no elevated roads in Beijing and the Third Ring Road was just under construction, he recalled.

Dollar found that China's economic reform at the time had a major impact on the countryside, but not as much in big cities. China had not yet got rid of the rationing system and dual currency system. He had a little booklet to show the stores that as a foreign expert working in China, he could pay with renminbi (RMB) instead of FEC (foreign exchange certificates). But he found the stores were not always happy hearing that.

In his early 30s then, Dollar spent a month travelling around China, from Sichuan, Yunnan to Guangdong and the east coast. There were no airports at Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan province then, so he had to travel from Kunming by bus.

He travelled between Suzhou and Hangzhou in East China on an overnight barge on the Grand Canal. "That was unbelievable," he said.

Travelling around the country, Dollar found ordinary Chinese were very friendly. "I told them I was an American, they had very positive attitude. That was nice," he said.

He also saw a lot of enthusiasm in the countryside about economic reform. "That was visible. People's lives were getting better," he said.

He was impressed how open China was, recalling a lot of interesting discussions with his students on topics ranging from Taiwan and US-China relations to China's economic reform.
Few people would assert that politics is calmer than yoga but this is how Merlene Emerson describes her campaigning for the Lib Dems, Britain's centrist party.

"I stopped teaching yoga because I couldn't dedicate the time to it but I see politics like karma yoga, which is the yoga of action," she says.

Emerson was a banking lawyer with a big commercial law firm until she became involved in charitable and political work, for which she was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth last year.

She co-founded the Chinese Liberal Democrats in 2006 to ensure a greater political representation of British Chinese and to encourage their involvement in politics. She is also one of the founding trustees of the Chinese Welfare Trust, which helps elderly Chinese living in London with housing needs.

Her political outspokenness comes after the self-described dutiful daughter studied law because "Chinese parents expect us to enter one of the professions. My sister is a doctor so I chose law," she says.

Both her parents have roots in Fujian province of China with their families eventually ending up in Singapore, where she was born. Her maiden name is Toh in the Hokkien dialect, or Du in Mandarin, and she may have an ancestral link to Du Fu, the eighth century poet. "I like to think we are descendants but we probably aren't!"

She recalls the strength of her Chinese upbringing and she loved the Chinese New Year celebrations. "Chinese culture is very strong overseas and maybe we hold on to it even more outside China. Parts of it get diluted with every generation but it's still important."

She moved to Britain when she was 18 to study at King's College, London and then took a Master of Laws at Cambridge University. "I was a child of the British Empire so it wasn't too much of a shock moving here," she says. She had also trained as a ballet dancer and she took up contemporary and jazz dance while in the UK.

Between 1992 and 1999, she, her husband, who is a management consultant, and their two sons moved back to Singapore where she was a partner in a medium-sized law firm. They returned to the UK when her eldest son was on track to attend St Paul's School, one of the top, fee-paying schools in the country.

"I then had something of a mid-life crisis," says Emerson, who is now 56.

"When I worked in the City, I used to feel so proud when I worked all night but I knew I didn't want to go back to that."

She trained as a commercial mediator as well as volunteering and specializing in working for several housing associations that serve among others Vietnamese refugees from the 1980s.

She joined the Lib Dems because she felt no affinity with either the Conservatives, which tends more toward free-market liberalism, or the Labour Party, which has roots in traditional working class politics.

"Politics can be very tribal and I didn't share the values or manifestos of the other parties," she says. "The Lib Dems are more in the middle, very moderate and more Chinese, in that they are not extreme."

She has stood for election to the London Assembly and as a Parliamentary candidate and she has her "eye on the prize" for the 2020 London elections.

"London is larger constituency because you get to serve very diverse communities," she says. "But 2020 is a long way away so every day I just carry on with what I do."

She is very proud of her work with the Chinese Liberal Democrats. "We look to inform the party of the needs and aspirations of British Chinese as well as translate the aims of the Libs Dems for the British Chinese," she says.

"We also work on improving China-UK relations, to improve understanding, and to facilitate growth and investment."

She tries to visit Singapore at least once a year and has been on several official delegations to China. "I like to see myself as a critical friend of China but every country has to find its own solutions," she says.
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Several states said on Thursday they would move forward with legal challenges to a revised executive order signed by President Donald Trump this week that temporarily bars the admission of refugees and some travelers from a group of Muslim-majority countries.

The new travel order, which is set to take effect on March 16, changed and replaced a more sweeping ban issued on Jan. 27 that caused chaos and protests at airports.

The first order was hit by more than two dozen lawsuits, including a challenge brought by Washington state and joined by Minnesota.

In response to Washington's suit, US District Judge James Robart in Seattle ordered an emergency halt to the policy last month. That ruling was upheld by an appeals court in San Francisco.

Washington state Attorney General Robert Ferguson said on Thursday he planned to ask Robart to confirm that his ruling would also apply to Trump's revised order, which would halt it from being implemented.

Ferguson told a news conference the new order harmed a "smaller group" of individuals but that would not affect the state's ability to challenge it in court.

He said the burden was on the Trump administration to show that the court ruling from last month did not apply to its new policy.

A US Department of Justice spokeswoman declined to comment on pending litigation.

The government has said the president has wide authority to implement immigration policy and that the travel rules are necessary to protect against terrorist attacks.

New York's attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, said on Thursday he would be joining Washington's lawsuit against the new ban and the state of Oregon said it would join too.

The opposition comes on top of a separate legal challenge to the new ban brought by Hawaii on Wednesday. Hawaii had also sued over the previous order and is seeking to amend its complaint to include the new ban. A hearing in that case is set for next Wednesday, a day before the clock starts on the new order.

The states and immigration advocates argue the new ban, like the original one, discriminates against Muslims.

Trump's new executive order was designed with the intention of avoiding the legal hurdles.

While the new order keeps a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, it excludes Iraq.

Refugees are still halted from entering the country for 120 days, but the new order removed an indefinite ban on all refugees from Syria.

The revisions include explicit exemptions for legal permanent residents or existing visa holders and waivers are allowed on a case-by-case basis for some business, diplomatic and other travelers.

The first hurdle for the lawsuits will be proving "standing," which means finding someone who has been harmed by the policy. With so many exemptions, legal experts have said it might be hard to find individuals a court would rule have a right to sue.

Reuters
Oil fell about 2 percent on Thursday, extending the previous session's slump to prices not seen since an OPEC-led pact to cut production was agreed, as record US crude inventories fed doubts about the effectiveness of the deal to curb a global glut.

US crude prices fell through the $50 a barrel support level, with market participants unwinding some of the massive number of bullish wagers they had amassed after the deal.

The losses followed Wednesday's slide of more than 5 percent, the steepest in a year, after data showed crude stocks in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, swelled by 8.2 million barrels last week to a record 528.4 million barrels.

But several analysts remained bullish on oil for the long term.

"Headline risk can capture the imagination of the market over the near term, but we see dips as short-lived, key buying opportunities," RBC analysts said in a note.

"Record high inventory levels are reason for pause, but we believe that the market is overly focused on US stocks ... The US will be the last of the major regions to rebalance stocks given that storage capacity remains abundant, cheap and US shale is extremely elastic in a $50 per barrel price environment."

Brent crude settled 92 cents, or 1.7 percent, lower at $52.19 a barrel. On Wednesday, the benchmark slumped 5 percent, its biggest daily percentage move in a year.

US crude extended Wednesday's 5.4 percent losses by 2 percent, or $1, to end at $49.28 a barrel, the first time below the $50-mark since mid December.

Brent and US crude hit respective session lows of $51.50 and $48.59, levels not seen since the OPEC cuts were announced at the end November.

Both benchmarks, however, were still within a tight range of about $3-$5 that they have been trading in since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed with other major producers, including Russia, to curb output during the first half of the year in a bid to lift prices after a two-year rout.

"I still think we will stick in a fairly narrow range with the current levels reflecting the average price for the remainder of the year and a bottom of around $40 and a top end of somewhere around $60," said Chris Gaffney, president of EverBank World Markets in St. Louis, Missouri.

Options trade also reflected hopes that prices would recover. Two of the three most actively traded options in US crude were the April $50 calls with more than 24,000 lots traded and the April $51 calls CL510D7 with more than 17,000 lots changing hands by afternoon.

"Given that we do expect OECD oil stocks to decline substantially this year helped by the large OPEC cuts and robust global demand growth, we consider the recent drop in crude oil prices to be a good opportunity to enter into bullish option structures," strategists at Societe Generale said in a note.

But US drilling has picked up, with producers planning to expand crude production in North Dakota, Oklahoma and other shale regions. The Permian, America's largest oilfield, has seen output jump.

However, senior Saudi energy officials told top independent US oil firms in a closed-door meeting this week that they should not assume OPEC would extend output curbs to offset rising production from US shale fields, two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Reuters
South Korean constitutional court upholds impeachment of President Park.

The bill to impeach President Park was passed in the National Assembly on Dec 9 by an overwhelming majority.

A total of 20 hearings had been held since Feb 27. Tens of witnesses appeared in the courtroom for questioning.

In recent months, almost 80 percent of South Koreans had supported Park's impeachment, but some 15 percent had opposed it.

If the court upholds the motion, President Park will become the first South Korean leader to be ousted through impeachment.

In 2004, late President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached, but he was reinstated two months later.
China's biggest sport-utility vehicle maker is reconsidering its plan to build a plant in Mexico that would have made its bestselling cars for the US market, joining a growing list of global carmakers reviewing investment plans after tax threats by US President Donald Trump.

Great Wall Motor Co might choose the US instead for its first North American plant, general manager Wang Fengying said in an interview in Beijing.

``Your decisions should always adapt to the dynamic changes," said Wang. There used to be many carmakers building plants in Mexico, but Trump had affected their decision-making, he said.

The company has a research center in Los Angeles and would accelerate preparations to develop US-certified versions of its Haval SUVs for sale by 2020, Wang said.

The company was exploring opportunities in developed markets and wanted to make the Haval brand global by 2020, he said. More than four of every five vehicles Great Wall sells is an SUV.

Trump has promised to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and criticized carmakers including General Motors and Toyota Motor Corp for shifting production south of the border. Under threats of punitive import duties, Ford Motor and Japanese car-parts maker Nisshinbo Holdings said they would scrap or reconsider new plants in Mexico.

Great Wall is one of several Chinese carmakers hoping to break into the US with its own brands. Guangzhou Automobile Group plans to start exporting its Trumpchi models to the US next year, while Warren Buffett-backed BYD and Volvo Cars owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group have also declared American ambitions.

"Building in the US is a hedge against a potential future trade barrier with Mexico," said Bill Russo, managing director of Gao Feng Advisory and former head of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chrysler unit in China. "It would add cost to producing the vehicles but it reduces the potential tax risk."

The proposals by Trump and lawmakers would raise the average cost of a car in the US by about $3,300 and could even cost American jobs because carmakers sourced parts from around the world, Munich-based consultant Roland Berger said on Wednesday.

The price increases would lead to about $34.6 billion in higher costs to consumers, assuming US sales at the 17.5-million level recorded last year, the Centre for Automotive Research said in a report on Thursday.

Bloomberg
The international community must "make good on its commitment" to support Afghanistan's economic development, said China's deputy permanent representative to the UN.

On China's part, the One Belt, One Road project of trade initiatives along the Silk Road region has helped promote Afghan economic development and regional cooperation, and it is now "hoped that all parties can jointly promote" the project to assist Afghanistan's social and economic progress, said Wu Haitao on Friday at a UN Security Council meeting about the Middle Eastern nation.

The international community must also "invest heavily" in supporting Afghanistan's national security and defense forces, enhancing its self-defense capability to better respond to threats of terrorism, transnational crimes, and narcotics smuggling, he said.

It must also promote reconciliation in the country and support an Afghan-led process for all parties to join peace talks, Wu said, referring to talks with insurgency leaders that could potentially reach a political settlement and put an end to fighting.

"On matters of Afghanistan it is the Afghanistan people who have the final say. The international community must truly respect the right of the people in independently choosing political systems," he said, "and development path and at the same time on the basis of the national development strategy and specific needs, assist the government in enhancing its administrative capability in a targeted way."

According to the UN Security Council, the overall security situation in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate over the last year and into 2017, with a record 23,712 security instances in 2016, up 5 percent compared to the year before.

The Security Council on Wednesday condemned a terrorist attack on a military hospital in Kabul, which ISIS claimed responsibility for carrying out.

"For generations, China and Afghanistan have been good friends and close neighbors. China looks forward to early fulfillment of peace, security, stability, and development. China will continue to support Afghanistan in enhancing its security capacity building and combating terrorism," Wu said.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com
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HCM City  Hitachi Asia Ltd on Thursday announced the appointment of Kazunori Sudo as general director of Hitachi Asia (Viet Nam) Co Ltd.

His responsibility is to grow operations and expand Hitachis Social Innovation Business in Viet Nam.

Sudo will succeed Akihito Ando, who is assuming the role of general director, Hitachi Elevator Viet Nam Co Ltd. Ando will continue to support Hitachi Asia (Viet Nam) Co Ltd as executive advisor.

Both appointments will be effective from the beginning of next month.

Sudo most recently served as general director of Hitachi Plant Technologies (Viet Nam) Co Ltd and has been proactively expanding business opportunities in the past two years. Under his leadership, the company overcame insolvency in 2015 and achieved a profit ratio of more than 8 per cent in 2016. It also entered into the new markets of IT and water treatment.

With 20 years experience, Sudo is an expert in the chemical industry and independent power generation field. He also has a decade of experience in business planning and development under his belt.

He began his career with Hitachi in 1985 after graduating from Tokyo-based Hitotsubashi Universitys Faculty of Social Sciences.  VNS
The Mekong Innovative Startup Tourism (MIST) on Thursday announced two incubation programmes to support innovative tourism firms in Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The tourism startup incubator programme will accept business ideas in tourism technology forms as well as traditional models of startup businesses in the first stage.

Representatives of selected startup projects will attend a camp where they can develop their business ideas. The best projects from each country will receive MIST awards worth US$7,000-$10,000.

Meanwhile, the market access incubator programme is a chance for larger travel firms, which are in need of support, to access the regional market. Selected project owners will join a fact-finding tour to Mekong River countries to study the market, while being introduced to service providing networks of relevant agencies.

Last year, Viet Nam welcomed more than 10 million foreign visitors. However, Huynh Kim Tuoc, executive director of the Saigon Innovation Hub, noted that Viet Nams tourism products remain poor, and hence should be reformed and diversified to attract more tourists.

He also underlined the significance of regional connectivity in boosting tourism growth, while suggesting the promotion of Vietnamese tourism and the preservation of the sectors unique characteristics.

According to the organising board, the two programmes will receive applications until March 27, 2017. The project owners will have a chance to present their ideas in front of investors, incubators and tourism leaders at the Mekong Tourism Forum in June 2017 in Laos and the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in November in Viet Nam.

The MIST is a joint initiative of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office and the Mekong Business Initiative.  VNS
HA NOI  The drop in import tax on cars from ASEAN countries has led a hike in car imports to Viet Nam in the first two months of this year, especially from Thailand.

The tax was reduced from 40 per cent to 30 per cent under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) early this year. It will be zero per cent by 2018.

According to statistics from Viet Nam Customs, the country imported 8,027 completely built-up units worth US$158.4 million in February, increasing by 627 units but reducing by $5.3 million in value.

Of the figure, nearly 3,160 cars came from Thailand, or 43.2 per cent of the countrys total imports, 21 per cent higher than the previous month.

It was followed by the Republic of Korea with 1,444 units and Indonesia with 1,285 units.

India, which was for many months the leader in exporting cars to Viet Nam, however, witnessed a decline in February with 718 units. Cars from the South Asian country had the lowest value with an average price of $4,255 each.  VNS
Viet Nams derivatives market will start operating in May or June in hopes it will improve Viet Nams securities market and attract more foreign investment.  VNS Photo

HA NOI  Viet Nams derivatives market will start operating in May or June in hopes it will improve Viet Nams securities market and attract more foreign investment, according to the Chairman of the State Securities Commission, Vu Bang.

Bang said at a meeting on Thursday in Ha Noi that the legal framework for the derivatives market has been completed. For example, the finance ministry loosened the regulation on investors margin deposit accounts, and an amended circular on the matter could be issued this month.

Bang added that the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) and the Viet Nam Securities Depository (VSD) have completed developing regulations on the listing, trading, settlement and membership, and those regulations could also go into effect this month.

The trading and settlement systems have been tested and they are now stable and ready for market operation, Bang said, adding that there are 16 brokerage companies ready for the derivatives market, but only half of them are licensed to participate in the market.

Covered warrants are another product expected to become available in September 2017, allowing holders to buy or sell a specific amount of equities, currency or other financial instruments, usually from or to a bank or a similar financial institution, at a specific price and time.

The legal framework for this product has been developed, Bang said. HNX and VSD are developing instructions and criteria to monitor the trading system and the establishment of the covered warrant market.

Local exchanges to be monitored

Bang said that the SSC has submitted a proposal on the merger of the two local exchanges to the Government and ministries for comments. It is likely the two local bourses will be merged and a parent company will be founded to manage the two subsidiaries, which are the HCM and Ha Noi stock exchanges, Bang said.

Merging the two would raise the status of Viet Nams securities market from the frontier level to the emerging level, he said.

Other tasks ahead include raising foreign ownership in listed companies, simplifying administrative procedures for foreign investors, and disclosing business information in English.

Regarding the English information disclosure, Bang said that the SSC will apply the requirement to large-cap firms first because it is difficult to apply it to all listed companies, especially small firms.

According to the SSC, at the end of February 2017, 708 companies and fund certificates were listed on the two local exchanges, and 485 stocks were traded on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) with total listing value of nearly VN778 trillion (US$34.57 billion), an increase of 7 per cent from the end of 2016.

The securities markets capitalisation reached more than VN2.26 trillion (50.3 per cent of Viet Nams gross domestic product)  the highest since 2000 and an increase of 16 per cent from 2016s year-end figure.

Market trading liquidity also improved, with a daily average trading value of VN7.36 trillion, an increase of 6.6 per cent from last years average.

Since the beginning of 2017, foreign investors have recorded net buy values of VN1.54 trillion in stocks and VN5.96 trillion in bonds despite the fact that international investors have moved out of emerging markets like Viet Nam on expectations that the US Fed will raise its lending rates. The value of foreign investment portfolios in the first two months reached a record $18.4 billion.  VNS
HA NOI  The Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) and the Vietnam National Coal  Mineral Industries Holding Corporation (Vinacomin) on Thursday signed a strategic co-operation agreement.

Under the agreement, Vinalines will provide services of container shipping, barges and bulk carriers as requested by Vinacomin to transport goods to local and international destinations.

The group will also supply logistics services, such as warehouse and customs clearance, for Vinacomins shipments.

"The agreement signed with Vinacomin is expected to help Vinalines gradually increase its market share in domestic and international maritime transport," Nguyen Canh Tinh, acting general director of Vinalines, said.

The agreement would start a new chapter for co-operation between the two corporations, Tinh added, saying that Vinalines has pledged to become a trustworthy partner and contribute to the success of Vinacomin.

Vinacomin general director ang Thanh Hai said each year, the corporation needs to transport 35 million tonnes of goods on the waterway and seaway. The figure is forecast to increase to 40 million tonnes by 2020, thus the partnership with Viet Nams largest maritime shipping group would bring more benefits to Vinacomin.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong said the agreement would create favourable conditions for the two sides to closely monitor the progress of goods transportation and control costs.

The deputy minister said he hoped Vinalines would find ways to avoid losses and waste during operation, which would help reduce transport costs for customers.  VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved the expansion of the Nghi Son Economic Zone (EZ) in the central province of Thanh Hoa through 2035, with a vision to 2050.

The zone will cover 106,000ha, encompassing the entire area of the old Nghi Son EZ, the remainder area of Tinh Gia District and several communes of Nong Cong and Nhu Thanh districts.

The expansion is targeted at making Nghi Son EZ a dynamic economic development area in the south of the Northern Key EZ.

The Nghi Son EZ is also expected to be an attractive destination for investment and a regional transit centre, ensuring economic development and national security.

It is hoped to become a multi-sector industrial complex focusing on petrochemical refineries and basic industries as well as building deep seaports and a human resources training centre.

The main goals from now until 2025 include improving the investment environment and constructing socio-economic infrastructure to attract investors.

After 2025, the EZ will develop industry, services, trade and finance, as well as culture and society, eco-tourism and resorts, and green urban models.

The PM called for clear assessment of the role, position, potential and development of the EZ.

The planning scheme is built in accordance with Government Decree No/44/2015/N-CP, dated May 6, 2015, on construction planning.

The Nghi Son EZ, established in mid-2006, is some 200km to the south of the capital city of Ha Noi.

It also houses the Nghi Son seaport and the Nghi Son Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Complex  the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia.  VNS
CAIRO  Bilateral trade been Viet Nam and Egypt remained modest and was yet to match the two countries potential, Pham The Cuong, trade counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt, said.

Egypts political unrest and currency depreciation have affected Vietnamese goods in the market, Cuong told a trade promotion workshop on Thursday.

However, Cuong noted, the northeast African country was accelerating economic reforms, which could be a good sign for bilateral trade in the future.

During the forum, which took place in Mansoura City, Dakahlia Province, the counsellor also briefed officials on Viet Nams business climate and policies for investment attraction, and fielded questions on trade affairs between the two countries.

During his speech, Ambassador o Hoang Long said Viet Nam was committed to creating favourable conditions for foreign investors, including those from Egypt.

The Vietnamese Embassy was willing to support Egyptian businesses in seeking Vietnamese partners and then studying each others markets, he said, calling for the two business communities to boost relations, particularly in agro-forestry-fishery and tourism.

He also encouraged the two nations firms to take the initiative by participating in trade fairs and business conferences held in their respective countries to seek new co-operation opportunities.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Roab, chairman of the Dakahlia Business Chamber, described the workshop as an opportunity for Egyptian enterprises to learn about the Vietnamese market, thus facilitating trade-investment ties between localities of the two countries. Participants at the event proposed Viet Nam send business delegations to trade fairs in Egypt. They said they expected the embassys support would help Dakahlia enterprises boost exports, particularly fruit, to Viet Nam.

Egypt has a population of 92 million, with import demand estimated at more than US$80 billion per year.

Two-way trade between Viet Nam and Egypt topped some $314 million last year, of which Vietnamese exports to Egypt made up $294 million.  VNS
HA NOI  Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh has requested four inspection teams to examine the compensation for residents affected by the marine environment incident in the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue last year.

Deputy PM Binh, who is head of the steering committee in charge of resolving the Formosa incidents aftermath, made the request during a committee meeting in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

The leader also asked the four provinces to set up their own inspection teams to collect feedback from locals and administrators in order to promptly deal with difficulties and accelerate the payment for affected residents.

Deputy PM Binh reminded provinces to ensure public order to prevent false incidents or corruption during the compensation procedure.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has reported that, so far, environment improvement in four central provinces remains basically stable. According to the bold report, local residents are satisfied with the Governments policies in resolving the incident, and local lives are gradually improving.

Environmental supervision, aquatic ecological system recovery and reproduction, professional training, jobs creation and manufacture development have all improved, the MARD report boldly said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc allocated an advance of VN4.68 trillion (over US$207 million) for these provinces. By Monday, the localities had disbursed almost VN3.6 trillion, or 76.8 per cent of the total, as damages for the targeted households. By December 31 last year, concerned agencies had provided 15,027 tonnes of rice free of charge and VN59 billion ($2.56 million) for fishermen as directed by the Government.

Regarding the tasks in the near future, Deputy PM Binh asked ministries and agencies to swiftly submit a proposal to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the compensation quota for victims and to continue overseeing the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporations fulfillment of its commitments.

The mass fish death first started on April 6 last year in Ky Anh Town in Ha Tinh Province - the place where Formosa Ha Tinh is located. Within the next nine days, fishermen and local residents along the central coast found themselves panicking when tonnes of dead fish continuously washed up ashore southwards, from Quang Binh to Quang Tri and later down to Thua Thien-Hue, just dozens of kilometres away from the famous tourism city of a Nang.

Initial statistics from the four provinces reported some 277 tonnes of dead fish  both washed up on the beaches and farmed fish from the sea, causing estimated economic losses totaling more than VN260 billion ($11.5 million). Further, at least 123,000 fishermen and locals who rely on the sea for a living or who work in the tourism industry were severely affected by the incident.

Formosa later acknowledged having imported 296 tonnes of some 40 different types of chemicals in the first quarter this year, many of which experts said to be poisonous and very poisonous to human and animal beings.

The company then pledged $500 million in compensation for the affected people in the central region.  VNS
KHANH HOA PROVINCE  The Nha Trang Tourism Association has formed a welcome club to serve the increasing number of Chinese visitors to the popular resort city in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

More than 20 travel agencies that serve Chinese visitors met earlier this week to attend a discussion with authorities on club personnel and operations, according to Lam Anh Duy Cuong, president of the tourism association.

Between 2010 and 2016, Khanh Hoa Province welcomed 4.2 million international tourists, mostly Chinese nationals.

In January, the number of international visitors to the province was 163,000, up 180 per cent year-on-year.

Of the number,102,000 tourists were from China, up 374 per cent compared to the same period last year.

However, among 230 travel agencies in the province, only 66 are able to serve the Chinese market.

Nguyen Van Thanh, deputy president of the tourism association, said that a club dealing with issues related to the increasing number of Chinese visitors was needed, but detailed plans on how to run the club had yet to be discussed.

In recent years, more Chinese nationals have been illegally working as tour guides because of the lack of Vietnamese tour guides who can speak Chinese. The Chinese guides sometimes give inaccurate information about Vietnamese history and culture to tourists.

Another issue that may be addressed by club members is the reportedly improper behaviour of some Chinese tourists at attractions across Khanh Hoa Province.  VNS
By Ha Nguyen

I had heard that the Trang An complex was one of most attractive natural beauty sites in Viet Nam, but my recent trip there surpassed all expectations.

When we arrived at the site, about 95 kms south of Ha Noi, we took a boat to Suoi Tien Temple.

The boatwoman, named Nguyen Thi Thuc, told us that usually each boat only carries five people but when there are many travellers she has to row six.

Some of us were so afraid the boat might sink under our collective weight, but Thuc reassured us: "Dont worry. I have been doing this for 20 years without an accident. Even so, she handed out orange life vests.

The river ride to Suoi Tien Temple takes an hour. I was impressed by the pure water of Sao Khe River and absence of garbage, giving us a clear view of the fish swimming alongside us and the bottom of the river.

We then rowed through the Nam and Vang caves, and Thuc told us to bend low so as to evoid the overhanging stalactities. The caves were so beautiful that we asked Thuc to row slowly so that we could enjoy them.

But the most impressive was the 250m Thanh Truot Cave.

Asked about the name of the cave, Thuc related its story: Hundreds of years ago, King inh Tien Hoang passed by the cave and suddenly fell. His guards were very worried, but he recovered. The locals named the cave Thanh Truot , meaning "Kings Fall".

Clear water: People on Sao Khe River boats to the Suoi Tien Temple. Photos Ha Nguyen

Passing through the cave we experienced darkness, outlines of stalactities, stones growing from the bottom of the cave. The cool air was heavenly.

The "decor" inside the caves was complemented by the natural beauty of the lime mountains surrounding the river.

Thuc said there are hundreds of valuable herb trees and plants growing in these mountains. Her father often goes there to pick different kinds of herbs to treat ailments such as cough, cold, pains in elderly peoples legs and backs. I asked her about the name of the herbs and she promised to provide them via email.

Thuc also explained why the river water was so clear: each rower is personally resposible for ensuring that no waste is thrown out of the boat and are punished or fined if their passengers disobey the instruction. I was very impressed that workers like Thuc are responsible for protecting the environment.

After an hour, we arrived at the Suoi Tien Temple built in the inh Dynasty (924-997) to worship Thanh Quy Minh ai Vuong, locally known as Thanh (Saint) Cao Son.

Legend has it said that Saint Cao Son was a water nymph dedicated to protecting and bringing peace to the ancient capital Nam Son, now the city of Hoa Lu, during the reign of the 18th Hung King. When he died, a temple was built to worship him.

But the main temple was built by King inh Tien Hoang in the 10th century at the Trang An complex of Hoa Lu, the ancient capital. His temple was upgraded by King Tran Thai Tong in the 13th century.

Thuc said a big festival to comemorate the saint is held on the 18th of the third lunar month every year, attended by thousands of pilgrims.

Tong Quang Thinh, deputy chairman of Ninh Binh Province, said the festival aims to educate young people about patriotism and protection. This is a great occasion to wish for national stability and lucrative harvests and prosperity," he said.

Trang An complex is a World Natural Heritage site and includes Tam Coc-Bich ong - a series of karst caves and mountain pagodas, the ancient and new Bai inh Pagodas, and the Hoa Lu ancient capital.

The area, dotted with forests, lime mountains, rivers, lakes and dams, covers 12,252 ha.  VNS
FRANCE  Electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre says he will perform in Israel next month in a concert to publicise the plight of the shrinking Dead Sea.

The lowest and saltiest body of water in the world is receding by roughly a metre each year and experts have warned it is on course to dry out by 2050.

The 68-year-old French composer said Wednesday that he would play at the ancient clifftop fortress of Massada on April 6 to "make the world aware" of the threat."

The Dead Seas current crisis started in the 1960s when Israel, Jordan and Syria began to divert water from the Jordan River, its main source.

Jarre is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO,) which in 2002 designated Massada as a world heritage site.

He said he had not been pressured by groups calling for a boycott of Israel "because it is a universal project under the aegis of UNESCO."

He says he wants to "sound the alert on the urgency of saving the Dead Sea" which is bordered by Israel, Jordan and the occupied West Bank and overlooked by the Golan Heights.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres of the Golan from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

The performance at Massada, which looms over the Dead Sea on the Israeli side, was conceived more than 18 months ago and is intended "to be festive but also to contribute to an important cause," Jarre said.

Massada was built in the first century BC by biblical King Herod on a rocky outcrop 430 meters above the Dead Sea and it marks a seminal event in Jewish history.

In 73 AD, according to a historian of the period, Flavius Joseph, 960 Jewish Zealots who had rebelled against Roman rule of then Palestine, were besieged there by Roman troops.

Instead of allowing themselves falling to fall captive they committed collective suicide.

Jarre said that his Massada concert would be state-of-the art.

"We shall be using modern French and Israeli technology to make this show something unique," he said.

The eight-hour long nighttime performance will be streamed live through an Israeli smartphone application giving a 360 degree view.

Seats at the event will sell for 495 to 2955 shekels ($134 to $801).  AFP
HA NOI  On accepting the invitation by the World Wood Day Foundation (WWDF), Vietnamese water puppet artist Phan Thanh Liem will attend World Wood Day 2017 as a guest of honour.

The event, themed Root, will be held at Long Beach, in the US, from March 19 to 27.

Liem will perform traditional water puppet theatre and introduce the methods to make water puppets at the event.

Speaking at a press conference before departing for Long Beach, Liem said he would use traditional themes in the show, They are all about the daily labour of farmers, from ploughing, tilling, ship racing, to phoenix dancing. I will add the flying motorcycle performance to the show, in order to educate children on the awareness of traffic regulations.

World Wood Day is held annually on March 21 with the aim of promoting and recognising the significant role of wood. This years activities will include seminars and conferences on folk arts using wood, making products with wood, and musical performances by wooden instruments.

Liem was born in a family of traditional water puppet artisans in the northern province of Nam inh. Dubbed The ambassador of Viet Nams pastoral arts, he was recognised for his idea of miniaturising the water puppet stage. Over the last 16 years, with his miniature stage, he has performed in Viet Nam and foreign countries such as the UK, South Korea, Thailand, mainland China, Malaysia and many others.

He also opened a small stage at home to help audiences learn more about traditional water puppetry and experience the life of an artisan.  VNS
Nguyen Ngoc ong

Nguyen Ngoc ong, Vice Minister of Transport, speaks to Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper about his Ministrys plan to develop a fast, yet safe railway service

Who is to blame for the rise in accidents at railroad crossing points in Viet Nam?

I have to admit that railroad crossing points in our country are very complicated as operational management varies from one locality to another. As a result, crossing point management in some localities is good if they receive attention from local authorities, otherwise they are poorly managed.

Adding to that, much railroad track was built before 1954 when the country was under the rule of the French.

Another factor adding to the problem was that during land reforms, farmers were given land to till. Land was redistributed by local leaders, whether it ran across rail tracks or not.

At present, only 1,500 railroad crossing points have operation licences, plus there are almost 4,800 civilian crossing points opened by people living next to rail lines. Of which, about 1,500 crossing points are three metres or more wide with the rest much narrower.

Are people free to open their own crossing points through railway lines?

No! Under law, if any locality wants to open a railway crossing point, the local administration must seek a permit from the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Ministry of Finance. According to our law, a legal railway crossing point receives annual maintenance funds from the State budget as well as the investment and control budget.

Recently, the MOT has requested the Government to make convergence roads to cut down the number of crossroads over railway lines opened by citizens.

Why are train tickets more expensive than plane tickets in Viet Nam?

The MOT is considering a plan to lower rail ticket prices. There are several factors in setting rail ticket prices, including infrastructure construction cost and administration costs. However, recently, we have lowered rail ticket prices and introduced a rather flexible price system. But our ticket prices are still high  a critical factor affecting our competitiveness compared to other means of transport.

Do you think that people will opt to fly than travel by trains?

No, I dont think so. Each mode of transport has its own advantages. If our rail service is improved while cutting down travel time, I think more people will prefer to go by train if they travel a short distance. Another advantage that the rail has over the airline is that it can carry huge numbers of passengers. A train with 20 carriages can carry a thousand passengers, equal to 10 flights.

In terms of cargo transport, the cost of rail transportation is still cheaper as it can carry a huge volume that no other means of transport can compete with.

Can you talk about the current status of the rail sector and its plans?

First, lets talk about investment in the rail sector within total investment in the transport sector. Can you believe it receives just between 3-4 per cent of total investment in the transport sector? Up to 90 per cent of state investment goes to the road sector.

However, the MOT has submitted a proposal to improve rail services. Based on experiences from other countries, the MOT will ask the private sector to participate in certain train services as in many countries. But the infrastructure will remain under State management.

In our plan, in 2018 we will present a plan on a high speed rail line to the National Assembly for consideration. We hope that the proposal will be adopted by law makers during the 14th National Assembly which will end in 2021.

The high speed rail line will run parallel with the present rail line. But the latter will be used for cargo trains only. We expect that the construction of the new high speed rail line will take about five years.  VNS
The National Assemblys Law Committee on Thursday convened its fourth plenary session in Ha Noi, with debates focusing on examining amendments to the drafted Denunciation Law.  VNA/VNS Photo An ang

HA NOI  The National Assemblys Law Committee on Thursday convened its fourth plenary session in Ha Noi, with debates focusing on examining amendments to the drafted Denunciation Law.

The session, chaired by the chairman of the Law Committee Nguyen Khac inh, heard a report by Government Chief Inspector, Phan Van Sau, about amendments to the draft law that includes a new chapter on denunciation.

The chapter clarifies the roles and responsibilities of people in charge of addressing denouncements and those who denunciate or are denounced.

The revised law also includes regulations on the protection of those accused of denunciation with the aims to encourage people to bravely fight wrongdoings, corruption and law violations.

The NAs Law Committee praised many facets of the draft laws amendments, which aim to concretise new constitutional regulations on human rights and fundamental rights of citizens.

Draft law additions have contributed to the Partys resolution on strengthening and improving the effectiveness of denunciation settlement and in the fight against corruption.

A Government report recently revealed only 87.4 per cent of denunciations were not anonymous, and some deputies said it was hard for authorities to deal with anonymous denunciations.

Deputy Nguyen Van Quyen agreed with the Governments report, but suggested lawmakers and authorities should make research intensively to find others measures to solve anonymous denunciations.

Nguyen Van Hieu, another deputy, said instead of no regulation on anonymous denunciations, there should be measures to collect or do statistical work so that authorities could closely monitor such instances.  VNS
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh received Nepalese Minister for Commerce Romi Gauchan Thakali in Ha Noi on Thursday.  VNA/VNS Photo An ang

HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh received Nepalese Minister for Commerce Romi Gauchan Thakali in Ha Noi on Thursday, and the two leaders expressed a desire for greater co-operation between their countries.

Minh congratulated Nepal on its development and re-construction achievements, including in overcoming consequences of the devastating April 2015 earthquake and issuing a new constitution in September 2015.

He called on both sides to finalise negotiations on a visa exemption agreement for each others diplomats and officials, along with co-operation deals on investment, trade, culture, tourism and aviation.

Bilateral trade reached US$41 million in 2016, which is still modest compared to the potential, Minh said. He asked Nepal to provide optimal conditions for Vietnamese firms to seek opportunities for investment in energy, infrastructure and telecommunications, and to export consumer goods there.

He said Viet Nam had set up an honorary consulate in Kathmandu in October 2016, and expressed his hope that Nepal would consider establishing a corresponding office in Viet Nam to bolster ties.

Minister Romi Gauchan Thakali, for his part, expressed his admiration of Viet Nam s socio-economic accomplishments, noting that his country wants to strengthen relations with Viet Nam , particularly in economy and trade. He said he hoped the two sides would increase delegation and people-to-people exchanges to share experience and promote collaboration.

The Nepalese official was in Ha Noi on attend the UN high-level meeting for the Euro-Asia region on improving co-operation in transit and trade facilitation for landlocked countries.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) meets with US business delegation in Ha Noi on Thursday.  PHoto VGP

HA NOI  The Government of Viet Nam attaches great importance to friendly and co-operative relations with the US in a pragmatic manner, on the basis of respect for each others political institutions, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told a US business delegation in Ha Noi on Thursday.

Phuc told the group, including senior managers of 29 enterprises, that the Vietnamese Government was ready to work with the administration of President Donald Trump to promote US-Viet Nam relations.

The business people, for their part, told the PM that although Trump had pulled the US out of the long-anticipated Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), there were many mechanism in place to ensure effective co-operation between enterprises in the two countries. The US side praised Viet Nam s improving business and investment environment, opening the door to expanding long-term business investment in the country .

Phuc said he appreciated the contribution of US businesses to the countrys development, emphasising that Viet Nam continues to reform and integrate and create favourable conditions for investors.

He hailed the success of US businesses in Viet Nam , and expressed his appreciation of their commitment to support Viet Nam in the process of development innovation. The success of US businesses, he added, is the success of Viet Nam .

The Government of Viet Nam has paid much attention to improving the business investment environment, listening to and resolving investors problems, Phuc said, Viet Nam will continue to maintain macro-economic stability, continue to build a transparent legal environment, carry out deeper reforms, and strive to be one of the top four ASEAN countries in terms of business investment environment.

US investors are interested in participating as strategic shareholders in the equitisation of State-owned enterprises, the Prime Minister said. Viet Nam is committed to the implementation of signed free trade agreements, will continue to build institutions in areas which the US cares about to provide peace of mind for long-term investment in Viet Nam, he said.

Delegation members expressed their wish to invest or expand their investment in Viet Nam in such areas as thermal power, wind power, production and distribution of animal feed, chemicals, agricultural insurance, micro finance, information technology, cinema and start up promotion.

The PM asked US businesses to urge their government and Congress to strengthen trade and investment co-operation with the region and Viet Nam , as well as support early recognition of Viet Nam s market economy and help it in successfully organising APEC 2017. He said APEC Year 2017 was an opportunity to strengthen the connection between US and Vietnamese businesses.

On behalf of US businesses, Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director for the US-ASEAN Business Council, Michael Michalak, said that Viet Nam was an attractive investment destination as proven by many successful US businesses in Viet Nam .
HCM CITY  The Song Hau Food Company, a rice exporter, has reduced its energy consumption by 983,764 kWh in the past four years, saving US$62,615.

An official of its parent company, Vinafood 2, said reduced energy costs helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enables cleaner rice production.

The result was achieved under a project applying efficient, cleaner production methods, said Pham Van To, deputy manager of Vinafood 2s Technical and Construction Department.

He said that in rice processing, electricity costs usually account for 20 to 35 per cent of total production costs.

Energy is usually one of the highest costs a company faces. If it can reduce energy consumption by just a few per cent, it can make a significant savings along with contributing to greenhouse gas reduction, he said.

In 2013, the corporation had approached the Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production Programme (RECP), a UNIDO-UNEP joint programme financed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented by Sofies (a consultancy in Switzerland) and the Viet Nam Cleaner Production Centre Co Ltd (VNCPC).

A pilot project was implemented in two member enterprises, Song Hau Food Company and An Giang Food and Foodstuff Company in 2013, and expanded to six other member companies in March last year.

Tran Van Nhan, director of VNCPC, said the rice industrys export achievements of the past years came at the cost of adverse impacts on the environment during production and processing.

From the entire rice value chain, the project chose to pilot the processing phase, since this has the largest impact on the environment, he said.

We realise that there is a great potential to turn waste resulting from rice milling into biomass energy, which significantly contributes to reducing climate change.

In addition, with energy costs accounting for 35-40 per cent of rice production costs, if we can save a part of the largest expenditure, it will significantly help businesses reduce production costs and increase profits and competitiveness, he said.

Through many activities - including cleaner production audits at participating companies, supporting companies in identifying cleaner production technologies and application strategies and training - the project has helped firms improve their energy efficiency.

It has also suggested measures to turn waste into biomass energy.

Dr. Martin Fritsch of Sofies said Viet Nam was a leading rice exporter, focusing on large volumes. It was facing quality challenges that weakened its competitiveness.

The sector needs to effect changes to meet an increase in demand for higher quality rice by creating incentives for rice farmers and millers to adopt sustainable production practices, he said.

This would also help to avoid continuous degradation of natural resources, such as soil and water, he said.

The project aims to promote efficient use of natural resources, including materials, water and energy and minimise waste and emissions, including those discharged into the water, air and land.

Delegates at a recent conference titled Towards a Sustainable Agro-Industrial Ecosystem in the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam-Focus on the Rice Value Chain, said the project will enter its "mainstreaming phase" this year.

A broader collaboration between all stakeholders was necessary to align interests along the value chain and to achieve a sustainable mainstreaming effect for the Vietnamese rice sector, they added.  VNS
Over 60 Vietnamese entrepreneurs have convened in HCM City to hear about the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies that integrate zero-tolerance towards threatened wildlife consumption.  Photo thoibao.today

HCM City  Over 60 Vietnamese entrepreneurs have convened in HCM City to hear about the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies that integrate zero-tolerance towards threatened wildlife consumption.

In the event, the Global Entrepreneurship Network was launched by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and TRAFFIC.

GEN is a global network that helps people turn their ideas into promising new ventures - creating jobs, accelerating innovation and strengthening economic stability around the world. TRAFFIC is an international organisation monitoring wildlife trade.

Through GEN, TRAFFIC is hoping to target the most prolific consumers of rhino horns and other threatened wildlife: wealthy urban men between the ages of 35 and 55.

Many of these consumers are businessmen who use wildlife products such as rhino horn as a display of wealth and to strengthen professional and personal relationships.

This network is a powerful platform to instil zero-tolerance towards threatened wildlife consumption in the Vietnamese business community, Madelon Willemsen, head of TRAFFICs Viet Nam office, said. We are engaging key members of our target audience to show that CSR is not only an ethical practice, it can also benefit companies in the long run.

A 2015 Nielsen global consumer study found that 86 per cent of Vietnamese consumersthe highest number of socially conscious consumers in any of the countries surveyedare willing to pay more for products and services from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact.

Viet Nams high percentage of socially conscious consumers is a vital piece of information that successful entrepreneurs need to knowbeing good to the environment is good for business too, Willemsen said.

TRAFFIC is leveraging this progressive demand for sustainable business practices to nurture adoption of CSR practices in new and established companies.

At the launch event, participants learned about the opportunities for sustainable development and corporate image enhancement using CSR. Participants were encouraged to discuss their own experiences and the most effective ways to implement CSR policies and to sign pledges of zero-tolerance towards consumption of threatened wildlife.

"We want to show members of GEN that investment in socially and environmentally responsible practices can improve their reputation, attract foreign investment, and appeal to a broader audience, Le Thi Thu Thuy, deputy director of VCCIs Small and Medium Enterprise Development Centre, said.

TRAFFICs engagement of entrepreneurs through GEN is part of a nation-wide demand reduction strategy to encourage businesses to become champions of conservation by adopting CSR policies that reject the consumption of threatened wildlife.  VNS
Forest data management and investment promotion were among the topics on the agenda of a seminar held in HCM City on Wednesday with Finnish assistance.  Photo chinhphu.vn

HCM CITY  Forest data management and investment promotion were among the topics on the agenda of a seminar held in HCM City on Wednesday with Finnish assistance.

Forestry Data Sharing and Promoting Investment brought together forestry sector stakeholders to exchange information and ideas on information and communication technology solutions in forestry.

Speaking at the seminar organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Finnish embassy, Ilkka-Pekka Simila, Finlands envoy to Viet Nam, said in his country the forestry sector plays a crucial role in industrialisation and trade.

It provides livelihoods for more Finns than any other industry and accounts for around 20 per cent of the countrys exports, he said.

Finland has been supporting the forestry sector in Viet Nam since 1996, giving over 33 million euros (US$35.15 million) mainly to the FORMIS (Development of Management Information System for the Forestry Sector in Viet Nam) project, he said.

The Viet Nam Administration of Forestry and the FOMIS technical assistance team have worked for years to develop the countrys forestry sector, he said.

They can boast of many accomplishments, including the development of a forest resource monitoring system that is being deployed throughout the country, he said.

Uniform forest resource data is probably the most valuable sector from FOMIS II project. It benefits first of all the forest administration, also holds many opportunities for a larger group of stakeholders.

Application of modern ICT offers huge benefits in terms of improved cost-effectiveness and transparency in forestry, he said.

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of the availability of forest resource data to be accessed and used by the forest owners as well as the private and public sectors.

Our experience shows that opening the data can stimulate socio-economic development in many ways and is likely to boost investments.

However, when opening the data to users, we also need to strike a balance between information security and economic benefits: access to data should be as open as possible without harming the interests of individuals and companies.

Sharing experience between the two countries is useful because of the similarities in their forestry sector, he said.

Nguyen Ton Quyen, general secretary of the Viet Nam Timber and Forest Product Association, said wood processing companies are in need of information related to timber consisting of wood reserves, output, geographic location and wood suppliers.

The FOMIS projects information and data system is very useful to wood processing companies, he said.

Nguyen Binh Minh, office manager at the forestry administration, said it updates and integrates big data such as forest inventory data, environment payment services, forest seedlings and other data into its server.  VNS
Special Task Police Battalion No 1, an elite unit of the Ministry of Public Securitys Mobile Police High Command, marked its 20th anniversary and was awarded the Feat Order (first class) by President Tran ai Quang in the capital on Thursday.  VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang

HA NOI  Special Task Police Battalion No 1, an elite unit of the Ministry of Public Securitys Mobile Police High Command, marked its 20th anniversary and was awarded the Feat Order (first class) by President Tran ai Quang in the capital on Thursday.

The battalion is tasked with protecting important political, economic, cultural and social events, along with other specialised forces of the ministry, the army and relevant agencies. Its duties also include riot, terrorism and abduction prevention, and ensuring political stability, security and pubic order.

Addressing the ceremony, President Quang said protecting security and order is a weighty task given complex global and regional developments and unending plots by hostile forces to overthrow the Party and the socialist regime in Viet Nam.

Non-traditional security threats, such as natural disasters, epidemics, climate change, environmental pollution and terrorism, are also developing, he warned. Organised and transnational crimes, high-tech and drug crime are still issues of public concern, he added.

The President asked the mobile and special task police to continue close coordination with relevant agencies to defeat crime and hostile forces. He also urged them to enhance relations with special task forces of other countries in training and information and experience sharing, to improve their combat capacity.  VNS
HCM CITY  Four men, suspected to be part of a larger crime ring, were caught red-handed by the criminal police siphoning gasoline from a tanker in HCM City on Thursday.

The four suspects were caught with dozens of plastic containers that they were using to steal gasoline from the tanker, which was parked at an isolated spot on Nguyen Thi inh Street in District 2. Two of them were identified as truck driver Vo Suong, 51, and his assistant Tran Thanh Quy, 49.

Officials with the public security ministrys criminal police department (C45) believe that the four suspects belong to a crime ring that has been stealing gasoline and oil from tanker trucks in the city, and that the ring is led by Huynh Minh Dung, 38, a resident of Nha Be District.

Every day, after filling up the tanker from a gasoline depot nearby, Suong and Quy would drive to an isolated spot where two accomplices, Huynh Minh Dung and Binh, would be waiting. Suong and Quy would break open the tankers seal, fill gasoline in 30-litre plastic containers and sell them to their accomplices at VN400,000 (US$17.5) per container for gasoline and at VN320,000 ($14) for oil. The trucks would be resealed after impurities were mixed into the tank to make up for the stolen gasoline.

Later, Binh and Dung would resell these containers for VN400,000 to 500,000 ($17.5-22).

The accused were selling thousands of litres of gasoline every day, the police said.

The ring has been active for months and involved several tanker drivers and drivers assistants that run on the same route, the police said, adding that the gang is operating several such groups in different areas of the city.

Further investigations are underway.  VNS
HA NOI  Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has been conferred the honourary title of visiting professor by the University of Oxford for a second term, from 2016 to 2021.

British Ambassador to Viet Nam Giles Level handed over the title certificate to the minister at a ceremony held in Ha Noi on Friday.

Level said the title was a recognition for Tiens contributions in scientific research collaborations between the two countries when she used to be the director of the HCM City Pasteur Institute.

He added that as Viet Nams health minister, Tien has paid a lot of attention to enhancing international relations and research and training activities, especially with the university.

At the event, Tien praised the United Kingdom and the Oxford Universitys support to Viet Nam, saying that the title awarded to her is a symbol of the co-operation between the two countries, especially in the healthcare field.

Over the past years, Viet Nam and the UK have carried out many joint research projects in different areas, including epidemiology, tropical diseases, antimicrobial resistance and emergency preparedness, contributing to capacity building and improving healthcare for Vietnamese people, Tien said.
Bo Xuan Hiep

AK LAK  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged the Central Highlands region to develop into a prosperous area by promoting its biodiversity, cultural values and organic agriculture.

The PM spoke at the opening ceremony of the sixth Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival on Friday night in the Central Highlands province of ak Lak.

Phuc said the Central Highlands region had great advantages and potential for coffee plantations and exports, and that it should also improve its agro-forestry processing industry.

He said the region, which could become an attractive tourist destination, should promote ecological tours associated with coffee and gong-culture values.

The PM urged the region to develop a sustainable strategy to preserve the identity of local ethnic groups, especially the gong space culture, which in 2008 was named to the Representative List of UNESCOs Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Cultivation of coffee trees is the main livelihood of farmers in the Central Highlands region.

The Buon Ma Thuot coffee festival plays an essential role in promoting the trademark Buon Ma Thuot coffee and Viet Nams coffee to the international market, Phuc said.

During the festival, which will run through the weekend, there will be cultural activities around Buon Ma Thuot, including a culinary street, street festival, elephant race, boat race, and wooden statue-carving contest with 60 artisans from the central province of Khanh Hoa and the Central Highlands region.

The fourth conference on investment promotion for the Central Highlands will be held today (March 11) in Buon Ma Thuot. It is expected to draw 500 representatives from local and international agencies.

In addition, a photo contest featuring local coffee culture and gong space culture as well as a coffee harvesting competition will take place.

The country has exported an average of 1.2-1.5 million tonnes of coffee each year in the past 10 years.

Viet Nam is the second-largest coffee exporter in the world, following Brazil.

The festival has also attracted investors interested in trade and tourism projects in the area, he said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the opening ceremony of the sixth Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival on Friday night in the Central Highlands province of ak Lak. VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

Gong festival

During the coffee festival, local and foreign visitors will have an opportunity to enjoy a gong festival in ak Lak Province.

The gong festival promotes the cultural value and music of the Central Highlands gongs to the country and world, as well as the countrys socio-economic development, particularly tourism.

Gong performances and traditional ethnic group ceremonies will be organised in Buon Ma Thuot and Buon on District.

Many ethnic groups will take part in the gong festival, together with performers from other countries such as Cambodia, Laos and Romania.

Gong music is a deeply rooted part of culture in most East and Southeast Asian countries, Phuc said.

The gong festival reflects the Central Highlands gong cultures status as a masterpiece of the worlds oral and intangible heritage. The title was awarded by UNESCO in December 2005 after the Government submitted an action programme on the unique culture.

The opening ceremony of the festival involved about 1,000 local and foreign performers at Buon Ma Thuots March 10 Square. The performance is based on a story about the history of the province and its ancient gong culture.

During the festival, many activities will be held, including religious ceremonies accompanied by gong orchestras as well as contests, seminars and exhibitions.

Viet Nam gongs consist of two main types, the cong and chieng. Cong has a knob in the middle, while chieng is flat. Cong makes deep bass sounds, while melodies have to be coaxed out of a chieng.

Gongs have been widely used during daily life including grand ceremonies of the Central Highlands ethnic groups, Phuc said.

Villages in the region often reflect their strength through gongs. They show the peoples sentiments, love, and relationship to nature, he added.

The ceremonies were broadcast live on VTV1, VTV5 and VTV8 of the Viet Nam Television Network as well as TV and radio channels in ak Lak Province and other Central Highlands provinces.  VNS
PHU QUOC  A 160-passenger ship which can travel at up to 40kms an hour will begin operating from Phu Quoc Island to Tho Chau Island in Kien Giang Province.

The provinces Department of Transport said the ship, Tho Chau No 9, would start services on the April 30 Liberation holiday this year.

The VN60-billion (US$2.6 million) vessel will provide transport to visitors as well as residents of Tho Chau Island for travel to Phu Quoc Island and the mainland.
HCM CITY Signs in both Vietnamese and Khmer can be seen at shops at the Tan a - Mac Thien Tich street corner behind HCM City Medical University Hospital in District 5.

Residents can communicate in Khmer with their customers, most of whom are Cambodians visiting the city for medical exams and treatments at the hospital.

Dozens of transport companies in the neighborhood operate daily bus trips between Cambodia and HCM City. These bus trips are connecting HCM City with Phnom Penh, Siem Riep and Sihanouk Ville in Cambodia.  VNS
WATERLOO  The 12th annual Heroes Among Us Breakfast awards ceremony will take place March 23 at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo.

The Heroes Among Us Breakfast awards ceremony begins at 7:30 a.m. Doors open at 7 a.m. The event honors local heroes and is also is a fundraiser for the Covenant Foundation and Sartori Health Care Foundation. Proceeds will directly benefit emergency services at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Iowa.

Tickets are $20 and are available by calling 272-7676 or at WheatonIowa.org/HeroesAmongUs.

Honorees this year include:

Riley Henry, 2016 Environmental Hero

Henry, a West High School junior, will be honored for his work this past calendar year with swifts, a medium-sized bird. He volunteered to help a neighbor build chimney towers for these birds at Orange Elementary School. The old Orange Elementary School has a large population of swifts living in the schools chimney. Eventually the old elementary building will be torn down leaving hundreds of swifts without a home. Today there are two swift towers at the new Orange Elementary School.

Emil Mrzljak, 2016 Good Samaritan Youth Hero

Mrzljak, of Waterloo, is being honored for rescuing classmate Landon Albro, who was run over by a truck at the West High homecoming parade in September. Mrzljak was walking next to the trailer that held the senior class float, while Albro was riding a skateboard attached to the truck pulling the float. Albro fell and was run over by the back tires of the truck. Mrzljak saw what happened and quickly pulled Albro out of the path of the trailer tires.

Ben Willson, 2016 Good Samaritan Youth Hero

Willson, a freshman at Waverly-Shell Rock High School is being honored for his bravery in helping rescue his friend from the Shell Rock River in December. The pair were goose hunting, and as his friend, Biz, went to retrieve a goose from the river he slipped on a rock and was swept down the frigid river. Ben followed Biz down the river about 100 yards, and decided he had no other option but to wade into the water and pull him out. His friend had been in the water long enough to be suffering from hypothermia and could no longer stand.

Heather Al-Hammadi, 2016 Health Care Hero

A-Hammadi, a registered nurse from Waterloo, was being considered for jury duty in March 2016 at the Black Hawk County Courthouse when another juror collapsed. She requested assistance to lower the man to the floor and she began CPR. She requested an automatic external defibrillator, located two floors down by a Black Hawk County Deputy. Using the AED, Al-Hammadi was able to establish a heart rhythm. By the time paramedics arrived, the patient was again breathing on his own. The incident prompted the courthouse to create a new policy of installing an AED on every floor of the building.

Tom Brickman and Shari Kirkpatrick, 2016 Military Heroes

The father/daughter duo are being honored for their work with the Faces to Go with Names permanent exhibit at the Iowa Veterans Museum in Waterloo. Brickman, a Vietnam veteran from Janesville and Kirkpatrick of Reinbeck secured photos of nearly all of the 522 Iowans killed in Vietnam. They initially compiled a list of names for the national Vietnam memorial history center and made them available to the Grout Museum District. Through libraries, high schools, veteran sites, the media and social media they reached out to every Iowa county to acquire photos.

Captain Don Eggleston and Officer Ryan Wegner, 2016 Public Safety Heroes

In September, the two officers from the Waverly Police Department heard an unusual call over their police radios. A resident had called 911, burned by a fire started in her kitchen and was unable to get out of the home. Eggleston and Wegner were first on the scene and entered the burning house to rescue the woman trapped inside. The men crawled through the home in search of the woman. They could hear her calls for help but couldnt find her. Eventually Eggleston got up and ran toward the voice. They pulled her out of the house right as other officers and the fire department pulled up.

Cody Lafler, 2016 Work Place Hero

Lafler, of Waverly, is an occupational therapist at Sartori Memorial Hospital, In July, he had a patient who needed extensive therapy due to a car accident. Because of the accident, the patient lost his job and was evicted from his home. The patient sent his fiancee and young child to live with relatives two hours away. Still, the patient continued to attend school full time and found a part-time job. Lafler learned the patient had been living in his car. Wanting to help, Lafler and his wife organized a benefit fundraiser for the patient last May. Lafler also arranged affordable housing for the patient and secured a donation of six months rent.
WATERLOO  Christian Fellowship MB Church will host a male chorus concert, themed Men Coming Together To Be As One, at 6 p.m. Saturday at the church, 930 W. Fourth St.

Special guests also will perform.

CEDAR FALLS  St. Lukes Episcopal Church will make an indoor labyrinth that will be available for the public to walk from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays from Thursday to Holy Saturday, April 15, and from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays.

Arrangements can be made to walk anytime. Groups should call ahead to schedule. Call 277-8520 or email stlukes@cfu.net for scheduling or more information. The church is at 2410 Melrose Drive.

The labyrinth is a form of walking meditation used by Christians as a spiritual tool for nearly 1,000 years. Suggestions are available at the site for this self-directed spiritual practice. An outdoor labyrinth located on the church lawn is always available to walk.

WATERLOO  Weekly Stations of the Cross are planned in the Cedar Falls and Waterloo Catholic parishes during Lent.

The schedule includes:

Blessed Sacrament Parish, Waterloo  Thursdays following 7 p.m. Marian prayer and Fridays at 5 p.m.

Queen of Peace Parish, Waterloo  Fridays at 7 p.m. (in Spanish).

Sacred Heart Parish, Waterloo  Fridays following the 8 a.m. Mass.

St. Edward Parish, Waterloo  Fridays at 5:30 p.m.

St. Patrick Parish, Cedar Falls  Fridays at 5:15 p.m.

The Hispanic Community at Queen of Peace Parish offers a re-enactment of the Via Crucis on Good Friday.

Outdoor stations are available to the public at American Martyrs Retreat House in Cedar Falls, which provides prayer booklets for those who want to pray at the stations privately.

WATERLOO  Hammond Avenue Brethren Church at 1604 Hammond Ave. will have healing services every Sunday in March starting at 10:30 a.m.

Anyone who needs healing for health, addictions, marital problems or spiritual troubles is urged to come.

CEDAR FALLS  Orchard Hill Church, 3900 Orchard Hill Drive, will present the Lenten Lunch Hour series in the Commons on Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

The theme is A Lenten Journey Through the Eyes of Mark, and there will be a meal of two soups, fresh bread and dessert, followed by a message. A $4 meal donation is suggested.

The schedule includes:

March 15: John Fuller, Prairie Lakes (broccoli cheese and chili).

March 22: Amy Wiles, First Presbyterian (Wisconsin cheese and colony club bean).

March 29: Laura Hoy, Link, CCD (chicken noodle and tomato cheese).

April 5: Jesse Henkle (vegetable beef and creamy potato and pie).
CEDAR FALLS  Best-selling The Bridges of Madison County author Robert James Waller, formerly of Cedar Falls, has died.

Waller, 77, who resided in Fredericksburg, Texas, died Thursday at his home from complications of pneumonia and multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, according to his longtime friend Scott Cawelti of Cedar Falls.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Waller was born Aug. 1, 1939, in Rockford. He was married to Linda Bow Waller. He is survived by one daughter, Rachael, from a previous marriage. He was married to Georgia Wiedemeier; they divorced in 1997.

Its a sad thing  but he said hed had a helluva life  more than he ever expected to happen to chicken farmers son from Rockford, Iowa, said Cawelti.

Hes sort of iconic for Iowa. He really made it big  50 million books sold worldwide, a great movie with major stars, a Broadway show. Thats a whole new level of making it big. Robert became a touchstone for people.

The author taught economics and decision theory at the University of Northern Iowa for 22 years and served six years as business school dean. He graduated from UNI in 1962 with a bachelors degree, and his masters degree in 1968.

Bridges has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide and is published in 40 languages. It spent more than three years on the New York Times bestsellers list. In 2014, a Tony award-winning Broadway musical opened in New York City.

Prior to Bridges, Waller wrote three non-fiction books and a collection of personal essays. Bridges is the bittersweet story of National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid and his brief but memorable affair with an Iowa farm wife.

In 2015, Waller donated the original manuscript of Bridges to his alma mater. The manuscript contains the authors personal notes and annotations and was originally published in 1992. It is housed in the Rod Librarys special collections and university archives at UNI.

In 2012, Waller made a seven-figure gift to his alma mater. The exact amount was not disclosed.

UNI allowed me to explore my intellectual interests and my tastes, as a student, a professor and a dean, Waller said in a Courier interview at the time. As a professor, UNI provided me room to experiment with courses and course content; and as the first dean of the business school, to have some influence on the direction of the university. I am pleased to lend support to my alma mater and to help it grow as a first-class university.

The gift was directed as the Robert James Waller Scholarship in Economics, an annually funded full tuition and fees scholarship for a student majoring in economics; the Robert James Waller Professorship in Economics, the Robert James Waller College of Business Faculty Enrichment fund and the Charles T. Leavitt Scholarship in Economics. He also provided support for jazz scholarships and Honors Program.

The Rod Library receives royalties from his books.

Wallers literary success will be the focus at the launch of a year-long Cedar Falls Authors Festival, with a program May 4 at the Hearst Center for the Arts. Cawelti and Waller sang together for many years, and Cawelti will perform songs and readings from Waller. The festival, which was organized months prior to Wallers death, will continue through May 2018 and recognize other famous Cedar Falls authors.

Waller published additional bestsellers, including Slow Waltz at Cedar Bend in 1993, followed by Border Music and Puerto Vallarta Squeeze. A Thousand County Roads  An Epilogue to The Bridges of Madison County was published in 2002, followed by High Plains Tango.

He returned to nonfiction writing in 2011, writing and publishing The Summer Nights Never End ... Until They Do: Life, Liberty & the Lure of the Short-Run, which succeeded in merging his logical and creative sides.

Its certainly the best piece of work Ive ever done, and Im having fun with it. Its been a walloping good time. Im good at research and documentation and obsessive to the point of being insufferable, and I fully admit to that, Waller told The Courier in an interview about the book.

Waller also became something of a happy recluse, exploring a range of interests from fly fishing to photography, as well as teaching himself to play jazz guitar.

He was a man who was happy in his own skin, notes Rosemary Beach of Cedar Falls. She and her husband, Bob, have known Waller for many years. We grew to know Bob and Scott (Cawelti) playing their guitars. I think Bob was content with his life and doing his thing, and once hed done it, he just wanted to disappear from view, and thats what he did.

Cawelti describes Wallers death as a relatively fast ending.  He found out (about the cancer) in late summer and began treatment. His immune system went to hell, and he had bouts with pneumonia. He didnt want to be in the hospital, and he died at home with hospice and Linda at his side.

In their younger years, Waller and Cawelti became well-known around the area as a musical duo, playing clubs and at gatherings. The last time I saw him in person was three or four years ago, and wed talk off and on and exchange long emails. He was a really complex man of extraordinary talents and intelligence and drove us all crazy, Cawelti recalls, with a laugh.

When Bridges came along  his life was completely changed.

When Waller moved to Texas in the mid-1990s, he felt hed found his home. I think he sometimes saw himself as the last cowboy, says Beach. There are people in my life who have enriched it, and theyre not necessarily my best friends. But they have put me in a different direction, a different way of thinking about things, and Bob was one of those people.

I really believe that he was content with his life and what was coming next, what was to happen, and he was OK with that, Beach added.
EVANSDALE  Investigators handling the case of two Indiana girls murdered in February dont see anything to link those slayings to the deaths of two Evansdale cousins in 2012.

We are comparing our case to their unsolved case. We have done that. We have talked with the investigators in Iowa. At this point in our investigation it appears merely coincidental, the similarities in this case, but we dont believe they are connected at this point, Sgt. John Perrine with the Indiana State Police said Thursday.

As of right now, there is no connection, said Agent Michael Roehrkasse with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, disappeared July 13, 2012, while they were riding their bikes in Evansdale. Their bodies were found in December 2012 in a rural Bremer County wilderness area.

Abigail Abby Williams, 13, and Liberty Rose Lynn Libby German, 14, disappeared Feb. 13, 2017, while hanging out near an abandoned railroad bridge near Delphi, Ind. Their bodies were found the following day in a wooded area about half a mile away.

Both cases remain unsolved.

Authorities noticed similarities in the crimes. Both involved a pair of young girls, both involved rural, wooded areas and both happened on the 13th of the month.

Beyond that, authorities cant find anything connecting the cases, Perrine said. He said investigators werent ruling out a connection between the crimes.

We just compared notes with the investigators. Its too early in our case to say they are connected. We dont have any similar evidence. But were not ruling it out. Were not prepared to say yes or no now, Perrine said.

He said agents with the Iowa DCI, which is handling the cousins case, began communicating with Indiana investigators shortly after the Delphi incident.

One of the elements that drew Iowa officials attention to the Indiana case was the fact it involved a double abduction.

Statistically, they are very rare. And thats one of those reasons that it caught our attention, Roehrkasse said.

This case is unique, just like your case is in Iowa is unique, and thats why people are putting them together, Perrine said.

Roehrkasse said while the DCI is talking with Indiana officials to explore possible connections, they are also giving them room to conduct their investigation.

We were in that boat four and a half, five years ago. During that time, there was an abduction in Colorado as well as in Wyoming in the early stages of our case (in Evansdale). ... Other agencies were calling us, and that kind of takes you away from your core mission, Roehrkasse said.

Another double abduction caught the attention of investigators in the cousins case in May 2013 when two young girls were kidnapped Near Dayton, Iowa. Suspect Michael Klunder killed one of the girls, the other fled, and Klunder took his own life. Ultimately, authorities determined Klunder was likely near his Stratford home at the time the cousins disappeared in Evansdale, and he was ruled out as a suspect.

In the Indiana case, investigators have released a grainy photograph of a person walking on the Delphi Historic Trail near where the bodies were found.

During the course of the investigation, preliminary evidence has led investigators to believe the person in the distributed photograph is a suspect in the investigation of the homicides of Abigail Williams and Liberty German, Indiana State Police said in a statement.

Also, authorities released a voice recording of a man saying down the hill extracted from a video found on Libertys cell phone.

Anyone with information about the Indiana case is asked to call the Delphi Homicide Investigation Tip Line at (844) 459-5786. Information can also be reported by calling the Indiana State Police at (800) 382-7537, or the Carroll County Sheriffs Department at (765) 564-2413. Information can also be emailed to Abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com.

Anyone with information on the Evansdale case is asked to call the Evansdale Police tip line at 232-6682 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers at (855) 300-8477. A $150,000 reward, raised privately and by the FBI, is offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers has a $20,500 reward for anyone coming forward with information that simply leads to an arrest.
WATERLOO  A second person has been arrested in damage to a Waterloo coin-operated laundry in January.

Waterloo police arrested Breann Michelle Comer, 35, of Waterloo, on Wednesday for one count of second-degree criminal mischief. She was released from jail the following day.

Police said Comer and Shawn Michael Dean entered Laundry Plus, 1010 E. Mitchell Ave., on Jan. 14. Dean allegedly broke into machines at the business, and investigators said that while Comer was not seen breaking into the machines, she did nothing to stop Dean.

The crime was captured by a security camera at the business.

Dean, 24, was arrested in February in connection with damage to Laundry Plus and a similar crime at Clean Laundry, 7809 Progress Ave., on Feb. 8.
DES MOINES  The Iowa Democratic Party announced Thursday that Kevin Geiken will serve as the new executive director of the party.

Geiken is a native of Butler and Franklin counties who attended Iowa State University and has been involved in Iowa politics for more than a decade.

He worked on Barack Obamas 2008 and 2012 campaigns, in addition to working for Organizing for America. Geiken served as deputy executive director for the Iowa Democratic Party during the 2014 cycle.

Kevin is one of the most talented organizers and political strategists I have ever worked with in my career, said IDP Chair Derek Eadon. I have had a chance to work with Kevin on several projects and his experience and approach are exactly what our party needs right now. Kevin is respected across the state, and he is a nationally renowned trainer and organizer.

He has trained hundreds of staff and volunteers in the state and is a natural leader that will help this party move forward united.
CEDAR RAPIDS  Groups representing the states hospitals and physicians are expressing serious concerns with House Republicans plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The bill unveiled Monday night already has run into opposition on both sides of the political aisle. It would tie tax credits to age rather than income, roll back federal funding for the Medicaid expansion starting in 2020 and move the entitlement program to a per capita cap.

An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found, generally, the ACA offers higher tax credit amounts than the replacement plan to lower-income people  especially older individuals living in higher-cost areas  and lower credits for those with higher incomes.

Under the ACA, about 66 percent of those enrolled in a marketplace plan make less than $31,250 a year. About 36 percent of enrollees are under age 35, 37 percent are ages 35 to 54, and 27 percent are 55 or older, according to Kaiser.

And while that could have a negative effect on the 52,000 Iowans who purchased subsidy-eligible health plans through the marketplace, the providers biggest worry lies with changes proposed to Medicaid.

The Medicaid piece is the most concerning and impactful, said Scott McIntyre, spokesman for the Iowa Hospital Association, which represents the states 118 hospitals. In terms of number of people affected  its more than half a million Iowans and every hospital and most everybody providing health care.

The federal government and states currently share the cost of the program  which provides health insurance for 73 million of the countrys elderly, poor and disabled and nearly 600,000 Iowans. Experts say moving to a block grant or per capita cap  which would set baseline financing per person and grow at a fixed, annual rate  would shoulder states with more of the burden if growth doesnt keep up with health care costs.

We are reviewing provisions of the bill still but share in the concerns expressed by the (American Medical Association) and have concerns about the impact on Medicaid, said Clare Kelly, chief executive officer of the Iowa Medical Society, which represents 6,600 of the states physicians, residents and medical students.

The AMA sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the congressional committees working on the legislation Tuesday saying it does not support the plan as drafted because of the expected decline in health insurance coverage and the potential harm to vulnerable patient populations.

Our Medicaid program has already been through quite a bit in the past few years, through the Medicaid expansion and the transition to managed care. Both beneficiaries and providers need time to work through that.

Kelly added the state has made strides to ensure its most-vulnerable residents have both coverage and access  strides at risk under a per capita cap.

You can have an insurance card and have coverage, but that doesnt mean you have access to the care you need in the right setting at the right time, she said.

Iowa and 30 other states took part in the Medicaid expansion, which offered care to low-income adults living under 138 percent of the poverty level. The expansion  which provided health care coverage to 150,000 Iowans and about 15 million Americans  helped drive down the uninsured rate, which in turn helped reduce charity care at hospitals.

Insured patients cost less in the long run, the hospital associations McIntyre said. Thats because patients are more involved with their care and learn how to navigate the system  when to go to the emergency room, when to go to urgent care and when to see a primary care physician.

Emergency rooms arent designed to be primary care places  no one would ever use the ER model to create a health clinic, he said.

Whats more, these patients often deal with food insecurity, transportation issues and other problems.

If health care is one constant in their life, it can make huge difference to their quality of life overall, McIntyre said.
DES MOINES  The Iowa Senate voted Thursday to take steps to address problems associated with drunken, drugged and distracted driving.

Senators voted 48-0 to establish programs that would require drivers arrested or convicted of driving impaired to participate in twice-daily sobriety monitoring, as well as require some drivers to install ignition interlocks in their vehicles. The sobriety monitoring program is modeled after initiatives in South Dakota and other states.

I believe this is a necessary piece of legislation to create additional tools with the intent of improving safety on our roads, said Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, floor manager for Senate File 444.

The legislation puts in place an evidence-based, innovative criminal justice concept with a nontraditional approach to treat crimes involving alcohol or drug abuse with the goal of preventing repeat occurrences, he said. An offender could be placed in the opt-in program as a condition of bond, pretrial release, sentence probation, parole or a temporary restricted license and be allowed to function in a job free from incarceration if he or she abstains from the use of alcohol and/or drugs for the term of the sanction, he added.

A separate provision of the bill, which now goes to the Iowa House for consideration, 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.

This legislation does do something to promote safety on our public highways. It definitely feels like its a step in the right direction as we find the best way to keep our citizens safe and reduce the number of injuries on our public highways, said Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines.

The recommendations for the legislation came out of a task force Gov. Terry Branstad formed to study ways to keep drunk, drugged and distracted drivers off Iowa highways following a year when traffic deaths spiked to 403  the most since 2008.

School transportation

In other action Thursday, senators voted 47-0 to approve legislation that would make significant changes to the way the state funds public education in general, as well as schools transportation costs.

Senate File 455, which also was sent to the House, 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. Critics like Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, argued unsuccessfully the cost  estimated at $15 million to $20 million in the first year and increasing annually thereafter  could create competition for state budget dollars 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 percent of their general fund budget on transportation, leaving less money for educational purposes. And some districts have expressed frustration they are permitted to spend less per student than some other districts. The provisions would be fully implemented by fiscal 2027.

This is huge, said Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, who noted the bill addressed problems that have vexed school districts for decades. What an opportunity. Were going to do the right thing.

Sen. Roby Smith, R-Davenport, called Senate File 455 a long-term fix. This bill is pro-education, this bill is fairness; this bill helps Iowa and its children, he said. It is reasonable, sustainable and prudent. Vote yes for equality.

Sen. Tod Bowman, D-Maquoketa, called the change a bipartisan effort that has spanned multiple sessions in trying to close a gap in transportation costs that range up to $1,133 per student among Iowas 333 school districts.

This is going to be a game changer. This is big, this is important, said Bowman, who noted some would like to see a faster pace to inequities that will be dealt with slowly over a period of years. Iowans across the state want this regardless of urban or rural.

Project labor agreements

Also Thursday, senators voted 26-21 to approve legislation prohibiting union project labor agreements from being mandated on taxpayer-funded construction projects that are financed by state or local governments. All Republicans present voted yes while 20 Democrats and one independent senator opposed Sen. File 438.

"Taxpayers deserve the best construction that they can get at the very best price that they can get," said Sen. Dennis Guth, R-Klemme, the bills floor manager. "This bill will make that happen by encouraging more contractors to bid on a project."

Guth said the bill will increase competition and reduce costs if government entities have options other than project labor agreements that favor union workers. He and others contend nonunion contractors shy away from government-financed projects because the bidding process requires the revelation of proprietary information.

Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, said the bill is another example of lawmakers intruding into a local control issue for cities, counties and school districts in trying unsuccessfully to apply the bills provisions solely to state projects.
Saturdays sun hadnt risen above the Atlantic horizon March 4, yet President Donald Trump was up and apoplectic at his Mar-a-Lago estate. So at 6:35 a.m., he sent the first of four historically bizarre, rapid-fire Twitter postings:

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!

Trump was accusing former President Barack Obama of a potentially felonious crime  yet offered no proof to show it really happened. Indeed, in his tweets, he seemed ignorant of the fact even a president cannot just order a wiretap; the FBI or Justice Department must get a warrant from a federal judge. Yet Trump tweeted:

Is it legal for a sitting President to be wire tapping a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!

Trump had reportedly ended his White House week in a foul mood, raging at aides for failing to capitalize on the presidential reviews hed gotten for his speech to Congress. He was likewise upset over the scandal news that had attracted the medias big eye, especially a perjury-sounding hearing blurtation by now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

(Days later, not a single Trump adviser would say publicly they believed Trumps wiretapping accusation. Most think Trump just erupted after reading or hearing about a Breitbart website piece  did ex-Breitbart boss Steve Bannon, now Trumps counselor, show it to him?  or other reports from rightwing sources. Trump never verified it with FBI Director James Comey or Sessions. But weve gotten ahead of our scenario.)

At 7:02 a.m. Saturday, Trump ended his wiretap tweets with undisguised fury (and one rushed typo):

How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!

Now imagine, at this point in our scenario, as Trump sent that tweet, his red phone rang.

The already-angry Trump answers and hears his national security advisor, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, telling him of a major global crisis  maybe North Korea just fired a missile over Japan  could it be headed toward the United States? Or maybe Russia has invaded the Baltics; or China has invaded Taiwan; or some-such. And also McMaster tells him hes also getting a call from Russias Vladimir Putin or Chinas Xi Jinping  whichever one isnt doing the invading in this scenario.

Now ask yourself this: How sure are you  or, better yet, how sure do you think any of Washingtons most prominent Republican leaders really are  Trump would be in a proper, stable, capable state of mind to be able to handle a global crisis at that moment?

After all, in his irrational, impetuous mishandling of that unsupported wiretap claim and attack on Obama, Trump showed the Twitter world he can suddenly plunge into the very worst sort of mental state. What the world doesnt know, and neither do we, is whether Trump could, in such a scenario, rein in his worst impulses and be (well, here goes that word again) presidential in a crisis.

Could Trump, in that moment, be capable of representing the best interests of United States, our citizens, our allies, our planet?

None of us know the answer for sure. But this week, we learned we can no longer ignore the question. By now, this concern has undoubtedly crossed the minds  but carefully never the lips  of the Republican leaders you most admire. Surely some of Trumps highly regarded national security team must have wondered privately about it as well.

Washington Democrats, who set records for self-delusion throughout 2016, amuse themselves these days by talking over drinks and dinners about whether Trump might someday be impeached. But such talk is only likely to help them break, yet again, their own self-delusion records. Trumps voters like that he is working at keeping his campaign promises; they havent yet figured out how much Trumps success will cost them and their families.

Being ignorant of facts (or even being so stupid you dont know what you dont know) isnt an impeachable offense. Otherwise wed never be able to convene a quorum in Congress.

Trump came into politics riding the coat-tales of The Big Lie  his birther deception won him big-league twirls in the media spotlight. He broke all campaign records for falsehoods; and hes continued on pace ever since, tweeting lies about inaugural crowd sizes and 3 million illegal voters. Now this. Trumps staff of wet noodles wont tell him hes got to stop.

But maybe hell finally listen to you.
Iowans have long understood the importance of soil and water conservation. Farmers who employ appropriate techniques for cultivating their land help preserve these crucial resources and thereby make a vital contribution to the long-term viability of the Hawkeye State's agricultural economy.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation recognize the importance of conservation to the state's future. Consequently, each year they sponsor a search for a farmer who "has a proven track record of excellence in soil conservation and water quality improvements and is committed to continuing efforts that continuously improve the land and water." The individual identified as deserving special recognition is designated as the Iowa Conservation Farmer of the Year. This year the winner of this prestigious honor will be announced July 17 at the Iowa Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners Annual Conference in Altoona. The honoree will receive free use of a John Deere 6E Series utility tractor for up to 12 months or 200 hours of use.

"Iowa farmers continue to take on the challenge of better protecting their soil and improving water quality," Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said in a call for nominations issued by his department. "This award is an opportunity to highlight and recognize a farmer that has gone above and beyond in their conservation efforts and serves as a model of land stewardship in their community and across the state."

IFBF President Craig Hill echoed Northey's enthusiasm for this award program.

"Leading by example is so important, because everyone has a role to play in protecting our soil and water quality," he said. "Over the years we've proudly honored incredible Iowans who lead by example and have made incredible progress in conservation and their efforts encourage others to step up to the plate. Our role as farmers is to do more than grow food; we must all work towards leaving the land and watershed better for the next generation."

According to the contest's sponsors, a farmer can apply or be nominated for the award by sending a brief letter summarizing the nominee's conservation efforts to the local Soil and Water Conservation District by May 1. Each SDWCD will choose one nomination to advance for consideration for a regional award. The nine regional award winners then compete for the overall award.

We urge readers to help identify worthy candidates for this important award. Since 1952, it has helped build public awareness of the crucial work those who care for Iowa's farmlands and waterways perform.
Trump and Obama

JOSEPHINE BOYKIN

WATERLOO This president has flipped. He is fascinated with Obama. I think it is simply that hes got problems this African-American man ran our country for eight years and he did it with no fanfare and with no help from the Republicans who thwarted anything Obama tried for our country.

I think the vice president and Paul Ryan are running the show. Trump seems to be missing in action.

New high school

MADISON VETTER

CEDAR FALLS  I am a student writing to express my concern over the issue of the new Cedar Falls Public High School. While many people think about only the cost, I believe a new school would benefit the community and students. Overcrowding is a problem in our district, and as the student enrollment is expected to increase, classrooms become less for learning and more a focus on crowding.

Teachers become overwhelmed and find it more difficult to help students individually as they need. And building add-ons will eventually overtake the cost of a new school. The school is old. Opened in 1954, it will turn 63 this year. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, not only should all the utilities (including electrical equipment and roofing) be replaced, but after 60 years, a school is usually abandoned.

I urge the readers to not only consider the benefits of a new school but to consider the possible consequences without one.

Bottle bill

DENNIS VAUGHN

INDEPENDENCE  On the news the other night, I was surprised to see lawmakers in Iowa were trying to get rid of our 5-cent bottle law. Apparently our lawmakers dont get out of Iowa much. For if they did, it would be easy to see why we have it and why it is a good thing.

Lets look at who it would benefit and who it would not. I dont think it would benefit the state to do away with it. After all, we would have to hire more state workers to go out and clean the ditches and state parks. It would not benefit local governments either for the same reason.

Now lets look at who might benefit from it. I can only think of two  the grocery store chains and beverage companies.

When the bottle law was created more than 40 years ago, it started a whole new industry. There were the people who picked up bottles and cans for a little extra money and the recyclers themselves  who, by the way, handle the cans and bottles for 1-cent per can or bottle. If anything, I think the recyclers should be given another cent for handling.

The flag

HAROLD TUCHEL

WATERLOO  Yet another flag controversy in Waverly (Wartburg professors upside-down flag angers Waverly city councilman, March 5). As a veteran I deplore such behavior. I think some people never outgrow their teenage brain. I am old enough to remember the burn your bra demonstrations. Nude demonstrators. Demonstrators dressed in black and rioting.

All these demonstrations stressed the need for attention over political action and goals. Perhaps Wartburg hired someone whose brain still makes some immature teen decisions.

New high school

SHERRI MURPHY

WATERLOO  Its great to hear a new high school is in the cards for Cedar Falls. Being a Waterloo resident in the Cedar Falls School District, this is a project worthy of my tax dollars.

Why not have a new high school that is state of the art?

Flag flying

KAREN FRENCH

FAIRBANK  I was shocked to think Wartburg College would allow a professor, someone who influences our childrens minds, to hang an American flag upside down (March 5 Courier). Our son was in Afghanistan so we can have the freedoms we all enjoy and attend any college of our choice.

And let me assure Wartburg, none of our grandchildren or great-grandchildren will ever set foot in any college that doesnt respect our country and our flag. If that professor is unhappy with our government, he is more than welcome to leave the United States.

Editors Note: The professor flew the flag at his home, not at the college. The flag has since been taken down.

Presidents

fish story

ERNEST NUNNALLY

WATERLOO  We have a man in the White House who thinks nothing of speaking nastily and outrageously about his predecessor, and why not? Then he called Obama an illegal from Kenya. The speaker of the House said it wasnt his job to tell people how to think. And with him now calling the former president a criminal, no leader in Congress is willing to come out and throw water on the presidents fish story.

This isnt about him saying how big his hands are or how many people he can see on the Washington mall or how many elusive and illegal voters he says were out there last November. Its about truth and untruth; the truth the Russians helped him win the election. The untruth is President Obama had him bugged.

Lets hope the leaders of Congress today will have the stuff to tell Donald Trump to take his bugging accusation and stuff it back where he got it.
WATERLOO  A Waterloo man serving time in a 2012 shooting has fled from a halfway house.

Corrections officials said Anthony Terrell Jacobs, 22, ran out of the Waterloo Residential Correctional Facility about 3:10 a.m. Thursday.

Jacobs is serving a sentence for intimidation with a weapon in connection with an August 2012 shooting in the area of West Second and Allen streets that injured three people.

He was placed on work release in November 2016, according to corrections officials.

Jacobs is described as a 22-year-old black male, 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 244 pounds.

Man arrested

in pursuit

CEDAR FALLS  A Cedar Falls man has been arrested in Wednesdays high-speed motorcycle chase through two cities.

Bradlee Joe Rasmussen, 20, of 1108 Garnett Road, was arrested for two counts of eluding, driving while suspended and fraudulent use of registration. He also was cited for running stop signs during the pursuit.

Rasmussen was later released from jail.

The pursuit started around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday after a state trooper clocked a motorcycle traveling 108 mph in a 55-mph zone on U.S. Highway 218 near the U.S. Highway 20 interchange. The trooper caught up with the motorcycle when it stopped at the intersection of Shaulis Road and Isle of Capri Drive to let off a passenger.

When the trooper motioned for the driver to dismount from the motorcycle, the motorcycle took off, according to court records. An Iowa Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Enforcement Officer who was in the area joined the chase, and Waterloo and Cedar Falls police officers joined in.

The motorcycle took U.S. Highway 63 in to Waterloo and made its way to Katoski Drive and Black Hawk Road where it hit loose gravel and went down. The driver tipped the motorcycle back up and continued on.

The chase eventually entered the Five Seasons Mobile Home Park, and Rasmussen struck an Iowa State Patrol squad car on Sapphire Road  about three blocks from Rasmussens home.

Rasmussen was taken to a local hospital for minor injuries and then arrested.

Authorities later determined the motorcycles license plate belonged to a trailer.

Rasmussen was involved in a crash near the mobile home park in January. Police were called to a disturbance at his home around 5:48 a.m. Jan. 26, and he left before officers arrived. Two minutes later, police were sent to a single-vehicle crash at the intersection of Greenhill Road and Cedar Heights Drive. They found Rasmussens vehicle had entered a ditch and rolled, and he was ejected with serious injuries. He was later arrested for operating while intoxicated in the January crash.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Mar. 09, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 09, 2017 | 11:46 AM | PADUCAH, KY

A Paducah police officer was treated at a local hospital Thursday morning after he was attacked by a dog.



The Paducah Police Department says Officer Will Gilbert went to a home in the 1100 block of Greer Street at 8:30 a.m. to conduct a follow-up investigation on a theft case. He was standing by his cruiser on the street, and a dog police described as a pit bull was chained in the front yard of the home.



Police said the dog broke its chain and attacked Gilbert, biting him on the left thigh. As the dog was biting him, Gilbert fired one shot from his duty weapon, which missed the dog and hit the pavement. The dog then ran back to its home.



Animal Control officers were notified and Gilbert was taken to Lourdes Hospital for treatment.



Police said the investigation is continuing.
By The Associated Press

By The Associated Press Mar. 09, 2017 | 11:10 AM | LOUISVILLE, KY

Vice President Mike Pence plans to visit Louisville on Saturday as he tries to make the case for repealing and replacing former President Barack Obama's health care law.

Pence is set to appear with Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin at the event in the hometown of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul has been a critic of the health care legislation backed by President Donald Trump and Pence.

Pence was in Ohio and Wisconsin last week in support of the repeal.
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Ukraine sets sights on EU power export in 2019

10 March 2017

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Ukraine expects to start supplying electricity to the European Union network via its planned 'energy bridge' as early as 2019, and to complete the project by 2025, the head of the country's nuclear power plant operator said this week. The energy bridge will link unit 2 of Ukraine's Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant to Burshtyn Energy Island and connect with powerlines to Rzeszow in Poland and Albertirsa in Hungary.

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decree on the Ukraine-EU energy bridge in June 2015. This followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the project in March between Energoatom, Ukrenergo and Polenergia. The project aims to make the export of electricity possible by disconnecting Khmelnitsky 2 from the Ukrainian national grid, and to attract funding required to complete units 3 and 4 at the plant.

Energoatom president Yury Nedashkovsky told delegates at the Ukrainian Energy Forum, held in Kiev between 28 February and 3 March, the project would be the "first step on the way to fully integrated strategic synchronisation of the Ukrainian and European energy systems".

"We expect, as the result of having a long-term export contract, to receive a financial instrument for solving the issue of infrastructure development in Ukraine, increasing the efficiency and capacity of our power units, as well as completing two power units at Khmelnitsky that are currently in a closed state with a high degree of construction readiness," he said. Units 3 and 4 are 73% and 28% complete, respectively, he added.

The project will add 1000 MWe of nuclear power capacity to the existing export potential of Burshtyn Island, which is currently supplied exclusively by 550 Mwe of thermal generation capacity.

Energoatom said on 3 March that the total 1550 MWe will be the "cornerstone" on which the possibility of the Ukrainian power system operating in synchronicity with the system managed by ENTSO-E will be be based. ENTSO-E - the European Network of Transmission System Operators - represents 42 electricity transmission system operators from 35 countries across Europe. The total capacity available will eventually be as high as 2550 MWe, Energoatom added.

Energoatom expects upgrading Khmelnitsky 2 and its connection to Burshtyn Island, and other work to support its ultimate connection to the ENTSO-E power system to cost about 47 million ($50 million).

Back-up power sources will be provided, Nedashkovsky said, to prevent electricity 'blackouts'. Power demand in Ukraine is decreasing, Energoatom said, making the prospect of exporting electricity even more attractive. The company expects to produce 82 GWh of nuclear power this year, down from 88 GWh in 2015.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
On February 14th, Kontakt Shpk and OMA officially released the soon-to-implemented project of a housing development for Albanias capital city, Tirana. The project was announced through a video-presentation of the project, Tirana Masterplan proposal, by Reinier De Graaf, the partner at OMA, and responsible for building and masterplanning projects in Europe, Russia and the Middle East.

The site, located in-between the neighborhoods of Ali Demi and Student City, on the south-eastern side of Tirana, has rural connotations, and will have connections to the citys new 4th ring and Metrobosco as proposed by TR030 - Tiranas New Masterplan.

The project takes cues by the informal settlements sprung up in the 90s located in the northern and southern sides and with its checkerboard shape formalizes urban sprawl.

The masterplan proposes development through a car-free zone with 70% of the site remaining open. Across the site runs a central axis that connects it to the city, which is a public space that ties the courtyards together, and creates a multitude of experiences for the inhabitants.

The slope difference of 27 meters is put to use through the urban morphology of cluster blocks that surround the courtyards, where in a relatively flat plane become introverted.

The proposal is generous with the views, due to the terrain which allows every building to look to the next one.

Inspired by Tiranas vibrant facades, colors become a remarkable active component of the concept. Every courtyard has a different tone and serve as a sense of identity and placemaking, while simultaneously adding to the diversity of experiences.

Closer view to the courtyards

Plan-1

Plan-2

Plan-3

Plan-4

View Reinier De Graf's full video-presentation below:

All images via screenshot from the video.

> via Kontakt Shpk/OMA
Bee Breeders Architecture Competitions has announced winners for Kip Island Auditorium architecture competition. With winning entries from the US, the Netherlands and Spain, the competition was to reimagine an addition to the Riga International Convention Centre saw numerous different approaches taken. In this architecture competition, judges demanded a well-considered alternative to the typical sprawling multi-block exhibition structures that are often surrounded by parking lots and urban reclusion.

The winning entry from the US was chosen for its proposal to completely entangle city and stage, creating a performance space that radically deconstructed the separation of a proscenium and an audience. The projects centrepiece was an elevated theatre space, cantilevered as a truss over the site, containing a sequence of auditorium spaces that would be interconnected by a series of panels that open up to form a monumental stage.



The second place winners are the entry from the Technical University Delft in the Netherlands. They have also received the BB Student Award as well as the BB Green award for their designs. This project was chosen for its simple solution - using an economy of form and material to create a flexible building, characterised by tactful iconicity.



The third place winners from Spain were chosen for their use of urban engagement and social inclusion, the project taking a stance on the nature of large exhibition centres and making a case for the public.

See 3-winning projects with jury comments below:

1st prize winners: The Urban Lighthouse by Space4Architecture / Team: Michele Busiri-Vici, Clementina Ruggieri, Matteo Biasiolo, Pino Pavese

The first place entry for the Kip Island Auditorium was chosen for its proposal to completely entangle city and stage, creating a performance space radically deconstructing the separation between proscenium and audience. The project centerpiece is an elevated theatre space, cantilevered as a truss over the site, creating an iconic figure in the city.

Inside this truss, the linear sequence of auditorium spaces is interconnected by a series of panels that can either separate each stage for simultaneous performances or open up and interconnect, forming a monumental stage that transfigures the nature of performance. The skin reinforces this programmatic gesture and tectonic diagram. Double layers of mesh establish the projects powerful ambiguity between interior and figure - both exterior form and internal volume assert themselves as equal components of the projects expression and identity. The iconicity of the auditorium lies in this opposition between object and performance, creating a project in which the archetype of the stage is activated into an entirely new model for spectacle and spectatorship.



1st prize winners interview

2nd prize winners: Kip Island Auditorium by Technical University Delft / Team: Deyan Saev, Panayiotis Hadjisergis

The success of the second place entry for the Kip Island Auditorium competition lies in its simple solution to the existing conditions, using an economy of form and material to create a flexible building characterized by tactful iconicity. The project parti stitches the site, unifying the shed buildings of the exhibition centre, by infilling the triangular space between with a repeating, extruded sawtooth bay. Within this triangular massing, the project contains a large, non-hierarchical, and reconfigurable space, allowing for multiple auditoria and conference spaces while maintaining fluid connections to the existing buildings on the site.

The project provides an expansive new public facade: a serrated wall, functioning as a sieve that filters visitors into the inner world of the aggregated and vast exhibition centre. Additionally, the structure and detailing of the project is tectonically thoughtful and ecologically considerate, deploying a repeated post and beam module of engineered wood with steel cable and polycarbonate infill to provide natural, indirect light. Combined, this kit-of-parts produces a subdued iconicity, evoking the industrial nature of the existing buildings and imposing order on a site characterized by an accumulation of disparate conditions.



2nd prize winners interview

3rd prize winners: Agir by Moises Royo, Carlos Orbea, Gonzalo Garcia-Robledo, Cristina Martin Consuegra

The strength of the third place entry arises from its urban engagement and social inclusion. The project takes a stance on the nature of large exhibition centers, making a case for the public. Expo and convention center typologies, due to their scale often create a barrier within the city, isolating the pedestrian rather than including. The siting of the third place entry adeptly uses the scale of the project to engage the public through a strategy of solid/void in lieu of the typologically conventional solid.

Rather than attach to the existing exhibition center, the auditoria stretch the perimeter of the site, creating both a boundary and filter to a new public plaza. The plaza, filled with a series of trees, becomes the stitch between new and old allowing each structure to stand on its' own. The project keenly makes use of section to engage pedestrians in the program of the building by elevating and exposing the underside of each auditorium space. The undulating underside becomes a filtered threshold to the public plaza beyond. By elevating the auditoria, the project takes advantage of the exhibition center's sitting on Kip Island, gaining 360 degree views of the city. Arranged linearly, the auditoria create a new public promenade where visitors participate in each performance as they pass by. The promenade culminates in an open room overlooking the plaza and city beyond, engaging the visitor directly with the public.



3rd prize winners interview

Deyan Saev and Panayiotis Hadjisergis' proposal from Technical University Delft has been awarded with BB Green Award and BB Student Award. The competition also awarded 6 projects for Honorable Mention Awards. See all 6 Honorable Mentions here.

World Architecture Community is Media Partner for Bee Breeders Architecture Competitions. Bee Breeders Architecture Competitions are still receiving registrations for Hong Kong Pixel Homes Architecture Competition, Mango Vinyl Hub Architecture Competition In Latvia and Stone Barn Meditation Camp Architecture Competition.

All images courtesy of Bee Breeders Architecture Competitions

> via Bee Breeders Architecture Competitions
As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.
BANGALORE & ALGIERS, ALGERIA, March 10, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Housing Bank, one of the most respected banks in the Middle East, and Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Infosys (NYSE: INFY), announced the selection of the Finacle suite of solutions to power the bank's operations in Algeria. The bank has chosen to deploy the Finacle Core Banking, Trade Finance and Internet Banking solutions and will also deploy the Finacle Islamic Banking solution for its Shariah banking product. The Finacle Analytics solution will enable the bank to offer targeted and customized offerings to its customers. With Finacle, the Housing Bank Algeria will not only achieve a significant jump in operational efficiencies, but will also accelerate growth, manage scale and drive innovation, thereby providing superior value to its customers.



Highlights:



- The solutions will help the bank eliminate various manual processes, enhance productivity, reduce errors and ensure 24X7 availability



- It will help the bank automate processes and better manage real-time data with respect to its NPA (non-performing assets)



- The solutions' componentized, service oriented architecture will allow the bank to expose granular business functionality as services, thereby enabling enhanced collaboration with internal and external stakeholders



- With the in-built product factory capability, supported by actionable insights from the analytics capability, the bank will be able to create and launch products easily with swift go-to-market



- Due to Finacle's multi-entity capability, the need to install an instance on every bank system will no longer be required, making activities such as patch deployment, new branch, counter extension - direct and easy



- The bank's ATM operations will now be always online, overcoming risks and service limitations such as low withdrawal limits



Quotes:



Sanat Rao, Chief Business Officer and Global Head, Infosys Finacle:

"A truly digital transformation of banking operations is today no longer a matter of choice, but a necessary requirement for success. With the adoption of the Finacle solution suite, the Housing Bank Algeria is among the select few banks in the MENA region with a proven technology platform to deliver a digital age banking experience to its customers. Building on our current partnerships in Jordan and Algeria, Finacle is well poised to help the bank extend this success across its other regional entities for accelerating growth and profitability."



Houcine Hannachi, General Manager, Housing Bank Algeria:

"As a private bank in the Algerian market, we are continuously looking to offer our customers with new products and services. We recognize today's challenges and competition. Our strategy is to benefit from information technology evolvement by empowering and complementing the bank's business, sales and marketing. We believe that these Finacle Solutions will support us in our mission and help us enhance our customer's banking experience, and above all inspire us to innovate."



About Housing Bank Algeria

The Housing Bank Algeria is one among the 22 private & public banks in the country, and provides its banking operation through a network of 7 branches distributed among cities of Algiers (Dely Ibrahim and Dar El Baida), Blida, Oran, Bejaia, Setif and Constantina. The Housing Bank provides universal banking products & services for its corporate & retail customers across several channels (Branches, ATM, eBanking, and SMS Banking).



About Infosys Finacle

Finacle is the industry-leading universal banking solution from EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly owned product subsidiary of Infosys. The solution helps financial institutions develop deeper connections with stakeholders, power continuous innovation, and accelerate growth in the digital world. Today, Finacle is the choice of banks across 94 countries, and serves over 848 million consumers - estimated to be nearly 16.5 percent of the world's adult banked population.



Finacle solutions address core banking, online banking, mobile banking, CRM, payments, treasury, origination, liquidity management, Islamic banking, wealth management, and analytics needs of financial institutions worldwide. Assessment of the top 1000 banks in the world reveals that institutions powered by Finacle enjoy 50 percent higher returns on assets, 30 percent higher returns on capital, and 8.1 percent points lesser costs to income than others.



To know more, visit www.finacle.com



About EdgeVerve

EdgeVerve Systems Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Infosys, develops innovative software products and offers them on premise and on the cloud. Their products help businesses develop deeper connections with stakeholders, power continuous innovation and accelerate growth in the digital world. They power their clients' growth in rapidly evolving areas such as banking, digital marketing, interactive commerce, distributive trade, credit servicing, customer service and enterprise buying.



Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this press release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, 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 earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect 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, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys 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. In addition, please note that any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company unless it is required by law.



# # #
MARIETTA, GA, March 10, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Scott Negron Legal Defense Fund (https://www.gofundme.com/Save-a-Gorilla) has been launched on GoFundMe to help raise funds for highly decorated former fire fighter, Thomas Scott Negron (Scott)who faces felony prosecution for "Trafficking", a charge that carries a 5 to 15 year prison sentence if he is convicted. This stems from medical cannabis (that is used to treat Negron's chronic and debilitating pain) being seized at his residence in 2015. Negron has faced a legal ordeal now stretching two years, as Cobb County, Georgia pursues a relentless felony prosecution against him despite his medical condition and facts that do not support the case.



Scott Negron is a former highly decorated fire fighter from California who has led an eclectic life. He is a musician, activist, and most importantly a father. Negron has been recognized over the past thirty years for numerous acts of heroism both professionally and also as a civilian. He has intervened and saved victims of accidents, fires, and various violent crimes. He has been awarded for these acts of civic heroism by the California legislature and various organizations across the nation.



The case of Scott Negron is on the frontline in the battle for legalizing medical cannabis in Georgia. Georgia is one of the most repressive states in the nation when it comes to the medical cannabis. Because Georgia's medical marijuana law only provides protection from prosecution if a qualified patient possesses a legal amount of oil, there is no provision in Georgia law that suggests how a patient might actually obtain medical marijuana. In summary: Georgia's medical marijuana law does not legalize the production or sale of marijuana, it simply decriminalizes its possession by certain qualified individuals. And that is where Scott is caught in the legal crosshairs.



In 2015, a Cobb County police officer claimed he could smell cannabis odors coming from Scott's house, while he (the officer) was on the other side of the street. After Scott and his caregiver, David Mazurek refused the officer entry without a warrant, the officer went back and obtained a warrant. Scott and David were arrested because of the cannabis inside for Scott's medical treatment. But the kicker was what they were charged with - "Trafficking", a felony that carries a 5 to 15 year prison sentence if they were convicted. This happened, despite the fact that there was no evidence at all to support the charge - there were no scales, no packing equipment, no bulk, no guns, and no money. At the same time that this was happening, several robberies in the area were not being responded to by the police.



David Mazurek, Scott's caregiver has never smoked cannabis nor been in trouble with the law. Prior to being Scott's caregiver, David had been caregiver for Scott's grandparents. Ultimately, prosecutors abandoned the charges against David but not against Scott.



Scott's struggle has been going on for two years as prosecutors relentlessly pursue this case. As of now, they will not consider dropping the charges despite the fact that what Scott was charged with may ultimately be declared legal in Georgia nor the fact that the medical cannabis was desperately needed for Scott's medical condition. They have seemed to care less that Scott is in severe pain and suffering without medical cannabis and has been for over twenty years.



The GoFundMe Account is a means to help Negron pay for the legal defense to fight these arbitrary and baseless charges.



# # #
Mar 10, 2017 | By Tess

Indias Science and Technology Ministry has announced a plan to reproduce monuments from the countrys Buddhist Circuit using 3D technologies. Though the ministry has not released many details about the project so far, it says it is part of the effort to virtually promote Indias architectural heritage.

The Buddhist Circuit is a transnational tourist circuit that visits many sites and monuments that are holy or significant in Buddhism. The circuit includes locations such as Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, Rajgir and Kushinagar in Bihar, Sarnath, Shravasti, as well as Kapilavastu and Lumbini in Nepal, Buddhas homeland. The plan is to recreate the most famous monuments and architectural sites from the Buddhist Circuit using 3D technologies.

Bodh Gaya, India

The announcement for the 3D reproductions of Indias famous Buddhist monuments was made at an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) conference focused on artificial intelligence and robotics. According to Professor Ashutosh Sharma, secretary of the Department of Science and Technology, the idea for the project is to have people virtually visit these places, to learn about them in an interactive way while sitting in one place.

He said: Without going for Bharat Darshan, you can sit in one place, in Delhi maybe, and visit all the monuments, get all the information about them better than a guide can tell us because of the whole force of Wikipedia is behind you in that."

Ghats of Benares, India

Hmm. While were not sure that sitting in a room and virtually visiting some of worlds holiest locations will have the same effect as actually being thereits not only about the buildings, but also the air, the people, the environmentthe project is interesting from an education and conservation perspective. Also, it could give people who are not able to visit the Buddhist Circuit themselves a means to catch a glimpse of it.

There is a precedent for this project, as a few years ago IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, the Indian Statistical Institute, and the Delhi Technical University teamed up to capture the ruined city of Hampi in 3D. Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is found within the ruins of Vijayanagara, once one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world.

Hampi ruins, India

The project, supported by the Department of Science and Technology, recreated the ruined city using 3D technologies in an effort to help share its rich cultural heritage. The project also included a mobile app which let tourists see the now-ruined Hampi structures as they once were. That is, by simply pointing their smartphone at a ruined monument, the tourist could see a digital image of how it looked when it was first built. For the Hampi initiative, Kinect 3D scanning and 3D printing technologies were employed.

"They recreated the lost city of Hampi, 3D printed it, and also embed all the information related to the monuments, sculptures, their whole history in this physical model, explained Sharma. "We are going to reproduce using the same technology now all the monumentsstarting from Ghats of Benares, if you take a boat-ride in the Ganges you see all the facades, all the history of the place, (will) reproduce Buddhist circuit.

While details on how or when users will be able to benefit from the Buddhist Circuit 3D initiative are scarce, we are intrigued by the project and cant wait to learn more.

Posted in 3D Technology

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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 ...

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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 ...

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The Progression of Gianna Tobonis Journalism Career and Details About Her Marriage to Kyle Buckley Gianna Toboni may not be your ideal newscaster but her unusual reporting is what made her a household name. The American journalist is renowned for her hard-hitting and authentic reportage. A motivator and activist for total press freedom, Gianna loves to explore pervasive cultural issues. Not only does this unique and ambitious journalist call for all ...

Dog The Bounty Hunters Family Including Details of His Late Wife and Kids Popularly known as Dog, a name which he got from the television series, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, an American bounty hunter, and one-time bail bondsman, went from being convicted for a felony to being a reality TV star. He was brought to the limelight following the capture of the convicted criminal, Andrew Luster in 2003 and this eventually made ...

Vicky Karayiannis, Chris Cornells Wifes Bio, Children and Family The world of showbiz is made up of different people who serve different roles, and function in a variety of capacities, and one of the most important people are those in the background. Publicists are undoubtedly one of these background people yet they are vital to the life and fame of most of our favorite ...

Joe Rogan Has A Step-Daughter and 2 Other Kids With Wife Jessica Ditzel  Meet His Family Joe Rogan is a popular American stand-up comedian and TV host. His journey to stardom began in the late 80s and has seen him host several shows, the most popular is the game show titled Fear Factor. The exciting show dares contestants to face some of their greatest fears and embark on challenging stunts. The ...

Josh Gates and Wife Hallie Gnatovich Have 2 Kids But Who Has the Higher Net Worth? Best known for his explorations and adventures, Josh Gates, is a television presenter with a voracious appetite for seeing the world and the beauties in it. Some of that beauty, however, is in his home, in the form of two children he shares with his wife, Hallie Gnatovich. Not excluded is their marriage which has lasted ...

Holly Sonders Wiki, Plastic Surgery & Why She Divorced Her Husband  Erik Kuselias After trying everything within her capacity to have a low key wedding, Holly Sonders was drawn to the public because of her husbands controversy at his workplace. Well, the two are rumored to be divorced but the article below will give more light on how true these rumors are. Meanwhile, Holly Sonders is yet to ...

Nadeska Alexis Bio  Age, Boyfriend & Net Worth Journalism is one diverse profession that allows the practitioners to choose their area of specialty, build a career on it by reporting the truth and facts which in the long run will distinguish them as deserving commendation and recognition among their peers. Some choose to specialize in political journalism, while to others it is sports ...

Media Platforms Charlamagne Tha God Has Explored and All The Controversies He Has Courted Charlamagne Tha God is an American on-air personality, radio presenter, and more recently, author. He is popularly known as a co-host on New York radios nationally syndicated show, The Breakfast Club, a program he has been hosting alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee since 2010. However, his early years had no connection to his current career ...

A Look At Jimmy Fallons Net Worth and Family Including His Wife & Kids Sometimes, a childs passion for something is a pointer to what he/she would become in the future. As a child, Jimmy Fallon was literally obsessed with watching the late-night comedy program, Saturday Night Live (SNL). Then, his parents would tape the clean parts for him to watch and later, he and his sister would re-enact sketches from the ...

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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, ...

Lisa Joyners Biography  Ethnicity, Net Worth and Other Key Facts Lisa Joyner is an American Journalist, TV talk show host, and actress. Some of her well-known works are her correspondences for the Los Angeles based TV KCBS, inFANity show, Find My Family Show including her film and television appearances in Brimstone, American Sweetheart, The Bold and The Beautiful among others. Lisas passion for reconnecting people with their biological families ...

Amanda Balionis Rise Through the Ranks of Sportscasting and the Identity of Her Boyfriend Amanda Balionis is an American sportscaster currently working as a golf broadcaster for CBS Sports. Among so many of her works in the field of sports reporting, Amandas PGA Tour coverage seems to be the most popular so far. She covered the Super Bowl working with CBS Sports social media team in Atlanta, where she ...

Dissecting Charles Paynes Sexual Allegations, Its After Effects and More About His Wife Charles Payne had a respectable career as an analyst on Wall Street before he made the transition to television and became a contributor and later a host on Fox. In that time, his expertise has come under scrutiny, and he has been at the center of at least one major controversy. The major controversy in question ...

Erik Asla And Tryra Banks Split: Everything You Need To Know Tyra Banks and Erik Asla have called it quits! The couple, who began dating in 2013 and have a son named York Banks Asla, has decided to end what everybody taught was the perfect relationship. Neither person has come out to give a reason for the breakup, but what is obvious right now is that ...

What to Note About Dr Terry Dubrows Qualifications, TV Works and Marriage to Heather Kent In the realm of people that we expect to see regularly on our screens, medical doctors are closer to the bottom of the list. Aside from the fact that their work has little correlation with TV, they are presumably too busy to pursue life as TV personalities. Yet, a few of them have usurped this ...

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Neil deGrasse Tyson  Family, Religion & Net Worth Neil deGrasse Tyson is a distinguished American astrophysicist and author who has been able to achieve so much after falling in love with astronomy at the age of 9. He has since attended and become an alumnus of prestigious universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, and also recorded numerous achievements in his field of ...

Is Simon Cowell Gay? Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend and Why is He Famous? Simon Cowell is a well-known talent show judge, TV producer, entrepreneur and one of the most popular TV personalities that Britain has ever produced. In conjunction with his company, Syco, Cowell is the brain behind hugely successful talent hunt shows such as The X-Factor UK, The X-Factor US, Britains Got Talent, Americas Got Talent and ...

Everything To Know About Joanna Gaines Life With Chip Gaines, Their Business Pursuits and Kids Joanna Gaines and her husband Chip Gaines became celebrities after their television show Fixer Upper began airing back in 2013. The show which was about home renovation and decoration ran for about 6 seasons with a total of 79 episodes before the couple bade farewell to it in April 2018. Apart from their appearances on ...

Who Is Larry The Cable Guy? What To Know About His Wife And Net Worth Larry the Cable Guy is a self-professed country kid renowned for his trademark Southern accent and sensational catchphrase Git-R-Done! The famous comedian who talks about anything under the sun has gone on to become one of the most memorable characters in comedy history. Join us in unearthing lesser-known facts about the former on-air-personality, standup comedy superstar, movie ...

Who Is Patrick Starr, What Is His Net Worth and Gender? The make-up industry over the years has grown to become a billion dollar industry not just because there are probably more women wearing make-up but because a whole lot of men, especially the young ones, have become bold enough to wear it unlike before. A few of these men, like Patrick Starr, have even gone ...

How Did Chris Jansing Become a Senior Correspondent at MSNBC and Who Is Her Husband? An award-winning American television news reporter and journalist, Chris Jansing has succeeded in carving a spectacular niche for herself in the field of TV journalism. Outstanding for not just her excellence in journalism, Chris is also cherished for her incredibly gorgeous looks post 60! For close to four decades, Jansing has continued to soar in her ...

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Bert Kreischer Is Married To LeeAnn Kreischer With 2 Kids  Meet His Family Those familiar with Bert Kreischer mainly have the image of a large-bellied party man whose college life inspired the National Lampoon film, Van Wilder. It is an image that one would not naturally associate with a wholesome family. The standup comedian still maintains his wild party animal image on stage. But, back at home, he is ...

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This Is Everything You Should Know About Caroline Heldman, Her Career Portfolio and Other Facts Love it or hate it, there is no escaping the fact that feminism has come to stay in our world. The movement has continued to garner momentum over the years and this is due to the sustained push by several women, and even men, including the likes of Caroline Heldman. A Professor of Politics at ...

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Matthew Bown at the Times Literary Supplement:

The recent Bernard Buffet retrospective at the Paris Museum of Modern Art was of no interest to the contemporary art world. This is presumably because Buffet is not a terribly good artist. His surfaces are worked mechanically, his colour is diagrammatic. His stylizations  thick-trunked, skinny-limbed figures forced into angular shapes, like the square-cropped winter trees around the Place des Vosges  are banal. Such limitations, coupled with the artists ambitions of subject and scale, make for queasy viewing. But in the post-war decade Buffet was extolled by Louis Aragon, Jean Cocteau, Claude Roger-Marx; in 1955, Connaissance des Artsnamed him as one of the top ten post-war painters; in 1956 he had a room of his own at the Venice Biennale. His success in the 1950s raises interesting questions. Should histories of twentieth-century art acknowledge and explain his former prominence, or should they ignore it in favour of hindsight? Perhaps we accept that to write Buffet out of art history is reasonable; but what, then, is the value of Aragons celebrated two-volume appreciation of Matisse if he also thought Buffet was top-notch? Is it all just phrase-making from someone who didnt actually have a clue?

There was a whole generation of figurative painters whose work may be discussed in relation to Buffets, including socialist realists such as Andre Fougeron, Renato Guttuso or even Peter de Francia, Professor of Painting at the Royal College of Art from 1972 to 86. All, like Buffet, now more-or-less excluded from mainstream art history.

more here.
Herbert Sauro in Nature:

In 2000, two landmark papers started a revolution in our ability to design entirely new functions inside cells. The authors took two electronic circuits  an oscillator and a switch  and built the equivalent from living matter ( and Nature 403, 335338 (2000); et al. Nature 403, 339342; 2000). Life became a machine. To many, including me, this was a profound moment: the beginning of the field of synthetic biology. Now an international enterprise with the potential to transform our lives, synthetic biology crosses age and organizational boundaries, and involves large corporations, small start-ups, academics and tinkerers. In Synthetic, talented science historian Sophia Roosth describes her observations of the field's early evolution  the fruit of embedding herself in the working lives of synthetic biologists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. She chronicles the adventures of players such as bioengineer Drew Endy and computer engineer Tom Knight, who championed the field. She covers highlights including whether we can patent new life and how automation is changing the way we do biology. She looks at biologist George Church's dream of resurrecting the woolly mammoth. And she examines the start of the do-it-yourself synthbio scene, in which amateurs set up labs in garages and bedrooms.

Roosth conducted some interviews at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as at the Joint BioEnergy Institute and Amyris Biotechnologies in nearby Emeryville, where metabolic engineering is the primary interest. One surprising insight that she gathered was the difference in scientific cultures. The east-coast scene, as one interviewee notes, is super all positive, group love. The west is more corporate  a reversal of expectations. Roosth's approach sparks deep questions about the nature of life. At Berkeley, she and bioengineer Adam Arkin discussed what makes a pig gene a pig gene. He said that this isn't a meaningful question: out of context, the gene has no pigness. Thus, Roosth asks, how do we define species in the synthetic world, and what does it mean to move genes from one organism to another? More profoundly, what does 'synthetic' even mean?

More here.
It began with a phone call on election night, Nov. 8. I was in Maryland, shopping for yoga pants; my husband was in California on a business trip. I assumed he was just checking in. But he sounded odd.

Im sorry to tell you this, he said, but Im having chest pains and theyre taking me to the hospital. Suddenly I felt my knees buckle. This was a nightmare revisited: My husband had undergone coronary bypass surgery two years earlier and had made an exceptional recovery. This was not supposed to happen.

It soon became clear that the situation was scary but not life threatening; his EKG was normal, though there was evidence that one of the smaller coronary bypasses had failed. In two days he was home, with instructions to see his cardiologist. Before that could happen, his chest pains recurred. Back to the hospital  this time, our local one. And the mistakes began to roll in.

The first one had happened in California. I told them I was a coronary bypass patient, my husband told me, but they put me down as a heart transplant patient. That one could have been a biggie: A heightened risk for diabetes is a well-documented side effect from the immunosuppressants given to heart transplant patients  and my husband already had diabetes. What if the California doctors, following standard heart transplant protocol, had ordered the standard immunosuppressant drugs? Id like to think we would have noticed, but he was on a long list of medications. Im not sure.

The next one happened in our local emergency room. Heart-related chest pain often manifests as indigestion, and my husband told the nurse that he was having angina-related indigestion. That got put in his chart as GERD  gastroesophageal reflux. GERD is a condition that calls for ongoing treatment in the form of drugs that affect acid secretion in the stomach. Those drugs also affect the absorption of other medications  sometimes speeding up the process, other times delaying it.

Neither mistake resulted in any harm, fortunately. But for the rest of his hospital stay, my husband got Tums at every meal  and at both hospitals, the errors stayed in his chart even after we told nurses about them.

The next error was also one of omission. In preparation for a test, my husband was given an NPO order (nil per os, or nothing by mouth) after midnight the night before. The test went as planned, followed by a late breakfast. When I left the hospital that day, I noticed the NPO sign still taped to his door and wondered if I should take it down. I decided to let the nurses do their jobs. Big mistake.

The next morning came  with no test, and therefore no order for a late breakfast. At 10:30 a.m., as I was leaving the house for the hospital, my husband called. Im about to have a sugar crash, he said. They havent given me anything to eat in 12 hours. I immediately hung up and called the nurses station just down the hall from his room  and got no answer. Fortunately, my husband was able to flag down a nurse in the hall before he passed out.


Madden Final Acquisition Pricing $17.5m and Financing

Sydney, Mar 10, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Elk Petroleum Ltd ( ASX:ELK ) ( EKPTF:OTCMKTS ) ("Elk" or the "Company") is pleased to advise that it has executed a closing agreement with subsidiaries of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. ( NYSE:FCX ) ("FCX") in relation to the acquisition of FCX's ~14% interest in the Madden Gas Field, the Madden Deep Unit Gas Field and the Lost Cabin Gas Plant in Wyoming, USA, ("Madden") previously announced by Elk on 4 January 2017.



- Adjusted final acquisition price of US$17.5 million agreed with Freeport McMoRan



- Scheduled closing date 17 March 2017 (US CST), transaction effective date 1 January 2017



- US$15.5 million acquisition price balance payable in two tranches:

o US$10 million on closing

o US$5.5 million by 15 July 2017 (US CST)



- US$10 million convertible loan completed to fund closing payment



- 2017 estimated positive free cash flow of ~US$7 million



Revised Acquisition Price US$17.5 million



Under the final closing agreement, the parties have agreed a reduced acquisition price of US$17.5 million and revised closing date of 17 March 2017 (US CST). A US$2 million deposit was paid by Elk in January 2017. The remaining balance of US$15.5 million is payable in two tranches, the first tranche of US$10 million on closing ("Closing Payment"), and the second tranche of US$5.5 million by 15 July 2017 ("Final Payment").



The original US$20 million acquisition price previously agreed under the Purchase and Sale Agreement ("PSA") has been adjusted down by US$2.5 million to US$17.5 million to reflect various capital improvement works identified by Elk during due diligence reviews undertaken during the pre-closing due diligence period and in accordance with pre-closing price adjustment provisions under the PSA.



Funding Completed



Elk has completed a US$10 million convertible loan to finance the Closing Payment with a number of parties, with key terms detailed below:



- 3 year loan term



- 11% annual interest payable semi annually



- Convertible to Elk shares at A$0.103/share at fixed AUD/USD exchange rate of 0.76



- Rolling conversion optionality as follows:

o 1/3 of loan amount on first anniversary

o 1/2 of the remaining loan amount on second anniversary

o Balance of loan amount on third anniversary

o Borrower option to pay out loan amount at any time with payout penalties (being a 20% premium of the loan balance repaid payable by Elk) applying in first 18 months



Appendix 3B notices in relation to the US$10 million convertible loan will be released to the ASX as convertible funds are received prior to closing. The Final Payment is expected to be sourced from Madden project cash flow and additional external funding as required. Discussions are ongoing with potential funding parties.



Madden Gas Field



Discovered in 1968, the Madden Gas Field is a giant, conventional gas field located in the Wind River Basin and one of the largest gas fields in Wyoming. In energy terms, the State of Wyoming is the U.S.'s 4th largest natural gas producer and 8th largest crude oil producer. The field sits on the Madden Anticline and covers an area of over 200 sq. miles / 518 km2 / 128,000 acres. The field produces from multiple reservoir units ranging in depth from 5,000 to 25,000 feet (1500 meters to 7600 meters). With an estimated original gas in place of over 5.5 TCF, to date the Madden Gas Field has produced over 2.42 TCF of natural gas.



According to the U.S. Department of Energy's, Energy Information Administration, the Madden Gas Field is the 33rd largest gas field in the US as ranked by Proved Reserves (Energy Information Administration's U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves 2015 publication).



Long-life Reserves



The Madden acquisition delivers Elk approximately 70 BCF (11.7 MMBOE) of Proven (1P) gas reserves of which 65 BCF (10.8 MMBOE) are classified by Netherland Sewell and Associates, Inc. ("NSAI") as Proved Developed Producing ("PDP") (see the link below).



The asset is forecast to generate positive net operating cash flow of over US$7 million per annum to the Company.



Significantly, because the majority of the reserves secured through the acquisition are classified as PDP under the Society of Petroleum Engineers Reserve Classification Guidelines, no additional capital investment is required to produce these identified hydrocarbon volumes.



Based on the revised acquisition price, Elk has acquired these 1P Reserves at a cost of US$0.25/MCF which is equivalent to US$1.50/BOE on a barrel of oil equivalent basis.



Long-Term Profitable Production



The Madden acquisition delivers long-term, low decline rate profitable production with negligible forward capital requirements in the PDP case. The table (see the link below) sets out the production, sales and cash flow for Elk's acquired working interest in the Madden Gas Field and Lost Cabin Gas Plant for calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016.



In January 2017 Elk's share of Madden production was 23.5 MMCF/day (4,175 BOEPD) and Elk's share of production revenue was US$2.5 million. Operator forecasts received by Elk show a Madden Unit production life of 50 years.



The achieved Madden sales gas prices in FY2016 were at historic lows. The table below illustrates the current Henry Hub NYMEX futures gas price is materially higher than 2016, and is forecast by industry proponents to be at prices significantly higher than both 2015 and 2016 in the short to medium term.



To view tables and figures, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/70C6S4UT





About Elk Petroleum Limited





Elk Petroleum Limited (ASX:ELK) (OTCMKTS:EKPTF) is an oil and gas company specialising in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), with assets located in one of the richest onshore oil regions of the USA, the Rocky Mountains. Elk's strategy is focused on applying proven EOR technologies to mature oil fields, which significantly de-risks the Companys strategy of finding and exploiting oil field reserves.
Air Partner's Aircraft Remarketing division (formerly Cabot Aviation), has arranged the sale of two B737-700 aircraft on behalf of Kenya Airways.





The aircraft were sold to an undisclosed lessor and leased back to Kenya Airways for continued operation.



The aircraft, serial numbers 32371 and 32372, were originally delivered new to Kenya Airways in 2002 and 2003 and were operated by the airline on its scheduled routes. The aircraft are powered by CFM56-7B26 engines.



Air Partner was appointed as Kenya Airways exclusive aircraft remarketing agent in August 2015 and, in addition to the B737-700s, has also sold three B777-200ERs for Kenya Airways. Kenya Airways continues to retain Air Partner to remarket its one remaining Boeing B777-200ER, MSN 33683, and a new GE90-115BL engine, which are available for immediate sale.



We are very pleased with this milestone which is in line with our on-going turnaround plan. Air Partner has found a suitable buyer for the two aircraft from whom the airline will lease them for a period of 18 months to ensure seamless operations, said the airlines chief executive and managing director Mbuvi Ngunze.



Tony Whitty, Head of Remarketing and ACMI at Air Partner, said: We are delighted to have arranged this sale following the recent sale of the three B777-200ERs. Our focus is now on finding a new owner for the remaining B777 aircraft and the GE90 engine on behalf of Kenya Airways.






Iran Air has taken delivery of its first new A330-200, the first of 45 A330 Family aircraft on order.





The delivery of the aircraft is part of Iran Airs major fleet renewal plan, and is the first wide body from a firm order placed by the national carrier of Iran in December 2016 for 100 Airbus aircraft (46 single aisle and 54 wide-body jets) to renew and expand its fleet with new aircraft.



Iran Airs A330-200 features a two class cabin layout, seating 32 passengers in business and 206 in economy.





The delivery, which took place at the Airbus delivery centre in Toulouse, marks yet another milestone for Iran Air, as it celebrates its 56 anniversary since establishment.



The A330 Family includes Freighter, VIP, and Military Transport/Tanker variants, has now attracted more than 1,500 orders. Over 1,100 A330 Family aircraft are flying with more than 100 operators worldwide.
Pacific allies, partner nations to meet for first Pacific F-35 Symposium

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (AFNS) -- The F-35 Lightning II will take center stage during the Pacific Air Forces inaugural F-35 Symposium next week. The two-day conference will mark the largest gathering of F-35 experts to include senior officers and warfighters from Japan, Australia, South Korea as well as the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.



Japan, Australia and South Korea are among the 11 countries in the F-35 program and represent the future of fifth-generation aviation in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. International attendees will participate in a series of open discussions and briefings with the objective of enhancing F-35 operations in the Pacific, sharing fifth-generation lessons learned, and building a foundation for future F-35 bilateral and multilateral engagements. Topics will include bed down, integration, logistics, sustainment and combat operations.



This symposium marks an exciting new chapter in Pacific combat capability. Together, our joint and international partners have introduced the most capable combat aircraft in the world to the Pacific, said Brig. Gen. Craig Wills, PACAFs strategy, plans and programs director.



The F-35 is a next-generation, multi-role fighter that combines advanced stealth with speed, agility and the capability to rapidly fuse information regionally across multiple domains. The Lightning II is the backbone for future combat operations. This symposium will provide an ideal venue to enhance interoperability and cooperation amongst the F-35 community.



U.S. F-35s have reached initial operational capability with Marines and Airmen both flying operational and combat ready aircraft. In addition to the F-35As with the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, 10 F-35Bs from the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing out of Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona, are deployed to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, with six more scheduled to arrive later this year.



Japan started its pilot training program in late 2016, South Korea is scheduled to receive its first aircraft in 2018 and Australia has been training pilots in two Royal Australian Air Force F-35s in Arizona since late 2014.



Together with our Pacific allies and partners were sending a clear message to our neighbors and friends in the region. We will continue to invest in the combat capability required to assure our ability to defend freedom and uphold the rules-based international order, Wills said.



The Australian F-35 made its first appearance in Australia at the 2017 Australian International Airshow and Aerospace and Defense Exposition at Avalon Airport, Victoria, Australia. While travelling to Victoria, the aircraft stopped at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, symbolically emphasizing the importance of the global partnerships and opportunities the F-35 will offer in the coming decades.


The winners of the 2016 General and Mrs. Jerome F. OMalley Award were recognized before a group of family, friends, coworkers and previous award recipients during a ceremony at the Pentagon March 7, 2017.OMalley and his wife Diane were known for their leadership and contributions to Air Force families and the communities surrounding them.After their passing more than 30 years ago, the OMalleys children decided their parents efforts shouldnt go unnoticed; the award was then established.There was no award for a couple and how they made a difference in the Air Force, said Sharon OMalley-Burg, daughter of the awards namesakes. We wanted to give an award to those young enough to still have a future in the Air Force, but senior enough that they have proven they can do what it takes.Col. John W. Wagner and his wife, Jennifer, received the award because of their accomplishments while stationed at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, throughout the 2015 calendar year. During that time, Wagner served as commander of the 460th Space Wing  a critical component for national defense with assets operating 24/7 on a no-fail mission.They are all about taking care Airmen and families, said Gen. Stephen Wilson, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff. They make a difference in peoples lives. It is hard work and its a team sport, but they made a huge difference and we cant thank them enough.The Wagners served as mentors during three Air Force Space Command squadron commander and spouse orientation courses, held a military retiree appreciation day for more than 600 veterans in the local area, and hosted community leader and spouse events.Jennifers personal efforts led to $5,000 in scholarships being awarded to families, as well as the delivery of more than 10,000 toys to 500 military and local children.That is what this award is about, OMalley-Burg said. You go in and you do your best and you lead with your heart and you hope that you leave everything better than what you found it.Wagner said Team Buckley overcame the adversity of infrastructure failures, bringing on a new weapons system, and more while keeping up with their important mission.They did the work, they made the sacrifice, they put in the hours, and they overcame obstacles, he said.Jennifer added, Not only were they up for the no-fail mission, butthey took care of each others children, they helped each other find jobs or homes. They are an incredible group of people.The colonel was presented with a pair of stars worn by General OMalley while his wife was given a crystal rose to represent the beauty and light of Diane. The gifts signify a bond between the OMalley family and all the award recipients through their selfless service and sacrifices.

"General and Mrs. O'Malley are a huge inspiration for our Air Force," Wagner said. "To receive this award on behalf of the Airmen at Team Buckley is truly humbling."
The Dutch government said on Thursday it would not welcome the Turkish foreign minister to the Netherlands if he was coming to solicit the votes of local Turks in a constitutional referendum in Turkey.

March 10, 2017, 09:35 Netherlands refuses to give Turkey FM official welcome

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 10, ARTSAKHPRESS: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte informed about the aforesaid, according to Reuters news agency.

The Dutch government said Foreign Minister Bert Koenders had called his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, saying his planned visit was unwanted and he would not receive an official welcome should he still decide to come.

It is not about him coming to the Netherlands. He can come to visit the Mauritshuis museum or see the tulips if there are any, Rutte told a news conference in Brussels. [But] we do not want him holding rallies.

He added that not giving Cavusoglu an official welcome was the strongest signal his government could send, considering Turkey was a NATO ally.
Honor and Respect Among Airmen

The following script is credited to the motion picture Rob Roy.



Son: Father, will the MacGregors ever be kings again?



Robert Roy MacGregor: All men with honor are kings. But not all kings have honor.



Son: What is honor?



Robert Roy MacGregor: Honor is what no man can give you, and none can take away. Honor is a man's gift to himself.



Son: Do women have it?



Robert Roy MacGregor: Women have the heart of honor. And we cherish and protect it in them. You must never mistreat a woman, or a lame man. Or stand by and see another do so.



Son: How do you know if you have it?



Robert Roy MacGregor: Never worry on the getting of it. It grows in you, and speaks to you. All you need do is listen.



From the motion picture Rob Roy.



Honor is a word often used, particularly in the military. It is easy to grow complacent in the use of the word, but its meaning is essential to the profession of arms and to success in our mission. We fight for our nation when called to battle, are entrusted with the defense of our nation and are held to a higher standard than those around us.



For many years, Gallup polls on confidence in institutions have indicated that American society regards the military with more confidence than any other institution included in the poll, with 73 percent answering a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in our military in 2016. Congress, by contrast, earned 9 percent.



We enjoy the reputation that our greatest predecessors and comrades have earned, a great many of whom have knowingly made the ultimate sacrifice. We have an obligation to serve with honor and do our best to be worthy of that reputation so that we can pass it on to those who will take up the mantle when we are gone. We must do this not only because it is the right thing to do, but also to show them how it is done, as our best role models did for us. They led us, they inspired us, they helped develop the best qualities in us, and together we achieve success for our nation. We owe that to those who will take our places and shape the Airmen behind them.



This week, there is public outrage over a scandal concerning Marines posting nude photos of fellow Marines on social media without their knowledge or permission, and the deeply disturbing commentary about them in posts that followed. The Marine times published a story two days ago which included a quote from Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert Neller, who condemned the behavior that's been alleged. "The success of every Marine, every team, every unit and command throughout our Corps is based on mutual trust and respect. I expect every Marine to demonstrate the highest integrity and loyalty to fellow Marines at all times, on duty, off-duty and online."



If the allegations are true, some of our fellow service members chose words and actions that harmed their comrades while degrading and bringing shame upon our military family, and as military members, we are all damaged by the stain. Our comrades, recruits, retirees and our nation deserve better. Our success as a fighting force depends on mutual trust, confidence in our comrades, crewmates and commanders, and honorable conduct on and off the field of battle.



I know that our culture is strong, and that behavior of this type is considered unacceptable to almost all of our Airmen, but if we have even one that considers this type of behavior okay, that is one too many. Please help us to keep our family of Airmen strong by fostering and reinforcing mutual respect and honor for all. Thats what great Airmen do.



Every Airman deserves to be treated with respect, and every Airman is expected to act with honor. We have no place in our ranks for and cannot tolerate those who will not.
Let's have a cup of coffee

Regardless of your profession, many of us have all been in positions defining the required "Leadership" and "Management" qualifications as an expectation of our ability to execute our office. But like many things, no two are alike and not one will prevail without the help of another.



Part of our charge in these roles is not only to lead, but to mentor, to manage, to challenge employees to be better and at times accept short-term failures to ensure long-term successes. As a military officer and business professional, I have had the opportunity to work with great leaders, great managers and a smaller percent of members that require some flexibility in developing their own abilities.



The latter is my focus. These are not individuals that require micromanagement. They are typically our junior leaders and managers who bear a moderate amount of responsibility, demonstrate an adequate amount of competencies but require a higher level of mentorship.



Scenarios like these are playing out every day across all industries and represent the challenges we share to focus our energy on specific individuals and the organization as a whole. As leaders, we are inherently trustful, as we utilize a cadre of personnel to carryout out our orders. However, that trust does not negate our responsibility to ensure those orders are effectively and successfully carried out.



As a field grade officer, I had the opportunity to work alongside a commander who would daily reiterate the importance of the individuals within his unit under his command. But he would also reiterate his responsibility as a leader and a mentor to provide guidance, expectations and accountability to ensure he maintained legitimate authority and not just authority based in rank.



As we met daily to discuss current operations, we often discussed personnel issues and the status of ongoing projects. At one point, while discussing a project being led by one of our junior officers, we detailed schedule delays, communication errors and our general dissatisfaction with the way the project was being managed.



We were obviously annoyed at this individual's performance and while we took turns suggesting ideas around the room ranging for admonishment to replacement, our commander interjected and in no uncertain terms said he was willing to let this train wreck. (I should include specifically, that this was not a life and death situation.) He reiterated the need to let the situation play out and give the individual the opportunity to right the ship and complete the project. He was not afraid to let this individual fail and recognized it as a learning opportunity.



Nodding our heads in agreement in accordance with his guidance, he then said in a very casual tone, "but I think it's time to have a cup of coffee with him." We all understood what he meant and in that one sentence told us everything we needed to hear.



He once told me that he was not concerned about my ability to make important decisions, he was not afraid of me being wrong or even failing, but if at some point my performance or judgment did not reflect the level of commitment and dedication to our service, unit or people then we will no doubt be drinking coffee together.



So tell me, who do you need to have a cup of coffee with?



(Editor's note: Maj. Gregory Lewis is an Individual Mobilization Augmentee assigned to the Defense Technology Security Administration)




Vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who says he's in touch with Trump about a " vaccine safety commission " recently announced a $100,000 "challenge" to prove their safety.

Everything's safe: GMOs, vaccines, and everything else corporate America throws at us. Anyone who disputes this...like Andrew "fraudulent 1998 study" Wakefield and Robert "vaccine skeptic" Kennedy, Jr. ... is not to be trusted because no one is allowed to question the science on anything.

Next month we'll again be told that having two percent of kids with autism is normal and acceptable. Parents just have to learn to live with it.

Here's what's out on Google News. Notice that when "autism/vaccines" comes up, autism is nothing more than a passing reference.

...Clearly, not vaccinating your children is child abuse and should be treated as such; not only does it endanger the lives of your own children, but also the lives of other children who may rely on herd immunity because they can't take vaccinations for proper medical reasons. The fact that these child abusers are this close to the president of the United States and the US government should send chills down the spine of every responsible parent.

As far as I'm concerned, any article talking about vaccine mandates/exemptions that does not inform readers that both vaccine makers and doctors have no liability for damage, is phony journalism. Any article that purports that vaccines "come with a small risk of side effects..." is fraudulent journalism. One to ten percent of vaccine injury is ever reported, and despite this, BILLIONS of dollars have been paid out for damages that included DEATH from vaccination. Sorry editorial board at the Post Bulletin, you're not telling the truth about vaccines.

Rochester MN Post Bulletin: Our View: Vaccine or exemption, the law's the law



Ultimatums are risky. When someone draws a line in the sand and says, "Comply or face the consequences," there's a good chance that the person who drew the line will end up backing down, drawing a new line or simply giving in.

The Rochester Public Schools didn't do that last week, and we commend the district and school board for taking a firm stand in support of student vaccinations.

For two months, the school district had made repeated contacts with the families of more than 200 students whose vaccinations weren't up-to-date. Minnesota law mandates various vaccinations for children in grades K-12, and school districts are within their right to prohibit unvaccinated students from entering school buildings unless they have filed paperwork documenting a conscientious objection or medical exemption. ...

It's worth emphasizing that the Rochester School Board didn't force any students to be vaccinated. The Minnesota Department of Health website provides a form that parents can print, sign and have notarized to claim a conscientious objection to vaccines. Currently, 370 students attend Rochester Public Schools under that exemption. ...

For years, we've heard the rumors and pseudo-scientific studies linking vaccines to autism. No such link has ever been proven, but to some families, the fear is real. All vaccines come with a small risk of side effects, allergic reactions, etc., which is why we aren't asking for Minnesota to follow Mississippi's example.

Thirty cases of mumps among 9,000 students is an "outbreak." Notice that nowhere in this article are we told what the vaccination status is for the kids with mumps. Nice opportunity to promote vaccinations. Another opportunity to again trash Andrew Wakefield. (What would they do without him to demonize every time the subject of vaccination comes up?)

Chicago Tribune: Health officials urge parents to stay calm and immunize following mumps outbreak

By Karen Ann Cullotta

With an outbreak of mumps recently declared at northwest suburban Barrington High School, public health officials in Cook and Lake counties are urging parents to keep calm and ensure their children are immunized.

"We're reminding parents who might be fearful of or have gotten misinformation about vaccines that immunizing your children is the best way to protect them from many diseases, including mumps," said Deanna Durica, a spokeswoman for the Cook County Department of Public Health.

Durica is referring to the anti-vaccination movement in the country supported by some, who point to an often cited study, which also has been scientifically refuted, from British doctor Andrew Wakefield. He alleged there was a link between the children receiving the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. ...

But the exemptions are rare, including in areas around Barrington.

In Barrington School District 220, which enrolls roughly 9,000 students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, about 98 percent of the students are compliant with the state's immunization law, according to District 220 spokeswoman Morgan Delack. ...

While even those who have received the recommended two doses of the MMR vaccine may still contract the disease, they typically will experience much milder cases than those who have not been immunized, said Cody Meissner, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at Tufts University in Boston.

The last thing you want is to be associated with "the discredited former doctor, Andrew Wakefield."

"Former doctor"? Maybe we'd trust this reporter if she actually told the truth. The General Medical Council did not have the power to take away Wakefield's medical degree. If Kat Lay doesn't know that, she's not very bright, despite writing for the UK Times. (Or she's writing what she's told for the UK Times.)

UK Times: Parents refuse to give children flu jab over safety fears

Kat Lay, Health Correspondent

Parents are refusing to give their children the flu vaccination over worries about its safety, research has shown.

Experts said that fraudulent research by the discredited former doctor Andrew Wakefield linking vaccines with autism could still be having an impact decades later.

Researchers from Kings College London found that two thirds of parents who did not vaccinate their child said that they were not convinced the vaccine had been tested enough to prove its safety. Twice as many parents who chose not to vaccinate had safety concerns compared with parents whose children did receive the vaccine.

According to Public Health England, uptake of the vaccine, given as a nasal spray, in children aged two to four dropped between 2014-15 and 2015-16. In the first year
BY WARREN READ

I WAS SADDENED TO LEARN of the passing of Terry Hewitt. He was a teacher, principal and registrar in the Madang and Central Moresby area from 1963 to about 2003; after which he went to Fiji then returned to Cairns area where he died 9 October 2011.

Terry did the ASOPA teachers course in 1961-62. He spent a lot of years around Saidor, some on Karkar, some in Madang, then later in Moresby.

He spent his early years with that great bear of man, a pre war officer and veteran of the middle east and the PNG campaigns, R Ivor McIlwain, and his offsider P K Moloney; perhaps not the easiest people to get on with. But Terry did - he liked them and they liked him. Terry could get on with anyone.

He was a very clever man, matriculating at 15 from the Marist brothers - they were good teachers, put aside the other propaganda. Terry picked up a few degrees on his way through life. No effort for Terry.

Apart from his high intellect, he was very musical. He played most instruments and specialised in the guitar (he used to make them as a hobby) and had his own band. He even wrote a few songs.

One song was a parody of Ive been everywhere man: I have walked the Finisterres man." The term Finisterres in Portguese means the end of the earth. Terry had walked some of that and knew how hard it was.

Another song was Having a beer with Leo. Leo was at Lamtub under Terry's auspices, a dedicated but different type of teacher. Terry handled him well.

I recall in 1969 there was an organised charity walk from Madang to the Plantation hotel, a distance of about 50 kilometres on an open, hot coral road. I was not over keen and mentioned this to Terry, who said: "Ill come with you" And he did - such was the measure of the man.

I last saw Terry in Brisbane with his son Peter early last year when he was down from Cairns. Terry looked ill but I did not think the end would come so quickly.

Goodbye Terry; you were a great man and great all-rounder.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Areas of patchy fog early. Partly cloudy. High near 80F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Slight chance of a shower throughout the evening. Low 62F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Planning Minister Charles Abel said the shift was something that had been discussed for some time.

PNG used the 25th ministerial forum between the two countries to ask Australia to shift its $500 million of annual aid away from narrowly-focused programs into helping fund its health, education and infrastructure priorities.

The PNG government has asked Australia to directly fund its health and education spending after it suffered a severe economic downturn and was forced to make major budget cuts.

AUSTRALIAS increasingly tricky relationship with Papua New Guinea could be about to get more difficult.

But the request came as a surprise to the Australian ministerial delegation.

The PNG government has sent a signal at this meeting of our desire to move by 2020 into a budget support arrangement where the program is channelled more directly through the PNG budget process, Abel said.

Australia is the dominant contributor of aid to PNG, providing 68% off its development assistance.

Abel said the money could be having a bigger impact.

We would like to see a larger proportion of the budget actually going into hard, tangible, on-the-ground outcomes, he said.

PNGs major events minister Justin Tkatchenko said the request arose out of concerns about the effectiveness of Australias aid program and the amount of money that is spent on contractors and technical assistance.

The request also came after PNG has suffered a major drop in revenue that forced its government to slash spending, particularly to health services, but Mr Abel rejected suggestions it was linked to PNGs cash shortage.

Its a policy-based directive that has come from a series of documents  its not a knee-jerk reaction, he said.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia did not know PNG would make the request.

Thats apparently a matter thats been discussed within the PNG government, its been raised with us today and well consider it, she said.

The change harks back to the way Australia used to deliver aid in PNG, by funding its budget directly.

But Australia stopped doing that in the early 1990s because of concerns about corruption and mismanagement.

Those concerns have not gone away.

Bishop said any change to the aid program would need to meet Australias accountability standards.

And of course we must be answerable to the Australian taxpayer.

The Government fears those taxpayers are becoming increasingly sceptical about the benefits of foreign aid.

The timing of the request, as PNG tries to weather a severe economic downturn, makes it even harder to sell.

Australia has given $5 billion in aid over the last decade, but has been changing its approach for the past few years.

The Australian government, which has consolidated delivery of its programs into a PNG Governance Facility, will be investing more in infrastructure and is seeking more partnerships with agencies like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to deliver soft loans.

Such changes reflect a broader shift in aid spending, but also an attempt to make a bigger impact and force the PNG government to comply with the strict standards for governance and program delivery required by multilateral agencies.

But the non-government organisations working in the aid sector have criticised that approach, saying PNG is a clear example of a place where economic growth has not delivered much benefit for disadvantaged people.

It might not say so publicly, but the PNG government has also been recently displaying frustration with Australia in other ways.

There has been tension over the Manus Island detention centre, particularly over the need to close it to comply with a PNG Supreme Court ruling.

There has been no shortage of people noting the detrimental effect of the Manus Island deal on Australias ability to negotiate with PNG, but with the urgency increasing to close the centre by October, PNG could be looking to squeeze even more benefit out of its relationship with Australia at this time.

That has left Australia with a problem for both its aid program and its diplomatic relationship with the most populous and arguably most influential country in the western Pacific.
Orders for about 60 H125, H135, H145 and H175 announced at the show

H135 equipped with Helionix flying around Dallas

Airbus Helicopters showcased its best-selling light singles and light twins during Heli-Expo 2017 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. The H125, H130, H135, and the H145, on display at the show, represented 351 bookings for Airbus Helicopters in 2016, and accounted for a vast majority of the deliveries of the civil helicopter market last year.



This years Heli-Expo has shown that 2017 is already off to a good start for our best-selling products, with orders for about 60 helicopters including the H125, H135, H145, and H175 announced at the show, said Guillaume Faury, Airbus Helicopters CEO.

Milestone Aviation Group Limited announced a 200 million firm order for H135, H145 and H175 helicopters, while Waypoint Leasing (Ireland) Limited committed to ordering an additional 16 Airbus helicopters including the H135, H145 and adding the H175 to its order book for the first time.



Absent from the show floor as its working hard on the field, the H175 has recently seen its maximum take-off weight being extended to 7.8 tonnes, allowing customers to benefit from an additional payload of 300 kg or an extra 40NM radius of action. Launch customer NHV also celebrated its 10,000 flight hours with the H175 on the Airbus Helicopters booth during the show.



At Heli-Expo this year, Airbus Helicopters introduced the H135 equipped with the Helionix digital avionics suite. STAT MedEvac will soon be the first air medical transport service in North America to operate this type, following an order for three new H135s announced at the show. The Helionix-equipped H135 will soon be leaving Dallas for a demo tour of the US and Mexico.



The H125 also saw continued success with REACH Air Medical Services, a subsidiary of Air Medical Group Holdings, placing an order for five new Airbus H125s. Ruoer General Aviation Development Group (Ruoer Group), one of the biggest general aviation companies operating flight support base and airport with comprehensive services in China, signed a letter of intent for a total of 12 H125s with a first confirmed order of four aircraft.



Another highlight of the show was Airbus Helicopters Voice of the Customer where the U.S. Coast Guard celebrated 30-plus years of collaboration with Airbus, as well as the milestone of 1.5 million flight hours on the MH-65 Dolphin. Also, two new VIP customers related their experiences operating Airbus helicopters and working with the Airbus Helicopters Inc. team.



Were very proud to have customers like Dallas Cowboys Owner and CEO Jerry Jones as well as oil business executive Mike Wallace testify to their satisfaction with our products and customer service, and share their Airbus experience with everyone, said Chris Emerson, President of Airbus Helicopters Inc.



Ever committed to improving customer satisfaction, Airbus Helicopters announced at the show that its efforts in this domain are paying off with a recent independent survey confirming a significant reduction in direct maintenance and direct operating costs (DMC and DOC) for the H125, H130 and H135 helicopters, further strengthening the competitiveness of these types.





About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2016, it generated revenues of  67 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europes number one space enterprise and the worlds second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

Medias:

H135 equipped with Helionix flying around Dallas

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March 9, 2017

Congress is bracing for another showdown over arms sales to Saudi Arabia less than six months after lawmakers' last fight on the issue.

The Donald Trump administration is expected to formally notify lawmakers soon of its intention to resume the sale of precision-guided munitions that were put on hold by President Barack Obama. The notification would automatically trigger a 30-day review period during which Congress can try to block the sale.

We'll have the same debate we had in the fall on it, said Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Rand Paul, R-Ky. We will oppose it.

The Washington Post reported March 8 that the State Department has approved the sale, kicking it over to the White House for a final determination. Obama blocked the sale of 16,000 precision-guided munitions from Raytheon worth more than $350 million in December following a Saudi strike on a Yemeni funeral that killed more than 100 people.

Paul told Al-Monitor he expected to team up with fellow committee member Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on trying to block the sale, just as they did last fall with a $1 billion tank sale to Riyadh. That resolution trying to block the sale was defeated 71-27 after resolution opponents insisted that the tanks were in fact defensive weapons meant to keep southern Saudi Arabia safe from incursions by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

There were some members who voted against our resolution last time because [they said] it wasn't the right arms sale [to oppose], Murphy told Al-Monitor. Well, this is clearly the right arms sales. We heard testimony in the Foreign Relations Committee that nothing has gotten better with respect to Saudi targeting. I don't know why we would give them precision-guided munitions that allow them to target civilians more efficiently.

Murphy was referring to a Senate Foreign Relations panel hearing on US policy in Yemen on March 9 during which the arms sale repeatedly came up. Earlier in the day, Amnesty International released a report accusing Saudi Arabia of using banned cluster munitions in raids on residential areas.

Gerald Feierstein, the US ambassador to Yemen from 2010 to 2013, argued in favor of resuming the arms sale. He said the United States should encourage the Saudis to adopt a more careful, deliberative use of military force aimed at pressing the Houthis to negotiate and support the Saudi-led coalition's effort to reclaim control of the Red Sea coastal city of Hodeidah, the principal port supplying northern Yemen.

Perhaps the greatest, and most unanticipated, benefit of the conflict to Iran has been the strain it has placed on Saudi Arabias relationships with its key Western partners, principally the US and the UK, Feierstein argued in written testimony to the committee. Accusations of war crimes leveled against Saudi and Coalition armed forces and threats to end arms sales to the Saudis have the potential to inflict long-lasting damage to these relationships that go well beyond the scope of the Yemen conflict and could undermine the international communitys determination to confront Irans regional threats.

Dafna Rand, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor under Obama, disagreed. She said the State Department had urged Congress in 2015 to approve the sale of precision-guided munitions to limit civilian casualties, but that subsequent Saudi strikes cast that assumption into question.

What we've seen since is not an improvement in the targeting, and the issue itself is the target selection  and adherence to the no-strike list, Rand said.

That prompted a challenge from committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

I would disagree with that assessment, he said. But everybody has their own opinion.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, suggested after the hearing that he would approve the arms sales but would press the Trump administration to seek more assurances from the Saudis before they're delivered.

I think that's not the question  I think the question is, what is the US policy in Yemen? Cardin said. And how are we working with the Saudis? Do we have the right controls?
March 9, 2017

CAIRO  A proposed constitutional amendment that would extend the Egyptian presidential term has sparked controversy in political corridors and parliament as some lawmakers question its true intent.

Parliamentarian Ismail Nasreddin submitted a proposal Feb. 25 to increase the four-year presidential term to six years. Some opponents believe the amendment is a custom-made attempt to specifically benefit President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the event of his re-election. The Egyptian Constitution of 2014 stipulates that the president can only be re-elected once.

Nasreddin defended his proposal, arguing that the constitution allows for amendments and stating that the amendment is not about Sisi.

Democracy rests upon the principles of majority rule, he told Al-Monitor by phone. This is part of the legislative revolution Egypt needs in the coming years, and aims to harmonize the governments desired objectives with the existing legislative system."

He added, We are a developing country. Development plans are not drafted for less than five years, and therefore the four-year presidential term is not appropriate in a state that is in need of education, health and economic reform and facing huge security challenges."

Nasreddin attacked those who criticized his proposal, saying they are defending their own private interests. He noted that he had launched a campaign in parliament to explain his reasoning and he will be addressing the media so that the public also understands.

My proposal is not to perpetuate the president in office, but only to give him the opportunity to carry out his plans in a timely manner, he said, noting that the public fears a repeat of the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak, who held the office for 30 years before being deposed in the January 25 Revolution.

Salah al-Din Fawzi, a member of the Higher Committee for Legislative Reform and of the 10-expert Constitutional Amendment Commission, told Al-Monitor, According to the constitution, an amendment may be requested if endorsed by one-fifth of the [596 members] of parliament. The request must then be approved by the parliament after being discussed by the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee." Then if the proposal is approved by two-thirds of parliament, it is put to a public vote.

Fawzi said this is not the first time parliament members have sought to change a president's term by amending the constitution. During the term of President Anwar Sadat, who served 11 years before being assassinated in 1981, one-third of parliamentarians proposed amendments to a previous constitution to allow a president to be elected more than twice.

He noted, The parliament approved the amendments and put them to public referendum in May 1980. The referendum was approved by a majority of up to 98.8%. Former President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, who came to power after the assassination of President [Anwar] Sadat, benefited from this amendment.

That re-election rule was changed back in subsequent versions of the constitution.

Several politicians rejected Nasreddins proposal, and Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University, described it as an attempt to sidestep the one-time-only re-election law.

Sisis regime is likely behind this maneuver, and this shows that there is an attempt to prevent the presidential elections from being held on time in mid-2018, Nafaa told Al-Monitor. He said that the proposal "is in line with the aspirations of certain circles within the regime."

In August, activist Yasser al-Turki launched a petition to gather 40 million signatures to extend Sisis term to eight years without presidential elections. This was confronted by a counter-petition by Issam Hajji, a former Egyptian presidential adviser for scientific affairs, to reject the proposal.

Columnist Mohamed Esmat also rejects the proposal. Tampering with the constitution in this way detracts from the prestige of the state and undermines the standing of the parliament. It also adversely affects the whole political process in Egypt, he wrote in a Feb. 27 column in Al-Shorouk newspaper.

Amr Hashem Rabie, the deputy director of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told El-Watan newspaper March 1 that extending the presidential term is a bid to take the country back to the authoritarian rule and would deal a heavy blow to the gains achieved by the January 25 and June 30 revolutions, which called for a democratic transfer of power.

Moreover, in an opinion poll by Veto Gate news website, the proposal was rejected by about 66% of the participants.
March 10, 2017

CAIRO  Egypt's Dar al-Ifta announced Feb. 12 its new marriage preparation program for would-be couples and single people. The program, from the government institution in charge of issuing fatwas and offering courses on social issues, aims to familiarize Egyptians with marriage-related Sharia provisions on choosing a husband or wife, and also to educate couples about the engagement period, reproductive health and conjugal behavior, which includes sex education. The program will further prepare couples to deal with potential life problems and pressure.

Following Dar al-Iftas announcement, the Ministry of Religious Endowments announced Feb. 22 a new training program for imams that would teach them how to counsel couples through religious lessons and sermons. The program is part of efforts to counter Egypt's rising divorce rates.

During the press conference held to inaugurate Dar al-Ifta's program, Egyptian Grand Mufti Shawki Allam said, Dar al-Ifta will offer in the coming period marriage preparation sessions across the governorates of the republic, since Dar al-Ifta is the mirror of society and tracks societal movement and the needs of citizens.

He added, The available statistics show that in the past five years the divorce rate has increased, especially in the first five years of marriage. We identified the problem, and we discussed its causes and ways to remedy it.

Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Assistance (CAPMAS) revealed a rise in the country's divorce rate, noting that 40% of the 900,000 marriages that take place each year end in divorce after five years.

Amr al-Wardani, the director of training at Egypt's Dar al-Ifta, told Al-Monitor, The program will be held over six weeks, two days a week, and covers topics related to choosing a husband or a wife, how an engaged couple should behave, preparation for marital life, solving conjugal disputes, how to handle pressures of married life and how to understand each others character.

Wardani, who is also the secretary of the Fatwa Council, said, This is in addition to the rules of good companionship, which are based on the rules and terms governing the relationship between an engaged couple and their relationship to the family and society.

He noted, The program will cover all aspects related to family [relations], to prevent the [future] spouses from falling into potential pitfalls and committing mistakes.

Wardani said the program will provide sex education, reproductive health lessons and medical counseling. He said Dar al-Ifta does not want to overlook such subjects since they "form the basis of marital life. The lack of this education is the cause of several conjugal problems. Providing sex education is not in conflict with the provisions of Islamic Sharia.

He continued, Egypt has high illiteracy rates, which have a direct impact on divorce rates. The program takes into consideration the need to address all mentalities and mindsets, and to simplify information in a bid to reach all segments of society and familiarize them with all relevant Sharia provisions that they need to comply with to avoid getting a divorce.

According to CAPMAS statistics issued in September 2016, the illiteracy rate among Egyptians ages 10 and above is 29.7% (17 million illiterate Egyptians, according to the 2006 census).

The prevailing misconceptions about marriage, spread by the radical movements through the media in recent years, have largely contributed to the surge of divorce incidents, and of course these ideas are against Islam and have nothing to do with it, Wardani said.

Member of parliament Amna Nasir told Al-Monitor, This insane hike of divorce rates pushed the state to discuss the reasons behind this frightening phenomenon and to identify its causes and solutions.

Nasir, who is also a professor of faith and philosophy at Al-Azhar University, said, Perhaps President Abdel Fattah al-Sisis discourse in the past days about the high divorce rates, and his attempts to curb them, is the biggest proof that this phenomenon has indeed drawn the attention of state officials. This is why Al-Azhar decided to offer marriage preparation sessions to help couples make the most appropriate choice and solve potential conjugal problems.

In a Jan. 24 speech on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Egyptian police, Sisi called for enacting a new law to address the recent phenomenon of rising divorce rates in Egypt. Sisi demanded the cancellation of verbal divorce, which is permitted by Sharia, and warned against the negative consequences of divorce on the couple, the children and the community as a whole.

Nasir said, I hope the campaign launched by Al-Azhar to reduce divorce rates will educate couples about marriage and the foundations of the marital relationship, and encourage them to seek the assistance of religious scholars and specialists from all fields, even from outside Al-Azhar University. Otherwise, the program will fail to achieve its objectives.

She added, I hope Al-Azhar, just like the Egyptian church, will require couples to undergo this marriage preparation program. This is necessary and important to build a healthy family that contributes to the advancement of society and raising children.

The Egyptian Orthodox Church organizes mandatory marriage preparation sessions that include sex education for both women and men to avoid any future conjugal problems.

Wardani said, Dar al-Ifta has experience of more than a hundred years in issuing fatwas and detecting citizens [social needs and problems]. This is why it hired several scholars and specialists from various Egyptian universities in the fields of life-skills development, reproductive health and sex education.

Some of the programs lecturers include Safaa Ismail Morsi, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Cairo University; Khalid Abdul Malik, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and infertility at the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University; and Rasha al-Jamal, a lecturer in personality types and their impact on family formation.

Al-Azhar scholars only give sessions on Sharia provisions and the rules of good companionship between spouses, he said.

Regarding the turnout to the preparation sessions, Wardani pointed out that 120 young men and women have applied for this program, saying, While the number is meager, it is, however, expected to increase when the trained couples start to feel they are really benefiting. We are still in the preparation phase, and I am confident that the next sessions will be extremely popular among citizens.
Around 1: 30 pm the Jacksons entered the hall. It was truly an honour to meet and shake hands with this great man. Present to welcome and meet the Jackson family were Bomai Witne, Lorraine Basse, Joe Kuman, Ann-Marie Wanamp, Nicola Daniel and Dominica Are.

We are a small team of writers in Goroka but the welcome was warm. The team met in Tess Flaherty Hall at the University of Goroka at lunchtime and waited anxiously for the visitors (seen in the photo below at the Daulo Pass) to arrive.

The lingering thrill and sheer delight of our first meeting with Keith Jackson was overwhelming. It was like a dream come true. Wed always wanted to meet him.

28 FEBRUARY 2017 will do down in our diaries as one of the most memorable events in our writing journey.

Donald Gumbis, Vice Chancellor Planning and Administration of the university, formally welcomed the Jacksons family to Goroka. After that there was a quick introduction around the table. Each team member in their own words expressed their gratitude for Keiths mentoring and guidance in literature in PNG and in their own personal work.



As we stressed at one of our meetings, something we really appreciate about Keith Jackson and Phil Fitzpatrick is the exposure they give to our writing.

Each of us had our own collection of writing which we kept to ourselves because we didnt know avenues whereby we could share our work and talent. For most of us, PNG Attitude opened a whole new world.

Our main agenda at the meeting with Keith was to discuss the formation of an Eastern Highlands Writers Association.

We sought Keiths advice on how we are to go about that and, with sincerity and candour, Keith gave us invaluable advice to assist endeavors to achieve our goal. We will take heed of that.

The most important and first thing to do is to talk to people who have done it already; people who have know-how and experience. The right person is Francis Nii of the Simbu Writers Association. We will be keeping Keith and Francis updated in our email conversations.

After the discussions, Keith was presented with gifts and a thank you poem was read, This was followed by light refreshments and wonderful conversations. It was an awesome experience, meeting, greeting and sharing common views on writing. We were all truly moved.

Bomai Witne as our team leader has done an excellent job in getting the team together to share ideas through emails, meetings and his organisation of this this short but memorable get-together with the Jacksons.

As Bomai stressed in one of his emails The thought of not meeting this great man is killing me.

This is the start of something tiny that will eventually flourish into something extraordinary.

__________

Thank you Keith Jackson

DOMINICA AREA

Time after time, weve written our hearts out till our inks run dry

Heaven knows how weve toiled, the talent we possess, it must not be in vain

Appraisal and exposure is what we needed, a guiding hand to guide us

Nourishment to help us grow, to blossom, to reach our full potential

Knights in shining armour you are to us, the guiding hand we longed for

You came along and opened a whole new world for us, were

Optimistic that our dreams will come true

Ultimate gift youve given us, with heartfelt gratitude

We thank you

Bomai D Witne

Dominica Are

Nicola Daniel

Lorraine Basse

Joe Kuman

Anne-Marie Wanamp
March 9, 2017

Amid the deteriorating economic conditions plaguing the Gaza Strip, culture has become the least of societys daily needs. Watching a play or listening to poems is no longer on the list of Gazans priorities at a time when unemployment increases by the day and the economy tilts on the brink of collapse.

The number of cultural activities dwindled amid an increase in the number of political and human rights seminars and conferences held by civil society and governmental organizations. Add to this the growing support for relief and emergency projects instead of activities related to art and culture.

The statistics contained in the 2011-13 strategic cultural plan published by the Ministry of Culture in Ramallah show that no more than 0.003% of the Palestinian Authoritys (PA) general budget was allocated to cultural affairs across the Palestinian territories, including Gaza.

Mohamed al-Bouji, an author and professor of literary criticism at Al-Azhar University, believes that the Gaza Strip is not receiving enough support from the authorities in Gaza and Ramallah. He said that writers in the Gaza Strip are invisible as they rarely publish books or take part in cultural activities, be it in Gaza or abroad.

Bouji told Al-Monitor, It is a pity that discussions related to culture and cultural activities have become a kind of luxury. As the blockade steps up and the political divide deepens, cultural topics no longer matter and cease to be essential.

Despite these worsening cultural conditions, the Ramallah Ministry of Culture has been supporting cultural initiatives recently. On Jan. 8, the Palestinian Cultural Fund of the Ministry of Culture approved three agreements to support cultural and technical projects in Gaza.

The first agreement was signed with artist Mohamed Harb to financially support a film project; the second with artist Ibrahim al-Awadhi to establish an art gallery in Gaza; and the third to carry out the Gaza Graph film project by director Yousef Nateel.

Harb told Al-Monitor, This is my first experience with the ministry, adding that it is a chance for him to activate the cultural and artistic scene in Gaza.

He said that the project consists of training and short-film production workshops dedicated to 20 young men and women who will be selected based on interviews and who will tell their stories in a seven-minute film. The project aims to discover those who have cinematic talent, he said.

Nateel told Al-Monitor that it is with the help of a team of photographers and researchers that he managed to garner the support of the ministry to produce his film.

He explained that his documentary tackles the history of photography in Gaza City, saying, I came up with the idea in 2012, and I have been trying to get the necessary support since then. He explained that the grant of the Ministry of Culture, which he did not disclose, is sent in installments depending on the film stages or the completion of the project.

The ministry stays in touch with people who have projects to execute in order to make sure that all the project stages are carried out without any obstacles. By the time the project is completed, the people in charge will have received the amount agreed upon.

Ihab Bseiso, the minister of culture and chairman of the Cultural Fund Management, told Al-Monitor, Our role is to activate cooperation with the various Palestinian cultural institutions in order to unify the cultural activity by supporting festivals, seminars and the various cultural programs in Gaza and the West Bank.

The minister, himself a poet from Gaza City, said, Gaza has always been part of our interest at the Ministry of Culture in all fields. He stressed that the cultural scene cannot be complete when there is a Palestinian geographical part missing. Despite the tragedy of division, the Gaza Strip is present in the Palestinian cultural scene to defy the occupation and those trying to disrupt the cultural activities that safeguard the national identity.

Bseiso further stressed the importance of supporting Palestinian individual creativity wherever it is. It is no secret that the Israeli occupation policies are aimed at obliterating the Palestinian cultural identity and falsifying the historical and cultural awareness. Thus, our role as intellectuals and cultural institutions is to confront these policies by supporting serious initiatives and qualitative creations that reflect the depth, history and clout of the Palestinian culture, he said.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of cultural activities carried out in the Gaza Strip in 2015 amounted to an average of 1,200 out of 8,679 across Palestine, and the number of cultural centers operating in Palestine amounted to 596, including 81 centers in the Gaza Strip.

Bseiso, who took over the portfolio of the Ministry of Culture in early 2016, said that the rate of cultural activities in Gaza has improved, adding that the number of cultural centers is logical considering that there are 11 provinces in the West Bank and four in the Gaza Strip.

The 2014-16 strategic cultural plan issued by the ministry in Ramallah had mentioned several obstacles facing cultural activities  namely: the split between the West Bank and Gaza; the risks faced by the Palestinian economy; the slower economic growth in the West Bank and Gaza; the ensuing shift in the priorities of family providers and innovators; and the Arab Spring that shifted the Arab and international support from Palestine to other areas currently facing challenges, such as Syria.

The strategic plans published by the ministry in Ramallah every three years agreed that the Israeli practices separate the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the 1948 lands from each other, affecting the Palestinian cultural movement and denying it a favorable and stimulating environment. This made creativity in the Palestinian cultural production the exception rather than the rule.

Despite the frustration, cultural institutions such as the A. M. Qattan Foundation and the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music managed to get over the Palestinian division to create an atmosphere of creativity and unified cultural competition at the level of narration, poetry and music. However, the Ministry of Culture has yet to unify its website, as its website in Gaza is different from the West Banks website in terms of activities, approach and target group. One could even say they are two websites targeting two different states.
March 9, 2017

Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on March 8 made a rare trip to Doha to meet his counterpart, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, as well as the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The last time Zarif traveled to Doha was in 2015, as part of efforts to reassure Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf over the nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers.

According to the official Islamic Republic News Agency, Zarif and Sheikh Hamad Al Thani discussed bilateral relations and regional issues. Both sides also reportedly emphasized the need to expand economic ties.

The trip comes at a time when Irans relations with Arab countries in the Persian Gulf are at its lowest in decades, particularly with regional rival Saudi Arabia. Qatar was one of the three countries that pulled their ambassadors from Iran after protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran in January 2016. The protests were in response to the execution of a prominent dissident Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia.

Two months ago, the foreign minister of Kuwait delivered a message to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on behalf of the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to address various issues. The letter prompted Rouhani and Zarifs subsequent visit to Oman and Kuwait in February.

Although there are many conflicts between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which sets the tone within the GCC, one of the more recent disagreements is the attendance of Iranians at the annual hajj pilgrimage, which is mandatory for all able Muslims.

During the hajj in 2015, a stampede left 464 Iranians dead. Over 2,000 were reportedly killed, though Saudi Arabia disputes this figure. Unable to settle their differences with Saudi Arabia over various issues pertaining to the hajj, Iran did not participate in the 2016 hajj. With the hajj approaching in late August, Saudi and Iranian officials have once again begun negotiations to resolve their differences.

On March 2, Hamid Mohammadi, the caretaker of Irans Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, said that Iranian and Saudi negotiators had made relative progress in the latest round of talks. Mohammadi added that some of the latest issues discussed in the latest round of talks were over security, medical assistance and consular services for Iranian pilgrims. Based on previous statements, Iran would like to have more discretion over these services, given the chaos in the aftermath of the 2015 hajj stampede. Mohammadi said that Saudi officials have accepted Irans terms with respect to providing medical services to Iranian pilgrims.

One outstanding issue was the fate of two Saudi police officers who were convicted of sexually assaulting two Iranian boys at Jeddah airport in April 2015. The boys were travelling with their families to carry out umrah, or off-seasonal hajj. Mohammadi said that there were some doubts about whether the two police officers were ever convicted but noted that Saudi officials assured him that the two were currently serving their four-year sentences.

Despite the positive statement, it is still possible that there will be no Iranian pilgrims again during this years hajj. During last years negotiations, both sides issued vaguely promising statements after every round of negotiations. Ultimately, however, when negotiations failed to produce an agreement, both sides pointed the finger at one another.
March 10, 2017

The liberation of Mosul is now in its final stages, with Iraqi forces closing in on the main government building in the western part of the city. The loss of Mosul is considered a major setback for the Islamic State (IS), given the citys strategic, economic and even symbolic significance, having been the city where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the caliphate in the summer of 2014. However, recapturing Mosul should not be construed as the end of IS presence in Iraq, as the group still maintains enough military capabilities to launch attacks in several areas in the country.

On Feb. 26, IS attacked an Iraqi border guard position near Jordan-Saudi Arabia borders. Two days prior to this incident, the group carried out an attack on Trebil border crossing point with Jordan, killing 15 Iraqi border guards. Every time IS loses ground and strategic areas, it resorts to attacks on civilian targets and militarily fragile areas, in a bid to preserve its presence in Iraq. In one of the deadliest bombings this year, IS detonated a car bomb in Bayyaa auto market Feb. 16, killing 51 and injuring dozens. The attack was the third of its kind in a series of explosions that rocked Baghdad in a period of three days.

Despite liberating many cities from IS control, security forces were not able to prevent terrorist attacks from killing dozens of Iraqi security forces and civilians. In this regard, security expert Hisham al-Hashimi told Al-Monitor, Military forces have developed a better understanding of the secret military tactics used by IS. However, internal security forces have fallen short, especially in large and [sectarian] mixed provinces. Therefore, these cells still have the advantage when it comes to choosing the time and place.

Nevertheless, some factors indicate that security forces have indeed been able to develop their capabilities in terms of thwarting similar attacks. In this respect, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi revealed in his weekly press conference Feb. 17, Our security forces and intelligence were able to thwart a large number of terrorist attacks.

He said, For each successful attack carried out by the enemy, almost a hundred [attacks] are discovered and thwarted." For instance, Iraqi security forces, through intensified intelligence efforts, thwarted a large attack planned by IS against the city of Samarra.

On Feb. 25, the Joint Operations Command announced in a statement a number of airstrikes that killed dozens of IS fighters including 10 planning a series of suicide attacks in Samarra. In another development in Karbala, the military corps from the Central Euphrates Command, on Feb. 22, discovered and dismantled a rigged wheel without losses. On the same day, field detachments affiliated with the General Directorate of Intelligence, along with security forces, scuttled a terrorist attack in Abu Ghraib in Baghdad. Commenting on these developments, the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its Feb. 28 Iraq Situation Report stated, IS could be facing difficulty coordinating successful attacks in Iraq.

The report continued, IS did not carry out a wave of complex attacks predicted to occur in response to the Iraqi Security Forces [ISF] launching operations to retake western Mosul.

Furthermore, IS seems to have lost the media war. The group boasted considerable capabilities in the use of communications technology to wage an effective propaganda war. In this respect, Hussein Allawi, a professor of national security at Baghdads Nahrain University, told Al-Monitor in a phone interview, From early 2014 until 2015, IS used to post videos of military operations aimed at calling for recruits and gaining local support. The group was successful at producing high-definition videos with cohesive plots and chronological chain of events.

Armed with its propaganda machine, IS succeeded at demoralizing Iraqi forces, which led to resounding collapses among their ranks, with cities falling one by one into the groups control in the summer of 2014. However, the situation has now changed with IS propaganda machine no longer capable of spreading fear in the hearts of Iraqi forces.

With regard to the groups latest release, Allawi stressed, The video titled 'Those the Righteous' was a failure in terms of scenario and photography, a sign of IS poor photo gallery, its decline, and the collapse of its technical and organizational abilities. Allawi described the release as lacking in terms of planning and content.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces have been gaining experience in war coverage and propaganda warfare after they had been at a disadvantage with IS professional media machine. They were able to produce a series of videos and documentaries boasting their capabilities and victories. Videos are released on a nearly daily basis showing IS fighters defeated and on the run, which serves as a significant boost of morale for Iraqi forces.

Despite IS consecutive setbacks, the groups capabilities should not be underestimated. In the past, jihadi groups have proven their ability to adapt with the circumstance. Iraq went through a similar experience with al-Qaeda in previous years, back when former US President George W. Bushs policy led to an increase in the number of US troops in 2007, not to mention Iraqs experience with Awakenings Councils that led to al-Qaeda's decline and dismantling of its networks. However, a more violent group emerged, namely IS. Many reports indicate that IS fighters had taken advantage of the pervasive corruption in Iraqi official institutions in order to escape justice and reintegrate into society, thus constituting a future threat for state security. International organizations like ISW have warned against post-IS insurgencies led by al-Qaeda and other armed groups like Jaysh Rijal al-Tariqa al-Naqshbandia.
March 9, 2017

WASHINGTON  Iraqs Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi, speaking to Al-Monitor during a visit to the United States to meet with US government officials and energy executives, addressed the challenges facing his countrys oil sector, including disputes between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil over production and revenue sharing.

Luaibi commented on the disputed areas, noting that the KRG takes two-thirds of the total oil produced in Kirkuk, which he estimated at around 500,000 barrels daily.

While he lamented a lack of transparency from Erbil on oil issues in general, the minister stressed that relations between the two sides are going smoothly. He said they would eventually resolve their differences, but likely not until after current operations against the Islamic State (IS) conclude.

The government is not ready to enter into more discussions with the KRG regarding [differences over oil].  The time for this will come, after the Mosul liberation, Luaibi said.

A transcript of the interview, conducted by Al-Monitors managing editor, slightly edited for clarity, follows:

Al-Monitor: Do you expect the current agreement that Baghdad has with the KRG over its oil sales and revenue sharing to continue?

Luaibi: Well, with the KRG we have the treaty that was done four years ago. It was concluded four years ago. Its still on. But there are some disagreements that appear here and there from time to time. But so far things are quiet and there is a good environment of work.

I have many times coordinated with the KRG minister of natural resources [Ashti Hawrami]. And we are, after all, friends, you know, because he has been working with me for some time.

And things are smooth so far. Sometimes, as I said, differences appear, but we all work on that.

Al-Monitor: Could you elaborate a bit more on those differences?

Luaibi: About the differences  for every task, differences appear here and there. The most prominent difference is the absence of transparency from the KRG. They dont show much regarding the production and export.

So these are really the big issues in our differences. But other things are moving smoothly, because the government is more preoccupied with Mosul and the military operations activities in Mosul. So the government is not ready to enter into more discussions with the KRG regarding the differences I noted. I think the time for this will come, after the Mosul liberation, and well sit together and settle our outstanding issues. Now they are taking two-thirds of Kirkuks oil, which was under the control of the federal government.

But now the federal government is only taking one-third of Kirkuks oil production. This has to be settled. Export through the north has to be settled; exporting through Turkey has to be settled. The pipeline has suffered lots of damage, but it can be repaired. So there are differences. But we dont want to bring those differences to the surface.

Al-Monitor: You mentioned Kirkuk. How do you and your colleagues in Baghdad plan to resolve the contention over oil fields in the disputed areas?

Luaibi: Well, some of the fields were under the control of the federal government. Now, the KRG is sort of in control of them. But we are sort of coexisting.

We have the giant field of Kirkuk, and as I told you, two-thirds [of this oil is taken by] the KRG. And the [remaining] third, we export it through the pipeline that goes through KRG territory, and we divide this third  I mean they take 50% and we take 50%. So really they are taking a share of more than two-thirds.

Al-Monitor: Last year, a number of emails between the KRG and the Turkish government were released on WikiLeaks. The emails suggested that the KRG reportedly offered to sell Turkey an ownership stake in several oil fields under its control in exchange for loan forgiveness. What is Iraqs view of these reports?

Luaibi: Well, to be honest with you, on this issue we heard from the media and saw it on Facebook and here and there  but on the ground we dont have much. The KRG did not approach us on this, nor did the Turkish government, so we were not officially approached on this issue.

The prime minister [Haider al-Abadi] knows about this. I know as well. But its only media speculation. The KRG has not notified the federal government of this  that they are in debt for $1.3 or $1.4 billion  and [so they are offering Turkey a monopoly on] Kirkuk oil. As I told you, the absence of transparency on this issue has caused a cloudy picture on our part, really. And on their part, they are sort of messy. Again, there is no persistence to prod. And there is no clarity; they are not objective regarding the whole issue of oil. Its just here and there.

Al-Monitor: In light of these emails and this offer that was reportedly made, instead of Turkey playing this role of taking an ownership stake in these oil fields, have you considered Iraq taking the ownership stake in the oil fields in assuming these KRG loans?

Luaibi: Well, Iraq has to solve this one way or the other. Iraq has to ultimately come to terms with the KRG to resolve the outstanding issues, and one of them is the oil fields  particularly the giant field of Kirkuk. And the government is determined to do that. But now the government is preoccupied mostly with Mosul activities. But definitely, one way or the other, because oil is very important to Iraq, it has to be settled. And we had an agreement four years ago with the KRG. And this agreement has to be fulfilled and it has to be honored. So lets see the outcome of the coming days, after the liberation of Mosul.

Al-Monitor: Speaking of Kirkuk, what is the current daily production of the Kirkuk oil field?

Luaibi: Well, the production of Kirkuk comes to approximately 500,000 barrels per day. But two-thirds of that goes to the KRG  they are in control of that field. And the [remaining] third comes to the federal government. But the federal government, as I mentioned, when we export about 160,000 out of this, then about 80,000 barrels per day goes to the KRG and about 80,000 barrels per day comes to the federal government. So we share this  the remaining third  we share it as well with the KRG.

Al-Monitor: Whos operating Kirkuk right now?

Luaibi: Operation of Kirkuk is carried out by the North Oil Company, regarding our share. And the North Oil Company is there.

Al-Monitor: And do you have any international partners in Kirkuk?

Luaibi: The entire operation is done by the North Oil Company, done by the North Refinery Company and then by North Gas Company. But as I said, the KRG has a share  the KRG, they are two-thirds of the production. But the operation is done by the North Oil Company, which is under the umbrella of the federal government.

Al-Monitor: So just to be clear on this point  about 500,000 barrels.

Luaibi: About 500,000 barrels.

Al-Monitor: And a third of that goes to the Iraqi government?

Luaibi: Yes, the Iraqi federal government.

Al-Monitor: And that third  about 160,000 barrels  half of it is exported?

Luaibi: Half of it goes to the KRG and half of it goes to the federal government.

Al-Monitor: And the other two-thirds?

Luaibi: Yes, they export it and they keep the proceeds.

Al-Monitor: You were just in Houston for CERAWeek [energy conference], and Im sure you had a lot of really great meetings with the various oil company executives. Have you seen an increase in interest in investing in Iraq from international companies?

Luaibi: Well, many companies have been approaching us for investment lately, and we have opened the door wide for investment in refineries, infrastructure, upstream and midstream. And in the north, there are investors  from the KRG, they are Kurds. And they ... are preoccupied with the activities of new refineries and so on and so forth. So there are investment activities in the north and in the country as a whole.

Al-Monitor: Where would you say many of your international partners are from, i.e., the companies that are investing in Iraq?

Luaibi: Well, as you know, in Iraq now, 14 IOCs [international oil companies] are working on 14 oil fields. And one of them is American ExxonMobil, and that's in the north and the midland. And we have British; we have Chinese; we have other nationalities. We have Malaysian; we have Russians and Koreans. So we have those, and they are investing in the  we call it the petrol license round.

And they invest billions of dollars, but we give them a return, of course. They invest, and we pay back on a monthly basis. Other investments are private investments. There are domestic and other private Arab investors  they have a lot of interest to come and work in Iraq.

And there are some Kurds, and theyre doing very well in investments. They are rich and they have money, and they make investments. So investments are open for everybody. And the other thing really, we only have a little interest from Americans. I dont see many American companies that are participating in investment. They come, they meet me and then they disappear. I don't know.

So there are great opportunities now in Iraq for investment. We had a tender a few months ago for five big refineries. They have a total exceeding one million barrels per day in the south and the midland. And we have also a tender for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Beiji refinery, which was demolished by ISIS. So far, I don't know of much response to this, really.

So talking about investment, we are now in a very comprehensive discussion with ExxonMobil. And I even had dinner with them and met in Houston to develop two of our giant oil fields, Nasiriyah and [Nahr] Bin Umar, together with integrated projects to do water injection  seawater injection  which is a giant project. Its about 7 million barrels per day from the sea; its treated and then distributed to the field. And other parts include the expansion of our export facilities, whether offshore or onshore. And we have moved to good stages with ExxonMobil, and I hope that this would be concluded before the end of this year. And I asked their president the other day  I said, Please seize this opportunity, because Im taking a lot of interest in this and Ill push it through the Cabinet. But dont  you know, dont go in slow motion. And he agreed with me.

So we have lots of investments, really. Chevron, the American company, has approached us. And they are very, very interested in investing in developing the Nasiriyah oil field, along with building a refinery of 150,000 barrels per day.

There are many small companies, but I forget their names. But again, they come and go. The Chinese are very keen and very anxious to go to Iraq for more investment. As you know, the Chinese hold the big shares of money.

Al-Monitor: We have one last question. You mentioned the Americans and the Chinese. Have you seen an increase in Russian interest in Iraqi oil fields? What about the French company Total?

Luaibi: We have Russians. We have Lukoil working in West Qurna 2, and we have Gazprom working in one of the fields. We have Kogaz developing gas fields in the midlands  well in the north and midland. And we have the Chinese.

We have more than 12 or 15 companies of the giant CNPC. And we have other organizations. So there are many Russians and Chinese. I see Total at least once a month, and they are very interested and they regret that they did not show much interest in 2008 and 2009. But again, they want another opportunity to be given to them so that they can catch up.

Al-Monitor: Which field in Total did you mention they were interested in?

Luaibi: The company Total. Their CEO came to me two months ago, and he expressed their willingness to work in Iraq, take any project. They are very interested in gas, and we have lots of projects. And he sent another delegation about two weeks ago before my coming to the US. And they, again, they stressed their interest to come to Iraq. And I directed them to go to work on the gas system, gas utilization. So there are many, many companies approaching.

Al-Monitor: Thank you very much.
March 10, 2017

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) arrested on March 9 Samira Halaika, a Hamas delegate to the Palestinian parliament from the West Bank town of Hebron. Reports of her detention emerged only after the Hamas Change and Reform Party issued an announcement saying Israeli soldiers had raided her home in the early morning hours near Hebron, searched the premises and took her with them when they left.

On March 6, IDF troops raided the homes of and then arrested two other Hamas parliament delegates, Khaled Tafesh and Anwar Zboun, residents of the town of Bethlehem. The three joined a fourth Hamas member of parliament from the Ramallah area, Hussein Abu Kuweik, who was arrested in August 2016.

The IDF didnt release any statements explaining the arrests, but a Palestinian security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian Authoritys (PA) security services believe theres no real reason for the move because the detained parliament members are not linked to the armed wing of Hamas. In his assessment, the arrests were a tool in the psychological warfare Israel is waging against Hamas to force it to return the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip in 2014  Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul  as well as Israeli civilians being held in Gaza.

The members of Hamas' Change and Reform Party were elected in the last PA elections, which took place more than a decade ago, in January 2006. But the parliament has been inactive since the 2007 takeover of the Gaza Strip by the Hamas military wing, and Hamas and Fatah have each set up alternative, temporary bodies.

Since then, despite many protests by the Palestinian public, no additional elections have been held. All the claims about the illegality of the regime headed by President Mahmoud Abbas and the disabling of the elected parliament have been useless.

In this anomalous situation, those representing the organizations elected to the now-defunct parliament continue to bear the title of member of parliament despite being elected more than 10 years ago and serving in the Palestinian legislature barely a year.

In the absence of new elections, Israel, too, continues to view these delegates as the senior members of the various political movements. And, as far as Hamas goes, its delegates also serve as pressure points on the organization. Israel assumes that Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip  the senior echelons of the armed wing and of the political department  will be affected by the detention of their representatives. But such steps, which have been attempted more than once in the past, not only did not yield the hoped-for result for Israel, they had the complete opposite effect.

Hamas has never realigned its position following its peoples detention. A wave of arrests usually led to an entrenchment by Hamas and an escalation of violence between Hamas and Israel. In other words, not only are the senior Hamas figures not pressured by waves of Israeli arrests, they react through their military wing to moves they perceive as Israeli threats or provocations.

The latest arrests of the Hamas parliament members took place even as fury at Israel and the PA was simmering over the March 6 killing by the IDF of Basel al-Araj, a Palestinian resident of Bethlehem wanted by the Israelis. Angry protests were held in Bethlehem and in the northern West Bank town of Nablus by Palestinians against the backdrop of Arajs killing, demanding that the PA stop its security coordination with the Israelis at once. Araj, a pharmacist known in intellectual circles for the articles and essays he wrote, was considered a harsh critic of Palestinian coordination with Israel. His killing, as well as the arrests of the parliament members, raises tension levels in the West Bank.

You people never learn, said a Fatah member from the Bethlehem area, where the two Hamas delegates, Tafesh and Zboun, were arrested. The anger and fury on the ground, not just among Hamas supporters in Bethlehem and the West Bank, consumes everyone  even those in Fatah who regard Hamas as a hostile group, he told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.

According to this source, the detention or killing by the IDF of a wanted Palestinian stirs up anger, but when the IDF detains elected parliament members who appear to have no connection to military activity, the anger is even greater. He said that such activity by Israel causes irreparable damage to Palestinian public opinion, which is no longer willing to put up with the PAs security coordination with Israel. Mahmoud Abbas cannot go on ignoring the protest against him for much longer, youre killing him, he said.

Beyond the public protests against the detentions, the arrests could also lead to an escalation of violence, which neither side really wants. The last Israeli attempt to pressure Hamas snowballed into the 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

During the years preceding the operation, Israel arrested several West Bank-based Hamas parliament members. It was operating on a flawed assumption that did not prove itself, that such arrests would deter Hamas from attacking Israeli targets. In 2014, Israel also rearrested some 50 Palestinians freed in a 2011 prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. The Hamas military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, responded by firing rockets at Israel, and Israel retaliated by bombing targets in Gaza. The grim results of that military operation came in for harsh criticism of the government in a recent report by the Israeli state comptroller.

It would appear that Israel has truly failed to learn its lesson. The detention of Hamas representatives will not result in any deal with Hamas, and its leadership will not budge an inch from its entrenched positions, but it could lead both sides to an additional round of violence in which neither is interested.
March 9, 2017

Imagine the following: The head of a corporate legal department tells the CEO that his plan to take over a plot of privately owned land for use by the company could land him in hot water with the authorities. What would the CEO do if his erudite legal adviser were to declare that he would not be able to defend the firm against legal challenges to such a takeover? How many CEOs would dare ignore the warnings of their personally appointed legal counsel, at the same time shutting out thunderous criticism of the dubious move from all over the world? How many boards of directors would have authorized the CEOs plan, allowing him to appoint outside counsel to defend the company against lawsuits by landowners seeking damages?

The scenario is analogous to the Regularization Bill adopted Feb. 7 by Israels parliament, the Knesset, allowing the State of Israel to take over private Palestinian lands in the West Bank. This law enables Israel to regularize the legal status of illegal Jewish settlements. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit  who also serves as the governments legal adviser  has already made it abundantly clear to all concerned that in his view the bill is unconstitutional and contravenes international law. In capitals around the globe, Israels closest friends have for months protested against plans to push through the legislation. In a rare move, Mandelblit informed the court that he was recusing himself and would not be defending the state against petitions filed to annul the bill. The State of Israel is his client. His defeat is the states defeat. In another rare move, other relevant state-level legal advisers  of the Knesset and the Defense Ministry, as well as the military advocate general  also expressed opposition to the new law.

Despite the stance of the legal adviser, refusing to defend the bill, the board of directors headed by Benjamin Netanyahu  otherwise known as the government  did not dismiss Mandelblit. The attorney (Mandelblit) it has on its payroll was not sent home, even though his stance forced the government to look for outside counsel. And after Mandelblits refusal, the ministers didnt have a thing to say about the decision by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to hand the case over to attorney Harel Arnon, despite a recent police recommendation to indict him on criminal charges. Shaked announced that there was no legal reason not to send Arnon to defend the state in the Supreme Court, praising him as the most fitting person for the task.

On reading the detailed appeal submitted March 5 to the court by 23 heads of Palestinian village councils, five Palestinian landowners and a dozen nongovernmental organizations led by Yesh Din, Peace Now and the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, one can understand why Mandelblit refused to defend the Regularization Law. It will be interesting to see how Arnon deals with the petitioners claims, after Justice Neil Hendel instructed the government, the attorney general, the military advocate general, the commander of Israeli forces in the West Bank, the head of the Civil Administration in the West Bank and its custodian of government and abandoned property to respond within 30 days to the petitioners request for a temporary injunction against the law and its implementation.

The repercussions of Supreme Court Case No. 2055/17 cannot be overstated. The petition states that according to an assessment by the Peace Now organization, the law would result in the expropriation of more than 8,000 dunams (2,000 acres) of private land on which Israeli settlements have been built, and thousands of additional dunams of land on which the invading settlers have planted crops  with the direct or indirect support of Israeli authorities. By dismissing the petition, the justices would be granting official legal approval to a law viewed by the petitioners as "a reward to lawbreakers, which will have a detrimental impact on the rights of Palestinian landowners.

The ministers and Knesset members who backed the law are forcing the Supreme Court to rule on weighty policy issues. For example, is the Knesset empowered to expropriate lands outside the states sovereignty from their rightful owners who are not citizens of the state, nor its residents, and are thus unrepresented in the legislative process of which they are victims? Can a court in a democratic state afford to stand by while authorities violate the rights of people who have no voice and no influence on the laws adopted by the state? Not only that, but the Regularization Bill also touches on the 1992 Basic Law (constitutional-like legislation): Human Dignity and Liberty, which outlaws violations of dignity, privacy and other basic human rights. Therefore, the Supreme Courts ruling will not only relate to the legality of the Regularization Law, but also to its constitutionality.

The eyes of the world will be on the hall of justice in Jerusalem. The nations top justices are being tasked with an issue of principle related to international law: Is the expropriation of real estate of protected civilians under military occupation (in the West Bank) compatible with the regulations of the 1907 Hague Convention and the 1949 Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians during armed conflict? The petitioners warn that implementing the articles of the law could compromise the civilians and military officers asked to carry them out and expose them to accusations of various war crimes and violations of international criminal law. According to the appellants, widespread appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity, violates the Rome Statute on the constitution of the International Criminal Law.

The fact that 61 hands could not be found in the legislature to prevent the ignominy of passing a dictatorial, evil, discriminatory and thieving law, which violates the principles and basic value of contemporary law practiced by all the nations of the world, is disgraceful and very sad, the petitioners wrote. No less disgraceful and sad is the fact that the countrys top educator, Education Minister and Chairman of right-wing HaBayit HaYehudi party Naftali Bennett, doesnt care about the provisions of the law. He draws from the Bible the authority of a 21st-century Jew to govern other nations. Bennett, the head of Shakeds party, rebuked an Al-Jazeera correspondent who refused to accept the Bible as justification for the occupation, suggesting the correspondent "go change the Bible first" before rejecting Israels occupation policy.

And with such politicians, one could at the very least hope that the Supreme Court justices, among them those handpicked by Shaked, base their rulings on the book of law and not on the Bible.
March 9, 2017

Tens of thousands of Gaza Strip residents who are on the Palestinian Authority payroll have been terribly worried this past week. That is because it was disclosed that the PA may well cut hundreds, even thousands, of names from the payroll in the very near future.

The term employed by the Authority in Gaza is misleading, since most PA civil servants in Gaza are forcibly unemployed after they were fired from their jobs by the Hamas government. Exceptions: those who work in the border crossings and the health services. Thus, the PA in Ramallah still has direct responsibility for the fate of about 55,000 people who receive salaries even though they actually do not work.

According to a senior Palestinian source, the salary of each employee ranges from an average of $500 to $1,000 a month (depending on the position and rank). This means that the Palestinian Finance Ministry in Ramallah is forced to transfer astronomical sums of about $45 million every month to pay the salaries of the former PA civil servants in Gaza.

The salaries of the workers, in the West Bank as well as in Gaza, mainly come from aid money that is then transferred to the Palestinian Finance Ministry. And the aid money is comprised of donations of Arab states (mainly Saudi Arabia), the European Union and the American government. From 2015-2016, the Barack Obama administration suspended $221 million in financial support to the Palestinians allocated by Congress. Only hours before leaving the Oval Office, Obama approved the transfer of this financial assistance to the PA for humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Donald Trump administration halted this money transfer, and has just now, on March 9, confirmed that the money is being delivered  on the administration's conditions.

In October, Britain announced it was stiffening its criteria for its annual aid of 25 million pounds ($30.4 million). From now on, all those receiving salaries from the PA would come under British scrutiny, and Britain would resume its aid only if the PA could show that the money was not funding or supporting terrorists or families of terrorists.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said in December that donations to the PA had declined significantly over the last year. This means that another cutback in donations may well lead to the termination of vital services in the PA, insolvency and an inability to pay the salaries of its employees.

The conclusion is clear: If this scenario becomes a reality, tens of thousands of families in Gaza and the West Bank will remain without a source of income. And this may well lead to an extensive financial crisis in the PA, even to its collapse.

Against the backdrop of concerns over sanction by donor countries, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas instructed the Palestinian Finance Ministry to examine the list of salary-receivers in Gaza. The ministry is to check whether any PA civil servants have crossed party lines in the last decade  meaning, leaving Fatah  to join one of the other organizations in Gaza that donor countries categorize as terror organizations.

It became known to Al-Monitor that Israel itself conducted a comprehensive check of tens of thousands of Gazans on the payroll, and the results were transferred to the donor countries via Foreign Ministry representatives. It is no coincidence that Britain, Holland and Germany have all expressed their protests to the PA and threatened to re-examine their financial aid commitments to the PA  should Abbas bureau continue to pay salaries to terror agents.

True, much of Britains ire is directed at the paying of monthly stipends to families of West Bank terrorists who carried out attacks against Israel. However, there is also the issue of salaries paid to PA employees in Gaza, some of whom have joined the ranks of Gaza terror organizations. This, too, may well cause some donor countries to shut the tap altogether or cut back their aid, as Britain has done recently.

A top-brass member of Fatah in the Gaza Strip, whose salary was terminated by Abbas people because of the claim that he is a supporter of Abbas political rival Mohammed Dahlan, spoke to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity. He said that over the years, hundreds of the forcibly unemployed workers of the PA looked for additional sources of employment and some joined the ranks of other organizations. In his view, a large portion of the PA security forces joined Hamas security apparatuses, mainly the civil, or blue, police. Our source said they receive salaries from Hamas, and that the PA has long since ceased paying them monthly salaries. But other PA employees were in such dire financial straits in Gaza that they were willing to do anything to bring home bread to their families. And some, he said, ended up over the years in the ranks of other organizations. Some even became part of Hamas armed branches and, mainly, of the Islamic Jihad. When you have no choice, youll do anything to feed your family, he said.

It wasnt only money that pushed them into the ranks of other organizations but also idleness. How many years can a fellow sit at home and do nothing? he asked.

The issue of salaries to former PA workers in Gaza is a huge dilemma that Abbas has grappled with ever since the Hamas coup in 2007. The financial burden of these salaries on the PA is tremendous, and the specter of economic collapse has hovered over PA institutions for years. However, should Abbas stop paying the salaries of former PA workers in Gaza, he would face accusations of being responsible for a widespread humanitarian crisis. Therefore, despite the chronic budgetary difficulties involved, Abbas continues to maintain his responsibility for the fate of the employees in Gaza. It is highly doubtful that the PA can put all the Gaza payroll people to the test, and even less likely that Abbas will give much credence to the lists prepared by Israel regarding those same people.

But Abbas is not the only one facing a dilemma. Israel faces a dilemma, too. True, Israels Foreign Ministry conveyed to the aid-giving countries a blacklist of terror activists and families of martyrs receiving salaries. But Israel is also aware of the dangers in stopping, freezing or cutting back aid.

Nevertheless, Israel has succeeded in applying pressure on Abbas, who must now examine the whole salary issue again. He is certainly aware of the fact that if he wants to preserve whatever is left of the dwindling foreign aid, he must take action. Otherwise, the price he will be forced to pay will be very dear indeed.
March 9, 2017

ERBIL, Iraq  Though Sunni tribal fighters work alongside the Shiite-dominant Population Mobilization Units (PMU) in the war against the Islamic State, memories of what came after the 2006 Anbar Awakening have left many in Iraqs westernmost region wary.

Several residents of Anbar who took part in the fighting a decade ago, which wrested much of the region from al-Qaeda control, say they were detained in subsequent years by the authorities on frivolous charges.

The current head of the provincial council, Ahmed Hameed al-Sharqi, for example, told Al-Monitor in January that he had been jailed and released only after an enormous bribe had been paid and the US military acted as a mediator to secure his release.

After the first leader of the Awakening, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, was targeted and killed by al-Qaeda in 2007, his brother Ahmad Abu Risha took over the leadership of the Anbar Salvation Council. A warrant was issued in October for his arrest under Iraqs anti-terrorism law, and he is thought to have left the country.

Others say they continue to feel abandoned by their erstwhile ally, the United States, but are even less trusting of the current Iraqi government.

Sheikh Jasim al-Suwaydawi, a founding member of the Awakening, told Al-Monitor in an interview in his family home in Soufiya, near Ramadi, that one of his 11 children had been killed fighting al-Qaeda in 2006 and another by the Islamic State (IS) in 2015.

A former aircraft technician in Saddam Husseins air force from the Abu Soda tribe, Sheikh Jasim was left unemployed after 2003. He began fighting al-Qaeda after the group killed several of his family members, including his brother, in late 2006.

A cemetery near his home visited by Al-Monitor houses the graves of his many relatives killed in the two waves of anti-insurgent conflict. Some were killed while fighting al-Qaeda and others simply because they were civilians linked to Awakening members.

Another of his sons, who funneled key information to the security forces for years, is now unemployed and struggling to survive financially.

The suburb of Erbil where Nihad, Sheikh Jasims son, lives is home to many internally displaced persons from the Sunni strongholds of Salahuddin and Anbar, as well as Mosul. He told Al-Monitor that he now scrapes by as an occasional taxi driver and mechanic, trying to feed the "many orphans in our home of family members killed while fighting al-Qaeda."

While visiting family in early March, Nihad said he would return home when his children finish school. However, he said, they suffer a great deal from being called "Americans" by many in Anbar.

"Working with them [US forces] has marked us," he said, stressing that most no longer have jobs or ways to provide for their families and have also become prime targets for insurgent groups.

In years prior, the United States provided monthlong courses in topics like map reading and transmitting coordinates for information purposes, according to Nihad, but many others underwent various types of military training in the Habbaniyah military base and Ramadi.

Nihad said he worked with the emergency police regiments until 2015, but that he stopped receiving a salary. In 2014, two of his cousins, also working with the same regiment, and his 16-year-old newly recruited brother were killed near his family home by an IS sniper.

When the family fled IS in 2015, he said, they got trapped in the desert, and "only after local media reported that we were there were we able to leave."

"The US forces forced the Iraqi government to let us through," he said.

Nihad said the family tried for a while to live Baghdad, but they left for the Kurdistan Regional Government area after he was stopped at a checkpoint and spent the night in jail "for no reason whatsoever, after they saw where I came from."

His father, Sheikh Jasim, and most of his family have instead returned home after the area was retaken from IS.

Nihad said he continues to pass along information, unpaid, from his network of sources to the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), which he considers the only reliable security force in Iraq.

The operation to retake the western part of Anbar, which is still under IS control, has been put on hold. The Iraqi government's current priority is to retake western Mosul.

The tribal-based Sunni militias, known as Hashd al-Ashairi, are expected to play a dominant role in their native area, though within the PMU they are a small minority.

An Iraqi law passed on Nov. 26 made the PMU an official body, with salaries and pensions for the fighters. The law caps the number of fighters at 50,000, 15,000 of whom are supposed to be Sunni.

As Omar Sattar reported for Al-Monitor in early December, "Current figures indicate that there are 150,000 fighters in the [mobilization units'] ranks. The 2017 budget, however, includes funding for 110,000 fighters ," making it unclear who will be provided with salaries and who will not.

A security officer told Al-Monitor that the push west toward the Syrian border is expected to resume "soon," but that no official date had been set.

The various local tribal fighters, as well as information from informants on the ground, will be key to the fight. How those who take part in the fighting are treated afterward will likely be a decisive factor for Iraqi security in the years to come.
March 9, 2017

ISTANBUL  The Syrian conflict has entered its seventh year, leaving more than 6 million people, including 2.8 million children, displaced inside the war-torn country. According to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, this is the largest number of internally displaced people in the world. Today, out of Syrias 22 million pre-war population, close to 5 million Syrians are scattered all across the Middle East and in Europe as refugees and asylum seekers. Human Rights Watch reports that children under the age of 18 represent about half of the Syrian refugee population, with approximately 40% of them under the age of 12. As the United States and its allies continue to contemplate budgets and strategies in their fight against the Islamic State (IS), and Russias military assistance remains a pivotal support for the Bashar al-Assad regime, Syria grows into a charnel house whose fate remains a global calamity.

On Feb. 18, Syrian opposition stakeholders, regional nonprofit organizations and Gulf donors met for the first International Conference for Syrian Education (ICSE). The two-day conference held in Istanbul discussed potential solutions to the multilayered challenges of the broken education system for children inside Syria, as well as the hundreds of thousands who are deprived of educational opportunities in neighboring countries.

While the opposition forces inside Syria and their supporters in neighboring countries aim to create some sort of normality through the support of grassroots and local groups and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), there is still no unified Syrian curriculum for Syrian children inside Syria and outside the country. In addition, language barriers outside the country, economic hardship and absence of accreditation leave education as one of the biggest casualties of the Syrian civil war.

On the sidelines of the ICSE, Imad Barq, the education minister for the Syrian interim government, spoke with Al-Monitor. Barq has a doctoral degree in education and was a professor at Al-Baath University in Homs. In 2013, he was detained by the Assad regime and forced to leave the country to Turkey. The Syrian interim government formed its Ministry of Education in 2013 as a national committee for education that was under the supervision of the Syrian opposition coalition. In May 2014, the ministry was officially established in Turkey, and Barq was elected to oversee the operation out of Gaziantep. But in May 2015 he shifted the headquarters back to Syria, and despite ongoing unrest decided to manage the education crisis inside the opposition-held areas. For him, the only way to monitor the volatile education landscape was to be in his ravaged country. Barq was able to return by road to opposition-held areas. He currently resides in western Aleppo.

The text of the interview follows:

Al-Monitor: In the past couple of years, there have been reports that the interim government, also known as the Syrian National Coalition, is still fighting for its legitimacy and is weakening. What is the current state of the coalition?

Barq: As the minister of education, my duty is not to speak about the politics within the coalition, but to put all focus on education matters. We work independently of all of that. I am working in my technical capacity and as the education minister, I am not involved in the politics of the coalition. As a technocrat, I dont belong to any political party and am only focusing to work on this huge challenge  the education challenge that is an incredibly difficult task. I dont even draw a salary as a minister and take my salary from my work teaching at the University of Aleppo. This is a duty to my country.

Al-Monitor: The current conflict inside Syria has forced almost half of the Syrian population to dislocate  whether as refugees or as internally displaced people [IDPs]. How do you evaluate the current demographic inside Syria, and how many students do you serve in the opposition-held areas?

Barq: You have to understand that inside Syria we have areas held by the Kurds, we have areas under the control of IS, areas controlled by the opposition and then areas under the control of the regime. We control the opposition and neutral areas across nine provinces. Today, there are around 4.5 million school-aged children inside Syria. Over 1.5 million of them live in the opposition areas and out of that number only 750,000 children are in school.

Al-Monitor: Are children in government-held areas in better shape when it comes to education? For example, in eastern Aleppo that is now under the control of the Assad regime?

Barq: One may think that expanding the regime-held areas helps stabilize the situation for families, but it is actually hurting the situation. Because when the regime comes to any area, the people in that area leave and become IDPs. They will move to another place; so when the regime expands into an area  like eastern Aleppo  that area automatically becomes empty. Until now, eastern Aleppo remains empty; even the supporters of Assad are gone. After Assad got control of eastern Aleppo, most of those people moved to northern Aleppo.

Al-Monitor: Over the years, schools have endured some of the most outrageous of attacks in Syria. Why are schools targeted?

Barq: This is a tragedy. We have the majority of the attacks against our schools. The regime and its supporters deliberately attack schools. Today  even now as we are speaking  one attack happened in Homs, but no one is reporting on it. No one reports on these issues anymore. It has become normal for the world and that is a shame. The West knows whats going on in Syria. They have their satellites, their people on the ground, so they can see whats going on, but there is no willingness to support the people. When the Assad regime attacks our schools, he does it with a big intention. He wants to displace these children and leave them in a hopeless and vulnerable position so that they would be forced to join radical groups. He wants to show people that if he is gone this is what will happen. He wants to show the rest of the world that Syrians are terrorists  but were not. There are close to 5,000 schools in the opposition-held areas, and the regime systematically attacks them. They never shell the schools in the IS-controlled areas. Why? Why is it that they only shell our schools?

Al-Monitor: How many schools and teachers are left in total in Syria and what are some of the main challenges the opposition faces in dealing with the education challenges?

Barq: There are a total of 17,000 schools inside Syria and 5,000 of them are in the opposition areas. Almost 2,800 schools have been shelled and are completely destroyed. The schools that are left are all targets. So due to these fears we are providing informal schooling in private homes, basements and areas that we think the children are safe in. In many areas where shelling is frequent and heavy, we have the kids stay inside and the teachers go to them. No child should endure this  to get education under the fear of dying.

Before the war, 5% of students were disabled, today we have over 15% of children with disabilities and special needs. In total, we have around 275,000 teachers in all of Syria, and in the opposition areas there are only 75,000 teachers left. Out of that number, only 13,000 of them are getting a salary and the rest dont work or are volunteers  there is no funding to pay these teachers and that is a tragedy. From the 25,000 teachers that are available in our system [work under the umbrella of the Education Ministry] now 14,000 of them dont have a degree in higher education and only have a secondary education degree. Because of that, these teachers themselves need some support. We are fighting this fight because we are not just fighting to save education for these children  we are fighting the regimes intentions of destroying our future generation.

Al-Monitor: What is the budget you are working with?

Barq: There is no budget! There are NGOs supporting us, but the whole system is losing funding. The ministry has no budget. Even the University of Aleppo is getting its support from other NGOs.

Al-Monitor: Do you think after six years the world is doing enough to support the Syrian people, in particular the children? Is there enough support from the international community?

Barq: The world does not care because the regime is still being supported. The world has no heart and we are losing an entire generation. The Syrian people know that they are alone. Even our supporters and friends are reducing their support. Funds are decreasing and their backing is weakening. Our team works under shelling and everyday we are facing death. Even I, myself, have escaped death and continue to face it every day.

Al-Monitor: What needs to be done for the people inside Syria?

Barq: We need funding to be sustained  all in an effort to build upon what we are doing. Those remaining in Syria will never leave  we will stay  even if we are working voluntarily. If we leave, there will be a demographic change in our country and we cant let that happen. That change is what the regime wants. We prefer to die inside Syria than to leave.

Al-Monitor: A lot of people with your credentials left Syria. Why did you stay and why did you take this post?

Barq: It is so difficult for me to see Syrian children live without education and have their future and potential wasted. I cant see them just sit while being left behind doing nothing. I have to work to serve this community and my country. If I were to leave, and if people like me continue to leave, Syria will be left with no qualified person and that will be an irrecoverable disaster. This is especially critical in the field of education. I have no plans to leave Syria. Syria is my home, my country, I will never leave. We will work inside Syria until the last breath.
March 9, 2017

Every year in early March, the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir's branch in Turkey holds an international conference to commemorate the Ottoman caliphate, which was abolished in 1924.

This years conference, set for March 5 in Istanbul, was to be titled Why Does the World Need the Caliphate? Mahmut Kar, media bureau chief of Hizb ut-Tahrir Turkey, had applied for permission from local authorities to hold the conference under the standard procedure. Yet on March 1, news broke that Kar and one of his colleagues, Osman Yildiz, were taken into custody.

After the announcement for the conference was made, extremely secular Kemalist media outlets started spreading news against the event and pressuring the government," Kurtulus Sevinc, a member of Hizb ut-Tahrirs media bureau, told Al-Monitor. "Authorities soon informed us that our conference was banned. Kar was invited to the police headquarters to receive this official decision, yet, to all of our surprise, on the orders of a prosecutor, Kar and Yildiz were detained on March 1.

On March 6, 300 Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters, including Kar's family members, stood in quiet protest in front of the police headquarters in Istanbul demanding the release of Kar and Yildiz, saying that if the men remained in custody, the police could detain the supporters as well. To everyones surprise, police did take all the protesters, including women and young children, into custody. The next day, the women and children were released, and later, all but three of the 300 male supporters were let go. Now, a total of five members are in custody. Sevinc said Yildiz was allowed to meet with his wife briefly and told her they feared they would be held in custody for another 15 days.

Fatih Kar said that when he tried to deliver fresh clothes to his brother and Yildiz on the first day of their detention, he had a difficult time locating them.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) rose to power on the shoulders of Islamist groups and pious Turks and Kurds. Indeed, the secular media for decades reported how AKP members trod carefully so as not to upset certain Islamists and to meet most of their demands. Now, the pattern has changed. As fellow Al-Monitor columnist Mustafa Akyol succinctly explained earlier this year, Islamists have fallen out of favor with Erdogan. We are likely to see further evidence of the end of this love affair.

Sevinc said Hizb ut-Tahrir can't understand why their members were taken into custody. He said no member had challenged the governments conference ban or tried to disobey the decision. Kars brother said that on the day Kar and Yildiz were taken into custody, Turkish Radio and Television aired a sitcom detailing the glories of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid, then afterward a talk show discussing the history and meaning of the caliphate  but that a conference focusing on the meaning of the caliphate, held by people who believe in these ideals, was banned and people were taken into custody.

If glorifying and discussing the caliphate is sanctioned by state institutions, why is Hizb ut-Tahrir silenced? Fatih Kar also emphasized the irony that AKP senior members are angry because some German cities recently canceled AKP rallies, but that the AKP applies the same mentality to Hizb ut-Tahrir inside Turkey.

Indeed, in March 2016 in Ankara, Hizb ut-Tahrir held a big conference with significant speakers from Indonesia, Crimea, Ukraine and Australia, to name a few. Hizb ut-Tahrir is not a secret or illegal organization in Turkey, according to open-source publications. Its rallies can be seen on YouTube dating back to 2013 in Ankara or 2015 in Istanbul, always calling for the caliphate to be reinstated. As Al-Monitor reported previously, Hizb ut-Tahrirs Turkey branch, although small in number, has been quite active in the last decade. This has been largely due to the AKPs past willingness to open up public space to a variety of Islamic groups and different religious orders. Hizb ut-Tahrir has been a nonviolent Islamist group that has been courageous to criticize the government on a variety of issues, from its flip-flopping on Israeli policies to the upcoming referendum that could grant the president unprecedented power.

Sevinc detailed Turkish Islamists' reactions to these events. Initially, when only two men were taken into custody, everyone expected them to be released quickly. However, Sevinc said, the detentions of 300 peaceful protesters, including women and children, sent shock waves to all Muslims in Turkey. Just think about it: There are people openly supporting terrorism against Turkey who are serving as lawmakers in the Turkish parliament, yet peaceful Hizb ut-Tahrir sympathizers who are only involved in theoretical and political studies are taken into custody.

Sevinc said the group has received support messages from almost all segments of society, including AKP members. The public condemned the treatment and detention of Hizb ut-Tahrir members. He said, In this difficult time, we are relieved and grateful for the solidarity shown from different NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], columnists as well as Muslim brothers. Sevinc also repeated that Hizb ut-Tahrir never endorses violence, but refuses to be silenced in the face of injustice.

Al-Monitor asked a few AKP officials and pro-AKP groups why Kar and Yildiz have been detained since March 1. They said the group's timing was bad: With the country under state-of-emergency law, Hizb ut-Tahrir should have known better than to call for a conference about the caliphate. Another official said the caliphate is "forbidden in Turkey. If that's the case, why wasn't Hizb ut-Tahrir warned or legally held accountable years ago?

One scholar, who asked to remain anonymous, told Al-Monitor: The government still treats Islamists with velvet gloves compared with Alevis, Shiites, Kurds or leftists. So yes, two or three of them were detained, probably because the government feared there would be unrest, given all the media uproar at the end of February. But still, their media outlets aren't shut down; their homes haven't been raided. They really shouldn't complain.

Listening to different groups react to the prolonged state of emergency in Turkey reveals a few common points. First, Erdogan is able to rule effectively because, even as opposition groups experience similar injustices, they remain deeply divided in Turkey  so much so that some cheered the arrests of Kar, as well as the arrests of fashion designer Barbaros Sansal and Al-Monitor columnist Kadri Gursel. It is almost impossible to find more than a few sober analysts in Turkey who would stand up for the rights of these three men simultaneously.

Second, rights come with strings attached in Turkey. Or, rather, they are privileges that can be revoked at the whim of the leader. The freedoms of expression, association and press are at the mercy of those who have political power. In a sense, those freedoms are not a right but a gift, and the government can decide when and how you can enjoy the gift and can take it away without warning.

Third, not all Islamists are equal in the eyes of the government. As with Kurds, the government believes there are good Islamists who applaud Erdogan and unruly ones who refuse to remain silent when confronted. The AKP's battle now is to control the latter so they do not influence the others before the April 16 referendum.
A letter spearheaded by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and signed by 18 of her Senate colleagues urges the Department of Homeland Security to increase funding for a key grant program that could help Jewish community centers and other religious organizations respond to an uptick in hate crimes and threats.

The senators want the agency to fully fund the Nonprofit Security Grant Program at $50 million in the 2018 fiscal year. The funding would be used to support security and assist organizations with prevention efforts and response to threats.

The request comes as hate crimes have increased in New York City by 54 percent compared to the same period last year. Nationwide, there have been more than 100 bomb threats reported at Jewish community centers. This week, bomb threats targeted JCCs in central and western New York.

"New Yorkers shouldn't have to live or worship in fear," Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in a statement. "Hate crimes and threats are on the rise and we can't stand idly by and do nothing or pretend it's not happening. Now more than ever we need to make sure our places of worship and community centers have the right resources to protect themselves."

The senators supporting Gillibrand's effort include U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, and U.S. Rep. Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota.

William Daroff, senior vice president of the Jewish Federations of North America, praised Gillibrand for supporting additional federal security funding.

"The recent spate of bomb threats and other acts of anti-Semitism underscore the threat to the very institutions that the non-profit security grant program was designed to safeguard," Daroff said. "Given the increase in threats, the support for increasing the funds for the program is essential."
March 8, 2017

Since the coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, Ankara has been preoccupied with scenarios of a possible second coup attempt. These scenarios are sometimes made public before being immediately countered by measures the political rule and its affiliated civil society take.

The political rule is worried about potential new threats and has been undertaking radical measures, especially within the Turkish Armed Forces. Military schools have been closed, military hospitals have been transformed into civilian public hospitals and tens of thousands of people have been fired from the public sector, including the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior.

Turkey's civil society responded to the rumors of threats with new structures that would not be allowed in a democratic country. The latest such body  "Stay as Brothers, Turkey"  was founded by Orhan Uzuner, a name known to the public.

Uzuner is not a politician but an engineer who started working for the Istanbul municipality in 1994. His life changed completely when his daughter Reyhan was introduced to President Recep Tayyip Erdogans son Bilal in 2003. Reyhan, who was only 17 years old at the time, was allowed to marry Bilal with a court permission, as she was not yet 18. That's how Uzuner became a relative of Erdogan. He subsequently resigned from his job with the municipality. When his new employer Betra Corporation was accused by a Court of Audits of causing losses for the Turkish State Railways, his name came up.

He made the headlines again when he founded "Stay as Brothers, Turkey," with the opposition secularist daily Cumhuriyet reporting the group's formation under the headline Erdogans militias.

Uzuner told his audience that he had set up the group to counter a natural disaster, an earthquake or an uprising. The group, which organized on WhatsApp, is said to have 500 members already.

Uzuner, in his address to the group, explained the preparations they were making to warn the public and provide communications in a time of danger. He said their smallest instrument is a whistle, but that he has a bullhorn in his car. Next, a wireless communication system and a radio station will be established. Also on the agenda are first aid courses to be organized by the Ministry of Health. In addition, Uzuner promised training for the group's members on how to use drones, yet did not explain the objective.

Uzuner concluded his speech by saying that the group is fully dedicated to Erdogan, and their supreme goal is to prevent harm to our Quran, our prophet, our country and our nation.

Some reports quoted Uzuner as saying, We have weapons to use when needed." Uzuner denied saying this and claimed he was talking of "sirens not weapons."

While the debate of his use of the term "weapons" or "sirens" continues, people have not forgotten how paramilitary groups and militias were set up in the past. Husnu Bozkurt, an opposition lawmaker from the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), asked Prime Minister Binali Yildirim to initiate an official inquiry. The intention to set up a parallel arm cannot be ignored. You like Mussolinis black shirts or Hitlers brown shirts, Bozkurt said in his written query to the parliament.

Although Uzuner insists his group is unarmed, other allegations about arming against a new coup attempt are widespread. Sinan Ogan, a lawmaker from the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party, charged the Justice and Development Party (AKP) with providing shopkeepers with weapons training. We know that after July 15, shopkeepers who are normally bakers, grocers and barbers are taken to camps for weapons training. This semi-militia force is being prepared to take on the other segment of the population when the AKP feels it is needed, Ogan said in an interview with daily Sozcu.

A man named Emin Canpolat, who refers to himself as the head of a nationalist, Islamist group on his social media account, called on people to arm themselves. For the country, for the flag and for Erdogan, Canpolat wrote.

Ankaras staunchly pro-AKP Mayor Melih Gokcek recently said, There has been extraordinary arming. Everyone buys a pump shotgun to keep in their house.

Ahmet Akin, a CHP lawmaker, also said there has been a boom in sales of pump shotguns. No permit is needed to obtain these kinds of guns.

While Uzuner insists Stay as Brothers, Turkey was set up to resist dangerous events, he does not say who is to decide that an event is against Erdogan, the Quran, the prophet, the country or the nation. Who will then turn on the sirens in a country that is becoming more tense by the day?
A federal agency says Hyundai Motor Co.'s Montgomery assembly plant must rehire three workers fired after they walked off the job after a 2015 Christmas-season work schedule dispute.

An administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board ruled this week that paint shop employees Nathan Howard, Justin Cleckler and Nathan Yarbrough engaged in "protected concerted activity." They left the job at the same time on Dec. 22, 2015.

Administrative law judge Arthur Amchan also found that a Hyundai Team Relations Specialist Gregory Gomez "unlawfully interrogated" the workers after the walkout.

The Montgomery Advertiser (http://on.mgmadv.com/2nknwIa) reports the Hyundai plant must rehire the workers, give them back pay with interest, and post a notice stating the company won't interfere with labor activity.

Hyundai says it plans to appeal and that it "respectfully disagrees" with the judge's decision.

According to federal documents, the dispute was over a change to the work schedule for robot maintenance teams just before the 2015 Christmas-season shutdown. The three workers were part of a team that was scheduled to work from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 22.

Two days before the shift, a supervisor allegedly told the team members - including Howard, Cleckler and Yarbrough - that they would instead work from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., even though the posted schedule wasn't changed. At 2 p.m. on Dec. 22, the three workers clocked out and left the plant.

The next day, filings state that Gomez interviewed the three employees separately and asked them identical questions, including whether they talked with each other before leaving. Amchan ruled that the circumstances of those interviews and the questions asked were "coercive" and violated labor law.

The three employees continued to work at the plant until the following month.

On Jan. 11, 2016, they were given identical termination letters that said they voluntarily resigned when they left early on Dec. 22, according to federal filings. Amchan rejected the notion that the workers resigned, noting that under those guidelines "any protected strike constitutes a voluntary resignation."

However, Amchan also rejected an allegation by Howard that a supervisor warned him not to say the word "union." In his ruling, Amchan called that complaint "very contrived" and dismissed it.
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Chickens eat at a large poultry house in Etowah County, Nov. 14, 2014. Chickens have been given antibiotics in their feed for years to promote growth and ward off intestinal disease. (Eric Schultz/eschultz@al.com)

( (Eric Schultz/eschultz@al.com) )

A second flock of chickens at a Tennessee commercial poultry operation has tested positive for avian influenza, though officials say it is a different strain that one that was reported last Sunday.

Alabama Department of Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan said the state continues to monitor the situation through Tennessee and federal officials, as well as with the poultry industry.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture says a farm in Giles County, Tenn., reported the strain on March 6. Giles County is located north of Athens.

Last Sunday, a farm in adjoining Lincoln County destroyed more than 73,000 chickens in eight barns at a supplier for Tyson Foods to prevent the spread of H7 avian influenza, or HPAI.

Routine screenings at the Giles County farm, and subsequent testing, confirmed the existence of H7N9 LPAI.

"At this time, officials do not believe one premises sickened the other," the department stated.

Tennessee officials said the difference between HPAI and LPAI is in the bird mortality rate, and both strains are common among migratory birds in North America. The strain is not the same that has been reported in Asia.

The Giles County flock was killed and buried, and the farm remains under quarantine, as does the Lincoln County farm. Other poultry within a six mile radius of the Giles County farm is also under quarantine and being tested. No other flocks have shown signs of the illness, officials said.

Neither strain poses a risk to the food supply, officials said, and none of the animals have been processed into the food chain.

Alabama State Veterinarian Tony Frazier said the state's response plan means continued daily testing and monitoring.

"The immediate response the Tennessee Department of Agriculture has taken is critical to stopping the spread of this virus into Alabama," Frazier said.

"Dr. Frazier and our staff have always been focused on animal health and disease prevention," McMillan said. "Each year, our four diagnostic labs located in Alabama test over 400,000 blood samples for avian influenza for this very purpose."

The state continues to supply a list of precautions for breeders and backyard flock owners here.
An affiliate of a Michigan apartment company has purchased three Hueytown developments for a combined $4 million.

Nodel Parks, based in Southfield, Michigan, has acquired the 32-unit Notting Hill Apartments, the 174-site Saddleridge Manufactured Housing Community, and a 12,000-square-foot climate controlled self-storage facility called All Seasons Storage.

The Chicago office of Tremont Realty Capital, a division of the RMR group, structured financing for the three contiguous properties. The company arranged loans totaling a combined $3 million.

"For Nodel Parks, Tremont arranged for two separate loans in an effort to provide the most efficient capital stack for the multi-use property," Senior Director of Capital Markets for Tremont, said in a press release. "The apartment complex was financed with low cost GSE debt while the manufactured housing community and self-storage facility required a more flexible portfolio lender."

The three contiguous properties are located in Hueytown near the intersection of Allison-Bonnett Memorial Drive and Hueytown Road.
Join us for another stop on our journey through Whitman, Alabama. The goal of the documentary series? Bridge the gap between people. Filmmaker Jennifer Crandall traveled hundreds of miles to capture the essence of America as people across Alabama bring "Song of Myself" by poet Walt Whitman to life. Crandall below tells us more about Donnie Goodin who she met in Birmingham.

Whitman, Alabama site | On Facebook

The first time I saw Donnie I was leaving Bottega Cafe in Birmingham, and he was literally in my peripheral vision--a shape, a blur that I brought into focus: someone in a wheelchair. And then I walked on.

I can't remember where or when Donnie and I had our first proper conversation. But, as Becky Adams, Donnie's friend and speech and language pathologist says, "Anyone who gets to know Donnie becomes his friend." Knowing Donnie now, I say this must be true.

He's entrepreneurial, cheeky, patient and funny. Donnie is a perennial presence in Birmingham. He sells candy at various locations in Birmingham, seven days a week, all day long. He's always open. In one of our first conversations, Donnie laid out his vision for being the owner of a huge candy shop one day. The day we filmed he was open for business by the Western Market on Highland Avenue, his usual evening spot.

The day of filming, it was hot, humid, stormy, sunny--one of those wacky, weird summer days that may be normal in Alabama. The day started with blistering sun, and then suddenly storm clouds rolled in, and then it was raining cats and dogs, and Ginnard Archibald (a videographer from AL.com helping me shoot that day) and I were running around, trying to manage in the nutso weather, but it was just another day for Donnie. He didn't seem fazed. "It's all good," he said.

If you're patient and observe people long enough, you get to see who they are through the kinds of relationships they have with others. When Donnie's working, it's not merely transactional: the sale of candy. There are richer moments of connection. And catching him check out that woman? A different sort of rich and just too funny.

I'm in awe, and sometimes a bit ashamed by how much more capable Donnie is of meeting most others on their terms. He's never saying, "Hey, slow down, you blew past me again, I'm using a computer, and I'm trying to respond to you." He's never once spoken to me about his cerebral palsy and how it shapes his day to day. Unless I inquire. He just asks me how I'm doing and has helped us with this project each time we needed it. It doesn't take a mathematician to tell that Donnie's doing more work in relationships with others than most are in return. Meeting him has taught me things that allow me to try to meet Donnie half way. I still don't do the best job, but of course Donnie is there to make up the difference so seamlessly. Not that he would ever point that out.

By Liz Hildreth, as told by filmmaker Jennifer Crandall
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information in the killing of a bald eagle in Cherokee County.

Service Spokesman Phil Kloer said the eagle was shot to death and was discovered March 6 in a community east of Centre near the intersection of County Roads 13 and 637.

According to the Alabama Department of Conservation, bald eagles are found throughout the state but are concentrated along rivers and large bodies of water. Alabama averages having about 100 to 150 birds.

Even though bald eagles are no longer on the endangered species list, they are still protected by federal law. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, violators can face up to two years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The fine doubles for an organization.

To provide information, contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, in Wetumpka at (334) 478-7900.
Two Gadsden police officers will not be charged in the fatal shooting of a murder suspect on Christmas Eve 2016.

Sgt. John Hallman of Gadsden police said an Etowah County grand jury investigating the shooting of Orande Kandie Hayes of Detroit, Mich., found no evidence for charges. This was after an investigation by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Hayes was shot to death by officers following the shooting death of Lillian Davison in Jacksonville Court on Christmas Eve morning.

Hallman said officers responded to a call at 12:58 a.m. Dec. 24, 2016, on reports of a shooting. When officers arrived, they found Davison dead from multiple gunshots.

Officers identified Hayes as a suspect and witnesses gave a description of his clothing. Minutes later, Hayes was spotted on Wetter Street.

Hallman said Hayes pulled a handgun and two officers fired, hitting him. He was later pronounced dead at a Gadsden hospital.
A woman was killed early Friday after her vehicle left Interstate 20 and plunged into the Coosa River early Friday.

Alabama State Troopers identified the woman as Bridget Rochelle Braxton of Talladega. She was 40.

Senior Trooper Reginal King said Braxton was killed when the 2012 Acura TL she was driving left the roadway and entered the Coosa River. The crash happened at 12:39 a.m.

Braxton, who was not using a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash occurred on Interstate 20 eastbound, about one mile east of Riverside.

Marine Police and troopers recovered the vehicle and Braxton from the water.

The interstate was shut down for several hours but has reopened.
There are 19 ways in and out of Birmingham's Marks Village public housing community, but authorities are now trying to limit that access in an ongoing crime-fighting effort.

The Gate City community, plagued by gun violence and other crime in recent years, is the focus of a heightened initiative by the Birmingham Housing Authority to increase safety in the neighborhood. On Thursday, HABD and police officials met with residents to outline their proposal to eliminate more than a dozen entry points into the maze-like area.

Doing so, officials said, will make it harder for criminals to enter and quickly exit through the many streets that currently double as easy-escape routes. "We have to take some of these extreme responses to ensure the safety of this community,'' said HABD President/CEO Michael Lundy.

Housing authority officials and police meet weekly to discuss the efforts in Gate City. One of the highest-profile crimes there happened on Sept. 11 when two women and two men were shot, one of them fatally. Bobby Clayton, 20, died shortly after arriving at UAB Hospital. The shooting happened at 8:15 p.m. that Sunday, about an hour after the 1st Annual Stop the Violence Gate City Peace Day. The event was held in Gate City's Lewis Park, about four blocks from the shooting happened.

Following that shooting, Lundy submitted an eight-point plan to the housing authority board which included hiring a director of public safety, increasing patrols, hosting the town hall meetings, working closer with police, holding gun buy-back program and establishing a community watch. As part of that, he said he would seek some form of a gun ban.

Several town hall meetings have since been held, as well as gun buy-backs at several public housing communities.

The roads are owned by the City of Birmingham, and housing authority officials are working with city officials to make an official application to close the entry points. Lundy said city officials are supportive of the early proposal, but more meetings with first responders, police, transit and school officials will be held to determine the final list of proposed closings.

"We know that this is a process,'' Lundy said. "We want to make sure that as we close of the streets that we are also responsive to transportation and public safety needs. The experts will be in the room as we make those decisions."

Lundy said he is optimistic for streamlined approval and installation of barriers within two months.

"From a police perspective, we think it can enhance public safety,'' said Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper. "We've talked with many residents during our community walks and other public forums, and a major concern was people coming from the outside and causing trouble. We are all striving for safe communities so our department will continue to partner and support the residents and the Housing Authority."

Marks Village resident Juliette Evans, who is a member of the Marks Village Residents Council, said public safety is a responsibly shared by authorities and residents alike. "We have to do our job,'' Evans said. "Don't be afraid because these are our lives and this is our community that we have to protect."

Lundy also reminded residents of the new HABD policy, which requires visitors at all of Birmingham's 14 public housing sites to be listed on a registry. While Marks Village is not a gated community, as some of the others are, people considered to be loitering will be asked by police if they are residents or registered visitors. If they aren't, they will be asked to leave. Lundy said that's no different than rules in high-end gated communities.

"If we can save one life, then you're going to get overwhelming support from residents because they want to be safe,'' Lundy said. "We have a duty to ensure the safety of this community. We are going to install the barriers real soon."
The CNY Solidarity Coalition has made phone calls and held rallies to urge U.S. Rep. John Katko to hold a town hall meeting. As they wait for the Republican congressman to schedule a public forum, the group has scheduled one of its own.

The coalition will hold a town hall meeting from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 18 at Nottingham High School in Syracuse. The forum will be moderated by WAER Radio News Director Chris Bolt.

Nottingham High School's parent-teacher-student organization, FACES, is co-sponsoring the event. More town hall meetings are being planned by the coalition.

Katko, R-Camillus, has been invited to attend.

"Town hall meetings are enshrined in American history as being critical to our democracy, giving everyone an opportunity to speak personally and openly with our elected officials and to receive straight answers in return," said Elaine Wolf, a member of the CNY Solidarity Coalition who helped organize the town hall meeting.

Those who attend the town hall meeting will be permitted to speak for 2 minutes. If Katko appears, he'll have 2 minutes to respond to each constituent's comment or question.

Katko has yet to hold a public forum in the first two-plus months of his second term in Congress. He has cited his schedule in Washington  the House of Representatives is in session for six consecutive weeks until a two-week recess in April  as the reason why he hasn't been able to hold a public meeting.

During an interview last month with The Citizen, Katko pledged to hold public forums in the near future.

"We haven't had the exact dates set because for the next six weeks straight we're going to be in Washington," he said. "But we are going to set them as soon as possible on a weekend and we're going to definitely have plenty of them going forward."

Katko represents the 24th Congressional District which includes all of Cayuga, Onondaga and Wayne counties, plus the western part of Oswego County. He was first elected in 2015.
After 40 years as a federal government employee, including 38 with the Department of Veterans Affairs, James Cody is ready for a break.

Cody, director of the Syracuse VA Medical Center, announced his retirement Friday. His last day will be Friday, April 21.

The center has launched a search for his successor.

Cody is the longest-serving director of the Syracuse VA facility. He became director in January 2000 and has spearheaded several projects over the last 17 years, including the construction of a $90 million, 30-bed spinal cord injury center.

As the center's leader, he administered an annual operating budget of $290 million and managed 1,700 employees.

"Working with the Syracuse family of employees for the past 17-plus years has been, personally, both a privilege and an honor," Cody said in a message to his staff. "You have consistently demonstrated to me that you are uniquely special with respect to our efforts on behalf of our veterans!

"I very much appreciate your efforts and I thank you for working with me for all these years! I am confident that our Syracuse VAMC will continue with this reputation of 'excellence' for many years to come!"

The Syracuse VA serves more than 48,000 veterans in central and northern New York. Along with the main complex in Syracuse, the agency operates outpatient clinics at seven sites, including Auburn.

Cody earned his bachelor's degree in health education at SUNY Cortland in 1976. He completed his master in public administration with a concentration in health administration at New York University in 1981.

His first job with the Department of Veterans Affairs was as a safety specialist at the VA hospital in Brooklyn. He held other positions within the VA system before coming to Syracuse.

In 2009, he received the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executives.

U.S. Rep. John Katko, whose district includes the Syracuse VA Medical Center and areas served by the facility, lauded Cody for his four decades of service.

"For 38 years, Director Cody has dedicated his life to serving the brave men and women who have risked their lives for our freedom and our democracy," Katko, R-Camillus, said in a statement. "Director Cody has consistently operated one of the best VA facilities in our country. His tireless efforts have ensured that our local veterans receive the care that they deserve."

According to the Syracuse VA Medical Center, Cody and his wife, Lois, will continue to live in Jamesville. He will remain active in health care and public service.
As we walked the last couple of kilometres to the Constitutional Court, the extraordinary nature of this day was clear from the start.

The streets around it were cordoned off with more police buses I can remember seeing in a concentrated area in Seoul  and thats saying something for a police force that knows how to precision park buses by the score.

We were stopped for ID checks half a dozen times.

The sound of President Park Geun-hyes supporters several streets away boomed in the background.

READ MORE: A day-by-day look of the fall of President Park Geun-hye

The question was  would they do it? Would the constitutional court judges remove a sitting president for the first time in South Koreas young democratic history?

They had plenty of seemingly good reasons: The overwhelming majority of public opinion in favour of impeachment; the risk of prolonged civil unrest if they restored her to power; the admission by Parks lawyers that she had passed sensitive documents to her friend, Choi Soon-sil, but only for limited advice on presentation.

Parks lawyers had also argued, though, that the actual evidence amassed by the opposition was not sufficient for impeachment, if judged solely on its value. And she had not resigned ahead of the verdict, scotching a persistent rumour.

So there was still more than an element of doubt.

But when the ruling came it was conclusive. Park Geun-hye had abused her power, the judges unanimously agreed, by helping Choi coerce millions out of giant corporations, and allowing her undue influence over and access to state affairs.

Her impeachment was upheld.

The next chapter

Among her supporters there was wailing, talk of resurgent communism, of national security disaster under a presumed liberal presidency to follow. And there was violence, as some tried to storm the court. Several were injured; two protesters died.

For the crowd that has come to represent mainstream opinion, though, this was a day to relish. Over 19 Saturday nights theyd gathered in their tens or hundreds of thousands to demand her ouster.

Tonight, as I write this from our bureau, I can hear them celebrating victory.





And so presumably, and bizarrely, can Park Geun-hye. Shes defied expectations that she would be immediately thrown out of the Blue House  her childhood home during her fathers rule, as well as her official residence during her own.

An aide told reporters security arrangements around her private home had not been finalised.

But one thing is clear wherever she is: She is no longer president, and no longer has immunity from prosecution.

That is likely to be the next chapter of that extraordinary story.

It wont be one that I report. This was my last day as Al Jazeeras Seoul correspondent. Im moving to the Jerusalem bureau. It was quite a way to finish.

My successor will have the (sometimes mixed) blessing of a near-ceaseless stream of news, and the unqualified good fortune of a fantastic cameraman and producer to help report it.
Thousands of people are displaced as drought leads to malnutrition and an outbreak of water-borne diseases.

Puntland, Somalia  Ahmed Osman, 34, gathered his tiny son into his arms and walked for three hours to reach the nearest medical centre in Dhudo village in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia.

His three-year-old son, Mohamed, was desperately frail. He had been suffering from fever, vomiting and acute diarrhoea for eight days.

My wife and three other children are behind in our camp with the surviving goats. I am the only one who could carry the baby all this way, he told Al Jazeera.

The clinic in Dhudo is a small local government facility supported by aid group Save the Children. Nurse Bahija Abdullahi says she has been receiving two to three children a day since January. They are coming from makeshift pastoralist settlements scattered across the area, she explains.

The diarrhoea and fever has taken a toll on Mohameds health. Abdullahi can offer him oral rehydration salts and sachets of high-calorie peanut paste, but she doesnt have the resources to treat cases of critical malnutrition like his.

Such children can be referred only to three hospitals in all of Puntland  Garowe, Bosaso and Galkayo  each hundreds of kilometres apart.

Osman is a nomadic pastoralist whose family has raised sheep, goats and camel in the arid Nugaal district in southern Puntland for generations.

Erratic rainfall

However, more than two years of protracted drought and erratic rainfall have killed off most of his animals, separated his family and driven him further from his native place than he has ever needed to travel.

Swaths of Somalia are once again on the edge of famine. On Sunday, Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire announced the deaths from starvation of 110 people in 48 hours in the countrys south-west.

It is six years since Somalias last famine killed some 260,000 people.

Now, nearly 6.2 million people  more than half the population  face acute food and water shortages and almost three million are going hungry.

In my whole life in Somalia I have never seen so many dead livestock, says Mowlid Mudan, communications officer for Save the Children, one of the few organisations working in Puntland.

READ MORE: Antonio Guterres raises alarm as hunger crisis worsens

Sixty percent of our population relies on livestock to live and the rest are somehow connected. These families have lost every single animal. Even their camels. When the camels start to die you know that people will be next.

Osman is not the only one who has headed for Dhudo. The village is built around the only substantial water source within a 75km radius: currently a diminishing green rivulet which pools in a rocky gully.

Bandar Bayla, the eastern district alongside the Indian Ocean where Dhudo lies, saw fleeting showers in late 2016.

Word spread and pastoralists travelled from as far as neighbouring Ethiopia in search of pasture for their herds.

But there has been no more rain.

Somalia is only fed by two perennial rivers  the Juba and the Shabelle  neither of which enter Puntland.

Carcasses litter the landscape; small heaps of bones, shrivelled skin and fur. Countless sheep and goats huddle together in the sand and die where they lay.

Abdirisak Farah, 40, brought his herd 200km from Nugaal to Bandar Bayla. Of his 500 animals, fewer than 100 survive.

We had to leave our wives and children behind in villages because they are not strong enough to make this journey on foot, says Farah.

I have never had to move so far to find pasture.

State of disaster

Some 250km further inland, ragged displacement camps are expanding on the fringes of towns as destitute nomads are forced out of the wilderness to seek assistance.

Shaxade, off the main road between the hubs of Garowe and Qardho, is currently home to dozens of women and children whose adult male relatives left for the coast with their herds two months ago.

We are here because we have lost almost everything. We were feeding cardboard and water to our animals, says Star Abdullahi, a mother of six.

We are depending on the host community for food and the clinic nearby for the weakest ones. Our situation is bad but at least we are a group of women protecting each other. In the bush we were scattered and alone. This is safer for us.

READ MORE: Famine stalks Somalia again

Somalia elected a new president in February following a drawn-out political process.

Ten days into his term, President Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo declared a drought-induced state of disaster across the country, and a national drought response team was established.

Puntland is a territory that identifies as semi-autonomous  unlike breakaway Somaliland in the far north  and wishes to remain part of a federal Somalia.

Access for humanitarian aid across much of South Central Somalia remains impossible because the country is still fighting the armed group al-Shabab.

Puntland, where drought has also ravaged the countryside, however, considers itself more stable. Local leaders say they have been sounding the alarm for more than a year to little effect.

We are in a pre-famine situation and the time to act is now, says regional Environment Minister Ali Abdullahi Warsame at his office in Garowe.

We are already reporting deaths by hunger and because people are drinking contaminated water  The entire economy is collapsing  But 95 percent of Puntland is accessible, unlike the south. Our government has meagre resources but is ready to assist the NGOs, but all eyes are on Mogadishu [Somalias capital] and the political transition.

International support

According to Warsame, Puntlands government raised more than $1m for drought relief in November, with large contributions from the diaspora and local door-to-door collections.

We only need very basic food, sanitation and shelter items but we need them urgently in the next three weeks  The bulk of our response has been community-led. The international support is a drop in the ocean. It never comes at the right time, he said.

At of the start of the year, international NGOs and the UN requested some $825m from donors during the first half of 2017 to prevent famine in Somalia.

IN PICTURES: Drought in Somalia  Time is Running Out

Funds are coming in at a faster rate than in 2011 and humanitarian agencies now have a stronger presence on the ground, according to Julien Navier, spokesperson for the UNs refugee agency.

Nevertheless, competing catastrophes in South Sudan, Yemen and the Lake Chad basin mean that what is desperately needed to halt an avoidable tragedy may not materialise in time.

Sahara Mohamed has brought her three children to a small clinic in Yaka village, close to the Shaxade displacement site. Her husband took their surviving goats to the coast two months ago.

She cradles her two-year-old, who is barely conscious, while her three-year-old lies limp on the cot beside her. Her oldest son sits shivering on the edge of the cot, an intravenous (IV) tube inserted under the skin of his small hand. Nurses believe he is suffering from pneumonia.

Children are getting sick because they are weak but they dont have to be, says Mudan. You can see this is preventable if we move fast.
Every Friday, The Citizen features a pet available for adoption from the Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York.

This week, we spotlight Pepper.

Q: Do you have a BFF? If so, who is that and why?

A: I want to share the love, so to speak. I don't want to limit myself to only one BFF, so everyone here in my shelter is my BFF. That even includes my feline friends, although I'm not sure the feelings are mutual!

Q: Can you tell me about your very best experience?

A: I can! You see, I have been here for just a short time. I couldn't stay where I used to live for a lot of reasons, but mainly because no one had time for me. However, since I have come here I have so much attention I don't know what to do with all of it. That is my very best experience  having lots of people pay attention to me and love me all the time. That's the best! Oh, and I have a huge play yard to run and fetch and just be me! That is also a first and best experience!

Q: Would you like to have a job and if so what would you like to work at?

A: Well, as you may already know, part of my breed heritage  the border collie part  was originally bred for herding livestock, especially sheep. I'm not sure there are many opportunities for that in and around Auburn, but if one were to present itself, I might take a stab at it. Other than that, I just want to run and play, have fun and get really tired out! You know the old saying: "A tired dog is a good dog!"

Q: Are you interested in world travel? Where would you like to visit?

A: If, and that's a big "if," I were to be interested in world travel, I might like to visit the highlands between Scotland and England. That is where the border collie part of me was developed.

Q: If you could meet someone famous, who would that be?

A: I would like to meet the famous dog Chaser! Chaser is a border collie who has a vocabulary of 1,022 words and is able to recognize objects by the groups they belong to. I guess I need to start working on my vocabulary right now!

Q: Do you have an interesting fact to share?

A: I do, and I know you will not find this hard to believe. Did you know that the border collie breed is considered the most intelligent dog breed in the universe? This is true, and if you are the least bit skeptical, please stop by to visit with me. You will become a believer!

Q: Do you have any advice for our good Citizen readers?

A: I do! My shelter people are having this thing called the "Shamrock Special," and it starts tomorrow and goes through March 18! I can tell you are wondering what that might be. It is an adoption special for my shelter cat friends and you get to pick the adoption fee for your cat from a hat. Fees are basically one-half of the regular fee and include all vaccinations (rabies, distemper, feline kennel cough), testing for FIV/FeLV and spay or neuter surgery, among other things! Please stop by to check out our cats, talk with staff about them and consider giving one (or even two) a home. And, of course, stop by to say "hey" to me! Thank you and love, Pepper and friends.
German court has rejected Anas Modamanis request for Facebook to seek out and remove posts linking him to terrorism.

The verdict came as a blow to Syrian refugee Anas Modamani.

This week, a German court rejected the 19-year-olds case against Facebook, in which Modamani sought to have the social media giant delete a series of fake news posts linking him to terrorism, and to take action to prevent future posts.

My voice was not heard, Modamani told Al Jazeera. Im saddened by the outcome.

The case began to unfold in September 2015, a few months after Modamani arrived in Germany as a refugee. He snapped a selfie with Chancellor Angela Merkel at his shelter in Berlin, but soon afterwards, he became the target of racist trolls online.

His photo began appearing in posts on social media falsely linking him to attacks in Brussels and Berlin, and wrongfully claiming that he tried to set a homeless man on fire.

READ MORE: How a selfie with Merkel changed Syrian refugees life

In the high-profile ruling, the German court concluded that Facebook is neither perpetrator nor participant in the indisputable slander, noting that Facebook as a host provider is only responsible for third-party content after being notified of it. The judge ruled that the social network was not obliged to actively seek out and delete defamatory posts.

Shouldnt it be possible to delete the photo everywhere and stop it from being used again? Modamani asked wearily.

I want these posts to stop, he said. I fled the war in Syria to live in peace, but then people started calling me a terrorist. It is hurtful and it makes me angry that people are telling lies about me.

The past three months have been an emotional rollercoaster, Modamani added.

I had never set foot in a court before, and it was difficult to follow the proceedings in German, he said, noting that in addition to a worldwide outpouring of support, he has also received hateful messages, including one social media user who told him: Go back to your own country.









The photo has become a symbol of Merkels open-door refugee policy. In 2015, Modamani, who grew up in the Damascus suburb of Darayya, was one of 890,000 asylum seekers who came to Germany.

After Tuesdays ruling, Modamanis lawyer, Chan-jo Jun, noted: Whether it is actually technically and economically possible for Facebook to develop a miracle machine to track down infringing content  if it does not already exist  can only be determined in [separate] proceedings, according to the court  We therefore see [Tuesdays] decision not only as a defeat, but also as an opportunity.

Jun, who has since ceased to represent Modamani after receiving anonymous death threats during the trial, did not comment on whether there would be an appeal.

Facebook has said that it understands the situation is very difficult for Modamani, noting that it quickly removed any defamatory posts reported by Jun. It has vowed to continue to do so in the future.

In Germany, Facebook works with the non-profit Correctiv as an external fact-checker to identify fake news, and it has implemented tools for users to flag illicit posts.

In addition, the German site Hoaxmap.org monitors and debunks false posts. Weve witnessed an increase of fake posts on social media since summer 2015, Hoaxmap developer Karolin Schwarz told Al Jazeera. This coincided with Angela Merkels decision to take in refugees who had been stranded along the Balkan route. Asylum seekers are the main target. Its easy to blame marginalised people for problems. This has been the case long before the internet was invented.

In January, a Breitbart story falsely claimed that an angry mob of 1,000 men chanted Allahu Akhbar, launched fireworks at police and set fire to a historic church in Germany. Other hoaxes have included claims that refugees were being put on social benefits for life.

The German government is currently considering legislation to fine social networks up to 500,000 ($527,000) for illicit content that is not removed within 24 hours of being flagged up.

INTERACTIVE: Life on hold  The struggle of Syrian refugees

Meanwhile, Modamanis new life in Germany has been overshadowed by fear since fake clickbait linking him to terrorism started spreading.

I dont want to have to worry about where my photo might appear, he said.

Now living with a foster family in Berlin and working at a McDonalds restaurant, Modamani has been taking German language classes and making friends in his host country.

[But] its a different culture, and integrating has been a challenge, he said. Im also constantly worried about my family. I want to study and find a good job to be able to bring them to Germany.

I love Facebook. I found a home through it and I use it to keep in touch with friends, Modamani added. But it also changed my life.
In the age of transactional politics, the survival of journalism is dependent on its ability to adapt and innovate.

The concept of transactional politics has regained popularity after the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States. It basically refers to a political practice where governments reciprocate each others actions in an equal measure, in other words establish a certain type of give-and-take politics.

The term may also refer to a businesslike attitude of governments when it comes to national spending. The idea is that a government will spend less on what it regards as non-essential matters such as arts and culture, foreign aid, etc. Instead it will increase military and defence, health and education budgets.

Moreover, transactional politics may be triggered by various sociopolitical and economic circumstances.

In the case of the US under Trump, it is mainly to address the expectations of his constituency. He promised the Americans that his foreign and domestic policies will embrace an America first attitude when engaging with foreign government and businesses.

He has argued for a long time that the US has spent on projects which are not in the best interest of US citizens.

He has used the example of US membership and contribution to the sustainability of NATO as an example. The US spends 3.6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, the highest percentage among member states.

The end of moral engagement and expenditure





The rise of Trump and the proliferation of right-wing politics in Europe is affecting the long-held idea of moral engagement and expenditure in the least developed and developing countries of the world.

It has also brought into question the inequitable global responsibility on matters that affect humanity, such as climate change. The argument brought forward by Trump is why must a responsibility of what should be a global issue be relegated to the US?

Media is another sector that has been seriously affected, whereas in the past some governments invested in the media to encourage the spread of freedom of expression, democracy and accountability.

More and more governments are investing in the media to pursue a certain political agenda. Trump uses the social media, mainly Twitter, to communicate his policies and his dissatisfaction with the global political status quo. The effectiveness and attraction of his tweets is gradually driving audiences away from the traditional media such as newspapers, radio stations and television channels.

This has presented a new challenge to the traditional media. Trump has even called some traditional media institutions the enemies of the American people.

INTERACTIVE: Media Theorised  Reading against the grain

He has criticised the media coverage of his administration. As a result, he has resorted to social media platforms to communicate. Social media has enabled many people, including politicians, to communicate with masses without filters, gatekeepers and intermediaries.

However, the lack of filtering in social media has not come without challenges. The spread of unverified news on social media has led to the proliferation of fake news and the overall weakening of journalism.

Social media is fast, efficient and, in most instances, free of charge. The speed in which news is transmitted through social media had a huge impact on the relevance of traditional media  it has made the once powerful platforms very vulnerable.

Decline of the traditional media

Under Trump, the influence of the traditional media has decreased tremendously. An increasing number of Americans have turned against some of the most respected traditional media institutions in the US.

The traditional media is losing its ground and this will, in the long run, affect its revenue and viability.

Should this situation persist  and it looks like it will  many traditional media organisations may be compelled to either shut their doors or compromise on editorial independence. Moving forward, media funding is most likely to come with more conditions to fulfil and expectations to satisfy.

Increasingly by 

institutions with the main objective of pursuing government propaganda and alternative truths.]

Moreover, the global economic slowdown has added strain to the functionality of the traditional media. When it comes to the broadcast media, there has been a widespread downsizing within many institutions, while others are forced to seek alternative funding to supplement their budgets  with most resorting to increases in advertising space.

This unfortunately may affect news and programming, and eventually have a negative impact on the independence of media as they are struggling to survive.

Broadcast media in particular is very expensive to sustain, and only big multinational companies with deep pockets can afford to maintain such projects, often through cross subsidisation of expenses.

The era of quasi-independent media

The only institutions within the traditional media environment that have managed to keep heads above the water have been the quasi-independent media institutions.

Increasingly governments are investing large sums of money in these institutions with the main objective of pursuing government propaganda and alternative truths.

The advent of quasi-independent media institutions could be traced back to governments discontentment with the news coverage of the mainstream Western media.

The emergence of institutions such as Russia Today, TRT World and CCTV provide different angles to news, especially when their respective countries are involved, and they have a clear agenda of pursuing certain government positions.

OPINION: Where is diversity in American newsrooms?

Most governments complain about the Western medias stereotypes and the skewed coverage of their countries. Therefore, the quasi-independent media was meant to counter that narrative to present it as an alternative narrative.

Finally, there are certain basic guiding journalistic principles that need to be preserved, among them objectivity and balanced reporting.

The decrease in revenues as social media takes the centre stage, Trumps demonisation of the traditional media and the pressures presented by quasi-independent media continue to test the commitment of journalists to these principles.

The survival of journalism is dependent on its ability to innovate and adapt to the new media platforms.

Failure to innovate may subject journalism to the trappings of transactional politics, which may have a devastating impact on global democracy.

Thembisa Fakude is a researcher at the Al Jazeera Center for Studies.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
While Israel pursues to silence the sound of prayer, the global community suppressed the Palestinian call for justice.

Driving the streets of the West Bank, you see Israeli-issued street signs reading, in Arabic, Urshalaym, the Hebrew word for Jerusalem instead of the Arabic namesake Al-Quds.

Like most Palestinians with West Bank IDs, I am rarely presented with the opportunity to visit Jerusalem owing to Israels discriminatory regulations requiring a permit issued by the District Coordination Office.

On the rare occasions that I have been able to visit Jerusalem, it has appeared foreign and has clashed with the accounts of my grandfather who would often visit it before the creation of the state of Israel.

The solace testifying that I am not a stranger was the Arabic call for prayer rebounding off the walls of the old city. It was, in a way, contesting the Israeli procedures aiming to eradicate any Palestinian linkage to the land.

Another step to colonise further

Earlier this week, the Israeli Knesset approved a preliminary reading of two versions of a bill aimed at muffling mosque calls to prayer in Jerusalem and Israel.

While its critics deem it racist and a contravention of the right of worship, the ramifications are far more intricate. They, however, will align with Israels ironclad efforts to belie the Palestinian register.

Israel has constantly fought the Palestinian narrative of its colonisation. They have divided us into bantustans, forced us into exile and fought our de facto existence as this bill does through muffling a traditional sound associated with the Arabic-speaking Palestinian population.

The call to prayer has been a part of Muslim culture since the rise of Islam and a part of Jerusalem since Arab presence was established in the region.

In Islam, prayer call is to designed to be a reminder, to both Muslims and non-Muslims, of the spiritual element of the religion while concurrently acting as a collective call for mobilising the congregation of Muslims.

While Israel continues to monopolise on the myth of being the only democracy in the Middle East its practices parallel institutions built on supremacy. Sixty-nine years ago, Israels first Prime Minister, Ben Gurion, noted in his diary we must do everything to ensure [the Palestinians] never do return and the strategy to prove this true has been the guardianship of a dual justice system.

The treatment of the indigenous Palestinian population as second and third-class citizens through discriminatory laws is the reification of what Gurion meant when he gestured that the Palestinians must be driven out.

READ MORE: Muting mosque bill gets initial thumbs up in Israel

Already 50 percent of the Palestinian population lives in exile, and as daily life becomes more difficult there is growing disenchantment and feelings of rejection among the younger generations.

Throughout the process of colonising Palestine, Judaizing Jerusalem has played a fundamental role in Israels claim for the territory.

When Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir stated in 1969: There was no such thing as Palestinians  they did not exist she was not stating a fact but an aspiration.

The latest move to mute the call to prayer serves to further bereave the Palestinian Muslim culture from Israel, making them feel like guests in their own homes.

Out of sight out of mind

Hoping to conceal the prejudice behind this move, endorsers of the legislation argue that it serves the Arab population who also complain of the noise.

The actuality is this excuse furnishes the necessary justification for the colonial ideology behind it.

It is reminiscent of the colonisation of the Americas, when in 1892 Richard Pratt notoriously suggested that to deal with the native inhabitants they must Kill the Indian in him and save the man.

There is an ongoing butchery of an identity and a population, and while legislatures are not hovering over a body screaming for us to die, they are in fact finding various instruments to secure our corrosion into the archives of history, and this bill is no different. by

To disallow the Palestinian Muslim community from practising the call to prayer is to obliterate Jerusalem of the cadence which reaffirms the existence of Palestinian and Muslim culture there.

As a result, visitors and Israelis are not reminded, through sound, of the the Palestinian Muslim population, rendering Meirs quote true in their minds.

Its a tactic of out of sight out of mind, except in this case its being connivingly utilised in the auditory sense.

It is important to note that the bill aims not to mute call for prayer in its entirety but specifically targets the dawn call to prayer.

Motti Yogev, one of the bills legislators, explains it as a social-minded law that aims to protect citizens sleep while supporters insist that it is to improve the conditions of life.

INTERACTIVE: The history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

While the Muslim call for prayer presents a nuisance for Israels Jewish majority, there is the siren which echoes through the streets every week for Shabbat.

This fact is the reason Health Minister Yaakov Litzman blocked the original draft of the bill  out of concern that it would also apply to the sirens. He altered his position only after the bill was amended to apply from 11pm to 7am, and therefore targeting mosques in particular.

Despite Motti Yogevs comment that it is done without, God-forbid, harming anyones religious faith the modification of the draft personifies Israels duplicity and divulges its islamophobic orientation.

READ MORE: Israels Muezzin Bill seeks Judaisation of Jerusalem

It is no coincidence that the men who perform the call to prayer  muezzin  are also being ascribed of inciting violence through this function.

This citation has been repeated by Israeli officials ad nauseam when speaking of Palestinians.

The most prevailing manifestation of this ideology is the proclamation that Palestinians teach their children to hate which is employed as a justification for violating Palestinians inalienable rights.

Butchery of an identity

When an Israeli settler hovered over the bleeding body of Ahmad Manasra in Jerusalem shouting Die, you son of a bitch, die, he was merely reiterating a long-standing Israeli notion.

Israel not only wants to ensure the erasure of Palestinians and any resistance to it, but also wants it to happen as quietly as possible. The bill is merely a continuation of the process to erase all the scent, sound, and image of the Palestinian; and what Israel cannot get rid of, it appropriates just as it has done with Palestinian cuisine and traditional attire.

There is an ongoing butchery of an identity and a population, and while legislatures are not hovering over a body screaming for us to die, they are in fact finding various instruments to secure our corrosion into the archives of history, and this bill is no different.

Such discriminatory practices that Israel enforces are a form of soft power intended to ethnically cleanse Palestinians through exploiting the contours of the only democracy in the Middle Easts judicial system.

It is necessary to note that none of these practices would be possible without the tolerance of the international community towards the human rights violations Israel commits with impunity.

Israel pursues to silence the sound of prayer, but the global community  through a silence of its own  suppressed the Palestinian call for justice long ago.

Mariam Barghouti is a Palestinian-American writer based in Ramallah. Her political commentary has been featured in the International Business Times, The New York Times, and TRT-World, among others.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Turkey rejects UN report alleging human rights violations by Turkish security forces in the southeast as biased.

A UN report has accused Turkish security forces of human rights violations during operations against Kurdish fighters in the countrys southeast, drawing an angry response by Turkey which rejected it as biased.

The report by the UN human rights office on Friday detailed accusations of massive infrastructure destruction, unlawful killings and other serious abuses committed between July 2015 and December 2016 following the collapse of a ceasefire.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Turkish state were engaged in a war for almost 30 years until a 2013 truce was declared and the two sides launched peace talks.

The ceasefire largely held until the summer of 2015, and since then the two sides have been engaged in escalating clashes. Turkey, the United States and the European Union all consider the PKK a terrorist group.

READ MORE: Armed group TAK claims deadly attack in Istanbul

The UN said that its study, which was carried through remote monitoring, was based on interviews, analysis of information provided by Turkeys government and NGOs, as well as official records, open source documents, satellite images and other materials.

Citing data from various sources, the report said that around 2,000 people were killed in the region between July 2015 and December 2016 amid security operations.

Reports generally put the number of local residents killed at approximately 1,200, of whom an unspecified number may have been involved in violent or non-violent actions against the state, it said, adding that about 800 members of security forces were reportedly killed in clashes.

More than 355,000 people were displaced and entire neighbourhoods were destroyed in various parts of southeastern Turkey, the report said.

Ankara hits back

Later on Friday, the Turkish foreign ministry condemned the report, calling it biased, based on false information and far from professional.

In a written statement, the ministry said that Turkey continued to share information with its partners about anti-terrorism activities in the country.





Taha Ozhan, a Turkish member of parliament with the ruling AK Party, said the PKKs decision to move the warfare from rural to urban areas was responsible for the developments that led to the events covered by the UN report.

The PKK shifted the fight to cities through so-called strategy of trenches, Ozhan, who also heads the parliaments foreign affairs commission, told Al Jazeera.

This was a rough, anachronic strategy, where the terrorist group dug trenches in city centres and put civilians and armed men behind them with the aim of taking the control of cities in southeastern Turkey, he added.

There is a large human cost of what happened in southeastern Turkey, but it is caused by the groups own actions.

Ozhan said that recent reports pointing the finger to Turkish security forces over the clashes in southeastern Turkey were generally lacking context, one-sided and subjective.

Curfews

In its report, the UN said that human rights violations, including killings, disappearances and torture, were documented mostly during unannounced, open-ended, 24-hour curfews put into force by the Turkish authorities.

The human rights office is particularly alarmed about the results of satellite imagery analysis, which indicate an enormous scale of destruction of the housing stock by heavy weaponry, the report said.

The study cited the Turkish government, reporting that the PKK had conducted a number of violent attacks that caused deaths and injuries among Turkish security forces and other individuals as well as kidnappings.

Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the UN human rights chief, said that Ankara denied access to investigators and contested the veracity of the allegations.

The gravity of the allegations, the scale of the destruction and the displacement of more than 355,000 people mean that an independent investigation is both urgent and essential, he said in a written statement.

In response, Turkeys foreign ministry said that Zeid has been invited to Turkey various times since March 2016 to see the situation in southeastern Turkey.

Q&A: Turkeys fight against terrorism legitimate

Turkey has been struggling with various security issues in recent years, including the clashes in southeastern Turkey, deadly bomb attacks hitting cities, a coup attempt and an influx of refugees from Syria.

The country has been hit by a series of bombings in 2015 and 2016, hitting targets that include major cities such as Istanbul. Dozens of attacks claimed by Kurdish groups and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) took hundreds of lives of civilians and security forces.

The conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter: @Um_Uras
White House says US president welcomes his Palestinian counterpart to visit in the near future.

US President Donald Trump has invited Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for a visit to the White House, in the first phone call between the two leaders since Trumps inauguration on January 20.

Trump invited Abbas to visit the White House soon to discuss ways to resume the [Palestinian-Israeli] political process, Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, quoted Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina as saying on Friday.

The White House said in a statement that Trump invited Abbas to a meeting at the White House in the near future.

Abbas told Trump that peace was a strategic choice for the Palestinian people which should lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, Wafa reported.





The White House said Trump told Abbas that he believes a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians must be negotiated directly by the both sides.

The president emphasised his personal belief that peace is possible and that the time has come to make a deal, according to a White House statement.

Al Jazeeras Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, said this signals that Trump is going to take a different approach than previous administrations.

Like most things, he puts things in the language of a businessman. Hes said in the past that it would be the ultimate deal, our correspondent said.

We believe he is going to let his son-in-law Jared Kushner take the lead. Its not clear how much the Palestinians will trust him. His family foundation has given money to illegal settlements in the West Bank. That is something the likely new US ambassador to Israel has also done.

Trumps pick for ambassador, David Friedman, was approved on Thursday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His nomination heads next to the full Senate for a vote.

He has been criticised for inflammatory language used in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including calling the two-state solution a scam.

In his confirmation hearing, he said that Israeli settlements, which he previously strongly supported, may not be helpful to the peace process.

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law and have been major stumbling blocks in negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.

Two-state solution

In February, Trump met Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

During that meeting, Trump broke with decades of US policy by saying he was not bound to the two-state solution for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Im looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like  I can live with either one, Trump had said, causing consternation across the Arab world and in many European capitals.

The White House has since been more cautious on the issue of the two-state solution, and there has been less talk of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a promise Trump made during his election campaign.

Palestinians criticised such promises as they hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of their future state, and have had the broad support of the international community for that aspiration.

During his meeting with Netanyahu, the US leader had said he would love to see the American embassy move.

Friedman has also said he wants to see the embassy move and expects to work from Jerusalem at least some of the time.

In January, Abbas wrote to Trump telling him not move the US embassy, warning that such a development would have a disastrous impact on the peace process, on the two-state solution and on the stability and security of the entire region.

Israeli settlements

While Abbas was one of the first world leaders former President Barack Obama called, Trump has been cautious with contacts with the Arab world.





He has spoken to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and met Jordans King Abdullah, who flew to Washington for an impromptu visit.

One of the most heated issues of Middle East peace is Israels building of settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, territory Palestinians want for their own state along with Gaza.

During the US election campaign, Trump said he did not necessarily see settlements as an obstacle to peace.

Since his inauguration, Israel has announced plans to build at least 6,000 more settler homes, a substantial increase and an indication that Israel took Trumps softer language as a green light.

But during Netanyahus visit, Trump said he wanted the Israeli prime minister to hold back on settlements for a little bit.
Mohamed Ali Alhakims statement over use of toxic agents in Mosul comes week after after several were hospitalised.

Mohamed Ali Alhakim, Iraqs ambassador to the United Nations, has said there is no evidence that ISIL fighters have used chemical weapons in Mosul, where they are battling an offensive by US-backed Iraqi forces.

His comments on Friday came nearly a week after medical workers said that several people, including women and children, had been treated for possible exposure to chemical weapons agents in Mosul since the start of the month.

Alhakim said he spoke with officials in Baghdad and there was really no evidence that Daesh has used this chemical weapon.

Daesh is another name for ISIL, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and is also known as ISIS.

Alhakim said Iraq had been in contact with the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which could dispatch a team of experts in the event of a suspected toxic gas attack.

READ MORE: UN says alleged Mosul chemical attack amounts to war crime

The US Department of Defense has said that ISIL fighters developed rudimentary chemical weapons, such as sulphur mustard at the University of Mosul.

Iraqi forces who retook the campus earlier this year said that parts were repurposed as weapons production facilities.

There are chemical weapons there, Brigadier-General Sami al-Aradi told Al Jazeera in January. Weve cordoned off the laboratories until we can find out exactly what ISIS were doing.

No formal investigation

The World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, said in a statement on March 3 that 12 people had been treated for possible exposure to chemical weapons agents in Mosul since the start of the month.

That number has now increased to 18.

Of these, four patients are showing severe signs associated with exposure to a blister agent. WHO and partners are working with health authorities in Erbil to provide support in managing these patients, the statement said, adding that the use of chemical weapons would amount to a war crime.

Al Jazeeras Stefanie Dekker visited the hospital in Erbil where the patients were being treated.

On March 4, she said the hospital manager was certain that some form of chemical gas has been used.





The manager of the hospital told us when these patients came in, the emanated a very strong odour, which is one of the side effects of being affected by these chemical gases, Dekker said.

So far, no formal investigation into the use of chemical weapons has been launched.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on March 3 that five children and two women were receiving treatment for exposure to chemical agents.

The ICRC statement did not say which side used the chemical agents that caused blisters, redness in the eyes, irritation, vomiting and coughing.

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 February 19.

The eastern side of the city remains within reach of ISIL fighters rockets and mortar shells.
Buhari, who deepened worries on his health by extending his leave, will not return to duties right away, says adviser.

Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari said on Friday he will continue to rest and undergo further medical tests in Britain within weeks, after returning home from two months of medical leave.

Buhari walked unaided from his plane after it landed at an air force base in the northern city of Kaduna. The former military ruler then boarded a waiting helicopter, state television showed.

The presidents spokesman Femi Adesina later clarified that Buhari would not resume his duties at least over the weekend but would formalise his return to power next week.

Adesina said in a tweet that he will send a letter to the National Assembly on Monday, adding: That makes his return to work formal, and constitutional.

PMB will Monday transmit letter to N' Assembly on his return to the country. That makes his return to work formal, and constitutional.  Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) March 10, 2017

The 74-year-old, who took power in May 2015, left Abuja on January 19 for treatment in Britain.

He had originally planned to stay 10 days but stayed longer to rest after consulting his doctors, deepening suspicions that his health was far worse than officials are publicly admitting.

I deliberately came back towards the weekend, so that the Vice President (Yemi Osinbajo) will continue and I will continue to rest, he said in Abuja.

All I will need is to do further follow ups within some weeks.

OPINION: Muhammadu Buharis inconclusive medical vacation

Al Jazeeras Ama Boateng, reporting from Kaduna, said Buharis return was announced last-minute after he remained out of sight for weeks.

He has finally returned to the African soil, she said, adding that even though Nigerians are usually very sympathetic towards sick leave, there were concerns about how the country can run efficiently when the commander-in-chief is absent.

Adviser Adesina said on Thursday that Buharis holiday had been extended on doctors recommendations for further testing and rest. It gave no details about the health of the president.

President Buhari expresses appreciation to teeming Nigerians from across the country, and beyond, who had prayed fervently for him, and also sent their good wishes, the statement said, giving no medical details.

Earlier on Thursday, the presidency had published pictures of a smiling Buhari meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in Abuja House, part of the Nigerian High Commission in London.

No official pictures of Buharis meetings in London had been posted since February 15.

The government had sought to allay concerns of a void at the helm of Africas biggest economy and most populous country by stressing that Buhari, who was elected to power on a campaign that vowed to root out corruption, had given Vice President Yemi Osinbajo full powers as acting president during his leave.

Osinbajo, a lawyer, held in Buharis absence cabinet meetings and finished work on an economic reform plan needed to secure a World Bank loan to help to plug a deficit caused by low oil revenues.

On Thursday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that Nigerias next presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in February 2019.

INEC said the early release of the election timetable was to allow for proper planning by the commission, political parties, security agencies, candidates and all stakeholders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said a truce in Syria is on the whole being observed, as he welcomed his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow, adding that he is cautiously optimistic about the prospects of a deal to end the six-year Syrian conflict.

Russia and Turkey, which back opposing sides in Syrias war, co-brokered a ceasefire in December that helped reduce the scale of fighting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition.

They also supported two rounds of talks this year between the government and the rebels, while a third set is scheduled for next week.

READ MORE: Turkey-Russia-US meeting addresses risk of conflict

Due to the active action of Turkey and Russia, we managed to bring the rival forces together and, due to our joint effort, the Syrian ceasefire continues, Putin told reporters on Friday, hailing Ankaras exceptional cooperation in keeping the truce.

For his part, Erdogan said that there are no doubts about the very successful Syria talks sponsored by the two countries, adding that Turkey was cooperating with Russias military.

AL JAZEERAS RORY CHALLANDS, IN MOSCOW: On the close collaboration between Russia and Turkey: The changing dynamics of the Syrian conflict have played a large role in the rapprochement between Russia and Turkey, but we should probably also look closer to home. I dont think its a coincidence that it was in the days immediately following the attempted coup in Turkey that Erdogan had just survived that Ankara decided to recalibrate its foreign policy and warm relations both with Russia and Israel. Of course, there were economic factors that played a role too, because the sanctions that Russia had put in place following the shooting down of the Russian jet were hurting Ankara quite badly, so Turkey needed to recalibrate and adopt a more conciliatory position towards some of its regional rivals. On remaining differences: Erdogan wants the economic sanctions to be lifted fully, but they are not yet. There are a still few that remain in place, and they are taking a little while to be rolled back by Moscow. Also, when it comes to Syria, Turkey and Russia have deep differences: they differ over the fate of Assad who is still in power, and they differ over who exactly constitutes a terrorist group. For the Turks, the Kurdish fighters operating along the Turkish border in Syria are just as abhorrent for Ankara as ISIL is, but for Russia, the Kurds are a perfectly acceptable partner to be dealt with.

All parties need to work out towards a good resolution, he said at the joint press conference in the Russian capital.

Erdogan also praised the two countries friendship, saying it is strong enough to overcome their differences, even as he urged Russia to lift all sanctions it imposed on Ankara following the downing of a Russian plane in 2015.

The increasingly close cooperation on Syria between Russia and Turkey marks a sharp turnaround for the two nations, which have also coordinated their operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group in Syria.

Russia has an active military presence in Syria in support of Assads forces, while Turkey, which backs anti-Assad groups, launched a military operation in August to create a safe zone along its border inside Syria.

A Russian air raid last month accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers, but the incident did not derail military coordination between the two countries.

Russias ambassador to Turkey was also killed during an event in Ankara in December.

Earlier this week, the chief military officers from Russia, the US and Turkey met in the Turkish city of Antalya, in an apparent attempt to work out additional steps to prevent incidents.

Rebuilding ties

Relations between Moscow and Ankara had soured after Turkey downed the Russian jet, putting the two countries on the verge of a direct military conflict.

Moscow responded by barring the sales of package tours to Turkey and halting imports of agricultural products, moves that squeezed the Turkish economy.





Erdogans apologies for downing the plane helped rebuild ties, and Putin offered firm support to the Turkish leader in the wake of a failed coup attempt last July.

Despite the rapprochement, Russia has moved gradually to lift economic restrictions, keeping some in place as an apparent motivator for Turkey.

On the eve of the Kremlin talks, the Russian cabinet allowed the imports of Turkish cauliflower, broccoli and other produce.

Erdogan, who called the Russian leader his dear friend, urged Russia to lift all restrictions on Turkish business, restore visa-free travel and increase the number of commercial flights between the two countries.

The talks in Moscow also focused on how to help assuage mutual mistrust between Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces, US-backed Kurdish forces, and Russian-allied Syrian government forces  all fighting their way towards ISILs de-facto capital, Raqqa.

Putin scheduled a meeting of his security council, including top military and intelligence officials, later on Friday to follow the talks with Erdogan.
US secretary of state says he will not work on issues related to the controversial pipeline due to ExxonMobil ties.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recused himself from issues related to a controversial pipeline project, a state department letter said.

The former chief of oil giant ExxonMobil removed himself from discussions concerning the TransCanada Corporations application for a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.





He has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanadas application, a letter from Katherine McManus, the state departments deputy legal adviser, read on Thursday.

McManus wrote Tillerson had recused himself from the matter in early February.

The letter came after Greenpeace wrote to officials on Wednesday, urging Tillerson to recuse himself on decisions regarding the multibillion-dollar pipeline project because ExxonMobil could benefit from its construction.

Secretary Tillersons recent employer, ExxonMobil, is heavily invested in producing crude oil from Canadas tar sands and would directly and predictably benefit from the approval of TransCanadas Presidential Permit, Greenpeace wrote.

BREAKING: State Department announces Tillerson recused himself from #KXL. This is YOUR victory! https://t.co/xQ9s6EOzWC pic.twitter.com/Yc8PyAMPsg  Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) March 10, 2017

TransCanada had tried for more than five years to build the 1,897km pipeline until former President Barack Obama rejected it in November 2015 amid pressure from environmentalists.

TransCanada resubmitted its application after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January that helped smoothed the path for its construction.

The project is designed to link existing pipeline networks in Canada and the US to bring crude oil from Alberta and North Dakota to refineries in Illinois en route to the Gulf of Mexico.

Exxon has a majority stake in Imperial Oil, a company that operates an oil sands project in northern Alberta.

During Tillersons confirmation hearings in January, some senators faulted him for failing to promise to recuse himself from matters related to ExxonMobil businesses for his entire term as secretary of state rather than only the one year required by law.
Thousands march to White House in protest against Dakota Access pipeline, stopping at Trump hotel to erect tepee.

Washington, DC  Thousands of Native Americans have rallied in the US capital to protest against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline and raise awareness of indigenous rights.

With snow falling on Friday morning, demonstrators marched to the White House, stopping on the way at the Trump International Hotel to erect a tepee.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has been involved in a long-standing dispute with authorities over the pipeline in North Dakota, led the Native Nations Rise march along with advocacy groups.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe is leading #NODAPL protests in D.C. They say the pipeline violates their treaty rights. #NativeNationsRise pic.twitter.com/bSGtkQb4aP  AJ+ (@ajplus) March 10, 2017

The tribe has argued in court that the pipeline crosses sacred land, was approved by the government without adequate consultation, and would contaminate its water supply.

Water is life, chanted Jobeth Brownotter, a Standing Rock member who had travelled for 32 hours by bus from South Dakota.

We came here to stand up for our people, for water, for our rights, for future generations, she told Al Jazeera.

Betsy Richards of the Cherokee Nation, living in New Jersey, marched under a huge pipeline-shaped puppet with the text No consent, no pipeline.

When things are happening on native lands, we need to not just be informed of what the government is doing to us, but to have consent as native nations, she said.

Others carried banners reading Native Lives Matter, referring to the disproportionate rate at which Native Americans are killed by police.

The march comes days after a federal judge ruled against a request by the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes to stop construction of the last section of the Dakota pipeline, which would cross under Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation reservoir.

The pipeline is due to be complete and ready for oil by April 1.

Legal battle

Last November, the US Army Corps of Engineers halted the construction of the $3.8bn pipeline.

But in January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the agency to review and approve the project in an expedited manner. He also cleared the way for the controversial Keystone XL project.

READ MORE: Dakota pipeline  Its our right to live unharmed

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has fought the pipeline project for years.

Until recently, they maintained a protest camp near the construction zone for nearly a year that drew Native Americans from hundreds of tribes, bringing attention to the indigenous rights movement.

The march was the culmination of four days of workshops and cultural activities organised in the capital to raise awareness of Native American issues.

Taking a jab at Trump, Kristina Elote from the Jicarilla Apache Nation in New Mexico wore an oversized Make America Great Again hat, with a Native American twist.

I saw the hat everywhere and I hated it. I wanted to do something about it so I put an arrow through it, she said.

We need to keep our sovereignty, to keep our land safe. Were tired of companies taking advantage of our resources.
Suspect admits to taking thousands of pornographic pictures of boys but denies other charges, including molestation.

A Swiss man will go on trial on allegations he sexually abused more than 80 boys  some as young as nine years old  in Thailand, authorities in Switzerland said on Friday.

The unnamed man has admitted to taking thousands of pornographic pictures of the boys, but denied allegations that he molested some of them and pushed some into prostitution, according to prosecutors in the western Swiss canton of Fribourg.

The abuse is alleged to have taken place since 2001.

The man had previously been convicted of sexually abusing children in Switzerland: in Fribourg in 1980 and in the southern canton of Valais in 1991.

He had moved to Thailand that same year and only returned to Switzerland in 2014.

Victims as young as nine

The man will go before the Gruyere criminal court later in March on charges of human trafficking, encouraging prostitution, sexual acts with children and child pornography, prosecutors said.

Most of the victims were young adolescents, but some were as young as nine years old, they said, adding that a number of the boys had been abused over the course of several years.

The suspected abuse happened in Pattaya in southern Thailand, where the man ran a bar frequented by European nationals, and in Nong Hoi in the north, where he lived, according to prosecutors.

Discovering that he was under investigation in Thailand over paedophilia-linked charges, authorities in Fribourg opened their own probe in early 2015 and quickly detained the man, who had been planning to head back to Asia.

Investigators travelled to France and Thailand during the course of the investigation, and also stumbled on elements casting suspicion on a German citizen that they passed on to prosecutors in Cologne, Germany, the statement said.

In January, a 70-year-old British paedophile, Mark Frost, was jailed for life after admitting to 45 sex offences against children in the UK and Asia, including at least nine children in Thailand from 2008 to 2012.

ECPAT, the anti-child exploitation, pornography and trafficking organisation, said in a 2015 report: While Thailands laws are generally strong when it comes to protection for children against sexual exploitation, there are still gaps that remain in regard to legislation that affects the prosecution of travelling child sex offenders.
European Union leaders re-elect Donald Tusk as president despite opposition from his native Poland.

European Union leaders confirmed Donald Tusk for a second term as their president, angering his home country of Poland and opening up a new rift at a time when EU unity is essential.

The 27 other EU leaders overrode weeks of objections from the nationalist government in Warsaw, which has a long and bitter rivalry with former Prime Minister Tusk and opposed giving him another term at the EU.

Tusks supporters portrayed his re-election on Thursday as head of the EU Council, one of the blocs most prestigious jobs, as a sign of stability and continuity for the troubled bloc.





Tusks future was dealt with in less than an hour as fellow leaders rejected the argument of Poland, an increasingly awkward partner, that a decision should be delayed.

That spared the EU a long debate about its leadership at a time when it is dealing with Britains planned departure and a host of other challenges. Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said such a dispute would plunge Europe into a senseless crisis.

The dispute was expected, said Al Jazeeras Nadim Baba, reporting from Brussels.

There is a lot of bad blood between the current administration in Warsaw and the president of the European Council. Donald Tusk himself acknowledge what he called a paradox that his own country opposed him, but he is promising to make the European Union a better and stronger institution.

Poland said it would refuse to approve some summit texts, and raised questions about how lasting a rift the move would create.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said it was very bad that Tusk was pushed through over the objections of his home country, adding that today it applies to Poland, but in the future this may apply to other nations.

With a show of 27 hands that isolated Poland, Tusk still felt there was enough unity around him to go on for a second term of two and a half years.

The council president is responsible for chairing summits, coordinating the work of member countries and making sure the 28 nations speak as much as possible with one voice on the international stage.

It may sound like a paradox because of the context, but anyway, your decision is an expression of our unity today, Tusk told leaders after his re-election. I will work with all of you without any exceptions because I am truly devoted to a united Europe.

WATCH: Can the EU survive the populist wave?

Szydlo, however, said Tusk could not be impartial when it came to dealing with the government in Warsaw.

The leader of Polands governing Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, accused Tusk of disloyalty to his homeland, saying he didnt have the right to function under (Polands) white and red flag.

In an apparent reference to the Polish government, Tusk said: Be careful of the bridges you burn because once they are gone you can never cross them again.

He also vowed to keep his nation out of political isolation despite its obstructionist course.





German Chancellor Angela Merkel said other EU countries had spoken extensively with Poland beforehand.

She said it is important to seek consensus, but the search for consensus must of course not be used for a blockade.

Merkel stressed other EU countries interest in good relations with Poland. We will see how things develop. I hope that we can return to sensible cooperation, she said.

Polands government argues that Tusk supports the domestic opposition in Poland and has failed to protect the countrys interests in the EU.

There is also long-standing personal animosity between Tusk and Kaczynski, Polands most influential politician.

Kaczynski accuses Tusk of contributing, through lax security, to the death of his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, in a plane crash in 2010.

On Thursday, Warsaw failed to win support even from frequent ally Hungary, which has also clashed in recent years with Brussels over Hungarys refusal to take in migrants and over concerns about the rule of law.

Other EU countries werent impressed with its proposal that Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, a little-known European Parliament lawmaker, replace Tusk in a job traditionally held by a former national leader.

I dont see how one country could oppose this solution when all the others are in favor, French President Francois Hollande said.
The condition of American universities is well known to any astute observer: they are centers of left-wing, anti-American, indoctrination. Once-upon-a-time, universities enabled many students to broaden their perspectives on themselves and the world. Today, they all-too-often allow students to revel in their tribal identities, and try to ensure that the snowflakes have access to safe spaces, coloring books, and puppies, so they can ignore unpleasant information.

Universities give political correctness an entirely new, and dangerous, meaning. Many administrators, faculty, and students can abide no criticism. They say that they value diversity above all, but they are so intolerant of differing viewpoints that they are hot-houses of authoritarianism. Some universities have been havens for violent left-wing extremists such as Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Kathy Boudin, and Angela Davis. Almost every year an academic says or writes something that leaves one feeling he or she is from another planet.

A key question is: how did American colleges and universities get this way? Decades ago, they were the envy of the world.

As someone who labored in Academes vineyards for over fifty years, I hanker for an answer to what happened. Pardon any hubris, but my sojourn from under-graduate to graduate student to professor at a major research university (R1) may provide some of the insight needed for an answer. Some reasons for Academes contemporary plight have begun to emerge.

A sidebar sets the context for what will follow. One disciplines recent history provides useful insights into the experience of higher education generally over the last half-century or more. That discipline, of which Ive been a member since the mid-1960s, is Political Science.

Just before 2000, a new movement emerged in Political Science that objected to the disciplines dominant theoretical, and especially methodological, frameworks. The specifics are unimportant, since the same pattern has happened in most disciplines. This movement also sought significant organizational changes, especially in the disciplines flagship publications. Although there was initial resistance, one wag correctly predicted that the new revolution  as it called itself  would prosper because, as he put it, the disciplines leading figures were squishy liberals, who would be unable to withstand challenges from the downtrodden.

Within a decade, the new movement had succeeded, almost precisely for the reason(s) the wag mentioned.

Many of the dynamics responsible for change in Political Science also were at work in higher education generally over the last half-century or so. The revolution did not entirely supplant Political Sciences pre-existing paradigm, and that may provide another lesson we must heed if we are to ease Academes current travails.

First, a few facts, most of which are already known. Over the years, researchers have demonstrated that academicians decisively lean to the left. Moreover, probably because of the entry of more women  who are overwhelmingly feminists  and minorities into Academe, the academy has shifted leftward since the 1970s and 1980s. Some disciplines, especially in the humanities and the social sciences, are more inhabited by leftists than others, but even the STEM disciplines have shifted leftward recently.

Many administrators are also on the Left, as the recent statements by Middlebury Colleges president just before a claque of screaming thugs refused to let Charles Murray speak, illustrate.

Remember that Janet Napolitano is president of Californias major institution of higher education. Fortunately, not every college and university administrator is a far leftist. We dont see or hear of them in the media, and theres the pity.

Delve more deeply into the data on higher education, and the figures become slightly more nuanced. Leftists, for example, are more concentrated in small liberal arts colleges, not so much in major research institutions. Still, there are enough left-leaning faculty in the R1s to be worrisome. Those who toil in two-year community colleges are least likely to be leftists, but even there one finds enough far leftists to go around. Faculty who identify themselves as radical or far left are out-numbered by those who identify as liberal or middle-of-the-road, but there are very few who say they are conservative or far right. Moreover, the most noticeable recent trends are toward the left. Finally, if anyone thinks that as the generation of the late 1960s who infiltrated colleges and universities thereafter retires, things in Academe will improve, the latest figures on younger facultys political leanings dont offer much hope.

We should be suspicious of self-identifications  given the tendency for poll and survey respondents to fudge what they tell strangers  but, based on personal observations over 50 years, Im reasonably satisfied the data above are close to the mark.

Again, based on personal observation, I doubt many faculty or administrators would approve of the storm-trooper-type tactics displayed on university campuses, but those outbursts keep happening. Why?

There are many explanations for Academes left-leaning proclivities, such as the one that claims academics are sensitive types who naturally favor progressive change, or its self-selection on the part of those young folks already inclined to the left, and therefore attracted to careers in the groves of Academe. Young conservatives, on the other hand, are allegedly either put off by Academes already existing leftism or drawn by the quest for riches into the world of business and industry.

If academics are prone toward sensitivity and everything that allegedly entails, why were faculty likely to lean rightward prior to the Progressive Era or the New Deal? One should not generalize from personal experience, but as I think back to my youth  aw, let me dream!  I dont recall knowing what my political orientation was, let alone what I wanted to do when I grew up. Ask the average teenager today, and see if he/she knows these things.

There is a simpler, but ultimately more apt, explanation for the kind of fanaticism displayed by a minority of college and university students, faculty, and administrators these days. It builds on Edmund Burkes adage that [t]he only thing that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men [and women] do nothing.

Just as squishy liberals stood by while Political Sciences squeaky wheel got greased, squishy moderates and liberals in Academe have all-too-often allowed evil to triumph.

This explanation needs elaboration. There is a well-known tendency for centrists, and even moderate-leftists, to be relatively docile while extremists  on both ends  are inclined toward vocal expression of their complaints. Since there are so few far rightists in Academe, anything they might do tends to stay in the closet. Since those on the far left in Academe dont have far to look for birds of a feather, they feel safe in acting out their discontents.

Voila! Along come the media to publicize these outrages, and very soon, more-or-less in copy-cat fashion, were off-and-running. One Gestapo- or KGB-type outburst on and/or around a campus is followed by another, and so on.

Until the moderates and moderate-liberals get some sand in their craw, dont expect things to change.

Richard Winchester is the pen name of a political scientist.
In The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle demonstrated how human consciousness becomes imprisoned by the controlling mind, and how that mind, so much focused on the task of controlling and centralizing one's attention on the past and future, may feel threatened by any attempt to escape from mental control. The imprisoned mind will seek to reassert its enslavement at the first hint of change.

Just such a separation of consciousness from Being, or, if you will, of mankind from God, is exactly what is at play in our current national drama. A powerful mental construct  the liberal myth of a progressive utopia brought about by surrender of the individual to state control  is at risk of being swept away by a great movement to free consciousness from the controlling ideas of the liberal past. As Shelby Steele wrote in a remarkable March 6 op-ed ("The Exhaustion of American Liberalism"), we stand "at the end of something," that something being the radical mindset that has dominated so much of American intellectual life since the 1960s.

"The jig is up." Liberalism no longer possesses the moral authority to control our national politics.

Liberals are terrified of Trump because they know that their great myth, once the light of consciousness has been shined on it, will dissolve as quickly as a grain of salt in water. As Steele puts it, the "president rolls his eyes when he is called a racist, and we all  liberal and conservative alike  know that he isn't one." Elizabeth Warren's Jeff Sessions rant was just that: a hysterical rant, and everyone knows it. "White guilt," and all that goes with it, is now just tiresome noise. There is no reality to liberals' mental myth of the enlightened state. Once it comes under awareness, it dissolves.

In Tolle's thinking, the concentration of consciousness on the "now" to the exclusion of past and present awakens presence, a powerful field of energy that can be directed toward learning, acting, healing, or any other endeavor. Presence is transformative in a way that the mere chatter of mind can never be because presence transcends the self-limiting contradictions, inhibitions, and mental rubbish of regret, fear, and false hope.

Donald Trump has brought to American politics a liberating presence that we have not seen since the days of Ronald Reagan. And Trump's powerful presence  not just his "presence" (as in "attendance"), but his presence (his "aura" and sense of authority)  has liberated half of America from the mental cage of progressive thought and struck fear into the rest.

The great panic on the left and the resultant attacks on Trump are the left's response to this fear. The left is desperate to prevent the light of consciousness from being directed at the intricate mental structure leftists have erected. Once a single pillar has been removed, the entire structure will begin to crumble, and it will become apparent that the progressive fantasy is merely a construction of ideas with no basis in reality.

The left has created a mental cage in which much of the world has been imprisoned for the past half-century and more. Now, with nationalist movements in Europe and Trump in America, that world is changing. No wonder the entire progressive establishment, from the liberal media to holdovers from the Obama bureaucracy, is trying to bring Trump down, even, if need be, at the cost of national security and economic prosperity.

From their perspective, it is the end of the world. If they believed in Satan, they would be labeling Trump "Satan." As it is, he is merely "Hitler."

(Interesting, but predictable, how very materialistic all of the left's categories of thought have become and how totally uninterested it is in the higher plane of liberty, goodness, and selflessness. In effect, our two political parties have been replaced by two great movements: the left's ever greater reduction of life to physical categories and interest groups and conservatism's aspiration to restore wholeness and freedom, the condition that Tolle calls "consciousness" and that others would label "sanctity" or "human dignity.")

The fear and panic on the left are palpable. Network programs that once, long ago, were respected news outlets are now little more than vicious rants declaimed in raised voices. News anchors have become mindless megaphones of victimhood and defeatism, totally absorbed by the idea of stopping Trump because Trump threatens the end of their world.

Why is it that Trump poses such an existential threat to progressivism? How does that threat operate? Why is Trump so much more dangerous than Christie, Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich would have been? It is because unlike those who merely oppose the left, Trump dissolves the opposition by holding it up to ridicule. With his laser-like tweets and incisive wit, with his very presence, Trump brings the preposterousness of the left's positions into the light.

Everyone knows that the left has failed in its governance of cities like Chicago over the past half-century. It took Trump to make people realize it. Suddenly, the left's credibility is toast  not because Trump has argued against it, but simply because he has directed the public's attention to it. So also with jobs, national security, health care, and the rest.

Join the president and shine your light of consciousness on the left's mental prison, and watch it dissolve under your gaze. America stands at a great spiritual crossroads, where we must choose either to remain imprisoned by the left's dehumanizing materialism  a politics focused on the "right" to abortion, racial reparations, unlimited benefits, and transgender bathrooms  or to rise and realize our great potential as free and enlightened human beings inhabited by divinity.

It is the end of their world, if not the world per se  the end of all that has been constructed by the left from Wilson to FDR to LBJ and Obama, to exert control over consciousness. Free your consciousness, and shine its light on what remains of the left's moral authority. Watch their grand illusions dissolve. Sit back and enjoy the end of the world.

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).
Ever since signs emerged that Trump administration is considering a long-overdue classification of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, the ruling mullahs have gone to work. They put into place a well-known strategy of intimidation and deception aboard, coupled with an absolute iron fist at home. They do this because they know the value of controlling a terrorist organization. The problem is in the harm it means for everyone else.

In the past, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, would brandish the former by reminding Western governments that if they chose to cross Tehran then they must be prepared to pay dearly. But that was decades ago. One fact is undisputable now: The Iranian regime has long passed its prime revolutionary and glory days when Khomeini rode in on the tides of millions who were sadly unaware of what was to come. In those days, people tasted a short-lived period of high expectations, at the time wildly called spring of freedom.

At the same time, hostage-taking by IRGCs proteges, such as nascent Lebanese Hezbollah, of foreign nationals, preferably Americans, was routine. The ayatollahs were behind it even though it often took place in Lebanon. After each kidnapping, IRGC's proteges then engaged hostages governments in a lengthy and humiliating process of hostage negotiations and sometimes hostage swaps in the 1980s.

Today the IRGC has made it much more convenient to reach the same ends by taking the hostages among dual citizens who take the risk of traveling to Iran. Case in point was hostages released just after Iranian regime struck the nuclear deal with the U.S. and five other world powers. IRGCs deputy chief, Brigadier General Hossein Nejat, in a speech in Bushehr (south of Iran), said: The Iranian-American journalist of the Washington Post, Jason Rezaian, who had formed an espionage network was identified and arrested by the IRGC.

Hossein Nejat stated: The former Secretary of State, John Kerry with his intelligence forces urged the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif to release Jason Rezaian. Consequently, the U.S. government in return paid 1 billion and 400 million dollars ransom to Iran for the release of Jason Rezaian.

Other IRGC officials, on different occasions after the hostages were released, have bragged that the Obama administration released Iranian prisoners in the United States and on top of that paid a hefty sum as ransom money.

In past few weeks, despite attempts by regime officials, such as Zarif, to keep a low profile while anxiously monitoring Donald Trumps every move, IRGC is actively scheming. It raised the prize on Salman Rushdies head, showcased and glorified old terrorists such as Anis-Alnaghash on state-run television and openly threatened the U.S.

CNC News revealed on Feb. 28 that an IRGC strategist, Hassan Abbasi renewed threats that the force has planned to unleash terror cells on U.S. soil. He has elaborated plans to sabotage nuclear plants in the United States among other things. Ironically, at the same time, IRGC has claimed that it is fighting terrorism in neighboring countries.

Javad Zarif has recently said: the world at large agrees that the IRGC has extended the utmost support for neighboring countries in their fight against terrorism.

Zarif seemingly refers to IRGCs destructive and brutal role in Syria and is trying to sell it as constrictive. According to IRGCs own figures, more than 1,000 members of its rank and file have been killed in cities around the war-torn country. Many were veteran IRGC officers. The Iranian regime claims that it has only an advisory role in Syria, however it has recruited and dispatched thousands of Afghani and Pakistani nationals to Syrian fronts. Not one has fought ISIS.

On March 2, Brigadier General Ismail Ghaani, who is deputy Quds Force commander, speaking in the northeastern city of Mashhad, told a group from the Fatemiyoun Division, an offshoot of the force fighting in Syria: Fatemiyoun proved that it is a capable force ready to operate not only in Syria but anywhere else on the planet when Islam requires it. Fatemiyoun was formed of Afghani recruits, along with its sibling organization Zenabiyoun Division of Pakistanis.

The Iranian regime today makes it no secret that it is heavily involved in Syria and Iraq. It sugarcoats its involvement with the illusion that IRGC and its armed wing, the Quds Force, are fighting ISIS. But it's not true. After almost six years of involvement in the bloody civil war in Syria, it is out in the open that the regime has no quarrel with ISIS. Former Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview with Fox News: Assad facilitated the release of 1,500 prisoners, parallel to 1,000 by Maliki in Iraq, leading to the foundation of ISIS. Former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, said that Americans knew what Prime Minister Maliki was up to, but chose not to take any action.

It is also a hard fact that Maliki was in every way a puppet of the Iranian regime. He was trained by the IRGC and fought alongside its forces during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

What is missing in all the talks and arguments made in Washington as to what is an effective remedy to counter the mullahs in Iran is the role of Iranian people. Iran is boiling with popular discontent, now. According to Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari, the Iranian regimes chief of police: On average 20 to 30 protest gatherings take place around the country by citizens who have lost their life savings to the banks, These citizens are mainly retired with very limited savings and were scammed out of their lifetime savings by various government-owned financial institutions. Such protests are but a drop in the ocean when we add the teachers, nurses, factory workers, and an army of college graduates with no prospects of finding decent jobs to the discontent. This amounts to tens of thousands of people, in large numbers of gatherings each year. According to a BBC report, more than 11 million or Iran's 83 million people are unemployed in the country.

When it comes to Iran, the decision-makers in Washington have two options: One is to follow the status quo and tolerate a regime which is the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world, a stirrer of sectarian violence in the region, and engaged in two wars in Iraq and Syria. It's a nation that secretly supplies weapons to Yemens Houthis which has also cost American servicemen's lives. If the Trump administration chooses this option, it will make the same mistakes the Obama administration made.

The other, and better, option is to stand with Iranian people and their resistance, to let them shape their own future. All they asked of U.S. in 2009 was for the U.S. to stand with them. At the time, they chanted: Obama are you with us or with them. They clearly hoped the U.S. would not placate mullahs with concessions, nor turn a blind eye to regimes terrorism.

One such good signal in the right direction would be to designate IRGC as a terrorist organization. In light of all it has done and its growing strength, in designating the IRGC as a terrorist group, we are doing ourselves a favor.

Reza Shafiee is a member of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
In his first public appearance since his wife lost the presidency, former president Bill Clinton advanced the narrative that liberals have been propagating since President Trump's election.

The key is to conflate the kind of virulent nationalism that infected Germany during the Nazi years with the simple patriotism of ordinary Americans. It is an insidious narrative that barely disguises their attempt to portray Trump as Hitler and his supporters as mindless super-nationalists.

Politico:

"People who claim to want the nation-state are actually trying to have a pan-national movement to institutionalize separatism and division within borders all over the world," Clinton said. "It's like we're all having an identity crisis at once  and it is an inevitable consequence of the economic and social changes that have occurred at an increasingly rapid pace."

Note that Clinton talks as if the "nation state" were already dead and populists around the world are plotting to bring it back. Liberals may support a one-world government under the auspices of the U.N., but most of the rest of us don't. And those "economic and social changes"  runaway globalism and forced acceptance of cultural taboos  are actually opposed by significant numbers of people around the world.

Making his first major public appearance since his wife lost last year's presidential election, Clinton did not discuss President Donald Trump specifically, but warned repeatedly against "us versus them" thinking that he said has become such an active part of politics in America, in the Brexit vote, in the Philippines and throughout Europe. The speech was the keynote at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution honoring the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. "The whole history of humankind is basically the definition of who is us and who is them, and the question of whether we should all live under the same set of rules," Clinton said. He added that often, people "have found more political success and met the deep psychic needs people have had to feel that their identity requires them to be juxtaposed against someone else."

What a load of crap. Trump's political success  and the success of populists in Europe  is the direct result of a realistic appraisal of various threats to the economic and personal security of ordinary citizens. What that is "juxtaposed against" is the liberal desire to place "diversity" and open borders over the simple, everyday need of citizens to feel safe.

Clinton's speech was given in honor of the late Israeli leader Itzak Rabin:

Rabin's assassin was a Jewish Israeli opposed to the peace process, who cited such logic after shooting the prime minister at the end of a rally on Nov. 4, 1995. That, Clinton said, is another lesson to take from what happened to Rabin. "We have to find a way to bring simple, personal decency and trust back to our politics," he said.

A good start would be to stop trying to tar your political opponents as Nazis and closet authoritarians. But liberals have started down a path that they cannot deviate from, lest their rabid base turn on them. Prominent liberals from across the country have been calling Trump a Nazi and disrespecting the voters for being "ignorant" in electing him.

Not a recipe for electoral success.
Food Fight: Chavista Thugs Mix It Up With The Mexicans

Angry Mexicans are accusing Venezuela's Chavistas of selling the food aid they donated to hungry Venezuelans for funds and profit. Now, aid of any kind is illegal in Venezuela since it reduces people's dependence on the state. So, the Mexicans donated their taco trucks or whatever it was through Venezuela's unfortunately-named CLAP agency of food rationing, which was started about a year ago. The Chavistas of course, say there was no food aid and in any case, they would not sell it. But the ones doing it are some of the most unsavory thugs this side of a Chechen warlord den or a FARC negotiation team.

The real question here is not whether and how the Mexicans made their donation, but whether they could have been stupid enough to do it, and expected a less-than-thieving result. Could the Mexicans be that dense to think that food aid, given through CLAP, wouldn't be stolen, given the trillions that have already been stolen from Venezuela's oil bounty? Did they think about who they were donating it to? At least one of these Chavistas of CLAP were placed by President Trump on the Treasury Department's drug dealer list in a rigorous process. And more to the point, could the Mexicans have really imagined that food aid at all, rather than ending price controls and stabilizing the currency, could help anyone in that hellhole? It's rather astonishing that they could be so surprised or outraged, given who they were dealing with. Freddie Bernal is a powerful, longtime Chavista shantytown thug with the stony face of a drug dealer who now runs the Chavista food-rationing program. Several years ago, when I visited Caracas, I met some Chavistas who wanted to show me their world, and they took me to their leader high in the shack-covered hills on the outskirts of Caracas -- or at least his office, which happened to be then-mayor Freddie Bernal's. They even let me sit at his desk, hospitably serving rum straight from the bottle, pirate-style, and had aging hippies serenade us with 1960s protest music on their guitars. To say the last, it was weird. Outside, motorcycles-mounted thugs with guns in their hands circled menacingly. That's who the Mexicans thought would honestly distribute their food.
Even better, it is factual. And almost inevitably, it's about a "Florida man."

Here it is, from NBC News:

Lawyer's Pants Catch Fire During Florida Arson Trial It seemed like a set up to a tired joke: A lawyer's pants caught on fire in court. But on Wednesday, it was Stephen Gutierrez's reality when the Florida defense attorney's pants began smoking during an arson trial, Eleventh Circuit Court Public Relations Director Eunice Sigler confirmed to NBC News Thursday. Gutierrez, 28, was in the in the Miami-Dade county courtroom defending 49-year-old Claudy Charles, who was accused of setting his car alight. But During his closing argument, Gutierrez began to feel heat coming from his pocket where he had several electric cigarette batteries, he told NBC News in an email. As Gutierrez argued Charles' car had merely spontaneously combusted, the lawyer's pants seemed to do the same. Witnesses in the courtroom told the Miami Herald the moment was "surreal," as Gutierrez rushed out of the courtroom while smoke billowed from his pocket. Gutierrez said as the heat intensified, he hurried into the bathroom where he tossed the battery in water. He was able to return to the courtroom with a singed pocket.

Because the defense argument was that the car spontaneously combusted, there is reason for suspicion among everyone but children that this was a set-up intended to make the point quite visibly to jurors. Lawyer Gutierez, of course, adamantly denies it.

I don't really care. I just love the headline, probably because I write headlines on a daily basis and draw inspiration and amusement from the best of them.

My previous favorites:

Mush from the Wimp

Headless Body in Topless Bar
AUBURN  Rather than commit to water system upgrades that could cost millions to treat for harmful algae toxins, engineers are pointing Auburn officials in a more conservative direction.

Representatives with GHD Consulting Services Inc. offered their final recommendations to Auburn city councilors Thursday pertaining to potential treatment methods against algae toxins in water drawn from Owasco Lake.

Low levels of microcystin  toxins released from blue-green algae blooms  were found last summer on several occasions in the treated drinking water supplies from the water filtration plants in both Auburn and Owasco.

GHD engineers, contracted by the city of Auburn in November to identify possible ways to upgrade the city's water treatment plant, identified three potential long-term solutions: the construction of a silo to administer powder activated carbon, several construction options to administer ozone, or extending the water facility's intake pipe deeper into the lake.

But rather than endorsing any of those at this point, GHD representatives recommended for officials to move forward on a less costly measure of administering powder activated carbon  and spend the upcoming summer collecting more relevant data.

Stephen Waldvogel, with GHD, offered the recommendation Thursday for city officials. His audience included Cayuga County Legislator Tim Lattimore, Owasco Town Supervisor Ed Wagner, state Department of Environmental Conservation Region 7 Director Matt Marko and representatives from the offices of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer and U.S. Rep. John Katko.

There was never a chance that any of the three options would have been ready for this summer due to an estimated 12- to 18-month project timeframe. At a council meeting last month, Waldvogel recommended a temporary method of administering powder activated carbon.

But while that method involved facilitating powder activated carbon mixes through manual labor, the measure presented Thursday involves the installation of a rented or leased mechanized bulk bag feed system in the city's upper pumping station.

Installing the unit would require certain building improvements to the upper pumping station, such as fire prevention amenities, Waldvogel said. All in all, the system's estimated cost  between operation, construction and further laboratory work, among other elements  is around $480,000.

Waldvogel said he would hope that a $2 million spending measure proposed in the state budget by Gov. Andrew Cuomo could help with the cost.

"If we examine what happens this summer, carefully, and we do some more research, measurement and monitoring, it's very likely that we can optimize the capital dollars that you'll ultimately spend," he said. "All of these projects recommend multi-million-dollar projects, possibly, and we would want to optimize that so you're getting the greatest value, the most effective system, for the least cost."

The system, best case scenario, could be the Auburn water plant's permanent solution to the algae toxin problem, Waldvogel said.

Councilors are expected to be approached in the next few weeks for funding authorization. Seth Jensen, director of the city's department of Municipal Utilities, said the system has proven effectiveness and is used by many water suppliers.

"The powder activated carbon has been shown to work in the lab and in other communities, such as Toledo, Ohio  other communities that have experienced microcystin and harmful algae blooms," Jensen said. "We're fairly confident powder activated carbon will be successful for Auburn, as well."

In other news

 City officials and a representative from Cuomo's office presented proclamations Thursday recognizing March 10 as Harriet Tubman Day.

Friday marks 104 years since the death of the famed abolitionist who resided in Auburn at the end of her life. Her great-great-grandniece Pauline Copes-Johnson was present at the council meeting to accept the formal proclamations.

The ceremony was capped by fifth- and sixth-grade students from Genesee Elementary School who sang an original number in honor of Tubman's legacy.
The Trump administration must decide whether to allow China's Ant Financial to acquire American financial services company MoneyGram for $880 million. At the very least, the administration should put the sale on hold until the administration and Congress reorganize the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a process currently underway. It would take an important step toward updating our definition of security threats.

The New York Times describes Ant Financial's purchase as the "first test of the Trump administration's stance on foreign investment." Ant Financial used to be part of the Alibaba empire under the name Alipay, until founder Jack Ma transferred ownership of it to a company that he controlled without the knowledge of Alibaba's investors, one of which was Yahoo. In the end, Alipay got renamed Ant Financial and got sued, and the Chinese government became one of its largest shareholders.

China-watchers may also know Ant Financial/Alipay from its pioneering role in China's opaque and poorly regulated Wealth Management Product (WMP) market, now a 26-trillion-yuan market held mostly off book. The last thing the U.S. financial system needs is another participant with a proven track record of playing fast and loose with rules.

As someone whose information was stolen by the Chinese government's hack of OMB, I am understandably leery of simply opening the door of our financial system to an entity with ties to the Chinese government.

Ant Financial may well have reformed, but at the very least, submit it to CFIUS scrutiny.

Foreign investments in American companies that raise national security concerns must be approved by CFIUS, which was created in 1975. The 16 departments and agencies that constitute CFIUS advise the president when a foreign investment in an American business occurs.

CFIUS does not impede foreign direct investment (FDI) because it is a predictable, rules-based process, and rarely does it interfere in a transaction. Last year, based on a CFIUS recommendation, President Obama stopped an overseas purchase of an American company (Aixtron) for only the third time in 25 years.

The Aixtron purchase raised concerns because the company's product has military applications. Even though Ant Financial does not produce military hardware, it is a potential security threat. As we are witnessing with Russia currently, information can be weaponized. We should take rational steps to ensure that we are not providing a hostile foreign power to collect more ammunition. Furthermore, Ant Financial has a proven track record of fanning financial risks. After our collective experience in 2008-2009, we should all recognize that a company like that needs thorough examination before we give it access to our financial markets.

Millions of Americans have been victims of the Chinese government's aggressive stockpiling of information. Ant Financial, of which the Chinese government owns 15%, could give China a new window into our information. Furthermore, Ant Financial's history of rule-breaking and sowing financial risk is troubling. Although it does not fit the 1975 definition of security threat, Ant Financial clearly fits the definition in 2017.

President Trump has pledged to change the way the United States does business around the globe. Part of that should be to apply commonsense updates to the definition of security, and to use that in conjunction with the existing tools available to him to safeguard our information and financial markets. In reforming CFIUS, the government is on the right track. Its first case should be Ant Financial's MoneyGram buyout.

Kristofer L. Harrison is senior managing director for a macro-economic consultancy. Previously, Mr. Harrison served as an official at both the State and Defense Departments during the George W. Bush administration.
As demonstrated by the Feb. 13 openly public murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's ruler, Kim Jong-un, the regime in Pyongyang continues with its tradition of ordering killings of those it views as a threat to its power. This hit job is part and parcel of the regime's sponsoring various crimes beyond its own shores over the years for purposes of raising hard currency and protecting its power.

A few examples of this nefarious behavior are kidnappings of Japanese nationals during the 1970s and 1980s, the 1983 Rangoon bombing and attempted assassination of South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan, the production and sale of illegal drugs and imitation goods, human trafficking, arms proliferation, and counterfeiting currency.

In light of this, Malaysia's March 2 announcement of the scrapping of its visa-free entry for North Korean nationals is a wise policy reversal and a step in the right direction toward public safety and security in the country.

Yet the recent fallout between Malaysia and North Korea over Kim Jong-nam's murder ought to spur in Malaysia a re-evaluation of its stance and policies toward Israel.

Yes, Israel.

For decades, Malaysia has forbidden Israeli passport holders from entering its country. While Malaysia is not alone in this ludicrous practice  15 other countries follow the same policy  the recent dust-up over Kim Jong-nam's Feb. 13 assassination ought to put things in perspective for Malaysian authorities. The country's policymakers would be well advised to consider the following:

For starters, Israeli nationals have never used Malaysian soil  or anywhere in Southeast Asia, for that matter  for state-sponsored illicit activities, particularly the likes of what North Korea has been guilty of committing for years now.

Second  and this is common knowledge  for some time, Israelis have made numerous contributions throughout the Asia-Pacific to the arts, sciences, medicine, business, high-tech industry, and disaster response and recovery, among many other areas. This doesn't smack of a clear and present danger to the legitimacy of the Malaysian government or to the well-being of Malaysian citizens. [Editor's note: In fact, Israeli officials have said they get along cordially with the Malaysian government behind closed doors.]

Third, Malaysia is clearly concerned about maintaining its "street cred" among the Saudis and elsewhere in the Middle East  the Middle Easterners consider the Malays and Indonesians not quite Muslim enough, and some go as far to think they are "savages." This is one reason for Malaysia's hard line on Israel. Yet granting visas to Israeli nationals does not have to be a highly publicized process and need not involve highly scrutinized developments, such as the establishing of diplomatic relations. Look no farther than Malaysia's neighbor, Indonesia, to observe how a Muslim country can hold a quiet, respectful bilateral relationship with Israel  focusing on trade, security and tourism  while not holding formal diplomatic ties.

Lastly, Malaysia's longest serving prime minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad, while unquestionably having served Malaysia well in terms of modernizing its economy and raising living standards, did great damage to relations with Israel and the Jewish people during his time in office from 1981 to 2003. Rabidly anti-Semitic, Mahathir never hesitated to propagate many of the typical canards against Jews.

As examples, in 1986, Mahathir asserted that The Wall Street Journal was controlled by Jews and part of a Zionist plot to overthrow his regime, and in a 2003 speech, he urged Muslims to unite against Jews, who, he argued, "rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them."

Not surprisingly, Mahathir's many calumnies toward Jews provided justification and cover for the government's anti-Israel policies, which still exist today. Sadly, Mahathir's lies also made inroads into some sectors of Malaysian society, breeding hate against Israel and the Jewish people. With no exposure to Israelis from tourism, Malaysians remain benighted and ignorant.

Clearly, the anti-Israel policies and hate that Mahathir instilled in Malaysia have brought his country no benefits, tangible or otherwise. A new approach is long overdue.

Fortunately, Mahathir is no longer in office, and his vitriol never took root among the region's other societies. While not without challenges, by and large, Israel maintains good to excellent diplomatic relations with most Asian states. Some of the more productive relations are with China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Burma, and Australia.

So, Malaysia, why not get on board with so many of your peers in your own backyard and improve relations with Israel rather than maintaining anti-Israeli policies and dead-end relationships like that with the murderous North Korean regime? Your people and the world deserve a more humane and thoughtful foreign policy.

Malaysia, it's time to abandon outmoded thinking and intolerance. Break free from your absurd practice of marching in lockstep with your Arab counterparts' anti-Israel policies, and while you're at it, dump Pyongyang.

Try starting with baby steps. Quiet baby steps, like issuing visas to Israelis.

Ted Gover, Ph.D. is instructor of political science at Central Texas College, U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.
Khalid Pitts and Diane Gross, the husband-and-wife proprietors of D.C.'s Cork Wine Bar, located about a mile and a half from Trump International Hotel, have filed a lawsuit against the hotel and President Trump.

The pair claims that Trump International and its dining establishments have an unfair advantage over the city's bustling businesses. The effects of that advantage are compounded by "marketing activities of the Hotel's officers and employees, and the similar activities of defendant Trump, his family, the White House staff and/or advisors."

Gross and Pitts are not your ordinary restaurateurs. Their political backgrounds helped to make Cork a destination for the power elites.

Before 2007, Gross was consulting counsel for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, based in Washington. From July 2003 to October 2005, she was counsel to Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland.

Before his restaurant venture, Pitts was a former national political director with the Sierra Club; director of strategic campaigns for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); co-chair of the executive board of Health Care for America Now (HCAN); president and board chair of USAction  a grassroots organization fighting for justice; Virginia state director for Congressman Dick Gephardt's 2004 presidential campaign; state director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and its sister organization, the Education Fund to Stop Gun Violence; executive committee co-chair of Americans United for Change; and a board member of the Coalition for Human Needs.

After Hillary Clinton's defeat in November, The New York Times interviewed several business owners from D.C., including Cork's Gross.

All expressed the fear that President Trump would "drain the vibrant culture" Obama had ushered in beginning in 2009.

In the NYT article, Gross recalled the election night watch party at Cork. The "wine drenched tragedy" had Gross so upset that she feared that her mother would have a heart attack.

The lawsuit may have had its genesis that night. Before President Trump trounced Clinton on November 8, Cork's clientele included Jen Psaki, the White House communications director, who had her engagement party at Cork. Mrs. Obama dropped in, and Jill Biden became a regular there. With Trump's victory, Gross worried that the "young, fashionable and talented" patrons of D.C.' s cultural scene would go elsewhere.

"There's a real possibility of people going back to wherever they are from to do progressive politics there," she told the New York Times.

With the Obamas and Valerie Jarrett moving into the high-priced Kalorama section of D.C., and along with current progressive politicians needing a water hole where they can commiserate over their historic loss , Gross's post-election apprehension about the future of her wine bar because of Trump International is ludicrous.

Lead attorney for the Trump Organization Alan Garten thinks so, too. He dismissed the lawsuit as a "wild publicity stunt completely lacking in legal merit."
Just based on his tweets, President Trump has apparently turned back 40% of illegal immigrant crossers into the U.S., according to Department of Homeland Security data.

The first thought that comes to mind is how many billions in taxpayer money the president saved us by discouraging that illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants cost Americans $54.5 billion a year in education, medical, welfare, city service, and prison costs, to name but a few things, far outstripping their supposed contributions as low-skilled labor to the economy, according to a Heritage Foundation study. That Trump could merely tweet them out of coming testifies to how believable he is worldwide.

But the bigger favor is the one he's done for Central America, particularly the "northern triangle" states of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Those nations, plus Mexico, in varying degrees, are in a demographic death spiral, losing too many people in prime working years they cannot afford to lose. Their window of development is getting narrow, a UCLA professor of economics explained to me. The statistics here show that by 2025, the fertility rate will be just 2.08% for the region as a whole, which is at or below replacement rate. The years following will be below replacement rate. Immigration, which primarily involves young people in their prime working years, has been a disaster for those countries, as has been their government's dependence on remittances. There is not just a negative effect of dollars coming in to displace local productivity; there is also a social cost as families are broken up by migration. In fact, the IMF has pointed out that remittances tend to keep a country artificially underdeveloped. The money itself tends to benefit government cronies and make corruption less costly.

So let's not kid ourselves as to what has happened. Trump's statements and tweets have spared Americans billions in costs associated with illegal immigrants. But they have spared Central Americans the near fatal cost of unchecked emigration. Trump's been a life-saver to all the nations that ship out immigrants.
Three Weedsport children between the ages of 11 and 14 are facing felony charges for allegedly putting large rocks in a road that damaged multiple vehicles.

New York State Police out of Auburn could not release details on the underage individuals, but said the rocks they placed on Grant Avenue Road in Brutus caused damage to three vehicles. The incident was reported to police around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 27, and the children ages 14, 13 and 11 were arrested on March 9.
Hunger Solutions New York released a study Wednesday outlining the amount of students in each school district  including Cayuga County-area districts  that participate in free and reduced breakfast as a part of the federally-funded School Breakfast Program, saying the program isn't reaching enough across the state.

Hunger Solutions, a non-profit focused on ending statewide hunger, said that though hunger is a frequent issue for nearly 1 million children in the state, less than one in three students who qualified for free or reduced-price breakfast participate in the breakfast program. Eligibility for free and reduced breakfast is based on income.

The study said the program is underused despite the overall need, leaving a lot of money (and food) on the table. More than $71 million in federal reimbursements was forfeited in 2015-2016 due to the relatively small number of breakfast participants in the state.

Port Byron superintendent Neil O'Brien said his district is frequently fighting child hunger, as the district has programs providing meals during the summer. O'Brien said the elementary school allows all students to have free breakfast regardless of income and seven out of 10 elementary learners have breakfast there.

Due to the district having Community Eligibility Provision status, parents of elementary school children there don't have to fill out forms in order for their children to get the free breakfast, unlike with the School Breakfast Program, so O'Brien believes the number of students with free breakfast is a little higher than the study shows. Parents of secondary school students still have to fill out the form, O'Brien said.

O'Brien said filling students' belies is vital to their education and general well-being. He also believes many students are coming to school in order to have that morning meal.

"If children are hungry, they will not do well in school, but it also helps attendance, believe it or not," O'Brien said.

Kevin Barber, a district counselor for grades 7 through 9, said the district has been running a backpack program in which in-need students are given a backpack's worth non-perishable food.

"When we do find out that parents are struggling (financially) or the kids aren't eating enough, we send home a backpack with some Pop-Tarts, some popcorn, enough food to get them through the weekend," Barber said.

O'Brien said he refuses to call a two-hour delay at the district when weather is inhospitable, either opting for a one-hour delay or calling off school. Otherwise, he says, kids won't get their school breakfast.

"My kids have to have their breakfast," O'Brien said.
It was a land of peasants, and yet it was industrializing with astonishing speed. It was ruled by an ancient, autocratic royal family, and yet there were remarkable stirrings of demands for democracy. It was a thousand miles from the main theaters of World War I, and yet there were 15 million men at arms. It was a rural kingdom, and yet its most far-reaching events were occurring in the cities.

And as this nation of controversy and contradictions was convulsed in revolution a century ago this week, the rebels themselves were astonished at the power of the insurrection  so forceful that bread riots in Petrograd and a local metalworkers' strike set in train events that swept across 11 time zones, toppling an empire of more than 125 million people whose ruling family had governed it for four centuries.

Few years were as consequential as 1917, when the United States abandoned a century and a quarter of relative isolationism by entering World War I, and when the promulgation of the Balfour Declaration set in motion the tensions that still roil the Middle East. But perhaps the most significant event of the year was the Russian Revolution that began 100 years ago, and shook an imperium that stretched across two continents from the Baltic to the Sea of Okhotsk, sending tremors that shook the globe in World War II and the Cold War  and that extend into the early days of the Donald J. Trump administration.

The revolution never reached its centenary, its utopian goals never reached implementation, its heroic ideals never reached fulfillment. The crowded months beginning with the winter revolution, the abdication of Czar Nicholas a century ago next week, the lengthy struggle between a provisional government and the Petrograd Soviet and, in November, the ascendancy of V.I. Lenin led to the creation of a rogue nation that the United States did not recognize until 1933, that became an awkward but supremely powerful American and British ally in World War II, and that was a persistent and bitter rival thereafter.

The Russian Revolution was a significant event, but not in the way its founders expected or wanted.

"They thought they were creating a new world, but in many ways, they were re-creating the old world of authoritarian Russia that they eventually elevated to totalitarianism," said William S. Taubman, the author of the authoritative English biography of Nikita Khrushchev, who led the Soviet Union during the Cold War. "Many of the old ways continued to exist in a new and heightened form, and while one can debate whether Stalin perfected what Lenin started or corrupted and perverted it, there is no debating that the revolution led to Stalin's brand of terror."

The Soviet Union that grew out of the agitation a century ago bore the tragic brunt of the struggle to defeat Nazi Germany, but extended the Nazi techniques and technology of death camps. It helped bring justice to a Europe drowning in tyranny, but perfected a perverted sense of justice, marked by show trials and firing squads, within its own borders. It helped purge the world of the Axis dictators, but engaged in purges of its own. It cleansed the globe of mechanized anti-Semitism, but practiced a fresh, deadly form of anti-Semitism.

In truth, and in fairness, the communist ethos was spread by romantic anthems of idealism, sung not only in Soviet Russia but also in the West. Communism had a special allure in the early days of the Russian Revolution  glittery dreamers like the American journalist John Reed, buried in the Kremlin wall, flocked to Russia to help build a new society and a new world  and attracted hundreds of thousands during the Great Depression, when the vicissitudes and vulnerabilities of capitalism and democracy were in full view.

Over the years such black luminaries as the writer W.E.B. Du Bois and the actor Paul Robeson were drawn to communism. Two great balladeers of American culture, the folk artist Woody Guthrie, who wrote of the "wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling" in "This Land Is Your Land," and the writer Howard Fast, whose American Revolution novel "April Morning" has been a patriot favorite for generations, were communists.

But Lenin's vision of a rural revolution fueled by the grievances of urban laborers  "the union of the workers' revolution with the peasant war," in the characterization of Bolshevik revolutionary Grigory Zinoviev  never brought about the workers' paradise he promised. Nor did communism spread to European industrial nations, which Marxist orthodoxy held were far more fertile ground than rusticated Russia.

"Lenin died before he was compelled to face the immense and daunting task of changing backward Russia in isolation from the advanced West European countries, on whose support he had doubtless counted," the Russian-born economic historian Alec Nove wrote.

In the end, communism was "The God That Failed," the title of an influential 1949 book with essays by Andre Gide, Richard Wright and Arthur Koestler.

That may be because, as the historian John Lawrence argued, the communists "had no clear idea of how they were going to govern or how the new society would work."

Or it may be because a creed identifying multiple contradictions in capitalism ended up being the victim of its own contradictions. In a powerful book published in 1962, British historian Lionel Kochan argued that fear of war was a principal motivation of the drive toward Soviet industrialization, buttressed by the Marxist conviction that capitalism was a form of war.

"The fear of war, with its socio-industrial consequences, superimposed on the collective values inherent in Bolshevism," he wrote, "combined to create a society that was more and more totalitarian."

Many polls taken during last year's election showed that younger Americans, with no memory of Soviet communism, were congenial to socialism. A Harvard Institute of Politics poll showed that a third of Americans 18 to 29, none of whom have any memory of the Cold War, support socialism, a figure that rises to 41 percent for those born only a half-dozen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

That speaks to the allure of the ideology behind the Russian Revolution  and to the historical memory lapses that Soviet communism cultivated. No one who lived in those years, apart perhaps from Vladimir Putin, regrets their passing. The dustbin of history, indeed.
MISS: To a double dose of drug dealing.

Auburn men plead guilty to selling cocaine in Cayuga County AUBURN  An Auburn man with a prior violent felony conviction has admitted to selling cocain

Two Auburn men pleaded guilty in county court this week to selling cocaine.

A 40-year-old admitted that he obtained $400 worth of cocaine for a friend, and could be sentenced to shock probation. And a 34-year-old also admitted to selling the drug, but because he was convicted of a home invasion robbery in 2002, he is expected to be sentenced to as much as 15 years in prison.

HIT: To a new business partnership in Auburn.

Kari Anne Sawran and Dezarae Carr have put their talents under one roof to offer a one-stop shop of pampering.

The new shop, Deja Vu Boutique & Dezign Salon, at 131 Genesee St., Suite #2, features shoes, clothing and Jewelry at Sawran's Deja Vu, and a salon with two styling stations, Dezign Salon, run by Carr. The pair said the downtown business community is much like a family, and they hope to continue expanding their business in the heart of the city.

MISS: To a defendant who evidently hasn't learned his lesson.

A Genoa man was arrested recently after police said he drove drunk and crashed into a parked car in the town of Locke.

Police said the man was convicted of drunk driving seven months ago, making this latest charge much more severe. He was charged with felony DWI, felony aggravated DWI, felony first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and a misdemeanor charge of using a vehicle without an interlock ignition device.
The United States is a divided nation: There is Redland, where Donald Trump won among exurban non-college educated whites, and Blueland, home to diverse city and coastal cosmopolitans, where Hillary Clinton triumphed. Voters in these two lands have fundamentally different views about what it means to be an American, and they increasingly view their fellow citizens as enemies.

Our political system, which requires compromise and collaboration, is not set up to handle such profound differences. Worse, our current political rules are exacerbating and reinforcing them.

The primary amplifier of division is the ever-expanding power of the presidency, on top of a winner-take-all electoral system. In our form of government, especially as it evolved in the 20th century, the president is the focal point. When the population splits into two polarized tribes, organizing politics around a winner-take-all structure focused on a single person only deepens the divide.

We saw it with Barack Obama. Many residents of Redland felt he could not possibly be their president, and they did all they could to de-legitimize him. Now the same thing is happening with Bluelanders and Trump.

The high stakes of the presidency just keep getting higher. The more power the president has, the more consequential the presidential election becomes. The more consequential the election, the longer, more involved and more bitter the campaign. Increasingly negative campaigning has fueled the fierce enmity between Republicans and Democrats, which has spilled over from the White House into the contentious, partisan and often-gridlocked Congress.

And that again makes matters worse. A gridlocked Congress is a weak Congress, and a weak Congress makes the president more powerful, which serves to ratchet up the polarization another few notches.

The effect over the last four decades has been devastating. As partisanship has increased, leadership offices in both the Senate and the House have taken control, bypassing committees, even cutting their staffs and destroying congressional policy expertise in the process. The leadership has turned almost every issue into a fundraising and messaging vehicle  health care, for instance  and rewarded only the most loyal team players with influential posts.

In such a climate, when one party controls the House, the Senate and the presidency, Congress becomes the direct enabler of presidential power. It ducks its oversight responsibilities because the party brand and how its members will fare in the next election are tied to the presidents popularity. A current example: the hemming and hawing among Republicans about investigating Trumps ties with Russia.

Even if the White House and Congress are split between the parties, the president still will gain power as long as there is little common ground between Redland and Blueland. In this scenario, the majority party simply refuses to compromise with the executive branch, leaving the president to try to accomplish his goals by executive order, daring Congress to stop him (which it has less and less ability to do). Sound familiar?

In an earlier, less-divided era, when Republicans and Democrats were made up of looser overlapping coalitions, Congress had more levers to push in its dealings with the White House. When its members ceded less control to their leadership, they also allocated more money to maintain experienced, professional staff who could go toe-to-toe with the executive branch on substantive policy issues, and to its support agencies, such as the Congressional Research Service or the now-defunct Office of Technology Assessment. Now our representatives mostly rely on a rotating cast of 20-somethings who often look to lobbyists and special interests for authority and policy details.

We would be in much better shape if the members of Congress started thinking institutionally again rather than primarily as Republicans or Democrats. But how can we get there, given our deep political divisions and the winner-take-all structures that keep feeding a viciously partisan political cycle?

Our best hope is in restructuring party politics and the way we elect our representatives.

Californias move to lessen the influence of party politics on redistricting and its embrace of an open top two primary system are green shoots. An even more encouraging reform came out of Maine, when the states voters approved ranked choice voting in November.

In congressional and statewide races, Maine voters now will be able to pick up to five candidates in order of preference. That means they can tap third-party candidates without worrying about throwing away their votes. If no candidate wins a majority when the voters No. 1 choices are counted, the lowest vote-getter is taken out of the mix and any votes that had gone to him on the first round move to those voters second choice. And so on, until a majority winner emerges. Ranked choice voting has been adopted for municipal elections in a number of cities, where it generally has led to less-contentious politics  most candidates try to be everybodys second choice, if they cant be their first choice.

Thinking even bigger, congressional districts redrawn to allow for more than one winner in House elections could move the federal Legislature toward something like a multiparty, proportional representation system. Imagine, for example, if most of Los Angeles were just one large congressional district, electing the top five vote-getters to Congress. Its possible LA would send to Washington one moderate Republican, one Green Party representative, and three different types of Democrats. New parties, or new factions within existing parties, could more easily assert themselves. It would become harder for any single party to have a majority, which would require governing parties to compromise and build coalitions.

When reformers consider the chasm between red and blue, they talk about the need for civil dialogue and they implore everyone to put country ahead of party. But the divide between Redland and Blueland isnt healing. Until we contend with the ways our electoral systems and institutional arrangements undermine our good intentions, that isnt likely to change. The American experiment requires cooperation and compromise among different factions. Either we update the way we conduct politics, or our democracy may not survive.
PHOENIX  The attorney for business interests hoping to void the just-approved minimum wage hike urged the Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday to interpret the constitution in a way several justices suggested would undermine the right of voters to ever again propose their own laws.

Attorney Brett Johnson representing business interests opposed to Proposition 206 argued that the measure violates a 2004 constitutional provision says any voter-enacted laws must have a source of revenues to pay for any expenses the state is forced to incur.

Johnson argued the initiative does have such a mandate because it requires the Industrial Commission, which enforces labor laws, to come up with rules to deal with a new requirement in the measure that all employers must provide paid sick leave. And he said there are enforcement costs.

But Justice Ann Scott Timmer said such a literal interpretation of the "revenue source rule" has major implications.

"Even if they were required to send out one letter a year, that's an increase," she noted. That's true, Johnson responded, triggering the rule  and the mandate for a funding source.

That clearly left Scott Timmer troubled.

"Doesn't that construction essentially eliminate the citizens' ability to pass any initiative?" she asked. "It's difficult to imagine an initiative in this day and age that wouldn't require a letter or something ministerial, required by the government."

The interpretation Johnson was urging that the failure to find dollars for even the smallest expenses also troubled Justice Robert Brutinel.

"Is there any initiative that wouldn't violate it?" he asked.

"If there is a required action of the government that is going to cost money, then, unfortunately, yes, there is no proposition that would not violate the revenue source rule," Johnson responded.

It wasn't just the justices who questioned what voiding Proposition 206 would mean to the future of initiatives. Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who attended Thursday's hearing, said afterwards there is a real danger.

"You could come up with hypotheticals or scenarios in every single situation that is passed by the voters," he said. "And so, you would essentially gut or undermine the state initiative process if you accepted the logic of what the plaintiffs argued today."

Johnson also said the initiative will cost the state millions of dollars as the Medicaid program is forced to pay more to the private entities that provide things like home health care for the poor.

But that drew a skeptical response from some of the justices. They questioned whether the initiative itself actually requires the state to pay its providers more or it's simply a question of state officials saying they believe it's necessary.

And even if there is a mandated expenditure, Assistant Attorney General Charles Grube said that still does not void the entire minimum wage hike.

"The remedy is not to say that there was a mandatory expense and so the proposition was wrong," he told the justices. "The right way to look at is is ... that public official has no obligation to act unless there is an appropriation."

Put simply, Grube said, a decision by state officials that they need to pay providers more so they can afford to pay their workers the new $10 minimum is discretionary. He said nothing in the initiative actually directs the state to boost the reimbursement rate.

During the arguments, only Justice Andrew Gould seemed inclined to go along with Johnson's arguments that Proposition 206 does, in fact, mandate the state to spend more. He said the state, in agreeing to take federal dollars, is obligated by federal law to pay its providers enough to ensure there are enough people to provide care to Medicaid recipients.

The justices gave no indication when they will rule.
PHOENIX  Three Republicans bolted party ranks Thursday as the Senate killed legislation which would have meant longer minimum prison sentences for people who commit crimes while in the country illegally.

The 16-14 vote against SB 1279 came despite exhortations from Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, who said it only makes sense to ensure that people who already are breaking federal law don't get a chance to continue to prey on Arizonans.

And if they needed an example, Smith cited 21-year-old Grant Ronnebeck who was shot and killed two years ago while working at a Mesa convenience store by someone not in this country legally. More to the point, he said the suspect in that case had committed a prior burglary and rape but was placed on probation, enabling him to kill Ronnebeck.

He didn't serve a day in jail, Smith said.

As the vote tally was going against him, Smith pointed out that Grant's father, Steve, was watching in the Senate gallery along with family members of others who were killed by people not in this country legally. And when that maneuver failed to move foes of the legislation, he sought to shame them by telling them they should justify their votes directly to family members.

But Smith said he thinks he knows the answer: the hangover from SB 1070, the 2010 legislation designed to give police more power to detain and arrest those not in this country. It got national attention and had financial implications as tourism and convention bookings fell off.

If that is your reason, because tourism might suffer in Arizona if we pass another immigration bill ... I want you to meet those family members and you tell me how many tourism dollars, if they were to be lost, is worth it to their children not being here anymore, he said.

I think it is just sad that we have a bill that will directly help families in our state and in our country, but because of one political pressure or another, that I haven't heard yet, you're going to go ahead and defeat this bill, Smith said. And if that sits well in your conscience, let it sit well.

But Bob Worsley, R-Mesa, said Smith misrepresented the facts.

None of these laws ... would have saved Grant's life, he said.

It was a failure of the prosecutor, Worsley said. He said if the man who killed Grant had been tried and convicted of the prior burglary and rape he would have been sent to prison.

So why not speak up?

We didn't want to make a scene on the floor, Worsley said of himself and fellow Republicans Kate Brophy McGee of Phoenix and Frank Pratt of Casa Grande. So we got the one-sided crap kicked out of us.

And he called Smith's criticism of those who did not side with him over the top.

Brophy McGee said her vote against the measure was based on the belief that it's not necessary.

She pointed out that lawmakers voted last year to repeal a law that allowed the Department of Corrections to release to immigration officials those not here legally after they had served half their prison term, a move that originally passed a decade earlier as a way of saving state dollars. Now they must serve at least 85 percent of their terms, the same as other inmates.

Brophy McGee also said there were questions about whether the state can impose different sentencing standards on people based solely on whether they are violating a federal law by being in this country legally. And she, like Worsley, said it was wrong for Smith to question her motives.

I think every senator is expected to vote their conscience and what they believe is right, Brophy McGee said. And I think it's incumbent on fellow senators to respect that.

The legislation said judges sentencing someone convicted of a felony must impose at least the presumptive sentence required by law if the person is in this country illegally. That means more time behind bars  sometimes years long  than what is now an option for judges.

Potentially more significant, SB 1279 would have eliminated the possibility of parole.

Smith ushered a similar measure through the Senate last year before it died in the House. This year the slightly altered version did not even clear the Senate.
Much to his Gulf allies' chagrin, Egypt's president has not toed their anti-Iranian line in the region, instead following his own pattern of supporting state actors against non-state actors.

When then-Defense Minister Abdel Fatah al-Sisi responded to mass protests in July 2013 by ousting the country's first elected president, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi, Cairo's Gulf allies rushed to keep Egypt afloat economically. Within months, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait sent approximately $7 billion in aid, and they pledged an additional $12 billion in aid after Sisi won the barely contested May 2014 presidential elections. These Gulf states' support reflected their concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood, which they viewed as a threat given the Brotherhood's explicitly hegemonic aims, and they also feared that Egypt's economic collapse would have devastating consequences on a region that was rapidly unraveling.

Yet beyond these immediate concerns, the Gulf allies saw their generosity towards Egypt as an investment in their own long-term security. They believed that a strong Egypt, which possesses the Arab world's largest army, would help them counter Iran's expanding influence in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Indeed, Sisi appeared to promise that Egypt would play this role when he told King Salman in March 2015 that the security of the Gulf is a "red line" and an "integral part of Egyptian national security," and he also agreed shortly thereafter to Egypt's participation in a joint Arab military force.

Four years after Morsi's overthrow, the Gulf aid has satisfied its first two objectives. Cairo's crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood has divided the organization and neutralized it politically, at least for the time being. And while Egypt is still struggling economically, it has nonetheless muddled through despite dwindling foreign direct investment and tourism revenues. But much to its allies' chagrin, Egypt hasn't become the anchor of a broader Sunni Arab alliance against Iran. Instead, Sisi has charted his own course -- one that sometimes aligns with the Gulf allies' interests and at other times contradicts them, but which always follows the same pattern: Sisi supports state actors whenever they are in conflict with non-state ones.

Sisi's foreign policy outlook is, as The Century Foundation's Michael Hanna has noted, an extension of his domestic one. At home, Sisi sees himself as a strongman combatting those who seek chaos, foremost among them the Muslim Brotherhood. According to the Egyptian government's narrative, Sisi "saved" Egypt from the Brotherhood, which seeks the collapse of the Egyptian government and the establishment of an Islamist theocracy. In turn, Egyptian officials routinely argue that a strong (meaning repressive) state is necessary for preventing the Brotherhood's return and the upheaval that might follow. Sisi fleshed this out in his September 2016 address at the United Nations General Assembly, when he defined terrorism not as violence against civilian populations by non-state actors, but as "a threat to the entity of the state." To bolster Sisi at home, Egypt's pro-government media routinely highlights the violence in Libya, Yemen, and Syria as examples of what might happen if the Islamists are allowed to challenge the Egyptian state.

Due to his strong preference for state actors over non-state ones, Sisi has diverged sharply with his Gulf allies regarding the Syrian conflict. The Gulf states have tended to see the Syrian conflict in terms of their broader concerns regarding Iran's expanding regional influence, and they have strongly supported the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's Iranian-backed regime. The Saudi government and Kuwaiti individuals have generously backed various Sunni Islamist rebel groups, some of which are tied to al-Qaeda or cooperate with al-Qaeda offshoots, while the UAE has contributed to multi-country funds for arming approved rebel groups and is actively fighting ISIS in Syria as part of the U.S.-led coalition.

Sisi, however, is less concerned about Iran's regional influence than he is about the fallout if Sunni Islamist groups gain the upper hand, since, from Sisi's standpoint, these rebels often look similar to the Islamists that he is fighting at home, and he has increasingly shown his preference for Assad. Egypt explicitly declared its disagreement with its Gulf allies at the United Nations meeting in September, when Egypt's foreign minister met his Iranian counterpart on the sidelines and then told the press that, "The Coalition fighting in Syria may want to change the regime in the country, but that is not Egypt's position." Then in October, Cairo supported a Russian UN Security Council resolution that Saudi Arabia strongly opposed, and a few days later it hosted the Syrian intelligence chief for talks that, according to Syria's news agency, concluded with an agreement to "strengthen coordination in the fight against terrorism." Egyptian-Saudi ties have been frigid ever since (and Cairo's delay in completing the transfer of two Red Sea islands, Sanafir and Tiran, to Riyadh has only made things worse).

At other times, Sisi's preference for state actors has kept him aligned with his Gulf allies. When Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized Sanaa in September 2014, Egypt supported the government of Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and it joined the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition by dispatching its navy to protect Bab al-Mandab in March 2015. While Sisi has continued to support Hadi politically, including by meeting him on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September, Yemen has increasingly become a point of friction between Cairo and its allies in recent months, and Sisi has resisted Saudi entreaties to send more troops. To some extent, this reflects the legacy of Egypt's costly involvement in Yemen from 1962-1966, and Sisi's desire to avoid getting more deeply involved in another Yemeni quagmire. But it's also a consequence of the Houthis' success: the Houthis continue to control much of the country, including the capital, while Hadi remains in exile. This has blurred the distinction between state and non-state actors in Yemen, leaving Sisi without a horse to bet on aggressively.

Sisi initially faced a similar conundrum in Libya, where the breakdown of the state following longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi's overthrow in 2011 unleashed a civil war among multiple militias. Without a clear state actor to support, Egypt instead focused on countering Islamist militias. Egypt reportedly cooperated with the UAE to launch a series of airstrikes in August 2014, and it launched another round against ISIS targets in Libya after the group beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians in February 2015.

Yet Gen. Khalifa Hiftar's successes on the ground against the Islamists, as well as his appointment by the House of Representatives to lead the Libyan National Army (LNA) in March 2015, catalyzed a shift in Egypt's policy. While Cairo officially supported the United Nations-led negotiations that produced a (teetering) peace deal in December 2015, Sisi now supports Hiftar despite the LNA's continued clashes with forces loyal to the UN-backed government in Tripoli. In this vein, Egypt advocates lifting the arms embargo on Libyan groups so that it can arm the LNA, and Egyptian intelligence and military officials have hosted Hiftar on many occasions. Sisi seemingly views Hiftar as an analogue to himself -- a military man battling Islamists, some of whom are backed by Qatar, which also backs the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. As Sisi explained in April 2016, "Egypt supports the LNA, represented by Hiftar, because it believes that it is the best way to get rid of terrorism and help Libya recover."

For the most part, Sisi's foreign policy outlook has come at a price. As a result of his preference for Assad and unwillingness to get more involved in Yemen, Riyadh announced in October that it would withhold the oil aid that King Salman had promised during his April 2016 visit to Cairo, and the UAE appears to be playing wait-and-see on future investments in Egypt. But in a certain sense, Sisi's unilateralism is merely a consequence of his regime's nationalist bent. "We appreciate [the Gulf's] political and moral support even more than financial support," a senior Egyptian official told me in December. "But for our Gulf brothers and sisters, protecting Egypt after [Morsi's overthrow] was about protecting themselves [from the Brotherhood]...We respect the sovereignty of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. They can contact whomever. But they should preserve the right for us."

Sisi, in other words, will follow an "Egypt first" playbook, and Cairo expects everyone else to do the same. Still, if oil-rich Gulf states believe that they can't face the region's challenges alone, then it's unclear why a resource-poor country with severe structural and security challenges believes that it can.

Eric Trager is the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute and author of Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days.
(ANSA) - Milan, March 10 - A restaurateur shot dead a burglar who broke into his restaurant at Casaletto Lodigiano near Lodi in northern Italy overnight, police said Friday. The burglars, who had broken in with accomplices, died from a single gunshot wound to the back.

The body of the burglar was found a few dozen yards from the restaurant, probably dragged their by his accomplices, police said. He has not yet been identified.

The restaurateur was named as Mario Cattaneo, 67. The attempted burglary of the bar-restaurant, Osteria dei amis, took place at around 4 a.m., police said. The owner of the osteria, which was also a tobacconist's, heard noises and went downstairs where, after a struggle, he shot the intruder with his licensed hunting rifle. The other members of the gang fled, leaving their haul of cigarettes. Cattaneo was slightly injured.


(ANSA) - Rome, March 10 - Premier Paolo Gentiloni said after an informal EU summit Friday that "our message on a multi-speed Europe is very simple: we are not talking about a Europe 'a la carte', we are talking about a reality that is already happening. "It is a necessary direction of march because it allows groups of countries to take steps forward, when there is agreement among them," Gentiloni went on at the press conference. "But it is a choice that has to be made within the framework of the Treaties, enabling all to join and without any logic of exclusion".

Gentiloni said the multi-speed Europe idea had not been hatched by the countries that recently met at Versailles - Germany, France, Italy and Spain - "against the others, or the westerners against the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia).

The Visegrad Group has come out against the idea of a multi-speed Europe.

The idea, Gentiloni said, "is a message that says Europe must respond to the demands of its citizens and must do so with a flexibility and rapidity that cannot depend on the fact that one or two countries have the power to prevent it".

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, for his part, said that the multi-speed Europe idea would not create a new "Iron Curtain" between East and West.

The Italian premier also stressed that he was against a "two-rigities Europe, very rigid on the budget and very tolerant on migrant relocation policy".

Four EU priorities in a 10-year perspective will be indicated at the March 25 Rome summit marking the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, Gentiloni said after the Brussels summit. The priorities are a Europe of defence and security in the management of migrant flows; of growth and sustainable development and employment; a social Europe; and a Europe with a role in a world of trade and markets.

Italy was in favour of a convergence of social policies, the Italian premier said.

"Everyone is aware of how important the Rome Declaration will be," said Gentiloni, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "optimistic" that a "good" Declaration of Rome could be framed. He said the Rome summit would be "an opportunity to relaunch the European project".

Among other remarks, Gentiloni also said that if Europe did not provide "prospects" in the Balkans, it would lead to tensions.


(ANSA) - Rome, March 10 - Premier Paolo Gentiloni said after an informal EU summit Friday that "our message on a multi-speed Europe is very simple: we are not talking about a Europe 'a la carte', we are talking about a reality that is already happening. "It is a necessary direction of march because it allows groups of countries to take steps forward, when there is agreement among them," Gentiloni went on at the press conference. "But it is a choice that has to be made within the framework of the Treaties, enabling all to join and without any logic of exclusion".

Gentiloni said the multi-speed Europe idea had not been hatched by the countries that recently met at Versailles - Germany, France, Italy and Spain - "against the others, or the westerners against the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia).

The Visegrad Group has come out against the idea of a multi-speed Europe.

The idea, gentiloni said, "is a message that says Europe must respond to the demands of its citizens and must do so with a flexibility and rapidity that cannot depend on the fact that one or two countries have the power to prevent it".

The Italian premier also stressed that he was against a "two-rigities Europe, very rigid on the budget and very tolerant on migrant relocation policy".

Four EU priorities in a 10-year perspective will be indicated at the March 25 Rome summit marking the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, Gentiloni said after the Brussels summit. The priorities are a Europe of defence and security in the management of migrant flows; of growth and sustainable development and employment; a social Europe; and a Europe with a role in a world of trade and markets.

Italy was in favour of a convergence of social policies, the Italian premier said.

"Everyone is aware of how important the Rome Declaration will be," said Gentiloni, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "optimistic" that a "good" Declaration of Rome could be framed. He said the Rome summit would be "an opportunity to relaunch the European project".

Among other remarks, Gentiloni also said that if Europe did not provide "prospects" in the Balkans, it would lead to tensions.


NAPLES - Some 100 artworks will shed light on the career of Pello Irazu, one of the leading figures in the contemporary Basque and Spanish art scene at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Called 'Panorama', the show on Irazu opens today through June 25.

The exhibit is not only a retrospective on the career of this artist, considered a top innovator on the Spanish scene, it also offers a multidimensional vision on his art through some 100 artworks shown according to a conceptual and physical path conceived by Irazu himself to showcase the most ,eaningful masterpieces of his career.

The idea is to mix past and future inside the Guggenheim in an atmosphere enabling visitors to experience the artwork while becoming part of it to reflect on the language of art.

Pablo Irazu, since the start of the 1980s, has created an significant number of artworks, including sculptures and small tridimensional creations, large installations, hybrid works, photographs, graphic projects and murales.

The show's catalogue said that Irazu, in each tool he uses, explores multiple relations between bodies, images and space.
BRUSSELS - Overcoming divisions to kickstart a Europe that appears at an impasse, eyeing a summit on March 25 in Rome as a possible turning point for the EU's future is Paolo Gentiloni's message for a gathering of EU heads of State and government. ''The important challenge - he said - is playing the card of a revamp at one of the most difficult times for the Union''.



''It appears evident that we cannot stay still when we are faced with challenges, but the EU cannot move with the speed of the slowest wagon. Those less willing to integrate must be kept onboard but this cannot prevent those choosing a quickest pace to do it''.



A multi-speed Europe is taking shape.



''Indications to create a final draft statement that will have relevance I hope will emerge from the direction we will try to give to the summit''.



A few concrete details could already come out on March 15 in Strasbourg, where Gentiloni was invited by the president of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani to address a plenary session together with Commission President Juncker, European Council President Tusk and Maltese Premier Joseph Muscat.



Migration was also another key theme on the agenda of the 27.



We are seeking to ''make the agreements work'' with Libya, Niger and other countries, said the premier. If they work, the necessary step will also be made on the central Mediterranean route, he explained.



However, he warned that this ''doesn't mean giving the Italian people the illusion of the end of the migration phenomenon but making it more manageable and therefore with less tensions on a domestic social and political scale''. (ANSAmed).
Steak & ale is Britains favourite pie, according to online food-ordering platform Hungry House.

The research, based on Hungry Houses sales data and conducted to mark British Pie Week (6-12 March), revealed steak & ale was the top choice for 22% of Brits. Runners-up included steak and potato pie (17%) and cottage pie (15%).

Alice Mrongovius, CEO of Hungry House, said that with pie sales soaring over British Pie Week, the company wanted to celebrate by digging into the nations pie-eating habits.

Whether youre a fan of a traditional steak & ale or barmy for a pork pie, our research proves Britain [is keeping] its eyes on the pies.

Further research revealed that people situated in cities such as London and Bristol ordered an average of 10 pies per year from Hungry House.

Sixty-five per cent of customers in London admitted to opting for sweet pies over savoury, higher than cities in the north, where only 12% choose sweet over savoury fillings.

Figures showed that the steak & potato pie remains the most popular throughout the north east, with 79% of customers from Newcastle claiming this as their favourite pie dish. Liverpool came close, with 73% preferring a steak & potato pie, while Birmingham preferred chicken & mushroom, at 56%.

Top 10 favourite pies

1) Steak & ale pie (22%)

2) Steak & potato pie (17%)

3) Cottage pie (15%)

4) Chicken & mushroom pie (13%)

5) Apple pie (10%)

6) Pork pie (9%)

7) Banoffee pie (7%)

8) Pie barm (4%)

9) Cornish pasty (2%)

10) Cheese & onion pie (1%)

Favourite pie by city

1) London - Banoffee (44%)

2) Newcastle - Steak & potato (79%)

3) Leeds - Steak & ale (53%)

4) Wigan - Pie barm (67%)

5) Liverpool - Steak & potato (73%)

6) Bristol - Apple (57%)

7) Glasgow - Pork pie (42%)

8) Birmingham - Chicken & mushroom (56%)

9) Manchester - Pork pie (71%)

10) Nottingham - Cottage pie (39%)
Exeter-based ingredients manufacturer Cobell has introduced new fruit flavours that it says are ideal for the bakery market.

Research carried out by Cobell has found there is increasing demand for processed fruit products in a number of bakery items.

Gordon Milne, sales director (pictured), said: Weve found the bakery market as a whole is shifting away from the traditional. Todays consumers are not only making healthier purchase decisions but more experimental ones too.

He added that Cobell supplies everything from carrot puree for carrot cake, fruit juice concentrates for natural baking to new fruit combinations for the very latest baking treats to hit the bakery and supermarket shelves.

He also said the company has a team of experts who can develop new products to suit specific needs, and that orders can be made regardless of quantity.

Cobell has an annual turnover of 45m and more than 250 suppliers worldwide. It also claims to be one of the largest UK purveyors of processed fruit and vegetable juices in Europe.
Marysville, CA (95901)

Today

Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 46F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 46F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
To earn certification for the 737 MAX 8, Boeing undertook a comprehensive test programme that began just over one year ago with four airplanes, plus ground and laboratory testing. Following a rigorous certification process, the FAA granted Boeing an Amended Type Certificate for the 737 MAX 8, verifying the design complies with required aviation regulations and is safe and reliable.

"This certification is a true testament to the dedication and commitment of our entire MAX team throughout the process, from airplane design to flight testing," said Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager, 737 MAX program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The Renton team looks forward to delivering superior efficiency, reliability and design to our customers as they start to receive their 737 MAX aircraft in the next few months."

The 737 MAX 8 is the first in the family to be developed and meets customer demand in the heart of the single-aisle market. The 737 MAX 8 reduces fuel use and CO2 emissions by an additional 14 percent over today's most fuel-efficient single-aisle airplanes.

The 737 MAX family of aircraft is designed to offer customers exceptional performance, flexibility and efficiency, with lower per-seat costs and an extended range that will open up new destinations in the single-aisle market. The MAX 8 and 9 will be followed in 2019 by the smaller MAX 7 and higher capacity MAX 200, while studies and discussion continue with customers on growing the family.

The 737 MAX incorporates the latest technology CFM International LEAP-1B engines, Advanced Technology winglets and other improvements to deliver the highest efficiency, reliability and passenger comfort in the single-aisle market. It is the fastest-selling airplane in Boeing history, accumulating more than 3,600 orders to date from 83 customers worldwide.
The all accident rate (measured in accidents per 1 million flights) was 1.61, an improvement from 1.79 in 2015.



The 2016 major jet accident rate (measured in hull losses per 1 million flights) was 0.39, which was the equivalent of one major accident for every 2.56 million flights. This was not as good as the rate of 0.32 achieved in 2015 and was also above the five-year rate (2011-2015) of 0.36.

There were 10 fatal accidents with 268 fatalities. This compares with an average of 13.4 fatal accidents and 371 fatalities per year in the previous five-year period (2011-2015).

The 2016 jet hull loss rate for IATA member airlines was 0.35 (one accident for every 2.86 million flights). While this outperformed the global hull loss rate, it was a step back from the 0.22 accidents per million flights achieved by IATA members in 2015.



Last year some 3.8 billion travellers flew safely on 40.4 million flights. The number of total accidents, fatal accidents and fatalities all declined versus the five-year average, showing that aviation continues to become safer. We did take a step back on some key parameters from the exceptional performance of 2015; however, flying is still the safest form of long distance travel. And safety remains the top priority of all involved in aviation. The goal is for every flight to depart and arrive without incident. And every accident redoubles our efforts to achieve that, said Alexandre de Juniac, IATAs Director General and CEO.



The world turboprop hull loss rate improved to 1.15 hull losses per million flights in 2016 compared to 1.18 in 2015 and the five-year rate (2011-2015) of 2.84. All regions except the CIS saw their turboprop safety performance improve in 2016 when compared to their respective five-year rates:



IOSA

In 2016, the accident rate for IOSA members was nearly twice as good as for non-IOSA airlines (1.25 vs. 2.36) and it was more than three times better over the previous five years. IOSA has created a standard that is comparable on a world-wide basis, enabling and maximising joint use of audit reports. All IATA members are required to maintain their IOSA Registration. There are currently 413 Airlines on the Registry of which 144 are non-IATA Members: This is an additional testament to IOSA and its role. In 2017, IOSA will be strengthened and transformed into a digital programme.
In the first full year of operation under the Management Concession Agreement between Emirates and the Government of Angola, losses have been slashed from $175m to $5m. The Ernst and Young-audited figures for January to December 2016 were approved at the airlines Board meeting on 9th March 2017.

Peter Hill, Chairman and Chief Executive of TAAG, said: This result is very pleasing for all of us, especially the Government of Angola, TAAGs sole owner. Since arriving in September 2015, my team and I have concentrated on removing unnecessary costs, improving our financial accounting and cash management, redesigning the route network and schedule, and a myriad of other tasks to collectively lift TAAGs financial performance  all whilst improving and maintaining a safe and efficient operation. Indeed, without a substantial carry-forward of costs from previous years, we would have announced a profit for 2016, a remarkable turnaround which surely has few parallels in the aviation business.

There is still a vast amount to do, notably in terms of improving our customer service to a best in Africa level, in order to attract new customers and higher yields. General market conditions remain very challenging, especially in Angola, but we will do our best to repeat this performance in 2017. We have some more room for cost reduction, as well as untapped revenue opportunities as we continue to improve our network, sales and commercial teams.

The small and experienced team which I brought with me deserve a lot of credit, but so do many of our Angolan colleagues who are responding to new challenges, and world-class practices, with enthusiasm and a desire to learn. Meantime, we have reduced staff numbers from 3559 to 3268 through scheduled retirements and natural attrition. Additionally, we have received much support from the Minister of Transport and many others in the Angolan aviation community.

TAAG has taken delivery of two new Boeing 777-300s in the past year and a half and now operates 8 Boeing 777s for long-haul and 5 Boeing 737s for regional and domestic routes. The airline has become the market leader on the Angola-Portugal route by some distance, and is expanding its connecting business between Southern Africa, Portugal and Brazil  the opening of a route to Maputo in Mozambique last November has added to this effort. The most recent schedules see improved frequency to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and a daily flight to Cape Town in October.

There are many hurdles in front of us, said Hill  but TAAGs future is bright as we strive to make the airline profitable before 2019, the target of the original Emirates/TAAG business plan, and transform it into an airline that Angola and Angolans can be proud of.
The Convention is being organised with the view to fostering dialogue, building sustainable networks in supply chain management, creating a competitive environment for aviation business in the continent.



The event has been endorsed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Tunisia and is expected to bring together about 400 participants consisting mainly of airlines, Civil Aviation Authorities, airports, Air Navigation Service Providers, ground handlers, regulators, aircraft/engine manufacturers, component suppliers, service providers in the aviation industry and other aviation stakeholders.



Convened under the theme Collaboration for sustainable aviation growth in Africa, the conference is structured to incorporate presentations and panel discussions on trendy subjects in aviation on one hand and on the other, the event shall allow for networking opportunities, one-to-one appointments and masterclasses facilitated by industry experts. There will also be scheduled one-to-one meetings and exhibition of products, solutions and services by aviation suppliers in different categories.



AFRAA aims to bring together the suppliers of the whole range of aviation products and services and the potential customers of these products and services at one venue annually for purposes of networking, knowledge exchange, business negotiations and forging of win-win business relationships, said AFRAA Secretary General, Dr. Chingosho during his visit to Tunis.



He added that the forum is a platform that facilitates the exploitation of opportunities in the continent by the various stakeholders with the view to ultimately improve the aviation support base in the continent. He paid tribute to Tunisair noting the airlines important role in aviation in the region.



Ilyes Mnakbi, chairman and chief executive officer of Tunisair thanked the Association for choosing Tunisia as the venue for the Convention. He noted that building partnerships for the mutual benefit of the aviation industry is necessary in order to exploit the opportunities in Africa and overcome the huge challenges that abound in the continent. Staging the Convention at Tunisairs home base and hub will be a great opportunity to further strengthen Tunisias place as an aviation country in the region. He added that hosting the convention in Tunisia is a great opportunity to showcase the countrys infrastructure and natural attractions for tourism and business.



The Minister of Transport, Honourable Anis Ghedira welcomed the Secretariat team to Tunis where they discussed various aviation priorities for Tunisia and developments in the region.



Ghedira pledged the full support of the Ministry of Transport of Tunisia in the staging of the Convention noting the importance of the event to Tunisair and to the country at large.



In addition to the provision of an excellent platform for brand visibility through sponsorship, the Aviation Stakeholders Convention will present exhibition opportunities for aviation companies to showcase their services, products, supplies and solutions. Among companies sponsoring and exhibiting at the event include: IT solution providers, civil aviation authorities, airport companies, air navigation services providers as well as aircraft and engine manufacturers, component suppliers and other aviation service providers.



We are dedicated to ensure that delegates will experience yet another memorable Convention this year added Dr. Chingosho.

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YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces made over 30 ceasefire violations in the Artsakh-Azerbaijani line of contact, the defense ministry of Artsakh told ARMENPRESS.

The ministry released a statement, saying: On March 9 and overnight March 10 Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire more than 30 times, firing over 550 shots at Artsakh positions from various caliber small arms, including sniper rifles.

In the eastern direction, Azerbaijani forces fired Istiglal and SVD type sniper rifles (92 shots), and in the north-eastern direction 82mm mortar (1 shell).

The Defense Army of Artsakh is under full control of the frontline and confidently resumes service.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. The Council of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) approved the application of Armenias candidacy for the EITI on March 9 in Bogota, and the Republic of Armenia was granted the status of EITI candidate country, press service of Armenias Government told Armenpress.

Thus, Armenia became 52nd country installing the EITI standard.

The installation of the EITI will lead to ensuring transparency in the mining field and increasing the accountability before the public. These factors play a key role for improvement of the business atmosphere in the country. Good management of extraction of natural resources can be beneficial for the citizens, and the EITI is a relevant tool to reach that goal. The significant information will be available for all stakeholders through the EITI. And the most valuable part of the process is that the sustainable involvement of interested parties will strengthen the mutual trust and cooperation between all involved sides, Davit Harutyunyan  Minister-Chief of the Staff of the Government, said.

The EITI creates a platform in Armenia for the mutual cooperation of the Government, extractive companies and civil society which aims at raising the financial accountability of the extractive sector.

Armenias delegation took part in the EITI international council session in Colombia.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. The verdict for Ilhan Ashkin, chairman of the Turkish-Azerbaijani cultural union, who made calls for mass violence against Armenians in Netherlands, will be delivered on March 17.

Masis Abrahamyan, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of Netherlands, told ARMENPRESS most probably the court will deliver a punishment verdict.

The court proceedings showed that hardly therell be another way. Meaning, we are waiting for Ilhan Ashkin, who made calls for mass violence, to be condemned, Abrahamyan said.

The Prosecution seeks 80 hours of community service and 2 weeks suspended sentence.

The term of the sentence doesnt matter, the condemnation itself has more significance, so that no one who makes calls for mass violence against Armenians remains unpunished, he said.

On March 3 the trial of Ilhan Ashkin, chairman of the Turkish-Azerbaijani Cultural Union of Hague, took place in Almelo, Netherlands. Ashkin is accused in hate calls against Armenians, when he said Karabakh will be the grave of Armenians during a Turkish rally against the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Almelo.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. There are no negotiations over the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict since the Azerbaijani aggression in April, 2016 against the people of Artsakh seriously impacted the negotiation process, Armenias Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in a joint press conference with Greek FM Nikos Kotzias on March 10, Armenpress reported.

Thats why Armenia and the three Co-Chairing countries continue taking steps aimed at creating conditions for moving forward the negotiations. The Vienna and St. Petersburg summits were for this purpose. It is obvious that Armenia and the three Co-Chairs are speaking with a one language, Azerbaijan with another. It is Azerbaijan that refuses to implement the Vienna and St. Petersburg agreements, Nalbandian said.

The FM stated that when agreements are reached, and then Azerbaijan refuses to implement them, a question arises, whether that country is ready for the peaceful settlement, whether it wants to solve the conflict through negotiations.

FM Nalbandian highlighted that, nevertheless, there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the conflict and the negotiations. We continue taking steps aimed at creating respective conditions for moving forward the negotiation process. The visit of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Azerbaijan is directed for this purpose. The Co-Chairs will visit Armenia on March 27, they will also visit Nagorno Karabakh, the Armenian FM said, stating that in order to resume the negotiations, the events, that took place in April, 2016, must be ruled out.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. Russia will continue its mediation mission in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with the remaining OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries, the United States and France, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing, reports Armenpress.

She said Russia will continue its mediation mission based on five joint statements that were adopted by the Presidents of Russia, US and France.

These documents emphasize the impermissibility to settle the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with the use of force. They include a call addressed to the leaderships of Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle the disputable issues based on the non-use of force and threat of force, the territorial integrity of states, equal rights and the peoples right to self-determination, Zakharova said.

The Russian MFA spokeswoman stated that the Russian side will make efforts for the settlement process of the NK conflict within the frames of the agreed approaches, taking into account Russias close relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Zakharova recalled Russias role in the previously signed agreements, stating that they till now are important points for the conflict settlement.

Following all previous agreements is an important step on reaching sustainable peace over the Karabakh conflict, Maria Zakharova said.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. Jon Huntsman Jr. has accepted US President Donald Trumps offer to be ambassador to Russia, New York Times reported.

Huntsman Jr. was the US ambassador to China in 2009-2011.

His father, Jon Huntsman Sr., is famous for his pro-Armenian activity. He significantly assisted Armenia after the 1988 earthquake in Spitak. He and his family members visited Armenia 46 times during these 25 years.

Within the framework of charity programs, he provided at least 50 million USD to Armenia for the construction of hospitals and schools. Many students studied in the University of Utah thanks to the scholarships provided by him.

Jon Huntsman Sr. was granted Armenias citizenship and was awarded with two Honorary Medals.
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. Greece is against attempts of solving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict militarily and supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, foreign minister of Greece Nikos Kotzias announced in the Yerevan State University.

Greece supports the OSCE Minsk Groups efforts aimed at the peaceful solution of the conflict. Greece opposes all those who think they can solve this conflict through a military way, Kotzias said.

He added that Greece is in favor of peaceful settlements for all conflicts, protection of human rights and guaranteeing security, for which the efforts of everyone must be aimed.
In what Community Players artistic director Jamie Ulmer is calling a crossover event, two award winning one act plays are appearing on stage in Beatrice before appearing in the next round of competition.

On Saturday night, in conjunction with the Lofte Community Theatre in Manley, Community Players will stage The Santaland Diaries and Shakespeares a Dick. Both plays took home awards at the Nebraska Association of Community Theatres Festival last July, and are heading to the American Association of Community Theaters regional festival in Brainerd, Minnesota this April.

It's kind of a fundraiser for both organizations to send our shows to the regional festival, Ulmer said, but also it's an opportunity to showcase both of the shows in our community, because neither one of them have performed in our respective communities yet.

Both shows play at the Lofte Community Theatre on Friday night before heading to Beatrice this weekend. Tickets are $15 for the 7:30 p.m. show.

Community Players contribution, The Santaland Diaries is based on a David Sedaris essay about the authors time working as an elf at Macys department store. Actor and co-director Pat Marlatt took home the award for outstanding actor at the NACT festival.

Shakespeares a Dick, produced by Lofte Community Theatre, is the story of a redneck, cursed to speak in florid Shakespearian verse after he disparages Shakespeares As You Like It. The one act won the outstanding supporting actor and supporting actress awards as well as the award for set design from NACT.

Both shows were named Outstanding Productions by NACT and won a chance to perform at the AACT regional festival.

We hope people come out, Ulmer said. By coming out and seeing the show, they're helping send us to the festival and continuing to build Beatrice and Community Players' reputation as a regionally recognized arts organization.

If thats not enough to tempt you, Ulmer said, seeing the shows makes for a good date night idea as well.

We do have a liquor license for Saturday, Ulmer said. So you can get a drink and see two great shows all at the same time.
Believing that hipsters can reverse the consequences of late-stage capitalism is a more attractive thought for city planners in cash-strapped cities than realizing that many American cities are, for now, screwed thanks to postindustrial decline and growing inequality. Gentrification may provide a new tax base, but it also reshapes what cities are, turning them into explicit supporters of inequality, reliant on it to self-fund, yet still unable to meet the needs of their poor. A real solution to the economics of American cities would require more workmore taxes, more laws, more intervention from the federal government. Those things are hard. Gentrification is easy.
In 1987, at 9 years old, Sarah Rinne became involved with the North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC) and has been passionate about it ever since.

My parents were not horse people, Rinne explained, but Joyce Jensen (who her dad worked with) hauled me to meetings and rides in the beginning.

Jensen had given Rinne her first horse which was a palomino mare, named Nici.

Rinne, who grew up near Hallam, recalled her first trail ride in April 1988 at Rock Creek Station near Jansen. She noted that she had just turned ten, which is the earliest you can begin competing with NATRC.

Since that time, she has logged approximately 4,400 competitive trail miles, the majority of which were in the open class in NATRC.

NATRC trail rides are held throughout the United States, and are divided into different regions and throughout the calendar year. Many of the rides are held in state park areas.

Riders can choose to ride in the novice, competitive pleasure, which is approximately 40 miles over the course of the weekend, or open class at each ride. Open class is approximately 60 miles a weekend.

Beginning the ride with a score of 100, horses and riders are judged separately, although how they function as a team is also important.

The day before the ride, competitors check in their horse with the veterinarian judge and the horsemanship judge. This is one of many opportunities throughout the weekend that the horses metabolics and soundness are evaluated.

The teams are allowed a window of time to complete the required miles on the mapped trails each day. They are judged on trail manners, safety, and completion of obstacles. In addition, there are two fifteen minute pulse and respiration checks for the horses.

Competitors camp overnight with the horses tied to the trailers, often timing out at sunrise on the second day.

After each of the riders has checked out their horses by lounging them in large circles, the judges review and complete the scorecards. Points have been deducted throughout the ride and therefore, the more points remaining, the higher the rider or the horse will place.

Awards are given at the end of each ride and annually on a regional level. There is also a national conference yearly with awards.

Rinne noted, however, that while she has won many awards, as well as regional and national recognition, that is not what keeps her coming back.

I love the people; they are family," Rinne said. "Chuck Edwards still calls me kid at almost 40 years of age... It is a warm and friendly group and it doesnt matter which region of the country. Ive felt welcomed everywhere.

In addition to riding throughout the United States, Sarah has served as a ride manager and volunteered in a variety of jobs needed to put on a ride. She has served as the Regional Ride Coordinator in 2012, Regional Board for multiple years, as well as with NECTRA. (Nebraska Endurance and Competitive Trail Ride Association). Rinne noted that she has served on the Board of Directors for NATRC and recently became employed as the executive administrator.

Rinne also earned a Horsemanship Judges card in November 2013.

She has competed with approximately 20 different horses throughout the years, and noted that she has ridden gaited, non-gaited and several different breeds.

This year she will be competing a gaited Morgan owned by Dwight and Mary Hanson from Ithaca, Nebraska. Silver Valley Tate is 16.1 hands tall. Rinne stated that she has 1,200 competitive miles planned with NATRC and AERC (American Endurance Ride Conference) rides this year.

The most anticipated event of this season, however, is the Tevis Cup.

On Aug. 5, 2017 Rinne plans to be among the riders who will attempt 100 miles in 24 hours in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is said to be the worlds best known and most difficult equestrian endurance ride.
As on Sept 30, 2016, gross NPAs of public sector banks rose to Rs 6.3 lakh crore.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley chairs a high-level meeting with Reserve Bank officials to address the issue of non-performing assets in the banking sector.

The meeting to be attended by Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal, will discuss ways of resolution of stressed assets urgently, sources said.

While Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian had suggested setting up of a bad bank to deal with the problem of non-performing loans, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Viral Acharya had floated the twin concept of Private Asset Management Company (PAMC) and National Asset Management Company (NAMC) for resolution of stressed assets.

As on September 30, 2016, gross NPAs of public sector banks rose to Rs 6.3 lakh crore as against Rs 5.5 lakh crore at the end of the June quarter. This works out to an increase of Rs 79,977 crore on a quarter on quarter basis.

Last month, Subramanian had said the idea of setting up a state-owned asset reconstruction company (ARC) or bad bank to deal with mounting NPAs is gaining traction and needs to be created quickly.

The PAMC plan, as suggested by Acharya, could be for sectors such as metals, construction, telecom, and textiles, where the assets will have economic value in the short run.

As per the plan, the banking sector may be asked to restructure about 50 large stressed exposures in these sectors by December 31, 2017.

The NAMC plan could be viable for sectors where the problem is not just of excess capacity but of economically unviable assets in the near term.
Cash injection, RBI measures not enough, says Fitch.

Kingdom of Swazilands King Mswati-III shakes hands with CII president Naushad Forbes with Nirmala Sitharaman watching at the 12th CII-Exim Bank Conclave in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: Some Indian state-owned banks remain at risk of skipping coupon  interest  payments on capital instruments over the next couple of years despite measures by the Reserve Bank of India to ease pressures, and the injection of government capital into state-owned banks, rating agency Fitch said on Thursday. Mid-sized state-owned banks are the most at risk of breaching capital triggers.

Coupon is the term used for the interest paid on a bond by its issuer for the term of the security.

According to Fitch, distributable reserves at small to mid-sized state-owned banks were down by one-third in first nine months of FY17 compared with financial year 2015, reflecting persistent losses and weak internal capital generation.

Five state-owned banks suffered losses that were equivalent to more than 30 per cent of distributable reserves in April-December 2016.

The decision to allow banks to make additional Tier 1 (AT1) coupon payments from statutory reserves may have helped mitigate short-term coupon-deferral risks, but the reserves of the public banks are likely to continue falling.

It said some state-owned banks are also at risk of missing coupon payments on capital instruments as a result of breaching minimum capital requirements.

The analysis indicates that the total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 12 banks was at or below the 11.5 per cent minimum that will be a pre-requisite for payment of coupons on both legacy and Basel III AT1 capital instruments by FY19.

There were also 11 banks with common equity tier 1 ratios at or below the 8 per cent minimum that will be required to make coupon payments on AT1 instruments by FY19. The RBI has made several regulatory adjustments in the last few years to avoid potential damage to sentiment in the domestic market for capital instruments.

These changes have been applied to the sector as a whole and are not unique to India, but their timing suggests the RBI has felt pressure to provide headroom to banks.
After the uproar over his tweet, the filmmaker finally apologised for his Women's Day tweet on Twitter.

Mumbai: Ram Gopal Varma recently made headlines for trolling Tiger Shroff, calling him a 'bikini babe' and asking him to learn 'machoism' from his father.

While the filmmaker is known for making such controversial statements on Twitter, perhaps for the first time, politicians and a woman organisation also slammed the filmmaker for his Women's Day tweet.

On the occasion of Womens Day, Varma had tweeted, "I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives."

While Varma went on justifying the reason behind his tweet, the filmmaker was heavily slammed on social media for the insensitive comment.

Later, a womens organisation Ranragini, which has affiliation to Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, filed a complaint against RGV. He also got into a spat on Twitter with NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad who asked him to apologise for his comments. Even BJP MLA Ram Kadam warned him of consequences if he did not apologise.

While Varma had earlier tweeted that he would file a counter complaint against the one filed by Ranragini, he finally took to Twitter to apologise for his tweet calling it unintended insensitive tweets. He also added that the apology was only for the ones who were genuinely offended and not for the ones who ranted for publicity or threatened to take law into their hands.

Will the filmmaker be more careful with his tweets next time onwards?
There is a separate dispute between the brothers over Hepburn memorabilia.

Mumbai: Audrey Hepburn's two sons are involved in multiple disputes over the treasured items their mother had left behind, Steve E Young, a lawyer representing the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund has said.

Last month, Hepburn's sons had filed a lawsuit in LA Superior Court on the same. Luca Dotti, the younger son, is the chairman of Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.

As per the suit, the elder son, Sean Ferrer, has been obstructing the efforts of the charity to display the souvenirs related to the late actress.

Both Ferrer and Dotti jointly own Hepburn's effects.

Shortly after her death in the year 1993, they formed the charitable trust and legally agreed to donate proceeds from exhibitions to several children charities.

The lawyer has now claimed that Ferrer has not responded to the suit, and has thus far avoided being served court papers.

"At issue in the suit is the right for the Fund to continue using Audrey Hepburn's name, likeness and image in connection with exhibitions of her memorabilia to raise money to provide support for children in need. Ferrer alleges the Fund cannot do so without his permission," said Young said.

Young said that there is a separate dispute between the brothers over Hepburn memorabilia.
For the first time, Land Entry Case Files: Homestead Final Certificates  Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management from the National Archives for Arizona, Indiana, Illinois, Nevada, and Ohio have been digitized and are available online and at the following research facilities: Homestead National Monument of America, the National Archives, and FamilySearch Family History Centers. This marks a milestone in the Homestead Records Project: an ambitious multi-institutional partnership to digitize and make publicly available online all 823,575 Homestead land-entry final certificate case files (totaling more than 30 million individual pieces of paper). These states join Nebraska  which was the first state to have its Homestead Records completely digitized and available in 2014. This project includes Homestead National Monument of America, the National Archives, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), FamilySearch International, Fold3.com and Ancestry.com.

Each case file tells the story of a claimants effort to prove up a 160-acre piece of land and earn it for free from the US government under the provisions of the Homestead Act of 1862. The process required hard work and sweat as each homesteader labored for five years to build a home and bring land into cultivation as a working farm. The case files were amassed by the General Land Office as the proof that each homesteader had met the requirements of the law  legitimately earning title to the land.

These files are accessible free of charge at Homestead National Monument of America and National Archives research facilities nationwide. They are available by subscription from Ancestry.com. The Nebraska records can be accessed free of charge at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Libraries.

This recent five state release provides digital access to an additional 3,462 case files  adding to the 76,871 Homestead final certificate case files for Nebraska. More record releases are expected later this year for Iowa, Utah and Wyoming.

These records offer a treasure trove of information to genealogists and scholars. Dr. Richard Edwards, Director of the Center for Great Plains Studies at UNL, said this newly released information could rewrite our Nations Homesteading History.

Do these records apply to you? Nearly one-third of the entire nation has an ancestor that homesteaded - this could apply to over 92 million Americans! Containing both genealogical and historical information, the records describe improvements made to the property such as houses constructed, wells dug, crops planted, trees cleared and fences built. Some case files include citizenship, naturalization, and military service records.

Remember, Homestead National Monument of America has an exciting schedule of events planned for 2017. Keep up with the latest information by following us on Twitter (HomesteadNM) and Facebook (Homestead National Monument of America).

Homestead National Monument of America is a unit of the National Park Service located four miles west of Beatrice, Nebraska and is open daily except for January 1, Thanksgiving Day, and December 25. Admission is free of charge. For additional information, please call 402-223-3514 or visit http://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm.
A senior HR executive Avnish Dev was killed and nearly 100 were injured, which included nine policemen too.

Of the 148 total accused, 31 workers were convicted, of which, nine of them are still behind bars, while 139 are out on bail. (Photo: PTI)

Gurgaon: A court here on Friday convicted 31 employees of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), including 13 on charges of murder, for the violence at the companys Maneser plant in August 2012.

Additional District and Sessions Judge R K Goyal also acquitted 117 MSIL employees. A total of 148 workers were arrested and charged with the murder of senior HR officer Awanish Kumar Dev.

The court sentenced 13 employees, holding top posts in MSIL workers union, on charges of murder and attempt to murder besides rioting and other related offences.

The other 18 were convicted on charges of rioting, trespassing, causing hurt and other related offences under Indian Penal Code sections.

The quantum of punishment will be decided on March 18 during the next hearing, defence counsel Rajendra Pathak said.

The violence on August 18, 2012 broke out over wage issues when a group of employees allegedly torched a section of MSIL facility which claimed the life of Dev, a resident of South Delhis Malviya Nagar.

A total of 148 workers were arrested and charged with the murder of Dev, a resident of South Delhis Malviya Nagar.

More than 100 other employees, including some foreign nationals, suffered injuries.

The district administration imposed CrPC section 144 near the civil court and Industrial Model Township (IMT) Manesar, prohibiting gathering of more than five people.

Assembly of more than five people has also been prohibited in the 500 metres radius of MSIL plant and Gurgaon court.
This is the second such incident of an Indian aircraft losing contact with the ATC in the European airspace in a month's time.

New Delhi: A London-bound Air India aircraft from Ahmedabad today had to be escorted by fighter jets after it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control while flying over Hungary.

The Dreamliner Boieng 787-800 plane with 231 passengers and 18 crew members onboard lost contact with the ATC due to "frequency fluctuation", an Air India spokesperson said.

"AI flight 171 from Ahmedabad for Newark airport in the US via London lost communication with local ATC while flying over Humgary for a short while," the spokesperson said.

The aircraft, which took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport at Ahmedabad at 0700 hours, landed safely at London's Heathrow Airport at 11.05 hours local time, the spokesperson said.

Air India has already started a probe into the incident, he added.

This is the second such reported incident of an Indian aircraft losing contact with the ATC in the European airspace in a month's time.

On February 16, Jet Airways flight Jet Airways flight 9W-118 from Mumbai had lost communication with the Germany's ATC on its way to Heathrow airport in London, forcing the German Air Force to scramble two fighter jets after it.
The minister also said 8 suspects had been arrested so far in MP-UP terror incidents.

New Delhi: Eight suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the blast on a train in Madhya Pradesh and the subsequent anti-terror operations leading to the killing of alleged terrorist Saifullah in Lucknow, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Making a statement during the Zero Hour on incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on March 7 and 8, he also showered praise on Saifullah's father Sartaj who has refused to take the body of his son, amid thumping of benches by the entire House.

After the statement, several Opposition members wanted to seek clarification from the minister. Singh would reply to members on the "next working day".

"Till March 8, six accused were arrested. With the arrest of two more accused by UP ATS on March 9, total 8 arrests have been made in these incidents so far," the minister said.

Singh, who had made statement in this regard in Lok Sabha yesterday, said UP ATS sieged the house in which Saifullah was hiding in Haji Colony area of Lucknow and made vigorous attempts to nab the suspect.

"However, he refused to surrender and started firing on ATS team. Ultimately, after 12 hours of effort, the ATS team entered the room in which Saifulla was holed up and in the ensuing encounter, this suspected terrorist was killed," he said, and gave other details regarding the incidents.

He said that due to the prompt action taken by the police of both the states, "a possible threat to national security was successfuly averted". Praising Sartaj, Singh said the "entire country is proud of him".

The minister said India's culture is such that no Hindu, Muslim or Christian will endorse any terror activity in the country, as members from all sides thumped of their desks.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh said the statement of Sartaj reflects the sentiments of the nation and there could be no compromise on terrorism.

Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) said since the minister has made a statement on the issue, members should be allowed to seek clarification. He got support from several other Opposition members.

Later it was decided that Singh would make himself available to members for clarification on the next working day.

The Home Minister informed the House that eight pistols, 630 live cartridges, Rs 1.5 lakh, three mobiles phone, four sim cards, two wireless sets and some foreign currency were recovered from the place where Saifullah lived.

According to UP police, Saifullah belonged to a self-proclaimed group of ISIS supporters.
Justice Karnan had defied SC order and the apex court rules on contempt, SC noted, seeking his presence in before it on March 31.

New Delhi: In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Sunday issued an arrest warrant against serving Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan to ensure his presence before it on March 31 in a contempt case.

"There is no other alternative to seek presence of Shri Justice C S Karnan. We issue bailable warrants of the sum of Rs 10,000 in the nature of personal bond to the satisfaction of the arresting officer," a seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said.

The bench directed the West Bengal Director General of Police to personally execute the arrest warrant on Justice Karnan to ensure his presence before it on March 31, the next date of hearing.

The bench, also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur, P C Ghose and Kurian Joseph, refused to consider a communication, written to apex court registry on March 8, as his response to the notice issued against him earlier.

At the outset, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that Justice Karnan had defied the Supreme Court order and the apex court rules on contempt provided for issuance of bailable warrants against a contemnor to ensure his presence.

The apex court said that the Supreme Court registry has received a fax from Justice Karnan on March 8 in which he had discussed certain administrative issues.

The bench, however, refused to consider the March 8 communication as a response of Justice Karnan on the contempt notice observing that it reflected allegations "on certain named judges".

After the alleged open contemptuous letters written by Justice Karnan against the Madras HC Chief Justice, addressed to the CJI, Prime Minister and others, the court had initiated proceedings against him.

The apex court had on February 8 asked Justice Karnan to appear in person and explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. It had restrained him from undertaking judicial and administrative work.

However, Justice Karnan failed to appear before the apex court on February 13.

On February 10, Justice Karnan had written a letter to the apex court in which he had reportedly played the Dalit card asking the Supreme Court to refer the matter to

Parliament, contending that contempt proceedings were "not sustainable".

"Before obtaining any explanation from me, I wish to state that the courts have no power to enforce punishment against a sitting judge of the High Court. The said order does not conform to logic, therefore it is not suitable for execution," he had said in the letter.

During the last hearing, senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the Registrar General of the Madras HC, had said the High Court judges needed protection from Karnan's verbal abuse and wild charges.

He had said the judge concerned had levelled malicious rape charges against a sitting Madras High Court judge.

Justice Karnan was transferred from the Madras HC to the Calcutta HC for his alleged contemptuous conduct. He had on February 15, 2016 stayed his transfer order after the apex court asked the Chief Justice of Madras High Court not to assign any judicial work to him.

The same day the apex court had suspended Justice Karnan's order and made it clear that all administrative and judicial orders passed by him after the issuance of the proposal of his transfer from the Madras High Court to the Calcutta High Court shall remain stayed till further orders. However, a week later, the judge had said that he had issued an "erroneous" order due to his "mental frustration resulting in loss of his mental balance.
Leader of ISIS Khurasan module among two arrested in Kanpur.

Arms, ammunition and other items recovered after suspected ISIS terrorist Saifullah was killed in a 12-hour long operation near Lucknow. (Photo: PTI)

Lucknow: The UP ATS on Thursday arrested two more persons in connection with the blast in the BhopalUjjain passenger train and the Lucknow terror operation that ended on Wednesday.

The arrests were made from Kanpur. The arrested persons are Ghaus Mohammad Khan, said to be the mastermind of the Khurasan module, and Azhar Khan, who was supplying arms to the members of the module. The name of Azhar was mentioned in a diary recovered during the encounter on Wednesday.

Ghaus Mohammad aka Karan Khatri, is a retired Air Force personnel  he was an airman  and had been providing literature and arms for radicalising youth. He has been living in Jajmau in Kanpur after leaving the Air Force in 1993.

The Uttar Pradesh police had said that the youth killed in an anti-terror operation in Lucknow and his five arrested associates were self radicalised and were trying to build an Islamic State Khurasan module in the state capital.

Ghaus Mohammads sons Adil and Abdul said that they had no inkling about their fathers activities and links with the terrorist organisations.

We saw this news on TV channels but our father denied having any connection with such activities, he said he was innocent, the sons said.

They said that they had never seen the slain terror suspect Saifullah, who was killed in an encounter in Lucknow on Tuesday night. They also stated that unknown persons never visited their house.

The sons said that their father had spoken to them on Tuesday and had said that he was going to his native village. The blast in the BhopalUjjain express took place on Tuesday.

ADG (law and order) Daljit Chaudhary told reporters that he two suspects had been brought to Lucknow and were being interrogated by various agencies. He said that the members of the module had been arrested.

It may be recalled that Saifullah, a suspect in the train blast case, was killed while hiding in a building in Lucknow after a 12-hour operation on Wednesday. Security forces who surrounded the building had repeatedly asked him to come out, but to no avail. It is said that he and his group planned to blow up a Sufi shrine within a month.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi opposed another petition filed by Swaraj Abhiyan for a probe into Augusta chopper deal.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a petition for a probe into the medias role in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal.

Dismissing a petition filed by Hari Jaisingh, former editor-in-chief of Tribune, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra, A.M. Kanwilkar and M.M. Shantanagouder observed Media has rights within constitutional boundary. Media is independent in our democracy Freedom of media cant be curtailed. We cant direct CBI to probe contract between two parities abroad. If CBI finds something, it will catch them. We cant entertain this petition.

In his writ petition, Hari Jaisingh, former editor-in-chief of Tribune, sought a direction for a probe relating to National Security and instances of corruption among certain members of the Indian Press. He said as per Italian Investigative Report, it was admitted in the Milan Court of Appeals decision, the amounts agreed between AgustaWestland representatives Giuseppe Orsi and Spagnolini Bruno, with the mediators Haschke Guido, Gerosa Carlo and Christian Michel were also inclusive of bribes to be paid to Indian Public Officials to perform deeds which were against their office duties and in particular to manipulate the tender regarding the acquisition of the above mentioned helicopters.

It was also mentioned about the role of Christian Michel that Rs 217 crores approximately (Euros 30 Million) was allocated to him by Giuseppe Orsi (the CEO of Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland) and Bruno Spaglioni (the CEO of AgustaWestland) for the purpose of managing different officials in India. Of this sum, 6 Million Euros (approximately 50 crores) were set aside specifically to manage the Indian Media.

He said this allegation was also reported extensively in the Indian Media and stood corroborated by the existence of an Agreement between AgustaWestland and Christian Michel, for the express purpose of managing hostile press activities that might impact the execution of the contract. Hence he wanted a direction for a thorough probe and a direction to disclose the amounts paid to the media and whether taxes were paid on this amount.

Meanwhile Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi opposed another petition filed by Swaraj Abhiyan for a probe into Augusta chopper deal. He said petitioner is an unregistered organisation and has applied to the Election Commission of India for registration as a political party called Swaraj India When an issue takes the colour of political nature or a political protagonist approaches the court in the guise of a PIL to settle political scores, it loses the character of public interest litigation, he told the bench. The Bench said it will hear the matter in April and lay down a law whether political parties can file a PIL to espouse a public cause.
Tension has gripped town in Dhemaji district after attack on AASU office.

Activists of All Assam Students Union (Aasu) take out a satyagrah rally in Nagaon district of Assam on Friday in protest against the alleged vandalisation of its office at Silapathar by the members of a Bengali organisation. (Photo: PTI)

Guwahati: Assam director general of police Mukesh Sahay and chief secretary Vinod Kumar Pipersenia visited trouble-torn Silapathar in Dhemaji district on Friday to take stock of the situation.

Tension has gripped the area after Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samanvay Samiti (NIBBUSS) activists attacked the All Assam Students Union (AASU) office in Silapathar.

Informing that Assam police has announced a cash award of Rs 1-lakh for anyone who would provide vital information about the whereabouts of Subodh Biswas, the prime accused in the March 6 Silapathar incident, Mr Sahay said the police has already arrested about 30 accused. We will nab Subodh Biswas soon, he said, adding that measures have been taken to stop the situation from escalating; Section 144 has been imposed in Silapathar to maintain law and order. Fourteen companies of the Assam police battalion have also been deployed in Silapathar and several companies of paramilitary forces have been shifted from Jorhat and North Lakhimpur to Silapathar. Meanwhile, AASU staged a state-wide on Friday against the Silapathar violence.

The agitators demanded arrest of Subodh Biswas, president of the Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samanvay Samiti (NIBBUSS), for inciting the violence.

The AASU leaders slammed the NDA government for advocating to grant citizenship to Bangladeshi Hindus. Senior AASU leaders who led the protest in Guwahati has also warned the state of serious consequences if the police failed to arrest Subodh Biswas. Normal life was affected in Upper Assam where several organisations called for a complete bandh.

Protestors burnt tyres and blocked roads at many places in Dibrugarh, while tension was prevailing in district towns as there were reports of miscreants intimidating residents of retaliatory violence.
One of the UN Secretary Generals spokespersons said this would be to see how things can be improved on the ground.

New Delhi: If the need arises, India is expected to make it clear to the United Nations that all issues between India and Pakistan have to be addressed bilaterally, amid UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres mulling the option of talking to senior officials from India and Pakistan on the situation in Kashmir. One of the UN Secretary Generals spokespersons said this would be to see how things can be improved on the ground.

Our position on addressing all issues between India and Pakistan bilateral has not changed, Indian government sources said on Friday.

The UN chiefs deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq was quoted by news agencies as telling reporters at the UN that Mr Guterres will talk to different officials if it helps (to) move the process along. Thats something that he is looking into. Beyond that, I have nothing new to say about the issue. Mr Haq made the remarks when he was asked at his daily press briefing about the situation in Kashmir and if Mr Guterres has been able to understand the Kashmir dispute and whether he would be talking to PM Narendra Modi.

When asked if there is a timeline as to when the UN chief will talk to leaders from the two countries, Mr Haq said as with any number of long-running situations, there are a lot of complex issues that need to be examined.

The UN Chief will look into the issue, and certainly, he will try to see what can be done to improve the situation on the ground, Haq said.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had repeatedly expressed deep concern about the deteriorating situation along the Line of Control in Kashmir and called

on all those involved to prioritise the restoration of calm and stability in order to prevent any further escalation of tensions and loss of lives. Ban had called for the two nations to resolve their difference bilaterally, saying that his good offices were available to India and Pakistan if accepted by both sides.
DIG-rank officer to probe killing of Nepalese national.

New Delhi: Sashastra Seema Bal, the border guarding force for the Indo-Nepal border, has ordered a court of inquiry into allegations of firing in which a Nepalese national was killed. Even though SSB has denied reports of any firing by its troops but since allegations were serious a fact finding inquiry has been ordered. The probe will be conducted by a DIG-rank officer.

National security advisor Ajit Doval also called up Nepalese Prime Minister Prachanda and expressed his condolence over the death of Nepalese citizen while promising investigations into the incident.

Meanwhile, SSB claimed that situation along the border in Lakhimpur Kheri area remains tense and Nepalese people were shouting anti-India slogans. It is alleged in the media that one Nepalese citizen has died due to SSB firing. The SSB officials concerned have denied any firing, a statement by the security force said.

The situation is tense today and a large number of Nepalese people have gathered on the spot again and resorted to shouting anti-India slogans and stone-pelting. Local officers and SSB officers are on the spot, it added.

The ministry of external affairs has said that India has sought the post-mortem and forensic reports from Nepal of its national who is alleged to have been killed in SSB firing. The incident has led to protests in Nepal.

The SSB claimed that clashes were first triggered on Wednesday when some local Nepalese people gathered near pillar no 200 in the Basai area of Pilibhit and tried to construct a culvert.

Officials claimed that these people were stopped from carrying out any construction activity as earlier the authorities from both sides had agreed to allow construction of culvert only after conducting a joint geological survey.

But yesterday, again in the morning, a group of Nepalese people gathered at same site and started pelting stones on SSB personnel and local police and administrative authorities on duty, the SSB said. Nine SSB personnel and 34 Indian civilians were injured in the stone pelting incident.

Following the violence the local police fired a teargas shell, two were fired by the Nepal police to disperse the crowd on Thursday. The situation was brought under control by the intervention of the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur Kheri and Nepalese authorities in Kanchanpur.

SSB officials claimed that they were yet to receive the post-mortem report of the deceased youth as there were some reports suggesting that he might have died due to some liver ailment. The exact cause of death would be know only after we receive the post-mortem and other relevant forensic report, an official added.

The SSB works under the command of the Union home ministry and is tasked with guarding the 1,751 km long Indo-Nepal border. Out of this Uttar Pradesh shares a 599.3 km long open border with Nepal touching seven districts- Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Sravasti, Balrampur, Sidhharthnagar and Maharajganj.
Justice Karnan is the first serving high court judge against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the apex court in a contempt case.

New Delhi/Kolkata: In an order unprecedented in the annals of Indias judiciary, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against Justice C.S. Karnan of Calcutta high court as he failed to appear for the second time to answer contempt charges for his allegations of corruption against judges of the Madras high court and the apex court.

Justice Karnan is the first serving high court judge against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the apex court in a contempt case.

In Kolkata, Justice Karnan hit back at the Supreme Court over the warrant to ensure his presence before it on March 31, calling it unconstitutional, and alleged that he was being targeted for being a dalit. I had complained against 20 judges and a former Prime Minister for which a suo moto case has been registered against me. They are harassing me intentionally. One Constitution cannot act as a barrier against another constitutional body, he said.

Supreme Court is not my master and high court is not the servant. My next step will be I will use my judicial power. All seven judges have to resign and should be prosecuted, Justice Karnan told reporters at his home.

A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar took strong note of Justice Karnans non-appearance despite being served with the contempt notice, and asked West Bengals DGP to execute the warrant. The court said it would appreciate if the warrant was served by the DGP.

Notice of this petition has been duly served. Despite service, wherein the personal presence of Shri Justice C.S. Karnan in this Court was imperative, he has neither entered appearance in person, nor through counsel, the bench, also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M.B. Lokur, P. C Ghose and Kurian Joseph, said. In view of the above, there is no other alternative but to seek the presence of Shri Justice C.S. Karnan by issuing bailable warrants, it said. The bench during a 15-minute hearing that took place in the packed CJIs courtroom referred to Justice Karnans fax message sent to the apex court registry on March 8 seeking a meeting with the CJI to discuss certain administrative issues. It said the message primarily seems to reflect the allegations by him against certain named judges. The above fax message cannot be considered as a response of Justice C.S. Karnan, either to the contempt petition or to the notice served upon him. At the outset, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said that Justice Karnan had defied the Supreme Court order and the apex court rules on contempt provide for issuance of bailable and non-bailable warrants against a contemnor to ensure his presence. Addressing a press conference at his residence in Kolkata hours later, Justice Karnan said the apex court has no locus standi to issue a bailable warrant against a sitting judge. This is intentional and I am being targeted for being a dalit. The warrant against me is unconstitutional, he said. Consequently I ask the President of India to recall the bailable warrant illegally issued , he said.

He also issued an order of registration of a case under the appropriate sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989 on CJI Justice J.S. Khehar and six other judges.

He also hit out at Mr Rohatgi and alleged, He is not a fair A-G. There is no provision to issue a bailable warrant against a sitting judge and harass him.
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers are considering legislation that would exempt gun registrations from public record and add new responsibilities for business owners who want to prohibit firearms in their shops.

The state should add any information gathered for gun registrations to a set of records including medical records and students' academic records that are not available to the public, Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard told a legislative committee Wednesday. He said this would protect private information that could be used for identity theft or to harass gun owners.

"Once such information is public, there's no way to contain it and it can be used to harass these individuals," he said.

Nebraska already exempts information on concealed carry permits from public record. Several other states limit or prohibit public access to gun registration information, and more have attempted to pass such laws since a local newspaper in New York published the names and addresses of gun permit holders following the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Releasing addresses of gun owners puts both them and non-gun owners at risk of robberies, said Patricia Harrold of the Nebraska Firearm Holder Association. She said the government is responsible for keeping individuals' private data safe.

The bill would limit researchers and analysts who want to study gun crimes committed by people who legally own guns, said Courtney Lawton of Nebraskans Against Gun Violence.

"The unicameral should be concerned about creating laws and policies that are data-driven, instead of suppressing data and then passing laws based on conjecture," she said. "We need to be able to track this stuff to make reasonable laws."

Another measure sponsored by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon would require owners of private businesses that prohibit guns on their property to post conspicuous signs saying guns aren't allowed and tell people they see carrying guns that firearms aren't permitted in the business.

"As it is, all someone has to do to break the law is show up somewhere with a lawfully permitted handgun and be unaware it isn't allowed on the premises," Brewer said.

The responsibility should be on gun carriers, not business owners and managers, said Jo Ann Emerson, the retired executive director of Lincoln's Lux Center for the Arts. She told the committee she calls ahead to ask if she can bring a snack to performances, and gun owners should do the same with their firearms.

The measure would allow employees to ask police to tell gun carriers they can't have guns in the building, but Lincoln attorney Danielle Savington said that may not always be an option.

"The bill would put women like me who are business owners in the position of accosting strangers," Savington said.

Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings presented a bill that would make committing a crime with a toy gun a separate felony charge. It also would prohibit many juvenile delinquents from possessing firearms until age 25. Halloran's bill earned support from prosecutors and law enforcement officers, but committee members said it is too broad.

A bill sponsored by Sen. John Lowe of Kearney and heard by the committee Wednesday would allow individuals to transport guns if they're unloaded and kept in a container. It responds to a December Nebraska Supreme Court ruling that upheld a lower court's decision to fine a man who had a loaded gun in a case behind the passenger seat of the truck he was driving.

Lincoln resident Mo Neal said she hates attending the hearings but will keep coming back as long as the National Rifle Association brings "these stupid bills."

"We ought to start making stronger gun laws rather than bringing icing-on-the-cake gun laws for the NRA component," she said.
The patient suffered major blood loss and the severed organ was restored after an operation that lasted five hours.

Ghaziabad: The Delhi Police, on Thursday, arrested a 30-year-old woman for allegedly chopping off her husband's penis as revenge for denying sex to her for over ten years.

According to reports, the woman attacked her 34-year-old husband with a grinder stone when he came out of the bathroom, and rendered him unconscious before chopping off his manhood.

She later locked him in the bedroom and surrendered to the police. She reportedly told the police that she did not feel a bit of remorse over her action as her husband 'tortured her by not having physical relationship with her and avoided having children with her.'

He used boast about his manhood and told me that he can have children with other women but not me. I have no regrets as I suffered a lot of humiliation and mental torture. I had no answers when my relatives asked me the reason for not having children the woman reportedly told the police.

The victim, a cab driver, called a friend when he regained his senses, and was later admitted to a private hospital, where he was brought in a critical condition. The patient suffered major blood loss and the severed organ was restored after an operation that lasted five hours, the hospital authorities said.
Referring to Saifullahs family, the Manch leader said it was obvious the family was under police pressure.

Lucknow: Sartaj Ahmad, father of slain terror suspect Saifullah, has now demanded a judicial inquiry into the Uttar Pradesh ATS encounter in which his son was killed in Lucknow on Wednesday morning.

The demand came after activists of Rihai Manch, a platform fighting for innocents implicated in criminal cases, met Saifullah and his family in Kanpur on Thursday.

Sartaj Ahmad had refused to accept his sons body and said he did not wish to identify himself with one who was involved in terror activities. I have been demanding an inquiry into the entire incident since the day of the encounter, but the media, including the television news channels, did not report it. I am curious to know how my son, who left home barely two and a half months ago, got radicalised to such an extent that he got into this mess, he said.

The Rihai Manch, which had been set up to fight for the rights of wrongly-imprisoned terror suspects after the Batla House encounter in New Delhi in 2008, has alleged that the operation appeared to be an attempt by the Central government to polarise votes for the final phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections on Wednesday.

In a statement, Rihai Manch president Mohammed Shoeb, who visited the spot where the encounter took place, said the inner room of the house  in which Saifullah was learnt to be at that time  was such that he couldnt have fired at the police from there, and neither could the police have fired at him. There were no bullet marks on the walls of the room, which raises questions about the police version, he said. Besides, ADG (law and order) Daljit Chaudhary later claimed there was no evidence of the so-called terror suspects links with ISIS, which also raises many doubts, he added.

Referring to Saifullahs family, the Manch leader said it was obvious the family was under police pressure.

The police visited the same house two hours before the encounter following a complaint of domestic violence from one resident. The cops interrogated all members living here, including Saifullah. Would he have interacted with the police if he was involved in the Madhya Pradesh train blast? the Manch leader asked.

Rihai Manch activists claimed that local residents were now also raising questions about the facts of the encounter, and their views could not be ignored.
BJP believes it will sweep UP and form govt in Ukhand and Goa.

New Delhi: Charged by the prospects of sweeping Uttar Pradesh and forming government in Uttarakhand and Goa, the BJP is not only preparing for a countrywide celebration, its president Amit Shah has also begun parleys with the RSS brass to decide chief ministerial candidates for the states.

He met senior RSS leader Bhaiyya Ji Joshi in Mumbai on Friday. Counting of votes in the above three states, besides Punjab and Manipur, will take place Saturday.

A victory, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, would not only silence Prime Minister Narendra Modis critics but the BJP would also get a boost with regard to electoral numbers for the upcoming Presidential elections. President Pranab Mukherjees term expires July 25.

UP sends 31 members to the Rajya Sabha where the government is currently in a minority. A victory could also see the Prime Minister bringing in some contentious reforms and harsher measures to fight corruption.

However, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said he was confident of an SP-Congress victory in UP. He also gave examples of how the pollsters predictions were wrong during the Bihar Assembly elections, and stressed that this time also the same would happen.

SPs Ram Gopal Yadav also said We are 100 per cent winning the elections and claimed that he has information that the original exit polls were changed under pressure by channels a few days back. Interestingly, SP supremo and UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav indicated Thursday that if numbers fall short, joining hands with archrival BSP could be a possibility.

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi quipped on the issue saying, Those who are dreaming about cobbling up a stopgap alliance will have to keep dreaming. BJPs strategists are also hoping that Mayawatis BSP, the biggest loser in UP predicted by the exit polls, could witness some of its members defecting to it.

During Mr Shahs meeting with RSS second-in-command Bhaiyya Ji Joshi, senior RSS leader Dr Krishna Gopal was also present. BJPs Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar accompanied Mr Shah to the venue. The meeting lasted for nearly an hour at Yashwant Bhawan, Parel, where Sangh parivars upcoming Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (general body meeting) was also discussed. The three-day meet in Coimbatore from March 19 will be attended by the Sangh top brass, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and also by Mr Shah and Union minister Nitin Gadkari.

Meanwhile, BJPs highest decision-making body, the parliamentary board, is likely to meet Sunday, a day after the results. The BJP top brass could discuss CM candidates.

Names of BJP leaders including Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dinesh Sharma, Union ministers Manoj Sinha, Mahesh Sharma and Uma Bharti are doing the rounds for the CM post in UP.

There is also a demand from the state unit for Union home minister Rajnath Singh for the top post. Speculation is also rife that the BJP could name a dark horse for the post.

Another state where the exit polls have favoured the BJP is Uttarakhand. There, names of Satpal Maharaj, Ashok Bhatt, Trivendra Rawat are doing the rounds for the CM post.

In Punjab, where some of the exit polls have predicted AAP to open its account, the AAP leadership did not name any chief ministerial candidate. In Goa, it named former cop Elvis Gomes as its CM face.

In the Bharatiya Janata Party camp, the names of Union ministers Manohar Parrikar and Sripad Naik are also doing the rounds for the post.

Upbeat over the exit polls predictions, Union minister Ravishankar Prasad said in Patna Ek Holi kal bhi khelenge, jo kesariya Holi hogi.

Taking a jibe at political rivals who had criticised the demonetisation decision, an issue which the BJPs opponents had aggressively highlighted during campaigning, Union urban development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said, After seeing peoples support to the government decision, tone of those who are criticising government for demonetisation will change from tomorrow evening.
Siddha, Unani and Ayurvedic branches of medicine recommend peacock feathers and other organs.

There has been a lot of controversy over respecting national symbols in the country lately. But new findings by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reveal that as the country is worked up over patriotism, the national bird isnt in a great situation.

The peacock is being killed in large numbers across the country since its feathers and other organs are recommended ingredients in Unani, Ayurvedic and Sidhha medicines in the country. The national birds numbers have dwindled owing to poaching and also destruction of habitat.

Its not just quacks who are promoting the use of peacock organs in medicine, but hospitals funded by the AYUSH ministry are also involved in states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Bhasma and churan are made from burnt peacock feathers and are used for curing morning sickness, vomiting and hiccups.

Apart from feathers fat and legs of peafowl were popular for medicinal purposes and investigators found that peafowl ghee was being sold openly at markets, bus stops, temples and tourist spots in Tamil Nadu.
The seizures were made based on a tip-off, however, the receivers are yet to be identified.

Mumbai: In two separate cases, the Mumbai police seized demonetised currency notes to the tune of Rs 1.53 crore on Wednesday. Five people were arrested by the Tardeo and Antop Hill police stations and the police is trying to identify the owners of the seized currency notes. The accused are commission agents who were getting Rs 45,000 for each successful exchange of the debarred notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, officials said.

The seizures were made based on a tip-off, however, the receivers are yet to be identified. The income tax department has been informed about the seizures and the money will be handed over to them, said R.D. Shinde, additional commissioner of police (central region).

The Tardeo police intercepted a car near Haji Ali junction following a tip off. When the officials checked the leg space of rear seat, they found plastic bags stuffed with the demonetised currency notes to the tune of Rs 1.60 crore. The police arrested Saayar Mali (41) and Jaymin Vohra (34).Vohra is an employee with a Khar-based jeweller and we suspect that the currency belongs to him, said Sanjay Surve, senior inspector of Tardeo police station.

In the second case, an Antop Hill police teamseized currency worth Rs 93.80 lakh. The officials intercepted car and a two wheeler and when the scooters storage space was checked, notes were found kept in it. Those arrested accused were Rohit Pathak (23), Pravin Kamble, (55) and Alvin Borde, 27.
MNS was reduced to margins in the BMC polls in Mumbai with its tally plummeting to all-time low at 7, down from 28 seats in 2012.

Mumbai: Days after his party suffered a drubbing in the BMC polls, the MNS chief Raj Thackeray today launched a veiled attack on the BJP saying the "money power" and not development has won recent civic polls.

Raj also announced that henceforth his party would use "all possible ways" that are being adopted by other political parties to win the elections in future.

MNS was reduced to margins in the BMC polls in Mumbai with its tally plummeting to all-time low at 7, down from 28 seats in 2012. The party also fared poorly in the Nashik Municipal Corporation, the only civic body where it was in power.

Sporting a goatee during his address to party workers on the 11th foundation year, Raj said, "This the last defeat of the party. Henceforth, I am going to use all possible ways

which are used by other political parties to contest and win the elections.

"I relied more on my work and developmental projects but people have rejected it. The results of (recent) polls show the money power has won and development has lost."

BJP posted a spectacular performance in the last month's elections to 10 municipal corporations and 25 zilla parishads.

While it improved its tally to 82, just two less than the Shiv Sena in the 227-member Mumbai civic body, the ruling party has also won eight out of ten municipal corporations

besides making inroads in rural areas.

Commenting on the controversy surrounding the BJP-backed Independent MLC Prashant Paricharak over his comments on wives of soldiers, the MNS chief said, "I think he should be slapped with a footwear. It is highly insulting to jawans and their families." Incidentally, the Maharashtra Legislative Council today suspended Paricharak from the House for one-and-a-half years.
The exercise began at 10.57 am and was concluded by 2 pm.

Mumbai: In one of its major mock drills at the Mumbai airport, various security agencies on Thursday created an artificial emergency situation in which around 800 participations were recorded. The drill included ten famous hospitals of the city and also the Mumbai fire brigade and police who played a major role in evacuation of dummy passengers from a dummy aircraft that was made by Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL).

Officials from various airports were present to observe and point out the loopholes in the exercise practised to handle an emergency aircraft fire-landing situation.

The exercise began at 10.57 am and was concluded by 2 pm when the tail portion of the dummy flight XYZ 123 that took off from Hong Kong was set on fire assuming that the rare portion of the aircraft caught fire while landing. 161 passengers and 10 crewmembers were evacuated from the aircraft. However, eight casualties were declared by the chief medical officer of the airport, 33 passengers with severe injuries were rushed to major hospitals nearby the airport areas, 48 of them sustained minor injuries and were shifted to casualty area in the international terminal (T2), while 72 passengers and 10 crewmembers received no injuries.

The exercise involved state disaster management, CISF and city police for handling situation the also the local police for panchnama of the dead passengers and allowed the bodies to be moved out of the airport. Customs and immigration helped in clearing all the passengers. And to prevent passports from burning, the MIAL fire system along with the state fire department doused the fire.

This is a major drill that is held every two years in which all stakeholders not only participate but also the top security personnel play a role of observers. The exercise was discussed in detail in order to implement new operating procedures for a situation like this, said an MIAL spokesperson.
The accused allegedly called the girls, who are 10 and 12 years old, to his home under the pretext of showing them a painting.

Mumbai: A 56-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping two minor girls in suburban Kurar, a senior police official said on Thursday.

Raju Ambole, who is the neighbour of the girls in a chawl, was arrested Wednesday night.

According to a police official, the incident occurred on February 28 and March 1 when the accused allegedly called the girls, who are 10 and 12 years old, to his home under the pretext of showing them a painting. His wife was away at the time of the incident.

The matter came to light yesterday after relatives of the girls approached the Kurar police and lodged a complaint against Ambole.

He has been booked under relevant sections of IPC and POSCO (The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. Ambole was remanded in police custody.
Tanaji Sawant is purportedly seen saying, I will make Maharashtra a beggar but I will not become poor.

Mumbai: A Shiv Sena MLC has courted a huge controversy by his purported rants at a rally that he "will make Maharashtra a beggar, triggering a swift backlash on social media forcing him to tender an unconditional apology.

In a video clip of a public rally, which has gone viral on the social media, Shiv Sena MLC Tanaji Sawant is purportedly seen saying: "I will make Maharashtra a beggar but I will not become poor."

Sawant's boast in the public function on how much he can spend is followed by another claim: "I can easily buy a factory worth Rs 100-125 crores."

After his rants got flak on the social media, the Sena MLC said he regrets the remarks. "If sentiments have been hurt by my remarks, I tender unconditional apology to the people of Maharashtra," Sawant said.

Sawant's "disparaging" remarks about his own state came to fore on a day Maharashtra Legislative Council suspended independent MLC Prashant Paricharak from the House for one-and-a-half years for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the families of soldiers.

Sawant had won the MLC polls from Yavatmal local self-government bodies constituency in Vidarbha in November last year, defeating Shankar Bade of the Congress.

Shiv Sena spokesperson refused to comment over his party's MLC rants, when contacted.
The persons involved in the act in Kochi have been suspended from the party membership indefinitely, he tweeted.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena activists who were allegedly involved in a moral policing incident on Marine Drive in Kochi were on Thursday suspended by the party, which termed their act as shameful.

The incident in Kochi, Kerala, is shameful and unnecessary. The party will not shield or endorse such acts, Yuva Sena president Aaditya Thackeray said.

The persons involved in the act in Kochi have been suspended from the party membership indefinitely, he tweeted.

Action was taken hours after TV channels aired a video showing a group of marching Shiv Sena activists, wielding sticks and chasing away young men and women from Marine Drive.

The men took out a procession, and carried flags and banners. Some of them broke away and ran after the couples. One man was heard shouting at and abusing women in the presence of the police.

Earlier in the day, six activists of the Sena were taken into custody in connection with yesterdays incident, which has come in for criticism from the ruling CPI (M) and the opposition Congress in Kerala.
A Lincoln man's case alleging the city violated his right to free speech by arresting him for handing out religious pamphlets in 2013 outside Pinnacle Bank Arena landed before a federal appeals court Wednesday.

Larry Ball's attorney, Thomas White, asked a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to give new life to the lawsuit, dismissed by a federal judge in Omaha last summer.

Ball, 79, sued after he was found guilty of two misdemeanor trespassing counts and fined $100 in 2015.

The city argued the area is quasi-public, because it's contracted to private tenants.

In July, Chief U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp granted the city of Lincoln's request for summary judgment. Ball appealed, setting up Wednesday's oral arguments in St. Louis.

"What's clear here is Mr. Ball, at no time, was impeding traffic. He hadn't gathered a crowd," White said. "He was simply delivering a message that he believed in."

He argued that what Ball was doing in front of the Pinnacle Bank Arena entrance caused less congestion than T-shirt sales and booths allowed in the same space during concerts.

"A man was arrested for handing out Christian literature without warning. That to me at least is a serious concern," White said.

Attorney Leslie Stryker, who represents SMG, which manages the arena, argued that just because people can come and go through the area, it doesn't make it a public forum.

"The First Amendment does not guarantee access to property for all forms of speech simply because it is owned or controlled by a government," she said.

Judge Roger L. Wollman of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, said he thinks the issue goes back to whether it's a public forum or not and whether the public and nonpublic spaces are clear.

Stryker said the policy is posted online and staff provide copies to anyone with questions.

Jocelyn Golden, an assistant Lincoln City Attorney, said this is a case "about a reasonable, consistently applied and clearly defined exterior-use policy."

Wollman asked if the regulation was both over- and under-inclusive, considering Ball could stand in the same spot and preach, just not hand out leaflets.

Golden argued that such restrictions are accepted in nonpublic forums like this and said Ball was told he could move to the public area just 10 or 20 feet away.

He was arrested only after he refused to leave the area directly in front of the entrance.

White got the last word, telling the judges that when the public pays for a place like this and is told it's going to be public, it's a far cry from being told you can be arrested for trespassing, like Ball was.

The judges took the case under advisement.
The state govt has banned manufacturing and sale of gutka since 2012.

Mumbai: In a joint operation, the Thane polices Anti Narcotic Cell (ANC) and the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) seized two trucks containing packets of gutka worth Rs 80 lakh. The manufacturing and sale of gutka has been banned in Maharashtra since 2012. The Thane police arrested four persons with the banned substance at Kharghar toll booth. The gutka was supplied by a Gujarat-based manufacturing firm and was meant to be delivered to an export house in Mumbai. The gutka is sold in Mahatrashtra at twice the printed price, according to an ANC source.

In 2012, Maharashtra Government had banned sale and manufacturing of gutka under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. The offences under these acts are non-bailable.

ACP Thane police, Bharat Shelke said, Acting on a tip-off, our officials laid a trap and seized the banned material. The gutka was hidden inside the truck in separate compartment so that the vehicle could look empty.

The officials from FDA said, It was after the tip-off by Thane FDA authorities and Thanes Anti Narcotic Cell that we stopped the two trucks near the Kharegaon toll booth on Friday afternoon. The material had come from Bharat Benze company in Gujarat. While we are probing the case, the seized gutkha packets have been sent for chemical analysis at a laboratory in Thane. We are waiting for the report.

The arrested accused have been identified as Mohammad Hakim (22) cleaner of the one of the trucks, Burekhan Khan (35), Nasrul Khan (26) and Kalim Khan (19).  We have found the company which was sending this material to Mumbai from past few months.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code, Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, and Food Safety and Standards Regulations Act 2011.
Little Alfie Lun was set to hand the queen flowers at the unveiling of a new war memorial in London

The mom was able to pick Alfie up again and he reluctantly handed the queen the bouquet. (Photo: Youtube)

London: A 2-year-old boy in England wasn't very impressed with a chance to meet Queen Elizabeth II and showed it by throwing a tantrum in front of her majesty.

Little Alfie Lun was set to hand the queen flowers at the unveiling of a new war memorial in London on Thursday. Instead, he wriggled out of his mother's arms and attempted to sit on the ground. Eventually his mom was able to pick Alfie up again and he reluctantly handed the queen the bouquet.

The 90-year-old queen is also a great grandmother and didn't appear fazed by the meltdown. She smiled at the boy and his parents throughout the encounter.

Watch the video here:
The alternative for India is to manage ties with Pakistan and not push it deeper into Chinese arms.

As the cycle of state elections winds down and India braces for the results in crucial states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, foreign policy, beyond the diasporas tribulations in the United States, needs attention. While a wary eye on the US is advisable, as others globally are maintaining, India-Pakistan relations and Afghanistan also demand attention. Spring is in the air, but may bring a fresh offensive by the Taliban in Afghanistan and perhaps renewed protests in the Kashmir Valley. As former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee used to say, you can change your friends but not your neighbours. Permanent hostility is thus undesirable towards a nuclear-armed neighbour. While India must not negotiate under any kind of terror blackmail, nor should red lines be drawn at the walls of Indian cantonments or Army camps in Jammu and Kashmir, as has been done since the Pathankot attack. That provides carte blanche to terrorists to impact India-Pakistan ties by simply unleashing a couple of fidayeen. Complex and large attacks, not mountable by small modules, could be seen as engineered by the Pakistani state and Army, but certainly not every train derailment or poor perimeter defence by our soldiers. That alone should be the red line.

A number of recent signals from Pakistan are significant. The detention of Hafiz Saeed, even if a tactical move, the news that Pakistans new Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa recommended in a lecture a book on Indias democratic success and diminished ceasefire violations across the Line of Control appear like subtle signals that the civilian rulers and the Army chief are in tandem. Pakistans former NSA Maj. Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani reiterating in New Delhi what cost him his job once, that the 26/11 Mumbai attack was a cross-border operation mounted out of Pakistan, is hardly a coincidence.

This new dynamics in Pakistan has been confirmed to this writer by well-informed Pakistani analysts. The window available to India is a narrow one, as electoral cycles in both countries tend to constrict the space for talks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, having frozen relations since the Uri attack, needs to rethink his Pakistan strategy. The composite dialogue is dead and needs reconstruction. Now that Pakistan is convinced that India is behind terror attacks in Pakistan and Ajit Doval has got into their head that the NSAs of the two sides need to revive contacts as mandated by Ufa to seriously discuss terror. The disputes can be separated and handed over to special representatives  like Kashmir, Siachen and the Sir Creek delineation. The PM could, for instance, consider a politician for the first, a former general for the second and a retired judge for the last. The confidence-building measures need to be tackled by the foreign ministries at the level of foreign secretaries or ministers. The agenda has also widened as new issues like water, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Afghanistan have assumed greater currency of late.

The developments in Afghanistan are making neighbours nervous. In the 12 months till November last year, the area under uncontested government control fell from 72 per cent to 57 per cent , though the population in the government-controlled area is 64 per cent compared to eight per cent in the Taliban area. Former US President Barack Obamas troop drawdown reducing the international forces to 12,600, including 8,400 American troops, has produced a stalemate. The Taliban has been stopped from overthrowing the Kabul government, but Afghan security forces have bled. ISIS, under pressure in Syria and Iraq, is stepping into the vacuum, as are Russia and China, fearing a regression to the 1990s.

In mid-February, Russia convened a meeting of six regional powers with a stake in Afghanistans future  that comprised, besides itself and Afghanistan, China, India, Iran and Pakistan. It left open the possibility of the US joining the dialogue later, but was guided by the fear that a sudden US withdrawal would lead to chaos and instability.

Electoral success, specially in UP, is crucial for Mr Modis consolidation of political power and to get candidates of his choice elected as President and vice-president in July. It may also embolden Mr Modi to make one last attempt to normalise relations with our two biggest neighbours, China and Pakistan. Wisdom dictates that when confronting two antagonistic neighbours, the aim should be to keep them from aligning against you. The Sino-Pakistan alliance now being a reality, India must tactically loosen it. Logically, a deal with China will depend on both accepting zones of influence, allowing each other primacy in their regions, and the settlement of the Dalai Lama and Tibet issues to mutual satisfaction. Border dispute settlement will follow, not precede, such understanding. China settling its borders with all neighbours, other than Bhutan and India, including by acceptance of the McMahon Line with Myanmar, indicates that once its gets strategic satisfaction, it settles border issues.

China, however, sees India as the only civilisational, military and economic counterpoise to its rise in Asia. The Chinese Dream of being moderately well-off by 2021 and fully developed by 2049 appears like a Sino-centric vision in which there is little space for others, except as inferior tribute payers. It thus seems unrealistic to expect that China will settle with India if the two countries continue on their current trajectories of growth, with China having an edge.

The alternative for India is to manage ties with Pakistan and not push it deeper into Chinese arms. Mr Modi needs to attempt a well-crafted diplomatic surgical strike on Pakistan, unlike his hit-and-run past forays. It could begin with NSA Ajit Doval calling his counterpart. The Lahore Kite Festival celebrating Basant and the coming spring is over. In India, the Holi festival, which heralds spring, is approaching. The question that confronts South Asia is  can spring return to India-Pakistan relations?
If war is to be avoided, the recourse is generally through the imposition of economic sanctions.

One of my cherished memories of Cambridge belongs to Kings College where I was elected a fellow in 1963. The dinner following my election was the traditional one where fellows sit round the high table. As the new fellow I had the seat next to the provost (the head of the college). Across the table sat an old venerable gentleman who was introduced to me as E.M. Forster, an honorary fellow of the college. Of course I had heard his name as the author of A Passage to India. Having learnt that I was born in Kolhapur, Forster became very friendly since during his memorable stay in the state of Dewas nearly four decades ago, he had been familiar with the interactions and intrigues between the two states. And so at his suggestion the college allotted me the suite of rooms next door to him. It had a picturesque location with three large windows looking out to the famous chapel.

Although a shy personality, Forster opened out on rare occasions and we had discussions on topics ranging from world affairs to cosmology (the affair of the whole universe?). On one such occasion I asked him about his writings on democracy: why he gave two cheers for democracy. Why did he withhold the third cheer?

We may still contrive to raise three cheers for democracy although at present she only deserves two, wrote Forster in 1951, in the aftermath of the devastating Second World War. Of course, Forster was pained and angry at the way the human life and its rights were ignored at the rise of anti-Semitism and the lack of preventive response in time, which could have prevented massacre and devastation. The democracies in Europe and those across the Atlantic did not step in to take corrective action until it was too late.

It is often argued by the defenders of democracy that with all its shortcomings it is the best model we have to regulate and rule how large human groups should live and coexist. This may not be obvious, given the many mistakes that such large groups make collectively. Even when the right decisions are made one may get the feeling that they came late and thereby lost or reduced the benefits they were supposed to bring.

Indeed it is the case that a citizen of a democracy may enviously look across to a neighbour under an undemocratic rule enjoying with apparent swiftness the reforms in lifestyles that are coming too slowly in his or her democratic system. In such cases it is tempting to conclude that the neighbours undemocratic grass is that much more greener! Thus good roads, with fast imported cars running on them, gifts of the latest technology imported from abroad, etc., may suggest, apparently in the last analysis, that the neighbours undemocratic way is better. However, it turns out that the last analysis is still to come and it results in the undemocratic ruler of that country succumbing to internal revolt or running away to one of the so-called safe havens, leaving his country in a much more impoverished state than when he had assumed the rulers mantle.

The democracy that India enjoys is thus a priceless gift that the nation has given to itself, despite its many defects. Indeed if we look at the list of nations that were given freedom and self-governance by their colonial rulers mostly after the Second World War, we will see India standing tall amidst a large number of nations that have still not settled down. Thanks largely to the vision of Jawaharlal Nehru, the nation created a framework for science and technology that could cope with the future shock that lay ahead.

Forster was critical of the leading democracies in Europe in the 1930s for not protesting loudly enough when Nazi power was rising in Germany. In todays world, what can they do? If war is to be avoided, the recourse is generally through the imposition of economic sanctions. By creating obstacles in the economic dealings of the nation concerned, the democracies can make it difficult, if not impossible, for it to function. These methods were tried and they did work in the cases of Rhodesia and South Africa, where the regimes were manifestly undemocratic and in each case a small minority enjoyed all the privileges at the expense of a downtrodden majority. Through economic sanctions like barring sale of petrol, the rest of the democracies can make life difficult.

However, sanctions do not work if they are not imposed unanimously. If a few nations oppose sanctions, they can provide the commodities that have been banned under the sanctions. Just as a pot, however strong, but with a hole in the bottom, cannot hold any liquid, so do the sanctions fail in case there are objectors to their imposition.

Another danger to sanctions arises if they are imposed for political reasons and not moral ones. Thus if a few powerful nations decide to punish a nation for not agreeing with them in important political matters, the sanctions imposed will lack moral force. Other nations, which do not agree with the reasons of imposing sanctions, will not participate in their operation.

Forster wrote: Democracy has another merit. It allows criticism, and if there is not public criticism, there are bound to be hushed-up scandals. That is why I believe in the press, despite all its lies and vulgarity and why I believe in Parliament. Parliament is often sneered at because it is a talking shop. I believe in it because it is a talking shop. I believe in the private member who makes himself a nuisance but he does expose abuses which would otherwise never have been mentioned, and very often an abuse gets put right just by being mentioned He further adds: Whether Parliament is either a representative body or an efficient one is questionable but I value it because it criticises and talks, because its chatter gets widely reported
Killing ISIS on the battlefield is not enough, we must kill the idea behind ISIS by exposing the brutality, she said.

Clooney expressed frustration that nothing has happened since she came to the UN six months ago seeking accountability for victims of the Islamic State group, also known by the acronym ISIS and the Arab name Daesh. (Photo: AP)

United Nations: Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney urged Iraq and the world's nations on Thursday not to let the Islamic State extremist group "get away with genocide."

The wife of actor George Clooney, who represents victims of IS rapes and kidnappings, told a UN meeting that what's "shocking" is not just the group's brutality but the "passive" response by the world's nations to the campaign to investigate its crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.

She urged Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send a letter to the UN Security Council so it can vote to set up an investigation into crimes by the group in Iraq where IS once controlled about 40 percent of the country's territory but is now being routed by government and coalition forces.

"Justice is what the victims want..." Clooney said, "but justice will be forever out of reach if we allow the evidence to disappear, if mass graves are not protected, if medical evidence is lost, if witnesses can no longer be traced."

"Killing ISIS on the battlefield is not enough. We must kill the idea behind ISIS by exposing the brutality and bringing individual criminals to justice," she said.

Clooney expressed frustration that nothing has happened since she came to the UN six months ago seeking accountability for victims of the Islamic State group, also known by the acronym ISIS and the Arab name Daesh.

She represents Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman captured by IS in Iraq in 2014, who has spoken out about since her release about being raped, sold as a sex slave, and praying for death while in captivity.

Murad, now a goodwill ambassador for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, told the meeting that victims have patiently waited for over a year for the investigation of IS to start "to be able to at least bury our dead."

"Why it is taking so long? I cannot understand why you are letting ISIS get away with it, or what more you need to hear before you will act," Murad said, her voice breaking with emotion. "So today, I ask the Iraqi government and the UN to establish an investigation and give all the victims of ISIS the justice they deserve."

Clooney addressed prime minister al-Abadi saying it was initially Iraq's idea to involve the UN and sending a letter "would silence those who doubt your commitment to bring Daesh to justice."

If no letter is forthcoming, she said the Security Council could act without Iraq's consent, or it could refer the extremist group to the International Criminal Court, or the General Assembly could establish "an accountability mechanism" as it did for crimes in Syria in December. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres could also launch an investigation, she said.

"But none of this has happened," Clooney said. "Instead, mass graves in Iraq lie unprotected and un-exhumed, witnesses are fleeing and not one ISIS militant has faced trial for international crimes anywhere in the world."

Clooney urged all countries "to stand up for justice" and demonstrate "moral leadership" to make sure that ISIS is held accountable.

Britain's UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told the meeting he looks forward to finalizing the Security Council resolution with Iraq "very, very soon." He said the aim is to assist Iraq "with the difficult but crucial challenge of preserving the huge amount of evidence of Daesh crimes committed on Iraqi territory."

Iraq's UN Ambassador Mohamed Alhakim said the government plans to try cases involving low and mid-level members of Daesh but it will have to work with the international community to bring the top leaders to justice.

He made no mention, however, of UN help in preserving evidence or the required letter.
A police spokesman said that they had ruled out an Islamic fundamentalist motive for the attack.

Special police commandos arrive at the main train station in Duesseldorf, western Germany after at least seven people where injured by a man with an axe. (Photo: AFP)

Dusseldorf: German police have arrested an axe-wielding attacker believed to be suffering from mental health issues after he injured seven people at the main train station in Dusseldorf.

According to a witness, the 36-year-old man from the former Yugoslavia jumped out of a train late on Thursday evening and started hacking randomly at people, leaving blood everywhere.

Armed police commandos in balaclavas and bullet-proof vests backed by police helicopters rushed to the station and captured the axeman after he leapt off a bridge to evade arrest.

"Out of the seven injured, three were badly hurt and four were slightly injured," police said.

A police spokesman said on Friday morning that they had ruled out an Islamic fundamentalist motive for the attack.

Investigators had earlier said the man was in an "exceptional mental state" at the time of the rampage and "it's because of this state that he carried out this act."

Germany is on edge after a string of attacks in recent months -- many carried out by people with mental health problems -- culminating in a truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market claimed by the Islamic State group.

Police have been unable to interview the Duesseldorf attacker as his injuries from jumping off the bridge were too severe, according to local news agency DPA.

Authorities originally said several attackers were involved, but after determining the man was the sole person responsible and taking him into custody, the station was reopened shortly before midnight.

"We were on the platform waiting for the train. The train arrived and suddenly someone with an axe came out and started attacking people," an unnamed witness told Bild.

"There was blood everywhere," Bild quoted the witness as saying.

Peter Altmaier, a close adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, wrote on Twitter: "Our compassion and our thoughts go out to the injured."

The city's mayor Thomas Geisel also reached out to victims.

"It's a huge blow for Duesseldorf. Many people are in shock. I'd like to thank the police. My thoughts go out to the victims and their families," he said.

German authorities have been on alert for attacks, especially since an assault claimed by the Islamic State group in December when a hijacked truck ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people.

According to German security services, there are about 10,000 radical Islamists in the country, of whom 1,600 have suspected links to terror groups.

However, there have been several attacks in Germany recently where the assailants have turned out to be psychologically unstable.

In July, a 17-year-old migrant wielding an axe and a knife went on a rampage on a train in Bavaria, southern Germany, seriously injuring four members of a tourist family from Hong Kong and a passer-by. That attacker was later found to be mentally unbalanced.

In February, a 35-year-old German national, who according to media was also suffering from psychiatric problems, drove his car into passers-by in Heidelberg, south-west Germany, killing one and injuring two.
by Kamran Chaudhry

On March 8 the ESL study was presented. In the country 44% of children between six and 16 years have no access to education, while the illiteracy rate is 59.98%. The funds for schools are limited, as opposed to those destined to military spending. The teaching of the Koran is required. Activist: "Children must go to school and not to work at home."

Lahore (AsiaNews)  There is an education emergency in Pakistan. This is what activists and Catholic educators tell AsiaNews, commenting on the last official survey that in the country of 22.6 million children do not attend school. According to National Education Management Information System NEMIS, 44pc children between the ages of five and 16 are still out of school. The statistics was shared in Pakistan Education Statistic 2015-16 http://library.aepam.edu.pk/ launched on March 8. "Balochistan province was home to the highest proportion of out-of-school children followed by The Federally Administered Tribal Areas", it says adding girls are more out of school then boys.

Professor Anjum James Paul Chairman Pakistan Minorities' Teachers Association PMTA blames increasing poverty for illiteracy.

"Four out of 10 Pakistanis are living in acute poverty in the sixth most populous country. Education expenses are increasing annually. Outdated government schools only provide free book, not school stationery. Lack of formation is responsible for increasing level of intolerance in the society", the Catholic educationist told AsiaNews.

"Even the allocated money is not spent in giving education. Most of it goes in infrastructure, maintenance of school buildings, security as well as travelling of the school staff. Plus the discriminatory education policy only focuses on Muslim students, a parliamentary committee last month week passed a bill which will make the teaching of the Quran compulsory for all Muslim students in all public and private educational institutes", added Anjum.

Amid terror attacks and religious extremism, the security state allocated only 71.5 billion rupees for education as compared to the defence budget of 781 billion rupees. Pakistan's current expenditure on education is the lowest in South Asia. The government figures show Pakistan's literacy rate is 59.98 percent, the lowest amongst the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries except Afghanistan.

Father Shafique Bashir Executive Secretary Catholic Board of Education in Faisalabad diocese holds parents responsible for not sending their children to school.

"There is a serious lack of awareness and realization about the importance of education. Today we have schools in almost every village of the country, both religious and country leaders must motivate people", said the priest who concluded a special "Year of Education" last month in the diocese.

"Msgr. Joseph Arshad, bishop of Faisalabad organized many seminars, visited Catholic schools in the diocese and urged both parents and the school authorities to meet frequently as well as enroll the dropouts. Up to 50 percent fee concession was given to deserving families. The efforts resulted in 30 percent increase in admissions", he said.

In views of Nabila Feroz, a Catholic liaison officer with Sanjog, a children's rights organization, pro children legislations can help increase the attendance of children in schools.

"There are no laws against corporal punishment in education institutions. The Punjab government issued a notification in 2005 banning corporal punishment in schools but no mechanism was established to monitor these punishments which are still in tradition. Also there is no law against domestic child labors. These children, often tortured by their rich employers, should be studying in school instead of working in homes", she said.
Yangon (AsiaNews / Agencies) - At least 20,000 people have fled from Myanmar through the border with China from violence that has erupted between the armed militias of ethnic minorities and the security forces. The Chinese foreign minister said that thousands have sought refuge in camps on the border and are now receiving humanitarian assistance.



For months clashes between groups of armed rebels and government forces are ongoing in various regions of the country. The violence this week is among the worst to have hit the Kokang region since 2015. The Kokang has close ties with China, with locals who speak a Chinese dialect and use the yuan as currency.



Earlier this week, about 30 people were killed on the border of Myanmar with China following a surprise raid launched by the rebels. The latest clashes, which involved artillery and small arms, have taken place in the city of Laukkai, in the Kokang region, located in northern Shan State.



Geng Shuang, a spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Minister, said that aid has been given to those who were seeking to "temporarily avoid the war", and called for an immediate ceasefire, adding that China supports the peace process in Myanmar . He then called on all parties concerned to find a peaceful solution through dialogue and urged the contenders to find balance, to "prevent afurther escalation" and " to restore peace and stability at the border areas."



The Myanmar authorities claim that the violence erupted on March 6, when the fighters of the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) launched a surprise raid, dressed in police uniforms.



The attack was aimed at the police and military posts. A separate group of fighters later attacked other sites Laukkai. Sources reported that five civilians, five police officers and at least 20 rebel fighters were killed during the operation.



The escalation of the conflict in the borderlands has raised tensions between Myanmar and Beijing. The government of Aung San Suu Kyi is trying to put an end to decades of violence, fearing that it could trigger a major new exodus of refugees.



The Northern Alliance, a coalition of ethnic armed groups including the MNDAA, has yet to join the peace process or to sign the cease-fire that has been reached with many other militias in 2015. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for March, but the date has been postponed several times.
The government lacks the means to provide an adequate education to the population. The Church fills the gap. Kalookan Bishop Pablo David asks, " Should they not treat us as their partners and allies rather than as adversaries? For political analysts, the proposal by the Duterte administration is in retaliation against the Churchs criticism of government policies.

Manila (AsiaNews/CBCP)  Filipino bishops have come out against the Duterte administration, which announced on Monday plans to tax religious schools.

House of Representatives Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who once described the bishops as a bunch of hypocrites, yesterday said church-owned schools should be taxed to improve the governments revenue collection.

At the hearing on the Duterte administrations tax reform bill, he called for a revisit of the governments income tax policy, claiming that some schools cater to students from higher-income families and hike tuition.

Swiftly responding to Alvarezs claims, Bishop Pablo David of Kalookan said that the Church would probably not be running schools if the government adequately provided quality education, especially at the primary and secondary levels.

The fact is, it cannot, David said. We always thought that we in the Church were doing the government a favour by making quality education available wherever the state is unable to do it adequately.

This failure, the prelate noted, is visible in cramped public schools as well as in the huge backlog in classroom construction and in teacher shortages.

In his view, government resources are still not enough to provide a decent education to the population.

We do not even rely on public funds to run our schools, the prelate explained. Should they not treat us as their partners and allies rather than as adversaries? he asked.

For many political analysts, the tax plan represents an act of retaliation by the authorities against the bishops.

For months, the Church has lent its critical voice against Dutertes war on drug and extra-judicial killings and has been fierce opponent to the reintroduction of the death penalty.
In recent months the government has boosted funding for military research. Academics reiterate the traditional ban of post-war Japan. The committee rejects greater government influence in academic institutions. Their position is to defend academic freedom.

Tokyo (AsiaNews)  A Science Council of Japan (SCJ) committee has called on Japans academic world to maintain the ban on military research by universities and other institutes.

The statement will be the SCJs first in 50 years regarding its position on military research. The previous two, issued in 1950 and 1967, unequivocally banned research for military purposes.

The proposal, hammered out on Tuesday aafter a series of meetings, will likely be adopted as the councils official statement after a vote in a general assembly session in April.

The stance is based on remorse over such studies under Japans wartime government

In his three government mandates, current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to change Japan's pacifist constitution and in recent months he has ordered an increase in funding for military research.

The SCJ expects a more detailed debate on the pros and cons of military studies conducted by universities and research institutes.

One of the aspects stressed by the statement is the concept of 'academic freedom'.

The committee raises questions about participation in government military research, warning that such studies could give the authorities more influence on academic institutions.

Finally, the committee calls on universities and institutes to be cautious about research programmes, urging them to conduct ethical reviews and establish policy guidelines in the matter.
Mosul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Freeing al-Dawasa neighborhood of Mosul, Iraqi forces discovered a Christian church that was used as a base by Isis militiamen. The church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Um al-Mauna) no longer bears any sign of its Christian past: not a single crucifix or statue survived, replaced with posters and symbols from the Daesh.

The sign above the door, "the Chaldean Catholic Church", together with the altar of gray marble testify to the original function of the building. The ocher exterior walls reads an entry ban written by Islamic State religious police. The militias have tried to eliminate the crosses, damaging a stone and ripping the metal door off its hinges.

Inside there are empty niches and the base of a statue, originally decorated with yellow and red flowers. The walls are engraved with the war names of Daesh fighters.



Posters put up on the marble columns help understand life in the Islamic state. One of them shows the 14 rules to live in Mosul under the Jihadi command, including the requirement for women to dress modestly and to appear in public only "if necessary." On the floor covered with debris, a leaflet was found listing the corporal punishments for those guilty of theft, alcohol consumption, adultery and homosexuality. The explanations are accompanied by violent representative images.



The church was liberated this week by the Iraqi army during the offensive for the complete recapture of Mosul. The city was an important bastion for Daesh militants, but now they are losing control. Already this January, Baghdad forces recovered the eastern area of the city. Sources claim that five jihadists were found dead outside the church.



Isis forces had taken the city in June 2014, forcing the members of the Christian community to choose between converting to Islam, paying a special tax, fleeing or being killed. A few weeks later, they devastated Qaraqosh in the plain of Nineveh, where it is believed 120 thousand Christians once lived, forcing them to flee.



The Chaldeans are the majority of Iraqi Christians, but their number has decreased drastically: before 2003 they exceeded one million, there are now less than 350 thousand.



According to Colonel Abdulamir al-Mohammedawi the Islamic state controlled Mosul from the church, forcing residents to comply with the rules and follow in their extremist ideologies.



The church is in better condition than the rest of the neighborhood. In a shopping street, the flashy shop windows are now nothing more than iron folded on itself and debris.
by Christopher Sharma

Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - For the first popular elections in 19 years, Nepals four Christian parties of have agreed to form a joint coalition in the upcoming local elections of May 14. They are: the Janajagaran Party, the Rastriaya Mukti Andolan Party, both already registered on the electoral roll; the People's Party and the PA. Christian Party, formally Awaiting enrollment.

The goal is to have more weight in the political scene of the country, where all the parties are campaigning. Speaking to AsiaNews Pastor Lokmani Dhakal, president of Janajagaran Party, says: "We want to give voice to Jesus Christ through elections. In this way we can reach all voters in the name of Jesus. "



This month the government in Kathmandu set the date of local elections. The country has great expectations but also many tensions, which have led to serious clashes between the madhese minority and police officers.



According to the president of the PA. Christian Party, "the divisions do not give a positive message. We are still a minority, and if we do present ourselves as divided we will not do justice to the Christian voice in this country. Thus, unification is necessary, we must not turn away from the path of God. "



Jayawanta Bikram Shah, leader of the Rastriya Mukti Andolan Party and coordinator of the coalition process, reports that the parties "are very close to union. Many issues have already been resolved and there are only two problems to solve. They relate to who should lead the coalition and what the name and the symbol for the elections will be ". As for the symbol on the ballot, the parties have asked to insert the cross and the name of Christ, and are awaiting the decision of the Board of Supervisors.



C.B. Gahatraj, president of the National Christian Federation (which includes five Christian religious organizations), declares: "We are pleased with this unification. We have always been of the opinion that the collective support and the joint efforts help to reach people and to spread [the] message of Jesus Christ. "
Seoul (AsiaNews) - The Constitutional Court today confirmed the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, removing her from the office, after nearly three months of crisis. New presidential election are expected to be held within two months.



Two people died during protests that have taken place for and against the Park. The two victims were injured while taking part in a demonstration against the court's decision. One is a 72 year old man, was found bleeding near the Court building in the early afternoon. The only information known about him was his surname, Kim, he died after being taken to the hospital.



Park was impeached by parliament last December 9. She was accused of letting her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to meddle in state affairs and together with her of having extorted money from companies in exchange for favors. Park is also accused of being negligent in her duties before an incident in 2014 when a ferry sank drowning more than 300 people, mostly young students.



Reading the judgment, Judge Lee Jung-mi said: "The violations of the Constitution and the law by the President are a betrayal of the trust of the people and are serious actions that cannot be tolerated in view of defending the Constitution" .



Park is the first democratically elected Korean president, to be moved from the office. In all likelihood the elections will take place on May 9th. Yesterday, senior representatives of the Catholic Church, Protestant and Buddhist religion have asked the population to accept the Court judgment to "restore peace" in the country after months of division.
Serious BBC Interview With A Smart Man Discussing Important Things Goes Haywire Thanks To Attention-Seeking Children

Trending News: This BBC Interview Gets Interrupted In The Most Adorable Way Ever

Quick Take

Parenthood can be a wonderful thing, full of the joys and challenges and life-affirming experiences that come with raising children. It can also be a royal pain in the ass and can play all kinds of merry hell on your career.

Robert E. Kelly probably was focusing on the latter, hopefully briefly, following his TV interview with the BBC Friday morning. The professor of political science at Pusan University in South Korea was discussing the current situation in the country (it isnt good) via Skype when the best thing that can happen on live TV happened: he was adorably interrupted by his precocious toddlers.

Kelly and the BBC anchor gamely try to power through the interview, but the odds turn against them rather quickly. If you look closely, you can see the moment (around 0:07 in the YouTube clip) Kelly realizes his daughter has sauntered into his home office wearing a bright yellow sweater, all pigtails and glasses. She moseys right up to her dad's computer to check out what's going on, with Kelly desperately trying to keep a straight face as he gently pushes her away. The anchor gamely tries to power through, despite the distraction.

Its soon obvious that this wont be easy. Seconds after the first interruption, Kellys other kid, a baby in a walker, decides to join in the fun and comes into the office. The older sister then sits on her dads desk, making a mess a mess and a racket.

Kelly finally breaks when a woman rushes in to grab the kids and haul them out of the room. My apologies, he mumbles, clearly mortified. The woman adds to the comedy by getting on her hands and knees, trying to keep as low a profile as possible as she hustles the children out.

The interview continues as one of them is heard wailing in the background.

And that is the magic of live TV, as shared on Facebook by millions of television journalists around the world.

Drop This Fact

Two people have died in demonstrations against the impeachment of South Koreas president Park Geun-Hye. She was forced from office due to a corruption scandal.
The case of a man who masqueraded and worked as a doctor in Australia for over a decade is being used as an example of why visa and qualification checks need to be tougher.Shyan Acharya had arrived for the first time in Australia in 2002 on a tourist visa before leaving and then arriving again several times on different visas, pretending to be a doctor and working for 11 years in various hospital roles.He is now on the run and when asked about how he had been able to do this Immigration Minister Peter Dutton admitted mistakes had been made but said processes are now more strict than when he first entered the country and said it is an example of why immigration rules need to be tighter.Dutton admitted the case is a 'big failing of the system' and said it shows that the idea of creating a bigger US Homeland Security style department is worth considering. He believes that people are able to slip through because there is a lack of sharing information and communication between agencies.'Obviously there's been a big failing of the system, whether it's at a federal or state level doesn't really matter, the lesson needs to be learned,' Dutton he told 2GB radio.'I get accused all the time of being too tough on these processes and cancelling visas and all the rest of it but these are exactly the cases that we want to identify, stop these people before they get here,' he added.He explained that the idea of a super department has been discussed for a long time but this case highlights the need for further consideration.'Have a look at this doctor by way of one example. We have these cases where you necessarily want to make sure you're getting access to all the information that whatever government department holds on that person. We just live in a very different age than 10 years ago, let alone 15 to 20 years go,' Dutton pointed out.Even if he is caught, and he may have left the country by now, Acharya would only face a fine of $30,000 and no jail term for falsely claiming to be a doctor.
Hi,

Jervis Bay about 3hrs drive south of Sydney has some of the cleanest, most picturesque beaches in the world. Day trip or stay at Hutchinson or nearby. Good cold water diving, kayaking or just a day on the beach. Don't let the Navy base scare you, it's only a training base and very quiet.



Berry is a quaint market/cafe town and if you do a loop drive from Sydney to Berry via the Kangaroo Valley you'll see some of the best spots in Australia.



In Sydney there's Manly via ferry, Watson's Bay has a great (not cheap) waterfront restaurant for Lazy weekends.



Wollongong has some nice spots along the coast, particularly its northern suburbs (take the coast road through the national park. I'd say as a stop along the way not a destination.



Do yourself a favour and hire a car for at least one weekend when you're in town. Happy travels.
Alliance to help companies build scale, share costs and improve profitability; first Tata Motors vehicle from this joint venture to launch in 2019.

Tata Motors, VW Group and Skoda have officially announced that they are exploring the possibility of a collaboration in order to jointly develop vehicles for the Indian and overseas market. Skoda is set to take the lead on behalf of the VW Group towards development of vehicles for the low-cost vehicle segment. Autocar India had exclusively reported on March 8, 2017 that the carmakers had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a new range of products that'll be shared by Tata, VW and Skoda brands.



The agreement is set to provide significant gains to Skoda which was the first VW Group brand to make a foray into the Indian market in 2001. But when VW came to India in 2007, it was relegated below the mother brand. However, with this alliance, Skoda looks to become the dominant brand in the group once again.



The pact will also help the carmakers in building scale, sharing costs and improving profitability. The MoU was signed by Guenter Butschek, Managing Director of Tata Motors, Matthias Muller, CEO of the VW Group and Bernhard Maier, CEO of Skoda Auto at the Geneva motor show 2017.



One of the key elements of this alliance will be the use of Tata Motors advanced modular platform (AMP) which can underpin cars and SUVs of various sizes and therefore result in better economies of scale. For Tata Motors, an alliance with the VW Group will provide access to advanced technology and bring down R&D costs.



The collaboration will bring their platform, their volumes also on the AMP to leverage the platform to a larger scale which will give us significant cost saving opportunities, improved competitiveness and the chance to profitably grow with the passenger vehicle business and make financially self-sustainable, Guenter Butschek, CEO and managing director, Tata Motors recently told Autocar India on the sidelines of the Geneva motor show.



Tata Motors recently announced plans to bring down its number of platforms from six currently to just two, and one of them is the AMP. The second platform will be based on Land Rovers L550 which underpins the Discovery Sport. The models to be based on the AMP will include hatchbacks, sedans, people movers and SUVs. Notably, according to Tata Motors, the commonality between the parts will be as high as 80 percent.



Economies of scale will come not just from the growth potential in Indian market. Hence the next angle of attack is also an international strategy since future products will be enabled for left-hand-drive markets due to AMP's modular structure, Butschek added.



Tata Motors plans to launch the first product in India out of the joint collaboration in 2019. This will be a premium hatchback (Code X451) that will rival the Hyundai i20. The X451 could also underpin the next-gen VW Polo for emerging markets and mark the return of the Skoda Fabia to India.



Both Tata Motors and Skoda will detail more guidelines and terms of cooperation in the next few months, according to a company statement.
10 March 2017 14:18 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Armenia sees continues fall in the human recourses, while the figure reduces by 100,000 every year.

Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Congress faction, representative of the Congress PPA election bloc Aram Manukyan said this at a meeting with voters in the Armenian town of Hrazdan.

Manukyan drew the attention of public to deaths in the Armenian army, putting a special emphasis on non-combat deaths.

"Only last year 160 people died. People do not want their children to serve in the army. Thousands of guys living outside of Armenia should return to serve in the army, but they are not allowed to come," said Manukyan.

The statistics of non-combat losses of the Armenian Armed Forces continues to grow steadily. Armenian media state that a total of 206 deaths were recorded in the Armenian army from 2010 to 2015, and a considerable part of them, 48, were suicides, while 43 were murders.

As for 2016, a total of 162 deaths were registered in the Armenian Armed Forces, including 51 cases in non-combat conditions.

Frequent death cases, violence, brutality, and non-obedience reign in the army of the Former Soviet republic. Tough economic condition in the country limits Armenian government's opportunities to modernize its army and ensure its growth. Instead, the government is faced with protests and disagreements among people who are unwilling to do their military service. Many youth flee abroad so that not to serve in the army.

Manukyan also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the meeting in Hrazdan, saying that a treaty will save Armenia.

Metamizole [pain reliever] is a very bitter medicine but we drink it. Such is our reality. The signing of peace will be Metamizole," Manukyan said.

Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory became a conflict zone following Armenia's aggression in the early 1990s. As a result of Armenia's armed invasion, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory fell under Armenia's occupation and over 1 million people turned into refugees and IDPs.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

The continuing aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, its territorial claims to neighboring country has lead to Armenias being locked out of all regional projects and fails to gain any benefits. Azerbaijan has repeatedly announced that as long as Armenia does not put an end to its aggressive policy, its participation in any regional project will be impossible.

Despite the constant efforts of Azerbaijan to put an end to the conflict, the Armenian government, on the contrary, is doing its utmost to postpone the negotiation process and to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 March 2017 10:27 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The 7th Caspian International Road Infrastructure and Public Transport exhibition Road & Traffic 2017 will be held on April 26-28 at Baku Expo Center.

The Road&Traffic exhibition aims to present the latest achievements in the field of road and tunnel construction, showcase the introduction of modern information technologies in traffic management and the development of solutions to the global crisis in the field of road safety, while providing a forum for a meeting of the manufacturers and operators of public transport. It is a unique platform for businesses to meet with the managers and experts of state road structures of both Azerbaijan and the region as a whole.

Companies from Azerbaijan, Germany, Russia, Turkey, USA, the Czech Republic and other countries will present services for road and tunnel engineering and construction, road safety means, traffic barriers, road marking equipment, traffic monitors, software for designing the city infrastructure, intelligent transport management systems, buses and much more. This year Baku Transport Agency will be among the exhibition participants for the first time.

The Road & Traffic 2017 exhibition will create ideal conditions to meet with the heads and experts of the regions leading road construction companies, to get acquainted with current and future plans of the government in the field of optimization of the public transport in Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan, and to consider the possibility of participating in these projects.

Traditionally, the exhibition will present a number of innovations, including Urban and Cordoba road lightening products and the Novoplast primer.

Road&Traffic will take place alongside with TransCaspian/Translogistica the 16th Caspian International Transport, Transit and Logistics exhibition and the 4th Caspian International Boat and Yacht Show CIBS 2017.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 March 2017 12:04 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Dagestan actively develops trade and economic ties with Azerbaijan, RIA Dagestan quoted Industry and Trade Minister of Dagestan Yusup Umanov.

"Trade and economic relations with Iran, as well as Azerbaijan are developing most actively, Umanov said, adding that six cooperation agreements were signed between Azerbaijan and Dagestan, a federal subject of the Russian Federation.



He further said that an investment project for the construction of a trade and logistics complex was launched as part of the cooperation agreement.

Azerbaijani company QLASS HAUS and KZLS JSC signed a $5 million agreement to supply sheet glass to Azerbaijan, according to Umanov.



Energy-rich Azerbaijan and Russias Dagestan, the largest republic of the north Caucasus, have a number of joint projects on agenda.

Azerbaijan intends to strengthen business cooperation with Russian regions, by means of increasing the number of mutual agreements and business entities. Bilateral agreements on trade-economic, scientific-technical, and cultural cooperation were signed with a number of Russian regions at the intergovernmental level till now.

The trade turnover between Dagestan and Azerbaijan amounted to $161.1 million in 2015, including imports from Azerbaijan worth $140.3 million, according to the North Caucasus Customs Directorate of Russia. In 2014, the trade turnover between the republics amounted to $278.8 million.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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10 March 2017 12:37 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Two foreign real estate funds - BREP Europe V and SOF XI, established with Azerbaijani capital, will start activity in 2017, reads a report by the Cabinet of Minister on results of 2016.

Azerbaijans oil fund SOFAZ has invested 100 million euros in BREP Europe V, while 200 million euros in SOF XI, the Fund told Trend.

Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe V (BREP V) will be managed by the U.S. Blackstone private equity fund, which has already drawn 5.5 billion euros.



SOF XI will be managed by the US Starwood company.



In total, SOFAZ invested $1.7 billion in the real estate market abroad. As much as 69.9 percent of SOFAZ investments were placed in financial instruments for 1-5 years and 10.1 percent  for more than five years.



As of January 1, 2017, the total volume of SOFAZ investments was $33.03 billion or 99.6 percent of the total volume of assets, according to SOFAZ.



Currently, 12.2 percent of SOFAZ investments are placed in shares, 4.4 percent  in real estate and 3.4 percent  in gold.



As of January 1, 2017, SOFAZ assets amounted to $33.147 billion, which is 1.27 percent less than in early 2016.



SOFAZ was created in 1999, while its assets were equal to $271 million that time. The funds of the entity may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructural objects as well as for tackling national problems.

The main goals of the State Oil Fund include: accumulation of resources and the placement of the fund's assets abroad in order to minimize the negative effect on the economy, the prevention of "Dutch disease" to some extent, promotion of resource accumulation for future generations and support of current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.

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10 March 2017 12:48 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijan is leaving the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Azerbaijan's oil fund SOFAZ reported on March 10.

Shahmar Movsumov, executive director of SOFAZ, chairman of government commission on EITI and chairman of the EITI Multi-stakeholder Group announced about this at the 36th EITI Board Meeting held on March 8-9 in Bogota, Columbia.

I have to officially announce that Azerbaijan is leaving the EITI. I kindly ask the International Secretariat to remove Azerbaijan from the list of countries implementing the EITI immediately, said Movsumov.

Azerbaijan was one of the countries that achieved a lot in the EITI. It was the first country to join the EITI and support the international efforts for higher transparency in the extractive industries in 2003. It was the first country to publish the worlds first EITI Report in 2005 and the first Compliant EITI country in 2009, he noted.

From the very beginning the Azerbaijani government was strongly committed to the EITI and its principles, and constantly took steps to underpin positive environment for the smooth implementation of the Initiative, he said.

Movsumov added that Azerbaijan was able to make difference in each EITI report since then by putting multi-stakeholder efforts together to advance the process as much as possible.

In total 20 EITI reports were reconciled and disclosed in Azerbaijan (2003-2015). The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the successful implementation of EITI became a winner of the 2007 United Nations Public Service Award in "Improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the Public Service". In order to give a strong backing to EITI process and rise its momentum at the international level the Government of Azerbaijan initiated and tabled United Nations General Assembly Resolution on EITI, which on 11 September, 2008 was adopted by consensus, said the chairman.

He noted that at its latest meeting in Astana the Board agreed that Azerbaijan had made meaningful progress in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard, and with considerable improvements across several individual requirements compared to the first Validation in 2015.

According to the decision of the Board, Azerbaijan maintained its Candidate status, said Movsumov, adding that the Board assigned a number of new corrective actions to be implemented till the next EITI Board meeting.

We strongly believe that as a result of significant changes, made to the current regulations, Azerbaijan was able to accomplish the implementation of all corrective actions. We consider Boards decision on suspension of Azerbaijan as an unfair one. The mandate of the EITI has been significantly shifted far from transparency and accountability in extractive sectors. The irrelevant facts introduced by different advocacy groups on various occasions show that the Initiative failed to stick to its original mission and objectives, noted the chairman.

In 2003, Azerbaijan has signed up to the principles of revenue transparency and revenue governance and remains strongly committed to those principles of good governance, transparency and accountablity in extractive industries, he said.

Movsumov added that Azerbaijan will continue to disclose all the information related to revenues received from extractive industries to the full extent.

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10 March 2017 16:07 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijans Taxes Ministry plans to change principles of its work with taxpayers, said Minister Fazil Mammadov as he addressed a conference Together towards transparency in Baku on March 10.

The sixth annual tax concession, organized jointly with the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AmCham), brought together about 300 representatives of private and state bodies.

We want to apply the principles of individual approach to taxpayers. We have two main areas to work on: the first, as I said, an individual approach to taxpayers, and the second - establishment of partnership [with taxpayers]," the minister said.

Certain changes, including prolongation of the period of tax holiday, exemption of certain products from VAT, introduction of simplified tax for representatives of show business and etc, were made to the Tax Code of the country in 2016. In tote, some 201 amendments and 115 new articles were made to the document.

The changes are expected to reduce the volume of cash payments, ensure attraction of e-commerce taxation, reduce the tax burden, simplify tax administration, and expand the rights of taxpayers and other issues.

Speaking at the conference Natig Shirinov, Head of the Department for Risk Analysis and Control at the Ministry, said that a Coordination and Management Department has been created at the Taxes Ministry.



The departments main function is effective coordination of activities among other departments and ministrys local bodies in the context of making amendments to legislation and administration, Shirinov said.

Mastercard Manager on Azerbaijan Alper Meric, in turn, spoke about the measures to be taken regarding non-cash payments.



He said that international payment system MasterCard will prepare an action plan to reduce the share of cash payments in favor of non-cash payments in Azerbaijan.

MasterCard has recently launched a joint project with the Central Bank of Azerbaijan to reduce the share of cash payments, Meric recalled.

"The Central Bank expects three effects from the implementation of this project: expansion of non-cash payments in the country, increasing transparency in the economy and support of economic growth," he said.

Meric noted that currently MasterCard is assessing the volume of cash turnover in the economy of Azerbaijan, especially in the non-oil sector.

"Studies are being conducted in Baku and eight other regions of the country. We will try to find out why cash payments are used and to what extent. We will then prepare an action plan to reduce the volume of cash payments in the economy and determine the necessary infrastructure that will allow to switch from cash payments to non-cash," he said.

In turn, Mammadov proposed MasterCard to revise the commission for its services on card transactions in the country.

"In regions we apply a two-percent [simplified tax] rate and you also charge a similar amount for your services. If to consider bank commission on card transactions, sometimes this amount exceeds the tax rate. You [MasterCard] ask us to undertake measures to increase turnover by non-cash payments, and we ask to revise tariffs to stimulate the growth of non-cash payments," the minister said.

As of January 2017, the number of payment cards in Azerbaijan is 5,343 million, of which only 629,000 are credit cards, according to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan,

The total number of transactions carried out in January 2017 with debit and credit cards hit 6,467 million, while the volume is 928,000 manats.

The total number of non-cash payments inside the country  via ATMs hit 109,000 (the volume is 28,000 manats) and via the POS terminals 1,117 million (the volume is 57,000 manats).

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10 March 2017 17:26 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan has once again become the largest investor in neighboring Georgia.

The volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) made in Georgia in 2016 amounted to $1.645 billion, and the figure is 22 percent higher than in 2015.

The share of the largest investors in foreign direct investment made in the country -- was 59 percent. Azerbaijan ranks first with 35 percent, followed by Turkey with 17 percent and the UK with 7 percent.

In the same period, the volume of reinvestment amounted to 32 percent of foreign direct investment, according to Gruzstat.

The largest amount of FDI was made in the sphere of transport and communications and amounted to $645 million. This makes 39 percent of direct foreign investments. The second is energy sector with $203 million, followed by construction with $163 million.

Azerbaijan and Georgia, the two neighboring countries with long-standing and successful relations established diplomatic relations in 1992. The countries are actively cooperating in trade, transport and energy spheres.

Currently, the countries are involved in a number of regional projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, and Southern Gas Corridor project.

Azerbaijan mainly exports petroleum, petroleum oils and gases, gypsum, anhydrite, plaster and other products to Georgia, while motor cars, live bovine animals, bars and rods of iron, as well as cement, make up the majority of imported goods from Georgia to Azerbaijan.

Moreover, Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR is deeply involved in the energy market in the neighboring South Caucasus republic.

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10 March 2017 17:55 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The National Entrepreneurship Support Fund (NFES) under the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry has issued concessional loans worth 13.8 million manats ($7.8 million) since early 2017, aiming to ensure the implementation of about 70 projects.

Deputy Executive Director of the Fund Arif Valimmadov said about this during a business meeting in Gakh on March 10.



The implementation of these projects will open up 200 new workplaces. In total, Valimammadov noted that businessmen of Shaki-Zagatala economic region received preferential loans for 98.3 million manat ($55.7 million). These funds were used to implement about 2.100 projects.

Within the framework of the business forum, local entrepreneurs received preferential loans for 224,000 manat ($127,000). These funds will be directed to the development of livestock, horticulture, beekeeping, grain growing and other spheres.

As many as 150 million manats will be issued for granting preferential loans to entrepreneurs in 2017.

The National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support was established in 1992. Loans are allocated to entrepreneurs through authorized banks and non-bank lenders.

Allocation of funds by NFES is aimed at the mitigating of the impact of global economic crisis to the national economy and minimization of its dependence on the oil sector. The country takes steps in its bid to diversify the national economy and provide for the development of entrepreneurship in the country.

Azerbaijan currently ranks 63 out of 189 countries in the World Banks ease of doing business index.

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10 March 2017 15:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

A number of scientific and cultural events are planned to be held in Baku within "Days of Hungary " scheduled for March 16-17.

Events will begin on March 16 with a presentation of the book "The Tragedy of Man" by Imre Madach in Azerbaijani language. On the same day, Nizami Cinema center will host premier of the same name movie.

Parallels in Hungarian-Azerbaijani music will be discussed by professor Janos Sipos at the International Mugham Center, following the concert of Hungarian musicians and dancers scheduled for March 16.

A fashion show will be held in Boulevard Hotel Baku. Here, guests will also be able to enjoy delicious Hungarian cuisine.

The next day, seminars dedicated to turcologists Bekir Stk Cobanzade and Gyorgy Hazai, discussion of Woven in Hungary - A look at the contemporary Hungarian art of textile gobelin will be held.

The events will end with exhibition of Ferenc Eisenhuts paintings and a concert of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble.

Minister of Culture Peter Hoppa and Deputy Foreign Minister Zsolt Chutora will arrive in Baku to attend the Days.

The officials will also meet with Azerbaijani counterparts to discuss the prospects of the bilateral cooperation.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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10 March 2017 18:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Novruz Bayram, the loveliest holiday of Azerbaijanis is just around the corner.

Being a family holiday and differing from other holidays in its historical roots, essence and culture, Novruz is traditionally celebrated on March 20-21.

Before the actual holiday, people mark four pre-holiday Tuesdays, each of which is dedicated to the awakening of one of the natural elements called Su Chershenbesi (Water Tuesday), Od Chershenbesi (Fire Tuesday) Hava Chershenbesi (Wind Tuesday) and Torpaq Chershenbesi (Earth or Last Tuesday).

The Last Tuesday is believed to be very special, since just a few days separate people from the main holiday. Moreover, people become to feel that the beautiful spring season is closer - the air gets warmer and buds are blooming.

Being a symbol of awakening and spring the last Tuesday means the beginning of field work. Earth feeds humans, and its awakening after a frosty winter means the awakening and rebirth of all living creatures.

People are usually busy with cooking and tidying, so that to meet the upcoming holiday with a clean house, and not bring the troubles of the old year into the new one.

This year Azerbaijanis celebrates Earth Tuesday on March 14. Several events will be organized in Baku to mark the Tuesday.

Beloved Novruz characters- Kechel, Kosa ,Bahar gizi (Spring girl), as well as Dede Gorgud will welcome and congratulate Bakuians on this day.

They will be accompanied by musicians and a large festive camel caravan, which will head to the temple Ateshgah in Surakhani.

The procession will start from the Icherisheher subway station, down the street Istiglaliyat, passing the metro station "Sahil", Government House, Supreme Court, Heydar Aliyev Avenue and will continue in the direction of the temple.

In addition, a concert and fireworks will be organized.

The event is organized by the Baku City Main Department of Culture and Tourism.

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10 March 2017 13:23 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

It is necessary to continue inclusive approach while observing media-related developments in all OSCE participating states in a comprehensive, objective and impartial manner.

Azerbaijans Permanent Mission to the OSCE stressed this in its statement at a meeting of Permanent Council on March 9.

OSCE institutions must act strictly in line with their mandate and tasking given by the participating states, says the statement. In this regard, we recall Brussels (2006) and Madrid (2007) Ministerial Council decisions that specifically call to ensure professionalism, accuracy and adherence to ethical standards among journalists."

The Mission noted that the importance of this aspect is even more acute in the context of reporting on conflict situations, as their sensitive nature requires highest level of professionalism and ethics of journalists.

As for the Alexander Lapshin case, which was referred to by representative of Armenia, this is not an issue for the OSCE, said the Azerbaijani mission, adding that this criminal case was addressed between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Belarus on bilateral basis.

Mr. Lapshin is a citizen of several states and they, as a third party in this case, follow legal developments. Armenia has no relevance to this legal case, except that Lapshins case once again indicated that Armenia fraudulently attracts foreign nationals to illegal visits to Azerbaijans occupied territories and then tries to turn them into a tool for its political propaganda, says the statement.

The Azerbaijani Permanent Mission once again called on journalists and foreign citizens to refrain from illegal visits to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan without prior consent.

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. He was arrested in Belarus and later was extradited from Minsk to Baku.

Currently, the blogger is in custody in Baku Investigative Prison No. 1. Representatives of the Russian and Israeli Embassies in Baku as well as Lapshins lawyer have numerously affirmed that the blogger has no complaints about the conditions of detention.

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10 March 2017 14:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Representatives of the Israeli Embassy in Baku have met with blogger Alexander Lapshin, his lawyer Eduard Chernin told Trend on March 10.

Lapshin, who owns citizenship of several countries, will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Chernin said that the meeting with Lapshin took place at the Baku Investigative Prison No. 1. The Embassy representatives inquired Lapshin about his health and got acquainted with his detention conditions.

The lawyer added that he also met with his client on March 9.

He has no complaints, the situation is normal. Lapshin is satisfied with the progress of the investigation and waits for its completion, said the lawyer, adding that Lapshin is also in constant contact with his mother.

The blogger illegally visited Azerbaijan`s Armenia-occupied lands and now is charged under the articles 281.2 (appeals directed against state) and 318.2 (illegal border crossing) articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. He violated Azerbaijani laws on state border in April 2011 and October 2012.

Helped by his accomplices in the occupied territories, Lapshin paid a number of visits to Azerbaijan`s occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territorial integrity on April 6 and June 29, 2016.

In early February, Lapshin was extradited from Minsk to Baku to stand trial in Azerbaijan.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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Archived Results for Friday, March 10th, 2017

Older Page 1
10 March 2017 17:17 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijans Minister of Defense, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with French Ambassador to Baku Aurelia Bouchez on March 10.

The sides discussed issues of strengthening military relations between Azerbaijan and France, the military-political situation in the region, the problems of international and regional security, as well as prospects for development of the cooperation.

Informing the French diplomat about the current situation on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Hasanov stressed that Armenia's destructive position on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict creates a serious threat to the regional security.

The minister emphasized that the solution of this issue is to compel Armenia to fulfill the requirements of the UN Security Council resolutions within norms and principles of international law.

France along with the U.S. and Russia is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, but they have not been enforced to this day.

Further noting the importance of the bilateral relations in the sphere of defense, Hasanov highly appreciated the current state of cooperation between Azerbaijan and France in the military and military-technical spheres, as well as in the field of military education.

Bouchez, in turn, noted France's interest in implementing joint projects with Azerbaijan in the defense sphere, and stressed the importance of these programs.

The sides also discussed projects implemented in Azerbaijan by a number of French companies manufacturing military products, as well as other issues of mutual interest in the field of defense and security.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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10 March 2017 17:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Richard Hoagland, has arrived in Azerbaijan, the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan told APA on March 10.

Other co-chairs of the MG, Stephane Visconti of France and Igor Popov of Russia will arrive in Baku tonight. The co-chairs will hold meetings on March 11.

The OSCE Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, works to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for over two decades.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.

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10 March 2017 18:02 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

German Ambassador to Baku Michael Kindsgrab noted the necessity of holding serious talks on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution.

In June last year, Germanys former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Azerbaijan and said that the April events showed the need to change the status quo. The position of Germany on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is that it is necessary to conduct serious talks, the ambassador said in Gusar region on March 10, according to Report.

Kindsgrab regretted that there were losses and young soldiers were killed during the events on the contact line between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops. It was a big tragedy because families lose their sons, the ambassador said.

The envoy also emphasized that Germany has always recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The conflict should be resolved by peaceful means on the basis of the Madrid principles, Kindsgrab noted.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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10 March 2017 11:14 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The military officials of Azerbaijan and the UK discussed cooperation in the field of defense, training, education, collaboration within peace-keeping operations, as well as regional security issues in Baku.

At a meeting with Azerbaijan`s Minister of Defense Zakir Hasanov on March 9, Director for International Policy of the Ministry of Defense of the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Nick Gurr said that the UK is interested in strengthening military ties with Azerbaijan.

A wide exchange of views on military education, in particular participation of representatives of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the "Military English Courses" has been held at the meeting, the main topic of which was a discussion of the regular staff negotiations between the Defense Ministries of the two countries.

Informing the UK delegation about the situation in the region, Hasanov stressed that Armenia's unconstructive position in the negotiations in connection with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict poses a serious threat to international and regional peace and security.

Nick Gurr, for his part, hailed Azerbaijan's participation in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

The peacekeeping contingent of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces has been serving in Afghanistan since November 20, 2002. Currently, 90 servicemen, 2 medical officers and 2 sappers of Azerbaijani Armed Forces are participating in a mission in Afghanistan.

Gurr emphasized that the UK recognizes and supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. He added that his country is a supporter of the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the norms and principles of international law.

They also discussed prospects for military and military-technical cooperation, regional, maritime, energy security, as well as joint struggle against terrorism.

Following the talks, the Defense Ministries of the two countries signed a military cooperation plan for 2017-2018, Azertac reported.

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10 March 2017 15:23 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The heads of the governments of the member countries of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) will meet in Kiev on March 27.

The business forum will be organized as part of a meeting of the heads of government of GUAM member countries. AZPROMO said Azerbaijani entrepreneurs are invited to attend the event.

Initially, it was planned to hold a meeting of the heads of government of GUAM countries on December 5 last year, however, due to the tight working schedule of the representatives of the parties, it was decided to postpone it to February 2017.

The initiative to hold a meeting of the heads of governments was made by Azerbaijan who chaired the organization in 2016.

At the 15th meeting of the working group on economy and trade of relevant departments of GUAM member states, held on November 17-18 last year in Kiev, draft documents were considered and agreed upon. They will be submitted to the heads of governments.

The GUAM format was created by four post-Soviet states in 1997 during the summit of heads of states of the EU in Strasbourg. The member states of the organization are Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the format and four years later withdrew.

In 2006, Ukraine and Azerbaijan announced plans to further increase the GUAM member relations and established its headquarters in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

The GUAM plays an important role in ensuring regional security, as it contributes significantly to the development and strengthening of dialogue between the countries of the region.

Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship in GUAM on January 1, 2016.

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10 March 2017 10:55 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The Turkish-Russian ties are currently passing through a normalization process with Russia gradually lifting the economic restrictions such as the ban on import of some goods from Turkey.

Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree lifting the ban on import of certain types of fruits and vegetables from Turkey, the Russian PM told his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim in a phone conversation.

The sides discussed restoration of bilateral relations, according to Turkish media outlets.

The sixth meeting of the Russia-Turkey High Level Cooperation Council will take place in Moscow on March 10. The Turkish and Russian presidents will head the countries delegations at the Councils meetings.

Russia imposed a number of sanctions on Turkey in response to the downing of a Russian military aircraft by a Turkish fighter jet in Syria on November 24, 2015. Russian side targeted several sectors of the Turkish economy, banning Russian firms from organizing package tours to Turkey, restricting the operation of Turkish construction companies in Russia, and prohibiting the import of most products including a ban on food and flowers.

In June 2016, following Turkey's apology for the incident, the sides began a reconciliation process.

After the talks between the two countries presidents in October 2016, the Russian government decided to allow on its market a number of Turkish agricultural products, including citrus.

The embargo was lifted in respect of fresh and dried oranges and tangerines, fresh apricots, peaches and nectarines, plums and thorns, which make up much of Turkey's fruit exports to Russia.

In the first 6 months of 2016 Turkish-Russian bilateral trade volume increased by 2 percent and reached $12.7 billion compared to $12.9 billion in the same period of 2015.

Turkish exports to Russia fell to $1.8 billion (by 2 percent) while imports fell to $10.9 billion (by 2 percent).

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10 March 2017 12:19 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The government and the armed opposition of Syria have not yet confirmed their participation in the third international high-level meeting within the framework of the Astana process, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported.

The next high-level meeting on Syria will be held in the capital of Kazakhstan on March 14-15, 2017.

High-ranking delegations from Russia, Turkey and Iran will take part in the talks, invitations will be sent to representatives of the United Nations, the United States and Jordan.

Preliminary consultations are scheduled to take place on March 14, while on March 15 the meetings participants will hold a plenary meeting.

"Kazakhstan is ready to continue to make its feasible contribution to international efforts to resolve the situation in Syria and to seek a political solution for the intra-Syrian conflict," the Ministry said.

The recent round of talks in Geneva that was supposed to discuss political solution to Syrian conflict ended with no tangible result as it was turned into a polemic between UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and the Syrian opposition, and then between de Mistura and the Syrian regimes delegation.

Two rounds of high-level international talks on Syria were held on January 23-24 and February 15-16, while on February 6, a technical meeting of experts took place in Astana. The meetings resulted in an agreement on establishing a joint group on monitoring the Syrian ceasefire that laid groundwork for political discussions during the Geneva talks in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

Many experts assessed the agreement between Russia, Turkey, and Iran on the establishment of a tripartite mechanism as a step to a political solution which might end the six-year war.

Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed rebel groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since 30 September 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.

The UN has repeatedly tried and failed to end the Syrian conflict, which has killed 300,000 and displaced 11 million since it began five years ago.

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10 March 2017 13:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed the law On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution, the presidential press service reported on March 10.

The constitutional reform envisages transferring some of powers from president to parliament and government.

Nazarbayev put forward the initiative to redistribute powers in December 2016.

Kazakhstans Parliament passed the Law on Amendments and Additions to the Constitution on March 6. On March 9, the countrys Constitutional Council ruled that the law on constitutional amendments is in line with the Constitution itself.

The new reforms will keep the presidential form of government while strengthening the roles of the legislative and executive branches.

The amendments will keep the president as the "supreme arbitrator" who will serve as a power broker between different branches. He will keep his powers to appoint ministers of foreign affairs, defense and interior.

The document expands the role of the Majilis in the formation of the government, and also strengthens the parliamentary control powers over the activities of the Cabinet.

Under the changes, the president will no longer be able to suspend decisions taken by the prime minister and cabinet, so they will be fully responsible for implementing state programmes and policies.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 March 2017 16:23 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Moscow hopes that the upcoming Astana meeting on Syria will be a great help for the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

"On March 14-15, an international meeting on Syria is planned in Astana with the participation of representatives of the Syrian government and armed opposition groups that supported the ceasefire, she said in a briefing on March 10, RIA Novosti reported.

In general, we are satisfied with the way the Astana process is going on, the driving force of which is the trio of guarantors of ceasefire regime - Russia, Turkey and Iran, she said, further adding that Russia believes a new meeting in Astana will be a great help for the fifth round of intra-Syrian negotiations under UN auspices in Geneva scheduled for March 23.

The recent round of talks in Geneva that was supposed to discuss political solution to Syrian conflict ended with no tangible result as it was turned into a polemic between UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and the Syrian opposition, and then between de Mistura and the Syrian regimes delegation.

Two rounds of high-level international talks on Syria were held on January 23-24 and February 15-16, while on February 6, a technical meeting of experts took place in Astana. The meetings resulted in an agreement on establishing a joint group on monitoring the Syrian ceasefire that laid groundwork for political discussions during the Geneva talks in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

Many experts assessed the agreement between Russia, Turkey, and Iran on the establishment of a tripartite mechanism as a step to a political solution which might end the six-year war.

Armed conflict continues in Syria since March 2011. Government troops are confronted by militants of different armed rebel groups. Russia has begun airstrikes on terrorist facilities in Syria since 30 September 2015. The Russian military involvement follows an official request from President Bashar Assad to President Vladimir Putin.

The UN has repeatedly tried and failed to end the Syrian conflict, which has killed 300,000 and displaced 11 million since it began five years ago.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 March 2017 17:19 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The ties between the Russian Federation and Turkey are recovering at a fast pace, and Moscow is pleased with this fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 10.

"We are very pleased that our interstate relations are recovering at a rather rapid pace, while trade and economic relations are also being restored," the Russian leader said at a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan noting that additional measures and steps aimed at restoration of economic relations in the full-format mode are being carried out, RIA Novosti reported.

On March 9, Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree lifting the ban on import of certain types of fruits and vegetables from Turkey.

Investment cooperation and preparations for the implementation of major projects are continuing, Putin said.

He hailed the trustful and effective work of the military departments of Russia and Turkey on Syria.

Erdogan expressed confidence that the talks with Putin would contribute to resolving the problems in the region.

During the meeting of the Cooperation Council at the Summit level, we will also consider regional issues, and I am confident that our meeting will contribute to the development of the situation in the region as a whole, he said.

The main elements of cooperation between the Russian and Turkish economies are the military-industrial complex and energy, the Turkish president emphasized.

"I believe that the defense industry, energy and others are the main elements of cooperation of the two economies at present," Erdogan stated.

The Turkish leader stressed that cooperation on the projects of the Turkish Stream and the Akkuyu nuclear power plant is returning to the previous level in a very accelerated pace and is developing more and more.

After one-on-one meeting, the presidents will head the countries delegations to attend the sixth High-Level Cooperation Council between Russia and Turkey.

The two sides are expected to agree on a series of arrangements on economic, cultural and tourism cooperation, which are due to be revealed later today.

During the visit, Turkish President is accompanied by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag, Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekchi, Minister of National Defense Fikri Ishik, Minister of Transport, Shipping and Communications Ahmet Arslan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Animal husbandry Faruk Celik, Minister of Culture and Tourism Nabi Avzhi, Chief of the General Staff of the Sun Hulusi Akar.

The Ankara-Moscow ties appear to be on the mend these days, after a drastic worsening in November 2015, when a Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down by the Turkish Air Force. Russia imposed a wave of economic sanctions against Turkey in response to the incident, with the two countries requiring over a year to mend relations.

Erdogan visited Russia in August 2016  his first meeting with Putin since downing the Russian jet where both sides agreed to restore and develop relations.

In December, Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov was shot and killed during a speech at an exhibition in Ankara by Mevlut Mert Altintas, a Turkish police officer. Erdogan condemned the attack and called for an investigation.

In February 2017, Russian airstrikes accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers and injured 11 others in northern Syria. Putin immediately apologized for the incident. Ankara said it was satisfied with the Kremlin's actions and statements.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
NCSU political scientist notes that compromise repeal plan would require legislative leaders and governor to cede some power

A compromise vehicle for the controversial "bathroom bill" could exact political consequences on Republican General Assembly leaders and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, one political analyst says.Andy Taylor, a political science professor at N.C. State University, said scuttlebutt suggests House Bill 186 would have sufficient support to pass if it comes to floor votes.But the fight to get the measure to the floor could be the biggest battle of all.for House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and a win for the rank and file.Taylor said.The only options so far seemed to be Republicans retaining House Bill 2 at all costs or Democrats demanding repeal to go back to life the way it was before. H.B. 2 requires people to use bathrooms, changing facilities, and showers matching their birth anatomy rather than the gender identity they choose for themselves.Taylor said. The business community, he said, is supportive of H.B. 186, is assuming a larger role in the debate, and lawmakers are feeling new pressures.Cooper should be wary if H.B. 186 passes and the economy sees an uptick.Taylor said.H.B. 186 has progressed significantly since the December special session, Taylor said, regardless of what Cooper, Moore, and Berger say.The progressA roomful of bipartisan lawmakers, business and trade group officials gathered in news conference Tuesday in either support of H.B. 186 or optimistic it could be the icebreaker in discussions leading to repeal of H.B. 2.Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, a primary sponsor of H.B. 186, said he was surprised at how quickly support has ballooned for the bill in the week after its introduction. But, he said, he wouldn't try to move it out of the House Rules Committee until he has enough votes to pass it. He said he would need 35 Democrats and 35 Republicans for that to happen.McGrady's strategy could be altruistic, a bit of grandstanding, or wily maneuvering.It is possible he thinks he can win either way, Taylor said, by fighting the good fight and going down a hero but in flames. "Or he could be using this tactic to really lean on, obviously, particularly Republican colleagues" for their support.from Republicans, McGrady said, with Democratic and Republican lawmakers beside him.Cooper has emphatically waved off support of H.B. 186, most recently Wednesday morning as he released his budget proposal and defended against allegations he has been using obstructionist tactics to prevent an H.B. 2 repeal so he can continue to use the issue for partisan political purposes."I am working with Democrats and Republicans in the House to repeal House Bill 2," he said.McGrady countered.McGrady said.Senate Republicans voted for repeal of H.B. 2 in December,but that measure got no Democratic votes at the prodding of Cooper.It appears unlikely McGrady will hear from Cooper about H.B. 186 any time soon. The governor said itand the measure is not "truly bipartisan" despite having four primary sponsors evenly split between parties.H.B. 186 would preempt local municipalities from enacting ordinances regulating access to bathrooms, changing facilities, and showers at private establishments. The state would regulate use of multi-occupancy bathrooms in public buildings.McGrady said the narrow preemption is needed, or some municipalities would enact ordinances similar to the one from Charlotte that required private businesses to allow people to use bathrooms they believe correspond to their gender expression.A recent Crux/Marist poll found Americans oppose transgender people using their choice of locker rooms and showers 66 percent to 27 percent, and oppose them using the bathroom of their choosing 56 percent to 38 percent.H.B. 186 includes provisions allowing cities under some conditions to designate "protected classes" in their nondiscrimination policies, McGrady said. The legislation also provides a relief valve for communities to place a referendum on the ballot should a set number of residents petition in opposition of a local ordinance.Cooper saidis a deal killer becauseHe said Moore should step up to get this referendum provision out of House Bill 186.Cooper said the referendum provision is another example of Republicans negotiating in bad faith.
In an op-ed column , Rep. Mark Meadows, R-11th District, and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took aim at the process behind and the substance of the replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act introduced by House Republican leaders.Calling the House leadership measure "ObamaCare Lite," Meadows and Paul said the proposal - scheduled for committee markup later this week - fails to repeal the ACA, keeps too much government control of health insurance in place, and is set to move forward too quickly to allow proper debate.The House leadership plan would, as the article notes, replace the premium subsidies in the ACA with refundable tax credits and continue to impose penalties on individuals who did not buy insurance policies (the "Obamacare mandate"), albeit at lower rates.Meadows and Paul said.The Republicans urge the House first to repeal fully the ACA at some future date before any replacement legislation takes effect.After repealing the ACA,they said.Meadows, in his third term, is chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. He announced last month he would oppose the House leaders' health-care proposal in its current form.The op-ed adds to mounting conservative opposition to the leadership plan. Earlier, the activist groups Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks, Heritage Action, and Club for Growth came out against the bill.
March at the rabbit patch is a very windy affair. The territory is situated in a particular area where the wind blows without mercy. This makes us subject to storms with gusts that send the rockers off the porch and the tin off the barns. Twice, we have had "downdraft" storms which are quick and brutal. When it is over, the Farm Life residents come out from their homes, in a daze and scan the countryside, making sure everyone is accounted for. Farmers armed with tractors and chainsaws go to work, clearing the debris. Anything not nailed down is usually found weeks later in the woods and ditches, and returned by the finders.Not every day is so harsh, in March, but even on the ordinary days, the wind will keep us as house bound as any winter weather. I do not know how blossoms hold their own in March. March is not the time to plan a picnic. It is not the time to put the geraniums on the front porch, either. We turn the rockers, so that they look as if they are kneeling in constant prayer. Wreaths and flags, do not stand a chance of surviving the March wind, at the rabbit patch.Lyla loves wind-she always has. Once, when she was not a year old- on a day full of wind, I took her on a walk to the laughing river. I parked the stroller, on the grassy open lot by the rivers' bank. She laughed aloud as the wind tasseled her hair and caused her blanket to fly about wildly, as if it were alive. On that day, the wind was warm and playful.When I was growing up, March was the time to fly kites. We never bought a kite-Daddy made them. We would stand in the front yard, with a field in front of us and watch the kite climb the sky, til it was barely visible. If the twine broke, the children would make a mad dash to recover "the long, lost friend". Often we ran til we couldn't, the distance was so great-and it is very difficult to run in a freshly plowed field, even for children. In my earliest memory, I remember that I cried, the first time that the twine snapped and set the kite free. Daddy had worked a good deal of time with newspaper, scrap plastic and little sticks, to make that kite. We had watched him in silence, as it seemed like such a great project. When the twine snapped, I was sure , the kite was gone forever and that daddy would be heartbroken. I did not fall for my cousin Chris' story, nor take any comfort that the kite had gone to Heaven to be with Grandmama-and I was right as after a search, the kite was found in a ditch at least a half mile away.I have never been able to fly a kite with any great success-let alone make one. Every March, when my children were little, I would attempt . I had great determination, but still the kites would climb a few measly feet and take to darting about, before plummeting in a deadly dive . The children ceased to stand anywhere near, where the kite was, as it seemed to target one of them every time, it took a dive.It seems folks do well with kites at the beach. They leave them unattended, and still the kites float peaceably above the water. Children build castles in the sand, beneath the kites, without any fear whatsoever. Todays' kites are colorful and you can see every sort of shape-dragons, birds and such things. As lovely, as it is to look up and see the sky full of pretty kites, I remember clearly the early spring evenings in my childhood, watching our kite soar mightily, over a field of winter wheat-and I think, ours, made from scraps, is still the most beautiful kite I have ever seen.
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In early 2016, SEB, one of Swedens largest banks with a presence in 20 countries around the globe, started integrating Amelia, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform from IPsoft, into its help desk. Amelia is represented by a blond female avatar and is always referred to as she rather than it.

The artificial intelligence platform is built on semantic understanding, which enables Amelia to interact with users through natural language to determine what actions to take in order to answer a question, fulfill a request or solve a problem. She is also designed to learn through observation.

At SEB, Amelia serves as a customer interface with automated interactions that can scale up to meet expanded support needs. The driver is to find a way to improve the experience for our customers, explains Mikael Andersson, the banks IT strategy transformation lead. The virtual agent, which speaks Swedish in this implementation, will ensure that the bank can meet anticipated future demands.

With Amelia, you need to find a business context and a role, Andersson says. That role is one that integrates with the human staff in what he describes as an augmented approach that draws on both tech and people. With Amelias automation taking care of more mundane tasks, employees are free to do more value-adding work.

Four Cases Form the Core of the Pilot Program

When SEB first put Amelia to work for the IT service desk, the help desk people suggested the tasks that should be assigned to the platform. Andersson recounts that they reviewed different types of cases, which they then narrowed down to the four that formed the core of the pilot program. The cases were chosen based on their volume, complexity and capacity for testing the range of Amelias capabilities.

Amelias progress is based on machine learning through observed dialog. When Amelia cannot solve a particular problem, she can escalate it to a person and observe the dialog between the customer and the service representative in order to learn how to address the new situation.

Before Amelia applies a new approach on her own, some optimization is done to ascertain that the technologys understanding is sound. Then that process can be automated. Amelias management interface reports on the number of cases solved, and proposes processes and dialogs for things that havent been solved but have been observed.

Andersson points out that because Amelias technology is new, there are no best practices, so SEB has to find out for itself what works and what doesnt. Like Amelia, the bank will be guided by user feedback as it works to improve the process.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office was able to replace a retiring K9 thanks to the help of Dundee Elementary Academy.

The school held a "Pennies for Paws" drive in 2015 to help the sheriff's office purchase a replacement for Diego.

On Feb. 27, deputies welcomed their newest member, K9 Dasha. She is the sheriff's office first Hanoverian hound and their only female dog.

Dasha is 20 months old and was found at Boulder Creek Performance K9 in St. James, Missouri. She trained for four weeks there before coming to Florida.

Deputies said Dasha made her first find after six days on the job.

Friday, Dasha got to meet some of the students at DEA who helped make her a member of the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office wrote on their Facebook page saying, "We are so grateful to the DEA Owls!"
St. Petersburg Police have made an arrest in the 2015 murder of a 16 year old outside his home.

Jesse Paul Greene, 26, charged with 1st degree murder

Investigators say robbery was motive

Case still under investigation

Investigators charged Jesse Paul Greene, 26, on Thursday with 1st degree murder in the shooting death of Lenny Acosta outside his home on November 10, 2015.



His mother, Taina Rivera, was just steps away inside the house when it happened.



"I've been dead for a year and four months," she said. "A part of me literally died that day."



Rivera said since losing her son she's been depressed, and struggling to try to understand why it happened.



"For somebody to come and take a precious life like that. You're just an animal. You are nothing but the devil," she said.



She said she broke down in tears when detectives called to tell her someone had been arrested.



Police said robbery was the motive and that they learned of Greene's involvement in the case shortly after the murder. It took them months, however, to sort through evidence and investigate other suspects before they could arrest Greene.



Rivera said she has no idea why her son was targeted. She described him as a quiet kid who got along with everybody and never got into trouble.



"He took somebody who means so much to me," said Rivera. I love Lenny more than I love myself."



She said while the arrest can't bring her son back, she is relieved Greene is behind bars.



"I feel alive again," said Rivera. "I feel like finally something is happening. I'm very grateful, I'm grateful for it all. Thank you Lord. Thank you."



The investigation is ongoing.
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Orange County officials said it could take years for the county to rebound from paying off a multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuit, which could hinder critical economic development plans and leave it financially vulnerable to natural disasters.



The Commissioners Court voted last month to pay $3.2 million dollars to the family of Robert Montano, an inmate who died at the Orange County jail in 2011, after the Fifth Circuit of Appeals in New Orleans upheld the trial court's ruling and award.



The payment was a blow to the county of just over 80,000 people, which was running a $3.8 million budget deficit before the lawsuit.



Orange County Judge Stephen Brint Carlton said Thursday that rebuilding the surplus fund, from which the money for the payment was taken, won't be quick or easy, given that the county already needs to stimulate economic growth.



The payment took the county's surplus fund, typically used to cover natural disasters, down to $4.6 million, well short of the $12 million he said would be necessary to cover lost property for up to three months from a natural disaster, he said.
Creatas/Thinkstock(MCALLEN, Texas) -- One married couple had a tearful reunion after both being diagnosed with stage IV cancer within a week of each other.



After Susan Stros, 70, was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in late February, her husband Jerry Stros was by her side day and night, their son Jason Stros told ABC News.



"He was at her bedside every day," Jason Stros, of Mcallen, Texas, added. "Here's my dad by her side 24 hours a day, never going home, staying there and trying to care for her."



It was during one of those days when he was caring for his wife of 51 years that Jerry Stros, 71, fell after having a massive seizure.



"And my mom had to be witness to this," Jason Stros, 38, added.



Jerry Stros suffered from a broken back in his fall and was rushed to the emergency room. It was during that treatment that doctors discovered that he too had stage IV cancer, in his brain.



Still, before the two underwent various treatments for their cancers apart, doctors briefly let them see each other, thinking that it may be their last time to say goodbye. "She was just holding his hand," their son Jason Stros recalled.



Then doctors separated the two for treatment. It was rare alone time for the couple, who met decades ago in River Rouge High School, outside Detroit.



Susan Stros was finally released from the hospital last week to receive hospice care in her home, while Jerry Stros returned home last Saturday after doctors told him he could receive outpatient radiation therapy to treat his cancer.



Their four children, Jason, Jimmy, Jerry and Jeana Stros, greeted their father when he returned to his Acworth, Georgia, home. And Jason Stros filmed the tearful reunion between Susan and Jerry Stros. That video has now received more than 9,000 views.



"My mom ... hasn't been able to walk," Jason Stros noted. "But she began walking toward my dad when she saw him."



The video shows Susan Stros walking slowly toward her husband before joining him on their living room couch.



Jason Stros told ABC News his parents' love has inspired him.



"When I saw my dad walk in that door, it made me say that nothing in my entire life could ever make me know that I can't overcome something based on what I saw these two human beings overcome in less than two weeks," he said, "and still have enough fight in them."



Jason Stros added, "They don't know if tomorrow is coming, but they're not going to stop fighting. Their love is so strong that they're going to keep fighting this fight together rather than alone."





Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
A jury Wednesday found a Casper man not guilty of raping a teenage girl in his bathroom.

After more than three hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Michael Baird of first-degree sexual assault and attempted first-degree sexual assault. Baird was charged with the crimes after an 18-year-old girl told police that he raped her in the bathroom of his apartment in July 2015.

On the final day of the trial, Baird took the stand and told the jury that the sex was consensual and that the girl had initiated it. The day before, the young woman told the jury that Baird had held her down and forced himself on her.

According to court documents and trial testimony, the girl traveled to Casper from Worland with two of her friends on July 27, 2015. The girl and her friends were drinking at Baird's apartment when the girl, who was 18 at the time, became sick and vomited on herself. One of the friends took her to the bathroom to clean her up but left the girl alone to go find her clean clothes. While the girl was alone, Baird walked into the bathroom.

In her testimony, the young woman said Baird then attempted to force her to give him oral sex before holding her down and raping her. She said she tried to fight back but was too weak.

Baird said Wednesday that he was trying to help the girl, whom he had met that day, when she started kissing him and trying to unbuckle his pants. He said they then had consensual sex.

They left the bathroom after a friend knocked on the door. The girl then asked to leave the apartment and told her friend that Baird had raped her as they drove back to Worland.

The next day, the girl underwent a rape kit and reported the incident to Worland police, who later gave the case to the Casper Police Department. Investigators took photos of scratches and bruises on the girl's arms and back. Prosecutors charged Baird in connection to the alleged rape in August 2016.

At the end of his closing argument and before the jury left to decide, public defender Rob Oldham read a quote from John Adams.

"It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished," he said, "for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished."
The following health IT vendor contracts and go-lives were reported within the past week.

1. New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System selected Kyruus's ProviderMatch for Access Centers and KyruusOne solutions.

2. Royal Philips and Phoenix Children's Hospital partnered to advance the creation of technology solutions for pediatric care.

3. Humana partnered with Quartet, a New York City-based software startup, to bring integrated behavioral healthcare to its greater New Orleans Medicare Advantage members.

4. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based GlobalMed, a provider of telemedicine delivery solutions, acquired TreatMD, based in Miami.

5. IBM and Salesforce, a customer relationship management provider, entered a partnership to bring together their artificial intelligence platforms.

6. Netflix has unveiled instructions for a fitness tracker that can connect to users' Netflix accounts.

7. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare and New York City-based Oxeon, a healthcare growth services firm, launched a new company: Empiric Health.

8. Children's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.) finished phase one of implementing the GetWellNetwork inpatient solution at Overland Park-based Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas.

9. The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Clemson (S.C.) University a contract of up to $1.2 million to research mobile intervention for diabetes self-management.
New York City-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Company appointed Thomas J. Lynch, Jr., MD, executive vice president and chief scientific officer, effective March 16, 2017.

Here are four things to know:

1. Dr. Lynch served as chairman and CEO of Boston-based Massachusetts General Physicians Organization since July 2015.

2. He also serves on Bristol-Myers Squibb's board of directors, but he will step down, effective March 15, 2017.

3. Previously, he served as director of New Haven, Conn.-based Yale Cancer Center and was the Richard and Jonathan Sackler Professor of Internal Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine.

4. He succeeds Francis Cuss, MD, who is retiring.
Ron A. DePinho, MD, president of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, resigned from his post on March 8. In addition to submitting a formal letter of resignation, Dr. DePinho, who became the institution's fourth president on Sept. 1, 2011, also prepared an unusually forthright video explaining his choice to step down.

The move concludes a tenure wrought with financial struggles, a large layoff and an audit that brought into question Dr. DePinho's investment and management practices.

Resigning from a top leadership role is a difficult task. Though there are many reasons one might resign, it's hard to dispel the implication that the decision resulted from shortcomings that were impossible to overcome. Dr. DePinho did not attempt to do that. Instead, he was honest, candid and sincere about his decision and took responsibility for many of the organization's difficulties.

The manner in which Dr. DePinho resigned can serve as an example for any other leader who might find him or herself in such circumstances. Here are four key lessons on resignation from Dr. DePinho.

1. Take accountability. The tenets of a graceful resignation are the same as those of strong leadership. One of the main ones is accountability. When an organization is experiencing trouble, no one wants to hear excuses or see a leader point fingers of blame at others. Instead, a mark of true leadership  even within a resignation  is having the courage to take responsibility for the organization's shortcomings.

While still touting the accomplishments MD Anderson made while he was at the helm, Dr. DePinho states in his address, "I could have done a better job administratively, a better job listening, a better job communicating. Forgive me for my shortcomings."

2. Be honest. Leaders are not infallible  they are human, and like all other humans, they're not perfect. It's important to be honest and straightforward about this and not try to deny weaknesses.

In addition to admitting where he could have done a better job as a leader, Dr. DePinho is honest about personal challenges in his life, such as the loss of his "hero"  his father  to colon cancer.

Dr. DePinho doesn't bring up this personal information as an excuse; instead, he suggests the tragedy fortified his commitment to defeat cancer. He said his father's suffering "ignited and defined the intensity of my fight" against cancer, and added, "Every life lost reminds me of my father and instills an even greater sense of urgency and, admittedly, anger. I simply hate cancer."

Being honest and showing authentic emotion is not a signal of weakness. To the contrary, it is courageous and also makes one more relatable to the people he or she is addressing.

3. Have gratitude. The ability to express genuine gratitude amid negative circumstances does not go unnoticed. "Being president of MD Anderson is an honor I will carry with me for the rest of my life," Dr. DePinho said in the video.

He also demonstrates pride in the many achievements of his staff, including enhancing MD Anderson's research competitiveness, elevating the reputation of its graduate school program, expanding clinical trials, transforming its translational research infrastructure and launching MD Anderson's Cancer Moon Shots Program, among other successes.

4. Demonstrate continued commitment to the mission. Dr. DePinho's choice to resign is grounded in his belief that the organization needs a new leader to achieve its goals and live out its mission. He says a new president will help MD Anderson "forge ahead on its mission of compassionate care for patients and the discovery of scientific advances that, I believe, lie at the heart of ultimately defeating cancer." His resignation doesn't sever his commitment to the organization  it reinforces it.

Dr. DePinho plans to continue to fight cancer by returning to his "passion of conducting translational science and helping others doing great science  to drive ideas to clinical impact that matter for patients."

"I truly believe that this decision will allow me to better serve cancer patients here, at MD Anderson, and nationally," he said.
The American Health Care Act is gaining traction in the House, The New York Times reports.

After lengthy sessions, the legislation gained approval Thursday in the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees, according to the article. The votes were along party lines.

"Today marks the beginning of the end of Obamacare," House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said after the votes, according to The New York Times.

The House Budget Committee is expected to take up the AHCA next week prior to a full House vote slated for later in March, according to the report.

The votes come as House Republicans' ACA replacement proposal has been under fire by some conservative groups. President Donald Trump, who endorsed the AHCA, met Wednesday with some of these conservative opponents, which reportedly include the Heritage Foundation and Americans for Prosperity. The president has also met with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who has expressed caution over the AHCA, according to the report.

Every major hospital entity in the U.S. has expressed opposition to the measure.
The healthcare industry added 26,800 jobs last month, according to the most recent jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here are four things to know.

1. Within healthcare, ambulatory healthcare services employment grew the most last month, adding 18,300 jobs. Hospital employment grew by 6,300 last month.

2. Medical and diagnostic laboratories, health practitioner offices and community care facilities for the elderly recorded job losses in February.

3. In the last year, the healthcare industry added an average of 30,000 jobs per month, according to the BLS.

4. Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 235,000 in February.
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington is working to help employees become homeowners, according to a Times Union report.

The hospital is involved in an initiative where it purchases dilapidated houses, rehabs them and sells them off, according to the report. Under the hospital's Healthy Homes for Bennington initiative, the houses are sold to first-time homeowners, and SVMC employees get first choice, the report states.

Hospital executives told the Times Union the initiative accomplishes three goals: "to aid community development efforts in the city, to address the health reform goal of improving population health and to retain valued staff members."

The program is a collaboration between SVMC, Bennington and The Bank of Bennington, according to the report. Kevin Dailey, vice president for human resources at SVMC, told the Times Union the hospital's contribution comes from investment revenues.
Orthopedic surgeons Brock Wentz, MD, Erik Kubiak, MD, Sukanta Maitra, MD, and Michael Daubs, MD, banned together to form University Orthopedics and Spine, according to a Nevada Business report.

The practice aims to serve the Las Vegas community. The surgeons bring their specialist expertise in orthopedics and treat patients with traumatic injuries, fractures and other orthopedic conditions.

Dr. Wentz completed his training at the University of Missouri Truman Medical Center in Kansas City; Dr. Kubiak underwent a residency at the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City. Dr. Maitra completed his residency at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif., and Dr. Daubs completed his residency at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center.
The Collaborative Health Outcomes Information Registry allows physicians to gauge pain management treatment at the Pain Management Center at Stanford Health Care, according to Pain Medicine News.

Here are five things to know:

1. The registry currently contains 15,000 unique patients, 64,000 visits and 40,000 follow-up visits.

2. CHOIR has transformed how pain management is handled at Stanford's Pain Management Center. Data informs treatment choices, tracks treatment results and ultimately empowers patients.

3. CHOIR creator and past president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine Sean Macket, MD, PhD, said, "CHOIR allows us to answer the most basic question: Are we getting our patients better?... We can answer that with data that is of importance for both the clinician and patient. Without quality data, we are all just doctors with opinions."

4. The platform is used in primary care, orthopedics, interventional radiology and psychology clinics.

5. Dr. Mackey hopes to increase the number of CHOIR users and extend its use to smaller clinics.

More practice management articles:

Kansas City Orthopaedic Institute breaks ground, doubles inpatient rooms: 5 key notes



4 orthopedic surgeons ban together to form University Orthopedics and Spine in Nevada



HSS adds MIS surgeon Dr. Sheeraz Qureshi  5 highlights




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A former Billings Senior High School teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old student who later killed herself will be released from the Montana State Prison to California on parole.

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 had a hearing before the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole on Jan. 30, said Department of Corrections Communications Director Judy Beck. During 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, which sent the request to California.

That proposal was approved March 6. He is scheduled to be released from the Montana State Prison on March 21.

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 last week. She was not present at Rambold's parole hearing and was not able to object to his release.

Montana Board of Pardons and Parole Executive Director Kristy Cobban said Rambold was denied parole in 2016 so that he could complete sex offender treatment. He returned in 2017 after completing the treatment and submitted a plan to be paroled to California, Cobban said.

Rambold, a former business and technology teacher at Senior High School, 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 those 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 her daughter's death and in 2012 settled the suit for just under $91,000.
Belfast could soon see its first easyHotel

Belfast's first easyHotel looks set to win council approval. Planners have recommended the proposed budget 81-bedroom hotel at Howard Street is approved during next week's committee meeting.

The company is aiming to build its first hotel in the heart of the city centre.

It will sit above some of Belfast's best-known restaurants, including three spots owned by top chef Michael Deane - Meat Locker, Love Fish and Eipic, which is only one of two restaurants here with a Michelin star. The building is owned by David Crowe, and office space above the restaurants is empty.

The firm wants to convert the existing office space and a dry cleaners on the ground floor into the hotel, complete with a ground floor cafe. The existing building will be retained and refurbished and the Howard Street elevation will remain unchanged.

Planners have said the extension to Brunswick Street "will improve and enhance the character and appearance of the area and all important views within, into and out of the area will be protected".

The additional storey "will match and continue the original Georgian frontage with the existing rendered treatment replicated", a report said.

The application for the new hotel has been made by Davcrow Ltd, a company which counts David Crowe as one of its directors. Rapport Architects is behind the design of the hotel.

EasyHotel opened first opened in London in 2005. Since then it has expanded to around 25 hotels across Europe.

It has locations in Germany, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Holland, Hungary and Belgium.

The project is the latest hotel to get under way in the area and one of 27 new proposed developments across the city.

Behind it, the Grand Central, which at 304 bedrooms will be the largest hotel in Northern Ireland, is being built.
The chairman of JD Wetherspoon has ripped into Chancellor Philip Hammond, accusing him of delivering a "budget for dinner parties" rather than pub goers.

Tim Martin used a first-half trading statement to highlight nearly 30 million of extra charges Wetherspoon will have to pay as a result of tax hikes, and derided Mr Hammond for threatening the pub sector's survival.

He told the Press Association: "We understand the need for the Government to raise taxes, but there needs to be tax equality between pubs and supermarkets.

"I want a reduction in business rates for pubs and an increase for supermarkets, and I want VAT for food in pubs reduced too.

"It doesn't make sense if you have a dinner party in Notting Hill with food from Waitrose there is less VAT charged on the food than if you go to a pub in Newcastle.

"Government policy is favouring places like Belgravia over less affluent parts of the country where pubs are closing down."

Mr Martin totted up a business rates bill of 7 million, a 2 million Apprenticeship Levy charge and a 4 million hit from the sugar tax that will contribute to 29 million in extra charges the group will face over the next few years.

He also poured scorn on Mr Hammond's 1,000 business rates discount for pubs with a rateable value of less than 100,000, saying "that sum is dwarfed by tax and regulatory increases" and that Wetherspoon is not eligible for it in any case.

The outspoken New Zealander described Mr Hammond as having been "less than frank" in the budget, and also had a pop at George Osborne.

"The Chancellor was less than frank in his budget speech, since he did not spell out the duty increases (on alcohol and tobacco), giving the impression to many that there would be no increase.

"In effect, this was a budget for dinner parties, no doubt the preference of the Chancellor and his predecessor - dinner parties will suffer far less from the taxes outlined above, whereas many people prefer to go to pubs, given the choice," he said.

Brexit-backing Mr Martin dismissed as "absurd" the suggestion Tory tax hikes, including a controversial increase in National Insurance payments for small businesses and the self-employed, were linked to preparing the country for Brexit.

"The way you prepare is by having an efficient economy with fair taxes," he said.

On Brexit, Mr Martin added: "We need immigration, and we should have a preferential system for EU workers, like we had with Ireland."

Asked if he had any regrets about backing the Leave campaign in light of the seemingly "hard Brexit" Theresa May has favoured, he said: "I don't have any regrets, I'm breakdancing in the car park."

The pubs boss made the comments alongside half-year results, which saw pre-tax profits climb 43% to 51.4 million in the 26 weeks to January 22.

Like-for-like sales rose 3.3% while revenue nudged up 1.4% to 801.4 million.

Trading in the second half has got off to a mixed start, with like-for-like sales rising by 2.7% and total sales falling by 0.2% in the six weeks to March 5.
Ryanair chief Michael OLeary at the launch of the airlines return to Belfast last year

Ryanair has suggested it could double the number of flights from Belfast if the tax on flights was abolished.

But Kenny Jacobs, the airline's chief marketing officer, also said uncertainty around the future of the open skies policy following Brexit could hit the company's expansion plans.

"They (the routes) are generally performing well," he added. "Gatwick will always do well. Sunshine routes do well. Anything below 90% load factor and we are going, what's the issue?

"We have a high bar to get over. Generally, we are happy. We wouldn't be growing from zero to 1.3 million (passengers) if it wasn't strong.

"But there are still people driving to Dublin to fly. You get an airport with more frequency and you don't have air passenger duty (APD).

"We have a lot of 19.99 fares and 13 of that is tax. We believe Stormont should do what they are doing in Scotland and take control of the travel tax."

Airline boss Michael O'Leary previously said the airline was cutting expansion due to Brexit, and Mr Jacobs, speaking as the airline announced its winter schedule from Belfast, believes the same could happen here.

"I would urge Stormont to do the same (as Scotland) and grow tourism," he said.

Mr Jacobs claimed City of Derry airport "was the best example of an airport impacted by the travel tax".

Michael O'Leary has already warned that the remaining three domestic flights from the city could be moved to Belfast unless there is a cut in APD.

Mr Jacobs said: "When you are going from Derry to London and the fare is 20 quid, 13 of that is tax. It is punishing regional airports like Derry. That's why we made reductions in Derry.

"It doesn't deliver the return we need. If the tax stays in place, you would expect to see us grow moderately... all with the caveat of Brexit.

"We could probably double flights from Northern Ireland if the tax was removed."

He also warned that if the UK ended up out of the open skies agreement between the EU and US because of Brexit, it could hit the industry. "There is no solution and they need to come up with a solution by March 2018," Mr Jacobs said.

"We will be planning the summer 2019 schedule. We need to know how we are going to operate schedules. The clock is ticking, and it's getting quite tight. It's going to come down to both sides how flying will continue to operate in post-Brexit."

Speaking about the political instability at Stormont, Mr Jacobs said: "I hope a government forms quickly and sets an agenda soon."

Belfast International Airport's Uel Hoey added: "We wholeheartedly support Ryanair's entreaty to the Government to scrap APD as soon as possible.

"The burden of APD has a uniquely negative effect upon Northern Ireland's capacity to boost tourism and general economic growth through the sustainable provision of widely available and affordable airfares."

Ryanair has 13 summer routes and 12 in the winter.
The UK'S trading relationship with countries outside the European Union after Brexit will be a critical factor in guaranteeing future exporting success, a company chief has said.

Richard Kennedy, from agri-technology firm Devenish Nutrition, spoke as Northern Ireland's exports soared by almost 12% to 7.8bn - outpacing the rest of the UK.

The HMRC statistics for the whole of last year also showed that sales to the US had increased by 40%, from 1.18bn to 1.67bn. The US accounted for 21.5% of exports.

Exports to the Republic accounted for the biggest share, at 31%, of Northern Ireland's exports, and had grown by 8.8% to reach 4.4bn.

Overall EU sales accounted for 54.8% of sales, with the remainder non-EU.

Large manufacturing exporters, from aeroplane manufacturer Bombardier to pharmaceutical firm Almac and Ulster Carpets, all added to the strength of the figures.

But Mr Kennedy, Devenish's group chief executive, said strong overseas sales for his firm and other major exporters could not be sustained without strong trading deals with non-EU countries - as well as the EU - following Brexit.

The Belfast-based company manufactures feed and speciality products for livestock and companion animals.

Mr Kennedy said its sales to markets outside the EU had grown by approximately 80% in the last year.

But he warned that the post-Brexit landscape would bring challenges.

"Our exports are up considerably outside the European Union," he said.

"But in a Brexit world it's a huge issue as Britain hasn't negotiated a trade deal with a foreign country for 70 years.

"Everybody is focused on the EU-British relationship of the future, but in actual fact what is a real concern is the non-EU grid."

From a group perspective, Mr Kennedy said 47% of its sales were outside the UK.

"We have a presence and sell in 32 different countries, from Taiwan, which we've been selling to for the last 10 years, to Sub Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Europe," he added.

Mr Kennedy stressed the firm was not overly concerned with the potential economically protectionist policies from President Donald Trump.

"We have three plants in the US and it's such a vast business that there's a real opportunity there," the chief executive said.

Nick Coburn, head of Ulster Carpets and chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Trade and Industry, welcomed the growth in exports during 2016, and claimed that it reflected findings of its most recent survey.

But he also said: "We would however have some concern going into 2017, particularly for manufacturers as the survey did suggest that their export order book was weakening.

"Significant cost pressures were also beginning to emerge, leading to concerns around profitability along with growing pressure to raise prices."

"Exchange rates are now the most significant and growing concern for our members," he added.
Ulster Bank is shutting nine branches across Northern Ireland and cutting around 10 jobs at their brokerage team.

It's closing the branches in October this year. They include the Antrim Road, Woodstock Road, Boucher Road and Newtownbreda in Belfast, Kircubbin in Co Down, Garvagh and Monkstown in Co Antrim and Ulster Bank's Londonderry branch close to the Millennium Forum.

It comes after the Belfast Telegraph revealed this week that the closure of up to 10 branches was due this month.

It's believed senior staff were briefed on the closures on Thursday.

Sean Murphy, managing director of personal banking, Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, said:

"Ulster Bank will close nine branches in Northern Ireland in October 2017. Banking has changed radically in recent years. More and more of our customers are using digital technology and fewer are using our branch network.

"Closing a branch is never an easy decision and one we do not take lightly. Recognising that customers expect different services from their bank, we continue to invest in a range of channels to improve access in a sustainable way, such as our Bank on Wheels, 24/7 telephone banking and our services available through the Post Office.

"Ulster Bank still retains Northern Irelands largest bank branch network and its only Bank on Wheels service, as well providing ongoing education for customers in how to make best use of these services. We will also be introducing additional digital and community support roles to assist with this transition."

"In line with the industry-agreed UK protocol on branch closures, we are writing to customers of these branches to inform them of alternative branch locations in their area and the range of banking services available on their mobiles, online, telephone and in post offices. We are also communicating directly with staff in those affected branches."

Larry Broderick, general secretary of the Financial Services Union (FSU) said the announcement is another blow for staff, customers and the communities they serve.

"The announcement comes hard on the heels of First Trust Banks decision to close half its branches in Northern Ireland.

"The fact that in the first three months of the year a total of 24 branch closures have been announced demands a response from all stakeholders.

"The FSI has been to the forefront in calling for a long-term strategy for banking and financial services in Northern Ireland.

"We urgently need to get financial institutions, customer representatives, business groups, politicians and our union working together on a strategy that looks forward five or 10 years and maps out what type of banking structure Northern Ireland requires.

"We are willing to play our part in that task and I hope that others will also show leadership."

The union says around six voluntary redundancies across the branches, along with nine job losses at its 'mortgage intermediary unit'.

In 2014, Ulster Bank announced it was cutting 10 of its branches, bringing the number from 75 to 65.

In April last year it announced it was cutting 50 jobs across Northern Ireland, and shutting some branches on Saturdays.

Just last month First Trust revealed it is shutting half of its branch network here.

It is understood around 130 staff are facing voluntary redundancy after it announced it was closing 15 branches.
Dame Joan Collins attends the world premiere of The Time Of Their Lives at Curzon Mayfair, London

Dame Joan Collins has revealed she will be starring in an upcoming musical movie in the style of Oscar-winning La La Land.

The renowned actress, 83, said she would be taking on a "glamorous" role in the as yet unannounced film as she made a guest appearance on ITV's The Nightly Show on Friday.

Letting the cat out of the bag, she told host John Bishop: "I'm supposed to start another movie next month, but it hasn't been announced yet.

"It's a musical, along the lines of La La Land."

While she held back any further detail, she said she would be playing a very different character to her current role as the slightly dishevelled Helen in The Time Of Their Lives.

The movie, released on Friday, tells the story of a former Hollywood star who recruits a friend to help her make an ill-fated trip from London to France for her ex-lover's funeral.

It also includes some revealing moments from Italian actor Franco Nero.

When asked about the scenes in more detail, she said: "He looks good... Once you've seen one you've seen them all."

Towards the end of the show, Bishop handed over the microphone to next week's presenter Davina McCall, who is also preparing for the final of Channel 4 celebrity ski show The Jump.

Speaking of the programme, which has gained a reputation for resulting in injured contestants, she said: "The series has been really fun and we have only broken two celebrities... so far."

::The Nightly Show continues next week on ITV.
EastEnders fans have voiced their sympathy for character Shirley Carter who has been jailed instead of her son, Mick.

In an emotional car scene on Thursday night, Mick (Danny Dyer) prepared himself for his apparently inevitable fate, but Shirley (Linda Henry) insisted on a new plan.

The drama came after Aunt Babe's scheme of illegally selling alcohol at the Queen Vic pub.

As Mick sobbed behind the wheel, his mother calmly told him: "With a bit of luck it might not even go to court, it's my fault. I knew Babe was selling the booze and you didn't have a clue.

"That's why I'm finally stepping up Mick. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you son. I'm going to get you out of this mess. Whether you like it or not."

The second of the two episodes broadcast on BBC One then ended with a close-up of Shirley, sitting in a cell.

In a Twitter post with a shocked face emoji, one viewer wrote: "Shirley gone to prison What the hell #EastEnders."

Another wrote: "Poor Shirley #Eastenders hope she will be ok," while another added: "Shirley you're breaking my heart #eastenders"

Shirley's action also meant that the Carter family could avoid a hefty round of debt that could have led to bankruptcy.

But while it may have been a first jail stint for Shirley, other viewers joked that it wasn't a first for Henry, who is also well known for playing a central character in prison drama Bad Girls.

She played long-standing inmate Yvonne Atkins in the show, which ran from 1999 to 2006.

One viewer wrote: "Just heard that Shirley from #EastEnders has gone to prison for 3 months. She must have been a 'bad girl'."

Another commented: "Shirley taking the rap for Mick in #eastenders. Its ok she's got previous experience of prison life #badgirls."

Another added: "Oh it was like Bad Girls all over again end of that episode! #Eastenders @bbceastenders #Shirley"
Forgive me if I rehash an old sexist joke - but it's hard to recognise Theo James with his top on. The one he's wearing, teamed with blue jeans, is sensible, navy, long-sleeved - not even skin-tight. Doubly disappointing for the Oxford-born actor's sizeable female fanbase, who like to watch this "smouldering at all times", "incredible hunk" dressed in as little as possible.

At the London cafe in which we meet, he is alternating between sips of coffee and green juice through a straw.

"Actors can be very boring to talk to," says the 32-year-old star. "I only want to talk about this juice."

He laughs - perfect teeth. He frowns - brooding brow. He is in a relationship, probably still with Irish actress Ruth Kearney (he won't go into it).

On the internet, James is seen mostly through the lens of young, pulsating female lust - gifs of him with his pecs out and a montage of his clips strung together to Justin Timberlake's SexyBack.

Parts in The Inbetweeners Movie and the UK supernatural drama Bedlam have been overshadowed by his roles in the 440m-grossing Underworld franchise,in which he plays a vampire revived from the dead by Kate Beckinsale's fellow vampire, and alongside Shailene Woodley in the dystopian Divergent film series (the first grossed 235m, although the fourth and final movie was shelved last year amid talk of a possible TV adaptation). The hunky action hero label has stuck to him like velcro for eight years now. Not necessarily with his say-so.

"Yeah. That's what has to be escaped from," he says.

Perhaps he feels boxed in as "too perfect-looking", an actor/model? "Well," he says, smiling through his alarm. "I hope they don't say the latter because I may as well jump off a cliff." Yet for a long time, he was the face of a Hugo Boss fragrance.

"Well, you are a model and an actor," I say.

"I'm not a model.

"It's a tricky one, right, because I can't decry it, can I? But purely in terms of career progression, if you don't want to do things that are representative of that image, and if you have half a brain - yes, that's definitely something you have to escape. The aim is to be multi-dimensional."

This year, he hopes, will be the one that changes the incredible-hunk typecasting.

"I'm 32. As fun as those films are, they're not particularly representative of who I am as a person. I've got to get past that," he says.

Just in time - ignoring the "big clusterf***" that James says the film adaptation of Martin Amis's London Fields was - all the signs are there that he may be about to succeed.

First there was his role in last year's War On Everyone, in which James played a funny, aristocratic drug-addict.

He's just finished a run at Hampstead Theatre in the American two-hander Sex with Strangers, starring alongside Emilia Fox. The role involved stripping off on stage for live sex scenes, which doesn't appear to have fazed him.

He says: "Nudity happens in probably 70% of films. I was interested in this story because it's about what modern sex is, what modern love means - and you don't turn around to the director and say, 'There's going to be no sex'."

But the major game-changer comes this September, when he will star in Backstabbing for Beginners, an adaptation of UN whistleblower Michael Soussan's autobiography. Directed by the highly-respected Danish film-maker Per Fly, it tells the story of how Soussan helped bring to light the UN oil-for-food scandal, in which Benon Sevan, the former director of the oil-for-food programme, was accused of accepting bribes from Saddam Hussein's regime.

James plays Soussan opposite Sir Ben Kingsley's Sevan.

Its timing is perfect. Here is a tale of institutional corruption, the release of which coincides with the newly politicised atmosphere in Hollywood. Whistleblowing has an undeservedly glamorous reputation, says James. "With Snowden, he's become an icon. Yes, whistleblowing has become more acceptable - but the interesting thing about Michael is that he didn't become a hero. People did f*** all about it. He left the UN and found it very hard to get work for about 10 years afterwards."

The youngest of five (he has two brothers and two sisters), James grew up in Witney, just outside Oxford. His father worked as a consultant, his mother for the NHS - a clue as to why their son ended up one year in a summer job, "picking up equipment from disabled people who had passed away recently. That was really hard."

He holds strong views on NHS funding cuts. "I have friends who are junior doctors. What they get paid is unbelievable for the experience they have."

He attended Nottingham University and graduated with a philosophy degree. He had been acting here and there in amateur productions - but his mission was to go global as guitarist and frontman of his band, Shere Khan. Acting won, and it was while at the Bristol Old Vic drama school that he caught the eye of an agent.

Urban myth holds that his film career took off after his cameo as Kemal Pamuk in the first series of Downton Abbey (ratings soared when his character died of a heart attack after a forbidden tryst with Lady Mary). In fact, it had been his first film role, a small part as a personal trainer in Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, that attracted the big Hollywood studios, who began to cast him in power sci-fi.

The roles emerged "by proxy" - he says he never relied on his looks. In fact, they have their drawbacks: "There are preconceptions of what you're going to be like as an actor, as a person. People I've worked with have said to me: 'I assumed you were going to be a d***'."

James divides his time between north London and Los Angeles, where people were said to be left mystified by the vote to leave the European Union.

"Americans tend to have a very positive view of Europe - the culture, the history of it."

Of course that was before Trump became president. Is Hollywood now worried about a new McCarthyism; a "fake-news" version of the deep cleanse of alleged communism in the film industry?

"You could say that it's impossible in four years to make those kind of cultural changes, you have to have a lot of power and he is not popular enough. But we said he'd never be the Republican candidate, then we said he'd never be president."

Are these the subjects his army of fan girls are keen to discuss with him? "One thing I couldn't get used to was that a lot of people after the show would ask, 'Can we have a picture?'. I'm a little allergic to selfies and I'm not on social media - I find it a bit invasive, and very self-centred. So I would say, 'I'm not going to take a picture, but I'm happy to chat to you'."
The Billings Police Department is investigating a hit and run crash that injured a Billings man at a busy West End intersection Wednesday night.

Lt. Neil Lawrence said in a news release Friday that the injured man, a 22-year-old Billings resident, was taken to Billings Clinic by ambulance and has since been transported to a hospital in Salt Lake City. The status of the man is unknown, he said.

Officers responded at 8:44 p.m. on Wednesday to a crash report at 24th Street West and Central Avenue and found the 22-year-old man, who was unconscious. The man appeared from his injuries to have been hit by a vehicle, Lawrence said.

The driver and vehicle that hit the man has not been located, he said.

The departments crash investigation team responded to the scene and the investigation is ongoing.

Lawrence also said anyone with information about the crash should contact the department at 406-657-8200.
Drawings by Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Picasso feature alongside contemporary artists in a new exhibition from the British Museum that opens at the Ulster Museum today.

The exhibition - Lines Of Thought: Drawing From Michelangelo - features 70 works from the British Museum's internationally-renowned graphic collection.

The show looks at the ways in which artists have used drawing as a means of recording and provoking thought from the 15th Century to today, and puts contemporary artists side by side with master draughtsmen across five centuries - showing the minds of some of the world's greatest artists in operation.

Anne Stewart, National Museums Northern Ireland's curator of fine art, said it was a remarkable exhibition.

"We are thrilled that this profoundly beautiful and entirely unique exhibition has come to the Ulster Museum, making it possible for visitors to enjoy exceptional work by the world's Great Masters, alongside contemporary artists," she said.

"There is something incredibly insightful and intimate about this exhibition.

"In a sense it's like stepping into the secret world of the artists."

Comedian, actor and artist Phill Jupitus, who opened the exhibition, said: "Before I was a live performer I was a compulsive doodler. This turned into an ad hoc job as a cartoonist and illustrator.

"There's something about the creation of image that I find both satisfying and inspirational. The work of others is no less so.

"Creativity is humanity at its best."

The Ulster Museum is the only venue in Northern Ireland to host the exhibition before it travels to the United States.

The exhibition - one of the largest ever touring shows mounted by the British Museum - runs until May 7. Admission is free.

For further information on the exhibition and its associated events programme, visit www.nmni.com
Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire material spread across a section of the Greenway in East Belfast on March 10th 2017 (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph )

Bonfire building materials have been dumped at the new multi-million pound Connswater Community Greenway.

The Connswater Community Greenway is a 40million investment project in east Belfast creating a 9km linear park through east Belfast in a bid to connect the open and green spaces.

Bonfire building material of wood pallets and tyres have been dumped along the Flora Street walkway section.

Alliance leader and east Belfast MLA Naomi Long branded it a "disgrace".

Burning tyres is not culture  Mike Nesbitt (@mikenesbittni) March 10, 2017

What an utter disgrace. This commercial scale fly tipping needs to be addressed as such. @ConnsGreenway is an asset. @belfastcc needs to act https://t.co/NKLGZBbqBE  Naomi Long MLA (@naomi_long) March 10, 2017

She said on Twitter: "What an utter disgrace. This commercial scale fly tipping needs to be addressed as such. Connswater Greenway is an asset, Belfast City Council needs to act."

Alliance councillor David Armitage called for the bonfire materials to be removed immediately.

He said: "Alliance recognises everyone has the right to celebrate their culture and traditions but it must be done in a safe, legal and respectful manner. Leaving dozens of tyres to be burnt such as this is neither of those and needs addressed by Belfast City Council immediately, said Councillor Armitage.

The greenway is a positive celebration of all that is best about East Belfast. We must recognise the area is a shared space which has been a boon to the area. There is clearly a wider issue around bonfires, their safe and legal construction, and communication with the local community on the matter.

We have worked hard over the past few months with others to provide a new scheme in the area to prevent situations such as this occurring. I would call on those involved to remove these tyres voluntarily to ensure everyone has free enjoyment of the greenway.

A Belfast City Council spokeswoman said: The Council is very aware of negative issues associated with bonfires, particularly in relation to illegal dumping and general untidiness. Issues pertaining to bonfires are complex and multi-faceted.

The new multi-million-pound greenway in east Belfast. Today, it looks more orange than green ... pic.twitter.com/5qRdCWd6HY  Mark Simpson (@BBCMarkSimpson) March 10, 2017

"Responsibilities for the management of bonfires and associated issues is not just the responsibility of the Council, and we will continue to work with partners and communities to address the issues and relieve the negative impacts associated with bonfires.

It comes just days after a new bridge was opened in honour of late Northern Ireland actor James Ellis.

The new bridge is the latest section of the Greenway to be opened linking CS Lewis Square at the Holywood Arches to Mersey Street and Victoria Park.
James Brokenshire has written to MPs warning of the consequences of a lack of agreement in Northern Ireland

The Secretary of State has warned Northern Ireland could be facing another election if the political parties cannot reach agreement within three weeks.

In a letter to all MPs James Brokenshire also set out the consequences of the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein failing to strike a deal which would include disruption and uncertainty for businesses and the public.

The parties are currently locked in talks following last week's snap election which saw Sinn Fein dramatically narrow the gap on its powersharing partners the DUP.

But in a letter sent today Mr Brokenshire warned: "If no agreement is reached in the short window following the election, there would be a number of significant consequences.

"There would be no Executive, no real budget, no Programme for Government and risks to public services. Ultimately we would also be facing a second election with ongoing disruption and uncertainty for businesses and the people of Northern Ireland that would bring."

However Mr Brokenshire added that he was "not contemplating any other outcome but a resumption of devolved government as soon as possible".

SDLP MP Margaret Ritchie said both the British and Irish Governments, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, "need to be more pro-active in working with the Parties to ensure that a political settlement can be achieved which results in the restoration of political institutions".

The recent election in Northern Ireland ended the unionist majority at Stormont with Sinn Fein now just one seat behind the DUP.

Sinn Fein and the DUP have just three weeks to reach a deal.

If no power-sharing government is formed, power could return to the UK Parliament at Westminster for the first time in a decade.

Mr Brokenshire and Irish foreign minister Charlie Flanagan have been meeting with parties in a bid to help resolve the crisis.

In his letter to MPs, Mr Brokenshire said while the responsibility for forming a new Executive rests with the DUP and Sinn Fein as the two largest parties, he has offered to work intensively with all parties to secure progress.

He added that there is an urgent need to resolve the implementation of the commitments on legacy issues in a former agreement, known as the Stormont House Agreement.

Mr Brokenshire concluded: "I am clear that I am not contemplating any other outcome but a resumption of devolved government as soon as possible. This is what the people want and what Northern Ireland needs."

Ms Ritchie warned of the urgent need "for a budget and significant policies to be put in place to mitigate and reduce the spiralling health waiting lists for diagnostic and surgical procedures. "

She added: "Our children and teachers are suffering in schools awaiting the approval of three-year rolling budgets to allow the delivery of our curriculum to ensure that a first-class education service can be delivered for all within the community.

"That is the challenge facing all of us at this important juncture in all our lives".
Andrea Hope and her partner Diane Marks with their guide dogs, Morris and Debbie

A blind same-sex couple hope to start planning their wedding day soon following the shock Assembly election result.

Andrea Hope and Diane Marks, from Newtownabbey, have been waiting to tie the knot since their engagement in December 2015 and are hopeful the law will soon change.

They met after their guide dogs caught each other's attention at a London awards ceremony in 2013, and their friendship quickly grew into a relationship.

While they have long considered marriage the next step, the law stood in their way. But Andrea said the election result had given them fresh hope.

"There has been a shift in the political landscape and it's time for equal marriage," she added.

"Politicians say they want to govern for everybody, but that includes people in the LGBTQ community and it also includes people with a disability.

"Being blind, being gay and being women, we believe that your political affiliation or religious beliefs shouldn't matter.

"We're the couple, we're the ones who are in love and we're the people who want to marry each other.

"I want to say yes to the dress, but I haven't been able to. Just like other couples, we want to plan, but we just can't. We can't plan anything because it's not legal here at the moment."

Diane added: "We feel that a civil partnership is a step down from being able to say to our family we are married.

"We should be at the same level as any straight couple. It annoys us. If we wanted to get married in Dublin, we could. But when we come back up here, it won't count, so what's the point?

"It would be a waste of money and we can't afford to do it twice. We want to be able to marry here where all our friends are. It makes us feel very much like second-class citizens."

Declan Meehan from Cara-Friend, an organisation that supports lesbians, gay men and bisexuals, called for political parties to unite and pass a law allowing same-sex marriage.

"For many people, the inability to pass marriage equality legislation in Northern Ireland was and is systematic of the dysfunctionality of Northern Irish politics," he said.

"A newly elected Assembly which cannot deliver marriage equality, despite a clear and significant majority of MLAs in favour of it, is a dysfunctional one and one which fails the people of Northern Ireland.

"We are calling on all parties to commit to legislating for marriage equality and to ensure this Assembly serves people who have long been left behind in Northern Ireland - the LGBTQ community."

Amnesty International, the Rainbow Project, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Here NI, Cara-Friend and NUS-USI are joining forces under the banner of 'Love Equality' to lobby politicians for the move.

Clare Moore Irish, from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said research showed two-thirds of Northern Ireland adults believed same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

"This popular support is now clearly reflected in the make-up of newly elected Assembly members," she added.

"A decisive majority of our new MLAs support marriage equality.

"Now is the time for our new Assembly to act decisively and listen to the will of the people.

"It's about valuing people - it's about value people's lives and valuing people's families."
Rescuers dig in the rubble of McGurk's bar in North Queen Street, Belfast, where 15 people died in a bomb blast in 1971

Newly discovered documents show the Army knew the bomb that exploded at McGurk's Bar was placed outside it, a solicitor has said.

Relatives of the 15 killed in the atrocity have applied to Attorney General John Larkin for a fresh inquest to dismiss rumours that an IRA device exploded by mistake inside the crowded pub.

Log sheets provide clear evidence that the military technical officer who examined the scene was convinced from the outset that the explosive had been left in the entranceway, their lawyer Padraig O Muirigh said.

"It is now well established that the rumours of an IRA own goal were entirely untrue," Mr O Muirigh said.

Fifteen people died in the attack on December 4 1971, the worst Troubles atrocity prior to the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of May 17, 1974.

A Police Ombudsman inquiry said the original investigation had a clear predisposition to the erroneous IRA own goal theory.

The watchdog found loyalist terrorists were responsible. Mr O Muirigh said there remained uncertainty about how the victims met their deaths and whether there was collusion between security forces and the UVF.

The Ombudsman's report said there was no collusion involving the RUC.

Mr O Muirigh added: "The recently discovered HQ NI log sheets of the 4th and 5th December 1971, discovered by Ciaran MacAirt of Papertrail, provide clear evidence that the Army technical officer who examined the scene was convinced from the outset that the bomb had been placed in the entranceway of the pub."

He said the original inquest, a criminal conviction and the reports of the Historical Enquiries Team and Ombudsman failed to determine the facts or allay rumours and suspicions.

"These allegations are so serious as to require proper investigation to establish the facts and circumstances of these deaths despite the passage of time.

"The appropriate way to investigate these deaths and to provide a comprehensive public account is through a fresh inquest."

One man was convicted of all 15 murders in 1978.
The head of the Northern Ireland Prison Service has apologised to the family of a murder victim after his alleged killer was "released erroneously".

Michael Lawrence Smith, who was on remand for allegedly killing Stephen Carson in his Belfast home in February 2016, was wrongly released from Maghaberry Prison on Tuesday to attend a family event.

He failed to return to the jail later that day and was last seen in the Finaghy area of south Belfast at around 12.30pm on Tuesday. He remains unlawfully at large.

It took police until 1pm on Wednesday to inform the public of the disappearance of Smith who, they revealed, has an "extensive history of violence".

Ronnie Armour, the Department of Justice's director of Reducing Offending, said he "deeply regretted" the anxiety and concern the incident had caused Mr Carson's family.

"While Mr Smith is on remand and hasn't been convicted of a crime, I want to apologise to the family of the victim in this case," he stated.

"I very much appreciate any additional anxiety and concern that this incident has caused them and I deeply regret that.

"I also want to apologise to the public for what is a very serious mistake on the part of the Prison Service.

"It is the role of the Prison Service to protect the public by holding securely those committed to our care by the courts.

"On this occasion we have failed in our responsibility. As a result, a serious mistake has been made.

"The matters surrounding the release of Michael Smith are currently under investigation.

"The Prison Service would urge anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact the police immediately."

In a BBC interview Mr Armour attributed Smith's wrongful release to "human error on the part of the Prison Service".

He revealed that Smith had not been disguised and was not escorted by prison officers when he left the jail, but was taken to the family event by a family member.

Admitting that the mistake would be seen as a "blow to public confidence", Mr Armour acknowledged that there was "anger that this has been allowed to happen".

He vowed to examine procedures to "mitigate against it happening again". He revealed that he had sent "senior colleagues" to Maghaberry on Tuesday to investigate the events leading up to Smith's release.

East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson described Smith's release as a "catastrophic blunder" that "shatters confidence in the justice system".

He urged the public to "get behind the Prison Service", saying he had been assured that the incident was being taken seriously.

"We need to see results and to see Smith back behind bars," Mr Robinson added.

Chair of the Prison Officers' Association Adrian Smith said he "hadn't been briefed" regarding Smith's disappearance and that it was not yet clear if the fault lay with the Prison Service.

"I would urge people to maintain their faith in the Prison Service," he said. "There has been a mistake made, and thankfully they are few and far between.

"It will be damaging to the Prison Service, but until we have the outcome of the investigation I don't think we are in a position to be judging. It's possibly not even the fault of the Prison Service. Until we have the outcome of the investigation, we won't know who's at fault."
The Funeral in Craigavon of Eileen Duffy and Katrina Rennie who were shot dead in a sweet shop. Pacemaker Belfast Archive. 31-03-1991

Pacemaker Belfast - Brian frizzell one of three catholics shot dead at a mobile shop in Craigavon in 1991.

Eileen Duffy who was shot dead in the mobile shop at Craigavon. 29-03-1991 Pacemaker Archive Belfast

Calls have been made for the Orange Order to ban a flute band, honouring a loyalist linked to a triple sectarian murder, marching in a St Patrick's Day counter parade.

The Irish News reports the inclusion of the Noel Clarke Memorial Flute Band in the Lisburn parade has been branded an "insult to victims".

According to a letter to the band from the lodge, the march is organised as counter to the traditional St Patrick's Day celebrations.

Organisers say they want to highlight that St Patrick was "not Irish, but a British saint, born and bred.

Noel Clarke was jailed for five years for his link to the murders of three young people in a mobile shop in Drumbeg.

Eileen Duffy (19), Katrina Rennie (17) and Brian Frizzell were shot on March 28, 1991.

Clarke originally faced three murder charges but was acquitted of involvement and was later charged with hijacking a van used by the killers. He maintained he didn't know what the van would be used for after it was handed over.

Clarke was found dead at his Lisburn home in 2012.

SDLP Lagan Valley MLA Pat Catney said the inclusion of the band was an "insult to victims".

He said: We must all work to ensure there is a space for respectful celebration of culture and tradition, not only in Lisburn, but across Northern Ireland.

There is a positive accommodation to be struck between people of a unionist background, a nationalist background and others. But a band named after someone associated with the sectarian murder of three people, two of them teenagers, flies in the face of the shared community that were working hard to build."

He added: "I am calling on the organisers of this parade to urgently reconsider involving this band. I am hopeful that this can be resolved locally with respect for everyone in our community.

Secretary of the Bateson's True Blue Lodge John Millar told the Irish News that raising Clarke's past had "no real relevance".

He told the Irish News: Everybody is welcome to attend this event, which is about bringing people together.

There are parades that take place honouring IRA members, so it would be hypocritical to say anything about this parade. There were terrorists on both sides.

The Orange Order in a statement said it's a matter for local lodges.

A spokesman said: "The engagement of bands is a matter for local lodges and as such we were unaware of the decision of the organisers to engage this particular band.
A call has been made for unionist parties to engage in talks to agree a way forward.

Former Ulster Unionist MLA Danny Kennedy spoke out last night a week after a brutal election for the movement.

Some 16 former unionist MLAs lost their seats, and there is now a non-unionist majority at Stormont for the first time since devolution.

Mr Kennedy told the BBC's The View programme that there needed to be a conversation about the way forward.

"(To) everyone in the house of unionism, I think there's now a duty to open the connecting doors which have been locked between the various factions... the various interests within unionism," he added.

"It's time to unlock those doors and to allow a deep conversation and a genuine assessment as to where we are."

However he added that he did not believe the Union was in any danger.

"I think in any referendum a majority of the population will still vote to remain part of the United Kingdom, but I think we do need a conversation within unionism as to how best we now move forward," Mr Kennedy said.

Former DUP special advisor Wallace Thompson agreed that unionists needed to talk.

Mr Thompson, who worked for Nigel Dodds at the Department of Finance, suggested setting up a unionist council.

"Unity might have its merits, but it's not a panacea and while I would like to see unionists coming together it might be better done through a form of unionist council as in the 70s," he said.

"If you're going to have one party, there's only one party people can unite behind and that is the DUP.

"What we as unionists need to do is recognise we are faced with a significant proportion of the people of Northern Ireland now voting, sadly from our point of view, for Sinn Fein.

"We need to reach out as best we can in a spirit of compromise. Compromise is part of life, but it has to work both ways."
Former Ulster Unionist MLA Jo-Anne Dobson has blamed outgoing party leader Mike Nesbitt and DUP chief Arlene Foster for her losing her Assembly seat.

In the run-up to last week's snap election Mr Nesbitt controversially revealed that he planned to give his second preference - after voting for his own party - to the SDLP.

Mrs Dobson claimed that it served as a "get-out-of-jail-free" card for the UUP's rivals in the DUP.

In an interview in today's Belfast Telegraph, she claimed it came as a shock to UUP members, and welcomed Mr Nesbitt's decision to stand aside as leader.

"I think he was right to stand down. His comments about transferring his vote to the SDLP were not helpful - especially without consulting party members and just two weeks out from an election," she said.

"I've never seen the DUP jump on a get-out-of-jail-free card as quickly as they did with that. It changed the whole dynamics. And, while I appreciate what he was trying to do, it wasn't how it was picked up by voters on the doorstep."

Mrs Dobson also criticised her party's vote management in the Upper Bann constituency. She polled 5,132 votes - just 335 fewer than her UUP running mate Doug Beattie, who was elected.

"Usually we have three people running and there are three main towns in the constituency - Banbridge, Lurgan and Poradown," she said.

"This time we had only two and it was decided to split it up, so that Doug Beattie had two towns - Portadown and Lurgan - and I had one, which was Banbridge. We were trying to strike a balance, but that balance was a bit off on this occasion and I think that is something, as a party, that we need to look at in the future."

However, she blamed Mrs Foster for the overall hit that unionists took across Northern Ireland.

Unionist parties lost some 16 seats, which has put non-unionist parties in the majority for the first time at Stormont.

"Arlene Foster has done more in my living memory against unionism by not stepping aside," she said.

"The cost has been 16 unionist seats. One woman has also been responsible for five hard-working, good women losing their seats. She has weakened unionism and helped the Irish nationalist cause.

"She projected an atmosphere of fear during the election.

"The election was a hammer-blow result for unionists - why couldn't Arlene Foster have just stepped aside?"

Mrs Dobson said she had received thousands of messages of support from constituents and party colleagues in the past week. She revealed that she already had a number of job offers, which she was considering, although it was her work as an MLA where her heart still lay.

"I was shocked and I'm devastated. It is a job I gave 24/7 to and a job I was so honoured to do and loved," she added.
Nigel Farage said he did not support "everything" WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had done but there was a "genuine concern" about state snooping on people's lives.

The former Ukip leader, who was spotted leaving the Ecuadorian Embassy where Mr Assange is holed up on Thursday, said the "deep state" had become too big.

Mr Farage, a supporter of US President Donald Trump, also played down claims Russian intervention helped his victory in the White House race by claiming "big countries" were always "interfering" in each others' elections.

The MEP was unusually reticent about whether he had met Mr Assange, telling Sky News: "I was photographed coming out of a building in which the Ecuadorian Embassy exists but I keep all my meetings very private."

But he acknowledged that he did "not normally" have an interest in Ecuadorian affairs.

Asked about a link between Mr Assange and Russian sources seeking to disrupt Western politics, Mr Farage said: "I think there is a general worry that government - or the deep state as it is being called - has got just way, way too big."

That meant the "d eep American state and, who knows, in our country too", he said.

"I don't support everything Assange has done but I think there is a genuine concern about the extent to which government is able to interfere in our lives."

US intelligence agencies have accused Russia of hacking Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign to help Mr Trump win the White House race.

But Mr Farage said: " I hear the Democrats saying 'isn't it awful the Russians trying to interfere'. How many foreign elections have the Americans interfered in since 1945? The truth is, big governments, big countries are interfering in each others' elections all the time."

He also defended the president's claim that predecessor Barack Obama had ordered wiretaps at Trump Towers - an assertion which was presented without evidence.

"I can't believe he would have made that comment without some basis," Mr Farage said. "He must have some reason to believe in it."
Special forces at the scene of the train station attack in Dusseldorf

A man who was reported to have been wielding an axe has been arrested after five people - including a 13-year-old girl - were injured at a train station in Dusseldorf, Germany.

The attacks happened at approximately 9pm local time.

The man arrested was also injured, spokeswoman for Dusseldorf police Anja Kynast said. She was unable to say how serious any of the injuries were.

Earlier, a spokesman for federal police, usually in charge of policing train stations, said two people were arrested and further attackers might be on the run.

Ms Kynast said officers were searching Dusseldorf station and its surroundings, but did not have concrete information about further attackers.

German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that the perpetrator first attacked two people in a suburban train. He then disembarked at the main station, where he hacked at other people on the platform.

Police have not yet identified the suspect, nor have they offered any motive for the attack.

The building was closed and cordoned off and trains were diverted after the incident.

Heavily armed special forces arrived at the scene as the train station was being evacuated by police.

A helicopter circled over the building in the inner city rail terminal.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing injured travellers being carried out of the station to be ferried by ambulances to nearby hospitals.

Graphic smartphone video shot at the scene and shared on social media showed injured people lying on the bloodstained station concourse as they were being treated for their wounds by paramedics.

Police said none of the victims were in a life-threatening condition.
Protesters shout slogans during a rally near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea (Lee Jin-man/AP)

South Korea's Constitutional Court has formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil.

It was a stunning fall for Ms Park, the country's first female leader, who came to power in 2012 only to see her presidency descend into scandal.

The presidential office said Ms Park would not leave the presidential Blue House on Friday.

A Blue House spokesman said some of Ms Park's aides were at her southern Seoul home to prepare for her return, but it has not been determined exactly when she will leave the Blue House.

The spokesman said Ms Park has no plans to issue a statement over the ruling on Friday.

The ruling by the eight-member panel opens her up to possible criminal proceedings, and makes her South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy came to the country in the late 1980s.

Ms Park's "acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust", acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said.

"The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big.

"Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye."

Ms Park's party said it "humbly accepts" the ruling and that it feels responsible for her downfall.

South Korea must hold an election within two months to choose Ms Park's successor.

Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Ms Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys.

Whoever becomes the next leader will take over a country facing a hostile North Korea, a stagnant economy and deep social and political divides.

Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70-80% of South Koreans had wanted the court to approve Ms Park's impeachment.

But there have been worries that Ms Park's removal would further polarise the country and cause violence between her supporters and opponents.

Thousands of people, both pro-Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who wanted Park gone, gathered around the Constitutional Court building and a huge public square in central Seoul.

Hundreds of police were on hand, while the streets near the court were lined with barricades.

Two people died as protests erupted following the court's decision.

A South Korean hospital official said a man in his 70s, believed to be a Park supporter, died from head wounds after falling from a police bus in front of the court. Police later confirmed a second death, without giving further details.

Thousands of Ms Park's supporters reacted angrily to the verdict, shouting and hitting police officers with flag poles, and climbing on buses the police used to create a perimeter protecting the court.

Meanwhile, South Korea's defence minister has ordered the military to be on alert for possible North Korean provocations attempting to exploit "unstable situations at home and abroad".

In a video conference with military commanders, Defence Minister Han Min Koo said North Korea can make "strategic or operational" provocations at any time. The North has test-fired ballistic missiles in recent weeks.

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency published a short dispatch on the court ruling in Seoul, anticipating Ms Park will now come under investigation as a "regular criminal".

Ms Park's parliamentary impeachment in December came after weeks of Saturday rallies that drew millions who wanted her resignation.

Overwhelmed by the biggest rallies in decades, the voices of Park supporters were largely ignored. But they have recently regrouped and staged fierce pro-Park rallies.

People on both sides had threatened not to accept a Constitutional Court decision that they disagree with.

One of Ms Park's lawyers told the court last month that there will be "a rebellion and blood will drench the asphalt" if Ms Park was booted from office.

Many participants at anti-Park rallies had said they would stage a "revolution" if the court rejected Ms Park's impeachment.

"If Park accepts the ruling and soothes those who opposed her impeachment, things will be quiet," said Yoon Tae-Ryong, a political scientist at Seoul's Konkuk University. "But looking at what she's done so far, I think that might be wishful thinking."

Others disagreed, saying violent protests would not be supported by the general public.

Prosecutors have arrested and indicted many high-profile figures over the scandal, including Ms Park's confidante Choi Soon-sil, top Park administration officials and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.

But Ms Park has avoided a direct investigation thanks to a law that gives a sitting president immunity from prosecution for most alleged crimes.

Since she is now no longer in power, prosecutors can summon, question and possibly arrest her.

Her critics want to see Ms Park appear on TV while dressed in prison garb, handcuffed and bound like others involved in the scandal. But some analysts worry that could create a backlash by conservatives.

The United States said the removal of Ms Park is a domestic issue that does not affect its strong alliance with the country.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the US will continue to work with the acting president, prime minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, and looks forward to whomever South Koreans choose in a presidential election to be held within two months.

Mr Toner said Ms Park's removal is "a domestic issue on which the United States takes no position," and that it is up to the South Korean people to determine their country's future.

He said the two nations' alliance "will continue to be a linchpin of regional stability and security".

Japan's top diplomat said the country will continue to work with a South Korean government led by Ms Park's successor.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters he would not comment on the court ruling that removed the impeached president, citing internal politics.

AP
The giant black letters scrawled on an immaculate expanse of white freshly-painted wall were stark in the spring sunshine. 'Taigs Out', they said. And then the same slogan again a couple of feet along. 'Taigs Out'. Just in case anyone didn't get the foul and filthy message the first time.

The words were daubed on the outer wall of a new mixed housing development in east Belfast. They appeared on Wednesday morning, just under a week after the election.

This was an extraordinary election, we were told by politicians and pundits alike. Remarkable, ground-breaking, transformative. It was a "political earthquake", an "electoral revolution" that "radically alters the landscape". One hyperventilating commentator even called it "one of the biggest moments in UK political history".

Supposedly, AE17 changed everything.

So why does it feel as though we're stuck even deeper in the same old stinking sectarian swamp?

Yes, I know there are new political realities, the main one being the absence of a unionist majority at Stormont. That's a significant first, I'll grant you, with many potential ramifications for the road ahead.

The DUP lost 10 seats of its 38, and several of its most prominent figures, like Nelson McCausland, Lord Morrow and Emma Little Pengelly, which looked dreadfully embarrassing for them. But in real terms it lost merely one percentage point of its share of the vote, and it's still the largest party (though at least it can no longer wield the petition of concern, that crude and anti-democratic blunderbuss which has regularly been fired every time the party didn't get its own way, particularly on gay marriage).

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein is snapping ever closer at the DUP's heels, with a four percentage point gain, and barely more than a thousand first preference votes between it and the DUP.

But it's still the second largest party, just as it was the last time round, and the time before. The other parties continue to bring up the rear as per usual. At the ballot box there was no overturning of the old tribal allegiances, no miraculous assertion of cross-community love.

Sorry, but that's not what I call a revolution.

I call it a reinforced sectarian headcount, born of implacable division and impervious to the basic standards of ethics, competence and accountability which are considered normal in other, more evolved societies.

In other words, it's largely the same bunch of hucksters, chancers, gombeen men and holy rollers as we've always had. And we put them there. That is nothing to celebrate.

It's time for our political classes to get real, too.

The goings-on at Stormont are an overwhelming obsession among some elements of the media, but quite frankly the schoolyard nature of politics in Northern Ireland is not sufficiently complex and developed to warrant this level of scrutiny.

Forget statecraft - usually it's all about an ugly, dirty fight for dominance and nothing more. We are a democracy of sorts, but a stunted, delusional, abnormal one.

Yet even the most trivial happenings are pored over and analysed half to death, with the result of alienating much of the population, who don't happen to share this addiction to political minutiae and arcane facts.

It also means that a sense of scale and proportion is often lost so that unimportant events are given the same forensic attention as more significant developments, while giddy hyperbole greets genuine shifts in power, like the loss of the unionist majority.

This bizarre form of myopia means that we lose sight of the bigger picture. And the bigger picture shows that we are so deeply immersed in the swamp that the bog-water is coming up round our ears.

It's not just the polarised 'Taigs Out /Prods Out' mentality that has been strengthened and rewarded by the election. We're financially sunk too.

Indeed, Sir Malcolm McKibben, head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, has just sent a memo to all his staff outlining the consequences of the Executive's failure to agree a 2017/2018 budget before the institutions fell apart. Basically, civil servants are going to have to try to hold it all together using their limited powers to maintain public services until the politicians manage to form a new Assembly and Executive - and Lord knows when that will be.

"Uncertainty is difficult to manage," McKibben wrote. Well, that must be the understatement of the year.

Some Stormont nerds may be tempted to enjoy all this, finding excitement and self-importance in the crude political theatre.

The rest of us read the graffiti on the walls, watch the politicians squabble, and despair.
Arlene Foster may not have actually said sorry for her description of Sinn Fein as crocodiles, but she came as near as possible with her expression of regret instead of uttering the phrase.

Her contrition is undoubtedly heartfelt since she now accepts that it was used by republicans as a rallying cry during what was a toxic election campaign that ended with Sinn Fein failing by a narrow margin to overtake the DUP as the largest party in the province.

And, judging by her reticence in confirming that she will go forward again for nomination as First Minister, she may fear that she has been seriously damaged by the way she ran her election campaign.

It was a tactical blunder by the former First Minister to use such a derogatory description of her political opponents at a time when she was already under pressure from the RHI debacle and her party colleague's removal of funding for the Irish language.

The fallout from the remark should serve as a warning to all politicians in Northern Ireland about the dangers of careless use of language - or indeed deliberate attempts to demean opponents - especially in the tinderbox atmosphere of an election campaign.

But she is not alone in being guilty of such behaviour. Remember Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams describing unionists as b******* during a party meeting in Fermanagh in November 2014, or the party's new northern leader Michelle O'Neill's dismissal of comments made by Secretary of State James Brokeshire during talks this week as waffle.

These comments are merely playing to the audience of their most hardline supporters and are the sort of jibes more in keeping with the playground than among political figures who should know all too well the consequences of demonising opponents.

The 90 politicians who gained seats in last week's election have been sent back to Stormont to save devolved government.

There is little or no appetite among the general public for another protracted session of direct rule while the parties attempt to dig themselves out of the holes they created during the campaign.

As PSNI widow Kate Carroll so pertinently pointed out this week, our politicians have to find a way to create a society in which all shades of opinion are respected.

There are violent people waiting in the wings if they fail. Cool heads and mature words are needed, not catcalls.
Following the Assembly election, a former editor of the Belfast Telegraph, Edmund Curran, wrote: "Respect. That one word sums up the challenge posed by this election result." Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill stated: "I'm a very reasonable person and what I'm asking for is very reasonable. I'm asking for equality and respect."

Is Sinn Fein acting in a reasonable manner? Consider, for example, its constitution. Caoimhghin O Caolain wrote: "Sinn Fein candidates in Westminster elections are pledged not to 'sit in, nor take part in, the proceedings of the Westminster parliament'. That is because we believe the Westminster parliament has no right to legislate for any part of Ireland."

A reasonable question: does this demonstrate respect for the legal status of Northern Ireland?

Consider international law regarding 'respect'. The principle is clear. For example: the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Stability Pact states that one of its principles is "respect for internationally recognised frontiers".

The Council of Europe, comprising 47 member states, has developed the first legally binding convention for the protection of national minorities - a central problem in Northern Ireland - including, in the UK, the protection of Cornish, Irish, Scottish and Welsh people.

Protection of identity is wide-ranging, including ethnic, cultural, language and religious dimensions, and is provided "within the rule of law, respecting the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of states".

The Northern Ireland 'problem' is not unique. For example, there is a large Hungarian minority in the Slovak Republic, as well as a Slovak minority in Hungary. Estonia has a large Russian minority.

In 1992, a long-running dispute between Austria and Italy was settled. The Austrian community in the South Tyrol region of Italy achieved full parity of esteem with the Italian community. This was within a framework of self-government established in line with accepted principles of government in other parts of Italy.

Austria then made a declaration that the dispute between the two countries over the South Tyrol was at an end. All these countries have endeavoured to solve their problems in line with the agreed principles of international law, as laid down by the Council of Europe.

Michelle O'Neill has previously stated: "We're the only part of these islands that doesn't have a language act and all the other... Scotland and Wales even have language acts and still have a health service and a strong economy."

Others have referred to an Irish Language Act. Henry McDonald, writing in this paper, raised the issue of the Irish language deserving to be more than a bargaining chip, or a battering ram. He referred to Wales and also to Belgium, indicating that the present position here was "tawdry and tribal".

The right to have the Irish language recognised in the form of a separate Act, as advocated by the Council of Europe, is wholly acceptable, as far as is possible, and - more importantly - in accordance with international law.

However, it is also reasonable to ask that Sinn Fein complement its Irish language approach by respecting the national constitution and acting without prejudice to the territorial integrity of the UK - also in accordance with international law - as manifested, for example, in Scotland and Wales.

This would not deny the right to seek separation from the UK, as made clear in the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

I believe that this is not a truculent unionist position, but rather a reasonable position that respects accepted international norms in a stable society that we all wish to achieve.

I have had a vision of an inclusive society ever since I was Brian Faulkner's election agent in the early 1970s, and was a strong supporter of the ill-fated power-sharing Executive of 1974.

I wish to see international norms implemented for the protection and development of all identities and cultures within Northern Ireland. I have no desire to define cultural identity and associated rights in a restrictive manner.

But, importantly, I wish to base decisions on international law that follows practices in the wider Europe. This takes any discussion away from 'local' arguments and provides a focus on what is needed to assist in moving towards a stable society when, hopefully, politicians can focus on the expressed needs of the whole community.

In a wider international setting, Sinn Fein has referred to international law. Aengus O Snodaigh TD, concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stated that Israel must "comply with international law".

Recently, Gerry Adams, in reference to President Trump's initial ban on entrants from some countries to the USA, stated that this ran "counter to international obligations".

However, it remains silent on obligations at home.

Others also have their part to play. The UK Government has disregarded its obligations to the Council of Europe. It has also failed to recognise the breadth of respect required in order to establish the rights of those who wish to see Irish identity promoted.

Irish identity is not at variance with Northern Ireland being part of the UK. With rights go responsibilities and when you are a member of a club, you are expected to accept and abide by the rules.

The leaders of unionism have an important part to play. The result of, for example, Arlene Foster using the crocodile metaphor will require an enormous effort by the DUP to build a more harmonious society. It will not be easy.

Eamonn Mallie, standing in Stormont's Great Hall during UTV's View from Stormont, stated: "What if Arlene shepherded, navigated, the Irish Language Act through this building? Wouldn't that be some gesture?"

I agree. However, gestures are also required from Sinn Fein.

Were all participants in the present talks to abide by international standards, progress would be made.

Indeed, it will only be by such a commitment in word and deed to those standards that we will obtain a truly stable society.

There are agreed international principles that balance majority rights and secure borders with minority rights and democratic inclusion. It is long past the time when they are accepted by all.
Last summer, bikers, runners and Yellowstone River enthusiasts celebrated the opening of a 172-acre public park in Billings Heights. John H. Dover Memorial Park was built with generous land donations from the Jim and Virginia Sindelar family and the work of unpaid community volunteers using donated materials for trails, bridges, toilets and a picnic shelter.

John H. Dover Memorial Park is open to the public, but it is owned by the private, nonprofit Yellowstone River Parks Association, which has no paid employees and depends completely on private giving for its resources. However, present Montana law would require this nonprofit park to pay property taxes if it accepts additional land gifts.

To ensure that this beautiful riverfront park at Dover Road, Mary Street and Five Mile Road can fulfill the vision of the Sindelar family and the YRPA, Rep. Virginia Court, D-Billings, proposed House Bill 442. The bill would add a public park of up to 500 acres to the list of nonprofit-owned properties that are exempt from taxation.

This is a reasonable rule. If John H. Dover Memorial Park were owned by Yellowstone County or the city of Billings, there would be no tax on the land. But if Dover Park belonged to the city or the county, taxpayers would be footing the bill for its development and maintenance. Our local government parks scarcely have funding to maintain the parks they already have. The YRPA and a host of local church volunteers and business donors have given, so this park does not depend on taxpayer funding.

John Dover Park is the most significant recreation project Ive seen in my life, Mike Penfold, a former BLM Montana state director, said at a House Taxation Committee hearing for HB442. Its a tremendous asset.

The Sindelar family wants to give 300 acres to expand the park, but that would bring a substantial tax burden for the parks donors, said Roger Williams of YRPA. A representative of Montana Audubon spoke in favor of the bill as did Ed Bartlett, lobbyist for the city of Billings, Yellowstone County and the Billings Chamber of Commerce.

No witness opposed the bill, but it was tabled.

Rep. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, who chairs the Taxation Committee, has requested an amendment that would require the nonprofit public park to get approval of its tax exemption from the local taxing entity and require a public hearing before the exemption can be granted.

That is a good amendment, which would ensure public input on private public parks anywhere in the state.

As for John H. Dover Memorial Park on the eastern edge of Billings, Yellowstone County leaders already favor HB442.

We encourage Court and Essmann to move it forward and call on all Yellowstone County lawmakers to support this great idea. Lets build up Dover Park and clear a path for other Montana communities to create their own privately funded, public parks.
Last week, the Montana Legislature struggled to balance the state budget with spending cuts to most public services for the next two years. In Washington, D.C., two U.S. House Committees rushed to approve new health care legislation that would repeal much of the Affordable Care Act, including Medicaid coverage for the poorest Americans.

Back in Montana, its time to take stock of the HELP Act that made Medicaid coverage available starting Jan. 1, 2016, to all very low income Montanans, regardless of age.

A report released last week by the Montana Healthcare Foundation in Bozeman shows the HELP Act made dramatic changes in its first year:

More than 71,000 Montanans enrolled, most of whom had incomes below $11,000 a year.

At least 30,000 new enrollees accessed preventive health services in 2016, including 15,000 who saw a dentist.

The expansion saved the state government $22 million, mostly by transferring seriously ill people from programs funded completely by the state.

About $284 million in federal funds was paid to Montana health care providers.

As a group, Montana hospitals saw a 25 percent drop in charity care and bad debt  after many years of continuous increases in uncompensated care.

New Medicaid enrollees gained access to treatment for chemical dependencies and mental health, two areas vital to reducing demands on other public services.

The nonprofit foundation contracted with Manatt Health, a national firm, to compile hard data on Montanas Medicaid expansion to provide information to the public and policymakers, said Dr. Aaron Wernham, foundation executive director. Montana in 2017 will get a return of $9 for every $1 it spends on the Medicaid expansion, Wernham said.

Montana Hospital Association President Dick Brown said the reduction in hospitals uncompensated care is particularly important to small rural hospitals that have been struggling to keep their doors open.

Montana hospitals added more than 350 new jobs last year, Brown told The Gazette, adding: Were doing the right thing.

Addiction treatment

Medicaid gives the poorest Montanans access to chemical dependency treatment, which is critically important in a state with nearly 400 deaths annually from alcohol abuse, plus 250 deaths and 2,500 hospital emergency visits a year from overdoses of other drugs.

Parental drug addiction is a primary driver of the huge increase in child neglect and abuse cases statewide, and especially in Yellowstone County where twice as many cases have been filed in the past two years as in the preceding two years.

Abuse of alcohol and other drugs is a major factor in crime and in the overcrowding of Montanas prisons and jails. Offenders who are addicted to chemicals tend to fail at probation and parole and return to incarceration. Effective addiction treatment is the only way to break that vicious cycle.

Inmate health care

The HELP Act saved the Montana Department of Corrections $1.3 million last year, according to the report. Now inmates who are eligible for Medicaid can have their hospital bills covered by Medicaid if they have to be hospitalized for more than 24 hours.

At the Yellowstone County jail, which usually holds about 500 inmates, Capt. Sam Bofto said he and the jails new medical service provider are researching how the HELP Act may reduce county costs. The jail regularly works with local judges to minimize county expense for inmate health care, and doesnt send a prisoner to a hospital unless absolutely necessary, Bofto said. However, the jail budgets $100,000 a year for hospital services and has spent tens of thousands of dollars on a single rare, but high-cost, inmate hospitalization.

Child protection, mental health, corrections and community hospitals will all have much more difficult challenges if Montanas Medicaid expansion were to disappear. The U.S. House legislation aims to give Americans more choices, but for people below or near poverty, there is no market choice they can afford.

The Montana Legislatures budget battle of 2017 is a small skirmish compared to the prospect of losing $300 million a year in federal support for our poorest citizens to get the health care they need.
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I know things have been tough for coal companies lately. The industry is in a long-term decline and its future looks dark indeed. Still, it must be nice for coal companies to have so many politicians willing to give them whatever they want.

Here in Montana, that includes a state Legislature thats more than willing to go to bat for the coal industry, including using our tax dollars to subsidize it. At the federal level, the Office of Surface Mining put together a rule last year to reduce water pollution from coal mining. It mostly affected coal mines in Appalachia, but also would have protected water in the West. Congress made sure to repeal the Stream Protection Rule as soon as they convened. But not every politician is in the coal industrys hip pocket.
BGSU students scored high in a statewide Russian competition hosted by the University on Feb. 25, in the Bowen Thompson-Student Union. Seventy participants from Ohio universities and colleges and Wayne State University took part. This is the third time BGSU has hosted the event since its inception in 2010.

BGSU students took first and second place on the second-year level, third place on the third-year level, and second place in the heritage speakers competition. Irina Stakhanova, Russian, organized the event, which is sponsored by Ohio State Universitys Center for Slavic and East European Studies.
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In response to rising tension, both locally and globally, CCDI Creative will offer one day Creative with Conflict workshops on 23 March, 18 May and 15 June 2017.

Dammon Rice, head of CCDI Creative, a local consultancy offering creative workshops to unlock competitiveness says, Although we might try to, we cannot avoid conflict, it rears its head in all areas of our lives. It enters our political spaces, our homes, schools, workplaces, and our social lives.

Dammon Rice

It is how we manage these conflicts that can either propel us into a phase of growth, deeper understanding and better, more constructive relationships or plummet us into dysfunction, stagnation and resentment.

Professor Tatsushi Arai, a professor of conflict transformation at SIT Graduate Institute, scholar and practitioner in conflict resolution, multi-track diplomacy, sustainable development and cross-cultural communication, argues, As long as there are contradictions in social interactions, those contradictions stand in the way of our human fulfilment.

Overcoming seemingly incompatible goals requires shifting the parameters of the conflict, redefining the goals and coming up with different principles by which to see the challenge.

Creativity for conflict resolution

Arai also taught international relations at the National University of Rwanda and worked in development in Rwanda in the aftermath of its 1994 genocide. He is the author of Creativity and Conflict Resolution: Alternative Pathways to Peace and is an advocate of creative approaches to conflict.

I see creativity for conflict transformation as a sustained, interactive and group-based process where a small number of stakeholders involved in a given social conflict come up with a seemingly unconventional insight to respond to the root causes of that conflict. Importantly, the insight has to be subsequently accepted as workable by a growing number of other stakeholders, he says.

Rice says that for many of us creativity is something that is done by others  the creatives amongst us  so we avoid or dismiss it and designate it to someone else; and so we become stagnant and rigid in our thinking and doing.

By doing that, we lose the opportunity to engage with the incompatible goals and allow new possibilities to emerge, because we do not think of ourselves as creative. When we embrace creativity, push through the discomfort of not knowing, into a space of curiosity, we have the opportunity to find a new path. We grow, build deeper connections and more constructive solutions.

This is true in all spheres including within our organisations. Organisations are made up of individuals with different skills sets, talents, life experiences, prejudices and personalities. All of these constitute the basis of inter-personal and group dynamics and provide ample opportunity for misunderstanding, miscommunication, contentious disagreement and conflict, comments Rice.

Inclusive methods for solving conflict

Naett Atkinson is an internationally accredited mediator, and specialises in mediation, conflict resolution and mentoring in various contexts. She runs the Creative with Conflict workshops with Rice. The challenge is that traditional ways of addressing these issues are often ineffective. Conflicts are sometimes solved in an autocratic way; the symptoms of the conflict are dealt with, but not the underlying causes, so resentment or underlying issues remain; the process for dealing with conflict in organisations is not clear. People just leave their positions or they escalate the matters to the legal system, because they do not believe that the conflict will be resolved and do not want to expend energy on trying.

What we need is an overhaul of the current approach to dealing with conflict, so that it is more inclusive; a much greater focus on self-awareness as a process to help with conflict resolution; and tools for alternative ways to resolve conflict that lead to more creative solutions and sustained positive relationships.

Creativity and conflict are not mutually exclusive. Both can be difficult and uncomfortable to grapple with, but through engaging with creative thinking while dealing with conflict, we have an opportunity to provide opportunities for deeper understanding, stronger relationships, growth and change.

Moreover, it is good for the bottom line. An investment in creativity and design is simply good business, says Mala Sharma, VP and GM of Creative Cloud at Adobe which conducts an annual study of creativity in business globally. Creativity and productivity go hand in hand but investing in creativity is not on the agenda for enough of todays leaders.

For more information, email az.gro.idcc@ecir.nommad.
A Busby man who has agreed to admit to his role in the beating and burning death of a Crow Agency woman last year lied about being at the scene, then admitted he was present during the attack, federal prosecutors said.

In court records filed on Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Suek outlined the evidence against Frank James Sanchez, 19, who is set to plead guilty to failing to report a felony and to being an accessory after the fact.

A plea agreement calls for first-degree murder charges against Sanchez to be dismissed at sentencing if the judge accepts the deal.

Sanchez is set to change his plea on March 14 in U.S. District Court in Billings.

Sanchez, along with co-defendants Dimarzio Swade Sanchez, 19, of Busby, and Angelica Jo Whiteman, 24, of Billings, are charged in the death of Roylynn Rides Horse, 28. Rides Horse died on June 28, 2016, at a Salt Lake City hospital, where she was flown for treatment of third-degree burns over 45 percent of her body.

Dimarzio Sanchez and Whiteman are awaiting a May 22 trial on first-degree murder charges.

Suek said the attack happened April 17, after Rides Horse asked Whiteman for a ride home to Crow Agency from the Kirby Saloon, where the victim and her common-law husband had gotten into an argument.

Whiteman and Rides Horse got into a car driven by Dimarzio Sanchez. Frank Sanchez and three others also were in the vehicle, Suek said. One of the passengers was dropped off on the ride.

On the drive from Kirby to Crow Agency, Whiteman, who was in the front seat, began to argue with Rides Horse and jumped into the back seat and began to beat Rides Horse, Suek said.

Whiteman told Dimarzio Sanchez to turn the car around so she could beat Rides Horse. He complied and drove the car down to Castle Rock Road, which is on the Crow Reservation.

When they stopped, Whiteman dragged Rides Horse out of the car and continued to beat and strangle her, court documents said. At one point, Suek said, Dimarzio Sanchez showed Whiteman how to strangle Rides Horse using a bandana.

Rides Horse was stripped naked and beaten unconscious, the prosecutor said.

Dimarzio Sanchez told Frank Sanchez to get a gas can from the trunk of the car, Suek said. Dimarzio Sanchez poured gasoline on Rides Horse and set her on fire, she said. The group then left the scene.

Rides Horse remained in the field for about 14 hours before being discovered and given emergency medical treatment, Suek said.

Investigators learned that Frank Sanchez had been at the scene and witnessed the crime but did not report it. In an April 19, 2016, interview with law enforcement, Frank Sanchez denied being present for the assault and gave a false alibi, Suek said.

In another interview almost two weeks later, Frank Sanchez provided a truthful account of what happened, Suek said.

In addition, Dimarzio Sanchez had given Frank Sanchez and his girlfriend, who had been in the car, Rides Horses jeans when they were dropped off at their home, Suek said. Frank Sanchez did not give the jeans to law enforcement, but law enforcement eventually retrieved the jeans from the girlfriend, she said.
The solution to the significant challenges facing the South African healthcare sector lies in better collaboration between the different parties.

The current state of affairs has only worsened over the past few years. Key players within the industry have been playing the blame game in the face of escalating healthcare challenges, says the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA).

An industry at odds with itself

Last month, the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) and the South African Medical Association (SAMA) appeared before the Competition Tribunal to argue alleged price-fixing by specialists. CMS called into question SAMAs methods regarding the published regulations on how specialist doctors bill patients.

This follows recent media comments by Dr Kgosi Letlape, president of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), calling for the abolishment of medical schemes and saying that they were a crime against humanity.

Then there has been the ongoing debate between doctors and the Department of Health about the availability of posts for doctors and pharmacists in the public service healthcare sector versus the willingness of medical professionals to take up the posts that exist.

Little in the way of solutions

With the vast number of stories on the topic of healthcare in South Africa, too few have been purely solution-driven.

SASA believes that there are two reasons for this. Firstly, the solution is not easy to identify. Many countries, including the UK and the US (with vastly different healthcare models) are facing the same concerns with little in the way of effective solutions. Secondly, the South African healthcare sector is extremely fragmented with different role players being more adversarial than collaborative.

The only possible way a solution can be found is by putting past battles and current vested interests aside and working together. If there is to be any hope for the future of healthcare in South Africa, its time we stop blaming each other and instead start working towards definitive solutions to pull us out of the situation we find ourselves in, the statement says.

The current debate around improving healthcare has been largely polarised, with each option being vilified in support of another. This includes funding models in the private sector, the implementation of a universal health model and the roll-out of National Health Insurance (NHI) and even public/private partnerships.

In reality, the organisation argues, a successful model, or as close as we can get, can only be borne out of the best of all possibilities.

We need to sit together and, without defensiveness, accept the good and the bad in all and, together, design a future for the country, says SASA CEO, Natalie Zimmelman.

Collaboration, effectiveness and transformation between government, medical schemes, healthcare organisations and healthcare practitioners is what is required to take South Africas healthcare system forward."

SASA has already implemented collaborative models with colleagues, government and other stakeholders, including a partnership with the Limpopo Department of Health that has already reduced maternal mortality rates.

We have seen other sectors, such as the accounting profession, where all role players have come together to address their constraints. The Thuthuka model has been effectively used to transform the profession. We can and must do the same in the healthcare sector," says Zimmelman.
There has been much speculation, especially on social media, about three women who died of malaria in the Tshwane region  none of whom had been to a malaria-endemic area.

Both the National Department of Health (NDoH) and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) are busy investigating the cases to determine the source of the disease.

In addition, the University of Pretoria Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control (UP ISMC) is busy with research on malaria vectors (mosquitoes), malaria parasites and human health.

It has a trans-disciplinary approach towards malaria control and eventual elimination, with a strong focus on new innovations for malaria prevention.

Climate change

One challenge is the potential increase in malaria risk due to climate change. The distribution of malaria in 1938 included epidemic malaria occurring as far south as Pretoria and beyond Durban.

With climate change, the chance exists that South Africa may become more susceptible to malaria transmission, even reintroducing the disease in malaria-free areas. This raises the question if malaria would ever occur naturally in Pretoria again?

The institute is not only looking at cross-border movement, but are also doing work on climate change and environmental factors affecting malaria, says Prof. Tiaan de Jager, director of the UP ISMC.

A project, using remote sensing for malaria control in collaboration with the SA Weather Services and the French National Space agency (CNES), will focus on all these factors.

Travelling malaria

Gauteng Province is not one of South Africas malaria endemic areas. The disease is usually confined to low-lying areas of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

Nonetheless Gauteng does have high number of malaria cases annually and each year there are deaths reported in the province due to malaria.

In 2014, there were a total of 1,929 malaria cases reported in Gauteng and a total of 28 mortalities due to the disease. These numbers were the third highest amongst all the provinces in South Africa, and were even higher than that reported in KZN.

The origin of these cases is often identified as travelling malaria. When an infected anopheles mosquito is transported from a malaria area to a non-endemic area in a travellers suitcase or in a vehicle.

In other cases, people are infected when they have visited a malaria endemic area and often only start showing symptoms once they are home, in many cases a non-endemic area.

Malaria incidence in South Africa is impacted by the number of imported cases from neighbouring countries. A total of 69% of all the malaria cases (6,847 cases) reported in South Africa from January to December 2012 were imported from Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Creating awareness

Awareness of the disease and the risks associated with it, especially in high risk areas, is the first step towards prevention. People need to be made aware of the disease to protect themselves, even if they do not live in an endemic area.

Malaria presents itself as bouts of fever accompanied by cold or flu-like symptoms, alternating with periods of absence of feeling sick. Intermittent symptoms include headache, malaise, fatigue, nausea, muscular pains, chills and even diarrhoea.

People in endemic areas or those who have recently visited such an area should consult a physician or healthcare practitioner immediately when these symptoms appear especially during the malaria months. Symptoms of complicated or severe malaria include delirium, generalised convulsions, impaired consciousness and respiratory distress.

Malaria Buddy app

The UP ISMC released an app  Malaria Buddy - in collaboration with Travel with Flair in 2016. The first phase of the app was very basic with information on the disease, how to prevent getting sick and what to do if you suspect you have malaria.

However, the institute is currently busy working on phase 2, which uses GIS technology to transform the app into a GPS of malaria hot spots and treatment options, simply by using the phones location.
Vida e Caffe, which first expanded its business model into corporate HQs in 2012, has announced further store launches at the new Discovery headquarters in Sandton, Siemens, Metropolitan Life Buildings in Bellville and Centurion and four stores within Dimension Data's offices in the Campus, Bryanston.

Vida e Caffe in the design centre of The Foschini Group's head office.

Currently, it has stores within EY, MultiChoice, Vodacom, MTN, Old Mutual Cape Town, The University of Stellenbosch Medical Centre, The Foschini Group, Liberty Life, KPMG and Sanlam Santam.

This follows a growing trend in the rise of high street retail brands in large corporate environments, providing staff with access to retailers, QSR (Quick Service Restaurants) and coffee shops on the ground floor of the building  a place to save time, meet friends, work or engage in a meeting.

Coffee is a growing market, with Statistics SA showing that coffee shops have contributed to around 2.8% of the positive annual growth around takeaway and fast food. South African brands have cottoned on to a huge opportunity  access to the foot traffic of thousands of consumers from Monday to Friday.

High street brand association

According to Hitesh Patel, new business director for Vida e Caffe, Employers want the brand association of a high street offering, less down-time and an association with quality  a one-stop shop without having to leave the building. Many of the clients that we service see it as a value-add for their staff.

We found there was a demand from the staff for a high street brand, as opposed to a corporate or generic coffee shop caterer. Employees were prepared to pay for it too, wanting a more upmarket quality cup of coffee, vibe and service. The positioning of the store has been vital to its success. Often situated in a swing space on the ground floor near the entrance  the coffee shop has become a connection hub and staff occasionally choose to meet there as opposed to in their offices.

This corporate model works well for us. We have created a niche operating space, especially from a coffee shop point of view. We often get potential franchisees that see the model work and want to invest in a store, so it has also become a sales platform for us, leveraging us into different avenues  a self-marketing exercise. What we have is flexibility  no floor layouts are the same. It is tailor-made to the client and its footfall, concludes Patel.
This year, Mercedes-Benz Trucks is bringing the world's first all-electric heavy duty truck to market in a small series.

Following the presentation of the Urban eTruck with 25 tonnes gross vehicle weight and a range of up to 200km in 2016, the first vehicles will be delivered to customers in 2017.

"Following the world premiere in September 2016 at the International Commercial Vehicle Show the customer reaction was outstanding," says Stefan Buchner, global head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks. "We are talking to about 20 potential customers from the disposal, foodstuffs and logistics sector. With the small series we are now rapidly taking the next step towards a series product. By 2020 we want to be on the market with the series generation."

Zero emissions, quiet as a whisper and with a payload of 12.8 tonnes, the Urban eTruck offers an impressive economical and environmentally friendly concept. The vehicle will initially go in a low two-figure number of units to customers in Germany and later in Europe too. It will be used in real transportation applications there. The aim is to use actual application scenarios and requirement profiles together with the customer to further optimise the vehicle concept and the system configurations of the electric truck. The tests will include use in shift operation, charging times plus battery and range management.

"When it comes to future technological issues we have set in the sector, for instance with regard to electric and autonomous driving plus connectivity. This year will now be our year of implementation: step by step we are developing the vehicles and systems to achieve market maturity," says Buchner.

To be able to depict the various application possibilities, 18 and 25 tonne models will be equipped with either a refrigerated body, a dry box body or as a platform vehicle. Together with a special charger which takes into account the increased demands on a truck, the vehicles will be handed over to the customers to use for a period of 12 months and will be supported by Mercedes-Benz Trucks' road testing department. During this time the use profiles and areas of application will be recorded and the knowledge gained and expectations compared.

The Urban eTruck is part of a comprehensive electric initiative from Daimler Trucks. The light-duty electric truck Fuso eCanter will be in use in a global small series in 2017. About 150 vehicles will be handed over to selected customers in Europe, Japan and the US.

Better air quality, a lower noise level and entry restrictions are now important catchwords in the big metropolises of the world. It will be necessary to transport goods in urban environments for increasing numbers of people and with the lowest possible emissions and noise. Therefore in the future all-electric trucks will take care of supplying people in many conurbations with groceries or other goods needed on a daily basis.

The rapid technical development is supporting this trend: Daimler Trucks says it is expecting the costs for the batteries of an all-electric truck to fall dramatically by 2025 while the energy density of the batteries will increase.

Source: Business Day
More developing countries urgently need insurance to cushion their farmers against weather extremes that can worsen poverty, but it is no magic bullet to ward off the escalating impacts of climate change, experts say.

The burning question of how to stop drought becoming a major crisis - especially in Africa - has caused many to eye insurance as a possible answer. "People think sometimes that insurance is the solution for everything. It is not correct," said Mohamed Beavogui, director general of the African Risk Capacity, an African Union agency that helps states plan for natural disasters and climate change, and provides them with insurance through its company, ARC Limited.

"Insurance is (for) when you have done everything you can and there is still a risk you cannot cover," said Beavogui. Planning for those risks - such as the number of people a government would be unable to help in a crisis - is vital, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

As climate change bites harder, bringing with it worse droughts and floods, demands on donors' purse strings are likely to grow, and experts say development gains - especially in Africa - are at risk of being rolled back. Last year, southern African states appealed for $2.9 billion in aid when the region was hit with its worst drought in 35 years, affecting 39 million people. Now, drought in the continent's east is pushing millions into hunger.

Insurance can be triggered more quickly than international aid, which can take months to fund. ARC's cover is based on a pre-agreed plan for how the government will use the payout. Since ARC Ltd began issuing policies in 2014, eight nations have taken out insurance and four - Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, and Malawi - have received payouts totalling $34 million.

The index-based insurance offers maximum coverage of $30 million per country per season for drought events that occur with a frequency of one in five years or less.

But while drought last year left 6.5 million people in Malawi in need of food aid, Malawi did not receive an ARC payout until January. Malawi took out insurance based on a crop - long-cycle maize - that, as it turned out, most farmers did not grow in the 2015/2016 season. Long-cycle maize survived the drought, while the short-cycle maize most farmers grew did not. In the end, ARC's member states agreed to an $8.1 million payout for Malawi - the amount it would have received had the government requested short-cycle maize as the base.

"It means that we shouldn't rely only on data the government gives us," Beavogui said. ARC will now also check what farmers are growing with research centres and extension services, among others, he added.

Jury still out

Insurance companies that pay out directly to farmers are still few and far between in many developing countries, and they offer limited services. Where they do exist, they mainly serve commercial farmers because the poorest cannot afford to pay premiums without help from a donor or government, said Andrew Shepherd, director of the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network, based at the Overseas Development Institute, a London-based thinktank.

"The jury is still out" on whether insurance can make the poorest farmers more resilient to drought, but it can play an important role in preventing wealthier farmers from becoming impoverished, he said.

All the focus by governments, and often donors, is on getting people out of poverty, and not on preventing people from falling into poverty," he said.

India is one of the few developing countries with a national insurance scheme for farmers, including those with as little as one cow or buffalo, which works through local agents, said Shepherd.

Senegal has two kinds of insurance - macro-insurance through ARC, and micro-insurance - both of which paid out when bad drought hit in 2014.

The Compagnie Nationale d'Assurance Agricole du Senegal (CNAAS) - set up by the government, insurance companies and international agencies - targets most farmers in rain-fed crop areas with index-based insurance products. In 2014, Senegal's ARC payout reached people and livestock with aid, getting help to herders within three months, said Mathieu Dubreuil, micro-insurance advisor at the World Food Programme (WFP).

"It was a good match" between ARC which pays out in a crisis and micro-insurance schemes that pay out more often, he said.

WFP, which offers small-scale insurance for farmers, is also exploring taking out ARC insurance, which would give an additional payout to countries, disbursed either by WFP or through the government.

Vicious cycle of hunger

In Malawi, farmers are waiting for the April maize harvest to bring an end to months of food shortages. "If we are not careful, we will have a vicious cycle of hunger," said Wycliffe Kumwenda of the National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi, representing more than 100,000 farmers. Uninsured farmers are condemned to queue up for food aid - time taken away from cultivating their fields - while hunger saps their energy, he said.

There is some insurance for Malawian tobacco farmers, but many do not know about it. Premiums are a problem too, as is the ability to make a claim, Kumwenda said.

"We need to install proper instruments that can capture weather parameters like rainfall (and) temperature," he said. "Most of the met stations are not reliable." That makes claims hard to justify, putting off potential insurance providers, he added.

As climate impacts are expected to worsen in the coming years, potentially pushing up the cost of premiums, ARC is developing an Extreme Climate Facility (XCF) which will give countries access to finance for climate change adaptation.

"You have to insure what you cannot cover, and at the same time you have to prepare and adapt," said Beavogui. "My real fear is we don't do it quickly enough."

(Reporting by Alex Whiting @Alexwhi; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking, and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is reporting on resilience as part of its work on zilient.org, an online platform building a global network of people interested in resilience, in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation.
There is a massive shortage of commonage land for livestock farming in Nelson Mandela Bay, with metro leaders scratching their heads to come up with a solution.

FranckSeuret via pixabay

Small pockets of land have been offered to the city by landowners, but they are requesting hefty prices, according to mayor Athol Trollip.

At a mayoral committee meeting yesterday, Trollip said there was a lot of urban farming taking place in the city, bringing with it public health and safety concerns. "This is a matter of considerable concern. We have a lot of urban farming taking place. We've got livestock being farmed in the urban area," he said.

"In Uitenhage, we went to look at the available land.

"There's an extensive piece of land surrounding Uitenhage for farming purposes. That land is covered in prickly pear and other invader species.

"So, we have a shortage of land for people farming in the urban area.

"We are dealing with public health issues with livestock in urban areas [and] we're dealing with public safety issues with livestock roaming on our roads."

Trollip urged the economic development, tourism, and agriculture department to come up with a solution sooner rather than later. "We cannot continue to have people farming in urban areas where livestock is compromising people's health and safety," he said.

The municipality's political head of economic development, tourism and agriculture, councillor Andrew Whitfield, said they were holding meetings with livestock owners in the hopes of coming up with a solution. "It's an ongoing challenge," Whitfield said.

"We have residents in this city who have a problem - a public health issue with cattle in their communities.

"At the same time, we have to be sensitive to the needs of people who need land in order to look after livestock.

"We are looking at ways to identify and purchase pieces of land, to see where land is available and start moving cattle into those places," Whitfield said.

Trollip said they had to find suitable and affordable land.

Source: Herald
Parliament is expected to hold a debate on farm attacks and murders, the FF Plus said on Wednesday. National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete had reversed her recent decision not to allow a debate on the matter, FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald said. The debate, to be held next Tuesday, followed discussions with Mbete last week.

2allmankind via pixabay

"The FF Plus welcomes that the ANC government has, after thousands of murders and attacks, eventually acknowledged that this issue is of great importance which should be debated."

Groenewald said they had told Mbete that the attacks didn't only affect whites, but had serious consequences for food security, economic development, and the stability of the labour market.

He claimed that 133 farmers out of every 100,000 in the population were murdered and that there had been an increase in farm attacks in February.

Confirmed figures on farm attacks are hard to come by. Rights group AfriForum gathered statistics based on news reports and accounts forwarded to its research desk.

In a previous attempt at establishing a fuller picture of attacks, an AfriForum researcher explained that, because updated crime statistics were not available, they relied on newspaper reports for their statistics. Other victims, such as labourers assaulted to gain access to a farm, were often overlooked in reports and so were not accounted for in their research.

"The murders and attacks are a tragedy," Groenewald said.

"The FF Plus, therefore, welcomes this historical debate. It is of the greatest importance that the public of South Africa knows what political parties do about issues that affect everybody in the country."

Source: News24

Read this report on News24Wire.com.
While tourism in Cape Town has fuelled the local economy and investment potential within the city over the years, more recent initiatives have been aimed at expanding the city's reputation beyond the leisure industry. Tony Clarke, MD of the Rawson Property Group, notes that the resulting boom in the business sector is proving to be great news for property investors.

Cape Town has always been a gateway to Africa, says Clarke. Not only for travellers, but also businesses looking for a base from which to tap into the vast potential of the growing economy here and further north. Until recently, these opportunities have been overshadowed by our massive tourism sector, but the citys increasing commitment to boosting its profile as more than just a tourist destination has really started to pay off.

Proof of the success of initiatives like Invest Cape Town can be found in fDi Intelligences Global Cities of the Future 2016/17 report, which ranks Cape Town amongst their top 25 cities for foreign direct investment strategy.

Cape Town was the only African city to place in this category, says Clarke, which is a huge honour and a great show of confidence in our strategic direction  confidence that is being reflected in the property market as well.

How FDI boosts the property market

According to Clarke, foreign direct investment boosts the property market in a variety of ways.

Firstly, businesses setting up headquarters in Cape Town require suitable commercial property from which to operate, he says. This stimulates demand for existing offices, warehousing and manufacturing premises, and also encourages new developments in the commercial space.

The number of jobs created by these new businesses and developments inevitably attracts new employees to the area as well. Some of these may relocate permanently and some may stay on a more temporary basis.

This drives residential property demand in sales, and long- and short-term rentals, says Clarke, which not only pushes sales prices upwards, it also encourages investment purchases as capital appreciation and buy-to-let opportunities soar.

Appreciation has certainly continued unabated in Cape Town, despite the economic pressures that have seen many other South African cities property markets flounder.

Ongoing growth in inner city

Cape Towns inner city, in particular, has seen excellent and ongoing growth, says Clarke, and a big part of this may well be due to the success of our drive to bring more international companies to our shores.

With Cape Towns skyline a mass of cranes and scaffoldings as numerous new commercial and residential developments race for completion, it seems the citys investment potential is far from the apex of its curve. Investors looking to get in on the action, however, may need to up their ante if they dont act soon.

Inner city average sales prices in Cape Town climbed to nearly R2.5m in 2016, says Clarke. By comparison, Johannesburgs CBD sales averaged at R653,770, while similar areas in Durban and Pretoria didnt even break the R500k mark.

As for 2017s prospects, Clarke believes Cape Town will continue to top the national leader-boards.

We have definitely not seen the end of Cape Towns rise as a powerhouse on the African economic front, he says, and growth in this space will inevitably see continued improvements in the property market as well. There may be bumps along the road, but that road is undoubtedly leading up, and investors are going to see great returns if they get on board for the climb.
During a tour to Australia, Brand South Africa appealed to 200 expatriates at dinners in Sydney and Melbourne as part of South Africa's mission to boost its international reputation in business, investment, and tourism. The campaign saw South African expatriates living in Australia declaring their allegiance to promoting their homeland as a place of global goodness and strength.

Brand South Africas CEO, Dr Kingsley Makhubela, told the expats that South Africa was moving beyond the challenges of the past and in times of global uncertainty, South Africa should be known for its generosity and goodness. Our country has spent a lot of time reflecting on our issues and not enough about what is good about South Africa, he said.

We want to be known around the world for our goodness and competitive strengths and it is time for all of us to create, inspire, empower, and celebrate our citizenship in South Africa.

Brand South Africa is the custodian of South Africas image and reputation and is targetting the 150,000 South African immigrants in Australia to define their own niche and contribute to the promotion of their country as a globally competitive and generous nation.

Makhubela was joined on the Australian tour by Brand South Africas General Manager Research, Dr Petrus De Kock, General Manager Marketing, Sithembile Ntombela, Strategic Relationship Manager Civil Society, Thoko Modise, and the High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa, Beryl Sisulu. The Nelson Mandela Foundation is a key stakeholder in Brand South Africa.

South Africa has been making steady progress

During the two Australian dinners, De Kock, told the expats that South Africa played a pivotal role in the economic revival of the continent. De Kock also said: Since the dawn of democracy, and regardless of the economic challenges in recent years, South Africa has been making steady progress on the front of human and social development.

His presentation highlighted that research undertaken between 2011 and 2015, showed South Africas life expectancy at birth has increased from 54.5 to 57.4 years, and there was a rise in expected years of schooling from 13.3 to 13.6 years.

Economically, South Africa now ranks 47th out of 138 global economies, with its strengths in financial market development (11th), market size (30), institutions (40), business sophistication (30), and goods and market efficiency (29).

He said South Africa was placed 80th of the freest economies out of 186; 74th of 190 economies in the World Bank 2016/2017 Report on the Ease Doing Business; and had displayed improvement in technology readiness, innovation, labour market efficiency, health and primary education.

The dinner in both major Australian cities achieved strong support from expat South Africans who detailed their pride and patriotism as ambassadors to support the future of South Africa.
Mann Made Media is proud to announce its BBBEE ownership deal that will have a positive impact on the future of the South African economy and a significant influence on young black women.

In terms of the deal, which has an effective date of 1 March 2017, the Maharishi Institute in Johannesburg has acquired 51% of Mann Made Africa, in a 100% black women-owned empowerment vehicle, a youth employment fund targeted 100% on unemployed black South African women.

According to Shayne Mann, Mann Made Media CEO, We have had a long-standing relationship with the institute. Over the last 15 years the agency has worked on a pro-bona basis on Maharishi videos, events and campaigns. Mann Made Media has always been passionate about education and empowerment. Through our relationship with Dr Taddy Blecher we have gotten to know the institution well and are committed to growing funds to support its services and success.

At Mann Made we believe in broad-based empowerment provided it is real, inclusive and trackable both from a capital ownership and dividend-flow point of view, concludes Mann.

The Maharishi Institute and its associated organisations have assisted over 17,050 unemployed South Africans. They have been educated, found employment and moved from poverty to the middle class.

We are thrilled to be taking our business to this next level in this vibrant ever-changing democracy and economy of South Africa, says Shayne Mann, managing director at Mann Made Media Africa.

Cikizwa Gaqa, a Maharishi graduate, says, I am delighted Mann Made Media has partnered with MI because there needs to be many more success stories like mine!

The deal is effective as of 1 March 2017.

www.mannmademedia.com




North Dakota Tourism advertising brought in $104 in non-resident spending for every $1 invested in 2016.

This research answers the question  Does marketing the state get results? And also shows the 2016 campaign has delivered a strong return on investment both by motivating new trips and visitor spending, North Dakota Department of Commerce Tourism Division Director Sara Otte Coleman said in a statement.

There was also $5.90 in taxes returned to the state for every $1 spent on paid media, according to results from the departments Strategic Marketing and Research Insights study evaluating the effectiveness of the campaign.

Otte Coleman said the campaign featuring Josh Duhamel showcased a variety of amenities revolving around state history, outdoors and city attractions.

North Dakota invested $3.17 million in advertising to out-of-state markets in 2016, resulting in 354,000 non-resident trips and visitor spending of $328.3 million through incremental and repeat trips. Non-resident visitors contributed $18.7 million to North Dakotas tax base.

Tourism Department Spokeswoman Kim Schmidt said comparing return on investment with other state tourism efforts is tricky, as markets, advertising spending, campaign-timing and duration all differ.

But data from a 2015 Minnesota tourism study of the states Explore Minnesota campaign showed a return on investment of $75 in visitor spending and $7 in tax revenue for every $1 spent. The campaign brought in 3.2 million incremental trips that would not otherwise have taken place, resulting in a total of $337 million in incremental visitor spending and $31 million in state and local taxes. Minnesota spent $4.5 million on advertising.

A similar study of South Dakotas 2016 Explore South Dakota campaign showed a return on investment of $51 in visitor spending and $4 in tax revenue per $1 spent on advertising. It also brought in 1.3 million incremental trips that would not otherwise have taken place, resulting in $166.7 million in incremental visitor spending and $11.9 million in state and local taxes. The state spent $3.2 million on advertising.

In 2015, Wyoming spent $5.8 million on tourism ads for a return of $202 for every $1 invested.
Yesterday Chris Bertish, internationally acclaimed speaker, big wave surfer and Guinness SUP world record holder, completed the first solo, unsupported transatlantic SUP Crossing, presented by Carrick Wealth.

Bertish set off on the greatest ocean adventure ever attempted from the coast of Morocco on 6 December 2016 and traversed 4,050nm/7,500km, paddling 1,944,000 strokes across the Atlantic Ocean for 93 days, to reach the finish in English Harbour, Antigua.

Bertish stand-up paddled to the English Harbour shores to receive a heros welcome and flotilla on the water to guide and encourage him to the finish line. Chris own brothers, locals and project supporters from around the globe turned out to watch the dramatic arrival take place and cheer Chris on during the final strokes to the finish.

As the nearly 20' specialised SUP craft, the ImpiFish shoved to shore for the first time in three months, after much cheering, hugging and tears of joy, Chris commented, If you truly believe in yourself and persevere, anything is possible, and here we are. After over three months solo on the open ocean, I am here, on land again with friends and family  my feelings of accomplishment and extreme gratitude for everyone that made this incredible journey possible are beyond words.

The SUP Crossing presented by Carrick Wealth made history, set a new world record and will leave a lasting legacy helping generations to follow. Carrick Wealth is extremely proud to be associated with someone that shows such immense character, sheer determination and humility. Chris efforts over the last four months have been nothing short of miraculous and his selflessness to sacrifice everything to change the lives of millions of at-risk children across Africa, well that is something we should all strive to achieve, commented Craig Featherby, CEO Carrick Wealth.

The SUP Crossing will continue raising funds for several charitable organizations including The Lunchbox Fund, Operation Smile and Signature of Hope. Bertish personally committed to funding one operation for a child in Africa through Operation Smile for every World Record he achieved on this epic Transatlantic journey. And he achieved many of them including a new world record for a 24-hour solo unsupported and unassisted open ocean distance SUP.

We created a new a smile for every mile I crossed over the Atlantic, commented Bertish. This incredible journey is going to be able to truly change lives. Knowing the impact this will have made every day out on the open ocean worthwhile.

With Bertishs long time experience as a keynote and inspirational speaker known internationally for inspiring audiences with his tales of courage, determination, and skill to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles in pursuit of his dreams, Chris added, Reaching your goals and breaking records is all about beating the odds and challenging your own limits until you achieve what you never imagined could be accomplished. Nothing is impossible.

To follow Chris Bertish, get involved, donate and continue the adventure, click here.

Keep the conversation going with the official hashtags: #TheSupCrossing #CarrickWealth #StandUp

For more details on Chris Bertish, visit ChrisBertish.com or follow him on Twitter @chris_bertish, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Business book author Tony Schwartz wrote, Nearly everyone I know is addicted in some measure to the internet.

And with a steady stream of headlines blaming technology for our distractedness and app addictions, it's no surprise that savvy content marketers are starting to use this to their advantage. Apps may distract, but the good news for content marketers is that people are still excited about them and constantly searching for the latest apps to download.

From apps that detect serious car accidents and dispatch lifesaving emergency services, such as Crash Detech, to lifestyle apps like SnapScan and UberEats, apps are taking the world by storm.

So how can apps positively impact content marketing strategies? Simple. By piggybacking on this popular trend, brands can generate increased content exposure.

As an example, Mastercards brand storytelling agency recognised that online content pegged around their 2Kuze app that connects farmers, agents, and buyers for greater pricing transparency had all the right ingredients to perform well: an innovative product that satisfied a need, and something that fundamentally changed the lives of those who use it. News around the app was so popular that it earned over 8,800 Google news search results!

Youve probably heard of UberEats. Thats because since Uber launched their UberEats app in South Africa last year, the term UberEats South Africa has earned a whopping 356,000 Google news results! So it should come as no surprise then, that affiliates Kauai and Food24 are pegging content on it.

And currently, nothing can top WhatsApp news. The term WhatsApp generates 25,200,000 Google news results and the keyword WhatsApp earns 1 to 10 million monthly searches globally. Now thats a lot of traction! Unsurprisingly, sites like the Huffington Post are also pegging content on this popular search term.

So why is strategic content so important for marketing strategies?

Gone are the days when people picked up an enormous Yellow Pages to search for a business, because the age of tech-savvy consumers is here, and is here to stay.

If you keep hearing, We need more online content or, What is the digital PR strategy behind the campaign? in marketing meetings, youre not alone. Brands have woken up to the power of Google and SEO companies are working tirelessly to master and optimise Googles ever-changing algorithm to help brands rank on page 1 of Googles search results.

Bill Gates was right when he said, Content is king. Sharing rich content enables search engines to index it and serve it up to potential consumers when appropriate search phrases are used.

Conclusion

Content pegged on tech news and innovations has historically performed well and with our convenience-driven, theres an app for that lifestyles, online users want to know whats new and exciting in the app market.

Personal technology is more engaging than ever, so if your brand has an app (or has one in the pipeline), why not peg your digital PR efforts on it and benefit from the popularity of this trend?
The global competition, S.Pellegrino Young Chef, will be accepting applications from young culinary talent from across the world until April 2017.

The third edition of the competition will feature various novelties aimed to provide contestants with further opportunities to demonstrate and strengthen their skills, while gaining valuable visibility.

The contest will now take place over a span of 18 months, with this next edition lasting from 2017 to 2018. The upcoming year will include preliminary selection rounds and the local competitions, followed by the Grand Finale in June of 2018, where finalists will compete for the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 title. The extended duration will allow candidates more time to work side by side their assigned chef mentors to improve their signature dishes and refine their skill set in preparation for the finals.

Winners of S.Pellegrino Young Chef are presented with the extraordinary opportunity to gain global visibility and a significant professional boost, as well as the chance to take part in several of the brands annual events around the world, including but not limited to those related to the Young Chef competition. It is a great honour to be named S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016, said S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 winner, Mitch Lienhard of the United States. The experience has provided many unforgettable moments so far, and I am thankful for the impact the title will have in my career. I look forward to continuing my work with S.Pellegrino to help find the culinary worlds best new talent and serving as a mentor to future competitors. Among previous winners of the competition is Ireland-based S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2015, Mark Moriarty.

To broaden the range and accessibility of the talent scouting, a new region, Central AmericaCaribbean has been added to the competitions list of included geographic regions, now comprised of 21 different areas from all corners of the world. In addition, applications will now be accepted in English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, French and Italian. All candidates are required to understand and speak English, as it is the official language of the competition.

How to apply

Applications for S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 open on February 1, 2017 at Sanpellegrino.com. The website will serve as the new digital hub of the competition, while FineDiningLovers.com  the online magazine for food enthusiasts from all over the world, proudly endorsed by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna  has been designated the official media partner.

Over the course of the contest  which last year, attracted over 3,000 applicants  70 top chefs will be involved as jurors in the local competitions, 21 young chefs from 21 different geographic areas will be selected as semifinalists, and 21 chef mentors will be assigned individually to the young chefs, providing guidance throughout their exceptional journey.

The global competition includes a distinguished panel of judges, known as the Seven Sages, which is comprised of some of the most celebrated culinary masters of the world, who are responsible for deciding the winner of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 at the finals in Milan, Italy.

S.Pellegrino Young Chef is a global competition realised in four phases, namely the online application phase (February 2017 - April 2017), the global shortlist phase (1 June 2017), local challenges phase (7 June - December 2017) and the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Finals phase (June 2018).

The complete contest regulations and application form will be available on www.sanpellegrino.com
IAB SA CEO, Josephine Buys talks us through the IAB's involvement in the third Digital Summit and ninth Bookmark Awards, both taking place on Thursday, 16 March. She elaborates on the importance of bringing this level of thought leadership, celebration and collaboration to SA's digital community.

Buys

Asked what shes personally most looking forward to from this years Summit and Awards, Buys says:

Seeing the cream of SAs digirati at our once a year gathering, to share extraordinary content, optimistic outlooks, and of course to celebrate or commiserate with the tallest poppies in our industry the night before the biggest babalas of the year!

Summit freebies: App engagement and rising stars' attendance

Buys adds that the IAB Digital Summit is the IAB's annual showcase that gathers leading industry professionals, decision-makers and thought leaders under one roof to exchange and share insights about the reinvention of media, platforms, creative and business models.

This event allows for digital dialogue on both a local and global scale, with over 10 local luminaries standing shoulder to shoulder with three illustrious international speakers. While we are delighted that the event attracts C-suite executives and middle managers, we recognise how crucial it is to give access to tomorrows talent, so this year we have reserved 50 complimentary tickets for the rising stars of the digital industry to join us, free of charge, so that they too can get exposed to many aspects of digital media and marketing, adds Buys.

Theyre excited to give them this opportunity to learn, to network and to meet current and future peers and possibly even mentors, as many of the IABs members are passionate about the future of the industry and ready, willing and able to support young, upcoming talent.

Another exciting change this year is the inclusion of Blippar augmented reality throughout the event, courtesy of innovation hub C2C Labs, a certified Blippar partner in SA. Providing new and exciting ways to drive deeper engagement, inspire and deepen brand conversations, delegates can download the free Blippar app ahead of the event to engage with our event partners, access Summit content and enjoy other fun-filled experiences on the day, explains Buys.

More than this, IABs partnership with digital agency network Accenture Interactive ups the stakes for this third annual IAB Digital Summit as Accenture Interactive has already disrupted the digital landscape with its diverse offering of service and experience design, marketing, content and commerce capabilities.

Truly driving digital dialogue

Combined with the depth of IABs knowledge and breadth of our members' influence in digital, this partnership is set to drive digital dialogue like never before, says Buys, with Accenture Interactives investment and commitment to the Diamond partnership meaning Summit ticket prices remain the same as last year and the event can be scaled to reach up to 650 people, with messages like:

Did you know, 45% of SA have 3 cell phones in their household? Clearly your customers are going digital, why arent you? Join Speaker Jessy Severins #DigitalSummit2017 A post shared by IAB South Africa (@iab_sa) on Feb 15, 2017 at 8:11am PST

Add to that their speaker Didier Uljasz' keynote on the customer genome and how it offers insight into ways in which to channel detailed customer data into real impact and we are thrilled that this partnership elevates the Summit to a greater level than ever before, she clarifies. The rest of the diverse speaker lineup will also focus on this years Summit theme of how the power of digital has shifted to the hands of an increasingly on-demand consumer, reshaping relationships among platforms, publishers and advertising.

Consumers have never had more control! Their eyeballs, their swipes and their expectations are leading the charge for seamlessly integrated, aesthetically pleasing, value added content and brand experiences. The ability of our industry to deliver resonant storytelling, powered by meaningful data, across all platforms and screens has never been more important!

The programme will thus uncover opportunities and pitfalls that digital media and marketers face, in light of the most recent innovations, trends, strategies, and solutions in digital. Our speakers will be covering the latest and imminent trends with the hottest topics including the disruption of the content marketing space, the future of digitised measurement, gamification, how mobile and streaming are set to change the way brands remain relevant in the digital world, and how Africa is becoming a cutting edge market for the digital revolution. The list goes on with 15 laser point shots of digital awe in 6.5 hours.

Switching focus to the Bookmark Awards then, Buys explains that the ninth annual Bookmark Awards honours individuals, agencies, publishers and brands that have produced creative, innovative, technical excellence and achieved tangible results in digital media and marketing. The Bookmarks recognises the powerful impact interactive has on the overall marketing mix and sets the benchmark for leading edge innovation in digital. The award winning work inspires and educates the industry about the power to build brands through creative and high impact digital executions that deliver measurable results.

New categories for #Bookmarks2017!

Innovative use of mobile media Mobile advertising that pushes the boundaries beyond the illegible banner ad. Online video series Non-branded online video content. Chat, messaging and dark social Use of chat, chat bots and messaging platforms (dark social) to achieve a marketing or communication result. Publisher apps News or feature publishing apps intended to distribute information to a mass audience for non-brand purposes. Online photography Use of online photo by a publisher for news or editorial purposes. Online news videos Use of online video by a publisher for news or editorial purposes. Live event coverage Online coverage by a publication of an event - winners will demonstrate excellence in live reporting and content production. Streaming services Dedicated internet streaming service (video or audio). Best CTO Individual in a brand who most supports, encourages and succeeds using digital channels. Best contribution to transformation in the digital industry Organisation who has made the most convincing contribution to growing diversity in the digital industry in line with overall goals for an integrated South Africa. This could be through any meaningful mechanism ranging from ownership to participation. Pixel for purpose Awarded to a piece of work (site, app, publication or any other digital piece) that made a significant positive social impact. The winner will have conclusively proven that the idea worked.

This year saw a record number of entries, with judging panels broken down into marketers, builders, publishers, innovators and engineers, gamers and special honours. Each panel consists of digital luminaries and specific category specialists for the likes of search, video and social media.

.@tanyapampalone "The judging process was much smoother this year and I was excited to have more journalists on the panel" #Bookmarks2017 pic.twitter.com/yIfuYsInBE  IAB South Africa (@iab_sa) February 25, 2017

Judges have mentioned that the standard is very high, with some of the best work ever seen. There were two rounds of judging this year, with the first round done remotely with an in/out vote based on reviewing the one-pager and then voting accordingly.

Round two has the judges in Cape Town and Johannesburg view the actual case studies and videos and voting using VC facilities based on general criteria of creativity/innovation, technical accomplishment and results achieved as well as craft criteria, based on the quality of work produced and technical difficulty or accomplishment in doing so. The scoring is all done confidentially and not discussed or shared, with the entry system algorithm ignoring the highest and lowest score and averaging out the rest to produce a percentage per entry. These are broken down as follows:

70% + = Gold

60%-69% = Silver

50%-59% = Bronze

It's anyone's guess who will come out tops!

Click here for a recap on all of this years Bookmark Awards finalists, here for what to expect from the IAB Digital Summit and keep an eye on our IAB Digital Summit and Bookmark Awards special section for all the latest updates!
South Africa has a high unemployment rate and sluggish economic growth. It's time to consider what our academic institutions can do to reduce unemployment and to help the poor - by taking what they do best (education) and applying it to one of the most effective mechanisms for economic growth and empowerment (entrepreneurship).

In academic literature, entrepreneurship has been widely acknowledged as an important mechanism for economic growth and employment creation. Various studies have shown that entrepreneurship is one of the most effective means for alleviating poverty in developing and transitional countries, and that increasing the quality and number of entrepreneurs creates employment and supports innovation and the economic empowerment of individuals.

Entrepreneurship in education

The time has now come for educational institutions in South Africa to play their part in developing entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship education needs a significant upgrade in terms of its scope and scale. And entrepreneurship skills and the motivation to start a business should be brought to all students at universities, not only those registered specifically for entrepreneurship degrees. The goal is to increase startup rates by enhancing students' entrepreneurial skills and motivation.

This requires a radical mindset change for students - but also, critically, for educationalists and politicians. It is the leadership of universities who need to initiate this change.

What role can universities in South Africa play in improving the entrepreneurial mindset and motivation of students and boosting startups?

Entrepreneurship education vs business management

First of all, it is important to acknowledge the distinction between entrepreneurship education and business management. While business management courses are about leadership, administration, sales and marketing, entrepreneurship courses deal more with innovation, personal initiative, achievement orientation and risk-taking.

There is empirical evidence that entrepreneurship courses in South Africa are not necessarily achieving the goals mentioned above. The most successful courses are those that provide a thorough practical orientation to entrepreneurship education, focusing on learning by doing - whereby students are not only learning about entrepreneurship but also how to become entrepreneurial.

Changing the mindset

Prof Dr Chris Friedrich

My colleagues and I already demonstrated (to a statistically significant extent) more than 10 years ago, in possibly the first controlled study on the African continent, that it is possible to change the entrepreneurial mindset of (UWC) students, who at the time had to open and run a business in small groups. The control group, which didn't participate in this hands-on approach but participated in normal business courses, didn't change their mindset at all. Successful students in the hands-on group also wanted to continue with their businesses after the end of the course - and many did so.

In recent large-scale research initiatives in African countries like Uganda, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania and Rwanda, where hundreds of students participated in (on average) 30 hours of practical entrepreneurial training, students improved their entrepreneurial mindset significantly in comparison to a control group that had taken a standard business-related course.

The focus of the training was an action-based intervention to enhance the entrepreneurial mindset and to support the creation of a small company. The training also aimed at supporting the personal initiative of participants (being self-starting, proactive and persistent), as well as goal setting, entrepreneurial environmental knowledge generation, action planning/execution and self-efficacy. This is evidence-based best practice in entrepreneurship education in Africa.

One year after the training, the results showed a massive increase in startups by the entrepreneurial training group. 18 months after the training, each student who participated had on average created 2.82 jobs - a clear indication that even a relatively short intervention can not only change the mindset of students, but also boost startups and create employment.

International inspiration

It is also helpful to look at successful Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, and examine how they have structured entrepreneurship education. In many of these universities, entrepreneurship education is not only part of their vision and mission statements, but part of the real student experience: they even have compulsory basic entrepreneurship courses for all university students. Based on my experience at the University of Ciputra in Indonesia, for example, no student can graduate if he or she has not started a business.

There are many ways universities can help to reduce unemployment - and one of the most effective ways is through entrepreneurship education.
Peer-to-peer business lending is the third-largest finance model in Africa, totalling $16m in volume in 2014 and 2015, and it's growing in popularity.

The Africa and Middle East Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report, published in February, is the first comprehensive study of the size and growth of crowdfunding and P2P lending markets in Africa and the Middle East. It includes additional chapters on the regulatory landscapes in Africa.

Market evenly distributed

Growing Kenya and South Africa are the market leaders, raising $16.7m and $15m respectively from online channels in 2015. Peer-to-peer business lending had a lower average deal size of $41,000, with an average of 24 lenders each.

The market is relatively evenly distributed across 10 core countries. South Africa had the largest number of online alternative finance platforms, with eight surveyed respondents. Egypt and Morocco followed, with three domestically-based platforms each, and then Ghana and Nigeria, with two per country. Senegal, Uganda, and Zimbabwe had one surveyed platform each.

According to the report, the East Africa region has the largest market share of the alternative finance market. In 2015, East Africa accounted for 41% of total African market share, while West Africa accounted for 24% and Southern Africa accounted for 19%.

South African scenario

The make-up of the South African market differs markedly from the rest of Africa. In 2015, the vast majority of market activity  $13.8m  came from peer-to-peer consumer and business lending, with the remaining $1.2m spread across microfinance, donation-based and reward-based crowdfunding.

The rapid growth and emergence of online peer-to-peer lending models in South Africa suggests that this model will likely dominate the national market, and could potentially propel South Africa forward as the emerging market leader for both online consumer and business peer-to-peer lending in Africa.

Generic financial policies still apply

Regulation and policy for alternative finance are at the very earliest of stages of development for many financial regulators globally, and this is the case in Africa.

Nevertheless, several positive steps have been taken towards developing a specific regulatory response to this emergent industry that provides additional and vital channels of financing for individuals, start-ups and SMEs.

What is clear is that there is no customised, tailor-made alternative finance regulation regime that has been enacted in Africa, as has been the case in other more established markets, such as the UK, Italy, the USA or Malaysia.

Existing, generic financial services regulations are still likely to apply to firms seeking to provide services that fall within the remit of these existing laws.

Many risk-adverse corporates will wait for the implementation of the regulatory framework before acting on this opportunity.
SAN FRANCISCO - Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday revealed that Facebook's first family is growing, with a baby sister on the way for one-year-old daughter Maxima.

"We are all better people because of the strong women in our lives -- sisters, mothers and friends," Zuckerberg said in a post at his Facebook page.

"We can't wait to welcome our new little one and do our best to raise another strong woman."

Zuckerberg's doctor wife, Priscilla Chan, gave birth to daughter "Max" in late November of 2015.

After Max was born, Zuckerberg and his wife said they would give away 99% of their Facebook wealth in a philanthropy initiative "to improve the lives of all those coming into this world".

A charitable foundation backed by the couple early this year bought a Canadian artificial intelligence startup as part of a mission to eradicate disease.

Zuckerberg and Chan last year pledged $3 billion over the next decade to help banish or manage all disease, pouring some of the Facebook founder's fortune into innovative research.
A patriarchal culture has hindered the growth of women holding key executive positions in South Africa.

That is according to the Grant Thornton Women in Business Survey released on Wednesday, 8 March - International Women's Day.

The report says only 28% of senior management roles are held by women in the country.

While higher than last year, the percentage of women business leaders has not changed significantly since the start of Grant Thornton's research 13 years ago, when the figure hovered at 26%.

Lee-Anne Bac, director of Advisory Services at Grant Thornton in Johannesburg, said: "Until we make a concerted effort to change our mindset to the role of women in the workplace, at home and society at large, we're going to continue to battle with inequality in the workplace."

The annual report, which surveys 5,500 businesses in 36 economies, also shows that almost a third (31%) of companies have no women at all in senior management positions.

The report reveals it is still common for senior women to be in supporting roles, particularly as human resources directors or chief financial officers.

However, there has been a slow rise in the number of women in chief executive roles, from 7% in 2015 to 9% last year and 10% this year.

Globally, too, the pace of change towards gender equity remains stagnant.

"We shouldn't, however, be comparing ourselves against the global situation," Bac said.

"Instead, we should strive to match those countries that are performing at above-average rates."

Bac said South African businesses needed to embrace new leadership styles that allowed women to bring their own flair to the workplace.

Source: Herald
Africa has all the resources, talent and technology to be a global leader in digital innovation and transformation, according to Hilton Romanski, Cisco's chief strategy officer.

 Ion Chiosea via 123RF

Technology is an enabler of freedom and presents unimaginable opportunities for Africa, said Romanski. He was speaking at Cisco Connect South Africa event sponsored by Intel, to some of the top leaders in Africas ICT industry.

Technology presents many opportunities and challenges for Africa as the fastest urbanising region in the world, said Romanski. Cisco recognises the pipeline of African talent and we are deeply involved in enabling the widespread emergence of tech ecosystems across the continent.

Centre of the world

According to the United Nations, within the next 20 years Africas working age population is expected to be over one billion, larger than Chinas or Indias. While only 2% of the African economy is currently composed of internet-related services, this figure is expected to grow to 7% or $315 billion by 2025.

With the Cisco Networking Academy  an IT skills and career building programme for learning institutions and individuals worldwide  Cisco is enabling African workers to be valued contributors to the digital economy. The company is also equipping and advising companies, cities, provinces and nations to build, secure and improve digital technologies to drive economic growth and efficiencies.

Africa is geographically in the centre of the world, between the East and West, and an emerging powerhouse of the Global South, added Romanski. Technology holds the chance for Africa to build more open societies and for some countries to leapfrog others.

Shared opportunities

It is expected that as globalisation continues, more ideas will be exchanged, collaboration will increase, and open development will flourish. Romanski highlighted Cisco Spark Board, recently launched in South Africa, as an example of how global collaboration is becoming easier, increasing the freedom to share, learn, teach and work in more places.

Technology holds the chance for Africa to build more open societies and for some countries to leapfrog others.

Technology plays a key role in powering openness and collaboration so that ideas traverse not just countries, but continents. Digitalisation is revamping the delivery of education, health and other public services, and transforming lives in the process, observed Romanski.

We are living in an age in which unprecedented digital transformation is occurring in business, economies and political systems. The significance of this is that the policies a country chooses to pursue in the next decade will determine the extent to which their economies will develop, compete and integrate within the global economy.

Supporting ICT

Romanski said South Africas ICT sector has a responsibility to support young entrepreneurs and SMMEs in general. One element of Ciscos focus on innovation in the country has been through co-development. For example, the Tshimologong Precinct at the University of Witwatersrand  a vibrant start-up incubator in Johannesburgs inner-city  last year saw the company invest R12 million as one of the technology partners aiming to turn Braamfontein into a digital hub.

Apart from enabling entrepreneurs to build businesses that will shape the world, Cisco sees continued digitalisation as opportunities to:
North Dakota producer Mike Gartner was honored at the North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association's 65th annual conference in Bismarck.

Gartner, of Mandan, received the Premier Seed Grower Award for his contributions to the certified seed industry.

He owns Gartner Seed Farm and is known for his oat expertise.

He has produced certified seed for more than 25 years and grows wheat, barley, oats, peas and durum.

He has provided seed for local and state exhibitions. He also has been active in many organizations, including the Morton County Farm Bureau, Morton County Crop Improvement Association, North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association, Northern Great Plains Research Station Focus Group and Morton County Rural Fire Department.
A recent report published by the University of Cambridge Judge Business School analyses the current position of Africa on the world's alternative finance stage and highlights Africa's position and potential in the ever-evolving crowdfunding sector.

Michael Roberts

The Africa and Middle East Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report, published in February 2017, is the first comprehensive study of the size and growth of crowdfunding and P2P lending markets in Africa and the Middle East. The report includes additional chapters on the regulatory landscapes in Africa.

The report comments that the United Kingdom has long led the way in the crowdfunding sphere. It explains that the publics dissatisfaction with the banks and the increase in the number of new crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platforms have combined to pique the interest of the British people in the available alternatives to traditional finance.

Technological revolution

An inspiring technological revolution has been supported by laws, tax breaks and government initiatives. The industry has catapulted, leaping from an estimated valuation of $880 million in 2010 to $34 billion just five years later, in 2015.

Other countries are beginning to follow the UKs lead and, if the trajectory of the UK is anything to go by, the crowdfunding scene will soon be coming to life all over the world.

The report explains that crowdfunding in Africa is just beginning to gain publicity and garner attention. As detailed in the document, the third-largest model in Africa is peer-to-peer business lending, which totalled $16 million in volume over a two-year period between 2014 and 2015.

This model experienced rapid growth, starting at a modest $2 million, and reaching a sizeable $14 million in 2015. Some 90% of online alternative finance originated from platforms headquartered outside Africa, evidencing the potential for home-grown platforms.

Market leaders

Kenya and South Africa are the market leaders, raising $16.7 million and $15 million respectively from online channels in 2015. Peer-to-peer business lending had a lower average deal size, of $41,000, with an average of 24 lenders each.

The market is relatively evenly distributed across 10 core countries. South Africa had the largest number of online alternative finance platforms, with eight surveyed respondents. Egypt and Morocco followed, with three domestically-based platforms each, and then Ghana and Nigeria, with two per country. Senegal, Uganda, and Zimbabwe had one surveyed platform each.

South Africas FinTech specialist and White Label Crowdfunding (WLCF) partner, Khonology, says crowdfunding will provide establishing African businesses with funding alternatives. It believes that the high barriers to business loans faced by SMEs will no longer be a hurdle for innovative, grass root solution providers.

With many township entrepreneurs depending on their small businesses and business plans to acquire funds, crowdfunding reduces barriers of entries, such as collateral or healthy balance sheets, says Khonology CEO Michael Roberts.

Crowdfunding offers access to cash that will empower the misunderstood, determined and small township businesses, he adds.

According to the report, the East Africa region has the largest market share of the alternative finance market. In 2015, East Africa accounted for 41% of total African market share, while West Africa accounted for 24% and Southern Africa accounted for 19%.

The make-up of the South African market differs markedly from the rest of Africa. In 2015, the vast majority of market activity  $13.8 million  came from peer-to-peer consumer and business lending, with the remaining $1.2 million spread across microfinance, donation-based and reward-based crowdfunding.

The rapid growth and emergence of online peer-to-peer lending models in South Africa suggests that this model will likely dominate the national market, and could potentially propel South Africa forward as the emerging market leader for both online consumer and business peer-to-peer lending in Africa.

Regulation and policy for alternative finance are at the very earliest of stages of development for many financial regulators globally, and this is the case in Africa. Nevertheless, several positive steps have been taken towards developing a specific regulatory response to this emergent industry that provides additional and vital channels of financing for individuals, start-ups and SMEs.

Regulatory frameworks

What is clear is that there is no customised, tailor-made alternative finance regulation regime that has been enacted in Africa, as has been the case in other more established markets, such as the UK, Italy, the USA or Malaysia. Existing, generic financial services regulations are still likely to apply to firms seeking to provide services that fall within the remit of these existing laws.

Many risk-adverse corporates will wait for the implementation of the regulatory framework before acting on this opportunity. However, White Label Crowdfunding has repeatedly witnessed that the regulatory risks are lower than many expect.

Having recently partnered with the local Value Added Reseller Khonology, WLCF is looking to collaborate with the founders of new African platforms and is keen to support the shaping of the market.

Africa is based on Ubuntu and community spirit; amazingly, crowdfunding looks to leverage this community engagement. Africa currently has a need for alternative solutions to the current legacy service offerings, says Roberts.

Khonology loves the fact that crowdfunding leverages technology to provide a solution that is community driven and requires active participation and engagement. The collaboration that Khonology has embarked on with WLCF is testament to our business offering; we provide knowledge, collaborate and drive transformation, he concludes.
By Ai Heping in New York | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-03-09 08:58

File photo of former Utah governor Jon Huntsman. [Photo/Agencies]

Former US ambassador to China and Utah governor Jon Huntsman has reportedly been offered the US ambassadorship to Russia.

Huntsman, who served as former President Barack Obama's ambassador to China, was offered the position earlier this week. Huntsman will submit paperwork to accept the role, according to Politico.

Earlier this month there were reports that Huntsman was in talks to serve as the deputy secretary of state.

Huntsman served as ambassador to Singapore under President George H.W. Bush and then to China under President Barack Obama.

He was an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trump during last year's campaign.

Huntsman did not respond to a request from for comment, Politico said.
Anyone who has read this column in the past might be thinking, I thought you said a few short weeks ago that you were going to stop writing because you want to do something else while you still can. The trouble is something else doesnt amount to much. Picking a theme and fleshing it out on paper still gives me the greatest satisfaction, so well pick up where we left off.

A while ago I found a quote from E.M. Forster, a noted British writer, that pretty well describes the work of many writers: How do I know what I think until I see what I say. What Im thinking today is that were pretty darn lucky to have a guarantee of free speech and free press granted us by the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution.

This idea was reinforced by the likes of George W. Bush who recently stated on NBCs Today show, I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy. His words were admirable because we can easily recall how his administration was figuratively drawn and quartered in newspapers and TV news for its perceived problems and mistakes.

Other presidents have spoken of freedom of speech and press as well. Thomas Jefferson once said, Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. George Washington, the first president, realized that If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

Well consider this concept here because the idea has recently been criticized and challenged with charges that the media is the enemy of the people. Its not unusual for the press to be criticized. I remember Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, carping about the nattering nabobs of negativism, the man later forced to resign in disgrace, which made way for the appointment of Gerald Ford as vice president who in turn moved into the Oval Office after Nixons resignation.

The dogged work of investigative journalists Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein from The Washington Post provided the country with an alert that illegal activity had taken place in the Nixon White House, after which further circumstances of lying and erasure of recorded tapes led to an impending impeachment that caused him to resign and fly home to California.

We can repeat over and over that this freedom means so much, but it just becomes a mantra or a catchphrase that we repeat because we have been taught to do so. Some might want to know why this is so, give me more examples. As a reader of history, I took notice of a particular period from about 100 years ago when Teddy Roosevelt noted the work of investigative journalism rooting out corruption in government and business. He named it muckraking from a reference in "Pilgrims Progress" about the man with a muck-rake.

A great story of muckraking came to the American public with the undercover reporting of Upton Sinclair, who wrote The Jungle to expose the dreadful working conditions and unacceptable quality of product turned out by the meatpacking industry. News of filthy surroundings and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to federal food safety laws.

Just as Sinclair worked anonymously in the packing plants, Nellie Bly faked insanity to study a mental institution from the inside and found neglect and physical abuse taking place. Her reports prompted a large-scale investigation that led to reform of the institution.

Ida Tarbell wrote a book in 1904, The History of the Standard Oil Company, that exposed the monopolistic practices John D. Rockefeller used to keep competitors at bay so as not to damage his profits. Tarbells work brought about a Supreme Court decision where the company was found to be an illegal monopoly and ordered broken into 34 separate companies. It was interesting to note, though, that Rockefeller maintained a big investment in each of the fragmented companies.

This column has mentioned some of the muckrakers and their accomplishments on behalf of the general population before, but the point to be repeated is that a free press allowed the muckrakers and their findings to be published, which informed us. Because of their work, the public learned of the corruption taking place at their expense and corrective actions were taken. Elected officials need to be held accountable and journalists are often the first to inform us if those in power are out of step with our democratic principles.
One in five (21%) of websites tested by Venafi were found to be using SHA-1 certificates. While that is a decrease from 36% in November, 2016, that means there are still many websites that offer a less-than-safe online experience, leaving both themselves and their visitors open to security breaches, compliance issues and outages.

Furthermore, websites that continue to use SHA-1 could be rendered unavailable to some, depending on security settings, potentially increasing incoming help-desk calls as frustrated users look to find out what the issue is or a drop in profits as users head elsewhere.

In October last year, Mozilla announced that SHA-1 was no longer secure, with Microsoft repeating the message a month later. Even back in 2014 Google announced it would be phasing out SHA-1, calling it a slow-motion emergency.

The results of our most recent analysis are not surprising, said Kevin Bocek, chief security strategist for Venafi. Even though most organizations have worked hard to migrate away from SHA-1, they dont have the visibility and automation necessary to complete the transition. Weve seen this problem before when organizations had a difficult time making coordinated changes to keys and certificates in response to Heartbleed, and unfortunately Im sure we are going to see it again.

Check out Venafis 7-step guide to SHA-1 to SHA-2 migration.
The Miss Rodeo North Dakota Pageant Association will host a rodeo queen seminar from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 18 and 8 a.m. to noon March 19 at the Comfort Inn and Suites, 1516 27th St. N.W., in Mandan.

Instructors will include former Miss Rodeo North Dakota titleholders Megan Haag, Codi Miller, Krystal Carlascio, Sadie Wardner and Ellen Huber.

Haag, Miss Rodeo North Dakota 2016, said she attended the seminar when she became interested in competing for her title and recalled it giving her a leg up for the next time she was in a pageant. I want to pass on the skills that Ive learned to these young women and make them aware of the opportunities that being the rodeo queen has, its more than just a pretty face that rides around the arena. Its a job, said Haag.

Creating cowgirls with character, said Miller, Miss Rodeo North Dakota 2014. Miller explained that when a young woman is crowned Miss Rodeo North Dakota it is like an unpaid internship, "Your main job is promoting agriculture and being a role model to young kids," said Miller.

The seminar is geared to prospective rodeo queen and princess participants from ages 12 to 25. During the event participants will be instructed on overall appearance, horsemanship and personality skills. According to a press release from Huber, in the category of appearance, instructors will provide lessons in modeling, hair, makeup, western clothing, hat selection and photo planning.

Under the horsemanship area, participants can expect to learn about riding skills, the sport of rodeo and all things equine. The personality portion of the seminar will address interview skills, answering impromptu questions and both prepared and extemporaneous public speaking. Judging perspectives, sponsor relations and tips for school visits may be included as well.

Its always worthwhile when you see girls build that skills base and confidence through the seminar to competition, said Huber, seminar coordinator.

Registration is required by March 14 and there is a $120 fee per participant. Registration forms are available at www.missrodeond.org. Parent participation is free. Other spectators may attend for $30 to include resource materials or $15 without materials. For more information on the seminar, contact Huber at eahuber@outlook.com or 701-400-6249.
A Cause for Claws Thrift Store (701-751-5828)  Seeks volunteers to sort, test, repair and set up store displays. All profits support a low-cost spay and neuter clinic.

Abused Adult Resource Center (701-222-8370)  Volunteers advocates needed to help answer the crisis calls in the evenings and on weekends. An advocates role is to listen, offer support and give options. Free training provided.

AID Inc. (701-663-2122 or 701-663-1274)  Adults to sort clothing, sort other donations, pricing, cashiering, cleaning, organizing, hanging clothes, sorting, testing and repairing electrical items and other various tasks.

American Cancer Society (701-433-7582)  Volunteer drivers for Road to Recovery Program.

American Red Cross (701-223-6700)  Disaster and Health and Safety Services to teach CPR/first aid courses, aid in disaster response locally and nationwide, training provided. Adults and youth 16 and older.

Arc of Bismarck (701-222-1854)  Work in the thrift store.

Baptist Health Care Center (701-223-3040)  Assist residents with clinic appointments, activities, meals, chapel on Sunday and bingo.

Big Brothers Big Sisters (701-222-0797)  Be a mentor for youth.

Bismarck-Mandan Chapter of SCORE (701-328-5861)  Volunteer management counselors to provide free and confidential mentoring and counseling for those who wish to start a small business. Call or stop by the office at the Bank of North Dakota building on Memorial Highway.

Buckstop Junction/Missouri Valley Historical Society (701-250-8575)  Conduct tours of historic buildings, help with The Shoppe, building or grounds maintenance, general office work, Corn Feed/Old Settlers Day, publicity or adopt a building.

Burleigh County Senior Adult Program (701-255-4648)  Deliver meals to homebound elderly individuals and assist as nutrition servers, gift shop attendants, Wii bowling scorekeeper and answering phones.

Central Dakota Humane Society (701-667-2020)  Provide companionship, exercise and socialization to the dogs and cats; assist with basic animal care; assist with special events.

Charles Hall Youth Services (701-255-2773, ext. 303)  Volunteer mentors needed to commit to supporting, guiding and mentoring at-risk youth. Mentors serve as positive role models, teaching youth healthy and safe ways to have fun and to meet positive academic, career and personal goals. Mentors must be minimum of 21 years of age. Training provided.

CHI St. Alexius Health (701-530-7159)  Deliver mail and flowers, escort patients, help with the gift shop.

CHI St. Alexius Home Health & Hospice (701-530-4500)  Share your time, energy and compassion while enriching your own life and lives of others. Help with a variety of activities such as companionship, errands, respite care, administrative and bereavement support. Volunteers who are a veteran, can play an instrument for music therapy and/or perform pet therapy are particularly needed.

Community Action (701-258-2240)  Help in the donation center and the food pantry.

Cystic Fibrosis Association (701-222-3998)  Help with mailings and fundraising events.

Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch (701-223-7979)  Help in thrift store and perform janitorial duties.

Dakota Zoo (701-223-7543)  Accepting applications for adult volunteers to provide animal conservation programs and animal handling for educational programs. Training provided. Also looking for general volunteers for light building and repair projects. Carpentry, mechanical and fencing skills are a plus but not needed.

Foster Grandparent Program (701-258-5436)  Provide one-on-one assistance to children in schools, Head Start and child care centers. Listen to children read, assist with homework, etc.

Good Samaritan Society (701-323-3274)  Volunteers needed.

Lutheran Social Services Senior Companions (701-838-7800)  Seniors 55 and older who are healthy, active and interested in helping their older neighbors.

Make-A-Wish (701-280-9474)  Help with upcoming special events.

Manchester House (701-223-5600)  Be a mentor for youth. Must be at least 18.

Mandan Golden Age Services (701-663-6528)  Pick up prepared meals at Mandan Senior Center and deliver them to the homes of the elderly.

McLean Family Resource Center (701-462-8643)  Assist with crisis line.

Mental Health America of North Dakota (701-255-3692)  Help with data entry, various office duties.

Neighbors Network Program (701-323-4277)  Volunteers with pickups to help move donated furniture items to clients homes.

New Song Church (701-258-5683)  Janitorial and light maintenance work. For details, email erickson.e.michael@gmail.com.

North Dakota Operation Lifesaver (701-223-6372)  Help spread the message about railroad safety.

Pride Inc. (701-258-7838)  Support people with disabilities in social and recreational activities, especially between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily, Monday-Friday, also evenings and weekends. Staff on site to assist at all times.

Public Health Emergency Volunteer Reserve Corps/Medical Reserve Corps (701-328-1334)  Accepting registration of volunteers to assist with public health emergencies. Medical and non-medical volunteers needed. Choose to help only in own county, in the surrounding counties, statewide or anywhere in the U.S. Register at www.ndhealth.gov/EPR/volunteer.

RSVP+ Central North Dakota (701-258-5436)  RSVP+ will connect volunteers of all ages to a variety of volunteer opportunities throughout the community.

Ruth Meiers House (701-222-2108)  Sorting donations, stocking food pantry shelves, dining room servers, childrens learning center aides, baby boutique program assistants and special event help. More information: www.ruthmeiers.org.

St. Vincents Care Center (701-323-1974)  Entertainers for background music for Sunday social events.

Salvation Army (701-223-1889)  Assist with meals, activities and tutoring in the youth program; stock food pantry shelves; light maintenance work.

Sanford Health (701-323-6011)  Greet and assist visitors in the surgical waiting room, deliver flowers, help in the gift shop and Coffee Corner and assist with special projects.

Sanford Health Hospice (701-323-8400)  Volunteers needed to assist terminally ill patients. Assistance commonly includes visiting, reading and taking walks; child care assistance; bereavement support; and administrative/clerical work. Orientation, training and support provided.

Seeds of Hope store (701-222-8370)  Greeters, price clothes, stock and straighten shelves, Diggers Delight and more. Creative people needed for designing gift baskets and store displays.

Tracys Sanctuary House (701-258-5889)  Perform daily housekeeping tasks, answer phones, stock kitchen and food pantry.

Volunteer Care Givers for the Elderly (701-223-9290)  Assist with transportation, yardwork, light housekeeping, respite care, errands and shopping and other companionship activities with the elderly.

Welcome House Inc. (701-391-5184)  Assist with food pantry, kitchen and front desk.
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A bill that originated as legislation to establish Education Savings Accounts in North Dakota, but was turned into a study of a school choice program, was turned down in the Senate Friday.

House Bill 1382 directed Legislative Management to study "the feasibility and desirability of developing a school choice program to provide parents of students with options, funding and support in selecting charter schools, magnet schools, private schools or home schooling for their children."

The legislation failed on a 14-32 vote.

Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, introduced the original legislation that would allow parents to enroll in Education Savings Accounts, or debit accounts, to use public school funding instead for private school tuition, home school expenses, virtual schools or any combination.

North Dakota's education organizations strongly opposed the legislation, stating that it would take away funding for public education.

The bill was turned into a study of a school choice program. The study included costs associated with implementing the program. It ultimately passed in the House and was forwarded to the Senate Education Committee.
A rural Minnesota native with years of background in information technology roles has been appointed by Gov. Doug Burgum to take over the North Dakota Information Technology Department.

Austin, Minn., resident Shawn Riley was named in a Friday morning release as the ITD Chief Information Officer. Hell take on the new role effective April 17.

Riley has been involved in various IT positions for 17 years. Since July 2014, hes served as chief technology officer of Austin and Albert Medical Centers in Minnesota as well as the information management officer of the Mayo Clinic Health System.

Hes previously held multiple other IT management positions dating back to the early 2000s.

His experience overseeing the IT efforts for a world-class health care organization like Mayo Clinic will prove invaluable as technology continues to transform the way government services are delivered in North Dakota, Burgum said in the Friday release.

Riley earned a bachelors degree in IT administration from American InterContinental University in Schaumburg, Ill., and his masters degree in business administration from Western Governors University in Salt Lake City.

ITD has a 2015-17 biennium budget of $178 million and has legislative authority for 350 staff positions.

Interim CIO Dan Sipes will return to his role as deputy CIO when Riley takes over the agency.
Georgia Flying HorsePatterson, 40, Wakpala, S.D., died March 5, 2017, in Louisiana. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, March 13, at the Community Center, Wakpala. Further arrangements are pending with Oster Funeral Home, Mobridge, S.D.
In 1873, Dakota Territory Treasurer Edwin Stanton McCook was shot to death during a meeting at the territorial capitol in Yankton. McCook, described as an imposing figure, likely knew how to handle a gun. He was a Union general during the Civil War before moving west where nearly everyone was armed.

But during a heated debate about corruption and politics in a packed meeting room no one could stop a banker named Peter Wintermute from firing his handgun three times and killing one of the territorys most prominent men.

Now 143 years later, a majority of South Dakota lawmakers believe they can do what McCook and others at the meeting couldnt do that day  shoot someone to save a life.

After the Senate voted 19-15 this week to approve a bill that allows lawmakers and others to bring handguns into the state Capitol, Neal Tapio, a Republican from Watertown, said the legislation is needed in this dangerous, dangerous world and that lawmakers need to have some level of protection.

House Bill 1156 now awaits Gov. Dennis Daugaards signature. It allows those with an enhanced gun permit, which can be obtained after two days of training, to bring concealed weapons to the floor of the Legislature and presumably to the gallery where spectators sit and look down on the lawmaking process.

This comes in the wake of complaints about Capitol security even though we can't think of any incidents in recent history where it was reported that a lawmaker felt his or her life was threatened. However, that could change if dozens of people are armed in a chamber where passions can run hot as they did on the day when a fight between McCook and Wintermute turned into a deadly affair.

Is a place packed with armed lawmakers and spectators any less dangerous than whatever inspires fear in Tapio? Can any of these lawmakers promise their gun won't accidentally discharge and wound or kill a student, a child, a mother, a father or another innocent bystander? Can they even promise they will hit their intended target?

Fortunately, Daugaard has already stated his intention to veto the bill and it looks like it will be difficult for lawmakers to override it, which no doubt will cause some consternation for legislators who apparently fear for their life while in Pierre.

If that is the case and lawmakers like Tapio remain sincerely concerned about their personal safety while working in the state Capitol, we suggest they follow a well-established system that works well at courthouses across the state and nation  appropriate funds to purchase metal detectors that are placed at entrances to the Capitol and are manned by law enforcement.

If they choose to not pursue a security system that history has shown works well, it will become apparent that HB1156 is about politics rather than public safety.

 Rapid City (S.D.) Journal
The exhibition booth of the Ministry of Land and Resources of China is showcased at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2017 convention in Toronto on Monday. NA LI / CHINA DAILY

Perhaps Chinese mining companies in Canada should consider taking minority stakes in Canadian companies instead of acquiring them. That was the takeaway at a mining forum on Monday in Toronto.

"Acquisition of interests in a Canadian public mining company is often a key step to acquiring mining interests throughout the world," said Fred Pletcher, chairman of National Mining Group, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.

Pletcher spoke to delegates of Chinese mining industry at the 2017 Chinese Mining Investment Forum. The forum coincided with the first day of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, the premier international event for the mineral industry in Toronto, where optimism was voiced that the industry would rebound after a couple years' slump.

The forum hosted by the Canada China Chamber of Commerce (CCCC) and the China Mining Association (CMA) focused on the Belt and Road strategy and Chinese mining investment opportunities.

Keith Spence, president of Global Mining Capital Corp and chairman of PDAC International, suggested that Chinese investors in Canada could learn from Japan's 1970s approach in which he said it was "not necessary" to take majority ownership of the Canadian companies.

The Japanese model that was developed to invest in Canadian resources companies started was involved not only in taking controlling interests, but smaller stakes, ranging from 15 percent to 30 percent.

"But still having contracted a lot of Canadian companies to sell off-take commodities to the Japanese companies, many Japanese investors have been remained 20-plus years with successful operations," Spence said.

Here is how Investopedia.com describes off-take commodities: "An off-take agreement is an agreement between a producer of a resource and a buyer of a resource to purchase or sell portions of the producer's future production."

"Canada is rich in mineral resources, has an open and transparent policy and a prosperous mining capital market," said Cao Jie, managing director of CMA.

"There are complementary advantages in mining resources and the stock market between Canada and China," said Li Aihua, president of CCCC.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem described the U.S. border with Mexico as a war zone last year when she sent dozens of state National Guard troops there. Noem said theyd be on the front lines of stopping drug smugglers and human traffickers. But newly released records from the National Guard show that in their two-month deployment, the South Dakota troops didnt seize any drugs and sometimes went days without encountering any migrants at all. Noem justified the deployment and a widely criticized private donation to fund as a state emergency because of drugs making their way across the southern border to South Dakota. But the records cast doubt on whether the deployment was effective in addressing that.


A file photo.

TEHRAN (AP): Iran's Revolutionary Guard has successfully tested a ballistic missile, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported Thursday.



The report quotes Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh, chief of the Guard's aerospace division, as saying the missile destroyed a target from a distance of 250 kilometers. It said the sea-launched ballistic missile dubbed Hormuz 2 was tested last week.



The Hormuz 2 is capable of hitting floating targets with high accuracy within a range of 300 kilometers, Fars said. It provided no additional details.



Meanwhile, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Hajizadeh as saying the Revolutionary Guard had prepared a ballistic missile for civilian purposes but plans to launch it were cancelled after a threat by the United States.



"We have prepared a ballistic missile for carrying a satellite for civilian purposes ... but some people sent it to the warehouse after a threat by the Americans. This behaviour is humiliating," he said.



Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on entities and individuals who support Iran's ballistic missile programme.



Last month, Iranian media reported the Revolutionary Guard launched several sophisticated rockets during military exercises in the country's central desert.






KOCHI (PTI): The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Sunil Lanba on Wednesday visited Kochi for the debrief of the recently concluded annual Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX).



Commanders-in-Chief of all the three naval Commands, along with a number of senior operational commanders attended and participated in the discussions held at the Naval Base, Navy said.



In addition, the naval brass discussed the future roadmap of operations for the Navy, to include refining existing concepts, catering for improved maritime capabilities of new acquisitions, it said.



The Annual Integrated Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise - in short TROPEX - the largest maritime exercise of the Indian Navy was conducted in the month of February in the Arabian Sea and North Indian Ocean.



The exercise comprised several phases, including Work up, Weapon firing and a Tactical Phase simulating a war scenario.



A large scale contingency exercise was also undertaken during the exercise in which real time mass casualty evacuation was carried out.



TROPEX 2017 included several new aspects, with the participation of potent platforms such as aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, MiG 29K, P8-I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft, nuclear submarine Chakra and various new platforms, including indigenous Kolkata class stealth destroyers and anti-submarine warfare frigate Kamorta along with 50 ships, submarines and more than 70 aircraft and assets of IAF and ICG.



All participating units conducted their operations in a networked environment, facilitated by robust and seamless communications, mainly through satellite under the Indian Navy's overall thrust on Network Centric Operations, aligned with the Prime Minister's vision of Digital India.



Overall, the exercise validated the Navy's readiness and capability to meet various mandated roles, in support of national objectives.



The Admiral, who also interacted with the officers of SNC during the visit, departing Kochi the following day.


WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., has signed onto a bill introduced by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., which promotes transparency in campaign financing.

Everybodys entitled to speak, but why if you have more money does your voice get to be louder than everybody elses? she said.

The SUN (Sunlight for Unaccountable Nonprofits) Act would allow the public to know when donors spend more than $5,000 on tax-exempt groups that engage in electioneering and would have no impact on nonprofits that dont engage in election activities.

Our campaign finance system is broken," Tester said in a release. "That's why I am pleased to partner with Senator Heitkamp to add some western common sense to our elections and shine light on the dark money interests trying to influence our democracy."

Heitkamp said that in 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the Buckley v. Valeo case that money is speech, and its protected. She said that Democrats have been trying to get the case overturned for years, and she believes Buckley v. Valeo was wrongly decided. That case led to Citizens United, she said.

The problem with where we are right now  is you dont know who gave the money, Heitkamp said. So its a way to launder political money to a (501(c)(4)) and no one can know. At a minimum the voters of our state have a right to know whos financing campaigns -- thats why we have disclosures, thats why we have campaign finance reporting.

Heitkamp added that when she was attorney general in North Dakota, she pushed for more campaign finance transparency. She said she has worked with other senators to even consider amending the Constitution in order to increase transparency.

When people ask me why Washingtons so broken, I will tell you theres too much undisclosed money, and we need to get into the sunshine here, Heitkamp said.

Heitkamp claims that when Citizens United was decided, Justice Antonin Scalia said Congress can regulate disclosure. She also claims that Scalia suggested that regulation of disclosure should happen.

I dont know why the Republicans oppose disclosure, given that their hero Justice Scalia basically recommended it in his opinion, she said.

Heitkamp said she believes The SUN Act is important to the entire electoral system.

When people in North Dakota get incredibly frustrated about the inability to get things done, I think that a lot of times the positions people take may be driven more by who funds them, then by the interest of their state, she said. I think its critically important if were going to move Congress forward and get things done, not just for North Dakota, but for the entire country, that we clean up campaign finance reform.

Heitkamp said North Dakotans have the right to know who is trying to influence peoples opinions  whether through television ads or advocacy groups. However, she added that the influence of these ads can vary -- sometimes they will receive no calls because of the ads, she said. Heitkamp said recently out-of-state groups ran ads in the state urging people to call their senators to vote for Betsy DeVos, the eventual U.S. Secretary of Education. However, instead her office received calls and responses from an online portal she had created for feedback saying they saw the ads, but wanted Heitkamp to vote against DeVos.

I think that sometimes those things are just not as well received, and I think they tend to be a waste of money, she said. I also think that its important that when people are giving you advice on how you should interact that you should know whos behind that ad.
GRAND FORKS -- In the living room of JoNell Bakkes house sits a parking meter that represents a North Dakota mans fight to get the devices off the streets.

It still has coins in it, Bakke said in her Grand Forks home as she inserted a penny into the machine, giving her 12 minutes on the meter. It still works.

The city of Minot gave the meter to her grandfather, Howard Henry, who, after being ticketed for not feeding the machine in time, successfully got the meters banned in 1948 from North Dakota, the only state in the union to prohibit them.

But time may be running out on the meter for the nearly 70-year-old ban. In a 53-38 vote on Thursday, the House approved Senate Bill 2247, which would repeal the part of the Century Code that prohibits political subdivisions from installing parking meters and charging motorists to park along streets.

The Senate and House will have to reconcile their their versions of the legislation. The House bill requires political subdivisions that want to use parking meters to put the matter to a public vote of residents in their area. The Senate's bill allows governing entities to install the meters without a vote of the people.

A legislative conference committee will reconcile the bills later this year.

Gov. Doug Burgum has backed repealing the ban, stating metered parking would help with parking turnover and, in turn, give businesses a chance at pulling in more revenue. He said cities should be able to have the ability to decide if they want them or not.

Its about giving cities the tools they need, he said. Local control is the way to go.

But Bakke said she plans to fight the legislation, as her grandfather did decades ago.

Fighting the machines

The story goes that in the 1940s Henry had driven to Minot from Westhope, about 60 miles north.

With a nickel in hand, he got out of his vehicle to put time on the meter before buying parts for machinery, but he got distracted by a friend, his youngest son, Gordon Henry, told the Herald. Before Henry could feed the meter, he was issued a ticket.

The police officer said you are supposed to put it in the moment you get out of the car, Gordon Henry said. (My dad) got upset and said, A year from now, there wont be parking meters. 

Howard Henry got it done: he collected the signatures needed to put a ban on meters to a public vote, and residents chose to get rid of the devices. The Legislature overturned the law in 1951, but Howard successfully had the ban reinstated with a second initiated measure and public vote.

As a memento, the city of Minot gave Howard Henry a meter with a plaque.

Its uncertain if the meter is the exact one that started the fight, Bakke said, but the symbolism still resonates.

He felt very strongly that he didnt need to pay to shop (in Minot), she said. He was already giving them enough money.

Changing times

The current bill drew some debate from both sides Thursday, with proponents saying the bill would give local control back to cities to decide if they want to use parking meters as a tool to raise money for street projects, such as parking ramps.

Others, like Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, said support for the bill comes from larger cities.

It seems like government is always looking for more ways to get more money, he said, adding this bill could be considered an indirect tax. I think this is a bill looking for a problem that doesnt exist and we should stay where we are at.

Rep. Lawrence Klemin, R-Bismarck, said he didnt like the idea of searching for change. Others said technology could be used to utilize credit cards.

I dont like parking meters, Klemin said. Youre always trying to find the right change to put in the damn machines.

Meters are allowed in some parking lots, a loophole campuses have utilized.

Burgum said it allows cities to be competitive with others around the country. He said he looks forward to seeing the final form of the bill.

Gordon Henry and Bakke agreed Howard Henry, who died in the 1971, would not approve of the repeal. Both would like to see the bill put to a public vote.

Its unclear if Howards way of thinking still resonates in North Dakota as strongly as it did 70 years ago, if at all, Henry said.

Times change, we are a different state, he said. If my father was alive, he would be having the petitions printed up right now. But Im not my father.

Bakke said her grandfathers descendants are behind her, and if needed, they could band together to get signatures for another public vote.

He was very proud of the fact that he was able to get rid of them, and Im going to make sure they never come back, she said.
Chernobyl Children International are preparing to celebrate the major role that Ireland plays in helping to save the lives of hundreds of children born with genetic heart defects in Eastern Ukraine.

It is 30 years since the world's worst nuclear disaster and the United Nations has declared that the actual date - April 26th - will in future be designated as Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day.
Update 2.55pm: Gardai investigating a fatal hit and run in Dublin are appealing for a couple, a taxi driver and a man - who were all in the area when the incident happened - to come forward.

28-year-old Karl Robertson was knocked down on Hazelwood Drive in Coolock on Wednesday night and died in hospital last night.

Gardai said he was struck by a white Renault Megane van, which fled the scene.

A man in his 30s presented himself at Coolock Garda station last night and assisted Gardai with their investigations.

As part of our ongoing investigations, I would like to make an appeal to witnesses to come forward to us, Supr. Gerard Donnelly said this afternoon. Anyone who was in the Hazelwood Drive area on Wednesday night between 9.45pm and 10pm and who may have witnessed a collision to contact us.

I am most anxious to contact a man described as in his 20s and possibly not from Ireland who interacted with some of the people assisting Karl at the scene.

I am also anxious to trace a taxi driver who picked up a man in his early 30s on Oscar Traynor Road shortly after 10pm.

Earlier: A man in his 20s who died after a hit and run in Dublin on Wednesday night has been named.

28-year-old Karl Roberston was knocked down while jogging along Hazelwood Drive in Artane at 9.50pm on Wednesday.

Gardai discovered a burnt-out white Renault Megane van at Beechlawn Grove a short time later.

A man in his 30s is said to be assisting Gardai with their inquiries after the fatal hit-and-run.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses who would have been in the Hazelwood and Beechlawn areas between 9pm - 10.30pm.
SIPTU members in Trinity College Dublin have voted for strike action.

The union says the dispute is over management's failure to offer permanent contracts to staff.

SIPTU's John King says they'll meet on Wednesday to discuss their next step.

"Well we would have close to 500 members right across Trinity College in the non-academic range.

"What we're seeing is that when staff are being recruited to replace staff who have left they are being recruited on precarious forms of fixed-term and non-permanent contracts of employment," he said.
Japan is ending its peacekeeping mission in troubled South Sudan after five years, prime minister Shinzo Abe has announced.

Mr Abe told reporters Japan would not renew the mission after the current rotation returns in May.

The 350-strong infrastructure team had been focused on road construction.

The team, which arrived in South Sudan in November, was the first from Japan with an expanded mandate to use force if necessary to protect civilians and UN staff. The Japanese military's use of force is limited by its post-Second World War constitution.

Mr Abe said Japan would continue to assist South Sudan in other ways such as with food assistance and humanitarian support, and will keep some personnel at the UN peacekeeping command office.

The decision to withdraw comes amid concern about the safety of Japanese troops in South Sudan.

There were hopes that South Sudan would have peace and stability after gaining its independence from neighbouring Sudan in 2011.

But the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 when forces loyal to president Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, his former vice president, who is a Nuer.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 has not stopped the fighting, and clashes last July between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar triggered further violence.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and forced 3.1 million to flee their homes. An estimated 100,000 people are experiencing famine, and another one million people are on the brink of starvation.

The Security Council decided in August to send an additional 4,000 peacekeepers after clashes the previous month killed hundreds in South Sudan's capital Juba.

South Sudan initially objected to the force and has delayed its deployment. Some progress on sending the extra troops has recently been made, however, and the deployment of an advance contingent of Rwandan forces is being finalised, according to a report by the UN secretary-general this week.

- AP
Controversial columnist Katie Hopkins faces a six-figure bill after losing a libel action brought against her over two of her tweets.

She was ordered by a High Court judge on Friday to pay 24,000 damages to writer Jack Monroe at the conclusion of a case dubbed "Twibel" by media pundits.

As well as the award to Monroe over defamatory "war memorial" tweets, former Apprentice star Hopkins will have to pay costs running into six figures.

She was ordered by Mr Justice Warby at a hearing in London to pay 107,000 on account of costs within 28 days, with the full figure yet to be assessed.

Food blogger Monroe, 28, of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, complained that the tweets posted in May 2015 accused her of "vandalising a war memorial and desecrating the memory of those who fought for her freedom, or of approving or condoning such behaviour".

Food Blogger Jack Monroe arriving at the High Court in central London where she is claiming damages from controversial newspaper columnist Katie Hopkins over tweets she said caused "serious harm" to her reputation.

The judge said "Ms Hopkins does not suggest that Ms Monroe did behave in either of these ways".

Her answer to the claim was that her tweets did not bear the meanings complained of, were not defamatory and that it had not been shown that they caused serious harm to Monroe's reputation.

After the ruling in her favour, Monroe tweeted: "It's taken 21 months but today the High Court ruled that Hopkins statements to/about me were defamatory. I sued her for libel. and I won."

The case arose after Twitter erupted following the daubing of a memorial to the women of the Second World War in Whitehall with the words "F*** Tory scum" during an anti-austerity demonstration.

During a recent hearing, Jonathan Price, for Hopkins, told the judge her case was "this relatively trivial dispute arose and was resolved on Twitter in a period of several hours".

He argued "no lasting harm, and certainly no serious harm" to Monroe's reputation resulted from it.

Hopkins had "mistakenly" used Monroe's Twitter handle instead of that of another columnist who had tweeted about the war memorial incident.

But the judge ruled that the "publications complained of" had "not only caused Ms Monroe real and substantial distress, but also harm to her reputation which was serious".

Speaking after the decision was announced, Monroe said: "It has been a very long and very arduous process. There have been many times when I have almost given up and walked away. But I started something and I had to see it through, and I have done."

Monroe's lawyer, Mark Lewis, a partner at Seddons solicitors, said she had "finally been vindicated in full from the libellous and wholly false accusation by Katie Hopkins that she had supported the vandalisation of a war memorial".

He added: "Jack Monroe never did, and coming from a proud military family, never would."

Mr Lewis said: "The price of not saying sorry has been very high. Hopkins has had to pay out of her own pocket a six-figure sum in damages and costs for a tweet that should have been deleted within minutes as soon as she was told it was wrong."

He said: "Hopkins claimed that Twitter was just the Wild West where anything goes. The judge has shown that there is no such thing as a Twitter outlaw."
Malaysian police have formally identified Kim Jong Nam as the victim of a fatal nerve agent attack at Kuala Lumpur's airport.

It is an expected but significant development in a case which has broken down the once-warm ties between North Korea and Malaysia.

Mr Kim is the estranged half-brother of North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un, and the North has refused to acknowledge he was the victim of the February 13 killing.

Instead, North Korea refers to him as Kim Chol, the name on the passport Mr Kim was carrying when he was attacked in a crowded airport terminal.

"We have established that Kim Chol is Kim Jong Nam," Malaysian national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said.

"We have fulfilled the requirements of the laws on his identification."

He refused to say how police identified Mr Kim, saying "the safety and security of the witnesses" are at stake.

Malaysian authorities have asked for Mr Kim's immediate family to provide DNA samples to identify the body, but no-one has come forward.

Malaysia's prime minister has said they may be too scared to do so.

Mr Khalid said Mr Kim's relatives have been notified, but have not claimed the body.

Malaysia's investigation into the killing has infuriated North Korea.

Although Malaysia has never directly accused North Korea of being behind the attack, many speculate that it must have orchestrated it.

Experts say the VX nerve agent used to kill Mr Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, and North Korea is widely believed to possess large quantities of chemical weapons.

Malaysian authorities said the two women who allegedly poisoned Mr Kim were recruited by a team of North Koreans. North Korea has denied any responsibility and accused Malaysia of being swayed by the North's enemies.

Relations have steadily deteriorated, with each country expelling the other's ambassador. On Tuesday, North Korea announced that it was blocking all Malaysians from leaving the country until a "fair settlement" of the case was reached. Malaysia then barred North Koreans from leaving its soil.

Four of the seven North Korean suspects being sought by Malaysia are believed to have left the country the day Mr Kim was killed. Police say the remaining three suspects, including a North Korean diplomat, are believed to be in hiding at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The attack was caught on surveillance video which shows two women approaching Kim and apparently smearing something on his face. He was dead within 20 minutes, authorities say. Two women - one Indonesian, one Vietnamese - have been charged with murder but say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank.

- AP
MINOT -- A judge has ordered the Ward County State's Attorney's Office on Wednesday to turn over victim names  but not addresses or other contact information  so public defender Raissa Carpenter can prepare a defense for accused robber and attempted murderer Javontez Barnes.

The state's attorney's office had turned over discovery documents with victim names and addresses heavily redacted. Deputy State's Attorney Kelly Dillon said she did so because the names are protected under the new Marsy's Law, which was passed by voters last November.

Marsy's Law, now part of the state constitution, prevents information from being released that might be used to locate the victim or the victim's family, or which could disclose confidential or private information about the victim. Victims have to assert their right under Marsy's Law to have the law apply.

In his decision, Judge Richard Hagar wrote that North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure, which requires that the names and addresses of witnesses be disclosed to the defense during the discovery process, is in conflict with the new constitutional right to prevent the disclosure of information or records that could be used to locate or harass the victim or victim's family.

Hagar therefore wrote that the state only has to turn over victim names but not addresses or phone numbers or other information that could be used to locate them.

Defense attorney Carpenter had argued that Barnes has a Sixth Amendment right to confront his accuser. Hagar wrote that this is a right to confront the accused at trial and to have his defense attorney cross examine witnesses.

Hagar also ordered the state's attorney's office to file with the court a list of the names of applicable victims in the case who have asserted their rights under Marsy's Law.

Other attorneys with the public defender office in Minot have taken issue with the Ward County State's Attorney's Office and its interpretation of Marsy's Law.

Homer McMillan, a defense attorney for James Blue II, has filed a motion to compel discovery in that case, which is overseen by Judge Stacy Louser. McMillan said the state's attorney's office also turned over discovery documents with the names and addresses of victims heavily redacted.

He said he needs the addresses of victims and potential witnesses to prepare a defense for Blue, who is facing multiple felonies, after a shooting incident at the Northland Trailer Park in Minot on Jan. 17.

Louser has not yet issued a decision on McMillan's motion.
A 46-year-old man who started a fire in the toilet of a plane carrying more than 200 people, sparking a mayday call, has been jailed.

The Monarch Airbus A321 was 35,000ft (10,668m) in the air and 100 miles (160km) from the Egyptian coast when the captain was told the crew were having difficulty extinguishing the blaze in a waste paper bin.

The captain issued a emergency call and declared he was looking to carry out an emergency landing on the flight from Birmingham to Sharm el-Sheikh on August 27 2015.

John Cox, from Kidderminster, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and was sentenced to four years and six months in prison at Birmingham Crown Court.

The Crown Prosecution Service said a fire alarm had already gone off in a bathroom on the plane carrying 194 passengers and seven crew an hour into the flight but this was put out by airline staff.

The second fire took place at around 5.40pm, when the captain issued the emergency call. It was only after the blaze was extinguished that he cancelled the mayday.

Paul Reid, District Crown Prosecutor for West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The motive of John Cox behind such a senseless crime is still unclear, but what is clear is that his irresponsible actions put the lives of all passengers and crew on board the aircraft in danger.

"We commend the cabin crew for their quick action in extinguishing the fires, which prevented the situation escalating."
A man has been seriously injured in an explosion at a house in Hull.

Humberside Police said three firefighters are also thought to have suffered minor injuries after they responded to the blaze and subsequent blast on Beverley Road, in the city.
Russia has denied US claims that it violated its obligations under a key nuclear arms treaty.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova urged Washington to offer proof to support its claims that Russia broke the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
Seventeen people have died from measles in Romania in an outbreak affecting thousands, the country's health minister said on Friday.

Florian Bodog said that around 3,400 people had contracted the disease since September 2016.
Charne Esterhuizen cannot count how many 3D printing seminars she attended as the only fashion designer in a room full of doctors.

Pushing the boundaries of fashion will pay off when her extraordinary dress made of 150 rubber butterflies hits the runway with the world's top emerging designers this month.

Local fashion designer Charne Exterhuizen will be the first small-time fashion designer in Australia to print an entire dress in 3D. The intricate dress is being made of more than 100 3D rubber butterfly shapes. Credit:Karleen Minney

The dress, like no other made by a small-time Australian designer, will be sure to turn heads at the 2017 Vancouver Fashion Week.

"It is the first be made to this scale nationally, because you have big brands that have done 3D printing, but this is a completely different and experimental way of printing," the 23-year-old Canberra woman said.
Police have arrested a 51-year-old Canberra man who committed an indecent act in Young.

Young detectives arrested the man last week in relation to an incident that occurred on February 20, 2017.

The man was granted conditional bail which including restrictions on entering Young.

It is alleged the man exposed himself to a teenage girl as she walked across Main Street, Young.

Cootamundra LAC Sergeant Kristin Marshall said after assistance from a number of local businesses, a man was identified through CCTV footage which led to his arrest.
One of the ACT government's most senior and powerful executives, David Dawes, announced his resignation on Friday, before he made his final appearance before a parliamentary hearing to be quizzed about the controversial deals he brokered at the head of the Land Development Agency.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr is abolishing the agency in the wake of a highly critical audit report last year, replacing it with two new agencies - one responsible for the Northbourne corridor, the city and the lake, and other other responsible for building new suburbs.

Dawes has announced his departure from the public service. Credit:Graham Tidy

Mr Dawes's wrote to staff in the government's economic development directorate on Friday, saying he would not apply for the new positions created by the carve-up. He did not give a leaving date but the new agencies come into being on July 1.

His departure leaves the government looking for chief executives for the two agencies, and an executive to head the economic development directorate. It comes as the head of environment and planning Dorte Ekelund announced she would leave in April, a deputy in Mr Dawes's department, Jeff House, resigned suddenly in February, and as the heads of almost every government department have been replaced in the past year.
FARGO  North Dakota has landed near the top of yet another national rankings list, but this time theres no cause to raise a toast.

The state ranks No. 2 among the 10 worst states for DUI problems, according to BackgroundCheck.org, an organization that describes itself as being devoted to public safety, online privacy, home security and open government.

To come up with its list, BackgroundCheck.org used data from a variety of sources, including the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Transportation, and local and state data.

The organizations list shows the top states with DUI problems are: Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, South Carolina, Mississippi, New Mexico, Kentucky and Maine.

Minnesota ranked 37th.

The fact that over 10,000 people a year die from DUI related accidents is a travesty, Trent Wilson, co-author of the research, said in a release. He said he hopes the research will open some eyes and make people think twice before drinking and driving.

North Dakota has a DUI death rate of 6.6 people per 100,000 residents, while Minnesotas DUI death rate is about 2.1 people per 100,000 residents, according to BackgroundCheck.org.

North Dakota has a DUI arrest rate of about 3 per 100,000 residents, according to the research, which found Minnesotas DUI arrest rate to be about 2 per 100,000 residents.

Captain Bryan Niewind of the North Dakota Highway Patrol said he hadnt seen the organizations statistics, so he couldnt speak to them directly.

But he said traffic fatality numbers have been falling in North Dakota for about the past five years, with some of that due to the slowdown in the energy sector and fewer vehicle miles being driven.

On the other hand, he said the percentage of fatal crashes tied to alcohol seems to remain constant at around 45 percent.

Its very consistent from year to year, Niewind said, adding the issue may be partly a social one, as alcohol is a big part of the regions cultural fabric.

Were not telling people you cant go out and drink and have a good time, he said. Its just that when you do that, you need to make the proper decisions and plan ahead of time to have a ride. Or, if youre in an area where you can stay, just stay there until you sober up so you can drive safely home.

He said while many people in North Dakota probably know someone who has died in a crash, that awareness doesnt always translate to behavioral changes.

I just dont think people think its going to happen to them, Niewind said. The one thing about driving under the influence, its a choice.
FREMANTLE

0.4.3 1.7.7 1.10.12 2.12.14 (104)

CARLTON

0.2.2 0.6.7 0.10.8 0.12.11 (83)

NINE POINTERS - Fremantle: Logue, Fyfe.

GOALS - Fremantle: McCarthy 6, Pearce, Ballantyne, Griffin, Walters, Fyfe, Kersten.

Carlton: Pickett 3, Gibbs, Thomas, Lamb, Silvagni, Weitering, Kreuzer, Wright, Palmer, Rowe.

UMPIRES Stevic, Margetts, Williamson.

CROWD 6639 at Domain Stadium.

Fremantle goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne appears set to miss the start of the AFL season after injuring his hamstring in Friday night's 21-point win over Carlton at Domain Stadium.

Ballantyne cast a despondent figure after appearing to tear his left hamstring while tumbling to the turf following a kick in the third quarter.

The 29-year-old grabbed at his left hamstring straight away, before hobbling off the field at a snail's pace to go straight into the change rooms.
It said the claims against it were weak and the allegations of sham contracting had no legal basis. It said the case didn't meet the criteria to continue as a class action "and that this should be determined before the parties incur further costs". Michael Bowker died at the age of 22 when he was struck by a train. The application will be heard on May 16, 2017. In an attempt to turn up the pressure it said it was also considering applying to have "elements" of the lead claimant, Jacob Bywater's individual case against Appco struck out. Bywater joined the Appco sales force in April 2014 and won the "top sales performer award" in 2015. Bywater alleges he worked seven days a week, putting in an average of 80 hours each week over the 22 months that he worked, until finishing in February 2016.

Bywater was one of the group's star performers, topping the monthly top leader competition. Despite this, he alleges he was short-changed more than $100,000 over the course of his employment. 'Desperate' move The explosive allegations made in the statement of claim coupled with the videos that have been released to the media suggest there is a disturbing underbelly to the business of raising money for charities. Chamberlains seems nonplussed. It describes the latest move by Appco as an act of "sheer desperation" to try and save its business model from collapse in the courts. "We are very confident in our legal position. We fully expect that Appco will go to enormous measures to delay the inevitable conclusion that a large class of Australians, especially young people, have been grossly underpaid in an act of sham contracting the likes of which we have never seen before," Chamberlains told Fairfax Media.

There is a lot at stake not just for Appco and the workers, but also the companies that have used them to raise funds or flog products. These companies aren't being tapped for compensation, but they certainly won't want their names associated with a legal action that alleges underpayment and media articles that highlight some horrifying and belittling rituals. The explosive allegations made in the statement of claim coupled with the videos that have been released to the media suggest there is a disturbing underbelly to the business of raising money for charities and other companies outsourcing the flogging of products. It no doubt explains why Appco has quietly removed the names of companies it has worked with from its website. Appco 'disturbed'

In response to a series of questions Appco said a small number of clients had asked for their names to be taken off the website. "Understandably, they were disturbed by the videos. Appco Australia decided to take all names off to treat our clients equally," the statement said. It has also lost a few clients. In the meantime, the National Union of Workers (NUW), which has been campaigning hard on the labour practices of some fundraising companies linked to charities, hoped to ramp up the pressure with a rally outside Star City. The rally was to coincide with an annual conference that was to be held by Appco to celebrate the achievements of individuals.

For some the rally will be bittersweet. Justice sought Tracey Bowker is one of those. She said it would have been the first time "I lay eyes on anyone from Appco (or Torque Global, the subsidiary Michael worked for before he died) so it is quite confronting" she said in a email. Bowker's son Michael was struck down and killed by a high-speed train after leaving a work function when working at Torque Global, one of 64 marketing agencies contracted to global fundraising giant Appco. He died in December 2015.
Don't thank Trump for the Australian stock market rally, try Pope Gregory XIII instead.

It's the 16th century pope's Gregorian calendar that's delivering for investors who bet on rising share prices in January, according to Bell Potter's Richard Coppleson.

Coppleson has been going back through the numbers for his Coppo Report to confirm that we are in the middle of the ASX's sweet spot  the three months to the end of April, before the "sell in May and go away" cliche hits.

Over the 17 years of this century, betting on a rising ASX 200 for the April quarter worked 76 per cent of the time and produced an average gain of 2.99 per cent.
The proposed 1 per cent annual tax on the value of vacant homes is another idea that sounds good. In theory it discourages investors from leaving their homes vacant and so boosts housing supply. But how much will these investors care? They are already leaving 2 per cent of the value of the property on the table each year by not renting it out. And in any case, how many of them will pay? Accountants are likely to get busy showing how vacant homes fit within the exemptions for those temporarily overseas, holiday homes and those who need a city unit for work purposes. A similar tax introduced in Vancouver this year is yet to show that it has overcome these challenges.

It's easy to understand the concern about renting in Victoria. For those who cannot afford to buy a house, renting is often a poor substitute. Renters in Australia move a lot, whereas home owners tend to stay put. Typical contracts prevent tenants from making even minor changes to their rental property, or from having pets.

The government plans to write a new optional standard lease agreement for landlords and tenants who agree to a long-term lease. It sounds good. But don't expect much take-up in real life. Few landlords want longer leases. If the government is serious, it needs wholesale reform of Victoria's progressive land tax regime, which levies a higher rate of land tax if a person owns more investment property. This discourages investors from owning more than one or two properties. Investors with only one or two properties are generally reluctant to sign long leases because this ties up too much of their assets.

The government's announcement includes lots of maps showing new supply of housing. It includes plans for 100,000 new lots on the urban fringe, and trumpets the re-development of Fisherman's Bend. And activity centres around train stations are highlighted.

But what's missing from the package is a plan for a step-change in housing supply in the inner and middle-ring suburbs of major cities where most people want to live, and which have better access to the city centres where most of the new jobs are being created.
Pauline Hanson on the Hustings in Kalgoorlie. Credit:Dean Sewell According to Perth-based election analyst William Bowe, Flatt's hometown of Collie has much in common with the rust-bucket areas in the US that turned for Trump. "If there is a One Nation boilover anywhere, I've got my eye on that seat," he said recently. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with Julie Bishop and Premier Colin Barnett. Credit:Andrew Meares Home to two mines and three power stations, Collie has been hit hard by the downturn in coal prices. Last year local mine operator Griffin Coal, which was taken over by an Indian conglomerate in 2011, handed workers a 40 per cent pay cut.

"There is a lot of anger in the town at the moment," says Darren Flatt, Gary's nephew, who joins us for a chat outside the local bakery. Colin Barnett, Brendon Grylls, Pauline Hanson and Mark McGowan. Illustration by Alan Moir. He was laid off by Griffin two years ago after 27 years service and says the mine owners are "mongrels". Both his apprentice sons would like to stay in town and work but don't think there will be jobs for them. Collie resident Darren Flat. Credit:Tony McDonough

There's clearly fertile ground for populist politicians like Hanson in towns like Collie. Many homes proudly fly the Aussie flag; on the main street one man passing by has the southern cross on his cap, another on his singlet. There's no political correctness either. It's "skimpy" night at the Victoria Hotel when Fairfax Media visits for dinner on International Women's Day. The barmaid wears a red bikini top, sequined knickers and knee high socks. But  despite all the hype  it's far from certain One Nation's seeds will bloom on election day in the west. Hanson has dominated media coverage and spent the past week travelling across the state, building up expectations of a thumping result. But, rather than the tour de force she had hoped, it's been a train wreck.

Hanson's comments on Sunday's Insiders program questioning vaccination caused an uproar, overshadowing anything she had to say about state issues. Four days later, Hanson admitted she was wrong to say parents could test their children for adverse reactions to vaccines. Since then, she's contradicted state leader Colin Ticknell on whether she supported taking GST revenue from her home state of Queensland and giving it to WA ("I think Colin Ticknell has had a senior's moment," she said.) A former state president and his wife, aged 87 and 79, announced they were suing Hanson for age discrimination, claiming she had sacked them because they were "too old". Throughout the campaign, Hanson has been dogged by questions about her preference deal with the Liberal Party. She insists the preference swap was necessary for One Nation to break into the state Parliament. But the decision infuriated candidates such as Collie-Preston contender David Miller, an electrical fitter and traditional Labor voter who spoke out against the deal.

Rather than giving the major parties the middle finger, Hanson was now cutting backroom deals with them. It made her look like something dangerous if you're fishing for votes in the anti-establishment pond: a regular politician. ---- Oppositions don't win elections; governments lose them. It's a political truism both Liberal Premier Colin Barnett and Labor leader Mark McGowan have been happy to prove accurate during the campaign. When Barnett became premier in 2008, George W Bush was US President, iPhones had just hit the market and Amy Winehouse's Rehab was cleaning up at the Grammys. During his tenure he's seen prime ministers come and go and the mining boom rise and fall. Winning a third term would be an almighty challenge for anyone  especially with unemployment at its highest levels since 2002. But the WA Liberals have all but dared voters to choose someone else.

Barnett, who looks and sounds tired after eight years in power, has announced he will not serve a full term if re-elected. Voters haven't been presented with a clear succession plan, although his deputy, Liza Harvey, would be expected to take over. The Liberals are also seeking a mandate to sell off half off Western Power, the state's electricity distributor. It's the type of unpopular move premiers usually make when they have just arrived in office and have political capital to burn. While Barnett needed a viable plan to bring down the state's debt, the sell-off has energised the union movement, which has bombarded the airwaves with anti-privatisation ads. Peter Abetz, the Liberal member for the suburban Perth seat of Southern River, says: "We haven't done a good job explaining how it works. "It was a total non-issue before, but now the union scare campaign is starting to get traction."

McGowan, by contrast, has played it safe, offering little to scare or excite voters. For Labor, its plan to sell off naming rights to Perth Arena and Perth Stadium  announced late in the campaign  looks like daring policy making. McGowan's interview with the ABC's Leigh Sales this week, in which he repeatedly refused to drop his talking points and answer the question, is already seen as a textbook example of political obfuscation. Nevertheless, Labor looks on track to win the necessary 10 seats required to win government. By Thursday night, Liberals were privately forecasting a landslide loss 13 to 17 seats and recriminations had already started flying over the One Nation preference deal. Critics argue that the dozen-odd battleground seats are in Perth  not in the regions where One Nation draws most of its support.

Between 2001 and 2011, the number of migrants living in Perth soared by 51 per cent  far higher than in Sydney or Melbourne. Over a third of the city's residents were born overseas. The city's increasingly cosmopolitan nature explains why Liberals such as Eleni Evangel, the member for the inner-city seat of Perth, have distanced themselves from the deal. Even Barnett has said he was "uncomfortable" with it, and stressed he has never met Hanson. The arrangement also incensed Brendon Grylls' National Party, turning a tense relationship into open warfare between supposed alliance partners. Liberals also point out that One Nation in WA is essentially a start-up party with no campaigning infrastructure and few volunteers. If there's no-one manning polling booths to hand out One Nation's how-to-vote cards, they ask, then what's the point of a preference deal?

"There was already a lot of ill feeling towards the government and the One Nation deal sealed that," a senior Liberal says. "There are lessons for Malcolm Turnbull from the WA experiment with Hanson." Since the July election, the federal Coalition has taken a soft approach to One Nation, with Industry Minister Arthur Sinodinos famously describing Hanson as "more sophisticated" than the past. Now there's a growing awareness that  while treating her respectfully and negotiating with her on legislation  the Liberal and National parties need to be more assertive in combating Hanson in the battle of ideas. Already this week, Turnbull has been more critical than at any time since the election, slamming Hanson's comments on vaccinations and Muslims.

WA Liberals say Turnbull and his fellow colleagues have taken the state for granted, and that a big defeat on Saturday will only add to his leadership woes. Turnbull visited WA just once in the campaign, a trip judged to be a disaster when he refused to spell out how much GST WA could expect under new arrangements. "Liberals here are not used to losing," a WA Liberal source says. "This will be a bitter pill for us to swallow." ----

Back at Collie, shire president Wayne Sanford sighs when asked about reports the place has become a "ghost town". Western Australia isn't Wisconsin, and simple narratives equating Collie to rust-belt America will lead you astray. Yes, Collie has suffered hard times but Sanford points out the new central park, new art gallery and a refurbished local pool  most funded by mining royalties. "All the parties are coming here offering bucketloads of money," he says. "Collie feels like the centre of the universe at the moment."
Burke also went over the answers Nasir had given one of hundreds of volunteer paralegals, who had helped him fill out forms requiring detailed answers to more than 100 questions, including every address he has had for the past 30 years. When Nasir left Refugee Legal, some seven hours after he arrived, he had a copy of the full set of documents that would make up his application, and the satisfaction that, finally, he had been able to present his case. Like Nasir, Burke had no illusions about the importance of this day. "You are sitting across the desk from somebody and you know that this is their one opportunity to tell their story and to get it right - and that their future hangs in the balance," he says. The same goes for other corporate lawyers from 12 firms, who leave their offices in the city each Tuesday to work pro bono at this clinic, preparing applications for a group of asylum seekers who are known as the "legacy caseload". They number 30,000 and the vast majority of them are subject to a new process the Coalition government says was designed to deal more efficiently and effectively with the mess it says Labor created.

It is called the Fast Track Assessment process but, in reality, it is anything but, with the department taking an average of 247 days to process each application (the average for those not subject to the fast track system is 308 days). Only in the past 18 months have those in the legacy caseload progressively been given ministerial permission to lodge their protection applications. The number involved and the complexity of that task has meant the non-profit agencies offering free legal assistance have had to prioritise the most urgent cases and find innovative ways to tackle the backlog. At Refugee Legal (formerly the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre), this has meant re-instituting clinics that operated in 2002 to assist those who had temporary protection visas apply for permanent residency. The difference this time is that the clinics rely much more heavily on corporate lawyers like Burke giving up a day of their billable time during the week and often volunteering on the weekend.

In recent weeks almost 900 in the legacy group, including Nasir, have received letters telling them their applications must be lodged with 60 days. "If you do not lodge an application within 60 days of the date of this letter we may not grant you another bridging visa," they have been told. "This will mean you will be an unlawful non-citizen. You will lose access to Medicare and permission to work in Australia." The letter also tells them the minister, Peter Dutton, has the power to revoke his permission for them to lodge a visa application, and that this may happen if they fail to meet the deadline. They can apply for an extension if they have a good reason, but the letter concludes with a statement that amounts to a threat: fail to apply for a temporary protection visa or safe haven enterprise visa and "you are not considered an asylum seeker and are expected to leave Australia". At a Senate committee hearing last week, department secretary Michael Pezzullo, appeared surprised the letters were causing alarm and anxiety, saying they had only been sent to those who were given the go ahead to apply for protection more than 11 months ago. He also scoffed at the idea that lawyers were needed to help asylum seekers lodge their applications.

"What we are seeking is a very plain statement," Pezzullo told Greens senator Nick McKim. "I do not think the forms are excessively legalistic or complicated. Step one of the process is, tell us who you are, and what is the basis upon which you have come to our country seeking our protection. I am not sure that you need a lot of lawyers to assist with that." To those being asked to complete their applications under the threat of sanctions, the secretary said: "We just want to know who you are, why you are in our country and what it is that you are fearful of. We need to know so that we can start to assess your protection claims." The problem with Pezzullo's assurances is they are at odds with both the requirements of the Fast Track Assessment process and the experience of many who have been subjected to it. "Under the Fast Track Assessment process, it is extremely important to give us your protection claims early and in full," the department's own fact sheet says.

The advice tells asylum seekers to include all relevant information in their application and warns there will only be a limited form of review of negative decisions, with no access to an independent tribunal and no capacity to put new information unless there are "exceptional circumstances". This has alarmed officials from the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, who argue that being able to articulate "exceptional circumstances" is beyond many asylum seekers, especially those who are illiterate, traumatised, non-English speaking and unrepresented. The agency is also concerned that many asylum seekers are not eligible to have negative decisions reviewed, including those who have had previous claims rejected or presented bogus documents when they arrived. The agency says this fails to take account of changed circumstances that may have arisen, or the varying quality of decision making in different jurisdictions. "Asylum seekers are often compelled to have recourse to false or fraudulent documentation when leaving a country, or to dispose of their identity documentation," it says. Charlie Powles says the need for asylum seekers to be given help to get their application right at the outset is one of the main reasons he returned to Refugee Legal after five-years on the Refugee Review Tribunal (now the Administrative Appeals Tribunal).

"There is no one in this building who wants anything other than a thorough and rigorous assessment process. In fact, the clients have wanted to participate in a rigorous assessment process for years," he says. Australia's border protection regime under John Howard was described as the harshest in the developed world because the detention system was mandatory, indefinite and non-reviewable, but lawyers and advocates say the current system is more punitive in several respects. Under the Pacific Solution, boat arrivals who were found to be refugees could apply for permanent protection when their temporary visas expired; they were processed more promptly; and assisted by taxpayer-funded legal services. Now, those on Nauru and Manus have been told they will never be resettled in Australia; those in the legacy caseload face huge hurdles to permanency; only those considered "exceptionally vulnerable" are afforded free legal assistance; and delays in processing claims are much, much longer. While the department asserts that asylum seekers have the chance to clarify information when they are interviewed by an immigration officer after submitting their application, lawyers say this is problematic for many asylum seekers.

"I think the department is underestimating what is being asked of these people," says lawyer Clare Brennan. "They are being asked to share their story with someone they will only see once and, if it is someone in authority and they come from countries where they have never trusted authority, that brings added pressure." Now, without warning, that pressure has increased dramatically with the department's decision to send threatening letters to those who have not submitted applications for visas. While the goal of clearing the backlog is strongly supported, Refugee Legal's executive director David Manne says he is puzzled by the department's approach. "There is a finite number of people who came to this country seeking protection, there is an application process, they want to use it and the delays have not been their fault." The solution, he says, is for the government to work with the sector to ensure that people are given the help they need to make applications so that fair decisions can be reached. "Forcing people to apply under these time frames denies them the right to get essential legal help - and the most obvious consequence of that is the real possibility of people not being able to make proper application, not getting a fair hearing and being deported to death or torture," he says. Sutha*, a single Tamil woman who fled Sri Lanka who arrived in 2012 after fleeing Sri Lanka's civil war, says she received her letter before Christmas and immediately suffered panic attacks and flashbacks of past traumas.
Perth: The Liberal Party is preparing for a landslide election loss in Western Australia on Saturday, a result set to spark calls for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to put more distance between the federal party and Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

WA Liberal sources said the latest internal polling showed Premier Colin Barnett's approval ratings had collapsed in recent days and the party was set to lose between 13 and 20 seats.



Labor, led by Mark McGowan, needs an extra 10 seats to win government.

A controversial preference swap arrangement between the WA Liberal Party and One Nation  which Mr Barnett on Friday said he was uncomfortable with  has dominated the election campaign since it was announced. The deal saw the Liberal Party preference One Nation over alliance partner the Nationals in the state's upper house.



The outcome of the deal is seen as a test case for how the Coalition should respond to the One Nation threat in other states and federally.



Federally, attention will focus on Finance Minister and WA powerbroker Mathias Cormann who was involved in negotiations and has publicly defended the deal.

"There was already a lot of ill-feeling towards the government and the One Nation deal sealed that," a senior Liberal told Fairfax Media.
An alleged serial fraudster has been formally refused bail in a Sydney court, more than 14 years after NSW Police began pursuing him over a string of charges.

Goran Markovic, from Blacktown, faced Waverley Local Court on Friday accused of a series of offences in NSW from 2002.

Alleged serial fraudster Goran Markovic arrives at Sydney Airport on Thursday. Credit:James Brickwood

He did not apply for bail, and will be remanded in custody ahead of his next appearance in court.

The 58-year-old moved from Sydney to London more than a decade ago, where he remained frustratingly out of reach for his alleged crimes.
Notorious paedophile Alexandria Brookes has been banned from virtually anywhere frequented by children including libraries, playgrounds, swimming pools, cinemas and internet cafes for a further five years.

Brookes, 52, the former male lover of one of Australia's worst child sex offenders, Dennis Ferguson, will be subjected to close supervision including electronic monitoring and a nightly curfew after authorities convinced a judge he was still a high risk to children.

Sex offender Alexandria Brookes leaves the Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday. Credit:Daniel Munoz

At a hearing in November, the Supreme Court found he had an ongoing sexual interest in children, despite anti-libidinal medication.

On Friday, Brookes was in court as Justice Natalie Adams imposed a five-year extended supervision order.
MINOT -- A 35-year-old Minot man is currently scheduled to go to trial July 18 on obscenity, child pornography and corruption of a minor charges, but the victim in the case is now his wife.

Ashley Schultek Drumgold married Thomas Hannibal Drumgold II last December after she turned 18.

To make the drama deeper, the victims mother still wants the charges to stick. And the story twists even farther as the husband faces felony drug charges, too.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the court, Drumgold was dating Ashley Schultek Drumgold last year when she was 17. Drumgold allegedly had nude photos of the girl on his phone and had sexually explicit phone conversations with her between June 21 and June 29, 2016, when he was incarcerated at the Ward County Jail. In one of the phone conversations with the girl, the two discuss what happened when they had sex.

Drumgold is facing three Class C felonies, each of which carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Both Ashley Schultek Drumgold and her mother, June Schultek, wrote letters to Judge Todd Cresap pleading their case.

June Schultek has asked the judge to give Drumgold the maximum sentence for the charges he is facing. She wrote that her daughter had been a high school honor student and began attending Minot State University after she graduated from Westhope High School at age 17.

After she began dating Drumgold, June Schultek wrote that her daughter's attitude changed, that she stopped working and ran away from home after her mother grounded her for lying and took away her phone. In her letter, June Schultek accuses Drumgold of having committed a similar crime with another underage girl.

In her letter to the court, Ashley Schultek Drumgold denies her mother's accusations and said she married Drumgold because she loves him.

"My mother has painted a picture making my husband out to be a rapist or something of the sort. She has also stated in her letter that I have become a bad person when I am not ... I love this man," wrote Ashley Schultek Drumgold. "He is my husband. She makes it out to seem like he forced me to marry him, when I was the one who was very adamant about us getting married. I came of legal age. I am the supposed victim. And I have become this man's wife for no other reason but love. I ask you to not sentence him to the fullest extent of the law. It is not necessary and also puts a financial burden on me. Going from two incomes to one is extremely difficult."

Civil court records show that a young woman with the same name as Ashley Schultek Drumgold was evicted from her apartment in February.

Thomas Drumgold II has also been charged with dealing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a daycare center in June 2016. That is a Class AA felony carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. He was charged in February following a traffic stop with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, a Class A felony, and possession of marijuana, a Class B felony. A preliminary hearing in the latest case is scheduled for Friday in district court.
Queensland could have looked at a compassionate scheme to not prosecute people using whole plant medicinal cannabis, the state's One Nation MP says.

Member for Buderim Steve Dickson said in that New South Wales police were given guidelines not to prosecute terminally ill people found with small amounts of cannabis.

A parliamentary committee is considering One Nation MP Steve Dickson's medicinal cannabis bill. Credit:Rohan Thomson

"We did not use that component in the Queensland legislation where governments will not prosecute people that are using whole plant medicinal cannabis," Mr Dickson said.

"That is the compassionate part of their legislation in New South Wales  that is my understanding  and maybe it is something in hindsight that we could have taken up here which probably would have filled that gap in the middle. We have not."
A 38-year-old Browns Plains man has handed himself into police following a fatal two-car crash early on Saturday morning.

Police said earlier they believed a Holden Commodore had run a red light at speed just before 1am on Browns Plains Road at Browns Plains and hit a Mitsubishi Lancer, which was crossing the intersection with Parkland Avenue.

A woman has died and a driver on-the-run, after a two-car crash in Browns Plains. Credit:Nine News Brisbane - Twitter

One of the passengers in the Lancer, a 28-year-old local woman, died at the scene. The driver of the Lancer and two passengers from the Commodore were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police were urging the Commodore driver, who allegedly fled the scene on foot, to contact them and he is believed to have presented himself before noon on Saturday.
Discounted tolls for using tollways at different times of the day are closer, with transport monopoly Transurban considering "bundled" fares that have been likened to mobile phone plan incentives.

Transurban, which now operates all south-east Queensland tollways, was now trialling "bundled" toll fares for the first time, deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said on Friday morning.

That could include discounts for using tollways outside peak hours, or offering reduced fares for regular toll road users.

This followed a report on Fairfax Media in which traffic experts suggested tolls should be discounted after the widening gap between the number of vehicles on Brisbane's toll tunnels and bridges and each individual project's projections was revealed.
Kaylee Stoffels believes that she and her VCAL classmates were viewed as the "dumb ones" at her old school.

"I would say the school didn't value VCAL like it did the VCE," she says. "They see us as people taking the easier road."

The 17-year-old says she loved studying the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning - the vocational alternative to the VCE - last year, and praises her "passionate" teachers.

But Kaylee says the culture around VCAL stinks. She felt that her class at Mildura Senior College was looked down upon by other VCE students.
Kabul: Afghans who worked for the US military and government are being told that they cannot apply for special visas to the United States, even though Afghanistan is not among the countries listed in President Donald Trump's new travel ban, according to advocates for Afghan refugees.

As of Thursday, Afghans seeking to apply for what are known as Special Immigrant Visas were being told by the US Embassy in Kabul, the capital, that applications would no longer be accepted, according to Senator Jeanne Shaheen.

Officials at the embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was unclear if the visa suspension was related to the president's new ban, which, in addition to denying visas to citizens of six predominantly Muslim countries, also orders that the number of refugees allowed into the US be cut by more than half, to 50,000 this year, from 110,000 in 2016.

Shaheen, along with Senator John McCain, has been a strong advocate of the Special Immigrant Visa program, meant for Afghans who face the threat of reprisal for their work with Americans. Its apparent suspension could affect as many as 10,000 applicants.
Republican senator Rand Paul said the plan was "bad law". Credit:AP The more he spoke, the more it seemed that Ryan's plan, formally titled the American Health Care Act, might soon be known as Trumpcare  "It follows the guidelines I laid out in my congressional address  a plan that will lower costs, expand choices, increase competition, and ensure healthcare access for all Americans," Trump said. Ultimately, voters will judge the plan on its hip-pocket effect and the quality of healthcare. House energy and commerce Committee members argue the details of the Obamacare replacement bill after working through the night. Credit:AP But it faces a wall of opposition from major doctor and hospital organisations and from one of the country's most powerful lobby groups, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP); and despite Trump's assurances actuarial predictions are alarming.

The rich will do nicely, thank you very much. Those earning in excess of $US200,000 ($266,000) will benefit most from the elimination of Obamacare taxes. The top 1 per cent of income earners would save up to $US33,000 a year, according to the Tax Policy Centre. House Speaker Paul Ryan, left. Ryan's new bill to replace Obamacare is being savaged by early bad reviews from a wide range of conservatives. Credit:Bloomberg But 90 per cent of Trump voters earn less than $US200,000 a year and half of them are whites who did not go to college. They were key beneficiaries of Obamacare. The Urban Institute calculates that, between 2010 and 2015, the number of non-college educated whites without health insurance fell by 6.2 million, or 39 per cent; and they were the single biggest demographic to get cover under Obamacare in 20 of the 30 states won by Trump. Under a complex mix of tax credits and shifting premiums as patients grow older, they'll have to pay more to keep their cover under the new deal  by an average of almost $US2500 a year by the time it is fully implemented in 2020. Vicki Tosher, a breast cancer patient, at home in the south Denver suburb of Englewood, Colorado. She likes her subsidised Obamacare health plan and is concerned by Republican efforts to scuttle the coverage. Credit:AP

Whites older than 45, who constituted 56 per cent of Trump's vote, would be hit for almost $US7000 more. And of the estimated 16 million Americans who gained coverage under Obamacare, financial analysts S&P Global estimate that up to a quarter will end up without cover. Tyler Witten, John Holbrook and Jason Stone received a residential treatment by Addiction Recovery Care, under a Medicaid provision in Obamacare, at Sanibel House in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. Such programs could be axed under the new plan. Credit:AP In the guise of a debate on health, a significant redistribution of wealth is being engineered  from the less affluent, including the older, blue-collar whites who steered Trump into the White House, to the well-off. And so far, there has been little airplay for lofty debate on the notion that the rich might look after the poorest in society. "Even though it is a technical discussion, it's a really big value discussion," Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard University, told The Washington Post.

Former president Barack Obama spoke in a positive tone about the state of the world. Credit:AP Remarkably, the Trump bill has already cleared two House of Representatives committees, which debated through Wednesday night and into the dawn hours of Thursday, without any sense of how much it will cost the government or how many Americans might end up uninsured. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office is crunching the numbers  and its findings are vital. If the bill does not save at least $US1billion over 10 years it will cease to qualify as a budget bill, for which the GOP would be able to muster the necessary 51 votes in the Senate; and instead its passage would require 60 votes  which would allow the Democrats to block it. Despite the early victories in the house committees, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell insisted his chamber needed the costs analysis. "I think we need to know that," he said on Thursday. Four Republican senators have declared themselves as rebels, opposing the package on the grounds that it offers insufficient protection for those who have cover under Obamacare.

Dead on arrival And on Thursday, there was an intake of breath in Washington when Trump loyalist Arkansas senator Tom Cotton tweeted that the House needed to "start over" on crafting a replacement for Obamacare. Senator Rand Paul said the bill would be "dead on arrival" in the Senate. But in the House, Republican opposition to the package is driven by complaints that it was hatched in secret and that it allows too much of Obamacare to survive; they object to taxpayer-funded subsidies to buy insurance, that it allows insurers to charge a penalty for those who allow their insurance to lapse but pick it up later, and that undocumented immigrants could benefit. A clear picture is yet to emerge on support for the new deal among Republican house members  dozens of whom are aligned with the uber-conservative Tea Party and Freedom caucuses, in a chamber in which 21 Republican defections would block the legislation. Former house speaker and Trump champion Newt Gingrich seems to doubt its chances, telling a Wednesday lunch: "They're discovering that there are slightly more 'absolutely no [votes]' than you can afford to have. [But] something will get signed into law. I don't have a clue what it will look like. I don't think they do either."

Trump, meanwhile, is proceeding with uncharacteristic caution. In private meetings the President reportedly has warned members of Congress of a "bloodbath" in the 2018 midterm elections and in 2020 if the bill fails, and he is threatening to hold rallies in the districts of GOP members who refuse to sign on. But he has stopped short of tweeting nastygrams at Republicans who oppose the bill. He and his staff push back when anyone dares to refer to the bill as "Trumpcare". There is support for the plan, from its likely beneficiaries  lobbies for those whose corporate and personal income taxes would be reduced, including the US Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Tax Reform. But on Wednesday, all the big hospital representative groups condemned the bill.

"As organisations that take care of every individual who walks through our doors, both due to our mission and our obligations under federal law, we are committed to ensuring health care coverage is available and affordable for all," they said in a combined statement. "As a result, we cannot support the American Health Care Act as currently written." The American Medical Association, with about 235,000 members, said it was opposed "because of the expected decline in health insurance coverage and the potential harm it would cause to vulnerable patient populations". By contrast, it said that Obamacare "provides the greatest chance that those of the least means are able to purchase coverage". Voter backlash Republicans who support the bill are targeted as traitors  by their own party colleagues. Idaho congressman and influential Freedom Caucus member Raul Labrador warned: "They can go back to their districts and explain to the American people why they lied." Anna Beavon Gravely, a North Carolina activist demanding the full repeal of Obamacare, told reporters: "I feel lied to."

Giving Trump a dose of his own medicine, she hectored the President: "We trusted you because you said you were going to do something about this. And this is not it. Not even close ... " Even with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress the Republicans have yet to overcome a failure that has dogged them through the near decade in which Obamacare was on the drawing boards and in service  they've never been able to come up with an alternative on which they can agree as a party. "They still haven't come up with a workable replacement," The New York Times said in an editorial. "Instead, the GOP's various factions are now haggling over just how many millions of Americans they are willing to harm." One American getting a lot of air time is Martha Brawley of Monroe, North Carolina, who told reporters she had voted for Trump in the belief he would make health insurance cheaper. Loading
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Bridges in Bristol are contributing to traffic chaos because more than a third cannot handle heavy trucks which need to travel around the city.

Haulage experts say motorists are left queuing behind big trucks that have been forced to find alternate routes because of substandard bridges.

The proportion of bridges in Bristol which are unfit for big loads of 44-tonnes  about the same weight as lorries used to restock supermarkets  is among the highest in the country, a report reveals today.

Of 140 bridges managed by Bristol City Council, 37 per cent are unfit for the big loads, the RAC Foundation found.

Only Slough has a higher percentage of substandard bridges, with 47 per cent unable to carry big loads.

Sarah King, co-owner of Bristol-based company Kings Heavy Haulage, which deals with loads up to 145 tonnes, said traffic chaos arises when big trucks are forced to take alternate routes because bridges havent been brought up to standard.

Your normal lorry, like when you see an Eddy Stobart or Tesco truck, those are 44 tonnes, so if bridges arent taking 44 tonnes they are excluding the majority of trucks, she said.

Where bridges are on main routes in and out of town they should be able to carry a minimum of 44 tonnes.

Some councils in Bristol face backlog bills upwards of 250million to fix the problem, with the cost of work nationally estimated at 3.9billion.

Bristol City Councils backlog bill, which is the amount of money needed to bring bridges to a good condition, was listed as unavailable in the RACs report.

The Bristol Post has contacted the council for a list of the substandard bridges.

Ms King said the workload for hauliers is increased when the optimum route is ruled out by a bridge which cant handle the load.

Steve Gooding, the director of the RAC Foundation, said more bridges in cities like Bristol will be hit with weight restrictions if improvements are not made.

Liz Kirkham, chairman of the ADEPT Bridges Group, added: A growing number of substandard and restricted bridges that are not adequately maintained affect journey times and for rural communities in particular have an economic impact, creating barriers to growth.

Most substandard bridges have weight restrictions, while others are put under monitoring programmes or into managed decline.

Of 72,000 bridges in the United Kingdom, about 4.4 per cent are unfit, compared with Bristols proportion of one third.
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Bristol MP Jack Lopresti has come out against his Governments Budget, declaring he cannot support the punitive tax hike on self-employed workers.

The former Bristol City councillor has called on Chancellor Philip Hammond to think again about the measures announced in the Budget.

The Chancellor proposed increasing national insurance contributions on self-employed people by 2 per cent by 2019, in a move that will cost 2.4 million people 250 extra a year.

The Treasury says, along with other tax reforms, no-one earning below 16,250-a-year will pay more as a result of the change.

But Mr Lopresti, who has 3,400 self-employed people in his Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency, said the additional money entrepreneurs currently take home helped incentivise the wealth creators of tomorrow.

The Chancellor of Exchequer must think again about his punitive measures that will hit the self-employed, said the Tory backbencher.

The self-employed make great sacrifices to set-up businesses, often taking huge risks including raising the finance and, in many cases, leaving a salaried job.

The self-employed dont get the same benefits and protections as employed people  for example, sick pay and holiday pay.

Actually, we need to encourage entrepreneurs, risk takers and people who are going to be the employers and wealth creators of tomorrow.

Critics pointed out the Conservatives had promised in their 2015 manifesto not to increase national insurance contributions, along with income tax or VAT.

Labour MP for Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy - daughter of a self-employed demolition contractor - said: [The Chancellor] seems to be blaming the self-employed for not reading the non-existent small print in the Tory manifesto.

I dont see how he can get away at all with saying this isnt a broken promise on what they said in 2015.

She called the change a short-sighted tax grab which would deter many from striking out on their own and becoming the entrepreneurs of the future.

Fellow city Labour MPs Karin Smyth and Thangam Debbonaire have also attacked the Government over the move, which could affect the 34,700 self-employed workers in Bristol.

Mr Lopresti said the public had a reasonable expectation that political parties stick to their election promises.

The Tory MP said: In a world where people are becoming more cynical about politicians, I think that people should have a reasonable expectation that when politicians make promises during election campaigns, the politicians will keep them.

The Liberal Democrats have called on Tory Bristol MP Charlotte Leslie to declare where she stands on the self-employed shake-up.

Ms Leslies Bristol North West constituency has the highest percentage of self-employed people in the city, with 8,900 out of 67,100 voters  13.3 per cent  working for themselves.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: These changes will come as a shock to the thousands of self-employed people in Bristol.

People are already facing a Brexit squeeze as prices go up, now their pay packets are set take a hit as well.

Conservative MPs like Charlotte Leslie must make clear whether they knew this change was coming and whether they will now vote against it.

Ms Leslie told the Bristol Post she would be feeding back to Government the views of city businesses and self-employed people.

Jacob Rees Mogg, Tory MP for North East Somerset, joined the dissenting voices over the national insurance issue and called on the Treasury to reconsider.

He said: I would be cautious about this change, and I urge the Government to look at the whole question of the relationship between national insurance and income tax in the round.
GRAND FORKS -- Odd Einar Dorum, a Norwegian politician with a resume stretching to the late 1970s, spoke at the University of North Dakotas Center for Innovation for the better part of an hour Thursday, remarking on Norwegian defense, NATO and President Donald Trump.

He even cracked wise for a short moment, joking about the bond between the U.S. and Norway. Part of the Norwegian-American experience is to think about the past, and hes got nothing against going to Minot and eating lutefisk, he said, drawing laughs from a group of several dozen attendees.

But I would also like people to know contemporary Norway, he said.

Dorum is a former member of Norways Parliament, as well as a former justice minister and transportation and communications minister. The lions share of his remarks Thursday were about Norways relationship with NATO and Russia. He characterized Russia as a quiet, consistent threat with a military thats been revitalized by President Vladimir Putin. He traced Norways relationship with Russia back through the Cold War and all the way to Norways membership in NATO in the late 1940s -- an alliance he described as critical and deeply dependent on the U.S. for credibility.

During the Cold War, (Norway) was a peaceful place, he said. But if there had not been peace, it would have been close to destruction.

NATO has been in the spotlight since Trumps election to the White House. The president previously called NATO obsolete, though he since declared his support for the alliance. The president has continued to demand that member nations contribute more to the organization.

We strongly support NATO, Trump said last month. We only ask that all of the NATO members make their full and proper financial contributions to the NATO alliance, which many of them have not been doing. Many of them have not been even close. And they have to do that."

Concerns about Trumps attitude toward NATO have been amplified by recent unsubstantiated reports of connections between his campaign and Russia and suggestions that Russia interfered in the presidential election.

Dorum offered a range of comments on the Trump administration on Thursday, both during his remarks and to the Herald in an interview after his presentation. He praised the credibility of key Trump appointments such as Secretary of Defense James Mattis and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.

He also said he thinks its reasonable that NATO countries pay their fair share, and he made apparent reference to Trumps suggestion the U.S. get along with Russia.

If it is possible, by some means, to lessen some tensions, that is good, Dorum said.

He said hes standing firm though that the NATO treaty agreement -- that nations stand ready to support and defend one another -- is binding. Norway has to be able to count on the U.S. for support, he said.

If you want some dialogue in addition to deterrence, thats fine with me, Dorum said. But if you want to put dialogue instead of deterrence, thats dangerous. Im a strong supporter of D and D -- deterrence and dialogue.
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A mum, who has been slammed after launching a Crowdfunding campaign for a family holiday to Walt Disney World, has denied being a scrounger - and says she's suffered horrific abuse by trolls.

Healthcare assistant Nikki Smith set up a page on GoFundMe asking for 5,000 to take her two daughters to Florida.

The 33-year-old said she couldn't afford to do more shifts "because of childcare" and wanted to show them how much she "appreciate and loves them".

But the appeal only raised a tenner before Nikki, who works two nights a week at a local hospital, was branded a "scrounger" and a "beggar" and took it down.

Now she is too scared to go on Facebook and worries for her children following a huge public outcry to the campaign.

One man wrote: "PAY FOR YOUR OWN HOLIDAYS!!!!" while a woman added: "Why should the rest of us scrimp and save!!! For her to scrounge!!!!!"

Nikki spoke out to defend her fundraising bid - which was mockingly shared more than 19k times - and says she's a hard-working mum.

The mum-of-two, of Coalpit Heath, Bristol, said: "People have been comparing me to a homeless beggar and things like that. I'm absolutely traumatised by it all.

"I don't go on my Facebook anymore because all my friends have been sharing it and I'm quite scared about my children going to school and being picked on.

"Some of the comments were disgusting. They were picking on my children and one man said, 'If I give you 5,000 would I be able to keep your children?'

'They're still so innocent and they believe in magic'

"There were people calling me a beggar and a scrounger, but I didn't put it on there for that reason. I work at a hospital on a zero hours contract and I'm struggling to get two nights a week. I have been trying to get more but it is so hard.

"My parents both work - my mum works in care and my dad works nights - and the children are too young to be left alone.

"I have got bills and shopping and everything, and children. I have got a little bit of money but not enough to be able to save up to take them away.

"At the moment they're still so innocent and they believe in magic. They have been looking on YouTube and seeing parents surprising their children with Disneyworld.

"They love everything Disney and have got all the DVDs and clothes. They watch it all the time.

"They said to me, 'Mum, I really want to go to Disneyworld,' but I thought, 'There's no way I'll be able to save up. They will be 20 before I can afford to go over there.'"

Desperate to treat her girls, Nikki set up the page last Monday and it had gone viral by Friday, with thousands of comments flooding in over the weekend.

It was shut down after she was shocked by the comments over her petition to take her children, aged 10 and 12, on holiday. She's since put the appeal back up online with a new post explaining herself - and has even been donated 90 by six donors.

But though colleagues, friends and neighbours have been supportive, even her dad thought it was a silly move.

Nikki said: "My dad said, 'What have you done now?' But all my other family have been very supportive - it's just strangers who have been mean."

"I hadn't used GoFundMe before and I heard about it from a friend who had set up a page that helped go towards their travelling around Asia," she added.

"I went on there and looked through and saw there is a travel section and hopes, dreams and wishes, so I looked on a few.

'I'm not a bad person'

"I saw a few for 'Disneyland' and there were people asking for new cars and things like that so I set a page up and thought, 'If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.'

"I regret putting it up now - I wish I had never thought about it. I just can't understand why we have been picked out - there are a lot of other ones on there.

"Everyone is saying, 'You can't expect me to put my hard-earned savings into your holiday when I can't even take my children away,' but I wasn't asking them to do that.

"If people want to they can, or they can just scroll past. You don't need to leave horrible comments. It's horrible and it makes me feel like crap.

"I'm not a bad person. I'm a good mum. The main thing on my mind was to just make my children happy and give them a treat.

"They have been away when they were little - we went to Egypt a few years ago and they go on caravan holidays - but this was just a big dream.

"I wasn't expecting people who don't know me to donate. Even if it took two years I would have still kept putting it in.

"The way it's come out that I'm begging - I didn't want that at all."
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Police are no longer 'actively searching' for a junior doctor who went missing a fortnight ago.

A colleague says Dr Lauren Phillips had become increasingly depressed with the state of the NHS.

She was last seen two weeks ago, on February 23.

She failed to turn up to work at Southmead Hospital on the following Sunday and two days later, on Tuesday of last week, the 26-year-old's car was found abandoned in the seaside village of Woolacombe, North Devon - more than 100 miles from her Bristol home.

Confirming that the search in Devon had been called off, an Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said: We are not actively searching but we will respond if anyone comes forward with any new information.

Speaking to BBC Devon today, a colleague of Dr Phillips  who asked to remain anonymous - described her as a diligent worker who was becoming disheartened with the NHS.

They said: She makes sure everything is okay and stays three hours late to get everything done.

She works crazily hard. On Facebook she was getting increasingly depressed with the state of the NHS.

The Daily Mail is reporting that Dr Phillips posted a critical statement about the new junior doctors contract on her Facebook page early last year.

She is reported to have said: I don't mean to sound ungrateful about my wages, or about the massively privileged job that I'm lucky enough to have, but to imply that I'm a bad/greedy person for wanting to protect the future of the NHS is insulting.

F*** you, Jeremy Hunt and Dave Cameron. I don't see you actively trying to save lives to the detriment of your own health every day.

Dr Phillips is a violinist and has performed with a number of UK ensembles including the Haffner Orchestra, based in Lancaster.

It is possible that the 26-year-old also played for Bristol Symphony Orchestra last year, although the ensemble cannot be certain.

Principal leader at Bristol Symphony Orchestra, Pamela Bell, said: "We are aware of the press articles regarding the missing woman, Lauren Phillips, from Bristol. We offer our deepest sympathies to the family of the missing woman, and hope for her safe return home.

However, we cannot confirm whether she is the same Ms Phillips who played briefly for the Bristol Symphony Orchestra last year nor can we offer any further comment on the ongoing police investigation."

Her disappearance has sparked widespread concern for her safety among colleagues in Bristol.

Deputy medical director of North Bristol NHS Trust, Monica Baird said: "We can confirm Lauren Phillips is a valued member of our medical staff and we are supporting the police in their efforts to locate her.

"We urge anyone who has any information about Lauren to contact the police."

Officers have been combing the beach in North Devon in the search for Dr Phillips, but no clues have yet been found.

Police are now urging surfers, ramblers and anyone else who may have spotted her to come forward with any information or sightings.

Speaking on Tuesday, Detective Inspector Mark Langdon said: "We continue to do everything we can to find Lauren and we're making sure her family are regularly updated about our investigation.

"As Lauren's car was found in Woolacombe our focus has been on the North Devon area and so we're directing our appeal at any surfers or ramblers who may have passed through the area in the past fortnight.

"Have you seen a woman matching Lauren's description? Have you seen any of the items of clothing she is thought to have been wearing when she went missing?

"Any information, no matter how insignificant you might think it is, could prove to be vital so please don't hesitate to get in touch."

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.

It is thought she may be wearing a dark brown waxed cotton mid-length coat with cream wool-lined hood and a long cream woollen cardigan which has orange and blue detail.

She could also be wearing Converse trainers along with cream gloves with pink hearts on and a beige woollen hat which has a purple flower on the side.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Avon and Somerset Police via 101 providing the call handler with the reference 5217045398.

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Two friends have been told they could be sent to prison after being convicted of carrying out an "ugly attack" on another woman at a Bristol kebab shop.

Janet Crees told a jury a group of women attacked her like savages when she told one to pick up dropped food in the takeaway.

Miss Crees told Bristol Crown Court she was at the Fishponds Pizza and Grill on Fishponds Road when at least two females pounded her  pulling out her hair and leaving her covered in bruises.

Three women denied a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in October 2015.

They were Christine Hewer, 25, of Coombe Close, Kingswood; Tammy Connors, 21, of Joyce Close, Horfield and Jessica Fisk, 20, of Abingdon Road, Fishponds.

The jury today convicted Hewer and Connors but found Fisk not guilty.

Judge James Patrick adjourned sentencing until next month, allowing Hewer and Connors bail on condition that they cooperate with the probation service.

He told them: This was an ugly attack on a mature woman, when you were both drunk.

There will be all options including custody.

Miss Crees said she had been out with her friend and lodger Diane Rowley when they went to the shop for food.

She described how one woman customer was shouting and swearing on her phone, while another barefoot woman was sprawled over the counter counting change.

Miss Crees said when the girl on the phone lost her balance and dropped food, she told the girl she should pick it up.

Miss Crees told the jury: The girl with no shoes on shouted What the F***s it got to do with you!

She was F-ing and blinding, saying You F-ing ugly old woman, youre past your sell-by date.

Miss Crees said the woman continued hurling vile abuse at her before she was pushed and shoved.

She said: I ended up on the floor.

I was being pounded by them, just all over my head and body.

It felt like they were using hands and feet, like savages.

Miss Crees said at least two women reigned down blows on her and she also had drink poured over her.

She said: There wasnt a lot I could do. They all seemed to have long hair. I remember trying to get up and tugging on the hair. I was trying to get up but I couldnt.

The jury was told Miss Crees and her friend eventually went outside the shop and they called police as her attackers were locked inside.

She said: There was one girl spitting food at the inside of the window, shouting abuse.

Later three women left the shop and were driven off in a Peugeot car, she said.

She told the jury though she thought she had suffered a broken nose and jaw she just sustained multiple bruising to her head, groin area, under her armpits, chest ribs and back.

She also had clumps of hair pulled out.

Miss Rowley said two women attacked her friend before a third woman joined in.

She said they called emergency services but only an ambulance attended.

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Cops are searching for the sacrilegious sneak who stole phones and religious items from an Avenue L shul on March 3.

The punk rode up to Congregation Veretzky, between E. Eighth and E. Ninth streets, on a mountain bike between 11:15 am and 12:30 pm, and started rummaging through coats hanging on the racks inside the place of worship, police said. The Avenue L synagogue is commonly known as Landaus, according to the Jewish website Hamodia.

The thief, wearing a red hat and sunglasses, swiped three cell phones, an iPod, and five religious items from the coat pockets  police couldnt elaborate on what types of religious articles the crook stole.

The suspect, who is about 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8, fled on his bike, according to authorities.

Another guy stole four hand-written Torah scrolls worth a quarter-million dollars from Avenue O Synagogue, just about a 10-minute walk from Congregation Veretzky, on Oct. 25, 2016. The scrolls were later mysteriously returned a week later in the middle of the night.
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Someone sent a bomb threat to the Jewish Childrens Museum in Crown Heights on Thursday, prompting police to evacuate the building while they hunted for explosives that, fortunately, never materialized.

Staff received an alarming e-mail threatening a coordinated pipe-bomb attack at 8:45 am, and moved quickly to clear out the Eastern Parkway museum, according to police.

The letter-writer claimed he had previously worked with a crew that planted the explosives, but had since had a crisis of conscience.

I recently cleared my mind and I want to prevent the bombing attack this bombing attack for [sic] taking place by notifying you, he wrote. I do not want to see innocent children die from this attack.

Investigators scoured the building and surrounding area for more than four hours, but turned up empty handed and gave the all-clear just after 1 pm, cops said.

The museum was built as a memorial to Ari Halberstam, the 16-year-old who was shot and killed when a gunman opened fire on a van of Hasidic students the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994, and Gov. Cuomo noted that the threat flew in the face of everything the institution stands for.

This is one of the cruelest ironies yet in this rash of anti-Semitism that weve been experiencing, said the governor, who visited following a press conference hed been holding at nearby Medgar Evers College. This is a museum that is a monument to tolerance.

The threat comes of the heels of several others against Jewish gathering places and institutions around the city over the past few weeks.

Cops arrested a St. Louis man on March 3 for allegedly threatening numerous Jewish centers, including several in New York City, as part of a weeks-long smear campaign against a former lover, but police believe most of the threats around the country have been made by one person using sophisticated technology to disguise his voice and location.

A rash of bomb threats also rocked Brooklyn schools last week, with calls made to Midwood High School, the John Jay Educational Campus in Park Slope, and Crown Heights Clara Barton High School.

In each case, the schools were evacuated and subsequently cleared after investigators found no evidence of explosives.

Cops are investigating any possible connections between the bomb threats targeting Jews, according to a police spokesman.
Charges have been filed in connection with two deer poaching incidents that occurred in November and December in or near the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp in Morton County, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department said.

According to Bob Timian, enforcement chief for Game and Fish in Bismarck, the Morton County state's attorney's office has filed criminal complaints against four men identified in two separate incidents of illegally possessing deer in North Dakota.

The incidents occurred in November and December, either in or near the protest camp near the mouth of the Cannonball River, Timian said.

Timian said he believes both incidents occurred on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land.

Charged with unlawful possession of big game in the December incident were Sean Carney of Center Conway, N.H., and Danny LeClaire of Pocatello, Idaho. North Dakota authorities have issued warrants for their arrest, but the men are believed to have left the state.

The two were identified in a photo skinning a deer they likely weren't licensed to possess.

Charged with unlawful possession of big game in connection with the second incident, which occurred in November, were William Larkin of Olean, N.Y., and William Bighorse of Freeville, N.Y. The two were charged based on a video showing a whitetail buck being dragged from the Cannonball River in November. The video then shows the men killing the buck by stabbing it with a knife and then suffocating it in the mud.

Authorities still are trying to identify other suspects in the video, which was released to the public Jan. 5.

Arrest warrants for Larkin and Bighorse were issued, but they also are believed to be out of state.

Public's help

According to Timian, the charges resulted from an investigation that began in December, when Game and Fish received a photograph of deer that may have been taken illegally. The department then issued a news release seeking the public's help in identifying the people in the photo.

That's how they found out about the November incident.

"Based on that, we got sent an anonymous video of the second one where the deer was being dragged out of the water and stabbed," Timian said. "We had no idea the second incident with the video even existed until after we sent out that news release."

Game and Fish then released the video asking for additional information. Through all of that, authorities were able to identify Larkin and Bighorse, Timian said.

"We still don't know everybody in the video, but we were able to identify two actively involved in the killing of that deer," he said. "This is all based on concerned citizens in the public sending us information."

In both cases, Timian said, the department was able to collect enough information to convince the Morton County state's attorney to pursue charges.

Unlawful possession of big game in North Dakota is a Class A misdemeanor and is punishable by a maximum penalty of one year's imprisonment, a fine of $3,000, or both.

"Obviously, these people are innocent until proven guilty, but we had enough evidence" to file charges, Timian said.

Because the men likely have left the state, they potentially could lose their hunting and fishing privileges nationwide because of a multi-state agreement called the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, in which violations that occur in one member state are recognized as violations in all member states.

North Dakota, New York, New Hampshire and Idaho all are members of the compact.

Anyone witnessing a potential hunting or fishing violation in North Dakota should call the state's Report All Poachers hotline at (800) 472-2121.
Yardley Friends Meeting at 65 N. Main Street in Yardley will host the documentary Organic Roots on Friday, November 18 at 7 p.m. Join director Al Johnson for a showing of this film followed by a discussion of the last 50 years of this movement. Organic foods are part of our life today and a tool in our concern for...
Let me start by saying that I completely agree with Dr. Ben Warren. The architectural boat tour in Chicago sounds boring but is actually fascinating. Why is Ben even talking about this Windy City treasure in the first place? Because he has the misfortune to get caught in the crossfire. In this weeks episode of Greys Anatomy, Civil War, April is fighting with Jackson who is fighting with Catherine who is fighting with Richard. Meredith and Andrew both get stuck in the middle of Alex and Nathans differences of opinion. Arizona and Eliza plan a first date and Owen and Amelia finally come face to face.

Everybody Loves Minnick

Merediths back at work and Jacksons not happy about it. Actually Jacksons pretty put out about a lot of things. Though Mer insists shes back to work because its what Richard wants, Jackson argues that Dr. Greys presence lends support to Minnicks approach at the hospital. Im put out because this story line continues to go around in circles, but enough about me. Lets talk about how absurd it is that everyone is so annoyed at April.

I mean, really. Im all for loyalty, but Im also for opportunity. Move on, people! April isnt even the Interim Chief of Surgery anymore, now that Merediths back. Yet, she seems to really like the administrative tasks required in that type of position (Exhibit A: She got Meredith all caught up on paperwork and staffing, with nary a word of thanks, I might add. Only snark.) Catherine Avery, however, has taken notice. The Avery Foundation runs 77 hospitals, 43 Full Service Clinics and a World Health Initiative. Catherine wants April to visit their Trauma Center in Chicago. Not so Kepner can learn from them. So they can learn from her! This is leading somewhere.

Meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, Jackson is mad, mad, mad about everyone and everything. Hes mad that April stole the interim chief job. Hes mad that Aprils interested in the Avery Foundation and how it runs  something he never cared about in any way. Hes mad that Richard seems to be caving and giving in re: the resident training. And hes mad that his conflict with his mother seems to be coming to a very nasty head. This also is leading somewhere as Jackson will be heading to one of those 77 Avery Foundation hospitals (in Montana) to treat a patient in next weeks episode. Rumor has it that April will tag along. Thats going to go well.

Oscar Nominees on Greys Anatomy and More>>>

A Laundry List of Conflicts

Catherine/Richard: Richards ticked that Catherine is the reason for Eliza Minnick being at the hospital. Catherine thinks its no big deal. Business is business. So Richards sleeping at the hospital and when a patient severely injured in a turkey fryer accident (!) requires multiple specialists, things (pardon the expression) explode. Richard, Catherine, Jackson and April are all working on the case and it takes Bens mediation (Dr. Minnick said we should work the problem with you.) to get everyone working together. Catherine and April also plan their trip to Chicago which irritates both Jackson and Richard, who can accept April visiting the trauma center but not Catherine going to see Hamilton without him.

Alex/Nathan/Andrew/Meredith: A newborn patient of Alexs has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Karev recommends a Norwood procedure, which would require three surgeries over three years but preserve the childs own heart. Riggs favors a heart transplant, which brings its own risks but is, in his opinion, a surer thing and a better chance for the child in the long run. The parents dont know what to do. The doctors are at odds. Andrew gets caught in the middle, but  taking to heart Alexs words to him earlier that its about the kids in the end  defies Alex and obeys Nathans order to put the child on the transplant list. Conveniently Miraculously, a perfect heart becomes available. Life saved. But

Wasnt this all really petty? I felt like the whole thing was super-contrived which annoys me because I love Alex and I love Nathan. Then there is the Meredith of it all. She sides with Alex without hearing Nathans side of things and gets into a fight with Nathan as a result. Later, Nathan throws down the gauntlet and confesses to Meredith that he wants a relationship with her. What does she want? Wait! She shouldnt answer until she figures it out. Then give him a call. Oh snap! And dont get me started on Meredith and Alex. Best friends? Yes. Brother and sister? Yes. Perfect and rare example of a man and a woman on TV being just friends? YES! Dont mess this up, writers! No romance for Mer and Alex. Justno. Am I on Team Nathan? Yes, I am! MerThan for the win!

Will Sandra Oh Ever Return To Greys Anatomy?>>>

Owen/Amelia: Ugh. I just cant right now. Maggie coaxes Amelia out of hiding to snip a nuns aneurysm and then as Amelia is trying to escape without Owen seeing her, she gets caught up in a second case and Owen not only sees her but has to work with hersort ofbecause shes not technically back at work. Shes still on leave. Putting aside the insurance liability of all that, I am so over Amelia Shepherd. She wants to be Owens wife but not have his children. And thats a valid opinion for her to hold. Too bad she didnt express that BEFORE she married the man, who already had a wife he adored but also didnt want children with him. Enough already. Enough, Amelia! Enough, Greys Anatomy writers! Really? Were doing this all again? REALLY? I just cant right now.

So, seriously, what do you think? Is Catherine shaping April in her own image? Whats the deal with Jackson? Will there be an Alex-Meredith-Nathan triangle? And are Owen and Amelia a lost cause? Hit the comments!

Memorable Moments and Quotes

Miranda: The mattresses?

Richard: Yes. You need to replace every mattress in every on-call room. Unacceptable.

Arizona: Hes not wrong.

Richard: These mattresses are lumpy. Theyre misshapen. Zero lumbar support. Our surgeons need solid rest. Not spinal damage.

Miranda: Noted.

I loved that #TeamTrauma (i.e. Hunt and Kepner) and their Level One Trauma Center were recognized for their excellence. Hunt trained you well, Kepner. Youre good. Act like it!

Alex: You called it with Riggs.

Meredith: What do you mean?

Alex: The guys a snake.

Meredith: Well, I didnt say that.

Anyone else think of Cristina Yang when Karev grumbled about Riggs thinking he was some sort of Cardio God? I wonder what course of action our favorite Cardio Goddess would have favored in their case?

Eliza: How big is your stove?

Arizona: I dont know how to answer that.

I know Im in the minority, but I think Arizona and Eliza are adorable. I was never a big Calzona fan, though, so maybe thats why Im more open to it than some? Being too tired for their date was too cute. My only regret was Richard walking in and experiencing yet another betrayal. Noooooo! Fix this, Arizona. Richards not only your wingman, hes your friend! Arizona.Elizaand Richard! #Hamilton

When Jackson mentioned Mark Sloan and his wonderful teaching? Oh my heart!

Meredith: Let me make something very clear to you. If you want to get anywhere with me, messing with Alex is not the way.

Nathan: So you admit it. That theres somewhere to get. With you.

Owen: Do you want to be married to me?

Amelia: Yes.

Owen: Then why wont you talk to me?

Eliza (to Arizona): Residents are a bottomless pit of questions. And its cute. But its also unbelievably exhausting.

Catherine (to Jackson): Youve always been your own man. Youve always made your own way. Nothing could make a parent more proud than that. Nothing. I am so happy with who you are. I am. I just wish you were, too.

Nathan (to Meredith): No banter. No more quips. Ill tell you what I think. I think about you. A lot. Okay? I cant stop. And Im telling you I am in. If you are. Im in this.

Greys Anatomy airs Thursdays on ABC 8/7c. Want more news? Like BuddyTVs Greys Anatomy Facebook page!

(Image courtesy of ABC)
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Neil Woods has been appointed as timber director at Covers. Mr Woods has spent over 22 years in the industry, most recently as category director of timber for a nationwide brand.

He will be based at Covers headquarters in Chichester, West Sussex and will be responsible for capitalising on the companys success and expertise in the timber sector, developing its strategy and driving performance across the group.

Mr Woods said: I am delighted to be working for, what I consider to be, the premier league of companies in the timber sector.

Covers already enjoys an enviable reputation in the industry for its expertise, product offer, supplier relationships and outstanding customer service. Im looking forward to working with the team to continue to drive the companys success and build on its strengths.
Higher taxes, trash pickup? Many special questions await voters Nov. 8

They're sometimes easy to miss, but many South Jersey communities have special questions before voters on their Nov. 8 ballots.
Don't forget to enter NiGEL Kit Giveaway . It ends January 4, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. PST (Pacific time).
About 200 people from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe were among hundreds of Native Americans and allies who marched Friday morning in Washington, D.C., to show solidarity and call on President Donald Trump for dialogue with Native leaders.

The Native Nations Rise march was partly led by Standing Rock in a continuation of its environmental stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline near the reservation and to call attention to tribal and treaty rights.

Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II addressed the rally and said the level of public awareness and strength in diverse numbers is a first for people in Indian country, who struggle against a conquistador spirit so embedded it's still used to disavow the well-being of entire populations.

"We are in dark and unknown territory. Very real threats to our way of life and our freedom are being issued daily, and we are facing a realistic dismantling of our country as we know it," Archambault said. "I hope you understand that this is the way my fellow Native Americans have felt for centuries. Now we are all in the same boat. We have reached a critical moment in time where citizens are realizing we must stand for the core of humanity."

John Floberg, Episcopalian minister for Standing Rock, speaking from the front of the White House Friday afternoon, said the show of support from tribes all over the country and their non-native allies validates the reservations position.

This is coalescing a movement that started on Standing Rock. Now were standing at the front door of Trumps White House and saying, `Can you hear us now? Floberg said. Theres support from many aspects and a very strong sense of unity.

Fridays march was the pinnacle event of a four-day Native Nations Rise presence in Washington and ends with a closing ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Archambault also called on Roman Catholic Pope Francis to revoke ancient church documents that led to the Doctrine of Discovery, used to claim domination on discovered lands and still referenced in the U.S. Supreme Court in cases involving Native Americans.

In order for us to take the steps necessary to assure our own future, we have to understand historically what has happened to us and what is currently happening to us, Archambault said. We can make the change.

The march comes just after pipeline protest camps on and near Standing Rock were evacuated and the land cleared off. A few camp structures remain on private land on the reservation, while people who intend to remain actively opposed to Dakota Access and the KeystoneXL pipelines have been invited to a camp at Eagle Butte, S.D., on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.

The Veterans Stand affiliation said in a statement Thursday it will set up an office at Eagle Butte for veterans who plan to rotate through the camp to support the protesters.
The third of our five-part series, Stephanie Chai shares some of the best-kept food secrets in Southeast Asia

I think we can all agree that one of the best things about travelling is trying new food. Southeast Asia is known for its fantastic cuisine, but with so many options, where do you even begin? As founder and CEO of leading luxury villa booking portal TheLuxeNomad.com, as well as a self-proclaimed foodie, Stephanie Chai has tracked down all the best restaurants in Southeast Asia so that you don't have to. Below you will find her exclusive guide from cheap eats to fine dining, and everything in between.

This week, we head to Stephanie's own home turf, Singapore.

$: Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle + Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle

Modest hawker stands whose food is anything but, these delicious digs gained instant notoriety last summer when they became Singapore's first street food stalls to earn a Michelin star each. A must try for any visit to Singapore, as long as you don't mind long queues!

335 Smith Street #02-126 Chinatown Complex Singapore,

facebook.com/hongkongsoyasaucechickenricenoodle

$: Violet Oon

Located in the National Art Gallery, Violet Oon (opening image) is where you'll find Singapore's most authentic Nyonya fare, which is a fusion of Chinese, Malay, and other influences . The restaurant also boasts a charming ambiance and impressive wine selection.

1 St. Andrew's Road, #02-01, National Gallery Singapore (City Hall Wing) Singapore 178957, violetoon.com

$: Neon Pigeon

Not your average izakaya experience, this funky restaurant offers a surprising menu of Japanese-fusion tapas you can't find anywhere else. It's perfect for dining out with friends, but can be a bit loud so don't bring someone here on a first date.

1A Keong Saik Road, #01-03, Singapore 089109, neonpigeonsg.com

$$: Waku Ghin by Tetsuya Wakuda

The best Japanese food in Singapore. Situated within Marina Bay Sands and headed by celebrity chef Tetsuya Wakuda, this intimate fine-dining restaurant offers a fantastic 10-course degustation dinner that is well worth the high price tag.

Level 2 Dining, L2-01, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, marinabaysands.com
A Gurgaon court in Haryana on Friday convicted 31 people and acquitted 117 others in the 2012 Maruti Suzuki factory violence case. Nearly 150 workers were arrested, of whom 117 were today found not guilty of charges including criminal conspiracy and murder. The quantum of punishment will be announced later today.



Business Standard is republishing this 2012 article as a court in Gurgaon in Haryana on 10 March, 2017 convicted 31 workers for the violence at the Maruti Suzuki factory in Manesar in 2012 in which a manager died of asphyxiation

After spearheading a five-month agitation that severely hit production at Maruti Suzuki, Sonu Gujjar, former president of the unrecognised Maruti Suzuki Employees Union, created a stir with his exit from the company last month. Detractors alleged he had received a substantial full and final settlement from the company in lieu of his resignation even before an agreement brought the labour unrest at Manesar to an end. In an interview with Akshat Kaushal and Sharmistha Mukherjee, the 25-year-old from Jhajjar explains what drove him to desert his 2,000-odd comrades. Edited excerpts.

After being the face of the Maruti strike for three months, you are now being labelled as a betrayer. There are allegations that you took money to leave. How do answer these accusations?

I read in the papers that I was accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh. Is there any proof of that? No one contacted me to verify whether I got this money. I and my other comrades successfully led the strike at Maruti. Our demand was that Maruti should take back all the casual workers at the Manesar plant. That they have now done. The company has also reinstated 64 suspended workers, that too without a chargesheet. The strike was a success; how is this a betrayal?

If you won, why did you leave the company?

I was sure there was no way we could be reinstated. I am just a tenth pass. Do you think I would have stood a chance against the lawyers Maruti would have fielded when the inquiry against us began? All 30 of us had a choice of either accepting the companys offer or facing inquiry, which we were sure of losing. We were hoping the trade unions would support us in our demand for reinstatement, but that did not happen. So, we took the money the company gave us, and exited.

If not Rs 40 lakh, what was the value of the settlement?

All 30 workers have received Rs 16 lakh each. This comprises our dearness allowance, provident fund and basic salary that we would have received if we had gone on to work at Maruti till turning 52. This is legitimate money that the company owed us.

Was there any pressure to reach an agreement?

There was no pressure from the company. But, people from nearby villages were pressuring us to end the strike. They were worried that their livelihood would be affected if Maruti moved out of Haryana. Pressure was also there from workers families.

What happens to the fate of the union, which was the cause of the unrest?

During the settlement, the company committed to approving a union at the factory. The management had then said the workers would be allowed to follow the usual process for registration and the company would not obstruct their way. I am not part of the company, but I still feel strongly for the union. I am also in touch with some workers.

Where do you go from here?

I will soon start looking for a job. I know it will be difficult. But then, whats easy? My father is mentally-challenged. For now, I want to be with him for some time.
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A division bench of the Delhi High Court on Friday overturned a single judge order restricting Britannia Industries Limited from using the colour blue in their packaging of digestive biscuits. The September 6, 2016 single judge order had come on the backdrop of a passing off and copyright infringement suit filed by ITC, alleging that Britannia had copied its blue and yellow packaging from the wrapper of ITC's own digestive line Sunfeast Farmlite ALL GOOD biscuits.
An income-tax (I-T) tribunal has upheld the much-discussed capital gains tax demand of Rs 10,247 crore on British oil major Cairn, under the controversial retrospective amendment to the law.
Business Standard is republishing this 2012 article as a Gurgaon court on 18 March, 2017, sentenced 13 of the 31 workers convicted for violence at the Maruti Suzuki factory in Manesar in 2012 to life imprisonment. The violence had seen a manager dying of asphyxiation. He led the strikes that paralysed Marutis Gurgaon plants, and then quit under a cloud of suspicion. Former labour leader Sonu Gujjar talks to Rrishi Raote.

Sonu Gujjar is supposed to have gone into hiding, yet here we are at his home in a village near Jhajjar in Haryana, and here he is. We are in a room on the upper floor of the house, drinking tea. Three or four of his cousins, all young men, drift in and out. Gujjar is telling us about the workers strikes that he led at Maruti Suzukis Manesar plant near Gurgaon last year.

When the last strike ended in October, reports indicated that Gujjar and his fellow leader Shiv Kumar took a big payout and quit. The sum was variously reported from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 1 crore. The company was said to have suffered a loss of Rs 1,700-2,000 crore during the months of trouble at the factory  at a time when the car market was weak. The other 28 workers of Gujjars core group received Rs 16 lakh each as a final settlement when they too quit, after their leaders. Some, it was reported, considered Gujjar a traitor and sellout.

Did he in fact go underground, and stop answering his phone? He says, That was my NCR number. Im not so big that I can pay roaming charges to hear other people talk. Its not like nobody had my local number. Was his house locked and closed, as reported? You see me here. Yes, I might have gone to Jhajjar for some work, but there was no lock. When Business Standards photographer visited at the time, he was told by locals to go away.

* * *

It has taken us three hours to get here, much of that time spent on zigzagging village roads. In the end we found Gujjars house just 1 km off the district road. The old man who pointed it out said: Oh, the boy who was kicked out of his job? There!

The area looks prosperous. Delhi is arriving, with housing projects and industrial estates half an hour away. New four-lane roads end abruptly in narrow rural lanes, along which tractors chug. Smoke pours from the chimneys atop dozens of brick kilns, and fields are dug up to provide soil for the bricks. It is disconcerting to see lush fields next to empty, barren pits.

Village paths are cemented. Houses are pucca, and some are palatial; each is built around a courtyard which accommodates the shaggy local buffaloes. The air is clear but everything is dusty  everything except the cars, most of them white and new-looking, tucked into every other lane. Marutis are everywhere, but also mid-size sedans of other brands.

Outside Gujjars house, too, sits a new and white, slightly scuffed Swift. It is there when we pull in.

He was just about to leave for Jhajjar, he says, showing us courteously up to his room on the roof.

Gujjar is instantly recognisable from photographs, though he has put on some weight and his face seems to have hardened a little. He looks educated. He speaks fast and clearly, repeating his points like one accustomed to speaking in public. He is wearing a gold chain under his shirt.

When we leave, the Swift is not there, and Gujjar explains, The car is not mine, its the car of the son of my tau [uncle], one of the men we met in his house.

The house is by no means impressive. It is not small, but is not new and shows no sign of recent improvement. The walls are faded and lined with cracks, to which Gujjar draws our attention. There is a brick-paved courtyard. In a large alcove is a machine for chopping buffalo feed. A well-swept room houses the buffaloes. There are two rooms for the family. There is a motorcycle, which Gujjar used to ride one and a half hours each way to the factory.

A narrow cement staircase leads to the roof and Gujjars room. It is crowded with a large bed on which he perches as we talk, a pile of clothes in need of washing, and a small sofa set. Also on the roof: several rows of drying dung-cakes, a satellite TV dish and another charpai on which his elderly mother sits sunning herself. Later Gujjars wife, who has a BA, joins her mother-in-law in the sun, her face veiled. Neither woman says anything. Two very small children potter about. These people, together with Gujjars father, who is not well and whom we later see sitting quietly on a charpai outdoors, are the family.

* * *

No sign of luxury here; no sign of Gujjars golden handshake. It was Rs 16 lakh, he reiterates, and when presented with alternate figures gives a bitter defence: nothing was done in secret, he discussed everything with his group of 30 and was to discuss it with all the workers as well. Afterwards people say what they want, and one knows why they say it. He showed his fellow workers the cheque, he says, and they agreed to take the payout and sacrifice themselves so that their goals would be achieved. That is, a new independent union (the Maruti Suzuki Employees Union, or MSEU), kinder leave policy, bus pickup for workers from Jhajjar and Rewari, contract workers being given priority in hiring, and a return to production.

In short, he says, unions in other did not act in MSEUs support, and meanwhile the strikers families were suffering. Political groups were getting involved  Behti Ganga mein sab haat dhote hain, he says, pointing to their opportunism and MSEUs popularity  but the support never came.

The company was adamant, he says, that with Gujjars group in control no new union would be allowed  better to go, and clear the way. Since most of MSEUs demands were met, and now the union is registered, albeit without its founding group, Gujjar counts the experience a victory. Its always been that way, he says. The one who makes a start gets nothing.

He has not found a job. As you know, my name is such that no give me work. I ask whether he has set up a business or bought land, and he laughs. To start a business Rs 16 lakh seems a lot to you? In our village 1 keela [about 1 acre] of land is Rs 85 lakh. Some of his payout went to repay loans, some goes in buying medicines for his father, and Rs 5,000 per appearance goes to his lawyer, because five court cases are still pending against him for maar-pitai (beating up) during the strike.

Maruti Suzuki did not comment on any of these matters.

Yet Gujjar does not look downcast. After he wishes us farewell and we drive off, the photographer suggests we go back to see whether the vanished Swift has rematerialised. And it has! Gujjar says again that this is his cousins car; the cousin says he owns a travel agency in Jhajjar.

Gujjar is so likeable that one wishes to believe everything he says. Its no surprise that he was an effective leader.
Betting big on its consumer durables business, Technologies plans to invest Rs 200 crore for air-conditioners manufacturing plant in Uttar Pradesh. Having established itself as an affordable mobile handset player, now looks to consolidate its position in consumer durables.
Business Standard is republishing this 2012 article, as a court in Gurgaon in Haryana on 18 March, 2017, sentenced 13 of the 31 workers convicted for violence at Suzuki's Manesar factory in 2012 to life imprisonment. The 2012 violence had seen a manager dying of asphyxiation.

No one knows yet who killed Awanish Kumar Dev, general manager (HR) of Suzuki India Limited, who was mercilessly beaten up and burnt to death inside the factory at Manesar. Was he the victim of spontaneous mob violence, which followed an altercation between a worker and his supervisor? Or was he the target of a carefully planned conspiracy by a union leader, as has been alleged by the late executives friends? The Gurgaon Police are apparently still clueless, after having arrested almost 100 workers, including union office-bearers.

Although its important that justice must be done and the guilty are dealt with ruthlessly, the latest round of violence in Manesar brings into sharp focus how could have done better in terms of industrial relations management.

Consider the timing of the Maruti Suzuki MDs statement that the company will derecognise the newly instituted union with immediate effect, just a couple of days after the gruesome violence. Showing your muscle is one thing, but flaunting it at a time when the atmosphere is so volatile doesnt speak well of the managements maturity in handling such situations. No wonder Maruti had to swiftly clarify that it had no plans to take any such step.

The uneasy relationship between the Maruti management and its workers was evident after reports surfaced that workers were unhappy about the failure to implement several clauses in a tripartite agreement that was signed last year before they decided to call off a strike. In fact, the Haryana labour department had initiated proceedings against Maruti executives for allegedly violating the agreement  media reports the Maruti management did not deny. Maruti, for example, had committed in that agreement to form grievance redressal and labour welfare committees. These have not been set up and the wage increases agreed in that agreement were still under negotiation.

The withdrawal of last years strike also coincided with reports that a troop of disgruntled workers led by Sonu Gujjar had stopped production only to slyly broker a side deal with the management in which they got hefty payouts. This raised the question whether Maruti deviated from best corporate governance practices by helping Gujjar and others suspended for indiscipline cut a sweet deal for themselves and leave the company. To be sure, Marutis decision to offer these workers a settlement package was legal since the company was well within its rights to offer a settlement higher than the general severance rules. Legal experts agree that the Industrial Disputes Act only prescribes a floor  15 days for every completed year of service  and not a ceiling for severance packages.

But the timing of that decision was an industrial relations and public relations disaster: a few workers got a hefty payout after creating trouble while others in the same factory had to forfeit wages for their participation in the over two-month old strike; this surely did nothing to bridge the trust deficit between the management and workers.

It is also pointed out how Maruti goofed up during last years strike by insisting that all workers sign a good conduct bond. The bond said workers would follow discipline, would not get involved in absenteeism, not resort to go-slow tactics, follow the production principle and not sabotage production or indulge in activities that may hamper production. Apart from the fact that such strong-arm tactics invariably fail in a hostile environment, the move was not sound  even legally. Schedule 5 of the Industrial Disputes Act says to insist upon individual workmen, who are on a legal strike to sign a good conduct bond, as a pre-condition to allowing them to resume work is an unfair labour practice. In the past, such attempts have been held to be an act of force and coercion by the courts.

The way it has handled its contract workers also doesnt improve Marutis industrial relations score. A huge discrepancy in the wages of permanent and contract workers for the same amount of work; no leave for a segment of workers who constitute almost half your workforce; and no social security benefits  these issues had been festering for a long time. Sadly, Indias largest car maker wasnt proactive enough to lead the way on this issue.

Maruti would do well to realise that communication with workers also involves dialogue. And such an approach calls for a willingness to empathetically understand the other point of view and act on it  thats what industrial democracy is all about. And HR is not just about building a leadership development pipeline, flow charts and diagrams; it also involves industrial relations in which you are dealing with human beings on the shop floor.

Finally, Maruti must ignore the so-called mahapanchayat of leaders from some 100 villages who supported the management with a rider that the company should recruit only locals from nearby villages and that the villagers would constitute a committee comprising people from seven villages of the area, who will work with the Maruti management to find a solution to the labour crisis. Heeding such helpful advice would be nothing but a jump from the frying pan into the fire.
What could be said as its biggest discovery after a gap of three years in Assam, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made reserve accretion of 10 million metric tonnes (MMT) of oil in the state.
will face the twin test of complying with Indias foreign direct investment (FDI) norms and opposition from incumbent carriers for its plan to set up an airline here.
In a surprise move, Reliance Capital's long serving CEO will leave the company on March 31, after spending nine years at the financial services arm of Anil Ambani-led business conglomerate.
For entities, the new set of guidelines from the government under the draft Information Technology (Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules, 2017, issued for public consultation, means yet another body they'd have to consult before conducting any business.
Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has rejected the AAP government's decision to give Rs 1 crore compensation to the family of ex-serviceman Ram Kishen Grewal who had committed suicide over the OROP issue last year.

Sources said that Baijal, on March 6, rejected the decision of the Delhi Cabinet which had also granted martyr status to Grewal.

Last year, the army veteran had committed suicide in the capital demanding immediate implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP).

"The Lt Governor has turned down the proposal sent by the Delhi Cabinet for his approval, saying it is not in line with compensation policy to provide ex-gratia to servicemen," sources said.

In his note to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Baijal said that as mentioned in the Cabinet decision, Grewal had consumed poison on November 1, 2016 during a protest for the implementation of OROP.

"This specific case does not fall within the parameters of the scheme for grant of ex-gratia payment i.E death occurring in the discharge of official duty.

"Therefore, while I fully sympathise with the family of Subedar (Retd) Late Ram Kishen Grewal, I'm not able to agree to the proposal for payment of ex-gratia relief in this case," Baijal said in the note.

He said the position was also explained to the chief minister during his meeting with him earlier this month.

This is the first proposal of the Delhi government shot down by Baijal after he cleared a slew of files that were stuck with the LG office during Najeeb Jung's tenure.

The move may trigger a tussle between the AAP dispensation and the LG office.

Sources said the proposal was also turned down as Grewal was neither associated with any service with the Government of NCT of Delhi, nor a resident of the capital.

As per the existing scheme, ex-gratia payment is made in cases of defence, paramilitary forces, the Delhi Police, Home Guard, Civil Defence, Delhi Fire Service personnel dying in discharge of bonafide official duty.

"They have to be either working with the GNCT of Delhi/ Delhi Police or have their permanent address recorded at the time of joining service as Delhi in case of defence/ paramilitary personnel. The situations that qualify for ex- gratia payment are well defined in the scheme," Baijal said.

Reacting to the move, Kejriwal today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Narendra Modi is anti-soldier. Modi ji himself doesn't not provide good food to soldiers and when we are trying to help the family of the deceased soldier, why is he stopping us?" he tweeted.

In November, Kejriwal had announced a compensation of Rs one crore for Grewal's family.

His suicide had sparked political slugfest as Kejriwal and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had attacked the Centre for "not fulfilling OROP demand" of the ex-serviceman.

Both leaders had also been detained by the Delhi Police when they tried to meet Grewal's family. Gandhi, Kejriwal and other political leaders had reached the army veteran's native village to attend his cremation.

(REOPENS DES3)



Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that it was a Cabinet decision which should have been respected.

"It was a Cabinet decision and it should have been respected. We will take up it with the LG again," Sisodia told reporters.

He alleged that "Modiji does not respect soldiers".

When soldiers conduct surgical strikes, their posters are placed in Uttar Pradesh and when they die at borders, they are not given their due, he said.
The central government on Thursday said it has collected a little more than Rs 1.15 crore to fund its regional air connectivity scheme.

According to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, the scheduled airlines are required to pay a regional connectivity fund (RCF) levy on certain flights operated within India.

"Till date an amount of Rs 1,15,42,000 has been received," the minister said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

However, the minister said that Federation of Indian Airlines has filed a court case on this issue and that the matter is sub-judice.
of India on Friday issued bailable warrant against Calcutta High Court's controversial judge Justice C S Karnan for the first time in the Indian judicial history. Reportedly, DGP of West Bengal has been asked to execute the warrant.



A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar took up contempt of court case it had initiated against sitting Calcutta high court judge.
India and Pakistan could be officially admitted as full members of China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation security grouping during a key summit later this year in Kazakhstan, its Secretary-General has said.

Welcoming the seventh and the eighth member-nations would be a key item on the agenda during the SCO summit in Astana on June 8-9, Rashid Alimov said on Sina Weibo, which is similar to Twitter in China, according to state-run Global Times.

The SCO, headquartered in Beijing, was founded in 2001.

A political and security organisation comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, it is aimed at military cooperation between the member states and involves intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia and joint work against cyber terrorism.

With India and Pakistan's membership, the SCO will include countries encompassing over 40 per cent of the world's population.

Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have "observer" status. The grouping's 2015 summit in Ufa in Russia formally adopted a resolution starting the procedures to admit India and Pakistan into the SCO.

Both the countries signed a Memorandum of Obligations to join the organisation during last year's summit in Tashkent.

Li Xing, director of the Eurasian Studies Centre at Beijing Normal University, told the daily that SCO membership of India and Pakistan will extend the geographical range of the SCO to South Asia, instead of being confined to Central Asia.

The membership of India and Pakistan is expected to mitigate their conflict and may even push them to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Li claimed.

The non-military organisation will connect countries through strategies such as China's ambitious 'Belt and Road' initiative, the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, as well as South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, (SAARC) led by India, Li said.

As for Iran, one of the four observer nations of the SCO,



It will be considered for membership when it is free from nuclear sanctions, if it files an application again, Zhao Huirong, a research fellow of Central Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the daily.
A day after the world celebrated the International Women's Day, the Parliament on Thursday passed a bill that will benefit about 1.8 million women in India. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by the Lok Sabha, months after the Rajya Sabha approved the measure that takes India to the third position in terms of the number of weeks for maternity leave after Canada and Norway where it is 50 weeks and 44 weeks, respectively. While the bill has given many women reasons to cheer, it has left others with a heartburn.



It is a historic day for women, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said, adding that the Bill will pave the way for a healthy and secure mother and a well-nourished child. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi called it a momentous step and thanked her colleagues for supporting the Bill.

Top highlights of The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016

* The Bill aims to protect the employment of women during the time of pregnancy and entitles them to full paid absence from work to take care of their child

* Women working in the organised sector will now be entitled to paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks

* The maternity leave beyond the first two children will continue to be 12 weeks

* The new law will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people and the entitlement will be for only up to first two children. For third child, the entitlement will be for only 12 weeks.

* The bill also makes it mandatory for employers in establishments with 30 women or 50 employees, whichever is less, to provide creche facilities either in office or in any place within a 500-metre radius.

* The mother will be allowed four visits to the creche in a day. This will include her interval for rest.

* It also allows employers to permit woman to work from home if it is possible to do so

* Recognising that women who adopt or use a surrogate to bear a child also need time to bond with the child in the initial months, the bill also extends a 12-week maternity leave to adapting and commissioning mothers.

* The commissioning mother has been defined as one whose egg is used to create an embryo planted in surrogates womb (in order words - a biological mother). The period of maternity leave will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the commissioning or adoptive mother.













Demerits of newly passed The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016

The bill has left out surrogate mothers from the benefit -- an issue over which the government had faced criticism from the opposition benches in the Rajya Sabha during the winter session. Moreover, the bill will benefit only a minuscule percentage of women, while ignoring the majority who are working as contractual labourers, farmers, self-employed women etc.

Even if the law is fully implemented, the activist told IPS , studies show that it will benefit only 1.8 million women in the organised sector leaving out practically 99% of the countrys women workforce. If this isnt discrimination, what is? In India, womens paid workforce constitutes just 5% of the 1.8 million. The rest fall within the unorganised sector. How fair is it to leave out this lot from the ambit of the new law? asks Sengupta.

Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Womens Association, opines that maternity benefits should be universally available to all women, including wage earners.

But the act ignores this completely by focussing only on women in the organised sector. In India most women are waged workers or do contractual work and face hugely exploitative work conditions. They are not even recognised under the ambit of labour laws. The moment a woman becomes pregnant she is seen as a liability. The new law has no provisions to eliminate this mindset,  Krishnan told IPS.

Lack of interest in 'Maternity Bill'

According to The Economics Times the Lok Sabha had just 3 MPs, including 11 women members, when the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016, came up for discussion in the House on Thursday. For all the eloquent speeches on women rights, Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya moved the bill for consideration and passage in the Lower House in the post-lunch session when only 53 members were present in the House. They included 8 women MPs from the Opposition and 3 from the treasury benches.

Creating gender neutral Bill

The allows even a male employee to take his child to a creche, if it is far away from the mothers workplace.

ALSO READ: New law: Working women will now be entitled to 26 weeks of maternity leave However, the opposition party demanded that the government include a non-discrimination clause in the bill so no person is discriminated against in employment for having availed any parental benefits.

Participating in the debate, Sushmita Dev (Congress) said since amendments raise the period of maternity leave to 26 weeks from the present 12 weeks, it could act as a deterrent for the private sector to employ women workforce.

"Since the employer has to pay the salary during the leave period, the amendment might turn out to be counter productive. The innovative thing to do would be to bring in paternity benefit," she said.

She said such a benefit can also be extended to single fathers who adopt a child.

Pritam Munde (BJP) said a father also has equal responsibility towards the child like a mother and paternity benefits would help a couple to raise their child together as majority are now nuclear families.

Ratna De Nag (TMC) too made a case for paternity benefit and said her state government in West Bengal is already providing paternity leave for 30 days.

Tathagata Satpathy (BJD) termed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016, a social bill and said instead of reducing the period of leave from 26 week to 12 week after the second child, the Centre should say that up to third child there would be 26 week leave and after that no leave. He too sought paternity benefits.
A Gurgaon court on Friday convicted 31 people and acquitted 117 others in connection to the factory violence case, in which a general manager died of asphyxiation and nearly hundred others were injured.

A little under two years earlier, in March 2015, 77 of the 148 accused in the case had been granted bail. Business Standard revisits the story of those who had walked out of jail after spending two and a half years there.

One by one, 26 former employees of stepped out of jail for the first time in two-and-a-half years early on March 20, 2015. Many looked up to the sky, perhaps to thank God, while others scurried past policemen to meet their family members gathered outside the Bhondsi jail. Clad in a blue checked shirt and jeans, Raman Kumar appeared from behind a police van close to the entrance of the jail. He and former colleague, Ravinder Singh, walked another thousand yards to reach the lawns, where many families had slept the previous night. The jail, on the outskirts of the city, involves a walk of five km to the nearest point of public transport. The remote location delayed the release of these inmates by a day as the bail orders reached the jail authorities late in the evening.Additional Sessions Judge S K Khanduja had granted bail to 77 of the 148 accused three days ago. It took the lawyers another two days to complete the formalities and the release orders of 26 accused could only be signed on Thursday. The orders for the remaining ones will be signed over the next two days. The men, mostly aged between 21 and 28, were arrested in July 2012 for allegedly rioting at Maruti's Manesar plant, during which a company executive was charred to death. The administration slapped 18 sections of the Indian Penal Code, including charges of murder, attempt to murder, arson, rioting and criminal conspiracy, on the accused. The rioting occurred following the suspension of an employee, leading to one of the worst industrial unrests in the country. The plant was shut for days, resulting in huge losses.The judge had earlier refused bail on grounds of the serious nature of the case. In India, the judicial system is such that the judge gives an equal opportunity to the prosecution to oppose bail prayers. In this case, it took time because of the large number of bail applications. "The trial dragged on because the prosecution deliberately delayed the examination of the witnesses, knowing well that the latter would not stand up to scrutiny in court.

They could not produce any evidence before the judge," said Vrinda Grover, who argued for the accused. "The false case has left the families destitute," she added.

ALSO READ: 31 convicted, 117 acquitted in Maruti's 2012 violence case

A Maruti spokesperson refused to comment.Outside the jail, Kumar, Singh and many other accused claimed innocence.They allege they were arrested from locations far from the company's plant. The police identified them through their uniforms and took them into custody. "We were returning to our rented accommodations when the police waylaid and arrested us. We have been framed," said Kumar, tension palpable on his face."We are saddened because the police arrested us without a proper investigation. They (the prosecution) have failed to produce a single witness in the case for two and a half years," added Kumar, a resident of Mazra village in Haryana's Fatehabad district.

ALSO READ: 2012 Maruti factory violence: Meet Sonu Gujjar, the man behind the strike

He joined Maruti as a trainee nine months before his arrest and was paid Rs 9,000 a month."The Haryana government under former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was paying a huge amount to high-profile lawyers to keep these people in jail. It was a message for around a million workers and their unions in Gurgaon to desist from such activities or face being locked in jail for years," said Monu Kuhar, one of the defence lawyers.The families believe the change of government in Haryana is the main reason behind bail being granted. "We knocked on every door, cried and held several public protests. But the former chief minister never gave us a hearing. We have suffered the most," said Darshna Devi, mother of another accused Raj Kumar Dhanak.

ALSO READ: The struggle is still on: Life after Maruti's Manesar factory clash

"When we were coming to Delhi, my three-year-old granddaughter grabbed me from behind asking if her father would come home this time. She was only a few months old when her father was arrested," she said wiping tears. Her husband Khajaan Singh, too, breaks down while narrating the tough time the family went through in the absence of Dhanak, who earned Rs 6,000 a month.Almost all families, mostly belonging to the farming community, had similar stories to tell. Amarjeet Singh's father Kaptan Singh, who retired from the army, was inconsolable. He trembled while recalling the arrest of his son. "Amarjeet was not even in the plant where the incident happened. It was his younger brother who saw the news on television and informed him about the violence in the factory. We ran from pillar to post, but no one listened," he said seated in the Gurgaon court.Though it is up to the court to decide how many of them are guilty, the biggest challenge the accused face is finding a new source of livelihood. Those who were married just before their arrests need to convince their wives to return.
Union Minister Hansraj Ahir on Thursday said it was too early to know which terrorist outfit slain terror suspect Saifullah belonged to, amid suspicion that he was influenced by an ISIS module.

Saifullah, who is suspected to be linked with the blast in the Bhopal-Ujjain train, was killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh yesterday.

"We have asked for the report. We have not received the final report and full information has not yet come. What can be said from the documents and other material is that he was a terrorist.

"We will get to know who he was linked with after we get the final report," Ahir, who is Minister of State for Home Affairs, told reporters outside Parliament.

In a statement in Lok Sabha on Tuesday's train blast and subsequent anti-terror operations in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said NIA will carry out further investigations into the matter.

He said eight pistols, 630 live cartridges, Rs 1.5 lakh, three mobiles phone, four SIM cards, two wireless sets and some foreign currency were recovered from the place where Saifullah lived.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a Public-Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the role of media in the AgustaWestland case, saying it is an "attack" on media's independence.

"We will not direct any investigation against the media unless there is a direct involvement," a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said, while rejecting the PIL filed by veteran journalist Hari Jaisingh.

It seems there is a disguised attempt to curtail independence and freedom of media, the bench said, adding, "This is an attack on media. We will not entertain this."

"We cannot curtail the right of the media in this manner. Media has been given an independent status in our democratic polity. Why should we entertain this," said the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and Mohan M Shantanagoudar.

The court, however, clarified that if the investigative agencies come across evidence with regard to involvement of certain individuals then they are free to probe.

However, there cannot be an investigation into the role of media as a whole, it said.

Senior advocate Geeta Luthra, appearing for Singh, alleged that some members of the media where bribed by the offshore chopper firm to influence the decision making authority in favour of the VVIP helicopter deal.

"I am seeking a direction to the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to also investigate the role of media persons in the case," she said.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, sought dimissal of the plea at the threshold saying how can there be an investigation into the role of media when there is an allegation that two persons entered into the "media management agreement".

Considering the arguments, the bench asked, "Is this agreement registered. What is the admissibility of the agreement as evidence."

"Freedom of media is going to be curtailed and smothered.... We will not entertain this."

The journalist in his PIL alleged that some media persons were bribed and extended unwarranted benefits in exchange for favouring the VVIP chopper deal.

It was also alleged that certain journalist were sent to Italy along with their families by the company in question.

The apex court had on January 3 this year agreed to hear the PIL for a court-monitored probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate in the AgustaWestland helicopter scam case and the allegation that some media persons took bribes from foreign arms dealers in connection with the deal.

The plea had said that the agencies, CBI and ED, which have been probing the case, be also asked to submit a report to the court in a sealed cover stating the status of investigating.

It has also sought "setting up of a Commission of Inquiry under the stewardship of a retired judge of this court, or any other eminent person which this court deems fit" to probe the allegations that some media persons indulged in corrupt practices.

The PIL had alleged that "Finmeccanica (parent company of AgustaWestland) had invited a group of Indian journalists on a fully paid for trip to Italy".

The plea had referred to the judgement of the Milan Court of Appeals and said the role of a "middleman/agent who acted on behalf of AgustaWestland emerged".

It said an individual stationed in New Delhi and acting as the representative of AgustaWestland in India was specifically tasked with acting as a "facilitator" to ensure "smooth disbursement of funds allocated for managing key Indian officials and several influential members of Indian media".

It had also sought a direction to the Centre to seek affidavits of "financial disclosures from the members of the media who have received funding and hospitality from foreign and domestic defence and other ancillary industries, and to make public this information and submit to the court on affidavit whether on these sums taxes have been paid or not".

The Cabinet Committee on Security in 2010 had cleared a proposal to acquire 12 helicopters for the use of VVIPS after a long process that involved change in some parameters, evaluations and negotiations and these helicopters were to be used by the Communication Squadron of the air force. The chopper deal was later cancelled.
Results for the recently held assembly elections will be released tomorrow, yet no matter which political party comes to power, it has its hands full.
Milos Zeman will stand again in the elections for the post of Czech President

10. 3. 2017

cas cteni 3 minuty

72,4% Czechs are of the opinion that Trump's invitation for Zeman to visit the White House is "extremely good for the prestige of the Czech Republic on the international scene". The current Czech president Milos Zeman (72) has announced that he will stand again in the elections for the post of the Czech President, which will take place in early 2018. Zeman, an economist, joined the Czech Social Democratic Party after the fall of communism and held the post of the Czech Prime Minister in 1998 to 2002. However it would be wrong to regard him as a Social Democratic politician. Vyber z dnesniho tisku. pic.twitter.com/o8CR7CYoYj  Jiri Ovcacek (@PREZIDENTmluvci) March 10, 2017

After a change in the law, in January 2013, Zeman was elected the President of the Czech Republic in the first direct elections to this post. In the election campaign he used populist manipulation and a number of techniques which anticipated the behaviour of the current US president Donald Trump. In the presidential office, Zeman has defined himself as an extreme-right wing populist and has become internationally infamous for his embarrassing anti-islamic and anti-refugee statements. He also assumes highly conservative, anti-environmental attitudes and seems to support authoritarian rulers. After the election of Donald Trump, Zeman was the first European politician to congratulate him and has been invited to visit Donald Trump in the White House.

Zeman is the main catalyst of an extremely hostile anti-muslim and anti-refugee atmosphere in the Czech Republic. In order to boost his popularity, he has created a thoroughly mendacious narrative about "evil muslims and refugees who threated the good Czechs in the Czech Republic".

Zeman is also often accused of acting as an agent of Russian interests in the Czech Republic. He has made pronouncements supporting Vladimir Putin and his invasion in the Ukraine. Zeman repeatedly demands that Western sanctions of Russia be dropped. He says he is a great admirer of Donald Trump. He also seems to support Chinese authoritarianism and has made an effort to advertise Czech products on Chinese TV during his visit to communist China.

Zeman assumes extremely defensive, xenophobic, nationalist attitudes and is loved for it by the Czechs. He is currently the most popular Czech politician.

In December 2016, Zeman's attitude and pronouncements were supported by 60,1 per cent Czechs, although this was a slight drop from February 2016, when Zeman was supported by 70 per cent of the Czech population.

Czech citizens are now particularly impressed by the fact that Zeman has been invited by Donald Trump to visit the White House. 72,4% Czechs are of the opinion that Trump's invitation for Zeman to visit the White House is "extremely good for the prestige of the Czech Republic on the international scene".

International assessment of Zeman's impact on the popularity of the Czech Republic is, however, diametrically different.

"Zeman has apparently decided that the country needs 5 more years of international embarrassment stemming from his hate-filled rantings. He's been caught lying about refugees and Muslims, he's championed a man who called for concentration camps and gas chambers for Muslims, he's been heard denigrating women... he's just been a disaster for the country's reputation in Europe. People might just decide they've had enough of it," says Andrew Stroehlein of Human Rights Watch.

Read more:

Meet Milos Zeman: Czech Republic's answer to Donald Trump

Why is the Czech Republic so hostile to muslims and refugees

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India on Thursday said the contribution of the Indian technical professionals helps the US economy become competitive, and added that currently, illegal immigration is the priority of the US administration and not the .
Indian banks in the international markets are raising bonds at a finer rate than many financial institutions from other countries rated far superior than India, which has an international rating of BBB-, a notch above junk.
Women working in the organised sector will now be entitled to paid of 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks, as Parliament today passed a bill in this regard that will benefit about 1.8 million women.

The new law will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people and the entitlement will be for only up to first two children. For third child, the entitlement will be for only 12 weeks.

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by the Lok Sabha today, months after the Rajya Sabha approved the measure that takes India to the third position in terms of the number of weeks for after Canada and Norway where it is 50 weeks and 44 weeks, respectively.

Piloting amendments to the old law, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said while framing the rules, he would try to ensure that maximum benefits reach the pregnent women.

"This is my humble gift to women, a day after the world celebrated the International Women's Day," he said after about 4-hour debate during which some members demanded paternity benefits too, arguing that these days most of the children are born in nuclear families where both the father and the mother have to take care of the child.

The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her full paid absence from work, to take care for her child.

Among other things, the bill provides for 12 weeks of to a woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age and a commissioning mother (defined as a biological mother) who uses her egg to have a surrogate child.

In such cases, 12-week period of maternity leave will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother.

The Bill also requires every establishment with 50 or more employees to provide creche facilities within a prescribed distance. The woman will be allowed four visits to the creche in a day. This will include her interval for rest.

It has also made a provision under which an employer can permit a woman to work from home, if the nature of work assigned permits her to do so. This option can be availed of, after the period of maternity leave, for a duration that is mutually decided by the employer and the woman.

Observing that labour is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, the minister appealed to the state governments to play an active role to ensure that all benefits reach women.

He said the amendments were "progressive" in nature and would have "positive impact" on women participation and improve their "work life balance".

It would be expected of the employer to inform women about the maternity benefits at the time of employment, Dattatreya said.

He appreciated the role of some states like Tamil Nadu which are providing more benefits over and above what is mandated in the central statutes.

The amendments would ensure that full maternal care is provided during the full bloom period and will encourage more women to join the workforce in organised sector, he added.

The central government has already amended its service rules and is providing 26 weeks maternity leaves to its employees.

The Minister also clarified women working in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) would be entitled to all benefits of the legislation.

Responding to concerns expressed by members that benefits would be restricted to only 10 per cent of women working in organised sector, Dattatreya said the government has taken a host of steps for the welfare of unorganised workers.

With these changes, India would rank high among the nations providing maternity benefit to women, he said.

Indian women will get more maternity leave than what is provided in developed countries like Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and South Korea, the Minister said.

Participating in the debate, Sushmita Dev (Congress) said



since amendments raise the period of maternity leave to 26 weeks from the present 12 weeks, it could act as a deterrent for the private sector to employ women workforce.

"Since the employer has to pay the salary during the leave period, the amendment might turn out to be counter productive. Innovative thing to do would be to bring in paternity benefit," Dev said.

She said such a benefit can also be extended to single fathers who adopt a child.

She said only 1.8 million pregnant ladies will benefit from the amendments to the bill as 90 per cent of the women workforce is in the unorganised sector.

Pritam Munde (BJP) said a father also has equal responsibility towards the child like a mother and paternity benefits would help a couple to raise their child together as majority are now nuclear families.

Ratna De Nag (TMC) too made a case for paternity benefit and said her state government in West Bengal is already providing paternity leave for 30 days.

Tathagata Satpathy (BJD) termed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016, a social bill and said instead of reducing the period of leave from 26 week to 12 week after the second child, the Centre should say that up to third child there would be 26 week leave and after that no leave. He too sought paternity benefits.

The Rajya Sabha had passed the bill in August last year.
Two months after demonetisation was rolled out by the government, industrial output in January rose 2.7 per cent, pushed up by a growth in capital goods production as well as a rise in the manufacturing segment, government data showed on Friday.

Industrial output had missed growth by a sliver in the previous month of December, falling 0.1 per cent as compared to a year earlier, driven down by a contraction in consumer and capital goods production attributed to the demonetization drive.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (left) talks to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel (second from left) during a meeting with the officials of Department of Financial Services and RBI in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: PTI
The non-official Directors are appointed on the Boards of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) by the concerned administrative Ministries on the basis of recommendations of Search Committee after obtaining approval of the competent authority. Similarly, Government has constituted Search Committee for recommending persons to be appointed as non-official Directors in Public Sector Banks (PSBs). .

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The Search Committee recommended names for filling up 103, 144 and 233 positions of non-official Directors on the Boards of CPSEs during the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. .

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There are 360 and 104 vacant positions of non-official Directors in the CPSEs and PSBs respectively. .

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In case of CPSEs, the Department of Public Enterprises requests the administrative Ministries to furnish proposals for filling up vacant positions of non-official Directors on the Boards of CPSEs under their respective administrative jurisdiction. In case of PSBs, the Search Committee meetings are convened from time to time for recommending persons to be appointed as a non-official Directors in PSBs. .

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This was stated by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. .

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It had come to the notice of the Medical Council of India (MCI) that following two Medical Colleges were functioning without required approval:-

i. Singhania University, Pacheri Bair, Distt. Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan

ii. Surendra Medical College and Hospital, Khagol, Patna, Patna

The MCI had immediately issued press notice about the illegal functioning of theseMedical Colleges for public awareness. When the matter regarding Surendra Medical College and Hospital, Khagol, Patna came to the knowledge of the Ministry at the relevant time, the college was directed to discharge the admitted students. The college was informed that appropriate legal action would be taken against the college for opening the Medical College without permission and making illegal admissions. The State Government of Bihar was asked to take required action.

Further MCI also publishes the details of approved Colleges on their website for the benefit of prospective students. From the academic session 2017-18 onwards, all admissions in Medical Colleges will be through National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET). States have been advised to fill the seats both in Government and private Medical Colleges through Common Counseling that ensures admissions only in approved Colleges.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Sh Faggan Singh Kulaste stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.
Creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was recommended by Group of Ministers in 2001. A decision in this regard was to be taken after consultation with political parties. The consultation process however is not yet complete as all political parties have not responded. Subsequently, Naresh Chandra Task Force on National Security recommended creation of the post of Permanent Chairman Chief of Staff Committee in 2012. Both the proposals are simultaneously under consideration of the Government. .

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This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Ravneet Singh in Lok Sabha today. .

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NAMPI/Ranjan
Defence Start-Ups

Government of India has launched Start-up India initiative in January 2016, which aims at fostering entrepreneurship and promoting innovation by creating an ecosystem that is conducive for growth of start-ups. The data of start-ups recognized by Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), is maintained by Start-up India and at present, there is no recognized start-up in the Defence sector. However, in order to encourage start-ups and give them an opportunity to contribute in the defence production, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and all Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) have been mandated to follow the guidelines of Ministry of MSME regarding Relaxation of norms for start-ups and Medium & Small Enterprises in public procurements on prior experience  prior turnover criteria.

The Government has taken following actions to encourage culture of innovation in defence sector:-

(i) Under the new Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 promulgated in April 2016, the Make Procedure has been simplified. The procedure provides for funding of 90% of development cost by the Government to Indian industry for design, develop and manufacture of defence equipment. Projects not exceeding development cost of Rs.10 crore (Government funded) and Rs.3 crore (industry funded) have been reserved for MSMEs under this procedure.

(ii) The Government has recently approved a Defence Innovation Fund (DIF) with initial funding by two DPSUs; Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The fund aims at creation of ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence, by engaging R&D institutes / academia and industry including start-ups and provide them the funding to carry out innovative development which has the potential for future commercialization.

(iii) The Government has also launched a scheme of Technology Development Fund (TDF) which aims at funding the development of defence and dual use technologies that are currently not available with the Indian defence industry, or have not been developed so far, thus creating an ecosystem for enhancing cutting edge technology capability for Defence applications. The TDF scheme is implemented by Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) and provides for assistance in the form of grant to public and private industries for design and development of key defence technologies.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Om Birla in Lok Sabha today.

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The Indian Air Force (IAF) is equipped to cater for the threat environment that exists and is ready to meet the role assigned to it. Operational preparedness of IAF is reviewed from time to time based on the threat perception. Further, augmentation of capabilities of IAF including its modernization and acquisition is a dynamic and continuous process. .

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Government of India is inducting fighter aircraft in IAF through Make in India route. Indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters have been inducted in IAF and Light Combat Aircraft are also being developed and manufactured indigenously by M/s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. .

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Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO, from time to time, seeks consultancy from foreign companies to gain knowledge and develop expertise in specific areas. At present M/s Airbus DS is providing consultancy towards flight testing and to improve the configuration of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). .

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This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in Lok Sabha today. .

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Government approves renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), Oman .

The Government has approved the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), Oman with the aim of developing a mutually beneficial relationship in the best interest of members, students and the Institutes. It is expected that through this mechanism, an opportunity will be provided to ICAI members to expand their Professional horizons and substantial goodwill be generated for India, Indian Citizens and Indian Chartered Accountants in the Sultanate of Oman leading to greater employment and enhancement of remittances by Indian nationals to India. The ICAI Oman (Muscat) Chapter contributes in developing close relationships with the local Omani Community and has enabled Omani Nationals to pursue the Indian Chartered Accountancy course..

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This was stated by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. .

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Increase in Haj quota benefits all states 1,70,025 people will go to Haj pilgrimage in 2017

The increase in Indias annual Haj quota by Saudi Arabia Government has benefitted all the states as quota of these states for Haj 2017 has also been increased significantly. Haj quota of the states was released on 9th March, 2017 and process for selection of pilgrims through draw of lots will start from 14th March.

Saudi Arabia has increased annual Haj quota of India by 34,005. The decision in this regard had been taken during signing of bilateral annual Haj agreement between India and Saudi Arabia by Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Haj and Umrah Minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia His Excellency Dr Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten at Jeddah on 11th January 2017. It is the biggest increase in the quota of Haj pilgrims from India after several years.

About 99,903 people went to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Haj from 21 embarkation points across India through Haj Committee of India during Haj 2016. Apart from this, about 36,000 Haj pilgrims had proceeded for Haj through the private tour operators.

For Haj 2017, a total of 1,70,025 people will go to Haj pilgrimage from India out of which 1,25,025 pilgrims will go through Haj Committee of India while 45,000 people will go through Private Tour Operators.

All the states have been benefitted by this increase in the Haj quota. Haj quota for Gujarat, which was 7044 in 2016, has been increased to 10,877 for Haj 2017. Uttar Pradeshs quota has been increased to 29,017 from 21,828; Haryanas quota is now 1343 from 1011 last year; Jammu and Kashmirs quota has been increased to 7960 from 6359; Karnatakas quota has been increased to 5951 from 4477 last year.

A total of 9780 pilgrims will go to Haj from Maharashtra in comparison of 7357 last year.

While Tamil Nadus quota has been increased from 2399 to 3189; for West Bengal from 8905 to 9940; Telangana from 2532 to 3367; Rajasthan from 3525 to 4686. Madhya Pradeshs Haj quota has been increased from 2708 to 3599; Delhis from 1224 to 1628; Andhra Pradeshs from 2052 to 2728 while Jharkhands quota has been increased from 2719 to 3306.
Maternal and Infant Care

To improve QoC (Quality of care) around birth, WHO and other partners launched the QoC Improvement Network in February 2017 in Malawi. This network of partners and 9 first wave countries (Bangladesh, India and seven countries from the Africa) made a commitment for improving QoC around birth. The participants from India, including Govt. of India nominees and partners  WHO(World Health organisation), BMGF (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), USAID (United States Agency for International Development), UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund), academia and professional associations and agencies, also deliberated on a roadmap to improve QoC for Maternal and Newborn health in India.

The network advocates for improving the quality of care through:

 Alignment of National Quality Assurance System with the WHO QoC guidelines to improve maternal and newborn health

 Piloting the District implementation model in selected states/districts

 Enabling Quality Assurance teams at the health care facilities to monitor and implement QoC measures using the PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycle.

This aims to bring in a culture of quality at the facilities to promote positive and sustainable health outcomes. Learnings from these pilots are to be documented for probable scale-up under the National Quality Assurance programme.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), ShFaggan Singh Kulaste stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister of Uganda calls on President

Rt. Hon. Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Prime Minister of Uganda called on President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday (March 9, 2017).

Welcoming the Ugandan Prime Minister to India for participating in the CII-EXIM Bank Conclave, the President said India values his presence and contribution. He congratulated Dr. Rugunda and his party for their victory in the Presidential and Parliamentary elections last month. The President said India is happy to have been of assistance in the exercise by providing indelible ink.

The President said we, in India, appreciate President Musevenis stellar contributions to peace and security in Uganda and his contribution to peace in the East Africa region and the African continent as a whole.

The President said India is committed to continue its political, technical and economic cooperation with Uganda in the manner that Government of Uganda requires it for meeting its developmental goals. Indian companies are also keen to participate in the development of the Ugandan oil sector.

Reciprocating the Presidents sentiments, the Ugandan Prime Minister congratulated India for having organized an excellent Conclave bringing business and political leaders from Africa to India. He said the Indian business community in Uganda is doing wonderful work. They are a blessing to Uganda and India. Even though they are small in number, they have a prominent role in the Ugandan economy. The Prime Minister thanked India for the developmental assistance provided to Uganda and expressed his countrys commitment to further strengthen relations with India.
The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju has commended the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for its diverse role in securing vital installations and national assets. Addressing the 48th CISF Day Parade in Ghaziabad today, Shri Rijiju said the CISF contingent deployed under the UN Flag helped conduct peaceful Presidential elections in afar Haiti during November 2016. The CISF is also deployed at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, he said. .

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From a modest beginning in 1969, Shri Rijiju said, the CISF today secures Government buildings and provides security to most of high risk installations such as the airports, harbours, atomic power plants and space research facilities. He said that providing foolproof security to Delhi Metro, which records a ridership of more than 30 lakh passengers everyday, for a decade, is a big achievement. CISF is also providing security to 78 VVIPs presently, he added. Shri Rijiju also congratulated the Force personnel for bagging the Best Marching Contingent Trophy during this years Republic Day Parade. .

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In his address, Director General, CISF, Shri OP Singh said the CISF security at many Indian airports has been adjudged among best in the world by the Brussels based Airport Council International. .

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On the occasion, Shri Rijiju presented medals to the CISF personnel. He reviewed the Parade and took salute of the March Past. .

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Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) had launched a Centrally Sponsored Scheme  National Mission on Food Processing (CSS-NMFP) implemented through States / UTs in 12th Plan (w.e.f. 01.04.2012). The Mission was implemented in the ratio of 75:25 by Government of India and States; North Eastern States @ 90:10 and 100% grant for UTs. The grant in aid to Mini Mills of Pulses was also one of the activities considered for financial assistance by the States/UTs under the CSS-NMFP.

In the Union Budget (2015-16), Government of India (GOI) had delinked CSS-NMFP from Central Govt. support. The decision of de-linking of CSS-NMFP was conveyed to State Governments accordingly to decide to continue (or not) NMFP scheme w.e.f. 01.04.2015 and onwards, out of their increased resources resulting from the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.

In view of de-linking of NMFP, this Ministry has requested all the State Governments to ensure the release of funds to all the ongoing projects approved by State Level Empowered Committee (SLEC) including that of the committed liabilities from the States own resources.

The State/UT Governments including Tamilnadu State have been sending representations for release of central funds (i.e. Government of India share) for meeting the pending committed liabilities of the projects approved by them under CSS-NMFP before de-linking and also for continuation of the scheme.

The matter was considered by the Government of India and it was decided and reiterated that the CSS-NMFP had been de-linked from Central Govt. as a consequence of higher devolution of funds to States and the State Govt. need to implement the CSS-NMFP scheme from the States own increased resources.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Following is the text of statement of the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh in Rajya Sabha today regarding incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on March 7-8, 2017:

As per the available information, on 7th March, 2017 at 09.41 hours a blast took place in the general compartment of train no. 59320 Bhopal-Ujjain Passenger near railway station Jabdi, district Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh. 10 passengers got injuries in this blast and railway property was also damaged. The injured were immediately rushed to the hospital. All the injured are presently out of danger.

With regard to the above incident, a case crime number 47/17 u/s 3/4 Explosive Substances Act was registered against unknown accused in police station GRP, Ujjain for investigation on the report of train guard.

As soon as the information about the incident was received, DGP, Madhya Pradesh rushed to the spot along with other senior officers of Police and Administration and initiated necessary action with regard to the investigation of the incident. Initial inspection of the scene of crime indicated that the accused had used an IED prepared by using locally available explosives for the blast.

Madhya Pradesh Police coordinated with central agencies for the investigation of the incident. Subsequently, based on available intelligence, three suspects were taken into custody by Madhya Pradesh Police during vehicle checking at a place Pipariya in district Hoshangabad. Interrogation of these suspects indicated their involvement in the aforesaid incident and they were arrested. Further investigation of the case is being done in coordination with central agencies and information is being collected about other accomplices of the accused.

Based on the interrogation of the above suspects and other available information, Uttar Pradesh Police initiated action at different places in Lucknow, Etawah, Kanpur and Auraiya.

In Lucknow, Information was received about one Mohammad Saifullah alias Ali, resident of Kanpur, renting an accommodation in Haji Colony, Police Station Kakori. ATS Uttar Pradesh laid a siege of the house and made vigorous attempts to arrest the suspect Saifullah. However, he refused to surrender and started firing on ATS team. Ultimately, after 12 hours of efforts, the ATS team entered the room in which Saifullah was holed up and in the ensuing encounter, this suspected terrorist was killed. From the room of the deceased, 8 pistols, 630 live cartridges and other material which included cash of Rs. 1.5 lakh, about 45 grams gold, 3 mobile phones, 4 sim cards, 2 wireless sets and some foreign currency was recovered.

A case crime number 2/2017 u/s 307/121A/122/123/124-A IPC, 3/4/25/27 Arms Act and 16/18/23 UAPA has been registered at Police Station ATS, Lucknow with regard to the incident.

ATS Kanpur Unit has arrested one more suspect from Jajmau Police Station area against whom a case crime number 3/2017 u/s 121/121A/123/124A IPC and 16/18/23/38 of UAPA has been registered.

Apart from the above, two more accused, one from Etawah and one from Auraiya have been arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police on the charge of supplying weapons to the above gang of suspected terrorists.

Till 8th March, 6 accused were arrested in the above incidents. With the arrest of 2 more accused by U.P. A.T.S. on 9th March, total 8 arrests have been made in these incidents so far.

The above sequence of events presents an excellent example of coordination amongst the State Police and Central Agencies. Due to the prompt action taken by the police of both the States, a possible threat to the national security was successfully averted. Further investigations will be handed over to NIA.
Use of Military Infrastructure

As per the existing policy, civilians, Para-Military personnel and other Central Armed Police Forces personnel requiring medical treatment are admitted to Armed Forces Hospital, if beds are available.

Further, Army Public Schools admit upto 10% civilian inhabitants who reside in and around military garrisons in small towns. Admission to some colleges are also open to citizens and domiciles of the State based on approvals of the respective State Government where these colleges are located.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Jagdambika Pal in Lok Sabha today.

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American Group Inc said on Thursday its Chief Executive Peter Hancock will step down, a decision he made after poor financial performance frustrated shareholders and the insurer's board of directors.

Hancock, 58, will remain as CEO until a successor is named. In a joint statement, neither he nor Chairman Douglas Steenland gave any clues as to who might replace him.

"Without wholehearted shareholder support for my continued leadership, a protracted period of uncertainty could undermine the progress we have made and damage the interests of our policyholders, employees, regulators, debtholders, and shareholders," Hancock said.

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, who is AIG's fourth-largest investor, cheered Hancock's departure: "We fully support the actions taken today by the board of AIG," he tweeted.

AIG's shares were down 0.4 percent to $63.21 on Thursday at the close of trading in New York. The stock trades at less than 85 percent of the stated value of AIG's assets.

When Icahn first began acquiring his stake in 2015, he advocated splitting up into three parts. The insurer instead embarked on a two-year turnaround plan developed by Hancock, which intended to return $25 billion to shareholders. Last year, returned a total of $13.1 billion of capital to shareholders, the company said.

The board is still committed to that plan, Steenland said.

According to AIG's 2016 proxy filing, Hancock could receive an exit package of $20.4 million or $31.5 million, depending on whether the board determines his reason for leaving was "good."

EXTERNAL POSSIBILITIES

Many longtime executives who would have been obvious internal candidates for CEO have left since Hancock took the helm in 2014. Analysts have floated several names of external possibilities since AIG stunned Wall Street with a surprisingly wide fourth-quarter loss on Feb. 14.

Among them are John Doyle, who spent decades at AIG before leaving to oversee the brokerage business at insurer Marsh & McLennan.

Brian Duperreault, who oversaw the turnaround of Marsh & McLennan after the 2008 financial crisis and is now CEO of Hamilton Insurance Group is also a possibility, as is Daniel Glaser, the current CEO of Marsh & McLennan, and Constantine Iordanou, CEO of insurer Arch Capital Group Ltd.

These executives either declined to comment or could not immediately be reached.

Several AIG board members also have insurance industry leadership experience.

What is important, analysts said, is that the next CEO has a firm grasp on AIG's troubles in property and casualty insurance which have weighed heavily on results.

"We've seen a few examples in the insurance world of similarly large organizations that were similarly distressed that were able to turn themselves around," said Meyer Shields, who covers AIG shares at Keefer, Bruyette & Woods. "I think it is fair to say that there are people out there who could do this job."

The incoming CEO will be AIG's sixth in 12 years and will be tasked with carrying out the insurer's plan to continue shedding assets and reducing risk exposure some nine years after receiving a $182 billion government bailout during the 2008 financial crisis.

Although Hancock resisted calls to break up AIG, he did complete or announce 17 deals to shrink the company by $13 billion worth of assets in total. AIG's overall balance sheet was $498 billion at year-end, less than half its size at the end of 2007.

Shrinking the balance sheet is important for AIG, which is currently labelled a systemically important financial institution, or SIFI, by the U.S. government. Icahn's breakup calls were intended to rid AIG of that designation, which forces it to hold more capital and undergo tougher regulatory supervision.

Icahn has a 4.7 percent stake in the company. Samuel Merksamer, who represents Icahn on AIG's board and several others, exited the activist investor's firm in December. Merksamer, however, continues to serve as Ichan's representative.

Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson also holds AIG shares and a board seat, though he has been shedding some of the stake.

Directors were frustrated by AIG's stunning fourth-quarter loss, which was the result of under-reserving, and the second surprise charge in a row, people familiar with the matter said. Hancock announced his decision to resign at a regular board meeting on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn in New York and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Michael Flaherty in New York and Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Meredith Mazzilli)
After accusing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the campaign trail of "ruining Germany" by welcoming refugees, President Trump will have his first face-to-face meeting with the German leader at the White House on Tuesday.

The two were expected to discuss strengthening the alliance, collaborating to fight terrorism and taking steps to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, White House officials said today.

Trump's first encounter will be aimed at building a personal rapport with a European partner who was among former President Barack Obama's strongest allies and confidantes, according to the officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity despite the president's recent criticism of anonymous sources.

Merkel, however, will need to look past Trump's past comments, when he accused her of "ruining Germany" because of her acceptance of refugees. Trump often claimed that his Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, was running to be "America's Angela Merkel" and argued that Germany was in the midst of crisis.

White House officials said Trump would press Germany to set an example on the need for members to spend more on defense, which Germany has resisted. NATO's 28-member countries committed in 2014 to spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense within a decade but only the U.S. And four other members of the post-World War II military coalition are in compliance.

Trump referred to as "obsolete" prior to his inauguration. But, he has since told European leaders he agrees on the "fundamental importance" of the military alliance, a message that was reinforced by Vice President Mike Pence during his recent trip to Europe.

The meeting with Merkel will also allow Trump to discuss peace efforts in Ukraine. Pence and other U.S. Officials have said Russia must adhere to a 2015 deal to end fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

White House officials said Trump was eager to hear Merkel's views on her interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many European allies have been rattled by Trump's positive statements about Putin and the meeting will come amid questions about Trump associates' connections to Russia.

The White House said the two leaders may also discuss the Paris accord on climate change. Trump vowed during his campaign to withdraw from the climate agreement, suggesting that global warming is a hoax created by the Chinese to hurt US Competitiveness. But the administration said it is still formulating its policy on the issue ahead of the G7 meeting in Italy in May and the G20 gathering in Germany in July.
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed that if he was elected president, he would resurrect Operation Wetback of 1954. Operation Wetback, the story goes, was the single largest deportation campaign in U.S. history, resulting in more than one million deportations to Mexico and a dramatic reduction in the number of unlawful entries at the U.S.-Mexico border.
late on Thursday rejected a statement by the United Nations Security Council that condemned the nation's ballistic missile launch earlier this week.

Citing Korean Central News Agency, Xinhua reported that a spokesman for the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA) said, "There is no country in the world whose army responsible for the defence of the state takes into account the approval of the UN or article of the convention when staging exercises."

"We have never acknowledged the illegal 'resolution' cooked up by the US and its vassal forces," said the KPA.

The "largest-ever nuclear war drills against the north" held by Washington and Seoul "are finding fault with the regular and just drill of the KPA for defending sovereignty," said the statement.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday called on Pyongyang to "refrain from further actions, including nuclear tests, in violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and comply fully with its obligations under these resolutions."

The 15-nation UN body said the March 5 missile launches "are in grave violation of the North Korea's obligations" under relevant Security Council resolutions.

The United States and South Korea are holding the two-month joint military exercises "the Foal Eagle," which Pyongyang said were the largest ever drills in preparation for war on the Korean Peninsula.
Oil fell about 2 percent on Thursday in heavy trade, extending the previous session's slump to prices not seen since an OPEC-led pact to cut production was agreed, as record US crude inventories fed doubts about the effectiveness of the deal to curb a global glut.

US crude prices fell through the $50 a barrel support level, with market participants unwinding some of the massive number of bullish wagers they had amassed after the deal.

The losses followed Wednesday's slide of more than 5 percent, the steepest in a year, after data showed crude stocks in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, swelled by 8.2 million barrels last week to a record 528.4 million barrels. [EIA/S]

But several analysts remained bullish on oil for the long term.

"Headline risk can capture the imagination of the market over the near term, but we see dips as short-lived, key buying opportunities," RBC analysts said in a note.

"Record high inventory levels are reason for pause, but we believe that the market is overly focused on U.S. stocks ... The U.S. will be the last of the major regions to rebalance stocks given that storage capacity remains abundant, cheap and U.S. shale is extremely elastic in a $50-per-barrel price environment."

Brent crude settled 92 cents, or 1.7 percent, lower at $52.19 a barrel. On Wednesday, the benchmark slumped 5 percent, its biggest daily percentage move in a year.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) extended Wednesday's 5.4 percent losses by 2 percent, or $1, to end at $49.28 a barrel, the first time below the $50-mark since mid December.

Trading volumes soared with a record high of more than 487,000 lots changing hands in front-month Brent crude, according to Reuters data that extends back to 1988. Over 1 million contracts in front-month WTI traded, the highest since the cuts were announced on Nov. 30.

Brent and WTI hit respective session lows of $51.50 and $48.59, levels not seen since the cuts.

Both benchmarks, however, were still within a tight range of about $3-$5 that they have been trading in since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed with other major producers, including Russia, to curb output during the first half of the year in a bid to lift prices after a two-year rout.

"I still think we will stick in a fairly narrow range with the current levels reflecting the average price for the remainder of the year and a bottom of around $40 and a top end of somewhere around $60," said Chris Gaffney, president of EverBank World Markets in St. Louis, Missouri.

Options trade also reflected hopes that prices would recover. Two of the three most actively traded options in US crude were the April $50 calls with more than 24,000 lots traded and the April $51 calls with more than 17,000 lots changing hands by afternoon.

"Given that we do expect OECD oil stocks to decline substantially this year helped by the large cuts and robust global demand growth, we consider the recent drop in crude oil prices to be a good opportunity to enter into bullish option structures," strategists at Societe Generale said in a note.

But U.S. drilling has picked up, with producers planning to expand crude production in North Dakota, Oklahoma and other shale regions. The Permian, America's largest oilfield, has seen output jump.

However, senior Saudi energy officials told top independent U.S. oil firms in a closed-door meeting this week that they should not assume OPEC would extend output curbs to offset rising production from U.S. shale fields, two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Senior Saudi energy officials told top independent US oil firms in a closed-door meeting this week that they should not assume would extend output curbs to offset rising production from US shale fields, two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and top non- exporter Russia are in an uneasy truce with U.S. shale firms after a two-year price war that sent many shale producers to the wall. The Saudis and Russia led a deal to curb output in late 2016 to end a global supply glut that pushed oil prices to a 12-year low.

Saudis tell US oil firms won't extend cuts to offset shale: Sources, who this week outlined ambitious production growth plans across the United States.

Speaking at an industry conference in the US energy capital of Houston on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that there would be no "free rides" for US shale producers benefiting from the upturn.

Falih's senior advisors went a step further at the meeting on Tuesday evening with executives from Anadarko , ConocoPhillips , Occidental Petroleum Corp , Pioneer Natural Resources , Newfield Exploration and EOG Resources .

"One of the advisors said that OPEC would not take the hit for the rise in U.S. shale production," a U.S. executive who was at the meeting told Reuters. "He said we and other shale producers should not automatically assume OPEC will extend the cuts."

The Saudis called the meeting to exchange views on the market and to gauge the outlook for shale output, both sources said.

Both sources spoke about the meeting on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

A spokesman for Conoco declined to comment on the meeting. The five other U.S. companies represented at the meeting did not respond to requests for comment.

Saudi energy officials also declined to comment.

The meeting came after OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo met hedge funds and shale producers in Houston earlier in the week, seeking to widen talks on how to tame the global glut.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries joined forces with Russia and several other non-OPEC producers last November and pledged to cut production by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months starting Jan. 1.

Falih said on Tuesday that global inventories had fallen more slowly than he expected in the first two months of the year, although oil market fundamentals were improving as a result of the curbs.

On Wednesday, oil prices plunged 5 percent to lowest levels this year after U.S. crude inventories surged to a record high, in part because of rising output from shale producers. The price continued to fall on Thursday.

The inventory rise stoked concern that the glut could persist because shale supply, along with more output from Brazil and Canada, could offset output cuts by OPEC and some non-OPEC suppliers.[O/R]

The U.S. government expects U.S. oil output to rise 330,000 bpd in 2017, mostly from shale, but some analysts and producers are forecasting the increase could be more than double that amount.

OPEC next meets on May 25 in Vienna to discuss supply policy, and is expected to decide there on whether to extend supply curbs implemented on Jan. 1.

In a joint news conference on Tuesday, Falih, Russian Oil Minister Alexander Novak, Mexican Deputy Secretary of Energy Aldo Flores, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi and Secretary-General Barkindo, said they were happy with compliance by the pact's members so far.

Unlike the OPEC and non-OPEC state-run producers that have agreed to curb output, there is no mechanism for U.S. independent producers and global oil majors to restrain output. Their imperatives are commercial, and they produce as much oil as they can at profit.
The Trump administration wants to build a deeper relationship with India, the has said, expressing confidence that the two countries will continue to grow their ties.

"I think we are, as talked about during the campaign and the transition, establishing a deeper relationship with Prime Minister Modi and US-India businesses," Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Thursday at his daily news conference.

"And I think as we move forward in terms of our foreign policy, we'll have further updates on that. Trump spoke very clearly and frequently about the relationship that we have and hope to continue to grow with India," Spicer said.

Spicer also condemned the killing of a 32-year-old Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla and another injured in an alleged hate crime in Kansas.

"...Whether it's the event that happened in Kansas City, other events, the attacks on Jewish community centres that continue to plague us  I guess we saw another report this morning, some unfortunate activity.

"We have got to continue to call it out. We've got to continue to root it out. We've got to continue to engage law enforcement," he said.

Spicer urged Americans to stand up for the principles that unite them while asking all to be outraged and disgusted by such incidents.

"The president spoke so eloquently about during his joint address. He made it very clear that while certain policies may divide us as individuals, there are certain principles that can unite us," Spicer said.
This weeks release of what is apparently a trove of Central Intelligence Agency information related to its computer hacking should surprise no one: Despite its complaints of being targeted by cyberattackers from other countries, the U.S. does a fair amount of its own hacking. Multiple federal agencies are involved, including the CIA and the National Security Agency , and even friendly nations . These latest disclosures also remind us of the cybersecurity truism that any electronic device connected to a network can be hacked.

As cybersecurity researchers conducting a preliminary review of the data released in what calls Vault 7, we find the documents mostly confirm existing knowledge about how common hacking is and how many potential targets there are in the world.
The government is studying a proposal to raise the import duty on pulses, but hasn't reached at any final conclusion. Bumper output this season has led to a slide in prices.
Automobile giant Volkswagen pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges in order to dodge pollution rules on nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles, by usage of software to suppress emissions of nitrogen oxide during car tests.

The German automaker has already agreed to pay $4.3bn in civil and criminal penalties, although VW's total cost of the scandal has been pegged at about $21bn, including a pledge to repair or buy back vehicles, reports the Guardian.

Under its agreement, VW must cooperate in the investigation and let an independent monitor oversee compliance for three years. Separately, six Volkswagen employees face US criminal charges in the scandal.

The development comes after last month, where the company's executives insisted they had "misled nobody" in testimony before the British House of Commons' transport select committee.

After West Virginia University researchers discovered differences in testing and real- emissions, US regulators confronted the company, but Volkswagen denied the use of the so-called 'defeat device' but finally admitted it in September 2015.

However, VW has the money to pay the fine, even though the cost is staggering and would bankrupt many companies.

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A Delhi-bound GoAir flight with 165 passengers onboard grounded on Friday at Kolkata airport after it failed to take off twice due to technical glitch.

The Kolkata-Delhi Go Air flight G8 -165 returned from runway after a technical problem was observed in the aircraft.

The repairing process is underway and the passengers have been accommodated in different airlines.

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Pakistani blogger and human rights defender Ahmad Waqass Goraya, who disappeared from Lahore in January this year, said he was brutally tortured before his release after almost a month in captivity.

"I was tortured beyond limits. My ear nerve is still damaged, my muscles are also damaged", said the blogger at a side event titled "Closing the Net: Attacks on Asian Human Rights Defenders" during the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Goraya, who lives in the Netherlands for over a decade, said police in Pakistan has filed a case of blasphemy against him.

He added, "You see radical people are running Facebook pages and they are not being targeted. However, the activists and their families are being targeted by both Islamists and law enforcement agencies".

Five bloggers and activists, including university professor Salman Haider, disappeared from various parts of Pakistan. They were released after few weeks following widespread protests and condemnation by the people in Pakistan and rest of the .

Online bloggers and writers are being frequently targeted in South Asia, especially in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where Islamic fundamentalists are against those speaking against Islam and military.

Speaking at the event, Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury, a publisher and writer from Bangladesh said he was targeted by Islamists in his country for publishing books on Islamists. He was brutally attacked in his office and now lives in-exile in Norway.

"From 2013 to 2016, almost 14 bloggers and writers were killed in Bangladesh by the Islamist groups. I got the threat in February 2015 during a book fair. Two of the writers, whose books I had published, were killed and I lost most of the business", said Chowdhury.

He added, "On October 31, 2015, they (Islamists) came in my office and attacked me. They wanted to kill me but luckily I survived".

Chowdhury blamed state and non-state actors, both, for curbing freedom of expression.

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President Pranab Mukherjee has said India is committed to continuing its political, technical and economic cooperation with Uganda in the manner that Uganda Government requires it for meeting its developmental goals.

President Mukherjee made these remarks during his meeting with Prime Minister of Uganda Ruhakana Rugunda, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.

Welcoming the Ugandan Prime Minister to India for participating in the CII-EXIM Bank Conclave, the President said India values his presence and contribution.

President Mukherjee congratulated Dr. Rugunda and his party for their victory in the presidential and parliamentary elections last month.

The President said India is happy to have been of assistance in the exercise by providing indelible ink.

The President Mukherjee said, "We, in India, appreciate President Museveni's stellar contributions to peace and security in Uganda and his contribution to peace in the East Africa region and the African continent as a whole."

He said that Indian companies are also keen to participate in the development of the Ugandan oil sector.

Reciprocating the president's sentiments, the Ugandan Prime Minister congratulated India for having organized an excellent Conclave bringing business and political leaders from Africa to India.

Prime Minister Rugunda said the Indian business community in Uganda is doing wonderful work. They are a blessing to Uganda and India. Even though they are small in number, they have a prominent role in the Ugandan economy.

He thanked India for the developmental assistance provided to Uganda and expressed his country's commitment to further strengthen relations with India.

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In a major blow to Australia, pace spearhead Mitchell Starc has been ruled out of the remaining matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy because of a stress fracture in his right foot.

The left-arm pacer suffered the problem during the second Test in Bengaluru which Australia lost by 75 runs. Starc was sent for scans on Friday which revealed the fracture and now he would be flying home.

"Mitchell experienced some pain in his right foot during the second Test in Bangalore which unfortunately had not subsided a few days after the Test as we had hoped," ESPNcricinfo quoted Australia team physiotherapist David Beakley as saying.

"We made the decision to scan his foot in Bangalore this morning and unfortunately it has revealed a stress fracture. Subsequently, this means Mitchell will be unavailable for the remainder of the tour of India and will return home to Australia to start his rehabilitation," he added.

No replacement has yet been announced by the Australian selectors and it is most likely that Jackson Bird looms will be playing in his place in the third Test in Ranchi which begins next Thursday.

Earlier, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was also ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a shoulder injury. Seam-bowling all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has been included in the squad as replacement for Marsh.

It is expected that Starc will be available for the Champions Trophy later this year.

The four-match series is currently leveled at 1-1 with the visitors having won the first Test by 333 runs. However, the Virat Kohli led-side came back strongly and defeated Australia by 75 runs in the second Test played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

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Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Thursday observed that the powers of a foreign minister could not be exercised by an advisor while hearing a petition against appointments of two advisors to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

According to the Dawn, a citizen, Mahmood Akhtar Naqvi, challenged the appointments of Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to Prime Minister Sharif on Foreign Affairs and Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs.

The petitioner also questioned the appointment of Sardar Mehtab Abbasi as Sharif's advisor on aviation.

The petitioner's counsel argued that Aziz and Fatemi had been running the Foreign Ministry like ministers. The counsel pointed out that the Prime Minister could appoint five advisors, but a big number of advisors had been working in violation of the rules.

A deputy attorney general objected to the maintainability of the petition and asked the court to dismiss the same. He argued that the petitioner had relied upon nothing concrete but press clippings.

The Chief Justice observed that the courts could be petitioned on the basis of clear and reliable media reports.

The Chief Justice said powers/roles of ministers and advisers had been clearly defined in the laws and an adviser could not assume the powers of a minister.

Chief Justice Shah adjourned further hearing till March 16 and sought more arguments from both sides - the petitioner and the government.

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Nepal on Friday urged India to investigate the alleged killing of a Nepali citizen by the Indian security force.

"I spoke with fm of India regarding killing of Nepali citizen by Indian s.force and urge her to investigate and bring guilty to justice," Nepal Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Prakash S. Mahat tweeted, referring to his conversation with Minister of External Affairs of India Sushma Swaraj.

Earlier in the day, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that following reports of the death of a Nepali national yesterday at the India-Nepal border, allegedly in a firing incident, the Sashastra Seema Bal had initiated an enquiry.

The Government of Nepal is being requested through diplomatic channels to share post-mortem and forensic reports to facilitate the process, it said.

Officials of the two bordering districts - Kanchanpur of Nepal and Lakhimpur Khiri of India - also met in the backdrop of the prevailing situation and agreed to maintain peace and order.

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The landmark Hindu marriage bill was passed by the Pakistan Parliament on Thursday and it now only needs the signature of the president to become a law.

The Hindu Marriage Bill 2017 is the first personal law in Pakistan to regulate the marriages in the Hindu community. The bill will provide mechanism for registration of Hindu marriage which includes conditions for contracting the marriage, procedure for dissolution of the marriage and the grounds on the basis of which such a marriage can be dissolved.

It also provides the concept of judicial separation where marriage remains intact, however, parties are no longer under obligation to cohabit each other, reports Geo News.

The bill will help Hindus documentary proof of their marriage.

The bill was presented in the National Assembly by Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael who said that it was a constitutional obligation to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities and to protect the marriage, the family, the mother and the child.

"There was no law to regulate the registration of Hindu marriages and ancillary matters thereto", he added.

The bill was finalised after numerous consultations with relevant ministries/divisions and representatives of the Hindu community.

According to the bill, minors cannot get married as the minimum age of 18 has been prescribed as a condition precedent for contracting the marriage.

It also protects customs and customary rites of the Hindu community.

The ministry also obtained resolutions form the provincial governments to regulate the marriage under one law applicable to whole of Pakistan.

It will, however, be the first personal law for Pakistani Hindus, which will be applicable in the province of Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Sindh province has already formulated its own Hindu marriage law.

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Here's another reason for would-be-mommies to eat plenty of leafy green vegetables during pregnancy as it can protect their newborn from high blood pressure, suggests a new research.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Hypertension, indicated that those born to women with high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity were 40 percent less likely to have high blood pressure if their mothers had above average levels of folic acid.

Folic acid - found in spinach, kale and broccoli - is thought to protect childrens' heart .

The nutrient - found in spinach, kale and broccoli - is a member of the family of B vitamins and it is particularly involved in gene expression and cellular growth, reports The Mirror.

"Our study adds further evidence on the early life origins of high blood pressure," said Dr Xiaobin Wang from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

"Our findings raise the possibility of early risk assessment and intervention before conception and during pregnancy may lead to new ways to prevent high blood pressure and its consequences across lifespan and generations," Dr Wang added.

In young adults, higher folic acid consumption has been associated with a lower incidence of hypertension later in life.

Citrus juices as well as dark green vegetables are a good source.

The team first analysed data of 1,290 children from families in Boston, which included low-income racial and ethnic minorities at high risk for high blood pressure.

Almost seven in ten of the mother-child pairs - 67.8 percent were black and a fifth 19.2 percent Hispanic.

They were recruited from birth and followed prospectively for nine years at the Boston Medical Centre.

About 38.2 percent mothers had had one or more risk factor for heart disease or diabetes, 14.6 percent had hypertension, 11.1 percent had diabetes and 25.1 percent had pre-pregnancy obesity.

About 28.7 percent children had elevated blood pressure between three and nine years. They were more likely to have mothers with pre-pregnancy obesity, hypertensive disorders, and diabetes.

"The study findings suggest higher levels of maternal folic acid may help counteract the adverse associations of maternal cardiometabolic risk factors with child systolic blood pressure, although maternal folic acid levels alone were not associated with child systolic blood pressure," Dr Wang noted.

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The Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against Calcutta High Court judge C. S. Karnan in a contempt case against him.

A seven-judge bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) J.S. Khehar issued the bailable warrant with a personal bail bond of Rs. 10,000 against Justice Karnan, who allegedly made slanderous remarks against judges of the Madras High Court.

The top court's decision came after Justice Karnan refused to appear before it to face contempt charges.

The apex court also directed the Director General of Police (DGP) of the state to serve the warant on Justice Karnan personally at his residence.

The apex court also refused the request of Justice Karnan for a personal hearing.

On February 13, Justice Karnan had skipped his appearance in the Supreme Court, following which his deadline to personally appear before the apex court was extended by three weeks.

The apex court had earlier granted three weeks to Justice Karnan to appear before the court and to reply to a show cause notice issued by it.

At its previous hearing, the Supreme Court had directed Karnan to appear before the court in person in connection with suo motu contempt proceedings. But neither he nor his lawyer presented themselves before it on the date of the hearing.

In an unprecedented move, the apex court had invoked its powers to initiate contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan, for writing letters casting aspersions on several judges.

Justice Karnan has been accused of circulation of disparaging letters against sitting high court judges of the Madras High Court, and he has also allegedly written about Supreme Court judges in his letters to the Prime Minister's Office.

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In a goodwill gesture, Sri Lanka on Friday released 53 Indian fishermen lodged in Jaffna Prison.

More fishermen are expected to be released tomorrow from the Vavuniya and Trincomalee jail by the Sri Lankan Government.

All the fishermen will be sent to India soon.

Earlier on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that all 85 fishermen, who are in custody of the Sri Lankan Government, would be released soon.

"The Government of Sri Lanka has informed the High Commission of India in Colombo that all 85 Indian fishermen, currently in custody, will be released. We understand that the instructions in this regard to the concerned authorities in Sri Lanka have been issued. We are awaiting further orders within Sri Lanka in this regard," MEA official spokesperson Gopal Bagley told the media.

With regards to the killing of an Indian fishermen allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy, Bagley said that the High Commission had reached to "the highest possible levels in Colombo" and was assured of "thorough investigation" into the matter.

Earlier this week, a group of Indian fishermen, who were fishing between Danushkodi and Katchatheevu off the Tamil Nadu coast, were allegedly fired upon by the Sri Lankan Navy in which one fisherman was killed.

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The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that probe by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has been initiated with regards to the death of a Nepali national on the border.

"Following reports of the death of a Nepali national yesterday at the India-Nepal border, allegedly in a firing incident, the Sashastra Seema Bal has initiated an enquiry on this matter. The Government of Nepal is being requested through diplomatic channels to share post-mortem and forensic reports to facilitate the process," MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

He added that officials of the two bordering districts - Kanchanpur of Nepal and Lakhimpur Khiri of India - have met in the backdrop of the prevailing situation and agreed to maintain peace and order.

Earlier, a Nepalese man was killed when Indian border guards allegedly opened fire following a dispute over the construction of a culvert on Sano Khola river along the frontier with India.

The Nepali Government has condemned the killing of an innocent Nepali national Govinda Gautam at Nepal-India border near Anandabazar at Punarbas Municipality, Ward No. 8 of Kanchanpur district.

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Tibetan Youth Congress activists protested outside the Chinese embassy on the occassion of 58th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day in Delhi.

Deprived of Human Rights in Tibet, the activists demanded freedom from Chinese rule.

"More than 140 Tibetans are killed. Tibet is not part of China. We want freedom," one of the activists told ANI.

Police personnel had to interfere into the matter to bring the situation in control.

China occupation of Tibet began nearly one decade before the uprising on 10 March 1959, when troops from the People's Liberation Army invaded the country.

March10 marks the anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising against the Chinese occupation in 1959. On this date, fearful of plans to abduct the Dalai Lama, thousands of Tibetans surrounded the Potala Palace in Lhasa to offer protection in defiance of Chinese occupation forces.

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Kashmiri writer and director Junaid Qureshi on Friday told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) the state of Jammu and Kashmir was not for sale while voicing apprehension towards the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Qureshi said that the Valley of Jammu and Kashmir also included Jammu, Ladakh, Pakistan Administered Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and that China's presence in GB was an extension of its ambitions of reconstructing the ancient Silk Road, while pointing out that a part of the 3,000-kilometer long corridor will pass through GB, which did not fall within the jurisdiction of the constitution of Pakistan.

"The construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, at a cost of 54 billion dollars, is an important pawn in this New Great Game," he said while rejecting "the construction of this corridor of exploitation."

"Gilgit Baltistan is an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir State. Pakistan has no right to divide Jammu and Kashmir further and sell its resources under the false rubric of infrastructural development. My homeland Jammu and Kashmir is not for sale," he added.

Pakistan's move to illegally annex Gilgit-Baltistan, change the fundamentals of the actual Kashmir-issue and cement China's stake in this dispute, totally negated the interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their future, while jeopardising any kind of solution to this long-standing conflict, said Qureshi.

Terming the CPEC illegal and in contravention of international law, the Kashmiri writer called upon urgent attention and intervention of the international community.

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Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General (ADG) of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary has directed Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Kanpur to register a case against Rashtriya Ulama Council (RUC) chief Aamir Rashadi Madni for allegedly inciting kin of terrorist killed in Lucknow terror stand-off.

Earlier in the day, the Rashtriya Ulama Council (RUC) Aamir Rashadi Madni lashed out at the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), the Government and media while stating the terror stand-off was fake and was performed to trigger communal polarisation amid UP polls.

The RUC president, who had visited terror suspect Saifullah's father Sartaj Mohammed, further targetted Uttar Pradesh's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary, questioning his silence on the encounter.

Earlier on March 8, the terrorist holed up inside a house in the outskirts of Lucknow at Thakurganj locality under Kakori police station, was killed by security forces late last night following a 12-hour long anti-terror operation.

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The high-voltage campaign for the last round of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for 402 seats ended on Monday. The voter turnout during these phases was an average 60 to 61 percent.

The major contenders -- Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) -- left no stone unturned to woo voters.

The final phase witnessed mega roadshows and back-to-back rallies of top brass leaders, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati.

The crucial question now is which way the wind is blowing? This baffling question has not one, but many answers, contrary to the 2007 and 2012 assembly elections when the outcome was far clearer before the poll results were out.

The state's political landscape is making it tough for the people to predict who takes charge eventually in Lucknow, as adversaries are changing from constituency to constituency.

This time too the result is expected to be fractured in the absence of a wave in favour of any one of the major players.

The SP-Congress alliance faces an acid test as they have pitted candidates against each other in the Payagpur assembly constituency.

The BJP looks fighting fit in 2017, but the fact remains that in 2014, when it swept the state on an appeal from Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the Samajwadi Party and BSP polled 19.77 percent and 22.35 percent of the votes respectively. Mayawati failed to open her account in the Lok Sabha and Mulayam won four family seats.

Mayawati, who is contesting this year's polls alone, has so far been cornering both the BJP and the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance in the hope of ensuring that the elephant has the last laugh in this politically vital state. Popularly addressed as 'Behenji', Mayawati has also been vocal against both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. This year's polls will also decide whether the four-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh continues to enjoy the support of Dalits and minorities.

Mayawati's rise from humble beginnings has been called a "miracle of democracy" by former prime minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.

After losing the 2012 assembly elections to the rival Samajwadi Party, she resigned from her post as party leader on March 7 that year. Later that month, she was elected by acclamation to a seat in the Rajya Sabha.

In 2008, Forbes placed Mayawati in the 59th place on its list of the 100 most powerful women in the world

While the BJP has tried hard at polarisation, the SP-Congress alliance has played the development card and the BSP banking on Dalit-Muslim vote consolidation.

The Highs:

 No violence was reported from any polling booth during the seven phases.

 No leader was banned from campaigning for hate speech despite certain controversial statements.

 Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple evolved as a leader, addressing independent meetings and holding roadshows.

The Lows:

 The BJP did not field any Muslim candidate. It also asked the Election Commission to deploy women at polling booths to check burqa-clad women.

 The politicians used animal references to attack each other; like gadha (donkey) followed by bhains (buffalo), kabootar (pigeon), magarmachh (crocodile), machhli (fish), sher (lion), etc.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to kabristaan (graveyard) and shamshaan (cremation ground) and drew parallel between Diwali with Ramzan to underline 'disparity' in power supply during festivals.

As it still remains unclear as to who will ultimately sit on the throne of Uttar Pradesh, the March 11 verdict will not only script new chapter for Prime Minister Modi and Rahul Gandhi, but also for Indian politics.

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A sessions court here on Friday convicted 31 former workers of Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant near Gurugram for the 2012 factory violence but acquitted 117 others for lack of evidence.

Additional District and Sessions Judge R.P. Goel said the order on the quantum of punishment to the convicts will be pronounced on March 17.

"We will decide our next course of action following the court verdict. We have been fighting for the welfare of workers and will continue to do so," workers union leader Kuldeep Janghu told IANS.

Earlier, the court divided the convicts in two categories, as per the charges proved against them. While one group has 24 convicts, the remaining seven are in the other.

Booked by the police and sacked by the carmaker after the violence on July 18, 2012, none of the 148 jailed workers could for long secure bail.

It was only on February 23, 2015, that the Supreme Court granted bail to two of the 148 accused.

The violence had left Maruti Suzuki Human Resource Department General Manager Ashwin Kumar Dev dead and over 50 persons injured. Several policemen were also injured in the fracas.

The violence was triggered on the carmaker's premises after a supervisor allegedly abused and slapped a worker. Services of nearly 2,500 workers, including 546 permanent employees, were terminated after the incident.

Maruti declared a lockout in the factory for over a month, suffering a loss of several crores of rupees in the process.

Reacting to Friday's court verdict, workers of various factory/industrial units based in Gurugram and nearby Dharuhera area of Haryana held a meeting in the evening at Gurugram's Kamla Nehru Park to chalk out their future strategy.

Workers unions' leaders and others who participated in the meeting included those working in Maruti Suzuki's plants in Gurugram, Manesar as well as other plants in Kherki Daula.

--IANS

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Out of the 4,48,268 applications received for Haj 2017 by the Haj Committee of India, 1.29 lakh applications were made online, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here on Friday.

India has a quota of 1.70 lakh pilgrims, after an increase of 34,000 berths for this year's Haj under an agreement signed with Saudi Arabia on January 11, 2017. Till last year, India had a quota of 1.36 lakh pilgrims.

Haj quota of the states was released on Thursday and the process of selection of pilgrims through a draw of lots will start from March 14, Naqvi said.

It is for the first time that the Haj application process has been made digital. The Haj Committee of India Mobile App was launched on January 2 this year.

"We encouraged online applications for Haj 2017 so that people can get an opportunity for the pilgrimage with complete transparency and comfort. In December, a new website of Haj was also launched," the minister said.

The highest number of online applications were received from Kerala (34,783) followed by Maharashtra (24,627); Uttar Pradesh (10,215); Gujarat (10,071); Jammu and Kashmir (8,227) and Rajasthan (8,091).

The increased quota of 34,000 pilgrims has been distributed across the states.

So, Uttar Pradesh now has a quota of 29,017 persons, up from 21,828 till last year. Similarly, Gujarat's quota has been hiked to 10,877 from 7,044; that of Delhi to 1,628 from from 1,224; Jammu and Kashmir's quota has been increased to 7,960 from 6,359; Karnataka's to 5,951 from 4,477 and Haryana's is now 1,343 from 1,011.

A total of 9,780 pilgrims will go to Haj from Maharashtra in comparison of 7,357 last year. Tamil Nadu's quota has been increased from 2,399 to 3,189; for West Bengal from 8,905 to 9,940; Telangana from 2,532 to 3,367; and Rajasthan's from 3,525 to 4,686 this year.

Madhya Pradesh's Haj quota has been increased from 2,708 to 3,599; Andhra Pradesh's from 2,052 to 2,728 while Jharkhand's quota has been increased from 2,719 to 3,306.

Last year, around one lakh people went to Haj from 21 embarkation points across India through the Haj Committee of India, while about 36,000 pilgrims went through private tour operators.

This year, around 1.25 lakh pilgrims will go through the Haj Committee of India while 45,000 people will go through private tour operators.

The maximum number of applications have been received from Kerala (95,236) followed by Maharashtra (57,246); Gujarat (57,225); Uttar Pradesh (51,375); Jammu and Kashmir (35,217); Madhya Pradesh (24,875); Karnataka (23,514) and Telangana (20,635).

--IANS

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The has been linked to 52.95 crore savings accounts in the public sector banks, regional rural banks and private sector banks, Parliament was informed on Friday.

"According to reports received from public sector banks, Regional Rural Banks and 13 private sector banks, there are 110.03 crore individual, operative savings bank accounts (including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts) with seeded in 52.95 crore accounts," Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here.

"Banks are committed to seeding savings bank accounts with the account holder's Aadhaar number, based on his consent," he said.

Aadhaar seeding will help account holders to do fund transfer through the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS), BHIM app and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), he said.

"The overreaching aim and objective of seeding is enabling delivery of basic financial services," he said.
Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Friday blamed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavs move to align with the Congress for the expected good showing of the BJP in the state.

Amar Singh flayed the Akhilesh Yadav government for corruption and non-development and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking courageous decisions.

"Modi should thank (Congress Vice President) Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh for BJP's performance in the state," Singh told News18.

"From 'donkey' to 'terrorist' to 'pagal Modi', filthiest words were used to attack the Prime Minister. They (Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) neither had any issue nor any concrete plan for the polls.

"They talked about Metro rail which is still to come into existence, they talked about roads which are full of potholes.

"So Modi isn't wrong when he says there has been no development (in Uttar Pradesh)," he said.

"Akhilesh had admitted but for the feud with the family, he would never have aligned with the Congress. So this alliance was a compulsion," said Amar Singh, adding the tie-up disillusioned Yadav and Muslim voters.

The result of the Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand assembly polls will be declared on Saturday.

--IANS

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India's three armed services are short of over 9,000 officers and 55,000 personnel in other ranks, Parliament was told on Friday.

According to the data tabled in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, the Indian Army -- the largest of the three Services -- had on July 1 last year vacancies for 8,370 officers and 35,174 other ranks, followed by the Indian Navy, which had vacancies for 1,332 officers and 10,982 sailors on September 30.

The Indian Air Force had shortage of 29 officers on August 1 and 9,841 airmen on November 1.

The tabled data does not included the officers of the services' medical and dental branches.

"A number of measures have also been taken to meet the shortage of manpower in the Armed Forces including by sustained image projection, publicity campaign to create awareness among the youth," Bhamre told the house in a written reply.

"Force accretion of armed forces is an ongoing process dictated primarily by capabilities to be achieved and threat perception. Accordingly, Government has sanctioned a number of proposals for accretion of manpower in the recent years," he said.

--IANS

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A city court on Friday issued an arrest warrant against BJP MP and Union Minister Babul Supriyo in connection with a complaint lodged against him by a Trinamool Congress MLA for allegedly insulting her on TV, police said.

"A bailable arrest warrant was issued against Supriyo by the Alipore court on Friday under IPC 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman)," Joint commissioner of police Vishal Garg said.

A charge sheet was filed against Supriyo on Thursday by the Kolkata police based on the complaint lodged by female Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Moitra that Supriyo made derogatory comments about her name with an intent to insult her.

The central Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises was summoned thrice earlier by the Kolkata police in connection with the case but failed to appear due to prior engagements, police said.

The Trinamool leader lodged police complaint against Supriyo for allegedly insulting her modesty twice on national television.

"During my speech, Babul Supriyo asked 'Mahua, are you on mahua' (Mahua are you inebriated). He asked me twice on a national television," she said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bodos -- the biggest tribal community in Assam -- on Friday staged an indefinite hunger strike here as part of their agitation to demand a new state.

The hunger strike is led by the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), National Democratic Front of Bodoland-Progressive) and the People Joint Action Committee for Bodoland Movement (PJACBM).

The community has said that if their issue continues to remain unresolved despite the hunger strike, then the groups will be compelled to declare hours of road and rail blockades starting next month.

The Bodo bodies have also warned of economic blockades on the lines of the Manipur economic blockade.

As part of the agitation, over 2,000 people participated in the hunger strike in Kokrajhar and other parts of the Bodo Territorial Area Districts (BTAD), which also includes Chirang, Baksha and Udalguri.

The organisations said they will hold the protest in several other parts of the country as well.

"The problem would not get resolved till the central government creates Bodoland - - a promise made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to seek the Bodos' support," Pramod Bodo, ABSU president, told IANS.

They have appealed to the government to immediately solve the political issue of Bodoland.

"We appeal to the government to immediately come forward with a pragmatic policy decision on the Bodoland issue and political rights of the Bodos in Assam, through the appropriate political level talks in the presence of the Home Minister of India," said Bodo.

Assam Police said that they had taken all measures to keep the agitation under control.

Director General of Assam Police, Mukesh Sahay told IANS: "Things are under control. We have taken every measure across the state to ensure that the community does not turn violent as part of the agitation."

Earlier, the ABSU delegation met Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the Bodo issue.

--IANS

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The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that it will consider including Urdu in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), meant for admission to MBBS and BDS courses.

The bench of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice R. Banumathi was told the Centre cannot include Urdu in NEET for this year but was open to consider it for the academic year 2017-18.

The Centre also sought time to file its reply to the plea filed by Students Islamic Organisation of India, a student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, that exclusion of Urdu as one of the languages in NEET was "discriminatory, arbitrary and violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution".

The petitioner's Counsel told the court that earlier no request was made by any state in this regard.

However, he said, now Maharashtra and Telangana have officially made a request to the central government to include Urdu as one of the languages in NEET.

The application form for NEET 2017, scheduled to be held on May 7, is already out and the last date for submission of forms was March 1.

The exam will be held in seven Indian languages, apart from English.

According to the Central Board of Secondary Education notification, the medical entrance examination will be held in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese and Bengali.

The petitioner pleaded that the Health and Family Welfare Ministry and the CBSE be directed to make a provision for holding the exam in Urdu as well, even for those who have already applied and opted for another language before the last date of submission of forms got over.

"The decision to exclude Urdu, the sixth most-spoken language in India, while including the seventh most-spoken Gujarati and 12th most-spoken Assamese is completely without rationale," the petitioner said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two days after International Women's Day, women from different rights groups around the country came together here today to mark their protest against Hindutva, caste-based and patriarchal violence against women and other marginalised communities.

Adivasi, Muslim, Dalit, queer and disabled women, as well as students and sex workers, attended the event -- called Chalo Nagpur -- that was kicked off with a bike rally from Samvidhan Chowk, a popular spot for protests and demonstrations in the city.

This was followed by song performances and fiery speeches at the Indora Maidan that were attended by several hundred people.

"Today, individual freedoms are being stolen -- we have come to raise our voice against this. We ask everyone fighting their own battles for dignity to come together, and join us," said Delhi-based Dalit women's rights activist Rajni Tilak, one of the organisers.

"This is the beginning of the revolution. There will be Chalo Ahmedabad, Chalo Hyderabad, Chalo Delhi as well," said activist and event organiser Shabnam Hashmi.

Radhika Vemula, mother of the late University of Hyderabad scholar Rohith Vemula, who was present, spoke of how Dalit icon Dr B.R. Ambedkar was a proponent of women's rights.

Radhikamma, as she is called, has been waging a battle against the central government to prove that her son, who killed himself in January 2016, is Dalit. She announced that she will lead a month-long Dalit Swabhiman Rath Yatra, starting March 14, through Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to spread awareness about the reality of Dalit existence.

A December report by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which reviewed the implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, observed that the conviction rate in several states was in single digits. In Maharashtra, it was 7.6 per cent, in Gujarat, it was a mere 3.1 per cent. The figures are based on data collected between 2013 and 2015.

Delhi-based activist Rituparna Borah spoke of the harm that patriarchy does to women's sexuality.

Calling all queer women to the stage, she asked: "Can someone like me -- who is big, curly-haired, dark-skinned, tribal lesbian from the Northeast, and can't speak Hindi very well -- ever be 'bharat mata'?" Borah asked, stressing the importance of recognising differences among people, and calling it "the nationalism of queer persons".

Mudraboina Rachana, a kinnar activist from Telangana, said casteist laws affect the transgender community as it does any other. Referring to the government's proposal to make begging illegal, she pointed out that this would directly affect her community, which is often pushed to beg or do sex work on account of lack of opportunities.

Shabina Mumtaz from Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh spoke about the state of Muslims in the country. "We have to keep proving that we are true Indians. Why doesn't any other community have to do this? When we ask for our rights, we are told to go to Pakistan."

Friday's was one of the largest gatherings of women in Nagpur since 1942, when over 25,000 women reportedly took part in the All India Depressed Class Women's Conference, to protest against the caste system.

Nagpur is also significant for the anti-caste movement, as it was here that Ambedkar converted to Buddhism.

Friday was also the 120th death anniversary of Savitribai Phule, an icon for the Dalit women's movement. Phule was a teacher and proponent of women's education who fought against superstition and caste.

(Dhamini Ratnam can be contacted at dhamini.r@gmail.com)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday ruled out taking over as Congress party state unit chief following the surprise resignation of state Congress president V.M. Sudheeran.

Asked for a reaction to the resignation of Sudheeran, Chandy said: "I heard about the resignation of Sudheeran in the media only."

To a question if he is going to become the next party state president, pat came his reply: "Haven't I made my position very clear which I made soon after the assembly election results, that I will not be taking up any post."

Chandy, who did not share a warm relationship with Sudheeran, was speaking to reporters in Kochi railway station.

Two-time Congress legislator V.T. Balram, 38, asked if there would be a generational change when the new president is announced, said there are leaders in every generation to become the president.

All eyes are now on the Congress high command which appears to have been taken by surprise over the unexpected decision of Sudheeran, 69, to quit. He also has ruled out requests from the national leadership to reconsider his decision.

With party president Sonia Gandhi out of the country and the results to the polls in five states to be out on Saturday, the party high command is likely to summon the top three leaders Sudheeran, Chandy and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala to Delhi.

In the next weeks till the new president is announced, several names have already started doing the rounds. These include V.D. Sateeshan, K. Muraleedharan, P.T. Thomas, K. Sudhakaran, P.C. Vishnunath and Sashi Tharoor. However, Chandy has the maximum support.

Earlier in the day, Sudheeran put in his papers after a three-year stint as the State Congress president.

On Thursday, Sudheeran had informed media that he would be meeting them on Friday afternoon, but no one had an inkling that he had called the press meet to announce his resignation.

On Wednesday, senior party legislator and former Minister K.C. Joseph at a commemoration meeting on the second death anniversary of former Assembly Speaker and Congress leader G. Karthikeyan, said that had not the party high command made the "mistake" of making Sudheeran the president, Karthikeyan would have been the president and the Congress party would have retained power at the assembly polls.

Over the years, when the party was divided between former Chief Ministers K. Karunakaran and A.K. Antony, the top post was always divided between these leaders. Ever since Karunakaran's grip on the party declined, since the late 90s, it was Chandy who held an iron grip over the party.

But after the shock defeat in the May 2016 polls, Chandy withdrew from the leadership and has stood his ground that he won't take up any post.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US governments ethics watchdog said it was "concerned" the White House over its decision not to discipline presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway for publicly endorsing Ivanka Trumps products on TV, a media report said.

Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub on Thursday said he "concerned" about the Trump aide's "misuse of position", he wrote in a letter to deputy White House counsel Stefan Passantino, further arguing that her evading punishment risked "undermining the ethics programme", the New York Daily News reported.

"Your letter concedes that her televised statements from the White House press briefing room implicated the prohibition on using one's official position to endorse any product or service," Shaub wrote.

"...Disciplinary action serves to deter future misconduct."

The "scolding" came nine days after Passantino sent Shaub a letter assuring him that Conway had no "nefarious motive" in giving the First Daughter's fashion line a flagrant free ad on Fox News last month.

A White House investigation into her actions "concluded that Conway acted inadvertently and is highly unlikely to do so again", Passantino wrote on February 28, making no mention of any disciplinary action.

The White House on Thursday stood by its decision regarding Conway.

"The White House response made clear that the President takes ethical obligations of all his employees very seriously. The situation has been handled accordingly and all staff have received ethics training," a spokesperson told the the New York Daily News.

"We are focused on the important obligation of improving the lives of all Americans."

Conway's urging TV viewers on February 9 to "go buy Ivanka's stuff" -- an attempt to support the businesswoman after luxury retailer Nordstrom dropped her brand -- prompted the House Oversight Committee to send a letter notifying Shaub.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress, Left and Trinamool Congress (TMC) walked out of the on Friday over the issue of hike in cooking gas price.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of increase in the gas price by Rs 2 every month. He was supported by the Left and the TMC.

"The price of LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) was Rs 466 in 2016. It was increased six times in the past two years and now (it) is Rs 737 per cylinder," Kharge said.

"Crude prices have fallen in the international market, why is the benefit not being passed to the people?" he asked.

According to the Congress, the government was cheating those who gave up gas subsidy by increasing LPG prices.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, however, said the prices had to be increased as the price of LPG in the international market went up from $471 to $564 per metric tonne in the last one month.

"You should not mislead the house," Kumar said.

According to Ananth Kumar, an Empowered Group of Ministers in 2010 had decided that price of the LPG would be increased by Rs 2 a month.

"The credit for the hike therefore goes to Mallikarjun Kharge and Manmohan Singh," he said, triggering an uproar in the opposition benches.

The members denied the government's claim and soon after the members from the Congress, Left and the TMC staged a walkout.
Demanding the repeal of the "draconian" new medical Act passed by the West Bengal government, a section of doctors on Friday publicly debated on whether they should refuse to treat patients given the punitive measures introduced in the legislation.

The All Bengal Doctors Convention, which saw participation of a large number of practitioners from various medical disciplines from the state, including from Bengal branches of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), also drove home the message that IMA members with political associations must be removed.

"We will not refuse emergency patients. We can see patients in emergency but we have the right to refuse to treat the patients by telling them that we are afraid to treat them. Let us see what happens for a week," a specialist said here at the All Bengal Doctors Convention in protest against the West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill 2017, and assault on doctors.

However, another section of doctors present at the convention said they would turn away patients even from emergency wards.

Referring to the West Bengal Regulatory Health Commission envisaged by the legislation, the doctors contended that they were not against any monitoring body, but expressed dismay over the commission having no powers to rein in mal-practices in government hospitals.

"The private hospitals as well as the government hospitals are already regulated by the West Bengal Medical Council. What is the use of the bill? Why doesn't the new regulatory body consider the state-run hospitals," posed S. Daga, a retired physician and IMA member.

The IMA has demanded its "immediate repeal".

According to doctors attending the convention, some of the top bosses in the various Bengal branches of IMA are affiliated to the ruling Trinamool Congress and are therefore, supporting the bill.

"The IMA in every state has passed a resolution against the bill but a section in Bengal are supporting it," said President of IMA (south Kolkata branch) R.D. Dubey, who is also a member of the West Bengal Medical Council.

The physicians also discussed and debated the possibility of filing PILs and fighting it out in court.

"There is an apprehension that the same could be executed in other states. Just because a section in the medical fraternity are indulging in unethical practices, the entire fraternity is suffering. We have to find out possible amendments because there are loopholes in the bill. We will suggest the amendments and if they don't accept it then we will fight tooth and nail," a doctor said.

On March 3, the state assembly passed a tough bill regulating functioning of private health facilities, providing up to three year jail terms and trials under the culpable homicide section of the IPC, and also a maximum fine of Rs 50 lakh for patients' deaths due to severe medical negligence.

The legislation, aimed at bringing transparency, ending harassment of patients and checking medical negligence in private hospitals and nursing homes, draws under its ambit all other private medical set ups -- irrespective of whether they are registered or not.

The bill stipulates setting up a high power 13-member West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission to monitor activities of private hospitals.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Eight persons, including four women, who were part of a group of nearly 100 protesters arrested on Thursday for allegedly blocking a busy city road and falling out with the police, were sent to police custody on Friday, police said.

"Out of the 99 people arrested yesterday (Thursday) from Kolkata's Dorina Crossing, eight people including four women are remanded to the police custody till March 14," Joint Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Supratim Sarkar said.

"The accused are charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for unlawful assembly, rioting and voluntarily causing hurt and applying criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty. They are also convicted under the recently passed West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Amendment Act, 2017," he said.

Several activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and the Students Federation of India (SFI) participated in a "March to Raj Bhavan" to protest alleged corruption in appointment of primary teachers and to press for "transparency in recruitment" on Thursday afternoon.

According to police, the agitators blocked Dorina Crossing for nearly 25 minutes and refused to leave the spot even after repeated requests by the police.

Eight security personnel, including four women, were injured while trying to remove them from the spot by "using minimal force". A total of 99 protesters, including 12 women, were arrested by the Kolkata Police.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Britain's newspaper industry has called for an investigation into Google and Facebook's role in the spread of fake news, reported.

Amid fears of fake news undermining democracy, a group of cross-party MPs in Britain launched an inquiry into the rise of the phenomenon earlier in 2017.

In a recommendation to the Culture, and Sport Committee's fake news inquiry, the News Association (NMA), which represents national and local publishers, advised the MPs to probe the role of Google and Facebook in the rise of fake news.

The media body said that the digital advertising supply chain which favours fake news and helps it to thrive was "murky at best, fraudulent at worst", Belfast Telegraph reported on Thursday.

The body called for an "urgent investigation" by regulators such as Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority into its impact on Google and Facebook.

Fake news is more likely to be spread on sites such as Facebook due to an algorithm which measures stories' worth based on virality, Lucy Gill, legal policy and regulatory affairs adviser at the NMA, was quoted as saying.

In the digital platforms, fake news stories may emerge more profitable than real news in terms of clicks and advertising revenue because they are more likely to go viral.

Fake news "farms" deprive real news publishers of valuable advertising revenue as well as profiting because they do not incur the same costs, including paying professional journalists, the media body suggested.

--IANS

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The FBI and the Seattle city police in the US are asking for the public's help and have offered a reward for anyone providing any lead in the shooting of a Sikh man, who was told by an attacker to "go back to your own country".

Police chief Ken Thomas released a sketch of the masked attacker during a press conference on Thursday.

It may be difficult for anyone to recognise the shooter as most of his face was covered, reported Seattle Times.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has offered a reward of up to $6,000 for any information on the shooter.

"We need the public's assistance to help us solve this crime," Thomas said at Kent City Hall.

Deep Rai, a US national of Indian origin, told the police that he was working on his car in front of his house in Kent in Seattle last week, when a white man in a mask approached him.

Police said an altercation followed, with the man shooting Rai and telling him to "go back to your own country".

The gunman later fled the spot.

According to the police chief, Rai may have been targeted as he was wearing a turban when the shooting occurred.

Another senior official said that the FBI is also trying to determine whether the shooting was a hate crime.

The shooting comes after Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was shot dead, and his friend Alok Madasani was injured in a shooting incident at a Kansas City bar on February 22.

The Kansas shooting was condemned by President Donald Trump as an act of hate about a week later.
After a long break, popular tourist resorts in Himachal Pradesh on Friday got fresh snow, pushing down the mercury by several notches.

Hoteliers, however, cheered up in the hope that tourists will converge in large numbers during the three-day weekend that ends with Holi on Monday.

Tourist spots near Shimla, the honeymooners' paradise Kufri, Fagu, Narkanda and Chail experienced moderate snowfall, turning the hill stations even more picturesque.

Likewise, Manali and its nearby Solang ski slopes and Kalpa, 250 km from here, also saw heavy spells of snow, the weather office here said.

"High altitude areas of Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu, Kinnaur, Chamba, Sirmaur and Shimla districts have been experiencing moderate snow since Tuesday," a Met official said.

Lower areas in the state including Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi towns meanwhile received moderate to heavy rains, bringing a considerable fall in temperature.

Tourism industry representatives are happy with fresh snowfall.

"This weekend we are expecting a spike in footfall of tourists after this snowfall," D.P. Bhatia, liaison officer with the Oberoi Group of hotels, told IANS.

The Met department's forecast said western disturbances -- storm systems originating in the Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region -- would remain active till Sunday.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India and Germany on Friday inked an over 200 million euro (Rs 1,400 crore) loan agreement, taking the total German commitment for better energy efficiency in India to 600 million euro (Rs 4,200 crore), a statement said.

The agreement, inked at the German Embassy in the presence of German Ambassador Martin Ney, was between the German Development Bank (KfW) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under the Ministry of Power.

The agreement was signed by Selva Kumar, Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director of EESL, Norbert Kloppenburg, member of the Executive Board of KfW, and Roland Siller, member of the Management Committee of KfW, said a German embassy statement.

With this programme, the Indo-German development cooperation addresses mutual interests of mitigating global warming and bringing together the expertise of highly committed institutions on both sides, it said.

Additionally, a financing agreement of EUR 500,000 (Rs 3.5 crore) was signed with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). IREDA will use these funds to assure the quality of solar PV projects and to mitigate the challenges faced in solar rooftop PV projects by establishing an implementation structure. These grant funds will also be used to support IREDA in market assessments concerning future trends in solar PV, it said.

Germany supports affordable housing in India with $274 million.

On Thursday, the State Bank of India and the German Development Bank (KfW) on a special mandate from the German government concluded a $274 million (Rs 1,796 crore) loan facility to support lending for affordable housing in India.

Siddhartha Sengupta, Deputy Managing Director, signed on behalf of SBI, while KfW was represented by Norbert Kloppenburg, Member of the Executive Board, and Roland Siller, Member of the Management Committee of KfW Development Bank.

With its focus on housing loans for economically weaker sections (EWS) and lower income group (LIG) households, the facility is designed to complement the Indian government's flagship affordable housing programme, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Lower income households account for 95 per cent of the shortage of an estimated 20 million housing units in the country, it said.

--IANS

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Google on Friday announced major updates to its G Suite including -- Google Drive, Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat -- to enhance enterprise productivity and secure collaboration.

The key enhancements announced in Drive are -- Team Drives, Drive File Stream, Google Vault for Drive and AppBridge.

"In order for Google to deliver on this Cloud promise, we must not only meet enterprise companies where they are today in terms of security, compliance, and connectivity standards, but also raise the bar for what is possible with our advanced machine intelligence capabilities, said Prabhakar Raghavan, Vice President, APPS, Google Cloud, in a statement.

"Team Drives" enable teams to simply and securely manage permissions, ownership and file access for an organisation and are available for G Suite Business, Education, and Enterprise customers.

"Drive File Stream" allows employees to access Cloud storage content directly from their desktops, without requiring a sync or monopolising hard drive space. Google Vault for Drive gains additional controls so admins can manage retention and legal hold policies.

Google is welcoming "AppBridge" to help largest customers manage some of their most complex data migrations to Drive.

"Hangouts Meet" is a new video meeting experience designed to make meetings frictionless. Up to 30 people can join a meeting within seconds with no downloads or browser plugins required, and it integrates with G Suite so one can present files natively.

"Hangouts Chat" offers teams a new way to connect with each other in virtual rooms, so they can keep work moving forward, even when they can't meet face to face.

With deep integrations with G Suite, teams can embed content right in the conversation, so they can interact and discuss items from Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar and other files.

The company also introduced "Add-ons", a new way to integrate powerful enterprise workflows with Gmail. Add-ons makes it easy for developers to bring third-party applications into Gmail.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
City-based BLK Super Specialty Hospital on Friday urged the Centre to strengthen provisions to encourage organ donations in the country, so that the dearth of organs for donation can be overcome.

The petition called for a comprehensive policy on organ donation to ensure that all people could become donors after their death unless they join an official register to opt out.

"Unless the person or family had previously expressed a clear wish for or against donation, hospitals should be authorised to harvest the organs. Relevant authorities should also make it easier to get required permissions and complete procedures in quick time so that vital organs are not wasted," says the petition.

Currently, of an estimated two lakh patients who need dialysis and transplants every year, only about 10,000 patients are able to get dialysis and only about 6,000 patients are lucky to receive a transplant.

BLK Hospital in its petition has said that the system, if implemented, can resolve organ donor shortage in the country to some extent and ease the burden of deaths happening due to lack of organs.

"Delhi NCR tops the list of cities with highest number of road crash deaths, approximately one lakh per year. Due to lack of awareness on organ donation, we end up losing approximately two lakh kidneys and other vital organs which could otherwise save many lives of individuals waiting endlessly for organs," said Sunil Prakash, Senior Consultant and Director of Nephrology and Renal Transplantation at BLK Super Specialty Hospital.

Stating that it is time to move from Donors after Brain Dead (DBD) to Donors after Circulatory Death (DCD), the petition appeals to the government to make centralised registry system for both DBD and DCD organ harvests.

The petition also urges the government to lay more emphasis on awareness about organ donation, which is one of the leading reasons for such low organ donation rates in India.

"Religious and other related issues have been detrimental to the improvement of the organ transplant scenario in India. In order to encourage people to come forward and donate organs, we also urge the government to aid the donor's family with medical insurance and enable job opportunities for the donors," said the petition.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Haryana government would get an inquiry conducted into all land issues of Gurugram, Faridabad and Nuh districts, including that of the multi-crore Gwal Pahari land scam, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday.

The Gwal Pahari land, which is estimated to be worth Rs 3,000 crore, has been in controversy in recent weeks following a move by authorities to allow change of ownership of the land.

Replying to a call attention motion in the Haryana assembly, Khattar said that the issue of Gwal Pahari land, which relates to a three-decade-old problem, could be resolved with the intervention of the Supreme Court.

"The Gwal Pahari land is a public property and would not be allowed to be transferred into the hands of private parties," the chief minister said, adding that no decision has been taken for the change in mutation.

Khattar said that in 1989, the then Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram Harbaksh Singh passed the first order on the Gwal Pahari land and since then the issue had been remanded several times in quasi-judicial courts.

"Now, by taking a historical decision, the present state government has abolished the 'Remand Pratha' to ensure that land-related disputes in the revenue courts could be settled at the earliest. Haryana is the first state in the country to implement this decision," Khattar claimed.

Haryana Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain said: "Whether on-ground or as per the revenue record, neither the ownership nor the possession of any part of the Gwal Pahari land in Gurugram has changed during 2016 or 2017."

"Any suggestion for any transfer of any land of the corporation to any private person or of any illegality or of any scam in this matter is clearly baseless and wrong. The Municipal Corporation, Gurugram, is taking and would continue to take all necessary steps to protect its interests in all its lands," the minister added.

--IANS

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My journalist colleague was horrified after his spouse accused him of always speaking like newspaper headlines. "Wife slams shocked scribe," he told me. "Turn to page 5."

Headlines have been on my mind lately. It all started in February when there was a rash of headlines saying "Smoking Good For Health" after scientists revealed one tiny possible benefit of cigarettes (they prevented a case of anemia).

The same week, this headline appeared in Time magazine: "America's Top Fortune Cookie Writer Is Quitting Because of Writer's Block."

It seems to be Collectable Headline season around the world, so let's survey recent classics. Funny headlines come in four categories.

First we have Deliberate Puns. The UK has been hit by a lettuce shortage. "LEAF IT OUT!" was the headline in the Sun, while the Guardian had the more predictable "Tip of the iceberg". The Times of London told the excitable British public to "Romaine calm".

The Hong Kong Standard is known for its punning headlines, such as the one over a report on a poultry restaurant's legal troubles: "Court cooks their goose." When a giant bird escaped from its owner, Singapore's AsiaOne headlined the tale: "Ostrich runs afowl on Malaysian highway."

The second category is the Oops Headlines, when the words are not wrong but accidentally offer an alternative meaning.

"Trump campaign chief charged with battery", the New York Times reported last year, creating an image of an expired man being plugged into a recharger.

"Undiscovered moons may lurk around Uranus", the Washington Post reported a few months ago, to juvenile snickers.

When a food inspector left his job, a recent wire service report was headlined "Meat head resigns".

The third category is Clickbait Cheating -- headlines which deliberately mislead the reader. In Nigeria last month, cheeky scribes titled their "Buhari undergoes penis surgery" to make it go viral. Buhari is the name of the country's president, but the story referred to a non-famous person with the same name.

The fourth category is Grammatical Mistakes, which is when a problem like missing commas or bad grammar changes the meaning.

News website The Hive last year featured a story titled: "Spotify founder gets married with Bruno Mars and Mark Zuckerberg".

Bad sentence construction was evident in the title of a report by the Star-Ledger newspaper of Newark, New Jersey, last July: "Cops called to Union house where man was killed at least 30 times".

This sort of error often creates interesting word-pictures. "Thousands of bees swarm an area Walmart, three recover in hospital", said a report on KFOR-TV, a US news website in August last year. So several thousand bees attacked a big store and three of the bees ended up in hospital beds, hooked up to drips and monitors, right?

Since real news headlines are so entertaining these days, people who make their living creating fake ones (such as The Onion website or Andy Borowitz) are redundant.

Meanwhile, I pledged to train my journalist friend to talk in human speech from now, instead of in headlines. "Scribe In Reform Pact", he replied. "Verdict Unsure".

(Nury Vittachi is an Asia-based frequent traveller. Send ideas, comments via his Facebook page)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following the death of a Nepali national on the India-Nepal border, allegedly in a firing incident involving border guards of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), India on Friday initiated an enquiry into the matter, an official said.

"The Government of Nepal is being requested through diplomatic channels to share post-mortem and forensic reports to facilitate the process," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

Govinda Gautam, 20, of Punarbas Municipality-8 in Kanchanpur district of Nepal, died on Thursday after he was injured when an SSB inspector from Sampurnanagar station allegedly opened fire.

"Officials of the two bordering districts - Kanchanpur of Nepal and Lakhimpur Kheri of India - have met in the backdrop of the prevailing situation and agreed to maintain peace and order," he added.

The incident took place in Ananda Bazar along the Nepal-India border.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, however, categorically denied any firing by the SSB personnel.

A dispute erupted in the border area after Nepal-India pillar number 200 went missing and both sides staked claim and counter-claim over the area in No-man's Land.

The Nepali side was constructing a culvert in an area that is claimed by India. The situation became tense on Thursday after the SSB personnel, who were accompanied by residents of the Indian border town of Basahi, allegedly fired in the air.

Nepali residents said the SSB personnel contended that Indian territory was being transgressed upon in the digging for the culvert.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India's factory output post-demonetisation rose by 2.7 per cent in January, official data showed on Friday.

The factory output, as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had inched lower by (-)0.10 per cent during December 2016 and contracted by (-)1.6 per cent in January of 2016.

As per the IIP data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the expansion was mainly on account of a 2.3 per cent increase in manufacturing output, which has the maximum weight in the overall index.

The output of other two major sub-indices -- mining and electricity -- expanded during the first month of 2017.

The mining output was up by 5.3 per cent, while that for electricity generation increased by 3.9 per cent.

The cumulative growth of the country's factory output has inched up by 0.6 per cent in the 10 months of the current fiscal.

Besides, the data revealed that among the six use-based classifications of the index, the output of consumer goods segment contracted by (-)1.00 per cent in January.

The consumer non-durables segment's output decreased by (-)3.2 per cent, whereas the consumer durables segment edged higher by 2.9 per cent. The intermediate goods' output inched down by (-)2.3 per cent.

However, the capital goods segment, which is a key indicator of economic activity, was higher by 10.7 per cent. The basic goods' output rose by 5.3 per cent.

Overall, only nine of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed positive growth during the month under review.

Segment-wise, high negative growth was reported in the ship-building and repairs (-31.9 per cent), sugar (-28.2 per cent), PVC pipes and tubes (-27 per cent), molasses (-26 per cent), leather garments (-24.3 per cent) and three-wheelers (including passenger and goods carriers) (-24.3 per cent).

Growth was witnessed in cable, rubber insulated (282.8 per cent), fruit pulp (121.5 per cent), vitamins (46.9 per cent), telephone instruments, including mobile phones and accessories (31.7 per cent), plates (27.2 per cent) and antibiotics and it's preparations (25.9 per cent).

Commenting on the IIP data, industry association Ficci's President Pankaj Patel said: "The manufacturing growth, though positive in January, remains fragile and a cause for concern. The sector may see a revival in the coming months as a result of measures taken in budget and other areas."

"What is important is that the reform momentum is continued which is important to boost investor confidence and stimulate investments."

Another major business chamber, Assocham said that measures such as implementation of budget announcements and implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax) as well as further reduction in bank lending rates hold the key for growth in India.

"Measures such as implementation of budget announcements, further reduction in bank lending rates, implementation of GST, policy reforms in infrastructure and core sectors... hold the key for growth in India," said Sandeep Jajodia, Assocham President.

--IANS

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The makers of superstar Mahesh Babu's upcoming yet-untitled Tamil-Telugu bilingual project will head to Vietnam next to shoot an important segment of the film, a source said.

"The latest schedule begins in Chennai from tomorrow (Saturday). The team leaves to Vietnam on March 22 for a brief schedule. Nearly 70 per cent of the film has already been completed. The entire shoot should be completed by April," a source from the film's unit told IANS.

Being directed by A.R. Murugadoss, the film features Mahesh in the role of an intelligence officer.

Rakul Preet Singh, who plays the leading lady, will be seen as a medical student.

Filmmaker-turned-actor S.J. Suryah plays the antagonist, and his role is said to be on par with Mahesh's.

The film, which will simultaneously release in Tamil and Telugu on June 23, has music by Harris Jayaraj.

--IANS

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Francesco Pensabene, Italian Trade Commissioner at the Embassy of Italy, finds Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative very ambitious and well directed. He says Italian companies are eager to be a part of it.

"Italy is very much eager to actively participate in each and every initiative, which Indian government undertakes. 'Make in India' is an ambitious and well directed programme of Indian government," Pensabene told IANS through an email.

He added: "Italian companies are ready to contribute by investing their tech know-how and by setting-up their manufacturing facilities in India, exploring the possibilities of JV (joint ventures) and exchange and also investing in India."

Pensabene is also Trade Promotion Office Director of the Italian Embassy, New Delhi and Coordinator of Trade Commission Offices in India.

He was previously the Director of International Cooperation Division at the Head Quarters in Rome (Italian Trade Agency) and before it Director of Legal Administration at Human Resources Department. He holds a degree in law and a specialisation in international law.

He has also announced a two-year campaign -- 'Italy: The Extraordinary Commonplace', to promote the European country's best of food, fashion and design among other things. The Italian Trade Agency had also partnered with India Design ID 2017 to show designs in the Indian market last month.

Pensabene notes that "Italian brands are themselves more and more curious about the Indian market".

"Italian Trade Agency is there for their hassle-free entry to this country and through our services, we help them find the right partner for their product offering. 'Made in Italy', is in itself a brand and Indian customer is well aware about the craftsmanship that goes into making this brand," he said.

How different is the Indian market from the Italian?

"I believe that Indian market is very dynamic and constantly evolving. We always try to tell all Italian companies that India is a different market than Europe and one needs to understand and adapt to this unique country," he said, adding that India can open many avenues for Italian companies who understand the consumers here.

"So my advice to all Italian companies is spend time in this market to understand it as this will open many doors and enormous opportunities for the business," he said.

--IANS

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet with senior Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials here on Friday to discuss the issue of banks' non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans, sources said.

The magnitude of the problem can be guaged from the NPA figures of state-run banks, which at the end of the current fiscal's second quarter that ended in September, rose to Rs 6.3 lakh crore, as compared to Rs 5.5 lakh crore at the end of the first quarter.

RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya has suggested forming of a Private Asset Management Company (PAMC) and National Asset Management Company (NAMC) to tackle the bad loans issue.

As per the plan, the banking sector could be asked to restructure about 50 large stressed assets in sectors like metals, construction, telecom and textiles, by December 31, 2017.

--IANS

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Calcutta High Court judge Justice C.S. Karnan on Friday termed the Supreme Court-issued bailable warrant against him as an "attempt to ruin" his life as a Dalit judge. He ordered the CBI to probe all the seven judges of the apex court and directed filing of a case under the SC and ST Act.

"It is unconstitutional," Justice Karnan told the media in Kolkata, hours after a seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar asked the West Bengal police chief to serve the warrant to him and sought his presence before it on March 31.

It is for the first time in the Supreme Court's history that it invoked powers to initiate contempt proceedings against a sitting judge of a High Court.

But justice Karnan said contempt proceedings cannot be initiated against a sitting High Court judge.

"Consequently I ask the President of India to recall the bailable warrant illegally issued by the Supreme Court today against me and lift non-work allotment ban of portfolio allocation," he said.

In a suo-motu order issued to President Pranab Mukherjee and CBI director among others, Karnan directed registering a case under appropriate sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act and other penal provisions against the seven judges, including Chief Justice Khehar and Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.

"I direct the CBI director to register, investigate and file a report," said Karnan, adding that he was invoking his inherent powers under the High Court to "prevent abuse of process of any court and secure ends of justice".

He alleged that he was being targeted after he made representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about some judges who had committed "illegal activities".

"This warrant is arbitrary, deliberately issued to ruin my life, my career. A Dalit judge (is being) prevented from doing work in a public office. That is atrocity," he said.

Justice Karnan had in January named 20 "corrupt judges", seeking probe against them to curb "high corruption" in the Indian judiciary. The letter invited contempt proceedings against him.

The apex court's unprecedented move came as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that Justice Karnan had refused to appear before the court.

The bench on February 8 had directed Justice Karnan to appear in person to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.

The apex court had earlier said Justice Karnan would not discharge any judicial and administrative functions during the pendency of the proceedings.

--IANS

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The tech-savvy Karnataka government would use Galaxy tablets of Korean electronics major Samsung to build database on its healthcare facilities, said state Health and Family Welfare Minister Ramesh Kumar on Friday.

"Digitising the database is important for our Public Health Centres (PHCs), as it will lead to better planning and decision-making at state and central levels," said Kumar at the handing over of 1,000 tablets to the state Health Department by the city-based Samsung Research and Development Institute here.

The PHCs will use the SIM-enabled Samsung Tab Iris device to build the medical database and share it on real-time with other stakeholders.

The state-run Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has approved the tablet to scan the iris of an individual for Aadhaar and Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.

Iris is a thin, circular structure in the human eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupil and the quantum of light reaching the retina.

"We are confident that Tab Iris will give a digital boost to the healthcare system as it will enable PHCs to maintain and share the Aadhaar-linked data on real-time," said Samsung Chief Technology Officer Aloknath De on the occasion.

Samsung Institute has also signed an agreement with the Health Department to efficiently manage its medical subsidies and operations at PHCs across the state.

--IANS

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Florida defence attorney Stephen Gutierrez's pants caught fire during an arson trial on Wednesday, Eleventh Circuit Court Public Relations Director Eunice Sigler said on Thursday.

According to NBC News, 28-year-old Gutierrez was in the Miami-Dade county courtroom defending 49-year-old Claudy Charles, who was accused of setting his car alight.

But during his closing argument, Gutierrez began to feel heat coming from his pocket where he had several electric cigarette batteries.

As Gutierrez argued Charles' car had merely spontaneously combusted, the lawyer's pants seemed to do the same.

Witnesses in the courtroom told the Miami Herald the moment was "surreal," as Gutierrez rushed out of the courtroom while smoke billowed from his pocket.

Gutierrez said as the heat intensified, he hurried into the bathroom where he tossed the battery in water. He was able to return to the courtroom with a singed pocket.

"No one thinks that a battery left in their pocket is somehow going to 'explode. After careful research, I now know this can happen. I am not the only one this has happened to, but I am in a position to shed light on the situation," Gutierrez said.

Reports of electronic cigarette batteries exploding have been documented across the country.

--IANS

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The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Friday till 11.20 a.m. following AIADMK members creating a ruckus demanding a CBI probe into the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

Members of the AIADMK trooped near Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's podium demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe and "justice" for the former party chief who died on December 5, 2016 after prolonged hospitalisation.

Following the din, Mahajan adjourned the house.

--IANS

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The denim choices of men and women in India rest on similar tangents and are free of any gender bias, reveals a new survey.

Retail chain Westside conducted a 'Denim Survey' to gauge the Indian youth's bond with the good old pair of jeans, which comes in handy in all seasons and at all times. The survey was conducted online across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, with 1200 people in the age group of 18 to 32 years and above, read a statement.

The questions ranged from how often Indians snooze in their denims to how they wash them, and their spending habits when it comes to picking up a pair of jeans.

As per the findings, 39.46 per cent women and 41.76 per cent men own four to six pairs of jeans, and both spend between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 on their denims.

Hyderabad takes the cake when it comes to washing the denims, since it is the only metro where people wash denims once every week. The figure stands at 45.59 per cent as compared to other cities.

For long, denims have been caught in the fashion debate of being slotted as either smart formals or smart casuals. The survey found that 47 per cent of overall respondents wear denims every day.

In fact, 62 per cent of the respondents above the age of 33 years, prefer wearing denims to work.

When it comes to experimentation, a majority of respondents say that they opt for a straight fitting pair of jeans. Contrasting opinions emerged in terms of modernising denim-wear. A solid 9 per cent of respondents from Delhi prefer to wear ripped jeans, while only 1.85 per cent from Chennai and 6.03 per cent from Mumbai approve of it as a desired trend.

As for bell bottoms, the style has found takers only in Pune, with 5.41 per cent respondents welcoming this trend. As for the classic denim on denim look, Kolkata leads the way with 74.6 per cent respondents preferring this look.

"Understanding consumer behaviour and preferences gives business insights that are useful in designing a brand's products and services. The findings of the Denim Survey highlight the fact that irrespective of gender, geographic location and style, denims are the most comfortable and widely used piece of clothing in India," said Namita Pant, Head Marketing, Trent Limited.

--IANS

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A three-deck luxury yacht, Maharashtra's first floatel, will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here on Saturday, said the owners.

The floatel, christened 'Celestial' (divine/heavenly), is moored on the Bandra Reclamation shore of the Arabian Sea, towards the Mahim end with an exclusive approach road.

The site offers a view of the sea, the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra-Worli Sea Link (RGBWSL) and an uninterrupted skyline of the maximum city from Bandra to Worli with several prominent landmarks.

"We are inaugurating it formally tomorrow as a luxury fine-wine-dine locale. It will be thrown open to the public in due course," one of the owners, Aishwarya Bhende told IANS.

The cuisine will be varied with a signature menu of modern European and she hinted "it would be a five-star experience" on the patrons' pockets.

The floatel is the first project of WB International Consultants run by the family of entrepreneurs comprising Chetan Bhende, his interior decorator wife Manju and their 21-year old management graduate daughter Aishwarya.

Celestial will be operated by the family as a joint venture with AB Hospitality and the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation Ltd as a profit-sharing partner.

It was a brainchild of the then Tourism Minister Chhagan Bhujbal of the erstwhile Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government, who had first thrown open the yacht in May 2014 after it arrived here.

After this project takes off successfully, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has plans to encourage more such floatels dotting the city's huge skyline on the eastern and western coasts, and other coastal districts of Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg on its 760-kms long coastline.

--IANS

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Malaysia on Friday confirmed that the North Korean citizen killed last month at Kuala Lumpur International Airport is Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a police official said.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said that they have fulfilled all the requirements in identifying the body as Kim Jong-nam's.

"We will not elaborate on how we obtained the identification," he told reporters in the Malaysian capital.

This is the first time the police have officially confirmed the victim is indeed Kim Jong-nam.

Bakar said the police will now hand Kim's body over to the Malaysian Health Ministry, because nobody has claimed it, reported The Star Online newspaper.

Kim was smeared on February 13 with the highly-lethal VX nerve agent at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport as he was about to board a flight to Macau, according to the Malaysian police.

Two Asian women, one from Indonesia and the other from Vietnam, have been charged with murder and face the death penalty if convicted.

The Malaysian police are currently seeking seven North Koreans over the killing. Four are suspects who are believed to be back in their home country.

Relations between Malaysia and North Korea have deteriorated since the killing.

--IANS

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The long, staggered assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, whose results are to be announced on March 11, would be remembered for innumerable reasons. While, like most similar tests at the hustings, this one too had its share of the avoidable -- be it use of words like KaSaB, gadha (ass) or below the belt jibes against political opponents, there were many firsts in the staggered, seven-phased polls spread over a month of voting.

It was for the first time since 1999 that Congress President Sonia Gandhi did not campaign in Uttar Pradesh, from where she and her son Rahul Gandhi are members of the Lok Sabha. Citing poor health and doctors' advice, especially after the near-fatal bout of asthma she suffered in Varanasi during a road show last year, she thought it best to avoid the hurly-burly of campaigning.

Samajwadi Party (SP) mentor and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav too largely skipped the campaign and only canvassed for daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who is contesting from Lucknow Cantt on an SP ticket, brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in Jaswantnagar and old aide Parasnath Yadav in Ghazipur. This is the first time since he started practising active in the 1960s that the Yadav chieftain largely missed a campaign.

Completely sidelined this time by his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who edged him out as President of the SP, Mulayam had addressed some 100 rallies in the 2012 assembly polls. Shivpal Singh Yadav, who until not long ago was the number two in the party and its chief strategist, had no work this time around. He was neither invited nor did he go anywhere to campaign for party workers.

The other first from the first family of Uttar Pradesh was the public statements by Mulayam's second wife Sadhna Gupta, who, just hours before the last round in Poorvanchal, gave an hour-long interview to a TV news agency, alleging slight and saying that Akhilesh should not have humiliated 'Neta-ji'. Largely in the background over the past two decades, this was Sadhna's first outing in public.

It was also for the first time that the Yadav clan stepped out of Saifai to contest state elections. While most members of the Mulayam clan are from in and around the Saifai belt, this time nephew Anurag Yadav was fielded from Sarojininagar and, of course, Aparna Yadav from Lucknow Cantt.

The state polls also had a first in the fact that Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Vadra figured in the list of all phases as a star campaigner though she obliged with just one rally in Rae Bareli, her mother's Lok Sabha constituency. It was also the first time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or for that matter any Prime Minister, spent so much time and energy on a state assembly election.

At the end of the seven-phase polls, Modi had addressed 23 mega rallies and had done two roadshows. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah also got into the "first list" by addressing 210 rallies.

It was, incidentally, also the first time that BJP veterans L.K. Advani and Kanpur MP Murli Manohar Joshi did not hit the campaign trail. Once the faces of all BJP campaigns, they were a complete washout in the Uttar Pradesh polls this time.

Sheila Dixit, the former Delhi Chief Minister, who was pitched as the "UP bahu" and the presumptive Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister before the Congress struck an alliance with the SP, was also nowhere to be seen during the campaign.

For the state police, there were many firsts too. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljeet Chowdhary said there were "highest seizures of unaccounted money, illicit liquor and illegal vehicles" during the campaign. The state police seized almost Rs 40 crore of the total Rs 119.42 crores of illegal cash caught during elections.

A staggering 2.23 million bulk litres of liquor, costing a whopping Rs 64.17 crore, was seized and 3.62 million people were booked under various sections of the IPC and of the warrants issued against 22,400 people, 21,653 were served. Police also undertook a mammoth task on depositing 870,000 licensed weapons.

"The experience of conducting smooth elections is satisfying," a senior official told IANS, while pointing out that despite a huge influx of VVIPs, there was no untoward incident. Intelligence officials concede that the road shows undertaken by Modi in an open SUV in Varanasi and another SPG protectee, Rahul Gandhi, in Meerut, Agra, Allahabad, Varanasi and Lucknow were "security nightmares". But now that all has ended well, they have heaved a sigh of relief.

Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Singh, while talking to IANS on phone from New Delhi, said there were many firsts for the poll panel too during the Uttar Pradesh elections. "Many first-time initiatives were undertaken by the state CEO -- like launch of many mobile applications for helping voters and a grievance redressal portal," he informed.

Incidentally, it was for the first time that a suspected terrorist was killed in a gun battle on the day of polling -- the last phase in Poorvanchal -- on March 8.

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This site

provides information about genealogy-related online meetings, classes, hangouts, seminars and webinars, where there is a visual slide share, website or software demo.

There are currently over 35 hosts and speakers with posting access to this calendar and blog, and over 200 hours of scheduled instruction for genealogists wishing to hone their research skills during the coming year.



We recommend using ConferenceKeeper.org for calendaring upcoming 2022 virtual events.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday greeted the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on its 48th Raising Day and hailed it for securing the countrys key establishments.

"Greetings to the CISF on their 48th Raising Day. This dynamic force plays a vital role in securing key units and establishments across India," Modi said on Twitter.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju also greeted the force for its role in safeguarding the citizens and important installations.

Raised in 1969, CISF currently provides security cover to nuclear installations, space establishments, airports, seaports, power plants, sensitive government buildings and heritage monuments and the Delhi Metro.

--IANS

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NASA has announced that its upcoming mission to explore the habitability of Jupiter's icy moon Europa will be officially called Europa Clipper.

The mission is being planned for launch in the 2020s, arriving in the Jupiter system after a journey of several years, NASA said in a statement on Friday.

Europa has long been a high priority for exploration because it holds a salty liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust.

The ultimate aim of Europa Clipper is to determine if Europa is habitable, possessing all three of the ingredients necessary for life -- liquid water, chemical ingredients, and energy sources sufficient to enable biology, the US space agency said.

Previously, when the mission was still in the conceptual phase, it was sometimes informally called Europa Clipper, but NASA has now adopted that name as the formal title for the mission.

The moniker harkens back to the clipper ships that sailed across the oceans of Earth in the 19th century.

Clipper ships were streamlined, three-masted sailing vessels renowned for their grace and swiftness.

These ships rapidly shuttled tea and other goods back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean and around globe.

In the grand tradition of these classic ships, the Europa Clipper spacecraft would sail past Europa at a rapid cadence, as frequently as every two weeks, providing many opportunities to investigate the moon up close.

The prime mission plan includes 40 to 45 flybys, during which the spacecraft would image the moon's icy surface at high resolution and investigate its composition and the structure of its interior and icy shell.

"During each orbit, the spacecraft spends only a short time within the challenging radiation environment near Europa. It speeds past, gathers a huge amount of science data, then sails on out of there," said Robert Pappalardo, Europa Clipper project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

--IANS

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Nepal on Friday handed over a "diplomatic note" to Indian authorities over alleged killing on Thursday of a Nepali citizen by India's border security guards, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

According to the Nepali side, Napal citizen Govinda Gautam died when SSB personnel opened fire at the Nepal-India border on Thursday following a dispute over construction of a culvert in No-man's Land.

Nepal's Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi summoned Deputy Chief of Mission in Indian Embassy Binaya Kumar and handed over the "diplomatic note", stating that the Nepal government condemned the incident and called for a probe, Nepal's Foreign Minister's Office said in a statement.

Nepal also urged India to stop such inimical activities on the border in future.

A diplomatic spat has erupted following the incident, as top political leadership in Nepal and India held several diplomatic parleys on Thursday and Friday after CPN (Maoist Center), the ruling ally, and other political parties held protests against the killing.

Sister organisations of ruling and opposition parties also joined forces for the protest, which saw anger spilling on to streets in various parts of the country.

Similarly, after the meeting between Foreign Secretary Bairagi and Kumar, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said that Kumar conveyed his condolences on the loss of life of a Nepali citizen on Thursday.

He informed Bairagi of Inia's decision to initiate an inquiry into the incident at the border touching Lakhimpur Kheri district of India and Kanchanpur districts of Nepal, and requested the Nepalese government to share autopsy and forensic reports to facilitate the inquiry process.

Kumar said that the district authorities should maintain close and regular contacts and ensure peace and order in the area.

Nepal has declared Gautam a "martyr", will provide Rs 1 million as compensation to his family, conduct Gautam's cremation with full state honours, and provide free education to his children, Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi announced.

India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also called up Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' to express his grief over the death of Gautam.

While extending deep condolences to the family of the deceased, Doval also told Pracahanda that India would support Nepal in every possible way and requested him to provide the post-mortem examination report and other information related to the incident to the Indian side, the Prime Minister's Secretariat said in New Delhi.

During the conversation, Prachanda apprised Doval of the "serious" incident and told him about the "seriousness" and "sensitivity" of the incident for Nepal while assuring full support for inquiry.

Prachanda hoped that India would take stern action against the guilty after the probe, the statement said.

The firing on Nepal-India border has further spiked political and diplomatic tension in Kathmandu as lawmakers from various political parties sought answer from the government over the incident.

While accepting a memorandum on Friday from his own party leaders regarding the Kanchanpur incident, Prachanda said that any kind of interference into national sovereignty was not acceptable.

On Friday morning, Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat made a telephone call to India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and sought the Indian position over the killing as India denied that its security force opened the fire.

Mahat requested Swaraj to initiate a probe into the killing and ensure that such incident does not recur in the future, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

--IANS

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Although there has been no arrest in the killing of Harnish Patel in South Carolina state last week, officials say investigations are making progress but they are not sure of the motives.

The Post and Courier newspaper quoted Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile as saying, "We are making progress on this case."

The newspaper reported on Wednesday that local officials said that the State Law Enforcement division was helping with the investigation.

An official expressed puzzlement over the motivation for killing of Patel, one of three attacks in which people of Indian origin were victims, the newspaper reported.

"We don't have any direct evidence that tells us it's an ethnically motivated killing"ADoug Barfield, a lawyer for the local Sheriff's Office told the newspaper. "And we don't have anything that tells us it's not."

"We don't have any graffiti a" any anti-Muslim or anti-Indian graffiti a" scrawled on his front door. We don't have notes. We don't have recorded messages on his property. We just don't know, but we are working hard to find out," he added.

Barfield referred to the killing of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas and the shooting of Deep Rai in Washington in recent days and said that investigators are wading through what he called "tons of of information" and tips, the newspaper reported.

--IANS

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The total domestic sales of passenger vehicles rose by 9.01 per cent in February, industry data showed on Friday.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), total sales of passenger vehicles, which include cars, utility vehicles and vans, surged to 255,359 units last month from 234,244 units sold during the corresponding month of 2016.

On the sub-segment basis, sales of passenger cars rose by 4.90 per cent in the month under review to 172,623 units from 164,559 units in February last year.

The utility vehicles' off-take during the month zoomed by 21.79 per cent to 65,877 units, while the sales of vans edged up by 8.10 per cent to 16,859 units.

The industry data revealed that sales of overall commercial vehicles went up by 7.34 per cent to 66,939 units in February. The segment is a key indicator of economic activity.

However, the sales in the three-wheelers segment plunged by 21.35 per cent to 35,356 units during the month.

In addition, overall sales of two-wheelers, which include scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, was a tad lower by 0.01 per cent at 1,362,045 units.

Product-wise, scooter sales in the month under review inched up by 3.70 per cent to 452,295 units, whereas the motorcycle sub-segment sales logged a decline of 3.13 per cent to 832,697 units.

On the other hand, mopeds' off-take surged by 15.99 per cent to 77,053 units.

The industry data disclosed that the Indian automobile sector reported a marginal rise of 0.94 per cent in February 2017 -- with total sales at 1,719,699 units across segments and categories.

Moreover, the overall exports across categories increased by 11.84 per cent to 285,265 units during last month.

Industry experts were of the view that the automobile industry is expected to grow in the upcoming months.

"Auto sector is showing signs of bucking the trend after a negative impact of demonetisation, and are getting back on to the growth track," said Sridhar V., Partner, Grant Thornton India LLP.

"Much improvement is expected in the coming months."

According to Abdul Majeed, Partner - Price Waterhouse, the dispatches from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to dealers in both the passenger cars and commercial vehicles segment have recorded a good growth compared to February 2016, and expected brisk retail sales.

"The growth of passenger cars was driven by new launches, especially in the utility vehicles segment," Majeed asserted.

Majeed pointed out that the impact of demonetisation was still felt in the rural sections as the result of which major two wheeler OEMs were cautious with their dispatches to dealers.

"Pre-buying due to BS IV (Bharat Stage-IV) norms that are effective from 1 April 2017 is helping in the growth of commercial vehicle segment," Majeed explained.

"Hopefully, the impact of demonetisation in the rural economy will be addressed in the coming months. With the implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax) in the next fiscal, the outlook for automotive looks better."

--IANS

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Pope Francis has said he is open to married men becoming priests to combat the Roman Catholic Church's shortage of clergy.

In an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit, Pope Francis said the lack of Catholic priests was an "enormous problem" for the Church, and indicated that he would be open to a change in the rules governing eligibility for the priesthood.

"We need to consider if 'viri probati' could be a possibility," he said.

"If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities." Viri probati is the Latin term for "tested men" or married men of outstanding faith and virtue.

The Pope said the option would allow men who are already married to be ordained as priests.

But single men who are already priests would not be allowed to marry, said a report in CNN on Friday.

"Voluntary celibacy is not a solution," he said.

The Catholic Church already allows some married men to be ordained priests.

Protestant married priests who convert to Catholicism can continue to be married and be a Roman Catholic priest, provided they have their wives' permission, according to the report.

Eastern Catholic churches that are in communion with the Roman Catholic Church can also maintain their tradition of married priests.

The Roman Catholic Church believes priests should not marry based on certain passages in the Bible, and because it believes that the priest acts "in persona Christi" (in the person of Christ) and should therefore be celibate, like Christ.

This teaching was re-affirmed by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis in his book, "On Heaven and Earth," said that "For the time being, I am in favour of maintaining celibacy with the pros and cons that it has, because it has been ten centuries of good experiences more often than failure."

--IANS

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President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday called for a change in the policies and arrangements for financing innovation start-ups to make them far less complex.

Addressing a roundtable on start-up, incubation and financing innovations on the last day of the Festival of Innovations at Rashtrapati Bhavan here, the President said that about 10 lakh technology students pass out in India every year and "unless we invest in 10-20,000 ideas annually, we are unlikely to see a major breakthrough".

He said the present level of financing of innovation-based start-ups is only about a couple of thousands every year.

The President stressed the need for going beyond traditional paradigms and creating a system of entrepreneurship and innovation in which youth were job creators rather than job seekers.

He said the real concern for policy planners was that much of the finance came at too late a stage in the life cycle of enterprise, leading to a large number of ideas getting aborted before turning into products or services.

"We, therefore, have to ask ourselves the question whether our policy and institutional arrangements for financing of innovation-based start-ups need change. The answer would be an unequivocal 'yes'," he said.

The President said financing of innovations and early-stage ventures should become far less complex. "This must necessarily also be accompanied by attitudinal change -- we must learn to celebrate and learn from failures in the same way as we celebrate success."

Noting that the Atal Innovation Mission had created tinkering labs in more than 500 schools, the President said that the emerging ecosystem must be backed with similar support at the community, district and regional levels.

"Every Navodaya Vidyalaya should have incubation centre, which enable and encourage children to take risks at an early age, and each district a community innovation lab. Policy initiatives need to be put in place for improving both innovation exposure and initiatives in government schools," he said.

--IANS

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Russias President Vladimir Putin has urged Israel to focus on modern world affairs, after the visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to an ancient legend of an Iranian forefathers attempt to eradicate the Jewish people.

Putin and Netanyahu touched upon a range of issues during their meeting in Moscow on Thursday, such as the fight against terrorism, the crisis in Syria and Israel's tough relations with Iran, RT news reported.

The Russian President began by wishing Netanyahu a happy Purim, a traditional Jewish holiday that marks the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, a vizier in the ancient Persian Empire.

In response, Netanyahu said Persia made "an attempt to destroy the Jewish people that did not succeed" nearly 2,500 years ago, and stressed that "today there is an attempt by Persia's heir, Iran, to destroy the state of the Jews".

"They say this as clearly as possible and print it in black and white in their newspapers," he said.

However, this time Israel has its own territory and an army that protects its territory, Netanyahu said.

Putin noted that those events had taken place "in the fifth century BC", and added that "we now live in a different world" and suggested discussing the actual up-to-date problems in the region, according to the report.

Netanyahu welcomed Russia's efforts in fighting against Islamic State (IS) and other extremist groups.

"Recently we have seen a significant progress in fighting against terrorism spread by Islamic State and Al Qaeda, and Russia has contributed a lot," Netanyahu said.

He also said that there was a threat of Islamic "Shiite terrorism" being spread by Iran.

Putin is set to meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow on March 10.

The two leaders will likely focus on the situation in Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ahead of the meeting.

"Certainly, the peace process and situation in Syria can't come off the agenda of any regional power, especially such as Turkey and Israel," Peskov said.

--IANS

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Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Friday offered to negotiate with banks for a one-time settlement of dues and sought the Supreme Court's intervention.

"Public sector banks have policies for one-time settlements. Hundreds of borrowers have settled. Why should this be denied to us? Our substantial offer before the Supreme Court was rejected by banks without consideration. (I) Am ready to talk settlement on fair basis," tweeted Mallya.

Mallya's renewed offer through a series of tweets came a day after the consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) told the apex court that "he had taken it for a ride" and urged the top court to initiate contempt proceedings against him for "wilfully" breaching its orders.

In response to the consortium's charge, Mallya tweeted: "Wish the Supreme Court would intervene and put an end to all this by directing banks and us to negotiate and settle. We are ready."

On Thursday, the apex court asked Mallya about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and alleged transfer of $40 million (Rs 267 crore) to his children in complete violation of the Karnataka High Court order.

On Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi's charge that Mallya had been mocking the Indian judicial system, and had taken the Supreme Court "for a ride", the tycoon said the allegations proved the attitude of the government against him.

"I have humbly obeyed every single court order without exception. Seems as if government is bent upon holding me guilty without fair trial," said Mallya in another tweet.

Appearing for the consortium of banks, Rohatgi told the bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice U.U. Lalit that Mallya siphoned off $40 million, besides public dues.

"It was wilful, contumacious conduct, trying not only to breach the court orders but to put it out of reach (of Indian courts)," submitted Rohatgi.

Mallya received $40 million from British liquor major Diageo Plc on February 25, 2016, as part of a $75-million (Rs 516 crore) deal with it to resign as chairman and non-executive director of its Indian arm, United Spirits Ltd (USL).

"Mallya transferred the amount ($40 million) to his children in violation of judicial orders, including those passed by the Debt Recovery Tribunal's Bengaluru branch and the Karnataka High Court," Rohatgi told the court.

Mallya also concealed the fact of receiving $40 million and diverting the money to his son Siddharth and daughters Lenna and Tanya, who are US citizens and beneficiaries of the three trusts over which he had no control.

Senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, appearing for Mallya, opposed the plea of the banks, saying all his properties were attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he was entitled to an equal and fair treatment.

The consortium of banks had rejected Mallya's one-time settlement (OTS) offer of Rs 6,000 crore made in April 2016.

Mallya left India on March 2, 2016, for London days after the consortium of 17 banks moved the Tribunal on February 26, 2016, to hear its July 2013 petition to recover its dues of Rs 9,081 crore, including interest, that was loaned to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Vaidyanathan also told the bench that Mallya was being made the "poster boy of loan defaulters in India" and accused the banks of targeting him instead of taking up his offer.

The bench reserved an order on whether Mallya could be held for contempt of court for not fully disclosing his assets before it.

Rohatgi contended that unless Mallya deposited $40 million before the court, he did not deserve to be heard and that he should appear personally.

--IANS

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With the IMD forecast of an exceptionally hot summer this year, Reliance Energy expects the summer peak demand to cross 1,700 MW power requirement between April-June this year in the city, an official said here on Friday.

The company is prepared to tackle the summer heat and has made full arrangements to cater to the additional power supply requirements of its 2.4 million-plus consumer.

"Reliance Energy has estimated that the peak demand for power in its distribution area is likely to cross the 1,700 MW mark in the coming summer months," the official said.

Last year on June 9, the company had recorded a peak demand of 1,627 MW, which was 45 percent of the peak demand of Mumbai that day.

The three highest peak demand days last year were June 8 and June 9 (1,627 MW) and June 11 (1,625 MW).

The company said it is almost certain that the peak demand for power will cross last year's April-June peak demand of 1,627 MW and Mumbai's power demand has already shot up with the sudden rise in daytime temperatures to 39 degrees Celsius currently.

For this, it has entered into long-term power purchase agreements to buy 1,262 MW and additional 250 MWA for the ensuing summer months.

The company is also ready to buy additional power in the days ahead if the need arises since people switch on airconditioning during afternoons to get relief from the oppressive heat.

There is another surge in the demand for power post-monsoon when the day time temperatures shoots up considerably and the peak demand during this period last year was 1,432 MW on October 18.

"Being the largest power supplier of the financial capital of India, Reliance Energy's top priority is to maintain highest levels of reliability and quality in power supply to its consumers," the official said.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
GULFPORT, Mississippi -- An Ocean Springs man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to six counts involving the production, transportation, distribution and possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and FBI Special Agent Christopher Freeze announced.

Philip Joseph Spear, 59, was arrested at his Temple Terrace home in Ocean Springs last September. Agents from federal, state and local agencies participated in the raid at Spear's home. The raid was part of a special online operation by the FBI and other agencies targeting child pornography.

Executing a federal search warrant, agents removed documents, cameras and hard drives from the home and an unidentified female was seen being escorted from the house. A forensic examination later revealed numerous images and videos of minors engaging in sexually-explicit conduct.

Spear admitted to agents at the time he had downloaded child pornography and had a sexual interest in children since the age of 12.

Thursday, Spear pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography, one count of production of child pornography by a person with custody of a minor, one count of transportation of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.

Combined, the charges carry a total maximum sentence of 130 years in federal prison and $1.25 million in fines. Chief U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. will sentence Spear on June 7.

The case was investigated by the FBI Jackson Division's Child Exploitation Task Force, which is made up of agents from the FBI and the Mississippi Attorney General's Office and prosecutors from the United States Attorney's Offices in Oxford and Jackson.
The Russian Aerospace Defence Forces will receive 16 new Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers in 2017, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yuriy Borisov said on Friday.

"The Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPA) has a long-term contract with the Russian Defence Ministry for the production of 92 Su-34 strike fighters. We are expecting to receive 16 Su-34fighter-bombers this year," Xinhua news agency quoted Borisov as saying.

Borisov said nine of the aircraft are in the final stage of assembly, and noted that the Su-34 aircraft had proved highly effective in the fight against terrorists in Syria.

It has an enormous modernisation potential, and could be called a new generation aircraft, he said.

The Su-34 entered service in early 2014. It is designed primarily for tactical deployment against ground and naval targets on solo and group missions in daytime and at night, and can operate under adverse weather conditions and in a hostile environment.

--IANS

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A South Korean court on Friday upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, removing her from office after a 92-day leadership crisis, the media reported.

The ruling, which was announced by the Constitutional Court's acting chief and televised live, made Park the nation's first democratically elected leader to be ousted, Yonhap News Agency reported.

She was impeached by parliament on December 9 on charges of letting a close friend meddle in state affairs, colluding with her to extort money from conglomerates, and neglecting her duties during a 2014 ferry sinking that killed over 300 mostly students.

An election to pick her successor must be held within 60 days and many expect it to fall on May 9, the court ruled.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A South Korean court upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye on Friday, removing her from office after a 92-day leadership crisis, the media reported.

"The negative effects of the President's actions and their repercussions are grave, and the benefits to defending the Constitution by removing her from office are overwhelmingly large," the Constitutional Court's acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said in an announcement which was televised live.

The ruling made Park the nation's first democratically elected leader to be ousted, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The court's eight justices voted unanimously for the impeachment.

Of the charges brought against the former President, the court acknowledged the illegality of Park's actions in letting her close friend and confidant Choi Soon-sil meddle in state affairs.

It dismissed the others, such as her abuse of power to appoint government officials, citing a lack of evidence.

On Park's alleged neglect of duty during a 2014 ferry sinking that killed over 300 people mostly students, Lee said the charge did not warrant deliberation by the court.

She was impeached by parliament on December 9.

An election to pick her successor must be held within 60 days, the court ruled.

The President's supporters and detractors rallied outside the court as police officers and police buses were deployed to prevent a possible clash.

The court's decision strips Park of her immunity from criminal prosecution, which will force her to undergo interrogation by prosecutors over her alleged crimes.

Park was the first female President of South Korea. She took office on February 25, 2013. Her father, Park Chung-hee, was the President from 1963 to 1979 after he seized power in 1961.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior separatist leaders in the Kashmir Valley were placed under house arrest and heavy deployment of security forces was made to prevent protests after Friday's congregational prayers here.

Senior separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah, Ashraf Sehrai, Zafar Akbar Bhat and Ashraf Laway were put under house arrest to prevent post Friday prayer protests in Srinagar.

Mirwaiz Umer was scheduled to lead a protest march after the Friday prayers in the Nowhatta area of old city Srinagar.

After the killing of a teenager, Aamir Wani, in clashes with the security forces in Padgampora village in Pulwama district on Thursday, separatists had called for a protest shutdown across the valley on Friday.

Another civilian, Jalal-ud-Din, was also brought dead to the hospital after the clashes.

According to police, doctors had certified that he had no external or internal injury and his death was not connected with the clashes.

Police said inquest proceedings were ordered into Jalal-ud-Din's death.

Heavy deployments of police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were made in old city and law and order sensitive areas of uptown Srinagar.

"Similar law and order maintenance arrangements have been made in south Kashmir areas as well, but no curfew has been imposed anywhere in the valley," a senior police official said.

Shops, public transport and other businesses remained closed across the valley.

Most educational institutions were also closed.

Attendance in banks, post offices and government offices was thin due to non-availability of public transport.

--IANS

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At least six terrorists were arrested by Indonesia's anti-terror squad on Friday, police said.

They had planned attacks against police stations and banks in the province's Tolitoli regency, Xinhua news agency quoted police spokesperson Hari Suprapto as saying.

"Interrogation against them is underway. There will be a briefing by police chief tomorrow (Saturday)," Hari said.

--IANS

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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday suggested setting up an ombudsman in the sector to resolve consumer complaints.

In a three-stage grievance redressal mechanism for the sector it proposed "Resolution by telecom service providers; resolution by consumer grievance redressal forum (CGRF), and determination by telecom ombudsman."

The recommendations made by TRAI on 'Complaints/Grievance Redressal in the Telecom Sector' said: "The consumer should in the first instance approach TSP to seek a solution. It will be the duty of the TSP to look into the request and address the consumer's concerns within the time frames stipulated by the authority."

In case the TSP fails to satisfactorily resolve the problem, the customer will have the option to seek further redressal through the new independent mechanism recommended by the TRAI. This will consist of a process of resolution based on fact-finding by CGRF, if necessitated, will be determined by the telecom ombudsman.

"Ombudsman will be required to act in accordance with the principles of natural justice. In order to function as an effective body, the ombudsman should have the power to levy penalties on the TSPs," the sector regulator added.

--IANS

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The Trinamool Congress's Tripura unit former chief Surajit Datta on Friday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other senior leaders.

"I have joined the BJP to strengthen the struggle to dislodge the Left Front government in next year's assembly elections," Datta, who resigned from the party last week, told reporters after formally joining the BJP.

He said: "I have resigned from the TMC as the party would be unable to fight against the ruling Left Front properly."

A former minister and former President of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee, Datta joined the TMC in September 2013 along with many leaders and thousands of followers.

Datta, a five-time Congress member of the state assembly, joined the BJP at a massive public rally addressed by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, BJP's National General Secretary Ram Madhav and state unit president Biplab Kumar Deb among other leaders.

Refusing to comment on Datta's resignation, Tripura state TMC's President Ashish Saha said the TMC would fight tooth and nail against the ruling Left Front government in next year's assembly elections.

Veteran tribal leader Rampada Jamatia also joined the BJP at the public gathering.

--IANS

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US President Donald Trump was not aware that his former national security adviser Michael Flynn had worked to further the interests of the government of Turkey before appointing him, the White House has said.

The comments came two days after Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group Inc, filed paperwork with the Justice Department formally identifying him as a foreign agent and acknowledging that his work for a company owned by a Turkish businessman could have aided Turkey's government.

Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday called the action "an affirmation of the president's decision to ask General Flynn to resign", Time reported on Friday.

Pence said that he also did not know about Flynn's paid work.

"I don't believe that that was known," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was quoted as saying.

Flynn and his company filed the registration paperwork describing $530,000 worth of lobbying before Election Day on behalf of Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin.

--IANS

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European Council President Donald Tusk urged member states of the European Union (EU) to strive towards maintaining political unity after Brexit as the debate over a multi-speed Europe is getting fierce.

Tusk chaired the debate on the future of Europe on Friday with all EU leaders, with the exception British Prime Minister Theresa May, who are gathered in Brussels for a two-day summit, Xinhua news agency reported.

"When discussing the various scenarios for Europe, our main objective should be to strengthen mutual trust and unity among 27," Tusk said at a press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday.

"After today's debate, I can openly say that all 27 leaders agree with this objective. This was an optimistic discussion about our common future, with a positive approach from all sides, without any exception," Tusk added.

The debate on a 'multi-speed' Europe gained momentum after the publication of the European Commission's White Paper and a meeting of leaders of continental Europe's biggest economies who back the idea of differentiated integration for EU member states.

Some EU member states, including France, Germany, Spain and Italy are calling for a multi-speed Europe, in which some could deepen their integration faster than others.

However, the bloc's eastern members fear that they would be excluded from deeper integration in the future and are against the idea.

--IANS

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At least two drug peddlers, part of an international drug racket, were arrested here and two kg heroin valued at Rs 8 crore in the international market was recovered from them, police said on Friday.

"A team of special cell on Wednesday night arrested Dilbagh Singh and his uncle Gurnaam Singh from the Singhu border area," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, told IANS.

"They received a consignment of heroin from their gang members of African origin residing in Dwarka," Yadav said.

According to him, two kg heroin and Rs 20 lakh in Rs 2,000 notes were recovered from the two Punjab residents.

They used to supply drugs in Delhi and the National Capital Region, Yadav said.

"They said the heroin was brought by other gang members from Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was to be supplied in Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and the NCR.

"The gang members in Pakistan and Afghanistan consumed insoluble capsules of heroin in their stomachs. After landing in India, they flushed the capsules out and supplied them to drug dealers in Delhi and Punjab," Yadav said.

The African members sent consignments of heroin to other countries including England, France, Canada and South Africa through courier companies, police said.

--IANS

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Marylands Senate has passed a bill banning cownose ray contests. Footage shows rays bludgeoned to death, then dumped overboard after they have been weighed. Photo by Alamy

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Legislative activity is furious at the federal and state level. This week, lawmakers introduced three new animal protection bills (banning the sale of dog and cat meat in the United States, creating a federal anti-cruelty statute, and outlawing the sale of shark fins). Next week, the U.S. Senate may take up H.J. Res. 69, or its Senate companion, S.J. Res. 18, a resolution to rescind a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule to outlaw the most inhumane and unsporting hunting practices on over 76 million acres of federal public lands in Alaska. Today, we released a video from Alaskans who support the Fish and Wildlife Service rule and want the Senate to reject this resolution. Yesterday, Ellen DeGeneres tweeted on the topic and urged her 66 million followers to join our campaign to defeat H.J. Res. 69 and S.J. Res. 18.

There is activity in the states, too. Yesterday, we got a step closer to ending contest kills for rays, when a Maryland House committee voted in favor of a bill that would ban these twisted games. A similar bill has already passed the state Senate.

Every summer, people armed with bows and arrows descend on Marylands scenic Chesapeake Bay for these bloody events that target cownose rays, a species native to Marylands waterways and named for their unique facial features. Participants kill these gentle, intelligent creatures in contests that award cash and prizes to those catching the heaviest rays. Many of the rays killed are pregnant females that migrate to the bay in the summer to mate and give birth.

Footage taken of the events show rays bludgeoned to death, then dumped overboard after they have been weighed for the contest. No responsible sportsman would countenance that kind of waste of animal life.

Good news emerged yesterday from New Mexico for another long-persecuted species, when the state Senate passed a bill to prohibit cruel, unsporting, and ineffective coyote killing contests in the Land of Enchantment. As in Maryland, participants compete in these gruesome events for prizestypically cash or weaponsfor slaughtering the most or the largest animals within a specified time period. Predator killing contests remove any notion of fair chase, and participants often use high-tech equipment and even electronic calling devices to attract coyotes into rifle range with sounds that imitate the cry of a coyote in distress.

In Alabama, an HSUS-backed bill that would restrict the private possession of big cats and wolves passed the House by a vote of 93-2. A South Carolina bill that would prohibit big cats, bears, and great apes from being kept as pets also passed the House. Alabama and South Carolina are two of five states with no laws governing the keeping of dangerous wild animals as pets (other states with no laws include Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin).

Bills that would disallow leaving dogs in hot cars have passed the first chambers in Colorado, Indiana, and New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. passed a temporary law dealing with dogs left outside in inclement weather.

Besides pushing for legislation favorable to animals, The HSUS also fights bills that would hurt them. This year we are fighting an ag-gag bill in Arkansas. Agribusiness lobbyists are trying to rush through a dangerous bill that would not only cover up cruelty in puppy mills and factory farms, but in any workplace. Whistleblowers could be punished, for example, for documenting child abuse at a daycare. The HSUS is running television, newspaper, and online ads, conducting on-the-ground lobbying, and much more.

Thats just a taste of what were fighting for and against at the federal and state level. As Ive written before, its never been more important to speak up for animals than today. Big issues hang in the balance, and we need you to weigh in wherever you can.








At least two people were killed on Friday in mass demonstrations here to protest against the dismissal of South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

Violent clashes were reported in Sejong Avenue between police and supporters of Park, whose impeachment was approved earlier on Friday by the Constitutional Court.

One of the victims was a 72-year-old man, identified only by his last name Kim, the police told Yonhap News Agency.

--IANS

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Islamabad, March 10 (IANS Two Pakistani youths who were initially suspected of being involved in the terror attack on an Indian Army base in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, and freed two days ago after charges against them could not be proved, crossed the border into Pakistan on Friday .

Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed were initially suspected of being involved in the September 2016 attack which left 19 Indian soldiers dead. India has blamed Pakistani militant group Jaish-e-Mohamed for the assault.

Indian border authorities handed over Awan and Khursheed to the Pakistan Army at the Wagah-Attari border. They were on Friday received at the Wagah border crossing by their families, Dawn online reported.

The two youths, who are reported to be Class 10 students, were arrested in a joint operation by India's Border Security Force and the Army at Angoor Post in Uri town a few days after the September 18 Uri attack. They were suspected to have acted as "guides" for the militants.

They were brought to the National Investigation Agency headquarters for interrogation.

The NIA last week clarified that the two had run away from home to avoid studies and filed a closure report in the case. The probe agency on Wednesday handed them over to the Indian Army.

--IANS

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A local magistrate's court on Friday transferred a case related to sexual assault on a US tourist here to the sessions court.

Metropolitan Magistrate Jasjeet Kaur transferred the case to District Judge's court, which will hear the matter on March 17.

On the next date of hearing, the case would most likely be forwarded to a fast-track court exclusively dealing with sexual offences against women, a court source said.

The magistrate marked the file to District Judge after considering the Delhi Police's chargesheet filed against four accused -- Aniruddha Singh, Omprakash, Maqsood and Vivek -- who were arrested in December last year for the alleged gang-rape of the American tourist.

Among the accused, Aniruddha Singh was a Nepal-based tourist guide, Omprakash a driver, Maqsood a helper, and Vivek was a bell-boy at the hotel where the crime took place.

The police have chargesheeted them under Sections 376-D (gang-rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), besides Section 506 (criminal intimidation) read with Section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

The 30-year-old victim's statement from America alleged that she was gang-raped at a luxury hotel in the first week of April last year.

The Delhi Police registered an FIR last year on the complaint of the woman as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj intervened in the matter.

The victim had filed a police complaint with the help of an NGO in early December, saying that the accused drugged her and sexually assaulted her for two days and also made an MMS.

The accused have, however, denied the charge.

--IANS

akk/nir/vt

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Justice C.S. Karnan of the Calcutta High Court on Friday said the Supreme Court-issued bailable warrant against him in a contempt case was unconstitutional.

"The bailable warrant issued today ... will be stayed. They have no locus standi to issue a warrant against me. It is unconstitutional," he told the media.

--IANS

spk-sar/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People with asthma are likely to have worse symptoms when they get the flu and are more likely to end up in hospitals because of immune system differences, researchers said.

The study showed that when exposed to the flu virus, people with asthma have weaker immune systems, whereas healthy people show a strong immune system-triggering reaction.

"We wanted to look into whether immune system differences explain why asthmatics are more likely to end up in hospital if they get flu than the general population. This is important, as flu can cause a person's asthma symptoms to get worse," said Ben Nicholas from the University of Southampton in London.

For the study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the team assessed lung samples from asthmatics and healthy volunteers.

The samples were exposed to influenza and their reactions analysed.

"The samples from healthy people showed a strong immune system-triggering reaction to the flu virus. But in lung samples from asthma patients, this reaction was much weaker," Nicholas said.

"We hope these results help researchers better understand why asthmatics are more affected by influenza and help find new treatments for common lung infections, which often make asthma symptoms worse," he added.

More research is now needed to investigate whether the difference in immune responses is due to the asthma itself, or the daily medications used by participating asthmatics to control their condition, the researchers noted.

--IANS

rt/in/vm

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A couple of days before Womens Day, I was surprised to hear that a woman I know, who works as a private nurse, had suddenly given up her job. As per the grapevine, she hadnt given it up for something that offered better prospects, but because she wanted to stay at home and be a proper wife and mother. Her efficiency and empathetic disposition had impressed me, so I wondered why she quit her job after over a decade of work. Coincidentally, I ran into her yesterday and asked her what had happened. Her answer was unexpected.
Counting of votes in assembly polls in five states will take place today amid tight security with the most riveting contest in Uttar Pradesh, seen as a gamechanger and a virtual referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and his reforms agenda.

The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh is hoping to stop the BJP juggernaut, which had earlier stumbled in Bihar and Delhi, and lead the way for opposition unity in the run up to the 2019 general election.

Congress is claiming it will wrest power in Punjab and retain its hold in Uttarakhand and Manipur. The election is also important for the nascent Aam Aadmi Party, which is hoping for success in its maiden outing in assembly elections outside Delhi and has put up a spirited fight in Punjab and Goa.

Counting of votes will start at 8 am today. Tens of thousands of central forces personnel were being deployed at the polling centres, including 20,000 personnel in Uttar Pradesh.

In Uttar Pradesh which has a 403-member assembly, 78 counting centres have been set up in 75 districts. 15 counting centres have been established in Uttarakhand where the Assembly strength is 70 .

Votes will be counted at 54 centers in 27 locations set up for election to 117-member Punjab Assembly. In Goa, votes will be counted at two centres in North and South Goa to declare the winners in 40 seats. In Manipur, counting of votes will be held for 60 seats.

The Election Commission has issued strict guidelines on security arrangements for counting of votes and has prohibited mobile phones inside the counting halls.

In addition to general observers, a micro-observer will be deputed at each and every counting table. A three-tier security arrangement has been made in and around the counting centres.

Only central forces will be deployed inside the counting centres while local police will be deployed in the outer circle and forces from other states will be around the centres to prevent entry of any unauthorised persons.

A senior magistrate will be posted at the entrance to control the crowd and regulate the entry. The 100-metre area around a counting premise or campus is to be demarcated as pedestrian zone and no vehicles shall be allowed within this perimeter.

Additional CCTV cameras will be installed at locations from where the carrying of EVMs from strong rooms to the counting hall can be effectively monitored.

Exit polls have projected a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh and Goa, with BJP likely to lead the table. They forecast a close fight in Punjab between the Congress, which is seeking to return to power after a hiatus of 10 years, and Arvind Kejriwal's AAP. The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine could be in for a drubbing in the state.

They have predicted victory for BJP in Uttarakhand.

A good show by the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh, will be seen as a reaffirmation of Modi's standing among the masses and popular endorsement of his agenda, especially demonetisation.

It will also boost its president's Amit Shah's authority as capturing power in Uttar Pradesh has been a dream project for the party after it was reduced to the margins of the state that it ruled for much of the 1990s.

Shah has been seen as the architect of the party's outreach to various social groups, mostly OBCs and sections of Dalits, and some experts believed that it might have antagonised its core support base and also old loyalists, who were passed over by him in distribution of tickets.

A BJP win in the state polls will also boost its strength in the Rajya Sabha where the Congress-led opposition has been able to block the government's legislative agenda due to its numerical superiority.

Despite grim exit poll projections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa, the Congress put up a brave face today saying it will win all five states.

The Congress also sought to insulate party vice president from any negative fallout saying poll results are never a referendum on any single individual.

Senior Congress leader and party's UP general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "The SP Congress alliance will win UP elections despite exit poll claims." Asked if Rahul Gandhi, who spearheaded the party campaign in UP, would be responsible for the loss or victory tomorrow, Azad said, "Elections are not a referendum on individuals.
Is the Islamic State behind the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast in Madhya Pradesh? While the Madhya Pradesh police was quick to link the arrested suspects with the terror group, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in a statement in Lok Sabha on Thursday avoided any direct mention of the group.

The Minister said the train blast was an act of a "suspected terrorist gang".

The Uttar Pradesh police, which on Wednesday neutralised an alleged member of the gang involved in the train blast in Lucknow, said suspected terror operative Saifullah who was killed, and his associates were "self radicalised" and trying to build an "Islamic State Khorasan module".

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan supported his state police's theory and said on Wednesday in Bhopal that those behind the train bomb blast had suspected Islamic State links.

Chouhan also revealed that the explosion was caused by a pipe bomb, whose pictures were sent to Syria through their mobile phones. A timer was also used in the bomb.

Making a statement in the Lower House, Rajnath Singh also said that the anti-terror operations had helped "successfully avert" a possible threat to security and that further probe would be handed over to the Investigation Agency.

The Minister said that Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Police have so far managed to arrest six members of the gang related to the train blast.

"The events present an excellent example of coordination amongst the state police and central agencies. Due to the prompt action taken by the police of both the states, a possible threat to security was successfully averted. Further investigations will be handed over to NIA," Singh said.

Saifullah, a resident of Manohar Nagar in Kanpur, was killed on Wednesday morning in an 11-hour-long gunfight in Thakurganj's Haji colony in Lucknow while his associates were held from different places in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Over 27 lakh voters will cast their votes in the bye-elections to Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha constituencies on April 9 and 12in Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Electoral Officer of the state said today.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), J&K, Shantmanu said today that special polling stations have also been set up at Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi for more than 73,000 migrant voters.

The CEO further informed that the notification for Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary constituencies would be issued on March 14 and March 17 respectively.

The last date for filing nominations has been fixed as March 21 for Srinagar and March 24 for Anantnag respectively.

The scrutiny of nominations would be done on March 22 and March 27 respectively, he said. The candidates will be able to withdraw their nominations till March 24 (Srinagar) and March 29 (Anantnag), the CEO added.

He informed that counting of votes would be held on April 15 and the election process would be completed on April 16.

The model code of conduct came into force in seven districts of both parliamentary constituencies yesterday.

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Jabaal Sheard

New England Patriots defensive lineman Jabaal Sheard sits on the bench during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

(Elise Amendola)

Former New England Patriots defensive end Jabaal Sheard, who proved to be a steal in free agency two years ago, has signed with the Indianapolis Colts, ESPN reported Friday.

Sheard's deal is worth $25.5 million over three years, according to Jeff Howe of The Boston Herald.

Former Patriots linebacker Barkevious Mingo also signed with Indianapolis.

Sheard arrived in New England in 2015 on a two-year, $11 million deal. He had a superb 2015 season, tallying eight sacks in 13 games. He also was the team's best run defender on the edge.

He had an uneven 2016 season, though, which likely hurt his value in free agency. Sheard was left behind as a healthy scratch for the team's Week 11 trip to San Francisco. He rebounded later in the year, dominating the Broncos in Week 15.

Overall, Sheard was part of a four-man rotation at defensive end. He shared time with Trey Flowers, Chris Long, and Rob Ninkovich.

To help fill the void left by Sheard, the Patriots traded for Panthers defensive end Kony Early on Friday.
A court here today convicted 31 employees of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), including 13 on charges of murder, for the violence at the company's Maneser plant in August 2012.

Additional District and Sessions Judge R K Goyal also acquitted 117 MSIL employees. A total of 148 workers were arrested and charged with the murder of senior HR officer Awanish Kumar Dev.

The court sentenced 13 employees, holding top posts in MSIL workers' union, on charges of murder and attempt to murder besides rioting and other related offences.

The other 18 were convicted on charges of rioting, trespassing, causing hurt and other related offences under Indian Penal Code sections.

The quantum of punishment will be decided on March 18 during the next hearing, defence counsel Rajendra Pathak told PTI.

The violence on August 18, 2012 broke out over wage issues when a group of employees allegedly torched a section of MSIL facility which claimed the life of Dev, a resident of South Delhi's Malviya Nagar.

A total of 148 workers were arrested and charged with the murder of Dev, a resident of South Delhi's Malviya Nagar.

More than 100 other employees, including some foreign nationals, suffered injuries.

The district administration imposed CrPC section 144 near the civil court and Industrial Model Township (IMT) Manesar, prohibiting gathering of more than five people.

Assembly of more than five people has also been prohibited in the 500 metres radius of MSIL plant and Gurgaon court.

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The All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) and allied Bodo organisations today began an indefinite hunger strike here for a separate state of Bodoland.

ABSU President Pramod Bodo said they would continue to agitate till their demand for a separate state of Bodoland was met.

Bodo said that the BJP had promised in its election manifesto and verbally that they would resolve the Bodo problem immediately if they came to power in New Delhi.

"They were voted to power and their regime in Delhi is more than two and half years now. However, the fact is that there is no initiative to materialise their promises. Rather they have stopped the very continuity of dialogue, which apparently means the regime is not willing to resolve the problem", he said.

He stated several agitational programmes if the hunger strike failed to draw response.

The other Bodo organizations include National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)(P) and Peoples Joint Action Committee for Boroland Movement (PJACBM).

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A London-bound Air India aircraft from Ahmedabad today had to be escorted by fighter jets after it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control while flying over Hungary.

The Dreamliner Boieng 787-800 plane with 231 passengers and 18 crew members onboard lost contact with the ATC due to "frequency fluctuation", an Air India spokesperson said.

"AI flight 171 from Ahmedabad for Newark airport in the US via London lost communication with local ATC while flying over Humgary for a short while," the spokesperson said.

The aircraft, which took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport at Ahmedabad at 0700 hours, landed safely at London's Heathrow Airport at 11.05 hours local time, the spokesperson said.

Air India has already started a probe into the incident, he added.

This is the second such reported incident of an Indian aircraft losing contact with the ATC in the European airspace in a month's time.

On February 16, Jet Airways flight Jet Airways flight 9W-118 from Mumbai had lost communication with the Germany's ATC on its way to Heathrow airport in London, forcing the German Air Force to scramble two fighter jets after it.

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National carrier Air India (AI) today said it will start flights to Israel by May, a move that is likely to boost tourism traffic.

AI is planning to open the New Delhi-Tel Aviv route with three weekly flights by May, the state-run airline said in a release here.

"We are looking forward to the opening of the direct route to Israel in a few months' time. I believe this will have a positive effect on the tourism traffic between our two countries," Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani said.

With the addition of the Delhi-Tel Aviv sector to Air India roster, travel between the two countries is slated to increase exponentially.

"Many Indian tourists who plan to visit Israel will find it an exceptional tourism destination. There is no doubt the opening of the route, combined with our marketing efforts in India, will generate a significant increase in tourist flow from India," Israel Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said.

The Israel Ministry of Tourism established its India office in 2014. Since then arrivals from India to the West Asian country has grown by 28 per cent, according to data compiled by Israel Tourism.

"We are very happy with the growth in Indian travellers. In 2016, there were 44,672 Indian tourists who visited Israel, setting a new record for the highest number of travellers from India.

"With Air India commencing operations directly to Israel, we are confident of an increase in arrivals in 2017," Hassan Madah, Director of the Israel Ministry of Tourism in India, added.

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An air strike by a Saudi-led Arab coalition on a market in Yemen killed 20 civilians and six rebels today, medical and military sources said.

The aircraft tried to target rebels at a roadblock on the southern outskirts of the Red Sea port of Khoukha, but the fighters fled to a market where they were attacked, the sources said.

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Congress leader and former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will turn 75 tomorrow, the day when the results of Punjab Assembly elections, which witnessed an intense triangular contest, will be declared.

It remains to be seen what gift is in store for the state Congress chief tomorrow, who has already announced that this was his last election.

If the Congress, which is seeking to return to power in Punjab after a hiatus of 10 years, wins, he would have two reasons to cheer.

While the Congress veteran has been spending the last few days at his residence here, his hectic poll campaign schedule was followed by the release of his biography -- The People's Maharaja -- written by Chandigarh-based journalist Khushwant Singh.

Earlier this month, Amarinder had also attended the wedding of his grandson, Nirvan Singh, in Delhi.

Nirvan, a scion of the erstwhile Patiala royal family, tied the nuptial knot with Mriganka Singh, granddaughter of senior Congress leader Karan Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP and scion of Jammu and Kashmir's princely family.

The Punjab Congress chief contested from two seats, his traditional stronghold of Patiala, where he took on former Army Chief Gen. J J Singh (retd) and in Lambi against Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.

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The United States will meet its climate agreement goals, UN special envoy for climate change Michael Bloomberg has said in Paris.

"They have given us a roadmap of what we must do to save this planet. And I can only tell you that in America we will meet our COP21 goals," the former New York mayor said yesterday.

The United States is one of 60 countries committed to the COP21 climate deal struck in Paris in December 2015, though recent comments by President Donald Trump have raised concern among environmentalists.

Bloomberg's comments came as the incoming head of the US Environmental Protection Agency said that carbon dioxide is not the main driver of global warming, a position starkly at odds with the scientific consensus on climate change.

Trump's team is reportedly divided over whether the United States should withdraw from the Paris climate accord, negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Bloomberg, in the French capital for talks with President Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, said he hoped Trump would "be a leader" on the issue.

"My hope is that the new president of the United States, once he gets into office for a period of time, will come to understand that he can also be a leader as President Hollande is in terms of helping us prepare for our future," he told AFP.

He added the US was "basically" 60 percent of the way to achieving its COP21 climate goals.

"It's being done by the private sector helping close coal power plants, corporations looking at their environmental footprint and trying to improve it... And the average citizen in America understanding that climate change is real," he told AFP.

Hildago said city mayors in France, the United States and elsewhere "know that the measures to reduce carbon emissions also contribute towards clear air, boost the economy and improve the quality of life.

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Ahead of Assembly poll results in five states tomorrow, BJP president Amit Shah today visited the RSS office in Lower Parel here during an unscheduled stopover, party sources said.

"This wasn't a scheduled visit. He reached Yashwant Bhavan at Pandurang Budhkar Marg, which houses the office of RSS Konkan Prant, and met those who were present," the sources said.

An RSS functionary said Shah did not have any scheduled party functions in Mumbai today.

"He was at the RSS office here for around 20-25 minutes and happened to meet the organisation's workers, who were there on way to RSS meet at Coimbatore," the functionary told PTI.

Shah is expected to be in Coimbatore on March 21 to participate in the closing ceremony of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's 'Pratinidhi Sabha' (general body meeting), he said.

Among those who were present at today's meeting were RSS Sarkaryawah (General Secretary) Bhaiyaji Joshi and Sah-Sarkaryawah (Joint General Secretary) Dr Krishna Gopal, RSS sources said.

Joshi, who has been in Mumbai for the past few days to prepare for the annual 'Pratinidhi Sabha' in Coimbatore, was joined by Dr Krishna Gopal last night.

On arrival at Mumbai airport, Shah was received by Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar, who accompanied him to Yashwant Bhawan, a BJP spokesperson said.

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An Australian parliamentary committee has recommended a ban on political donations from foreign companies and individuals.

Unlike the United States and many other countries that ban foreign donations, Australian law has never distinguished between donors from Australia and overseas.

But the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters today recommended a ban on foreign donations to registered political parties and associated entities.

The opposition rejected the committee's recommendation that the ban should also apply to environmental and activist groups involved in politics.

Former President Barack Obama's administration last year called for the Australian system to be reformed to remove the influence of Chinese political donations. China is Australia's most lucrative trading partner and largest source of foreign political funds.

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Attackers wielding axes injured five people at the main train station in the west German city of Duesseldorf, local police told AFP.

Two suspects were arrested, said police yesterday, who warned that others may have fled the scene.

No details were given of those arrested or their possible motives.

"People travelling were injured by the assailants' axes," the police said, adding that it was unclear exactly how many attackers were involved.

Those injured were not in a life-threatening condition, the police spokesman said.

Rail traffic was stopped at the station as helicopters scoured overhead and police were deployed in the area of the attack, the Bild daily reported.

German authorities have been on the alert for terror attacks, especially since an attack claimed by the Islamic State group in December when a hijacked truck ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people.

According to German security services, there are about 10,000 radical Islamists in the country, of whom 1,600 have suspected links to terror groups.

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Patriots Broncos Football

New England Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan celebrates against the Denver Broncos during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016, in Denver. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)

(Joe Mahoney)

Former New England Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan agreed to terms with the Tennessee Titans, his agents announced late Thursday night.

Drafted in 2013, Ryan became an important starter for the Patriots over the past two seasons, helping them to a Super Bowl a year ago. He often covered the opponent's taller receivers, while Malcolm Butler dealt with the smaller, quicker wideouts.

Ryan did a superb job on Denver's Demaryius Thomas in 2015, holding him to three catches on 20 targets in two games. Ryan also limited Texans wideout DeAndre Hopkins in 2015 and 2016 matchups. His physicality and tackling ability helped him work his way up the depth chart in New England.

Ryan's deal with the Titans is worth $30 million over three years, according to Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network.

With Ryan gone, the Patriots have newly-acquired Stephon Gilmore, Eric Rowe, Cyrus Jones, and Jonathan Jones at cornerback. Malcolm Butler, a restricted free agent, was given a first-round tender. If Butler signs the tender, he will play the 2017 season at a salary of $3.91 million. Another team can offer Butler a new contract, but that team would have to part with its first-round pick to acquire the talented cornerback.
A top-ranking army official from Bangladesh today thanked India's armed forces for extending support to his country in the field of medicine.

Maj Gen S M Motahar Hossain, Director General of Medical Services (DGMS) of Bangladesh Army met Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Unni, DG Armed Force Medical Services, and expressed gratitude for "unflinching" support and cooperation in areas of health and medicine.

Hossain also mentioned about treatment of Bangladeshi patients in India.

India has been training doctors and paramedical staff of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Bangladesh through the Indian Armed Forces Medical Services.

"Visiting DGMS sought expert technical advice on medical matters through telemedicine and in other sophisticated fields of surgery and organ transplant to which the hosts expressed willingness," said an army statement.

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Bhutan has "requested" India to facilitate exchange of the demonetised 500 and 1,000 rupee notes lying with its central bank, Parliament was informed today.

The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan has approached the Reserve Bank of India regarding the demonetised notes being held by the banks and public in the Himalayan country.

"Royal Government of Bhutan has requested the Government of India to facilitate exchange of old series Indian bank notes in the possession of Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan," Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He said discussion on this subject has taken place between RBI and RMA, and the modalities for dealing with these specified bank notes are being worked out.

Indian currency is accepted for transactions in Bhutan.

Since demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes in November 2016, the country is in touch with India regarding facilitation of collection and deposit of old notes.

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A Republican lawmaker has introduced a legislation aimed at suspending Foreign Aid to countries that deny or delay accepting their criminal citizens who have been ordered removed from the United States.

Congressman Glenn Grothman, who introduced the bill, said that in some cases, these criminal citizens have gone on to commit other crimes after their release.

"For instance, China refused to accept a criminal Chinese citizen after he was arrested for assault and ordered deported. The criminal alien stayed in the US and later murdered the same woman he assaulted," he said.

The bill also requires the Department of Homeland Security to submit a report to Congress once a year that lists the countries refusing to allow their criminal citizens to return.

"I find it appalling that we continue to send foreign aid dollars to countries that are actively putting Americans at risk by refusing to accept their criminal aliens, especially when our own country is so deeply in debt," said Grothman.

"My bill shifts our immigration system back in the right direction and halts America's condoning of this bad behaviour," he said.

The US currently has tens of thousands of criminal immigrants that are ordered deported, yet their home countries refuse to take them back.

Instead, these criminal immigrants are released back into the US, posing a threat to American citizens, his office said.

According to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, more than 20 countries have refused to accept their criminal citizens back into their borders.

Currently, the US is planning to send USD 36.5 billion in Foreign Aid in Fiscal Year 2017 - a portion of which is sent to these countries that refuse to take back their criminal immigrants.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With Holi round the corner and coinciding with a long weekend the searches for flight and hotel bookings have surged compared to last year, according to data by a travel fare aggregator KAYAK.

"This year, the searches of flights for some domestic destinations has grown massively compared to last year," KAYAK Country Director-India Abhijit Mishra said.

The data is based on searches conducted from July 1, 2016 to March 9, 2017 for travel period of March 10-13, 2017.

"This year, the searches of flights for some domestic destinations has grown massively as compared to last year, in which Hyderabad is up by 148 per cent, Goa by 115 per cent, and Bengaluru by 90 per cent," Mishra said.

Interestingly, he said, Bangkok in Thailand has replaced Dubai as the top searched outbound destination for Holi.

Bangkok, Dubai and London remained the top searched international destinations by Indians.

On the domestic front, Goa, New Delhi and Mumbai were the top favourite searches.

"We are seeing the Holi weekend bookings to be more spontaneous as compared to the year 2016," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Condemning the killing of an Indian engineer in an apparent hate crime in the US, a group of citizens, including the family members of the victim, held a candlelight vigil at KBR Park here.

Carrying candles and placards that read 'stop racism', 'stop hate crimes' and 'wake up India-Unite to save NRIs in US', the citizens, including the family members and relatives of Srinivas Kuchibhotla (32), the techie killed in a bar shooting in Kansas city last month, assembled near the park last evening.

The event was organised under the banner of Telangana NRI Parents Association and Telangana chapter of All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation.

Those assembled paid tributes to Kuchibhotla and Vamshi Reddy, a 27-year-old software engineer from Warangal who, too, was killed in the US in another incident in early February.

"We organised the protest to condemn the killings of Indians (in the US). Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Telangana Chief Minister (Chandrasekhar Rao) should intervene and ensure hate crimes against the Indian community stop," one of the participants said.

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The world's chemical watchdog today condemned the use of the deadly VX nerve agent in the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half-brother last month.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said its executive council "unequivocally condemned the use of any chemical weapon by anyone under any circumstances."



The council, made up from 40 member states, called "for those responsible for the use of chemical weapons to be held accountable."



It also asked the OPCW's director general Ahmet Uzumcu to "provide technical assistance upon request from Malaysian authorities for its national investigation."



"The council underscored its deep interest in receiving and considering the official results of the investigation" once completed by Malaysia.

Malaysia's police chief on Friday confirmed that the man assassinated at Kuala Lumpur's international airport on February 13 was Kim Jong-Nam, half-brother of Kim Jong-Un.

Malaysian authorities had earlier declined to officially confirm the victim's identity or release his body, saying they needed a DNA sample from next-of-kin.

The 45-year-old's wife and children, who were living in exile in the Chinese territory of Macau, have since gone into hiding over fears that his 21-year-old son, Kim Han-Sol, could be seen as a potential rival by his uncle Kim Jong-Un in a country roiled by bloody purges.

The brazen Cold War-style killing has triggered a bitter diplomatic row between the previously friendly Asian nations, which have expelled each other's ambassadors and refused to let their citizens leave.

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A wanted inter-state criminal from south west Delhi who was allegedly planning to kill Uttam Nagar AAP MLA Naresh Balyan and a Panipat Jail official has been arrested from Dwarka, police said today.

Sombir alias Filmy, 30, was arrested by a team of Crime Branch from Sector-16 A in Dwarka on March 6, said Ram Gopal Naik, DCP (Crime Branch).

"Filmy was planning to kill Uttam Nagar MLA Naresh Balyan suspecting he was favouring his rivals in a property dispute. He also wanted to kill a deputy superintendent of Panipat Jail to take revenge (Filmy was jailed in 2004 in a murder case in Haryana)," said the officer.

Filmy was trying to reconstitute his gang and arrange weapons in order to execute his plan to allegedly kill the MLA and the jail official in Panipat, Naik added.

Filmy was wanted in several criminal cases including the alleged murder in November last year of property dealer Bijender in Uttam Nagar over a land dispute, he said.

The suspect was carrying two sophisticated 7.65 bore pistols loaded with 9 cartridges. A car driven by him was also seized by the police and a case registered.

He was then arrested, the DCP said.

The officer said Filmy had been a shooter for the 'Rajesh Nahri gang' of Haryana and the 'Manjeet Mahal Gang' of the NCR and was associated with Rishiraj alias Lambu, a notorious criminal from south-west Delhi.

He was now planning to re-constitute his own gang after arrest of Manjeet Mahal by Delhi Police, the DCP said.

In 2000, Filmy was apprehended by the Haryana Police in Sonipat for the first time in a case under the Arms Act, when he was still a minor.

In 2004, he and his associates murdered one Moni at Bahadurgarh in Haryana. He was awarded life sentence in the case but filed a petition before Chandigarh High Court and his punishment was reduced.

He was released from the jail after six years in 2010.

During imprisonment, he came in contact with some top gangsters from Delhi and Haryana. After he came out of jail, he started participating in land-grabbing activities, Naik said.

He had fled to Nepal after killing the property dealer in Uttam Nagar, and also spent some time at an Ashram in Himachal Pradesh, the officer said.

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A 25-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly beaten up by a farmer for relieving herself in his sugarcane field in Bhens village here, police said today.

The woman had come to attend a wedding in the area.

Members of the community blocked the Delhi-Dehradun highway near the village demanding the farmer be arrested, Circle Officer Hari Ram said.

The accused has been taken into custody and a probe has been ordered into the matter, police said.

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A blaze that killed at least 33 girls at a shelter for troubled youths erupted when some of them set fire to mattresses to protest rapes and other mistreatment at the badly overcrowded institution, the parent of one victim has said.

Officials said yesterday they are still investigating who started the fire Wednesday at the long-criticised shelter on the outskirts of Guatemala's capital. It houses troubled and abused boys and girls as well as juvenile offenders.

In addition to the dead, several girls were badly burned and were fighting for their lives.

Someone ignited mattresses in a dormitory that held girls who had been caught the day before during a mass breakout attempt, authorities said.

Victims were brought to hospitals by the dozens, some partially naked, with large flaps of skin hanging from their bodies.

More than a day later, distraught parents haunted hospitals and the morgue, passing scraps of paper scrawled with the names of loved ones they hoped to find.

Geovany Castillo said his 15-year-old daughter Kimberly suffered burns on her face, arms and hands but survived. She was in a locked-in area where girls who took part in the escape attempt had been placed, he said.

"My daughter said the area was locked and that several girls broke down a door, and she survived because she put a wet sheet over herself," Castillo said.

"She said the girls themselves set the fire," he said, adding: "She said the girls told her that they had been raped and in protest they escaped, and that later, to protest, to get attention, they set fire to the mattresses."



Another surviving 15-year-old girl said that male residents had apparently been able to enter at least some of the girls' dormitories before the fire. She and others took refuge on a roof for fear of being attacked and saw the fire break out in a nearby building.

"I saw the smoke in the place," she said. "It smelled like flesh."



The state-run Virgin of the Assumption Safe House has long been the subject of complaints about abuse, inadequate food and crowded and unsanitary conditions behind its 30-foot wall.

The shelter was built to hold 500 young residents but housed at least 800 at the time of the fire.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales issued a statement blaming the disaster on the courts for ignoring a request by his administration to transfer juvenile offenders out.

"Before the fire, the government had asked the appropriate authorities to immediately transfer youthful offenders to other detention centres, to avoid greater consequences," the president's office wrote.

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Eight suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the blast on a train in Madhya Pradesh and the subsequent anti-terror operations leading to the killing of alleged terrorist Saifullah in Lucknow, Home Minister said in Rajya Sabha today.

Making a statement during the Zero Hour on incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on March 7 and 8, he also showered praise on Saifullah's father Sartaj who has refused to take the body of his son, amid thumping of benches by the entire House.

After the statement, several Opposition members wanted to seek clarification from the minister. Singh would reply to members on the "next working day".

"Till March 8, six accused were arrested. With the arrest of two more accused by UP ATS on March 9, total 8 arrests have been made in these incidents so far," the minister said.

Singh, who had made statement in this regard in Lok Sabha yesterday, said UP ATS sieged the house in which Saifullah was hiding in Haji Colony area of Lucknow and made vigorous attempts to nab the suspect.

"However, he refused to surrender and started firing on ATS team. Ultimately, after 12 hours of effort, the ATS team entered the room in which Saifulla was holed up and in the ensuing encounter, this suspected terrorist was killed," he said, and gave other details regarding the incidents.

He said that due to the prompt action taken by the police of both the states, "a possible threat to security was successfuly averted".

Praising Sartaj, Singh said the "entire country is proud of him".

The minister said India's culture is such that no Hindu, Muslim or Christian will endorse any terror activity in the country, as members from all sides thumped of their desks.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh said the statement of Sartaj reflects the sentiments of the nation and there could be no compromise on terrorism.

Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) said since the minister has made a statement on the issue, members should be allowed to seek clarification. He got support from several other Opposition members.

Later it was decided that Singh would make himself available to members for clarification on the next working day.

The Home Minister informed the House that eight pistols, 630 live cartridges, Rs 1.5 lakh, three mobiles phone, four sim cards, two wireless sets and some foreign currency were recovered from the place where Saifullah lived.

According to UP police, Saifullah belonged to a self-proclaimed group of ISIS supporters.
Former 'Bigg Boss' contestant Swami Om, who along with his associate is accused of molesting and threatening a woman, was today granted interim relief from arrest till March 14 by a Delhi court.

Special Judge Hemani Malhotra directed the Delhi Police to file the video footage of CCTV installed in DCP office at Daryaganj here as the accused claimed that on the day of alleged incident, he had gone there to meet senior police personnel seeking security.

The court, while hearing anticipatory bail ples of Swami Om, asked the police to submit the footage on March 14 and directed that till then he should not be arrested.

It would hear further arguments on the plea on the next hearing on March 14.

Swami Om sought the relief alleging that he was falsely implicated in the case as he has been advocating Indian culture and anti-social elements wanted to stop his "social activity".

Advocate A P Singh, who has filed the plea, argued that there was no possibility of the accused tampering with evidence if granted anticipatory bail and he will not misuse his liberty.

The accused claimed the allegations against him were false and that on February 7 when the alleged incident, he spent his day in different offices of Delhi Police seeking security.

He also alleged that he is being harassed by police officials and he apprehends that he could be arrested.

He claimed he has no link with co-accused Swami Santosh Anand, who was earlier denied anticipatory bail by the court.

As per the FIR lodged at IP Estate police station, the woman was allegedly wrongfully restrained by Swami Om and Anand when she was going home and they started abusing her and committed objectionable acts.

When the complainant requested them to leave her, they dragged her into their room and attempted to rape her, the FIR said. They also threatened that they will not spare her and that they had already ruined her husband's life, it said.

The woman had claimed in her complaint that Swami Om and his alleged associate Anand had ripped off her clothes on February 7. The victim alleged that they had attempted to humiliate her in full public view a few days earlier in Rajghat area here.

No arrest has been made in the case.

The court had earlier denied anticipatory bail to Anand saying the allegations against him were grave and the probe was at a nascent stage.

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Extensive arrangements have been made for the counting of the Uttarakhand state polls where 637 candidates from 70 seats await the results with bated breath.

A total of 15 counting centres have been set up across Uttarakhand and deployment of security personnel and counting personnel made as per specifications of the Election Commission, Chief Electoral Officer Radha Raturi said.

864 counting tables have been put up where counting for 10,854 polling stations will be carried out.

Ten companies of central paramilitary forces, 14 of Provincial Armed Constabulary, 3,000 constables, 350 head constables, 550 sub-inspectors, 50 inspectors, and 30 gazetted officers have been put on counting duty, she said.

Polling for 69 out of a total of 70 seats was held in Uttarakhand on February 15. Voting for the Karnaprayag seat had to be rescheduled by the commission for March 9 owing to the sudden death of BSP nominee Kuldip Singh Kanwasi in a road accident just a couple of days before the polls.

Counting will begin at 8 am and go on till all results come in, she said.

There are a total of 70 assembly seats in Uttarakhand from where main power contenders Congress and BJP have fielded their candidates.

With a number of Congress turncoats trying their luck as BJP candidates this time it will be interesting to watch what happens in constituencies like Narendranagar, Bajpur, Roorkee, Khanpur, Kedarnath, Kotdwar, Sitarganj and Nainital from where erstwhile Congress rebels or their wards have been fielded by the saffron party.

Barring Amrita Rawat and Vijay Bahuguna, all the Congress turncoats who are also sitting MLAs, have been fielded by the BJP.

However Amrita's husband Satpal Maharaj and Bahuguna's second son Saurav Bahuguna are in the fray as BJP nominees.

Chaubattakhal from where BJP's Satpal Maharaj is in the fray and Kichcha and Haridwar (rural) the two seats from where chief minister Harish Rawat is seeking a second term, will also evoke much curiosity.

It will also be interesting to see what happens in Sahaspur from where PCC president Kishore Upadhaya is contesting.

Ranikhet is important as state BJP president and Leader of Opposition Ajay Bhatt is contesting from there whereas Dhanolti holds much interest as Congress is supporting independent nominee Pritam Singh Panwar from the seat despite fielding Manmohan Mall from there.

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A college student in possession of fake currency notes who was allegedly trying to circulate them has been arrested from Mayurbhanj district, the police said today.

Acting on a tip-off, the police yesterday arrested the accused, a student of Baripada College.

The police recovered 21 fake notes of Rs 500 denomination from him, said Baripada Town police station inspector in-charge Amit Kumar Biswal.

The student was trying to exchange one such fake Rs 500 note at a shop at Sunagadia area and was caught by locals.

The student told the police that he got the fake notes from a friend who is a resident of Patia in Bhubaneshwar.

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India's increased by $1.218 billion to $364.01 billion in the week ended March 3, helped by a rise in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

In the previous week, the reserves had shot up by $63.7 million to $362.79 billion.

Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, rose by $576.9 million to $340.360 billion in the reporting week, RBI said.

Expressed in US dollar terms, they include the effects of appreciation/depreciation of non-US currencies, such as the euro, pound and the yen held in the reserves.

After remaining unchanged for many weeks, gold reserves increased by $665.6 million to $19.914 billion, the apex bank said.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund declined by $9.8 million to $1.433 billion. India's reserve position with the Fund dipped by $14.6 million to $2.302 billion, RBI said.
Aformersarpanchwaskilled by naxals in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district, on the suspicion of being a police informer, police said.

The body of Madvi Dula (about 55 years of age) was foundtoday in Tokanpalli forest under Chintagufa police station limits, a police official told PTI.

As per preliminary information, Dula was picked up yesterday by Maoist from his home in Burkapal village, where he was Sarpanch earlier and taken to the forest, he said.

His family members today informed police that the blood-stained body of Dula was lying in the nearby Tokanpalli forest, located around 450 kms away from the state capital, he added.

Soon after being informed, security forces were rushed to the spot and the body was brought for post-mortem, he said.

Prima facie it appears that he waskilledwith sharp edged weapons, the official said, adding, autopsy will ascertain the exact cause ofdeath.

The naxals suspected that the victim was a police informer, he said.

A search has been launched to nab the assailants, the official added.

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Former president of Tripura unit of Trinamool Congress (TMC), Surajit Datta today joined the BJP in presence of party general secretary Ram Madhav and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

Datta said he joined the BJP to make a strong anti- CPI-M movement in Tripura.

"I have confidence that the present leadership would build up a strong anti-CPI-M movement in the state," he told reporters.

Datta had recently resigned from TMC.

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The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to conduct an inquiry into the recovery of 19 aborted foetuses in Sangli district recently.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur while hearing a PIL yesterday ordered the state government's public health department to hold an inquiry.

It also asked the state government to submit a report.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Atul Bhosale, a Pune resident, alleging that nursing homes in the city were not registered and that fake degrees were obtained by medical practioners.

However, during the hearing of the petition, the High Court extended the scope of the PIL to cover entire Maharashtra.

The bench took cognizance of media reports about 19 aborted foetuses having been found near a stream recently at a village in Maharashtra's Sangli district and asked the state government why it has not enacted a law to regulate nursing homes.

The court also asked the Maharashtra government to conduct random checks at nursing homes and find out how many of those had obtained permission to operate.

In the Sangli case, a 26-year-old woman from Mhaisal village died following an abortion allegedly performed by a homeopath at his hospital. The bench said given the seriousness of the matter, the government should act immediately.

The state government filed an affidavit, saying the Centre had enacted the Clinical Establishment Act, 2010, which was adopted by Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and the Union territories. Such a law was, however, yet to be enacted in Maharashtra.

The affidavit said the draft Maharashtra Clinical Establishment Act, 2014, was awaiting the state cabinet's approval. The proposed law would regulate private hospitals and nursing homes.

The bench voiced displeasure over the delay by the Maharashtra government in enacting such a law.

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A 48-year-old head constable was arrested here today for allegedly raping a minor girl, who was rescued last evening.

The 15-year-old girl was kept in a house in Shastripuram area by the head constable, who is already married and has five children, Inspector, Kamatipura police station, S Sudarshan said.

The girl's elder sister, who is her guardian following the demise of their parents, lodged a complaint with police yesterday that she was taken away by the constable in a car on March 2, he said.

The girl was rescued from the house last evening following which the policeman was taken into custody, he said.

The accused head constable is attached to the Kamatipura police station here.

He "intended to marry" the 15-year-old girl, Sudarshan said.

Since the girl is a minor, a case under IPC section 363 (kidnapping) was registered against him and he was taken into custody for further questioning last night while the girl was sent for medical examination, he said.

"During the course of investigation, it was found that the head constable had physical relationship with the teenage girl," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Zone) V Satyanarayana told PTI.

"The other family members of the girl had supported the head constable as he had told them that he would marry her. They had infact allowed him to take her to some religious places in Gulbarga and other cities in Karnataka, and also Mumbai," he said.

In view of this, the police altered the sections in the case and booked the head constable under IPC section 376 (rape) and also under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act, the DCP said.

The head constable has complained of ill-health and has been hospitalised, he said.

He would be produced before a local court, Satyanarayana added.

The officer said that disciplinary action will be initiated against the head constable.

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A head constable here has been taken into custody for allegedly kidnapping a 15-year-old girl, police said today.

The girl's sister lodged a complaint against the head constable, who is attached to Kamatipura police station here.

The complainant alleged that her younger sister was kidnapped by the policeman in a car, Inspector, Kamatipura police station, S Sudarshan told PTI.

The victim resides near the Kamatipura police station.

Following the complaint, a case of kidnapping under relevant sections of IPC was registered against the constable last night and he was taken into custody.

The girl has been sent to a hospital for medical examination, the police officer said.

Asked about reports in a section of media that the constable has been also booked on charge of rape, Sudarshan said the complainant has not made any such allegation.

However, the police are waiting for the girl's medical report, he said.

"The girl has been sent for medical examination and the report is awaited. Based on the report, we will proceed and alter the sections accordingly," he said.

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A helicopter crashed on a highway on Istanbul's outskirts today after apparently hitting a television tower in dense fog, reports said. All seven people on board were killed, the city's mayor said.

The Sikorsky S-76 was carrying an executive of the Eczacibasi group of companies, four of his Russian guests and two pilots.

Gov. Vasip Sahin said that the helicopter crashed in Istanbul's Buyukcekmece district after taking off from Ataturk Airport, adding that the cause of the crash was under investigation.

Authorities initially recovered five bodies from the crash site, but Mayor Kadir Topbas later said that all seven on board were killed.

Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from the crash site in video shown on Turkish network DHA. Burning debris was scattered across a large stretch of the highway.

Video from a security camera of a gas station showed the helicopter plunging behind a hill, followed by a ball of fire rising to the sky that quickly turned into black smoke.

Video from a helicopter showed rows of rescue vehicles at the crash site and traffic piling up as vehicles were diverted off the highway to other roads.

The DHA agency said the helicopter's rotor blade hit a vehicle, smashing its windscreen and causing its roof to sink in. Its driver escaped unhurt but in shock, the agency said.

Witness Fikret Karatekin, a taxi driver, told CNN-Turk television by telephone that the helicopter slammed into the tower before crashing on the highway.

"It hit the tower and crashed by spinning," he said. Authorities, however, didn't rule out a technical fault as the cause of the crash.

The tower, which is no longer used for transmitting television signals but has a restaurant at the top, didn't appear to be damaged.

Eczacibasi is one of Turkey's top conglomerates that is involved in pharmaceuticals and building products. Bulent Eczacibasi, who heads the company, told reporters near the scene that the Russians on board the helicopter were clients who had been invited to visit a ceramics fair. They were being transported to visit the company's factory near the town of Bozuyuk, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Istanbul.

The Turkish national who was killed headed the company's operations in Russia, he said.

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A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has been convicted of accepting cash bribes and sex from immigrants in the US without legal permission in exchange for employment authorization documents.

Arnaldo Echevarria, of Somerset, New Jersey, was found guilty yesterday of bribery, making false statements and harboring a person living in the US illegally. Attorney Michael Koribanics said an appeal is likely.

Echevarria received USD 75,000 in bribes from immigrants not in the US legally in exchange for employment authorization documents from 2012 to 2014, prosecutors said, and in one instance he demanded and received sex.

He also was convicted of concealing his girlfriend's immigration status and employing her in his hair salon while lying to ICE officials. Echevarria paid his girlfriend and other employees in cash to avoid paperwork, prosecutors said.

He was given permission by ICE in December 2012 to open a hair salon in West Orange after he certified that the salon wouldn't conflict with his job and that he wouldn't employ people who were in the country without legal permission. But prosecutors say he had his girlfriend, who he knew was in the country illegally, manage the shop.

Echevarria faces up to 15 years in prison and fines when he's sentenced June 19.

Prosecutors say he falsely stated that the people who paid him had been granted temporary protected status, which is meant to allow people from countries experiencing environmental disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary conditions to stay in the United States.

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India's skilled manpower and Finland's high-end tech prowess should be leveraged under the 'Make in India' initiative for an efficient and cost-effective business framework, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

The minister was speaking at the first meeting of 'Indo-Finnish Business Working Group on Energy & Mining' organised by FICCI and Embassy of Finland, New Delhi, according to a FICCI statement.

This meeting was a follow-up after the high-level visit of Goyal to Finland in November 2016, responded by the Finnish delegation visiting India.

The Union minister said in the statement it was commendable that Indian and Finnish companies had come together in just three months to step up the bilateral relations in sectors such as waste-to-energy, solar, bio-energy, electric mobility, smart grids, coal and mining.

He said India had surplus electricity and the technology of converting waste to energy was in use in the country. Thus, India needed technology to transform waste to other forms such as bio-energy, Goyal added.

Finland with its small population had made great strides in the field of innovation, technology and research, and India could learn from such Finnish endeavors, Goyal noted.

The minister said that Finnish companies could help India to scale up technology and fruitful partnerships could be built between the two nations if Finland could align its processes and technology to make them efficient and cost effective for India.

Goyal said that Finnish companies could partner with their Indian counterparts under various government initiatives such as 'Make in India'.

Finnish technologies should be leveraged to improve processes in India, he said, adding Indian private sector should play a proactive role towards forging alliances with their Finnish counterparts.

Finnish companies were already working in various sectors in India and had the capacity to scale up its technology and processes for India and were competitive, said Nina Vaskunlahti, Ambassador, Embassy of Finland, New Delhi.

She said Finland would like to contribute to the Government of India's initiative 'Make in India' and look forward to favourable tariffs.

Vaskunlahti said the aim of the working group was to enhance business prospects between Finland and India. With the support of Finnish and Indian industry the platform had become active in three months of Goyal's visit to Finland which exhibits the keen interest of the two sides in augmenting bilateral relation.

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Indian-American Seema Verma moved a step closer to being confirmed as the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as a bitterly divided US Senate voted 54-44, mostly on party lines, to end a debate on her nomination.

The final confirmation vote on her nomination has been scheduled for Monday evening (March 13). The Senate vote to end the debate came moments after the White House blamed the opposition Democratic lawmakers for blocking the nomination of for the top health care position.

"She's unquestionably and uniquely qualified for her position, and especially now that health reform is at the top of the President's agenda, it's time to get her in place. This delay by Senate Democrats at this critical time is unacceptable," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily conference.

President, CEO and founder of SVC Inc., a national health policy consulting company, Verma has worked for over 20 years in healthcare policy. She has redesigned Medicaid programs in several states, including Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Kentucky.

"She's worked with governors' offices, state Medicaid agencies, state health departments, state departments of insurance, as well as private companies and foundations," Spicer said.

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A global conference on "Vision Zero" focussing on the occupational safety and health issues and challenges in the manufacturing, construction and mining sectors will be held here from March 15-17.

"Zero Vision" is a philosophy that says nobody should be injured due to an accident.

The three-day conference will be organised at Vigyan Bhavan, a labour ministry statement said.

The Directorate General Factory Advice and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) and German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), Germany in association with International Social Security Association (ISSA), are organising this conference, the statement said.

The conference aims to focus on the occupational safety and health issues and challenges in the manufacturing, Construction and Mining sector.

It will provide a forum for promoting safety and health at work by exchanging knowledge, practices and experience.

The conference will be inaugurated by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, in the presence of Labour Secretary M Sathiyavathy.

The conference is expected to introduce the fast emerging internationally accepted concept of "Vision Zero" in India thereby leveraging the efforts of the Government of India to raise the occupational safety and health standards in the country.

The delegates include safety engineers, experts and professionals from different public, private and MNCs sectors, managers, employers from different segments, occupational physicians and health professionals, supervisors, workers and members of the safety committees.

There will be three plenary sessions in the conference during the three days dedicated exclusively to the manufacturing, construction and mines sectors.

An exhibition on OSH is also being organised during the conference from March 15-17, 2017 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

The exhibition will provide the most efficient platform to support technological communication and business trade. The exhibition segments will show-case personal protective equipment (PPEs), health at work, high-risk prevention, environmental protection at work, etc, it said.

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Iraqi forces advanced on the Islamic State group in west Mosul as the United States nearly doubled its troops to help defeat the jihadists in their Syrian stronghold Raqa.

The US-led coalition fighting IS said the United States was deploying another 400 troops against the jihadists in their self-proclaimed capital in Syria, joining 500 already on the ground.

"They are temporary forces," coalition spokesman US Colonel John Dorrian told reporters in Baghdad, adding the long-term authorised level of American troops in Syria would remain at 500.

The announcement came as the State Department said the United States would host a meeting of the 68 members of the coalition fighting IS on March 22.

The American military buildup comes amid calls by President Donald Trump for new plans to accelerate the pace of the war against the Sunni Muslim extremists.

IS jihadists are facing simultaneous offensives in northern Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels, and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.

In the latest sign they are feeling the squeeze, their chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reported to have abandoned Mosul, leaving local commanders behind to fight the Iraqi forces.

"He was in Mosul at some point before the offensive.... He left before we isolated Mosul and Tal Afar," a town to the west, said a US defence official.

"He probably gave broad strategic guidance and has left it to battlefield commanders."



Baghdadi, who declared IS's cross-border "caliphate" at a Mosul mosque in 2014, in an audio message in November urged supporters to make a stand in the city rather than "retreating in shame".

Iraq launched the offensive to retake Mosul -- which involves tens of thousands of soldiers, police and allied militia fighters -- in October.

After recapturing its eastern side, the forces set their sights on the city's densely populated west.

In recent days Iraqi forces have retaken a series of neighbourhoods and a museum where IS militants filmed themselves destroying priceless artefacts.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command announced yesterday the elite Counter-Terrorism Service recaptured the Mualemeen neighbourhood in west Mosul.

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Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh today disapproved of Justice C S Karnan going public against corruption in the judiciary which he said should be "above suspicion".

"Judiciary should be like Caesar's wife above suspicion," he said, adding that "I don't approve of Justice Karnan going public against corruption in judiciary but no one can dispute the issue of corruption in judiciary".

In a series of tweets, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said, "Supreme Court must seriously look into corruption in judiciary. If Hon CJI wants I can give instances of corruption in judiciary to him".

He also noted that some should also do a study on how many judges who have been dismissed from service are Dalits and tribals.

Singh said reservation is an opportunity to the deprived underprivileged section of society because of historical reasons.

"I know of number of SC/ST students who have come in merit in IIMs, IITs and in UPSC exams where there is level playing field," he said.

The Supreme Court today issued a bailable warrant against sitting Calcutta High Court judge Karnan for non-appearance in a contempt case, an order unprecedented in the annals of Indian judiciary.

Justice Karnan hit back at the apex court over the warrant to ensure his presence before it on March 31, calling it "unconstitutional" and alleged he was being targeted for being a Dalit.

Justice Karnan goes down in Indian judicial history as the first serving High Court judge against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the apex court in a contempt case.

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Kerala government will invoke provisions of Essential Commodities Act to ensure sale of coronary stent at prescribed prices, Health Minister K K Shailaja told the state Assembly today.

The names of traders who violate the price regulation would be sent to the National Drug Price Regulatory Authority for action, she said.

Shailaja was replying to a submission in this regard moved by P T A Rahim (LDF).

State Drug Control Department has intensified vigilance to ensure that coronary stent is being sold at the prescribed prices, she added.

The Centre had slashed the prices of life-saving coronary stents, used in angioplasty to ensure blood supply to and from the heart, by 85 per cent from their existing prices and capped.

The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers had on February 13 issued an order capping the price of stents and also directed all manufacturers and importers not to price their products below the notified ceiling price.

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The Kerala High Court today directed the CBI and the accused in a graft case involving a Canadian firm to furnish details of the controversial hydroelectric project the contract for which was signed when Pinarayi Vijayan was the power minister two decades ago.

The Court gave this direction while hearing a revision petition filed by CBI, challenging a special court verdict discharging Vijayan, who is now the state's chief minister, and six others in the case related to alleged corruption in the hydel project deal with Canadian firm SNC Lavalin.

Hearing the CBI's petition, Justice P Ubaid said the case involves different categories of accused, different stages of transaction and different stages of conspiracy.

The court sought several clarifications, including whether the alleged offer made by SNC Lavalin to provide funds for setting up a cancer centre was actually part of the MoU or the first contract.

The Kerala State Electricity Board had signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SNC-Lavalin in 1995.

"In what circumstances such an offer was made or happened to be made and how or in what circumstances the said offer was accepted by Kerala State Electricity Board?" the court asked.

Posting the case for March 15, the Court directed the parties to submit details of these aspects in writing.

The revision petition was filed against the November 2013 Thiruvananthapuram CBI special court order, discharging Vijayan and six others from the case relating to alleged loss of Rs 374.50 crore caused by them to the state exchequer in awarding the contract to the Canadian firm for renovating three hydel projects in the state.

Vijayan was then power minister in the LDF government headed by E K Nayanar.

The previous Congress-led UDF government had alleged it was Vijayan who had finalised the deal with the Canadian firm.

In February 2016, the High Court had rejected a plea by the then UDF government for early hearing of CBIs revision petition, challenging the acquittal of Vijayan.

The CPI(M) had come out publicly against the then UDF government, alleging that it wanted an early hearing in the matter to build a case against the party and and its leader Vijayan for political reasons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RJD president Lalu Prasad today rubbished the exit polls which gave an edge to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and said the prediction would fall flat the way it did in Bihar elections.

"Like in Bihar elections, all the exit polls would fall flat in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party-Congress would emerge victorious," Prasad told reporters.

"In Bihar elections in 2015, exit polls had predicted BJP-led NDA as the winner. But when EVMs were opened and votes counted, all the predictions were proved wrong," he said a day before counting.

Prasad had campaigned for some candidates of the SP-Congress alliance led by Akhilesh Yadav.

Asked how poll results particularly in UP would impact Bihar, Prasad said, "It would impact Delhi as it would start decline of BJP across the country."



The RJD chief's version was echoed by his son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Prasad Yadav.

"As they regretted failure of exit poll in Bihar which had written off RJD in particular, the same would happen in UP," Tejaswi Yadav told reporters.

He also exuded confidence that SP-Congress would romp home after counting of votes tomorrow.

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Steady rain did little to dampen the excitement of nearly 100 supporters on hand to celebrate Pacific University's state-of-the-art mobile eyecare and vision clinic on Thursday, March 9.

The group convened under a tent at the university's Forest Grove Campus to celebrate the College of Optometry's new EyeVan -- a converted 33-foot recreational vehicle that features two full vision exam lanes, labs and other amenities -- as the new face of the college's longstanding community outreach efforts.

Optometry students, faculty, staff and alumni joined donors who helped make the new clinic a reality to hear remarks from university President Lesley Hallick and optometry Dean Dr. Jennifer Coyle, and to tour the sparkling new facility-on-wheels.

Led by Community Outreach Director Dr. Sarah Martin, the EyeVan travels to schools, relief organizations, migrant camps and health fairs throughout Oregon and Washington for optometry students to provide comprehensive exams and other screenings to those who lack resources or access to healthcare.

Under the supervision of Martin and other Pacific faculty (also licensed practitioners), optometry students gain hands-on clinical experience providing healthcare to underserved children, elderly citizens, migrant workers, disabled military veterans and others.

The new EyeVan replaces the college's previous mobile clinic, a converted food truck that helped optometry students, faculty and staff deliver complimentary services to tens of thousands of underserved individuals since the initiative launched in 2003, including more than 12,000 under Dr. Martin's leadership over the past four years.

The state-of-the-art replacement vehicle expands the university's ability to provide care to greater numbers and at greater distances.

"Because the EyeVan can go to people who would not otherwise have vision care, it really is the embodiment of the Pacific University mission," Hallick said. "It is clearly understood by our university community that the desire to serve is the best way to teach, that it is what our students need to learn, and that service is this best environment in which they can learn. This EyeVan represents that commitment."

Hallick and Coyle thanked the generous support of donors, including the Spirit Mountain Community Fund, Clark Foundation, Edward and Myri Forsstrom, Evelyn L. Jones Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, ADI Mobile Health and many others.

Already, the new EyeVan has allowed Pacific students to provide needed exams and screenings at elementary schools, homeless shelters and public events. Later this month, students will spend their Spring Break with the EyeVan in the remote area of Fossil, Ore., to provide screenings and exams to those in need.

Representatives at schools, relief organizations and other community support agencies are encouraged to contact Dr. Martin at 503-352-2173 to learn more about EyeVan services.
Pratik Sinha, son of lawyer and human rights activist, late Mukul Sinha, has received a threat call allegedly from gangster Ravi Pujari, said police.

Sinha has filed an application with local police after receiving the threat call, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone-7, Vidhi Chaudhary.

The local police have transferred the case to crime branch for further investigation, said Chaudhary.

"Sinha gave us an application on Wednesday after he claimed to have received a call from Ravi Pujari, who threatened him to stop writing (for his portals) or else face consequences.

"Since crime branch is already investigating similar cases related to Pujari, we have forwarded the application to them," said Chaudhary.

Sinha, who is known for his critical views on BJP and it's governments, runs two and opinion web portals.

According to Sinha, a person who claimed to be Ravi Pujari threatened to shoot him if he does not stop writing.

"On one of my portal, I gave a phone number, which was once used by my late father. On Tuesday morning, a person called on that number and asked me to stop whatever I am writing. He further threatened that I will be shot dead if I do not follow his order," Sinha told PTI.

"Since I knew that some politicians also received such threat calls recently, I approached Satellite police station and gave an application for further investigation," he added.

During last two weeks, at least four Congress MLAs claimed to have received such threat calls from a person who identified himself as Ravi Pujari.

Yesterday, when the issue was raised in the ongoing Budget session in Gujarat Assembly, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja assured that the police is taking all necessary steps and will bust the entire network behind such calls very soon.

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A Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Muzaffar Ahmed Rather, who is on death row, has been on a hunger strike for the last two days demanding a TV set and 'good food' in his solitary cell.

The authorities of the Dumdum Central Jail, where the 30-year-old Rather is lodged in solitary confinement, however, shifted him to the Presidency jail.

The jail authorities also claimed that the LeT militant withdrew his fast following his shifting to the Presidency Jail.

"For the last few days he has been demanding a television set and good food. Under the rules, a prisoner, who is on a death row, cannot be provided with a TV set. With regard to food, we provide quality food to all prisoners. We tried to convince him, but he was adamant," State Correctional Department Minister Abani Mohan Joardar told PTI.

So, he went on a hunger strike, the minister said adding, he had been since shifted to the Presidency Jail.

A jail official claimed that these were standard tricks adopted by Maoists and other dreaded criminals in a bid to pressure jail authorities to give into their demands.

Muzaffar Ahmed Rather, a resident of Anantanag in Jammu and Kashmir, and two other militants, both Pakistani citizens, were arrested by the BSF in 2007 from the India-Bangladesh border at Petrapole.

All three were sentenced to death this January by a court in Bongaon in West Bengal's North 24-Parganas district for waging war against the country.

According to police sources, the trio had plans to launch terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, but before they could carry it out they were caught and handed over to the police.

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A bill seeking to consolidate the existing laws on civil matters of admiralty jurisdiction of courts, proceedings on maritime claims and arrest of ships was passed by the Lok Sabha today.

The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims), 2016 seeks to repeal laws such as the Admiralty Court Act, 1861, the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890.

Moving the bill for consideration and passage, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Mansukh L Mandaviya said these legislations came into force during the colonial era when India had only three major ports -- Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.

Now there are 12 major ports and 205 minor ports in India but under the existing legislation, matters related to admiralty could be decided only by the High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, he said.

He said the bill intends to extend this to the High Courts of Karnataka, Gujarat, Orissa, Kerala, Hyderabad and any other High Court notified by the central government.

"Even the Supreme Court has said that there should be a domestic law to deal with the cases related to Admiralty," he said.

Referring to the concerns raised by some of the members, Mandaviya said, "once the rules and bylaws are framed under the law, the concerns would be taken care of."



Noting that certain clarifications have been sought by the members about Maritime Zone, the minister said six more ports are being set up along with others projects under the government's ambitious Sagarmala project.

Around eight lakh crore would be spent for the development of ports in the country.

He further said if pollution is caused by the ship, then there are provisions in the bill to handle it.

Participating in the debate, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Cong) said archaic and obsolete laws should be repealed.

"The maritime and legal fraternity has been demanding a comprehensive legislation," he said supporting the bill.

Narendra Sawaikar (BJP) said the new law will help in having more clarity on issues related to maritime disputes.

Supporting the bill, Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) said with this new law, territorial waters should also be defined using modern technology.

Supporting the bill, B Mahtab (BJD) said it was good that the government was doing away with the colonial era laws on admiralty and consolidating the existing legislations on the important subject.

Narasimham Thota (TDP) said the government was moving in the right direction and the provisions of the proposed legislation would promote maritime activities.

Konda Vishweshwara Reddy (TRS) demanded that a separate High Court be set up for Andhra Pradesh and that the High Court in Hyderabad should not be burdened with the task of resolving maritime disputes.

CPI-M member A Sampath said the government should have called a meeting of the Chief Ministers concerned before coming out with the bill which will have far reaching consequences for the coastal states.

He said it would have been better for the government to have referred the bill to the concerned Standing Committee.

V B Raut (Shiv Sena) said the bill would meet the longstanding demand of country's fishermen.

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The functioning of Maharashtra legislature continued to remain affected amid uproar over the demand for loan waiver to farmers, with both the Houses being adjourned for the day today without transacting any business.

In the Assembly, the opposition Congress and the NCP members were joined by their counterparts from the BJP and Shiv Sena in raising slogans for waiving off the loans of farmers.

The fracas forced the Speaker Haribhau Bagde to adjourn the proceedings twice before the House was adjourned for the day without transacting any business, on the third consecutive day.

The Assembly passed the motion of thanks on Governor C Vidyasagar Rao's customary address to the legislature on the first day of Budget session on Monday, without any discussion due to the noisy scenes.

Due to the bedlam on the loan waiver issue, the two-day debate on the Governor's address, which was scheduled to begin yesterday and end today with the Chief Minister's reply, couldn't take off.

The functioning of the Upper House too remained crippled on the fourth consecutive day as the members of the Congress and the NCP raised slogans on the issue.

The Council has not been able to take up Question Hour due to strident demands for the loan waiver.

As the Council assembled today, senior NCP member Sunil Tatkare said the Opposition had moved an adjournment motion on the issue.

"The government has done nothing in the last two years on the demands being made by the Opposition. How could the government write off dues of money lenders when by law they (lenders) are not supposed to lend agricultural credit to farmers," he said.

The NCP leader said the government does not want to write off the loans being availed by farmers from the cooperative banks and credit societies.

As the Congress and NCP legislators started raising slogans, the Leader of the House and the Cooperation Minister Chandrakant Patil said, "the government wanted to improve the agricultural infrastructure in such a way that the farmers won't fall into the debt trap again after his earlier debt is settled."



Patil (BJP) said though a loan waiver was granted by previous Congress-NCP government in 2008-09, the condition of farmers did not improve thereafter.

"The BJP government wants to improve the agricultural infrastructure by providing better seeds, good water supply for irrigation, and fertilisers with a view to improve their crop yield," he said.

The minister said the government is installing solar-powered feeders in order to ensure uninterrupted power supply to agricultural pumps of farmers.

"The government has now also allowed farmers to sell their produce outside the agricultural produce markets," he said.

However, as the sloganeering continued unabated, the Chair adjourned the proceedings for an hour.

After the House reassembled, the Deputy Chairman Manikrao



Thakre called for laying of the official papers and reports.

The Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde said they would not participate in any business of the House until the government announced a complete loan waiver.

He said today's was the seventh session where the opposition has made the demand for loan waiver.

"The government does not want to announce the loan waiver because most of the district central cooperative banks are controlled by the Congress-NCP. In the last two years, more than 9,000 cooperative bank account-holding farmers have committed suicides because of indebtedness," the NCP leader said.

He asked whether the government was waiting for more than 25,000 farmers out of total 1.37 crore farmers who hold bank accounts in cooperative banks, to commit suicides.

As the opposition members continued with their slogan shouting, the Deputy Chairman adjourned the proceedings for the day.
Malaysia's police chief today confirmed that the man assassinated at Kuala Lumpur's international airport last month was Kim Jong-Nam, half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un.

"We've now established that Kim Chol is Kim Jong-Nam," Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told a conference, but he declined to give details of how the body's identity was confirmed.

"For the security of the witnesses so I'm not going to tell you how it was done," he said.

Malaysian authorities had earlier declined to officially confirm the victim's identity or release his body, saying they needed a DNA sample from next-of-kin.

The 45-year-old was carrying a passport bearing the name of Kim Chol when he was attacked on February 13 with the lethal nerve agent VX by two women.

His wife and children, who were living in exile in the Chinese territory of Macau, have since gone into hiding over fears that his 21-year-old son, Kim Han-Sol, could be seen as a potential rival by his uncle Kim Jong-Un in a country roiled by bloody purges.

The brazen Cold War-style killing triggered a bitter diplomatic row between the previously friendly Asian nations, which have expelled each other's ambassador and refused to let their citizens leave.

North Korea has never confirmed the identity of the dead man, but has denounced the Malaysian investigation as an attempt to smear the secretive regime, insisting that he most likely died of a heart attack.

Expelled North Korean ambassador Kang Chol slammed what he called a "pre-targeted investigation by the Malaysian police" on Monday, just before leaving the country.

Pyongyang retaliated by formally expelling his Malaysian counterpart, who was already back in Kuala Lumpur for consultations.

Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday urged Malaysians to pray for the safe return of nine compatriots barred from leaving North Korea.

Three Malaysian embassy staff and six family members remain stuck in Pyongyang after North Korea barred Malaysians from leaving the country on Tuesday, prompting a tit-for-tat move by Malaysia.

Two Malaysians working for the UN World Food Programme were permitted to leave North Korea on Thursday.

South Korea has blamed Pyongyang for the assassination and Malaysian police are seeking seven North Korean suspects, four of whom left Malaysia on the day of the murder.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Malaysian police say they have formally identified Kim Jong Nam as the victim of a fatal nerve agent attack at Kuala Lumpur's airport.

Kim is the estranged half brother of North Korea's ruler. Friday's announcement was a formality. Soon after the February 13 attack, Malaysian Cabinet officials confirmed the victim was Kim.

The identification process touches on one of the flashpoints in a case that has broken once-warm ties between Malaysia and North Korea.

North Korea does not acknowledge the victim is Kim Jong Nam and has demanded custody of the body, but Malaysia has not handed it over.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar refused to say how police identified Kim. He said the "safety and security of witnesses" are at stake.

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Maldivian opposition parties protested today a planned visit by King Salman following reports that Saudi business interests were buying an entire atoll in the politically-troubled Indian Ocean republic.

A coalition of opposition parties and dissidents said they would stage street demonstrations against the alleged sale of islands when the Saudi monarch and his 1,000-strong entourage visits the Maldives.

"We will make it very clear to the Saudi Royals that we are against the sale of our land," former Maldives foreign minister Ahmed Naseem told reporters in Colombo.

He said there were persistent reports in the Maldives that either the Saudi government or a Saudi business entity was buying an atoll of 28 small coral islands for billions of dollars.

The announcement by the Colombo-based Maldives United Opposition (MUO) came a day after the government of President Abdulla Yameen denied it was selling islands to the Saudis or anyone else.

However, the MUO insisted that the government was planning to go ahead with a deal that could be worth twice the USD 5.2 billion economy of the island nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims.

MUO leaders accused Yameen's regime of ordering a crackdown on opposition activists ahead of the royal visit, which is part of the monarch's Asian tour which began in Malaysia and has taken him to Indonesia.

He is due to travel to China and Japan before ending the tour in the Maldives.

The Maldivian opposition accuses Yameen of ceding control of the inhabited atoll of Faafu to Saudi Arabia. In 2015, Yameen lifted a ban on foreign ownership of real estate.

Land is scarce in the Maldives where 99.9 per cent of its territory is sea and the nation's 1,192 tiny coral islands account for just 300 square kilometres (115 square miles) of land.

However, the islands are strategically located -- scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator -- straddling the main East-West international shipping lanes.

The country is a popular upmarket holiday destination but its image has been hit by political unrest in recent years.

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Against the backdrop of cases related to Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi, the government today said it is working to have agreements with the maximum number of nations to ensure that big-time economic offenders "cannot hide" abroad.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also said in the Lok Sabha that his ministry was examining whether a new law would be required or prevailing statutes will have to be amended to confiscate the properties of those who commit financial crimes in India and hide abroad.

Replying to questions posed in a veiled manner by members regarding Mallya as also former IPL boss Lalit Modi, Jaitley, without mentioning them, said various enforcement agencies have attached assets worth Rs 8040 crore belonging to economic offenders.

In an effort to ensure that big-time economic offenders "cannot hide" in other countries, the government is working on having agreements with maximum number of nations, he said.

Jaitley said the extradition process takes a lot of time though some countries extend help in sending back such people fast by deporting them.

When asked by Saugata Roy (TMC) as to what steps the government has taken to bring back "IPL man", a veiled reference to Lalit Modi and "Kingfisher man", a veiled reference to Mallya, the Finance Minister, without taking names, said Rs 8040 crore worth of assets have already been attached by various enforcement agencies.

Roy was asked by the Chair not to take names in the House.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2 last year and is currently in the UK.

Last month, the Indian government handed over to the UK a request to extradite him.

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A man wanted in connection with alleged "terrorism" activities was shot dead and a police officer wounded in a firefight in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, the interior ministry said today.

The incident in the Qatif area of the kingdom's predominantly Shiite, oil-rich region late Thursday saw the suspect open fire after refusing to surrender to security forces, a ministry spokesman said.

Police fired back, resulting in the man's death. The official SPA agency reported that one officer was hospitalised after the altercation.

Thursday's shooting comes days after the killing by an unknown assailant of a policeman in Qatif, according to the ministry.

At least nine police have been shot dead since 2014 in and around Qatif, the scene of sporadic protests by Shiite residents who complain of marginalisation by the kingdom's Sunni rulers.

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: State Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa today directed revenue officials to take immediate steps to clear the long-pending 'Bagar Hukum' applicationsand issue title deeds to landless cultivators in small plots of government land occupied by them years back.

'Bagar Hukum' cultivators are farmers with no formal and documented ownership rights to government land they had occupied over the years.

The cultivators argue that theyshould be treated as a distinct category of land occupants with traditional rights of use to the land.

The minister, who held a meeting with revenue officials here today, directed them to sanction the title deeds as per the target fixed by the government within two months.

Thimmappa said regularisation of farm lands and houses built on government lands was a priority programme of the state government.

At least 1,000 Bagar Hukum applicationsshould be cleared monthly in each taluk, he said.

He asked Dakshina Kannada district DeputyCommissioner K G Jagadeesha to constantly review the progressin clearing the applications.

The government had cleared onelakh Bagar Hukum applications so far, but three lakh applications were still pending, he said.

A total of 25,000applications were pending in DK district alone, he added.

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The British Library and the University of Leicester invite applications for an AHRC-funded PhD studentship on Franco-Saxon manuscripts in the ninth century. The project is offered under the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership programme, and will be co-supervised by Joanna Story, Professor of Early Medieval History at Leicester, and by Dr Kathleen Doyle, Lead Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library. This full-time studentship, which is funded for three years at standard AHRC rates, will begin on 1 October 2017, and will be based at the British Library in London.





A decorated initial in a Franco-Saxon gospelbook, Tours, 2nd half of the 9th century (British Library Add MS 11849, f. 27r)

The studentship

The successful candidate will undertake a PhD thesis on Franco-Saxon Manuscripts in the Ninth Century that centres on analysis of illuminated manuscripts produced in northern Francia. Manuscripts held at the British Library will be central to this project.

In the later 9th century monasteries in the Pas de Calais, at Saint-Amand, Saint-Bertin (Saint-Omer), Corbie and Saint-Riquier, produced manuscripts that are characterised by the use of a highly distinctive style of Franco-Saxon illumination. These monasteries were places of great power, wealth and patronage in the 9th century, and were ruled by abbots who had close links to the Carolingian court. Proximity to the Channel coast, and to the trading emporium of Quentovic (Etaples)  which lay not more than a days ride from both Saint-Riquier and Saint-Bertin  meant that there were also longstanding political, cultural, economic and religious connections with Anglo-Saxon England. These links to places and people of power are made manifest in the deluxe manuscripts that were produced in these monasteries in the later 9th century, which combined the measured aesthetic of Carolingian epigraphic display scripts with an idiomatic use of Insular decoration.

The project offers the opportunity both for detailed historical research and direct engagement with early medieval manuscripts that may also reveal connections between England and France through their texts, decoration, script and methods of manufacture. The project will focus on books in the British Library, and on those codices that exemplify the Franco-Saxon style housed in London and elsewhere. The successful student will work with the supervisors to develop the project in ways that complement and extend the students existing skills-set and interests.

This AHRC collaborative studentship arises from a new international digitisation initiative, funded by The Polonsky Foundation, to digitise 800 illuminated manuscripts relating to England and France, 7001200 that are held at the British Library and the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris. That digitisation project creates unique opportunities for the successful candidate to this studentship competition, via training and outreach opportunities (e.g. writing catalogue entries, manuscript descriptions, blog-posts), and by examining aspects of the art history, codicology, palaeography and historical context of production and patronage of relevant manuscripts held at the British Library, and potentially also in Paris.

We are seeking to recruit a highly promising student who will relish the opportunity of combining academic research with the experience of working as part of a professional team of curators and researchers. This studentship is likely to appeal to individuals with a background in early medieval history, book history, literature and language, classics, or in applying interdisciplinary methods for understanding early medieval material culture. Prior experience of research using early medieval manuscripts will be an advantage, and the successful applicant will be able to demonstrate skills commensurate with career stage in relevant medieval and modern languages and palaeography. A commitment to communicating the results of research to a wider public audience is a key asset in the context of the British Librarys digitisation and exhibition programmes.

Subject to AHRC eligibility criteria, the scholarship covers tuition fees and a grant (stipend) towards living expenses. The national minimum doctoral stipend for 2017/18 has been set by Research Councils UK at 14,553. In addition the student has access to up to 1,000 per annum from the British Library for research-related costs, and to Student Development Funding (equivalent to an additional 6 months of funding per studentship) to allow time for the student to take up further training and skills development opportunities that are agreed as part of the PhD programme. The student also will benefit from staff-level access to the British Librarys collections, expertise and facilities, as well as from the dedicated programme of professional development events delivered by the British Library in tandem with the other museums, galleries and heritage organisations affiliated with the Collaborative Doctoral Partnership scheme.

How to apply

Further information about this collaborative research project (including academic and eligibility criteria), and full details on how to apply can be found in the further particulars, here: http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/history/postgraduate/collaborative-doctoral-award-opportunities.

Informal Enquiries

Informal enquiries about this collaborative project can be sent to Professor Joanna Story: js73@le.ac.uk

Closing Date: Monday 10 April 2017, 12:00 (midday, London time)

Interview Date: 5 May 2017, at The British Library, London
A Congress MLA, who reached the Rajasthan Assembly today in colour-splattered attire after playing Holi, was ticked off by the Deputy Speaker.

Congress MLA from Todabhim constituency Ghanshyam was asked to come to the House after changing clothes.

As he sat in the House in a festive mood after playing Holi, the Congress member realised that not everyone was game for such an approach as BJP deputy chief whip Madan Rathore objected to it.

Rathore said that the Congress MLA, who has come to the assembly after playing Holi, should know that it is against the norms.

Senior BJP leader Ghanshyam Tiwari too chipped in referring to an instance where a former MLA had entered the assembly, wearing a plate in his neck and was then suspended by the House for seven days for his conduct.

Taking note of the matter, Deputy Speaker Rao Rajendra Singh told the Todabhim MLA to change clothes and then enter the House.

Singh also asked all legislators to obey the rules of the House strictly. He said that trooping into the Well, talking in the aisle of the House and on the seats are against rules.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Congress MLA reached the Rajasthan Assembly today in a colour-splattered attire after playing holi and was pulled up by the Deputy Speaker, who asked him to maintain the dignity of the House and come back after changing clothes.

As Ghanshyam, the Todabhim MLA, took his seat in the House, BJP deputy chief whip Madan Rathore objected to it his approach.

Rathore said Ghanshyam should have known that coming to the House after playing holi is against the norms.

Senior BJP leader Ghanshyam Tiwari recalled an MLA entering the assembly wearing a plate around his neck. He said the legislator was suspended from the House for seven days for his conduct.

Taking note of the matter, Deputy Speaker Rao Rajendra Singh told the MLA to change clothes and then come to the House.

Singh asked all legislators to strictly comply with the rules. He added that trooping into the Well, talking in the aisle of the House and while sitting in the seats is against the rules.

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The mortal remains of army soldier Deepak Jagannath Ghadge, who was killed in Pakistani firing along the LoC in Poonch district, will be flown to Punefrom here tomorrow.

"At 0830 hours tomorrow, an IAF fixed wing is scheduled to take off with mortal remains of Deepak from Jammu to Pune," anarmy officer said here.

"Sepoy Deepak got martyred when Pakistani soldiers initiated indiscriminate and unprovoked firing at about 2 PM on Indian Army postsalong the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector yesterday," PRO Defence Lt Col Manish Mehta said.

He said that mortal remains are being moved by road from Poonch to Jammu today as air movement is not possible due to adverse weather conditions.

From Pune, the mortal remains will be taken in a helicopter to Deepak's native village in Satara subject to clearance of the temporary helipad there.

There will be brief halt for wreath laying ceremony at Rajour and night halt at Jammu, he said.

The 27-year-old Sepoy Deepak Jaganath Ghadge belongs to village Borgaon in Satara district of Maharashtra.

He is survived by his wife, 2-year-old son and daughter aged 1 year.

The jawan had suffered a bullet injury in the head. There have been a number of ceasefire violations along the international border and the LoC this year.

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The incoming head of the US Environmental Protection Agency has said that carbon dioxide is not the main driver of global warming, a position starkly at odds with the scientific consensus on climate change.

A known ally of the fossil fuel industry, Scott Pruitt's appointment to head the EPA -- a department he repeatedly sued as a state attorney general -- was deeply contentious.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," Pruitt told CNBC yesterday.

"We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis," he added.

Pruitt's stance runs counter to the scientific consensus that underpins last year's landmark Paris Agreement, which saw more than 190 world leaders agree to lower emissions that lead to global warming.

It also clashes with the positions of agencies like NASA and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which have concluded that global warming is driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other manmade emissions.

Some 97 percent of scientists worldwide agree that human activity -- primarily the burning of fossils fuels like oil, gas and coal -- has largely contributed to the sharp rise in the planet's temperature in recent decades.

The past three years in a row have broken modern records for global heat, a trend scientists say is due to global warming in combination with a strong El Nino weather pattern.

Scientists quickly lashed out at Pruitt for his comments, describing his stance as dangerous and flat-out wrong, and calling on him to resign.

"Pruitt has demonstrated that he is unqualified to run the EPA or any agency," said Kevin Trenberth, Distinguished Senior Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

"There is no doubt whatsoever that the planet is warming and it is primarily due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from burning of fossil fuels."



The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that increased carbon dioxide has been the dominant source of global warming, said Kerry Emanuel, professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

This is followed by methane, halogenated gases, and nitrous oxide, "all of whose concentrations have increased primarily from human activity," Emanuel said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A newly-wed couple died when the motorcycle they were riding hit a stationary tractor on Yamuna Expressway near Kasimpur village here, police said today.

"The couple were going from Noida to Agra last night when the incident occurred. They were rushed to a hospital in Agra where the doctors declared them brought dead," Deputy Superintendent of Police Surendra Kumar Yadav said.

The deceased were identified as Abhijeet, a resident of Kanpur and his wife Lusia Roza a German national," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US has said that the issue of shutting down of a Colorado-based Christian NGO in India must be resolved in a manner that is "transparent" and honours India's laws, even as it expressed concern over the challenges faced by foreign NGOs in the country.

"Over the past couple of years we've seen, frankly, a number of foreign-funded NGOs who have encountered significant challenges to continuing their operations, and it's something we're watching and it's something we're going to engage with the Indian Government on and try to find a way forward," State Department Acting Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters during a conference call.

Asked about the decision of Compassion International to close down its operation in India, Toner said, "Just to emphasise, we want all parties to be able to work cooperatively and certainly in a way that honours India's laws and also, as I said, in a transparent process and find a way forward."



At the same time, he said, the United states has a very strong bilateral relationship with India.

The Indo-US relationship was one in which the two sides can talk about all the issues they agree on as two strong democracies, but also can share their concerns, he noted.

"I think this is an area where we have a concern, and we have shared those concerns with the Government of India and we remain concerned about the closure of Compassion International and its operations in India," Toner said.

"It speaks to our concerns more broadly about civil society and its ongoing vibrancy and health, and the fact that we will always advocate for freedom of expression and association around the world," he said.

Toner asserted that the US has seen that a number of foreign-funded NGOs over the past couple of years have encountered similar problems and so it remains a concern for it.

"It's something we've raised. Compassion International is obviously just the most recent case. But we're going to continue to talk to the Indian Government about it," Toner said.

Compassion International on March 1 announced that it will close down its operations in India on March 15.

The decision to close its India operations impacts nearly 147,000 babies, children and young adults currently registered in Compassion's child development programmes, as well as 127 staff, the NGO said in a statement.

"Though we are saying farewell to Compassion's current programme in India, we know that God's work has not ended," said Compassion president and CEO Santiago 'Jimmy' Mellado.

(Reopens FGN 15)



The NGO alleged that in May, 2016, Ministry of Home Affairs began blocking Compassion from sending money to its two country offices and 589 church partners throughout the country.

"The Indian government put Compassion on its prior approval list, which requires it to obtain approval from the MHA for each transaction. But any requested approvals have been denied, hindering the organisation from paying its staff or funding its programmes," the NGO alleged.

Last summer, former Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Indian officials on behalf of Compassion, the NGO said. However, the Indian government has not lifted its restrictions, it said.
The ruling NPF in Nagaland today dismissed as "baseless" reports that there was a rift between the newly appointed Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu and his predecessor T R Zeliang.

"There is no leadership tussle and no difference between the government and the party," the Nagaland People's Front (NPF) spokesperson Achumbemo Kikon said in a statement referring to reports appeared in local media yesterday.

"His (Zeliang) political career has not come to an end, but he has voluntarily stepped down in order to create peace and tranquillity in our state," he said.

"Zeliang has a long way to go and the NPF legislators might have expressed the sentiments looking at the future, but for now Shurhozelie is at the helm of affairs," he said.

Shurhozelie Liezietsu was sworn in as chief minister of the state on February 22.

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Online auction platform Uber Dreams is set to offer services like renting a yacht for under Rs 20,000 or getting fitness tips from actress turned entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty Kundra.

The Mumbai-based startup, set up last year and not related to taxi aggregator Uber, will conduct online auctions featuring eminent personalities, brands and marquee products.

"The idea is to help fulfill consumers' dreams with uniquely curated experiences and provide access to people to interact, in-person, with eminent personalities from business, movies, sports, television and so on," Uber Dreams co-founder and CEO Savan Daru told PTI.

The basic idea here is to bridge the gap between dreams and aspirations of the people of the country and the actual realisation of the same, he added.

However, this will not come cheap.

"Most auctions/dreams will have a reserve price of 20k to 3 lakh except the dreams that involve celebrities, they could cost a little more," he said.

The online auction for a wellness weekend with Shetty has a reserve price of Rs 70,000.

The auction will take place from March 10-15, 2017. The highest bidder and a partner of his/her choice will get to fly to Jaipur and experience an all expenses paid, 2 nights-3 days Yoga and wellness weekend as VIP guests of Shilpa Shetty Kundra with interaction and selfies/ photographs.

"In the initial stage, the company will introduce around 5-8 auctions a month and later scale it up," he said.

Other auctions will include spending time with personalities like Mohit Burman of Dabur India/Aviva Life Insurance, Anupam Mittal of Shaadi.Com/People Group.

"One can also bid to be a model in a full page advertorial of Rolling Stone magazine, get a chance for internships with leading corporates, get a six course romantic meal cooked by Chef Vicky Ratnani at their home, a 3 min role in movies and TV series and so on," he said.

Daru declined to comment on targeted revenues but said Uber Dreams will be generating revenue from Day 1.

"We work on revenue share and commission model with our partners. We will be looking at funding options in a few months," he added.

The company has previously raised half a million dollars from Mascot Group.

Uber Dreams will soon launch an app on iOS and Android stores as well. The platform will also let users share their dreams/aspirations that are not listed on the website.

"Under the 'You Dream, We Fulfill' section, visitors can list their dreams and Uber Dreams will try to fulfill it for them," Daru said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval today telephoned Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda and condoled the death of a Nepalese man in alleged firing by the Sashastra Seema Bal and promised a probe into the incident.

Doval, who made the phone call to Prachanda on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Indian authorities have initiated a probe into the killing of Govinda Gautam.

Doval conveyed Modi's grief over the death and expressed condolences to the bereaved family, a statement issued by the Nepalese Prime Minister's Secretariat said.

Prachanda, expressing Nepal's readiness to provide the required support for the investigation, said the Kanchanpur incident was "very serious".

He expressed hope that the guilty would be booked after necessary investigation.

The deceased has been declared as a martyr by the Nepal government.

In Kathmandu, Charge d' Affaires at Indian Embassy Vinay Kumar today called on Nepal's Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and condoled the death.

Kumar informed Bairagi that an enquiry has been initiated by India into the incident.

District authorities should maintain close and regular contacts and ensure law and order in the area, the envoy said.

India has sought from Nepal the post-mortem and forensic reports of the Nepalese national allegedly killed in firing by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) along the border yesterday, an incident that triggered protests in Nepal.

Nepal government has declared Gautam as a martyr, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi.

Along with martyr's status, the government will provide Rs one million compensation to the next of the kin of the victim and fund the education of his children, said Nidhi while addressing the Legislature-Parliament meeting today.

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A sub-treasury officer working in Nalgonda district of Telangana was today arrested for allegedly misusing government scholarships and diverting funds to the tune of Rs 71 lakh, police said.

The Cyber Crime Police arrested from Nalgonda Gangula Purushottam Reddy, who allegedly diverted the funds online to the accounts of a private organisation, an official release said.

Reddy colluded with other suspects and misused the government funds for their personal gain.

According to their plan, he authorised the illegal e-cheque transfer, through which accused persons tried to benefit a private college to the tune of Rs 71 lakhs.

"For illegal authorisation of e-cheque, he had demanded money from the college management," the release said.

Earlier, a case was registered under relevant sections of IPC and IT Act following a complaint lodged from Treasuries and Accounts Department of Telangana State that there is a doubtful claim which has been uploaded for an amount of Rs 71,13,000 in favour of a private college's bank account.

Further investigation into the matter is on.

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Now that Congress has gotten rid of the Obama administrations accountability regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act, the Trump-controlled Education Department technically can start the regulation process from scratch, but it is prohibited from writing substantially similar rules until new legislation is passed.

That begs two questions: One, will the Trump administration re-regulate? And two, what exactly would constitute substantially similar regulations to the Obama ones that Congress just tossed? (Spoiler: Congress may essentially get to decide whether any new Trump regulations are too much like the Obama regulations to pass muster. More below.)

On the first questionwhether Team Trump will decide to come up with its own ESSA accountability regulationswe reached out to the department and havent heard back. Its notable, though, that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos sent a letter to state chiefs last month saying she would develop a template for ESSA plans and release it by March 13 . (Thats Monday.) A new template isnt the same as new regulations but since the Obama administrations format got nixed with the rest of the regulations, the new format will provide some guidance.

So onto that second question. Lets imagine that the DeVos and company decide that yes, they want to write new regulations, which could help provide clarity for states and districts on everything from how to handle schools where lots of kids opt out of standardized tests to the timeline for implementing different parts of the law.

Those new regulations cant be substantially similar to the old Obama ones. But what exactly does substantially similar mean? And who decides what meets that threshold?

There doesnt seem to be an easy answer to that question. Congress ditched the accountability regulations through a process known as the Congressional Review Act, or CRA, for short. Before this year, the CRA was only used one other time, to get rid of ergonomics regulations written by the Clinton administration. The courts havent had a chance to weigh in how it should workand the law that created the CRA explicitly says there is no judicial review.

In fact, it may essentially be Congress that decides whether any new Trump-authored ESSA accountability regulations pass muster, by essentially passing yet another disapproval resolution like the one lawmakers just finished with, according to this report from the Congressional Research Service.

Or to put it a little more clearly: We believe Congress ultimately decides whether a rule is substantially similar to a rule that was overturned through the Congressional Review Act, explained Brian Newell, the spokesman for the House education committee.

He noted that Republican lawmakers objected to the Obama administrations rule because, in their view, it went beyond ESSA. (Democrats and many advocates for educators felt differently.) And he left the door open for the Trump administration to issue its own regulations.

If the department were to move forward with a regulatory proposal in line with the laws accountability provisions and the secretarys authority, its hard to imagine anyone would argue that the new rule was substantially similar to the old rule issued by the Obama administration, Newell said.

One thing to keep in mind: Writing ESSA rules is no walk in the park. Its a long and labor-intensive process. The Obama administration had to write draft regulations, solicit comments on themthere were more than 20,000 (!)and then finalize them. Thats not something the Trump administration could do in the next three weeks, before the first batch of ESSA plans come due.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
The rape and murder of a girl in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district in January this year rocked the state Legislative Assembly today.

Congress and other opposition MLAs staged a walkout in the House demanding a CBI probe into the case and compensation to the kin of the victim.

Besides, three opposition legislators were suspended after they trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans demanding justice for the victim.

Raising the issue through a call attention motion Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Keshav Chandra and Congress legislator Dilip Lahariya said, a girl who was native of Devgaon village under Masturi police station limits of Bilaspur district, was working at a medical store there.

On January 7, 2017, she was raped and murdered by unidentified people while she was on way back to home.

A report was registered in the concerned police station but so far none of the accused have been arrested, they added.

In his reply, Home Minister Ram Sewak Paikra said, after recovering the body of a woman near Devgaon on January 17, 2017, a case was lodged under section 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of the evidence of offence) of IPC and the investigation launched.

Further section 376 (rape) of IPC was added into the case.

Besides, an 18-member special investigation team (SIT), headed by Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural Bilaspur) Archana Jha, was constituted to probe the incident, he said.

Director General of Police (DGP) has announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to those providing inputs to arrest the accused in the incident.

However, to expedite the process of investigation, Police Headquarter (Raipur) later included two more officials from Crime Branch Raipur- Inspector Sanjay Singh and Sub Inspector Gaurav Tiwari, into the SIT, the home minister said.

Every possible effort is being made to arrest the accused, he said.

Countering his reply, BSP MLA Chandra asked why no arrest has been made even after two months of the incident.

The home minister replied that, so far as many as 400 people have been interrogated in this connection while statement of 200 suspects recorded.

Besides, permission was also sought from the court to conduct narco test of 9 suspects.

Likewise, DNA sample testing of 16 suspects was also being done.

Forensic experts have been pressed into the investigation, the minister added.

Interrupting him, Congress MLA Lahariya alleged that whether police was trying to shield the accused.

Lahariya further demanded CBI probe into the incident to which the home minister said the SIT was already investigating the case.

Meanwhile, Marwahi constituency legislator Amit Jogi



alleged, during investigation, police sniffer dog was seen leading the investigators towards an illegal liquor shop situated nearby, but somehow it was misguided deliberately.

Jogi also demanded compensation to the family of the kin.

The home minister said, very soon culprits will be arrested.

Unsatisfied with the reply, MLAs Amit Jogi, Rajendra Rai and Siyaram Kaushikmoved into thewellof the House demanding justice for the victimand were automatically suspended.

Subsequently, state Congress president and senior Congress MLA Bhupesh Baghel sought to know from the home minister the outcome of the post-mortem report.

He also asked whether the victim was gangraped.

The minister answered that the post-mortem was performed by a team of three doctors on January 7, 2017, according to which the victim was strangulated to death.

The autopsy could not establish rape on the victim, the minister said.

Baghel then questioned how come rape charge was included in the case.

The minister said it was done based on the statement of the parents of the victim and the case is under investigation.

Dissatisfied over his reply, Baghel, the leader of opposition in the assembly TS Singhdeo and other Congress members said how it was possible that rape was not detected in the post-mortem which was done on the same day of incident.

Baghel further demanded probe by CBI or judicial commission or any independent agency into the case.

Besides, he also sought compensation to the kin of the victim.

The Home Minister said that the probe is underway by SIT and whatever compensation is there under the provision will be given to the family accordingly.

Congress members further demanded re-postmortem of the woman after exhuming her body which was rejected by the home Minister saying that it was not needed.

Enraged over his reply, the opposition MLAs raised anti-government slogans and staged walkout in the House.
The members of Haryana's main Opposition party INLD today staged a walkout from the House, seeking a resolution to condemn a Congress MLA for allegedly compromising the state's interest in the Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL) canal issue.

Leader of the Opposition Abhay Chautala, without taking names, said the Congress MLA's presence at the release of his party's manifesto for the Punjab election showed that he endorsed the proposal against the construction of the SYL canal.

"Thereby, he (the Congress MLA) compromised the interests of Haryana," Chautala said during the Zero Hour of the Haryana Assembly's Budget Session here.

He said if the resolution was not brought, it would be considered that the treasury benches supported those against the interests of the state.

The senior INLD leader also asked the Speaker "why he remained soft on other Opposition members while INLD legislators were 'named' in the House yesterday".

When Speaker Kanwal Pal Gujjar did not allow the resolution, INLD members walked out.

Yesterday, Chautala had taken a dig at senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala in the House for his presence at the release of his party's manifesto for the Punjab election.

The House, on the last day of the Budget Session, also witnessed a verbal spat between Haryana Minister Kavita Jain and Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal.

The argument broke out after Bhukkal questioned the Speaker on why a condemnation resolution was brought against her on March 8.

To this, Jain accused Bhukkal of making personal allegations against her.

On March 8, Jain had broken into tears in the Assembly when Bhukkal made some personal remarks against her, prompting the House to pass a resolution against the act.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Anil Vij said because of "excellent" health services, Haryana's Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has been recorded as 36 per 1,000 live births in the Sample Registration System 2015.

Vij, who was replying to a question raised by MLA Santosh Chauhan Sarwan, said to further reduce IMR, the government was implementing several programmes, including Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, Mother's Absolute Affection Programme, Micronutrient Supplementation Programme and Robust Routine Immunization Programme.

Apart from this, Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU),



Newborn Stabilisation Units (NBSU) and Newborn Care Corners (NBCC) have been established, the Minister said.

Replying to another question, he said of the 83 doctors recruited for the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College 68 have assumed charge and around 43 more doctors are required in the college.

Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma said government schools are being upgraded as per requirement.

The Government High School for Girls, Bithmada, has been upgraded to Government Senior Secondary School for Girls and if the local MLA makes a written request, the high school for boys will also be upgraded, he said.

The Minister was replying to a question raised by MLA, Anoop Dhanak.

In a written reply to a question raised by MLA Balkaur Singh regarding upgrade of schools in Kalanwali Assembly constituency, Sharma said it was being considered to upgrade two government high schools and three government secondary schools of the constituency.

The Minister said proposal to upgrade government high schools in Pakka Shahidan and Panihari, secondary schools in Raghuana, Bhangu and Rohri was under consideration.
Over 4,200 suspects were arrested in China last year for allegedly infringing upon citizen's personal information, authorities said today.

Among the 4,261 suspects in 1,886 cases, 391 were insiders in industries such as banking, education, telecommunications, delivery services, stock market and e-commerce, the Ministry of Public Security said.

Police have also arrested 1,747 suspects involved in 828 cases related to hacking.

Personal information infringements have increased in the recent years, leading to a rise in fraud and racketeering, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan government today introduced a constitutional amendment bill in Parliament to revive the controversial special military courts for trying "hardcore" militants.

Apart from changes sought in the constitution to set up such courts, another bill was presented to seek amendment in the army law to enable military to regulate these courts.

Law Minister Zahid Hamid moved both the bills in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.

Radio Pakistan reported that the Minister said on the occasion that in 2015, the parliament had passed two bills including Twenty-first (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and "The Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to set up military courts to hear the cases of hardcore criminals.

He said positive results were received through these steps.

The minister said the country is still going through extraordinary circumstances and facing many challenges.

Therefore, it is necessary that these measures will continue.

He pointed out that under these bills the steps taken in 2015 will get extension and the government wants to pass these bills with consensus.

However, there is opposition by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to the bills, as the party insisted that the tenure of the courts should be for one year instead two as proposed by the government.

The PPP also wants a civilian judge to sit with the military judge to hear the cases and giving the defendant a right to appeal in the high courts.

PPP boycotted today's proceedings which forced the government to delay the voting on the bills. The voting is expected on Monday when the house will convene after weekend break.

The government would try to win the support of the PPP as it is trying to pass the key change in the law with consensus.

The previous law passed in 2015 to set up military courts for two years was unanimously adopted.

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President Pranab Mukherjee has expressed a desire to adopt 50 villages in Haryana and develop them as smart villages, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar informed the state Assembly today.

On the concluding day of the budget session, Khattar said the President had in July 2016 adopted five villages-- Alipur, Daula, Harchandpur and Tajnagar in Gurugram district and Rozkameo in Mewat district-- to develop them as smart villages.

Initiatives in the field of health, skill development, infrastructure and agriculture were undertaken in these five villages, Khattar said.

The 50 new villages to be adopted were located within 5-km radius of those adopted earlier, the Chief Minister said as he thanked the President.

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President Pranab Mukherjee today asked Swaziland to attract Indian investments in that country and offered India's affordable technologies and finance.

"India values its friendship with Swaziland. India appreciates the support that Swaziland has consistently extended to India in multilateral forums," Mukherjee said after meeting His Majesty King Mswati-III of Swaziland at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The President hosted a lunch in his honour.

Mukherjee said India and Swaziland traditionally enjoy a friendly and co-operative relationship.

He said India offers Swaziland a large market, affordable technologies and finance. The President called on the King to create conditions to attract Indian investments in areas of interest of Swaziland, a press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Welcoming the King, the President recalled their last meeting when the King visited India in October 2015 to participate in the India-Africa Forum Summit.

"India has been happy to partner Swaziland in its development through scholarships and capacity-building," Mukherjee said.

The President said he was delighted to know that the Royal Science and Technology Park is now near completion. It is a symbol of the King's progressive vision and commitment to the development of Swaziland, he said.

Another collaborative project for enhancing maize productivity has had very good results. Potentially, this project will help Swaziland become self-reliant in maize, the President said.

Mukherjee also assured him that India would be happy to assist Swaziland achieve its developmental goals.

Reciprocating the President's sentiments, King Mswati said India's expertise was very valuable for the countries of Africa and they are grateful to India for its willingness to transfer the same.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bombay High Court today asked the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) to place before it documents pertaining to clearance from the Union Environment Ministry (MoEF) for construction of three stations in South Mumbai under the Metro line III project.

The MMRCL, however, claimed before the HC that the nod of MoEF was not needed after which the court asked it to show documents in support of its contention.

The direction was passed by a division bench of the Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice G S Kulkarni while hearing a petition filed by residents of Churchgate in South Mumbai against proposed cutting of 5,000 trees to pave the way for the Seepz-Colaba Metro line III project.

The HC had last month restrained MMRCL from felling trees until further orders from the court.

Today, the petitioners' counsel Janak Dwarkadas informed the HC that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has refused permission to MMRCL to construct stations at Churchgate, Hutatma Chowk and Cuffe Parade in South Mumbai as these areas fall under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).

Senior counsel Aspi Chinoy, appearing for MMRCL, told the HC that the MoEF nod is not needed.

The HC then directed the MMRCL to file an affidavit stating whether or not MoEF clearance is required.

"If it is not required then show us supporting documents. If it is required then show us the clearance. Since the issue is about environment we are concerned and want to be convinced," the bench said and posted the petition for hearing on March 16.

Chinoy told the court the MMRCL was ready to replant "matured" trees in place of those that will be felled for the metro project in the same vicinity, after completion of the project work.

"For every tree that would be cut to make way for the Metro project, another matured tree would be planted in the same vicinity after the work is over. This would be in addition to planting of three saplings in Sewri," Chinoy said.

Under the provisions of the Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, for every tree that is to be cut three more should be planted in other area.

MMRCL's suggestion to replant the trees in the same area comes after the HC took objection to proposed cutting of trees in South Mumbai and planting them in Central Mumbai.

"Making old Mumbai a desert by cutting trees and making new Mumbai green will not work," Chief Justice Chellur said.

The HC also suggested to set up a committee which would look into the issue.

Line 3 of the Mumbai Metro, also referred to as the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ line, is a part of the metro system which will connect Cuffe Parade business district in South Mumbai to SEEPZ in the north-central.

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Queen Elizabeth II will host Spanish King Felipe VI on his state visit to Britain in June, Buckingham Palace said today, meaning US President Donald Trump's trip will have to be later in the year.

Felipe VI and his wife Letizia, who had been forced to postpone their planned visit last year because of the political crisis in Spain, will now visit Britain on June 6-8, the palace said in a statement.

This means Trump's state visit will be "later in the year," Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said.

British media have reported that October is the most likely date for the US leader, whose trip is expected to be accompanied by massive protests.

The police earlier said they were preparing for Trump to arrive in June but reports citing senior government sources later said this had been delayed.

May extended the invitation for a state visit, a high honour that involves a banquet with Queen Elizabeth II, when she met Trump at the White House in late January.

It was part of a charm offensive intended to strengthen bilateral ties as Britain prepares to leave the European Union.

But coming at the same time as Trump announced his ban on refugees and travellers from seven mainly Muslim countries, it sparked public outrage in Britain.

More than 1.8 million signed a petition asking for the visit to be cancelled, prompting a debate in parliament where several lawmakers condemned the proposal.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has also said he believes Trump should not be allowed the honour of giving a speech to parliament.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid the unease in Sino-India ties over a range of issues, China has appealed to the Indian media to report on bilateral relations in a "more balanced way".

Addressing a Holi reception for the media last night, Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said he was impressed by the progress made by the Indian media.

However, he said, "I humbly request the media here to report on China-India relations in a more balanced way."



"What impressed me most is the big progress of the media, compared with my first term in India 28 years ago. Firstly, the media has developed very fast. Traditional media, social media, 24-hour Television shows a lot of breaking news," said Luo, who is in India on his second posting.

He said the development really means information explosion and freedom of speech in India.

His remarks came amid unease in bilateral relations over China's opposition to India's admission into the Nuclear Supplies Group (NSG) and efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN.

Also, India has concerns over the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project as it passes through PoK.

There have also been tensions between the two countries over the issue of India allowing the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh.

Luo, while urging the media to report on Sino-India ties in a balanced manner, also praised the media, which he said showed that India was an open society, integrated deeply with the world.

"Indian media pays more attention to China and China-India relations. It promotes better understanding between our two peoples, and also helps China to understand Indian perspectives. I appreciate what you have done to bridge China-India interactions and friendship," he said.

Talking about the festival of Holi, Luo said like Yoga, this is another gift from India to the world.

China and India are the fastest growing economies, he said.

"Both are close observers and participants of the global and domestic big events. Both are pioneers of advanced social philosophy. Both have strong sense of social responsibility. Let's work together to make the world brighter, to make China-India relations better and to make our lives as colourful as Holi," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Samsung India has entered into a partnership with Karnataka Government to help the state efficiently manage its public healthcare facilities.

As part of the agreement, Samsung Research & Development Institute, Bangalore (SRI-B) handed over 1,000 Samsung Tab IRIS to the Department of Health, Government of Karnataka, a relese said.

Samsung Tab IRIS, the first commercial tablet to be approved by UIDAI for Aadhaar and KYC verification, would enable Public Health Centers (PHC) in the state to build their database in a digital format, it said.

This association is aimed towards providing advanced technological support in the management of medical subsidies and operations at PHCs in the state more efficiently, the statement said.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Samsung R&D Institute, Bangalore and Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka, it added.

"The advanced technology of Samsung Tab IRIS will give a digital boost to the whole healthcare system. This will enable Public Health Centers to maintain and share medical databases on a real time basis," said Dr Aloknath De, Chief Technology Officer, Samsung R&D Institute.

Samsung Tab IRIS is SIM enabled and has the capability to scan the Iris of an individual, which can then be linked to Aadhaar, the statement said.

This would help PHCs to generate various value added reports to facilitate decision making by the Health Department, it added.

This integration of technology with the help of Samsung Tab IRIS, aims to centrally consolidate information related to PHC administration such as patient treatment, diagnosis, deliveries and drug availability from various locations along with GPS information, the statement said.

"We are confident that Samsung's world class technology will help us manage our public healthcare facilities more efficiently. Digitizing the database is very important for our public health centers as it will lead to better planning and decision making at a state as well as central level," Health and Family Welfare Minister Ramesh Kumar said.

"We aim to connect with each and every resident of Karnataka at their door steps by upgrading the skills of our field staff and equip them with high tech Tabs. We are grateful to Samsung for associating their program with Karnataka," he added.

"In the days to come the state will have Virtual Clinics with specialists on board connected to patients through these Tabs,the minister said.

"The health records of patients would be analyzed online to take effective steps towards prevention of diseases. Audio visual awareness will also be enhanced through the use of these Tabs," Dr Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, said.

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UPDATED

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is expected to address superintendents and school board members from the countrys largest school systems on Monday in Washington, D.C.

DeVos luncheon address at the Council of the Great City Schools annual legislative and policy conference will be her first time before the group. The organization represents nearly 70 of the nations largest school districts, including the entire state of Hawaii and the District of Columbia. DeVos is not expected to take questions. (Previous education secretaries have taken questions from conference attendees.)

Past education secretaries, from both Republican and Democratic administrations, have addressed the gathering. In many of the cases, the organization had existing relationships with the secretaries before they took office: Rod Paige, the first education secretary for the Bush administration, for example, served as superintendent in Houston, while Arne Duncan, the first education secretary in the Obama administration, was previously the CEO of Chicago public schools.

When DeVos was nominated, Michael Casserly, the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, said that he did not have a relationship with her, but was looking forward to getting to know her.

The council opposes school vouchers, of which DeVos is an ardent supporter. At the national level, the council does not take a position a charters schools and leaves such decisions to its member districts. Some districts have embraced charters to improve low-performing schools. Others have a more contentious relationship with charter schools.

Casserly added that he envisioned that there were many areas where the council and the Trump administration would work together, including on proposed ESSA regulations, the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education act, education research, and school infrastructure.

We will work one issue at a time and see how it goes, Casserly said at the time.

As part of the conference, school board members and superintendents will get a primer on federal education policy , dive into state education issues, and review efforts on improving curriculum, school improvement plans, and the councils Males of Color initiative. The conference also has specific sessions on English-language learners, professional development for ELL teachers, and immigration. Attendees will also hear from department of education staffers and visit Capitol Hill to meet with legislators and staff.

Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson is expected to be the luncheon speaker on Sunday. Catherine Lhamon, the chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights who previously led the office for civil rights in the Department of Education in the Obama administration, will address the group on Monday during breakfast.

DeVos is also slated to address meetings of the National Association of State Boards of Education and the Council of Chief State School Officers in the near future.
Noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has been felicitated by Bahrain for his contribution in arts and culture.

Pattnaik was honoured by Bahrain's Minister of Education Majid Bin Ali Al Nuaimi yesterday for sharing his experience and skills with the teachers of that country.

Odisha resident Pattnaik had received an invitation by Kingdom's Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Ministry of Education to lead a sand art workshop and training programme for teachers.

Pattnaik was joined by several teachers and participants who learned various techniques of creating sand art during the five-day workshop, which concluded on March 9.

"I have been called for multiple programmes across the globe but when the Kingdom of Bahrain invited me to educate its teachers, I was deeply touched by the idea and accepted the invitation at once," Pattnaik said.

Pattnaik added that he was also felicitated by Bahrain Odia community at a function.

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Situation along the Indo-Nepal border in Lakhimpur Kheri is still "tense" and Nepalese people are shouting anti-India slogans, the SSB today said as it denied reports of firing by its men leading to the death of a person on the other side.

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Director General Archana Ramasundaram said the border guarding force has also ordered a fact-finding inquiry to be conducted by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-rank officer of the force.

"Our troops have told us that there has been no firing from their side but as the allegations are serious, I have ordered for a Court of Inquiry," she told PTI.

The force, in a statement issued here, added, "It is alleged in the media that one Nepalese citizen has died due to SSB firing. The SSB officials concerned have denied any firing."



"The situation is tense today and a large number of Nepalese people have gathered on the spot again and resorted to shouting anti-India slogans and stone-pelting. Local officers and SSB officers are on the spot," it said.

The Ministry of External Affairs has said India has sought from Nepal the post-mortem and forensic reports of the Nepalese national who is alleged to have been killed in SSB firing.

The incident has triggered protests in Nepal.

The SSB said the clashes were first triggered on Wednesday when some "Nepalese people gathered near pillar no 200" in the Basai area of Pilibhit in the said district and tried to construct a culvert.

"They were stopped from doing so as earlier the authorities from both sides had agreed to allow construction of culvert only after conducting a joint geological survey.

"But yesterday, again in the morning, a group of Nepalese people gathered at same site and started pelting stones on SSB personnel and local police and administrative authorities on duty," it said.

"Nine SSB personnel and 34 Indian civilians were injured in stone pelting," it said.

While the local police fired a teargas shell, two were fired by the Nepal police to "disperse the crowd" yesterday, it said.

The situation, the SSB said, was brought under control by the intervention of the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur Kheri and Nepalese authorities in Kanchanpur.

Officials said the SSB is yet to get the post-mortem report of the deceased youth and there are reports that suggest that he might have died due to some liver ailment.

"However, official reports in this regard are awaited," they added.

The SSB, which works under the command of the Union Home Ministry, is tasked with guarding the 1,751 km long Indo-Nepal border.

Uttar Pradesh shares a 599.3 km long open border with Nepal touching seven districts- Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Sravasti, Balrampur, Sidhharthnagar and Maharajganj.

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China's Alibaba-backed Paytm today cited the outcry on social media as a reason for rolling back 2 per cent charge that it levied on money loaded in the wallet using credit cards.

"I will react faster. I won't say I will do anything different but I will react faster. Yesterday, we rolled 2 per cent charges for adding money to credit card on a Paytm wallet. Last night it was rolled back. In less than 24 hours," Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said at a 'Knowledge Factory' event.

He was talking about a possible action plan of Paytm in case it faces a social media backlash like Maggi crisis in 2016 that led Nestle India destroy around 38,500 tonnes of the noodles.

"I want to give you the reason for roll back. Obviously, a lot of people were gaming. You know what the bankers were gaming was my problem. I want to tell bankers you have a problem for common consumers. I am giving you money any which way you can use," Sharma said.

He said people in India are gullible which is a big problem for any company to build business.

"People get into the quick concerns and outrage on them but at the same point of time you have to react for certain people in a larger sense so your system have to be changed. I just felt bad that we were really not charging people because we were giving money back, except we wanted to reduce that money method. It was net net found out that we should let these (credit card gamers) guys block...Hack with you," Sharma said.

He said those people may feel bad about when told that they "were doing fraud".

"In my mathematics it is called fraud," Sharma said.

He said that Paytm's millions of cards were found to be very savvy and premium cards. "They are intelligent people. Only intelligent people can take money from credit card to the bank and rotate for a 0.1 per cent interest. You know interest that they will save...Then Twitter is an amazing media. It sort of gives you myopia of that you have a public opinion while you have an opinion of thing which is in front of you and which may not be public opinion," Sharma said.

On this issue, the way company handles its image of being associated with Chinese firm, Sharma said, adding sometimes business is like a cultural bond between two countries and drives things which are on a positive side.

"I go out there (in China) and tell them that let me tell you one thing that somewhere if you could talk to Xi Jinping (Chinese President), please talk to him and get to us security council seat," he said.

Sharma said Paytm is an Indian company which will build



product and services required for India, unique and not copied either or vice versa and also not driven or controlled or guided by even China.

Nestle India Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan said there was no fact behind the Maggi crisis and the company destroyed Maggi sample to keep up with consumer's trust in the brand.

"The fact of matter is consumer trust and consumer confidence is the only thing on which the company stands. The fact of the matter is kind of rhetoric that built up most unfortunately led to a situation where there was no factual debate on the issue but more emotive question whether we were the next worse after the Bhopal Gas tragedy. Then you really have little option," Narayanan said.
He is touted as one of the most popular young actors in Bollywood, but Varun Dhawan believes it is hard for the new generation to achieve the kind of stardom Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh Khan enjoy.

The 29-year-old actor says due to extreme exposure on social media there is no "mystery" about the celebrities and the people are constantly looking for change.

"The kind of stardom Salman, Shah Rukh, Aamir or even Akshay and Ajay enjoy is hard to achieve now. I feel it is partly because of the social media. The mystery is not there anymore. There is a lot of exposure. Today people don't have patience, they move on very fast," Varun told PTI.

The star says these days the actors have to compete not only with their Bollywood contemporaries, but also with Hollywood stars.

"We are not only competing with people in Bollywood. Audience today is enjoying global cinema and it makes it more difficult to make a mark. I am also trying to work very hard. Things are going good as of now, but I don't want to take success or failure too seriously and just keep working."



The actor says he does gain something as a performer after every project, but prefers to get back to basics as soon as possible.

"I find it difficult to judge my growth as an actor because every time I feel I have learned something, I try to relearn and go back to the basics. I don't want to be 'the know-it-all'. There is no fun in it as the fun is in discovering and being raw."



Varun also believes studying filmmaking and acting enhances an actor's skills while performing.

"Studying acting and doing classes helps. Watching films and reading about acting also helps. Actors can be good if they are rich in experiences. To go out and experience life and emotions is very important."



Varun also has plans to direct in future, but is currently happy with the amount of work he has as an actor.

"I understand the filmmaking technically. I wouldn't rule out directing someday. But right now, my hands are full with acting and it is a hands-on profession and very difficult. My passion for acting right now is too high to look at anything else," he says.

Varun has two major projects- "Judwaa 2" with father David Dhawan and an intense film with Shoojit Sircar.

Talking about "Judwaa 2" the actor says, "We have shot for a week for 'Judawaa 2' and it was easy-breezy. But it is different to be with David Dhawan on the set than at home.

"He is my father and more than that he is a renowned filmmaker. He knows his game perfectly. He is tougher on the sets. I fully get my share of scoldings and probably the most than all other actors."



The actor didn't give out any details about his movie with Shoojit and said the project is "unusual" and he feels lucky to be working with a filmmaker.

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The surgical strike at the terror launch pads in PoK last year resulted in "significant casualties" to the terrorists and their supporters across the border, government said today.

"During the surgical strike, significant casualties were done to terrorists and those who provide support to terrorists," Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said in Lok Sabha during Question Hour.

The surgical strike on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, 2016, was carried out by the Army to foil the designs of Pakistan-based terrorist groups to strike on Indian security forces and other places of importance, he said.

It also came as a "huge morale booster" for the rank and file of the security forces, Bhamre said.

Though no specific assessment of psychological conditions/morale of defence personnel has been carried out after the surgical strike, he said "notwithstanding this, surgical strikes by themselves were a huge booster for the rank and file of the Armed Forces."



The Minister also said that all those who participated in the surgical strike were suitably rewarded.

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A Swiss man will go on trial this month on allegations he sexually abused more than 80 boys -- some as young as nine -- in Thailand, Swiss authorities said today.

The unnamed man is accused of taking thousands of pornographic pictures of the boys, molesting some of them and pushing some into prostitution, prosecutors in the western Swiss canton of Fribourg said in a statement. The abuse is alleged to have taken place since 2001.

The man will go before the Gruyere criminal court on charges of human trafficking, encouraging prostitution, sexual acts with children and child pornography, prosecutors said.

When confronted by investigators, the man admitted to taking the thousands of sexually explicit pictures of the boys found in his computers, but denied the other charges, the statement added.

Most of the victims were young adolescents, but some were as young as nine years old, it said, adding that a number of the boys had been abused over the course of several years.

The suspected abuse happened in Pattaya in southern Thailand, where the suspect ran a gogo bar frequented by European men, and in Nonghoi in the north, where he lived, prosecutors said.

The man had previously been convicted of sexually abusing children in Switzerland, in Fribourg in 1980, and in the southern canton of Valais in 1991.

He had moved to Thailand that same year, and only returned to Switzerland in 2014.

Discovering that he was under investigation in Thailand over paedophilia-linked charges, authorities in Fribourg opened their own probe in early 2015 and quickly detained the man, who had been planning to head back to Asia.

Investigators travelled to France and Thailand during the course of the probe, and had also stumbled on elements casting suspicion on a German citizen that they passed on to prosecutors in Cologne, Germany, the statement said.

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Investigators probing a bus crash in Taiwan which killed 33 people in one of the island's worst ever road accidents said today the driver was travelling at double the speed limit.

The group of local tourists had been returning from a trip to see seasonal cherry blossoms at a farm when their bus veered off a highway and flipped on its side on the outskirts of capital Taipei last month.

Occupants, many of them elderly, were tossed out as the roof ripped off.

It was the latest in a series of deadly incidents in Taiwan after a bus fire last July killed 25 Chinese holidaymakers.

In the first official findings since the crash last month, prosecutors said the bus had hit speeds of up to 98 kilometres per hour as it neared a sliproad which it veered off.

It was travelling at 79 kph when it went off the carriageway.

"The road section is labelled with speed limits of 50 km, and 40 km at four different places," a statement from Shi-Lin District Prosecutors Office said.

Dashcam footage from the car travelling behind the bus was used in the investigation, they said.

Footage shown by local media straight after the crash from a vehicle following the bus shows it turning off the main highway and flipping over, leaving behind a mangled pile of metal.

The prosecutors' report said the bus had passed safety inspections and there were no faults with the brakes.

It did not address whether the driver had been overworked, which his daughter has said was the case.

The driver had two outstanding traffic violations, including one for not wearing a seatbelt, but no drunk-driving record, the transport ministry said at the time.

There is a separate ongoing investigation into the travel agency and bus company, prosecutors said.

An investigation into last year's fatal bus inferno outside Taipei found the driver had intentionally set fire to it in a suicide bid before it veered into a crash barrier.

In February this year 21 Chinese tourists suffered injuries after their bus rammed into a railway bridge in southern Taiwan.

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The office gossips and smoking areas that have gone hand in hand since time immemorial, were brought to life in a play that highlighted the stressful lives led by employees at work places.

Set in the smoking zone of a corporate office, 'Dhumrapaan' plays out over a period of a week, as an angry boss, a senior employee waiting for his retirement, a new joinee, a reluctant worker, an english speaking tech-savvy employee and a carefree intern, enact the nuances of what is popularly called 'office politics'.

Taking from the 'chicken-egg dilemma', the story delves deeper into the reason why most office-goers indulge in smoking.

Laden with dark humour, it shows how insecurities and fears win over an individual in the rat race to be successful.

"I always think whether it is the cigarette that is killing us or is there something that is killing us from within because of which we take up smoking?" asks one of the characters.

The unfavourable situations in the characters' lives play antagonists, as the smoking zone in the office transforms from an area for discussing the 'singing talent' of one of the employees' child to a platform that witnesses the blame-game between co-workers.

Akarsh Khurana, who has directed the play, came up with the idea while observing the smoking room at the Delhi airport here, as he waited to board his flight.

"The body language of the smokers, the unspoken camaraderie, the personalities of different types of smokers, some alone and others in small groups, is what sowed the seed for the play," Khurana said.

The story also depicts the irony of how employees use the smoking room to get rid of the claustrophobia they suffer from in their air-conditioned cubicles.

The production stars veteran actor Kumud Mishra of "Rockstar" and "Jolly LLB 2" fame, in the character of the 'angry boss'. Mishra is also the producer of the play.

The play was performed at Kamani auditorium here as part of the ongoing Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards.

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US President Donald Trump has invited Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to visit the White House "soon", the official Palestinian agency Wafa said today.

During their first phone call since Trump's inauguration in January, the US president invited Abbas "to visit the White House soon to discuss ways to resume the (Palestinian-Israeli) political process," Wafa quoted Abbas's spokesman as saying.

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Jennifer Steele, who teaches at American University, has made a heroic attempt to convince us that Betsy DeVos actually deserves a lot more credit than shes been getting for her performance as secretary of education so far. While I appreciate the sentimenteverybody deserves a fair shake, and should be judged on what they actually do, not what we think they might doI have to say Im not convinced.

The case Steele makes revolves largely around the idea that people on the left might be able to find common cause with DeVos over a shared concern: the intrusion of the federal government into education policymaking. This seems like an attractive argument on the surface, but once you put it in context the luster quickly wears off. For starters, the issue Steele points to as a place to find common ground isnt one that should have much appeal to true liberals. The liberal consensus of the second half of the 20th century was forged over the idea that the federal government has a powerful role to play in protecting the most vulnerable members of society, and many of the most important social gains we made in that period would not have been possible without federal support. The Brown decision, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and, of course, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act all cemented gains made by Americans who poured their souls into making our society better.

These policies have frayed, partly because all policies fade in time and need renewal, but also because they have been unfairly characterized as big government intrusionssomething only people unconcerned by the plight of the people these policies have helped could argue.

The fact is that top down solutions like voting rights, school lunches, protection from discrimination, and school integration didnt look so bad when they werent tethered to bad ideas. Let me put that another way: education policy for the last twenty years has been based on the flawed assumption that all we need to do to make our schools better is hold them accountable for student learning. Whether your method of choice was an endless battery of standardized tests or common standards in reading and math or, well, a method of choice (meaning charters or vouchers), the goal was clear: this was all about accountability. But the foundational assumption herethat some form of competition buttressed by a carrot-and-stick approach to reform would yield the results we wantedis certainly open to debate. In an earlier era the assumption was that schools would get better if we made them more equal. See the difference?

But now commenters like Steele are suggesting that we trust DeVos, in spite of the fact that she has never shown so much as an inkling of understanding of (let alone respect for) the public school system we built. DeVos is lionized in conservative circles as mainstream and even visionary, a characterization that legitimizes her as a qualified reformer and is as hard to fathom as the notion that the blind squirrel found a nut because he spent so much time looking for it. Steele abets this characterization by setting the bar so low that almost anyone could clear it. For example, she acknowledges that DeVos said teachers are in receive mode, but says what she meant was that teachers need more autonomy to do their work. She gives DeVos credit for tweeting meaningless platitudes like You have to have teachers who are empowered to facilitate great teaching and Great teachers deserve freedom and flexibility, not to constantly be on the receiving end of government dictates. The first statement is so mundane that its practically meaningless; the second is obviously disingenuous.

I say this because I know, and I think you do too, that most of the schools of choice that DeVos would seem to favor are not exactly bastions of teacher autonomy. Many, in fact, rely on carefully scripted instruction and exceptionally tight behavioral regimes that not only narrow the range of student experience but simultaneously take decison-making right out of the hands of teachers. Make no mistake about it: DeVos and her conservative friends only want local control as long as they have local control. Maybe Steele missed DeVos defiant  speech at CPAC, where she inveighed against Obamas order protecting the rights of LGBTQ students as a very huge example of Obama administration overreach, one-size-fits-all approach to issues best solved at [the] personal and local level. In her mind, her job is to protect students and teachers flexibility and protect and preserve personal freedoms. Thats not the same thing as giving teachers the power to decide how to do their jobs as educators effectively. Its a radical vision of teachers as conservative social activistsexactly the kind of thing conservatives often accuse liberal teachers of engaging in.

I think its clear that solved at the personal and local level means we want to deal with these issues in the places where we believe we can win them. Its really that simple.

And thats the context that is missing from Steeles piece. Everything with DeVos comes back to a simple refrain: local control. Steele wants to read this as a glimmer of hope we can cling to if we would like to see public education survive. It reminds me of the time Chuck Schumer tried to convince us that a winning strategy for Democrats might be to work with Trump on an infrastructure bill...until about five minutes later, when he realized that this is all part of the privatization game too . Like her boss, DeVos is a true believer, but while he believes only in himself she believes in something else. Nothing seems to guide her more than her firm conviction that deregulation and choice are the solutions to our educational problems. She believes that, I think, because she buys the argument that elites have hijacked our country and that the real Americans see the world the way she does. She believes that godless bureaucrats want to interrupt her efforts to advance Gods kingdom , so she champions choice as a means to a very clear end. Im all for religion, but it belongs in churches, not schools.

That leads us to the bottom line. When DeVos says that teachers need to get out of receive mode, shes not suggesting that we strengthen public education by giving more power to teachersI dont care how many school visits she does with Randi Weingarten. Shes parroting the party line. If there is a left left in education, it should, indeed, be concerned with teacher autonomyand it should be redoubling its efforts to focus on the powerful role schools can play in elevating people out of poverty and ensconcing teachers firmly as members of a respected professional class. It should also focus on explaining to the people DeVos appeals to that they have a stake in public education too. In the end, DeVoss solution to the poverty problem is vouchers; her solution to every problem, essentially, is vouchers. Her half-hearted defense of autonomy only serves that master. How anyone could miss that is beyond me. Shes written it all over the wall.

I know shes only been on the job for a month, but Betsy DeVos has had her chance to let us know who she is and what she stands forshes had 200 million chances , in fact. Maybe she no longer thinks public education is a monopoly or a dead end, but I think its probably true that she is who we thought she was . The best thing we can do now is stay vigilant and articulate an alternative. The last thing we should do is let her off the hook. Its going to be a long slog.
The UK government consulted on and helped prevent as many as 1,428 cases of forced marriages involving British nationals last year, of which 79 such cases involved victims being taken to India.

New figures released by the government's Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) today also reveals that Pakistan with 612 cases and Bangladesh with 121 cases represent the highest figures among the so-called "focus" countries where victims are likely to be taken from Britain to be forced into a marriage against their will.

The percentage of cases involving India has dropped from 7.8 per cent in 2015 to 6 per cent in 2016.

"These statistics only represent the cases that have been reported to the FMU. Forced marriage is a hidden crime, and these figures may not reflect the full scale of the abuse. The FMU also received approximately 350 telephone calls per month in 2016," the FMU said.

A forced marriage "victim" is identified by the unit as one thought to be at potential risk of future forced marriage, those currently going through a forced marriage, and those who have already been forced to marry.

"The majority of calls about cases (almost 80 per cent) come from professionals as well as other third parties (non-governmental organisations, colleagues, friends, or family). The fact self-reports represent a smaller proportion of calls may reflect the hidden nature of forced marriage and that victims may fear reprisals from their family if they come forward," the FMU said.

A forced marriage is defined as one where one or both people do not (or in cases of people with learning disabilities, cannot) consent to the marriage and pressure or abuse is used.

It was made illegal in England, Wales and Scotland in 2014 but there has been only one conviction.

Forcingsomeone tomarryagainst their will is punishable by a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment.

The legislation makes a distinction betweenforcedand arrangedmarriage, common among many British families from a South Asian background.

The Forced Marriage Unit is a joint UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Home Office unit set up in January 2005 to lead on the government's forced marriage policy, outreach and casework.

It operates both inside the UK and overseas, where consular assistance is provided to British nationals, including dual nationals.

TheFMUoperates a public helpline to provide advice and support to victims of forced marriage as well as to professionals dealing with cases.

The assistance provided ranges from simple safety advice, through to aiding a victim to prevent their unwanted spouse moving to the UK ('reluctant sponsor' cases), and, in extreme circumstances, to rescues of victims held against their will overseas.

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The Lok Sabha today witnessed a verbal clash after the opposition members accused the government of burdening the poor by hiking prices of oil products, especially non-subsidised cooking gas cylinders.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, while responding to the issue raised by Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge, accused him of "misleading" the House.

Terming the increase of Rs 86 for each non-subsidised LPG cylinder as a "small hike", he said only 1.1 crore people, out of the total of 91.7 crore people having LPG connections, will pay the increased price and the poor were not affected by it.

Members of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress later staged a walk-out, protesting the government's stand.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Kharge said the hike of Rs 86 in the non-subsidised cylinders on March 1 was the highest ever.

He said Modi government's tenure has been marked by a rise in prices of essential items.

"Its price in 2016 was Rs 467 and it has been hiked by six times since. It is Rs 737 today. It goes on to show how much burden this government is putting on the poor. The Modi government claims having given facilities to the poor but statistics tell a different picture," he said.

In 2012, the crude oil price in the international market was USD 122 per barrel and the LPG cylinder sold at Rs 345 while petrol and diesel cost Rs 58 and 37, respectively, Kharge said.

In 2016, when the crude oil price was 33 USD, an LPG cylinder cost Rs 513 and petrol and diesel Rs 56 and Rs 46, respectively, he said.

N K Premachandran (RSP) said the hike of Rs 271 for an LPG cylinder was "unheard of" and accused the government of not passing on the benefits of the fall in international oil price to the consumers.

Some other opposition members supported them.

K C Venugopal (Cong) said the government had cheated over 1 crore people who had reportedly given up their LPG subsidy.

Rebutting the opposition's charge, Kumar said over 1.1 crore consumers have voluntarily given up their LPG subsidies on the Prime Minister's "appeal" and the rest of the total 91.7 crore consumers have not been affected by the hike.

"There has been no cut in subsidy to the poor," he said, adding the government is giving subsidy of Rs 13127 crore.

He termed the increase of Rs 86 per cylinder a "small hike", noting that the oil price in international market had gone up from 471 USD per Metric Tonn to 564 USD.

Targeting Kharge, he said, "You are a senior member. You should keep the facts as they are and not mislead the House."



He said Kharge had happily forgotten that the UPA government in 2010 had decided to hike the LPG cylinder price by Rs 2 every month.

He added that the government has provided LPG connections to over 2 crore poor households in the last two years under the 'Ujjwala yojna'.

B Mahtab (BJD) asked the government to agree to a debate on the issue under Rule 193, which does not allow voting.

BJP member and former Home Secretary R K Singh objected to Kharge's use of the term "Modi government", arguing that it is the government of India.

Kharge retorted saying that the Prime Minister himself uses the phrase and hardly says even BJP government.

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A woman assistant professor of the Rajasthan university allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan today, police said.

30-year-old Akanksha Chauhan, a mother of a three-year-old girl, hanged herself around 1.30 AM, Adarsh Nagar police station SHO Madan Singh said.

She was an assistant professor in the Home Science department of the University of Rajasthan.

In her suicide note, Akanksha has mentioned that she was suffering from depression and no one should be held responsible for her taking the extreme step, the officer said.

She was married to a central excise department official in 2011. The body has been handed over to the family members, the SHO said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India may need to reassess the amount of bailout funds given to Air India because the state-run carrier has breached loan limits set under a government restructuring plan, causing its finances to be squeezed, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said in a report on Friday.

Heavily-indebted Air India, which was bailed out in 2012 with $5.8 billion of government funding, saw its short-term loans rising to four times the limits laid down in its turnaround plan, the CAG said.

The increase in loans was "due to failure in generating projected revenue, mainly on account of non-achievement of asset-monetisation target, increase in staff costs," the auditor said.

The report, which the government will use to evaluate the progress of Air India's restructuring, said Air India failed to meet its cash-credit limits, leading to short-term loans rising to 145.51 billion rupees ($2.18 billion) as on March 31, 2016 against the target of 36.46 billion rupees.

It said the airline should monetise more of its assets faster to reduce its debt burden and speed up the leasing of narrow-body aircraft to improve its performance.

"The company, though aware of the shortage of narrow body aircraft as early as May 2010, delayed leasing of A-320 aircraft," the report said, referring to Airbus Group's narrow-body aircraft which is widely used in India.

This resulted in the induction of only five such aircraft by March 2016 versus a requirement of 19, it said.

An Air India spokesman was not immediately reachable for comment.

The Indian carrier also incurred a book loss of 6.71 billion rupees on the sale of five wide-body aircraft, B-777-200 LR, it had bought from Boeing, to Etihad Airways, the report said.

The Indian carrier had to agree to the sale at a price significantly lower than the indicative market price after it found no buyers at the market value, it said.

Air India is expected to report a 10 percent increase in total revenue to about 225.21 billion rupees ($3.38 billion) for the year to end-March compared with a year ago, the ministry of civil aviation said on Thursday in response to a parliament question.

($1 = 66.6475 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Aditi Shah and Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Malini Menon and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May defended her finance minister on Thursday against criticism for raising a tax on some self-employed workers in his budget, saying the measure was necessary and "fair".

Members of her governing Conservative Party and many British newspapers accused finance minister Philip Hammond of breaking a party pledge ahead of the 2015 national election not to increase national insurance contributions.

But in Brussels at her last EU summit before triggering formal divorce talks with the bloc, May said the measure would benefit lower-paid workers while providing revenue to boost skills, schools and social care.

"We did make some difficult decisions in the budget yesterday, but those decisions allowed us to fund an ambitious new approach to technical education ... and meet the growing demand for social care as well as investing in the long-term productivity of the economy," she told a conference.

Earlier, Hammond, who became finance minister in 2016 shortly after Britons voted to leave the European Union, defended his decision as a first step in addressing an unfair difference in tax treatment between ordinary employees and the growing number of self-employed workers.

Paying national insurance contributions allows workers to qualify for certain benefits, including a state pension. Employed workers pay higher contributions than the self-employed.

In a round of media interviews, Hammond faced tough questions about why he appeared to have reneged on the election promise.

"No Conservative likes to increase taxes, national insurance, anything else," he told Sky .

"But ... our job is to do what needs to be done to get Britain match-fit for its future."

"WRONG DIRECTION"

Some Conservative lawmakers urged Hammond to drop the changes or delay them until a broader government-ordered review into employment practices has been completed.

"This is going in the wrong direction," Conservative lawmaker Anne-Marie Trevelyan told BBC Radio. "We need to put this on hold so we can have a proper review and think in a holistic way."

The change was part of Hammond's first full budget statement on Wednesday, which comes as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to trigger the process of leaving the European Union this month.

A spokesman for May, who has a slim majority in parliament, declined to say whether the government would consider scrapping the change if faced with a rebellion among its lawmakers.

"This has been set out to address an area of unfairness and it does that," he told reporters.

Hammond said 60 percent of self-employed people - who account for 15 percent of those in work - would see a fall in their national insurance contributions under his changes, while the higher-earning 40 percent would pay more.

The budget also included a cut in the tax-free allowance for dividends, which will largely affect the self-employed.

Paul Johnson, director of The Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank, described Hammond's changes as "sensible".

"If politicians continue to make silly manifesto pledges about not changing taxes, and the rest of us resist sensible changes such as this, we will end up with the tax system we deserve - inefficient, inequitable, complex and increasingly unable to raise revenue in the face of a changing economy," he said.

(Reporting by William Schomberg, Kylie MacLellan and David Milliken; editing by Andrew Roche)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Karolin Schaps, Christoph Steitz and Vera Eckert

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Banks ING and Societe Generale are in talks with traders to test liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading based on blockchain, the technology starting to shake up the traditional energy industry.

Blockchain, which originates from digital currency bitcoin, works as an electronic transaction-processing and record-keeping system that allows all parties to track information through a secure network, with no need for third-party verification.

While established energy suppliers and traders will continue operating as they are for the foreseeable future, blockchain is starting to break into the power market, nudging the status quo in an industry that has been slow to modernise.

In February, ING and Societe Generale offered their blockchain platform to trading house Mercuria to sell an African oil cargo to China.

The banks said their blockchain platform helped Mercuria reduce some processes from three hours to 25 minutes and make cost savings of up to 30 percent, supporting the case for expansion into LNG, natural gas converted to liquid form for easier storage or transport.

"LNG is an area we definitely want to focus on because it's a growing market but at the same time it's controlled by a few very important players," said ING's managing director for trade and commodity finance, Patrick Arnaud.

He is already talking to several companies active in the LNG market about testing a blockchain-based deal within months. He declined to name the companies.

Mercuria Chief Executive Marco Dunand said last year blockchain payments could slash payment costs in a system stuck in the "17th or 18th century" by some 30 percent.

DISRUPTION

Omar Rahim, a former energy trader at big utilities, founded Energi Mine in January to develop a blockchain-based trading platform linking big energy users with battery storage to buy electricity at the cheapest times.

"For me, it's the disruption that the energy industry has been waiting for. The companies that are going to dominate the energy sector are not the big generators, they will be the ones who understand data," he told .

Wien Energie is still testing the use of blockchain in wholesale gas trading together with start-up BTL and supported by consultancy EY.

Big utilities too have started investing in blockchain, exploring the use of the technology in different parts of the sector.

Germany's Innogy said it is in talks with European peers Fortum, Enel and Enexis, among others, to apply blockchain technology to their networks of electric car charging stations.

"This spring we want to offer charging infrastructure whose payment processes are based on blockchain technology," said Carsten Stoecker, senior manager at Innogy's innovation hub.

Blockchain's 'smart contracts', which form the base of two parties making a verified transaction automatically, are a way of enabling consumers to trade spare energy with each other. It still needs to be proven on a wider scale.

In the U.S., engineer Siemens is cooperating with start-up LO3 Energy to develop a microgrid for blockchain-based energy trades among neighbours in Brooklyn who can sell spare electricity they produce.

"The use of blockchain technology allows individuals and consumers to cancel out the central authorities or brokers as we've seen with bitcoin," said Thierry Mortier, a partner in EY's utilities practice.

The replacement of central authorities in energy trading hits at the heart of exchanges that play a role in facilitating trades.

But so far, energy exchanges see no threat from the technology.

EEX, Europe's largest energy exchange for electricity and gas trading, said its role of linking trading parties with each other would not be compromised.

Even if entirely new traders emerge, the bourse's core function to establish benchmark prices and regulate market access would remain its job, said Maximilian Rinck, a strategy and market design expert at EEX.

(Editing by Susan Thomas)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The car throws up flurries of dust at the old footbridge over Ramganga near Marchula. As we stretch our legs after the seven-hour drive from Delhi, a laughing thrush breaks the silence with its raucous call. From the bridge, in the crystal clear Ramganga, hundreds of mahseer swim lazily in the sun.
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Women's Strike Organizers Arrested in NYC for Blocking Traffic

The NYPD celebrated International Women's Day yesterday by arresting thirteen women for blocking traffic outside the Trump International Hotel in New York City. Among those detained were female organizers of Women's March Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour, and Carmen Perez.

While the women appeared to take their sit-in arrest in stride as it were, tweeting out photos from the police van, the detentions raised a few eyebrows as well as questions about protest rights.

Disruptions and Disorderly

The demonstrations were part of the "A Day Without a Woman" protest marking International Women's Day, and were part of worldwide gatherings designed to highlight women's rights issues from equal pay to sexual abuse. According to reports, organizers and other protesters were sitting in the street near the Trump Hotel at Columbus Circle, disrupting traffic when they were arrested. Reporters at the scene said the women were arrested for disorderly conduct.

Linda Sarsour was just arrested outside Trump International for disorderly conduct. pic.twitter.com/SOais39G7L -- Isaac Saul (@Ike_Saul) March 8, 2017

The charge may sound like a misnomer for behavior that was organized and, well, orderly. But disorderly conduct is often a "catch-all statute," meant to encompass everything from drinking in public to public disruptions, and may even cover loitering in some states. And when protestors are arrested for blocking streets or traffic, disorderly conduct is often the charge.

Powerful Arrests

Almost all of the thirteen women had been released by Wednesday evening, and seemed in good spirits even after their ordeal. Perez joked that the detainees were "plotting the next big action" while on the inside. "The goal is to show young girls and women that their voice is their power," Perez told Time following her release. "The fact that we're able to inspire so many other women out here in the world is truly an honor."

Next for the arrestees, should they choose not to challenge the charges, is likely a small fine. Disorderly conduct under New York law is a violation, which, while it can include up to 15 days in jail, does not result in a criminal record.

Related Resources:
BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday took a swipe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for his continued attack on the elephant statues set up by her government, saying he was indulging in "childish talk".

"Just as Mulayam Singh Yadav (a former defence minister) speaks of China at any given opportunity, his 'babua' (child), Akhilesh, has nothing to tell people except for patharwali sarkar," Mayawati told a press conference here.

"Everyone knows that the stone statue of elephant will remain in the same position...This is why I call him babua, as only a babua can say something like this. He is indulging in childish talk," Mayawati asserted.

"Even a small kid will be able to tell this. He (Akhilesh) is the father of kids and yet talking like this," she said.

Mayawati said people wanted to question the SP government on issues of "mafiaraj, gundaraj, jungleraj and anarchy" but instead he wanted to indulge in politics of stone.

She, however, thanked the "babua" for talking about the elephants as he was giving free publicity to her party's election symbol.

Mayawati also raked up SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's invite to Modi and other BJP leaders to attend a family wedding function in Saifai, and alleged that SP and BJP had a tacit understanding.
A Haryana district court on Friday convicted 31 people and acquitted 117 others in the 2012 Maruti Suzuki factory violence case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge of Gurugram District Court gave the verdict.



ALSO READ: End of the road for Maruti's popular hatchback Ritz



The court will announce the quantum of punishment for the convicted workers later in the afternoon. On July 18, 2012, violent clashes took place between the workers and management during which Awanish Kumar Dev, HR Manager at the company's Manesar plant was charred to death and several other executives were injured.

ALSO READ: Maruti Suzuki launches limited edition Ertiga: Price and features



Around 148 workers were arrested and charged with the murder of Dev. They also faced charges of murder, attempt to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly, assault, and trespass among other sections of the penal code.

After the clash, around 546 workers were laid off. The case was in court for the last five years.



What happened in Manesar in 2012 and other related facts:
Soon, you can head to the nearest McDonald's for your daily dose of healthy meals and not worry about counting those calories!

Westlife Development Ltd, which owns McDonald's franchises in West and South India, has introduced a healthy menu which includes soups and salads at their new outlet at Nariman Point, Mumbai.

The company plans to expand this menu to all of its franchises soon.

McDonald's introduced its breakfast menu in 2010, revamping it in January to include Indian-customized dishes like masala dosa burger and masala scrambled eggs.

"Those are two of our largest selling items on the breakfast menu, along with the classic Egg Mc Muffin," said Amit Jatia, vice-chairman of Westlife Development, reported by Livemint.

Keeping up with its health campagin, the fast food gaint is also set to roll out calorie counts in its menus.

Additionally, you will no longer have to wait in long queues to order orders as the restaurant is intriducing digital self-service kiosks where you can place your order, payment and wait for the staff to serve you.

"A lot of people don't prefer QSRs because they don't want to stand in long queues, but now we are introducing table service," Jatia added.

The Nariman Point restaurant is also the first in the series of McDonald's restaurants that will be redesigned with decor changes and will have atleast two digital kiosks as a part of its global strategy to improve customer experience and convenience through technology.

"A consumer brand has to evolve every day because consumers are evolving very rapidly," said Jatia. "We worked on small elements of this in every restaurant, and then we brought it together."

The company has been on a mission to make its menu healthier and shed its unhealthy tag for years as the US battles an obesity epidemic and consumers become more health-conscious worldwide.


Robot Makers Sued After Robot Kills Michigan Worker

A recent lawsuit filed by the widower of a Michigan manufacturing plant worker is seeking to hold the makers and installers of robotic manufacturing equipment liable for the death. Wanda Holbrook was inspecting a section of machinery that was not working properly, when another malfunctioning robotic machine struck her in the head and killed her.

The lawsuit alleges that the robot that killed her should not have been able to access the area where she was located, and the very fact that the incident occurred is proof of a design defect and the failure of the various safety systems.

Michigan's Manufacturer Protection

Likely as a result of the state of Michigan's history as a leader in automotive manufacturing, manufacturers have some legal protections in the state that won't be found elsewhere. Unless it can be proven that the death was a result of an intentional act, an employer generally will not be liable for the negligent death of an employee.

However, as the Holbrook case illustrates, under Michigan law, the 3rd party manufacturers and installers of the machinery can be held liable for injuries caused by their machinery under normal product liability theories. In Holbrook's case, the employer is not being sued, but rather, only the makers and installers of the robotic manufacturing equipment.

Details of the Case

The death happened nearly two years ago in July 2015. Wanda Holbrook was inspecting robotic machinery that was used to make automotive trailer hitches. As she inspected the receiving end of a machine that already had a trailer hitch in place, a robot designed to put a trailer hitch into place attempted to do what it was designed to do, while Wanda's head was in its way.

Despite suffering a head trauma that necessitated a closed casket funeral, her employer was only fined $7,000 as a result of the incident. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages for the wrongful death.

Related Resources:
Ola and Uber drivers have called a strike today in India's financial capital Mumbai protesting fewer incentives and stiff performance targets.

The drivers are also opposing state government's new rules under the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules 2017,for regulating app based taxis and controlling surge pricing.

Almost 8,000 drivers are expected to participate in the strike.



The drivers have threatened to hold an indefinite strike from March 21 if their demands are not fulfilled.


Country's leading milk supplier Mother Dairy raised its milk prices on Friday, by Rs 2 per litre with effect in the Delhi-NCR region. The new prices would come in effect from tomorrow, i.e, March 11.

The price of toned milk has been hiked to Rs 41 per litre, while full cream milk would be now available at Rs 51 per litre.

Mother Dairy, commissioned in 1974 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), sells more than 30 lakh litres of milk per day in Delhi-NCR.

It has increased the prices after eight months. The company sells milk and milk products including ice cream, paneer and ghee under the 'Mother Dairy' brand. It is into edible oil business under Dhara brand.

The company sells frozen vegetables, unpolished pulses and other processed foods under 'Safal' brand. Mother Dairy has 400 Safal outlets in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru.

The leading milk supplier planned a total turnover of Rs 10,000 crore by fiscal 2017-18.

The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets dairy products under the brand name of Amul, on Friday also decided to hike the milk prices by Rs 2 per litre across all six brands being sold in major pockets of Gujarat and Maharashtra from Saturday.

The decision to hike the price was taken in a meeting of all the unions held in Gujarat on Friday, an official said.

"With this, the Amul Gold milk will now be available for Rs 52 per litre, Shakti for Rs 48, Taza for Rs 40, Slim and Trim for Rs 38, Tea Special for Rs 48 and Cow Milk for Rs 44 per litre," said Dr K. Rathnam, managing director of Kheda District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd, also known as Amul Dairy, one of the constituent unions of GCMMF.




The early lead in the counting seems to have poised the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh. The results seem to be a clear thumbs up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic policies over the past few years.



These elections were seen as the referendum on Modi's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes to fight corruption and black money. The early results seem to suggest he has passed the test.

But beyond demonetisation, there were many economic policies that Modi undertook, perhaps, with Uttar Pradesh elections in mind:



ALSO READ: Saffron surge in UP: 5 lessons BSP, SP can learn from Narendra Modi and Amit Shah

PM Ujjwala Yojana

Last year on May 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an ambitious social welfare scheme - Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana - with the aim of providing 5 crore LPG connections to women below the poverty line across the country. However, the place BJP chose to launch the scheme was Ballia, a district in eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. It seemed to be a strategic decision and Modi's master stroke to reach out women in a state that was less than a year away from the Assembly elections.

The scheme was aimed at replacing the unclean cooking fuels mostly used in the rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG Gas. By launching this scheme Prime Minister was able to develop connection with women at large and express concern about their health. PM Modi set aside Rs 8,000 crore for this scheme.

"As per the target, now at least 8,000 households in every assembly segment will get LPG connection under PMUY very soon. These beneficiaries will be from poor, backward caste and Dalit sections of society. The launching of the scheme will definitely benefit the BJP in the next election in entire UP," Indian Express quoted a senior BJP leader.

ALSO READ: How Rahul Gandhi's hands punctured Akhilesh Yadav's cycle in UP



Affordable Housing

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched another flagship housing scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojna' last year in November. The scheme was designed entirely for the rural masses. But, what is more interesting is that once again Prime Minister Modi chose Uttar Pradesh to launch the scheme. The affordable housing scheme was launched in Agra. The ambitious scheme aimed to provide affordable houses to 4 crore people living below the poverty line by the year 2022.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his flagship programmes to get electorate support in assembly elections. Launching a scathing attack on Uttar Pradesh's chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the Prime Minister said the state government was not willing to help the central government with a list of people who could benefit from the affordable housing scheme. "1.5 crore people in UP don't have houses. Our government wanted the list of homeless people from the UP government but didn't get the list," the Prime Minister had said while addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh.



Under the new rural housing scheme, the central government will provide a financial assistance of Rs 120000/- for constructing the home. An additional assistance of Rs 12000 will also be provided to construct toilets in households. Modi government aims to replace all temporary (kutchcha) houses from Indian villages by 2017.

ALSO READ: Goodbye Akhilesh! But this may just be a new beginning for the Samajwadi Party scion





Jan Dhan Accounts

Soon after taking over the highest chair in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India's biggest ever financial inclusion drive. Modi launched his first flagship programme called Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana which was country's National Mission for financial inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely savings accounts, remittance, credit, insurance, pension in an affordable manner. Prime Minister's move was to provide access to formal banking services to more than 15 per cent of the unbanked population in the country.

It helped Prime Minister Modi re-establish his image as the leader of poor masses. Jan Dhan Yojna was not just about banking but also about several other benefits that the Prime Minister Modi offered with the accounts.



Under the scheme, if a person holds an account for more than six months s/he is allowed an overdraft of up to Rs 5,000. According to ET report in 2016, over 19 lakh account holders availed an overdraft amounting to Rs 256 crore. Jan Dhan accounts holders are also able to claim accidental insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh. The scheme also provides life cover of Rs. 30,000 payable on death of the beneficiary.

This was another way of reaching out to people who were never taken into India's formal banking system. Prime Minister Modi tapped country's over 15 per cent population with just one economic policy. So far, over 27.84 crore accounts have been opened under Jan Dhan Yojna.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

Gram Jyoti Yojana was launched with the aim of ensuring round the clock electricity supply to farmers and rural households. The scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on 25 July 2015. The scheme was expected to initiate much awaited reforms in the rural areas.

During his Independence Day speech in 2015, the Prime Minister had announced that all of the country's villages would be electrified in 1,000 days and that by December 2018, all Indian citizens would have access to electricity.

"At the time when the NDA government came to power, there were 18,452 un-electrified villages. Out of these, we have electrified 12,022 villages under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY). The ministry is trying its best to complete the target by 1 May 2018," The Sunday Guardian quoted a ministry official as saying.

Electricity was a big issue in recently concluded elections in Uttar Pradesh. While addressing a rally in Varanasi, the Prime Minister asked the audience: "Yeh batayein ki Kashi mein 24 ghanten bijli milti hain ki nahin? (Tell me, is Kashi getting 24 hours electricity?)". The crowd responded: "No".
The Parliamentary Board of BJP is likely to meet on March 11 before the result of five assembly polls are scheduled to be announced.

With all major exit polls projecting a good show by the saffron party, including in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh where it is projected to emerge as the single largest party, its highest decision-making body is likely to take stock of the situation and chalk out future strategy.

The BJP is ahead in 4 states out of five that are Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, according to various Exit Poll results.

This was the first time Assembly elections were held after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shocking decision to demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last year on November 8. Many political analysts were seeing these elections as a referendum on Prime Minister Modi and economic policies undertaken by him.

If this was the referendum on Modi's demonetization move, it's clear that the Prime Minister has cleared the note ban test. At least for now. And not only this, the BJP has also emerged as the single largest political party in the country.

Here is India Today's Exit Poll forecast

Uttar Pradesh - 403 seats

India Today | SP+Congress (88-112), BJP (251-279), BSP (28-42), Others (6-16)

Goa - 40 seats

India Today | Congress (10), BJP (15), AAP (7), Others (8)

Uttarakhand - 71 seats

India Today | Congress (12-21), BJP (46-53), BSP (1-2), Others (1-4)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah are among the board's 12 members who also include Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot and J P Nadda.

A party source said the meeting has been tentatively scheduled for tomorrow. However, there is a possibility that it could be held on Sunday depending on how the results pan out. The counting of votes will start tomorrow morning.

ALSO READ: UP Elections 2017: Don't be surprised if it's Akhilesh Yadav in UP

Exit polls had yesterday projected a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh, with BJP likely to lead the table, winning anywhere between 164 and 210 of the 403 seats. They also projected a good show by the party in Goa and Uttarakhand.

(With inputs from PTI)
Exit Poll results are out. And if numbers are to be believed, then the Bharatiya Janata Party is set to win at least 4 states out of 5, including India's most populace state Uttar Pradesh where it could make a comeback after almost 15 years.

According to Exit Poll results, BJP in Uttar Pradesh would emerge as the single largest party and may come close to the halfway mark of 202 in a House of 403. At least two exit polls predicted a comfortable majority for the BJP, with India Today-Axis estimating that it could get as many as 285 seats.

ALSO READ: Here's why BJP will win if it wins UP elections 2017

Jury is still out on the actual performance of the saffron party. But, anyone who tends to believe Exit Poll results 2017 should actually take a pause. On more than three occasions the BJP emerged victorious in the Exit Polls but went on to lose the elections.

General Election 2004

It all started with General Elections 2004 when almost every media organization and pollster predicted landslide victory for the ruling NDA alliance led by the BJP. But, all of them got their predictions wrong. General elections 2004 were described to be the first pollsters elections.

Below are the numbers projected by pollsters back then in 2004

NDTV-AC Nielsen: (NDA 230-250) (Congress190-205) (Others 100-120)

StarNews C-Voter: (NDA 263-275) (Congress 174-186) (Others 86-98)

Aajtak ORG-MARG: (NDA 248) (Congress-190) (Others-105)

However, the numbers went horribly wrong when Election Commission announced the actual results. The BJP could manage to get just 138 seats and with its seven alliance partners the number reached to 185. The Party wasn't expecting such defeat as the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the prime ministerial candidate for the BJP, was believed to have done fairly well in the past 5 years.

ALSO READ: Exit Poll results: PM Modi takes BJP to a new height, set to win 251-279 seats in UP

Uttarakhand 2012

Various Exit Polls predicted a close fight between the BJP and the Congress party. But few also had forecast that the BJP would return to power. However, the Congress won the election.

The predictions were almost correct as the Congress won with just one seat more than the BJP. The saffron party managed to win 31 seats. Congress won 32 and formed the government in 2012.

Bihar Assembly Election 2015

Last year in 2015, the BJP hoped another mega win in Bihar after sweeping the general elections 2014. And, setting the stage for celebrations, various Exit Polls gave clear lead to the saffron party. Predicting the results, News 24-Chanakya gave the BJP a tally of 155 in the 243-seat House. NDTV and India Today's numbers were close to 120 seats for the BJP.

Exit Poll numbers for Bihar assembly elections

News24- Today's Chanakya: (BJP 155) (JDU 83) (others 5)

NDTV: (BJP 120-130) (JDU 105-115) (others 5-10)

India Today: (BJP 120) (JDU 117) (others 6)

When the actual results were announced, the exit poll numbers, once again, did not turn out the way it was projected. The BJP suffered a major defeat. Nitish Kumar-led alliance bagged 178 of the 243 Bihar Assembly seats.

And, that is probably the reason Congress Vice President has rejected the Exit Poll numbers saying the projections in Bihar were wrong. "We will win in Uttar Pradesh. Exit polls projections in Bihar were wrong. We will talk on 11 March," Rahul Gandhi said after Thursday's Exit Poll results.
The Government on Thursday ruled out any proposal seeking to convert a part of Air India's long-term borrowings into equity or privatising the airline.

Government is not considering inducting banks as strategic investors in Air India or privatising the airline, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply in Lok Sabha Sabha.

Earlier, a section of media had reported that Air India had asked banks to recast its long-term debt of Rs 9,000 crore through the Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).

As part of the airline's turnaround plan, the minister said till date Rs 24,723.74 crore have been released as equity support to Air India.

As part of the turnaround strategy for Air India, the company with the overall support of the government has initiated a number of steps in order to cut costs and losses, he said.

The airline has constantly been improving its operational and financial performance, he said, adding it posted an operating profit of Rs 105 crore in FY 2015-16, thereby advancing the turnaround plan target by two years.
Vistara airline, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, is offering fares starting Rs 999 on the occasion of Holi festival.

The Gurgaon-based airline is offering its promotional fare of Rs 999 on the Guwahati-Bagdogra route.

The fares are all inclusive and one-way.


Private lender IndusInd Bank, backed by billionaire Hinduja brothers, is in acquisition talks with Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd.

"The management has been exploring strategic alternatives, and engaging in discussions from time to time with various parties, including Bharat Financial, as and when required," IndusInd said in an exchange filing on Thursday.

The bank also added that the management has been authorised to evaluate strategic opportunities for business expansion.

According to media reports, IndusInd could announce the purchase in April.

In early trade, shares of Bharat Financial rose 0.6 per cent to Rs 844.45, valuing the company at $1.7 billion.

As per the reports, the merger ratio is likely to be 10:7, wherein shareholders will get seven shares of IndusInd Bank for every 10 shares of Bharat Financial. In its clarification to bourses on Thursday, BF said it had been exploring various options but termed the media reports as "speculative".

Speculation regarding a deal between the two has been on for many months now and some reports had said the Hinduja Group-promoted bank may be looking at buying a minority stake in BFI. But of late the buzz has shifted to takeover. There have been a slew of deals between private sector lenders and MFIs as the former eye to expand their network in the hinterland which will help them meet the priority sector lending mandates and offer cross-sell opportunities.

In a note on Wednesday, Australian brokerage Macquarie had said such a merger was positive from a medium-term perspective for the bank but flagged execution as the key given the stress on MFI's books. A merger can enhance IndusInd's return on assets by up to 0.25 per cent and make it among the highest in the industry, it said.

BFI already has a business correspondent relationship with IndusInd in Karnataka for many years now. The then SKS had a tumultuous time four years ago as it first faced a repayment crisis in its largest market of Andhra Pradesh and a corporate battle over leadership which ended with the exit of founder Vikram Akula.

If the merger fructifies, it will be the third deal for IndusInd Bank, after Deutsche Bank's credit card portfolio in 2011 and RBS' diamond financing book in 2015. Other banks, including IDFC Bank, Kotak and RBL, have either acquired or taken minority stakes in MFIs in past 18 months.




A day after the world celebrated the International Women's Day, the Parliament on Thursday passed a bill to increase the maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks that will benefit about 1.8 million women in India.

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted and praised the passage of the bill. "Passage of the Maternity Benefit Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha is a landmark moment in our efforts towards women-led development", he tweeted.





Passage of the Maternity Benefit Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha is a landmark moment in our efforts towards women-led development. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 10, 2017 Employment of women is protected thanks to Maternity Benefit Amendment Bill. Mandatory provision of crche in offices is laudable. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 10, 2017

The Rajya Sabha had passed the bill in August last year. This measure takes India to the third position in terms of the number of weeks for maternity leave after Canada and Norway where it is 50 weeks and 44 weeks, respectively. The Bill was moved by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya in Lower House.



Highlights of The Maternity Benefit Bill -

1. Women working in the organised sector will now be entitled to paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks, as Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill in this regard.

2. The new law will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people and the entitlement will be for only up to first two children. For third child, the entitlement will be for only 12 weeks.

3. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her full paid absence from work, to take care for her child.

Among other things, the bill provides for 12 weeks of maternity leave to a woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age and a commissioning mother (defined as a biological mother) who uses her egg to have a surrogate child. In such cases, 12-week period of maternity leave will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother.

4. Piloting amendments to the old law, Bandaru Dattatreya said while framing the rules, he would try to ensure that maximum benefits reach the pregnent women. "This is my humble gift to women, a day after the world celebrated the International Women's Day," he said after about 4-hour debate during which some members demanded paternity benefits too, arguing that these days most of the children are born in nuclear families where both the father and the mother have to take care of the child.

5. The Bill requires every establishment with 50 or more employees to provide creche facilities within a prescribed distance. The woman will be allowed four visits to the creche in a day. This will include her interval for rest.

6. It has also made a provision under which an employer can permit a woman to work from home, if the nature of work assigned permits her to do so. This option can be availed of, after the period of maternity leave, for a duration that is mutually decided by the employer and the woman.

7. The central government has already amended its service rules and is providing 26 weeks maternity leaves to its employees.

8. The Minister also clarified women working in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) would be entitled to all benefits of the legislation.

9. Responding to concerns expressed by members that benefits would be restricted to only 10 per cent of women working in organised sector, Dattatreya said the government has taken a host of steps for the welfare of unorganised workers.

10. Indian women will get more maternity leave than what is provided in developed countries like Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and South Korea.


Half of private sector employers plan to increase basic pay in 2017 and average increases are expected to be in the region of 2.5%. Fewer small companies, those with less than 50 employees, have decided on pay increases (35%) but the average increase is likely to be higher, at 3.2%.



This is according to unique data collected from 536 respondents from private sector organisations via a pay survey by CIPD Ireland, the professional body for HR and people development, and Industrial Relations News.



The survey found that for 90% of respondents, these pay increases were not automatic but were contingent on performance, profit or achieving change.



However, the plans by 50% of companies to increase staff numbers and the high level of skills shortages that employers have experienced in the last 12 months are contributing to variable pay.

Bonus payments above basic salary and benefits are planned in 80% of private sector companies, with 41% making them available to all employees.



The research highlights the impact of unionisation on private sector companies, as 66% unionised companies reported an intention to increase pay, in contrast to 43% of non-unionised organisations.



Director of CIPD Ireland, Mary Connaughton says, "With the growing challenge employers are facing to attract the right skills, it is important that pay does not become the only currency for attracting and retaining talent. While pay increases are anticipated this year, capacity to pay and performance are central to a sustainable pay model. We are also seeing variable pay being used by companies, for example, through bonuses and additional pay increases."

He concluded, "The extent to which the private sector pay trends will influence the upcoming public sector pay negotiations has yet to be determined. With pay and variable pay increases it is imperative equity is maintained for all workers."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Top 5 Tips for Suing a Prison for Injury or Abuse

Perhaps that's the point of incarceration, but jails and prisons are not nice places to be. These houses of detention, designed to keep the public safe, don't always keep the inmates safe. From overcrowding and unsafe conditions to violence and prisoner abuse, injuries happen in prison, but are these injuries treated like those on the outside? Do inmates have any legal recourse for injuries or abuse in prison?

Here are some of the biggest questions (and answers) concerning prison injuries, from our archives.

What if you're not supposed to even be in jail in the first place? Can wrongful imprisonment be an injury in and of itself? Some innocent inmates have sued -- and garnered multimillion-dollar settlements -- for overturned convictions, especially in cases of police or prosecutorial misconduct.

Former inmates and those currently incarcerated do have legal options if they are injured or abused in prison. Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act allows inmates to sue for injuries or harm caused to them in state prisons or local jails, based on violations of the prisoner's constitutional rights. Those injured in a federal prison may be able to file what's known as a Bivens action to recover for injuries.

The only problem with the options listed above is that those kinds of lawsuits don't apply to private prisons or their employees. Therefore, inmates injured in private prisons may need to file standard tort lawsuits based on negligence or intentional torts like battery.

Prisons don't have the reputation of being the most hygienic places, so what happens if you just get sick? If you fall ill because of a prison-wide issue, the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) provides a way for federal inmates to reports complaints directly to the Department of Justice. If you have a pre-existing condition that goes untreated or worsens because of substandard care in prison, you may need to file a standard tort action.

In some tragic cases, prison injuries can lead to death. And surviving spouses and family members may be able to file wrongful death claims against the persons or prison responsible.

Any time you're considering suing a jail or prison you should consult with an experienced attorney first.

Related Resources:
Cushman & Wakefield have today released their Irish Development Land Market Review and outlook for 2017.



The data shows that 2016 was another strong year for land sales with transactions topping 687m, but when combined with portfolio/loan book sales this rises to 792m. At this level it would represent the strongest year of transactions since 2006.

For the second year running, Cairn Homes were the largest player in the market, making up c.34% of transactions in 2016, after dominating 2015 with its 378m Project Clear (total value of 503m with Lone Star) acquisition giving the housebuilder a traded market share of c.40%. We estimate that Cairn Homes have accounted for c.38% of total transacted development land (incl. loans) in the last two years.



The report shows residential development land remains constrained in the greater Dublin area, with pricing upside for those with ready to go sites and the benefits of being an early mover in a buoyant market.



While the market is seeing supply constraints, Cairn do not have this issue with a land bank that could allow for a potential c.12,100 units. The largest single development land deal in 2016 was the 164.4 acre Argentum portfolio which Cairn Homes acquired in April for 105.6m. This deal saw Cairn acquire six prime Dublin suburban and commuter sites which allowed them to further scale up operations with a number under construction already.



Commenting on the report, Goodbody Stockbrokers said, "Growing house prices (Dublin +5.7% in 2016 - CSO) also supports higher development land residual values. C&Ws data today further backs up a strong growth case for Cairn both from a land valuation perspective and housing delivery scale-up given its strong land bank holdings."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Bank of Ireland have today announced the opening of startlab NYC, an incubation space that will support Bank of Ireland startup customers seeking to scale their business and enter the US market.

The collaborative space, located in Manhattan on the 41st floor of 2 Grand Central, is the first offering of its kind from an Irish bank outside of Ireland.



The decision to open startlab NYC was taken in response to demand from Bank of Ireland business customers and represents the next step in the banks aim to foster entrepreneurship. The incubator, specifically for scaling startups, is an extension of existing successful Bank of Ireland facilities already available in several locations in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway, such as Workbench and startlab.



startlab NYC offers seven scalable technology companies the opportunity to have access to a free incubation space in New York City for a 12 month period. The Bank has selected innovative Irish tech startups Deposify, Pulsate and Axonista to join startlab NYC and an application process for the remaining four places will open in the coming weeks.



In addition to working and meeting space in this central New York location, the selected teams will receive expert mentoring from Bank of Irelands dedicated innovation and corporate banking teams in both Ireland and the US to help them develop, grow and scale their business.

Bank of Ireland will work closely with the selected teams to help them get on their feet when they arrive, facilitating introductions to venture capitalists, state agencies and relevant intermediaries based in the city. The seven teams will also receive access to WebPort Global.



Commenting on the initiative, CEO of Corporate Banking at Bank of Ireland, Tom Hayes said, "Todays announcement further strengthens the Banks offering to the Irish technology sector. We are approving credit for technology sector companies on a daily basis. In January 2017 alone our approvals ranged from 300k for a healthcare software company to 3.1 million for an enterprise software company."

He added, "On the equity side, Bank of Ireland has committed over 150m of own capital to venture capital funds such as Kernel Capital and Delta Partners. These funds have helped companies such as Feed Henry scale their business, and continue to support other upcoming technology companies."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Minister for Employment and Small Business, Pat Breen departs for Texas tomorrow to begin a 4-day Enterprise Ireland trade visit to the USA.

The highlight of the trade visit will be the Enterprise Ireland exhibition stand at South by Southwest (SXSW), a world-famous digital technology conference, trade show and festival combination where emerging technologies, original music and independent films converge.



It is hoped the trade visit to SXSW will open doors in the competitive USA technology market for the 11 participating Irish companies. The 11 companies will showcase their digital technologies at the trade show from March 10th - 15th which include apps for making digital payments and finding gyms near airports, technologies for broadcasting and gene databases for researchers.



The participating companies are Cogni Financial, DataKraft, Digisoft.tv, Heliworks Technologies, Intuition, Newswhip, Parkpnp, Sanctifly, Systemlink Technologies, Vistatec and Transfermate.



By giving these Irish companies the opportunity to exhibit at SXSW, Enterprise Ireland is helping them to better understand the potential for their product or service in the US market with the ultimate goal of increasing exports to the US and creating jobs in Ireland.



Enterprise Ireland has set a target to increase exports to USA by its clients from 2.9bn in 2015 to 5bn in 2020. This trade visit is one of 46 international events scheduled by Enterprise Ireland in 2017 to help Irish companies identify new markets for their products and services as they tackle the challenges posed by the United Kingdoms decision to exit the EU.



Prior to his departure for Texas Minister Breen said, "I am delighted to support the work of Enterprise Ireland who are playing an instrumental role in assisting Irish entrepreneurs to build cutting edge, valuable technology companies, opening offices in the US, securing significant partnerships and closing larger-than-ever funding rounds from US investors and international syndicates. The 2017 SXSW delegation is further evidence of Irelands thriving and growing indigenous start-up ecosystem."



Source: www.businessworld.ie
Online room renting service Airbnb Inc said on Thursday it had raised $1 billion in its latest round of funding, valuing the company at $31 billion.

Airbnb raised $447.85 million as part of the funding, a source close to the company told Reuters. The company said in September it had raised about $555 million as part of the same round of funding.

Airbnb, which operates in more than 65,000 cities, has enjoyed tremendous growth as it pushes ahead with its plans of global expansion.

The company turned in a profit on an EBITDA basis in the second half of 2016 and expects to continue to be profitable this year, the source said, adding that Airbnb had no plans to go public anytime soon.

The company is locked in an intensifying global battle with regulators who say the service takes affordable housing off the market and drives up rental prices. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
FILE - In a Jan. 16, 2012 file photo, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman holds a news conference in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Handpicked by President Donald Trump, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has reportedly accepted a position to become the new US Ambassador to Russia. Huntsman is known as a skilled diplomat, having previously served as an ambassador to both China and Singapore.

Cache Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sandy Emile said shes excited about the news. She believes if anyone can help smooth out some of the diplomatic problems the United States has been having with other countries over the past few months, it would be Huntsman.

He has a huge task in front of him, Emile said. Donald Trump was no fool in hornswoggling him into the position, and Im pretty sure its only out of love for our country that Huntsman accepted the position.

Prior to extending the offer to Huntsman to serve as US Ambassador to Russia, President Trump had been seriously considering him, along with Mitt Romney, for Secretary of State.
Can Landlords Discriminate Against Unmarried Couples?

Marriage is a good thing -- so say millions of married people and the government, who encourages marriage through tax breaks and other financial incentives. Even landlords might prefer married couples, thinking their relationship and financial status will be more stable.

But marriage isn't for everyone, and even those who might plan to get married may not be married yet. And incentives for marriage can turn into punishments for unmarried couples. So what happens when landlords refuse to rent to unmarried couples? Do they have any legal recourse?

The Rule

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits a landlord from selecting tenants based on race or color, national origin, religion, disability or handicap, sex, or familial status. That last part, however, only includes protection for people with children under the age of 18 or pregnant women -- the statute doesn't cover marital status.

And while many states and cities have passed housing discrimination laws that prohibit discrimination based on marital status, the majority only protect married couples, not unmarried ones, and others offer protection for single tenants, not those in a relationship who've yet to be married or chosen not to marry. Therefore, generally speaking, it is not illegal to refuse to rent to unmarried couples.

The Exceptions

There are some exceptions to this rule. For instance, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits landlords and real estate agents from discriminating based on marital status, and this includes refusing to deal with or imposing different terms or conditions on people based on whether they are married, separated, divorced, or single. And Alaska, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey have also interpreted "marital status" in their housing discrimination statutes to include unmarried couples.

So you may have some protection under state or city provisions. If you think a landlord has discriminated against you based on marital status, contact an attorney near you to discuss local laws and your case.

Related Resources:
The program for the event includes a workshop on youth employment and a series of documentaries about Switzerland, vocational training and other topics.

We will discuss the opportunities that young people have to get business-relevant education in Myanmars large cities. The goal of the April event is to create opportunities for young people to get good jobs through vocational training, said Daw Win Myat Wai, of the Swiss Embassy in Yangon.

A broad array of participants have been invited to attend, including current and former students at government technical colleges and high schools, local business owners, and representatives from non-governmental and civil society organizations.

Daw Aye Thin Zar Aung, the Communications Manager at the Embassy said, Even though many students pass the 10th standard, they often still have difficulty securing a job. So we want vocational training to correct the market and ensure that even people who cannot afford [a university] education can go into business and earn money.

Embassy staff announced the event at a press conference held on March 8, at the Ngwe Moe Hotel in Mawlamyine Capital, formerly known as Moulmein. The exhibition will run from 8:30am to 3:30pm on April 3 at the Mon State Hall in the capital.

In a Facebook post, the Swiss Embassy explained that it was pursuing vocational, rather than academic programs based on the success of the Swiss economic model which, the post says, relies heavily on vocational training.

The April event is part of a wider celebration of 60 years of bilateral relations between the two countries. Programs focused around the themes of Vocational Training and Federalism will take place throughout the year in Yangon, Mandalay, Mawlamyine and Pathein.
| BY Lynchy |

In major moves at Naked Communications, Global Head of Behavioural Sciences, and local co-founder Adam Ferrier has announced his resignation, while former BWM Melbourne managing director Carl Ratcliff is joining the agency as CEO.

Says Ferrier (left): I am incredibly proud of everything weve achieved at Naked, here and around the world. We created a wonderful working environment and weve produced oodles of world class, recognized and effective work for our amazing clients. Personally and professionally the time is right for me to leave Naked and pursue a new adventure which Ill be announcing shortly. I represent the first phase of Naked  my leaving will give the new management team some fresh air to create Naked next. Im excited that Carl has accepted the role as CEO  Ive had numerous chats with Carl recently, and he is no question the right man for the job. I wish him and Naked all the best.

Says Matthew Melhuish, CEO of Enero: We thank Adam for his hard work and tremendous dedication to Naked. Hes been instrumental in building one of the most powerful brands in the Australian marketing and communications landscape. We wish Adam all the very best for his next adventure.

With a career spanning twenty years, Ratcliff brings a broad range of experience to Naked having led planning, creative and agency teams at TBWA\London and Elvis UK plus working client side at British TV network Channel 5. Most recently he had a successful stint as managing director of BWM, Melbourne. Ratcliff will be relieving Tim Parker, who has been acting CEO of Naked Australia since July.

Says Melhuish: Carl has the perfect set of credentials to run Naked Australia. Hes proven that he can lead a winning team and deliver outstanding results for clients plus he brings with him a fresh perspective and an internationally recognized track record for ground-breaking, innovative work. Carl is a great cultural fit for Naked but has also commercially cut his teeth in the Australian market doing a great job at BWM. Carl will join the Naked team in early November.

We also sincerely thank Tim Parker for stepping into the fold at short notice in July and for his professionalism and stewardship of Naked over the past few months. Tim is a class act and we are looking at other ways to deploy him within the Enero group.
| BY Ricki Green |

Independent agency Cummins&Partners has announced that alumni chief strategy officer Adam Ferrier and joint-ECDs Jim Ingram and Ben Couzens will leave the agency to start a new venture.

Ferrier joined Cummins&Partners (then CumminsRoss) in the role of chief strategy officer in 2013 from Naked Comms where he was local co-founder and global head of behavioural sciences.

Says Sean Cummins, founder, Cummins&Partners: When the guys told me of their desire to do their own thing, I think they were a bit surprised by how positive I was for them. I have spent my career championing entrepreneurialism in this industry and Im excited for anyone who has the audacity to create a new venture.

Our agency thrives on creativity and change, and Ive always looked on with great pride as our alumni have started their own agencies, start-ups or even become artists or reality-TV celebs on MKR and Masterchef. And I will look on with great pride and enthusiasm as their journey unfolds too

Ingram, Couzens and Ferrier said (almost in perfect unison): Weve loved every minute of our time here. Its been a great journey with loads of success, and weve each learned a lot. Well miss the good energy that radiates from this place and wish the crew all the best.

Says Chris Jeffares, CEO, Cummins&Partners Australia: Weve made great campaigns and memories together, worked hard, played hard and had some fun times along the way. The agency had a very fast start over our first three years, and these guys have really helped keep

up this momentum over the next three.

We are not looking to replace the trio as we have great depth in our existing ranks so the opportunities this creates is exciting for all of the team.
Listen to speakers, meet with legislators, network and more.

12:00 to 1:00 - Program and Speakers

10:00 AM to 3:00 PM - Tabling groups, Visit Legislators, network and get more information

Sponsored by: Albuquerque-NOW, SWLC, AFSME, League of Women Voters, AAUW, Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, SWOP, and others

Program- 12:00 to 1:00

Celebration of Womens History Month:

--Honoring the importance of women in developing our democracy and building our state

--Recognizing the role that young feminists play in shaping our future.

Speakers will highlight the ongoing work to achieve equal rights by:

-Ensuring existing laws to protect womens rights are strengthened and enforced

-New laws to address unequal treatment based on gender are enact

Visits with Legislators, Networking, Information Tables- 10:00 to 3:00

-Participating organizations will have information tables along the SouthEast Hall. Participants and the public are invited to visit all our NM legislators and thank them for their work on behalf of women, and ask for their support for the work that still needs to be done.


The new Panasonic Stain Master machines have an intensive stain-removal mode which is being marketed in India as a curry-stain removal button; it also has other Indian-focused modes, such as one for removing hair oil. They are planning other Stain Masters customized for other Asian markets with stain-removal buttons tailored to their national cuisines and stubbourn stains.

That means there is plenty of room for market growth, and the electronics giant hopes the India-focussed machine will help it challenge the South Korean manufacturers dominating the sector.

Panasonic told the BBC that about 5,000 of the machines had been sold so far, with a target to sell at least 30,000 by March next year.

Priced at about 22,000 Indian rupees (268;$330), the new model costs around 10% more than other washing machines.
The latter claims against Calvary related to the investigator's alleged lack of experience or qualifications to conduct an investigation, an alleged failure to contact witnesses that would have corroborated his version of events, and an alleged refusal to release a copy of the report and any evidence with respect to the decision to sack him.
"They were a part of that decision [to pursue filmmaking], saying, 'we support you regardless of what you do and where you go' so that's why I just have nothing but wonderful memories of Canberra. I know a lot of people joke about it, but there's something really lovely about it."
"When we come across alleged record-keeping that is so sub-standard it prevents our inspectors from determining whether employees are receiving their minimum entitlements we take these matters very seriously," she said.
"With surface level irrigation, that is what we found before with the balling effect we had with the trees, it didn't encourage the tree root system to grow down and out. It allowed the tree to feed from the water to feed from water available to it at surface level."


As the Republican Congress and Donald Trump's FCC move to dismantle the most basic protections for American internet users, no target is juicier than Net Neutrality, the simple idea that your ISP should send you the bits you ask for, rather than accepting bribes from big companies to slow down your net connection when you try to connect to their competitors.



The FCC is moving swiftly to dismantle the minimal Net Neutrality regulations it has enforced to date, and the Senate is taking legislative aim at Net Neutrality to prevent the Commission from protecting Net Neutrality in the future. During a hearing, Sen Ron Johnson [R-WI/Twitter/email/DC office (202) 224-5323] gave the case for a non-neutral net: "is that a pretty good analogy in terms of what net neutrality is all about, not allowing for example a company that is going to invest billions of dollars in the pipeline, not allow them to sell a prioritized lane, for, I don't know, doctors who want to prioritize distant diagnostics? They're going to have to share that same pipeline, no prioritization, with for example people streaming illegal content or pornography? Tell me where that analogy is maybe not accurate."

(He's also the senator who threatened to have a constituent arrested if he didn't stop calling his office)

Net neutrality protections apply only to lawful Internet content, so the FCC rules do not prevent ISPs from blocking the illegal content that Johnson is worried about. ISPs can still block copyright-infringing materials and child pornography, for example. And if paid prioritization was legal, it wouldn't necessarily be used only for healthcare and other things that Johnson wants prioritizedpornography businesses could presumably pay for faster network access as well. Net neutrality proponents argue that the potential existence of paid fast lanes would necessarily put everything else in a slower lane. Perhaps more importantly, there is a way for telemedicine offerings to get paid prioritization under the FCC's existing rules. The FCC distinguishes between "Broadband Internet Access Service (BIAS)," the usual type in which all Internet content shares the same network capacity and "Non-BIAS data services," which are given isolated capacity to ensure greater speed and reliability. VoIP phone offerings, heart monitors, and energy consumption sensors qualify for this category, which is exempt from net neutrality rules. Telemedicine (another word for remote medical diagnosis) can also be exempt if it's delivered over the network in the same way.

Net neutrality hurts health care and helps porn, Republican senator claims

[Jon Brodkin/Ars Technica]
[UPDATE 3/11/2017: Snopes reports that "HR 1313 does not allow employers to force all their workers to submit to genetic testing." Instead "H.R. 1313 states that employers may provide additional insurance premium discounts to workers who take part in their companies' voluntary wellness programs. Once enrolled, the bill says, businesses are allowed to collect 'information about the manifested disease or disorder of a family member' of participating employees."

If you think your genetics are your own personal beeswax, think again. Amidst all the hoopla surrounding the Affordable Care Act this week, the House GOP quietly pushed forward a bill  HR 1313  that would make it legal for employers to demand genetic testing from workers. Workers who refuse could be penalized for thousands of dollars.

On Wednesday, a House committee approved the bill with "all 22 Republicans supporting it and all 17 Democrats opposed," according to Business Insider.

"What this bill would do is completely take away the protections of existing laws," said Jennifer Mathis, director of policy and legal advocacy at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, a civil rights group. In particular, privacy and other protections for genetic and health information in GINA and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act "would be pretty much eviscerated," she said.

And according to PLOS:

A May 16, 2016, ruling from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission laid the groundwork for penalizing employees who refuse to answer questions about their or their spouses' health. This could amount to thousands of dollars a year, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. H.R.1313 would make that even worse. 240px-Emojione_1F4B0.svg"It would further permit workplace wellness programs to penalize much more severely employees who wish to keep their genetic and health information private, allowing penalties of up to 30 percent of the total cost of an employee's health insurance," Dr. Cox writes. And the Public Health Service Act permits an increase to 50%. "Penalties of this magnitude would compel Americans to choose between retaining the privacy of their health and genetic information and accessing affordable health insurance."

Yesterday the bill passed its first "mark-up session," and will either head for the next markup with the Ways and Means Committee or become part of a package of health-care-related bills that goes to the House floor soon, according to Derek Scholes, PhD, the American Society of Human Genetics' (ASHG) director of science policy, who attended the session.

For many more details, check out the articles in Business Insider and PLOS.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
Britains 6 billion pounds ($7.3 billion) terrorism reinsurance fund hopes to extend its cover to include cyber attacks on property, chief executive Julian Enoizi said.

Pool Re, set up in 1993, acts as a backstop to insurers paying out claims on property damage and business interruption.

It is financed by the insurance industry with government backing, and pay outs depend on the British government deeming an attack to be terror-related, Enoizi said.

In 2002, Pool Re extended its cover to include chemical and biological attacks after the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

There have been several cyber attacks on property in recent years. In 2014, a German steel mill suffered damage to the plants network from a cyber attack.

Enoizi told Reuters that this and other incidents had been ruled out as terror attacks, but Pool Re needed to be prepared.

Insurance is there for the unimaginable  were here to insure the unforeseen, he said.

The fund has held discussions with the government and industry, and it hopes to add cyber to its coverage in the next few months, he added.

Enoizi said any increase in the premium costs to businesses for adding this cover would be accompanied by discounts for implementing government-approved cyber security policies.

The U.S. cyber insurance market is likely to have totalled about $3.25 billion in premiums in 2016, according to market survey The Betterley Report. The European market is seen as one-tenth of that, but demand has been increasing, insurers say.

Demand is expected to spike after EU legislation on data privacy is implemented by mid-2018. This will require companies to notify authorities of data breaches likely to harm individuals, similar to U.S. arrangements.

But most cyber policies relate to data loss, rather than attacks on property.

We see this as a gap in the cover, Enoizi said.

Cyber attacks on property worry businesses and insurers. These include an attack at some apartment buildings in Finland last year which knocked out the heating system when it was below freezing outside. This attack was not deemed an act of terror.

Insurers have said the source of a cyber attack is hard to prove, and most policies pay out regardless of the cause.

Pool Res cover would be limited to terror-related cyber attacks, once the British government assessed it to be an act of terrorism, Enoizi said.
Its not much of a secret that Mercedes-AMG plans to build a production version of their GT Concept that was revealed earlier this week at the Geneva auto show.



No doubt, many will be wondering how the study will translate into a road-going car.

This render from PeisertDesign tries to do that by removing some of the flashier parts and giving it a tweaked grille and rear diffuser that incorporates a regular twin exhaust setup. Its a start, but he should have added door mirrors and replaced the over-the-top chrome wheels, if you ask us.

Now, we dont know if the four-door coupe will keep the studys powertrain in its final form, but by combining the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine with an electric motor, its output has increased to more than 800 horses. This makes it significantly more powerful than the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid and its 671 HP, and allows it to go from naught to 100 km/h (62 mph) in less than 3 seconds.

Mercedes parent company Daimler has yet to announce when the production version of the GT Concept will arrive, but in the meantime, theyre prepping the launch of the Project One hypercar, which is due at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, this fall.

PHOTO GALLERY
While the crowds at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show were enjoying the Alpine A110, the French firm confirmed that the new coupe will attend the London Motor Show for its UK debut.



Set to commence on May 4, the Battersea Park event will host over 150 new cars, including the A110 that has a retro-flavored design and is the resurrected Alpine brands first product in decades.

Its a real accolade to have the Alpine A110 showcased on these shores for the very first time at the London Motor Show. Due to popular demand, weve already had to release more tickets for Mays event, and having the Alpine A110 make its UK debut goes to show just how much weight it carries in the automotive world, commented the London Motor Shows Chairman, Alec Mumford.

Developed under the close watch of Renault, the Alpine A110 has a mid-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive layout. It uses a 1.8-liter turbod four-banger that is good for 274 HP and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque driving rear wheels through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, which is the sole choice. Going from rest to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes 4.5 seconds and top speed stands at 250 km/h (155 mph).

Alpine will release pricing and trim specs later this year, just before the car goes on sale.

PHOTO GALLERY
With its $2.6 million price tag, the Bugatti Chiron is a car restricted exclusively to the ultra-wealthy. Soon, those fortunate few will be able to express their love for Bugatti on the water.



No, an amphibous Chiron isnt on the cards but the French marque has teamed up with yacht builder Palmer Johnson to create the Bugatti Niniette 66 superyacht.

Limited to just 66 units worldwide, it takes obvious styling cues from the Chiron and offers Bugatti customers something truly out of this world.

The Niniette 66 superyacht is powered by a MAN V8 marine engine capable of delivering up to 1,200 hp, allowing the boat to it 44 knots. As with the Chiron, all of this power will be complemented with unrivalled luxury and comfort.

Below the deck you will find a spacious master cabin and a large seating area that includes a modern couch framed by a huge Bugatti horseshoe grille.

Elsewhere, the Niniette 99 includes a jacuzzi, champagne bar, two social areas, a fire pit and a sun pad. The superyacht even features the characteristic C-shaped Bugatti character line.

Speaking about the creation, design director and head of interior design at Bugatti, Etienne Salome said I strongly believe the Bugatti design philosophy is so unique and original that it can be applied to a great number of products. However, a yacht is something special.

Pricing details havent been announced but if you cant afford 10 Chirons, you probably cant buy a Niniette 66.

PHOTO GALLERY
Volkswagen has admitted that development of the next-generation Phaeton was cancelled because of the Tesla Model S.



Talking at the Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen brand boss Herbert Diess said that development of the new-age Phaeton was quite progressed when the marque decided to pull the plug for fear that it wasnt going to match up to the Model S.

We were quite far advanced with the next Phaeton but it became clear it wasnt enough of a leap forwards. A modern large saloon has to be competitive and have an advantage over the Tesla, which is the benchmark and in many regions dominates the segment.

Now, if we go back there, we have to take Tesla seriously, and of course that is what we are doing with our electric strategy, added Diess, as reported by Autocar.

The automaker has apparently started to work on the new Phaeton and plans to launch it by 2020. With Tesla now in its sights, it will be dramatically different than the Phaeton we are familiar with and could even adopt a new name.

PHOTO GALLERY
You could have the missing piece of the puzzle that will help the RCMP put someone behind bars. Here are some recent crimes that Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers hope you can help solve by calling our anonymous tips line at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), visit our website at www.crimestoppers.net or text to CRIMES (274637), keyword Ktown.

CRIME: THEFT FROM VEHICLE/FRAUD

DATE: January 16, 2017

RCMP FILE: 2017-2596

An unlocked truck parked on the 400 block of Banks Road in Kelowna was entered between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. on January 16th. The wallet contained a substantial amount of cash, ID, licenses, credit and debit cards. Although there were also tools in the vehicle, the wallet was the only thing taken. It was learned that soon after being stolen the credit cards were used at several nearby stores. Police would like to identify this male as a person of interest.

Photo: Crime Stoppers

If you know anything about this crime, or any other crime, call the Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers anonymous tips line at 1-800-222-TIPS or visit our website at www.crimestoppers.net. Your information will be kept confidential and could lead to a reward of up to $2000.00.

CRIME: GUITAR THEFT

DATE: March 6, 2017

RCMP FILE: 2017-10938

A man contacted Kelowna RCMP when his storage lockers were broken into at an apartment building on the 1800 block of Pandosy Street between 2:00 p.m. on March 5th and 11:00 on the 6th. Suspect(s) made off with a white Gary Levinson electric guitar, a Line 6 Stompbox multi-effects pedal and 5 or 6 patch cords.

Photo: Crime Stoppers

You can help catch these suspects and qualify for a reward by calling Crime Stoppers anonymous tips line at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), visit our website at www.crimestoppers.net or text to CRIMES (274637), keyword Ktown.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
I totally agree with the letter Time to put Canadians first.

When is this insane spending going to stop? Just in the last couple of months, our PM, gives Bombardier Industries a four hundred million dollar interest free loan, a company that already owes us the Canadian taxpayer over a billion and a half. Now six hundred and fifty million dollars are going overseas to foreign countries for women's health. Then he is planning on spending half a billion dollars to celebrate Canada's birthday.

That is another one and a half billions dollars that are being spend recklessly on three items. This on top of our massive many billion dollar deficit. Its insane.

Now our PM is being treated as an idol in other countries, but in his own country he has massive problems that are getting worse. And he is doing nothing about them.

Women, men and children need help in our health system just to get the basic health that they need and they should be helped first. Instead he sends our taxpayer dollar overseas.

Something is very wrong here and we need the people who we put into power, well they need to step up to the plate and put Canadians first.

Thomas James McLuskey
In the past two years, I have had to contact the Government of Canada with regards to issues. Each time I have found that it was very difficult to find a human to talk to and once the recorded options were finished, it would say 'due to high call volumes please call again'. That message has been there for years so I would assume it is permanent.



When I have completed an application, it takes months and months to get a reply. In some cases the reply is vague and they want more information. In my case, they asked the exact same question already filled in on the original application. The letter was signed by someone in Victoria but again no direct way to communicate with that person to find out exactly what they wanted. Instead the form letter had the 1-800 to Ottawa and again the same 'due to high call volumes please call again'.



The Service Canada office in Vernon is now reduced to just two staff so the wait is extra long these days and they do not necessarily know exactly what the person in Victoria wants. A guess is made and more information went off to Victoria. The staff do the best they can with limited immediate support from the bureaucracy.



Enough is enough. When will we get timely service out of our government bureaucracy. I decided to write to the responsible Federal Minister, Jean-Yves Duclos at [email protected] to express my concerns. Within one day, I heard from someone responsible for complaints to Ministers to discuss my issues. Nothing was resolved but apparently the issues will be brought up with the department involved. I am not holding my breath but at least they got back to me. By the way, in Timmins with a population less than Vernon, there are 6-7 staff at Service Canada while 2 staff are in Vernon. What does that tell you?



If you are having similar problems with regards to getting timely service out of the Federal government, I advise you to email the Minister and speak your mind. Perhaps if enough voices are heard someone might listen.

Lindsay Thachuk
Photo: DPA

A man was arrested after injuring seven people with an axe at the main train station in Duesseldorf, Germany, on Thursday in what appeared to be a random attack, police said.

Officers were alerted about an attack shortly before 9 p.m., prompting a large-scale police response.

"A person, probably armed with an axe, attacked people at random," police said in a statement. Seven people were injured, three of them seriously. The statement said police are investigating whether the suspect attacked passengers on a commuter train as well.

The suspected attacker was arrested after jumping off an overpass near the train station, the statement said. The 36-year-old man, described as being from "the former Yugoslavia" and living in the nearby city of Wuppertal, suffered serious injuries and was being treated in a hospital.

"The suspect appears to have had psychological problems," police said.

An axe was recovered and officers were searching the area in and around the station, which was closed for the investigation. Police withdrew an earlier report that a second person had been arrested, saying later that they were working on the assumption the man had acted alone.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A blaze that killed at least 35 girls at a shelter for troubled youths erupted when some of them set fire to mattresses to protest rapes and other mistreatment at the badly overcrowded institution, the parent of one victim said Thursday.

Officials said they are still investigating who started the fire Wednesday at the long-criticized shelter on the outskirts of Guatemala's capital. It houses troubled and abused boys and girls as well as juvenile offenders.

Nineteen victims were found dead at the scene, and 16 more succumbed one by one to their injuries at hospitals in Guatemala City. Several more girls were fighting for their lives, some with severe burns over more than half their bodies. The National Institute of Forensic Science said that 17 of the bodies have been identified.

The 35th death was announced by the General Hospital late Thursday while President Jimmy Morales called for a restructuring of the country's youth shelter system, which houses some 1,500 children around the country, during a news conference. Outside the presidential palace, dozens of protesters gathered to demand answers.

The fire started when someone ignited mattresses in a dormitory that held girls who had been caught the day before during a mass breakout attempt, authorities said.

Geovany Castillo said his 15-year-old daughter Kimberly suffered burns on her face, arms and hands but survived. She was in a locked area where girls who took part in the escape attempt had been placed, he said.

"My daughter said the area was locked and that several girls broke down a door, and she survived because she put a wet sheet over herself," Castillo said.

"She said the girls themselves set the fire," he said, adding: "She said the girls told her that they had been raped and in protest they escaped, and that later, to protest, to get attention, they set fire to the mattresses."
Photo: CTV

Canada's unemployment rate dropped to 6.6 per cent last month, its lowest level in more than two years, as fewer people were looking for work, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The decline of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month brought the rate down to a number not seen since January 2015.

The agency's February employment survey indicated the national labour market added 15,300 jobs overall last month, higher than analyst expectations.

Economists had projected a gain of 2,500 jobs and the unemployment rate to stay at 6.8 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.

The Statistics Canada report found most of the February job gains came from full-time work, offset by a decline in the number of people working part-time.

It said an estimated 105,000 more people found full-time employment last month while part-time positions dropped by 90,000. That was in contrast to the January labour market survey, which showed a surge in part-time work.

In the 12 months to February, Canada saw a net gain of 288,000 jobs with most of the increase coming in the last six months of 2016.

Much of the increased job activity was seen in the West with British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba all seeing gains. In contrast, fewer people were working in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador while employment was little changed in the other five provinces.

British Columbia's unemployment rate was 5.1 per cent, down from 5.6 per cent the month before.

In Kelowna, the jobless rate was 7.4 per cent, down from 8.3 per cent.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Margaret Mitchell, a former New Democrat MP who became a leading voice in raising awareness about domestic abuse, died Wednesday. She was 92.

Mitchell represented the riding of Vancouver East from 1979 to 1993.

New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen paid tribute to Mitchell in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Thursday, calling her a champion of women's rights.

"From before her time here, throughout her entire existence as a member of Parliament, she fought for justice for women," he said.

He said Mitchell also fought for justice for Chinese-Canadians, who were forced to pay a head tax to come to Canada, and she always fought for basic rights for all humans.

"Some who were around (the House of Commons) at the time or followed soon after ... they will properly place her as one of the leading women voices for the NDP, and I think then as a result, leading voices in Canada," said Cullen.

When Mitchell raised concerns about domestic abuse 35 years ago in the Commons, her comments were met with laughter.

In her autobiography "No Laughing Matter," Mitchell wrote that the initial jeering by the male-dominated House of Commons provoked a national uproar, but also opened the doors to discussing spousal violence in Canada.

Mitchell received the Order of B.C. in 2000. She was given Vancouver's Freedom of the City award in November.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A two-year-old boy in England wasn't very impressed with a chance to meet Queen Elizabeth II and showed it by throwing a tantrum in front of her majesty.

Little Alfie Lun was set to hand the queen flowers at the unveiling of a new war memorial in London on Thursday. Instead, he wriggled out of his mother's arms and attempted to sit on the ground. Eventually his mom was able to pick Alfie up again and he reluctantly handed the queen the bouquet.

The 90-year-old queen is also a great grandmother and didn't appear fazed by the meltdown. She smiled at the boy and his parents throughout the encounter.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Just days before the 100th anniversary of Yevgeni Khaldei's birth, the daughter of the photographer who took the iconic World War II image of Red Army soldiers atop the Reichstag has regained possession of his negatives after a 15-year court battle.

Anna Khaldei is now preparing to bring the negatives back to Moscow and to open an exhibition next month that includes previously unseen shots by the renowned photographer.

Yevgeny Khaldei's long career included commissioned portraits of Soviet leaders including Josef Stalin and Mikhail Gorbachev, but is best known for his dramatic image of soldiers unfurling a large Soviet flag on the roof-edge of the Reichstag after the Red Army took control of the seat of Nazi power on May 2, 1945.

Although the photo became the most potent image of the Red Army's grueling offensive against Nazi Germany, Khaldei's career declined soon after. He was fired from state news agency Tass in 1948  many believe he was a victim of anti-semitism  and earned a living as a freelancer for many years.

A few months before his death in 1997, he signed an agreement with a New York-based photojournalist to be his agent. But Anna Khaldie later filed suit, claiming the agent seized more than 3,000 of his negatives, as well as prints. After a series of court rulings, she was able to take possession of the negatives on Wednesday, two days before the centennial of Khaldei's May 10, 1917 birthday.

"After 20 years of waiting, I experienced such happiness," she said by telephone from New York City.

She said the exhibition she is planning, which includes new photographs, aims to show the humane impulse of her father's recording of history through the lens, particularly in his war photography.

"For Yevgeny Khaldei, every photo he took was very dear. It's not only the events he photographed but the people who participated in the events," she said. "If it was during a military action he was photographing someone who was running in the attack, and in 10 metres he could be dead. In the negative he was still alive and he was running toward victory."

The daughter's attorney, Daniel Rothstein, said that Yevgeny Khaldei, like many Soviet-raised people bewildered by free markets, likely misunderstood the agent contract.

"Yes, he was vulnerable. He was 80 years old," he said. "It is a typical story of things that got lost or misplaced or improperly treated among the ruins of the Soviet Union."
Two small children have lightened up a serious television interview on a weighty subject by barging into their dad's office while he was on the air.

Professor Robert E. Kelly was talking to the BBC from South Korea on Friday to discuss the ouster of that country's president when a small child danced into the room apparently unconcerned about the interview. The BBC anchor took notice and alerted Kelly. As Kelly was trying to shoo the child away, a baby scooted into the room in a walker.

Kelly laughed and apologized as a woman frantically dashed in to grab the kids. She later crawled back to shut the door.

Kelly was able to finish the interview, despite the sounds of a screaming child in the background.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A helicopter crashed on a highway on Istanbul's outskirts Friday after apparently hitting a television tower in dense fog, reports said. All seven people on board were killed, the city's mayor said.

The Sikorsky S-76 was carrying an executive of the Eczacibasi group of companies, four of his Russian guests and two pilots.

Gov. Vasip Sahin said that the helicopter crashed in Istanbul's Buyukcekmece district after taking off from Ataturk Airport, adding that the cause of the crash was under investigation.

Authorities initially recovered five bodies from the crash site, but Mayor Kadir Topbas later said that all seven on board were killed.

Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from the crash site in video shown on Turkish network DHA. Burning debris was scattered across a large stretch of the highway.

Video from a security camera of a gas station showed the helicopter plunging behind a hill, followed by a ball of fire rising to the sky that quickly turned into black smoke.

Video from a helicopter showed rows of rescue vehicles at the crash site and traffic piling up as vehicles were diverted off the highway to other roads.

The DHA news agency said the helicopter's rotor blade hit a vehicle, smashing its windscreen and causing its roof to sink in. Its driver escaped unhurt but in shock, the agency said.

Witness Fikret Karatekin, a taxi driver, told CNN-Turk television by telephone that the helicopter slammed into the tower before crashing on the highway.

"It hit the tower and crashed by spinning," he said.
Photo: The Canadian Press Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife are expecting their second child.

In a Facebook post, Zuckerberg says his wife Priscilla Chan is pregnant with a girl. The couple already has a 1-year-old daughter.

In his post, Zuckerberg writes that he's happy his first daughter, Max, will have a sister. Zuckerberg says he grew up with three sisters and they taught him to learn from smart, strong women. He also says his wife grew up with two sisters.

Zuckerberg says he and his wife can't wait to welcome the baby and do their best to raise another strong woman.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The federal government has announced a new $325-million fund for Atlantic Canada's fish and seafood sector.

Federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced the establishment of the Atlantic Fisheries Fund today in Halifax.

LeBlanc says the initiative is intended to drive innovation and growth in the sector.

He says Ottawa will work with the Atlantic provinces to set the priorities for the new fund.

Details of the new program are to be released in the coming months.
Photo: The Canadian Press Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna

The federal environment minister says Canada's image has been burnished internationally by federal and provincial plans to combat climate change.

Catherine McKenna told a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday that within weeks of Alberta announcing a sweeping plan to tackle carbon emissions in late 2015, she heard people at international gatherings switch from derisively calling the oilsands "tarsands" to much more positive language.

"I think our reputation has been rehabilitated because we have been serious," she told a Calgary business audience. "Once you're serious about things and you're smart about it, I think people respond."

She said China is excited about opportunities to partner with Canada and she heard from European officials that Canada's climate action helped get a recent trade deal across the finish line.

McKenna's speech focused on growing opportunities for Canadian firms in the clean technology sector.

She also sought to assure the business crowd that trade with the United States is a top priority for the Trudeau government.

"I know how important trade is to the Albertan economy, how important it is to the Canadian economy and we are on it."

"Our number 1 focus right now, and that includes me as environment minister, is on our trading relationship with the United States," said McKenna. "It is absolutely critical and we are working extraordinarily hard to remind the Americans of that."
Photo: The Canadian Press

It sounds almost too good to be true: A free trip to New Zealand to interview for a job in the tech sector.

But that's what local authorities and businesses in the capital, Wellington, are offering to 100 talented workers from around the globe as they seek to boost the city's growing tech hub. The idea has caught fire, with 12,000 people completing applications so far and thousands more registering interest ahead of the March 20 deadline.

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said the city's tech sector has been growing at an annual rate of 14 per cent over the past five years.

"The problem we need to solve is that we have a whole lot of businesses that are struggling to keep up with recruitment," he said.

The LookSee campaign was first promoted in tech hubs like San Francisco, which is more than 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from Wellington.

About one-third of the applicants are from the U.S. but that mix is changing as more people from other parts of the world find out about the offer, said David Jones, who is helping oversee the campaign at the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency.

"This is the first time a city has approached recruitment in this way," Jones said. "We've been absolutely amazed at the level of interest."

Successful applicants get free flights to New Zealand and free accommodation during their four-day stay in Wellington. They also get to see some of the sights and meet tech leaders. They are expected to apply for three jobs each but aren't obliged to accept any offers.

The 850,000 New Zealand dollar ($588,000) cost of the campaign is paid for by a combination of taxpayer money and contributions from local businesses.

Nick Piesco, 40, moved to Wellington from Austin, Texas, two weeks ago to take a job as a developer at Xero, an online accounting software company. He said his wife Reneau Skinner had loved Wellington when she visited more than a decade ago for an eight-month working holiday and that they made the decision to move to the city before the LookSee offer.

He said people in New Zealand seemed to really value having a life outside of work and that he was making some life changes, including foregoing a car.

"I can walk to work, I can walk to the shops. I live between two breweries, so I think I'm pretty well situated," he said. "The fact that you live in such a beautiful city in such a beautiful country means that you are urged to get outside and enjoy it."
Photo: The Canadian Press

The parliamentary budget office and the Liberals clashed Thursday over the government's infrastructure spending program, with the watchdog saying billions were missing from planned spending and the government arguing the watchdog didn't read the numbers correctly.

Underlying the dispute was a point both sides wanted to make: the way the federal government reports on its spending plans for the year is so opaque that it is difficult to know where the money is going.

The spending figures in the estimates don't line up nicely with the budget, which will be released on March 22, meaning that parliamentarians don't get the full picture on government spending.

As one example, Jean-Denis Frechette's report cites the end of the universal child care benefit, which was replaced in last year's budget by the new Canada child benefit. The new benefit is more expensive than the one it replaced, but the department overseeing the program is nonetheless seeing its spending drop by $4.2 billion from the last year.

A spokesman for Treasury Board President Scott Brison, who oversees the release of the spending estimates, said the government understands the difficulty of easily identifying funding specifics in the estimate documents. Referring to the PBO report, Jean-Luc Ferland said it "is emblematic of the confusion the main estimates create year after year."

Ferland said the Liberals hope to clean up the process soon, and the PBO report presses the government to do so quickly and release one budget document outlining all spending for the year.

The parliamentary budget officer reported the main spending estimates for the next 12 months were supposed to include some $8 billion in new infrastructure spending, but Jean-Denis Frechette said the documents only show $5.5 billion in infrastructure allocations.

The $8 billion figure included an extra $700 million the government added in the fall into the infrastructure pot for the next 12 months  an amount the Liberals said wasn't in the estimates.

Even then, Frechette said, the government promoted the spending plans as including more than $7 billion in new infrastructure funding. "However, it is challenging to reconcile this statement with the figures presented in the document," the report said.

Frechette's report lists multiple reasons for the missing $2.5 billion, including that the Liberals may defer some intended spending to future years, or that the spending estimates themselves are presented in such a complicated way that Frechette's office couldn't find the money.

The Liberals disputed some of the PBO's findings. For instance, Ferland said the estimates contained $1.2 billion in allocations for social infrastructure, while the PBO found $251 million.

The lack of federal spending doesn't mean money isn't being spent on projects. The federal government only reimburses cities and provinces for work once receipts are submitted, meaning there is usually a delay between construction work and funding flowing from the federal treasury. Just how much has been spent to date is unclear.
Photo: Twitter

A Florida judge has denied a "'stand your ground" defence for a retired Florida police officer who fatally shot a man in a movie theatre over texting.

Judge Susan Barthle ruled Friday that 74-year-old Curtis Reeves must stand trial in the death of 43-year-old Chad Oulson. Reeves is charged with second-degree murder.

Reeves said he shot Oulson after he was either punched or hit in the face with a cellphone. The judge said a videotape of the events that afternoon didn't support his testimony.

The incident happened in a movie theatre in a suburb north of Tampa, after the two men got into an argument because Oulson was texting his daughter's day care during the movie previews.

Reeves is free on bond.
Madison Erhardt

UPDATE: 5 p.m.

The jack-knifed truck has been cleared.

UPDATE: 12:40 p.m.

A jack-knifed truck is still sideways across the Coquihalla Connector near Brenda Mine.

However, it appears traffic is able to get around it, and DriveBC has not issued any travel advisories for the route.

Meanwhile, a heavy snowfall advisory for the Coquihalla has been lifted.

ORIGINAL: 10:45 a.m.

A jack-knifed truck is blocking eastbound lanes on the Coquihalla Connector.

An image from the DriveBC camera near Brenda Mines shows the truck across all lanes.

It appears the crash happened after 10 a.m. Friday.

Castanet will have more information as it becomes available.

Send photos and video to [email protected]
Photo: Google Street View

UPDATE 4 P.M.

One man is in custody following an early morning assault and subsequent standoff in Vancouver Friday.

Shortly before 5 a.m., police were called to 1516 Powell Street in relation to an alleged assault. Members of the Vancouver Police Emergency Response Team attended the scene and worked to negotiate the safe surrender of the suspect.

Shortly before 2 p.m., he exited his suite and was taken into custody without incident. The 39-year-old Vancouver man remains in custody, facing potential charges for assault.

Police in Vancouver are attempting to negotiate the safe surrender of a person suspected of an assault in East Vancouver.

Police were called to 1516 Powell Street just before 5 a.m. Friday morning, after an assault was reported in the area.

Members of the Vancouver Police Emergency Response Team are on the scene now, attempting to the negotiate with the suspect.

Police have closed Powell Street, between Woodland Drive and Commercial Drive, as the incident unfolds
Photo: The Canadian Press

A man accused in an alleged bomb threat against Muslim students at Concordia University has been granted bail.

Hisham Saadi, 47, faces three charges stemming from the March 1 incident: mischief, uttering threats and inciting fear of a terrorist-related attack.

A Quebec court judge handed down her bail ruling today at the Montreal courthouse and the case will resume April 20.

Two acquaintances of the accused will each have to put up $5,000 to secure his release.

Three university buildings in the downtown area were evacuated for several hours after Concordia received what it called bomb threats targeting Muslim students.

A police sweep of the buildings found no explosive devices.

He had been detained since his arrest the day after the incident.

The evidence and testimony presented at the bail hearing was subject to a publication ban.
Photo: Twitter

An United Nations agency has issued a warning about the environmental health of Canada's largest national park.

In a report released Friday, UNESCO says northern Alberta's Wood Buffalo National Park is threatened by energy development, hydro dams and poor management. It warns that unless the area is better cared for, the park will be added to the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger.

The report acknowledges that the overall condition of the vast park  bigger than the Netherlands  remains good. But it concludes there's no guarantee that will continue.

"There is long-standing, conceivable and consistent evidence of severe environmental and human health concerns based on both western science and local and indigenous knowledge," the report says.

UNESCO inspectors visited the park in September and October. They came at the urging of First Nations, who have long expressed concern about the cumulative effects on the Peace-Athabasca Delta of hydro projects in British Columbia, oilsands development in Alberta and climate change, which is already changing the landscape.

"The key issue is the declining water level," said Melody Lepine of the Mikisew Cree First Nation.

"There's mud flats everywhere and we just can't get out on the land. When you can't navigate on our river systems through our delta, it's preventing us from exercising our rights and passing on our culture."

Concerns about water levels go back to the construction of B.C. Hydro's Bennett Dam, built in the 1960s without environmental assessment. The assessment of the Site C dam, now under construction, stopped upstream of the delta.

Wood Buffalo National Park comprises 45,000 square kilometres that straddle the boundary between Alberta and the Northwest Territories. The park covers grasslands, wetlands and boreal forests laced with numerous rivers, creeks, lakes and ponds.

It is home to the world's only breeding ground for endangered whooping cranes as well as to the largest herd of free-ranging wood buffalo left anywhere. It is also the summer habitat and breeding ground for billions of boreal songbirds whose migration routes spread throughout the continent.

It became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1983.
Photo: Unifor

A union representing staff in two B.C. newsrooms says it will fight Postmedia's plan to lay off 54 employees.

Postmedia spokeswoman Phyllise Gelfand said staff losing their jobs at the Vancouver Sun and the Province will stop working about one month from now. The company will give notice to the employees over the next two weeks, Gelfand said.

Unifor Local 2000, which represents the 54 employees, said in a statement it anticipated more cuts from the struggling newspaper chain and will challenge the layoffs. The union will contact members about their legal strategy.

Postmedia failed to reach a target set last fall to reduce its salary costs by 20 per cent. Since then it has issued layoff notices to some employees at the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette and the Windsor Star.

Unifor Local 2000 president Brian Gibson said in a statement they've received no explanation why five Postmedia executives received bonuses totalling $2.275 million last year, while employees are being laid off.

Postmedia's president and CEO Paul Godfrey, who was awarded $900,000, has previously defended the retention bonuses for giving investors faith that a strong team will remain to lead the company's debt restructuring plan.

Since the bonuses were announced, two of the five executives have left Postmedia.
Photo: The Canadian Press

An Alberta woman who drugged and killed her nine-year-old daughter has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance at parole for 18 years.

Laura Coward faced an automatic life sentence after she pleaded guilty in a Calgary courtroom last month to the second-degree murder of Amber Lucius.

But it was up to Court of Queen's Bench Scott Brooker to decide how long she'd have to wait before being able to seek parole.

The judge said it was "the ultimate betrayal for Ms. Coward to kill her own daughter."

Coward deserved credit for the guilty plea and her apparent remorse, Brooker said.

But he added that the killing was vile, random and senseless and appeared to have been revenge against Coward's former husband.

Court documents described a bitter divorce between Coward and Duane Lucius. A custody tug-of-war over their daughter had continued up until the girl was found dead.

Amber was reported missing in August 2014 and her mother was arrested two days later near Sundre in west-central Alberta. She was standing outside a burned truck in which her daughter's body was discovered.

Court earlier heard that Coward had had Amber for the weekend and, on a trip to a remote area, gave her a toxic but non-lethal dose of a prescription sleeping medication. She mistakenly thought Amber was dead and filled the truck  while Amber was unconscious inside  with paper and plastic totes before setting it on fire with a propane torch and closing the door.

A police officer who came upon the burned vehicle saw a handwritten note on the outside of the driver's door that read: "Help me. It was an accident. Locked keys in.''
Photo: Contributed

A Halifax-area man has been charged with sexually exploiting a disabled child after Nova Scotia RCMP were tipped off about child pornography found on the Internet.

Cpl. Dal Hutchinson said the victim is getting needed medical attention and support.

"Unfortunately, it's a very disturbing case," said Hutchinson.

"When you see charges in relation to child porn, coupled with sexual assault and sexual interference, that's disturbing, and the victim in this case will (have) their needs met through medical attention and support system for them and their family."

A 34-year-old Timberlea man faces seven charges.

Hutchinson said a police agency elsewhere in Canada told the Integrated Internet Child Exploitation unit on Tuesday that a child porn victim may be in the Halifax area.

The unit executed a search warrant at a Timberlea home, and arrested the man without incident.

He was to appear in court Friday afternoon on charges he made, possessed and made available child pornography, as well as sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual exploitation of a person with a disability.
Photo: The Canadian Press U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, centre

Canada and the United States have resolved to gather the "hard facts" about a recent influx of would-be refugees into Canada, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Friday after a meeting with his American counterpart.

"The critical thing is to make sure that we have a complete and detailed picture on both sides of the border about what exactly is happening here," Goodale said.

"This is still relatively early in the process."

Goodale and other cabinet members met U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly in Ottawa to talk about the border, trade and justice issues.

Kelly is the first member of President Donald Trump's cabinet to visit Canada, underscoring the importance each country places on continental security and policing issues.

Earlier this week, Goodale said he would use the meeting to press Kelly for information on the risky movement of migrants into Canada in the dead of winter.

On Friday, Goodale made it clear there are still many questions.

"Who are the people who are involved in this migration? Where did their journey begin from?" he said. "How long have they been in or transiting through the United States?"

The recent surge of newcomers is just one of several thorny border-related issues.

The Nexus trusted-traveller cards of about 200 Canadian permanent residents were suddenly cancelled after Trump issued an initial executive immigration order banning visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

A revised but largely similar version of the order was introduced this week after the first one ran into judicial roadblocks.

There have also been several recent reports about minorities being turned away at the U.S. border.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Cars with no steering wheel, no pedals and nobody at all inside could be driving themselves on California roads by the end of the year, under proposed new state rules that would give a powerful boost to the fast-developing technology.

For the past several years, tech companies and automakers have been testing self-driving cars on the open road in California. But regulators insisted that those vehicles have steering wheels, foot controls and human backup drivers who could take over in an emergency.

On Friday, the state Department of Motor Vehicles proposed regulations that would open the way for truly driverless cars.

Under the rules, road-testing of such vehicles could begin by the end of 2017, and a limited number could become available to customers as early as 2018  provided the federal government gives the necessary permission.

Currently, federal automobile standards require steering wheels, though Washington has shown a desire to encourage self-driving technology.

While a few other states have permitted such testing, this is a major step forward for the industry, given California's size as the most populous state, its clout as the nation's biggest car market and its longtime role as a cultural trendsetter.

The proposed regulations also amount to the most detailed regulatory framework of any state.

"California has taken a big step. This is exciting," said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who tracks government policy on self-driving cars.

The rules are subject to a public hearing and a comment period and could change. Regulators hope to put them in effect by December.
Update: The Southeast District Major Crime Unit have made an arrest in the homicide of a 47 year old male that happened in Kimberley B.C. Friday, March 8.

The subjects 37 year old girl friend has been arrested and is currently being held in custody pending a court appearance.

The investigation is still in the early stages and police have not confirmed the cause of death.

Police would like to assure the public this is not a random act.

Southeast District Major Crime Section along with the BC Coroners Service is investigating a suspicious death in Kimberley.

Photo: Contributed

On March 8, RCMP were called to a residence in Marysville (suburb of Kimberley), upon attendance they located a deceased male. The death appeared suspicious and as such the investigators secured the scene and requested the assistance of major crime.

This investigation is in the early stages as police are still gathering information to determine what happened stated Cpl Chris Newel of the Kimberley RCMP.

Further information is not available at this time; however, when new information is available an updated release may be distributed.
If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,...
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

United States Embassy Harare has expressed concerns over the government's failure to give leads or recover the democracy activist Itai Dzamara who was abducted in Harare two years ago.The USA said March 9th, marks the second anniversary of the disappearance of Itai Dzamara, Zimbabwean civil society activist and leader of Occupy Africa Unity Square."On this day two years ago, Dzamara was forced into an unmarked vehicle and has not been heard from since. The United States remains deeply concerned about Mr. Dzamara's whereabouts and wellbeing. The lack of progress in this case raises doubts about the intention of the authorities responsible for the investigation," said the USA embassy in a statement."We once again call on Zimbabwean authorities to show their commitment to protecting the constitutionally-guaranteed human rights of all Zimbabweans, regardless of political beliefs or affiliation. We again call on Zimbabwean authorities to mobilize the full extent of their resources to investigate the circumstances surrounding Dzamara's abduction, and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice."The Embassy said this is not an issue of politics."This is an issue of basic human rights and rule of law. All citizens of Zimbabwe have the right to life and personal liberty, the right to participate in peaceful political activities, including the right to demonstrate and petition peacefully, and the right to express themselves freely and without repercussion. We stand together with . Dzamara, the Dzamara family and the people of Zimbabwe in demanding resolution in this case and in supporting their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly," said the embassy.
News / National

by Staff reporter

AN ex-soldier has been arrested for stealing ammunition during his term of service in the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), unlawful possession of camouflage uniform and allegedly impersonating a Criminal Intelligence Officer.Nicholas Ngwenya (44) of Cowdray Park Suburb in Bulawayo allegedly used a fake security agent's identification card to gain access to the VVIP tent during the 21st February Movement celebrations that were held in Matobo on February 25.Ngwenya was convicted on his own plea of guilty to stealing ammunition and unlawful possession of a camouflage uniform by Plumtree magistrate Mr Taurai Mawere.He denied charges of impersonating a security agent but was fined $200 (or 60 days imprisonment in case of default) for theft and unlawful possession of camouflage material and ammunition.Ngwenya was remanded to March 22 for trial on $100 bail for allegedly impersonating a state agent after the State applied for separation of records.Prosecuting, Mr Stanley Chinyanganya said Ngwenya impersonated a security officer during the 21st celebrations. He said police detectives conducted a search at his home on the following day and discovered that he had a camouflage uniform and ammunition."On 25 February there was a belated 21st February movement celebration at Matopo Research Station. At around 2PM Ngwenya, who was also in the same venue, was approached by state security agents who realised that he was behaving suspiciously while at the VVIP tent."He was questioned and alleged that he was a Major in the Zimbabwe National Army," said Mr Chinyanganya.He said security agents searched Ngwenya him and found a President's Department identity card in his pocket.Mr Chinyanganya said security agents scrutinised the card and established that Ngwenya had affixed his photograph and wrote his name on an identity card belonging to one Mr Francis Mkangwariwa.Mr Chinyanganya said Ngwenya was immediately arrested."On 26 February, detectives from Plumtree Police Station carried out a search at Ngwenya's house in Cowdray Park Suburb in Bulawayo where they found a camouflage uniform."The detectives also recovered 15 by 9mm live rounds of ammunition, one by 7,62 mm live round of ammunition and one live round of ammunition of an unknown calibre hidden in his wardrobe," he said
UK: Hanson to invest GBP20m in new cement mill

10 March 2017

Hanson Cement plans to build a new finish mill at Padeswood cement plant in Flintshire, UK, that would secure around 100 jobs, reports Daily Post Wales.



The company currently has four cement mills at the plant, but a scoping and screening opinion request has been submitted with Flintshire Council for the new mil project. The proposed large modern mill is expected to replace the four existing mills and enable the works to grind a larger volume of clinker than is currently the case. The company said it will be a fully-enclosed mill with the latest extraction technology.

Following successful completion of the project and increasing output levels, Hanson plans to re-establish the rail link with the plant. This will enable the cement producer to extend its market reach to London.

A Hanson spokesman said: "The combined cost of both investments would be around GBP20m which shows the commitment that Hanson has to this site.



"At the moment the mills can deal with 60 per cent of the clinker produced and the rest is sent off-site. The new mill would be able to process all of the clinker," added the company spokesperson.





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Irish Cement granted permission for Limerick plans

10 March 2017

Limerick City and County Council has granted Irish Cement planning permission for an extension to its facility in Mungret.

A spokesperson for the local authority stated permission for the development has been granted subject to 16 conditions, which were not fully disclosed.

Published under
Zimbabwe: PPC capacity utilisation less than ideal

ICR Newsroom By 10 March 2017

The managing director of PPC Zimbabwe, Kelibone Masiyane, has admitted that his firms capacity utilisation is less than ideal due to the downturn in the countrys economy, the Chronicle writes.

Mr Masiyane said that reduced economic activity had led to a drop in demand for PPCs output but insisted that conditions would improve in the short- to medium term.

In November PPC Zimbabwe expanded its capacity in the country with the opening of a new grinding plant in Harare.

Published under
For John Morgan, a career in education was a natural fit. The director of educational technology grew up inspired by his mother, stepfather and grandfather, who also dedicated their lives to enriching students experiences. Today Morgan is impacting the minds of students and teachers through technology at Capistrano Unified School District in Southern California.He graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in chemical education, then taught chemistry in Edgewood, Md., before moving with his wife to Southern California to continue teaching. Morgan perfected the art of teaching science to students who hated it.But his natural ability to teach others was not the only thing that set Morgan apart as a technology leader. His approach to teaching a group of students is centered on individualized learning. The father of four said that he realized his children  ages 6, 9, 17 and 19  all require different learning tools.When you get to a certain number of kids, you start to realize that none of them learn the same, he said. At the same time, theres no reason one of them should not be successful. I think education technology allows you to differentiate for that.Morgan said he does not want to be the smartest person in the classroom  even as the teacher. The smartest people in the classroom should be the students. But they need technology tools to help expose them to knowledge outside of school and help them discover their genius.During his time in the classroom, Morgan constantly requested new technology from his principal. At the same time, the districts Chief Technology Officer Jeremy Davis was looking for 25 teachers to pilot Chromebooks in classrooms. Morgan made the short list.A chemistry class wasnt my first choice, Davis said. But the principal said, We know the chemistry department will ensure that they get used. John made an impression.About 20 months ago Davis appointed Morgan as the districts director of educational technology. Teachers can look to Morgans efforts during his teaching career as proof that it doesnt require a technology genius to make new tools a success in the classroom.When Morgan took on the technology leadership role, he helped to expand the districts Chromebook program to 24,000 devices. He modified what was formerly a three-day training for teachers, retained the most important elements and developed a two-day training. Davis said the district and teachers benefit from having someone in this role who came straight out of the classroom.He understands what the teachers need, and he understands if we are putting too much on them, Davis said. Hes very rational and looks at how we can make things better.For example, Morgan revamped the districts Digital Literacy Teacher program. Before the overhaul, teachers would express interest in learning some type of technology. Then the education technologists would show teachers a host of different tools, hoping that some of them would stick. Teachers left the training exhausted, their minds spinning with all the tool choices for each lesson.Morgan couldnt stand that, so he worked with two other staff members to get rid of most of the tech tools and simplified the program. Together, they developed a lesson study model in which teachers work collaboratively in cohorts at their schools. It begins with the principal at each school identifying a math teacher, science teacher, social science teacher and English teacher. During the first school semester, Morgans team conducts one technology lesson study with this group and then checks in with them throughout the semester.During the second semester, those four teachers regroup and add three additional teachers from each subject area to the cohort. With more collaborators, the cohorts develop four to five lessons apiece and share with one another. Over a year and a half, most of the staff members at the districts middle schools completed the program, totaling 20 schools where teams of teachers are confidently changing education for the better.I couldnt care less if were using the most innovative tools, Morgan said. Its about the innovative teaching practice. If you try to show someone some technology, theyll say, You can do it because youre the tech people. In order to get anything to stick, we cant just be the best at technology  we have to be the best teachers.Its this kind of outside-the-box thinking that caught the attention of Jeremy Shorr, director of technology innovation and early childhood education for the Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM. After interacting on Twitter, Shorr and Morgan met in person at the Center for Digital Educations 2015 Digital Education Leadership Conversation, where they facilitated a discussion.Morgan has a way of making it easy for superintendents to learn about new ideas without feeling threatened or scared, Shorr said. And he also created a challenge for teachers so they could stay focused on instructional methods. For example, teachers could think of a tool such as Google Docs and come up with 100 methods to use that technology to support learning. After teachers narrow down that list of 100 possibilities, Morgan and his team support the teachers in implementation.What I love about John and his approach is that he and his district are really tightly focused on instructional experience first, Shorr said. That comes in a) not buying stuff until you figure out that theres a hole and that a certain piece of technology could fill it; and b) taking the tools that teachers are already comfortable using.Davis, who in addition to being Morgans boss is also his friend, shared Shorrs sentiment about using technology to support education. He said that he and Morgan do not implement technology for the sake of introducing another piece of equipment; instead technology is introduced to enhance teaching.From Morgans point of view, theres no such thing as a technology lesson or a technology standard. It is 100 percent intertwined and integrated, which lets the teachers be awesome and lets the students learn amazing things.
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Robert Mugabe last week splurged more than US$1 million when he chartered an ultra-luxurious Boeing 767-200 Extended Range Aircraft to Singapore and Ghana at a time government is struggling to raise salaries for its civil servants as well as rescue flood victims.Investigations revealed that Mugabe chartered the 767 Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), registration P4-CLA, flight number CXB767 from March 1 until March 6 and paid more than US$1 million.The aircraft is operated by Bahrain offices of the Swiss based VIP charter service firm Comlux Aviation.Mugabe has been forced to hire a private jet for his recent overseas travels. This comes after the poorly-performing national carrier, Air Zimbabwe, failed to complete the servicing of its planes, which Mugabe uses, and which are undergoing mandatory maintenance checks.Media sources said that Mugabe is currently leasing a private jet from Bahrain, which he used to travel to Singapore last week for his medical check-up, as well as for his trip to Ghana, where he was among dignitaries at the West African country's 60th independence celebrations.Transport minister Joram Gumbo confirmed the less than ideal situation, while also moving to underplay the gravity of the situation."Our planes are on mandatory inspection. They are grounded and cannot do long-haul trips," Gumbo said, adding: "But there is nothing unusual here. We normally hire from South Africa whenever there is a need. Yes, the one you are talking about, we hired it from Bahrain. We do it every time. I don't know why it's news."Air Zim's old fleet comprises two Boeing 767s, three 737s, three MA60s and two Airbus A320s. However, only four of those are flying: one airbus, one Boeing 767, one 737 and an MA60.The debt-ridden flag carrier, which is said to be losing up to $3 million a month, is saddled with a $300 million declared debt.The national carrier has also over the past three decades struggled to shake off claims of corruption and ineptitude, which has led to the dismissals of several of its boards and senior managers.
News / National

by Staff reporter

FOR nine years, Salome Laka believed her man when he said his 4-5 wasn't working.Then a few weeks ago, the 43-year-old wife made a shocking discovery.Her man's 4-5 was, in fact, working like a well-oiled machine, but only with another woman!And, claimed Salome, he had even made his small house pregnant. Heartbroken Salome - who is from Tladistad, North West - said what saddened her most was that her husband didn't even show remorse for what he did."I have been good to this man. I stayed in this sexless marriage trying to build it, yet this is what I get in return," said Salome."He admitted to having an affair with the woman, but doesn't want to come clean whether he maintains a child or not."I have been a fool for love and I don't have children because of him."He didn't ever tell me when his 4-5 was up so we could try making our own baby. What is a marriage without kids?"Salome said she suspected the small house was using muthi on her husband to make his 4-5 work."Why should his 4-5 work on her but not on me? I don't know what to do."I have tried to take my husband to sangomas for help with his erection, but his 4-5 remained weak."I took a vow that I'd stay in this marriage, even when things were tough. He should have told me he wasn't interested in indulging in sex with me."Husband Kgowa Laka admitted to being in a relationship with another woman, but denied fathering a child."I won't listen to nonsense like that," he said, before hanging up.Daily Sun spoke to small house Francina Selowa, who said Salome should get a life. "She's going around saying nasty things about me," Selowa said.I'll make her pay."
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More information is provided at www.passagewayschattanooga. com/passageways It was created in Chattanooga by Brooklyn, New York artists Jennifer Hiser, Carson Smuts and Noa Younse.

AIA Tennessee and River City Company presents Neural Alley, at 721 Broad Street. It represents the interplay of analog and digital processes that support a collective narrative. In the alley, a pixelated image of painted blocks appear on each wall, one of the Tennessee River pre-dam network and one after. One can move the blocks to create their own narrative that will be digitally captured throughout Neural Alley's existence.
Cleveland State Community College had two students named to the 2016 Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) All-Tennessee Academic Team. Paula Haslam and Brianna Riley were two of 26 of the states highest achieving college students recently honored and presented with a medallion at the 20th Recognition Ceremony of the PTK All-Tennessee Academic Team.

Many of this years 26 nominees were accompanied by their local state senators and representatives. The honorees include students pursuing a variety of degrees and careers, including aerospace engineering, nursing, law, chemistry, communications and business. Most intend to transfer to four-year universities to continue their educations.

The All-Tennessee Academic Team is comprised of students nominated by their colleges to be considered for the All-USA Academic Team, sponsored by USA Today and PTK International Honor Society. Each of the states 13 community colleges selects two outstanding students to recognize for their academic achievement, leadership and service to the community.

Brianna Riley and Paula Haslam were selected from over 20 applicants to represent Cleveland State on the All-Tennessee Academic Team, stated Omega Omicron Phi Theta Kappa Advisor and Faculty Scholar Karen Dale. These two, along with Mikaela Broling and Hunter Torbett will also advance in the Coca-Cola Scholars competition and will be considered for the All-USA Academic Team, sponsored by USA Today and Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society.

Paula Haslam is a pre-health professions major and plans to transfer to either Maryville College or Lipscomb University to continue her education. In addition to being President of the Cleveland State Chemistry Society and a Chemistry tutor, she also has a 4.0 GPA. In her spare time, she enjoys working out, swimming and lifting weights. She is the daughter of Natalie Haslam Hope and Johnny Hope of Athens.



I feel blessed to have been chosen for the All State Academic Team, stated Haslam. It is a high recognition I do not take for granted. PTK has opened doors for opportunity, scholarship, travel and friendships. It is the best honor society I have ever been involved with, and I will continue to stay involved throughout my college career.

Brianna Riley is a General Transfer major and plans to transfer to Middle Tennessee State University and major in Music Business. In addition to being President of the CSCC Curtain Call Society, she is also a member of Vocal Rhapsody and a Presidential Honors student with a 3.9 GPA. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and singing. She is the daughter of Scott and Wendy Riley of Athens.



I feel honored to have been chosen, stated Riley. Because I am not originally from Tennessee, I was not familiar with the history of Tennessee, so the tour of the Capitol building was very educational. I also enjoyed getting to have lunch with Representatives Kevin Brooks and Dan Howell, Senator Mike Bell and our President, Dr. Bill Seymour.



Dale continued, The All-Academic team recognizes students for their academic achievement, leadership and service to the community. Paula and Brianna are excellent servant leaders, filled with compassion for others. They have left a positive impact on all who meet them, and I am certain that both will be successful throughout life.
Throughout the month of February, Lee University hosted a series discussing the current topic of refugees in America, Unsheltered: A Christian Response to the Refugee Crisis. The university did not shy away from the volatile discussion but instead invited members of the community and the campus to reexamine their opinions and acquire knowledge on the subject in a safe environment.

I was overwhelmed by the success of this event, said Dr. Carolyn Dirksen, distinguished professor and director of faculty development at Lee. The lecture hall was filled to capacity for most of the sessions, and it is very encouraging that students and townspeople alike are interested in this significant crisis.

Drs. Carolyn and Murl Dirksen facilitated the five-part series, while Lee alumna Erin Williamson, who had previously spent time in Egypt working with refugees, had the vision for this event. Williamson said she hoped to take students on a journey from conflict to host countries to resettlement without ever needing to leave campus.

The series began with Lee religion professor Dr. Michael Fuller offering his idea of how a Christian should respond to the refugee discussion. He challenged attendees to make sure they did not believe the lives of Christians to be more important than those of the non-Christian.

Chelsea Markham Lyle followed Dr. Fuller and discussed the regulations and red-tape refugees have to follow before they are admitted to the United States. Ms. Lyle aimed to clear misconceptions about who refugees are and what processes they have to go through in order to be allowed admittance to different countries. She outlined the extensive background checks, fingerprint checks, iris scans, and the multiple interviews, among other things that refugees have to go through.

According to Ms. Lyle, this process can take several years.

The next installment of the series featured the Frontline documentary Exodus which follows various refugees and immigrants who are desperate to find safety. After the showing, a panel of Lee professors discussed the movie and continued to clarify misunderstandings on the topic.

Dr. Augustin Bocco, a Tennessee Wesleyan University professor and Lee alumnus, spoke about his experience of seeking asylum in the United States. The West African native shared his story of coming to the U.S. in order to escape a country of political turmoil and unrest, and his journey from arrival to thriving.

There is some honest fear and honest concern, said Dr. Bocco. It is real. I recognize that. But many refugees and asylees are just like us. They just want to see a better life.

Several students who have had the opportunity to work with refugees followed Dr. Bocco and spoke on their experiences.

I hope those who attended took away a better understanding of the dimensions of this crisis and of what we can do to help, said Dr. Carolyn Dirksen. We tried to introduce some real refugees to tell their individual stories to personalize the masses of statistics and to clarify the intense vetting process that these vulnerable families already go through. 

The President of the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga Bassam Issa spoke at one of the "Unsheltered sessions. He urged audience members to reconsider the fear of the Islamic religion that is permeating the U.S. and reminded the crowd that Islam is a peaceful religion, and the radicals who promote violence are going against the Quran.



The evening also included several testimonials of refugees both at Lee University and from the Chattanooga area. The night closed with two speakers from the Adventist Muslim Friendship Association. Gabriela Phillips shared that the vision of the association is to foster relationships between religions.

The final installment in the series hosted representatives from Bridge Refugee Services of Chattanooga. Bridge is a non-profit that is committed to providing protection and assistance to refugees as they resettle, including arranging housing, food, and other supplies, in addition to offering classes on how to live in the U.S. and find opportunities for early employment.

For more information about the series, contact cdirksen@leeuniversity.edu.




In December 2015, Netflixs Making a Murderer captivated audiences with its chronicling of Steven Avery and Brendan Dasseys convictions in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach. The show not only sparked international interest in the case, it also led to some serious developments in Dassey and Averys respective fights for an appeal. From Dasseys overturned conviction to Averys hiring of a new lawyer, both parties have seen some major updates in their cases since the series debuted.

Given all thats happened since the first season of Making a Murderer aired, its no surprise that the series has already been renewed for a second season. As Season 2 promises to bring plenty of new revelations to viewers, its worth taking a look back at some of the headline-making events that have occurred since the shows premiere.

With that in mind, check out the following timeline of every important update thats happened since Season 1 first aired.

December 2015January 2016: A White House petition circulates

Shortly after the series debuted, a White House petition began circulating, seeking pardons for both Avery and Dassey. It reached 113,000 signatures by its January 19 deadline, making it eligible for an official White House review.

However, while the petition was able to gather the required number of signatures, further action wasnt taken. As an official response from the White House explained, President Barack Obama was constitutionally prohibited from pardoning Avery or Dassey, as both were convicted in state court.

Jan. 6, 2016: Avery gets a new lawyer

In early January 2016, Avery hired a new lawyer to oversee his case. Who landed the high-profile job? Kathleen T. Zellner of Zellner Law Firm in Downers Grove, Illinois. The attorney is known for her hand in helping to overturn 17 past convictions.

Her hiring was announced via a press release, which read, The Zellner Law Firm is looking forward to adding Mr. Avery to its long list of wrongful conviction exonerations.

Jan. 13, 2016: Averys ex-fiance speaks out



Jodi Stachowski, who was previously engaged to Avery and appeared in several episodes of Making a Murderer, called him a monster in a headline-making interview with HLN. Hes not innocent, Stachowski proclaimed in the interview, also claiming that she was never truly in love with Avery and even ate two boxes of rat poison just to get sent to the hospital to get away from him.

Stachowski also said that Avery sent her a threatening letter from prison and that she was motivated to speak out after seeing the reaction to Making a Murderer, which she refers to as a bunch of lies.

Jan. 23, 2016: Avery writes notes from prison

On January 23, Avery wrote a three-page letter from behind bars, reclaiming his innocence. The real killer is still out there, he wrote. Who is he stalking now? I am really innocent of this case and that is the truth!!! The truth will set me free!!!!!!! In the letter, he also addressed accusations made by Stachowski, who said she believed he is guilty and called him abusive.

A few days later, on January 29, Zellner tweeted a picture of another note from Avery (above), which read, To my supporters: I want every forensic test possible done because I am innocent.

Jan. 29, 2016: Protests erupt at the courthouse



In the early weeks after Making a Murderer debuted (from late December 2015 to early January 2016), Avery and Dasseys supporters began protesting outside the Manitowoc County Courthouse, where the two were previously convicted. In addition to drawing participants from out of state, the event was also viewed online via Periscope by hundreds more.



January 2016: Averys prosecutor announces tell-all

In late January 2016, Ken Kratz, the Wisconsin district attorney who prosecuted Avery and Dassey, announced hes writing a tell-all book about his involvement in the case. I believe somebody needs to stand up for the cops, the courts, and the victim by telling the truth and setting forth the vast amount of evidence proving Averys guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt, Kratz told The Wrap at the time.

The book, Avery: The Case Against Steven Avery and What Making a Murderer Gets Wrong, was published in February 2017.

March 2016: Talk of a potential new suspect arises

In a lengthy interview with Newsweek, Zellner said she has found a couple of alternative suspects  both of whom are other men who knew Halbach. We have a couple, Zellner said in the profile. Id say theres one, leading the pack by a lot. But I dont want to scare him off, I dont want him to run.

Aug. 12, 2016: Dasseys conviction is overturned

In a major break for his case, Dassey had his conviction overturned in August 2016. That month, Federal Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin granted Dasseys writ for a petition of habeas corpus, ruling his imprisonment as unlawful. In explaining his decision, Duffin deemed Dasseys confession to the murder as involuntary and also cited the misconduct of lawyer Len Kachinsky, which he called indefensible.

Aug. 26, 2016: Zellner files a motion for evidence

Weeks after Dasseys conviction is overturned, Zellner filed a motion demanding that physical evidence from Halbachs murder undergo more scientific testing that she claims didnt exist a decade ago during the trial. In the 45-page motion, the lawyer suggested that the tests will conclusively establish [Averys] innocence and that an alternate suspect will be revealed once she has the test results.

September 2016: State confirms appeal of Dasseys case

About a month after Dasseys conviction is overturned, the state of Wisconsin confirmed its plans to appeal the decision. After filing the notice of appeal in the U.S. District Court, Attorney General Brad Schimel released a statement saying, We believe the magistrate judges decision that Brendan Dasseys confession was coerced by investigators, and that no reasonable court could have concluded otherwise, is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law.

SeptemberOctober 2016: Avery gets engaged (again)  and then breaks it off

In fall of 2016, its revealed that Avery got engaged to Lynn Hartman, a legal secretary from Las Vegas. The two reportedly exchanged letters and dated for several months, although Hartman only visited Avery in prison once before announcing their wedding plans.

The engagement didnt last very long. In early October, Avery broke up with Hartman. According to a Facebook post written by Averys friend Sandra Greenman, he dumped Hartman because he believes she is a golddigger.

Oct. 34, 2016: Avery sits down with Dr. Phil



Dr. Phil aired a two-part interview with Avery and then fiance, Hartman. During the sit-down, Hartman described how she began writing to Avery earlier in the year and also discussed their first face-to-face meeting. Meanwhile, Avery phoned in from prison to again maintain his innocence in the Halbach murder. He also denied physically abusing Stachowski and gushed about his love for Hartman, although the two would break up just days later.

Nov. 16, 2016: Dassey is (briefly) ordered released

Just days before Thanksgiving, Duffin granted Dasseys motion for release, with the condition that he be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office. Under the motion, Dassey was expected to be sent home in time for the holiday, with the stipulation that he be unable to obtain a passport and only limited to travel in the courts Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Two days later, Attorney General Brad Schimel filed an emergency motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, seeking to stay Dasseys release. The motion was granted, meaning that Dassey will remain in prison pending the appeal of his overturned conviction.

Moments ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit granted the State of Wisconsins motion to stay U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffins order to release Mr. Brendan Dassey, Schimel said in a press release at the time. Mr. Dassey will remain in prison pending the outcome of the appeal.

Nov. 23, 2016: Judge orders new testing for Avery

About a week after Dassey is ordered to remain in prison for the time being, Avery received an update in his own case. A judge ordered new testing of the evidence used to convict him in the Halbach murder. Per USA Today, the prosecutors and the defense team signed a written agreement to begin independent scientific tests on several crucial pieces of evidence.

The move came in response to the filing Zellner first made in August 2016.

Feb. 1, 2017: Prisoner claims Avery confessed

In February 2017, a prisoner who served time with Avery claimed that the latter confessed to Halbachs murder while they were incarcerated together. Joseph Evans described the purported confession in a nine-page letter that was published in the Rockford Advocate. The letter claims that Avery described details of the crime to Evans while they were both housed in the same unit at the Wisconsin Secure Prison Facility.

Neither Averys attorney nor the Wisconsin Department of Justice commented on the matter.

June 2017: An appeals court affirms Dasseys overturned conviction ruling

In June 2017, a federal appeals court affirmed a judges ruling that overturned the murder conviction of Dassey. However, ruling doesnt necessarily mean Dassey will be freed from prison. The state can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or retry Dassey.

Oct. 3, 2017: Avery is denied a new trial

Avery was denied a new trial for the murder of Halbach due to insufficient evidence, according to ABC. In October 2017, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, Judge Angela Sutkiewicz ruled that, The defendant has failed to establish any grounds that would trigger the right to a new trial in the interests of justice. She added that no further consideration will be given to this issue.

Oct. 24, 2017: Lawyers say new evidence shows Halbach was alive after seeing Avery

To all the well wishers who hoped we were gone from SAs case: 54 pg. motion filed today with 20 new exhibits #DreamOn #MakingAMurderer  Kathleen Zellner (@ZellnerLaw) October 23, 2017

According to Newsweek, attorneys for Avery say they have explosive new evidence that could exonerate Avery and instead implicate his nephew, Dassey, in the murder of Halbach. Zellner, his defense attorney, filed a motion on Averys behalf on Oct. 23, 2017, asking a Wisconsin court to reconsider its previous decision to deny the defendant a new trial.

According to court documents, the 54-page motion argues Sheboygan County Judge Sutkiewicz dismissed the chance for a new trial based on manifest errors of law and fact and now asks the court to consider new evidence. Among this new evidence? Per Newsweek, the lawyers reportedly say they have proof that Halbach left Averys property alive and well on the day she died and that Dassey, whose testified against his uncle in the original trial, accessed images of Halbach, as well as other violent pornography and disturbing images of dead women.

Making a Murderer Season 2 has already started filming, although an official premiere date has yet to be announced.

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Catoosa County Citizens for Literacy and the Catoosa County Library announces it 2017 One Book, One Community project.

Community-wide reading, or One Book, programs are designed to promote the value of reading by that links the community in a common conversation, said CCL executive director Shirley Smith. The project encourages dialogue while fostering learning and the development of a strong community.

Launched in Seattle in 1998 with great success, the "One Book" concept has swept the nation, including such cities as Chicago, New York, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Houston. Catoosa County has participated for several years welcoming authors including Keith Robinson

The CCL selected the book A Badge or an Old Guitar by Ringgold author Randall Franks for its project.

This is such an endearing story of a small town police officer living in a town much like our own who accidentally finds himself reaching for the stars in Nashville, he said. Along the way he stumbles into a Music City murder mystery that brings the reader into the story awaiting the turn of each page to see what happens.

Readers can check out a copy of the book at the library, stop by the Catoosa County Learning Center or on the web at http://randallfranks.com/store and purchase a copy or purchase a download an e-book at www.Amazon.com/author/randallfranks/. Locally books are also available at Sonshine Christian Bookstore in Fort Oglethorpe, UnikTings!, Stuff 4 Less, and Cottage Treasures in Ringgold.

Join your neighbors in the adventure of reading and become part of the experience of one book, one community, said Ms. Smith.

How to participate:



Read the book;

Engage with other readers on Twitter (@RandallFranks) and on Facebook at either Catoosa Citizens for Literacy or Randall Franks - A Badge or an Old Guitar;

Start a conversation; and

Attend CCL and Catoosa County Library One Book One Community night with author Randall Franks on Tuesday, April 25, at 6 p.m.

About the Book:

Former NBC and CBS star Randall Franks, best known for his role as "Officer Randy Goode" on TV's "In the Heat of the Night" and as a country music personality, combines his love of murder mysteries and music in "A Badge or an Old Guitar." Big-hearted small-town police officer James Randall from McKinney, Georgia, finds his job in peril when Chief Roy Wilkes is forced to suspend him after he protects an abused boy from his malicious father. While contemplating his circumstance, a country song he records, Is There More to Life Than This, opens an unlikely pathway to stardom; but even that route becomes rocky when he is charged with murdering Nashvilles biggest producer, Tony Grayson. As he struggles to choose between the police path or that of country crooner, a band of allies joins in. Newly practicing attorney Ruby Ann Wilkes, seasoned private-eye Jacob Marley, and intuitive adoptive uncle Joe Benton work to outwit police detective Patrick OShields to prove Randall's innocence  and help him regain the confidence that has been erased by a lifetime of loss.
The Oscars are regarded as the highest honor anyone in the film industry can achieve and out of all the awards, Best Picture is regarded as the most important award to win. However, not all Best Picture winners are remembered as being the best movie of the year. After all, How Green Was My Valley won over Citizen Kane in 1942.

So when did the Academy Awards get the Best Picture right? And which ones should people actually see? We decided to narrow it down! Here are 25 Best Picture winners that are actually worth watching and have stood the test of time.

1. The Godfather

This movie is often referred to as one of the best movies ever made. It tells the story of a patriarch, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) who is aging and his son, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) who is reluctantly taking over the family crime business.

Marlon Brando looks unrecognizable in the role because the actor wanted his character to look like a bulldog, and so he wore a mouthpiece for the role. He gives a stunning performance even though he didnt memorize his lines and was actually reading from cue cards throughout most of the movie.

The Godfather won Oscar awards for Best Picture, Best Lead Actor for Marlon Brando, and Best Screenplay. The movie is just as relevant today as it was when it was released. Its definitely in the pop culture canon, and therefore, should be seen.



2. The Godfather: Part II

It would be hard to believe that anyone who watched The Godfather would stop at the first movie. But just in case, we have to recommend the sequel. In the film, Michael Corleone expands his power over the family business. We also get flashbacks to Vito Corleones time in Italy and his rise to power. The movie actually took home more Oscars than the first film, winning six including one for Robert De Niro.

3. The Silence of the Lambs

The thriller shows FBI cadet, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) trying to find a killer by getting help from an incarcerated serial killer. Its not often that a thriller is able to get Oscar attention, let alone take home the big win. But this thriller stood out for its amazing performances from Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.



4. Gone with the Wind

The film adaptation of the book showed Scarlett OHara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) falling in love during the Civil War. However, their relationship is pretty turbulent. OHaras family owns a cotton plantation in Georgia, so their situation drastically changes during the Reconstruction period. The movie shows how the South changed and how that impacts our two main characters.

Gone with the Wind won eight Academy Awards and made Oscar history in 1940. It had a strong cast who were nominated for multiple Academy Awards, but only Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel were able to take one home.

Hattie McDaniel played Mammy, and she was the first black person to win an Academy Award. McDaniel certainly stood out in the film and deserved the win, however, the role pigeonholed her into stereotypical maid acting roles following Gone with the Wind.

This movie is definitely one that should be seen given the great script, which is still quoted to this day. The Technicolor also holds up and its a beautiful movie visually. While other Best Picture winners have been long forgotten, this film is at the forefront of many movie-lovers minds.

5. Casablanca

The classic movie shows two former lovers being reunited at Casablanca during World War II. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) has to choose between the woman he loves, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) or helping her escape with her husband who is fighting against the Nazis. In addition to Best Picture, the movie won Best Director and Best Screenplay in 1944.

Casablanca is great given how beautiful it is visually and how well its written. Its also a clever metaphor for America deciding whether it should get involved in World War II. This is another Best Picture winner that holds up and is fondly remembered after all these years.



6. On the Waterfront

As a mob boss, Johnny Friendlys crimes start getting dug up and washed up boxer, Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) has to decide whether he wants to help take him down. Brando is often remembered for his work in The Godfather saga, but you should see his acting roles before that series.

The movie won eight Oscars including one for Brando for best actor. This is also a movie that is often quoted in pop culture, with I coulda been a contender. The movie is actually an allegory for the red scare and the trend of naming possible communists. Knowing that, makes the movie even more powerful.

7. West Side Story

The musical takes the story of Romeo and Juliet and updates it with warring gangs and a theme of race in New York City. This time, the romance is between Maria, the younger sister of Bernardo who leads the Puerto Rican gang, The Sharks, and Tony, who is a former member of the rival gang, The Jets.

The movie won 10 of the 11 Oscars it was nominated for in 1962. The music is great, and the story is timeless. Its also another Best Picture winner that didnt just disappear after it won.

8. In the Heat of the Night

Sidney Poitier plays the homicide detective, Virgil Tibbs who ends up working on a murder investigation in the Deep South. His work is made much more difficult, due to racism in the small town. This movie is certainly one of Poitiers best, but it was Rod Steiger who won the award for Best Actor in 1968.

The drama of the story will pull you in and the movie is still quoted with, They call me MISTER TIBBS! The movie was such a hit that it led to a television show starring Carroll OConnor.

9. Schindlers List

The Steven Spielberg movie tells the true story of Oskar Schindler who protected his Jewish workforce during World War II in German-occupied Poland. The movie is almost entirely in black and white, but it does use color at certain moments.

Its obvious how much work was put into capturing the experience of persecuted Jews in concentration camps along with Schindlers own experiences. The movie is certainly a masterpiece that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.

10. Slumdog Millionaire

The drama shows Jamal who is a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? While we follow his time on the show, we go into his past of being raised in the slums. The movie is truly unique and fun. Its one of the few romantic Best Picture winners that isnt an allegory for something else. Its just good storytelling that anyone can enjoy.

11. 12 Years a Slave

Solomon Northup was a real New York freeman who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the 1800s. The movie tells his heartbreaking story with the help of Northups own account for his experience in slavery. This movie stands out from other films that show the horrors of slavery because it is from the point of view of a real slave.

12 Years a Slave is visually stunning, due to the New Orleans setting and craftsmanship. However, it also has many horrifying moments due to the cruelty of the time. Lupita Nyongo won Best Supporting Actress and the film won Best Adapted Screenplay.

12. Moonlight

Moonlight tells the story of a young boy named Chiron, who is struggling to figure out his identity while growing up. The movie focuses on three parts of his life, touching on his identity and upbringing.

The movie is independent and therefore got less press than other Oscar nominees. But it made history by being the first movie with an all-black cast and an LGBT theme to win Best Picture. It is visually stunning and tells a touching story.

13. Platoon

A Vietnam soldier is caught between a good and evil sergeant. The movie is actually an autobiography for writer and director, Oliver Stone. Platoon truly tries to put you in the protagonists shoes and succeeds. It won four Oscars including Best Director, Best Sound, and Best Film Editing.

14. The Sound of Music

The musical stars Julie Andrews who plays a former nun who becomes a governess to the children of a Naval officer and widower. The movie is based on the true story of a family who ended up escaping Nazi Austria.

Andrews is enchanting in the role and the kids and everyone else in the film is surprisingly able to match her talent.

15. My Fair Lady

The musical follows a professor who makes a bet that the can turn a flower seller into a high society woman. Audrey Hepburn stars as Eliza Doolittle, who is a delightful character. The movie is a feast for the eyes given the elaborate costumes and sets. The movie often gets lost in the shuffle among other classic musicals, but this one shouldnt be missed.

16. Ben-Hur

The epic told the story of a Jewish prince who is betrayed and sold into slavery. The movie might not be as remembered as other Best Picture movies, but this film swept up 11 Oscars, which was a first. Its a long movie, but its worth it given its highly regarded craftsmanship.

17. Gentlemans Agreement

The movie shows a reporter who is pretending to be Jewish in order to write a story about anti-Semitism. Gregory Peck stars as the reporter. The 1948 Best Picture winner also won Best Director and Best Supporting Actress for Celeste Holm. People should definitely see this movie given that the premise is pretty unique and powerful.

18. The French Connection

The police drama shows cops coming across a drug smuggling job with a French connection, which is another change of pace for the Oscars. Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider play partners in the movie. The plot is thrilling and the movie is gritty. It ended up winning five Oscars.

19. The Deer Hunter

The movie shows the effects of the Vietnam War on American steelworkers. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep starred in the movie. The film is intense and won five Oscars including one for Walken for Best Supporting Actor.

20. Unforgiven

The Clint Eastwood Western is about a gunslinger who is going to do one last job. He goes on a mission to find the people who slashed a prostitutes face. Eastwoods William Bill Munny teams up with other men in order to bring the villain to justice.

The movie got Eastwood two Oscars, one for directing and the other for producing. Its certainly one of Eastwoods best movies and is, therefore, a must-watch.

21. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

The drama shows a criminal who goes to a mental institution after pleading insanity. He struggles to try to live in an institution that doesnt allow patients to have any freedom. The movie won five Oscars in 1976, which included an Oscar for both Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. The movie has an interesting plot, and youll be left trying to figure out what it all means in the end.

22. The Apartment

The movie is about a man who lets an executive use his apartment for trysts in hopes of moving up in the company. He ends up falling in love.

The movie stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Billy Wilder is a great filmmaker and therefore cant be left out in the Best Picture talk. The 1960 movie will have you laughing and enjoying what this period in Hollywood had to offer.

23. Annie Hall

Woody Allen churns out movies regularly, so he has a long resume. But this movie is often referred to as his best. The film shows a relationship between an aspiring actress and a TV writer. The movie is funny and heavy with dialogue. It also leaves you laughing and helps audiences remember why Allen is so highly regarded in the film industry.

24. All About Eve

Bette Davis is one of the greatest actresses of all time, and this is one of her best movies. She plays actress Margo Channing in the film, who comes across a fan named Eve, who she eventually thinks is trying to take over her life. The 1951 winner got six Oscars and is thought of as one of the best female-led pictures Hollywood has to offer.



25. Rocky

Sylvester Stallone has been in many terrible movies, but the one bright spot in his career is undoubtedly Rocky. The movie shows a small time boxer getting a chance to fight heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed. The movie is about underdogs in general, since Rocky also falls in love with a woman who is underestimated.

The movie has an iconic training montage, great music, and commonly used quotes. It won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. The film is definitely a change of pace when it comes to typical Best Picture winners and is probably more relatable to the average movie-watcher.

Follow Nicole Weaver on Twitter @nikkibernice.

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Princeton University researchers provided the theoretical understanding that led to the creation of time crystals being reported in the journal Nature March 9 by two groups of researchers based at Harvard University and the University of Maryland. Time crystals feature atoms and molecules arranged across space and time and are opening up entirely new ways to think about the nature of matter. The illustration above explains the difference between ordinary crystals (left) such as diamonds, quartz or ice and time crystals (right)

Time crystals may sound like something from science fiction, having more to do with time travel or Dr. Who. These strange materials  in which atoms and molecules are arranged across space and time  are in fact quite real, and are opening up entirely new ways to think about the nature of matter. They also eventually may help protect information in futuristic devices known as quantum computers.

Two groups of researchers based at Harvard University and the University of Maryland are reporting that they have successfully created time crystals using theories developed at Princeton University. The Harvard-based team included scientists from Princeton who played fundamental roles in working out the theoretical understanding that led to the creation of these exotic crystals.

"Our work discovered the essential physics of how time crystals function," said Shivaji Sondhi , a Princeton professor of physics . "What is more, this discovery builds on a set of developments at Princeton that gets at the issue of how we understand complex systems in and out of equilibrium, which is centrally important to how physicists explain the nature of the everyday world."

In 2015, Sondhi and colleagues including then-graduate student Vedika Khemani, who earned her Ph.D. at Princeton in 2016 and is now a junior fellow at Harvard, as well as collaborators Achilleas Lazarides and Roderich Moessner at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Germany, published the theoretical basis for how time crystals  at first considered impossible  could actually exist. Published in the journal Physics Review Letters in June 2016, the paper spurred conversations about how to build such crystals .

Ordinary crystals such as diamonds, quartz or ice are made up of molecules that spontaneously arrange into orderly three-dimensional patterns. The sodium and chlorine atoms in a crystal of salt, for example, are spaced at regular intervals, forming a hexagonal lattice.

In time crystals, however, atoms are arranged in patterns not only in space, but also in time. In addition to containing a pattern that repeats in space, time crystals contain a pattern that repeats over time. One way this could happen is that the atoms in the crystal move at a certain rate. Were a time crystal of ice to exist, all of the water molecules would vibrate at an identical frequency. What is more, the molecules would do this without any input from the outside world.

The concept of time crystals originated with physicist Frank Wilczek at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2012, the Nobel laureate and former Princeton faculty member was thinking about the similarities between space and time. In physics parlance, crystals are said to "break translational symmetry in space" because the atoms assemble into rigid patterns rather than being evenly spread out, as they are in a liquid or gas. Shouldn't there also be crystals that break translational symmetry in time?

"The atoms move in time, but instead of moving in a fluid or continuous way, they move in a periodic way," Sondhi said. "It was an interesting idea." It also was an idea that led to hot debates in the physics journals about whether such crystals could exist. The initial conclusion appeared to be that they could not, at least not in the settings Wilczek visualized.

Sondhi and Khemani were thinking about a completely different problem in 2015 when they worked out the theory of how time crystals could exist. They were exploring questions about how atoms and molecules settle down, or come to equilibrium, to form phases of matter such as solids, liquids and gases.

While it was common wisdom among physicists that all systems eventually settle down, work during the last decade or so had challenged that notion, specifically among atoms at very low temperatures where the rules of quantum physics apply. It was realized that there are systems that never go to equilibrium because of a phenomenon called "many-body localization," which occurs due to the behavior of many atoms in a disordered quantum system that are influencing each other.

Work in this area is a long Princeton tradition. The first and seminal concept of how quantum systems can be localized when they are disordered, called Anderson localization, stemmed from work by Philip Anderson , a Princeton professor and Nobel laureate, in 1958. This work was extended in 2006 to systems of many atoms by then Princeton professor Boris Altshuler, postdoctoral fellow Denis Basko, and Igor Aleiner of Columbia University.



While on sabbatical at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Germany, Sondhi and Khemani realized that these ideas about how to prevent systems from reaching equilibrium would enable the creation of time crystals. A system in equilibrium cannot be a time crystal, but non-equilibrium systems can be created by periodically poking, or "driving," a crystal by shining a laser on its atoms. To the researchers' surprise, their calculations revealed that periodically prodding atoms that were in non-equilibrium many-body localized phases would cause the atoms to move at a rate that was twice as slow  or twice the period  as the initial rate at which they were prodded.

To explain, Sondhi compared the driving of the quantum system to squeezing periodically on a sponge. "When you release the sponge, you expect it to resume its shape. Imagine now that it only resumes its shape after every second squeeze even though you are applying the same force each time. That is what our system does," he said.

Princeton postdoctoral researcher Curt von Keyserlingk, who contributed additional theoretical work with Khemani and Sondhi, said, "We explained how the time crystal systems lock into the persistent oscillations that signify a spontaneous breaking of time translation symmetry." Additional work by researchers at Microsoft's Station Q and the University of California-Berkeley led to further understanding of time crystals.



As a result of these theoretical studies, two groups of experimenters began attempting to build time crystals in the laboratory. The Harvard-based team, which included Khemani at Harvard and von Keyserlingk at Princeton, used an experimental setup that involved creating an artificial lattice in a synthetic diamond. A different approach at the University of Maryland used a chain of charged particles called ytterbium ions. Both teams have now published the work this week in Nature.

Both systems show the emergence of time crystalline behavior, said Christopher Monroe, a physicist who led the effort at the University of Maryland. "Although any applications for this work are far in the future, these experiments help us learn something about the inner workings of this very complex quantum state," he said.

The research may eventually lead to ideas about how to protect information in quantum computers, which can be disrupted by interference by the outside world. Many-body localization can protect quantum information, according to research published in 2013 by the Princeton team of David Huse , the Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics, as well as Sondhi and colleagues Rahul Nandkishore, Vadim Oganesyan and Arijeet Pal. The research also sheds light on ways to protect topological phases of matter, research for which Princeton's F. Duncan Haldane , the Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics, shared the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics .

Sondhi said that the work addresses some of the most fundamental questions about the nature of matter. "It was thought that if a system doesn't settle down and come to equilibrium, you couldn't really say that it is in a phase. It is a big deal when you can give a definition of a phase of matter when the matter is not in equilibrium," he said.

This out-of-equilibrium setting has enabled the realization of new and exciting phases of matter, according to Khemani. "The creation of time crystals has allowed us to add an entry into the catalog of possible orders in space-time, previously thought impossible," Khemani said.

The research at Princeton and the Max Planck Institute was supported by the National Science Foundation (grant no. 1311781), the John Templeton Foundation , the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Science Foundation 's Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize Programme.
Merry Anne Pierson, left, and Susan Thomas host a lineage workshop Merry Anne Pierson The Judge David Campbell Chapter lineage workshop The Judge David Campbell Chapter lineage workshop The Judge David Campbell Chapter lineage workshop The Judge David Campbell Chapter lineage workshop Previous Next

Judge David Campbell Chapter, NSDAR, Inc., held their meeting at the Residence Inn at Hamilton Place Wednesday. The focus of the meeting was a lineage workshop. Merry Anne Pierson, Tennessee State Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Research chairman, and Susan Thomas, JDCC registrar and NSDAR national vice president, presented the workshop, Playing Hide and Seek with Elusive Ancestors - Suggestions for Alternate Proof Sources.

Ms. Pierson and Ms. Thomas tag-teamed to provide members and guests with information. In support of the slide presentation, handouts included a lineage worksheet and an Application Documentation Checklist, along with a fan chart to assisting in navigating through the ancestor-maze to determine a revolutionary patriot. Ms. Pierson provided a sheet of hot tips from the TNDAR Lineage Research Committee with ways to look for ancestors who seemed to have disappeared from history. Another reference, Ask a Genie, are DAR members who love genealogical research and offer their time to prowl state archives and county courthouses sleuthing out ancestral relationships for other daughters.

For research at home, both Ms. Thomas and Ms. Pierson recommended using Familysearch.com as a resource to trace lineage, along with the DAR Genealogical Research System and Ancestry.com. Another suggested internet source was Google, which contains a storehouse of information on ancestry, but we were warned to be aware of family trees and family histories generated by family historians which often may contain erroneous information. In providing documentation for membership in the DAR, all sources normally must be government-issued birth certificates, marriages certificates, and death certificates for deceased ancestor; however, alternate sources to determine relationships of family members may be gained from unusual sources such as chancery court records, bastard bonds, wills, especially ones that have a love and affection transfer of property or legal notices in newspapers.

The workshop was followed by a luncheon and a short business session. To learn more about DAR, visit dar.org or email judgedavidcampbell@tndar.org.
She was my dad's - and all his siblings' - favorite aunt, living only a couple of miles away. She was born in 1858, two years before her brother, George, (my grandfather) was born, and she was best known in the family as "Aunt Sallie".

Her father was Enos Martin, the Confederate soldier, Justice of the Peace, and church elder I have already told you about, and her mother was Eliza Neal, whose family gave its name to Neal's Gap on nearby Pigeon Mountain. The city of Chattanooga was only 20 years old in her birth year.

It is doubtful, however, that Aunt Sallie ever visited our fair city, as women were needed to do every bit of the menial work at home - a chore that never ended. One can guess that she might have seen LaFayette, and Summerville - both fairly near, but these would have been quick day trips with family, and purely for shopping. In the age before automobiles, Chattanooga was too far away to visit by horse-drawn vehicles in a single day.

Aunt Sallie's neighborhood consisted largely of family, who lived mainly in the southwestern part of Walker County at the foot of Pigeon Mountain. She lived very near her grandfather's farm - obtained through one of the several Cherokee Land Lotteries of the early 1800's, as payment for his service in the War of 1812. Joshua Martin was the name, and he had married Sarah Shields, in Greene County, Ga., who was to become his life-long partner. Sarah was only 14 at the time, although such early marriages seem to have been approved of in those days. (My great-grandmother Smith was only 17).

Grandfather Joshua can be traced through many moves before finally settling on the newly available Walker County property. He would have been 42 years of age in 1836 when he realized he needed to settle at last and put down permanent roots. His "marriage" to the soil of Walker County became epic, and he made great success of his years spent there. His oldest son, Enos, had come with him as a teenager, along with Sarah. They created the absolute best of worlds for themselves while residing there, and welcomed many grandchildren - among them Sarah Caroline Martin.

Of the actual young lady (my dad's Aunt Sallie) I personally know very little. I can only surmise that she attended school and learned to read, write, and "cipher" sufficiently well to run a farm and be a good farmer's wife. We know that she indeed did live near her grandfather Joshua and knew him very well. They had undoubtedly had simple conversations, and she most likely never even thought about how she was talking with a man born in Napoleonic times - 15 years before Abraham Lincoln. (He was born during the second term of George Washington!) Sometimes I like to contemplate how when I talked with her as a child, I was connected for a few moments with our country's very earliest times! I wonder how many people living today can claim such a unique situation?

Anyway, Aunt Sallie Martin grew up and married John Thurman - a member of good standing in the Broomtown Valley community. I think (Great) Uncle John was a Methodist minister; if not, there were other such ministers in the Thurman family, to be sure. Sadly, Uncle John died long before I was born and I never knew him at all. He is the tall bearded man in the picture standing behind his mother-in-law, Sarah Neal Martin. Aunt Sallie and some of the children continued to live in the house, pictured here, after Uncle John's death, and I used to visit there as a very young child.

I loved going there because Aunt Sallie had one of those old-fashioned parlor organs with foot-pedals used to supply the air. I was absolutely fascinated by that instrument with its large array of "stops" which changed the pitch, or quality, of the notes. Of special interest was the "bass-coupler" stop that played the same note an octave lower! Wow! I still get pleasant shivers when I think of that pure, rich, but reedy, bass tone it made! Aunt Sallie appears there (in the picture) to the right of her husband, wearing her trademark white apron. The picture of her as an older lady finds her wearing another apron of about the same cut. This was normal for farm wives of the time, apparently, so they could consider themselves always to be "on duty". (I doubt that they wore their aprons to church, however!) This family group can be roughly dated by the ages of the two young people. They were a boy and a girl - twins - the boy at left center, and the girl on the extreme right. It was about 1905.

In reference to the two pictures of Aunt Sallie, I feel very fortunate that I can see her as still a rather young lady, and then as much older. In most of the family pictures I have, we see the subjects only as babies, or as old people, posing for their 80th birthday picture - gussied up, and not looking like themselves as everyday people. The resemblance to her mother, seated, is also of great interest.

Aunt Sallie's house is still standing there near the foot of Pigeon Mountain, and looks just the same as always. Uncle John's beehives are missing (they would have been off-camera and 'way to the left), and there is a modern driveway for automobiles (not seen). But I will wager that the same blue paint is still there on the porch ceiling - just as it was on the original house, and still intact about 1975 when I saw it last. As lovingly as it has been cared for through the years, one suspects that some of her family may still own it. It was on a parcel of land first claimed by Joshua Martin in 1836. Son Enos Martin inherited it and gave it to Aunt Sallie and Uncle John as a wedding gift. The "Harrisburg Gap" is plainly visible from its front porch - a prominent declivity and landmark in the mountain - visible for miles around. Aunt Sallie's dad, Enos, Grandfather Joshua, and my Grandfather George, are known to have gone through that gap to trade in the famous McLemore's Cove, just beyond, (at the lower end of Chattanooga Valley) following an ancient road first excavated by the Cherokee and the Creeks. By Aunt Sallie's time it had become a wagon road - and I suspect it may have been re-discovered by present-day mud bikers. Dunno. Anyway, there is a lot of history in that remote part of the county, folks, and I am happy to be able to share a bit of it here. I might also mention that the TAG Railroad tracks were not far away - built about 1890 - and when the whistle blew for "Hawkins" or "Harrisburg" it could make Aunt Sallie and Uncle John think about the great wide world which lay just beyond. Read more about it in John Wilson's comprehensive book on local railroads!

* * *

THE AUNT SALLIE I PERSONALLY REMEMBER was a "country girl" in every sense of the word. This means she was suspicious of city people and city ways. Her main contact with the city was through people like my dad who had gone to live there. Country people liked to keep themselves segregated from city folk - even when they came to town to shop. The Georgia people came to the southside of Chattanooga to shop, as the people from north Hamilton County came only to 6th Street to shop. Most of the businesses both north of 6th Street and south of (the (MLK) catered heavily to country people.These country folk were rarely found between 6th and 9th (now MLK) Streets , and would be easily identifiable by their "homespun", or very plain type of clothing.

Remember, Aunt Sallie grew up without most of the amenities we accept today as normal. She had no radio or TV. There was no Oprah or CNN to watch, and everything she knew about cities and city life was second-hand. Roads were muddy in north Georgia back then, and it was much easier to stay at home than to travel.Clearest memory I have of her was from shortly before her death in 1942, and it was a warning - an admonition - against the evils of "picture shows" and other such "city" things she knew nothing about. To be a "country" person in her day really meant "being apart" or separated from, the mainstream. But she was a lovable person who received much love in return...just as in this story I tell about her today.

(Chester Martin is a native Chattanoogan who is a talented painter as well as local historian. He and his wife, Pat, live in Brainerd. Mr. Martin can be reached at cymppm@comcast.net )




11/3/2022

The Sales Institute at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Gary W. Rollins College of Business is officially open for business. After more than two years in the planning, the Sales ... more
The Hunter Museum will present (Re)invention, an exhibition of art from 15 emerging young artists across the United States who are living with disabilities. Ranging in age from 16-25, the artists in this exhibition explore what it means to have a disability and yet resist being defined solely by it.

Through their art-making, they question common societal perceptions and expectations as well as discover a profound sense of self. As one artist says, Making art makes me who I am.

The exhibit opening at the Hunter Museum on Thursday at 6 p.m. features a talk by artist Kate Pincus-Whitney, whose work can be seen in (Re)Invention. The exhibit will be on view at the Hunter through May 21.

About (Re)invention:

Each artist presents a unique story through works that range from bold self portraits, to whimsical animation, to soft sculpture. Rather than allowing their disabilities to label them, the artists in this exhibition produce work that embodies the theme of re-invention, re-definition, and re-making. Each artist uses art to consider such identity-based topics as fragility, intimacy, isolation, race, gender, and the body.

Through their various artistic practices, these artists create new contexts that broaden our understanding of disability and foster a sense of inclusion and community.

(Re)Invention is the 15th exhibition presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of the VSA Emerging Young Artists Program, a Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program. The result of a longtime collaboration with Volkswagen Group of America, this national art competition and exhibition gives artists with disabilities the opportunity to display their work in venues across the nation.

Visiting Artist Bio:

Born and raised in southern California, Kate Pincus-Whitney celebrates portraiture and the theater of the dinner table in her narrative paintings and multi-media installations. Her art is informed by her experience of navigating the world with dyslexia and stereo-blindness: female forms, table scenes, food, patterns, color, and abstracted and misspelled words are recurring motifs woven into her work. Ms. Pincus-Whitney aims to synthesize social and political themes of identity with visual memory and personal histories. She sees herself as an artist anthropologist, following and celebrating the thread of women in her family history, depicting female strength, resilience, and creativity.

Ms. Pincus-Whitney is a 2016 graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, where she focused on visual and performance art. She is currently working as an artist, and divides her time between New York and California.

General admission to the Hunter Museum, including this special exhibition, is $15 for adults and free for youth 17 and under. As always, members are admitted free. To learn more about membership, visit www.huntermuseum.org/memberships.






Chattanooga Design Studio announced Friday that Eric Myers, a long-time Chattanooga LEED-accredited architect and urban designer, has been appointed executive director.

Im extremely excited to take on the tremendous opportunity of continuing to enhance and improve Chattanoogas public realm, said Mr. Myers. Ive worked closely with the Design Studio in the past and look forward to furthering its important mission as well as the vision of Christian Rushing and everyone associated with it.

A seasoned architect and urban designer for the last two decades, Mr. Myers originally relocated to Chattanooga to work with the former Urban Design Studio, alongside Stroud Watson, Christian Rushing and others.

It was while at the Urban Design Studio and working with visionaries like Stroud and Christian that I fell in love with Chattanooga and its potential, said Mr. Myers. So its an honor to continue my friend Christians leadership as the Chattanooga Design Studio furthers the vision of enhancing Chattanoogas quality of life by educating the community about, advocating for, and facilitating excellent urban design.

The Chattanooga Design Studio builds upon the rich legacy of the communitys former studio that operated from 1980 until 2005. The work of the Studio takes many forms: studies, charrettes and exhibitions for the general public; programs for the professional design community; facilitation for community stakeholders; consultation with the development community; and resources for local government.

Eric is a forward-thinking, extremely talented architect and a leading member of the local architecture and design community for many years, said CDS Chairman Ethan Collier. Everyone associated with the Studio has worked closely with him on a variety of community projects over the years, so asking him to join us in this capacity makes perfect sense.
The Chattanooga Fire Department & American Red Cross will hold their Smoke Alarm Distribution Event this Saturday. Staging is at 9 a.m. with door-to-door visits beginning around 9:30 a.m.





Staging will be at the Anglican Church of the Redeemer, 104 McBrien Rd., with distribution taking place in Brainerd, between McBrien and S.Moore Road.





This event coincides with the weekend when we change our clocks (ahead one hour) to Daylight Saving Time, and it's also the time when the Fire Department urges everyone to put fresh batteries in their smoke alarms.


Tony Mines, founder and CEO of Art Creations, has been elected to the board of directors for the International Art Materials Association. Mr. Mines serves as the independent art stores and retailers representative board director and brings over 45 years of art materials experience to his advisory position.Mr. Mines opened the first Art Creations store in 1972 after having worked with George and Alice Little of The Little Art Store during high school and college and following his return from service with the U.S. Army in the Republic of South Vietnam. The business is the oldest art materials and custom framing business in the Chattanooga area under continual family ownership.Art Creations currently has two locations: Downtown Chattanooga at 201 Frazier Ave. in the historic Little Building and the Hamilton Place area on Commons Boulevard.
The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that a Memphis food-service employee may not file a lawsuit against her employer for distributing tips in a way that violates Tennessees Tip Statute, because the law does not allow a private party to file suit for a violation.

Tennessees Tip Statute requires restaurants and clubs that automatically add a gratuity or tip onto a customers bill to distribute the tips collected among the employee or employees who have rendered that service. The statute makes violation of the law a misdemeanor.

Kim Hardy worked as a food server/bartender for the Tournament Players Club at Southwind. The Club customarily added a mandatory tip onto every customers bill at its bars and restaurants. The Club then distributed those tips to many types of employees, including kitchen employees and even managers.

Ms. Hardy filed a lawsuit against the Tournament Players Club, claiming that the Club owed her damages because it had distributed tips to employees who were not entitled to receive them, in violation of the Tip Statute. The trial court dismissed Ms. Hardys lawsuit, holding that the law did not allow a private citizen such as Ms. Hardy to file a lawsuit to collect damages for her employers violation of the Tip Statute.

In a split decision, the Court of Appeals reversed. It recognized that the Tip Statute did not say directly that a food service employee such as Ms. Hardy could file a lawsuit seeking damages for violation of the law. Nevertheless, relying on a 1998 Court of Appeals decision, it held that Ms. Hardy had an implied private right of action under the Tip Statute, that is, it found implied intent by the legislature to allow a private citizen to file a lawsuit for violation of the law. The Tennessee Supreme Court granted the Club permission to appeal.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and overruled the 1998 Court of Appeals decision. The Court found that Tennessees legislature had given no indication that it intended to allow a private citizen, such as Ms. Hardy, to file a lawsuit to collect damages for violation of the Tip Statute. The only remedy provided in the law was to charge an employer, such as the Club, with a misdemeanor. Since the Court declined to find implied intent by the legislature to allow a private right of action, it affirmed the trial courts dismissal of Ms. Hardys lawsuit.

To read the Courts unanimous opinion in Kim Hardy v. TPC Southwind, authored by Justice Holly Kirby, go to the opinions section of TNCourts.gov.
Randy Boyd, Knoxville business leader and Republican candidate for governor, will be visiting each corner of the state next week to visit with friends and supporters on a statewide tour to officially announce his campaign.

"While serving as ECD commissioner, I traveled to all 95 counties to make sure I was listening to and in touch with what was on the minds of Tennesseans," said Mr. Boyd. "So Jenny and I could not be more excited about getting back out there to visit with so many friends and potential supporters in every corner of the state."

Mr. Boyd officially launched his campaign for governor earlier this week, and has already made campaign stops in Bradley, Rutherford, Williamson, Greene, and Loudon Counties.

Next weeks tour begins in Mr. Boyds hometown in Knoxville  at the elementary school he attended in South Knox County  and also includes gatherings all across the state, including Fruitvale and Union City in West Tennessee  where six generations of the Boyd family lived prior to his father moving to Knoxville.

The tour will be in Chattanooga Thursday, March 16, from 12-1 p.m. at the Edney Innovation Center, Floor Five Accelerator Space, 1100 Market St. There will be remarks at 12:45 p.m.
The Senate on Thursday voted for local school boards over a National School Board and affirmed that Congress writes the law, not the Department of Education. The Senate sent to President Trumps desk a resolution to rescind the departments final regulation for implementing the accountability provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act.

The resolution that now heads to the presidents desk was led by Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander and nine Republican senators.

Senator Alexander said, The issue before us was whether the United States Congress writes the laws or whether the Department of Education writes the laws. Under Article I of our Constitution, the United States Congress writes the law, and in at least seven cases this Education Department regulation directly violated the Every Student Succeeds Act law passed just 15 months ago. And in at least 16 other cases, the regulation did something that the Congress did not authorize it to do.

And this resolution is also on a subject thats very important to this Congress  whether there should be a national school board or a local school board. That decision was made in 2015 when 85 senators voted for the bill to fix No Child Left Behind that the Wall Street Journal said was the largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century. Congress reversed the trend toward a national school board and restored control of classrooms to states, teachers, and parents. So, todays vote is a victory for everyone who was fed up with Washington telling them so much about what to do about their children in 100,000 public schools, and I look forward to President Trumps signature of this resolution.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said: As a co-sponsor of this measure, I am proud the Senate voted to end an Obama-era regulation that was simply unacceptable for Americas students and educators. States are supposed to be the leaders on core curriculum and decisions on how to best meet the needs of their students  not Washington bureaucrats. The repeal of this regulation will help restore that process. Thanks to the Congressional Review Act, we capitalized on the opportunity to move past this overreaching regulation to ensure the ideals of the Every Student Succeeds Act are upheld, and I commend Senator Alexander for his leadership on this issue.

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said: Im glad to see Congress push back against this federal overreach. Now states and local communities can decide how best to educate their children.

Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) said: Last Congress, members from both sides of the aisle came together to pass a new education law that overhauled No Child Left Behind and brought control of our childrens education back where it belonged, with states and parents. But this regulation from the Department of Education flies in the face of those changes, clearly violating the law. I am glad that Congress took action to stop this regulation in its tracks, because it is states, not the federal government, that should be in charge of school accountability.

Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.): A major highlight of the bipartisan ESSA bill returned power over education decisions back to where it belongs  schools, teachers and parents. The Obama administrations accountability regulation undermined this important law by enabling federal bureaucrats to once again tie the hands of states with mandated education policies. Im glad the Senate acted today to eliminate this burdensome regulation, uphold the intent of the law, and ensure that states and parents in Arizona and around the country have the final say on what is best for their childrens future.

Senator David Perdue (R-Ga.): In the past year, we have made significant progress in reducing Washingtons control of our schools and this regulation undermines this effort. One-size-fits-all education standards have failed our students and what we are seeing here is a bureaucratic attempt to retain control over accountability standards. We are acting immediately to stop this regulation and ensure accountability standards remain under the purview of states and not with the federal government.

Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said: "I have made it clear that our children receive the best possible education when decisions are made at the local and state level. ESSA was written to restore responsibility to states for their local schools by providing increased flexibility to design and implement their education programs. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration blatantly ignored both the spirit and intent of ESSA when drafting the accountability regulation. Im pleased the Senate has passed this resolution to ensure that these key education decisions are made by states instead of the federal government.

Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.): By cutting this red tape, we would remove Washington bureaucrats from the classroom and empower states, local education agencies, teachers, and parents to make the best decisions for students, both in Mississippi and across the country. I applaud my colleagues who join me in working to reverse this regulation.

Original cosponsors of the Congressional Review Act resolution led by Chairman Alexander (R-Tenn.) and passed by the Senate today are Majority Leader McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senators Cassidy (R-La.), Cornyn (R-Texas), Cotton (R-Ark.), Enzi (R-Wyo.), McCain (R-Ariz.), Perdue (R-Ga.), Roberts (R-Kan.), and Wicker (R-Miss.).
Chattanooga State paramedic program graduate, Skyler Phillips, a Chattanooga Fire Department captain and paramedic, has started a program with LifeLine, Inc., a non-profit ministry organization serving families with special needs children.

Captain Phillips and Executive Director of LifeLine Lisa Mattheiss came up with the idea of a training program for first responders to be informed on general disabilities covering a multitude of diagnoses, scenarios, and circumstances. The program is called the Special Needs Awareness Program, which premiered in January 2017.

Captain Phillips, SNAP coordinator, said his inspiration for the program came from his six-year-old son, Noah, who was diagnosed with autism three years ago. After the fire department and Chattanooga community helped him raise $15,000 for his sons service dog, he was looking for a way to give back.

The program was developed with input from first responders, current and former police officers, military and civilian emergency medical personnel, and parents. SNAP training has been offered at Erlanger, Chattanooga State, and the Southeast EMS Directors Association.

Captain Phillips has been training fire department personnel for the last two months. Training is offered in a two-hour summary and a longer four-hour course. They hope to reach all first responders in the immediate area over the next two or three years. They also will be starting a parent training to teach parents and caregivers how to best prepare for an emergency situation involving first responders and special needs children.

We will be presenting it to the TN fire commission as well as the State fire marshals office next month in hopes to make the program state wide, said Captain Phillips, thats pretty exciting.

He hopes this training will bridge the gap between first responders and special needs individuals to demystify the misconceptions of assisting individuals with special needs in emergency situations.

For more information about Chattanooga States paramedic program, visit https://www.chattanoogastate.edu/nursing-allied-health. To learn more about SNAP or to schedule a training, visit http://lifelinefamilies.org/snap-special-needs-awareness-program/.
Congressman Chuck Fleischmann spoke on the Floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon against Obamacare.

In my state of Tennessee, premiums are rising by an average of 63 percent," said Rep. Fleischmann. "Why pay so much for health insurance if you still cant afford to see a doctor? It puts us right back where we started  and no one thought the status quo before Obamacare was good enough.

"Im glad to see the American Health Care Act was released and I look forward to working on specific legislative details with my colleagues so we can finally fix our broken healthcare system.


Mercedes Lilia (Vuksanovic) and Samuel Lee Akers are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on Monday.

While in college in Rome, Ga., Mercedes at Shorter College and Lee at Berry College, they met on a blind date. They were later married March 13, 1967 in Dam Neck, Va.

Lees father always told him to marry a southern girl, so he took that advice to heart and married Mercedes, originally from Salta, Argentina.

Their two children, Bradford Akers and Camby Akers, and grandson, Niko Blanks, thank them for always giving them unconditional love and support and showing them how a loving marriage should be.
2022 election guide: Here are Pueblo County's top races, ballot issues

Here's what you need to know about the local candidates and ballot questions in the 2022 election, as well as how to vote in Pueblo, Colorado.
Rep. Dan Howell (R-Georgetown) said he wants to be sure that all qualified homeowners take advantage of Tennessees property tax relief program.

Rep. Howell has joined with members of the Tennessee General Assembly to ensure that more than $36 million has been appropriated to assist low-income elderly, low-income disabled, and 100 percent disabled veterans with their property tax bills.

Eligible homeowners can begin applying for tax relief after they receive their 2016 county or city tax bill. Applications are now being accepted at the Meigs, Polk and Bradley County Trustees Offices as well as other city collecting officials offices.

The property tax relief program began in 1973 and is designed to reimburse eligible homeowners for all or part of the property taxes paid on their primary residence.

Low-income elderly and low-income disabled homeowners may qualify for the program if they make no more than $29,180 a year. Veterans who have service-connected total and permanent disability as determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs do not have to meet an income qualification to be eligible for tax relief.

The deadline to apply for tax relief is 35 days after a city or countys property tax delinquency date. For most jurisdictions this is typically on April 5.

For more information visit the Meigs, Polk and Bradley County Trustees Office or a local city hall.
Our weekly round up of other news affecting foreign investors throughout Asia:

Cambodias FDI Outlook for 2017: Understanding the Challenges and Opportunities Ahead

Understand current conditions for foreign investment in Cambodia for 2017 and learn how to position operations to avoid obstacles and maximize opportunity

India Sets GST Rates, App for July 1 Rollout

India is keen to rollout the GST from July 1; the government has pegged the peak tax rates, fixed tax slabs, and is working on ensuring easy accessibility for all. This article discusses the progress made and further areas that need to be addressed by the government.

Examining Opportunities in Indonesias Upstream Palm Oil Sector

Although palm oil can be used as a simple frying tool, this production-efficient oil can also be blended and processed to create numerous food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic products. Understand how to successfully invest in Indonesias upstream palm oil sector with our latest report on emerging opportunities and continued risks.

Will the Moscow-Kazan High Speed Train Route Connect Through To Beijing?

The new high speed Moscow-Kazan route will improve connectivity across Russias vast land mass. As the project fits into Chinas One Belt, One Road plans, China is reportedly keen to see the route extended through to Beijing.

Vietnam to Implement Landmark Transfer Pricing Update in Convergence with BEPS

New transfer pricing regulations have been announced in Vietnam and are set to take effect from May 1st. Learn how to ensure compliance under the new regime.



About Us Our Briefing updates are written by and provided by the various regional offices of Dezan Shira & Associates throughout Asia. To obtain a complimentary subscription to Asia Briefing please click here. To contact Dezan Shira & Associates concerning foreign investment and assistance in Asia, please email us at asia@dezshira.com

Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure

Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide.

An Introduction to Doing Business in ASEAN 2016

An Introduction to Doing Business in ASEAN 2016 introduces the fundamentals of investing in the 10-nation ASEAN bloc, concentrating on economics, trade, corporate establishment and taxation. We also include the latest development news in our Important Updates section for each country, with the intent to provide an executive assessment of the varying component parts of ASEAN, assessing each member state and providing the most up-to-date economic and demographic data on each.

An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017

Doing Business in China 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates in January 2017, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

An Introduction to Doing Business in Hong Kong 2017

Doing Business in China 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates in January 2017, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2017

An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in India. As such, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Indian market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to stay up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

An Introduction to Doing Business in Singapore 2017

An Introduction to Doing Business in Singapore 2017 provides readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Singapore and outlines the citys role as a trading hub within ASEAN. The guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, and social insurance in the city-state.

An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017

An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam. Compiled by Dezan Shira & Associates, a specialist foreign direct investment practice, this guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, payroll, and social insurance in this dynamic country.
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MOC: Trade, investment with China benefit US [Photo / Xinhua]

China is not the sole beneficiary of Sino-U.S. economic relations, said Sun Jiwen, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Economic relations with China have brought substantial benefits to the United States, creating jobs and profits for U.S. businesses, Sun said at a press briefing Thursday.

He noted that exports of goods from the United States to China had risen by an annual average of 11 percent in the past decade, making China its fastest-growing export market outside North America.

From 2001 to 2016, U.S. exports of services to China increased 15 fold, with the U.S. service trade surplus rising 29 fold, he said.

In addition, trade and investment with China supported roughly 2.6 million jobs in the United States in 2015, said Sun, citing statistics from the US-China Business Council.

As of the end of 2016, non-financial investment in the United States by Chinese enterprises amounted to around 50 billion U.S. dollars, which provided nearly 100,000 jobs across 44 states, according to Sun.

U.S. investment in China has also benefited American firms, 90 percent of which were profitable, as shown by a US-China Business Council survey last year.

Sino-U.S. trade volume grew from 2.5 billion dollars in 1979 to about 520 billion dollars in 2016, while mutual investment exceeded 170 billion dollars by the end of 2016.
Chinese construction equipment giants eye US entry. [File photo / Xinhua]

Long-term projections for the lucrative global construction equipment market had been rosy enough to attract record crowds to the 2017 ConExpo in Las Vegas this week.

"The recovery is here and we are offering amazing incentives to buy," Sany America's Marketing Director Tim Rogers told Xinhua Thursday.

Rogers pointed to a 5-year, 5,000-hour warranty package unveiled this week by Sany as just one new incentive offered by his company.

Sany is been described as the Caterpillar of China, the No. 1 construction company in the country, with revenues close to 7 billion U.S. dollars for 2016.

Industry projections released this week by Britain's Off-Highway Research was data the Chinese construction equipment industry had been awaiting and expecting.

With sales expected to jump from 70 to 90 billion U.S. dollars in the United States by 2020, 2,600 companies from around the world lined up in the Nevada desert to show their steel for a piece of the pie.

While China's big equipment producers -- Sany, Zoomlion, and XCMG -- burst into the global "Top-10" producers in 2012, their entry into the American market had been careful and strategic.

"We offer a track record of success and a wide array of incentives to attract American buyers," Wan Chun Zhou, Sany's General Manager, told Xinhua Thursday.

Zhou, along with other Chinese industry leaders, are confident they can compete in price with other equipment producers.

"Cost is just one piece of the puzzle," Chicago distributor Barry Hubscher told Xinhua. "The Chinese will need to offer a broad-based strategy to succeed in the USA."

Zhou said one feature of Sany America's strategy would be "a unique service model," that offered

"7-24 hour" service, as well as strict evaluation requirements to expedite service and minimize downtime.

Sany also developed a "3-tiered management" plan to insure customers get parts, and a plan to manufacture parts in North America that would also reduce costs to the end user.

Likewise, Zoomlion Vice-President Yanming Xiong told Xinhua that his company's focus would be localizing as much as possible, focusing on customer service, and offering consistent innovations in engineering and design as efforts to address customer needs.

Both Xiong and Zhou stated this week their companies focused on "research and development" allocating between 5 to 15 percent of revenues toward having their engineers answer customer design suggestions.

"People don't realize that the Chinese have been in the construction business for 60 years, and their equipment is used and seen in 170 countries around the world," said Xianbiao Zhou, publisher of China's Construction Industries CMTM Magazine.

And while the big Chinese companies may seem like new players in the 200 billion U.S. dollars construction equipment game, their products had been used to build the most modern, affluent country in the world.

"When you know that the airplane is going to crash, would you be willing to get on the plane," XCMG's CEO Wang Min told a press conference audience this week.

"Chinese products are durable and reliable, and our plan to supplement these excellent products is ambitious," Min said.

According to Off-Highway Research, global equipment sales would move from 650,133 units in 2016 to around 810,000 machines by 2021.

Specifically, that translates into an expected resurgence in some higher value types of equipment over the coming years, most notably crawler excavators and rigid dump trucks.

The Chinese players don't have to look far to find a blueprint for success in America.

Japanese giant Komatsu, which stepped into the USA since 1970 along with Hitachi, had 2016 revenues totaling 14 billion U.S. dollars and had been the No. 2 equipment producer in the world for the past 15 years.

"We certainly want to be known as a company that prioritizes research and development," said Raleigh Floyd, Komatsu America Corp.'s Director of Public Relations.

"But I have to say that the number one thing about Komatsu is dependability, the second is innovation, and the third thing we do is support our customers," he said, "It's all about helping our customers make money."

In response to Sany's "24-7" repair strategy, Raleigh said Komatsu works closely with its dealers, "who are our public face to our customers, some dealers do, some dealers don't," he said.

Sany Marketing Manager Summer Xia told Xinhua that her company had also recruited Japanese consultants to assist them in entering the American market.

ConExpo dates back to 1925 in Chicago, when 15,000 people attended. This year's show brought a record 130,000 attendees with equipment sprawling over 2.5 million square foots (232,000 square meters) of space.
Xiao Yaqing, head of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) [Photo: youth.cn]

China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) performed well in the first two months of 2017 thanks to a stabilizing economy and better management, the state assets regulator said Thursday.

Combined profits of China's centrally-administered SOEs surged 29.1 percent year-on-year to 168.6 billion yuan (about 24.37 billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months, Xiao Yaqing, head of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.

The country's 102 central SOEs saw revenues up 15.2 percent to 3.7 trillion yuan in the two months from the same period last year, according to Xiao.

Xiao said the strong growth was a result of reductions in cost and management expenses, which also reflects the stabilization of the national economy.

Total profits of China's central SOEs climbed 0.5 percent year on year to more than 1.23 trillion yuan in 2016, while revenues rose 2.6 percent to 23.4 trillion yuan, SASAC data showed.

Xiao voiced "full confidence" in the performance of China's SOEs this year, but he also warned of economic uncertainties and stressed the need to keep potential risks under control.

China pledged to deepen SOE reform in 2017 in a government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang Sunday, promising measures such as introducing a mixed ownership system and more efforts to make SOEs leaner,healthier, and perform better.
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Wang Jiazhe [File Photo]

Another overseas graft fugitive has given himself up to Chinese authorities and returned from the U.S. on Thursday, according to provincial authorities in northeastern Liaoning.

Wang Jiazhe, 56, fled to the U.S. in January 2000.

Formerly working at the newspaper Liaoning Daily, Wang was accused of contract fraud involving 3.5 million yuan or USD 500,000.

He was listed among the 100 most-wanted economic fugitives by Interpol.

38 of the 100 names have returned to China, according to Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a recent news conference.

The list is part of a broader anti-corruption initiative "Sky Net".

Launched by the Chinese government, the fight targets corrupt officials who fled overseas with massive dirty assets.
Yang Tao, a local community worker, visits Elena Sibileva and her daughter Daria at their rented house in Harbin on Wednesday. The Russian single mother came to Harbin to seek treatment for her daughter, who has cerebral palsy. [Shi Jikai/China Daily]

Although Harbin, Heilongjiang province, is nicknamed the "ice city", good Samaritans there have warmed a single Russian mother's heart by supporting her in her quest to treat her daughter's cerebral palsy.

Elena Sibileva, 25, has received generous assistance from residents since coming to the city in December for her daughter's treatment.

Sibileva, a nursery teacher from Blagoveshchensk, a Russian city on the China-Russia border about 580 kilometers from Harbin, gave birth to twin girls in late 2015. Due to a lack of oxygen during labor, the girls developed cerebral palsy, the symptoms of which include stiff and weak muscles, poor body coordination and tremors.

Though the situation got better after treatment for Victoria, the older twin, this was not the case for her sister, Daria. To make matters worse, unable to deal with the situation, Sibileva's husband left the family, and Daria's treatment in Moscow was ineffective.

Sibileva refused to give up. After hearing from friends about good recovery hospitals in Harbin, she quit her job in December. With the 1-year-old infant in her arms, she came across the border to China, leaving Victoria with the child's grandmother.

As Sibileva, who does not speak Chinese, tried to rent a house near the hospital upon arrival, she encountered Qi Yize, a Heihe University student who happened to be helping out at the rental agency of his aunt, Qi Mei.

Through her nephew's translation, Qi Mei learned about Sibileva's predicament. She decided to help her.

To start with, she got her a second-floor room where Sibileva wouldn't have to climb many stairs, and provided a stroller that Qi Yize had used when he was a baby. She and her sisters Qi Jie and Qi Min bought milk powder and clothes for Daria. They even invited her to the reunion dinner for the Chinese New Year.

Moreover, since the therapy is costly, the sisters started a WeChat group chat called Help Save Dashathe nickname for Dariato raise money for Sibileva, and they have received big and small donations. Although her mother came to China with only enough money for two months of treatment, Daria has been treated for four months, thanks to donations.

"I never expected to have so many strangers helping me in a different place, and I'm really grateful," said Sibileva.

The child has undergone traditional Chinese medicine therapies such as acupuncture, herbal baths and massages, as well as modern ones like physiotherapy, at No 2 Hospital attached to Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine.

But she has a long way to go, since the treatment will last for about two more years, with a total cost of about 400,000 yuan ($58,000). Sibileva said she will return to Russia by the end of this month to renew her visa and raise more money.
A website full of young girls' obscene photos has recently been shut down by the police bureau of Beijing.

Illicit picture of young girls posted at the Eight Wolves Forum. [Photo: wechat account of the Youth League]

The website, called Eight Wolves Forum, enticed users to join its account of an online group chat room registered on Tencent's QQ platform, and then sent them illicit pictures.

After receiving several reports, the Youth League, an organization among young people in China, used its WeChat (China's equivalent of Twitter) account - Tuan Tuan, to go undercover. Disguised as a new user asking for access to the website, they were overwhelmed by the multiple erotic photos of young girls.

The perpetrator surnamed Du, a 20-year technical school student from a divorced family in Nanchong, Sichuan Province, projected that the pornographic business would make him a fortune.

"I wanted a new computer, but every time I asked my parents to finance me they would berate me. Now I have a step father who makes my situation even worse," Du told Tuan through the online chat room.

However, Du was not alone in sending photos online. What was worse, according to the League, many of the photos were posted by pedophiles.

"The emergence of such websites will greatly threaten the safety of children, by motivating pedophiles," said Prof. Long Di (PhD), from the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

In 1984, US professor David Finkelhor, researched crimes against children and coined a theory of Four Preconditions, namely, the motivation to sexually abuse a child, overcoming internal inhibitors, overcoming external inhibitors and overcoming child resistance, before one resolves to molest a child.

"The motivation of pedophiles can be constrained according to the first two conditions. However, the photos and content in such websites tempts and galvanizes their desire and leads them to infringe upon the rights of children, by using the young bodies to satisfy their sexual or psychological desires," Long said.

"It can be exemplified as a person who causes no damage, even though, he desires food when he is starving. But once he starts to loot groceries to feed himself, he definitely violates laws and brings agonies and hurts to others," she explained.
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Donald Tusk on Thursday won another term as president of the European Council at a summit despite opposition from his home country Poland.

European Council President Donald Tusk addresses a press conference at the end of the first day of the European Council spring summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 9, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

"Grateful for trust and positive assessment #EUCO (European Council). I will do my best to make the EU better," Tusk wrote in a tweet.

"The European Council today reelected Donald Tusk as its president for a second term of two-and-a-half years, from June 1, 2017 to Nov. 30, 2019," the Council later confirmed in a statement, adding that Tusk was also reappointed as president of the Euro Summit for the same period.

The Polish national, whose 30-month mandate is due to end on May 31, was reelected by heads of EU member state who gathered here for a two-day summit.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, representing the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, chaired the election process.

Poland had earlier proposed Polish member of European Parliament (MEP) Jacek Saryusz-Wolski for the position instead.

But it's reported that Hungary later made a sudden turnaround, backing off its support to Saryusz-Wolski.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo earlier this week wrote a letter to MEPs underling the lack of Poland's support for Tusk.

According to Szydlo, Tusk abused his authority and interfered with Polish internal affairs, therefore showing lack of neutrality. She alleged he overstepped his European powers and used his authority as the head of the European Council to muscle into national disputes.

In contrast, Szydlo heaped praise on Saryusz-Wolski, stressing that he possessed the required qualities and had more than 40 years of experience in European integration.

Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party last week barred the Polish government from backing Tusk's candidacy, after party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski called Tusk a "German candidate."

Meanwhile, Saryusz-Wolski, who is also from Tusk's Civic Platform party, and a member of the European People's Party (EPP), took the unusual step of accepting the nomination of Poland's ruling party to run against Tusk.

But his acceptance of the nomination has caused bitterness in the EPP, the largest political group in the European Parliament currently monopolizing top posts of the three main EU institutions.

Manfred Weber, leader of the EPP, said: "Tusk is the only EPP candidate for president of European Council. He enjoys unanimous support from the entire party."

Earlier in January, Kaczynski said that Tusk "was in favor of solutions that are extremely harmful to Poland," referring to, among others, financial penalties for EU member states that do not accept a quota of refugees.

Kaczynski argued that such a person cannot obtain Poland's support.

Tusk was last elected European Council president unanimously on Aug. 30, 2014, after serving for seven years as prime minister of his homeland. He took office on Dec. 1, 2014.

According to the Treaty on European Union, the European Council shall elect its president by a qualified majority -- at least 72 percent of member states vote in favor, representing at least 65 percent of the EU population -- for a period of two and a half years, renewable once.

The president's role is to chair European Council meetings and drive forward its work, as well as represent the EU externally at his level on issues concerning the bloc's common foreign and security policy.
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The Syrian army said in a statement Thursday that the Turkish artillery fire targeted Syrian military positions near the city of Manbij in Aleppo province in northern Syria, state news agency SANA reported.

The Turkish shelling targeted the Syrian border corps, recently been deployed in the western countryside of Manbij to be a separation line between the Turkish forces and the Kurdish-led groups, which are in control of the city.

Russia and the Kurdish groups in northern Syria agreed recently that the Kurdish-led Manbij Military Council (MMC) should hand over areas in the western countryside of Manbij to the Syrian army, as the Turkish forces and allied rebel groups were closing in on Manbij to dislodge the MMC from that city.

Turkey has recently said that it has no problem in having the Syrian army take over Manbij as long as the Kurdish-supported groups are out.

Still, the Russian-Kurdish agreement was for giving areas west of Manbij to the Syrian army only, as part of what appeared to be a Russian plan to save the area from Turkish-Kurdish confrontation.

Meanwhile, the military statement said that many soldiers were killed in the attack, which was an attempt to undermine the progress of the Syrian army near Manbij in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo.

It stressed that the war on terror will continue and the Syrian forces will restore peace and stability to Aleppo countryside and all Syrian territories.

The Syrian army is on a crushing offensive against the positions of the Islamic State (IS) group in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, and recently reached the town of Khafseh, where water stations feeding Aleppo with drinking water are located.
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South Korean President Park Geun-hye was permanently removed from office, the Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

The constitutional court upheld the motion to impeach the scandal-hit leader. The ruling was the unanimous decision of eight justices, said the court's acting chief justice Lee Jung-mi.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye addresses to the nation at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 13, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

By law, Park will be required to leave the presidential Blue House as she officially lost all of presidential power and her title as incumbent president.

The bill to impeach Park was passed in the National Assembly on Dec. 9 by an overwhelming majority. A total of 20 hearings had been held since Feb. 27.

Park took office as the 18th president four years ago, after winning over a majority of vote in the 2012 presidential election.

In her early presidency, Park was seen as an unassailable icon among conservative voters as she reminded them of her father Park Chung-hee, an assassinated military strongman who was worshipped by right-leaning voters as a leader who sped up industrialization.

The image was broken apart after the corruption scandal embroiling Park and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil emerged in October last year.

Park allowed Choi, a private citizen having no public position, to meddle in state affairs from the shadow and influence the appointment of government officials for personal gains.

Lee Jae-yong, the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's largest family-controlled conglomerate, has been taken into custody since Feb. 17. He is suspected of paying tens of millions of U.S. dollars in bribes to Choi in exchange for getting support in the controversial merger in 2015 of two Samsung affiliate to create a de-facto holding company.
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According to data from the South Korean tourism department, the number of Chinese tourists to South Korea reached nearly 8.07 million in 2016, accounting for 46.8 percent of foreign tourists visiting South Korea.

A Chinese tourist learns how to fold a Korean lucky bag at the exhibition hall of Korea Tourism Organization in Seoul. [Photo/Xinhua]

However, due to the escalating tensions between Seoul and Beijing over the former's decision to deploy the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system, South Korea's tourist industry is facing a nightmare.

China issued South Korea travel warning

China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) released a warning on March 3 to remind Chinese citizens to be cautious in deciding whether to travel to South Korea.

According to CNTA, there have been increasing cases of Chinese tourists being held up during entry to Jejudo, the largest island of South Korea. Some of the rejected tourists were made to wait a long time at the local airport before being sent back to China.

Package tours to South Korea removed by Chinese travel agencies

On March 3, Chinese travel agencies including Ctrip, Tuniu and Tongcheng removed all package tours to South Korea.

"Tuniu strongly opposes South Korea's installation of THAAD and the provision of land for THAAD by Lotte Group," said Tuniu, one of China's leading travel websites.

According to Tuniu, they will honor related existing bookings. However, Tuniu will encourage customers to change their trips if previous bookings involved businesses owned by Lotte -- whose businesses include hotels and duty-free shops.

Chinese flights to South Korea suspended

Most Chinese tourists enter South Korea by air. In February, there were 4,433 flights from China to South Korea. Therefore, the decline of Chinese tourists to South Korea will definitely hurt airlines both in China and South Korea.

Spring Airlines said that the influence of the THAAD issue to the flights between China and South Korea is still uncertain, but they will make adjustments according to the real demand.

Actually, due to the sharp drop of passengers to South Korea, many Chinese airlines have adjusted the flights in line with the new market demand. According to Ningbo Airport, all flights to South Korea will be suspended from Ningbo Airport, including the flights of China Eastern Airlines and Spring Airlines.

It is estimated that the amount of Chinese tourists will drop sharply if flights between China and South Korea are reduced by the Chinese government.

30 percent of Lotte hotel bookings cancelled

With the escalating tensions between China and South Korea over the THAAD issue, many hotel bookings were cancelled by Chinese tourists and tour agencies. About 30 percent of Lotte hotels' bookings were cancelled.

According to Ibis Budget Ambassador Hotel in Seoul, the bookings of all Chinese tour agencies have been cancelled, and every day there are two to three Chinese tourists cancelling bookings. The business of this hotel is heavily damaged because half of its customers are from China.

Lotte City Hotel in Myeongdong said the cancellation rate of its bookings rose to 30 percent since Feb. 28, the day Lotte agreed to provide the land for the deployment of THAAD.

The number of Chinese tourists to South Korea has increased sharply in recent years. In 2016, the number of Chinese tourists accounted for at least 50 percent of foreign tourists in South Korea. Therefore, more new hotels are needed to satisfy the increasing numbers. Since 2016, six new hotels opened for business just in Myeongdong. However, the THAAD issue will damage the hotel business in South Korea.
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South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is serving as acting president, on Friday asked all parties concerned to respect the constitutional court's ruling on former President Park Geun-hye.

Hwang addressed the nation in a nationally televised speech, after the court's unanimous decision to oust Park.

Park became the first South Korean leader to be permanently removed from office through impeachment.

The acting president said he felt a grave responsibility for the first impeachment of president in the constitutional history, vowing to mange state affairs with an unusually strong determination.

Touching on the rival rallies among pro- and anti-Park protesters, Hwang said now is the time to end conflict and confrontation, asking all of people to respect the court's decision.

The rival demonstrations were held outside the court, with two of Park royalists passing away after being taken to a nearby hospital.

Candlelight vigils had lasted among anti-Park protesters since the corruption scandal embroiling Park emerged in late October. Conservative voters also continued pro-Park rallies to oppose the impeachment.

Hwang said both participants in the rival rallies took to the streets on patriotic concerns about the country, saying it would not be desirable anymore for people to go outside for rally.

He said a new president should be elected within 60 days, noting that if reconciliation is not based, the stable management of the presidential election may not be made possible.

The presidential election is forecast to be held on May 9. Hwang emerged as the best hope among conservative voters as there is no outstanding rival in the conservative camp.
China Aviation Daily | Mar. 09, 2017

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on Japan to prepare its airport infrastructure for the 2020 Olympics and future growth of the tourism industry using joined-up thinking and extensive consultation with industry.

Japan has set aggressive targets for attracting international tourist arrivals. In 2016 Japan welcomed some 24 million international tourists. In the 2020 Olympic year, Japan hopes to welcome 40 million visitors, who are expected to spend some US$70 billion (8.0 trillion yen). And the 2030 target is to attract some 60 million overseas visitors with expected tourism receipts of US$130 billion (15.0 trillion yen).

Infrastructure Costs

Successful infrastructure planning will play a key role in the continued growth of tourism in Japan. The development of Tokyo-Haneda's international network, the privatization of Sendai and Osaka's Kansai and Itami Airports; and continuous efforts to improve competitiveness by reducing costs and optimize infrastructure all are welcome developments.

"Not that long ago Japanese airports were the most expensive in the world. They are not cheap today, but Kansai and Narita have dropped from among the ten most expensive to 13th, and 23rd, respectively. We are moving in the right direction and there is still more to be done - particularly at Haneda which is bucking the positive trend by raising charges," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's Director General and CEO, in a speech delivered today to the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

IATA is calling for economic regulation of airports to ensure that there is a proper balance of public and commercial interests when charges are set. As critical national infrastructure, airports must play a role in building national competitiveness. However, as monopoly service providers there is not always the incentive to do so.

"It's a real issue for airlines. To be successful in a highly competitive environment, airlines have restructured and improved the efficiency of their operations. Doing so has allowed them to improve profitability even as average airfares fell by 45% since 2000. Over the same period, on a global basis airport costs have risen by some 29%," said de Juniac.

The initial results of Japan's airport privatization have been positive. In recent weeks agreements for charges reductions were signed for Kansai and Sendai airports. "This is a positive start, particularly as Japan has no formal economic regulation in place. I hope that Japan has found a formula that will work long-term. The eyes of the world's aviation community will be following developments closely," said de Juniac.

Efficiency and Capacity

Along with being competitive and affordable, airports must also be efficient and provide sufficient capacity to meet market demands. In preparation for this growth, IATA urged a comprehensive plan for the development of a more competitive Japanese air transport infrastructure:

Smart Security: In January Japan's first Smart Security implementation became operational at Kansai International Airport. It is delivering a better passenger experience along with more effective security. With Smart Security implementation assessments having been completed at Haneda and Narita, de Juniac encouraged Japan to become a model for Smart Security implementation in time for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Terminal Efficiency: While Japan is a leader in self-service technology for domestic operations, many features are not available for international travelers. To maximize terminal efficiency in advance of the Olympic Games, IATA urged Japan's airports to prioritize enabling international travelers to take advantage of mobile boarding passes, kiosks and home-printed bag tags.

Airspace Efficiency: IATA expressed its support for the Collaborative Actions for Renovation of Air Traffic Systems (CARATS) to deliver the promised doubling of airspace capacity. Airspace is a particular constraint in Tokyo and IATA also called for government efforts to alleviate congestion by opening more airspace over central Tokyo. In the long-term, cooperation with U.S. military authorities, which control significant parts of Tokyo's airspace, should also yield more capacity.

Low Cost Terminals: IATA recognizes the significant capacity enhancements achieved through the development of "Low Cost Terminals" at Kansai and Narita Airports. It, however, urged that costs and benefits of future developments be carefully considered. "All airlines want lower costs. So we should first maximize the utilization of capacity at existing facilities before building new infrastructure for a specific business model. And before terminals are built, proper cost-allocation and long-term commitments from the users are essential," said de Juniac.

Coordination: Tokyo will continue to be the primary gateway to Japan and there needs to be clarity on the long term roles of the Japanese capital's two airports -- Haneda and Narita -- so that capacity can be developed in line with market demands and with a well-coordinated and defined future vision.

Connectivity is Critical

"The Olympics are an important milestone and an impetus to get things done. But it must be part of a long-term joined-up planning process focused on the big prize of welcoming 60 million visitors to Japan annually - and keeping Japanese businesses and people efficiently linked to the world," said de Junaic.

Aviation accounts for 1.8% of Japan's GDP. In Korea, it is 3.1%. "The rapidly expanding tourist industry will help to close that gap. Much of this is with short-haul services by budget carriers. This is meeting a market need that will, for sure, continue to grow. But we mustn't lose sight of other important market segments as well."

"Long-haul and hub connectivity also have potential for further growth. But the conditions must be right - sufficient capacity, efficient operations and affordable costs. To fully realize Japan's aviation potential, we need joined-up thinking and a clear long-term vision. There is a lot at stake. A healthy aviation industry generates both economic and social benefits that help people live better lives. Aviation is, after all, the business of freedom," said de Juniac.

Contributed by IATA
BEIJING  China on Thursday urged the United States to act properly for the healthy development of bilateral trade relations.

Sun Jiwen, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, made the remarks at a press conference, responding to ZTE having reached a settlement with US authorities over US export controls and sanctions charges.

China has always resolutely opposed US sanctions on Chinese companies using its domestic laws, and required Chinese companies to operate in compliance with local laws and regulations on overseas market, Sun said.

"We hope the US side will properly handle the issue within the larger picture of Sino-US economic and trade relations, so as to create a good atmosphere for the stable and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations," he said.

China's largest listed telecom equipment maker ZTE said Tuesday night that it had reached a settlement with US authorities over US export controls and sanctions charges" in order to clear unstable factors in the global communications market."

The Chinese company has agreed to pay a criminal and civil penalty of about $892 million and an additional penalty of $300 million, which will be suspended for a seven-year probationary period to deter future violations.

US authorities claimed that ZTE and its affiliated entities had illegally shipped telecommunications equipment to certain countries in violation of US regulations.

The US Commerce Department added ZTE on the Entity List under the Export Administration Regulations in March 2016. This made it difficult for ZTE to acquire US products such as chips and software.

Following the settlement, the Bureau of Industry and Security under the US Commerce Department will recommend that ZTE be removed from the list, according to a ZTE statement Tuesday.

ZTE currently holds about 7 percent of the US smartphone market, the fourth largest after Apple, Samsung and LG. It currently has 14 offices and six research centers in the United States, with 80 percent of the total 350 staff being Americans.
BEIJING  Chinese banks extended 1.17 trillion yuan ($169.2 billion) in new yuan loans in February, down from 2.03 trillion yuan a month ago, central bank data showed Thursday.

The increase was 439 billion yuan more than that of the same period last year, according to a People's Bank of China (PBOC) online statement.

By the end of last month, total outstanding yuan-denominated loans stood at 109.8 trillion yuan, up 13 percent from the previous year.

The M2, a broad measure of the money supply covering cash in circulation and all deposits, grew 11.1 percent from a year earlier to about 158.29 trillion yuan.

The M1, a narrow measure of the money supply that covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose 21.4 percent year on year to 47.65 trillion yuan.

M0, the amount of cash in circulation, stood at 7.17 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.3 percent.

According to the government work report delivered at the annual parliamentary session, China will pursue a prudent and neutral monetary policy in 2017, with the M2 money supply to grow by around 12 percent, one percentage point lower than the 2016 target.

PBOC data also showed yuan-denominated deposits rose 2.31 trillion yuan in February, an increase of 1.46 trillion yuan from a year earlier. Outstanding deposits in both yuan and non-yuan currencies rose 11.7 percent year on year to 159.56 trillion yuan.

Last month, yuan-denominated cross-border trade settlement reached 286 billion yuan. Direct investment settled in yuan stood at 53.7 billion yuan, the central bank said.
FrankfurtQatar's royal family and China's HNA Group Co, two of Deutsche Bank AG's biggest investors, plan to buy shares in the lender's 8-billion-euro ($8.4 billion) rights offer with a view to increasing their stakes, according to sources.

Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani, former prime minister of the Gulf state, and the former emir of the country, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, are considering boosting their current combined holding of less than 10 percent, the source said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Separately, HNA has a long-term goal of increasing its 3.04 percent holding, two people said. In both cases, no final decision has been made on the final size of the investments.

Deutsche Bank Chief Executive John Cryan, who has spent almost two years navigating legal probes, is tapping investors for funds to rebuild capital buffers dented by litigation costs and regulatory requirements.

His latest strategic overhaul, announced on Friday, has drawn some investor criticism because it reverses an earlier plan that would have seen the firm raise capital by selling a consumer-banking unit instead.

Neil Smith, an analyst with Bankhaus Lampe who has a buy recommendation on the stock, said: "The planned participation by some of Deutsche Bank's biggest shareholders, namely the Qatari royal family and the Chinese group HNA, in the lender's capital increase is a vote of confidence. I expect the capital increase to go through smoothly."

Deutsche Bank shares were trading 0.4 percent higher at 9:26 am on Thursday in Frankfurt. The stock has dropped by roughly 8 percent since Bloomberg reported on Friday that the lender was planning a share sale.

Cryan told Bloomberg TV on Monday that one key stakeholder, which he didn't identify, had signaled willingness to participate in the share sale.

Another large shareholder was undecided about the capital increase and would need convincing, a person familiar with the matter said at the time.

A spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

A spokesman for HNA declined to comment. Representatives for the Qatari sheikhs were not available for comment at the time of publication.

The Frankfurt-based bank said last month that HNA, a conglomerate led by aviation tycoon Chen Fang, had become its fourth-largest shareholder.

BLOOMBERG
BEIJING - China seriously questions the anti-dumping survey methods and decision of the European Union (EU), which announced exorbitant tariffs on steel products from China, said a commerce official on Thursday.

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, announced Chinese exports of steel plate will be taxed with anti-dumping duties ranging from 65.1 percent to 73.7 percent for a five-year period on February 28.

China urges the EU to fully comply with international treaty obligations under the WTO, drop the surrogate country approach and treat Chinese enterprises in a fair, impartial and non-discriminatory manner, said Sun Jiwen, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce at a press conference.

Sun reiterated China's serious concerns over the EU's slide into trade protectionism as well as the country's firm stance on safeguarding Chinese exporters' rights.

An anemic economic recovery and shrinking demand are the root causes of the plight facing global steelmakers, he said.

"It is groundless to blame Chinese exports for the current difficulties in the steel industry, and protective measures will not be conducive to the development of EU industry," he said.

Sun said Sino-EU steel trade is mutually beneficial as Chinese steel products facilitate the EU's infrastructure construction in times of crisis and benefit consumers and some companies.

China hopes the EU can conduct trade remedy investigations and apply trade restrictions in a prudent, restrained and normal way, strictly abide by the WTO rules, and implement trade-restricting measures in a fair, impartial and transparent manner, said Sun.
BEIJING - Economic relations with China have brought substantial benefits to the United States, creating jobs and profits for US businesses, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

China is not the sole beneficiary of Sino-US economic ties, which are win-win by nature, MOC spokesperson Sun Jiwen told a press briefing.

He noted that exports of goods from the United States to China had risen by an annual average of 11 percent in the past decade, making China its fastest-growing export market outside North America.

From 2001 to 2016, US exports of services to China increased 15 fold, with the US service trade surplus rising 29 fold, he said.

In addition, trade and investment with China supported roughly 2.6 million jobs in the United States in 2015, said Sun, citing statistics from the US-China Business Council.

As of the end of 2016, non-financial investment in the United States by Chinese enterprises amounted to around $50 billion, which provided nearly 100,000 jobs across 44 states, according to Sun.

US investment in China has also benefited American firms, 90 percent of which were profitable, as shown by a US-China Business Council survey last year.

Sino-US trade volume grew from $2.5 billion in 1979 to about $520 billion in 2016, while mutual investment exceeded $170 billion by the end of 2016.
The deleveraging process needs to be implemented steadily, senior officials with the central bank said on Friday.

Yi Gang, vice governor of the central bank, said the deleveraging process cannot be implemented at a fast pace in order to fend off financial risks.

"The first step is to control the leverage level," Yi said.

Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said the financial sector should refuse support for enterprises with high leverage ratios.
BEIJING  The dropping trend in China's foreign exchange reserve is a normal phenomenon, the country's central bank chief said Friday.

"China does not want that much forex reserve," Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.

He said the forex reserve had seen fast expansion since 2002, which China deems to be unnecessary.

In the meantime, China sees no need in its policymaking to overreact to the large stockpile, Zhou said.

Since the global financial crisis, capital flow from developed countries implementing monetary easing policies to emerging markets had surged significantly, Zhou said.

The capital influx lacks stability and may flow back with the recovery of those developed economies, he added.

China still holds the largest forex reserve stockpile in the world, much higher than the runner-up, the governor said.

China's outstanding forex reserve stood at a little more than $3 trillion by the end of last month, down from near $4 trillion in 2014, PBOC data showed.
MANILA  Economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ended their meeting on Friday, vowing to deepen and expand trade integration through regional trade partnership.

Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, who chaired the meeting, said that the ASEAN ministers agree to "push to achieve considerable progress on the the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to showcase ASEAN's headship in bringing about a regional partnership that integrates major economic players China, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

"The shares optimism on RCEP will mean more foreign investments and more dynamic trade and business alliances," Lopez said.

RCEP stands for a mega trade agreement designed to broaden and deepen engagements among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its six dialogue partners including powerhouse China.

RCEP will expand the ASEAN market from 600 million to 3.5 billion as it will include ASEAN's six dialogue partners that account for almost half of the world's population, representing a huge integrated market base.

"This expanded economic partnership is seen to shape the future of trade and economic liberation in Asia. At the backdrop of recent economic uncertainties and rising protectionism, RCEP is poised to keep the momentum of trade as an engine for regional and global economic growth," Lopez said.

RCEP aims to rationalize rules of origin by using a simplified approach to their definition. It focuses on non-tariff barriers, streamlining and harmonizing custom procedures, and making them more consistent and predictable than in existing agreements.

RCEP negotiations were launched in November 2012 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and scheduled to conclude by the end of 2015. While this deadline has passed, negotiations are expected to intensify this year that experts predict than an RCEP deal could occur in 2017.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Aside from China, the five other ASEAN Free Trade Agreement partners that are taking part in the negotiations are Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Lopez expressed hope that RCEP will have a "substantial conclusion" by yearend.

The ministers also endorsed the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement to make the service sector more transparent within the ASEAN community, Lopez said.

He said that the ministers also explored on convening regular dialogue with the private sector to highlight its business priorities and recommendations, as well as identity ways to complement existing public efforts toward taking full advantage of opportunities under the ASEAN community.
SHANGHAI  China's two leading search engine operators, Baidu and Sogou, were fined on Thursday for their negligence in publishing unchecked advertising for unlicensed medical services and private companies.

The fines were issued by the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Bureau on charges of publishing false and illegal advertisements.

Baidu was fined 28,000 yuan (about $4,000) as it linked commercial ads of private hospital groups with certain key word searches, which pointed to medical services that the hospitals are not qualified for.

The hospitals were also given fines of up to 46,000 yuan.

Sogou was fined 10,300 yuan for carrying an advertisement containing false messages and for a company whose business license had been revoked.

The regulator said the fines were issued in line with a provisional regulation on internet advertisements that took effect on September 1, 2016. The regulation holds search engines responsible for censoring online ads they publish.

Ying Jun, advertisement supervision official with the bureau, said the administrative fines can negatively affect the credit of the advertisers. The bureau will tighten supervision of internet ads, including those on personal social media accounts.

The search engine operators have long faced accusations over their online ad business. A 21-year-old student died in May 2016 after spending a fortune on an ineffective treatment for his illness, which he learned about from a Baidu-promoted link to an unqualified hospital.

Advertisers often spend billions of yuan to have their ads placed on top of search results via the search engines.
The logo of Didi Chuxing is seen at its headquarters in Beijing, May 18, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

Didi Chuxing, China's largest ride-hailing company, has officially launched Didi Labs in Mountain View, California, which will be focused on artificial intelligence-based security and intelligent driving technologies.

The lab will be led by Gong Fengmin, vice-president of Didi research institute. Dozens of leading data scientists and researchers have joined the team, including Charlie Miller, a key member of rival firm Uber Technologies Inc's self-driving team, according to Didi.

Didi said its current projects cover cloud-based security, deep learning, human-machine interaction, computer vision and imaging, as well as intelligent driving technologies.

"Building on rich data and fast-evolving AI analytics, we will be working with cities and towns to build intelligent transportation ecosystems for the future," said Didi CEO Cheng Wei.

Cheng said the launch of Didi Labs is a landmark in creating this global nexus of innovation. The lab will work in tandem with the broader Didi research network to advance its global strategy, apply research findings to products and services, and help cities develop smart transportation infrastructure.

It also expects to rapidly expand its US-based team of scientists and engineers over the course of the year.

Bob Zhang, Didi's CTO, called for top minds in AI and the intelligent driving research to join the company and to advance transformation in the global transportation industry.

"In the next decade, Didi will play a leading role in innovation in three ways: optimization of transportation infrastructure, introduction of new energy vehicles and intelligent driving systems, and a shift in the human-automotive relationship from ownership to shared access," Zhang said.

Wang Chenxi, a transport analyst for internet consultancy Analysys, said: "It is an inevitable trend that Didi taps into the self-driving sector as it has already accumulated enough personnel, capital and technologies."

The self-driving technology will first be applied into commercial car area such as logistics, cargo and public transportation, and followed by private cars, Wang said.

Last week, Didi obtained its first local online operating license from Tianjin municipality. It offers online car-hailing services in over 400 cities and completes more than 20 million rides daily.
A visitor experiences a virtual reality headset powered by a Qualcomm Inc Snapdragon 835 processor at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan 6. [Photo/Agencies]

US chip giant Qualcomm Inc has upped the ante in its joint venture in the Guizhou province, pouring another 1 billion yuan ($144 million), together with the local government, into Guizhou Huaxintong Semiconductor Technology.

The move brought the total investment in Huaxintong, which is based in Guizhou's capital Guiyang, to 2.85 billion yuan. The joint venture was established in 2016 by Qualcomm and the Guizhou provincial government to make server chips.

Wang Kai, CEO of Huaxintong, said in an interview with China Daily in Beijing on Wednesday that the company had received another 1 billion yuan, the second phase of a capital injection, from its two shareholders.

Qualcomm owns a 45 percent stake in Huaxintong, with the Guizhou provincial government accounting for the balance.

Wang said the new deal had not changed the shareholder structure. He did not disclose how the new cash would be used.

The move comes after Huaxintong opened a research center in Shanghai last year to step up research and development on chip design.

It also opened an operating center in Beijing last year. The joint venture is part of a broad effort by Qualcomm, which dominates the smartphone chip sector, to compete with Intel Corp in server chips.

Qualcomm President Derek Aberle said in an earlier interview with China Daily that Huaxintong expected to start shipping its China-customized server chips around mid-2018.

According to Huaxintong's Wang, unlike previous ventures when foreign companies brought outdated technology to China, Huaxintong will tailor-make chips for the China market on the basis of Qualcomm's latest technology.

He said over half of Huaxintong's employees are from other leading semiconductor producers and 70 percent of them are doctorate or master degree holders.
Curbs to include more efforts to reduce coal for heat

Curbing winter smog in the north has become a priority and challenge for air quality improvement, leading to harsh measures this year, the environmental minister said on Thursday.

Measures will include more efforts to reduce coal consumption for heating, stricter laws and regulations on environmental protection, and more inspections to deter polluters and push governments to fulfill their duties in reducing pollution.

"The central government will take harsher measures to curb winter smog in the north this year, especially by implementing fully the efforts in reducing coal consumption for heating," said Chen Jining, minister of environmental protection, during the ongoing plenary session of the National People's Congress.

Although the average concentration of PM2.5  hazardous airborne particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less  has decreased by 9.6 percent over the past three winters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, several bouts of severe smog hit the region since autumn last year, causing another round of national debate.

In contrast, PM2.5 levels dropped by at least 20 percent over the same period in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.

Besides weather conditions in the north that were not conducive to dispersing pollutants, other critical factors were excessive discharges of pollutants from industrial production and consumption of coal.

The minister said previous control measures are proving effective, with large drops in pollutants. These measures were mainly those listed in the national campaign against air pollution, with specific requirements since 2013 for lowering pollutant emissions.

Though the concentration of PM2.5 dropped slowly this past winter, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region's annual average PM2.5 concentration last year was 33 percent lower than in 2013.

The new Environmental Protection Law, which took effect on January 1, 2015, presented environmental authorities with more weapons to fight polluters, said Tian Weiyong, head of environmental inspection for the ministry, in previous statements.

Data from the ministry showed that, based on the new Environmental Protection Law, 2,465 polluting companies were shut down last year, and environmental authorities at all levels levied fines totaling 6.63 billion yuan ($959 million) on the polluters, a year-on-year increase of 56 percent.

Additionally, inspection teams sent by the central government reviewed 16 provincial-level regions last year.

Governments that fail to protect the environment as required will face punishments as well, he warned.

Despite the challenge, Chen was confident that China can solve pollution issues faster than developed countries.

"Many of them have spent 20 to 40 years, or even 50 years, to solve air pollution," said Chen. "It's hard to solve air pollution (in China) within two to three years. ... I can assure you that we can solve the air pollution issues faster than the developed countries."
China will continue to deepen the reform of State-owned enterprises and further tighten the grip on SOEs investing overseas to ensure the safety and appreciation of State-owned assets this year.

Xiao Yaqing, chairman of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said on Thursday that the government will explore the possibility of integrating assets owned by SOEs in overseas markets this year.

Huang Danhua, vice-chairwoman of the SASAC, said the commission "will also strengthen the supervision of State-owned capital this year by shifting the focus from previously governing SOEs themselves to better managing their assets, to cut resource waste and improve work efficiency".

To date, 9,112 SOEs operate various businesses in 185 countries and regions. Supported by more than 346,000 local and Chinese employees, they manage over 5 trillion yuan ($723.6 billion) in State assets.

The government pledged to improve SOEs' revenue in global markets via a number of reform measures this year, including mixed-ownership reform, establishment of asset management companies and diversification of SOE equity.

In the first two months of this year, central SOEs made 168.6 billion yuan in profits, an increase of 29.1 percent year-on-year. Their total revenue reached 3.7 trillion yuan, up by 15.2 percent.

Commission Chairman Xiao stressed that there would be three priorities this year for SOE management and reform: to strengthen State-owned capital supervision, enhance risk control and deepen State-owned enterprise reform.

SOE reforms in the steel, coal, heavy equipment and thermal power industries are inevitable this year, Xiao said. "The reform will be applied to different SOEs based on their actual situation. We need to make sure that both stakeholder and shareholder can benefit from the reform."

Zhang Xiwu, vice-chairman of the SASAC, said the market will witness deeper and wider SOE reform on mixed-ownership in 2017. Private companies are encouraged to participate in the reform.

"SOEs are involved in a wide range of industries, and it will surely take time for them to apply mixed-ownership reform from all perspectives. What they can do now is enforce the reform in the levels and areas that they can figure out a way to handle," said Zhang.

Fu Chengyu, former Sinopec chairman, said China has entered a critical phase in SOE reform, and thorny issues need to be addressed now.

"Supervision of SOEs and their capital will play a crucial role," Fu said. "Many SOEs are performing internal reforms but neglecting the critical role of the market in resource allocation."

Li Xiang contributed to this story.
The fight against the East Turkestan Islamic Movement still tops China's anti-terror agenda as the country is in a critical phase of development, said Cheng Guoping, State commissioner for counterterrorism and security matters.

Cheng, a former vice-foreign minister, said the ETIM has been seeking "Xinjiang independence" and attempting to create splits among the country's ethnic groups.

"It is the most prominent challenge to China's social stability, economic development and national security," he said.

The ETIM, listed as a terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council in 2002, has been responsible for a number of terrorist attacks in China.

As progress has been seen in the anti-terrorist fight in Syria and Iraq, international terrorism is "entering a new phase", and extremist and terrorist groups are "tweaking their strategies for terrorist activities", Cheng warned.

An increasing number of terrorists are penetrating and gathering momentum in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, and "the security situation in Afghanistan is particularly alarming", Cheng said.

"We should closely check on whether Afghanistan is becoming another paradise for extremist and terrorist groups. Such a major development may pose a serious challenge to the security of our northwestern border," Cheng said.

In addition to cracking down on terrorism within its borders, China has built high-level anti-terror cooperation mechanisms with neighboring countries and major Western countries, including the United States, according to Cheng.

The anti-terror mechanisms that China has established with its neighbors have connected ministries in charge of foreign affairs and public security as well as defense authorities, Cheng said.

Also, China has built consultative mechanisms for information exchanges and anti-terror cooperation with major Western countries such as the US, France and Britain.

Recently, observers have raised concerns over security risks along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative, which is led by China and supported by more than 100 countries and organizations.

Cheng said the initiative is of great strategic significance for boosting China's economic development and international economic cooperation, and it is a display of China's diplomatic philosophy that endorses peaceful development and mutual benefits.

"It is an important task and a demanding challenge for China and other countries concerned to offer security assurance to the economic projects along the Belt and Road routes in the context of the greatly complicated international situation", he said.

China has two State commissioners for counterterrorism and security mattersCheng and Zhang Xinfeng, former vice-minister of public security.

President Xi Jinping has long attached great importance to international anti-terror cooperation, and the Chinese government decided to introduce the commissioner posts as a key measure for improving the terror fight and global cooperation, according to Cheng.

Such commissioners focus on anti-terrorism diplomacy and can play a special role in "boosting the integrated use of resources and strengthening coordination among (domestic) departments, particularly the cooperation between the central government and local ones", Cheng said.
Yang Tao, a local community worker, visits Elena Sibileva and her daughter Daria at their rented house in Harbin on Wednesday. The Russian single mother came to Harbin to seek treatment for her daughter, who has cerebral palsy. SHI JIKAI/CHINA DAILY

Although Harbin, Heilongjiang province, is nicknamed the "ice city", good Samaritans there have warmed a single Russian mother's heart by supporting her in her quest to treat her daughter's cerebral palsy.

Elena Sibileva, 25, has received generous assistance from residents since coming to the city in December for her daughter's treatment.

Sibileva, a nursery teacher from Blagoveshchensk, a Russian city on the China-Russia border about 580 kilometers from Harbin, gave birth to twin girls in late 2015. Due to a lack of oxygen during labor, the girls developed cerebral palsy, the symptoms of which include stiff and weak muscles, poor body coordination and tremors.

Though the situation got better after treatment for Victoria, the older twin, this was not the case for her sister, Daria. To make matters worse, unable to deal with the situation, Sibileva's husband left the family, and Daria's treatment in Moscow was ineffective.

Sibileva refused to give up. After hearing from friends about good recovery hospitals in Harbin, she quit her job in December. With the 1-year-old infant in her arms, she came across the border to China, leaving Victoria with the child's grandmother.

As Sibileva, who does not speak Chinese, tried to rent a house near the hospital upon arrival, she encountered Qi Yize, a Heihe University student who happened to be helping out at the rental agency of his aunt, Qi Mei.

Through her nephew's translation, Qi Mei learned about Sibileva's predicament. She decided to help her.

To start with, she got her a second-floor room where Sibileva wouldn't have to climb many stairs, and provided a stroller that Qi Yize had used when he was a baby. She and her sisters Qi Jie and Qi Min bought milk powder and clothes for Daria. They even invited her to the reunion dinner for the Chinese New Year.

Moreover, since the therapy is costly, the sisters started a WeChat group chat called Help Save Dashathe nickname for Dariato raise money for Sibileva, and they have received big and small donations. Although her mother came to China with only enough money for two months of treatment, Daria has been treated for four months, thanks to donations.

"I never expected to have so many strangers helping me in a different place, and I'm really grateful," said Sibileva.

The child has undergone traditional Chinese medicine therapies such as acupuncture, herbal baths and massages, as well as modern ones like physiotherapy, at No 2 Hospital attached to Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine.

But she has a long way to go, since the treatment will last for about two more years, with a total cost of about 400,000 yuan ($58,000). Sibileva said she will return to Russia by the end of this month to renew her visa and raise more money.

Contact the writers at liangshuang@chinadaily.com.cn

Ren Qi contributed to this story.
A keeper feeds Baobao on Thursday at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda's Dujiangyan Base in Sichuan province. Baobao was born at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington in 2013, and returned to China on Feb 22. It is adapting to her new environment and food, according to the base. [Photo/VCG]
Wang Jiazhe, an economic fugitive, has turned himself in to the anti-corruption authority in Liaoning province after more than 17 years on the run in the United States, China's top anti-graft body said in a statement on Thursday.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said that Wang is No 40 on Interpol's list of the 100 most-wanted Chinese fugitives at large overseas.

Wang Jiazhe

Wang, 55, a former employee of Liaoning Daily, fled to the US in January 2000, according to the statement.

He was suspected of having committed contract fraud in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, and was accused of the crime in around July 2001. Interpol issued a "red notice"an international arrest warrantfor him on Nov 18, 2011.

According to a report by Shenyang Evening News, Wang was alleged to have defrauded a bank in Shenyang of 3.5 million yuan ($506,600).

So far, 39 people on the Interpol list have returned since the list was issued in April 2015, including No 1 on the list, Yang Xiuzhu.

The former deputy mayor of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province was accused of taking bribes totaling 250 million yuan in 2003. She was apprehended by US authorities for entering the country illegally in 2014 and was returned to China in November last year.

Since 2014, China has stepped up its efforts to capture overseas fugitives, as part of an intensified anti-graft drive.

The CCDI International Cooperation Department was set up in 2014 to facilitate operations targeting fugitives overseas.

The Ministry of Public Security launched a special operation code-named "Fox Hunt", while the Supreme People's Procuratorate began an operation targeting people who were set to be tried for dereliction of duty but absconded overseas before their case went to court.

In 2015, the CCDI launched a law enforcement program, dubbed "Sky Net", aimed at coordinating efforts to bring errant fugitives to justice.

Efforts to capture corrupt fugitives have been effective. Between early 2014 and the end of last year, judicial officers had returned 2,566 corrupt fugitives from more than 70 countries and regions, including the US, Canada and Singapore, according to the CCDI. They also confiscated 8.64 billion yuan in illegal assets.

However, according to previous reports, more than half of the economic fugitives on Interpol's list are still at large in the US and Canada.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi addresses the launching ceremony of the Lancing-Mekong Cooperation China Secretariat in Beijing on Friday. [Photo by Zhang Wei/China Daily]

China launched a secretariat on Friday to enhance cooperation with five countries along the Mekong River.

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation China Secretariat, set up in the Foreign Ministry, will focus on various tasks, including coordinating and implementing cooperation between China and Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand.

Foreign Minster Wang Yi, joined by envoys from the five countries, said in the launching ceremony that the establishment of the secretariat showed China's determination to work with the five countries to push forward the Lancang-Mekong cooperation.

China and the five countries, he said, agreed that each of them should set up a national secretariat or coordinating agency for cooperation in the first half of this year.

Wang also urged the countries to complete, this year, all 45 early projects they agreed under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, which was officially established in the First Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders' Meeting held in Sanya, Hainan province in March 2016.

China and the five countries share water resources provided by the river, which rises in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and runs through Southwest China and the Indochina Peninsula.
Construction of a subway line connecting downtown Beijing with the capital's new airport is picking up pace and will be in service by 2019, the municipal government announced on Friday.

A trip on the 41.36-km line will take only 20 minutes, making it the fastest of its kind in China, the government said in a news release.

Meanwhile, the municipal government said that Beijing plans to build two streetcar lines in Fengtai district within the year.

The two streetcar lines will connect with two existing subway lines to improve the communications network in southern Beijing.

The streetcars are expected to be more environmentally friendly and cost-effective, as energy consumption of a streetcar is about one third of a traditional bus, which will help the capital cut emissions.
Li: Shaanxi must exploit Belt, Road

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang joins a panel discussion with deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) from Shaanxi Province at the annual session of the NPC in Beijing, March 9, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Premier Li Keqiang called on Shaanxi province to make the most of opportunities to further open up, as China promotes the Belt and Road Initiative, in a panel discussion of National People's Congress deputies from the province in Beijing on Thursday.

The premier urged the province to advance reform and opening-up since Shaanxi is an important crossroads for the initiative, which is composed of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Xi'an, the provincial capital, which was a starting point for the ancient Silk Road as far back as the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), became the key city for the China (Shaanxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which was approved by the State Council in August to facilitate trade with countries and regions along the ancient route.

Shaanxi registered 1.9 trillion yuan ($279 billion) of GDP last year, a year-on-year increase of 7.6 percent and 0.9 of a percentage point higher than the country's growth rate. The province also excels in industries such as aviation as Northwest China's center of science and technology.

In January 2014, the premier spent three days visiting the province's cities of Shangluo, Xi'an and Ankang. During the visit, Li focused on economic transformation and cultivation of industries to employ people who had been relocated from impoverished areas to less-isolated places.

During Thursday's discussions, Li said Shaanxi has made enormous progress in economic and social development in recent years, and he hopes the province will make new achievements this year while being closely united under the Communist Party of China Central Committee with "Comrade Xi Jinping as the core".

Li said reforms should be deepened by promoting administrative streamlining and accelerating the transformation from old growth drivers to new ones.

He called for the development of industries such as high-end equipment manufacturing and electronic information, and expansion of new businesses such as logistics and e-commerce. The development of culture and tourism should also be boosted, he added.

Li said more jobs should be created to improve the quality of people's lives.

The Government Work Report, which Li delivered on Sunday at the opening session of the National People's Congress, set a target of 11 million new jobs for urban areas this year, 10 percent higher than last year's target.

In 2016, about 13.14 million new jobs were created in urban areas, exceeding the target by 30 percent, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
Belt and Road opens new chapter for authors

Li Min/China Daily

Prior to 2011, kung fu, Jackie Chan and pandas were the images readers in the Arab world associated most with China, according to Ahmed Elsaid, an Egyptian publisher who operates from a base in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Six years later, the list has grown and writers such as Liu Zhenyun, Xu Zechen and economist Justin Yifu Lin have seen their popularity grow with readers in the region.

"Before 2011, even Chinese language majors at universities in the Arabic-speaking world didn't understand Chinese society, the people or history very well. At the time, there were very few books about China in English, let alone Arabic," said the publisher and translator, who majored in Chinese at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo and now operates from Yinchuan in Northwest China.

"When I was a student, only about 50 titles had been bought and translated from Chinese for decades. It was really difficult to get Chinese books, which partly stimulated my plan to become a publisher," Elsaid noted.

The situation improved after the advent of the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, which saw more Chinese books, covering a wide range of subjects, appearing in Egyptian bookstores.

Sinologist Marine Jibladze, from Georgia, had a similar experience. She said until recently there were very few books about China in the former Soviet state, with the exception of a small number of foreign translations about traditional Chinese culture.

"The Belt and Road Initiative offers a great chance for more cultural and educational exchanges between the two countries. Recently, we have seen books in Georgian about Chinese literature, history and language," she said.

Multilingual approach

Zhao Haiyun, deputy department chief at the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said since the Belt and Road Initiative began providing funding for translations of Chinese literature, the administration has supported multilingual versions of 980 titles, aiming to reach readers in countries and regions along the routes of the "modern Silk Road".

Liu Xinlu, an academic and translator at Beijing Foreign Studies University's department of Arabic studies, said many people in the Arab world are unfamiliar with Chinese society and vice versa. "To improve understanding, Arabic-speaking people want to read books about our core values and how China perceives the world," he said. "The Arab world used to look to the West for development experience, but now it is more impressed and enlightened by what China has achieved in the past 30 years. People are now more willing to look to the East, and Chinese publishers are eager to introduce more titles to them."

Unlike years gone by, when the Arab world was interested in traditional Chinese culture, such as literary classics, people are now fascinated by contemporary issues, such as the country's development model and modern authors.

Through his research, Liu discovered that people in the Arab world love reading, and they are especially keen on humorous romances.

That point was echoed by Elsaid, who said Liu Zhenyun's use of humor and realismdisplayed in works such as Cell Phone and I am not Madame Bovaryis the key to his popularity.

"The contemporary writers introduced to the Arabic-speaking world differ in style, but what they write reflects how Chinese people live their lives, which is attractive to Arab readers," he said.




Pilot program given oversight

Authorities watch out for corruption when courts offer lenient sentences

China's judicial authorities have taken measures to prevent corruption and abuse of judicial power after they were given more room to offer leniency to those willing to plead guilty, a senior legislator said on Thursday.

Last September, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, approved a pilot program through which courts can give suspects or defendants lighter punishment if they plead guilty and agree with the sentences suggested by prosecutors.

The program, designed to improve judicial efficiency and ease the work pressure of prosecutors and judges amid a mountain of cases, has been carried out in 18 cities nationwide, including Beijing, Chongqing and Xiamen in Fujian province.

However, the new policy has also triggered public concern of forced confession or power-for-money deals as judges are offered more flexibility in handing down sentences.

At a news conference on Thursday, Wang Aili, director of the Criminal Law Office with the NPC Standing Committee's Legal Affairs Commission, said detailed measures were issued late last year jointly by the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate to prevent possible judicial corruption brought by the new policy.

"Judges and procurators would bear administrative or criminal liabilities if they're found with any power abuse in the pilot program," he said.

Wang said the rules also stipulate how to improve supervision and how to regulate legal procedures while handling such cases, but he did not give details.

"The top judicial authorities have also been required to make a midterm report of the two-year pilot program to the NPC this year," he said.

Under the pilot program, for example, courts are allowed to announce judgments directly, even without court investigation and debate, if criminal defendants plead guilty and face sentences of three years or less in prison.

"The move is to highlight the principle that tempers justice with mercy, as well as to optimize legal resources by accelerating the process in handling cases with clear facts," Wang added.

Also at Thursday's news conference, Xu Anbiao, deputy director of the NPC Standing Committee's Legal Affairs Commission, said the top legislature this year will push forward anti-corruption legislation and improve tax-related laws.

A major legislative task will be amending the Administrative Supervision Law into a more powerful national supervision law, which is expected to be submitted to the NPC for reading in March 2018, he said.
Legislators' groundwork called crucial

Zhang Dejiang (center), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, speaks during a panel discussion in Beijing with deputies from Jiangsu province on Thursday.[Photo by Ma Zhancheng/Xinhua]

Lawmakers at all levels should have strong confidence in China's political system and better perform their duties in legislation and supervision, the country's top legislator said on Thursday.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, has put forward a series of new ideas, measures and requirements that serve as the theoretical and action guides for adhering to and developing the people's congress system in the long term, said Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, during a panel discussion with lawmakers from Jiangsu province.

Legislation and supervision are the two major functions of people's congresses nationwide. In the work report Zhang delivered on Wednesday, he said the NPC has a heavy legislative task this year.

The top legislature will revise the Law on Administrative Supervision to turn it into a more powerful national supervision law. The legislature will also formulate laws on e-commerce, nuclear safety, intelligence and soil pollution prevention, among others.

Zhang Yan, an NPC deputy from Jiangsu, said she was impressed that the national legislature had made such major progress in legislation in the past four years.

"I understand the difficulty of lawmaking, as the legislature needs to balance the demands and interests of all sectors," she said.

The NPC and its Standing Committee will strengthen oversight of the implementation of plans for supply-side structural reform and poverty alleviation, both fundamental to building a well-off society, Zhang Dejiang said on Wednesday, adding that the work of people's congresses on the grassroots level should be strengthened.

Zhu Hong, a deputy from Jiangsu who is head of a village in Wuxi, said: "In villages, where practical work is often given more stress, the local people's congress should better play its supervising role."
Mainstreaming special needs education in schools

Special education teacher Dai Jianrong helps a disabled child complete sensory integration training in Kunming, Yunnan province.[Photo/Xinhua]

Adviser says all children should receive equal treatment

In order to remove the stigma surrounding disabilities and encourage a more inclusive society, a national political adviser has called for a change in the law that would compel mainstream schools to admit children with special needs.

At present, only a small proportion of these children have access to mainstream education, according to Wang Ming, a professor with Tsinghua University's school of public policy and management and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, the nation's top political advisory body.

He cited a survey of 2,400 parents in seven cities across China conducted by the National Union of Parents of Children with Mental Disabilities last year, which found that more than 1 in 4 children with special needs, age 6 to 15, were excluded from mainstream schools.

The Compulsory Education Law obliges governments at the county-level and above to establish special schools for children with disabilities.

Wang suggested that this be changed so governments at all levels are required to support children with disabilities in attending mainstream schools and following the same curricula as other children.

Schools would have to be equipped with "resource classrooms and specially trained teachers" to enable the change, he said.

Other obstacles, according to Wang, include the need for specially designed activity spaces and disabled toilets, as well as possible opposition to the move from the parents of children who are not disabled.

"But the biggest problem is a shortage of specially trained teachers," he said.

"For example, in Guangzhou there are nearly 2,000 children with disabilities in mainstream education, yet the average student-teacher ratio is 36-to-1."

Wang suggested making inclusive education methods a part of the curriculum for all teaching majors and providing working teachers with continuous training on the subject.

A Shanghai mother, surnamed Bao, who has a 5-year-old child with a learning disability, welcomed Wang's proposal.

"Such inclusive education would make a huge difference in ensuring this small group of children be equipped with the skills to survive in mainstream society and live independently," she said.

Zhu Shanping, an NPC deputy and a teacher at Nanjing Foreign Language School in Jiangsu province, said inclusive education is also beneficial to children who are not disabled.

"It gives them an understanding of equality and acceptance as they interact with this group of children in everyday life," she said.

Wang Chao, director of the China arm of international charity Save the Children, said disabled people are too often forgotten by society.

"We can foster a more inclusive society for them, and inclusiveness starts from childhood," he said.
High-tech gizmos can be a distraction

A reporter with a multi-information channel live broadcast cloud platform in the Great Hall of the People.[Jiang Dong/China Daily]

An unusual piece of futuristic reporting equipment that enables its operator to broadcast on 16 platforms at once certainly caught my eye at this year's two sessions.

The contraption, dubbed the "Iron Man" multi-information channel live broadcast cloud platform, holds more than a dozen gadgets ranging from cellphones to tablets and cameras.

It can record and live-broadcast an event in a variety of digital formats, including panoramic and virtual reality.

An Baijie

At first glance, I thought the reporter encumbered by this strange-looking gizmo was just trying to get attention. Before any two session news had even been reported, he had already hit the headlines.

"It looks like he could launch into space at any minute if he hit the wrong button," said one netizen, on the microblogging site Sina Weibo.

It is always tough for the media to dig out stories from lawmakers and political advisers at the annual two sessions, so it is understandable that some news organizations have adopted high-tech devices to produce on-the-spot reports, particularly in this new age of livestreaming and print-web media integration.

But such fancy equipment is not always as useful as it looks.

On the first day of the two sessions, for example, when hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of journalists gathered in front of the east gate of the Great Hall of the People, the network speed was simply not fast enough to support live broadcasts on multiple platforms.

There is also the issue of whether anything particularly interesting or newsworthy can be reported using such complex, cumbersome equipment.

In my opinion, the media should focus on lawmakers' and political advisers' proposals and suggestions at the two sessions, rather than being distracted by fripperies.

It reminds me of the time, several years ago, when a number of reporters covered the two sessions wearing the prototype Google Glass head-mounted computers. They also became headlines for a while, but their stories did not last.

Of course, it is important for reporters to have the right equipment, and the two sessions should be covered in a variety of different ways. But we should always bear in mind that content matters most.
A bonanza for bookworms

Since March 2013, the Chinese public's passion for reading has undergone a big change.

Slogans promoting the activity are plastered across bus stops, next to adverts for the newest movies. Meanwhile, Line 4 of the Beijing subway has been turned into a reading wonderland: the cars carry posters bearing illustrations and selected paragraphs from books. Passengers can scan a code with a smart device and receive selected chapters of featured books so they can gauge the content.

More reading spaces, public and privately owned, have sprouted in cities, and while most are small, they are cozy, chic and full of bookworms. Bookstores are also drawing larger numbers of customers, and extending their opening hours as a result.

"We've witnessed rising sales of printed books recently," said Zang Yongqing, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and president of the People's Literature Publishing House.

In April last year, the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication announced that every person in China read an average of eight books in 2015, a small increase compared with previous years. Last year's data will be released next month.

President Xi Jinping has said that he regards reading as a healthy hobby, and he wants all Party cadres and leaders to foster the habit.

The reading movement started during the two sessions in 2013, when more than 110 members of the committee put forward a proposal to promote the activity as an important asset for the country's future and urged government backing.

"We will work hard to foster a love of reading among our people," said Premier Li Keqiang, when he delivered the Government Work Report to NPC deputies and CPPCC members on Sunday.

The aim, previously referred to as "building a country of avid readers", has been included in the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

In March last year, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television drafted a regulation on the promotion of reading and encouraged members of the public to air their opinions.

"Last year, my proposal was about enacting the regulation as quickly as possible," Zang said, referring to the project to open more libraries and reading spaces for all age groups, host more reading events and ensure that children read as much as possible. The regulation also includes proposals to punish people who damage reading facilities.

He expressed concerns about migrant workers in cities, suggesting that they should be offered free book coupons to encourage them to spend more time reading.

Zang is not opposed to fragmented reading, such as on social-media platforms such as WeChat or Weibo, and he believes book lists offered by professionals and academics will help to improve readers' tastes in literature.

"Reading is the origin of creativity. We only get a glimpse of life through direct experience, books can offer more," he said.

The Beijing Reading Festival is an official nonprofit platform that promotes reading in the Chinese capital. Since it was inaugurated six years ago, the festival has held more than 20,000 events, attracting audiences of more than 10 million.

Last year, the festival cooperated with 300 publishing organizations to invite 300 writers, scholars and critics to meet readers in 1,000 reading spaces.

"Data from official and research institutions suggest the number of readers is rising and the average number of books being read every year has also increased," said Wang Yijun, director of public services at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

"Many people have already made reading a habit and a way of life," she said.

Wang said the Beijing festival serves as a platform where government support combines with publishers, bookstores and organizations that promote reading to offer integrated public services and the best resources.

"It wasn't easy to work with so many partners, but it was worth making the effort because I know how reading can light up people's lives and help build a strong country," Wang said.

The festival's management team is now actively seeking more partners and advocating reading unions among peer groups, such as school students and police officers.

Zhou Huilin, director of publishing management at the administration, said promotions will account for a large part of his work plan for next year, such as establishing a long-term mechanism to promote reading, which will include establishing a guiding committee and a system to assess the impact of the program.

On March 1, the Public Cultural Service Guarantee Law of the People's Republic of China was officially enacted, guaranteeing funding, infrastructure and facilities to promote reading.
Expert calls for changes to make vocational education more appealing

Zhu Yongxin, a CPPCC National Committee member. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Vocational education can play an important role in China's poverty relief efforts, says an education expert and national political advisor.

Zhu Yongxin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that vocational education is less attractive in China and the students of vocational schools are mainly from relatively poor families.

He believes that better promoting vocational education is the key to increasing the income of poor families.

In a pilot project in Central China's Hunan province that provides vocational education for students from poor families, the graduates earn an average of 30,000 yuan ($4,300) a year, which practically lifts his or her family from poverty, Zhu said.

"PhD students are everywhere, while a skilled worker is hard to find," Zhu said.

In China, there is a remarkable gap between vocational education and general higher education, with only four vocational schools for every six universities or colleges.

"In some countries, a skilled worker gets similar pay as a professor and can live a decent life," Zhu said.

However, that's not the case in China where kids don't want to attend vocational schools due to the traditional culture in favor of academic knowledge as well as an unequal income system.

Zhu, who is also vice chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, called for reform of the income distribution system and human resource system to address the problem.

To draw more students into vocational education, we should pay due respect to good technicians and skilled workers like we respect scientists, he said.

That will boost the competitiveness of China's labor force, he said.
Supervision boosted on key livelihood industries

Liu Binjie, chairman of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the 12th National People's Congress, speaks at the press conference in Beijing on March 10, 2017. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

China's top legislature said on Friday they will continue to improve supervision on industries concerning people's livelihoods, including food and the environment.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress conducted several law-enforcement inspections last year. Those regarding the Food Safety and the Environmental Protection Law received the highest attention.

Liu Binjie, head of the NPC Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee, said during a news conference that the inspection concerning the enforcement of the Food Safety Law in 2016, led by chairman of the NPC Standing Committee Zhang Dejiang, was the one conducted at the highest-level and the largest-scale in history.

"Our inspection covered all aspects. We went to farmlands, college canteens, food processing factories and food quality inspection institutes, which means we inspected every link in the industry," said Liu.

He noted that a team governing the food industry has been established in China. This involves more than 20 governmental departments, including agricultural and forest authorities, ensuring, he said, every aspect could be under supervision.

But he admitted that weak points still exist. "For example, we found quarantine and examination offices are separated in different sections, such as in health authorities, colleges and educational institutes. Now, how to integrate them and then scientifically rule the food industry is being studied," he added.

In response to a reporter's question about how to reduce pollution by inspecting the enforcement of the Environmental Protection Law, Yuan Si, deputy director of the NPC's Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee, said legal supervision on air, water and soil had been further increased over the past a few years.

"For example, we did a great deal of work on air pollution prevention," Yuan said. "Led by Shen Yueyue, vice-chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee, we went to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, areas always hit by heavy smog in winter. We have researched and inspected there five times over the past five years. We went to the pollution-hit region every year."

"In other words, we made great efforts in the supervision," he said, but adding problems still exist and there is still a gap between the effect of the prevention measures and the public's expectations.

He said the key to improve the effectiveness is to clarify polluting enterprises' responsibilities in line with the law, "as well as to let the public know their responsibilities in protecting the environment".

Meanwhile, the State Council has been asked to report on how to tackle pollution, and how effective the measures will be, to the NPC Standing Committee in April this year, he said.

"Protecting our environment cannot only rely on one government department that takes all the measures. Instead, it relies on everyone," he added.
Grassroots NPC deputy proposes cashless cities

Yu Chun (third from right) and her colleagues pose for a photo in front of the bus she drove for 28 years on the day of her retirement. [File photo from web]

Hangzhou impressed the world with its cashless urban life when it played host to the G20 summit last year. Now an NPC deputy from the city has proposed at the ongoing annual two sessions in Beijing that the success should be replicated across the country.

Yu Chun, a 50-year-old retired bus driver in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, is one of those deputies who pay close attention to how a policy can be used to bring far-reaching changes through digital payment.

Yu said in her suggestion that the foundation for cashless society is already solid in the nation as the value of third-party mobile payment reached 38 trillion yuan ($5.5 trillion) in China in 2016.

As a former bus driver, she is the best person to explain how convenient a cashless life is. In her 28-year-long career, she saw many passengers fumbling and looking for coins. "I usually collected 500 to 600 yuan in fares in one shift, but most of the money was in coins," she said.

According to her, it's very inconvenient to pay by cash, especially by coins, not only for passengers but also for the bus operators. "The bus companies collect tons of coins and counting them is not easy to say the least."

Yu Chun, an NPC deputy from Hangzhou, inquires about bike-sharing service during the two sessions in Beijing, March 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Yu's suggestion not only comes from her own experience, but also is based on her research. During her stay in Beijing, she went around the capital to see and experience firsthand the application of mobile payment.

After her "field tour", she became even more confident in the soundness of her suggestion. "A cashless life is more ubiquitous in many cities. I believe that people living in remote and border areas should also have a chance to lead such a convenient life."

"Although my career as a bus driver has ended, my passion and my responsibility to serve the people will never come to a stop," she said. Yu has been awarded several times for her service and dedication to her job. Of the nearly 3,000 NPC deputies this year, about 14 percent are farmers and workers like Yu, a 5 percentage point jump from the 11th NPC.
China cracks down on 28,000 trademark infringement cases in 2016

China cracked down on 28,000 trademark infringement cases last year, said Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), at a news conference on Friday.

The country will continue to execute related laws, improve social credibility system and increase penalties on counterfeiters, he said.

The improvement in legal system and the development of a credibility system are two key steps needed to fight counterfeit and substandard products, he added.
Xi calls for building 'great wall of iron' for Xinjiang's stability

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that a "great wall of iron" to safeguard national unity, ethnic solidarity and social stability should be built in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Chinese President Xi Jinping receives a gift from a NPC deputy from Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region at a panel discussion in Beijing on Friday during the ongoing National People's Congress. [Photo/Xinhua]

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during a panel discussion with national lawmakers from Xinjiang at the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress.Xi called for safeguarding ethnic unity, and reinforcing solidarity between the military and government, soldiers and civilians, police and the people, as well as between the production and construction corps and local communities.Xinjiang is an important "security barrier" in northwest China which holds a special strategic position and faces special issues, Xi said, adding that governing the region well is of great significance.He stressed that maintaining stability in Xinjiang is a political responsibility, and that stability-related issues must be handled in a thorough, timely and proper manner.He called for efforts to make long-term strategies, strengthen the foundation, and achieve lasting peace and stability in Xinjiang.
Chance The Rapper Announces Names Of Next Schools To Receive $10K Donations

By Stephen Gossett in News on Mar 9, 2017 9:30PM

Chance the Rapper (and Beloved Benefactor) announced on Thursday nine more CPS schools that would receive a $10,000 donation from his original $1 million gift to the financially beleaguered district.

The schools were, in order of announcement:

Nathan S. Davis Elementary School

Mahalia Jackson Elementary School

Charles Carroll Elementary School

Roberto Clemente High School

Paul Robeson High School

Orr Academy High School

Hirsch Metropolitan High School

Benito Juarez Community Academy

Fenger Academy High School

These are only matches from the first 1M on Monday become an active part of the solution with your Voice #SupportCPS https://t.co/8rOIFuczrj https://t.co/7Klbtafz5Z  Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 9, 2017

The Chicago-native rapper announced the $1 million donation on Monday at a press conference at Westcott Elementary School, the first school announced as a $10,000 recipient from Chance and his non-profit organization, SocialWorks. He also pledged to give $10,000 to a different, individual school for every $100,000 that is donated through SocialWorks. SocialWorks did not return request for comment as to whether any corporations or businesses had taken Chance up on his challenge. Individuals, including Chicago-native comedian Hannibal Buress, received shout-outs from Chance for having donated.

"Gov. Rauner, do your job," Chance said at the presser earlier this week. He had met with state executive last week to discuss funding for Chicago Public Schools, but he left "frustrated" by those talks and said a subsequent discussion over the weekend failed to gain traction.

Ahead of Chance's press conference on Monday, Rauner suggested two CPS funding plans, one that called for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to dip again into the city's tax increment funds, and the other would tie funds to a larger state pension agreement. Mayoral spokesman Adam Collins said the proposals were "no solution at all," according to the Tribune.

Rauner vetoed a $215 million CPS-funding bill in December, claiming that state Congressional Democrats had not done enough to provide broader pension reforms. Chicago Public Schools slapped Rauner and the Board with a lawsuit in mid-February that alleges discriminatory funding practices. The Chicago Teachers Union plans to vote next month on a one-day strike should CPS follow through on potential plans to end class 13 days ahead of schedulea move the district hopes will help shore up the $100-million-plus gap.

Side note: It wasn't Chance's only announcement-of-sorts of the day. He also delivered some choice social-media shade, seemingly directed toward a controversial Mary Mitchell cover story in the Sun-Times about the rapper's child-support case. "She said, 'Sun-Times, get the f*ck back,'" Chance said, referring to his kid's baby talk in a video he posted on Instagram.
'Cherish ethnic unity,' president tells Xinjiang

President Xi Jinping receives a traditional Uygur flat hat from Rehangul Yimir before attending a panel discussion with deputies to the 12th National People's Congress from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Friday. Lan Hongguang / Xinhua

Xi vows to safeguard harmony and improve people's livelihoods in region

President Xi Jinping vowed on Friday to firmly safeguard the harmony and stability of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and improve the people's livelihoods in the northwestern region.

"We should love ethnic unity as loving our eyes, cherish ethnic unity like cherishing our lives, and hold together tightly like pomegranate seeds," Xi told lawmakers from Xinjiang while attending a panel discussion during the annual session of the National People's Congress, the top legislature.

Xinjiang is an important security barrier of Northwest China and has a strategic location, Xi said, adding that it is of great significance to handle all work in the region well.

According to the website of the autonomous region's government, Xinjiang covers an area of 1.66 million square kilometers, with more than 5,600 km of border with eight countries including Mongolia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It had 22.98 million people by the end of 2014, about 63 percent of whom are from ethnic groups other than Han.

Noting that China has many ethnic groups, Xi said ethnic unity is the lifeline of all people, the cornerstone of development and progress of Xinjiang, and also the common will of the 1.3 billion Chinese people.

During the discussion, eight lawmakers gave their suggestions on issues such as safeguarding social stability, promoting economic development, giving full play to the positive role of patriotic religious people and implementing policies to benefit the people.

Xi listened attentively to the lawmakers' advice, took notes and exchanged views with them from time to time.

The president pointed out that the general objective of the Xinjiang region's work is to ensure social stability and long-term peace. He called for modernization of the governance system, development of the economy, improvement of people's livelihoods and promotion of ethnic unity in the region.

Local authorities should improve development quality, push forward supply-side structural reform, cultivate characteristic industries and strengthen infrastructure construction, Xi said. He also asked about the region's growing and marketing of fruits including apples and pears.

Xi attached great importance to environmental protection of the autonomous region. He said that local authorities must say no to projects with high consumption of energy and high pollution. The work of preventing and controlling desertification must be strengthened, he said, while calling for a beautiful Xinjiang with blue skies, green land and clean water.

The president urged the local government to solve the problems that highly concern the people, thus making people of all ethnic groups feel the care of the Communist Party of China and the warmth of the country as a whole family.

Xi also emphasized the implementation of tailored poverty relief policies and precision measures in poverty-stricken areas, especially in southern Xinjiang, which he said is the main area for poverty alleviation work.
A screenshot of Hua Sheng. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhongshi Cultural Company announced at a press conference on March 9 that they will be producing a series of 20 films about Chinese cultural masters in the next five years.

The masters will include painter Wu Daozi, poet Li Bai, tea expert Lu Yv from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), calligrapher Wang Xizhi from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), Doctor Zhang Zhongjing from the Eastern Han Dyansty (25-220).

The film about Wu Daozi, Hua Sheng, was completed in 2012.

Hong Kong film star Wu Ma, who passed away in 2014, played the role of painter Wu Daozi in Hua Sheng. Bamboos, fine rain and small cottages in the pictures convey a simple and clean Chinese aesthetic appreciation.

However, without enough market promotion, it did not receive widespread acclaim and only got 6.4 points out of 10 on Douban, one of China's most popular movie review sites.

The latest production about Wang Xizhi will start filming soon. A famous calligrapher, Tian Boping will play Wang in the film.

Yang Huanqin, general producer of the series, expressed her determination to finish filming on time.

"The films will be a huge cultural project. We have faith in our work. There will be some obstacles ahead of us, so we need support from many institutions," she said.

About 10 modern painters and art scholars attended the conference and praised the plan that will present traditional Chinese culture and the legends of these masters.
David Warfel, Zippo's vice president of global marketing, says the brand continues to grow dramatically in the Chinese market. [Photo provided to China Daily]

There are brands that are pretty much the face of their industry. Zippo, known for its iconic lighters, is one of them. The brand is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year.

David Warfel, Zippo's vice president of global marketing, was recently in Beijing to talk about how the brand managed to stay ahead for 85 years.

The brand has been growing at about 10 percent in China for the past 10 years. And China is now its top overseas market after the United States.

About 60 percent of its sales come from the US and 25 percent from China.

China also takes up about 20 percent of its annual international marketing budget.

Despite the general sluggish retail scene, China has continued to grow, says Warfel.

"There have been changes. But Zippo has been able to continue to grow dramatically in the Chinese market," says Warfel.

Like everywhere else, the windproof lighter is the most popular model in China.

The brand launched a 360-degree marketing strategy that covers traditional media, social, digital and online marketing. It sponsors rock festivals around the world to reach its target audiences.

For the brand's 85th anniversary, the brand is launching a limited edition model in April.

Founded in Bradford in Pennsylvania in 1932, the brand is best known for its windproof lighters, and it estimates that there are about 4 million Zippo collectors in the US.

The brand is now sold in more than 120 countries around the world.

Meanwhile, Zippo is transforming itself into a lifestyle brand as the global smoker population decreases.

So, besides its iconic lighters, the brand also offers men accessories like wallets, key chains and money clips.

It has also started to offer fragrances in the European market.

In 2004, the company acquired Italian leather producer D.D.M and started to produce leather goods.

Speaking about how popular the lighter is, Warfel says: "The Zippo windproof lighter is so iconic that many people think of Zippo not only as a brand or a company but as a product. In China, the Zippo Windproof lighter is a very aspirational product. It is recognized as special and out of the ordinary. But if you go to a market like the Europe, there we are seen more as a fashion brand, more associated with men's accessories."
Models present Giada's 2017 fall/winter collection at Milan Fashion Week late last month. The collection continues the label's minimalist vibe, combining sophisticated draping with upscale materials. [Photo provided to China Daily]

There are many layers to a woman's characterminimalist and sophisticated, elegant but powerful, fashion-forward yet effortlessjust like Italian luxury brand Giada recently showed at Milan Fashion Week.

The brand showcased its 2017 fall/winter collection at the historical national library, Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, on Feb 26.

Inspired by German artist Katrin Bremermann and American designers Charles and Ray Eames, the collection continues the label's minimalist vibe, combining sophisticated draping with upscale materials.

The latest collection features oversized woolen and cashmere coats, and the mohair sweaters come with pleated silk chiffon skirts, creating a relaxed and effortless look.

The skirts are printed on both sides, creating a dynamic, fluid effect as the models walk by.

Giada's classic palette of gray, navy and white are enlivened by terracotta, red, green and olive.

Jewelry inspired by British artist Barbara Hepworth's abstract sculptures adorn the models' necklines, belts and wrists.
Four Victoria's Secret angels Alessandra Ambrosio (second left), He Sui (left), Josephine Skriver and Xi Mengyao (right) attend the grand opening of Victoria's Secret Shanghai flagship store. [Photo/VCG]

Four Victoria's Secret angels Alessandra Ambrosio, He Sui, Josephine Skriver and Xi Mengyao attended the grand opening of Victoria's Secret Shanghai flagship store.

It shows that the Victoria's Secret brand has shifted its eyes to China's market.

In addition, the 2017 Victoria Secret Show will be held in Shanghai later this year.
Soft white chocolate with ricotta ice cream. [Photo provided to China Daily]

As we nibble deliciously tender loin of lambstuffed and breaded, then prettily tucked in leaves of savory cabbagewe ask visiting Italian chef Damiano Nigro about his restaurant's Michelin star.

Is it such a big deal in Europe nowadays?

"Of course," he says, adding that business has doubled at the Villa d'Amelia in Italy's beautiful Piedmont region since the star was awarded.

China's seeming obsession with Michelin-rated chefs, heightened by the new guide for Shanghai, is relatively new, but on the continent where the guide began more than a century ago, star awareness remains strong.

Nigro's success may be due to the "modern traditionalist" approach he brings this week to Beijing, where he's doing a guest-chef stint for five days at TRB-Bites. "We still love the traditional flavors of our regional cuisine," he says, "but the old ways of cooking are too heavy for today's tastes." The modern approach is healthier, he says: "More vegetables, less fat, flavors that are clean and fresh."

While some visiting chefs pack an insulated suitcase full of their preferred produce, Nigro felt no need to do that. The TRB restaurant group's well-regarded European kitchen has established sources, and he simplified his menu a bit to avoid the need for lengthy plating rehearsals in his host kitchen.

"I pretty much came straight from the airport to the restaurant," he says with a grin.
People wait in a line to buy buns of Master Bao at its first Shanghai outlet in People's Square. CAO CHEN/CHINA DAILY

Shanghai may be well-known for being a fast-paced city that never sleeps, but there is one thing that its residents will slow down forfood.

The latest food craze in the city involves a palm-sized bun topped with dried-meat floss and shredded sea sedges, something many Shanghai-nese normally dislike because of its coarseness.

The bun is sold by Master Bao, which was first established in a quiet residential neighborhood in Beijing in 2009. The company opened its first Shanghai outlet in People's Square in early February, right after the Spring Festival holiday.

Today, the line outside the shop can stretch hundreds of meters and customers have waited for several hours during peak times. The snack sells for between 19 and 29 yuan ($2.80 to $4.20) per 500 grams, depending on the type of floss.

"I called in sick at work just so I could wait in line and buy this bread for my girlfriend, who has been craving it for weeks," says a hotel manager who had been waiting for nearly two hours on a weekday afternoon. "This is the first and perhaps last time that I will spend so much time waiting to buy a snack."

Bao Caibin, the store manager of the Shanghai outlet, says that the craze in Shanghai is even bigger than what took place in Beijing and Tianjin. He says the line starts to form as early as 5 am and lasts till midnight. The store is currently limiting each customer to 2 kilograms of bread.

It remains a mystery to most foodies why the snack has become such a phenomenal hit. Unlike other wildly popular products like mooncakes filled with spicy crayfish meat or sticky rice balls stuffed with salted duck-egg yolk, there is nothing new or innovative about Master Bao's buns. Similar products have been sold at most bakeries across the city for many years.

Most of the customers who were waiting in the line said they were simply influenced by social media posts.

On Taobao, China's largest online shopping portal, people have been flocking to place their orders with dai-gou (shopping on behalf of someone else) services.

The website showed that more than 10,000 such deals for the buns were made over the past 30 days. A shop assistant says that nearly one-third of the orders are placed by customers in Shanghai.

While most daigou businesses charge a fee ranging from 5 to 20 percent of the price of the product, the most popular daigou store on Taobao is selling the buns at the same price as Master Bao, citing the fact that they are buying these snacks in bulk from Beijing.

The shop, which charges a delivery fee of 23 yuan, guarantees customers in Shanghai that they will receive their buns within 48 hours.

Cao Chen contributed to this story.
Australian businessman Vaughn Barber says he enjoys his lifewith his wife and daughterin Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Vaughn Barber believes good business is built on trust. And, to that end, he wants to serve as a bridge between Chinese and foreign companies.

"It is something I can do to contribute uniquely," says Barber, 46, global chair of KPMG global China practice.

Over the years, his firm has helped Chinese State-owned and private companies conduct overseas mergers and acquisitions in sectors such as energy and power, mining, financial services, manufacturing and infrastructure.

When he was at school in Brisbane, Barber's father had suggested that he connects with China in the future. Learning Chinese would give him an advantage, he says his father told him then.

"That decision I made with his advice when I was so young has actually changed the course of everything," Barber says.

Barber's learning of Chinese allowed him to come to China on a scholarship for a year's study in 1987. The program, started by the Australian government, included language training in the first half of the year and attending classes with local Chinese students later. Barber also got chances to visit different cities here.

"After being in China, I understand better that money makes the world go around, and having a good understanding about business is important," he says.

Barber became a chartered accountant after college and worked in Australia for three years. He joined KPMG Hong Kong in 1996 as an assistant manager and became a partner in 2000. He moved to Beijing in 2011 and continues to work with Chinese outbound investors.

During his years in Hong Kong, Barber had many opportunities to visit the mainland. So he was asked to work out of Beijing to help foreign companies aiming to enter the Chinese market at the time. However, Barber noticed that more Chinese companies were looking to acquire important assets overseas by then.

"I said: 'No, my role is to advise Chinese companies going into the world,'" he recalls, explaining that he had realized it was an area KPMG needed to focus on.

From 2007, Barber, who combined his accounting skills with communication in Chinese, began leading a team in Hong Kong that provided tax advise to Chinese companies going abroad.

After moving to Beijing, he became head of the China outbound investment business for KPMG and chair of its "global China practice" in 2016.

His team has been following China's economic policies closely, such as the development goals stated in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

When the Chinese companies were seeking overseas investment opportunities earlier, his company published reports to help Australia understand Chinese investors better, as well as help Chinese companies understand the global markets better.

When KPMG started its "global China practice" in 2013, it was more about supporting Chinese foreign investors, he says.

"But also we think that we need to help foreign companies understand the opportunities and the changing environment (as projected) in the 13th Five-year Plan and beyond, and how they can engage in the Belt and Road Initiative."

In the past years, Barber and his team have made efforts to help their in-house colleagues around the world understand China better. For example, they carried out an internal online education campaign called China Confident Program, to give teams information about Chinese culture, history, business practices and the economy. The program was designed by some bilingual members in the company like Barber who have lived in China for a while.

"When they (Chinese companies) go into new markets, they need to work with our local teams because they need the best advice. So we worked together with the local team," he explains.

Barber says requests for the program have been made by KPMG teams especially in countries that are seeking to engage with China-related businesses effectively.

But he says that China's profile tends to differ from other countries and misunderstandings about China still exist in a few places.

"China has a role to play, too. More communication coming this way will improve the situation," he says, adding good company behavior and people-to-people interactions are important.

Barber is frequently seen at seminars organized by the Chinese government, speaking on how Chinese investors can do more worldwide and on China's economic development.

While trying to provide advice based on his own expertise, Barber believes participating in such forums also helps him better understand the country's development.

"You can't wear the glasses coming from outside China and apply that to China. You need to understand the context, which requires an investment of time and also requires you to live here," he adds.

Barber, who lives with his wife, a Chinese he met in Hong Kong, and their daughter, says he is accustomed to life in Beijing and spends most of his spare time with family and friends.

"I enjoy my life here. It's a cosmopolitan place," he says.

Since his first trip here in the 1980s, Barber has witnessed China change really quickly.

The quality of life is much better today and China is more open and confident, he says.

"It's also why it's important to engage foreign companies. There are opportunities, and by participating constructively, you contribute to the process of opening-up reform and the livelihood of normal people."
Melanie Segard will present the weather bulletin on French television. [Photo/Agencies]

PARISA woman with Down's Syndrome will realize her dream by presenting a prime-time weather bulletin on French television next week, an advocacy group for the disabled said on Wednesday.

Melanie Segard, 21, a French citizen, will begin training for the broadcast on Tuesday at the studios of public television station France 2, UNAPEI said in the statement.

Segard has scored more than 200,000 "likes" on Facebook in less than two weeks since the association launched a public awareness campaign for Down's Syndrome titled "Melanie Can Do It".

"Hi everyone, my name is Melanie and my dream is to present the weather," she says in the post.

"Seeing the public rally spontaneously around Melanie gives hope to thousands of people with disabilities who are still too often invisible," according to the UNAPEI statement.

Down's Syndrome is a genetic condition with no known cure that typically affects a person's physical and intellectual growth. It affects approximately one in 1,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. Also known as Trisomy 21, the condition is caused by the presence of an extra or third copy of chromosome number 21.

"Melanie is our ambassador," according to UNAPEI president Luc Gateau.

"We have just proved that a person with a handicap can realize her dream," he said. "Society needs this."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESS
Fake shoes are on display in a shopping mall in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, in November in 2013. A pair of fake branded shoes sold at only hundreds of yuan. [Photo/VCG]

IN AN INTERVIEW ON WEDNESDAY, Liu Pingjun, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee and former deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said that even if those producing counterfeit goods are caught 9 times out of 10, those not caught that one time will be able to make huge profits, which is why fake goods are so prevalent. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Thursday:

Counterfeit goods violate the intellectual property rights of the brands they claim to "emulate" and undermine efforts to promote domestic brands. Yet despite the existence of laws including the Criminal Law and the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, as well as routine special inspections on manufacturing quality, poor quality counterfeits are still prevalent in some places as they can bring huge illicit gains to those producing them.

Big name brands are often the target of copycats who believe that the profits to be made are worth all the risks. Decent returns and low costs have emboldened many to break the law by producing and distributing fake goods in pursuit of quick money, even at the risk of being held criminally accountable.

Jack Ma, founder of the domestic e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, said keeping shoddy counterfeits at bay requires stricter enforcement of the law and the concerted efforts of various parties. Alibaba reported some 4,495 clues of fake commodities on its platform last year, but only a tenth of them were taken care of by police and just 33 cases were brought to trial. The average penalty for those found guilty in about 200 cases last year was less than 100,000 yuan ($14,000).

The wrongdoers will only learn their lesson with harsher, more targeted punishments.
IL Rep. John Shimkus Questions Why Men Should 'Pay For Prenatal Care'

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 10, 2017 6:41PM



Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images)

Like many men who are lawmakers, Illinois Representative John Shimkus seems to believe he both knows whats best for womens bodies and is very concerned about the plight of men as it relates to healthcare for women.

In one of many lengthy debates taking place in the House, this time in the Energy and Commerce Committe regarding the GOPs plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania Rep. Michael Doyle asked Oklahoma Rep. Markwayne Mullin to clarify what he meant when he said insurance premiums were skyrocketing because of the mandates from Obamacare.

Im not sure what the gentlemen is talking about when he talks about mandates. What mandate in the Obamacare bill does he take issue with, asked Doyle, who then referenced preexisting conditions, caps on benefits and letting children stay on their parents insurance until the age of 26.

Shimkus then asked Doyle to yield the floor so he could ask about men paying for prenatal care.



What about men having to purchase prenatal care, asked the Congressman from downstate Collinsville, which appeared to flummox both Doyle and many other legislators in the room. Is that not correct? And should they?

Included among many of the provisions in the ACA Republican lawmakers want to torpedo is a requirement that plans cover essential health services, which include pregancy, maternity and newborn care. The GOPs replacement plan would also defund Planned Parenthood and phase out Medicaid expansions. Current estimates reported by the New York Times and Business Insider say that up to 10 million people could lose their health insurance under the GOPs plan.

NARAL, which Tweeted out the video of Shimkus, called the new bill a greatest hits of failed Republican proposals in a statement.

The GOP obsession with repealing the ACA and defunding Planned Parenthood is a perilous one that comes with a high cost to the public, and to the GOPs future in politics. Rest assured that NARALs 1.2 million member-activists will stand up to this latest GOP attack on our health care.

On Thursday Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who has an estimated net worth of between $2 and $8 million, also demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding on how health insurance worksparticularly for those struggling the most to afford the costs of care.


An elderly woman dines at a nursing home in Hangzhou.[Sun Yidou / For China Daily]

SPEAKING TO THE MEDIA ON WEDNESDAY on the sidelines of the fifth plenary session of the 12th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, Minister of Civil Affairs Huang Shuxian said that his ministry will further promote the domestic industry on the care for the elderly by constructing more old people's homes and developing community services for them. Southern Metropolis Daily comments:

Huang's remarks highlight the correct solution to the problem of caring for the elderly in our aging society. According to the white paper on China's care for the elderly published in 2016, the population aged 60 and above in China reached 222 million by the end of 2015, accounting for 16.1 percent of the total population. It is a huge challenge to provide enough care for all these senior citizens.

To make things worse, China has entered an aging society before it has accumulated the necessary funds to support good living conditions for everybody. Moreover, the rapid pace of urbanization means many senior citizens have been left behind in "empty nests" while their children live and work in cities far away.

In October 2013, the Ministry of Civil Affairs estimated that the number of "empty nest" seniors would exceed 100 million, and it did by the end of that year. There are not enough care homes for the elderly to meet the demand, and the existing ones are rather expensive.

The central leadership has been paying ample attention to this problem. The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) said that the old-age care industry's development must be accelerated. On May 27, 2016, President Xi Jinping emphasized at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee that national policies to support the development of the elderly care industry were needed.

Various levels of governments have invested much energy and resources since. The State Information Center predicts that the total government investment in the elderly care industry will exceed 29 billion yuan ($4 billion) during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

However, the government alone is far from enough in meeting the growing demand and the whole of society has to be mobilized. Elderly care services are appealing to private capital because they offer a return on investment, but the government needs to provide more policies to encourage more private capital to invest in facilities and services for the aged.

For example, local governments could provide land for old-age homes below the market price, so that more capital will rush in.

Only with the cooperation of all will the elderly care industry truly flourish.
A march in Washington on July 8, 2016, to protest police killings of African-Americans.[ BAO DANDAN/XINHUA NEWS AGENCY]

The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China published a report titled "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2016" on Thursday. Following is the full text of the report:

Foreword

On March 3 local time, the State Department of the United States released its country reports on human rights practices, posing once again as "the judge of human rights". Wielding "the baton of human rights," it pointed fingers at and cast blame on the human rights situation in many countries while paying no attention to its own terrible human rights problems. People cannot help asking about the actual human rights situation of the United States in 2016. Concrete facts show that the United States saw continued deterioration in some key aspects of its existent human rights issues last year. With the gunshots lingering in people's ears behind the Statue of Liberty, worsening racial discrimination and the election farce dominated by money politics, the self-proclaimed human rights defender has exposed its human rights "myth" with its own deeds.

 The frequent occurrence of gun-related crimes led to heavy casualties and the incarceration rate remained high. There were a total of 58,125 gun violence incidents, including 385 mass shootings, in the United States in 2016, leaving 15,039 killed and 30,589 injured (www.gunviolencearchive.org, December 31, 2016). The United States had the second highest prisoner rate, with 693 prisoners per 100,000 of the national population (www.statista.com, April 2016). There had been 70 million Americans incarceratedthat's almost one in three adultswith some form of criminal record (harvardlawreview.org, January 5, 2017).

 Livelihood of middleand low-income groups was worrisome amid widening income gap. In 2016, the proportion of adult Americans who had a full-time job hit a record low since 1983. Over the last three decades, nearly 70 percent of income ended up in the pockets of the wealthiest 10 percent. The population of U.S. middle-class registered a turning point toward contraction. Besides, one out of seven Americans remained in poverty, with the life of 45 million people in strained circumstances. The average life expectancy fell from 78.9 years to 78.8 years as the United States posted a drop in overall life expectancy for the first time in over 20 years.

 Racism continued to exist and racial relations worsened. In 2016, the United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent reported to the United Nations Human Rights Council that racial problems were severe in the United States. The colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remained a serious challenge. Police killings were reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynching. The United States was undergoing a "human rights crisis" (www.un.org, August 18, 2016).

 There was no improvement to the protection of rights of women, children and elders, and the vulnerable groups' rights were seriously violated. Women were paid much less compared to their male colleagues. Women with city government jobs in New York made 18 percent less than men (www.nydailynews.com, April 11, 2016). Women comprised about 60 percent of California workers earning minimum wage or less (www.sandiegouniontribune.com, April 10, 2016). Sexual harassments and assaults took place frequently. Roughly one in four women said they have been harassed on the job (www.usatoday.com, July 7, 2016). A total of 20 percent of young women who attended college during a four-year span said they had been sexually assaulted (www.washingtonpost.com, March 5, 2016). Poverty rate among children remained high and an estimated 6.8 million people aged 10 to 17 are food insecure (www.urban.org, September 11, 2016). Cases of elder abuse happened from time to time and about 5 million older adults were subject to abuse each year (www.csmonitor.com, June 15, 2016).

 The United States repeatedly trampled on human rights in other countries and willfully slaughtered innocent victims. From August 8, 2014 to December 19, 2016, the United States launched 7,258 air strikes in Iraq and 5,828 in Syria, causing 733 incidents with an estimated number of civilian deaths between 4,568 and 6,127 (airwars.org, December 19, 2016). Since 2009, the upper limit of the civilian death toll from U.S. drones stood at more than 800 people in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. (www.theguardian.com, July 1, 2016) The issue of illegal detention and torturing prisoners of other countries remained unsolved.

 The United States refused to approve core international conventions on human rights and did not accept UN draft resolutions related to human rights. It still has not ratified core international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At the 71st General Assembly of the UN, the United States voted against draft resolutions related to human rights including "The right to development," "Human rights and unilateral coercive measures," "Promotion of a democratic and equitable international order," and "Declaration on the right to peace" (www.un.org, December 19, 2016).
Tourists ride camels on the Mingsha Sand Dunes during a visit to Crescent Moon Spring on the outskirts of Dunhuang county of northwest China's Gansu province. [Photo/China Daily]

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's Work Report to the National People's Congress drew attention to China's efforts to stay engaged with the world economy. Such engagement is difficult at a time when resistance to trade is increasing and more and more countries are implementing inward-looking policies. The negative attitudes to trade, foreign investment and movement of people across borders makes it important to develop new strategies towards external engagement. For China, the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative is an example of a novel strategy for deepening and widening external engagement.

The unique part of the B&R Initiative is its emphasis on creating land and sea infrastructure. Infrastructure is a perpetual requirement of all countries. Regional infrastructure and connectivity projects are relatively easy to take forward politically given the common emphasis of involved countries on infrastructure. Such projects increase trade, investment and movement of people among countries in an almost automatic fashion. Cross-country infrastructure projects serve the objective of increasing cross-border trade and are, therefore, easier ways of enhancing trade than free trade agreements, which, in many parts of the world today, are being heavily opposed.

Premier Li's Work Report emphasizes the need to continue to strengthen the B&R Initiative through consultation and collaboration. Consultation is the only way to take forward an initiative of such scale. There are substantive challenges involved in the development of the plan. For land corridors, there are important issues of transport transit agreements between various countries. While roads might cross borders, they won't be heavily used until vehicles have permits to freely offload and pick up cargo from either side. Similarly, visas that allow multiple entries for transport operators and other businesspeople across borders are needed. The European Union's success in generating high internal trade has largely been due to the ease with which vehicles and people can move back and forth between EU member countries. China will need to develop a constructive coalition of partner countries in the initiative to tackle these tricky issues. Failing this, the economic impact of the initiative might remain marginal.

The challenge of reaching multi-country agreements on transit and visas are compounded by the challenge of ensuring joint insurance of cargo being moved across borders. This is a serious problem given there may not be adequate insurance providers in many countries connected by the B&R Initiative. This is an issue that will arise not only for the movement of cargo across land, but also across the new maritime routes. However, cargo across sea might be easier to be insured since the global shipping industry has greater experience in obtaining insurance across continental shipping routes.

The Belt and Road Initiative, while being an important project for expanding regional trade, investment and connectivity, also faces the challenge of dealing with several regions and countries that are low on global economic integration. South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, which figure in the initiative, have lower economic integration with the world economy, compared with China, Europe and Southeast Asia. Countries and regions with lower global integration have more work to do in preparing themselves to integrate with the B&R Initiative. China's challenge will be to provide constructive leadership to a group of countries that are economically heterogeneous and diverse in infrastructure capacities in order to make the initiative a success.

The author is a Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (Trade and Economic Policy) at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore.




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Staff members are pictured inside Dusseldorf train station March 9, 2017 after a man attacked several people at the train station. [Photo/Agencies]

BERLIN - A man armed with an axe mounted attack on people at the main train station in Germany's western city of Dusseldorf on Thursday, injuring six people, police said.

Two suspects in relation to the attack have been arrested, police officers at the scene said, adding that among those who sustained injuries one was seriously injured.

One attacker jumped out from the crowd waving his axe at the people, and blood was spilled everywhere, the local newspaper Bild quoted some witnesses as saying.

The attacker attempted to run to the street but was caught by police officers at the scene while another suspect was also taken at the train station. Their identities and motives were not disclosed.

Federal police have described the incident as an "amok attack."

Federal police's special unit was dispatched to the train station and will search for further fellow perpetrators. Local eyewitnesses said the train station was closed off while a police operation is in progress.

German railway company Deutsche Bahn said via social media that currently train services at Dusseldorf Hbf station were suspended, reminding travelers to look for alternatives or to postpone their trips.

German authorities have beefed up security measures after the Dec. 19, 2016 terror attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people and wounded some 50 others.

In February this year, the police carried out a series of raids in Berlin, Goettingen and Northeim, etc, and several arrests were made. Some of the arrested were reported to have links with the Islamic State group.
People attend a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-hye, a day before South Korea's Constitutional Court ruling on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment, in Seoul, South Korea, March 9, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - The most powerful presidential contender in South Korea's opposition bloc solidified his support scores ahead of the constitutional court's final ruling on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, an opinion survey showed on Thursday.

Moon Jae-in, former head of the biggest opposition Minjoo Party, kept a top post in recent opinion poll with 36.1 percent in approval scores, according to a Realmeter poll.

It was slightly down from the previous week, but Moon ranked 1st for 10 straight weeks through this week.

The result is based on a poll of 1,530 voters conducted between Monday and Wednesday. It has 2.5 percentage points in a margin of error.

Moon widened a gap in approval rating with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, whose approval scores declined 0.7 percentage points from the previous week to 14.2 percent.

Hwang, who is serving as acting president following Park's impeachment on Dec 9, emerged recently as the best hope among conservative voters because there is no outstanding rival coming from the conservative camp.

The ruling Liberty Korea Party lost public support as President Park was being implicated in a corruption scandal that led to her impeachment.

The constitutional court announced its plan to make a final ruling Friday about whether to permanently remove Park from office or reinstate her.

If six out of eight justices uphold the impeachment motion, Park will be forced out office. If over three judges reject the motion, she will be reinstated immediately.

Governor Ahn Hee-jeong of South Chungcheong province, who is affiliated with the Minjoo Party, ranked third in approval scores with 12.9 percent, followed by Mayor Lee Jae-myung of Seongnam city near Seoul who gained 10.5 percent in support scores.
People attend a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-hye, a day before South Korea's Constitutional Court ruling on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment, in Seoul, South Korea, March 9, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - South Korea's constitutional court will make a historic ruling on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment on Friday, almost four months after the passage of an impeachment motion in the parliament.

The eight-judge court will read its final ruling around 11 am local time (0200 GMT), which will be broadcast live as public attention is centered on the scandal-hit president's fate.

If more than six out of eight justices uphold the impeachment bill, Park will be removed from office permanently. If over three judges reject the motion, she will be reinstated immediately.

The bill to impeach President Park was passed in the National Assembly on Dec 9 by an overwhelming majority.

A total of 20 hearings had been held since Feb 27. Tens of witnesses appeared in the courtroom for questioning.

In recent months, almost 80 percent of South Koreans had supported Park's impeachment, but some 15 percent had opposed it.

If the court upholds the motion, President Park will become the first South Korean leader to be ousted through impeachment.

In 2004, late President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached, but he was reinstated two months later.
Park Geun-hye attends a national convention of the ruling Saenuri Party in Goyang, north of Seoul August 20, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - South Korea's Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye on Friday, removing her from office over a graft scandal involving big business that has gripped the country for months.

The court's acting chief justice Lee Jung-mi read the ruling on the impeachment, broadcast live nationwide, saying it was the unanimous decision of eight justices.

By law, the court's ruling takes effect immediately after the reading. Park will be required to leave the presidential Blue House as she officially lost all of presidential power and her title as incumbent president.

People attend a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-hye, a day before South Korea's Constitutional Court ruling on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment, in Seoul, South Korea, March 9, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Park becomes South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office. A presidential election will be held in 60 days, according to the constitution.

The bill to impeach President Park was passed in the National Assembly on Dec 9 by an overwhelming majority.

A total of 20 hearings had been held as of Feb 27. Tens of witnesses appeared in the courtroom for questioning.

In recent months, almost 80 percent of South Koreans had supported Park's impeachment, but some 15 percent had opposed it.

In 2004, late President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached, but he was reinstated two months later.
Supporters of South Korean President Park Geun-hye react after hearing that Park's impeachment was accepted in front of the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, March 10, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - Two of South Korean participants in a pro-Park Geun-hye rally held outside the constitutional court passed away, according to local media reports on Friday.

The two died of unidentified reasons. They were taken to a near hospital before passing away in the hospital. One of the dead is only known to be in his 70s.

Firefighting authorities were quoted as saying that around 10 protesters had been taken to the hospital.

Thousands of Park loyalists have held rally outside the court building. Earlier in the day, the court upheld the bill to impeach President Park, who became the first South Korean leader to be ousted through the impeachment.
14 Of Our Favorite Events In Chicago This Weekend

The legendary river dyeing, parade and South Side parade are just a few of the things to do this weekend.

FRIDAY MARCH 10

FEMALE COMEDY: the kates produce a semi-monthly line-up emerging female comic performers, and the next live showcase is at The Book Cellar at 7 p.m. Local comedian Mary Zee hosts. Entry is a $10 suggested donation.

CROSLEY CRUISER: Vinyl-philes should be on the lookout for the Crosley Cruiser this weekend as it makes its way through the city. The mobile record store is partnered with Dogfish Head Brewery and will stop at local spots like Decibel Audio, Audio Archeology and Dusty Groove, Eataly, Binny's Beverage Depot and Whole Foods.





2017 POEFF Preview from Peace On Earth Film Festival on Vimeo.

PEACE ON EARTH FILM FEST: The Peace On Earth Film Festival raises awareness of peace, nonviolence, social justice and an eco-balanced world. Running all weekend at the Music Box Theatre, the festival features and supports independent filmmakers with a conscience. For schedule and ticket information, visit the Peace On Earth Film Festival website.



SATURDAY MARCH 11

ST. PATRICKS DAY PARADE + RIVER DYEING: St. Patricks Day is a huge event in Chicago with crowds downtown for the parade, green river and plenty of flowing green beer. The river dyeing is a sight to see, as they color the water a bright emerald green at 9 a.m. from Columbus to Michigan, but it only lasts for a few hours. The parade itself steps off at noon at Balbo and Columbus. Hit some of the local pubs afterward and drink like youre Irish. Free.



Thodos Dance Chicago. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

THODOS LAST DANCE: Thodos Dance Chicago celebrates their 25th anniversary along with the final company performance as founder and artistic director Melissa Thodos moves to focus on project-based work where she can have more creative freedom. This final Full Circle performance of the 12-dancer company will include the Chicago premiere of Bella Lewitskys Nos Duraturi and a new piece from Thodos herself. 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $29.



Family Portrait courtesy of the Hideout.

SXSW SEND OFF: The Hideout is the spot to see up and coming bands and artists, and every year they throw a party for those making the trek to SXSW in Austin. The all-day party is basically a rehearsal for their showcase sets in a real live concert atmosphere. This year, catch OHMME, The Waco Brothers, Bleach Party, FEE LION and Lala Lala. Cover is $10.

ALAANA WINNING WORKS: This year marks the seventh annual Winning Works program from the Joffrey Ballet. Each year the competition invites ALAANA choreographers (African, Latino(a), Asian, Arab and Native American) to submit works for consideration and the winners get to place their works on dancers from the Joffrey Academy Trainee Program as well as a $5,000 stipend and guidance from Joffrey Artistic Director Ashley Wheater. This years performances on Saturday and Sunday take place in collaboration with the Chicago Public Library Harold Washington Library Center and are free to attend. For ticket information, visit the event website.

NATURAL WINE TASTING: Learn about what makes a wine natural in comparison to modern winemaking methods at Webster Wine Bars Natural Wine Tasting from 3 to 5 p.m. Sample wines from different levels on the natural scale and enjoy included hors d'oeuvres. Tickets are $45.

I'm Only Dreaming by Eisley

A FAMILY AFFAIR: Who would have thought Eisley would not only still be around but release one of their finest albums in 2017? A number of the original members are no longer with the band, but cousins Sherri DuPree-Bemis and Garron DuPree are still holding down the fort. I'm Only Dreaming is the first album without most of the other founding members of the band, and it continues the group's tradition of releasing mid-tempo pop with a melancholic edge. However where the band's earlier catalog sometimes felt a little weighted down, I'm Only Dreaming sparkles with a new energy and really pops to life. After years of being on the fence Eisley has won us over. See the music in action at Subterranean Saturday night.



SUNDAY MARCH 12



Photo via the South Side Irish Parade's Facebook page.

SOUTH SIDE IRISH PARADE: The South Side knows how to do it up for St. Patricks Day. Though the legendary South Side Irish Parade has toned down in recent years, its still a great time and fun for the whole family. The parade steps off at noon at Western Avenue and 103rd Street. Free.

LADIES NIGHT BAZAAR: Sunday night is ladies night at Slippery Slope beginning at 7 p.m. This bazaar is more than just drink specials to lure ladies out of the house, its a true celebration of female artists and music lovers. Theyll have paintings, shirts, pins and more for sale from Allie Marie of Revolution Tattoo and Anne Elliott of Side Show Gallery will have a tarot card booth set up. Tunes courtesy of Melisser Elliot, co-founder of Girl Pin Gang. Free.

312 DAY: Celebrate the 12th of March (get it? 312?) with Goose Island and 312 beers at their Fulton Street Taproom from 1 to 4 p.m. They celebrate everything that makes Chicago unique on the special date with a DJ, giveaways, $3.12 beers and Brugge Brothers food truck. Free.

BAROQUE FOLK: "Baroque" and "folk" aren't quite right words for what Jesca Hoop does, but then again what she does is hard to explain. We think most would describe her winding, wending songs with descriptors such as "woodland nymph" or "faerie" we think that's not quite accurate. Her music isn't really precious as much as it is delicatelike, emotional tears in psychic fabric kind of delicate. We admit we had to listen to her new album Memories Are Now for it's beauty to really graft itself to our bones, but now we can't keep turning to the album when we want to lose ourselves for a little bit. Hoop brings her compositions to Beat Kitchen on Sunday night.

JENNY LEWIS: Also part of 312 Day, indie it-girl Jenny Lewis will play at Thalia Hall at 8:30 p.m. She got her start with Rilo Kiley, but has gone on to have a kickass solo career collaborating with the likes of The Postal Service, Beck, Ryan Adams and more. Springtime Carnivore will also play. 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $35.
Park Geun-hye attends a national convention of the ruling Saenuri Party in Goyang, north of Seoul August 20, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state after on Friday the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-ridden leader.

The court's acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi read the ruling on the impeachment, broadcast live nationwide, saying it was the unanimous decision of eight justices.

The acting chief justice said the court had made all-out efforts for a fair judgment, hoping their decision would become a base to lead South Korea towards reconciliation and remedy by ending division and chaos.

Lee, who is scheduled to retire on Monday, dismissed a request for retrial from Park's legal team, which demanded a full court's judgement by nine justices. The former chief justice stepped down on Jan. 31 after his term terminated, leaving one vacancy and Lee was nominated as the acting chief justice.

She said there had been no procedural error in the eight-justice court's decision.

The court dismissed Park's violation of press freedom for lack of evidence, saying Park's inaction to the 2014 ferry disaster is not subject to the impeachment judgment. The ferry disaster claimed more than 300 lives, mostly high school students on a school trip to the Jeju Island.

However, the court ruled that Park allowed her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs from the shadows by leaking many of secret documents and influencing the appointment of government officials.

The ruling said Park also helped Choi seek personal gains by establishing two nonprofit foundations, which were set up with donations from major conglomerates.

South Koreans, who had called for Park's resignation, waved national flags and cheered outside the court in downtown Seoul after hearing the impeachment ruling.

A tearful mother and her daughter were among the anti-Park protesters who held placards that read "Impeachment is Victory of Candlelight Vigil" and "No THAAD."

Park's supporters, who rallied just hundreds of meters away on the street, remained silent and burst into tears following the verdict.

Some of the president's loyalists attempted to break into the court building and clashed with the police.

Local media reported that two of Park's supporters died of unidentified reasons during the rally. One of the dead is in his 70s.

Opinion polls have never changed in recent months, with almost eight out of 10 South Koreans demanding Park's ouster. About 15 percent people have insisted on the rejection or no decision on the impeachment.
A classical Chinese drama has been given a contemporary reimagining at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Katie Leung stars in Snow in Midsummer which runs until March 25.

Snow in Midsummer was adapted by playwright Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig. It is a drama about a girl named Dou Yi, who is sentenced to death for a crime she did not commit and the young widow vows that if she is innocent, snow will fall in midsummer and a catastrophic drought will strike.

Playing the role of Dou Yi is Harry Potter actress Katie Leung, along with a cast of predominantly Chinese and East Asian performers.

Cowhig, born in the United States to an Irish-American father and a mother from Taiwan, was raised in Philadelphia, Virginia, Okinawa, Taipei, and Beijing.

The playwright told China Daily why she decided to take on Guan Hanqing's classic tale.

"The original play, The Injustice of Dou E, is such an important work of literature that it doesn't just belong to China, it belongs to the whole world," she said. "The play is trying to teach us something about justice and the persistence of the human spirit. Some people might find this story quite dark, but I think it is actually a very optimistic story."

Cowhig added that a recent anti-corruption campaign and legal developments in rights for prisoners in China had inspired her choices in adapting this drama.

To add a contemporary twist to the play, Cowhig examined modern-day supernatural thrillers such as The Ring "where there is a much more focused detective story happening throughout the play, and a use of suspense to maintain audience attention".

She said: "I wanted to stay true to the spirit of the young widow Dou Yi and her quest for justice. But I also wanted to give myself the freedom to imagine what might have happened to Dou Yi if she was arrested and tried today, rather than in the Yuan dynasty."

She said: "These are things that a Western audience isn't very familiar with, so it was necessary to teach the audience the rules of the world in a way that wouldn't be as necessary for a Chinese audience."

Snow in Midsummer is the first production of the RSC's ongoing Chinese Classic Translator Project, a cultural exchange bringing Chinese classics to a modern Western audience.

Cowhig said: "Much of the European theater tradition is inspired by things that Bertolt Brecht borrowed from Chinese theater, so in fact there has been a very long history of the Chinese theater inspiring the Western theater, and I see this work as part of that river of tradition."

The play will run until March 25.
Chinese teacher and professional viola maker Wang Yanli has taken home a bronze medal at the Malta International Violin Making Competition.

The competition, co-organized by the Malta Central Academy of Arts and Italian National Association of Violin Makers, attracted professional and amateur makers from all over the world competing for the titles of best violins, violas, as well as best cello and bass bows.

One viola, more than 100 procedures

The instrument Wang used for the Malta competition took her two years to make.

From selecting and sawing the wood to shaping and carving, making a viola is a highly complex process.

"A high-quality viola needs focused work involving over 100 procedures," Wang told the Chengdu Business Daily when she returned to her hometown in Southwest China's Sichuan. "Every tiny work is crucial."

"For example, the wood for the panel needs to be high quality Jezo spruce, while it's better to use maple for the back part. Subtle differences in the materials, such as the hardness or the humidity of the wood, will affect the performance (of the instrument)," Wang explained.

Wang is a teacher and a professional violin maker based at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music.

An accidental visit to a workshop when she was 18 inspired her career of making the instrument as she was stunned by the process of turning pieces of wood into instruments that created delightful sounds. By that stage, she had been playing violin for 12 years.

She was later able to grab a place at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as an undergraduate student majoring in violin making.

Wang believes that the craft has helped her build a calm character.
(Photo : Getty Images) Baidu Deep Voice can synthesize speech that will sound natural and realistic by itself.

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Baidu has been developing its own AI system for four years, unveiling recently the Deep Voice system that is faster more efficient compared to Google's WaveNet.



According to Google of China, Deep Voice can be trained to speak in just a few hours with little to no human interaction. The company can manage how it speaks to convey different emotions, resulting to the synthesizing of speech that will sound pretty natural and realistic.



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Baidus team of researchers at the Chinese giants AI Lab in Silicon Valley said that Deep Voice may require some initial human fine-tuning during the training period, but eventually it can synthesize speech that will sound natural and realistic by itself.



They have separated the text into graphemes, which is the smallest written particle. Next is translating them into phonemes, the smallest speech particle, and relay the information in sound. Each of the steps is being managed by machine-learning algorithms, which need to perform at an incredible rate to sound realistic.



Moreover, the researchers further explained that they may have improved on an existing system but the same still requires too much computational power. To achieve realistic human speech synthesis, the system requires maintaining sampling rate in the region of 48KHz and process text in 20 microseconds. Further, the company has already tested the said model and produced a high quality result as per crowdsourced perceptions.



To perform inference at real-time, we must take great care to never recompute any results, store the entire model in the processor cache (as opposed to main memory), and optimally utilize the available computational units.



We optimize inference to faster-than-real-time speeds, showing that these techniques can be applied to generate audio in real-time in a streaming fashion, according to the statement of Baidu AI researchers.



Baidus AI researchers believe that producing real-time speech synthesis is possible. They have uploaded the audio samples to the crowdsourcing Amazon site Mechanical Turk to ask large number of people about the quality of their samples.



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(Photo : Getty Images) An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) towing a cable flies over the Dadu River to another side of the Ya'an-Kangding expressway bridge being built on December 20, 2016 in Ya'an, Sichuan Province of China.

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China is reportedly developing stealth drones that can evade radar and anti-aircraft weapons, with the Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) focusing on making long-endurance stealth drone and near-space drone, China Daily reported on Thursday.



"Drones have become an indispensable weapon in modern warfare because they can play an important role in high-resolution reconnaissance, long-distance precision strikes, anti-submarine operations, and aerial combat," Wei Yiyin, CASIC Deputy General Manager, said.



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Wei further added that CASIC, China's largest missile maker, will exert more effort to produce technologies for long-endurance stealth drones, finish the design of high-speed combat/reconnaissance drones, and utilize new products from both the local and foreign markets.



CASIC also makes multipurpose, stealth target aircraft for training. And all of its drones resemble a cruise missile. Its drones are launched from a vehicle and are retrieved after descending by parachute. The company is the sole cruise missile producer in China.



The latest WJ-600A/D features an ultrafast cruising speed of 700 km/h. Other Chinese drones could only attain a top speed of 280 km/h.



China is allocating billions of dollars to update its military equipment and produce new weapons such as stealth fighters and aircraft carriers. It has ramped up its military drones research, hoping to lure potential clients with its cheaper technology and willingness to sell to territories Western countries are hesitant with.



China's Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute kicked off the maiden flight of a combat drone comparable with the US' MQ-9 Reaper. The missile is likely to be a "biggest export deal" for China, The Indian Express noted. A yellow prototype of the Wing Loong II also reportedly carried out a 31-minute test flight on Monday.



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(Photo : Getty Images. ) Nearly 20,000 Myanmar citizens have fled near Chinese border towns after latest bout of ethnic violence broke out in the South East Asian country.

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Nearly 20,000 Myanmar citizens have taken refuge in the Chinese border towns after latest bout of ethnic violence broke out in the South East Asian country in recent months, serving a huge blow to the peace efforts pursued by the Myanmar's De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.



Chinese foreign spokesman Geng Shuang said that humanitarian aid was being offered to those who are looking to "temporarily avoid the war" as he called for an immediate ceasefire.



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"China supports Myanmar's peace process and hopes all sides can use peaceful means to resolve their differences via dialogue and consultation," he added.



In the latest spate of on-going violence, the communist rebel group Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) launched a surprise attack on late Tuesday at government and military sites in Laukkai town, which is capital of the Kokang region located in the northern part of Shan State.



The attack left nearly 30 people dead including five policemen and five civilians in what was among the worst ethnic attack to hit the Kokang region since 2015. Incidentally, Kokang share very close economic and cultural ties with China, with most locals speaking Chinese dialect and using Yuan as currency.



The deteriorating ethnic violence in Kokang and other border regions has become a real sensitive issue between China and Burma. The Burmese government is immensely dependent on China's clout in these border regions to quell on the ethnic violence.



The ethnic violence in the border regions was apparently one of the raging issues during Suu Kyi's historic visit to China last year. During the same time tensions began to swirl across Sino - Burma border due to the ethnic uprising, with nearly 3,000 Myanmar citizens flocking to Chinese side by November.



Myanmar's ethnic violence is often labelled as the world's longest running civil war, with violence pre-dating the year 1948, when Burma achieved independence from the British colony.



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(Photo : Getty Images) China tells US this time to stop spying and hacking.

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China on Thursday asked the US government to stop spying and hacking other countries, after WikiLeaks data alleged that the CIA can hack all manners of devices, including China-made ones.



Geng Shuang, the spokesperson from China's Foreign Ministry, expressed concern about the surrounding reports and reiterated opposition to all kinds of hacking. "We urge the US side to stop listening in, monitoring, stealing secrets and internet hacking against China and other countries," Geng said in a news briefing.



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According to Reuters, several companies quickly attempted to spot the weak points after the WikiLeaks news broke, while some called to delve into the details of the US intelligence community's whereabouts and motives.



Routers from Silicon Valley-based Cisco were included as a target in the WikiLeaks data. Cisco says its routers provide "strong security and services to enterprise, service providers, and industrial networks." China's Huawei and ZTE and Taiwan's Zyxel used in China and Pakistan are also listed.



The United States and other countries frequently accuse China of hacking attacks, something the mainland has always denied.



China has developed its own surveillance system and tightly controls the Internet use within its territory, saying such moves are needed to protect national security and preserve stability. Last year, it started tightening its belt on both local and foreign firms by requiring them to host corporate data exclusively on Chinese servers. Moreover, hardware, network equipment, and other services also need to get accreditation from local authorities before they are used or sold in the country.



"China is trying to have more control over cybersecurity technology, which is not something that's ever done to increase the quality of cyber security," John Pescatore, director of SANS security, said.



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(Photo : Getty Images. ) China's new generation J-20 stealth fighter has finally entered the service, Chinese state media confirmed. It will compete with the U.S. Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

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China has finally put into service its new generation J-20 stealth fighter with the hope its air force will get the much needed military muscle to compete with the United States. The J-20 is a result of China's ambitious military modernization process that is been personally overseen by President Xi Jingping.



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A report televised on China's state television channel confirmed that the J-20 has now entered the service, but provided no further details.



China publicly displayed the J-20 aircraft for the first time at the Zhuhai air show in 2014, while it was briefly spotted by Chinese people in 2010. The air show also displayed another Chinese stealth fighter J-31, which is still in the production stage.



After joining the service, the question now remains is whether the J-20 can really compete with its closest U.S. competitor Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which is a fifth generation fifth-generation stealth tactical fighter aircraft.



Meanwhile, China is equally focused on modernizing its navy, which it considers to be an important military proponent especially in the wake President Donald Trump's highly anticipated hot pursuit policies on the South China Sea and the East China Sea.



The Chinese navy will get the country's first indigenously prepared aircraft carrier 'Shandong' by most probably 2020. The aircraft carrier is currently under construction in the China's north-eastern port city of Dalian.



After entering the service, it will patrol the Chinese sea along with the existing aircraft carrier 'Liaoning,' which recently took part in a military exercise that was conducted in the disputed South China Sea.



Wang Weiming, deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army Navy, told Xinhua at the sidelines of the annual Chinese parliament session that Chinese navy is fully capable of responding to any intrusion in its maritime territory.



"We will intercept any intruding aircraft and follow every military vessel in areas under our responsibility," Wang said. "Our sailors should stay vigilant and be able to deal with emergencies at all times."



Earlier this week, Chinese government surprised everyone as it did not follow the usual practice of not making defense budget public on the first day of the parliament session. It then later announced that China's annual military budget will increase only by 7 percent to 1.044 trillion yuan ($151.12 billion). This is the second year in a row that Chinese military budget has increased by a single digit.



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(Photo : Getty Images) China-based cruise ships of Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean removed South Korea from their itineraries.

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Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean are stopping their South Korean port visits in response to the advised received form the Chinese government, Reuters reported.



Royal Caribbean said it would remove its visits to South Korea and replace its destinations like Seoul, Busan and Jeju with ports in Japan. The company cited the "recent developments regarding the situation in South Korea" as reason for such move.



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According to Reuters, Royal Caribbean is "one of the first major travel firms to publicly stop or restrict trips to South Korea," after media reports revealed last week that Beijing had asked travel sellers to halt its Korean destinations.



Carnival's Costa Cruises also said it is working with tour operator partners to adjust its itinerary for its Chinese clients.



"Cost Cruises will remove calls to South Korean ports for our upcoming cruises home ported out of China, replacing them with cruising at sea or calls to destinations in Japan," it said in a statement.



A document from the South Korean government seen by Reuters said that China gave a "7-point" verbal instructions to travel firms about the ban. One of the point banned China-based cruise ships from docking South Korean ports.



South Korea is facing pressure from Beijing after it agreed to set up the United States' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system. For Washington and Seoul, the THAAD will only serve as a countermeasure against North Korea's ballistic missiles.



China and Russia, on the other hand, believe that the deployment would only destabilize the Korean Peninsula and THAAD's radar system could penetrate their territories and threaten their security.



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TagsCarnival Corp, Royal Caribbean, Cruise Ship, THAAD, South Korea, china
(Photo : Getty Images. ) China on Friday dismissed Philippine Defence Ministers allegations of ship intrusion activities in South China Sea and Benham Rise. It said that Chinese ships have right to conduct navigation in these regions

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China on Friday categorically rejected Philippine Defense Minister's allegations that Chinese vessels recently intruded into its territory of the disputed South China Sea region and also conducted an oceanographic survey in its eastern seaboard.



Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, termed the Filipino defense chief's allegations to be baseless as he claimed its ships had every right to conduct freedom of navigation in these waters. He also openly confessed that its research ships indeed passed through seas northeast of Luzon Island last year.



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"But this is purely carrying out normal freedom of navigation and right of innocent passage, and there were no so-called other activities or operations," he told regular news briefing, adding that "Comments from individuals in the Philippines on this do not accord with the facts."



Philippine Defence Minister, Delfin Lorenzana, on Thursday, accused that several Chinese ships were spotted well within its maritime territory, with a warship being spotted 70 miles off its western coast in the contagious South China Sea region.





Lorenzana also alleged that satellite images provided by one of its allies had detected Chinese ships carrying out surveys in the Benham Rise last year. The Benham Rise, also known as Benham Plateau, is a seismically active undersea region that United Nations (UN) declared to be a part of Philippines maritime territory in 2012.



Lorenzana stands out as sort of a rebel amid President Rodrigo Duterte's unprecedented efforts to improve his country's relation with its longstanding rival China. While Duterte is often heard singing praises about China, his defense chief has rather chose to remain suspicious about its neighbor. This is more than evident by the fact that he allowed the fortification of manmade islands inside the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).



China stakes claim over almost entire South China Sea region, where huge reserves of oil and gas reserves are believed to be stored beneath the seabed. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam are other competing rivals that stake claim over the disputed maritime territory.



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When he set out on the plane to Seoul in 2001, Pastor David Hwang only planned to stay there for two years. Little did he know that he would end up planting his feet there for 16 years (and counting) as a local church pastor.

Hwangs journey in the motherland began when he decided to go to Seoul to take care of his younger brothers who were pursuing music careers there. Though Hwang himself was born in Korea, the language and the culture were unfamiliar to him, as he immigrated to the U.S. at the age of five. He only planned to stay in Seoul for two years and return to the U.S. after finishing up his studies at Torch Trinity Graduate School. But it was those very two years that radically changed [his] perspective, in Hwangs words, and he received a calling from the Lord to stay in Korea.

Hwang hadnt even been sure when he set out to Korea whether he would become a pastor at all, and even if he did become a pastor, he imagined himself more of a free, traveling preacher, as he put it. As the son of a pastor himself, Hwang said, I saw the pains of the local church pastor, day in and day out, week in, week out.

But while Hwang served as the English ministry (EM) pastor at Jeil Sungdo Presbyterian Church during those two years, he said, The Lord showed me, number one, how much he loves his church  universal and especially the local church.

Were not omnipresent like the Lord, so if you really want to love the church, if you want to love like he loved us, you have to do it with a limited number of people on a regular basis, he added, saying that that was what led him to commit to local church ministry.

The other big piece is that while I was serving at Jeil Sungdo EM, I was taking people to mission trips all over the place and I noticed  the answer is Jesus for everyone. Every nation needs Jesus, said Hwang. I saw with my own eyes the nations are hungry for the truth that sets free, for life and for life abundant, and thats only in Jesus. No matter what the context, it didnt matter  everyone needs Jesus.

That also led him to realize that Korea is geographically strategic to reach many nations in Asia.

Korea is so geographically strategic. Its the only reached country in the 10/40 window. Its so quick to go to countries in Asia, and so much more efficient from a geography standpoint.

Hwang added that the economic development of Korea was another factor brought to his attention. The rapid economic growth in Korea over the past several decades also places it at a strategic position as a missionary-sending country.

Clearly God has been doing something remarkable here in Korea, he added.

All these factors were shown to me, and I just said, I see why youre showing me this. My citizenship is not in the U.S.; its in heaven. Until you call me home, Ill live as a sojourner in this land. If you want me to build your church to all nations from our motherland, thats what Ill do.

With these convictions, and with a further conviction to plant a church, Hwang and a few others launched Jubilee Church in 2006. What started as a group of 11 people praying together grew into a congregation of 600 people in almost three years. Today, the church has some 650 members.

Over the past 16 years, Hwang said he has seen many changes in the English-speaking community at large, and in the English-speaking Christian community. First, he noticed that more and more foreigners are being drawn to South Korea for various reasons that he would not have expected years ago, such as their interest in K-Pop and Korean dramas.

Moreover, there has been an increase in English-speaking church plants in Seoul, according to Hwang. While many of the larger churches in South Korea have had English or international ministries for many years, many independent, English-speaking churches have been planted over the past several years as well, Hwang said, as he mentioned churches such as Lifespring Church, Crossway Mission Church, and Way Church.

Another interesting development that Hwang has witnessed is an increasing interest in the Korean-speaking population in collaborating with the English-speaking community, or even attending English services on a regular basis.

For Jubilee Church in particular, intercultural couples with both Korean and English speakers were one of the factors that led to an increasing number of Korean speakers who became regular members of the church. Today, the church offers Korean translations for its 10 AM service.

These developments led Hwang to shift the vision for Jubilee Church as well. The church was planted with the vision of being a hub for missions, a place from which missionaries would continually arrive and be sent out into various destinations. But today, the church holds the vision of being an international, missional church in Seoul serving Asia, said Hwang, a church that is committed to being a steady presence in Seoul.

We changed the vision because we wanted to sustain a connection here in Korea, he explained. Westerners need to commit to live in Asia, but for most, they live here five to eight years and they leave.

For the developing and growing international community in Asia, Jubilee aims to build a community in Seoul that remains as a faithful source of support and connection.

God is doing something amazing here, Hwang said. Its something in line with the kingdom of God coming.
Korean Christian women in Southern California joined women across the globe in prayer for the Philippines, commemorating the World Day of Prayer. These women gathered on March 4 at Oriental Mission Church under the theme, Am I Being Unfair to You?

The World Day of Prayer has a 130-year history, and was started in 1887 by Mary Ellen Fairchild James to pray for those who immigrated to the U.S. The day of prayer has grown since then, and organizers now choose one nation to pray for each year. Women from that chosen country write a prayer letter, which is read at all of the gatherings that convene internationally. Those who gather to pray also collect offerings and send them to the selected nation.

This years World Day of Prayer focused on the Philippines.

Korean women in Southern California have started gathering to commemorate this day since 1979. Though the World Day of Prayer is marked by the first Friday of March each year, this Southern California gathering takes place on the first Saturday instead.

At this years gathering, Rev. Jim-Bob Park, the senior pastor of Oriental Mission Church, shared a message according to the theme of this years World Day of Prayer.
The Trump administration issued a new executive order on Monday, revising a previous executive order regarding the entry of refugees from several countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Called the Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States, the order took into consideration the numerous legal issues that came about with the previous executive order, and loosened certain restrictions on entry into the U.S.

For instance, those who lawfully obtained visas and those who have already been granted asylum are no longer under the 90-day entry ban.

While the previous executive order restricted entry for 90 days from seven countries, the new executive order reduced that restriction to six countries, including Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen. Iraq, which was previously part of the seven restricted countries, has been taken off of that list.

The indefinite entry ban for those coming from Syria has also been lifted, and those from Syria will now not be allowed to enter the U.S. for 120 days.

The countrys refugee program has also been halted for a 120 days, just like the previous executive order had stated, in order to give the U.S. government time to evaluate and develop its vetting program.

The new executive order limits the number of refugees to be granted entry into the U.S. to 50,000. Under the Obama administration, that number was 110,000.

Of concern to some conservative activists was a removal of language that religious minorities would be prioritized, a portion in the previous executive order which was criticized by some as being discriminatory.

The newly released executive order will take into consideration fear of persecution or torture, but does not explicitly prioritize religious minorities. It also states that the previous order did not provide a basis for discriminating for or against members of any particular religion.

While that order allowed for prioritization of refugee claims from members of persecuted religious minority groups, that priority applied to refugees from every nation, including those in which Islam is a minority religion, and it applied to minority sects within a religion, the order states. That order was not motivated by animus toward any religion.

Advocates for prioritizing religious minorities argued that it is necessary because they are facing genocide and targeted attacks in their respective countries.

Andrew Walther, the vice president of communications for the Knights of Columbus, wrote in the Morning Consult that the Obama administration also prioritized offering help to religious minorities such as Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims.

It is not un-American to prioritize those who have been targeted for genocide because of their faith, Walther wrote. It has been seen as quintessentially American for a century. And religious persecution has long been a key qualifier for refugee status under our immigration laws.

This new executive order takes effect on March 16.
The Kentucky state House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday that would secure public school students freedom to express their religious and political beliefs in their school work, clothing, and in other methods.

Senate Bill 17, which was passed by the House with an 81-8 vote, is now headed to the governors desk for signature. The Senate voted in favor of the bill 31-3 in February.

The bill would prohibit school officials from restricting students religious and political expressions in various methods at public schools and public universities in the state, including in their homework, artwork, and speeches. Students would also be able to wear clothing that display religious messages, use school facilities outside of class times for religious club meetings, and announce religious club meetings through school media.

Supporters of the measure said that the bill simply affirms the rights guaranteed to students by the Constitution, but said that they felt the need for the bill due to recent occurrences in which students were prohibited from expressing their religious beliefs.

Weve seen in other locales where the clear constitutional right to religious liberty has been imposed upon, Republican Rep. Tim Moore was quoted by River City News as saying. It is right that we in Kentucky make very clear as a body  as our fellows down the hallway have done by an overwhelming bipartisan majority  that we will protect the right to express religious and political viewpoints in public schools and public postsecondary institutions.

All this legislation does is put into law and recognize those constitutional facts, Republican Rep. Stan Lee was quoted as saying by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

However, opponents of the bill said that the measure is unnecessary and may give some a greater license to discriminate against the LGBT community.

Democratic Rep. Jim Wayne said that if the bill is passed, in some areas it may be OK for a student to call a gay student a sinner based on religious beliefs.

I believe religion should be expressed in church or in the privacy of my home, not in public schools, Kentucky Today quoted Democratic Rep. Joni Jenkins as saying.

According to the Associated Press, the potential for discriminatory intent was not the focus of discussion on the House floor when the bill was being deliberated.
With five Grammys, dozens of Dove Awards, and over 11 million records sold, Steven Curtis Chapman is one of the most decorated artists in Christian music history. Now, 30 years since the release of his first album, the songwriter has published a memoir, Between Heaven and the Real World (Revell), in which he opens up about marital difficulties, the death of his 5-year-old daughter, and other painful experiences. Music journalist Steve Turner, author of Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts (InterVarsity Press), spoke with Chapman about times of discouragement that have fueled his faith and music.

Youre candid about your shortcomings in the book. Did you worry about sharing too much?

I didnt want to skim the surface. Often, in the church, were very good at presenting a story that shows us in a favorable light. Were supposed to have it togetherparticularly someone like me, who has been making albums and doing shows for years.

Its always been a commitment of mine to say, Dont miss the point. Dont hear my songslike I Will Be Here, that I wrote for my wifeand think, I wish my husband would write a song like that for me. Those guys must have an almost-perfect relationship.  That song wouldnt exist but for the fact that we have struggled, and its been really painful.

Im not telling these stories just to shock people or to wear my heart on my sleeve. The two words that guided me were honesty and honor. I wanted to be transparent while at the same time honoring my wife, my parents, and my family. I hope and pray Ive achieved that.

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I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up.
AUL Applauds Wyoming Office Holders Who Pass First Pro-Life Protections in a Generation "Americans United for Life was proud to partner with pro-life leaders in Wyoming and thanks Gov. Matt Meade for empowering women with information about their unborn children and requiring humane treatment for unborn infants who die before birth," said AUL's Denise Burke.



Contact: Kristi Hamrick, 202-289-1478, press@aul.org



WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Americans United for Life's Vice President of Legal Affairs Denise Burke thanked Gov. Matt Meade and the legislators in Wyoming who adopted that state's first pro-life laws in 28 years. AUL consulted on the two laws, one of which requires doctors who perform abortions to let women know that they may see the ultrasound if they wish. "Women should always have the choice to look through the window in the womb through ultrasound, if they wish," said Burke. "Ultrasounds are the gold standard of medical care in pregnancy, and is used in abortion to determine the location of the infant and how old the infant is, as those factors impact the abortionist's actions. Withholding those images denies women a choice they deserve and an experience they can never recapture."



The state also passed a law that would not allow the bodies of unborn infants to be dissected and sold after death.



"Human beings should be treated with dignity before and after death," noted Burke, who said that a number of states have been interested in AUL's unique Unborn Infants' Dignity Act. "It's been well documented that the bodies of unborn infants have been sold for parts, thrown into landfills or even burned for fuel. A humane society does not dispose of unborn infants as trash or spare parts."



When news of the sale of infant body parts came to light through the Center for Medical Progress undercover videos, AUL's legal team analyzed the information and submitted a letter to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, noting numerous legal concerns observed through video of Planned Parenthood personnel discussing the "harvesting" and sale of infant body parts.



"Wyoming office holders have ensured that the bodies of infants who did not survive to birth are treated with dignity and not turned into additional profits for the abortion industry," said Burke.



To understand the myths and facts of unborn infants' dignity laws, click here.



To learn more about AUL's unique model legislation, found in "the Pro-Life Playbook," Defending Life, click here.



For more on health risks of abortion for women, click here.



Americans United for Life (AUL) is the legal architect of the pro-life movement. We are accumulating victories, building momentum, and advancing a culture of life in America. Our vision is a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life and protected in law. The first national pro-life organization in America, AUL has been committed to defending human life since 1971.

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Christianity is Exploding in Bangladesh Despite Persecution Contact: James Jacobson, President,



DHAKA, BANGLADESH, March 10, 2017 /



On a recent fact finding trip to Bangladesh, Christian Freedom International President Jim Jacobson interviewed scores of indigenous Christian pastors, street evangelists, missionaries and converts to Christianity. "Many Muslims are converting. Mostly in the rural areas," reports Jacobson.



According to them, Christianity is on the increase---and the growth is a cause of concern for the Muslim majority. As a result, persecution is on the increase against the fast growing, mostly underground Christian Church.



According to official estimates, the religious composition of Bangladesh is 89.1% Muslim and 10% Hindi, with less than 1% Christian in a nation of over 156 million people. But unofficially, Christianity is much larger and growing, especially in the rural areas.



Official Reports are Wrong

Official reports on religious composition only count "traditional Christians," that is, people who are born into the Christian faith and attend government approved churches. But "converts," those who change their religion from Islam to Christianity, are not counted and no surveys have been made.



The consensus among converts is that Christians in Bangladesh make up of at least 10% of the population and that the number grows every day. Indigenous evangelists tell CFI they believe that Bangladesh will become a Christian nation in their lifetimes. If the 10% number is correct, there are at least 15,600,000 Christians in this Muslim majority nation. Evidence seems to support the claims.



More than 20,000 Converts

Pastor Khaleque, 60, a former Muslim and now a Christian street pastor who works among the hill tribes in the northeast part of Bangladesh told CFI, "In the last 12 months, more than 20,000 Muslims have converted to Christianity. More than 20,000 have converted and this is becoming a real problem for the Muslims."



Read the Full Report



Christian Freedom International has worked in Bangladesh for many years and runs numerous missions in the country. Among other projects, CFI supports a Center for disabled converts to Christianity, Child Sponsorship and Sunday School programs, and indigenous Christian pastors, evangelists, and missionaries throughout the Bangladesh.



Christian Freedom International is an organization dedicated to promoting religious liberty and helping persecuted Christians around the world. Find out more:

Share Tweet Contact: James Jacobson, President, Christian Freedom International , 800-323-2273DHAKA, BANGLADESH, March 10, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Is the fourth largest Muslim nation in the world, and place of many terrorist activities, on the path to becoming a peaceful Christian nation? The "Uncounted Converts" believe so.On a recent fact finding trip to Bangladesh, Christian Freedom International President Jim Jacobson interviewed scores of indigenous Christian pastors, street evangelists, missionaries and converts to Christianity. "Many Muslims are converting. Mostly in the rural areas," reports Jacobson.According to them, Christianity is on the increase---and the growth is a cause of concern for the Muslim majority. As a result, persecution is on the increase against the fast growing, mostly underground Christian Church.According to official estimates, the religious composition of Bangladesh is 89.1% Muslim and 10% Hindi, with less than 1% Christian in a nation of over 156 million people. But unofficially, Christianity is much larger and growing, especially in the rural areas.Official Reports are WrongOfficial reports on religious composition only count "traditional Christians," that is, people who are born into the Christian faith and attend government approved churches. But "converts," those who change their religion from Islam to Christianity, are not counted and no surveys have been made.The consensus among converts is that Christians in Bangladesh make up of at least 10% of the population and that the number grows every day. Indigenous evangelists tell CFI they believe that Bangladesh will become a Christian nation in their lifetimes. If the 10% number is correct, there are at least 15,600,000 Christians in this Muslim majority nation. Evidence seems to support the claims.More than 20,000 ConvertsPastor Khaleque, 60, a former Muslim and now a Christian street pastor who works among the hill tribes in the northeast part of Bangladesh told CFI, "In the last 12 months, more than 20,000 Muslims have converted to Christianity. More than 20,000 have converted and this is becoming a real problem for the Muslims."Read the Full Report www.christianfreedom.org/despite-persecution-christianity-is-exploding-in-bangladesh Christian Freedom International has worked in Bangladesh for many years and runs numerous missions in the country. Among other projects, CFI supports a Center for disabled converts to Christianity, Child Sponsorship and Sunday School programs, and indigenous Christian pastors, evangelists, and missionaries throughout the Bangladesh.Christian Freedom International is an organization dedicated to promoting religious liberty and helping persecuted Christians around the world. Find out more: www.christianfreedom.org
International Christian Visual Media Announces April 1 ICVM Crown Award Deadline



WINDSOR, Colo., March 10, 2017 /



A company or producer must be a current member of ICVM in order to submit an entry. Submission forms, a list of categories and complete submission instructions are on the website at



Entries must be received by ICVM no later than April 1, 2016, accompanied by a $75 submission fee.



The International Christian Visual Media Crown Awards are designed to recognize excellence in production and content of films and media that reflect Christian values in a secular world.



Categories include Feature Films, Short Films, Youth & Children Films, Documentaries, International Films, Music Videos, Short Clips, TV Formats and Series. Producers around the world, working in visual media in any way, are encouraged to join ICVM and submit their films.



ICVM is pleased to announce prize money in the following categories: $2500 for the Gold Crown Award winner for Best Picture, courtesy of Christian Video Licensing International and $500 for the Gold Crown Award winner for Best Evangelistic Film, courtesy of the Ron Mix Memorial Fund.



The coveted ICVM Crown Award signifies excellence in all areas of production. Past winners of the Best Picture and Best Evangelistic Film Crown Awards have included such films as Sabrina K by Messenger Films, War Room by the Kendrick Brothers, Beyond The Mask by Burns Family Studios, Providence by Mainstreet Productions, Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus by Mahoney Media, Trade of Innocents by Dean River Productions, Like Dandelion Dust by ChristianCinema.com, Acts of God by City on a Hill Productions, and other great films.



The mission of International Christian Visual Media Association is to be a supportive Christian community for those involved in the production and distribution of visual media, encouraging and networking to communicate Christ to the world, with members from over 20 nations representing all forms of visual media backgrounds.



The 2017 ICVM Annual Conference is June 25-28 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its theme: Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come. This Bible verse, Isaiah 60:1, illustrates ICVMs commitment to encourage, inspire and learn from one another in community and worship. The Conference is a time of Christian fellowship, outlandish fun and professional networking, culminating in the ICVM Crown Award Celebration, honoring the excellent work of our colleagues.



For more information, please contact

Share Tweet Contact: Paul Marks, International Christian Visual Media , 970-674-1458, Paul.Marks@icvm.com WINDSOR, Colo., March 10, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- The International Christian Visual Media Association announces the submission deadline of April 1, 2017 for its coveted ICVM Crown Awards to be presented at the annual Conference.A company or producer must be a current member of ICVM in order to submit an entry. Submission forms, a list of categories and complete submission instructions are on the website at www.icvm.com/crown-awards Entries must be received by ICVM no later than April 1, 2016, accompanied by a $75 submission fee.The International Christian Visual Media Crown Awards are designed to recognize excellence in production and content of films and media that reflect Christian values in a secular world.Categories include Feature Films, Short Films, Youth & Children Films, Documentaries, International Films, Music Videos, Short Clips, TV Formats and Series. Producers around the world, working in visual media in any way, are encouraged to join ICVM and submit their films.ICVM is pleased to announce prize money in the following categories: $2500 for the Gold Crown Award winner for Best Picture, courtesy of Christian Video Licensing International and $500 for the Gold Crown Award winner for Best Evangelistic Film, courtesy of the Ron Mix Memorial Fund.The coveted ICVM Crown Award signifies excellence in all areas of production. Past winners of the Best Picture and Best Evangelistic Film Crown Awards have included such films as Sabrina K by Messenger Films, War Room by the Kendrick Brothers, Beyond The Mask by Burns Family Studios, Providence by Mainstreet Productions, Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus by Mahoney Media, Trade of Innocents by Dean River Productions, Like Dandelion Dust by ChristianCinema.com, Acts of God by City on a Hill Productions, and other great films.The mission of International Christian Visual Media Association is to be a supportive Christian community for those involved in the production and distribution of visual media, encouraging and networking to communicate Christ to the world, with members from over 20 nations representing all forms of visual media backgrounds.The 2017 ICVM Annual Conference is June 25-28 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its theme: Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come. This Bible verse, Isaiah 60:1, illustrates ICVMs commitment to encourage, inspire and learn from one another in community and worship. The Conference is a time of Christian fellowship, outlandish fun and professional networking, culminating in the ICVM Crown Award Celebration, honoring the excellent work of our colleagues.For more information, please contact Paul.Marks@icvm.com
Liberty Counsel Advocates for Life at the White House

Contact: Liberty Counsel, 407-875-1776, Media@LC.org; Press Kit



WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Liberty Counsel was among several organizations invited to meet with Vice President Mike Pence at the White House yesterday to discuss concerns and suggestions for protecting unborn life in the new GOP health care plan. The conversation, which lasted more than an hour, focused on ensuring that the sanctity of life is respected and included in efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. Liberty Counsel and other pro-life leaders provided Vice President Pence with suggestions for reversing the incalculable damage inflicted by Obamacare on the sanctity of life and on people of faith who were forced to fund or support abortion against their conscience. Liberty Counsel has been a steadfast opponent of Obamacare's abortion mandates, filing the first private lawsuit against the so-called Affordable Care Act, on the same day it was signed into law.



Photo: Post of Vice President Pence and pro-life leaders from Vice President Pence's twitter feed



At yesterday's meeting, Vice President Pence reiterated his and President Trump's strong commitment to the sanctity of life. "We are so grateful to have an Administration in Washington that genuinely wants to protect the unborn and is working to end Obamacare's unconscionable abortion mandates," said Horatio Mihet, Liberty Counsel's Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel. "The dark days of forcing people of faith to fund or support abortion against their conscience will soon be relegated to the dustbin of history," he added.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
Zhang Rongshun and Xu Anbiao, vice-chairmen of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, and Wang Aili, director-general of the Office of Criminal Laws of the Legislative Affairs Commission of NPC Standing Committee, take questions on the draft general provisions of civil law and legislation of the NPC at a press conference for the fifth session of the 12th NPC in Beijing, capital of China, March 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

The ongoing annual sessions of China's National People's Congress (NPC) reviewed a draft of the General Principles of the Civil Law on March 8. Ji Weidong, a jurist and dean of the Koguan Law School of Shanghai Jiaotong University, writes about the long journey China has taken in drafting a civil code and why it is necessary for the country to have one. China.org.cn has edited and translated part of his analysis.

It is quite extraordinary that China does not have a civil code 68 years after the People's Republic's foundation and 25 years after it established a socialist market economy.

The country made several attempts from the 1950s to 1980s to formulate a civil code, but the effort was halted because of changes in its social system. Later the top legislature decided to make individual civil laws and integrate them into a civil code.

China adopts statute laws, therefore the lack of a civil code compromises the boundary between public and private laws and the clarity of rights and obligations for individuals. We need a high-standard civil code that fits with the changes of the current century.

This round of civil code formulation started with the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in October 2014, when the compilation of the civil code was formally announced.

According to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, there will be two steps in compiling the civil code. The first is to stipulate the code's general principles, and the second is to comprehensively integrate civil laws.

The draft of the general principles made its first public appearance in July last year, when the country's legislature solicited opinions from the public. The NPC Standing Committee had three readings of the draft last year. This time marks its fourth review.

We are paying close attention to the formulation of the civil code, especially its general principles, because of the two following reasons.

First, some of the basic rights of citizens outlined in the Constitution need to be enshrined in the civil law to be better protected. A civil code, especially its general principles, is the fundamental law on the economic and social fronts, and should be the legal expression of human rights. In addition, apart from the traditional rights of property and family relations, other rights related to intellectual property and information -- for instance the right of privacy -- have become increasingly important in recent years, and hence need to be written into the civil law.

Second, the core values of a modern civil code are freedom and equality, which are originally a breakaway from the fetters imposed on individuals in the Middle Ages. In China, nearly four decades of reform and opening-up have brought increasingly complicated property relations, which need to be justified by the systems and values in the civil law. In this sense, the general rules of the civil code should map out a blueprint for societal transition. The civil code, which is essentially the charter of a market economy, is more relevant with a universal audience than other law systems. Of course, the blueprint that China has in mind is different from what can be seen in modern Western Europe. China's civil code will not be about abstract individual citizens, but demonstrate the features of a diversified social integration.

Ji Weidong is dean of the Koguan Law School of Shanghai Jiaotong University.

The article was translated by Zhang Lulu and its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
home World Former Archbishop of Canterbury reiterates call to legalize assisted suicide in Britain

Lord George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has called on British lawmakers to legalize assisted suicide in the United Kingdom.

During a speech at the House of Lords on Monday, Carey, who served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, praised countries that have legalized assisted suicide, according to The Christian Institute.

"The example of Canada and other countries show that laws can be made that protect the most vulnerable and halt the unnecessary prolongation of life, which for some is not worth the candle," Carey told the lawmakers.

The former archbishop admitted that he was "out of step" with the Church of England, but he maintained that his stance on the subject is driven by "love and compassion."

Carey had thrown his support behind a bill to legalize assisted suicide in 2015, but it was defeated in the House of Commons by a vote of 330-118. During that time, The Most Rev. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, urged MPs to reject the bill.

"It would be very naive to think that many of the elderly people who are abused and neglected each year, as well as many severely disabled individuals, would not be put under pressure to end their lives if assisted suicide were permitted by law," Welby said at that time.

Carey's comments came after Baroness Margaret Jay of Paddington urged the British parliament to vote on the issue again.

"This is a gentle and compassionate approach to dying, which is working effectively and safely for the minority who make this choice," Jay stated.

However, Baroness Masham of Ilton, who uses a wheelchair and campaigns for the rights of the disabled, argued that changing the law could put older, frail and disabled at "risk of family pressure."

Speaking for the parliament, justice minister Lord Keen of Elie stated that "there should be no change in the law."

Under Suicide Act 1961, assisted suicide is punishable up to 14 years in prison. But in 2010 the Director of Public Prosecutions issued guidelines stating that anyone acting with compassion to assist someone who decided to has decided to die would be unlikely to face criminal charges.

According to latest figures, 300 people a year are opting to end their lives in the U.K. due to terminal illness. Some travel to Switzerland where assisted suicide is legal as long as no "self-seeking motives" are involved.
home World Posters in Barcelona urge Muslims to marry Christian women to 'strengthen' Islam

Hundreds of posters calling on Muslims to marry Christian women in Spain in a bid to spread Islam have been plastered throughout a migrant-dominated neighborhood in Barcelona.

The posters, which invited members of the community to an "information meeting" at an Arab restaurant on March 14, have been disseminated throughout the neighborhood of El Raval, according to Breitbart, citing Spanish news agency La Gaceta.

"It is permissible and encouraged that the Muslim man marries honest and chaste women who belong to the People of the Book. Even though they have distorted and altered the tradition, they are still suitable for marriage," the text read.

"Brother, enter a partnership with a Spaniard, teach her that Islam is the true religion. Islamic law dictates that the fruits of this alliance will follow Islam, which will further strengthen our community," it continued.

Reports from local media have stated that El Raval is a key target for Muslim supremacist groups, who contend that adherents of Islam have a "right to return" to Spain. Official statistics gathered in 2014 indicated that 56.7 percent of its residents were born overseas.

A Facebook group known as "Restore sanctity in Al-Andalus" recommended El Raval in a post as one of the "suitable places" for Muslims migrating to Spain to live. It added that it is the "first stage" of recreating Al-Andalus, referring to the period of Muslim rule in Spain.

The post, which was written both in Arabic and Spanish, referred to migrants on their way to Spain as "brothers who have begun to make their way back home."

"The fact that our roots are Andalusian, and that these lands were once home to our ancestors, fills us with determination to continue working for our right to return to be respected," another post from the group stated.

According to Euro-Islam, about 17 percent of Barcelona's total population of 1.6 million are foreigners. A majority of the city's Muslim population are immigrants who arrived from countries such as Pakistan, Morocco, Bangladesh, Algeria, Nigeria and Senegal.

There have been difficulties in estimating the Muslim population in the city because there are no official records due to legalities that assure the right of preserving the confidentiality of religion.
home US Wyoming judge gets censured for refusing to perform same-sex wedding

A judge who refused to preside over same-sex weddings due to her religious beliefs has been publicly censured by the Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday.

In a 3a2 decision, the court ruled that Judge Ruth Neely, a magistrate in the small northwestern Wyoming town of Pinedale, violated that state's code of judicial conduct, NBC News reported.

"No judge can turn down a request to perform a marriage for reasons that undermine the integrity of the judiciary by demonstrating a lack of independence and impartiality," the court stated in its ruling.

Justice Kate Fox contended that Neely must either preside over marriage ceremonies regardless of the couple's sexual orientation or decline to perform any ceremonies at all.

While the court stated that Neely's conduct undermined the integrity of the judicial system, it did not believe that she had committed any act that would warrant her removal from the bench.

In 2014, Neely told a reporter for the Sublette Examiner that she could not officiate same-sex weddings after a federal judge struck down the state's ban on gay marriage.

"I will not able to do them," she said. "We have at least one magistrate who will do same-sex marriages, but I will not be able to. ... When law and religion conflict, choices have to be made," she added.

Neely, who has served as a judge for over 20 years, stressed that her decision would not stop homosexuals from finding a local judge to preside over same-sex weddings.

The Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics conducted an investigation about her remarks in January 2015, following a complaint from Democratic Party Chairwoman Ana Cuprill.

Neely was accused of violating six rules of judicial conduct, and she received a notice from the commission informing her that disciplinary proceedings would commence.

During the proceedings, Neely was told that the matter would be dropped if she would admit her wrong doing, resign from her position and agree to never again run for judicial office, but she rejected the proposal.

In February last year, the commission asked her to issue a public apology and agree to perform same-sex marriages, but she declined. The commission then recommended to the Supreme Court that Neely should be removed from office, according to Christian News Network.

The court rejected the commission's request and decided to censure Neely instead. Justices Keith Kautz and Michael K. Davis, who dissented from the majority opinion, contended that Neely did not violate any judicial conduct code.

"Wyoming law does not require any judge or magistrate to perform any particular marriage, and couples seeking to be married have no right to insist on a particular official as the officiant of their wedding," Kautz wrote, as reported by The Associated Press.

The justices maintained that homosexuals would still be allowed to get married without Neely's help. They argued that differences must be allowed to exist in society, and those who have religious convictions about marriage should not be punished or removed from their position as judges.
Authorities in China marked the Lunar New Year holiday on Jan. 28 by intensifying their persecution of Christians.

Among those hit hard by the new wave of persecution were Christians living in the autonomous Chinese region of Xinjiang where more than 80 believers were arrested and detained leading up and after the holiday, according to persecution watchdog China Aid.

They were arrested during raids conducted by government security agents on various house churches affiliated with the Protestant house church network, Fangcheng Fellowship, which has an estimated 10 million members.

The raids were conducted in the cities of Urumqi, Kuytun and in Shawan counties, the belated report said. Those arrested were charged with crimes such as "engaging in religious activities at non-religious sites," said China Aid.

Chinese authorities only allow the operation of the state-run church called the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

Among those arrested were six women who were imprisoned for 15 days and fined the equivalent of $145 on the charge of "gathering and praying under the name of Christianity."

The detainees were officially released on Feb. 9 on the condition that they would join the state-run church, according to China Aid.

"We believe in Jesus wholeheartedly. What just happened was not fair. We did not cause trouble. We did not bother the neighbours. All we did was study the Bible," Chen Xiangyan, one of the women who were detained, was quoted as saying.

Aside from conducting church raids, Chinese authorities are also busy cracking down on foreign Christian missionaries, deporting at least 32 South Korean missionaries in February as part of the government's crackdown on evangelism.

Last week, five Christians, including a pastor, were sentenced to three to seven years in prison on charges that they bought and sold what the Chinese government considers to be "forbidden Christian devotional books."

In its 2016 Annual Persecution Report, China Aid noted that there has been a "seismic shift" in China's approach to religion, which has led to a massive rise in persecution of Christians and other faiths.

Christians are being persecuted "at a frequency unseen since the Cultural Revolution," the human rights charity says.

It says persecution cases went up by more than 20 percent last year compared to 2015, with the number of people detained increasing by nearly 150 percent.

Open Doors USA ranks China as the 39th worst country in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians, according to its 2017 World Watch List.
All Change At Songs Of Praise? BBC Will No Longer Produce Popular Christian TV Programme

The BBC's Songs Of Praise, a staple of Sunday afternoon television for generations, is going to be produced by independent companies. It has always been made in house by the BBC but as part of the Corporation's new charter, many big name shows are being outsourced.

Songs Of Praise is thought to employ around 30 people at its base in Media City, Salford. It's thought some of the same staff will carry on when the show is made by Avanti Media and Nine Lives Media.

Although the change has been expected, broadcasting trade union BECTU is warning that some staff feel badly treated at being moved from staff jobs at the BBC. Spokesman Gerry Morrissey said: 'BECTU is also disappointed that today's BBC announcement does not recognise the huge contribution made by long-serving staff on Songs of Praise. The union will be demanding that the BBC sits up and takes the demands of staff seriously.'

The BBC's Dan McGolpin, controller of programming and daytime, said: 'Songs of Praise is absolutely core to our religious programming and following a competitive tendering process. We have agreed a three-year contract for the series to be produced by Avanti and Nine Lives... They bring years of experience in producing religious and non-religious music programmes and they will retain the essential elements of the show that viewers value so highly.'

Avanti has previously worked with music stars like Katherine Jenkins and Bryn Terfel, while Nine lives Media specialises in making documentaries such as Dispatches and Panorama.
Australia's Third Largest Denomination Has Paid Out 17m Dollars To Child Abuse Victims

The scale of child abuse reports in one of Australia's largest Christian denominations has been made clear.

The Uniting Church has revealed details of every case of abuse it had dealt with in its 40-year history.

Formed in 1977, the Church says it has received 2,504 complaints of abuse in that time. It has paid out $17.5 million in compensation and been the subject of 255 civil court claims.

The information has been submitted to the Child Abuse Royal Commission which is investigating historic abuse in a number of large Australian institutions.

The Uniting Church currently has around a million members, 40,000 employees and 30,000 volunteers. It runs 64 schools and 179 community agencies. The Church was formed 40 years ago by the merger of Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregationalist denominations.

Uniting Church in Australia president Stuart McMillan issued an apology, saying, 'We are and I am deeply sorry that we didn't protect and care in accordance with our Christian values for those children.' He went on: 'I want to acknowledge the impact that it's had in the lives of those young people and to say I am truly sorry. Our commitment to you is we will seek to make amends and ensure that others don't suffer in the same way that you have.'

The commission has also recently heard evidence of how the Jehovahs Witnesses handled abuse claims. Other Christian institutions have also been investigated including the Salvation Army and the YMCA.
Can Chronic Feelings Of Loneliness Actually Kill You?

Feeling lonely is all in the mind  right? It's not what you'd choose, but it's just one of those things and life goes on, regardless.

Wrong. More and more research is showing that feelings of loneliness transfer to your body and your brain, with disastrous results. Being chronically lonely can take years off your life.

Social psychologist John Cacioppo at the University of Chicago is a world leader in the biomedical effects of loneliness. In January this year he presented some of his latest research at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology meeting in San Diego.

His findings confirm a growing body of science showing that loneliness is more damaging than smoking 15 cigarettes a day, or being obese, or not taking exercise.

Lonely people have higher rates of cancer, infection and heart disease. In fact, they suffer from higher rates of 'all cause mortality', meaning all kinds of death from a range of causes. One is dementia  feelings of loneliness cause a 64 per cent increased risk of developing it.

Loneliness can cause dangerously high blood pressure because it raises levels of the stress hormone cortisol: the heart muscle has to work harder and arteries harden.

Even sleep is affected. It no longer 'knits up the ravelled sleeve of care', as Shakespeare puts it in Macbeth. Less time in bed is spent actually sleeping, sufferers wake up more at night, and sleep is less restorative, physically and psychologically.

It can get worse  already feeling bad, people can rate their own social interactions in a poor light and form negative impressions of people they meet. So they withdraw even further.

Even fruit flies that are isolated have worse health and die sooner than those that interact with others, showing that social engagement may be hard-wired, Professor Cacioppio said.

He is right, because the Scriptures show that God designed human beings for relationship with one another. From the beginning, it was 'not good for man to be alone'. When Romania was liberated from dictator Ceausescu in 1989 it was discovered that hundreds of babies in the appalling orphanages had died not from lack of food or physical care, but because of lack of human emotional connection, that is, from intense loneliness.

So what's the answer? Two of the best ways are said to be training people in the social skills they need to view the world in a more positive light, and to bring people together to share good times.

As a cognitive behavioural therapist, 'training' people to view the world in a more positive light seems a good option whatever the context, but in my work with the Pilgrims' Friend Society, a Christian charity that exists to support older people, I've found that loneliness is often the result of being isolated physically, either due to mobility issues or because friends and family have moved away. Some older people simply outlive their close connections.

But there is good news. It's the sort that, for me, confirms the truth of Philippians 2:13  'For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.' I believe that God longs to see human life working the way he designed it. My colleagues and I lead workshops and training days on issues of old age and are finding more and more churches keen to help lonely people.

Before a conference in South Wales last year we sent a list of proposed seminar topics to around 300 churches in the region, asking them to tick three that would be their top priorities. There was an unusually high return, around 40 per cent, and to my surprise, top of the list was 'loneliness' (dementia was second).

Loneliness in South Wales! The Welsh valleys are noted for a number of things, good and bad, but there's always been strong social cohesion. When I came back to Wales after years living abroad and in England I had to get used again to the way complete strangers would speak to you quite spontaneously. My daughter was amazed when, going over directions with me at a petrol filling station a man at the next pump interjected that our destination was just up the road and take the next right turn. I could never have imagined that there would be loneliness here. But there is.

Under its 'Campaign to End Loneliness', Age UK has published a leaflet that churches will find helpful. There are also good ideas here.

Louise Morse is a cognitive behavioural therapist and writes on issues of old age. Her new book, What's Age Got To Do With It? will be released in September. She is also communications manager with the Pilgrims' Friend Society, a 210 year old Christian charity that supports older people.
Herpes Outbreak Among Baby Boys Connected To Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Circumcision Ritual

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual is reportedly causing herpes among young infants in New York.

Herpes, a viral, contagious disease, is being found among baby boys exposed to a circumcision ritual whereby the circumcision wound is cleaned is cleaned orally, according to the New York Daily News.

There are said to have been six cases of infant herpes tied to the ritual since February 2015, including one where a baby boy was rushed to hospital 14 days after being subjected to the procedure.

The New York health department issued a warning to medical officials on Wednesday reporting the news. It said the boy was suffering from a rash that had spread across his genitals, buttocks, inner thighs and ankle.

The ritual is known as metzitzah b'peh, and involves the circumciser  known as the 'mohel'  sucking the blood from the circumcision wound with his mouth. Most Jewish families do not practise the ritual, but in New York City, approximately 3,000 babies are circumcised according to metzitzah b'peh every year.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio, responding to Wednesday's news, said: 'We're right now in that process of identifying the mohel [who performed the procedure], and we expect full cooperation from the community.'

A deal made by the de Blasio administration with Jewish leaders was meant to have involved the identification and isolation of any responsible mohels. However, of the six cases since 2015, only two of the rabbis involved have been named.

Altogether, since 2000 there have been 24 cases of infant herpes linked to circumcision, according to the New York Post. Two babies have died and two have suffered brain damage. The disease is more serious in infants as their immune systems have not developed.

Orthodox rabbis have resisted restrictions on the practise. De Blasio had wanted to make parents sign a consent form but withdrew
How (Not) To Write A Christian Leader Bio

How should Christian leaders talk about themselves? Should they parade their various credentials in an effort to explain why they're fit to lead? Or should they embrace total humility, lean toward self-deprecation, and hope their unspoken qualities shine through?

Whatever the correct answer to that question might be, Christian leaders, speakers and authors are constantly forced to wrestle with it for one very practical reason: their 'bio'. Not only are these people constantly asked for a brief summary of their life and work for use in conference line-ups and the back covers of books (on the basis of which people make purchasing decisions), but they're also aware that this form of words will be the way they're evaluated whenever they're Googled.

For that reason, leaders often agonise over their bios. Have they been too proud? Have they been too humble? Worse still  have they been caught trying to disguise one as the other? To put an end to the misery of this thankless task once and for all, I have compiled a definitive guide to writing a Christian leader bio, based on scouring thousands (see point 3 below) of examples from across the Christian world. So next time you're asked to provide a three sentence summary of your entire life for church marketing purposes, this simple six-step system will give you a foolproof route to a leader bio that boosts book sales and guarantees your appearance at church conferences for the next decade. Possibly.

1. List the big achievements up front

Just get the big guns out there straight away. Written 44 books? Make sure that's in the top line. Planted a series of thriving churches across California? That's your opener. People don't wait to read the whole of your bio before they judge you, so make sure the first sentence is incredibly impressive. If you don't actually have any big achievements yet, head directly to point #2...

2. Use words that should only ever be said about you

The great con of the speaker bio is that it's written in the third person, as if penned by some great Christian celebrity biographer, when actually we all know leaders write them themselves. This is important because it then allows the writer to use words and phrases which should normally only be applied to a person by others, such as 'visionary', 'highly-sought after' and 'prodigiously talented'. You can't really call yourself a prophetic voice... but your biographer can!

3. Exaggerate massively

I saw a bio recently which claimed that the leader in question (and his wife) had mentored over 100,000 leaders. Now, either he and I have vastly different definitions of 'mentoring', or this couple spend their entire lives in Starbucks processing an unending line of one-to-ones. Alternatively, it's just possible he was exaggerating. The addition of an extra zero (or two) is a vital part of the modern speaker bio, particularly when it comes to evangelists, who are often found talking about leading an extraordinary number of people to Christ, albeit in far-off parts of the world where they don't seem to have video capabilities or keep any formal records. Don't be shy  just make sure you bump those numbers.

4. Talk about your 'passion'

I'm not a betting man, but if I were to lay a bet on the most-used word in the history of speaker bios, I'd go for this one. Christian leaders are always passionate about something, and very often they're passionate about everything. I'm not entirely sure why this particular adjective appears to be so important in the way leaders describe themselves, but leave it out at your peril.

5. Throw in some gentle comedy

People don't want to think you're boring  especially if they're going to have to sit through forty minutes of you in the Big Top. For this reason, canny bio-writers throw in a little bit of humour to communicate that they're a little bit maverick or 'nutty'. Examples might include talking about a hobby  'can often be found getting lost up mountains'  or half an anecdote about the falling off the stage in India.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Pentecostals  ignore this section, it's not for you.

6. Make sure everyone knows you're a family guy

Finally, it's important to list those important status-symbols of successful Christian ministry  the family. The more people you can mention at this point, the better, so if you don't have many (or any) kids, throw in a reference to being a beloved uncle, or if things get really desperate, a dog-owner. This is also an important device used by male leaders in more conservative circles to subtly communicate a) that he's the head of the household as well as the church and b) that he's straight as an iron arrow.

It's never good to have to point out satire, but given that I've been misinterpreted in the past... of course I'm not serious. Yet it's amazing how many of the above points would be ticked off by the average Christian leader bio. The leaders in the Bible aren't prone to self-aggrandisement; Paul is constantly trying to play down his achievements and turn the glory back to God, and Peter warns that God 'opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble' (1 Peter 5:5). And in fact, the most notable example of a leader among God's people receiving praise for his achievements is the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon (1 Kings 10), the passage which comes directly before the downfall of the nation of Israel. It's a tightrope of course, but Christian leaders should think very carefully before truly boasting about their achievements  even through apparently innocuous channels like a conference bio.

Martin 'Mr Passion' Saunders is a prophetic visionary genius and the CEO-in-waiting at Youthscape. During a recent visit to India he saw hundreds of thousands turn to Christ at his big-tent revival meetings, although unfortunately they forgot to put film in the cameras. Follow him everywhere on all the social medias.
How To Help Syrian Refugees: Church Led Group Becomes One Of First To Welcome Family To UK

A Christian-led community group is becoming one of the first to welcome a Syrian refugee family into the UK under the government's new sponsorship scheme.

Worthing 4 Refugees was approved by the Home Office last week and will support the family, currently in a refugee camp in the Middle East, as it settles into British life.

Fleeing war-torn Syria, the traumatised family has been identified as particularly vulnerable and will become one of the first to resettle into the UK under a scheme launched with the Archbishop of Canterbury last year.

Upon their arrival they will be greeted by the West Sussex community group who then make sure the family are welcomed into the area and have suitable housing, education and access to healthcare.

The group's head Gay Jacklin said: 'We are very pleased with the approval of our sponsorship application.

'This will enable us to respond more meaningfully and personally to the refugee crisis by welcoming refugees to our community.

'We would appreciate your prayers for the Syrian family, that they may settle in quickly and feel welcomed in Worthing, and for us, that we may have Godly wisdom in all that we do for the family.'

Louise Goldsmith, West Sussex County Council leader, described the organisation as 'competent and capable' and said she was 'delighted' the bid to host a Syrian family had been successful.

'We have already welcomed eight Syrian refugee families and are shortly expecting another two in West Sussex,' she said. 'I have had the honour of meeting several of them who speak very highly of the support they have been given by the community after they have overcome such devastating experiences.

'The community has really stepped up to the plate, including Worthing 4 Refugees, and for that we are very grateful.'

Based on the Canadian private sponsorship scheme which has resettled nearly 300,000 refugees since 1979, the community sponsorship programme is part of the UK government's commitment to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020.

Several churches have led the charge in welcoming families after the Archbishop of Canterbury became the first, housing a Syrian family in a cottage in the grounds of Lambeth Palace.

Since then the Diocese of Salford and the Salvation Army have both welcomed Syrian refugee families, taking responsibility for their integration into UK life.

Church Response for Refugees, a charity coordinating the drive, is expecting the number of churches welcoming refugees to rise sharply in the coming weeks.

Chief executive Tania Bright said Worthing 4 Refugees had started 'an incredible journey' and looked forward to giving training and support in welcoming the family.

'We are providing assistance to 28 Christian community groups across the UK to become Community Sponsors,' she said.

'Both Archbishop Welby and Cardinal Nichols are passionately calling on Christians to sponsor Syrian refugee families. I am confident that Community Sponsorship will become the defining channel through which churches can be salt and light to Syrian refugee families arriving in their local communities.'
 Flash

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson challenged Thursday again U.S. President Donald Trump's revised travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries.

In documents to be filed in federal court, Ferguson contends that the injunction he obtained a month ago blocking key sections of the president's previous immigration executive order applies to the new version signed Monday.

Judge James Robart of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, based in Seattle, ruled on Feb. 3 in favor of the states of Washington and Minnesota and put the travel ban on hold, prompting the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to appeal.

Three judges sitting on the motions panel of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, Northern California, ruled on Feb. 9 against reinstating the travel ban.

While the initial travel ban imposed on Jan. 27, a week after Trump was inaugurated, bars entry into the United States by nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for 90 days, the revised version drops Iraq from the list. The new executive order also contains other changes.

Washington filed on Jan. 30 the first state lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's move to restrict immigration and resettlement of refugees. And this time, Hawaii became the first state Thursday to file a lawsuit against the revised travel ban. Massachusetts and New York declared the same day that they will follow.

Compared with the initial ban, "nothing of substance has changed: There is the same blanket ban on entry from Muslim-majority countries," Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said of the new order.

Chin's assertion was echoed by Ferguson and Noah Purcell, Washington state Solicitor General, at a press conference Thursday morning in Seattle about their approach to challenge the travel ban, arguing that it is not a new lawsuit, rather an effort to seek court confirmation that a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the ban is still effective.

"My message to President Trump is -- not so fast," Ferguson said in a statement. "After spending more than a month to fix a broken order that he rushed out the door, the president's new order reinstates several of the same provisions and has the same illegal motivations as the original. Consequently, we are asking Judge Robart to confirm that the injunction he issued remains in full force and effect as to the reinstated provisions."

The burden is on the Trump Administration to argue that the injunction the AG obtained no longer blocks the ban, argued the state attorney general.

As the lawsuit against the Trump administration is ongoing, the Washington state Attorney General's Office anticipates filing an amended complaint on the underlying merits of the case early next week. Oregon and New York are expected to join the case.
'It Is Devastating For Families': How Compassion International Is Being Forced Out Of India

There are just five days to go until Compassion India will pack up more than 500 projects in India and leave around 145,000 children without support.

After nearly 50 years in the country, the Christian charity is being forced out.

'I don't want to use hyperbole but it is actually devastating for many of these families,' says Justin Dowds, chief executive of Compassion UK in an interview with Christian Today.

The Hindu nationalist Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is cracking down on foreign charities it sees as threatening.

Compassion is just one of 11,000 NGOs to have lost access to foreign funds since Modi came to power in 2014.

Under the vague accusation of being 'detrimental to the national interest' the charity has been placed on a 'prior approval' list that means the Indian government can control, and therefore block, any funds coming in from the West.

'They have basically told all Indian banks not to approve money that comes from overseas for Compassion,' says Dowds.

'There is a definite crackdown.'

Compassion partners with more than 500 churches around India through its 'sponsor-a-child' programme. It provides funding for schooling, food and healthcare to some of the poorest areas through its projects. It employs more than 100 full time staff and funnels around 45million a year into the country through its $38-a-month patronage programme.

'It is Compassion's support that allows children to go to school because as part of our programme they receive access to healthcare, and the additional cost of going to school such as shoes and books otherwise they are turned away,' says Dowds.

'In many areas they come to the programme every day after school to get extra support,' he adds.

'Wider than that we feed them once a day and we buy the food from the local market every day to feed 200-300 children.

'That is a lot of revenue and support coming out of the local market. We are also employing staff and putting money in to the local economy

'You can't take out $40-50million a year out of the economies of the poorest of the poor and not see quite a dramatic impact.

'Each child is part of a family. One child I spoke to said it was her responsibility to go home from school and teach her brothers and sisters what she had learnt. She taught her mother and father to write their own names so they could fill in forms to get the support they were entitled to.

'The trickle down impact of our projects is enormous.'

All of that ends next week after being starved of funds since the government froze their overseas donations in March 2016.

'The challenge is we have not received a single word from the Indian authorities defining exactly what the charge or accusation is,' he says.

Comments in local press have suggested government officials accuse Compassion of forcibly converting people to Christianity. But there has been no evidence of this and Compassion vehemently denies the charge.

After repeated lobbying attempts by both the US and UK governments, the charity is left with no choice. They are being advised to go down a legal route but with no guarantee Modi's government will respect the ruling even if they do win, Dowds is reluctant.

But he is not giving up. Although it is now all but certain Compassion India will fold next Wednesday, he says there is one final push that could allow it to reopen.

A final mass letter writing campaign is being organised to the US congress urging support. And even after that and the inevitable closure next week, Dowds says he still has hope for Compassion in India.

'We are ultimately called to release children from poverty in Jesus' name,' he says.

'I don't believe that excludes Indian children. We want to work out a solution.'
Malaysian Pastor Raymond Koh Kidnapping: Man Arrested After He Asked For Ransom Money

Police in Malaysia have arrested a man in connection with the alleged kidnapping of Pastor Raymond Koh, who went missing on February 13.

According to Channel NewsAsia, the 32-year-old man was arrested after he asked Koh's family for ransom money and has been remanded in custody.

Koh is believed to have been targeted because of his Christian faith and evangelistic work and the incident has led to fears of increasing pressure on Christians in the Muslim-majority country.

Koh's abduction in Petaling Jaya was captured on a video, which is still under investigation. In the CCTV footage, a vehicle, which reportedly carried Koh, was seen turning from a highway. It was surrounded by three black SUVs, and after the vehicles stopped, at least five armed men clad in black got out of the car and a struggle ensued.

A petition aimed at spurring on attempts to find him reads: 'Since his abduction, the Malaysian authorities have been very slow to respond to his families requests for a speedy and forthright investigation.

'Moreover, they have not voiced any support for the Christian community in Malaysia or pledged to make sure such attacks stop. At this juncture, many of the religious freedoms that Christians have enjoyed in Malaysia and its multi-cultural atmosphere could come under increasing attack.'

Among those to have expressed their support for the pastor is the head of the World Council of Churches, Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. Tveit wrote to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Abdul Razak, saying he was 'gravely concerned' for Koh's safety.

He said: 'Pastor Koh is well known in his community for the work he has done to help the most marginalised people, including through setting up and nurturing a community centre to assist single mothers, drug addicts and people living with HIV/Aids. However, he has been accused of proselytising and has received death threats on several occasions.'

He said the incident was 'causing deep anxiety and concern for the life and wellbeing of Pastor Koh' and was 'promoting fear and mistrust among the religious minorities'.
Philip North 'Hounded' Out Of Role, Claims Key Conservative Bishop

Philip North was 'hounded' out of office, a key conservative bishop has said, claiming the loss was a 'body blow' to the Church of England.

The Bishop of Maidstone, Rod Thomas, said the way North has been treated does major damage to the Church.

Currently Bishop of Burnley, Philip North has withdrawn from his appointed post as Bishop of Sheffield after an intense campaign against him over his opposition to women's ordination.

In a damning statement directed against North's critics, Bishop Thomas lambasted those 'who hounded Philip North out of office' and said it 'will be a huge loss to Sheffield and is a body blow to the concept of "mutual flourishing" which lay at the heart of the agreement to introduce women bishops in the Church of England.'

Bishop Thomas was appointed as part of the 2014 deal allowing women bishops in the CofE. He has a 'floating' role providing 'alternative episcopal oversight' to a small number of conservative male clergy who find themselves under a local woman bishop's authority which they refuse to accept.

His role was created as a concession to traditionalists allowing a deal to be reached over women bishops.

The compromise was supposed to allow for 'mutual flourishing' in an attempt to hold together the two deeply entrenched sides.

But he said North's treatment had done 'profound' damage to the principles of that agreement, claiming there was a now 'glass ceiling' on those opposed to women's ordination.

'If all orders of ministry and all appointments are equally open to men and women, then the same has to apply to those who hold that the ministries of men and women are distinctively different.

'If it does not, if there is, in effect, a glass ceiling that prevents those of traditional churchmanships ministering at all levels of the Church, then the Declaration and the provisions that came with it lose all credibility.'

Thomas called for 'urgent action' from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to address the situation.

'I know that both Archbishops were personally wholly committed to the concept of mutual flourishing and it was warmly supported by the General Synod,' he said in a statement.

'If it is to survive as our governing motif, then urgent action will be needed to demonstrate its effectiveness. In the absence of such action, we will simply have given in to those who hounded Philip North out of office.'
Regent University, Founded By Religious Right Leader Pat Robertson, Hits 10,000 Students

Regent University, the institution founded by Pat Robertson, has more than 10,000 students studying there for the first time.

AP reports that Regent, which started in 1978, has hit the milestone. It also has over 110 online degree courses available.

Pentecostal preacher Robertson is a controversial figure who has been a mainstay on Christian TV for many years. He ran for President in 1988 against the Republican favourite George Bush. He was key to the founding of the religious right network the Christian Coalition, as well as the Christian Broadcasting Network. Now in his 80s, he can still be seen on TV and his critics accuse him of for promoting conspiracy theories.

Gerson Moreno-Riano, executive vice president for academic affairs at Regent University, said he expects the school to grow into a 'very large university over the coming years'.

'We are thrilled to reach this incredible milestone of 10,000 students enrolled at Regent University today,' said Regent's Chancellor Pat Robertson. 'By investing in new programs and services, with a major focus on new technology, Regent is now much better positioned for sustainable growth while at the same time continuing to offer our students a quality education that is also affordable.'

The main campus is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The Resignation That Rocked The Church: How The CofE Reacted To Philip North's Decision

Philip North has stepped back from his appointed role as Bishop of Sheffield amid a furious row over women bishops.

The current Bishop of Burnley's stance on not ordaining women prompted outrage from campaigners within the Church when his promotion to the more senior see of Sheffield was announced.

An article by senior theologian Martyn Percy, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, prompted an intense campaign against his nomination.

Percy in particular criticised North's membership of a traditionalist grouping known as The Society which only recognises male clergy, referring to its views as 'fogeyish sacralised sexism'.

In a pointed statement announcing he would withdraw, North said the 'highly individualised nature of the attacks upon me have been extremely hard to bear'.

In a direct rebuke to his opponents, he said: 'If, as Christians, we cannot relate to each other within the bounds of love, how can we possibly presume to transform a nation in the name of Christ? I hope though that this conversation can continue in the future without it being hung upon the shoulders of one individual.'

He hinted the pressure of the campaign against him has left him reflecting whether to continue as a bishop, saying that 'the pressures of recent weeks have left me reflecting on how [God] is calling me to serve him'.

Percy said in response: 'I have written to Bishop Philip privately in the light of this very difficult decision. My thoughts are with everyone involved at this testing time.'

WATCH (Women and the Church), a campaign group for women's ordination, expressed 'compassion and concern for all involved' and a statement they realised the debate had 'been deeply painful and divisive'.

It added: 'We have always been clear that this is a theological debate and not personal, yet we know that this is not always how comments are heard.

'It is our role in WATCH to ask the question 'how do women flourish in the Church?' and we have done so mindful of the mission of the Church and its witness to the wider community.'

The Society, the Anglo-Catholic grouping at the heart of the row, responded with a statement from the Bishop of Wakefield, Tony Robinson, who expressed 'publicly our sympathy and concern for Bishop Philip' after his resignation.

'The implications of what has happened for the stability of the settlement that enabled women to become bishops in the Church of England, and also for the integrity of the whole process whereby the Church of England discerns that God is calling someone to a diocesan see, are a cause of grave concern,' he said.

'As we enter more deeply into Lent, a period of prayer and self-examination, we call on all concerned to engage not in mutual recrimination but in a period of calm reflection about how our church can recover from this wound.'

The Church of England's hierarchy, although largely in support of women bishops, has strongly supported North throughout and reacted with dismay at Thursday night's announcement.

The Archbishop of York chastised North's critics and told them to learn to 'disagree Christianly, remembering at all times that our identity is in Christ alone'.

He said in a statement on Thursday: 'What has happened to Bishop Philip clearly does not reflect the settlement under which, two and a half years ago, the Church of England joyfully and decisively opened up all orders of ministry to men and women. It also made a commitment to mutual flourishing.'

Critics of North pointed to strong opposition to his arrival in Sheffield, where at least one-third of clergy are women.

A local campaign group for gender equality in Sheffield called for a 'period of reflection and/or prayer, personally and corporately' after the resignation.

'We lament the church's lack of understanding of the depth of concern which people around the diocese have felt over this appointment,' a statement read.

'We also sense an invitation from God for all of us in the Church of England to take responsibility for our part in a process that has caused such pain for so many people.'

They added: 'This is a sad moment for the Church of England but we hope and pray that, in time, greater wisdom will emerge.'

But in a statement from the Diocese, the junior Bishop of Doncaster said he was 'deeply and personally saddened' that North had been forced to quit.

'This has clearly been a difficult and painful journey for the diocese over the past few weeks as it has also been for Bishop Philip. There will be much to reflect on and there will be time to consider what lessons may be learned over the coming weeks and months,' he said.

'For now, I would join with the call from the Archbishop of York that we use this time of Lent as a period of penitence, repentance and reflection both individually and corporately as a diocese. It would be my sincere hope and prayer that such a period would act as the basis for reconciliation across the diocese as we rebuild relationships of trust and confidence and refocus on God's mission and our Vision for growth and the transformation of the communities we are called to serve.'

The Bishop of Blackburn, North's current superior in Burnley, said his response was 'one of overwhelming sadness'.

North's own 'statement clearly indicates how difficult he has found the past few weeks as his nomination has been debated publicly and so now we must respect his need to recover well from all that he has gone through,' said Rt Rev Julian Henderson.

'In light of what the Archbishop has said in his own statement I would like to encourage this Lenten period to be one of reflection and prayer.'
British Archaeologist Thinks He's Found The House Where Jesus Grew Up

The house where Jesus Christ grew up in under the care of Mary and Joseph may have been found.

Dr. Ken Dark, a British archaeologist, said the humble first century abode is located in Nazareth, northern Israel, the Express reported.

In an article in Biblical Archaeological Review, Dark said the house was first discovered in the 1880s by nuns at the Sisters of Nazareth convent. However, it was only in 2006 when the experts dated it to the first century, thus giving credence to the claim that it may indeed be the earthly home of the Son of God.

What convinced Dark that the courtyard-style house was indeed the home of Jesus was the fact that "great efforts had been made to encompass the remains of this building within the vaulted cellars of both the Byzantine and Crusader churches, so that it was thereafter protected."

Thus, the professor at the University of Reading concluded that there was "no good reason" why the house was not Jesus'.

Aside from the archaeological evidence, Dark pointed to a text written in 670AD by abbot Adomnan of the Scottish island monastery at Iona, who describes Frankish bishop Arculf's pilgrimage to Nazareth.

In the text, Adomnan mentioned a church "where once there was the house in which the Lord was nourished in his infancy."

The house believed to be that of Jesus is located beneath the Sisters of Nazareth Convent, across the road from the Church of Annunciation, according to Dark.

He said the house is cut out of limestone with a series of rooms and a stairway.

More light is expected to be shed on Jesus' childhood home in one of the upcoming episodes of CNN's "Finding Jesus" documentary series, whose Season 2 premiered on Sunday.

According to the show's producers the second season of the show will explore the childhood home of Jesus, the tomb of King Herod, the bones of St. Peter, the relics believed to shed light on the apostle Thomas, the Pilate stone and the tomb of Lazarus.

In November last year, researchers removed the marble slabs covering the tomb of Jesus inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City.

The researchers reportedly found that portions of the tomb where Jesus was laid before His resurrection are still present today, and have survived centuries of damage, destruction, and reconstruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The researchers even found Jesus' original limestone burial bed that was described as "intact."
Why Judges 4 Is A Problem If You Don't Believe In Women Leaders

The time of the Judges in the life of Israel was confused, confusing and in many ways very sad. It was a time of violence in which the innocent suffered. After the optimism of the successful conquest of the land, it saw the Israelites' dream of a permanent homeland come perilously close to failure as they were oppressed by military forces more powerful than theirs.

Their national identity was preserved by judges sent by God, who taught them his ways, arbitrated their disputes and led them in battle. One of the most remarkable was a woman, Deborah. Her ministry makes it impossible for anyone to argue that God only chooses men for leadership roles.

1. We're told that 'Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time' and that she 'held court under the palm of Deborah'. The Israelites 'came to her to have their disputes decided' (Judges 4: 4-5).

She was a woman of authority, recognised for her wisdom and strength of character. She was not in a subordinate role to her husband Lappidoth; she had been called by God to serve him as a leader.

2. She was a war strategist who told Barak, the head of the army, how to fight his battles (verse 6). So great was his trust in her that he insisted on her accompanying him to fight  a lack of trust in God that would lead her to rebuke him for it (verse 9).

3. She sang a psalm of praise with Barak after their great victory. Both of them equally represented the people in putting into words their gratitude and awe at what God had done. And Deborah doesn't become an 'honorary man' for the conflict: she says, 'Village life in Israel ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel' (verse 7).

The Israelites  male and female  didn't look down on Deborah because of her gender or assume she couldn't do the job God had called her to do. They accepted her authority without complaining or resentment. What mattered was not whether she was male or female; it was that God had called her.

Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
Why The Future Of The Church Of England Is In The Balance After The Sheffield Debacle

I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. A feeling of sadness and dread passed over me as I realised the full implications of the decision. It's five years later now and the Church of England's rejection of women bishops seems a lifetime ago.

The skill of Archbishop Justin Welby, and many others, in negotiation and building bridges meant that only two years later, in 2014, the General Synod voted in favour of female bishops.

It was a momentous decision. Not long afterwards Libby Lane became the first ever female bishop of the Church of England. Then Rachel Treweek became the first ever diocesan (senior) bishop. The number of women who've been consecrated is now in double figures and the Church is looking forward to many more bringing their gifts into leadership in the coming decades.

Events of the last few weeks haven't hit me with the same visceral sense of dread as that initial rejection did in 2012. Yet the more I think about the decision of Phillip North to withdraw from the post of Bishop of Sheffield, the more I'm concerned about the future of the Church.

A little catch up for those uninitiated. North is currently Bishop of Burnley, a more junior role, and was set to be appointed Bishop of Sheffield. When his elevation was announced, a campaign against it began on account of his 'traditionalist' beliefs. North is from the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church and the more conservative-minded people on that wing don't believe women can be priests, let alone bishops.

When the legislation was passed in 2014 paving the way for women to be bishops, it was decided that traditionalists from both the Anglo-Catholic and evangelical camps would be catered for. The Archbishop of Canterbury said, 'The challenge for us will be for the Church to model good disagreement and to continue to demonstrate love for those who disagree on theological grounds.'

Amidst the celebrations, the Archbishop no doubt meant this as a cautionary note. It has gone beyond that, though. It has become distressingly prophetic.

It seems good disagreement was not possible. The campaign to prevent Bishop North from taking up his position in Sheffield became too much. The interventions of people outside the diocese seemed to be an incredible strain on those within. I was in Sheffield last week and the pressure being felt by clergy and senior leadership there was obvious. In the end, it became too much. North withdrew and will not become Bishop of Sheffield. Wither good disagreement?

Let me be clear: as someone who has received massive amounts from women in leadership, I was a passionate campaigner for female bishops. I think Phillip North is wrong to oppose the ordination of women. I think the Bible is in favour of women in leadership. Yet, there's more to the picture than that. North is a committed evangelist, social justice activist and great friend of many women clergy (including his fellow bishop, Libby Lane).

The legislation which made it possible for women to become bishops also made North's position a legitimate and tenable one within the Church. If that has now been changed, de facto  not by debate, but by a concerted campaign from outside (and inside) Sheffield Diocese, we are in trouble.

The whole basis of the Church's decision to opt for female bishops could now be called into question. As CofE legal expert Gavin Drake said on Facebook: 'The legislation passed ONLY because a package of measures was agreed to provide for the mutual flourishing of women clergy AND of those whose theological convictions opposed them. That package of measures has just, effectively, been ripped up.'

This may end up being a Pyrrhic victory for those campaigners who also want full gay inclusion in the Church. If there is to be any change of position from the Church of England on that issue in the coming decades, then the General Synod will have to amend the current rules.

What are the chances that a deal can now be reached in good faith, knowing that whatever is decided during debate and on paper can now be essentially overturned by applying public pressure via newspaper articles? If the more liberal wings of the Church want to change the way the CofE treats gay people, it is going to have to convince the more conservative wings that their integrity isn't at risk from such a move. Is this plausible now?

The Archbishop called for good disagreement. Many women who are passionate about inclusion heeded the call. Women in North's current diocese said he'd been an excellent colleague. Campaigners such as Elaine Storkey and Rev Sally Hitchiner offered their support. Evangelical theologian Storkey said, 'as a long-term campaigner for Women Bishops I am ashamed that we have not kept our promises of inclusivism'. Hitchiner, a priest and commentator said, 'The church has lost a huge amount in @BpBurnley stepping down from his post in Sheffield... The C of E is committed to members who are against women's ordination & we have attacked such a shining example of how to do that well.'

Rev Jules Middleton is a priest in Chichester Diocese where the Bishop, Martin Warner, takes the same stance as Bishop North. She says, 'I, as an ordained woman want to publically say that I am appalled at the way +Philip has been treated and sad that he has felt the need to step aside, which can only be due to the recent and public objections  how is this in any way enabling mutual flourishing?'

This isn't just a storm in a teacup. The Church of England is for the whole country. This should concern all Christians and all English people. The national Church is broad and it must stay that way, otherwise we're finished and will become just another voice.

I saw two (male) priests on either side of this debate exchanging tweets this morning. One said to the other, 'I think we are coming at this from very different theological positions.' That's the point  people of different convictions living together and managing 'good disagreement.' Now? God only knows...

Follow Andy Walton on Twitter @waltonandy
World Council Of Churches Voices 'Grave Concern' Over Israel Clampdown On Boycott Support

The World Council of Churches has issued a statement describing its 'grave concern' over a new law passed in Israel this week.

The Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, passed the 'Entry to Israel Act (Denial of Visa to Non-Residents Who Knowingly Call for a Boycott on Israel)' on Monday.

It's aimed at activists who call for a boycott of Israeli goods in protest at the Israeli government's treatment of the occupied Palestinian territories.

WCC General Secretary Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said: 'It would be a clear violation of freedom of expression, that is critical for those who want to visit Israel, for those who have to live under the occupation, and for those who want access to the Palestinian territories.'

The statement also suggests the law is a, 'significant violation of freedom of religion'. Tveit says it is 'because of our Christian principles and teachings that we in the World Council of Churches find the purchase and consumption of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied territories immoral, and it is for the same reason many churches and Christians around the world choose to divest from companies that profit from the illegal occupation'.

Other critics have suggested the law is far too sweeping, in that it targets both those who call for a boycott just of Israeli settlements in the West Bank (considered illegal under international law) and those who advocate a wider boycott of Israel (a more minority position).

Israeli education minister Naftali Bennett supported the law saying it, 'allows Israel to protect itself against conspirators'.
World Vision Warns Of Millions At Risk In East Africa, Launches Hunger Crisis Appeal

Tens of thousands of children across East Africa could die from starvation unless the world acts soon to stop the famine affecting millions in the region, a charity has warned.

Humanitarian aid organisation World Vision UK warned that that East Africa is on the brink of an unprecedented crisis. Twenty-two million people are in need of vital support and more than 3.5 million children are suffering from severe malnutrition.

World Vision UK has thanked the UK for its recent announcement of emergency aid for South Sudan and Somalia, and urged swift delivery of its aid, as well long-term commitment to the needs of the suffering.

'We commend the UK government's efforts in East Africa and welcome that it is leading the charge to help some of the world's most vulnerable people,' said Peter Keegan, World Vision UK's government relations manager. 'We're delighted that new packages of UK aid have been announced for South Sudan and Somalia.

'As International Development Secretary Priti Patel has noted, this is now an emergency. The Government needs to match its strong words with rapid implementation. It must ensure that it delivers its funding commitments through partners that are able to get aid quickly to starving children and adults.

'We have only a small window of opportunity to avoid regional catastrophe and we hope the international community will follow Britain's lead in responding to the crisis.'

World Vision UK has today launched East Africa Hunger Crisis appeal, a campaign to raise urgent financial support for 2.2 million of the most vulnerable children in Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.

World Vision warns that the intense famine is forcing many families to flee into regions rife with conflict, 'putting millions of children at risk of violence, exploitation and abuse'.

Christopher Hoffman, World Vision's regional humanitarian and emergency affairs director for East Africa, said: 'The hunger crisis in East Africa is unprecedented in its scope and size. With almost 23 million people, including more than 10 million children, in search of one daily meal, the humanitarian community and affected governments are searching for immediate solutions to curb the urgent needs.

'While the need to address famine in South Sudan is urgent, more so is the immediate need to help those that are on the cusp of starvation throughout East Africa. Humanitarians are working fast to stop any further degradation of the current situation, where the possibility of large scale suffering and subsequent deaths is eminent without assistance.

'World Vision is responding to multiple needs in very complex situations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan  working tirelessly to address the needs of children in crisis.'

The donation page for World Vision's appeal can be found here.
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Russia is committed to its obligations under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

His remarks came after the Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Paul Selva told Congress Wednesday that Russia violated the "spirit and intent" of the INF pact by deploying a banned land-based cruise missile.

The treaty, signed by American and Soviet leaders in 1987, prohibits both countries from testing, producing and possessing land-based intermediate-range missiles. It was deemed as a corner stone of global arms control and helped end the Cold War.

"Russia fully complies with the INF treaty, although it does not totally meet our interests," Peskov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.

Also on Thursday, Viktor Ozerov, chairman of the defense committee of Russia's upper house of parliament, said Russia strictly observes the arms control treaty and called the repeated U.S. accusations groundless.

"Let them present the facts of these violations. We have heard enough baseless conversations lately," Ozerov said.

Worries about a new arms race between Russia and the United States have risen after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed last month to raise its 2018 military and security spending by 54 billion U.S. dollars.

In December last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual year-end press conference that Russia would continue to boost its nuclear triad, a set of advanced armaments consisting of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

"There is concern over the possibility of a new arms race unfolding in Europe," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Thursday.
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To an outside observer, gang warfare can seem like an endless toil of blood and guns. These criminal organizations, like the MS-13, seem to be in a perpetual state of war with each other, causing collateral terror to innocent victims.

But an investigation by Carlos Garcia on Insight Crime reveals how the leadership behind these ruthless, warring organization struck an underground deal.

Garcia explains that one of the most powerful gangs in the U.S. rules from behind bars in California prisons.

ALL OUT WAR: Narco-trafficking cartel creates ISIS-style beheading video to spread fear

"This group controlled from within prison cells and that few dare name is called the Mexican Mafia, and the most common way of referring to it is using the Spanish pronunciation of the thirteenth letter of the alphabet, 'la eMe'," writes Garcia. "Since 1968, all Latino gangs established in the southern cities of California from Bakersfield and El Sereno to San Diego have been subsumed under the jurisdiction of the eMe."

He continues:

"It is through this regional amalgamation that the ranks of eMe are filled with members of different Sureno gangs, almost all of whom are mortal enemies outside of prison. This includes the MS13, the 18th Street (Barrio 18), the White Fence 13 and the Wanderers 13. If these gangs meet on the street, they kill each other."

HOUSTON: New details in alleged MS-13 'satanic' killing of teen girl

According to Garcia, in 2011, MS-13 gang member Luis Gerardo Vega, alias "Little One," finally got a seat at the table with the Mexican Mafia. This newfound influence and networking allowed the MS-13 to push deeper into transnational drug trafficking.

At point, an operation known as "The Project" saw the Knights Templars and MS-13 working together to distribute methamphetamine, which was later thwarted by police.

Garcia concludes that "the MS13 had made the leap to the main table and the gang has not stopped thinking of what they can achieve from within the eMe."

MS-13: The evolution of one of Latin America's deadliest gangs

Click through above to see things to know about the MS-13.
Dear Abby:

Schoolchildren, especially middle school or high school students who may not be socially adept, often eat lunch alone because they don't know what to do when it comes to joining other kids at the lunch table. My grandson, who is on the autism spectrum, is one of them.

Classmates would be doing a great service if they said, "Hey, 'Josh.' Come sit with me." It's a small way to help others, and they could serve as examples/mentors. Kids with autism or some other challenges can learn socialization from helpful peers who are good in this arena.

It's lonely to eat lunch by yourself. Please encourage your readers to consider this.

Someone Who Cares in San Diego

Dear Someone Who Cares:

I'm glad to do that. The pain of social isolation can last far beyond the elementary and middle school years and color a person's expectations of rejection into adulthood. Much of it could be avoided if parents took the time to explain to their children how important it is to treat others with kindness.

In recent years, attention is finally being paid to this. A national organization, Beyond Differences, started a program called "No One Eats Alone" that teaches students how to make friends at lunchtime - which can be the most painful part of the school day. It's the group's most popular program, and schools in all 50 states participate. For more information, visit beyonddifferences.org.

It might be helpful if an adult family member discussed your grandson's isolation with a counselor at his school. Some schools have started programs in which children who sit alone are gathered together at lunchtime with a teacher or a school therapist so they are not isolated. This creates a safe space for autistic children. Regardless of how these lunches are organized, the presence of a trained adult is paramount.

Dear Abby:

My son and daughter-in-law recently had a baby girl. My daughter-in-law and her family have extreme OCD and are afraid of germs. I wash my hands all the time, but still she seems to cringe when I or anyone in my family holds the baby.

I want a relationship with my granddaughter. I have expressed my concern to my son, but I don't want to cause an argument. How can I approach this without causing friction?

Grandma S. in New York

Dear Grandma S.:

Your daughter-in-law is a brand-new mother. Many new parents are nervous about their babies being exposed to germs.

A way to approach it would be to talk with your daughter-in-law in a nonconfrontational way and tell her you have seen her reaction when you hold your granddaughter. Explain that you are careful about hand-washing and ask if there is anything else she feels you should do.

It might make her feel more in control and put her mind at ease.

DearAbby.comDear Abby P.O. Box 69440 Los Angeles, CA 90069Universal Press Syndicate
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Shirley MacLaine thinks that the city of Austin should build a wall. Not necessarily to keep people out, but to protect the artists who live within the city limits from themselves.

She pleaded her case before a sold-out crowd at the 17th annual Texas Film Awards.

"Art is probably man's attempt to preserve his imagination against time," she said upon receiving both the Star of Texas Award for the film "Terms of Endearment" and a lifetime achievement award presented by famed filmmaker Richard Linklater.

"Shirley, we consider you an honorary Texan," Linklater said of MacLaine's three highly acclaimed Texas-filmed projects.

Memories of Fort Worth native Bill Paxton, who passed away last month, were another highlight of the gala which kicked off the South by Southwest 2017 Film, Interactive, and Music Festival on Thursday, March 9.

Rain wasn't in the fete's forecast, though in the end, the slight drizzle made little difference. Stars - from the small and big screens, stage, and more - shone big and bright inside the Austin Film Society's production studio number seven.

Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez - a surprise guest for most event-goers - led a powerful tribute for Paxton, his friend and "great actor."

Rodriguez introduced the video of Paxton's humorous acceptance speech upon being inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame a few years ago.

"Being from Texas, it has its currency," Paxton says in the clip.

Rodriguez and Paxton first met on the set of "Titanic" while Rodriguez was visiting his friend James "Jim" Cameron.

"Bill worked hard at making it look easy," Rodriguez said. Emotional videos of Kevin Bacon and Tom Cruise sharing their favorite memories with Paxton streamed overhead during dinner service.

Co-chairs Suzanne Court and Lesya Milam entertained local notables including jewelry designer Kendra Scott. She and Ingrid Vanderbilt were spotted among those sipping on Tito's specialty cocktails in the black and white striped tent before the festivities began.

The program ran exceedingly long. But that's to be expected with Nick Kroll, Michael Shannon, and former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros as presenters, right?

After-party revelry continued late into the night. And, surely, over the upcoming week of SXSW, as well.
More than two dozen properties in Patton Village are substantially damaged based on FEMA criteria, according to a report conducted in July 2016.

The city sent letters in late February and early March to several property owners in the Peach Creek Dam and Lake Club area stating their properties are in violation of city flooding management ordinances. The letters specified a 30-day time frame in which to bring the property into compliance.

According to Patton Village Mayor Leah Tararant, the city learned in 2016 the Peach Creek area, including parts of North Lakeview Drive, South Lakeview Drive and Park Lane, fall within a regulatory floodway.

Tarrant said during the April and May 2016 flooding events, 21 rescues were conducted by boat in the area due to severe flooding.

"A floodway is a high hazard to life, to property, to everyone involved," Tarrant said. "If you saw that section in a flood, you would see why it's considered a floodway. We had firemen and people with air boats out here. There's a lot of resources that are being expended in an area that's going to continue to flood. It's just unsafe."

According to Tarrant, the Substantial Damage Estimator report was delivered to the city by a FEMA representative in July 2016. The report determined to what extent each structure in the floodway received damages from flooding. If the damage equaled or exceeded 50 percent of the pre-damaged structure value, then it was deemed substantially damaged.

Gilbert Giron Jr., national hazards program specialist for FEMA Region 6 Mitigation Division, said the document is not a FEMA report; it is a report based on FEMA's criteria of substantial damage.

He explained the city must enforce its Flood Plain Management Ordinance 2015-010 in order to remain compliant with the National Flood Insurance Program. The insurance program provides affordable insurance by getting communities to adopt floodplain management regulations that reduce the impact of flooding events.

"(If a structure is) substantially damaged over 50 percent of fair market value, it has to be brought up to compliance, and it's the community's duty to enforce the ordinance," Giron said. "So, the letter came from the community. All enforcement actions come from the community because FEMA doesn't have land-use authority; the community does. Our purpose is to provide guidance."

Tarrant said while enforcement of penalties for noncompliance violations may still be a couple of months down the line, the letters sent by the city have served to spur responses from some property owners.

"It's impractical to think that someone can mitigate their home or have a plan in 30 days, but it's a way to get the ball moving, to let them know that something is wrong and something needs to get done," Giron said. "From here on out, it's going to be the community working with the individual on some type of corrective action plan."

For the time being, the city plans to continue sending out letters informing property owners of the situation to prompt more people to respond and begin complying.

"The way they can find out how to become compliant is to come to city hall," Tarrant said. "If you get a letter, come to the city, and we'll discuss how to become compliant. It will be by following ordinance 2015-010."

Copies of the ordinances are available at Patton Village City Hall.

Giron said the rules for floodways are different than in standard special flood hazard areas in that they are more restrictive.

"In a standard special flood hazard area, the flood plain that most people know, we do allow development under certain guidelines, and it's pretty reasonable," Giron said. "It's practical and feasible for average people.

"When you have a floodway, things change."

In a regulatory floodway, Giron said that a property owner must demonstrate that any development would result in a 0.0 percent rise in floodwater level.

According to Tarrant, the city's flood plain management ordinance prohibits additional structures, including fences or storage sheds within a floodway without a hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) study being performed to ensure the addition would not increase flood levels or hinder the flow of flood waters.

"It's very cost-prohibitive. Just to do one mile of a river in Louisiana was $1 million a mile to do a full H&H study," Giron said. "It has to be done by a state certified civil engineer. So, the cost of hiring that type of expert is going to be really expensive."

Giron said that substantial damage often means it will be very costly for the homeowners to become compliant.

"We know that often times substantial damage affects people of lesser means, but we have to mitigate these threats or the houses are going to flood over and over again," Giron said. "Every time that house floods, that puts the first responders at risk when they have to go down there and do a swift water rescue."

Additionally, he said homes determined as substantially damaged can pose a safety risk to inhabitants.

"Some of the manufactured homes that are substantially damaged aren't going to be safe," Giron said. "All of that water in the bottom of those houses got soaked up by the insulation. The plumbing, the electrical; all that stuff's not good. On a mobile home, all the electrical, everything's at the bottom. All of that was submerged under water. You have to really wonder about the safety of the electrical system with the power going to it now."

In situations like these, he said, allowing residents to live in the home may be a health risk due to concerns like mold.

Giron said Tarrant is doing the right thing by sending out letters to keep citizens notified, but she needs to include a paragraph explaining the Increased Cost of Compliance program, which can give citizens who have a flood insurance policy up to $30,000 extra for mitigation purposes.

The money can be used by property owners for one of four compliance purposes: flood-proofing, relocating, elevating or demolishing property. Only people who have flood insurance for properties substantially damaged by flooding are eligible for a claim.

Tarrant said several property owners in the floodway may not have flood insurance.

Giron said that assistance may be more difficult to obtain this far after the actual flooding, but he will explore what kind of resources and assistance may be available to individuals in the community.

According to Tarrant, in order to sell properties in the floodway, the property owners must disclose the property is located within a floodway to the buyer. Once the property changes ownership, because it is in a floodway, it will have to be brought up into compliance with the ordinance regardless of whether it was determined substantially damaged.

She said the city will require vacant properties in the floodway to be brought into compliance with the ordinance regardless of whether or not they are substantially damaged. Tarrant estimated more than 20 of the properties in the floodway were currently unoccupied.

Many of the properties in the floodway are rental properties, she said.

"You just can't put people in homes that are going to flood, homes that are not safe," Tarrant said. "We will move quickly on the houses that are vacant and the rental properties.

"A lot of people renting have no clue what they're even living in."

Tarrant advised anyone in the Peach Creek Dam and Lake Club area who is renting a property that flooded to contact the city for information.

Tarrant said many of the properties in the Peach Creek area are in the path of inevitable floodwaters, which reached levels of 9 feet in some areas during last year's May and April flooding events.

"When you stand at the top of the hill and look down at the houses and the road, it's just moving water," Tarrant said. "When Peach Creek gets out of its banks, the flooding is crazy. It's dangerous."

Tarrant said eventually, the homes in the floodway will either need to be removed or will need to be brought into compliance.

Gilbert said this process can sometimes take decades.

In the meantime, he said homes in the floodway that were not determined substantially damaged may stay in the floodway and can be maintained as they are until such a time that they are determined substantially damaged. However, nothing can be added to the property that could increase the floodwater level.

"As of right now, the community has the land-use authority," Giron said. "They have the ability to enforce their flood damage prevention ordinance; FEMA does not. So, everything from here forward is in the hands of the mayor, and we will provide technical assistance and guidance if needed."

Patton Village City Hall is at 16940 Main Street, Splendora. For more information, visit http://cityofpattonvillage.us/.
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A registered sex offender suspected in a Rosenberg murder and arson investigation has been arrested, the Rosenberg Police announced Thursday.

Valentine Gonzalez, Jr., 52, was arrested Wednesday, March 8 and charged with murder in the suspected arson death of Nancy Dean, 32, of Rosenberg, police said.

An arrest warrant was issued for Gonzalez after the Sept. 29, 2016 house fire, which police believe was deliberately set. Dean's body was found inside the burned home.

HUGE BUST: 36 charged in synthetic drug investigation

At the time of the warrant, Gonzalez was wanted for failing to comply with sex offender requirements. Gonzales was convicted of aggravated sexual assault in 1989 and sentenced to 27 years in prison.

The suspect was located through the cooperation of the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Rangers, the Cameron County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals.

Gonzalez is now being held in the Fort Bend County Jail.
South Texas College of Law Houston is here to stay.

The private law school will keep its new name under terms of a mediated settlement announced Friday in a contentious trademark dispute between Houston's two rival law schools. Officials have promised not to use "Houston" as the first word in identifying the college, they've agreed to a cap on font size for "Houston" and they will cease using a red-and-white color scheme in branding.

Meanwhile, the University of Houston will proceed with its trademark application for rights to the word "Houston" for educational services - a move that other local schools including Houston Community College had worried could cause problems. It will not receive financial compensation for the expense of lawyering up for the lawsuit.

The two law schools announced details Friday morning of their final agreement in a federal lawsuit that had caused the 93-year-old private institution to have three different names over the course of six months.

"This satisfactory settlement enables both law schools to co-exist in Houston in a separate and distinct manner and to continue their educational missions," the schools said in a joint statement.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ruled in October that the decision by South Texas College of Law to change its name to Houston College of Law would likely lead to confusion for prospective law school students.

But settlement discussions stretched on for months as the parties tried to sort out pending trademarks and the cost of the lawsuit, ending with a two-day mediation before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Hanovice Palermo.

Private school officials seemed at peace with the final outcome.

"We're very pleased," said Claire Caton, spokesperson for South Texas College of Law Houston. "It accomplishes our original goal to tie our 93-year-old law school with our geographic location."

She said most of the cost of defending the suit was covered by insurance.

UH officials indicated they, too, satisfied with the agreement.

"We're pleased it's behind us. We're pleased our brand is protected and we look forward to moving on with the business we do best, which is educating our students," said Mike Rosen, spokesperson for UH.
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If former President George W. Bush is on a quest to celebrate his more sensitive side, it seems to be working.

On Thursday, Publishers Weekly ranked Bush's new book, "Portraits of Courage" at the top of its hardcover nonfiction list.

The book, whose subtitle is "A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors," is a collection of 66 oil paintings and stories by Bush honoring military veterans.

Published last month, it highlights the work of the George W. Bush Institute's Military Service Initiative, which helps veterans who have served since Sept. 11, 2001, and their families make a successful transition to civilian life, according to the Bush Center.

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Proceeds from the book will be donated to help veterans with that transition.

In recent TV interviews about his book, Bush has been remarkably candid, revealing interesting tidbits, such as he went on an arranged date with Trixcia Nixon in 1969 during her father's presidency and Bush started his painting hobby with dogs, calling himself a pet portrait painter.

He also said the best humor is when you make fun of yourself, so he might get a chuckle from the fact that Publishers Weekly's Top 10 overall list ranks "Portraits of Courage" in the Number 2 spot, below "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss at Number 1 and just above the beloved children's author's "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" at Number 3 and "The Cat in the Hat" at Number 4.
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WikiLeaks website founder Julian Assange on Thursday said U.S. security body the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was "incompetent" in allowing its computer hacking devices to be stored where it could be hacked.

According to several media sources, Assange said in an interview broadcast on the internet that the CIA "had lost control of its entire cyber weapons arsenal".

Assange continued: "This is a historic act of devastating incompetence to have created such an arsenal and stored it all in one place and not secured it."

On Tuesday, the WikiLeaks website had released what it said were documents which detailed the cyber hacking activities of the CIA.

The Independent Newspaper website, a British news source, reported that Assange had said he wanted to allow tech companies to have access to the cyber hacking tools in order to create software fixes.

Assange said: "WikiLeaks has a lot more information about what has been going on with this cyber weapons program.

"After considering what we think is the best way to proceed and hearing these calls from some of the manufacturers, we have decided to work with them and to give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details that we have so that fixes can be developed and pushed out so that people can be secured," he said.

Assange is trapped inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London's Knightsbridge district where he sought refuge after jumping bail from the English court system in June 2012.
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A North Texas high school teacher was arrested Thursday after being suspected of using hidden cameras to film female students undress in a classroom closet.

George Edwin Thomas III, 54, a Highland Village resident and R.L. Turner High School science teacher in Carrollton, is accused of taping six teenage girls "in various stages of undress" over the course of the 2015-2016 school year, according to Carrollton police. He has been charged with six counts of invasive visual recording.

BUSTED: Another HISD teacher charged with improper student relationship

Thomas videotaped the girls while they were changing into their school uniforms, oblivious to the hidden cameras, according to police. The Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District said in a statement that Thomas was placed on administrative leave on Feb. 22 when suspicions about his activities first arose.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit cited by Fox 4 News in Dallas, it was Thomas' live-in girlfriend who turned him in to police.

After discovering a suspicious thumb drive on the floor of their apartment, she decided to watch it, suspecting Thomas of cheating. It contained "multiple video recordings of teenage girls disrobing in a closet," according to a warrant. The thumb drive also contained footage that appeared to have been taken from an angle at a teacher's desk, which female students were requested to approach.

PUBLIC PLEA: Judge urges area superintendents to step up efforts to end teacher-student sex

In response to the allegations, Thomas "admitted that he recorded videos on his phone in class, but the recordings were of activities for the students to watch and learn," according to Carrollton police documents obtained by Fox 4 News.

Thomas' Facebook page shows he began working at R.L. Turner High School in October 2014. The high school's online staff directory lists Thomas as a teacher of five different courses, including Pre-AP Biology and Biology I.

Parents of R.L. Turner High School students took to social media to proclaim their outrage over the incidents. Samantha Osborn wrote in a public Facebook post "You (Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD) can call when there is a false fire but not when my daughters (yes both) biology teacher is arrested for filming girls undress at their high school."

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Several users wrote comments below Osborn's post stating their disgust with the school district for not notifying parents sooner. Osborn also said in a comment her daughters "even stayed after school alone with this creeper."

Carrollton-Farmers Branch school officials could not be reached for comment.

According to Denton County criminal records, Thomas was arrested four times in 2010 for harassment. He completed probation for the first two charges. The third charge was dismissed and Thomas entered a plea bargain agreement on the fourth.

His current charge mirrors other cases in Texas over the last couple years, each involving video equipment. Kennedale teacher Jason Tomlinson was sentenced to a year in prison for the taping of students and teachers undressing in a faculty restroom in 2015. As recent as October 2016, Mayde Creek High School choir teacher Clarence Appleby III was charged with secretly recording a female student while she was changing.

TROUBLE: EX-Austin teacher pleads guilty to sex with teens, won't have to register as sex offender

Thomas' arrest comes in the midst of a startling rise in teacher-student sexual misconduct cases; the Texas Education Agency confirmed 222 investigations were opened in the 2015-2016 school year. In reaction to this uptick in charges, the state Senate passed SB B7 Wednesday.

The bill widens criminal liability to include teachers who target students in different schools or districts from their own and also criminalizes the failure to report inappropriate relationships to the State Board for Educator Certification.

The bill's author, Houston Sen. Paul Bettencourt, called the rise in inappropriate teacher-student relationships "an attack on our school kids" while presenting the bill to the state Senate.

As of Thursday, Thomas was being held at the Carrollton County Jail with unset bail, according to the Dallas Morning News. A police official said there are other students in the footage who have yet to be identified, so Thomas could potentially be facing additional charges.
Jon Shapley/Staff

AUSTIN -- Special prosecutors trying Attorney General Ken Paxton on charges he committed securities fraud and failed to register as an investment advisor filed a motion Thursday to put the trial on hold until they get paid, throwing into question when Paxton will see his day in court.

In a court filing with the District Court of Collin County, prosecutors assigned to the case said they have not been paid for over a year due to a Paxton ally's lawsuits tying up payment to the three lawyers. They propose setting a court date for 60 days after the Court of Appeals orders payment of prosecutors.
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.
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A road show for solarization of schools under the Project Khadim-e-Punjab Ujala Program was hosted by the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

A road show for solarization of schools under the Project Khadim-e-Punjab Ujala Program was hosted by the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing on Friday.

A Pakistani delegation, comprising of representatives from Punjab government and foreign consultants along with 154 Chinese companies, specializing in solar energy, participated in the event.

Ambassador Masood Khalid welcomed the participants and gave a brief introduction of the Ujala Program. He said that as a part of Development Strategy of the Punjab government, keeping in view the power deficiency, it has been decided to solarize 20,000 schools in the province, focusing on remote areas. The aim of the project is not only to improve the power supply but to create public awareness about solar energy as an alternative energy source. The infrastructure of schools is to be upgraded accordingly.

Ambassador Khalid termed Punjab as the hub of economic activity due to focused policies of the provincial government in the fields of health, education, infrastructure and industrial development. He said that the government is also establishing industrial and economic zones with unprecedented economic incentives to the investors.

He reiterated the Pakistan-China friendship by terming CPEC, a flagship project of President Xi Jinpings vision of One Belt One Road, as a new dynamic chapter in this time-tested friendship. He said that currently 19,000 Chinese professionals are working in Pakistan under outstanding security environment being provided by the government of Pakistan.

Arif Saeed, the Chairman of Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park Project, explained the features of the Ujala project which he said has a twofold aim -- to supply clean energy to schools and enabling the students to learn in a better environment.

Asad Gillani, Secretary Energy Department of the provincial government, announced a gift of 25 computers to Pakistan Embassy College Beijing from Chief Minister Punjab, terming it as a testimony of his strong commitment towards information technology, including in schools. He said that in order to maintain highest standards, two of the best German companies are a part of the project as consultants. A representative of the consultants, Gerwin Dressman shed light on the statistical and technical aspects of the Ujala project.

Representatives of Pakistani Banks were also present to give financial advice to the Chinese companies. The road show was followed by a networking session between the Chinese companies and the delegation.
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H-1B Workers Look to Canada After U.S. Suspends Fast-Track Visa Processing CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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The United States administration is temporarily suspending the expedited processing of H-1B visas, a popular work visa that helps U.S. companies hire skilled international workers. In response, companies in Canada  particularly in the technology sector  have issued a rallying cry for these workers to join the Canadian labour market instead, either as workers or as new permanent residents.

Fortunately for these companies and workers, the government of Canada offers a range of pathways for workers and their families to come to Canada.

H1-B visa changes

Under the current U.S. system, companies submitting applications for H-1B visas for potential employees can pay $1,225 USD extra for expedited premium processing, a move that guarantees a response from US Citizenship and Immigration Services within 15 days or the fee is refunded. Non-premium applications typically take three to six months to process.

However, as of April 3 this option will no longer be available for a period lasting up to six months. U.S. President Donald Trump has gone on record denouncing the H-1B system, both before and after his election to office, as being bad for [American] workers.

H-1B visas are allocated by lottery after a submission period, and the number of applicants has increased over recent years. Last year, the demand for visas was three times greater than the annual quota.

The contrast with Canada

On March 9, the government of Canada announced that it will soon facilitate a two-week processing time standard for certain skilled foreign nationals looking to work in Canada. The new Global Talent Stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is scheduled to be operational as of June 12, 2017.

With this initiative, which forms part of an overarching Global Skills Strategy, companies in Canada will be able to bring in highly-skilled international workers quickly and efficiently. The tech sector in particular is expected to benefit significantly.

According to the Information and Communications Technology Council, Canada may need an additional 200,000 information, technology, and communications workers by 2020. Among other aims, the Global Skills Strategy aims to alleviate those labour shortages over the coming years.

Speaking at the announcement of this strategy, Canadas Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains, said that Canada continues to compete in a global innovation race. As technologies become more widely available to everyone, the only competitive edge for countries and businesses is the distinctive talent and creativity of their people. While skilled immigrants are now identifying Canada as a country of choice in which to apply their knowledge and ideas, we also need to prepare our homegrown talent for a rapidly changing job market.

Aside from this new initiative, and in contrast to the H-1B system, employer-specific work permits in Canada are not doled out through a lottery. Instead, employers and workers can submit the necessary documentation in the knowledge that the application will be assessed on its own merit.

Permanent immigration to Canada

Although there has always been a steady flow of new permanent residents coming to Canada from the U.S., there has been a clear increase in the overall level of interest in Canadas permanent immigration programs among U.S. residents over recent months. This may be attributed to a range of factors, including political, social, and economic changes that have taken place.

Consequently, foreign workers in the U.S. on H-1B visas  as well as individuals who were hoping to obtain such a visa, but who are now less confident  may look to Canada as an alternative destination.

H-1B workers are typically well educated and, by virtue of having worked in the U.S., have usually developed or mastered their English ability and added skilled work experience to their resume. Many H-1B holders also work with large multinationals that have brand awareness in Canada, a factor that may enhance their ability to land gainful employment in the country. In addition, many are in their twenties to mid-thirties. These factors can be richly rewarded across Canadas economic immigration programs.

Take, for example, a single 30 year-old H-1B visa holder with advanced English ability, a Bachelors Degree, and three years of work experience. This person would be eligible to enter Canadas Express Entry immigration system through the Federal Skilled Worker Class. In this system, he or she would be awarded 436 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points. In the most recent draw from the Express Entry pool of candidates, this would have been enough points for such a candidate to be awarded an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence.

Similarly, a 35-year old with a Masters Degree, three or more years of work experience, and initial advanced English ability would have been in line to receive an ITA in the most recent draw.

A job offer is not required in order for a worker to immigrate to Canada through Express Entry, but such an offer is rewarded with additional points. For example, a 42 year-old with a Masters Degree, initial advanced English ability, five years of work experience, and a qualifying job offer from a Canadian employer would also have been invited to apply in the March 1 draw.

Workers with a spouse or common-law partner may also immigrate to Canada. Take a 38 year-old with a Masters Degree, five years of foreign work experience, and advanced language ability, who has a 45-year old spouse with a Bachelors Degree and advanced English ability. Even without a qualifying job offer or a nomination from a province, this couple would have been invited to apply in the most recent draw.

In effect, H-1B holders like these could quite feasibly be living and working in Canada before the end of 2017, because the government of Canada expedites the processing of applications through this system.

There are also other pathways to Canadian permanent residence, for example through one of the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs).

Canadian provinces and territories (roughly analogous to states in the U.S.) can nominate individuals for permanent residence based on provincial labour market needs through the PNPs. Many, though not all, PNP streams place an emphasis on obtaining a job offer from an employer. H1-B holders, as well as other individuals with work or study experience in the United States, are often highly valued by employers across Canada, as they have already proven that they can integrate into the North American job market.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of the Canadian Dream

Last month, the widely-respected commentator Scott Gilmore wrote an essay for Macleans magazine titled The American Dream has moved to Canada, noting that:

Where do you go now for Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Every aspect of the American dream is now more easily found in Canada. In the United States, 46 per cent of the population has been able to obtain a college degree  in Canada its 59 per cent . . . You are more likely to afford a house with a white picket fence in Canada, where home ownership rates are five per cent higher. Canadians also have more time to enjoy their homes, as they work over 80 hours fewer per year  and they take an extra three days vacation . . . By virtually every measure, Canada has surpassed the United States as the shining city on the hill, where everyone is safe to reach their potential. And people around the world have begun to notice.

Residents of Canada also have less personal debt, greater social mobility, and can enjoy a political and social climate that, by any yardstick, is more conciliatory and respectful than in the U.S.

There is a significant increase of foreign nationals in the U.S. who are looking to Canada  people currently on H-1B visas, from countries like India, says Attorney David Cohen.

In addition, there are other foreign nationals who may have had their heart set on moving to the U.S. to develop their careers, perhaps following the path set by family and friends before them. Now this pathway may be more difficult to navigate, and even if it is navigable, the rewards may not be as rewarding as what they may have been once upon a time.

Fortunately for these foreign nationals, the North American Dream is very much alive . . . in Canada. I would encourage existing and potential workers in the U.S. to look seriously at immigrating to Canada, or working here for a period before potentially settling permanently down the line.

To find out if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada permanently, fill out a free online assessment form.

To find out if you are eligible to work temporarily in Canada, or to learn more about bringing a foreign worker to Canada, please contact wp@canadavisa.com.

 2017 CICNews All Rights Reserved
IRCC Now Taking Applications Under Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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The Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP) was officially launched on March 6, with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) now in a position to receive applications for permanent residence through this innovative new program. A range of workers and graduates now have another opportunity to immigrate to Canada through the AIPP, with the programs unique criteria and speedy processing times almost certain to prove attractive.

The AIPP was established by the federal government in conjunction with the Atlantic provinces, namely Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island (PEI), and Newfoundland and Labrador. Employers will be heavily involved in the process, with all applicants needing a job offer in order to meet the eligibility requirements. Applicants also require provincial endorsement before submitting an application to IRCC.

Up to 2,000 new applications to this program will be processed in 2017, and the program is set to last for an initial period of three years. IRCC aims to process 80 percent of complete applications within six months, a similar processing time objective to the Express Entry selection system.

That being said, AIPP applications will be processed separately from Express Entry applications. Indeed, some potential applicants who are not eligible to immigrate to Canada through Express Entry may be eligible to immigrate through the AIPP. For one thing, the language ability requirement for the AIPP is less onerous than for the programs managed under Express Entry.

There is no points system under the AIPP, and the program operates on a first-come, first-served basis.

The AIPP has two sub-programs for skilled workers:

and one sub-program for international student graduates:

Criteria overview

Although some applicant requirements are universal across the three sub-programs, other requirements are specific to each sub-program. The work experience, education, and job offer required depend on whether the individual is applying as a high- or intermediate-skilled worker, or as an international student graduate.

Language requirement is low

Applicants must prove language ability of at least fluent basic level in either English or French in order to apply to the program. This is equivalent to Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4. The following language tests are approved:

IELTS (International English Language Testing System)  General test only.

CELPIP (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program)  General test only.

TEF (Test devaluation de francais).

To find out how this corresponds with the standardized language tests recognized by IRCC for this program, use the Canada Immigration Language Converter.

Work experience

Many Canadian immigration programs require applicants to have at least one year of skilled work experience in a managerial, professional, or technical/trades (NOC 0, A or B) position. The Atlantic Intermediate-Skilled Program of the AIPP, however, offers an immigration opportunity to individuals whose work experience and/or job offer is in the NOC C category. These occupations usually require secondary education and/or occupation-specific training.

A unique option for graduates

Most Canadian immigration programs that aim to help international students who graduate in Canada transition to permanent residence require the applicant to have obtained some work experience. The AIGP is a notable exception, as no work experience is required. As a result, it offers a more straightforward pathway to permanent residence for those who want to immigrate quickly after graduation.

Settlement funds

Applicants must show that they have enough money to support themselves and their family members, if applicable, after landing in Canada, unless they are working in Canada under a valid work permit. These funds cannot be borrowed from another person.

Employers and settlement

One of the most interesting aspects of the AIPP is the role played by local employers, who work with settlement service provider organizations in their province. This will help newcomers settle and integrate into life in Canada.

Employers do not need to go through the process of obtaining a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) under this program. However, the employer designation process and settlement service provider organizations are different for each province:

Further, employers that need to fill a job vacancy quickly will have access to a temporary work permit, so that the candidate and his or her family can come to Canada as soon as possible. In order to obtain this work permit, candidates will need:

a valid job offer;

a letter from the province; and

a commitment to apply for permanent residence within 90 days of the temporary work permit application.

An innovative addition

The Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program is something fresh and innovative in the Canadian immigration landscape. Many ambitious newcomers and their families will be able to call Canada their long-term home over the coming months and years as a result of this program, says Attorney David Cohen.

Atlantic Canada has a lot to offer. Its cities and towns are family-friendly, with a wide range of schools, low crime rates, and expanding employment opportunities. Moreover, the AIPP ensures that newcomers have a job and settlement services on arrival, allowing them to quickly prosper in their new surroundings.

If you have a job offer in Atlantic Canada and would like to discuss your AIPP eligibility in detail, please send an email to wp@canadavisa.com.

If you do not have a job offer in Atlantic Canada, but would like to find out if you are eligible for immigration to Canada under the currently available programs, fill out a free online assessment form.

 2017 CICNews All Rights Reserved
BNM anunta concurs pentru postul vacant de expert coordonator (durata determinata) responsabil de control pe teren si din oficiu a sistemelor de plati
If the name Jim Brady rings a bell, then it may be that your subconscious has retained stories about the spectacular failure of TBD, a much-ballyhooed hyperlocal site based in Washington, D.C., that Brady was instrumental in launching, and where he acted as general manager.

These days, Brady is hedging his hyperlocal bets as founder and CEO of Spirited Media, which operates Billy Penn in Philadelphia and The Incline in Pittsburgh. On Wednesday, Spirited announced that it had merged with the Colorado-based Avoriaz, which owns just one digital property, Denverite. Like its two new local news site partners in Pennsylvania, Denverite is a mobile-first destination with a slightly irreverent tone and content designed to appeal to millennials.

According to Brady, he and Gordon Crovitz, an Avoriaz co-founder and Denverite investor, had been sharing information and admiring each others sites since Denverite launched last May. It just made sense, Brady said of the merger. There was a shared set of values, [with all three sites] aiming at a sort of similar market with a similar voice. By the fall, said Brady, conversations between the two started to heat up [to the point] that maybe it would make sense for us to do this together, because there was a lot of overlap in terms of what we were trying to do. And so why not go about it together?

RELATED: Local news isnt dead. We just need to stop killing it.

Crovitz expressed his admiration for efforts by Brady and Spirited Media to secure new forms of revenue. We concluded wed grow successful businesses faster if we teamed up, said Crovitz. As Spirited Media expands to more cities, he added, we expect to create a company with a value in the hundreds of millions of dollars, as Business Insider created in business and Bleacher Report created in sports. It will take scale to create profitable local publishing, which we are now further along in creating than any other local news venture.

Brady has made it clear that Spirited plans to enter a fourth market by the end of the year, with the possibility of launching a number of new sites in other cities at some point down the road. Chicago and Baltimore have both been mentioned as possibilities, but if Spirited already has its next locale in mind, then Brady isnt talking. Instead, he says, a potential Spirited Media city needs to have a confluence of certain factors before the company will consider launching a local site there: an ability to build a business without too much interference; a large population of young people, or a population that is surging quickly; an urban density where large numbers of readers can be reached by a small staff; and, of course, a competitive opening in the market.

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In the meantime, Brady plans on allowing all three sites to continue operating largely as they have been.

On Friday morning in the Denverite office, housed in a hip downtown co-working space called Galvanize, Denverite editor-in-chief Dave Burdick said he expected the recent merger would give his site institutional support in areas where he doesnt currently have expertiseweb development, say, or hiring a sales and events manager.

This is the most job security Ive ever felt in a journalism job in my entire career, Burdick said. His first newspaper job, during his early 20s, lasted a year before he was laid off. Later, he worked at newspapers that were laying people off regularly.

I went into a job that had been two jobs, and the people who worked around me were working jobs that had been two jobs, Burdick said. Look, this is a situation that feels much more comfortable and much more of a sure bet to me. He told CJR that the merger required almost no changes on any of the [cultural or editorial] fronts.

Burdick was also upbeat about Denverites efforts to-date. We know that people who are in power call us backor call us to complain, which is great, added Burdick. We have also seen an uptick in crazy, angry, racist emails. That means youre the real deal.

RELATED: Celebrated heartland news outlet drops magazine

Andrew Kenney, Denverites city reporter, has already seen one immediate change. Denverite merged its Slack channels with those from the other Spirited Media properties. This morning, he joined Billy Penns water cooler channel, where journalists in Philly were kicking around story ideas. I havent actually met any of them but little tendrils are starting to connect, so thats been cool, he said.

When asked how the Spirited Media properties plan to differentiate their editorial agenda from those of other hyperlocal sites that have failed in the past, Brady said that Spirited Medias business plan has already set it apart. I think weve already done things differently, in the sense that the voice is different, and the presentation is different, he said. I think when people talk about innovation in journalism, sometimes we end up talking too much about how the journalism is innovative, versus how much the presentation is innovative.

Spiriteds three-legged revenue modela mixture of advertising, live events and membership opportunititesmay yet prove to be the missing puzzle piece that long-gone local news sites never discovered. The model, which has already proven especially popular with the readers of Philadelphias Billy Penn, will be slowly incorporated into the Denverite business plan as well. (Denverite already has some experience with events: The site held an Election Night watch party at its office, where more than 200 guests paid six dollars each for admission and a complimentary beer.)

Brady emphasizes that the graphical presentation of Spiriteds mobile-first sites is one element the newly built team will be especially careful not to overlook.

A lot of what makes people use sites and not use sites, he said, is the user experience and the design, and the tone. If you go to Billy Penn, youre not going to see slideshows just for the sake of slideshows, or pagination on every article, or pop-up ads and Google polls. Because we decided from the start that the first rule of getting people news is that you should actually let them get to the news.

Additional reporting by CJRs Colorado correspondent Corey Hutchins

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Dan Eldridge is a freelance journalist in Philadelphia and the co-owner of Kaya Aerial Yoga. Follow him on Twitter @YoungPioneers.
A Washington state measure to ban holding a phone while driving passed in the House a day after a similar measure passed in the Senate.

House Bill 1371 received a 52-45 vote in the Democratic-controlled House Tuesday.

Democratic Rep. Jessyn Farrell, the sponsor of the bill, said the measure is about safety and updating the current law so that police officers can enforce this.

Currently people are guilty of an infraction if they hold a phone to their ear while driving, or are caught text messaging.

Under the bill, drivers would be banned from holding any hand-held devices while driving including phones, tablets and other electronic devices, even while stopped in traffic. It would also double the fine, which is currently $136 if caught texting or holding a phone to the ear while driving for second and subsequent offenses within five years.

We have an epidemic of using smartphones in our cars, Farrell said. We love our phones and cant put them down while driving You can still use that phone, but just dont hold it in your hand.

The new measure would allow the use of a finger to activate or deactivate a function of a device, such as using Siri on the iPhone, and the use of a built-in touch screen control panel within a vehicle to control basic functions like the radio or air conditioning.

Republican Rep. Morgan Irwin spoke in opposition to the bill because he said it creates a class issue. Irwin said he was concerned that some people, such as him, who might not have a car with a built-in touch screen and would be limited by this bill.

We can have a car with a computer in its dash and use it all you want to, but if you cant afford that car or you just have normal car then the only way to get directions to where you are going is to use that cellphone, Irwin said.

Republican Rep. Dave Hayes also opposed the bill. He said he prefers to broaden the measure to include other dangerous distractions such as eating while driving, petting a dog in the back seat or putting on makeup. He said his main concern was that the bill only focuses on cellphones.

Exceptions to this new measure would include contacting emergency services, operating amateur radio stations and two-way or citizens band radio services and while operating tow trucks and other emergency vehicles.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures 14 states currently ban any hand-held cellphone use while driving in a car; however, 37 states and D.C. ban all cellphone use by beginner or teen drivers, including Washington. Forty-six states prohibit texting messaging for all drivers.

Republican Rep. Paul Harris said he wasnt planning on voting yes on the legislation until he was distracted by his phone while driving last week.

He said he grabbed his phone to play a song and hit a cooler in the middle of the freeway.

The cooler exploded all over the place, he said. I consider myself very lucky because it wasnt a car, it wasnt a deer, it wasnt a kid, it was a Styrofoam cooler that had fallen out of someones car.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Utah could soon have the strictest DUI threshold in the nation after state lawmakers on Wednesday night voted to lower the limit for a drivers blood-alcohol content to 0.05 percent, down from 0.08 percent.

The measure heads to Utahs governor, who has said he supports the legislation.

If Republican Gov. Gary Herbert signs the bill, it would take effect Dec. 30, 2018  an unusual effective date for Utah laws that would ensure the harsher standard is in place before alcohol-laden celebrations on New Years Eve.

Supporters of the legislation said it would save lives by keeping people off the road if theyve been drinking. A mix of lawmakers, including Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans, opposed the measure. Some cited concerns that it could hurt tourism as the heavily Mormon state grapples with its reputation as an unfriendly place for drinkers.

The proposal would mean that a 150-pound man could get a DUI after two beers, while a 120-pound woman could get one after a single drink, according to the American Beverage Institute, a restaurant trade group that opposes the bill. A number of factors, including how much food is in someones stomach, could impact how much a drink will raise someones blood-alcohol content.

American Beverage Institute Managing Director Sarah Longwell said in a statement Wednesday night that the proposal will do little to make roads safer because more than 77 percent of alcohol-related traffic deaths in Utah come from drivers with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 and above. Utah legislators missed an opportunity today to target the hard-core drunk drivers who cause the vast majority of drunk driving fatalities and instead decided to criminalize perfectly responsible behavior, Longwell said.

Lawmakers in Washington are considering lowering the limit for blood-alcohol content this year, while a similar proposal recently died in Hawaiis Legislature.

Across the country, the blood-alcohol content limit for most drivers is 0.08, but limits vary among states for commercial drivers or drivers who have had a past DUI conviction.

Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, who sponsored Utahs measure, said its important because a person starts to become impaired with the first drink. He notes a number of foreign countries have blood-alcohol content thresholds at 0.05. or lower.

At a blood-alcohol content of 0.05 percent, a driver may have trouble steering and have a harder time coordinating, tracking moving objects and responding to emergencies, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For several years, the National Transportation Safety Board has encouraged states to drop their blood-alcohol content levels to 0.05 or even lower, though local officials have not adopted the standards, in part because of pressure from the hospitality industry.

The tougher stance on DUIs comes as Utah legislators passed changes Wednesday easing other liquor laws that deal with the preparation of alcoholic drinks in restaurants. That measure, waiting for approval from the governor, would let diners see their drinks being poured or mixed if restaurants set up child-free buffer zones around bars.

(Associated Press writer Hallie Golden contributed to this report.)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Craigslist killer art.png

Art purportedly created by the Akron man who used Craigslist to lure three men to their deaths is listed for sale on Serial Killers Ink, a murderabilia website.

(Screenshot)

AKRON, Ohio -- An online marketplace that previously listed paintings by some of Northeast Ohio's most notorious murderers is now selling art that it says was created by Akron's Craigslist killer.

The painting, attributed to Richard Beasley, is listed for $200 on Serial Killers Ink. The website previously sold paintings by convicted Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell and suspected Ashland killer Shawn Grate.

Beasley, 57, was sentenced to death in 2013 for using bogus Craigslist job postings to lure three men to their deaths. He remains on death row at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution.

If Beasley created the painting listed on Serial Killers Ink, it's unclear how the website got its hands on the artwork. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has no record of any contact between Beasley and the website, department spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said.

Beasley did pay for postage to mail a package in 2015, she said in an email to cleveland.com.

Richard Beasley appears in Summit County Common Pleas Court in Akron on Dec. 1, 2011.

"I could not speak to whether or not a family member or friend sent artwork to the [Serial Killers Ink] website," Smith said.

There are at least seven U.S. dealers who sell art and other "murderabilia" online, said Andy Kahan, a crime victim advocate for the city of Houston who began monitoring murderabilia websites after he found a New York killer's artwork on eBay.

"I was frankly stunned that you could be doing this," he said in a phone interview. "They're profiting off infamy they don't deserve for committing some hideous crimes."

Serial Killers Ink owner Eric Holler, who uses the pen name Eric Gein in an apparent nod to Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, could not be reached for comment for this story.

Prisons are often unaware that convicted killers are producing art that is being sold online, Kahan said. Many prisons have policies that restrict criminals from operating businesses, but many killers never ask permission, he said.

States have been trying to prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes since New York passed the first "Son of Sam" law in 1977. The law was enacted amid speculation that serial killer David Berkowitz might sign a book or movie deal.

Ohio laws prohibit criminals from profiting if their stories are used for books, movies or other mass media, said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office. The laws do not address paintings or similar works of art, he said.

Yet states are limited in their ability to regulate murderabilia websites because the federal government oversees interstate commerce, Tierney said.

"The Constitution gives Congress broad authority when it comes to interstate commerce, and that includes online sales," Tierney said.

Kahan said he's working with several U.S. Senators, including Texas Republican John Cornyn and Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, on federal legislation targeting murderabilia websites. Such bills have been introduced in the past but have not become law; there is no timetable for when a new bill will be introduced, Kahan said.

"No one should be able to make a buck off a crime," Kahan said. "There's nothing more nauseating and disgusting to find out that the person who murdered one of your loved ones is using notoriety for profit."

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Lisa Dunn is reluctantly closing Revive, her fair-trade boutique and gift shop in Cleveland Heights, after 10 years in business at 2248 Lee Road.

Ever since Dunn announced via Facebook that she was shutting down, and marking everything 40 percent to 50 percent off, the store has been never been busier.

But that will not be enough to counter the real problem: the lousy months she had after a construction project along Lee Road hampered access to her shop and others. Dunn said the extensive construction that started last May was supposed to be finished well before the holidays, but ended up decimating her sales.

"We set out wanting to change the world," she said. "But last year was a big struggle for us with the street construction. The second the cones went up on the street, people stopped coming."

Even though signs reassured passers-by that all the stores and restaurants were still open, the cones made finding parking a hassle. "Business did rebound at the end of December, but it was too far into the holiday season to recoup what we had lost," she said.

"When you're an independent business, you're already operating on such thin margins, so you don't have room in your budget to wait for eight months of construction," she said. "I incurred some debt during that period, and never recovered. The eight months impacted our bottom line so badly."

"Would we still be open if the construction hadn't happened? Yes."

Dunn, who started a second job as a personal and strength trainer to help cope with the stress, is now preparing to switch careers. "I start at 5 in the morning, and I'm done by 2 p.m. It's the best complement to running a retail boutique," she said.

"I did everything I could to make the dream work," Dunn said. She visited artisans in Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Colombia, and Mexico to figure out what they could make, what raw materials they had to work with, and how they could create items American consumers would want to buy. She designed about 30 percent of her merchandise, all made by artisans in developing countries who are paid living wages for their skills.

Dunn has a story about every item in her store, from the hand-loomed evening clutches created by women in El Salvador that inspired her to open Revive, to the delicate earrings created by silversmiths in Bali, to the metal pendants fashioned from recycled bullets in Cambodia. Her tote bags say: "Think Global, Shop Local."

"The irony of fair trade is that people who love, love, love fair trade don't shop a lot," she said. She had already ordered samples of fabric-covered wallets and other items for this spring, but says now they will become one-of-a-kind collectibles.

Thursday's customers included Kimberly Glenn, a 20-year Cleveland Heights resident who stepped into the store for the first time because she heard the store was closing. "I'm so sorry to see that you're closing," she said, as she snapped up some handmade holiday cards.

Rachel DeGolia, a longtime shopper who says she wears a few fair-trade items every day, hurried over as soon as she heard the news. "I know it's been such a struggle," she said, giving Dunn a warm hug.

"When I need to buy an item of clothing, I come in to see if I can find it here before going to Marshall's or TJ Maxx," DeGolia said. Revive carries her daughter Ruth's Mercado Global handbags woven by indigenous women in Guatemala.

Dunn said: "Customers in Cleveland Heights are totally supportive of independent stores. They're the only reason I've been able to stay open for 10 years. I don't know if a big-box store could make it here."

She has been overwhelmed by how much Heights residents embraced Revive. Social justice students from John Carroll University helped her gut and remodel her interior before she opened, and supported the pop-up shops she opened on their campus.

Store manager Emily Sattin, who has been with Revive since April 2008, is hoping to find another management job at a socially responsible enterprise. The lease on the 800-square-foot store runs through the end of April, or whenever everything is sold.

"I only want the message to be 'Shop local and independent businesses,' particularly women-owned businesses," Dunn said. "I'll go into an independent store just to say, 'I'm here, I support you, and I want to buy this $10 thing from you today.' It will make them so happy -- especially in the middle of winter."

This is the video Dunn posted to Revive's Facebook page (shared with her permission):
Jeff Sessions

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked 46 U.S. attorneys that remain from the Obama administration to tender their resignations.

(Susan Walsh/The Associated Press)

U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked 46 U.S. attorneys that remain from President Barack Obama's administration to resign, a directive the top federal prosecutor for northern Ohio has since followed.

U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon stepped down late Friday, shortly after receiving word of Sessions' request for her resignation, spokesman Mike Tobin said. David Sierleja, Rendon's first assistant, will head the U.S. Attorney's Office until the Senate confirms Rendon's replacement.

Rendon, of Solon, has served as the region's top federal prosecutor since 2016 after her predecessor Steven Dettelbach stepped down. Obama nominated her in May and the Senate confirmed her in July.

U.S. Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown have recommended Jones Day attorney Justin Herdman to replace Rendon. President Donald Trump has not formally nominated Herdman or any other lawyer to be the new U.S. attorney here.

It is customary for U.S. attorneys to depart once a new president is in office, but the departures are not automatic. Many of the federal prosecutors nominated by Obama have already departed.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in an emailed statement that Sessions asked the remaining U.S. attorneys to resign "in order to ensure a uniform transition.

"Until the new U.S. Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. Attorney's Offices will continue the great work of the Department in investigating, prosecuting, and deterring the most violent offenders," the statement continues.

Reached Friday afternoon, Rendon said she would call a reporter back. She did not respond to a follow-up call.

U.S. attorneys are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the territories they oversee. They report to Justice Department leadership in Washington, and their priorities are expected to be in line with those of the attorney general.

Sessions took perhaps a veiled swipe at their work in a memo earlier this week, saying that prosecutions for violent crime have been on the decline even as the number of murders has gone up. The demand for resignations seems a way to ensure he will have a team of new federal prosecutors more likely to share his agenda.

The U.S. Attorney's Office here prosecutes cases in 40 counties, including areas in and around Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown and Toledo.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jonathan Cain, Neil Schon

Journey key boardist Jonathan Cain, left, and guitarist Neil Schon perform the national anthem before an NCAA college football game between Arizona State and Southern California on Saturday, Sept. 28 2013, in Tempe, Ariz.

(Rick Scuteri)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Several of the fans who purchased tickets to the 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony and its simulcast are all wondering the same thing.

What are the chances Steve Perry will perform with Journey? Well, it's not looking good.

Perry hasn't performed with Journey in three decades. He's also been silent on whether or not he'll even attend the Rock Hall Ceremony in Brooklyn, N.Y. on April 7.

But his former bandmates in Journey have echoed the same thing: "The door has always been open," guitarist Neil Schon told The Spokesman-Review in a recent interview.

If you've been paying attention, it's something Schon has said on multiple occasions.

"I've always tried to make direct contact with him rather than using his attorney. [Steven has] not allowed that," Schon told the Review. "The fans need to work on him (Perry) a bit more if they want him to come up and (sing with Journey). He's really not interested in doing anything with us. We're completely fine with that."

If Perry would come out and say he is performing with Journey, or even attending the ceremony for that matter, it would be a heck of a selling point. Though, the Rock Hall doesn't need it considering the show is already sold out.

Mostly, it seems Schon and his bandmates are sick of criticism over a potential reunion. And understandably so.

"I just get so tired of hearing people say, 'You need to put your ego aside," Schon reiterated. "You need to go knock on his door and tell him how you feel.' I go 'No, you just don't have a clue.'"

For it's part, the Rock Hall has been quiet about any contact (or lack there of) with Perry or his reps. It might be time to stop believin'.
MOTHER DIVINE

Mother Divine looks down from a stairwell as she stands near a portrait of herself and her late husband Father Divine at her home at Woodmont in Gladwyne, Pa., Wednesday, May 21, 2003. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)

(Associated Press)

Sweet Angel Divine, who was the "Spotless Virgin Bride" and for five decades the widow of Father Divine, a self-styled religious figure who proclaimed himself God in the 1930s and led one of the most unusual cults of personality in the country's history, died March 4 at her estate in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. She was about 91. (One of the tenets of her religious movement was a disregard for chronological age.)

The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported her death. The cause was not disclosed.

Mother Divine, as she generally known, was a tall, blonde 21-year-old Canadian when she married Father Divine, the aging, rotund 5-foot-2 African-American founder of a religious movement called the International Peace Mission.

A charismatic preacher since the early 1900s, Father Divine - or the Rev. Major Jealous Divine, to give him his full title - declared in 1932 that he was God and attracted legions of devotees drawn by his message of racial equality, clean living, communal living and cash-only financial transactions.

Among other strictures, his supporters could not drink, smoke or curse and were required to be celibate. Married couples who joined the flock were separated and given new names - including Edna Rose Ritchings, who legally changed her name to Sweet Angel Divine after she and her husband were married in 1946. (They were married in Washington because interracial marriage was illegal in Pennsylvania.)

Historian Jill Watts, who wrote a biography of Father Divine, believes he was born in Rockville, Maryland, in 1879 and was named George Baker Jr. at birth. Other accounts suggest that he was born in Georgia, anytime from the 1860s to the 1880s.

He was living in Baltimore in about 1900 when he began to preach. He borrowed from several Christian denominations and other popular philosophies of the time to develop his set of beliefs, which included the idea that a divine spirit resided within each person.

Spreading the word from coast to coast, he was often accused of blasphemy and was jailed on occasion, but at the height of his glory in the 1930s he claimed to have millions of followers of all races.

At a time when Jim Crow practices were widespread, Father Divine rejected the concept of racial identity, and his message of self-empowerment had wide appeal.

His supporters, many of whom were women, were expected to turn most of their earnings over to him. He opened a network of religious centers and cafeterias around the country, offering free meals to anyone who wanted them.

Through hard-to-trace cash arrangements, Father Divine controlled dozens of businesses, including hotels, barbershops, dry-cleaning establishments, apartment buildings and restaurants. He was surrounded by an adoring entourage and was driven around in a Rolls-Royce.

"How big a figure was he in the 1930s? Huge," Robert Weisbrot, a history professor at Colby College in Maine, told Newsday in 2005. "He was one of very few African-American leaders who were frequently in the news in mainstream papers, not simply African-American journals."

Father Divine's organization was based at a mansion in Sayville, New York, in the early 1930s when he was convicted of maintaining a public nuisance. The judge who sentenced him to a year in jail died within days.

"I hated to do it," Father Divine reportedly said, although historians have cast doubt on the statement's veracity.

After losing a court case filed by a onetime disciple who grew disillusioned and wanted her money back, Father Divine moved his headquarters to Philadelphia in the early 1940s, while continuing to preach all over the world.

His future wife first heard him speak in her native Vancouver when she was 15.

"When I heard about Father Divine and what he was doing, intuitively, I felt like he had the answers," she told Newsday. "Father was for peace, and people of all nations and of all races coming together."

She was 20 when she and a friend took a bus to Philadelphia. She and Father Divine were married on April 29, 1946, which became a sacred day in the movement's history. (The first Mother Divine had died in 1943.)

At the time of the marriage, her father, a florist in Vancouver, said, "Everyone liked her. She was a fine, healthy girl . . . perfectly normal."

She eventually lost touch with her Canadian family.

In 1950, Mother Divine wrote about her marriage in Ebony magazine, answering the question about whether she and her husband led "lives of purity and chastity."

"I am as virtuous today as the day Father took me unto himself as his spotless bride," she wrote. "I am a sample and example for all to copy if they desire to be supernaturally and eternally blessed."

Edna Rose Ritchings was born in Vancouver in April 1925, according to public records. She may have worked in Montreal before moving to the United States.

Father Divine died in 1965, although his adherents disavow the concept of earthly death.

"He has just gone away for a spell and he will come back to earth in bodily form," Mother Divine said soon afterward.

She became the leader of her husband's organization and the heir to his estate, worth an estimated $10 million. She lived with her aging staff in the lavishly appointed Pennsylvania mansion, called Woodmont. To maintain solvency, she sold off properties from Father Divine's vast holdings.

In 1971, cult leader Jim Jones tried to take control of the dwindling movement, claiming he was the reincarnation of Father Divine. His efforts were rebuffed by Mother Divine. Jones moved on to California and later to Guyana, where he and about 900 followers died in a mass suicide in 1978.

At home in Pennsylvania, Mother Divine continued to address her husband in the present tense, and a place was set for him at every meal. His bedroom was left unchanged after his death, and during interviews, Mother Divine sat next to his chair, occasionally seeking his guidance.

"I represent the angelic race. We're married to God. We don't procreate," she said in 2005.

"It was just my calling," she added. "I think I'm a pretty balanced person. I don't go off the deep end one way or another."
Life Legal Defense Foundation Represents Doctors and American Academy of Medical Ethics in Challenge to California's Physician Assisted Suicide Law

Media Advisory



Contact: Alexandra Snyder, Executive Director, Life Legal Defense Foundation, 202-717-7371



RIVERSIDE, Calif., March 9, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- On Friday, March 10, Life Legal attorneys will appear in court in the case of Ahn v. Hestrin. Life Legal represents 6 physicians and the American Academy of Medical Ethics in a challenge to California's assisted suicide law, the End of Life Option Act.

Life Legal attorneys will be available for questions immediately after the hearing.



Where:

Riverside Superior Court

4050 Main Street, Riverside CA



When:

Hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. March 10, 2017

Press conference will take place following the hearing

The End of Life Option Act deprives people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness of essential legal protections. The Act does not require even a basic psychological evaluation prior to obtaining a prescription for lethal drugs, even though most people experience depression or anxiety when diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. In fact, patients who are institutionalized in state-run mental hospitals can request a so-called "aid-in-dying" prescription and then be released for the sole purpose of committing suicide. The law does not permit the use of the word suicide. Instead, we must use the euphemism "assisted dying." Death certificates will not indicate that patients died of a self-administered dose of barbiturates taken with the intent to cause their own death, making it nearly impossible to know whether they were coerced or forced to take the drugs.



The judge is expected to rule on the matter by 3:00 p.m. on March 10.



Contact: Alexandra Snyder

Executive Director, Life Legal Defense Foundation

202.717.7371
In this handout photo released by the South Korean Presidential Blue House, South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye attends the emergency cabinet meeting at the presidential office on December 9, 2016 in Seoul, South Korea. South Korean Presidential Blue House | Getty Images

South Korean President Park Geun-hye finds out Friday whether a court will remove her from office over a corruption scandal or allow her to complete her term. A look at the consequences of both possible decisions ahead of the Constitutional Court's ruling:

If Park is booted

Following weeks of protests that saw millions take to the streets, South Korea's opposition-controlled parliament voted to impeach Park in December amid suspicions that she colluded with a confidante to filch from companies and allowed the friend to secretly manipulate state affairs. For Park to be formally removed, at least six of the court's eight justices will have to support the impeachment motion filed by lawmakers, which accuses the president of extortion, bribery, abuse of power and leaking government secrets. Park has apologized for putting trust in her friend, Choi Soon-sil, but denies any legal wrongdoing.

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If the court unseats Park, the country's election law requires a presidential vote within 60 days, which likely means May 9. The ruling would instantly strip Park of her powers and also her immunity against prosecution. She could be interrogated by prosecutors seeking to indict her on criminal charges. Park has repeatedly refused to be interviewed by prosecutors over the scandal in past months, but that will be harder to do if prosecutors have an arrest warrant. If a presidential election is triggered, opinion polls favor liberal opposition politician Moon Jae-in, who lost the 2012 race to Park, to succeed her. A Moon presidency could bring significant changes after a decade of conservative rule. He stresses the need for dialogue with belligerent, nuclear-armed North Korea, which would be a dramatic departure from Park's hard line. Moon also vows to "reconsider" the South's plans to deploy this year an advanced U.S. anti-missile system; China says the system's powerful radar is a security threat.

If Park is reinstated

The court restoring Park's powers would be a huge victory for tens of thousands of her conservative supporters who rallied passionately near the court in recent weeks. It would also vindicate party loyalists who stuck with her even as dozens of their colleagues defected to create a new party in anticipation of an early presidential election. Such a decision will likely take the air out of the investigation into the scandal. But some experts believe Park's reinstatement would only delay for a few months what seems to be an inevitable liberal presidential victory.

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An employee holds blister packs of high blood pressure tablets at the Stada Arzneimittel pharmaceutical factory in Bad Vilbel, Germany.

China's Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical is planning a bid for German generic drugmaker Stada , already the center of a 3.6 billion euro ($3.8 billion) takeover battle between two private equity consortia, two people close to the matter said.



Fosun Pharma is also holding early-stage talks with buyout funds including CVC about a potential joint bid, but may decide initially to go it alone with a view to taking financial investors on board later, one of the people said.



Fosun Pharma said it currently had no information to disclose. Stada declined to comment.



Stada is expecting to receive so-called confirmatory bids from a consortium comprising Advent and Permira as well as from rivals Bain and Cinven, who have teamed up as well, on Friday. Final bids are due just before Easter, the sources said.
It's that time again! Jim Cramer rang the lightning round bell, which means he gave his take on caller favorite stocks at rapid speed:



Macy's : "We are trying to really cut back on retail here, OK. Really cutting back. Just not where I want to be."

Annaly Capital Management : "That is a reach for yield situation. I'm getting comfort that they are doing well, but you know what, I don't like to reach for yield ... I'm going to take a pass on it."

Camping World Holdings : "I don't know why that stock got hit so bad. I thought the quarter was OK ... Maybe the stock has just been up too much. Let me make some more calls on that. We know of course that is Marcus Lemonis, but it was a good number, and I didn't get why the stock was down so much."

Applied Optoelectronics : "Finisar reported a number tonight that you could say is going to hurt these stocks. I've got to find how much overlap there is with that stock and Finisar is down so much it's shaking people out of optical. So, let me find out the overlap and I will come back."

Sierra Wireless : "It's had a big move, man. You know what, it's had a big move and some of these big moves in that space are really starting to get shelled. I would be careful there and I would take some profits."

Arista Networks : "My hat is off to Jayshree [Ullal], who runs that company. That was a monster quarter. Really one of the best quarters in tech. She is doing a remarkable job. There is no reason to sell the company. I think that that company has a lot more runway. And this is not to denigrate Cisco, which my charitable owns and Chuck Robbins is doing great. They can coexist, Arista is doing really well. Don't sell a share."

Marvell Technology Group : "They had a great quarter and I've got to tell you something. To me, that company can either be taken over or has at least another three or four points on earnings."

Questions for Cramer?

Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

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On the eight year anniversary of the bull market following the 2009 stock market bottom, the "Fast Money" traders said Netflix is the stock to buy out of the six best-performing stocks since the financial crisis.

Trader Brian Seaburg said there is no question that traders should buy Netflix . He expects the company to be sold within a year at a huge premium once it has reached its pinnacle of growth. The stock gained 2,476 percent since March 9, 2009.

Trader Guy Adami said he believes Netflix is going to get bought as well. He also mentioned Priceline as a stock he likes, because the online booking company continues to do well and is worthy of its high valuation. Shares of Priceline closed at $1,749.42 on Thursday.

Priceline and Netflix are both stocks that trader Steve Grasso likes, too. He said Priceline shows no momentum of slowing down.

Despite Ulta Beauty's poor guidance, Seaburg also said he likes the cosmetics retailer because of its 16.6 percent growth in same-store sales and plans to invest in e-commerce. He said it is one of the few places in retail worth owning. The stock is up 6,122 percent since March 9, 2009, but shares of Ulta Beauty lost nearly 5 percent in extended trading on Thursday following its earnings report.

Disclosures:

Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.

"Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc. David Seaburg and Cowen have a financial interest in EDIT. Diamond Offshore: an employee of Cowen and Company, LLC serves on the Board of Directors of Diamond Offshore"

STEVE GRASSO'S FIRM IS LONG: CUBA, DIA, HES, ICE, KDUS, MAT, MFIN, MJNA, MSFT, NE, RIG, SPY, TITXF, WDR, WPX, WLL, ZNGA. GRASSO IS LONG: CHK, EEM, EVGN, GDX, KBH, MJNA, MON, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, QCOM, SNAP, SPY, T, TWTR. GRASSO'S KIDS OWN: EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. NO SHORTS.

Dan Nathan is long SPY May put spread, VIX long March call spread, Dan Nathan is long SPY May put spread, VIX long March call spread, JNJ long APR puts, XLV long APR-June put spread, xli long June put spread.
At least two South Korean protesters died on Friday at a street rally staged by ousted President Park Geun-hye's supporters in central Seoul, local police said.

"We confirm that two protesters against upholding impeachment have died," Lim Jae Beom, an officer at the public relations office of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said.

Earlier in the day, both supporters and critics of Park gathered outside the Constitutional Court compound, where around 20,000 police officers stood in anticipation of potential violent clashes.

In reaction to Friday's historic ruling that removed the South Korean leader from office, loud cheers had from the anti-Park group following the Court's televised decision, while Park's supporters began expressing their anger.

They were heard singing the national anthem, and saying the president should have been protected from the impeachment ruling. Several individuals also broke through police cordons, clambered on cars and buses that had been parked as a barrier, then used ladders to get from one bus to another. Some were carried away from the scene, with little resistance.

Many of Park's backers were elderly or middle aged, and two people received first-aid emergency procedures.
Enterprise cloud firm ServiceNow says it is accelerating its growth in Asia, and insists a change at the top won't impact its ambitions in the region.

The company, which boasts a market cap of about $14.5 billion, announced a change in CEO last week, hiring former eBay executive John Donahoe to be chief executive, replacing longtime CEO Frank Slootman.

"No change in strategy," Jimmy Fitzgerald, ServiceNow's vice president and general manager of Asia-Pacific and Japan, told CNBC's "The Rundown" on Friday.

"This search has been going on for the last 18 months, so we were really excited last week to hear that John Donahoe, who has a great history at eBay, and a very successful career as CEO of Bain and Company, is coming in as our CEO," said Fitzgerald.

"This is not about me, this is about us really being very proactive, very strategic, very forward-looking about CEO succession," Slootman told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" in February.

"As many people know, it's very, very tricky to have a successful CEO transition, and you're going to have to strike when the iron is hot. A year from now, John's not going to be around."

Slootman transitioned the firm from a smaller service provider to a NYSE-listed player in the competitive cloud computing space with $1.4 billion in reported 2016 revenue. After six years with the company, he will step aside from his CEO role so Donahoe can take charge.

"Our plans are to be a $4 billion company (in annual revenue) by 2020 and we're really excited. If you look at the proliferation of IoT devices across the enterprise, today there are one trillion devices, each of those need to be managed and intelligent and automated and we see that as a great opportunity as we go forward as a company," Fitzgerald added.

ServiceNow has so far kept a low public profile in the global marketplace, but analysts welcomed the changing of the guard.

"We believe Mr. Donahoe's decision to join ServiceNow, while it may remove near-term M&A speculation, should be viewed quite constructively as the company expands into a mega-software vendor," Macquarie analyst Sarah Hindlian said in a research note.
J. Fuego Cigar Company has announced it has outsourced its sales, marketing and customer service for its Brick and Mortar operations to Cypress Group Miami. Its a decision that that was made by owner Jesus Fuego so he could focus more on production out of his new factory.

Former J. Fuego National Sales Director Joseph Bravo joins Berta Bravo (known as The Guayaberas Lady) as part of the team at Cypress Group Miami that will handle the sales, marketing, and customer service operation  including social media. Meanwhile J. Fuego Cigar Company will continue to handle cigar storage, shipping, and billing to its retailers.

With our new 20,000 square foot factory in Nicaragua, I believe my focus should be in blending, producing and quality control while my father Jose Fuego will keep the factory supplied with the best tobaccos, commented Jesus Fuego in a press release.
South Korean leader Park Geun-hye became the country's first president to be ousted by impeachment after a panel of justices on Friday upheld a motion to dismiss her over one of the nation's biggest influence-peddling scandals.



In a decision televised live from the main court room, the Constitutional Court  an independent body specializing in matters of the constitution  accepted the impeachment motion passed in parliament last year, meaning Park is now removed from office effective immediately.

"She will leave office in disgrace, which is a historic moment as that's never happened in democratic South Korea," said Stephen Noerper, senior vice president of The Korea Society.

Friday's ruling now triggers a round of special elections to replace Park within the next 60 days. Presidential hopefuls, among which Moon Jae-in from the left-of-center Democratic Party of Korea leads in popularity, now await the election date, rumored to be May 9, according to local media.

https://twitter.com/CNBCi/status/840142870455627777

Faced with allegations that included bribery and violation of sovereignty, Park was accused of colluding with her confidante and founder of the Church of Eternal Life, Choi Soon-sil, to secure millions of dollars in bribes from the country's biggest enterprises and allowing Choi, a civilian, to interfere in state affairs. Park had apologized, but denied any wrongdoing.

All of the Court's eight justices voted to uphold the motion; approval from at least six judges was needed for the motion to pass.

"The unanimity was probably intended to cool passions. Since most of the justices were chosen by Park or former President Lee Myung-bak, unanimity means they can't be accused of playing politics," said Justin Hastings, senior lecturer at the University of Sydney.

South Koreans took to the streets following Friday's ruling, but financial markets showed little reaction.
The Ayala Corporation , the oldest conglomerate in the Philippines, has made a push to invest in businesses that could play a major role in shaping the country's "social infrastructure," the company's chief executive said.

The company's investments in the education, healthcare and renewable energy sectors came about after "opportunities for disruption" were spotted, said Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman and CEO of the Ayala Corporation.

"Both education and healthcare have been fairly rigid spaces and I think there is a lot that can be contributed in those spaces," Ayala told CNBC's "Managing Asia."

While the company's foray into the private education sector is still in an early stage, Ayala said responses have been "very positive" so far. The Ayala Corporation's education investments arm entered the primary and secondary school education space with schools that offer affordable rates and standards that are "above the public school system," Ayala said.

The Ayala Corporation also has stakes in the private tertiary education sector. It acquired a 60 percent stake in the University of Nueva Caceres in the Bicol Region of the Philippines in 2015.

According to a report on private education from the World Bank, close to 9 percent of the Philippines' 6.5 million high school students were enrolled in schools that were part of the country's public-private partnership program.
Getty Images

Oil skidded again on Friday, pushing prices to three-month lows as investors continued to flee bullish positions on worries that OPEC-led production cuts have not yet reduced a global glut of crude. U.S. crude has slumped about 9 percent since Tuesday's close, marking its biggest three-day decline since February, 2016. U.S. crude ended Friday's session down 79 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $48.49 a barrel. Brent crude oil fell 91 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $51.28 a barrel by 2:37 p.m. ET (1937 GMT) . Selling appeared to accelerate in the afternoon after U.S. crude fell through the 200-day moving average of $48.68 a barrel. Prices began to slide earlier this week, after news of another big rise in U.S. crude inventories to record highs. On Friday, oil services firm Baker Hughes reported another weekly increase in the U.S. drilling rig count.

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"We have not seen production cuts undertaken by the world's producers really alleviate the overhang in inventories," said Gene McGillian, manager of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. On Thursday, U.S. crude tumbled below $50 a barrel for the first time since December, raising alarm among major oil producers like Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. U.S. oil and gas drilling has picked up, with producers planning to expand production in North Dakota, Oklahoma and other shale regions, while output has jumped in the Permian, America's largest oilfield. U.S. drillers added eight rigs in the latest week, lifting the rig count to 617, its highest since September of 2015, Baker Hughes said. Senior Saudi officials told U.S. oil companies in a closed-door meeting they should not assume OPEC would extend output curbs to offset rising U.S. production, industry sources told Reuters on Thursday. Separately, Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazrouei, energy minister for the United Arab Emirates, told Reuters this week the rise in U.S. inventories was a "worry," and that "investors need to be cautious not to bring so much production on line."

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"It sucks," says Mike Mayo. One of the more visible Wall Street analysts, Mr Mayo lost his job last week when CLSA, the Chinese-owned broker which had employed him, abruptly shuttered its US research operations.

At 4.15pm last Monday, as Mr Mayo tells it, he was summoned to an all-hands meeting. At 4.20pm he and 89 others were let go. He went to FedEx to buy nine boxes and by 9pm that evening he and his belongings left the building for good.

CLSA blamed "the economics of providing US equity research [becoming] increasingly challenged". It is a perfectly plausible explanation. Active managers are performing badly and looking to cut costs rather than pay for research. Regulations have hit the business.

More from Financial Times:

Oil price cracks as market focuses on rising production

Divisions in anti-Le Pen front open a narrow path to victory

Azerbaijan watchdog suspension puts gas pipeline loans at risk

The number of analysts working at the world's 12 biggest investment banks fell to 5,981 last year, according to numbers from Coalition, a data provider on the industry. That is down from 6,282 at the end of 2015.

At the same time that Mr Mayo was losing his job, another analyst covering the banking sector also suffered the same fate. Paul Miller, who worked until Wednesday at FBR Capital Markets, is more pessimistic on the future of the industry: "There's just not a lot of money in sell-side research for [independent] broker-dealers any more because the bulge brackets give it away and it's a loss leader for them. I've seen this coming and I've been preparing." Mr Miller, 55, plans to take some time off and plot his next move.

Some analysts have always been attracted to the adjacent world of investment banking. Imran Khan was an analyst at JPMorgan six years ago, moved to Credit Suisse as an investment banker and later joined the tech industry. Last week he was at the New York Stock Exchange for the initial public offering of Snap , where he is chief strategy officer. Mr Khan's stake in the messaging app is worth about $200m.

Not everyone sees research as a dying industry.

The day after he was made redundant, Mr Mayo attended JPMorgan Chase's annual investor day as usual, where he introduced himself as a "free agent analyst". Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan chief executive, launched into a story about arriving to run a previous bank and discovering that Mr Mayo had been banned by staff from analyst calls. "And they said, 'well, he was terribly insulting . . . because he's written, literally, a tome' and it was called, 'Even Hercules Can't Fix It'. And it went through the bad systems, the bad credit, the inefficiencies and stuff like that. I told the management team, 'I hate to tell you, read his tome, because he's right about every single thing in there'."

Mr Mayo shares Mr Dimon's confidence in Mr Mayo. A habitual sceptic, he turned bullish on banks in February last year before a big rally. "I shouldn't be in this position. I had the best professional year of my life," he says. He went a bit further in a New York Post profile, comparing himself to Cezanne. ("We didn't know whether to laugh or cry," says a fellow analyst of that analogy.)

CLSA may have failed to find a sustainable business model but that is not an inevitable fate. Autonomous Research, founded in London by Stuart Graham, a former banks analyst at Merrill Lynch, set itself up as a research-only institution in 2009 and has made it pay. Now, as forthcoming European rules force an unbundling of research and trading, other firms will have to move in the same direction. "When we started, it certainly felt unique," says Mr Graham. "Eight years ago no one was putting a price on research; from January 2018 everyone in Europe will have to put a hard dollar number on it. There will be a shrinking pie and a significant reallocation of that pie. Boutiques will be winners from that reallocation."

Mr Graham's business looks to be doing fine. Accounts for the European division of the privately held company show revenues of 27.7m last year, out of which 30 partners shared 16m. That is good money on Wall Street today. Even if they have kept their jobs, some analysts say they earned $1m 10 years ago and now earn $250,000.

For his part Mr Mayo, irrepressible, says: "Investors are willing to pay for my research. I'm so charged up. I'll stop at nothing here."
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Britain's biggest telecoms group has reached an agreement with the regulator to finally resolve a two-year row over how the national broadband network is run, agreeing to a legal separation of the business. BT has come under fire after rivals including , and accused Openreach, the division that supplies broadband to millions of homes and businesses, of delivering a poor service.

Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images

BT's rivals say Openreach does not invest enough in the network, particularly in fibre optics which currently connect only 2 percent of premises, and is run to serve BT's bottom line rather than the interests of Britain's broadband needs. On Friday BT said it had agreed to legally separate its broadband unit, Openreach, moving 32,000 staff into the new company, which will have its own brand without the BT logo. The Openreach chief executive will report to the Openreach chairman, while keeping accountability to the BT CEO with certain legal and fiduciary duties.

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"This has been a long and challenging review where we have been balancing a number of competing interests," BT Chief Executive Gavin Patterson said. "We have listened to criticism of our business and as a result are willing to make fundamental changes to the way Openreach will work in the future." Ofcom, which wants BT Openreach to plough more money into upgrading its copper networks to fibre to catch up some European rivals and the likes of South Korea and Japan, had threatened to go to the European Commission to try to force its case. It said on Friday that the proposals put forward by BT meant it would no longer need to impose these changes through regulation. "The reforms have been designed to begin this year," it said.
The U.S. corporate tax rate may be 35 percent, but most companies end up paying far less after accounting for specific tax breaks.



Some, like utilities, gas and electric companies, paid only 3.1 percent in taxes on their domestic income over the last eight years, according to an updated study released this week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

But not all industries have the same access to those loopholes. Telecom companies and industrial machinery companies also paid less than half the official rate, while companies in the retail and health-care sectors paid close to the full 35 percent.

The study calculated effective rates for companies in the Fortune 500 that have been profitable over the full period  companies that report losses, of course, receive even more favorable tax treatment. Here's how much companies paid, broken down by FactSet economic sector:
U.S.-Russia relations have regressed to levels of hostility not seen since the Cold War era but improved relations under the new Trump administration will be crucial to ensuring global security, according to the chairman and president of Russia's VTB Bank .

The two countries have long-since had a volatile relationship but they have experienced increased division over recent years following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, which prompted the U.S. to impose sanctions on the country.

Russia holds no "foolish optimism" that these sanctions will be lifted by President Donald Trump anytime soon, Andrey Kostin told CNBC Friday, insisting that Russia has now adjusted to living with sanctions.

However, he said he remained optimistic that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could work together to counter other global threats.

"We are not actually now particularly emphasising the removal of sanctions. We've somehow adjusted. It's not good for Russia but we're somehow got used to living with them," said Kostin.



"More important is to start the dialogue on the key issues like disarmament, fighting terrorism and many other things," he added, saying that the recent hostility had caused U.S.-Russia relations to regress to the Cold War era.

"I don't think the relationship with the U.S. and Russia can get much worse  they almost reached the levels of the Cold War  so I think both sides will need to do something to come back to better relations."
President Donald Trump may have given up his weekly primetime TV slot as host of "Celebrity Apprentice," but since he took the oath of office, every day is a new episode of Trump's White House  on Twitter .

In his first 50 days as President of the United States, Trump has never skipped a day communicating with the country via @RealDonaldTrump, tweeting more than 260 times since Inauguration Day.

That's an average of 36 tweets per week. By comparison, Barack Obama tweeted from the now-archived @POTUS account a total of 352 times since the handle was created in May 2015.

157: # of tweeted exclamation points

Despite poor initial ratings  a majority of Americans across party lines say that Trump's use of Twitter is generally a bad idea, according to January polling from NBC News and the WSJ the president shows no sign of slowing down.

We analyzed every tweet sent from @RealDonaldTrump since January 20th. Here's what we've deduced:

Tune In Around 8:22 a.m. ET

Rise and shine. It's time for a message from the president.

Donald Trump has only given five in-person press conferences since taking office (four of them jointly conducted with foreign leaders), but he addresses the country every morning on Twitter, as early as 6 o'clock in the morning.

The average time for a morning tweet? 8:22 a.m. ET  on particularly stormy mornings, Trump will send as many as seven tweets in a row.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Friday he hopes to start the formal process of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement in coming weeks.

Under U.S. law, the government must tell Congress 90 days before it signs any new trade agreement. Ross said he wants to take the step of notifying lawmakers "sometime in the next couple of weeks."

"We are now in the very early stages" of having the talks to change NAFTA, he said in a joint press conference with Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Mexico's economic minister.

President Donald Trump has aimed to quickly make good on his campaign promises, including scrapping or tweaking trade deals he deems bad for the United States. The president has slammed NAFTA, and Mexico's role in it in particular, saying it has sapped manufacturing jobs from the U.S.

The administration has suggested it will try to seek bilateral trade deals rather than those with several nations. Ross said a revised NAFTA will either be two bilateral agreements with Mexico and Canada with "symmetrical provisions" or "one new" deal among the three countries.

Guajardo seemed more set on talks talking place among the three countries.

"NAFTA is a trilateral agreement and it would make a lot of sense to have trilateral discussions," he said. He added that Mexico will be ready to start negotiations by the end of May.

Mexico and Canada are two vital trading partners for the U.S., partly due to NAFTA, which has been in place for more than two decades. Ross said the deal "needs an update" and has not necessarily adapted to changes in the three nations' economies.
In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome!
Jim Cramer believes that the world economy is doing better than many investors even realize.

All of the measures he uses to determine strength overseas are in positive territory. That is why when Oracle reports next week, he will be monitoring what management has to say about the international climate.

"Less than half of its business is in America. I am a huge believer that the rest of the world is growing a lot faster than most commentators think. Oracle will give us a great read," the "Mad Money" host said.

With this in mind, here are the stocks and events on Cramer's radar next week:

Monday: Del Taco

With the prevalence of the stay-at-home economy, Cramer fears this is exactly the kind of restaurant that is struggling right now.

Tuesday: HD Supply

HD Supply is a nationwide distributor of facilities maintenance supplies that services 50,000 different customers. Cramer has seen this company move the market before when it is bullish or bearish, so he will be monitoring commentary.

Wednesday: Federal Reserve meeting, Oracle

Most people will be paying attention to the Fed's statement on Wednesday, but Cramer will also be watching Oracle. The stock acts as if business is very strong, something that is easy for Cramer to believe given that it has now integrated NetSuite and touching on being the fastest growing cloud computing company on earth.

Thursday: Adobe, Dollar General

Adobe : Cramer believes it will report a very strong quarter, but given the monster move the stock has had going into earnings, it could sell off. If this is the case, it could be an opportunity to buy.

"If you don't already own it, I would wait. There is always a chance that this time is different, but I know that the sell-off last time was nasty, brutish and short, and it gave you one of the best buying opportunities we have had in ages," Cramer said.

Dollar General : This stock will be one of the hardest hit if President Trump and Congress pass a border adjustment tax. Cramer thinks Dollar General will lay out a case for how much the tax could hurt shoppers.

"In case President Trump is watching, let me just say I am thrilled that we have such strong hiring in this country, but the fastest way to reverse that trend would be to put through this border tax and watch retailer after retailer either close stores or go out of business. Yes, it would be that bad," Cramer said.

Friday: Tiffany & Co., Amgen analyst meeting

Tiffany : This stock has been on fire lately because of pressure from activist hedge fund Jana Partners, which recently put three members on the company's board of directors. Cramer has always considered Tiffany to be an undermanaged property, and the stock is finally reflecting the changes that can be made. However, he doesn't expect a strong quarter.

Amgen : Cramer expects Amgen to show off a strong pipeline. If the market takes a tumble after the Fed meeting on Wednesday, it could be a good time to buy Amgen on weakness, as he considers it one of the best stories in the space.

Watch the full segment here:


The incident sparked the idea for Dojo, a tiny device aimed at protecting so-called Internet of Things (IOT) devices. Atias founded the firm, Dojo Labs, in 2015 in Israel. It was acquired last year by security firm BullGuard with Atias staying on as CEO of Dojo Labs.

"Then it hit me. We have a lot of internet-connected stuff at home, and it's really not a solution to put bandaids on all my devices."

"Why did you put in on I asked her? She told me that father of one of her classmates is a cybersecurity expert who gave them tips on how to be safe. When it came to the camera, he said the only way to know someone isn't watching you is to cover the camera," Atias told CNBC in a recent interview by phone.

When Yossi Atias came home one day a couple of years ago, he saw his daughter using her laptop but the camera had been covered with a Band-Aid.

Flaws in connected devices pose a number of issues. The recent Wikileaks document dump alleged that intelligence agencies had hacked Samsung TVs to listen in on conversations happening in the home, posing threats to privacy.

But vulnerabilities in IOT hardware can also cause serious problems of the entire internet infrastructure.

Last year, a major cyberattack wiped out internet access to hundreds of thousands of people across the U.S. It was an unprecedented outage enabled by flaws in insecure cameras that gave the hacking software access to key servers that were in charge of running services such as Netflix and Twitter .

"The issue that we are trying to solve is really all about security and privacy of consumers, using different type of connected devices. The problem is that most of those devices have software vulnerabilities by design," Atias said.

Dojo is targeting a burgeoning market: The number of IOT devices is predicted to reach over 46 billion in 2021, a 200 percent increase from last year, according to Juniper Research. The device connects to your Wi-Fi router and essentially filters any traffic coming through it to detect and prevent malicious software.

It is being released this month in the U.S. and will cost $199 which includes 12 months of service. After that, the service can be renewed on annual basis $99 a year, or $9.99 a month. Dojo will manage the security of your home without a user having to do anything.

But hackers are getting ever more sophisticated and security firms need to react. Atias said that Dojo keeps on top of security by learning the behavior of a device and detecting if it's acting in an unusual way.

"IOT devices are purpose-built, designed to do a specific function. It's not like a PC where you can do anything. For example, if your smart TV is suddenly starts sending a constant video stream from your home to a server in Russia or North Korea, it means it is abnormal activity. Dojo is constantly learning the behavior of the devices and detects any anomaly," Atias said.
The U.S. presidential election reflected the "full exposure of the hypocritical nature of U.S. democracy", one-party China has claimed in the annual human rights report of its geopolitical and economic rival.

"In 2016, money politics and power-for-money deals had controlled the presidential election, which was full of lies and farces," China's yearly report said.

China's state council information office published its summary of perceived U.S. human rights violations on Friday in response to Washington's criticisms of Beijing last week.

The annual report, which depicts a sorry tale for the U.S. political system, appeared to source almost all of its allegations of human rights abuses from U.S. media groups. Many of the same publications Beijing cited are either frequently attacked by Beijing or blocked in the country altogether.
WHEN: TODAY, FRIDAY, MARCH 10 AT 9:30AM ET

WHERE: CNBC'S "SQUAWK ON THE STREET"

Following is the unofficial transcript of a FIRST ON CNBC interview with National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" today. Following is a link to video of the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000600233.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

QUINTANILLA: LET'S BRING IN GARY COHN IN ON THE NEWS OF THE DAY FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. LABOR DEPARTMENT SAYS 235,000 JOBS IS THE NUMBER FOR FEBRUARY. GARY, GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK ON THE SHOW. GOOD MORNING.

COHN: GOOD MORNING, CARL. THANKS FOR HAVING ME.

QUINTANILLA: JIM JUST USED THE GOLDILOCKS TERM. FIRST TIME I'VE HEARD THAT TODAY. YOU GOING TO GO ALONG WITH THAT?

COHN: SURE, WHY NOT? I THINK IT WAS A PERFECT NUMBER. RIGHT EXACTLY WHERE IT NEEDED TO BE. OUR JOBS PLAN AND OUR JOBS CREATION AND BRINGING JOBS BACK TO AMERICA IS GOING EXACTLY THE WAY WE'D LIKE IT TO GO. WHEN I WAS ON A MONTH AGO WE TALKED ABOUT BRINGING JOBS BACK. I THINK THIS NUMBER REAFFIRMS EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE TRYING TO

QUINTANILLA: HOW MUCH OF IT IS POTUS AND WHITE HOUSE? HOW MUCH OF IT WOULD YOU LEGITIMATELY SAY IS MINIMAL SNOWFALL, WARM WEATHER, A GOOD FEBRUARY?

COHN: LOOK, THERE'S CLEARLY A GOOD FEBRUARY AS PART OF THE NUMBER. I'M NOT GOING TO DENY THAT, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING HERE AT THE WHITE HOUSE AND ALL OF THE CEOs THAT WE'VE BROUGHT IN WHETHER IT BE EXXON OR SPRINT OR INTEL, THEY'VE PROMISED ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF JOBS AND JOB CREATION IN THE UNITED STATES. THOSE HIRINGS HAVE NOT BEEN DONE YET. THOSE ARE FUTURE HIRINGS. SO WE'RE STILL LIVING ON THE HIRINGS FROM THE NORMALIZED ECONOMIC GROWTH THAT'S BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM HERE. SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT'S AHEAD OF US AND WHAT'S BUILT IN THE SYSTEM WE HAVE A HUGE BACKLOG OF HIRING THAT WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT IN THE NORMAL RUN RATE OF THE ECONOMY. SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT'S AHEAD OF US.

CRAMER: ALL RIGHT, GARY, JIM. WE'VE GOT THIS DEBT CEILING I KNOW WE HAVE GOT ALWAYS CONCERNS ABOUT DEBT. ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT THE BORDER TAX. HOW ABOUT THIS? I'LL LET YOU TAKE CREDIT IF YOU GO WITH IT. WE NEED A MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN 50-YEAR SAVINGS BOND, $1 TRILLION TO FIX OUR INFRASTRUCTURE. GARY, WHY SHOULDN'T WE DO THAT? YOU KNOW BONDS, COME ON, 3.16 ON THE TEN, THE WORLD IS STARVED FOR 50-YEAR U.S. GOVERNMENT PAPER BACKED BY THE FULL FAITH AND CREDIT. COULD YOU PLEASE GIVE US THAT SAVINGS BOND?

COHN: JIM, WE'LL WORK TOGETHER ON THAT ONE, HOW'S THAT? I DON'T NEED CREDIT. WE CAN WORK TOGETHER ON IT. I'M HAPPY TO BE YOUR PARTNER IN THIS ONE, BUT WE AGREE WITH YOU. WE HAD A LARGE GROUP IN HERE TWO DAYS AGO INTO THE WHITE HOUSE TALKING ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE, TALKING ABOUT THE ENORMOUS NEEDS. WE HAVE UNDERINVESTED IN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE LAST 50 OR 60 YEARS IN THE UNITED STATES. WE HAVE ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITY RIGHT NOW, AND JIM, AS YOU POINT OUT, WE CAN ISSUE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DEBT IN THE 50-YEAR AND 100-YEAR SEGMENT TO FINANCE DEBT. I'M NOT EVEN SURE HOW MUCH DEBT WE NEED TO FINANCE. THERE'S AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF CAPITAL IN THE SYSTEM LOOKING FOR LONG DURATION ASSETS IN THE UNITED STATES. WE HAVE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF LONG DURATION ASSETS WITH REAL REVENUE ATTACHED TO THEM IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE WORLD. WE ARE GOING TO GO REBUILD THOSE ASSETS, WE'RE GOING TO DO IT IN PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, WE'RE GOING TO DO AS MUCH AS WE CAN IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT FINANCING MECHANISMS. IT'S NOT ALL GOING ON THE GOVERNMENT'S BALANCE SHEET. IN FACT, WE'RE GOING TO DO IT AS EFFICIENTLY AS WE POSSIBLY CAN WITHOUT USING THE GOVERNMENT'S BALANCE SHEET.

FABER: GARY, ANOTHER IMPORTANT INITIATIVE OF COURSE UNDERTAKEN BY THE ADMINISTRATION IS TAX REFORM. LAST TIME YOU WERE ON I ASKED YOU ABOUT IT, YOU DIDN'T REALLY GIVE AN ANSWER IN TERMS OF WHERE THE ADMINISTRATION STANDS ON A BORDER ADJUSTMENT TAX, WHICH IS SUCH A KEY PART OF IT. BUT I'LL ASK AGAIN.

COHN: OKAY.

FABER: IS THE ADMINISTRATION IN FAVOR OF OR AGAINST A BORDER ADJUSTMENT TAX?

COHN: WELL, I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU THE SAME ANSWER I GAVE YOU A MONTH AGO. SO IF YOU WANT ME TO DO THAT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND DO THAT. WE'RE EXPLORING ALL OPPORTUNITIES IN TAXES. WE WANT TO PROTECT AMERICAN JOBS. WE REALLY DO. AS WE STARTED OUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT JOBS TODAY, IT'S JOBS FRIDAY. WE WANT TO BRING JOBS BACK TO AMERICA. WE WANT TO BRING MANUFACTURING JOBS BACK TO AMERICA. SO ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO INCENTIVIZE MANUFACTURERS TO COME BACK TO AMERICA, THAT'S IMPORTANT TO US. THAT SAID, TAXES IS JUST ONE OF THE TOOLS WE HAVE AT OUR DISPOSAL. RIGHT NOW I THINK YOU ALL KNOW WE'RE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN HEALTH CARE AND HEALTH CARE REFORM. WHEN WE GET DONE WITH HEALTH CARE REFORM WE ARE GOING TO GET TO TAXES. WE ARE ACTIVELY WORKING ON A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT TAX ALTERNATIVES. AND WE WILL PRESENT A TAX PLAN WHEN WE'RE DONE WITH HEALTH CARE.

FABER: SO WE'RE GOING TO GET AN ANSWER FROM YOU GUYS AT SOME POINT, I WOULD ASSUME, IN TERMS OF THE SPECIFICS ON THAT BORDER ADJUSTMENT TAX AND/OR WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO TO REPLACE IT IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT TO KEEP THE RATE LOW BUT NOT BUST THE DEFICIT? OR DO YOU NOT CARE? I MEAN, IS THAT A VIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION THOUGH, GARY, THAT MAYBE, YOU KNOW WHAT, FORGET ABOUT THE DEFICIT, LET'S JUST GET TAX REFORM THROUGH REGARDLESS OF THE REVENUE RAISERS THAT MAY NEED TO BE A PART OF IT?

COHN: NO, NO, WE DO CARE. WE DO CARE. WE CARE ABOUT THE DEFICIT. WE CARE ABOUT REVENUE. WE CARE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON. WE'RE GOING TO MOST LIKELY WE ARE GOING TO ABSOLUTELY DO TAXES UNDER RECONCILIATION. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO BE DEFICIT NEUTRAL OVER A TEN-YEAR PERIOD. YES, WE WILL BE ABLE TO USE DYNAMIC SCORING. AND WE THINK WE'VE GOT SOME OPPORTUNITIES TO DO THAT AND DO IT IN A VERY CONSTRUCTIVE WAY FOR U.S. CONSUMERS, FOR U.S. INDUSTRY, FOR EVERYONE AS A WHOLE. WE ARE WORKING ON A BUNCH OF REALLY INTERESTING IDEAS TO REFORM THE TAX SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES.

CRAMER: GARY, PUT YOUR OLD GOLDMAN SACHS ON. STOCK MARKET 

COHN: JIM, I'M NOT  JIM, I'M NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT.

CRAMER: ALRIGHT. FORGET GOLDMAN. FORGET GOLDMAN. WHATEVER. THAT WAS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS. THIS TRILLION  THIS STOCK MARKET  $2 TRILLION IN WEALTH. HOW IMPORTANT IS THE STOCK MARKET TO THIS WHITE HOUSE?

COHN: LOOK, THE STOCK MARKET IS IMPORTANT TO US, BUT IT'S JUST ONE OF THE BAROMETERS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. WE LOOK AT THE STOCK MARKET EVERY DAY, BUT WE LOOK AT THE EMPLOYMENT DATA, WE'RE LOOKING AT GDP DATA, WE'RE LOOKING AND TALKING TO CEOs EVERY DAY ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE SEEING IN THEIR BUSINESS, ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE HIRING NEEDS ARE, WHAT THEIR OPPORTUNITIES ARE, WHERE THEY SEE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US IN AMERICA. SO, LOOK, THE STOCK MARKET IS A BAROMETER. THE NICE THING ABOUT THE STOCK MARKET IT'S A FAIRLY REALTIME BAROMETER FOR US, SO WE DO LOOK AT IT.

QUINTANILLA: GARY, SPEAKING OF THE DATA, WE'VE HAD THE PRESIDENT DURING THE CAMPAIGN AND BEFORE CAST DISPERSIONS ON THE VERACITY, THE LEGITIMACY, OF SOME DATA, INCLUDING BLS. DOES HE BELIEVE IT NOW?

COHN: LOOK, WE LOOK AT ALL DATA. WE ARE VERY DATA DRIVEN. IN THE NEC, WHERE I WORK AND WHERE I'M THE DIRECTOR, MY TEAM LOOKS AT ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DATA. WE'RE EVALUATING WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE ECONOMY ALL THE TIME. WE'RE TRYING TO DRIVE THE ADMINISTRATION TO THE RIGHT PLACE AND MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS.

FABER: GARY, REAL QUICKLY, IT'S A JOBS DAY. YOU MENTIONED RIGHT AT THE TOP THE PRESIDENT'S POLICIES HELPING TO CREATE JOBS IN THE FUTURE. BUT SOME WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT, THE PROMISES THAT HAVE BEEN MADE BY CORPORATIONS, MANY OF THEM WERE IN THE PLANNING STAGES ALREADY. AND REALLY WHEN YOU ADD THE NUMBERS UP, THEY DON'T EVEN ADD UP TO WHAT WE SAW THIS MONTH IN TERMS OF JOB GROWTH, OR LAST MONTH, 235,000. HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THOSE WHO SAY IT'S STILL NOT REALLY SOMETHING THAT WE NECESSARILY CAN SEE AS A LONG TERM ANSWER IN TERMS OF JOB GROWTH?

COHN: WELL, I WOULD COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH THAT. WE'VE HAD MANY CEOs AND I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN THESE MEETINGS, I'VE BEEN INTIMATELY INVOLVED IN THESE MEETINGS  MANY CEOs HAVE WALKED IN AND SPECIFICALLY SAID TO US AND SAID TO THE PRESIDENT THAT WITHOUT YOU BEING IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND WITHOUT YOUR POLICIES AND WITHOUT YOUR REFORM AGENDA, WITHOUT YOUR TAX AGENDA, WE WOULD NOT BE BUILDING THESE FACILITIES HERE IN THE UNITED STATES. SO I'D START WITH THAT. NUMBER TWO, IT'S NOT JUST THE JOBS THAT THEY'RE COMMITTING TO. REMEMBER, FOR EVERY JOB YOU BRING IN TO THESE SPECIFIC FACILITIES, THERE'S ALL TYPE OF ANCILLARY JOBS. THERE'S SUPPLIERS FOR THESE FACILITIES. THERE'S SERVICES FOR THESE FACILITIES. THERE'S AN ENORMOUS TRICKLE DOWN EFFECT IN JOB CREATION WHEN YOU BRING BACK THESE BIG MANUFACTURING FACILITIES TO THE UNITED STATES. SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED, NOT JUST ABOUT THE FACILITIES, BUT ALL OF THE ANCILLARY JOBS THAT ARE CREATED BY THIS.

QUINTANILLA: GARY, WE KNOW YOU'VE GOT TO RUN. WE LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH. GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.

COHN: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AND, JIM, I CAN'T WAIT TO SHARE CREDIT WITH YOU ON THE INFRASTRUCTURE.

CRAMER: FAIR ENOUGH. CRAMER-COHN. NO, NO. COHN-CRAMER.

COHN: WHATEVER YOU WANT, JIM.

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February's big jobs number is a quick reflection on the pro-growth policies of the Trump administration, one of the president's top advisors told CNBC.

"This number reaffirms everything that we're trying to do," Cohn the director for the National Economic Council said in an interview Friday morning.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that the economy added 235,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate ticked lower to 4.7 percent. In addition to beating consensus estimates of 190,000, the job creation came in some unusual places, with construction and manufacturing leading the way.

During his campaign, Trump promised to bring back those kinds of jobs. To do so, he pledged lower taxes, a rollback in regulations and $1 trillion in infrastructure spending.

Cohn said those types of plans are just starting to show up in the numbers.

"We're very excited about what's ahead of us," he said.

The jobs data is the latest victory for the administration in its plans to accelerate growth.

Trump has pledged lower taxes, a rollback in job-stifling regulations and a boost of $1 trillion in infrastructure spending.

Cohn said the White House has been holding meetings with CEOs to figure out the bet way to get the agenda through.

"We had a large group in here two days into the White House talking about infrastructure, talking about the enormous need," he said. "We have underinvested in our infrastructure in the last 50 to 60 years in the U.S."

Though Trump has come under fire for protectionist trade policies, Cohn said the administration will remain focused on bringing jobs home.

"We want to protect American jobs, we really do," he said. "We want to bring jobs back to America, so anything we can do to incentivize manufacturers to come back to America, that's important to us."





This is a breaking news story. Check back here for updates.

Watch: White House response to jobs number
A border adjustment tax, as currently proposed in the House bill, would not kill J.C. Penney's business, but it would make it really difficult for the department store to be profitable, CEO Marvin Ellison told CNBC in an exclusive interview.

Ellison was among the retail executives that meet with President Donald Trump and lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to discuss tax reform last month.

When asked if it was possible to operate in the black if the proposal goes into effect as written, Ellison said simply, "It will be very difficult. In the short run, virtually impossible."

J.C. Penney has run its financial models and Ellison said its tax rate swells exponentially.

"It takes our tax structure, as an example, from roughly a 34 percent corporate tax to over 170 percent," he explained. "So that gives you an idea of the financial impact to a company like J.C. Penney. And that's very consistent with other companies, companies like Best Buy , Target , Kroger , Wal-Mart  I mean, you name it, we're all in this same precarious position because we don't have a manufacturing capacity that exists in the United States."



It all means an increase in the prices consumers pay is inevitable.

"Very simply, it adds a 20 percent cost to goods that are going to middle- and low-income consumers. There's no way around it, there's just the simple math," Ellison said.

Still, the conversations are continuing and a border adjustment tax isn't a foregone conclusion.

"It's a very tricky situation, but if it goes through as written, it's going to be pretty devastating to the U.S. consumer in many ways."

Ellison said J.C. Penney is in a better position than some of its competitors because it has a higher percentage of private apparel brands in its merchandise assortment. Private brands, like J.C. Penney's St. John's Bay and Liz Claiborne, are brands owned by a particular retailer, those that can only be purchased at the retailer and are more profitable than national brands available at multiple retailers.

"But if I can control the first cost and maybe there's something we can do to adjust the pricing structure to try to alleviate some of the cost without taking it to the consumer. So we think it gives us a complex problem to solve but I don't think it's a death blow to J.C. Penney," he said.

However, there's a limit to how much cost J.C. Penney can strip out. J.C. Penney, like the vast majority of retailers, has to rely on an overseas supply chain.

"It would take me a decade just to get the level of manufacturing capacity where we need it to serve the needs of our consumers," he said, pointing to the American Apparel and Footwear Association data that shows 98 percent of clothing bought in the United States and 97 percent of the shoes, are imported.

"We'd have to renegotiate cost. We'd have to look at the factories and the suppliers we use in different locations. We'd have to look at design structure  we call it design to value. So there are a lot of things we'd have to do, but none of those things would benefit the consumer directly because we'd still have to raise prices. I can't take out 20 percent cost without cheapening the goods and we're not going to sell goods at that poor quality."


The video-streaming giant Netflix marks its 20th anniversary this year, touting a valuation of $60 billion. That works out to about $3 billion of added market value a year, on average, for the titan of Silicon Valley and Hollywood, which went public in 2002 in an $82.5 million offering. Along the way, Reed Hastings, its 56-year-old co-founder and CEO, has learned a few tricks of the management trade, which he has shared at different forums through the years. Here are some of his biggest lessons.

1. Plan for what you want the company to become, not what it may be limited to on Day One

2. Telling the truth builds  and helps regain  goodwill

Hastings has taken some flack over the years for requiring conference-call questions to be sent by email in advance rather than letting Wall Street analysts question him in real time. But Hastings also has acquired a reputation as a straight shooter. Investors soon knew his thoughts on how fast broadband would take over the market (slower than others expected, which turned out to be right), which competitors he feared (Amazon more than Blockbuster) and how rapidly the business would grow and turn profitable. And his team's projections generally proved accurate, even as Netflix's 2002 IPO classmate Overstock.com lost Wall Street credibility with a series of antics by its then-CEO Patrick Byrne.

I take pride in making as few decisions as possible. When you get to real scale, most of my job is just vision. Reed Hastings Netflix founder and CEO

That bought Hastings the opportunity to restore goodwill at times when he has goofed, especially when it guessed wrong about what would happen when it split the company into essentially separate services for DVD subscriptions and streaming. The company missed earnings forecasts badly in mid-2011, and the stock tanked  but investors gave Hastings time to rebuild, and shares recovered by 2013. They have risen 14-fold from the bottom. The process was helped along by Hastings' public candor about what went wrong: "Qwikster became a symbol of Netflix not listening,'' he said. How honest was Hastings? He told the press that the idea for Qwikster  the ill-fated name planned for the separate DVD business  came to him while in a hot tub with a friend. (The friend thought it was a terrible idea, so Hastings was also clearly right about the "not listening" part.)



3. Don't let yourself get commoditized. Build slowly

Hastings has managed a delicate balance: focusing Netflix on delivering movies, while expanding gradually into original content. It hasn't been mistake-free: In the mid-2000s Netflix made ill-fated moves into social networking (trying to get friends to recommend movies to each other) and buying original content, mostly documentaries, before it was ready. A few years later, after its transition from DVDs-by-mail to streaming was better established, it had a stronger foundation to build the original content that put it on an equal footing with rivals, like Time Warner 's HBO, in luring customers and to build pricing power for a more profitable future.

watch now

The lesson: Build outward from your core slowly.



"We're much less likely [now] to chase the shiny object," Hastings said. But at the same time, he said, "when you're not doing original content, you're just iTunes." [That was well before Apple's recent announcement that it is getting into original video content.]



4. Talent management is a key, often overlooked management skill. Not at Netflix

Netflix and Hastings have probably gained more attention for their approach to managing talent than for any other management skill. The company is well known for a no-vacation policy that lets workers set their own hours and time-off schedule, as long as they get their work done. Not everyone likes it  critics suggest that it pressures employees to take too little time off and flirt with burnout  but Hastings says it helps Netflix attract top employees. The company also offers high pay and generous severance, with the understanding that weaker performers will get fired more often than at other companies. It also gives new workers a slide deck on Netflix culture that has been viewed more than 15 million times online. "They know what they're getting into," Hastings said of Netflix workers. "We want people for whom freedom and responsibility work.''

5. Let go to grow

Hastings often talks about how he makes fewer and fewer decisions as Netflix grows, leaving more decisions to the team he has assembled. A key example he cites comes from the company's content launch: As it was preparing to green-light "House of Cards," Hastings says he personally put only about half an hour into reviewing the decision. The real call, he says, was made by Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, and set the stage for more than 100 series produced either wholly or in part by Netflix. Netflix landed nine Emmy awards in 2016. Similarly, while Hastings set the vision for the company's global expansion, lower-ranking executives take the lead on deciding which markets to enter when. "I take pride in making as few decisions as possible,'' Hastings said. "When you get to real scale, most of my job is just vision.''

6. Always come back to the basics, and a book by Jim Collins

Asked to offer advice to entrepreneurs, Hastings hasn't hesitated: Every year, he tries to reread "Beyond Entrepreneurship," by Jim Collins, who would also go on to write another management classic, "Good to Great." Pay special attention to the first 80 pages, Hastings says  two chapters that cover Collins' guide to leadership style and setting a vision for an organization. Collins' keys to leadership: authenticity, decisiveness, focus, personal touch, people skills, communication and a future focus Collins calls "ever forward."

7. Take care of yourself
In a series of tweets on Thursday, Philadelphia-based writer and editor Martin Schneider described the results of an experiment he undertook at the small employee services firm where he used to work.

For two weeks, he and his subordinate Nicole Hallberg changed places.

The idea came to Schneider after a strange experience at the office: He couldn't understand why a client he'd previously had only good interactions with suddenly seemed hostile and condescending. Then he realized that, because of a tech problem, his emails to that client had been going out auto-signed not as him but as "Nicole."

Maybe this, he realized, was why their boss complained that Hallberg's work took longer, because clients gave her a harder time.

Schneider decided to switch to signing his own name on the emails and see if that helped. Indeed, he discovered, the name made all the difference. He saw, he says, "immediate improvement," as once again the client became perfectly pleasant.

TWEET

Schneider decided to undertake an experiment. For two weeks, he signed all his emails as "Nicole," while Hallberg signed all her emails as "Martin." He was still able to draw on his experience, knowledge and communication skills, and Hallberg could also continue as usual. Only the names changed.

He was shocked, again, by how much harder his work became. He had one difficult interaction after another, while Hallberg, posing as a man, was able to be more efficient than ever before.

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Hallberg has posted an essay on Medium about the experiment called "Working While Female." In it, she writes about some of the gender-related obstacles she faced from her earliest days on the job:

After a few weeks, I survived the rigorous training process and another male coworker, hired at the same time, did not. My boss complimented me and himself, saying that "I wasn't going to consider hiring any females, but I'm glad I did. You should be proud, I had thousands of applications but yours stuck out to me, and made me decide to give hiring a girl a try." Interesting. "Why weren't you considering hiring any women?" "Oh, you know. We've always had fun here, and I didn't want the atmosphere to change."

Hallberg and Schneider both recall that they were disappointed, though not surprised, when that same boss refused to believe the results of their experiment or to draw any conclusions from it. Hallberg quit not long after.

Twitter, however, has provided them with a more receptive audience. Numerous users have written in to sympathize and to share their own similar stories. Bill Blume, for example, responds from the perspective of having worked 15 years in a 911 call center, often alongside his wife. He is consistently viewed by the public, and trusted, as an expert. His wife, by contrast, has a much more difficult time being taken seriously.

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"My wife is a great dispatcher, and while she's managed to gain the trust of officers on the radio, citizens remain rude," says Blume, adding, "I don't doubt my experience as a female dispatcher would greatly differ, though, based on what I've observed."
Merrill Lynch, a unit of Bank of America , may not entirely do away with its commission-based retirement accounts, after Trump ordered the Labor Department last month to delay the proposed retirement-savings rule.

In a conference call with the advisors on Thursday, the bank said it plans to shift most of its retirement savers to accounts that charge a fee based on percentage of assets from those that charge a commission, according to a source familiar with the matter.

However, Andy Sieg, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, noted in a memo seen by Reuters that the account conversions may not apply to all of its customers.

"We've recognized that there may be limited situations in which a fee-based arrangement would not be in a client's best interests. We are reviewing those limited circumstances to consider potential alternatives to IAP for some clients in a manner consistent with a higher standard of care," Sieg said in the memo.

Last month U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the Labor Department to review the implementation date of the new fiduciary rule, proposed by Obama, which was set to take effect in April.

The proposed rule was staunchly opposed by the financial services industry. Wall Street had argued that the rule would harm consumers as it would raise compliance costs and therefore fees, and force them to get rid of Main Street clients and small businesses that offer 401(k) plans.

Merrill Lynch was not immediately available for comment.

The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that Merrill Lynch was planning to still offer commission-based retirement accounts.


A ship loaded with sugar was stranded in port on the east coast of Mexico because of the break down in stop-gap measures designed to ease a long-standing trade dispute with the United States over sugar exports. The vessel, carrying between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes of raw sugar, is stuck in a port in the eastern Mexican state of Quintana Roo after Mexico canceled permits to export sugar to the U.S., Mexican sugar chamber head Juan Cortina said on Thursday.

Prashanth Vishwanathan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Mexican government said it canceled the permits to avoid reaching seasonal export limits under trade accords with the U.S. though it disputes actually reaching the limits. Reuters reported earlier this week that Mexico wants to avoid possible sanctions after Mexican officials said the U.S. Commerce Department misinterpreted the agreements that have governed the sugar trade between the neighboring countries since 2014. "There was a sugar mill...that was loading a ship headed to refineries in the United States and when it was ready to leave the port, we suddenly learned that the export contracts were being canceled," Cortina told Reuters in an interview. Cortina said the 54 permits canceled with 23 mills involve between 100,000 and 120,000 tonnes of sugar.

A line of trucks wait for sugar to be unloaded from a vessel at the Port of Veracruz in Veracruz, Mexico, on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013. Susana Gonzalez | Bloomberg | Getty Images
As President Trump begins his third month in office, Americans may be paying closer attention to the D.C. political circus than everand with good reason.

But while the nation watches Washington with bated breath, another series of key battles are quietly playing out in statehouses from Iowa to Marylandout of the spotlight but with tremendous repercussions for America's workers and working families.

As public support for raising pay for low-wage workers reaches a fever pitch, and as the momentum of worker movements like the Fight for $15 becomes harder and harder to stop, corporate lobbyists have begun resorting to increasingly underhanded maneuvers to keep wages down.

Their go-to move in recent years: pushing bills through state legislatures that "preempt"essentially prohibitcity and county governments from passing minimum wage laws higher than the state levelswhich in many states remain low due to political gridlock.

These preemption bills are a direct response to a massive wave of minimum wage raises, occurring across the country. Many of these increases were won at the local level, where workers and communities have been coming together to demand higher wages. Thanks in large part to the Fight for $15 movement, minimum wage laws passed in recent years mean that 19 million workers are on their way to more than $61 billion in raises.

This rapid success represents democracy at its finest. But with the rising tally of states with preemption bills on the books21 and countingthe accomplishments of this powerful movement are in serious jeopardy.

Just this week, Iowa's statehouse held a hearing on one such bill, HSB 92, that would lower wages for thousands of Iowa workers by eliminating existing and scheduled minimum wage increases in four of the state's counties. The legislation in Iowa also eliminates long-established local control of a host of other important issuesincluding the expansion of civil rights protections in the vein of the infamous "transgender bathroom bill" passed in North Carolina last year.
North Korea and its supreme leader Kim Jong Un pose one of the biggest threats to the world, former Defense Secretary William Cohen told CNBC on Friday.

"I would put that as one of the most treacherous spots on the planet right now," Cohen told "Squawk Box." "[Kim Jong Un] could take action and do something, either by miscalculation or intentionally, that would cause an overreaction by us and our allies in the region."

On Monday, North Korea fired four nuclear-capable ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan, three of which landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone. The United States responded by deploying defensive THAAD missiles in South Korea. elevating tensions even more, including with China.

Cohen, chairman and CEO of The Cohen Group, said North Korea could seize on the court-ordered removal on Friday of South Korean President Park Geun-hye from office because of a corruption scandal.

"I suspect that Kim Jong Un will try to exploit the confusion at the moment," Cohen said, but added that the countervailing forces to his potentially rash military actions are in place.

"Our military has certainly been in touch with the Republic of Korea military, so I think from a security point of view, we're at a high state of readiness. And if the North Koreans try and do anything that would be precipitous, I think the South Koreans and the U.S. and the Japanese will all be ready to confront that," he said.
The closely watched labor force participation rate edged higher in February thanks to a new spark in consumer confidence, CNBC's Jim Cramer said on Friday.

"I think people coming back to the labor force is really important because we've been absent. I think that is part of the animal spirits," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street."

The term "animal spirits" was used by economist John Maynard Keynes to describe how human emotion drives consumer confidence.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported nonfarm payrolls increased by 235,000 jobs in February, as the construction sector recorded its largest gain in nearly 10 years. The labor force participation rate hit 63 percent, its best showing since March 2016.

The jobs report covers the first full month of President Donald Trump's term. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled last week that the central bank would likely hike rates at its March 14-15 policy meeting. Job gains have averaged 209,000 per month over the past three months.

U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday after the stronger-than-expected report.
The next time you tell yourself that you'll sleep when you're dead, realize that you're making a decision that can make that day come much sooner. Pushing late into the night is a health and productivity killer. According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, the short-term productivity gains from skipping sleep to work are quickly washed away by the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation on your mood, ability to focus, and access to higher-level brain functions for days to come. The negative effects of sleep deprivation are so great that people who are drunk outperform those lacking sleep. More from Travis Bradberry:

4 Ways Caffeine Keeps You From Realizing Your Potential

10 Things That Make A Boss Great To Work For

Ten Mistakes Smart People Never Make Twice Why you need adequate sleep to perform We've always known that sleep is good for your brain, but new research from the University of Rochester provides the first direct evidence for why your brain cells need you to sleep (and sleep the right waymore on that later). The study found that when you sleep your brain removes toxic proteins from its neurons that are by-products of neural activity when you're awake. Unfortunately, your brain can remove them adequately only while you're asleep. So when you don't get enough sleep, the toxic proteins remain in your brain cells, wreaking havoc by impairing your ability to thinksomething no amount of caffeine can fix. Skipping sleep impairs your brain function across the board. It slows your ability to process information and problem solve, kills your creativity, and catapults your stress levels and emotional reactivity. What sleep deprivation does to your health Sleep deprivation is linked to a variety of serious health problems, including heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. It stresses you out because your body overproduces the stress hormone cortisol when it's sleep deprived. While excess cortisol has a host of negative health effects that come from the havoc it wreaks on your immune system, it also makes you look older, because cortisol breaks down skin collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic. In men specifically, not sleeping enough reduces testosterone levels and lowers sperm count.

Chris Ryan | Getty Images

Too many studies to list have shown that people who get enough sleep live longer, healthier lives, but I understand that sometimes this isn't motivation enough. So consider thisnot sleeping enough makes you fat. Sleep deprivation compromises your body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates and control food intake. When you sleep less you eat more and have more difficulty burning the calories you consume. Sleep deprivation makes you hungrier by increasing the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin and makes it harder for you to get full by reducing levels of the satiety-inducing hormone leptin. People who sleep less than 6 hours a night are 30% more likely to become obese than those who sleep 7 to 9 hours a night. How much sleep is enough? Most people need 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night to feel sufficiently rested. Few people are at their best with less than 7 hours, and few require more than 9 without an underlying health condition. And that's a major problem, since more than half of Americans get less than the necessary 7 hours of sleep each night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. For go-getters, it's even worse. A recent survey of Inc. 500 CEOs found that half of them are sleeping less than 6 hours a night. And the problem doesn't stop at the top. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a third of U.S. workers get less than 6 hours of sleep each night, and sleep deprivation costs U.S. businesses more than $63 billion annually in lost productivity. Doing something about it Beyond the obvious sleep benefits of thinking clearly and staying healthy, the ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and we've found that 90% of top performers are high in emotional intelligence (EQ). These individuals are skilled at understanding and using emotions to their benefit, and good sleep hygiene is one of the greatest tools at their disposal. High-EQ individuals know it's not just how much you sleep that matters, but also how you sleep. When life gets in the way of getting the amount of sleep you need, it's absolutely essential that you increase the quality of your sleep through good sleep hygiene. There are many hidden killers of quality sleep. The 10 strategies that follow will help you identify these killers and clean up your sleep hygiene. Follow them, and you'll reap the performance and health benefits that come with getting the right quantity and quality of sleep. 1. Stay away from sleeping pills When I say sleeping pills, I mean anything you take that sedates you so that you can sleep. Whether it's alcohol, Nyquil, Benadryl, Valium, Ambien, or what have you, these substances greatly disrupt your brain's natural sleep process. Have you ever noticed that sedatives can give you some really strange dreams? As you sleep and your brain removes harmful toxins, it cycles through an elaborate series of stages, at times shuffling through the day's memories and storing or discarding them (which causes dreams). Sedation interferes with these cycles, altering the brain's natural process. Anything that interferes with the brain's natural sleep process has dire consequences for the quality of your sleep. Many of the strategies that follow eliminate factors that disrupt this recovery process. If getting off sleeping pills proves difficult, make certain you try some of the other strategies (such as cutting down on caffeine) that will make it easier for you to fall asleep naturally and reduce your dependence upon sedatives. 2. Stop drinking caffeine (at least after lunch) You can sleep more and vastly improve the quality of the sleep you get by reducing your caffeine intake. Caffeine is a powerful stimulant that interferes with sleep by increasing adrenaline production and blocking sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain. Caffeine has a 6-hour half-life, which means it takes a full 24 hours to work its way out of your system. Have a cup of joe at 8 a.m., and you'll still have 25% of the caffeine in your body at 8 p.m. Anything you drink after noon will still be near 50% strength at bedtime. Any caffeine in your bloodstreamthe negative effects increasing with the dosemakes it harder to fall and stay asleep.

Sam Diephuis | Getty Images

When you do finally fall asleep, the worst is yet to come. Caffeine disrupts the quality of your sleep by reducing rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the deep sleep when your body recuperates most. When caffeine disrupts your sleep, you wake up the next day with a cognitive and emotional handicap. You'll be naturally inclined to grab a cup of coffee or an energy drink to try to make yourself feel more alert, which very quickly creates a vicious cycle. 3. Avoid blue light at night This is a big onemost people don't even realize it impacts their sleep. Short-wavelength blue light plays an important role in your mood, energy level, and sleep quality. In the morning, sunlight contains high concentrations of this "blue" light. When your eyes are exposed to it directly (not through a window or while wearing sunglasses), the blue light halts production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and makes you feel more alert. This is great, and exposure to a.m. sunlight can improve your mood and energy levels. If the sun isn't an option for you, try a blue light device. In the afternoon, the sun's rays lose their blue light, which allows your body to produce melatonin and start making you sleepy. By the evening, your brain does not expect any blue light exposure and is very sensitive to it. The problem this creates for sleep is that most of our favorite evening deviceslaptops, tablets, televisions, and mobile phonesemit short-wavelength blue light. And in the case of your laptop, tablet, and phone, they do so brightly and right in your face. This exposure impairs melatonin production and interferes with your ability to fall asleep as well as with the quality of your sleep once you do nod off. Remember, the sleep cycle is a daylong process for your brain. When you confuse your brain by exposing it in the evening to what it thinks is a.m. sunlight, this derails the entire process with effects that linger long after you power down. The best thing you can do is avoid these devices after dinner (television is okay for most people as long as they sit far enough away from the set). If you must use one of these devices in the evening, you can limit your exposure with a filter or protective eye wear. 4. Wake up at the same time every day Consistency is key to a good night's sleep, especially when it comes to waking up. Waking up at the same time every day improves your mood and sleep quality by regulating your circadian rhythm. When you have a consistent wake-up time, your brain acclimates to this and moves through the sleep cycle in preparation for you to feel rested and alert at your wake-up time. Roughly an hour before you wake, hormone levels increase gradually (along with your body temperature and blood pressure), causing you to become more alert. This is why you'll often find yourself waking up right before your alarm goes off.

When you don't wake up at the same time every day, your brain doesn't know when to complete the sleep process and when it should prepare you to be awake. Long ago, sunlight ensured a consistent wake-up time. These days, an alarm is the only way most people can pull this off, and doing this successfully requires resisting the temptation to sleep in when you're feeling tired because you know you'll actually feel better by keeping your wake-up time in tact. 5. No binge sleeping (in) on the weekend Sleeping in on the weekend is a counterproductive way to catch up on your sleep. It messes with your circadian rhythm by giving you an inconsistent wake-up time. When you wake up at the same time during the work week but sleep past this time on the weekend, you end up feeling groggy and tired because your brain hasn't prepared your body to be awake. This isn't a big deal on your day off, but it makes you less productive on Monday because it throws your cycle off and makes it hard to get going again on your regular schedule. 6. Learn how much sleep you really need The amount of sleep you need is something that you can't control, and scientists are beginning to discover the genes that dictate it. The problem is, most people sleep much less than they really need and are under-performing because they think they're getting enough. Some discover this the hard way. Ariana Huffington was one of those frantic types who underslept and overworked, until she collapsed unexpectedly from exhaustion one afternoon. She credits her success and well-being since then to the changes she's made to her sleep habits. "I began getting 30 minutes more sleep a night, until gradually I got to 7 to 8 hours. The result has been transformational," Huffington says, adding that, "all the science now demonstrates unequivocally that when we get enough sleep, everything is better: our health; our mental capacity and clarity; our joy at life; and our ability to live life without reacting to every bad thing that happens." Huffington isn't the only one. Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and Sheryl Sandberg have all touted the virtues of getting enough sleep. Even Bill Gates, an infamous night owl, has affirmed the benefits of figuring out how much sleep you really need: "I like to get 7 hours of sleep a night because that's what I need to stay sharp and creative and upbeat." It's time to bite the bullet and start going to bed earlier until you find the magic number that enables you to perform at your best. 7. Stop working When you work in the evening, it puts you into a stimulated, alert state when you should be winding down and relaxing in preparation for sleep. Recent surveys show that roughly 60% of people monitor their smartphones for work emails until they go to sleep. Staying off blue light-emitting devices (discussed above) after a certain time each evening is also a great way to avoid working so you can relax and prepare for sleep, but any type of work before bed should be avoided if you want quality sleep.

Tang Ming Tung | Getty Images
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., conducts a presentation of the American Health Care Act, the GOP's plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, March 9, 2017.

First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter

Here's how Republicans can still get health care through Congress

This week's health-care rollout couldn't have gone worse for Republicans. Conservative and moderate GOPers have their own problems with the House legislation. Major pillars of industry (hospitals, doctors, nurses) are in opposition. Not a single Democratic lawmaker supports it. And there are already projections that as many as 15 million Americans will lose their health-insurance coverage over 10 years  all before the Congressional Budget Office weighs in.

As conservative wonk Yuval Levin writes, "The House Republicans have managed to propose an approach to health reform that almost no one really likes." All that said, there's still a chance that Republicans can send President Trump a health-care overhaul that he can sign into law, although that chance doesn't look as strong as it might have before this week. Here's how they can get it done:

Step 1: Make the House bill more conservative to shore up the right flank: That effort is already underway, per CNN: "The White House is privately lining up behind conservative calls to roll back Obamacare's Medicaid expansion sooner than the health care reform bill currently calls for, two senior administration officials and a senior House conservative aide told CNN on Thursday."

Step 3: Senate Republicans dare the House to oppose their more moderate bill: And if that passes, the Senate side dares House conservatives to oppose the bill -- which they would say is the last best chance to repeal and replace Obamacare. Of course, that approach is perilous: Will House Republicans really accept more/expanded Medicaid funding? Can they swallow not defunding Planned Parenthood?

So this is all quite a tightrope for Republicans to walk. Can it still pass? Absolutely. Will it be easy? No way. And keep in mind: The real Democratic attacks haven't even begun.

More from NBC News:

First Read's morning clips: Trumpcare or Ryancare?

Madam President: How Africa elected its first female president

White House responds to Ryan Owens' father's 'stupid mission' statement

Comey comes to Capitol Hill to talking Russian meddling, Trump Tower

What also will be challenging for the GOP health-care effort is unwelcome Trump news that has NOTHING to do with health care. NBC News: "FBI Director James Comey met with key Senate lawmakers Thursday, where he discussed matters relating to the alleged wire-tapping of Trump Tower, a congressional source familiar with the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election told NBC News. Comey met with Sens. Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Richard Burr and Mark Warner, followed by a meeting with Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, along with Reps. Adam Schiff and Devin Nunes. Comey declined to answer a question as he went into the House meeting about whether there was ever a legal wiretap at Trump Tower." More: "Last weekend, President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping in Trump Tower during the presidential election. Neither Trump nor White House has offered any evidence to back up the charge. Obama and then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responded that it never happened."

Trump's ousted national security adviser registered as a foreign agent helping Turkey

Here's another problematic story for the Trump administration: "Michael Flynn, who was President Donald Trump's former national security adviser until being fired last month, has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for $530,000 worth of lobbying work before Election Day that may have aided the Turkish government," per the AP. "Paperwork filed Tuesday with the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Unit said Flynn and his firm were voluntarily registering for lobbying from August through November that 'could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.' It was filed by a lawyer on behalf of the former U.S. Army lieutenant general and intelligence chief. After his firm's work on behalf of a Turkish company was done, Flynn agreed not to lobby for five years after leaving government service and never to represent foreign governments."

How out of the loop is the State Department?

Yesterday, the U.S. State Department's spokesman admitted that he didn't know Mexico's foreign minister was in Washington, D.C.

QUESTION: Hi. Yes, thank you. Hi, Mark. I see that the foreign minister of Mexico is in town, Luis Videgaray, meeting with - according to the Mexicans - Kushner, Gary Cohn, and McMaster. Is there no State Department meeting with him? And if not, why not? MR TONER: Tracy, good question. We'll take that and get back to you. I was unaware that he was - the foreign minister was in town. And I'm not sure - I can't speak to whether there's going to be any meetings at the State Department at any level. I'll take the question.

A State Department official tells NBC's Abigail Williams, "The Foreign Minister knows he has an open invitation to visit or call anytime he needs to. [Secretary of State Rex Tillerson] believes they have had some very productive exchanges over the past few weeks and is looking forward to more in the near future." But as the Washington Post's David Ignatius writes, "Rex Tillerson is off to an agonizingly slow start as secretary of state. That matters, because if Tillerson doesn't develop a stronger voice, control of foreign policy is likely to move increasingly toward Stephen K. Bannon, the insurgent populist who is chief White House strategist."

Emoluments Watch

Have ethics watchdogs who want a court to consider whether President Trump has violated the Constitution's Emoluments Clause found a case with standing? "A Washington restaurant filed an unfair competition lawsuit Thursday against President Donald Trump and the company that runs his D.C. hotel, claiming he's siphoning away customers who hope to 'curry favor' with his administration," NBC's Rich Gardella and Tracy Connor write. "Cork Wine Bar, a well-reviewed eatery about 1.5 miles from the $200 million Trump International Hotel, is suing Trump as a private businessman and not as president, but suggests that he could remedy the problem by resigning. Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, called it 'a wild publicity stunt completely lacking in legal merit.'" More: "Cork Wine Bar's owners  progressive activist Khalid Pitts and his wife, Diane Gross  argue that because Trump is president, his hotel and its bars and restaurants have become the top destination for lobbyists, foreign dignitaries and others hoping to influence the White House."

Analyzing Trump's tweets

NBCNews.com put together a series of in-depth data visualizations of Trump's tweets, 50 days into his presidency. Check out his average tweet times, the much-discussed Android/iPhone divide, how the frequency of his tweets maps against his approval rating, and much more here.

Trump's Day

The president holds a health-care discussion with GOP House committee chairmen at 11:30 am ET Trump has lunch with Secretary of State Tillerson at 12:45 pm ET And he meets with HUD Secretary Carson at 3:30 pm ET.

What were other presidents doing on March 10?
Robert Herjavec and Mark Cuban, both judges on ABC's "Shark Tank," haven't always seen eye-to-eye.

Herjavec, the multi-millionaire owner of cybersecurity company Herjavec Group, and Cuban, a billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, often argue over investing deals. In fact, Herjavec once admitted that he hated Cuban for the first two years he was on the show.

But just recently, the two had a conversation over lunch in which Cuban offered Herjavec a piece of valuable career advice.

"[Cuban] looks and me says 'You know? You're a good guy. And so I'm going to give you a piece of advice. You have to dream bigger,'" Herjavec recalls.

"You're always trying to protect your downside, think about the upside."

It was a rare moment where the two agreed on something.
watch now

One of Singapore's most prominent shareholder advocates has renewed his call for the introduction of a dual-class share structure for the local bourse, as public debate on the hot topic hits fever pitch. "Activists say we should not be entertaining dual class shares, I say do it, with safeguards," David Gerald, president and CEO of the Singapore Investors Association told CNBC's Squawk Box. The organization represents more than 70,000 retail investors and is the largest organized investor group in Asia. "Any capital market that is aspiring to be leading in this part of the region should have that," he said. "Retail investors should not be taken to be idiots, they're educated, they're knowledgeable and they should make an informed decision." Dual class shares are just one component of a series of proposals that the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has put forward for public consultation, in a move aimed at improving its international competitiveness, building retail market participation and enhancing overall market liquidity.

Striking a balance

Under current SGX rules, each company has a "one share, one vote" structure. If introduced, a dual-class structure would allow newly listed companies to offer two separate types of shares. Typically, one class of shares may have more voting rights than the other, even though the share is issued from the same company. Under the current proposal, companies could offer a maximum voting differential of 10-to-1, meaning if a company listed two classes of shares on the market, one class of share could have at most 10 times more voting rights than the other. Recent American IPOs such as Snap Inc. took advantage of the dual class share structure in the US. Snap Inc. was the first IPO of its kind to controversially offer "no vote" stock, meaning investors in that class of share would have no say in the company strategy or governance.

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Major American technology companies such as Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Facebook and Alibaba Group also offer dual class shares on other exchanges. The introduction of dual class shares would enable Singapore to compete for major international listings, as competition between regional bourses for big IPOs gains momentum. Speaking at the recent Singapore Equities Dialogue, SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye said investors and companies have become more sophisticated and the SGX must remain relevant. "An attractive dual-class structure could enable entrepreneurs to swiftly accelerate business expansion, while continuing to lead the strategies and growth of their companies," he said. "It is an example of how we can potentially innovate, regulate and conduct business in a forward-looking manner  all with the aim of enhancing our attractiveness as a listings venue and addressing the expectations of different stakeholders." If introduced, The Singapore Exchange would be the only major bourse in the region to allow the structure, which may give it a competitive edge for IPOs, specifically in the technology space.

Not that easy

Opponents to dual class shares insist that adequate safeguards must be put in place to ensure retail investors are protected. "Retail market participation dwindled after the penny stock crash, and it put fear into retail investors," said Gerald. "We need to bring about initiatives that will encourage them to enter the market and to make them feel comfortable to come back to invest. We welcome these initiatives, I think it will increase liquidity and I think it will improve the participation of retail over time."

A man checks his phone at the entrance of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) headquarters in Singapore, on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. Ore Huiying | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The SGX has proposed restricting the issuance of dual-class shares to new IPOs only. It also proposed that dual class shares be converted to standard, one vote shares when the share changes hands. A sunset clause, where the dual class share is converted into a single class at a future date, was also part of a series of other protection proposals. The consultation is open until Apr 17.

A Push for more
For the first time ever, Starbucks is releasing special cups just for springtime. They come in three colors inspired by Pantone's springtime trends: A sunny yellow (Venti), a robin's egg blue (Grande), and a leafy green (Tall). Some of the cups are minimalist, with no logo or other markings aside from a white circle in place of where Starbucks' logo would go. Others have what look like Sharpie doodles.

Like the coffee giant's popular, 20-year-old holiday tradition of red holiday cups, these spring cups will be available for a limited time. Starbucks patrons can expect to see the cups for a few days only beginning on March 16.

Maybe it's because I'm jaded, maybe it's because I've been writing about Starbucks for too long, but the minute I saw this press release in my inbox I thought: How long until the Internet backlash? In case you do not follow Starbucks news as obsessively as I do, for every action the coffee company takes there is an outsized, opposite reaction.

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Think back, for a moment, to late fall 2015. That's the last time Starbucks released a minimalist cup. It was red with a Starbucks logo on the side. For reasons I will never understand, what seemed like the whole country  or maybe it was just this one high-strung person  flew into a rage because the cups were "not Christmas-y enough." This was such big news that Eater wrote a story all about it. I can't tell you how many people clicked on this post, but please know that it was a lot. At some point, a wise man named Donald Trump weighed in to suggest the coffee drinkers of America boycott Starbucks over this.

Last year really wasn't much better. There was a green cup that was specifically described as not a holiday cup, but people threw a fit anyway because it wasn't red. Just 10 days later, Starbucks released a red, super-Christmas-y cup.

So I'm going to attempt to pre-empt the outrage I can feel bubbling just beneath the surface. No, Starbucks' new spring cups are not to be confused with Easter-themed cups. Here is why:

They are pastel-colored; this is not a representation of Easter, it is a reference to the floral colors of spring, dammit.

The white circle on each cup, clearly where Starbucks' logo would fit if it was on these cups, turns into an oblong egg shape only if you squint. ("Don't squint so much, it's bad for your crow's feet," is what my mother would say.)

The official start of spring is March 20. The cups will be released on March 16. Easter, a Christian holiday, does not arrive until April 16 this year  a full month later . (Passover falls between April 10 and April 18, in case you're keeping track.)

. (Passover falls between April 10 and April 18, in case you're keeping track.) Yes, one of the cups features a drawing of a bunny. Bunnies have been associated with springtime since a lot of us were pagans. Calm down.

If you're still feeling angry about this, maybe consider flying into a rage about something else. There are so many other worthwhile issues at stake right now. (Although honestly, Starbucks hasn't fared great in that department, either: When the company announced it would hire 10,000 refugees in response to Trump's initial, short-lived travel ban, Trump supporters signed onto Twitter to lash out and pledged to boycott the chain. The angry mob believed Starbucks should hire more veterans instead; no matter that the chain already does this.)

So if you don't like Starbucks' cheerful spring cups, maybe make your coffee at home for the next couple of weeks  at least. Reached for comment to see if these spring cups will become an annual tradition, a Starbucks rep replied, "We're excited to introduce our first-ever cups to celebrate spring. It's too early to say if these will return next year."
Don't expect big companies to bring profits back from overseas in response to a U.S. corporate tax cut, said Matthew Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

The lead author of a new report titled "The 35 Percent Corporate Tax Myth" told CNBC on Friday that scores of profitable Fortune 500 companies had, at least at one point during the past eight years, not paid any taxes. The U.S. will always have companies offshoring their earnings, and a tax cut promised by President Donald Trump and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill won't change that, he added.

"Zero percent, which is what [companies] are paying in the Caymans, is always going to look good compared to 35, 15, 20 percent," Gardner told "Squawk on the Street." "Whatever tax rate you name, as long as zero percent is available, these companies are always going to find a way to shift their profits into tax havens."

In addition to offshoring profits, companies use a variety of loopholes to scoot around paying taxes, and all of them are completely legal, he said. These tax breaks, he argued, have been expanded by Congress in recent years, making a true 35 percent federal corporate tax a myth.

"You add up all of these tax breaks and what you see is that there are entire industries that are finding ways to almost zero out their taxes with astonishing regularity," Gardner says.

Current plans for tax reform, Gardner said, have not focused on closing these loopholes and eliminating breaks.
White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn told CNBC on Friday the Trump administration is going to tackle tax cuts after repealing and replacing Obamacare.

"We're absolutely going to do taxes under reconciliation," a budget process that requires only a simple majority of votes in the Senate, Cohn said on "Squawk on the Street."

"We care about the deficit. We care about revenue," said Cohn, who left Goldman Sachs as the number two executive to join the Trump White House.

"We're going to have to be revenue neutral over a 10-year period. Yes, we're going to be able to use dynamic scoring," he said. "We are working on a bunch of interesting ideas."

Dynamic scoring allows officials to take into account how the economy would react to legislation when considering the cost and revenue effects.

"I really like this commitment to deficit neutrality over 10 years," JPMorgan Funds chief global strategist David Kelly told CNBC.

"If you do dynamic scoring honestly you can say that if you make certain changes in the economy even in the structure of taxes and that causes economic growth to accelerate, then you get some more revenue from that. And that can allow for some tax cuts," Kelly said.

But he added it's tough to get a "big bump" from a revenue-neutral plan.
President Donald Trump holds a National Economic Council listening session with the CEOs of small and community banks, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on March 9, 2017 in Washington, D.C.

The bankers emphasized the need for "tailoring regulations to fit the size and complexity of banks," said Chesapeake Financial Shares Inc Vice Chairman Jeffrey Szyperski, one of the bankers in the meeting.

Bankers who attended the 45-minute meeting said they discussed the role community banks play in rural areas and provided real-world examples about the difficulties smaller banking institutions face.

Representing the industry were chief executives of nine community banks with assets of around $1 billion or less and the heads of the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).

"Nearly half of all private-sector workers are employed by small businesses. We must ensure access to capital to small businesses and for small businesses to grow. Community banks are the backbone of small business in America," Trump said at the beginning of the meeting.

Trump, joined by National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin , said community banks play a "vital role" in the U.S. economy.

President Donald Trump promised in a meeting with community bankers on Thursday to strip away some Dodd-Frank financial regulations and ensure they can continue giving small businesses access to capital.

Chesapeake is a regional bank headquartered in Kilmarnock, Virginia, that has 14 branches and a separate wealth management division.

"Our main point was really that one size all does not fit all," Szyperski said in an interview after the meeting.

The idea seemed to resonate with Trump, who asked questions and showed a pre-existing understanding of the community banking landscape, according to those in attendance.

ICBA, one of the industry groups at the meeting, has advocated a tiered system of regulations that tailor regulations to a bank's size, business model, complexity and risk.

"The type of regulation that you need for a $700 million bank and the risks they present are very different than those for a $200 billion bank or a $1 trillion bank," a White House official said before the meeting.

Larger banks are able to spread their higher compliance costs over much bigger asset and employee bases, while smaller banks struggle with high costs and workloads.

One of the institutions participating, Standard Financial Corp of Monroeville, Pennsylvania, has just nine branches with $488 million in assets and earnings of $559,000 in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. It plans to merge with a rival in southwestern Pennsylvania in a deal that will roughly double its size.

Trump officials cited a dearth of applications to form new community banks and around a 30 percent drop in the number of small U.S. banks since 2008 as the impetus for the meeting. A smaller bank has gone out of business every day for the past seven years, Szyperski said, citing the Dodd-Frank financial reform law enacted after the 2007-2008 financial crisis as a reason new banks had not formed in their stead.

Trump promised the bankers that his February executive order on reducing regulation was "very powerful" and would apply to the community banking sector.

Mnuchin, the former CEO of OneWest bank, a regional lender in Southern California, said at his confirmation hearing in January that onerous regulations are "killing community banks." He pledged to ease those burdens while maintaining "proper" regulation, "so that we don't end up with a world where we only have four big banks in this country."

Also discussed at the meeting were the compliance costs associated with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a new regulator created under Dodd-Frank.

The CFPB is a perennial target for Republicans, who want to shift its funding from the Federal Reserve to annual appropriations by Congress and shift its management, now concentrated in a powerful chairman, to a multi-person commission structure.

Separately on Thursday, when asked during a briefing with reporters whether Trump still backs his campaign pledge to restore the Glass-Steagall Act, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that he did. The law, which separated commercial and investment banking activities, was repealed in 1999 and, if reinstated, would mainly apply to larger banks.
Americans should expect to see major infrastructure improvements under President Donald Trump, said longtime friend and fellow real estate mogul Richard LeFrak.

If ever there was an infrastructure president, it's Trump, the president of The LeFrak Organization told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday. "He has concrete in his blood."

LeFrak and another New York-based billionaire property developer, Steven Roth, are leading a new council to oversee the White House's proposed $1 trillion in infrastructure spending and to foster public-private development partnerships.

Trump held an infrastructure meeting at the White House on Wednesday with LeFrak and Roth, chairman and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust , as well as well other real estate executives and government officials including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt.

"One thing [Trump] said while we were in the meeting, he said 'don't bring me any projects that you want federal funding for that you can't start and had completed the state approval processes,'" LeFrak said.

That's because "'most of these projects come from the state, in 90 to 100 days. If they're not ready in 120 days, tell them to go back, get finished, and bring it back,' [Trump said]. In other words, he's not going to ... devote the resources to things that he can't implement immediately," he added.

The U.S. is behind the curve in repairing aging roads, bridges and airports, LeFrak said. He cited a report released Thursday by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which gave the state of America's infrastructure systems at D+ and estimated the nation needs to invest $3.6 trillion by 2020.



Tough regulations and an arduous approval process are killing much-needed proposed projects, LeFrak said. But he stressed environmental protections for clean air and clean water will be respected.
Two top White House economic advisors have taken pains recently not to hint at where they stand on a key piece of the House Republicans' tax reform plan.

Asked Friday about border adjustment, a House GOP provision that several senators and large retailers have opposed, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stayed mum.

"Until we see all the details of it, it's really hard for me to come to a conclusion," he said in a joint news conference with Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Mexico's economic minister. Ross declined to say whether he supported it in a separate CNBC interview this week.

National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn also took no stand on the issue in a CNBC interview Friday. He gave no hint at the White House's position in a separate CNBC interview last month.

In all, Trump's advisors have taken great care in public not to suggest where the White House stands on border adjustment, which could become a point of contention as Republicans aim to pass tax reform later this year. As the House pushes for the position and multiple senators oppose it, the White House's view could prove crucial in whether it passes.

The key House GOP reform provision would tax imports, moving the U.S. closer to taxing consumption. Proponents like House Speaker Paul Ryan say it will encourage economic growth and raise $1 trillion in revenue over 10 years, enough to help to chop the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent.

Many large retailers have argued against border adjustment, saying the tax on lower-cost imported goods may get passed on to consumers.

Informal Trump advisor and CNBC senior contributor Larry Kudlow tweeted this week that sources told him Ross opposed border adjustment. Ross replied that he has "taken no position" on it.

Axios reported last month that Cohn told a group of CEOs that the White House does not support border adjustment. The White House later disputed the report.




A ballistic rocket launching drill of Hwasong artillery units of the Strategic Force of the KPA in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang March 7, 2017.

Unnerved by North Korea's military threat, the U.S. and China are likely to clash as they search for a solution in how to deal with Pyongyang's nuclear program, according to Danske Bank 's chief analyst.

Tensions have been stoked in the aftermath of North Korea's most recent simultaneous launch of four rockets on Monday. North Korea has been banned from testing nuclear missile-related technology by the United Nations and has repeatedly faced international condemnation for multiple breaches of sanctions.

The U.S. has moved to accelerate its deployment of its so-called THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile system in South Korea in response to several missile tests by the North Korean regime.

"With China's softer stance of going to the negotiation table and (U.S. President Donald) Trump's rising impatience, North Korea is another area of conflict that bears close watching," Allan von Mehren, chief analyst at Danske Bank, said in a note.
Shipbuilders like Huntington Ingalls Industries and General Dynamics , as well as their suppliers, are just waiting for President Donald Trump's signal to switch their job engines to full throttle.

As the Navy's largest shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls is already set to hire some 4,000 workers over the next three to five years. CEO Mike Petters said the company is looking for workers in craft and design positions as the market for shipbuilding is improving. With suppliers in all 50 states and 37,000 employees around the globe, the company builds nuclear-powered aircraft and submarines at its Newport News, Virginia, shipyard, and non-nuclear ships such as cutters and destroyers in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

"We have dozens of crafts that are involved in the building of the ships  it's pipefitters, welders, painters, insulators, sheet metal workers," Petters said. "Just about anything you can imagine you might need in building a city, we use, because, frankly, that is what we are building."

Now Trump is also calling for a major expansion of the U.S. military, to the tune of $603 billion, with a $54 billion budgetary boost in defense spending. Among the president's priorities is to expand the Navy: He's calling for 350 ships, up from today's 274, marking the largest naval buildup since the Cold War.

That move would mean more business and jobs after years of stagnation due to constraints under the government's sequestration of funds. The president has made repeated calls for Congress to eliminate the Defense sequester, which places spending caps until 2021.



"By eliminating the sequester and the uncertainty it creates, it will make it easier for the Navy to plan for the future, and thus control costs and get the best deals for the taxpayer, which of course is very important," Trump said last week at Huntington Ingalls' Newport News shipyard.



Still, a divided Congress stands in Trump's way. "There are political dynamics in Washington that aren't going to let him achieve a larger military without consequences," said Roman Schweizer, senior aerospace defense and policy analyst at Cowen. "I think it's going to be difficult for him to get what he wants."


In the daily White House briefing on Friday, spokesman Sean Spicer went into deeper detail behind Michael Flynn's foreign agent work, describing the decision to register as a "personal matter" not a "business matter."

Spicer said that the decision was not up to the lawyer for Trump's transition team to determine, and he dismissed questions about whether Flynn's work as a foreign agent would've stopped President Donald Trump in naming him national security adviser.

"[The decision] was not something that would be appropriate for a government entity to give someone guidance on when they should file, as an individual, as a private citizen," Spicer said.

Flynn was fired last month as the National Security Advisor after misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his communication with Russian diplomats.

Earlier this week, Flynn registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department for $530,000 worth of lobbying work prior to the U.S. election that could have helped Turkey's government. Spicer previously said that Trump wasn't aware of Flynn's lobbying work for Inovo BV, a Dutch company owned by a Turkish businessman.
The holidays are creeping up on us
Quick quiz -- how many of you have not experienced a phishing attack on your organization in the last month?

I suspect that there are not many hands up. As you likely know, phishing is a pervasive problem for the corporate world, and the problem is growing. One organization I work with has seen a 400% increase in phishing attacks in just the last year.

[ Check out these 11 phishing prevention tips for best technology practices, employee education and social media smarts. | Get the latest from CSO by signing up for our newsletters. ]

I think most people with some knowledge of the information security world understand the gravity of phishing attacks. The results of a recent study indicated that approximately 93% of phishing messages carry ransomware. On top of that, many seek to collect personal information for later use, a practice known as social engineering.

What many may not realize is the drain phishing attacks place on the information technology team, particularly the information security organization. For organizations with an operational security function, this involves pulling the message out of mailboxes before most users see it, conducting forensic analysis to understand what each message does, reviewing logs to understand what, if any, impact the message had on the organization, blocking links or attachments, and keeping leadership informed. These efforts can leave a major dent in the bottom line.

If someone acted on a link or attachment, the time spent can rise exponentially. This usually involves a full incident response process, focused on cleaning up any damage, restoring corrupted files, and investigating the possibility of a data breach. Given that HIPAA requires any such attack be considered a breach until proven otherwise, these organizations must approach the investigation process even more completely.

Phishing is also a drain on overall organizational workload. Many larger organizations now require annual phishing training. Employees must read outside messages with greater care, and must learn to contact IT when they have a suspected message. The hours all employees of an organization spend on activities related to phishing can add up fast.

To further complicate the impact on the organization as a whole, there is a constant fear of being a victim of a phishing attack that can slow down normal operations. This fear often leads to employees being reluctant to act on a message that is legitimate. I encountered one such situation this week, by employees who received a message confirming their access to a new system they requested. Multiple users thought it might be phishing. This delayed their accessing the system they needed, and required the operational security team to investigate to confirm its legitimacy.

According to a study by the Ponemon Institute, the average yearly cost to a 10,000 person company for phishing-related activities is a staggering $3.7 million dollars. This includes an average of 4.16 hours per year wasted by each individual employee dealing with phishing. In my experience, that number is low.

One of my favorite movie quotes was made by the WOPR computer from the movie War Games: The only winning move is not to play. Applied to phishing, this underscores the importance of keeping as many phishing attacks out of an organization as possible, and limiting the damage from those that do get through. Here are some suggestions:

Prevent spam

Using anti-spam software on your email system is a strong defense against phishing attacks. Many phishing attacks are readily recognized and blocked by spam filters.

Training and reporting

Train your employees to spot phishing attacks, and make it easy for them to report suspected incidents. This becomes a valuable part of your early warning system, allowing you to investigate, and where necessary, act on an incident quickly. Services such as PhishMe include a button for Outlook that facilitate easy reporting.

Have a plan

Have a written plan outlining the steps your team will take in responding to phishing attacks. Logging and documentation are a critical part of this, in case an attack later becomes a legal or compliance issue.

Kill the messages

When an attack is confirmed, the highest priority should be to pull the message out of the mailboxes of anyone that received it, before they have a chance to respond.

Analyze and remediate

Once you have removed all possible messages from other users, you need to understand whether any recipients clicked on the link or opened an attachment. Use available logs -- if not available, contact the recipients and ask for details. It helps to have an isolated environment from which you can open the link or an attachment, to determine what, if any, negative consequences occur. Tools such as Wireshark can help you to determine what actions result from responding to the message.

Be cautious, however, to only test a message in a completely isolated environment. Obviously, if you find that a user interacted with a phishing message, you will need to take whatever steps are necessary to clean up any damage.

Block actions

If you determine from the analysis that the message attempts to contact addresses or websites, block access to those destinations from your firewall or web filtering system.

Use threat intelligence

A good way to prevent phishing attacks before they happen is to stay plugged in to threat intelligence feeds. If you can get other organizations to tell you about their phishing attacks before they hit your network, you have a chance to block them before they happen.

The best threat intelligence feeds usually come from an organization focused on your industry. If you cannot find one, check this list of available feeds. Don't forget to return the favor by informing other organizations about the attacks you get.

Maintain metrics

Since phishing prevention and response is time consuming and expensive, you will likely need to justify the costs to your company's management. Keep careful statistics about your phishing attacks, and the time and effort spent responding, and report those numbers to management on a regular basis.

Bottom line: Preventing and responding to phishing attacks is a costly endeavor, but the consequences of one of your users responding to such an attack will be far worse. Do everything you can to prevent or limit attacks, and respond quickly to any attacks you discover.
If you really want to find out what happened at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, it's best to ask someone who was there.

Case in point: Computerworld's Matt Hamblen, who attended this year's show and wrote about everything from new smartphones to the status of 5G networking, fancy new phone cameras and the latest smart city efforts. (He also brought his ubiquitous hat for this episode.)

He detailed for Executive News Editor Ken Mingis what was hot, and not so hot, at this year's show.

[ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ]

Among the highlights: BlackBerry's rollout of the KEYone, a what's-new-is-old smartphone with a physical keyboard. In fact, several well-known brands beyond BlackBerry, including Motorola and Nokia, resurfaced at this year's event.

MWC attendees also heard a lot about various efforts to push 5G networking, though when it will be widespread is anyone's guess. In the meantime, there's apparently something called "almost-5G."

Smart city tech also got a lot of attention, as officials from Moscow detailed what they've been doing to install cameras (160,000 of them!) and sensors throughout the city -- and have even turned to artificial intelligence to help diagnose cancer. (Hamblen's latest smart city video report -- on Montreal -- is available online.)

For an audio podcast only, click play (or catch up on all episodes) below. Or you can now find us on iTunes, where you can download each episode and listen at your leisure.

Happy listening, and please, send feedback or suggestions for future topics to us. We'd love to hear from you.
The International Monetary Fund in Washington is shifting some of its IT work overseas, and somewhere between 100 and 200 IT workers are impacted by this change.

The work is being taken over by India-based IT managed services provider L&T Infotech, and the change was announced to the staff last year. The transition, which involves training L&T employees, is continuing through the end of this year. IMF IT workers are being to encourage to stay by means of an incentive package.

The affected IT workers are all third-party contractors. Some of the contractors have been working at the IMF for five and 10 years or longer, and are viewed as staff for most purposes.

"Some people are just mad," said one affected IT employee, who requested anonymity. "Why are they bringing people in from overseas to do these jobs?" Computerworld reached several IMF IT workers.

The affected areas include networking, security, servers and desktops.

L&T Infotech, is an H-1B dependent firm, meaning 15% or more of staff works on temporary visas. IMF IT workers reached weren't certain if the contractor's employees were on a visa. One IT worker said that Labor Condition Application notices from the contractor, indicating the salary and workplace of a visa worker, had been posted in their office.

The employees say that a number of IT workers have left for other jobs. L&T is expected to offer jobs to a small number.

The IMF is based in downtown Washington and its IT operations are located about three blocks from the White House.

One of the third-party contractors that supplies IT workers to the IMF is TEKsystems. Computerworld asked whether it will find the workers new jobs. Nathan Bowen, TEKsystems spokesperson, in a written statement said: "As long as the IMF employees working under contract from TEKsystems are in good standing and have expressed interest in continuing to find employment through TEKsystems, then our recruiters will actively pursue contracts that fit their needs."

[ Discuss this story. Join our H-1B/Outsourcing group on Facebook. ]

Computerworld contacted the IMF by email and phone, but the organization did not respond to a request for comment. But the IMF did release an unrelated statement Thursday afternoon describing IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde's meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, telling him that the IMF was interested in creating jobs.

This statement said, in part, "Madame Lagarde expressed the IMF's desire to continue close engagement with the U.S. to encourage policies that will promote growth, stability, and job creation in the U.S. and globally."
Intel surprised many observers when the company hired outsider Venkata Renduchintala to lead the company's PC, Internet of Things, and Systems Architecture groups.

With more than a year under his belt, he's spearheading a cultural change inside the company, getting employees to think beyond PCs and talk about technologies like 5G and IoT.

There's been a lot of chatter about changes in the company's chip development strategy, with the recent announcement of the 8th Generation Core processors, an unprecedented fourth chip architecture on the 14-nanometer process. The chip industry veteran sat down with the IDG News Service at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to talk about what spurred the move and also his thoughts on 5G.

IDG News Service: How is 5G development going?

Renduchintala: I'm noticing there are a hell of a lot more people interested in 5G. The interest in anything that happened before -- whether you're an industrial conglomerate, a car company, a transportation company -- you are now talking about much more interest in 5G than ever before. It's the whole age of everything coming down to data. There are so many colliding identities that get aggregated under the banner of 5G. For example, IoT is now becoming inextricably linked with the passage of 5G.

IDG News Service: 5G will be across a wide range of devices. What can users expect?

Renduchintala: You'll have network operators becoming more like a cable operator where you can basically get your phone, internet, and TV all in one contract. An autonomous car, all of your cell phones, your tablets, your media consumption, and even the automation and control of your house via an IoT network, is all going to be in one bill. It's going to be different types of networks all generating different types of traffic but ultimately concatenating into one of all integrated services. A network operator is going to basically say: I deliver media, I deliver services, I deliver mobile broadband communications, and it may be delivered over two or three different network architectures that all work together.

IDG News Service: What's happening to the 5G network?

Renduchintala: What's happening in the network, although it may be more esoteric to explain, is actually just as profound. A network that used to be custom pieces of silicon -- that used to be hand-stitched together to give you performance optimization and load balancing -- is now collapsing down to a reconfigurable entity that used to live in the data center [and is] now being shoved into the network. It's general purpose computing, general purpose data distribution, reconfigurable memory and programming logic, all of which can be reconstituted by the upgrade of a binary in terms of the function.

IDG News Service: Do the cloud providers understand the implications of 5G?

Renduchintala: It's difficult to actually see. It's only when you really stand back and look at the totality of what's changing you'll actually understand how profound it is. They're no longer going to say, I build five or six mega data centers and stuff. Let's say, for example, Google wants to build out a network that is supporting self-driving cars. I don't think its network architecture is going to look anything that it looks like today, where its main service is essentially providing things like Google Drive and offsite data storage and retrieval. It could be a completely different architecture.

IDG News Service: You are developing modems a lot quicker. Why is that?

Renduchintala: The cadence is not set by Intel. The cadence is set by the market. You're going to have to have an upgrade of a modem every year. There's a big transition coming along probably in around the late 2018/2019 timeframe where instead of incrementally evolving LTE, you are going to flip to your first multimode LTE/5G. And then you get to this big disruption and then get a big stride in incremental improvement thereon. And then over time, it becomes less and less discernable to the end user. To me, this is like the classic period of a modem upgrade followed by a rapid improvement on the very first generation device and then the ability to get more and more improvement becomes diminishing returns over time.

IDG News Service: With 5G supposedly around the corner, how valuable is gigabit LTE?

Renduchintala: There's nothing innovative in gigabit LTE -- all you are doing is, instead of aggregating two carriers, I'm aggregating four carriers over a wider bandwidth. That means bigger memory, bigger chipsets, more power -- there's nothing technically mind-blowing. It's just arithmetic extension -- if I want to get a gigabit per second, I have five carrier aggregation across 100 megabits of contiguous bandwidth and therefore I get more data. With LTE, you're really getting to a point where we have to basically go towards both spectrum efficiency gains as well as better data resiliency and service security. That's going to be truly profound.

IDG News Service: At Intel's recent analyst conference, you mentioned 8th Generation Core chips coming out on the 14-nm process, while Cannonlake is around the corner. Why the change in chip development plans?

Renduchintala: What we're moving towards is a model where people can expect from Intel a yearly cadence of platform upgrade that actually gives meaningful performance improvements in the generation that preceded it. For example, Skylake to Kaby Lake was about 15 percent in overall system performance improvement. What we said is we will deliver at least 15 percent improvement from 7th Generation to 8th Generation.

We're focusing on making sure we get meaningful performance upgrade on an annual cadence and to some degree, the process technology that lives underneath that is going to be less conspicuous. There will be a much more of a seamless transition from node to node. We can translate that into a more predictable cadence of product which delivers meaningful performance to stimulate PC upgrades.

IDG News Service: Will Cannonlake be 8th generation or is it a different lineup?

Renduchintala: I don't know yet. I think we're going to be more focused on generation by the amount of performance increment it will give us. I don't think that generations will be tagged just to node transitions. It will be tagged towards the fact that it needs to have meaningful performance [gains]. Whatever we launch in September of 2018 has to have at least as much improvement year over year as what happened between Kaby Lake and the 8th Generation. If Cannonlake comes out at the end of the year, it could be interesting what we actually market it as we haven't actually decided yet.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) used campaign funds last year to pay nearly $3,000 for goods and services at a Salt Lake City Apple store, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.

Earlier this week, the Utah congressman had suggested that Americans choose between buying an iPhone or paying for health care. When CNN host Alisyn Camerota pointed out that access to health care for low-income Americans was not the same as providing coverage, Chaffetz responded: "Americans have choices, and they've got to make a choice. So rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care. They've got to make those decisions themselves."

From the expenses submitted to the FEC by "Friends of Jason Chaffetz," the lawmaker's campaign committee, Chaffetz did not have to make that choice.

In five instances last year, Chaffetz, or one of his staff, used funds from the committee to pay for purchases at the Apple store in Salt Lake's City Creek Center. The amounts ranged from $32.01 to $1,550.08 -- totaling $2,866.81 -- with the purchases made between March 25 and Oct. 2.

Chaffetz's use of campaign funds to shop at the Apple store was not illegal or against House rules. Mobile phones, in fact, are specifically called out as allowable in guidelines published by the House Committee on Ethics. "It is permissible for a Member to acquire a 'handheld communications device' (e.g., a cell phone, a BlackBerry, or a combination cell phone/BlackBerry device, and associated communications services) with campaign funds, and to use the device on an unlimited basis on both campaign matters and official House matters," the guidelines state.

Caveats, not surprisingly, abound. Such devices may not be used to solicit campaign contributions while the user is in the Capitol, a House office building, or a district office. Nor may they be used for personal calls. And campaign funds may only be used to buy what the guidelines term "handheld communication devices."

The latter would seem to preclude Chaffetz -- and colleagues in the House and Senate -- from using campaign funds to purchase, say, a MacBook Pro at that Apple store. (Even so, a September 2015 transaction at the same Apple store, for $998.28, was tagged as "COMPUTER" in the FEC filing.)

The $738.08 purchase made in mid-July may have been an iPhone 6S, although the $649 price of that device, even with Utah and Salt Lake City's sales tax, could not account for the full amount. Or it may have been a $599 9.7-in. iPad Pro tablet with an additional $99 for an AppleCare plan. Yet the tablet purchase, with tax, would have exceeded the $738 by several dollars.

Later Tuesday, Chaffetz acknowledged that "maybe I didn't say it as smoothly as I possibly could," but stood by his comment that people face a choice.
President Donald Trump's administration has signaled that it has no immediate plans to change the H-1B program. Critics are roiled. They wanted Trump to act before April 1, the day the U.S. accepts visa applications for the new year.

But no one knows for sure. New rumors circulate that Trump will act, maybe next week, but the White House won't say.

The IEEE-USA said Friday that Trump's inaction on the H-1B visa "will cost American jobs." The group now believes that action before April is unlikely, and that may be because of something Sean Spicer, the press secretary, said this week.

Spicer was asked at a press briefing Wednesday if there was any plan to "revamp the H-1B program by April 1." Spicer said the president was focused on border security.

Regarding the H-1B program, Spicer said: "There is a natural desire to have a full at -- a comprehensive look at that." He gave no hint as to when that might happen.

[ To comment on this story, go to Computerworld's Facebook page. ]

Trump repeatedly called for reform during his campaign and after, the IEEE-USA points out.

"By Trump not yet keeping his promise, American tech workers will continue to lose their jobs and their ability to take care of their families," said IEEE-USA president Karen Pedersen, in a statement. "This is in direct contrast to what he told us all last year."

Industry analysts, however, see what's unfolding a little differently. They do believe that the Trump administration is impacting IT services, even indirectly.

"It is clear that many firms are postponing or canceling offshoring activity, as they wait to see what happens on the political front," said Peter Bendor-Samuel, the CEO of outsourcing consultancy and research firm Everest Group. This is actually "accelerating the adoption of the new digital models which do not require offshoring."

"No U.S. firm wants to be tweeted about," said Bendor-Samuel.

Clients -- firms that buy IT services -- are nervous about the environment, said David Rutchik, executive managing director at Pace Harmon, an outsourcing management consulting firm.

Senior-level corporate executives, including CEOs, are concerned. They are worried about news coverage, or worse, being "called out on Twitter" by Trump for outsourcing jobs, said Rutchik. "They are afraid of what it may look like politically."

This may be hurting the bottom line of some IT services firms.

For the top five Indian services firms, Everest is forecasting revenue growth declining in constant currency from 8.7% last year to 6.3% this year.

Rutchik said public companies will still be under pressure to deliver cost savings and may outsource nonetheless, but he expects system that automat processes to also gain in adoption.

The analysts say political uncertainty is prompting IT services firms to hire more U.S. nationals to reduce reliance on visa workers.

The political climate is "telling the providers that they need to step up their focus on building out capabilities and resources in the U.S.," said Rutchik.

The U.S. distributes the H-1B visas by lottery shortly after April 1 -- if it receives more petitions than the cap. Last year more than 230,000 petitions were received. Critics had been hoping that that Trump might change the visa distribution from a pure lottery to a system that gives preference, for instance, to non-dependent H-1B firms, those with less than 15% of their workers on a visa.

That change would have put India-based firms in the back of the H-1B distribution line, but IT services such firms as Accenture and IBM, which are not H-1B dependent, would have been unaffected.

Trump may still take action on H-1B visas apart from the lottery, says Bendor-Samuel. As an example, he points to the administration's recent action to suspend fast-track premium processing for six months.

"Providers are not home free this year and face increased resistance to their model regardless of the delay in the actual law changes," said Bendor-Samuel. "The net effect is that they will be able to utilize H-1B, but at a greater expense and to a lesser degree."

But the IEEE-USA believes that IT outsourcers get as many as 50,000 of the 85,000 H-1B visas. "Rather than using H-1B workers themselves, outsourcing companies rent their workers to third-parties at below-market rates. American workers, after training many of these new employees, will lose their jobs," said Pedersen.
Singapore to invest SGD 24 million in health sector

The Ministry of Health in Singapore will invest an additional SGD 24 million as about 9,000 additional workers will be needed in the health sector in the coming three years, announced Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor in Parliament.

He said, Among the 9,000 additional staff needed, about half are Professional, Manager, Executive and Technician (PMET) level roles such as nurses, therapists, administrative executives and operations managers.

About 9000 vacancies will be created in the health sector of Singapore. Photo courtesy: iHiS

The Minister observed, The positive news is that growth in the healthcare sector will bring many good jobs, clinical and non-clinical and at different levels, for Singaporeans..

To attract mid-career Singaporeans, an initiative has been taken for increased funding for the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) for Nursing scheme so that employers co-fund only 10 per cent of the training cost, a reduction from the current 20 to 50 per cent.

Training support will also be given to the employers for hiring nurses. Employers that hire enrolled nurses and registered nurses who graduate from the PCP, will receive new on-the-job training support of SGD 12,000 and SGD 16,000 respectively.

Registered nurses handle more medical duties, while enrolled nurses support registered nurses in providing essential nursing duties such as conducting active patient and caregiver education.

Dr. Khor further said, The funding will encourage employers to admit more PCP-trained nurses and enable them to better support these nurses in their transition to a new career. We will also tap on Ministry of Manpowers (MOM) new Attach and Train scheme to enable more mid-career Singaporeans to take up PCP nursing training."

Non-clinical roles, such as administrative and executive positions in the areas of human resource and hospital operations, will also be made available for PMETs.
Back in December, we asked our panel of Conservative Party member readers of this site how they felt about the outcome of the US presidential election. Overall, 44 per cent were happy about Trumps victory (17 per cent very pleased, plus 27 per cent pleased), while 31 per cent were unhappy (17 per cent very displeased, plus 14 per cent simply displeased). The remaining quarter said there were neither pleased nor displeased.

This month weve returned to the topic, asking 727 respondents to pick one of the following options:

Having Donald Trump as Americas President is a good thing.

Its too early to pronounce on Donald Trump as Americas President, but the signs are good.

Its too early to pronounce at all on Donald Trump as Americas President.

Its too early to pronounce on Donald Trump as Americas President, but the signs are bad.

Having Donald Trump as Americas President is a bad thing.

The results show some slippage at both ends of the scale.

Fifteen per cent believed Trumps presidency to be a good thing, while 24 per cent said it was too early to pronounce but the signs were good  so a total of 39 per cent giving an overall positive response.

By contrast, 11.7 per cent said Trumps presidency was a bad thing, with a further 15.8 per cent saying it was too early to pronounce but the signs were bad  giving a total of 27.5 per cent on the negative side of the ledger.

In short, both positive and negative feelings about him seem to have waned since the immediate aftermath of the election. Accordingly, the proportion who gave neither a positive nor negative response  saying it was to early to pronounce at all  has grown to 33.4 per cent, becoming the largest single group. It could be his erratic actions in power, or the intense media war over his every word, but Tories are becoming less, not more, decided about him.
Cllr Joe Cooney is Leader of the Conservative Group on Pendle Council.

Pendle Council often bucks the trend when it comes to local politics: when one national party has been riding high in the polls, it hasnt always converted into a corresponding increase in councillors for that party.

One such embarrassing anachronism is that Pendle plays host to the very last British National Party councillor in England, representing Marsden Ward.

Until 2012, the BNP was represented by two borough councillors. Thankfully, after much work, the Tories defeated one councillor in 2012, got within six votes of defeating the other in 2014, defeated their last Town Councillor in 2015  and finally last year, we held the seat we gained from them in 2012, despite a huge fight from the dubious remnants of the national BNP.

Why is this important? Surely one councillor has limited influence, especially when not part of a wider political party? Not in Pendle. We find ourselves in the farcical situation where that BNP councillor actually holds the balance of power.

The Conservative Group has grown significantly in recent months. Following our successful elections last May where we gained seats from both Labour and the Lib Dems, we were on 21 out of 49 councillors. We proposed a shared Executive of all three main parties (Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems) to work together. This was rejected by the other groups and they continued to run the Council.

In November 2016, we gained another seat from Labour, this time in a by-election taking our tally to 22. Again, we proposed an all-party shared Executive and again it was rejected.

We have also been lucky in recent weeks to benefit from two defections, one from Labour and one from the Liberal Democrats, so that the current make-up of Pendle Council is: 24 Conservatives, 15 Labour, nine Liberal Democrats and one BNP. In other words, the ruling Coalition no longer has a majority and needs support to get items through Council.

Our sole BNP councillor is centre stage; he now holds the balance of power in his hands. As weve worked hard to try and eradicate the BNP from Pendle, we have no desire to enter into any arrangements with the BNP and Id assumed the other groups would also want no connection with an overtly racist party. I was wrong.

In the Lancashire Telegraph on 8th March, it was revealed that the BNP has committed its support to Labour and the Lib Dems following their pledge to regenerate a piece of land in Cllr. Parkers ward.

While twice this year refusing to work with the Conservatives, we now have an administration being propped up by the BNP. Not only is this a scandal for Labour and the Lib Dems, but its also embarrassing for Pendle, the Council, and our residents.

I know the saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but a deal with the BNP is taking that rather too literally. All parties should take a stand against hate. I have written to Tim Farron and Jeremy Corbyn to ask for their comments.
Iain Dale is Presenter of LBC Drive, Managing Director of Biteback Publishing, a columnist and broadcaster and a former Conservative Parliamentary candidate.

Call me old fashioned, but I had always been under the impression that the Conservative Party was the party of small business, enterprise and entrepreneurialism. No longer. In Wednesdays Budget, Philip Hammond delivered a firm slap in the face to two and a half million self-employed people. With the proposed increase in some national insurance contributions, he signalled to them that he didnt understand what it means to be self-employed and that he doesnt understand the concept of insurance as opposed to a tax.

He also signalled to people that they shouldnt believe a word thats written in the next Conservative Manifesto. The pledge in the last one couldnt have been clearer, and the wriggling that the Chancellor and his colleagues proceeded to do had to be seen to be believed. Ah, they said, the pledge only applied to Class Two contributors  as if anyone who wasnt a political geek would have understood what that meant.

Look at the small print of legislation last year, they said. It was made clear that this only applied to Class Two contributions. Well, in that case, the distinction should have been made clear in the manifesto the previous May. Hammond also gave the impression that he thought that people were trying to fiddle their taxes by going self-employed. Thanks, Phil. By introducing this one measure, Hammond gave two a half million people licence to vote for another party. Quite an achievement for a Conservative Chancellor.

I suspect that this is another one of those measures which civil servants have suggested should be in the budget year after year. A sensible and more political chancellor would have told them to take a running jump, and sent the proposal packing. Its an idea that Hammond will live to regret. I hope enough Tory MPs vote for an amendment to the Finance Bill to consign this ignorant and anti-business proposal to the dustbin of budget history.

         

Lord Ashcroft has advertised for a job as a researcher, working with him and Isabel Oakeshott on his new book about British defence policy. I hear Lord Heseltine has some time on his hands

         

Sometimes we in this country forget what a proud nation we have been. Liam Fox caused a minor outrage on the Left this week when he said that The United Kingdom, is one of the few countries in the European Union that does not need to bury its twentieth century history

Hes right, though, isnt he? Think of all the countries in Europe, from Portugal in the west to Russia in the East and I cant think of any, apart from Switzerland and ourselves, who havent got cause to want to forget a large part of the last century. Theresa May might like to think about that when she starts the Brexit negotiations.

         

Nothing illustrates the paranoia of the Corbynistas more than this rather pathetic tweet from someone calling himself Crumblesch: Who knows if it is Hawking that said that? For all we know, MI5 could have hacked his machine. Corbyn terrifies the establishment, they will stop at nothing to remove him. And the thing point is that CrumbleSch and others like him seriously believe this to be true. Looneytunes.

         

They say disasters come in threes, and so it proved last Saturday morning. I was standing in for Matt Frei on his Saturday show on LBC. Im not used to getting up early on a Saturday  so I guess that has to be the explanation as to why I got on the wrong train at Tonbridge and suddenly realised that, instead of heading for Charing Cross, the train was going to Strood, one of the Medway towns!

I got to the studio with only twenty minutes to spare. I then found I had forgotten to bring my Laptop. Then, when I was doing my opener, I realised I hadnt heard the background music before. Was it a long opener, was it a short opener? I made the wrong choice and stopped speaking too soon.

Now I realise that, on the disaster scale, all these would score pretty low  but thats not how it felt at the time. Anyway, we did the first hour on the Northern Ireland elections, which elicited far more calls than the second hour phone-in on the Budget did. In fact, I think its the first time that anyone on LBC has ever done a phone-in for an hour on the state of politics in Northern Ireland. I suspect it wont be the last.

         

Of one thing we can be sure. House of Lords reform is firmly back on the agenda. Not now. Not next year  but after the 2020 election. The reason is obvious so I wont labour the point, but there will be a lot of pressure for the measure to be backed in the next Conservative manifesto.

Of course, following William Hagues call for an early election this week, there are a growing number of voices who are urging the Prime Minister to seek one. Downing Street has pooh-pooed the idea, although its denial that she is considering the matter was slightly half hearted.

If she wanted to do so, it wouldnt be simple, because of the Fixed Term Parliament Act. Her solution could be to repeal it. Jeremy Corbyn, when asked if he would support a repeal of the legislation, said that he would consider it. He really is a turkey voting for Christmas.

         

This week, I announced that Biteback will publish Katie Hopkins autobiography later in the year. Certain people on the Left were outraged. Outraged, I tell you!

Many would quite happily ban us from publishing it. Because thats their default reaction to anyone publishing a book they disagree with and written by a person they hate. Theyll never change.

They wouldnt even have been able to raise a smile on their hatchet faces by the fact that in original marketing blurb for the book used the phrase slack vagina. Im afraid that I then decided to let my inner Mary Whitehouse take over, and impose some right-wing censorship. Its what she would have wanted
Lewis Baston is author of Reggie: The Life of Reginald Maudling and several books about British general elections. He is a consultant on politics, elections and constituencies.

The Conservative majority government elected in May 2015 has a unique distinction among Conservative governments: it does not have a majority in the House of Lords.

Ever since the emergence of a recognisable party system, the Conservatives have been able to rely on a party majority in the Upper House.

From the party realignment of 1886 until the exclusion of all but 92 of the hereditary peers in 1999 that majority was enormous and overwhelming (although chipped away at the margins by the rising numbers of life peers following the reform of 1958).

Before 1914 it was a ferocious attacker of the Liberal government, drawing the celebrated retort from Lloyd George that: The House of Lords is not the watchdog of the constitution; it is Mr Balfours poodle. It fetches and carries for him. It barks for him. It bites anyone that he sets it on to.

After 1922 the House of Lords would deliver the occasional nip to Labour governments, but it was a gummy, sleepy poodle that was worried that if it went too far it might be put down.

The Conservative-dominated House of Lords was hardly ever a serious check on the ambitions of Conservative majority governments. David and Gareth Butlers magisterial British Political Facts records no noteworthy defeat in the Lords for any Conservative government prior to 1980. The only Commons-Lords clash recorded under the Tories was in 1956, when the Lords opposed a Commons proposal to abolish the death penalty.

There are two basic considerations when it comes to assessing, or reforming, the House of Lords  powers and method of composition. They should properly be taken together, and indeed the long succession of official inquiries and reports into the Lords reform question generally try to look at the questions together.

But when it has come to legislation and concrete proposals, it tends to be one or the other. Liberal and Labour governments have legislated on powers (the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949), in each case reducing the formal powers of the House of Lords.

The powers of the Lords have remained unchanged since 1949, although the 2015 Strathclyde review of the powers of the Lords on statutory instruments raised the possibility of a further reduction in powers. In December 2016 the government published its response to the review, indicating that they would not take any of its proposals forward in legislation this parliamentary session but would  slightly menacingly  keep the matter under review.

Composition has been reformed more often, and a Conservative government made the most important change of all by introducing life peerages in 1958, one of the two reforms that have created the Lords as we know it today (the other being the exclusion of the bulk of the hereditary peers in 1999). The Tories have also introduced more minor reforms such as the ability to disclaim peerages (1963), resign them, and for miscreant peers to be expelled (2014).

The interaction of powers and composition reflects some fundamental instincts among politicians. The compromise made for most of the century was that the second chamber would be dominated by aristocracy and a more broadly defined conservative elite, but that it would not get any more powers and the exercise of the powers that it formally enjoyed would in practice be very limited.

A conservative institution would survive, but it would be weak and not play the role that constitutional conservatives believed was the function of a second chamber. The Salisbury-Addison agreement was not a new departure, more a statement of the political realities in 1945 when the first majority non-Conservative government since the Parliament Act took power.

Most of the time, most of the Conservative Party has considered an effective bicameral system, although with the Commons having the final say, to be the most desirable structure for our legislature. The ultimate aim of a lot of Conservative thinking on the House of Lords over the last century has been about creating a method of composition legitimate enough to make the exercise of serious powers a possibility.

However, it has often been a case of following the path trod by St Augustine of Hippo: make me chaste and continent, but not yet.

A second chamber that is an effective check on the powers of the executive and an irritant to the House of Commons is good in principle, but it seems a lot less urgent from the vantage point of 10 Downing Street and a Commons majority. The process of getting there is fraught with difficulty and Labour governments have also found their enthusiasm waning.

Constitutional legislation ties up disproportionate amounts of parliamentary time and summons up the awkward squad in the Commons and the Lords alike. Richard Crossmans Lords reform of 1968 wilted under the combined pedantry and constitutional theorising of Enoch Powell and Michael Foot.

Tony Blair did manage to legislate in the first flush of enthusiasm, but despite the efforts of sincere reformers like Robin Cook the momentum dissipated and the Prime Minister did not seem unduly bothered. By 2003 Blair was proclaiming the virtues of an all-appointed chamber.

One Conservative approach, particularly popular in the crisis period of 1909-14 and during the 1920s, was to accompany the restoration of full powers with a sort of fancy-franchise Lords in which there would be several routes to membership of the second chamber. These would include an element of the hereditary peerage, probably around a third of the chamber, plus some appointed members and an element that would be directly or indirectly elected.

The problem with most of these schemes was that they were transparently self-interested. The hereditary element would mean that the Conservatives would have a majority in the chamber at all times other than the very highest tides of Labour or Liberal support.

A hybrid chamber like this would never get all-party consensus for the restoration of full powers, and Conservatives such as Baldwin and Churchill were worried that a permanently Tory second chamber with full powers would discredit the possibility of parliamentary reform and thereby drive the working class movement towards revolutionary socialism. Twentieth Century Conservative governments were wise enough to abandon ideas of making the apparently attractive trade of part-reform of composition in exchange for enhanced powers.

Some of the most convinced supporters of a bicameral legislature retain the ambition to restore some more serious powers to the House of Lords, such as a longer suspensory veto (or even an absolute veto), more power over finance, and the resolution of clashes between the two Houses by conference committee rather than giving the final verdict to the Commons. Full powers would be accompanied by a definitive democratic basis for membership through 100 per cent elected composition using a different electoral system and timetable from the Commons.

To a certain conservative temperament, stopping silly things from happening as a result of a sudden rush of popular opinion, and respect for the accumulated wisdom of institutions and past generations, is an important function of an upper House. A second chamber should be a brake, a sort of Superego to dissuade the House of Ego from pandering to the populist Id.

Tories such as Douglas Hogg and Andrew Tyrie have been persuasive advocates of Lords reform on the basis of democratic composition and a stronger political role, in part as a means of striking a blow against the executives dominance of the legislature. To quote Hogg in 2007, then an MP and a nominal Viscount but since 2015 a life peer:

I would be grateful if the Secretary of State stopped using the phrase primacy of the House of Commons. What he actually means is the primacy of the Executive. So long as the Government can retain control over their party, they can do as they please. We need Back-Bench Members of this House to reassert their independence, to recover the powers that the Executive have stolen from us, and to free ourselves from the tyranny of the Whips. That is what we need to do.

Most proposals have been less radical than equal or near-equal powers, and have been aimed at giving the chamber enough democratic legitimacy to exercise the powers it has under the 1949 Act. The ill-fated coalition proposal for a mostly-elected Lords in 2012 did not propose to change the powers of the second chamber.

The Lords themselves have generally seen reform and an effective bicameral parliament as more important than MPs tend to, for obvious reasons. The Tory-dominated Lords were prepared to go along with Crossmans reform in 1968 that would have restructured the voting strength of the parties in the Lords. After Commons opposition killed the proposals, the Lords became more assertive and took the rare step of vetoing a statutory instrument, arguing that it was not their Lordships fault that they remained unreformed.

Latterly, the Lords has taken a consistent view in favour of an all-appointed House while the House of Commons has tied itself in knots in the last two sets of votes on the principles of Lords reform. In February 2003 MPs voted down every proposal that was put before them.

In March 2007 they went one better and voted for two propositions that were logically inconsistent with each other, favouring both a wholly elected House and one composed of 80 per cent elected and 20 per cent appointed members. In 2012, despite the coalition scheme having the support of a clear majority of MPs, it ended up being withdrawn after a certain amount of chicanery.

Despite its honourable conservative philosophical roots, the idea of bicameral checks and balances  and perhaps the deeper concepts behind that  is out of favour.

Conservatives in the 1911-14 period were fond of calling the Liberal government a revolutionary committee that had upended the constitutional order. But the Liberals would retort that the 1911 Act was actually the foundation of what we think of as parliamentary democracy, with the primacy of the elected House and its accountability to the electorate.

The idea of direct democracy through referendums has seeped into the constitutional order since 1973, and in 2016 we seem to have passed through another transition point in what we understand by constitutional democracy. As Hogg noted in 2007, the executive is increasingly powerful and through plebiscite feels it has ascertained the General Will and should not be constrained in putting it into practice.

Rather strangely, it is now the liberal side of politics that seems inclined to appeal to the philosophies of Burke and Madison, and the conservatives who channel Rousseau and Robespierre. Funny old world, as another philosopher once said.
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Scarlett Johansson filed for divorce on Tuesday from French husband Romain Dauriac with whom she had a daughter. The move seems to be completely unexpected by Dauriac.

Hal Mayerson, Dauriac's lawyer, expressed surprise that the actress decided to file for divorce in spite of private negotiations going on between the two. Both parties are trying to agree on economic issues and a residential custody of their 2-year old daughter, Rose Dorothy. Mayerson viewed Johansson's action as a hostile act likely preceding a custody battle.

Dauriac, an art show curator in New York City, released a statement regretting that Johansson had made their circumstances public. He urged her to drop the petition and proceed with the negotiation they had started earlier no matter how uncomfortable it might be. He pointed out the reason it was necessary-- that not just one, but both were going to continue to play the role of Rose Dorothy's parents, the People reported.

Scarlett Johansson told news outlets in a statement that she was never going to speak up about her separation for the sake of her child. She described herself as a devoted mother and a private person. In essence, the star was asking for privacy, which Mayerson thought was incompatible with how Johansson had been handling her divorce affairs, according to the USA Today.

Mayerson claimed his client had been the "primary parent" for the toddler and that he and his daughter had been living their lives according to Johansson's schedule for filming. The People reported earlier that an alleged source revealed the reason for the split -- the marriage did not make sense and they were not equals.

Hailed as the highest-grossing actress of 2016, Johansson starred in the film "Captain America: Civil War" as Black Widow. She will play the character in the "Avengers" film scheduled for release in May next year.

Before her marriage to Dauriac, Johansson was married to the actor Ryan Reynolds from 2008 to 2011.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
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Top US doctors' organization and House democrats voiced their opposition against the Republican-backed American Health Care Act under President Donald Trump's administration. Although a few conservative Republicans are still skeptical with the provisions of the new bill, the bill's fate remains uncertain, although it is considered as just a first step in overhauling the US health care system.

In a report posted in Reuters, seven hospital groups including the America's Essential Hospitals, the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States aired their disagreement to the Trump-backed American Health Care Act. They are writing a letter to the lawmakers seeking favor for a US health care that would be affordable for people, including the elderly, children and the disabled.

The Republicans are in control of both the chambers of the Congress and the White House, but some conservative republicans are claiming that the new health bill shouldn't be a full repeal but a bill that will set up new entitlement programs. Meanwhile, Democrats are keen in kicking the bill claiming that is just a gift for the wealthy and would take away millions of insurances from Americans.

CNBC reveals that the new American Health Care Act is just the first step of the Trump administration to provide a new US health care program for the nation. According to current US Health Secretary Tom Price, the proposed bill will include certain changes, such as allowing health insurance to be sold across different state lines while lowering drug costs in the process. More action will be added in the future but details were not revealed by the secretary.

Meanwhile, doctors and Democrats are certain that the bill will just cause many patients to lose insurance and raise US health care cost in the process. Drastic changes that will be implemented to Medicaid, the US health insurance program, will gravely affect the poor.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Good actors pick their films based on such factors as the quality of the writing and the talent of the director. But sometimes, even the most money-hungry thespian will decide a role isn't for them and tell Hollywood they're bailing hard -- only for Hollywood to go, "Haha, not so fast, Jabroni." It turns out that forcing actors to shut their mouths and act in a movie they want nothing to do with can result in massive hits, cult classics ... and yes, the occasional turd. For example ...

7 Mark Hamill Really Wanted To Skip The Force Awakens

For almost 30 years, Mark Hamill lived easy, thinking his days of waving around a magic space glowstick for a living were behind him. But then in 2012, during a Star Wars event, George Lucas took Hamill and Carrie Fisher aside and told them a new trilogy was happening -- and if they didn't sign up, their characters would be written out.

Lucasfilm



"Sorry, lost my hand in a freak Slurpee machine accident! I can't play Luke with only one ... wait, shit."

Immediately, the actor was filled with utter terror. He explained the sensation as feeling like he'd been drafted. And he's not exactly wrong. Whoever became responsible for Luke Skywalker being left out of the movie was basically committing suicide-by-angry-nerd.



Hamill's admitted reaction upon learning he would be a few million dollars richer.

Hamill, ever the kind farm boy, needed someone else to do the dirty work for him -- someone like a brazen smuggler, perhaps. In an interview on the Nerdist podcast, he admitted that he was crossing his fingers and hoping that Harrison Ford would say no first, which seemed like a realistic possibility, given how much he freaking hates Han Solo. Unfortunately, director J.J. Abrams made the movie irresistible for Ford by offering to kill his character. And so Hamill accepted mostly out of politeness, The Force Awakens was a success, and he ended up being in it for like ten seconds. Good luck on the next one, Mark! Hope it doesn't suck!
Californias single-payer health care dream should be called single PRAYER, because it doesnt stand a snowballs chance in hell of working

For the most part, when the government is put in charge of things, those things tend to get worse and not better. As the late Ronald Reagan once said, government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem. With respect to healthcare, Reagans words hold true  more government is, indeed, the problem.

As it turns out, the liberals in California have yet to learn this important lesson. On Friday, State Senator Ricardo Lara introduced legislation that would transition Californias healthcare into a single-payer system. (RELATED: Read what a retired colonel said about the real purpose of Obamacare). The system would be very similar to the healthcare system currently in place in Canada and would cost California taxpayers roughly $40 billion for the first year alone. Given the poor economic climate California has already created for itself, this will no doubt be just one more burden on the people of California, and one step closer towards total bankruptcy.

Micah Weinberg, the president of the Economic Institute at the Bay Area Council, raised concerns over the financial consequences of the proposed legislation. Where are they going to come up with the $40 billion? he asked. He went on to suggest that adopting a state level single-payer system is just not feasible to do as a state.

The Los Angeles Times has noted that a single-payer healthcare system has been a goal for California liberals for quite some time now. In both 2006 and 2008, bills were introduced to reform the states healthcare system but they were vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Many California Progressives now blame the efforts of Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act for their renewed push to bring about statewide single-payer healthcare.

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The problem, of course, is that single-payer healthcare doesnt improve the quality and accessibility of care; it makes it all ten times worse. For proof, look no further than just north of our border, where Canadians have witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of government funded healthcare.

Of all 11 industrialized nations, Canada ranks last in its ability to provide citizens with same-day or next-day appointments with doctors. As a result of this harsh reality, many Canadians are increasingly traveling south into America to get the care that they need in a quick, efficient manner.

Such was the case with Sharon Shamblaw, a resident of Ontario who was diagnosed in the summer of 2015 with a form of blood cancer. The treatment was available to her at a Toronto hospital 100 miles away from her home, as well as in one of the three facilities inside of her province. The only problem was that each of these facilities had an eight-month waiting period for the particular type of stem cell transplant that Sharon needed.

Four months later, she finally decided to travel south to Buffalo, New York for her treatment. Sadly, Sharon was too late. She passed away at the age of 46, leaving behind her three children and her husband.

There are countless examples of this from different countries around the world. The long waiting times and poor quality care that occurs as a result of single-payer healthcare have terrible consequences not only for the well-being of the people living in these countries, but for the countries themselves. In a place like California, where the entire state economy is teetering on the brink of collapse, a transition into a single-payer system may very well be the straw that breaks the camels back.

Sources:

Breitbart.com

LAtimes.com

TheHill.com

USnews.com
If California secedes, will it open its Southern border to a flood of Mexican drug cartels while stripping its own citizens of gun rights?

Politically speaking, the state of California is like an experiment that has gone terribly wrong. It is a petri dish for big government liberalism, and is a shining example of what the entire country will one day look like if people like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders get their way.

Immediately following the tragedy in San Bernardino, Governor Jerry Brown and other California democrats were quick to exploit the tragedy to advance their hard left, anti-gun agenda. The Governor signed six bills into law, including one that requires ammunition purchasers to undergo background checks, and another that further restricts access to semi-automatic rifles.

My goal in signing these bills is to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners, Brown wrote in a statement.

Of course, just a quick trip to Chicago or Detroit would be enough to prove that more gun laws dont enhance public safety, and often dont respect the rights of law-abiding gun owners. On the contrary, because of the fact that criminals, by their very nature, dont follow the law, the only thing that more gun restrictions do is put good, decent gun owners at a disadvantage. The very criminals that the laws are supposed to effect the most are actually affected the least.

Strict gun regulations arent the only thing that liberal California is known for. Each year, the state takes in hundreds of illegal aliens from south of the border. In many cases, these foreigners are treated better than Californias own American citizens, as they are given unprecedented rights, benefits, entitlements and protections. Some of these rights and benefits include access to in-state tuition, government funded healthcare, unemployment benefits, and drivers licenses.

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According to a recent study, more undocumented immigrants live in Southern California than in any other part of the United States. Roughly 60% of the 11 million illegal aliens in the country live in one of 20 metro areas. Three of these areas are located in Southern California, where an estimated 1.4 million illegals live between the southern Ventura County border and the U.S. Mexico border. This is the highest concentration of illegal immigrants in the entire country.

It wouldnt be a stretch to say that California is like an entirely separate country, which actually may become a reality if people like Louis Marinelli are successful. Marinelli is the co-founder of the Calexit movement, a multinational effort to get California to secede from the United States. I envision a California much like the country that our Founding Fathers envisioned, Marinelli explained. A country where all are treated equally under the law; a country that provides for the common defense, promotes the general welfare of its people, and a country that secures our liberty from foreign and domestic threats.

But given its radical gun laws and open borders policy when it comes to illegal immigration, what exactly would happen to California if it actually did withdraw from the union?

For one thing, the continued influx of illegal aliens would fundamentally alter the nationality of the new nation over time. If illegal immigrants from Mexico were to come in at a higher rate than whites and non-Mexicans, at some point you would have to identify California more closely with Mexico than the United States. Additionally, Californias strict gun laws would hinder the ability of their citizens to defend themselves against criminals and drug cartels, setting the new nation on a path towards societal unrest and dislocation.

In other words, if the state were to secede, liberal California would essentially become Mexico City.

Sources

TheBlaze.com

LAtimes.com

OCregister.com

Breitbart.com
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New figures reveal the number of women who have undergone hospital treatment after being put through "horrendous" female genital mutilation (FGM)  and how the crime can remain hidden for years.

The Advertiser has obtained figures in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from health trusts across the capital, which reveal that at least 1,600 women who have gone through FGM were admitted to London hospitals for treatment last year.

These women have suffered severe mutilation  including removal of clitoris, labia, and sealing the vagina with cuts and stitches.

Most would have endured these traumatic injuries between infancy and the age of 15  with 10 being the accepted average age for when FGM is carried out.

However, it is common for the women experiencing these excruciating procedures to not receive hospital care until many years after their ordeal, with the practice of mutilation remaining a "hidden crime" until detected by doctors years later.

For the figures collected in London, the ages of women admitted to hospital who have undergone FGM is invariably over 20, and not as an emergency  indicating their wounds were not recent.

In Croydon 32 women were treated for FGM injuries in 2016 for all types of genital mutilation  no patients were under 21.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, encountered the problem of FGM during his 34 years of service with the Met Police

"It is a hidden crime," said Mr Driscoll, now vice-chair and trustee of FGM charity True Honour.

"These procedures can be performed from around eight years old onwards, so on very young girls.

"There are four different stages, all of them are offences  and frankly it is bloody horrendous what is done.

"It's often only later that others find out. And once it has happened, it's too late."

Type 1 FGM involves the full or partial removal of the clitoris, Type 2 entails the first procedure in addition to cutting and removing parts of the labia.

Type 3, infibulation, is the extreme practice of sealing parts of the vagina with stiches and cuts to form a narrow opening, which must later be opened to allow childbirth.

Other mutilation of the female genitalia is categorised as Type 4.

All four categories were treated by the Croydon Health Services NHS Trust last year, but it is likely they were performed when patients were much younger, and without the knowledge of doctors or the authorities.

Type 2 was the most prevalent in Croydon, with 14 women having bearing signs of that kind of mutilation, and 9 for Type 1. Most of the women were treated in their 30s.

There are no health benefits to the brutal procedures, only the prospect of pain, bleeding urinary trouble, and infection, as well as sexual and menstrual problems later in life.

The Advertiser gained responses from 12 other acute trusts in London which deal with FGM victims.

The most FGM patients seen by an NHS trust was Barts Health Trust, admitting 621 women, mostly for Type 1, and with only a small percentage of patients under the age of 20.

Chelsea and Westminster admitted 320 for FGM, with low numbers below 20 years old, and the few treated mainly received "deinfibulation"  reversing the process of Type 3 FGM.

King's College Hospitals treated 319 women last year, none under 18.

Guy's and St Thomas' treated 160 women, predominantly for Type 2 FGM, with no data given for those under 18 years of age. Most patients were between 25 and 35 years old.

Homerton University Hospital trust admitted 123 women who bore the marks of mutilation, the youngest was 21 and most were GP referrals  indicating the mutilation was non-recent.

Mr Driscoll said: "There are stats from hospitals and doctors but many will never come to a hospital here. They get taken away to other countries to perform FGM.

"It's a question of whether these girls get any treatment at all afterwards.

"People won't necessarily turn up to a hospital after having it done, but will come because there are complications down the line, or because they are having children."

The Lewisham and Greenwich trust treated 81 women, with no age data given.

Epsom and St Helier had 12 FGM patients last year, with no age information given.

University College Hospital trust treated 9 women, none under 20. Kingston Hospital Trust treated 6 women, with no further information given.

Dartford and Gravesham refused to respond, and Barking, Havering and Redbridge didn't treat anyone for FGM. Some trusts could not give definite numbers, giving a total of around 1,683 altogether.

The ages of those treated across London show that women are likely being treated years after having suffered mutilation.

Authorities and medical staff remain oblivious, as children are often taken to other countries to have the mutilation performed.

There have to date been no convictions for FGM offences in the UK.

"The essential thing is to prevent it happening, simple as that," said Mr Driscoll.

"There's a bit of a generational issue. I had one case where the mum had been adamant the procedure wouldn't go ahead, but the grandmother took the child away to have it done  she made it happen.

"We need to speak to parents, teachers, doctors who can spot signs that girls are going to be taken out of the country.

"I do workshops and training educating people on the issue, and it is truly horrific what is done to these young girls."

Charities in the UK seek to tackle the status of FGM as a social convention in many societies, and Mr Driscoll is also trying to cut the cultural thread that ties communities to traditions such as FGM.

According to the world health organisation, procedures are mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and adolescence, and occasionally on adult women.

More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been mutilated in 30 countries across Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated.

The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, in some countries the Middle East and Asia, as well as among migrants from these areas.

It is to these countries children are often take to undergo the excruciating procedures.

Miss Miss Ranee Thakar, Consultant Urogynaecologist at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust said: "This illegal practice can cause a lifetime of misery and ill-health for women who are victims of it. It is our duty to report cases to the police.

"FGM can cause serious pain to women and long-term problems including difficulty in passing urine and psychosexual disorders. We also provide counselling and extra support in childbirth as FGM women are much more likely to suffer serious complications during delivery.

"Working side-by-side with the local authority and police, we do everything we can to safeguard women and young girls in Croydon. Those who have suffered FGM are seen by a specialist midwife at the perineal clinic at Croydon University Hospital."
According to various sources including government, policy groups, and businesses, we are in a global cyber crisis. The crisis is that there are not enough qualified cyber professionals to fill existing positions. The future does not look much better, according to these sources, since the number of people preparing for a cyber career at universities does not appear to be growing as quickly as the global demand for practitioners.

ISACA continued to decry the critical shortage of skilled cyber practitioners citing statistics from their State of Cybersecurity survey released at the 2017 RSA conference in San Francisco. The main thrust of this report is that it takes too long to fill cyber vacancies because too few candidates apply for these positions and among those who do, many are not fully qualified.

A few years ago, I attended a roundtable session with U.S. government agencies, certification granting bodies, universities offering cyber programs, and employers. I was shocked when employers presented their demands for new hires. They wanted entry-level people who were fully capable from both a theoretical and practical skills perspective. From my experience as a hiring manager, candidates for entry-level positions are expected to be smart and capable people who will learn to be effective practitioners.

They bring a strong theoretical foundation and some experience but are not ready from day-one to do the job. Organizations have been prepared to invest in individuals. Organizations have traditionally recognized that investing in people is smart business and the best way to teach the methods, tools, and the culture of the organization. I have also heard from people applying for top-level cyber positions that hiring decisions take a long time.

It is not because candidates do not have the skills and experience. Companies seem to put off making hiring decisions waiting for that one exceptional candidate who will fit into a pay scale. The supposed cyber crisis is more complex than how long it takes to fill a position, how many candidates apply, and what level of skills they have.

While cyber security is considered a security discipline, the truth is that cyber is too complex to be only considered part of the security practitioners domain. The saying it takes a village is equally applicable to cyber as it is to caring for and raising children. Within the cyber domain there is a need for many diverse skills including policy development and implementation, risk management, compliance, training and awareness, incident detection and response, investigations and forensics, enterprise architecture, network and system administration, application development and testing, operations, and user support.

It is impossible for any individual to cover all of these areas of knowledge and performance. Each is a separate knowledge domain with ample opportunities for specialization that could provide someone with a rewarding career. Many positions are currently placed outside of the security department where practitioners have the ability to interact with similarly skilled personnel within a professional domain but also contribute to the protection of enterprise information.

The truth is that cybersecurity is not a security specific domain but an enterprise capability. To be secure, risk awareness, protection planning, defense, and resilience need to be part of the fabric of enterprise. We may need to think in terms of cyber-governance and cyber-management as responsibilities from the board extending throughout the organization.

Cyber needs to be a skill within each job description. Cyber awareness needs to be integrated into every aspect of how an organization thinks strategically and operates tactically. The real cyber crisis is not that there are not enough cyber professionals in the market. The crisis is that organizations have not defined cyber as a core capability required across the employee population and they have not stepped up to making the required investment in people for the future.

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Camarillo, Calif., March 10, 2017  Japans Shinkansen train system or bullet trains shoot over tracks and through tunnels at speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour, transporting more than 10 billion people in the networks 53-year history.

The engineer who took his cues from nature when redesigning the bullet train, Eiji Nakatsu, will speak from 12 to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14 in Bell Tower Room 2598.

Nakatsu used a form of science called biomimicry when he redesigned the bullet trains, which were first introduced to Japan in 1964 and underwent periodic redesigns.

Biomimicry is the science of looking to the design of the natural world to create things that are useful for humans.

Nakatsu was the general manager of the technical development department for the so-called bullet trains in 1997, when the company sought to make the trains faster, quieter and more efficient.

Studying birds and features like the kingfisher bill and the noise-reduction qualities of an owls feathers helped Nakatsu and his team develop the next generation of bullet trains.

The series of events that led Nakatsu to visit Ventura County and CSUCI began at Lang Elementary School in Thousand Oaks.

Elementary School teacher Kristen Nordstrom was fascinated with biomimicry and began teaching it after school to children interested in learning more and creating hands-on projects.

It was a love of science and a love of nature that came together, Nordstrom said. I kept sharing it with my students and they loved it. I decided to offer it as a class after the school day twice a week for an hour.

The 34 six-and seven-year old students in the class became interested in the bullet trains, so Nordstrom contacted Nakatsu in Japan and arranged to have them ask questions via the web. The students were so interested that Nordstrom applied for funding from the Japan Foundation in Los Angeles and was able to arrange for Nakatsu to visit the U.S. to speak to her class.

While looking for other speaking opportunities for Nakatsu, Nordstrom contacted CSUCI Professor of English Brad Monsma, Ph.D. and Art Lecturer Amiko Matsuo. Nordstrom was aware Monsma and Matsuo had been involved in projects and research in Japan that were based on art and the environment. The pair had translated Art Place Japan: The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale and the Vision to Reconnect Art and Nature (Princeton Architectural Press, 2015).

Monsma then arranged to have Nakatsu speak at CSUCI with sponsorship from the Chemistry, Mechatronics, English, Environmental Science & Resource Management programs, and the Center for Integrative Studies.

Im teaching environmental literature, Monsma said. Part of the narrative of that course is that so many writers and thinkers look to connect nature and culture with science and the humanities.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Limited parking is available on campus with the purchase of a $6 daily permit; follow signs to the parking permit dispensers. Free parking is available at the Camarillo Metrolink Station/Lewis Road with bus service to and from the campus. Riders should board the CSUCI Vista Bus to the campus; the cash-only fare is $1.25 each way. Buses arrive and depart from the Camarillo Metrolink Station every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. For exact times, check the schedule at www.goventura.org.

# # #

About California State University Channel Islands

CSU Channel Islands (CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CIs strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative masters degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CI's Social Media.
Robots keep dying from radiation in Fukushima, making the nuclear fallout investigation impossible

On 11 March 2011, Japan was hit by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, followed shortly thereafter by a huge tsunami, leaving 16,000 people dead and 160,000 homeless. The Fukushima Daiichi power plant, one of the 15 largest in the world, sustained serious damage in the disaster, resulting in the meltdown of three nuclear reactors. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)  the company that operated the plant before the disaster  has spent the last six years trying to contain the mess and figuring out how to clean it up.

In spite of all their efforts to contain the radiation and prevent it from contaminating the groundwater, TEPCO has made very little progress. It is estimated that the decommissioning of the plant will take 40 years and cost many billions of dollars. Part of the problem is the fact that radiation levels are so high that humans would die if they got close, but it is vital to try to find out what damage has been sustained. Robotic engineer, Hiroshi Endo, told the LA Times that what happens inside a nuclear reactor after a meltdown is unknown, and the environment is less predictable than space. TEPCOs solution has been to send more than 100 robots in to try to assess the damage, but this plan has proven less than satisfactory, because the radiation is proving to be too much for the robots, and they, too, keep dying. (RELATED: Find out how radiation from Fukushima has tainted U.S. milk supplies.)

Last month, TEPCO sent a robot built by Toshiba Corp into the No. 2 reactor core to try to find the 600 tons of debris and nuclear fuel trapped by the disaster. It died in less than a day without getting to the grate that would have given the company a view of the area where they suspect the residue is located.

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Robots sent in on two previous occasions met with similar fates; one got itself stuck in a gap, and the other was abandoned after finding no fuel despite six days of searching.

Naohiro Masuda, the head of decommissioning for TEPCO, has acknowledged that they will have to start thinking out of the box if they are ever going to be able to examine the bottom of the core and determine where the melted debris is located.

And that out of the box thinking needs to happen quickly if they are to meet their schedule of beginning the actual clean-up work in 2021.

Radiation levels remain incredibly high at the plant. Last month, TEPCO used a remote-controlled camera and a special measurement device to take readings of the radiation levels near the core of reactor 2. While levels at the core were 73 sieverts per hour immediately after the disaster, they have now reached as high as 530 sieverts per hour. Humans exposed to this level of exposure would die almost immediately, while a robot could survive no longer than two hours. Scientists are unsure whether the radiation levels have risen considerably, or if they are only now being measured accurately for the first time. They also worry that since readings can still only be taken at a distance, the true radiation levels could be far higher. Either way, the findings cast further doubt on TEPCOs ambitious plan to start cleaning the site up in only four years.

In the meantime, the radiation in the area has had a devastating effect on the regions agriculture, and thousands of people remain displaced from their homes. It can only be hoped that TEPCO will come up with a better solution to determining the extent of the damage than dying robots, and they need to do so soon.

Sources for this article include:

Mashable.com

JapanTimes.co.jp

NaturalNews.com
You better pick up the pace if you are a cautious driver or a slow walker who is looking to score a date.

According to the dating app Hater, driving the speed limit and walking slowly are among the top 30 most hated topics in Connecticut. Hater offers users thousands of hand-selected topics to weigh in on, then matches people based on mutual things they hate.
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BRIDGEPORT  More than once, the city Board of Education has threatened to take the city to court over funding.

This year is no different.

When the cash-strapped school board meets Monday, it will consider a Finance Committee recommendation to seek state assistance as a first step. The board wants to prevent the city from charging the district for crossing guards.

The plan is to send a letter to Commissioner of Education Dianna Wentzell and the state Board of Education, seeking intervention.

We have been down this road for a long time, board member Sauda Baraka said. Something needs to be done. Its past time. As a board we have to take some action.

I would go even further, Board member Ben Walker We need to get our legal team involved and pursue a lawsuit against the city.

School crossing guards used to be an in-kind service the city provided that counted toward its state-required public education contribution. Two years ago, the city was told it could not under state law count in-kind services toward school spending.

So the city and school district entered into a deal in 2015 that put funds for crossing guards, snow and trash removal and a workers compensation fund into the school board budget.

Last month, the board decided to end the arrangement. It will put snow and trash removal out to bid, hoping to get a better deal than the $394,393 the city is charging. The $1 million workers compensation fund will stay in the school districts budget.

Crossing guards, board members says, are a city responsibility.

I would support a lawsuit against the city without a blink of any eye, school board member Maria Pereira said. This is outrageous behavior.

Nestor Nkwo, Ganims budget chief, sent an email to school officials saying that when the agreement ends in July, the city would subtract the cost of crossing guards from the boards 2017-18 appropriation. This year, the city counted $876,898 toward that expense.

Pereira said it was illegal for the city to tell the district how to spend its budget or remove the funds, because they are part of the citys minimum budget requirement.

We are in a serious financial crisis, Pereira added.

Last year, some $15 million worth of services, including kindergarten aides and home school coordinators, were cut from the budget because of flat funding from the city and state. This year, district officials say $11.4 million more is needed over the $244.5 million budget for 2016-17. If the governors budget is approved, however, the district could see a $6 million cut instead.

The scraping for additional funds also caused the school board this year to charge $500,000 in rent for the citys Lighthouse after-school and summer program, which is run out of 23 public schools.

The city is refused to pay it.

So, the Finance Committee voted to ask the full board to put the Lighthouse program on notice that if the fee is not paid, the program that services some 2,600 city school children would be barred from the schools as of July 1.

Howard Gardner, chairman of the boards Finance Committee, said he also would give one more shot at having a face-to-face meeting with Mayor Joe Ganim over the matter. At previous meetings, Ganim sent staff.

We want to hear directly from the mayor, Gardner said.

The Mayors Office has not heard of a request from the BOE to meet with the mayor, said Rowena White, a Ganim spokeswoman.

White said a memorandum of understanding between the city and the school district was based on the city paying the expense of the crossing guards on behalf of the school board, which would then reimburse the city on this annual expense.
Air Europa flies Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Cuba

Submitted by: Juana

Travel and Tourism

Destinations

Havana

03 / 10 / 2017



Air Europa will include a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, one of the newest planes in the world, to cover the Madrid-Havana route, announced in the Cuban Ministry of Tourism.

The aircraft, that arrived in Havana this Wednesday and will fly on daily basis, carries 296 passengers, 22 of them in executive class, according to a MINTUR press release.

This step (including a top aircraft to the fleet that flies to Cuba) shows that Air Europa gives high priority to the Caribbean nation and also that the country has the infrastructure to accommodate the latest technologies to give more comfort to travelers, reads the release

This is an important event not only for aviation, but for Cuban tourism since it shows a favorable environment for the foreign investment and businesses in the island, it continues.

MINTUR notes that Spain is one of the largest source markets for Cuba in tourism, with 153 thousand travelers in 2016 from that country, a spike of 43 percent compared to the year before. (acn)
Serbian VP arrives in Cuba to strengthen links with the Caribbean

Submitted by: Juana

Havana

Personalities

Politics and Government

03 / 10 / 2017



The Vice-President and Foreign Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic, upon his arrival in Cuba said his participation in the events underway in Havana of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) shows the interest of his country to strengthen relations with the region.

Dacic told the press at the Jose Marti International Airport that Serbia has the best relations with Cuba and hopes to have the same with the other countries in the region. He dismissed the geographical distance between Serbia and the Caribbean and said what is important is the willingness to have friends and to support the Caribbean in those issues the region has as priorities.

We can cooperate in issues related to climate change and natural disasters and their consequences, he said.

Serbia attends these meetings as an observer. (acn)
Church hosting Rosary Crusade

PLATTE CENTER -- The 2017 Traditional Marriage Public Square Rosary Crusade will be held noon March 18 at the St. Joseph Church parking lot.

Bring a rosary and chair if needed. This event is sponsored by America Needs Fatima.

For more information call Merline Sprunk at 402-246-2255 or 402-563-2905, or visit www.ANF.org.

Pancake feed in Tarnov

TARNOV -- St. Michaels Historical Society will sponsor a pancake and sausage feed from 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. April 9 at St. Michaels Parish Hall.

Cost for the meal is $6 for adults, $3 for kids ages 5-10 and free for those younger than 5. The event will also include a bake sale, raffle, book fair and Easter egg hunt.

Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. for those wishing to attend.

Zambian students part of worship

SCHUYLER -- Voices of Zambia, an African worship experience, will be held 6 p.m. March 29 at First Presbyterian Church, 802 A St., in Schuyler.

Students from the International Bible College of Zambia will perform original, multilingual songs. A love offering will be taken to help defray travel expenses.

For more information, visit www.gospelink.org.

Lenten fish fry at church

SCHUYLER -- Divine Mercy Parish will sponsor an all-you-can-eat Lenten fish fry 5-8 p.m. today at St. Marys Social Center, 320 W. 10th St., in Schuyler.

The cost is $10 for adults, $4 for children ages 6-12 and free for children ages 5 and younger. The meal will offer a salad bar, coleslaw, bread, scalloped potatoes and macaroni and cheese.

The event will also include a bake sale hosted by the Women of Divine Mercy.
COLUMBUS  When DLR Group designed the new Columbus High School, it took the schools theme and mascot to heart.

From the 30,000-pound maroon anchor stationed in the south parking lot to the curved roof and school colors splattered everywhere, there will be no mistaking CHS for any other school.

It was about introducing a playfulness that the school and community can take some pride in, said Mark Brim, an architect with the Omaha-based design firm who specializes in educational facilities. It doesnt look like Kearneys new school or Grand Island. This is uniquely Columbus.

Brim said the firm also designed the school at Crete, which is set apart from other schools by its giant mural of Cretes mascot  a Cardinal.

We really try to reflect the community and school spirit in the building, Brim said.

The theme of the building, located south of Lost Creek Parkway and west of 33rd Avenue, matches the schools nickname  Discoverers  and that theme is evident throughout the structure.

The most noticeable feature of the schools exterior is the curved roof, a folded web design that allows the shaping of curved rafters that can clear a span of more than 200 feet. Brim said the design follows the "idea of billowing sails" and a wave profile.

Known as the Eagle Span design, it is the newest design of longtime Columbus manufacturer Behlen Building Systems.

One of the aspects that is unique about Columbus is the great partnership the school has with the business community, Brim said. (Behlen was able to) provide a structure that was conducive to the profile and ecomonical space.

CHS, which currently has about 1,100 students enrolled, will be moving into a new building designed for 1,400. That number made two stories a necessity, Brim said.

Anytime we exceed 1,000 students, it becomes efficient to go to two floors to reduce travel distances and the footprint, Brim said. Going to two stories gave us a little more dimension to do the wave profile.

Other unique details are present throughout the building. Raised metal panels formed in nautical shapes, such as an anchor and boats steering wheel, will hang in the school.

Bulkheads in the STEM Academy area zig-zag along the corridors in that area of the building, leading to different classrooms.

Brim said it was also important to incorporate the schools primary color, maroon, in as much of the building as possible.

It is such a front door-friendly building, Brim said. There is a very clear door, expressed by another curved wall that comes out of the building and a lot of the maroon color on it.

The 270,000-square-foot school also includes a 750-seat concert hall, two gymnasiums and weight and fitness rooms.

The design is based on floor plans used at a school in South Dakota. Using a site-adapted model saved more than $1 million in architect fees.

But DLR was able to add some touches geared toward the Discoverer theme to make it unique to Columbus.

One thing I think is really important is when design has a story behind it, Brim said. They didnt want a cookie-cutter building. Particularly (CPS superintendent) Troy (Loeffelholz). He said, 'Lets make this the home of the Discoverers.'"
When commodity prices go down, its important to keep financial books on the ranch for more than just tax time. A "Quicken for Farm and Ranch Record Keeping" workshop will be held 6:30-9 p.m. March 23 at the Farm Credit Services of America building near 18th Avenue and Lost Creek Parkway in Columbus. To register, call Platte County Extension at 402-563-4901.

Nebraska Extension educators Jessica Groskopf and Allan Vyhnalek will teach participants how to use Quicken, a popular commercial record-keeping package that is user-friendly, inexpensive and easy to find. Quicken is flexible for ag and non-ag business enterprises and separates out family living expenses.

Quickens checkbook register makes for a familiar environment to begin computerized record-keeping. Quicken comes with home and general business income and expense categories, but educators will show how to easily import farm categories to match the tax Schedule F.

Quicken allows organization of finances by category and subclasses, but also a tag feature that is useful for splitting enterprises, by partnership share or by ranch. Quicken allows users to split transactions, so one check written at a local gas station can be divided among several expenses: fast food, oil for the tractor and farm fuel for the feed pickup.

Reports such as transactions, cash flow, account balances, balance sheet, comparison and tax summary can be easily generated, information filtered and layout modified. Quicken files can also be exported to QuickBooks, which used by many tax accountants.

The hands-on training will include computer time with Quicken. Educators will also show how to run reports helpful for financial decisions.

This workshop is limited to 10 participants. The cost to attend the workshop is $20 per participant.

There is one more pesticide applicator training in Platte County, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. March 22 at Pinnacle Bank (east) near Applebees along 23rd Street in Columbus. No preregistration is necessary. The cost of that training is $30.
We must rethink the U.S. response to infectious disease. Here's why.
Warring pet dogs who can't be in the same room without viciously attacking one another have divided a family home.

Karen Dean, 37, and Dave Sunter, 49, are forced to keep bulldog Winston and West Highland terrier Dexter apart - and they're terrified one of their six children could get hurt if caught in the crossfire of a spat between the dogs.

A tearful Karen says she's 'petrified' one of the children could become trapped between the snapping dogs, who have been battling for control ever since Winston joined Dexter in the family home in Liverpool.

The couple, who now keep Dexter upstairs behind a child safety gate, turn to dog trainer Graeme Hall - known as the Dog Father - for help on Channel 4's Dogs Behaving Badly, who warns the crisis will take time and patience to resolve.

Owner Karen Dean can't bear to pick one of her pets over the other but fears for the safety of her family if they start fighting

Bulldog Winston (left) and West Highland terrier Dexter (right) have been locked in a vicious war with things becoming worryingly dangerous in the household

Voicing her worst fears on the show, Karen says: 'I'm most frightened that they [the dogs] are going to meet each other and I am not going to be able to split them apart.

'Or the kids are going to be trapped in between them while theyre fighting, I would never forgive myself if anything happened to any of the kids or either of the dogs. I dont think I would never let myself forget that.'

For years Dexter was the top dog in the family's, until bulldog Winston arrived and the pets began battling for control - viciously fighting and even drawing blood.

The situation became so dangerous that Karen and Dean put Dexter upstairs - locked behind a child safety gate - and Winston remained downstairs with free rein over the ground floor.

When the couple sought professional help in the past, they were told one dog would need to leave.

'How could I pick one? Thats like saying pick one of your kids to me,' says Karen.

When Graeme Hall pays a visits to the desperate in a bid to help them regain control over their pets, he worries that Dexter isn't being walked enough.

The two dogs can't get along with each other but dog trainer Graeme Hall attempts to solve the family's issues

While the pair make progress it's still going to be a long way for the dogs to go before they can be left alone together

'I try to walk him at least once a day,' says Karen of Dexter, but she admits: 'I dont like walking him, to walk him is a chore.

'Hes embarrassing because if he sees anybody he barks his head off,' she explains.

'It worries me when people say they try. The thing with a chore is you have to do it,' Graeme says.

'Whats happened is youve ended up favouring the dog who's quite nice to live with really, and it just seems a bit unfair.'

Graeme discovers that it's actually the apparently placid Winston who is the cause of the problem - and he faces a tough challenge to bring the two warring animals together without getting bitten himself.

Top dog trainer Graeme Hall - who is also known as the 'dog father' - gives the family advice on how to control their dogs

Taking them out to neutral ground to see how they interact, the Dog Father finds he's met his match in the bulldog.

Of Winston, he said: 'You can see he was trying to bite the lead and at one point he was trying to bite me - Im sure if hed have got hold of me he would, and he could have done some damage there.'

The couple are stunned to learn just what Winston is really like on the show.

Karen says: 'This is just a shock to us. He's never naughty. If you said who's the problem, I would have said Dexter any day of the week.'

Graeme reveals that Winston attacks to assert his dominance, while Dexter attacks due to fear - he is forced to turn the tables on bullying Winston.

They make some progress with the dogs when they both learn to listen to their owners scolding their aggressive behaviour.

Graeme warns the couple that it will take time and patience for the two to be in the same room, but assures them that eventually Winston will welcome Dexter back in to the fold.

Dogs Behaving Badly airs on Saturday March 11, at 6.05pm on Channel 4
Kelly Cartwright had been an ambitious athlete since childhood.

But a persistent pain in her right knee, which doctors told her was nothing more than 'growing pains' saw her ditch her dream of playing netball for Australia when she was a teenager.

At 15, she had her leg amputated to save the rest of her body from a synovial sarcoma, one of the rarest cancers to grow in soft tissue.

She was told if she did not lose her leg, she could lose her life.

At just 15, Kelly Cartwright was told if she did not have her leg amputated, she could die

'Basically amputation was my only chance of survival,' she told Fairfax Media.

The Victoria-based mother-of-one explained that, despite the invasive procedure she was about to undergo and the severity of her diagnosis, there was not a lot of information available.

'My Mum and Dad and I were asking my doctor questions he couldn't answer, because he'd never seen anything like it,' she said.

Earlier, she told Mamamia nobody could make any guarantees for her future - in sport or in general.

Ms Cartwright, who previously held dreams of playing netball for Australia, could not secure a guarantee she would even walk again, let alone play sport

Life goes on: Now a mother-of-one, Ms Cartwright leads a relatively normal life, and is a Paralympic medallist

'There was the unknown of whether I would even walk again, let alone play sport,' she told the publication.

'It happened so quickly, my life was turned upside down within seconds.'

Thankfully for Ms Cartwright, four months after the surgery she was back on her feet, though one of them was prosthetic.

She went on to become an acclaimed Paralympian, representing Australia in the Beijing and London Games, and taking home the gold for long jump and silver for the 100m at the latter.

Winner: At the 2012 London Games, she took out the gold medal for long jump (pictured) and silver for the 100m

The Paralympian credits her success to the generous people who helped to raise funds for her first running leg, and has committed herself to The START Foundation, a charity for amputees with sporting ambitions.

Most recently, Ms Cartwright teamed up with Rare Cancers Australia, who campaign for more funding for rare cancers and who in just two years managed to raise nearly $2million towards helping patients pay for their treatment.

Agreeing to work with the Foundation was a no-brainer for the athlete, who said: 'Every cancer patient deserves a fair fight'.
In July 2015, Summer McInerney made the decision to get a 'half sleeve tattoo' down her right arm.

'I like being unique, and thought I'd look quite hardcore with a half sleeve,' the 23-year-old from Brisbane told Daily Mail Australia.

Little did Ms McInerney know that this would lead to an incredible art project covering much of her body.

Nearly two years later, the model has spent around 127 hours being tattooed (or 15 full days), and close to AUD $20,000.

In July 2015, Summer McInerney (pictured) made the decision to get a 'half sleeve tattoo' down her right arm

Little did Ms McInerney know that this would lead to an incredible art project covering much of her body (pictured)

Nearly two years later, the model (pictured) has spent around 127 hours being tattooed (or 15 full days), and close to AUD $20,000

According to Ms McInerney, while she originally had no intention of getting more than a half sleeve inking, once she had teamed up with her current tattooist, Coen Mitchell, from Auckland, she couldn't resist getting more.

'When Coen finished off my sleeve, I loved it and thought it was really different.

'Pretty much straight away I wanted more and luckily he had a great idea for my upper thighs and bum.'

Before long, Ms McInerney was having intricate patterns inked onto her stomach and chest, too.

'The stomach and chest were a big deal for me when I got them done, but they actually weren't the most painful!,' she said.

Ms McInerney said that after she had her first inking done on her half sleeve, she couldn't resist working with her tattoo artist, Coen Mitchell, for more

'The stomach and chest were a big deal for me when I got them done, but they actually weren't the most painful!,' she said - instead, Ms McInerney found her sternum the most painful part

Speaking about the reaction people have to her tattoos, Ms McInerney said: 'It's very overwhelming. I got these tattoos for me, I wanted to change my body into something unique'

'I've had someone in their seventies come up to me and say "I never like tattoos, but yours look like a work of art". That was pretty special,' she recalled

She also works full-time as a model now, appearing in both editorial shoots and magazines

How the 23-year-old registers pain is that if she remembers it, it was bad.

'I remember the middle of my chest - my sternum - it was unbearable,' she said.

'My feet were also pretty sore, but I'm about to get one of my feet lasered so that I can continue and finish my sleeve on my leg. I'm looking forward to that.'

And since Ms McInerney has started her tattooing, she has amassed thousands of followers on social media.

I got these tattoos for me, I wanted to change my body into something unique

She also works full-time as a model now, appearing in both editorial shoots and magazines.

'It's very overwhelming. I got these tattoos for me, I wanted to change my body into something unique. It's so fantastic to have so many people appreciating them.'

Ms McInerney explained that she has had everyone - from the younger generation right up to 60 and 70-year-olds - appreciating her tattoos.

'I've had someone in their seventies come up to me and say "I never like tattoos, but yours look like a work of art". That was pretty special,' she recalled.

And while she obviously has plans to complete her right leg and get her left leg tattooed too, Ms McInerney said that she still knows where she would draw the line - her face

She said that her advice for people who are looking to turn their bodies into something different and special like she has done is to do the research

'Pick the artist who will do the best thing for your body and then spend the money - don't feel bad about it,' she said.

'I've spent around $20,000 excluding travel to and from New Zealand to see Coen, but these tattoos will be on my body for the rest of my life. You've got to invest'

And while she obviously has plans to complete her right leg and get her left leg tattooed too, Ms McInerney said that she still knows where she would draw the line:

'Next, I will complete my right leg and then I'll get black and grey realism on my left with Coen. I'm happy to do my throat, but I know I'll never get my face done.'

She said that her advice for people who are looking to turn their bodies into something different and special like she has done is to do the research.

'I spent a solid two years looking into the artists I wanted to do my body, and I totally trust Coen. Everything he has done on my body complements it perfectly.

'Pick the artist who will do the best thing for your body and then spend the money - don't feel bad about it.

'I've spent around $20,000 excluding travel to and from New Zealand to see Coen, but these tattoos will be on my body for the rest of my life. You've got to invest.'

To follow Summer McInerney on Facebook, click here. You can also follow her on Instagram here. You can follow Coen Mitchell on Facebook here.
To look at Ksenija Lukich's life from the outside, you would say that the Sydney model and host of E! Australia has everything sorted.

But the 27-year-old presenter has revealed that she does struggle with anxiety and sometimes feels overwhelmed.

Ksenija said that while it's easy to assume that 'everyone else' is perfect, as she has become older she has realised that being 'perfect' every day isn't achievable.

Instead, Ksenija adopts several tactics to help to keep her anxiety under control on a day-to-day basis.

27-year-old presenter, Ksenija Lukich (pictured), has opened up about her struggles with anxiety and feeling overwhelmed on occasion

Ksenija said that while it's easy to assume that 'everyone else' is perfect, as she has become older she has realised that being 'perfect' every day isn't achievable

One of Ksenija's tips for beating anxiety is exercise (pictured) - 'Yoga has really helped me. I was never a big exercise person [growing up], but yoga makes me feel motivated,' she said

First up, sticking to a regular yoga practice and drinking 'a lot of coffee' are two of Ksenija's anxiety-beating tricks.

'Yoga has really helped me. I was never a big exercise person [growing up], but yoga makes me feel motivated,' she told Body & Soul.

Ksenija also said she tries not 'to let myself get too overwhelmed, [as] when I started this job I'd think about how big the week ahead was and it would overwhelm me and I would get a little stressed.

'...One of the best things I've learned is just to take every single day, one day at a time, and not let myself get overwhelmed with everything that's happening.'

Another one of her tricks is 'drinking lots of coffee'

'When I started this job I'd think about how big the week ahead was and it would overwhelm me and I would get a little stressed,' she said

Making to-do lists and ticking things off one by one are things that also help the presenter when she's stressed

She also said that making to-do lists and ticking things off one by one are things that also help the presenter when she's stressed:

'This morning, before I came here, I had about four pressing things to do  and ticking them off one by one really helped. No anxiety attacks!,' Ksenija said.

The 27-year-old - who was plucked from thousands of hopefuls to be the face of E! Australia in 2014 - recently graced the cover of Women's Health Australia's March edition.

'This morning, before I came here, I had about four pressing things to do  and ticking them off one by one really helped. No anxiety attacks!,' Ksenija said

Speaking previously about her personality, Ksenija said that she still sometimes gets nervous when she is interviewing a celebrity (pictured)

Speaking with the publication, Ksenija touched on her personality, confessing she still gets nervous when she's interviewing a celebrity:

'If I'm on a red carpet and I see the talent walking towards me I get these little butterflies.

'So I take a couple of deep breaths and go into it with the biggest smile possible,' she said.
A mother has revealed how she kept her son alive in the womb by drinking seven pints of water a day.

Doctors told Louise Adams, 28, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, her baby had only a 5 per cent chance of surviving after her waters broke at just 22 weeks.

But Mrs Adams and her husband Jakk, 32, were determined to keep their son alive and began researching other options. They discovered that in other countries women whose water breaks early are advised to drink seven pints of water a day to replenish the liquid lost and help keep the baby healthy in the womb.

Three months later, the couple welcomed son Joseph - a 'real-life water baby'.

Family: Parents Louise and Jakk Adams with their six-month-old son, Joseph, in January

Miracle baby: Tiny Joseph, pictured left and right in hospital, defied the doctors' odds

Devastated: Louise's waters broke at just 22 weeks. Pictured, her 22-week pregnancy scan

Mrs Adams said: 'Although UK doctors were sceptical, I discovered in other countries around the world mothers whose waters break early are put on a drip.

'I'm convinced he survived such low odds because when my waters broke, I replaced them by ensuring I was well hydrated.'

The couple, who are both teachers, were in 'complete shock' when doctors said there was nothing that could be done to save their child because he had not yet reached 24 weeks.

Mrs Adams said: 'All they could do is monitor me in hospital waiting for the inevitable miscarriage, which they said would happen in days.

'But I could feel Joseph kicking. I couldn't just sit around doing nothing to save him.'

Mrs Adams scoured the internet and discovered that drinking more has been shown to replenish lost amniotic fluid - the liquid the baby needs to grow in the womb.

Determined: Louise said drinking seven pints of water a day helped keep her son alive

Proud: Father Jakk, left, and mother Louise, right, with their 'real-life water baby', Joseph

Check-up: Mrs Adams, pictured in water, kept sipping water and relaxed for three months

'The more the mother drinks the more the baby drinks and urinates,' Mrs Adams explained.

'As excretion of urine by the unborn baby is the major source of amniotic fluid production in the second half of pregnancy, it made sense that increasing my fluid intake could make a difference.'

DOES DRINKING MORE WATER WORK? British doctors do not advise pregnant women whose waters break early to drink more fluid as they say there is little research to claim it works. However, in common with other US websites, the Mayo Clinic states treatment for low amniotic fluid (oligohydramnios) can include drinking more fluids to maintain a healthy level. It is possible to temporarily increase the amount of amniotic fluid with a procedure known as amnioinfusion, in which saline is instilled into the amniotic sac. Advertisement

After six days in hospital, Mrs Adams went home, and over the next 13 weeks rested and constantly sipped water.

She recalls: 'I shut myself off from the world. It wasn't easy but I drank around seven pints a day.

'I also consumed cranberry juice and raw cloves of garlic after reading they could ward off infection, common when the waters break early.

'Doctors and midwives were sceptical and gave me no hope. They told me there was little research and it was unlikely to make any difference. But I had nothing to lose.'

To everyone's delight, Joseph continued to grow.

'Getting past 24 weeks was the first hurdle as I knew at that point he at least had some chance of survival if born then,' she recalls, 'once past 24 weeks doctors finally gave me steroids to mature Joseph's lungs and antibiotics to prevent infection.'

He was finally delivered at Royal Stoke University Hospital by c-section, weighing a healthy 5Ib 10oz.

Healthy: Louise said son Joseph, pictured left in hospital, is a 'smiling bundle of joy'

Loved: Parents Louise and Jakk Adams with sons Isaac and Joseph, now six months old

'When we heard him crying his eyes out, we were overjoyed. He was absolutely perfect and did so well, he came home after just a week.'

Joseph is now aged six months. His mother says: 'He is a smiling bundle of joy. He never gave up fighting and beat all the odds.'

A spokesperson for Little Heartbeats, a charity which supports women who suffer from PPROM said: 'Many of our Mum's believe drinking water to replenish their amniotic fluid levels have helped.

'Many other countries such as the US do recommend that mum's increase their water consumption.'
With so many strong policewomen on TV these days  from Catherine Cawood in Happy Valley to Scott & Bailey and Unforgottens Cassie Stuart  its easy to forget that Brenda Blethyns no-nonsense Geordie DCI Vera Stanhope has been pioneering the trend for years.

As she returns with series seven later this month and an eighth already commissioned, Brendas delighted her doughty, dowdy detective has become a huge hit around the world.

When we meet she enters the room clutching a Dutch magazine that has an interview with her in it and starts trying to read it, giggling raucously as she struggles with the language.

Brenda Blethyn returns in a new series of Vera where she plays a woman 20 years her junior. Pictured: Brenda as Vera Stanhope with co-star Kenny Doughty as her sidekick DS Aiden Healy

Veras big all over the world and thats great, she says, giving up on the magazine. Shes dishevelled and not a fashion icon or skinny, but how great that a middle-aged woman like that can succeed in a mans world. In America theyve really latched onto her.

Brenda herself is beautifully coiffed and well turned-out today in high-heeled boots and a smart jacket over a floral blouse.

But to play Vera her blonde locks are dyed red and left deliberately unkempt and she wears up to six layers of clothing to get her characters distinctive bulky look. People like that shes not vain, says Brenda.

Shes practical. She doesnt suffer fools although shes never cruel. Her rougher bits arent smoothed out to make her more palatable. Shes presented as she is.

This series sees four more mysteries set in the stunning Northumberland countryside, including the death of a wildlife ranger left alone overnight on a remote island.

Theyre brilliant stories and I hope people enjoy them, says Brenda. A lot of my career has been down to good luck, and Im grateful people have taken to Vera. You hope things will be successful, but even wonderful things have the plug pulled on them.

Brenda puts her youthful looks down to genetics and says she can't stand facials

'We have good writers and directors and our casting department is excellent. The success of a long-running series is reliant on the guest actors.

Brendas just turned 71 but looks 20 years younger, which is fortunate as Veras meant to be in her 50s, but she insists its just a genetic accident.

My mum had skin like a baby, she says. Even when she died at the age of 88 she barely had a wrinkle on her. I moisturise every day, but I cant stand facials.

She looks horrified at the idea; her wonderfully demonstrative face can show the full range of expressions required of a two-time Oscar nominee (for Secrets & Lies in 1997 and Little Voice in 1999) in the space of just a few sentences. Eugh! Horrible! she squeals. I dont like being caked with all that stuff.

Then, as her expression softens, her accent returns to her native Ramsgate. My mum would have loved Vera, she continues.

Vera was inspired by all those women who lost their husbands in the war. They were reliable, capable women. Salt of the earth. My mum was a bit like that.

Brendas mother was a ladys maid who met her father, a chauffeur, when they were working for the same household. They had nine children, and her mother was startled when Brenda, the youngest, decided she wanted to act.

She went to the Guildford School of Drama aged 26, and her mother saw some of the highlights of her career.

Shed come and see me at the National Theatre, recalls Brenda. I never knew where she was sitting but Id hear her when I came on stage. Thats er, thats my gal.

On the show Vera struggled with losing her father, but Brenda says she celebrates rather than mourns the loss of her mother in 1992.

Shes with me every day. In such a large family theres always a reason to mention Mum and Dad; its almost as if theyre still here. My sister died last year, both of my sisters have gone now, but you feel theyre still around because we talk about them so much. Theyre still celebrated.

Brenda has five brothers left, and tries not to dwell on the idea of mortality. You might think about it when you have an extra twinge. Sometimes it pops up. Its partly why I got married seven years ago.

She was filming the first series of Vera in Northumberland when Michael Mayhew, her partner of 30 years, proposed over Skype. Shed previously been married in her twenties and felt no need to do it again.

When he proposed I told him to get down on one knee and he disappeared off the screen! she chortles. We did it partly because its easier for tax reasons if one of us pops our clogs. It was practical rather than romantic. But it does feel different being married.

Making a series of Vera takes around six months and Brenda, who never wanted children, admits she misses her husband when shes away. But she loves her work, even though 12 years ago she said she wanted to retire and go travelling with Michael in a camper van.

I felt like a change, she says now. Like I wanted to do something else. But then along came a load of jobs I loved so we didnt go. And Veras still one of them.

With series eight due to start filming in June, it looks as if the camping will remain on hold.

Vera will return to ITV later this month.
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They spend hours on their hair and push the boundaries in eye-catching outfits.

But members of this fashion pack do not spend their time sitting front row at catwalk shows. These trend-setters are all hopefuls at this year's Crufts competition.

The perfectly-coiffed pooches were photographed as they arrived at the NEC in Birmingham this morning for the second day of the internationally-renowned dog show.

Poodles, pugs and long haired pekingeses were among the dogs spotted making their way into the arena, which showcases toy and utility breeds.

A tiny Chinese crested dog proved good things come in small packages as it trotted down the pavement sporting a dashing gold and red embroidered coat with a white fluff trim. Others looked fetching in star-patterned and leopard-printed onesies.

While many of the larger dogs were happy to stretch their legs, some of the smaller ones were carried and wheeled into the show ring in specially-made cases. One pug looked particularly smug as it was wheeled past in a floral basket with its name - Pickle - emblazoned across the front.

While there are numerous competitions within the four-day show, the prize that every dog owner has their eye on is the title Best In Show. Last year it was bestowed on a fluffy Westie named Geordie Girl, who saw off more than 22,000 competitors to claim the historic title.

Taking a walk on the wild side: One short-haired dog stays warm in a tiger-print onesie as it arrives for day two of Crufts

Look at me! A Standard Poodle jumps up and surprises its owner as it is shown during the second day of Crufts

Perfect pair: Two giant white poodles show off their impeccable behaviour as they walk into the arena side-by-side

It's all in a name: Posing in a gold and red embroidered coat, a Chinese crested dog shows off an Oriental-patterned jacket

Smug pug: Pickle looked as proud as punch as she was wheeled into the show ground on her own custom-made basket

Me first! A trio of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels bump into each other as they pull their owner towards the front door

Hitting the spot: A poodle puts its best fashion foot forward as it struts into the Birmingham NEC in a leopard-print onesie

A bit of all white: Dogs of all shapes and sizes made sure their fur was looking at its best as they arrived for the competition

Red carpet ready: Long-haired Yorkshire terriers with bows in their hair are hand carried inside by smartly-dressed men

Watch where you're going! A couple of the contestants look like they are struggling to see with their hair styled over their eyes

Double trouble: Two bulldogs muscle their way into the arena for day two, which features working and toy dog breeds

Teamwork: A woman proudly shows off her long-haired dog, left, while a poodle practises its tricks outside, right

Three of a kind: A mini pack of Italian Greyhounds arrive together in colourful coats ready for day two of Crufts

Long hair, don't care: This glamorous pair of Maltese dogs up the style stakes with matching sapphire blue bows

Pampered: A Yorkshire terrier has its game face on, left, and a Maltese dog has its hair in wraps ahead of the show, right

Thrice as nice: Handlers kneel next to their long-haired Yorkshire terriers as they show them on the second day of Crufts

Strikingly similar: This man and his Shih Tzu pull the same face as he carries the dog around the show ring inside the arena

Showtime! A long-haired Yorkshire terrier looks as pretty as a picture, left, and an exhausted bulldog takes a break, right

Staring down the competition: Two Yorkshire terriers square off against each other as they prepare for the competition

Final touches: A dog obediently lifts his front leg for its handler as she makes sure the fur is absolutely perfect for the show

Pep talk: Two Spaniel type dogs look eagerly at their handler as they wait to compete on the second day of Crufts

Mane attraction: A standard poodle hits new heights with its hair as it poses for a close up at the annual dog show

Dancing queen: A poodle is brought up on its hind legs by its handler as they take a turn around the show ring
She's the star of a hit US TV drama and her romance with Prince Harry has naturally propelled her further into the spotlight.

But while she's now a huge star, Meghan Markle's very first film role was rather more underwhelming - and earned her only the title of 'hot girl' on the end credits.

The unknown actress who had been seen on TV just twice before the role - appeared alongside the Hollywood heartthrob in the 2005 film called A Lot Like Love.

Meghan Markle in her very first film role alongside Asthon Kutcher in the 2005 romantic comedy, A Lot Like Love

The unknown actress had only appeared on television twice before when she landed the role of a passenger who flirts with Ashton Kutcher's character on a flight

Unfortunately, Meghan's film debut sounded rather underwhelming in the credits

On-screen for less than two minutes, she attempted to flirt with Kutcher's internet entrepreneur character Oliver Martin on a flight.

But she was left stunned when Oliver showed no interest because of his complicated on-off relationship with photographer Emily Friehl, Alias actress Amanda Peet.

And she ended up being chatted up by business partner Jetter played by actor Kal Penn - instead.

Although she introduced herself as Natalie, she only appears in the credits as Hot Girl.

Despite introducing herself as Natalie in the film, Meghan was relegated to 'hot girl' in the film's end credits

Meghan's character ended up being chatted up by Ashton's business partner Jetter, played by actor Kal Penn

Last weekend Harry demonstrated how serious he is about Meghan, by taking her along to the wedding of his close friend Tom Skippy Inskip in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The pastor who presided over the ceremony said the couple looked so very much in love. 

They sat next to each other and held hands as they walked out, he added.

The actress practices her best smouldering glance on Hollywood heartthrob Ashton

She didn't get the guy this time! Kutcher's character wasn't interested in Meghan due to a complicated on-off relationship

I will never forget their radiant smiles and they looked so happy together.

His final, prescient words to Harry were: Its your turn next, Sir.

If Harry does propose soon, it's rumoured that chancellor Philip Hammond would prefer the wedding to be on a Saturday to avoid disrupting productivity.
Women who have dyed their hair or use hormonal contraception are at risk of breast cancer, scientists warn.

Changing the colour of locks has previously been linked to the disease, but a new study backs up the evidence.

Being exposed to carcinogenics in the dyes was linked to a 23 per cent chance of getting breast cancer.

Users of birth control methods such as the combined Pill and IUS coils could also face the same plight.

Post-menopausal women fitted with the latter have a 52 per cent greater chance of developing breast cancer.

And there is a 32 per cent increased risk for those who use the former hormonal-based contraceptive, Finnish researchers claim.

Changing the colour of their locks was linked to a 23 per cent increase in the risk of developing breast cancer, new research showed

The findings add to the growing body of evidence that progesterone-based birth control methods are a risk factor of breast cancer.

They are listed by Cancer Research UK alongside alcohol and being fat in the causes with 'sufficient' evidence to the disease.

Having high levels of the body's own natural hormones also increases the risk of ovarian cancer and blood clots.

Research has shown certain ones such as oestrogen cause DNA mutations, leaving cells prone to turning cancerous. Progesterone is also known to fuel the growth of tumours.

While users of hormonal intrauterine systems known as IUS, a coil that releases hormones not copper, could face the same plight of the disease (stock)

DANGER CHEMICALS IN HAIR DYE PPD (para-phenylenediamine) This chemical is found in dark hair dyes - concentrations of up to six per cent are legal - and is easily absorbed through the skin on the scalp and the hands. Lawsone A naturally occurring chemical, found in henna at concentrations of between one and two per cent, but, none the less, one that is toxic, and can affect the kidneys, blood supply and stomach. Ammoniated mercury These have a bleaching action which enhances colour in the hair, but they can cause allergic reactions. Peroxide This breaks down the melanin in the shaft to lighten the hair. Can cause allergic reactions and can irritate the skin and lungs, but is not toxic. Nonylphenol or octylphenol Members of a group of chemicals which studies suggest are hormone disrupters and bioaccumulators. This means they can build up faster in body fat than they can be broken down. Aniline dyes Derived from coal tar and used in semi-permanent dyes. Can irritate eyes, skin and mucous membranes, or cause allergic reactions. Advertisement

Both can be found in the combined Pill, but only a synthetic version of the latter exists in IUS coils.

The T-shaped devices work by releasing the hormone into the womb, thickening the mucus in cervix.

This in turn makes it more difficult for sperm to swim through and access the egg.

And previous studies have shown that women who regularly dye their hair are at risk of bladder, brain cancer and leukaemia.

British scientists once warned that the hair colouring kits used both at home and expensive salons pose a potential health risk.

It is believed that chemicals in permanent hair dyes react with other pollutants in the air to form tumours.

It is estimated that slightly more than a third of women regularly colour their hair, while much less use the IUS devices.

Experts from the University of Helsinki used survey data from around 8,000 breast cancer patients.

They were asked whether they had hormonal contraceptives or if they had ever dyed their hair.

The scientists then assessed to see whether or not there was a link between both factors and the risk of breast cancer.

However, the researchers say more research is needed on both items to truly assess their risk of breast cancer.

Dr Jasmine Just, Cancer Research UKs health information officer, said: 'Theres no convincing evidence that women who use hair dyes are at an increased risk of breast cancer.

'But, there is clear evidence that the risk of breast cancer can be reduced through things like keeping a healthy weight, being more active and cutting down on alcohol.'
Hair loss drugs can cause erectile dysfunction in men, scientists warn.

Those taking a popular growth stimulant were left impotent for an average of four years after finishing the medication, a study found.

Sufferers were left unable to maintain an erection despite being given Viagra to try and solve their problem.

Experts now say that taking finasteride is a bigger risk factor for the condition than diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking.

Those taking a popular hair growth stimulant were left impotent for an average of four years after achieving hair growth, a study found

The drug, sold as Propecia, lowers prostate specific antigen levels and is used for treating male-pattern hair loss.

Researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine assessed the effects of the hair growth stimulant, taken by Donald Trump, and dutasteride.

FINASTERIDE: WHAT IS THIS DRUG? Finasteride was originally developed to treat urinary problems in men. Studies showed the drug made prostate glands smaller by reducing the levels of the hormone dihydrotestosterone in participants. But during the clinical trials, scientists saw an unexpected side effect - hair growth. And so in 1997, the FDA approved the steroid inhibitor as the first ever drug to treat male pattern baldness. Taken once a day, the drug is mainly sold under the brand name Propecia. Millions of American adults use the pills, which are proven to be 90 per cent effective. It is unsure how many men in the UK use it as it is a prescription-only treatment that isn't available on the NHS. Other than impotence, some side effects include a rash or tenderness around the nipples. Advertisement

Study author Dr Steven Belknap said: 'Men who take finasteride or dutasteride can get persistent erectile dysfunction, in which they will not be able to have normal erections for months or years.'

Both are male hormone blockers that prevent testosterone from being converted to its more active form.

The former is prescribed to some men with baldness and also sold under the brand name Proscar.

While the latter, more commonly known as Avodart, is used primarily to shrink the size of prostates.

Of the 11,909 men who were studied, 1.4 per cent went on to develop persistent erectile dysfunction. This continued for an average of 1,348 days.

Prior to this study published in PeerJ, research was scarce on the sexual effects of taking finasteride and dutasteride.

There was also no strong evidence that taking either for a long period of time increased the risk of impotence.

But the researchers found men under the age of 42 who used either drug for seven months had a 4.9-fold higher risk.

This comes after Turkish scientists last week found blood type could influence a man's performance under the sheets.

Those with blood types A, B or AB are up to four times more likely to suffer from impotence than men who have blood type O.

The findings were significant as its estimated more than half of all men carry the three danger types.
Brielle Coutu looks very different from other children.

The two year old, from Coventry, Rhode Island, has a large, dark red birthmark on her face - known as a 'port-wine stain'.

However, it is an indicator of a far more worrisome condition.

Little Brielle has Sturge-Weber syndrome - a rare disorder that can only be detected by a special MRI.

It causes Brielle to suffer from sets of seizures and some developmental delays - forcing her to be on six different medications.

The family spoke to Daily Mail Online about the everyday struggles and how Brielle gets through them: with laughter.

Tragic: Brielle Coutu, 2, was just one month old when she was diagnosed with Sturge-Weber syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by a large facial birthmark, glaucoma and seizures

Devastating: Brielle was born with a port-wine birthmark across her forehead and down the left side of her face. Although it can appear in healthy children, doctors told her parents it could be a sign of an underlying condition

Brielle was born with the port-wine birthmark that covers her forehead and comes down the left side of her face.

Leaving a dark, reddish 'stain', it is caused by a malformation in the smallest of the body's blood vessels, known as the capillaries.

This birthmark can be present on healthy babies, but her parents, Heather and Justin, soon learned that it can alternatively be a symptom of an underlying condition.

Port-wine birthmarks occur in three out of every 1,000 babies.

But doctors told Brielle's parents that eight to 15 percent of babies with port-wine birthmarks may have Sturge-Weber syndrome.

Sturge-Weber syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by vascular birthmarks and neurological abnormalities.

The abnormalities are hidden, however - the only way to detect them is via a special MRI that allows the malformations to be imaged.

One month after she was born, an MRI confirmed that Brielle's brain had capillary malformations, which led to a diagnosis of Sturge-Weber.

'Sturge-Weber patients with brain capillary malformations have up to a 90 percent risk of epileptic seizures,' said Brielle's neurologist, Dr Anna Pinto.

Seizures are the other tell-tale sign of the syndrome. Brielle began to have them when she was three months old.

The seizures lasted for several days and hospitalized her in Rhode Island. Eventually, they triggered a major stroke-like event.

Worrying: Brielle began suffering seizures when she was three months old, a month before her parents took her Boston Children's so she could be monitored for treatment

Daily struggles: Brielle is overseen by a number of medical specialists at Boston Children's Hospital and is on six different medications to keep the seizures under control

The Coutus had been seeking help at Boston Children's, where Brielle is currently a patient in order to prevent seizures and treat other aspects of the disorder - such as glaucoma that could develop in both eyes.

Brielle is currently on six different medications: two that help control seizure activity as much as possible, one that prevents neurological deficits (problems with nerve, spinal cord, or brain function) due to stroke-like events, and three that help combat the side effects of her seizure medications.

She is also handled by a team of specialists including a dermatologist, an endocrinologist, an ophthalmologist, and a pediatric sleep disorders specialist.

Even with all the medical care, Brielle faces plenty of challenges every day. Last month, a stomach bug caused her to suffer more than 30 seizures in one day.

'People really need to stay when they are sick,' Heather told Daily Mail Online.

'It could be just a cold for an average person but it could cause serious health problems for Brielle.'

Happy: Despite the various scares, Heather and Justin say that they're amazed by their daughter's cheerfulness. Heather said: 'She's remarkably resilient and incredibly loving'

Despite the scare, Brielle's family credit the team of medical professionals with helping her live a life as normally as possible.

Annette, Brielle's grandmother, said: 'Brielle will be transitioning from early intervention to school at 30 months and she'll be starting school at age three.'

As to whether or not the family is excited, they said both yes and no.

'Yes, because all the cousins started preschool at age three so she'll get to keep up with them that way. But no, because there's lots of sicknesses and she's very susceptible to them,' Annette added.

The family has set up a Facebook page to educate people about Sturge-Weber syndrome and document Brielle's journey.

They also share updates about fundraisers they organize, including one that will be held in April to pay for airfare to the Sturge-Weber Foundation Conference in Ohio this July.

They hope to continue to educate and raise awareness for Sturge-Weber in the hopes of finding a cure.

But above all, the family is amazed by Brielle's cheerfulness in spite of points and stares that she might receive.

'Knowledge and acceptance is key. You know, don't just assume what's wrong,' Annette said.

'People think she's been burned or that it will just go away. But we know she's here to bring awareness to Sturge-Weber syndrome. It saddens us that she has it, but we believe she's here to educate people about it.'

The family says that even in the face of various adversities, the toddler is chatty and loves listening to music and dancing.

Annette said: 'She's a happy baby and always teasing, teasing Daddy.

'She's very out-going, always running up to people and saying, "Hi".'
It was one of the riskiest separation surgeries ever performed.

But now - three months after doctors untangled Eva and Erika Sandoval's digestive system, a uterus, a liver, a bladder, a pelvis, and a third leg - the girls are leaving their Palo Alto hospital.

On Friday, the hospital released photos of the two-year-old twins eating cakes at a celebration party as they prepared to move to a rehab facility at UC Davis in Sacramento, near their hometown of Antelope.

They will stay there for a few weeks before finally being able to return home.

'Erika and Eva look really great,' said pediatric surgeon Gary Hartman, MD, professor of surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine who led the 50-person team that separated the twins in a 17-hour operation and has closely monitored their recovery.

'The girls have just blossomed in terms of personality,' he said. 'They're very engaging and chatty.'

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Time to celebrate! Eva and Erika Sandoval celebrate moving closer to home with a princess picnic in their ward on Monday. The two-year-old twins have spent three months in hospital

At a March 6 hospital farewell party, parents Art and Aida Sandoval were excited.

'I'm over the moon,' Aida said. 'It's still surreal seeing them separate, knowing that it's still them as two individual bodies. Now we're just waiting for their next chapter to begin, and the anticipation is indescribable.'

Eva was discharged from Packard Children's on Thursday, March 9 after a three-month healing period in which her doctors closely watched the condition of the wound at her separation site.

For a while, the plastic surgery team thought she might need a skin graft, but Eva's wound is now healing well, and a graft will not be necessary.

Erika healed more quickly, allowing her to be discharged from Packard Children's on February 13, when she left the hospital for the first time since the separation.

However, Erika was readmitted on March 4 to monitor some vomiting that was persisting over several days.

Aside from that bump in the road, for the last few months, both girls have been receiving physical and occupational therapy at Packard Children's to help them learn new movement patterns that are suited to their individual bodies.

They have also participated in play therapy to help them adapt psychologically to the separation.

'Neither girl seems to have trouble adjusting,' said Packard Children's child psychiatrist Michelle Goldsmith, MD, who has worked with the sisters. 'They're both rolling with what's going on very well.'

The healing process has even had its share of light moments, Aida said.

'The other day, Eva said "feet", and I told her "foot". I said, you have one foot and your sister has the other foot. And then I showed her that she has one leg, and that Erika has the other leg. And she pointed at Erika across the room and said 'Erika took it! Erika took my leg!'

At UC Davis Children's Hospital, the twins' caregivers will focus on helping their mother and home care nurses learn to take care of them safely at home, and will keep building skills the girls still need, such as eating by mouth.

As infants, Erika and Eva required tube feeding. They still receive most of their nutrition via nasogastric tubes.

The team at UC Davis will also use specialized equipment to improve the girls' mobility.

Before separation, the twins' anatomy was like that of two people above the sternum, gradually merging almost to one below the diaphragm. They had a total of three legs, one of which was unlikely to ever be functional.

Tissue from the third leg was used as part of Erikas reconstructive surgery, meaning that each twin now has one leg.

Both girls are now sitting on their own for short periods and will need to learn to use customized wheelchairs to move around.

Because they each lack some pelvic bones on the side without a leg, it is unclear if they will be able to receive prosthetic legs in the future. But whether they use prosthetics or not, physical and occupational therapy will help them gain more independence.

'Improving their functional mobility will be really important in getting them to continue adapting to their new bodies,' said Kelly Andrasik, an occupational therapist who has worked with the twins at Packard Children's.

'The specialized equipment that an inpatient rehab like Davis offers will really help them with this.'

Erika and Eva will continue to receive regular checkups with Hartman and other caregivers at Packard Childrens after they go home to Antelope.

'They're doing really well and they're ready to go,' Hartman said. 'It's a great thing for everyone on our team to see.'

The girls, from Antelope, California, started on their path to surgery years ago, as they began to suffer countless infections, and Erika was becoming dangerously weak.

On December 6, in one of the riskiest separation operations ever performed, the twin girls were successfully separated.

This is the moment two-year-old twins Erika and Eva Sandoval were reunited after separation

The girls, once joined by the sternum, have suffered no complications since separation

Their parents Aida and Arturo made the painstaking decision to attempt separating them last year, as it became clear that with every month more issues arose.

They had been hospitalized with dozens of urinary tract infections and countless cases of dehydration.

And it was getting worse with time.

LIFE BEFORE SURGERY

In a lengthy profile of the family, the Sacramento Bee last month described how the cost and scale of the operation - and pre-surgery - has taken such a heavy toll on the family.

Aida was urged to abort the little girls when she and Arturo surprisingly fell pregnant two years ago - when she was 44 and he 49.

Without hesitating, the religious couple - who already have three kids in their 20s - went ahead with the pregnancy.

But life was becoming insurmountably difficult for the girls.

Aida was urged to abort the girls when she and Arturo surprisingly fell pregnant two years ago - when she was 44 and he 49. Without hesitating, the couple - who already have three kids in their 20s - went ahead with the pregnancy

Aida said last month that she was confident the surgery would be a success, and that it would allow Erika - the smaller and weaker of the two - to grow into her own person

While Arturo continues his construction work near their home in Antelope, California, Aida has been forced to move to Palo Alto to live close to the hospital with the girls

Like all two-year-olds, twin sisters Eva and Erika Sandoval are excitable, playful, and beginning to develop mentally and physically. But that brings health challenges

Aida has been forced to move to Palo Alto to live close to the hospital with the girls while Arturo continues his construction work near their home in Antelope, California, the Bee reported.

Nonetheless, Aida told the paper she maintains her faith: 'You just have to remember that doctors tell you the worst.

'I have faith in God, and I know that if it's meant to be, it will be.

'They want life, and they're going to fight for it .'

She said she was confident that the surgery would be a success, and that it would allow Erika - the smaller and weaker of the two - to grow into her own person.

The Bee called Eva 'the larger and more dominant twin' and describes how she carries them both around.

Eva and Erika were attached from the sternum to the pelvis. They shared a digestive system, a uterus, a liver, a bladder, and a third leg with a seven-toed foot. Now they are separate

As they grew, they were experiencing more and more health concerns. They were hospitalized with dozens of urinary tract infections and countless cases of dehydration

'She thrust forward with two arms and one thick leg, while her sister scrambled to support herself on spaghetti-thin limbs, sometimes giving up entirely and letting herself be dragged along,' reporter Sammy Caiola writes.

Aida told the paper: 'In moments where one is tired or she's sick, and the other wants to go play, I want her to be able to do that.

'That's something they'll get when they're separated  their individual limelight.'

PREPARING TO SEPARATE

Prior to the surgery, Dr Hartman said Eva would likely keep their bladder, while Erika would get a colostomy bag.

Erika, the weaker twin, was expected to keep their third leg while Eva would get the other two.

Both were expected to be missing vital body parts; and both needed significant reconstruction of their lower bodies.

The surgeons estimated the operation carried a 30 percent risk that one or both of them would die - largely due to the fact that they shared a tangled skeletal system, with many shared and tangled blood vessels.

'This is a worrisome number because in most cases doctors only perform with a tenth of a percent chance of fatality,' their parents Aida and Arturo wrote on their Facebook page before the surgery.

These are the intricate 3D-printed models showing the girls' entangled skeletal structures, which the surgeons used to make a game plan ahead of the surgery. The pelvis (left) was the biggest obstacle, since it was entwined and tangled with many shared blood vessels

It was one of the most complicated procedures surgeons at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford have ever faced - so complicated that the operation kept getting pushed back

'It's hard to see the numbers and find comfort on the odds.

'But ... from the beginning our girls have superseded the doctors expectations of life and will continue to show us their strength.'

Ahead of the operation, Dr Hartman told the Sacramento Bee the biggest concern was preventing blood loss when severing the liver and the pelvic bone.

Their operation is one of the most complicated procedures surgeons at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford have ever faced - so complicated that the operation keeps getting pushed back.

Going to hospital: Arturo, 51, carries the girls as Aida, 46, and their relatives follow en route to Lucille Packard

Before surgery: Erika and Eva look at each other before their operation

Before surgery: Eva (left) and Erika (right) pictured arriving at the hospital last week

After originally planning to perform the surgery in January this year, the team decided on the first week of December.

Surgeons spent the last few months inserting tissue expanders, a common tactic in separation of conjoined twins.

It was a way of stretching the skin gradually so that, when it came to the reconstruction surgery, they have more to move and manipulate.

THE OPERATION

The team released photos from inside the operation, and pictures of the 3D-printed models of the girls' shared body parts, which they used to practice for months.

'We're so happy they did well during the actual separation procedure and it went smoothly,' Gail Boltz, clinical professor of anesthesiology, said.

Matias Bruzoni, Dr Hartman's co-surgeon who made the final cut of the skin in the separation, explained how the team working 'little by little' from the upper chest down to the shared leg.

The surgery was challenging because they shared much of their lower body and had one liver, one bladder and three legs.

During surgery: 'The twins did very well,' lead surgeon Dr. Gary Hartman said (pictured during the operation last week)

Ready for reconstruction: One of the girls is wheeled out of the OR for hours of reconstruction

Mammoth task: The 50-strong team had been preparing for more than a year (pictured during the surgery last week)

The team said they could not have effectively separated the pelvis without such advanced radiological scans, used during surgery (pictured) and also before to make 3D plastic models

In the procedure conducted last Tuesday into early Wednesday, the team divided the bladder into two separate organs. It also split their liver to give half to each child.

The girls each have one leg, with doctors using a third leg for reconstruction, taking its skin and muscle to close one child's abdominal wall.

And it was the reconstruction that really determined whether the girls would recover well.

Dr Hartman explained: 'It doesn't matter if you get them separated if you cant get them reconstructed and get them closed.

'Matias and Jim [Gamble, the orthopedic surgeon who guided the separation of the pelvis] got us through the pelvis and cut the skin.

'As Matias says, it's the most anticlimactic thing. You've been through the whole separation then you just have to cut that last bit of skin, and they're the heroes.

It doesn't matter if you get them separated if you cant get them reconstructed and get them closed. The reconstructive guys are really the heroes Lead surgeon Dr Gary Hartman

'The reconstructive guys are really the heroes.

'And the proof of that is Erika, who was and is the smaller twin. We were very concerned about her pre-surgery because she kept getting smaller. The more calories we gave her, Eva would get bigger.

'But because of the way she was reconstructed, she is getting stronger and moving faster than her sister.

'That is down to the creativeness of the reconstructive surgeons.'

After surgery: Aida, Arturo, and two of their three adult children embrace with joy after the operation
A Colorado-based Christian charity said on Friday that it is ending its almost half-a-century-long operations in India after authorities restricted its funding channels over suspicions it supported religious conversions in the Hindu-majority country.

Compassion International (CI) is one of thousands of charities in India whose ability to receive or donate foreign funds has been impaired since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing nationalist party took power almost three years ago.

Authorities accuse the charities of violations - ranging from not disclosing where donations are being spent to engaging in 'anti-national' activities. The charities say the crackdown is aimed at stifling dissent and curbing minority freedoms.

A child walks through a cloud of smoke in a village located between one the coal mines in Jharia: Authorities accuse the charities of violations - ranging from not disclosing where donations are being spent to engaging in 'anti-national' activities

CI's Media Relations Officer Becca Bishop said Indian officials did not formally give any reason for restricting funds for its child poverty alleviation work, but believed it was being targeted for being a Christian organisation.

'We do believe that Compassion and other Christian charities are being singled out because of our faith, and that the Indian government is trying to limit the expansion of Christianity in India,' said Bishop.

The charity, she added, works with children of all backgrounds and faiths around the world, and it does not require any child to become a Christian in order to receive benefits.

Compassion International set up in India in 1968 and donates $45 million annually to a network of almost 590 church charities which sponsor over 147,000 children from impoverished rural communities. It employs almost 130 staff across the country.

A mother washes her son who is covered by a layer of coal and dirt from the contaminated air around mines in Jharia: Indian officials did not give any reason for restricting funds for its child poverty alleviation work, but believed it was being targeted for being a Christian organisation

India's charity crackdown

Over 10,000 charities in India have had their licenses to receive or donate foreign funds cancelled or suspended since 2014, hampering their ability to work in areas ranging from housing and education to health and sanitation.

Groups such as Greenpeace which campaigns against coal mining, Lawyers Collective which works on sexual minority rights, and the Sabrang Trust run by a human rights activist and a Modi critic, have all had their licenses suspended.

The government says they are violating the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) - a law under which civil society groups who receive overseas funds are regulated.

India's attack on charities attempting to help child poverty has sparked criticism both at home and abroad

Many have not submitted their annual financial statements, while others are using money to engage in 'activities against the national interest,' say home ministry officials.

The move has sparked criticism both at home and abroad.

UN experts in July last year said New Delhi was using the FCRA to censor critics. The FCRA was 'overly broad', they said, and activities deemed as being against of the state were vague.

A US state department official on Wednesday also voiced concern over CI's closure.

Authorities accuse the charities of violations - ranging from not disclosing where donations are being spent to engaging in 'anti-national' activities. The charities say the crackdown is aimed at stifling dissent and curbing minority freedoms.

While charities must obey local laws, he said, the reason for shutting them down should be made 'transparent and clear.'

'When we see a group like Compassion International, which we believe is working and doing important work in India is closed down, then it's a matter of concern,' Mark Toner, a US State Department spokesman, told a news conference, according to a transcript.

India on Thursday responded by saying charities must follow the law. 'The whole matter here is a matter of law enforcement and following the laid-down laws of the country,' Foreign Ministry Spokesman Gopal Baglay told a news conference.

Thomson Reuters Foundation
A day of reckoning arrived for shamed carmaker Volkswagen in the US on Friday - but it still will not pay out on emissions cheating in Britain.

The German car firm pleaded guilty to three felony counts, as part of a $4.3 billion plea agreement reached with the Justice Department in January over the reputation-hammering diesel emissions scandal that emerged in September 2015.

But despite agreeing to pay a total of $25 billion in fines to US authorities and compensation to the American 580,000 car owners affected by the scandal, Volkswagen continues to refuse payouts for European drivers affected, including the 1.1 million in the UK.

Volkswagen has pleaded guilty to three criminal counts for cheating emissions in the US

VW general counsel Manfred Doess made the plea on the company's behalf in Detroit on Friday, after receiving authorisation from VW's board of directors.

'Your honor, VW AG is pleading guilty to all three counts because it is guilty on all three counts,' he told the court.

But despite all this, VW has refused to compensate European and UK car owners, arguing that a 'technical fix' can make cars compliant with standards.

Yet, VW admitted recently that of the estimated 1.1 million UK cars affected, just 470,000 of the vehicles had received the software updates.

US District Judge Sean Cox accepted VW's guilty plea on the three counts: conspiracy to commit fraud, obstruction of justice and entry of goods by false statement charges.

Under the recently-agreed multi-billion dollar deal with the Justice Department, VW has committed to sweeping reforms, new audits and oversight by an independent monitor for three years.

An assistant US attorney, John Neal, told the court that the test-cheating tactics were 'a well thought-out, planned offence that went to the top of the organisation'.

He added that VW could have faced $17 billion to $34 billion in fines under sentencing guidelines, significantly more than the $4.3 billion deal it has agreed to.

Today's hearing marks 18 months since the automotive group was found to have installed defeat devices in 580,000 US vehicles to enable it to beat emissions tests over a six-year period.

The Environmental Protection Agency discovered that these vehicles emitted up to 40 times the legal pollution limit as part of an investigation that concluded in September 2015.

The scandal in the US has taken the total cost for Volkswagen in the US to $25 billion

What does this mean for UK owners?

Volkswagen's US guilty plea is still expected to have little impact for UK drivers, of which 1.1 million are effected by Volkswagen's emissions test cheating.

Despite growing pressure from owners, lawyers and the government, the company has refused compensation for those affected.

Paul Willis told the Transport Select Committee last month that Volkswagen had 'not misled anyone' in the UK

The carmaker has argued that a 'technical fix' can make cars in the UK compliant with standards, and that it was a failure of regulation which caused the problem.

The recall process for the affected cars was originally scheduled to have concluded by the end of 2016.

However, last month Volkswagen UK director Paul Willis admitted that just 470,000 of the vehicles had received the software updates.

Speaking to the Transport Select Committee on Monday 20 February, Willis said: 'We did not fit defeat devices to our vehicles in Europe.

'We never sold cars on emissions levels. We have not misled anyone on anything.'

Willis added that between one and five per cent of affected owners had bought models based on their green credentials and that the value of these vehicles would remain unaffected when the software update had been carried out on them.

Lawyers have said UK owners have been left with no choice but to sue the company.
Shares in BT Group leapt almost 5 per cent this morning after it announced a deal with regulator Ofcom to split out the Openreach network from its main business.

Under the terms of the agreement, Openreach will become a legally separate company without any BT branding, but will remain within the BT Group rather than being sold to a third party.

BT has been wrangling with Ofcom over the issue for two years and investors appear to be relieved there is now an end in sight for the saga.

Openreach will become a legally separate company without any BT branding, but will remain within BT Group

The deal is seen as key to improving broadband services and competition across the UK. Ofcom claimed it delivered independence, but critics question BT's level of involvement with the network's future.

Openreach is the network of copper and fibre optic lines which BT delivers its services through.

Many other broadband providers also depend on the network either entirely or in part.

The telecommunications regulator has had a long-standing problem with BT's ownership of Openreach due to competition concerns.

Openreach, in effect, has a monopoly on delivery of broadband over the UK's copper line infrastructure, which threatens the ability of other providers such as Sky and Talk Talk to compete fairly.

One of the sticking points was how to deal with the 32,000 employees, particularly in terms of their pensions. Under the agreement the staff will all transfer to the new separate entity, and all those with pension entitlements will have them honoured.

The entitlement will include continuation of the 'Crown Guarantee'; a deal struck in 1984 which dictates the Government must honour BT's pension obligations in the event the company fails.

BT Group chief executive Gavin Patterson will be able to veto Openreach's CEO appointment

BT chief executive Gavin Patterson said: 'I believe this agreement will serve the long-term interests of millions of UK households, businesses and service providers that rely on our infrastructure.

'It will also end a period of uncertainty for our people and support further investment in the UK's digital infrastructure.'

'This has been a long and challenging review where we have been balancing a number of competing interests. We have listened to criticism of our business and as a result are willing to make fundamental changes to the way Openreach will work in the future,' he added.

Head of research at Accendo Markets, Mike van Dulken, seemed sceptical, and dubbed the deal an 'Openfudge.'

'Openreach's CEO reports to its chairman who is accountable to BT CEO Gavin Patterson,' van Dulken noted.

'However, Mr Patterson can veto the appointment of the Openreach CEO, simply by notifying regulator Ofcom.'

'This veto is only mentioned in the Ofcom statement. Does its absence from BT's own release say something about independence?

'Ofcom saying the deal seeks the 'greatest deal of independence' also suggest it doesn't quite fully deliver in terms of true autonomy.'

'All this begs the question whether Openreach will have the true independence being demanded by customers and competitors to foster real competition on the UK network,' he continued.

'Is this simply a legal fudge on an existing subsidiary to get everyone off its back? Was Ofcom so tired of it all that even it thought 'that'll do'? Does the fact that shares in competitors have barely moved suggest doubts there too?'

In response an Ofcom spokesperson said: 'The Openreach chair will not be accountable to the BT chief executive. And if there were any suggestion that BT was using its veto to compromise Openreach's independence, we would take that matter very seriously. The new Openreach will be truly independent from BT, with new legal obligations to ensure that it serves all its customers equally. We will ensure this happens.'
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Slumped over drunk on the beach, necking beer on hotel balconies and performing lewd dances in front of baying crowds, these are the Spring Break shenanigans that students don't want their parents to see.

Over the course of four days in Panama City Beach, DailyMail.com saw college kids get so drunk they needed medical attention, flash their breasts in public and, in one incident, appear to have sex pressed against the barriers in a nightclub.

More still were seen getting drunk day and night, with some downing beer through funnels and others doing shots in the pool to chants of 'drink, drink, drink, drink!' - all despite the city banning drinking on the beach.

This week, 1.3 million students, most aged between 18 and 21, head out on vacation, with a further 2.5 million set to follow on Friday.

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A student funnels beer on a hotel balcony - just one of the Spring Break shenanigans students don't want their parents to see

While on Spring Break, students also were seen by DailyMail.com playing drinking games on their hotel balconies like 'slapping the bag' - removing the bag of wine inside the box of wine and then passing it around. This week, 1.3 million students, most aged between 18 and 21, head out on vacation, with a further 2.5 million set to follow on Friday

Over the course of four days in Panama City Beach, DailyMail.com saw college girls 'performing' on stage for crowds of men who cheered them on and took videos of them with their phones

'Disorderly conduct': One student appeared to expose herself to crowds of shocked onlookers

The student then seemed to dance her way off stage as men stared at her from behind dark sunglasses

Of those, tens of thousands head to Panama City Beach, as well as other Florida resorts such as Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, and Texas hotspot South Padre Island.

For Panama City Beach, the annual influx means a $40m payday  approximately $2m of which is funneled into city coffers via a statutory bed tax.

Bars and restaurants across town benefit greatly from the Spring Break shenanigans, including Dirty Dicks Crab House, whose slogan is 'where diners come to get crabs'.

Across the country, the student dollar equates to a $1bn boom for tour operators, bar owners and club promoters, according figures prepared by University of New Orleans economist John Laurie.

But not everyone is delighted to see the students, including the local police department which is charged with enforcing rules introduced in 2015 banning drinking on the beach following a spate of rapes  42 between 2007 and 2014.

Outside the Spinnaker Beach Club, which is famous for its Tuesday 'Beach Bash' parties, girls could be seen performing lewd dances for large crowds

A group of college girls cheer on a friend as she funnels beer on her hotel balcony not far from the beach. 'This [Panama City Beach] is the top Spring Break place and it's great for parties,' one party-goer told DailyMail.com

Other students or college 'drop outs' relax and drink on a balcony nearby, 'pre-gaming' before heading out to a beach bash

Wet n' Wild: Some revelers seemed in awe of the sloppy 'performances', including this fully clothed student who sipped her drink as she watches drunk girls dance - and fall over - on 'stage'

Showing off: One student seemed to enjoy proudly displaying her behind for her fellow spring breakers

Quite the spectacle: Two men cheer on a twerking college student sporting a more sophisticated look, wearing glasses with her swimwear

Smile you're on camera: The twerking college girl turned around to proudly show off her dance moves and toned physique - and is almost certain to have been filmed by those watching

As a result, the 2016 season saw a drop in crime with police figures showing a total of 20 gun-related offences and 256 drug arrests, compared to 93 gun busts and 507 drug arrests the previous year.

In total, 1,222 people were arrested during 2016 Spring Break, compared to 2,423 in 2015.

Figures for this year are not yet available, although a total of 18 arrests were made in Panama City Beach over the weekend of February 3-5  the majority for underage drinking and disorderly conduct.

STUDENTS USE COLLEGE LOANS FOR SPRING BREAK A growing number of students, it seems, will use their student loans to fund their upcoming fun-in-the-sun spring breaks, reported the New York Post. About 30 percent of American students will tap into their college debt to pay for their wild week-long holidays. While using student loan cash for booze, beer pong and sunblock is not illegal, few experts find it wise. 'Students should minimize their borrowing during their college years and live a sparse lifestyle  but no one wants to hear that when their fraternity brothers or sorority sisters are packing up to Cabo for the week,' said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst of Bankrate.com. 'It's like putting spring break on a credit card, but this one is subsidized by taxpayers,' McBride added. The average college student graduates with $28,000 in loans. The default rate on those loans is 11.8 percent, according to LendEDU. The company conducted a survey of 500 college students who have an outstanding student loan and who said that they were planning a spring-break getaway. The 30 percent response rate translates into 2.83 million students traveling to warmer climates on their loans. Advertisement

In Daytona Beach, which hosts between 5,000 and 10,000 students each weekend in March, 106 arrests were made last weekend, while police in Fort Lauderdale - the fourth most popular destination of 2017 according to a survey of travel businesses - logged 137 crimes, albeit not all committed by Spring Breakers.

Among the those on the wrong side of the law in Panama City Beach was Adam, 20, a student from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, who was hauled off by cops for drinking on the beach according to his friends.

Gabriel, 21, and friends Mike and Brett, both 20, said their roommate had found himself being taken away by police after being caught drunk on the beach at noon.

'It was crazy,' the trio told DailyMail.com. 'He was just having a few drinks on the beach and the cops showed up and took him away.'

But not everyone is delighted to see the students, including the local police department who arrested a number of party-goers for underage drinking, drinking on the beach, public intoxication and disorderly conduct

In the zone: One student appeared to really be into the music, raising one hand to the sky and holding a beer in the other

Party on: Girls continued to dance on stage for the crowd and their cameras despite the risk of arrest

A party-goer wearing a 'no shade' swimsuit seems to not have a care in the world as she dances for the crowd. 'We're getting drunk!' one Michigan student said

Girls could be seen stripping off onstage and twerking for prizes ranging from t-shirts to having their entire bar tabs paid

Some party-goers really outdid themselves, showing off their dance moves for the more-than-impressed onlookers

Mike, who was dressed in a Stars and Stripes bandana and matching swim shorts, added: 'They're going to fine him $250 and bring him back when he's sobered up.

'It's crazy how harsh the cops are  we're just having fun but they're everywhere'.

Paul Miller, 21, of the University of West Virginia, told DailyMail.com that he and his friends had come to party but complained of the police efforts to control the beach.

'This [Panama City Beach] is the top Spring Break place and it's great for parties,' he said. 'But we should 100 per cent be able to have a beer and enjoy the beach without the cops stopping you.'

The first wave of Spring Break parties saw a spike in drinking offences, among them public intoxication and disorderly conduct.

By Monday afternoon, a further seven arrests had been made  most for breaking the beach booze ban and public intoxication.

One local cop, who asked not to be named, told DailyMail.com: 'We've arrested two already this morning. Each time, it has been for being intoxicated on the beach.

'We take them to the Bay County Jail up the road and leave them there until they sober up.'

Local Police Chief Drew Whitman added: 'Most of the Spring Break arrests are for drinking on the sandy portion of the beach, underage drinking and disorderly conduct.

As the day went on, drunken revelers started to get sloppy. One student put herself in a very revealing position in front of her friend, who appeared to push her away

Heartstopping moment: One acrobatic student jumped off a roof into the sandy beach as amazed spring breakers looked on

Drunken delight: A college student sporting a light pink bikini seemed to be having the time of her life dancing at the bash

Shocking: The same student then flipped over, revealing herself to the crowd including a man whose jaw dropped at the sight

'Those who are arrested can get fines of up to $500 and have to get a taxi back after we release them from jail. Or their friends can pick them up.'

Other southern party towns such as Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale also saw arrests for drunkenness, underage drinking, loitering and fighting.

Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri said: 'Come here, have a good time and obey the law. But if you want to come here, get drunk and fight, you will be going to jail.'

And in South Padre Island, Texas, local law enforcement said emergency calls are 'going up each day' with Police Chief Randy Smith predicting 'the busiest week of the year' when revelers from the hard-partying University of Texas descend on Friday.

But despite the risk of arrest, students in Panama City Beach told DailyMail.com they plan to party on regardless  and could be seen hauling bottles of booze into their rooms and playing a game of cat and mouse with cops determined to keep a lid on the shenanigans.

Unhappy ending: Most appeared to be having a boozy good time, although it all proved too much for one reveler who was discovered by DailyMail.com drunkenly slumped over a table in Pizza Hut

Outside the Spinnaker Beach Club, which is famous for its Tuesday 'Beach Bash' parties, students were seen passed out on the sand and falling over following rounds of 'Mega Loko' shots - a shot glass filled with vodka and Four Loko

In fact, revelers seemed to be passed out everywhere along on the beach as the day parties ended, falling over continuously

Some spring breakers needed to be lifted off the ground by friends because of their drunken antics

But earlier in the day, students were seen looking more calm - lounging in the sun before the real partying began

Two spring breakers looked eager to party. One particularly patriotic party-goer sported a stars and stripes bandana

'We're getting drunk!' one Michigan student named Michael told this website. 'We've got a load of vodka and lime pops in our room. We mix them together - you should try it.

'We're just going to get drunk and have fun'.

Outside the Spinnaker Beach Club, which is famous for its Tuesday 'Beach Bash' parties, students were seen passed out on the sand and falling over following rounds of 'Mega Loko' shots, made with an equal mix of vodka and Four Loko.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Club La Vela, girls could be seen stripping off onstage and twerking lasciviously for prizes ranging from t-shirts to bar tabs in full view of the crowd.

Further down the beach, at the $142-a-night Holiday Inn, groups of students could be seen clustered on balconies challenging each other to drinking games.

In the evenings, youngsters intent on a good time headed to Club La Vela  a huge drinking spot that bills itself as 'the place to party with thousands'

The club is also famous for hosting wet t-shirt contests, as well as foam parties and live music; mostly hip hop stars including upcoming performer Ty Dolla $ign

Determined: One spring breaker is intent on keeping the party going, carrying milk and a six pack of beer back to his hotel

Students dancing at La Vela. Over the course of four days in Panama City Beach, DailyMail.com even caught two youngsters appearing to have sex in the nightclub

Some were seen passing plastic bags of booze between rooms, while others could be seen doing beer funnels  the aim being to drink as much as possible in the shortest time.

In the evenings, youngsters intent on a good time headed back to Club La Vela  a huge drinking spot that bills itself as 'the place to party with thousands'.

It is also famous for hosting wet t-shirt contests, as well as foam parties and live music; mostly hip hop stars including upcoming performer Ty Dolla $ign.

Saturday night saw revelers crowd into the club for the annual welcome party, while on Sunday, the theme was pools, with free entry for girls in bikinis.

But it was on Monday night that the club really got going, courtesy of a 'wet n' wild foam party' that saw girls climb on stage and twerk in front of a baying crowd.

Others opted for alternatives such as Hammerhead Fred's, a neon-lit bar next door to a small theme park boasting rides such as the Vomatron sling-shot, and local strip club Show-n-Tail.

Many students were seen by DailyMail.com falling over and struggling to get back up because they were too intoxicated - victim of Mega Loko shots, made with an equal mix of vodka and Four Loko

While some spring breakers were able to get back on their feet, the party-goer pictured had to be taken away by paramedics

Too much to handle: The man was laid down on the back of a patrol vehicle and driven away from the madness

Most appeared to be having a boozy good time, although it all proved too much for one reveler who was discovered by DailyMail.com drunkenly slumped over a table in Pizza Hut opposite La Vela.

Another was seen on Monday night falling over and struggling to get back up because he was so intoxicated.

Students appeared proud of their antics, with one group of girls found relaxing on the beach on telling DailyMail.com that they had been thrown out of La Vela two nights in a row for behaving too rowdily.

Mia Rife and Dana West, both 18 and from the University of South Carolina, admitted to being ejected from the club.

'A lot of people from our school come here [to Panama City Beach] and we had heard it was fun so that's why we're here,' said Mia.

'It has been good so far but calmer than we expected.' Dana added: 'Our plan for the week is to go to the beach every day and hit the clubs every night.'

According to the local tourist board, last weekend's shenanigans were just the start of the Spring Break influx, with thousands more expected over the next two weeks.

Daytona Beach, meanwhile, is expecting between 5,000 and 10,000 student vacationers next weekend alone, according to Chief Capri.

A man walks down the beach with his friend in a festive costume, surely heading to one of the many Beach Bash parties

Frat boys proudly show off their flag of Phi Delta Theta on the beach. Its most famous former members include Neil Armstrong and Bob Schieffer - but its chapter at the University of Central Florida was temporarily suspended over hazing allegations last month

The biggest numbers, however, are expected in South Padre Island, which will host a giant concert featuring rapper Lil' Wayne next Monday and a colossal Beach Bash the following day.

Unsurprisingly, the local police chief is preparing for action. 'Next week will be our busiest but calls are going up every day,' said Randy Smith.

He continued: 'We plan well ahead but you never know when criminal activity will occur. Most of the trouble is things like public intoxication, simple assaults and disorderly conduct [fighting].

'We want everyone to have fun while in South Padre Island but safely.'

Chief Whitman, of Panama City Beach, added: 'Use good common sense and remember  if it's against the law where you come from, it probably is here too.'

A message that many of the students in his town for Spring Break appear all too happy to ignore.

All smiles: Not everybody misbehaves on Spring Break - and police point out that the numbers of arrests are down, and that the alcohol ban is working on the beach

Too rowdy: One party-goer needed to be steadily held so as not to fall backwards into the ocean - but still held onto his drink

But some spring breakers seemed to find time amid the crazy partying for a little beach romance

This year, tens of thousands of students head to Panama City Beach, as well as other Florida resorts such as Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, and Texas hotspot South Padre Island for Spring Break
Mother Divine, the widow of Father Divine who headed the religion he founded for decades, has died at the age of 92.

Sweet Angel Divine, her legal name, passed awat Saturday at Woodmont, the movement's Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, headquarters, the Emil J. Ciavarelli Family Funeral Homes said in an obituary on its website.

Her husband, who died in 1965, claimed to God, advocated racial equality and provided free food to thousands of people.

Mother Divine has died and was believed to be 92 years old. She is seen above in a photo taken in 1988

Mother Divine is seen next to her husband, Father Divine. Sweet Angel Divine, Mother Divine's legal name, died Saturday at Woodmont, the movement's Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, headquarters

The movement doesn't publicize birthdates, but Mother Divine was believed to have been 92 years old, The Philadelphia Inquirer said.

An archivist for Father Divine's library and museum, Christopher Stewart, told the newspaper her death was related to old age.

Mother Divine was born Edna Rose Ritchings.

According to a Time magazine account, she moved from Canada in early 1946 and went to Philadelphia to meet the Rev. Major Jealous Divine at the International Peace Mission Movement, which he founded in New York during the Great Depression to promote racial equality, celibacy and devotion to the Kingdom of Heaven.

The two married that year and maintained that they never consummated their marriage, in keeping with Father Divine's devotion to celibacy.

Father Divine urged believers not to drink, smoke, swear, gamble or borrow money and to pool their resources and practice communal living.

Born Edna Rose Ritchings, she moved from Canada in early 1946 and went to Philadelphia to meet the Rev. Major Jealous Divine, marrying that year

He also barred them from marriage and rejected racial identity, urging people to think of themselves simply as Americans.

Critics said those teachings were overshadowed by Father Divine's claim to be God, a declaration Mother Divine insisted was made modestly.

The church's key activity was operating dining halls that provided free food to people. Later the mission began charging for the meals, but only a few cents.

After Father Divine's death in 1965, Mother Divine led the movement for decades.

She sold off many of the landmark properties Father Divine amassed with donations from the faithful in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, including the Divine Lorraine Hotel and Unity Mission Church in Philadelphia.

Mother Divine and Father Divine maintained that they never consummated their marriage, in keeping with Father Divine's devotion to celibacy

Mother Divine looks down from a stairwell while standing near a portrait of herself and her late husband Father Divine at her home at Woodmont in 2003

For a 2003 interview, Mother Divine left Father Divine's big chair empty at their stunning hilltop estate in Gladwyne, pulling a chair alongside it and telling a reporter with a smile, 'Father is here with us.'

At the time, believers, most in their 70s and 80s, still gathered regularly to sing religious and patriotic songs and listen to recordings of Father Divine's sermons.

'Basically we have not changed,' she said. 'We just don't have the people we once had.'

Musing on the demise of all eight of the mission's cafeterias, she said, 'Maybe feeding three generations of people is enough.'

Father Divine urged believers not to drink, smoke, swear, gamble or borrow money and to pool their resources and practice communal living
The devastated grandmother of Kyhesha-Lee Joughin has revealed she was supposed to mind the little girl the weekend she died, but her car broke down and she was not able to get to Brisbane to collect her.

The tragic twist in the child's heartbreaking death was revealed to a Brisbane court by the three-year-old girl's maternal grandmother Tanya Coyne, who said she is still haunted by knowing the child should have been in her care that Easter weekend in 2013.

Kyhesha-Lee was living with her father, Matthew Lee Williamson, in the Brisbane suburb of Petrie, when she died from horrific internal injuries sustained after days of abuse, the court has been told.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal Ms Coyne had arranged to pick up Kyhesha-Lee from her father's flat and take her to spend the Easter weekend with her mother Danielle Joughin, who she had not seen for nine months.

'We were actually going to have her that weekend, but our car broke down and we could not make it,' Mrs Coyne wrote in a victim impact statement to the court.

Kyhesha-Lee dies after days of physical and sexual abuse in her home in Petrie, Brisbane where she lived with her father Matthew Williamson and housemate Christopher Kent

Tanya Coyne, pictured here with her daughter Tammy and partner Doug Joughin, who is Kyhesha's grandfather

'We thought it would be better anyway for Kyhesha to spend Easter with her father,' Mrs Coyne said

'We thought it would be better anyway for Kyhesha to spend Easter with her father,' Mrs Coyne said.

Mrs Coyne rearranged the custody and planned to have Kyhesha-Lee the following weekend.

But the little girl didn't live long enough to take the trip to her grandma's.

At 2.36pm on March 30 her father, Williamson, who has plead guilty to manslaughter, called Triple-0 after he found his daughter's lifeless body on the loungeroom floor.

Court documents revealed in addition to her horrific injuries, Kyhesha-Lee's head had been shaved and her hair was just one 1cm long to disguise bald patches where chunks had been pulled out.

Mrs Coyne wrote in her victim impact statement that she felt 'numbness, disbelief, confusion, shock, angry and helplessness' when she found out her granddaughter was dead.

'The final days of her life horrific injuries and what happened to her and her suffering will always haunt our minds.

'The helpless mess we feel about not being there will haunt us for a very long time.'

Court documents revealed in addition to her horrific injuries, Kyhesha-Lee's head had been shaved and her hair was just 1cm long to disguise bald patches where chunks had been pulled out. She is pictured here with her mother Danielle Joughin

'The final days of her life horrific injuries and what happened to her and her suffering will always haunt our minds,' Kyhesha's grandma said

Kyhesha during a trip to her mother's home in 2012

Devastated grandparents had plans 'to spoil' Kyhesha

Mrs Coyne, who is engaged to Doug Joughin, Kyhesha Lee's maternal grandfather, had assumed the role of grandmother to the child.

She was 'looking forward' to Kyhesha Lee's visit because she hadn't seen the little girl for 'a very long time', according to her statement.

'The last time we spoke to Kyhesha she was not well but the time before that she was going to paint us a bunny rabbit picture which we never got and never will,' Mrs Coyne said.

Mrs Coyne said her family had plans 'to spoil' Kyhesha-Lee the day they received the heart-breaking call to say she had died.

'We were actually buying all the grandkids their Easter eggs and toys,' she said.

Danielle Joughin and Doug Joughin leaving court during Matthew Williamson's trial

Matthew Lee Williamson with supporters outside court

Ms Joughin's sister Tammy, the child's aunt, has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder since the tragedy.

'Our daughter Tammy had plans to take Kyhesha on a girl's day out, shopping for clothes and to the movies. She was so excited,' Ms Coyne said.

'Tammy has never gone back to the same girl we had three years ago, she will not talk about it and will not acknowledge it, it is so hard for to all watch her like this.

'We watched a happy young girl become so depressed and upset.'

A mother's heartbreaking goodbye

Mrs Coyne said in her statement she has had to 'hold it together' for her family despite being diagnosed with depression following her granddaughter's death.

Mrs Coyne described her step-daughter's distress at having to say goodbye to Kyhesha-Lee at the little girl's funeral.

'Nothing could prepare Danielle for how she would be affected seeing her little girl lying motionless.'

'I will never forge the pleas and gut wrenching crying that came out of the grieving mother saying goodbye to her little girl,' Mrs Coyne said

It was the last time Danielle would see her daughter - and according to Mrs Coyne she dressed her in a 'really pretty dress, shoes and matching ID bracelets'.

'The dress was so pretty it was white with clear gemstones on it.

'Her shoes were white with matching crystal-like butterflies on them.

'I will never forget the pleas and gut wrenching crying that came out of the grieving mother saying goodbye to her little girl,' she wrote.

'The hardest thing any father could do was to pull his daughter Danni away from her own daughter when it was time to go.'

Kyhesha-Lee playing with dolls the year before she was killed in her father's home

Danielle Joughin with her daughter, who lived full-time with her father after the couple's separation

'I can't pry her mouth open... move her arms'

Daily Mail Australia can reveal the moment Williamson called Triple-0 for help.

'My daughter's not breathing... I fell asleep on the couch,' he said.

'She's stiff its like rigor mortis.'

'I can't pry her mouth open.. can't move her arms.'

Williamson's former housemate Christopher Kent, who also plead guilty to manslaughter after Kyhesha-Lee's death, left the house before the ambulance arrived at 2.46pm.

He was found in Grafton the following day - but blames Williamson for Kyhesha Lee's physical and sexual injuries and said he told him to 'hide the bong' kept in the apartment before he would call for help.

Kent, who is currently serving time in a NSW prison for an unrelated matter, testified against Williamson during his sentencing for manslaughter - which has been adjourned until March 16.

'Everyday I would come home to another bruise,' Kent said in a statement to the court.

Christopher Kent, who also plead guilty to manslaughter after Kyhesha's death, left the house before the ambulance arrived at 2.46pm

At 2.36pm on March 30 her father, Matthew Williamson, pictured, who has plead guilty to manslaughter, called 000 after he found his daughter's lifeless body on the loungeroom floor

Danielle Joughin pictured with her daughter Kyhesha-Lee during one of their visits

Kent, who the court head was involved in an 'unorthodox sexual relationship' with Williamson, had lived with him and Kyhesha since January or February 2013.

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 the distressed girl threw 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.

The young girl was 'found dead on the loungeroom floor' according to her father

Kyhesha-Lee was tied to her bed and locked in her bedroom by her father - a court heard

Williamson had custody of Kyhesha since splitting with her mother Danielle Joughin in 2010. The pair lived with his father until October 2012 when they moved into the Petrie apartment where she died.

The three-year-old went to childcare on March 21 and looked healthy - but by March 29 she had a swollen and bruised face, court documents reveal.

A man that Williamson had casual sex with went to the two-bedroom apartment the night before Kyhesha died, and told him he should take her to the hospital because her face was bruised and swollen.

Danielle Joughin outside the Supreme Court where her ex-partner is to be sentenced for the death of their daughter Kyhesha-Lee

Kyhesha 'in serious pain days before death'

Williamson didn't want to 'lose custody of her' so never took her to see a doctor - even though she had green vomit, was bleeding in her nappy and was dehydrated and lethargic.

The injuries were treatable, according to medical experts - who said if she was taken to the medical centre located just 500m from her house she would have lived.

According to court documents obtained by Daily Mail Australia, Kyhesha would have been in serious pain in the days leading up to her death.

Her bowel had been ruptured after she was hit in the stomach while she was lying on a hard surface which caused her bowel to rupture.

'Nothing could prepare Danielle for how she would be affected seeing her little girl lying motionless' her step-mother said

Kyhesha-Lee had not seen her mother, Danielle, since June or July the year before her death

'The hardest thing any father could do was to pull his daughter Danni away from her own daughter when it was time to go'

This caused an infection which soon went septic - experts told the court Kyhesha would not have been able to eat, drink or move in the 12 hours before her death.

After hearing two days of evidence at a sentencing hearing, Justice Roslyn Atkinson adjourned the matter until Thursday March 16, where she is expected to hand down her findings as to what role Williamson played in Kyhesha's death and his appropriate punishment.

Williamson barrister Michael Copley has requested a report into whether a 'psychological abnormality' contributed to his conduct towards Kyhesha-Lee.
A father-of-one has been billed 600 after he was unable to buy a 2.30 train ticket for a six-mile journey because the machines only accepted cards.

Mat Wheeler, 30, caught two trains from Taffs Well, Wales, where he works to his home in Fairwater.

When he got to Taffs Well station, the machine was only accepting cards and he only had cash on him for the 2.30 journey, which is around 20 minutes.

Mr Wheeler said there was no guard at the station so boarded a train to Radyr, where he changed.

However, when he tried to buy a ticket there, the same problem arose, so he got on a service to his home station without a ticket.

But as he walked onto the platform at Fairwater, a guard stopped him and issued him with a penalty notice.

Mat Wheeler, 30, pictured with his wife Nicola and their one-year-old daughter Erin

Mr Wheeler, who works at a builders' merchants, was stunned that the guard did not accept his story.

He said: 'I finished work early and caught the train. I only had cash on me and the machine at Taffs Well station only took cards.'

'There was no guard on the second train. I got off at Fairwater and as I went to walk home, a gentleman with a clipboard and a camera stopped me and said, "Have you got a ticket?"

'I said no. He started reading me my rights. I was completely shocked.

'I said, "I've got the money to pay - can I pay you now?" He said it doesn't work like that.'

Mr Wheeler was ordered to pay a total of 616.30 for travelling on a railway without paying a fare - a 440 fine, compensation of 2.30, a victim surcharge of 44 and costs of 130.

He said: 'If you don't have a ticket it's understandable but if you've got the money to pay, then they should be able to accept that.

'It's still legal tender, if you want to pay cash you should be able to pay cash.

'I had to scrimp and save and borrow just to pay it off. It's ridiculous.

'I used to get the train every day. Not everyone is going to use their bank cards to pay. I don't think I'll ever catch the train again - I think I'd rather walk or use the car.'

Mat Wheeler, 30, caught two trains from Taffs Well (pictured), Wales, where he works to his home in Fairwater

An Arriva Trains Wales spokesman said: 'We would like to remind customers that it is their responsibility to buy a valid ticket for the date and time of their journey. If ticket buying facilities are available at the station they are travelling from, customers must buy their ticket before they board.

'These are National Rail requirements, set out in the National Conditions of Travel and Railway Byelaws 2005.

'For those caught travelling without a valid ticket or have failed to activate a mobile ticket, there are consequences. The fines, set by the courts, could in theory be anything up to 1,000.

'We do have a fair system in place and if caught travelling without a valid ticket, each case is reviewed in line with our revenue enforcement policy which can be found on our website.

'We always take into account mitigating circumstances and encourage customers to respond at the earliest opportunity to any correspondence in order to ensure that their case is assessed as fairly as possible.

'If taken to court, the fine is decided by the judge based on the circumstances surrounding each individual case. Arriva Trains Wales only receives the ticket cost of the journey and administrative costs.'
A former US spy, newly pardoned by Italy in connection with the CIA kidnap of a terrorism suspect in Milan, has credited President Donald Trump's administration with saving her from an Italian jail.

Sabrina de Sousa was transferred between Portuguese prisons and had Italian police flying in to extradite her before being granted an 11th hour reprieve last week, with a former congressman pulling strings for her in Washington.

The 60-year-old is one of 26 people convicted by Italy in absentia over the 2003 abduction of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, but the only one to spend any time in prison for an operation in which she denies involvement.

The dual Portuguese-US citizen said she was abandoned by the previous White House administration in her long fight over the case, which she plans to describe in a book. She thanked Trump's team for helping her since Portuguese authorities arrested her on February 20 with the intention of sending her to Italy.

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Former CIA agent Sabrina de Sousa (right) has credited President Trump (left) and his administration for saving her from an Italian jail in an 11th hour reprieve last week

'This administration has been absolutely awesome ... If the Trump administration didn't say anything, didn't do anything, I'm very confident I'd be in an Italian jail,' she told Reuters.

The former spy is one of 26 people convicted by Italy in absentia over the 2003 abduction of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (pictured)

The kidnap of Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was part of a CIA 'extraordinary rendition' program to snatch terrorism suspects in various countries and transfer them in secret to undergo interrogation in third countries.

The cleric said he was tortured after being transferred to Egypt under the program, an aspect of President George W Bush's 'war on terror' that drew condemnation from human rights groups and even from some US allies.

De Sousa has maintained her innocence, saying she was not in Milan on the day of the abduction and did not plan the kidnap.

She appeared critical of the operation itself, saying Abu Omar 'obviously wasn't a high-value target' as he was released from prison after a few months. But her main grievances are with the way she was treated by her government.

'The disavowal policy by the Obama administration in my case has been very unfortunate, because it has wider implications for all those of us who are assigned to countries as State Department officers, officially,' she said, explaining that her cover should have guaranteed her diplomatic immunity.

Despite the grievances, 'it's not my intention to reveal big dark secrets' in the book, she said.

De Sousa (pictured) has maintained her innocence, saying she was not in Milan on the day of the abduction and did not plan the kidnap

'It's not going to be a book "oh, poor me, look what happened to me",' she said, though she does plan to address both the wider implications of the case and the consequences for individual intelligence officers like herself.

De Sousa argues that as a naturalized US citizen with close family in India and Portugal she, unlike other U.S. officers convicted in absentia, could not accept a sentence that barred her from travel. So she set out to clear her name in 2015 and flew to Portugal, where she was arrested for the first time.

Unable to leave the country, she was prevented from visiting her mother in the Indian state of Goa before she died on December 4.

She said 'it is a fact' that being in an Italian jail would have put her life in danger, but she was mentally preparing herself to go as she sat in prison cells, first in Porto and then in Cascais, near Lisbon.

Pete Hoekstra, the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee who worked to prevent de Sousa's extradition, confirmed contacts with the Trump administration about the case and expressed his 'deep appreciation to the all three governments involved in the successful outcome for Sabrina'.

She is still due to do community service after the Italian president commuted her four-year prison sentence. She hopes to serve it in Portugal, where she has family, but may still have to go to Italy - something her lawyers are still trying to resolve.

'So, what's missing in the book is what is going to happen in the next few months ... the final chapter,' she said.
Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, spoke out against racial profiling after his experience with being detained at an airport in February

Muhammad Ali's son went to Washington, D.C. to plead for an end to racial profiling after he was detained and questioned at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last month.

Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, told members of Congress Thursday he believes his recent detention for extended questioning at a Florida airport is an example of why the government needs to end racial profiling.

He asked: 'If it isn't a Muslim ban, why did they ask about my religion?'

Democratic lawmakers asked Muhammad Ali Jr. and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, to speak and answer questions at a forum highly critical of President Donald Trump's immigration policies. No Republicans attended.

Ali said he was detained for more than 90 minutes upon returning to the U.S. last month from Jamaica. The Florida resident and US citizen said agents asked him who gave him his name and his religion.

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Muhammad Ali Jr., son of the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali spoke at a forum on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday with his mother Khalilah Camacho-Ali

He said: 'No person, let alone a United States citizen should be subjected to unlawful, discriminatory and humiliating questioning by law enforcement, according to AOL.

Ali said he felt like his 'human rights' were violated.

'I felt just like I felt at my father's funeral. I didn't know what to think. I was just dumbfounded,' Ali said.

Ali and his mother both challenged lawmakers to 'step into the ring' and support legislation that has over the years struggled to make it out of committee.

Supporters expanded the legislation's scope this year to explicitly ban religious profiling by law enforcement agencies, a move they said was necessary to counter what they consider anti-Muslim sentiment in policies enacted by the Trump administration.

Muhammad Ali Jr. (right) said he felt the way he felt when his father died (center, red bowtie) when he was detained at an airport (Laila Ali, second from left, Joe Frazier, right of Muhammad Ali Sr.)

Khalilah Camacho-Ali said it was not right for people to associate Muslims with terrorists

The legislation would provide grants to law enforcement agencies that adopt best practices and training to prevent profiling.

A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said Ali Jr. was held for questioning, but not because of his name or religion.

Hugh Handeyside from the ACLU added that the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, was also broken when Ali was detained.

The Trump administration recently issued travel restrictions that it says are aimed at keeping would-be terrorist out of the country while the government reviews vetting systems for refugees and visa applicants from six countries, all which happen to be Muslim-majority.

Khalilah Camacho-Ali also spoke, saying: 'I didn't call them Christians when they put us into slavery. These terrorists are simply criminals. Please don't call them Muslims.'
Canadian federal judge Robin Camp has resigned from the bench. Camp in 2014 asked a woman 'why she couldn't keep her knees together' after she alleged she was assaulted

A Canadian judge who asked a woman why she couldn't keep her knees together after she alleged sexual assault in a trial said Thursday that he is resigning from the bench.

Justice Robin Camp said in a statement released by his lawyer that he will resign effective Friday.

Camp said he's sorry for the hurt he has caused.

The council's decision supported a recommendation by a disciplinary panel that reviewed the original sexual assault trial of Alexander Wagar.

Court transcripts from the 2014 trial in Calgary show that Camp, who was a provincial court judge at the time, called the complainant 'the accused' numerous times and told her 'pain and sex sometimes go together.'

He also asked her: 'Why didn't you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn't penetrate you?'

Camp, then a provincial court judge in Calgary (pictured), also asked the woman: 'Why didn't you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn't penetrate you?'

Camp found Wagar not guilty, but the Appeal Court ordered a new trial. Last month, Wagar was acquitted again.

The council said that Canadians expect their judges to know the law, have empathy and to recognize and question any past personal attitudes that might prevent them from acting fairly.

Four of the council's 23 members did not support the decision, saying they agreed that Camp's comments amounted to judicial misconduct, but were in favor of recommending a sanction short of removal.

Camp's lawyer, Frank Addario, had previously argued that his client should be allowed to keep his current job as a federal court judge.

'Removal is not necessary to preserve public confidence in this case. Justice Camp's misconduct was the product of ignorance, not animus,' Addario wrote in a rebuttal submission to the judicial council.

'He has worked hard to correct his knowledge deficit.'

The Canadian Judicial Council, chaired by the chief justice Beverley McLachlin (pictured) launched a review into the conduct of Camp as a judge

Back in January, the review into Camp's conduct was launched after four four law professors at Dalhousie University and the University of Calgary accused him of being 'sexist and disrespectful' toward the teenage complainant in the 2014 trial.

The complaint received by the Canadian Judicial Council, chaired by the chief justice Beverley McLachli, alleged that he had a 'dismissive, if not contemptuous' disregard for sexual assault law.

The 19-year-old sex assault complainant had claimed she had been at a house party when Scott entered the bathroom, locked the door behind him, and bent her over the sink before sexually assaulted her.

But Camp, who is now a federal judge, had demanded to know 'why she allowed the sex to happen if she didn't want it?'

The review that was launched into Camp's conduct during the case came about after four law professors at Dalhousie University and the University of Calgary accused him of 'sexist and disrespectful treatment of the complainant' (pictured are professors Alice Woolley, left, and Jennifer Koshan

The judge also said that the alleged victim had asked Scott if he had a condom  a question which he perceived to have 'an inescapable conclusion [that] if you have one I'm happy to have sex with you'.

The law professors who submitted the 11-page letter suggested that Camp had an old-fashioned attitude toward rape and sexual assault which placed blame on the woman, CBC reported.

At one point he said that the young woman should have been more careful as she was drinking.

'She knew she was drunkIs not an onus on her to be more careful?'

He also questioned why she did not make more of an effort to escape when her alleged attacker locked her in the bathroom with him.

'If you werefrightened you could have screamed,' he told her.

'She certainly had the ability, perhaps learnt from her experience on the streets, to tell [him] to f*** off,' he added.

'Why didn't you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn't penetrate you?'

The law professors  Jocelyn Downie, left, and Elaine Craig, right  said Camp had an old-fashioned attitude toward rape and sexual assault and placed blame on the woman

The complaint said that the judge's own stereotypical generalizations of gender were apparent throughout the trial, such as when he made a comment about men 'reacting' to 'challenges' that women gave them.

'Sex is very often a challenge' he had said.

'The legal rules that Justice Camp took issue with were those aimed at removing from the law outdated and discredited stereotypes about women and sexual violence,' the academics complained.

'Indeed, the entire proceeding is threaded through with statements and questions by Justice Camp based on harmful stereotypes about women and sexual assault.'

The judge also made derisory comments about the complainant, who he repeatedly referred to as 'the accused' during the trial - even after being corrected by the Crown.

He stated that 'certainly the complainant and the accused are amoral people' and that 'the complainant and the accused's morality, their sense of values, leaves a lot to be desired.'
The director of the Office of Government Ethics penned a letter to the White House today scolding the administration for not punishing Kellyanne Conway for plugging Ivanka Trump's clothing line on live TV.

OGE head Walter Shaub suggested the administration's reasoning for not slapping Conway on the wrist could undermine the 'integrity of government.'

'Not taking disciplinary action against a senior official under such circumstances risks undermining the ethics program,' wrote Shaub, in a letter addressed to White House Deputy Counsel Stefan Passantino.

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Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway won't be punished for hawking Ivanka Trump's products on live TV

Office of Government Ethics head Walter Shaub wrote a letter to the White House today scolding the administration for not wrist-slapping Kellyanne Conway

The White House lawyer had previously told the OGE head that Conway wouldn't be disciplined because the federal code that says employees can't use their public office for private gain  which includes pitching products  doesn't apply to White House officials.

Shaub called this an 'extraordinary assertion' and said he feared that White House officials not being held to the same standard as others would set a bad precedent.

'The assertion is incorrect, and the letter cites no legal basis for it,' Shaub wrote.

'Presidential administrations have not considered it appropriate to challenge the applicability of ethics rules to the entire executive branch,' he continued.

'It is critical to the public's faith in the integrity of government that White House employees be held to the same standard of ethical accountability as other executive branch employees,' Shaub urged Passantino.

Shaub also notes that Passadino 'concedes that her televised statements from the White House press briefing room implicated the prohibition on using one's official position to endorse any product or service.'

This particular row between the OGE  which is an independent agency tasked with overseeing the ethics policies of the executive branch  and the White House began after Nordstrom announced on February 2 that it would no longer carry items by Ivanka Trump.

In response, Conway went on Fox & Friends and suggested that Americans buy the line to show their disapproval.

'Go buy Ivanka's stuff is what I would tell  I hate shopping. Im going to go get some myself today,' she said.

'It's a wonderful line. I own some of it. I'm going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online,' she said, continuing to make the sell.

Conway's comments got the attention of Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, who called them, 'wrong, wrong, wrong.'

Chaffetz reached out to OGE to see what could be done.

Shaub recommended that the committee launch an investigation and wrote a letter to Passantino on February 13 asking the White House to probe the matter too.

'Unlike the Committee, OGE cannot issue subpoenas, question witnesses, compel the production of documents or take action against individuals who refuse to cooperate,' Shaub said to Chaffetz and to Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the Oversight Committee's ranking member.

In a separate letter addressed to Chaffetz and Cummings today, Shaub outlined his frustrations with the White House's response.

Shaub explained that his agency 'cannot impose disciplinary action on an executive branch employee other than an OGE employee.'

And usually, in cases like this, when an agency refuses to punish an employee he would take the matter to the president, as it's the watchdog's 'only recourse.'

'In this case, however, the White House's response makes clear that disciplinary action will not be taken,' Shaub wrote to the top committee members.

'Of greater concern, the White House's response includes assertions challenging the applicability of ethics rules and OGE's authority to oversee the ethics program for the entire executive branch,' he wrote.

'OGE disagrees with these assertions,' Shaub concluded.
Footage has emerged of a man being punched in the face by an angry driver in a shocking road rage attack.

The male attacker attempted to nose his way in front of the other drivers car in South Yarra, Melbourne and the two became involved in a verbal argument while sounding their horns.

He then got out of his silver Honda, approached the 53-year-old man's window and began violently punching him at around 2pm on Toorak Road.

The attacker wore a maroon shirt and a blue jacket as he violently punched the 53-year-old man

The victim climbed out of his car to read his attacker's registration details but was allegedly punched several more times, police say.

Victoria Police released a statement appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

'Police have been told the victim, a 53-year-old Toorak man, was driving a silver Volkswagen east along Toorak Road in the left hand lane about 2pm,' the statement reads.

'The driver of a silver Honda Civic, in the centre lane, attempted to nose his way in front of the victims car as they approached the intersection of Williams Road.

Police released CCTV footage in an attempt to find the attacker who left his victim with a concussion

The victim drove around the front of the Honda and continued travelling towards the intersection.'

He sustained a concussion after the blows and is now recovering in hospital.

Police are now on the hunt for the man after releasing CCTV footage of the attacker wearing a maroon shirt and blue jacket.
The head of US Central Command believes more troops need to be deployed to Afghanistan to break the stalemate between the government and the Taliban.

Army General Joseph Votel told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday that 'additional resources' will be required to carry out a new US strategy.

It comes more than two years after Barack Obama announced the end of combat in the war-torn country.

Although he did not give a figure for the number of troops needed, last month General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said thousands more were required.

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Army General Joseph Votel told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday that 'additional resources' will be required to carry out a new US strategy

Votel told the committee: 'I do believe it will involve additional forces to ensure that we can make the advise and assist mission more effective'

Votel told the committee: 'I do believe it will involve additional forces to ensure that we can make the advise and assist mission more effective.'

He said a strategy was still being developed, and did not reveal when a final decision would be made.

General Nicholson hinted last month that the matter may soon be put before President Donald Trump.

So far, Trump has offered little clarity about whether he might approve more forces for Afghanistan.

There are still 8,400 US troops in the country, more than 15 years after the Taliban government was toppled by US-backed Afghan forces.

The difficult situation in Afghanistan was highlighted on Wednesday when 49 people were killed following an attack on a military hospital in Kabul by gunmen.

In an attack which ISIS claimed responsibility for, the gunmen went through the 400-bed hospital, shooting doctors, patients and visitors and battling security forces for several hours in a sophisticated operation.

The US went to war in Afghanistan in October 2001, less than a month after the 9/11 attacks, because the Taliban refused to extradite Osama bin Laden and expel Al Qaeda.

So far, Trump (left) has offered little clarity about whether he might approve more forces for Afghanistan. In December 2014, President Barack Obama (right) declared the war in Afghanistan was over

The US went to war in Afghanistan in October 2001, less than a month after the 9/11 attacks. Troops are seen questioning an Afghan man in Paktia province in 2002

In 2009, the newly elected President Obama announced 30,000 troops would be deployed to Afghanistan in a 'surge' which would last 18 months.

But in December 2014, he announced the end of US combat, stating that the longest war in US history was now over, having claimed the lives of more than 2,200 American service personnel.

In a written statement he said: 'Our personnel will continue to face risks, but this reflects the enduring commitment of the United States to the Afghan people and to a united, secure and sovereign Afghanistan that is never again used as a source of attacks against our nation.'

He said the remaining 10,000 American troops in Afghanistan would still face danger, but the war was over.

But there is increased pressure for a new strategy following an ISIS resurgence, which has seen the group establish itself in Afghanistan under the name Islamic State Khorasan Province.
The tax perks he slashed as Chancellor were once used by Philip Hammond himself to save thousands.

In his Budget, he boasted how he had been a self-employed businessman before joining the Cabinet.

What he did not mention was how he had shrewdly used the tax-saving loopholes which he has now curtailed for others.

Before giving up his shares to join the Government, Mr Hammond was one of the wealthiest men in the shadow cabinet. He ran a luxury property company and cleverly drew dividends rather than a salary which cut his national insurance contributions. Above, on BBC's Newsnight in 1993

His Budget tax raid on the self-employed included slashing the tax-free dividend allowance from 5,000 to 2,000, effectively hiking tax bills for the bosses of small companies who pay themselves by drawing dividends rather than taking a salary.

Millionaire Mr Hammond, 61, justified the unpopular move by saying he was rectifying an unfairness in the tax system.

But few remember him complaining about it when he was himself saving money.

Before giving up his shares to join the Government, Mr Hammond was one of the wealthiest men in the shadow cabinet.

He ran a luxury property company and cleverly drew dividends rather than a salary which cut his national insurance contributions.

His success enabled him and his wife to buy a five-storey townhouse in a sought-after part of Central London for 1million in 2006  with a mortgage from the Queens bank Coutts - which is now worth 4.5million.

In 2010, when his wealth was estimated at 7million, he featured in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary entitled How the Rich Beat the Taxman.

Mr Hammond has declined to publish his tax return. Under parliamentary rules, dividend payments do not have to be listed

It showed how the future Chancellor applied shrewd tax planning to minimise his own bill.

Between 2003 and 2010, the property and carehome firm he set up, Castlemead, paid him 3.75million in dividends rather than salary.

In just one year, 2007, he paid himself a dividend of 1.75million, giving him a saving of 130,000 income tax and national insurance contributions, according to Dispatches.

At the time, he defended the dividend practice, saying it would only provide a marginal tax saving.

He insisted it was malicious to say he had done it to avoid tax.

Mr Hammond also transferred 40 per cent of his shares in Castlemead to his wife shortly before the 50p tax came into force in 2010. If his wife paid tax at a lower rate, it was suggested the move could save them more than 25,000 a year.

The other 60 per cent of the shares were put into a trust, of which he remains a beneficiary to this day.

There are many good reasons for choosing to be self-employed or working through a company. I have done both in my time! Philip Hammond, during his Budget speech on Wednesday

Mr Hammond said he had transferred his shares to his wife because he was expecting to enter Government and ministerial rules would bar him from holding shares.

He said his wife had been paid no dividends since the move and had therefore saved no money.

There is no suggestion that Mr Hammond did anything improper or anything other than pay the amount of tax he owed.

During his Budget speech on Wednesday, he said: There are many good reasons for choosing to be self-employed or working through a company.

I have done both in my time! And I will always encourage and support the entrepreneurs and the innovators who are the lifeblood of our economy.

He then proceeded to introduce a tax hike on the self-employed.

As an Essex-born student, Mr Hammond bought and sold cars from the Dagenham plant at Ford while studying at Oxford.

His first serious business opportunity came when he snapped up his employers medical device company, Speywood, for 1.

Despite a bumper first year, when he made 112,000 profit, the firm had a rocky half decade and he eventually sold it six years later to a German competitor.

Mr Hammond had more luck with property development when he set up Castlemead in the 1980s. In its most successful year, the firm made 1.8million after he discovered a government incentive to build GP surgeries.

Mr Hammond has also worked as a consultant to the governments of Malawi, Columbia and Bolivia.

Tory peer Lord Moynihan, a long-term friend and former business partner of Mr Hammond, told the Financial Times that Mr Hammond always saw the opportunityHe was never not thinking about how to make money.

Mr Hammond has declined to publish his tax return. Under parliamentary rules, dividend payments do not have to be listed.
Vice-president Mike Pence says the president's decision to fire National Security Advisor Michael Flynn over lies has been vindicated by revelations he lobbied for Turkey.

Flynn has admitted that his lobbying firm was paid $530,000 for work that could have benefited the Turkish government, just two months before he was appointed to the White House.

Flynn Intel Group, was lobbying for a Dutch consulting firm with ties to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before and immediately after the US election.

Documents filed with the Justice Department on Tuesday said the work 'could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.'

The filing also disclosed that Flynn secretly met with the Turkish foreign and energy ministers in New York before Election Day.

Speaking on Fox News, the vice president said the revelations showed his boss was right.

'I think it is an affirmation of the president's decision to ask General Flynn to resign,' he said.

President Donald Trump's fired national security adviser Michael Flynn has admitted that his lobbying firm was paid $530,000 for work that could have benefited the Turkish government, just two months before he was appointed to the White House. Now Mike Pence says it was right he was sacked

Flynn's consultancy firm is reported to have spoken with a representative of the House Homeland Security Committee, asking the rep to hold congressional hearings on American-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, right, who reportedly was behind the failed coup against Turkish President Erdogan, left

Flynn was fired after just 23 days for misleading Pence and other administration officials about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

The Turkish lobbying was not known to be part of the reasons for his sacking, and it is still unclear if the White House knew about the payment when he was appointed.

Flynn wrote an op-ed the day Trump was elected calling for the US to kick out anti-government Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who is living in exile in Pennsylvania.

But at the time he didn't disclose he was being paid by a firm with links to the Turkish government.

His firm is also said to have tried to pressure a representative of the House Homeland Security Committee into opening an investigation into Gulen, who is accused of organizing the failed coup against Erdogan.

After his firm's work on behalf of a Turkish company was done, Flynn agreed not to lobby for five years after leaving government service and never to represent foreign governments.

The amended paperwork was allegedly in response to work Flynn's consultancy form did for a Dutch company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin (pictured)

Under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, U.S. citizens who lobby on behalf of foreign government or political entities must disclose their work to the Justice Department.

Willfully failing to register is a felony, though the Justice Department rarely files criminal charges in such cases. It routinely works with lobbying firms to get back in compliance with the law by registering and disclosing their work.

A Turkish businessman who hired Flynn's consulting firm told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the amended filings were made in response to pressure from Justice Department officials in recent weeks.

The businessman, Ekim Alptekin, said in a phone call from Istanbul that the changes were a response to 'political pressure' and he did not agree with Flynn's decision to file the registration documents with the Justice Department.

'I disagree with the filing,' he said. 'It would be different if I was working for the government of Turkey, but I am not taking directions from anyone in the government.'

Flynn's attorney did not respond to questions about whether the Justice Department or FBI had contacted Flynn about his lobbying activities.

Flynn's consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group Inc., had previously disclosed to Congress that it worked for Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Alptekin. But neither Flynn nor his company had previously filed paperwork with the Justice Department, which requires more extensive transparency about work that benefits foreign governments and political interests.

In the filings with the Justice Department, Flynn's attorney, Robert Kelner, noted they served as a termination of the registration, saying the firm had ceased operations in November, the same month the lobbying contract ended.

Calls to phone numbers associated with Flynn and his firm weren't answered. Kelner, his attorney, declined to comment through a spokesman for his law firm, Covington & Burling.

Reached Wednesday afternoon, an official at the Turkish embassy in Washington said he would refer the questions to the embassy spokesman. The spokesman did not immediately respond.

The shocking revelations come just a month after Flynn was fired from his White House post after just 23 days for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about his contacts with Russia

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday afternoon.

As a key member of Trump's transition team last December, Flynn spoke by phone several times with Kislyak during the period when former President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. and levied new sanctions in response to Russian election-related hacking.

According to the new paperwork, Flynn's firm took on the Turkish-related lobbying work in August while he was a top Trump campaign surrogate. Flynn Intel disclosed in its filing that in mid-September, the company was invited by Alptekin to meet with Turkish officials in New York.

Alptekin wrote a series of tweets on Wednesday, saying Flynn's work for him was in no way tied to the government

Alptekin acknowledged Wednesday that he had set up the meeting between Flynn and the two officials. He said they met at an undisclosed hotel in New York. Alptekin said Flynn happened to be in New York while the Turkish officials were attending United Nations sessions and a separate conference Alptekin had arranged.

'I asked one of Gen. Flynn's staff if he was in town and would be available to meet and they got in touch with him,' said Alptekin, who owns several businesses in Turkey.

Among those officials, the documents said, were Turkey's ministers of foreign affairs and energy. Flynn's company did not name the officials but reported the two worked for Turkey's government 'to the best of Flynn Intel Group's current understanding.'

Alptekin, who previously told The Associated Press he has no relationship with the Turkish government, is a member of a Turkish economic relations board run by an appointee of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president.

Erdogan's power base is Turkey's Islamic voters, and since a failed coup in July, he has accelerated a crackdown against the nation's weakening secularist faction. Erdogan has accused cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the aborted coup and called for his extradition from the U.S., where he lives. The Obama administration did not comply, and Gulen still lives in a compound in Pennsylvania.

According to the filing, Flynn Intel's work involved collecting information about Gulen and pressuring U.S. officials to take action against the cleric, including a meeting in October between Flynn's firm and a representative of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Flynn Intel arranged the meeting to discuss a technology developed by another Flynn Intel client. But after discussing the technology, the firm changed the subject to Gulen, pressuring the committee to hold congressional hearings to investigate the cleric, said a U.S. official with direct knowledge of Flynn Intel's work. That request was rebuffed. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The official said Flynn Intel never revealed whom it was representing during the meeting.

The October meeting came as Flynn was working on an op-ed promoting Turkey's political and business affairs that was later published in The Hill, a Washington-based political newspaper. Flynn wrote that Turkey needed support and echoed Erdogan's warnings about Gulen, whom he called a 'shady' Turkish Muslim cleric living in Pennsylvania. Flynn argued that Gulen should not be given safe harbor in the U.S.

In the new filing, Flynn disclosed that in writing the op-ed, he relied on research conducted as part of the Inovo BV contract. Flynn's firm also admitted it conducted 'open-source research,' directed by Inovo, focusing on Gulen.

The results 'were provided to Inovo' and to a separate lobbying firm, S.G.R. LLC Government Relations and Lobbying, a public relations company retained by Flynn Intel. The materials were aimed for distribution to 'third parties,' but because the project terminated early, 'the full scope of the contract was not performed,' according to the filings.

In the filings, Flynn emphasized that neither Inovo BV nor the Turkish government directed him to write the op-ed. He also said he was not paid for the op-ed. Alptekin said he had been opposed to Flynn's writing the op-ed, although he agreed with its anti-Gulen and pro-Turkley stances.

Alptekin added that he had asked for some of the $530,000 in payments to the Flynn Intel Group to be returned to him because of his dissatisfaction with the company's performance.
The arrest of an electrician with alleged links with ISIS in a small town of only 7,000 people has put a community on edge.

Young, in New South Wales, was rattled when Haisem Zahab, 42, was arrested last week, and Channel 9's A Current Affair's attempt to interview members of the Lebanese community in the town has backfired.

Footage shows Dan Nolan attempting to interview workers at a local Muslim bakery, but the man claiming to be the owner and his friend confronted the camera crew.

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Two men confronted A Current Affair's camera crew when filming in Young

The man and his friend refused to be filmed during the angry outburst

'Turn your camera away from f---ing me, mate,' one man can be heard screaming at the camera.

'Don't f---ing record him.'

'F--- off outta here, you f---ing idiot.'

After the outburst the friend appears to manhandle the camera in an attempt to stop them from filming, according to Nine News.

The reporter Dan Nolan told the two men they were allowed to film becasue they were on a public road

There are more than 200 Muslim families living in the small New South Wales town of Young

Earlier the camera crew had attempted to film the town's mosque, but were told to leave by members of the community.

Many of the community members enjoyed a positive relationship with the 200 plus Muslim families in the small town of Young.

Local police boss Superintendent Christopher Schilt said the Muslim community were integrating well and were hard workers.

'These people are running businesses, integrating into the community very well and it's a relationship we're looking forward to continuing with,' Superintendent Schilt told Nine News.

Retired policewoman Lenore Schilling (pictured) said the Muslim community 'keeps to its self and hasn't tried to integrate'

However, not everyone had the same view.

Retired policewoman Lenore Schilling said the Muslim community 'keeps to its self and hasn't tried to integrate with other people in town'.

'We have opened our arms to these people and they just look at us with contempt in their eyes, like they're better than us,' she said.

Mr Zahab was arrested and is alleged to have been plotting to design guided missiles and laser warning devices for ISIS.

Haisem Zahab the accused terrorist arrested in Young on Friday, pictured in handcuffs
The ferocious political controversy over National Insurance contributions of the self-employed has exposed the great lie at the heart of our tax system.

These payments were first established more than a century ago as a means of providing social security through state healthcare and financial assistance for the poor where it was required.

But over the years, this noble principle has been shamefully eroded by political manipulation, misuse and mismanagement.

The messy, outdated National Insurance system will remain, and Chancellors such as Philip Hammond will continue to find themselves in trouble when they fiddle with it

No longer a mark of civilised compassion, it is now a decaying, anachronistic monument to remorseless expansion by the State, and the chronic failure of a system that has trapped too many people in welfare dependency.

There is a widely held belief  which politicians cynically do little to contradict  that National Insurance contributions all go into a ring-fenced central pot of money, from which benefits and State pensions are paid.

Indeed, that was the theory behind the initial creation of National Insurance by the Liberal government in 1911. But the system has never actually worked out like that.

First, the State has become so dominant and is swallowing up so much of the nations income that its demands are far in excess of the sums provided by contributions.

According to one forecast, this year Britain will spend 270billion on public pensions and social security, more than twice the estimated 124billion raised in National Insurance contributions.

Second, the essential principle of reciprocity which was once the foundation stone of the philosophy of National Insurance has been completely destroyed by the massive extension of indiscriminate welfare benefit payments since the Second World War.

Famously, the great social reformer Lord Beveridge refashioned the social security system around National Insurance as a something for something society.

On this basis, people contributed to  as well as receiving from  the State.

Yet today, support from the State is, in effect, based largely on perceived need, regardless of personal behaviour or work record.

That explains why lavish welfare was, until recent reforms, a vast engine of fecklessness, family breakdown and job avoidance.

Third, politicians have been unable to resist using the National Insurance Fund to prop up other spending schemes.

The idea that the Fund is ring-fenced has long been a fiction.

Its large revenue, only exceeded by VAT and income tax, is too tempting for politicians of all parties not to plunder.

In the process, National Insurance contributions have become just another form of taxation, without the public fully recognising the truth.

NI payments were first established more than a century ago as a means of providing social security through state healthcare and financial assistance for the poor where it was required

In fact, because of its traditional associations with personal responsibility and social concern, National Insurance has a far more positive image than Income Tax, which at its worst tends to be regarded as a form of extortion.

As a result, Chancellors are far more willing to push up National Insurance Contribution (NIC) rates than income tax, where any increase would be far more incendiary. For example, in 2002 Chancellor Gordon Brown put up National Insurance by 1p in the pound, specifically to provide more funds for the NHS.

But like income tax, National Insurance amounts to a levy on earnings and a burden on job creation.

It was the Nobel Prize-winning Scottish economist Sir James Mirrlees who recently said: National Insurance is not a true social insurance scheme.

'It is just another tax on earnings, and the current scheme invited politicians to play games with NICs without acknowledging that these are essentially part of the taxation of labour income.

There are other problems with National Insurance.

One is that it is to an extent regressive. The threshold for starting to pay NI contributions at the standard 12 per cent for those in employment is currently 155 a week (or earnings of 8,060 per year).

In 2002 Chancellor Gordon Brown put up NI by 1p in the pound, specifically to provide more funds for the NHS

But above earnings of 43,000, National Insurance is paid at just 2 per cent, which means that the lower-paid hand over proportionately more of their income in contributions than the better off do.

Then there is the confusing number of classes of contributors  comprising separate ones for employees, employers, two different categories for the self-employed (admittedly, shortly to be streamlined) and a band for voluntary contributions.

Nor is the system rigorously administered, which is a major failing in our age of mass immigration, when the system is open to abuse.

Indeed, National Insurance numbers  which allow people to access a plethora of welfare benefits  seem to be handed out freely like confetti. Last year alone, there were 825,000 National Insurance registrations by foreigners.

The real problem with National Insurance today is that the level of welfare benefits that has evolved since the Second World War means the link has been severed between benefits and contributions, thereby making a mockery of the original concept of social insurance.

Second, the National Insurance Fund itself has long been under constant pressure from politicians who raided it for public spending  and it was unable to cope with such demands. But to the politicians, that did not really matter.

The public could simply be asked to pay more, as ministers increasingly exploited and abused the fund at will.

The obvious solution would be to stop indulging in sentimental fantasy, and treat National Insurance as a proper form of income tax.

But politicians are unlikely to take such a radical step since it would reveal the truth about the real burden of money-grabbing by the State.

In a system that unified income tax and National Insurance, the basic rate of income tax would be 32 per cent, not the current supposed 20 per cent. The cat would then be out of the bag about the true extent that we are all taxed.

Furthermore, politicians would lose the cash reserve that has often served as a prop to their profligacy.

So the messy, outdated system will remain, and Chancellors such as Philip Hammond will continue to find themselves in trouble when they fiddle with it.
Former President Bill Clinton made his first public address since his wife Hillary's November defeat.

In a coded speech, where he never once mentioned President Trump by name, the ex-POTUS suggested what Trump and like-minded politicians are selling isn't nationalism, but something even more sinister.

'People who claim to want the nation-state are actually trying to have a pan-national movement to institutionalize separatism and division within borders all over the world,' said Clinton, according to Politico.

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Ex-President Bill Clinton made his first public address today since his wife Hillary Clinton's loss in the 2016 presidential election

Bill Clinton addressed people at the Brookings Institution, a left-of-center think tank in Washington, D.C., at an event honoring the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin

'It's like we're all having an identity crisis at once  and it is an inevitable consequence of the economic and social changes that have occurred at an increasingly rapid pace,' Clinton added.

Clinton made his remarks at the Brookings Institution, a left-of-center think tank in Washington, D.C., as part of an event honoring the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish Israeli who was against making peace with the Palestinians.

Clinton called the day of the assassination his worst day in office.

'I remain convinced that has he lived we would have achieved a comprehensive agreement with the Palestinians by 1998 and we'd be living in a different world today,' the former president said.

Feeling inspired by his old friend, Clinton said, 'We have to find a way to bring simple, personal decency and trust back to our politics.'

Throughout the speech, he repeatedly warned against the 'us versus them' mentality that has engulfed not only American politics, but led to Brexit in Britain, and the rise of Trump-like candidacies in places like the Philippines and France.

'The whole history of humankind is basically the definition of who is us and who is them, and the question of whether we should all live under the same set of rules,' Clinton said.

The former president suggested that leaders and voters try to look to Rabin as a model, despite being 'programmed biologically, instinctively, to prefer win-lose situations, us versus them,' he said, using the term again.

'This is a very old story. It's as old as the Holy Land, and much older,' Clinton said of 'us versus them.' 'Ever since the first people stood up on the East African savannah, ever since the first families and clans, ever since people encountered each other.'

'It is a very old story,' he said. 'And it always comes down to two things  are we going to live in an us-and-them world, or a world that we can live in together?' Clinton mused.
In her first major speech as chief inspector of schools, Amanda Spielman (pictured) will hit out at the scandal of heads who jeopardise childrens education

Too many schools are trying to game the system by entering pupils for Mickey Mouse qualifications to move up league tables, the new Ofsted head will warn today.

In her first major speech as chief inspector of schools, Amanda Spielman will hit out at the scandal of heads who jeopardise childrens education to boost their own performance ratings.

She is also expected to launch a major Ofsted investigation into whether schools are using the curriculum to give children a broad enough education.

Ofsted has found some schools are entering children for easy, non-academic qualifications in an effort to ensure they get better grades.

Others are even taking poor-performing pupils off their role so that their low grades do not impact on the school as a whole, the watchdog has found.

The Government has tried to crack down on this practice by introducing new performance measures which assess schools ability to produce improvement in key academic subjects.

But speaking to school leaders at the annual Association of School and College Leaders conference, Mrs Spielman said many schools are still using tricks at the expense of pupils.

She is expected to say: We know that there are some schools that are narrowing the curriculum, using qualifications inappropriately, and moving out pupils who would drag down results.

That is nothing short of a scandal. Childhood isnt deferrable. Young people get one opportunity to learn in school, and we owe it to them make sure they all get an education that is broad, rich and deep.

Ofsted has previously found that some schools have been entering pupils for multiple qualifications with overlapping subject content.

Others have been telling pupils to take the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) qualification, an easy computer literacy course.

Mrs Spielman believes there is a conflict between a head teachers desire to give pupils the right education for their future success, and the desire to improve their schools league table position.

She will say: There is more to a good education than league tables. Vitally important though a schools examination results are, we must not allow curricula to be driven just by SATs, GCSEs and A-Levels.

It is the substance of education that ultimately creates and changes life chances, not grade stickers from exams.

Ofsted has found some schools are entering children for easy, non-academic qualifications in an effort to ensure they get better grades (stock photo)

So I am determined to make sure that the curriculum receives the proper focus it deserves.

Mrs Spielman will make clear that she does not believe the curriculum has received enough attention during inspections in recent years.

To correct this, Ofsted will investigate how maintained schools translate the National Curriculum into effective classroom teaching and how academies design their own curriculum.

It follows a previous warning by Ofsted over easy qualifications such as AS levels in use of maths and creative writing.

Critics have long argued that these qualifications are unlikely to be valued by employers and good universities.

The elite universities that make up the Russell Group favour traditionally more rigorous courses such as maths, English, the sciences and languages.

Ofsted has said that encouraging whole year groups to take marginal qualifications amounted to gaming and would be noted in inspections.

It is understood that schools guilty of the practice will be marked down during inspections when the ability of their leaders and how well the schools prepare children for their futures is assessed.
Democrat senator Jeanne Shaheenp ledged to immediately introduce legislation to provide more visas

The US State Department has said it will soon run out of visas for interpreters and other Afghans who have worked for the American government during the decade and a half that US forces have been engaged in the country.

The announcement was blasted by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who said any decision to let the program lapse sends a message to allies in Afghanistan that the United States is not supporting them.

'Allowing this program to lapse sends the message to our allies in Afghanistan that the United States has abandoned them,' Shaheen said in a statement. 'It's both a moral and practical imperative that Congress right this wrong immediately.'

Her office said more than 10,000 applicants are still in the process of obtaining visas.

She pledged to immediately introduce legislation to provide more visas.

'Thousands of Afghans have put themselves, and their families, at risk to help our soldiers and diplomats accomplish the US mission and return home safely,' she said.

Shaheen and Republican Senator John McCain, pictured, led a failed effort last year to pass legislation extending special immigrant visas to 4,000 more people

'Breaking our promise to keep them safe would be a stain on our nation's honor and jeopardizes local support in both this, and future, missions. I will soon introduce legislation that will provide additional visas for the Afghan SIV program and will use every available opportunity to seek additional visas to help those Afghans who helped us.'

A report from the International Refugee Assistance Project said that interviews had been halted to 'due to a shortage in available visas.'

'This devastating development means that thousands of trusted allies will remain in danger, waiting for Congress to allocate visas that were clearly needed months ago,' Betsy Fisher, policy director of IRAP, said.

US troops salute during a military ceremony at the Bagram airbase, north of Kabul, Afghanistan to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks

'IRAP and champions in Congress were clear last year that, if sufficient visas were not allocated, our allies' lives would be jeopardized. Our worst fears are proving true.'

Shaheen and Republican Senator John McCain led a failed effort last year to pass legislation extending to 4,000 more people an existing special immigrant visa program for Afghans who assisted US forces, often risking their lives.

The National Defense Authorization Act passed late last year added 1,500 visas to the program, while tightening requirements for eligibility.

Immigration, particularly from Muslim-majority countries, has been in the spotlight lately.

President Donald Trump's executive order signed this week temporarily bans the admission of refugees and some travelers from six Muslim-majority countries

The Afghan visa announcement came as US officials prepared to implement President Donald Trump's executive order signed this week that temporarily bans the admission of refugees and some travelers from six Muslim-majority countries. Afghanistan is not one of the six.

The new travel order, which is set to take effect on Thursday, replaced a more sweeping ban issued on January 27, which caused chaos and protests at airports.

Opponents of Trump's orders accuse his administration of unfairly targeting Muslims because of their religion. The White House says the intention is to boost national security.

The lapse in the program for Afghan interprets follows a controversy with a similar program for Iraqis who helped US troops. Citizens of Iraq who were granted special immigrant visas were caught up in the original executive order issued by President Trump.
A woman who was declared clinically dead on the operating table - but miraculously survived - was gifted a honeymoon to Hawaii in a heartwarming video shared by radio hosts Fitzy & Wippa.

Sandra Fog, 32, suffered a life-threatening infection known as septicemia and her heart stopped beating while in the middle of an operation.

A mountain of medical bills stopped Sandra from celebrating her honeymoon with 31-year-old fiance William, but Fitzy & Wippa caught wind of her story and decided to help out.

Nova radio hosts Fitzy & Wippa found Sandra's story and decided to do something to help

William told Fitzy & Wippa on air his fiancee actually died on the operating table and was horrified at the thought of losing her.

He said: 'The only time I broke down was when I got the call that she had been admitted to the ICU and she had stopped breathing.

When I got there she was unconscious and full of tubes and cords.'

The engaged couple are due to marry in six months but growing medical bills meant they could not afford a proper honeymoon.

Will Poole, 31, (pictured) almost lost his fiancee on the operating table when her heart stopped beating

Sandra Fog, 32, (pictured) was surprised at her Sydney office when Nova presented her with a novelty cheque for a Hawaiian honeymoon

Piling medical bills meant the young couple could not afford a proper honeymoon when they got married in six months

Fitzy told Will that the couple deserved a honeymoon and they were going to surprise Sandra at her office in Sydney.

Nova newsreader Matty De Groot found Sandra at her desk and gave her a phone where she spoke to Fitzy & Wippa and broke down.

Fitzy said: 'We heard your story and know there's a chance you wouldn't have been here with us today and you survived that.

So we want to present you with a honeymoon to Hawaii and we're paying for it.'

'He's my knight in shining armour': Sandra said she wouldn't have made it through her ordeal without her fiance

Young love: The engaged couple will marry in six months and now have a trip to Hawaii to look forward to

Sandra burst into tears and sobbed uncontrollably as Nova presented her with a large novelty cheque and streamers fell from the ceiling.

'You have no idea what this means to us,' Sandra told Fitzy and Wippa.

'Will is my knight in shining armour and I wouldn't be able to get through this without him.'

Sandra and Will are set to get married in six months and will enjoy their all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii to celebrate their honeymoon.
All patients arriving at hospital with possible sepsis should be treated by a senior doctor within an hour, under tough new NHS rules.

They should be assessed, given antibiotics and put on intravenous fluids within 60 minutes of walking through the hospital door.

In a victory for the Daily Mail, health watchdog NICE today publishes NHS quality standards designed to slash the number of sepsis deaths.

The sepsis campaign was triggered in January last year by the Mails revelations over the death of 12-month-old William Mead (pictured left and right). Doctors failed to spot he had sepsis, while workers on the 111 helpline mishandled a call from his mother

The document sets out minimum standards to be used by NHS bosses, inspectors and lawyers to hold hospitals to account.

Sepsis, known as the silent killer, strikes when an infection such as blood poisoning sparks a violent immune response in which the body attacks its own organs.

It is the leading cause of avoidable death, killing at least 44,000 a year.

If caught early, the infection can be controlled by antibiotics before the body goes into overdrive.

But early symptoms can be easily confused with more mild conditions, meaning it is difficult to diagnose. A patient can rapidly deteriorate if sepsis is missed early on, so quick diagnosis and treatment is vital  yet this rarely happens.

NHS figures from March last year reveal that, even 90 minutes after arriving at hospital, 22 per cent of sepsis patients had not been seen, and 38 per cent had not been given antibiotics.

Dr Ron Daniels, of the UK Sepsis Trust, said: This will ensure the right people get to the right patients and deliver the right care at the right time.

It is not just a tick-box exercise. Hospitals will have to demonstrate that they have the systems in place to make this happen.

The Mail started its End The Sepsis Scandal campaign last year to raise awareness of symptoms among patients and staff, in an attempt to reduce the number of missed cases of sepsis.

Early symptoms of sepsis can be easily confused with more mild conditions

It led to an awareness drive launched by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt in December, which included telling pregnant women about sepsis signs, new training for doctors and nurses, and millions of posters and leaflets.

The new rules go even further, forcing doctors to consider the risk of sepsis in every patient.

The draft document proposes a further safety net in which every patient who has an infection, even if not thought to be high risk, is given a sepsis-signs leaflet and told to come back to hospital if their condition worsens.

Those who have any sepsis symptoms  such as rapid breathing, high heart rate, confusion, a rash or ashen appearance  should immediately be seen by a senior doctor, who has been qualified for at least four years, or an advanced nurse practitioner.

They should be given antibiotics within an hour, and high-risk patients given intravenous fluids.

Under-18s should be seen only by doctors with at least five years experience, and under-fives by a paediatric specialist.

The document also says patients more than an hour away from a hospital should be given antibiotics by a GP or paramedics.

The report advises all health professionals  whether a GP, paramedic or A&E doctor  to record vital signs such as temperature and heart rate, as well as checking for rashes and skin discolouration, so no signs are missed.

Mr Hunt said: We need to get far better at spotting sepsis across the NHS and this advice shows how vital it is for clinicians to treat life-threatening symptoms as soon as possible.

The Mail started its End The Sepsis Scandal campaign last year to raise awareness of symptoms among patients and staff

The sepsis campaign was triggered in January last year by the Mails revelations over the death of 12-month-old William Mead.

Doctors failed to spot he had sepsis, while workers on the 111 helpline mishandled a call from his mother Melissa. Mrs Mead, of Cornwall, said: I am delighted that all clinical organisations are coming together to improve care.

The speed in which sepsis takes over the body  36 hours in Williams case  is frightening.

Professor Gillian Leng, from NICE, said: There are inconsistencies in how peoples symptoms are assessed in different settings. More can be done to provide rapid treatment.

But Dr Daniels warned hospitals would need further resources to ensure the standards are met.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor said the new rules would ultimately save thousands of lives.
A council has come under fire after new litter police issued more fines on their first day in the job than the whole of the previous year.

Liverpool City Council is employing controversial private firm Kingdom - dubbed the litter Stasi' - as part of a major drive to clean up its streets.

But last night critics accused them of operating a money-making scam after it emerged new litter squads had issued more than 102,000 worth of fines in the first nine days of the new contract alone.

Liverpool City Council has employed a firm nicknamed the 'litter Stasi' to help clean up the streets

That equates to 1,286 fixed 80 penalties  315 of which were issued on the first day, March 1. By contrast, the council handed out only 277 fines over the whole of 2016.

The number of litter wardens, who are dressed in official looking uniform and wear body cameras, has more than quadrupled  from just four to 17  in Liverpool since Kingdom took over.

Although the firm denies that wardens receive commission for handing out penalties, the firm is paid half - 40  of every ticket issued.

That means that, in the first nine days of the pilot in Liverpool, the firm could potentially pocket more than 50,000 if all the fines are paid.

Yesterday it emerged that Kingdom staff have already been accused of using under-hand tactics to catch offenders, after they were caught issuing penalties to customers at a Tesco supermarket without permission.

The firm is paid half of every 40 ticket issued - meaning that Kingdom could have already potentially pocketed more than 50,0000

Managers of the store eventually called police, who asked the wardens to leave the supermarket, which is technically private property, following several complaints.

It is not the first time the practices of Kingdom, which has contracts with at least 32 councils and makes more than 2million profit a year, have been questioned.

Previously, one man was fined for dropping a bookmark, another woman was issued with a ticket for feeding bread to ducks, while a couple were fined for dropping cherry stones underneath a tree.

One customer, who was accused of dropping a cigarette butt at the Tesco supermarket, in Old Swan, Liverpool, last week, accused the enforcement officers of being intimidating and threatening.

The 30-year-old engineer, who did not want to be named, took photographs of the wardens, who refused to give him their names, after they threatened to track him down via his workplace or call police when he refused to hand over his name and address.

The customer said one of the men stood with his fists clenched, while the other was getting in his face and shouting after he refused to co-operate.

Kingdom have previously given tickets to a woman for feeding ducks, and a couple were fined for dropping cherry stones under a tree

He said: They told me I had dropped a cigarette and I asked them to show me where. One of them pointed at where there were about 30 cigarette butts and claimed one was mine.

There was no way they could prove it, so I refused to give them my details. They threatened to tell my bosses and called the police, but they had no authority to detain me so I left.

The man added that when he returned to the shop the following day, two wardens targeted him again.

I knew they recognised me so I decided to test what they were doing and put my cigarette butt on the floor, before quickly picking it up and putting it in a bag in my van, he added.

The wardens jumped out of their car and one of them dived in front of my van and made me stop, it was crazy.

They looked just like bailiffs and were quite intimidating and aggressive, one of them was stood with his fists clenched and the other was getting in my face and shouting.

I agree people shouldnt drop litter, but these wardens should be out on the streets in the city, not targeting people going into Tesco. Its a money-making scam, they are trying to catch people out, its wrong.

Police had to be called to a Liverpool Tesco where litter wardens were caught handing out fines on private property without permission

Merseyside Police confirmed they were called to the supermarket last Thursday lunchtime.

A spokesman said: Officers attended and established they were genuine enforcement officers, who were subsequently given advice that this was private land and any enforcement of this kind has to be approved by management.

A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said two fines for litter dropping handed out on the Tesco site had been paid, but confirmed that the team would be avoiding the supermarket car park in the future.

The legislation regarding fixed penalty notices for litter applies to any open land, regardless of ownership, he said.

Following a request from store management, we will not be patrolling their car park in future.

Tesco said it would talk to the council about its litter schemes, but councillor Steve Munby, cabinet member for neighbourhoods at Liverpool City Council, said the supermarket chain ought to be ashamed of themselves.

He added: I am surprised and disappointed with the response from Tesco. Have they never heard of corporate responsibility? The litter may have been on their land but it can blow onto other areas.

What sort of message are they sending out? They should be ashamed of themselves.

Liverpool City Council has employed Kingdom to run the new litter operation as part of a 12-month blitz.

It comes on the back of a proposal by Mayor Joe Anderson to waive council tax for individuals who are able to provide information leading to the conviction of a pet owner for dog fouling.

Last night Kingdom failed to return calls or emails to the Daily Mail requesting comment.
The number of sick days taken by workers has fallen to a record low  driven by the unwillingness of self-employed people to take time off through sickness or absenteeism.

New figures yesterday showed that an average worker took 4.3 days off sick last year, the lowest recorded since official counts began in the early 1990s.

Self-employed workers take only two thirds of the time off taken by full-time employees, according to the estimates published by the Office for National Statistics.

The ONS report, published the day after Chancellor Philip Hammond provoked a backbench revolt by imposing higher National Insurance payments on 2.5 million solo workers, said that the number of working days lost to sickness has been declining since 2000. It dropped particularly fast in the downturn after 2007.

New figures yesterday showed that an average worker took 4.3 days off sick last year (stock photo)

It said that alongside self-employed workers, those least likely to be away from work because they are sick were employees in private industry and commerce, non-smokers, men, and people working for smaller businesses.

Public sector workers and women are most likely to stay at home, according to the figures.

The ONS report said the overall number of days lost to the economy through sickness has stayed roughly the same since 2010 'due to an increasing number of people entering the labour market.'

But once the impact of immigration on the figures is removed, they show that workers are more likely to stay at their posts than in the past. A typical worker now takes fewer than two days in 50 off work sick, a sickness rate of 1.9 per cent, compared to more than three days in 50, 3.1 per cent, in 1995.

In the mid-1990s a self-employed worker was off sick 2.1 per cent of the time compared to 3.3 per cent for an employee. In 2016 the sickness rate was 2.1 per cent for employees, and just 1.4 per cent for self-employed people.

The figures gave further weight to the claims of those yesterday who suggested that Chancellor had unfairly hammered the people who had done most to improve Britain's economic performance and productivity.

Mike Cherry of the Federation of Small Businesses said: 'Going it alone in the business world involves risk and those choosing to be self-employed are putting their all into making it work. They aren't entitled to benefit payments for sickness and absence and simply don't make money if they can't work.

'In many cases, they are forced to push through and stay on the job, even when they aren't feeling 100 per cent. It is this hard-working group -- the plumbers, builders and hairdressers -- on modest incomes of 45,000 or less who will have to pay a much larger share of their income compared to higher-income self-employed people after the hike in National Insurance Contributions announced in Wednesday's Budget.'

The ONS report, published the day after Chancellor Philip Hammond (pictured) provoked a backbench revolt

James Gribben of the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed said: 'I hope the Budget measures do not push self-employed people back into regular jobs. The last thing we want to see is a reversal in the decline of sickness rates.'

Economist Ruth Lea of the Arbuthnot Banking Group said: 'I am a self-employed person, and, when you are self-employed, you have to cope with a high level of uncertainty in your life. You do not have holiday pay or sick pay or other benefits. If you don't work your life can be pretty difficult.

'It is not fair to treat the self-employed in the same way as employed workers.'

The ONS figures showed public sector workers have a sickness rate of 2.9 days in 100 compared to 1.7 for workers in private business. Absentee rates among health workers were particularly high, 3.5 per cent in 2016, and the ONS report speculated this could be because health workers are exposed to infection from the public.

It added: 'Workers in the private sector are more likely to not be paid for a spell of sickness than those in the public sector.'

The most common reasons for sickness absence last year were minor illnesses like colds, cited in nearly a quarter of all sickness absences. Just under a third of absences were because of back pain, and just over one in 10 were a result of reported stress or mental health difficulties.




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.
The State Department says top U.S. diplomat Rex Tillerson has recused himself from TransCanada's application for a presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Environmental group Greenpeace has called for Tillerson, former CEO of oil giant Exxon Mobil, to take that step.

The pipeline, which would bring oil from Canada to the U.S., was halted by then-President Barack Obama. In one of his first decisions as president, Donald Trump invited the Keystone builder, TransCanada, to resubmit its application to construct and operate the pipeline.

Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday that Secretary of State Tillerson decided in early February to recuse himself from TransCanada's application. He has not worked on it at the State Department and will 'play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution' of the application.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will play 'no role' in deliberations over the Keystone pipeline

'He has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanada's application,' State department lawyer Katherine McManus wrote.

Greenpeace had written both the agency and the Office Government Ethics on Wednesday.

Greenpeace wrote Tillerson's former company would benefit 'directly and predictably' from the pipeline because of its ownership in Canadian oil sands.

Tillerson spent his entire career at the company, before giving up his CEO post to become the government's top diplomat. His exit package was valued at $180 million. As part of the package, Tillerson gave up restricted stock and $54 million in stock that he would have been entitled to.

Some ethics experts praised Tillerson's separation package, because although he walked away with a lot of money, he took numerous steps to separate himself from his former employer.

He even gave up a credit card that entitled him to cheap gas for life, and actually got $7 million less than he would have otherwise, although he benefits from a law that lets him defer taxes on the $54 million, Fortune reported.

RECUSE ME: Tillerson won plaudits from some ethics experts for taking steps to separate himself from his former employer. President Trump transferred his business to a trust controlled by two of his children

Secretary of State Tillerson shakes hands with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, at the State Department

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to advance construction of the Keystone XL pipeline at the White House in Washington January 24, 2017

LET IT FLOW: A depot used to store pipes for Transcanada Corp's planned Keystone XL oil pipeline is seen in Gascoyne, North Dakota, January 25, 2017

TransCanada has been trying to build the pipeline for years. The project dragged on, spanning the tenure of part of Hillary Clinton's tenure as well as successor John Kerry's.

The company resubmitted its application in January following Trump's order, among his first actions as president, which fulfilled a campaign promise.

ExxonMobil has investments in Canadian tar sands, from which oil can be extracted and shipped south to refineries and ultimately all the way to the Gulf upon completion of the pipeline.

According to the Greenpeace letter, 'Exxon Mobil could benefit from the approval of the pipeline if it has specific contracts or agreements with TransCanada either to transport their Canadian tar sands production, or to receive such shipments at their U.S. refineries,' Reuters reported.

Among Tillerson's concession: He 'will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I know that Exxon Mobil is a party or represents a party, unless I am first authorized to participate.'

He wrote the agency lawyer McManus in January that he would recuse himself on a case-by case basis 'from participation in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I determine that a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would question my impartiality in the matter, unless I am first authorized to participate.'
This is the horrifying moment a freight train slammed into a bus in Mississippi on Tuesday, killing four people and injuring dozens.

Eyewitness Garland Andrew captured the tragedy on cell phone video as the train crashed on into a bus full of Texas tourists visiting Gulf Coast casinos.

'People losing their life right in front of you,' Andrews told KTRK.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Eyewitness Garland Andrew captured the tragedy on cell phone video (pictured) as the train crashed on into a bus full of Texas tourists visiting Gulf Coast casinos

In the video, a number of shocked bystanders is heard while the bus is stalled and the freight train approaches, honking heavily

Ken, 82, and Peggy Hoffman, 73, were killed in the accident in Biloxi, Mississippi on Tuesday

The bus was carrying 50 people from Austin, Texas, Biloxi Police Chief John Miller said at a news conference

In the video, a number of shocked bystanders is heard while the bus is stalled and the freight train approaches, honking heavily.

Then comes a deep thud followed by a deafening screech as the train slams into the bus, pushing it along the tracks.

'I prayed and cried and called my mom,' Andews told KTRK.

Four senior citizens were identified as the four people killed in the Tuesday accident.

Ex-assistant principal Peggy Hoffman and her husband Ken, from Lockhart, Texas, died in the horrifying crash in Biloxi that also injured forty people.

Their former employers, Lockhart School District, said in a statement: 'We feel their loss deeply across the district, remembering the mark that they made upon us and upon a generation of children in our community.'

Clinton Havran, 69 of CLinton, was also killed at the scene. Deborah Orr, 63 of Bastrop, died after undergoing surgery at Merit Health Biloxi on Tuesday night.

The cause of the deadly collision is under investigation, and local police are trying to figure out why the bus was on the tracks.

A freight train smashed into a charter bus in Biloxi, Mississippi, on Tuesday, pushing it 300 feet down the tracks and leaving at least four people dead and dozens more injured

Witnesses told Mississippi news outlets the bus appeared to have been stuck on the tracks when it was hit by the train.

The vehicle was then pushed 300 feet along the rails until the train came to a stop.

The crossing is on a steep embankment and has a sign warning drivers that it has a low ground clearance.

The bus could be seen straddling the tracks, with a 52-car CSX Transportation locomotive pushed up against its left side.

Authorities on the scene said it took more than an hour to get everyone aboard the bus out of the wreckage.

Two people had to be removed with metal-cutting equipment.

Jim DeLaCruz, a passenger who was in the back of the bus with his wife, told The Sun Herald that they were trying to get off.

'The bus tried to clear the tracks and got stuck right in the middle and it couldn't budge, and the train just kept coming and kept coming,' he said.

Police chief John Miller said he was unsure why the bus was stopped on the tracks.

'We don't know if there were mechanical issues or what was taking place,' he said.

Miller said the Echo Transportation bus had come from Austin, Texas, carrying passengers to one of Biloxi's eight casinos.

'It's a terrible tragedy,' Miller said. 'I know there's a lot of families that are going to be impacted here.'

Images from the scene show the bus, upright and still intact, straddling the tracks, with the CSX train pushed up against its left side

The local school district said Ken and Peggy Hoffman were 'colleagues, teachers and leaders in our community who have made a mark on a generation of children. Here they are pictured with their granddaughters Kayla, left and Tara, right

The couple are pictured left with the granddaughter Kayla Chapman and right

Ken and Peggy Hoffman are the first two casualties to be named with many pouring out their condolences on Facebook.

Ken retired in 1996 as an assistant superintendent of the school district; Peggy retired in 2002 as principal of Plum Creek Elementary. Between them, they had a combined 85 years of service to the school district.

'Ken was the quieter of the two,' Lockhart school superintendent Susan Bohn said to Statesman.com. Bohn considered Peggy Hoffman an adviser, one who had insight into the burdens both administrators and teachers faced over things like the launch of a new curriculum.

'She was a teacher's administrator,' Bohn said. 'She knew how hard the job was of a teacher. And she wanted to make sure kids and teachers got what they needed to be effective.'

'What drew me to Peggy was how she expected excellence for our community, our staff, our kids and the district,' she said.

Despite being retired, the couple were still involved in education programs in the district.

Peggy Hoffman was a GED instructor in a community education program and filled in for a series of administrative jobs.

Other tributes offered similar glowing praise of the couple.'So many people have been touched or helped by these two beautiful people over the years. I doubt that there isn't a family in Lockhart that hasn't been helped by these two. God bless them and their family,' wrote Ricke Scott.

Olivia LeeAnn Smith wrote, 'Peggy was my first grade principal when I first moved to Lockhart. I was 6 years old and scared of adjusting to a new town and new school. She made me feel very welcomed to Lockhart '

Melissa Ramirez Flores, whose own mother was on the bus, said Peggy was her former teacher as well.

'I remember that she used to love to read to us. We'd sit on the carpet and that was one of the favorite things to have her read to us before we went to lunch,' Flores told KXAN. 'Just a very sweet, caring lady.'

The rear of the bus is seen above as the train rammed into it from its left-hand side. At least three people were killed and emergency responders were still removing injured people from the bus more than 30 minutes after the crash

Rescue personnel are seen treating an injured passenger who was extricated from the bus

Ameet Patel, senior vice president of regional operations for Penn National Gaming, owner of Hollywood Gulf Coast Casino in Bay St. Louis and Boomtown Biloxi Casino, said the bus was traveling from the Hollywood casino to the Boomtown casino at the time of the crash.

The weeklong trip was organized by a senior citizens' center in Bastrop, Texas, about 30 miles east of Austin.

Some passengers boarded in each city Sunday. They also were supposed to visit New Orleans and then return home Saturday, according to a flier about the tour posted by Texas media.

A woman who lives about a block from where the train and bus finally came to a stop after the train crashed into the bus says she heard a 'loud boom' and knew immediately what had happened.

Cecelia McDonald said she ran out of her house and saw a scene of carnage.

Witnesses told The Sun Herald of Biloxi that the bus was stuck on the tracks for about five minutes before the train hit.

Some people were getting off the bus as the driver tried to move it, and at least one person was shoved under the bus when the train hit, said Mark Robinson, a Biloxi native.

Robinson told WLOX-TV that people trying to get off were either thrown underneath the bus or run over by the train and that 'body pieces were thrown everywhere.'

Authorities worked for more than an hour to remove passengers to take the injured to hospital. They had to cut through the bus's mangled body to extract the final two people

Officials say there were chaotic scenes as passengers were trapped inside the bus and trying to get out as first responders arrived.

A nearby car was used as a stepladder after the crash to get people off the bus, and emergency workers pulled passengers through windows.

Robinson said he thinks the train track, which is on an embankment, poses safety issues.

'It's too steep there,' Robinson said.

In addition the sign warning of a low ground clearance, the crossing has a bell, lights and crossing arms.

Biloxi Fire Chief Joe Boney says rescuers needed one hour and four minutes to clear everyone from the wreckage. Two people had to be cut out of the bus.

Vincent Creel, the city spokesman, said 48 passengers and the driver were on the bus.

The train company says their crew was not injured in the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is to investigate the crash and will arrive in Biloxi Wednesday morning

The train was headed from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama, at the time of the crash, said CSX spokesman Gary Sease. He said the train crew was not injured. The single track is the CSX mainline along the Gulf Coast, passing through densely populated areas of southern Mississippi.

Federal Railroad Agency records show 10 trains a day typically use the track, with a maximum speed of 45 mph. Records show there have been 16 accidents at the crossing since 1976, including in 1983 and 2003, each of which involved one fatality. A delivery truck also was struck at the same crossing in January, WLOX-TV reports. No one was injured in that crash.

The bus was marked as belonging to Echo Transportation, which Texas corporate records show is a unit of a company called TBL Group, based in Grand Prairie, near Dallas.

'We can't confirm anything at this point,' said Elisa Fox, a lawyer for the bus company. 'We're trying to mobilize to assess the situation.'

Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Marc Willis said the agency is sending three inspectors to investigate, while Mississippi is sending one. The National Transportation Safety Board said it also is investigating.
A man has been jailed for life after he murdered his ex-girlfriend with a shotgun while her five-year-old daughter slept in the next room.

Chazz Hall was sentenced in the High Court at Napier, New Zealand, on Thursday to life in jail with a non-parole period of 15 years after pleading guilty to the brutal murder.

Victoria Foster, 24, was shot in the head on October 26, 2015 after she broke up with Hall and told him to leave her Westshore house, the NZ Herald reported.

Chazz Hall (pictured) was sentenced in the High Court at Napier, New Zealand, on Thursday to life in jail with a non-parole period of 15 years

The court heard Hall had taken a bottle of wine to Foster's home the night of the shooting, 'in the hope that events would turn out differently'.

Hall fled the scene after the killing, but was shot by police and arrested two hours later.

He initially pleaded not guilty to murder, but changed his plea to avoid the scheduled trial.

Victoria Foster, 24, (pictured centre) was shot in the head on October 26, 2015 after she broke up with Hall and told him to leave

Hall also pleaded guilty to charges of threatening to kill police, dangerous use of a firearm and dangerous driving.

On Friday, the court heard victim impact statements from Foster's uncle, sister and cousin.

Hall has been left with a disability and walks with crutches after being shot by police.
Britain's foreign aid budget is being used to indirectly fund squalid detention centres in Libya that are run by gangs of people traffickers, a damning report has found.

The study accuses the UK authorities of sending millions of pounds to the war-torn country without first investigating how the money is spent.

It highlights how taxpayer money is potentially finding its way into the hands of criminal networks who are fuelling Europe's migration crisis.

Around 9million is currently being spent on projects in the North African country from which record numbers of migrants are risking their lives to reach the EU.

Britain's foreign aid budget is being used to indirectly fund squalid detention centres in Libya (pictured)

But today's analysis finds that the UK's attempts to curb migration on the perilous Mediterranean route  where more than 4,000 migrants died last year  has been largely ineffective.

Rather than helping address the issue, UK money is allegedly being paid into detention centres where migrants are often locked up for months at a time.

The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), which scrutinises taxpayer-funded UK aid, said it had serious concerns about the use of UK taxpayer money at the buildings.

Smugglers and traffickers have taken control of a huge proportion of the centres in what charities have described as a 'billion dollar industry'.

Libyan officials are said to be engaged in the large-scale extortion that is helping gangs to siphon money from charities aimed at helping those residing in the centres.

The ICAI said it had seen no evidence that Government departments, including DfID, had properly analysed the 'economic and political conditions' surrounding Libya's camps.

It said that providing financial support to the detention centres 'might create conditions that would lead to more migrants being detained'.

The report acknowledged that the UK is constrained in how it spends aid money in Libya because of the country's volatile political landscape.

But it said that money intended to reduce migration was often having no effect and could be putting migrants at harm.

Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured) called on EU leaders at a summit in Brussels to do more to address the Mediterranean crisis

The criticism came as Theresa May yesterday called on EU leaders at a summit in Brussels to do more to address the Mediterranean crisis.

The Prime Minister told the meeting that the EU needed to 'step up action to dismantle smuggling and trafficking rings and to break the smugglers' model'.

Officials in Brussels are concerned that improving weather will see a sharp rise in migration on the route which has become the front line of Europe's migration crisis.

Dr Alison Evans, ICAI's chief commissioner, said: 'We are concerned that some UK aid programmes have unhelpfully been re-labelled as 'migration-related' when there is little evidence they will reduce irregular migration.

'We are also concerned about the risk of unintended harm to vulnerable migrant and we have urged the government to do more to identify and manage these risks.'

A Government spokesperson said: 'Cross government efforts are tackling the root causes of migration by building opportunity and stability for people in their home regions so they don't need to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.

'We're also getting help to vulnerable migrants who have already started their treacherous journey. Since May 2015, British vessels have saved more than 13,000 lives in the Mediterranean.'
Theresa May insisted last night she will fight any demands for Britain to pay a 52billion divorce bill when it leaves the EU.

The Prime Minister warned European leaders the British people did not vote for Brexit only to keep sending huge sums to Brussels.

The row over a potential bill intensified yesterday as EU figures claimed the amount would have to be settled before talks on a new trading relationship start.

Theresa May has insisted she will fight any demands for Britain to pay a 52billion divorce bill when it leaves the EU

But Mrs May, in Brussels for an EU leaders summit, said: Im clear that the way people voted on June 23 for us to leave the European Union, they voted for us in the future not paying huge sums of money into the EU every year.

And of course when we leave the EU that will be the case.

EU negotiators have claimed the country will be on the hook for projects it signed off as a member after it leaves, as well as pensions for Brussels officials.

But the Governments legal advice states that there is no law or treaty that will compel Britain to make payments after Brexit.

Asked yesterday what Britain would do if Brussels presents a hefty bill, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged Mrs May to channel the spirit of Margaret Thatcher. He told the BBC: I think we have illustrious precedent in this matter.

'I think you can recall the 1984 Fontainebleau summit in which Mrs Thatcher said she wanted her money back and I think that is exactly what we will get.

Pushed on whether the Government would say no, he replied: It is not reasonable, I dont think for the UK, having left the EU, to continue to make vast budget payments. I think everybody understands that and thats the reality.

Irish prime minister Enda Kenny (pictured) indicated yesterday he would back demands for Britain to pay a Brexit divorce bill as he arrived for the summit in Brussels

Britain is expected argue there is no basis in European or international law for payments to continue after Brexit, unless there is an agreement to do so.

The decision sets the stage for an early confrontation with the European Commissions negotiating team, led by Michel Barnier, who has made it clear he expects the early focus of talks to be on Britains apparent financial liabilities.

Irish prime minister Enda Kenny indicated yesterday he would back demands for Britain to pay a Brexit divorce bill as he arrived for the summit in Brussels.

WILL TUESDAY BE EXIT DAY? The Prime Minister last night declared it was time to get on with leaving the EU as she cleared the decks to kickstart Brexit as soon as Tuesday. Ministers set out a timetable that could see the Brexit Bill passed by MPs on Monday night  handing Theresa May the power to trigger Article 50. She could then do so in the Commons on Tuesday. European Council president Donald Tusk said EU leaders would be ready to react with their negotiation red lines within 48 hours of Mrs May triggering Article 50. Advertisement

He said: When you sign on for a contract you commit yourself to participation and obviously the extent of that level of money will be determined. It will have to be dealt with and it will be dealt with.

He also warned Dublin hoped to take jobs from the City, saying: A substantial number of financial institutions or banks intend to make decisions to either move or move sections of their business out of London.

Ireland will compete fairly for that and Im absolutely convinced we will win substantial business.

It came after Danish foreign minister Anders Samuelsen claimed it could take up to 15 years for Britain to get a trade deal.

But Mrs May said the withdrawal process as set out in Article 50, including setting the framework for future relations, actually should take the two years.

She added: That is the timetable were working to and that is the timetable the EU is working to.

Meanwhile, EU leaders agreed last night to re-elect Donald Tusk as European Council president.
Sergeant Shaquille Craig (pictured), 24, has been arrested and charged with two counts of murder, Hinesville police said Thursday

An Army sergeant has been charged in the slayings of two fellow soldiers whom police said were found dead in a pool of their own blood in an apartment outside Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia.

Sergeant Shaquille Craig, 24, has been arrested and charged with two counts of murder, Hinesville police said Thursday.

He is accused of killing 23-year-old Specialist Marquez Brown of Macon and 21-year-old Private Malika Darion Jackson of Foley, Alabama.

Craig of Selma, Alabama, served as a petroleum supply specialist in the 3rd Infantry Division.

Brown and Jackson were assigned to a different brigade within the Fort Stewart-based division.

Police found the two soldiers dead Sunday at the center of a bloody scene, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported citing a police report.

Craig (pictured left) is accused of killing 23-year-old Specialist Marquez Brown of Macon and 21-year-old Private Malika Darion Jackson of Foley, Alabama

The sergeant (pictured), Craig of Selma, Alabama, served as a petroleum supply specialist in the 3rd Infantry Division. He is due to appear in court on Friday

One of them had a large knife in his throat and both had been shot, the report states. An autopsy found that the two men had died of gunshot wounds, 11Alive reported.

Investigators indicated to the network there was a personal motive between Craig and Jackson, and that Brown was 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'.

Hinesville detective Captain Chris Reid said there was no sign of struggle inside the apartment. Officers said a party had been held there on Saturday and that Jackson and Brown were both seen alive the following morning.

Police were called to the residence Saturday night for a loud music complaint, but everything seemed quiet when they arrived, the Coastal Courier reported at the time.

Brown was a former drum major at Southwest High School, according to condolences left by friends on a Facebook page in his name.

Craig is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Marquez Brown (pictured left and right) is one of two soldiers who were found dead on Sunday in an apartment outside Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia
Mervyn King (pictured) said Britain should quit the single market and set its own terms for immigration

Britain should quit the single market and set its own terms for immigration in order to get the best deal from Brexit, Lord Mervyn King has said.

The former Bank of England governor mounted a spirited defence of the UKs prospects after leaving the EU  advocating a hard Brexit with no transitional deals, and no customs union.

The 68-year-old said that the country could rebalance its trade deficit and that the City would continue to thrive if the UK went out on its own.

Im not a great fan of any transitional arrangements or deals, he said. We should make very clear what our position is.

Lord King said that because Britain imported far more from the EU than it exported to the Continent, it was in a strong negotiating position and could expect foreign leaders to be keen for compromise.

We dont need to negotiate very much, actually, he said in an interview with Bloomberg. Its they who need to negotiate with us.

The peer, a renowned economist who ran the Bank of England during the financial crisis, also warned that the House of Lords was on dangerous territory after intervening in the Brexit process.

He said that the unelected upper chamber should not be seeking to block the will of the people.

The House of Lords needs to be pretty careful about this, Lord King said.

There was a referendum, the decision was made very clear by both sides that it would be for the people to decide.

That decision has been reached and now its the role of Parliament to implement that.

The Lords have angered Brexit campaigners by passing amendments to a law which gives Theresa May the right to trigger Article 50 and start the Brexit process.

They have demanded both a meaningful vote on the terms of the exit deal and a guarantee that the rights of EU nationals living in Britain would be unchanged.

Brexit campaigners reacted furiously to the changes, arguing it was an attempt to make the Governments negotiations more difficult and ultimately stop us leaving the bloc.

The bill will now go back to the House of Commons next week, where both amendments are expected to be removed by MPs.

It will then be sent back to the Lords, who will face pressure not to amend it again.

Mrs May is aiming to trigger Article 50 by the end of the month.

Prime Minister Theresa May is aiming to trigger Article 50 by the end of the month. She has repeated the Governments pledge to cut immigrant numbers to tens of thousands a year

In an interview this week, Lord King said peers were making a grave mistake by seeking to make place conditions on her attempt to get the best deal for Britain.

It would be quite wrong for the House of Lords at this stage to try to lay down conditions as to what should be the process which is followed at the end of that period, he said.

It would contravene the expressed wish of the House of Commons, and that of the referendum.

Since the referendum, Lord King has been adamant that Britain can thrive outside the EU.

Brexit has had rather little impact on the economy, and may have rather little impact in the long run, he said in the Bloomberg interview, conducted earlier in the week.

The political excitement has been enormous, the economic excitement much less so.

He also insisted that it was time for Britain to set its own migration policy  and this should not be up for debate with Brussels.

Mrs May has repeated the Governments pledge to cut immigrant numbers to tens of thousands a year, and ending free movement from other EU countries is likely to play a key part.

Its important that the UK now actually is proactive in setting out what the Governments plan for immigration policy will be, Lord King said.

This is not something that should be negotiated with Europe, its for the UK to decide.

Bank bosses were among the biggest critics of Brexit during the Project Fear campaign, with a string of highly paid chief executives lining up to claim they would move jobs out of the country if Leave won.

King, a peer and renowned economist who ran the Bank of England during the financial crisis, also warned that the House of Lords was on dangerous territory after intervening in the Brexit process

Although many have since gone quiet  and no jobs have yet been shifted abroad  an intense lobbying effort is underway to squeeze concessions from the Government.

Lord King urged ministers to ignore their pleas and focus on making Brexit work for ordinary people instead.

I dont think, in financial services, that it would be sensible for the Government to sacrifice the future of the British economy and the decision to leave the EU on the altar of high finance, he said.

Actually it will make rather little difference to the major financial institutions.

Some individuals will move, undoubtedly to Europe, but actually many will not.

I think the future of the City of London is secure because of its role in the world as a whole.
Elle (18)

Rating:

Not many women down the years have received a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards for a performance in a foreign-language film. And only two have gone on to lift the Oscar: Sophia Loren in 1962, and Marion Cotillard in 2008.

So it is testament to Isabelle Hupperts memorable performance in Elle that she was not only a nominee this year, but was considered a viable rival to the eventual winner, Emma Stone.

Had she won, there would have been few complaints; she gives a brilliant but disturbing portrayal of a woman who, in the films opening scene, is violently raped by a masked man on the parquet floor of her own handsome Paris apartment.

'It is testament to Isabelle Hupperts (pictured) memorable performance in Elle that she was not only a nominee this year, but was considered a viable rival to the eventual winner, Emma Stone'

This is Michele Leblanc, the well-heeled boss of a video-games company, a tough divorcee whose composed demeanour seems barely ruffled by the attack. To the audience, her equilibrium comes as a challenge. Rape in the movies, as in the real world, tends to leave lives shattered. But Micheles still seems entirely together. The only threats to her sang-froid come from her ineffectual son, who has a domineering, pregnant girlfriend, and from her embarrassing, elderly mother, planning to marry her gigolo boyfriend.

Then another threat materialises, in the form of a series of sinister texts from the unknown rapist, although even these Michele takes in her calculating stride. By now we have also learnt something else about her; that she is the daughter of one of Frances most notorious serial killers, still languishing in jail.

So to understand how she ticks there is quite a psychological jigsaw to piece together, but veteran Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, showing a mastery of tension that recalls one of his best films, 1992s Basic Instinct, never overlooks the most heart-thumping question of all: who is the mysterious assailant? Is it her ex-husband? Her lover? One of her employees? The dishy neighbour with the devout wife? A stranger? And once she knows his identity, how will she get even?

Elle has been lauded by some as a work of genius, and certainly Verhoeven and his screenwriter David Birke, working from a novel by Phillipe Dijan, very cleverly keep us from wholly rooting for Michele even as we yearn for revenge. Her own best-selling video game features a nasty rape scenario, and she is brazenly having an affair with the husband of her business partner and best friend. She is not a likeable woman.

But there is a further layer of dubious morality about this film that I found uncomfortable. It has been hailed as a feminist story of female empowerment in a male-dominated world, but its particular attitude to rape seems to me more of a male than a female fantasy. It has also been described as a comedy, but I cant say I found it even slightly amusing. Its one overt stab at humour  when Micheles son doesnt realise that his girlfriends black baby might not be his - is discordantly silly.

On the other hand, there can be no denying that Elle is intriguing, unpredictable and gripping. It also has the wonderful Isabelle Huppert in towering form. That should be recommendation enough.
Claire Hovey, 32, (pictured with her boyfriend Chris Edwards) has written a blog post addressed to Chancellor Philip Hammond

A self-employed copywriter has urged Chancellor Philip Hammond to 'see sense and reconsider' his controversial increase in National Insurance contributions.

Claire Hovey, 32, from Winchester, Hampshire, and boyfriend Chris Edwards, also 32, have been live-in carers for his mother, who has Parkinson's, since May.

In a blog post addressed to Mr Hammond, she wrote that his controversial announcement in Wednesday's Budget 'risks her livelihood'.

She wrote: 'I am both a carer and a company director and, to be clear, you are demanding that on top of the 20 per cent corporation tax I gladly pay to HMRC my existing 9 per cent NI contributions, 7.5 per cent dividend tax (rising to 32.5 per cent if, God forbid, I do well) plus the costs of covering student loan repayments, a pension, holiday, sick pay and parental leave, I need to find a further 2 per cent to 'level the playing field' with employees, while you continue to allow the existence of zero-hours contracts, tax breaks and tax avoidance for major companies to keep Britain 'attractive' amid the Brexit I voted against.

'You are only ensuring that my business cannot grow, you are risking my livelihood and you are making it harder to provide for my own needs later in life.

'And you do this while grossly underestimating the care crisis and failing to address the buckling NHS at all.'

She added: 'We're both 32 now but we've put off getting married and having children because the pressure of providing the level of care needed for advanced Parkinson's plus staying in work is too much.

In a blog post addressed to Mr Hammond, she wrote that his controversial announcement in Wednesday's Budget 'risks her livelihood'

'We juggled remote working between us but it's really affected our health, so the last five months I reduced down to three days. Chris works crazy hours to pay for some care support ourselves.'

Her comments came as Mr Hammond was left stunned after an extraordinary Tory rebellion saw MPs publicly vowing to secure a U-turn on his increase to National Insurance for the self-employed.

MP after MP went on the attack over the issue, which many saw as an assault on Conservative values.

One warned that it risked alienating core Conservative voters, another said it sent 'the wrong message', while another vowed simply that the rise 'cannot be allowed to proceed.'

She wrote to Philip Hammond: 'You do this while grossly underestimating the care crisis and failing to address the buckling NHS at all'

The revolt  unprecedented within 24 hours of a Budget  left Downing Street in shock, and provided the backdrop to chaotic recriminations that tested relations between Number 10 and the Treasury.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Tory MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, was among the first to take to the airwaves, saying: 'It goes against every principle of Conservative understanding of business.

'We understand that taking risks is what stimulates growth. It impacts people who are putting themselves at risk, their houses on the line, to create new growth.

'It's the wrong way round and sends a very poor message.'

Even Government loyalists such as Dominic Raab admitted that he 'struggled' with the tax rise.
Bishop North has previously broken ranks with the Church of England on numerous controversial issues

A Church of England bishop last night dramatically announced he wouldnt be taking up his new post after a campaign sparked by his opposition to women priests.

The Right Reverend Philip North, who has previously accused C of E leaders of failing to stand up for the family and ignoring the causes of the Brexit vote, had been due to take over as Bishop of Sheffield later this year.

However the 50-year-old  who is currently suffragan Bishop of Burnley  has attracted fierce criticism over his membership of a group opposed to women priests.

Despite winning the support of 36 female clergy from Lancashire plus three women bishops, he last night said he would not be taking up his new post as a result of the strong reaction his nomination aroused.

In a strongly-worded statement, Bishop North lambasted the highly individualised attacks directed at him and questioned whether his critics had behaved in a Christian manner.

There is clearly much to be done on what it means to disagree well and to live with theological difference in the Church of England, he said.

The highly individualised nature of the attacks upon me have been extremely hard to bear.

If, as Christians, we cannot relate to each other within the bounds of love, how can we possibly presume to transform a nation in the name of Christ?

I hope though that this conversation can continue in the future without it being hung upon the shoulders of one individual.

Bishop North has previously broken from the Anglican ranks by saying the Church should have sympathy with communities worried about immigration instead of dismissing such fears as xenophobic.

In an article last December for the Church Times he wrote that it had allowed gay rights to dominate its concerns while seeming embarrassed to stand up for the sanctity of the family.

Bishop North accused the Church of following an agenda set by 'academics, the moneyed elites and certain sections of the secular media'

He said that working class people were frozen out of the economy and suffered shrinking wages, but they are routinely accused of xenophobia, or worse, when they express concerns about changes imposed upon their communities by those who live far away.

Bishop North accused the Church of following an agenda set by academies, the moneyed elites, and certain sections of the secular media and being out of touch with the concerns of working people who voted in favour of Brexit.

Slamming how its middle class clergy squirm nervously during Remembrance Sunday, he wrote that patriotic members of society were fed up with having pride in their nation, its flag and its armed forces misrepresented as intolerance or racism.

In 2012, Bishop North had stepped aside from his nomination as Bishop of Whitby over his views on women priests, but in January he was promoted to the diocesan role of Bishop of Sheffield.

He would have been the first bishop appointed to a senior role who did not agree with womens ordination since the Church voted to allow women to become bishops in November 2014.

However his membership of the Society  a Church of England group opposed to women priests  sparked fierce criticism of his nomination.

Martyn Percy, the dean of Christ Church, Oxford, urged him to either quit the group or decline his nomination, saying its rather fogeyish sacralised sexism clashed with the thoroughly modern city of Sheffield, which he described as go-ahead, vibrant, progressive.

Meanwhile a new group, Sheffield Action on Ministry Equality, was launched, expressing distress at news of his appointment.

In yesterdays statement, Bishop North said he had been given a period of leave to reflect and pray about the arguments that followed his nomination.

Saying he had decided with regret and sadness that he was unable to take up the post, he commented that his nomination had provoked a strong reaction within the diocese and some areas of the wider Church.

He added: It is clear that the level of feeling is such that my arrival would be counter-productive in terms of the mission of the Church in South Yorkshire and that my leadership would not be acceptable to many.

In response, The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said he sadly understood Bishop Norths reasons but said his treatment clearly does not reflect the settlement under which supporters and opponents of women priests agreed to continue to work together within the Church of England.

Bishop North, who is unmarried, was born in London and became a priest in 1993.

An alternative candidate will now be put forward, Downing Street said.




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It's a location that any LA homeowner would die for; underneath the iconic Hollywood sign.

So when a competition was held to design the 'home of the future' for the site, more than 500 architects from around the world jumped at the chance.

The competition serve as a 'design charette' to generate not only ideas for the site's future construction and development, but for the future of residential design.

All submissions were to demonstrate the use of 'innovative technology, integrative environmental strategies as well as capitalize on the iconic prominence of the unique location beneath the famed Hollywood sign' in the Hollywood Hills, a historic community, host to many landmark residential homes.

Many entries focused on blending modern design into the stunning landscape, while others focused on the structure's ability to be self reliant, using solar panels and movable structures to capture solar energy.

The competition, which offered $3,000 prize money to the winner, was launched by Arch Out Loud and Last House on Mulholland.

'An iconic home must stand out from afar, or seamlessly camouflage into its surroundings,' an Arch Out spokesman said.

'Multiple proposals take on the challenge of physically integrating their home into the site to the point where there is no clear line where landscape stops and architecture begins. Some designers aim to minimize the aesthetics of their design, letting the focus remain on the Hollywood Sign and the projects dedication to sustainability, nevertheless creating a unique architectural icon in the process.

'Explorations into technology and building methods result in homes that double as urban billboards that update with the tap of a phone, constructions sites ruled by robotic arms and drones, and interiors that resemble digital control centers. As the world around us becomes more intelligent and connected, designers give us a glimpse into the home of the future, where adding on a second bedroom might be as simple as online shopping and the view out of a bedroom window could be ever-changing.'

THE WINNERS

First place: The Ambivalent House

The strange spheroid shape, which appears to mimic a natural boulder, is based on a single column and slowly rotates over the course of a year or more.

'The house's many faces continually recombine visually to produce new profiles and elevations, an ever-changing, ambivalent object,' architects Jason Payne, Michael Zimmerman, Joseph Giampeto and Ryosuke Imaeda, of Hirsuta in L.A. explained.

'Stranger things have happened on Mulholland Drive.'

The structure is wrapped in a 'photo voltaic film, flexible and panelized', which means that the entire of the space-age looking structure is one big solar panel, helping to maximize the energy and exposure to the sun.

'Beyond the physical approach, Ambivalent House choses to ingrain itself in the energies of the context,' said the Arch Out team after the design won.

'Utilizing feeling and experience as the key medium of the home, Ambivalent House places the occupants deeper into their surroundings, things that are not easily seen but just as important in experiencing this location. Instead of creating a static, picturesque icon, the home is in constant evolution, an icon with many facades and faces.'

Winner: The Ambivalent House by Jason Payne, Michael Zimmerman, Joseph Giampietro and Ryosuke Imaeda of Hirsuta, LA

Second Place: Hollywood Hill

The grass-topped building blends away into the rest of the landscape until it almost disappears in the project by FGO/Arquitectura's Luis Fernando Garcia of Mexico.

'Mimicking the surrounding orography with a geometrical slab which reduce the visual impact and ecological foot print, containing multiple green roofs, which act as a natural cooling system and water collectors to be re used,' the entry states.

At its center, is an open-roofed courtyard with swimming pool which allows incredible views of the Hollywood sign.

The interior also mimics the surrounding greenery with interior trees, grasses, wood paneling and lots of window.s

Second Place: Hollywood Hill by FGO/Arquitectura's Luis Fernando Garcia of Merida, Mexico

Third place: The Last House

The architects describe The Last House as an 'experimental house for the near future' - although the structure looks more like an alien spaceship or futuristic donut.

One of its key features is that it has 'no walls', offering panoramic views over the hills and up to the sign.

The structure uses emerging 'technology to form a double skin roof' and uses the natural landscape to reduce its exposure to heat and maximize cool airflow.

'The last house seeks a minimal impact upon its environment, yet a noticeable silver of light below the Hollywood sign, participants Yohannes Baynes and Nori Hanoka of YBDD, NHD said.

Third place: The Last House by California participant Yohannes Baynes and Tokyo's Nori Hanoka of YBDD, NHD

Owner's choice: Eclipse

Italian architects Luca Pozzi, Daniele Marchetti, Gabriele Filippi and Franco Santucci, of Studio di Architettura, took inspiration from astronomy for their design.

'This is the circle inside the circle, the moon and the stars,' their entry states.

The structure is a series of circles and semi-circles, connected by glass, with a view 'open to the wide landscape, from the hills to the LA urban sprawl.'

'The project is based on simplification, on reduction, on pure forms, on the enhancement of wellbeing and sustainability,' according to their entry. 'The circle is the representation of these concepts, in analogy with the iconic Hollywood sign and its own shadow projected on the hills.'

Owner's choice: Eclipse by Italian architects Luca Pozzi, Daniele Marchetti, Gabriele Filippi and Franco Santucci, of Studio di Architettura

Honorable mentions

The Four Points of a Home, by Gary Polk and JungJae Suh of the Netherlands, proposed a model residence 'that roots itself into the local scene of LA Hollywood while following the 4 Points of a New Home'

House by Po Yao Shih of L.A. The simply named structure features three rotatable volumes that can slide both up and down to allow maneuverability in shaping various activity areas within the structure  'literally altering its spatial composition to accommodate desired programs'

The Motion House by Yin Mau Ooi of Malaysia. Perceived as a silver screen of the ground, the project picks up on the iconic Hollywood motion picture idea. Able to move up and down, in and out of the ground, the 'hide and seek' features is mechanically controlled by 4 hydraulic lifts. The inner core of the house in glass and steel will rise above ground and fall to sleeping mood according to the house owner's preference on privacy, view, climate, security and safety

Billboard House by Ellen Wong of New York. Integrating floor tile units that converts the weight of cars and kinetic energy generated by visitor's footsteps to the surrounding areas of the property - a common tourist area for people wanting to see the sign close up

LAND house by Kinan Hewitt and Dorothy Johns of Canada. The design reprises the four famously discarded letters which once joined Hollywood to say Hollywoodland and uses them in a partially sunken structure into the hillside

Iconic + Integrated = Innovative by Adam Stafiniak, Zuzanna Rog, Magdalena Grzebyk and Joanna Wnuczek of Poland. The design imagines that home functions will be realized in the public areas and buildings for the individuals could give the space back to the community (as public and green area)

Director's choice

The Breathing House by Italian architects Joao Silva and Paola de Franciso. The project 'creates a dynamic living system that interacts with the site like a 'treasure flower' that blooms in the morning and closes her petals at night', by sliding the facade solar cell windows creating moving terraces

The Last of the First by Rupali Morzaria and Gabriel Valdivieso of Toronto, Canada. It proposes a rotating platform containing specialized functions like the kitchen, study, bedroom, washroom of the unit. 'The dynamic rotation creates the possibility to align with the ideal living conditions'

Hi Steve by Tomasz Wuczynski and Julia Morawska from Poland. The design focuses on the importance of communication as a necessity for modern living. 'A house that talks.' The house is able to greet you. warn you if it's being burgled and more. Multi-functional facade is a sun and privacy screen, a multimedia display, a mean of communication, Twitter account, an AI partner to converse with passers-by, visitors, and the owner

Fulcrum Residence by Igor Neminov and Sherman Oaks of California. The dwelling is designed to be multipurpose with separate spaces that can be rented or adapted for special events

The other entries

The User Friendly Home by Sara Rafiei, Amin Ataie, Ali Helaleh and Pouyan Hassanzadeh of DES moves and adapts its spaces to fit the user according to the homeowner's app

Mirrors House by Abdulaziz Annaim and Sari Alghadban of DAU. As the name suggests, the design uses mirrors to mimic and reflect the iconic sign and landscape around it

Future House by Raouf Ghasemi Barghi and Shirin Sadat Ziaei. The house moves to offer the best view and get the most solar rays

The XHouse by Guido Tarantola and Virginia Creatini. Each window frames the landscape like it's the setting of a scene from a movie

Future in the Past by Amir Vafa, Nooshin Shafiee, Mohammad Mohammad Khani and Mojtaba Hosseini, of the University of Tehran. Combines modern materials with historic shapes to integrate both as a 'beacon of nostalgia'
He recently began growing ill so Smith made the decision to have him

Smith adopted Bodza in 2014 after he retired, and the two were best friends

They were paired up for four deployments and multiple security details

A heartbreaking photo shows the moment an Air Force sergeant had to say goodbye to his K9 partner.

Air Force sergeant Kyle Smith, from Gastonia, North Carolina, said that having to put Bodza down was one of the hardest things that he has ever done.

He was euthanized on Thursday, and a military canine trainer draped a flag over his body. A photo shows Smith giving Bodza one final hug as he was laid to rest.

A heartbreaking photo shows the moment Air Force sergeant Kyle Smith had to say goodbye to his K9 partner Bodza

The powerful photo perfectly captures the loss of an unspoken bond between a human and his dog.

Smith told WSOC: 'I hugged him and told him I loved him a lot. I'm going to miss you'.

The two were paired up for four deployments and multiple security details for officials, and Smith ended up adopting Bodza in 2014 when he retired.

The powerful photo, left, perfectly captures the loss of an unspoken bond between a human and his dog. Right shows them together before Bodza retired

'He was just goofy. He liked running around and just being a dog,' he said of his K-9 pal.

In the last few months, Bodza, growing quite old, became ill and was in a lot of pain so Smith made the decision to have him put down.

'I wouldn't be able to do a mission I did with him or his previous handlers without him there,' he told WSOC, who also said that he thinks the reason the picture is resonating with so many people is because they can relate.

Smith also said that he gave his puppy-pal a final meal of a McDonald's Big Mac before having him put down.
Limehouse (Donmar Warehouse)

Rating:

Roy Jenkins, most bibulous and orotund of political poohbahs, was perfect for being sent up on stage.

So it proves in the Donmar Warehouses new one-act play, Limehouse, which takes us back to the morning in January 1981 when Jenkins, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers gathered at David Owens house in East London.

The previous day, Michael Foots Labour had given the unions even more power over the parliamentary party. That was the breaking point for the Social Democratic Partys Gang of Four. It was time for the Left to splinter.

Momentum: Roger Allam's turn as Roy Jenkins is a performance to savour

Soon, the Press would be summoned and the SDP launched with a riverside photoshoot Rodgers jumper making him look like a sociology lecturer.

Steve Waters deliciously well-written, quick-paced play is timely, parallels between the Foot and Jeremy Corbyn Labour parties being obvious. Are we now, in 2017, about to see another SDP moment?

Mr Waters, and perhaps the Donmars artistic director Josie Rourke, who was close to Ed Miliband, seem to itch for that to happen. It starts with Owen pacing his kitchen before dawn, an overhead digital clock telling us the hour. The set offers an early Eighties, London yuppie kitchen, with pine fittings, spice rack and so forth.

The costumes are pretty authentic: Shirley all frumpish tops, Rodgers a mess, Jenkins suited, even at the weekend. Did he even own jeans?

Owens American wife Debbie (Nathalie Armin) urges her husband to nurture the human side of politics  she bakes a delicious-smelling Delia Smith macaroni cheese.

Steve Waters deliciously well-written, quick-paced play is timely, parallels between the Foot and Jeremy Corbyn Labour parties being obvious

In contrast to Debbies emotional intelligence, Tom Goodman-Hills Owen is blindly aggressive. Overdone, I feel.

The real Owen, though infuriatingly self-assured, is more drawling, more mellow in voice and gesture.

Rodgers complains that Owen, a Plymouth MP, thinks he is Devons JFK. Mr Goodman-Hill should reduce the energy levels a little.

Its a long time before we meet Roger Allams Jenkins, who has got lost: Eurocrat grandee Woy was not accustomed to driving himself, certainly not around East London. The delayed arrival gives the play a burgeoning momentum (dread word).

Mr Allam, in bald cap and spectacles, is almost unrecognisable as himself. He is not quite as rotund as Jenkins and the voice could be richer, more gooey, like a Camembert.

However, this is a performance to savour and the script catches Roys self-mockingly bathetic gifts. He recalls Brussels for its constant cwepuscular gweyness  might as well have been Pontypool.

This play makes for a richly enjoyable evening, which reminds us nothing can match British party politics for farcical drama.

I am not enough of an SDP historian to be sure how fair playwright Waters has been: did the quartet really feel squiffy on Chateau Lafite, and was Williams conversion to the cause really so last minute?

The clash of politicians vanities feels spot on, though. So hidebound, too: as they sit around the table, munching pasta, one of them still has to be the designated chairman of the discussion.

Debra Gillett catches old Shirleys breathy scattiness (with an inner steel). Meanwhile, Paul Chahidi makes the often overlooked Rodgers unexpectedly important to the mix, and sensitive.

Each of the four has a soliloquy that skilfully lays down the political case. These may be a little romanticised  Rodgers devotion to the Labour movement is moving  but the play is honest enough to admit the SDP lacked roots.

It had not seeped up from the people, but was the invention of four frustrated politicians and a thin-spread electorate of harrumphing doctors and dentists and dons.

The one bum note is the final scene when Miss Armin steps out of character and lectures us that history is repeating itself.

We spotted that! Otherwise, this is a richly enjoyable evening, which reminds us nothing can match British party politics for farcical drama.
An 11-month-old baby boy was found floating face down with blue lips in the bath after his young mother left him there while she went outside to clean her car.

On Thursday the pregnant mother, 20, pleaded guilty in Townsville District Court to endangering a child by exposure, the Townsville Bulletin reported.

The Queensland mother of three put her eldest child and the 11-month-old baby boy in the bath on October 13, 2015, the court heard. She put the plug in and turned the water on before leaving to clean her car.

An 11-month old baby boy was found floating face down with blue lips in the bath after his young mother left him there while she went outside to clean her car

The woman's father was at home, but she did not ask him to watch the children in the bath, Crown prosecutor Jodie Crane told the court.

'The bath was overflowing, the lower bath tap was on hard, the (younger) child was face down in the water and the older child was standing frightened in the corner of the bathroom,' she said.

The baby was found unconscious with blue lips by his grandfather who went to investigate after seeing water overflowing from the bathroom.

An ambulance was called and when paramedics arrived they discovered water in his airways.

The baby suffered seizures while in hospital but was discharged after three days.

A follow up examination did not show any permanent damage, Ms Crane told the court.

On Thursday the pregnant mother, 20, pleaded guilty in Townsville District Court to endangering a child by exposure

Defence barrister Edward Bassett said the woman had been in contact with the Department of Child Safety and completed a Centacare parenting course.

Judge Michael Shanahan said the mother was young and made an early guilty plea.

No conviction was recorded and she was placed on 12 months probation.
Federal investigators continue to examine what has been described as 'odd' activity between computer servers belonging to the Trump Organization and a Russia-based bank, according to CNN.

The FBI is still looking into a possible connection even though in late October there was no evidence of a clear link between then-candidate Donald Trump and the Russian government.

The investigation into possible Trump-Russia ties came about after it was determined that Moscow had orchestrated a campaign of hacks against the Democratic Party during the 2016 presidential election.

Russia has denied allegations of hacking. It also says that reports it colluded with Trump to help him defeat Hillary Clinton and take the White House are false.

Federal investigators continue to examine what has been described as 'odd' activity between computer servers belonging to the Trump Organization and a Russia-based bank. Trump Tower in Manhattan is seen in the above stock image

Internet data indicated that a computer server operated by Alfa Bank had repeatedly looked up contact information for a computer serving that was used by the Trump Organization. A branch of Alfa Bank is seen above in Saint Petersburg, Russia

But even though the server connection was initially dismissed, the FBI's counterintelligence team  the same one that is investigating Russia's alleged hacking  is still looking into it, according to CNN.

While investigators say that the connection is 'odd,' they still have not yet determined how significant it is  if at all.

The servers first attracted attention last summer, when internet data indicated that a computer server operated by Alfa Bank had repeatedly looked up contact information for a computer serving that was used by the Trump Organization.

While Trump Organization is accustomed to communicating with companies from abroad, the amount of activity between the servers is what got the attention of the feds, according to CNN.

FBI Director James Comey (left) on Thursday met with senior congressional leaders, including the intelligence committee chiefs, FBI and congressional officials said. President Donald Trump (right) alleged that the Obama administration wiretapped his phones

Alfa Bank's communications with Trump Organization comprised 80 percent of all lookups to the server, it was reported.

No evidence has yet to emerge which would suggest that there is anything sinister in trying to communicate with a server

The existence of the server connection was first reported this past fall by both Slate and The New York Times.

CNN reported on Thursday that currently there is no warrant that would legally permit the surveillance of the servers at Trump Organization.

The story of alleged Trump-Russia ties refuses to die even though no 'smoking gun' has been found that would shed light on any illicit activity or collusion.

On Tuesday, it was reported that Trump 'warmly greeted' Russia's ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, at a VIP reception before a foreign policy address during his presidential campaign in April 2016.

The report contradicted statements by Trump denying that he had ever had contact with a Russian official 'in years.'

Attorney General Jeff Sessions came under fire last week after it was learned that he met the Russian ambassador twice  despite telling a Senate committee during his confirmation hearings that he did not.

Michael Flynn was forced to resign his position as national security adviser less than a month after taking office after it was learned that he, too, misled the administration about the nature of contacts with the Russian ambassador.

Law enforcement sources have said that the FBI is pursuing a wide-ranging counter-intelligence investigation of alleged contacts between Trump associates and Russians, as well as two separate investigations into pre-election email hacking linked to Russia which mainly targeted Democratic political operatives.

FBI Director James Comey on Thursday met with senior congressional leaders, including the intelligence committee chiefs, FBI and congressional officials said.

The officials declined to discuss the subject of Comey's meeting with the group of leaders known as the 'Gang of Eight'.

Trump has alleged that the Obama administration wiretapped his election campaign.

The Gang of Eight, who have routine access to highly classified materials, include House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and its top Democrat, Adam Schiff.

Senate members include Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the top Republican and Democrat on the intelligence committee, Senators Richard Burr and Mark Warner.

The House intelligence committee on Wednesday asked the Justice Department in a letter for copies of documents which if they exist could shed light on Trump's allegation.

A law enforcement source said the Federal Bureau of Investigation was in discussions with the National Security Division of the Justice Department as to how to respond to public and congressional inquiries about the existence or non-existence of such eavesdropping.

If Trump's campaign or advisers were indeed being wiretapped, the most likely legal path for the Obama administration to do so would be to have the Justice Department ask the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for permission to eavesdrop.

Trump accused predecessor Barack Obama on Saturday of wiretapping him during the late stages of the campaign, but offered no evidence for an allegation which an Obama spokesman said was 'simply false'.

The intelligence committee's letter, addressed to Dana Boente, the acting deputy attorney general, also asks for copies of any such orders actually issued by the court and any electronic surveillance warrants related to Trump or his associates issued last year by a federal judge or magistrate under a wide-ranging anti-crime law.
Police are searching for a 'violent criminal' wanted on a number of outstanding warrants in relation to a string of assault offences and a breach of parole.

Husseim Dennaoui, 25, is wanted by officers from the St George Local Area Command in Sydney as police are appealing for public assistance to help locate the man.

Mr Dennaoui has distinctive features facial features including a visible teardrop tattoo under his right and eye and a large name tattoo across his left neck.

Police are seeking public assistance to find Hassan Dennaoui, 25, who is wanted on a number of outstanding warrants in relation to assault charges and a breach of parole

Authorities believe the felon frequents the Sydney CBD and Kogarah areas in the city's inner south

He is described as being of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance, with a 180-185cm tall with a medium build with black hair, brown eyes and a beard.

Police have cautioned anyone that sees Mr Dennaoui or knows his whereabouts to not approach the man but contact 000 immediately.
A friend of controversial cartoonist Bill Leak has broken down on live television when news broke he died of a heart attack.

High-profile friends are remembering the 61-year-old conservative - a resident artist at The Australia, News Corp's national broadsheet - as a defender of free speech.

But controversy has followed him even in death, with some on social media continuing to criticise him for 'racist' and 'homophobic' cartoons.

Controversial cartoonist Bill Leak has died of a heart attack aged 61

'RIP Bill Leak  a true warrior for free speech,' Queensland MP George Christensen wrote on Facebook

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott wrote a tribute on Facebook

'One of the few brave enough to point out when the emperor had no clothes,' Pauline Hanson wrote on Twitter

Leak's friend Simon Breheny, Director of Policy at the Institute of Public Affairs, learned of his death while on Sky News.

Breheny was lined up on the program for a segment regarding free speech and section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

Breheny appeared visibly upset by the death and said it was 'shocking, shocking news'.

'I think Bill Leak was one of the most fearless and insightful cartoonists this country has seen for a very long time,' Breheny said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he couldn't believe Leak was dead in a Facebook post on Friday afternoon.

Simon Breheny, Director of Policy at the Institute of Public Affairs, learned of his friend's death on television

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he couldn't believe Leak was dead in a Facebook post on Friday afternoon

ABC 7.30 host Leigh Sales said she would miss him

'Who had more life, more energy than him? So many more cartoons to draw, paintings to paint, politicians to satirise - so many more lives to enhance with his wit, his brilliance, his good friendship,' Mr Turnbull wrote.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Leak was a 'superb artist, fine mind, brave soul'.

'No one better illustrated the great truth that a picture is worth a thousand words. We are all aesthetically, culturally and even spiritually impoverished to lose this wonderful man,' Abbott wrote.

Pauline Hanson said he was a champion of free speech.

'#RestInPeace Bill Leak. Thanks for all the laughs while I've been in politics. Your Australian larrikinism will be missed,' Lambie wrote

ABC News Breakfast host Virginia Trioli also paid her respects to the cartoonist

Most recently, Leak shot to headlines for a controversial cartoon of an Indigenous father holding a can of beer

'One of the few brave enough to point out when the emperor had no clothes,' she wrote on Twitter.

Queensland MP George Christensen, who recently splintered from the National Party, wrote on Facebook: 'RIP Bill Leak - a true for free speech.'

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie thanked Leak for the laughs.

'#RestInPeace Bill Leak. Thanks for all the laughs while I've been in politics. Your Australian larrikinism will be missed,' Lambie wrote.

ABC 7.30 host Leigh Sales said she would miss him.

'An absolute giant of Australian media but more importantly, a loyal, loyal friend.'

Prominent Indigenous man Nyunggai Warren Mundine shared pictures of himself with Leak on Twitter, and said he was 'devastated' to hear his friend and 'favourite cartoonist' had died

Caroline Overington said he 'had the courage of a lion'

ABC News Breakfast host Virginia Trioli also paid her respects to the cartoonist.

'Had some uproariously funny times with Bill Leak over the years, and he had a pen as sharp as a dagger. Vale #BillLeak,' Trioli wrote.

Television presenter Dan Ilic said he was sorry to hear of Leak's death.

'Had dinner with Bill Leak once, found him to be an intensely interesting and complex man. I'm sorry to hear of his passing,' Ilic wrote.

Caroline Overington said he 'had the courage of a lion'.

'No. No. No. How do we ever explain how much we loved him?'

Joe Aston said he was a 'giant of his craft'

Television presenter Dan Ilic said he was sorry to hear of Leak's death

Bill Leak's final cartoon was published in The Australian on Friday

Fairfax and Guardian writer Amy Gray said his 'vitriol' would live on

Joe Aston said he was a 'giant of his craft'.

'Didn't always like/agree with what he said but zero doubt that Bill Leak was a giant of his craft. Vale.'

Prominent Indigenous man Nyunggai Warren Mundine shared pictures of himself with Leak on Twitter, and said he was 'devastated' to hear his friend and 'favourite cartoonist' had died.

Controversy surrounding Leak lived on even after his death, with some on Twitter refusing to pay respects.

Fairfax and Guardian writer Amy Gray said his 'vitriol' world live on through 'hateful conservative media'.

Leak had campaigned to repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which makes it illegal to insult, offend, or humiliate someone on the basis of their race.

Australian cartoonist Bill Leak has died of a suspected heart attack at age 61

In recent times, he had been widely criticised for cartoons which many called racist to Indigenous Australians and homophobic

He worked at The Australian for two decades, winning nine prestigious Walkley awards and 19 Stanley awards for his work.

In recent times, he had been widely criticised for cartoons which many called racist to Indigenous Australians and homophobic.

Leak shot to headlines for a controversial cartoon of an Indigenous father holding a can of beer and asking a police officer what his son's name was.

A race hate claim made against him to the Australian Human Rights Commission in response to the cartoon.

But the young woman withdrew in November, saying she did 'not want to continue with the complaint'.

The initial complaint was made under 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
Police have arrested a 'creepy man' who tried to lure a six-year-old girl into a supermarket restroom following a public appeal.

Riverside Police in California released CCTV footage of the incident on Wednesday and within 24 hours they had made an arrest.

The man, named as Theodore Childers was detained by detectives who were investigating the February 15 incident.

Riverside Police Department arrested Theodore Childers, left, after they released CCTV footage, right, of an incident on February 15 where he was accused of trying to lure a six-year-old girl into the men's restroom of a supermarket. Childers is due up in court on Monday

Riverside Police said Childers tried to offer the girl 'a treat' to convince her to come with him

According to police: ' A male suspect attempted to lure the juvenile towards him by telling her he would give her a treat. He also motioned for her to come towards him while he was standing near the entrance to the mens restroom. The incident was caught on the store's surveillance system.'

The incident happened at the Food4Less supermarket in Riverside, California.

The security footage then shows the man motioning to her to come towards him.

Video shows her stop talking to the man after he beckons her, and pushes the women's bathroom door open to enter.

She was shopping with her grandma at the time of the encounter, and was entirely unharmed.

Though the incident happened last month, police released footage recently because they had exhausted all prior leads.

Childers is currently being held in the Robert Presley Detention Center on a misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting children.

Bail has been set at $5,000.

Childers is due to appear at the Riverside Hall of Justice on Monday at 8am.
Barack Obama is no longer president, but the birther movement alleging that he was born abroad still lives  thanks to his half-brother.

Malik Obama tweeted a copy of what he claims is a valid birth certificate proving that his half-brother was born in Mombasa, Kenya.

The 'birth certificate' bears the letterhead of the 'Coast Province General Hospital' in Mombasa.

In 2009, a man by the name of Lucas Smith offered the document for sale on eBay.

The website eventually removed the page because it has a policy of barring its users from selling purported government documents.

Malik Obama (left) tweeted a copy of what he claims is a valid birth certificate proving that his half-brother, Barack Obama (right), was born in Mombasa, Kenya

The 'birth certificate' bears the letterhead of the 'Coast Province General Hospital' in Mombasa. In 2009, a man by the name of Lucas Smith offered to sell the same forgery on eBay

Smith reportedly offered to sell the 'birth certificate' on eBay for $1million. The alleged eBay page from 2009 is seen above

Birther: Smith (seen above) runs a blog that right-wing theories that the former president was not born in America

The sex of the baby is male, and the date of birth is listed as August 4, 1961, which is the former president's genuine birthday.

The 'document' also lists the names of Obama's parents, Barack Hussein Obama and Stanley Ann Obama (nee Dunham).

The issue of Obama's birth as well as his religion have been frequently discussed matters within right-wing circles and conspiracy theorists.

The unfounded rumors of Obama's country of origin were largely meant to call into question the legitimacy of his presidency.

Malik Obama has become an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump. His Twitter avatar (above) shows him wearing the trademark 'Make America Great Again' hat, which became Trump's campaign slogan

The issue of Obama's birth as well as his religion have been frequently discussed matters within right-wing circles and conspiracy theorists. In an effort to put the matter to rest, the Obama White House released a copy of his long-form birth certificate (above) in 2011

The US Constitution does not permit citizens who were born abroad to attain the presidency.

During Obama's years in the White House, President Donald Trump frequently promoted the conspiracy theory alleging that Obama lied about being born in Hawaii.

In an effort to put the matter to rest, the Obama White House released a copy of his long-form birth certificate in 2011.

Malik Obama's Twitter feed is filled with posts attesting to his embrace of rightist views and his support for President Donald Trump

He has also accused his half-brother of not doing enough to help his family

During Trump's presidential campaign, the candidate publicly acknowledged that Obama was born in the United States  and then blamed his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, for initially disseminating the birther claim.

Malik Obama is a resident of Kenya and a naturalized US citizen. It is estimated that he has between three and 12 wives thanks to Kenya's legalization of polygamy, according to The Washington Post and CNN.

Last July, Malik Obama told the New York Post that he would be supporting Trump.

In an interview from his home in Kenya, Malik Obama said he was voting for the Republican candidate because 'he speaks from the heart.'

Malik Obama (left) is seen with his half-brother Barack Obama (right) on Barack's wedding day in Chicago on October 3, 1992

The Obama brothers have had a strained relationship over the years. In the above September 14, 2004, file photo, Malik Obama holds a picture of him and Barack Obama in his shop in Siaya, Kenya

A young Barack Obama is seen with his father, Barack Hussein Obama

'Make America Great Again is a great slogan,' he said. 'I would like to meet (Trump).'

During Obama's years in the White House, President Donald Trump (above) frequently promoted the conspiracy theory alleging that Obama lied about being born in Hawaii. During the presidential campaign in 2016, Trump acknowledged that Obama was born in the US

The former Democrat voter said he was voting for a Republican after feeling 'deep disappointment' at his half-brother's presidency.

Trump was apparently so impressed with Malik Obama's expression of support that he invited him as his guest to the presidential debate against Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas on October 19.

The Obama brothers have had a strained relationship over the years.

They first met around 30 years ago and were best men at each other's weddings. Malik claims that he's been invited to the White House on numerous occasions and that he stays in contact with the president.

'Of course we're close!' he told GQ in 2013. 'I'm the one who brought him here to Kogelo in 1988! I thought it was important for him to come home and see from whence his family came  you know, his roots.'

Malik told MailOnline that year that his more famous half-brother is 'always at the end of a phone line if I want to talk.'

Trump gladly accepted Malik Obama's endorsement and used it to chide Barack Obama for 'treating him badly - like everybody else'

Malik Obama (right) is seen with top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway in Las Vegas. Malik Obama accepted an invitation from Trump to attend the October 19 debate against Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas

Meanwhile, Malik has previously chided Barack for not doing enough to help his Kenyan relatives.

'I'm very proud of my brother, but I would like for him to do a little bit more for the family on this side. I would like to say he could send some money. I give money when asked. That's what family is for. We're not well off, though people think we are.'

He also said that the president did little to help his own foray into politics when he unsuccessfully ran for governor of the southwestern Kenyan county of Siaya in 2013.

'I don't think politics is my thing,' he told The Post. 'Honestly, I'll be happy when my brother is out of office, and I will finally be out of the limelight and be able to live like a human being.'

It has been speculated that Malik Obama is also angry with his brother for his actions in Libya.

The Obama administration supported the removal of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, whom Malik Obama has described as a friend of his.

Malik Obama was initially vilified by pro-Trump elements in the media because of his alleged past support for terrorist groups like Hamas, according to Media Matters.

But when Malik Obama began to speak publicly about his rift with Barack, attitudes toward him on the right changed.

Not only did Malik Obama embrace the birther movement, but he also told Joel Gilbert that Obama's real father was a prominent communist named Frank Marshall Davis - another unfounded conspiracy theory that has been floating around on the internet.

Meanwhile, Malik Obama has been described as an opportunist who has asked journalists for thousands of dollars in exchange for the privilege of interviewing him, according to Vox.
A grandfather contracted a flesh-eating algal bacteria while cleaning his boat and needed three skin grafts to save his leg from the agonising condition.

Bill Andrews, 72, was cleaning his boat in the river at Murray Bridge in South Australia with his grandson after a fishing trip when the flesh-eating bug seeped into a small cut on his leg.

Three days later Mr Andrews woke up in 'excruciating' pain on his lower left leg and before collapsing to the floor.

He was then taken to Murray Bridge Hospital where doctors noticed his ankle had ballooned to twice its size and his skin was burning hot.

Bill Andrews, 72, was knee-deep in the Murray River when the flesh-eating bacteria got into an open sore

After several days doctors saw his leg was not getting any better and he was rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital where doctors identified the bug as shewanella - a form of marine bacteria.

Mr Andrews needed three skin grafts taken from the same leg - and he said doctors feared they would need to amputate as the bug was eating his flesh from 'the outside in'.

'The pain was excruciating, it was like a saw was cutting off my leg and my foot had swelled so much doctors couldn't even wrap their hands around it,' Mr Andrews told Daily Mail Australia.

'The doctors said the bacteria had gotten into my leg from a tiny scratch that I didn't even realise I had, I was only knee-deep in the water.'

Graphic images shared by Mr Andrews shows the extent of the flesh-eating bacteria's effect on his leg, but the retired grandfather said after antibiotics it 'didn't really hurt as much'.

The grandfather said he is doing well after the operation which saved his leg from amputation - but he said he needed to learn to walk again

Mr Andrews said: 'The worst part was waiting for the surgery when the doctors would fast me all day and then tell me that night they had to wait another say.'

This went on for five days until local news media reported on the flesh-eating bacteria attacking Mr Andrews' leg and they bumped him onto a priority list.

'My daughter is the CEO of Occupational Health and Safety here at the Lion's Brewery here in South Australia so she was making some calls to administration about how I needed the operation now,' Mr Andrews said.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia about his recovery, Mr Andrews says he is healing well but effectively had to 'learn to walk again' and only just started putting his foot flat on the ground.

The flesh-eating algal bacteria - known as shewanella - attacked his leg from the outside in

Peter Jolly form Sunnyside, SA also contracted a similar fleshing-eating bug - called necrotising fasciitis - however he does not know where he contracted it from.

Mr Jolly told Daily Mail Australia he bumped his leg at work before it became infected and the bug 'ate most of it'.

'I'm pretty lucky to still have my leg, it's a quick reacting bug so I had to get a poly-foam skin graft and I'm getting more soon,' he said.

'Doctors aren't sure if I got the virus from the Murray River or not.'

Mr Andrews lives close to the Murray River where he was cleaning his boat with his grandson - and says he is worried about the thousands that will be in the river on the long weekend

As Mr Andrews heals at his Murray Bridge home, he said he is worried about the thousands of people who will be exposed to the river this long weekend for the Adelaide Cup.

He said: 'We want to know how the South Australian government will stop people from getting infected in the river this weekend, especially kids.'

South Australia Health Minister Jack Snelling told the public that there is 'no reason' for people to fear risking infection by swimming in the Murray River, but warned anyone with cuts or abrasions should cover up before entering the water.

'If there's no infection in the water, then why tell people to cover up their cuts?' asked Mr Andrews.
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Not sure what to do with your family Saturday March 18th? I can help with that. A morning at the movies!!! Here is your chance to score tickets for the advance screening of The Boss Baby! All you have to do is click on the link we have for you and download your tickets. Read on to get all the details on this great opportunity.

About The Boss Baby

DreamWorks Animation and the director of Madagascar invite you to meet a most unusual baby. He wears a suit, speaks with the voice and wit of Alec Baldwin, and stars in the animated comedy, DreamWorks The Boss Baby. The Boss Baby is a hilariously universal story about how a new babys arrival impacts a family, told from the point of view of a delightfully unreliable narrator, a wildly imaginative 7 year old named Tim. With a sly, heart-filled message about the importance of family, DreamWorks The Boss Baby is an authentic and broadly appealing original comedy for all ages.

The Boss Baby Advance Screening Tickets

This movie promises tons of fun. I have a feeling we will be able to see some examples of sibling rivalry that might keep the kids hugging each other a bit more this weekend :-). I also think it we will see an overload of cuteness and for sure tons of family fun. Ready? I know you are. Here is all you need for the advance screening of Boss Baby in Miami.

Here are the details for the advance screening: Date: Saturday, 3/18 Where: AMC Sunset Place Time: 10:30AM

In any case, I dont really know, I will see the movie at the same time as you will. So, download your tickets here:

GET YOUR ADVANCE SCREENING TICKETS HERE

and if you prefer going to Aventura for the screening get your tickets here at Mamas Mission.

Please remember that the seats at the advance screening are on a first come serve basis. I suggest you get there as early as you can.

See you Saturday for a fun family movie outing!
Police in suburban Seattle and the FBI are asking for the public's help to find a gunman who shot a Sikh man and told him to go back to his country.

The Kent, Washington police department on Thursday released a sketch of the man who last week shot Deep Rai, a 39-year-old U.S. national of Indian origin, and are offering a $6,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest.

Rai, who was struck in the arm and is recovering, told police that he got into an argument with the masked assailant.

The suspect then shouted 'go back to your own country' and fired at Rai in his own driveway last Friday.

Police, assisted by the FBI, are investigating the shooting as a hate crime.

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Police in Kent, Washington on Thursday released this sketch of a suspect in the shooting of a Sikh man, who says the assailant shot him and told him to go back to his own country

Kent Police Chief Ken Thomas gave a media conference on Saturday saying a member of the Sikh community had been shot. Cops are seeking information from the public in the case

Investigators haven't identified a suspect but describe him as a 6-foot-tall white man with a medium build, dark hoodie, dark clothing and a mask covering the lower part of his face.

The newly released suspect sketch shows the man with thick, dark eyebrows and brown eyes.

Kent Police Commander Jarod Kasner says local police haven't had reports of any similar incidents.

But Hira Singh, a Sikh community leader in the city of Kent, said Sunday that there have been increasing complaints recently from Sikhs who say they have been the target of foul language or other comments.

He says about 50,000 Sikhs live in Washington state, and Friday night's shooting has shaken the community.

Jaswinder Singh, of the Gurudwara Sikh Center of Seattle, told the Seattle Times: 'It's kind of scary to hear about things like this, but we definitely have been getting tremendous support from the community.'

Men and women, including a man wearing a 'USA' sweatshirt, attend Sunday services at the Gurudwara Singh Sabha of Washington, a Sikh temple in Renton, Washington. The shooting has rattled members of the Sikh community, which numbers about 50,000 in the state

Rai told police a man he didn't know came up to him Friday night as he worked on his car in his driveway. They argued, with the suspect telling Rai to go back to his homeland, then shooting him in the arm, authorities said. The scene of the shooting is pictured above

Kent police have not identified the victim or released other information about him. But India's foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, named him on Twitter, saying, 'I am sorry to know about the attack on Deep Rai, a U.S. national of Indian origin.'

The US ambassador to India, MaryKay Loss Carlson, and India's external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj, expressed her sorrow over the incident.

Carlson tweeted: 'Saddened by shooting in WA. Wishes for quick and full recovery. As @POTUS said we condemn "hate and evil in all its forms."'

In a tweet Swaraj said: 'I am sorry to know about attack on Deep Rai a US national of Indian origin. I have spoken to Sardar Harpal Singh father of the victim.'

FBI officers are assisting the Kent Police Department in their investigation.

An FBI statement read that the Seattle bureau is 'committed to investigating crimes that are potentially hate-motivated.'

Rai has since been released from hospital and is recovering, a Sikh leader from the area told the Seattle Times.

'He is just very shaken up, both him and his family,' Jasmit Singh said.

'We're all kind of at a loss in terms of what's going on right now, this is just bringing it home. The climate of hate that has been created doesn't distinguish between anyone.'

Police have asked anyone with information to call the anonymous tip line at 253-856-5808.
A couple who won $1.1 million on Keno lottery have been jailed for drug trafficking, five years after coming into money.

The co-accused, Aaron Robert Britten and his de facto partner Lola Bradley, were sentenced in the Rockhampton Supreme Court in Queensland on Thursday.

In a raid of their home in June last year, police found a bag of almost $2,500 cash, 2.38 grams of methamphetamine, and 15 grams of cannabis, Courier Mail reports.

The co-accused, Aaron Robert Britten and his de facto partner Lola Bradley, were sentenced in the Rockhampton Supreme Court in Queensland on Thursday

Lola Bradley pleaded guilty to four drug related charges

Bitten pleaded guilty to 10 drug related charges, and Bradley pleaded guilty to four.

They had both been dealing mainly to family and friends.

Bradley's solicitor told the court she had turned to harder drugs after the deaths of both her parents in recent years.

Justice Duncan McMeekin acknowledged she was not making much money and was dealing mainly to pay for her meth habit.

The couple had put just $10 bet down when they returned a $1.1 million win at the Raffles Hotel in November 2012

Britten was sentenced to four years behind bars, while his partner was sentenced to three years.

Both will be eligible for parole in early November this year.

The couple had put just $10 bet down when they returned a $1.1 million win at the Raffles Hotel in November 2012.
A legally-blind witch convicted of enslaving and raping two teenage girls will be free to roam the community after a Victorian court ruling.

Robin Angus Fletcher used hypnotism and mind-altering techniques to prostitute two 15-year-old girls. He was jailed in 1998.

Fletcher was released in 2006 but lived under strict supervision orders.

Robin Angus Fletcher used hypnotism and mind-altering techniques to prostitute two 15-year-old girls (pictured outside court in February)

When the supervision orders were about to expire in 2016, Victorian authorities applied to renew them, but the 60-year-old successfully appealed against the application.

The Department of Justice went to the Court of Appeal after the Supreme Court freed Fletcher from supervision in February, but their appeal was dismissed on Friday.

Justice Phillip Priest on February 8 ruled that despite Fletcher's 'repellent' offences, he did not pose, according to the law, an unacceptable risk to the community.

The Department of Justice went to the Court of Appeal after the Supreme Court freed Fletcher from supervision in February, but their appeal was dismissed on Friday (he is pictured outside court in February)

The Department of Justice appealed, arguing Justice Priest was 'plainly wrong' in concluding there was no unacceptable risk.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

It found it was 'well open to the judge, on the evidence before him, to reach his conclusion'.

He has previously been allowed to leave his secure accommodation to give speeches at a Church of Antioch in Melbourne, the Herald Sun reported.
Just days after it was revealed that members of the Facebook group 'Marine's United' were sharing nude photos of females, it is coming to light that the same is occurring among other branches of the military.

Now the Defense Department is looking into different websites and online outlets through which members of the armed forces have shared nude photographs of women, many taken without their knowledge or permission.

The investigation started out with just the Marines, but has spread to all branches of the military.

The U.S. Department of Defense is looking into different websites and online outlets through which members of the armed forces have shared nude photographs of women, many taken without their knowledge or permission

A website, titled Anon-IB gained notoriety for publishing nude photographs of celebrities, such as Jennifer Lawrence.

Now it has been revealed that it contains a message board for military personnel to exchange comments and crude photos of female service members, or partners of service members. Some of the female members are even identified by name or duty station, reported CBS News.

Some of the photos posted are extremely pornographic, however others are just snaps of service women following requests for 'wins' which is a slang term for nude photos.

A website, titled Anon-IB contains a message board for military personnel to exchange comments and crude photos of female service members, or partners of service members

The message board came to light days after the story of women whose nude photos were posted in the Facebook group 'Marines United' gained national attention.

The group had hundreds, possibly thousands of explicit photos of unsuspecting servicewomen, some who were on active duty.

After the existence of the group was made public, members have been redirected to new pages, including one titled Marines United 2, or MU2. Some are also posting on groups with similar names, requesting nude photos.

According to CNN, members have even taken to taunting federal and military investigators, with one writing: 'It would be hilarious if one of these FBI or (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) f***s found their wife on here,' on the original Marines United page.

Members of the group also shared a link to a cloud storage site containing more than 2,500 images of women in stages of undress or engaging in sexual acts.

There were 30,000 followers of the secret Facebook group and many members made sexually aggressive comments about the victims. Some suggested in the 2,500 photo comments that the servicemen perform sexual acts with the women and film it for the other members.

Earlier this week, two of the victims whose pictures were leaked on the group spoke out how the experience had affected them.

Senior Master Sergeant Ronald Green told Congress that Marines United is just the 'tip of the spear,' and a former Marine turned journalist James LaPorta said Marines United is spreading to other group chats.

Officials said that they have received reports of at least six other websites or groups.

Captain Ryan Alvis, public affairs officer for the Marines, told CBS News: 'Whoever runs it kept moving it, making it hard to even find what the scope of it was.'

'People will immediately start blaming victims, and we are most concerned about them. They may have taken pics meant to be private and then those images could have been shared by a former close friend. So many questions that we just don't have answers to at this point.'

'The Marine Corps is deeply concerned about allegations regarding the derogatory online comments and sharing of salacious photographs in a closed website. This behavior destroys morale, erodes trust, and degrades the individual. The Marine Corps does not condone this sort of behavior, which undermines our core values. As General Neller said in his recent Message to the Force, the Marine Corps' success in battle depends on trust, mutual respect, and teamwork.'The Marine Corps takes every allegation of misconduct seriously.'

He went on to say the people involved will be held accountable for their actions.

The Marines also released a 10 page document addressing how the misogynistic nature of the group is unacceptable.

The War Horse journalist and former Marine Thomas Brennan received threats after exposing the group.

Members are allegedly posting his addresses and phone numbers of his friends and colleagues in the group.

Brennan told the Marine Corps Times: 'As a Marine veteran, I stand by the code: honor, courage and commitment. This story was published with the intention of standing up for what is right and staying true to the leadership principle of looking out for Marines and their families.'

These kinds of groups aren't new. In 2013, California Representative Jackie Speier wrote in a press release about a similar Marines Facebook group called 'F'N Wook'. She proposed multiple bills aimed to reduce sexual assault and sexual harassment in the Marines.

In an annual report the Pentagon released in May 2016, the U.S. military received about 6,000 reports of sexual assault in 2015, similar to the number in 2014, but such crimes are still under-represented.

Additionally, the behavior is so concerning to Pentagon officials because it can do real harm to the military by discouraging young women from joining the armed forces and convincing those already in uniform to retire, reported CBS.
A woman was raped just hours after losing her virginity.

The woman was in her own bed when she was raped by a man in her Auckland, New Zealand home, the New Zealand Herald reported.

It was November 2015 when the then 25-year-old woman had consensual sex for the first time, with a friend at a house party she and her roommate were hosting.

A New Zealand woman was raped hours after losing her virginity (stock image pictured)

Hours later, she went to bed and woke to find a man having sex with her.

As it was pitch black at the time, the woman thought it was her friend.

But after going to the toilet, and moving a blanket, she was horrified to realise it was another man who had been at the party who was in her bed.

The terrified woman ran from the room and the man fled the house before driving off.

The man was later arrested and he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual violation and indecent assault.

The man was sentenced in the Auckland District Court (pictured)

A woman was raped by a man in her own bed (stock image pictured)

He appeared before the Auckland District Court in November last year, where he was imprisoned for six years for the two counts of sexual violation.

He was also sentenced to two years for indecent assault, which will be served concurrently.
Two protesters were killed during violent clashes with police after a South Korean Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office.

Officers threw gas at hundreds of Park's supporters as they tried to breach a police blockade in front of the constitutional court in Seoul today.

One elderly man was taken to hospital with a head injury and the second death is being investigated.

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Two protesters were killed during a demonstration in Seoul after President Park Geun-hey was removed from office. Police threw gas at the crowds, who were trying to reach the constitutional court in the capital

Shocking pictures show supporters of the former president getting into scuffles with police, who formed a human shield to keep the agitators from the court.

A protester is pepper sprayed in a clash with police. He is holding up a large measure of rope and has a South Korean flat attached to his backpack

While some people stood right in front of the police barricade, one man in a red cap tried to pick a fight with two police officers.

Spectators and fellow demonstrators stood and took pictures of the man as he fought with the police.

Officers also pepper-sprayed pro-Park protesters, who recoiled as they tried to press through the police line.

Demonstrators started hitting buses in the area with large poles as frightened members of the public stood on top of the vehicles and looked on.

Police in riot gear sat on the roof of a bus and deflected the protesters' poles.

Park is the first democratically elected leader of South Korea to be ousted and was impeached because of a corruption scandal.

The court's acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the constitution and law 'throughout her term', and despite the objections of parliament and the press, she had concealed the truth and cracked down on critics.

Pro-Park protesters faced off against police in the city centre. The police formed a barricade stopping demonstrators from reaching the constitutional court, where President Park was impeached

Pictured, the police clash with protesters and spray them to keep the crowds at bay. President Park was removed from office over allegations of corruption and could now face jail as she no longer has presidential immunity

'The removal of the claimee from office is overwhelmingly to the benefit of the protection of the constitution. ... We remove President Park Geun-hye from office,' Lee told the hearing.

A presidential election will be held within 60 days.

Park, 65, no longer has immunity as president, and could now face criminal charges over bribery, extortion and abuse of power in connection with allegations of conspiring with her friend, Choi Soon-sil.

Protesters smashed a police bus window at the rally. Park is the first democratically elected leader of South Korea to be ousted and was impeached because of a corruption scandal

One elderly man was taken to hospital with a head injury and the second death is being investigated. Pictured, police cordoned off a blood-stained area of pavement

Park was stripped of her powers after parliament voted to impeach her but has remained in the president's official compound, the Blue House.

A spokesman said on Friday she would leave and return to her private home in Seoul.

Park was accused of colluding with her friend, Choi and a former presidential aide, both of whom have been on trial, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.

The court said Park had 'completely hidden the fact of (Choi's) interference with state affairs'.

Park was also accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group for government favours, including backing a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that was seen as supporting the succession of control over the country's largest 'chaebol' conglomerate.

A group of police stand on a bus with an injured member of the public during the protests. More than 70 per cent of the public supported Park's impeachment

Demonstrators also used large poles to batter a bus. Police in riot gear sit on top of the bus and try to ward the public away. Park is accused of colluding with her friend and soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group

Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee has been accused of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal and is in detention. His trial began on Thursday.

He and Samsung have denied wrongdoing.

While Park's supporters clashed with police outside the court, elsewhere in the city people welcomed her ouster.

A recent poll showed more than 70 percent supported her impeachment.

Park was stripped of her powers after parliament voted to impeach her but has remained in the president's official compound, the Blue House. A spokesman said on Friday she would leave and return to her private home in Seoul

Pictured, protesters tried to get at police on top of buses by yanking them with poles. Other members of the public also stood on the buses and recorded the clash

An injured supporter of Park was strapped to a table after protests against the politician's impeachment became violent. Police blocked the main thoroughfare in the capital today

Police blocked the main thoroughfare running through downtown Seoul in anticipation of bigger protests.

Prosecutors have named Park as an accomplice in two court cases linked to the scandal, suggesting she is likely to be investigated and could face legal proceedings.

Paramedics give first-aid treatment to a protester near the constitutional court. It is believed that the protester died later in a hospital

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was appointed acting president and will remain in that post until the election. If Hwang resigns, as some media have speculated he may to run for president, the finance minister will take over as acting president.

The U.S. State Department said it would continue to work with the acting president and whoever becomes the next president.

Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign, after South Korea this month deployed the U.S. THAAD missile defence system in response to North Korea's stepped up missile and nuclear tests.

China has vociferously protested against the deployment, fearing its sophisticated radar could see into its own missile deployments.

North Korean state media denounced Park as a criminal.

'She had one more year left as 'president' but, now she's been ousted, she will be investigated as a common criminal,' the North's state KCNA news agency said.
A man, 27, has been arrested over the incident that saw an 11-month-old baby fighting for her life and requiring surgery at the end of last year.

The baby was seriously injured and found unresponsive when paramedics attended the scene on October 16 last year.

The baby girl was rushed to hospital by paramedics before she was then airlifted to the intensive care unit at Children's Hospital where she underwent surgery at Westmead in a critical condition.

A man, 27, has been arrested over the incident that saw an 11-month-old baby fighting for her life and requiring surgery at the end of last year

Police were told initially that the girl had suffered the injuries after falling from her cot.

Following the State Crime Command's Child Abuse Squad investigation into the incident on Friday the 27-year-old man was arrested in Lithgow.

He was charged with reckless grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, according to the police.

The men was refused bail and and appeared at Lithgow Local Court on Friday.

The man appeared at at Lithgow Local Court (above) on Friday over the incident
A New York City congressman recited Biggie lyrics on the House floor on Thursday in a tribute to the rapper on the anniversary of his death.

Thursday was the 20th anniversary of the legendary Biggie Smalls' murder, and Brooklyn Congressman Hankeem Jeffries took the opportunity to honor him on the Congress floor.

Jeffries recited the lyrics to Biggie's 1994 song 'Juicy', which is one of the rapper's most quoted songs.

Thursday was the 20th anniversary of the legendary Biggie Smalls' murder, and Brooklyn Congressman Hankeem Jeffries took the opportunity to honor him on the Congress floor

'It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up! magazine. Salt-n-Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine,' he said in a floor speech to fellow legislators, according to the New York Post.

He continued: 'Hangin' pictures on my wall, every Saturday Rap Attack, Mr Magic, Marley Marl.'

The congressman then gave a small synopsis of the life of the Brooklyn native Christopher Wallace, who went by the stage name Biggie.

Biggie Smalls, also known as the notorious B.I.G., rose from the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant to be one of the most successful rappers in history.

Jeffries (pictured) then gave a small synopsis of the life of the Brooklyn native Christopher Wallace, who went by the stage name Biggie

Biggie Smalls, also known as the notorious B.I.G., rose from the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant to be one of the most successful rappers in history

He was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles March 9, 1997, aged just 24.

Trailed by fellow artist P. Diddy, who opted to travel in a separate car, his friend could only watch as the Brooklyn-born star was hit by four bullets from a driver in a Chevrolet Impala that pulled alongside his GMC Suburban SUV.

Theories around the shooting - now a part of hip hop lore - have reemerged in one form or another over the years as journalists and fans attempted to tackle the case.

Jeffries ended the Thursday shout out by saying: 'Where Brooklyn at?'
Passengers on a British Airways flight were given the shock of their lives after the pilot left the cockpit to take part in a safety demonstration.

The pilot joined cabin crew as the Boeing 747 taxied to the runway to help point to emergency exits due to a shortage in staff.

The drama unfolded at the start of a ten-hour flight from Houston in Texas, USA, as it prepared to make its way to London's Heathrow Airport.

Jo Osborn, who was a passenger on the flight, tweeted her shock in a post to British Airway's official account.

Passengers on a British Airways flight were given the shock of their lives after the pilot left the cockpit to take part in a safety demonstration

Jo Osborn, who was a passenger on the flight, tweeted her shock in a post to British Airway's official account

She wrote: 'Want me to do it so he can fly the plane?'

The captain of the plane told those on board: 'Were short of crew today so the pilot is helping with the safety demo.'

He then returned to the cockpit of BA195 just before the plane was ready to take off.

A spokesperson for British Airways: 'We would never operate a flight without the sufficient numbers of fully trained pilots and cabin crew.

'The Houston flight had three pilots and 13 cabin crew on board.

'Our cabin crew and pilots always work as a team to ensure the safety of our customers.'
A Sydney man has been fined $800 and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond for supplying the ecstasy pills believed to have killed his girlfriend.

Jordan Duffy, 20, pleaded guilty to supplying three MDMA capsules to 21-year-old Janie Panton Roberts the night before her sudden death at Marrickville, in Sydney's inner-west, in June last year.

Ms Panton Roberts' mother Kerry, who previously asked for Duffy to be jailed, stormed from the Newtown Local Court before the sentence hearing finished.

Jordan Duffy, 20, (left) was fined $800 and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond for supplying ecstasy pills believed to have killed his girlfriend Janie Panton Roberts, 21 (right)

Janie Panton Roberts, 21, died in Duffy's arms the morning after taking three ecstasy pills in June 2016

'[He's] free to roam the streets, free to go partying, free to get another girlfriend while my baby's rotting in the ground,' Ms Roberts said outside court.

The court heard Duffy bought the drugs from a work colleague and consumed them with Ms Roberts at a dance party at the Petersham Inn.

Afterwards Ms Roberts fell ill.

The next morning paramedics were called but tragically she died in Duffy's arms before they arrived.

Magistrate Margaret Quinn said Duffy was not legally responsible for Ms Roberts' death.

'The decision to take the drugs was made by both Mr Duffy and Ms Panton Roberts,' Ms Quinn said.

'[He's] free to roam the streets, free to go partying, free to get another girlfriend while my baby's rotting in the ground,' Kerry Panton Roberts (pictured) said outside court

Ms Panton Roberts (pictured) previously asked for Duffy to be jailed. She stormed from the Newtown Local Court before the sentence hearing finished

Ms Panton Roberts' mother Kerry Roberts, who previously asked for Duffy to be jailed, stormed from the Newtown Local Court before the sentence hearing finished

'(He's) free to roam the streets, free to go partying, free to get another girlfriend while my baby's rotting in the ground,' Ms Roberts said of Duffy (pictured) outside court

'The decision to take the drugs was made by both Mr Duffy and Ms Panton Roberts,' Magistrate Margaret Quinn said

Ms Quinn said there was no doubt Duffy had suffered and was very remorseful.

She accepted his early guilty plea but recorded a conviction despite his lawyer's plea for a discharge with no record.

'There is no question that supply [of] drugs has to be acknowledged as a terrible crime that hopefully does not have in the future such terrible consequences for anybody else,' Ms Quinn said.

She said she saw many young people in her court who went to dance parties and took drugs and that 'it's only where there are terrible outcomes...[that] the spotlight is shone'.

'They don't know what the drugs are made from... it's only where there are terrible outcomes... [that] the spotlight is shone,' she said.
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Closer scrutiny, better leadership and greater clarity about unacceptable types of conduct will be needed in order to curb the significant levels of corruption in local and regional administrations across the European Union, politicians and experts said at a conference co-organised by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe focused on " The role of local and regional authorities in preventing corruption and promoting good governance ". They also issued warnings about the scale of corruption, its shifting nature and its ability to seize on new opportunities, including migration. The conference, which was held on 28 February, also heard questions raised the EU's commitment to monitoring corruption, together with specific warnings about the in Romania and Serbia.Participants at the conference, which was held days before the European Commission launched a consultation on whistle-blowing , said that while Europe has less of a corruption problem than other parts of the world, corruption remains common and is putting some Europeans in the position of feeling obliged to pay bribes to obtain adequate health care, for example.from Transparency International said that in six EU countries  Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Romania  public perceptions of corruption were at levels typically associated with "endemic corruption", while a European Commission survey in 2014 identified problems at the local and regional level as being particularly pronounced in a range of western European states.of the European Commission noted significant differences within individual states, with the "highest cross-regional variationsin countries which perform worst on good governance".of the University of Alberta noted that the increased role of private companies in providing public services was "shifting the corruption risks".(IT/EFDD), the European Parliament's rapporteur on corruption, noted that corruption and organised crime are "very closely linked", a characteristic that is "particularly visible at the local level". She continued: "Corruption tends to adapt itself to any new trend, including migration flows. We have seen how organised crime has entered reception centres, and has distorted public procurement processes for reception centres."Weaker checks also make the local and regional level more vulnerable, with public procurement a particularly persistent source of problems.from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cited Georgia as an example, saying that it is "a country that has done a lot of excellent work on corruption, but there remain lots of holes in public procurement". The corrosive effects also affect voting patterns. "Corruption is one of the factors that make sure the system is rigged and why people see it as rigged," said Mr Dolan.(AT/PES), President of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, welcomed changes that mean that "in many European countries, local authorities are managing a bigger and bigger share of public expenditure", but she warned that "local and regional authorities have seen their budgets and competences increase without a corresponding improvement in control and disciplinary procedures. If we witness an increase in corruption at the local level, then the principle of decentralisation could be threatened."Examples of the impact of corruption were provided byfrom the KRIK network of investigative journalists in Serbia and by, a former official in Romania's justice ministry. Mr Dojcinovic warned that the Serbian government is applying a "subtle" form of censorship, "mainly through financial measures" such as exerting pressure on public and private companies to withhold advertising, with the result that "criticism of the government has really dropped in recent years". It is now "impossible" to get investigative articles published in the print media, he said. Ms Stefan warned that corruption in local and regional administrations in Romania is "systemic" in nature, and presented a study of the distribution of money from a regional fund that demonstrated that the allocation of money is closely correlated with the electoral cycle and who holds power. "What we see is that mayor after mayor after mayor behaves in the same way," she said, adding: "you cannot put on the shoulders of the criminal-justice system the job of reforming the country."(AT/EPP), president of the Tyrol region and long-time member both of the CoR and the Congress of the Council of Europe, said "we need to be stricter and more consistent" in addressing corruption among parliamentarians. Corruption is "prevalent" at the local level, he said, and "if [local and regional administrations] are part of the problem, they are also partly responsible for solving these problems".A case study of local responses was provided by the deputy mayor of Kiev,, whose city is following a roadmap for combatting corruption that was approved by the Council of Europe's Congress of the Local and Regional Authorities and partly developed with the Council of Europe's support. The initiatives are beginning to bear fruit, he said, with foreign investors gaining confidence from measures such as a digital public-procurement system and citizens using online enrolment with doctors and engaging in participatory budgeting.Ideas that were aired ranged from more training for politicians and public officials, more EU funding for investigative journalism and increased monitoring to calls for a European prosecutor and a life-long ban on corrupted politicians and officials holding public office. Mr Dolan of Transparency International said that the European Commission should resume publication of a periodic anti-corruption report , saying that "we should ask hard questions about why the European Commission considers it no longer necessary to monitor corruption and issue recommendations". The report has been replaced by work within the EU's European Semester on the coordination of economic policy, where, he said, the focus is on best practice.The conference particularly considered the role of establishing norms, with a session focused on codes of conduct for local and public administrations. "We need an acquis communitaire for a devolved local and regional administrative structure," argued Dr Von Maravic, who is also chairman of the advisory group on revising the code of conduct adopted by the Council of Europe's Congress in 1999. He identified codification of rules on whistle-blowing as one of the "major challenges". On 3 March, the European Commission began a three-month public consultation focused on protection for whistle-blowers. A number of contributors at the conference noted that protections against abuse also need to be developed.The need for rules of behaviour to be internalised was stressed repeatedly. "A code is nothing; coding is everything," saidof Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, in a comment echoed by others.Similarly, the need for leadership and for integrity was a recurrent theme. "Good leadership includes moral leadership," said Dr De Graaf, while Dr Von Maravic noted that "many cases of corruption can be explained with the argument that if they at the top allow themselves a car and they cut my bonus, then I am entitled to something".(DE/EPP), mayor of Baiersdorf in Germany, said: "As a mayor, I know that it is important to have rules and procedures in place. You need to lead by example, and you need to pay particular attention to public services. It starts with small things."(FI/EPP), President of the CoR, and(BE/PES), First Vice-President of the CoR, both spoke at the conference, emphasising the CoR's commitment to supporting the efforts of local and regional authorities to curb corruption, including through showcasing examples of good practice and encouraging cooperation between regions and cities across the EU and in its neighbourhood.The CoR is the EU's political assembly for local and regional politicians. It has a consultative role in the EU's policymaking The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is the assembly for local governments in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, the watchdog of Europe's fundamental rights.
Hundreds of 'ghost ships' turn off their tracking devices and sail suspiciously close to terror zones before entering European waters - including dozens who ended up off the British coast, it was revealed today.

Large vessels entering Europe routinely turn off their GPS tracking to disappear from monitoring systems after making dubious stops close to terrorist hotspots.

It is fuelling concerns they are smuggling people and weapons to the continent, especially on the route between Libya and Greece.

Data from Windward, an Israeli-based maritime analytics company, shows that in total, 2,850 ships went dark by halting transmission of their location before entering European waters in the first two months of this year.

Around 45 did this off the British coast for up to 24 hours - 50 other entered British waters without proper paperwork.

Revealed: Large vessels entering Europe routinely turn off their GPS tracking to disappear from monitoring systems after making dubious stops close to terrorist hotspots (file picture)

Ship one: This is the route taken by an Italian oil tanker from Libya to Greece where it became a ghost ship and turned off its GPS in areas that are hotspots for people smuggling

Close up: It made two suspicious stops near Crete and then near mainland Greece (pictured) while hiding its location

The practice, uncovered in an investigation by The Times, raises fears that the lack of resources Britain devotes to maritime security leaves it vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Windward also revealed that that in January and February forty ships entered Europe from Libya, close to where ISIS is operating, after turning off their tracking devices.

Another 20 vessels stopped transmitting their location and made suspicious stops for up to six hours in Syrian or Lebanese waters before reaching the Continent.

Is it illegal for ships to turn off their GPS? A ship's Automatic Identification system (AIS) must always be turned on when they are out of port and moving or at anchor. The only circumstances when this can change is if the captain believes that they are in imminent danger from a threat to safety, like pirates. If GPS is switched off, it must be recorded in the ship's main logbook. Turning off AIS makes it impossible for them to be tracked and in large stretches of water it has been described as trying to find 'a needle in a haystack'. Advertisement

Experts said the majority of these absences were likely to be deliberate, and warned terrorist groups could be exploiting vulnerabilities in ocean security to move weapons and people.

Speaking to The Times, Admiral Lord West of Spithead, the former first sea lord, said: There has to be real concern over the picture of whats happening on the surface of the sea. It can be exploited.

Gerry Northwood, the chief operating officer at Mast, a maritime risk management consultancy, told the newspaper British authorities are carrying out increasing levels of counterterrorism maritime intelligence work.

He said: Theres always that risk that something will get through. The terrorists only have to get it right once. We have to be wary  the UK has a long and complex coastline which is difficult to watch all the time. Those who are adventurous and innovative will have a good chance of getting through.

Ship two: A large cargo ship from Cyprus went from Ukraine to the Med before drifting for almost a fortnight off Algeria and Morocco after sailing towards Gibraltar. It turned its GPS intermittently including for nearly 30 hours on one occasion before sailing into the Atlantic

Ship two: The same ship then sailed north all the way into British water - spending 11 hours off Islay in Western Scotland - miles away from any major port

Yesterday it emerged that migrant smuggling has expanded dramatically and is so prevalent in Europe it is now comparable to the illegal drugs market.

A new report says criminal gangs have raked in huge sums of money amid the surge in refugees and migrants attempting to reach the continent.

A report from Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, describes people smuggling as a 'highly profitable and widespread criminal activity'.

The 60-page study noted: 'The migrant smuggling business is now a large, profitable and sophisticated criminal market, comparable to the European drug markets.'

Researchers found that the demand for smuggling services had grown significantly since 2014.

Figures suggested networks offering 'facilitation services' to either reach or move within the EU generated an estimated 4.7 billion euro to 5.7 billion euro in profit in 2015, equivalent to between 4.1 billion and 5 billion at current exchange rates.

These profits dipped last year, falling by nearly two billion euro, or 1.7 billion at today's rates, according to the assessment.

It said: 'This development is in line with the overall decrease in the number of irregular migrants arriving in the EU and as a result of a fall in the prices for migrant smuggling services following the peak of the migration crisis in 2015.'

Worries: It is fuelling concerns they are smuggling people (pictured off the Libyan coast) and weapons to the continent

A report from Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, describes people smuggling as a 'highly profitable and widespread criminal activity'. Pictured: Refugees wait to be assisted by an NGO aboard an overcrowded rubber boat, about 20 miles North of Sabratha, Libya

Migrant smugglers originating from over 122 countries were involved in facilitating the journeys of irregular migrants to the EU, according to the study, while gangs relied heavily on social media to advertise their services.

The findings emerged in the agency's serious and organised crime threat assessment for 2017.

It revealed that more than 5,000 international organised crime groups were under investigation in the EU.
A German 'thrill killer' posed for a picture with a bloodied knife inside the flat of a second victim he stabbed 68 times, it has emerged.

Marcel Hesse was arrested last night for luring a young neighbour called Jaden into a cellar in Herne, Germany on Monday and stabbing him 56 times.

The 19-year-old, who had been on the run for four days, then alerted police to a burning flat nearby where they found a second body of a man identified only as 22-year-old Christopher W.

It has since emerged that Hesse, who was rejected by the German army for being unstable, had sent an image to a friend showing him holding up a blade in the same apartment.

Police today described him as a 'brutal killer' and said he had admitted both crimes.

The teenager is believed to have taken shocking video and photos of Jaden's murder before posting it on the 'dark web' of the Internet and going on the run sparking a massive police manhunt.

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Marcel Hesse posed for a picture (above) with a bloodied knife inside the flat of a second victim he stabbed 68 times, it has emerged

Marcel Hesse, 19, who is suspected of video taping the gruesome murder of a boy in Germany, was arrested last night (pictured)

Police say Hesse (pictured left), a martial arts fanatic, lured Jaden (right) into the house and then into the cellar where he recorded his brutal murder

After killing Jaden and then hiding in a wood, Hesse went to the home (pictured today) of Christopher W, police say

He also shared messages and photos on WhatsApp and in online chat rooms and some of that material was later posted back on to the dark web.

In one message on an internet chat room, he wrote: 'I have cut myself in the hand as I fought the 120kg beast'.

Pictures show him washing a knife and posing for a selfie with blood on his hands while in another message he boasted: 'I know that people die slowly when you slaughter them.'

Another chilling note believed to have been posted by Hesse was translated as saying: 'I just killed the neighbour's child, doesn't feel bad tbh, my hand bleeds lil' which is the only thing annoying me.

'I actually wanted to get a girl in here so I can rape her.'

Last night he wandered into a fast-food outlet in his home town before telling staff: ' I am the man they are looking for.' Police say he then informed them about the burning building.

After killing Jaden and then hiding in a wood, Hesse went to the home of Christopher W, police say. They ate together, then played computer games and Hesse turned in at 2am.

Hesse shared a series of pictures with a friend via WhatsApp which showed him washing a knife under water

Another picture showed a folded up knife along with the message 'think that's enough equipment'

The body of the boy was discovered by police in the cellar of a house by his stepfather. Police and forensics are pictured taking the body away on Tuesday

He murdered the friend he met at a technical college the next day and did not leave the apartment again until Thursday night when he turned himself in, police say.

Unlike in many other criminal cases in the country, the suspect was fully named in German media as a police hunt got underway.

Suspects in Germany are identified only by their first name and the first letter of their surname because of the country's strict privacy laws.

Hesse went into the Thessaloniki Grill in Herne at 9.07pm to ask the owners to call police.

The owner Cheitidis said: 'He came in here at 8.10pm in black clothes with an umbrella and carrying a sack of onions in one hand.

Hesse is said to have written in an Internet chat room in the hours following the brutal murder of Jaden: 'I have cut myself in the hand as I fought the 120kg beast'. He is pictured in one of his posts

Hesse is believed to have taken video and photos of the murder before posting it on the 'Darkweb' of the Internet. A heavily blurred screenshot from the film is shown above

Hesse is understood to have written these translated messages to a friend before Jaden's death on Monday

In one exchange believed to involve Hesse, someone asks him: 'So, before you die... why?' to which he respondes: 'Cuz I don't want to go to work'

Another chilling message believed to have been posted by Hesse was translated as saying: 'I just killed the neighbour's child, doesn't feel bad tbh, my hand bleeds lil' which is the only thing annoying me'

'He said in a soft voice he was Marcel. "Which Marcel is that then", I asked.

"'Look on your tablet," he said. "You will see a picture of me there."'

He then asked him to call the police, which he did, and they turned up ten minutes later in force to arrest him.

Just 150 meters away a flat was burning where a body was discovered inside.

Police said in a tweet: 'The arrested man gave us information about the burning flat.'

A neighbour of the burning apartment said a young man lived there alone, visited from time to time by his mother.

This morning, Reinhard Peters, lawyer for the family of Jaden, said: 'The family is relieved that he has been captured alive to await the full punishment of the law for his crime.'

Jaden was found in a huge pool of blood by his stepfather.

Marcel Hesse, 19, walked into a fast-food outlet (pictured) in the town of Herne where he lived and said: 'Please call the police - they are looking for me'

Forensics were seen working in the street last night after an apartment fire was extinguished in Herne, Germany. Officers made the grim discovery of another body inside last night

'The picture of my stepson lying there dead....I will never forget this,' said Pascal R., 34, who found the boy dead from numerous stab wounds on Monday evening. 'I found him lying in a giant lake of his own blood.'

Police say Hesse, a martial arts fanatic, lured Jaden into the house and then into the cellar where he recorded his brutal murder. It is unclear whether there was a sexual motive.

Detectives on a specially formed murder squad believed he may have killed another person. At the time they said he appeared on an Internet chat room in the hours following the killing to say he had attacked a woman, adding: 'She offered more resistance than the child.'

Hesse, who was this afternoon revealed to have been rejected by the German Bundeswehr army for service because he was too unstable, mentioned 'torture' to get the woman's bank details and pin card number.

Hesse had lived in the house where he killed Jaden for many years with his parents, but he was home alone since the beginning of the year with his sister Sandra after his mother and father moved.

Investigation: Forensics descended on a flat in Herne, Germany today after police discovered a body inside

Police rushed to the apartment last night after seeing that it was on fire - only to find a body inside

The corpse of a man was found inside a burning building last night. Emergency crews are pictured at the scene overnight

Jeanette F., 41, mother of Jaden, told the Bild newspaper in Germany; 'Sandy told us once that her brother was an absolute psycho.'

Pascal R. went on to tell the paper; 'We had been shopping, my wife and I. Maurice and Steven, his stepbrothers, and Jaden stayed at home.'

He said at 6pm on Monday evening the doorbell to his home rang. Hesse was there and he asked Jaden if he could come to his home to help him set up a pair of ladders.

He went with him. The parents returned home two hours later and Jaden had not returned home. 'I went over and banged and yelled but no-one answered,' said the stepfather.

'Something bad has happened,' Jeanette remembered saying to her husband. It had; Jaden was murdered with more than 40 stab wounds.

Interpol helped in the search for Marcel Hesse, 19, a bespectacled martial arts enthusiast, who allegedly carried out the murder at his home in the town of Herne. Police are pictured on Tuesday as they examined the murder scene

Police stand guard outside the house in the town of Herne on Tuesday where a nine-year-old boy was brutally murdered the day before

A huge manhunt was launched underway but the search came to an end with an arrest last night. Forensics are pictured at the scene on Tuesday after the discovery of Jaden's body

Pascal and his stepsons clambered over a balcony wall to enter the cellar area of the house where Jaden lay. 'I wanted to give him a massage on his heart but blood was streaming from his wounds,' he added.

Police later said as the boy was stabbed multiple times Hesse filmed his demise and posted video and stills on the so-called 'Darknet' - the lurid, unpatrolled side of cyberspace specialising in pornography, paedophilia, drugs and 'snuff' movies.

It was a Darknet user - who claimed to know the killer - who was upset by the images of the little boy who contacted police to tell them; 'I have just seen a boy murdered on the Internet.'

The alleged killer also entered a chatroom after the murder and held his bloodstained hands up to the camera.
An infamous paedophile has been banned from visiting libraries, swimming pools, cinemas and other locations frequented by children.

Alexandria Brookes, 52, was subject to electronic monitoring after being judged in the NSW Supreme Court to be a high risk to children, according to The Age

Brookes and his late former lover, notorious paedophile Dennis Ferguson, once kidnapped and raped three children in a Brisbane hotel room in 1987.

Alexandria Brookes leaves the Supreme Court in Sydney after he was banned from visiting libraries, swimming pools, cinemas and other locations frequented by children

Justice Natalie Adams imposed a five-year extended supervision order, which includes a banishment from child-friendly settings without the prior approval of a supervising Corrective Services officer.

Brookes, who has been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder and paedophilic tendencies, has a decades-long history of sexual crimes.

He had been out of jail for only weeks after served time for abducting a two-year-old girl at a railway station and luring her towards the toilet.

Brookes has been jailed five times between 2005 and 2009 for breaching conditions, including keeping pictures of babies and loitering near a childcare centre.

A risk assessment by a senior psychologist with the Serious Offenders Assessment Unit of Corrective Services argued for an extension to the order.

'An important ingredient of this is a way for Mr Brookes to feel good about himself and feel part of society, rather than being an outcast,' Dr Parker said.

Brookes, who has been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder and paedophilic tendencies, has a decades-long past of sexual crimes
David Cameron has been caught on camera apparently having a rant at a Cabinet minister over the Tory plan to hike National Insurance, calling it 'stupidity', MailOnline can reveal.

ITV footage showed the former prime minister looking angry as he gestured at Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon during the unveiling of a new war memorial.

Professional lipreader Tina Lannin, whose company 121 Captions specialises in forensic lipreading for the police and CPS, told MailOnline she is certain Mr Cameron said: 'Breaking a manifesto promise is stupidity.

This is undoubtedly a reference to Philip Hammonds decision to raise National Insurance contributions in Wednesdays Budget - but Mr Cameron's office today said it would not comment on a 'private conversation'.

Making his point: David Cameron was filmed saying: 'Breaking a manifesto promise is stupidity', a forensic lipreader has told MailOnline

Not happy: The former PM, who quit over Brexit last year, was very animated in his discussions with Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon

Armed Forces Minister Mike Penning was also party to the conversation at the VIP stand in Horse Guards Parade.

The Tories pledged four times in their 2015 general election manifesto not to increase the contributions, warning that a rise would harm our economy and reduce living standards.

Promise: The Tories pledged four times in their 2015 general election manifesto not to increase the contributions, warning that a rise would harm our economy and reduce living standards

David Cameron unveiled the policy as part of a tax lock that aides have since admitted was cooked up on the hoof in the final weeks of the campaign.

But Mr Hammond announced in his first budget as Chancellor that 2.5million self-employed would lose an average 250 a year as their a National Insurance rises from 9 to 10 per cent.

Theresa May was last night forced to hit the pause button on Philip Hammonds controversial tax raid on the self-employed as she tried to placate furious Tory MPs.

The Prime Minister moved to delay legislation on the 2billion increase in National Insurance on solo workers until the autumn, after Tory whips warned her they didnt have the numbers to push the Budget measure through the Commons.

Speaking in Brussels, Mrs May tried to shore up her beleaguered Chancellor by defending the tax raid, which breaks the Tories manifesto pledge not to raise NI. She said the change made taxation simpler, fairer and more progressive.

The PM also insisted ministers had not broken the promise  which appeared four times in the manifesto and pledged there would be no increases in VAT, National Insurance contributions or income tax.

She bought time for a potential climbdown by delaying the legislation, which had been expected this spring, until the autumn, when Mr Hammond will have the chance to offer concessions in a second Budget. But the move is unlikely to calm Tory fury over the issue.

Close: Mr Cameron stood behind the Chancellor before his rant about Philip Hammonds decision to raise National Insurance contributions in Wednesdays Budget

The Prime Minister moved to delay legislation on the 2 billion hike in National Insurance on solo workers until the autumn

The Prime Minister also ordered Mr Hammond (pictured) to listen to the concerns of MPs and businesses, who have reacted with fury to the tax raid

Mrs May also ordered Mr Hammond to listen to the concerns of MPs and businesses, who have reacted with fury to the tax raid.

She said the measures would be packaged together with new rights for the self-employed on things such as maternity pay, following a review this summer by Matthew Taylor, a former Downing Street adviser to Tony Blair.

The delay means the row will rumble on for months, ending any prospect of Mrs May calling a snap election.

Her intervention came after Tory MPs lined up to publicly condemn the NI rise.

Mr Hammond, who was accused of lying to the voters yesterday, insisted that he had not broken the small print of the manifesto pledge, as set out in tax lock legislation after the election.

But in a sign of the anger over the issue on Tory benches, one minister took the extraordinary step of offering a public apology for the broken promise. Wales Office minister Guto Bebb said: I believe we should apologise. I will apologise to every voter in Wales that read the Conservative manifesto in the 2015 election.

In an indication of the Governments weakness on the issue, Downing Street refused to rebuke Mr Bebb.
Paul Hollywood's stock seems to be rising just as quick as his dough - after it was revealed he is now worth 10million.

The master baker has built up his mass fortune thanks to several television and book deals.

It comes as the 51-year-old prepares to front the next series of the Great British Bake Off, after agreeing a six-figure deal to follow the show from BBC to Channel 4.

The judge earned an estimated 200,000 for each Great British Bake Off series at the BBC.

Paul Hollywood's stock seems to be rising just as quick as his dough - after it was revealed he is now worth 10million

Despite the Liverpudlian's best efforts, however, he still lags behind his former co-judge Mary Berry, 81, who's personal wealth is estimated at about 15million

But he is believed to be receiving 400,000 to be the frontman when the show moves to Channel 4 this year  or 1.2million over three years.

According to The Sun, Hollywood has nearly 8.8million of assets in the company HJP Media LLP and 1.2million in another company called Paul Hollywood Limited.

Despite the Liverpudlian's best efforts, however, he still lags behind his former co-judge Mary Berry, 81, who's personal wealth is estimated at about 15million.

Meanwhile, the show's former hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins are thought to be worth about 5million and 6million, respectively.

Unlike Hollywood Berry, Perkins and Giedroyc chose not to follow the show to Channel 4.

Hollywood's decision to do so does not mean he has quit the BBC for good. He has accepted terms on a six-figure contract for a new show, believed to be about cars.

The show's former hosts Mel Giedroyc (right) and Sue Perkins (left) are thought to be worth about 4million and 5million, respectively

Speaking at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham on Friday, he acknowledged he received 'a bit of stick' for staying on Bake Off, but said he loves being a judge.

Hollywood, who was born in Merseyside, has followed the family baking tradition.

With a grandfather who was head baker at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, a young Hollywood worked at his father's bakery in York.

Inspired by the hard-won success of his father, who had a chain of bakeries, he later became a baker at hotels around Britain including the Dorchester in London.

ON THE RISE: BAKE-OFF EARNERS Paul Hollywood - 10million Mary Berry - 15million Sue Giedroyc - 4million Sue Perkins - 5million Nadiya Hussain - 1million Advertisement

He stayed there for six years after falling in love with both the island and future wife Alexandra.

In 1999, after returning to the UK, he co-hosted digital channel Taste's Use Your Loaf alongside TV chef James Martin, who went on to present Saturday Kitchen.

Hollywood also gained a reputation as an authority on bread making with his best-selling cookery book 100 Great Breads.

But despite his TV appearance Hollywood was still a relative unknown.

That all changed in 2010 when the launch of the Great British Bake Off made him a household name. The show became a national favourite and Hollywood's chemistry with Mary Berry was seen as one of the main reasons for its success.

On the back of this, he set out to conquer the US with The American Baking Competition - with Marcela Valladolid at his side as co-judge.

However, the show was cancelled after one series and also led to marriage trouble for Hollywood, after he embarked on an alleged affair with Valladolid.

He and wife Alexandra are now reconciled. They share a teenage son, Josh.
This is the heartwarming moment an 'angry and agitated' dementia patient starts happily dancing to Elvis.

John 'Sean' O'Malley is taking part in the Music & Memory program at Blacktown Hospital in northwest Sydney.

The program uses the personalised playlists of individuals to help those accessing health care to be happier and more social.

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John 'Sean' O'Malley is taking part in the Music & Memory program at Blacktown Hospital in northwest Sydney

Mr O'Malley is described as being 'distressed, angry and agitated' when he arrived at the hospital, but once the headphones are on, Mr O'Malley is seen clicking his fingers and wiggling his hips to the tune of Elvis

In the video by Western Sydney Health, Mr O'Malley is described as being 'distressed, angry and agitated' when he arrived at the hospital.

But once the headphones are on, Mr O'Malley is seen clicking his fingers and wiggling his hips to the tune of Elvis Presley's classic, Heartbreak Hotel.

As Elvis tunes continue to play, Mr O'Malley sings to the camera and begins to smile while dancing with his daughter and a nurse.

'His whole behaviour has changed, so for us at home we haven't been as worried about how he is going in hospital,' daughter Trish Scerri said.

As Elvis tunes continue to play, Mr O'Malley sings to the camera and begins to smile while dancing within the wards

'We know that his music has brought a lot of happiness while he has been here dancing around the wards.'

Clinical nurse consultant Katie Conciatore said the program allows for a more enjoyable atmosphere for dementia patients.

'[The music] just creates a really positive and happy environment when we have this program running.'

More than 400,000 Australians are currently living with dementia.

Australian dementia rates rise by around 244 new diagnoses a day, according to Alzheimer's Australia.
Pop icon Justin Bieber has millions of fans spanning the world, but it appears not one thought to warn him he was eating at a fast food joint with a less-than-upstanding reputation.

Bieber, 23, was pictured ordering food from a Nando's in Belmont on Thursday night, seemingly unaware the Portuguese chicken franchise was slapped with a $20,000 fine for health breaches this month.

The popular fast food franchise was found guilty of breaching the Food Act (2008) following an investigation by the Department of Health.

Bieber, 23, was pictured ordering food from a Nando's in Belmont on Thursday night

The Belmont store was ordered to pay $20,000 and costs of $1745.50 for offences on September 13, 2016, WAToday report.

The Department of Health found it 'failed to maintain food premises to a standard of cleanliness' and failed to maintain equipment to a standard of cleanliness'.

The Belmont store was one of three Nando's restaurants fined by the Department of health for breaches including poor cleanliness standards, hand-washing facilities and poor temperature control.

Perth stores in Spearwood and Nedlands were also convicted.

Bieber was seemingly unaware the Portuguese chicken franchise was slapped with a $20,000 fine for health breaches this month

Justin Bieber pictured speaking with a fan at the Portuguese chicken franchise on Thursday

The Belmont store was ordered to pay $20,000 and costs of $1745.50 for offences on September 13, 2016, WAToday report

'Me when I see food,' Justin Bieber captioned this photo posted to his millions of Instagram followers

While Bieber was escorted by a large contingency of police and supporters, it appears he was not warned about the store's health breach.

While not out ordering questionable fast food, the Canadian music sensation has reportedly spent time with Western Australia model Emily Baldwin during his stay in Australia.

Ms Baldwin, a former Miss Universe WA contestant, was reportedly seen entering Bieber's $25,000-a-night suite at Crown Towers on Wednesday night.

Bieber's Purpose World Tour kicked off in Western Australia on Monday night, and will take it to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney in March.

While not out ordering questionable fast food, the Canadian music sensation has reportedly spent time with Western Australia model Emily Baldwin (pictured)
A City worker who killed a former colleague with a single punch because he threw his shoe out of a minicab window during 'tomfoolery' on a work night out has been jailed for three years.

Business development manager Alexander Thomson, 32, of Clapham, London, hit recruitment consultant Thomas Hulme, 23, once in the head from behind as they made their way back from a night out in London.

Thomson broke down repeatedly as details of the assault, described by the judge as 'arising out of trivial, friendly horseplay', were read out in court.

Alexander Thomson (left, outside court), pleaded guilty to manslaughter after killing Thomas Hulme, 23, (right) with a single punch following a row on a night out

The Old Bailey heard Thomson, who has three previous convictions for alcohol-related crimes, lashed out after Mr Hulme took his shoe and threw it out of the window as they travelled home with friends.

They were making their way to a house party following an evening of drinking in central London.

The group of four men had been drinking since the late afternoon to celebrate meeting their sales targets, and had decided to take an Uber cab to the party in Clapham.

The cab had three rows of seats, with Thomson sitting in the back row sticking his feet through the gaps into the middle row next to the victim's lap.

Mr Hulme joked he would throw Thomson's shoe out of the window, egged on by another passenger who shouted 'Go on, I dare you'.

The shoe landed on the bonnet of a parked car by Ludgate Circus - prompting Thomson to strike the victim through the head rest to the back of his head.

The pair got out of the taxi to continue the argument, but Mr Hulme collapsed on Farringdon Street on August 26 last year.

He was rushed to hospital with a brain haemorrhage and pronounced dead the following evening.

Members of 23-year-old victim Tom Hulme's family described how their lives have been 'submerged in sadness and sorrow' since the tragic incident.

Judge Anthony Bate said the blow was an 'isolated misuse of force whilst dis-inhibited by drink'.

The pair got out of the taxi to continue the argument, but Mr Hulme collapsed on Farringdon Street (pictured) on August 26 last year

Jailing Thomson, 33, for manslaughter the judge said the case differed from those 'involving gratuitous unprovoked street violence'.

He said: 'A talented and intelligent young man had a promising life snatched away from him in early adulthood after you lashed out at him in a moment of drunken hot temper.

'You must live with that responsibility.'

In a victim impact statement, Mr Hulme's father, Gary, said the family were 'still in disbelief'.

At an earlier hearing it emerged Thomson (pictured) has three previous convictions for alcohol related offences dating back to 2002 when he was convicted of drink driving

He said: 'Life is unpredictable and life can shock.

'Our lives are submerged in sadness and sorrow, although we know we were fortunate and blessed for our time with Tom.

'He had dreams and plans for the future and we have no doubt he would have made those come true.'

Thomson, arriving at the Old Bailey, has been told he faces jail

Mr Hulme's younger sister, Lucy, said: 'I've lost my big brother who I looked up to and adored. My life now has a huge void.

'In some ways I have lost half of me - we were two halves of a whole person for our parents.'

Defending, Lisa Wilding QC described Mr Hulme's death as 'a result of tomfoolery' caused by 'the unluckiest blow' to the victim's head.

She said Thomson had used alcohol as a coping mechanism during various periods in his life, including after the deaths of his two brothers, but said he was now committed to abstaining from drink.

She said: 'He is properly described as traumatised and tormented by the irreparable damage caused to Mr Hulme's family. None of that seeks to excuse his actions.'

Members of Thomson's family wept as he was led from the court.

Thomson, who pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, shut his eyes tightly as received his sentence.

Thomson, who had secured a new job in the financial sector in Notting Hill, west London shortly before the attack, had been due to face trial at the Old Bailey

Speaking after the sentence had been handed down, Thomas Hulme's family said: 'As a family, we are still in disbelief. Our devastating loss means we are now living life with immense sadness.

'We no longer have the future we imagined and Tom does not have the life he planned and dreamed of. We miss Tom so much.'

Detective Inspector Sam Toprak from the City of London Police Major Crime Team said: 'The two men were friends and had been enjoying a night out when, what started as a prank, ended in tragedy.

'This was a senseless act that has left Thomas Hulme's family understandably devastated.

'While nothing will change what has happened I hope that today's sentence will go some way to bring them some closure on this heart-breaking time.'
They were on the show to discuss the morning papers - but two Sky News guests had viewers double-taking for another reason.

Journalists Katie Morley and Lucy Fisher were left red-faced after turning up for the live TV segment in almost identical outfits on Thursday.

The guests had a chuckle at their matching red tops and black blazers - with Ms Fisher self-deprecatingly branding the duo 'dorks'.

Journalists Katie Morley and Lucy Fisher were left red-faced after turning up on Sky News in almost identical outfits

Making light of the potentially awkward situation, presenter Isabel Webster complimented the pair on their matching outfit choices.

'I'm glad that you spoke to each other on the phone and arranged each other's outfits in advance!' she quipped.

'You actually look like sisters, but we can confirm you're not related.'

Her co-host Stephen Dixon deadpanned: 'Katie's got a ponytail so you'll be able to tell them apart.'

The guests had a chuckle at their matching red tops and black blazers - with Ms Morley self-deprecatingly branding the duo 'dorks'

'I'm glad that you spoke to each other on the phone and arranged each other's outfits in advance!' presenter Isabel Webster quipped.

David Prescott shared a screenshot of the women on Twitter, along with the caption: 'Love this. @LOS_Fisher & @KatieMorley_ on #skypapers after being complimented for arranging their outfits in advance [sic].'

Responding to the post, Morley quipped: 'what dorks.'

Another viewer wrote: 'Is there a dress code for the paper review this morning?'  along with two crying laughter face emojis.

Lucy and Katie were on the show to discuss the decision to allow women to wear jumpsuits at horse racing event Ascot.

Co-host Stephen Dixon deadpanned: 'Katie's got a ponytail so you'll be able to tell them apart'

The fashion mis-step didn't go unnoticed on social media - but luckily the journalists saw the funny side

They said: 'A couple of weeks ago they decided to bring in street food, bands and musicians. Now they are allowing jumpsuits, so big change.'

This year, halternecks and straps less than an inch thick will remain strictly off-limits for guests rubbing shoulders with the Queen in the Royal Enclosure.

The race gathering's famously strict dress code harks back to sartorial trailblazer Beau Brummell, who dictated the dress for men in the Royal Enclosure at the turn of the 19th century and was famously fond of cleaning his shoes with champagne.

In recent years, Royal Ascot has tightened up its guidelines considerably, with 2017 marking its sixth official guide.
British citizens should be able to 'opt in' to the benefits of EU membership including freedom of movement across the continent, the European Parliament's chief negotiator has said.

Guy Verhofstadt said he believed the UK's departure from the Brussels club was a 'tragedy' and a 'catastrophe' for both sides.

The MEP said he had received more than a thousand letters from Britons wanting to maintain their individual rights - and would be pushing hard for such an arrangement in the looming divorce talks.

MEP Guy Verhofstadt said he believed the UK's departure from the Brussels club was a 'tragedy' and a 'catastrophe' for both sides

But he also warned that the EU would be driving a hard bargain and stressed that the European parliament could veto a deal that was too generous to the UK.

The intervention comes just days before Theresa May could potentially trigger Article 50 and launch the formal Brexit process.

In Brussels last night, Mrs May played down the prospect of the UK paying a huge divorce bill - estimated as high as 60 billion euros - as we leave.

The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has indicated that he wants an agreement on funding the EU's outstanding liabilities before talks on future trade terms.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Mr Verhofstadt said: 'All British citizens today have also EU citizenship. That means a number of things: the possibility to participate in the European elections, the freedom of travel without problem inside the union...

'We need to have an arrangement in which this arrangement can continue for those citizens who on an individual basis are requesting it.'

He claimed to have received more than a thousand letters from UK citizens who do not want to lose their relationship with 'European civilisation'.

Mr Verhofstadt previously said the EU needs to be 'open and generous' to individual UK citizens and said politicians were considering how to allow them to maintain their ties to the continent.

He said the withdrawal negotiations would be 'very complicated', and he was critical of the failure of the Remain campaign to make clear the uncertainties of Brexit during the referendum campaign.

'My feeling is, why is this only emerging now that there are all these difficulties?' he said.

'It would have been better maybe if all these difficulties emerged already at the moment of the referendum. I think the Remain campaign was only about economics and not about anything else.'

Britain's departure was 'a crisis for the European Union', he said.

'That Britain goes out of the European Union is, in my opinion, a tragedy, a disaster, a catastrophe.

Theresa May, pictured at a Brussels summit last night, could trigger Article 50 to launch the formal Brexit process as early as next week

'But it gives us also a responsibility to look for a new partnership between the UK and the European Union.'

Mr Verhofstadt said the European Parliament would vote on its 'red lines' for the Brexit negotiations shortly after Article 50 is triggered. They could include the requirement for single market members to respect the 'four freedoms' of movement of people, goods, services and capital.

'It will reiterate the necessity that a single market is linked to the four freedoms, the necessity that the customs union is linked to competence concerning trade agreements,' he said.

'It will clearly indicate also that it is not possible to have better treatment outside the European Union than inside.'

The first task of the negotiations will be to clarify the position of EU citizens living in the UK and Britons resident on the Continent, before moving on to discussing the size of the exit bill to be paid by Britain on withdrawal, he said.

Mr Verhofstadt said he expected it to be 'possible to find agreement' on the bill despite the 'enormous gap' between the 60 billion euro figure being discussed in Brussels and the suggestions of ministers like Boris Johnson that the UK should pay nothing.

But he cautioned against assumptions that a final settlement will simply split the difference between the two sides' initial positions.

The PM played down the prospects of the UK paying a big EU divorce bill at a press conference in Brussels last night

'I don't know if it will be in the middle,' he said. 'There are objective facts in all this. You can find them in the budget of the European Union, controlled by the Court of Auditors.'

Mr Verhofstadt said the withdrawal agreement needs to be completed by November or December 2017, in order to allow for a transition period to negotiate details of the future UK-EU relationship.

'Let's not be naive, it will not take two years,' he said. 'It will take two years plus the whole period of the transition to sort out this new partnership between the UK and EU.'

Mr Verhofstadt warned that the European Parliament could veto any deal struck between the EU and the UK.

'We vote No - that is possible,' he told Today. 'It has happened in a number of other cases that a big international multilateral agreement was voted down by the European Parliament after it was concluded.

'The fact that in the Treaty it is stated we have to say Yes or No doesn't mean that automatically we vote Yes.'
A 90-year-old woman endured a five-hour wait for an ambulance after sustaining a head injury in a fall at her care home.

Joyce Wood was left lying in pain after falling over at Astbury Lodge care home in Great Sutton, Cheshire on Monday.

Her family are furious that she spent so long waiting to be taken to a hospital less than five miles away.

Joyce Wood, pictured (left) before her fall, and (right) after, had to wait five hours for an ambulance after toppling over at her care home

Mrs Wood fell to the floor just after lunch and care home staff were told not to move her until the ambulance arrive.

But after an hour of her lying on the floor holding her head, her son Dave instructed that she be picked up and made more comfortable.

She then had to wait a further two and half hours before a 'rapid response vehicle' arrived, then another hour and a half for the ambulance.

Mr Wood said: 'She was distressed and her eye was closing up. To my mind a 90-year-old woman who has had a bad fall - five hours is too long to wait.'

She was left with a nasty black eye and bump to her head after falling over

He added: 'The instructions are not to move them. I overruled that after about an hour because I couldn't leave her on the floor.

'If I hadn't had done that it would have been five hours waiting with someone lying on the floor with her, holding her head.'

He praised the work of care home staff and the paramedics who eventually attended, but said people need to know the strain the system is under.

He said: 'People should be aware, even if it does put pressure on the Government or whatever. I honestly thought the response time would be an hour at most for something like that. I just was not aware it was that bad.'

Mrs Wood, a former BT telephonist who celebrates her 91st birthday tomorrow, has suffered from dementia for the last two years.

North West Ambulance Service have apologised to Mrs Wood and admitted that the length of time she had to wait was 'unacceptable'.

A spokesman said: 'The Trust received a phone call at 2.21pm on Monday to an elderly female who had fallen at a residential home in Ellesmere Port. A paramedic arrived at 5.56pm in a rapid response vehicle, followed by an emergency ambulance at 7.16pm which took the patient to hospital.

'We are extremely sorry for this delay and completely understand that this is an unacceptable length of time to be waiting for an ambulance.'

The fall happened at Mrs Wood's care home, which is just five miles from the nearest hospital

The spokesman added: 'Although we would like to get to all of our patients as quickly as possible, unfortunately this is not always possible due to the high demand of 'red' life-threatening calls that we are receiving meaning that the Trust must prioritise in order to attend the most seriously ill first.

'On the day of this incident, we were also experiencing challenges with handovers at local hospitals which can also contribute to delays. We understand that waiting for an ambulance is very distressing and as soon as one became available, it was dispatched.

'We hope that the patient is recovering well and wish her all the best. The lady's family has been in touch with our patient experience team which is now in communication with them and is investigating the incident.'

Mrs Wood was released from hospital the following day suffering severe bruising but no serious lasting injuries.
White House ethics lawyers were in a state of panic after President Donald Trump and Kellyanne Conway responded to Ivanka's clothing line being dropped by Nordstrom, newly-released emails have revealed.

Within hours of Trump posting an indignant tweet on February 8 claiming his daughter had been treated unfairly, the top lawyer at the Office of Government Ethics, David Apol, asked Trump's White House ethics lawyers for a phone call.

The following day they had another problem, after Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway plugged Ivanka's clothing line on live TV from the White House.

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On February 8 Trump tweeted his indignation after department store Nordstrom dropped his daughter Ivanka's clothing line

In his controversial tweet, Trump described Ivanka as 'a great person'

An email exchange between David Apol, from the Office of Government Ethics, and Trump lawyers has been obtained by NBC after a Freedom of Information request.

Apol contacted the White House legal team asking for a phone call about 'an issue that has come up' hours after Trump's tweet.

The President wrote on Twitter: 'My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!'

Within five minutes, NBC reveals, Trump lawyer Stefan Passantino had got in touch, with Apol stating the call discussed 'the President's tweet concerning the decision of Nordstrom to stop carrying his daughter's line of products'.

Kellyanne Conway gave Ivanka's clothing line a free plug live on Fox News, prompting a panicked response from ethics lawyers

The President came under fire after tweeting his support for his daughter after Nordstrom dropped Ivanka's clothing line

The following morning, the two lawyers held another discussion following Kellyanne Conway's comments about the President's daughter's clothing line.

Conway, on Fox News, said: 'I'm going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody.'

Passantino contacted Apol to 'reassure' the ethics office that he would take 'appropriate action'.

Following Conway's plug, the ethics office's website crash amid a surge of web traffic. But it has yet to make a public comment on the controversy.

The emails, NBC reports, reveal an 'extraordinary level of public interest and concern', but also showed staffers believe their office is underfunded.

Yesterday the director of the Office of Government Ethics penned a letter to the White House scolding the administration for not punishing Kellyanne Conway for plugging Ivanka Trump's clothing line on live TV.

OGE head Walter Shaub suggested the administration's reasoning for not slapping Conway on the wrist could undermine the 'integrity of government.'

'Not taking disciplinary action against a senior official under such circumstances risks undermining the ethics program,' wrote Shaub, in a letter addressed to White House Deputy Counsel Stefan Passantino.
Sandie Rayne was found with stab wounds at her home in Leicestershire yesterday. A man was found dead at the property as well as a young girl, who was unharmed

A young mother posted a desperate plea on Facebook the day before she was found stabbed in an incident at her home.

Sandie Rayne, 25, was found severely injured and a man was found dead when police officers forced their way into her home in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire yesterday.

Her two-year-old daughter was also found unhurt in the bungalow and is being looked after by relatives after Ms Rayne was rushed to hospital.

The man found dead at the scene from stab wounds has been named locally as Ms Rayne's ex-boyfriend Warren Hall, who is also 25.

It emerged today that the 25-year-old posted a message on Facebook the day before the tragedy - saying she wanted to 'run away'.

She wrote that she: 'Wants to run away... somewhere no one knows you or your business and just start all over again... if anyone knows a place let me know.'

Five days earlier, on March 3, she wrote: 'Don't you wish you could just run away and hide where no one can find you...'

She had posted a series of troubling messages online before in the days before the incident

The incident unfolded on this new-build estate in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire

Police are investigating what happened at the 200,000 bungalow yesterday afternoon, but are not looking for anybody else.

Her mother Tracie, 46, said today: 'We hope Sandie pulls through. We don't want to say any more about it.'

Friend Annie Brookes said: 'She's a great mother to her daughter, who is a her little ray of sunshine, she's just a great mother which has been obvious whenever I've seen them together.

'Her daughter is so adorable and it's lovely to see Sandie with her, I hope for everyone's sake she will make a full recovery.'

Tributes were also paid to Mr Hall, with friend Michael Clarke posting online: 'Thoughts go out to Warren's family today. Another friend gone too soon. Love ya bro! R.I.P x'

Mr Hall's mother declined to comment this afternoon.

Police have condoned off a number of bungalows as they investigate what happened

A resident who lives near to the bungalow where the incident happened said: 'He was in his late 20s and the woman is probably in her mid-20s. The little girl must have been about two years old.

'The woman and the little girl are great. I only said hello to him once and he didn't reply. He used to go out to work early most days on a motorbike.

'As far as I know it was just the three of them in the house.'

A police spokesman said: 'Detectives have launched an investigation following the discovery of a man's body and a woman with serious injuries inside a house in Ashby.

'Officers were called to a house in Holland Crescent at around 3.20pm after receiving a report that a woman had been seriously injured.

'Upon arrival a woman was found inside the property suffering from extensive injuries.

'She was airlifted to hospital where her condition is described as stable.

Police teams scoured the house today as they attempt to work out what took place

The spokesman added: 'Officers also found the body of a man inside the house. It is not yet clear what may have caused his death.

'A young child was also found inside the house. She was unharmed and is currently being cared for by relatives.

The spokesman added: 'The house has been cordoned off and is being forensically examined. House to house enquiries will be conducted with nearby residents.

The house where Ms Rayne was found is being examined by forensics experts

'The investigation is in its early stages but at this point detectives are not looking for anyone else in connection with the enquiry.

'They have stressed that whilst the local community will be shocked by news of this incident, they should not be alarmed about their own personal safety.'

A police car and a forensics van could be seen parked in the street late on Thursday night as officers in white overalls searched the area.

Tory councillor Graham Allman, who represents Ashby on North West Leicestershire District Council, said: 'Obviously something tragic has happened and it's most unfortunate.

'My thoughts and feelings go out to all those who are affected by this. One of my staff told me she had heard something about a death in Ashby.

'I was in Ashby this afternoon and I did hear a lot of sirens at about half past three. That's not unusual these days unfortunately.

'It feels like Ashby is becoming a changed town with all the things that have happened here recently.'
It's a hotly anticipated blockbuster, but things spiralled out-of-control when a huge statue of King Kong went up in flames at the film's premiere.

Dramatic footage from the opening of Kong: Skull Island shows the giant ape bursting into flames at a Ho Chi Minh City shopping mall in Vietnam.

Panic-stricken crowds, including government officials, scrambled to flee the complex as blazing debris shot into the air, VTNews reported.

A giant King Kong statue went up in flames at the premiere for Kong: Skull Island

The inferno was sparked when flames were ejected from a simulated volcano, setting the $AUD60,000 stage alight.

It is understood crowds initially thought the fire was part of the plan, before the flames ripped across the elaborate stage, plunging guests into panic.

Firefighters were called and eventually extinguished the blaze, which lasted for more than 15 minutes.

The film starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson was largely shot in Hanoi and remote Vietnamese regions.

Government officials and representatives from the US General Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City were among the crowd.

Skull Island's cast as well as 225 crew members filmed in the country for a month last year.

The inferno was sparked when flames were ejected from a simulated volcano, setting the $AUD60,000 stage alight

Panic-stricken crowds, including government officials, scrambled to flee the complex
The cost to launch a 100MWh system would be $33.2m, Musk said

Tech billionaire Elon Musk claims Tesla batteries can remedy South Australia's energy crisis within 100 days from contract - and he is so sure that he's made a bet on it.

In a Twitter conversation on Friday with fellow billionaire and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, Musk wagered if the installation of a 100MWh battery farm is not up and running within 100 days, it comes free.

On Thursday, head of Tesla's battery division Lyndon Rive said the company could solve the state's power issues courtesy of increased production at their 'Gigafactory' in Nevada.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk claims Tesla batteries can remedy South Australia's energy crisis within 100 days from contract

In a Twitter conversation on Friday with fellow billionaire and co-founder of Atlassian Mike Cannon-Brookes, Musk wagered that if the installation of a 100MWh battery farm is not up and running within 100 days, it comes free

Cannon-Brookes queried how serious Musk was on the claim and if Tesla could deliver on it if he came up with the money for the project

Cannon-Brookes queried how serious Musk was on the claim and if Tesla could deliver on it if he came up with money for the project.

'[Is] that serious enough for you,' Musk said after stating his wager.

'You're on mate,' Cannon-Brookes responded.

'Give me seven days to try sort out politics and funding.'

Musk said to launch a 100MWh system in 100 days would cost $33.2m plus shipping, taxes and installation costs

An 80MWh system was recently launched in California within 90 days by Tesla.

Musk said to launch a 100MWh system in 100 days would cost $33.2m plus shipping, taxes and installation costs, according to The Advertiser.

The State Government is reportedly interested in Musk's proposal, with SA's Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis telling ABC that he's 'up for the discussion', but the private sector should do the investing.

South Australia has a high level of energy dependency on an interconnector to Victoria's supply.

Coupled with its nation-leading penetration of renewable energy into the grid, the state has been vulnerable to wide spread outages in recent history.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull blames the State Government for the power crisis, saying their pursuit of renewable energy is excessive without sufficient back-up.
Panasonic has released a washing machine with a curry button designed to remove difficult stains caused by the Indian cuisine.

The unique feature has been launched in India where customers had been moaning about not being able to remove curry stains.

The Japanese company set up a specialist team to look into solving the seemingly wide-spread issue and have come up with the new machine after two years of research.

Customers in India take a look at the latest line of the newest Panasonic washing machines

People in India had been complaining about not being able to remove curry stains

Experts analysed water temperature, water flow and washing times suitable for removing curry and other stains to come up with the perfect formula, according to the Japan Times.

Having looked at what goes into curries, the team were able to work out the optimum conditions for the stains to be removed.

The machine will cost consumers up to 350, which is around 10 percent increase on a conventional washer.

Around 5,000 units have already been sold in the country and Panasonic wants to sell around 30,000 by this time next year, according to the BBC.

It is not clear whether or not similar features will be launched in the UK or the US for other tough stains.

MailOnline has contacted Panasonic for a comment.
This is the heart-stopping moment a rampaging elephant charged at a motorcyclist before smashing into a nearby house.

Footage showed the enraged mammal wreaking a path of destruction in Kanjicude village in Kerala, India, after wandering in from the wild.

Villagers said the elephant had left the Walayar Forest in desperate search for water, taking out anything in its path.

This is the heart-stopping moment a rampaging elephant charged at a motorcyclist before smashing into a nearby house in Kerala, India

The thirsty elephant charged at anyone in sight before bulldozing the wall of a house.

Frightened locals can be heard in the video saying: 'How did it come here?

'Don't make any noise, let it go. Keep quiet! Keep quiet!'

The video, which was shot from the home of a local resident, shows the battered motorcyclist escaping the elephant on foot deserting his bike.

Footage showed the enraged mammal wreaking a path of destruction in Kanjicude village in Kerala, India, after wandering in from the wild

Villagers said the elephant had left the Walayar Forest in desperate search for water, taking out anything in its path

Residents were warned of the elephants' imminent arrival and were advised to remain indoors.

Damage was done to the street but there were fortunately no casualties of the raging Ellie.

It comes as the latest studies reveal that more than 30,000 elephants are slaughtered each year for their ivory.

The staggering rate has reduced the elephant population from ten million at the start of the 20th century to just over 400,000 today.

Poaching is now at such an unprecedented level that elephants are being killed at a rate of one every 15 minutes.
This is the incredible moment a wobbly wildebeest found its feet just minutes after being born.

Astounding footage showed the clumsy calf struggling to stand - and even tumbling headfirst into its mother as its weak front legs buckled.



But its patient mother was on hand to lovingly help the adorable newborn animal back up, after giving birth in the middle of the herd in Ngorongoro, Tanzania.

This is the incredible moment a wobbly wildebeest found its feet just minutes after being born in Ngorongoro, Tanzania

Astounding footage showed the clumsy calf struggling to stand - and even tumbling headfirst into its mother as its weak front legs buckled

The eye-opening clip started with the mother startling the herd as her waters burst.

She was then seen panting and struggling on her side as she went into labour - which normally lasts 30 minutes to one hour, and happens in the centre of the grassy plains.

Photographer Yulia Sundukova visited the Ngorongoro area of the southern Serengeti in the months of February and March for birthing season.

Witnessing the calving season, she gained a deep insight into wildebeest mothers and their behaviour.

Sundukova said: 'After spending days with wildebeests while they giving birth and later, while they crossed through the Mara river, I can just say they have nothing even close with the reputation "stupid animals".

But its patient mother was on hand to lovingly help the adorable newborn animal back up

The eye-opening clip starts with the mother startling the herd as her waters burst

'Every mother was special, with different behaviour by herself and to her calf.'

The newborn calf gains co-ordination faster than any other hoofed mammal.

It is able to run with the herd within five minutes and able to outrun a lioness shorty after.

Each mother is able to recognise her calf by scent, however mix-ups and lost young occur due to the baby's instinct to follow anything that moves, including predators.

She is then seen panting and struggling on her side as she goes into labour - which normally lasts 30 minutes to one hour, and happens in the centre of the grassy plains

The amazing footage then shows the calf fall out of its panting mother

It's the mother wildebeest's responsibility look after her calf for the first few days, to ensure the calf is imprinted on her and isn't separated.

They suckle for around four months and will eat their first meal of grass in just ten days.

February marks the start of the great migration, and almost 500,000 wildebeest calves are born within a two-week period, with 80 per cent of females choosing the same time-frame.

The huge volume of calves are born in sequence as this results in a lower percentage of the wildebeest young to be caught by predators.
A Russian mayor has declared his town - bordering the European Union - a 'gay-free zone' with officials in other districts close to Vladimir Putin's home city of St Petersburg enthusiastically following suit.

'They won't get here, even from the West,' boasted Sergey Davydov, who runs Svetogorsk, which is on the frontier with Finland.

His prejudiced stance has led to online ridicule from critics, with the former military commissar being branded a 'clown' and an 'idiot' for supposing he has no homosexual people among a population of 15,000.

A Russian mayor has declared the town of Svetogorsk, bordering Finland, should be a 'gay-free zone', encouraging other districts close to Putin's hometown of St Petersburg to follow suit. Pictured, town celebrations in Svetogorsk

Sergey Davydov has been ridiculed by his critics for imposing the ban on a town with a population of 15,000. Already two LGBT activists have been stopped from entering the town

He insisted 'there are and will be no gays' in his industrial town.

As his opponents have pointed out, it is unclear how the mayor can vouch for his claim, but since his announcement two LGBT activists were detained seeking to enter Svetogorsk after travelling from St Petersburg.

The pair were 'expelled' from the town which requires special permits to enter because it lies on the border, said Davydov, a former military officer in the Russian army.

He claimed that gay parades were held 'all the time' in nearest city St Petersburg, where Putin was born.

'Did you ever see a gay parade in Svetogorsk?' he asked.

'No evidence is needed. Just show me one gay and then we'll talk about it.

Mayor Davydov decided to bring in the ban when he found out that the local bakery was selling penis-shaped lollipops (pictured)

'I offer this every day but nobody ever comes.'

He was happy to meet 'all those who ready to argue about the presence of people with non-traditional sexual behaviour in our town', he said.

Davydov apparently acted after being scandalised that a local bakery sold penis-shaped lollipops.

The policy has been praised by Vyborg district boss Gennady Orlov, who said gay people should go to Europe

His discriminatory policy has won support in Vyborg district, where regional boss Gennady Orlov said: 'I support Davydov.

'There cannot be gay people in Vyborg District - and there must not be any.

'All those who want to be gay should go to Europe.'

And Konstantin Platonov, head Ivangorod, which borders Estonia, a former Soviet republic now in the EU and NATO, also backed the ban which flouts Russia's human rights commitments in international agreements.

'I don't know any gay people,' he said.

'I did not meet them in our town.

'And I hope I never meet them here.'

Meanwhile, regional MP Vladimir Petrov, who represents Slantsy district, said: 'I understand Svetogorsk town is free from gays, because this is what the mayor, a colonel of the Russian army, has said.

'And who can we trust more in this country if not an officer?

Davydov claimed that gay parades were held 'all the time' in nearest city St Petersburg, where Putin was born. Pictured, the town of Svetogorsk

The mayor has been branded a 'clown' and an 'idiot' for thinking that there are no gay people in the town of Svetogorsk. Pictured, the town during the winter

'I can say, too, that the whole of Slantsy district is free from gays.

'So we have joined the fight, and we are close to the border (with the West).

'Estonia is very close.'

One critic wrote: 'I wonder what this is about - idiocy or light-fascism?'

Another commented: 'We need to impose at least a minimal brain test for officials.'

One critic wrote: 'I wonder what this is about - idiocy or light-fascism?'. Regional MP Vladimir Petrov claims there are no gay people in the whole Slantsy district

One reader asked why Putin's United Russia party did not have a higher calibre of politicians to fill local posts. Another asked: 'I wonder how he checked all 15,000 people in his town?'

A further comment on a local news site read: 'He is not just a colonel, he's also a clown.'

Another critic wrote: 'I have always known that military men are a bit simple-minded, but to such an extent?'

One reader asked why Putin's United Russia party did not have a higher calibre of politicians to fill local posts.

Another asked: 'I wonder how he checked all 15,000 people in his town?'
Driver Surjeet Singh Pal, 57, lost control of his vehicle and mounted the pavement in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in May last year, sending Deborah Davies flying into the gutter - and she lost half her brain

A bus driver who ploughed into a grandmother and left her with half a head has been handed a 175 fine - to the fury of her heartbroken family.

Driver Surjeet Singh Pal, 57, lost control of his vehicle and mounted the pavement in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in May last year, sending Deborah Davies flying into the gutter.

Mrs Davies, 56, was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in a critical condition and suffered severe brain damage.

She survived, but the life-saving surgery for a bleed on her brain left her without half of her skull, before it was replaced with a metal plate.

The driver ploughed into Deborah from behind, sending her flying into a gutter - and her husband Steve, 58, claims the bus driver has 'ruined their lives'.

However Singh Pal, who is understood to have driven onto the pavement when approaching a bend, received only a 175 fine and a six month driving ban from Birmingham Magistrates' Court.

He must also reapply for his licence from the DVLA.

Even though causing death by careless driving carries a maximum penalty of five years, there is no law that covers the offence of causing serious injury by careless driving.

Steve, a retired engineer, lashed out at the sentence and said: 'It's appalling. It's no punishment at all.

Before and after: Mrs Davies was a fit and healthy woman before the crash (left), which left her brain damaged and required life-saving surgery on her brain (right)

'He has ruined our lives and he gets to walk free.

'If he had killed her, he would have had a more severe punishment, but then I would have lost my wife. It's a lose-lose situation.

'My son said if he were to collect three speeding tickets he would be more severely punished than the driver.

'Deborah went from being a vibrant and vivacious young grandmother to being solely dependent on me and our family.

Hearing: Deborah went from being a vibrant and vivacious young grandmother to being solely dependent on her husband and family

'She is now merely existing. She has such a poor quality of life compared with the one she planned for and we built together.

'She is living a life sentence while the driver who did this to her can put everything behind him and continue living his life.

'I am disgusted and dismayed there is not provision in law to adequately reflect the catastrophic, irrevocable damage this incident has done, both to Deborah physically as well as our lives as a family.'

Steve, 58, witnessed the accident along with one of their five grandchildren.

They were on their way to complete a purchase on a dream home so they could move closer to their daughter and grandchildren when the bus struck.

An ambulance crew that were two vehicles behind rushed out and immediately administered first aid, without which Deborah would have died.

He said: 'It was a lovely sunny day and we were walking along three-abreast, my wife closest to the road.

'We were just going to give in the final but of paperwork, and it was exciting as it was what we both wanted.

'All of a sudden she went flying through the air and landed in the gutter. It was awful.

'Without the ambulance crew right there she would have died. She could not have held on and waited for one to arrive.'

Despite being in a critical condition, she amazingly pulled through, but suffered severe brain damage and had to have part of her skull replaced by a metal plate.

The life-saving surgery has left her with only half a head.

Following the incident on May 20 last year, Deborah was placed into an induced coma for a week.

She sustained severe brain damage with lead to a clot on the brain. She required life-saving surgery and extensive rehabilitation.

She also suffered a broken neck, fractured cheek, broken ribs and a punctured lung in the collision.

Devastating injuries: Debbie also suffered a broken neck, fractured cheek, broken ribs and a punctured lung in the collision

She returned home on October 2016 to await a craniotomy to replace part of her missing skull with a metal plate.

However, the couple may need to move from their new home to an adapted house, due to the level of care Deborah requires.

She is no longer able to look after her beloved grandchildren, visit friends for walk her miniature schnauzer Archie.

Rebecca Hearsey, an expert serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: 'Five months after the accident which almost claimed her life, Deborah was allowed to return home but only if she wore a padded helmet to protect her fragile skull.

'Every day continues to be a struggle for her.

'Her life now will be constantly punctuated by hospital appointments, therapy, carers and rehabilitation.

'The driver's sentence does not reflect the severity of what happened and it is easy to see why Steve and his family are so dismayed that the punishment simply does not fit the crime.

'While the sentence ultimately can't do anything to change what has happened to Deborah, Steve and his family feel it also does nothing to encourage drivers to exercise greater caution behind the wheel.

'He hopes that releasing photos of Deborah before and after the crash will instead serve as a warning to drivers that their actions can have catastrophic consequences.'
There has been backlash online after a clothing website sold T-shirts with slogans that internet users say are offensive to Chinese people.

People have criticised the T-shirts on Spreadshirt's website for being racist. It seems the goods have been taken down from the German, Australian and American sites but are still onsale in the UK.

Slogans such as 'Save a dog, Eat a Chinese' and 'Save a shark, Eat a Chinese' are for sale on T-shirts on the site.

Unhappy customers: Slogans such as 'Save a dog, Eat a Chinese' are for sale on the website

The clothing is for sale on Spreadshirt, a site where you can custom make tshirts

Prices of the clothing on the company's UK site range from 16 for a T-shirt to 34 for a hoodie.

The T-shirts were brought into the spotlight by website yomyomf.com. The site aims to explore issues surrounding Asian communities.

They called for people to contact the website and take to social media to complain about the offensive slogans.

According to Spreadshirt, the website is a 'creative platform for custom T-shirts and custom clothing. It allows people to design their own images and words and put them onto various products.

Many people offended by the T-shirts have taken to social media to explain why the T-shirts are inappropriate.

The slogans on several T-shirts have caused outrage online for their stereotypical elements

Offensive slogan: Many people have gone to the company's Facebook page to complain

Sam Liu wrote on the company's Facebook page:' I respect your concept of business however I have to express my regret and anger after seeing designs with the phrase 'Save a Shark, Eat a Chinese'. To me it is not funny. I feel being stereotyped and offended.'

While Rik Teng commented: 'In this day and age when you can make money AND provide positive messages for young and old people worldwide, you'd rather resort to sleazy, racist jokes to attract the attention of slap-happy biggots.'

Viki Yamashita also said: 'Hi Spreadshirt. I just saw an incredibly racist shirt, two actually, that you made targeting Chinese. Shame on you. The images are being shared on social media. I hope you realize what a big mistake that was to make such tacky racist jokes.'

According to CRI, shark fin consumption has decreased in China by around 70 percent. Imports of shark fin dropped from 4,774 tonnes to less than 20 tonnes per year between 2004 and 2014.

Eating dog meat is an occurance in China with festivals such as the Yulin Dog Meat festival held every year. Photos of the festival have been shared around the world with big charities working to stop these types of events happening.

However 2016 research by the Humane Society International shows that around 70 percent of people in China have never tried dog meat.

Philip Rooke, CEO of Spreadshirt told MailOnline: 'Two community-submitted designs on the Spreadshirt platform, Save a shark Eat a Chinese and Save a dog Eat a Chinese, have been discussed.

'After close examination and careful consideration, we have decided to keep these designs on our platform.

Spreadshirts role is to enable our communitys ideas to get to market and to fulfill them with print-on-demand. We do not judge or censor designs based on their phrasing, social, or political leanings.

This open platform principle will mean that, in a few cases, some people may find a design controversial while others do not.

We have no intention of causing anyone offense, and I apologize to anyone who takes any offense from the two designs in question.'

Bizarre slogan: The clothing items are for sale on the company's English website
An eight-month pregnant woman was kicked twice in the stomach in a shocking attack during a fight on a packed New York subway.

Natasha Rodney was rushed to hospital after the sickening drama, which happened yesterday.

A 40-year-old commuter, Michael Lee, has been charged with felony assault, misdemeanor assault and felony reckless endangerment.

Michael Lee, 40, was arrested following the shocking attack on mom-to-be Natasha Rodney

Lee has been charged with felony assault, misdemeanor assault and felony reckless endangerment

Police believe Lee bumped into Rodney, 28, on a train bound for the Bronx shortly after 8am.

Rodney reacted by pushing him, it is alleged, knocking him to the floor. He is believed to have then kicked her twice in the stomach in anger.

Luckily neither Rodney or the baby, a boy due on March 27, appear to have suffered serious harm, but doctors are keeping a close eye on them.

A vendor outside the station said Lee 'went cooperatively' after his arrest after Rodney was kicked twice

The victim's mother, Carol Rodney, said: 'I don't care what argument they had. What if the baby is damaged?'

The victim's mother, Carol Rodney, told the New York Daily News: 'How do you kick a pregnant person? Shes due this month. I'm shaking.'

And the grandmother-to-be continued: 'Is he insane? I dont care what argument they had. What if the baby is damaged? What if, God forbid?'

Lee is scheduled for arraignment today at Manhattan Criminal Court.

NYPD spokesman Sgt Lee Jones told the New York Post: 'It was a crowded train and the guy bumped into her. She mentioned something to him.'

The row became physical, he said, and the man was pushed to the ground. 'He got back up and kicked her twice in the stomach,' Jones stated.

Lee 'went cooperatively', a vendor outside the station said, tell the New York Post: 'Theres no excuse to kick anybody, but especially a pregnant woman. Youre harming two lives at once.'
A florist jailed for six years for slashing two men in the street with a seven-inch knife before fleeing to Cyprus has been shot in his driveway.

Ross Craig, 34, was hit in the legs yet still managed to chase the gunman down Shawhill Road in Glasgow yesterday morning but the assailant jumped in a waiting getaway car and sped off.

Today he is being comforted at home by his fiancee Anna Handzel, 33, after being released from the city's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Police Scotland say they are treating the attack as attempted murder.

The businessman, who owns the Regal Roses florists in the city, was jailed in 2010 after he carried out two late-night knife attacks in Glasgow four years earlier.

After his arrest he jumped bail and fled to Cyprus where he hid before returning to Britain to face justice.

Manhunt: Police in Glasgow are searching for the gunman who fired on florist owner Ross Craig as he got in his car, pictured left, and right with his fiancee Anna Handzel

Probe: Police in Glasgow are treating the attack as attempted murder - and despite getting shot Mr Craig still chased his attacker down the road despite the gunshot wound

The 'targeted' attack, which is being treated as attempted murder, happened in Shawlands, Glasgow, at about 8.10am yesterday - it is not clear if it was linked to his own criminal past.

Police said the 34-year-old man was getting into his vehicle outside his home in the residential area when he noticed someone standing at the bottom of his driveway.

After going to investigate he was shot once in the leg.

Despite his injury the victim chased the suspect, who got away in a dark-coloured vehicle that was waiting for him on St Ronan's Drive. The injured man was treated at the city's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. He has since been released.

Detective Inspector Colin Hailstones said: 'I know that local residents will be concerned by this incident. We understand that this was a targeted and isolated attack. It is being treated as attempted murder.'

The attacker is described as 5ft 7in and was wearing dark clothing and a dark beanie hat.

Extensive inquiries are ongoing in the area to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the shooting - one of four serious ones in Glasgow in recent months.

Chief Inspector Hilary Sloan said: 'I completely understand that people will be concerned by this incident and we will have an increased uniformed presence in the area.

'I would ask local residents to approach those officers with any information or concerns that they have.

'You may have heard a disturbance, witnessed the chase or heard a car speeding off.'

Victim: The 'targeted' attack, which is being treated as attempted murder, happened in Shawlands, Glasgow, at about 8.10am - it is not clear if it was linked to his criminal past

Mr Craig has enjoyed a jetset life with his glamorous fiancee Anna Handzel and runs a successful flower business since his release from prison.

In 2006 he fled the country after attacking a soldier and his friend in the centre of Glasgow.

Fresh start: Mr Craig has enjoyed a jetset life with his glamorous fiancee Anna Handzel and runs a successful flower business since his release from prison

Ross Craig stabbed and slashed them as they tried to get a cab home after a night out.

He first started a fight with Mr McLean and stabbed him twice on the back and thigh and slashed his face. Mr Picken then tried to his friend, he was slashed in the chest.

Police called to the scene chased Craig, who was carrying a seven inch lock knife.

Craig, then 28, was arrested but then bailed and fled to Cyprus to avoid court.

After returning to Britain in 2010 he admitted attacking Robert Picken and Craig McLean at

Craig then began to fight with Mr McLean and stabbed him twice on the back and thigh and slashed his face. Mr Picken moved to help his friend and was also slashed and wounded in the chest.

His defence QC Paul McBride said: 'He left to go to Cyprus but I don't think he falls into the Asil Nadir category. He was working in a bar.'

But he was jailed for six and a half years, and sentencing judge Lord Bannatyne told him: 'Both of these are in my view unprovoked attacks on two individuals who happened to be in the city centre at this particular time. Both of the assaults involved the use if a deadly weapon, namely a knife.'

'The assaults have significantly impacted in the lives of both victims.

'At the time of these offences you were subject to no less than four recent bail orders.'

Anyone with information about yesterday's shooting is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101 or can contact Crimestoppers anonymously 0800 555 111.
The pregnant girlfriend of missing RAF airman Corrie McKeague has shared a heartbreaking photograph of the couple together in one of their favourite spots.

The missing military man's partner, April Oliver, shared a selfie showing the pair in a convertible in Norfolk, and wrote: 'I miss you every second of every day.'

The 21-year-old found out she was expecting just two weeks after the 23-year-old disappeared in September last year.

The missing military man's partner, April Oliver, shared a selfie showing the pair, smiling while sat in a convertible, and wrote: 'I miss you every second of every day'

The young couple had met on a dating site and had only been together for around five months before he went missing almost six months ago.

Since announcing her pregnancy, April has kept quiet but last night shared the image with the 125,000 members on Corrie's missing page.

Police searching for Corrie said on Wednesday that it could take 10 weeks to scour a rubbish dump in Milton, Cambridge, where his body is thought to be following a blunder over a bin lorry linked to the case.

It is feared the 23-year-old RAF airman may have fallen into a bin following a night out in Bury St Edmunds last September, before being transported to a waste tip.

But long delays were caused to the search when the rubbish truck's weight was wrongly recorded as 24lbs rather than more than 180lbs.

Police are continuing to scour a rubbish dump in a search for missing Corrie McKeague

Mr McKeague, pictured (right) with girlfriend April Oliver, went missing after a night out

It could take the team of eight trained search officers up to 10 weeks to sift through 60 tons rubbish up to eight metres deep, covering around 920 square metres of the dump in Milton, near Cambridge.

The detective heading up the search, Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott, insisted she would not call the mistaken weight of a bin during the investigation an 'oversight'.

She said: 'I wouldn't describe it as an oversight. We check and recheck data we are provided. It's only when we've gone back and looked through thousands of lines of data we've found this.'

Ms Elliot added that she was 'confident' that his body would be found at the site.

Speaking as her officers raked through piles of rubbish, she said: 'I have a strong belief that we will find him here.'

Ms Elliot described finding out about the correct weight of the load in the bin as 'very sobering'.

She added: 'I would have liked to have had the information sooner that would have led us to this point.

Police say it could take up to 10 weeks to scour the site where his body may have been dumped

Detective Katie Elliott (left) denied that a mistake in the lorry's weight was an oversight

'It's frustrating for me, I think it must be terribly frustrating for Corrie's family.

'We've been working tirelessly on this investigation to try and find Corrie - that's been our priority the whole way through.

'To have that information really reinforced the decision that we'd already made that we needed to come and search this landfill site.'

Mr McKeague's mother, Nicola Urquhart, said to day that she is 'just trying to keep it together' as police continue to trawl the landfill site for her son's body.

Responding to the bin lorry weight issue, Ms Urquhart, said: 'It could be the most innocent of errors that has not only dragged a family through this but I've brought thousands of people into this and that's a lot to handle.

'I have one thousand questions going through my head - not one of them will help me find Corrie.

'We need to find Corrie and then hopefully we might get some answers. All I can say right now is that I'm just trying to keep it together.'

Mr McKeague's mother, Nicola Urquhart said that she is 'just trying to keep it together'

She wrote an emotional post on Facebook last night saying the lorry weight was devastating

Mr McKeague, from Fife, vanished on a night out with friends in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on September 24.

A bin lorry was seen on CCTV near Brentgovel Street in the town around the time Mr McKeague was last seen, and it took a route which appeared to coincide with the movements of his phone.

The area of the landfill site where the load was deposited is now being searched, with a digger mechanically excavating mounds of waste and officers in white protective suits raking through it on the ground.

A 26-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice over the discrepancy in the lorry's load weight. But the man, who is not the bin lorry driver, faces no further action.

Detective Superintendent Elliott said she does not believe there was a 'deliberate attempt to mislead' the investigation, and that the focus had to be on finding Mr McKeague.

The six-month investigation has cost more than 300,000 to date and the search of the landfill site could cost more than 500,000 if it runs to 10 weeks.
A commuter couldn't help but smile yesterday afternoon as he noticed seven nuns waiting for a train - at Seven Sisters tube station.

But any irony of the bizarre coincidence appeared to go straight over the nuns' habits, as the group relaxed until the tube arrived.

One was spotted enjoying a takeaway coffee while another killed the time by knitting.

But onlooker Ben Patey, 33, couldn't help but be amused.

What do you call a tube platform with seven sisters on it? Nun of your business! Onlooker left open mouthed after spotting the group at the North London station

Mr Patey said: 'I had just had a long day and I was waiting to jump on the train when I looked across and saw the nuns and the sign.

'I had to do a double-take. It was one of those strange but amusing moments.'

But it remains a mystery where the sisters were from or where they were travelling to.

The closest convent to the station said it was not their nuns sighted and added it was a rare event to see so many together at once.

Sister Agnes of St Annes in Stoke Newington said: It is quite rare to see seven together at one time, we are a convent of 13.

She explained each alter has their own colour palette for the distinctive uniforms.

Ben Patey, who photographed the moment on a London train platform when seven nuns were spotted at Seven Sisters station,

In the picture, the seven sisters are wearing black gowns with either a habit of the same colour, or white.

Sister Agnes said: We all wear different colours, here we are black with a grey veil. It depends on which alter you serve.

The Seven Sisters tube station is believed to take its name from a group of seven elm trees which were planted around a willow tree in the 14th Century.

However the eagle-eyed reader feeling a little superior might be able to notice that, yes, there is an eighth sister behind the pillar on the left.

Perhaps she was travelling to Nunhead.

This is not the first time commuters have been left chuckling at strange visual occurrences at tube stations.

In April 2016 a traffic warden tried to give a ticket to a man driving a giant foot.

A photographer captured the moment the massive pink foot-shaped vehicle was pulled over in south London.

The marshal appeared to give the driver a stern talking to outside Balham tube station.

After being spoken to by the warden, the structure was apparently abandoned by the side of the road.

The scene was spotted by Wandsworth Police who tweeted: 'Spotted near Balham Tube, a typical day in Wandsworth*(anyone have an explanation?)'

The strange giant foot sighting was eventually revealed to be a promotional tactic for this year's Wandsworth Arts Fringe festival.
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These eerie images reveal the secret past of a nondescript Cornish mining tunnel which was once used to test explosives and research in the Cold War.

The photographs were taken at Excelsior Tunnel in Callington, Cornwall, by a daring man who grew up in the area.

He took a friend to explore the hidden tunnels but admitted he was alarmed halfway through the visit when he realised no one knew where they were - and the historic tunnels could be at risk of collapsing after days of heavy rain.

Under the code name of Operation Orpheus, the 2,180-foot underground passage became a testing ground for the British military to trial the impact of nuclear tests.

Secret past: These images reveal the hidden past of an underground Cornish mining tunnel which played a key role during the Cold War by acting as a testing ground for the British military to experiment with weapons and explosives

Under the code name of Operation Orpheus, the 2,180-foot underground passage (pictured here) was regularly used for research and to research the potential impact of nuclear tests during the Cold War

Going down! The photographs were taken at Excelsior Tunnel in Callington, Cornwall, by a man who grew up in the area. Here his friend travels down the passageway to explore

While civilians and Cornish residents carried on as normal, beneath the ground weapon experts were trialing potentially dangerous explosives.

According to newspaper cuttings between 1959 and 1960, some 75 explosions were carried out.

But CornwallLive reported local people didn't seem phased - or aware - of what was happening.

Weapons were fired in 6ft diameter voids at depths of 100 to 300 feet though no nuclear material was reported to be involved.

Why the Cornish site was chosen has never been disclosed but a writer suggested it was selected due to its depth and the fact it had been abandoned for some time.

Previously secret files released from the National Archives showed scientists had conducted "extensive geological investigations" on mines across Cornwall and Devon.

Into darkness: The photographer's companion makes his way further into the historic tunnel

The document read: 'They were therefore very familiar with these mines and had many of the facilities on tap for reworking them.'

The Cornwall site was one of a few chosen places selected by Britain and America to trial weapons during the long war.

At Greenside Mine 3,000lb charges were detonated while massive explosions were set off in a salt mine near Louisiana in the United States.

And it was the rumours about the mine's military past which first ignited photographer Nat W's interest, as he heard stories growing up in Callington.

This led the 46 year old to daringly visit the site this year - accompanied with a friend and his camera.

Inside the mines, he took a series of shots showing the hidden tunnels which were once used by miners and then the military.

One image shows the nondescript entrance, built into the side of the ground, which is largely hidden from view.

Hidden: To passersby, the entrance to the Cornish passage would be easy to walk past as it is covered in foliage and gives no clues away about its military heritage

Historic: The tunnel was first dug out in around 1880 to connect to a nearby mine shaft to gain access to tin but this was abandoned half way in

But while they were exploring, he admitted he became panicked when he remembered the days of heavy rain - and that no one knew they were there.

He said: 'As we progressed into the fascinating tunnel it dawned on us that no-one knew where we were and that the torrential rain from the days before meant a very real chance of a tunnel collapse.'

But he said the trip was worthwhile as he finally discovered firsthand a place he had heard about for decades.

The photographer said: 'I went to school in Callington which is a town at the bottom of Kit Hill, at school we would run cross country up Kit Hill and there had been persistent rumours that there were tunnels under the it.

'Despite there being rumours I never met a single person who could actually identify where they were or who had been in them, or even seen them.

'The rumours that were going around when I was at school made no mention of a military connection.

'So when as part of my research into urbex locations I heard that not only were there indeed tunnels under Kit Hill but that they were part of a military research project determining how to measure the payload of nuclear weapons I was fascinated.

The tunnel was first dug out in around 1880 to connect to a nearby mine shaft to gain access to tin but this was abandoned half way in.

During the Cold War, the tunnel was chosen to become the first site to experiment with the detection of underground explosions under the name, Operation Orpheus to coincide with the United States' Operation Cowboy.

Rumour has it: There is no evidence that nuclear weapons were detonated there but in 1959, the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment exploded small charges into the granite of the tunnel at 100 feet and 300 feet

Abandoned: The tunnel has been vacated since the tests ended in 1960 and moved to Cumbria

Decayed: A rusted gate (pictured left) and parts of the general structure (pictured right) have become rusted and aged over time but this didn't stop the photographer and his friend from exploring

Surprised: The photographer said people are usually surprised to learn that explosive tests were conducted in the village where he went to school

There is no evidence that nuclear weapons were detonated there but in 1959, the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment exploded small charges into the granite of the tunnel at 100-feet and 300-feet.

The tunnel has been abandoned ever since the tests ended in 1960 and moved to Cumbria.

The photographer said: 'My interest in photography centres around contrasts - decay and dirt versus new and renewal, the line between the aesthetic and the intellectual and conceptual, beauty in the mundane.

'I'm interested in capturing a moment in time via photography.

'I think that urbex is a particularly interesting area of photography because you clearly record a very transient moment.

'Either something that will soon be gone, or something that is already decaying, I enjoy making a beautiful photograph from something that is dirty, decaying and mundane.

'People are universally surprised that these tests were conducted in the village in which I went to school and that no-one really knows about it.'

During the Cold War the Cornish tunnel, which in parts has now collapsed (above), was selected to become the first site to experiment with the detection of underground explosions under the name, Operation Orpheus to coincide with the United States' Operation Cowboy
A science teacher who took Meow Meow with a pupil and hosted sleepovers at his home has been struck off.

Robert Roskelly, 33, also held topless fitness training sessions with his pupils at Winstanley Community College in Braunstone, Leicestershire.

He befriended them on Facebook despite being warned not to and ended up resigning in 2014, prompting an investigation into his relationship with students.

Roskelly admitted to taking the now banned drug Mephedrone with a 15-year-old pupil, and using Viagra.

Robert Roskelly, 33, held topless fitness training sessions with his pupils at Winstanley Community College (pictured) in Braunstone, Leicestershire

Mephedrone, also known as 'Meow Meow', was banned in 2010 after it was linked to several sudden deaths across the country.

Its side effects can cause agitation, hallucinations and even fits.

He forked out 100 to the kids on different occasions to go to the cinema and buy legal highs.

Roskelly also held fitness classes during the summer holiday on school grounds and had pupils to stay the night at his home.

On other occasions he would crash at their houses when the parents were away.

He was once seen by a student in a room while another pupil was stripped down to their underpants.

He states that he became involved with a group of people which led to him becoming involved in taking legal highs and this led to, "poor decisions" and "poor choices" relating to drug use, said panel chair Kathy Thompson.

He was aged under 30 at the time and his representative submitted that his actions were immature and he did not realise the significance of them at the time.

He further states that he will have to live with the fact that, having been able to make a difference in the lives of young people and been an excellent role model prior to this, both in and out of school, he will not have the opportunity to do so in the future which is something [he finds] deeply disappointing.

The panel concluded that Roskelly had to be prohibited from teaching indefinitely with no eligibility for restoration.

The panel is of the view that prohibition is both proportionate and appropriate.

His breaching of direct management instructions to continue being friends with pupils and ex-pupils on Facebook, and undertaking drug taking activities with pupils was a significant factor in forming that opinion.

Accordingly, the panel makes a recommendation to the Secretary of State that a prohibition order should be imposed with immediate effect.

Roskelly, was prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or childrens home in England.

He has 28 days to appeal the decision.
Live television always leaves room for hilarious gaffes - which is exactly what happened when a BBC debate on South Korea was interrupted by the interviewee's children.

The hilarious footage shows expert Robert Kelly, an associate professor of Political Science at Pusan National University in Busan, handling serious questions on the country's president, Park Geun-hye, being ousted from power.

But suddenly, a toddler bursts into the room in a bright yellow top and performs a comical dance behind the Cleveland, Ohio, native.

The interviewees toddler bursts into the room in a bright yellow top and performs a hilarious dance behind him

Kelly, 44, who was born and studied in the US before moving to Korea as a political science professor, focuses entirely on the camera as he attempts to blindly hand off his daughter, who is clearly curious as to who he is talking to.

And his parental problems soon double as a baby also excitedly makes his way into the room under his own power in a walker.

To complete the farce, his wife Jung-a Kim then comes skidding through the threshold.

She grabs the two youngsters and attempts to drag them out of the door, but one of them can be heard wailing and the baby's walker suddenly won't fit back through the door.

Both parties try to keep their cool despite the hilarious interruption from his young child

His parental problems soon double as a baby also excitedly makes his way into the room in a stroller

Eventually, she manages to get them both out, and the interview continues.

When the interview finishes, broadcaster James Mernendez says: 'There's a first time for everything. I think you've got some children who need you!'

And after the segment had finished, the presenter admitted on Twitter that he had struggled to keep it together.

He posted a link to the video, with the words: 'Hard to keep a straight face.'

Afterwards, he added: 'It was the desperate reach for the door at the end that nearly did it for me.'

To complete the farce, his wife comes skidding through the threshold to collect the children

She grabs the two youngsters and attempts to drag them out of the door, but one of them can be heard wailing and the baby's walker suddenly won't fit back through the door

More formal pose: Robert Kelly and his wife Jung-a Kim and daughter Marion - who started the interruption which created a viral sensation.

The hilarious footage was first tweeted by BBC producer Julia MacFarlane, who promptly deleted it 20 minutes later.

She wrote: 'When the kids interrupt you in the middle of live TV...A lovely moment and masterfully handled by our guest this morning on South Korea'.

A BBC spokesman told MailOnline: 'We're really grateful to Professor Kelly for his professionalism. This just goes to show that live broadcasting isn't always child's play.'

A highly respected expert on South Korean politics, Prof Kelly has written for outlets including Foreign Affairs, The European Journal Of International Relations and The Economist.

He earned his bachelors degree in political science from the University of Miami and completed his PhD at Ohio State.

Kelly moved to Korea in 2008, and married Jung-a Kim, a former yoga teacher who is now a stay-at-home mother to their two children, Marion, four, and James, nine-months.

And after the segment had finished, the presenter admitted on Twitter that he had struggled to keep it together during the episode

No sooner had the interview been broadcast that people were clamoring to share the clip online

Some Twitter users took a more serious approach to reassure viewers that Professor Kelly is a voice of authority as well as a source of fun

The stuff of memes: The internet was quick to react to the hilarious clip with Twitter users uploading and sharing memes

The Seinfeld themed meme drew comparisons with character Kramer's famous entrances and little Marion marching into the room mid-broadcast

Another meme captured the exact moment despairing Professor Kelly realised his daughter was in the room and tried to nudge her out of shot

Journalist Victoria Craw couldn't contain her joy at the hilarious interview

Kelly's mother Ellen told DailyMail.com the clip was 'hilarious' and that she had spoken to her son just as it started to become an internet sensation.

'First my sister called and then we spoke to Robert, who was a little disturbed - probably just embarrassed,' she said.

Mrs Kelly added that she thought 'the best part' of the video was when his wife, Jung-a, came skidding through.

'It was just fantastic,' Mrs Kelly said. 'Robert will be in for a real treat when he wakes up the morning.'

As Korea is 14 hours ahead of the U.S., Mrs Kelly did not know if her son is fully aware of his internet fame - most of which grew when he would normally be asleep.

Ellen Kelly, 72, with her husband, Joseph, spoke to DailyMail.com and said she could be the reason behind the gaffe. She said that she regularly Skypes with the children and that 'the kids probably heard voices coming from the computer and assumed it was grandma'

But Facebook posts on the professor's wall, congratulating him on his 'performance' and calling him a 'star', are flooding in.

Mrs Kelly, of University Heights, just outside Cleveland, Ohio, told DailyMail.com that she is exceptionally proud of her son and all of his accomplishments, and added that he is a 'wonderful' and committed father.

She and her husband Joseph usually Skype with Robert, his wife Jung-a Kim and the two children from the same place as he was carrying out the BBC interview.

'Robert usually Skypes with us from his home office, which is where he did the interview.

'The kids probably heard voices coming from the computer and assumed it was us,' she said laughing. 'It was just hilarious'.

Mrs Kelly, 72, explained that her 44-year-old son, who is an expert on South Korean politics, has done a number of interviews on network television for other outlets, including CNN, as well as CNBC, Sky News, and ITN.

She said: 'I just hope that he gains recognition for his expertise rather than for this - as great as it all is.'

'Life happens,' she said, laughing. 'The lesson is to lock the door!'

Since the clip has gone viral, social media has been awash with users in hysterics at the event.

One user, GothicFrog, said: 'I love the speed of the child minder! She just drags them out!'

Lee Sherry added: 'Did anybody just watch BBC world news interview regarding Korean president children walked in. Maid dragged children out? Hilarious'.

Tony Brown added: 'I just can't stop watching it on repeat.'
An unmarried couple arrested at a hospital in Abu Dhabi after a doctor discovered that the woman was pregnant, have been dramatically released after being held for six weeks in jail.

South African Emlyn Culverwell phoned his family early today to tell her 'we're free',' his ecstatic mother told MailOnline.

Mr Culverwell, 29, and his fiancee Iryna Nohai, 27, were reported for having unlawful sex outside of marriage on 29 January after Miss Nohai went to hospital suffering from stomach cramps. She had no idea she was pregnant, Linda Culverwell revealed.

Having sex outside of marriage is illegal in the United Arab Emirates and those who are convicted can face long jail sentences.

After receiving little or no news of the pair since they were held separately at Al Wathba prison in the UAE capital, Mrs Culverwell, 51, got a call out of the blue.

'It was Emlyn  he just said, "hi mum, it's me". I couldn't believe it! He was the last person I expected to hear from,' the mother of two told MailOnline.

Free: Tired and pale, 11 weeks pregnant Iryna Nohai and fiance Emlyn Culverwell are delighted to be reunited after six weeks in separate jails for sex outside marriage

Together: The couple, who got engaged recently, were imprisoned after Miss Nohai went to the doctor complaining of stomach cramps and discovered she was pregnant

No news: The families of the couple heard very little about them in recent weeks until Mr Culverwell rang his mother out of the blue and said: 'Hi mum, it's me'. Pictured: Miss Nohai before her ordeal

'I was crying and shouting like a mad person, it seemed so unreal.

'It was the first time I have spoken to him since before they were arrested. He said they were fine, just very tired and emotionally drained. He said they had suddenly been released and all the charges dropped.'

The relieved mother, who felt unwell and was hospitalised after learning of her only son's arrest, said they now plan to marry 'quietly and quickly' and continue with their lives in the Gulf.

'Emlyn said Iryna is okay, she is quite a soft and timid person but he says she is holding up.

'I am so relieved that they are out. I was alone when I got the call and after I put the phone down, I was crying and celebrating all on my own, I didn't know what to do with myself,' said Mrs Culverwell, who has not seen her son for five years, and has never met her daughter-in-law to be.

Future: Mr Culverwell and Miss Nohai plan to marry 'quickly and quietly' in Abu Dhabi and to continue living in the Middle Eastern country

Expat life: The couple had talked about getting married for some time and Mr Culverwell proposed to Miss Nohai two days before they were arrested

'I hope they can work past this and get on with their lives. The wedding is going to be very quiet and I would rather they just get married quietly and quickly and maybe do something bigger later on and renew vows.

Relief: Linda Culverwell was alone when she found out they had been released: 'I was crying and celebrating all on my own, I didn't know what to do with myself'

'They are apparently looking very thin and tired, but the baby is fine and Iryna is 11 weeks pregnant.

'It will be my first grandchild and I am so excited. Emlyn will make a great dad, he loves children and has always wanted them.'

The couple, who both work for Yas Waterworld in the UAE capital, got engaged just two days before their arrest, Mrs Culverwell said from her home in Port Alfred, a quiet town in South Africa's remote Eastern Cape.

'They had been talking about getting married for a long time, but had wanted me and Iryna's mother to be there.

'I explained that I couldn't get there, and told Emlyn it didn't matter if I was there or not.

'They didn't want a long engagement, and Emlyn proposed to Iryna two days before they were arrested.

'She had no idea he was going to propose, and Emlyn wanted to surprise me and Iryna's mother by buying us flights to get over there for the wedding,' she explained.

According to local laws, Miss Nohai was suspected of 'Zina', the Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse, which the UAE has criminalised. If found guilty, women and couples are either deported or imprisoned in the country for at least a year

Mr Culverwell has been working in the UAE for the past five years as a lifeguard at Yas Waterworld  the company where his Ukranian fiancee worked in administration.

They became a couple almost three years ago.

According to local laws, Miss Nohai was suspected of 'Zina', the Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse, which the UAE has criminalised.

Women and couples found guilty of Zina in UAE are either deported or imprisoned in the country for at least a year.

Hundreds of women are imprisoned each year for the crime, including pregnant women and rape victims.

Anguish: Miss Nohai mother Natalya heard very little of her daughter while in jail but confirmed that all charges had been dropped

Together: The pair met in Abu Dhabi and became an item three years ago. Mr Culverwell works as a lifeguard at Yas Waterworld while Miss Nohai is an administrator at the attraction

The South African's father Karl also received a short call with the good news.

'Emlyn sounded in good spirits, but very tired. They just want to put this ordeal behind them and they are obviously relieved that the baby is fine,' he told MailOnline.

Iryna's mother Natalya added: 'All the charges against Iryna and Emlyn have been dropped.'
Roxanne Holmes said frauster Shyam Acharya abused her when she sought treatment for back pain at Manly Hospital in 2012

A former patient of the fugitive who allegedly posed as a doctor in Australia for 11 years has opened up on her horror after learning about his scam.

Roxanne Holmes said Shyam Acharya, who went under the name Dr Sarang Chitale, abused her when she visited him at Sydney's Manly Hospital with back pain in 2012.

Authorities believe the Indian fraudster fled overseas after a decade pocketing a six-figure salary working in NSW hospitals under the stolen identity.

'I'm still shocked to know this man that treated me was a fake, like how does that happen?' Ms Holmes told 7News.

She recalled Acharya, who was working as the treating doctor in the emergency department, was difficult and abusive, refusing to give her pain relief and evicting her from the hospital.

'He just simply refused to treat me, he was very abusive to me He actually said to me, "I'm going to call security if you don't leave."'

Ms Holmes lodged an official complaint but said the hospital failed to follow the matter up.

'A normal doctor shouldn't treat a patient like that, I was horrified,' she said.

The real Sarang Chitale - a real doctor in Manchester, UK - is reportedly appalled by the identity theft.



Copies of his hospital ID, driver license, and fraudulent passport all surfaced on Thursday, documents that successfully fooled authorities and allowed him to go undetected from 2003 until 2014.

The documents falsely stated Acharya, 41, had earned a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

Acharya also used his six-figure salary to take him on holidays across the world as photos of him posing in front of the Louvre in Paris emerge on his private WhatsApp profile.

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'Fake' doctor Shyam Acharya, 41, fled overseas after a decade pocketing a six-figure salary working in NSW hospitals under the stolen identity

Acharya also used his six-figure salary to take him on holidays across the world, as photos of him posing in front of the Louvre in Paris emerge on his private WhatsApp profile

Authorities believe Acharya may have fled overseas when his alleged fraud was discovered.

He also left a wife and five-year-old daughter living in North Ryde behind when he went on the run, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Acharya's alleged trail of crime reportedly started under the Indian Government's watch when he was granted a legitimate passport under the name he allegedly stole from a qualified doctor.

But while the ruse started in India, New South Wales Health was reportedly responsible for allowing it to continue for 11 years.

Ms Holmes said Acharya, who was working as the treating doctor in the emergency department, was difficult and abusive

Copy of Shyam Acharya's fake passport (pictured) registered under the name Sarang Chitale

Copy of Shyam Acharya's driver license (pictured) under the fraudulent name Sarang Chitale

NSW Health sponsored his move to Australia in 2003, recruiting him on a skilled migration program.

'It's just simply shocking to know that he got through our border protection system on someone else's documents pretending to be something he (wasn't) and of course we empathise with all those patients who were under his care,' NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told The Daily Telegraph.

Acharya's 11-year-long ruse only came to an end in September last year when his employer started to question his identity.

When Novotech, a private medical research company, learned Acharya was not who he said he was, the company immediately notified the police.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it was shocking someone was able to bypass Australia's health system and pose as a legitimate doctor for so long.

He allegedly worked at Manly (pictured), Hornsby, Wyong and Gosford hospitals under the name Sarang Chitale, where he went undetected for 11 years

Acharya is also alleged to have worked at Gosfor Hospital during his 11 year stint as a doctor
A driver in China has been fined by police for trying to pass off his car as a luxury Porsche.

The man spent just 200 yuan (23) modifying his Chinese made vehicle to try and pass it off as a high-end Porsche Macan S model.

The driver was fined 500 yuan (59.47) on March 7 for modifying the car so that it did not match the model registered.

More than it seems: Police spotted the man driving a strange looking vehicle on March 7

Costs a bit more money: The real car is worth some 698,000 yuan (83,000) in China

Hard work: The man even added detail to the wheels to make it look like a luxury car

The man was stopped by police in Liuyang, China's Hunan province on March 7.

Police told The Paper that when they saw the car, they got the impression that the body looked a bit strange.

They asked the driver surnamed Wu for his driving licence and permit but he said he was unable to provide it and claimed the vehicle was borrowed.

Police ran the registration number through the system and found that the number corresponds to a Chinese made model Zhongtai SR9.

The man spent 200 yuan (23) on modifying his Chinese-made car to look like a Porsche

Different: The man's attempts look very different to that of the real model (pictured)

Wu was the licence owner of this car. However his driving licence only allows him to drive motorcycles and not a car.

He later admitted that the car cost 100,000 yuan (11.895) and he then spent 200 yuan (23) on modifying the vehicle to make it look like the Porsche Macan S model.

The price of a Porsche Macan S in China is 698,000 yuan (83,000).

Wu told police that he never suspected that the modifications were illegal.

He was detained by police and handed a fine of 500 yuan (59) and was told to restore the vehicle.
This is the moment an angry drunk was spotted spouting abuse on a high street shortly before kicking a poppy wreath off a war memorial.

Simon Colley, 40, of Salford, was seen swearing at a security guard outside the Armani store in Manchester while staggering around the streets at 3pm.

Later in a stupor Colley took a running kick at the poppy wreath at the Manchester Cenotaph. A police officer who went to the scene got a volley of abuse with Colley saying: 'Who are you? You are f*****g nothing.'

Simon Colley, 40, of Salford, was seen swearing at a security guard outside the Armani store in Manchester while staggering around the streets at 3pm

CCTV footage showed Colley casually walking to the memorial before taking a run up and kicking one wreath away. He later told police: 'I'm a mess - I need help.'

Details of last month's incident emerged at Manchester Magistratess Court where Colley, of Salford was banned from the city centre for two years under the terms of a Criminal Behaviour Order.

He admitted using threatening behaviour and being drunk and disorderly. It emerged this drunken escapade occurred just months after Colley was given a 12 week suspended prison sentence for assault on a doctor and criminal damage to a bus in an unrelated incident.

His lawyer Matthew Wallace said: 'The matter before the court relating to the cenotaph was very distasteful.'

Details of the incident emerged at Manchester magistrates court where Colley, of Salford was banned from the city centre for two years under the terms of a Criminal Behaviour Order

Colley was given a nine-month conditional discharge and had his suspended sentence increased to 13 weeks.

But a Royal British Legion spokesman said after the case: 'The Legion is shocked and saddened to hear of this incident.

'Wreaths are placed to honour the memory of armed forces' personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice and those who defend the freedom we enjoy.

'They deserve to be treated with the utmost respect.'
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A woman received 100 lashes for having without being married while a man was caned nine times for gambling in Banda Aceh.

Highlighting the Islamic Sharia law's twisted moral stance, a man who was charged with having sex outside of marriage was given the same punishment as a child molester - 120 lashes.

Pictures have emerged of the latest round of barbaric public punishments in Indonesia dished out by enforcers.

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An Acehnese woman whipped in front of the public for violating the sharia law in Banda Aceh

Man, being led away by officials, was sentenced to 120 lashes for sexually harassing children

The woman bows her head as the masked enforcer stands behind her ready to whip her bacl

This man was sentenced to 120 lashes for having sex without being married as he stands on stage

An Acehnese man braces himself to be whipped for spending time in close proximity with a woman who is not his wife

Recent barbaric beatings in Banda Aceh In the past year, MailOnline has reported on the troubling rising trend of public lashings carried out in Aceh, Indonesia: March 1, 2016: Woman whipped 50 times for spending time alone with a man at the age of 19. March 24, 2016: Young woman carried from the stage on a stretcher after being lashed for sex outside marriage. August 1, 2016: Another woman is lashed for going on a date in Aceh. August 15, 2016: Elderly man caned for breaking Sharia law. September 11, 2016: Man and a woman lashed for having an affair and among the gathered crowd is the mayor of Banda Aceh. October 17, 2016: Muslim woman screams out in pain on stage after being lashed 23 times for standing too close to her boyfriend. October 31, 2016: A woman, 20, caned in public for getting too close to a man she wasn't married to. November 28, 2016: Man and a woman lashed 100 times each for adultery. February 2, 2017: Enforcer lands 26 beatings across the back of a woman for having sex outside of wedlock. February 10, 2017: Woman collapses in pain on stage as she is being caned. February 27, 2017: Man collapses on stage as he is being whipped for having sex outside of marriage. Advertisement

The beatings occurred in Aceh, which is the only province in the country which implements Sharia law in full.

The province began implementing Sharia law after being granted autonomy in 2001  an attempt by the government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.

Islamic laws have been strengthened since Aceh struck a peace deal with Jakarta in 2005.

People are flogged for a range of offences including gambling, drinking alcohol, gay sex or any sexual relationship outside marriage.

More than 90 per cent of the 255million people who live in Indonesia describe themselves as Muslim, but the vast majority practice a moderate form of the faith.

The brutal and public beatings have become more prevalent this year with a number of reported incidents of those being punished collapsing in pain on stage.

Back in September 2014, Aceh approved an anti-homosexuality law that can punish anyone caught having gay sex with 100 lashes.

After a three-decade-old separatist movement, a peace agreement signed in 2005 granted special autonomy to Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra, on condition that it remained part of the sprawling archipelago.

As part of that deal, Aceh won the right to be the only Indonesian province to use Islamic sharia law as its legal code.

Anybody caught engaging in consensual gay sex is punished with 100 lashes, 100 months in jail or a fine of 1,000 grams of gold.

The law also set out punishment for sex crimes, unmarried people engaging in displays of affection, people caught found guilty of adultery and underage sex.

Religious police in Aceh have been known to target Muslim women without head scarves or those wearing tight clothes, and people drinking alcohol or gambling.

Over the past decade, the central government has devolved more power to regional authorities to increase autonomy and speed up development.

Engaging in homosexual acts is not a crime under Indonesia's national criminal code but remains taboo in many conservative parts of the country with the world's largest Muslim population.

A Muslim man accused of abusing three teenagers is lashed 112 times in front of dozens of local officials and residents

Man accused of sexually molesting children braces himself as he prepares to be lashed 112 times on a public stage in Aceh

A woman kneels on the stage as the enforcer holds out the cane across her back ready to unleash brutal canings

A crowd and photographers gather around the stage ahead of the woman being lashed

This man was sentenced to nine lashes for gambling in Indonesia, which has been prohibited in the country

One of the two ethnic Chinese and members of the Buddhist minority, is taken to be whipped in front of dozens of local officials and residents in the city of Jantho, Aceh

One of two men accused of cockfighting opted for punishment under the strict Islamic regulations in Aceh, Indonesia
The secret exploits of the men stationed in Berlin to sabotage the Soviet Union from within had the Cold War turned hot have been revealed for the first time.

Incredible images show the men from the clandestine Special Forces Berlin unit, which the USA only revealed existed in 2014, on training exercises and meeting up in casual wear.

Other shots show the graffiti-clad Berlin Wall with Soviet soldiers patrolling along the top, tunnels and sewers the Special forces used and various identity cards the undercover soldiers used.

The US Special Forces Berlin unit, pictured, were trained to sabotage enemy communications and infrastructure in the event the Cold War ever turned hot

The men were trained to operate behind enemy lines - such as these Berlin sewers - and create havoc to stall any Soviet invasion of Western Europe with just two hours' notice

The men all had to learn German and fully immerse themselves in local culture and were very close to being called up on several occasions - such as when the Berlin Wall was created

The never-before published pictures have been included in a new book, Special Forces Berlin, which details the clandestine Cold War operations of the US Armys Elite between 1956 and 1990.

The book is written by ex-soldier James Stejskal who served with the Berlin unit in the 1970s and 1980s for a total of eleven years. It is published by Casemate.

He said: 'The wartime mission was 1) cause havoc behind the enemys lines through the sabotage of critical infrastructure and 2) report enemy movements by HF Radio, so that the US Air Force could hit them as they moved forward and to let the US Commander know what was unfolding at his front.

'The Commander in Chief's order was "Buy Me Time!" In the early 1970s the unit received an additional mission: Counterterrorism, making it the first US military unit to be so designated.'

Some of the times the unit was placed on full alert are still classified and cannot be published

In order to remain undiscovered, the soldiers had to blend into the local population by learning the German language and culture and copying the fashions of the time.

The unit was trained to go to war within two hours notice and came extremely close to being called into actions on numerous occasions, most notably when the Berlin Wall went up.

Stejskal said: 'In 1961 when the Wall went up, the unit was placed on full alert. There were several other occasions throughout the years when incidents happened elsewhere (Cuban missile crisis, Gary Powers being shot down, Arab Israeli wars, and several others still classified) that the unit went on full alert.

'The unit would not have waited for the first shot to be fired. It was prepared to go when the Commander of US Forces in Europe said so - even before actual hostilities.

'If the unit had been called into action six teams would have immediately moved out into the city and then the surrounding countryside to attack targets that would slow the Soviet and other Warsaw pact countries moving forward.

Some of the men were tasked with destroying vital infrastructure in West Berlin to frustrate Soviet efforts of controlling the city and buying time until the counter offensive began

The men of the unit were deployed during the first Iran hostages rescue mission in 1980

The unit was officially stood down at the end of the cold war - put could be recommissioned

'These would have included critical bridges, railway junctions, power and fuel depots, and command and control headquarters. Some men would have remained behind to destroy infrastructure in the city of Berlin that was needed to keep things running - thus making it difficult for the Russians and East Germans to control West Berlin.'

Men spent anywhere from two to five years at a time living in Berlin and preparing for the mission.

Special Forces Berlin was also on the first Iran Rescue mission in 1980 and would have gone on the second before it was cancelled by President Ronald Reagans election.

The team had weapons stashed at locations near their targets to speed up their destruction

Occasionally one of the team, pictured in the VW Beetle was sent back while crossing

The men trained West German soldiers sabotage techniques to be used if the Soviets invaded

Mr Stejskla explained how much damage the unit would have done behind the Iron Curtain to slow the Soviets down.

He said: 'The preparation was constant - planning, training, exercising, and running operations. Not everything was in direct confrontation with the Russians or East Germans.

'There were clandestine operations that remain classified. We had very good intelligence on what we had to strike.

'We had the materials to do the mission prepared and placed where we could get to it without delay. We knew the best way to get to the target and crucially how to survive on the battlefield when war came.

This picture, taken shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, shows the team were still operational right up until the end of the Cold War and communism's dramatic collapse

Here, members of the team prepared for parachute training at Tempelhof Airfield in 1959

The group regularly took pictures of East German border guards to learn their routines and to find weaknesses along the frontier to make it easier to sneak in and out

'The unit was closed when we achieved "peace" with the Soviet Union / Russia, leaving little unconventional warfare capability in the US Army. That is changing and the legacy the unit left is being revived.'

James Stejskla served for twenty-three years with Special Forces, including two tours of Berlin, retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 4. He then served with the CIA as a senior Operation Office in Africa, Europe and Asia.

The book is available to pre-order on Amazon.

The Special Forces Berlin Unit were based in this building under the title Physical Security Support Element. It is believed the East Germans never discovered the building's real purpose

Here the men of the unit are involved in an ambush in 1956
An 80-year-old man has been attacked with a machete in a car park, near a forest in Dusseldorf, just hours after a Kosovan went on an axe rampage in the city's railway station.

According to police, the man's injuries are not life threatening and the attack is not connected to last night's attack on Dusseldorf station.

The elderly victim suffered 'blow-cut injuries', police said.

An 80-year-old man has been attacked in a car park near a forest in Dusseldorf with a machete just hours after a Kosovan went on an axe rampage in the city's railway station

A German police helicopter monitors the the scene of crime in a forest in Duesseldorf on Friday

A cyclists passes a German police officer (L) with a automatic weapon at the scene of the second axe attack

Teachers and students in the nearby Theodor-Fliedner-Gymnasium are being kept indoors and police have cordoned off the woodland around Kalkumer Schloallee.

The culprit is on the run and the victim is in hospital.

The weapon involved in an attack at the Duesseldorf train station

Last night, seven people including two police officers were injured when a man wielding an axe went on the rampage at a train station in Dusseldorf.

The suspected culprit, identified as Fatmir H, from Kosovo, has been arrested and German anti-terror police confirmed they are not hunting anyone else.

Officials said today he may have hoped police would shoot him dead.

The 36-year-old Kosovan national had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of high anxiety and self-harm, police said.

The 36-year-old ran towards a nearby underground station and jumped from a bridge as he attempted to flee.

But he was arrested after seriously injuring himself in his unsuccessful escape attempt and is now being treated in hospital.

Police said he was in an 'exceptional mental state' at the time.

Pictures from Dusseldorf Hauptbahnhof, the city's main station, showed one of the victims lying helplessly on the floor as paramedics rushed to their aid.

His victims included three men, a woman and a 13-year-old girl, with the teenager suffering lacerations to her upper arm. Three were seriously injured.

A motive for the attack has not yet been determined but the suspect, believed to be from Kosovo, suffers from mental health problems. Police said this morning that they had ruled out an Islamic fundamentalist motive for the attack.

Last night, an axe man attacked seven people, including two police officers, at a train station in Dusseldorf

Pictured: Emergency services at the scene where surrounding roads were cordoned off

An arrest was made after squads of anti-terror police swooped in on the scene in Dusseldorf

Reports say the culprit ran towards a nearby underground station and jumped off a bridge as he tried to flee (pictured, an armed officer at the scene)

Pictured: Passengers and police help a victim of the attack on the floor of the station

'A person, probably armed with an axe, attacked people at random,' police said in a statement. Seven people were injured, three of them seriously, they said.

The suspect, who was earlier described as being from 'the former Yugoslavia' and living in the nearby city of Wuppertal, suffered serious injuries and was being treated in a hospital.

'The suspect appears to have had psychological problems,' police said.

Police said an axe was recovered and officers were searching the area in and around the station, which has been closed for the investigation.

Frantic footage from a smartphone has captured the moment terrified passengers fled the scene, with many screaming as they sprinted away from the station.

Recalling the terrifying moment the axeman struck, a witness said: 'I have never seen anything like that I my life.

'He suddenly jumped out of the train and started to strike at people with an axe - just about two metres away from to us.

'But no one could help, it was impossible. We just stopped and screamed.'

Pictured: Witnesses look on as the police seal off the station after the attack in Dusseldorf

German armed police stood guard outside the station as a major security operation unfolded

Pictured: Armed police patrol the scene at Dusseldorf Hauptbahnhof, the city's main station

Police later confirmed they were no longer hunting other suspects in connection with attack

A station attendant told German newspaper, Bild , that a man had attacked people after jumping off a train.

They said: 'We were standing on the track, waiting for the train. The train came, and suddenly someone jumped out with an axe, hit the people.

'There was blood everywhere. I have experienced a lot, but I have never experienced it.'

Earlier this evening a terrified passenger said on Twitter that a 'crazy man' had attacked people in the station.

Bruno Macedo tweeted: 'Man with axe chased by police in Dusseldorf. Station closed. I am in the train things look bad #police #terror.'

Mr Macedo added: 'Stay away from #Dusseldorf train station crazy man with #axe on the lose [sic] .. :('

Communities across Germany were hit by a string of terrorist attacks during 2016

He later posted: 'Everyone is calm in the train. Tense but calm....#dusseldorf #breaking #terror'

'Train is not stopping in #Dusseldorf #police closed the station . #terror #Germany'.

Police said today that the 36-year-old was from Muslim-majority Kosovo, though his religion has not yet been revealed and officers have ruled out any Islamic fundamentalist motive.

The scenes in Dusseldorf followed seven other similarly disturbing attacks Germany has suffered since the start of last year.

Incidents in Hanover in February 2016, Essen in April, Wurzburg, Reutlingen, Ansbach and Munich all in July and Berlin in December, left 22 people killed and 112 wounded.
A Hawaii social studies teacher is under fire for saying he won't teach illegal immigrants.

The comments stemmed from an email that was sent out to staff at Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, Oahu on Wednesday.

The email was from a counselor and relayed national statistics about parents who have been keeping their kids at home for fears of deportation.

Col. John Joseph Sullivan replied to the email, saying: 'This is another attack on the President over deportation. Their parents need to apply for immigration like everyone else. If they are here in the U.S. illegally, I won't teach them.'

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Campbell High School teacher John Sullivan (pictured) is under fire for a comment he made about illegal immigrants in an email this week

Sullivan sent this email out to staff at the school on Wednesday, saying 'if they are here in the U.S. illegally, I won't teach them'

School administrators and the Department of Education were quick to condemn the email, since it violated rules on discrimination and use of department email.

'I just reminded him again that we don't discriminate against any individuals,' Campbell High School principal Jon Henry Lee said. 'We're going to service all students that are registered in our school.'

In an interview with Hawaii News Now, Sullivan defended himself, saying his email had been misconstrued.

'My comment in the email refers to (the email's title) if students is (sic) kept home, teachers cannot teach them,' he said.

According to his Facebook, he has worked at the high school since 2001.

Sullivan was scheduled to meet with Principal Lee on Wednesday. A Department of Education spokesman said that Sullivan would be penalized, but did not specify how.

The school quickly condemned the email and a Department of Education spokesman said that 'appropriate action' would be taken against Sullivan

'I cant speak on what appropriate action will be taken against this teacher, but rest assured appropriate action will be taken,' DOE Director of Communications, Donalyn Dela Cruz, said.

She added: 'It's very clear in our code of conduct that we do not discriminate on national origin as well as all the other aspects of where you're from. Who you are. Sexual orientation, religion and the list goes on and on.

'What it comes down to is that we do not discriminate against anyone. We are the public school system and we service all children.'

The State of Hawaii is currently locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration over the new travel ban. It was the first to file a lawsuit against the new executive order, and a judge in the state will hear arguments next week, on March 15.
A young mother claims she was abandoned by her husband when he discovered she had terminal cancer.

Wiramon Inthaneth, 36, was diagnosed with breast cancer six months ago but the disease crippled her so badly she could no longer work or properly take care of herself or her family.

When the Thai woman's condition was left untreated, it developed into large red and purple mounds protruding from her chest.

The disease worsened so rapidly it left her grossly disfigured.

Wiramon Inthaneth, 36, was diagnosed with breast cancer six months ago but the disease was left untreated

Ms Inthaneth reportedly suffers from such severe pain she travels back and forth to hospital each day for treatment.

When she was allegedly abandoned by her husband, the Thai woman moved in with her father who works as a taxi driver.

Her father scrapes together just enough money to afford Ms Inthaneth's medical bills.

In a remarkable twist of fate, a Thai holyman reached out to Ms Inthaneth and her family with a kind offer of help.

In a remarkable twist of fate , a Thai holyman reached out toMs Inthaneth and her family with a kind offer of help

When the Thai woman's condition was left untreated, it developed into large red and purple mounds protruding from her chest

Monk Bhin offered to provide for the family and went on to raise further funds for the tragedy-stricken mother.

He said he was so shaken by the state he found Ms Inthaneth he was compelled to help.

'The day I visited her she was crying because she has such a difficult time taking care of her daughter with her only income coming from her father,' Monk Bhin said.

'She is only alive because she gets willpower from her family. She needs money for her daughter and to buy medicine but she doesn't know how long she can survive.'

While Monk Bhin supported the family, he also appealed for help from the community.

He has reached out for further support for the young, terminally-ill mother on social media in the hope she might spend her final days more comfortably.
His face may be in all the cinemas at the moment - but apparently it is also etched on the side of a cliff face as well.

The famous head of King Kong was spotted by a passerby in the sleepy seaside town of Whitby, North Yorkshire yesterday.

It is the same rock face Dracula scrambled up when he arrived in Britain.

Photographer Dag Kjelldahl captured the image while monkeying around with his camera while walking on the beach.

Monkey business: Mr Kjelldahl, who took the picture yesterday said: 'Only twice a year the sunshine hits the cliffs at Sandsend - and this time it created a giant ape's head - it's King Kong.'

Can you spot the likeness? While cinemas across the globe are currently showing the latest King Kong film (pictured above in the original movie), residents in West Yorks didn't have to go far to see the ape's iconic face as it appeared in the side of a cliff

In Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula is shipwrecked off Whitby and comes ashore in the guise of a black dog and wreaks havoc on the town.

Mr Kjelldahl, who took the picture on Thursday, said: 'Only twice a year the sunshine hits the cliffs at Sandsend - and this time it created a giant ape's head - it's King Kong.'

The King Kong film franchise reboot Kong: Skull Island, starring Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson, is in cinemas now.
A Supreme Court jury has been taken to a series of remote locations south of Adelaide as the trial continues for a man charged over an attack on two female backpackers.

The jury of eight men and four women was taken to areas at Salt Creek in the Coorong National Park on Friday to see a number of spots where the alleged attack took place in February last year.

Key spots on the sand dunes were marked with orange cones as prosecutor Jim Pearce added context to his graphic opening at the start of the trial on Thursday.

The jury of eight men and four women was taken to areas at Salt Creek to see a number of spots where the alleged attack took place in February last year. Key spots on the sand dunes were marked with orange cones

A 60-year-old man is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, indecent assault and other offences

A 60-year-old man is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, indecent assault and other offences.

The crown alleges a German woman was struck over the head with a hammer and run over by a 4WD shortly after her Brazilian friend was sexually assaulted.

Mr Pearce told the jury the backpackers met the man through classifieds website Gumtree when they sought a lift from Adelaide to Melbourne.

He said the Brazilian woman was the first to be attacked, with allegations the man threw her to the ground, tied her arms behind her back, cut off her bikini and sexually assaulted her.

Some time later the woman's German friend was hit over the head with a hammer several times and rammed with the 4WD, the car running over her on one occasion, Mr Pearce said.

The crown alleges a German woman was struck over the head with a hammer and run over by a 4WD shortly after her Brazilian friend was sexually assaulted

By the time she and her friend managed to get help, she was covered in blood.

'Her hair was so drenched with blood that you could've wrung it out like a wet towel,' Mr Pearce told the jury during his opening.

Defence counsel Bill Boucaut, who also took part in Friday's view, urged the jury to keep an open mind.

'Sometimes things are not always what they appear to be,' Mr Boucaut told the court on Thursday.

The trial will continue in Adelaide on Tuesday.
Teacher under fire: George Edwin Thomas III, 54, a biology teacher from Texas, has been charged with six counts of invasive visual recording for allegedly videotaping female students in various states of undress

Police in Texas have arrested a high school science teacher on suspicion that he secretly recorded female students undressing inside a classroom closet.

George Edwin Thomas III, 54, has been charged with six counts of invasive visual recording stemming from incidents that took place at RL Turner High School in Carrollton during the 2015-2016 school year, according to investigators.

An arrest affidavit cited by Fox 4 News has revealed that it was Thomas' girlfriend and her friend who tipped off the authorities about the videos.

Detectives reviewed the surreptitiously recorded footage and were able to identify six female victims 'in various stages of undress.'

The girls were videotaped without their knowledge while changing into their school uniforms, according to police.

Administrators with the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD said in a statement that they became aware of the allegations against Thomas on February 22.

The incidents took place at RL Turner High School in Carrollton during the 2015-2016 school year and involved at least a half-dozen students

'The district placed the teacher on administrative leave and is cooperating fully with all local sand state authorities,' the statement read.

According to the affidavit, the case began unfolding last month after Thomas' girlfriend, who had long suspected him of being unfaithful, came upon a random thumb drive on the floor of their apartment in Highland Village.

The girlfriend and a friend of hers, who was present at the time, became curious and accessed the contents of the thumb drive, discovering multiple video recordings of teenage girls undressing inside a closet.

The device also contained footage that appeared to show a teacher's desk with female students being called to the desk.

According to police, the camera had been placed in such a way as to record under the victims' clothing.

George Thomas' Facebook page indicates that he started working at RL Turner High School in October 2014.

The case began unfolding in February after Thomas' girlfriend found a thumb drive in their home containing videos showing half-naked high school girls. The Facebook photo above shows Thomas with an unnamed woman

His profile on the school's website states that he teaches several biology courses.

When interviewed by police about the allegations against him, the 54-year-old educator admitted that he recorded videos on his phone in class, but claimed that the recordings showed 'activities' of the students for educational purposes.

A spokesperson for the police department said there are other minors in the footage seized by investigators that have not been identified yet, which could lead to additional charges against Thomas.

Thomas was being held on Thursday at the Carrollton City Jail pending a bail hearing.
A man accused of holding eight women hostage in his $1million Georgia mansion and threatening to kill them if they left allegedly forced them to get breast implants and tattoos.

Kenndric Roberts, 33, was arrested on Tuesday after a 20-year-old woman called 911 saying she and other women were being held against their will in the Sandy Springs property and were being made to dance for money.

The victim told police she was sent to the Dominican Republic to get breast implants and all of the women were made to get the word 'LOP' tattooed on their wrists in reference to a gang member.

The woman claims Roberts threatened to kill her if she left the home and once said he would 'pay someone to cut her chest open, take out the implants and cut her up.'

Kenndric Roberts, 33, was arrested on Tuesday after a woman called 911 saying she and other women in the mansion in Sandy Springs were being held and forced to dance for money

She said there were seven other women and children living in the home with Roberts but she was the only one desperate to leave.

Court records show the woman met Roberts on a website for sugar daddies called Seeking Arrangement.

She was allegedly presented with a contract to dance for him and signing bonus of $200,000 once the contract was complete.

The woman told police some of them were sent to work at the Pink Pony strip club.

She claimed that all the women living in the house were having sex with Roberts and that he carried around an AK-47 with him everywhere. She said the sex wasn't 'forced' but she felt she couldn't say no to him.

The house was once rented by Cosby star Keshia Knight Pulliam, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

'What we believe is he was luring these women to this house with promises of either modeling careers or financial assistance. We're not 100 percent sure on that. The investigation is continuing,' Sandy Springs police sergeant Sam Worsham told WSB-TV.

Officers helped the eight women leave the home on Tuesday before charging Roberts with false imprisonment and trafficking a person for labor.

The 911 recording captured the woman telling the operator she was in a 'very bad situation' and she needed help.

As the dispatcher learns more about what's happening, her surprise is clear, her tone at times incredulous: 'Wait. Did you say you're in a house full of girls?'

The 20-year-old woman said she was being held in the man's $1million mansion in Sandy Springs, Georgia and he had threatened to kill her if she left

'Mmm hmm,' the woman responds.

'And somebody's threatening to kill you if you leave?'

'Mmm hmm.'

'Who's threatening to kill you? One of the girls?'

'No, our boss.'

'Your boss?'

The woman says she knows her boss only as 'Ken something,' that she met him online and that it initially seemed like a good situation because she could make money for dancing.

She told the dispatcher that when she arrived about a month ago, he sent her to get plastic surgery.

'He's, like, so mean I just can't stay,' she said.

She described the home as 'a very nice house' in a gated subdivision, with cameras inside. According to Fulton County property records, the two-story brick home measures 6,806 square feet and is valued at $976,300.

The woman said Roberts also lived in the house, drove a lot of different cars and generally carried a gun with him.

Throughout the 14-minute 911 recording, the woman repeatedly says nothing illegal is going on but that she's scared to leave.

'Does he know holding someone against their will is against the law?' the dispatcher asks.

'He is so smart. He knows exactly what he's doing,' the woman said. 'He'll be like, 'You can leave whenever you want,' and then he'll, like, threaten you right after.'

The woman told the dispatcher she was planning to run out of the house and call a car to come pick her up and take her to the airport because she had to catch a flight home to Orlando, Florida, that friends got for her.

The woman asked the dispatcher to have officers pull up in front of the house and that she'll go out to meet them.
A southern Indiana man accused of killing his former girlfriend and eating parts of her body in 2014 will undergo psychiatric evaluations, despite his insistence that he's competent for trial.

Defense lawyers said Joseph Oberhansley, 35, can't consult with them or understand court proceedings.

Clark County Circuit Court Judge Vicki Carmichael this week granted their request for three separate evaluations by medical professionals selected by the court.

Joseph Oberhansley, who is accused of killing his former girlfriend and eating parts of her body, will undergo psychiatric evaluations, despite his insistence that he's competent for trial

Oberhansley (left) is charged with murder, rape and abuse of a corpse in the September 2014 slaying of 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton (right)

The evaluations may be completed within 30 days, after which medical professionals will offer testimony at a hearing to help Carmichael decide if Oberhandsley is competent for trail.

A review hearing is scheduled for April 10.

Oberhansley, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, told the judge that he is "completely innocent of all of these false charges" and is "completely competent", the Courier-Journal reports.

According to court documents, Oberhansley told police he broke into Blanton's Jeffersonville home (pictured), killed her, then ate her heart and parts of her brain and lung

At Clark County Jail, where Oberhansley is being held, he has been classified as having a severe psychological disorder.

Oberhansley is charged with murder, rape and abuse of a corpse in the September 2014 slaying of 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton.

According to court documents, Oberhansley told police he broke into Blanton's Jeffersonville home, on September 11, 2014, killed her, then ate her heart and parts of her brain and lung.

If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.
Paramedics attending the suicide of magician Daryl Easton in Hollywood last month were not initially certain the body was real.

During a harrowing 911 call which has just come to light, the operator wants to know whether they were faced with a mannequin.

During the call, the operator was speaking to workers at the Magic Castle club who discovered Easton's body.

Magician Daryl Easton, pictured, took his own life at the Magic Castle club in Hollywood

Easton was scheduled to perform at the private Los Angeles club around the time he was found

They were questioned as to whether it could be a prop.

According to TMZ, the coroner investigating the case has ruled it as suicide.

It is believed the popular entertainer was suffering from depression in advance of his death.

A family friend said the renown magician had struggled with depression for years before he took his life last month at the famed Hollywood private club.

The 61-year-old had 'felt he hadn't achieved any of the goals he set for himself' as he was 'getting on in age', the source told Hollywood Life.

He was found dead right before he was scheduled to perform and while the venue insists he was fully clothed, multiple Los Angeles police sources said he was found in his underwear.

Easton was known for his slight of hand and was called the Magician's Magician among his industry colleagues. He was legendary for inventing card tricks called the Hot Shot Cut and the Ultimate Ambition.

Friends claim the veteran magician was suffering from depression before his tragic death

A source close to his wife, Alison Easton, said to Hollywood Life: 'Alison is beyond shocked and heartbroken over his death, this has hit her harder than anything you could possibly imagine  it has rocked her world.

'Daryl had been suffering quite a lot recently. Daryl has always suffered from depression, but she never thought he would take his own life, especially in this manner.'

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Department, ruled the 61-year-old's death a suicide, after mistakenly entering it as an accident on

The Magic Castle, a famous restaurant and private club which also serves as the headquarters for the Academy of Magical Arts.

The venue, which Easton was a frequent visitor, released a statement that said: 'A beloved illusionist, who was performing at the Magic Castle this week, was found dead on the club's premises.

'The magic community mourns the loss of one of our most beloved and talented performers.'

The LA County Coroner has ruled the entertainer's death as a case of suicide

An employee discovered Easton's body in a closet and the Los Angeles Fire Department arrived at the exclusive club on West Franklin Avenue.

The magician, who was a member of the club's Hall of Fame, had hanged himself and was pronounced dead at the scene, TMZ reported.

The Magic Castle operates as a performance venue where several magic shows put on each night.

Members and their guests adhere to a strict dress code, and gain entry by uttering a password before gaining entry through a door hidden in a bookcase.

Associate members pay initiation fees of $1,500, with annual payments of $750, according to the Los Angeles Magazine.

In addition to Easton's legendary card tricks, he had performed internationally in 25 countries and had the honor to perform at the inauguration celebration of President George W. Bush in 2001.

His wife, Alison Easton, is also a magician and was the first woman to be inducted into the prestigious Magic Circle, according to Easton's biography page.

For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255

For confidential support in the UK, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.




This birthday cake covered in iced cash, spliffs and drugs paraphernalia was made for a relative of one-eyed police killer Dale Cregan when they turned 16.

Kelly Cregan, 38, whose brother murdered Pc Nicola Hughes, 23, and Pc Fiona Bone, 32, along with two others, posted an image of the extraordinary treat on Instagram.

The cake is decorated with 50 notes wrapped around white iced packages, which are meant to represent piles of 2,500 in cash.

These are surrounded by an iced cannabis spliff and other items associated with drug use, but it is not known who the cake is for, only that they have turned 16.

Treat: This birthday cake covered in iced cash, spliffs and drugs paraphernalia was made for a relative of one-eyed police killer Dale Cregan for turning 16

Praise: Dale Cregan's sister Kelly said the cake left her 'absolutely buzzing' and thanked the baker who saved her life by making it

Ms Cregan said the cake left her 'absolutely buzzing' in a message for the woman who made it.

Baker Gemma Woodall, of Lil Gems Cakes was asked to bake it at the last minute.

She told The Sun: 'I didnt know who ordered the cake until you told me. Its what the customer ordered and money for me at the end of the day.'

Ms Cregan added the cake was simply a 'gimmick' and said: 'I dont understand what the big deal is. Its got nothing to do with Dale.'

In response to the story she added: 'For all you nosey people out there who obviously don't have anything better to do with your time it is stacks of CASH NOT COCAINE and if anybody wants to call round for a slice and a brew your (sic) all welcome'.

Killer: One-eyed gunman Dale Cregan remains close to his family, who regularly visit him in jail. They say the cake had nothing to do with him

Another of Dale Cregan's sisters, Stacey, avoided jail last November despite laundering money for her drug baron boyfriend.

She was caught with luxury watches worth 33,000 and received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years after being found guilty by a jury of money laundering.

The 30-year-old paid for one Rolex from a bag full of 5, 10 and 20 notes, Manchester crown court was told.

One-eyed gunman Dale Cregan remains close to his family, who regularly visit him in jail.

Kelly Cregan was forced to move to Spain in the aftermath of his four murders fearing for her safety but has recently returned to the UK.

She has reportedly also said her brother refuses to apologise for his crimes.

Her killer sibling murdered David Short, 46, and his son Mark, 23, in separate incidents in Manchester in 2012.

Mark Short died after being shot by a masked gunman in a pub, while his father was killed by two men at his home less than three months later.

Cregan, 29, admitted four murders, including those of PCs Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, who were shot dead after being lured to a house by reports of a burglary.

He was given a whole life term
Police in Berkshire have provoked anger by revealing they will only attend reports of shoplifting if more than 100 worth of goods have been stolen.

Locals in the town of Hungerford were shocked when Thames Valley Police's Sgt Holly Nicholls told a meeting that the force doesn't have the resources to attend the majority of shopkeepers' calls.

A squeeze on police funding meant high street stores would be given a form to fill in to tell officers what had been taken, she said.

Locals in the town of Hungerford were shocked to hear police will not chase shoplifters who take items worth less than 100

Sgt Nicholls told Hungerford Town Council: 'We won't be making arrests all the time and taking it through the courts - it's not practical,' the Newbury Weekly News reported.

'For example, we wouldn't necessarily deal with shopliftings of under 100 now,' she added.

'Our main priorities are violence against the person, burglaries, theft from motor vehicles and so on.'

It comes after the sale of Hungerford Police Station leaves the town's nearest headquarters in Newbury, eight miles away.

The announcement has angered residents of the town whose shops are often visited by the Duchess of Cambridge and her mother Carole Middleton, who lives in nearby Bucklebury.

Mother-of-three Jayne Robertson, said: 'This is appalling - we're going to be flooded with criminals who know they'll get off Scot-free if they make sure they keep the bill under 100.

A squeeze on police funding means high street stores will be given a form to fill in to tell officers what has been taken

'What sort of message does this send out? What are we paying our rates for if the police won't turn up to arrest shoplifters? It's crazy.'

Sgt Nicholls told the council a 'new delivery model' is being introduced by Thames Valley Police.

She said complaints would be dealt with under a triage system, adding 'for example, we wouldn't necessarily deal with shopliftings of under 100 now,' which is most cases.

Town councillor Carolann Farrell said 'So less than 100 and you won't be coming out to it?' Sgt Nicholls replied 'Yes.'

Thames Valley Police bosses today distanced themselves from the sergeant's comments to the council, saying it was not their official policy.

They said: 'Thames Valley Police responds to all incidents based on threat, harm and risk.

A squeeze on police funding meant high street stores in Hungerford would be given a form to fill in to tell officers what had been taken (stock image)

'Officers will continue to investigate shoplifting offences and the local neighbourhood teams continue to work closely with businesses to assist owners with keeping their businesses safe from all types of crime.'

Discretionary disposals, created to save policing costs, were first introduced in Northern Ireland and have yet to be widely used on the British mainland.

But critics have savaged the policy. David Green, criminologist and founder of think-tank Civitas, said: 'In areas where there are problems of disorder it could end up tipping the balance in favour of the criminal element as opposed to the law-abiding.'

A Home Office spokesman said: 'We are clear that all crimes reported to the police should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.'

'Decisions on individual investigations are an operational matter for Chief Constables.'

This makes a change from 2015 when the Home Office said: 'This Government expects all police forces to investigate all crimes reported to them.'
That Barack Obamas a lovely guy, right?

Handsome, intelligent, eloquent, charming, witty; he can sing, dance, shoot hoops, and make speeches that stir the soul.

Oh, and hes a great husband, father, son and friend.

In fact, to many around the world, President Perfect is the complete antithesis of his replacement Donald Trump.

Thats why millions have marched to protest against the current POTUS, who they brand the new Hitler.

That Barack Obamas a lovely guy, right? He's a great husband, father, son and friend

Handsome (did you see that cool leather jacket this week?) charming, witty; he can sing, dance, shoot hoops, and make speeches that stir the soul

Why, they squeal with rage, cant Monster Trump just be more like Saint Obama?

Hmmm.

Forgive me if I dont join the ecstatic global race to canonize Mr Obama quite so enthusiastically.

For beneath his ever-smiley beatific halo lies a rather different, far murkier reality.

My favourite question for the anti-Trump brigade is this: How many people did Barack Obama deport from America during his eight years as President?

Most people guess 5,000, maybe 10,000. Even those with a good knowledge of how the real world of US immigration policy works rarely respond with a number higher than around 500,000.

In fact, Obama deported nearly THREE MILLION people.

That is the most deported by any president, ever.

His appalled critics even dubbed him Deporter-in-Chief.

When challenged, Obama loved to pretend that he was only deporting criminals.

The truth is very different. Over half of all immigrants deported under Obama had no criminal convictions. Many others were slung out for minor offences involving traffic violations or marijuana possession.

The truth about Obama's presidency? He deported three million people. He also was a hawk, served two terms of war and killed thousands of people with drones - ordering 26,171 bombs dropped and they all targeted Muslims

Obama also loved to make out that when it came to killing people, he was a very reluctant dove; a man of peace, not war.

Again, the truth is the complete opposite.

He was at war longer than any president in US history, and is the only president to have served two whole terms with America at war.

By contrast, the much-maligned Jimmy Carter never ordered a US military bullet to be fired in anger during his four-year tenure.

Obama was a hawk, alright, and a lethal one.

Recently released figures revealed that in 2016, US special operations were active in 70% of the worlds nations, or 138 countries. This was a 130% increase over Bushs administration.

In the same year, Obama ordered his military to drop at least 26,171 bombs. Thats 72 a day, or three every hour.

They rained relentlessly down on seven majority-Muslim countries  Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.

Yes, Bomber Barack deliberately targeted Muslims, folks.

Only he wasnt exposing them to extreme vetting as Trump wants to do, he was killing them.

Obama ordered 10 times more drone strikes than George W. Bush, a mind-blowing statistic.

Yet when he left office, his administration laughably tried to claim only 117 civilians died in all this bombing.

That was an obvious lie.

Independent assessors put the estimated death toll massively higher, in the 1000s.

So Obama killed a lot of innocent people but prefers us not to know about it.

He also allowed a lot of other innocent people to die in Syria by choking when President Assad crossed Obamas chemical weapons red line.

That empowered both Assad and Vladimir Putin, and weakened America.

This wasnt the only time Obama said one thing and did another.

His lofty moral principles were never more startlingly exposed than with his broken election pledge in 2008 to shut Guantanamo Bay.

As president, Barack Obama will close the detention center facility at Guantanamo, it stated.

Not might or will try but will.

Yet, its still open, eight years later, and remains a toweringly disgraceful monument of illegal detention and torture that makes a mockery of Obamas claim to stand for justice and fairness.

Broken promises became a theme of Obamas tenure.

Under him, over 250,000 people in America died from gun violence.

Obama tearfully vowed to the parents of the 20 slain children at Sandy Hook elementary school he would get action on new gun control laws, a message he repeated ad nauseam after each mass shooting.

Remember when Obama tearfully vowed to the parents of the 20 slain children at Sandy Hook elementary school he would get action on new gun control laws? He failed to do anything

But he failed to get anything done at all. Instead, he was battered into submission by the NRA, and the mayhem and slaughter has continued, unabated.

There have been more than 180 shootings at schools and colleges in the US since Sandy Hook alone.

Obama also promised to bring hope and change to Washington but again, failed miserably. Asked about this near the end of his presidency, he admitted to Vice News: Well, that didnt work out. There is no doubt that one of the central goals that I had was to make the politics in Washington work better. I havent accomplished that.

His other failures make equally unedifying reading.

Drug abuse in America, particularly involving opiates, rocketed to obscene levels in the Obama years.

Racial tensions, especially between police and civilians, worsened to levels not seen since the 60s and 70s.

Violent crime, on a downward curve for several decades, spiked by 15% in each of the last two years.

(Obamas hometown Chicago, run by his former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is one of the cities most responsible for that spike.)

Even Obamacare, his once-vaunted flagship health program, has disintegrated amid bitter acrimony and soaring costs to millions of Americans.

As for Monster President Trumps war with the media, arguably the single worst offender in presidential history when it came to attacking press freedom wasyouve guessed it, Barack Obama.

Under Obama, the Justice Department and FBI spied on reporters by monitoring their phone records, and pursued Fox News reporter James Rosens private emails, then misled Congress about it.

His administration set a record for failing to provide information requested by the press and public under the Freedom of Information Act.

As for Trumps war with the media, arguably the single worst offender when it came to attacking press freedom was Obama. Under him, the Justice Department and FBI spied on reporters by monitoring their phone records, and pursued Fox News reporter James Rosens private emails, then misled Congress about it

It used the Espionage Act to prosecute whistle-blowing leakers more than all of his predecessors combined.

Veteran New York Times reporter James Risen said Obamas administration was the greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation. Others say it was even worse than in the Nixon era.

Mr Transparent turned out to be as transparent as the heavily fortified doors on the presidential car, The Beast.

So, no, I dont share the view that Barack Obama was a great or even good president.

History will, I suspect, judge him far more harshly than the current blindly-loyal sycophants who love the way he sings like Al Green.

Even less impressive than his record as president is Obamas behaviour since leaving office.

His predecessor George W. Bush was a divisive and polarizing president, particularly due to his appalling misjudgement in waging the Iraq War.

Yet he vowed when he left office not to publicly criticize his successor, believing the job to be hard enough as it is, and to his great credit, he kept his word.

There must have been many things Obama did or said which Bush disagreed with, but he never stirred the media pot about them or plotted against him.

Now the former president has set up a nerve center for a Trump insurgency from his DC home, pictured here

Obama, by contrast, seems hell-bent on bringing Trump down.

A close Obama family friend told DailyMail.com last week that Obamas goal now was to oust Trump by forcing his resignation or through his impeachment.

Hes turned his new home in Washington, just two miles from the White House, into a nerve center for the mounting insurgency against Trump, even moving his long time consigliere Valerie Jarrett into the mansion.

Obamas former Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters: Its coming. Hes coming. And hes ready to roll.

Im sure he is.

But as Saint Obama rolls against Monster Trump, it may be worth remembering just what a deadly, deporting, press freedom-destroying, and generally weak president he was himself.
One of the things that surprises me on an almost weekly basis, is how axe, machete, knife and bomb attacks against nationals across Europe are responded to by anti-terror squads even though they are not, apparently, terror.

We are categorically told: this was not a terror attack.

And as if to sugar-coat our daily dose of multiculturalism, we hear surprisingly quickly if the attacker came from anywhere that isn't a mainly Muslim country.

The authorities were virtually falling over themselves to report the lorry in the Christmas attack was licensed to a Polish driver. Only to discover, shortly afterwards, that he had been murdered in his cab by the Muslim terrorist at the wheel.

It was a long time before the crazed Dusseldorf axe attacker from last night could be named.

Pictured: Paramedics rush to the aid of a victim of the train station attack in Dusseldorf last night - but police insisted it was not terror related

Eye-witness accounts describing him in the German newspapers as southern-looking (which translates as Mediterranean / dark-skinned) were quickly glossed over and replaced with a much more reassuring 'Yugoslavian'. A country which doesnt even exist!

Does anyone remember what that conflict in Yugoslavia was all about? Religion wasnt it?

Finally we find out thats hes one Fatmir H from 95% Muslim Kosovo. Hmmm.

But he apparently has severe mental issues, and the attack as nothing to do with terror. So thats all right then.

Its a consistent messaging that we have become so used to that we've learned to take shortcuts to aid our own understanding.

If we are not given a name for a violent perpetrator, we can assume it's not Sven.

If we are not told the country of birth, its pretty much guaranteed to be on the list Donald Trump has wisely banned from the States.

And if we are eventually told the name and nationality, we can safely assume suddenly mental issues will be front and centre. Or at the very least he will be a wolf. And alone.

(What has always surprised me is how individuals with genuine mental illness have never complained about being bracketed together with the sort of people who shout a few religious words and then try to axe off the arm of a thirteen-year-old at a bus stop.) Now it appears the Home Office is keen to push this narrative, one step further by shouting about the fact white people are scary too. If not worse.

Their headline statistics released yesterday assert one in three terror suspects arrested in Britain last year was white.

Did you get that? One in three?

Less numerate minds might be looking around at their neighbours thinking one in three of them could be a terrorist. Next-door-but-one could be looking to machete you in the night. White van man over the road might be concealing some hard-core Semtex under his fluoro-vest.

Mrs Merkel's Germany has been plagued by terror attacks in the past year

But lets think about this a bit.

If one-third of terror suspects arrested were white, then two-thirds were not.

And the two-thirds who identify as non-white make up just 10% of the censored UK population. (As for the non-censored lot who prefer not to be counted, I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.) So two-thirds of all terror suspects arrested are from just ten percent, a tiny fraction, of our population. The non-white population.

That is the bigger story.

But there is a bigger question.

Why is the Home Office so desperate to make white people the fear? Why the inference that the rise in the far right is just as big a threat as Islamic extremism, when all evidence is to the contrary?

And why is so much resource being thrown at domestic terror (where there are no links to either Northern Ireland-related or international terrorism), resulting in the arrest of just 35 domestic terror suspects, when their figures show a 30% fall in the use of counter-terrorism powers at the UK border (where just 19,355 people were 'stopped and examined' at airports and seaports)?

This is madness. An insane waste of resource to satisfy politically correct quotas.

We are focussing effort and energy on Fat Joe from the darts club who was alleged to have left a pack of bacon from the Co-op outside a mosque, and not on borders and airports where a reported 200 migrants a day are coming into our country -- in the back of a van -- no doubt many of them from places Thump has banned from America.

Our top terror expert in the UK, David Anderson QC, is equally keen to force this agenda in the face of statistical truths: 'Extreme right-wing ideology can be just as murderous as its Islamist equivalent'; he said.

'Increasingly, right-wing extremists such as Thomas Mair, the killer of Jo Cox MP, feed off the tension [caused by Islamist extremism] to plan violence of their own'

Id argue the tensions around Jo Coxs death were not of the making of Islamic extremists, but by liberal extremists. The far left. A group which, according to the media, does not exist. And a group who do not identify as far-left, but act that way all the same.

I would assert that there are powerful forces lobbying the government for the far-right to be in the spotlight at all times.

I wonder if it is just a coincidence the husband of Jo Cox, endlessly and relentlessly pushed across the BBC, was a senior political adviser to Gordon Brown and well connected inside Parliament.

I am not sure he is driven by grief alone. I think he is still a man with a political mission, determined to own hope and make white Brexiteers the custodians of hate.

No one is arguing her murder was not an appalling act.

But as the ONLY fatal attack in the UK that is remotely attributable to the right-wing, why are we suddenly being asked to believe that terrorism by the right is on a par with the brutal acts of ISIS?

I listed the suspected terror attacks in Germany this year in a tweet:

And immediately those following the multi-cultural script told me 12,000 people are killed by guns in America each year. Or this was not relevant to UK news. Or the perpetrators country of origin was not relevant. Or I am racist.

This is the far left at work. They are the ones promoted across the BBC trying to own hope when they are actually the biggest perpetrators of a new brand accepted form of hate.

And they are as delusional as the Dusseldorf axeman.
A New Jersey man trying to get his truck out of impound wound up being arrested because he allegedly owed more than $300,000 worth of E-ZPass tolls.

When Mambo Transportation owner Jose Ramirez arrived at Weehawken, New Jersey's Lincoln Tunnel Administration Building on Wednesday to retrieve an impounded truck from his trucking company fleet, police arrested him on an outstanding warrant.

Ramirez, 50, of Jersey City, New Jersey, was charged with theft of services and theft by unlawful taking due to an alleged 3,250 toll violations on his commercial and personal EZ-Pass accounts, Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo told NJ.com yesterday.

New Jersey truck company owner Jose Ramirez was arrested Wednesday after allegedly owning $308,600 in E-ZPass tolls, stemming from 3,250 violations say Port Authority officials

Those violations and fees added up to $308,600.

Ramirez's truck, a 2002 International, was impounded on January 30, after one of Ramirez's employees was stopped at the Lincoln Tunnel because the truck's rear license plate was obscured by a taillight, Pentangelo said. Cops also found that the truck's horn didn't work, either.

Once police discovered the hefty toll fees that Ramirez  the truck's registered owner  owed, they let the driver go with a summons and sought a warrant for Ramirez's arrest, reports the NY Post.

The warrant was issued on February 13, with cops using it to arrest Ramirez when he turned up to get the truck more than a month after it was impounded, reports NBC New York.

According to Pentangelo, it's unknown whether Ramirez obscured the truck's license plate for the purpose of avoiding the E-ZPass tolls.

It's unclear if Ramirez obscured his impounded truck's plates to avoid paying E-ZPass tolls

Ramirez was released pending a hearing, reports the NY Post. The truck is still in impound, police say.

Several other egregious toll evaders have been caught this year.

According to police, bus driver Manuel Aristy Arias, 51, of Paterson, New Jersey was arrest for owning $644,804, due to 9,219 known E-ZPass electronic toll payment violations in January.

That same month, Somaya Elkaramany, 47, of Bayonne, New Jersey was arrested and accused of owing $24,522 for 383 known violations, as was 31-year-old Washington Cevallos-Vega, of Union City, New Jersey who reportedly had 176 known violations which added up to $13,389.

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has not yet returned requests for additional comments on Ramirez's case.
The unsung heroics of one of the last RAF pilots to go into battle against the Luftwaffe in a biplane have come to light, after his medals sold for 22,000.

Herbert Horatio Kitchener took part in a top secret mission to help the Norwegians in their last ditch effort to repel a German invasion in April 1940.

Some 18 Gloster Gladiator biplanes landed near a frozen lake at Aandelsnes in Norway only to find a massive lack of facilities, fuel and ammunition.

The planes were destroyed in a German bombardment, but not before the British took down 14 enemy aircraft using a combination of a machine gun on the ground and feint air attacks.

Herbert Horatio Kitchener was one of the last RAF pilots to go into battle against the Luftwaffe in a biplane

The auctioned items include the personal photographs of Kitchener, such as this one with his wife Margaret

Kitchener (shown left) completed several missions in Norway which saw him awarded several medals, including the Norwegian Cross (shown right) - the equivalent of the Victoria Cross

Wing Commander Kitchener and the men of 263 Squadron were equipped with another 18 Gladiator biplanes to support the Battle of Narvik, further north.

Over a period of days Kitchener and his fellow pilots engaged in furious dog-fights and claimed 50 victories in all.

Kitchener shot down two German bombers and two Stuka dive-bombers and helped provide air cover for the evacuation of Narvik.

Ten of the 18 biplanes returned to the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, which was later attacked and sunk with a great loss of life hours later.

Kitchener's medals, his flying goggles and hat, photographs and official letters and log books, were sold by his family through Duke's Auctioneers in Dorchester, Dorset

Kitchener (shown right), originally from Crowborough, East Sussex, joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1937 at the age of 23 and quickly advanced through the ranks

The collection of items includes press clippings on the heroic feats of Kitchener (pictured)

Kitchener was not among them as he had earlier been assigned an aircraft with which he flew back to Britain.

BIPLANES DURING THE WORLD WARS An aircraft with two main wings stacked above the other, biplanes became the first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly in 1903. As a result, they saw significant use during the First World War, and were favoured by pilots as their lightness and stiffness made them the ideal toll during dog fights with the enemy. However, by the 1930s biplanes had started to reach their performance limit and were slowly replaced throughout Europe by monoplanes. By the start of the Second World War, several air forces still had biplane combat aircraft in frontline use, such as the Royal Air Force's Gloster Gladiator. But their use faded throughout the war, with more purpose-built aircraft, such as the Submarine Spitfire, becoming favoured among British pilots. Advertisement

He was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for his bravery in Norway and the Norwegian Cross - the equivalent of the Victoria Cross - for helping the country in its time of need.

The day before he had been due at Buckingham Palace to receive his decorations in March 1941, he was tasked with intercepting a German Junkers 88 bomber off the Cornish coast.

His Westland Whirlwind fighter was badly damaged and he was forced to make a crash landing.

He suffered a fractured skull and broken arm in the process.

Kitchener's medals, his flying goggles and hat, photographs and official letters and log books, were sold by his family through Duke's Auctioneers in Dorchester, Dorset.

Kitchener, from Crowborough, East Sussex, joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1937 at the age of 23.

He left the RAF in 1945 and worked in local government in Kent.

He died in 2010 aged 95.

Medals won by Kitchener include (top row) The Distinguished Flying Medal, the Air Efficiency Award, the Air Crew Europe Star, (bottom row) the 1939-45 War Medal and the 1939-45 Star
A parish priest has apologised from the pulpit amidst an unholy row after he dressed up as Playboy chief Hugh Hefner and reclined on a bed with two 'Bunnies'.

Parishioners of a rather embarrassed Juan Carlos Martinez have rallied round him with their support and say it was only a bit of fun.

But others were not too happy with his antics, including the Archbishop of Santiago who has agreed to a meeting with the repentant priest.

According to Spanish newspapers, 40-year-old Father Martinez intends to say sorry for his behaviour each time he gives a sermon in the coming days, even though no formal action is to be taken against him.

Spanish priest Juan Carlos Martinez dressed up as Playboy chief Hugh Hefner and reclined on a bed with two 'Bunnies' during a carnival parade

'I want to apologise to anyone who may have been offended,' he says.

The parish priest of Cuntis in Pontevedra decided to embrace the carnival spirit and appeared on one of the floats in the procession dressed as the Playboy chief, complete with dressing gown, captain's cap and cigar.

On each side were two men dressed as Bunnies, wearing fishnet tights, black leotards and the customary bow ties and fluffy rabbit ears.

All three reclined on red satin sheets as the floats meandered through the streets. At one stage, pictures show one of the Bunnies seemingly astride the priest but onlookers say he fell.

Father Martinez's immediate boss, senior priest Calixto Covo said he didn't support his choice of costume and it hadn't been the wisest of decisions for a priest to behave in such a manner. However, he confirmed there would be 'no consequences'.

At one stage, pictures show one of the Bunnies seemingly astride the priest, although onlookers claim he fell

Parishioners say he is a brilliant priest who has helped numerous charities and increased attendance at the church. Dozens gathered outside his home in a show of support.

'He's a very happy and open person, it's no wonder he wanted to participate in the parade,' said one resident.

Father Martinez has described his decision as 'unfortunate' but says he has always dressed up for the carnival.

Although no action is to be taken, the church has recommended the priest takes a few days out to attend a spiritual retreat.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi says there's no way that former President Barack Obama had Donald Trump wiretapped in the lead up to the election, and FBI Director James Comey should say so.

A member of the House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi questioned whether Trump understands the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law that allows the government to monitor the calls of foreign agents suspected of terrorism or espionage.

'President Obama would not do that,' she told reporters attending a Christian Science Monitor breakfast. 'We do not use FISA against the American people.'

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters attending a Christian Science Monitor breakfast that there's no way that former President Barack Obama had Donald Trump wiretapped in the lead up to the election, and FBI Director James Comey should say so

Trump has provided no evidence that Obama had his calls monitored.

And while several news reports indicated that FBI could have been spying on his business in connection with a probe into his alleged ties to the Russians, the White House has provided no direct evidence of that, either.

Any surveillance of Trump Tower would require a court order.

In accusing Obama of having him spied on, Trump suggested that the former president committed a felony.

Pelosi said Trump's claim 'couldn't possibly be true.'

His business may have been the target of an FBI investigation, she said, 'But we really don't know...I can't know in a way that I can say here.'

The Democratic leader encouraged FBI Director Comey to address Trump's allegations openly if he has information that contradicts the president.

'Theoretically do I think that a director of the FBI, who knows for a fact that something is mythology but misleading to the American people, and he should set the record straight? Yes I do think he should say that publicly.'

Comey has not commented on the matter directly, although more than one published report has said that he pushed the Justice Department to refute Trump's claim.

The White House has also urged Comey to issue a firm statement, yet he hasn't.

Yesterday evening Comey met with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill, including Pelosi, who are part of what is known as the 'Gang of Eight' to perform a routine national security briefing.

The California congresswoman said she was unable to comment on that discussion while affirming that she again called for an independent commission 'to investigate the Russian connection.'

'What did the Russians have on Donald Trump that has him talking about flirting with the idea of not having sanctions on Russia, undermining the START treaty, even belittling the greatness of America, as he does, so what's that about?'

Pelosi suggested Sunday that Trump made the wiretapping allegation as distraction, saying on Twitter that 'misdirection is a tool of authoritarians.'

Speaking about the charge at Friday's invite-only breakfast, she again wondered, 'What is going on there?

Comey, seen here on Wednesday in Boston, has not commented on Trump's charges on the record. But more than one published report has said that he pushed the Justice Department to refute Trump's claim

'I mean really, I think that he crossed the line with that,' she said. 'But it's red meat for his base. You know they believe almost anything he says.'

The House minority leader brought up Trump's campaign claim that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York and still have his voters' support. His charge against Obama is a similar test, she said.

'He's shooting the truth on Fifth Avenue, or Mar-a-Lago, wherever he happens to be, occasionally at the White House,' she said.

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said Tuesday that he has not been presented with evidence to back up Trump's assertion on Twitter Saturday.

'We are supposed to be kept up to speed on any pertinent counterintelligence investigation,' he said. 'If Trump or any other political campaign, or anybody associated with Trump, was under some type of investigation, that clearly should have risen to the Gang of Eight level.'

Still, he said the committee will look into the allegation, as the White House has requested.

Pelosi said Friday that intelligence panel shouldn't be spending its time investigating the charge.

'No. They should be investigating the Russian connection to undermine our democracy. That's what they should be investigating,' she said.

'This is, you throw out something, and say waste your time investigating something.'

Continuing, Pelosi said of the Trump charge, 'It couldn't possibly be true. It couldn't possibly be true, because that is now how our system works.'

'So, if you're talking about a FISA, as a president, I'm not even sure he understands the whole FISA thing. Maybe he does, but it's complicated,' she argued. 'But if he does, good for him, that would be one.'
Brussels chief Jean-Claude Juncker has claimed Britain will change its mind after Brexit and rejoin the EU.

The European Commission president said he hoped the day would come when the country decided to 're-enter the boat'.

But he was immediately ridiculed by Eurosceptics including Nigel Farage who joked that the EU will have already 'sunk by then'.

Meanwhile, efforts by the bloc to present a united front were dealt a blow as leaders clashed over moves to tighter integration.

At a press conference in Brussels after a meeting of the 27 other EU leaders without Theresa May, Mr Juncker said: 'I don't like Brexit because I would like to be in the same boat as the British.

The European Commission president said he hoped the day would come when the country decided to 're-enter the boat'

'The day will come when the British will re-enter the boat, I hope.

'But Brexit is not the end of the European Union, nor the end of all our developments, nor the end of our continental ambitions.'

He claimed that the prospect of the UK leaving the EU had strengthened the resolve of the remaining member states. 'The Brexit issue is encouraging the others to continue, unfortunately without the British,' he said.

A senior EU official later insisted that the option of Britain returning to the EU 'will always be open'.

'There are different ways you can join,' they said. 'You can be a full member, you can be a partner, you can be related to us in the customs union, or through a trade agreement.'

EU leaders - without British Prime Minister Theresa May - struggled to draft a declaration due to be unveiled at the March 25 summit in Rome to mark the club's 60th birthday.

Germany and France backed a 'multi-speed' EU after Britain's divorce with the union, with Chancellor Angela Merkel saying: 'The motto is that we are united in diversity.'

But Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said: 'We disagree with any talk of a multi-speed Europe.'

Ms Szydlo took aim at bigger member states who 'believe that they have the right to impose solutions, but we as newer members are entitled to have a say too'.

The tensions came as the European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator signalled Brussels would back down on its demand that Britain pays a 52billion divorce bill when it leaves the EU.

After Mrs May warned she would fight the bill, Guy Verfhofstadt admitted the hefty sum was a bluff that EU negotiators would be forced to compromise on.

The Prime Minister warned European leaders on Thursday that the British people did not vote for Brexit only to keep sending huge sums to the EU.

Mr Verhofstadt conceded the bill was not set in stone and would be the subject of a 'political negotiation'.

Mr Juncker was immediately ridiculed by Eurosceptics including Nigel Farage who joked that the EU will have already 'sunk by then'

Theresa May gave a press conference after attending a Brussels summit last night. She could trigger Article 50 and begin the formal Brexit process as early as next week

The former Belgian prime minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I have done enough negotiations in my life as a politician - as a prime minister, as a member of the European Council and member of the European Parliament - to know that at the beginning of negotiations that the positions, there is an enormous gap.

'That's why I find it will be possible to find an agreement. I hope so.'

EU negotiators have claimed the country will be on the hook for projects it signed off as a member after it leaves, as well as pensions for Brussels officials.

But the Government's legal advice states that there is no law or treaty that will compel Britain to make payments after Brexit.

Mrs May said last night: 'I'm clear that the way people voted on June 23 for us to leave the European Union, they voted for us in the future not paying huge sums of money into the EU every year.'

'And of course when we leave the EU that will be the case.'

Mr Verhofstadt said that Britain's departure was 'a crisis for the European Union'. 'That Britain goes out of the European Union is, in my opinion, a tragedy, a disaster, a catastrophe,' he said.

'But it gives us also a responsibility to look for a new partnership between the UK and the European Union.'

He warned that MEPs could scupper any Brexit deal because the European Parliament has the power to veto any agreement brokered between the UK and the European Commission.

'We vote No - that is possible,' he said. 'It has happened in a number of other cases that a big international multilateral agreement was voted down by the European Parliament after it was concluded.

MEP Guy Verhofstadt said he believed the UK's departure from the Brussels club was a 'tragedy' and a 'catastrophe' for both sides

'The fact that in the Treaty it is stated we have to say Yes or No doesn't mean that automatically we vote Yes.'

Mr Verhofstadt suggested Britons could choose to keep elements of their EU citizenship after Brexit, although other figures in Brussels have questioned how this would work in reality.

He said: 'All British citizens today have also EU citizenship. That means a number of things: the possibility to participate in the European elections, the freedom of travel without problem inside the union...

'We need to have an arrangement in which this arrangement can continue for those citizens who on an individual basis are requesting it.'

He claimed to have received more than a thousand letters from UK citizens who do not want to lose their relationship with 'European civilisation'.

Mr Verhofstadt's admission of the problems facing the EU was echoed by Polish prime minister Beata Szydlo who said Brussels was confronted with a 'profound crisis' because it has 'stopped focusing on the citizens of Europe'.

Speaking at the summit in Brussels, Mrs Szydlo said 'Europe is not moving in the right direction... things have not been going well'.

She argued that without the reform, 'the EU will continue to divide rather than unite'. 'The EU is facing a crisis of principles, it needs a deep reform and to reflect,' she added.

Meanwhile, a close ally of Angela Merkel yesterday said the City of London would be allowed to keep providing many financial services to the rest of the EU after Brexit as it is superior.

Hans-Peter Friedrich, a former German interior minister who chairs the Brexit working group within Mrs Merkel's CDU/CSU coalition partners, told Bloomberg: 'There are financial services that you have to leave in London simply because London is better at them.

'We have to find ways to make these services available to the EU, too. Hence, we need a matter-of-fact discussion.'

However, Mr Friedrich said Germany 'cannot accept' that the UK would be allowed to retain all its rights to provide financial services throughout the bloc.
A potbellied pig named Olive that weighs at least 100 pounds and lives with a New Carlisle, Ohio, family is being evicted.

City officials sent the Hedrick family a letter which said they have 30 days to move the pig outside city limits, according to the Springfield News-Sun.

Vice Mayor John Krabacher told the newspaper that pigs are considered livestock and unable to live in city limits.

A potbellied pig named Olive that weighs at least 100 pounds and lives with a New Carlisle, Ohio, family is being evicted

Misti Hedrick (pictured) says the pig should not be considered livestock

City officials sent the Hedrick family a letter which said they have 30 days to move the pig outside city limits. Hedrick's daughter Taylor Turnbill is seen with Olive

Olive is seen being given something to eat in this video grab

Misti Hedrick, however, told the New Carlisle News: 'Olive is not raised for "food, fiber, or farm labor," so she is not "livestock!"

'Besides, we've had her for two years without any trouble, and it's not like we've hidden her either.

'She stays mostly in the house, but when it's nice I do let her outside, just like we do our dog.

'Olive loves to root around the yard and run up and down the fence row, playing with the neighbor dog...I believe she just thinks she's a dog too.'

Misti Hedrick says 'Olive follows us around the house too...she really does loves us. We love her too'

Olive is seen outside with Misti Hedrick and Hedrick's daughter Taylor Turnbill

Vice Mayor John Krabacher says pigs are considered livestock and unable to live in city limits

She told the newspaper: 'Olive has lived here with little problem since we brought her home. She is a sweet pig.

'Olive is litter-trained, she gets baths, and she doesn't smell.

'She gets along great with our dog, Bell, except for the occasional scuffle when Olive tries to steal Bell's food out of her mouth.

'Olive follows us around the house too...she really does loves us. We love her too.'

Misti Hedrick is pictured together with Olive as the pig walks around indoors

Misti Hedrick is searching for a temporary place for Olive to stay

The Hedricks were getting signatures from people in the area for a petition, the New Carlisle News reported.

An online petition called Please Help Me Save My Potbelly Pig Olive currently has more than 15,000 signatures.

The Hedricks were planning to present city council members at a Monday meeting with petitions, the newspaper said. Misti Hedrick attended the meeting, where she talked about Olive.

The New Carlisle Times reported that Council Member Ethan Reynolds recommended a petition to place on the ballot a change to the livestock rule, and said the earliest time it could go on a ballot is August.

Hedrick is intending to launch such a petition, and is also searching for a temporary place for Olive to stay, the Springfield News-Sun reported.

An online petition called Please Help Me Save My Potbelly Pig Olive currently has more than 15,000 signatures
Three witnesses to a brutal murder suicide which claimed the life of a bikie dubbed the 'Lizard Man' and his former partner will not be charged by police due to a legal loophole.

A coronial inquiry has been launched into the attack at Bronson Ellery's Gold Coast unit which saw Shelsea Schilling bashed and strangled to death on November 18 2016.

Unlike other states, Queensland does not have a bystander responsibility law, allowing three people who watched the horrific crime to escape conviction,Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Lizard Man Bronson Ellery's (right) bashed his ex-girlfriend Shelsea Schilling (left) then commit suicide next to her lifeless body

After Ms Schilling tried to leave the apartment, Ellery bashed his ex-girlfriend's head against his apartment tiles then pushed her head into a pillow, suffocating her.

He then changed into his best suit, positioned himself next to Ms Schilling's dead body and took a fatal dose of drugs to commit suicide, a source close to the investigation said.

When asked if the trio of witnesses would be charged, police said they would 'continue to prepare a report for the coroner' but were unable to provide further details.

Ms Schilling's mother, Bonnie Mobbs, said she hoped bystander laws, such as those in place in the Northern Territory, would be rolled out in Queensland.

'I feel very strongly about it, myself. I don't understand why we don't have these laws in the first place,' Ms Mobbs said.

Opposition prevention of domestic violence spokeswoman Ros Bates sponsored a petition to State Parliament calling for penalties to witnesses who fail to report serious crimes.

Three witnesses who watched the brutal murder suicide have evaded charges through a legal loophole

Ms Schilling had taken a restraining order against Ellery in 2015
Lindsey Kushner QC has warned women that, if they get drunk, they could be targeted by sex offenders

One of Britain's most senior female judges warned drunken women that they will be a target for rapists as she retired from the bench today.

Lindsey Kushner QC said all women were entitled to 'drink themselves into the ground' but she warned their 'disinhibited behaviour' put them in danger of being raped by men who 'gravitate' to drunken females.

She spoke out as she jailed a man for six years after he raped a drunken girl he met in a Burger King in Manchester city centre in July last year.

But victims' charities have accused the judge of 'victim blaming' in the speech.

In an impassioned speech, her last as a judge, the 64-year-old mother of a son and daughter said: 'We judges who see one sexual offence trial after another, have often been criticised for suggesting and putting more emphasis on what girls should and shouldn't do than on the act and the blame to be apportioned to rapists.

'There is absolutely no excuse and a woman can do with her body what she wants and a man will have to adjust his behaviour accordingly. But as a woman judge I think it would be remiss of me if I didn't mention one or two things.

'I don't think it's wrong for a judge to beg women to take actions to protect themselves. That must not put responsibility on them rather than the perpetrator.

'How I see it is burglars are out there and nobody says burglars are OK but we do say 'please don't leave your back door open at night, take steps to protect yourselves'.

She spoke as she jailed Ricardo Rodrigues-Gomes for raping a drunken women in Manchester

She added: 'Girls are perfectly entitled to drink themselves into the ground but should be aware people who are potential defendants to rape, gravitate towards girls who have been drinking.

'It should not be like that but it does happen and we see it time and time again.'

Ms Kushner, who has sat as a senior circuit judge since 2002, said drunken women were a target because sex offenders thought they would be less likely to put up a fight, and less likely to report an offence.

She finished her speech saying: '[Women] are entitled to do what they like but please be aware there are men out there who gravitate towards a woman who might be more vulnerable than others. That's my final line, in my final criminal trial, and my final sentence.'

But her comments have come under fire from victims' charities, who fear they may deter victims from coming forward.

Rachel Krys, co-director of End Violence Against Women Coalition said: 'When judges basically blame victims for rape - by suggesting such how much alcohol a woman drinks or what she wears is part of what causes rape - we remove the responsibility from the man who did it. That is really alarming.

'What this judge is saying is exactly the kind of thing that deters women from reporting assaults. Women understandably think that they will not be believed, or will be blamed for their own attack if they've had a drink.

'This judge should set a tone much higher than the victim-blaming attitudes which support and perpetuate violence against women.'

The judge spoke after the case of a woman raped in Manchester's Canal Street district after she was removed from the nightclub after drinking lager and vodka and inhaling amyl nitrite

The judge's comments came at the end of a case which heard how factory worker Ricardo Rodrigues-Gomes, 19, and a work colleague took in turns to have sex with the 18-year old victim on a canal bank.

The girl, who had been drinking lager and vodka as well as inhaling the party drug amyl nitrite, could be heard saying: 'No, stop. I don't want to do it. It's not fair,' in footage taken by a passerby.

The woman had been out in Manchester's Gay Village with two friends and all three had been 'drinking significant quantities of alcohol.' She was removed from a nightclub by a bouncer at 5.10am after falling asleep.

She spent some time slumped on the pavement outside the venue before she went with to Burger King, where she met Gomes and his friend.

A member of the public called police, who arrested Gomes nearby.

Judge Kushner gave her comments on her last day in the job at Manchester Crown Court

Portuguese Gomes, from Gorton, Manchester, was convicted of rape whilst his friend was cleared after a trial. Gomes was jailed for six years in prison for two counts of rape.

In a statement read to the court, the victim, who was due to enrol as a student at Salford University, said she felt like she had 'lost an entire year of my life and as a result of what happened'.

Judge Kushner, who has a son and a daughter, was educated at Manchester High School for Girls and Liverpool University before qualifying as a barrister in 1974. She became a Recorder in 1993 before being appointed a senior circuit judge in 2002.

She came under fire last year after handing a suspended sentence to a woman who stabbed a man in the eye with the stiletto heel of her Christian Louboutin shoes.

The judge also attracted attention when she said she couldn't bear to watch the twisted child abuse videos of a paedophile. He also controversially avoided jail on a community order.
A young couple were tragically killed this weekend, when a wind storm caused a tree to fall on top of their car.

Max Muessig, 20, and his girlfriend Maggie Potter, 23, were driving to his mother's home in Midland, Michigan for dinner Wednesday afternoon in the middle of a storm.

In some areas, wind speeds got as high as 70 miles per hour.

The couple were driving through Freeman Township when the wind caused a large tree to fall down and crash through the roof of Muessig's car.

Maggie Potter, 23 (left), and Max Muessig, 20 (right), were killed on Wednesday when a tree fell on their call while they were driving to Midland, Michigan

Police say the couple were killed instantly.

This week was one of the few times that the couple got to spend together, since they were long distance.

Muessig and Potter met while they were attending the University of Vermont, but Muessig transferred to Michigan State University this fall because he wanted to be closer to his family after the death of his grandfather.

Potter graduated last spring and was living in Boston, while trying to start a career in event planning.

The couple meant at the University of Vermont. Potter graduated last spring and had moved to Boston. Muessig transferred to Michigan State University to be closer to his family and they continued their relationship long distance

Muessig was on spring break from school this week. He planned to spend the weekend with his girlfriend at his family's cabin in Luzerne.

Potter's father Ted described the couple as 'soulmates'.

'Maggie was fortunate at such an early stage in life to have found her soulmate, Max,' he told MLive. 'They shared many core values and were looking forward to a promising future together.'

Muessig was studying political science with dreams of becoming a lawyer and eventually getting into politics, his family said.

'He was very witty, humorous, very caring and loving,' his father Mark said. 'And he was always fair. He always wanted to do the right thing. That's why he wanted to get into politics.'

Police say the couple were killed instantly from the impact of the tree falling on Muessig's Mini Cooper

Muessig's sister, Taylor Hodson, said she knew her brother and Potter were meant to be from the first time she met his girlfriend.

'I hoped that she would be my sister-in-law someday,' Hodson said.

Potter is survived by her parents and 25-year-old brother, Gus. Muessig is survived by his parents and sister.
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Almost 39 million people are being hit with snow in the northeast region over the next few days.

Winter Storm Reggie is expected to drop up to six inches of snow on the New York City metro area Friday according to the Weather Channel.

Friday morning, parts of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts received 2-5 inches in snow.

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 Slide me  Thursday vs Friday: People are out and about enjoying the 60 degree weather in Union Square (left) the day before snow hits Friday morning (right)

 Slide me  Thursday vs Friday: Pedestrians only need a light jacket as they walk around New York City on March 9. The next day, most people wear longer coats as temperatures drop to the 30s

New Yorkers walk through a wintry mix of snow and sleet during the morning rush hour in Brooklyn

The cold weather comes a month after Winter Storm Niko dropped nine inches of snow in the tri-state area (pictured, Central Park on Friday)

A woman rides a bike during a snow storm on the Coney Island boardwalk which is covered with a blanket of snow

The day after New York City temperatures reached a high of 61 degrees the city was hit with flurries of sleet and snow Friday morning

A maintenance worker in Pennsylvania uses a snow blower to clear the snow from the front of a school Friday for the first snow in the region in over a month

Parts of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, southeast Massachusetts and Philadelphia (pictured) were hit with Winter Storm Reggie

 Slide me  Thursday vs Friday: People who work near Washington Square Park enjoy their lunch on the steps of the NYC landmark. On Friday, most people eat inside

Thursday, there was a balmy high of 61 degrees in the Big Apple. However, Friday morning New Yorkers woke up to snow flurries which are expected to last until this afternoon.

This weekend is not going to be even chillier with temperatures dropping to the 20s. More snow is expected to hit the northeast on Tuesday.

A storm from the Midwest is projected to merge with another off the Mid-Atlantic coast creating a stronger storm according to Accuweather.

Tuesday's storm has the potential to become a blizzard depending on how close to the coast the Mid-Atlantic storm tracks.

Jay Engle, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service told the New York Times: 'We didnt have a February, so I guess were having a February now.'

Winter Storm Reggie is New York City and Philadelphia's first snow in almost a month.

 Slide me  Thursday vs Friday: The sun is shining sky is blue on 11th street outside of Grace Church in New York City. The next day, it could not be more bleak as temperatures drop to the 30s

 Slide me  Thursday vs Friday: A sun-drenched intersection on Thursday is gloomy the next day in New York City as the region is pelted with up to six inches of snow

Areas in Pennsylvania (Pottsville, left) and New York City (right) were hit with snow for the first time in a month

Winter Storm Reggie is expected to drop up to six inches of snow on New York City on Friday after a month without snow

Winter Storm Regis comes one month after Winter Storm Niko dropped nine inches of snow in the tri-state area on February 9

Temperatures are predicted to remain in the 30s in New York City throughout the week and drop to the teens

A woman shields herself from the snow on Friday as she walks through Central Park

A couple walks on the Coney Island boardwalk during a snow storm on Friday morning

The National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories in New York City and other portions of the northeast including Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The frosty weather comes a month after Winter Storm Niko dropped nine inches of snow in the tri-state area on February 9.

While no wet weather is in the forecast for Saturday, temperatures are predicted to remain in the 30s throughout the week.

NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Esposito said in a press release Thursday: 'Were expecting some snow for the Friday morning commute. New Yorkers should allow for extra travel time and be prepared for slick road conditions.'

'We are also expecting extremely cold temperatures this weekend, so check in on your family, neighbors, the elderly, or others with increased health risks to make sure they are protected from the extreme cold.'

 Slide me  Thursday vs Friday: The haze and snow obscures the Freedom Tower from West Village in Manhattan on Friday. It was visible the day before on the clear, 60 degree Thursday

Lower Manhattan is hit by a snow storm Friday morning. The day before temperatures reached a high of 60 degrees
The Paris region has passed a new rule obliging labourers on public building sites to use French, copying action taken elsewhere in France to squeeze out foreign workers.

The Ile de France region passed a 'Small Business Act' on Thursday aimed at funnelling more local public contracts to small French businesses.

It includes a so-called Moliere clause which will oblige firms working on publicly-funded building projects, or in other areas such as transport or training, to use French as their working language.

Labourers in the Paris region are banned from speaking anything other than French on building sites in a bid to sqeeze out foreign workers (file photo)

Vice president of the region Jerome Chartier said: 'This clause is necessary and targets foreign companies who come with their teams, without any of them speaking French.

'These companies need to improve.'

The French government has long criticised EU rules that allow companies to bring in much cheaper foreign workers temporarily, often from eastern Europe, who undercut locals.

EU rules on public procurement prevent states from discriminating against companies from another European country uniquely on the grounds of their nationality.

Vice president of the region Jerome Chartier (pictured) said: 'This clause is necessary and targets foreign companies who come with their teams'. Ile de France will join regions like Normandy and Hauts-de-France who already have a similar ban in place

Opponents to the Moliere clause, named after the 17th century French playwright, point out that it will disadvantage newly arrived foreigners living in France who are able to integrate via the workplace and learn French.

It also risks being difficult to monitor and enforce.

Ile de France are considering employing inspectors to listen in at building sites to check what language they are speaking.

Critics of the Moliere clause say that it will be difficult to monitor and enforce. Ile de France are thinking about employing inspectors to listen at building site to check what language they are speaking

Other French regions Normandy, Hauts-de-France and Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes have also introduced rules requiring companies to use the French language on public building sites.

Officials have said the move will help safety on work sites, but it will also affect the 500,000 foreign workers who labour on French building sites.

Oleg a Ukranian labourer working in the Parisian outskirts told Le Temps: 'In any case, speaking French does not help much when you moving cement around or demolishing walls.'

If Francois Fillon wins the presidential election, he will think about rolling out the ban nationally, rather than letting different regions decide on the rule.
Poor Nepalese women are being duped into selling their skin to be used for penis and breast enlargements, according to a shocking investigative report .

Indian news website Youth Ki Awaaz (Voice of the Youth) said the women were selling 20 square inches (130 square cm) of skin tissue for $150 to be used in the global cosmetic surgery market.

Nepal's Women, Child and Social Welfare Minister Kumar Khadka told the Thomson Reuters Foundation the government was shocked to hear the news.

The report said poor Nepali women were trafficked to brothels in Indian cities such as Mumbai and then duped into selling their skin

'We are stunned by the report,' Mr Khadka said on Thursday. 'We will investigate and if found to be correct, the government will make all efforts to stop this heinous crime and punish those responsible.'

The trafficking of Nepalis from the impoverished Himalayan nation to neighbouring India for labour and sexual exploitation - and even kidney transplantation - is widely reported, but cases of trafficking in human skin tissue are unheard of.

The report said the Nepalese women were trafficked to brothels in Indian cities such as Mumbai and then later duped into selling their skin.

Some victims said they were drugged and their skin removed.

The skin tissue is then allegedly sold on to pathology laboratories in India where it is processed and exported to companies in the United States which manufacture skin and tissue derivative products for the global plastic surgery market.

The report claims Indian news website said Nepali women were selling 20 square inches of skin tissue for $150

Women's rights activists called on the government to urgently investigate the report and launch public campaigns in high-risk, poorer districts of the country prone to trafficking.

'The government should be serious about this and protect our women,' said Sunita Danuwar of Shakti Samuha, a charity which helps to rehabilitate victims of trafficking.

'Mere lip service will make no difference and innocent villagers will continue to be trafficked for their organs like skin and kidneys.'
A tiny leopard cub has been found alone in a sugarcane field after his mother was forced to abandon her baby by local villagers.

The adorable 10-week-old baby leopard was left to fend for itself on the outskirts of a village in Nashik, Maharashtra in India.

Farmers out harvesting sugarcane in fields near Mhalsa Kore village stumbled upon the cuddly leopard cub.

A 10-week-old baby leopard was left to fend for itself on the outskirts of a village in Nashik, Maharashtra in India

The cub was rescued and is currently recovering in his new home at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre, where he was checked over by vets

Just months earlier, a four-month-old female leopard cub was rescued from a neighbouring village.

Conflicts between humans and leopards are common in the area, often forcing mother leopards to abandon their cubs.

Worried for their own safety as well as that of the cub's, the farmers who found the baby in the sugarcane field contacted the Forest Department.

The cub was rescued and is currently recovering in his new home at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre, run by charity Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the Forest Department.

Vets said the leopard cub was 'quite weak' and is being treated with multivitamin supplements

Vets at the centre identified the cub as a male and estimated he is around three months old.

Leopard cubs are dependent on their mothers for the first two years of their lives.

Foresters made several attempts made to reunite the lost cub with its mother, but the adult leopard failed to return to the site in search of her missing baby.

The cub will now be raised alongside the other female baby at rescue centre, which currently houses a total of 34 leopards that are not fit to be released back into the wild.

'He is slightly weak and we have currently put him on multivitamin supplements. We will have to hand rear the cub as he can no longer be returned to the wild' said Dr Ajay Deshmukh, Senior Veterinarian at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center.

Leopard cubs are dependent on their mothers for the first two years of their lives, so he will now have to be reared by hand

Forester Salunke added: 'We made several attempts to reunite the cub with its mother but she never showed up.

'The cub will now be under the permanent care of Wildlife SOS, who are also currently rearing the female leopard cub, rescued earlier this year.'

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder of Wildlife SOS said: 'This is the second leopard cub to have been rescued in the last two months. Cubs this young cannot survive on their own as young leopards are dependent on their mothers for the first two years of their lives.

'The cub is now under the care and observation of our team of dedicated veterinarians and staff. '
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was 'visibly moved' as she listened to the stories of transgender students during meetings in DC. DeVos is pictured at a luncheon on March 8

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was 'visibly moved' as she listened to the stories of transgender students and agreed that some are 'born that way' during meetings with families in DC.

DeVos watched a transgender girl eat apple sauce and draw, and listened to another student's emotional story of feeling marginalized at school, as activists pressed DeVos to make good on her promise to protect all students.

Parents and activists who met with DeVos on Wednesday said they thought she was moved by their stories, but they still left with little hope that she would be a strong advocate for transgender children.

The meeting at the Education Department came two weeks after the Trump administration rescinded Obama-era guidance that instructed schools to let students use bathrooms in line with their stated gender identity, not their assigned gender at birth.

The decision was strongly condemned by civil rights groups, who said that it would harm already highly vulnerable students, but it was applauded by conservatives, who said the guidelines violated the safety and privacy of all other students.

Attending the meeting were Ellie Ford, a five-year-old transgender girl, and high school student Grace Dolan-Sandrino, who told DeVos the middle school she attended did not let her use the girls' bathroom - as the Obama guidance was not in place then.

Parents and activists who met with DeVos on Wednesday said they thought she was moved by their stories, but they still left with little hope that she would be a strong advocate for transgender children. Pictured is Ellie Ford, a five-year-old transgender girl, and her father

The meeting at the Education Department came two weeks after the Trump administration rescinded Obama-era guidance that instructed schools to let students use bathrooms in line with their stated gender identity, not their assigned gender at birth

DeVos would not commit to any specific actions to help protect students like Grace and Ellie, the parents said. One parent at the meeting said she had lost a transgender child to suicide.

Grace's mother, Karen Dolan, said of the education secretary: 'She sat there and listened to our stories through our tears and at times she seemed to appear visibly moved, but she didn't react.'

DeVos agreed that there were 'thousands and thousands' of transgender students across the country and that children are born that way, according to Dolan, who lives in Washington's Maryland suburbs.

'There is one thing between increasing your understanding and having your heart moved for an hour and then out of her position of power either acting to protect transgender and gender nonconforming children or acting in a way that will make their lives worse,' Dolan added.

'I haven't seen any concrete action that would give me any reason to be hopeful.'

Grace, 16, who now goes to an inclusive high school where she can use the girls' bathroom, said that she told DeVos that her decision to scrap the guidance was 'an extremely cruel thing to do.'

She said that being in an unwelcoming environment dramatically increases a transgender child's chances of developing depression or committing suicide.

'It is not fair for them to grow up with their human rights being denied,' Grace said in an interview with The Associated Press.

'This is beyond bathrooms; this is about our right as transgender people, as humans to exist, to simply exist.'

DeVos said she was glad to meet with transgender families and hopes to continue the dialogue, adding that she remains 'committed to advocating for and fighting on behalf of all students'. DeVos is pictured with President Donald Trump at a school in Florida on March 3

Vanessa Ford, Ellie's mother and a resident of the District of Columbia, said that the Education Department already has an existing document, published on its website, that outlines best practices that some schools have used with regard to transgender students.

She urged DeVos to promote the document publicly and urge schools to use it.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said that she was grateful to DeVos for devoting two hours of her time to the meeting. 'I think decision makers should meet the people they are deciding about.'

At the same time Keisling said rescinding the bathroom guidance was 'extremely harmful' and urged DeVos to take steps to undo the harm and increase protections for transgender children.

DeVos said she was glad to meet with transgender families and hopes to continue the dialogue.

'Every school and every school leader has a moral responsibility to protect all students and ensure every child is respected and can learn in an accepting environment,' DeVos said in a statement.

'I remain committed to advocating for and fighting on behalf of all students.'
A twisted man who stole, sacrificed and ate pet cats has become the first person in Colombia to be jailed for animal abuse.

David Andres Florez Acosta, 31, was arrested after police found a skull and skins of several cats at his house that matched descriptions of stolen animals.

The sick animal abuser confessed his crimes and received a six-month sentence in Amaga, in the north-western Colombian department of Antioquia.

David Andres Florez Acosta, 31, stole, sacrificed and ate pet cats and has become the first person in Colombia to be jailed for animal abuse (pictured, middle, with the cats)

Florez Acosta had been arrested in September 2016 and confessed immediately, saying not only that he had killed the cats but that he had eaten them as well.

Police found him after tip-offs from neighbours who had noticed a foul odour emanating from the property.

Prosecution lawyers said: 'The investigation is linked with the robbery of several cats, among them the one owned by the church of the city.

He was arrested after police found a skull and skins of several cats at his house that matched descriptions of stolen animals

The sick animal abuser confessed his crimes and received a six-month sentence in Amaga, in the north-western Colombian department of Antioquia

'The cats were sacrificed and eaten in the house of the arrested man.'

Colombian media reported that eating horse, dog and cat meat is not banned in the country, but that the suspect had been charged with animal cruelty and was the first to be convicted of the newly created crime.

In January 2016 the president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos approved the new law against animal abuse in order to make clear that animals are 'feeling beings,' he said.

The new law provides for a sentence of up to 36 months in prison for those who abuse wild or domestic animals.
A South African man has become the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a stand-up paddleboard.

Chris Bertish, 42, completed the gruelling 4,050-mile solo voyage on Thursday, arriving in Antigua after 93 days at sea.

The big-wave surfer and sailor battled storms, equipment failures, loneliness and shark encounters on his epic journey from Agadir, Morocco.

In his final 'captain's log', written on Facebook roughly an hour before he completed the world record, Bertish wrote: 'A day I have been working toward for as long as I can remember I've put everything on the line for this project for the last five years everything!'

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Chris Bertish has become the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a stand-up paddleboard. He is pictured being greeted by boats as he neared Antigua this week

Chris Bertish 42, completed the gruelling 4,050-mile solo voyage on Thursday, arriving in Antigua after 93 days at sea. He is pictured 205 nautical miles from Antigua

Choppy waters: The big-wave surfer and sailor battled storms, equipment failures, loneliness and shark encounters on his epic journey from Agadir, Morocco

He added: 'I raise my paddle with one hand above my head and from deep within me I let out a roar'.

Covering an average of 43 miles a day, the adventurer mainly paddled at night to avoid sun exposure. He slept in a tiny-bullet-shaped cabin at the front of the 20-ft custom-made craft, which was fitted with solar panels and satellite communication systems.

Along the way, he set another world record for the furthest distance travelled solo, unsupported and unassisted over open ocean in a day, 71.96 miles.

Stand-up paddle boarding (SUP), as it is known, is essentially rowing standing up, where a paddle is used to propel one's self through the water. The sport originated in Hawaii and has become popular around the world, practiced by celebrities and fitness gurus such as Jennifer Aniston and Cindy Crawford.

Bertish's custom-built vessel, which he named the ImpiFish, was constructed by British boat designer and naval architect, Phil Morrison. It cost $120,000 (99,000) and took six months to build.

93 DAYS, 4,050 MILES AND A 100,000 PADDLEBOARD  Chris Bertish embarked from Agadir, Morocco on December 6, skirting the Canary Islands before braving the open ocean and finishing in Antigua in the Caribbean on Thursday, March 9  The 4,050-mile voyage took 93 days, averaging a distance of 43 miles a day. He pushed hard over the final three days, covering 125 nautical miles  Bertish made an estimated two million paddle strokes during the journey  Along the way, he set another world record for the furthest distance travelled solo, unsupported and unassisted over open ocean in a day, 71.96 miles  The 42-year-old mainly paddled at night to avoid too much sun exposure. He slept in a tiny, bullet-shaped cabin at the front of the 20-ft custom-made craft  The vessel, which he named the ImpiFish, was constructed by British boat designer and naval architect, Phil Morrison. It cost $120,000 (99,000) and took six months to build  Four ports in the deck were used to store supplies such as protein shakes, freeze-dried meals and salty jerky, along with 50 litres of emergency water  A bank of solar panels on top of the cabin provided the energy to power and recharge the electronics on board  including a hand-held radio, satellite phone, back up phone, MacBook laptop and GPS  During storms, anchors could be used to stabilise the craft, which was capable of righting itself when capsized  Bertish now holds the Guinness World Record for being the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a stand-up paddleboard, solo  The most recent attempt, last year, ended with the 'captain', Frenchman Nicolas Jarossay, being dragged from the sea by rescuers just one night into the journey Advertisement

Covering an average of 43 miles a day, the adventurer mainly paddled at night to avoid sun exposure. He slept in a tiny-bullet-shaped cabin at the front of the 20-ft custom-made craft, which was fitted with solar panels and satellite communication systems

Along the way, he set another world record for the furthest distance travelled solo, unsupported and unassisted over open ocean in a day, 71.96 miles

During storms, the 42-year-old used anchors to stabilise the craft, which was capable of righting itself when capsized.

Four ports in the deck were used to store supplies such as protein shakes, freeze-dried meals and salty jerky, along with 50 litres of emergency water.

Bertish embarked from Agadir, Morocco on December 6, skirting the Canary Islands before braving the open ocean and finishing in Antigua in the Caribbean on Thursday, March 9.

Along the way he posted regular updates of his progress and adventures on social media, from turtle encounters to ringing in the New Year on board with a dram of scotch.

In one 'captain's log' on Facebook, he recalled his terrifying cross with a 15ft great white shark as he filled his 'precious little water bottle' from the sea. Thankfully the creature changed its mind at the last minute and did not attack.

The first few weeks of his expedition were some of the hardest. Speaking to a New Zealand surfing magazine during the voyage, Bertish told how he was forced to battle a strong current and the 'scariest weather conditions imaginable'.

He suffered a string of failures with the vessel and came close to sinking when caught in a storm near rocks off the Canary Islands. 'The hatch was leaking, and I was running out of water. I thought I was going to sink.' Bertish said.

He also experienced medical problems, including a torn rotator cuff.

Bertish's custom-built vessel, which he named the ImpiFish, was constructed by British boat designer and naval architect, Phil Morrison. It cost $120,000 (99,000) and took six months to build

The 42-year-old pushed hard over the final three days of his voyage, covering 125 nautical miles.

He pulled into Antigua on Thursday at 8:32am local time, meaning he now holds the Guinness World Record for being the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean by paddle board, solo. The most recent attempt ended with the 'captain', Frenchman Nicolas Jarossay, being dragged from the sea by rescuers just one night into the journey.

Bertish, who won the renowned Mavericks surf competition in California in 2010, is no stranger to a challenge. In 2013, he set the world record for open ocean SUP in South Africa and the fastest time crossing the English Channel on an SUP (5 hours, 26 minutes).

His Atlantic crossing raised the equivalent of more than 339,000 for three charities, the Signature of Hope Trust, the Lunchbox Foundation and Operation Smile. This is enough to build at least five schools in South Africa, provide monthly dividends to feed and educate thousands of children and pay for life-changing cleft lip and palate operations.
Barack Obama was back in the Big Apple on Thursday night, and used his visit as an excuse to stop by his favorite restaurant for a little wine and a lot of Italian food.

The former president was spotted at Carbone with his wife Michelle and daughter Malia, who moved to Manhattan in January ahead of her new internship at The Weinstein Company.

Barack could be seen enjoying a glass of red wine and chowing down on the $49 double lamb chop at the Michelin-starred Italian joint, while Michelle opted for a bit of white wine with her meal and 18-year-old Malia was stuck with water.

There was plenty of reasons to celebrate too, approximately 60million according to one report, which claims that is the amount Barack and Michelle have secured for the global rights to their upcoming memoirs.

The money should help the Obamas, with Barack recently out of a job and Malia the only member of the family who has a job at this time.

Sasha meanwhile is still attending high school in Washington DC, which is why she could not join her parents and sister for their Manhattan dinner party.

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Family guy: Barack Obama went out to eat at the Italian restaurant Carbone on Thursday night (above exiting the restuant) with his wife Michelle and daughter Malia

Chow down: A person on Twitter posted a photo they said was of Obama in which he was spotted sipping red wine and eating a $49 double lamb chop at the Michelin-starred eatery while Michelle drank white wine with dinner

Blurred lines: One diner grabbed a quick snap of Barack (left) and Michelle (right) as they exited the Italian joint

Cameras ready: Diners could be seen eagerly snapping away at Barack after he ate his meal

Barack has made a habit of visiting Carbone when he is in the city, previously swinging by with his daughters in July of 2015 while he was in town for a fundraiser with Sasha.

Due to the fact that Barack was the commander-in-chief when the visit occurred, the area around Carbone was slowed to a near-standstill due to the presence of Secret Service.

Malia was working in the city at that time, with the motivated teenager electing to spend the summer between her junior and senior year at Sidwell Friends working on the set of Lena Dunham's HBO series 'Girls.'

Carbone was just the start of what might have been one of the greatest weekends a father could plan for his girls, with Barack then taking the girls on a private tour of the Whitney and scoring the group 'Hamilton' tickets for the following day.

Barack and the girls came with an appetite that night too, ordering the restaurants famed veal parmigiana, crab cakes, a porterhouse for two, spicy rigatoni alla vodka, meatballs, lobster ravioli, and a bottle of Fenocchio Barbaresco.

And while the food, which is carefully crafted by co-chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, is some of the best in the city, it does come at a bit of a cost.

The veal parmigiana is $55 and the porterhouse for two rings in at $195, though it does come with an incredible tableside presentation in addition to the perfectly grilled 60-day dry-aged cut from Pat LaFrieda.

Michelle also visited Carbone back in November of 2013 just a few months after the restaurant opened its doors, and sat across the room from reality star Kim Kardashian who was dining with her publicist pal Simon Huck.

Snow way: Malia was up and at 'em early Friday as she headed into work at The Weinsten Company (above)

Gang of four: Secret Service agents stand outside Carbone back in 2015 when Barack visited with Sasha and Malia

Gridlock: The extra security precautions taken while Barack was in office created a major traffic situation during that 2015 visit (above)

Malia has been enjoying quite a few of the city's great restaurants since moving her, with visits from her dad helping to absorb the costs of dining out for the teenager, who heads to Harvard University later this year.

Barack paid a visit to Malia just two weeks ago in fact, his first time emerging in public since he boarded a marine helicopter bound for Joint Andrews Air Force Base after President Donald Trump was sworn into office.

The pair seemed to stick to their tradition of great food and great theater, visiting the Italian restaurant Emilio's Ballato one night and taking some time to pose for a photo with the owners and chef.

Later that week, the two caught Mark Ruffalo, Danny DeVito, John Turturro, Tony Shalhoub and Jessica Hecht in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's 'The Price.'

It was the Monday after that trip that news broke of Barack and Michelle's staggering book deal.

Just a few hours after multiple people with knowledge of the joint publishing deal told the Financial Times that bidding had surpassed $60million, The New York Times reveals that the couple had inked a deal with Penguin Random House.

It was Penguin who appeared to have the slight edge in the battle for the books, having published Barack's three previous titles.

'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.'

Wine and dine: Two weeks ago Barack took Malia to dinner at Emilio's Ballato (above posing with the owners and chef)

Great dad: Barack is not only an accomplished politician, but also a foodie (above at Emilio's Ballato)

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.

There is no release date for either of the memoirs.

No book deal has ever come close to paying an author that much money, with the closest example being the the $150million James Patterson reportedly received from Hachette in 2009 as part of a 17-book deal.

That breaks down to a little less than $10million a book, as opposed to he $30million Barack and Michelle each stand to make in their deal.

The amount currently on the table for the Obamas also eclipses the $15million Bill Clinton was paid for his post-White House memoir My Life which was released in 2004, and the $10million deal score by George W. Bush for the 2010 release Decision Points.

It also four times more than the reported $14million Hillary Clinton earned for her 2014 release Hard Choices about her time at the State Department.

She received $8million over a decade prior on 2001 for her first memoir, Living History. She was a New York senator at that time and had to have the deal approved by the Senate Ethics Committee.

President Donald Trump meanwhile received just a $500,000 advance for The Art of the Deal, which he split with the ghost writer of the book.

That book has gone on however to earn him millions in royalties, having made its way back on the bestsellers list back in 2004 when he launched The Apprentice and ever since announced his candidacy for president.
Geordie Shore star Chantelle Connelly has appeared in court accused of attacking a girl following an argument over a man outside a nightclub.

The reality TV personality allegedly punched the victim in the face following an dispute over a mystery man outside Powerhouse nightclub in Newcastle city centre.

The victim suffered a fractured wrist and needed stitches to her face after the attack on October 29 last year.

Geordie Shore star Chantelle Connelly (pictured with her mother today) has appeared in court accused of attacking a girl following a spat over a man

The reality TV personality allegedly punched the victim in the face following an argument over a mystery man outside Powerhouse nightclub in Newcastle city centre

Connelly has denied that she was at the scene of the attack and pleaded not guilty to GBH this afternoon at Newcastle Magistrates' Court.

Prosecutor James Long told Newcastle Magistrates court: 'The victim has suffered injuries to the mouth and had to have three stitches.

'She also suffered a fracture to her left wrist from the impact.'

The 27-year-old, who appeared in court wearing an oversized black puffer jacket and dark jeans and holding a black Chanel bag, denied a charge of GBH.

Connelly has denied that she was at the scene of the attack and pleaded not guilty to GBH this afternoon FRI at Newcastle Magistrates' Court

She walked into the court house wearing a black puffer jacket with faux fur trim (pictured)

Chair of the bench Feyi Awotona told Connelly: 'It is important that you attend court on the day of your trial. 'If not you will be committing a separate criminal offence.' Connelly was granted unconditional bail and will face a three hour trial at

The appearance is just days after a trip to the Dominican Republic, where she was seen posing for cameras with her topless girlfriend Jemma Lucy.

The pair, both famous for their revealing outfits and heavily-tattooed bodies, were seen playing volleyball on the white sands and kissing in public.

But the pictures, shared on Instagram by topless Miss Lucy, were removed by moderators on the site, which does not permit nudity.
Two prominent rabbis are condemning as inaccurate a meme that President Trump is firing off his most destructive or off-message tweets on Saturdays just because daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner are observing Shabbat.

The rabbis are not persuaded by the timing of the missives, which have sometimes occurred on Saturdays, when Ivanka and Jared, who are both Orthodox Jews, are observing the Sabbath.

Last Saturday, for example, Trump fired off a series of tweets accusing President Obama of tapping his phones  only to lob another mocking successor Arnold Schwarzenegger's ratings on 'The Apprentice.'

It is a 'dangerous misconception' to assume that Kushner is unreachable or couldn't otherwise provide guidance to the president because of his religious observances,' said Rabbi Avidan Milevsky, the interim rabbi at Kesher Israel, an Orthodox synagogue that has been mentioned as a possible congregation Kushner and Trump would join.

He told Politico: 'It implies that anything disastrous is somehow indirectly to be blamed on Jared's absenceand by extension, Jews.'

President Donald Trump attends a healthcare meeting with key House Committee Chairmen at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 10. Rabbis are condemning the idea that he loses control when daughter Ivanka and advisor Jared Trump are observing Shabbat

Moreover, there isn't anything in Jewish law that would prevent Kushner from providing advice  although restrictions on doing work on the Sabbath prevent many practicing Orthodox Jews from driving or even using electronics.

'It's a dangerous narrative -- this idea that he's not allowed to discuss these things on the Sabbath is absolutely false. Take a few steps, and it reaches the conclusion of, 'here's another thing we can blame on the Jews.' Jared is not locked in a room. It was a cool idea, and it got some press, but it is a dangerous and false narrative,' he told the publication.

He said the rules for Shabbat aren't 'black and white.'

SOOTHING INFLUENCE? One theory in Washington is that Trump goes off message when daughter Ivanka and advisor Jared Trump are observing Shabbat

'The black and white in traditional Judaism are actions and activities: using electricity, driving, writing. When it comes to work, it's a little bit of a gray area in terms of what's permitted to be discussed.'

Ivanka Trump converted to Orthodox judaism when she married Kushner.

Another rabbi, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein of Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan who oversaw Ivanka Trump's conversion, said it was foolish to assume members of the administration exploit the sabbath to try to enact policy.

'I think it's a very foolish assumption to say that in some way, people in the Trump administration wait until the Sabbath so they can make decisions that otherwise, other members of the Trump administration might weigh in on,' he said.

'I think it's playing around with religious behavior. The way in which I believe Jared Kushner and Ivanka observe the Sabbath is they observe it together with their children,' he said. 'They're disconnectedbut anything could be discussed.'

Saturday Night Live mocked the idea of Trump going off the rails when his advisors were observing Shabbat

Chief strategist Steven Bannon was portrayed by the Grim Reaper in the sketch

DON'T BREAK ANYTHING WHILE WE'RE GONE: Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner leave their Washington, DC home

Since the couple have frequently jetted to Mar-a-Lago with the president, they would be available to him for consultation.

Saturday Night Live made light of the situation in a sketch, where Alec Baldwin, playing Trump, asks an aide: 'Another thing, about my daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared, they always keep me so calm and make sure I don't do anything crazy ... So, quick question  are they gone?'

When told that the couple don't work on Shabbat, Trump replies: 'Perfect. When the Jews are away the goys will play.' He then calls in advisor Steven Bannon, who is portrayed as the grim reaper.

The Jerusalem Post covered the sketch under the headline: 'On SNL, Trump Goes Crazy while Jared and Ivanka Observe Shabat.'

In a series of tweets last Saturday beginning at 6:35 am, Trump went after Obama for tapping his phones.

'Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!' he wrote. In another, he wrote: 'Is it legal for a sitting President to be 'wire tapping' a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!'

'How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!' he wrote in another missive.

Then he switched gears completely, writing: 'Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show.'

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on NBC's 'Meet the Press, 'There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign.'

Asked about a foreign intelligence warrant,, Clapper responded: ''I can deny it.'
A teenager arrested in Wisconsin allegedly asked her father to take pictures as police were handcuffing her so she could post them on Facebook.

Josephine Garczynski, 18, and her boyfriend Curtis Britton, 27, were charged on Wednesday for allegedly holding a gun to a man's head and stealing his wallet and phone in Sheboygan on March 5.

The victim told police he had met a woman on Facebook named Josephine King who had chatted with regularly but never met.

Josephine Garczynski, 18, and her boyfriend were charged on Wednesday for allegedly holding a gun to a man's head and stealing his wallet and phone in Sheboygan on March 5

According to a criminal complaint, he said they had arranged to meet on the night of March 5 at an intersection in Sheboygan and he got into Josephine's car once she arrived.

A short time later, he told police a man - identified as Britton - got into the back seat of the car and allegedly held a gun to his head while demanding his phone and wallet.

Detectives managed to identify Garczynski through her Facebook alias Josephine King and interviewed the teen at her father's home.

She initially told police she didn't know Britton but later admitted they had planned to rob the victim. Her mother told police the couple had been dating for about a year.

Garczynski said she had arranged to buy weed from the victim, but she wanted to steal it and sell it.

Officers said in a criminal complaint that Garczynski asked her father to take photos of her being handcuffed so she could post them on Facebook

Garczynski (right) was arrested with her boyfriend Curtis Britton, 27, (left) on Monday over the armed robbery

When police went to arrest Garczynski, the teenager asked officers if she could put a bra on first.

'While officers were in the process of handcuffing Josephine, Josephine began asking her father to take pictures of her being handcuffed,' the criminal complaint said.

'She said she wanted to put the photos on Facebook.'

Police then arrested Britton at his home and found two BB guns, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Garczynski was charged with felony armed robbery, while Britton was charged with felony armed robbery and bail jumping.
Education Secretary Justine Greening was heckled by headteachers as she defended grammar schools today

Justine Greening has been heckled by headteachers as she defended the expansion of grammars.

The education secretary was berated by the audience as she told a conference the schools - championed by Theresa May - help to close the attainment gap between well-off and poorer children.

Some members of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) shouted 'rubbish', 'no' and 'shame' as she delivered her speech.

Ms Greening was later asked by a headteacher from Devon why Government policy 'flies in the face' of evidence on grammars' impact on social mobility.

Ms Greening told delegates: 'First of all, in terms of grammars but also the investment that we announced for more schools beyond 2020, I think it is important that we're planning ahead.

'We know we've got a demographic bulge that's already been in our primary system and that really is flowing into the secondary system as well.

'So we need to have an eye on that and, of course, as a Government we've brought forward the Schools that Work for Everyone consultation to really say 'What is it going to take to really drive social mobility?'.'

Dozens of ASCL members jeered as the Education Secretary added: 'We have to recognise that actually for grammars in terms of the disadvantaged children that they have, they really do help them close the attainment gap.

'And at the same time we should recognise that parents also want choice for their children and that those schools are often very over-subscribed.'

Ms Greening went on: 'I think we have to respond to that and the consultation wasn't really just about selection it was also about how other parts of the eduction system can also play a role in strengthening our overall school system, whether it was selection, whether it was universities or indeed independent schools and faith schools.

'So we want to make sure that we take on board all of the comments.

'But we also will come forward with what I hope will be a very strong package that doesn't just look at how selection has performed in the past, but very much looks forward to what a sensible approach on selection - which we do have in our system - should be in the future.'

The ASCL has warned the Government against creating more grammar schools.

In a speech to the conference, ASCL interim general secretary Malcolm Trobe said: 'There is no evidence to support the Prime Minister's current conviction that doing so will improve standards and social mobility.

Theresa May is pushing through plans for more grammar schools despite opposition from teachers, Labour and some Tory MPs

'Our members leading grammar schools do a fine job with the young people in their schools but although the creation of more selective schools may improve social mobility for a very small number of disadvantaged children, it will not for the vast majority.

'We need solutions which help the many, not just the few. We need as many people as possible to have the high-order knowledge and skills that will enable us, as a nation, to compete on a world stage.'

Prime Minister Theresa May has argued that grammars can help the life chances of poor pupils and that the current system sees 'selection by stealth' based on parents' wealth and ability to buy houses near the best schools.

New Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, who was also due to address the conference, acknowledged that the issue of grammar schools was problematic for many in the education system.

'It is clearly a very difficult, emotional one for many people,' she told BBC Radio 4's World At One.

'We are talking about very small numbers of schools, a tiny proportion of the system, but something that sends a very important message to a lot of people.

'People are very focused on social mobility prospects for disadvantaged children and it is clear that not many disadvantaged children get to go to grammar school although they do do very well when they get there.'
President Donald Trump has been warned by Congress he may be breaking the law by deleting his misspelt tweets.

The House Oversight Committee has written to the President warning him against deleting Tweets from either his official @POTUS or @realDonaldTrump accounts.

The letter was sent on Wednesday to White House Counsel Don McGahn, reminding the President of his obligations concerning public records.

Donald Trump has been warned against deleting misspelt tweets as this could be a breach of the Presidential Records Act which obliges official correspondence to be archived

Twitter users noticed Trump deleted a number of tweets due to spelling mistakes

The warning letter was sent by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

The letter from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent by chairman Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz and the Democrat ranking member Elijah Cummings, clearly states at tweets are public records.

'Federal recordkeeping and government transparency laws such as the Presidential Records Act ensure the official business of the federal government is properly preserved and accessible to the American public.'

The letter warns the acts cover records 'created or received' by the President, Vice President, immediate staff and individuals in the Executive Office 'whose function is to advise or assist the President'.

The committee expressed particular concern that White House staff might be using 'encrypted messaging applications like Signal, Confide, and WhatsApp'.

The Committee advised Trump that it keeps updating the rules to account for new technology

The letter warned about the dangers of White House staff using encrypted messaging apps

The Committee warned President Trump against deleting tweets on his two accounts

The letter said such apps might make it 'unlikely or impossible to preserve' the records.

'Generally, strong encryption is the best defense against cyber breaches by outside actors, and can preserve the integrity of decision-making communications.

'The need for data security, however, does not justify circumventing requirements established by federal recordkeeping and transparency laws.'

The committee also specifically warned Trump over his use of the official account and his personal Twitter handle.

It said: 'Many of the messages sent from these accounts are likely to be presidential records and therefore must be preserved. It has been reported, however, that President Trump has deleted tweets and if those tweets were not archived it could pose a violation of the Presidential Records Act.'

The committee advised Trump to set up an auto-archiving system similar to the one instituted by the Obama administration.

According to the letter, the committee has set the Administration a deadline of March 22 to address their concerns.

The committee wants a list of all senior officials covered by the acts who have used 'alias email accounts' to conduct official business since the inauguration.

The administration will also have to hand over a copy of its written policy advising on compliance with the record keeping acts.

The committee also wants evidence about the training received by White House staff for complying with the record acts.

A White House spokesman told MailOnline: 'We will review the letter and respond when appropriate.'
A British estate agent who vanished a week ago has been found dead a few miles from his Costa del Sol home.

Police searching for Ian Thompson, 63, located his body on waste ground near his Renault Laguna car after receiving a call on Thursday afternoon to say the vehicle had been found.

He had last been seen at his home in the holiday resort of Estepona in the early hours of last Friday morning. He failed to arrive at work that morning.

Ian Thompson (pictured, left), 63, has been found dead after he vanished from his Costa del Sol home last week. He was found by police on waste ground near his Renault Laguna car

His body was found in nearby Casares after a search sparked by the discovery of his car.

Ian's Venezuelan-born wife Claudia raised the alarm at the weekend.

The expat, originally from Maidenhead, Berkshire, had two grown-up children from a previous relationship and was a caring stepdad to his new wife's two grown-up daughters.

He had been working at DreamLife in Estepona since moving to the Costa del Sol late last year following a spell living in the United States.

The teenager daughter of his wife Claudia was the last to see Ian at 1am on Friday, when she went to bed as he watched TV.

He had taken time off work for a sore throat on Thursday afternoon so his colleagues at DreamLife did not sound the alarm when he failed to turn up last Friday.

His sister-in-law Liliana said in an appeal for information on his whereabouts earlier this week: 'We're extremely worried. Ian's disappearance is totally out-of character.

'He lived for my sister and her daughters and there's absolutely nothing like money worries or depression to suggest he may have gone voluntarily.'

Ian's brother Chris, 67, currently living in Bucks, added before his body was found: 'I saw him last October when I visited him in Spain and he was full of happiness.

Ian (pictured, right) and his Renault Laguna car (left) disappeared on Friday. Ian's Venezuelan-born wife Claudia raised the alarm at the weekend

'He talked about finally finding his soulmate with Claudia after two previous marriages and his life revolving around looking after her and her daughters.

'We're doing everything we can to try to get to the bottom of what's happened. I've rung all the hospitals in the area near where he lived but have come up with nothing.'

Police will now investigate, although it is not thought at this stage they are looking for anyone else in connection with Ian's death.

Ian and his wife married six years ago and had moved to Spain after spending time in the United States.

His family have been notified.
A huge student protest about toilet rules forced police to descend on a high school in North Yorkshire.

Around 40 students are believed to have taken part in the protest, which began in the girl's toilets at Bedale High School.

The protest over toilet access was also live streamed on social media by a pupil earlier this morning.

Around 40 students are believed to have taken part in the protest, which began in the girl's toilets, at Bedale High School

According to parents, the school has put in place new rules which only allow pupils to access toilets between 11.05am and 11.25am, and 12.25pm and 12.45pm.

One parent, who asked not to be named, posted about the new rules on Facebook yesterday.

She wrote: 'BEDALE HIGH SCHOOL TOILET ACCESS. I really hate to put this on Facebook but I wondered if anyone else is having issues with the High School refusing access to toilets?

'I have recently complained to the school about their new rule which ONLY allows access to toilets between 11.05am and 11.25am, and 12.25pm and 12.45pm.

A note by one of the students in opposition against the rule

'I believe that this humiliating and undignified and is a breach of human rights to be denied access to toilets at any other time unless you have a medical need, and totally ridiculous to say that you cannot go to the toilet after you have had lunch.

'I have complained to the headteacher who has today sent me a letter stating that the rule will remain.'

Another parent said her daughter stayed in class late to do some extra work and because of this she was refused access to the toilet during lunch.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: 'North Yorkshire Police was alerted to a protest involving students at Bedale High School this morning.

'PCSOs attended the school grounds and, after making enquiries, advised staff that this was not a police matter.'

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire County Council said: 'Bedale High School has recently introduced a new behavioural code as part of an action plan to improve teaching and learning in the school.

'The code includes a range of measures to ensure that students are focused and can get the most out of their lessons and wider school provision.

'These measures include students having access to fresh drinking water at all times and being able to take bags into lessons so they have ready access to all the materials they need for learning.

'The code also includes tighter rules on uniform and on reducing the numbers of students outside of classrooms during lesson time.

A member of staff addresses girls in the toilet, which they are not allowed into during most of the day

'As part of this the school has reminded students that toilets are freely accessible during specific periods at lunchtime and break time but that students who need the toilet during lessons, or need access for medical reasons, will always be given access on request. Toilets are therefore accessible at all times.

'Bedale High is a school of 580 students and the vast majority today have participated fully and calmly with their lessons and wider provision.

'The school has stated that families and students were fully informed of the new behaviour code before half term and that many have given supportive feedback and view it as a positive step.'

Bedale High School have been approached for a comment.
The last deployed Royal Navy Lynx helicopter has retired from service after 41 years.

Flight 208 flew home to RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, today following its nine month deployment on the frigate HMS Portland.

It was welcomed back to the base by commander Phil Richardson, the commanding officer, and flown by lieutenant Laura Cambrook.

Flight 208 flew home to RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, today following its nine month deployment on the frigate HMS Portland

It officially goes out of service on March 31 following 41 years of service and has now earned its place in the history books

The helicopter officially goes out of service on March 31.

Commander Richardson said: 'We are delighted to welcome back 208 Flight, who have been embarked in HMS Portland for the last nine months.

'They have operated in every environment, from the oppressive mid-summer heat of the Arabian Gulf to the harsh conditions of the South Atlantic.

'They have conducted lifesaving missions at extreme range, fired sea skua missiles for their continuation training and have delivered a most impressive level of aircraft serviceability of an ageing yet hugely successful airframe.

'We welcome them home after a very successful deployment. They are the last Lynx deployed after a very successful history of Lynx helicopters being embarked and integrated within the Royal Navy's frigates and destroyers.

It was welcomed back to the base by commander Phil Richardson (left), the commanding officer, and flown by lieutenant Laura Cambrook (right)

Lt Cambrook (far left) said: 'The Wildcat is going to take over that mantle really well in a much, much more capable aircraft'

History of the Lynx helicopters The Lynx military helicopters were first introduced in 1978. They have been used by the Royal Navy and the British, Germany and French Navies. A Lynx MK8 helicopter weighs 3.3 tonnes and measure over 12.1 ft. It has a top speed of over 180 knots. Advertisement

'Their success and experience will be transferred across to the Wildcat as 815 completes its transition to this new aircraft type. Welcome home 208 Flight - last of the Lynx.'

Since deploying last year, they have travelled over 40,000 miles through the North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Indian, Pacific and South Atlantic oceans.

Lt Cambrook said: 'It's really great to be back after a very demanding but exhilarating deployment where we achieved 190 hours of flight.

'It's been a very successful deployment and poignant too and I will miss the Lynx. She rattles a lot, is small and agile; it's just a great little helicopter that so many of us love to fly.

'The Wildcat is going to take over that mantle really well in a much, much more capable aircraft.'
A US citizen who returned to New York with 10 pounds of cocaine worth $164,000 in his pants was arrested last week.

The absurd image obtained shows the cocaine strapped to the Juan Carlos Galan Luperon's legs.

Luperon was returning to the US from the Dominican Republic via John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

US Customs and Border Protection said Luperon was nervous and 'bursting out of his pants,' which 'appeared to be rather snug.'

Juan Carlos Galan Luperon, a US citizen returning to the States from the Dominican Republic, was caught by US Customs officials with 10 pounds of cocaine strapped to his legs. Officials said he was 'bursting out of his pants' which 'appeared to be rather snug'

Luperon was returning via John F. Kennedy International Airport, pictured, in New York. Officials noticed his unusually snug pants and took him to a private search room, where they found the packages taped to his body. The package had a street value of at least $164,000

He was taken to a private search room where the packages taped to his body almost looked like leg casts.

A test determined that the white powder within the packages was cocaine and the estimated street value of the 10-pound package was determined to be at least $164,000, reports NBC News .

Luperon could be charged on the federal level with smuggling charges and will be prosecuted by New York's US Attorney office.

In February, an Indian man flying from Singapore to Hyderabad, India was arrested after trying to smuggle 4.4 pounds of gold.

Luperon will be prosecuted by New York's US Attorney office. He faces smuggling charges. Pictured: US Customs inspectors at JFK Airport

About 1.8 pounds of the gold was found in his bag, hidden in LED lights when he landed in India.

Customs officers searched him via an x-ray scan upon his disembarkation and found that 2.6 pounds were hidden in his rectum.
Jabed Hussain, 22, posted laughing emoji faces to an undercover police officer as he bragged about carrying out a terror attack

An ISIS fanatic who posted a laughing emoji as he bragged to an undercover officer that he would 'pop off' a bomb in the UK has today been jailed for nine years.

Jabed Hussain, 22, could not contain his glee about the 'big ops' and told the officer he was going to make sure 'kuffars get it big time'.

He said: 'I'm planning to get together a group of brothers and then pop it off, inshallah.'

The Old Bailey heard a huge stash of IS propaganda was found on Hussain's devices after he was arrested on suspicion of planning to join IS in Syria in April 2016.

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said when Hussain was asked where the potential 'big ops' would take place, he replied: 'The UK, were else LOL :)'

He also used a laughing face alongside the 'LOL', meaning laugh out loud, to the undercover officer with whom he had secret meetings at London's British Library.

He said he wanted the kaffir to get it 'big time' and sadded 'if this pops off then the security will be mad hot'.

Hussain was making plans to join IS in Syria last year when he was snared following an undercover investigation by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command.

Judge Anuja Dhir QC told him: 'You had, at the very least, considered and discussed with others carrying out an act of terrorism in the UK.

'If your plans to make your way to Syria had not been successful, I am sure you would have turned your mind to considering that more seriously.'

She added: 'I am satisfied you were intent on fighting for IS and that you intended that your actions would cause death, destruction and disorder.'

The Old Bailey heard, that on January 18 last year Hussain had changed his name by deed poll to Ishaq Jabir Hussain so that he could get a new passport and make a second attempt to reach Syria.

He recruited a Muslim workmate at the accountancy firm where he worked in Barking, East London to counter-sign the application.

Hussain then told the workmate that he did not like non-Muslims and invited him to watch ISIS videos with him but the worker reported him to his boss and he was sacked.

An undercover police officer, known by the name Farooq, was deployed in February 2016 to make contact with Hussain and establish whether he still harboured a desire to fight for ISIS.

Initially he used the SureSpot messaging application to arrange a meeting with Hussain, who used the name 'Abu Jay' and they agreed to meet on February 23 on the terrace at the British Library in Kings Cross at 3pm.

Hussain told the officer about his 'little brother' who had gone to Syria in April, and investigations revealed that he was friends with Muhammed Ahmad, 23, a fellow member of a new gym near Ilford, who used the name Abu Salah Al-Britani.

The Old Bailey heard how he secretly met an undercover officer at the British Library (pictured) and pledged to carry out the terror attacks

Ahmad's Facebook page listed his occupation as 'Soldier at Slave of Allah' and on August 3 2015, his family had received a WhatsApp message to inform them he had been killed while fighting along with a copy of his will and a photograph of him in military fatigues, holding a rocket propelled grenade launcher.

The undercover officer arranged a second meeting with Hussain at the library on March 23 at 1pm, asking Hussain: 'Do you still want to go?'

'Until my last breath,' Hussain told him. Then he added: 'I had a brother who came from Libya, he told me to pop it over here, if this happened he told me to do it over here.

'Even my little brother said pop it. They want the darul ul kuffar [land of disbelief] to get it and they want that. I know a couple of brothers, they already have that mentality.'

At 2.35am on April 15, the day after a third meeting, Hussain sent Farooq a series of messages on SureSpot, which continued into the morning, telling him: 'I'm thinking of doing a big one on these kuffs [non-believers].'

BACKGROUND OF 'SOLDIER OF ALLAH' Hussain, was born in Bangladesh, but brought up in a Muslim family in East London and had gone through a period of time where he smoked and drank alcohol before becoming religious. He had been living in South Drive, Ilford, with his uncle and aunt, who had taken him in at his father's request, before his father's death. Hussain had told them that he was going to a mosque in Wembley to take part in Tablighi Jammat - a missionary group that travels from mosque to mosque - and that he would stay there for around ten days. In fact he travelled with his friend Thunbir Elahi by EasyJet on August 19 from London Gatwick to Bodrum for 85.99 each. Two return flights were booked for a week later through the website On The Beach but the pair were caught by the Turkish authorities and returned to Britain on a British Airways flight from Istanbul. After his arrest, Hussain said that he was kicked out of his guardians home because of the "holiday" to Turkey after the police had spoken to them. But he maintained they had only gone to Turkey to enjoy themselves and it was when they were both watching TV that their intentions changed and they wanted to go to the border to help refugees. Hossein Zahir, defending, told the court: "Farooq did his job, he offered the defendant an opportunity which he gleefully took." But he said Hussain had had a trouble upbringing in which he was sent to Britain from Bangladesh when he was eight or nine because his father had significant problems with is health and was heavily in debt. His father died when he was 11 and he had no other family apart from his uncle and aunt, which left him isolated and alone. Advertisement

He said he had an 'older brother' who 'went to pop a istihadi' - a reference to a suicide operation.

'Have u got any more aks [brothers] whos in this, cus I'm thinking to do a big option - make a plan and make a big ops on this kuffs [non-believers]...I haven't mention this to no one I'm jus asking u.'

When the officer asked, 'akhi wat big operation plan?' Hussain sent a series of emoticons, adding YGM! [You get me], then wrote: 'The brother is on it...im planning to get group of aks together and then pop it off in sha allah' adding: 'UK, where else LOL [laughs out loud]' and a smiley face.

The officer told him he needed to 'calm down' but Hussain went on: 'My man noes he [knows how] to make the bombs etc.'

'Akhi lets get this clear so u dnt get confused nor do I, ' Hussain added. 'I wna go to sham [Syria] no natter what!! But before I go i wna set and plan this operation up so these aks [brothers] can pop it off ygm [you get me].'

As they sat together at a fourth meeting at the British Library, at 12.45pm on April 28, they were approached by plain clothes police officers and Hussain was arrested for preparation of terrorist acts.

Commander Dean Haydon of Scotland Yard's SO15 Counter-Terrorism Command said Hussain had made a 'concerted effort' to get to Syria even changing his name in a 'poor attempt to evade the authorities which was always destined to fail.'

Calling himself, 'Jabz' he had previously worked at B Girl Fashions Ltd, near Commercial Road for about a year, but he had been made redundant on August 14 2015.

The radicalised youngster lived at the controversial An Noor Cultural and Community Centre on Church Road in Acton, west London, where he was arrested in a sting operation on 28 April 2016.

Hussain was previously stopped trying to cross the border from Turkey in August 2015, having planned his trip for several months.

Turkish authorities arrested the Bangladeshi and deported him back to the UK, where he was questioned by British police and later released without charge.

Mr Glasgow said: 'Between 21 March 2015 and the 28 August 2015 the defendant made preparations and travelled to Turkey.

'His intention was to travel to Syria and join and fight for Islamic State.

'He was intercepted by Turkish authorities and deported to the United Kingdom.

'Following his return to the United Kingdom on 27 August 2015, he continued to make preparations with the intention of travelling to Syria to join and fight for IS.

The radicalised youngster lived at the controversial An Noor Cultural and Community Centre on Church Road in Acton, west London, where he was arrested on April 28 2016

'In order that his second trip might be more successful than the first, he sought the assistance of others be believed might be able to help him.

'He discussed his plans with someone who contacted him via social media, someone he believed would be able to help him achieve his desire to fight for IS.

'However, little did he realise that the man with whom he met was an undercover police officer and that all their conversations were recorded.

'Those recordings, together with other material seized from the defendant, reveal the extent of his hatred for Western society and his avowed intent to take part in terrorist atrocities.'

'It's to be noted that despite the interception by the Turkish authorities and despite the involvement of the authorities in this now, the defendant had remained committed to travelling to Syria.'

Hussain claimed he wanted to do humanitarian work in Syria, but later admitted two counts of preparation of terrorist acts between March 2015 and April 2016.

The charges only relate to his attempts to travel to Syria to join IS.

ISIS propaganda including bomb manuals, martyr videos, and images 'mocking 9/11' were found on his devices and social media profiles.

His Instagram profile contained 'graphic images of Sharia Law' and a mock image of the Houses of Parliament being blown up.

Hussain, wearing a white shirt and grey tracksuit bottoms, showed no emotion in the dock during the sentencing hearing.

Earlier this year, one of the An Noor Cultural and Community Centre's three founding members Khalif Rashad, 63, and hitman Leslie Cooper, 38, were jailed for 32 years for shooting dead Syrian-born imam Abdul Hadi Arwani, 48.

Rashad and Mr Arwani had both poured cash into the centre and were involved in a legal dispute.

Last month, Rashad was further convicted of possession of explosives after a cache of military-grade explosives and ammunition were found in his garage.

Rashad, who claimed he was approached by MI5 to spy on young Muslims at the centre for signs of radicalisation, insisted he had no idea how the deadly haul got to be there.
Police in New Orleans are searching for suspects in a shooting rampage that has left a woman and her two young sons dead and a daughter injured Friday morning

Orleans Parish coroner Dr. Jeffrey Rouse has identified the deceased as 30-year-old Monique Smith, and two boys, six-year-old Jumyrin Smith and 10-year-old Justin Simms.

All three lived in a brick house in the 4200 block of Touro Street where they were shot dead at around 4am.

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Mother slaughtered: Monique Smith, 30, was found fatally shot in the head along with her two sons, ages six and 10 (pictured right), inside the family's home in New Orleans overnight

Horror scene: The bodies of a mother and two young sons were discovered inside this brick house in Gentilly, Louisiana, Friday morning

Police responded to 4200 block of Touro Street at 4.20am after getting calls about shots fired

A young girl was found wounded and her mother and two brothers were found dead inside the house

Relatives say the surviving victim of the massacre is Smith's daughter. She was taken to a hospital in serious condition.

New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison described the scene inside the slain family's home in the Gentilly section of New Orleans as 'very horrific.'

Hard-working: Ms Smith had worked as the head cook at a local diner for four years

A news release from police says officers answered a report of a shooting at 4.20am and found the surviving girl.

During a subsequent search of the home, they found the bodies of Monique Smith and her two sons. All three were pronounced dead at the scene.

The station WWL reported, citing unnamed sources, that the mother and sons were shot in the head inside their bedrooms.

Jumyrin Smith was reportedly shot in the face.

Ms Smith had worked as the head cook at Ted's Frostop Diner for four years.

The woman's grieving co-workers described her as a beloved member of staff.

A neighbor of the family told Nola.com Smith and her children had moved into the home on Touro Street about a year ago.

Police have not identified a suspect or a motive in the quadruple shooting.
Aging baby boomers are benefiting the paper industry as sales continue to climb for absorbent hygiene products.

As the diaper-wearing baby boomers age, the demand for adult incontinence products are projected to grow four per cent in 2017, according to ERA Forest Products Research.

'The fastest-growth market is adult incontinence,' Kevin Mason, the managing director of ERA Forest Products Research in Kelowna, British Columbia, told Bloomberg.

'That baby-boom generation, that demographic is moving into that area, and it's going to help boost the overall demand.'

Aging baby boomers are benefiting the paper industry (pulp and paper facility) as sales continue to climb for absorbent hygiene products. As the diaper-wearing baby boomers age, the demand for adult incontinence products are projected to grow four per cent in 2017

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Lisa Rinna (center), was featured in an advert for Depend Silhouette, an adult diaper, in 2012. Experts have said that the 'fastest-growth market is adult incontinence'

That demand is expected to boost sales for companies like International Paper Co and Domtar Corp.

These companies are expanding their production of the moisture-capturing fiber known as fluff pulp that's used in diapers and tampons, according to Bloomberg.

US retail sales for products targeting adult incontinence reached nearly $2 billion in 2016 and are projected to rise another 9 per cent in 2017 and 8 per cent in 2018, Svetlana Uduslivaia, the head of industry research at Euromonitor International, told Bloomberg.

The paper industry was hit hard by the emergence of the digital era and paperless communication.

North American printing and writing paper demand has been shrinking since 2001 and dropped 3.9 percent in 2016, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Domtar declined 3.5 per cent this year in New York, while International Paper has fallen 4.4 per cent.

But recently, expansion strategies have seen both companies spend millions of dollars in order to convert paper output to fluff-pulp production.

International Paper, which is the world's largest paper maker, acquired Weyerhaeuser Co pulp business last year for $2.2 billion.

It's mill in Riegelwood, North Carolina, was also converted in order to produce fluff and softwood pulp, Glenn Landau, the senior vice president of finance, said in a February earnings call.

Meanwhile, Domtar spent about $160 million to convert paper output to fluff-pulp production in Arkansas.

Domtar estimates the demand for fluff pulp (pulp mill) will grow by three per cent per year, as the population of older people is projected to reach 1.6 billion by 2050. Papermakers will likely benefit in the South as they produce nearly 90 per cent of the world's fluff pulp

The move to fluff will probably boost its earnings per share by about 4 per cent in 2017 and three per cent in 2018, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

According to the US Census Bureau, there were 562 million people worldwide aged 65 and older in 2102. That number increased nearly 10 per cent by 2015.

A quarter to a third of men and women in the US suffer from urinary incontinence, according to the Urology Care Foundation.

About 33 million have overactive bladder representing symptoms of urgency, frequency and with or without urge incontinence.

As those born from 1946-1964, the baby boomer years, continue to age, the growth will accelerate.

Domtar estimates the demand for fluff pulp will grow by three per cent per year, as the population of older people is projected to reach 1.6 billion by 2050, according to Bloomberg.

Papermakers in the South will likely benefit as they produce almost 90 per cent of the world's fluff pulp.
An undocumented immigrant from Mexico has been arrested and charged with shooting a 15-year-old girl from Texas who was pregnant with the suspect's second child at the time of her slaying.

Police in San Antonio say Jennifer Delgado was nine months pregnant when on Monday morning she was gunned down by Armando Rodrigo Garcia-Ramires, 35, who then tried to take his own life.

Investigators say the victim already had a one-year-old son with Garcia-Ramirez, who at one time had been her stepfather.

Twisted crime: Armando Rodrigo Garcia-Ramires, 35 (left), an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is facing two capital murder charges in the deaths of Jennifer Delgado, 15 (right), and her unborn baby

Police discovered Garcia-Ramires in the 1100 block of Babcock Road (pictured) suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face

The suspect had been released on bond from the custody of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement last May.

About a month later, according to investigators, Garcia-Ramires impregnated Delgado for a second time.

He now faces two charges of capital murder in the deaths of the teenager and her unborn baby.

The incident began unfolding at around 11am on Monday when police responded to the 1100 block of Babcock Road in San Antonio and found Garcia-Ramires suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his mouth, reported KSAT.

While working at the scene of the failed suicide attempt, officers learned that Garcia-Ramires may have committed a crime at another location nearby.

Police were then led by a witness to Jennifer Delgados home in the Spanish Keys Apartments in the 1150 block of Babcock Road, where they found her front door kicked in.

Police found Delgado dead from multiple gunshot wounds to the head inside her apartment at Spanish Keys Apartments

Mom-of-two: Delgado had a one-year-old son (pictured) with Garcia-Ramires, who at one time was her stepfather. The toddler was unharmed

Upon entering, officers discovered the teenage expectant mother dead from multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Delgado's one-year-old son was also inside the home but was unharmed.

The slain woman was rushed to University Hospital in the hopes of saving her unborn baby, but the child was pronounced dead on arrival.

Garcia-Ramires was also transported to University Hospital to be treated for his injuries. He was later booked into the Bexar County Jail on $2million bond, and on Tuesday, ICE placed an immigration hold on him.

Records reviewed by the Houston Chronicle indicate that Armando Garcia-Ramires, a native of Mexico, was first picked up by ICE agents in January 2011 through the criminal alien program of San Antonio, and he was released on bond less than a month later.

Expecting: The teen was apparently impregnated by Garcia-Ramires for a second time in June 2016. The selfie on the right displaying a hint of Deglado's baby bump was taken in February

He was re-arrested in April 2016, but an immigration judge again granted him bond and he was freed in mid-May.

Around the middle of June 2016, Garcia-Ramires apparently got Jennifer Delgado pregnant with her second child. Police confirmed this week that both children were his.

News 4 San Antonio has reported, citing multiple unnamed sources, that Garcia-Ramires at one time had been Delgado's stepfather.

Delgados surviving child and the teens 9-year-old sibling on Thursday were taken into emergency custody by Child Protective Services.
A married mother-of-two from the Caribbean island of Antigua died this week, after flying to the U.S. to undergo plastic surgery.

Nikisha Lewis, 32, who works as an airport immigration officer, underwent liposuction surgery on Monday at Spectrum Aesthetics in Miami.

Around 5:30pm, someone at the clinic called 911 when Lewis stopped breathing.

Lewis was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead about two hours later.

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Nikisha Lewis, 32 (pictured), died on Monday after undergoing liposuction surgery in Miami

The married mother-of-two worked as an immigration officer at an airport on the Caribbean island of Antigua

Liposuction is a plastic surgery procedure in which a doctor inserts a hollow tube under the skin to suction out fat.

Death occurs in about one per ten thousand cases. Other serious complications include deep vein thrombosis, organ perforation, bleeding and infection.

The Miami Dade Medical Examiner's office said the cause of death could not be determined immediately and that it could take weeks for the final results of the autopsy.

Dr Rami Ghurani was Lewis' surgeon on Monday. His attorney, Julie Ingle, sent a statement to NBC 6, reading: 'Our deepest condolences go out to the patients family.

'Dr. Ghurani is deeply saddened by the loss of his patient and offers his thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

'We are unable to provide any details on the patients care and treatment due to privacy laws; however, Dr. Ghurani provided the highest level of care as he does with all patients.'

Police have launched a homicide investigation into her death.

The clinic has said they are also conducting their own review, WSVN 7 reported.

She was rushed to hospital after someone at the clinic called 911, but died two hours later. Homicide police are not investigating what happened

Someone at the Miami clinic (pictured) called 911 around 5:30pm on Monday, saying Lewis had stopped breathing

Kubs Lalchandani, an attorney for the clinic, also said that he could not comment on the death.

'Our prayers go out to the patients family and loved ones. Spectrum Aesthetics is a proud member of the South Florida community and is committed to upholding the highest standards of medical care and patient safety.

'Spectrum is conducting a comprehensive investigation into the matter and is cooperating with state officials to determine the cause of the incident,' Lalchandani said in a statement.
A total of six bodies have been found in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos between Thursday and Friday, in the area around the twin resorts of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, prosecutors said.

The resorts at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula have been the scene of increasing violence in recent months.

One woman's body was found on a road leading to the airport, along with several doses of meth and marijuana, prosecutors said.

On Thursday the bodies of three men were found wrapped in plastic bags and a tarp in San Jose del Cabo. The bodies showed signs of torture.

Mexican federal police are shown in a headquarters near San Jose del Cabo in this file photo. The resort area has been hit with violence, with six bodies found on Thursday and Friday

On Friday, a man and a woman were found shot to death in the same general area near the airport.

The U.S. State Department warns travelers that the state of Baja California Sur, which includes Los Cabos, 'continues to experience a high rate of homicides.'

'Many of these homicides have occurred in [the state capital] La Paz, where there have been ongoing public acts of violence between rival criminal organizations.'

The Baja California peninsula is turf of the Sinaloa Cartel, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The cartel's leader, Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman Loera was apprehended in January of 2016 after twice escaping from prison. Guzman is currently in federal custody in the United States.
Joseph Nicolosi, a psychologist and major figure in the "ex-gay" movement that promotes a therapy designed to "cure" people of their homosexuality, has died at age 70.

Nicolosi, who co-founded the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality in 1992, died Wednesday from complications of the flu, his personal assistant, Sara Trevino, said Friday.

'I do not believe that any man can ever be truly at peace in living out a homosexual orientation,' he once said.

Joseph Nicolosi (pictured last year), father of gay conversion therapy, has died at age 70 from the flu

Nicolosi was a major proponent of what he called "reparative therapy", a treatment usually aimed at gay men that seeks to transform their behavior to that of heterosexual.

It's a treatment that has come to be widely denounced by the gay community and disavowed by much of the psychological community.

The American Psychological Association declared in 2006 that Nicolosi's organization created "an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish".

Nicolosi maintained the therapy works.

'I have helped many men reduce their unwanted same-sex attractions, so that they lose their compelling, life-disrupting power, and assisted them in exploring and developing their heterosexual potential,' he wrote on his website.

Nicolosi supported the rights of people who wanted to live gay lifestyles and believed he could help those who wanted to change through therapy, said his wife, Linda Nicolosi.

As a result, she said, he was "happy to swim against the cultural tide when he was sure the culture was going in the wrong direction".

'That got him into trouble quite a few times,' she said in a statement.

Nicolosi ran the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, the largest clinic of its kind in the world. He co-founded NARTH in 1992

Over the years, he appeared often on TV news and talk shows to defend reparative therapy in segments that sometimes descended into shouting matches between himself and gay members of the audience.

His wife said he once threw a microphone at a reporter he thought was being rude.

Gay journalist Zack Ford of the liberal politics blog ThinkProgress described Nicolosi as the "modern father of the torture known as ex-gay therapy".

After California banned the practice on minors in 2012, Nicolosi joined a lawsuit on behalf of two teenage boys who sought to continue treatment.

In 2012, then-16-year-old Ryan Kendall recounted how his experiences with Nicolosi almost drove him to suicide.

'[E]each session made me sink deeper into depression and drove me to the brink of suicide,' Kendall wrote in a blog post for the National Center For Lesbian Rights.

The case was dismissed after the Supreme Court declined to hear it in 2014.

'We see homosexual behavior as the client's or the patient's attempt to repair something deficit within themselves, mainly masculinity,' Nicolosi told The Associated Press in 2014.

Kate Kendell, National Center for Lesbian Rights lead, took to Twitter to denounce Nicolosi

Reparative therapy is still legal in 44 states.

While anti-LGBT groups have been largely silent on Nicolosi's death, opponents of conversion therapy have taken to social media to voice their reactions.

'Joseph Nicolosi died the way he lived: in pain,' tweeted civil rights lawyer Sam Ames. 'It's a pain many of us know all too well. He managed to turn his into a multi-million dollar industry of self-hatred, from which the casualties are too many to count.

'I think it's likely he is now among them. There is no part of this story that isn't heartbreaking.'
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A sandstorm hit northern Syria on Friday, leaving formerly ISIS-controlled neighbourhoods of Aleppo covered in debris.

Residents of Bab al-Nasr and Karm al-Jabal - which have since been retaken by the Syrian government - walked the streets of the city to evaluate damage done by the storm.

Photos of the northern Syrian city show dilapidated buildings covered in dust, hollowed out cars turned over and rubble covering the ground.

Despite the damage, children flocked to the abandoned street to play in the fallen city.

Aleppo was Syria's most populous city before war broke out six years ago, but swathes of it have been destroyed and thousands displaced in the conflict gripping the country.

Government forces, which seized the city from rebels in December after months of intense fighting, have captured its main water supply station from Islamic State, a monitor group said this week.

A sandstorm hit Syria on Friday, leaving formerly ISIS-controlled neighbourhoods of Aleppo covered in debris. Residents of Bab al-Nasr and Karm al-Jabal (pictured above) walked through the streets evaluating damage following the storm

Photos of the northern Syrian city - the neighborhood of Karm al-Jabal pictured above - show dilapidated buildings covered in dust, hollowed out cars turned over and rubble covering the ground

Aleppo was Syria's most populous city before war broke out six years ago, but swathes of it have been destroyed and thousands displaced in the conflict gripping the country. Despite his home being ravaged with damage, Mohammad Mohiedine Anis, 70, smokes his pipe as he sits in his destroyed bedroom listening to music on his vinyl player in Aleppo's formerly rebel-held al-Shaar neighbourhood

Syrian children play in the once rebel-held Shaar neighbourhood in the northern city of Aleppo following the sandstorm. The trio appeared to have created a sled out of roller carts and a long string. Government forces seized Aleppo from rebels in December after months of intense fighting

Syrian children play during a sandstorm in the once rebel held Karm al-Jabal neighbourhood in the old part of the northern city of Aleppo. The sandstorm came just days after the Syrian army took control over the city's main water supply from Islamic State fighters

The Syrian army took control of the main water pumping station for Aleppo at al-Khafsa near the Euphrates on Tuesday after Islamic State fighters withdrew, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said.

The army and its allies, backed by Russian air power, captured al-Khafsa in a recent campaign against Islamic State in the area northeast of Aleppo two months after the city's main water supply was cut off.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis sent 100,000 euros ($106,090) to the poor in the ravaged Aleppo, a Vatican spokeswoman said in a statement on Friday.

The Vatican administration, known as the Curia, contributed to the donation, which will be made through the papal charity office and the Franciscan order working in the Holy Land.

IS jihadists are facing simultaneous offensives in northern Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels, and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.

Outside his destroyed home, 70-year-old Mohammad Mohiedine Anis keeps his 1949 Hudson Commodor parked nearby, despite extensive damage to the roads of Aleppo, which were ravaged during months of fighting between IS and the Syrian army. It appears as though all of the Commodor's tires have been flattened and the windows have all been shattered

A Syrian boy walks with his sheep through the once rebel-held Bab Kinnisrin neighbourhood in the old part of the northern city of Aleppo during a sandstorm. It is unknown where the sheep - or the boy - live in the ravaged city

Syrian children play on plastic chairs surrounded by dilapidated buildings and rubble during a sand storm in the once-rebel held Karm al-Jabal. Pope Francis revealed earlier this week that he has sent 100,000 euros ($106,090) to the poor in northern Syrian city

People gathered on the streets to evaluate the damage of the sandstorm, which hit the already destroyed city earlier this week. Pictured above, a Syrian man drives his vehicle past destruction in the once rebel-held Aghiour neighbourhood in Aleppo during a sandstorm

Since the assault began in mid-January, the Syrian government has taken more than 110 villages and towns from the jihadists, advancing behind heavy air and artillery bombardment.

In the latest sign they are feeling the squeeze, IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reported to have abandoned Mosul, leaving local commanders behind to fight the Iraqi forces.

In Syria, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces has been advancing on Raqqa, another Syrian city.

The United States has been leading a coalition since mid-2014 carrying out air strikes against the jihadists in both Syria and Iraq.

Strikes on an IS-held northern Syrian village thought to have been conducted by the coalition killed at least 23 civilians on Thursday.

In parts of the city, like the once-rebel held area of Kastal al-Harami - debris is piled up storeys high on the streets where buildings used to stand

Some roads of the city, like in the once-rebel held area of Bab al-Nasr, debris has piled so high it blocks former roads in the city. Pictured above, a man walks amidst the destruction. Since mid-January, the Syrian government has taken more than 110 villages and towns from the jihadists, advancing behind heavy air and artillery bombardment

Syrians walk amidst destruction in the once rebel-held Bab al-Nasr neighbourhood in the old part of the northern city of Aleppo on Friday. In other parts of Syria, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces has been advancing on Raqqa

Among the dead were at least eight children and six women, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The coalition said this month that its raids had unintentionally killed at least 220 civilians since 2014 in both countries.

Elsewhere in Syria, Turkish troops and their rebel allies have pushed south from the Turkish border and driven IS out of the northern town of Al-Bab.

Russian-backed government troops have meanwhile swept eastwards from Syria's second city Aleppo and seized a swathe of countryside from the jihadists.

The Observatory said Thursday that 17 IS fighters from Morocco were killed in intense Russian strikes in the east of Aleppo province, where the group has lost swathes of territory.

The US defence official said IS was now looking beyond the seemingly inevitable losses of Mosul and Raqqa.

IS jihadists are facing simultaneous offensives in northern Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels, and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters. Pictured above, Syrians children play during a sandstorm in the once rebel held Karm al-Jabal neighbourhood

Elsewhere in Syria, Turkish troops and their rebel allies have pushed south from the Turkish border and driven IS out of the northern town of Al-Bab. Pictured above, Syrian girls walk past destruction during a sandstorm in the once rebel-held Bab al-Nasr neighbourhood
Sting marks on Divina Ambrosio de Jesus's face after the attack

An elderly woman has died after being stung more than 500 times in a horrific attack by a swarm of deadly bees.

Divina Ambrosio de Jesus, 84, was collecting firewood by a lake near her home in Presidente Olegario, south east Brazil, when she disturbed a bees hive hidden in bushes near the water's edge.

Firefighters and police called to the scene on March 2 found the elderly woman engulfed in an army of angry insects.

To scare off the hoard, rescuers set fire to a blanket creating clouds of smoke in the hope of calming down the bees and forcing them to leave their terrorised victim.

It took half-an-hour before emergency workers could disperse the creatures and rescue Ms de Jesus.

According to her daughter, Maria Abadia, 56, her mother was familiar with the area as she had lived locally for over 50 years.

She said: 'Mum always went out in the early hours to collect bracken near the lake for her wood-fire burning stove to make her morning's coffee.

'Despite her age she was still very strong and able to look after herself. We're not sure how or why it happened, but somehow she must have stumbled on a hive and upset the bees.'

An eyewitness, who didn't want to be named, raised the alarm.

Ms de Jesus was killed after she was stung more than 500 times by bees

He said: 'I was walking past the area when I heard someone screaming for help.

'I ran to see what was going on and saw an elderly woman frantically trying to fight off hundreds of bees.

'It was horrific. It was like the worst nightmare you could possibly have. I just couldn't get close to her because they were furious and far too many.

'She fell to the ground near the bridge by the stream and the insects surrounded her and attacked repeatedly. They just wouldn't leave her alone. I felt completely helpless.'

Photographs taken of the victim at the time, show parts of her leg, arm and face peppered with bee stings. A sheet which she was laid on is littered with scores of the remnants of the stings.

Dr. Gilberto Moreira Palma who attended Ms de Jesus said: 'The victim was unconscious when she arrived at the hospital. She was in a very bad state. The number of stings to her body was in the region of 500 or more.

Ms de Jesus's arm following the attack. The mother-of-five died in hospital a day later

The woman's leg. The attack lasted half an hour before emergency workers could disperse the creatures

'It's unclear whether she was allergic to bee venom. but even if she wasn't, the volume of stings was enough to send her body into shock.

'Unfortunately, after arriving here her state of health deteriorated rapidly and she couldn't resist such a lethal attack to her system.'

The retired mother of five, died a day later in hospital from her injuries.

According to bee expert, biologist Helder Canto Resende, the animals that attacked Ms de Jesus were European or Western honey bees also known as Apis Mellifera.

A sheet which the woman was laid on in hospital is littered with scores of the remnants of the stings

He said: 'The bees were brought to Brazil from Europe and Africa many years ago to produce wax, candles and honey.

'As the bees have adapted to our country, it is common for them to be found in urban areas and when they are disturbed their natural instinct is to attack.'

Ms Abadia added: 'Our family is devastated by the painful and frightening way our mum died. She was well-loved in the area and didn't deserve such a horrific end.

'At first we were hopeful she would pull through but she never regained consciousness and died within hours of the attack. At least we know everyone involved tried their best to save her.'
A mother and daughter team who flew in Lithuanian bogus brides to marry Indian and Pakistani men as part of a 335,000 sham marriage scam have been jailed.

Ringleaders Lina Kezelyte, 33, and Mohemmed Jemaldeen, 33, matched the brides with their grooms, who were men from south Asian and west African countries.

Together with three others they were convicted of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration between 2012 and 2014 at Croydon Crown Court.

Kezelyte's mother, Valentina Kezeliene, 53, laundered money and booked the flights, the court heard.

Lina Kezelyte, 32, (left) and her mother Valentina Kezeliene, 53, (right) of Colindale, north London, were involved in the scam

The grooms, who had tried and failed to get visas to remain in the UK by other means, hoped that by paying the gang to arrange for their marriages to women from Lithuania - an EU nation - they could claim UK residency.

In total, the gang saw 26 Lithuanian brides wed to grooms from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nigeria and Nepal, making an estimated 335,000.

The Young Eastern European women were booked on flights with Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air.

The court heard Kezelyte, a cleaner, recruited the brides, booked the ceremonies and arranged witnesses to the fake weddings.

Three others helped move money and attended the fake weddings.

The scam ended when a wedding ceremony was interrupted by immigration officers, the bride and groom arrested and subsequently charged and convicted.

One of the guests, Beata Jarmolovic, 28, had a camera containing photos of six separate weddings but with brides and bridesmaids swapping roles.

She also offered her skills as a make-up artist and hairdresser to the conspiracy.

Ruta Sperskaite, 25, allowed her bank account to be used and attended some of the weddings.

Judge Adam Hiddleston, sentencing, said: 'The conspiracy involved a business run by the first defendant (Kezelyte) to arrange sham marriages between men - mostly of Pakistani origin - whose right to remain in this country had expired, and recruits from Lithuania.'

He added the operation was sophisticated, and involved the brides making multiple trips to the UK, and applying for national insurance numbers.

Judge Hiddleston added: 'You took advantage of people who may well have been, for all we know, extremely vulnerable.

'Misguided although they obviously were, they were prepared to pursue what was an illegal course in order to pursue the right to remain in this country, at great financial cost to themselves.

The group has now been sentenced at Croydon Crown Court in south London (pictured)

'This conspiracy exploited that vulnerability.'

He told the women that he was of the view they were 'particularly cruel' and gave 'false hope to those not entitled to have any'.

Kezelyte and Kezeliene, of Colindale, north London, were jailed for four and a half years, and two and a half years respectively.

In absence, Jemaldeen, from Edgware, north west London, was jailed for four years.

Sperskaite, from East Finchley in north London, was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Jarmolovic, of Guildford, Surrey, was given an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months. Both women were also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

Another woman, 29-year-old Renata Semasko, also from Guildford, was convicted of money laundering and is due to be sentenced at a later date.

CPS London reviewing lawyer, Robert Hutchinson, said: 'This gang made large amounts of money conducting sham marriages as part of an immigration scam involving flying Lithuanian women to the UK.

'The prosecution case involved looking at suspicious bank transfers, hundreds of flight bookings made for Lithuanian women and forensic analysis of a seized laptop containing crib sheets of questions likely to be asked in immigration interviews.

'We showed that the claim made by Lina Kezelyte that this was a legitimate international dating agency did not stand up to scrutiny.

'This case shows that anyone who tries to circumvent UK immigration law in this way will face prosecution with a strong case put before the court.'
Two Texas mothers who were dropping off their children were involved in a heated argument that resulted in one woman pointing a gun at the other.

The incident occurred before 8am Thursday in the car drop-off line - a gun-free zone - in front of Deer Park Elementary School in Deer Park, Texas, near Houston, said Lieutenant Frank Hart.

It was witnessed by the women's children, who were still in their cars at the time, and others in line.

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Before 8am Thursday, a road rage incident occurred between two vehicles dropping children off at Deer Park Elementary School (pictured) in Deer Park, Texas, near Houston

It was witnessed by the women's children and others in the vehicle drop-off line (pictured)

Deer Park Elementary School's vehicle drop-off line is a gun-free zone

Although the gun was not fired, police were called to the campus (pictured) to investigate

One of the unidentified mothers was upset at the other for her driving ability, according to witness Jeanette Renteria.

'(The mom) got out of her car banged on the windows, said "Youre speeding in a school zone, you almost ran me over once you need to start doing better," and, you know, so one moms yelling at one mom, and the mom in the car pulls out a gun and says, "Back off",' Renteria told KTRK.

Afterward, the mothers dropped off their children and left the campus.

The gun was not fired and no one was injured.

Police were called to the scene but no arrests were made.

Charges were not filed because the woman with the gun said she was afraid and thought she was being attacked, The Houston Chronicle reported.

Still, the incident was scary enough that Deer Park Elementary School Principal Lisa McLaughlin sent a letter home to parents Thursday, calling the incident dangerous and inappropriate.
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Iraqi special forces battling the Islamic State group on Friday pushed deeper into west Mosul, where a commander said jihadist resistance is showing signs of weakening under repeated assaults.

The jihadists are also facing simultaneous offensives in Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, piling more pressure on IS.

But the battle for Mosul's Old City - which could see some of the toughest fighting of the operation - has not yet begun, nor has fighting inside the city of Raqqa, IS's main bastion in Syria.

Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service attacked the Al-Amil al-Oula neighbourhood of west Mosul early on Friday, and were battling the jihadists inside it, said Staff Major General Maan al-Saadi, a CTS commander.

A Humvee passes over the body of a jihadist in west Mosul on Friday as Iraqi forces advance in the city in the ongoing battle to seize it from the jihadists of the Islamic State

Bodies of dead jihadists covered the streets of Mosul on Friday as Iraqi forces tried to retake the western part of the city

The jihadists are also facing simultaneous offensives in Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, piling more pressure on IS. Pictured above, a body of another IS fighter lies on the ground

Children walk near a body of a reported Jihadist in west Mosul on Friday. Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service attacked the Al-Amil al-Oula neighbourhood of west Mosul early on Friday

Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service were battling jihadists in the Al-Amil al-Oula neighbourhood of west Mosul on Friday. Pictured above, people pass by the body of a reported jihadist in the area

Iraq's Joint Operations Command later announced that CTS had retaken that area along with another neighbourhood, Al-Amil al-Thaniyah.

Saadi said that following a string of losses since the launch of the government's assault on west Mosul on February 19, IS resistance had diminished.

'After we broke the (first) defensive line, they lost many fighters,' he said. 'The enemy has begun to collapse. They have lost many of their combat capabilities. Today, the enemy sent (suicide car bombs), but not in the numbers that they sent at the beginning of the battle.'

Seif Rasheed, 28, a medic with the CTS unit operating from a house behind the lines in the Shuhada district said it received one dead and one wounded in the early hours of Friday.

'The martyr was shot in the head and the wounded in the neck and hip,' he said. 'Daesh (IS) are hiding in homes, opening the doors and firing at troops from just a few metres.'

Supplies to the IS-held parts of Mosul have dwindled over the past week as the army shut the main route westward.

A fighter from Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service takes a position inside a building in the Shuhada neighbourhood of west Mosul on Friday

Iraqi citizens push a cart with their belongings as fighting between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State's fighters continue in western Mosul

People, who chose to stay home, queue for humanitarin aid packages in Al Mansour district of western Mosul while the battle against Islamic State's fighters continues

Displaced people flee their homes in western Mosul as battles continue between ISIS and Iraqi forces trying to reclaim the region

'We used to get potatoes, vegetables and milk from Badoosh, but these areas are no longer accessible,' said a man in Zanjeely district over the phone. 'The entire family lives in one room and mortars are falling like rain.'

In another sign that the jihadists are feeling the squeeze, their chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reported to have abandoned Mosul, leaving local commanders behind to oversee defence of the city.

Iraqi forces launched their operation to retake Mosul in October, and recaptured the whole east bank of the Tigris River that runs through it in January.

They then set their sights on the smaller but more densely populated west side of the city.

More than 215,000 people are displaced as a result of the battle for Mosul, according to the International Organization for Migration. Others fled their homes but later returned.

Almost a quarter of the displaced - more than 50,000 people - have fled west Mosul since February 25, the IOM said.

But that is only a small fraction of the 750,000 civilians estimated to have stayed on in west Mosul under IS rule.

In neighbouring Syria, the jihadists lost more ground to a Russian-backed offensive by government forces east of second city Aleppo.

More than 215,000 people are displaced as a result of the battle for Mosul, according to the International Organization for Migration. Others fled their homes but later returned. Pictured above, a man, who chose to stay home, carries humanitarin aid package as he walks past Special forces military vehicules in Al Mansour district of Mosul

Sunni fighters, newly recruited into the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitaries, advance to protect the west Mosul district of Tel Rumman, during the offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group jihadists on Friday

Russian warplanes and regime aircraft and artillery pounded IS positions around Jarrah airbase, held by the jihadists since January 2014.

Russia's military said on Friday that it had carried out more than 450 air strikes in support of the offensive over the past week, killing more than 600 IS fighters, and destroying 16 infantry fighting vehicles and 41 machinegun-mounted pickups.

Washington, DC, too, has turned up the heat on IS in Syria, more than doubling its troop numbers in the country with the deployment of 400 reinforcements to back the offensive on Raqqa.

Around 500 US military advisers were already deployed alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters that Washington regards as the force best equipped to drive IS from its stronghold.

But the operation is complicated by the implacable opposition to the SDF of US NATO ally Turkey, which is leading a rival offensive against IS in northern Syria.

Underlining the SDF's determination to press ahead, a spokeswoman said on Friday it had enough fighters to take Raqqa.

Iraqi forces advance towards al-Amil neighborhood in west Mosul on Friday as battles continue against ISIS in western Mosul

A member of the Iraqi forces directs displaced Iraqi families as they evacuate al-Amil neighborhood in west Mosul. Almost a quarter of the displaced - more than 50,000 people - have fled west Mosul since February 25

An estimated 750,000 civilians have stayed on in west Mosul under IS rule. Pictured above, displaced Iraqi families evacuate al-Amil neighborhood in west Mosul on Friday

A displaced Iraqi woman carries her baby through the al-Amil neighborhood in west Mosul on Friday as Iraqi forces try to reclaim the city from IS

'The number of our forces is now increasing, particularly from among the people of the area, and we have enough strength to liberate Raqqa with support from the coalition forces,' Jihan Sheikh Ahmed said in a statement.

Ankara regards the dominant force within the SDF, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), as a terrorist organisation, because of its links to a Kurdish rebel group that has waged a deadly 33-year insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

Ankara has said its intervention is aimed as much against the YPG as IS, and there have been repeated clashes between Turkish forces and the Kurdish militia.

Asked about the standoff at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, the top US commander for the region, General Joseph Votel, acknowledged that tensions between Ankara and the Kurds were near breaking point.

Efforts have been made to address the issue at a military level, 'and there has to be an effort at the political level to address this', Votel said.

Some of the US troop reinforcements being sent to Syria are to be deployed to SDF-held areas near the front line to deter further clashes between Turkish forces and Washington's Kurdish-Arab allies.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow, however, are much improved even though they have supported opposite sides in the conflict between the rebels and the regime.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Moscow on Friday for a new round of consultations with President Vladimir Putin.
A commuter who was arrested for kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach was seen crying outside of a New York City court after he was released on bail.

Michael Lee, 40, appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday and was charged with attempted assault.

His attorney, Lance Fletcher, said in court that his client was trying to protect himself from eight-months-pregnant Natasha Rodney, 28, when he attacked her.

'My client is in a position where he is fending off a violent attack from this woman and we don't have a lot of the details here,' Fletcher said.

Michael Lee, 40, who was arrested for kicking, eight months pregnant woman, Natasha Rodney, 28, in the stomach twice on a New York subway, is seen crying after he was released on a $7,500 bail

Lee's attorney, Lance Fletcher, said in court that his client was trying to protect himself from eight-months-pregnant Natasha Rodney, 28, when he attacked her. Lee is pictured hugging his brother, who paid his bail

Police said Lee (pictured in court), who is a project manager for Viaggio motorcycle company, kicked Rodney in the stomach out of anger after she allegedly pushed him during an early morning commute on a train bound for the Bronx

But Assistant District Attorney Joseph Abrams told Judge Josh Hanshaft: 'This was a violent attack on a ... pregnant woman on a crowded rush hour subway train.'

Lee's attorney argued that he was just trying to hold off Rodney, who attacked him first. Despite the prosecution's attempt to push for $20,000 bail, Lee was released on $7,500 bail, according to the New York Daily News.

Once Lee was released, he walked outside the courthouse and hugged his brother, who posted the bail. Lee was seen wiping tears from his face as he and his brother embraced.

Police said Lee, who is a project manager for Viaggio motorcycle company, kicked Rodney in the stomach out of anger after she allegedly pushed him during an early morning commute on a Bronx-bound No. 4 train at the Bowling Green station.

Authorities said the incident happened around 8am on Thursday when Lee bumped into Rodney on the train.

Rodney reacted by pushing him, it is alleged, knocking him to the floor. He is believed to have then kicked her twice in the stomach in anger.

Police said Lee, who is a project manager for Viaggio motorcycle company, kicked Rodney in the stomach out of anger after she allegedly pushed him during an early morning commute on a train bound for the Bronx. Lee is seen as he was arrested Thursday

Authorities said the incident happened around 8am on Thursday when Lee bumped into Rodney on the train. Rodney reportedly reacted by pushing him to the floor. He is believed to have then kicked her twice in the stomach. She was rushed to hospital after the incident

Rodney was rushed to hospital after the sickening incident.

A witness only named as Janice told ABC News that Lee had kicked out at Rodney while the woman crouched over him and hit her twice in the lower belly.

'So when she's hunched over him, this is when he kicks her,' Janice said. 'And the kick, since she's over him diagonally, the kick lands on her stomach, right on the bottom of her belly.'

Luckily, neither Rodney or the baby, a boy due on March 27, appear to have suffered serious harm, but doctors are keeping a close eye on them.

The victim's mother, Carol Rodney, told the New York Daily News: 'How do you kick a pregnant person? She's due this month. I'm shaking.'

And the grandmother-to-be continued: 'Is he insane? I don't care what argument they had. What if the baby is damaged? What if, God forbid?'

NYPD spokesman Sgt Lee Jones told the New York Post: 'It was a crowded train and the guy bumped into her. She mentioned something to him.'

The row became physical, he said, and the man was pushed to the ground. 'He got back up and kicked her twice in the stomach,' Jones stated.

Luckily, neither Rodney or the baby, a boy due on March 27, appear to have suffered serious harm, but doctors are keeping a close eye on them. Lee pictured as he's arrested by officers

Lee's neighbor described him as an 'oddball' who separated from his wife last year. Lee's wife moved out and took their five-year-old daughter with her after Lee was involved in an altercation with her 14-year-old stepson. He is due back in court on April 26

Lee 'went cooperatively', a vendor outside the station told the Post: 'There's no excuse to kick anybody, but especially a pregnant woman. You're harming two lives at once.'

According to the Daily News, Lee is married and has a five-year-old daughter.

His neighbors described him as an 'oddball' who separated from his wife last year.

Lee's wife moved out and took their daughter with her after Lee was involved in an altercation with her 14-year-old stepson. His wife has two teenage children from a prior marriage.

Police were called to the home and Lee asked for cops to cuff his stepson, but no arrests were made.

Lee will return to court on April 26.
A Florida man claims he was the victim of a violent road rage attack because he had a President Trump bumper sticker on the back of his car.

Gregg Dunay was left battered and bloodied when another driver punched him in the face in Kenneth City, Florida on Wednesday.

Dunay said the situation escalated after he tried to switch lanes on a busy road but the other driver wouldn't let him.

Gregg Dunay was left battered and bloodied after another driver punched him in the face in Kenneth City, Florida on Wednesday

'I said 'Hey, can you let me in?' he told WTSP. 'He opened up his door and he finally said: 'I'm not going to let any person who supports Trump in front of me.'

'He's literally screaming out the window this whole time cursing at me and cursing at Trump. 'F Trump' and 'F Trump's mother.'

Dunay said he hit back saying: 'This is why President Trump became our president and took control, because we're tired of people attacking us just for our political views.'

Surveillance cameras from a gas station just down the street captured the row between the two men, which police are now using the track down Dunay's attacker.

Surveillance cameras captured the row between the two men, which police are now using the track down Dunay's attacker (left) who was driving a dark colored VW

Dunay claims he was the victim of a violent road rage attack because he had a President Trump bumper sticker on the back of his car

The man was filmed getting out of his car and punching Dunay.

'I had glasses on and I saw something out of the corner of my eye and that's when he punched me,' he said.

Dunay was taken to hospital where he received stitches after the lenses of his glasses broken and cut his face.

Police said the incident was definitely a road rage attack but are investigating whether it was politically motivated.

The suspect is described as being a 5'6" Latino male with short brown hair. He is approximately 25 years and was driving a black model Volkswagon.
Heavily tattooed Anthony Ward is on trial for allegedly trying to lure an 11-year-old girl from her home and to his truck last December

An 11-year-old girl cried in a Springboro, Ohio court today as she faced the man with extreme facial tattoos who allegedly tried to lure her from her home and into his truck.

The child, along with another seven-year-old girl, were in court as witnesses in 44-year-old suspect Anthony Ward's trial where he is charged with aggravated trespassing and child enticement.

According to a report from the Dayton Daily News, both girls cried and spoke so quietly while on the stand, that it was difficult to hear what they were saying.

During her testimony the 11-year-old was apparently unable to identify Ward, who sat just 10 feet away from her at the defense table.

However, while testifying, the seven-year-old girl looked at Ward while she spoke and identified him as the man who allegedly tried to lure the 11-year-old from their home and into his truck back in December.

According to Springboro Police Department reports, on December 14, Ward allegedly knocked on the 11-year-old girl's door, asking if he could shovel her driveway. He also asked if her parents were home and tried to get her to follow him to his truck.

Ward (center, pictured at a December hearing) returned to court today for his trial. He is charged with aggravated trespassing and child enticement after allegedly asking if he can plow a young girl's driveway and trying to lure her out from her Ohio home and into his truck

The girl slammed the door on him and told her mother, who claimed to see Ward driving off in his truck with another man.

The mother then called police and described the distinctive tattoos covering Ward's face and head, which quickly led to his arrest.

Police say Ward was picked up down the street from the girl's house, after officers stopped his silver Chevy truck, which matched the suspect's vehicle description.

At the time, both mother and daughter were able to identify Ward, according to cops.

Police are said to have rejected Ward's statement that he merely asked about shoveling the driveway because the sidewalk was already cleared and there was only ice on the driveway, according to the Dayton Daily News.

During the opening statements of the trial today, Ward's lawyer attempted to prove that both girls were overstating what happened the day that Ward knocked on their door and insisted that Ward was merely looking for work plowing snow from driveways.

'He was there all day in that neighborhood,' Diehl said in court. 'Some people were scared of him. Some people allowed him to do it.'

Diehl added that Ward had not made any attempts to avoid police and was, in fact, plowing a driveway two houses away from where the girls lived when cops found him.

From the beginning, Ward, of Lebanon, Ohio, has demanded a trial by jury.

If found guilty, the misdemeanor charges each carry prison sentences of up to six months. Ward was given a bond of $40,000 or $4,000 cash.

However, due to a parole violation charge stemming from a previous burglary conviction, he is still being held in Warren County Jail until his parole hearing, according to jail records.
A sheriff in Illinois is raising eyebrows with a controversial Facebook post poking fun at former President Barack Obama.

The Kankakee County Sheriff's Department posted the image of Obama peering into Trump Tower with binoculars on Wednesday as part of an ongoing campaign to remind residents to lock their doors.

The image played on President Donald Trump's recent explosive, unsubstantiated allegation that Obama illegally ordered wiretaps on Trump's phones during the campaign.

But Kankakee Sheriff Mike Downey said the image was all in good fun, and part of a successful campaign to dramatically reduce burglaries even as budget cuts have slashed the number of deputies from 67 to 44.

This Wednesday Facebook post from the Kankakee County Sheriff's Office drew criticism over its political overtones and comparison of Obama to a house burglar

Some commenters, such as this one, even claimed the post was racially offensive

Others argued that there was nothing offensive about the image, which appeared to play on Trump's recent unsubstantiated allegation that Obama had illegally tapped his phones

'The goal of the program is to remind our residents to lock their cars, sheds, garages and outbuildings so they do not become a victim of an opportunistic crime,' Downey said in a statement on Thursday.

'The #9PMRoutine [campaign] uses current events, celebrities and other items of interest to get the attention of our residents to get in the routine to lock their doors.'

The sheriff was forced to issued the statement after some residents complained that the image of Trump and Obama, one of many featuring well-known personalities, was too politically charged and potentially racially insensitive.

One commenter, Colin Arnold, pointed out that Obama is the only black president out of 45 men who have held the office. 'You make a meme comparing the one black man (who has no record) to a criminal. You're wrong for doing so.'

But many others defended the joke, which seemed to go over well in the county that voted for Trump by a 13 point margin over Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

'Quit over analyzing this and turning it into a race issue,' wrote Brittany Sartain. 'I would bet my right hand that if these two people were switched, the people who think this is racist would find it hilarious.'

Other images in the campaign played on other well-known topics, such as this one featuring internet sensation April the pregnant giraffe

Sheriff Downy acknowledged the controversy in his statement, but said burglaries had dropped dramatically since the door-locking campaign began a month ago.

He disputed that there was any racial connotation to the image featuring Obama.

'If you look at the history of our memes, theres a lot of those memes that are related to current events, and celebrities, and things like that. So, no, thats ridiculous,' he told CBS Chicago.

Another regular feature of the department's Facebook page, Warrant Wednesdays, featured a tie-in to International Women's Day this week, in a 'Bad Girls' edition spotlighting only female fugitives.

Other Facebook posts in the daily door-locking campaign have featured April the pregnant giraffe and Carlton Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, among others.

'Theres a lot of those memes that are related to current events, and celebrities, and things like that,' said Sheriff Mike Downey. This one features Carlton from The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air
This is the sweet moment a baby boy got to lay eyes on his father for the very first time with his new glasses.

Nine-month-old Reagan Caldwell got his glasses just after his father Brandon was deployed to Antarctica with the Air Force for two months.

The boy's mother Amanda filmed their emotional reunion at their home in upstate New York last week.

Baby Reagan Caldwell got to see his father Brandon for the first time with his new glasses last week after the Air Force captain returned to New York from a two month deployment

Brandon, still dressed in his Air Force uniform, was filmed singing Reagan a song as he held him close.

The little boy grinned and stared adoringly at his father through his adorable blue glasses.

Halfway through the song, Reagan rested his head against his father's chest as he hugged him.

The moment brought tears to the Air Force Captain's eyes.

Brandon, still dressed in his Air Force uniform, was filmed singing Reagan a song before the little boy rested his head against his father's chest

Reagan, pictured with parents Brandon and Amanda, got his glasses just after his father was deployed to Antarctica with the Air Force for two months

Amanda shared the heartwarming video on Facebook saying: 'This was the first time he got to see his daddy through glasses after a two month deployment.'

'It's obvious in this video he loves his daddy. I have watched this over and over again. My heart is literally melting.'

The couple have been in and out of hospital since Reagan was born after he contracted a Group B Strep infection shortly after birth.

He ended up in intensive care due to complications, including meningitis and sepsis.
Barack and Michelle Obama were out and about in New York City on Friday afternoon, meeting up with one of their famous friends for a midday meal.

The former first couple were spotted heading into Upland at around 1pm, where they joined U2 frontman Bono for some California-inspired cuisine at the Park Avenue brasserie.

Bono brought along his 27-year-old daughter Jordan, a tech entrepreneur who last year launched the company Speakable, which promotes social activism.

Jordan acknowledged in an interview with Fortune this past October that her father played no role in creating her company but is a 'good resource,' something that was very evident on Friday when she got to sit down with the two most famous and powerful social activists in the world.

Barack and Michelle also delighted their fellow diners and the many fans who lined up on the street outside the restaurant by waving to the crowds and flashing big smiles as they entered and exited the restaurant.

And Michelle was dressed to impress for the afternoon outing, carrying a $995 Attica leather crossbody bag by Alexander Wang.

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Out and about: Barack Obama was out to lunch at Upland in new York City on Friday (above)

Vision: Michelle Obama was dressed in her power lunch finest for the midday meal (above)

Adoring public: Michelle flashed a smile and waved as she exited the restaurant, carrying a $995 Alexander Wang bag

All smiles: Barack has been in New York twice over the past three weeks as he closed his book deal with Penguin

Wine and dine: Barack has been making a point of visiting the city's many restaurants while in the Big Apple during his post-presidency days

Famous friend: U2 frontman Bono joined the Obama for lunch on Friday at the Park Avenue brasserie

Darling daughter: Bono brought along his 27-year-old daughter Jordan, a tech entrepreneur who last year launched the company Speakable, which promotes social activism

On Thursday night, Barack used his visit to the Big Apple as an excuse to stop by his favorite restaurant for a little wine and a lot of Italian food.

The former president was spotted at Carbone with his wife Michelle and daughter Malia, who moved to Manhattan in January ahead of her new internship at The Weinstein Company.

Barack could be seen enjoying a glass of red wine and chowing down on the $49 double lamb chop at the Michelin-starred Italian joint, while Michelle opted for a bit of white wine with her meal and 18-year-old Malia was stuck with water.

There was plenty of reasons to celebrate too, approximately 60million according to one report, which claims that is the amount Barack and Michelle have secured for the global rights to their upcoming memoirs.

The money should help the Obamas, with Barack recently out of a job and Malia the only member of the family who has a job at this time.

Sasha meanwhile is still attending high school in Washington DC, which is why she could not join her parents and sister for their Manhattan dinner party.

Barack has made a habit of visiting Carbone when he is in the city, previously swinging by with his daughters in July of 2015 while he was in town for a fundraiser with Sasha.

Due to the fact that Barack was the commander-in-chief when the visit occurred, the area around Carbone was slowed to a near-standstill due to the presence of Secret Service.

Malia was working in the city at that time, with the motivated teenager electing to spend the summer between her junior and senior year at Sidwell Friends working on the set of Lena Dunham's HBO series 'Girls.'

Mass hysteria: Diners surrounded Barack once inside the restaurant on Friday (above)

Heading out: Barack and Michelle made their way to their waiting car and exited the resturant after lunch

Family guy: Barack Obama went out to eat at the Italian restaurant Carbone on Thursday night (above exiting the restuant) with his wife Michelle and daughter Malia

Cameras ready: Diners could be seen eagerly snapping away at Barack after he ate his mea

Carbone was just the start of what might have been one of the greatest weekends a father could plan for his girls, with Barack then taking the girls on a private tour of the Whitney and scoring the group 'Hamilton' tickets for the following day.

Barack and the girls came with an appetite that night too, ordering the restaurants famed veal parmigiana, crab cakes, a porterhouse for two, spicy rigatoni alla vodka, meatballs, lobster ravioli, and a bottle of Fenocchio Barbaresco.

And while the food, which is carefully crafted by co-chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, is some of the best in the city, it does come at a bit of a cost.

The veal parmigiana is $55 and the porterhouse for two rings in at $195, though it does come with an incredible tableside presentation in addition to the perfectly grilled 60-day dry-aged cut from Pat LaFrieda.

Michelle also visited Carbone back in November of 2013 just a few months after the restaurant opened its doors, and sat across the room from reality star Kim Kardashian who was dining with her publicist pal Simon Huck.

Snow way: Malia was up and at 'em early Friday as she headed into work at The Weinsten Company (above)

Gang of four: Secret Service agents stand outside Carbone back in 2015 when Barack visited with Sasha and Malia

Gridlock: The extra security precautions taken while Barack was in office created a major traffic situation during that 2015 visit (above)

Malia has been enjoying quite a few of the city's great restaurants since moving her, with visits from her dad helping to absorb the costs of dining out for the teenager, who heads to Harvard University later this year.

Barack paid a visit to Malia just two weeks ago in fact, his first time emerging in public since he boarded a marine helicopter bound for Joint Andrews Air Force Base after President Donald Trump was sworn into office.

The pair seemed to stick to their tradition of great food and great theater, visiting the Italian restaurant Emilio's Ballato one night and taking some time to pose for a photo with the owners and chef.

Later that week, the two caught Mark Ruffalo, Danny DeVito, John Turturro, Tony Shalhoub and Jessica Hecht in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's 'The Price.'

It was the Monday after that trip that news broke of Barack and Michelle's staggering book deal.

Just a few hours after multiple people with knowledge of the joint publishing deal told the Financial Times that bidding had surpassed $60million, The New York Times reveals that the couple had inked a deal with Penguin Random House.

It was Penguin who appeared to have the slight edge in the battle for the books, having published Barack's three previous titles.

'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.'

Wine and dine: Two weeks ago Barack took Malia to dinner at Emilio's Ballato (above posing with the owners and chef)

Great dad: Barack is not only an accomplished politician, but also a foodie (above at Emilio's Ballato)

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.

There is no release date for either of the memoirs.

No book deal has ever come close to paying an author that much money, with the closest example being the the $150million James Patterson reportedly received from Hachette in 2009 as part of a 17-book deal.

That breaks down to a little less than $10million a book, as opposed to he $30million Barack and Michelle each stand to make in their deal.

The amount currently on the table for the Obamas also eclipses the $15million Bill Clinton was paid for his post-White House memoir My Life which was released in 2004, and the $10million deal score by George W. Bush for the 2010 release Decision Points.

It also four times more than the reported $14million Hillary Clinton earned for her 2014 release Hard Choices about her time at the State Department.

She received $8million over a decade prior on 2001 for her first memoir, Living History. She was a New York senator at that time and had to have the deal approved by the Senate Ethics Committee.

President Donald Trump meanwhile received just a $500,000 advance for The Art of the Deal, which he split with the ghost writer of the book.

That book has gone on however to earn him millions in royalties, having made its way back on the bestsellers list back in 2004 when he launched The Apprentice and ever since announced his candidacy for president.
Lord Mountbatten (left) is seen with Mahatma Gandhi and Edwina Mountbatten (right)

The number who died in the appalling violence following Indias independence and its partition is still disputed, but most historians believe it was a million civilians or more. What is not in doubt is that they died in the most horrifying circumstances.

Arson, torture, mass rape, desecration of temples and indiscriminate murder were commonplace after the Indian Empire was divided in 1947 along religious lines into two separate nations, India (mostly Sikh and Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim).

As many as 12 million people were uprooted in the largest human migration in history, as civilians found themselves on the wrong side of the new border and travelled to their new nation state, often encountering  and butchering  those of different religious persuasions heading in the opposite direction.

The bloodbath followed a nationalist struggle that had lasted for decades and will forever remain a dark stain on Britains colonial legacy, with accusation and counter-accusation being thrown over the question of responsibility.

The latest contribution to the debate comes in the form of the new film Viceroys House.

Viceroy's House, a new film depicting the division of the India Empire stars Hugh Bonneville as Lord Mountbatten (left) and Gillian Anderson as Edwina Mountbatten (right)

The film is a ficitionalised version of the partition between India and Pakistan in the 1940s

Set against the backdrop of looming partition, it is a fictionalised version of events in the 340-room Lutyens palace in Delhi of the Indian Empires last Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who had been appointed to administer self-rule.

In one way, it is rather like a Downton of the East, with plenty of below-stairs intrigue  the palace had more than 500 servants  and Hugh Bonneville (who played the liege of Downton) portraying Mountbatten alongside a crisp-accented Gillian Anderson as his Vicereine, Edwina.

When the film concentrates on the melodrama of a handsome new Hindu manservant falling for a beautiful Muslim girl, it combines Bollywood romance with a good deal of period character.

But whenever it gets involved in partition politics, it is historically and politically repugnant, promoting conspiracy theories and peddling vile falsehoods.

Lord Mountbatten is seen with Edwina and Mahatma Gandhi in the garden of the Viceroy's House in New Dehli in 1947

The new film blames Sir Winston Churchill and his faithful, honest wartime military secretary Hastings Ismay of being responsible for the massacres

Worst, without any evidence it blames Sir Winston Churchill and his faithful, honest wartime military secretary Hastings Ismay of being responsible for the massacres of innocent men, women and children during the partition of India.

Yet it absolves from blame the man who was primarily responsible  Louis Mountbatten himself.

It is worth reminding ourselves of the true horror of the months following independence.

Before the euphemistically named difficulties of partition were settled, houses were burnt and looted in the presence of policemen; women and children were flung from moving trains; the district engineer of Lahore was attacked in his office, tied to a post and sawn into pieces; patients were murdered in their hospital beds; babies were taken from their mothers, cut in half and returned to them; villages were mortar-bombed.

Furthermore, there were mass suicides; Sikhs were forcibly circumcised; mobs stamped people to death; corpses were thrown into wells to defile water supplies; people were ordered to stand or sit in long rows to be shot one by one; and children were burnt alive in pits.

The film has drawn on a book called The Shadow Of The Great Game by Narendra Singh Sarila, a former aide-de-camp of Mountbatten. Its historical consultant is Lady Pamela Hicks, Mountbattens daughter

When Mountbatten reached India than he advanced the timetable for partition by nearly a year, to August 1947, despite concerns about potential violence and warnings from members of the viceregal staff that partition would mean a huge military problem

So it went on, week after genocidal week. The anarchy reached a scale where the authorities were able to do no more than note down reports of slaughters.

Typical was a report from the commanding officer of the Second Battalion of the First Gurkhas. They had discovered a train in the Punjab filled with 200 dead Muslims who had been ambushed by Sikhs.

The majority of wounds had been caused by sword and spear thrusts, the report said. The victims included a small girl aged four or five with both legs hacked off above the knees but still alive; a pregnant woman with her baby ripped out of her womb  she died; an old man who had served in the Hong Kong-Singapore Royal Artillery with six spear wounds and still alive.

This was the reality of what Mountbatten was to call Indias unbelievably happy beginning. And the film squarely places Churchill in the frame for the massacres. It claims that, in an unwanted partition plan drawn up by Churchill, Pakistan was conjured out of thin air solely to provide access to Middle Eastern oil for the scheming, evil British and ensure that Russia did not get its hands on the port of Karachi.

As well as this baseless Anglophobic conspiracy theory, it depicts the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, as a puppet of the British and completely ignores the struggle for an independent Pakistan that had been taking place for decades.

The film has drawn on a book called The Shadow Of The Great Game by Narendra Singh Sarila, a former aide-de-camp of Mountbatten. Its historical consultant is Lady Pamela Hicks, Mountbattens daughter.

As Churchills biographer and a historian who studied Mountbattens disastrous role in India for my book Eminent Churchillians, I have seen a mountain of evidence to show the Viceroys handling of partition was nothing short of a catastrophe.

There were rumours that Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina were having an affair, which led to Mountbatten being profoundly biased towards India and against Pakistan

Lord Mountbatten was quoted as saying: 'When Nehru started to call Edwina and me his dear friends, I began to get the feeling we were halfway home'

When, in February 1947, the Labour postwar Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced in the Commons that Mountbatten was to be the next Viceroy, the appointee himself had just delivered a speech to the Joint Services Staff College.

On hearing the news, his audience burst into applause and Mountbatten replied modestly: It is not a matter for applause, I assure you.

He had hit upon the cold truth.

Attlee had said that Britain would hand over to an Indian government capable of maintaining peace no later than the end of June 1948.

The allocation of a mere 16 months to wind up three-and-a-half centuries of British presence would have imposed fearful strains on an already overstretched civil administration.

Yet no sooner had Mountbatten reached India than he advanced the timetable for partition by nearly a year, to August 1947, despite concerns about potential violence and warnings from members of the viceregal staff that partition would mean a huge military problem.

The new partition date meant that Cyril Radcliffe, the London lawyer whose job it was to draw the frontier between India and Pakistan, was given an unreasonably short length of time to complete his task. He had never set foot in India before and later said he could not have done the job properly even in two years. Mountbatten gave him 40 days.

In addition, Mountbatten was profoundly biased towards India and against Pakistan.

In the new film, however, there is not the tiniest hint that Edwina was having an affair with Nehru  which understandably aroused suspicions among Muslims, who feared Nehru had a big influence over the Viceroy

By contrast, Mountbatten and Jinnah (the Muslim League leader) failed to establish a rapport

From their first meeting on April 5, 1947, Mountbatten and Jinnah (the Muslim League leader) failed to establish a rapport. Among the epithets used by the former to describe Jinnah were psychopathic case, evil genius, b****** and lunatic. By total contrast, he was bewitched by the Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru.

Even though Mountbattens wife was sleeping with Nehru  or maybe because she was  he said: When Nehru started to call Edwina and me his dear friends, I began to get the feeling we were halfway home.

In the new film, however, there is not the tiniest hint that Edwina was having an affair with Nehru  which understandably aroused suspicions among Muslims, who feared Nehru had a big influence over the Viceroy.

But then, it gives an inverted portrayal of other matters.

For example, Radcliffe, one of the greatest legal minds of his day, is depicted by Simon Callow as a sweaty nonentity, cravenly yielding to Ismays demands to create a larger Pakistan  something apparently done without Mountbattens knowledge.

What actually happened was, in fact, the precise opposite. I was told by Christopher Beaumont, the secretary to the Radcliffe Boundary Commission that drew up the borders, that it was Mountbatten himself who visited Radcliffe the night before details of the partition boundaries were made public, and prevailed upon him to give more territory to India.

And his disgraceful conduct gets worse. His conviction that he understood the Indian situation better than men whod spent their entire lives there was a recurring feature of his flawed viceroyalty.

He was little impressed by the opinions of the governors of the Punjab and Bengal about the horrific consequences of partitioning their provinces.

Though he was warned it would be a disaster, he delayed publishing the boundary details until after independence, so any violence that followed would be treated as the responsibility of the incoming governments, not the British.

Lord Mountbatten's conviction that he understood the Indian situation better than men whod spent their entire lives there was a recurring feature of his flawed viceroyalty

On top of this, he absented himself from the fray to attend the wedding of his nephew, Prince Philip, to the Queen

Had the movement of populations caused by the new boundaries taken place under British rule, with British troops and officials enjoying full power to act, Punjabi inhabitants would have been far calmer. The atmosphere of mass panic, anarchy and terror might have been avoided. To add to the carnage, Mountbatten ordered British Army units to be shipped home when they were needed in the Punjab and North West Frontier to stop the violence.

He expressly recommended that many of those units which remained should not be called for internal security purposes.

On top of this, he absented himself from the fray to attend the wedding of his nephew, Prince Philip, to the Queen.

Back in London, Churchill had no difficulty in putting his finger on the absurdity of the situation.

Can the House believe, he said, there are three or four times as many British troops in little petty Palestine as in mighty India at the present time? Let us not add  by shameful flight . . . to the pangs of sorrow so many of us feel.

Throughout the film, blunders by Mountbatten are blamed on others, including British governors who are depicted as racist idiots when in truth they were men such as Sir Evan Jenkins, governor of the Punjab, who loved India. These men predicted exactly what would happen under the Mountbatten Plan, but were ignored.

There are other irritating inaccuracies. The film depicts Ismay as being already in India, plotting with Mountbattens predecessor as Viceroy, Lord Wavell, before Mountbattens arrival. In fact, he went out at the same time as Mountbatten as the new chief of staff.

By interspersing original footage from 1947 and 1948 with modern, recreated footage, it gives the movie a misleading documentary feel and its accusations a spurious verisimilitude.

Most egregiously, Churchill, who was then leader of the opposition and so in no position to give executive orders to anyone, is depicted as appearing in a newsreel broadcast denouncing the transfer of power and sneering dismissively at primitive Indians.

Not only was no such broadcast made, but Churchill never once used the word primitive with regard to Indians in the year 1947. Indeed, he directed the Tories to vote in favour of the Indian Independence Bill on July 4, 1947.

Above all, the emphasis on Churchill as the villain of this movie  which is part-financed by BBC licence fees through BBC Films  is just the latest example of the mania for making our greatest national hero into a villain, or presenting him as a joke figure.

At the end of the film, it is stated that the director, Gurinder Chadha, herself lost family members in the partition. Sadly, she has done their memory no service in this tawdry, if visually stunning, compilation of conspiracy theory, unproven allegation and fiction.




Shocking security footage showed the moment two suspects broke into a Maryland gun shop and stole at least 30 guns.

Montgomery police said the incident took place early Friday morning at the United Gun Shop located at 5465 Randolph Road.

Officers were dispatched to the firearm shop around 3.50am and upon arrival, authorities discovered the front door had been pried open and glass display cases had been smashed.

Shocking security footage showed the moment two suspects broke into a Maryland gun shop and stole at least 30 guns. Montgomery police said in a statement that the incident took place around 3.50am at the United Gun Shop located at 5465 Randolph Road

Officers were dispatched to the firearm shop and upon arrival, authorities discovered the front door had been pried open and glass display cases had been smashed. The thieves are seen using crowbars to smash open the cases

Officers also noted that 30 handguns and long guns had been stolen. A preliminary investigation revealed the two suspects used crowbars to open the front door of the business. One suspect is seen taking guns off a wall (left)

Officers also noted that 30 handguns and long guns had been stolen. A preliminary investigation revealed the two suspects used crowbars to open the front door of the business.

'They entered the store, smashed the glass display cases using crowbars, and removed guns from display cases and shelves,' police said.

Police believe that the 'suspects stole approximately 24 handguns and 7 long guns'.

The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) released the surveillance video of the burglary suspects.

In the video, the suspects run into the store dressed in dark clothing, gloves, and with their faces concealed.

They immediately smashed open glass cases with yellow crowbars and started packing firearms into two big bags.

Police believe that the 'suspects stole approximately 24 handguns and 7 long guns'. In the video, the suspects are dressed in dark clothing, gloves, and with their faces concealed

Detectives and ATF investigators are still working with the store owner to determine the precise number and types of firearms that were stolen. When police arrived to the scene the suspects had already fled

Investigators believe the suspect's fled in a light colored four-door sedan (pictured), as the car was seen on area video surveillance

One suspect is seen climbing over a glass case to a wall where dozens of guns are on display.

The suspect takes at least seven guns from the wall display alone.

Detectives and ATF investigators are still working with the store owner to determine the precise number and types of firearms that were stolen.

The store video surveillance showed that the suspects were in the store for approximately 90 seconds.

Investigators believe the suspect's fled in a light colored four-door sedan, as the car was seen on area video surveillance.

The ATF said national federal firearms licensee burglaries have gone up by 48 per cent in the last five years, according to Fox 5.

Maryland reported having 38 of these similar gun shop burglaries in 2016  fourth-most in the US behind Texas, North Carolina and California.

United Gun Shop was closed on Thursday as the owner cleaned up and replaced the damaged front door.

Authorities said a $10,000 reward is being offered in this case and anyone with information should call the ATF 24/7 hotline at 1-888-ATF-TIPS (1-888-283-8477) or send an email to ATFTips@atf.gov.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked for 46 US attorneys who were nominated by President Obama to resign their posts, the Justice Department announced in a Friday statement  a number that would appear to include the nation's most prominent prosecutor.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the group included crusading Manhattan US attorney Preet Bharara, who met with then President-elect during the transition and says Trump asked him to keep his crime-fighting post.

But neither White House nor Justice Department officials were able to clarify the situation Friday evening.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), who used to have Bharara on his staff and helped secure his appointment, came out with a Friday evening expressing concern.

'I'm troubled to learn of reports of requests for resignations from the remaining U.S. Attorneys, particularly that of Preet Bharara, after the President initiated a call to me in November and assured me he wanted Mr. Bharara to continue to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District,' Schumer said.

Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara met with Donald Trump at Trump Tower in November. His name appears to have been included among those top federal prosecutors asked to resign

'While it's true that presidents from both parties made their own choices for U.S. Attorney positions across the country, they have always done so in an orderly fashion that doesn't put ongoing investigations at risk. They ask for letters of resignation but the attorneys are allowed to stay on the job until their successor is confirmed.

'By asking for the immediate resignation of every remaining U.S. Attorney before their replacements have been confirmed or even nominated, the President is interrupting ongoing cases and investigations and hindering the administration of justice.'

A law enforcement source told CNN the Justice Department announced the news before some prosecutors had been told they had to leave their positions.

Department spokesman Peter Carr told USA Today that Trump had phoned attorneys Dana Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia, who is the acting deputy US attorney general, and Rod Rosenstein, US attorney for the district of Maryland, to say 'that he has declined to accept their resignation, and they will remain in their current positions'.

Bharara met with Trump in Trump Tower in November and told reporters afterward he had decided to 'stay on.'

He is among a group of Obama-appointed holdovers who did not vacate their offices following the transition to the Trump administration.

A DOJ spokesperson asked for further guidance could not confirm information on the status of Bharara, but upon reviewing the wording of the statement relating to all Obama holdovers, said: 'It sounds as though that's the case.'

The US attorney's office in New York had no comment about the Justice Department's announcement.

As the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Bharara has helped bring down top political leaders in both parties. His jurisdiction also could interface with the Trump Organization, which is located in Manhattan.

He helped bring down New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, on corruption charges, and then prosecuted Senate minority leader Dean Skelos, a Republican.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked 46 US attorneys to resign their posts

Bharara told reporters after meeting with Trump that he had been asked to 'stay on'

A White House spokesperson referred questions to the Justice Department.

His jurisdiction could have put him in a position to pursue the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, watchdog groups wrote Bharara ugring him to pursue potential violations by the Constitution's Emoluments clause, which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments, the Washington Post reported.

The statement released by the Justice Department made no mention of Bharara or any exceptions to those being asked to resign.

'As was the case in prior transitions, many of the United States Attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice,' said Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur-Flores in a statement.

'The Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition. Until the new U.S. Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. Attorney's Offices will continue the great work of the Department in investigating, prosecuting, and deterring the most violent offenders,' she said.

Bharara told reporters in the Trump Tower lobby in November: 'The President-elect asked, presumably because he's a New Yorker and is aware of the great work that our office has done over the past seven years ... whether or not I'd be prepared to stay on' Bhrara said. 'I agreed.'

Trump had reached out to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer in advance of the meeting, and even asked him for Bharara's cell phone, the Daily News reported. Bharara previously worked for Schumer.

Many of the federal prosecutors who were nominated by Mr Obama have already left their positions.

But the 46 who stayed on in the first weeks of the Donald Trump administration have now been asked to leave 'in order to ensure a uniform transition,' Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said.

It is customary, though not automatic, for the country's 93 US attorneys to leave their positions once a new president is in office.

The Obama administration allowed political appointees of President George W Bush to serve until their replacement had been nominated and confirmed.

A new POTUS can do what he wants with US attorneys, but coming when it does, this smacks of Trump paranoia about "deep state" conspiracies.  Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) March 10, 2017

The federal prosecutors are nominated by the president, generally upon the recommendation of a home-state senator.

One US attorney appointed by Bush, Rod Rosenstein of Maryland, remained on the job for the entire Obama administration and is the current nominee for deputy attorney general.

US attorneys are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the territories they oversee. They report to Justice Department leadership in Washington, and their priorities are expected to be in line with those of the attorney general.

Sessions submitted additional information to the Senate Judiciary Committee this week after it was revealed he did not disclose during his confirmation hearing that he had met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. on two occasions.
A British former cavalry officer murdered on his Kenyan ranch foretold of the attack in a haunting letter to friends weeks earlier.

Tristan Voorspuy said he was braced for an armed walk on any day now following dozens of recent killings during land invasions.

He warned that callow youths who were armed to the teeth were leading the takeovers, which are allegedly encouraged by politicians to win popular support with anti-settler policies.

Tristan Voorspuy said he was braced for an armed walk on any day now following dozens of recent killings during land invasions

And he described how the invaders were reviving long forgotten rituals of the Pokot tribe, which involve the killing and grizzly mutilation of elephants buffalos, giraffe and other big game.

A few days after his stark warning the 24,000 acre Sosian ranch Mr Voorspuy co-owned in Laikipia, north-west of Mount Kenya, was trampled by tens of thousands of cattle and vandalised by armed men accompanying them.

And last Sunday, as he rode unarmed to inspect three houses torched in the attack, he was shot three times and killed.

Two men have been charged with his murder and a local MP accused of inciting the violence may also face a murder charge, police have said.

He warned that callow youths who were armed to the teeth were leading the takeovers, which are allegedly encouraged by politicians

Last Sunday, as he rode unarmed to inspect three houses torched in the attack, he was shot three times and killed

In his February 8 message, circulated around others involved in Kenyan tourism, Mr Voorspuy described how he had spent almost two decades building up his estate, which he bought when it had been overgrazed and had no game.

Under his management, it was transformed into one of the countrys finest nature reserves, with more than 6,000 elephant and 250 lions.

He wrote: With the tourist lodge we employ 150 people and pay $ 200,000 (164,000) in tax every year.

It is a culmination of 18 years of love and investment but we are bracing ourselves for an armed walk on any day now

Civil wars in neighbouring countries have meant huge quantities of cheap and illegal firearms are at hand to any callow youth.

If the Laikipia ranch owners upped and left, these people would be happy for a very short space of time as they swamped the land and destroyed every last blade of grass.

In his February 8 message, circulated around others involved in Kenyan tourism, Mr Voorspuy described how he had spent almost two decades building up his estate, which he bought when it had been overgrazed and had no game

The attitude of if I do not get that last blade, somebody else will is paramount and sadly the paradigm that governs most overpopulated pastoral activity today.

He also described how in recent weeks his son Archie, 24, had been shot at and intimidated by armed youths at the 44,000 acre Samburu ranch which had left it in a smouldering ruin.

And the night before the letter was sent, a police officer was in a critical condition after being shot in the neck in a ranch besieged by fully armed youths as part of a political invasion by big wigs to drive families off the land so it can be claimed, he wrote.

Mr Voorspuy acknowledged that huge increases in population and the latest drought meant local tribes were desperate.

But he said the drought was by no means catastrophic and said six years of reasonable rain have allowed them to overstock their domestic stock while fat cats had put stolen money into livestock as an untraceable asset.

Pictured: The three lodges burned by armed tribesman who invaded Mr Voorspuy's Sosian Ranch in Laikipia

He added: The degradation of the fragile Northern sandy soils which supported Man , livestock and game for thousands of years is nearly complete and will take decades to recover if it was ever allowed to.

He added: Sadly Laikipia and Kenya is one small example of the greatest challenge mankind has yet faced. What chance for the wildlife and tourism yet alone ourselves in the long run.

Mr Voorspuy grew up in Sussex and served in the Blues and Royals, which included two tours of Northern Ireland, before settling in Kenya in the 1980s. He held dual British and Kenyan nationality.




A different kind of masked intruder was found at a Minnesota home by officers responding to a home invasion.

Cops arrived at a home in Lakeville after homeowners said they heard noises, and found a raccoon trapped in a window.

Police said the furry 'suspect' discovered at the scene weighed 20 pounds.

After releasing the stricken animal, they sent out a light-hearted press release.

Break-in! A different kind of masked intruder was found at a Minnesota home by officers responding to a home invasion

Authorities wrote online: 'LPD Call of the Week! Officers responded to a home invasion. The homeowner awoke after hearing noise in her kitchen.

'When she investigated, she confronted the 20lb raccoon suspect who had opened all the drawers and made a mess.'

Lakeville police continued: 'Startled, the suspect ran into a bedroom. When LPD arrived we found him evading capture in a window.

'He was safely taken into custody but, due to an illegal search, was released without charge.'
Doctors have lifted a do not resuscitate order on baby Charlie Gard to the delight of his parents.

Connie Yates and Chris Gard said yesterday that the surprise move gave them fresh hope for the desperately ill seven-month-old.

He is only the 16th person in the world to suffer a rare form of mitochondrial depletion syndrome which causes progressive muscle and organ weakness.

The plight of seven-month-old Charlie Gard has captured the nation, but there is now fresh hope for the baby

Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital have said there is no accepted cure. They believe it would be kinder to allow Charlie to die and last month imposed the partial do not resuscitate order.

Mr Gard, 32, said: A nurse gave us the wonderful news the order has been lifted. The decision came out of the blue and was later confirmed by his consultant.

Connie and I were thrilled because it is such a positive step in the right direction. We are hoping it means doctors believe there is hope for Charlie.

The couple are battling to take their son to the United States where they have found a doctor willing to try a pioneering treatment. But first they must convince the High Court there is a chance it might work at a hearing on April 3.

Charlie is one of only 16 people in the world to suffer from a rare form of mitochondrial depletion syndrome

Judges had been previously asked to agree that it was in Charlie's 'best interest' to withdraw the artificial ventilator keeping him alive

Judges have been asked by the hospital to agree it was in Charlies best interests to withdraw the artificial ventilator keeping him alive. The device was not part of the do-not-resuscitate order.

After the decision to lift this, Miss Yates, 31, said: It was a relief because we now know that should anything happen, doctors would do their best to keep him alive.

When we look at him, it is hard to believe there is anything wrong. He is very stable and doesnt show any signs of pain and no signs of deterioration.

If anything Charlie is thriving. Over the past week, he is looking bonnier than ever.

Parents say Connie and Chris is now 'thriving' and 'looking bonnier than ever'

Connie Yates said that 'every day he seems to change and look more beautiful then ever'

His cheeks are pink and he is gaining weight. His hair is growing and soft and silky. Every day he seems to change and look more beautiful than ever. We are also encouraged by the fact he is not losing any more movement.

If anything he is moving even more  hes always waved his little hands and now he is twirling his feet round more than ever.

We still hope doctors might reconsider taking us to court. He has come this far and to give up now would be so wrong.

Connie, a carer, and Chris, a postman, from South-West London, are trying to raise 1.2million to pay for their son's treatment in the US

Charlie's GoFundMe page has rocketed to 310,000 since the Mail highlighted their cause

Charlie was born on August 4 and admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London in October where he was later diagnosed with the syndrome.

Miss Yates, a carer, and Mr Gard, a postman, of Bedfont, South-West London, are trying to raise 1.2million to pay to take their son to the US and for his treatment.

Since the Mail highlighted their cause a week ago, the amount on their online GoFundMe page has rocketed to 310,000.

In a statement, the hospital said: Charlie has a very rare and complex disease, for which there is no accepted cure.

We have tried to give him the best possible chance of survival. But his condition has continued to deteriorate and we feel we have exhausted all available proven treatment options. We appreciate how hugely distressing this is for his family.

To donate, go to: www.gofundme.com/ please-help-to-save-charlies-life
A woman who was inside the home with the Sydney bikie associate who was shot dead on Friday is being questioned by police.

Kemel 'Blackie' Barakat, 29, was shot dead at close range at his waterfront apartment in inner-west Sydney.

Police are questioning the woman to find out whether she had a role in his killing, and to find out how at least two people were able to enter the Mortlake apartment, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Barakat, who is associated with the Hells Angels bikie gang, and was considered a suspect in the gangland shooting of a hitman in his driveway last year, was shot 10 times in the stomach and chest around 2.30am on Friday.

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Kemel 'Blackie' Barakat, 29, (pictured) was shot dead at close range at his waterfront apartment in inner-west Sydney

Kemel Barakat is pictured in 2013 being arrested in a police raid. He was found dead about 2.30am on Friday

Police are pictured at the crime scene on Bennett street in Mortlake, inner-west Sydney

Mourners were arriving at the scene on Friday morning after the suspected gangland shooting

'The big question is how did the gunmen get in,' an investigator told the Daily Telegraph.

'The woman was known to the victim and obviously one line of inquiry is if she knows anything about how the killers were able to get access to the unit.'

NSW Police superintendent Mark Jones said the dead man was yet to be formally identified and declined to say whether or not he was well known to police.

'[The woman who was at the home at the time with Barakat] is someone we want to speak to and she is being cared for by police as we speak. It is a very serious matter obviously and would be quite a stressful situation for her,' Supt Jones said.

The shooter had fled the scene before emergency services arrived and a manhunt is underway. No arrests have yet been made.

A burnt-out Mercedes was found in Belmore shortly after and is being treated as a possible getaway car.

Mourners were arriving at the scene of the Mortlake apartment on Friday morning.

A man in his 50s was asking 'where is my son?' outside the apartment and was treated by paramedics at the scene for breathing difficulties.

Friends began posting tributes on Friday morning after hearing of Barakat's death.

A friend posted this tribute to Kemel 'Blackie' Barakat who was shot dead in Sydney on Friday. Police are questioning a female who was inside the home when Barakat was killed

A burnt-out Mercedes was found in Belmore shortly after and is being treated as a possible getaway car

A 50-year-old man who appeared to be distressed was treated by paramedics at the scene for breathing problems

Police are pictured with a distressed man, aged in his 50s, after Kemel 'Blackie' Barakat was found dead

A man who grew up with the 29-year-old and knew him well simply wrote: 'RIP Blackie.'

Another, who said she went to high school with Barakat, remembered him as friendly and funny.

'I was in shock when I read this because I remembered him as a friendly and funny mate back in the day,' the woman wrote.

'What a tragedy Blackie.'

Another woman said he was 'gone too soon'.

'God bless his soul.'

In response to negative comments from strangers, a loved one commented on Facebook Barakat was 'a father, a son, a newphew, a grandchild'.

'He was family and a good kid. Those who have nothing nice to say shouldn't say anything at all. If you don't know, don't comment.'

Police reportedly considered Barakat, among others, as a possible shooter in the execution-style hit on Hamad Assaad.

A man who grew up with Kemel 'Blackie' Barakat and knew him well posted a tribute on Facebook on Friday morning

The victim was shot 'a large number of times', NSW Police Superintendent Mark Jones said

Assaad, a hitman, was repeatedly shot in front of his 12-year-old nephew about 9.20am on October 25.

Two gunmen had ambushed him on the driveway of his Georges Hall home in southwest Sydney.

Assaad was a key suspect in the murder of Gangland kingpin and convicted killer Walid Ahmad, 40, who was killed in a spray of bullets on the rooftop car park of Bankstown Central shopping centre in April.

Ten underworld figures have been killed in Sydney since 2015, with the spate of bloody murders prompting NSW Police to launch Strike Force Osprey in November to oversee the investigations into each of the incidents.

Barakat reportedly has convictions relating to drug supply.

He had been a senior member in the Comancheros before he changed allegiances, Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Police reportedly considered Barakat, among others, as a possible shooter in the execution-style hit on Hamad Assaad (pictured)

The victim was shot 'a large number of times', but Supt Jones couldn't say whether or not he was in bed or had got up to answer the door.

'It's only very, very early in our investigation but something that we're always very concerned about would be any sort of reprisal-type action,' he said.

Supt Jones said the victim had lived at the address for more than a month.

A resident, named as Keith, described recent activity at all hours in the area, which has a number of abandoned factories.

'I've often seen maybe 20 times cars with clothing and people coming in and out,' he told the ABC. 'It looks like they're moving in or out.'

A crime scene has been established and police have launched a homicide investigation.

Do you know more? Contact rachel.eddie@mailonline.com
Amal Clooney spent Friday back at the U.N. as she continues to fight for victims of ISIS militants.

Mrs Clooney, expecting twins with husband George, is pushing for the U.N. investigate Islamic State crimes including the sexual enslavement of her Yazidi clients.

Despite inclement weather in New York, the mother-to-be was flawless in a ruched dress and black heels as she met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday.

She has been fighting for years while the United Nations has failed to act.

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Friday

Mrs Clooney is expecting twins later this year and has spent three days at the U.N. this week

Clooney represents Yazidi women victimized in Iraq and has asked the United Nations to investigate Islamic State crimes

Mrs Clooney was joined by Nadia Murad, an Iraqi Yazidi woman held as a sex slave by Islamic State militants

Today, Friday is Nadia's 24th birthday. She now lives in Germany

Mrs Clooney has said the attention her high profile relationship brings can be a good thing, as it shines a light on the fight she and Nadia are waging

The British barrister paired the aubergine dress with matching earrings

She urged Iraq and the world not to let the Islamic State 'get away with genocide'

Nadia first spoke before the Security Council in 2015 and has become an advocate for the Yazidi

But one Iraqi Yazidi woman held as a sex slave by Islamic State militants says her advocacy for other victims has left her completely exhausted and frustrated that her captors have not faced justice.

Nadia Murad and her attorney Mrs Clooney appeared at a United Nations event on Thursday to ask that the crimes of Islamic State militants be investigated and prosecuted, and they criticized the international body for inaction.

Mrs Clooney urged Iraq and the world not to let the Islamic State 'get away with genocide.'

Murad, who turned 24 on Friday, was among thousands of women and girls abducted, tortured and sexually abused by militant fighters in northwest Iraq in 2014.

She first spoke before the U.N. Security Council in 2015 and has become an advocate for the Yazidi, speaking to governments and appealing to the international community to act.

Clooney spoke on Thursday at event on accountability for crimes committed by Islamic State

In her speech at the U.N. event Murad said: 'I am physically and emotionally exhausted.... I have put my personal life aside to seek justice, rather than focusing on my own healing'

'It is very hard to come here every time, and nothing tangible takes place,' Murad told the Thomson Reuters Foundation after her appearance at the United Nations. 'It's very hard for the victims as well to hear there is no progress.'

Murad said she was abducted from her village in Iraq and taken to the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul. She was tortured and repeatedly raped before she escaped three months later.

The Yazidi, a religious sect whose beliefs combine elements of ancient Middle Eastern religions, are regarded by Islamic State as devil-worshippers.

In her speech at the U.N. event on accountability for crimes committed by Islamic State, the slight, soft-spoken Murad said: 'I am physically and emotionally exhausted.... I have put my personal life aside to seek justice, rather than focusing on my own healing.'

Six of Murad's family members, including a toddler not yet 3 years old, remain captives of Islamic State, and her sister-in-law escaped after nearly 30 months.

Murad said her advocacy has put others in her family in danger.

'I wish I could say this was worth it,' Murad said in her speech through a translator. 'My words, tears and my testimony have not made you act. I wonder whether there is any point in continuing my campaign at all.'

Breaking into tearful English, she continued: 'I cannot understand what is taking so long. I cannot understand why you are letting ISIS get away with it or what more you need to hear before you will act.'

'I think it's a really good thing to give that case the extra publicity that it may get,' Amal has said of her own high profile marriage and pregnancy

'Victims like Nadia can't expect to wait forever,' Amal said on Thursday

Mrs Clooney pictured on Wednesday as well with her client on International Women's Day and later that night in a pink ensemble

Clooney, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London who represents Yazidi women victimized in Iraq, has asked the United Nations to investigate Islamic State crimes, preferably with the cooperation of the Iraqi government.

The government of Iraq has voiced support for such an investigation but has taken no action that would trigger a U.N. response.

Clooney also wants the Islamist group brought before the International Criminal Court.

And she says her high profile marriage can be a good thing with her work as it shines a light on the battles she is fighting.

'I think if there are more people who now understand what's happening about the Yazidis and ISIS, and if there can be some action that results from that, that can help those clients, then I think it's a really good thing to give that case the extra publicity that it may get,' Amal told the BBC

'Nadia speaks for all the Yazidis when she says how exasperated she feels,' Clooney told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 'Victims like Nadia can't expect to wait forever.'

According to the United Nations, the militants enslaved about 7,000 women and girls in 2014, mainly Yazidis, and is still holding 3,500, some as sex slaves.

Murad now lives in Germany, which has taken in some 1,000 Iraqi sexual assault victims, according to Clooney.
Millions of self-employed workers who have been clobbered with a tax hike could be forgiven for wondering why the Chancellor doesnt instead turn his attention to the retail giants engaged in large-scale, if perfectly legal, tax avoidance.

All retailers are supposed to pay corporation tax  a levy on company profits, currently at a rate of 20 per cent but falling to 19 per cent next month.

But the tax produced less than 7 per cent of the total income going into the Exchequer last year  just 45.6 billion  partly because some of the biggest names on the High Street are not paying a penny.

Here, we show how many of the major names in Londons Oxford Circus are avoiding corporation tax.

Wake-up and smell the coffee: Caffe Nero

Caffe Nero

UK Sales: 274 million

Profit: 24.2 million loss

Corporation tax: Nil

It has more than 600 stores in Britain and Ireland. But Caffe Nero pays no corporation tax  claiming to have been making consistent losses in its UK business.

In the year to the end of May 2016, its parent company made an operating profit of more than 17 million  but that evaporated into a 25 million loss after deducting loan interest payments to several UK banks. Loading up with debt is a common way to cut tax.

The coffee chains ultimate parent company is incorporated in the tax haven of Luxembourg. Its boss, private equity baron Gerry Ford, 59, holds controlling stakes through two firms based in the tax-friendly Isle of Man. Caffe Nero says it does not channel UK profits overseas.

Mail Verdict: Needs to wake-up and smell the coffee.

Vodafone has 500 High Street stores

Vodafone

UK Sales: 6.7 billion

Profit: 486 million loss in the UK

Corporation tax: Nil

The global telecoms giant made a worldwide profit of 1.6 billion last year. But in Britain, it has paid little or no corporation tax for years.

This is surprising considering it has 500 High Street stores, more than 18 million customers and billions of pounds worth of UK sales.

Its because Vodafone handed over exorbitant sums to the Blair government for 3G licences, and set aside those costs and other investments against its earnings here.

The firm has been dogged with criticism for years over its tax affairs. In 2010, it was accused of making a sweetheart deal when it handed over 1.2 billion to settle a row with HMRC over its Luxembourg arm.

Mail Verdict: How absurd for a profitable FTSE 100 company to pay no UK corporation tax.

Gap

No tax: GAP employs 4,000 staff in the UK

UK Sales: 426 million

Profit: 163 million loss

Corporation tax: Nil, in fact, it received 110,700 in credit

Not only does Gap pay no corporation tax, but its UK holding company received a credit from HMRC because it declared losses.

The clothing firm  which has been on our High Streets since 1988  has 115 stores employing up to 4,000 staff. But while the clothes are simple, its tax affairs are complex.

Gaps main company here made a loss of nearly 20 million last year after handing more than 12 million of royalty payments to another offshoot  based in the UK and the Netherlands  which is also in the red and therefore paying nothing.

Mail Verdict: Cosy set-up leaves a gap in this companys tax affairs.

Waterstones

Waterstones made 10.9 million last year

UK Sales: 395 million

Profit: 10.9 million

Corporation tax: Nil

Despite its 270 UK stores, 3,000 employees and nearly 400 million worth of sales  Waterstones has posted large losses since the financial crisis in 2008.

The company is owned by Russian publishing billionaire Alexander Mamut and its ultimate parent company is Alpha Trustees Ltd, registered in Nevis in the Caribbean.

It returned to a profit of 10.9 million for the year to April 2016  and managing director James Daunt says hes delighted to be a corporation tax payer again.

He says: Ill be much happier when the cheque is bigger.

Mail Verdict: The charming Mr Daunt correctly says firms should be pleased to pay up  but what a shame the company is owned through an offshore trust.

EE

EE: More than 12,000 employees

UK Sales: 6.3 billion

Profit: 416 million

Corporation tax: Nil

The mobile phone seller runs 550 UK High Street stores with more than 12,000 employees.

But even though it registered big sales and profits in 2015, it wasnt liable for corporation tax because, like Vodafone, it has carried forward costs from the 8 billion it invested in 3G back in 2000.

The days of the zero bill are over, though, as last year EE was taken over by BT  the fourth highest corporate tax contributor in the country.

Mail Verdict: At least BT pays up.

Topshop

Topshop's owner, Lady Green, lives in the tax haven Monaco

ARCADIA Sales: Not public

Profit: 200 million

Corporation tax: 36 million

Beleaguered Sir Philip Green pays his fair share of UK corporation tax. But the business is owned by his wife, Lady Green, a resident of the tax haven Monaco.

She has extracted huge sums from Arcadia out of reach of HMRC, including dividends of more than 300 million from BHS between 2002 and 2004, plus 1.3 billion from Arcadia in 2005.

She also made more than 150 million from loans and property deals involving BHS  all done though tax havens.

Mail Verdict: What a shame HMRC cant tax Lady Green.

Boots

Boots is based in Deerfield, Illinois

UK Sales: Not public

Profit: Not public

Corporation tax: Not public

It is a stalwart of the High Street with more than 2,500 stores and 60,000 employees. But  incredibly  its impossible to tell how much tax Boots pays in the UK.

Thats because the quintessentially British business, founded in Nottingham in 1849, is now part of the gigantic U.S. firm Walgreens Boots Alliance.

For the past two years, its corporate headquarters have been in Deerfield, Illinois, so the firm is under no obligation to reveal how much tax it pays in the UK  or to disclose its sales or profits here.

Mail Verdict: Its bonkers that Boots can keep its corporation tax secret.

Apple

Apple is adamant it pays all the corporation tax due in the UK

UK Sales: 1.12 billion

Profit: 106 million

Corporation tax: 12.9 million

The U.S. giants two companies in the UK made more than 1 billion worth of sales. Yet they paid less than 13 million in corporation tax.

Apple is adamant it pays all the corporation tax due in the UK and, indeed, everywhere else in the world.

But some of its income has been channelled to its Irish operation, which enjoys a lower-tax regime  a practice which is at the centre of one of the biggest tax probes ever launched by the European Union.

After a three-year investigation, an EU task force found Apple had channelled profits from countries including the UK through Irish subsidiaries and, as a result, its earnings were not properly taxed.

The Silicon Valley giant was ordered to pay back 11 billion of taxes to Ireland, though it is appealing.

Mail Verdict: Considering how expensive Apples products are, the company can well afford to pay more.

McDonalds

Reducing the bills: McDonald's has been channelling money to a company in Luxembourg

UK Sales: 1.53 billion

Profit: 270 million

Corporation tax: 56 million

Until recently, the fast-food firm has been reducing its tax bills by channelling money to a company in Luxembourg set up to receive franchise and royalty fees from outside the U.S.

In 2015, McDonalds Restaurants Ltd, the main British arm, shipped around a third of its profits, nearly 123 million, to Luxembourg. More than 820 million of franchise and royalty payments from its outlets here and in other countries has been sloshing into the Grand Duchy every year.

The Luxembourg company made profits of 440 million in 2015 but pays tax at only 0.7 per cent.

Just over a year ago, European officials launched an investigation into the fast-food firms tax affairs. The chain is now dismantling its Luxembourg operation and setting up a new UK holding company which, it says, will receive all future royalties and fees, making its profits taxable here.

Mail Verdict: The UK missed out on millions.

Vision Express

Vision Express is the UK's third largest optical retailer

UK Sales: 255 million

Profit: 7.3 million

Corporation tax: 282,000

You would need extra strong specs to spot Vision Expresss minuscule tax payment for 2015.

It is the UKs third largest optical retailer with almost 400 stores and huge profits  but it paid less than 300,000 in corporation tax.

CEO Jonathan Lawson said the bill would normally have been 1.4 million, but a new UK accounting standard resulted in a one-off reduction and an unusually low charge. He added that he expects the amount of corporation tax to return to a more normal level in future periods.

Although it was founded in Newcastle in 1988, Vision Express is now a subsidiary of a large international eyewear chain, Netherlands-based GrandVision NV.

And tucked away in the notes to its accounts is the disclosure that its ultimate parent is an outfit in the tax haven of Bermuda.

Mail Verdict: Read the small print.

Starbucks

Starbucks paid 10 million to HMRC in 2015, on top of just over 8 million in corporation tax

UK Sales: 406 million

Profit: 34 million

Corporation tax: 8.1 million

The U.S. coffee chain has tried to clean up its act after being at the centre of a huge row in 2012, when it was pilloried for paying next to no corporation tax here.

It claimed it was making no profits in the UK due to expensive leases on some of its shops.

After a bruising encounter with MPs and signs of a consumer boycott, Starbucks made a voluntary contribution of 20 million. It also moved its European HQ from Amsterdam to London in 2014.

This means tens of millions of pounds of royalty payments that had been going to the Netherlands are now coming here.

Starbucks paid 10 million to HMRC in 2015, on top of just over 8 million in corporation tax.

Happily, it is finally making profit after all these years.

Mail Verdict: Did the right thing  eventually.

THOMAS COOK

Thomas Cook: The company employs 8,800 workers

UK Sales: 2.3 billion

Profit: 152 million

Corporation tax: 8 million

A tax bill of 8 million may sound large, but its just over 5 per cent of the 152 million operating profit travel agent Thomas Cook makes in the UK, where it has 719 High Street stores and 8,800 employees.

And as a percentage of the firms 2.3 billion sales in this country last year, that corporation tax bill is tiny.

The travel agent says its down to losses made in previous years. It went back into profit in 2015 after five years of red ink.

Mail Verdict: Lets hope it stays in profit and pays more tax in future.
Community Health Systems Inc., the parent company of Carlisle Regional Medical Center, took another step forward this week in its announced plan to sell up to 25 of its hospital facilities.

Monday, CHS agreed to sell the 125-bed Stringfellow Memorial Hospital in Anniston, Alabama, to the Health Care Authority of the City of Anniston, according to a news release from the company. The purchase price of $25 million includes assumption of the approximately $13 million facility lease.

In February, the company announced an agreement to divest eight other hospitals to Steward Health Care LLC, including two of its Pennsylvania locations  Sharon and Easton.

This transaction is a significant step in our strategic work to optimize our portfolio and operations for the future," CHS Chairman and CEO Wayne Smith said in a news release on Feb. 16. "These hospitals play an important role in their communities and can benefit from Steward Health Cares community-based care model going forward.

No information has been released concerning any possible sell of CRMC.

"Community Health Systems has reported that we are working on transactions that will result in the divestitures of some of our affiliated hospitals," said Tomi Galin, senior vice president of Corporate Communications and Marketing at CHS. "We have not been specific about which hospitals may be included in these transactions, unless we have a binding, legal agreement for the sale of the facility.

"We are highly invested in the future success of all of our affiliated hospitals and the well-being of the communities where we operate. In any market where a divestiture should occur, we will work to facilitate a smooth ownership transition in order to maintain quality of care and continuity of services for local residents."

CRMCs operating margin in fiscal year 2015 was the fourth largest among the then 19 Community Health Systems for-profit hospitals in the state that year with Lancaster Regional the highest at 16.32 percent and Heart of Lancaster the second highest at 14.35 percent. That information comes from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, reported in May 2016 and using data from fiscal year 2015 (July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015), the organization's most recent report.

According to the Nashville Business Journal, CHS began to falter in late 2015. Throughout 2016, the company's struggles, primarily with performance at those former Health Management Associates hospitals, dragged down its earnings, and its stock price plunged as much as 90 percent from summer 2015.

CHS, based out of Franklin, Tennessee, said it plans to sell up to 25 of its hospitals, during its year-end 2016 earnings call on Feb. 21. Selling those facilities is expected to bring in $1.8 billion for the company, which is striving to reduce its debt following its $7.6 billion deal in 2014 to buy Florida-based HMA. CRMC was included in that purchase of 71 HMA properties.

Smith said during the February earnings call that the goal is to shape the company into a "sustainable group of hospitals" in markets with opportunities for growth," The Nashville Business Journal reported. Selling hospitals to get there will help pay down the company's debt  now hovering at $14.8 billion.

Smith did not quantify what the size of that sustainable group would be.

Asked by an analyst during that February call what the "endgame" might be for this portfolio-optimization process, Smith said he didn't yet have a specific target number, according to the Nashville Business Journal. CHS' intention is "not to sell every hospital," Smith said in the article, but to find the point where its portfolio includes that aforementioned "sustainable group of hospitals in sustainable markets where we can deploy our capital."
The BBC is to stop making Songs of Praise in a change that has been described as a nail in the coffin of the countrys religious literacy.

The broadcaster has made the Sunday worship programme for 55 years, but will farm it out to commercial producers from summer.

Religious figures said the move would put the BBCs coverage of religious festivals at risk and raised fears that Songs of Praise will lose its Christian focus in favour of other faiths.

The BBC has made the Sunday worship programme, presented by Aled Jones, for 55 years, but will farm it out to commercial producers from summer

The Rt Rev Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, said: Its the only regular weekly televised worship, and so without it its difficult to see how the BBC will maintain its expertise.

That will have a knock-on effect on the broadcast of worship at other times, whether its great festivals, Remembrance Sunday or those great state occasions when a big act of worship is so much at the centre of it.

Its a worry to some of us that it will be another nail in the coffin of our religious literacy as a nation.

Others fear Songs of Praise will cut back on hymns and lose its Christian focus.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen accused the BBC of supporting every religious minority except for Christians. The programme made its debut in 1961 and is one of the longest-running worship series in the world.

An insider said yesterday the independent production companies that won the three-year contract  Avanti and Nine Lives Media  did so because they proposed further changes.

There are fears that Songs of Praise will cut back on hymns and lose its Christian focus

Avanti is known for its music programmes and made three Songs of Praise specials in 2013. Nine Lives Media has won awards for its childrens programme I Am Leo, about the youngest teenager in Britain to be prescribed hormone therapy to change gender.

The BBC insisted yesterday that Songs of Praise would remain at the heart of its religious programming and that essential elements of the show would stay in place.

Mark Linsey, director of BBC Studios, its production arm, said: We are disappointed with the outcome.

Songs of Praise will keep its Sunday slot on BBC1. A source said it will occasionally cover inter-religious initiatives.

SONGS OF PRAISE: THE SIX WEEK EXPERIMENT THAT'S RUN FOR 55 YEARS In 2015, Songs of Praise caused controversy when it was filmed in Calaiss Jungle migrant camp The first episode of Songs of Praise, broadcast on October 1, 1961, came from the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cardiff, featuring soloist soprano Heather Harper It was launched as an experiment and was due to run for just six weeks  there have now been more than 2,300 episodes In 2011, the BBC show celebrated 50 years with a concert at Alexandra Palace, starring gospel singer Beverley Knight, tenor Andrea Bocelli and Katherine Jenkins Memorable venues include Sydney Opera House, Vatican basilicas and even Strangeways prison in 1982 Many famous faces have appeared on the show including members of the Royal Family, Cliff Richard, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Desmond Tutu The largest audience was in 1988 when 11.4million watched the Christmas Day broadcast In 2015, Songs of Praise caused controversy when it was filmed in Calaiss Jungle migrant camp  with Tory MP Andrew Rosindell accusing the BBC of being insensitive Presenters include ex-chorister Aled Jones and author Pam Rhodes Advertisement

Petition calls for an investigation after TV visit to mosque

More than 6,000 people have signed an online petition calling for MPs to investigate the BBC amid claims it is complicit in attempts to Islamise the UK.

Campaign group Voice for Justice UK said the appointment of Fatima Salaria as the BBCs head of religious programming  the second Muslim in a row to hold the post  was deeply insulting.

Its founder, Anglican priest Lynda Rose, said a recent Songs of Praise episode featuring a segment about the Muslim faith, including Church of England children visiting a mosque, exemplified the Islamisation of the BBC.

Trip: Christian pupils at the mosque on Songs of Praise in an episode screened last month

The BBC said Songs of Praise will stay rooted in Christianity and that people should be judged by ability, not religious background.
Music follows a set of patterns that can extract feelings from its listeners and provoke emotional responses.

While machines can now make music too, they don't give much consideration to the emotional response of their audience.

But now a team of researchers has developed a machine-learning device that can detect the emotional state of listeners and make new songs that provoke new feelings.

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In the study, participants listened to music while wearing wireless headphones that contained brain wave sensors. The sensors detected EEG (electroencephalography) readings, which the robot used to make music

The team of researchers, under the support of Osaka University's Center of Innovation (COI) program, developed the AI that detects users brain state and provides a means for activating it through music.

The system collects a user's brain data on music and learns the relationship between the users response to collected songs and their brain waves.

It then produces unique music that reactivates their mental state.

Conventional music recommendation systems only recommend songs similar to those users listened to before.

And conventional automatic music composition systems require users to specify characteristics of a song to be composed in detail, both of which are difficult to link to reactivation of the brain.

'Most machine songs depend on an automatic composition system,' said Dr Masayuki Numao, a professor at Osaka University.

'They are preprogrammed with songs but can only make similar songs,' he said.

Instead, the team of researchers wanted to enhance the interactive experience of music providing the machine with the listener's emotional state.

In the study, participants listened to music while wearing wireless headphones that contained brain wave sensors.

The sensors detected EEG (electroencephalography) readings, which the robot used to make music.

The team found that users were more engaged with the music when the system could detect their brain patterns. Dr Masayuki Numao, a researcher on the team, said that there could be a number of societal benefits to a machine that considers human emotions. 'We can use it in health care to motivate people to exercise or cheer them up,' he said

The music created by the machine is arranged by Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) technology quickly on the spot and played in a rich tone using a synthesizer.

'We preprogrammed the robot with songs, but added the brain waves of the listener to make new music,' said Dr Numao.

The team found that users were more engaged with the music when the system could detect their brain patterns.

Dr Numao said that there could be a number of societal benefits to a machine that considers human emotions.

'We can use it in health care to motivate people to exercise or cheer them up,' he said.
At a 50-square mile nature reserve tucked deep in Arctic Siberia, scientists are working on a radical plan to fight climate change by reviving the ancient grasslands of the last Ice Age  and the beasts that once roamed them.

While this period is better known for the glaciers that swathed the continents until 12,000 years ago, the grasslands of the Mammoth Steppe ecosystem also dominated much of the surface.

Researchers at Pleistocene Park are attempting to reintroduce wild herbivores and even resurrect woolly mammoths to revert Beringia to a grassy landscape that absorbs less heat than the forests there today, in efforts to stop the thawing of Siberias permafrost.

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Over the years, the trees at Pleistocene Park have been flattened using powerful tank-like vehicles. But, in order to keep the trees from taking over again, the ambitious plans call for the services of hundreds of thousands of woolly mammoths

HOW IT WOULD WORK Its thought that the grasslands will reflect more sunlight than the forests that exist today, allowing the winter freeze to penetrate deeper into the crust, and cool the soil beneath. Over the years, the trees at the park have been flattened using powerful tank-like vehicles. But, in order to keep the trees from taking over again, theyll need to employ large, grazing animals  including resurrected woolly mammoths. The park is so far home to wild horses, bison, and musk oxen, all crucial to the grassland ecosystem. And, itll soon need predators. For an ecosystem to be sustainable it must have large heavy grazers, such as elephants, ruminants such as cows and goats, predators such as wolves and tigers etc, the parks website explains. These ecosystems were extremely stable, the post continues, as high animal density only allowed grasses to be the dominating vegetation, since only grasses can sustain active grazing. Shrubs, moss, and trees were either trampled or broken. Advertisement

Arctic permafrost is often said to be a climate change ticking time bomb.

As Earth warms and the frozen soil thaws, it threatens to release massive amounts of carbon stored within, which could escape in the form of carbon dioxide and methane.

In turn, these powerful greenhouse gasses could trigger runaway climate change.

Sergey Zimov first had the idea to introduce a Mammoth Steppe ecosystem to Beringia decades ago, essentially creating a cold-weather version of the African savannah, The Atlantic reports.

Pleistocene Park, named for an epoch that spanned roughly 2.6 million to 12,000 years ago, was founded in 1996, and is now under the control of Sergeys son, Nikita.

Its thought that the grasslands will reflect more sunlight, allowing the winter freeze to penetrate deeper into the crust, and cool the soil beneath.

This would slow the melting of the permafrost.

To make permafrost colder, all that is needed is to remove heat insulating snow cover, and expose the ground to the extreme negative temperatures of the Arctic, the parks Kickstarter campaign explains in a bid to raise $106,000 for the project.

In the steppe ecosystems, animal density is so high that animals looking for forage trample all the snow in the pastures several times per winter.

This compacts the snow, massively reducing its heat insulating abilities.

At a 50-square mile nature reserve tucked deep in Arctic Siberia, scientists are working on a radical plan to fight climate change by reviving the ancient grasslands of the last Ice Age  and the beasts that once roamed them

The park is so far home to wild horses, bison, and musk oxen  all crucial to the grassland ecosystem. And, itll soon need predators. As grazing animals eat their way through the grasslands, they are continually producing nutrient-rich waste

Over the years, the trees at the park have been flattened using powerful tank-like vehicles.

But, in order to keep the trees from taking over again, theyll need to employ hundreds of thousands of woolly mammoths, according to The Atlantic.

Scientists are already working to resurrect the ancient beasts by editing the genes of the Asian elephant, with hopes that natural selection will eventually refine their creation  if they are ever successfully manufactured.

The park is so far home to wild horses, bison, and musk oxen  all crucial to the grassland ecosystem.

And, itll soon need predators.

Researchers at Pleistocene Park are attempting to reintroduce wild herbivores and even resurrect woolly mammoths to revert Beringia to a grassy landscape that absorbs less heat than the forests there today, in efforts to stop the thawing of Siberias permafrost

According to The Atlantic, Nikita plans to bring in gray wolves, Siberian Tigers, and cold-adapted Canadian cougars  and, if scientists succeed in resurrecting extinct species, they may even bring back cave lions and dire wolves.

For an ecosystem to be sustainable it must have large heavy grazers, such as elephants, ruminants such as cows and goats, predators such as wolves and tigers etc, the parks website explains.

These ecosystems were extremely stable, the post continues, as high animal density only allowed grasses to be the dominating vegetation, since only grasses can sustain active grazing.

Shrubs, moss, and trees were either trampled or broken.

BRINGING WOOLLY MAMMOTHS BACK FROM THE DEAD Scientists with with Harvard Woolly Mammoth Revival and Revive & Restore are 'using Crispr genome engineering to copy/paste DNA from the mammoth genome into living elephant cell cultures (fibroblasts).' There are three major steps in the process of building the mammoth from an Asian elephant, according to the project. This includes the introduction of blood oxygen release at low temperatures, subcutaneous fat for insulation and fasting, and thick hair. There are three major steps in the process of building the mammoth from an Asian elephant, according to the project. This includes the introduction of blood oxygen release at low temperatures, illustrated above As the work continues, the researchers are reprogramming the fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are 'immortal' Then, they say these can be developed into multiple types of tissues, including red blood cells to test their oxygen carrying capacity under different conditions. This can also be done for fat and hair. Advertisement

As grazing animals eat their way through the grasslands, they are continually producing nutrient-rich waste.

This, in turn, acts like fertilizer that allows the grass to regrow.

While the effort has met the criticism of those who argue that the plan is much like playing God, the family behind Pleistocene Park points to the many ways in which human society is already doing the same.

For an ecosystem to be sustainable it must have large heavy grazers, such as elephants, ruminants such as cows and goats, predators such as wolves and tigers etc, the parks website explains

Some cities are already turning to cloud-seeding to induce rain in drought stricken areas, for example.

And, on a much larger scale, some have proposed the radical plan to seed the atmosphere with sun-reflecting aerosols to cool the Earth.

Playing God doesnt bother me in the least, Nikita told The Atlantic.

We are already doing it. Why not do it better?




Canadian doctors studied the heartbeat of four patients in intensive care after their life-support machines were switched off

Doctors have found scientific evidence that peoples brains can continue to show signs of life after they have been declared clinically dead.

A patient showed persistent brain activity for ten minutes after their heart stopped and experienced brain waves we normally get during deep sleep.

Canadian doctors studied the brain activity and heartbeats of four patients in intensive care after their life-support machines had been switched off.

Brain inactivity preceded the heart stopping in three out of the four cases.

However, in one of the cases, single delta wave bursts persisted after the heart had stopped and the patient was clinically dead.

We normally get these brain waves in a deep sleep.

Doctors in a Canadian intensive care unit described the case as extraordinary and unexplained.

Researchers from the University of Western Ontario in Canada assessed electric impulses in the brain in relation to the beating of someones heart after life-sustaining therapy was removed.

Brain inactivity preceded the heart stopping in three of the four cases.

However, in one of the cases, the patients brain continued to work after their heart stopped.

In one patient, single delta wave bursts persisted following the cessation of both the cardiac rhythm and arterial blood pressure (ABP), the researchers said.

Single delta wave bursts, often associated with deep sleep, were recorded ten minutes after a patient was declared clinically 'dead'

There was significant differences in electrical activity in the brain between the 30-minute period before and the 5-minute period after the heart stopped.

It is difficult to posit a physiological basis for this EEG [brain] activity given that it occurs after a prolonged loss of circulation, according to the paper which was published in the Canadian Journal for Neurological Science.

The experiment raises difficult questions about when someone is dead and therefore when it is medically and ethically correct to use them for organ donation.

As many as a fifth of people who survive cardiac arrests report having had an other-worldly experience while being clinically dead.

Up to a fifth of people who survive cardiac arrests report having had an other-worldly experience

However, scientists say its far too early to be talking about what this could mean for the post-death experience - especially considering it was only seen in one patient.

In 2013, a similar phenomenon was found in experiments on rats whose hearts had stopped.

The research, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed rats had a burst of brain activity one minute after decapitation.

The pattern of activity was similar to that seen when the animals were fully conscious - except signals were up to eight times stronger.

The researchers said that the discovery that the brain is highly active in the seconds after the heart stops suggests that the phenomenon has a physical, rather than spiritual nature.
Thieves have uncovered a new way to find out your smartphone pin code.

After you tap in the digits, scammers can use thermal camera to take picture of the heat marks from where your fingers have just tapped the screen.

They can even work out the order that you typed in your code because each heat spot gets fainter over time.

And Android users who use a finger-drawn pattern to unlock their phone are the highest risk of falling victim to this new scam, scientists have revealed.

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When you tap in your PIN code, your fingers leave traces of heat on your screen (pictured). Thieves can capture these marks using a thermal camera

THE SCAM When you tap in your PIN code, your fingers leave traces of heat on your screen. Scammers can use thermal cameras to quickly take a snapshot of your PIN seconds after you've tapped it in. The thermal images are then subjected to a six-stage process, where the colour image is converted into grayscale and stripped to leave only the heat spots. The final step is to work out how much each circle has faded over time - to unveil the likely order that the passcode was typed in. The process can also be used to work out the hand-drawn pattern Android users use to unlock their phone. Advertisement

'The increasing amount of sensitive data available on personal mobile devices, such as personal photos, call logs, bank accounts, and emails underlines the need to secure them against various kinds of malicious attacks,' the scientists from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, said in a research paper.

'The usable security community lately focused on investigating different user-centered attacks, such as shouldersurfing and smudge attacks.

'At the same time, a new threat emerged which received only little attention so far from the research community, that is, thermal attacks on touch screens of mobile devices.

'The past years have witnessed portable thermal cameras becoming available on the mass market, in personal mobile devices such as CAT S601, or as attachable accessories for mobile devices.'

To understand how the scam works, the researchers developed a six-stage technique for stealing PIN codes.

Android users who use a finger-drawn pattern (pictured) to unlock their phone are the highest risk of falling victim to this new scam, scientists have revealed

First, a thermal camera set to detect temperatures between 19 degrees Celsius (66F) and 32 degrees Celsius (90F) takes a snap of an phone screen immediately after a code is entered.

Then software is used to convert the colour image into grayscale and reduce background noise.

A two-stage process is then used to strip out the image to leave only the heat spots left by someone tapping in their pincode.

The main features of the heat spots are then extracted to leave a picture showing four circles.

Scammers can use software to make the heat marks left by someone tapping in their code more clear. Above: a PIN code and hand-drawn passcode are shown after frame extraction (left) and camera configuration techniques (right)

The heat marks become even clearer after background noise is filtered out (left), the image is stripped down to remove the background (middle) and feature detection is applied (right)

THE SOLUTION The scientists have suggested a simple technique to combat thermal attacks. While users are typing in their PIN code, they should place their entire hand over the screen to create a pattern of random heat spots, the researchers said. 'Placing the hand on the display might remove all thermal traces,' the researchers said. Android users can significantly reduce their chances of getting scammed by introducing an overlap to their finger-drawn pattern. This will make it harder for thieves to work out in what order the pattern was drawn. 'Our results indicate that adding a single overlap in an authentication pattern significantly increases the resistance to thermal attacks,' the researchers said. Advertisement

The final step is to work out how much each circle has faded over time - to unveil the likely order that the passcode was typed in.

Scientists found that when this process is applied, they could guess a user's PIN 90 per cent of the time - if the thermal image was taken within 15 seconds of a PIN being tapped in.

For Android users who use finger-drawn patterns, the scientists could guess the right shape 100 per cent of the time, even if a thermal image was snapped 30 seconds after a user drew it onto their phone screen.

But the scientists have suggested a simple technique to combat thermal attacks.

While users are typing in their PIN code, they should place their entire hand over the screen to create a pattern of random heat spots, the researchers said.

'Placing the hand on the display might remove all thermal traces,' the researchers said.

'However, there are different procedures that decrease the success rate of thermal attacks without involving the user.

'For example, increasing the brightness of the display to the maximum for a few seconds heats up the display temperature and, thus, reduces the time thermal traces are visible.

'Similarly, running computationally heavy processes on the phone quickly heats the phone up, resulting in a similar effect.'

Android users can significantly reduce their chances of getting scammed by introducing an overlap to their finger-drawn pattern.

This will make it harder for thieves to work out in what order the pattern was drawn.

'Our results indicate that adding a single overlap in an authentication pattern significantly increases the resistance to thermal attacks,' the researchers said.
These crafty beetles have created the ultimate deception.

Rove beetles disguise themselves as army ants - even changing their body shape to resemble them - and then devour the young of their unsuspecting comrades.

This cruel trick works so well that there are at least 12 species of rove beetle which have evolved independently of one another.

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This image shows a symbiotic Ecitophya simulans rove beetle (foreground) walking alongside its lookalike army host ant, Eciton burchellii (left). The ant has a large round head, whereas the beetle has a flatter head

HOW DO THEY DO IT? Rove beetles dramatically change their body shape, behaviour and pheromone chemistry. This means they dupe army ants into thinking they're one of them. This means they can get access to their nests - and therefore their young - which they then devour. Their deception works so well at least 12 different species of rove beetles do it. Although they're all called rove beetles, their last common ancestor lived over 150 million years ago. Advertisement

Researchers from Columbia University in New York found that the beetle's body undergoes some radical changes to resemble the ants they prey on.

But far from being altruistic nest-mates, these creatures are parasitic beetles, engaged in a game of deception.

Through dramatic changes in their body shape, behaviour and pheromone chemistry the rove beetles dupe their hosts, according to the paper which is published in Current Biology.

They even join in on their marches.

'What we found is that multiple times, the ancestors of these rove beetles adapted to life inside army ant colonies', said Joseph Parker at Columbia University in New York.

'Each time, their body shape and behaviour underwent the same radical changes.'

Dr Parker discovered this bizarre phenomenon with a researcher from the Munetoshi Maruyama of Kyushu University Museum in Fukuoka, Japan, and together they have spent a decade studying it, writes New Scientist.

The deception is so effective it has developed at least a dozen times from non-related ancestors.

'These beetles represent a new and really stunning system of convergent evolution,' said Dr Parker.

'It's an elaborate symbiosis, which has evolved in a stereotyped way, multiple times from free-living ancestors', he said.

'If you watch one of these army ant colonies for long enough, maybe one in every five thousand ants that wander past will be one of these beetles,' said Dr Parker, who has spent years studying them in tropical forests.

'You've got to have eagle eyes to pick them out', he said.

The deception works so well at least 12 different species of rove beetles do it. Although they're all called rove beetles, their last common ancestor lived over 150 million years ago (stock image)

ROVE BEETLES The different ant-mimicking beetles are all called rove beetles - but they're last common ancestor lived over 150 million years ago. This means that all the different species have come up with the same technique of mimicking ants independently of one another. Rove beetles all have glands that secrete a chemical which means they're better equipped to survive an ant attack. They also have malleable body which means they are readily able to change the shape of their body. Advertisement

The different ant-mimicking beetles are all called rove beetles - but they're last common ancestor lived over 150 million years ago.

This is around the same time that humans split from mice.

Although most other convergent systems, such as Darwin's finches, three-spined stickleback, and African lake cichlid fish, are a few million years old at most, this newly discovered example extends back into the Early Cretaceous.

'The tape of life has been extremely predictable whenever rove beetles and army ants have come together,' said Dr Parker.

'It begs the question: why has evolution followed this path so many times?'

Rove beetles all have glands that secrete a chemical which means they have a much better chance of surviving an ant attack than most insects do.

This, along with their malleable body means they are readily able to deceive their hosts - and probably explains why so many different species have successfully done it.

'There's been this explosion of ants over the past 50-60 million years that must have radically changed terrestrial ecosystems,' said Dr Parker.

'Army ants were part of that. They presented this huge niche for exploitation that these beetles were equipped to exploit, and they did so multiple times in parallel.'

Dr Parker argues that discoveries like this compel us to study 'underappreciated groups of organisms'.

'If we want to understand life on Earth, we have to study groups like rove beetles.

'These tiny insects comprise the largest family of animals. We need to know how they live, how they evolved, and what role they play in the environment. Amazing things come from doing that', he said.
The subject of centuries of scrutiny and debate, Mona Lisa's famous smile is routinely described as ambiguous. But is it really that hard to read?

Apparently not.

In an unusual trial, close to 100 percent of people described her expression as unequivocally 'happy', researchers revealed on Friday.

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In an unusual trial, close to 100 percent of people described her expression as unequivocally 'happy'. Known as La Gioconda in Italian, the Mona Lisa is often held up as a symbol of emotional enigma.

WHO WAS SHE? Florentine noblewoman, Lisa Gherardini, is widely believed to be the model for Leonardo da Vinci's painting. Lisa Gherardini is thought to have posed for the painting between 1503 and 1506. Not much is knownown about Gherardini's life. Born in Florence and married in her teens to a cloth and silk merchant who later became a local official, she was mother to five children. It is believed Francesco Del Giocondo commissioned the portrait to celebrate either his wife's pregnancy or the purchase of a house around 1502 and 1503. After his death, Gherardini became a nun. She died in 1542 at the age of 63 and was said to be buried near the Sant'Orsola convent's altar. In 2014 scientists conducted a DNA test on bones fond at the convent which they believe belonged to Gherardini but the results are still to be released. Advertisement

'We really were astonished,' neuroscientist Juergen Kornmeier of the University of Freiburg in Germany, who co-authored the study, told AFP.

Kornmeier and a team used what is arguably the most famous artwork in the world in a study of factors that influence how humans judge visual cues such as facial expressions.

Known as La Gioconda in Italian, the Mona Lisa is often held up as a symbol of emotional enigma.

The portrait appears to many to be smiling sweetly at first, only to adopt a mocking sneer or sad stare the longer you look.

Using a black and white copy of the early 16th century masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, a team manipulated the model's mouth corners slightly up and down to create eight altered images - four marginally but progressively 'happier', and four 'sadder' Mona Lisas.

A block of nine images were shown to 12 trial participants 30 times.

In every showing, for which the pictures were randomly reshuffled, participants had to describe each of the nine images as happy or sad.

'Given the descriptions from art and art history, we thought that the original would be the most ambiguous,' Kornmeier said.

Instead, 'to our great astonishment, we found that Da Vinci's original was... perceived as happy' in 97 percent of cases.

A second phase of the experiment involved the original Mona Lisa with eight 'sadder' versions, with even more nuanced differences in the lip tilt.

In this test, the original was still described as happy, but participants' reading of the other images changed.

'They were perceived a little sadder' than in the first experiment, said Kornmeier.

The findings confirm that 'we don't have an absolute fixed scale of happiness and sadness in our brain' - and that a lot depends on context, the researcher explained.

'Our brain manages to very, very quickly scan the field.

The portrait appears to many to be smiling sweetly at first, only to adopt a mocking sneer or sad stare the longer you look.

'We notice the total range, and then we adapt our estimates' using our memory of previous sensory experiences, he said.

Understanding this process may be useful in the study of psychiatric disorders, said Kornmeier.

Affected people can have hallucinations, seeing things that others do not, which may be the result of a misalignment between the brain's processing of sensory input, and perceptual memory.

A next step will be to do the same experiment with psychiatric patients.

Another interesting discovery was that people were quicker to identify happier Mona Lisas than sad ones.

This suggested 'there may be a slight preference... in human beings for happiness, said Kornmeier.

As for the masterpiece itself, the team believe their work has finally settled a centuries-old question.

'There may be some ambiguity in another aspect,' said Kornmeier, but 'not ambiguity in the sense of happy versus sad.'

Previously researchers examining an earlier painting by the Renaissance master claim to have unravelled the painter's secret to creating an 'uncatchable smile'.

The study reveals how La Bella Principessa, painted by da Vinci before he completed the Mona Lisa in the late 15th Century, uses a clever trick to lure in the viewer.

The study reveals how La Bella Principessa (right), painted by da Vinci before the Mona Lisa (left) in the late 15th Century, uses a clever trick to lure in the viewer. By expertly blending colours to exploit our peripheral vision, the shape of the subject's mouth appears to change according to view point, researchers found

Researchers found that by expertly blending colours to exploit our peripheral vision, the shape of the subject's mouth appears to change according to the angle it is viewed from.

When viewed directly, the slant of the mouth is distinctly downwards, according to the research by scientists at Sheffield Hallam University and Sunderland University.

As the viewer's eye wanders elsewhere to examine other features, however, the mouth appears to take an upward turn, creating a smile that can only be seen indirectly, much like the Mona Lisa's.

The technique is called sfumato, and can be seen in both the Mona Lisa and La Bella Principessa.

And while other artist's have attempted to use the same technique, none have done so as expertly as da Vinci, the researchers claim.

'As the smile disappears as soon as the viewer tries to 'catch it', we have named this visual illusion the 'uncatchable smile,' researchers Alessandro Soranzo and Michelle Newberry of Sheffield Hallam University wrote in a paper published in the journal Vision Research.

To find out how da Vinci's illusions worked, the researchers set up test in which people either viewed the portraits from a distance or saw blurred versions, according to a report in Discover magazine.

The researchers used a series of experiments to examine how different points of view and levels of blur in the images themselves could alter a viewer's perception.

The researchers asked volunteers to look at La Bella Principessa, Mona Lisa and another typical painting from the same era Portrait of a Girl, painted in 1470 by Piero del Pollaiuolo.

First they conducted a number of tests to see how a viewer's distance from the portrait would influence their perception.

They found that when viewed from further away, both the Bella Principessa and Mona Lisa appeared to be smiling more than the portrait by del Pollaiuolo.

They also used digital manipulation to alter the level of blur in each of the paintings. They found as blur in the two da Vinci paintings was increased, the smiles appeared to increase.

The researchers asked volunteers to view digitally manipulated versions of three paintings - da Vinci's La Bella Principessa (top), Mona Lisa (middle) and Portrait of a Girl by Piero del Pollaiuolo (bottom). They changed the level of blur in the paintings to examine whether this changed the impression of a smile, as shown above

When viewed directly, the slant of the mouth in the Mona Lisa (pictured) is distinctly downwards. But as the eye moves elsewhere to examine other features, the mouth appears to take an upward turn, creating a smile that can only be seen indirectly

In del Pollaiuolo's painting the perception of the girl's smile remained broadly the same, and actually decreased slightly as the blur worsened.

This suggests da Vinci's technique specifically relies upon the viewer seeing the mouth with unfocused eyes in order for the smile to appear.

In a final experiment, the researchers tested whether the mouth or the eyes were responsible for the mysterious smile illusion by masking the features with black rectangles.

They found when the mouth was obscured, the illusion did not appear to work, but when the eyes were obscured, viewers still detected the hint of contentment in La Bella Principessa's smile.

Soranzo told Discover, 'Given da Vinci's mastery of the technique, and its subsequent use in the Mona Lisa, it is quite conceivable that the ambiguity of the effect was intentional.'

The researchers used masks on La Bella Principessa to examine whether it was just the mouth or the eyes as well that were involved in the illusion of her smile (as shown above). Their results suggest it is just the mouth that appears to be involved, despite claims by some that da Vinci made his paintings 'smile through their eyes'

La Bella Principessa is thought to depict 13-year-old Bianca Sforza, the daughter of Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan, who was to be married to a commander of the duke's Milanese forces.

But, she would be dead within months of the marriage, having suffered a possible ectopic pregnancy, adding poignancy to her expression in her portrait.

He added that da Vinci may have first attempted the technique even earlier in his 1483 work 'Virgin of the Rocks.'

Michael Pickard, from the University of Sunderland co-authored a 2013 study by the same team.

'With his knowledge of the turbulence surrounding the Court of Milan at that time, Leonardo would have been aware of inner tensions between the fresh innocence of a young girl on the threshold of womanhood and her impending marriage and courtly destiny,' he said.

'It is also not difficult to believe that Leonardo would have seen below the surface and wanted to capture the subtle essence of the girl, using a technique he would so famously master in the Mona Lisa.'
Scientists have discovered that the brain is 10 times more active than previously thought.

In a new study on components of the neurons known as dendrites, researchers found that they are not passive conduits as typically believed, but instead are electrically active in moving animals.

Not only could this mean that the brain has over 100 times the computational capacity than its been believed, but the discovery could also pave the way for the development of brain-like computers.

In a new study on components of the neurons known as dendrites, researchers found that they are not passive conduits as typically believed, but instead are electrically active in moving animals

HOW THEY DID IT The researchers measured dendrites activity for up to four days in rats that were allowed to move freely within a large maze. They measured activity in the posterior parietal cortex, which plays a key role in movement planning. This revealed that there was far more activity in the dendrites than in the somas. While the rats were sleeping, this accounted for about five times as many spikes  and while they were exploring, it rose to 10 times that of the somas. Dendrites are nearly 100 times larger in volume than neuronal centers, according to Mehta, which means that a large number of spikes from these features suggests the brain has 100 times the computational capacity than scientists previously thought. Advertisement

The study from the University of California, Los Angeles examined the structure and function of dendrites.

These make up the branches of neurons and stem from the body, or soma.

To communicate, somas generate brief electrical pulses called spikes, and its long been thought that these spikes are behind the activation of the dendrites, which passively send currents to other somas.

But, in the new study, the researchers found that this is not the case.

In free-moving animals, they found that the dendrites are electrically active, and generate 10 times more spikes than somas.

Dendrites make up more than 90 percent of neural tissue, said UCLA neurophysicist Mayank Mehta, the studys senior author.

Knowing they are much more active than the soma fundamentally changes the nature of our understanding of how the brain computes information.

It may pave the way for understanding and treating neurological disorders, and for developing brain-like computers.

According to the researchers, the dendrites are actually hybrids capable of running both analog and digital computations.

This means they are fundamentally different from purely digital computers, but are similar to analog quantum computers, Mehta explained.

A fundamental belief in neuroscience has been that neurons are digital devices. They either generate a spike or not.

These results show that the dendrites do not behave purely like a digital device. Dendrites do generate digital, all-or-none spikes, but they also show large analog fluctuations that are not all or none.

This is a major departure from what neuroscientists have believed for about 60 years.

Not only could this mean that the brain has over 100 times the computational capacity than its been believed, but the discovery could also pave the way for the development of brain-like computers

Dendrites are nearly 100 times larger in volume than neuronal centers, according to Mehta, which means that a large number of spikes from these features suggests the brain has 100 times the computational capacity than scientists previously thought.

While other studies have found that dendrites can generate spikes, researchers were unsure if it could happen during natural behaviour, nor how often it occurs.

To find out, the researchers measured dendrites activity for up to four days in rats that were allowed to move freely within a large maze.

They measured activity in the posterior parietal cortex, which plays a key role in movement planning.

This revealed that there was far more activity in the dendrites than in the somas.

CREATIVE PEOPLE HAVE BETTER CONNECTED BRAINS, STUDY SAYS In a study from Duke University the University of Padova, researchers analyzed the network of white matter connections among 68 separate brain regions in healthy college-age participants. Participants were given certain tasks to complete during tests while being monitored. This included problem solving tasks, drawing geographic designs for five minutes and listing new uses for everyday objects. Finally, participants had to fill out a questionnaire about their achievements in ten creative areas. There was not a statistical difference in connectivity within hemispheres, or between men and women. The team found that when they compared people who scored in the top 15 percent on the tests to the bottom 15 percent, those in the higher bracket showed a more significant connection between the right and left hemisphere. And these differences were witnessed mainly in the brain's frontal lobe. Advertisement

While the rats were sleeping, this accounted for about five times as many spikes  and while they were exploring, it rose to 10 times that of the somas.

Many prior models assume that learning occurs when the cell bodies of two neurons are active at the same time, said Jason Moore, a UCLA postdoctoral researcher and the studys first author.

Our findings indicate that learning may take place when the input neuron is active at the same time that a dendrite is active  and it could be that different parts of dendrites will be active at different times, which would suggest a lot more flexibility in how learning can occur within a single neuron.

The researchers say this new insight could change our understanding on the way the brain works, suggesting that its not just the cell body that makes all the decisions.

What we found indicates that such decisions are made in the dendrites far more often than in the cell body, and that such computations are not just digital, but also analog, Mehta said.

Due to technological difficulties, research in brain function has largely focused on the cell body.

But we have discovered the secret lives of neurons, especially in the extensive neuronal branches.

Our results substantially change our understanding of how neurons compute.
NASA has teamed up with the Russian space program to study Earths evil twin.

Scientists sponsored by the US space agency will meet with the Russian Academy of Sciences Space Research Institute (IKI) next week to discuss plans for the exploration of Venus, NASA revealed today.

In the proposed Venera-D mission, scientists plan to send a Russian space probe to orbit Venus for up to three years, along with a lander that will operate for a few hours on the harsh surface.

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NASA has teamed up with the Russian space program to study Earths evil twin. In the proposed Venera-D mission, scientists plan to send a Russian space probe to orbit Venus for up to three years, along with a lander that will operate for a few hours on the harsh surface

VENUS: EARTH'S EVIL TWIN Venus is slightly smaller than Earth but has a similar mass. It is the second closest planet to the sun at a distance of about 67 million miles (108 million kilometres), and takes around 225 days to orbit the sun. One day on Venus lasts as long as 243 Earth days. Its thick and toxic atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, with clouds of sulphuric acid droplets. It's believed that its atmosphere contributed to a runaway greenhouse effect that made the planet inhospitable. The planet's extreme high temperatures of almost 480C (900F) make it seem an unlikely place for for life as we know it. Advertisement

The Joint Science Definition Team study between the two space agencies aims to identify the shared science objectives for this mission, which could lead to better understanding of the planets climate, and reveal if it ever supported life.

At the end of January, the NASA Headquarters in Washington and IKI in Moscow were both given a report assessing and refining the objectives for the mission.

While Venus is known as our sister planet, we have much to learn, including whether it may have once had oceans and harboured life, said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters.

By understanding the processes at work at Venus and Mars, we will have a more complete picture about how terrestrial planets evolve over time and obtain insight into the Earths past, present, and future.

The team is also working to determine the feasibility of flying a solar-powered airship in Venus upper atmosphere as well, which could be released from the Venera-D lander, enter the atmosphere, and explore Venus on its own for up to three months.

The planet is similar to Earth in both composition and size, but spins slowly in the opposite direction.

And, its thick atmosphere traps heat, causing a runaway greenhouse effect.

As a result, its the hottest planet in our solar system, with surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead  leading to its nickname as Earths evil twin.

The Joint Science Definition Team study between the two space agencies aims to identify the shared science objectives for this mission, which could lead to better understanding of the planets climate, and reveal if it ever supported life

On a solar-system scale, Earth and Venus are very close together and of similar size and makeup, said David Senske, co-chair of the US Venera-D science definition team, and a scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab.

Among the goals that we would like to see if we can accomplish with such a potential partnership is to understand how Venus climate operates so as to understand the mechanism that has given rise to the rampant greenhouse effect we see today.

An international team of scientists tasked with deciding the main goals of the mission will deliver its final report to NASA and the Russian Academy of Sciences' Space Research Institute by the end of the month, David Senske, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. told Space.com.

A series of Russian probes sent to the planet in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, known as the Venera spacecraft, were able to survive no more than a few hours on the surface. Shown are images from the Venera 9 (top) and Venera 10 (bottom) probes that landed on the surface

'Is this the mission that's going to fly? No, but we're getting there,' Senske, the U.S. co-chair of this 'joint science-definition team,' told the site last month at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, in San Francisco.

The project is being led by Russia, and has been under development for over a decade.

The Soviet Union, launched a number of probes to Venus from the early 1960s through the mid-1980s, as part of its Venera and Vega programs.

NASA became involved three years ago, when Russia asked if the U.S. space agency would be interested in collaborating, Senske added.

More meetings are planned, including a workshop this May that will inform decisions about the mission's scientific instruments, he added.

The mission is believed to be a 'showstopper' comparable to efforts such as the Curiosity rover.

Other ideas on the drawing board include a handful of small, relatively simple ground stations that would gather surface data for a month and a solar-powered, uncrewed aerial vehicle that would ply the Venusian skies.
British holidaymakers in Europe paid up to 35 percent more for their hotel rooms in 2016 compared to the previous year as a result of the deflated pound, new research has revealed.

Reykjavik saw the biggest price increase in 2016 with visitors paying an average of 130 for hotels compared to 96 in 2015 - a 35 percent leap.

Other popular European destinations which became considerably pricier for Brits as a result of the Brexit-hit sterling included Lanzarote, Dusseldorf, Cork, Dublin, Malaga and Copenhagen.

Reykjavik saw the biggest price increase with visitors paying an average of 130 for hotels compared to 96 in 2015 - a 35 percent leap

The research around European price increases for Brits was conducted by Hotels.com as part of the booking site's annual Hotel Price Index.

It found that prices for accommodation in Gran Canaria were hit by a similar hike due to the poor pound to euro exchange rate, with a 26 percent increase for Brits from 82 to 103.

In the wake of the Brexit vote, the pound sunk 11 per cent to its lowest level against the US dollar for 31 years. The euro exchange rate also plunged nine percent during that time.

Spooked by the chaos, some major travel money firms suspended online offers and savvy customers started cashing in on the crumbling pound.

EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS THAT BECAME MORE EXPENSIVE FOR BRITS IN 2016 TABLE TITLE EUROPEAN CITY PRICE PAID FOR HOTEL BY BRITS IN 2015 PRICE PAID FOR HOTEL BY BRITS IN 2016 YEAR-ON-YEAR PERCENTAGE INCREASE Reykjavik 96 130 35% Gran Canaria 82 103 26% Lanzarote 78 97 24% Cork 74 92 24% Dublin 95 114 21% Malaga 83 69 19% Santorini 142 121 18% Barcelona 97 112 16% Copenhagen 107 124 16% Lisbon 78 89 14% Source: Hotels.com Advertisement

Prices for accommodation in Gran Canaria were hit by a similar hike due to the poor pound to euro exchange rate, with a 26 per cent increase for Brits from 82 to 103

Despite price increases for British travellers, the findings reveal that Brits continued to travel to all corners of the globe with New York, Bangkok and Dubai among the most popular destinations visited.

Paris was the number one destination for Brits to visit in 2016. .

Isabelle Pinson, Vice President, EMEA for Hotels.com, commented: 'While the British Pound didn't stretch as far in 2016 compared to 2015, that clearly hasn't stopped UK travellers from spreading their wings rather than burrowing in until the currency's fortunes improve.'

Analysts highlighted that those looking for bargain when it comes to holidaying in 2017 should head to Asia.

In Pattaya, Thailand, Brits paid as little as 33 for four star accommodation last year.




A familys visit to the Carlisle area that took place 50 years ago has been immortalized in a watercolor painting by a professional wildlife artist/photographer now living in Volusia County, Florida.

Jim Turlington, who was 12 years old at the time, still remembers that cold day in 1967 when his family traveled from their home in Washington, D.C., to visit the Carlisle Barracks. Turlingtons father, Rufus, wanted to tour the barracks because he was serving the U.S. Army, later retiring as a 30-year veteran.

After we saw the Carlisle Barracks, Dad drove around back-country roads in the area and we saw a bunch of ringneck pheasants in a field. Dad always had a camera with him, so he stopped and took some photos, recalled Turlington.

The family then ate lunch at a restaurant in Carlisle, the name of which Turlington said is long forgotten. What he does remember, however, is the beautiful country that comprises the greater Carlisle area, he said.

Flash forward to August 2015. Turlington, a self-taught wildlife artist, was perusing the belongings of his father, who died earlier that month. When he came across a series of photo slides, Turlington paused as it jolted his memory. It was the pheasant scene his father photographed along a rural Carlisle road in 1967.

Turlington, who has worked as a professional artist since 1980, said he immediately was compelled to paint it. I picked out one of the pheasants in the photos and drew it. Then I did a more refined drawing and then I went on and painted it in an 18-inch-by-20 inch watercolor, he said.

The finished watercolor got a tremendous response when Turlington posted it on his Facebook page, he said. This is fantastic, wildlife artist Lindsey Wohlman of Lafayette, Colorado, commented. You are awesome!! Susan Nelson Bowie of Atlanta, Georgia added.

It caught a lot of peoples attention. My father shot pheasants in Missouri, France and Korea, and this is a painting he would have loved to have seen, Turlington noted.

The original watercolor was purchased by an art collector in New Hampshire, but Turlington retains the rights to the piece. A series of 25 prints were made of the piece  I didnt want to make too many, Turlington said  and a few still are available for sale from Deep Woods Studio, Turlingtons enterprise based in Deltona, Florida.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/Gobblerart/ or call (386) 574-5036.
A daredevil who paraglided over the largest waterfall system in the world has captured his turbulent descent on camera.

Rafael Goberna filmed himself soaring over the spectacular Iguazu Falls in his home country of Brazil, taking in the incredible scenery below.

Footage shows the acrobatic paraglider somersaulting repeatedly through the air high above the waterfalls.

Rafael Goberna filmed himself soaring over the spectacular Iguazu Falls in his home country of Brazil, taking in the incredible scenery below

Footage shows the acrobatic paraglider somersaulting repeatedly through the air high above the waterfalls, seemingly totally out of control

Another camera viewpoint hones in on Mr Goberna, 24, as he tumbles, the lush greenery and powerful waters of the falls providing a dramatic backdrop.

In dizzying scenes the brave man flips over and over before finding the correct position and slowing down to a smooth glide through the air.

He glides above the water, as his friends look on before landing with a splash into the Iguazu River.

'It is an amazing feeling to make a dream come true,' said Mr Goberna, 'and it just makes you want to chase other dreams too.'

He told Red Bull, who produced the video: 'Iguazu Falls is both a beautiful and imposing place that has a lot of strength  its more than just one of the seven wonders of the world.'

Another camera hones in on Mr Goberna, 24, as he tumbles, the lush greenery and powerful waters of the falls in the background

In dizzying scenes the brave man flips over and over before finding the correct position and slowing down to a smooth glide through the air

He told Red Bull, who produced the video: 'Iguazu Falls is both a beautiful and imposing place that has a lot of strength  its more than just one of the seven wonders of the world'

He whirls about above the water, as his friends look on (left) before landing with a splash into the Iguazu River (right)

Mr Goberna went to the two mile-long chain of hundreds of waterfalls with the hope of honouring Santos Dumont, a Brazilian aviation pioneer who first visited the falls over 100 years ago and went on to become one of the greatest supporters of the Iguazu Falls National Park.

Mr Goberna began flying as a child with his father and soon specialised in acrobatic paragliding.

He became Brazils youngest pilot at age 12, earning him a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Iguazu Falls span the border between Argentina and Brazil and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1984.
An astonishing video shows a tiger at an Australian Zoo fishing underwater and playing in a pool, to the delight of onlooking tourists.

In general other members of the cat family don't like water but these stripey beasts are an exception and absolutely love it.

The wonderful footage shows the creatures leaping into the pool after pieces of meat and paddling around underwater.

An amazing video shows tigers in an Australian Zoo fishing underwater and playing in a pool, to the delight of onlooking tourists

The wonderful footage shows the animals leaping into the pool after pieces of meat, playing around with trainers or just paddling around in the water

The Tiger Temple at Australia Zoo in Queensland is home to both Sumatrans and Bengal tigers and is built to represent an ancient southeast Asian temple complete with two Thai dogs at the entrance, several Balinese huts and plenty of bamboo.

Swimming helps the tigers cool off during the heat of the day, staff member Giles explains in the clip, uploaded to YouTube.

In the wild they can be found lounging around in the shallow areas of streams, rivers or lakes.

Australia Zoo benefits from having the only glass underwater viewing in Australia and eager visitors can be seen pressing themselves up against the pane as they watch the tiger's aquatic antics.

Swimming helps the tigers cool off during the heat of the day, staff member Giles explains in the clip, uploaded to YouTube

In the wild tigers can be found lounging around in the shallow areas of streams or rivers or beside a lake

Australia Zoo benefits from having the only glass underwater viewing in Australia and eager visitors can be seen pressing themselves up against the glass as they watch the tiger's aquatic antics

The Tiger Temple at Australia Zoo is home to both Sumatrans and Bengal tigers and is built to represent an ancient southeast Asian temple complete with two Thai dogs at the entrance, several Balinese huts and plenty of bamboo

As well as swimming in the pool the trainers encourage the beasts to run around and play chase, go for walks and play with toys

The video also shows the big cats lolling lazily by the side of the water, as Giles reveals they rest for at least 18 to 20 hours a day.

But it is still important to keep tigers active in captivity - both mentally as well as physically.

As well as swimming in the pool the trainers encourage the beasts to run around and play chase, go for walks and play with toys.

The zoo is owned by famous crocodile hunter Steve Irwin's widow, Terri Irwin.
She recently celebrated her third anniversary after marrying in secret before her tradie beau Luke Hunt's jail sentence began.

And now model Samantha Harris has revealed that the couple want to have children.

Speaking to Yahoo7!, the 26-year-old spoke of the importance of family and what life was like after Luke returned home from jail.

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'I will have my own family': Samantha Harris has revealed her plans to have children with husband Luke Hunt

The Priceline ambassador revealed that the couple had a 'low key' dinner to celebrate their recent three years of matrimony.

The pair have only been able to enjoy married life since last April, when Luke was released from prison after almost two years.

In May 2014, he was charged and sentence for dangerous driving resulting in the death of Kenneth Lay.

Loved up: The couple have only been able to enjoy married life since last April, when Luke was released from prison after almost two years

Anniversary: The Priceline ambassador revealed that the couple had a 'low key' dinner to celebrate three years of matrimony

Samantha told the website that married life was fantastic, gushing: 'Its like he never left. Its nice.'

The brunette beauty explained that the couple hope to have a baby sometime in the future.

'Being married is amazing and one day I will have my own family, not any time soon,' Samantha said.

Loving it: Samantha told the website that married life was fantastic, gushing: 'Its like he never left. Its nice.'

But she said she hadn't settled yet on how many kids she wanted to have and joked she was influenced by those around her.

'I have no idea how many kids, I have friends who have just had children, and I think, "Oh, I might just have one!" but its all personal,' Samantha said.

In October, Samantha revealed she had married Luke two months before he started his prison sentence in 2014.

'I have no idea how many kids': But she said she hadn't settled yet on how many kids she wanted to have and joked she was influenced by those around her

The couple had kept their nuptials a secret out of respect for the deceased's family, she told Marie Clare.

'We had been engaged for a few years and were planning to get married,' Samantha told the publication.

'Would our wedding have been bigger under normal circumstances? Probably not, but I would have posted a photo or something on social media.'
She's spent her first night of freedom with the man she has been dreaming of marrying for the past six weeks.

And after her eviction on Thursday, Lisa Curry has taken some well deserved time out with her fiance, Elvis impersonator Mark Tabone, after 41 days in the South African jungle for I'm A Celebrity.

Mark, who proposed to her last October, has been managing her Instagram for the past six weeks and posted a selfie of the two of them relaxing at the Manor House before heading back to Australia.

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A bit overwhelming! Lisa Curry and her fiance Mark Tabone have shared their first selfie together since she was evicted out of I'm A Celebrity on

The 54-year-old former Olympian appeared content, and considerably fresher, in with her arms draped over her fiance, with the sunset beaming at them.

Mark captioned the post: 'Hi everyone. Coming back to real life after 41 days in the jungle is a bit overwhelming for Lisa, she's very tired but will be with you all again soon.'

'Just having some down time here at Manor House, absolutely beautiful at sunset. #imacelebrityau #celeblisa #markandrew,' the 50-year-old musician added.

'Just having some down time': She is taking some time out to rest and recuperate with Mark after 41 days in the South African jungle

Finally over: The Olympian was told that her ex-husband Grant Kenny had finally signed divorce papers while she was in the jungle (pictured with son Jami)

Fans of the swimming champion commented on the post and congratulated her for her effort on the show.

One said: 'Rest up Lisa. You have been through a lot'

Another wrote: 'Huge FAVE what an inspiration you were always staying true to yourself.'

Meanwhile, fellow I'm A Celebrity evictee, Tegan Martin commented on the post: 'It takes a few days my loves. Hey Marc can't wait to meet you! I'm so happy my favourite is back in your arms ', the former Miss Universe added.

Ready to wed: She told the publication, 'Mark and I can actually go and start looking at a date because we weren't looking at anything until it (divorce) happened'

The couple's reunion comes after she was told her ex-husband former Ironman Grant Kenny finally signed their divorce papers while she was in the jungle, by Mark according to a report by news.com.au.

'Grant has just been busy, it's been nearly nine years, I've been trying to get it done for a while,' Lisa said.

'Mark and I can actually go and start looking at a date because we weren't looking at anything until it (divorce) happened,' she added.

Reunited:The 54-year-old is now free to marry Mark, 50, to whom she announced her engagement in October last year

Lisa and fellow athlete Grant split back in 2009, and are still friendly with one another, after 23 years of marriage and have three children together, Jaimi, Morgan and Jett.

The swimming star and Elvis-look-a-like began dating in December 2015 shortly after Lisa split with her much younger boyfriend of five years, Joel Walkenhorst, 35.

Meanwhile, Grant had a brief fling with radio and television personality Fifi Box, 40, resulting in a child, three-year-old daughter Trixie.
She's been rocking the runway as of late, modeling the latest fashion from top designers around the world.

And Hailey Baldwin proved she's no different off the ramp as she was spotted on Thursday looking casual chic in an edgy RTA leather jacket.

The 20-year-old model headed into her car in the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles after leaving a friend's house.

Rocking it! Hailey Baldwin stepped out on Thursday with a casual and chic ensemble as she was spotted leaving a friend's house in the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles

The daughter of Stephen Baldwin paired her black jacket - which may have been fresh from the store given her RTA shopping bag - with a cropped white hooded sweatshirt.

Flashing her toned tummy, she wore dark fitted leggings and casual flats as her hair was tied up in a high messy ponytail.

Going out make-up free, Hailey accessorized with a long cross pendant necklace as she sipped on a green drink.

Make-up free and marvelous! The 20-year-old model stepped out make-up free as she headed into her car

New purchase? The IMG model was seen with an RTA bag as she wore a leather jacket from the trendy retail store

The dressed-down appearance sure makes sense as the blonde beauty spent the past week in the City Of Lights wearing high-fashion pieces for Paris Fashion Week.

Accompanied by her close model friends - Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid - Hailey took center stage during the Elie Saab autumn/winter 2017 event on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the American fashion star was announced as L'Oreal Professionel's new global ambassador.

Chic: The daughter of Stephen Baldwin paired her jacket with tights and a cropped hooded sweatshirt for the warm spring day

The IMG model has been announced as the new muse for the beauty brand's SS17 and AW17 campaigns.

She will also be the face of their 2017 PRO FIBER hair care treatment campaign.

Hailey has admitted she feels 'super happy' to have joined forces with the highly recognized company.
She found fame as one of the first superstar Page 3 models.

Yet Katie Price proved those days are well and truly behind her on Thursday night as she shielded her famous assets in a slogan T-shirt while heading to the star-studded 883 Police clothing launch at the Smokehouse in Manchester.

The 37-year-old veteran model nailed her low-key look as she slipped into the funky T-shirt emblazoned with the words: 'Bad b****s link up', while also rocking ripped jeans with an array of flesh flashing tears.

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Strutting her stuff: Katie Price proved those days are well and truly behind her on Thursday night as she shielded her famous assets in a slogan T-shirt as she headed to the star-studded 883 Police clothing launch at the Smokehouse in Manchester

Katie shunned the over the top ensembles of her cohorts in favour of her dressed-down ensemble yet still managed to turn heads in the getup.

The crew-neck black T-shirt covered up the assets from which she found fame, while she wrapped up even further with a grey knitted cardigan on top.

Proving she cannot resist flashing a hint of her toned, tanned limbs, she slipped into a sexy pair of ripped jeans with a slashed knee.

Her accessories were super funky as she chose a bang on-trend thick choker which complemented her bow-fronted sliders.

Legs eleven: The 37-year-old veteran model nailed her low-key look as she slipped into the funky T-shirt emblazoned with the words: 'Bad b****s link up', while also rocking ripped jeans with an array of flesh flashing tears

Hot stuff: Katie shunned the over the top ensembles of her cohorts in favour of her dressed-down ensemble yet still managed to turn heads in the getup

Low-key and lovely: Her accessories were super funky as she chose a bang on-trend thick choker which complemented her bow-fronted sliders

In her typical bling-loving style, she injected a touch of superstar cool into the ensemble with the addition of an envy-inducing pewter Louis Vuitton clutch bag.

As she headed into the bash in the pitch black evening, she shielded her flawlessly made-up face with the addition of over-sized sunglasses.

Her extension-enhanced tresses were styled into long slick lengths which tickled her waist in their endless body with thick blonde highlights worked through.

Katie's outing comes after it was revealed she is set to star with her family in a new reality series that will offer viewers an insight into her hectic life.

Chic: In her typical bling-loving style, she injected a touch of superstar cool into the ensemble with the addition of an envy-inducing pewter Louis Vuitton clutch bag

Look at me! The star oozed cool as she walked along the street

Rock chick: Katie looked stunning in her tough look

Katie Price: My Crazy Life will grant fans an access-all-areas pass to her home life in Sussex, as well as following her as she goes about her work commitments.

The 12-part series, produced by the team behind Piers Morgans Life Stories and Come Dine With Me, will air on new channel Quest Red this summer.

The glamour model has two children with 29-year-old husband Kieran Hayler: Jet, three, and Bunny, two. She also has Princess, nine, and Junior, 11, with ex-husband Peter Andre and son Harvey, 14, with Dwight Yorke.

Katie teased her new show with a cute Instagram clip featuring her children at home, in which she asked the youngsters what they thought about the series.

Look at me! Katie's outing comes after it was revealed she is set to star with her family in a new reality series that will offer viewers an insight into her hectic life

Cheeky! Her expletive laden top was shocking for the party

Pretty in black: Coronation Street star Katie McGlynn showed off her sensational figure in a slinky black ensemble
Whitney Port is sharing with fans the highs and lows of her very first pregnancy in a candid new video blog series.

The 32-year-old is expecting her first child with husband Tim Rosenman, and on Thursday the former The City star shared a teaser of her upcoming video series, which she has called 'I Love My Baby, But I Hate My Pregnancy'.

Whitney explained in the Youtube video that she and Tim had decided to create the blog to connect with other moms-to-be, and to fill fans in on her day-to-day life as she awaits the arrival of her firstborn.

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What to expect when she's expecting! Whitney Port is sharing with fans the highs and lows of her very first pregnancy in a candid new video blog series called I Love My Baby, But I Hate My Pregnancy

The cute teaser began with Whitney curled up in bed, giggling, as her husband sat behind the camera.

'OK, look into the camera and say, "Hi everyone!"', Tim could be heard saying out of frame as he focused in on his wife of one year.

'Hi everyone!' Whitney said in between her laughter. 'I haven't been on TV in so long!'

Tim then asked, 'Wanna do an intro? "Welcome to....Whitney's Pregnancy Blog."'

Camera shy? The reality star was snuggled in her robe as she declared, 'I haven't been on TV in so long!'

Welcome fans! Port couldn't stop giggling as she introduced her new video series

'What should I call it?' Whitney asked her husband, before the name came to her. 'I love this baby, but I hate pregnancy.'

Laughing at herself, she added, 'Welcome to I Love My Baby, but I Hate Pregnancy by Whitney Port. Is that bad?' she asked again, laughing.

'Hi everyone! I felt extra sh*tty this morning, so Timmy decided to set up a camera and put it at the foot of my bed so I could share with you all the terrible things that are going on with me and my pregnancy,' Whitney told the camera.

Poking fun: Tim teased his wife as she gestured while chatting to the camera

Taking five: Port was curled up in bed as she made the video

Getting in some rest: Whitney explained that she 'felt extra sh*tty this morning'

'How I'm feeling, what I'm doing, eating, just how I'm dealing with the whole process, and thought that it might be fun to share it with you guys.

'I'm by no means telling you guys what to do or how to deal with your pregnancy, just thought, from one pregnant woman to another that it would be fun to share the journey with you.'

Whitney also posted the teaser to Instagram, along with the caption: 'Soooo, Timmy decided to get out his camera and start documenting everything about my first pregnancy,' she explained. 'We both thought it would be a fun thing for our child to see once he or she is old enough. It will be a totally open and honest look into our lives as I cook this tiny thing growing inside me.

Watch and learn: The reality star invited fans to learn more about her day-to-day life as she awaits the arrival of her first child

Baby love: The reality star-turned-fashion designer announced just last month on her blog that she and Tim were expecting their first child

'I cant wait to share my journey with you all and connect with expecting Moms, any women that are thinking about becoming Moms, and maybe even some Dads going through similar things Timmy will inevitably have to deal with!!! Hahaha.

'Please comment below on what topics you would like me to cover and really any feedback or advice you might have. We have no clue what we are doing, but excited to learn!'

The teaser also included a sonogram image, however it was unclear if the photo was of Whitney's yet-to-be-born child.

Make yourself at home: The former The City star relaxed inside the couple's home

Mom-to-be! The reality star-turned-fashion designer announced just last month on her blog that she and Tim were expecting their first child

The reality star-turned-fashion designer announced just last month on her blog that she and Tim were expecting their first child.

Whitney and Tim tied the knot in November 2015 after a two year long engagement.

They met while Whitney starred on the reality show The City, a spin-off of The Hills, which starred Lauren Conrad.

Tim served as a producer of the show which followed Whitney as she broke into the fashion industry in New York.

Marital bliss: Whitney and Tim Rosenman tied the knot in November 2015 after a two year long engagement
She recently rocked a daring sequinned outfit for Sydney's Mardi Gras parade.

But it seems that for Em Rusciano, 38, not every dress is a guaranteed success.

The radio star, who took over 2Day FM's prized breakfast slot from Rove McManus and Sam Frost, told listeners on Friday that while shopping recently she was told by a shop assistant that she probably wouldn't fit into her normal size and would need to go up two sizes.

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Unimpressed: Radio star Em Rusciano (pictured) told listeners on Friday that while shopping recently she was told by a shop assistant she probably wouldn't fit into her normal dress size

An outraged Em revealed she had picked up a size eight dress in an upmarket Bondi boutique, only to be told she'd probably need to go up two sizes up.

'I don't care if I am the size of an elephant, if I want to pick up a size 8 and go in the changeroom, you support me,' she declared.

Speaking with co-host Harley Breen, the pint-sized media personality said she had a 'blanket request' to make of all shop assistants after her run-in.

Angry: 'If you see me walking into your shop and I want to try something on, do not assume my size', Em said on her 2Day FM breakfast slot

'I get it, customer service is hard because people are usually s***. I understand,' Em said.

'(But) if you see me walking into your shop and I want to try something on, do not assume my size.'

It comes just a day after the comedian received some praise about her dress sense from Hollywood superstar Nicole Kidman.

Copy cat! It came after Nicole Kidman (pictured) praised her dress sense after Em copied the gown the actress wore at the recent SAG awards for her Mardi Gras outfit

Inspired: 'Get out! Did you really?' a delighted Nicole cried down the line from America

During an interview on Thursday, Em told Nicole how she'd worn a similar frock to the controversial gown the actress wore at the recent SAG awards.

'Get out! Did you really?' a delighted Nicole cried down the line from America, before Em explained the dress was for her gig hosting the Mardi Gras broadcast on SBS.

The major difference was that Em swapped the feathered parrots on the shoulders of Nicole's high end Gucci frock for more Aussie cockatoos.

Jokes: 'Yours was made by Gucci and mine was made by a drag queen,' Em joked which had Nicole giggling

'That's so cool,' Nicole crooned with a hearty laugh. 'That's better. Cockatoos is better than parrots!'

'Yours was made by Gucci and mine was made by a drag queen,' Em joked which had Nicole giggling.

'That's also better!' the superstar said between a series of genuinely uproarious laughter.
The next James Bond film is slowly gearing up for production  even though Daniel Craig has yet to commit to playing 007 for a fifth and final time.

Screenwriters Robert Wade and Neil Purvis have been contracted to write the story for the untitled film, known as Bond 25, I can exclusively reveal.

They have contributed to several Bond pictures, including Skyfall and the last adventure, Spectre. Initially, the pair had been left out of that one  but Craig demanded they 'refresh' John Logan's Spectre script.

This time round, though, they're the first to be hired.

But who is going to play Ian Fleming's famous secret operative?

Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have made it very clear to Craig that they would like him to return for Bond 25 but the truth is, he hasn't decided yet  though I hear he's keener to do it than not.

Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have made it very clear to Daniel Craig (left) that they'd like him to return for Bond 25, but it is unknown if he will. Baz Bamigboy suggests that Jack Huston (right) could be a good replacement

In any event, no camera will roll on Bond 25 until next autumn at the earliest; so there's still time for further wooing, if necessary.

Craig has completed two non-Bond films back-to-back  Kings and Logan Lucky  and he's planning to lead an adaptation for television of Jonathan Franzen's novel Purity.

The actor's in terrific form at the moment. He was electrifying alongside David Oyelowo in Othello at New York Theatre Workshop (the play was directed by hot Sam Gold and produced by Broccoli).

As for a director for Bond 25, well Sam Mendes  who shot Skyfall and Spectre  announced that he wouldn't be working on any further 007 pictures. But never rule anything out in showbusiness.

And what about Christopher Nolan? He has expressed interest in the past and, by Jupiter, the Bond films need new life injected into them. Perhaps he's the man to do it  if Broccoli could persuade him.

Assuming Craig relents and shoots Bond 25, who will follow him, in Bond 26?

Jack Huston, who played psychologically unstable Bruno Anthony in Strangers On A Train (another Broccoli production) on stage in London in back in 2013 is an actor favoured by the astute Bond producer.

Craig has played the role of secret agent James Bond in the last four films after first taking on the role in 2005

Huston was good as the disfigured hitman in Boardwalk; and I hear he's terrific in forthcoming movie The Yellow Birds. He's suave and would be a cross between Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan.

However, when I was in Los Angeles, an executive at a studio close to the Bond franchise told me that while Broccoli is keen on Huston, she is also 'absolutely keen on having a black actor playing Bond'.

'It's just finding the actor,' I was told, and then: 'In fact, she doesn't care what colour he is. Black, brown or white. She just wants a great actor.'

It wouldn't be Idris Elba  he's too established.

I'll tell you who would be good: Sam Claflin. He's brilliant opposite Gemma Arterton in Their Finest; and superb with Rachel Weisz in the scorching new film version of My Cousin Rachel.

Plus I hear out of this world things about him (and other cast members) in Saul Dibb's film of Journey's End.

The only drawback is his age: Claflin could be too young; now. But maybe he could do Bond 29, or 30.

Michaela Coel, the Bafta and Royal Television Society award- winning actress and writer, will star with George MacKay in a big-screen movie musical set in Camden Town

Michaela Coel, the Bafta and Royal Television Society award- winning actress and writer, will star with George MacKay and Arinze Kene in a big-screen movie musical set in Camden Town  North London's answer, surely, to La La Land.

Actually, the film's called Been So Long and has been adapted from Che Walker's play, with songs by Arthur Darvill. It ran at the Young Vic in 2009; though film producers Nadine Marsh-Edwards and Amanda Jenks optioned it well before it hit the stage.

Marsh-Edwards told me the story is about a single mum  to be played by E4 Chewing Gum star Coel  and her relationship with local stud Raymond (whom Kene played on stage); and his rival Gil, played by MacKay.

Marsh-Edwards wasn't able to confirm MacKay, for contractual reasons; however he and other cast members have spent several weeks rehearsing with director Tinge Krishnan.

Although the piece is set in a Camden club, only some filming will take place in North London. A lot of scenes will be shot in Peckham and East London.

Darvill, who starred in Doctor Who and Broadchurch, has re-orchestrated his material and composed new songs. 'They will resonate with today's audience,' Marsh-Edwards predicted.

She added that the film had been updated to the present. 'It's about learning how to love; how do we open our heart to allow someone in?'
Emma Watson said the young woman she plays in the sumptuous new Beauty And The Beast film may be a feminist, but she's not a man hater just because she doesn't want to get married.

Watson said that she wanted to make sure that Belle ('one of my absolutely favourite Disney characters')  a French village girl who reads, writes, rides and even invents a washing-machine  was imbued with a sense of 'adventure, wanderlust and heroism'.

'She's book smart, emotional, sweet and romantic. It's not like she's cut off from that part of herself because she has a brain. I think Belle's one of those characters who really turns the feminist, man-hating thing on its head,' Emma declared.

'It's not that she doesn't want to get married because she hates men. She doesn't want to get married because she wants to explore the world; and she wants to go on adventures; and wants her independence.

Emma Watson told Baz Bamigboy that she wanted to make sure that Belle - a French village girl who reads, writes, rides and even invents a washing-machine - was imbued with a sense of 'adventure and heroism'

'So she wants to be with someone who will enable and empower her, as opposed to diminish her. She wants it on her own terms.'

Reading the script, Emma was keen to ensure it was 'true to the spirit' of Belle. 'I was a real watchdog for that,' she explained when we met at Shepperton film studios.

So, early on, she made a deal with Bill Condon, the Academy Award-winning director of Beauty And The Beast. She agreed to record songs from the film soundtrack, so he could check out her singing  if he promised to get her a new draft of the script.

'I had three hours in a recording studio,' she recalled. 'It was really raw, but Bill was pleased. And Disney was pleased.' Even so, making the audition tape was a nerve-racking experience.

'I hadn't sung since I was about 12. This was something I'd always wanted to do, but I thought: 'Is my voice still there? I just hadn't used it, but it was a very pleasant surprise to find it was still there. I just kind of had to unearth it!'

She found, too, that she loved the singing lessons; and has continued them because, 'I've found it actually really helps my acting, and my speaking voice. It's great for my breathing. It's a discipline that I really, really like.'

Actually, the film, which opens in cinemas worldwide next Friday, embodies exactly the kind of equality values that Emma's HeForShe UN Women campaign espouses.

But the picture isn't a lecture. Far from it. It's lush, lavish fun. Like the 1991 animated film, Belle isn't the one who needs rescuing. She does the rescuing.

The live action picture is stuffed with A-list talent  on both sides of the camera. The cast includes Dan Stevens, who is very good as the Beast; Luke Evans, who absolutely nails the redneck stupidity of Gaston; and Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts the teapot.

The two Emmas also worked together on some of the Harry Potter films, and Watson told me Thompson 'has been such a mentor for me'.

Watson told Baz Bamigboy that Beauty and The Beast's Bell is 'one of my absolutely favourite Disney characters'

The diverse cast (that word, 'diverse', is a Disney mantra) also features Josh Gad, Kevin Kline, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, Haydn Gwynne, Clive Rowe and Alexis Loizon  who provides some love interest for one of the key supporting stars.

Watson, pictured on Sunday, said she wanted the film to show the 'true to the spirit' of Belle

Between the cast and crew  including costume designer Jacqueline Durran, composer Alan Menken, lyricist Tim Rice, production designer Sarah Greenwood, make-up and hair designer Jenny Shircore and choreographer Anthony Van Laast  there are at least a dozen Oscar winners; as well as multiple recipients of Oliver, Tony, Bafta and Grammy awards.

Condon, who also made Dreamgirls, told me it's the best crew he's ever worked with, 'bar none'.

Before dismantling Greenwood's exquisitely decorated ballroom set (a real work of art), Tendo Nagenda  Disney's executive vice-president of production  asked the cast and crew to stop for a moment, 'take a look and soak it all in'; he wanted people to appreciate 'the hundreds who created the sets'.

As I left a screening of the film, the man from the New Yorker paused as he put on his coat and scarf and marvelled that the millions that must have been spent on Beauty And The Beast were all evident, up on the big screen: an opulent new take on a tale as old as time.

It's the most heartwarming musical on Broadway  and it could become one of the biggest, and unlikeliest, hits of the year.

Come From Away is the story of the planes diverted from the U.S. to Gander in Newfoundland, Canada, on 9/11.

Husband-and-wife composers and lyricists Irene Sankoff and David Hein wrote the show, which opens officially on Sunday at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, after visiting Gander in 2011 for the tenth anniversary commemoration of the day the 'plane people' arrived.

Nearly 7,000 passengers, pilots and flight crew descended on the remote Newfoundland town on September 11, 2001, after American air space was closed to all flights.

'People changed their lives out there,' Hein told me. 'Some had fallen in love, and the experience affected them profoundly.'

Come From Away is the story of the planes diverted from the U.S. to Gander in Newfoundland, Canada, on 9/11

The couple flew to Gander using money from a Canadian government grant. Hein noted that they were able to expand their funding, because the locals wouldn't let them stay in hotels. Instead, they invited them into their houses.

That kind of welcoming hospitality is what those travellers who had 'come from away' found in Gander, too: the 10,000-strong population opened their homes, civic halls, gyms and hostels to the stranded travellers.

Sankoff and Hein interviewed as many of those involved as they could; and spent years honing and refining their piece to absolute perfection.

I confess that I was, initially, hesitant about seeing Come From Away. But, strictly speaking, it's not a 9/11 musical at all. Or a Canadian one.

A cast of 12 sing and dance and recount tales from scores of folks: locals and plane people.

It's going to give the masterpiece Dear Evan Hansen a run for its money at the Tony Awards in June, that's for sure.

I sat next to Cameron Mackintosh, per chance, and we  and everybody else  were on our feet, roaring our approval at the end. Many in the crowd were weeping.

This really should come from away to London  I'm thinking somewhere like the Young Vic.

Craig Revel Horwood, who will direct Warner Brown's musical Son Of A Preacher Man: a show set in and around a Soho coffee shop, looking at the lives of three strangers.

Louise Redknapp is being considered for a lead role in Warner Brown's musical Son Of A Preacher Man

Producer John Sachs said the show will use a lot of songs associated with Dusty Springfield, including the title track, which was featured on the classic 1968 Dusty In Memphis album, though it's not about her at all.

The show will embark on an autumn tour starting at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley from September 4.

Louise Redknapp, who reached the final of the last series of Strictly Come Dancing (on which Revel Horwood was a judge) is being considered for one of the lead roles.

Her spokesperson would not confirm, but did say Redknapp was keen to do something in musical theratre.

Producer Sachs said that having worked with her for 15 weeks on Strictly, Revel Horwood 'knows her strengths'.

He explained that in the show, three people are drawn to a particular building in Denmark Street, Soho; seeking the man who can heal them.

Imelda Staunton, Conleth Hill, Imogen Poots and Luke Treadaway, who capture the viciousness of Whos Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, Edward Albees scathing attack on American hypocrisy and society.

The play emerged during the hellish horrors of Vietnam; and this razor-sharp production, directed by James Macdonald, could be seen as a cultural assault and commentary on Donald Trumps morally bankrupt White House.

Its at the Harold Pinter Theatre for a limited season.
National security and wall building

Dear Editor:

I disagree with the letter by Geoff Von Burg, Remember You Were A Stranger (Feb. 17 edition of The Sentinel).

There is no problem with any foreign person wanting to immigrate to America, so long as he/she does it legally. The rule of law needs to apply in our society or else we will see nonstop chaos.

Too many politicians have allowed unchecked illegal immigration for the past few decades in order to get more loyal voters. Allowing illegals to come in and automatically get the social safety net benefits like welfare, food stamps, Section 8 housing, and not earn an honest living as undocumented illegal citizens is stealing tax dollars from the honest, hardworking citizens like myself!

Thou shall not steal is still one of the 10 Commandments  Exodus 20:15. It is always amusing that liberals, some of whom hate Christianity and its Bible, are quick to quote it to advance their agenda.

Without tougher illegal refugee immigration controls, we could allow dangerous extremists  some Muslim, who could attack and kill many innocent American citizens.

There is no sin in closing our borders, like we did between 1924-1965, and protecting our national security, as the prophet Nehemiah had to build a wall to protect and rebuild his nation, as told in Nehemiah chapters 6 & 7 in the Bible.

President Donald J. Trump may very well be the prophet Nehemiah of today, as our border policies have made America less safe in the recent decades. Once again, I am not against immigrants and refugees, yet we need to thoroughly screen each and every one before allowing them entry into America.

President Trump campaigned on last year, make America great again: Take care of our own native born citizens first, secure our borders, and redo those so-called trade deals, in order to strengthen and grow our still anemic economy.

T.J. Murray

Harrisburg
The Australian leg of his world tour kicked off in Western Australia on Monday night.

And it appears Justin Bieber has already acquainted himself with some local friends, with reports claiming that the pop superstar spent time with a stunning Australian model and former pageant contestant at his hotel on Wednesday.

In photos published by The West Australian, Emily Baldwin, 20, was seen being escorted into the 23-year-old's villa in Crown Towers on Wednesday evening.

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Is this Justin's new Aussie babe? Emily Baldwin (left) was spotted being escorted into Justin Bieber's hotel suite in Perth earlier this week

Caught in the act! The party girl was spotted arriving at Justin's hotel just before sunset

Despite sharing the same surname as Justin's famous ex-girlfriend Hailey, Perth local Emily appears to bear no relation to the blonde bombshell.

According to the news outlet, Emily evoked envy amongst Justin's legion of fans after she shared a snap of a 'beautiful view' that appeared to be taken from the star's room.

And it appears the genetically-blessed Aussie is a huge fan of the pop star's, even using one of his lyrics from the hit Love Yourself as her Instagram bio.

Making friends? While many young women hoped for a glimpse of the Canadian singer, it seems Emily received special treatment

Local beauty: The 20-year-old model was also said to have shared a snap of her 'beautiful view,' believed to be taken from Justin's room

Big fan: It appears the Perth brunette is a huge fan of the Canadian pop sensation, sharing one of his famous lyrics as her Instagram bio

'My mama don't like you,' reads Emily's bio.

Emily was once a Miss Universe hopeful, having competed in the pageant in 2015.

She sadly missed out on the chance to represent Australia in the final leg of the pageant, but was crowned The West Australian viewers choice award at the time.

'My mama don't like you': Emily writes on her Instagram bio, which is a lyric from the pop star's hit Love Yourself

Flaunt it: Emily appears confident in her social media snaps, often posing in barely-there bikinis

Sounds familiar? Despite sharing the same surname, Emily appears to bear no relation to Justin's famous ex-girlfriend, Hailey Baldwin (pictured)

The brunette beauty, who describes herself as a 'true blue Aussie,' oozes confidence in her social media snaps.

Emily is often seen attending parties with her pals as well as flaunting her enviable figure in barely-there bikinis.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Emily for comment.

Meanwhile, the rendezvous comes as Justin ignited rumours he's reunited with recent ex-girlfriend Sofia Richie, whom he dates in September for a month.

Life of the party: Emily (second from left) is often seen attending parties with her pals whilst flaunting her enviable figure

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Emily for comment in regards to the report

In a very public declaration of affection, Justin commented underneath one of Sofia's latest Instagram snaps.

'Ur so pretty [sic],' Justin said of the 18-year-old model.

The pair enjoyed a very high-profile and very brief romance last Spring, but reportedly broke up as Justin 'doesn't want a relationship'.

The leggy model isn't the first Australian babe Justin has been linked to.

Beauty queen: Emily meanwhile, has been a model for some time and was even entered into the Miss Universe pageant in 2015

Hopeful: Emily sadly missed out on the chance to represent Australia in the final leg of the pageant, but was crowned The West Australian viewers choice award at the time

Aussie through and through: The leggy brunette describes herself as a 'true blue Aussie'

Rekindling? Meanwhile, Justin raised eyebrows on Wednesday after leaving a very complimentary comment on his ex-girlfriend Sofia Richie's Instagram post

Crowd pleaser: Justin kicked off his Australian tour at Perth's nib Stadium on Monday

He previously set tongues wagging when he was spotted taking a skinny dip with model Sahara Ray during a Hawaii getaway.

While they didn't confirm a romance, the pair appeared cosy in snaps shared on the 23-year-old model's social media accounts.

In 2015, Justin became embroiled in a party scandal when a Melbourne model claimed she was drugged at a party attended by the Love Yourself hitmaker.

Doing it for the fans: The Love Yourself hitmaker is set to perform in Melbourne tonight, before heading to other states

Another Aussie flame? Emily isn't the first local beauty who's been linked to Justin, with model Sahara Ray spotted getting cosy while holidaying in Hawaii with the singer last year

Bailey Scarlett, 18 at the time, told the Nine Network: 'I basically just remember collapsing to the floor.

'My partner found me. I was unconscious and convulsing in the street in front of all his fans.'

But the star's camp denied the model's claims and dismissed it as a bid to 'get her few minutes of fame'.

Scandal: In 2015, Justin was embroiled in a party scandal when Melbourne-based model Scarlett Bailey claimed she was drugged while attending an event with the star

'My partner found me. I was unconscious and convulsing in the street in front of all his fans,' the model said at the time, with Justin's camp denying she was drugged

Meanwhile, Justin wowed his Beliebers on Monday night when the Purpose tour got underway at nib Stadium.

He's due to perform in Melbourne on Friday night before heading to Queensland on Monday and Sydney on Wednesday.
While her breakup with ex-girlfriend and fellow Bachelor contestant Megan Marx was confirmed only days ago week.

It seems Tiffany Scanlon, 30, has been busy reinventing herself and getting her mind off of Megan ahead of her upcoming trip to Denmark.

Tiffany took to Instagram to share a saucy bikini picture of herself walking barefoot down a rock formation in Rottnest Island on Western Australia, on Friday.

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'Just me in my adventure hat': The Bachelor's Tiffany Scanlon has shared a saucy bikini picture of herself as part of a series to be an ambassador for youth travel company Busabout Tours

Wearing a in a tiny red two piece, The former Bachelor hopeful also donned what she called an 'Indiana Janes' hat, with a pair of dark round sunglasses and holding her mobile phone.

The picture is part of a series of bikini snaps recently posted on her social media for her application to be an ambassador for youth travel company Busabout Tours.

Wishing her 105, 000 followers a happy Friday, the Perth-born stunner captioned the post: 'Indiana Janes. Just me in my adventure hat,' and directed them to watch her video submission on YouTube.

Moving on! Megan (left) confirmed that she a Tiffany (right) had broken gone their separate ways with the latter returning to Perth after announcing she would be travelling to Denmark and around Europe

Looking trim! The recently single blonde appears to have been busy reinventing herself for the travel gig, while getting her mind off of Megan

Fans of the blonde beauty commented on her post, with many of the complimenting her trim figure.

One wrote: 'I like that Indiana Janes!'

While another said: 'Amazing shot & love the texture of the cliff.'

Fan love: She captioned her post 'Indiana Janes. Just me in my adventure hat,' and directed them to watch her video submission for Busabout Tours on YouTube

Forgetting the past? In the video for the ambassador job, the reality TV star failed to mention her quest for love on last year's season of The Bachelor as part of her background

But in the video for the ambassador job, the reality TV star failed to mention her quest for love on last year's season of The Bachelor as part of her background.

In a bid of shed distance herself from the show, she instead talked about her love of travel and previous experiences as a high school teacher, a safety adviser on a mining site, and as an Emirates air hostess.

Tiffany also showed off the beautiful scenery of Rottnest Island, promoting it as one of Western Australia's best kept secrets.

Hello sea!The picture is part of a series of bikini snaps recently posted on her social media for her application to be an ambassador for youth travel company Busabout Tours

Earlier in the week Megan Marx finally confirmed that she is no longer with Tiffany.

In her reply to a fan who ask the status of their relationship, after followers demanded to know what was going on following weeks of speculation.

'Tiffany and I have broken up,' she wrote on Wednesday.
Captain Lee Rosbach, star of Bravo's reality show Below Deck, has filed for bankruptcy.

The 67-year-old sailor submitted legal documents March 6, according to RadarOnline, stating he has between $100,001 to $500,000 in debt.

The paperwork explains it's mostly consumer debt and that there about 49 creditors he owes money to.

Broke: Captain Lee Rosbach, star of Bravo's reality show Below Deck, has filed for bankruptcy, RadarOnline reported on Thursday

RadarOnline reported that Rosbach asked to be able to play the Chapter 13 filing fee in installments, something the judge has agreed to.

He has two weeks to submit additional documents and is scheduled to meet with creditors on April 13.

Meanwhile, filming recently wrapped on a fifth season of Below Deck that was shot in Saint Martin, in the Caribbean.

The series follows Rosbach, who provides yachts to the rich and famous, as he and his crew cater to their very well-heeled clients.

Seeking Chapter 13 protection: The 67-year-old submitted legal documents stating he has between $100,001 to $500,000 in debt and that there about 49 creditors he owes money to
She's the face of Chanel No 5 and walked for brand designer Karl Lagerfeld's Spring/Summer haute couture show in Paris in January.

But Lily-Rose Depp kept her beautiful face undercover when she turned up at Los Angeles International Airport to catch a flight out of the city on Thursday.

The 17-year-old kept things simple in a black hoodie, matching sweat pants and sneakers.

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Keeping it low key: Lily-Rose Depp kept her beautiful face undercover when she turned up at Los Angeles International Airport to catch a flight out of the city on Thursday

And she pulled the hood of her top up to hide her face and tresses and kept her eyes down as she walked across the concourse.

It's a far cry from the blush pink wedding dress that featured layers of ruffles that she modelled for Chanel just a few weeks earlier.

The teen, who is the daughter of Johnny Depp, 53, and his former long-time love Vanessa Paradis, 44, wasn't wearing any make-up and she looked a little pale and wan for her trip.

Her only accessory appeared to her small yellow padded Chanel handbag.

Eyes down: The 17-year-old wore and black hoodie and matching sweat pants as she walked along the concourse

So an assistant must have been handling her luggage.

There was no of her British boyfriend Ash Stymest, which may explain why Lily-Rose looked a little down.

She and Ash, 25, both walked for Chanel's pre-Fall 2017 show at the Ritz in Paris in early December.

Hooded star: The model and actress pulled the hood of her top over her face

Meanwhile, Lily-Rose is adding actress to her resume.

She appeared in three films in 2016: Planetarium with Natalie Portman; The Dancer; and Yoga Hosers with her father Johnny.

This year she is due to appear in Kevin Smith's comedy chiller Moose Jaws.
The cast of EastEnders are reportedly planning a surprise welcome back party for Danny Dyer when he makes his return to the BBC soap.

The actor is currently taking a break in South Africa after making a sudden departure from the Square, where he plays Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter.

But his co-stars, according to the Daily Star, are reportedly keen to show their support for the soap favourite when he makes his anticipated return.

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Welcome back: The cast of EastEnders are reportedly planning a surprise welcome back party for Danny Dyer when he makes his return to the BBC soap

A source told the newspaper: 'They're keen to show everyone is behind him 100% after his tough few months.

'They are planning a round of applause when he steps back behind the bar for filming for the first time.'

'The cast know how important Danny is to the show's success and don't want it to be awkward,' the insider added.

Danny is taking some time away from the soap for personal reasons, after a string of emotional storylines for his character.

Last month Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale came forward to slam accusations that he and Danny had clashed prior to his sudden departure from the show.

Good terms: Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale on EastEnders (L) has come forward to slam accusations that he and Danny(R) had clashed prior to his departure from the show

According to the Daily Star, the 39-year-old had criticised Adam for only ever playing one character on screen, and branded himself the superior actor.

However the soap stalwart has since admitted that the claims were 'news' to him, as he and Danny had enjoyed a 'nice chat' before his departure.

The paper first reported tensions between the pair - with Danny allegedly stating of his co-star: 'Adam has played one role .He's auditioned once in his whole career. Out of every soap actor I've got the most experience.'

Not happy: Danny is taking some time away from the soap for personal reasons, after a string of emotional storylines for his character

However Adam, who is the longest-serving member of the cast, was quick to deny the reports, and revealed the pair had been on good terms before Danny headed on a 'short break' - due to his alleged breakdown.

Adam, who has appeared on the show since 1985, told the paper: 'This is news to me considering Danny and I had a great chat before he went on his break. As Danny would say, its pony.'

A representative for EastEnders also dismissed the idea of any clashes on set, adding: 'There is absolutely no truth in this story. Danny is an extremely popular member of cast and respected by everyone on the show.'

An insider recently revealed that the beloved star's return could now be 'in a matter of weeks and not months'.

Short break: It seems Danny Dyer could be returning to EastEnders sooner than fans of the BBC One soap might have expected

It is thought that Danny has taken a trip to South Africa after several heavy storylines on the show, including controversially kissing Whitney and the recent Walford bus crash.

Danny has not commented on his break from the show, remaining silent on social media.

The claims a follow a video leaked in January that saw the 'flustered' actor being comforted by his co-stars at the National Television Awards.

The clip shows him gesticulating while talking to and being soothed by EastEnders colleagues including James Bye [Martin Fowler], Danny's wife Joanne Mas and Laurie Brett, [Jane Beale].

EastEnders came forward after the leak to deny that the 39-year-old is 'spiralling out of control, exhausted and needs to control his temper.'

'Just go, go now!': The claims a follow a video released by the paper that saw the actor 'tired and flustered' at the National Television Awards last month

While the publication refers to the clip as depicting a '15 minute meltdown', a friend of Danny's told MailOnline: 'He wasn't behaving badly at all. He was presenting an award so he was tired as he had been at the venue since 6pm.

'He was struggling to find the exit to get out as he was worried he was going to be mobbed by fans as there were queues everywhere and he just wanted to get to his car.

'The rest of the group were saying, 'Just go, go now,' before it gets any busier. He wanted to get out and nothing more.

A friend of Danny's told MailOnline: 'He wasn't behaving badly - he just wanted to leave but couldn't find the exit (pictured with Lacey Turner)

'Danny is one of the nicest people you can work with. He's always so lovely and a rye professional.'

The Sun had previously reported that Danny stated backstage at the NTAs last month, while clutching a bottle of beer, that he had failed in attempting to give up drink after just one month.

But the BBC have explained that Danny went straight home after the NTAs, not even attending an after party.

Troubled: Danny was also spotted on a plane 'drinking beer' as he flees the UK for South Africa ALONE following EastEnders break announcement

Amid reports of a meltdown, Danny seems to have taken the opportunity to jet out of the UK to escape the sudden barrage of unidentified sources coming forward attempting to sully his name.

Speaking to The Mirror, a fellow passenger said: 'Danny was travelling by himself on an evening flight. He had a porter dealing with his luggage, but other than that he was flying solo.

'He kept his head down and was checking his phone. He was flying first class and sat in the lounge on his iPad drinking a couple of beers.'

The eyewitness added that a flight attendant kept Danny topped up during the journey.

Denial: EastEnders have insisted that Danny Dyer has 'never lost his temper at work' and is 'respected by everyone' on set, in light of claims he had been 'plain rude' to the crew

Back in 2015, Danny touched on his relationship with alcohol and EastEnders producers as he wrote in his autobiography, The World According To Danny Dyer.

He said: 'I sometimes have a half at the end of the day in The Queen Vic, though they started putting TCP in the pumps to stop me drinking it!'

A year before, in an interview with Jonathan Ross he spoke once again about the Queen Vic, as he said: 'There are a couple of good pumps. They tried to put non-alcoholic beer in there but it don't come out properly...

'On a good day I slip over to the good pumps and have half a lager ... not taking the p**s, as I don't want to get in trouble. You have to keep yourself busy behind the bar.'

Honest and open: A year before, in an interview with Jonathan Ross, Danny (pictured here in 2010) spoke once again about the Queen Vic, as he said: 'There are a couple of good pumps. They tried to put non-alcoholic beer in there but it don't come out properly...'

Giving up drinking wasn't the only thing Danny tried to give up in 2017, however the potty-mouthed TV personality was able to stop swearing from less than four days into the new year.

Speaking on January 4, 2017, Danny made the surprising admission that he'd purchase a swear jar in a bid to curb his use of foul language.

But the 39-year-old EastEnders star quickly failed in his mission, and candidly revealed that he thought the whole thing was 'b*****ks.'

Elsewhere, Danny has previously admitted that he has always 'taken drugs and probably always will.'

Back behind the bar: Danny will apparently soon return as landlord Mick Carter

He wrote in his book Danny Dyer: Straight Up: 'There's a difference between having the odd crafty bump up the snout as a reward for a job well done and letting it rule your life.'

He added: 'You can't brush it under the carpet and try and pretend it doesn't happen, because it does happen. It happens all over the world every night, millions and millions of people.

'And it can have a terrible effect on people, and other people can deal with it and get on with their lives and never lose a job and bring up their children, and be fine with it. I think everything in moderation.'
There are, it seems, a glut of Little Mermaid movies in the works.

While Disney has commissioned Lin-Manuel Miranda to write original songs for a possible do-over of their franchise and Universal and Working Title plan a live-action version scripted by Richard Curtis, a trailer for yet another incarnation of the classic fairytale was released Thursday.

Directed by Chris Bouchard and Blake Harris, this independent feature puts another twist on Hans Christian Anderson's story of a mermaid who yearned to obtain an immortal soul.

Classic tale: A trailer for indie film The Little Mermaid dropped Thursday, with yet another version of the Hans Christian Anderson fairtytale

The film centers around William Moseley, who starred as Peter in The Chronicles of Narnia and Prince Liam in The Royals, and his young sister played by Loreto Peralta.

The siblings travel to Mississippi in the 1800s after hearing of a mermaid that's part of a circus attraction there.

The trailer opens with Shirley MacLaine as an old woman telling a story to her young granddaughters who doubt the existence of mermaids.

The trailer opens with Shirley MacLaine as an old woman telling stories to her young granddaughters who doubt the existence of mermaids

The action flips to the 19th century and English actor William Moseley who plays a young newspaper reporter Cam assigned to investigate a circus's claim to have a real mermaid

Big adventure: Cam heads off to Mississippi taking along with him his young sister Elle, played by Loreto Peralta

The clip shows Moseley as a newspaper reporter tasked by his editor to check out the mermaid attraction and he takes along his sister who is also anxious to see a mermaid in real life.

When they arrive at the circus, there is indeed a beautiful dark-haired woman on show in a water tank.

Later, the same young woman is seen meeting Peralta's character in the woods, with the youngster remarking on the fact she now has feet instead of a tail.

At the circus, they do indeed find a beautiful woman with a fish tail on display in a large tank

The mermaid, played by Poppy Drayton, is then seen walking in the woods where she meets Elle who remarks on the fact that she has feet instead of a tail

The mysterious beauty tells the little girl not to divulge her secret

The ringmaster turns out to have some kind of supernatural powers and keeps the mermaid's soul in a vial as a means of keeping her in his charge.

Moseley's character endeavors to help her escape to a better life.

The mermaid is played by Poppy Drayton, star of TV's The Shannara Chronicles.

The film is slated for a release at some future date in 2017.

The circus ringmaster claims to have the mermaid's soul contained within a vial and by which he maintains control over her
What The Butler Saw (Curve Theatre, Leicester)

Rating:

Before Monty Python and Fawlty Towers came Joe Orton, the original master of madcap farce. A subversive theatrical delinquent of the Sixties, he met a gory end at the hands of his lover  the story of Alan Bennetts screen adaptation Prick Up Your Ears.

Now, the bad boy from Leicester makes a triumphant return to his native city with a riotous production of his best comedy, starring Rufus Hound and Jasper Britton.

Joe Orton, original master of madcap farce, returns to Leicester with a riotous production of his best comedy, starring Rufus Hound and Jasper Britton.

The mayhem kicks off with a randy doctor (Hound) inviting his secretarial temp (Dakota Blue Richards) to strip for a physical examination before he offers her the job. But his furtive designs are thwarted: first by his sex maniac wife, being blackmailed by a bellhop from the Station Hotel, then by a swivel-eyed inspector of psychiatric facilities.

I sometimes find Orton dated  too stuck in the Carry On titters of his times. But if the idea of busty secretaries and desperate doctors sounds a bit yesteryear, Nikolai Fosters wicked revival is deliciously risque. He rejoices in the comedy of transvestism and sexual identity, re-infusing both with the joy they had before political correctness.

Britton raises the loony bar as the man from the Ministry. Richards and Jack Holden are delightful as the shapely youngsters, while Catherine Russell and Ravi Aujla stomp purposefully about as the hallucinating housewife and simple-minded policeman.

A joke about a missing piece of a Winston Churchill statue may alarm those of a sensitive disposition, but that, and all the foregoing confusion, are imbued with an innocence that is blissfully bonkers.
Kong: Skull Island (12A)

Verdict: A gigantic disappointment

Rating:

More than eight decades have passed since former Mail war correspondent Edgar Wallace created King Kong, but still the giant ape exerts a fierce grip on the collective imagination.

What a shame, then, that Kong: Skull Island is so feebly plotted and scripted, monkeying around with the story and, in the biggest misjudgment of all, revealing Kong in all his hairy majesty even before the opening credits.

The picture begins on a remote Pacific island with a wartime confrontation between two airmen  one American, the other Japanese  who have parachuted out of their stricken planes.

But, soon, they are distracted from the business of killing each other by the great beast itself, an idiotic move by director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and his band of screenwriters.

Kong: Skull Island is feebly plotted and scripted, monkeying around with the story, Brian Viner says in his new review

They include Dan Gilroy, who wrote and directed the captivatingly tense 2014 thriller Nightcrawler and really ought to know better.

Anyway, with the suspense of Kong's entrance shattered before some folk in the audience have even started tucking in to their popcorn, we then skip forward to 1973.

It is shortly before the Fall of Saigon and, in some ways more significantly, just after the rise of Black Sabbath.

A Seventies soundtrack that also includes David Bowie and Jefferson Airplane is probably the best thing about this film, notwithstanding the presence of Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Toby Kebbell and a hopelessly miscast Tom Hiddleston.

But the point of the setting is not only to facilitate good music. America, reeling from the Vietnam War and with Watergate brewing, is in turmoil.

To make matters worse, ships and planes are unaccountably going missing in the Pacific, so a fellow played by Goodman who specialises in finding 'massive unidentified terrestrial organisms'  every government should have one  gets the go-ahead to see whether, lurking at the heart of the mystery, there might be a creature the size of a skyscraper. And guess what . . ?

The muscle for his expedition is provided by maverick U.S. Army man Preston Packard (Jackson) and his unit, who have axes to grind since being given the runaround by the Viet Cong.

But they still need someone who knows his way through an impenetrable rainforest. Enter former SAS hero James Conrad (Hiddleston), whom we know to be rock-hard because, in time-honoured bad-movie fashion, we've seen him beating someone up in a bar.

Now, Hiddleston has already proved himself as this kind of character, not least in acclaimed BBC drama The Night Manager. Yet here, in this Pacific archipelago, he is all at sea.

Viner says that Tom Hiddleston (pictured) is wildly miscast in his role of former SAS hero James Conrad

Alongside Jackson in particular, who gives us his standard, mildly deranged alpha-male act, Hiddleston just seems fey, like a posh, faintly camp sommelier who has blundered into the wrong movie.

Maybe that's why he musters barely a test tube's worth of chemistry with the obligatory love interest, Mason Weaver (Larson). She is a photographer, although not a very good one, judging by her insistence on taking pictures of this wildly colourful, just-discovered island in black and white.

She might look cute clutched in a large, leathery palm once we discover Kong is actually a sweetie at heart, but she'll never get a picture spread in National Geographic. So much for the human protagonists  what of the furred, feathered and scaled cast members?

This is an island that could sustain an entire David Attenborough series all on its own.

Kong's neighbours include monumental chickens, enormous spiders, vast stick insects and, most dangerous of all, colossal lizards, Kong's sworn enemies, led by an especially big one known, conveniently, as the Big One.

In fairness, Vogt-Roberts does not waste all the special effects and motion capture bells and whistles at his disposal: the creatures are brought to life convincingly.

But what a disappointing film this is, all the same. There are deliberate echoes of Apocalypse Now and Jurassic Park, but they ring terribly hollow.

There's scarcely any tension, no exciting narrative thrust and rather painfully strained attempts at humour, even by the always excellent John C. Reilly  whose character I won't divulge, just in case you really don't have anything better to do on Sunday afternoon.

But I hope you do. In fact, you could fare a lot worse than staying at home and watching the DVD of The Hobbit director Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong. It is superior in every way.
She was one half of The Bachelor Australia's first lesbian couple.

And since confirming her split from Tiffany Scanlon on Wednesday in a response to a fan on social media, Megan Marx is ready to spread her wings.

The 27-year-old headed overseas on Wednesday, and through her Instagram live stories shared her first stop in Copenhagen.

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Flying solo: Newly single Megan Marx headed overseas on Wednesday and through her Instagram live stories, shared that her first stop was Copenhagen

The first update was a photo of the blonde beauty with a fresh face in a beanie, holding a coffee in front of the city's famous colourful row houses and waterways.

She captioned the shot 'Made it' and smiled as she posed in the 17th-century Nyhavn district.

A closeup selfie showing half of her makeup-free face was her next upload, with the brightly coloured townhouses and canals in the background.

Happy: A closeup selfie showing half of her makeup-free face was her next upload, with the brightly coloured townhouses and canals in the background

The reality star then shot a video of what appeared to be a military marching band in the city's historic streets.

She also captured footage from what looked like a chauffeured vehicle driving down the streets, passing popular restaurants and retailers.

The newly single stunner announced she would be indulging in a solo getaway to Europe in a post to Instagram one day after she revealed her break-up.

Moments: The reality star then shot a video of what appeared to be a military marching band in the city's historic streets

Pictured at the International Departures area in Sydney Airport, she posed for a photo on the escalators dressed for travel in a striped T-shirt, pants and sneakers.

'At International Departures on International Women's Day!' she wrote, paying tribute to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo as her inspiration for the day.

'She showed me having a voice, even if that means showcasing a reality or a passion that is misunderstood or shocking to society, is not only cathartic to the individual soul, but important for the development of our society in achieving sense and equality,' she described.

Taking flight: Pictured at the International Departures area in Sydney Airport, she posed for a photo on the escalators dressed for travel in a striped t-shirt, pants and sneakers

Megan and Tiffany were both coy on social media in the weeks leading up to their break-up announcement and fans were shocked when Megan confirmed the split.

'They put themselves in the public light .... the public is going to ask,' one follower observed of the situation. 'I think they're both regretting going so public so quickly.'

While Megan has spoken on their separation, Tiffany has yet to officially comment.
They confirmed their romance at the end of 2016 and have been seen holidaying together in the new year.

And now it seems fans are hoping My Kitchen Rule's Nelly Riggio and her patisserie chef beau Adriano Zumbo might wind up tying the knot.

Posting a new photo to her Instagram on Friday, 26-year-old Nelly was spotted sporting a large ring on her right hand, with followers quick to point out it might be better suited as a wedding band.

Put a ring on it: After posting a picture of her and boyfriend Adriano Zumbo where she sported a large sparkling ring, Nelly Riggio's fans were quick to point out it might be better suited as a wedding band

The photo showed the two smiling at the camera as they prepared to jet off to New Zealand.

The brunette beauty looked casual in a white top and blue knit jumper, but it was her accessories that seemed to draw attention.

A sparkling box cut ring rested on the middle finger of her right hand, with one fan commenting: 'That ring looks like it belongs on the other hand, one finger down'

Another weighed in, writing: 'I'm loving that ring!'

Loved up: The photo showed the two together as they prepared to jet off to New Zealand

Work mates: The pair reportedly fell in love when Nelly started working for the chef

Adriano, 35, who is known for his incredible range of cakes and sweet treats, looked relaxed in the picture, wearing a cobalt coloured v-neck shirt.

However, girlfriend Nelly had some fun when mentioning his scraggly salt and pepper beard, calling the macaron-maker a 'woolly mammoth'.

The pair reportedly fell in love when Nelly started working for the chef recently, having ended things with her former flame JP Hulliet.

JP and Nelly appeared on My Kitchen Rules last year, receiving the nickname 'the lovebirds.'

Smooth sailing: Nelly posted a snap of the them aboard a boat last week and captioned the moment 'You're legit my favourite part of waking up everyday'

Nelly professed her love for the Just Desserts baker last week in a snap of the two aboard a boat, writing, 'You're legit my favourite part of waking up everyday'.

The loved-up couple have been holidaying together recently, visiting the Sunshine coast and Melbourne to watch the Australian Open finals.

The food-focused duo have been getting serious of late, after the fresh-faced stunner introduced her new man to her mum Ursula.

The trio were photographed outside a Sydney church last month where they were attending the Christening of Nelly's little cousin.
India and Belgium sign Protocol amending Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and Protocol

Published: March 10, 2017

India and Belgium have signed a Protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between the two countries.

The Protocol was signed by Sushil Chandra, Chairman Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Jan Luykx, Ambassador of Belgium to India.

Key Facts

The amendment of DTAA will broaden the scope of the existing framework of exchange of tax related information between the two countries.

It will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance between the two countries and also enable mutual assistance in collection of taxes.

It also revises the scope of existing treaty provisions on mutual assistance in collection of taxes and further help to curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.

Background

The Union Government has set a key priority area for dighting the menace of Black Money stashed in offshore accounts. To further this goal, India has either signed or amended international agreements, declarations or conventions for the DTAA and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and for the Exchange of Information with Mauritius, Switzerland, Cyprus, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Kazakhstan, and Austria during the financial year 2016-17.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2017

Topics: Dtaa  India-Belgium  National  Tax Evasion  Taxation

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Filming recently began on the fifth season of The Bachelor Australia.

And it appears a number of the hopeful contestants vying for Matty 'J' Johnson's love bare a striking resemblance to high-profile celebrity women.

Beautiful lookalikes of Jennifer Hawkins, Kim Kardashian and even former competitor Keira Maguire were seen on the reality show's Sydney set earlier this month, as they prepared to enter the mansion for the first time.

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Seeing double! An upcoming contestant on the new season of The Bachelor Australia looked like a dead ringer for Jennifer Hawkins on set of the reality series, last week

One participant, snapped in a close-up shot, appeared to channel Australian supermodel Jennifer Hawkins with her natural beauty and blonde wavy locks as she had her hair and makeup done before meeting Matty J at the mansion, which is located in Glenorie, north west of Sydney.

Another brunette stunner might have had those on set doing a double take, due to her uncanny likeness to Kim Kardashian.

The glamourous knockout wore her long hair slicked back and parted in the middle, with a heavily made-up face and a bright red lip.

Keeping up! Another brunette stunner might have had those on set doing a double take, due to her uncanny likeness to Kim Kardashian

Stunner: The glamourous knockout wore her long dark hair slicked back and parted in the middle, with a heavily made-up face and a bright red lip

Brunette beauty: The Kim Kardashian lookalike, dressed in a seductive off-shoulder red dress, was attended to by production staff

Twinsies: It appears a number of the hopeful contestants vying for Matty 'J' Johnson's love bare a striking resemblance to high-profile celebrity women

Lights, camera, action: Filming recently began on the fifth season of The Bachelor Australia

Another contender appeared to look like last season's 'villain' and I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here entrant, Keira Maguire.

She wore her blonde hair in a similar bob style and was dressed in a white v-neck T-shirt that showed off her ample chest.

The ladies recently entered the Sydney mansion where the reality show is being filmed for the second time.

Hopeful: Another contender appeared to look like last season's 'villain' and recent I'm A Celebrity entrant, Keira Maguire

Blonde ambition! The Keira Maguire doppelganger appeared to have a serious look on her face as she prepared to enter the mansion alongside fellow competitors

Future's bright: The fair-haired contestant resembling Keira Maguire partially took down her sunglasses from her eyes as she walked towards the mansion

Hopefuls: The new Bachelor crew were seen enjoying a moment while together before heading to the reality show's set

Helping hand? The girls appeared to be in the company of a male crew member while they unloaded their belongings from the vehicle

Also among the lookalikes was a busty blonde with ample assets to rival previous contestant, Zilda Williams.

The busty singleton juggled several bags as she disembarked from a minivan, which had shuttled the ladies to the mansion.

The mystery woman wore a form-fitting cropped T-shirt with denim shorts that showed off her tanned limbs.

Making her way inside, she stopped to talk to another contestant, a brunette wearing a low backed orange mini dress.

Look familiar? Among the women competing for Matty's affection includes a curvy blonde with ample assets to rival previous contestant Zilda Williams

Hands full: The golden haired singleton juggled several bags as she disembarked from a minivan which had shuttled the ladies to the mansion

There didn't seem to be a specified dress code for the first day, with girls arriving in everything from track pants to cocktail dresses.

A tall blonde contestant was seen dressing down for the exciting occasion.

Dressing for comfort, the reality star hopped off the private bus at the off-site location in a more laid-back ensemble than her competitors.

She's casual! One blonde contestant was dressed comfortably in green sweatpants, a T-shirt and sneakers

Looking for love or comfort? The Bachelor star also paired her laid-back ensemble with a face free of makeup and unstyled hair

She donned khaki-coloured sweatpants, a loose T-shirt with the slogan 'AUSTIN' printed across her chest and white Converse sneakers.

The tanned beauty disguised her frame in the roomy outfit, while a brunette showcased her derriere in tiny white short shorts.

The relaxed starlet appeared to forgo makeup for her arrival, but is believed to have been wearing fake tan.

Her light blonde locks were left down and were not styled like some of her rivals.

Relaxed: The tanned beauty disguised her frame in the roomy outfit, while a brunette showcased her derriere in tiny white short shorts in front of her

All dressed up! Another blonde contestant looked like she was dressed to impress Matty from the moment she stepped off the bus, wearing an elegant white cape

Another blonde contestant looked like she was dressed to impress Matty from the moment she stepped off the bus, wearing an elegant white cape.

The mystery woman wore her long locks in a high pony tail, shielding her eyes with a pair of large aviator sunglasses.

Other rivals dared to bare in barely-there short shorts and tight ensembles.

Leggy beauties! Two blondes strutted out of the vehicle in barely-there short shorts, while others also sported similar outfits that dared to bare

Resting her feet before she wears heels? Another contestant was clearly dressed for comfort, wearing a pair of white Birkenstocks

Another contestant was clearly dressed for comfort, wearing a pair of white Birkenstocks.

The blonde draped a leather jacket over her shoulders, wearing a loose black maxi dress.

Some of the women appeared to have been concerned about when they would next eat, having arrived clutching boxes of takeaway food.

All black! The blonde draped a leather jacket over her shoulders, wearing a loose black maxi dress

Worried about getting hungry? Some of the women appeared to have been concerned about when they would next eat, having arrived clutching boxes of takeaway food

According to Now to Love, Matty J is unimpressed with the bevy of beauties that have been cast on the show.

A source told the publication: 'He's said there are better girls he could have found himself in Bondi.'

The source also added that the hunk preferred Richie Strahan's casting.

Stylish entry: Many of the girls opted for a full-face of makeup and styled hair

'He's said there are better girls he could have found himself in Bondi': An inside source told Now To Love that Matty J is unimpressed with the bevy of beauties cast on the show

It's only for a few weeks! Girls seemed to be armed with wildly different amounts of luggage

A Network Ten spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the claims are false.

'The unsubstantiated claims by an "insider" are completely wrong,' they said.

The network hinted at Matty finding his dream girl, saying: 'Strong chemistry is already developing with some Bachelorettes and viewers will be excited to watch his genuine romance blossom later this year.'

Matty J, who lost out to Lee Elliott on the final episode of The Bachelorette last season, told OK! magazine he will propose during the finale if he meets the right girl.

'Normally you'd need more time but when you know, you know,' he said.

'I'd like a casual wedding, ideally spring, outside,' he continued.

The Bachelor has already started filming and will air in the next few weeks.
She's the glamorous wife of Hollywood superstar Chris Hemsworth.

And Elsa Pataky, 40, showed off the boho chic style she's become renowned for in Byron Bay on Saturday.

Immersing herself in the relaxed local lifestyle, Elsa went barefoot as she and Chris doted over their twin boys while out for lunch.

Family day out: Spanish actress Elsa Pataky opted for boho chic in Byron Bay on Saturday

With their two-year-old twin boys Tristan and Sasha in tow, the couple enjoyed a family meal at The Farm restaurant.

Flaunting her slim figure, Elsa opted for a colourful floral gown with a low neckline.

Tying her hair in a chic updo, she showed off a number of necklaces which dangled elegantly around her neck.

Doting parents: Elsa went barefoot as she and husband Chris Hemsworth (R) doted over their twin boys, Tristan and Sasha

She accessorised further with a number of colourful bangles and bracelets on both wrists.

Adding to the Byron Bay charm of the ensemble, Elsa opted to go barefoot for the occasion.

While she and Chris spent much of their day doting over their boys, Elsa also enjoyed a discussion with a female friend.

At one stage, the parents were pictured sitting down with their boys in the shade and Elsa appeared to take a stick off her son.

Hey mum! The couple enjoyed a family lunch at The Farm restaurant

Style: Elsa opted for a colourful floral gown with a plunging neckline and several accessories

Good spirits: While she and Chris spent much of their day doting over their boys, Elsa also enjoyed a discussion with a female friend

Beachside vibes: Her barefoot boho style has become a regular feature since she and her family relocated to coastal New South Wales

Her barefoot boho style has become a regular feature since she and her family relocated to coastal New South Wales.

They previously lived in Los Angeles, but Chris spoke often of his desire to move back to Australia.

Elsa and Chris married in late-2010 and share a daughter, India Rose, four, as well as their twin boys.
She is an outspoken champion for women's rights.

So who better than Zendaya to do a Snapchat take-over for International Women's Day?

The 20-year-old took control of Lyft's account on Wednesday night to deliver a powerful message of support to her fellow females.

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Girl power: Zendaya took control of Lyft's account on Wednesday night to deliver a powerful message of support to her fellow females

'Hey what's up its Zendaya here, taking over Lyft's account to say Happy International Women's Day!' she beamed. 'I hope everyone is having an incredible empowering day!'

The actress then listed the ladies who have had the biggest impact on her life so far.

'In honour of International Women's Day, three of the biggest powerful female influences for me are definitely the women in my family; so my mom and my older sister. Oprah for sure. And Michelle Obama for sure. The list goes on and on,' she mused.

'Hey what's up its Zendaya here, taking over Lyft's account to say Happy International Women's Day!' she beamed. 'I hope everyone is having an incredible empowering day!'

'In honour of International Women's Day, three of the biggest powerful female influences for me are definitely the women in my family; so my mom and my older sister. Oprah for sure. And Michelle Obama for sure. The list goes on and on,' she mused.

She declared her participation in IWD consisted of celebrating other women, empowering them, lifting them up. and wearing red lipstick.

'So shout out to all my beautiful strong women out there, and make sure you continue to bust and break through that glass ceiling and keep moving forward,' she said.

'Cause that is the only way we are going to make the changes that we want to see and make the progress that we want to make so stay strong.'

She declared her participation in IWD consisted of celebrating other women, empowering them, lifting them up. and wearing red lipstick.

The Disney star was one of the many young female celebrities to take to the streets in force in January to take part in the mass womens' marches that occurred all over the United States, and indeed the world.

Zendaya, who is proving herself to be a real social media guerrilla, had taken over Vogue's Snapchat account that day, too.

'We don't even know where we're going , we're just following the crowd,' she gleefully admitted as she marched. 'We're just following the fabulousness.'

She joined in the chats of 'They go low, we go high' and 'Yes we can', and shared pics of her favourite placards, including 'A woman's worth is not determined by her appearance', and 'Putin in the White House'.
She dropped four kilograms while forced to survive on rice and beans in the jungle.

And it seems Tegan Martin may have tried a bit too hard to make up for lost meals after being kicked off I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

The 24-year-old former Miss Universe Australia revealed she had to be hospitalised on Friday, because she tried to eat too much food after being voted out of the jungle camp.

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Medical emergency: It seems Tegan Martin (pictured) may have tried a bit too hard to make up for lost time after being kicked off I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

Taking to Twitter, Tegan shared a photo that appeared to show her in an enormous amount of discomfort - hunched over a hospital bed with her head in her hands.

'When you leave the jungle & eat to much food ... you end up on hospital,' she wrote alongside her photo.

'Take me back to the jungle already!!'

Oh no! The 24-year-old former Miss Universe Australia revealed she had to be hospitalised on Friday, because she tried to eat too much food after being voted out of the jungle camp

In a grey jumper and black shorts, the blonde beauty looked far less bubbly than the person who became an I'm A Celeb... favourite.

Just days earlier she'd told co-hosts of I'm A Celebrity... Julia Morris and Dr Chris Brown that she had devoured plenty since leaving the jungle.

The Newcastle-born stunner declared to the pair: 'You name it, I've eaten it'.

'Pringles, five blocks of chocolate, hot chips with aioli, rib-eye steak...'

'You name it, I've eaten it': Days earlier the Newcastle-born stunner declared she'd eaten some 'Pringles, five blocks of chocolate, hot chips with aioli' and a 'rib-eye steak' after elimination

'No rest for the wicked': Tegan was back at work on Wednesday, donning a striped swimsuit as she posed for a modelling shoot

Her medical emergency came just days after Tegan flaunted her slimmer than ever figure in a modelling shoot.

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, she posted a photo that showed her posing in a striped swimsuit and looking staunchly into the camera lense.

'No rest for the wicked,' the stunning model captioned her photo.

Not ready to return? Tegan told The Daily Telegraph on Monday she didn't feel ready to start modelling so soon after I'm A Celeb as she had lost 4kg in weight and her body wasn't as toned

'Can't complain when your surroundings are this magical,' Tegan said as she tagged her location in South Africa.

The star was seen posing in shallow water for a photographer, who was dressed in chinos, a singlet and an akubra hat.

The high-cut suit clung to her slender frame, while she gave a leggy display by bending her leg for the picture.
His wife Blake Lively traveled to Toronto for an event yesterday.

And Ryan Reynolds enjoyed some time to himself as he stepped out for a stroll in New York City on Thursday.

The Deadpool actor, 29, plugged into his earbuds as he stepped out in the city by himself.

Hitting his stride! Ryan Reynolds enjoyed some time to himself as he stepped out for a stroll in New York City on Thursday

Ryan rocked a suede dark green jacket, jeans, and a pair of small black sunglasses.

Glasses in one hand, the actor stepped across the street in his cosy black and white trainers.

Clearly relaxed, the actor rocked a salt and pepper five o'clock shadow, giving his expression a more rugged touch.

It seems Ryan's wife Blake may still be in Canada, as the actress was the special guest at the L'Oreal Paris Women Of Worth Gala in Toronto.

Man of style! Ryan rocked a suede dark green jacket, jeans, and a pair of small black sunglasses

Family life: Ryan and Blake Lively are based in New York where they are raising their daughters, James, two, and Ines, five months (pictured in Hollywood in December)

Ryan and Blake are based in New York where they are raising their daughters, James, two, and Ines, five months.

The couple tied the knot in South Carolina in 2012.

Ryan was previously married from 2008 to 2011 to actress Scarlett Johansson.

Blake last starred in the action film The Shallows and thriller All I See Is You, while Ryan gears up for Deadpool 2.

He will also be starring opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Hiroyuki Sanada in the upcoming thriller Life, which is scheduled for release on March 24.
She's usually entertaining listeners on KIIS FM 106.5 radio in Sydney.

But now, Sophie Monk is taking a break to become as she has become the proud owner of brand new puppy.

Sophie shared a snap to Instagram on Friday of a wind-swept selfie while she was walking her dog named Optimus.

'In paradise by the water': Sophie Monk posted this snap to Instagram on Friday afternoon while she was walking her new dog Optimus

The radio host posted the selfie in the afternoon sun, saying she was 'in paradise by the water with my dog Optimus'.

She let her blonde hair down to flow in the breeze as her top fell slightly off her shoulder.

She kept her eyes closed and lips parted as she soaked up the sunshine.

The photo comes just days after Sophie posted a photo of her new pup to Instagram and asked her 158k followers for name suggestions.

'I'm in love already!': Sophie Monk have reached out to her fans on social media for name suggestions for her new Bulldog puppy

Sophie told her fans how excited she was for the new addition to her family and asked for 'cute names to call my little boy'.

The replies were coming through think and fast as her loyal followers offered up their best puppy names.

Some of the most popular choices were Louie, Freddy, Roger, Alfie and Prince.

Ideas: Sophie told her fans how excited she was for the new addition to her family and asked for 'cute names to call my little boy'

In the first hour of being on Instagram, the photo racked up over 2,000 likes and 500 comments of name suggestions.

She also shared the photo to Twitter which brought on more responses to name her new pup.

Famous friend Eddie Perfect suggested she simply call the pup 'Gavin'.
Sally Field returned to Broadway on Thursday night.

The actress, 70, stars in a new telling of Tennessee Williams' classic play The Glass menagerie.

And the double Oscar winner looked happy at the after-party at Sardi's following opening night at the Belasco Theatre.

Back on the Great White Way: Sally Field was all smiles as she unwound at the after-party following opening night Thursday of her Broadway play The Glass Menagerie

Field wore black slacks paired with a dark purple and black striped blouse and a black jacket.

She wore her shoulder-length brown hair loose and donned a pair of brown-framed spectacles as she wound down after her performance.

The Glass Menagerie was Williams's first successful play and debuted in Chicago in 1944.

Taking a bow: Field, 70, stars with Joe Mantello in the most autobiographical of Tennessee Williams's plays

Famous role: She plays Amanda, a former Southern Belle with two adult children who desperately wants to find a suitor for her shy and disabled daughter Laura

Field plays the mother of two adult children - Tom and Laura - and while Tom works hard to try and support the family, the mother is obsessed with finding a husband for her shy disabled daughter.

Tom serves as narrator of the story that is told according to his memory of events when he brings home a work colleague for dinner as a possible suitor for his sister.

The play incorporates biographical elements of the playwright's own dysfunctional family.

Leading roles: Mantello plays her son Joe who is also the narrator of the piece which is based on his memories of the time he brings home a work colleague as a possible suitor for his sister

Debut: Newcomer Madison Ferris plays Laura, who is confined to a wheelchair and owns a glass menagerie of animal sculptures
She only gave birth to her second child last week.

But Rachael Finch, 28, appears to already have bounced back from her pre-baby body, having shared a photo of herself looking slender while lightly working out this week.

The snap, which was uploaded to Instagram on Friday, captures the former Miss Universe Australia midway through an exercise.

Yummy mummy: Rachael Finch looks in great shape after the arrival of son Dominic, sharing a picture of her participating in a light workout on Instagram

She captioned the picture: 'Haven't been able to twist in a while so totally soaking this up today. Getting back into what I love slowly.'

A lithe Rachael is seen twisting her shoulders while sitting cross-legged as she performs the move in activewear.

Last Thursday, the Townsville native and her husband Michael Miziner welcomed their first son into the world, joining three-year-old daughter Violet.

Proud parents: Last Thursday, the Townsville native and her husband Michael Miziner welcomed their first son into the world, joining three-year-old daughter Violet

Notoriety: Rachael is a popular television host, model and brand ambassador

And Rachael hasn't been shy in sharing precious moments of her newborn son's first days, in snaps posted to Instagram.

The model took to the site on Wednesday, announcing the baby's name as Dominic, alongside another adorable photo.

'Dominic Michael Miziner Everything we dreamed of,' Rachael captioned the photo shared with her 187,000 Instagram followers.

'Everything we dreamed of': Rachael took to Instagram on Wednesday, sharing another adorable photo of her and husband Michael Miziner's newborn son Dominic

The precious moment captured, saw Dominic lying on a plush white blanket in a singlet and coordinating striped pants.

One tiny hand rested on the baby's head as he enjoyed a nap.

The post came just days after Rachael took to the site, sharing another heartfelt photo of her newborn.

'Where I find true meaning': The post came just days after Rachael took to the site, sharing another heartfelt photo of her newborn

Dominic was seen bonding with his famous mother as he clutched onto one of her fingers tightly.

Rachael captioned the sweet moment: 'Where I find true meaning.'

Rachael and Michael recently called on their Facebook fans to help name their new bub.

Adorable! Husband Michael also took to Instagram just recently, posting a sweet tribute to their son

Baby name: The couple called on Facebook fans to help name their new bub

'Any boys' name suggestions, we're open because little one is still yet to have a name,' Rachael said in a video.

Last year the couple, who share a three-year-old daughter Violet, said they had not yet settled on a baby name.

'It's hard because when we had Violet, we didn't find out if it was a boy or a girl and we only had one girl name picked and six boy names,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'Lord forbid if it's a girl. She won't be named for a long time.'
Justin Bieber has already acquainted himself with local friends, since kicking off the Australian leg of his world tour, on Monday night.

And reports by The West Australian, suggested that the 23-year-old pop sensation had Australian bikini model Emily Baldwin, 20, escorted into his Crown Towers villa, on Wednesday evening.

Photos have now emerged of the stunning brunette making her way into the hotel, dressed down in a white T-shirt and a denim mini-skirt that flaunted her toned legs.

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She's a Belieber! Photos have emerged of Emily Baldwin, 20, the Australian bikini model and pageant contestant, as she was driven and escorted into 23-year-old Justin Bieber's Perth hotel room, on Wednesday night

Emily was seen being driven and escorted into the luxury hotel by a member of Justin's security team.

A simple white T-shirt skimmed over her petite upper frame, teamed with a lightwash denim mini-skirt that showed off her toned legs.

White sneakers, black Mimco studs and round-rimmed Ray Ban sunglasses, worked as low-key accessories.

Sweeping her dark locks into a high top knot, Emily appeared to sport just a small amount of makeup, allowing her natural beauty to shine through.

Low-key: The brunette sported a simple white T-shirt that skimmed over her petite upper frame, teamed with a lightwash denim mini-skirt that flaunted her toned legs

Hanging with the locals: Justin appears to have already acquainted himself with local friends, since kicking off the Australian leg of his world tour, on Monday night

Despite sharing the same surname as Justin's famous ex-girlfriend Hailey, Perth local Emily appears to bear no relation to the blonde bombshell.

According to The West Australian, Emily evoked envy amongst Justin's legion of fans after she shared a snap of a 'beautiful view' that appeared to have been taken from the star's room.

And it appears the genetically-blessed Aussie is a huge fan of the pop star- even using one of his lyrics from the hit Love Yourself as her Instagram bio.

Local beauty: The model was also said to have shared a snap of her 'beautiful view,' believed to have been taken from Justin's room

Big fan: It appears the Perth brunette is a huge fan of the Canadian pop sensation, sharing one of his famous lyrics as her Instagram bio

'My mama don't like you,' reads Emily's bio.

Emily was once a Miss Universe hopeful, having competed in the pageant in 2015.

She sadly missed out on the chance to represent Australia in the final leg of the pageant, but was crowned The West Australian viewers choice award at the time.

'My mama don't like you': Emily writes on her Instagram bio, which is a lyric from the pop star's hit Love Yourself

Flaunt it: Emily appears confident in her social media snaps, often posing in barely-there bikinis

Sounds familiar? Despite sharing the same surname, Emily appears to bear no relation to Justin's famous ex-girlfriend, Hailey Baldwin (pictured)

The brunette beauty, who describes herself as a 'true blue Aussie,' oozes confidence in her social media snaps.

Emily is often seen attending parties with her pals as well as flaunting her enviable figure in barely-there bikinis.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Emily for comment.

Meanwhile, the rendezvous comes as Justin ignited rumours he's reunited with recent ex-girlfriend Sofia Richie, whom he dated in September for a month.

Life of the party: Emily (second from left) is often seen attending parties with her pals while flaunting her enviable figure

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Emily for comment in regards to the report

In a very public declaration of affection, Justin commented underneath one of Sofia's latest Instagram snaps.

'Ur so pretty [sic],' Justin said of the 18-year-old model.

The pair enjoyed a very high-profile and brief romance last Spring, but reportedly broke up as Justin 'doesn't want a relationship'.

The leggy model isn't the first Australian babe Justin has been linked to.

Beauty queen: Emily meanwhile, has been a model for some time and was even entered into the Miss Universe pageant in 2015

Hopeful: Emily sadly missed out on the chance to represent Australia in the final leg of the pageant, but was crowned The West Australian viewers choice award at the time

Aussie through and through: The leggy brunette describes herself as a 'true blue Aussie'

Rekindling? Meanwhile, Justin raised eyebrows on Wednesday after leaving a very complimentary comment on his ex-girlfriend Sofia Richie's Instagram post

Crowd pleaser: Justin kicked off his Australian tour at Perth's nib Stadium on Monday

He previously set tongues wagging when he was spotted taking a skinny dip with model Sahara Ray during a Hawaiian getaway.

While they didn't confirm a romance, the pair appeared cosy in snaps shared on the 23-year-old model's social media accounts.

In 2015, Justin became embroiled in a party scandal when a Melbourne model claimed she was drugged at a party attended by the Love Yourself hitmaker.

Doing it for the fans: The Love Yourself hitmaker is set to perform in Melbourne tonight, before heading to other states

Another Aussie flame? Emily isn't the first local beauty who's been linked to Justin, with model Sahara Ray spotted getting cosy while holidaying in Hawaii with the singer last year

Bailey Scarlett, 18 at the time, told the Nine Network: 'I basically just remember collapsing to the floor.

'My partner found me. I was unconscious and convulsing in the street in front of all his fans.'

But the star's camp denied the model's claims and dismissed it as a bid to 'get her few minutes of fame'.

Scandal: In 2015, Justin was embroiled in a party scandal when Melbourne-based model Scarlett Bailey claimed she was drugged while attending an event with the star

'My partner found me. I was unconscious and convulsing in the street in front of all his fans,' the model said at the time, with Justin's camp denying she was drugged

Meanwhile, Justin wowed his Beliebers on Monday night when the Purpose tour got underway at nib Stadium.

He's due to perform in Melbourne on Friday night before heading to Queensland on Monday and Sydney on Wednesday.
She's getting ready for some major changes in 2017.

And Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 29, looks like she is taking those changes with ease in her latest Instagram post on Thursday.

The stunning English model was glowing as she cradled her growing baby bump with her arm around one of her beloved Dachshunds.

Mama-to-be! Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 29, was glowing as she cradled her growing baby bump with her arm around one of her beloved Dachshunds in her latest Instagram picture

She didn't add any caption to the photo, but did put an animal and smiley emoji.

The gorgeous blonde smiled demurely at the camera as she put both hands on her belly while relaxing on a comfy chair.

With her hair casually pulled back into a loose updo, she looked the epitome of relaxation with her trusty sidekick beside her.

Meanwhile, finance Jason Statham, 50, recently stripped down to display his rippling muscles for the latest issue of Men's Health magazine.

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Shirtless: Jason Statham has posed in just his bottoms for the latest issue of Men's Health magazine

In the accompanying interview, he told the publication of getting older: 'Im moving better than I used to. Im feeling pretty nimble. Its about the whole thing: training, eating, sleeping... all of those have a massive impact on how you feel.

'And Im doing better at all of those things. Sly Stallones got 20 years on me and still looks good so hes part of my inspiration.'

A part of his fitness regime has included practising Brazilian jiu-jitsu with his film-maker pal Guy Ritchie - and they've been often quite competitive.

'I remember when we started out, wed go on a press tour for Lock, Stock and wed be moving all the furniture out of the way in the hotel room, trying to choke each other out,' recalled Jason.

In the accompanying interview, he told the publication of getting older: 'Im moving better than I used to. Im feeling pretty nimble. Its about the whole thing: training, eating, sleeping... all of those have a massive impact on how you feel' - pictured in April 2015

And while he's a celebrity himself, and counts a growing list of starry names among his list of pals, British actor Jason - who lives in California with Rosie - has been cautious about getting sucked in by the negative aspects of Hollywood.

'Hollywood has a caustic effect on a lot of people,' he said. 'Its a cruel business. You can get a big head about things. But what goes up must come down.'

On a more trivial level, part of his inclusion in Hollywood circles is having a 'hardman' image - which he insists couldn't be further from he truth.

He said: 'And Im doing better at all of those things. Sly Stallones got 20 years on me and still looks good so hes part of my inspiration'

He said in reaction: 'Ha! These public labels, the things the media like to paint you as, I dont really look at them. I see myself as a pretty standard sort of chap, really.

'I keep a lot of my pals close to me and I think that keeps my feet on the ground. I dont know if theyll say the same thing! But we all come from the same place.'

The full interview is available in the April 2017 issue of Mens Health, on sale now.
Parliament passes Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Published: March 10, 2017

Parliament has passed the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to raise maternity leave for working women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children.

It was passed in the Lok Sabha and already has been passed in the Rajya Sabha. India will be in third position in terms of the number of weeks allowed for maternity leave in the world after Norway (44 weeks) and Canada (50).

Key Features of the bill

The Bill seeks to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 which protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a maternity benefit

Maternity leave: Increased to 26 weeks for the working women for the first two children. Woman with two or more children will be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave.

Increased to 26 weeks for the working women for the first two children. Woman with two or more children will be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave. Woman who adopts a child below the age of three months and also commissioning mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave.

In this case, commissioning mother is defined as biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman.

Creche facilities: Every establishment with more than 50 employees must provide for creche facilities for working mothers.

Every establishment with more than 50 employees must provide for creche facilities for working mothers. Such mothers will be permitted to make four visits during working hours to look after and feed the child in the creche.

Work from home: Employer may permit a woman to work from home, if the nature of work assigned permits her to do so. This must be mutually agreed upon by the woman and employer.

Employer may permit a woman to work from home, if the nature of work assigned permits her to do so. This must be mutually agreed upon by the woman and employer. Information about benefits: Establishment must inform a working woman of all benefits available under this law at the time of her appointment. Such information must be given in electronically or writing.

Establishment must inform a working woman of all benefits available under this law at the time of her appointment. Such information must be given in electronically or writing. Applicability: The provisions of this law will apply to every establishment employing ten or more persons and include mines and factories. No employer can remove any woman employee on ground of pregnancy.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2017

Topics: Bills and Acts  Maternity Leave  National  Parliament  Women Related Issues

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They have one of Hollywood's most longest marriages.

And Tom Hanks, 60, looked like he was having a blast with wife Rita Wilson, 60, as they left dinner with friends in Santa Monica on Thursday night.

The couple, who have almost been married for 30 years, looked happy and content as they left Giorgio Baldi Restaurant together and got into the car with Tom at the wheel.

What's their secret? Tom Hanks, 60, looked like he was having a blast with longtime wife Rita Wilson, 60, as they left dinner with friends in Santa Monica on Thursday night.

Rita was the epitome of class in a crisp white knee-length jacket that she paired with leather pants and high heeled shoes.

The actress couldn't seem to keep a smile off her face as she exited the building and made her way to the car.

She paired the leather pants with a black shirt and completed her elegant look with a large gold chain around her neck.

The mother-of-two looked way less than her 60 years as she opted for a fresh face with very little makeup.

Great style! Rita was the epitome of class in a crisp white knee-length jacket that she paired with leather pants and high heeled shoes

Her honey-blonde hair was styled to perfection in loose waves around her face and her broad smile lit up the entire sidewalk.

For his part, Tom looked sophisticated and handsome in a pair of black slacks and a green sweater that he paired with a grey t-shirt underneath.

He kept warm in the cool Los Angeles night temperatures in a olive green jacket and held money in his hand, presumably to tip the valet attendant.

He's got class: Tom looked sophisticated and handsome in a pair of black slacks and a green sweater that he paired with a grey t-shirt underneath

Tom completed his look with a pair of freshly shined brown leather shoes.

Once the duo said goodbye to their dining party, they hopped into their SUV where Tom took control of the wheel and drove the duo home.

They also had a couple passengers in the back seat who they were presumably giving a ride home.

Taking the lead: Once the duo said goodbye to their dining party, they hopped into their SUV where Tom took control of the wheel and drove the duo home

The couple recently took lent their support to the Women's Cancer Research Fund gala in Beverly Hills last month.

The Saving Private Ryan star and his wife - who were co-chairs of the event - in recent years have been major celebrity advocates in the battle against cancer, with Rita opening up in 2015 that she underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer that spring.

Rita said her supportive husband Hanks helped her 'get it all done' when she needed his help the most.

The Forest Gump actor - who's proven over and over to be one of Hollywood's most genuine, down-to-earth stars - told the show he learned that the experience is one no one should go through without the proper support.

'No one should go through this alone,' he said. 'That not only goes for the person who is carrying it and in bed for a very long time, but there's also the people who love them.'
Viewers thought she had found love with rugby hunk James, only for her to call off their romance after a few dates.

And Jorgie Porter has sparked speculation she could have found someone outside of Celebs Go Dating, stepping out in Chelsea, west London with a mystery man on Thursday.

The ex-Hollyoaks star, 29, was spotted leaving what appeared to be a date, rocking a casual ensemble for her night out.

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Date night? Jorgie Porter has sparked speculation she could have found someone outside of Celebs Go Dating, stepping out in Chelsea, west London with a mystery man on Thursday

Jorgie and her date clambered into a taxi together, speeding off into the night.

The blonde beauty was dressed down in black skinny jeans, a denim shirt and a faux fur lined jacket.

She completed her look with a beige handbag and coordinating trainers, wearing her hair down loose.

Laid back: The ex-Hollyoaks star, 29, was spotted leaving what appeared to be a date, rocking a casual ensemble for her night out

Casual: The blonde beauty was dressed down in black skinny jeans, a denim shirt and a faux fur lined jacket

Jorgie's journey to finding love on the E4 dating show had been smoother than most - until she unexpectedly decided things weren't going to work out with her date James.

The pair had instant chemistry and were falling fast - until her feelings began to cool during a visit to his hometown of Bournemouth, where his over-eager friends put her off.

James acting awkwardly when invited him to be her plus one at a celeb event was the last straw for Jorgie, who called time on their short-lived romance.

Heading off: Jorgie and her pal clambered into a taxi together, speeding off into the night

Single lady: Jorgie's journey to finding love on the E4 dating show had been smoother than most - until she unexpectedly decided things weren't going to work out with her date James

Things haven't been going too well for her since, with the petite blonde going on a cringe-inducing date with boxer Kelvin, who forgot her name.

Meanwhile, Celebs Go Dating receptionist Tom has teased he is hopeful some of the stars on the dating agency's books will find love.

'I'm wildly optimistic about Ferne McCann and I'm also feeling very hopeful about Perri Kiely,' the lovable lad told Star magazine.

He was less than impressed with axed star Stephen Bear, however, who he called a 'misfit'.

Tom said: 'Sometimes I enjoyed his mischievousness, but at other times it was a bit exhausting.'
They have been romantically linked since October, and even enjoyed an idyllic getaway to Barbados over Christmas.

But Lottie Moss and Alex Mytton proved they were still going strong on Thursday, as they enjoyed a glamorous night out with their friends in London.

The blonde beauty, 19, flashed her toned midriff in a simple skinny trousers and crop top combo as she headed to swanky venue Beaufort House with her man, 25.

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Loved-up: Lottie Moss and Alex Mytton proved they were still going strong on Thursday, as they enjoyed a glamorous night out with their friends in London

The sister of supermodel Kate showed off her enviably slim and toned figure in a monochrome crop top and low-rise black trousers.

The sexy top plunged into a low V neckline to tease at her delicate cleavage, before cutting off at her waist to display her toned abs to all.

Keeping things simple but chic, the blonde teamed her top with a pair of skinny black trousers, which skimmed her long and slender legs all the way down and fell to hip height, to flaunt her taut tum.

Stylish: The sister of supermodel Kate showed off her enviably slim and toned figure in a monochrome crop top and low-rise black trousers

Adding a grungy edge, Lottie then layered a sleek leather biker jacket on top - before tying her look together with a pair of pointed stiletto court shoes.

The stunner styled her hair into big, bouncy curls, and upped the glamour with a trendy shimmering body chain across her decolletage.

Meanwhile her Made in Chelsea star beau matched her low-key look in a simple grey T-shirt and skinny jeans, teamed with a leather Aviation jacket lined with fleece.

All-black everything: Adding a grungy edge, Lottie then layered a sleek leather biker jacket on top, before tying her look together with a pair of pointed stiletto court shoes

Joined by an equally glamorous brunette, the pair looked happier than ever as they chatted animatedly on their way in to the bash.

Alex and Lottie have been romantically linked since October, and are often seen hitting the hotspots of London's party scene.

However despite being six years younger than the reality star, Alex recently admitted that the model is actually the mature one in their relationship.

Glam girls: The pair were joined by an equally glamorous brunette for their swanky night out in Mayfair

In an interview with Closer magazine last month, he said: 'She's young too. She's seven years younger that me but it's weird because she is more mature than me. I like to go and get hammered and I behave like a child, so she has to look after me'.

He also revealed their romance could have been doomed from the start after he was initially set up with her flatmate - leading to a love triangle.

The handsome star explained: 'We didn't immediately hit it off and I nearly hooked up with her flatmate but they ended up getting with Lottie. For a while there was kind of a love triangle and there could've been trouble but it all settled down.'
Pia Miller was very happy to finish work early on Friday.

The actress celebrated leaving the set of Home and Away by snapping a selfie and sharing her delight on Instagram.

Pictured in the backseat of a car, the 33-year-old showed off her flawless complexion and beautiful brown eyes.

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Home time! Pia Miller celebrated leaving the set of Home and Away by snapping a selfie and sharing her delight on Instagram

She captioned the image: 'Here's to an early wrap on a Friday!'

The Chilean-born stunner added the hashtags 'happy weekend' and 'happy me' - just in case her broad smile didn't give make her emotions clear enough.

Last week, the beauty returned to the fictional Summer Bay as she was seen posting for a selfie on the Home and Away set in Sydney.

Back to work! The beauty returned to the fictional Summer Bay as she was seen posting for a selfie on the Home and Away set in Sydney

'Me and mi (sic) mate' she captioned the image, in which she is clutching a coffee cup.

The fresh-faced actress, who plays Katarina Chapman on the long running soap, leaned down into the camera, her thick, long hair looking luminous.

She donned the police uniform her character wears and despite tagging a makeup artist, looked natural and almost makeup-free.

Making the most of it: A day earlier the brunette had been enjoying the final day of her summer holidays, snapping a picture in her swimwear

Beach babe: Pia regularly flaunts her enviable bikini body. Pictured here at the north rocks of Bondi Beach last month

A day earlier the brunette had been enjoying the final day of her summer holidays, snapping a picture in her swimwear.

'Last week of summer apparently,' wrote the 33-year-old stunner.

'It's been real,' she continued, before adding the hashtags 'Sydney' and 'happy Monday'.
She walked in her first Victoria's Secret runway show eleven years ago.

So it's no surprise Alessandra Ambrosio put on a showstopping appearance as she attended the grand opening of the lingerie giant's Chengdu Store in China on Friday.

The 35-year-old supermodel worked her angles in a figure-hugging white dress, which drew emphasis to her enviably svelte frame.

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Spreading her wings! Alessandra Ambrosio, 35, put on a showstopping appearance as attended the grand opening of Victoria's Secret Chengdu Store in China on Friday

The sleeveless sophisticated number lined the contours of her physique, before falling a stylish midi-level.

Alessandra's garment also boasted a high neckline, which was bedazzled in silver.

The Brazilian beauty boosted her already statuesque 5 ft 8 in height with a pair of open-toe strappy heels.

The mother-of-two's striking features where enhanced with expertly applied bronzer, mascara and glossy mauve lipstick.

Sexy lady: The supermodel worked her angles in a figure-hugging white dress, which drew emphasis to her enviably svelte frame

Fashionista: The sleeveless sophisticated number lined the contours of her physique, before falling a stylish midi-level

Having fun: Alessandra put on a fun and flirty display at the opening as she blew kisses and made heart signs with her hand

She accessorised simply with a silver bracelet and two large hoop earrings as she proved to be the perfect brand ambassador by showing off the products.

Alessandra looked sensational as she posed up a storm with her fellow model Sui He as they joyfully cut a large bright pink ribbon.

They then proceeded to work their angles against a plethora of lingerie clad mannequins and large angel wings.

Earlier this week, Alessandra was thrilled as she posed alongside her wax counterpart at Madame Tussauds in Shanghai.

Angelic: Alessandra's garment also boasted a high neckline, which was bedazzled in silver

Glam pals: She posed up a storm with Chinese model Sui He, who oozed elegance in a chic black dress

Details: She accessorised simply with a silver bracelet and two large hoop earrings as she proved to be the perfect brand ambassador

After their successful London and Paris shows, the company announced this week that the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will be held in China this fall, according to WWD.

While the models are living it up, the brand has yet to announce any more details about the upcoming show, though it is likely to be held in November and televised in the US in December.

In 2016, Lady Gaga and The Weeknd both performed on the Paris runway, while the Angels, the Hadid sisters, and Kendall Jenner strutted their stuff.

Bra-vo! Alessandra and Sui He cheekily held up some racy lingerie

Calm and collected: The striking stars were in high spirits as they flashed peace signs

Selling the products: Alessandra and Sui proved to be the perfect brand ambassadors

The year before the girls were in London and walked to performances by Rihanna and The Weeknd.

Ambrosio, who is engaged to Jamie Mazur, has always had a killer physique and the brunette beauty recently opened up about exercise and her body.

'In my family, no one ever worked out,' she told Net-a-Porter.

'It wasn't until I did my first Victoria's Secret show that I started exercising... now it's a healthy, normal part of my daily routine.'

Standing tall: The Brazilian beauty boosted her already statuesque 5 ft 8 in height with a pair of open-toe strappy heels

Opening night: Alessandra and Sui looked sensational as they joyfully cut a large bright pink ribbon

Leggy lady: Sui showed off her trim legs in a pair of towering black and gold cuff heels

She also spoke honestly about the female body and how it changes after childbirth.

'Your body will never go back to exactly what it was before pregnancy, whatever people tell you. It can't,' she continued.

However, she did admit that that was no bad thing.

'But I think I have a better body now than before I had kids. It's partly because I work out, whereas before I didn't, but also to do with the shapeit just looks more formed now and I feel better about it than I did.'
She confirmed in January this year, that she found love again with Greek businessman Nicholas Agnew.

And former Bachelor star Laurina Fleure looked smitten, as she cosied up to her beau at the Private Liaison's VAMFF runway show, in Melbourne on Thursday.

The 33-year-old, who describes the 40-year-old as her 'Prince Charming', flaunted her frame in a pink body-con frock.

She's smitten! Former Bachelor babe Laurina Fleure, 33, cosied up to her 'Prince Charming' Nicholas Agnew, 40, at the Private Liaison's VAMFF runway show, in Melbourne on Thursday

Laurina showed off not only her figure, but her new beau, as she took to the media wall.

The skin-tight design of the frock revealed her slimline frame, elongated further with a pair of nude strappy heels.

Styling her locks in relaxed waves, Laurina pared back her makeup palette with a dewy complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara and a nude lip.

Her love: Beau Nicholas cut a low-key figure in a slim-fitting white T-shirt, teamed with distressed skinny leg jeans

Beau Nicholas cut a low-key figure in a slim-fitting white T-shirt, teamed with distressed skinny leg jeans.

Taupe suede boots and a statement watch worked as accessories.

Sporting a bronzed complexion, defined brows and a small amount of stubble, Nicholas styled his tresses into a voluminous do.

Fairy tale: 'I asked my friend who is a very high calibre gentleman himself, if he had any handsome friends that might like to take Cinderella to the ball. 'A few days later Prince Charming gave me a call,' Laurina gushed to Daily Mail Australia in early March

Her Greek Adonis: Nicholas is an accomplished businessman, residing in Melbourne

Laurina's romance reads just like a fairy tale.

'After [comedian] Joel Creasey pulled out as my date at the last minute to the Alahna and Madeleine Foundation Stary Stary Night Gala Ball, I needed a date,' she told Daily Mail Australia exclusively, earlier this month.

'I asked my friend who is a very high calibre gentleman himself, if he had any handsome friends that might like to take Cinderella to the ball.

'A few days later Prince Charming gave me a call,' Laurina gushed.

Smitten: Laurina is enjoying a new romance after having confirmed her split from boyfriend of one year Lewis Romano in October

Laurina confirmed her split from boyfriend of one year Lewis Romano in October.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the time, she explained their age gap was a reason for the breakup.

The star said: 'We're not together anymore. I haven't actually publicly released it yet. I was hoping to maybe work things out, but it's not possible.'

'We'll always be friends,' she continued. 'I love him. I had one of the happiest years of my life. We're just on different paths.'

Parted ways: Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the time, she explained their age gap was a reason for the breakup. 'We're not together anymore. I haven't actually publicly released it yet. I was hoping to maybe work things out, but it's not possible'
She has been jetting around Europe over the last month for the glamorous Fashion Week events.

But Lara Stone showed no signs of stopping on Thursday, as she headed to her next destination of Amsterdam for the Vogue Netherlands 5th Anniversary dinner.

The 33-year-old, who is the cover star of the commemorative issue, rightly stole the spotlight in a satin scarlet gown as she arrived at the event, held at the capital's Rijksmuseum.

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Jet-setter: Lara Stone stole the spotlight in a satin scarlet gown as she arrived at the Vogue Netherlands 5th Anniversary dinner in Amsterdam

The Dutch beauty showed off her tall and slender model figure in the dress, which clung to each and every one of her womanly curves.

Following a more old-fashioned and traditional style, the dress plunged into a scooped V neck to flash her cleavage before extending out into puffy bell sleeves.

With just a diamond stitched across the centre, the simple frock then skimmed her body to its hem, with the soft material falling elegantly against her legs to the floor.

Painting the town red: The Dutch beauty showed off her tall and slender model figure in the dress, which clung to each and every one of her womanly curves

Keeping all attention on her eye-catching look, the mother-of-one accessorised with a minimal black clutch and a pair of statement pearl drop earrings.

She swept her blonde locks into a loose up do and finished her look with a thick slick of black eyeliner, in a glamorous finishing touch.

Lara cosied up to Mario Testino at the event - who shot her cover shoot for the magazine's inaugural issue this month, alongside fellow Dutch model Doutzen Kroes.

Stunning: She swept her blonde locks into a loose up do and finished her look with a thick slick of black eyeliner, in a glamorous finishing touch

Amping up the sex appeal for the special issue, the two models strip completely naked for their raciest photo shoot yet - which sees them share an intimate kiss with their bare bodies pressed together.

However despite her confident display on the nude cover, Lara recently told The Edit that she only recently began to feel comfortable posing naked - having believed she was unattractive in her youth.

Talking of the numerous raunchy shoots she has embarked on in the past, she admitted: 'I don't mind being naked in front of people, that's fine'

Man of the hour: Lara cosied up to Mario Testino at the event - who shot her cover shoot for the magazine's inaugural issue this month, alongside fellow Dutch model Doutzen Kroes

'On a shoot, no one is staring at the naked model. They're doing a job and they've seen it all 100,000 times before. No one's interested.'

Yet, she did go on to state that after signing her professional modelling contract, she never felt uneasy about her appearance in general in the fashion world, whether fully clothed or not.

Lara said of the brutal reputation of the fashion industry: 'Maybe I was just naive, but I've never felt uncomfortable. All those stories you hear about fashion Nobody told me to lose weight.'
Their three year relationship has stood the test of time on TOWIE.

And now Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallett have opened up about their romance on ITV's Lorraine on Friday morning, with the blonde confessing she didn't take a liking to him at first, before eventually falling 'in love'.

Her 24-year-old reality star beau also spoke about the future of their partnership, revealing he would like to follow in the footsteps of their parents who got married on television.

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Spilling the beans: TOWIE's Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallett have opened up about their romance on ITV's Lorraine on Friday morning, with the blonde confessing she didn't take a liking to him at first, before eventually falling 'in love'

Georgia looked absolutely stunning for her appearance on the show in a shaggy navy zip-up jacket, which had the letter M etched to one side.

She teamed the look with a pair of ankle-grazing jeans and in true Essex girl style amped up the sexiness in towering blue heels.

'Were the only sensible ones that have stayed together for three years. We dont know anything different because we met on the show,' she spoke to the show's stand-in host Christine Lampard.

'Viewers have grown with our relationship, theyve seen it every step of the way,' the choker-clad stunner continued.

Opening up: Georgia's reality star beau also spoke about the future of their partnership to stand-in host Christina Lampard, revealing he would like to follow in the footsteps of their parents who got married on television

'We don't know any different': Georgia, who donned an edgy choker, spoke about how she got together with Tommy on the ITVBe series

'They've seen it every step of the way': The blonde beauty revealed that the show's viewers have grown with them during their romantic journey

'I didnt like Tommy for about an hour and then I realised Im in love. I then called my mum and told her "oh my god, I'm in love".'

Despite finding love, Georgia admitted she didn't compromise when it came to what she would stand for in a romance, revealing: 'I set 2 pages of ground rules.'

'It became my bible,' Tommy jokingly admitted.

When quizzed by Christina over the potential of tying the knot, the hunky star squirmed: 'Marriage? Put me on the spot. I suppose so... its on the cards!'

Fashionista: Georgia looked absolutely stunning for her appearance on the show in a shaggy navy zip-up jacket, which had the letter M etched to one side

Subtle glamour: She teamed the look with a pair of ankle-grazing jeans and in true Essex girl amped up the sexiness in a pair of towering blue heels

Handsome: Tommy looked hunky with slicked back locks and a cool denim jacket

'My parents got married on TV on Gretna Green. Made a programme about it, and my mum and dad turned up with half of Ireland, I was in it. I'm hoping to follow in their footsteps!' he revealed.

Meanwhile, the couple previously opened up about their plans to say their vows in a big Greek and Irish-themed wedding when they eventually tie the knot to pay tribute to each of their family's heritage.

Tommy told OK! magazine last year: 'Well have a big Greek and Irish-themed wedding.

'I didn't like him at first': Georgia revealed she initially didn't fancy Tommy, but quickly realised she was 'in love'

'It's my bible': Tommy was a good sport as his girlfriend confessed she gave him '2 pages of ground rules'

'My parents got married on TV!' Tommy also revealed he would like to follow in the footsteps of his parents and get married on-screen

'You get to smash plates, do some mad Greek dancing and pin 50 notes on each other!'

While they have the ITVBe reality show to thank for their romance, the loved-up pair explained they had to work extra hard on their relationship in order to avoid the dreaded TOWIE curse that has broken up so many of their friends.

'It only puts pressure on you if you allow other people to get involved,' Tommy said.

'The curse is going on personal appearances and cheating on your girlfriend, but I havent done that.'
The generation gap is very pronounced in soapland, and nowhere more hilariously so than in Coronation Street, where Gemmas street language is totally at odds with Cathys incomprehension at what she is saying.

A few grunts and some texting talk isnt conversation, Cathy pointed out last week, as Gemma launched into another yoof tirade that might as well have been Russian. The two of them bonding over a Gemma-style night out made for glorious scenes.

The generation gap is less well handled by Emmerdale and EastEnders, where a Them and Us mentality prevails among people of vastly differing ages and cultures.

As Leanne is about to register Olis birth Steve bursts in and insists his name is put on the certificate in Corrie

This new obsession with the youngsters at the school in Walford makes it feel as if the casts of Grange Hill and Waterloo Road have been parachuted in, and its making for some tedious viewing.

In Emmerdale, young people are always Big Trouble and rarely share fun times with adults  probably because the grown-ups are always getting kidnapped.

Crabbed age and youth cannot live together, wrote Shakespeare. Coronation Street continues to be proof that they can.

CORONATION STREET: OLIVER  YOUVE GOT TO PICK A PARENT OR TWO (OR THREE)

Nobody can talk to Steve without naming him in every sentence. Is he so unmemorable that people have to remind themselves who he is, or does he have no idea who he is and needs others to tell him?

When he bursts in as Leanne is about to register Olis birth and insists his name is put on the certificate, expect the entire room to utter a collective Steve at every turn. Maybe its genetic  have you noticed how often Olis name is repeated, too?

Tina accuses Shirley of abandoning she and Mick while they visit her in prison in EastEnders

A name that will be on the lips of the entire Platt household will be Nathan who, as Sarah and Gary find, to their horror, is older than they are. Will Sarah also discover, when she takes Bethany to the doctor, that her daughters contraception has already been taken care of?

Poor Bethanys heading for a bigger fall than The X Factor ratings when she attends a party and discovers that except for Mel, every guest is a man (it wouldnt be a problem for me, but shes only a kid).

What on Earth is this Chloe all about? Does she know there are other men in the world apart from Peter? Men who sometimes take their coats off? Shes going to have to excavate him if she stands any hope of action.

EASTENDERS: BABIES, BARS AND BAR TALK

Given the stress of living in Albert Square, residents are always grateful for a spell in the nick as it gives them a much-needed rest; any time behind bars is a free Disney holiday.

As Mick tries to turn things around for the Carters (with their problems, thats going to be a lot of turning; lets hope he has travel sickness pills to hand), Tina is struggling to cope with Sylvie.

Kathy comes to the rescue and steps in to help so that Mick and Tina can visit Shirley in prison (I suspect that Mick is hoping to slip under that Disney wire on the sly). It all goes horribly wrong when Tina accuses Shirley of abandoning them.

Will Robert and Rebecca share a kiss in this week's Emmerdale?

Back at the Square, Tina is advised by Kathy to get professional help for Sylvie. Tina has another plan, though  to check on Sylvie every hour. Oh, dear. Even if you were well, thats the last thing youd want.

Hourly visits from the Grim Reaper would be more cheering. At least Mother Teresa/Whitney is at hand (again) to keep Mick on the straight and narrow by stopping him from doing a dodgy deal for cheap alcohol. Forgive me, but I thought that was all they sold in the Vic.

The new Michelle still isnt working, and when she visits the doctor, one can only hope its for pills to turn her back into the old Michelle. There is good news when Martin tells Michelle that the psychiatrist is supportive of Staceys decision to have another baby. Seriously? Physician, heal thyself.

EMMERDALE: ANOTHER PORT IN ANOTHER STORM

There is way too much drugs stuff (again), what with Jai struggling to keep off them, and Aaron making a concerted effort to stay on them.

When Robert learns the truth about his new husband, he keeps quiet when he visits  then, to Aarons chagrin, reveals that he knows.

So what does Robert do? What he always does in times of stress  moves in on a woman.

This time, the lucky lady is Rebecca, who he texts while shes on a date with Ross, urging her to come to the cottage (make your mind up, mate!). She turns up, but will she reciprocate when Robert moves in for a kiss?
She's kept a relatively low profile since an alleged domestic violence incident with French entrepreneur Jean-David Blanc, in September.

And now Melissa George's lawyer, Christophe Ayela, has told News Corp, that her former lover's refusal to allow their two sons, Raphael, three, and Solal, one, to leave France, has prevented the actress from securing work.

'It's terrible for her career, disastrous,' the 40-year-old's representative said, in relation to a Family Court order in France, that requires a written consent by the father.

'It's terrible for her career, disastrous': Melissa George's lawyer, told News Corp, in a story published on Friday, that the 40-year-old actress can't get work, as ex Jean-David Blanc has refused to allow their two sons to leave France

'The two children are forbidden to leave the country without the written consent of the father. And of course he refuses to allow this,' Christophe told News Corp, in direct relation to France's Family Court order.

'It is scandalous that Australian kids (the children have triple nationalities - French, Australian and American) can't even go to visit their relatives in Australia.

With Melissa often required to film projects abroad, her lawyer stated that the joint parental control order, makes it near impossible for her to work.

'How can she be back to France every second week if she works abroad? It's a ridiculous decision,' he continued.

Representative: 'The two children are forbidden to leave the country without the written consent of the father. And of course he refuses to allow this,' lawyer Christophe Ayela told News Corp, in direct relation to France's Family Court order. Pictured with Jean-David Blanc

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Jean-David Blanc for comment.

And it appears Jean-David Blanc, a very wealthy businessman who designed video games for Apple at only 13 years of age, is happy to put in a fight.

Jean-David reportedly accused Melissa of trying to flee France with their two sons on a private jet, just days after the alleged altercation in September, last year.

However, in a statement to The Daily Telegraph from her lawyer, Christophe claimed that Melissa was unaware of any travel ban preventing children from leaving.

Conflict: And it appears Jean-David Blanc, a very wealthy businessman who designed video games for Apple at only 13 years of age, is happy to put in a fight. Jean-David reportedly accused Melissa of trying to flee France with their two sons on a private jet, just days after the alleged altercation in September, last year

'Melissa George did not know there was a travel ban concerning the children.

'She had the plane booked well before the September flight and we can prove it,' he continued.

In September, Melissa was admitted to Cochin Hospital after turning up to a local police station with bruises to her face and complaints of pain.

The Perth-born star was allegedly assaulted by her partner of four years - allegations Jean-David Blanc denies, according to a report in French newspaper Le Parisien.

Alleged altercation: In September, Melissa was admitted to Cochin Hospital after turning up to a local police station with bruises to her face and complaints of pain

The pair were seen separately outside a Parisian court back in October, where Jean-David Blanc appeared on charges of domestic assault against her. He denied the charges.

The couple first met in 2011 at a BAFTA after-party and welcomed their first son Raphael in February 2014 and their second son Solal in November, 2015.

Jean-David is a businessman, writer and film producer, famed for founding cinema service organisation AlloCine.

When announcing Solal's birth on social media, Melissa publicly gushed over her longtime de facto.

In happier times: The couple first met in 2011 at a BAFTA after-party and welcomed their first son Raphael in February 2014 and their second son Solal in November, 2015

'Thank you to my love, Jean-David, for giving me the best gift in my life. I love you,' she wrote at the time.

Melissa was previously married to Chilean film director Claudio Dabed.

The actress rose to fame after appearing as Angel Parrish in Channel Seven soap Home And Away.

Relocating overseas, she found work on the small screen in Friends, Grey's Anatomy and The Good Wife.

Melissa has also featured in films, notably Mulholland Drive, Derailed, and The Betrayed.
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This fashion star is making a splash as she gets back into modelling post-baby in a big way.

Candice Swanepoel dared to bare in a very risque photo shoot in Brazil on Thursday.

The 28-year-old and local restaurateur turned model for the day Keka De Oxossi stripped down for a Vogue Brazil as they posted up for famed photo duo Mert and Marcus on the roof of one of Rio de Janeiro's top hotels.

When my baby goes to Rio: Candice Swanepoel dared to bare in a very risque photo shoot in Brazil on Thursday

Daring duo: The 28-year-old and local restauranteur turned model for the day Keka De Oxossi stripped down for a Vogue Brazil as they posted up for famed photo duo Mert and Marcus on the roof of one of Rio de Janeiro's top hotels

While usually all eyes are on the stunning view at the Hotel Fasano, the Victoria's Secret Angel and her photogenic pal ensured no one was staring at the legendary Ipanema Beach.

Even though Vogue is all about fashionable clothing, these two wore very little of it.

Candice - who gave birth five months ago to son Anaca - wore just a high waisted pair of knickers with an oversized Saint Laurent leather jacket.

Her 56-year-old photo shoot partner wore a matching jacket and a slightly lower sitting pair of black panties.

Making a splash: While usually all eyes are on the stunning view at the Hotel Fasano, the Victoria's Secret Angel and her photogenic pal ensured no one was staring at the legendary Ipanema Beach

Missing something? Even though Vogue is all about fashionable clothing, these two wore very little of it

Looking good: The 28-year-old showed off her impressive post-baby body in minimal clothing

In a move that would have some fashionistas close to fainting, the due submerged the designer leather jackets into the pool ensuring they were ruined for ever.

But fashion and beauty comes at a price, and the jackets did not go to the big wardrobe in the sky in vain.

Prior to their destruction, the jackets partially covered the beauties' bare chest but often during the shoot fell aside to show off the models' nipples.

Hell for leather: Candice - who gave birth five months ago to son Anaca - wore just a high waisted pair of knickers with an oversized leather jacket

Look away fashion lovers: In a move that would have some fashionistas close to fainting, the due submerged the designer leather jackets into the pool ensuring they were ruined for ever

For a good cause: Prior to their destruction, the jackets partially covered the beauties' bare chest but often during the shoot fell aside to show off the models' nipples

If the outfits were not saucy enough, once the pair got into the water, things really got steamy.

Walking into the warm pool hand-in-hand, Candice and Keka stripped down for a Vogue Brazil as they posted up for famed photo duo Mert and Marcus on the roof of one of Rio de Janeiro's top hotels giggled away.

Candice wore very little makeup with her long blonde hair straightened and pushed back from her face.

Splish splash: If the outfits were not saucy enough, once the pair got into the water, things really got steamy

Time to get wet: Walking into the warm pool hand-in-hand, Candice and Keka giggled away

Keka also wore an understated look, which was probably for the best as at points during the shoot, she put her head under the water.

Starting off easy, the pair posed with Candice holding the older woman just above the water line which simultaneously looked like she was baptizing her and drowning her.

But then Mert and Marcus - whose real names are Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott - decided to heat things up.

Fresh faced: Candice wore very little makeup with her long blonde hair straightened and pushed back from her face

Hold your breath: Keka also wore an understated look, which was probably for the best as at points during the shoot, she put her head under the water

Hold on tight: Starting off easy, the pair posed with Candice holding the older woman just above the water line which simultaneously looked like she was baptizing her and drowning her

Other ideas: But then Mert and Marcus - whose real names are Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott - decided to heat things up

They instructed the two topless women to caress each other as the snapped away.

Raising up from the water, Keka kissed Candice on the cheek.

All the while the pool was surrounded in people, some apparent male models and other bemused tourists.

Just a little kiss: Raising up from the water, the Keka kissed Candice on the cheek

In their own little world: One man tried his best to ignore what was going on, albeit not very well, as he soaked up some sun and sipped on a fresh coconut

Picture mastermind: Candice shared a snap with photographer Mert after the shoot

One man tried his best to ignore what was going on, albeit not very well, as he soaked up some sun and sipped on a fresh coconut.

After the double shoot, Candice did some solo snaps which saw her float on her back.

The model rested on a step and grabbed hold of her bust for the seductive shot.

That's a warp: Wrapping up, Candice was greeted by a wardrobe assistant who held up a towel to cover her chest

A little help: The wet leather jacket was not the easiest piece of clothing to get out of

Her little angel: Candice touched down in Rio last week just in time to celebrate Carnival with her son

Wrapping up, Candice was greeted by a wardrobe assistant who held up a towel to cover her chest and helped her try to get out of the wet leather jacket.

Candice touched down in Rio last week just in time to celebrate Carnival with her son.

The genetically gifted baby's father is Brazilian model Hermann Nicoli, who has been dating IMG repped model since October 2005.
Wet, cold and altogether miserable - it was the kind of morning when you simply don't want to get out of bed.

But with a new movie to promote, lying in was not an option for Emma Watson.

The British actress was up bright and early to brave the driving rain for an appearance on Good Morning America on Friday.

She's still smiling! Emma Watson waves to the crowds as she braves the driving rain for Good Morning America on Friday morning

She's a Belle! Her hair pulled back in a chicly ruffled updo, fresh-faced Emma was the picture of glowing beauty as she stepped out of her car

And despite the wet day, she had a wide smile on her face as she arrived at the studio in New York to talk about her big screen remake of the Disney classic Beauty And The Beast.

Her hair pulled back in a chicly ruffled braided updo, fresh-faced Emma was the picture of glowing beauty as she stepped out of her car.

On hand was an attentive assistant to cover her with an umbrella, protecting the work of Emma's skilled make-up artist.

That left the actresses hands free to wave to the crowds, gathered despite the early hour.

Hard at work: The 26-year-old actress plays the role of Belle in the upcoming live-action remake of the 1991 animated classic; she is busy promoting the new film

Duck and cover: On hand was an attentive assistant to cover her with an umbrella, protecting the work of Emma's skilled make-up artist

The 26-year-old actress plays the role of Belle in the upcoming live-action remake of the 1991 animated classic.

In order to bring out the best in her voice, Watson took singing lessons and has revealed why she's kept having them - even though the film is finished and is set to hit cinemas on March 17.

She told the Daily Mail newspaper: 'I've found it actually really helps my acting, and my speaking voice. It's great for my breathing and a discipline that I really like.'

Oh hi! That left the actresses hands free to wave to the crowds, gathered despite the early hour

Emma - who shot to fame as Hermione Granger in the 'Harry Potter' film franchise - had to show off her singing voice to director Bill Condon to get the part, but she only agreed to do it if he got her a draft of the script so she could ensure her character Belle was imbued with a sense of 'adventure, wanderlust and heroism' in keeping with her feminist beliefs.

Speaking about her audition, she recalled: 'I had three hours in a recording studio. It was really raw but Bill was pleased. And Disney was pleased.'

On the promo rounds: After GMA, Emma headed over to SirusXM for another interview

Braided lady: Emma's elaborate hairdo could be seen in the studio

But Watson - who stars in the fantasy film with Dan Stevens and Luke Evans, who play the Beast and Gaston respectively - still found the audition process nerve-wracking as it has been years since she last had to sing.

She shared: 'I hadn't sung since I was about 12. This was something I'd always wanted to do, but I thought, "is my voice still there?" I just hadn't used it, but it was a very pleasant surprise to find it was still there. I just had to kind of unearth it!'

Watson declared that Belle is 'one of my absolutely favorite Disney characters' and she was delighted to land the part in the story - which is based on French author Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's 1740 fairy tale La Belle et la Bete.

Out soon: The 26-year-old actress plays the role of Belle in the upcoming live-action remake of the 1991 animated classic; the film is set to hit cinemas on March 17

She said: 'She's book smart, emotional, sweet and romantic. It's not like she's cut off from that part of herself because she has a brain. I think Belle is one of those characters who really turns the feminist, man-hating thing on its head.

'It's not that she doesn't want to get married because she hates men. She doesn't want to get married because she wants to explore the world; and she wants to have adventures; and wants her independence. So she wants to be with someone who will enable and empower her, as opposed diminish her. She wants it on her own terms.'
It is all too often defined by relentlessly gruesome scenes of extreme brutality.

But while the spectacle of violence is eagerly anticipated on Game Of Thrones, one particularly distasteful scene prompted positive action from its leading lady.

Writing for Huffington Post for International Women's Day, actress Sophie Turner, 21, admits the brutal rape of virginal character Sansa Stark at the hands of sadistic husband Ramsay Bolton on their wedding night ignited a keen interest in feminism and womens rights activism.

To be completely honest, my initial reaction was satisfaction, she said of the divisive scene. That rape, domestic violence and systemic sexual inequality is something we are capable of talking about; that we are capable of creating and sustaining a visible public dialogue.

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Positive action: Writing for Huffington Post , actress Sophie Turner, 21, admits the brutal rape of virginal Game Of Thrones character Sansa Stark at the hands of sadistic husband Ramsay Bolton on their wedding night ignited a keen interest in feminism and womens rights activism

I dont think its easy to overstate the importance of that dialogue; if, by seeing us tell that part of Sansas story, 10 survivors of sexual violence felt empowered to talk about their experience, Ill happily put up with the Twitter storm in a teacup.'

Despite the show's reputation for nondiscriminatory pain and suffering, fans were divided over the rape of 15-year old Sansa following her enforced marriage to Bolton, played by Iwan Rheon.

However an inspired Sophie, who has won international recognition for her portrayal of the character, put her fame to good use by helping female abuse survivors in east Africa.

Controversy: Despite the show's reputation for nondiscriminatory pain and suffering, fans were divided over the rape of 15-year old Sansa

You're mine now: The brutal scene played out following her enforced marriage to Bolton, played by Iwan Rheon

'From this starting point, I wanted to get more actively involved, to go out and hear these stories personally, and to see the work thats being done to bring about change,' she said.

'I decided to team up with Women For Women International, the charity which helps women survivors of conflict, and travel to one of the places where they focus their efforts; Rwanda.'

The organisation gives conflict survivors living in marginalized countries devastated by war an opportunity to rebuild their lives, develop careers and become economically independent.

Good cause: Sophie put her fame to good use by helping female abuse survivors in east Africa

But while she was traumatised by her visit to the impoverished African country, Sophie admits her distress only strengthened her resolve.

'Words are insufficient, but being there was so graphic and harrowing, I was shocked and sickened into action,' she recalled.

'These are not issues that we can let slip silently into the background of conflicts and societies around the world.'

The trip also proved to be a learning curve for the young actress, who was impressed by the impact Women For Women has on the lives of others.

Popular: Sophie became an international star thanks to her role as Sansa Stark

'What Ive taken away from my trip with Women for Women International is just how important relationships are for women,' she said.

'Bringing women together, especially survivors of traumatic experiences, and granting them access to the sort of support system Women for Women International provides has a transformative impact.'

She added: 'Its not merely about healing the wounds of past injustice and oppression, its about ensuring women everywhere are put in control of their future - political, entrepreneurial, financial and reproductive.'
The made a gorgeous couple but called it a day on their relationship last year.

But Olympic gymnast and The Jump star Louis Smith could not resist taking a swipe at his former TOWIE star ex Lucy Mecklenburgh on Friday.

The 27-year-old hunk said he fell in love with his new Strictly Come Dancing girlfriend Florence Edge because she is not fame hungry - then added Florence was 'nothing like' Lucy.

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Cuddled up: Olympic gymnast and The Jump star Louis Smith could not resist taking a swipe at his former TOWIE star ex Lucy Mecklenburgh as he praised his new love on Friday

The two time silver medal-winner, who will compete in The Jump final on Sunday, professed his love for his new brunette girlfriend, saying he is 'mesmerised' by her.

And Louis could not resist having what appeared to be a dig at his ex at the same time.

The star told The Sun; 'I'm mesmerised when I watch [Florence] dance on stage. I'm attracted to her as she isn't bothered by fame and flashing lights; she's just a down to earth and grounded girl.

'I can't compare her to my exes in that respect. Florence and I got to know each other off stage and that's where I fell for her.'

Hot stuff: The two time silver medal-winner, who will compete in The Jump final on Sunday, professed his love for his new brunette girlfriend, saying he is 'mesmerised' by her

Normal girl: Louis said he is attracted to Florence because 'she isn't bothered by fame and flashing lights; she's just a down to earth and grounded girl'

Energetic couple: The 25-year-old, who grew up in Derbyshire, is performing on stage in London after the couple's romance blossomed during touring spin-off show Keep Dancing

Florence, who bears a striking resemblance to Lucy, has been supporting Louis during his time on Channel 4's The Jump.

Florence began seeing Louis during the most recent series of the reality dance show.

The 25-year-old, who grew up in Derbyshire, is performing on stage in London after the couple's romance blossomed during touring spin-off show Keep Dancing.

Happier times: The brunette beauty has famously endured very public break-ups, first with her TOWIE co-star Mario and then Olympic gymnast Louis Smith (Pictured)

Florence is Louis' first girlfriend since he split with the 25-year-old ex-TOWIE star in 2016.

The pair ended their romance last February after 14 months together, as the sportsman confessing he broke things off for fear Lucy would become too 'attached'.

'Attached': She split up with boyfriend Louis last February after 14 months together, with the sportsman confessing he broke things off for fear Lucy would become too 'attached'

But Lucy is not spending her evenings alone. It recently emerged that the fitness guru met her new handyman boyfriend Nathan Sharp after he did some tiling work on her bathroom at her home in Essex.

She is said to have hit it off straight away with the 37-year-old father-of-two.

One of Nathan's friends told the Sunday People: 'Nathan went to tile a bathroom and came away with a stunning celebrity girlfriend  it's the stuff of dreams.'
She plays an undercover MI6 operative in her latest film Atomic Blonde.

And Charlize Theron's latest thriller sees her mixing business with pleasure.

A new trailer for the film shows Charlize, 41, getting hot and heavy in bed with a mysterious woman she meets while dispatched on a mission in Berlin.

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Mixing business with pleasure! A new trailer for the film shows Charlize Theron, 41, getting hot and heavy in bed with a mysterious woman she meets while dispatched on a mission in Berlin

More than meets the eye: But as it turns out, Lorraine's fling may have an ulterior motive

The passionate encounter begins after Charlize's character Lorraine Broughton receives a kiss from the beautiful brunette at a bar.

'You look like you need saving,' the mysterious woman, played by Sofia Boutella, tells Lorraine when they first meet.

Things quickly escalate, and it doesn't take long for the ladies to ditch their clothes and jump into bed together.

But as it turns out, Lorraine's fling may have an ulterior motive.

Sensual: Lorraine's fling touched her body during their passionate affair

Hot and heavy: Things quickly escalate, and it doesn't take long for the ladies to ditch their clothes and jump into bed together

Between the sheets: The ladies had a passionate fling in bed

Steamy: The mystery woman pulled Theron in close

Locking lips: The ladies had a hard time taking their hands off of each other

No shortage of passion: Theron nuzzled up to her pal

'So you made contact with the French operative?' Lorraine's boss asks while questioning her.

'Obviously,' Lorraine deadpans.

It wasn't just romance that brought Lorraine to Berlin, as the agent was actually dispatched there following the death of a fellow operative, who it is implied she was once romantically involved with.

Chance encounter? The pair meet at a bar in Berlin

Kiss of death: The passionate encounter begins after Charlize's character Lorraine Broughton receives a kiss from the beautiful brunette at a bar

Investigate: Lorraine traveled to Berlin under orders to find out who was killing the operatives

Chemistry: The gorgeous spy couldn't take her eyes off of the woman

Lorraine traveled to Berlin under orders to find out who was killing the operatives.

The trailer is in no shortage of action-packed sequences either, with Lorraine effortlessly taking down her foes at the start of the trailer.

Skilled in hand-to-hand combat, Lorraine has no problem taking on several people all on her own.

Atomic Blonde also stars John Goodman, James McAvoy, and Toby Jones.

The thriller was directed by David Leitch and is scheduled for release on July 28.

'You look like you need saving,' the mysterious woman, played by Sofia Boutella, tells Lorraine when they first meet

Heartbreaking: It wasn't just romance that brought Lorraine to Berlin, as the agent was actually dispatched there following the death of a fellow operative, who it is implied she was once romantically involved with.

Soaking it up: Theron takes an ice bath after another hard day at work

Take no prisoners: Skilled in hand-to-hand combat, Lorraine has no problem taking on several people all on her own

Making an appearance: John Goodman plays an American agent

Ouch! Theron inspects her black eye in the mirror

All in a day's work: Lorraine meets with her contact, who drags a body across the floor after helping her get her bags out of the car
He plays an iconic Disney character who develops feelings for leading man Gaston in the upcoming Beauty And The Beast remake.

And Josh Gad, who plays LeFou, has continued to champion the 'inclusive' values of the film in an interview with People.

'What I would say is that this film is one of inclusiveness,' the 36-year-old recently told the website. 'It's one that has something to offer everyone.'

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'This film is one of inclusiveness': Josh Gad, who plays LeFou, has continued to champion the 'inclusive' film in an interview with People (pictured at the film's premiere in Los Angeles earlier this month)

Josh plays the bumbling side-kick of antagonist Gaston, played by Luke Evans.

Describing LeFou's pal, Gaston, he said: 'You have a character in Gaston who uses his charm offensive to whip other people into a frenzy to go and attack somebody theyve never met.

'Somebody thats different. Somebody that only represents a danger because he says that he represents a danger.'

The news of LeFou's sexuality has sparked some backlash, with a drive-in theater in Alabama refusing to the show the new film on account of the character.

Speaking up: Josh Gad says portraying Disneys first ever openly gay character is 'incredible'

It's not the first time Josh has spoken about his role as well.

During the film's premiere earlier this month, AP reported Luke said the plot alteration that allows LeFou - to become Disney's first ever LGBTQ character is 'subtle' but 'effective'.

'[Director] Bill Condon did an amazing job of giving us an opportunity to create a version of Le Fou that isnt like the original, that expands on what the original did, but that makes him more human and makes him a wonderfully complex character to some extent.

Large shoes to fill: The 36-year-old takes on the role of LeFou in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast

Exact details of the plot alteration have not been revealed so as to avoid spoiling the movie, but director Bill Condon recently described one scene as offering a 'nice, exclusively gay moment'.

He told Attitude Magazine: 'LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston.

'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.

'And that's what has its payoff at the end, which I don't want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.

In the new version, Emma Watson will play leading lady Belle, voiced in 1991 by Paige O'Hara, while Dan Stevens will be the Beast, succeeding Robby Benson.

The film enjoyed its world premiere in London last Thursday and will open to a wide release in both America and Britain on March 17.
He has been busy promoting the new X-Men film Logan, which he recently confirmed would be his last movie in the franchise.

And Sir Patrick Stewart now appears to be enjoying a well-deserved break - sharing clips of himself at home in LA with his foster pit bull Ginger.

The veteran actor, 76, is seen taking a dip in his pool, while his pooch showers him with affectionate kisses.

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Doggy kisses: Sir Patrick Stewart has been sharing clips of himself at home in LA with his foster pit bull Ginger

Adorable: In one clip, the veteran actor gives the dog a kiss while she sleeps on the sofa

He captioned the Instagram post: 'The swimming lesson that wasn't. Our foster pibble Ginger is perfect afternoon company.'

Sir Patrick later shared another video which shows Ginger fast asleep on the sofa, as the actor gently stroked her.

The person behind the camera, who appears to be his wife Sunny Ozell, 38, can be heard joking: 'No dogs on the furniture!'

The actor replies 'That's an absolute rule!' - before giving in to her charm, and rewarding the pooch with a kiss.

Having a ball: Sir Patrick is seen taking a dip in his pool, while his pooch showers him with affectionate kisses

Perfect pair! The actor wrote on Instagram: 'Our foster pibble Ginger is perfect afternoon company'

He revealed on late-night chat show Conan on Wednesday that the pit bull is the first dog he has had in 50 years.

The X-Men star said: 'She only arrived a few hours ago at our house. I've longed for this moment to come.

'She comes from a pit bull fighting ring. She was a breeding dog for a fighting ring. They're all over the country, every state has these things and they're very cruel.'

He added: 'Now she's with us, but we are only fostering her and we are looking for a permanent home for her.'

Sir Patrick revealed last week that he and co-star Hugh Jackman, who is also bowing out of the franchise, shared a touching moment at a recent screening of Logan.

Tired out: Sir Patrick later shared another video on Instagram which shows Ginger fast asleep

Doggy daycare: He is currently fostering Ginger before they find her a more permanent home

Speaking to Sirius XM he explained: 'A week ago, Friday night in Berlin, the three of us sat, watching the movie. And I was so moved by it, much more moved than I had been the first time of seeing it.

'Maybe it was the company of these two guys, but the movie ended and  this is an admission  but at one point [Hugh] reached out, and he took my hand in those last few minutes, and I saw him go [mimes wiping a tear from his eye] like this, and then I realized I had just done the same thing.'

He continued: '[A]s I sat there I realized there will never be a better, a more perfect, a more sensitive, emotional, and beautiful way of saying au revoir to Charles Xavier than this movie. So, I told [Hugh] that same evening, Im done too. Its all over.

Logan, which stars Hugh as Wolverine, takes place more than 50 years after the events of 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Sir Patrick plays Professor X for the seventh time, with the film also starring Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook and Stephen Merchant.
John Goodman may have slimmed down in recent years but he's still a Hollywood heavyweight.

The 64-year-old looked trim as he joked around while being honored with a star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Friday.

The talented actor was seen lounging on the ground crossing his legs while jokingly imitating a Blue Steel-esque pose.

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Joker: John Goodman looked trim as he joked around while being honored with a star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Friday

At one point Goodman lay flat on the ground on his tummy in a cobra style position as he playfully stuck out his tongue.

The 10 Cloverfield Lane actor wore a navy blue suit, a patterned white shirt, canary yellow tie and suave brown shoes.

He posed more seriously alongside his Kong: Skull Island co-stars, Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston.

Messing around: At one point Goodman lay flat on the ground on his tummy in a cobra style position as he playfully stuck out his tongue

Dapper: The 10 Cloverfield Lane actor wore a navy blue suit, a patterned white shirt, canary yellow tie and suave brown shoes

The trio smiled as Goodman put one arm around Room actress Brie while holding his star certificate in the other.

Tom looked dapper in a navy blue suit and matching tie as he smiled beside his two cast mates.

Brie stunned in a white swan style two piece that featured cutouts around her back and sides.

Before and after: Goodman showed off his trim frame as he waved to fans on the right. On the left the actor is pictured at a party in New York in 2004

Gladiator like: Goodman looked serious as stood on his star

Serious mode: He posed more seriously alongside his Kong: Skull Island co-stars, Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston

Her dirty blonde locks were styled in a middle parting as she went for a full, contoured face of make-up.

Brie has been hitting headlines recently with regards to the controversy surrounding Casey Affleck and the allegations against him for the sexual harassment allegations.

She noticeably didn't applaud Affleck for his big win at the Oscars when he received Best Actor for Manchester By The Sea, despite being the one who handed him the award.

Strike a pose: The trio smiled as Goodman put one arm around Room actress Brie while holding his star certificate in the other

Supporting: Jeff Bridges was also there to witness the day

Ooo la la: Brie stunned in a white swan style two piece that featured cutouts around her back and sides

Pretty: Her dirty blonde locks were styled in a middle parting as she went for a full, contoured face of make-up

Vanity Fair asked the blonde beauty at the Hollywood premiere of Kong: Skull Island about that incident.

She said: 'I think that whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself.'

'Ive said all that I need to say about that topic,' she concluded.

The producer and cinematographer of Affleck's mockumentary Im Still Here accused the actor of a long cycle of sexual harassment and verbal abuse.
She is fast become one of the most in demand faces in fashion, so this rising star cannot step out in any old look.

Sofia Richie made a casual look very dramatic as she grabbed a bit of lunch on Friday.

The 18-year-old headed to Zinque in West Hollywood, California, in a head-turning green coat.

Stepping out and up: Sofia Richie made a casual look very dramatic as she grabbed a bit of lunch in West Hollywood, California, on Friday

The star - who was joined by English star Vas J Morgan - made sure all eyes were on her in the long smocking jacket-inspire jacket.

If it had not been for the coat, the star's outfit would have been understated and casual as she wore a pair of black jeans with a grey T-shirt.

The daughter of Lionel Richie tied the tee up to show the top of her jeans as they had large eyelets in them that allowed her to flash a little bit of skin.

Sofia accessorized the look with some blue and tan Vans, square black sunglasses and a furry clutch.

Statement piece: The star - who was joined by English star Vas J Morgan - made sure all eyes were on her in the long smocking jacket-inspire jacket

Partially low key: If it had not been for the coat, the star's outfit would have been understated and casual as she wore a pair of black jeans with a grey T-shirt

The new It girl left her hair pulled up on a bun and wore little makeup.

The teen is the new face of of DL1961 denim and on Wednesday night partied alongside fellow model and Instagram star Jasmine Sanders.

Jasmine - who is often more known as her Instagram handle Golden Barbie - also fronts the campaign.

Silk sensation: Sofia looked incredible in her glamorous coat teamed with a casual ensemble

Party pals: The star was hanging out with British reality star Vas J Morgan
President Park Geun-Hye leaves office in disgrace, crippled by a corruption scandal that made her South Korea's first head of state to be removed by impeachment

The corridors of power have been home to South Korea's Park Geun-Hye as a child, de facto first lady, and president.

She leaves them in disgrace, crippled by a corruption scandal that made her the country's first head of state to be removed by impeachment.

Now 65, Park grew up in the spotlight at the Blue House, the presidential complex just north of one of Seoul's royal palaces, enjoying a pampered life as the eldest child of military dictator Park Chung-Hee.

Despite rights abuses, her father oversaw the country's rapid economic development during his 1961-1979 rule, with the first family treated as royalty by some supporters and Park dubbed the young "princess" -- a nickname that endured for decades.

The assassinations of both her parents five years apart in the 1970s only further fanned sympathy for her.

Park's mother -- widely praised as a dutiful wife and caring mother in the still traditionalist society of the day -- was murdered by a Korean-Japanese believed to have been acting on Pyongyang's orders.

Dismissed South Korean President Park Geun-Hye is the daughter of assassinated military dictator Park Chung-Hee

A student in France at the time, Park returned home to assume the role of first lady until her father was killed by his own security chief in 1979.

She subsequently kept a low profile for nearly two decades, until she made a successful 1998 bid to become a lawmaker as the South reeled from the fallout of the Asian financial crisis.

She became an instant political star among older conservative Koreans who fondly remembered her mother and revered her father for helping pull a war-ravaged nation out of poverty.

Adept at taking advantage of the nostalgia for them and the sympathy for her, she frequently peppered her campaign speeches with the phrase, "After I tragically lost my parents to assassins' bullets."

- Virgin Queen -

Park rose quickly up the political ladder, earning the nickname "the queen of elections" due to her voters' unwavering loyalty.

Dismissed South Korean President Park Geun-hye is accused of colluding with Choi Soon-sil (C) to squeeze money from the country's biggest companies

The fact that Park never married and was estranged from her two siblings was part of her appeal, in a country where leaders had often been embroiled in major corruption scandals involving relatives.

"I'm married to the Republic of Korea. I have no children. South Koreans are my family," Park once said, citing her role model as Elizabeth I of England -- known as the 'Virgin Queen'.

Eventually Park was elected the South's first female president in 2012, winning the highest vote share of any candidate in the democratic era.

But it was the family of a shady religious figure she chose as a mentor who ultimately sowed the seeds of her downfall.

Her relationship with Choi Tae-Min, the seven-times-married founder of a cult-like group 40 years her senior, began in the 1970s when he sent her letters claiming that he had seen her dead mother in his dreams.

His influence grew until a US diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks noted widespread rumours that he had "complete control over Park's body and soul".

He died in 1994, and his daughter Choi Soon-Sil -- already a friend who handled Park's daily life including her wardrobe choices -- inherited his role.

Park is accused of colluding with her for years to squeeze tens of millions of dollars from South Korean businesses, including many of the country's biggest companies, in exchange for governmental favours.

Choi is on trial for coercion and abuse of power, while Lee Jae-Yong, the de facto leader of the world's biggest smartphone maker Samsung, has been indicted for bribery, corruption and other offences.

Park apologised several times in tearful televised addresses, painting herself as a lonely, isolated leader whose main offence was to place too much trust in a friend.

"South Koreans, since I took office, I have lived a lonely life," she said. Choi "stayed with me during my most difficult times," she added. "It is a fact that I let my guard down."

But the scandal was too much even for many of her supporters, prompting millions to take to the streets calling for her ouster and sending her once-bulletproof approval ratings to record lows.

Many in her own party turned against her to vote for her impeachment in parliament, leaving it to the constitutional court to have the final say.

- 'Obsession with power' -

The scandal has exposed allegedly corrupt ties between politics and business, as in Park's father's time, and his divisive legacy has always dogged her political career, with critics accusing her of inheriting his authoritarian streak.

State probes have portrayed Park as a solitary, aloof figure who preferred staying at her residence to meeting advisors at the office, overly focused on her appearance and showing little tolerance for criticism.

One official who was her chief of staff for two years told a parliamentary hearing he had often gone entire weeks without seeing her at all -- an experience echoed by many other senior personnel.

Park was also accused of negligence over the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 -- when more than 300 people, mostly schoolchildren, drowned in the South's worst disaster for decades.

Separately, Park is accused of ordering officials to crack down on and punish thousands of artists who voiced criticism of her.

"Instead of the father's intelligence, insight and determination to build economy, she only inherited the worst part of him -- obsession with power... and intolerance for critics," Chun Yu-Ok, a former ally and senior lawmaker in Park's party, wrote in a recent memoir.

"Her downfall is a reminder for all South Koreans that now is time to finally say goodbye to our past."
President Maithripala Sirisena rejects UN calls for Sri Lankan soldiers to stand trial for war-era abuses

President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in Sri Lanka promising justice for war crimes, breaking from his hawkish predecessor and presenting the island with its first real shot at a lasting peace.

But that optimism has been sorely tested as Sirisena, having missed a two-year deadline to investigate war-era abuses, declared he would never prosecute his soldiers, rejecting outright fresh UN calls for an international trial.

"I am not going to allow non-governmental organisations to dictate how to run my government," he said a day after the UN criticised Sri Lanka's "worrying slow" progress in facing its wartime past.

"I will not listen to their calls to prosecute my troops."

His defiant tone marked a sharp shift from the conciliatory approach that had earned praise from the international community, and drew unfavourable comparisons to Sri Lanka's wartime leader Mahinda Rajapakse.

The strongman resisted international pressure to probe allegations government forces under his control killed up to 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war, which ended in May 2009.

"Sirisena's remarks are worrisome and alarmingly reminiscent of speeches by his rival and predecessor Mahinda Rajapakse," the International Crisis Group's Alan Keenan told AFP.

Sirisena has made inroads towards shedding Sri Lanka's status as global pariah since defeating Rajapakse in January 2015.

A member of the majority Sinhalese community, he received the support of the Tamil minority after promising accountability for excesses carried out by the largely Sinhalese military.

In October 2015 he went one step further, agreeing to a UN Human Rights Council resolution which called for special tribunals and gave Sri Lanka 18 months to establish credible investigations.

But the deadline lapsed without those commitments being met.

"We put too much trust in him, and he's badly disappointed us," said Eswarapatham Saravanapavan, a politician from the war-ravaged Tamil heartland of Jaffna.

"We didn't ask for handouts. All we wanted was justice."

- Politically constrained -

Tamils abroad, fed up with inaction, have been pressuring the Geneva-based rights council to censure Sirisena at meetings later this month, Saravanapavan said.

In a new report last week the council acknowledged Sri Lanka had taken some steps towards reconciliation but cautioned the measures had been "inadequate, lacked coordination and a sense of urgency".

Sirisena's blunt rejection of fresh demands for tribunals with foreign judges has raised concerns that no military personnel may ever be held accountable.

But experts say the president is juggling pressures from a muscular army, which opposes any trials, and an unwieldy political coalition that helped bring him to power.

"The political constraints facing Sirisena from a popular military are considerable, and the participation of foreign judges has always been a hard sell for many Sinhalese," Keenan said.

There have been symbolic gestures towards reconciliation. The national anthem was sung in Tamil during national day celebrations last year for the first time in 67 years -- an unthinkable act under Rajapakse.

Swathes of military-occupied land have been returned to Tamils in Jaffna, where Sirisena hit the streets last week promising reconciliation just moments after railing against the UN.

But there have been false steps, too.

Draconian anti-terror laws have not been repealed as promised, and rights groups expressed outrage when Sirisena sent a police officer implicated in abuse to defend his administration at a UN inquiry into torture.

The president also raised eyebrows in November when he asked US-president elect Donald Trump to use America's clout at the UN to clear Sri Lanka's war crimes record.

Diplomatic sources say a UN rights council session later this month poses a key test for Sri Lanka, which narrowly avoided a censure motion soon after Sirisena came to power.

The island nation bought time on that occasion by promising to address past abuses -- an approach it has taken again with Sri Lanka's foreign minister appealing for a second chance.

It's a worrying case of deja vu for those who backed Sirisena in his shock victory over Rajapakse, often despite threats to their own lives.

"The president's mandate was for reform. We are very disappointed he has not kept his pledges," said civil society leader Sarath Wijesuriya.
Japanese media report the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is expected to join South Korea-US drills after finishing exercises with Japan

The US and Japanese navies said Friday they completed a four-day joint exercise in the East China Sea, as tension intensifies in the region following North Korea's missile tests.

The training, characterised by Japanese media essentially as a show-of-force exercise, coincided with renewed tensions in the region after North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches earlier this week.

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and the guided missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer from the US Navy joined the Japanese destroyers Sazanami and Samidare in the East China Sea to "increase proficiency in basic maritime skills and improve response capabilities," the US Navy said in a statement.

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, the country's navy, said in a separate statement that the exercises focused on "tactical training", without elaborating

But Japan's conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper said the drill was aimed at issuing a warning against nuclear-armed North Korea by "exhibiting the strength and deterrent power of the Japan-US alliance."

The joint drill commenced a day after North Korea launched four ballistic missiles on Monday, with three landing provocatively close to Japan, which the US is obligated to defend under a security treaty.

Pyongyang has claimed the launch was a training exercise for a strike on US bases in Japan and supervised by leader Kim Jong-Un.

Seoul and Washington are separately carrying out annual joint military exercises in South Korea.

The Japan-US training was also meant to display their joint presence in the East China Sea, where Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets, the Sankei said.

In Japan they are known as the Senkakus, while China claims then as the Diaoyus.

Successive US administrations have assured Japan that the islands fall under their security treaty, meaning if they are attacked the US will defend them.

The Carl Vinson was expected to join the South Korea-US drills after the exercise with Japan, the Sankei said.

The two sets of exercises come as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is set to visit South Korea, Japan and China next week for his first trip to the region since he became President Donald Trump's top diplomat.

North Korea missile launch

The US Pacific Command said Monday that the Americans had begun deploying the THAAD anti-system to South Korea, which is designed to defend the US ally from a North Korean attack.

The deployment has outraged Pyongyang ally China, which strongly opposes it as a challenge to its security ambitions in the region.

China responded that it was "firmly opposed" to the deployment and vowed to "resolutely take necessary measures" to defend its security interests.

China has argued that the deployment would further destabilise the situation on the Korean peninsula.
A Palestinian man works in a factory in Hamas-run Gaza manufacturing a kippa, or Jewish skullcap, for export to Israel

In the heart of the Gaza Strip's Shati refugee camp, machines buzz as Mohammed Abu Shanab's employees sew small, round pieces of cloth: Jewish skullcaps for export to Israel.

It may seem an unlikely product to be made in the Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas and hit by three wars with Israel since 2008, but with unemployment and poverty rampant, some in Gaza will take any business they can get.

"The Israelis appreciate our products for their quality and our proximity to their market," Abu Shanab said.

"On the other hand, they fear the crossings will be closed and the delivery of goods will be delayed."

Israel controls all crossings into and out of the Gaza Strip, apart from one bordering Egypt. One terminal on the Israeli border -- Kerem Shalom -- is designated for goods.

With about a dozen sewing machines, Abu Shanab's small textile factory, located near the home of Hamas's former leader in Gaza Ismail Haniya, produces other products such as shirts and trousers as well.

But his production level is not what he would like.

In 2006, when Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, he says he shut down. The three wars that followed completely or partially took out some 50 companies in the Gaza Strip, according to industry representatives.

Abu Shanab's factory only reopened last year, he said.

Gaza's textile sector as a whole remains a far cry from the early 1990s, when it employed some 35,000 people in more than 900 companies.

A Palestinian man in a factory in Hamas-run Gaza uses a sewing machine to finish off a Jewish skullcap for export to Israel

Abu Shanab, also a member of the Union of Palestinian Textile Industries, said that at that time four million pieces were sent to Israel each month.

Since the blockade, the figures have fallen to 4,000 Gazans employed in the sector and some 150 companies, whose products are mainly aimed at the local market, union figures show.

Some 25 of the companies export to Israel and the occupied West Bank, the other Palestinian territory separated from Gaza by Israeli territory. They send between 30,000 and 40,000 pieces each month.

Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing weapons or materials that could be used to make them.

UN officials have called for the blockade to be lifted, citing deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

- Business not politics -

According to the World Bank, the blockade has caused Gaza's exports to evaporate and badly hurt the economy of the territory of some two million people.

Hassan Shehadeh, who employs some 50 Palestinians in textile work, says he has managed to regain 20 percent of his business since last year.

In his factory in the upscale neighbourhood of Sheikh Radwan, in the north of Gaza City, he produces jeans amid the deafening din of machines and the generators that power them -- an indispensible tool in the Gaza Strip, where electricity shortages are chronic.

Each month, Shehadeh says he exports between 5,000 and 10,000 pairs of trousers to Israel.

"I could produce a lot more, but the issue of the crossings worries Israeli businessmen and hinders our work," he said.

A seamster in Hamas-run Gaza shows off the Jewish skullcaps his factory has produced for export to Israel

The market is difficult within Gaza, where unemployment stands at around 45 percent and more than two-thirds of the population depend on humanitarian aid.

"The local market is weak, while trade with Israel is very good," he said.

"We have expertise and we could export even further."

For Abdel Nasser Awad, director general in the Gaza economy ministry, exporting to Israel is "a purely commercial affair".

"All that we are interested in is boosting our economy and fighting unemployment," he said.

Shehadeh puts it much more bluntly.

"Politics and business are not the same thing," he said.

"You can be an enemy in politics, but not in business."
The last elections were in March 2015 when opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari was elected president

Nigeria's next presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in February 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced.

INEC said on Thursday the early release of the election timetable was "to allow for proper planning by the commission, political parties, security agencies, candidates and all stakeholders".

Presidential and national assembly elections will be held on Saturday, February 16, 2019, while regional and local elections to elect new governors and local assembly members will be held two weeks later on Saturday, March 2, 2019.

Nigeria's constitution stipulates that elections must be held in the closing months of the president's term, within a period not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before it officially ends.

The last elections in March 2015 saw Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress defeat sitting president Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party.

It was the first time in Nigerian political history that an opposition candidate had won at the ballot box against an incumbent head of state.

Buhari took office on May 29, 2015.

The vote was initially postponed from February 14, 2015 as the government said the military could not provide security at polling stations because of operations against Boko Haram insurgents.

The election passed off broadly without a hitch, despite a history of widespread voter fraud and election-linked violence that left hundreds dead across the country in previous polls.
Kim Jong-Nam (C, in grey suit), half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un, was attacked with a lethal nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur's international airport in February

Malaysia's police chief confirmed Friday that the man assassinated at Kuala Lumpur's international airport last month was Kim Jong-Nam, half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un.

Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference that he could not release details of how the identity was determined due to "security" concerns, but Malaysian authorities had earlier declined to officially confirm the victim's identity or release his body without a DNA sample from next-of-kin.

"For the security of the witnesses so I'm not going to tell you how it was done," he said of the identification process.

The 45-year-old was carrying a passport bearing the name of Kim Chol when he was attacked on February 13 with the lethal nerve agent VX by two women.

His wife and children, who were living in exile in the Chinese territory of Macau, have since gone into hiding over fears that his 21-year-old son, Kim Han-Sol, could be seen as a potential rival by his uncle Kim Jong-Un in a country roiled by bloody purges.

The brazen Cold War-style killing triggered a bitter diplomatic row between the previously friendly Asian nations, which have expelled each other's ambassador and refused to let their citizens leave.

North Korea has never confirmed the identity of the dead man, but has denounced the Malaysian investigation as an attempt to smear the secretive regime, insisting that he most likely died of a heart attack.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (R) ordered the killing of his half-brother Kim Jong-Nam (L), according to South Korea

Expelled North Korean ambassador Kang Chol slammed what he called a "pre-targeted investigation by the Malaysian police" on Monday, just before leaving the country.

Pyongyang retaliated by formally expelling his Malaysian counterpart, who was already back in Kuala Lumpur for consultations.

Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday urged Malaysians to pray for the safe return of nine compatriots barred from leaving North Korea.

Three Malaysian embassy staff and six family members remain stuck in Pyongyang after North Korea barred Malaysians from leaving the country on Tuesday, prompting a tit-for-tat move by Malaysia.

Two Malaysians working for the UN World Food Programme were permitted to leave North Korea on Thursday.

- Football match postponed -

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Friday that it would postpone an Asian Cup qualifier between Malaysia and North Korea due to their souring ties.

The Harimau Malaysia squad had been due to play in the North Korean capital on March 28 as a lead up to the 2019 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.

But the fate of the match was thrown into doubt after Malaysian officials this week banned the team from playing in Pyongyang.

"The AFC Competitions Committee have taken the decision to postpone the tie after escalating diplomatic tension between the Governments of DPR Korea and Malaysia," the AFC said in a statement.

"A new date for the game will be announced in due course."

South Korea has blamed Pyongyang for the assassination and Malaysian police are seeking seven North Korean suspects, four of whom left Malaysia on the day of the murder.

The Malaysian police chief has said he believes the other three are hiding in North Korea's embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Two women -- one Vietnamese and one Indonesian -- have been arrested and charged with the murder. Airport CCTV footage shows them approaching the victim and apparently smearing his face with a piece of cloth.
A member of the elite Counter-Terrorism Service fires on Islamic group fighters in the Shuhada neighbourhood as goverment forces advance in west Mosul on March 10, 2017

Iraqi special forces battling the Islamic State group on Friday pushed deeper into west Mosul, where a commander said jihadist resistance is showing signs of weakening under repeated assaults.

The jihadists are also facing simultaneous offensives in Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, piling more pressure on IS.

But the battle for Mosul's Old City -- which could see some of the toughest fighting of the operation -- has not yet begun, nor has fighting inside the city of Raqa, IS's main bastion in Syria.

Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service attacked the Al-Amil al-Oula neighbourhood of west Mosul early on Friday, and were battling the jihadists inside it, said Staff Major General Maan al-Saadi, a CTS commander.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command later announced that CTS had retaken that area along with another neighbourhood, Al-Amil al-Thaniyah.

Saadi said that following a string of losses since the launch of the government's assault on west Mosul on February 19, IS resistance had diminished.

"After we broke the (first) defensive line, they lost many fighters," he said.

IS group presence in Syria and Iraq

"The enemy has begun to collapse. They have lost many of their combat capabilities. Today, the enemy sent (suicide car bombs), but not in the numbers that they sent at the beginning of the battle."

In another sign that the jihadists are feeling the squeeze, their chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reported to have abandoned Mosul, leaving local commanders behind to oversee defence of the city.

Iraqi forces launched their operation to retake Mosul in October, and recaptured the whole east bank of the Tigris River that runs through it in January.

- More than 215,000 displaced -

They then set their sights on the smaller but more densely populated west side of the city.

More than 215,000 people are displaced as a result of the battle for Mosul, according to the International Organization for Migration. Others fled their homes but later returned.

Smoke billows from the Al-Amil neighborhood of west Mosul as Iraqi forces pound Islamic State group positions on March 10, 2017, in fighting that has prompted more and more civilians to flee

Almost a quarter of the displaced -- more than 50,000 people -- have fled west Mosul since February 25, the IOM said.

But that is only a small fraction of the 750,000 civilians estimated to have stayed on in west Mosul under IS rule.

In neighbouring Syria, the jihadists lost more ground to a Russian-backed offensive by government forces east of second city Aleppo.

Russian warplanes and regime aircraft and artillery pounded IS positions around Jarrah airbase, held by the jihadists since January 2014.

Russia's military said on Friday that it had carried out more than 450 air strikes in support of the offensive over the past week, killing more than 600 IS fighters, and destroying 16 infantry fighting vehicles and 41 machinegun-mounted pickups.

Washington too has turned up the heat on IS in Syria, more than doubling its troop numbers in the country with the deployment of 400 reinforcements to back the offensive on Raqa.

Around 500 US military advisers were already deployed alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters that Washington regards as the force best equipped to drive IS from its stronghold.

- Feuding US allies -

But the operation is complicated by the implacable opposition to the SDF of US NATO ally Turkey, which is leading a rival offensive against IS in northern Syria.

Ankara regards the dominant force within the SDF, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), as a terrorist organisation, because of its links to a Kurdish rebel group that has waged a deadly 33-year insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

A convoy of US armoured vehicles passes near the Syrian town of Manbij, on March 5, 2017 as Washington moves to deter any further Turkish attacks on its Kurdish and Arab allies who control it

Ankara has said its intervention is aimed as much against the YPG as IS, and there have been repeated clashes between Turkish forces and the Kurdish militia.

Asked about the standoff at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, the top US commander for the region, General Joseph Votel, acknowledged that tensions between Ankara and the Kurds were near breaking point.

Efforts have been made to address the issue at a military level, "and there has to be an effort at the political level to address this," Votel said.

Some of the US troop reinforcements being sent to Syria are to be deployed to SDF-held areas near the front line to deter further clashes between Turkish forces and Washington's Kurdish-Arab allies.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow, however, are much improved even though they have supported opposite sides in the conflict between the rebels and the regime.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Moscow on Friday for a new round of consultations with President Vladimir Putin.
Roughly 350 Japanese military engineer troops are in South Sudan as part of the UN peacekeeping mission to perform tasks such as road construction and maintenance

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday a plan to pull the nation's engineering troops from South Sudan in May after five years of a peacekeeping mission.

"As South Sudan's nation-building reaches a new stage, I assessed that the Self Defense Force's construction and maintenance work in Juba has reached" an appropriate point to end, Abe told reporters.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stressed at a separate news conference that it was not due to a deterioration in security in the area, according to Kyodo News.

Currently roughly 350 Japanese military engineer troops are in the violence-hit nation as part of the UN peacekeeping mission to perform tasks such as road construction and maintenance.

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, was engulfed by a civil war in 2013 and faces various humanitarian crises such as famine.
The historic armoury of Tipu Sultan being moved by workers at Srirangapatna near Mysore, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, on March 9, 2017

Dozens of workers are using cranes and jacks to shove and push a 1,000-tonne, 18th century armoury to make way for a new rail track in a southern Indian state.

The armoury was one of the ten structures built to store gunpowder and weapons by warrior king Tipu Sultan who ruled the kingdom of Mysore between 1782 and 1799.

Workers are in process of lifting the 225-year-old brick and lime mortar monument and moving it nearly 130 metres from the original spot near Mysore city in Karnataka state.

The monument is expected to be safely relocated by the weekend, authorities said.

The semi-buried structure at Srirangapatna town was put on steel beams on Monday and moved using hydraulic push rams after experts said it was obstructing construction of a key rail link between Mysore and capital Bangalore.

"We could not alter the line as there were more important monuments in the vicinity where the tracks are being laid," Ravi Chandra, a senior railway official, told a local newspaper.

Sultan's kingdom included parts of present day states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in southern India.

The powerful ruler was killed in the fourth Anglo-Mysore war in 1799 after defeating the British East India Company in previous battles.

He is credited with developing an indigenous rocket known as Mysorean rocket, a prototype of British Congreve rockets that was used in the Napoleonic wars.
US President Donald Trump (L) is to speak over the phone with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas for the first time on March 10, 2017

US President Donald Trump will on Friday speak by telephone with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the White House said, in the first call between the two leaders.

Trump received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in mid-February.

At that meeting, Trump said he was not bound to the two-state solution for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, distancing himself from a position held by his predecessors for years.

He said he would back whichever solution -- one-state or two -- that the two sides agreed on.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh confirmed Friday's call to AFP and said the Palestinian leader would "reaffirm his commitment to peace."

The peace process has been deadlocked since April 2014 following the collapse of indirect negotiations led by then secretary of state John Kerry.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, on Tuesday met for the first time with the Palestinian envoy to the world body, Riyad Mansour.

After the talks, Haley tweeted that the Palestinians should "meet with Israel in direct negotiations rather than looking to the UN to deliver results that can only be achieved through the two parties."
With the launch of .africa, the continent has "finally got its digital identity," AU officials say

In the beginning was .com, followed by a host of other .somethings, but on Friday, 32 years after the world's first domain name was registered, the African Union has launched .africa for the continent.

Africans who want to register a website will be able to apply for a .africa domain name in the coming months, which outgoing AU commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said would allow the continent's people and businesses to better reach the world.

"With .africa, I would say Africa has finally got its digital identity," said Dlamini-Zuma, who will next week hand power to Chadian Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat after four years at the helm of the continental body

Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the lowest rates of internet penetration in the world, according to the World Bank, with only around 22 percent of people online compared to the global average of 44 percent.

The AU has vowed to increase broadband internet penetration by 10 percent by next year as part of its 'Agenda 2063' development proposal.

As the continent's largest economy, South Africa dominates African presence online, holding 1.1 million of the two million website registrations on the continent, said Lucky Masilela, CEO of ZA Central Registry, the South Africa-based company that will administer .africa.

High fees are an obstacle to many people who want to register a website, Masilela said.

In some African countries, it can cost as much as $250 (235 euro) but Masilela said .africa addresses will be available at a cut-price rate of just $18 to anyone on the continent.

".africa is going to be a market disruptor and will assist in lowering the cost of domain names," Masilela said.

The AU is hoping proceeds from the domain registrations will help cover some of its administrative costs and fund the AU commission.

The domain is due to be available to the public in July but it remains unclear how strong demand will be.
The Madison County Chamber of Commerce met for its regular meeting on March 9 at Black River Electric Cooperative and discussed several items.

Fredericktown City Administrator Doug Friend spoke to the chamber about the countys bicentennial in 2018.

And my thought, is theres a great opportunity next year in 2018, to do a county bicentennial celebration, Friend said. And I think the city would be willing to do what we can do to make that happen.

Friend suggested holding a luncheon and inviting service groups in the county that hold events throughout the year and requesting that they brand their events in 2018 as bicentennial events. He also suggested the creation of a bicentennial logo that could be used for those events, for county vehicles and for letterhead.

You only get this opportunity once  to celebrate 200 years, Friend said.

After discussing the upcoming Missouri Whitewater kayak races this weekend, the chamber then heard a presentation from Holly Martin-Huffman and Bill Knight of Ozark Regional Library.

Knight, branch manager of the Fredericktown library, explained the services and offerings of the library in the community, in addition to loaning books. He described the many reasons that a person might make use of the library, including computer and Internet access.

The library lets people do what they need to do, Knight said.

Martin-Huffman, the library system director, spoke about an upcoming tax issue that will be on the ballot in Madison County as well as Iron and Crawford Counties to levy an additional 10 cents for the library system.

The chamber also discussed membership progress and the development of its mission statement.

The next meeting of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce will be at 8:30 on April 13 at Black River Electric Cooperative.
The march follows weeks of uncertainty over grants to more than 17 million people

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Pretoria on Friday over fears that South Africa's welfare agency may be unable to make benefit payments to millions of poor people.

The march was led by Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance party, and follows weeks of uncertainty over grants to more than 17 million people.

It is feared that payments will come to a halt after the government failed to announce a new company to process them when the current distributor's contract ends on March 31.

"In less than three weeks' time, millions of South Africans stand to lose their social grants if an urgent solution to the grant payment crisis is not found," said Maimane.

"A third of our people depend on grants to survive," he added as he addressed the march which was joined by disabled people and mothers with young children.

The protesters marched outside the social development ministry, many of them clad in the blue of the Democratic Alliance.

Welfare grants are a critical safety net in a country where poverty and inequality are rampant.

Around 140 billion rand ($10.6 billion) is paid out every year.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) -- which is suffering declining popularity -- has used the subsidies paid to the elderly, orphans and children to secure the backing of many poor voters.

South Africa's welfare system was plunged into chaos in 2014 when a court ruled that the contract of the current distributor, Cash Paymaster Services, was granted illegally.

Maimane said the grants debacle was a "massive responsibility on the shoulders of the government".

The crisis has seen opposition parties in parliament call for the sacking of social development minister Bathabile Dlamini, despite her pledge this week that the grants would be paid on time.

Maimane said his party would pursue criminal charges against Dlamini if she failed to resolve the crisis.
Guard duty at Niger's top security Koutoukale prison, where troops last October repelled a jihadist bid to free detainees

Niger has begun the trials behind closed doors of about 1,000 suspected fighters from the Boko Haram jihadist movement, officials said Friday.

Chief prosecutor Chaibou Samna told AFP that the trials, on charges of terrorist links, had begun on March 2.

Those facing trial are from several countries including Niger and Mali, Samna said, as well as neighbouring Nigeria where Boko Haram's deadly insurgency began in 2009 before spreading abroad.

Some of the suspects were "captured during combat" in southern Niger across the border from Boko Haram's stronghold in Nigeria, a security source said.

Samna said the trials will last several months and mostly arise from offences entailing "not more than 10 years in prison".

"There have already been convictions and a large number of people freed for lack of evidence," he added.

"The government has provided the means to transport prosecutors to investigate on the ground" in the Diffa region, close to territory in northeast Nigeria that is the bastion of the armed fundamentalist movement, Samna said.

The government announced in December that it would speed up legal proceedings against suspected Boko Haram fighters in prison for more than a year.

About 1,200 people suspected of close ties to the group have been detained awaiting trial since 2015, according to a source in the security forces.

Some were captured in combat or during identity checks carried out under the state of emergency imposed in the Diffa region on the Nigerian border, the source said.

Boko Haram carried out its first attacks in Niger on February 6, 2015, but has established no base in the mainly Sunni Muslim nation.

The jihadists killed at least 177 civilians in Diffa between February 2015 and September 2016, according to a UN report.

The region has also taken in more than 300,000 refugees and displaced people. Thousands of them subsist at the expense of the local population, which is already very poor, and the United Nations has repeatedly asked the international community to step up financial support.
Iyad Ag Ghaly, the leader of Islamist organisation Ansar Dine, has joined forces with four other jihadist groups

A jihadist alliance uniting Malian insurgents loyal to Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 11 soldiers close to Mali's border with Burkina Faso, its first such attack.

The Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) announced their merger in a video released earlier this month showing five jihadist leaders seated together, led by Iyad Ag Ghaly of Islamist organisation Ansar Dine.

Mauritania's ANI news agency, which closely tracks jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region south of the Sahara, late Thursday cited a GSIM spokesman claiming responsibility for the assault on a military base in the village of Boulikessi on March 5.

It was their first operation as an alliance.

The spokesman for the jihadist coalition also confirmed the looting of military hardware and the destruction of vehicles, adding that two of their own men were injured.

Beyond Ansar Dine, the groups who joined the merger included Al-Murabitoun, led by Algerian extremist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, and the Macina Brigades, active in central Mali.

The groups already had ties to Al-Qaeda, and some were involved in an onslaught that saw northern Mali fall out of government control in 2012.

The extremists were later expelled from the region by a French-led international military intervention.

Nonetheless large swathes of northern and central Mali continue to come under attack from jihadist groups.

The area is also seen by governments battling the jihadist threat as a launchpad for attacks against other countries in the region.

A Malian security source had previously blamed the attack on Ansarul Islam, an organisation led by Malam Ibrahim Dicko, the radical preacher from Burkina Faso who experts say wants to create an Islamist "kingdom" in the region.
Israel's move to impose limits on the Muslim call to prayer has sparked outrage around the Arab world

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Friday denounced planned Israeli legislation that would quieten mosques, warning such a law would face stiff resistance.

The Israeli parliament on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to two controversial measures that would limit calls to prayers from mosques in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, including one prohibiting the use of loudspeakers at all hours.

Ismail Haniya, deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, condemned the move.

"This decision will not pass," he said after Friday prayers in the Gaza Strip, which the Islamists run.

"Our people and nation will raise the Azan all over the world," he said, using the Arabic word for the Muslim call to prayer.

While the bills in theory would apply to any religious place of worship, Muslims say they are clearly meant to silence the traditional call to prayer at mosques.

The measures have become commonly known as the "muezzin law" after the Muslim official charged with calling the faithful to prayer, often through powerful speakers mounted on minarets.

The notion of Israeli legislation silencing mosques has sparked outrage around the Arab and wider Muslim world.

Supporters of the move say it is needed to prevent daily disturbance to the lives of hundreds of thousands Israelis.

Wednesday's bills were approved after a heated discussion that turned into shouting matches between ruling coalition members and Arab lawmakers, some of whom tore copies of the legislation and were ejected from the chamber.
Taiwan's National Security Bureau director-general Peng Sheng-chu told lawmakers this week that Chinese espionage is "more serious than before"

Taiwan prosecutors said a man from China, reportedly a recent graduate from one of the island's top universities, was detained Friday on suspicion of espionage, as officials warn of growing China spy threats.

It is the latest in a string of espionage cases and comes as ties are increasingly frosty between Taipei and Beijing.

China still sees the island as part of its territory to be brought back into its fold even though Taiwan has been self-governing since the two sides split after a civil war in 1949.

Relations have worsened since Beijing-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen came to power last May.

Local media have named the man as Zhou Hongxu from Liaoning province in northeastern China and say he graduated from the National Chengchi University in Taipei last year.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office says it is investigating whether he has violated the National Security Act.

"He may have engaged in recruiting a spy circle, in attempt to obtain classified information," Chang Chieh-chin, a spokesman for the district prosecutor, told AFP.

Chang declined to reveal more details as the probe is ongoing.

Zhou, who is around 30 years old, had attempted to recruit a young official from Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports say.

The Mainland Affairs Council -- Taiwan's official body that governs relations with China -- said students from across the strait must obey Taiwanese law.

"Mainland students should abide by the law while in Taiwan with study as the purpose," it said in a statement, adding that its policy for accepting students from China would not change.

"The government continues to promote mainland students coming to Taiwan and hopes that both sides can cherish and safeguard the results of years of exchanges," the council said.

The case comes a day after the island's National Security Bureau director-general Peng Sheng-chu told lawmakers Chinese espionage is "more serious than before".

A former Taiwanese intelligence officer was sentenced to 18 years in prison in September for reportedly working as a double agent.

The Investigation Bureau is working on a draft bill aimed at preventing security breaches, but it has drawn controversy over the power it may give to counterintelligence agents.
Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qiq (L) was released from a six-month prison term without trial in May 2016 following a 94-day hunger strike

An imprisoned Palestinian journalist ended a 32-day hunger strike on Friday after receiving assurances Israel would not extend his detention without trial next month, his wife and lawyer said.

It will be the second time within a year that 34-year-old Mohammed al-Qiq, who works for the Saudi television channel Al-Majd, has been released by Israel from so-called administrative detention following a prolonged hunger strike.

An Israeli military court said Thursday that Qiq's detention would not be extended when it expired next month, his lawyer Khaled Zabarqa told AFP.

Qiq's wife, Fayha Shalash, said that the journalist, hospitalised near Tel Aviv, has ended his hunger strike and called his release expected on April 14 a "judicial victory".

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner stressed to AFP that "there was no agreement" under which Qiq would stop his hunger strike in return for his release.

"He'll be released as planned," Lerner said of Qiq's three-month sentence.

The Israel Prison Service confirmed to AFP that Qiq had stopped refusing food and would be released next month.

In May 2016, Qiq was released from a six-month prison term without trial following a 94-day hunger strike.

He was rearrested in January near the West Bank city of Ramallah for "terror activity" on behalf of the Islamist group Hamas, the Shin Bet domestic security service said at the time, a claim he denied.

He was also accused of undermining the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.

A military court in February ordered that he be imprisoned for six months, a sentence later reduced to three months.

The controversial Israeli administrative detention laws allow the state to hold suspects without trial for periods of six months, renewable indefinitely.
Bereaved Palestinians, Israelis march against occupation

Hundreds of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli women marched through the West Bank on Friday against the Israeli occupation, in an International Women's Day event.

Around 200 women marched to two military bases, with some carrying banners reading "End the occupation" or "Our tears are one colour".

The Parents Circle Families Forum brings together families of those killed in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and includes more than 600 families.

Robi Damelin, an Israeli woman whose son was killed near Ramallah in 2002, lit a candle in honour of the many victims of the conflict.

Bereaved Palestinians, Israelis march against occupation

"My son was a reserve Israeli army officer, and before he was summoned he was doing a master's degree at Tel Aviv University," she said.

He was killed in the West Bank in 2002 by a Palestinian sniper in a famous incident in which 10 Israelis were killed.

"I wrote several letters to my son's killer saying I wanted to meet him. He sent me one which said he was willing to meet me, but the authorities have prevented it," she told AFP, calling on the Israeli government to make peace.

Some Israeli settlers in the area insulted the women from their cars, telling them to go to Syria.

Palestinian Bushra Awad, 45, lost her 17-year-old son Mahmoud in 2008.

"I joined the forum because I am trying not to lose any another son," she said.

Suha abu Khdeir, whose son Mohammed was burned alive by Jewish settlers in July 2014, also addressed the women.

"I can't sleep at night -- every day it's me who's burning because of what happened to my son," she said.

The women also demolished a wall symbolising the barrier that snakes through the occupied West Bank.
Germany has taken in one million refugees and migrants since 2015 under a generous immigration policy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a setback Friday when the upper house of parliament rejected a proposal to declare three North African states "safe countries of origin" in refugee law.

The proposed designation for Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco aimed to make it easier for Germany to deny asylum requests from their citizens on the grounds that they were safe in their home countries.

The designation, which presumes a government does not systematically persecute opponents, would also aim to deter citizens of the three Maghreb countries countries from illegally heading to the EU in future.

Germany has taken in one million refugees and migrants since 2015, under a generous policy which Merkel has defended in the teeth of criticism including from new US President Donald Trump who called it a "catastrophic mistake".

But the "safe countries" plan was rejected by the leftist Greens and Linke parties, which had voiced concerns over the rights records of those countries, including on the treatment of homosexuals.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the decision marked "a bad day in our efforts to stop illegal immigration", charging that "especially the Greens carry the responsibility".

He said that "today's 'no' can only be explained by party politics" ahead of September elections.

The interior minister of the conservative southern state of Bavaria, Joachim Herrmann, branded the vote "an entirely wrong signal".

"We have to be in a position to quickly and easily reject asylum requests that are not based on political persecution but purely on economic reasons," he was quoted as saying by news agency DPA.

Refugee rights group Pro Asyl welcomed the defeat of the bill which it said would have paved the way for fast-track asylum denials, saying that each case deserves careful consideration and the possibility of an appeals process.
US President Donald Trump invited Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to visit the White House during their first phone call

Donald Trump on Friday invited Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to visit the White House sometime soon, both sides said after the first phone call between the pair since the US president took office in January.

Trump invited Abbas "to visit the White House soon to discuss ways to resume the (Palestinian-Israeli) political process," the official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted Abbas's spokesman as saying.

The spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said that Trump stressed his "commitment to a peace process that would lead to a real peace between Palestinians and Israelis", Wafa reported.

Abbas told Trump that peace was a "strategic choice" for the Palestinian people that should lead to the "establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel".

In Washington, the White House said Trump "emphasised his personal belief that peace is possible and that the time has come to make a deal."

"The president noted that the United States cannot impose a solution on the Israelis and Palestinians, nor can one side impose an agreement on the other," said a statement from Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer.

"The president invited president Abbas to a meeting at the White House in the near future."

Trump received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in mid-February.

At that meeting, Trump broke with decades of US policy by saying he was not bound to the two-state solution for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The peace process has been deadlocked since April 2014 following the collapse of indirect negotiations led by then US secretary of state John Kerry.

- Lack of access -

Since Trump came to power, having pledged to lead the most pro-Israel US administration in history, Palestinian officials have been quietly alarmed by their lack of access to senior figures in the White House.

On Tuesday, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, met for the first time with the Palestinian envoy to the world body, Riyad Mansour.

After the talks, Haley tweeted that the Palestinians should "meet with Israel in direct negotiations rather than looking to the UN to deliver results that can only be achieved through the two parties".

Israel has long favoured direct bilateral talks, while the Palestinians argue they need the international community to ensure Israel follows through on its pledges.

On Thursday, Trump's controversial nominee as ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, was confirmed by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Friedman is a longtime supporter of Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank and Palestinian officials have privately expressed dismay over his appointment.

Trump has previously suggested he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, while Israeli right-wingers have encouraged Netanyahu to use Trumps election as an opportunity to formally annex parts of the West Bank into Israel.

In December, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat told journalists that some of Friedman's preferred policies would lead to "chaos".

"I look David Friedman and Trump in the eye and tell them -- if you were to take these steps of moving the embassy and annexing settlements in the West Bank, you are sending this region down the path of something that I call chaos, lawlessness and extremism," he said.

Friedman still needs to be approved by the full Senate.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition air strike tried to target rebels on the southern outskirts of the Red Sea port of Khoukha

An air strike by a Saudi-led Arab coalition on a market in Yemen killed 20 civilians and six rebels on Friday, medical and military sources said.

The aircraft tried to target rebels at a roadblock on the southern outskirts of the Red Sea port of Khokha, but the fighters fled to a market where they were attacked, the sources said.

The raid took place at the entrance to the market that sells the mild narcotic leaf qat, which is very popular among Yemeni men.

A military source close to Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi said that by fleeing to the market, the rebels had used civilians as "human shields".

The rebel television channel Al-Masirah also reported the air strike, but give a slightly higher toll of 27 killed and said dozens more were wounded.

The Saudi-led coalition which has been battling Shiite Huthi rebels opposed to Hadi was not immediately available for comment.

The Arab force has come under repeated criticism over civilian casualties in Yemen.

In December, it acknowledged that it had made "limited use" of British-made cluster bombs but said it had stopped using them.

On Thursday, Amnesty International accused the coalition of using banned Brazilian-manufactured cluster munitions in raids on residential areas in northern Saada province, a Shiite stronghold.

In mid-February, a coalition air strike killed eight women and a child at a funeral reception near the rebel-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Meanwhile, the rebel news agency Sabanews.net reported Friday that a coalition boat hit a mine off the coast of Yemen's historic port of Mokha on Thursday and exploded, causing casualties.

Pro-Hadi forces took Mokha from the insurgents on February 10 and said they aimed to push north to retake the country's main Red Sea port of Hodeida next.

On Monday, at least 16 Huthis were killed in a coalition air strike northeast of Hodeida and 23 others were wounded, medical and military sources said.

Khokha is south of Hodeida.

The conflict in Yemen has left more than 7,400 people dead and 40,000 wounded since the coalition intervened on the government's side in March 2015, the United Nations says.
There will be an Operation Christmas Child informational meeting from 10 a.m. to noon on March 25 at the First Baptist Church in Farmington, located at 210 North A Street.

Gia Moser, regional manager for the Lower Midwest Region of Operation Christmas Child, will be the speaker. Moser will share information about organization's work in Paraguay.

A total of 16,364 shoebox gifts were collected from Southeast Missouri and sent to needy children in more than 100 countries.

The Southeast Missouri region goal for 2017 is 18,000 shoebox gifts.

The community is invited to attend.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Every Tuesday at 8 p.m. it's time for "Wheel of Fugitive" in Brevard County, Florida.

Flashy video graphics shoot across the sheriff's department's Facebook page, accompanied by a rock soundtrack and an image of a spinning roulette wheel bedecked with 10 fugitives' mugshots. Smiling, portly and bespectacled Sheriff Wayne Ivey spins the wheel and, presto -- this week's fugitive is singled out for attention.

For the past 18 months, Ivey has targeted one fugitive for arrest each week with the spin of the large green wheel, in the brief videos posted to his agency's Facebook page .

"Just do the right thing, turn yourself and we certainly appreciate it," he said in a recent episode. "We'll see you next time on Wheel of Fugitive."

He says the humorous, game-show approach has been successful. Many of the pictured fugitives have been turned in via tips from the public and some have turned themselves in, he says.

"We want for them to do the right thing and turn themselves in," Ivey said. "A number of them have, a number of their family turns them in. Usually within a very short period of time their inner circle has alerted them to the fact if they didn't see it that they are on 'Wheel of Fugitive.'"

Ivey says the concept has been well received in the community of about 600,000. He judges the response by the number of Facebook comments and shares and also by the comments he receives when out doing public speaking.

"Hardly any place I go speak or I'm at somebody doesn't say, "I watch the 'Wheel of Fugitive,'" Ivey said. "They see the value of not only trying to get the fugitive off the street but engaging the community in doing so."

Ivey said he initially rolled out the idea of the "Wheel of Fugitive," inspired by the popular game show "Wheel Fortune," during a speech to the publicly shortly after he took over as sheriff in 2012. The idea got a warm reception.

Initially, the department offered what it called "Turn Them in Tuesday." Each week the department presented a single fugitive's picture and asked the public for its help in pursing him or her. Ivey says his fugitive division saw an 88 percent success rate in removing fugitives from the streets with that approach.

He believes "Wheel of Fugitive" has a chance to be just as successful -- maybe more. The fugitive division is currently working with the University of Central Florida's sociology department to compile the success rates for the current program. They should be available around May, Ivey said.

"The reason we believe in it is because for 'Turn Them In Tuesday' we were only showing one photograph, but with 'Wheel of Fugitive' we show all 10 fugitives before picking one," Ivey said.

"Wheel of Fugitive" hasn't just captured attention locally, but has also gained national exposure. Recently Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" made fun of Ivey and his wheel. Ivey, who prides himself on his sense humor, didn't mind being a punchline on the comedy show because of the attention it brought to what his department is doing to remove criminals from the streets.

"The fact that Wheel of Fugitive is being viewed that much and shared that much that it reached that level tells you the engagement we are getting in an audience," he said. "That's what we want. We want the community to be engaged and to help protect the community."
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House has approved a bill that would make it harder for individuals or groups to bring legal claims against companies in consumer disputes, employment discrimination cases and other areas.

Lawmakers approved the Republican-sponsored measure, 220-201, Thursday night. The bill heads to the Senate, where its prospects are less clear.

The legislation is the latest in a flurry of business-friendly moves by Congress and the Trump administration. Changes mandated in the bill could help reduce legal costs for businesses by putting up more hurdles to bringing class-action lawsuits in federal court.

Supporters say the bill is needed to curb abuses in class-action suits that often result in a huge payday for lawyers.

"The class-action litigation system has morphed into an expensive enterprise where lawyers are often the only winners, and American businesses and consumers are the losers," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and the bill's primary author. "Trial lawyers often profit at the expense of deserving victims."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, representing business interests, also supported the legislation.

Consumer groups and civil rights advocates said the bill penalizes those who have been mistreated by corporations.

"This devastating Republican attack on our federal and state civil courts will severely restrict the hallowed right of the American people to have their day in court when they are wrongfully injured or defrauded," said veteran consumer advocate Ralph Nader.

The bill would ensure that "judges' and juries' hands are tied by absentee politicians in Washington, greased by corporate campaign contributions," Nader said.

Nader and other critics point to a history of cases in which class-action suits enabled consumers to recoup losses and compelled companies to stop selling unsafe products. A recent example: a suit by Volkswagen owners in the U.S. who won about $11 billion in compensation from the German company in its emissions cheating scandal.

The bill would require individuals seeking to form a legal class to show that each of them suffered the same type and magnitude of personal injury or economic loss as the group's leader. Attorneys in winning class-action suits couldn't collect payment from companies until after the individuals in the class are paid.

Republican lawmakers have long cherished the idea of overhauling the legal system. They've looked to rein in trial lawyers - key campaign donors as a group to Democrats - whom they portray as greedy and abusing a system tilted toward them. Corporations and businesses, which tend to donate more heavily to Republican candidates, are championed by the GOP lawmakers as bearing excessive legal burdens and costs that raise prices for consumers.

"Today, Republicans are championing big corporations with legislation aimed at eroding class actions, an indispensable tool for citizens to hold powerful interests and big corporations accountable for their misdeeds," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement.
DUNEDIN, New Zealand (AP) - Captain Kane Williamson compiled his 16th test century to steady New Zealand's faltering first innings before lunch Friday on the third day of the first test against South Africa.

Resuming at 177-3 in reply to South Africa's 308 and with the match evenly balanced, New Zealand lost 2-34 in the first hour before drinks to concede some of the advantage to South Africa.

New Zealand was 247-5 at lunch with Williamson 111 and wicketkeeper B.J. Watling 20.

South Africa's Faf du Plessis takes a catch to dismiss New Zealand's Jeetan Patel, left, during the first cricket test at University Oval, Dunedin, New Zealand, Friday, March 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Williamson reached his century in 315 minutes, from 195 balls with 14 fours to move within one of Martin Crowe's New Zealand record of 17 test centuries. While he remains at the wicket with Watling settled and allrounder Mitchell Santner still to bat, New Zealand had some hope of matching South Africa's first innings' total.

But New Zealand is effectively six down because of the calf injury that forced Ross Taylor to retire hurt on 8 Thursday and which means he will not bat again in the match, and possibly in the series.

The first hour of play Friday seemed likely to be important as both teams sought some measurable advantage. It was South Africa that stepped up first, claiming the wicket of nightwatchman Jeetan Patel (16), then the contentious dismissal of James Neesham (7).

Neesham edged an outswinger from Morne Morkel to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, was given out and was leaving the field as television umpire Rod Tucker studied replays to determine whether Morkel's was a fair delivery.

Those replays appeared to show that the Proteas paceman had over-stepped - none showed any portion of Morkel's boot behind the line - but because he could find no adamant evidence that Morkel had delivered a no-ball, Tucker was required to support the decision of the on-field umpire.

That left New Zealand 193-5 and under increasing pressure until Williamson and Watling helped the home team reassert itself with a partnership that was worth 53 runs at lunch.
Two people have been shot dead and a third is fighting for their life after gunmen opened fire inside a Swiss cafe

The two men entered Cafe 56 in Basel at 8.15pm on Thursday and started shooting wildly at diners before fleeing.

They ran away towards the direction of a local train station and are said to be still at large having killed two customers at the cafe.

A forensic team investigates the scene after deadly gunfire was unleashed in Cafe 56, Basel

A bike is parked up outside the cafe where two men entered the building and started shooting

A forensic analyst collects evidence outside the cafe where the deadly attack took place

The identity of the three male victims had yet to be determined, authorities said, who added nobody one else was hurt in the attack.

In a statement released late last night, police said the third man was in a life-threatening condition.

Investigations are still ongoing but a police officer said: 'This is a local incident. It has nothing to do with Islamists or terrorism.'

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Two men carry out their forensic duties at the back of the cafe which is in a residential area

Police cordoned off the crime scene and as a member of the forensic team stands near a van

A bottle of water sits on the wall outside the cafe as a forensic team member prepares to enter

Forensic teams were seen in and out of the cafe overnight after the deadly shooting in Basel

A blue Mercedes-Benz van is filled with evidence as forensics are taken at the site of the crime

Forensic teams could be seen going in and out of the cafe collecting evidence.

The attack comes a day after the town concluded celebrations of Fasnacht, the largest carnival in Switzerland.

Bulletholes could also be seen in the cafe which is located in a residential area of the city.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - At least 26 people died and 36 more were injured when an overcrowded bus veered off a mountain road in Nepal, officials said Friday.

Government administrator Krishna Chandra Poudel said the bus plunged off the road Thursday near a village about 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu. The bus rolled about 200 meters (650 feet) down a slope before crashing into the Pasagad river.

Local villagers helped police and soldiers pull the bodies and the injured from the wreckage.

Poudel said rescue helicopters reached the accident area late Thursday and were able to fly 18 of the injured to a hospital in Nepalgunj city.

Another eight injured people were being flown out on Friday but had to wait for the weather to clear up.

Accidents in Nepal are mostly blamed on poorly maintained roads and vehicle conditions. The country is covered by mountains and the roads are also usually narrow.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Prosecutors who say they're owed more than $200,000 for bringing a criminal case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked a judge Thursday to push back the May securities fraud trial until they get paid.

The sudden request throws into doubt when Paxton, a Republican who was indicted six months after taking office in January 2015, will face a jury on felony charges of deceiving investors in a tech startup. He has pleaded not guilty.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin in April. But special prosecutors for months have waged a separate battle on the side to get paid after a wealthy Paxton supporter sued over the mounting legal tab.

Jeffory Blackard, a Dallas real estate developer and former Paxton donor, has accused prosecutors of charging taxpayers too much with a $300 hourly rate. He succeeded in getting a Texas court to temporarily prevent Collin County - where Paxton lives and where he will stand trial - from paying three special prosecutors pending a final ruling.

"Everyone in the courtroom is being paid to be there except us. No one expected us to work for free when we accepted our appointment as special prosecutors," prosecutor Brian Wice said in a statement.

Prosecutors asked state District Judge George Gallagher to set a new trial date after they get paid, saying it would "certainly" occur no later than September. It is unclear when Gallagher might rule.

Paxton attorney Bill Mateja said he will oppose the request for a delay. He did not comment further.

If convicted, Paxton faces five to 99 years in prison. The charges stem from 2011, when Paxton was still a state lawmaker, and he lined up money for a tech startup called Servergy Inc. without telling investors he was being paid by the company. Paxton has argued that he was under no obligation to do so.

A federal judge agreed earlier this month, dismissing similar accusations filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a separate case. That ruling has no bearing on Paxton's criminal case but was still a key victory.

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Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber
BEIJING (AP) - China assailed what it called America's "terrible human rights problems," in its annual report on rights abuses in the United States, citing police brutality, high levels of incarceration, racial prejudice and money politics.

The report issued Thursday by the Information Office of the State Council is a tit-for-tat response to the U.S. State Department's yearly report on human rights around the world that said repression and coercion of those involved in civil and political rights in China remained "severe."

As in previous years, China's report accused the U.S. of sitting in judgment of the human rights situations in other nations while ignoring its own defects. Mainly citing facts and figures from the U.S. media and civil rights groups, the report focused heavily on what it called a deterioration of race relations in 2016.

"With the gunshots lingering in people's ears behind the Statue of Liberty, worsening racial discrimination and the election farce dominated by money politics, the self-proclaimed human rights defender has exposed its human rights 'myth' with its own deeds," the report said.

The report specifically mentioned the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police and the killing of five officers in Dallas, Texas, and pointed to a pattern of what it called law enforcement treating people of color more harshly than whites. It also said blacks and Hispanics were discriminated against in incarceration, employment and education, earning less and facing harsher penalties for violations.

Its final section dealt with what it called "gross violations of human rights in other countries," pointing to reports of civilian deaths from U.S. military action in countries including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. It also criticized Washington's failure to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and the U.S. government's electronic surveillance of other countries and foreign nationals.

China has issued the report every year since 2000 as a means of countering U.S. criticisms.

China, whose population of 1.37 billion is more than 91 percent Han Chinese, portrays itself as a multi-ethnic state where all groups live in harmony. However, members of the Tibetan and Turkic-speaking Uighur minorities allege rampant discrimination in employment and education and religious minorities including Christians and Muslims are subject to heavy restrictions on their activities.

The one-party authoritarian communist state also brooks no political opposition and heavily polices the internet and public forums, censoring and sometimes imprisoning those perceived to be challenging its authority.

The State Department's report focused mainly on Chinese legal abuses and restrictions on constitutionally guaranteed civil rights, including free speech and freedom of religion. It said China locked up "tens of thousands" of political prisoners, sometimes denying them medical treatment and said authorities continued to harass them even after their release.

Lawyers, dissidents and those petitioning for redress of official abuses have been rounded up, while high profile prisoners such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo remained in prison, the report said.

This year's U.S. report was issued amid concerns the U.S. was backing away from its traditionally vocal advocacy on human rights under President Donald Trump.

In a departure from past practice, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson skipped the launch of the report.

Trump has made little mention of human rights during his campaign or presidency, and Human Rights Watch, whose research is cited by the State Department in its reports, said his administration's commitment to human rights is already in question due to his policies related to Muslims and his plan to drastically cut the foreign aid budget.
BRISTOL, Pa. (AP) - The Latest on the reopening of the Interstate 276 bridge (all times local):

11:20 p.m.

A Pennsylvania-New Jersey bridge closed for 7 weeks for repairs to a fractured beam has reopened.

FILE - This Jan. 23, 2017 file photo shows the Delaware River Bridge in Bristol, Pa. Engineers say work to repair a major bridge that links Pennsylvania and New Jersey remains on track for it to reopen in about a month. Officials with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said Friday, March 3, 2017 good weather has helped speed work on the Interstate 276 bridge over the Delaware River. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The reopening of the 1.3-mile-long Interstate 276 bridge linking the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes took place Thursday night, ahead of schedule. It had been closed since Jan. 20.

Highway officials say two improperly drilled inch-wide holes later filled with weld material were identified as the main cause of the fracture in one of the bridge's trusses. They say other factors certainly had an impact but have been difficult to pinpoint.

No other such weld-filled holes were found on the bridge.

The bridge typically carries about 42,000 vehicles a day. It opened in 1956.

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6:40 p.m.

A major Pennsylvania-New Jersey bridge closed since Jan. 20 for repairs to a fractured beam is reopening.

The reopening of the 1.3-mile-long Interstate 276 bridge linking the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes is taking place Thursday night, ahead of schedule.

Highway officials say two improperly drilled inch-wide holes later filled with weld material were identified as the main cause of the fracture in one of the bridge's trusses. They say other factors certainly had an impact but have been difficult to pinpoint.

No other such weld-filled holes were found on the bridge.

The bridge typically carries about 42,000 vehicles a day. It opened in 1956.
BEIJING (AP) - China's central bank governor said Friday the country needs to get soaring corporate debt under control but its economy and currency are stable and the decline in its foreign exchange reserves is no cause for concern.

Zhou Xiaochuan's comments at a news conference held during China's national legislature follows warnings a rapid rise in debt could lead to financial trouble. Beijing is trying to reduce reliance on credit and to clear away debts of state companies but private sector analysts say it needs to move faster.

"The leverage of non-financial enterprises in the whole society is too high," said Zhou. "First of all, (debt levels of) every business, especially those with leverage that already is too high, have to be controlled."

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, listens to a reporter's question during a press conference held on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's National People's Congress in Beijing, Friday, March 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Zhou gave no indication he foresaw a financial crisis. But his chief deputy, sitting beside Zhou, echoed warnings by private sector analysts that debt could drag on economic growth or threaten financial stability.

"The continued increase of leverage is not conducive to the sustainable development of the economy and accumulates certain risks," said Yi Gang.

China has relied on repeated infusions of credit to support growth in the world's second-largest economy since the 2008 financial crisis. That has boosted its total debt from the equivalent of about 150 percent of annual economic output pre-crisis to more than 260 percent today.

The country's top economic official, Premier Li Keqiang, called for attention to debt in a speech to the legislature Sunday but said the financial system is healthy.

Zhou also tried to quiet financial market concerns about the outlook for China's currency, the yuan.

Expectations the yuan would be allowed to weaken against the dollar prompted an outflow of money starting in late 2015, which led Beijing to tighten controls on capital movement. That has prompted concern Chinese acquisitions abroad might be hampered if buyers cannot move money out of the country.

"We believe this year the Chinese economy will be relatively stable," Zhou said. "Under such circumstances, this year's exchange rate should be relatively stable."

The central bank plans no major policy changes but regulation will be "more meticulous," said Zhou.

Zhou also tried to dispel concern about the decline in China's multitrillion-dollar foreign reserves to just over $3 trillion in February from a peak of nearly $4 trillion in 2014.

The central bank spent reserves to prop up the yuan's exchange rate.

"The decline in the foreign exchange reserves is also a normal phenomenon, because we did not originally want so much," said Zhou. "So an appropriate decline is not something bad."

Zhou defended the investment controls as a curb on purchases of assets that are "unsuited to the industrial policy needs of the country." He cited sports, entertainment and other areas where Chinese investors have been spending heavily.

"These have not much benefit to China," he said. "So we consider a certain degree of policy guidance necessary and effective."

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, gestures while speaking during a press conference held on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's National People's Congress in Beijing, Friday, March 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A woman walks past the headquarters of the People's Bank of China in Beijing, Friday, March 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A pair of Chinese paramilitary policemen walk past the headquarters of the People's Bank of China in Beijing, Friday, March 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - After months of a political scandal that has crippled South Korea, President Park Geun-hye on Friday was stripped of her powers by the Constitutional Court.

Allegations that Park's long-time friend and daughter of a cult leader with no official role in the administration pulled government strings from the shadows has united many in a state of boiling rage. Other players who were caught in the widening scandal include Park's advisers and the Samsung heir. Here's a breakdown:

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Protesters take a selfie after the Constitutional Court's verdict during a rally calling for impeachment of President Park Geun-hye near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 10, 2017. In a historic ruling Friday, South Korea's Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil, worsened an already-serious national divide and led to calls for sweeping reforms. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

TIES THAT BIND

At the center of the tempest is Choi Soon-sil, also known as Choi Seo-won, who is sometimes compared to Rasputin, the Russian mystic who gained power in the early 20th century through his influence over the tsar. Park and Choi met in the 1970s, around the time Park was acting as first lady. Her mother was killed during a 1974 assassination attempt on her father, military strongman Park Chung-hee. Choi's father, a shadowy figure named Choi Tae-min, was a Buddhist monk, a religious cult leader and a Christian pastor at different times. He emerged as the younger Park's mentor. Park became president of New Spirit, a patriotic group set up by Choi's father, and Choi Soon-sil was reportedly head of the group's college unit - the two women are seen talking at a New Spirit event in a 1979 government video. Rumors swirled that New Spirit allowed the Choi clan to build a fortune by using their connection to the Park family to collect bribes.

In 1990, Park resigned as chairman of a separate foundation over suspicions that she allowed the Choi family to manipulate it for personal gain. Choi Soon-sil, whose ex-husband is a former close aide of Park's, reportedly built a fortune during the 1980s and 1990s through real estate investments in affluent neighborhoods in southern Seoul.

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STACKS OF PRESIDENTIAL REPORTS

After weeks of speculation, Park acknowledged in 2016 that Choi had edited some presidential speeches and helped with "public relations." A raft of media stories, however, portrays a much deeper involvement. The liberal Hankyoreh newspaper, for instance, citing a former Choi associate, reported that a senior presidential aide gave thick stacks of government draft reports to Choi on a daily basis. Choi then allegedly discussed the issues with her friends and sent back recommendations to the president. The newspaper reported that Choi made recommendations about the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, the jointly run Kaesong factory park in North Korea that was eventually shut down. Choi is also said to have used her relationship with Park to win special favors for Choi's daughter and to pressure businesses to contribute money to two nonprofit foundations that Choi helped create and that she then looted for her own use.

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SAMSUNG CONNECTION

According to prosecutors, Lee Jae-yong, the de-facto Samsung boss, used Samsung corporate funds to buy expensive horses for Choi's daughter. He also allegedly gave or promised 43.3 billion won ($38 million) to four entities controlled by Choi. Investigators say the money was given to obtain government backing for a contentious merger of two Samsung companies in 2015 that served as a key step in passing corporate control to Lee from his ailing father. Lee has denied the allegations, but was arrested last month on charges including bribery.

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LINKS TO A DICTATOR

The scandal struck a deep chord in a country that has only recently emerged into a vibrant, rich democracy after decades of colonization, war, poverty, dictatorship and deep-seated corruption. There is outrage that someone with Choi's colorful past might have not only exploited her ties to Park for massive financial gain and favor but also made important state decisions. Part of the anger is linked to the legacy of Park's dictator father. Revered by many for rebuilding from the rubble of war, critics say Park Chung-hee engineered his economic turnaround while committing massive human rights abuses and allowing widespread corruption by his friends.

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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.

Protesters react after hearing the Constitutional Court's verdict during a rally calling for impeachment of President Park Geun-hye near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 10, 2017. In a historic ruling Friday, South Korea's Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil, worsened an already-serious national divide and led to calls for sweeping reforms. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of South Korean President Park Geun-hye shout during a rally opposing her impeachment near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 10, 2017. In a historic ruling Friday, South Korea's Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil, worsened an already-serious national divide and led to calls for sweeping reforms. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
All St. Francois County high school seniors and their parents are invited to attend an informational event at the Park Hills Public Library regarding an available $10,000 scholarship through the BJC Scholars Fund. BJC Healthcare established the fund to help bridge the gap for students needing financial assistance to attend college.

Sponsored by the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, the free event will take place on March 20 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. This is an opportunity for students and their families to learn more about the BJC Scholars Fund, eligibility requirements, to ask questions and to receive assistance in submitting an application for the scholarship.

Were trying to get the word out to all of the seniors in all of the St. Francois County schools, said Library Director Lisa Sisk. Theyll only award one scholarship in our county, but its a $10,000 renewable scholarship. Its a wonderful opportunity and its worth a shot to try to get it.

The scholarship will be awarded to a graduating high school senior who plans to attend a public college or university in Missouri or an out-of-state public college or university that offers in-state tuition reciprocity. Eligible students must demonstrate academic promise, good character and financial need.

As long as the winning student stays in school, he or she will be eligible to have the scholarship renewed each year.

The application deadline, I believe, is the middle of April, said Sisk, so were just trying to get the word out.

For those who decide to begin the application process immediately, the librarys computers will be reserved during the event for that purpose.

I believe theyre also bringing some extra laptops to be able to help everyone with the application process, Sisk said.

The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920. According to its official website, the foundations mission is based upon the conviction that an educated citizenry is essential to a healthy democracy. The Scholarship Foundation provides access to postsecondary education to members of our community who otherwise would not have the financial means to fulfill their educational goals.

The foundation sees higher education as a catalyst, an agent of change for individuals, families, communities, and nations. We envision a community that recognizes the importance of educational attainment and assures positive educational outcomes are accessible to all regardless of economic circumstance. In our community, doors will not be closed to those who lack financial resources, and post-secondary education will be available to all with the potential to succeed.

The foundation seeks not only to provide financial support but to also ensure that students have the necessary information to make sound financial decisions.

For more information about the program, visit sfstl.org or call 314-725-7990. Those who are unable to attend the event are welcome to fill out an application by visiting www.myscholarshipcentral.org.

The Park Hills Public Library is located at 16 S. Coffman St.
DETROIT (AP) - Volkswagen's day of reckoning for cheating on diesel emissions tests is coming on Friday.

The German automaker is expected to plead guilty to three criminal counts at a morning hearing in Detroit federal court. The company could also be sentenced by Judge Sean Cox.

Last month VW agreed to plead guilty and pay a $4.3 billion penalty for programming about 590,000 diesel vehicles to deceive U.S. regulators.

The company admitted installing software that activated pollution controls during government tests and switched them off in real-world driving. The cars spewed harmful nitrogen oxide at up to 40 times above the legal limit. Volkswagen also has admitted to lying to investigators to cover up the scheme.

Seven VW employees also face criminal charges in the case.
MATOBO NATIONAL PARK, Zimbabwe (AP) - The remains of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes lie under a slab of stone atop a granite hill in Zimbabwe, largely unscathed by political ferment over a man whose colonial legacy rankles many in Africa nearly a century after his death.

Lizards scamper around a grave that, while occasionally vandalized, attracts tourists and has been tolerated by longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe, who turned 93 last month. In this picturesque place, the burial site of a historical figure who is increasingly vilified seems secure, for now, in a country that has long accused Western powers of clinging to a colonial mindset.

Monuments to colonial rule have been removed in many countries across Africa, though some remain. There is debate over whether to erase symbols of an era of white domination on the continent or preserve them as cautionary reminders of the past.

In this Feb. 26, 2017, photo, the burial site of Cecil John Rhodes is seen at Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe. The remains of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes lie under a slab of stone atop a granite hill in Zimbabwe, largely unscathed by political ferment over a man whose colonial legacy rankles many in Africa nearly a century after his death. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

"There are certain things in history which you must leave for posterity's sake," Dumiso Dabengwa, a former home affairs minister in Zimbabwe who is now an opposition politician. "People must get to know - when they hear about Cecil John Rhodes and they want to see the place where he would want to rest - and be able to make up their minds about the type of man that he was."

Rhodes, prime minister of the Cape Colony at the southern tip of Africa in the late 19th century, made a fortune in gold and diamond mining and grabbed land from the local population. He was the namesake of territories that eventually became the nations of Zimbabwe - formerly Rhodesia - and Zambia. Accusations that he was a racist have tainted his association with education and philanthropy.

Statues of Rhodes, who died in 1902, were uprooted in Zimbabwean cities after independence from white minority rule in 1980. He became a polarizing figure again in 2015 when students defaced a statue of him at South Africa's University of Cape Town, which removed the monument. Last year, the University of Oxford in Britain, which allocates scholarships named after Rhodes, said it would not take down a statue of its benefactor despite protests by some students.

The Rhodes grave lies in Matobo National Park, a United Nations heritage site where granite spires and other unusual rock formations captivate visitors, and where indigenous spirits are said to dwell. About 15,000 people visit the grave annually, some ascending to watch the sunset or sunrise, said Moira FitzPatrick, a regional director for a state agency that oversees Zimbabwe's museums and monuments.

The grave generates badly needed cash in a country beset by economic turmoil. A foreign adult pays $15 to get into the park, and then another $10 to see the burial site. A Zimbabwean adult pays a total of $8.

Mugabe came to this area near Bulawayo in western Zimbabwe for his birthday celebrations last month, addressing thousands of supporters near a school named after Rhodes. While officials announced that the school would be renamed after Matobo - also called Matopo or Matopos by visitors - the president joked about the British empire builder.

"Where is the ghost or spirit of Rhodes coming from?" Mugabe said in the Shona language. "If he is to rise from the dead, I am not going to order the boys to fire one bullet or use an AK-47. I will order them to use a machine gun to crush that head like that of a cobra."

Amid laughter from the audience, Mugabe continued: "We are not the ones who killed him. We don't know where he died in South Africa but he demanded that he be buried here. The colonialists here in Zimbabwe listened to his wish, which was written in his will, and buried him here."

Mugabe, who says he will run in elections next year, has not said where he will be buried. One strong possibility is the National Heroes Acre, a North Korean-built national monument in the capital, Harare, where independence leaders and other prominent Zimbabweans, many linked to Mugabe's ruling party, are interred.

There has been talk of building a monument to indigenous heroes in the same place as the grave of Rhodes, who had an estate in the area and described the hill where he is buried as the "View of the World."

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean government takes an entrepreneurial approach.

The thinking, FitzPatrick said, is "if it's a tourist spot, then let's make some money."

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Follow Christopher Torchia on Twitter at www.twitter.com/torchiachris

In this Feb. 26, 2017, photo, a visitor stands on the burial site of Cecil John Rhodes at Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe. The remains of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes lie under a slab of stone atop a granite hill in Zimbabwe, largely unscathed by political ferment over a man whose colonial legacy rankles many in Africa nearly a century after his death. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

In this Feb. 26, 2017, photo, tourists visit the burial site of Cecil John Rhodes at Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe. The remains of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes lie under a slab of stone atop a granite hill in Zimbabwe, largely unscathed by political ferment over a man whose colonial legacy rankles many in Africa nearly a century after his death. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Here are the AP's latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EST.

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NEW & DEVELOPING

Supporters of South Korean President Park Geun-hye cry during a rally opposing her impeachment near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 10, 2017. In a historic ruling Friday, South Korea's Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil, worsened an already-serious national divide and led to calls for sweeping reforms. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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OIL-PIPELINE - Opponents of Dakota pipeline to rally at White House. SENT: 140 words.

GERMANY-AX ATTACK - German authorities: Ax attacker acted alone. SENT: 140 words, photos.

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TOP STORIES

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SKOREA-POLITICS - In a historic, unanimous ruling, South Korea's Constitutional Court formally removes impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that plunges the country into political turmoil and worsens an already-serious national divide. By Hyung-Jin Kim and Foster Klug. SENT: 1,100 words, photos. TOP VIDEO: - SKOREA Park (CR) - Raw: Protesters clash with police after Park removed. With SKOREA-POLITICS-SCRAMBLE FOR BLUE HOUSE - Handicapping some of presidential contenders; SKOREA-POLITICS-CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS - Criminal defendants caught up in scandal; AP EXPLAINS-SKOREA-POLITICS - What's behind ouster of South Korea's leader; SKOREA-POLITICS-HAIR ROLLER - South Koreans see hair rollers as symbol of hard-working women; SKOREA-POLITICS-PARK'S PRIVILEGES - Park stripped of right to be buried next to dictator father; SKOREA-POLITICS-TIMELINE; SKOREA-POLITICS-COURT RULING; SKOREA-POLITICS-THE LATEST. See separate package advisory for more coverage details.

SKOREA-POLITICS-ANALYSIS - Four months ago, the idea that the most powerful person in the country, along with the cream of South Korean business and politics, would be knocked from command after sustained, massive, peaceful protests would have been ludicrous. Now a massive upending of the status quo has so shaken the country's foundations that it has left people here a bit stunned, and wondering if life has truly changed. By Foster Klug. SENT: 890 words, photos.

CONGRESS-HEALTH OVERHAUL - Women seeking abortions and some basic health services, including prenatal care, contraception and cancer screenings, would face restrictions and have a tough time paying for their care under the Republicans' health care bill. By Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 890 words, photos.

TRUMP-TRAVEL BAN-LAWSUITS - Democratic attorney generals step up their challenges to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban, attempting to use the court system to thwart the executive branch in the same way their GOP counterparts did under President Barack Obama. By Martha Bellisle and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher. SENT: 560 words, photos, videos. With TRUMP-TRAVEL BAN-Q&A.

SYRIA - The main U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish force fighting Islamic State militants in northern Syria claims it has enough fighters to singlehandedly take the extremists' de facto capital of Raqqa - remarks that reflect a veiled warning to Ankara and also to rival, Turkey-backed opposition forces making headway toward the city at a time when U.S. troops are playing a bigger role on the ground in the battle to conquer the northern Syrian city. By Bassem Mroue. SENT: 730 words, photos. With RUSSIA-TURKEY - Putin hosts Erdogan for talks focusing on Syria; SYRIA-THE LATEST.

EUROPE ON EDGE-IMMIGRATION - That Duindorp has no immigrant community to speak of is part of its charm for Willem van Vliet, a cook who sees a Netherlands not enriched by immigration, but ravaged by it. Such views make this corner of the Netherlands one of the epicenters for the disruptive wave of populism sweeping across Europe, gate-crashing its politics, testing its institutions and clouding its future. By John Leicester. SENT: 1,790 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 730 words has also been sent.

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WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT

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PALESTINIANS-TRUMP - Palestinian leader, Trump to hold first phone call. SENT: 210 words, photo.

MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA - Malaysian police formally ID Kim Jong Nam in airport attack. SENT: 440 words, photos.

ZUCKERBERG-PREGNANCY - Facebook founder, wife expecting second child: another girl. SENT: 110 words, photo.

UNITED NATIONS-AMAL CLOONEY-ISLAMIC STATE - Amal Clooney: Don't let IS get away with genocide. SENT: 650 words, photos, video.

TV-FULL-FRONTAL-APOLOGY - "Full Frontal" apologizes to cancer patient for Nazi joke. SENT: 130 words.

ODD-WIND BLOWS GIRL - 4-year-old takes flight amid high winds in Cleveland area. SENT: 130 words.

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INTERNATIONAL

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ZIMBABWE-RHODES GRAVE - Amid debate over whether to erase symbols of white domination, President Robert Mugabe threatens to "crush" the late British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes' spirit if it returns. SENT: 750 words, photos.

GUATEMALA FIRE - Guatemala's president calls for a restructuring of his country's youth shelter system following a fire that killed at least 35 girls at an overcrowded government facility for children, while grieving families begin receiving the bodies of their loved ones. SENT: 490 words, photos, video.

CHINA-TRUMP TRADEMARKS - China assesses all applications for trademarks equally in a transparent process, a top Chinese regulator says, after Beijing awarded Trump preliminary approval for a trove of trademarks in a move that has drawn scrutiny. SENT: 400 words, graphic.

EUROPE-SUMMIT - European Union leaders debate the future of their bloc as Britain eyes the exit door and far-right parties look to get strong results in upcoming elections, while hoping to quickly heal a new rift with Poland. SENT: 330 words, photos.

NIGERIA-PRESIDENT RETURNS - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari returns to the country after a medical leave of a month and a half that raised questions about his health and some calls for his replacement at the head of Africa's most populous nation. SENT: 390 words, photo.

JAPAN-SOUTH SUDAN - Japan is ending its peacekeeping mission in troubled South Sudan after five years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announces. SENT: 560 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON & POLITICS

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TRUMP-RUSSIA ADVISER - The White House tries to distance itself from Carter Page, who briefly served as a foreign policy adviser on Trump's presidential campaign and is now at the center of the swirling controversy over Trump associates' connections to Russia. By White House Correspondent Julie Pace. SENT: 990 words, photo.

SUPREME COURT-EXERCISE GROUP - The Supreme Court is expelling a workout class founded by its first female justice, Sandra Day O'Connor. SENT: 740 words, photo.

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NATIONAL

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ST. PATRICK'S PARADE-GAYS - Organizers of Boston's embattled St. Patrick's Day Parade - reviled for barring gay veterans from marching - schedule an emergency meeting to reconsider their decision. SENT: 130 words, photo. UPCOMING: Developing from closed meeting, then 500 words by 5 p.m., photos.

WINTER-FAT BIKES - Cyclists used to hang it up in the winter but these days many are outside thanks to trendy "fat bikes." SENT: 630 words, photos, video.

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BUSINESS

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ECONOMY-JOBS REPORT - U.S. employers are thought to have hired at a brisk pace in February, and the unemployment rate is expected to stay low - a result that would provide further evidence of a consistently solid job market. By Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber. SENT: 720 words, photo. UPCOMING: Report at 8:30 a.m., then 500 words by 9:15 a.m.

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HEALTH/SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

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NEW ZEALAND-TECH TRIP OFFER - It sounds almost too good to be true: A free trip to New Zealand to interview for a job in the tech sector - and the response has been overwhelming. SENT: 470 words, photos.

NEPAL-EMERGENCY TRAINING - A group of doctors from Stanford University are in Nepal to train EMTs in the hope that they can transform the Himalayan nation's woefully poor emergency services. SENT: 490 words, photos.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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STOLEN STRADIVARIUS - After a meticulous restoration that took more than a year, a rare Stradivarius violin that was stolen from violinist Roman Totenberg in 1980 is about to make its debut. SENT: 790 words, photos. TOP VIDEO: - US NY Violin (CR) - Stolen Stradivarius to return to stage after 37 years.

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center, Alina Heineke can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Alyssa Goodman (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, Phil Holm (ext. 7636). Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 877-836-9477.

Protesters react after hearing the Constitutional Court's verdict during a rally calling for impeachment of President Park Geun-hye near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 10, 2017. In a historic ruling Friday, South Korea's Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil, worsened an already-serious national divide and led to calls for sweeping reforms. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In this Wednesday, March 8, 2017 photo, Tatsuo Imaishi makes an adjustment on the Ames Stradivarius violin in New York. After a meticulous restoration that took more than a year, the Stradivarius violin that was stolen from violinist Roman Totenberg is about to return to the stage. Violinist Mira Wang, a former student of Totenberg's, will play the instrument at a private concert in New York on March 13. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. uses charts and graphs to make his case for the GOP's long-awaited plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Thursday, March 9, 2017, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks to reporters about Republican efforts to craft an "Obamacare" replacement bill, Thursday, March 9, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin speaks at a news conference Thursday, March 9, 2107, in Honolulu. Chin's office filed an amended lawsuit against President Donald Trump's revised travel ban. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney listens during a United Nations human rights meeting called "The Fight against Impunity for Atrocities: Bringing Da'esh [ISIS] to Justice," Thursday, March 9, 2017 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

A relative of a youth who resided at the Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home wails as she waits for the release of the names of those who died in a fire at the shelter, outside the morgue where the bodies are being identified in Guatemala City, Thursday, March 9, 2017. The death toll in the fire at a the youth shelter on the outskirts of Guatemala rose to 31 Thursday as a dozen more girls died at hospitals overnight and details began to emerge of a tragedy fueled by angry, neglected youths seeking to flee terrible conditions. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
WASHINGTON (AP) - For months, President Donald Trump and his advisers have tried to distance themselves from Carter Page, a little-known investment banker who briefly served as a foreign policy adviser on the Republican's presidential campaign.

This week, Page - who is at the center of the swirling controversy over Trump associates' connections to Russia - painted himself as a recurrent visitor to Trump Tower, the New York skyscraper that housed Trump's campaign offices.

"I have frequently dined in Trump Grill, had lunch in Trump Cafe, had coffee meetings in the Starbucks at Trump Tower, attended events and spent many hours in campaign headquarters on the fifth floor last year," Page wrote in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia's hacking of Democratic groups and possible campaign contacts with Moscow.

FILE - In this Friday, July 8, 2016, file photo, Carter Page, then adviser to U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaks at the graduation ceremony for the New Economic School in Moscow, Russia. Page, once a little-known investment banker-turned-adviser in the outer circle of the improbable Trump campaign, is emerging as a central figure in the controversy surrounding campaign connections to Russia. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

Page tied his presence in Trump Tower to the president's unverified assertion the President Barack Obama had the building wiretapped, though Page provided no evidence to back up that assertion.

Page's comments were the latest wrinkle in the swirling controversy surrounding Trump associates' connections to Russia. The New York Times has reported that Page is among the Trump associates whose potential contacts with Russia are being investigated by the FBI. Congressional committees probing Russia's hacking during the election and Trump campaign ties have asked Page to preserve materials related to their investigations.

Trump's White House and campaign advisers dismiss Page as an inconsequential figure who has never met the president. He wasn't on the campaign payroll and severed ties with the Trump team before the election.

Still, Page's connection to the campaign, however tenuous, has boosted his public persona. In July, he was invited to speak at the graduation ceremony at Moscow's New Economic School, a role often filled by prominent international politicians, including President Barack Obama in 2009.

Page's appearance at the Russian university immediately raised eyebrows.

For an adviser to an American presidential hopeful speaking overseas, his message was strikingly critical of the U.S. It came as Trump's calls for warmer relations with the Kremlin were a source of criticism from Democrats and alarm from some fellow Republicans.

Washington had a "hypocritical focus on ideas such as democratization, inequality, corruption and regime change" in its dealings with Russia, Page said at the school.

Page and former Trump campaign officials say he made the trip in a personal capacity and not as a representative of the campaign. But university officials have been clear that Page's connections and insight into the Trump campaign were the draw.

"We were interested in what was going on - already then, Trump's candidacy raised eyebrows, and everyone was really curious," said Shlomo Weber, the academic director at the New Economic School, in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

A newsletter announcing Page's visit read, "You are invited to a lecture by Carter Page, foreign policy adviser for Donald Trump's election campaign."

Page has said he asked for, and received, permission from the Trump campaign to appear in a personal capacity.

Page has offered contradictory answers about his contacts with Russian officials during his visit. On Thursday, he told The Associated Press he did not meet with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who also spoke at the graduation. But in September, he told The Washington Post that he did speak with Dvorkovich briefly.

Back in the U.S. a few days later, Page talked with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. at an event on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke with the Russian envoy at the same event, a conversation he failed to reveal when asked about contacts with Russians during his Senate confirmation hearings.

Page, a former Merrill Lynch investment banker who worked out of its Moscow office for three years, now runs Global Energy Capital, a firm focused on energy sectors in emerging markets. According to the company's website, he has advised on transactions for Gazprom and RAO UES, a pair of Russian entities.

In December, Page returned to Moscow, where he noted he had "the opportunity to meet with an executive from Rosneft," the Russian oil giant, according to a video clip of his remarks posted on YouTube. Rosnet's chairman, Igor Sechin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been targeted by U.S. sanctions, though Page says he was not referring to Sechin in his remarks.

Some of the suspicion surrounding Page stems from the fact that no one who worked for the campaign can quite explain how he ended up on Trump's list of foreign policy advisers. Page has also sidestepped those questions, saying he doesn't want to put others "in the same damaged pot as myself."

One campaign official said Page was recruited by Sam Clovis, an Iowa Republican operative who ran the Trump campaign's policy shop and is now a senior adviser at the Agriculture Department. Clovis did not respond to messages from the AP.

Trump has distanced himself from Page, saying he never met him. Those who served on the campaign's foreign policy advisory committee also said they had limited contact with Page.

"Only met him once very briefly," said George Papadopoulos, the director of the Center for International Energy and Natural Resources Law and Security in London.

Page stopped advising the campaign sometime around the end of summer, though the exact circumstances of the separation are unclear. After the campaign, Trump's lawyers sent Page at least two cease-and-desist letters, according to another campaign official, who like others, insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Heintz in Moscow and Maria Danilova in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Three men charged in Norway with selling drugs online have to pay back 120 bitcoins ($144,300) on top of millions in Norwegian kroner - the first time the Scandinavian country has demanded to be paid in the electronic currency, a prosecutor said Friday.

Richard Beck Pedersen says the men in their 30s allegedly used underground websites to sell drugs, and that most of the payment was done with bitcoins because transactions with the electronic currency have a high degree of anonymity.

Beck Pedersen said the trio behind the online shops was formally charged Friday with selling drugs.

He added investigators have "evidence for the sale in bitcoins," adding prosecutors also demand they pay 3.1 million Norwegian kroner ($360,167). A trial is expected later this year.

"This is in no way an official Norwegian recognition of the digital currency," Beck Pedersen told The Associated Press.

During the two-year investigation, which he described as "challenging," Norwegian police worked with investigators abroad and the case was linked to the drug-selling website Silk Road that was shut down in 2013 when its founder was arrested in the United States.

The men formed an organized group, he said, adding they were arrested in June 2015 in greater Oslo. Investigators seized "considerable amounts of narcotics," several computers and an illegal indoor marijuana farm. No details were available.

The narcotics were sent by mail to customers.

Bitcoin allows people to buy goods and services and exchange money without involving banks, credit card issuers or other third parties.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Nepal asked India on Friday to investigate the fatal shooting of a Nepali man by Indian border guards, officials said.

Deputy Prime Minister Bimalendra Nidhi said he called Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and asked her for an investigation and the punishment of those responsible.

The 25-year-old man was shot by border guards on Thursday during a dispute between people on both sides of the border over the construction of a culvert in the area.

Nepalese students shout slogans against the Indian government near the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, March 10, 2017. A 25-year-old Nepali man was shot by Indian border guards on Thursday during a dispute between people on both sides of the border over the construction of a culvert in the area. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nidhi said the Indian side assured him there would be an investigation.

A statement from Indian Ministry of External Affairs said border guards have initiated an inquiry.

A group of students protested the killing outside the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Friday.

Opposition political parties also spoke against the killing in parliament and demanded that Nepal strongly protest the incident.
MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin hailed the close ties between the Russian and Turkey militaries on Friday as he hosted Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks about Syria.

Russia and Turkey co-brokered a cease-fire in December that helped reduce the scale of fighting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition. They also co-sponsored two rounds of talks this year between Assad's government and its foes. A third round is set for next week.

Russia and Turkey also coordinated their operations against the Islamic State group in Syria. A Russian air raid last month accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers, but the incident didn't derail the military coordination.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2017. The talks focused on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched a joint mediation effort and coordinated their military action against the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

After concluding his meeting with Erdogan at the Kremlin, Putin hailed "efficient and close contact" between their militaries and intelligence agencies around Syria.

He said it was mostly "Russia and Turkey that have made a major contribution not only to securing a cease-fire between Syrian government forces and the armed opposition, but also to launching direct, concrete talks" between them.

Earlier this week, the chief military officers from Russia, the United States and Turkey met in the Turkish city of Antalya in an apparent attempt to work out additional steps to prevent future accidental deaths involving each other's troops.

The talks also focused on how to help assuage mutual mistrust between Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces, U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, and Russian-allied Syrian government forces all fighting their way toward the Islamic State group's de facto capital, Raqqa.

Putin briefed top intelligence and military officials from his Security Council after Friday's meeting with Erdogan.

Asked by a reporter whether Moscow and Ankara shared the idea that Syria and Iraq should be preserved within current borders, Putin spoke of "the complex situation" and "contradictions" in the Syria peace talks.

But he insisted that preserving Syria's territorial integrity is a "necessary condition for the full-scale peace settlement in this country." Erdogan echoed the comments, saying that maintaining Syria's current borders was Turkey's "main goal."

The cooperation on Syria between Russia and Turkey marked a sharp turnaround for the two nations, which have backed opposing sides in Syria, with Moscow siding with Assad and Turkey supporting his foes since the start of the Syrian conflict six years ago.

The conflicting interests led to the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish jet at the Syrian border in November 2015, which put the two nations on the verge of a direct military conflict. Moscow responded by barring the sales of package tours to Turkey and halting imports of agricultural products, moves that badly squeezed the Turkish economy.

Erdogan's apologies for downing the plane helped rebuild ties, and Putin offered firm support to the Turkish leader in the wake of a botched coup last July.

Despite the rapprochement, Russia has moved gradually to lift economic restrictions, keeping some in place as an apparent motivator for Turkey. On the eve of the Kremlin talks, the Russian Cabinet allowed the imports of Turkish cauliflower and broccoli and a couple of other agricultural products.

Erdogan, who called the Russian leader his "dear friend," urged Russia to lift all restrictions against Turkish business, restore visa-free travel and increase the number of commercial flights between the two countries.

During the Kremlin talks, he noted that plans for a prospective Russian natural gas pipeline and a nuclear power plant in Turkey also have regained momentum. Both projects were put on hold amid the tensions following the Russian plane's downing.

Speaking at the news conference at the end of talks on Friday, Putin announced that Russia would reverse the number of restrictions for Turkish companies and their employees in Russia - a move that crippled Turkish businesses when they were imposed at the end of 2015.

The talks concluded with Putin and Erdogan overseeing the signing of a flurry of agreements between Russian and Turkish companies, from setting up a joint investment fund to holding cultural events in both countries.

___

Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed to this report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2017. The talks focused on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched a joint mediation effort and coordinated their military action against the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, gestures as he speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2017. Putin is hosting his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks focusing on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched mediation efforts and coordinated military action. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2017. The talks focused on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched a joint mediation effort and coordinated their military action against the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2017. The talks focused on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched a joint mediation effort and coordinated their military action against the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2017. Putin is hosting his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks focusing on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched mediation efforts and coordinated military action. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2017. Putin is hosting his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks focusing on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched mediation efforts and coordinated military action. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enters a hall to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2017. Putin is hosting his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks focusing on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched mediation efforts and coordinated military action. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) - Police on Friday were hunting for two gunmen who opened fire in a cafe in the Swiss city of Basel, leaving two people dead and a third critically wounded.

A statement from the office of the local prosecutor said two men entered Cafe 56 at 8.15 p.m. Thursday and unleashed a salvo of gunfire. They then escaped on foot in the direction of a nearby railway station.

Prosecutors said the motive for the crime was unknown but the assailants specifically targeted the cafe. The victims were identified as Albanians.

A forensic team investigates the scene after deadly gunfire was unleashed in Cafe 56, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Basel, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Dominique Soguel)

No one else was hurt in the attack.

Investigations are still ongoing but a police officer told The Associated Press: "This is a local incident. It has nothing to do with Islamists or terrorism."

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The office of the prosecutor later confirmed there was no indication of terrorism.

Forensic teams could be seen overnight going in and out of the cafe collecting evidence.

Prosecutors said police were looking for two men, aged between 30 and 40, who are believed to be eastern European. They had black hair and wore dark clothing.

The attack comes a day after the town concluded celebrations of Fasnacht, the largest carnival in Switzerland.

___

Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this story.

A forensic team investigates the scene after deadly gunfire was unleashed in Cafe 56, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Basel, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Dominique Soguel)

A forensic team member investigates after deadly gunfire was unleashed in Cafe 56, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Basel, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Dominique Soguel)

A forensic team investigates the scene after deadly gunfire was unleashed in Cafe 56, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Basel, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Dominique Soguel)

A forensic team member investigates the scene after deadly gunfire was unleashed in Cafe 56, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Basel, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Dominique Soguel)

A forensic team investigates the scene after deadly gunfire was unleashed in Cafe 56, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Basel, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Dominique Soguel)

A forensic team investigates the scene after deadly gunfire was unleashed in Cafe 56 Friday, March 10, 2017, in Basel, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Dominique Soguel)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - The Latest on migration issues in Europe (all times local):

3:25 p.m.

Germany's upper house of Parliament has rejected a new law that would have made it easier to deport some migrants by declaring Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia "safe countries of origin."

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2015 file photo a man carries a child to board a train at a station near the village of Zakany, Hungary. UNICEF, the United Nations' children's agency, says it is alarmed by the new Hungarian law allowing the detention of all asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children older than 14, in border camps made of shipping containers. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, file)

The decision means the measure will now have to go to a committee for the lower house and upper house to try and negotiate a compromise proposal.

Germany's top security official Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere accused some of the states that make up the upper house of playing politics, and said the decision "makes today a bad day for our efforts to stop illegal migration."

He said citizens of the three countries are almost never deserving of asylum, like refugees fleeing war, and it was "absolutely counterproductive to send a signal of indecision instead of resolve."

___

12 p.m.

Greece's supreme court has heard the appeals of two Syrian refugees against their planned deportation to Turkey, a case that could affect thousands trapped on Greece's islands under a year-old European Union deal with Turkey.

The two men, aged 21 and 29, reached Greece's eastern island of Lesbos in July 2016, four months after the agreement designed to stem uncontrolled migration flows came into effect.

Their bids for asylum in Greece were rejected.

Under the March 20 agreement, migrants should be returned to Turkey, which is deemed a safe country for refugees, unless they can convince authorities that they merit asylum in Greece instead. Rights groups have criticized the deal.

The supreme court in Athens on Friday heard arguments by lawyers. A new hearing is planned for next Friday.
BANGKOK (AP) - A court in Thailand on Friday sentenced a former high-ranking police officer and aide to the country's king to three years in prison for dereliction of duty and land encroachment.

Jumpol Manmai was also stripped of his retirement rank of police general, according to a statement from the royal palace. King Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun took the throne last December after the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Jumpol was dismissed last week from his duties as a grand chamberlain in the palace by an order declaring that he was unfit to hold such a senior position close to the king and had carried out "extremely evil deeds," which were not detailed. The same reasons were cited in revoking his police rank.

Thai media reported that a court in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima sentenced Jumpol on Friday to four years in prison for dereliction of duty and two years for land encroachment, but halved the sentences because he pleaded guilty. The court also ordered him to remove buildings that he owns on protected forest land and pay an 892,000 baht ($25,500) fine.

The case has attracted attention because Jumpol was seen as a close associate of the current king for many years, from when he was still crown prince.

Jumpol served as a deputy police commissioner and national intelligence chief under former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, losing the latter job when Thaksin was ousted by a 2006 military coup.

Last week, another palace insider was sentenced to prison on lese majeste - insulting the monarchy - and other charges.

Former Air Vice Marshal Chitpong Thongkum had been a medical adviser to Vajiralongkorn and was similarly fired from his position and stripped of his rank and royal decorations. He was accused of using his royal connection for personal gain and disclosing Vajiralongkorn's medical records, among other offenses.

He was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment, but had the term halved because he pleaded guilty.
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Conservative Republicans demanded tougher changes Friday in insurance requirements and Medicaid than the House GOP health care bill proposes and warned they'd oppose the legislation if it isn't reshaped. The White House signaled an openness to negotiate, but there was resistance from House leaders.

Less than two weeks before the GOP's showpiece legislation is slated to hit the House floor, the discord underscored the challenge facing top Republicans trying to garner votes for legislation scrapping former President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

It also raised questions about whether congressional leaders reluctant to make changes were lagging behind a White House more willing to cut deals. And it illustrated anew the strained relationship between GOP leaders and some conservatives, even as the party tries to deliver one of its highest profile goals.

From left, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., participate in a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 10, 2017, to discuss progress on the GOP effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as "Obamacare." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

"If that's the best that they can do, then perhaps they have a different whip count than I have," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, suggesting the legislation lacked enough votes to pass.

One conservative priority is quickly halting the extra money Obama's law gives states to expand the federal-state Medicaid program for 70 million low-income people. The GOP bill would end that additional funding in 2020 except for recipients already in the program, but conservatives want to accelerate that to 2018 to save money.

At the White House, spokesman Sean Spicer suggested President Donald Trump was showing flexibility.

"If someone's got an idea that can make this legislation more accessible, give more choice to the American people, drive down costs, make it more patient-centered, he wants to listen," Spicer said. He said Trump is "willing to listen to different individuals" about the Medicaid date but added, "Right now the date that's in the bill is what the president supports."

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters earlier that advancing that date would be "very difficult to do." Many moderates from the 31 states that expanded Medicaid - adding an extra 11 million people- don't want the extra money to end sooner.

"Sometimes when you have pushback on one side and the other side from the political spectrum, you might have found the sweet spot," McCarthy said.

"Our best effort is what you see before us," said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., a leading author of the legislation.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has said the bill will pass. GOP leaders are more concerned about unhappy moderates and are coordinating with the White House, said one top Republican who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss tactics.

The GOP bill, approved this week by two House committees, would end Obama's fines on people who don't buy insurance and the federal subsidies many who purchase coverage receive. It would instead provide tax credits likely to be less generous for many Americans, curb Medicaid and let insurers charge higher premiums for people whose coverage lapses.

Leading conservatives said they want the bill to erase coverage mandates Obama's statute imposed, saying their top goal was to reduce consumers' insurance costs including premiums. That law's requirements include guaranteed coverage for people, even the seriously ill, and policies that cover 10 specified benefits like maternity and mental health services.

"We're not going to vote for it until we have a product that we like," said Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, a Freedom Caucus member. "The issue is, are we going to drive down the cost of health care."

The caucus, which claims around 40 members, has been invited to the White House on Tuesday to bowl with budget chief Mick Mulvaney and, lawmakers say, Trump.

McCarthy criticized cries by many conservatives for Congress to vote on a bill Obama vetoed last year that went further in repealing his statute. McCarthy said repealing Obama's overhaul without approving the GOP legislation "would be just as damaging" as leaving Obama's law intact and would lead to a collapsed insurance market and higher premiums.

GOP leaders have said their bill omits repealing parts of Obama's overhaul for procedural reasons.

Their legislation is protected from a Democratic filibuster in the Senate that would take 60 votes to thwart, and there are only 52 GOP senators. To keep that protection, it can't contain items that don't directly affect the federal budget, such as insurance policy requirements.

Top Republicans say they are writing a second bill that will make additional changes in Obama's law. That will need 60 Senate votes, a margin solid Democratic opposition would make unachievable.

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Associated Press writers Erica Werner and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
A Florida judge has denied a 'stand your ground' defense for a retired Florida police officer who fatally shot a man in a movie theater during an argument over texting.

Judge Susan Barthle ruled on Friday that 74-year-old Curtis Reeves must stand trial in the death of 43-year-old Chad Oulson. Reeves is charged with second-degree murder.

Reeves said he shot Oulson after he was either punched or hit in the face with a cellphone. The judge said a videotape of the events that afternoon didn't support his testimony.

A Florida judge has denied a 'stand your ground' defense for ex- cop Curtis Reeves (pictured during a February hearing) 74, who fatally shot 43-year-old Chad Oulson in 2014

Oulson's widow, Nicole (pictured left with her husband and their daughter) - who was in the cinema with her husband at the time, said in 2014 that Chad was texting their daughter's babysitter at the time of the shooting

The incident happened at Cobb Grove 16 cinemas in Wesley Chapel in January 2014.

The two men got into an argument because Oulson was texting his daughter's day care during the previews of a matinee showing of Lone Survivor.

The ex-cop and his wife Vivian had been sitting in the back row of the theater when he leaned forward to tell Oulson to put his phone away.

After complaining to the theater manager about the man's cellphone use during the film screening, Reeves said something to Oulson that led to a physical altercation.

Video evidence shows the victim threw a bag of popcorn at the older man's face and that is when Reeves pulled out a gun and shot Oulson in the chest.

The 43-year-old walked down to the end of the theater aisle wounded, until he collapsed to his death.

This photo released by the attorney's office shows Curtis Reeves handcuffed in the movie theater where he shot Chad Oulson

A photo released as evidence shows the auditorium in the Grove Cobb 16 theater in Wesley Chapel after authorities say Curtis Reeves shot and killed Chad Oulson in a dispute over texting during previews January 13, 2014

Photos of the scene show the popcorn and the cellphone that were allegedly thrown during the argument

During a court hearing last month, Vivian backed her husband up by testifying she was 'horrified' and 'scared' because of how Oulson was behaving.

The woman who has been married to Reeves for 49 years, claimed Oulson grew angry and violent after her husband informed him he had complained to management.

She told the court she was afraid the man was going to seriously hurt or punch her husband in the face before Reeves fired.

The defense also argued that former police officer was injured in his eye after Oulson allegedly threw a cellphone at his face.

Vivian claimed it appeared as though the 43-year-old father was climbing over his chair to get to her husband.

Judge Barthle said his claims of being injured in the eye were ruled out by 'common sense' and by testimony from a medical examiner, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Vivian Reeves (pictured) testified last month and told the court she was 'horrified' and 'scared' before her husband shot Oulson

The incident happened before the film could even begin at Cobb Grove 16 cinemas in Wesley Chapel in January 2014

She added that Reeves's claims were made to 'justify his actions after the fact.'

The judge also discredited his wife's argument that Oulson appeared to be coming after Reeves as video shows the victim had only came into contact with him after the popcorn was thrown.

Barthle said Reeves had been the aggressor as he initiated contact with Oulson, the paper reported.

Last month, another witness, Joanna Turner contested Vivian's testimony as well.

Turner told the court she heard Oulson say, 'I'm texting my daughter,' seconds before a shot was fired by Reeves.

Oulson's widow, Nicole - who was in the cinema with her husband at the time, said in 2014 that Chad was texting their daughter's babysitter at the time of the shooting.

'It was a couple of words. No threats. No harm. No nothing... In the blink of an eye, 30 seconds, it just shattered my world,' she said.

Reeves's attorney plans to challenge the judge's ruling through the Second District Court of Appeals.

Florida's stand your ground law states a person has no duty to retreat when faced with a violent confrontation and can use deadly force if he or she fears death or great bodily harm.

Reeves was arrested at the theater and charged with second-degree murder and aggravated battery, but was freed on bond.
BRUSSELS (AP) - The Latest on the European Union summit taking place in Brussels Friday (all times local):

4:30 p.m.

Poland's prime minister has used a spat between her country and other European Union member states over the re-election of Donald Tusk to a EU top job to illustrate the need that she sees for deep changes in the club.

European Council President Donald Tusk speaks during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, March 9, 2017. European Union leaders confirmed Donald Tusk for a second term as council president Thursday, overcoming weeks of strong opposition from his native Poland. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Beata Szydlo spoke Friday following a summit that re-elected Tusk as head of the European Council against opposition from his native country, Poland.

Szydlo, who heads a nationalist government, said the vote ignored Poland's opinion and thus exposed EU's imperfections. She said those problems should be mended, or the union will face new divisions.

She said a declaration to be signed at a special summit in Rome later this month should guarantee equal rights to all members and clearly indicate the direction of EU reforms.

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4 p.m.

Top European Union officials were struggling to reassure smaller countries from the east that they would not be left behind as the bloc charts its future without Britain.

At a summit in Brussels marred by a rift with Poland, the presidents of the European Council and executive Commission repeated calls for unity as the remaining 27 nations debate whether the world's biggest trading bloc should become a federal super-state or temper its ambitions.

"Our main objective should be to strengthen trust and unity within the 27," European Council President Donald Tusk said after chairing the final session of the two-day meeting. "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

The session was meant to focus on preparations for a grand meeting in Italy on March 25 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the EU's founding Treaty of Rome, but spiraled into an argument about whether heavyweight states should be allowed to forge ahead alone.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, and European Council President Donald Tusk leave after addressing a media conference during an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, March 9, 2017. European Union leaders confirmed Donald Tusk for a second term as council president Thursday, overcoming weeks of strong opposition from his native Poland. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

British Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to address a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, March 9, 2017. European Union leaders confirmed Donald Tusk for a second term as council president Thursday, overcoming weeks of strong opposition from his native Poland. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
MOSCOW (AP) - The World Anti-Doping Agency expressed dismay on Friday after one of its leading critics, pole vault great Yelena Isinbayeva, was reappointed to chair the Russian Anti-Doping Agency board.

Isinbayeva was first appointed as chair in December and given a new term on Thursday. Her main task will be to persuade WADA to lift the suspension it gave RUSADA in 2015 over allegations its staff covered up doping.

However, relations with WADA are frayed after Isinbayeva repeatedly criticized the organization, framed doping allegations as an anti-Russian plot, and called for a leading whistleblower to be banned for life.

WADA said Isinbayeva's appointment "is not consistent with the roadmap established by WADA" for RUSADA's reinstatement.

"Whilst it is the decision of the Russian authorities to elect its board members, the agency shall be passing this information on to its independent compliance review committee for their review."

Isinbayeva missed the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of a ban on the Russian athletics team over widespread doping, something she denounced as a "human rights violation."

She said on Thursday she wants to use the RUSADA leadership to "defend our athletes" in similar cases, in comments to state news agency Tass, but has also said she'll follow a WADA-led program of reforms.

RUSADA announced on Friday it was seeking to appoint a new CEO to replace Anna Antseliovich, who has served as acting chief executive during the suspension. The focus is on finding someone to lead RUSADA when its authority to collect samples is restored.
MIAMI (AP) - Miami-Dade County officials are monitoring four zones in the Miami area where the Zika virus spread through local mosquitoes.

In a statement Friday, officials said an enhanced mosquito surveillance network includes over 130 traps in the Wynwood, Little River and Miami Beach zones, as well as countywide. The traps provide data on mosquito activity.

Crews also are applying preventative pesticide treatments.

Health officials declared all four zones clear of continuing Zika infections by December, though isolated infections have continued.

Last week, Florida's Department of Health announced the state's first locally acquired Zika infection of 2017.

Officials said screening after a blood donation in January showed evidence of a past Zika infection. The health department said the patient was exposed to Zika in Miami-Dade County and likely contracted it in 2016.
NEW YORK (AP) - A day care worker accused of leaving a 5-year-old girl alone to wander the streets of New York City is facing criminal charges.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Friday that the girl was found in a supermarket blocks from her home. They say the route required the child to cross an avenue.

Trimeka V. Crum was arraigned Thursday night on a child endangerment charge.

Authorities say she had an agreement to bring the child home every day - and to personally transfer custody to the girl's mother or an older sibling.

According to prosecutors, Crum said she saw the child walk into her building Wednesday, and she waited 2 minutes and left.

Crum's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Editors/News Directors:

The American Society of Newspaper Editors in 2005 launched the first national Sunshine Week. The celebration of access to public information has been held every year since to coincide with the March 16 birthday of James Madison, father of the U.S. Constitution and a key advocate of the Bill of Rights.

This year, ASNE (now the American Society of News Editors), The Associated Press and the Associated Press Media Editors, a group representing AP-affiliated news organizations, are teaming up to mark the importance of press freedoms for Sunshine Week and beyond.

The ongoing collaboration will help the public understand the necessity of a free press, the importance of a transparent government and the role that a free flow of news and information play in a well-informed citizenry. It will involve explanatory and accountability-related news stories and related content, as well as opportunities for public engagement in local communities to promote media literacy.

The effort will kick off during Sunshine Week, which begins Sunday, with the following stories. The stories and photos have moved in advance, embargoed for use Sunday and thereafter.

For questions or more information, contact Tom Verdin, the AP's national editor for state government coverage, at taverdin@ap.org

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SUNSHINE WEEK-FIRST AMENDMENT

NEW YORK - Journalism marks its annual Sunshine Week at an extraordinary moment in the relationship between the presidency and the press. First Amendment advocates call the Trump administration the most hostile to the press and free expression in memory. In words and actions, they say, Trump and his administration have threatened democratic principles and the general spirit of a free society. Yet free speech advocates say the press, at least on legal issues, is well positioned to withstand Trump. By Hillel Italie. 1,300 words. Photos. Video.

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SUNSHINE WEEK-INFORMATION UNDER ATTACK

WASHINGTON - Wondering who is visiting the White House? The web-based search has gone dark. Curious about climate change? Some government sites have been softened or taken down. Worried about racial discrimination in housing? Laws have been introduced to bar federal mapping of such disparities. Federal rules protecting whistleblowers? At least one has been put on hold. Since taking office, the Trump administration has made a series of moves that have alarmed groups with a stake in public access to information. Some are so concerned they have thrown themselves into "data rescue" sessions nationwide, where they spend their weekends downloading and archiving federal databases they fear could soon be taken down or obscured. Previous presidential transitions have triggered fears about access to government data, but not on this scope. By Stuart Leavenworth and Adam Ashton, McClatchy. 1,500 words. An abridged version also has moved. Photos.

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SUNSHINE WEEK-DAZED AND CONFUSED

Fake news, social media bots, a post-fact world. One of the great lessons of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign is that people could not - or would not - distinguish between actual news stories and fabrications. More fact-checking may or not be the answer, given the information bubbles most people inhabit and a president-elect who routinely distorts reality to create his own narratives. Why is it important to solve the fake news conundrum, and is it even solvable? By Arek Sarkissian, USA TODAY Network. 1,000 words. Photo.

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SUNSHINE WEEK-TEXAS RECORDS

DALLAS - When Texans ask state and local officials for records detailing their operations, more and more the answer is no. The reason why is in dispute. A quirk of the Texas public records law, adopted almost 45 years ago, says that when officials deny the public the right to see something, they usually have to run that decision by the state attorney general's office. The number of those denials has been soaring. In the fiscal year that ended in August 2001, governments forwarded about 5,000 denied record requests to the attorney general's office for review. That number had jumped to more than 27,000 by 2016. By Terri Langford, The Dallas Morning News. 1,300 words. Photos.

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SUNSHINE WEEK-RHEE COLUMN

As I've listened to President Donald Trump go on tirades against the "very dishonest" media, I've tried not to take his criticism personally. Lord knows, I've made my share of mistakes in my career. But they've never been on purpose, or out of malice. So here's the truth: The press is not the opposition party. The media is not the enemy of the American people. Negative stories are not fake news. And when Trump keeps making these claims, he isn't just attacking the press; he is chipping away at one of the pillars of our democracy. By Foon Rhee, The Sacramento Bee. 900 words. Photo.

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SUNSHINE WEEK-STEWART COLUMN

Now, more than ever, Americans are urged to recognize the importance of open government to a robust democracy. Access to meetings, minutes and records of our elected and appointed representatives is a key element of the constitutional right to petition the government for redress of grievances. It is not strictly for the benefit of the news media. By Mizell Stewart III, Gannett/USA TODAY Network. 650 words. Photo.

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SUNSHINE WEEK-EDITORIAL CARTOONS

The Trump administration's attacks on journalism and public access to information is providing plenty of fodder for the nation's editorial cartoonists. 300 words.

With:

- Moving with a selection of editorial cartoons drawn for Sunshine Week.

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The AP
WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawyers for retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told President Donald Trump's transition team before the inauguration that Flynn might need to register with the government as a foreign agent, but Trump was not aware of the possible move, the White House said Friday.

The disclosure by White House officials confirms the Trump transition team was aware of the situation involving the president's pick for a top national security post either before he joined the government or soon afterward.

But the White House's acknowledgement raised new questions about whether Trump's transition team, and later, his White House lawyers, fully vetted Flynn after being informed about his possible filing as a foreign agent for his lobbying during the presidential campaign that may have benefited the government of Turkey.

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2017 file photo, Mike Flynn arrives for a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, who was fired from the White House last month, has registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department for work that may have aided the Turkish government in exchange for $530,000. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

White House spokesman Sean Spicer dismissed questions about whether the information should have given the transition team pause, saying Flynn had "impeccable credentials."

Trump fired Flynn last month after less than a month on the job saying he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S.

Spicer confirmed that Flynn's personal lawyer contacted Trump transition attorneys before the inauguration about the possible filing. But he added that Flynn's representative only asked for guidance and did not provide more details about the lobbying work or Flynn's business dealings.

Spicer said Flynn's decision whether to file as a foreign agent was a personal matter that his own attorney would need to handle.

Among those told of Flynn's lobbying work was Don McGahn, Trump's campaign lawyer who served in the transition and later became White House counsel, said a person with direct knowledge of the conversations between Flynn's representatives and the transition team.

That person, who was not authorized to describe confidential conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity, said that during discussions after the inauguration White House lawyers were told Flynn was moving ahead with plans to file as a foreign agent.

On Thursday, Spicer had said he did not believe Trump had been told of Flynn's work as a foreign agent. Later that day, Vice President Mike Pence said he was unaware of Flynn's foreign agent work until this week.

Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group Inc., filed paperwork this week with the Justice Department formally identifying him as a foreign agent and acknowledging that his work for a company owned by a Turkish businessman "could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey."

In the filings with the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Unit, Flynn and his company described $530,000 worth of lobbying before Election Day on behalf of Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin. The lobbying occurred from August through November while Flynn was a top Trump campaign adviser.

In an interview with the AP, Alptekin said Flynn and his firm filed the registration after pressure from Justice Department officials. Alptekin said he disagreed with the decision to register. He also said he had asked for some of his money back.

Flynn's registration comes as he has drawn scrutiny from the FBI for his contacts with Russian officials. Through a spokesman, Flynn declined to discuss the registration. In the filing, his attorney said the lobbying contract quickly ended after Trump's election in November.

On Thursday, Spicer defended Flynn's work, saying he did it as a "private citizen," but he declined to say whether Trump would have hired Flynn if he had known about the lobbying.

"There's nothing nefarious about doing anything that's legal as long as the proper paperwork is filed," Spicer said.

After Flynn joined the administration, he agreed not to lobby for five years after leaving government service and never to represent foreign governments. It appears that Flynn's work wouldn't violate the pledge because it occurred before he joined the administration in January. The pledge bars Flynn from ever doing the same type of work again in his lifetime.

Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, U.S. citizens who lobby on behalf of foreign governments or political entities must disclose their work to the Justice Department. Willfully failing to register is a felony, though the department rarely files criminal charges in such cases. It routinely works with lobbying firms to get back in compliance with the law by registering and disclosing their work.

According to Flynn's filings, his firm's work involved research, informational materials and a video on the cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, of orchestrating a botched coup last summer. Erdogan has called for Gulen's extradition, a request the Obama administration rebuffed.

Alptekin, the Turkish businessman, has denied having any ties to Erdogan's government. But he is a member of a Turkish economic relations board run by an Erdogan appointee.
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A southern Indiana man accused of killing his former girlfriend and eating parts of her body in 2014 will undergo psychiatric evaluations, despite his insistence that he's competent for trial.

Defense lawyers say Joseph Oberhansley can't consult with them or understand court proceedings. Clark County Circuit Court Judge Vicki Carmichael this week granted their request for evaluations.

The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, reports (http://cjky.it/2m7G25F ) that Oberhansley, of Jeffersonville, told the judge that he is "completely innocent of all of these false charges" and is "completely competent."

This photo provided by the Clark County, Indiana., Sheriff's Office shows Joseph Oberhansley. Oberhansley is charged with murder, rape and abuse of a corpse in the September 2014 slaying of 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton. The southern Indiana man accused of killing his former girlfriend and eating parts of her body will undergo psychiatric evaluations, despite his insistence that he's competent for trial. (Clark County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Oberhansley is charged with murder, rape and abuse of a corpse in the September 2014 slaying of 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

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Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - After accusing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the campaign trail of "ruining Germany" by welcoming refugees, President Trump will have his first face-to-face meeting with the German leader at the White House on Tuesday.

The two were expected to discuss strengthening the NATO alliance, collaborating to fight terrorism and taking steps to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, White House officials said Friday.

Trump's first encounter will be aimed at building a personal rapport with a European partner who was among former President Barack Obama's strongest allies and international confidantes, according to the officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity despite the president's recent criticism of anonymous sources.

FILE - In this March 10, 2017 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks in Brussels. President Trump will have his first face-to-face meeting with the German leader at the White House on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, File)

Merkel, however, will need to look past Trump's past comments, when he accused her of "ruining Germany" because of her acceptance of refugees. Trump often claimed that his Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, was running to be "America's Angela Merkel" and argued that Germany was in the midst of crisis.

White House officials said Trump would press Germany to set an example on the need for NATO members to spend more on defense, which Germany has resisted. NATO's 28-member countries committed in 2014 to spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense within a decade but only the U.S. and four other members of the post-World War II military coalition are in compliance.

Trump referred to NATO as "obsolete" prior to his inauguration. But, he has since told European leaders he agrees on the "fundamental importance" of the military alliance, a message that was reinforced by Vice President Mike Pence during his recent trip to Europe.

The meeting with Merkel will also allow Trump to discuss peace efforts in Ukraine. Pence and other U.S. officials have said Russia must adhere to a 2015 deal to end fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

White House officials said Trump was eager to hear Merkel's views on her interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many European allies have been rattled by Trump's positive statements about Putin and the meeting will come amid questions about Trump associates' connections to Russia.

The White House said the two leaders may also discuss the Paris accord on climate change. Trump vowed during his campaign to withdraw from the climate agreement, suggesting that global warming is a hoax created by the Chinese to hurt U.S. competitiveness. But the administration said it is still formulating its policy on the issue ahead of the G7 meeting in Italy in May and the G20 gathering in Germany in July.

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On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Investing another $54 billion in the U.S. military won't do much for the overall economy.

President Donald Trump last week proposed a 10 percent increase in defense spending. The extra money will certainly be felt in the communities surrounding shipyards like the one in Virginia Trump visited to tout his military buildup. But it only equates to 0.2 percent of gross domestic product.

And significant cuts in other programs, including foreign aid and diplomacy, may be required to pay for the defense increase.

FILE - In this Thursday, March 2, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up after speaking to Navy and shipyard personnel aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va. The ship, which is still under construction, is due to be delivered to the Navy later in the year. The area around the Virginia shipyard where Trump visited is just the kind of place that would likely feel the greatest economic impact from his requested $54 billion increase in defense spending. But outside of that kind of local impact near the shipyards or jet factories receiving additional money, experts say the increased defense spending wouldn't make much difference overall. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

"If it's at the cost of preventative measures, that's not going to help our economy or our security," said Constance Hunter, chief economist at accounting firm KPMG.

Granted, Trump proposed the increase more as a way to strengthen America's military than to create jobs.

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UNCLEAR IMPACT

The impact on the economy will depend on how Trump spends the $54 billion, experts say. The president has yet to offer specifics.

During the campaign, Trump often said the military is too small to accomplish its missions, and he pledged to increase the Navy's active fleet to 350 ships. Current plans call for expanding the Navy to 308 ships from the current 272.

The impact of recruiting more soldiers and paying for their training and wages would be different than the impact of ordering more naval ships or F-35 fighter jets. Investing more in producing ships and jets would likely produce fewer jobs.

And a large portion of this increase could be spent internally at the defense department.

"I would expect that much of the increase of the defense budget we're talking about would be consumed internally by the Defense Department," said Todd Harrison, who analyzes defense spending for the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

With so much of the U.S. economy dependent on consumer spending, defense spending doesn't make a significant impact, said Fordham University economist Giacomo Santangelo.

"If his intention is economic growth, he shouldn't be talking about defense spending. If he wants to talk about defense, he should talk about our defense needs," Santangelo said.

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TOUGH TRADEOFFS

To pay for the increase in defense spending, Trump has proposed $54 billion in cuts to foreign aid and domestic agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency.

Those cuts are likely to draw strong opposition from Democrats in Congress, and the plan has been criticized by some Republicans who question Trump's decision to exempt Social Security and Medicare from cuts.

"This is really a non-starter," said Richard Immerman, a Temple University professor who worked for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2007 to 2009 under former President George W. Bush.

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REAGAN PLAN?

Trump's proposals to boost military spending and cut taxes may remind some of former President Ronald Reagan's approach, but this proposed spending would still be well below the relative level Reagan spend during the arms race with the Soviet Union.

If approved, the $54 billion increase in spending would mean the country was spending 3.4 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on defense. That would be up from 3.2 percent of GDP last year.

During the 1980s, Reagan's defense spending reached 6 percent of GDP and accounted for as much as 28 percent of the federal budget. Reagan's Cold War military buildup and tax cuts bolstered employment among defense contractors.

"In a lot of ways, I think Trump is following the Reagan model," said Howard Stoffer, a professor at the University of New Haven who worked at the State Department for 25 years. "But Congress is going to be unlikely to give him a $54 billion increase."

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INVESTING BATTLE

While military communities and economists wait to see how the spending drama plays out, Wall Street is already picking winners.

Since Trump was elected the S&P defense and aerospace sector has gained 17.4 percent, which is well above the overall 11.6 percent gains the S&P 500 recorded during the same time.

Whether the improved fortunes of the sector translate into new jobs is unclear. The companies that make military equipment use advanced manufacturing techniques, so there are fewer jobs involved in making the planes and ships then there were in the past.

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AP Business Writer Marley Jay contributed to this story from New York.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional investigators are demanding documents and contacting witnesses in a wide-ranging probe of the Defense Department's troubled anti-propaganda efforts against the Islamic State group.

The investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform follows reporting by The Associated Press in January that uncovered critical problems with the program known as WebOps and revealed conflicts of interest in a new contract potentially worth $500 million to expand psychological operations against terrorist groups.

The AP found the WebOps program is so beset with incompetence and flawed data that multiple people with direct knowledge of it say it's having little impact.

FILE - In this July 7, 2016 file photo, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, right, confers with the committee's ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congressional investigators are demanding documents and contacting witnesses in a wide-ranging probe of the Defense Department's troubled anti-propaganda efforts against the Islamic State. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

"Recent allegations of failings in our fight against ISIS, particularly among leadership, are disturbing," the committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said in a statement.

Chaffetz, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the committee's top Democrat, and other lawmakers on the panel requested corporate and government information about the program in separate letters to the contractor running WebOps, Alabama-based Colsa Corp., and to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis .

WebOps relies on dozens of Arabic-speaking analysts who scour Twitter and other social media platforms for people whose postings suggest they are vulnerable to the Islamic State militants' sophisticated propaganda. Using fictitious identities, the civilian analysts then reach out to these potential recruits and urge them not to join the extremists. But as AP reported, many of the analysts are not fluent and don't have the cultural background the work requires.

As one former worker told the AP, translators repeatedly mix up the Arabic words for "salad" and "authority."

"The news account details several examples where employees mistook words and ISIS recruiters laughed and insulted them," the lawmakers wrote in the Feb. 15 letter to Frank Collazo, Colsa's chairman and CEO. "In one particular instance, WebOps employees repeatedly referred to the Palestinian Authority as the 'Palestinian salad.'"

Colsa said it was cooperating with the committee.

"Colsa welcomes the chance to share the success of the WebOps program with members of the committee as well as the opportunity to set the record straight," the company said in a statement provided by Greg Vistica of Washington Media Group, a reputation management firm. "Colsa is contractually prohibited from releasing any information related to the program without the government's approval."

The congressional probe adds further scrutiny of the program, which is also under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

The committee also is looking into allegations that the problems were raised with officers at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, who ignored the concerns. Current and former workers told the AP that they had witnessed WebOps data being manipulated to create the appearance of success and that many other employees were aware of that. Others working on the program say that officers and contractors dodged independent oversight.

The letter to Mattis cites "leadership shortcomings" and a "general resistance to oversight and reform" disclosed by AP's reporting.

Central Command had declined AP's repeated requests for information about WebOps - including the cost of the contract - and other counterpropaganda programs, which were launched under the Obama administration.

The lawmakers also are demanding information about the award in September of the new $500 million contract to a team of contractors led by defense giant Northrop Grumman, along with allegations that a senior U.S. military officer, Col. Victor Garcia, steered the work to the Northrop team because it included a friend's company, the London-based advertising firm M&C Saatchi.

In its letter to Mattis, the committee demanded that the Defense Department provide all correspondence between Garcia and his friend, among other documents.

The AP obtained a screengrab from a Facebook page that shows Garcia and the friend, Simon Bergman, at a tiki bar in Key Largo, Florida, two weeks before the winning team was officially announced. The photo was also turned over to NCIS investigators by a whistleblower, who contended the photo created a "clear impression and perception of impropriety."

Garcia, a West Point graduate and decorated officer, has denied any impropriety and described allegations of misconduct as "character assassination." Bergman also denied any wrongdoing.

Northrop Grumman has referred questions from AP about the new contract to the General Services Administration, which said the award of the contract was handled properly.

The lawmakers ask that the Defense Department and the contractor deliver relevant documents so that the committee "can better understand the department's efforts to combat radical Islamic terrorism and resolve the apparent discrepancies about the WebOps unit."

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On Twitter, follow Butler at http://twitter.com/desmondbutler and Lardner at http://twitter.com/rplardner

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Have a tip on government contracting? Contact the authors securely at https://securedrop.ap.org

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This story corrects the name of the panel to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, not House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Jeff Sessions is seeking the resignations of 46 United States attorneys who were holdovers from the Obama administration, the Justice Department said Friday.

Many of the federal prosecutors who were nominated by former President Barack Obama have already left their positions, but the nearly four dozen who stayed on in the first weeks of the Trump administration have been asked to leave "in order to ensure a uniform transition," Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said.

"Until the new U.S. attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. attorney's offices will continue the great work of the department in investigating, prosecuting and deterring the most violent offenders," she said in a statement.

FILE - In this March 6, 2017 file photo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions waits to make a statement at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Washington. Sessions is seeking the resignations of 46 United States attorneys who were appointed during the prior presidential administration, the Justice Department said Friday, March 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

By Friday evening, U.S. attorneys around the country - including in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Minnesota and Arkansas - had publicly announced their resignations.

It's fairly customary for the 93 U.S. attorneys to leave their positions after a new president is in office, but the departures are not automatic and don't necessarily happen all at once.

One U.S. attorney appointed by President George W. Bush, Rod Rosenstein of Maryland, remained on the job for the entire Obama administration and is the current nominee for deputy attorney general in the Trump administration.

A Justice Department spokesman, Peter Carr, said late Friday that President Donald Trump has asked Rosenstein and Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente, who has served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to stay on.

The action Friday was similar to one taken in 1993 by then-Attorney General Janet Reno, who soon after taking office sought the resignations of the U.S. attorneys appointed by President George H.W. Bush. At the time, Sessions was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.

Tim Purdon, a former U.S. attorney for North Dakota in the Obama administration, recalled that Obama permitted Bush appointees to remain on until their successors had been appointed and confirmed.

"The way the Obama administration handled it was appropriate and respectful and classy," Purdon said. "This saddens me because many of these people are great public servants and now they are being asked to leave."

U.S. attorneys are federal prosecutors who are nominated by the president, generally upon the recommendation of a home-state senator, and are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the territories they oversee. They report to Justice Department leadership in Washington, and their priorities are expected to be in line with those of the attorney general.

Sessions took perhaps a veiled swipe at their work in a memo earlier this week, saying that prosecutions for violent crime have been on the decline even as the number of murders has gone up. The demand for resignations seems a way to ensure he will have a team of new federal prosecutors more likely to share his agenda.

Friday's announcement came months after Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for Manhattan and one of the most prominent federal prosecutors, said he'd been asked by Trump to stay on and that he intended to. Bharara's office declined to comment Friday.

Montana's U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter said he received a phone call from Boente telling him "the president has directed this."

"I think it's very unprofessional and I'm very disappointed," he said. "What happened today on Friday, March 10, that was so important that all Obama appointees who are U.S. attorneys need to be gone?"

"I gotta write that (resignation) letter. It's going to be a one-liner," he added.

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Associated Press writer Matt Volz in Helena, Montana, contributed to this report.

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CLEVELAND (AP) - A police officer with an Ohio housing authority has been accused of having sexual contact with a teenage boy he mentored through his department's Explorers program.

Twenty-six-year-old Christopher Collins was jailed Friday after his indictment on charges including sexual battery, endangering children and providing alcohol to minors. The Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County Metropolitan Housing Authority officer is scheduled for arraignment Monday in Cleveland.

Court records don't indicate if Collins has an attorney who could comment for him.

Housing Authority police Chief Andres Gonzalez tells Cleveland.com Collins "exhibited symptoms of a predator." The indictment says Collins twice had sexual contact with a teenager.

Gonzales says an investigation was launched after Collins sent inappropriate texts to a teenager. He says Collins is accused of drinking with teens in their hotel rooms during a sanctioned out-of-town trip.
A massive hike in probate fees detailed in the Budget has prompted a fresh wave of criticism of the Government by Tory MPs.

A 215 cap on the costs of executing wills is being raised to 20,000 under an overhaul that will raise 300 million for Treasury coffers.

But the reforms were branded a death tax by worried Conservative backbenchers.

Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond

We won't be having no Death Tax says Hammond. Well, apart from that one of course. pic.twitter.com/09T0mARC2o  Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) March 9, 2017

Conservative MP Oliver Colvile told the Daily Mail: I have real concerns about this. We absolutely do not need a death tax - which is what this sounds like.

Jacob Rees-Mogg said: I also have concerns about the probate tax. I see that it is likely to be judged by the national statistics people as a tax rather than as a charge, and I do not think it right that the Government should introduce stealth taxes.

Probate charges should relate to the cost of the probate work, which is broadly irrelevant to the size of the estate. There might be some more work for bigger estates, but the difference will not necessarily be as large as has been proposed.

A sliding scale of fees is being introduced starting at 300 for estates worth between 50,000-300,000 and ending at 20,000 for those above 2 million.

I'm baffled how a wealth tax is framed as a 'death tax'. UK obsession with holding onto 'unearned' property wealth is a barrier #budget2017  Daniel Reynolds (@DanielReynolds4) March 8, 2017

When the proposals went out to consultation, 810 of the 831 responses were opposed to reforms.

Budget documents said the Government expects the new fee structure to raise around 300 million a year.

It comes after Downing Street insisted Theresa May remained fully committed to reforming National Insurance contributions (NICs) for the self-employed despite a Tory backlash.

In a Brussels press conference on Thursday, the Prime Minister promised to listen to concerns raised by Conservative MPs and said there would be no vote until the autumn on the 2 billion hike in contributions for the self-employed announced in the Budget.

The fact the PM wont fully support her own Chancellor's Budget measure shows the level of disarray that exists at the top of government.  John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) March 9, 2017

Conservatives only listen to big business - corporation tax cut by 40%, while 4.8m self-employed hammered with 22% NIC rise. #Budget2017  Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) March 9, 2017

Labour claimed the promise amounted to a partial U-turn on proposals tabled by Chancellor Philip Hammond on Wednesday.

But Mrs May insisted that Mr Hammonds planned 2% hike in Class 4 NICs for the self-employed was fair, when considered in the light of the abolition of the separate Class 2 payments as well as improvements to the benefits received by self-employed people.

A review of modern employment practices by RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor, due to report over the summer, will be followed by a Government paper which is expected to include proposals to extend benefits such as parental leave to the self-employed.
Great Britains Fed Cup team will head to the Black Sea city of Constanta to take on Romania in next months World Group II play-off.

The home city of Romanian number one Simona Halep will host the tie on outdoor clay at the Tenis Club IDU on April 22-23.

Britain are looking to return to the elite level of the competition for the first time since 1993 but will go into the tie as heavy underdogs.

Aegon GB @FedCup Team will take on Romania at the Tenis Club IDU in Constanta! 



More info  https://t.co/Ul7TtrJPkx pic.twitter.com/JYrAwRiHCl  LTA (@the_LTA) March 10, 2017

Captain Anne Keothavong, in her first season in the role, will hope to be able to call on Johanna Konta but the world number 11 is not at her best on clay.

Fourth-ranked Halep, who has already said she will play in the tie, is a former French Open finalist while Romania have four other players in the top 100.

British number two Heather Watson is currently ranked 108 but has a very good record in Fed Cup with 25 wins and only seven losses.

Heather Watson

Watson was unbeaten in last months Europe/Africa Zone group, when Britain won four matches, including a nail-biting play-off against Croatia, to set up the Romania clash.

It is the third time Britain have reached the World Group II play-offs in the last six years, with the team then captained by Judy Murray losing to Sweden and Argentina in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
England can press ahead to the Champions Trophy with confidence enhanced after their 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies in the Caribbean.

Captain Eoin Morgan reflected not just on a highly-favourable scoreline after his teams 186-run trouncing of the hosts in the third one-day international, but on progress made by individuals and a growing sense of unity in the squad.

Alex Hales century on his comeback from injury - his first match since mid-January after breaking his hand in India - and another fine performance with the ball from evergreen seamer Liam Plunkett both fall into the second category.

ENGLAND WIN BY 186 RUNS & RECORD 3-0 SERIES WHITEWASH!    #WIvENG pic.twitter.com/X9R8l48yjf  England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 9, 2017

Morgan is prizing the togetherness of a squad he hopes can deliver just Englands second ICC global trophy when they take on the world on home soil in June.

He believes England, who have five ODIs before the start of the Champions Trophy and until May 1 to submit their provisional 15-man squad, benefited from their time in the middle but also the hours spent in one anothers company off the pitch.

Much was understandably made of modern Caribbean surfaces and an opposition who have not qualified for this summers tournament providing little relevant preparation for what is to come.

But Morgan is encouraged that England dug in for hard-fought victories in the first two matches and then proved, on another awkward pitch in Barbados, that they can top 300 even when conditions are not conducive.

Eoin Morgan

We came here to win three games, and weve won three games, he said. I think probably the strongest thing weve gained from this trip is adapting to conditions.

I still maintain we can score 300 on most wickets. This (last) match has probably proved that more than most.

Even before England began their campaign, Morgan sensed they were a united force.

I think weve gelled really well, he added. We had plenty of time in St Kitts to really get to know each other - we did a lot of socialising within the group, that doesnt always necessarily happen within all teams.

Morgan gave particular mention to 31-year-old Plunkett, who finished the series with 10 wickets at an average of just 9.9.

Liam Plunkett

I think Liam in particular has never let us down. Weve backed him up with selection for quite a while now, and he continues to impress us.

Steven Finn also took his unexpected opportunity to help lead the attack after David Willey missed the tour with a shoulder injury and Jake Ball pulled up in the second warm-up fixture.

Finny is probably a different case  hes growing in confidence and stature, which are great signs for the summer, added Morgan.

He probably came here thinking he wasnt going to play a great deal  but hes bowled really well.

Hales hundred figured in a second-wicket stand of 192 with fellow centurion Joe Root as England piled up 328 all out at the Kensington Oval - cementing the record-breaking openers claim to partner Jason Roy this summer.

Alex Hales

The partnership between him and Jason has obviously grown over the last two years, said Morgan.

Weve invested a lot of games in him - but before this game, he has rewarded us with runs.

Jason is an extremely explosive player, and Halesy realises that - so he plays his part in strong partnerships between them.
Lincoln City seek to extend their improbable FA Cup run all the way to Wembley this weekend, while League One Millwall are in their hunt for their fourth consecutive Premier League scalp.

One of the most memorable seasons for the competition in recent memory has reached the quarter-final stage and here Press Association Sport picks out five of the key talking points for the weekend ahead:

Imp-ossible?

Lincolns fifth round win over Burnley made them the first non-league team to reach the last eight in over 100 years and the Red Imps will no doubt believe they are capable of pulling off an even more famous upset at the Emirates Stadium. Six points clear at the top of the National League  they warmed up for their trip to north London with a 4-0 triumph at Braintree in midweek  and also in the FA Trophy semi-finals, there seems no stopping Danny Cowleys side. If current confidence levels can prove a decisive factor, then who knows what the underdogs could achieve.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (Nick Potts/PA)

Arsene out?

If ever there was no-win game for Arsenal and in particular Arsene Wenger, then their clash with Lincoln is surely it. Even a comfortable win is hardly likely to silence the growing band of critics in the wake of the Gunners Champions League embarrassment at the hands of Bayern Munich. Anything less will pile the pressure on Wenger, and a stunning defeat would surely make his position untenable. Cracks are slowly beginning to appear in Wengers serene facade and the task of re-motivating his players for a game from which they can take no credit is a colossal one.

White Hart pain

Mauricio wants us to use the prospect of being on the wrong end of a cup upset as motivation on Sunday. #COYS pic.twitter.com/mKZyVpm9lZ  Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 10, 2017

Mauricio Pochettino has shown his Premier League counterparts the way this season by naming almost full-strength sides for Cup games  then taking his star names off when the result is in the bag. That means a major test for Millwall, who have taken advantage of chronically under-strength Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester line-ups to reach the last eight. That said, the Lions performances in those games cannot be under-stated and roared on by a passionate following in north London, they will be no pushovers. A proper London derby may not be quite as one-sided as it may first appear.

Pep talk

Since their 4-0 defeat at Everton in January, Manchester City have managed to embark on a 10-match unbeaten run which has never entirely convinced. Their classy 2-0 win at Sunderland recently was followed by the frustration of a home draw with Stoke  and that frustration could come to the fore once more as they seek to unlock Middlesbroughs notoriously miserly defence. Boro boss Aitor Karanka is desperate for a good performance after his side slipped into the Premier League relegation zone, but he will need to find some long-overdue spark among his strikers if he is to repeat the 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium in January 2015.

No way Jose

"Now Chelsea are next," says @BlindDaley, on Monday's @EmiratesFACup tie. "We have to face them and give them everything we've got." #MUFC pic.twitter.com/IVw351iEh6  Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2017

How Jose Mourinho would love to put one over his former club when he takes his Manchester United side back to Stamford Bridge on Monday. Mourinho has changed Uniteds fortunes for the better in recent months but will be only too aware of the length he still has to go to realistically challenge Antonio Contes all-conquering Premier League leaders. The FA Cup provides Mourinho with the opportunity for immediate vindication, and even shorn of the talismanic Zlatan Ibrahimovic he will have his players motivated for the task.
A CCTV image of escaped prisoner Shaun Walmsley has been released by police as they continue to search for him.

Convicted murderer Walmsley, 28, went on the run on February 21 when two men armed with a knife and a gun confronted prison officers guarding him at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool during a visit from HMP Walton.

A gold-coloured Volvo which was used for the escape was later found abandoned in the Fazakerley area of Liverpool.

CCTV image of Shaun Walmsley at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool on the day of his escape (Merseyside Police/PA)

On Friday detectives released a new image showing Walmsley at the hospital.

Detectives investigating the escape of Shaun Walmsley issue a new CCTV image showing Walmsley on the day of escape https://t.co/z3s0PrWpdG pic.twitter.com/6g4WxHF7BM  Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) March 10, 2017

Detective Superintendent Natalie Perischine said: The new CCTV image, which was actually taken from hospital CCTV on the day of the escape, shows that Shaun Walmsley has lost a considerable amount of weight, and as a result looks very different to the image of him which was released after he was convicted of the murder of Anthony Duffy.

Detectives are currently working with officers from the National Crime Agency and police forces in Europe and further afield to locate Walmsley and put him back behind bars.

Earlier this week Merseyside Police released a picture of a silver Hyundai i10 which was seen in the Fazakerley area in the hours after his escape. A force spokesman said the car may provide vital clues as to his whereabouts.

Ms Perischine said: I would like to reiterate that Shaun Walmsley, and the two others involved in the incident, are dangerous individuals and we will be relentless in our pursuit of them.

Walmsley was serving life with a minimum term of 30 years for the murder of Anthony Duffy, 33, in May 2014. Detectives are advising the public not to approach him if they see him. Six men and one woman have been arrested in connection with the escape and released pending further inquiries.
An airline pilot has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after he admitted boarding a flight while over the legal alcohol limit.

Carlos Roberto Licona, from Texas, United States, was expected to fly as First Officer on a United Airlines flight to Newark, New Jersey, from Glasgow Airport.

Paisley Sheriff Court was told he was taken off the plane after security staff smelled alcohol on his breath. Licona was also asked to give blood tests and breath samples before the flight on Saturday August 27 last year.

@united what is going on with the Glasgow-Newark flight UA162? Police in the tunnel, very little information, been here for hours.  Erin Richmond (@_erinrichmond) August 27, 2016

The flight took off later that day with a new crew and 141 passengers on board.

He was charged under section 93 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, which covers alcohol limits in aviation.

That section of the Act states: A person commits an offence if he performs an aviation function at a time when the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit, or he carries out an activity which is ancillary to an aviation function at a time when the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit.

(Jane Barlow/PA)

Licona pled guilty to the offence and was given a reduced sentence of 10 months by Sheriff David Pender because of his admission.

A spokeswoman for Paisley Sheriff Court said: He was given a 10-month sentence which was reduced from 15 months.

A United Airlines spokesman said: We hold all of our employees to the highest standards. This pilot was immediately removed from service and his flying duties in August 2016.
By Scott Malone

March 9 (Reuters) - State legislators in New Hampshire narrowly blocked a bill on Thursday that would have prohibited discrimination against transgender people, including allowing them to use the public bathrooms that match the gender with which they identify.

Transgender rights are a politically charged issue in the United States. Supporters say bills like the one blocked on Thursday protect people who do not conform to their birth gender, while opponents say they could give cover to voyeurs and sexual predators.

The 187-179 vote by the Republican-controlled New Hampshire House of Representatives to table the bill without debate came one day after Governor Chris Sununu, also a Republican, said he had no position on the matter.

Many Democrats had supported the bill.

"With Sununu's support, the bill, which was tabled by a slim margin, would be on its way to the corner office," said Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "His silence and apathy are a tacit endorsement of discrimination, and he will have to live with the fact that he denied many transgender people the freedom that is granted through equality under the law."

A spokesman for Sununu whose father, John Sununu, was a New Hampshire governor and later White House chief of staff in the first Bush administration, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This was the latest in a string of defeats for transgender rights this week. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out a lower court ruling in favor of a Virginia transgender student after President Donald Trump rescinded a policy put in place last year protecting such youths.

A Texas Senate committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would require people to use public restrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates.

That measure is similar to one passed last year in North Carolina, which sparked boycotts that are estimated to have cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars. Due to economic concerns, analysts do not expect the Texas measure to pass the state House.

Despite their dominance in New Hampshire's government, Republicans in the state legislature do not unanimously support the party's national agenda. Last month state legislators blocked a bill that would have allowed employees in union-represented jobs not to pay dues. (Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
PRAGUE, March 9 (Reuters) - Czech President Milos Zeman told supporters on Thursday he would seek a second term in 2018, ending speculation over whether he would run again.

Zeman, who has pushed for better ties with Russia and backed Donald Trump in the U.S. vote last year, announced his decision at an annual party at Prague Castle to celebrate the anniversary of his election in 2013, two participants who asked not to be named told Reuters.

Other media outlets also reported Zeman's comments.

"I announce to you that I decided to run again for the office of president," Zeman told the gathering, according to mobile phone video shown on Czech Television.

Zeman will hold a news conference on Friday to officially announce his decision to the public.

Zeman, 72, won his country's first ever direct presidential election four years ago, remains its most popular politician and is in strong position for the January 2018 election.

While governments run domestic and foreign policy, the president can hold leverage over the European Union country's cabinets, as well as appoint central bankers and nominate ambassadors and constitutional court judges.

Zeman's first term has been marked by battles with a Social Democrat-led government, sniping at journalists, warnings about Muslim immigration to Europe and efforts to improve relations with Russia and China.

He opposes EU sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its role in a rebellion in eastern Ukraine - measures which the centre-left cabinet backs. He was one of the few European leaders to vocally back Trump's campaign last year.

ELECTION SEASON

Zeman will play a role in naming the next prime minister after a parliamentary election in October in which no party is likely to secure a majority. Some analysts say Zeman may tie this to support for him.

A former Social Democrat leader, Zeman split with the party after it failed to completely back him in his first attempt at the presidency in 2003 in a vote among parliamentarians. He ran as an independent four years ago.

Zeman so far has only one serious challenger next year: businessman and writer Michal Horacek, who launched his campaign last November with the motto "We can do better".

Zeman was out of politics for a decade before his 2013 victory. Instrumental in his comeback were several businessmen with interests in Russia, including the president's top adviser Martin Nejedly, who did business in Moscow and had a joint venture with Russian oil firm Lukoil in the Czech Republic.

Zeman was the only EU leader to attend a World War II victory ceremony in Moscow in 2015.

He has also helped steer the country toward China and welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Prague last year.

This week, the richest Czech businessman, Petr Kellner, met with Zeman to discuss economic ties with those countries, both of which Zeman aims to visit this year. In April Zeman will meet Trump at the White House. (Reporting by Robert Muller and Jason Hovet; editing by Andrew Roche)
HAVANA, March 9 (Reuters) - Cuba said on Thursday it had approved five new business proposals for its Mariel special development zone, bringing the total so far to 24 projects from 11 countries, worth $966 million in investment. The Communist-run island created the zone three years ago, hoping to lure foreign capital with significant tax and customs breaks to boost its anemic economy.

But the projects approved since the country's annual trade fair last November are mainly services providers, rather than factories that would require heavy investment.

They include Portuguese firm Engimov, which will offer engineering and construction services, and a Cuban-Spanish joint venture that will provide tourism services, said Oscar Perez, Mariel's business assessment director.

Ultimately, cash-strapped Cuba hopes to replace imports with goods manufactured in the zone around Mariel Bay, just west of Havana.

Swiss firm Nestle (NESN.S), for example, has imported goods to Cuba for many years and is close to reaching a deal on forming a joint venture in Mariel.

In an interview on Wednesday, Nestle Vice President Laurent Freixe said the company aimed to build a $50 million to $60 million factory producing coffee, cookies and cooking products.

At last year's trade fair, Foreign Commerce Minister Rodrigo Malmierca admitted the country was behind on its plans to attract $2 billion in investment annually to update the economy. (Editing by Dan Grebler)
SEOUL, March 10 (Reuters) - South Korea's top financial regulator said on Friday President Park Geun-hye's ouster from office would not have an impact on the stability of the financial markets, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

"We have completed preparations enough to respond," Yonhap cited Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Service Commission, as saying.

The Bank of Korea said separately its governor would hold an emergency meeting at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT) on a Constitutional Court ruling to remove Park from office earlier on Friday. (Reporting by Ju-min Park and Cynthia Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel)
BEIJING, March 10 (Reuters) - Privately-run conglomerate CEFC China Energy has approached several independent Chinese oil processors seeking to acquire its first domestic refinery operation, its next move towards becoming a global integrated oil player.

New details of CEFC's attempts to buy a refinery in China come less than three weeks after the little-known Shanghai-based firm announced its first major upstream oil investment, a $900 million deal for a 4 percent stake in an Abu Dhabi oilfield.

Talks with a handful of the small independent refiners known as "teapots" are just getting started, but CEFC's efforts are a rare early example of a private Chinese investor looking to cash in on Beijing's policy encouraging the small operators to venture into the global oil market to take on established state-run majors such as Sinopec Corp.

Chairman Ye Jianmin told a board meeting last July that CEFC aims to become a second Sinopec - China's second-biggest oil and gas major and Asia's largest refiner - by acquiring global assets and consolidating teapot refineries.

"CEFC has made it quite clear that it wants to invest in refining and held meetings with us," said one teapot executive who met with CEFC's Ye for such discussions.

"We'll need some time to deliberate and observe, as the company, ambitious as it is, lacks solid industry experience," said the executive, who declined to be named as the discussions were not public.

Ye's team has made frequent visits since mid-2016 to Shandong province, China's hub for teapots, courting at least four independent companies, including largest teapot refiner Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group and two small plants in the port city of Rizhao, according to three industry executives with knowledge of the meetings.

More recently CEFC has a new target, local government-backed Shandong Hengyuan Petrochemical Co, which owns a 70,000 barrels-per-day plant in the landlocked city of Linyi and a controlling stake in a refinery in Malaysia.

All the plants CEFC has approached so far have Beijing's greenlight to import crude oil, part of more than 20 local refiners that began emerging as market players in late 2015, helping to lift China's crude oil purchases to an all-time high last year while mopping up some of a global supply glut.

A refinery in the world's second-largest oil consumer would add to an asset network CEFC has built over the past two years - a Romanian refinery, service stations in Europe, an oilfield in Chad and the Abu Dhabi oilfield stake - said industry executives familiar with its strategy.

"It's part of the company's organic expansion by looking at refining opportunities," a CEFC spokesman said in an email in response to a request for comment.

Wang Youde, chairman of Hengyuan Petrochemical, confirmed his company was approached by CEFC last year, but said he was not aware of any material progress in discussions.

Zhang Liucheng, vice president of Shandong Dongming, said his company also held meetings with CEFC for similar discussions, declining to give further details.

Alongside the talks, CEFC last month joined Dongming in a $566 million venture to build an oil terminal and storage farm in Shandong, facilities that are badly needed to ease logistics bottleneck gripping the teapots sector.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Tom Hogue)
By Felix Onuah and Ulf Laessing

ABUJA/LAGOS, Nigeria, March 10 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Friday he would need more rest and health tests after coming home from nearly two months of medical leave in Britain during which his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, stamped his authority on economic policy.

Shortly after arriving back from London, the 74-year-old former general told officials he was feeling "much better" but wanted to rest over the weekend, raising questions about his ability to run Africa's biggest economy and most populous nation.

Osinbajo, a lawyer who is seen as more business-friendly than Buhari, played an active role in driving policy changes during the president's seven-week absence.

The Nigerian stock exchange jumped to a one-month high when Buhari returned, but trimmed gains after his comments about his ill-health raised fears of policy confusion and a power vacuum.

Dressed in a dark kaftan and Muslim prayer cap, Buhari walked stiffly but unaided from his plane after it landed at an air force base in the northern city of Kaduna.

After greeting a handful of provincial and military officials, he boarded a helicopter to the capital Abuja to address Osinbajo and his top military and security commanders in a brief speech.

"I deliberately came back towards the weekend so that the Vice President will continue and I will continue to rest," Buhari said at the presidential villa. "All I need is to do further follow-ups within some weeks."

He said he was "conscious" of the needs of the economy, mired in its first recession in 25 years due to a collapse in oil revenues, but failed to clarify Osinbajo's role.

His spokesman Femi Adesina later said Buhari would formally notify parliament on Monday that he was back in charge. He had made Osinbajo acting president during his absence.

Buhari has not revealed any details about his illness.

"I couldn't recall when last I had a blood transfusion," he said. About his treatment in London he added: "Blood transfusions, going to the laboratories and so on and forth."

Buhari, who first led the country from 1983 to 1985 after taking power in a military coup, was elected democratically two years ago. Since then he has travelled to Britain several times to consult doctors.

GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS

He is a northern Muslim, while Osinbajo is a lawyer from Nigeria's predominantly Christian south, a political arrangement that reflects Nigeria's broad geographic and religious divisions.

Reflecting his popularity in the north, armed police had to control hundreds of cheering supporters as Buhari's plane landed in Kaduna.

Hundreds also celebrated in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state in the northeast, where the army under Buhari's command has retaken territory previously lost to Boko Haram jihadists.

Osinbajo played an active role in Buhari's absence, chairing cabinet meetings and finishing an economic reform plan needed to secure a World Bank loan to help plug a deficit caused by low oil revenues in Africa's biggest producer.

He also travelled several times to the commercial capital Lagos and the Niger Delta oil hub to calm tensions with militants attacking oil facilities - two regions Buhari had largely ignored.

NAIRA TALK

While Buhari was away, the central bank also devalued the naira for retail customers and investors hope for more. The currency slipped against the dollar on Friday in the non-deliverable forward market, which enables companies or investors to hedge their naira exposure, as devaluation talk gained momentum on expectations that Osinbajo would keep a prominent role.

"The big question must be how many of the changes were carried out with the president's blessing," said Simon Quijano-Evans, emerging markets strategist at Legal & General Investment Management in London.

With Abuja airport closed for six weeks of repairs, fewer visitors will flock to the presidential villa. Buhari may be able to keep a low public profile without raising too much suspicion about his health while Osinbajo can work on the economic file. A trade conference has been shelved.

The transparency over the temporary handover to Osinbajo stands in marked contrast to the secrecy and confusion that surrounded the illness of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who died in 2010 after a long period of medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. (Reporting by Garba Mohammed, Felix Onuah, Ulf Laessing, Lanre Ola and Karin Strohecker; Writing by Ed Cropley and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
BEIJING, March 10 (Reuters) - China on Friday called for all parties involved in the dispute over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes to think "out of the box" to reach a resolution.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this week suggested a "dual suspension" of U.S. and South Korean military drills and Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests, to seek talks instead.

However, the United States dismissed China's suggestion of a "dual suspension", saying "all options are on the table" to deal with North Korea.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said a serious lack of trust between the parties meant that a lasting, thorough resolution could only be achieved by tackling the concerns of all involved.

China hopes everyone can give serious consideration to its suggestions and respond constructively, Geng added.

"We hope the relevant parties can break through their thinking, think out of the box, and can take a pragmatic and reasonable attitude," he told a daily news briefing.

"At the same time, China welcomes even better suggestions from the relevant parties on how to tackle the present difficulties on the peninsula, and we have an open attitude towards this."

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit China on his first trip to Asia next week and meet senior officials to discuss North Korea's recent missile tests. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
BANGKOK, March 10 (Reuters) - Thailand's top religious body on Friday gave a green light for the first step in a process that could lead to the disrobing of a Buddhist monk wanted for money laundering, a senior official said.

The move came almost three weeks after police and soldiers besieged the scandal-hit Dhammakaya temple to hunt for its former abbot, Phra Dhammachayo - a standoff which has tested the power of Thailand's military junta.

Phra Dhammachayo is wanted for questioning on money-laundering and numerous charges of building on land without authorisation. He has been stripped of his monastic rank by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, but secular authorities have no power to remove the protection afforded by his monk's robes.

The head of the National Office of Buddhism, Pongporn Pramsaneh, told reporters that the top religious body, the Supreme Sangha Council, acknowledged the case against Phra Dhammachayo at a meeting on Friday.

He said the government office would now forward the case to a top governing monk to proceed according to a religious law on leaving the monkhood.

"This is the first step, and the last step will be the disrobing of Phra Dhammachayo," Pongporn said.

There is no specific timeframe for the procedure, Pongporn said, which could lead to the temple's former abbot ordering Dhammachayo to be disrobed. Such an order could come even if the monk cannot be found. (Reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat; Writing by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House, an Abbas spokesman said, after the two leaders spoke by phone for the first time since Trump took office.

'President Trump has extended an official invitation to President Abbas to visit the White House soon to discuss ways to resume the political process, stressing his commitment to a peace process that will lead to a real peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis,' said Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah.

Palestinians are concerned at the more favorable approach shown by Washington towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Trump came to power.

Netanyahu and Trump have spoken on the phone at least twice since the Jan. 20 inauguration and Netanyahu visited Washington last month.

President Donald Trump, shown Friday at the White House, has invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to visit the presidential mansion; the two men spoke on the phone Friday

Abbas will be expected to press the U.S. president about Israeli settlements and the White House's commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Palestinian officials indicated Abbas would emphasise his concern about Israeli settlement-building on occupied land and the need for a two-state solution to the conflict.

'President Abbas stressed the commitment to peace as a strategic choice to establish a Palestinian State alongside the state of Israel,' Abu Rdainah said, according to the official Palestinian WAFA news agency.

At a Feb. 15 news conference during Netanyahu's visit, Trump was ambivalent about a two-state solution, the mainstay of U.S. policy in the region for the past two decades.

'I'm looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like ... I can live with either one,' Trump said, causing consternation across the Arab world and in many European capitals.

The White House has since been more cautious on the issue, and there has been less talk of moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a promise Trump made during the campaign but a move that would provoke anger across the Muslim world.

David Friedman, Trump's nominee for ambassador to Israel, who was approved by the Senate foreign relations committee on Thursday, has said he wants to see the embassy move to Jerusalem and expects to work from the city at least some of the time.

While one of the first calls to a foreign leader made by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama was to Abbas, Trump has been cautious in his contacts with the Arab world.

He has spoken to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and met Jordan's King Abdullah, who took the initiative and flew to Washington for an impromptu visit.

One of the most heated issues between Israel and the Palestinians is Israel's building of settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory the Palestinians want for their own state along with Gaza.

During the campaign, Trump said he did not necessarily see settlements as an obstacle to peace. Since his inauguration, Israel has announced plans to build at least 6,000 more settler homes, a substantial increase and an indication that Israel took Trump's softer language as a green light.

But during Netanyahu's visit, Trump said he wanted the Israeli prime minister to 'hold back on settlements for a little bit', a position that took Netanyahu by surprise. Israeli and U.S. officials are now discussing what the parameters are on settlements.
By Nigel Hunt

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures were lower on Friday as an improving crop outlook in Brazil threatened to curb U.S. exports while corn and wheat prices also eased.

The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 0.6 percent at $10.05-1/4 a bushel at 1203 GMT and was on track for a weekly loss of 3.1 percent.

The soybean market is facing headwinds as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a monthly report on Thursday increased its forecast for Brazil's 2016/17 soybean harvest to a record high 108 million tonnes, from 104 million in February.

"While output expectations were record-high, a 108 million tonne output caught the market off-guard and is driving a short-term bearish reaction," Rabobank said in a market note.

The agency also cut its estimate of U.S. 2016/17 soybean exports, citing competition from the Brazilian crop, and raised its forecast of U.S. soy year-ending stocks to 435 million bushels, above an average of analyst estimates.

Brazil's agricultural statistics agency Conab on Thursday raised its estimate for the country's 2016/17 soybean crop to 107.6 million tonnes, more than 2 million tonnes above its previous forecast.

"Soybean crop yields out of South America are looking very good. All those weather concerns that we had earlier are gone," said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist, National Australia Bank.

Corn prices were also lower as the USDA upped its estimates of corn output in Brazil and Argentina.

"While these weighty figures pressure prices, we remain aware of the weather risk that still remains for the second Brazil safrinha crop, which is currently being planted," Rabobank said.

The USDA raised its forecast of global 2016/17 corn ending stocks to 220.68 million tonnes, above an average of trade expectations and up from 217.56 million last month.

CBOT's most active corn contract was down 0.5 percent at $3.65-1/4 a bushel and was on course for a weekly loss of 4.1 percent.

Wheat prices were dragged down by weakness in corn and soybeans with CBOT's most-active contract off 0.2 percent at $4.43 a bushel and on track for a weekly loss of 2.3 percent.

Dealers said forecasts calling for much-needed moisture in the Plains also weighed on prices.

May milling wheat in Paris was down 0.3 percent at 174 euros a tonne. (Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Joseph Radford, Tom Hogue and Ed Osmond)
By Denis Dumo

JUBA, March 10 (Reuters) - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said on Friday he had pardoned two senior government officials and promised to release other political prisoners, as his rule faces surging resistance, warfare and famine.

"I did not come to speak politics. I have come to pardon Gen. Elias Waya and Gen. Andrea Dominic," Kiir said at a gathering in the capital Juba.

"Any other political detainees, I will release them all tomorrow and the day after tomorrow."

Waya is a former governor of Wau state in the country's northwest and Dominic was his deputy. They were arrested in June 2016 and have since been detained at a military facility in Juba. Officials have never given a reason for their detention.

South Sudan, Africa's youngest nation, was first plunged into war in December 2013 when a power struggle between Kiir and his then deputy Riek Machar turned into a military confrontation.

The ensuing two-year conflict was ended by a peace pact in August 2015. Nearly a year ago Machar returned to Juba and his old post, but lingering animus between the two men, who hail from rival tribes, exploded into fighting between their forces again in Juba in June.

War and lawlessness have since uprooted an estimated three million people and decimated the economy. Failed harvests in traditional food basket areas have triggered famine in a country rich in oil resources.

On Monday disaffected Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo Swaka accused Kiir of turning the country's military into a "tribal army", launched a new rebel National Salvation Front and vowed to topple him. (Additional reporting by Hakim George; writing by Elias Biryabarema; editing by Andrew Roche)
DUBAI, March 10 (Reuters) - A wanted man has been killed in Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern province after an exchange of gunfire while police were searching a neighbourhood where he was hiding, state news agency SPA reported on Friday.

The man, Mustafa Ali Abdullah al-Madad, was wanted by security forces for his involvement in "a number of terror crimes against the citizens and security personnel". He was killed in the governorate of Qatif.

SPA said Madad refused to comply with security forces when asked to hand himself over, and opened fire at the police. The agency said one policeman was wounded in the exchange of fire.

The Eastern Province city of Qatif has been the focal point of unrest among Saudi Arabia's Shi'ites since protests in early 2011 calling for an end to discrimination against the minority sect and for democratic reforms in the Sunni Muslim kingdom. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Toby Davis)
BERLIN, March 10 (Reuters) - Munich airport is not planning to follow the example of Frankfurt by launching special discounts to attract low-cost carriers, but wants to instead focus on higher-yield international traffic, the hub's chief executive said on Friday.

Munich airport is Germany's second-largest and expects to increase passengers numbers 4 percent to 44 million this year, Michael Kerkloh told Reuters.

"We want to focus on our role as a major hub in Europe, that brings new profit opportunities," Kerkloh said on the sidelines of the ITB travel fair in Berlin.

Frankfurt airport is seeking to make up for falling passenger numbers by attracting low-cost carriers, but big incentives it is offering for new routes to lure Ryanair have irked its main customer, Lufthansa.

Kerkloh said Munich airport, which gets 55 percent of its traffic from Lufthansa, was not planning any new discounts to attract budget carriers.

"We have normal incentives to help support new routes. We want competition between airlines but it must be fair," he said.

He said the federal state of Bavaria's strong economy meant locals had more money to spend on travel, while Munich could serve as a gateway to Germany and Europe for passengers coming from Asia.

Still, the number of low-cost routes operated from Munich is set to rise as budget flying becomes more prevalent in Germany and Europe. Lufthansa's budget unit Eurowings is starting flights from Munich and said earlier this week that bookings there had been above expectations.

"The proportion of low-cost carriers will rise. It's currently at about 4 to 5 percent, while it's at 20 percent for similar airports like Amsterdam," Munich Airport's Kerkloh said.

Ryanair chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said on Friday that the Irish low-cost carrier would not rule out flying out of Munich but that it was too expensive and restrictive at the moment.

"We've more than doubled in size without Frankfurt, Munich isn't a must. Eurowings going in there doesn't make us speed up our thinking or our desire to go in there," he said. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan and Peter Maushagen; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
By Shadia Nasralla

VIENNA, March 10 (Reuters) - Four planned Turkish political meetings in Austria were cancelled on Friday in the latest signs of unease across Europe over a series of campaign events to rally support among expatriate Turks for President Tayyip Erdogan.

A spokesman for police in the city of Linz said the private owner of a venue there had cancelled an event featuring a party colleague of Erdogan.

The town of Hoerbranz near the German border cancelled a separate event with a former Turkish minister because the organisers falsely labelled it as a book presentation.

Another event was scrapped in Herzogenburg, and a spokeswoman for a hotel in Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna, said it had cancelled a meeting planned for Sunday.

Some European cities have blocked planned appearances by Turkish politicians to drum up support for Erdogan before an April 16 referendum on giving him sweeping new powers. Relations between Turkey and the European Union deteriorated last year when EU members criticised Erdogan for a mass crackdown on opponents in the wake of a failed coup.

Austria's interior minister said on Tuesday he wanted to change the law to permit a ban on foreign officials making speeches in the country if human rights or public order are threatened, but the bill has not reached parliament yet.

Around 116,000 Turkish nationals live in Austria, a country of about 8.7 million.

Having survived the July coup, Erdogan says the referendum is needed to stabilise the country. European politicians accuse him of using the coup as a pretext for mass arrests and dismissals that stifle dissent.

In separate developments, the mayor of Rotterdam said Turkey's foreign minister would not be allowed to campaign there on Saturday, and Swiss police cancelled a speech by a Turkish politician planned for Friday, citing "significant security risks". (Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
By Maria Tsvetkova

MOSCOW, March 10 (Reuters) - A force of several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia operated until last month in a part of Libya that is under the control of regional leader Khalifa Haftar, the head of the firm that hired the contractors told Reuters.

It is the clearest signal to date that Moscow is prepared to back up its public diplomatic support for Haftar -- even at the risk of alarming Western governments already irked at Russia's intervention in Syria to prop up President Bashar al-Assad.

Haftar is opposed to a U.N.-backed government which Western states see as the best chance of restoring stability in Libya. But some Russian policy-makers see the Libyan as a strongman who can end the six years of anarchy that followed the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.

The presence of the military contractors was, according to the head of the firm, a commercial arrangement. It is unlikely though to have been possible without Moscow's approval, according to people who work in the industry in Russia.

Oleg Krinitsyn, owner of private Russian firm RSB-group, said he sent the contractors to eastern Libya last year and they were pulled out in February having completed their mission.

In an interview with Reuters, he said their task was to remove mines from an industrial facility near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, in an area that Haftar's forces had liberated from Islamist rebels.

He declined to say who hired his firm to provide the contractors, where they were operating or what the industrial facility was. He did not say if the operation had been approved by the U.N.-backed government, which most states view as the sovereign ruler of Libya.

Asked whether the mission had official blessing from Moscow, Krinitsyn said his firm did not work with the Russian defence ministry, but was "consulting" with the Russian foreign ministry.

The contractors did not take part in combat, Krinitsyn said, but they were armed with weapons they obtained in Libya. He declined to specify what type of weapons. A U.N. arms embargo prohibits the import of weapons to Libya unless it is under the control of the U.N.-backed government.

Krinitsyn said his contractors were ready to strike back in case of an attack.

"If we're under assault we enter the battle, of course, to protect our lives and the lives of our clients," Krinitsyn said. "According to military science, a counterattack must follow an attack. That means we would have to destroy the enemy."

Military and government officials in eastern Libya said they were not aware of the presence of the contractors, while Haftar did not respond to a request for comment.

Officials in Western Libya, where the U.N.-backed government is based, were not immediately available to comment. The Russian foreign ministry said it was working on a response to Reuters questions bit had not commented by Friday.

MOSCOW'S PROXIES

Underscoring Libya's volatility, Haftar's forces have this week been fighting to regain control over the Mediterranean oil terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, which a rival faction seized earlier this month.

Russia has a record of using private military contractors as an extension of its own military.

In Syria, military contractors have been widely used in combat roles in conjunction with Russian regular forces and their Syrian allies, according to multiple accounts given to Reuters by people involved in the operations. Moscow has not acknowledged using private contractors in Syria.

Russian security companies do not reveal the background of people they hire but the contractors usually are special forces veterans.

Krinitsyn, the owner of the company which hired the contractors for Libya, was an officer of the Russian border guard service based in Tajikistan, on the border with Afghanistan, where he said he gained battlefield experience.

Krinitsyn said some of the contractors he hired for Libya has previously worked in Syria, though not in combat roles.

He declined to say how many contractors were involved in the mission in Libya, citing commercial secrecy. However, he said that in general, a de-mining operation of this type would require around 50 mine clearance experts and around the same number for their security detail.

HAWKISH CAMP

Haftar has been seeking outside help to consolidate his control over parts of Libya. Russia has shown a willingness to engage with him that contrasts with the more cautious approach of Western governments.

Haftar visited Moscow in November last year and met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In December, Haftar went on board a Russian aircraft carrier off the Libyan coast and spoke with the Russian defence minister via videolink. In recent weeks, Russia has taken in 100 of Haftar's wounded fighters for medical treatment.

Moscow also received Haftar's rival, Fayez Serraj, the head of the UN-backed government, for talks this month.

President Vladimir Putin, newly confident from the Russian military intervention in Syria, is anxious to restore stability in Libya. But foreign diplomats familiar with Russian thinking say there is so far no consensus on how to achieve that.

They say the foreign ministry wants Haftar to join forces with the U.N.-backed government. But the diplomats say there is a more hawkish camp, centred on the Russian defence ministry and some people in the Kremlin, which favours backing Haftar to establish control over the whole of Libya.

Krinitsyn, the contractors' boss, said that while in Libya his employees had run into a group of local militants. He said the militants were initially hostile, but became friendly when they realised the outsiders were Russians.

"It was an uncomfortable situation but the image created by Putin in Syria played a positive role. We realized that Russia is welcomed in Libya more than other countries are," he said. (Additional reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli in Benghazi, Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli and Christian Lowe in Moscow; Editing by Giles Elgood)
By Michel Rose and Andrew Callus

PARIS, March 10 (Reuters) - Former prime minister Alain Juppe on Friday threw his support behind Francois Fillon's French presidential bid, hoping to heal party divisions days after he sharply criticised the conservative candidate in a speech.

Juppe, who was defeated by Fillon in the centre-right primaries in November, had been seen by many conservatives as a potential 'plan B' after Fillon became embroiled in a scandal over his wife's pay.

On Monday he ruled out taking Fillon's place and a rebellion that was forming behind him fizzled out.

"Even if just a passenger, I'm not jumping ship during the storm," Juppe tweeted on Friday.

The move could help The Republicans come from behind in opinion polls by encouraging Juppe's more centrist supporters to stick with the party rather than switch to the favourite, independent Emmanuel Macron.

Fillon now has a fine campaign line to tread because victory also depends on attracting voters away from the other leading candidate, Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Front leader.

Only two top candidates from a first round vote on April 23 will contest the second round on May 7. Opinion polls show Fillon coming third in the first round and Macron going on to become president.

Two polls on Friday showed Macron and Le Pen level in the first round vote with Fillon lagging well behind in third.

In his speech on Monday renouncing the chance to run, Juppe, the 71-year-old mayor of Bordeaux, had harsh words for Fillon, who expects to be placed under formal investigation over payments to his wife when he sees investigating magistrates on March 15.

Juppe accused Fillon of wasting the strong lead his party was enjoying before the scandal broke, called him obstinate, and expressed disquiet at his attacks on the media and judiciary investigating the case.

MACRON BROADENING SUPPORT

Polls have shown that some of those who backed Juppe are reluctant to support Fillon, offering an opportunity for Macron.

He has already this week won support from a former Communist party head, the previous Socialist mayor of Paris, a right-wing former minister, and is in talks with the popular outgoing Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Macron was campaigning on Thursday and Friday in Juppe's territory in Bordeaux, where he hailed Juppe as "a great leader" and dismissed left-wing and right-wing politicians for trying to place him in either camp.

"We have to build a majority for this project. Don't believe that the candidate of the left which is tearing itself apart can achieve it, but don't believe that the National Front candidate can build a real majority," Macron told a campaign rally.

"And don't think either that the sad candidate of the right that is uniting reactionaries and opportunists can build anything."

Macron, who was previously economy minister under Socialist President Francois Hollande, has faced blistering criticism since Thursday from Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon.

Currently lying in a distant fourth place, Hamon said Macron was "immature" and labelled his programme dangerous for the country.

"I don't think he will be ready to tackle the challenge of being the head of state, which means facing the European question, Mr Trump, Mr Putin and especially facing his own people," Hamon told France 2 television.

(Editing by John Irish and Robin Pomeroy)
By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS, March 10 (Reuters) - Iraq is assessing what help it might need to collect and preserve evidence of Islamic State crimes, but has not yet decided whether it needs United Nations assistance, the country's U.N. Ambassador, Mohamed Ali Alhakim, said on Friday.

Britain is drafting a U.N. Security Council resolution to establish a U.N. investigation to collect and preserve evidence for future prosecution, but would like Iraq to approve such a move by sending a letter formally requesting council action.

International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman who was enslaved and raped by Islamic State fighters in Mosul, pushed Iraq on Thursday to allow a U.N. inquiry.

"We don't want people to tell us what we need, we will tell them what we need and that's really the bottom line," Alhakim told reporters, acknowledging that Iraq does need technical forensic support.

"Let's get it from the EU (European Union), let's get it from the UK, let's get it from the U.S.," he said. "Technical assistance you can get from anywhere, you don't need a Security Council resolution to get technical assistance."

Alhakim said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi would decide whether to ask for United Nations help.

"We want the government of Iraq to send (the letter) as soon as possible," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said on Friday. "The best route would be with the full consent and at the request of the government of Iraq.

"There are other ways of doing this if that route does not prove to be possible," he added.

The Security Council could establish an inquiry without Iraq's consent. The 193-member U.N. General Assembly could establish a special team to preserve evidence and prepare cases - as it did for Syria in December - or the Security Council could refer the case to the International Criminal Court.

Murad and Clooney, who represents Murad and other Yazidi victims of Islamic State, on Friday met with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Islamic State is committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the minority religious community through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes, U.N. experts said last June.

"Nadia knows where her mother is buried. There are mass graves whose locations are known and for all of this time, they're just laying there unprotected and evidence is being damaged," Clooney told Reuters on Thursday.

"If we don't act now, we may lose the opportunity to have trials anywhere, ever," she said. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
What if you had a considerable breathing space from the time you sign up for your vehicle lease until you actually pay? That would indeed be a fantastic option, given the financial burden of going in for a new car.

Thats exactly what Renault, Sri Lankas No 02 brand in the car market, has come up with, says Yasantha Wijesekera, Deputy General Manager - Renault at AMW. Renault KWID, the stylish SUV look alike is already turning heads with this unique Avurudu promotion that allows the customer a five months rental free period from the time the car is purchased.

In reinforcing its strong image and capability as a leader in the Sri Lankan automobile market, Renaults novel and unbeatable scheme gives the customer buying the Renault KWID, 05 months rental free upfront through AMW Capital Leasing, along with free insurance.



The customer only pays the down payment, but the most attractive component is the breathing space it gives customers to be able to manage lease payment from the 6th month onwards, Mr. Wijesekera adds,  It also assures the customer of a completely customer focused approach that is unique to Renault at AMW.

This is a special scheme developed by AMW to ease the customer burdens of paying additional taxes in leasing and vehicle purchase. Theres more; if the customers vehicle is being bought back at market price via Auto Mall, the AMW subsidiary, the price obtained for the car can be either paid to the customer or set off against the down payment and the balance, if any, can be paid by the customer.

Given the scope and popularity of this great option, we advise our customers to make use of this offer as soon as possible since the demand is escalating. 

Since 1949, AMW has been leading the way in the Sri Lankan automobile market; a strong reputation and a customer focused attitude has been the signature approach of the company towards the burgeoning automobile market in the country. A promise that Renault hopes to seal with this great offer especially for the Avurudu Season.
It is an honour to share such a great profession as a Chartered Accountant (CA). A profession that has been evolved over thousands of years, weathered various storms and tested for time. The accountancy profession not only survived but also thrived to be one of the demanding professions globally.



An honourable profession

Being an entrepreneur, it was my father who inspired me to become a CA. Even though I was not so studious during those days, the sudden death of my father made me determined to make his wish come true. I am really grateful to him today since he opened the way for me to enjoy such a wonderful profession.

Even during our time there was this wrong perception that becoming a CA was a difficult task. However, I later understood that there was no merit in such thinking. Besides that, I determined to achieve something that was perceived as difficult. During the process I realized that a CA stands out among the others because of its mandatory training requirements. We had to undergo four years of training compared to the three years of training requirement today. Four years of audit firm training was the differentiator.

I always think that an audit firm is like a university in its own territory. It has got a vast knowledge platform. A kind of knowledge even you cant gather through a renowned university. It is lively and all that practical. CAs develop their core competencies only through this audit firm training since it gives exposure to various industries, various business models, different IT applications, different management styles, etc. Not only that, it gives opportunities to build a strong business network.

It also helps to develop strong work ethics at an early stage of life. All these together provide a strong insight into the business environment. So, it is not like getting stuck in one place to complete your training requirements. Everyday spent at an audit firm would be challenging and would certainly add something new to your knowledge base.

The results of all these would be an industry-hardened product, who is ready to go and serve society and would finally contribute to the development of our country. For instance, in the army you find ordinary infantry soldiers as well as specially trained and battle-hardened commandos and special forces soldiers, who are ready to face any challenges. In a similar way, a CA would stand out in his own territory. I have personally experienced what I have stated above.



A passport to international job market

Soon after completing both training and examinations within four to five years, I had the opportunity to join the international job market. By that time I only had the CA qualification though I managed to earn some other qualifications later on. This means the CA qualification gave me the passport to enter the international job market.

My international career spans from the Southern African region (Botswana) to USA and with the worlds number one professional accountancy firm as per the rankings at that time. The time I spent in Africa had been a pleasant memory. It was a different lifestyle with usual Friday and Saturday night barbecue parties, safari tours, etc.

The time I spent in the USA, particularly the time I spent in Manhattan, New York, was challenging and rewarding. I must mention that I had the opportunity to work at the international head office of the worlds largest professional accounting firm during this time. It gave me the opportunity to work with the smartest of the smartest and initially I was a bit nervous thinking whether I would survive.

As once stated by the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, later I understood that the cake was duly baked at home (The Cake that was Baked at Home, Ajita Kadirgamar). This means the education and most importantly the training that I was given back home really helped me to fulfil my work commitments without any difficulty.

The lifestyle and work ethics in New York was quite different. We had to hit between 12-16 hours during the so-called busy season. I mainly got involved with Sarbanes Oxley-related work and amidst busy schedules. We enjoyed our lives also to the maximum. This busyness and complexities in the business environment made me to think how such a simple barter system evolved over a period of time to become such a complex financial and economic environment.

That was the time a seed had been planted in my mind that had eventually resulted in writing this article today. Since then I started to explore for an answer. I wanted to know when the accountancy profession was started, how the money came into the system, how the currency that we use today replaced the currency in the form of metal, how the international trade was started, how the tax systems and the custom procedures were started and so on and so forth.

Even though the questions were in economics nature, we have to understand the fact that economics and accountancy go hand in hand. I later understood these two subject areas are interdependent because without proper accounting you cant take stock of economic activities of a nation. Without that how can you define fiscal and monetary policies of a country? Well, this is a question that needs further deliberations and I would do it in a later phase of my career.



Wealth of Nations by Adams Smith

Having completed a successful tenure in New York, I came to Sri Lanka for a Vacation and then again went back and started working in Philadelphia for the same firm (Philadelphia happened to be the first capital of the USA before Washington and the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed). I was staying at an apartment just by the Rittenhouse square park. Right in front of my apartment, there was a public library and need not say that I took the membership. There I came across this great book written by Adams Smith, titled The Wealth of Nations, a book that was originally published in 1776.

Even though I knew about this great piece of work, I never had an opportunity to read that book. I was immediately attracted to the book after going through the contents section and introduction and this is because it answered so many questions that I had on my mind which I highlighted in an earlier paragraph. Amidst my busy work schedule, I somehow found time to read this book. That was the book I was searching for some time.

It sheds light on famous invisible hand or rather the demand and supply theory, history of the economic activity of the humankind, how the simple barter system evolved over a period of time, starting of the merchandising system, tax system, international trade, various forms of currency, division of labour, specialization, colonization, accumulation of wealth, etc.

I believe every accountant should read this book. When you read it only you would understand without a proper accounting system at individual level, entity level and national level, economic activity of humankind wouldnt have been developed to greater heights like this. There had been some form of accounting that supported this development. I would not hesitate to say that the origin of accountancy goes back to the history where the men and nations started accumulating wealth.

It need not necessarily be the double entry accounting but a form of single entry recording method. I feel that a greater injustice has been caused upon the accountancy profession by identifying Luca Pacioli as the father of accounting since 1494 AD. There is no doubt that he is the father of the double entry accounting system but may not necessarily be the father of accounting. This statement is based on the facts that I have presented so far and also based on the facts that I am going to present below.



Accounting practices in ancient Sri Lanka

Even though I had a great accountancy career in the USA, I always wanted to get back and settle down in Sri Lanka. So I returned and joined BDO Partners as a partner in the year 2008 when the war was at its peak. Later on, I wanted to add some academic flavour to my career and then decided to follow the MBA in finance offered by the University of Colombo.

Obtaining the MBA in Finance was one of the best things that happened in my life. There I had the opportunity of meeting Bandara Rajapakse, who was a senior lecturer at that time. He once gave me a copy of a piece of research work done by him jointly with Pasan Amarasinghe. The theme of the research is Accounting and Accounting Practices of Sri Lanka.

The researchers have given reference to inscriptions related to the money transactions of Sri Lanka from the first to 16th centuries. Amongst all these I would like to give reference to the inscription laid down by King Mahinda IV (958 A.D), which says that all money receipts and payments of Maha Vihara in Anuradhapura should be recorded daily and on the basis of those, a monthly report should be prepared. At the end of the year, a statement needs to be prepared and it should be reported to the monks of the temple, incorporating all information in monthly reports.

A reasonable argument can be developed to say that without proper accounting how the taxes were imposed, collected and routed towards public welfare such as building tanks, establishing temples and pirivenas, maintaining currency systems, facilitating international trade with countries such as China and Arab, financing for various battles, etc. However, adequate research has not yet been carried out covering this aspect in our history. I am sure at least a well-developed single entry accounting system would have prevailed in our country.



An accounting history of time by Dr. Richard Willis

Having deliberated on the accounting practice in Sri Lanka, lets have a look at the history of accounting practices from an international perspective. I recently came across an article written by Dr. Richared Willis, a visiting research fellow at the University of Adelaide. According to him, there are eight landmarks that had substantially contributed for evolving the accountancy profession.

7,000 years ago: Crude ledgers on papyrus or stones to track sales and purchases in Assyria, Babylon and Sumeria.

63 BC: Roman Emperor Augustus keeps valuations and expenditure on theatrical plays; auditing of leaders.

1210: Merchants start to take account of debits and credits, capital expenditure.

1494: Luca Pacioli writes Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Prbportioniet Proportionalita and becomes known as the father of accounting.

17th century: Introduction of joint-stock companies drives demand for reliable accounts, with regular auditing.

18th century: Britains industrial Revolution sees development of financial markets and fraud and accounting irregularity among railway companies.

1854: ICAS is formed and petition Queen Victoria for a Royal Charter; ICAEW launched in 1880 following a merger of a number of professional bodies. The US establishes AICPA.

Late 20th century: Computer technology drivers speed and automation of accounting tasks.



Conclusion

It is a privileged to share such a great profession which has got acceptance across the world. Demand for Sri Lankan CAs got further enhanced after getting converged with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) regime. With the competencies developed on the IFRS, the international mobility of CAs increased. It is the responsibility of the present and future accountants to safeguard the respect of this noble profession.

Having a long history is not a free ride to ensure success in the future. Amidst dynamism in the business environment, there are new skill sets an accountant has to develop to remain relevant in the profession. My next article would probably cover the changing skill set demanded from the professional accountants.

I have aligned my thoughts above for the love of our noble profession.

(Tishan Subasinghe [FCA, CPFA (UK), ACMA, CISA, MBA(Finance)(Col.)] is Head of Audit and Assurance at

BDO Partners)
Sri Lankas pioneer power solution company Assidua Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd celebrates its fifth anniversary with grander and brilliance with overwhelming compliments from its large clientele islandwide.

Assidua Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd has reached great heights and received accolades of corporate sector in all spheres of power solutions in Sri Lanka for quality and excellence during the five-year operations and also plans to further improve the success the company has so far achieved by continuously introducing quality power solutions and related services in the future.

Assidua Technologies culminated the year 2016 with excellent financial performance recoding a 50 percent increase in the companys revenue, generating record revenue of Rs.300 million during the year 2016. In 2017, Assidua Technologies plans by further consolidating the growth momentum to register a 25 percent increase in its sales and profits.

Assidua Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd, established in 2012, is a fully-owned subsidiary of Shan Group of Companies based in Dubai, a conglomerate established in 1999. The group since then has made its presence felt across multiple continents in a remarkably short period of time including United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Assidua Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd has also come forward with a new vision with Pradeep Bogahawatta joining the company as Chief Executive Officer last year. Bogahawatta brings with him over two decades of finance expertise and is one of the top professionals in the field today.

The company, which commenced its strong journey in 2012 as the sole accredited importer and distributor of Techfine, the premier brand for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) devices and inverters, subsequently managed to join hands with the US premier brand Emersion and many more dominant brands in the field of power solutions.

The company has also been able to further consolidate its position in the market after being appointed as the sole accredited agent of Chinas premium UPS brand Kstar.

Assidua Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd, which is embarking in a successful march forward with a clear future vision and clearly understanding the needs of its customers, plans to be the market leader by further consolidating its rapid growth achieved in the past five years, said Bogahawatta.

For this, the company posses a set of well-trained and talented employees, he explained.

Hard work, sensitivity to market conditions and a serious commitment to quality has resulted in the rapid growth of the company in its short span of five-year operations in Sri Lanka. Sound business ethics and adherence to the highest quality standards right across the board has helped forge long-term relationships with internationally acclaimed suppliers.

This synergy has been passed on to the customers in Sri Lanka in the form of superior products delivered with unparalleled customer service and care.

Assidua Technologies by now has offered its expertise and prowess to national projects islandwide by joining hands with clientele in the state, finance, communication, education, meteorology, health, energy, electronic, television and radio sectors.

By providing high-quality, credible power solutions continuously to the utmost satisfaction of its customers for five years, Assidua Technologies has been able capture a significant market share in Sri Lanka, which is a noteworthy achievement at the fifth anniversary celebrations.
The death toll from a brazen attack on Afghanistans largest military hospital by terrorists disguised as medics has risen to 49 with dozens wounded, a senior health official said on Thursday.



Salim Rassouli, director of Kabul hospitals, said 49 people had been killed in the attack on Sardar Daud Khan Hospital on Wednesday and at least 63 were injured.



Some uncertainty remained over the exact figures and one security official said more than 90 people had been wounded. Earlier estimates had put the number of dead at 38, with 70 injured.



The Islamic State claimed the attack through its Amaq news agency. The group also posted photos that it said were taken by its fighters within the hospital and an image of the five fighters who were purportedly involved in the attack.



The terrorists rampaged through the 400-bed hospital, shooting doctors, patients and visitors and battling security forces for almost six hours in a sophisticated operation.



Mohammad Nabi, a doctor at the hospital who escaped with a broken leg, said it had been difficult to comprehend what was going on initially as the terrorists in doctors white coats took out concealed weapons and began shooting.



We were shocked when we saw AK-47s in their hands firing, he said. They killed our patients in their beds and they killed our doctors.



Kabul, (Hindustan Times), Mar 09, 2017 17 -
Minister Amaratunga greets Brigitte Zypries on the sidelines of the ongoing ITB in Berlin

Sri Lanka is targeting 150,000 German tourists this year. This was revealed during a meeting between Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga and the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Brigitte Zypries on the sidelines of the ongoing ITB in Berlin this week. Zypries is also the Minister of Tourism in Germany.

Minister Amaratunga thanked the German government for supporting tourism development in Sri Lanka. The Minister noted that Sri Lanka received 134,275 German tourists last year indicating a growth of 15 percent compared to the previous year. He said that ITB will be used as a stepping stone to carry out an aggressive tourism promotion campaign in Germany this year.

It was further revealed during the discussions that Sri Lanka Tourism has already embarked on a promotional campaign focusing on different regions in Germany. Minister Amaratunga told the German Minister that Sri Lanka was proud to have partnered with ITB from its inception.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Brigitte Zypries assured Minister Amaratunga that Germany will extend its fullest co-operation to develop Sri Lankas tourism industry since the country is now considered one of the safest destinations for European travellers.

German travelers are always talking about the warm hospitality and friendliness of the Sri Lankan people. They are very eager to return to the country over and over again, said Minister Zypries.

A large contingent of Sri Lankas tourism industry stakeholders are participating at this years ITB which is considered the biggest travel fair in the world.

Marking 50 -year partnership



An unbroken 50-year partnership, peace, security, respect for human rights and Sri Lankas many tourist attractions were the main highlights of an exclusive press conference organized by Sri Lanka Tourism as part of its ITB programme in Berlin.

The press conference attracted a large number of international journalists and travel writers which was a clear indication of the interest generated by the German media on Sri Lanka. Minister Amaratunga highlighted the fact that Sri Lanka was participating at ITB for the 50th consecutive year this year and that as a result of it a strong relationship had developed between the two countries. He pointed out that Vogue Magazine (France) had described Sri Lanka as one of the most fashionable destinations to visit in its latest issue. He said that this was a very positive sign for the countrys tourism industry.

Sri Lanka has many luxury hotels and the list is growing. The countrys compactness, diversity and authenticity are unique. This is what makes Sri Lanka the perfect destination for leisure travelers, the Minister said.

The current government does not have any enemies and had made friends around the world. Democracy has been restored along with respect for human rights. Sri Lanka is now a safe haven for tourists and everybody is free to move about, he told the packed press conference.

The Minister drew attention to Sri Lankas own travel fair, Gateway to South Asia 2017 which is to take place from the 4 to the 7th of May 2017 in Colombo. I would like to invite journalists to attend Gateway to South Asia International Travel Fair in Colombo in May and experience first-hand all that Sri Lanka has to offer.

In a ground breaking move, the public relations team of Sri Lanka Tourism launched a special programme at the Sri Lanka Pavilion to attract top journalists and bloggers to Sri Lanka. Under the visiting journalists and bloggers programme of Sri Lanka Tourism, high profile journalists will be invited to Sri Lanka on fully sponsored familiarization tours in return for media coverage in international publications.

The press conference was chaired by Minister John Amaratunga. Others at the head table were Sri Lankas Ambassador to Germany Karunathilaka Amunugama, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism, Paddy Withana, President, Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO), Devindre Senaratne, President, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), Sanath Ukwatte and President, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tourism Sri Lanka (ASMET), Rohan Abeywickrama.
Icon Lifesaver Ltd Sales Manager Stuart Elson fill water from the Beira Lake into a Lifesaver product, as Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake observes keenly

Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshan

By Chandeepa Wettasinghe

Sri Lankans with poor access to clean drinking water will be able to use British military grade Lifesaver water filters for an affordable price in the near future to convert polluted water available in their community to clean water, Sri Lankas Finance Minister said yesterday.

A four-member family can have access to clean water at a cost of 50 cents a day for 3 years, Ravi Karunanayake said.

He said that although the project could run into billions of rupees, and that the Sri Lankan governments degree of involvement in the project is yet to be determined, the Lifesaver would be essential in preventing occurrences of chronic kidney disease (CKDu) and in improving the overall health of many Sri Lankans.

Karunanayake said that every year the Finance Ministry has to commit to battle CKDu through the budget, and spend a staggering amount on the countrys total health bill, both of which could be effectively tackled with the Lifesaver.

Every budget theres a need to introduce proposals to eradicate chronic kidney disease. If you see the cost of health for our country, its almost 3.6 percent of GDP. Its staggering. So on that basis, this covers not only a problem day-to-day but also into the future. This is not just giving clean drinking water, but reducing our health bill, he said.

Icon Lifesaver Ltd, a company based in the UK, will be distributing the Lifesaver water filters through its local agent B. R. J. W. Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd.

B. R. J. W. Enterprises Director Darin Weerasinghe said that the British government is likely to provide a grant to the Sri Lankan government to purchase Lifesavers at discounted rates, and bilateral discussions are currently underway.

The UK government is looking at providing a subsidy. There are government to government discussions. Our aim is to give the people safe drinking water. This is not a commercial venture. With Lifesaver now in Sri Lanka, arsenic and cadmium in water could be reduced to a very negligible level, he said.

Icon Lifesaver Ltd Sales Manager Stuart Elson said that the Lifesaver filters any particle larger than 15 nanometres, and noted that bacteria are around 200 nanometres, and the worlds smallest virus, Polio, is around 25 nanometres.

The Lifesaver website claims that the product removes 99.99 percent of viruses, 99.9999 percent of bacteria and 99.9 percent of cysts in the water it filters. The system uses a hand powered pump to push the water molecules through the filter.

Elson said that using Lifesaver is more environmental friendly and healthier than using bottled water.

The Lifesaver is equal to 30,000 plastic water bottles. Once you use the plastic water bottles, they end up polluting and may end up in lakes or seas. And we assume that water in plastic bottles is clean. Do we ask? No. We think it is, he said.

He noted that once the filter inside Lifesaver reaches the end of its lifespan, which is 15,000 litres of filtered water, equivalent to the drinking needs of a family of 4 for 3-4 years, it shuts itself down, signalling a need for a replacement.

The cost you incur today will be the only cost for the next 3-4 years. There will be no maintenance costs or other costs involved like other water systems, he said.

Elson said that although the British military was the initial customer for the 10-year old company, it has now branched out into humanitarian operations in many countries, including Malaysia, Sudan, Haiti, Iraq, Colombia, Brazil, and Africa.

Karunanayake said that the Sri Lankan government became aware of the project when some of his associates presented the Lifesaver as a solution for Karunanayakes ambition to provide clean water in North Colombo.

When they presented the idea, I didnt believe them. I thought it was just another commercial enterprise. But then they began bringing some units down here and testing them. Then I realised that this should not be just for North Colombo or Colombo, but for the entire island since the Prime Minister and the President are keen to eradicate CKDu, he said.
Sedawatta and Wadullawatta communities live at the edge of the Kelani river virtually under the bridge at Peliyagoda. For many these communities may be merely an eyesore. And many forget that those living under the bridge are also residents of Colombo, with rights, hopes, dreams and aspirations as those going on the bridge.

But the new bridge construction project over the Kelani river financed by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) gave an opportunity for them to build their lives. The new bridge runs parallel to the existing bridge, and bridge piers will be located at Sedawatta and Wadullawatta.

The communities have to relocate if the bridge is to be constructed. The relocation is carried out in accordance with the National Involuntary Resettlement Policy and JICAs guidelines for social and environmental considerations. Accordingly, project affected communities are compensated based on the principles of replacement cost to enable them to have an equivalent or better living standards.

The Road Development Authority (RDA) which is the implementing agency for the bridge construction project, with close cooperation from the Urban Development Authority (UDA) secured apartments for the over 400 households in UDAs Laksanda Sevana housing complex in Salamulla. The 2nd apartment block in the complex was ceremonially opened by President Maithripala Sirisena on 2nd March.

The complex is located just a few kilometers away from the bridge, so the changes to their traveling times and surroundings are minimized. Almost the entire community opted to live in the complex, so the community ties can continue in the new site.

The project affected families receive ownership of their individual apartments on vacation of their existing premises. The apartments are larger than the houses they currently occupy and equipped with amenities including electricity and water connections. The Project Management Unit (PMU) provided them with guidance and assistance on furnishing and maintaining their apartments, operating equipment and mobilized community leaders to assist and sustain the process.

In order to ensure their living standards improve, an income restoration programme is currently in progress. Through this, the householders received training, equipment and micro-finance facilities to start or expand home based industries such as shoe-making, incense sticks, dress-making etc. The PMU continues the support them to expand sales, diversify and improve quality of products and be self-sustainable. A montessori and day-care center is being set up and selected residents are being trained to operate both. The PMU assisted the families to move their children to the closest school to the housing complex, such that children could now walk to school instead of a longer commute they had earlier.

During the floods in 2016 when this community was inundated, the PMU staff provided food for them, by contributing portion of their salary. At Laksanda Sevana, the PMU staff set up a library for the children, again using their own personal resources. The community members feel they have gained not only new homes, but also a new family in the PMU staff.

Thirty families have already moved and settled in the first building of Laksanda Sevana. They have used the trainings they received to furnish and equip the apartments in creative and innovative ways. Their ownership and pride are evident from the efforts they have put in to convert the houses into homes. The other families are in the process of moving to the 2nd building after the ceremonial opening on 2nd of March.

The new bridge over the Kelani river will bring substantial economic benefits to Sri Lanka. But the direct benefits to the project affected communities through conducting the resettlement according to the National Involuntary Resettlement Policy and JICAs guidelines are of equal or higher value. Through this the lives of over 2000 residents of Colombo has been uplifted, and definitely their contribution to the economy will rise. For the project, there is the added benefit of their heartfelt support and contribution, because they feel the success of the project is their own success. We hope this will be taken as an example and the same policies followed in all other public infrastructure projects commented Kiyoshi Amada, the Chief Representative of JICA Sri Lanka Office.
The Committee for protecting rights of prisoners vehemently condemned the Government's alleged attempt to hold back the 2012 November 9 brutal killing of prisoners during the prison riot, by compensating the victims and their families

The President of the organisation Attorney Senaka Perera in a statement said that the STF and some members of the armed forces invaded the prison premises on the instruction of a former VIP and killed 27 selected unarmed prisoners.

The statement says that the intruders by placing weapons near the dead bodies had attempted to cover it up saying they were killed since the prisoners carried weapons,

The statement further said that even though the present Yahapalana government assured the public to punish the killers of the prison riot it has not been done so far.

However as a result of continual protests of the committee the government appointed a three member Commission to inquire the incident

During the inquiry eye witnesses had given evidence before the commission and the commission had tendered their observations and recommendation to the government one year ago.

In the meantime the government during a cabinet meeting had decided to compensate only 16 victims of the incident.

The Committee vehemently condemned the governments efforts to hold back the incident which had become a national and international concern by merely compensating the victims without punish the perpetrates, the statement said.

The statement also underscored the fact that if the government really wanted to do fair dealings to the victims' relatives, to arrest the killers and bring them to book.

The committee says that while 27 prisoners were killed and the governments suggestion compensating only 16 of them was a joke.

The statement asked whether the other 11 prisoners committed suicide inside the prisons.

The Committee requests the government to take steps according to the law and punish the killers without attempting to persuade the Geneva Human Rights Commission and other groupings. (T. Farook Thajudeen)
The state of being vigorously anti-Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is becoming out of control. It is in danger of becoming pathological and self-destructive. What does the West gain in the long run if it sees nothing ahead but being anti-Russia? The West is in danger of having embarked on a journey to nowhere. Russia is not going to change significantly in the near future. The very close Putin/ Dimitri Medvedev team are going to remain in the saddle for a long time.



We are not yet in a second Cold War. Those who say we are dont know their history. The Cold War was years of military confrontation, not least with nuclear arms. It was a competition for influence that stretched right around the globe and it was done with guns. There was the Cuban missile crisis when nuclear weapons were nearly used.



If Putin is here to stay we have to deal with him in a courteous and constructive way. Russia is not a serious military threat. President Donald Trumps proposal for an increase in US defence spending is larger than the whole of the Russian defence budget. Neither is Russian ideology. When the Soviet Union was communist there was a purpose behind Moscows overseas policies -- it was to spread the type of government of the supposedly Marxist-Leninist workers state. No longer.



Today the militant anti-Putinists -- I would include in this group Barack Obama, most of the big media in much of the Western world and most, but by no means all, EU leaders-believe they are defending the US-led liberal democratic order. They believe that Russia is intent on undermining it. In their eyes it is democracy against authoritarianism.



But it is not. As the renowned Russian scholar Gordon Hahn tirelessly points out, there are a significant number of democracies that are non-NATO. India is the most important with its massive population. New Delhi has excellent relations with Moscow and in no way feels challenged. Neither does Moscow feel that India is engaged in nefarious activity on Russias southern flank. Just as the US doesnt arm itself against Mexico and vice versa so India and Russia dont prepare to be militarily engaged against the other. India has neither encouraged nor supported illegal, revolutionary seizures of power in countries neighbouring Russia. For its part Russia has never given Pakistan any encouragement in its confrontations with India, even when Beijing was a close ally of Islamabad.



Indeed, we see a continuing improvement in the relationship between New Delhi and Moscow. BRICS, for example, that joins these two countries with Brazil, South Africa and China brings the five of them economically closer and develops amity between them. The first two are also democracies that in no way feel they are in another camp.



Moscow has good relations with other Asian democracies -- with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. There are few tensions between Tokyo and Moscow, even though they have failed so far to settle the sensitive dispute over ownership of the Kuril islands -- a leftover from World War 2. During Putins recent trip to Tokyo for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe there was a significant breakthrough on the issue. The two agreed that their countries would engage in joint economic activity on the islands.



South Korea is the USs firm ally. Nevertheless, Moscow has not raised the issue of the US deployment of an anti-missile defence system in South Korea, aimed at North Korea. Recently Seoul signed some 20 economic agreements with Moscow. Moreover, South Korea plans to sign a free trade agreement with the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union -- the very one that the US and the EU leant on Ukraine not to join.



There is no sign that Russia is bent on subverting democracy. Democracy flourishes all over the world -- in nearly every Latin American country, in most of Africa and a good part of Asia. None of these countries complain of Russian opposition to their liberal democratic order. They live happily with Moscow, (as does authoritarian China). So why cant the West?



The truth is that the West will be enjoying the same benign relationship with Russia if under presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the US hadnt, step by step, put Russia under the hammer by expanding NATO and breaking its solemn promise not to. (Neither Ronald Reagan nor George H.W. Bush, who understood Russia, saw fit to expand Nato. Richard Nixon, a Russophile, would never have.)



Russias own post-Soviet politics have veered from chaotic democracy under Boris Yeltsin to a half-way-house authoritarianism under Putin. For all their deficiencies they have been miles away from the repression of Soviet rule.



The West is going to have to live with this kind of Russia for a long time. The West must stop being both paranoid and vindictive. This is counterproductive and goes nowhere.



For 17 years Jonathan Power was a foreign affairs columnist for the International Herald Tribune.
The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday threatened to resort to major trade union action next week if the committee appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena to probe the SAITM issue does not give its final decision within one week.

GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda told a media briefing that the GMOA took this decision following an unanimous approval of its Central Committee.

He said they also decided to make a written complaint to the President against what they called the political-insanity of Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella and former higher education minister S. B. Dissanayake on this issue.

He said the GMOA would further strengthen the awareness and protest campaigns in the coming days and added that they were expecting a justifiable decision on the questioned-standards of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) in Malabe from the committee appointed by the President.

He said the Health Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry still hold the responsibility of the medical educations standards and stressed that the SAITM was not an institute that has been accepted by the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC).

Meanwhile, GMOA Assistant Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said the GMOA has discussed the issue on Wednesday with the committee appointed by the President.

The committee has arrived to a decision to take alternative solutions to the issue. We hope that those alternative decisions will be in favor to protect the standards of the medical education in Sri Lanka, he said. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)
Buddha travelled to his hometown Kapilawastu and reached the castle on Medin Poya day, where he was born forty two years before. This visit led to four significant events - attainment of stream entry [Sothapanna] by King Suddhodana and stepmother Prajapathi Gothami; Princess Yasodhara taking refuge in the Buddha Dhamma and Sangha; ordination of his son Rahula and the ordination of cousin brother Prince Nanda.



As soon as the message Siddhartha Gautama was to arrive at the palace in Kapilawastupura reached every corner of the city, the surroundings of the palace assumed a pleasant ambiance as citizenry there prepared to celebrate the event, the arrival of their future King Siddhartha  they knew little about a Buddha. The Sakyan seniors who congregated at the palace, besieged with their natural pride, revealed their reluctance to pay reverence to the Buddha saying; He is much younger than us, we are Sakyans. Only the juniors were sent to perform the rituals, compelling the Buddha to perform a near-miracle [Yama Maha Pelahara] and counter their pride. On this occasion, King Suddhodana (the father of Gautama Buddha) worshiped the Buddha for the third time.



The following morning, Buddha, along with a group of monks, went begging for alms. This unusual act by a member of the royal family made the king very unhappy and he rushed to the Buddha and admonished him that begging for food was an insult to the clan. The Buddha then reminded the king that this act was normal for the Buddha clan. O king, please allow me to offer you this treasure of mine which is the Dhamma. After the meeting, King Suddhodana invited the Buddha to the palace. The Buddha, along with his chief disciples Sariyuth and Mugalan, went to see his former Princess Yasodhara at her chamber, but she refused to appear before him saying; If he has any concern for me, let him act accordingly. However, on seeing him, she held his feet and sobbed bitterly. The Buddha traced the Samsaric sojourn and explained to her how they had been together in a series of past births. Buddha acknowledged that she had been of great assistance to him until he became Buddha. Her woes were transformed into delight as she heard these utterances. The subsequent day, his son Rahula asked for his legacy from the Buddha. The Buddha had his meal and returned to the temple, Prince Rahula followed. The rest is history. Upon Buddhas return, he handed over his bowl to Prince Nanda. As was his wish, Nanda was

also ordained.



Dhamma is deep - Ghambiro

Acing examinations and listening to peoples erudition will make one knowledgeable, next he or she can pass examinations and become an educated person. But Dhamma is different -- The Dhamma that has been realised by me is deep Ghambiro, not easy to see, difficult to awaken to, calm, excellent, outside the realm of doubt, delicate, foreseeable only by the wise -- Buddha.



Living the Moment is Buddhist meditation

Like the five precepts that existed eons before the birth of Siduhat, we Buddhists mistakenly believe Buddha imposed the Samatha-Vipassana meditation; it was a practice originated in ancient India over three to four millennia ago. They are the two types of meditation that deal with one-pointedness and mindfulness respectively, and are helpful in mind-training and body/mind coordination. Yet, they have nothing to do with the Fourth Noble Truth, the path - Magga.



Bare attention to the present moment, devoid of any perceptive thought, is mindful meditation or Satipatthana; what Buddha prescribed. A technique widely-used in meditation classes, retreats and medical institutions in the Western hemisphere is SamathaVipassana for its therapeutic value. It is called Mind-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and is not based on the Satipatthana meditation introduced by the Buddha. The MBCT technique developed by Professor Mark Williams and John Teasdale of Cambridge is used today to treat depression. Clinical trials have confirmed the efficacy and there are statistics to show that it is superior to currently accessible drugs.



In Satipatthana or Buddhist meditation, bare attention or mindfulness is watching your mind; your own mind in action, observe it like an outsider. What you see is just what is going on; you observe without trying to change, appreciate or condemn. With condemning, appreciating one cannot observe mindfully.



The mind is like your right hand or left hand, it lives with your body. Only that it is hidden and it remains hidden for the entire life. When you observe every twist and turn of the mind, you would start realising what is going on. You would start observing the root of your fears, desires, frustrations and anxiety.



Remember, whatever you observe has always been living with you, unseen, all the time. The best way to approach it is with a sense of curiosity to find out what is really going on out there in the field of your mind. Do not just read and create memory of knowledge, use the tools to observe and realise the facts firsthand. Understanding ones mind would open the door to deeper secrets that are living inside.



Understanding the basics of human mind

If you observe properly, you would realise that we are continuously active with something. We all wake up in the morning and get busy until the end of the day. What precisely are we doing? What are we occupied with? The hidden mind is stuck in a complex network of thoughts. Constant practice would make one comprehend the power of the hidden mind that drives our lives with all emotions, actions and quests.



Nelson Mandela once addressed his people and said, South Africa belongs to all who lives in it, black and white, and no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people, that our country will never be prosperous or free until all people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities and that only a democratic state, based on the will of the people, can secure to all, their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief. Ultimately, one is ones own refuge; no stranger is going to clean up the inner mess we are found in.



Buddhism is a rational practical and offers a pragmatic view of life and of the world. It does not tempt people into living in a fools paradise; it does not scare and agonise people with all kinds of fantasies and guilt. It does not generate religious extremists to disturb the followers of other faiths. Buddhism tells us precisely and objectively what we are and what the world around us is, and explains to us the way to perfect tranquility, liberty, peace and happiness.

May all beings be happy!
SEOUL AFP March9, 2017- The heir to the Samsung business empire denied all charges in connection with a wide-ranging corruption scandal, his lawyers told the first court hearing on his case Thursday.



Lee Jae-Yong, 48, was not present at Seoul Central District court for the hearing, and is being held in custody as his giant company -- the worlds biggest smartphone maker -- struggles to recover from a recall scandal.



Lee, the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, faces accusations of bribery, corruption, perjury and other offences stemming from a scandal that has seen President Park Geun-Hye impeached. Four other Samsung executives have also been charged.



Everyone denies all the charges, a defence lawyer told the court at a preliminary hearing which lasted little more than an hour.



The prosecutors formal indictment was sketchy, with some of the accusations lacking clear evidence and only circumstantial, the defence said.



The accused paid nearly $40 million to Parks close friend Choi Soon-Sil, allegedly as bribes to secure policy favours.



Samsung has insisted that the payments were charitable contributions it was obliged to make under pressure from officials, and not bribes.
The Sri Lankan Government has assured us that a full investigation would be carried out into the incident where an Indian fisherman was allegedly killed by the Sri Lankan Navy, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, M. J. Akbar said.

According to PTI, several members of the AIADMK and DMK had today raised this matter in Parliament and asked the government to send a strong message to Sri Lanka.

The matter was raised by Kanimozhi of DMK and S R Balasubramaniam of AIADMK. The Government said the matter was taken up with the Sri Lankan government.

"The government considers this matter and the welfare and concerns of all fishermen most seriously. We have raised this issue through Vice President on the sidelines of a summit in Indonesia. The Sri Lankan Government has promised a full investigation," the state minister said.

Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari had raised this issue when he met President Maithripala Srisena on the sidelines of the Summit of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) on March 7.

A 22-year-old Indian fisherman was reported to have been shot dead on Monday while he was fishing in a mechanised boat a short distance off the Kachativu islet. Local fishermen alleged that he was killed by the Sri Lankan Navy. Another fisherman was injured.

Kanimozhi said many fishermen have lost their lives and their livelihood have been affected. They (fishermen) are worried and they are not sure about coming back alive when they go fishing, she said.

Describing this as a burning issue in Tamil Nadu, she said the central government is not responding.

Kanimozhi asked the Centre to take steps for the welfare of fishermen since it claims to be a "strong" government.

Balasubramaniam said the killing of fishermen was "not justifiable" under any circumstances and this incident should be strongly condemned.

He also said a strong message should be given to the Sri Lankan government.

"This issue of fishermen has a long history. This is the most unfortunate incident...Our views have been conveyed. A full statement on this will be made as soon as possible," the state minister said.

AIADMK member J Jayavardhan osaid Sri Lankan High Commissioner should be summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs to lodge a protest.
Refugee claims have been filed in Canada on behalf of the Sri Lankan and Philippine asylum seekers who sheltered former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in Hong Kong in 2013, lawyers involved in the matter had revealed on Thursday.

According to Time, the group of three lawyers who filed the claims on January 26, and have worked with Hong Kong-based Canadian barrister Robert Tibbo on the case, are now calling on Canadian immigration minister Ahmed Hussen to use his discretionary powers to expedite the applications.

Over the course of the past few weeks, we felt compelled to take an additional step forward, so we formally petitioned the Canadian government to take these clients as refugees, Montreal-based immigration lawyer Marc-Andre Seguin said.

Fellow Canadian lawyer Francis Tourigny, who lived in Hong Kong from 2009 to 2013, noted the claimants poor living conditions in the city and a heightened security threat since their assistance to Snowden was revealed. He said their plight was a matter of life and death.

Claims emerged recently that Sri Lankan police had been in the Hong Kong looking for some of the refugees however, the authority denied doing so.

Its very clear that discretionary power should be applied, Seguin said, referring to the Canadian immigration ministers authority to speed up the processing of claims.

These are people who fled persecution, who today in Hong Kong have no future as a result of the very nature of the system applicable to asylum seekers, and who are being actively sought after by authorities from their home countries, he added.

Hong Kongs asylum seeker acceptance rate stands at 0.6 per cent. In the few cases that have been substantiated, applicants were referred to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for resettlement in a third country.

Its up to Canada now to do the right thing, Seguin said.

The lawyer said they were confident that they had very strong cases as they met every criteria to be accepted as refugees into Canada.

The asylum seekers who housed Snowden include Vanessa Mae Rodel from the Philippines, who has a daughter aged 4, Ajith Pushpakumara, a former soldier from Sri Lanka, and a family of four from the same country  Supun Thilina Kellapatha, his wife Nadeeka Dilrukshi Nonis and their two children. All three children are stateless.

They have waited a number of years to have their protection claims screened by the Hong Kong government and said previously that they want to leave the city, naming Canada as their preferred destination.

Pushpakumara, 44, who arrived in Hong Kong in 2006, earlier said: I would choose Canada ... I heard I could have good protection [there] and hopefully I could work.

The group of three Canadian lawyers  Seguin, Tourigny and Michael Simkin  travelled to Hong Kong and met the refugees in person for the first time on Wednesday after previously communicating through video calls.

In November, the three set up an NGO in Quebec named For the Refugees. The organisation has so far collected CAD$100,000 (HK$577,916) in donations and has held events raising awareness for the asylum seekers.
Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has made an operating profit of Rs.11 billion for the year 2016, up 83 percent from a year ago, on the back of revenue of Rs.44 billion, a Ports and Shipping Ministry statement said.

SLPA has also been able to cut its operational expenses during the year, as it incurred only Rs.20.2 billion in operating expenses compared to Rs.22.6 billion in 2015.

Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga was quoted in the statement as saying that the SLPA achieved this victorious position despite facing many challenges.

According to Ranatunga, SLPA-run Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) could not provide services to 23 vessels deeper than 14 metres and 271 vessels longer than 350 metres in 2016 as JCT only has a depth of 14.25 meters.

SLPA lost 589,553 containers because of this reason. I should say we earn this profit under such difficult conditions, Ranatunga was quoted as saying.

He further said the SLPA had to pay Rs.7.1 billion as the total debt and interest on the Hambantota port in 2016. The total of debt and interest paid by the SLPA in 2016 stood at Rs.16.7 billion.

Htota port deal with China to be revamped

ECONOMYNEXT: Sri Lankas plan to bring a Chinese state firm as an investor to Hambantota Port will be revamped to bring it in line with the countrys existing law, Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said.

Sri Lankas Trade and Investment Ministry spearheaded a plan to incorporate Hambantota Port as a separate company with a 99-year lease and sell 80 percent of it to Chinas CM Port Holdings, instead of following the international practice of leasing land for terminals and facilities like dry docks. Minister Ranatunga and Sri Lanka Ports Authority had raised objections to the plan amid wider public protests, while an opposition legislator had also gone to court over the proposed deal.

Opposition legislators had also alleged corruption on the proposed deal, which has been denied by the government.

A ministerial committee including Ranatunga was appointed to re-negotiate with the Chinese firm before inking the final deal.

We are now happier with the way negotiations are going, though not 100 percent happy, Ranatunga told reporters in Colombo.

Asked whether individual sections of the port could not be leased to China, he said that was the direction he wanted to see negotiations move.

Selling 80 percent of a corporatized port would require changes to the law governing Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

Ranatunga said the Act was written to protect the interests of the country and Ports Authority and any changes should be carefully considered and it would take a long time.

Ranatunga said he was awaiting the views of the countrys Attorney General to the proposed agreement.

The SLPA had paid Rs.7.1 billion in interest and capital repayments to China on loans taken to build Hambantota port, he said.

Sri Lanka had already leased a terminal in Colombo Port to CM Ports, and another private company which were paying annual fees to boost profits of the port.
Minister of Tourism Development John Amaratunga along with Members of the German Parliament, Michael Donth and Jurgen Klimke officially opening the Sri Lankan pavilion

The Sri Lanka pavilion was a star attraction at the ITB Berlin 2017 international travel show which opened in Germany this week.

The eye-catching Sri Lankan pavilion was declared open by Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs Minister John Amaratunga.

Among those present at the inauguration included Sri Lankas Ambassador to Germany, Karunathilaka Amunugama, Sri Lanka Tourism Chiarman Paddy Withana, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau officials and key tourism stakeholders in Sri Lanka.

Secretary General of UNWTO, Dr. Taleb Rifai and Members of the German Parliament, Michael Donth and Jurgen Klimke were amongst the host of VIPs present at the opening ceremony.

Sri Lanka Tourism is utilising all resources in order to leverage ITB Germany which is one of the biggest travel fairs in the world to capture the German market which is now looking for new options in the wake of various issues plaguing some of its popular outbound destinations.

In his opening remarks, Tourism Minister John Amaratunga commented on the attractiveness of the Sri Lanka pavilion which featured an open design concept complemented with eye catching image of Sri Lanka.

He spoke of the diverse attractions the country has to offer and the climate of security that tourists could expect in Sri Lanka as opposed to some of the other destinations.

German Member of Parliament Klimke appreciated the peaceful collaboration of all cultures and religions in Sri Lanka which had created a melting pot of cultural diversity.

He singled out the positive vibes in the tourism sector with regard to Sri Lankas focus on sustainability and preservation of nature whilst developing the tourism sector. He predicted a bright future for tourism in Sri Lanka. ITB is the most resourceful and wealthiest travel mart in Europe, estimated to be worth 100m German speaking people in and around Germany. Our tourism industry should work together to capitalize on this market and help it grow from a US $ 3.5 billion industry to a US $ 10 billion industry, said Sri Lankas Ambassador to Germany, Karunathilaka Amunugama.

Also speaking at the inauguration Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Paddy Withana focused on the strategic importance of ITB to deepen and widen European interest in Destination

Sri Lanka.

Following the inauguration, the Sri Lankan delegation led by Minister Amaratunga was expected to meet leading German tourism industry officials to promote Sri Lanka as both a leisure and MICE destination while also encouraging tourism operators to invest in tourism related activities in the country.

A large tourism industry contingent representing the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors in Sri Lanka is participating at this years ITB.
SriLankan Cares, the community development arm of SriLankan Airlines, has embarked on a special Village Heartbeat Project with Foundation of Goodness to develop the lives and careers of people in underprivileged communities in Oddusuddan and Mullaitivu in the Northern Province.

The Village Heartbeat Project (VHP) will carry out a range of activities which will include the setting up of a Project Centre that will provide a computer training centre, community centre, library, English classes, scholarship classes, womens enterprise courses, youth and womens empowerment programmes, spiritual training to improve the quality of life, and volunteer expertise oriented programmes.

Our national carrier has in recent years focused on the need for upliftment of underprivileged rural communities. We have carried out several smaller projects in the Northern Province so far, in addition to our work throughout Sri Lanka, said SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ajith Dias.

To raise funds for the project, SriLankan Cares together with Anushka Kathak Dance Academy staged a special Kathak drama recital, Daskon-Pramila on 24th February at the Bishops College Auditorium.

Pradeepa Kekulawala, Head of Human Resources at SriLankan Airlines, said: We are confident that the Village Heartbeat Project will make a difference in the lives of many people, especially youth and women. Our thanks to Anushka Ekanayake for their partnership to raise funds for this worthy cause.

DaskonPramila is a Kathak dance performance by Anushka Ekanayake and her students at Anushka Kathak Dance Academy, to bring the famous historic love story to the Sri Lankan stage as a premiere. Kathak is one of the main classical dance forms of India and this style has been used since the ancient times to entertain royal dignitaries at ceremonial events.

Serving the national carrier as a senior cabin crew member, Anushka Ekanayake has completed her education in Northern Indian Kathak Dancing and performed in many concerts both in Sri Lanka and India. She also conducts research and imparts her knowledge and wealth of experience to Sri Lankan Students and amateurs in the field of dancing.
Ravi Karunanayake, Dr. Harsha de Silva, Dumith Fernando, Duminda Ariyasinghe, Nishan de Mel, and Jim McCabe

Standard Chartered is once more the international lead sponsor of Finance Asias Sri Lanka Investment Summit  the second edition. This years forum will be held in Hong Kong on March 16.

The panels are populated by government and industry leaders, key business personalities and subject matter experts. The Sri Lanka Investment Summit 2017 has attracted an international representation of potential investors and businessmen and entrepreneurs. Asia Securities adds its special brand of insight to the Summit as lead sponsors and CHEC Port City Colombo, Altair and MAC are all onboard as distinguished corporate sponsors.

Jim McCabe, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Sri Lanka, who will deliver the Chairmans welcome at the Sri Lanka Investment Summit 2017 speaking of the event said: This is excellent timing for a summit such as this. Sri Lanka is well poised to welcome FDI and infrastructure development projects. The government is investment friendly and encourages a national appetite for inbound business projects. Once more we will showcase Sri Lanka as one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, and demonstrate the value of leveraging historical trade corridors to potential investors. Standard Chartered is delighted to be associated with such a forum that could only further the national image and economic agenda.

The Sri Lanka Investment Summit 2017 will present a full day programme comprising a key note address by Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, entitled Macroeconomic policy targets, fiscal consolidation plan and recent track record which will undoubtedly shed some welcome light on the existing and developing economic milieu in the country for potential investors and developers. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka, leading international banks, local capital market specialists and some of the largest ever international investors into Sri Lanka will help attendees navigate the opportunities and pitfalls that investing in Sri Lanka offers, not only to the institutional investors, but also to private investors, family funds, corporations looking for FDI opportunities, equity and debt investors and private banks.

The summit will create an excellent opportunity to meet with leading government officials for a first hand guide to future developments, Network with corporates and co-investors , Hear from past investors how to make the most of this opportunity and Discover how to leverage the growing links between Asia and Sri Lanka. Panellists include Dr. Harsha de Silva, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Duminda Ariyasinghe, Director General Board of Investment, Dr. Nishan de mel, Executive Director Verite Research, and Dumith Fernando, Chairman, Asia Securities.
The judgment of the Gurgaon trial court in the Maruti workers case acquitting 117 workers of all charges has unequivocally demolished the foundation of the prosecution case.

18 workers have been convicted only for grievous hurt and trespass. 13 workers have been convicted for murder.

What is important to understand is that these 13 are the office bearers of the union and the main leaders. They have been implicated in the case and management witnesses have deposed against them because they stand for rights of workers.

They are paying the price of championing the cause of workers. One man very regrettably lost his life in the fire at the Manesar plant.

But there is less than tenuous evidence to link any of these 13 workers to the fire.

The question to ask today is who will be held accountable for the incarceration that these 117 suffered for more than two years in jail. Photo: PTI

The legal defence team for the Maruti workers is confident of mounting a very strong challenge to their conviction in appeal before the high court.

The judgment vindicates our stand that a very large number of workers were falsely implicated to prejudice the public opinion and project an exaggerated and alarming version of the incident.

The question to ask today is who will be held accountable for the incarceration that these 117 suffered for more than two years in jail.

Will the police officers who arrested them on the dictates of Maruti Suzuki company be held answerable by the law? For the 13 convicted for murder we shall fight and we shall win.

The legal defence team comprises senior advocates Rebecca Mammen John, RS Chema and I, with stellar support from Harsh Bora, Ratna Appnender and Tarannum Cheema.
We are just hours away from learning the outcome of the polls held in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur over the course of the last month. Though it includes a crucial state like Punjab, whose outcome will be a pointer to the future of the Grand Old Party of India (Congress), it is Uttar Pradesh that has everyone in a dilemma.

Among the many reasons, the prime reason would be that precisely nobody knows what the outcome would be. With the election being so long drawn out, even the poll analysts seem to have got themselves confused by the end, what with many of them choosing to retract from their initial positions and unwilling to commit one way or the other.

We also saw the exit polls coming out yesterday evening onwards overwhelmingly suggesting a victory for the BJP. If the exit polls indeed turn out to be right, it would mean that the effort put in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and going all out by camping for three days in his constituency of Varanasi paid off.

However, as someone who travelled around the state and observed the elections in the first three phases, I have some serious disagreements with the outcome suggested by the exit polls. Even before the exit polls, we saw many senior journalists and editors jumping the gun around the fifth phase, predicting a BJP victory piggybacking the still-intact popularity of the PM.

This reached a crescendo around the sixth phase of polling in eastern Uttar Pradesh even as the PM and more than a dozen of his Cabinet colleagues were camped in Varanasi and campaigning for the last phase.

It was quite bewildering as the last two phases in eastern Uttar Pradesh covered merely 89 seats. Having spent many days on the ground in the first couple of phases, which covered 140 seats, I actually witnessed a groundswell of support for the Samajwadi-Congress combine.

This was most evident in the second phase that seems to have been swept by the alliance. The third phase, which covered 69 seats, encompassed the Yadav strongholds in the Eatawah-Mainpuri belt and despite fears of sabotage by the disgruntled Shivpal Yadav camp, it didnt reflect in the mood on the ground which seemed very favourable to the alliance.

You must realise that 209 seats out of the 403 seats had given their verdict by the third phase. While interacting with a source close to Congress strategist Prashant Kishor, I was told that the alliance is confident of winning more than 100 seats in the initial three phases.

Having spent many days on the ground in the first couple of phases, which covered 140 seats, I actually witnessed a groundswell of support for the SP-Congress combine. Photo: Reuters

By the way, another notable event on the day of the third phase of polling on February 19 was the speech of Modi in Fatehpur where he seemed to go back to the original plank of the Sangh Parivar by his now famous shamshaan-kabristaan speech that changed the complexion of this election.

Despite the attempts of BJP president Amit Shah on February 4 to give the campaign a communal colour, it wasnt expected that Modi would go back to Hindutva after the massive victory in the Lok Sabha poll in 2014, riding on the wave of development.

It can reasonably be inferred that the BJP had by then been unsure of repeating that performance on the plank of vikas" and felt compelled to rouse communal passions. But then again, the fate of more than 50 per cent of seats had been sealed on that day.

The BJP, which won the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 by winning a whopping 42 per cent of the popular vote, seemed jittery and calculated that the incremental votes they received in that election wasn't forthcoming anymore.

A consolidation in favour of the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, with a credible face in CM Akhilesh Yadav, who seemed unaffected by anti-incumbency, must have forced the BJP to recalibrate their approach.

In the fourth phase that covered most of the Bundelkhand region, we also saw the resurgence of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party that had begun quite well in the first phase in four-cornered contests in western Uttar Pradesh.

Despite less than great performances in the last four phases, the SP-Congress alliance should still emerge as the best performer and the largest combine when the results are declared tomorrow. Apart from the ground realities, what also favours them is sheer arithmetic.

Even in their worst performance in 2014, the SP and Congress combine had won 30 per cent of the popular votes. And in a tight three-cornered contest, a vote share of 33-35 per cent would probably decide the winner. In 2007, Mayawati got a clear mandate of 206 seats with a 30 per cent vote share and in 2012, the Samajwadi party won 220 seats with a mere 29 per cent.

As for those predicting a repeat 2014 performance by the BJP, it is highly unlikely. The law of diminishing returns should surely come in the way of the Modi magic. Moreover, the incremental votes they gained in 2014 would surely have been scattered in all directions.

Take for example the case of Jats. The BJP won the state in 2014 primarily by sweeping western Uttar Pradesh that has a huge concentration of Jats. However, the community has been quite vocal about their disenchantment with the party and have vowed to vote against them.

A huge section of the Dalits that voted for Modi in 2014 should also go back to Mayawati as it is an Assembly election to choose the CM and not a parliamentary poll.

I am not a psephologist. But I just couldnt accept the exit polls, on top of the predictions by many senior journalists that seemed to be based on shallow analyses and cliched premises. It somehow seemed they were all in a hurry to call it.
Most exit polls, chiefly the India Today-Axis My India exit poll and Chanakya, have placed the BJP in the pole position in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, putting Akhilesh Yadav-Rahul Gandhi led SP-Congress alliance at a distant second, while the Mayawati-led BSP at a sorry third position.

The prediction that the BJP would get a landslide victory in the 403-seat Assembly, reaching as many as 251-270 seats according to India Today-Axis My India exit poll, however, has tremendous implications for the next two years in India politics, leading all the way up to the Lok Sabha elections of 2019.

The effects will show in not just successful electoral strategies which were deemed controversial for their ability to trigger communal polarisation, a significant UP Assembly victory for the BJP would be solely pegged on the Narendra Modi factor, to the extent that the talk of the return of the Modi wave would soon be the national narrative once again.

So what are going to the chief implications of a BJP splash in Uttar Pradesh? From increased strength in Rajya Sabha, to a stronger NDA, and a weakened opposition in disarray, there are many impacts that would be felt over the coming days and months.

Modi wave

This is the biggest and most important verdict of 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, which has mostly been read as a dress rehearsal for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It was in UP that Narendra Modi spent a huge amount of time in, spending the last three days of campaigning in Varanasi.

While some saw in it a sort of overt desperation, many found in that gesture a return to his parliamentary constituency, and reclaiming the place. Uttar Pradesh, with its seven phased polls and biggest state Assembly, would have been a make or break case for Modi, and his ability to deliver electoral victories for the BJP.

The drubbing he received in Bihar and Delhi notwithstanding, it seems that the proverbial Modi wave is back and with a fresh momentum. This should give both Narendra Modi and the BJP a significant bounce and a push towards the Lok Sabha 2019 elections.

Demonetisation gamble paid off

The UP Assembly election results would be direct validation of Modis demonetisation gamble, despite the many hardships it caused for the ordinary Indian. A big victory in UP would mean that despite the hurdles, Modi has successfully reclaimed his image as an anti-corruption crusader, who launched a surgical strike against black money.

This would embolden the Modi government to take even more drastic measures in the name of greater good in the months and years leading up to Lok Sabha 2019. What would those measures be? We can only say that their legal and ethical weaknesses would perhaps not prove to be a hurdle anymore, thanks to the soon-to-be revved up numbers in Rajya Sabha.

Numbers in Rajya Sabha

The BJP has 56 members in Rajya Sabha, a number thats just 3 below the Congress strength at 59 members in the upper house. But the UP election outcome could tilt the scales in favour of the BJP.

At present BJP has just three members in Rajya Sabha from UP, even though the state sends 31 members to the upper house, the highest in the 245-member legislative body. The BJP MPs in Rajya Sabha are Manohar Parrikar, Shiv Pratap Shukla and Vinay Katiyar.

The UP Assembly election results would be direct validation of Modis demonetisation gamble, despite the many hardships it caused for the ordinary Indian. [Photo: Reuters]

Katiyar is slated to retire by April 2018, while Parrikars membership is due till 2020, and Shuklas till 2022. Naturally, with a majority in UP, the BJP would be able to send a handful of MPs to the Rajya Sabha, in addition to the new members who would be nominated in 2018, about 11.

The new arithmetic could send the numbers well over 80 (10-11 nominated, and about 10 from UP) for the BJP in 2018, creating a fertile situation for the Modi government to pass legislations, which would have been otherwise opposed heavily by the Congress-tilted Rajya Sabha. At present, the Modi government is framing many of the controversial Bills as money bills to escape the Rajya Sabha scrutiny (for example the Aadhaar Act 2016, Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2016, etc).

Communal polarisation as the new normal

Increasingly, the highly unethical but possibly successful once again electoral strategy of triggering sustained, low-intensity communal polarisation by the BJP camp, is becoming the new normal in the electoral reality of India. The resistance  intellectual, ethical, legal and analytical  is being weakened as the election results repeatedly show that the strategies not only work, they are being embraced by the voters en masse, calling into question the very fundamentals of ethical electioneering.

With the BJP under Narendra Modi slowly and steadily inching towards painting India saffron, what is the future of the election laws and ethics when the voters repeatedly show a proclivity towards polarisation along religious lines? Moreover, how to develop a language of resistance and fight for ethical conduct of elections according to the norms set by the Election Commission of India, when ritual flouting of those very norms becomes acceptable and flagrant?

Whither to, Congress, AAP?

What would the opposition parties, such as the Congress, AAP, Samajwadi Party, etc be left with post UP Assembly verdict? While it may not be Congress-mukt Bharat yet, thanks to the positive predictions in Punjab and Manipur, which is not a mandate for Rahul Gandhi himself.

Both Punjab and Manipur would be credited to the stature and leadership of the state strongmen: a former and a sitting CM; therefore, Congress cannot peg these on Rahuls political capital. In fact, a UP poor show would re-establish Rahul Gandhi as the ultimate political albatross, a deadweight that no other political party would like to experiment with in the near future.

What about Arvind Kejriwal? Would he be seen as a Modi-baiter who nevertheless has had his electoral heyday in Delhi, and who wouldnt take it to any other state? Would AAP remain a Delhi-centric party only?

What about liberalism?

How would a resurgent Modi wave combined with a strengthened position in Rajya Sabha, thanks to a big victory in Uttar Pradesh, impact the liberal resistance to the BJP-led NDA and the political shadow of the Sangh Parivar? Just like the electoral results in Delhi, Bihar had made the liberal camp robust, would a UP verdict rob it of its prowess?
As the exit polls predict a clean sweep by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the scramble to pick a worthy chief minister who can shoulder the responsibility is already creating a buzz in the political and media circles.

According to the India Today-Axis My India Exit Polls, the BJP is expected to get about 251-270 seats in UP. This, despite having no CM face in the election campaign, and banking solely on Narendra Modi and Amit Shahs campaigning skills.

Now that the results are around the corner, who are the possible CM faces from the BJP camp? Heres a look at the contenders who will lead UP from Lucknow central.

Rajnath Singh

Photo: Indiatoday.in

The Union home minister of India and the second tallest leader in the NDA government, Rajnath Singh has been a formidable name to represent and lead BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Well respected all over and one of the few leaders with a clean face, Rajnaths appeal couldnt be doubted.

However, he could be asked to be the CM face only if the BJP falls short of the magic 202 seats to form simple majority in the Assembly. It is said that Rajnaths stature can then be utilised to forge a post-poll alliance with a smaller party, or obtain external support for a minority government in case of a hung assembly.

But would the Union minister, who has been credited with a smooth functioning of the home ministry, leave his cushy cabinet post and take up a role, no matter how prominent and prestigious, at the state level? Rajnath hasnt publicly commented on this except to say that there hasnt been an official request from the prime minister on this issue.

Keshav Prasad Maurya

Photo: Indiatoday.in

Hes the state BJP president in Uttar Pradesh and a prominent leader of the Maurya caste, the largest demographic segment among the non-Yadav OBCs. Hes close to the major Sangh Parivar leaders, as well as to both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah.

Keshav Prasad Maurya is credited with conducting the most number of campaign rallies and has campaigned in no less than 206 assembly constituencies. His organisational skills are well recognised.

However, there are a number of court cases against Maurya, some of which happen to be criminal cases, even though he dismisses them as politically motivated slandering.

Dinesh Sharma

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Dinesh Sharma comes from an RSS-affiliated family and is a Brahmin face of the party. Hes the mayor of Lucknow and the party vice-president in Uttar Pradesh, as well as holds a significant position in the Gujarat BJP.

Hes close to PM Modi, and it was on his invitation that Modi had attended the Lucknow Ramlila in October last year. However, Sharma has mostly been a behind-the-scenes person, who has shied away from publicity and media attention.

He has never fought an election, has never been nominated as an MLA or MP either.

Yogi Adityanath

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Hes the firebrand leader of the party and a prominent face of the Hindutva campaign. He has been an MP from Gorakhpur and is a big draw in the Purvanchal region for his overt communal speeches.

He has been a part of ABVP during his student years as well.

However, he had demanded the post of the UP chief minister previously as well, and is perceived to be very ambitious. Will that tick Modi-Shah off? We need to wait and watch.

Manoj Sinha

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Hes from the Gazipur region of eastern UP and belongs to the Bhumihar caste. Manoj Sinha has been the state railway minister and in that capacity has earned praise from PM Modi.

Sinha has been the student union leader during his years at Banahas Hindu University, and is known for his affable nature.
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Kerrville, TX (78028)

Today

Showers early then scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day. High 79F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy during the evening followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 63F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Embraer S.A. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircrafts and systems in Brazil, North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Commercial Aviation; Defense and Security; Executive Jets; Service & Support; and Other segments. The Commercial Aviation segment designs, develops, and manufactures a variety of commercial aircrafts. The Defense and Security segment engages in the research, development, production, modification, and support for military defense and security aircraft; and offers a range of products and integrated solutions that include radars and special space systems, as well as information and communications systems comprising command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. The Executive Jets segment develops, produces, and sells executive jets. It also leases Legacy 600 and Legacy 650 executive jets in the super midsize and large categories; Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 executive jets in the midlight and midsize categories; Phenom family executive jets in the entry jet and light jet categories; Lineage 1000, an ultra-large executive jet; and Praetor 500 and Praetor 600, disruptive executive jets in the midsize and super midsize categories. The Service & Support segment offers after-service solutions, support, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for commercial, executive, and defense aircrafts; provides aircraft components and engines; and supplies steel and composite aviation structures to various aircraft manufacturers. The Other segment is involved in the supply of fuel systems, structural parts, and mechanical and hydraulic systems; and production of agricultural crop-spraying aircraft. The company was formerly known as Embraer-Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A. and changed its name to Embraer S.A. in November 2010. Embraer S.A. was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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125 Years of Progress takes you inside The Daily Progress' archives every day in celebration of our 125 years serving Charlottesville and the rest of Central Virginia. Sponsored by Hanckel-Citizens Insurance Charlottesville

Frays Mill at Advance Mills, north of the city, was destroyed by fire early today and a member of the family died after seeing the flames and collapsing. - The Daily Progress, March 13, 1948

The fire, possibly sparked by a diesel motor, was discovered by the miller, and while a bucket brigade, made up of the mills employees dipped water from a branch running alongside the building, the mill manager, A.Gaines Fray went to telephone the Charlottesville Fire Department.

When the fire truck arrived at the scene, firemen attempted to draw water from a dam across the north branch of the Rivanna River just west of the mill, formerly used for furnish water power for the mill. But the fire was so advanced at that time that heat forced the firemen to retire. Meanwhile, Miss Fray, (daughter of John Fray) had collapsed at her home and other firemen were attempting to revive her.

According to the report, It was the second time the mill had burned. In 1898, fire originated in the sumac mill and destroyed the plant. It was rebuilt that year, and the sumac mill burned again in 1925. Both meal and flour were made at the mill in addition to types of feed such as chicken feed, bale hay and mill feed. The mill had a capacity of 50 barrels of flour a day, but operating only ten hours a day, around 20 barrels a day were turned out. Some 7,500 bushels of corn were ground daily. The biggest market for the meal and flour was in Charlottesville.

John Fray began operation of the mill in 1833 and for many years, the area was known as Frays Mill. According a report prepared for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the community became known as Advance Mills in 1888 when a post office was established there. Tradition holds that John Fray coined the term claiming that people frequently commented upon all the advances being made there.
A Greene County man faces three felony charges and one misdemeanor charge following an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Greene County sheriffs deputies charged 19-year-old Jacob Bradley Meadows with threatening bodily harm over a communication device, solicitation of a minor over a communication device, distribution of child pornography  all felonies  and attempting to contribute to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, according to a news release.

Meadows is being held without bond at the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange. Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the Greene County Sheriffs Office at (434) 985-2222.
The University of Virginias Presidential Search Committee is wrestling with whether UVas next president could come from outside academia.

At a meeting Wednesday, the committee discussed the possibility of hiring a nontraditional  not from academia  administrator to replace Teresa A. Sullivan, who plans to step down when her contract ends in the summer of 2018.

Sullivan is a sociologist with prior experience as a university administrator with the University of Texas and the University of Michigan.

But a growing number of university presidents do not have an academic background, said James B. Murray, a Board of Visitors member who also sits on the committee.

It is a growing trend, Murray said. And it may eventually become a majority of university presidents [who come] from the business and private world.

The rise of nontraditional presidents also has included people from the world of government  Janet Napolitano, former secretary of homeland security, heads the University of California system, for example, while former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is president of Purdue University.

Timothy M. Wolfe, a former IBM executive who went on to become president of the University of Missouri, was at the center of major controversy last year, when he stepped down following accusations that he had not adequately responded to student concerns about racism on campus.

The crisis once again raised the question of whether people who do not come from academia or public service are truly qualified to lead a major university.

The majority of high ranking universities still draw from academia, said Vice Rector Frank M. Rusty Conner III, who co-chairs the committee. Most of UVas peer institutions are still seeking out academics, he said.

We need to be careful when we talk about this, Conner said. A lot of lesser-ranked schools use a [nontraditional] candidate to give them credibility they might not get through the normal process.

Faculty members have expressed strong opinions on the issue on either side, said Pamela Sutton-Wallace, CEO of the UVa Medical Center and a member of the committee.

Sutton-Wallace said the committee will need to map out what it is looking for in a candidate before it substantially narrows down the field.

I think we need to be clear on the work the president will have to do and the skills needed to do it, she said.

Rector William H. Goodwin, who is co-chairing the search committee, agreed to seek out feedback on the question in the coming weeks.

Much of the committees work will be done in closed session, as public meeting laws provide exemptions for the discussion of matters involving specific personnel.

Goodwin and the other members of the committee have stated that they do not want to publicize the names of prospective candidates until the final stages because doing so could compromise their current positions.

Still, the committee is soliciting public feedback in the form of surveys and town halls.

The first step is a presidential search website that is scheduled to go live Monday, said Anthony de Bruyn, a UVa spokesman.

The site will include a public survey and give users the opportunity to submit nominations. There also will be information on UVa and the position for prospective candidates, de Bruyn said.

Lining up dates to meet with constituents could prove more difficult.

Any meeting involving more than two committee members would be considered public under state law, and would require public notice.

So far, the committee has preliminary plans for town halls with Health System staff at the end of this month and with the Alumni Associations Board of Managers in late May.

Murray suggested having a town hall open to the general public sometime in April.

Committee members are on the fence about livestreaming the event, which could prove costly because of new legal requirements that such events be captioned in real time, Murray said.

Either way, the intent is to reach the universitys many constituencies  students, staff, faculty, alumni and members of the general public.

At the very least, wed like to reach as broad an audience as possible, Murray said.

The next committee meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon March 27.
Two suspected leaders of a gun ring involving 217 guns bought in Virginia to be sold in New York City had previously been convicted of armed violent crimes in Virginia.

Damian King, 27, of Bristow and Levar Shelborne, 29, of Richmond allegedly bought guns in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas and moved them north on Interstate 95, through the Iron Pipeline, to sell on the streets of New Yorks Brooklyn borough, according to New York authorities. They were charged, along with 22 others mostly from Richmond, in a 627-count indictment announced Wednesday. It was the biggest gun bust in Brooklyns history.

King, who also goes by the nickname Havoc, was convicted in Henrico County of malicious wounding and gang participation in 2006. He served seven years in prison.

In an incident from December 2015, he was charged with armed burglary, malicious wounding, use of a firearm and shooting into an occupied dwelling. Hes currently set to go to trial in April, but the process has been delayed several times  presumably because of the pending charges in New York.

Shelborne, also known as Wavy Boy, was convicted in 2007 of wounding 16-year-old Timothy Johnson, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond. Shelborne pleaded guilty to aggravated malicious wounding, use of a firearm and shooting from a vehicle and served eight years in prison.

In September, Shelborne was arrested in Hanover County after he allegedly used two young people as straw purchasers of an AR-15 assault-style rifle from Green Top Sporting Goods  the only gun store mentioned by name in the New York indictment and one of the top sellers of firearms in Virginia.

According to U.S. District Court records in Richmond, agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives watched the alleged straw purchasers leave the store and drive off in a vehicle that followed a vehicle driven by Shelborne. Shelborne stopped at a nearby Goodwill Industries store on U.S. Route 1 where he took the rifle from the back seat of the vehicle occupied by the purchasers.

He was charged in Hanover with being a violent felon in possession of a weapon. A plea is expected in April, according to online court records.

Dwayne Lamont Rawlings, 30, of Hampton, who was cited in the indictment as a supplier, pleaded guilty in 2010 to attempted malicious wounding in Hampton. U.S. Marshals in Norfolk are still searching for Rawlings, who is a fugitive.

Two others indicted in New York still remain fugitives in the Richmond area, according to Supervisory Inspector Kevin Connolly with the U.S. Marshals. They are: Cameron Fobbs, 20, of Richmond, and Antwan "Twan" Walker, 21, of Highland Springs.

Fobbs evaded Marshals last week by jumping from a second story apartment window in Richmond and escaping on foot, Connolly said in an email. If anyone has information about Fobbs or Walker, called the U.S. Marshals tip line at 1-877-WANTED-2 (1-877-926-8332). There could be a cash reward for information leading to their arrests.

Walter Alston, 29; Malyk Hawthorne, 21; Michael Vordjorbe, 21; Antoine Smyre, 28; and Donald Houston, 27, all of Richmond, have been arrested, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday. Hawthorne, identified as a co-conspirator in the gun ring, currently has charges pending in Henrico General District Court. The charges are strangulation, which is a felony, and assault, destruction of property and petit larceny, all misdemeanors.

The defendants were allegedly associated with the Bloods gang, the district attorneys office said. One group worked out of Richmond and Henrico, the other out of Hampton and Newport News before collecting enough guns to make a trip by car or bus to New York for resale.

Many of the purchases were made legally in Virginia, but laws were broken when straw purchases were made on behalf of others or the guns crossed into New York for resale. It is unclear whether Virginia officials also are investigating any of the purchases made here.

New York state has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, and New York Citys are even tougher, making it a lucrative market for those in Southern states, where the laws on gun purchases are more lenient. One official said 90 percent of guns used in crimes in New York City come from out of state, and historically Virginia has been the largest supplier of guns recovered there, according to data from the ATF.

Several of those charged were overheard on wiretaps mocking Virginias gun laws, prompting former and current lawmakers to weigh in, many of them calling for the reinstatement of a repealed rule that limited handgun purchases to one per month.

Its ridiculous that we now have gun runners on tape bragging about how lax Virginias laws are and how easy it is for them to get all the guns they want, said Attorney General Mark R. Herring. We shouldnt be so naive to think these guns are just exported to other states. I have no doubt that schemes like this put guns on the streets here in Virginia that can easily find their way into the hands of criminals and threaten the safety of our communities and police officers. Its way past time for the General Assembly to take the common-sense measures that Virginians widely support to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals, like one handgun a month and universal background checks.

In 1993, when the one-handgun-a-month bill was enacted, L. Douglas Wilder was governor and gun-running was a major problem along the East Coast. Then-Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a bill repealing the law in 2012.

Asked Thursday about the New York cases and the law he helped pass in 1993, Wilder said: This didnt just get to be a problem today, or when the ATF made its raid, or this week or last week.

Weve had 13 murders in Richmond this year, and that doesnt even include March, Wilder said. The question is  this was a problem; it needed to be fixed; it was fixed  is there any effort being made to correct it (now)?

If you want to take the one-gun-a-month bill and bury it forever, what do you have in its place, and who is proposing anything in its place and if not, why not? he asked. This is not a Richmond problem or a Virginia problem. This is a national problem.

In a social media post, Wilder said the law did not restrict ownership, nor did it interfere with hunting, and most importantly, it did not violate the constitutional right to bear arms, which he said he supports.

Richard Cullen, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and a Republican who co-chaired the commission that led to the abolition of parole in Virginia, also supported the one-gun-a-month law. Cullen, now chairman of McGuireWoods LLP, one of the nations largest law firms, was in New York on Wednesday when the announcement of the gun bust was made by the Brooklyn district attorney; his presence there was a coincidence.

The premise behind the legislation was simple economics. If the gun traffickers could only get their hands on one gun, there is no way they can make a profit. When they have an unlimited supply, their profits soar, Cullen said Thursday.

He said it was only intended as one tool to help curb violent crime that included the abolition of parole and the targeting of repeat violent offenders for longer prison terms.

Im realistic enough to know the climate is different now. When we did this back in 1992, it was a different political climate, so I dont expect that the legislature any time soon would pass a limitation on the number of firearms that can be purchased, Cullen said.
Garrett voted against a resolution in the House of Representatives to use Congress's power to access those records. Trump was the first presidential candidate since 1976 to hide his tax returns from the public. His business poses an unprecedented conflict of interest now that he has become president. Questions swirl about the influence which Russia and other foreign powers may have bought by loaning funds or striking deals with the Trump Organization.
Blog Hinangai

While there is much discussion in Guam about the economic benefits of increasing the islands military presence, the damages/dangers that they represent are rarely mentioned. This blog, a supplement to the Peace and Justice for Guam Petition, is meant to counter that by providing information about the US military in Guam, with the hopes of steering policy away from a dangerous unilateralist course to more sustainable notions of regional development and a strengthening international solidarity.
I don't know why we just don't take this fat ****** OOOOn out.



The son of Kim Jong-nam, the slain half-brother of North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un, could be next on Pyongyang's hit list, Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean ambassador to the UK has warned.



Kim Han-sol broke his silence over his father's alleged assassination in a video that surfaced on 7 March.



Thae was of the view that Han-sol could be the next victim after his father, who was allegedly assassinated by the North Korean agents, according to the US and South Korea.



"Behind it all, there's Kim Jong-un's desire to solidify his legitimacy as the leader," South Korean news agency, Yonhap quoted Thae as saying.



He said that even Kim Han-sol's existence "cannot be tolerated from the perspective of Kim Jong-un. It remains to be seen how possible his survival would be".



The former diplomat at the North Korean embassy in London defected to Seoul along with his family in August 2016, becoming one of the highest-ranking officials ever to defect from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).



Speaking to Japanese reporters in Seoul on Wednesday (8 March) about the high-profile murder case, Thae said: "Kim Jong-nam had been the biggest obstacle for Chairman Kim's pursuit of long-term power in North Korean society heavily influenced by Confucian culture."



He added that Jong-nam's popularity in the foreign media increased the chances of North Koreans becoming aware of his existence, thereby "burdening Kim Jong-un".



Thae's comments came a day after Han-sol appeared in a 40-second video from an unidentified location. It was published on 7 March by a South Korean group called Cheollima Civil Defense, an organisation that focuses on rescuing North Korean defectors and refugees.
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Corvallis firefighter Rob Yencopal and 22 other firefighters are going to Seattle this weekend to climb 69 floors at the 788-foot-tall Columbia Center to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

That's 1,311 stairs. And its Yencopal's sixth time doing it.

The team  made up of 20 firefighters from Corvallis, two from the Tangent Rural Fire District, and one from the Adair Rural Fire Protection District  is participating in the 26th annual Scott Firefighter Stair Climb on Sunday. They'll be joined by 2,000 other firefighters from eight different countries. Last year, the event raised just over $2 million for the society.

Yencopal, an Albany resident and team captain, and his team hope to raise $30,000 this year. So far, they've raised $26,000, which puts them in the top six of 350 teams involved.

Of course, now, they're gearing up to do the climb.

"There's no other way to describe it other than 'It sucks,'" Yencopal joked. "It's mentally and physically draining."

He said firefighters train on a seven-floor tower, and the most he's had to climb on actual calls is six. But the end result for the climb, not just from the money, but from the awareness raised, is invaluable. This year, the Corvallis team will be climbing in honor of Lilli Trippe, a 3-year-old girl whose family is a friend of the department. Lilli succumbed to acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July 2011. The team has made her an honorary captain.

Along with the stair climb, team members have collected donations at events at the Albany Red Robin restaurant and Coastal Farm & Ranch. Each firefighter will pay for his or her own trip to Seattle for the event, and 100 percent of the donated funds go to leukemia and lymphoma research.

Of course, even firefighters have to condition themselves to climb 1,311 stairs. Each team member has spent the past couple of months in weight and cardio training, as well as running, to prepare. Yencopal said they'll spend between four and eight hours a week preparing. For his part, Yencopal has been running through parks wearing his 45-pound air pack, which he said earns him some funny looks.

"If I'm gonna climb stairs with an air pack on, I'm gonna train with it on," he said.

Anyone interested in donating to the team can visit firefighterstairclimb.org, and then click the donate button in the upper right hand corner. Find the Corvallis page by clicking "Search for a team."
Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley wants residents to know that if anyone calls them to say they've missed jury duty and will be arrested, it's a scam.

Riley on Wednesday announced a rash of such calls, which involve a person claiming to be a deputy or detective with the Linn County Sheriff's Office. The suspect then advises the victim to pay a large sum of money or face arrest. According to Riley, some citizens have fallen for the ruse.

The Sheriff's Office cautions potential victims to never send anyone money without verifying the information they're given. It is not common practice for the Sheriff's Office to call citizens to advise them of warrants. In most cases, anyone with a warrant will be contacted in person. The deputy will have proper credentials and will not accept any form of payment in lieu of arrest.

This scam is under investigation. Anyone receiving similar calls is asked to contact the Linn County Sheriff's Office at 541-937-3950.
Honda is prepping up to launch its debutant sub-4m crossover  the WR-V  in the country on March 16. Taken into account its expected price band, the WR-V goes up against the big guns such as the Ford EcoSport and the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, along with the Mahindra TUV3OO, NuvoSport, VW Cross Polo, Fiat Urban Cross/ Avventura, Toyota Etios Cross and the Hyundai i20 Active. Honda has loaded the WR-V, especially the diesel trims, to its gills. But looking at its rivals and even its siblings, there are a few gaps in the WR-V's packaging. Lets have a look at what all is missing in it.

Speaking of its rivals, there are a lot of cars which are similarly priced (both sub-4m SUVs and cross-hatches), such as the EcoSport, Vitara Brezza, TUV3OO, NuvoSport, Cross Polo, Urban Cross/ Avventura, Etios Cross and i20 Active. Lets have a look at what all is missing in the WR-V.

More powerful petrol engine

The 1.2-litre Jazz-derived petrol engine of the WRV will leave enthusiasts wanting more. Though youll have absolutely no problem in city manoeuvres and laidback driving, it is not exciting enough on highways. The petrol Jazz, on which this car is based, faces the same problem. But the WRV is heavier by 62kg compared to the hatch, which heightens this fact further.

You must argue that exceeding the engine displacement by more than 1.2-litre in sub-4m cars will attract more taxes and subsequently increase its cost. Having said that, the EcoSport, for instance, comes with a 1.5-litre petrol engine and it is a sub-4m car. The Toyota Etios Cross is also a sub-4m car and comes with a 1.5-litre petrol motor, and same is the case with the Fiat offerings (1.4-litre turbo motor). Honda could have easily offered the 1.5-litre petrol motor in the WRV, which it anyway will export from India, just like the Jazz.

No automatic option

Unlike its siblings, the WRV is the only Honda in the country that doesn't offer an automatic variant with its petrol motor, along with the Mobilio (production stopped). Seeing buyers' inclination towards automatics nowadays, Honda should've not missed this opportunity considering the fact that the Jazz offers a CVT auto option with the same engine.

Magic seats of the Honda Jazz

This is one of the biggest gaps in the WR-Vs packaging. Unlike the Honda Jazz, the WR-V doesnt feature its famed Magic Seats. The Magic Seats, which are offered in the Brazilian version of the compact crossover, certainly wouldve elevated its overall packaging since Honda is pitching it as a sporty lifestyle vehicle (SLV). The Honda Jazz with its flexible Magic Seats offers different options to carry several types of luggage, including a cycle! Pity Honda didn't offer the Magic Seats in India.

No ground-up design

Honda has done a decent job is making the WRV stand out, especially in contrast to the Jazz. But still, you get hints of the hatchback through several angles, especially from the sides. Well, it is not a bad thing and design is something that is purely subjective, but perhaps there a lot of people who prefer ground-up designs like the Ford EcoSport. For the uninitiated, the EcoSport is based on the Fiesta (now discontinued in India), but not a single body panel has been lifted from it. In fact, it is hard to tell that the EcoSport shares its underpinnings with the Fiesta.

No beefy spoiler like its siblings

Spoilers are always Hondas thing, from the first-gen Honda City to the big fat wing on the current Honda Jazz. Even the facelifted Brio got a chunky new spoiler and the facelifted 2017 Honda City as well. Sadly the WRV misses out on offering a spoiler; however, Honda may offer it an optional extra. But the range-topping models of the aforementioned models come standard with a spoiler.

Petrol variants lack features compared to diesel counterparts

As the WR-V is available in just two variant options, the range-topping version of the petrol lacks features compared to the corresponding diesel trim. If fact, if we look at the top-end versions of the petrol and the diesel, the former looks as if it sits just below the latter in the WR-V's variant line-up. The petrol top-spec models lacks features such as one-touch open and close sunroof, cruise control, and passive keyless entry with engine start-stop.

Source: Cardekho.com
New Delhi: Government may need to reassess the amount of bailout funds given to Air India because the state-run carrier has breached loan limits set under a government restructuring plan, causing its finances to be squeezed, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said in a report on Friday.

Heavily-indebted Air India, which was bailed out in 2012 with $5.8 billion of government funding, saw its short-term loans rising to four times the limits laid down in its turnaround plan, the CAG said.

The increase in loans was "due to failure in generating projected revenue, mainly on account of non-achievement of asset-monetisation target, increase in staff costs," the auditor said.

The report, which the government will use to evaluate the progress of Air India's restructuring, said Air India failed to meet its cash-credit limits, leading to short-term loans rising to 145.51 billion rupees ($2.18 billion) as on March 31, 2016 against the target of 36.46 billion rupees.

It said the airline should monetise more of its assets faster to reduce its debt burden and speed up the leasing of narrow-body aircraft to improve its performance.

"The company, though aware of the shortage of narrow body aircraft as early as May 2010, delayed leasing of A-320 aircraft," the report said, referring to Airbus Group's narrow-body aircraft which is widely used in India.

This resulted in the induction of only five such aircraft by March 2016 versus a requirement of 19, it said.

An Air India spokesman was not immediately reachable for comment.

The Indian carrier also incurred a book loss of 6.71 billion rupees on the sale of five wide-body aircraft, B-777-200 LR, it had bought from Boeing, to Etihad Airways, the report said.

The Indian carrier had to agree to the sale at a price significantly lower than the indicative market price after it found no buyers at the market value, it said.

Air India is expected to report a 10 percent increase in total revenue to about 225.21 billion rupees ($3.38 billion) for the year to end-March compared with a year ago, the ministry of civil aviation said on Thursday in response to a parliament question.
Association to provide technological support in the management of medical subsidies and give boost to the healthcare system in Karnataka.

Samsung India has entered into a partnership with the Government of Karnataka to help the state efficiently manage its public healthcare facilities.

As part of the agreement, Samsung Research & Development Institute, Bangalore (SRI-B) handed over 1,000 Samsung Tab IRIS to the Department of Health, Government of Karnataka. Samsung Tab IRIS, the first commercial tablet to be approved by UIDAI for Aadhaar and KYC verification, would enable Public Health Centers (PHC) in the state to build their database in a digital format.

This association is aimed towards providing advanced technological support in the management of medical subsidies and operations at PHCs in the state more efficiently.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Samsung R&D Institute, Bangalore and Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka.

Samsung is extremely proud to partner with the state government for this digital transformation in the public healthcare space and is confident that the advanced technology of Samsung Tab IRIS will give a digital boost to the whole healthcare system. This will enable Public Health Centers to maintain and share medical databases on a real time basis. Samsung has been in India for 21 years and has always contributed towards making lives of its customers easy with the help of its innovative, meaningful technologies, said Dr. Aloknath De, Chief Technology Officer, Samsung R&D Institute, Bangalore.

Samsung Tab IRIS is SIM enabled and has the capability to scan the Iris of an individual, which can then be linked to Aadhaar. This would help PHCs to generate various value added reports to facilitate decision making by the Health Department. This integration of technology with the help of Samsung Tab IRIS, aims to centrally consolidate information related to PHC administration such as patient treatment, diagnosis, deliveries and drug availability from various locations along with GPS information.

We are confident that Samsungs world class technology will help us manage our public healthcare facilities more efficiently. Digitizing the database is very important for our public health centers as it will lead to better planning and decision making at a state as well as central level, said Shri. Ramesh Kumar, Honble Minister, Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka.

We aim to connect with each and every resident of Karnataka at their door steps by upgrading the skills of our field staff and equip them with high tech Tabs. We are grateful to Samsung for associating their program with Karnataka. In the days to come we will have Virtual Clinics with specialists on board connected to patients through these Tabs. The health records of patients would be analyzed online to take effective steps towards prevention of diseases. Audio visual awareness will also be enhanced through the use of these Tabs, said Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka.

The digital database of these Public Health Centers would have the capability to provide information regarding implementation of various welfare schemes such as post-natal care kit for BPL/SC/ST women, Janani Suraksha Yojana, and others at the PHC level. This would provide information support to the Government to proactively intervene for improved health of citizens and target its welfare schemes more efficiently.
New Delhi: The telecom regulator TRAI today made a strong pitch for establishment of an ombudsman in the sector and suggested a three-tier mechanism for effective resolution of consumer complaints.

The recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) assume significance given the large number of complaints arise on account of wrong billing, poor quality of service and unsatisfactory resolution of consumer grievances by the telecom operators.

"There is a need for an independent and appropriately empowered structure to be created for resolution of grievances of telecom consumers. An office of telecom ombudsman needs to be established," TRAI said.

To function effectively, the proposed ombudsman should have the power to levy penalties on the telecom service providers, TRAI said in its recommendations to the Telecom Department.

"It will have the power to award compensation to the consumer, award costs and issue directions to the telecom service providers for the performance of specific obligations," TRAI said.

In its latest set of recommendations pertaining to complaints and grievances redressal in the telecom sector, TRAI said that office of the telecom ombudsman can be established under rules framed by the Central government (similar to insurance ombudsman) or alternatively, through a legislation to be passed by Parliament.

TRAI has also suggested utilising a portion of existing licence fee as funding mechanism for the new structure that includes the ombudsman. "In addition to this fixed fee there will be a variable component payable by each telecom service provider depending on the volume of complaints being filed against it and admitted before the ombudsman's office," it said.

The three-stage structure, proposed by TRAI, entails resolution by the telecom operator, by a fact-finding body Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum ( CGRF) and thereafter, if required, determination by telecom ombudsman.

CGRF are proposed at service areas or state level by leveraging existing field formations of the Telecom Department and will be responsible for settling the facts, mediation and offer a solution.

TRAI said the consumer should first approach telecom operator to seek a solution. The telecom operator will be duty-bound to look into the request and address the concerns

within the timeline stipulated by the authority.

If the operator fails to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of the consumer, remains unresponsive or is unable to resolve the complaint within the prescribed timelines, the consumer will have the option of moving onto the independent mechanism suggested by TRAI.

"This will consist of a process of a resolution based on fact finding by the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum or CGRF, followed by, if necessitated, determination by the

telecom ombudsman," the regulator said.

Only those complaints that have clearly identifiable and measurable rights will qualify, said the regulator. A centralised web based system will be placed for the flow of information from each level of the grievance redressal mechanism to the ombudsman, it added.

"The authority is making these recommendations to the government out of its firm conviction that establishing an independent mechanism for grievance redressal would be small but gainful effort for all stakeholders of telecom sector, especially at a time when the industry is playing a defining role in shaping the development of the country," the regulator said.
Mumbai/New Delhi: Electronic payment firms got a big boost when India abolished most of the country's banknotes last year, but rival state-sponsored e-payment services are forcing them to raise their game to hang on to their new customers.

Until November's move, which scrapped 86 percent of all notes to foil counterfeiting and the black market, more than 90 percent of transactions in India were in cash.

Electronic payments providers such as market leaders Paytm and MobiKwik, and smaller players FreeCharge, Citrus, ItzCash and Oxigen, seized the opportunity, snapping up millions of customers and merchants caught out by the sudden shortage of cash.

Now the government is rolling out three tools to facilitate rival cashless transactions, including a United Payments Interface (UPI) app that simplifies inter-bank fund transfers, and Aadhaar pay, a bank-linked payment service that relies on the national identity card and can be used with just a fingerprint.

It has also promoted Bharat QR, another bank-linked service that uses machine-readable labels as the base for a simple payment system, helped by Visa (V.N) and MasterCard (MA.N). It requires only a smartphone and is aiming to sign up 2 million merchants by September.

The UPI app was downloaded more than 17 million times within two months of launch, and transaction values jumped 18 times between November and January, albeit from a low base.

So e-wallet providers such as Alibaba-backed (BABA.N) Paytm, the largest, with more than 200 million clients, are adding services to stay a step ahead.

Paytm is betting that its licence to set up a niche bank so it can pay interest on deposits - and connect its systems with the UPI network - will help, and it knows it will need extra services to make the business profitable.

"The point is that e-wallets as a standalone business will be massively risky and not viable," said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and Chief Executive of Paytm.

Freebies

In the early stages of their build-up, the companies haven't even paid lipservice to viability - giving a free service to customers and merchants, while burning through their start-up funding. Their only source of income has been commissions on phone and utility bill payments.

Paytm's parent company has raised $675 million from Alibaba and more from others, and says its current valuation is about $5 billion, but it has lost about $230 million over the last financial year. MobiKwik, part-owned by American Express and Sequoia Capital, has raised about $80 million and is eyeing a $1 billion valuation as it holds talks with investors for more funding.

Both have waived fees to enable free money transfers from wallets to bank accounts. Paytm says transfers within its wallets and accounts will be free forever.

And they have been using cash discounts and freebies to lure customers.

Mumbai-based management teacher Christina Sundaresan says she started using Paytm when the government pulled the plug on notes, and now uses it so frequently she gets a free movie ticket each weekend.

"My laptop repairer, the vegetable vendor and the medical store are all accepting Paytm, so it works well," she said.

But she says she would consider other payment options, including UPI.

That will make it difficult for Paytm to withdraw the freebies, but they can't keep burning cash.

"You can't have a business that says 'pay a 500 bill and take 250 cash back'," said Aditya Puri, head of third-biggest Indian lender HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS), which has its own payment app.

MobiKwik, which started as a simple digital wallet, is looking to partner with mainstream banks to market a host of financial services on its platform, from mutual funds to loans.

It aims to triple its wallets user base to 150 million by end-2017, and raise the value of transactions five times to $10 billion.

It thinks its head start and extra services will keep it on top of the competition, and that banks, latecomers to e-payment, will struggle to match the scale of its operations and vendor network.

"UPI is a solution for bank transfers. UPI is not a payments ecosystem today, as there are no merchants on UPI," said MobiKwik Chief Executive Bipin Preet Singh.

Dhruv Chopra, managing director at the Indian unit of South African payments solutions provider Net1, which has invested in MobiKwik, is also betting the start-ups will be too nimble for the banks.

But with a large number of small players, many will not survive, he said.

Avnish Bajaj of venture capital firm Matrix Partners, which has investments in payments companies ItzCash, Mswipe, and ride hailing firm Ola, which has its own e-wallet, agrees there will be a clearout under competitive pressure.

"There's going to be a bit of consolidation in the e-wallets space in the next two years," he said.
New Delhi: As many as 79 crore people, out of 81 crore entitled under the food law, are getting highly subsidised wheat and rice, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said today.

He asked the states to provide the names of the remaining two crore people so that they could also get cheaper foodgrains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Under this law, the government provides five kgs of foodgrains per

person per month at Rs 1-3 per kg.

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Paswan also sought to allay members' apprehensions about linking of Aadhaar to the scheme, saying those entitled would get the benefits even if they do not have

the Aadhaar number.

"There is a provision of providing subsidised food to up to 81 crore people under the NFSA and 79 crore people are getting it. It is now the responsibility of the state governments to provide the names of the remaining 2 crore people who are entitled to the benefit," he said in the Rajya Sabha during Question Hour.

There are around 50 lakh people from UP whose names have not been provided, Paswan said adding that similarly, many in Bihar were also not availing the benefits.

Responding to members' concerns, Paswan also said that though the government wanted increased usage of Aadhaar, if a person does not have the unique identity number, it does not mean that he or she should be deprived of the benefits he or she is entitled to.

Speaking about the NFSA, the Union Minister said that the previous UPA government had also made a major contribution. The NFSA covers 75 per cent of the rural and 50 per cent of the urban population.
The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that holding old cash of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes which were scrapped by the government

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that holding old cash of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes which were scrapped by the government on November 8, 2016, after the deadline of December 31, 2016 is illegal.

Attorney General made this submission before a Bench hearing a batch of petitions challenging the governments decision not to accept old notes in RBI upto March 31.
Mumbai: Malayalam actress Bhavana and Kannada Producer Naveen got engaged on Thursday at a private ceremony attended by close friends and family members.

The young couple, who had declared to be in a serious relationship, were supposed to tie the knot in 2014 but that did not happen owing to Bhavanas work commitments. We were planning to get married in 2014, but it didnt happen due to my prior commitments. I always wanted to be a person who looks his life in a very matured manner, the actress reportedly told a TV channel in an earlier interview.

The couples marriage was finalised by Bhavanas now deceased father and the actress will soon announce her wedding date. The course of her career post marriage will solely be Bhavanas decision. Their marriage was fixed by Bhavanas dad when he was alive. Once the date is finalised she will be making an official announcement.The date and whether she will continue acting  all these decisions will be taken by Bhavana only, Pushpa, Bhavanas mother, said in an interview with a leading daily.

On the work front, the actress is currently busy shooting Adam and is awaiting the release of wto of her movies- Honey Bee 2 and and Adventures of Omanakuttan.
Rating:

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Yash Sinha, Sahil Vaid, Rituraj Singh, Swanand Kirkire, Gauhar Khan

Director: Shashank Khaitan

Let me declare this upfront: Ive had a lingering frown ever since Karan Johar decided to not just mock Kangana Ranauts English, but to also present himself as a gracious but exasperated host who decided to retain and telecast all that she said about him on his show despite the fact that she was being a whining woman. Did he not watch his own show? Ms Ranaut was kicking ass and calling him out, and what Mr Johar did thereafter qualifies as A-grade whinging, as well as severe self-deception. Not a word of what she said was untrue, and not a word of what Mr Johar said thereafter must be excused. Mr Johar defines nepotism conveniently, but he exercises it generously. If you can hold back your puke, just watch the genuflection he repeatedly does in all his films to DDLJ and other such. Or, go through the guest list of his show, if not the cast and crew of his films. Its hamara saath, hamara vikas. But I labour the point, and digress. Simply put, Badrinath Ki Dulhania is produced by him and stars two Bollywood kids he launched. So youll understand, I hope, why Im not favourably inclined towards any progressive, feminist messaging from him.

So, Badrinath Ki In Jhansi lives the Bansal parivar. Papa Bansal, Mama Bansal, slightly sad big brother Alok Bansal (Yash Sinha), his quiet and obedient wife Urvashi Bansal and younger brother Badrinath Bansal (Varun Dhawan). The Bansals are the proud proprietors of a car showroom and they are loansharks. They also live in a huge haveli where Papa Bansal (Rituraj Singh) harbours a rather common patriarchal, penile ego. In his world, and the world of those orbiting around him, a boy is an asset, and a girl a liability. A boys worth must be encashed at the time of his wedding, paid by the girls side. Badris pal, Somdev (Sahil Vaid), runs a match-making matrimonial site, ChutkiMeinShaadi.com. Badri, who is entrusted with collecting loan repayments, lands up at a wedding in Kota, Rajasthan, where he encounters Vaidehi Trivedi (Alia Bhatt), carrying heavy baggage from her past and secret dreams of a life free of the oppressive talk of shaadi and dahej.

Writer-director Shashank Khaitans second film, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, is like the bichda bhai of his first film, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014). The lead pair is the same, and so is their situation. They were not married when that movie opened, and they are not married here. And like Humpty, Badri is dedicated to getting his dulhania. While in Humpty..., Kavya (Alia) was in pursuit of a designer lehenga and her friends blackmailing boyfriend, here shes keen on getting her sister married and pursuing her dreams. There Humpty helped her get the lehenga and extract revenge, and here too he helps her sister get married and paves the way for her to take off. But theres a difference. Badrinath Ki... has a moral finger it wants to wag, some messages to deliver. In between all the goofy silliness of Badri pursuing the fiery but cute Vaidehi, her parents go to meet the prospective in-laws of their eldest daughter, Kritika. And thats where Badrinath Ki captures that moment when ladke-waale, entitled, smug and posturing as the burdened saviours, demand a random, intimidating amount, and the girls father (played nicely by Swanand Kirkire), grateful, humble, humiliated, says, Arrange kar lenge. Its a deeply affecting moment.

But its also a fraud. More about this later. Vaidehi does unto Badri what another man had done unto her. And so Badri goes after her, to Singapore, to ask why. The trip comes after duly acknowledging the good services of an airhostess training school. And in Singapore we are subjected to long sequences about the thorough professionalism of an airline that operates out of India. Bollywood has been selling us dreams of love, the blissful ever after for decades now. And its hold over silly, senti Indians remains firm. Bollywood cracked the formula decades ago and that formula  invoking emotions around papaji and papaji ki pagri, the do-or-die game of love  still has the power to make us teary-eyed and, eventually, happy. But these days the dreams Bollywood is selling are powered not just by creative compulsions, but also hard commercial arrangements.

Plugs are always revolting, but they are not new. But Badrinath Ki..., like many other films of the shaadi genre, does much worse. It shows, for example, Kritika happily married in London, but it doesnt show us how her parents are coping after being forced to pay dowry they could not afford. Badrinath Ki... takes us to Singapore to show us the joys of independent women pursuing careers, and two individuals wanting to build a life together, but it also makes sure that elder brother Bansal has twins  a boy and a girl  with whom Papa Bansal, duly chided and censured, now plays happily. This mixed messaging panders to all  it keeps the feminists in check, and it keeps the conventions going. And in any case, the lead couple is sooo cute, and its a happily ever after love story A large part of Badrinath Ki... has been shot on location, in Kota, and that is one of its main pluses. But its too similar to Humpty..., and slightly lesser.

While Humpty was a copy of DDLJ (obvio; it was produced by Karan Johar), this one nurses a hangover from a cocktail of popular Bollywood films, puking out undigested bits every once in a while. The two boys who played Humptys friends are here as well, Gaurav Pandey and the fabulous Sahil Vaid. Alia Bhatt is cute, pretty, efficient, but same old. Varun Dhawan, on the other hand, is interesting. Dhawan is a good actor. From twitching his nipples to playing a homicidal killer in Badlapur, hes been more than competent. But lately somethings gone wrong. Around women, especially Alia, he has a tendency to infantilise himself by pulling his mouth in exaggerated vowel formations, as if he were doing the voice-over for Daffy Duck. In emotional scenes, he gives this Im-so-intoxicated-on-pain look where he practically goes cockeyed. Despite this hes good, and he and Alia Bhatt together eat up the screen. Theres no room for another.
New Delhi: People with asthma are likely to have worse symptoms when they get the flu because they have weaker immune systems, a new research has shown.

The study, led by Dr Ben Nicholas from University of Southampton, assessed lung samples from asthmatics and healthy volunteers. The samples were exposed to influenza and their reactions were analysed.

This study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Dr Nicholas said, "We wanted to look into whether immune system differences explain why asthmatics are more likely to end up in hospital if they get flu than the general population. This is important, as flu can cause a person's asthma symptoms to get worse. The samples from healthy people showed a strong immune system-triggering reaction to the flu virus. But in lung samples from asthma patients, this reaction was much weaker."

"We hope these results help researchers better understand why asthmatics are more affected by influenza and help find new treatments for common lung infections, which often make asthma symptoms worse," he added.

The research method Dr Nicholas used is different other techniques, which separate and grow a single layer of cells in a dish.

Instead, Dr Nicholas kept the whole sample intact, which allowed him to study a pin-head sized piece of lung in the lab, as it would be found in the body.

The study was supported by, and conducted in collaboration with Synairgen, a University of Southampton spin-out company, and formed part of U-BIOPRED, a large-scale European project using information and samples from adults and children to learn more about different types of asthma.

More research is now needed to investigate whether the difference in immune responses is due to the asthma itself, or the daily medications used by participating asthmatics to control their condition.
In young adults, higher folic acid consumption has been associated with a lower incidence of hypertension later in life. (Photo: Pixabay)

Washington D.C.: Here's another reason for would-be-mommies to eat plenty of leafy green vegetables during pregnancy as it can protect their newborn from high blood pressure, suggests a new research.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Hypertension, indicated that those born to women with high blood pressure, diabetes or obesity were 40 percent less likely to have high blood pressure if their mothers had above average levels of folic acid.

Folic acid - found in spinach, kale and broccoli - is thought to protect childrens' heart health. The nutrient - found in spinach, kale and broccoli - is a member of the family of B vitamins and it is particularly involved in gene expression and cellular growth, reports The Mirror.

"Our study adds further evidence on the early life origins of high blood pressure," said Dr Xiaobin Wang from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

"Our findings raise the possibility of early risk assessment and intervention before conception and during pregnancy may lead to new ways to prevent high blood pressure and its consequences across lifespan and generations," Dr Wang added.

In young adults, higher folic acid consumption has been associated with a lower incidence of hypertension later in life. Citrus juices as well as dark green vegetables are a good source.

The team first analysed data of 1,290 children from families in Boston, which included low-income racial and ethnic minorities at high risk for high blood pressure.

Almost seven in ten of the mother-child pairs - 67.8 percent were black and a fifth 19.2 percent Hispanic. They were recruited from birth and followed prospectively for nine years at the Boston Medical Centre.

About 38.2 percent mothers had had one or more risk factor for heart disease or diabetes, 14.6 percent had hypertension, 11.1 percent had diabetes and 25.1 percent had pre-pregnancy obesity.

About 28.7 percent children had elevated blood pressure between three and nine years. They were more likely to have mothers with pre- pregnancy obesity, hypertensive disorders, and diabetes.

"The study findings suggest higher levels of maternal folic acid may help counteract the adverse associations of maternal cardiometabolic risk factors with child systolic blood pressure, although maternal folic acid levels alone were not associated with child systolic blood pressure," Dr Wang noted.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu has been recognised for its efforts in organ donation. Even so, the demand supply gap continues to be enormous. On this World Kidney Day, nephrologists urge for increased awareness among doctors and hospitals on the need for the state to see one donation a day as against the current rate of one donation in two days. Urging for more participation from hospitals, especially government hospitals, Dr Sunil Shroff of Mohan Foundation, a not for profit organisation that promotes organ donation and transplantation, said making this dream a reality is not impossible.

Awareness among doctors needs to be increased more than among the public. Also, more stress needs to be laid on the prevention aspect. We have to prevent kidney diseases. That is the only way to bridge this gap between demand and supply, he said. The country sees a demand of over 200,000 kidneys with not more than 8,000 transplants being carried out, he said adding that organ donor source needs to increase. Awareness is essential among general public to ensure they understand the seriousness of organ donation. However, doctors and hospitals should be educated on the same too, he said.

When medicos graduate from medical colleges as doctors, the colleges should essentially organise something on organ donation and brain death. If they do that, in 10 years time, a majority of the doctors will understand the gravity and the concept of organ donation, said Dr Valsa M., a nephrologist from Vellore. There are close to six lakh practitioners in India. Even if we try hard, we wont be able to reach out to more than a few thousands. Therefore, we need to start now in order to see an impact in the long run, she added.

With kidney diseases on the rise, there is great difficulty in meeting the needs of many patients. The state needs to do at least 365 donations a year, but we do only around 180. The country, on the other hand, needs to do around 10 transplants a day. Though not a big target, it will take great efforts on part of all stakeholders to make it a reality, said a health expert.
anet Sylva, left, and her mother, Philomena, smile during a press conference at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., on Thursday, March 9, 2017. (Photo: AP)

New Hyde Park: A 12-year-old girl from the West African nation of Gambia is expected to leave the U.S. next week after surgeons successfully removed a 6-pound tumor from her mouth.

Surgeons in New York say the benign tumor in Janet Sylva's mouth was about the size of a cantaloupe and was one of the largest tumors they'd ever seen. They say it prevented her from eating and made breathing difficult. They feared Janet would die within a year if nothing was done.

Dr. David Hoffman learned of Janet's plight after doctors in Senegal reached out to international health groups. The Global Medical Relief Fund arranged for

transportation, housing and travel for Janet and her mother.

A large medical team volunteered for the January operation at Cohen Children's Medical Center on Long Island.
Paris: Scientists said today they have developed a vaccine to shield endangered chimpanzees and gorillas against Ebola, which has wiped out tens of thousands

of the wild apes in three decades.

The vaccine is given orally, the developers said, which means it could be disguised in food and left out for the animals to eat -- easier and less traumatic than darting. "Our closest relatives are being driven rapidly towards extinction by diseases like Ebola, by commercial bushmeat hunting and by habitat loss, and for a lot of this we are responsible," said Peter Walsh of the University of Cambridge, who took part in the research.

"We now have this technology that can help save them, and there is a moral obligation that we should do it," he told AFP. In laboratory tests with ten chimpanzees, the vaccine -- dubbed filorab1 -- was shown to be safe and to generate "a robust immune response" to the Ebola virus, researchers reported in the journal Scientific Reports.

Walsh is now developing a system for putting the vaccine into bait that apes will eat in the wild. Only then can the vaccine be rolled out, to gorillas first and chimps later. Ebola was first identified in what was then Zaire -- now the Democratic Republic of Congo -- in 1976.

Since then, there have been several outbreaks of the disease which is deadly to all members of the primate family, including humans. A vaccine that works on one primate species is likely to be effective for them all. Ebola "has already killed about a third of gorillas in the world," said Walsh -- amounting to "tens of thousands" of animals.
There has been a lot of controversy about gestures to respect national symbols like the national flag or national anthem in our country lately. But a shocking report from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has said that while the country is worked up over patriotism, the national bird isnt in a great situation.

The peacock is being killed in large numbers across the country since its feathers and other organs are recommended ingredients in Unani, Ayurvedic and Sidhha medicines in the country. The national birds numbers have dwindled owing to poaching and also destruction of habitat.

Its not just quacks who are promoting the use of peacock organs in medicine, but hospitals funded by the AYUSH ministry are also involved in states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Bhasma and churan are made from burnt peacock feathers and are used for curing morning sickness, vomiting and hiccups.

Apart from feathers fat and legs of peafowl were popular for medicinal purposes and investigators found that peafowl ghee was being sold openly at markets, bus stops, temples and tourist spots in Tamil Nadu.
The 90-year-old queen is also a great grandmother and didn't appear fazed by the meltdown and simply smiled. (Photo: Youtube)

London: A 2-year-old boy in England wasn't very impressed with a chance to meet Queen Elizabeth II and showed it by throwing a tantrum in front of her majesty.

Little Alfie Lun was set to hand the queen flowers at the unveiling of a new war memorial in London on Thursday. Instead, he wriggled out of his mother's arms and attempted to sit on the ground. Eventually his mom was able to pick Alfie up again and he reluctantly handed the queen the bouquet.

The 90-year-old queen is also a great grandmother and didn't appear fazed by the meltdown. She smiled at the boy and his parents throughout the encounter.

Watch the video here:
Kochi: Inspired by Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur, a 12-year-old girl in Kerala, whose father was allegedly killed by Left workers, has questioned, Why did you kill my father?

Vismayas father Santosh (52) was an RSS activist and was hacked inside his home in Kannur in January.

In a video, Vismaya communicated her message through placards like Gurmehar Kaur.

Through placards, the class 8 student said, My father wanted to fulfill my dreams. A night swept away all my dreams.

His only mistake was he supported RSS and BJP. I see only darkness in my future. They murdered not just my dad but my dreams and future. I see only darkness, complete darkness. I have not yet (got the answer), why they killed my father.

Vismaya also shared that she wants to become a police officer to serve her village.

Scores of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Left workers have been killed in political violence in Kannur.

According to police estimates, over 100 people have lost their lives since 1991 in Kannur, of which 42 are from CPM and 41 from BJP.
New Delhi: A London-bound Air India aircraft from Ahmedabad today had to be escorted by fighter jets after it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control while flying over Hungary.

The Dreamliner Boieng 787-800 plane with 231 passengers and 18 crew members onboard lost contact with the ATC due to "frequency fluctuation", an Air India spokesperson said.

"AI flight 171 from Ahmedabad for Newark airport in the US via London lost communication with local ATC while flying over Humgary for a short while," the spokesperson said.

The aircraft, which took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport at Ahmedabad at 0700 hours, landed safely at London's Heathrow Airport at 11.05 hours local time, the spokesperson said.

Air India has already started a probe into the incident, he added.

This is the second such reported incident of an Indian aircraft losing contact with the ATC in the European airspace in a month's time.

On February 16, Jet Airways flight Jet Airways flight 9W-118 from Mumbai had lost communication with the Germany's ATC on its way to Heathrow airport in London, forcing the German Air Force to scramble two fighter jets after it.
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh emerged as the best state in terms of capital spending and completion of projects during the first three quarters of this current fiscal, while Gujarat bagged the numero uno position as regards the overall development, says a report.

In terms of total value of projects completed, Uttar Pradesh topped the list with Rs 185.5 billion, followed by Maharashtra at Rs 178 billion, Telangana Rs 111.3 billion and West Bengal Rs 61.3 billion, according to a Deutsche Bank research note.

When it comes to the number of projects completed, UP again grabbed the lead position 25 units during the April-December period of the current fiscal. Punjab saw completion of 21 units, while Maharashtra stood at third place with 19 units with regard to projects completed.

Overall, the project completion rate of all states is up 104 per cent in April-December 2016, from the year-ago period, with five states Maharashtra, UP, Telangana, West Bengal and Punjab constituting almost 83 per cent of total value of projects completed.

On the other hand, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala recorded a contraction in the project completion rate in April-December period of current fiscal over the year-ago period.

In terms of overall development that includes economic, social, fiscal and governance aspects, Gujarat was ranked as the best state, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Karnataka. While Bihar, UP, Odisha, Rajasthan and West Bengal feature at the bottom in the list.

The report said that at state government level, capex spending has increased substantially since last financial year for most states, compared to their past trend, and encouragingly the positive momentum is continuing for many states through the current fiscal as well.

"It is encouraging to see that capex momentum in states such as UP, West Bengal and Bihar has picked up in the last two years, albeit from a low base, especially given that these states are generally regarded as economically backward relative to the other states. The challenge will be to sustain the momentum in the years ahead so as to bridge the gap with the other states," the report noted.

It further said states which have a higher urbanisation rate are also the same states that are relatively more prosperous and enjoys a higher score related to developmental metrics.

"The government's initiative to build smart cities across India is encouraging and should help expedite the pace of urbanisation, which has been abysmally slow in the last several decades. The strategy of building or transforming small tertiary towns to cities and connecting them to hub cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata, through high speed transport will increase productivity and reduce the problem of urban primacy," the report added.
According to British media reports, the fighter aircraft were scrambled after the plane entered airspace over Hungary at around 8.15 am. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: In the second instance of European fighter aircraft escorting the plane of an Indian carrier within a month, a London-bound Air India aircraft from Ahmedabad was escorted by fighter aircraft after it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) while flying over Hungary. According to British media reports, for about two hours, Hungarian, German and Belgian fighter aircraft shadowed an Air India plane which was bound for London after taking off from Ahme-dabad. According to news agency reports, the plane, with 231 passengers and 18 crew members onboard, lost contact with the ATC due to frequency fluctuation.

In a statement, Indias national carrier said, AI 171 Ahmedabad - London - Newark flight after departing as per schedule at 7 am on Friday morning lost communication with the local ATC while flying over Hungary for a short while. The flight landed safely at Heathrow at 11.06 am local time as per schedule. The airline is enquiring into the incident.

According to British media reports, the fighter aircraft were scrambled after the plane entered airspace over Hungary at around 8.15 am but it failed to make radio contact, sparking fears it had been hijacked or was in trouble.
New Delhi: Amid the unease in Sino-India ties over a range of issues, China has appealed to the Indian media to report on bilateral relations in a "more balanced way".

Addressing a Holi reception for the media last night, Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said he was impressed by the progress made by the Indian media. However, he said, "I humbly request the media here to report on China-India relations in a more balanced way." "What impressed me most is the big progress of the media, compared with my first term in India 28 years ago. Firstly, the media has developed very fast. Traditional media, social media, 24-hour Television shows a lot of breaking news," said Luo, who is in India on his second posting.He said the development really means information explosion and freedom of speech in India.
New Delhi: With a view to preventing frivolous PILs being filed across the country, the Supreme Court on Friday slapped Rs 5 lakhs fine on a PIL petitioner Syed Kamaruddheen, an automobile mechanic from Tamil Nadu who had challenged the permission granted to a super special speciality hospital in Thanjavur.

The Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, heading a three-judge Bench told senior counsel Mahalakshmi Pavani, appearing for the petitioner You are challenging the construction of a super speciality hospital in a semi-urban area. Your PIL is for a public cause or anti-public.

The Bench which included Justices D .Y. Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul rejected the plea of the senior counsel that the hospital was constructed in violation of several town planning rules including those that impinged upon air safety norms. Senior counsel K. Subramanian, appearing for the hospital opposed the allegations.

According to the petitioner as per the rules any structure within a 2,400 meter radius from the local airport should be less than 12 meter in height. However, in this case the hospital S R Meenatchi Hospital measured 25 meter in height as the management had constructed a 6 storied super structure as against the sanctioned 4 floors. The rules were violated with the active connivance of the government machinery and then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had inaugurated it in 2003, the petitioner said.

The petition claimed that the construction of the illegal structure posed a grave threat to the safety of all air passengers moving in and out. Besides the safety of the patients and people visiting the said hospital was also in danger, it was claimed.

However, an angry CJI asked: How can you challenge the construction of super speciality hospital which is meant for people? Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, the other judge in the bench, said, You are a front for some person.

The CJI then asked the senior counsel how much cost we should impose on you? As the counsel pleaded that the petitioner was a mere mechanic, Justice Khehar said He has engaged a senior counsel. The senior the counsel the higher the cost should be. The counsel said she was a small senior counsel and pleaded that no fine be imposed.

However, the bench was not impressed with the argument as it imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the petitioner to be paid within 4 weeks. If the petitioner fails to pay the amount within the stipulated time, the matter should be listed again after four weeks, for enhancement of the fine amount, Justice Khehar added.
Hyderabad: Finance minister Etela Rajender will present the annual Budget for 2017-2018 on March 13. The Business Advisory Committee decided that the session will be held till March 25.

The Telangana Appropriation Bill 2017 will be presented on the last date. The session will have 14 working days.

Congress Deputy Floor leader Dr G. Chinna Reddy described it as shortest session ever to be held.
Hyderabad: The Telangana state governments request to maintain minimum water level of 510 feet in Nagarjunasagar dam to ensure water supply to Hyderabad, has been turned down by the Krishna River Management Board.

The Board made it clear that it was also not possible to release water from Srisailam to Nagarjunasagar to ensure the minimum level of 510 feet. The TS government will now have to look out for other sources to ensure adequate water supply to the city during summer.

The Board said both Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar have already hit minimum levels and it has to ensure irrigation and drinking water needs are met in both the states by releasing water from dams, and under these circumstances, it was not possible to maintain 510 feet in Nagarjunasagar till April 15, as sought by the Telangana government. In Undivided AP, when the water level in Nagarjunasagar fell to 510 feet, the state government used to release water from the Srisailam dam to ensure minimum level of 510 feet, for Hyderabads needs.

However, with the bifurcation of the state, the priorities have changed for the AP government.

It argues that it cannot release water from Srisailam to ensure water for Hyderabad since it has to meet the irrigation and drinking water needs of its own state. However, the TS government has been arguing that since Hyderabad remains the joint capital of both TS and AP for 10 years as per AP Reorganisation Act, the AP government is liable to ensure water supply for the city.

The pumping motors of HMWSSB at Nagarjunasagar have been installed in such a manner that they pump more water if the water level is above 510 feet. If it falls below this level, the motors do not function to their full capacity and risk getting damaged.

We have written to KRMB to ensure 510 feet of water in Nagarjunasagar. But we received a reply stating that it was not possible under present circumstances when water levels at Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam have already hit minimum levels, said T Harish Rao, irrigation minister.
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has admitted the police lapses in dealing with the Shiv Sena activists who went on the rampage against the youths at Marine Drive in Kochi on Wednesday. Replying to the notice for an adjournment motion given by Congress MLA Hibi Eden in the Assembly on Thursday, the chief minister said the police would initiate stern action, including invoking of Goonda Act, against the accused in the moral policing incidents. The incident at Marine Drive was an insult to Kerala society. There was a lack of effective steps from the police at Marine Drive and hence the Ernakulam central sub-inspector was suspended at once and all other police officers responsible were shifted pending inquiry. Stringent action would be initiated against cops who fail to act against moral goons, the chief minister said.

The moral policing was being triggered by outfits that want to curtail women's freedom. The LDF was strongly opposed to suppressing their freedom, he said. Listing out the moral policing incidents that occurred across the state recently, the chief minister said that the police were initiating actions in all cases. Mr Eden said that hardly 10 days back the chief minister had assured the House that stern action would be taken against moral goons. However, the police remained as mute witnesses to the Shiv Sena attack.

He accused the government of failing to ensure stringent police action in earlier incidents of moral policing, including that in the University College in Thiruvananthapuram in which SFI activists were accused. Meanwhile, State Police Chief Loknath Behera said there was lapse on the part of the police in handling the Marine Drive incident. "It was unfortunate that the police remained mute spectators... They have been directed not to repeat such lapses. ineffectiveness. Stern action will be taken against the accused," Mr. Behera told reporters.



Guruvayur incident

The chief minister said that the government would examine the allegation that 15,000 litres of water brought from Chavakkad to Guruvayoor in a tanker was drained by a section of people in the presence of local police. He said that though the district collector had intervented in the matter and allowed Guruvayur devaswom to carry water in small tankers, they did not respond. Mr Ramesh Chennithala alleged that owing to the distribution of water supply, prasada oottu of the temple would be affected.
Hyderabad: A 25-year-old MBA student died after he fell off open terrace of a five-storey apartment in Tarnaka area on Friday, the police said.

"The incident occurred at around 6 am when Mohak Agarwal was sleeping on the terrace, which had no side walls, with his friends," the Osmania University (OU) police station Inspector V Ashok Reddy said, adding that he died on the spot.

The deceased was the native of Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

The officer told PTI that watchman of the building alerted Agarwal's friends who were asleep.

He said the preliminary investigation has ruled out any foul play. Agarwal's parents have been informed about the incident.

A case has been registered and further investigation is on.
Bengaluru: The landmark Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill 2016, passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, exactly a day after International Womens Day has been widely welcomed by women activists as a historic moment in the countrys progress towards womens rights. However, while the public sector will by and large follow the law of the land, will a subtle, unspoken discrimination against hiring women come into play, given that the maternity benefits will be borne by the employer and not the government. Instead of a gift from PM Modi, has parliament in one fell stroke, made women of child-bearing age unemployable?

Discrimination now that the benefits are increased is a possibility, said Ms Aasha Ramesh, city-based womens rights activist. It is also important to take the discrimination that exists in the private sector more seriously, she added. Women have always been asked, in a very subtle way of course, on their plans of having a baby in the near future. This is why it is necessary to come up with a safeguard, a tool, along with this law to prevent this now that the benefits are greater.

Ms Rubi Chakravarti, writer and activist, who works with the corporate sector, agrees. It will definitely affect the employability of younger women. Companies will prefer hiring men instead. They will not want to lose a human resource for such a long period of time. The implementation is the other aspect that should be looked into, Ms Ramesh said. The funds will be provided by the Women and Child Development for the public sector, she said.

With the possibility of maternity leaves being misused by employers and no safety checks on its implementation by the corporates, the question arises if it is the right time to introduce a law like this. Ms Donna Fernandes, an activist from Vimochana, says, We require non-compliance and grievance redressal clauses to make it beneficial. Otherwise, corporates will wriggle out of it.

Mrs Ramesh said, This bill was long overdue. What everyone should understand is that maternity is also a contribution to keep the country growing.

Policymakers should also be sensitised so that the bill can benefit the working womens population, said Ms Chakravarti. How many times can you actually go to the HR department and express your fears? A lot needs to be done before the law can work. It should be a systematic change that can be achieved by pragmatic solutions, she said.
Ghaziabad: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday took a dig at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, saying his hints at tying up with the BSP if the poll results throw up a hung assembly is like "conceding defeat" even before the counting.

"Counting se pehle hee haar maan liya (he has conceded defeat even before counting). What should I say on this?" Rijiju, the Union Minister of State for Home, said when his comment was sought on the Samajwadi Party president's remark.

Read: Uttar Pradesh polls: Akhilesh Yadav hints at alliance with BSP

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 48th Raising Day celebrations of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) here, which he attended as the chief guest.

Akhilesh had on Thursday said that he did not rule out a post-poll tie-up with the BSP to prevent the BJP from coming to power in the state.

"I will not yet speak about alliance. The Samajwadi Party and Congress will get enough seats to form the government. However, as I have always referred to the BSP chief as a relative, it is natural for people to think we might take their help or might go with them...but it is difficult to say this as of now," Akhilesh had said.

Rijiju also disapproved of Congress leader Digvijay Singh's statement that the "injustice" meted out to Indian Muslims makes terror outfits attractive to them.

"By saying so, he is alienating them further," Rijiju said, adding Singh should not have made such a statement.

The minister, during the event, called the CISF a "multi-dimensional and professional" force which is a "symbol of pride" for the country.
Thiruvananthapuram: The chief of Congress in Kerala, V M Sudheeran, on Friday announced his decision to step down from the post, citing ill health.

The 69-year-old leader, known for taking firm stand on several issues which led to differences between him and senior party colleagues, said he was sending his resignation letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi today itself.

"My personal difficulties should not affect party work in any manner," Sudheeran, who was the choice of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi for the post, told reporters here, announcing his sudden decision which took everyone by surprise.

He expressed hope that the AICC will make the necessary alternative arrangements.

A former Assembly Speaker and Health Minister, Sudheeran was appointed Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President in February 2014, replacing Ramesh Chennithala, who was inducted into the Oommen Chandy Cabinet.

Sudheeran had been keeping away from public functions due to ill health after he was recently injured while attending a function in Kozhikode. "I am indebted to the party for having reposed faith in me," Sudheeran said, adding "there is nothing political" in his decision to quit.

"The decision is purely due to personal inconvenience ant the party's interests are of paramount importance," he said.

He thanked party workers for the cooperation they had extended to him.

Sudheeran had been instrumental in denying party tickets to several tainted persons in the 2016 assembly elections.

A proponent of prohibition, he had taken a firm stand against reopening over 700 closed Indian Made Foreign Liquor bars during the Oommen Chandy regime.

Chandy and Chennithala were reportedly miffed with Sudheeran over recent re-constitution of District Congress Committees in the state with Chandy even keeping away from various party functions.
New Delhi: A Kerala Congress MP on Friday alleged that the PMO was not giving appointment to all-party delegation led by chief minister Pinayari Vijayan who wanted to raise the issue of drought in the state.

Speaking during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, K Suresh, member from Mavelikkara constituency in Kerala, claimed that the state was eligible for 40 lakh metric tonnes of rice, but the Centre has reduced the quota by 10 lakh metric tonnes.

"The situation has been aggravated by drought in Kerala," he said.

The Chief Minister has convened an all-party meeting to address the issue and sought an appointment with the PMO.

"But the PMO did not give an appointment to the Chief Minister," Suresh said, leading Congress and other opposition MPs to attack the government over Suresh's claim.

The Treasury Bench protested against the MP's claim and demanded that the remarks be expunged.
New Delhi: Charged by the prospects of sweeping Uttar Pradesh and forming government in Uttarakhand and Goa, the BJP is not only preparing for a countrywide celebration, its president Amit Shah has also begun parleys with the RSS brass to decide chief ministerial candidates for the states. He met senior RSS leader Bhaiyya Joshi in Mumbai on Friday.

The meeting lasted for nearly an hour. The counting of votes for the five states will take place on Saturday. A victory, particularly in Uttar Pradesh would not only silence Prime Minister Narendra Modis critics once and for all but will also provide a major boost to the BJP as far as electoral numbers in the upcoming Presidential elections are considered.

President Pranab Mukherjees term expires on July 25. Uttar Pradesh sends 31 members to the Upper House where the BJP is currently in minority. A victory could also see the Prime Minister bringing in harsher measures to fight corruption and implement some contentious reforms.

Rahul confident of victory in UP

However, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said he too was confident of SP-Congress victory in UP. He gave examples of how the pollsters' were wrong during Bihar Assembly elections.

SP's Ramgopal Yadav also said, We are 100 percent sure of winning the elections and claimed that he had information that the original exit polls were changed under pressure by channels few days back." BJP's strategists are also hoping that Mayawati's BSP, the biggest loser in UP predicted by the exit polls, could witness some of its members defecting to it.

Mr Amit Shah met RSS' second-in-command Bhaiyyaji Joshi and senior RSS leader Dr Krishna Gopal. BJP's Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar accompanied Mr Shah to the venue. The meeting lasted for nearly an hour where Sangh Parivar's upcoming Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha was also discussed. The three-day long meeting in Coimbatore from March 19 will be attended by Sangh top brass, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Meanwhile, BJP's highest decision making body, the parliamentary board, is likely to meet on Sunday, a day after results will be out. They could discuss CM candidates.
Hyderabad: Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan on Friday said that the state has been witnessing impressive GSDP growth rate since its formation in 2014.

Addressing the joint session of TS Legislature, Mr Narasimhan said, As per the advance estimates of 2016-17, GSDP is likely to grow at an impressive rate of 13.7 per cent at current prices, compared to the estimated all-India growth rate of 11.5 per cent. At constant prices of 2011-12, this corresponds to 10.1 per cent growth as against the national growth rate of 7.1 per cent. As per the advance estimates, TS GSDP is estimated to be Rs 6.54 lakh crore in 2016-17, at current prices.

The Governors speech also indicated that the TRS government's fourth Budget, to be presented on March 13, would provide more funds for sops and schemes focusing on the poor, farmers and other vulnerable sections of society.

However, the main Opposition party, the Congress, staged a walkout in the middle of Governors speech alleging that the claims were far from the truth. The Governor said the state government would fulfill its earlier promise of providing 1 lakh jobs in public sector.

Already 5,936 posts have been filled through TSPSC. Besides, 2,681 posts in power sector, 4,500 in Singareni Collieries, 3,950 in RTC and 10,422 in the police department, totalling 27,481, have been filled since formation of the state, Mr Narasimhan said.

He said that notification to fill up 12,000 new posts will be issued soon. The government has initiated the process to regularise 20,000 contract and 24,000 outsourcing employees in the power sector. Another 24,000 posts will be sanctioned in newly-established residential schools. With these measures, the government will fulfill its assurance of providing 1 lakh jobs in its five-year term, the Governor said.

He listed out welfare schemes for various sections being implemented by state government by spending over Rs 35,000 crore every year. Mr Narasimhan said that overcoming power cuts within six months was the biggest achievement of TRS government.

The government has successfully transformed the state from being power-deficit to power surplus. In the next three years, the total power availability in state will be 16,306 MW, he stated.

The Governor said new industrial policy TS-iPASS attracted over Rs 54,000 crore investments so far, that will result in setting up of 3,451 industries and creation of 2.20 lakh jobs. He said IT exports from the state in 2015-16 was Rs 75,070 crore and IT sector was providing direct employment to 4 lakh.
As the cycle of state elections winds down and India braces for the results in crucial states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, foreign policy, beyond the diasporas tribulations in the United States, needs attention. While a wary eye on the US is advisable, as others globally are maintaining, India-Pakistan relations and Afghanistan also demand attention. Spring is in the air, but may bring a fresh offensive by the Taliban in Afghanistan and perhaps renewed protests in the Kashmir Valley. As former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee used to say, you can change your friends but not your neighbours. Permanent hostility is thus undesirable towards a nuclear-armed neighbour. While India must not negotiate under any kind of terror blackmail, nor should red lines be drawn at the walls of Indian cantonments or Army camps in Jammu and Kashmir, as has been done since the Pathankot attack. That provides carte blanche to terrorists to impact India-Pakistan ties by simply unleashing a couple of fidayeen. Complex and large attacks, not mountable by small modules, could be seen as engineered by the Pakistani state and Army, but certainly not every train derailment or poor perimeter defence by our soldiers. That alone should be the red line.

A number of recent signals from Pakistan are significant. The detention of Hafiz Saeed, even if a tactical move, the news that Pakistans new Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa recommended in a lecture a book on Indias democratic success and diminished ceasefire violations across the Line of Control appear like subtle signals that the civilian rulers and the Army chief are in tandem. Pakistans former NSA Maj. Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani reiterating in New Delhi what cost him his job once, that the 26/11 Mumbai attack was a cross-border operation mounted out of Pakistan, is hardly a coincidence. This new dynamics in Pakistan has been confirmed to this writer by well-informed Pakistani analysts. The window available to India is a narrow one, as electoral cycles in both countries tend to constrict the space for talks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, having frozen relations since the Uri attack, needs to rethink his Pakistan strategy. The composite dialogue is dead and needs reconstruction. Now that Pakistan is convinced that India is behind terror attacks in Pakistan and Ajit Doval has got into their head that the NSAs of the two sides need to revive contacts as mandated by Ufa to seriously discuss terror. The disputes can be separated and handed over to special representatives  like Kashmir, Siachen and the Sir Creek delineation. The PM could, for instance, consider a politician for the first, a former general for the second and a retired judge for the last. The confidence-building measures need to be tackled by the foreign ministries at the level of foreign secretaries or ministers. The agenda has also widened as new issues like water, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Afghanistan have assumed greater currency of late.

The developments in Afghanistan are making neighbours nervous. In the 12 months till November last year, the area under uncontested government control fell from 72 per cent to 57 per cent , though the population in the government-controlled area is 64 per cent compared to eight per cent in the Taliban area. Former US President Barack Obamas troop drawdown reducing the international forces to 12,600, including 8,400 American troops, has produced a stalemate. The Taliban has been stopped from overthrowing the Kabul government, but Afghan security forces have bled. ISIS, under pressure in Syria and Iraq, is stepping into the vacuum, as are Russia and China, fearing a regression to the 1990s. In mid-February, Russia convened a meeting of six regional powers with a stake in Afghanistans future  that comprised, besides itself and Afghanistan, China, India, Iran and Pakistan. It left open the possibility of the US joining the dialogue later, but was guided by the fear that a sudden US withdrawal would lead to chaos and instability. Electoral success, specially in UP, is crucial for Mr Modis consolidation of political power and to get candidates of his choice elected as President and vice-president in July.

It may also embolden Mr Modi to make one last attempt to normalise relations with our two biggest neighbours, China and Pakistan. Wisdom dictates that when confronting two antagonistic neighbours, the aim should be to keep them from aligning against you. The Sino-Pakistan alliance now being a reality, India must tactically loosen it. Logically, a deal with China will depend on both accepting zones of influence, allowing each other primacy in their regions, and the settlement of the Dalai Lama and Tibet issues to mutual satisfaction. Border dispute settlement will follow, not precede, such understanding. China settling its borders with all neighbours, other than Bhutan and India, including by acceptance of the McMahon Line with Myanmar, indicates that once its gets strategic satisfaction, it settles border issues. China, however, sees India as the only civilisational, military and economic counterpoise to its rise in Asia. The Chinese Dream of being moderately well-off by 2021 and fully developed by 2049 appears like a Sino-centric vision in which there is little space for others, except as inferior tribute payers. It thus seems unrealistic to expect that China will settle with India if the two countries continue on their current trajectories of growth, with China having an edge. The alternative for India is to manage ties with Pakistan and not push it deeper into Chinese arms. Mr Modi needs to attempt a well-crafted diplomatic surgical strike on Pakistan, unlike his hit-and-run past forays. It could begin with NSA Ajit Doval calling his counterpart. The Lahore Kite Festival celebrating Basant and the coming spring is over. In India, the Holi festival, which heralds spring, is approaching. The question that confronts South Asia is  can spring return to India-Pakistan relations?
Only last Monday, I was reminded of Gen. Zia-ul Haq with a somewhat strange reference to one of the top political leaders in this country of ours. Imran Khan was under attack by some of our friends on the left. So intense was the emotion directed at the PTI chief over his opposition to the lone Pakistan Super League game in Lahore that it brought back memories of the times when Gen. Zia used to be at the receiving end. The tone stirred up a train of thought that had been shrugged off many times before. This latest spell made it impossible. The question wouldnt go away: have they finally found another Zia-ul Haq in Imran Khan to target to their hearts content? They had surely been missing that definite, incorrigible enemy to aim at all these years. Before you grade the idea as absurd, you would do well to take a look at some of the statements the PTI founder has been inspiring in the recent past. The statements, by people I would be ideologically placed with, would far surpass the combined impact of all the remarks and jokes and anecdotes someone like Asif Ali Zardari has generated. To my mind and in my group no one else can come closer to contesting the place except Mr Khan, after Mian Nawaz Sharif disqualified himself from the race due to, among other gestures and adjustments, his positive overtures towards the progressive camp since 2013.

And as was the case with Gen. Zia, this is ideological cannon fire that has been so generously piled upon Imran, layer upon layer of it from everyone who is close to the PML-N to whosoever could have been in proximity to the PPP, had it found a way of divorcing itself from one or two of Benazir Bhuttos heirs. Back to the grand finale at the Gaddafi which, to our collective relief, we were able to stage without incident. Mr Khan is an Opposition leader and he came up with a view that was opposite to the one provided by the establishment. He said it was dangerous to have the match in Lahore, an opinion that could easily be backed by logic. There could always have been a better choice of words and tone. He could be let off with a stern No sir we dont agree with you for making an honest evaluation of the situation  and may be noted for finally disagreeing with the powers who are credited with inventing him, the military brass. So much else could have been said in his defence till last Monday, which seems a long time ago. A few more lines have been spoken between then and now and some drastic changes in the draft have been made absolutely necessary. Not only does Mr Khan appear to relish his position as the recipient of the most intense anti and pro- feelings, he is without doubt doing all he can to help add more fuel to the chorus against him.

You might have a different perception but then you probably dont hang around with the Imran-bashers this writer is surrounded by, which, give or take a few new names, is the same bunch which was once bound by a common hatred for the dictator in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. This was a self-explosion only God can save Mr Khan from. May be the gentleman was hurt that nobody was paying due attention to his protest and thats why he took an even wilder swipe at it than his previous attempt  the wildest and one impossible to defend by even those who shared his utter dislike for Najam Sethi and the PML-N leadership. The brilliant-thinking Mr Sethi and his backers could not have hoped for a more valuable bonus to accompany the successful and most welcome holding of the PSL final in Lahore. Imran Khans slip about phateechar and railu kattas having marred the PSL match between Quetta and Peshawar by no means signifies a conclusive Sharif victory in the long-drawn battle between PML-N and PTI. The PTI chief has recovered from the self-inflicted injury to retain his appeal as the alternative to the Sharif rule. He might  he will  survive this huge embarrassment. Only for some of us looking for as definite a villain as we had the luxury of having in the Zia days, he will find it extremely tough to redeem himself.

By arrangement with Dawn
The law moves on a case by case basis. This has tended to obscure the meaning of Hindu terrorism, a recent coinage involving individuals from outfits that owe allegiance to the idea of Hindu nationalism as distinct from Indian nationalism. Hindu nationalists believe in the idea of Hindus having a superior place in the country in relation to those of other faiths, Indias constitutional principles notwithstanding. This is not dissimilar from the thinking of, say, white supremacists in the US who have come to the fore with the rise of Donald Trump.

Earlier this week, Swami Aseemanand, a self-proclaimed monk and RSS pracharak of long standing, was acquitted in the 2007 Ajmer blast case by a special court.

Whether the National Investigation Agency will file an appeal will be watched with interest as Aseemanand has been linked to several high-profile terror cases in which the lives of Muslims were lost, including the Samjhauta Express case and Hyderabads Mecca Masjid case. The man had earlier accepted several allegations against him related to Hindu terror, but has since recanted. His discharge in the Ajmer dargah case has apparently come as many prosecution witnesses turned hostile. This has coincided with the BJP assuming power at the Centre.

These developments should be seen in the backdrop of a senior Mumbai lawyer, Rohini Salian, who was the NIA prosecutor in the Malegaon blast case, alleging in strong media statements in 2015 that she had been asked by a NIA officer in New Delhi to go soft on the accused in this case. An accused who drew considerable attention in the Malegaon case was Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who was, incidentally, discharged last month in the case of the murder of Sunil Joshi, a fellow accused in the same case. The man, also an old RSS hand, was killed as it was thought he was about to spill the beans on the string of cases in which the targets were Muslims. He was alleged to have been involved in a number of them, some along with Aseemanand.

The use of the executive, using various methods, has been spoken of in the context of influencing criminal cases. Whether the existence of the present government at the Centre, in which the RSS has strong influence, has anything to do with the fortunate turn of events for Aseemanand and Sadhvi Pragya is a moot point. There is no proof whatsoever of this. It is noteworthy, however, that there was a spurt of cases in which terrorist blasts occurred in areas inhabited by the Muslim community and the accused had long associations with outfits of the Hindu Right. This too is a challenge to be tackled by a democratic India.
A grain of dust, a withered flower

Our yesterdays, a passing breeze

The shadow of a silent tower

We only live in memories

From Palang Polo

by Bachchoo

Gentle reader this is not a review of Brit-Punjabi director Gurinder Chadhas latest film Viceroys House, nor is it a review of the review of it, which appeared in the Guardian last week. To say that its a film about the Partition of India is akin to saying that Doctor Zhivago is about the Bolshevik Revolution. The supposedly central story of the film is, as with Yuri and Lara of Dr Zhiv, that of star-crossed lovers: a Muslim girl and a Hindu boy who both work on the staff of this palatial viceregal house (where a Rajasthani palace plausibly stands in for Rashtrapati Bhavan). The film starts with the preparations for and the arrival of Dickie Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of the Raj who has come to Delhi with Edwina and his daughter Pamela to dismantle it. He meets the Raj grandees who present their fears and foreboding.

Oh dammit! There is that moving love story but yes, the film is about Partition. If it is seen as such, then it is one of, if not the, best Partition film so far; which is not easy to say as I wrote two of the previously-produced ones myself. It features the Viceroy and Vicereine, Nehru, Gandhi, a convincingly played Jinnah, Radcliffe the boundarywallah and the British governors of Punjab and Bengal. It also features a dramatic contention, which my historian friends say they have heard before, but more as conjecture rather than proven fact. More of that later. I had to write all that to get to the point, which is that I normally read reviews to compare my reactions to the words on the page and am not vastly interested in the identity of the reviewers. I saw VH at the unpolished edit stage (Yes! I am friends with Gurinder and one of writers, Paul). Nevertheless the contentious tone and plain false news contained in even the first few paragraphs of the three-page Guardian review sent me back to the byline saying aha!.

I never write letters to newspapers (I dont think they pay, do they? Get on with it!- Ed.) but the normally perceptive Guardian compelled a reply. I could do no other. Heres the letter as emailed to the Guardian, conforming to their 250-word limit: Sir/Madam,

Fatima Bhuttos review of Gurinder Chadhas remarkably moving Viceroys House, while roundly condemning British colonialism for a divide and rule policy, ironically falls into the same trap, publishing a biased assessment of a Sikh directors film by a Muslim Pakistani. The article bills the reviewer, a member of the near-royal Bhutto family, as a writer of a memoir and a novelist. This is akin to crediting Edwina Mountbatten as the chief of the Viceroys kitchen.

The review seems repeatedly to assume that lines spoken by characters reflect Chadhas opinions rather than accurate representations of how their historical equivalents may have spoken. (Dear Fatima, Shakespeare probably didnt, despite Lady Macbeths urgings, believe in murdering Scottish kings.)

The events and dialogue of the film are dramatically plausible. Ms Bhuttos notions of the cruelties of colonialism would make several truthful films but are not the subject of this one. She claims that the film mistakenly lays the blame for Partition at the feet of the Jinnahs Muslim League. So who else demanded the Partition of India? Contemporary historians correctly attribute the intractable insistence on partition from the League, whose leadership consisted of feudal landlords and petty royalty, to the resolution passed by the Indian National Congress to abolish feudal landholdings when Independence was granted. It was. India was partitioned, Pakistan created and the Bhutto family held on to its feudal holdings in Sind.

Farrukh Dhondy (Writer; former commissioning editor for multicultural programmes, Channel 4 (1984-1997)

The word-limit stopped me saying very many necessary things. Fatima Bhutto is, famously, at loggerheads with the Bhutto-Zardari clan, having virtually accused them of murdering her father, Benazirs brother, in a Mughalesque fratricidal plot. Perhaps this has made her more, rather than critically, nationalistic. Though one can discern, through sometimes very obscure prose, that Ms Bhutto sides with and seeks to represent all pre-Partition Indians  Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs  against the exploitative Raj, she finds the film constantly vilifying Muslims  you can take the lady out of Pakistan but you cant take Muslim nationalism out of the lady.

On seeing the finished film again, I find Ms Bhuttos contentions plain wrong. The film certainly has aggressive Muslim characters but it is even-handed about the violence and the genocide suffered and perpetrated by all three displaced communities. Ms Bhutto repeatedly says that the film doesnt blame the British for Partition. Its precisely what the film does, using the contentious theory that Mountbatten and Radcliffe were used as stooges by Churchill, who had drawn up a wartime plan for the Partition of India so as to create a Pakistan which would act a buffer against the Soviet Union and deny Moscow access to the port of Karachi.

Ms Bhuttos attempt at direct insults would be hurtful if they made sense: Viceroys House betrays the profound inferiority complex that plagues colonised people, a trauma as severe as the physical assaults and violence done to the land and bodies of subjugated people. It is exactly this kind of thinking that infected those who rioted and murdered their compatriots  a sense of fully absorbing the colonisers claims of racial, moral and civilisational superiority. How else to explain the damage to the colonised psyche, whose imagination is so deeply corroded that it can believe that white skins are superior to brown skins Does she mean all of us sub-continentals? Is this the Guardians analysis, or is this amateur psycho-sociology aimed simply at Ms Chadha? The not-quite-pukka word that comes to this colonised mind is chippy. The Guardian didnt publish my letter.
I swear I wasnt thinking of Akhilesh Yadav or the outcome of the Uttar Pradesh elections, when we took off for a long-awaited trip to Iceland to chase the Northern Lights. Despite my indifference, I was constantly bombarded with forwards and text messages from self-styled experts back home, giving the usual bakwas analysis that is as phoney as their accents. I like Dimpilesh as a couple. I am very superficial in such matters  they look good together. Bas! Since we have to see neta-faces in our newspapers day in and day out, let them be good looking ones. I also like Mayawati (Oh heavens! The stories one hears about this one!). She has guts and gumption. And is likely to pay a key role once we know the results. I abhor some of the other notorious characters and top players in what has been billed the most important election in India. Why so? Oh say the experts, because it is the most important test for Narendra Modi. How many more tests does the PM have to pass? So... when I packed my raincoat before taking off for Reykjavik, I really wasnt concerned about Mr Modis raincoat remark, nor did I have Manmohan Singh on my radar. I was on a one-point mission: to catch the Northern Lights. Period.

As our flight circled over Keflavik airport, I half-wondered whether this was a moon landing  thats exactly what Iceland looks like from the air  a desolate, cold, flat snow-covered land mass dotted with volcanoes (some active  very active!). Iceland  Land of Literature, read a huge sign at the primitive terminal (Indian superiority complex kicked in immediately!). I turned to my husband and smugly commented, Even our smallest airports in the remotest cities are better! I had heard the Indian rupee was stronger than the Icelandic kroner. Yayyyy! I was suddenly feeling rich... and not like an embarrassed and apologetic third-worlder. There were mountains and mountains of powdery white snow everywhere  I spotted several cars buried under snow. The streets had disappeared from view and there wasnt a human in sight. We were told the city had experienced a 54 cm of snow in four hours  a 120-year-old record. Frankly, anything less would have been a huge disappointment! Then came the question of population: There are probably more people living in my Mumbai Cuffe Parade locality than the entire population of Iceland (approximately 300,000). I didnt spot a single dog or a child.

Maybe its just too cold to procreate and keep pets? But then, what about those geothermal sulphur baths, lagoons and hot tubs? Just to keep warm? What a waste! I met two seriously miserable vegetarians during the excursions, who nearly gagged over their turnip soup, when cheerfully informed that local cuisine features the following meats: horse and reindeer, besides the staple lamb. And that the adorable orange-beaked Puffin tastes pretty good, too. Desi superiority was raising its head again. I waxed eloquent about Indian cuisine, Indian textiles, Indian music and dance. Our incredible India our hallowed place in global politics and... and... and. Even I am not that stupid... I could tell nobody was impressed or interested. Instead, an overbearing American woman from Colorado pointedly turned to a group of Singaporean women professionals and instructed arrogantly, So... tell me about Singapore. Teach me! Is it like really, really big and crowded? This time I didnt bother to roll my eyes. Yawwwwnnnn. Americans!

At various tourist spots, it was amusing to notice how groups formed  so instinctively and naturally. Asians gravitated towards other Asians, Americans stuck to one another, boasting loudly about their accomplishments, the Japanese and Chinese focused on their selfie sticks. The first Indians I met turned out to be Bahrain-wallas, originally from Kerala  a mother-daughter team. I nearly hugged them! Like us, they had a single point agenda  to see the Northern Lights in all their glory. Nice! In any case, there is really nothing else to see, once you get over the blinding whiteness of the stark landscape. Once I had oohed and aahed over the first waterfall, geyser and fjord, I was sort of done. Lakes and lagoons generally do it for me  but I need additional props. Gurgling rivers, crystal clear water, black sand beaches, caves and pebbles made great pictures. As did the startling skies by day. But the piece de resistance remained the first sighting of those magical, magnificent lights. Aaaaah  what lights! The thing about the Northern Lights is their utter unpredictability  will they or wont they? Show up, I mean. Nobody can say for sure, even if sophisticated satellites do monitor the Earths magnetic fields and the Suns activity.

There are advanced apps that provide readings on a scale of zero to nine. But locals insist these are mere parameters that guarantee nothing. Even a reading of six does not automatically lead to a spectacular light show that night. Well, all I can say is we were unusually lucky three nights in a row  the vivid, neon green, pale violet and bright orange lights danced for us uninhibitedly for hours. Had it not been minus nine degrees, we would have stayed up longer to enjoy the spectacle of a lifetime. The young girl from Kerala summed it up beautifully when with tears streaming down her face she hugged her mother and declared emotionally, Amma! See... I had told you to say special prayers for the lights to emerge. God listened to your prayers. Aha  India won again! And yes, our prayers were answered, too.
An Alaska volcano that has erupted periodically since mid-December sent up its biggest cloud to date late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, prompting warnings to airliners and a major U.S. fishing port in the Aleutian Islands.

Bogoslof Volcano erupted at 10:36 p.m. Tuesday, spewing ash for three hours and sending a cloud of it to 35,000 feet, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.

The National Weather Service warned that trace amounts  less than 1 millimeter  of ash could settle on Dutch Harbor, a major port for Bering Sea crab and pollock.

It was the 36th eruption for Bogoslof over the last three months, and the first since Feb. 19.

"It was the most significant event for the entire eruption," said U.S. Geological Survey geologist Kristi Wallace.

The eruption was marked by 200 lighting strikes, Wallace said, and elevated seismic activity that lasted until 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

"And then it just shut off," Wallace said.

The Aleutians Island volcano is 850 miles southwest of Anchorage. The volcano remains in a heightened state of unrest and could erupt again at any time.

Ash clouds rising above 20,000 feet are a threat to jets flying between Asia and North America. Air traffic controllers receive an advisory after eruptions and warn jets to fly around or above ash clouds, which can drift for hundreds of miles.

Volcanic ash can erode jet engine turbine blades. Ash melted by high temperatures in the engines adheres to critical parts and can cause engine failure, according to the observatory. Ash can also scrape cockpit windows and interfere with electronics of navigation systems.

Fine ash drifting to cities can cause respiratory problems for people and animals, interfere with electrical equipment and damage air filters and gasoline engines.

Bogoslof Island is the tip of an underwater volcano that extends down 5,500 feet in a cone shape to the floor of the Bering Sea. The island first appeared after an underwater eruption in 1796. Subsequent explosions and eruptions have caused the island to grow and shrink.

The current eruptions are from a shallow, underwater vent on the island's southeast side.

The city of Unalaska and Dutch Harbor are about 63 miles southeast of the volcano. Donnie Lane, communication officer for the Unalaska Department of Public Safety, said police had not received any reports of ash falling on the community as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Wallace said the observatory had received reports of light dustings of ash in the community of about 4,500 people but that winds may have blown the ash cloud away from the island.

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Finding derelict spacecraft and space debris in Earth's orbit can be a technological challenge. Detecting these objects in orbit around Earth's moon is even more difficult. Optical telescopes are unable to search for small objects hidden in the bright glare of the moon. However, a new technological application of interplanetary radar pioneered by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has successfully located spacecraft orbiting the moon -- one active, and one dormant. This new technique could assist planners of future moon missions.

"We have been able to detect NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter [LRO] and the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in lunar orbit with ground-based radar," said Marina Brozovic, a radar scientist at JPL and principal investigator for the test project. "Finding LRO was relatively easy, as we were working with the mission's navigators and had precise orbit data where it was located. Finding India's Chandrayaan-1 required a bit more detective work because the last contact with the spacecraft was in August of 2009."

Add to the mix that the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is very small, a cube about five feet (1.5 meters) on each side -- about half the size of a smart car. Although the interplanetary radar has been used to observe small asteroids several million miles from Earth, researchers were not certain that an object of this smaller size as far away as the moon could be detected, even with the world's most powerful radars. Chandrayaan-1 proved the perfect target for demonstrating the capability of this technique.

While they all use microwaves, not all radar transmitters are created equal. The average police radar gun has an operational range of about one mile, while air traffic control radar goes to about 60 miles. To find a spacecraft 237,000 miles (380,000 kilometers) away, JPL's team used NASA's 70-meter (230-foot) antenna at NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California to send out a powerful beam of microwaves directed toward the moon. Then the radar echoes bounced back from lunar orbit were received by the 100-meter (330-foot) Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia.

Finding a derelict spacecraft at lunar distance that has not been tracked for years is tricky because the moon is riddled with mascons (regions with higher-than-average gravitational pull) that can dramatically affect a spacecraft's orbit over time, and even cause it to have crashed into the moon. JPL's orbital calculations indicated that Chandrayaan-1 is still circling some 124 miles (200 kilometers) above the lunar surface, but it was generally considered "lost."

However, with Chandrayaan-1, the radar team utilized the fact that this spacecraft is in polar orbit around the moon, so it would always cross above the lunar poles on each orbit. So, on July 2, 2016, the team pointed Goldstone and Green Bank at a location about 100 miles (160 kilometers) above the moon's north pole and waited to see if the lost spacecraft crossed the radar beam. Chandrayaan-1 was predicted to complete one orbit around the moon every two hours and 8 minutes. Something that had a radar signature of a small spacecraft did cross the beam twice during four hours of observations, and the timings between detections matched the time it would take Chandrayaan-1 to complete one orbit and return to the same position above the moon's pole.

The team used data from the return signal to estimate its velocity and the distance to the target. This information was then used to update the orbital predictions for Chandrayaan-1.

"It turns out that we needed to shift the location of Chandrayaan-1 by about 180 degrees, or half a cycle from the old orbital estimates from 2009," said Ryan Park, the manager of JPL's Solar System Dynamics group, who delivered the new orbit back to the radar team. "But otherwise, Chandrayaan-1's orbit still had the shape and alignment that we expected."

Radar echoes from the spacecraft were obtained seven more times over three months and are in perfect agreement with the new orbital predictions. Some of the follow-up observations were done with the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which has the most powerful astronomical radar system on Earth. Arecibo is operated by the National Science Foundation with funding from NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office for the radar capability.

Hunting down LRO and rediscovering Chandrayaan-1 have provided the start for a unique new capability. Working together, the large radar antennas at Goldstone, Arecibo and Green Bank demonstrated that they can detect and track even small spacecraft in lunar orbit. Ground-based radars could possibly play a part in future robotic and human missions to the moon, both for a collisional hazard assessment tool and as a safety mechanism for spacecraft that encounter navigation or communication issues.

JPL manages and operates NASA's Deep Space Network, including the Goldstone Solar System Radar, and hosts the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies for NASA's Near-Earth Object Observations Program, an element of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office within the agency's Science Mission Directorate.

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Plagued by problems in power supply units controlling both onboard computers, it forced Indian scientists to move it away from the lunar surface to avoid excess radiation in 2009.

Bengaluru: With the discovery of water on Moon in 2009, Chandrayaan-I made headlines world over. But less than a month later, Indian space scientists had lost all contact with the countrys first lunar probe. Until Friday, when eight years later, radar scientists of Nasa brought cheer to everyone at Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) when Chandrayaan-1 was spotted, orbiting the earths nearest astral neighbour, exactly where scientists had lost track of it.

The spacecraft, which was located by scientists at Nasas Jet Propulsion Laboratory with the help of a powerful ground-based radar, cannot be revived however, given its glitch-hit power system. Plagued by problems in power supply units controlling both onboard computers, it forced Indian scientists to move it away from the lunar surface to avoid excess radiation in 2009.

Chandrayaan-I can not send data

We found that DC-DC converters manufactured by MDI Power, USA, did not meet the specifications resulting in the snag in power supply system. Theres nothing much we can do now without any power onboard as Chandrayaan-I can neither receive signals nor send data, Prof. U.R. Rao, former chairman of Isro, who headed a committee which probed the failed mission, told this newspaper.

Though Prof. Rao and his colleagues anticipated the spacecraft to drift and ultimately crash into lunar surface a couple of years after losing contact, the latest discovery points to the fact that Chandrayaan-I has remain-ed at an orbit 200 km from lunar surface from the time the glitch wrought a premature end to the mission.

Theres not much atmosphere over the Moon, almost as good as vacuum, so the spacecraft has not lost energy due to friction, and so continues in the same orbit. Our first satellite, Arya-bhatta, lasted about 15 years in space, explained Prof Rao.

Nasas Moon Mineralogy Mapper, one of the 11 instruments onboard Chandrayaan-I, and Isros Moon Impact Probe (MIP), discovered water on the lunar surface. Scientists at Nasas Jet Propulsion Laboratory said it required more detective work to find Chandrayaan-I after they spotted Nasas Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

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Bengaluru: With the discovery of water on Moon in mid 2009, Chandrayaan-I made headlines the world over! But less than a month later, Indian space scientists had lost all contact with the countrys first lunar probe.

Until Friday, when eight years later, radar scientists of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), US brought cheer to everyone at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) when Chandr-ayaan-1 was spotted, orbiting the earths nearest astral neighbour, exactly where scientists had lost track of it.

The spacecraft, which was located by scientists at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with the help of a powerful ground-based radar, cannot be revived however, given its glitch-hit power system.

Plagued by problems in power supply units controlling both onboard computers, it forced Indian space scientists to move it away from the lunar surface in order to avoid excess heat and radiation, in 2009.

We found that DC-DC converters manufactured by MDI Power, USA, did not meet the specifications resulting in the snag in power supply system. There's nothing much we can do now without any power onboard as Chandrayaan-I can neither receive signals nor send data, Prof U R Rao, former chairman of ISRO, who headed a committee which probed the failed mission, told DC.

Though Prof Rao and his colleagues anticipated the spacecraft to drift and crash into lunar surface a couple of years after losing contact, the latest discovery points to the fact that Chandrayaan-I has remained at an orbit 200 km from lunar surface from the time the glitch wrought a premature end to the mission.

Theres not much atmosphere over the Moon, almost as good as vacuum, so the spacecraft has not lost energy due to friction, and so continues in the same orbit. Our first satellite, Aryabhata, lasted about 15 years in space, said Prof Rao.

NASAs Moon Mineralogy Mapper, one of the 11 instruments onboard Chandrayaan-I, and ISRO's Moon Impact Probe (MIP), discovered water on the lunar surface.

Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said it required more detective work to find Chandrayaan-I after they spotted NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

Finding India's Chandrayaan-1 required a bit more detective work because the last contact with the spacecraft was in August 2009, said Marina Brozovic, a radar scientist at JPL and principal investigator for the test project.

Although the interplanetary radar has been used to observe small asteroids several million miles from Earth, researchers were not certain that an object of this smaller size as far away as the Moon could be detected, even with the world's most powerful radars.

Chandrayaan-I proved the perfect target for demonstrating the capability of this technique. To find a spacecraft 3, 80,000 km away, JPL's team used NASAs 70-metre antenna at NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California to send out a powerful beam of microwaves directed towards the Moon.

Then the radar echoes bounced back from lunar orbit were received by the 100-metre Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. Finding a derelict spacecraft at lunar distance that has not been tracked for years is tricky because the Moon is riddled with mascons (regions with higher-than-average gravitational pull) that can dramatically affect a spacecraft's orbit over time, and even cause it to have crashed into the Moon.

JPL's orbital calculations indicated that Chandrayaan I is still circling some 200 km above the lunar surface, but it was generally considered lost. However, with Chandrayaan-I, the radar team utilised the fact that this spacecraft is in polar orbit around the Moon, so it would always cross above the lunar poles on each orbit, and got a confirmation as well.

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Lawson and Panasonic conducted the industry-first experimental demonstration of Regi-Robo, an entirely automated checkout system from December 12, 2016 to February 20, 2017. The experiment was conducted at the Lawson Panasonic-Mae store in Moriguchi, Osaka, which is an experimental store of the next-gen convenience store with the support of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Lawson and Panasonic also conducted the experimental demonstration using RFIDs (electronic tags) in February 2017. By realising speedier checkouts without the need to scan purchased items before payments in the future, they aimed to further enhance convenience for customers.

With Regi-Robo system, customers picked up items and scanner the items barcode and then put the items into the Smart Basket, a special basket for the system. When customers then placed the basket into the dedicated checkout counter, the system automatically settled the transaction and placed the purchased items into a plastic bag.

As store staff did not need to scan products for registration or packing, the new system contributed to labour-savings in store operations.

To further improve customers convenience and the productivity of operations, Lawson and Panasonic attached RFIDs, electronic tags to products, instead of barcodes, which enabled the communication information and eliminated the need of product scanning.

The companies have developed the Regi-Robo using their know-hows for productivity enhancements in factories, the mechatronics technology and sensing technology, all of which they have accumulated in the manufacturing industry. The Regi-Robo, according to them, is a customer-friendly self-checkout machine which will shorten customers time for settlements and operations at register counters.

The Regi-Robo is selected as an experimental business to implement robotics in FY2016 with subsidies from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

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The Islamic State militants in Pakistan are dodging authorities by using a messenger app to communicate instead of calling each other to avoid detection, media reported today. The militants have been using the Telegram messenger app and not the traditional communication channels like mobile phones to avoid detection and so far their strategy has proved more than successful, a police official was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.

The application has proved beneficial for militants to communicate and the most important feature is that it is 'self-destructible', he said. "Once a voice message is sent via Telegram app it is deleted automatically from the phone so you have no back-up

and that is why it is currently impossible for the police and intelligence agencies to intercept it," he said. The official said that this app was the only way of communication in addition to verbal communication in which messengers (people) are sent to inform other members.

The police and security forces lack the technology to intercept this app. "With the passage of time, the introduction of technology has changed the entire scenario. It is a game changer, especially when policemen have a phobia for technology while the terrorists do not," he added. The militants were forced to stop use of mobile phone due to tough measures by Pakistan to stop issuing of SIM cards to fake persons.

Hundreds and thousands of SIMs have been blocked in the country since the crackdown launched in 2014.

But the police official claimed that pre-activated SIMs are still available openly for a few thousand rupees and these terrorists buy them. "Some of the shopkeepers are still in the business of selling pre-activated SIMs due to higher profit margins. They trick innocent people and take their fingerprints, as well as CNIC numbers, and activate SIMs on it that are then sold to criminals and all kinds of people and these SIMs are used by terrorists also," he said. The Islamic State has been involved in several attacks in Pakistan but the authorities never acknowledged that the group has an organized presence in the country.

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Mobile advertising company Jana is set to launch an internet browser for Android users that will enable consumers to surf the web by offsetting mobile data costs.

The company plans to invest over $90 million in India and other emerging markets to strengthen its customer base.

"We have raised nearly $92 million which we will be putting into both in India and other emerging markets, but India is our largest market," Jana co-founder and CEO Nathan Eagle told here.

A user of the browser, mCent, would initially get a data refund of up to 10 MB per day and 70 MB per week and will also be provided with unrestricted internet access to online content.

mCent, which will compete with the likes of UC browser and Opera mini, is an ad-sponsored model through which advertisers would incorporate their marketing.

As more advertisers are added to the platform, the data limit will increase, the company said.

Eagle said the company has tied up with all telecom operators in India, including Reliance Jio, for smooth transition of its services.

India is the first country in which we are launching the browser and we are hoping to have at least 10 million users by the end of 2017, Eagle said.

On being asked about the advertisers roped in by the company, he said: "For the browser we are working with the search engine partners as well as advertisement networks like Facebook and Instagram.

"We are also in talks with some e-commerce companies," Eagle said in a conference here. He, however, declined to name the e-commerce players.

The company, last year, raised $57 million from the investment arm of Verizon.

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In its interim appeal, Bharti Airtel had sought a stay on regulator TRAI's approval to Reliance Jio to continue with the free promotional offer. It had also sought a direction to TRAI to produce all records related to the regulator's decision.

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) reserved its order after hearing all the parties concerned including regulator TRAI, incumbant operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, and Reliance Jio.

In its interim appeal, Bharti Airtel had sought a stay on regulator TRAI's approval to Reliance Jio to continue with the free promotional offer. It had also sought a direction to TRAI to produce all records related to the regulator's decision.

The interim appeal also sought to restrain Reliance Jio from providing its consumers the zero tariff plan and promotional offers.

It may be recalled that Reliance Jio launched an inaugural free voice and data plan beginning September last year, and in December extended the freebies till March 31, 2017.

Following this, incumbent operators like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular moved the telecom dispute tribunal against TRAI for allowing the new operator to continue free promotional offer beyond the stipulated 90 days.

The operators charged the regulator of being a "mute spectator" to the alleged violations.

On January 31, 2017, TRAI had said that Reliance Jio's free voice calling and data plan were not violation of the regulatory guidelines on promotional offers.

TRAI had said that its examination had revealed that the 'Happy New Year Offer' launched by Reliance Jio on December 4, 2016 is distinct from its earlier Jio Welcome Offer and could not be treated as an extension of the promotional offer as the benefits under both differed.

TRAI's opinion on the matter came after TDSAT asked it to take a decision "within reasonable time" on Jio's tariffs in the wake of petitions filed by the large operators.

Recently, Jio has announced that it will start charging for its mobile services from April 1, 2017.

Last month, Jio said that its existing subscribers and new customers who come on board by March 31, can continue to enjoy unlimited benefits of its Happy New Year Offer for one more year (till March 31, 2018) by paying one-time fee of Rs 99 and thereafter Rs 303 a month.

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WikiLeaks' disclosures this week caused alarmed in the technology world and among consumers because of the potential privacy implications of the cyber espionage tactics that were described.

Wikileaks will provide technology companies with exclusive access to CIA hacking tools that it possesses so they can patch software flaws, founder Julian Assange said on Thursday, presenting Silicon Valley with a potential dilemma on how to deal with the anti-secrecy group.

If the offer is legitimate, it would place technology companies in the unusual position of relying on Assange, a man believed by some US officials and lawmakers to be an untrustworthy pawn of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to share cyber vulnerabilities stockpiled by a secretive US spy agency.

It was not clear how WikiLeaks intended to cooperate with the companies. The group published documents on Tuesday describing secret Central Intelligence Agency hacking tools and snippets of computer code. It did not publish the full programs that would be needed to actually conduct cyber exploits against phones, computers and Internet-connected televisions.

"Considering what we think is the best way to proceed and hearing these calls from some of the manufacturers, we have decided to work with them to give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details that we have so that the fixes can be developed and pushed out, so people can be secure," Assange said during an online press conference from the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Assange took refuge at the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape, which he denies.

Microsoft and Cisco Systems, whose wares are subject to attacks described in the documents, said in response to Assange that they welcomed submissions of any vulnerabilities through normal reporting channels.

"We've seen Julian Assange's statement and have not yet been contacted," a Microsoft representative said. "Our preferred method for anyone with knowledge of security issues, including the CIA or Wikileaks, is to submit details to us at secure@microsoft.com so we can review information and take any necessary steps to protect customers."

Representatives of Alphabet Inc's Google, Apple, Samsung and Huawei, whose products were also featured in the CIA catalog, did not answer requests for comment.

Responding to Assange, CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu, said in a statement: "As weve said previously, Julian Assange is not exactly a bastion of truth and integrity."

"Despite the efforts of Assange and his ilk, CIA continues to aggressively collect foreign intelligence overseas to protect America from terrorists, hostile nation states and other adversaries."

WikiLeaks' disclosures this week caused alarmed in the technology world and among consumers because of the potential privacy implications of the cyber espionage tactics that were described.

One file described a programme known as Weeping Angel that purportedly could take over a Samsung smart television, making it appear it was off when in fact it was recording conversations in the room.

Other documents described ways to hack into Apple iPhones, devices running Google's Android software and other gadgets in a way that could observe communications before they are protected by end-to-end encryption offered by messaging apps like Signal or WhatsApp.

Several companies have already said they are confident that their recent security updates have accounted for the purported flaws described in the CIA documents. Apple said in a statement on Tuesday that "many of the issues" leaked had already been patched in the latest version of its operating system.

WikiLeaks' publication of the documents reignited a debate about whether US intelligence agencies should hoard serious cyber security vulnerabilities rather than share them with the public. An interagency process created under former President Barack Obama called for erring on the side of disclosure.

CIA SECURITY

President Donald Trump believes changes are needed to safeguard secrets at the CIA, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a news briefing on Thursday. "He believes that the systems at the CIA are outdated and need to be updated."

Two US intelligence and law enforcement officials told Reuters on Wednesday that intelligence agencies have been aware since the end of last year of a breach at the CIA, which led to WikiLeaks releasing thousands of pages of information on its website.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said contractors likely breached security and handed over the documents to WikiLeaks. The CIA has declined to comment on the authenticity of the documents leaked, but the officials said they believed the pages about hacking techniques used between 2013 and 2016 were authentic.

Contractors have been revealed as the source of sensitive government information leaks in recent years, most notably Edward Snowden and Harold Martin, both employed by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton while working for the National Security Agency.

Assange said he possessed "a lot more information" about the CIA's cyber arsenal that would be released soon. He criticized the CIA for "devastating incompetence" for not being able to control access to such sensitive material, and asked whether Obama or Trump were made aware of the breaches.

Assange's group released Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential campaign that US intelligence agencies say were hacked by Russia to try to tilt the election against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. He is regarded with distaste by many in Washington, although Trump, then the Republican candidate, supported the group's email releases last year.

Ben Sasse, a Republican senator, said in a statement on Thursday that Assange should "spend the rest of his life wearing an orange jumpsuit." He is "an enemy of the American people and an ally to Vladimir Putin" who has "has dedicated his lifes work to endangering innocent lives, abetting despots, and stoking a crisis of confidence in the West," Sasse said.

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The company is also reportedly surveying users about the extent to which they talk to businesses on WhatsApp, and whether they have ever received spam.

Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp which has over 1 billion users worldwide, was recently reported to be testing a new system that would allow businesses to communicate directly with WhatsApp users for the first time. The company has already begun testing the new business tool with Y Combinator startup incubator. While this seems like a great idea for business leaders to get a direct link to its users, its not so much of a pleasant idea for users as a possibility of them being flooded with spam messages is highly likely too.

Reuters reported that this is one of the potential revenue sources wherein the company can charge businesses to gain a direct communication with customers. But the company is working carefully to avoid problems with spam messages, the documents show, the Reuters report read.

The company is also reportedly surveying users about the extent to which they talk to businesses on WhatsApp, and whether they have ever received spam.

WhatsApp however, has declined to comment on the report.

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Aslan met the cannibal group in Varanasi after which the group smeared the ashes from burnt dead bodies on his face. (Photo: YouTube Screengrab)

CNN presenter Reza Aslan received huge criticism after he was captured on camera eating human brain while filming with a Hindu cannibal sect.

The incident sparked huge outcry among Hindu-Americans with Indian-American politician Tulsi Gabbard expressing concern.

"I am very disturbed that CNN is using its power and influence to increase peoples misunderstanding and fear of Hinduism," she tweeted.

"Aslan apparently sought to find sensationalist and absurd ways to portray Hinduism. Aslan and CNN didn't just throw a harsh light on a sect of wandering ascetics to create shocking visuals - as if touring a zoo - but repeated false stereotypes about caste, karma and reincarnation that Hindus have been combating tirelessly," she added.

Aslan met the cannibal group in Varanasi after which the group smeared the ashes from burnt dead bodies on his face.

The 44-year-old Iranian scholar was then asked to drink alcohol from a skull, before being presented with human meat to eat.

After the shoot, Aslan shared a post on Facebook. "Want to know what a dead guy's brain tastes like? Charcoal. It was burnt to a crisp!" he wrote.
Washington: A 63-year-old Sikh man has been arrested in the US for allegedly killing his "disrespectful" Muslim daughter-in law by hitting her on the head several times with a hammer.

Amarjit Singh was taken into custody on Wednesday on suspicion of murder and booked at the Solano County jail in San Francisco Bay, according to the Suisun City Police Department.

Singh confessed that he was upset with his daughter- in-law Shameena Bibi for being "disrespectful". Singh confronted the 29-year-old daughter-in-law in the garage and attacked her with a hammer, police was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times.

A family member called police to report what appeared to be a body in the garage.

When officers and firefighters arrived, they found Bibi suffering from "major blunt force trauma to the head", police said.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bibi's mother-in-law and her 2-year-old son were inside the home when the fatal attack occurred, police said.

She lived at the home with Singh, her mother-in-law, her husband and her toddler, police said.

"There was some previous issues regarding the family member and the father-in-law's acceptance of her being in the family," a police official said.
Nearly a week after the shooting that stoked fears among the Indian-American community, the police released the sketch of the shooter. (Photo: Representational Image/AP)

Washington: A Sikh man shot outside his home in Washington state by a partially-masked gunman shouting "go back to your own country" was targeted because of his ethnic origin, authorities have said as they announced a reward of up to USD 6,000 for anyone providing a lead in the case.

US national Deep Rai, 39, was working on his vehicle outside his home in Kent on March 3 when he was approached by a stranger, who first argued with Rai, and then shot him in the arm.

"The account provided by the victim suggests that he was targeted because of his ethnic origin," Kent Police chief Ken Thomas told reporters yesterday, adding "Hateful acts are not acceptable."

Nearly a week after the shooting that stoked fears among the Indian-American community, the police released the sketch of the shooter. Thomas said the lone white shooter make, about six-feet tall, medium built and between 35-40 years of age.

On the day of the shooting, he was wearing a dark-coloured or black hoodie in addition to dark coloured clothing. The lower portion of his face was covered with a mask. The incident is being investigated by the Kent Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a hate crime.

Unable to find any lead towards the shooter, who is still at large, the authorities have announced a reward of up to USD 6,000 for anyone providing information that could lead to his arrest.

"The Kent Police Department is concerned about any act of violence in our community. The possibility of a hateful violence underscores the need of a through and serious examination of the circumstances around this criminal

incident," Thomas said.

After the shooting the suspect departed on foot in an unknown direction, he said.

Thomas said it's early in the investigation and still trying to learn the exact circumstances. "(Rai) was wearing a turban. With the dynamics of the situation that occurred we do believe the victim was targeted...," he said.

The Kent Police Department is committed to protect community members, "particularly if they may be targeted because of their race, gender, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation or other protected class. For that reason

we have partnered with the FBI to ensure we bring all investigative resources to bear to this case," he said.

The FBI Seattle Field Agent told reporters that the agency has opened a full civil rights investigation into this matter along with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

"We opened this case to help Kent Police Department to figure out whether or not there was bias, specifically bias related to Federal hate crimes laws in this matter," he said.
New York: Sixteen Indian-origin people, including a woman in the US, have been charged for their alleged role in a massive stolen credit card and identity theft operation resulting in losses of over USD 3.5 million to individuals, financial institutions and retail businesses.

Muhammad Rana, 40, of Queens in New York, was the leader of the massive fraud scheme who was helped by his deputy Inderjeet Singh (24).

In all 30 individuals have been charged as authorities cracked down on the extensive stolen credit card and identity theft ring.

The ring was allegedly responsible for stealing the personal credit information of hundreds of consumers and costing the individuals, financial institutions and retail businesses more than USD 3.5 million in losses over the course of the alleged scheme.

Others charged in the multiple-count indictment are Sonam Kukreja, 26, Balwinder Singh, 36, Ranjet Singh, 30, Ankit Chadha, 29, Kamaljot Singh, 24, Tanveer Sidhu, 25, Gauruv Chhabra, 33, Pradeep Grover, 46, and Gurbachan Singh, 55, Shingara Singh, 28, Sukhjinder Singh, 32, Tajinder Singh, 25, Vinny Maksudpuri (age not given), Varinder Singh, 27, of 118th Street in Richmond Hill, Queens.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said on Thursday, many of the defendants charged are accused of going on shopping sprees, purchasing tens of thousands of dollars worth of high-end electronics and fashion merchandise with forged credit cards that contained the account information of unsuspecting consumers.

As part of their alleged scheme, the defendants ordered new credit cards for cardholders and stole them out of the cardholders' mailboxes when they were delivered, Brown added.

Brown said 24 search warrants were executed earlier this week throughout Queens and Nassau Counties and numerous items recovered including USD 400,000 in cash, numerous gold coins and gold bars valued at about USD 1,300 dollars each  binders with the personal information of hundreds of thousands of individuals, firearms, card readers and various amounts of raw material, such as blank credit cards and fake identifications.

Authorities said the defendants have been charged in a 389-count indictment accusing them of being members and associates of an organised criminal enterprise that operated in Queens and between April 2015 and January 2017, systematically schemed to defraud scores of unsuspecting consumers and financial institutions such as Citibank, Bank of America, Chase, American Express.

The investigation leading to the indictments and arrests began in April 2015 when police officers assigned to the Police Department's Identity Theft Squad commenced the investigation into an identity theft ring.

The investigation involved physical surveillance, intelligence gathering and court authorised electronic eavesdropping on dozens of different telephones in which thousands of conversations were intercepted, which required them to be translated from Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Spanish into English.
The US has announced that from April 3, it would temporarily suspend the 'premium processing' of H-1B visas. (Photo: Representational/File)

Washington: A US senator has said that H-1B work visa and employment-based green card categories, popular among Indian-Americans, are often not consistent with their purposes as they do not bring in PhDs and computer scientists but only mid-level data management workers.

Republican Senator from Arkansas Tom Cotton, who met President Donald Trump this week, said the current system does not bring in the brightest and the best from across the world. So there is need to reform it and this is what Trump is planning to do.

I think, on the H-1B temporary visa but also the permanent green cards, like EB1, EB2, the President wants to get the very best people from around the world. Often those programmes are implemented in a way that is not consistent with their purposes, Cotton told MSNBC.

They dont bring in PhDs and computer scientists. They bring in mid-level and they replace mid-level data management workers. Thats why you get controversies like people losing their jobs at companies like Disney and Southern California Edison that were just replaced by foreign workers who werent necessarily high skilled, Cotton argued.

So he (Trump) would like to see reforms to those programmes that I would, said Cotton, who is also a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Its really an empirical question where we do have gaps in our economy. But I will say this, there is no job that an American wont do. Americans, with the right pay, will do any job. Thats just the fact of the matter, he noted.

We need to make sure that were focused on Americans getting back to work and getting higher wages, supplemented where need based on the evidence with immigration, said the influential Senator from Arkansas.

On Tuesday, Cotton and Senator David Purdue went to the White House to meet with the President about an immigration bill they have introduced.

The bill refocuses on legal immigration system of high-skilled immigrants who come to this country with English language competency, education levels that are higher than they have now with higher levels of job skills that will be able to contribute to the economy, Cotton said.

Right now, only about one out of 15 immigrants that we admit to this country every year come based on those criteria. The President has said in public, as he told us yesterday, that he wants to move in the direction of, for instance, Canada and Australia, and focused on more of what he calls a merit-based system. Our legislation is the first step in that, he said.

Hed like to see additional steps focusing on some of the employment-based green cards and visas and were happy to work with him on that, Cotton said.

Last month, Senators Cotton and Perdue introduced Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act, which they said will lower overall immigration to 637,960 in its first year and to 539,958 by its 10th year -- a 50 percent reduction from the 1,051,031 immigrants who arrived in 2015.

Among other things, it calls for the elimination of diversity lottery visa and limits issuing of Green Cards to refugees to 50,000 per year.

The US, last week, said it is temporarily suspending the premium processing of H-1B visas from April 3, eliminating the option of shorter wait times for the programme that helps highly skilled foreigners work at American firms.

The suspension is effective April 3, and could last up to six months, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Islam, relatively new in the Netherlands, has spread as increasing numbers of native Dutch are abandoning religion. (Photo: AP)

The Hague: That Duindorp has few immigrants is part of its charm for Willem van Vliet, whose "Willem and Toet" fish bar serves crispy shrimp croquettes and other Dutch snacks.

When the cook leaves the tidy, quiet neighbourhood next to The Hague's port and travels the few miles (kilometres) to more culturally diverse areas of the city, he sees a Netherlands not enriched by immigration but ravaged by it.

"Too many people have come to Holland with no education, no work experience, and they are coming here only for money from the government," he said. "Enough is enough."

Such views make Duindorp one of the epicentres of the populist wave sweeping Europe, gate-crashing its politics and clouding its future. Dutch elections on Wednesday, followed by polls later this year in France and Germany, will be a barometer of whether the storm is gaining strength.

The spectre of uncontrolled floods of migrants from countries that don't share Europe's Christian heritage is a principal selling point of the far-right firebrand politics of the Netherlands' Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen in France. By harping on anti-Islam, anti-immigrant themes, they are accused of making xenophobic views mainstream again.

For their supporters, they simply tell it like it is. Of the Netherlands' 17 million people, just over one in five now has a foreign background and about 850,000 are Muslim. Paradoxically, hostility against migrants is sometimes sharpest in places that have not absorbed large numbers of them.

Duindorp has no mosques and few Muslims. Its several thousand people are overwhelmingly white, most born locally. Yet Duindorp is Wilders territory. When his Party for Freedom got hammered in the last parliamentary election in 2012, Duindorp bucked the trend.

At Duindorp's community centre that serves as a polling station, where retirees come for billiards and company, 352 people voted for Wilders, more than for the two largest parties combined.

Leo Pronk, a Duindorp community leader, said Wilders hooks voters who "don't know any better" with his program to "de-Islamize the Netherlands," ban the Quran and immigration from Muslim countries and shut the country's estimated 475 mosques.

"Wilders is saying what the low-educated people want to hear ... 'Immigrants are taking our jobs, they are raping our women,'" said Pronk, who doesn't vote for him.

Islam, relatively new in the Netherlands, has spread as increasing numbers of native Dutch are abandoning religion. The Netherlands' oldest mosque, in The Hague, was built in 1955.

Its imam, Naeem Ahmad, dismisses Wilders' program as "not possible." He says the Muslim community is thriving. The Mobarak Mosque gets New Year greeting cards from its Dutch neighbours. Before the ubiquity of GPS, people would lead worshippers who had trouble finding the building right to the door, he said.

"In what other country would that happen?" he asked. "The majority of the people in the Netherlands are still very liberal, very welcoming."

Those receptive to Wilders' arguments also include wealthier people, among them the crew of the Maarten-Jacob. The trawler-men make as much as 8,000 euros ($8,450) each per month catching fish from the North Sea.

Of the six aboard, five plan to vote Wilders, even though his desire to pull the Netherlands out of the European Union could hurt its fishing industry, likely limiting access to European waters. "Islam is very dangerous," the captain, Jan de Boer, said. "I'm very scared and I mean it, honestly."

Fear cuts both ways. Immigrants and their Dutch-born children are questioning their place in the country once famed for its tolerance. "The Netherlands that I grew up in are not the Netherlands I live in today," said 46-year-old Sylvana Simons, of Surinamese descent.

"We've told ourselves and we desperately wanted to believe - and believed - that we were the most tolerant country in the world," the former TV presenter said. "It has proven not to be enough."

Born in The Hague, with Moroccan parents, 36-year-old market-stall holder Latif Boujada said he no longer feels at home in either country. He sells let's-learn-Arabic books, recordings from the Quran and other Muslim apparel.

Boujada's father came in the 1970s for work in the textile industry. "The Dutch didn't want to do the dirty jobs. We helped make the country rich. Now they want us to go back," Boujada said. But he added defiantly: "We're not going anywhere. We are staying."
Moscow: Taking a toll on Shia terrorism allegedly sponsored by Iran, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to also tap Shia terrorism the way it's controlling Sunni terrorism such as al- Qaeda and ISIS.

Netanyahu, who is in Russia for a bilateral meeting with Putin, said in joint statement that We do not want to see Shia Islamic terrorism led by Iran step in to replace Sunni Islamic terrorism.

Lauding Russia's effort to keep Islamic terrorism at the bay from Europe, Israel PM said, Substantial progress has been made over the last year in fighting radical Sunni Islamic terrorism led by ISIS and al-Qaeda". "One of the things that unite us is our common fight against radical Islamic terrorism.

Netanyahu further criticising Iran said, Today, ancient Persias successor, Iran, continues attempts to destroy the Jewish state. They speak of this openly and write this in black and white in their newspapers.

Sending veiled warning, Prime Minister said, Today, we have our own country and our army, and we can defend ourselves. But I want to say that the threat of Shia Islamic terror is directed not only against us, but against the region and the entire world.
Ankara: Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps has successfully test-fired a naval missile, the semi-official news agency Tasnim said on Thursday, a move likely to heighten concern in Washington, whose warship operate in the waters near Iran.

Tasnim said the missile, called the Hormuz 2, could destroy moving targets at sea at ranges up to 300 km (180 miles). The missile was built in Iran, Tasnim said.

The naval ballistic missile called Hormuz 2 this week has successfully destroyed a target which was 250 km away, said Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGCs Aerospace Force, according to Tasnim.

The missile test is the latest event in a long-running rivalry between Iran and the United States in and around the Strait of Hormuz, which guards the entrance to the Gulf. About 20 percent of the worlds oil passes through the waterway, which is less than 40 km wide at its narrowest point.

Most recently, several Iranian fast-attack boats came within 600 yards (550 meters) of the USNS Invincible, a tracking ship, forcing it to change direction.

A Revolutionary Guards commander told Iranian state media on Wednesday that it was the fault of the US ship, warning the United States of the irreversible consequences of such unprofessional actions.

In January, a US destroyer fired three warning shots at four Iranian fast-attack boats near the Strait after they closed in at high speed and disregarded repeated requests to slow down.
A man stands on the rubble of the Chamber of Trade and Industry headquarters after it was hit by a Saudi-led airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen. (Photo: AP)

Dubai: Amnesty International on Thursday accused the Saudi-led Arab coalition battling rebels in Yemen of using banned cluster munitions in raids on residential areas.

The Brazilian-manufactured munitions were fired in a February 15 attack on three residential districts and agricultural land in Saada province of northern Yemen, a stronghold of the Shiite Huthi rebels, it said in a statement.

Two people were wounded in the attack, said Amnesty, which has also reported that the coalition used cluster munitions in October 2015 and May of last year.

The coalition absurdly justifies its use of cluster munitions by claiming it is in line with international law, despite concrete evidence of the human cost to civilians caught up in the conflict, said Lynn Maalouf, research director at Amnestys Beirut regional office.

Cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons that inflict unimaginable harm on civilian lives, she said.

Amnesty called for Brazil to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions and for Saudi Arabia and coalition members to stop all use of cluster munition.

Separately, Human Rights Watch in December accused the coalition of firing Brazilian-made rockets containing the outlawed munitions near two schools in Saada, killing two civilians and wounding six including a child.

The December 6 came a day after Saudi Arabia joined the US and Brazil in abstaining from a UN General Assembly vote that overwhelmingly endorsed an international ban on cluster bomb use.

The weapons can contain dozens of smaller bomblets that disperse over large areas, often continuing to kill and maim civilians long after they are dropped.

The Saudi-led coalition, which has come under repeated criticism over civilian casualties in Yemen, acknowledged in December it had made limited use of British-made cluster bombs but said it had stopped using them.

The conflict in Yemen has left more than 7,400 dead and 40,000 wounded since the coalition intervened on the governments side in March 2015, according to the UN.
The deal helped brake a massive human influx, especially from Syria, that became a hot political and social issue in Europe. (Photo: Representational Image/AP)

United Nations: As Syrian conflict enters into 7th year, The UN refugee agency on Thursday urged international community to redouble is support to help millions of innocent civilians in the country and the region.

In an official statement, UNHRC chief, Filippo Grandi, said, Syria is at a crossroads, unless drastic measures are taken to shore up peace and security for Syria, the situation will worsen.

Grandi further said, Ultimately, Syrias conflict isnt about numbers  its about people. Families have been torn apart, innocent civilians killed, houses destroyed, businesses and livelihoods shattered. Its a collective failure.

The UN is requesting fun of $8 billion this year to meet Syrians needs at home and in exile. This follows important commitments made at the 2016 London Conference, especially on education and livelihoods, and it is essential that these efforts are sustained.

UNHCR hopes that the recent peace initiatives will pave the way to a lasting and sustainable resolution. Peace talks alone wont create the conditions on the ground for refugees to be able to return, Grandi added.

In Syria, 13.5 million need humanitarian aid; 6.3 million are displaced internally; hundreds of thousands have made perilous sea voyages seeking sanctuary.

Nearly 3 million Syrians under 5 have grown up knowing nothing but conflict; and 4.9 million  the majority women and children  are refugees in neighbouring states, placing host communities under huge strain as they shoulder the social, economic and political fallout.
Dhaka: A Bangladeshi Christian was severely injured on Friday after being hacked with knives by a group of youths while he was guarding a Catholic church, police said.

Gilbert Costa, 65, was guarding the Church at Mathurapur in the northwestern Pabna district, some 175 kilometres (110 miles) from Dhaka, when he was suddenly attacked by young men.

"He was hacked randomly by sharp knives and was left severely injured. He was shifted to a hospital where his condition is now stable," local police chief Ahsan Habib said.

Habib said police had arrested three young men from the same village where Costa lives in connection with the attack.

He said they were investigating the attack but ruled out any Islamist extremist link, saying it appeared to be the result of "personal enmity".

"Costa and his relatives have identified the attackers with whom they had personal feud in the village. We have found no extremist connection whatsoever," he added.

There was no immediate comment from the country's tiny Catholic community.

Bangladesh has suffered a spate of attacks on religious minorities in recent years, including the murder of an Italian priest.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have claimed responsibility in some cases but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's secular government has pinned the blame on local outfits.
It is not clear whether the three lakh troops would be relocated in different units or if the process of their retirement is underway. (Photo: AFP)

Beijing: China will reduce the number of reserves for its 2.3-million-strong army and increase them for other services as part of reforms aimed at reshaping the

reserve forces adapt to information warfare.

Sheng Bin, chief of National Defence Mobilisation Department of China's Central Military Commission, said China will reduce the reserves for the world's largest army and increase reserves for other services.

Sheng's comments on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, China's Parliament, did not refer to the number of troops to be reduced. While carrying Sheng's remarks, state-run Global Times said China has announced a cut of 300,000 troops by the end of 2017 to build a more elite and efficient military.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also the head of the CMC which is the overall high command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), had announced in 2015 to cut down three lakh troops, which according to later reports caused resentment and

concern over loss of jobs.

It is not clear whether the three lakh troops would be relocated in different units or if the process of their retirement is underway. While the army reserve will be reduced, the reserves of other military services including the navy, air force and the rocket force, (missile force) will be increased in a bid to keep up with China's military modernisation, the report said.

The structure of the reserve forces will adapt to information warfare from traditional combat-oriented and mechanised ones, Sheng said.

According to the CMC guideline, a new structure will be established in which the CMC will take charge of the overall administration of the PLA, the Chinese People's Armed Police and the militia and reserve forces.

The battle zone commands will focus on combat preparedness, and various military services will pursue development. President Xi has ordered widespread reforms to restructure the country's military including carrying out exercises

involving live ammunition and battle conditions.

The report quoted Major Gen Chen Zhou of the PLA Academy of Military Science as saying that many officers will retire and will be assigned to new positions in this round of military reform.

China will step up efforts at the national level to help retired servicemen resettle to civilian life by adopting a series of laws and regulations, Chen told reporters.
Ahmad Waqass Goraya was among five activists who vanished in Pakistan in early January. (Photo: Screengrab)

Geneva: Pakistani blogger and human rights defender Ahmad Waqass Goraya, who disappeared from Lahore, in January 2017, said he was brutally tortured before his release after almost a month in captivity.

"I was tortured beyond limits. My ear nerve is still damaged, my muscles are also damaged", said the blogger at a side event titled "Closing the Net: Attacks on Asian Human Rights Defenders" during the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Goraya, who has been living in the Netherlands for over a decade, said police in Pakistan has filed a case of blasphemy against him.

He added, "You see radical people are running Facebook pages and they are not being targeted. However, the activists and their families are being targeted by both Islamists and law enforcement agencies".

Five bloggers and activists, including university professor Salman Haider, disappeared from various parts of Pakistan.

They were released after few weeks following widespread protests and condemnation by the people in Pakistan and rest of the world.

Online bloggers and writers are being frequently targeted in South Asia, especially in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where Islamic fundamentalists are against those speaking against Islam and military.

Speaking at the event, Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury, a publisher and writer from Bangladesh said he was targeted by Islamists in his country for publishing books on Islamists. He was brutally attacked in his office and now lives in-exile in Norway.

"From 2013 to 2016, almost 14 bloggers and writers were killed in Bangladesh by the Islamist groups. I got the threat in February 2015 during a book fair. Two of the writers, whose books I had published, were killed and I lost most of the business", said Chowdhury.

He added, "On October 31, 2015, they (Islamists) came in my office and attacked me. They wanted to kill me but luckily I survived".

Chowdhury blamed state and non-state actors, both, for curbing freedom of expression.
Islamabad: Days after Ajmer Sharif bombing accused, Swami Aseemanand was acquitted by special NIA court, Pakistan on Thursday blamed India for exonerating people involved in terrorist attack such as of Samjhauta Express.

In an official statement, Pakistans Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Mohammed Nafees Zakaria said, We have noted that over the last few years they had been exonerating people involved in the Samjhauta Express terrorist attack.

A special NIA court on Wednesday had acquitted seven others, including Swami Aseemanand, giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Spokesperson confirmed that If I recall correctly, in December 2010 Swami Aseemanand made a public confession that he was the mastermind of this attack, along with Abhinav Bharat's head, Colonal Parohit, who was serving army officer.

In that terrorist attack, mostly Pakistanis were killed and we were given assurance at the highest political level on numerous occasions that India will share investigations on this attack with us, but we didn't hear anything from them, reads the statement.

On October 11, 2007, a powerful bomb went off on the congested premises of the Ajmer Dargah during iftar at around 6.14 pm, killing three people and injuring 15 others.

The spokesperson also, said We have been pursuing the case of Samjhauta Express with the Indian government and we hope that they will share the findings/investigations collected so far in the case with us and perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Kathmandu: Nepal government on Thursday demands probe into killing of a Nepalese national who was allegedly killed by Indian security forces on India-Nepal border.

In an official statement, Nepal government taking up a matter with serious concern at diplomatic level with India and has urged Indian government to investigate into the incident and bring the guilty to justice.

Govinda Gautam, Nepalese national, died of injuries due to open firing from Indian side at India-Nepal border near Anandabazar, reads statement.

Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, on the other hand has denied reports of firing by Indian security forces at border are of India- Nepal.

The Embassy, in statement said, There is a need to maintain calm and let the survey officials of both sides discuss the location of border pillars before any construction work begins. District officials have been directed to cooperate to defuse the situation.

Nepal government has also called for taking necessary steps to bring the situation under control so that no further untoward incident takes place in the said border area, also said the statement.

Meanwhile, India on Thursday said that it is seriously concerned at the recent violent clashes in Nepal in which several people have lost their lives. The statement comes in the wake of the killing of four Madhesi protesters in police firing.
An Indo-US team of medical specialists has perfected a new heart disease treatment protocol that has the potential to save lives of thousands of Indians requiring timely medical care following a heart attack.



The hub-and-spoke model  tested successfully in Tamil Nadu  involves quick transfer of a patient in an ambulance to a small health centre for medication before transferring the person to a larger hospital for angiography and angioplasty if required.



Trained paramedics performed ECG of the patient inside the ambulance and transmit the image to specialists in hub hospitals where cardiologists screen the ECG and guide ambulances to the nearby spoke centres.



At the smaller spoke clinic, patients receive clot-busting drugs before they are shifted to the nearest big hospitals for angiography and angioplasty.



This led to a nearly 10-fold increase (3.7% to 33.5%) in the proportion of patients transferred from smaller spoke centres to larger hub hospitals, higher rates of coronary angiography (from 35% to 60%) and higher rates of primary angioplasty (46% to 70%).



Conducted between 2012 and 2013, the study was carried out over 32 weeks on 2,420 patients who were given treatments at 35 spoke centres and four large hospitals that served as the hub.



It compared these 2,420 patients with those of standard treatment received by 898 patients for a period of 12 weeks.



After one year, they found 3% lower mortality among those, who were treated as per the TN-STEMI protocol.



However, what is possible in Tamil Nadu and Kerala is not representative of all states as these states are at the higher end of the spectrum in terms of health, said Banerjee, who is not involved in the study.



Tamil Nadu ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction Program (TN-STEMI) is an unique heart attack management programme, which has shown that it was possible to reduce heart attack mortality significantly, an official from TN-STEMI programme told DH.



Several doctors from Tamil Nadu and medical researchers from the University of Michigan were involved in the study that were partly funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research and had the active participation of the Tamil Nadu government.



The scheme was also linked to the BPL insurance program to ensure that the poor could also access this care.


A Republican lawmaker has introduced a legislation aimed at suspending Foreign Aid to countries that deny or delay accepting their criminal citizens who have been ordered removed from the United States.



Congressman Glenn Grothman, who introduced the bill, said that in some cases, these criminal citizens have gone on to commit other crimes after their release.



"For instance, China refused to accept a criminal Chinese citizen after he was arrested for assault and ordered deported. The criminal alien stayed in the US and later murdered the same woman he assaulted," he said.



The bill also requires the Department of Homeland Security to submit a report to Congress once a year that lists the countries refusing to allow their criminal citizens to return.



"I find it appalling that we continue to send foreign aid dollars to countries that are actively putting Americans at risk by refusing to accept their criminal aliens, especially when our own country is so deeply in debt," said Grothman.



"My bill shifts our immigration system back in the right direction and halts America's condoning of this bad behaviour," he said.



The US currently has tens of thousands of criminal immigrants that are ordered deported, yet their home countries refuse to take them back. Instead, these criminal immigrants are released back into the US, posing a threat to American citizens, his office said.



According to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, more than 20 countries have refused to accept their criminal citizens back into their borders.



Currently, the US is planning to send USD 36.5 billion in Foreign Aid in Fiscal Year 2017  a portion of which is sent to these countries that refuse to take back their criminal immigrants.
Counting of votes in assembly polls in five states will take place tomorrow amid tight security with the most riveting contest in Uttar Pradesh, seen as a gamechanger and a virtual referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and his reforms agenda.



The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh is hoping to stop the BJP juggernaut, which had earlier stumbled in Bihar and Delhi, and lead the way for opposition unity in the run up to the 2019 general election.



Congress is claiming it will wrest power in Punjab and retain its hold in Uttarakhand and Manipur. The election is also important for the nascent Aam Aadmi Party, which is hoping for success in its maiden outing in assembly elections outside Delhi and has put up a spirited fight in Punjab and Goa.



Counting of votes will start at 8 AM tomorrow. Tens of thousands of central forces personnel were being deployed at the polling centres, including 20,000 personnel in Uttar Pradesh.

In Uttar Pradesh which has a 403-member assembly, 78 counting centres have been set up in 75 districts. 15 counting centres have been established in Uttarakhand where the Assembly strength is 70 .



Votes will be counted at 54 centers in 27 locations set up for election to 117-member Punjab Assembly. In Goa, votes will be counted at two centres in North and South Goa to declare the winners in 40 seats. In Manipur, counting of votes will be held for 60 seats.



The Election Commission has issued strict guidelines on security arrangements for counting of votes and has prohibited mobile phones inside the counting halls. In addition to general observers, a micro-observer will be deputed at each and every counting table. A three-tier security arrangement has been made in and around the counting centres.



Only central forces will be deployed inside the counting centres while local police will be deployed in the outer circle and forces from other states will be around the centres to prevent entry of any unauthorised persons.



A senior magistrate will be posted at the entrance to control the crowd and regulate the entry. The 100-metre area around a counting premise or campus is to be demarcated as pedestrian zone and no vehicles shall be allowed within this perimeter.



Additional CCTV cameras will be installed at locations from where the carrying of EVMs from strong rooms to the counting hall can be effectively monitored. Exit polls have projected a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh and Goa, with BJP likely to lead the table. They forecast a close fight in Punjab between the Congress, which is seeking to return to power after a hiatus of 10 years, and Arvind Kejriwal's AAP. The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine could be in for a drubbing in the state.



They have predicted victory for BJP in Uttarakhand. A good show by the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh, will be seen as a reaffirmation of Modi's standing among the masses and popular endorsement of his agenda, especially demonetisation.



It will also boost its president's Amit Shah's authority as capturing power in Uttar Pradesh has been a dream project for the party after it was reduced to the margins of the state politics that it ruled for much of the 1990s.



Shah has been seen as the architect of the party's outreach to various social groups, mostly OBCs and sections of Dalits, and some experts believed that it might have antagonised its core support base and also old loyalists, who were passed over by him in distribution of tickets.



A BJP win in the state polls will also boost its strength in the Rajya Sabha where the Congress-led opposition has been able to block the government's legislative agenda due to its numerical superiority.



Despite grim exit poll projections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa, the Congress put up a brave face today saying it will win all five states. The Congress also sought to insulate party vice president from any negative fallout saying poll results are never a referendum on any single individual.



Senior Congress leader and party's UP general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "The SP Congress alliance will win UP elections despite exit poll claims." Asked if Rahul Gandhi, who spearheaded the party campaign in UP, would be responsible for the loss or victory tomorrow, Azad said, "Elections are not a referendum on individuals. "



The bellwether state of UP sends 31 members, maximum among all states, to the Rajya Sabha and the saffron party has presently only three from there. Four other states -- Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur -- have together only 12 members in the Uppar House.



The Congress with 59 members is the largest party in the 245-member Rajya Sabha followed by the BJP with 56. However, a defeat will be a big loss of face for Modi who has invested a lot of political capital in these polls, especially in Uttar Pradesh where he addressed close to 24 rallies and often sought votes in his and his government's name.



If the alliance forged by UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice President Rahul Gandhi, seen as the BJP's main rival, outscores it, then it will embolden opposition ranks unlike any other time since Modi stormed to power in 2014.



If BJP's debacle in Bihar gave opposition the belief that the saffron march can be slowed down, its loss in UP will be seen by the Congress and other rival parties as an evidence of public anger with the Modi government and a beginning of its downfall in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.


Amid the unease in Sino-India ties over a range of issues, China has appealed to the Indian media to report on bilateral relations in a "more balanced way".



Addressing a Holi reception for the media last night, Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said he was impressed by the progress made by the Indian media.



However, he said, "I humbly request the media here to report on China-India relations in a more balanced way." "What impressed me most is the big progress of the media, compared with my first term in India 28 years ago. Firstly, the media has developed very fast. Traditional media, social media, 24-hour Television shows a lot of breaking news," said Luo, who is in India on his second posting.



He said the development really means information explosion and freedom of speech in India. His remarks came amid unease in bilateral relations over China's opposition to India's admission into the Nuclear Supplies Group (NSG) and efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN.



Also, India has concerns over the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project as it passes through PoK. There have also been tensions between the two countries over the issue of India allowing the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh.



Luo, while urging the media to report on Sino-India ties in a balanced manner, also praised the media, which he said showed that India was an open society, integrated deeply with the world.



"Indian media pays more attention to China and China-India relations. It promotes better understanding between our two peoples, and also helps China to understand Indian perspectives. I appreciate what you have done to bridge China-India interactions and friendship," he said.



Talking about the festival of Holi, Luo said like Yoga, this is another gift from India to the world. China and India are the fastest growing economies, he said.



"Both are close observers and participants of the global and domestic big events.



Both are pioneers of advanced social philosophy. Both have strong sense of social responsibility. Let's work together to make the world brighter, to make China-India relations better and to make our lives as colourful as Holi," he said
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China can learn from India's strategy to maintain its influence in the Indian Ocean with early acquisition of aircraft carriers that display deterrence and protect regional and world peace, a Chinese Navy think tank said today.



"Although no large-scale warfare broke out in the Indian Ocean in the past few decades, the Indian Navy is continuously growing in strength, and the existence of aircraft carrier especially deters other countries along the Indian Ocean from violating India's marginal islands," an article in China Military Online said.



Written by Liu Kui, a scholar from Naval Equipment Research Institute of the People's Liberation Army Navy, the article, 'What can China learn from India's aircraft carrier strategy?', said "in peacetime, an aircraft carrier is an effective naval vessel that displays deterrence and protects regional and world peace".



China is a late entrant and its first carrier, a former Soviet Union refit which was launched in 2012, is still undergoing its experimental drills.



With plans for big naval projection in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, China is currently building a second aircraft carrier at feverish pace.



While it was expected to be ready and take few more years to become operational, some reports said it has begun building the third. Meanwhile, it has also developed J-15 aircraft to operate from the carrier deck but its development and mass production was expected to take a few more years.



Unlike China, India has been operating an aircraft carrier since 1961.



INS Vikrant, which was purchased as an incomplete carrier in 1957, played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of the East Pakistan (Bangladesh) in 1971 before it was decommissioned in 1997.



Its successor INS Virat which was commissioned in 1987 has just been decommissioned this month after an eventful four decades of service. It was succeeded by INS Vikramaditya, a modified version of Russian ship Admiral Gorshikov which became operational in 2013.



The second INS Vikrant being built in Cochin Shipyard was expected to be ready by 2018.

Referring to India's strategy with aircraft carriers, the article said "as a major country by the Indian Ocean, India believes its security and prosperity depends on its control of the Indian Ocean".



"As long as it controls the ocean, it will be able to dominate the ocean and countries along it, and control the vast area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific Ocean".



"Therefore, India was considering the 'Indian Ocean control strategy' in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the 21st century, it is determined to build a far-sea attack- oriented navy with air control capability in order to maintain its position as the 'regional dominator', counter China's far-sea naval strength build-up, and guarantee safe and smooth maritime routes in the Indian Ocean," the article said.



It said though India opted for aircraft carriers earlier, lack of indigenous research and development (R&D) has affected its plans to have three aircraft carriers.



"The Indian Navy's dream of having three aircraft carriers has fallen flat because it overestimated its R&D capability and the country's overall strength, and undertook an excessively massive strategy that eventually got stranded.



"India mistook the deterrence of aircraft carrier for combat capability and was possessed with the carrier complex," it said.



The lessons China can draw from India are that it should attach great importance and provide continuous support to the development of aircraft carriers, the article said.



But at the same time, China should continue to reinforce its innovation and R&D capability, it said.


The cost of printing each Rs 500 currency notes is around Rs 3 and that of Rs 2,000 comes to about Rs 3.70, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.





He said the currency notes are printed at four printing presses. Two are with Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL) and two with the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (BRBNMPL).



Jaitley further said that till February 24, 2017, about 11,64,100 new currency notes were in circulation in the market. This amount must have now increased to 12 lakh, as it has been a fortnight since then, he added.



Giving further details, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said that up to February 2017, there were 1.9 billion and 1.03 billion Rs 5 and Rs 10 coins, respectively in the market. Besides, there were 2.6 billion Rs 10 and 3.6 billion Rs 20 notes.



Meghwal said there were Rs 16.41 lakh crore worth currency notes in circulation as on March 31 last year, which has come down to Rs 11.73 lakh crore as on March 3, 2017.



The reduction in notes in circulation is due to demonetisation of specified bank notes, he said.



Bhutan requests India



Meanwhile, Bhutan has requested India to facilitate exchange of the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes lying with its central bank, Parliament was informed on Friday. The Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan has approached the RBI regarding the demonetised notes being held by the banks and public in the Himalayan country.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has set the ball rolling for the bypoll to Nanjangud Assembly constituency by announcing poll schedule. Bypoll to Nanjangud seat was necessitated following the resignation of sitting MLA Srinivas Prasad.



In the bypoll scheduled for April 9, the stakes are high for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his friend-turned-foe Srinivas Prasad. The political war horses are going all out in their battle of one-upmanship.



Prasad, once the close associate of Siddaramaiah, resigned as MLA after he was unceremoniously dropped from the Cabinet. He later joined BJP and is contesting from the seat from the saffron party.



As Prasad has a strong political base in the constituency, Congress roped in one of the prominent faces in the constituency. The Congress leaders plucked Kalale Keshavamurthy from JD(S) in a bid to field him in the bypoll. However, the party is yet to make an official announcement in this regard.



According to Congress party sources, the CM would launch poll campaign and announce its candidate at a rally to be held in Nanjangud town on Sunday.



Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G Parameshwara, Public Works Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa and other ministers would attend the rally to campaign for the partys candidate.



Though the Congress is yet to make an official announcement on the partys candidate, Kalale Keshavamurthy has already started touring the constituency and is in regular touch with the party leaders, according to sources.



Earlier, there were talks about fielding Public Works Minister Dr Mahadevappa or Chamarajanagar MP R Dhruvanarayan. However, the party leaders finally decided to field Keshavamurthy against Prasad learning about his popularity in the region and his political base in the constituency. During the previous Assembly election in 2013, Keshavamurthy gave Prasad a tough fight before losing the battle by a small margin of 8,900 votes.



While Congress is yet to make a formal announcement, BJP has already announced Srinivas Prasad as its candidate. BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa is expected to launch the campaign from Sunday. The party leaders will hold a roadshow across the constituency.



Srinivas Prasad, exuding confidence over winning the poll, said that he has explained to his supporters why he resigned as MLA and quit Congress party. I am sure that voters will teach a lesson to CM Siddaramaiah, he said.



It may be mentioned that a large number of supporters in the constituency and thousands of people attended Swabhimana Samavesha, a show of strength by Srinivas Prasad, recently.




The Karnataka High Court on Friday issued a bailable arrest warrant against beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya, directing him to provide a bail bond of Rs 50 lakh. This is the second time the high court has issued a bailable warrant against Mallya for reportedly violating an undertaking given by him at the Debt Recovery Tribunal.



Hearing a contempt petition filed by a consortium of banks, a division bench comprising Justices B S Patil and B V Nagarathna directed the ministry of home affairs to secure the presence of Mallya on June 1.



Senior counsel S S Naganand, appearing for the banks, made a submission about the Mutual Legal Assistance Request and the procedure to be followed for Mallyas extradition. An affidavit filed by Mallya before the Supreme Court mentioning his UK address was also submitted to the high court. Mallya left the country on March 2, 2016.



The bench directed the under secretary, ministry of home affairs, to take action as per Section 105 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) about the reciprocal arrangements regarding processes when the person is outside the jurisdiction of the court.
After Nepal accused Indias border guards of killing one of its citizens, New Delhi asked Kathmandu to share the findings of the post-mortem of the deceased.



The Sashashtra Seema Bal (SSB) initiated an inquiry after Kathmandu conveyed to New Delhi its serious concern over the killing of a Nepali citizen due to firing by soldiers of the paramilitary force of India.



SSB soldiers guard stretches of Indias open border with Nepal.



Following reports of the death of a Nepali national yesterday (Thursday) at the India-Nepal border, reportedly in a firing incident, the SSB has initiated an enquiry on this matter, Gopal Baglay, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said on Friday.



Deep Kumar Upadhyay, Kathmandus envoy to New Delhi, met Sudhakar Dalela Joint Secretary (North) at Ministry of External Affairs. He demanded that the Government of India order an inquiry and the guilty be brought to justice.



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, also received a call from Bimalendra Nidhi Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of Nepal, who lodged a protest over the death of Govinda Gautam, a resident of Kanchanpur district of Nepal, reportedly due to firing by SSB soldiers.


The Cadillac CTS is racing towards a blind corner, raising the anxiety of its passengers. Suddenly, a chime sounds and a front cross traffic alert warning flashes on a screen attached to the windshield. Even though theres nothing visible ahead, the driver jams on the brakes  just as another Cadillac CTS jumps out from around the corner. Disaster averted.



This near miss is all for show  a demonstration of vehicle-to-vehicle, or V2V, communications. Vehicle-to-vehicle systems broadcast a cars position, speed and other information, such as windshield wiper activation, to other cars in the vicinity. In the test, conducted in a closed parking lot, a building obstructed the view, so neither the driver nor the various camera and radar sensors in the car could detect the other Cadillac. But thanks to V2V communications, the drivers were warned in advance.



The beauty of this is it doesnt have to see the other vehicle, Matthew Kirsch, engineer group manager for automated driving and active safety at Cadillac, said in an interview. And it can communicate with many different vehicles ahead.



The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that up to 80% of crashes not attributed to driver impairment could be eliminated or mitigated by V2V devices. The agency plans to require that future cars and light trucks include the hardware for dedicated short-range communications devices. The devices will use a portion of the broadcast spectrum that is set aside specifically for this purpose.



Many in the automotive business have been waiting for just such a standard. Im happy the US government is pushing the regulation, said Lars Reger, chief technology officer of NXP Semiconductors automotive business unit. Its a big catalyst.



General Motors is not waiting for the final mandate. It just announced that, starting this month, its 2017 Cadillac CTS will be the first car to use short-range communication for alerts between vehicles up to 1,000 feet apart. The warnings will include alarms about disabled cars and vehicles that are braking hard ahead, as well as slippery road conditions.



The trouble is, only other Cadillac CTS drivers with the same system will see the alerts. BMW and Mercedes-Benz find themselves in similar circumstances. Both companies offer hazard warning systems on certain models, but they can communicate only with specific car models with identical systems. Furthermore, BMW and Mercedes do not use the short-range technology but rely instead on existing cellular networks to transmit alerts.



Some automakers as well as wireless carriers and chipmakers, think that cellular systems will be better suited to handling vehicle-to-vehicle communications in the future. And, they say, cellular networks can handle connections to devices like smart traffic lights, tolls and other parts of the transportation infrastructure  so-called vehicle-to-everything or V2X communications. Most of these companies have their eyes on future 5G networks, which promise more capacity and broadband connections 10 times faster than is available today.



You have to consider the scale aspect, said Nakul Duggal, who manages the automotive portfolio for Qualcomm. How do you do it with street furniture  signs and traffic lights  in future smart cities? Cellular networks can also share information about traffic situations miles ahead. Jaguar Land Rover is working with a Chicago-based startup, HAAS Alert, to explore delivering automatic warnings about emergency vehicles to other drivers.



We want people to know 40 to 50 seconds ahead, said Cory James Hohs, chief executive of HAAS, so were using whats available today, and thats cellular. Not only could drivers be warned about ambulances, for example, but they could also get alerts about trains at crossings.



As of today, there is no official 5G specification, and Duggal does not expect to see a substantial transition from 4G to 5G systems until 2022 or 2023. Engineers have been working for more than a decade on specifications for dedicated short-range communications devices. Tests last year in Michigan with more than a half-dozen major automakers helped persuade the national highway agency to push for new regulations.



Harman, a unit of Samsung that supplies communications equipment to automakers, says some car companies have expressed interest in using dedicated short-range communications, or DSRC, devices, while others are taking a more passive approach. I dont know if NHTSA itself can be the catalyst, said Mike Tzamaloukas, vice president for navigation technologies at Harman, but they can make it more urgent.



With Wi-Fi in many connected cars, the short-range systems may be less of a stretch because the specification and its radio frequencies are essentially an extension of Wi-Fi. That may help keep down the cost of adding the capability to new cars.



By directly communicating between vehicles, the short-range systems are not slowed down by having to communicate with cellular base stations. They would also work in the large parts of the rural US that do not have cellular service. Moreover, they could also be rolled out without any major infrastructure investments.



Wireless carriers



Designers working on the forthcoming 5G specification point out that it also includes direct vehicle-to-vehicle communications that do not depend on a separate cell network. Duggal of Qualcomm said such direct 5G communications should be up to twice as fast as dedicated short-range communications devices; that could prove critical in delivering warnings in some situations, such as when a driver is trying to pass a vehicle on a highway while another car is approaching from the opposite direction at 65 or 75 mph.



Wireless carriers also point out that 5G is a forward-looking platform that could be used to handle demanding, high-bandwidth applications like transmitting a video feed from a cars onboard camera to the internet to collect information about road conditions.



Cadillac says that V2V technology is important to the development of autonomous vehicles, pointing to the introduction of its Super Cruise semiautonomous option, expected this year. But improving driver safety now is the impetus behind introducing the short-range systems today. Thats why were not going to just wait until someone tells us we can do this, said Chris Bonelli, who handles communications for advanced technology at GM.



Theres a strong personal motivation for this, said Rupert Poole, senior collaborations manager for future technology at Jaguar Land Rover. When people ask, can we really expect to save lives with this, the answer is a resounding yes.




The strike call by separatists to protest against the the civilian killings in Pulwama district during a gunfight between militants and security forces on Thursday evoked partial response in Kashmir on Friday.



Though minor clashes were reported in some areas of Srinagar and Pulwama, the day passed off without any major incident. The authorities had deployed contingents of police and para-military CRPF to prevent any demonstration.



Reports said hundreds of policemen donning riot gear were deployed in the sensitive areas of Srinagar and other towns to thwart any possible protest. Authorities disallowed congregational Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid in old city Srinagar in view of call for protests by sepratists.



Reports said all roads leading to the historic mosque were blocked and no one was being allowed to move in the area.



Though the separatists had given a strike call for Friday in their weekly protest calendar issued last week, they asked people to hold protests after the Friday congregation prayers against the death of two civilians during clashes in Awantipora area of Pulwama on Thursday.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL seeking a probe into allegations of kickbacks of 6 million euros  or over Rs 40 crore  to some journalists in the AgustaWestland helicopter scam.



A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Dipak Misra described the petition by senior journalist Hari Jaisingh as an attack on the independence of media.



The petition is a disguised idea to curtail independence and freedom of media, the bench said.

But senior advocate Geeta Luthra, appearing for the petitioner, sought a probe by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation into alleged revelations that the money was earmarked and paid to manage the media during the deal to purchase the VVIP helicopters.



The bench added, It is a dangerous phenomenon. By this petition, the freedom given to he media may be smothered. It is an attack on the media. We must presume integrity and objectivity of the media. It is up to the CBI to investigate. Perhaps, this petition may pave the way for media management.



Why are you blaming the media? Why should we direct the CBI to investigate the media. Media has a role and an independent status in our democracy. Its freedom cant be throttled like this, said the bench, which also comprises Justices A M Khanwilkar and Mohan M Shantanagoudar.



Are the terms of the contract in public? If it was entered by Indian citizens or is it executable in India, the bench asked her. The counsel responded by saying Michel was in India most of the time and the Enforcement Directorate has already called one of the journalists for investigation.



She maintained there was a clear violation of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.



The bench, however, said, We will not direct investigation against media. It is a contract between X and Y. Where is media in it? It is up to the investigation agency to look into all these aspects. Why should there be a direction from the court?



Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi also questioned the plea, saying there cannot any probe against the media.




Police on Friday added to the misery of families grieving the loss of three teens in a case of poisoning by refusing to register complaint lodged by the parents of deceased children.



Shreyas (14), Akanksh Pallakki (15), and Shanthamurthy (15), students of Vidyavaridhi International Residential School, died on Thursday, hours after they complained the sambar served during dinner was bitter.



Parents of Shreyas and people from Thimmanahalli, near here, gathered at the police station in the morning. They pleaded with the police to register their complaint, but were rebuffed.



Police, however, have taken a complaint from a third party. The parents want it cancelled and a new one registered.



Residents of Timmanahalli, who accompanied parents of Shreyas to Huliyar police station, alleged, The police are shielding the school management. Despite the death of three students, they have not taken the case seriously. The police have registered a case under Section 304 A based on a complaint lodged by a person from the school and not by the parents.



The agitating parents and the villagers urged Tiptur DySP Venugopal, the investigation officer, to register a complaint against the co-owners of the school K S Kiran Kumar and Kavitha, staff Jagadish, Suhas, Shivanna and Rangalakshmi. DySP accepted the complaint and assured the parents of taking action against those responsible.



Meanwhile, the post-mortem has confirmed the children died of poisoning. District medical authorities said they were awaiting a forensic report on the food samples.



CCTV cameras must in hostel kitchens



Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya has said the government plans to make installation of CCTV cameras compulsory in kitchens, dinning halls and store rooms of private residential hostels, reports DHNS from Bengaluru.



The minister told reporters on Friday that such a measure has been planned to ensure that the Huliyar-like incident does not recur. On Thursday, three students of a private school hostel in Huliyar died after consuming food.



The minister said health department officials must mandatorily visit private hostels to check the quality of food provided to students and issue quality certificates.



The minister said installation of CCTV cameras has been made compulsory in residential hostels managed by the departments of backward classes and social welfare. In addition, the quality of food prepared is being monitored online, he added.



Cant file FIR now: DySP



As the deaths hit the headlines on Thursday, Kiran Kumar and his wife Kavitha, joint owners of the school, disappeared from the scene. Police said they were looking for the couple. Kiran Kumar is a former MLA. We cant file an FIR the moment parents complain. We will file one after we find the suspects, Deputy Superintendent of Police Venugopal said.



Students take ill after eating lunch



As many as 14 students took ill after consuming lunch at the SC/ST students hostel on Friday, reports DHNS from Yadgir. They complained of giddiness after eating rice, sambar, chapati and curry served to them. They were taken to a hospital for treatment and are out of danger. Students complained that the contaminated water used to cook the food had resulted in the incident.
A section of the AIADMK on Friday demanded a CBI probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of party supremo J Jayalalithaa in both houses of Parliament.



They created a din in the Lok Sabha on the issue, forcing a 10 minute adjournment of the proceedings of the House.



Soon after the House assembled in morning and the Question Hour began, six AIADMK members stormed into the Well with placards in their hands and shouted slogans, pressing for the probe.

When the House reassembled, the members began pressing for an adjournment of the ongoing proceedings to discuss the issue.



They, subsequently, staged a walk out when Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected their demand for an adjournment motion.



In the Rajya Sabha, V Maitreyan, L Sasikala Pushpa and other AIADMK members came to the Well several times holding placards in their hands.
AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala, who is lodged in a Bengaluru prison in a disproportionate assets case, on Friday said that all rules and regulations were followed in her appointment to the party post.



Sasikalas reply to the Chief Election Commissioners notice came against the backdrop of objections raised by the rebel camp led by O Panneerselvam, which had sought to declare her appointment as illegal.



AIADMK sources said that Sasikalas lawyers handed over her reply to the Election Commission (EC) at New Delhi.



In her letter to the commission, Sasikala said that she was duly appointed as the AIADMKs general secretary during the partys council meeting, and that the senior leaders of the party unanimously accepted the decision.



Sasikalas earlier reply to the EC notice, signed by her nephew and AIADMK deputy general secretary T T V Dinakaran, was rejected by the commission on the ground that as per the ECs records, he was not an office-bearer of the party.



The EC had said that either Sasikala should sign the reply herself or there should be an authorised signatory, who is in the commissions list of AIADMK office bearers, and the reply should be sent again by Friday.


The counting of votes for the keenly fought Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will begin at 8 am on Saturday.



A clear picture on the winners is expected to emerge by noon. Even as the BJP, Congress, AAP, SP and BSP are waiting with bated breath for the results, expected to be announced by evening, various exit polls have given an edge to the saffron party in Uttar Pradesh and predicted a rout for the Akali Dal-BJP alliance in Punjab.



The counting will take place at 157 centres  Uttar Pradesh (75), Punjab (53), Uttarakhand (15), Manipur (12) and Goa (2), with postal ballots being counted first.



All eyes are on Uttar Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance was engaged in a tough fight with the BJP, which has emerged as the favourite among analysts and bookies.



SP president and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav appeared to betray his nerves by suggesting he was open to an alliance with arch rival BSP.



If the exit polls turn out to be right, the BJP may be on its way to form the government in Uttar Pradesh. But in the event of the SP-Congress alliance taking a lead, but falling short of a majority, all eyes would be on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on whether he could bring together rivals SP and BSP to keep communal forces at bay.



Rahul had played a key role in bringing together arch rivals Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) and RJDs Lalu Prasad Yadav for the 2015 Assembly elections in Bihar to form a grand alliance that defeated the BJP convincingly.



However, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav ruled out any possibility of roping in BSP and expressed confidence that the alliance would emerge victorious. Mayawati, for her part, said she would prefer to wait for the actual results and was not thinking of an alliance.



BJP sources said the top leadership was confident of forming governments in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa, and the partys Ashoka Road headquarters is ready with sweets, colours and firecrackers to celebrate the poll outcome.



A meeting of the BJP parliamentary board is scheduled at 4 pm to take stock of the

results.



The Congress camp is confident of winning Uttarakhand and Punjab, where it is locked in a close fight with AAP.



In Goa, All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh said the party was open to an alliance with regional outfits Goa Forward Party, Nationalist Congress Party and United Goans if it falls short of numbers in the 40-member Assembly.



In Manipur, the BJP is confident of defeating three-term Congress Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.
The Supreme Court on Friday issued bailable warrant against Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan for failing to appear before it.



The judge was to respond to suo motu contempt proceedings initiated against him on February 8 and appear in person for making allegations against judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court.



A seven-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice J S Khehar took the adverse action against the sitting judge, rejecting his fax message to the apex court registry. He has sought a meeting with the Chief Justice of India and other judges to discuss the issues raised by him.



The bench said his communication seemed to reflect the allegations levelled by him against certain named judges.



The fax message, dated 08.03.2017, cannot be considered as a response of Justice Karnan, either to the contempt petition, or to the notice served upon him. In view of the above, there is no other alternative but to seek the presence of Justice Karnan by issuing bailable warrants, the court said.



The bench also includes Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, P C Ghose and Kurian Joseph.



Bailable warrants, in the sum of Rs 10,000, in the nature of a personal bond, to the satisfaction of the arresting officer, be issued, to ensure the presence of Justice Karnan, in this court, on 31.03.2017, at 10.30 am, the bench added.



The court asked the West Bengal Director General of Police to serve the bailable warrant on Justice Karnan. Justice Karnan had failed to appear before the court on February 13.



At the outset of the proceedings on Friday, the bench noted that the contempt notice was duly served on Justice Karnan but he preferred not to appear either in person or through a counsel, though his personal presence was imperative.



The controversial judge had earlier, in February 2016, stayed his own transfer from Madras to Calcutta HC.



Judge hits back

Reacting to the development, Justice Karnan told reporters that the SC order was unconstitutional.



He said he was targeted for being a Dalit.



He claimed to have issued an order for registration of a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 against Chief Justice J S Khehar and the six other judges.



He claimed he has also asked the President to stay the apex court proceedings against him.

Justice Karnan said the SC order was arbitrary and aimed to ruin his life and career.


With reports about cases of unwanted hysterectomy being performed coming from many districts, the office of the Lokayukta has sought a report from the Commissioner for Health and Family

Welfare.



Sources said during a surprise visit by officials from the Lokayukta office to the taluk hospital in Malavalli near Mandya, it was found that a general surgeon had conducted more than 2,000 hysterectomies despite there being a gynaecologist in the hospital.



General surgeons feat

A source said the visit followed a complaint about unwanted hysterectomies. Enquiry revealed that more than 2,000 surgeries were indeed conducted over the years by one general surgeon.



The enquiry is still on and the data is available only till 2012. It seems the particular surgeon was in the hospital till 2015, before he was transferred to some other district hospital. During the enquiry, a gynaecologist in the hospital said she too had performed a few surgeries. However, she was not aware why the general surgeon conducted the large number of hysterectomies, the source said. The Lokayukta office has also written to experts in Vani Vilas Hospital, Bengaluru, to know whether a general surgeon can perform surgery to remove uterus.



We have sought details about the number of hysterectomies in every district and whether there is a well-laid procedure for the same. Thousands of women in and around Mandya visit the taluk hospital in Malavalli. We wanted to know from experts if surgery is the only remedy in all cases, an official said.



There were reports from Ranebennur in Haveri district, where more than 1,500 women from nearby areas were prescribed hysterectomy. A delegation of women from the thandas had complained to Health Minister K R Ramesh Kumar in this regard. Similar reports emerged from Chikkamagaluru, Kalaburagi and Hassan districts.



In January this year, Karnataka Janaarogya Chaluvali, a non-government outfit, scrutinised the medical records of hundreds of women who had undergone surgery and found it was performed without adequate clinical evidence about its necessity.


A 21-year-old woman on Thursday lodged a complaint of rape against a 38-year-old interior designer.

The man - identified as Chakradhar Reddy - made her consume a drink laced with sedatives at his house in Kasturi Nagar and raped her in February 2016, the victim said in her complaint.



He video-recorded the act and started blackmailing her, asking her not to disclose the matter to anyone. Reddy started demanding money from her, the victim said in a complaint with the Ramamurthy Nagar police.



The victim, a native of Mumbai, worked as a bartender. Reddy met the victim in January 2016 at a bar, where they exchanged phone numbers. Their friendship turned to love, police said.



Reddy offered his house to the woman for staying, along with her mother and sister.



Financial dispute

There was a financial dispute between Reddy and the woman. She left for Mumbai with her mother and sister. On Thursday, she returned to Bengaluru and registered a case, accusing Reddy of rape and cheating, the police said.



Police arrested Reddy, but he complained of low blood pressure and complications due to diabetes. He has been admitted to a private hospital and police are waiting for him to recover, so that they can take him into custody.


Sadiq Pasha, the inspector of HAL police station, will not investigate the case pertaining to a suspected serial rapists attempt to sexually assault a woman in her paying guest digs in Kundalahalli Gate, east Bengaluru, on March 4, 2017.



Senior officers decided to take Pasha off the investigation after the woman alleged that he had persuaded her not to file a complaint about the sexual assault. We have appointed Victor Simon, the inspector of Bellandur police station, as the investigating officer in the case, M Narayan, DCP (Whitefield), told DH.



Police have, however, dismissed the womans allegation that the inspector asked her to not file a complaint of molestation. The following is their version of the events.



The suspect, Shivaram Reddy, entered the womans PG digs while she was asleep. He snatched her mobile phone and money. He then tried to rape her but she ran into the toilet and bolted it from inside. Before Reddy could take her on, the womans roommate showed up, forcing him to flee. The victim approached the HAL police station on March 5 and asked the police to trace her mobile phone and recover the money from the PG owner. But she was not willing to file a complaint. After much persuasion, she lodged a complaint of mobile theft. But she never mentioned the rape attempt, the officer said.



The next day, she arrived at the police station along with a group of men from Mumbai, which included a lawyer. She wanted a fresh FIR to be registered. Police refused to do that citing technical reasons but invoked IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) in the womans original complaint and began the probe, the officer said.



For two days, the woman neither approached us nor made any phone calls about the rape attempt. Reddy had molested another woman on March 2. She approached the police and lodged a complaint. We registered a case and started the probe immediately. We would have booked him again had the victim mentioned the molestation attempt on March 5 itself, the officer said.

Police believe Reddy has molested or raped more than 100 women.



He targeted women from North and Northeast India living in PG digs in Mahadevapura, Electronics City, Madiwala, HAL, HSR Layout and Kundalahalli Gate. He was caught after a gunfight on March 7 and subsequently booked under the Goonda Act.



Reddy earlier worked as a cab driver and had filmed a couple getting intimate in his vehicle. He threatened to upload the video on the Internet and raped the woman.


Members of BJP city unit, led by MLA Suresh Kumar, urged Bengaluru City Police Commissioner to rein in rowdy elements, whose menace is on the rise in Rajajinagar Assembly constituency.



A memorandum submitted to Police Commissioner Praveen Sood here on Friday stated that if the anti-social elements are not reined in immediately then things will spiral out of control.



They pointed out two recent instances of mindless violence in the constituency. On March 1, three men who came in an autorickshaw, randomly assaulted six persons in Rajajinagar and Subramanyanagar. One of the victims, Sarvesh, succumbed to injuries on Thursday.



In another incident, on Wednesday, Sunil, a history- sheeter, was pulled out of his house in Kamalanagar by a gang and was hacked to death in front of his parents, they stated.

Earlier in the day, a protest was organised at Navarang Circle against the increasing rowdy menace.


Authorities in the city must be held accountable for the recent death of three manual scavengers, Amnesty International India said on Friday.



The three men - Kore Anjaneya Reddy (34), Dantha Yarrayya (35), and Tatta Thavitayya (40) - were working for a private contractor hired by the BWSSB. Bengaluru police officials told Amnesty representatives that one of the men was forced to enter a clogged manhole on Tuesday night, without any protective equipment. When he did not come out after some time, the others entered the manhole. Their bodies were found hours later.



Too often, the role of government officials who employ manual scavengers through contractors is swept under the carpet, said Abhirr V P, senior campaigner, Amnesty International India.



Authorities must ensure those found responsible for engaging the men are punished. They must take serious measures to end this practice, he said.

BWSSB officials have blamed the contractor for the deaths.
A 20-year-old man was killed on the spot after a train hit him when he was crossing the railway tracks near Hoodi in the early hours on Friday. Norsingh S, a resident of K R Puram, a native of Nepal, was staying with his father Beer Bahaddur, a security guard.



He was working as a canteen assistant at a software company in ITPL. Norsingh and his father moved to Bengaluru about four years ago.



According to the police, the accident took place when Norsingh was returning home. He was completely drunk and was trying to cross the tracks between K R Puram and Cantonment railways stations near Hoodi. He did not notice the oncoming train which hit him and dragged his body along for about half a kilometre.



A few local residents informed the police about the body around 7 am. The police shifted the body to Bowring Hospital for post-mortem.




Namma Metros Green Line operation between Sampige Road and Rajajinagar stations will be shut for 10 days starting from Monday.



The Green Line service will be available only between Nagasandra and Rajajinagar stations, said a statement by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited. Consequently, the train service will not be available at Sampige Road, Srirampura and Kuvempu Road stations. During the 10 days from March 13 to 22, officials will link the current operating stations with the new ones, which will eventually enable them to operationalise the entire Green Line from Yelachenahalli to Nagasandra.



However, the BMTC will run a feeder service  MF 16  from Rajajinagar Station to Sri Balagangadharanatha Swamiji Station and Hosahalli Metro Station. Commuters can also board bus route no 401 series which connects these stations.



Experts from Alstom, the French company which is conducting the tests,have already completed many of the 17 internal tests required before they seek inspection by the Commissioner for Railway Safety.



BMRC is racing to meet the April deadline with Bengaluru Development Minister K J George recently stating that the chief minister has told them to start the service on entire Phase 1 next month.


By Soumya Sarkar

8 March 2017 (The Third Pole)  The water rushed in at night, recalls Madan Mohan Pal of Hendalketki in Sagar Island. By the morning, the entire village was under water. When the flood receded, the land was so saline that we could grow nothing for the next two years. Although Pal has harvested a good paddy crop this January, memory of the sudden tidal surge remains fresh. An unpredicted high tide broke the embankments of Muriganga River in the night of 12 July 2014, and swept through 14 villages spread over 30 sq. km. The damage was extensive in the eastern part of the island. It disrupted life for about 25,000 people. More than 4,000 houses were destroyed and some 500 hectares of cropland turned saline. The sea hasnt really retreated from some of the villages since then. Sagar Island is arguably an object lesson on how people are coping with a rising sea. Considered sacred by Hindus because it sits at the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal, this large island of 160,000 people is buffeted by the worst effects of climate change  coastal erosion, rising sea levels, unpredictable tidal surges, land salinity and more violent cyclonic storms. There has been an increase in the intensity of cyclones making landfall in the Sundarbans between 1951 and 2010, recent research suggests. Such an increase in intensity may be attributed to an increase in sea surface temperature. Cyclone Aila in May 2009 left more than a million people homeless and killed 339 people across India and Bangladesh. Sagar is part of the Sundarbans, the worlds largest delta and contiguous mangrove forests that straddle Bangladesh and India. The Sundarbans have an archipelago of 102 islands, of which 54 are inhabited by more than four million people. Some of these islands, such as Bedford, Lohachara, Kabasgadi and Suparibhanga have already disappeared. Other like Ghoramara and Mousuni will soon be lost, swallowed up by rising sea. Tens of thousands of people who live in the Sundarbans have lost their homes. [] Pal may have saved his livelihood for a while by adapting farming practices to the shifts in natural conditions, but for how long? The sea wants to come in all the time. Every year, the tidal waves become more unpredictable, he says. We have made nature very angry. [more]
Connected cars are the definite future in the automobile industry, with Microsoft pitching for a unified system that can allow cars to communicate with each other, keep themselves update and even monitor their own systems. Taking a step further, Cadillacs latest announcement states that such vehicles are all set to hit the road, beginning with the 2017 Cadillac CTS sedan. The car is being introduced in the USA, and will make use of multiple sensors, communication devices and GPS services to take note of road conditions, and relay them to other connected cars in the vicinity.

The technology, while ready to be deployed on road, still has a long way to go before it fully matures. Cadillac can enjoy the distinction of being among the first movers in this field, but the V2V system can only communicate with fellow CTS sedans for now, which considerably restricts the real world impact it will make for the time being. Looking closely at it, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication system is not only an added layer of advanced safety, but will also form a crucial peg in the steadily advancing field of autonomous vehicles.

Using sensors, a host of communication and imaging equipment and, of course, satellite-driven GPS modules, the V2V system keeps a track of road conditions (singular and recurrent) on Cloud-based information storage. This, then, can be relayed on to other vehicles that support this ecosystem when two of these cars are within 980 metres of each other. Such range is significantly higher than safety systems that operate locally around one car. All cars carrying support for V2V will be equipped with Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) equipment, and this entire setup, as exhibited in the new 2017 CTS, can also inform drivers when other connected cars apply sudden brakes to dodge obstacles, break down and halt in the middle of road, or even when roads ahead are slippery by synchronising with traction and ABS data from cars ahead.

With so much information at stake, and the latest Wikileaks dump exposing much threat to the present security standards of connected cars, Cadillac has affirmed that user and usage data are never stored in the car, and the connected networks have firewalls in place to protect any breach of privacy or mishandling of resources. This is also very important before it expands into a widely implemented web of connected vehicles, something that the Department of Transportation in the USA have proposed to be made mandatory.

Cadillac also pledges to make V2V an important part of its autonomous driving efforts. With cars being able to talk to each other, they can actually form a web of intercommunication regarding road status, directions, conditions, traffic and more. Coupled with the predictive features lent by the 980 metres of interconnectivity range, autonomous cars of the future may get to maneuver themselves much better - somewhat similar to how human drivers get to learn routes after having driven through them.

The story, however, may be significantly different here in India. With considerably narrower roads, less distinct demarcations of road signs and adherence to road rules, and a drastically different demographic of drivers, autonomous driving still seems like a farshot into the future. What technology like V2V can contribute to in India are logging road conditions and feeding them within connected cars, which can contribute to traffic, driving styles, car maintenance and more. With India being ever-so-concerned with mileage and servicing schedules, it is in these places where V2V can prove to be the most useful.

With Tata Motors already having signed into a connected cars agreement with Microsoft and unveiled the TaMo RaceMo under this platform, it will be interesting to see how the realm of connected automobiles advance in India. Cadillac, meanwhile, is also upbeat about fellow car makers getting set to adapt this technology soon, all of which should see a rising web of interconnected vehicles as early as 2018.
The Indian government plans to leapfrog when it comes to 5G adoption. The fifth generation of connectivity has been a hot area of innovation this past year, with major tech companies already making entry roads to support Indias 5G infrastructure.

5G is expected to drastically reduce latency, and offer wider, better connectivity. The new standard is said to bring with it speeds of up to 10Gbps, making it 100 times faster than the current 4G network.

Now, as per reports, the government is looking to initiate 5G spectrum auctions starting with bands over 3,000 MHz. This will help India rollout the next generation communication standard faster than expected. Over and above its mobile connectivity capabilities, 5G will be vital for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, a much needed boost to the adoption of the Internet of Things in India. It will also have an important role to play in developing smart cities and infrastructure in the country, keeping in line with the current administrations smart city project.

It is expected that the 5G spectrum will be sold in 3,300 MHz and 3,400 MHz bands. A source told ToI, These bands have potential when considered from the point of view of where we are headed for, in terms of technological progress. We intend to move in early in adoption of new technologies and also get a response from the industry on the matter. The proposal is also known to have done its rounds within the Telecom ministry and the TRAI is also expected to be roped in soon to recommend reserve prices for the spectrum sale.

Speaking to Digit on the subject of 5G adoption in India at the sidelines of the India Smart Grid Week, Kavitha Mohammad, Director  Industrial Solutions Group, Public Sector, APJ for Intel said, 3G, 2G, they were meant for people to people communication, but 5G, we are actually positioning that for machine-to-machine communication. Because you know you have some limitations. For instance, video cannot be transmitted on certain media, but then with 5G its a totally different architecture, it supports a different type of data and bandwidth. Again, I wouldnt say its a natural transition from 4G to 5G, but it will happen in parallel, because they are meant for different segments too. I think 5G adoption will happen sooner than you think. Its going to happen anytime now. Issues such as latency, power usage, un-optimized bandwidth utilization will be addressed through 5G.which are key for IOT communications

5G was also a trendsetter at the Mobile World Congress this year. State run telecom operator, BSNL was reported to have signed an MoU with Nokia in Barcelona for a smoother transition to 5G networks. BSNL Chairman, Anupam Shrivastava told PTI, After 4G, the future is 5G and IoT, which is useful in the concept such as smart cities... The MoU will help BSNL to draw a framework for transition from the current network to futuristic 5G network. Nokia has also partnered with Bharti Airtel to create a roadmap for for 5G and IoT applications. The agreement will give Airtel access to use Nokia's 5G FIRST end-to-end 5G solutions, such as AirScale radio access portfolio and AirFrame data center platform.

Chipset maker Qualcomm was also strutting its 5G trials around the Mobile World Congress. The company has joined forces with the likes of Vodafone, Ericsson and Intel, to accelerate standardisation of 5G New Radio (NR). It expanded its Snapdragon x50 5G modem family to include support for 5G NR. These devices are designed to support 2G/3G/4G/5G functionality on a single chip.

Given that India is currently at the helm of telecom innovation, with networks like Reliance Jio offering world-first free of cost services, It is surely an encouraging sign to see the government's eagerness in building infrastructure to further 5G infrastructure, in turn giving a major push to its Digital India agenda.
Some Google Pixel and Pixel XL users are reporting total audio input block, and the company has agreed to replace the handsets under warranty.

Google Pixel and Pixel XL users are reportedly facing issues with failing microphones. The problem is apparently happening to a large subset of Pixel and Pixel XL owners, who are reporting complete failure of one or more of their device microphones, and with some users even reporting complete audio input block.

Google has noticed the issue and is offering to replace the affected handsets under warranty. Google employee Brian Rakowski says, the Pixel and Pixel XL may have a failure causing physical defect in either the primary "phone" input or the two ambient mics.

However, this is not the first time users have reported issues with Pixel and Pixel XL. Earlier, Pixel owners reported loudspeaker issues that Google subsequently fixed with firmware updates.

Google says, the defect could have been caused by a dry solder in the microphone component going to the mainboard. Since the defects are directly associated with hardware components, there doesn't seem to be any easy fix just yet. Google itself says there is no guarantee that the replacement phone won't have the same issue.

The move should come as a concern to Pixel/Pixel XL owners. If rumours are anything to go by, Google has started working on the second iteration of Pixel and Pixel XL, which are slated for launch later this year. The company is likely to follow leads from Apple's iPhone 7 and ditch the headphone jack, from what it seems now.
A leaked report from the Spanish government has detailed how the country could lose up to 1bn in exports as a result of Britain's departure from the European Union, according to a leaked report from the central government in Madrid.

Up to 800,000 Britons who live in Spain will also face an uncertain future when the UK eventually completes the Brexit process, as well as 300,000 Spaniards resident in Britain.

Spanish daily newspaper El Pais the documents on Friday, in which Mariano Rajoy's government warned of the "negative consequences" the departure would cause for Spain's economy.

The report used figures provided by the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, and estimated that the fallout from Brexit could shave between 0.2% and 0.4% from Spain's GDP.

Tourism, food and pharmaceutical industries would be among the hardest hit in the country following Brexit, according to the report.

Spanish companies which operate and take revenue from the UK will suffer also, including Santander and Telefonica. "The economic bonds between the UK and Spain are very tight," the report said.

There would be "innumerable repercussions" for the more than one million people who are living Spain as UK citizens or vice versa.

Rajoy played down the impact of the report on Friday, telling reporters that Spain will enter the negotiations with an open mind.

"There's no need to over-dramatise things," Rajoy said.

"What we need to do is have good negotiations. The UK wants good negotiations, so does Europe and so does Spain and I hope that things will turn out pretty well for everyone."
Markets in Asia were mostly higher on Friday, as uncertainty grew in South Korea after a court there upheld parliaments vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 surged 1.48% to 19,604.61, with the yen continuing to weaken against the greenback.

It was last 0.38% weaker at JPY 115.39 per $1.

Technology firm Toshiba had a volatile day, sliding sharply at the open before rising again to finish 1.71% higher.

Concerns were mounting that Toshiba had hired bankruptcy attorneys at its US subsidiary to look at the viability of entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy after its mammoth multi-billion dollar writedown.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.13% at 3,212.42, while the Shenzhen Composite managed to rise 0.2% to 2,013.64.

Chinese drug company Fosun Pharmaceuticals rose 1.18%, as it held early talks with a number of buyout funds over a potential joint takeover of German generic drugs manufacturer Stada.

South Koreas Kospi added 0.3% to 2,097.35 after the Constitutional Court ruled on President Parks impeachment, upholding parliaments vote last year to impeach her.

As a result of the ruling, Park had to leave office immediately, with the country legally bound to hold elections for a replacement within 60 days.

Sizeable crowds gathered in central Seoul - both supporters and detractors - as police mobilised more than 20,000 additional officers in an attempt to keep the peace.

Korea would now face near-term political uncertainty and the likely further escalation of economic risks facing [the country], noted IHS Markits Asia Pacific chief economist Rajiv Biswas.

The impeachment was only adding to the existing geopolitical tensions on the peninsula, as North Korea continued its belligerent testing of missiles and the US deployed an anti-missile system in the South in response to that threat.

Beijing had made it clear it viewed the US deployment as a threat itself, and reportedly responded with boycotts of South Korean businesses operating in China, along with alleged cyber attacks on South Korean firms.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index finished 0.29% higher at 23,568.67.

Oil prices were slightly higher during Asian trading, with Brent crude last up 0.34% at $52.37 and West Texas Intermediate adding 0.53% to $49.54.

Prices for crude had plummeted during US hours overnight, as officials from Saudi Arabia held closed-door talks with a number of major US oil producers.

It was reportedly warning that it was not prepared to extend its production freeze to offset the increase in production from US shale producers.

Australias S&P/ASX 200 was in the green by 0.6% at 5,775.62, while New Zealands S&P/NZX 50 added 0.5% to 7,177.58, led higher by the index company itself, as NZX rose 2.8%.

The down under dollars were both stronger, with the Aussie last 0.2% ahead on the greenback at AUD 1.3297 and the Kiwi strengthening 0.24% to NZD 1.4458 per $1.
European stocks started the morning on the up amid follow-through buying on the coattails of the more confident note on the economic outlook which the European Central Bank's Governing Council struck the day before.

That was even as traders waited for the release of the all-important February US jobs report at 1330 GMT.

As of 0845 GMT the benchmark Stoxx 600 index was advancing 0.36% or 1.35 points to 374.24, while the German Dax was rising 0.53% or 63.04 points to 12,041.43 and Milan's FTSE Mibtel tacked on 0.80% or 156.23 points to trade at 19,740.53.

In parallel, front month Brent crude oil futures were bouncing back by 0.67% to $52.54 a barrel on the ICE, while the euro/dollar was gaining 0.35% to 1.0614.

"European shares are trading moderately higher this morning in the aftermath of yesterday's ECB meeting. Whilst the ECB meeting didn't yield a major shift in policy it still appears that Euro-zone economy is finally on the up and that in 2018 rates could start creeping higher. Whilst slightly higher rates won't have much of a negative impact on economic growth, new optimism about the Euro-zone economy could give the consumer and corporate profits a much needed boost," said Markus Huber at City of London Markets.

Market consensus was for the US to have added 190,000 jobs in February after a gain of 227,000 in January and for a dip in the unemployment rate from 4.8% in January to 4.7%, alongside gains of 0.3% month-on-month and 2.8% year-on-year in average hourly earnings.

"Today sees the release of US payroll numbers. These will be have even more significance that is usual given Janet Yellen's recent comments that this is one of the key drivers for the timing of the next interest move. Just like the Budget statement, no one is anticipating a surprise, but with the market already pricing-in a rise in March, unexpectedly poor numbers would likely cause an instant reaction," said Dave Jeal, Head of Investment Products at stockbroker Interactive Investor.

Germany's foreign trade surplus improved from 18.3bn in December to 18.5bn for January, ahead of forecasts calling for 18.0bn.

That came even as imports surged by 3.0% month-on-month (consensus: 0.5%) but were offset by exports which rose 2.7% versus December (consensus: 1.9%).

Wholesale prices in the euro area's largest economy advanced 0.5% on the month in February after a rise of 0.8% in December.

French industrial production dipped 0.3% month-on-month in January after a gain of 0.5% in December.

In corporate news, 30 lenders reportedly signed up to back Deutsche Bank's 8bn rights issue.

Stock in Volkswagen gained on news that it would plead guilty in US courts to three counts of felony as part of a plea agreement with US regulators over its emissions-defeat devices.
Amec Foster Wheeler on Friday said it it had won separate contracts in Brunei and Kuwait for undisclosed values.

The first contract is for five years with Brunei Shell Petroleum for the rejuvenation of assets in Brunei. There are two one-year options to extend, and includes Brunei Shell Petroleum's oil and gas assets in the South China Sea.

The second contract is for six years with Petrochemical Industries Company, a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC), for the integration project between its Olefins III, Aromatics II and ZOR Refinery in the State of Kuwait.
Under pressure from the telecoms watchdog and rival firms, BT Group has agreed to legally separate its Openreach infrastructure arm this year, but will still retain legal ownership of the assets and keep the unit within the wider group.

The new Openreach will have roughly 32,000 staff transferred from BT, plus its own management, independent board and own logo, but still be within the BT group.

Calling it the "biggest reform" of the UK telecoms infrastructure company in its history, regulator Ofcom said Openreach Ltd will have "the greatest degree of independence from BT Group without incurring the delays and disruption  to industry, consumers and investment plans  associated with structural separation or the sell-off of Openreach to new shareholders".

Assets, such as the physical national broadband and phone network, will be controlled by Openreach alone.

The Openreach board will make decisions on building and maintaining its physical assets, with BT handing these powers to Openreach while still retaining a title of ownership.

Openreach's chief executive, who will in future be appointed by the Openreach board, will have a separate strategy and control over budget allocation within an overall budget set by BT Group.

Reporting to the Openreach chairman, the CEO will still be accountable to BT chief executive Gavin Patterson and his eventual successors, which the company said was related to certain duties consistent with BTs being a listed company.

BT agreed to all of the changes needed to address Ofcoms competition concerns, which Ofcom said meant it would not need to impose these changes through regulation.

A spokesperson from rival Sky said the announcement was "a welcome step that we have long called for on behalf of our customers".

"A more independent Openreach is a step towards delivering better service to customers and the investment that the UK needs. It's important that today's agreement is now implemented by BT in good faith and without delay."

However, investors felt it was mostly good news for BT, with shares in the former state monopoly rising more than 4% on Friday morning to 344.05p, their highest since late January's profit warning due to problems in its Italian arm.

Sky shares were flat, TalkTalk was up 0.3% as was Vodafone.

BT has 'dodged a bullet'

"Todays news confirms what investors had been hoping for since July when BT dodged a bullet as Ofcom said it wanted Openreach hived off into a separate company with its own board within the group," said analyst Neil Wilson at ETX Capital.

"The regulator could have forced BT to shed the infrastructure part of the business completely to address concerns around competition."

Consumer telecoms expert Dan Howdle of Ofcom-accredited Cable.co.uk, said Openreach will finally be committed to acting equally in the interests of all providers, "allowing them finally to act on behalf of their own customers and to affect future strategy and investment decision-making associated with the Openreach network".

He added: "This is a good day for the average broadband, TV and phone customer too, who will enjoy all the benefits the stoking of competition in a fairer marketplace is likely to bring, without suffering the costs and delays to infrastructural rollout a full separation would have incurred. We should not, however, rule out a full separation happening at some point in the future."

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, felt that where the agreement is "rather more interesting" was the focus on legal separation rather than genuine independence, with Patterson still able to veto the appointment of the Openreach CEO, simply by notifying regulator Ofcom.

"This veto is only mentioned in the Ofcom statement. Does its absence from BTs own release say something about independence? Ofcom saying the deal seeks the greatest deal of independence also suggest it doesnt quite fully deliver in terms of true autonomy," he said.

"All this begs the question whether Openreach will have the true independence being demanded by customers and competitors to foster real competition on the UK network. Is this simply a legal fudge on an existing subsidiary to get everyone off its back? Was OFCOM so tired of it all that even it thought thatll do? Does the fact that shares in competitors SKY, VOD and TALK have barely moved suggest doubts there too?"

Joshu Mahoney at IG felt the deal was great news for consumers, with increased investment and competition likely to ensue.

"Without the need to contribute towards a wider BT balance sheet, Openreach can now concentrate on improving their services, which is good news for the economy as a whole. With the likes of TalkTalk, Sky and Plusnet all utilising the Openreach fibre infrastructure, there is likely to be a better environment for those firms, with BT no longer gaining first dibs on capacity."
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Day trips to France from just 27 return

: Source: DFDS Seaways

Take a day trip to France this month with DFDS from just 27 return when you book with Direct Ferries.



Sail Dover - Calais or Dover - Dunkirk and enjoy up to 24 hours in France from just 27 return for a car carrying up to 9 people.



DFDS offers many daily return sailings to France and with a sailing time from just 2 hours this is the perfect option for a European day trip.



Hurry though, this offer is short lived and is valid on selected departures until 30th March. Book by 29th March to save.


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What if there's no affordable insurance?

Insurers have bluntly stated that they can't commit until they see what the government does to improve the exchanges.



By TOM MURPHY and MEGHAN HOYER

The Associated Press

Leslie Kurtz needed three plates, eight screws and a big assist from her insurer after breaking every bone in her ankle while white water rafting. Coverage she purchased through a public insurance exchange established by the federal health care law paid $65,000 toward surgery and the care she needed after the 2015 accident. But that protection may not exist next year because insurers have abandoned the Knoxville, Tennessee resident's exchange.



. . .

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NEW YORK (AP)  New York's governor is proposing an ambitious $1.4 billion plan to address chronic problems in central Brooklyn.

Democrat Andrew Cuomo detailed the proposal Thursday at Medgar Evers College.





. . .
Port Dawgs assist with humanitarian airlift

During the March Unit Training Assembly, members of the 76th Aerial Port Squadron here palletized cargo for a Denton humanitarian airlift mission.



Video Script:



Title text: The U.S. State Department Denton Program allows non-governmental, not-for-profit organizations to use military airlift to transport humanitarian cargo.



Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Massie, 76th Aerial Port Squadron Superintendent:



During the rest of this UTA, were going to process the rest of Denton cargo for Mission of Love. The founder of Mission of Love, shes a local person who takes donations from hospitals and other private donors. We usually do between five and six Denton missions per year. Through Mission of love we usually do three or four of those.



An Airmen directs another Airmen in raising cargo on a forklift: Alright, lift it up just a hair.



Senior Master Sgt. Massie:



Once its approved, being that were the closest Air Force base to Charleston, South Carolina, we bring it in here, palletize it, and get it on the airplane for whoever they send to pick it up. Then it goes on to its final destination. This is a great training opportunity for our guys. We dont have an active cargo mission here at Youngstown, so it gets our guys hands on training and experience driving equipment and doing their jobs. This is an opportunity for them to engage and really just hone their skills.




Yellow fever could become the fifth mosquito-borne virus to hit the US in recent years, experts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland warned.

In an on-going outbreak in rural Brazil though there had been no human-to-human transmission through Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the infection had spread via non-human forest-dwelling primates, write Infectious Disease Fellow Catharine I Paules, MD, and NIAID Director Anthony S Fauci, MD, in an article published online yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

But there were concerns that human-to-human transmission might occur as the outbreak was in the vicinity of major urban areas, where yellow fever vaccine was not routinely administered.

The outbreak in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, and Sao Paulo had taken a toll of 80 lives with 234 confirmed infections as of February 2017. "The high number of cases is out of proportion to the number reported in a typical year in these areas," write Dr Paules and Dr Fauci.

They further noted that, as with Zika, arbovirus epidemics spread by A Aegypti could move rapidly through populations that lacked immunity and could be readily spread by human travelers.

The warmer regions of the continental US were vulnerable to yellow fever outbreaks.

According to experts, the looming danger of a spreading outbreak was made worse by the fact that, while an effective vaccine against yellow fever had been around since 1937, worldwide stockpiles had been running dangerously low.

In outbreaks of the disease two years back in Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo, public health officials ran so short of the vaccine that they resorted to giving each person one-fifth of a dose.

According to Fauci, only a few companies worldwide manufactured the vaccine, and making additional doses took time.


Among the guests we find the Norwegian researcher and odor expert Sissel Tolaas, the independent French filmmaker Vincent Moon, the electronic music artist Sergio Caballero, the Australian typographer Gemma OBrien and the Dutch designer and innovator Daan Roosengaarde. They will all unveil their creative practice, sharing technical and personal stories.
Kia will stick with a simple formula for its second-generation Picanto city car.

The South Korean car maker has confirmed it will follow the same single model-range strategy that was adopted by the current car when the new hatchback arrives in local showrooms in April.

However, there is one exception to the rule as the new Picanto will be offered with a choice of manual or automatic transmissions.

"We're looking forward to the new model and it was a bit of a gamble launching Picanto in the fifth year of its lifecycle but it worked out well for us," Damien Meredith, Hyundai Australia chief operating officer said at the Geneva motor show, where the new Picanto made its global debut.

"We haven't finalised the price at this point in time. We would like to be around about the same mark, because I think that's the value proposition of where we are, but it's yet to be decided," Mr Meredith said.

The 2016 Picanto automatic is priced at $14,990 driveaway, but that "same mark" doesn't account for the availability of two transmission options which haven't been a part of the Picanto plan before. Kia's General Manager of Australian media and corporate communications, Kevin Hepworth added "The price discussion is going to be slightly different this time, because we're including manual, and we didn't have a manual previously."

So far Kia has only shown the European specification Picanto, which varies slightly from the version set to sold in Australia as it includes a range of brightly coloured interior options, with initial models being shown in premium GT-Line specification that won't be sold in Australia.

Engine options in the European Picanto include carry-over 1.0-litre and 1.25-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engines along with Kia's recently released 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo engine which produces 74kW and 172Nm. Australia will initially keep the 1.25-litre engine of the current model with a similar 63kW/120Nm tune, though the 1.0-litre turbo engine remains an option as a potential sportier model at a later date.

The Picanto for Europe will be assembled in Kia's Seosan plant in South Korea, as will Australian-bound versions. However, the final specification between the two markets is expected to differ slightly, particularly given the popularity of high-end city cars in Europe compared to the more prosaic versions that reach Australia.

- For more information visit our Kia showroom
LAS VEGAS  There is still time for Nevadas young artists to submit their entries for the 2017 Nevada Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest.

The annual art competition is administered by the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex and draws entries from across the state. The deadline for entries is March 15, and Nevada teachers are encouraged to submit their students work for consideration in the state and national competitions.

The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program is a dynamic art and science program designed to teach wetlands habitat and waterfowl conservation to students kindergarten through high school and help reconnect youth with the outdoors. The program guides students, using scientific and wildlife observation principles, to communicate visually what they have learned through an entry into the Junior Duck Stamp art contest.

We truly appreciate the support of the amazing Nevada teachers who include this curriculum in their lesson plans. They are the primary force behind the Junior Duck Stamp program in the state, said Christy Smith, project leader at Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex. This year we also want to thank our generous partners, Clark County Wetlands Park and Springs Preserve for conducting JDS workshops and the Friends of Desert Refuges for sponsoring some of the workshops.

Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest entry forms and teachers guides can be downloaded from the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program website.
St.Vincent's students Beibhinn NicRuairi and Emma Durnin turned a trip to the hairdressers into a hugely successful fundraising event where they managed to raise almost 1650.

The inventive pair benefitted two charities when they donated their long locks to the Rapunzel Foundation, while simultaneously raising money for Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin.

Beibhinn explained how they began their endeavours, 'My sister was receiving treatment in Crumlin children's hospital, but due to lack of space and facilities she, along with a number of other patients had to have surgery in Blackrock. I wanted to do something to help raise much needed funds for the hospital. We decided to look at donating our hair, while organising sponsorship of the event.'



The girls very generously donated their hair to the Rapunzel Foundation, which works to improve the lives of those living with hair loss (alopecia) through fund raising as well as through hair raising. Hair is raised through the Rapunzel Foundation's Ponytail campaign, where people commit to growing their hair 14 inches or longer with a view to their hair being sent to help make much needed wigs.



Emma added, 'The student body in St.Vincent's were incredibly generous. We explained to them what we were trying to achieve and they were delighted to donate to such a worthy cause.'



St.Vincent's students Beibhinn NicRuairi and Emma Durnin turned a trip to the hairdressers into a hugely successful fundraising event where they managed to raise almost 1650. The inventive pair benefitted two charities when they donated their long locks to the Rapunzel Foundation, while simultaneously raising money for Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin.



Beibhinn explained how they began their endeavours, 'My sister was receiving treatment in Crumlin children's hospital, but due to lack of space and facilities she, along with a number of other patients had to have surgery in Blackrock. I wanted to do something to help raise much needed funds for the hospital. We decided to look at donating our hair, while organising sponsorship of the event.'



The girls very generously donated their hair to the Rapunzel Foundation, which works to improve the lives of those living with hair loss (alopecia) through fund raising as well as through hair raising. Hair is raised through the Rapunzel Foundation's Ponytail campaign, where people commit to growing their hair 14 inches or longer with a view to their hair being sent to help make much needed wigs.



Emma added, 'The student body in St.Vincent's were incredibly generous. We explained to them what we were trying to achieve and they were delighted to donate to such a worthy cause.'
Two Dublin men have been found guilty at the Special Criminal Court of the "callous, brutal and premeditated murder" of dissident republican Peter Butterly four years ago.

Mr Butterly (35) was shot dead on March 6th, 2013 outside The Huntsman Inn, Gormanston, Co Meath in what the court described this week as an "ambush".

Four men were originally charged with the shooting. One of the men, David Cullen, subsequently turned State witness, and his murder charge was dropped. The fourth man, Dean Evans (24) of Grange Park Rise, Raheny, Dublin failed to turn up for the trial, and was not located by gardai.

The non-jury court proceeded with the trial of his two co-accused in Mr Evans' absence. Edward McGrath (35), of Land Dale Lawns, Springfield, Tallaght and Sharif Kelly (47), of Pinewood Green Road, Balbriggan had both denied the murder. McGrath was also found guilty of firearms offences dating from the same occasion. It was the second trial of McGrath and Kelly.

The first trial collapsed in January 2015 after 55 days. Delivering judgement, presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt described the murder as "callous, brutal and premeditated," with both men "performing their assigned roles".

During the 31-day trial the court heard evidence that the car used in the shooting, a stolen silver Toyota Corolla, was being watched by members of the National Surveillance Unit. Gardai observed the Corolla drive past the Huntsman Inn before making a U-turn and returning to the pub, entering the carpark.



Driver

The driver, McGrath, was wearing a black wig. Deans Evans was "crouched" in the back seat, behind McGrath. The window was rolled down. Witnesses then reported hearing gunshots.

One woman, who lived opposite the pub, saw a man holding a small black handgun. A student waiting at a nearby bus-stop saw two people sprinting away from a car. One was chasing the other.

The second man raised an arm and shot the first man. The court was satisfied, Mr Justice Hunt said, that Mr Butterly was "shot in the carpark by means of a gun fired by Dean Evans".

Mr Evans, he added, was driven to and from the scene by McGrath. "It was an ambush by people who expected Mr Butterly would be present in the carpark," he said, adding that the shooting had required a "considerable degree of forethought".

The Corolla left the carpark at speed and drove up Flemington Road. Gardai pursued the car. It had stopped on the side of the road, in a laneway between two houses. A garda who had been pursuing the car performed what he told the court was a "tactical stop", ramming the back of the Corolla. McGrath and Mr Evans were ordered out of the car.

Mr Evans was holding two cigarette lighters. The car was searched and gardai found that a box of firelighters had been broken up and spread throughout it.

They also found a petrol can, gloves, a wig and glasses. Another car then came on the scene. It was a green Opel Zafira, driven by Sharif Kelly. Gardai stopped the car and Kelly was arrested.



Plastic Bag

A plastic bag containing a change of clothes was found in the Zafira's boot. There was also a duvet draped over the back seat. Further down the road, outside Gormanston College, gardai had also stopped David Cullen.

He was seen picking up a bag that had been thrown from the Toyota Corolla. There was a black semiautomatic pistol in the bag.

Later, various exhibits seized by gardai from the cars were subjected to forensic analysis. Mr Evans' fingerprint was found on the bag seized from the boot of the Zafira.

His DNA was found on the clothes inside the bag. Firearms residue found on Mr Evan's sweater showed "strong support" for the view that he shot Mr Butterly. Firearms residue was also found on a jacket taken from McGrath.



DNA

This suggested that he had been present in the vicinity of the shooting. Also, DNA matching McGrath's profile was found on a balaclava and black wig seized from the Corolla. Interviews conducted by gardai with Kelly also formed part of the prosecution's case.

The court heard that detectives asked Kelly why he had been on Flemington Road on the afternoon of the shooting.

Kelly's explanation was that he had been feeding his daughter's pony, which was being kept in a stable on Tobersool Lane, off Flemington Road.

He also said that while driving away from the stables his car had "conked out". The court heard, however, that tests later carried out on the car detected "no faults".

Mr Justice Hunt said the court rejected Kelly's account as "inherently improbable and actually untruthful".

An obvious conclusion from the evidence was that Kelly was "equipped and located to provide necessary assistance" to McGrath and Mr Evans.

The court was satisfied that the men had planned to burn the Corolla after the shooting. The judge said that a "ready source of transport would have been needed to transport the two men from the burning Corolla".

The court found that Kelly was to be the driver of the getaway car.



State Witness

Mr Justice Hunt said that in convicting the two men the court did not have to rely on the evidence of protected witness David Cullen.

During the trial, Cullen gave evidence for four and a half days, during which there was a heightened security presence at the Criminal Courts of Justice.

In June 2014, in Midlands prison, the witness gave a statement to gardai implicating his former co-accused in the murder. The following month, he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm on the day of the shooting.

His plea was accepted by the DPP and a nolle prosequi  a decision not to proceed - was entered on a count of murder.

He was sentenced to seven years in prison, with three and a half years suspended. Cullen's testimony was the focus of three days of legal submissions, during which the defence barristers argued that his evidence was tainted and should have been excluded from the trial.

In its judgement, the court found that it could not regard Cullen's evidence as acceptable unless there was significant independent corroboration.



Dangerous

It would have been "dangerous" to convict the men on the evidence of this witness, Mr Justice Hunt said, without independent corroboration. During the trial, Cullen testified that McGrath and Kelly, and a man with the initials KB, were in his apartment in Balbriggan on the night before the shooting. "By listening to them," Cullen said,

"I figured out somebody was going to get shot on Wednesday or the following day." Cullen said that KB told McGrath to "make sure he gets blocked in and can't get out, make sure it gets emptied into him."



Beretta

"At this point I knew somebody was going to be shot," Cullen said. A black bag was taken to his apartment, in which Cullen saw wigs, balaclavas and a Beretta handgun.

He told the court that his involvement was to pick up the gun and dispose of it at the gates of Gormanston College. On Wednesday, at some time between 11am and 12pm,

McGrath and Mr Evans called to Cullen's apartment and at 1:55pm Kelly took Cullen to Gormanston College.

After dropping Cullen at the gate, Kelly went off his own way. Cullen then waited at the gate.

At five past two, a Toyota Corolla drove by and a gun was thrown out the window. The gun landed in a grass verge. Cullen was picking it up when gardai arrived and he was arrested. Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with Judge John O'Hagan and Judge Ann Ryan, remanded McGrath and Kelly in custody until April 7th, when they will be sentenced.
Tom Caesar co-founded Positive Group, a financial services provider, with his father Mark in 2009. The duo, both veterans of the industry, initially operated the start-up out of their home office in Adelaide. Rather than take out a loan or engage investors, they resolved to bootstrap the operation. This decision, together with the companys transformation into a digital-first business, has proved profitable.

After spending the first few years chipping away at an initial debt of around $45,000, Positive Group, which now consists of multiple finance business including Positive Lending Solutions (PLS), began to enjoy consistent year-on-year growth. Last year, PLS debuted at #21 on the AFRs Fast 100, after turning over more than $7 million, and Positive Group as a whole achieved a 176% increase in revenue.

Tom Caesar,who is the managing director of Positive Group, spoke to Dynamic Business about the companys growth trajectory, including a key turning point, and what other start-ups can do to ensure growth.

Dynamic Business: How did Positive Group come to be?

Caesar: Mark and I were both working in the finance industry  myself in asset finance, Mark in mortgage finance. We had spoken about going into business together for about 12 months because we were ready to strike out on our own and not work for someone else within the industry. Mark was suddenly made redundant in his position and so we brought forward our planning by taking a punt and setting things up.

Dynamic Business: What has fuelled consistent growth?

Caesar: Being a digital-driven business has played a crucial role in our growth trajectory. We spend about 15% of our revenue on digital marketing, which can be considered a pretty big slice of the pie for most SMEs, but weve reaped the benefits of having a strong digital footprint and well continue to invest in this way.

Furthermore, we dont have a traditional focus on in-person services, as we felt this this would limit business growth to a smaller catchment area. Rather than have one-size fits all model, we engage customers on their own terms. Consequently, our serviceable market is seven-times the size of what a broker would typically handle.

A culture of constant improvement and curiosity has also played a role our growth. We take calculated risks  some pay off, others dont. Weve also created a progressive and collaborative work environment, where everyone is entitled to make suggestions, whether its an improvement to our improvements, a new marketing idea or the adoption of new software, via our internal innovation page. All ideas are considered, even if they dont necessarily sound intuitive in the first instance.

Dynamic Business: Did growth require an aha moment?

Caesar: Our key turning point came at the end of 2011 when we went attended Dreamforce, the largest Salesforce conference. It opened my eyes to the opportunities in our industry that come from utilising technology.

There were so many things I learned from other industries which I could relate back to what we were doing with Positive Group. For instance, I recall listening to the head of a motorbike manufacturer speak about using gamification to encourage sales distribution and create healthy competition amongst sales managers. That idea resonated with me and I left the session thinking gamification could work in our business even though we were providing a different service.

Listening to business leaders from other industries trying to innovate and drive positive changes, I began to adopt a new mindset, which led to a culture of improvement and feedback on Positive Group. Since then, weve strived to go beyond the norm. For instance, we consider being digital first rather innovative for our sector. As long as we continue innovating, were in a position to grow.

Dynamic Business: How will you maintain momentum?

Caesar: We recently acquired two businesses as part of our growth strategy. Our new specialist car loan business is allowing us to better serve customers in the Perth time zone by having a physical presence in that market. Meanwhile, our new financial planning business comes with a really strong team. They currently practice in-person, so were keen to build this out to a digital channel. I believe theres an opportunity to be a disruptor in this instance as financial planning is typically done face to face.Of course, Im making everything sound a lot easier than it was. Initially our leadership team expected a transition period of approximately two months  in reality, however, it took closer to six months to on-board staff from the new businesses to our systems, processes and culture. .

We have a few big projects coming to their final stages and hopefully we will be able to announce some new systems and announcements before the end of the financial year. One of them is a new customer platform were working on, which will ideally scale our business about ten times its current size without having to bring in much additional resources.

Were also continuing our work with Leading Teams, a leadership development consultancy which focuses on creating a culture of high performance. Having a positive workplace culture has definitely contributed to the success and growth of the business, as our staff work towards the same goal as a collective whole, while remaining accountable to their personal targets.

Based on our growth curve, we really want to nurture our workplace culture; we cant lose sight of who we are and what we believe in as we continue to bring in new staff and grow the business. This past year has really has been a year of consolidation by increasing efficiencies in processes and systems, with the aim of another large growth spike next financial year.

Dynamic Business: How can start-ups ensure growth?

Caesar: There are so many free resources available to start-up founders  use them, try new things and keep learning every day. Personally, I read Venture Beat and other blogs, watch TEDx videos, read books from business influencers and go to as many conferences as I can. Its all about expanding your knowledge and fertilising your creative thinking, with the aim of improving your business. You never know when you will be inspired by a different sector to yours. The main thing is to never be caught up in only running your business because you never know when a big idea will hit you.

Most importantly, business operators need to build a good culture. That isnt a culture of all going out on the booze together but a culture of working together, giving each other feedback, having open and honest conversations and where everyone is steering the ship in the same direction. Whilst we have always had good culture, we actively invested in our culture by bringing in an external facilitator from Leading Teams to ensure we could scale positively. Weve brought in 25 new staff since we had Leading Teams working with us, and not only has our cultural DNA stayed the same, weve also changed for the better.
ELKO  In late spring, the Nevada Department of Transportation will be placing two new signs on Interstate 80 promoting the California Trail Interpretive Center. One sign will be for eastbound traffic and the other for westbound traffic. Each sign will be three miles from the Center.

In informal surveys the most common reason that visitors stop at the Trail Center is because they saw a sign, or saw something happening at the Trail Center. The main concern was that the existing signage needs to be replaced or augmented by signs a greater distance from the actual exits.

With the experienced leadership of Jeff Williams of the California Trail Heritage Alliance (formerly California Trail Center Foundation) and the wonderful assistance and direction provided by Kevin Lee, NDOT District Engineer, these properly located signs are soon to become a reality.

In the last three years, various options for signs have been explored with Maggie Creek Ranch, the BLM, the Elko County Recreation Board, and NDOT. The Alliance investigated federal, state and county regulations that impact placement of signs along a federal interstate highway.

NDOT proposed a very creative option to promote the Trail Center with large (6-foot by 19-foot) signs inside the right of way for I-80. The signs will be installed later in the spring when weather and soil conditions permit.

The Alliance has worked to increase the visitation at the Trail Center in recent years through grants from the Elko County Recreation Board and Travel Nevada. Through their efforts and others, visitation has increased significantly in the last three years.

The mission of the California Trail Heritage Alliance is to enhance the California Trail experience for the community, the public and future generations. For more information visit www.Californiatrailheritagealliance.org.
For weeks and weeks now the Indivisible group in Dexter, Michigan (Indivisible Dexter) and other residents of Michigans 7th Congressional District have been asking Republican Congressman Tim Walberg to meet with them to answer questions and clarify his positions on repealing the Affordable Care Act, climate change, ending reimbursements for services provided by Planned Parenthood, and a host of other issues.

Walberg did one public coffee recently in Hillsdale on a weekday morning where he controlled the entire event, forcing participants in the overflow crowd to submit questions on cards which were screened by staff. Attendees were warned that any sort of disruption (like asking a question out loud) would be dealt with by expulsion. And he had 11 (ELEVEN!!!) law enforcement officials on hand to make that happen. In the end, it was little more than a live telephone townhall. Read more about that absurd event HERE.

Dexter residents have learned that Walberg will be attending at men-only breakfast (during Womens History Month!) at the Dexter United Methodist Church TOMORROW, March 11th at 8:30 a.m. They made arrangements to hold a public townhall event at another Dexter church immediately following. Rather than respond to the people who invited him, Walberg ignored them completely and, instead, called the second church to decline.

In response, Indivisible Dexter is holding protest march called Dexter Persists across the street from the Dexter United Methodist Church tomorrow, March 11th starting at 8:40 a.m. Here are the details from the organizers:

Tim Walberg will be in Dexter on 3/11/2017 for a men-only breakfast at Dexter United Methodist Church (DUMC), 7643 Huron River Dr. Dexter, MI 48130-9321, where he will speak at 8:30 a.m. Indivisible Dexter extended a formal invitation for Tim Walberg to attend a Town Hall in Dexter after his meeting at DUMC. On Thursday afternoon he declined to meet with us, so we are going to him. PLAN:

The event will be across the street from Dexter United Methodist Church. This will be a quiet and peaceful gathering. We will stay off the church property and walk and gather on the north side of Huron River Drive. Participants will park in two places, the Faith in Action Food Pantry lot at 7275 W Joy Rd, or on Ridgeway Ct., on the west of DUMC. There will be parking lot attendants at each spot to show you where you can park and direct you to the event and to coordinate rides directly to the event if walking is not an option. You will also be handed a flyer with more information when you park. Please bring signs. Our message is simple, we are asking him to listen to us. Be creative but please be respectful. This is not a protest against the church, the mens meeting or to anyone except Rep. Walberg. Make this clear to anyone you speak with. This is only a direct action requesting that Rep. Walberg listen to our concerns. Dress warm, it will be chilly, and wear appropriate shoes as we will be walking in the grass next to the road. We will follow up around noon at Null Taphouse for a postcard writing party. This is to support the national postcard event on 3/15/17. Who doesnt like celebrating democracy with a beer and a pointed postcard to Trump and Walberg? To RSVP and receive continuous updates on the event, click HERE.

[Photo by Anne C. Savage, for Eclectablog]
ELKO  Gold may not run through their veins, but after 40 years in the industry the yellow metal has greatly impacted David Pennells and Deron Williams lives.

This year they both are celebrating their careers with Barrick Gold Corp.

Neither of them came from a hardrock mining background. Pennell said he worked for Union Pacific and his grandfather was upset when he left. His father was an equipment operator in the coal mines and oil fields in Wyoming.

The railroad was a great job, but it wasnt what I wanted to do, he said.

Williams said he grew up on a farm in eastern Colorado.

I was used to working 16 hours a day, he said.

A good pay rate on the farm was $3 an hour, but when he went to work for a mining company he started at $10.88 an hour.

I looked at that first paycheck and thought holy cow, Im rollin in it, Williams said.

The two men have worked together, on and off, for four decades.

Beginning Miners

They met as teenagers in Wyoming.

Pennell began working for Getty Oil Co. a day after his 19th birthday in February and Williams was hired in May.

I remember when he walked up, Pennell said. He said Im Deron Williams and Im from Cope, Colorado. Its funny what you remember.

We started off on a labor crew together. I was still 17, Williams said. I dont know how they pulled it off getting me hired before I was 18, but they did.

Pennell and Williams worked in Wyoming for about five years and then were asked to go to a subsidiary  the Getty Mining Co. in Tooele, Utah.

That was where the Mercur mine was, Pennell said. I worked there for 13 and a half or 14 years.

When John Paul Getty died, his son sold off the oil and mining companies and kept Getty Images. The Mercur mine was sold to Texaco and eventually to Barrick. When the mine changed hands, Pennells and Williams time with the previous company transferred over.

In 85 or 86, Barrick bought it and we were their second mine at that time, Pennell said.

Williams said Barrick was basically Peter Munk and Bob Smith at the time. Munk founded the mining company and Smith was the president from 1987 to 1996 and vice chairman until his death in 1998. Even though the mines Barrick owned had hundreds of people at them, Pennell said Smith knew every employee by name.

Bob Smith was the type of guy, it didnt matter if he didnt see you for 10 years, he says, Hows it going Dave? Nice to see you again. He was that type of guy, Pennell said with a smile.

They used to come to the Christmas parties, Williams said. Theyd sit right down at the tables and visit with you.

Pennell still has a piece of the Mercur mine with him to this day. Before he left Mercur, the site took down the Ingersol headframe and gave pieces of it to the workers and a museum. It had been built in 1934 and was destroyed in 1994.

We knew that we would be done there within two years, he said.

Moving to Nevada

Pennell said he left Mercur for Goldstrike in 1995 or 1996. Williams transferred to Goldstrike in June 1997 and still works there today.

I was one of the last few to transfer out here, Williams said.

Weve always been heavy equipment operators, Pennell said. The only thing thats different, that I did different from Deron is I went to the drilling and blasting part. I did that at Mercur for seven years.

While they both worked at Goldstrike for many years, they were on different crews.

After 37 years on the surface, Pennell went to the underground at Cortez Hills.

I decided three years ago, I needed to do something different, he said.

Williams said he is the utility guy at Goldstrike. He has operated everything from shovels to haul trucks to dozers.

Travel for the job

As miners, their jobs led them to places they never imagined visiting.

In 2011, Pennell was asked to go to Africa with 11 other miners to run equipment and train other workers.

He went to the Buzwagi Mine in Tanzania.

It was January of 2011, Pennell said. I was gone for 12 weeks, and I came back and my boss got a phone call three weeks after I got back and said guess what, they want you to come back.

The second time going to Africa, Williams went with him. They spent six months at the mine.

Pennell said mining is similar in many countries but working in Africa was like stepping back in time.

He said they didnt let employees use air tools.

They thought the guys would get hurt, Pennell said. Their safety record, you couldnt beat it. Very seldom did I see someone get injured.

Safety culture and technology

The biggest change in their 40 years in mining is the safety culture.

The stories we could tell from when we started compared to what is allowed now are amazing, Williams said.

Pennell said he has a anti-safety story he always tells a foreman, especially when he or she is new. About 25 or 30 years ago, when he had to go up high on a platform, Pennell used his bootstrings to tie off.

Williams and Pennell said many of the things miners did a couple decades ago would never happen today.

We know guys who have died, he said.

They said the safety culture has changed drastically in the last 15 years and continues to change.

Twenty-five, 30 years ago it was just gung-ho go. You just go, Williams said. Now, we stop, we stand back and take a look and see hows this going to affect us.

The second biggest change is the technology.

The equipment has grown larger over the years and is more dependent on computers.

The technology, I cant keep up with it, Williams said.

And now theyre going autonomous, Pennell said.

Daves a lot better with computers than I am, Williams said.

He said he tried dispatch for a time, but people who work there must know how to run a computer.

I admitted before I went in, one of my downfalls is running a computer, Williams said.

Pennell said he is a little worried about the autonomous equipment coming in at Cortez.

My boss is telling me youll do fine, and Im thinking, man, I havent touched a Gameboy in 10 years, he said.

However they are both willing to learn and stay on the job.

As long as I am useful to them and I feel useful, Ill stay, Pennell said.

Benefits of mining

Williams and Pennell said working for Barrick has allowed them to take care of their families and send their children to college.

The scholarship program, all three of my kids used it, Pennell said.

Williams said all three of his children have college degrees.

Thats what its all about, being able to work somewhere, be appreciated and being able to raise your family, Pennell said.

I get some satisfaction going home at night knowing that I accomplished something to the best of my ability and did it without hurting myself or somebody else, Williams said.

The main reason they stayed with the company for so long was the camaraderie with other employees.

Williams said one of the biggest impacts of the job is when he learned about the positive impact he has had on others on the job.

Neither of them have any plans to retire.

Im too young, Williams said. I know guys who retired and then came back into mining.

Its been a good run, Pennell said.  Its not about the job, its about the memories and the people.
U.S. Right to Know, a consumer advocacy organization, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for violating provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Public Citizen Litigation Group, a public interest law firm in Washington, DC, is representing U.S. Right to Know in the action.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, seeks documents related to EPAs assessment of a controversial chemical called glyphosate. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world and is the key ingredient in Monsantos branded Roundup herbicides as well as other weed-killing products. Concerns about the chemical have grown since the World Health Organization in 2015 said its cancer experts classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. Other scientists have also said research shows safety problems with the chemical and the formulations its used in.

U.S. Right to Know requested the EPA records after the EPA posted an internal memorandum titled GLYPHOSATE: Report of the Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC) to the agencys website on April 29, 2016. The internal EPA report, known as the CARC report, concluded that glyphosate was not likely to be carcinogenic to humans. The EPA then deleted the public posting on May 2, 2016, saying that the document was posted inadvertently. But before it was deleted Monsanto officials copied the document, promoted it on the company website and on social media and made reference to it in a court hearing dealing with lawsuits filed by agricultural workers and others who allege Monsantos herbicide gave them cancer.

The May 12, 2016, FOIA request asked for certain records relating to the CARC report on glyphosate as well as records of communications between Monsanto and EPA officials that discussed glyphosate issues. Under FOIA, the EPA had 20 working days to respond to the request, but well over 190 working days have now passed and the EPA has yet to produce any records in response to the request. The EPA has also failed to comply with similar, more recent FOIA requests made by U.S. Right to Know for documentation of EPA dealings with Monsanto regarding glyphosate, though those requests are not part of this lawsuit.

The lawsuit specifically claims that U.S. Right to Know has a statutory right under FOIA to the requested records and that EPA has no legal basis for refusing to produce these records. The complaint asks the court to order EPA to make the requested records promptly available.

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By Carey Gillam

Nearly a year after a mysterious leak of industry-friendly information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), many pressing questions remain about the agencys interactions with agribusiness giant Monsanto and its handling of cancer concerns with Monsantos top-selling herbicide. But thanks to a federal court judge in California, we may soon start getting some answers.

The transcript of a recent court hearing reveals that Judge Vince Chhabria, who is overseeing a combination of more than 55 lawsuits filed against Monsanto in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, warned Monsanto that many documents it is turning over in discovery will not be kept sealed despite the companys pleas for privacy. He threatened to impose sanctions if Monsanto persists in overbroad efforts to keep relevant documents out of public view.

The litigation against Monsanto has been filed by people from around the U.S. who allege that exposure to Monsantos Roundup herbicide caused them or their loved ones to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer that originates in the lymphatic system and has been on the rise in recent decades. While those lawsuits are being handled together as multi-district litigation (MDL) in San Francisco, hundreds of other plaintiffs are making similar allegations in lawsuits in multiple state courts as well. And the teams of lawyers involved say they are continuing to meet with prospective additional plaintiffs.

I have a problem with Monsanto, because itsit is insisting that stuff be filed under seal that should not be filed under seal, Judge Chhabria told the attorneys for both sides. When documents are relevant to the litigation, they shouldnt be under seal, even if they are notare embarrassing to Monsanto, you know, even if Monsanto doesnt like what they say.

This week the judge also gave a green lightover Monsantos objectionto a plaintiffs request to obtain documents and depose a key former Monsanto official from Europe. Other Monsanto officials are to be deposed within the next few weeks.

The central question to the mass of lawsuits is causationcan Roundup cause cancer, and has Monsanto wrongly covered up or ignored the risks. But the litigation is also threatening to pull back a curtain of secrecy that cloaks the governments work with Monsanto and its assessment of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup. There were concerns expressed years ago at the EPA that glyphosate could be carcinogenic, and many independent scientists have pointed to research that raises red flags about both glyphosate and the formulated products like Roundup. The International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015 classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. But the EPA has been steadfast in its assessment that glyphosate is not likely carcinogenic.

Now plaintiffs attorneys allege they are finding evidence in the discovery documents of apparent collusion between Monsanto and at least one high-level EPA official, though Monsanto vehemently denies that.

Monsanto has made billions of dollars a year for decades from its glyphosate-based herbicides, and they are the lynchpin to billions of dollars more it makes each year from the genetically engineered glyphosate-tolerant crops it markets. As it moves toward a planned merger with Bayer AG, defending the safety of what has been the worlds most widely used weed killer is critical.

So far, Monsanto has turned over close to 10 million documents to lawyers for the plaintiffs. Among those documents are some that detail Monsantos interactions with EPA officials, including Jess Rowland, head of the EPAs Cancer Assessment Review Committee. A report by that committee was leaked to the public on April 29 of last year, posted on an EPA website when it should not have been, the agency said. The report stayed on the website only until May 2 before being deleted, but it was long enough for Monsanto to copy the report and tout it on its website and in social media postings. Monsanto also referenced the report in a key court hearing in May in the MDL cases.

The timing of the leak of the report was favorable to Monsanto, which at that time was not only trying to slow the advancement of the MDL litigation, but also was trying to convince European regulators to re-approve glyphosate in Europe and was suing California to try to keep the state from adding glyphosate to a list of chemical carcinogens.

According to court filings by plaintiffs attorneys, discovery evidence strongly suggests that Mr. Rowlands primary goal was to serve the interests of Monsanto. Rowland left the agency shortly after the April 29 leak and has not publicly addressed the matter. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Monsanto very much wants to keep its internal documents, including those related to Rowland, out of the public eye. The company says the information can be taken out of context and exploited unfairly to sway public opinion. According to the transcript, Monsanto attorney Eric Lasker complained to the judge that the plaintiffs attorneys are trying to try the case in litigation and the press. This is litigation, he said, that people are following, that what happens in this courtroom ends up on blogs, posts, ends up in articles.

Nevertheless, Chhabria said he sees the documents related to Rowland and to the EPA and International Agency for Research on Cancer as relevant and not appropriate for sealing, meaning they could be made available in court filings soon.

Plaintiffs attorneys have subpoenaed Rowlands deposition over initial objections from the EPA to a request for his deposition. In the hearing, the judge indicated that he favored allowing the deposition, though he gave the EPA until March 28 to file a motion to quash the subpoena.

Plaintiffs attorneys are also preparing for the March 15 deposition of Monsantos chief regulatory liaison, Dan Jenkins, who was in regular contact with the EPA regarding glyphosate for years. They plan to depose Susan Martino-Catt, the companys global supply chain strategy and operations lead on March 30. And the judge ruled that they may also depose and obtain documents from Mark Martens, a former employee of Monsanto in Belgium.

The judge is pushing both sides to keep to a frenzied pace for gathering experts and evidence. A key hearing is set for October in which the opposing parties will present expert witness testimony to the judge, and trial dates could begin in 2018, the attorneys project.

The consumer advocacy group I work for, U.S. Right to Know, on Thursday sued the EPA seeking a release of documents dealing with the Cancer Assessment Review Committee leak and other matters as questions persist about the safety of the product and whether or not assessments have been properly conducted.

The unfolding court case could soon start providing some answers.
By Whitney Webb

The first photos of the wild boars that have come to dominate the abandoned streets of towns near the site of the 2011 Fukushima disaster have emerged as government-led teams begin to cull the boar population to make way for the expected return of the towns former residents.

For the last six years, the streets of the towns abandoned in the wake of the Fukushima disaster have been walked, not by people, but by wild, radioactive boars. After the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, exclusion zones were set up around the plant and the populations of the towns within were evacuated to a safer distance, giving rise to Fukushima ghost towns. In the years since, hundreds upon hundreds of wild boars have come to roam the deserted streets, foraging for food.

The highly radioactive boars have been reported to attack people when provoked and have become a major problem in the Japanese governments efforts to prepare the towns for the eventual homecoming of its former, human residents. In the abandoned coastal town of Namiejust 2.5 miles from the site of the meltdownresidents are expected to return at the end of the month, meaning that the boars must be cleared. Tamotsu Baba, mayor of Namie, told the Mirror: It is not really clear now which is the master of the town, people or wild boars.

Radiation at Fukushima Spikes to Highest Levels Since 2011 https://t.co/0Vb8BIje68 They denied and denied now there is prove.  Calliope (@therezrayCGF) February 6, 2017

The Japanese government has been sending in teams to cull the boars, which has also led the radioactive animals to be filmed and photographed for the first time. According to Baba, the need to eliminate the boars is urgent: If we dont get rid of them and turn this into a human-led town, the situation will get even wilder and uninhabitable. The culling teams have been using cage traps and air rifles to reduce the boar population in Namie and three surrounding towns, including Tomioka where 800 boars have already been killed. Hundreds more boars have been captured since the program began and population control efforts are expected to continue well after residents return.

However, not all residents will be returning. For example, well over half of Namies pre-disaster population of 21,500 have decided not to return home, according to a government survey conducted last year. These residents cited concerns over radiation and the on-going safety issues at the nuclear power plant as the main reason for their decision.
Thomas E.H. Conway, Jr. Installed as Elizabeth City State University Chancellor

The auditorium of the Mickey L. Burnim Fine Arts Center on the campus of Elizabeth City State University was packed Friday, March 10, when Chancellor Thomas E.H. Conway Jr., was officially installed as the sixth chancellor and 11th chief executive officer of the historic university.

Presided over by UNC System President Margaret Spellings, the ceremony greeted Chancellor Conway with encouraging words and much support by local and state dignitaries, family, faculty, staff, students, and colleagues.

Dr. Conway is taking pride in a historic moment when ECSU faces challenges, said Pres. Spellings in her introductory speech. He is the right leader for renewal.

Pres. Spellings invoked the memory of ECSU founder Hugh Cale. One of the states first African American legislators, Cale founded what was then known as the State Normal School in 1891.

It was an institution whose mission was to educate African American teachers, and create social mobility for those who were seeking a better life through education. That was 126 years ago and while now a part of the UNC system, and offering numerous degree programs, the core mission of bringing education to those who want it, has not changed.

Thomas Conway has spent his entire life dedicated to the ideal of Hugh Cale, that all should have access to education, said Pres. Spellings.

A number of elected officials celebrated Chancellor Conways installation, as well as Louis Bissette, chairman of the UNC Board of Governors.

All of us on the board are proud of this historic installation and are excited about what lies ahead, said Bissette.

Rarely have we welcomed a chancellor that is so well matched to an institution, he said.

Acknowledging that there are challenges facing ECSU, Chancellor Conway accepted his installation, quoting Winston Churchill.

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never. In nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.

Chancellor Conway, understanding the history of ECSU, presented in his speech a series of quotes from previous chancellors. Those quotes, each inspirational and providing a glimpse into the philosophy of each man, concluded with what he said should stand as his contribution to this gallery of wisdom.

The challenge we face today is as complex as the age in which we boldly go forward.  With Gods grace we learn and make a positive difference, he said.

Prior to joining ECSU, Chancellor Conway was appointed in 2008 to serve as Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff at Fayetteville State University.

He came to Fayetteville State University after his 32 year tenure at North Carolina State University where he served as dean of Undergraduate Academic Programs. His responsibilities included increasing the quality of academic advising afforded to all students; the interpretation, review and revision of academic policy for the University; and, support for efforts by academic programs to develop balanced assessment-based environments for critical decision making. In addition, Dr. Conway, a veteran administrator of student success programs, was charged with developing an institutional framework for NC State's student success efforts.

Dr. Conway holds an undergraduate degree in agricultural education (1971) and a masters degree in guidance and counseling (1976) from NC A&T State University and earned a Ph.D. in counselor education from NC State in 1994.

A native of Louisburg, North Carolina, he is married to the former Mychele Jenkins of Hollywood, Florida, They have two adult children.
In 1980 the chairman of my dissertation committee, Robert Tollison, was appointed as the Chief Economist of the Federal Trade Commission by Ronald Reagan. We joked with him: Bob, what the hell are you going to do at the FTC? He answered very seriously: and I paraphrase, have you ever gone to the library and looked at the Code of Federal Regulations? Its bookshelf after bookshelf that regulate everything from your toothpaste to the fuel efficiency of your car. Bobs answer was that if he could get rid of some of those bookcases, hed call it a win.

To give some perspective, the CFR for the IRS alone is over 70,000 pages. I have a copy of CFR  3809, which covers surface mining, in my office and its about 3  inches thick  and thats just the regulations to dig a hole in the ground, no matter how big, on federal land for purposes of mineral exploration. And there are more regulations about what you can do about the mud puddle in your yard. And so on and so on I think Bob was on to something.

It seems weve come full circle. President Trump says he wants to get rid of 75 percent of the CFR. I say good for him. Im one who doesnt take the new president literally but, based on his early moves, takes him seriously. Lets see what happens, but I think 75 percent is a stretch.

So what does a Trump presidency mean for the mining industry? The honest answer at this point is that its hard to tell. He has signaled that he wants to revive the coal industry and much of that can be done by executive action.

It also turns out that under a fairly obscure law passed in 1996, the Congressional Review Act (CRA), almost all regulations promulgated during the Obama administration related to the environment can be fairly easily overturned by Congress. The CRA requires that the agency issuing regulations must report the regulations to Congress which then has a 60-day window to review the regulations and revoke them by a majority vote.

It turns out that the EPA, according to WSJ reporter Kimberly Strassel (A GOP Regulatory Game Changer 1/6/2017), has been extremely lax in reporting to Congress so almost everything it has done under the past administration is still subject to review and revocation. It is an extraordinary opportunity for Congress to undo a lot of regulatory mischief. Lets see what happens.

Another interesting test will be what happens with the Pebble Mine in Alaska. The Wall Street Journal recently (1/24/2017, p. A14) editorialized that Trumps nominee for administrator of the EPA, Tom Pruitt of Oklahoma, should veto the Obama administrations EPA veto of the Pebble Mine project in southern Alaska. As Oklahomas Attorney General, Mr. Pruitt has been an ardent advocate of states rights and an ardent opponent of federal overreach in the regulatory process.

The Pebble Mine is an interesting case study of unbridled federal regulation. According to reports, the EPA vetoed the project before its permit applications were reviewed by the Army Corp of Engineers which has primary responsibility under the Clean Water Act. The EPA administrator in charge also reportedly encouraged opposition of the project by Native American groups which the agency is not supposed to do. So there are questions about process that can be reopened and re-litigated about Pebble and more generally. Not that Pebble is a slam dunk, it is not only opposed by the usual groups but the fishing industry, but it will be interesting to watch.
VIRGINIA CITY  Lower mining revenues and increased exploration and mine development expenses resulted in Comstock Mining Inc. reporting a net loss of $12.9 million for 2016.

The company continues to reduce costs and will sell non-mining assets.

In 2016, mining revenue was $4.9 million, compared with $18.2 million for the previous year.

Comstock refinanced its obligations extended maturities, improved liquidity and positioned the company to resume drilling and development. Its cost reduction exceeded its $8 million target and positioned the company among the lowest operating cost structures in its peer group, Comstock stated.

It completed the exploration and permitting plans for the Dayton Mine. The Nevada Supreme Court positively affirmed the companys zoning for the Dayton, prompting the exploration drilling and development of entire southern portion of the district.

Comstock expects to bring in $14 million by selling non-mining assets.

Our completion of these dramatic cost reductions puts us among, if not at, the lowest cost in our peer group, including sustainable reductions of G&A by two-thirds, said Comstock Executive Chairman and CEO Corrado De Gasperis. Our non-mining land sales are designed to deliver a debt-free balance sheet and accelerate our resource growth. We are now planning to commence drilling in the second quarter.

Comstock concluded leaching operations in December with final metallurgical recoveries yielding almost 90 percent for gold and 60 percent for silver.

Exploration and Development

The company expanded its exploration planning to include longer-term exploration targets across the broader Comstock District where multiple miles of additional mineralized strike zones have been identified and added to the companys exploration planning activities. This includes the southern portion of the Dayton Resource Area, extending further south into the Spring Valley Group, the companys northern properties referred to as the Gold Hill Group and also northeastern properties within the Occidental Group.

Dayton Resource Area

The Dayton Resource area is southwest of Silver City in Lyon County. It generally includes the Dayton, Kossuth and Alhambra claims, including the old Dayton Consolidated mine workings, south to where the Kossuth claim crosses State Route 341. The Dayton Resource area ranks as one of the companys top exploration and potential mine production targets.

In January 2014, the Lyon County Board of Commissioners approved a strategic master plan and zoning changes on the Dayton, Kossuth and Alhambra mining claims and other properties located in the Dayton Resource Area, enabling a more practical, comprehensive feasibility study for mining. Although this decision was appealed, on Dec. 2, the Nevada Supreme Court entered an order affirming all three of the District Courts decisions associated with the commissioners discretion and authority for changing master plans and zoning, their compliance with Nevadas Open Meeting Law and their compliance with Nevada statutory provisions.

The positive Supreme Court decision now enables the company to progress its exploration and development plans toward full feasibility and production planning. The company plans to advance the Dayton Resource Area to full feasibility, with a production ready mine plan within the next two years.

A draft plan has now been designed for an expanded drilling program that would include reverse circulation and diamond core drill holes to place the Dayton Resource into a mine planning stage.

The geological and geophysical characteristics of the mineralization defined for the Dayton Resource Area are also projected south into Spring Valley. Economic gold mineralization has been intercepted in several wide spaced drill holes conducted during numerous prior Spring Valley drilling programs. Over the past several months, the technical staff has identified multiple drill targets within several specific locations that encompass the Dayton Resource area and Spring Valley.

Non-Mining Asset Sales

During 2016, the company completed an industrial land and water rights acquisition, for $3.3 million, including the completion of permitting and zoning in the immediate vicinity of the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center and the new USA Parkway. The company anticipates these properties will be certified as shovel ready in April. The TRI Center is just nine miles from Reno, with local access to the Reno Tahoe International Airport.

The USA Parkway extension is scheduled to be open this summer to traffic, two years earlier than originally expected, attracting an estimated 16,000 workers to the area, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation. The $75.9 million project will extend the roadway by more than 12 miles through Storey and Lyon counties and connect Interstate 80 to U.S. 50, NDOT officials said.

That means it will link the greater Reno-Sparks area with the U.S. 50 corridor in Silver Springs, which could attract more people, businesses and commerce to the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center. It could also help improve the economy, especially in Lyon County, Gov. Brian Sandoval said at the ground-breaking ceremony this past summer.

These industrial assets and water rights sit on the U.S. 50 corridor, at the USA parkway intersection, coupled with other properties on the U.S. 50 corridor, are expected to bring $14 million in proceeds.
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CHEYENNE, Wyo.  Cyanco is delivering cyanide to Newmont Mining Corp.s Cripple Creek and Victor Mine in Colorado from a new terminal in Cheyenne, Wyo.

The liquid sodium cyanide comes from the Winnemucca plants on Union Pacific rail cars, and TransWood Inc. transfers the cyanide at the terminal to the trucks that then travel to the gold mine near the historic town of Cripple Creek.

The terminal is owned and operated by TransWood, but Cyanco designed the terminal and provided technical assistance, said Tobin Kueper, who is technical services manager for Cyanco and closely associated with the Cheyenne terminal.

Train tracks go inside the terminal and allow for two rail cars to be there at one time for transferring the cyanide to the trucks. TransWood employees handle the loading and the transport to Cripple Creek, while Cyanco people visit the site to keep on top of what is happening.

TransWood began delivering Cycanos product to Cripple Creek from Cheyenne on Jan. 2, replacing the Cyanco truck deliveries of solid sodium cyanide from the Houston area of Texas. The Texas plant went into operation in 2012 for primarily overseas sales.

Kueper said the transition from the solid sodium cyanide to the liquid sodium cyanide and the Cheyenne terminal provide a lot of flexibility for Cyanco, which built the Cheyenne system with Cripple Creek as the only customer.

Cheyenne turned out to be one of the best sites we believe feasible for this customer. This is the place, he said. Why we are here is to provide Newmont with a very stable supply.

The terminal and the mine site have three to four weeks of supply as backup in case trucks cant make the trip, Kueper said.

We monitor tank levels here, he said.

The CC&V Mine continues to receive a safe and steady supply of products from Cyanco. It has been a smooth transition to the new transportation arrangements, said Jack Henris, general manager of the CC&V Mine.

Kueper said providing the liquid sodium cyanide to Newmont at Cripple Creek is more efficient. There now are no issues with handling water in cold weather to mix solid sodium cyanide, and time at the mine site is shorter.

Along with the newly constructed terminal, the TransWood site at Cheyenne took over a large building already on the property that is used for offices and provides space for storage or work areas. A railroad spur goes directly to the property, which is part of the industrial Swan Ranch park south of the city.

Swan Ranch Railroad handles getting the rail cars to and from the spur.

TransWood has six or seven employees based in Cheyenne and delivers to Cripple Creek 206 miles away five days a week, with a few trucks heading out a day. The round trip usually takes 10 hours, Kueper said. There are six tractors and five trailers dedicated to the Cheyenne operation.

There were eight rail cars on site and empties are returned to Winnemucca. The transit time for rail cars from Winnemucca to Cheyenne is 10 days, Kueper said.

They are our cars. We had them especially built for us. They are dedicated to us, Kueper said.

Each rail car that was especially designed for Cyanco holds 60,000 pounds of liquid cyanide, which is loaded at a rail spur at Winnemucca. Each truck holds 15,000 contained pounds so essentially we get four trucks out of a tank car, Kueper said.

TransWood uses a vapor balance system so there are nearly zero emissions associated with transloading from the rail cars to the trucks, he said.

The trucks travel south from Cheyenne on Interstate 25 to Colorado Springs and then on the highways and county roads to the gold mine so Cyanco has been giving safety briefings to fire and rescue and law enforcement departments along the route.

Weve met with close to 100 fire departments, said Max Jones, who travels all over the world as environmental health and safety and security director for Cyanco.

Jones said Cyanco has a contracted expert, Custom Environmental Solutions, that would be called to any accident involving a leak along the route to Cripple Creek Mine. Fire departments are trained to handle harzardous materials and can stop any leak, but the contractor does the cleanup and remediation.

A leak is safe unless someone tries to do something with it, Jones said, which is why the contractor is brought in for the cleanup work.

Cyanco is certified under the International Cyanide Code, and he said Cyanco follows the code in all its operations. All tanker trucks are tracked via satellite. Omaha-based TransWood also is certified as a cyanide transportation company.

We want the best drivers. We inject our own training, supervision and technology, Kueper said.

Under the cyanide code, the Cheyenne terminal is considered Cyancos since TransWood is certified as a transporter, Jones said.

Cyanco is based in the Houston area at Pearland and the plant at Alvin, Texas, makes the solid sodium cyanide for international sales. The company also has two plants at Winnemucca and terminals in Mexico and Cadillac, Quebec, as well as Cheyenne. Cyanco also has a small office in Reno.

Cyanco started producing liquid sodium cyanide in 1990 at its first plant near Winnemucca to provide product to the growing gold-mining industry in northern Nevada. The second plant went into operation on site in 1997.

The Cadillac terminal is a dissolution facility to serve gold mines in Canada. Solid sodium cyanide arrives by rail cars and is dissolved to liquid for tank trailers to deliver, according to Cyanco.

The company also has the Applied Technology Laboratory in Piscataway, N.J., that is used mainly to test ore samples for customers to determine the best and most cost-effective way of detoxifying cyanide-containing tailings and solutions, according to Cyancos website.
Despite their tragic end in 2015, "Twilight" stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart is still being stalked by many avid fans, making them a popular item up until now. But now, several reports suggest that the coming out of the 26-year-old actress was helped by his former lover.

According to The Hollywood Life, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have first tried to hide their relationship and keep mum about it, however, since they were pretty famous especially during the "Twilight fever," the two find it hard to dodging cameras and paparazzi. As public figures, it really is a hard thing to do. However, despite seemingly happy with their relationship, Stella Maxwell's rumored ladylove revealed that Stewart's coming out took time and guts.

Kristen Stewart spoke with The London Sunday Times, saying that the public was her enemy way back when Robert Pattinson was still her boyfriend. "If it didn't seem like a relevant topic, like something that needed help, I would have kept my life private forever," Stewart said. "But then I can't walk outside holding somebody's hand, as I'm followed everywhere. When I was dating Rob, the public was the enemy, and that is no way to live.

Kristen Stewart also said that coming out was not a "grand statement" but then, she was confused. But now, the "Cafe Society" star is not struggling with her identity anymore as she has already realized who she was.

Meanwhile, several reports are claiming that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are making efforts to save their dying careers by having a "reunion project." Apparently, FKA Twigs' fiance has been asking Stella Maxwell's girlfriend to get back together for another "Twilight" movie.

The two were even seen dating romantically, as some reports claim, in a restaurant in Los Angeles. However, reports about the reunion Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were left unconfirmed.
"Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" Season 6 just premiered on March 6 and it was an explosive opening. Joseline Hernandez was emotional when Stevie J doubted that he is the father of her child while Yung Joc and Karlie Redd seems to have mended their relationship and rekindling their romance now.

"Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" Season 6's return was definitely highly charged and fans are obviously waiting for it. In fact, according to Deadline, its premiere recorded a 2.36 rating which is 17 percent more than season 5's.

Its strong viewership rating on the first day was even carried out to the next show "The Breaks." Now on its third episode, the new drama earned its highest rating so far.

"Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" Season 6 started lightly then jaw-dropping moments soon followed. The opening showed Joseline having her maternity photoshoot by the pool while she was six months into her pregnancy with baby girl Bonnie Bella.

She was also preparing for her new role as a mom at that time and she appeared to be enjoying it. The Puerto Rican announced her pregnancy during the show's season 5 reunion which took place last summer and Stevie J clearly expressed disbelief that Joseline's child is his because he accused her of sleeping around with dudes.

This turn out of events led the former couple to resort to legal means to fix their mess. Joseline served him papers to make sure he will get a DNA or paternity test to prove that he is Bonnie Bella's dad. Stevie J still avoids the 6-month pregnant Puerto Rican princess so they usually communicate through social media or their lawyers.

This first episode of "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" Season 6 was filmed five months ago so many already know that Stevie J is indeed the baby's father. The baby was also delivered in December 2016 so the ex-couple may have mellowed their bickering by now.

In another story in "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" Season 6, Yung Joc and Karlie appeared to have reconciled after the former got jealous at a party. Meanwhile, Rasheeda Buckner and Kirk Frost might end up getting a divorce as the latter had been keeping a woman named Jasmine in an apartment.

VH1 narrated that Jasmine even claimed that she just had a baby with Kirk and before the word gets out, Kirk made sure to tell it straight to his wife first. Rasheeda was shown crying at one point and based on the preview of "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" Season 6, the rest of the episodes for this season will show her marriage to Kirk in its worst form. Divorce on the horizon?
"Assassin's Creed" the movie offered something for fans of the "Assassin's Creed Video Game." The movie narrated the story of Callum Lynch played here by Michael Fassbender, who was unaware that he belonged to an Assassin family. The Templars faked his execution, but they failed to make him bend to their wishes.

The "Assassin's Creed" movie ended with Michael Fassbender, as Callum Lynch, killed the leaders of The Templar's He regained his memories and escaped along with his fellow prisoners who turned out to be watching out for him. This ending was not, however, supposed to be the chosen one for the movie.

A few months after the "Assassin's Creed" was shown, it turned out there was another ending option for Michael Fassbender's character, according to Screenrant. While the movie showed a few of his prisoner friends survived after the fight scene inside the prison facility, there as an option to get all of the prisoners killed.

This alternative ending for the "Assassin's Creed" would make Michael Fasbender's character the sole survivor. He would infiltrate The Templar's' meeting and would kill their leader Dr. Alan Rikkin played by Jeremy Irons. The test audience, however, would not accept the alternative ending and the rest is history.

"We used this in the preview screening and people were not satisfied with him being alone. They definitely wished for him to have a tribe, to be initiated into something," editor Christopher Tellefsen said.

The "Assassin's Creed" ending showed that the prisoners were just waiting for the right moment to fight the guards. It showed that the laboratory machinations of The Templar's only empowered Michael Fassbender's character and his prisoner friends.

The "Assassin's Creed Video Game" offered gamers the thrill of singlehandedly taking on an army, but with the backing of recruits when needed. The same twist was used in the "Assassin's Creed" movie where Michael Fassbender's character was portrayed as a lonesome character who ended up with new-found friends.

Fans of the "Assassin's Creed" are eager to see the next installment of the movie. The ending that left Michael Fassbender's character alive gave everyone the idea that the video game turned movie was intended to be a franchise, according to Collider
"Star Wars 8" which was entitled "The Last Jedi" is expected to honor the late actress Carrie Fisher's character in the movie; Leia Organa. Aside from that, it was teased that Captain Phasma will be equipped with an intense weapon.

According to Movie Web, there have been reports stating that the upcoming reshoots for "Star Wars 8" will honor the late actress Carrie Fisher's character Leia Organa. It can be remembered that Fisher has passed away in December last year.

There have been talks stating that the actress still had two fundamental scenes left to shoot in "Star Wars 8" and "Star Wars 9." Nevertheless, it was not confirmed where precisely these scenes will appear. These scenes include her get-together with her brother Luke Skywalker and the other one was her conflict with her son, Kylo Ren which was portrayed by Adam Driver.

Furthermore, iDigitalTimes reported that there have been a lot of rumors about the "Star Wars 8." One of the fresh ones was a source told the Making Star Wars that "you are going to love Captain Phasma's spear in 'The Last Jedi.' She looks killer."

Although this could just be a prop to other's eyes, it still could be suggestive of a fiercer Captain Phasma. It was noted that the weapon will transform from cold, administrative First Order apparatchik into a Sword of Damocles. Aside from that, it was also hinted that "Star Wars 8" will not feature Captain Phasma8 hunting down Finn. As a refresher, Finn was the stormtrooper who abandoned her unit and protected her in waste dumping to die on the blowing up of Starkiller Base.

If someone to ask why this spear is really intriguing, the answer will be because it is a primordial weapon. This has been so ancient and as a matter of fact was created by the ancestor Homo heidelbergensis 500,000 years ago. Additionally, there is no better weapon for raw fierceness and vengeance in the barbarian mode.

The "Star Wars 8" which was entitled the "The Last Jedi" will hit theaters on December 15. With this, it still nine months before the patrons of "Star Wars" could see Captain Phasma's weaponry.
The Weeknd already started its "Starboy: Legend of the Fall" world tour in the UK and it was always a blast. After their second gig at The O2 Arena in London on March 8, the band led by Abel Tesfaye brought the house down when Drake came out.

The concert-goers can't believe their eyes when they saw Drake and The Weekend on one stage together. As the two high-profile musicians performed, the crowd inevitably gone wild as they sang a medley of "Fake Love," "Energy" and "Jumpman."

"I had to come f*** with my brother," Drake said. According to Capital XTRA, he went on to describe The Weekend in front of the crowd as "the biggest artist in the world" after he heard their 2011 mixtape "House of Balloons." Later, the two hugged each other that made fans even melt more.

Just before the concert, Drake & The Weeknd started the assumptions that a looming reunion was about to happen after they shared the same snap. In the picture, they were side by side and using an identical caption that read "OVOXO."

Moreover, The Weeknd is now stealing the music scene as it already managed to build their name internationally. In fact, they are now dominating the radio and streaming services along with the music video markets.

The Weeknd's vocalist Abel Tesfaye's golden voice, sultry style and hot songs complete the music that people are definitely craving for. This, too, helps him to be at Victoria's Secret fashion show and secured a spot on the "Fifty Shades" soundtrack.

In a report made by NME, The Weeknd's music is often composed of sexual lyrics that Abel Tesfaye's artistic personality can perfectly deliver onstage. Meanwhile, the group is about to hit Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham and Leeds next for the "Starboy: Legend of the Fall" world tour. After that, they are going to visit South America at the end of March.


Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar are beginning to get slammed by the public again. And this time it is for the same reason - their son Josh Duggar. Recently, they brought their disgraced son Josh Duggar back into the spotlight, which invited the ire of fans all over again. Critics hounded the Duggars when they shared a photograph of Josh with his wife Anna and their four children in order to send him happy birthday wishes on their social media accounts last week.

Fans are outraged by the sight of Josh Duggar, so he is not part of their spin-off show titled "Jill & Jessa: Counting On." His fans cannot forgive or forget that his sex abuse of his four sisters happened when he was a teenager in 2002 and 2003. He also cheated on his wife Anna Duggar through an Ashley Madison account in 2005.

Josh Duggar was present for his sister Jinger Duggar's wedding special, but TLC edited him out of the picture, according to Hollywood Gossip. Producers shot only the rear of his head and kept him out of the episode with the help of a fake sun glare. Although Josh is a member of the Duggars' everyday life, producers are deliberately not putting the spotlight on him. However, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar are showing pictures of Josh on social media again, hoping to whitewash his mistakes.

While Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar are trying to piece their past together, the family is just hoping to move on and return to reality television full-time. Still, that is not expected to happen anytime soon. Viewers do not want to see him back on TV at all. People are just surprised that Anna is still married to him, even though he caused a lot of heartache to her and her family. No one wants to give him a second chance anymore, even though his own family is supportive, according to the report.

YouTube/Wochit Entertainment
If you are a fan of Charlie Hunnam, you can see "The King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" star on the April cover of Men's Health. He is wearing a pair of dark-wash jeans as well as a blue T-shirt that fits his biceps closely. Weighing 165 pounds, he gives an interview that is frank about maintaining his amazing fitness and exchanging sex with longtime girlfriend, Morgana McNeils.

Charlie Hunnam is certain that he tries to "do it all." He is clear that he also tries to make love often, which is important to his workouts, he explains to Men's Health. What helps Charlie Hunnam in his regime is sex - and lots of it. Other activities too, of course, have been vouched for by experts - running, swimming, jumping rope, hiking and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Charlie Hunnam hopes that even at 70 he can sprint "up mountains," according to E News. He is quite open about the amount of training he puts into his fitness regime. "I train a lot every day because I'm f**king crazy," he jokes. He says that humans are supposed to be "very active animals," as it is inscribed in their DNA. It helps that he sweats to change his oil every day! It all makes him feel so much "happier, more positive, energized, and disciplined".

While he was gearing up to get fit for the role of King Arthur in the movie that can be seen in the theaters on May 12, Charlie Hunnam is clear that he needed to pack on 20 pounds of muscle. He hence had to undergo a fitness regime "like a motherf**ker." The British actor recalls that while training every day in a "combat discipline," you just gain "that eye of the tiger." When anyone acts with aggression towards the actor, he is able to go through the scenarios in his head. It was as if he would step to one side and ram an elbow into his face.

Last year, Charlie Hunnam and his girlfriend had been attacked by cyberbullies. But he is clear that through his growing years, "if you want to talk s**t, talk s**t to someone's face" so that you can gear up to fight about it, he said.

YouTube/Wochit Entertainment
"Poldark" Season 3 will see characters come and go in the BBC One drama series. Ross Poldark is rumoured to be the next anti-hero, but some reports debunk such speculations. However, the protagonist's true love might be revealed.

"Poldark" Season 3: New Characters Revealed

"Poldark" Season 3 will see two additional characters Caroline Penvenen (Gabriella Wilde) and Ray Penvenen (John Nettles) according to Digital Spy. However, there are characters that viewers might miss. Kyle Soller will definitely be back as Francis Poldark has met his end in the second season. There is still no word about Phil Davis' Jud.

Morwenna (Ellise Chappell), who is Elizabeth's cousin, will join the Trenwith household as a governess to Elizabeth's child in "Poldark" Season 3. A new vicar named Osborne Whitworth (Christian Brassington) will also join the BBC One drama but his character is not good news to the community as he is described as sex-crazed. With the vicar as an ally of George Warleggan, fans can only imagine what the duo can do.

Other cast joining "Poldark" Season 3 are Ruby Bentall, Luke Norris and Caroline Blakiston. The BBC One drama is expected to air on spring of 2017.

"Poldark" Season 3: Who Is Ross' True Love?

"Poldark" Season 3 fans are excited to know the father of Elizabeth's baby. Ross was Elizabeth's former lover; so, George Warleggan (Jack Farthin) felt victorious when he married his enemy's love interest according to Vulture. But what if George will discover that Ross is the father of the baby?

When Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) learned about Ross' affair with Elizabeth (Heida Reed), she threatens to leave. "Poldark" Season 3's leading character will not let her go saying that his true love is not Elizabeth. But will Ross change his mind and heart when he learns that his former lover is carrying his child?
I don't know if this is that crazy, because I don't understand climate science, but still:

Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Thursday that carbon dioxide was not a primary contributor to global warming, a statement at odds with the established scientific consensus on climate change. Asked his views on the role of carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping gas produced by burning fossil fuels, in increasing global warming, Mr. Pruitt said on CNBCs Squawk Box that I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and theres tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so, no, I would not agree that its a primary contributor to the global warming that we see. But we dont know that yet, he added. We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis. Mr. Pruitts statement contradicts decades of research and analysis by international scientific institutions and federal agencies, including the E.P.A. His remarks on Thursday, which were more categorical than similar testimony before the Senate, may also put him in conflict with laws and regulations that the E.P.A. is charged with enforcing.

Scott Pruitt is a lawyer and can't begin to understand climate science. I also have a hard time with the sincerity of someone of raising skepticism over something they have no idea about. And we go on to the real reason why someone might try to be skeptical about a scientific consensus:

Mr. Pruitt has faced frequent criticism for his close ties to fossil fuel companies. In his previous job as the attorney general of Oklahoma, he sought to use legal tools to fight environmental regulations on the oil and gas companies that are a major part of the states economy. A 2014 investigation by The New York Times found that energy lobbyists had drafted letters for Mr. Pruitt to send, on state stationery, to the E.P.A., the Interior Department, the Office of Management and Budget and even Mr. Obama, outlining the economic hardship caused by the environmental rules.Mr. Pruitts remarks on Thursday were consistent with his past public statements questioning the established science of human-caused climate change, but in denying the role played by carbon dioxide, they go a step further. ... In addition to putting him at odds with the consensus of climate scientists, Mr. Pruitts remarks also raise the possibility that, as the Trump administration moves forward with unwinding Mr. Obamas climate change regulations, it could put the administration in violation of federal law. In 2009, the E.P.A. released a legal opinion known as an endangerment finding concluding that, because of its contribution to global warming, carbon dioxide in large amounts met the Clean Air Acts definition of a pollutant that harms human health. Under the terms of the Clean Air Act, one of the nations most powerful environmental laws, all such pollutants must be regulated by the E.P.A. A federal court upheld the finding, and the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to it. Thus the E.P.A. remains obligated to regulate carbon dioxide. In his Senate hearing, Mr. Pruitt said that as administrator of the E.P.A. he would not revisit that 2009 legal finding. It is there, and it needs to be enforced and respected, Mr. Pruitt said. But energy lobbyists close to the Trump administration have since urged the new administration to consider building a legal case against the endangerment finding.

So, if CO2 is not legally a pollutant then people in the oil and gas industry will make more money.
The aims of this excellent book are to challenge existing empirical accounts of the Janata Party, the National Front (NF) and the United Front (UF) (consisting of the NF and the Left Front [LF])three important coalition governments in Indian political historyand analyse the history of the third force or third front (non-Congress, non-BJP [non-Bharatiya Janata Party]), with a view to generate new theoretical insights in Indian political science.

The book begins by differentiating the authors methodology from the standard rational choice-inspired studies of coalition politics worldwide. The author argues that political agency and quality of judgment are especially salient for determining the trajectory of the third force (p 7). He opts for a fine-grained analytical narrative for studying the dynamics of national coalition politics, which he argues is an excellent technique for a moving picture of politics in time (p 8). In contrast to most studies, Ruparelia focuses not on the episodes of the formation and demise of coalitions, but on the dynamics, that is, the actions of senior party leadersbecause parties are not unitary organisations, they are weakly institutionalised and are driven by internal power struggles.
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Weingut Gantenbein

Philip Day looks to Switzerland not to procure an exquisite example of Swiss horology but rather the domestically produced fine wine, Weingut Gantenbein.

Switzerland is not noted for being one the most famous of wine-producing nations, but this small, mountainous country in western Europe has a history of making wine for more than two thousand years. Like in one of its neighbours, France, the spread of viticulture was mainly driven by monastic orders during the Middle Ages. The majority of the wine produced at that time were generally weaker and lacking in flavour than the cheaper full-bodied wines from the warmer regions of France, notably the Rhone Valley, situated further south, meant that domestic sales were affected by these better quality imports.

The wine-growers of Switzerland were hit particularly hard during the phylloxera outbreak of the 1860s. Consequently, the number of the countrys productive vineyard areas were virtually halved. Allied by increasing competition from the resurgence of other wine producing regions in the early 20th century, there was little incentive for Swiss vignerons to re-establish their plantings.

These days, Swiss wines lack of fame is not as a result of any lack of quality or quantity, but because it is produced for consumption, in the main, by the Swiss themselves.

The wine-producing area of this little country of some eight million people with four national languages and home to some of the most extreme geography per square kilometre of any European nation, is roughly half that (around 15,000 hectares) of the Burgundy region of France (around 29,000 hectares).

The cliche often repeated outside of Switzerland for years has been that their wines are so good the Swiss keep them all for themselves. The reality is that the Swiss dont make enough fine wine to meet their own needs: typically 60 percent of wine consumed is imported. The majority of their small wineries producing hand-crafted wines cant compete on price with mass-market produced imported wines, especially true given the strength of the Swiss currency and following the lifting of import controls some 20 years ago. No wonder then that only around 1.5 percent of Swiss wine is exported.

The nucleus of the vine-growing territories of Switzerland are located around its edges, leaving the centre of the country largely vineyard-free. The majority of the vineyards are located in the south-west around the northern side of Lake Geneva, under the jurisdiction of the Swiss cantons of Vaud (Canton de Vaud), the second largest wine region; Geneva (Republique et Canton de Geneve), the third largest wine area) and along the upper stretches of the River Rhone in the alpine Valais canton (Canton du Valais/Kanton Wallis), the largest Swiss wine region. These three regions, all predominantly French speaking, account for about 75 percent of all Swiss wine produced.

There are also significant areas of vine-growing in the western canton of Neuchatel (la Republique et canton de Neuchatel); the southern most Swiss Italian canton (Ticino), the eastern canton of Graubunden (Kanton Graubunden/Canton de Grisons/Chantun Grischun/Cantone dei Grigioni) the only officially trilingual canton (German, Romansh and Italian) and the only canton where the Romansh language has official status; and finally scattered around Zurich, in the north, is the area known as the Zurcher Weinland, not forgetting the cantons of Aargau (Kanton Aargau) and Schaffhausen (Kanton Schaffhausen).

The Swiss dont produce much of the lower-end wines because the wines they do produce are mostly artisan products. The relatively small vine parcels and vineyards, often grown on steep slopes, limit drastically the vineyard work that can be undertaken by machine. Swiss growers, however, are pioneers in producing environmentally friendly wines, using sustainable farming methods, and many have begun making biodynamic wines.

Because many Swiss wines are made in relatively small quantities, producers have trouble meeting quantity requirements of wholesalers or large retailers in other countries, meaning they fail to benefit from the savings that could be achieved through large-scale shipping and handling.

The government body in charge of the Swiss appellation system, the OIC, has a separate title for each of the countrys three official languages: Organisme Intercantonal de Certification in francophone areas; Interkantonale Zertifizierungsstelle in German and Organismo Intercantonale di Certificazione in Italian. The system is based on the French appellation system and was developed during the 1980s and finally came into force in the 1990s. Like Frances INAO, the OIC is responsible for delineating the official Swiss wine regions, as well as creating and enforcing wine quality guidelines and laws.

Chasselas is Switzerlands main white-wine grape, although its dominance is gradually ceding ground to more popular international varieties like Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The name it goes by changes from region to region, but it still manages to account for one-third of the countrys vineyard area. In the German-speaking north, it is known as Gutedel, while in the French-speaking south-west, its name includes Fendant (Valais Canton),Dorin or Perlan (Geneva).

Other common white varieties grown in Swiss vineyards include Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Gewurztraminer.

More red than white wine is produced and consumed in Switzerland, roughly 58 and 42 percent, respectively, which may surprise many people. Pinot Noir (known as Blauburgunder to several wineries in the north) is the most widely planted red-wine variety. The next most popular is Gamay, used in the production of light, fruit-driven, everyday wines, or blended together with Pinot Noir, particularly in the western regions, to produce Dole and Goron wines.

Finally there is Merlot, which has proved remarkably successful in Ticino Canton, on the Italian border, since it was first introduced there in the early 20th century. A small amount of Syrah has also done well, in the warmest parts of the central Valais.

The villages of Switzerlands Bundner Herrschaft have been famous since medieval times for the quality of their wine. On the edge of the wine-growing village of Flasch in the Grisons Rhine Valley stands a striking ensemble of buildings standing proud amongst the vineyards: The Gantenbein Winery, where since 1982, Martha and Daniel Gantenbein have been producing wine and writing their own wine history, gaining themselves international acknowledgement in the process and their wines cult status.

History

Martha and Daniel Gantenbein have known each other for a long time, first meeting, while Martha was still attending school and Daniel was doing an apprenticeship as a machine technician. They soon became a couple and, together they took over the winery run by Marthas family in 1981, learning the trade from the bottom up.

Initially, they were happy to simply produce a good local wine. However, as each year they benefited from new knowledge and experience, they turned their backs on producing run of the mill local wines that could quite easily be produced at a lower cost in almost any other location, deciding instead to focus on producing the best quality wines they could achieve  wines they would be happy to put their name to.

They soon realized that if they were to achieve their goal, they needed to free themselves from the wide range of wines typically produced in that area. Numerous trips  mainly to Burgundy and to the Mosel, sampling the finest bottlings from the very top domaines from both these regions  confirmed the couples decision to restrict themselves to three grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling.

They began by tearing up the existing vines and supplanting them with selected Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clones from Burgundy, together with a little Riesling. Then they proceeded to fine-tune their wines.

The Gantenbeins first success came quickly. Typically, most producers offer different categories of wine made from the same grape, with the quality and price varying according to factors such as where the grapes came from in the vineyards, the age of the vines, the yield and other variables. Martha and Daniel however, do things differently. The success of putting all their effort into producing just three wines of optimum quality, based on each of the grape varietals grown, lead to international acknowledgement during the course of the 1990s. This had the effect of making Gantenbein wines become rare and eagerly sought-after.

Appellation Graubunden Owner Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Planted acreage Total: 6.07 hectares (15 acres) Grape varieties Red: Pinot Noir (Blauburgunder, Klavner) White: Chardonnay, Riesling, Chasselas (Fendant, Perlant, Gutedel. Wines produced Weingut Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Pinot Noir. Weingut Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Chardonnay. Weingut Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Riesling. Plus a small amount of Beerenauslese and an eau-de-vie. Terroir Calcareous sedimentary soils. The area is favoured by the southern winds (Fohn) which helps the maturation process of the grapes. Production Around 30,000 bottles annually. Top Vintages Produced 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014



Viticulture

The Gantenbeins knew from the start that the vine is the key to great wine, hence their commitment to planting burgundy clones in their vineyards. They also learned that it is essential for the grape to maintain its quality on its journey from the vine to the bottle, so they organised and refined their production processes accordingly.

The overriding principle of the Gantenbeins is to produce singular wines of an optimum quality and consequently all their efforts are geared toward that outcome.

They devote an astounding amount of attention to detail in every stage of grape management  from the moment the grape is plucked by hand from the vine and cherished on its route to the cellar.

As far as Daniel is concerned, the most important thing is and will always be the fruit that the vineyard produces. Each vine is a unique, separate entity, that needs to be pampered and cared for.

Today, the couple run the estate themselves, together with just one other employee, and the occasional assistance from an extra two women hired for the leaf trimming. The largest part of the vineyard, an area of 12.5 acres (5.06 hectares) is dedicated to Pinot Noir. Chardonnay is grown on an additional 2.5 acres (1.01 hectares), while Riesling covers an area of only 0.5 acres (0.2 hectares).

Working in harmony with the land and using gravitational systems to get the grapes from the vines to the crush, the Gantenbeins have created a full, structured style of wines that subtlety focus on their individual complexity and elegance, that are unique to their winery.

The grapes are always picked manually in small boxes and are de-stemmed though not crushed with about 20 per cent of the fruit remaining as whole bunches. The fruit is then placed into open wooden fermenters, which have been chilled down.

Pre-fermentation at 4 C is allowed to take place for up to 14 days before the temperature of the fermenters is raised again to 13 C and fermentation proper starts. Aiming for a temperature of around 32 C towards the end of this process, over a period of about a week, the Gantenbeins undertake two or three punch-downs per day. Next comes pressing, when the press wine is racked by gravity into oak barrels for an ageing process of 14-15 months. Malolactic fermentation usually is not encouraged before spring. Before bottling, the contents of all the barrels are brought together in a large steel vat. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered and typically, the whole production leaves the estate over a short period of just one week. The barrels are renewed every year.

One could say that the Gantenbeins motto during their continued search for perfection has been compare, learn, improve, since it has led to a number of experiments. For example, in 1991, the couple used only large, German oak barrels to age the wine and the wine they produced received the accolade of the best of its year nationally and internationally. Following the use of oak barrels, the next idea was to ferment part of the harvest in oak barriques (225L barrels). Since 1993, that is all they have been using. The oak barrels the Gantenbeins use are made from wood that has been air-dried for three entire years.

Two years later, they took another decisive step: to only produce wine without filtration. The rationale for such an unusual step for wine makers in Switzerland was their argument that many valuable ingredients are lost from the wine during the purifying process of filtration.

In 2008 the wine estate enlarged the old wine cellar, replacing it with an architecturally sophisticated new cellar building, designed by architects Valentin Bearth, Andrea Deplazes and Daniel Ladner. It houses an additional space for labelling the wine bottles along with a wine-tasting station in the basement, a cuverie (a fermentation bay) on the ground floor and a restaurant on the top floor.

The brick facade, made of special tiles, has been designed so that it allows optimal temperature equalization. It was created by Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler in their studio of digital fabrication at the Technical University in Zurich (ETH) and realised by a robot at the brick-works of Christian Keller.

With its computer-designed intelligent wall of brick tiles angled to filter and refract just the right amount of light throughout the day; everything is designed with such mechanical precision to maximise the use of space but minimise labour, whilst ensuring the gentlest possible handling of grapes, juice and wine as they moves through their various stages. The flow of the must and wine is carried out just by means of gravity, meaning that neither pumps nor filters are needed.

Wines produced

Weingut Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Pinot Noir, Graubunden, Switzerland

Releases available: 1998-2014

Weingut Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Chardonnay, Graubunden , Switzerland

Releases available: 2005-2014 (2009, 2011, 2012)

Weingut Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Riesling, Graubunden , Switzerland

Releases available:2008 and 2013

Weingut Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Pinot Noir Vieux Marc, Graubunden, Switzerland

An eau-de-vie produced from their own distillery. Wine lees, some wine and grape pomace (the solid remains of grapes after pressing their juice. Also known as marc in French, hence the name.) is distilled in order to separate impurities from the alcohol and the spirits obtained and stored for 15 years in oak barrels before blending.

Releases available:1991, 1994, 1996, 2003.

Weingut Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Riesling Spatlese, Graubunden , Switzerland

A luscious, well-balanced dessert wine produced in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014.

The results achieved by Martha and Daniel Gantenbeins labours have given the wines cult status and placed them soundly in the very thin on the ground category. It isnt even possible to turn up at the cellar hoping to purchase some, as visits are strictly by appointment but, even then, you would find the wines are always sold out. If you are in Switzerland, you will find them on the wine lists of several of Switzerlands top restaurants, if not, all is not lost as you may be able to purchase them through the small network of worldwide distributors that are listed helpfully, on their website.

Contact details:



Address: Gantenbein Wine

Martha & Daniel Gantenbein

Ausserdorf 38

CH-7306 Flasch

Switzerland

Telephone: +41 81 302 47 88

Email: wine@gantenbeinwine.com

Website: https://www.gantenbeinwine.com

References:
With the Donald Trump administration in the office, the future of the Iranian nuclear deal is increasingly in the hands of the Europeans. What emerged as a transatlantic success, having harnessed global support, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed by Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) was a collective international effort to address a common global challenge.

The Europeans have always been more active and better positioned to deal with Iran. Having been spared of traumatic events such as the US hostage crisis and continuous Death to America slogans, the Europeans initiated the nuclear negotiations in 2003 without the United States in an attempt to maintain economic and diplomatic ties with Tehran. Americans joined three years later, which was subsequently followed by the EUs reduced economic engagement and a stinging sanctions regime in 2012 including an oil embargo and a cutoff from the international financial system.

Now, with an abrupt change in the White House and the US president that sees the JCPOA as the dumbest deal, the Europeans will likely have to stand in the defense of the deal once again. Experts generally foresee four feasible scenarios of Washingtons future Iran policy: 1. Killing the deal, 2. Attempting to renegotiate the deal, 3. Aggressively enforcing the deal, or 4. Accepting the deal provided that American companies will gain market share.

It has also been recently reported that European leaders are going to present President Trump with alternative solutions in the hope to bolster their case. Confirming the EUs commitment to uphold the deal, Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the EUs Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, argued that the JCPOA is working for all. According to Mrs. Mogherini, the full commitment to respect and implement the deal of all parties sends a reassuring signal to the international community of Irans adherence to a civilian nuclear program exclusively for peaceful purposes. The EU, she added, will continue to work hand in hand with all those willing to contribute to its full implementation.

For Brussels, the deal is a better alternative to the possibility of another conflict in the Middle East or an Iranian nuclear bomb threatening both Israel and the global nonproliferation regime. In Mrs. Mogherinis words, the deal is the result of brave choices, political leadership, collective determination and hard work  doing away with it might also mean facing one more military conflict in a region that is already far too destabilized.

On top of keeping the Middle East free of an Iranian nuclear deal, the EU has been keen on using the nuclear deal as a stepping-stone towards boosting its relations with Tehran. The EU sees Iran as the key player in the region that must be engaged, not isolated. Therefore, Europe not only seeks to boost economic ties with Tehran but it would also like to encourage more cooperation on economic and energy issues, migration pressures and educational exchanges.

Trump, the EU, and Iran Policy: Multiple Pathways Ahead  Analysis by Cornelius Adebahr  Carnegie Europe.

(The study can be downloaded here)
The European Union leaders reappointed former Polish President Donald Tusk as the President of the European Council despite the strong objections of Polands right-wing government. Polands current prime minister, Beata Szydlo, who is acting on behalf of her party boss Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has pledged to stop Donald Tusks reelection to secure his second term. However, the remaining 27 leaders overwhelmingly supported Mr. Tusk and made Poland the only country strongly opposed to his reappointment.

Warsaw depicted Mr. Tusks reelection as the issue of fundamental principle, in which essential national interests had been ignored by a Brussels machine dominated by German diktat. The crushing defeat thus demonstrates how isolated Poland has become, even within the Visegrad Group. Mr. Kaczynski said that the vote had confirmed that the EU is run by Germany and that it is trampling on national interests: If the EU does not abandon this road, it will be consigned to history, he said in Warsaw.

A few hours after the vote, Ms. Szydlo refused to sign off on the official record of summit conclusion  a summary of endorsements and exhortations on economic, foreign, and immigration policies. However, the routine roundup was signed by the other 27 states and EU leaders said that Polands rejection did not affect the outcome. Ms. Szydlo was also asked to explain and subsequently repeat the reasons for withholding the support. She said that Mr. Tusk had criticized her governments policies  policies that many observers inside and outside the bloc see as a threat to democracy.
thegh0sts said: I've sent my 2016 Canadian tax return last friday from Sydney, Australia to the CRA in Ottawa and its stuck on the "Out for Delivery - pending delivery" status for a good 1-2 days.



I am already worried that it won't get to the CRA or that it might have gotten lost.



Not sure what I can do than call the CRA.



EDIT: i need the NOA so i can apply for PR....pretty much. I sent it via international express which has tracking and requires a signature. Click to expand...

Yes, it IS crazy but appears to be SOP for Postes Canada Post... I sent a change of name request for my SIN account and my daughter's Social Insurance Number application from London, England to Bathurst, NB (sadly, not the location in Oz)... I too sent it tracked and watched the package go from London and arrive in Montreal. It then went out to VANCOUVER (?!?!?!), where it sat for a few days, before being sent back, across the country, out to Moncton and on to Bathurst.I can only imagine what sort of gigantic carbon footprint that left... shame on you, Postes Canada!Now it would seem that Service Canada's return of my documentation has decided to go the partial cross-country route as well (they sent it back tracked and gave me the tracking numbers)... it left Bathurst 3 days ago and is now sitting in Montreal, waiting to go on to the UK. I don't know why it couldn't have just gone from Bathurst to London.Again, shame on you Postes Canada!
The first resource you need to check is the list of requirements for your visa (i.e. a visitor visa). As far as I know most of the US consulates are still requiring those on visitor visas to have health insurance coverage for their first year in France. You can check the AARO website to get a rough estimate what a private policy will cost on a "group" type plan. https://www.aaro.org/medical-insurance You don't necessarily need to top level AARO plan for your visa. (If you do, you'll need to become a member of AARO - though it's a useful organization to belong to.) And the AARO insurance does include some cover for when you're back in the US "just visiting." But the cost will vary based on your ages.At the moment, you're allowed to enroll in PUMA after 3 months of residence, and at that point the cost is based on about 9% of your worldwide revenue over something like about 9000 a year. Just remember that, in addition to that you will need a mutuelle to pick up the health care costs that the secu doesn't. (Secu pays overall about 70% of most costs - but much, much less for dental and eye care.) Figure 100 to 150 a month per person for a mutuelle with good dental and eye coverage.How the new PUMA requirements mesh with the visa requirements is kind of unknown - however when you apply for the secu system under PUMA, you do need to show that you are insured and have been for at least the 3 month period. The actual application and processing time can take "several" months, so it might be a good idea to hang onto the private insurance until you're certain of your eligibility and your ability to renew your titre de sejour.Cheers,Bev
Hi Guys,Very glad I cam across this forum as I'm struggling to understand certain things.I'm currently in Joburg getting my paperwork in order before I leave again for the UK and apply through VFS there.I'm a UK national who spent 12 years of my childhood in SA and have plenty of family here which is why i want to move here.I completed Aerospace Engineering (graduated 2012) at degree level and have so far only submitted my certificate for evaluation at MIE.I don't have any work experience in Aerospace but have worked as a technical engineer in a Dairy plant.These are the questions:1) How long does ECSA take for registration?2) Will they reject me on the basis of not having Aerospace industry experience?3) Do I still need SAQA certificate even though MIE will validate my certificate for me?A long post I know, but any help would be greatly appreciated!Thanks in advance!
A new tax should be introduced in New Zealand for people who have moved from abroad to help fund the extra cost of public services and infrastructure which are needed to cope with the countrys immigrant boom, it is claimed.Tax expert Mark Keating, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School, said a poll tax levy on immigrants could fund specific costs resulting from the population increase.  In 2016 New Zealands Treasury estimated the extra spending required on hospitals, schools, roads and other infrastructure to cope with population growth, which is largely driven by immigration, at $100 billion over 10 years.Specifically it said $1 billion is needed to pay for water, roads and other infrastructure and $530 million over six years on expanding and redeveloping schools.These figures suggest that New Zealands existing population of taxpayers will shoulder a huge additional tax bill to settle and assimilate its record number of new immigrants, said Keating.New Zealand is a desirable country with excellent infrastructure and public services. Immigrants get to share in all these benefits, so why shouldnt immigrants also contribute to them, he added.Keating suggests a flat immigration fee of $10,000 to $15,000 per immigrant would provide a source of additional revenue to offset increased costs. But he acknowledges that there would have to be exceptions for some categories of immigrants such as refugees or those filling skills shortages.Imposing a tax on most other migrants in return for their right to share in everything New Zealand has built up would be both reasonable and fair, he pointed out.In the year to January 2017 there were 89,670 permanent and long term arrivals to New Zealand, excluding refugees, Australians and returning New Zealanders. At $10,000 per arriving person, that would generate $896,700,000. At $15,000 per migrant, it would total $1.345 billion.Keating explained that there are already instances where the Government imposes fees and charges on immigrants such as the arrival tax on non-residents of $22 to fund tourism infrastructure. The Green Party continues to advocate a larger fee be imposed on visiting tourists to pay for environmental projects.At present, our Government simply gives away New Zealand residency and passes the increased cost of building the necessary infrastructure on to current residents. Rather than continuing to be too squeamish about charging immigrants for residence or citizenship, perhaps we should embrace the idea and tax them appropriately, Keating argued.He admitted that there are negative historic association of past poll taxes on immigrants. Under the Chinese Immigrants Act of 1881 New Zealand imposed a tax on all Chinese immigrants but it was abandoned in 1944 as it was deemed to allow undesired immigrants to buy their way in to New Zealand in return for paying a fee to the Government.Obviously targeting poll tax on racial grounds is indefensible. But shorn of its racial over-tones, what is wrong with taxing all would be immigrants regardless of which country they come from for the right to move to New Zealand? he concluded.
CARSON CITY  When Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., arrived at the Gold Dust West in Carson City on Feb. 22, they thought they would be attending a normal Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Instead, they found themselves to be in a room with a group of protesters mixed into the chamber members. And outside? A crowd of 40 or more lined U.S. 50 with signs and bullhorns.

Just who was this group of spontaneous arrivals? As leader and Carson City attorney Andrew List put it, they were the ordinary, working men and women of the Carson City Working Families Party. Many had taken time off work to be there, in what they called a worthwhile demonstration of what they are concerned about in our country.

The primary concern of the CCWFP was their perception that Heller was voting to approve all of President Trumps cabinet nominees. The group asked Heller why he was voting in affirmation of these candidates without what they consider to be any serious vetting. They reported his answer as being President Trump deserves his Cabinet.

The Carson City Working Families Party, which says they lack any serious funding and are composed of mostly working men and women, stated they do not approve. They feel Heller is simply rubber-stamping everything that comes to his desk.

When asked what they would like to see him do, party leader Autumn Zempke answered, Wed like to see him act independent of the party when it comes to vetting, like Nevada. The leading party coordinator went on to explain that Heller needs to represent Nevada for the unique place it is.

Additionally, CCWFP would like to see Heller doing more to meet directly with constituents, and to hear the voice of his constituents. The Senator does hold teleconferenced town hall meetings from Washington, D.C., but leaders of the Working Families Party say these are not enough.

When asked to provide comment on the possibility of a town hall, Hellers Office said they are considering it, but did not give any specific time or information.

The demonstration was planned more than a month in advance of the Chamber luncheon, and the participants came not only from Carson City, but Lyon, Douglas, Storey and Washoe counties and well.

List recalled the story of one woman who spontaneously joined in.

I remember seeing this woman as she pulled up in her huge truck. She pulled up and asked what we were doing, List said. I said Were protesting Trump! After hearing this, the woman got out of her truck and asked for the bull horn. I wasnt sure what she was going to say when I handed it over to her, List recalled.

The woman said What about my husband with stage IV cancer? What happens when you repeal his Affordable Care Act coverage?

At their meeting the day after, Carson City Republicans were swift to dismiss the protesters as having been hired and bused in from California. When asked about this, List joked, Show me the bus. He continued to say Wed love to get paid, but its actually the contrary, people were giving up pay and work to be there.

The Working Families Party plans to hold its next sign chat demonstration on Monday at the Nevada Legislature, where Amodei is scheduled to address a joint session of the Legislature at 5 p.m.

Similar demonstrations are planned for the dates on which senators Heller and Cortez-Masto will be addressing the Legislature. The group has also posted advertisements on Craigslist asking for a meeting with Heller in addition to petitions online.
Im going to let you in on a secret thats going to save you time, heartache and precious money if youre thinking about starting a business.

Get a pen and write this down: dont try to start a business.

Ironic, I know, but let me explain.

I started asking around for advice about a financial technology startup idea of mine a few weeks ago.

Its a genius idea, obviously. Just ask me.

A few minor stumbling blocks exist, however. For one, Im not a technology guy. I also dont have direct experience in the relevant financial industry.

That isnt going to stop me. With a small dash of humility, however, I reached out to friends for advice.

One of my best friends works in the Bay Area as a software development manager. You should read The Lean Startup , by Eric Ries, he mentioned casually in the course of our phone call.

Next I called my cousin in Boston, currently in year five of his tech startup, for advice. BTW, have you read The Lean Startup? he texted after our call ended.

The next day I asked advice from a friend in my neighborhood who had successfully launched a technology company while still in college. As he laid out some suggestions, he added, of course, you know the ideas from The Lean Startup?

Ok, ok, guys, fine! Ill read it. One does not simply start a company anymore. Apparently, one does a lean startup first.

But what does that even mean?

The point, as Ive now learned by reading Ries book, is not to build a finished product or company and then deliver that to a customer. The point is to design a series of business experiments to learn what customers most want.

Do customers respond to certain type of marketing pitch? Do they even use a proposed product in the way you expect? Or maybe they have a different preference for features than you expected?

Ries argues that cheap testing  followed by fast innovation in response to customer data  will succeed more often than a fully-built solution.

Ries makes the interesting point that big companies too can employ lean startup techniques.

Instead of investing huge dollars and months or years in research and development, he argues, small teams within a larger organization should be encouraged to attempt small-scale experiments, all the more easily trashed, or expanded, as they gain feedback from customers.

So thats what Ries means by Lean Startup. Seemingly every entrepreneur in my acquaintance has bought into this idea.

My city celebrated Startup Week in the beginning of March. I arrived ready to test whether thats indeed what successful entrepreneurs do in my city.

By happenstance, I picked a particularly lean startup-ey event venue, organized by entrepreneur George Haskell, founder of cheap-airfare service Whiskr.

Haskell had organized this meet-and-greet for startups and interested people in what he described as science fair for startups. At the event, entrepreneurs set up a quick and easy booth to show off and describe their wares or services. It was an experimental venue with a knowing nod to high school-level experimentation.

Did Haskell endorse the lean startup model for his own business?

Oh yes. Haskell described to me an extremely cheap form of experimentation, on his way to business creation.

My company started in 2012 as a simple mailing list. We pitched it at travel conventions, with just a t-shirt and stickers, simply talking to people. I got their feedback, what they wanted, what they didnt want.

With a mailing list of interested customers, Haskell would personally spend hours online searching for what he called mistake listings, of cheap fares - like flights cross-country for less than $175, or to Europe for less than $300, or to Asia under $400. Having first built his customer base experimentally, and a manual process for finding what they wanted, he launched this past week an automated process of delivering deals fast to his customers. It all sounded quite lean startup-ey to me.

After chatting with Haskell, I wandered over to a different booth at the science fair for startups. Probably because Im a coffee addict, I grabbed the

Vanilla Bean Espresso granola sampler on my way past the Wildway Granola table.

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As it turns out, Kelli Koehler and her husband Kyle began Wildway with a series of experiments as well.

We started at farmers markets. We tested a lot of different flavors, says Koehler.

In the beginning they would make just 20 to 40 bags of granola for one farmers market.

We would get feedback right then and there from consumers, over and over again, from hundreds of people in one four-hour farmers market. We tested a lot of flavors that we dont have today because they didnt hit a wide enough audience or they fell flat.

I asked about their packaging.

We started with the sad brown bag as we like to call it. Just a brown bag with a sticker, and the sticker evolved every single week. We would add stuff to it, take it off, change the shape. We were still trying to figure out our voice, our branding, what we stood for, what we wanted that to feel like. We went through lots of iterations.

Our motto has always been to get it out there to market, and to see what happens. You can always improve and make changes along the way, but nothing is going to happen if you dont at least put it out there.

Koehler proudly reported to me that Wildway Granola is sold in over 700 stores nationwide, including Whole Foods and HEB. Koehler totally endorses the lean startup approach.

This is a quote that I have on my whiteboard above my desk, and its from Mark Twain, and he says Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.

So I learned that Mark Twain, nineteenth century wit, was also a lean startup guy.

Entrepreneurs: Dont build the whole company. Build an experiment and improve from there.

Michael Taylor is a former Goldman Sachs bond salesman and writes the Bankers-Anonymous.com finance blog. michael@michaelthesmartmoney.com

@Michael_Taylor
HOUSTON - The nation's top environmental regulator Thursday rejected established science and his agencys own data, saying he doesnt believe that carbon dioxide is the main contributor to global warming.

I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and theres tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that its a primary contributor to the global warming that we see, Scott Pruitt, the new head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said during a morning interview on CNBC's Squawk Box.

His comments outraged scientists and environmental groups and put him at odds with his agencys own findings. It was further evidendence that Pruitt, who later spoke at a major energy conference in Houston, has ushered in a new and gentler era for the industry. Oil and gas executives attending IHS Markits CERAWeek welcomed the new Republican administration and easier oversight Pruitt promissed the group during his keynote address Thursday.

When you look at the issue of environment and energy, for the last several years we have adopted a mindset that you can't be pro-energy and pro-environment, that if you're pro-environment you're anti-energy, Pruitt said at the conference. That's just simply a narrative that I utterly reject. We can be both pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-environment.

Pruitt didn't take questions at the conference, which draws more than 3,000 attendees. He also didnt address his earlier comments on global warming, but indicated that several new environmental rules would be weakened or rolled back.

His keynote address at one of the oil and gas industry's most important conferences comes as the industry is more optimistic for 2017 and emerging from a long downturn. Oil prices peaked at $107 per barrel in 2014, fell as low as $26 per barrel last year and have recovered to around the $50 per barrel. U.S. crude closed a just below $50 a barrel for the first time in three months Thursday.

Harold Hamm, chairman and CEO of Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources Inc., one of the largest operators in the Bakken formation in North Dakota, was an early supporter of President Donald Trump and is one of the president's business advisers. Hamm said that the industry was suffering death by 1,000 cuts during President Obama's administration and considered Trump's election of utmost importance to the industry.

Heck of a difference a year makes, Hamm said, referring to the doubling of oil prices in that time and the new Republican control of federal government. My number one priority was election of the president, Hamm said.

John Watson, chairman and CEO of Chevron, who spoke Wednesday at CERAWeek, said everyone wants clean air and water, but there should be a cost-benefit analysis so it's not regulation on top of regulation.

Watson said that greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. are falling. Why pile costs on top of costs? he asked.

Among the Obama-era rules Pruitt mentioned that will likely go by the wayside are the Clean Power Plan, meant to reduce carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants; rules that would cut the amount of methane  a potent greenhouse gas  that is vented and flared from drilling sites on federal and tribal lands; and the Waters of the United States rule, which expanded authority over pollution in small, intermittent streams and wetlands, and raised the hackles of farmers and ranchers.

Pruitt said regulations should happen as part of an administrative process, not as part of litigation, and that regulations should be clear and predictable for companies.

Before the EPA strengthens clean air regulations, Pruitt said the agency should help cities and counties meet existing rules. San Antonio is among the cities expected to soon exceed a federal standard for ozone, the key component of smog.

Pruitt also called for cleaning up the nation's 1,300 Superfund sites, the list of places where there are known or threatened releases of pollutants. He said he did not understand how a priority list could include sites that have languished without cleanup for 30 to 40 years.

While executives were enthusiastic about the idea of eased regulations and clear permitting for pipeline and other infrastructure projects, they were more cautious about Republican proposals for a border adjustment tax and renegotiation of trade agreements.

Watson, of Chevron, said that if its more expensive for refiners to import crude oil, costs will rise for consumers when they fill up cars at the pump. But Watson said he's open to the idea of revamping the tax code, even if the details of the plans are not yet clear.

I want to see the U.S. more competitive and not burdening imports, Watson said.

Others said it's too early to take a position on tax proposals that arent yet clearly outlined.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

I think most of us in the business community would welcome tax reform, said Al Walker, chairman, president and CEO of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Trump also has said he will renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. As president, he has the authority to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from the trade pact with six months notice, freeing the country to levy taxes on imports.

Canadian and Mexican speakers alike used the conference pulpit as megaphone for talking about the deep friendship between the U.S. and those countries.

Several Canadian speakers this week, including Jim Gordon Carr, Canadas minister of natural resources, mentioned that 86 pipelines and 34 electric transmission lines traverse the U.S.-Canada border.

Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya, CEO of Petroleos Mexicanos, the national oil company of Mexico known as Pemex, spoke about the flow of oil, diesel, gasoline and natural gas between the U.S. and Mexico. Mexico has been buying an increasing amount of U.S. natural gas and hundreds of miles of pipeline are under construction in Texas to sell more gas into the country.

This is a win-win situation for all of us, he said.

One of the conference sessions was called, Whatever happened to globalization? For an industry that moves product around the globe in massive quantities, it's an major question that remains unanswered.

jhiller@express-news.net

Twitter: @Jennifer_Hiller
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A Harlingen woman is suing state Sen. Carlos Uresti for fraud after she lost at least $800,000 investing in a now-defunct oil field services company he introduced her to  allegedly without disclosing his involvement in the firm or the commission he received on her investment.

Denise Cantu said Uresti and others tricked her into believing she was investing with FourWinds Logistics to buy and sell frac sand, which is used in fracking to extract oil and gas from shale rock, according to her lawsuit filed in January in Hidalgo County.

Instead of using her money to buy sand, though, she said company officials distributed most of the money among themselves.

Cantu invested $900,000, the bulk of a legal settlement she received from a wrongful-death case involving two of her children who were killed in a 2010 vehicle accident. Uresti, who was part of the legal team that secured the settlement, collected a $27,000 commission on her investment with FourWinds.

McAllen lawyer Oscar R. Alvarez, who represents Cantu, said in an interview Thursday that Uresti never disclosed to her that he was getting paid a commission or that he was a 1 percent owner in FourWinds.

Uresti also provided legal services and acted as the firms outside general counsel in 2014. The company went bankrupt the following year, with investors alleging they were defrauded.

She went through a horrible loss with her family, Alvarez said of Cantu. And then for people to take advantage of her  words cant describe what shes going through. Obviously, the loss of all that money creates complications.

Uresti, in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News in August, denied any wrongdoing in regards to his involvement with FourWinds. He also said he disclosed he received a commission.

His attorneys didnt respond to call or email. In a court filing in Cantus action, he issued a general denial to the allegations.

We intend to prove otherwise, Alvarez responded. I think the evidence is going to show that everybody involved knew what they were doing, and that this was a scam.

The FBI has been investigating FourWinds and Uresti for more than a year, according to people familiar with the investigation. Three company officials already have pleaded guilty in the case and are scheduled to be sentenced later this year.

On Feb. 16, FBI agents raided Urestis law offices at 924 McCullough Ave. The San Antonio Democrat said at the time the search was part of a broad investigation of FourWinds.

Law enforcement sources later told the Express-News that Urestis consulting company, Turning Point Strategies, also was a target of the raid. Uresti has said it was Turning Point that received the commission on Cantus investment in FourWinds.

After about six hours at Urestis offices, about 15 agents left, each carrying a box to an awaiting FBI truck.

Uresti, who holds the District 19 Texas Senate seat, is seeking a delay in Cantus case because hes now in the Legislature in Austin. His request for a legislative continuance is scheduled to be heard Monday.

He also wants the suit transferred to Bexar County from Hidalgo County.

Also named in Cantus January suit are JP Morgan Chase & Co and a Chase representative. FourWinds had bank accounts at Chase Bank.

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A FourWinds official testified in bankruptcy court last year that he was threatened by CEO Stan Bates to falsify a Chase bank statement to vastly inflate how much FourWinds had in its account on April 30, 2014. Cantu alleges she was presented the statement to induce her to invest.

The lawsuit has alleged the bank was involved in the creation of the bogus bank statement and another document.

Cantu was shown the documents while visiting a Chase branch in San Antonio, Alvarez said.

Chase spokesman Greg Hassell declined to comment.

Investors have alleged in a bankruptcy court filing that Bates wasted their money on personal expenses, expensive gifts, exotic car rentals and a wild lifestyle spiced by flying women in to meet him and lavish vacations, a court filing states. Bates has disputed the charges.

Cantu sued Bates and FourWinds for fraud in Cameron County in 2015, but that lawsuit has been on hold as a result of the FourWinds bankruptcy and Bates personal bankruptcy.

In her latest lawsuit, Cantu has also sued Uresti, Chase and its representative for negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract. The suit seeks unspecified economic and punitive damages.

pdanner@express-news.net

Twitter: @AlamoPD
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Shortly before showtime for each performance of Pippin at the Woodlawn Theatre, Amanda Golden puts on her costume  saucy red flats and a gauzy skirt beneath a gold-and-red leotard accented with fringe  then completes her look with a stop at a wheeled box labeled LIVE SNAKE.

Golden opens the latches on the black case and lifts out either Samson or Lillian, 5-foot-long Colombian red-tailed boas. The snake coils around her slender frame, stretching from her hip around her back to her shoulder.

It feels like a hug, she said.

Thats a big change from how Golden felt before she started working with the snakes. She was afraid of them, she said. Thats why she didnt immediately agree when director Katie Benson first floated the notion of incorporating one into her characters look. But she also didnt rule it out completely.

I try to stretch myself and grow, said Golden, who plays Pippins treacherous stepmother Festrada in the musical. I said, Bring me a snake, and I will try before I say no.

When Benson told her that Aaron Tapia would be the one training her to work with the snake and also would be on hand to make sure everything was done safely, the actress relaxed. In addition to being an experienced snake handler, Tapia is an actor and a stagehand with whom shed worked before.

I owe this experience to Aaron, she said. I fully trust him as a human being. I knew he wouldnt put me in danger.

The snakes are the property of Pollys Pets, the Universal City pet shop where Tapia works. He has gotten to know them well and often uses Samson for education programs aimed at teaching people about snakes.

They are great ambassadors to the world of reptiles, said Tapia, who personally owns more than two dozen reptiles. It really just helps that theyre both super-sweet.

The snakes alternate performances to minimize stress, Tapia said.

Neither, he noted, is poisonous. He has been surprised by the number of times he has been asked that in the post-show receiving line.

I would never let anyone handle a venomous snake, he said.

Golden started working with the snakes about two weeks before opening night. Tapia began by having her touch Lillian, then moved on to having her hold the snake, guiding her in how to do it so that both she and the animal would be comfortable. He also educated her about boa constrictors, stressing safety in all things.

Tapia also talked to the rest of the cast and crew to make sure everyone knew how to behave around the snakes, emphasizing that they need to be treated with respect. The basic rule is that no one but Tapia or Golden is to touch them. Tapia also reviewed what should happen if someone is bitten. No one in the show has been.

Safety is key, Tapia said.

If Golden ever has a moment where she feels uncomfortable or senses that the snake might be getting anxious or in any way aggressive when shes onstage, she will simply snap her fingers  a gesture in keeping with her character  and Tapia, who spends the show in costume, will swiftly step in and remove the animal.

Tapia is always visible to her when shes onstage with a snake. She has noticed that often in the second act, the snakes seem to gaze into the wings as if theyre looking for him.

One of the biggest challenges for Golden was simply getting used to looking into a snakes face.

Its intimidating, Tapia said.

Golden agreed.

Both of them will look you square in the eye, she said, which initially threw her off. At first, I didnt know what they wanted from me. Theyre very confident.

Samson sometimes makes a sound thats not quite a hiss that she found unnerving at first, especially when he made it right in her ear. Eventually, she made her peace with it.

Golden has become much more confident with the snakes. She had worried a bit that she might not be able to focus entirely on her performance while also holding a living creature, but that has not been the case. She did one scene with the snake draped across her head; she has performed while a snake inquisitively reached out beyond her body, as if endeavoring to climb some piece of scenery.

The most striking moment came when another actor accidentally bumped into her when she was working with Lillian, and she immediately felt protective of the snake, something she hadnt expected.

Snakes can be good scene partners as animals go. Florence Bunton performed the snake handler monologue from the 1982 play Talking With a couple of times and enjoyed doing it. In the piece, a woman who grew up handling snakes as an expression of faith talked about having lost her belief.

Snakes are predictable, and if youre not nervous yourself, theyre gonna be calm, said Bunton, who owned snakes when she was in her 20s specifically so she could conquer her unease around them.

The second time she did the monologue, she worked with a nice-looking blood python.

Im not sure what he thought of me, but he was very attractive, and whenever he looked me in the eye, he would yawn, she said. It was a kind of Stay back kind of thing.

She was inspired to do the monologue after watching Sherrie Shirky perform it in a full production of the play that was done in the Cellar Theater of the San Pedro Playhouse (now The Playhouse San Antonio). Shirky hadnt worked with snakes at all before, she said, and was afraid of them. But she really wanted to perform the juicy monologue, so she did it. And she found she really enjoyed watching the audiences reaction to the snake.

The snake was kept in a box onstage and wasnt visible to the audience. By the time she would reach in and pull it out, she could tell that they had relaxed a bit, certain that there would be no live snake.

Then I would reach out and pull out this live snake, and it always freaked them out, she said. I got to where I had entirely too much fun messing with people with the snake.

She ultimately worked with two snakes because Scarlet, the ball python who initially was borrowed for the show, began to shed a few weeks into the run and clearly was uncomfortable being handled. So Scarlet was replaced by Stevie, a rat snake whom Shirky preferred.

At their first performance together, she said, He didnt see my hand coming (into the box to pick him up), and he jerked, and I jerked, and the audience flipped.

She hasnt worked with snakes again. But she vastly preferred working with them over the chickens that pooped on and pecked at her during a production of Fiddler on the Roof and the lambs she had to wrestle into plastic pants for a staging of Gypsy.

Id work with farm animals again, she said. but Id rather deal with a snake. Its far more fun to mess with people.

Golden has noticed that the snakes in Pippin definitely get a reaction, though the speed with which it happens varies depending on which snake shes sharing the spotlight with. When she is working with Samson, she has noticed, the initial response is muted, perhaps because he reads as less real somehow in the darkened theater.

I had someone ask me (after a performance) what kind of fabric they used to make the snake, she said.

When she wears Lillian, whose coloring is a little lighter, Golden gets the sense that a little charge of fear runs through the crowd.

Golden now appears so comfortable onstage with Samson and Lillian that she often is asked whether shes ready to get a snake of her own. She is not.

My boyfriend would not appreciate that, she said, laughing.

As far as working with snakes again, she said, she wouldnt instantly say yes, but she wouldnt turn it down, either.

Ive loved working with these snakes, she said. I would be more open to it than I was before.

Pippin can be seen at 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through March 12 at the Woodlawn Theatre, 1920 Fredericksburg Road. Tickets $18-$29 at woodlawntheatre.org or 210-267-8388.

dlmartin@express-news.net

Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
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The Texas Education Agency on Wednesday launched a special accreditation investigation into the San Antonio School for Inquiry and Creativity, the same day it suspended operations at the local charter school district.

Commissioner of Education Mike Morath authorized the investigation in response to a referral by the TEAs Fingerprinting Audit Unit and an initial review by the agencys Special Investigations Unit, according to the letter sent to SASICs superintendent and board president.

I think the whole thing is very unfortunate, Superintendent Tonja D. Nelson said. We are definitely working on resolving this issue to ensure that it wont happen again and open up the communication channels a little better.

Investigators will look into the same allegations that got SASIC suspended: possible lack of compliance with state requirements governing the criminal history of employees and protection of the health, safety and welfare of students. At board meetings last month, parents and employees complained that students were served undercooked, spoiled cafeteria food that made them ill, and that the district was not conducting criminal background checks on employees.

TEA investigators will also look into allegations of nepotism and failure to comply with state data reporting requirements, according to the letter.

The TEA also cited allegations that SASIC is operating at least two unapproved sites, including Monticello High School at 5300 Heath Road and SASIC Preparatory Academy, a middle school at 2507 Fredericksburg Road. The district is approved to operate three sites, but any charter district wishing to open a new campus must notify the TEA and provide a certificate of occupancy, said DeEtta Culbertson, TEA spokeswoman. Based on those requirements, SASIC currently has two TEA-approved locations on San Pedro Avenue.

The district enrolls a total of about 550 students.

Nelson applied Aug. 12 to relocate a campus from the Asbury United Methodist Church at 4601 San Pedro Avenue to 5300 Heath Road. The Heath Road building housed the Academy of Careers and Technologies, which Nelson ran until it lost its charter after failing to meet state accountability requirements. In the relocation application, Nelson told the TEA that SASIC had more than 100 high-schoolers at the Methodist church campus and would serve 180 students from grades 6 to 12 at the Heath Road campus upon approval of the charter amendment. On Dec. 7, Morath denied the request.

Considerations include the performance of the charter holder in carrying out its current public school obligations, including, but not limited to, student performance and the financial position of the charter, said Heather Mauze, director of the TEAs division of charter school administration, in a letter to Nelson.

On Thursday, Nelson said SASIC only operates two schools and students at the Heath Road and Fredericksburg Road campuses are enrolled as students of the approved schools. She said she had applied for a waiver for the Heath Road location but declined to provide the application, citing the ongoing investigation.

The TEA is conducting a hearing Friday on its mandate that SASIC suspend all operations, effective until the district can prove compliance with the criminal history record and health and safety requirements of the Texas Education Code. Nelson said some employees fingerprinting records were not properly uploaded to a state database and the district fell a few points short of a perfect score the last time its central kitchen was inspected.

Democratic Schools Research Institute holds SASICs charter. It expires July 31, 2018. The district receives more than $4,000 per month in Foundation School Program payments from the state.

In Bexar County, the TEA has conducted special accreditation investigations in the past two years of the South San Antonio, Edgewood and Southside Independent School Districts. If investigators find wrongdoing, possible sanctions include lowering the districts accreditation status, appointing a monitor or conservator and replacing the superintendent and governing board.

amalik@express-news.net

Twitter: @AliaAtSAEN
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City Councilman Joe Krier offered a bitter criticism Thursday of some of the public art pieces commissioned by the city and suggested that San Antonio ought to do a better job of selecting more aesthetically appealing art created by more local artists.

His criticism was met with a considerable amount of opposition from his colleagues, who championed the municipal spending on art projects, which in part comes from San Antonios major bond programs.

As he laid out his complaints, Krier went through a short slideshow that included photos of a few art projects, including one recently dedicated at a District 9 park.

That aint art to me, Krier said, pointing to a photo of an abstract sculpture. And I realize art is subjective.

Kriers attack came as the council was scheduled to vote on a list of 135 artists  including 82 from Texas, of which 59 are from San Antonio  that would be pre-qualified to eventually win city commissions. Those artists go through a multiple-step vetting process. In part, the councilman wanted to disrupt the process and force San Antonio to reduce its use of out-of-state and international artists.

By ordinance, San Antonio spends 1 percent of its capital-improvements budget on public art projects. That means, for example, that the city will set aside $8.5 million from the proposed $850 million 2017 bond program, should it be approved, for public-art projects.

Krier complained about particular pieces of art, such as Liquid Crystal, a $1 million, 30-foot-tall sculpture by London-based Jason Bruges Studio that Krier and others have mocked by calling it a giant cheese grater.

He said he remembered standing near the sculpture during its unveiling at the Convention Center. When the curtain fell, he recalled thinking, What in the world is this, and is it going to do something?

He also threw critical stones at an outdoor piece at Panther Springs Park, Sotol Duet, an $80,000 work by an artist from Hudson, New York, and El Bosque, a large metal work reminiscent of papel picado. The latter piece was created by two Phoenix artists and cost $100,000.

Krier suggested that no one in his North Side district has voiced any appreciation for the art and that he didnt find it attractive.

Councilman Roberto Trevino, an architect, was the first to respond. He told Krier that the work at Panther Springs had recently won a national award for public art, and he pointed to the bean sculpture in Chicagos Millennium Park, which has become that urban spaces everything, Trevino said.

This isnt about just art. Its about people, he said. And I think we need to be very mindful about how were addressing our community and showing support for the arts.

The councilman noted that Maya Lin, the artist who created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and Paris Eiffel Tower, were both criticized before becoming iconic works.

Riffing on Kriers use of whether San Antonio would have turned away Michelangelo, had he not been on the citys approved artists list, Trevino talked about the crafting of David.

You mention Michelangelo  well, 500 years ago  I think you were there, Trevino said, lightheartedly jabbing Krier over his seniority. He got criticized for (creating David) because nobody had approached doing sculpture in such a big way.

Other council members, too  from Rebecca Viagran to Ron Nirenberg  backed the citys art program and underscored its importance here.

San Antonio is defined by its heritage. It is defined by its arts-and-culture community, Nirenberg said. Top cities in the world have very strong positions on art. I want San Antonio to maintain that position.

jbaugh@express-news.net

Twitter: @jbaugh
AUSTIN  County officials have fresh ammunition in their fight against proposed new restrictions on local property tax revenues, documenting big-and-growing local expenditures that often are driven by state requirements.

Increases in crime and requirements that counties detain undocumented immigrants after their arrest for federal authorities  which Gov. Greg Abbott has made a battle cry  already have put a strain on Bexar County, said County Judge Nelson Wolff.

Its a major issue for us, Wolff said. If trends keep going like theyre going, our jail budget is going to get busted.

A new survey shows Bexar County isnt alone.

In advance of a Senate committee hearing Tuesday on a proposal to rein in how much property tax revenue local governments can raise without voter approval, the Texas Association of Counties joined with several other groups to tally services covered by local funds.

Local officials fear the proposed state requirements will hamper their ability to deliver those services, many of which revolve around public safety and are either required by state or federal law or simply expected by local residents.

Theres all this talk about property taxes, and theres no talk about the cost of government. Government costs money, said Paul Sugg, legislative director for the Texas Association of Counties. And by the way  there are mandates that were handed down from the Legislature, and this is what they cost.

The groups  which also included the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, Texas Conference of Urban Counties and Texas Association of County Auditors  surveyed Texas counties last year about the services.

The survey includes data from 98 of the states 254 counties, although the number of counties submitting answers varied on different questions, with no question getting an answer from all 98, according to the Texas Association of Counties.

The report by the groups took the totals from the responding counties and used them to estimate a statewide cost based on population. Many of the factors are related to public safety, such as operating county jails or providing the basics of the justice system.

One of the factors cited in the report, the cost of providing attorneys for indigent defendants, includes hard figures from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission. It found that counties in fiscal year 2016 paid about $216.1 million of total statewide indigent defense costs, or 87 percent, while the state paid about $31.6 million. It found county expenditures on this item have risen 136 percent since 2001.

In Bexar County, the state contributed $1.5 million, while the county picked up nearly $10.5 million in costs.

Judicial system costs rose an estimated 20.9 percent from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2016, according to the report, to $1.57 billion. The state pays for the salaries and benefits of district judges, the report notes, but counties pay for personnel, other operating costs, courtrooms and courthouses.

That cost in Bexar County rose from $78.5 million in fiscal year 2011 to $89.1 million in fiscal year 2016, according to figures from the Texas Association of Counties.

Estimated local expenditures for operating county jails statewide rose 20.1 percent from $1.156 billion in fiscal year 2011 to $1.389 billion in fiscal year 2016, according to the report.

In Bexar County, the amount rose from nearly $60.4 million to nearly $66.2 million.

Those backing fresh restrictions and other requirements on property tax procedures for local governments, however, are unlikely to be deterred by the report.

Lawmakers supporting those measures emphasize they arent proposing a hard cap on local governments ability to raise revenue. They would, however, make increases more difficult above a certain level.

Under current law, voters can petition for a rollback election if a city, county or special district increases property tax revenue collections by more than 8 percent, with exclusions for items including new construction.

Under Senate Bill 2 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, and House Bill 15 by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, an election would be automatic if officials propose a 4 percent increase in revenues or more.

The whole purpose of Senate Bill 2 is to slow down the rate of increase. Cities and counties, just like state government, have to set priorities because the taxpayers cant pay for everything all at once, Bettencourt said. Taxpayers ability to pay has to matter.

Bonnen said, Were not telling them no. Were telling them to go to the voters.

School districts already have automatic elections with distinct criteria. Local officials say if the state wants to make a real difference in local property taxes, lawmakers should put more state dollars into the school funding system to reduce its reliance on local dollars.

According to the state comptrollers office, school districts in 2013 accounted for nearly 55 percent of the property tax levy statewide, compared with 16.7 percent for counties and 16.2 percent for cities.

Both measures also include other provisions, with Bonnen emphasizing aspects of his bill that would make it easier for people to understand what is happening with their tax rates and how they can have input in the process of setting rates.

Bettencourts bill is up for a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee. Bonnens measure hasnt yet been scheduled for a hearing, although he said, We will hear the bill sooner than later.

Asked about the costs covered by local governments for key issues, Bonnen said its disingenuous to suggest that counties wouldnt be able to cover the cost of core functions of state government with a 4 percent election trigger.

Most counties dont hit 4 percent each year. They are acting hysterically over what, for most counties in this state, will be a nonissue. And Im concerned that theyre that worried about having taxpayer transparency and accountability put into place, Bonnen said.

But also, I can guarantee you that there are things outside of jails and courthouses and indigent defense funds that they have in their budget that their taxpayers may find to not be essential, Bonnen said. I have a great deal of respect and faith in county leaders that I seriously doubt the first thing they are going to start cutting are sheriffs deputies and jails.

Abbott touted Bonnens bill last week, getting applause at a Brazoria County Day legislative breakfast when he said, We have to find ways to drive down the rising cost of property taxes that are putting a burden on homeowners across the state of Texas.

Abbott said the proposed cap and vote provision gives you the power to govern your own lives, which is the way democracy is supposed to work.

Local officials, however, say they are elected to make the decisions about how tax dollars are spent, and theyre accountable at the ballot box if voters disagree. Putting key decisions up for a vote injects uncertainty into the process even if the spending is warranted, the Texas Association of Counties Sugg said.

If one of the biggest chunks of what you spend money on has to do with criminals, the court system, jails  were spending money on maybe the less savory elements of society. Are you telling me that people will immediately embrace that? Sugg asked. Thats not the same thing as asking people to vote to exceed a 4 percent rollback rate to build a water park for their kids or a hike-and-bike trail that everyone loves. These are very different things.

pfikac@express-news.net

Twitter: @pfikac
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State District Judge Lori Valenzuela has recused herself from a murder case at the center of a dispute between District Attorney Nico LaHood and defense attorneys who say the charge should be dismissed because of alleged prosecutor misconduct.

The defense claim that a prosecutor did not disclose a prior sexual encounter between another prosecutor and a key witness in the case  and that LaHood threatened to destroy the practices of two lawyers during a closed-door discussion of it in Valenzuelas chambers during a trial last month  had the Bexar County Courthouse buzzing Thursday.

The motion was filed Tuesday. On the same day, Valenzuela filed an order of voluntary recusal to Judge David Peeples, who presides over the Fourth Judicial Administrative Region, and asked him to assign another judge.

Peeples office confirmed Thursday that Senior District Judge W.C. Kirkendall of Seguin would take over the case.

Kirkendall will inherit a motion to dismiss the indictment against Miguel Martinez, 29, that says defense lawyers didnt know  until Valenzuela ordered the disclosure as a jury was being picked  that a prosecutor assigned to the case shortly after Martinezs arrest told Jason Goss, an assistant district attorney, she had had a sexual encounter three years earlier with Gregory Dalton, a witness who could place Martinez at the crime scene.

She was instructed to have nothing more to do with the case but had access to the case file for one day, the motion states.

Martinez is accused of shooting Laura Carter, 33, five times in the head as she sat in her vehicle in a Southeast Side neighborhood on Jan. 11, 2015.

LaHood and Goss had presented evidence Feb. 8 but the proceedings halted and days later prosecutors and the defense agreed to a mistrial, giving no reason.

The motion said LaHood became enraged when defense lawyers Joe D. Gonzales and Christian Henricksen told him they might seek dismissal of the charge based on prosecutorial misconduct. LaHood said that he would destroy and shut down their practices and would make sure they never got hired on another case again in Bexar County, the motion states.

LaHood on Wednesday called the defense allegations completely false. Both he and Mark Stevens, also on the defense team, said they expected a hearing on the motion. Neither responded to questions Thursday about whether they considered Valenzuela a potential witness to the conversations described in the defense motion.

Valenzuela did not return multiple messages left with her office Thursday. She presides over the 437th District Court.

The defense motion, a writ of habeas corpus, claims Martinezs lawyers were goaded into moving for a mistrial by Goss failure to disclose exculpatory evidence, putting Martinez in a position of being tried twice for the same offense if a retrial were to proceed.

One observer, not involved in the case and speaking on condition of anonymity, said that would be tough to prove.

But it was the allegation of a threat by the district attorney that reverberated through the legal community here. Several lawyers and courthouse employees approached for comment declined to speak on the record about its implications  though all were talking about it.

Courthouse observers note that prosecutors and defense attorneys are mostly cordial but things can get testy in any work setting.

The National District Attorneys Association publishes standards for prosecutors requiring they act with integrity in all communications with opposing counsel and not express personal animosity toward them, regardless of their personal opinion.

The American Bar Associations Canons of Professional Ethics includes a line that urging avoidance of personal colloquies between counsel which cause delay and promote unseemly wrangling.

I think a district attorney in any large district has a lot of power, Mike McCrum, president of the San Antonio Criminal Defense Attorney's Association, said. They can wreak a lot of damage.

If the allegation turns out to be true, it's a reason for any defense lawyer to be concerned, he added.

I personally know Nico LaHood, and I would be shocked that was his intent, McCrum said. I don't believe that is the type of man he is.

McCrum said withholding exculpatory evidence has been an issue we've been dealing with, with every (district attorney) administration in South Texas.

Prosecutors are being secretive, hiding information and wait until the last minute to present evidence, he said. If we are trying to reach the truth in our courts, then it's important for prosecutors to hand over helpful information, not just harmful information, to get to the whole story.

Judges recuse themselves from cases for lots of reasons, said state District Judge Ron Rangel, who is not involved in the Martinez case.

In circumstances where I've removed myself from (cases), it's never been because I can't be unbiased, he said. A lot of times, it's because we recognize the significance of the appearance of justice in any case, and we want to assure that there is public confidence in any hearing that takes place.

It's important to maintain the integrity of the justice system, and sometimes that is how we have to act.

It would be very rare for a judge to be called as a witness, but it can happen, Rangel said.

Every legal issue is unique, so you never know.

ezavala@express-news.net
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Federal immigration authorities have started to target undocumented immigrants as they show up in court for hearings  and before their cases are settled  an aggressive new practice that judges and lawyers say could deter defendants from appearing in court and could jam the justice system.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents hauled off at least two immigrants this week at the Bexar County Courthouse. In other cases, the agents have sat in the hearings looking for defendants, making not only judges uncomfortable, but others in the courtroom.

The practice stems from President Donald Trumps crackdown on illegal immigration with new policies that greatly expand who ICE can target for deportation. Similar incidents have been reported around the country of ICE entering county courthouses looking for criminal defendants.

In El Paso, agents apprehended a transgender woman seeking a protective order in a domestic violence case. The agency said courthouses sometimes are the only place it can locate undocumented immigrants targeted for deportation.

Judges and lawyers said immigrants make up a sizable part of the daily docket at the Bexar courthouse, and the ICE approach leaves jurists little choice but to shelve the cases when an immigrant is taken away.

Bexars 15 county judges, who handle misdemeanor cases, discussed the matter at their regular meeting Wednesday. Many couldnt recall ICE agents coming in before cases were adjudicated, which longtime judges say is a notable change in immigration enforcement practice.

Its become so aggressive, said County Court-at-Law No. 7 Judge Eugenia Genie Wright, one of two judges who handle family violence cases. Were very concerned about what its going to do to our cases. People are going to be afraid to come to court and to report instances of domestic violence for fear of being deported or having a family member being deported.

She noted that if a family violence case isnt adjudicated yet, and the defendant is deported or taken by immigration authorities, services cant be provided for the victims or the family.

I can tell you, being a judge on the Family Violence Court, there is an enormous concern about this  the chilling effect this may have on people in reporting family violence, said County Court-at-Law No. 13 Judge Crystal Chandler, who saw agents in her courtroom on Thursday waiting for defendants. Neither was hauled off, though the judge declined to get into specifics.

ICE said in a statement that its policies allow agents to enter public buildings, including courthouses, and that deportation officers take into account targets criminal history and safety considerations when deciding when and where to make an arrest.

Because many targets provide false address information, locating these individuals at a courthouse is, in some instances, ICEs only likely means of affecting their arrest, the agency said.

District Attorney Nico LaHood said a witness in a family violence case walked out of the courthouse Thursday without speaking to prosecutors after seeing ICE agents in the courtroom. Hes also concerned that ICE is arresting defendants before his office has a chance to pursue a conviction.

We want to work with our federal colleagues and we understand the need to enforce federal laws, but we want them to recognize that we need to hold accountable individuals accused of violating Texas laws as well, LaHood said. And if they show up to hearings prior to a case being adjudicated, then thats going to interfere with our ability to enforce Texas law.

The enforcement also is having a chilling effect in other courts, judges say.

I had a couple of attorneys tell me their clients were not going to appear because they fear getting detained, 379th District Judge Ron Rangel said. Its disruptive because were not allowed to  resolve our cases. Victims dont get justice, the defendants dont get their day in court and it creates backlogs.

ICE has come into the courthouse before, but after the case is resolved, Rangel said.

The new ICE approach, he said, is much more politically based than it should be.

Nicholas Lugo of Mexico had a pretrial conference Monday in a DWI case and was taken into custody after his hearing before County Court-at-Law No. 5 Judge John Longoria. Lugo has a pending application for U.S. residency with his U.S. citizen wife as a sponsor, but no legal immigration status, said his lawyer, Raymond Martinez.

Longoria said Lugo appeared as requested for his pretrial hearing, but the case was continued for 90 days so a transcript of a prior hearing could be prepared. ICE agents took Lugo away after the hearing.

Thats the thing that bothered me, Longoria said. Even though hes undocumented, he submitted himself to our system of justice.

In another case, Luis Alvarez was in County Court No. 2 on Wednesday to take care of misdemeanor theft and burglary charges that are more than a decade old. Before being allowed to enter a plea, ICE agents took him away and sent back to Mexico on a years-long deportation order, according to his attorney, David Dilley.

By the time I got to court, ICE had already dragged him off, Dilley said. He was there to accept responsibility. ... He was denied the ability to contest his deportation. They put him on a bus back to Mexico this afternoon.

In my 25 years as an attorney, Ive never experienced where ICE has gone to the courthouse looking to detain people while they are trying to accept responsibility, Dilley added. Like anyone else, youre deemed innocent until proven guilty. Its setting a very dangerous precedent.

Former ICE officials said its not unusual for deportation officers to go into courthouses seeking immigrants facing removal from the U.S., but attorneys and judges said its unusual to see someone arrested before their conviction.

Under the Obama administration, so-called deportation priorities limited the types of crimes ICE could deport someone for, regardless of whether they were in the country illegally. In a January executive order, Trump broadly expanded those guidelines to include immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and have been accused of a crime or in the judgment of an immigration officer, otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security.

ICE appears to be targeting immigrants who posted bond and were released from jail before they could be put into removal proceedings, said Lance Curtright, a San Antonio immigration attorney. Since Trump took office, Curtright said ICE officers have come to court and tried to detain two of his clients, neither of whom had been convicted. They were released after attorneys negotiated with the officers.

Curtright said if ICE had called him, he would have had clients surrender and litigated their cases before an immigration judge.

The priority guidelines changed, and one result of that is some people who were not a priority under Obama did not get put into immigration court proceedings for various reasons, he said. Now that Trump has made the guidelines basically anybody and everybody theyre going back and arresting some of those people who were released under Obama guidelines. The question is, why do they think the Bexar County courthouse is the place to effect those arrests? Because it disrupts the administration of justice.

Julian Calderas, a former San Antonio deputy field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, the branch of ICE that handles deportations, said going into courthouses looking for deportation targets is nothing new. He chalked up the attention surrounding the recent Bexar County incidents to the scrutiny of Trumps immigration policies.

Its not that it never happened. It did, said Calderas, now the CEO of XFed, a consulting firm. People are paying attention to every single arrest now.

Jerry Robinette, a retired ICE agent who served in San Antonio from 2005 through 2012, said agents can make arrests at courthouses because they are not considered sensitive locations like schools, churches, hospitals or funeral sites.

The area theyre focusing on is the area you want them to focus on  at the jails and the courts, Robinette said.

Longoria also said there are more than 14,000 warrants pending for people who did not show up for hearings in the Bexar County courts-at-law alone. And this new ICE approach, he said, could add to that.

We need to encourage people to come to court. This move by ICE agents is going to discourage them and that will have an impact on our courts, Longoria said. If theyre in immigration custody, theyre no longer going to be available to submit to our courts.

Robinette acknowledges the arguments, but notes ICE agents have a job to do.

You can make an argument for both sides, Robinette said. But if you are subject to deportation, the idea that you should be left alone just defies common sense.

And immigrants here illegally should be apprehensive, Robinette said.

If you are here illegally, you should be afraid because youre still violating the law, Robinette said.

gcontreras@express-news.net

jbuch@express-news.net
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NEW BRAUNFELS  City leaders are poised to expand the municipal smoking ordinances reach to cover electronic vaping devices and the few remaining bastions of unfettered public tobacco puffing here  establishments like the Hoity Toit Beer Joint.

That doesnt sit well with Tim Gilbreth, a regular at the bar on Torrey Street, who said, People ought to be able to smoke in plain bars like this one... If you dont want to be around smoke, dont come in.

But LaDonna Hinshaw, another Hoity Toit patron playing video games nearby, backs tightening the code due to the proven negative health effects of smoking.

Its not good for us, said Hinshaw, who vapes but stopped smoking cigarettes in 2015 due to heart problems that now require surgery. Im just here having a few beers and playing the slots before I go under the knife.

A revised ordinance, which passed on a 4-2 vote on first reading Feb. 27, is slated for a vote on final approval Monday.

Health concerns for non-smoking patrons and employees of bars, restaurants, private clubs and hotels  where smoking is now legal  have driven the City Council push since late last year to enact whats billed as a comprehensive smoking code.

Theres no reason one sector of our community should have to expose themselves to the dangers of second hand smoke, Jerry Saavedra of the American Heart Association told the council Dec. 12.

Hospitality industry employees can inhale secondhand smoke equivalent to up to 36 cigarettes during one eight-hour shift in a smoking workplace, he said.

Saavedra urged the council to also regulate e-cigarettes and vaping, saying, The bottom line is theyre not healthy.

Critics decry the initiative as government overreach, noting most bars and private clubs in town already have voluntarily banned indoor smoking, although vaping still occurs in some.

We feel like businesses should have their own choice, said Dave Cinotto, co-owner of The Oyster Bar, which voluntarily banned cigarettes four years ago.

Shiloh Garnier, manager of the Black Whale, said his patronage has increased since smoking was relegated to outdoor tables in 2015.

If all my smoking is outside, how are my employees getting secondhand smoke? he asked.

Bill Womack, a Black Whale regular, said, The city should stay out of it all together. They need to worry about fixing the roads and infrastructure and quit worrying about smoking.

But others favor a city-wide smoking ban, excluding only private residences.

I dont think we should be accommodating smokers who are choosing to do something thats not good for their health, resident Nancy Cronen told council members Feb. 27.

The anticipated changes to the local code last updated in 2005 also include establishing a smoke-free zone extending five feet outside the entrances, exits and operable windows of all places where smoking is prohibited.

Smoking would still be allowed on outdoor patios and sidewalks past the buffer, which was initially proposed to be 10 feet before being halved at the urging of Councilman Justin Meadows.

Eddie Huebner, who owns Stylish Vapor here, said he favors eliminating all tobacco smoking at bars, but sees no need to prohibit vaping, asserting, Its no secondhand danger to anybody.

Its going to be really, really difficult to corral people that want to vape inside of a bar and a restaurant, Huebner predicted Thursday.

Businesses would be required to post No Smoking signs under the ordinance, with violators facing maximum fines of up to $200 for first offenses, $500 for second offenses and $2,000 for third offenses.

Both the smoker and the business owner could be cited, City Attorney Valeria Acevedo said Thursday. If the business is aware of the customer smoking and tolerates the violation of the distance requirement, then the business could be cited in addition to the smoker.

Under modifications spearheaded by Councilman Chris Monceballez, existing exemptions would remain in place for businesses like vape shops that derive most of their income from the sale of tobacco or smoking products.

This ordinance is for employee health, public health, and is consistent with cities within our region who have been 'smoke-free' for quite some time, he said.

zeke@express-news.net
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Manuel Medina wants to be our transportation mayor. To be more precise, he aspires to be this citys traffic-congestion-reduction czar.

Medina, the perpetually giddy Bexar County Democratic Party chairman, has made some fanciful promises on the campaign trail, none more rosy than his pledge to slash drive times along the citys top 50 corridors by 10 percent in his first five months as mayor.

Medina hasn't explained exactly how he'll get us from here to there, but he has offered a hint. The mayoral challenger says that if elected, he would try to convince local businesses to stagger their work hours.

As weve gone forward in this technology age, more people are working from home, Medina said. But if we could talk with our major employers here in town and incentivize them to have more people work from home, it makes sense.

Its hardly the long-term solution for a city that is projected to grow by more than a million people over the next 25 years, but if youre building a multi-pronged strategy to tackle highway gridlock, there is some merit in the concept.

In September 2006, Houston launched a two-week pilot program called Flex in the City (a pained attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the HBO series Sex in the City). The 140 participating companies employed a range of scheduling options for their 20,000 workers  from compressed work weeks to flexible start and stop times  and saw encouraging results. Studies determined that highway travel times decreased more than five percent during rush hours.

Along the same lines, when the Johnson Space Center started using a staggered 9/80 work schedule (eight nine-hour days, followed by one eight-hour day and then a day off), the average drive time on NASA Parkway fell by five minutes.

This flexible scheduling approach has been sporadically discussed in Americas big cities since Harvard professor Miller McClintock (supposedly the first American ever to earn a doctorate in traffic engineering) studied traffic patterns in Boston in 1928 and concluded that staggered work hours would soon be a necessity to relieve congestion on the streets of this countrys major metropolitan areas. And the staggered-hours approach has worked under special circumstances for a finite time, such as in Los Angeles during the 1984 Olympic Games.

The problem, in San Antonio, or anywhere else, would be getting businesses to buy-in on a permanent basis.

Mike Beldon, the chairman of Beldon Roofing Co. (and campaign treasurer for five straight victorious mayoral campaigns from 2005-13), expressed skepticism.

That might work well for somebody like USAA, a worldwide, 24/7 type of business, said Beldon, a supporter of Mayor Ivy Taylor. And it might work for somebody like Valero. But my guess is that for most small businesses, its not going to work.

Beldon added: We have about 200 people that report to the office, and I cant stagger that, because there are only so many working hours in the day. And in the service business, we cant stagger the hours of our people that are taking incoming calls or dealing with problems. It might work, but it would be for very certain types of businesses, and Id bet that some of them are already doing that.

Sure enough, USAA, the insurance and financial-services company that is the citys second-largest private-sector employer, tends to be supportive of staffers working from home, according to USAA spokesman Roger Wildermuth.

Some employees are eligible to be home-based, and thats a growing segment at USAA, Wildermuth said. We also provide security alerts to our employees  via texts  if there are congestion issues and we have a robust van-pool program.

Of course, if larger employers such as USAA are already taking advantage of flexible scheduling and smaller businesses dont necessarily lend themselves to staggered hours or working from home, its easy to wonder how much more mileage Medina could derive by taking the city down this road.

We could give them credits on their property taxes or maybe discounts on their electricity and water bills, Medina said. Find ways that companies could say, You know what? Well save money by having more people work from home or staggering their hours.

We usually incentivize businesses on the front end, to come to San Antonio, he added. Well, this would be an incentive on the back end.

ggarcia@express-news.net

Twitter: @gilgamesh470
WASHINGTON  Republican leaders drove their long-promised legislation to dismantle Barack Obamas health care law over its first big hurdles in the House on Thursday and claimed fresh momentum despite cries of protest from right, left and center.

A Republican proposal to revise the Affordable Care Act claimed its first major victories amid a backlash that both Republican leaders and President Donald Trump spent the day trying to tamp down.

After grueling all-night sessions, the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees both approved their portions of the bill along party-line votes. The legislation, strongly supported by Trump, would replace the tax penalties for the uninsured under Obamas Affordable Care Act with a conservative blueprint likely to cover far fewer people but, Republicans hope, increase choice.

The vote in Ways and Means came before dawn, while the Energy and Commerce meeting lasted past 27 hours as exhausted lawmakers groped for coffee refills, clean shirts and showers. It now heads to yet another panel, the Budget Committee, and it remains on track to land on the House floor by months end.

Angry Democrats protested that Republicans were acting in the dead of night to rip insurance coverage from poor Americans. But Republican leaders sounded increasingly confident that, after seven years of empty promises about undoing Obamas law, they might finally be able to overcome their own deep divisions and deliver a bill to Trump to sign.

Trump sought to calm fears about the process in an afternoon tweet: Despite what you hear in the press, healthcare is coming along great. We are talking to many groups and it will end in a beautiful picture!

Trump met with several conservative critics of the plan, signaling both a willingness to negotiate its details and that it does not yet have enough votes to emerge from the House. More acknowledgment of the proposals problems came from Senate Republicans, who suggested Thursday that the measure is moving too quickly through the House and in a form unlikely to succeed once it moves to the upper chamber.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the plans top booster, insisted that the pending legislation represents the only chance were going to get to fulfill the GOPs longstanding promise to repealing and replacing Obamacare

But the proposal faces challenges with both GOP conservatives and moderates, in addition to Democrats, many of whom questioned the lightning-fast process and raising dueling qualms about its policy provisions.

Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appeared to echo a Democratic attack on the House legislation, saying lawmakers need to see the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimate of how the bill will affect the federal deficit and the number of insured Americans.

I think we need to know that, McConnell said at a breakfast sponsored by Politico, adding that the report could be released by Monday.

Trump and Ryan have adopted diverging approaches to critics of the overhaul. While Trump has endorsed the legislation, he has expressed a willingness to make deals with its critics in recent days, while Ryan has emphasized the precarious nature of the legislation House leaders have drafted, all but ruling out substantial changes to the bill before it comes up for a final vote.

At an unusual Thursday news conference carried live on cable news channels, a shirt-sleeved Ryan gave a 23-minute presentation. Republicans, he said, face a binary choice  vote for the House bill, or let the ACA survive.

We as Republicans have been waiting seven years to do this, Ryan said. The time is here. The time is now. This is the moment.

Hours later, leaders of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus visited the White House and made a personal case to Trump to modify the legislation  changes that Ryan and other House leaders believe would imperil it by alienating more moderate Republicans.

I didnt hear anything that said its a binary choice at the White House today, said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the Freedom Caucus chairman, who met with Trump and other lawmakers at the White House.

Meadows declined to detail the changes he and other conservatives are seeking, but they have leveled three broad objections to the Ryan-backed bill: that the system of tax credits it creates constitutes a new government entitlement, that it does not do enough to curtail the ACAs Medicaid expansion and that it largely leaves the ACAs insurance coverage mandates in place.

Trump and his deputies have spent the past several days carefully wooing members of the Freedom Caucus with lengthy lunches with the president, calls with staff and friendly meetings with White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, himself a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.

Every conservative that has come out publicly opposed to this has been called by the White House and is being cajoled and wooed by the White House to give in, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a prominent Republican critic, said on MSNBC on Wednesday.

Yet it remains unclear when or how any tweaks to the measure would occur.

Trump and Ryan have both sent strong signals this week that they consider the tax credit issue settled, and several Freedom Caucus members said they were now focused on beefing up the GOP bills attack on the ACA insurance mandates.

House leaders involved in drafting the bill largely steered clear of the insurance mandates, having concluded that more significant changes would be more difficult to get through the Senate. But conservatives said they were not interested in watering down the House bill preemptively.

I think we can probably be more aggressive, said Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla. So I think thats what [Meadows and Jordan] were talking to the president about, saying, Mr. President, if you want to reduce costs, this may not do it. 

Another influential House conservative group, the Republican Study Committee, proposed amendments to the Medicaid portion of the GOP plan that would wind down the ACA Medicaid expansion beginning in 2018 rather than 2020, and also require able-bodied, childless adults to seek work in exchange for Medicaid benefits.

Trumps willingness to negotiate  expressed in a Wednesday evening meeting with leaders of conservative activist groups in addition to Thursdays session with Freedom Caucus leaders  came amid a barrage of attacks from Democrats and criticism from health-care industry groups.

The accelerated pace has drawn criticism from Democrats, who contrasted it with the lengthy deliberations that took place before passage of the Affordable Care Act, as well as from some Republicans.

One of those Republicans, Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.), tweeted early Thursday morning that the House should start over.

Get it right, dont get it fast, Cotton wrote from his political account.

In a Thursday afternoon interview with the Washington Post, Cotton threw more cold water on the House legislation, including the proposed tax credits to help people pay for insurance.

The bill that was introduced Monday night cannot pass the Senate, he said. And I dont think it will be brought to the Senate for a vote.

Cotton said many of his colleagues hold similar views: They might not have spoken publicly about it, but I can tell you a number if not a majority of Republican senators think that this process has been too breakneck, too slapdash and they do not see a good solution for the American people coming out of the House bill as drafted.

Four other GOP senators in states that accepted Medicaid expansion under the ACA, also known as Obamacare, have expressed concerns about changing the way the program is administered.

One of those senators, Rob Portman, R-Ohio, reiterated his concerns Thursday after meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

That concerns me if it provides less certainty for the expanded Medicaid, Portman said. Well see.
For this journalist, as is the case, no doubt, for many other long-term British residents of Spain, one of the first thoughts to cross his mind every single morning, usually just after waking up, is Urghhh, Brexit  (Since November it has been accompanied by Urghhh, Trump, but thats for another article.)

Michael Harris (l) addresses the round table EUROCITIZENS

So it was somewhat heartening this week to attend a roundtable at the European Parliament offices in central Madrid surrounded by British expats, Spanish citizens, politicians, academics and journalists, all of whom are equally as concerned by Brexit, and who were there to hear a panel of experts discuss what the process could mean for them and for their countries joint futures.

The event was organized by Eurocitizens, one of many campaigning groups to have sprung up across Europe ever since British voters decided that they wanted out of the 28-country club. The organization, run by long-term residents of Spain, says it is not trying to turn the clock back on the Brexit vote, but rather campaign to preserve the rights of Britons in Spain and Spaniards in the United Kingdom, during what will no doubt be an extremely long-drawn-out negotiation process as country extricates itself from the EU.

We want to stay where we are. We want to retain our rights as European citizens Michael Harris, Eurocitizens

First to address the more than 120-strong audience of interested parties was the groups vice-president, Michael Harris. For Harris, a writer by trade who has lived in Spain for more than 30 years, the Brexit vote was a referendum where we didnt have the vote, given that UK electoral law prevents expats who have lived outside of their home country for more than 15 years from casting their ballot  whether its a general election or a referendum such as the Brexit poll. Of the 1.2 million Britons living in the EU, Harris continued, 80% could not participate in the vote, the result of which, he added, has left us in a legal limbo  or perhaps it would be better to call it purgatory.

Harris had plenty of criticism for the UK government, which he blames for having created an artificial and completely unnecessary uncertainty about the future of British citizens living in the EU. Whats more, he explained, despite repeated requests, government officials in charge of the process have failed to respond to Eurocitizens requests for meetings, claiming they are too busy with commercial concerns.

Jose Montilla, senator with Spains Socialist Party, addresses the Eurocitizens roundtable. Eurocitizens

His message for governments and politicians? We want to stay where we are. We dont want work permits, or residence permits. We want to retain our rights as European citizens.

Spanish senator Jose Montilla, of the Socialist Party (PSOE) encouraged the attendees of the roundtable to apply as much pressure on governments as possible during the Brexit process, describing such action as completely legitimate.

The figures Spain is the number-one destination for British nationals living outside the UK

British nationals permanently resident in Spain 308,821 (France: 185,344)

Properties owned by British nationals in Spain: 110,373

British nationals who are employed (65%) or self-employed (35%) in Spain: 59,529

British retirees who receive a UK pension and live in Spain 107,980

Spaniards on Erasmus+ programmes in the UK: 5,651 Source: Eurocitizens

Clarifying the uncertainties of British citizens in the European Union and of European citizens in the UK must be an absolute priority, he added. People come first.

Representing the UK government at the meeting was Tim Hemmings, the deputy ambassador at the British Embassy, who impressed on British attendees an important point: that until a Brexit deal is reached, your rights will not change. Get in touch [with the embassy] if someone tells you otherwise.

Hemmings also tried to strike an optimistic note, with the message that change and opportunity come hand in hand. [...] Although were leaving the European Union, we are not leaving Europe. We are still European.

Member of the European Parliament and vice-chair of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Enrique Guerrero, expressed his fears over the Brexit process, in response to British Prime Minister Theresa Mays statement that no deal is better than a bad deal. If there is no deal, we are in a completely different world, Guerrero warned, also pointing out that the month of May could be much more important than March, as that is when the UK is due to trigger Article 50, starting the formal process of leaving the EU. There are French elections in May, the MEP pointed out. The EU can live without the UK. But not without France.

Although were leaving the European Union, we are not leaving Europe. We are still European Tim Hemmings, deputy British ambassador

As for the loss of voting rights Britons will suffer  expats in Spain will in theory no longer be able to vote in municipal elections after Brexit, nor of course European Parliament elections  Guerrero drew attention to the fact that Brits are facing a nostalgic return to taxation without representation.

Robert Robinson, vice-dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at the Pontifical University of Comillas, expressed his concerns about what a potential drain of Spaniards from the UK could do. The British economy is going to lose its competitive edge without Spanish talent, he explained. And Im very pessimistic about the effect on the British university system, which will have to replace EU funding with British funding.

The British economy is going to lose its competitive edge without Spanish talent

Robert Robinson, vice-dean at the Pontifical University of Comillas

Providing the point of view of Spanish residents in Britain was Vanesa Lopez-Roman, from a similar group to Eurocitizens, entitled Spaniards in the United Kingdom - surviving Brexit. Im surprised at the number of [Spanish] people who are already thinking about leaving, she explained, adding that many were planning on getting out of the UK once they have secured British nationality. I am also thinking about leaving, she added.

After the speeches from the panel and the roundtable discussion, which was moderated by Eurocitizens secretary Camilla Hillier-Fry, the session was opened up to questions from the floor. The first person to take the microphone asked the panel: Could anything positive come out of the UK leaving the EU? A deathly silence ensued, followed by laughter from the audience. It would appear that early-morning cursing of Brexit is here to stay...
ADA, Ohio  Getting the most out of no-till is a total systems approach. You have to pay attention to everything, including the soil condition, planter, cover crops and residue management.

Every step you do is going to affect future steps, said Paul Jasa, a research engineer with the University of Nebraska Extension, during his keynote speech at the annual Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference March 7.

Jasa said one of the biggest keys to no-till is residue management. He recommends leaving as much of it in place as possible, but at the same time, configuring your planter to do an efficient job of cutting through, and placing the seed with good seed-to-soil contact.

Leaving the residue standing helps keep the soil covered, which preserves moisture and also helps hold snow in place, so when it melts, it returns more moisture to the soil. The residue also helps retain nutrients, and helps regulate soil temperature during temperature extremes.

Points to consider

Jasa said good no-till planting includes a planter that can cut through and handle the residue, one that penetrates evenly to the desired depth, establishes seed-to-soil contact, and closes the seed row after planting.

He said farmers need to go over their planter long before theyre ready to use it, making sure its weighted properly and that everything is doing what its supposed to.

Planters may need to be configured differently for different soils, and different parts of the country. He reminded farmers that when they read or hear about how one guy does things, to always consider the location and any differences between that farm and your own.

Jasa said its also important to avoid entering no-till fields when the soil is wet, because compaction is a guarantee. And, its important to use no-till on a continuous basis.

To get the full benefits of no-till, youve got to be continuous no-till, he said.

Jasa said continuous no-till helps break up residue on its own, including root balls, and other pieces of crop residue.

Reducing insecticides

In the afternoon, former U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist Jonathan Lundgren gave a spirited talk about the importance of reducing insecticide use, especially neonicotinoids, which he said are killing bees and other beneficial insects.

We are currently living through one of the worst mass extinction events that planet Earth has ever experienced, he said. We are losing species at a rate that surpasses the dinosaur extinction.

Lundgren left USDAs Agricultural Research Service about a year ago, telling the Washington Post that USDA was censoring his research. He and his family now operate a South Dakota farm and research station with a focus on regenerative agriculture, known as Blue Dasher Farm.

Symptom of problem

Lundgren said he understands the issue of insects, but said theyre actually a sign of a bigger problem. He tries to get farmers to take a whole-systems approach, working with nature and beneficial insects instead of turning to chemicals.

If you have a pest problem in your field, that is your field telling you that something is out of whack, he said. Why are we buying another jug to replace the last jug that stopped working?

Lundgren said that crop and animal life is connected in a way that, when you eliminate one species, it affects all of the others, including the beneficial insects.

He encouraged farmers to be more diverse, and to also consider incorporating some livestock onto their farms. The diversity adds to the soil health, and it also helps protect farmers, so that when crop prices go up and down, youre not left high and dry.

Awards presented

Master Farmer awards were presented to Mark Guess, a grain farmer from Greene County, and Alan Thompson, a grain farmer from Springfield.

Guess and his family run Groco Family Farms, an 8,600-acre operation. Guess said he got his education through the college of hard knocks, but not because he wasnt offered a chance.

When I graduated (high school) in 1954, my Dad said to me, Ill either send you to college or Ill buy you a new tractor. And guess what? I didnt get to college, said Guess, noting he got a new Farmall H with a plow and cultivator.

The Master Farmer awards recognize the lifetime achievements of Ohio farmers, in the areas of farm management, innovation, conservation and leadership.

A third award, the Ohio Certified Crop Adviser of the Year, went to Tim Berning, of Minster.
SALEM, Ohio  Schools and county auditors warn that the effort to reform Ohios property tax formula for farmland could be costly to districts and residential property owners.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee held a fourth hearing of S.B. 36 on March 8  a bill that would remove certain non-agricultural factors from the states Current Agricultural Use Value, or CAUV, formula and, according to supporters, make the formula more accurate.

Formula changes

The bill calls for factors like equity buildup and appreciation to be eliminated from the tax formula, arguing that those things arent tied to a farms ability to produce a crop. The bill also seeks the lowest allowable tax value for land taken out of production and put into conservation.

Opponents said a reduction in CAUV property would be offset by increases to residential property owners, because local governments and schools, by law, have to make up for the loss.

The expansion of benefits to farmers will shift the tax burden from agricultural to residential property owners, according to Ohio School Boards Association, Buckeye Association of School Administrators and the Ohio Association of School Business Officials in written testimony.

This comes at a time when residential taxpayers have already experienced a major shift in responsibility for local property taxes.

Residential taxpayers

The schools claim that since 1990, the burden for residential taxpayers, on a statewide basis, has increased by 50 percent, which means that residential taxpayers are paying more of the total than business and agriculture. For 2015, residential taxpayers paid about 64 percent of Ohios total property taxes, according to the school group.

Related: View full written testimonies on S.B. 36.

But at the county level, and at the individual level, those numbers can change significantly.

Jed Bower, president of the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association, testified at the same hearing that statewide CAUV values have increased by 300 percent for farmland, and as much as 700 percent for woodland, in just the past few years.

I can personally attest to similar increases on my farm and the challenges that it presents, said Bower. My personal CAUV tax bill has increased by approximately 250 percent over the last three years.

State money

The school groups also argued the changes could cost schools money from the state, because the changes would lower the statewide average property value per pupil, resulting in reduced formula money from the state  especially in districts that have little agricultural land.

At previous hearings, farm groups said schools will lose money even if the bill is not passed  because owners of CAUV will be less likely to vote in favor of local levies, including renewals. They warned that some farmers are already organizing against school levies, because of the increases farmers have seen through CAUV.

Market correction

The County Auditors Association of Ohio testified as an interested party, saying that taxes rose in recent years as a result of rising farm profitability, and that the values were felt years later because of the timing delay built into the formula.

The auditors said the tax swing could be viewed as a market correction activity which has generally run its course.

They said they expect to see downward pressure on commercial agricultural real estate values, even without further changes.

Lastly, the auditors association said the impact of changing the tax for conservation land is hard to calculate.

It appears to be impossible to ascertain the number of acres that are devoted to a land retirement or conservation program under an agreement with an agency of the federal government, the auditors wrote. Without specifically identifying the types of federal conservation programs and knowing the number of acres affected, we are not only unable to calculate the impact of valuing this land at the lowest values of all soil types, but not at all clear as to a process to arrive at that amount.

A spokesperson for state Sen. John Eklund, R-Chardon, said the committee would likely hold another hearing on S.B. 36 March 22.

Related coverage:
Opposition parties in Spain are calling for answers as to why the conservative Popular Party (PP) government of Spain has not removed a single existing symbol of the era of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco from ministries and other public institutions since coming to power in December 2011.

The Valley of the Fallen monument near Madrid. Claudio Alvarez

The removal of these vestiges of Francos deeply divisive rule is mandated by Spains Historical Memory Law. Passed by the former Socialist Party (PSOE) government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in 2007, the law made provision for the removal of statues and the changing of place names connected to Francos regime  legislation that was aimed at providing moral redress for the victims of Spains bitter Civil War and the long dictatorship that followed.

The Spanish government says red tape and costs are to blame for delays

Under the Socialists, 570 of a total of 705 symbols catalogued by a commission charged with the job were removed but the process ground to a halt in April 2011 and there has been no movement since the conservative PP won general elections in November 2011.

Recently a senator with the Basque nationalist party EH Bildu, Jon Inarritu, called on the government to explain this five-year halt and the PP responded by citing red tape and high costs.

Which Francoist vestiges have been taken down from ministries and public institutions since 2012? asked Inarritu in a written question to the Spanish government, in which the senator also asked about the planned timetable for the removal of the remaining 135 symbols of the dictatorship.

The PP responded on February 27 saying that the remainder of the [symbols] are currently being processed, either because they are the subject of an administrative process or because of the cost involved.

Under the Socialists, 570 of a total of 705 Francoist symbols were removed

The question from Inarritu comes a month after Spains main opposition party, the PSOE, called for Francos remains to be removed from the controversial Valley of the Fallen site outside Madrid.

That demand  part of a push by the PSOE to stop perceived foot dragging on the part of the PP on implantation of the Historical Memory Law  was made in the wake of a government statement that the site is not a monument to Franco.

But the site contains just two marked graves: those of Franco and Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of the Falange, Spains fascist-inspired political party. At the same time, thousands of prisoners of war who fought against Franco in the civil conflict were among the workforce used in its construction.

English version by George Mills.
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A DOJ official said Friday the Pilot Program wont expire on April 5 but will continue while the agency evaluates how the program has worked and whether it should be extended or changed.

Kenneth Blanco, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, talked about the Pilot Program during a speech in Miami to the American Bar Associations National Institute on White Collar Crime.

The Criminal Division launched the one-year Pilot Program last April. It was set to expire on April 5.

The Pilot Program gives companies incentives to self-disclose, cooperate, and remediate FCPA violations.

Companies that qualify can receive a 50 percent discount on fines they might face under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

So far, the DOJ has issued five declination letters under the Pilot Program.

Two of the declinations involved privately-held companies that the DOj required to disgorge profits, creating a new category of FCPA enforcement actions.

In October last year, Lanny Breuer, the vice chair of Covington & Burling and former U.S. Assistant Attorney General, said the Pilot Program doesnt fix some problems with FCPA investigations and enforcement actions.

Breuer was speaking at the FCPA Blog 2016 Conference in New York City.

He said the underlying problem of prosecutorial discretion in how to run FCPA investigations and who to charge is still there.

There are very desirable benefits to the program, but theyre still discretionary, Breuer said.

The DOJ isnt required to follow the Pilot Program when pursuing cases. That means companies dont know whether theyll qualify, according to Breuer.

He also talked about de-confliction  when the government asks a company to halt its own FCPA investigation so the feds can be the first to interview witnesses.

Breuer said its possible for the DOJ to require de-confliction for a company to gain the benefits of the Pilot Program. That could result in companies being unable to disclose information about alleged wrongdoing to other agencies or to shareholders.

Asking publicly traded companies to stand down from an internal FCPA investigation is an extraordinary request, in my view, he said.

* * *

Here are the full remarks about the Pilot Program by Kenneth Blanco, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the DOJs Criminal Division, on March 10, 2017 in Miami:

. . . I would be remiss if I did not comment on the Fraud Sections Pilot Program. Last year, the Fraud Section implemented a one-year Pilot Program for FCPA cases, to provide more transparency and consistency for our corporate resolutions. The Pilot Program provides our prosecutors, companies and the public clear metrics for what constitutes voluntary self-disclosure, full cooperation and full remediation. It also outlines the benefits that are accorded a voluntary self-disclosure of wrongdoing, full cooperation and remediation. The one-year pilot period ends on April 5. At that time, we will begin the process of evaluating the utility and efficacy of the Pilot Program, whether to extend it, and what revisions, if any, we should make to it. The program will continue in full force until we reach a final decision on those issues.

______

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
A former executive of BP Singapore was charged Thursday with taking about $4.3 million in bribes from a local businessman.

Chang Peng Hong Clarence, BPs former eastern regional director for marine fuels, allegedly took bribes from Koh Seng Lee, the executive director of Pacific Prime Trading. PPT supplies petroleum products.

Chang was charged with 20 counts of bribery and 16 counts of transferring corrupt proceeds from an HSBC account in Hong Kong to three accounts in Singapore.

The 51-year-old former executive allegedly used the bribe money to buy properties in Singapore, including three houses and two condo units. He also invested in a Singapore preschool, prosecutors said.

Public and private corruption is punishable in Singapore with fines of about $350,000 and up to seven years in prison for each charge.

Corruption cases there are rare. Singapore ranked seventh in Transparency Internationals latest Corruption Perceptions Index, between Norway and the Netherlands.

But last year Singapore authorities shut down two private banks and banned a former Goldman Sachs banker implicated in the 1MDB scandal.

In 2014, a Singapore court sentenced a senior anti-corruption official to ten years in prison after he confessed to stealing about $1.4 million in public funds to pay gambling debts. Edwin Yeo had served in the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau for 15 years.

In 2011, two bureaucrats from the Singapore Land Authority were jailed for stealing about $10 million from the government. Koh Seah Wee was jailed 22 years and Lim Chai Meng received 15 years.

They bought apartments and cars, including a $1.25 million Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV and a Ferrari F430. The sentencing judge said buying the limited-edition Lamborghini was a rather egoistic act.

There was another big case in 1995. Choy Hon Tim, a deputy chief executive at the Public Utilities Board, was jailed 14 years for taking about $10 million in kickbacks. It was then Singapores largest public sector graft case. Choy was released in 2005 for good behavior.

_____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
Spain has handed over to Colombia a man accused of having carried out 300 forced abortions on guerrilla fighters for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in inhumane conditions. Hector Albeidis Arboleda Buitrago, 41, who was known as the doctor, was detained in Madrid in 2015 on suspicion of having performed the procedures, as a means to not lose [the women] as an instrument of war, over a period between 1998 and 2004.

Hector Albeidis Arboleda Buitrago, alias the doctor. HO (AFP)

He is also accused of having let at least three newborn babies die. The infants were children of indigineous fighters, who were being punished with forced labor for having fallen pregnant.

The Spanish government agreed to extradite the suspect at the end of January in response to a request from Colombia that was sent in March 2015. The Colombian public prosecutor has confirmed that the man has already arrived in Bogota, and has been given a medical inspection before being sent to one of the countrys prisons.

According to the Justice Ministry, Arboleda Buitrago, who has joint Spanish and Colombian nationality, will be tried in Colombia on charges of homicide, attempted homicide, performing unauthorized abortions and unlawful association for the alleged offenses.

Many of the women who were subjected to the abortions were minors, and had fallen pregnant after being raped by superiors. Some died shortly after the procedures after being denied adequate treatment, while the majority were obliged to have abortions against their will, on the basis they would be shot if they refused.

Many of the women who were subjected to the abortions were minors, and had fallen pregnant after being raped by superiors

The women, among whom were more than 50 indigenous girls from the Zabaleta community in Choco, had been forcibly recruited. In some cases they were forced to have terminations as late as the seventh or eighth month of term.

According to the testimony of at least 19 victims, the procedures were carried out with no anesthetic or proper surgical instruments, and in conditions that completely lacked the proper hygiene.

The majority of the procedures were carried out under a directive from the FARC in which instructions were given that guerrilla fighters who refused to undergo the surgery could be shot.

Spains High Court confirmed in December that the suspect would be handed over to Colombia because there was no doubt that he forced the women into labor, and ignored the babies until they stopped breathing. Whats more, it pointed out that the abuse had caused terrible [physical] conditions, as well as causing psychological and moral damage to the victims.

English version by Simon Hunter.
Victoria Beckham believes the fashion industry is not a "clock-in clock-out" industry.

Victoria Beckham

The 42-year-old fashion designer feels "so lucky" and "so blessed" to be a businesswoman and to have launched her eponymous clothing line, although she has hinted it is relentless being a creative mastermind and designing new creations because she has to work long hours and she regularly has to put in extra work, although she doesn't mind putting in the hard work because her business is her "passion".

Speaking about her career in a Facebook Live interview with The Sunday Times Style magazine, which the brunette beauty has shared on her social media page, she said: "For me, I feel so lucky, so blessed, to do what I love. My business is my passion. It's what I've always dreamed of, and I truly believe if you work hard enough and dream big enough there's no limits to what you can achieve.

"Working in fashion is not a clock-in, clock-out type of industry, and the work and the passion that my team give me is fantastic."

And the former Spice Girls band member - who was known as Posh in the girl band - has recently released her second cosmetics capsule for the longstanding beauty brand Estee Lauder, and the fashion icon has revealed she has long admired the brand and finds herself having a pinch-me moment when she walks into the office in New York to start working on a new product.

Victoria - who has children Brooklyn, 18, Romeo, 14, Cruz, 12, and Harper, five, with her husband David Beckham - explained: "My beauty icon has always been Estee Lauder and everything that she stands for as a strong female entrepreneur and everything she achieves. So it was a dream come true for me to work with Estee Lauder.

"I remember when I was younger, and I used to sit and watch my mum getting dressed up, and she would wear Estee Lauder make-up, and I often have that moment when I have to pinch myself when I walk in to the Estee Lauder offices in New York, [I think] 'This is incredible, who would have thought?'

"I feel what we are doing is ... ground-breaking."
Prince William made a joke about his brother Prince Harry giving fellow soldiers "lip" in Afghanistan.

Prince William and Prince Harry

The 31-year-old royal served as a former attack pilot in two tours of Afghanistan, and at the unveiling of a new memorial to honour the fallen heroes of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the 34-year-old royal made a quip to one of his sibling's former Gurkha colleagues.

Kaliash Gurung, 40, of the Royal Gurkha Regiment, met the flame-haired hunk in Afghanistan in 2007.

Speaking to him at the event in central London, William joked: "Well I hope he didn't give you any lip! Tell him where to go!"

Kaliash spoke of how he felt "sent back" to the mortalities he witnessed during his time at war in the country and it was a very "emotional" day for him.

According to the MailOnline, he said: "Some of my very close friends lost their lives, some of my very close friends have been injured for life. It's very emotional."

Before the shrine was unveiled there was a religious ceremony, where Harry paid tribute to his fallen friends by reading out a biblical passage.

He said: "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under Heaven . . . A time to love and a time to hate, A time for war and a time for peace.

"From learning the hard way to stay onside with my Colour Sergeant at [military academy] Sandhurst, to the incredible people I served with during two tours in Afghanistan - the experiences I have had over the last 10 years will stay with me for the rest of my life. Inevitably most good things come to an end and I am at a crossroads in my military career."
Princess Diana "saved lives" with her dresses.

Princess Diana

The head of design's widower at Catherine Walker & Co, the late princess' favourite design house, has revealed Diana - who tragically passed away in 1991 after being involved in a car crash in Paris - has revealed the extreme lengths they would go to make sure her outfits were respectful to the places she visited around the world.

In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, Said Cyrus said: "As with all our clients who are in the public eye and attend high profile events, we worked very closely with Diana to ensure what she was wore was appropriate and she -- not the clothes -- was the star.

"My wife and I spent a great deal of time researching what she wore for official visits abroad, even visiting countries in advance to make sure we had it right. We tried to ensure that our designs bridged her ambassadorial role for her own country and also paid respect to each destination.

"She will always be remembered for her humanitarian work. In the end, she used her dresses to save lives."

Cyrus was speaking in the run up to the opening of the new exhibition 'Diana: A Fashion Story at Kensington Palace'.

The curator of the new event, was once hailed the "Sun Princess of Versailles" by Italian-born French fashion designer Pierre Cardin when she visited the Palace of Versailles in the French capital three years prior to hear death in 1994,

Lynn said: "[She] was really well received.

"The couturier Pierre Cardin was at the event and said 'We are at Versailles, the home of the Sun King, and now we have the Sun Princess of Versailles.' Diana was a very proud ambassador of British fashion.", recently said Diana - who had sons Prince William and Prince Harry with Prince Charles - was a "proud ambassador of British fashion".

She was once hailed the "Sun Princess of Versailles" by Italian-born French fashion designer Pierre Cardin when she visited the Palace of Versailles in the French capital three years prior to hear death in 1994,

Lynn said: "[She] was really well received.

"The couturier Pierre Cardin was at the event and said 'We are at Versailles, the home of the Sun King, and now we have the Sun Princess of Versailles.' Diana was a very proud ambassador of British fashion."
Iconic television series Prison Break is returning for a brand new season this year, with the original cast making their return to the show years after the first came to what many thought would be a final conclusion.

Credit: FOX

Filmed partially on location in Morocco, nine new episodes will come to audiences, featuring Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Sarah Wayne Callies, Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper, Rockmond Dunbar and Paul Adelstein all in their infamous roles, alongside the return of original creator, Paul T. Scheuring.

Now the show has been confirmed for British channel FOX UK, coming to the network on Monday, April 10.

Head of Programming at FNG UK, Toby Etheridge comments: Its been eight years, but the gripping break-out series, Prison Break, is set for release. The terrific cast reprise their celebrated roles as they return for a daring escape that rivals any that came before. Prepare for a heart-pounding thrill ride with fierce loyalty, sacrifice and family at its core. Its escapism at its best!

The official synopsis for the new season reads: As clues surface that suggest a previously thought-to-be-dead Michael may be alive, Lincoln and Sara, Michaels wife until he was presumed dead, reunite to engineer the biggest escape ever. Three of Fox River State enitentiarys most notorious escapees, Sucree, T-Bag and C-Note, are pulled back into the action. But with Michael behind bars in the infamous Ogygia Prison in Yemen, the danger is just as real outside the prison walls as it is inside.

Prison Break comes to FOX UK at 9pm on Monday, April 10.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) in keeping with its commitment to staying true to the Indian ethos will dedicate the first day of the upcoming Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) 2017 to the celebrations of indigenous handlooms and textiles. In an attempt to pay homage to the weavers, 6 shows with 71 style aficionados will be held during the event.

In the opening show, FDCI and The Handloom School - supported by Good Earth, will acknowledge the anonymous makers who create magic with thread, featuring insightful ensembles from 13 illustrated designers. This will be followed by a special show dedicated to Indonesian textiles and techniques, basis our partnership with Jakarta Fashion Week (JFW) to enable a cross-cultural exchange of designer talent between the two platforms.

As the day progresses, veteran designer, Madhu Jain, will be celebrating 30 years in the industry as a craft revivalist and textile conservationist, along with Krishna Mehta known for bringing Maheshwari fabrics to the limelight.

The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) in keeping with its commitment to staying true to the Indian ethos will dedicate the first day of the upcoming Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) 2017 to the celebrations of indigenous handlooms and textiles. In an attempt to pay homage to the weavers, 6 shows with 71 style aficionados will be held during the event.#

Abraham & Thakore will highlight the irregularity of Indian textures, using pure Indian cottons that are either hand woven or hand printed. The day will also witness the ethnic inheritance of Jharkhand, in a never seen before partnership as AIFW's partner state. Celebrating ten years of Vogue in India, SARI-torial splendour of 55 modern day narratives of our traditional Indian drape will take the centre stage with the closing show for the day Vogue presents Sari 24/7.

"The FDCI and its designers want to amplify creativity and infuse fresh energy through the medium of textiles and subtle minimalism, which have been a tour de force in the Indian design ideology. Like always, this year too, the event will be multifaceted, as we explore the nuanced processes behind the final refinement," said Sunil Sethi, president, FDCI. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
To take advantage of the energy revolution, ExxonMobil Corporation is planning to invest $20 billion over a 10 year period, and expand production capacity along the US Gulf Coast. ExxonMobil is strategically investing in new refining and chemical manufacturing projects in the US Gulf Coast region to expand its manufacturing and export capacity.The companys 'Growing the Gulf' expansion program, consists of 11 major chemical, refining, lubricant and liquefied natural gas projects at proposed new and existing facilities along the Texas and Louisiana coasts.

To take advantage of the energy revolution, ExxonMobil Corporation is planning to invest $20 billion over a 10 year period, and expand production capacity along the US Gulf Coast. ExxonMobil is strategically investing in new refining and chemical manufacturing projects in the US Gulf Coast region to expand its manufacturing and export capacity.#

Investments began in 2013 and are expected to continue through at least 2022 and are expected to generate thousands of new high paying jobs and $20 billion in increased economic activity. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Aussie apparel and home textiles retailer Kmart Australia has now included Australian cotton in its cotton sourcing strategy. The retailer undertook a trial by using Aussie cotton in bedding and premium mens tshirts. After receiving thumbs up from shoppers, Kmart has expanded the use of Aussie cotton to men, women and childrens clothing and bedding.Following the trial, Kmart did a research on the use of Aussie cotton, to which Kmart shoppers responded by saying that Aussie cotton made products are of superior quality and a great way to support Australian jobs and industry.

Aussie apparel and home textiles retailer Kmart Australia has now included Australian cotton in its cotton sourcing strategy. The retailer undertook a trial by using Aussie cotton in bedding and premium men's tshirts. After receiving thumbs up from shoppers, Kmart has expanded the use of Aussie cotton to men, women and children's clothing and bedding.#

"Cotton Australia has been working with Kmart on this program for more than 12 months as part of our efforts to encourage brands to get behind the Australian cotton story and our farmers," Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said. "Its great to be recognised by an iconic Australian brand like Kmart that will carry a premium range of quality cotton products." (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
I m chidu @Imchidu

Just watched #BadrinathKiDulhania what a film ! What a performance @aliaa08 @Varun_dvn take a bow special film for women's on womens day

Vasanth Mallya @vcmallya

Just watched #BadrinathKiDulhania here in Muscat @Varun_dvn makes you to laugh in one scene & cry in another. @aliaa08 also superb. Enjoyed

Rahul Puri @rahulpuri

Loved #BadrinathKiDulhania ! What performances from Varun, Alia and of course Sahil Vaid. Congratulations Shashank! All the best!

Saniya Badri Dhawan @saaniisweet

Its housefull!!! @Varun_dvn @aliaa08 @BKDMovie @ShashankKhaitan #BadrinathKiDulhania and everyone js enjoying it so far, so many laughs!

Mohammed Sheriff  @mohammedsheriff

Just watched #BadrinathKiDulhania from Dubai family Entertainer with great Emotions loved it. Sure HIT @karanjohar @aliaa08 @Varun_dvn 

Bhakti K Mehta @bhaktikmehta

#BadrinathKiDulhania is a full on #Bollywood paisa vasool romantic comedy! Loved it @Varun_dvn is superb Humme bhi moong ka halwa pasand hai

Romi saheb  @iamsaheb555

I congratulate @karanjohar for producing film like #BadrinathKiDulhania which will educate those parents who consider girls less important.

Naina @Naina341

@ShashankKhaitan thank you for making #BadrinathKiDulhania its a total entertainer with so much emotions and yes a very strong message

Haroon Gul @haroon_gul

@Varun_dvn Awaiting #BadrinathKiDulhania bro your changing alot and I see the future icon! Wish you best @Varun_dvn

rohit jaiswal @rohitjswl01

Both @aliaa08 nd @Varun_dvn needs to be Appreciated... Both are just Mind Blowing... #BadrinathKiDulhania.
Beach Baby

Bruna Abdullah is all smiles as she's seen holidaying in Brazil at a beach sporting a bikini.

En-route To Happiness

Bruna Abdullah and her friends are seen sharing a joke as they head off to the beach in Brazil.

Brazilian Holiday

Bruna Abdullah is living the life! She's lucky she can go on a holiday as and when she pleases.

Sun, Sand & The Beach

The only way to cool down in this summer heat is to hit the beach and relax by the seashore.

Freedom!

The best thing in life is freedom! Freedom to go where you want and freedom to do what you want.

Peace

Nothing makes you feel peaceful while you're at the beach along with your loved one.

Adventure Snowboarding

Bruna Abdullah is all set for snowboarding along with her friend at a beach in Brazil.

A Relaxing End

After a fun day at the beach, Bruna Abdullah winds herself up playing with a cat.
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
Kangana Should Keep Her Mouth Shut

Speaking to Bollywood Life, Shekhar Suman said, "She should just keep her mouth shut, and let her work speak for herself. If you are a failure then you should have a dignity to come forward and say I have failed miserably.''

The Best Is To Just Be & Keep Your Mouth Shut

''You don't always have to shout on the rooftop and say what you have done. The best thing is to just be and keep your mouth shut," he said.

Kangana Is A Weeping Women

"I don't like these weeping women and women who cry to everyone claiming that they were victimized, traumatized, agonized and all that. Otherwise when you are talking about equality, everybody is in the same line.''

Some Women Save Their Cards Conveniently

''But some women save their cards conveniently. You become a woman and a man according to your convenience. You say that you are the hero of the film and not the heroine.''

This Is Fake Feminism

''It is quite irritating to see these blubbering women who get all the support in the world from the internet. This is manufactured and fake feminism and beyond a point it is irritating.''

Everyone Is An Achiever Here

''These women talk about their achievements and struggles, what the hell everyone is an achiever here.''

When Shekhar Indirectly Called Kangana A Cocained Actress

After the failure of Rangoon, Shekhar had tweeted, ''One cocained actress was carrying the burden of her non existent stardom.She has fallen flat on her face n how.Guess this is poetic justice.''

When He Bashed Kangana's Fans

Im horrified at the paid lackeys and sycophants who have jumped in defence of a lumpen so- called star.shame on you,you paid twitteratis (sic).

When He Said He Wasn't Talking About Kangana

I meant smone totally different but i guess guilty minds are forever conscious.plz don't jump to conclusions.i never named no one(sic).
Plot

The film opens with a montage of Jhansi where in the voiceover of Badrinath Bansal urf Badri (Varun Dhawan), we are introduced to his family- a feudal father (who uses chest pains and threats of a heart attack to control the family when he sees that his orders don't work), a meek mother and brother who had to sacrifice his love and marry the girl of their father's choice.

Next marks the entry of Badri as we see him posing for a photo to be shared for matrimonial matchmaking. (Oh, I could hear some loud cheers from the audience). Our hero works as a recovery agent for his father and prides himself as 'someone who only a lucky girl could get hitched to'. Amidst all this, he bumps into a fiesty girl, Vaidehi Trivedi (Alia Bhatt) at a wedding. Badri is instantly smitten by her and decides that only she can become his 'dulhania'.

With the help of his buddy Somnath (Sahil Vaid), he begins wooing Vaidehi by sending off a marriage proposal to her which she instantly turns down as she isn't interested in getting hitched any time soon. Instead she is aiming to fly high in the sky and fulfil her ambitious dreams of being an independent woman. But Badri is not the one to lose his heart. He continues pursuing Vaidehi to change her decision by helping her family in finding a bridegroom for their elder daughter Kritika. (Thankfully, the makers don't glorify his stalking and instead present it in a light-hearted manner keeping in sync with the tonality of the film)

Somehow Badri manages to convince Vaidehi into marriage only to be dumped by her at the altar. Will the angry, heartbroken boy ever realize the reason for Vaidehi's drastic step?

Direction

For Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Shashank Khaitan has weaved a plot around the social evils of dowry, patriarchy and male chauvism which holds a mirror to our rigid old-age customs that still prevails in the Indian society. Badrinath Ki Dulhania is cleverly able to disguise an important message and present it as a breezy entertaining watch without being too preachy about it. Unfortunately, it's his writing in the second half of the film that prevents it from soaring high.

The film begins with a hilarous take on assets and liabilities before it plunges into the plot which is sprinkled with crisp narrative and witty lines. However, things take a slow turn post interval as the screenplay begins to meander here and there with a lack of focus. You know how the film is going to end but it's some flavoursome romance, terrific performances and a story with its heart at the right place that manages to leave you with a smile as you walk out of the theatre hall.

Performances

Varun Dhawan as the Jhansi boy is the heart and soul of Badrinath Ki Dulhania. His infectious charm coupled with a striking vulnerability and impeccable comic timing sweeps you completely off the feet. He is no Mr Goody and has his own inner conflicts to solve. But that's exactly what draws you more towards him. You feel and fall for his Badri. To sum it up, one of his lines from the film says it the best- 'Humse koi chidd jaaye, aisa toh ho nahi sakta'

Alia Bhatt is at her effervescent self as Vaidehi, a girl with a mind and will of her own. Her performance is easy on the eyes but there isn't any new dimension that you get to witness when it comes to her acting prowess in this film. Nevertheless, she is quite a charm and holds your attention.

Sahil Vaid as Badri's best friend leaves you in splits with his funny antics. The rest of the cast (Rituraj Singh, Yash Sinha, Shweta Prasad Basu, Aakansha Singh) too put up a good show and add layers to the film.

Technical Aspects

The dialogues laced with a desi tadka work magic for the film as even the grave conversations get a sprinkle of chuckles. Neha Parti Matiyani's cinematography gels well with the film as you get a peek at the rusticness of Jhansi and its vivid colors. At the same time, she manages to capture the flavour of Singapore with elan.

When it comes to editing, the film could have been snipped a few minutes shorter to keep it more crisp and engaging.

Music

'Aashiqui Surrender Hua' is a crazy track that gets you groovy ala desi isstyle. The foot-tapping Tamma Tamma is for times when you want to let your hair down and hit the dance floors to show off your crazy, wacky dance moves. 'Humsafar' and 'Roke Na Ruke Naina' is for some lovey-dovey moments whereas the title track is already topping our playlist for this Holi.

Verdict

Badrinath Ki Dulhania has its own set of flaws. But, it's the Dhawan boy (a brownie point for him) who wins over your hearts with his beguiling performance and makes you forgive the makers for it. Go for it if you are looking for some laughs, breeze and a story with its heart at the right place!
The date March 9, 2017 will be indeed a special one for Bhavana, as the popular Malayalam actress got engaged to Kannada film producer Naveen, on this particular day.

In fact, the news of Bhavana & Naveen engagement came as a surprise to many. The private ceremony held in Kochi, was a low-key event and was attended by certain near and dear ones of the actress.

Reportedly, only a very few members of the Malayalam film industry were informed in prior about the Bhavana-Naveen engagement. But, many of the Mollywood celebrities took to Facebook to wish Bhavana and Naveen on the special occasion.

Take a look at the Mollywood celebrities who congratulated the couple, through social media. Read on..

Mohanlal Definitely, the biggest one among the lot. Superstar Mohanlal who is busy with the shoot of his upcoming film with B Unnikrishnan did take out time to send out a short and a sweet message through his Facebook page, wishing the newly engaged couple. Prithviraj Actor Prithviraj, with whom the actress will be seen sharing the screen space in the upcoming movie Adam Joan, directed by Jinu Abraham took to Facebook to congratulate the celebrity couple on the special occasion. Anoop Menon Actor Anoop Menon was one of the first Mollywood celebrities to wish the actress. The actor had a special message to share and in his message he tagged them as the Best Couple In The Recent Times. Kunchacko Boban Actor Kunchacko Boban, with whom Bhavana has shared the screen space in movies like Swapnakoodu, Hridayathil Sookshikkan, Polytechnic etc., had a very special message for the new celebrity couple. Asif Ali Actor Asif Ali, with whom Bhavana will be seen in the upcoming movies Honey Bee 2 and Adventures of Omanakuttan, also took to the social media space to wish his best friend all the very best. Navya Nair Actress Navya Nair, who is one of the contemporaries of Bhavana congratulated the couple.Navya Nair and Bhavana have shared the screen space in the movie Chathikkatha Chanthu. Jayaram Popular actor Jayaram also made it a point to wish his co-star of movies like Happy Husbands, Winter, Kudumbasree Travels, Ivar, Amrutham etc., and her fiance on the august occasion.

Apart from the above mentioned celebrities, actors like Aju varghese, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Priyanka Nair etc., also wished the actress, through their respective Facebook pages.

Actress Manju Warrier, who is one of the close friends of Bhavana, was present during the engagement ceremony. Reportedly, Bhavana-Naveen marriage will be held this year itself.

On the work front, Bhavana is gearing up for the release of her upcoming big release, Honey Bee 2, which would hit the theatres on March 23, 2017.
The makers of Jana Na Dil Se Door are keeping the audiences engaged with the latest twist. The 4-year-leap, that happened recently, has brought about a lot of changes on the show. As we revealed, Vividha (Shivani Surve) and Ravish (Shashank Vyas) have a son named Madhav, while Atharv (Vikram Singh Chauhan) has lost his memory and is staying with Suman.

Apparently, Suman is behind Atharv's memory loss as she has been making him drink a 'Khada' that is mixed with herbs given by a tantric (a lady)! Suman is planning something big during 'maha amavasya', to keep Atharv and Vividha away from each other.

On the other hand, Vividha is unaware of Suman's reality. Vividha's family, Sujatha and Ravish also do not know about Atharv's whereabouts. Suman makes Vividha and Ravish believe that she is involved in spiritual work. But, she is hiding Atharv's truth from everyone for Ravish's good future.

Ramanand Warns Vividha The saint, who visited Vividha's house, had given a clue to Vividha that Suman is not like how she looks! Vividha will also get a few clues against Suman that will make her spy on Suman. Vividha Gets To See Raghav's Name On Suman's Contact List In the previous episode, we saw how Vividha doubts Raghav, who helped Vividha and Ravish to get their kid Madhav back, but didn't meet them. She feels something fishy as she had seen the name (Raghav) on Suman's contact list! Vividha Was A Few Steps Away From Atharv! Also, instead of Raghav, Guddi (who introduces herself as Gargi) drops Madhav. She hides Atharv in the backseat of the car. Vividha get to see Raghav's eyes (as he was covered), and feels strange! Atharv-Vividha Atharv also gets to see Vividha slightly and recalls his dream. When Atharv tries to stop her, she feels that Atharv was calling her and looks back. But she fails to see him as Guddi hides Atharv. Madhav After all these strange events, Vividha also get to hear from Madhav that his badi dadi (Suman) was at Raghav's house. This will lead to Vividha spying on Suman. Vividha Follows Suman Vividha follows Suman and will be shocked to see her in Raghav's house. The family members will be seen playing Holi. Vividha Misunderstands Seeing Atharv & Guddi Together! Vividha will be shocked to see Atharv with Guddi (Gargi). She misunderstands him and gets hurt. She feels that he has moved on in his life!

Story So Far...



As we had revealed earlier, Vividha and Ravish get worried as Madhav gets kidnapped. They get to see from the CCTV footage that Madhav is in Delhi (from car's number plate)!

Madhav manages to escape and gets locked in a car's trunk. Somehow he escapes from there also and reaches Raghav house. He will be shocked to see his badi dadi (Suman) in the house. Suman tries to hide herself from Madhav.

Raghav doesn't recognise when Madhav reveals his parents' names. He calls Ravish and informs him that Madhav is safe with them and he will drop him to them!

Ravish too, do not recognise Atharv's voice. Suman fears that if Raghav meets Vividha, her plan would fail. She makes him drink a 'Khadha' by doubling the dose of the medicine.

Apparently, with that medicine, Suman wanted to kill Raghav and Madhav. But Guddi saves them unknowingly, by driving the car instead of Raghav.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/09/17 -- Axion Ventures Inc. (formerly, Capstream Ventures Inc.) (the "Company" or "Axion Ventures") (TSX VENTURE: AXV) is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated February 1, 2017, the Company has changed its name to "Axion Ventures Inc." to better reflect its portfolio and strategy to be a leading technology investment company.

Effective tomorrow, March 10, 2017, Axion Venture's common shares are expected to commence trading under the new symbol "AXV" on the TSX Venture Exchange.

The Company also announces that it will launch a new website at www.axionventures.com.

The CUSIP number assigned to the Company's common shares under its new name will be 05465L100. No action will be required by existing shareholders with respect to the name change. Certificates representing common shares of the Company will not be affected by the name change and will not need to be exchanged. The Company encourages any shareholder concerns in this regard to be directed to such person's broker or agent.

About Axion Ventures

Axion Ventures is an Investment Issuer with interests in: (i) Axion Games Limited, a private online video games development and publishing company with primary operations in Shanghai, China; (ii) Innovega Inc., a private display technology eyewear and contact lense company with offices in San Diego, California and Bellevue, Washington; and (iii) True Axion Games Ltd., a newly formed private video game company with primary operations in Bangkok, Thailand.

On behalf of Axion Ventures Inc.

John Todd Bonner, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibilities for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "proposed" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the Company's strategy, commencing trading under the new symbol on the TSX Venture Exchange; and launch of the new website. Actual future results may differ materially. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company. Risk factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by forward-looking information include, among other things: technical issues with trading on the TSX Venture Exchange; and regulatory issues. The Company cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

Contacts:

Axion Ventures Inc.

John Todd Bonner

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

604.687.7767




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Arriva Medical, a subsidiary of Alere Inc. (ALR), against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or CMS, commented on the ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denying Arriva's motions for interim relief and denying the CMS motion to dismiss Arriva's complaint. Alere said, 'While we are pleased that the Court denied CMS' motion to dismiss Arriva's complaint, we disagree with the Court's ruling on Arriva's motion for interim relief. Arriva is considering options for appeal.' Alere noted that the Court's decision does not affect or prejudge the ongoing administrative appeal process. It remains confident that the administrative appeal process will lead to a favorable outcome for both Arriva and the hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on us for their mail-order supplies. On December 27, 2016, Alere filed an appeal for an administrative law judge hearing seeking to permanently reinstate Arriva's Medicare billing status. 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.
WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - Volkswagen is scheduled to appear in court on Friday to plead guilty to fraud, obstruction of justice and for misrepresenting the capability of vehicles with diesel engines it imported into the U.S., according to reports. The automaker agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines and penalties in January but that deal still must be approved by a federal judge, and an executive representing the company is expected to appear in court. Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that about 11 million diesel cars worldwide were outfitted with so-called defeat devices, embedded algorithms used to game emissions tests. In January, Volkswagen said it agreed with the U.S. government to resolve criminal and federal environmental and other civil claims against the company relating to the diesel matter. As part of that resolution, Volkswagen agreed to pay penalties and fines totaling $4.3 billion and to a series of measures to further strengthen its compliance and control systems, including the appointment of an independent monitor for a period of three years. 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.
Joseph Hood, PR Manager Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Email: mhi-pr@mhi.co.jp Tel: +81-(0)3-6716-2168 Fax: +81-(0)3-6716-5860

Yokohama, Japan, Mar 10, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has unveiled "MHPS-TOMONI", a revolutionary new digital solutions platform that finds ways to optimize power plant operations, based on a collaborative and 'customer first' approach.MHPS-TOMONI is a comprehensive family of digital solutions tailored to fit each customer's priorities at the power plants they operate. It maximizes the advantages of today's highly digitized power plants by emphasizing collaboration between OEM and plant operator, recognizing the need for expert human insights to boost efficiency and reliability, optimize O&M costs, and enhance environmental performance."MHPS-TOMONI harnesses big data, sophisticated analytics and human insights, working collaboratively with customers, to solve a complex puzzle, enabling a new level of power plant optimization and operational flexibility critical in today's energy market," said Kenji Ando, President and CEO of MHPS, Ltd. "At MHPS we strongly value customers, partners and society. MHPS-TOMONI mirrors this outlook by providing digital solutions and human insights that lower the cost of electricity and benefit the environment," he added.Derived from the decades of innovative technology, in-house O&M know-how, total plant knowledge, and customer partnerships, MHPS-TOMONI was specifically created for the power industry and is focused on providing complete solutions by working together with customers.MHPS has teamed with trusted partners around the globe to enhance the MHPS-TOMONI platform with applications that will further increase customer value, harnessing big data to enhance plant performance, improve availability, and meet key performance metrics that are critical to driving success."MHPS-TOMONI reflects MHPS's unique position among turbine OEMs. We value close partnerships with customers and recognize that this trust has helped us achieve record setting performance when it comes to the efficiency and reliability," Ando said. "We've been working hand-in-hand with customers for several decades to enhance technology and share knowledge. This spirit is carried through in MHPS-TOMONI (which literally means 'Together With') and reflects how collaboration benefits our company, our customers and energy users around the globe. The initiative is an important step as we seek to build the cognitive power plant of the future."MHPS has been pioneering digital technology application since the early 1980s when it introduced advanced boiler combustion management systems. This was followed by application of early AI/Expert Systems in 1987 and machinery health monitoring systems for turbine generator shaft systems in the early 1990s. System-level implementation of power plant data acquisition and digitization began in 1997 when MHPS commissioned the T-Point power plant at the Takasago Works in Japan, a fully operational gas turbine combined cycle power plant that supplies energy to the commercial grid. MHPS created its first remote monitoring and diagnostics center in 1999, recognizing the importance of customer collaboration in using plant performance data, not just as a measure of energy output, but also as a tool to shape future gains in reliability and availability.About Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd.Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) was formed on February 1 2014, integrating the thermal power generation systems businesses of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Hitachi, Ltd. in a quest to further enhance their social response capabilities in all respects. These include the technological strength to create new products of outstanding quality and reliability, the comprehensive strength in engineering to oversee projects in regions across the globe, and finely honed sales and after-sale servicing capabilities. MHPS aims to come out a winner in global competition and achieve a solid position as a world leader in thermal power generation systems and environmental technologies. For more information, please visit www.mhps.com.Source: Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd.Contact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
NEC Seiichiro Toda s-toda@cj.jp.nec.com +81-3-3798-6511

TOKYO, Mar 10, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701) has been awarded a "Gold" Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rating for the third consecutive time by EcoVadis, a leading evaluator of supplier sustainability, after ranking in the top 1% of all suppliers evaluated.EcoVadis operates the first collaborative platform for rating and monitoring supplier sustainability. The EcoVadis methodology framework assesses the CSR performance of companies covering 150 purchasing categories, 110 countries and 21 CSR criteria including "Environment," "Labor Practices & Human Rights," "Fair Business Practices" and "Sustainable Procurement." Approximately 30,000 companies use this platform, including NEC customers who refer to EcoVadis ratings when selecting their suppliers.NEC's performance was rated particularly high in the "Environment" category, based on criteria such as "Environmental Management," "Product Stewardship" and "Energy Consumption." NEC recognizes that being granted a Gold CSR rating by EcoVadis for the third consecutive time is the result of its ongoing efforts to ensure the sustainable development of society.As a social value innovator, NEC improves its CSR activities by engaging with stakeholders. Going forward, NEC will continue its efforts to solve challenging social issues using state-of-the-art information and communication technologies (ICT) to enable the realization of the United Nations' "Sustainable Development Goals" (SDGs)(1).(1) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)SDGs consist of 17 goals on issues such as poverty, hunger, energy, climate change and peace. Efforts to attain these goals started in 2015 after they were adopted by 193 member states at the United Nations Summit held in September that yearNEC's CSR recognitionshttp://www.nec.com/en/global/csr/management/evaluation.htmlNEC's CSR websitehttp://www.nec.com/en/global/csr/index.htmlAbout NEC CorporationNEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.Based on its Mid-term Management Plan 2015, the NEC Group globally provides "Solutions for Society" that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company's corporate message of "Orchestrating a brighter world," NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/solutionsforsociety/message.html.Source: NEC CorporationContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
LHV Group net profit was EUR 1.7 million in January In February 2017 AS LHV Group earned EUR 1.7 million consolidated net profit, of which the major units, the Bank earned 1.1 and Asset Management 0.6 million. Profit belonging to parent company shareholders was EUR 1.5 million. According to Madis Toomsalu, CEO of AS LHV Group LHV has regular month. "February results were influenced by the short month, and the regular review of Asset Management Pillar II administrative fees, causing lower incomes compared to January. Volume of funds managed by LHV Asset Management reached EUR 1 billion. Expense base remained at normal level. Loans and deposits balances are as expected, credit quality remains stable at good. Based on the two first month, we are able to fulfill the financial plan," Toomsalu commented. Reports of AS LHV Group are available at https://investor.lhv.ee/en/reports/. LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group's key subsidiaries are AS LHV Pank and AS LHV Varahaldus. LHV employs about 300 people and over 110,000 customers use LHV's banking services. Pension funds managed by LHV have about 180,000 customers. Priit Rum Communication Manager Phone: +372 502 0786 Email: priit.rum@lhv.ee Attachment: https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=619541

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.


ZURICH (dpa-AFX) - UBS Group AG (UBS) published its Annual Report 2016 providing detailed information on the firm, its strategy, business, governance, financial performance and risk, treasury and capital management, as well as on the regulatory and operating environment for fiscal 2016. According to the annual report, the Group CEO's annual base salary for 2016 was CHF 2.5 million and has remained unchanged since his appointment in 2011. The BoD approved the proposal by the Compensation Committee to grant Ermotti a performance award of CHF 10.9 million, bringing his total compensation for the year (excluding benefits and contributions to his retirement benefit plan) to CHF 13.4 million. In the previous fiscal year, the performance award for Ermotti was CHF 11.5 million.



For 2016, performance awards for GEB members and the Group CEO were, on average, 3.3 times their fixed compensation (excluding benefits and contributions to retirement benefit plans).



The other GEB members received a salary of CHF 1.5 million (or local currency equivalent), also remained unchanged since 2011. The aggregate performance award pool for the GEB, which increased from 10 to 12 full-time equivalent members, was CHF 71.9 million for 2016. On a per capita basis, the performance award decreased by 16% compared with 2015.



At the AGM 2017, shareholders will vote on the aggregate 2016 total variable compensation for the GEB. The BoD intends to propose to the shareholders an ordinary dividend of CHF 0.60 in line with the ordinary dividend for 2015.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
FORMER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, SIMON HENRY: REMUNERATION DISCLOSURE

10-March-2017

As previously announced, Simon Henry stepped down as Chief Financial Officer and as a Director of Royal Dutch Shell plc ("Shell") with effect from March 9, 2017. He will repatriate to his base country, the United Kingdom, and become an employee of Shell International Limited, with effect from April 1, 2017. Mr Henry remains available to the incoming Chief Financial Officer and to the Shell Board to assist with the transition and will leave employment with the Shell group on June 30, 2017.

The following information is provided in accordance with section 430(2B) of the Companies Act 2006. The arrangements set out below are in accordance with the Directors' Remuneration Policy ("Policy") approved by shareholders at the 2014 Annual General Meeting ("AGM").

1.Payment for loss of office: a gross payment of 2,288,000, equivalent to one times annual pay (base salary plus target bonus). The payment for loss of office will be phased in six equal monthly instalments, and outstanding payments will be reduced by 50% if Mr Henry resumes an equivalent full time executive role in that period.

2. Remuneration Payments

(i) Annual Bonus:

An annual bonus of 1,350,000 gross in relation to performance year 2016 has been disclosed in the 2016 Director's Remuneration Report ("DRR"). 50% of this bonus was deferred into the Deferred Bonus Plan ("DBP").

An annual bonus in relation to performance year 2017 will be determined by Shell's Remuneration Committee and will be pro-rated for all service in 2017. In the event that the proposed Policy (which is subject to shareholder approval at the 2017 AGM) is approved, then 50% of the bonus will be delivered in cash and 50% will be delivered in shares; and the shares will be subject to a three year holding period which remains in force after Mr Henry leaves the employment of Shell International Limited. If the proposed Policy is not approved by shareholders at the 2017 AGM then, in accordance with the Policy approved by shareholders at the 2014 AGM, 50% of the bonus will be deferred into the DBP and will be subject to the rules of the DBP (including those rules relating to adjustment events (malus and clawback)).

(ii) Long-term incentives ("LTIP") and DBP:

No 2017 LTIP award will be made.

Outstanding LTIP awards will not vest early and will be pro-rated for service.

Outstanding DBP awards will not vest early and are not pro-rated. The applicable holding periods remain in force post-leaving employment.

The conditional LTIP and DBP awards described above were made subject to adjustment events (malus and clawback) and these provisions remain in force.

Reporting: The value of 2014 LTIP and DBP awards which vested in 2017 has been reported in the "single total figure of remuneration" table in the 2016 DRR. The value of awards which vest in future years will be disclosed in the relevant year's DRR.

(iii) Pension: Accrued pension benefits for 2017 will be reported in the 2017 DRR.

(iv) Benefits: Standard Shell group provisions apply in respect of tax return assistance and relocation support (such as movement of household goods, transportation and temporary accommodation).

The information set out above will be updated in the 2017 DRR, as appropriate, to reflect further determinations which will be made in accordance with the Policy in force as at the time a decision is made by Shell's Remuneration Committee.

3. Employment with Shell International Limited from April 1, 2017 to June 30, 2017

(i) Base salary: 780,000. There will be no change to Mr Henry's pensionable base salary in respect of this period.

(ii) 2017 Annual Bonus: Details of the annual bonus in relation to performance year 2017 are detailed above in paragraph 2(i).

(iii) Long Term Incentives: No further LTIP award will be made.

(iv) Pension: Whilst employed by Shell International Limited in 2017, Mr Henry will continue to participate in the relevant Shell group company's pension arrangements as normal.

(v) Benefits: Whilst employed by Shell International Limited in 2017, Mr Henry will receive relevant normal benefits for UK local employees.

ENQUIRIES:

Investor Relations

International: +31 (0) 70 377 4540

North America: +1 832 337 2034

Media

Shell International Media Relations: +44 (0) 207 934 5550

Shell US Media Relations: +1 713 241 4544

Cautionary note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. 'Subsidiaries', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this announcement refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plceither directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as "joint ventures" and "joint operations" respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as 'anticipate', 'believe', 'could', 'estimate', 'expect', 'goals', 'intend', 'may', 'objectives', 'outlook', 'plan', 'probably', 'project', 'risks', "schedule", 'seek', 'should', 'target', 'will' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. There can be no assurance that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this announcement. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, March 10, 2017. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov

LEI number of Royal Dutch Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70
STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Ericsson (ERIC) disclosed the restated financials for 2016 and 2015. As announced in April 2016, Ericsson is changing its reporting structure from the the first-quarter 2017 earnings report with three segments reported: Networks, IT & Cloud, and Media. The earnings report for the first quarter will be published April 25, 2017. Net Sales of Networks segments for the fiscal year 2016 were 165 billion Swedish kronor, compared to 184.8 billion kronor last year. Net Sales of IT & Cloud segments for the fiscal year 2016 were 47.9 billion kronor, compared to 51.8 billion kronor last year. Media segments' net sales were 9.7 billion kronor, compared to 10.4 billion kronor in the prior year. Total net sales for fiscal year 2016 222.6 billion kronor down from 246.9 billion kronor in the previous year. Operating income of Networks 15.8 billion kronor, compared to 26.8 billion kronor in the prior year. IT & Cloud 's Operating loss was 7.1 billion kronor compared to Operating loss 3.9 billion kronor last year. Media segments' Operating loss was 2.4 billion kronor compared to Operating loss 1.2 billion kronor in the previous year. 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.
MEMPHIS, TN--(Marketwired - March 10, 2017) - Data Facts, Inc, a nationwide provider of background screening and lending solutions, recently announced their CEO and President, Daphne Large, will serve on New Memphis Institute's Board of Trustees as Chairwoman.

President and CEO of New Memphis, Nancy Coffee, is confident Daphne will offer valuable contributions. "In everything she does, Daphne goes above and beyond to help ensure the success of those around her. She brings this drive for service, brilliant mind, and a huge heart for our community to her role at New Memphis. It's a privilege to have her leadership as our Chairwoman."

As a native Memphian, Daphne is passionate about the renaissance happening in Memphis and believes that NOW is the time for Memphis. She shares, "Our Government, Chamber and business leaders are working together more so than ever before, and it's having an incredibly positive impact in Memphis. Poised at the center of this collaboration and supporting this growth is New Memphis. New Memphis' leadership and exposure programs are designed for every career stage from college to C-Suite, and they play a vital role in attracting and retaining talent and in welcoming newcomers to Memphis. New Memphis is focused on inclusivity and diversity and serves as a role model for other cities who seek such a unifying program. I am honored to serve as Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees for New Memphis. It's an exciting time. For Memphis, the best is yet to come!"

Large had held numerous offices with the National Consumer Reporting Association, is a member and serves on the Board of the Society of Entrepreneurs, and is a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners. In addition, she currently serves on the University of Memphis Leadership, Education & Development Board, the West Tennessee Board for Youth Villages, St. Georges Board of Trustees, and serves as a member of the Memphis Chairman's Circle at the Memphis Chamber. She recently served a term as Treasurer on the Make-A-Wish MidSouth Board, the Germantown Chamber of Commerce and on the advisory council for the Junior League of Memphis.

Large, who has been involved with New Memphis Institute for several years and served as Vice-Chair in 2016, will serve as the Chairwoman as well as the head of the organization's Strategic Planning Committee.

About New Memphis Institute

Now more than ever, Memphis needs talent. Businesses need the talent to thrive, the government needs the talent to solve problems, schools need the talent to educate our youth, and communities need the talent to innovate and work for a better future. New Memphis is forging a more prosperous and vital new Memphis by attracting, developing, activating and retaining talent.

About Data Facts, Inc.

Since 1989, Data Facts, Inc. has provided trusted information to mortgage lending and background screening professionals to reach sound lending and hiring decisions. The company maintains a national footprint, keeps a close eye on technological development, and stays at the forefront of industry compliance and regulations. This insight allows them to provide a suite of comprehensive solutions to advance their clients' efficiency in sound decision making. Their dedication to operational excellence and personalized support has solidified them as an industry leader.

Their commitment to the above industry standards is proven by their NAPBS accreditation, sustaining SOC 1 and SOC 2 certifications, all staff members upholding FCRA certification, and maintaining active roles on the NCRA and multiple MBA boards.

Data Facts, Inc. was the proud recipient of the Commercial Appeal's Top Workplace Award in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

For more information, please contact Data Facts, Inc. at 901-685-7599 or email info@datafacts.com. Subscribe to their lending solutions or background screening blog, follow them on Twitter at @dfscreening and @dflending, and connect on LinkedIn at Data Facts, Inc. to stay abreast of industry updates.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/3/9/11G132645/Images/daphne_email-32106ee933a785f1835042b2386b27d2.jpg

Data Facts, Inc.

901-685-7599

info@datafacts.com
LONDON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The seventh ERP HEADtoHEAD' event held at the MK Dons Stadium in Milton Keynes was deemed an enormous success by attendees and vendors alike. The event welcomed 140 high level decision makers to compare 12 of the UK's leading ERP vendors and their solutions, all under one roof.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/477028/Sean_Jackson.jpg )



The event taking place over two days and facilitated by leading independent ERP consultants, Lumenia, kicked off with an exciting head to head battle when all 12 vendors had four minutes each to introduce themselves to the attendees and convince them as to why it would be a good idea to attend their demonstration. The delegates then chose which session to attend, which were divided into Finance, Production, Procurement, Sales Quotation and High Volume Sales business processes.

Attendees also had the chance to listen to a panel discussion from industry end users sharing their experiences of implementing an ERP system as well as an engaging vendor-independent presentation from Lumenia Consulting on 'Implementing ERP Successfully - Lessons Learned'. Vendors were also on hand on the expo floor to discuss their solutions in more depth and answer questions.

The event closed with the announcement of the winner of the "ERP HEADtoHEAD' Best Vendor Demonstration - UK 2017". Intact IQ demonstrated by Intact Software was the 2017 winner with an overall delegate satisfaction rating of 89.6%.

"We have received very positive feedback both from vendors and attendees on the ERP HEADtoHEAD'. Each event gets bigger and better and we are now planning the next one in Dublin in October 2017 with a return to the UK in March 2018", commented Sean Jackson, Managing Director, Lumenia. Over the years, attendees have included leading manufacturers, distributors and retailers from a range of industries. Comments from among the attendees included: "Excellent event and very good use of my time"; "Very useful to compare all the products at the same time".

The next event takes place in Dublin in October 2017, followed by the UK event in March 2018. For further information and to pre-register check out the event website http://www.erpheadtohead.com
THE HAGUE (dpa-AFX) - Royal Dutch Shell plc. (RDS-B, RDSB.L, RDSA.L, RDS-A) announced Friday that Simon Henry stepped down as Chief Financial Officer and as a Director of the company with effect from March 9. He will repatriate to his base country, the United Kingdom, and become an employee of Shell International Limited, with effect from April 1. The company noted that Henry remains available to the incoming Chief Financial Officer and to the Shell Board to assist with the transition and will leave employment with the Shell group on June 30. The company also announced his remuneration details. The company announced payment for loss of office of a gross payment of 2.29 million euros, equivalent to one times annual pay . The payment for loss of office will be phased in six equal monthly instalments, and outstanding payments will be reduced by 50% if Henry resumes an equivalent full time executive role in that period. An annual bonus of 1.35 million euros gross in relation to performance year 2016 has been disclosed in the 2016 Director's Remuneration Report. 50% of this bonus was deferred into the Deferred Bonus Plan. 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.
Amec Foster Wheeler announced today that it has been awarded a major contract by Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd (BSP) for the rejuvenation of assets in Brunei.

The work includes concept, Front End Engineering Design (FEED), detailed design, construction, completions and commissioning, marine management, fabrication management, procurement, and project management. The contract will run for five years from March 2017, with two one-year options to extend, and includes Brunei Shell Petroleum's oil and gas assets in the South China Sea.

John Pearson, Amec Foster Wheeler's President, Oil, Gas Chemicals said:

"I'm delighted that Amec Foster Wheeler has been selected to deliver such an important contract for Brunei Shell Petroleum. We are bringing together Amec Foster Wheeler's unique combination of brownfield expertise, 'More 4 Less' methodology, global capabilities, and long-term customer relationships to maximise the value of Brunei Shell Petroleum's assets in Brunei."

Amec Foster Wheeler's proven 'More 4 Less' lean engineering methodology, originally developed to meet the challenges of the mature North Sea oil and gas industry, will play an important role in the contract with Brunei Shell Petroleum. Efficiencies from 'More 4 Less' have delivered Amec Foster Wheeler's customers savings of up to 60% in time and cost, compared to traditional approaches.

As part of the contract, a significant local development in Brunei is planned, including the creation of over 300 local Bruneian jobs, using the local supply chain that will develop local skills and capabilities through the lifetime of the project.

Notes to editors:

Amec Foster Wheeler (www.amecfw.com) designs, delivers and maintains strategic and complex assets for its customers across the global energy and related sectors. Employing around 36,000 people in more than 55 countries and with 2015 revenues of 5.5 billion, the company operates across the oil and gas industry from production through to refining, processing and distribution of derivative products and in the mining, power and process, pharma, environment and infrastructure markets. Amec Foster Wheeler offers full life-cycle services to offshore and onshore oil and gas projects (conventional and unconventional, upstream, midstream and downstream) for greenfield, brownfield and asset support projects, plus leading refining technology.

Amec Foster Wheeler shares are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and its American Depositary Shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Both trade under the ticker AMFW.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains statements which constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include any statements related to the timing, results and success of contracts, and are generally identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "will," "may," "continue," "should" and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Amec Foster Wheeler, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking statements. Amec Foster Wheeler does not undertake to update any of the forward-looking statements after this date to conform such statements to actual results, to reflect the occurrence of anticipated results or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170310005220/en/

Contacts:

Amec Foster Wheeler

Media:

Jonathan Refoy

+44 (0)20 7429 7500

or

Investors:

Rupert Green

+44 (0)20 7429 7500
GLASGOW, Scotland, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Cigna have appointed Alison Meckiffe as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for their Global Individual Private Medical Insurance business (Global IPMI).Alison joins Cigna with over 17 years' experience of strategic marketing and customer insight, and brings a wealth of knowledge developed within the insurance industry, as well as other global, customer-focused sectors in the consumer leisure and goods market.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150427/740588)



This newly created role reflects the significant growth of Cigna's IPMI business area, providing high quality private medical insurance to globally mobile individuals.

"I am delighted to be joining Cigna at such an important time," said Alison.

"Customer focus is key to all growth opportunities. At Cigna, we wish to establish a 'one customer focus' so that we can provide a seamless sales and service experience, delivering this to customers and partners in their channel of choice.

"We plan to design our services around what customers buy, how customer buy and the way they use our insurance solutions, based on insights from both inside and, increasingly, outside of the insurance industry. I am keen to share my experience from different sectors to bring a wider view which will help design Global IPMI customer solutions of the future."

Alison joins Cigna from AXA insurance where her most recent role was Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for marketing, analytics, sales & service operations - all with a digital focus. Before AXA, Alison worked for TUI Travel for almost 11 years in various roles, including Digital Strategy & Business Development Director and Global CRM.

Cigna Global IPMI's vision for 2020 includes its mission 'to be the first place customers turn to for their health and wellbeing solutions'. This is supported by offering a one-stop-shop for health and wellbeing, with omni-channel connectivity and first class customer service. The recruitment of a new CMO will help accelerate Cigna's innovation in its digital service provision - enabling a seamless, global customer experience.

Arjan Toor, Director of Cigna Global IPMI, welcomed Alison's appointment:

"I am delighted to welcome Alison on board. She has a proven track record in business development through a 'customer journey' mind set and extensive knowledge of multi-channel marketing strategies on an international level. We will be working closely with our broker partners to make Cigna Global IPMI both their, and their customers' brand of choice and I am convinced that we will benefit tremendously from Alison's expertise."
Fujitsu Limited Public and Investor Relations Tel: +81-3-3215-5259 URL: www.fujitsu.com/global/news/contacts/

TOKYO, Mar 10, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu announced today that, in the 49th The Ichimura Prizes in Industry held by the New Technology Development Foundation, it has been awarded The Ichimura Prize in Industry for Excellent Achievement for its "Development of Platform Technologies for an Ultra-High Performance, Ultra-High Reliability Online Mission-Critical System(1)."In recent years, with innovations in business models and performance improvement in hardware, there is greater demand than ever before for both high reliability and the ability to perform high-speed processing of huge volumes of data in mission-critical systems, which support the foundations of society's activities. In this year's awards, Fujitsu's prize-winning technology was evaluated very highly for contributing to Japan's economy through the development and commercialization of new platform technologies that meets these demands, and through its continuous development efforts afterwards.Award Recipients and Prize-Winning TechnologyRecipients of The Ichimura Prize in Industry for Excellent AchievementThese prizes are presented to researchers or groups who make a significant contribution to industry by developing exceptional industrial technology in Japan. The awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday, April 26, 2017, at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo.Award Recipients: Developers of the TechnologyShoji Yamamoto, General Manager, Development Dept.IV, Platform Software Div.I, Platform Software Business Group, Fujitsu LimitedKenji Iino, Senior Architect, Development Dept.IV, Platform Software Div.I, Platform Software Business Group, Fujitsu LimitedTamaki Tanaka, Manager, Development Dept.IV, Platform Software Div.I, Platform Software Business Group, Fujitsu LimitedProject Name: Development of Platform Technologies for an Ultra-High Performance, Ultra-High Reliability Online Mission-Critical SystemPrize-Winning TechnologyFor online mission-critical systems supporting such societal activities as stock trading and banking, Fujitsu succeeded in developing the technologies described below, thereby developing and commercializing platform technologies for in-memory online mission-critical systems that achieve both ultra-high performance and ultra-high reliability.1. Technology for hierarchical control of communicationsThe team developed proprietary network protocols, achieving high-speed communications that exceed the speeds enabled by standard protocols. In addition, through communication pathways between servers, the team also created a highly reliable network with zero operational downtime during failures of individual networks.2. Technology for synchronizing data between serversWhile achieving high-speed in-memory processing using DRAM(2), the team also developed proprietary technology for synchronizing data between servers, enabling the same data to be shared among multiple servers, and making the data non-volatile.3. Integrated mediation technologyFor systems comprised of PC servers, the team developed an anomaly detection mechanism, an autonomous determination mechanism, and a changeover mechanism for integrated control of multiple anomalies, achieving zero-downtime reliability with using a dedicated server.By continuously refining these technologies and supporting important societal systems, mainly in the financial services industry, Fujitsu is contributing to Japan's economy.As one example, these technologies were applied to Tokyo Stock Exchange's "arrowhead" equity trading system, which has been in operation since 2010. Through continuous enhancements to these technologies, in 2015 the arrowhead system was upgraded to make it even faster and more reliable, and since it went into operation, there have been zero overall trading stoppages. The system has the capacity to handle cash-based average daily trading activity of around 2.5 trillion yen, and up to 3.2 billion transactions in one day. In this way, these technologies support the stable operation of some of the world's fastest and most reliable online mission-critical systems.Since 2010, Fujitsu has been selling ultra-high-speed data management software incorporating these technologies, for high-speed, high-reliability online mission-critical systems.Based on the application track record of these technologies in Japan, through rollouts outside of Japan and applications to IoT system platforms that require stable processing of huge volumes of data, Fujitsu seeks to spread these technologies globally across all industries as platform technologies supporting the world's mission-critical systems.(1) Mission-critical systemA system that would have a significant adverse impact on society if it stopped working because a failure occurred.(2) DRAMDynamic random-access memory, a type of volatile semiconductor memory used in computers.About Fujitsu LtdFujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 159,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702; ADR:FJTSY) reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$41 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.* Please see this press release, with images, at:http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/Source: Fujitsu LtdContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Vartan Oskanian: We have become slaves to the whims of several people

For a long time, we allowed the authorities to deprive our citizens of their property. Armenia is not the country to tolerate this condition, Armen Martirosyan, a candidate for the 2017 parliamentary elections who comes second on the joint ticket of the electoral alliance led by former ministers Seyran Ohanyan, Raffi Hovannisian and Vartan Oskanian, said during a campaign rally in Hrazdan, a town in Kotayk marz. The alliance is staring the second phase of their regional rallies. Martirosyan claims that only people have the right to form a government, and no one has the right to take away that voice. Systemic corruption, which is the foundation of our present-day life, should be eliminated, the vice-chairman of Raffi Hovannisians Heritage Party continued. Martirosyan says if the alliance comes to power, then there will be no political prisoners in the country. We are not going to tolerate it anymore. We are coming to effect reforms, he said. He then criticized the track of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). Because of their policy, the country today faces problems in the security sector. They are unable to carry out a balanced foreign policy. We have no right to make mistakes, this is the only choice to make, therefore we say that the Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian alliance is the force which has the ability to make drastic changes, said Martirosyan. In his speech, former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian presented the plans of the alliance, stressing that changes need to be implemented immediately. He advised people not to believe the claims that there is no way out of the current situation. The positive change of the situation is not beneficial to the authorities. They only care about two things  power and enrichment. Armenia has a great potential, we have a large diaspora. We have become slaves to the whims of several people, he stressed. I call on everyone to join this righteous force. Our team will fight to the end, said Manuel Manukyan, who participated in the four-day war in Karabakh in April.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- One World Minerals Inc. (CSE: OWM)(CSE: OWM.CN) ("OWM") announces that it has entered into a binding letter agreement with Lithium Investments ltd. ("LIL"), an arm's length private British Columbia company, to acquire all of the shares of LIL from the shareholders thereof (the "Transaction"). The principal assets of LIL consist of the rights and interests under an option and joint venture agreement (the "Option Agreement") with third parties to acquire up to a 90% interest in the Rico Litio Property in Mexico (the "Property").

The Property covers 291 square miles or 75,410 hectares over a closed basin where surface and auger samples were taken over a distance of 74 miles (120 kilometers). The sampling work program was conducted by LIL and returned assay results between 53 to 188 parts per million lithium in the northern part of the Property. In the southern part of the Property, samples ranged from 15 and 82 parts per million lithium, with an average value of 74 ppm lithium from 24 samples across 74 miles. It is important to note the samples were taken from surface salts and shallow auger holes and not from brines that may occur at depth.

The samples were taken by Jehcorp Inc., a private geologic consulting company, and analyzed at Chemex Labs, Vancouver (certificate HE16078551). The samples also assayed between 1% and 1.9% potassium at both ends of the Property. The boron assays are also enriched. The assay results are listed below.

The basin also has geological attributes to develop lithium brines, including recent tectonic and volcanic activity; many hot springs; young rhyolitic volcanic lavas; high heat flows within the region; and ash flow tuffs surrounding and within the basin.

The Property is located in the state Baja California Norte, Mexico. Ready access to the Property includes paved roads and dirt roads within the basin. There is paved access to the USA, which is 100 miles to the north. The Property is only 21 miles (35 kilometers) from San Felipe which is a well-established service center that can provide housing and mine personnel. Power is available from major power lines that cross the Property near the north end, as well as interconnected power lines from the US via Mexicali to San Felipe.

In connection with the Transaction under the Option Agreement, OWM has agreed to issue 22,500,000 common shares to LIL with 10 million common shares issuable upon closing the Transaction and an additional 12.5 million common shares issuable upon the first anniversary of the closing date. In addition, OWM has agreed to pay LIL i) CDN$100,000 30 days after the closing date, ii) CDN$200,000 on the first anniversary date of the closing date, iii) CDN$300,000 on the second anniversary date of the closing date, and iv) CDN$400,000 on the third anniversary date of the closing date.

Pursuant to the terms of the Option Agreement, LIL has the option to earn an 80% interest in the Property for the issuance of 1,600,000 shares, payment of US$250,000 and property expenditures of US$900,000 before the end of 2017. LIL has the option to acquire an additional 10% interest in the Property for a further payment of US$5 million upon delivery of a feasibility report on the Property. If the underlying owners dilute below a 10% equity interest, a 3.0% NSR royalty replaces the 10% equity interest, and LIL has an option to purchase one half of the NSR royalty for US$2,500,000. All share issuance obligations of LIL are intended to be assumed by OWM on closing of the Transaction to acquire LIL.

Management anticipates that the initial exploration program on the Property will include gravity, time domain EM, and resistivity geophysical surveys, geologic mapping and detailed geochemical sampling throughout the basin prior to drill testing for anomalous brines with drilling of several targets to commence in May 2017 and be completed before the end of June 2017.

The Transaction does not constitute a reverse-take over transaction but OWM intends to file a Business Acquisition Report within 75 days of closing with respect to the acquisition in accordance with National Instrument 51-102.

Closing of the Transaction is conditional upon several conditions including satisfactory due diligence by OWM on the Property and stock exchange approval.

OWM is also pleased to report that the Canadian Securities Exchange has accepted OWM's Mogollon silver-gold project as a qualifying property, and has approved an exploration program at a cost of CDN $75,000 to map the geology and sample the northeast extension of the Queen Fault, one of the principal hosts to high grade gold and silver in the district.

Lithium and Potassium Results of Initial Sampling Program

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GPS SAMPLE Recvd K Li Mark DESCRIPTION Wt. kg % ppm Sample Notes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 203 1029153 0.66 0.44 24.1 rhyolitic tuff- mark 203 204 1029154 1.07 0.81 35.2 auger hole 1- 18 inch deep sample- mark 203 205 1029155 1.51 0.81 28.4 auger hole 2 - 22 inch deep sample- mark 203 206 1029156 2.58 1.37 82.0 auger hole 3- 24 inch deep sample- valley floor is rhyolitic tuff - mark 206 207 1029157 3.52 0.81 35.1 auger hole 4 - 24 inch deep sample- mark 207 207 1029158 4.84 0.7 31.1 auger hole 4 5 foot deep sample mark 207 210 1029160 1.77 0.08 5.0 spherulitic rhyolite rock chip - mark 210 211 1029161 2.03 0.32 15.2 fine grained lithic tuff- unconfrormable over spher rhy -mark 210 212 1029162 2.59 0.07 4.7 crs grained qtz eye lithic tuff - mark 213 213 1029163 1.61 0.42 19.4 fine grained qtz-mica shell bearing tuff- mark 213 214 1029164 1.69 1 53.3 auger hole 5 - 24 inch deep salar sed vfg soil - mark 214 215 1029165 2.14 1.31 66.8 auger hole 6- clayey salar sed-trc mca salt veneer on srfc- mark 215 216 1029166 1.62 0.66 69.2 auger hole 7- vfg clayey brn soil, interstitial salt in mtx - mark 216 217 1029167 2.27 0.52 33.9 auger hole 8- 24 inch deep, m-dk bn vfg slty-clayey w mca +salt-mark 217 218 1029168 2.1 1.58 132.5 auger hole 9 - m bn clay w vfg salt, tr moisture- mark 218 219 1029169 2.71 1.57 103.5 auger hole 10- hard caliche at 18inch depth, m bn fg sdy silt- mark 219 220 1029170 2.01 1.41 91.2 auger hole 11- dk bn cly slt w abun salt - mark 220 220 1029171 0.75 1 66.3 hand pick of salt concentrated at surface- mark 220 221 1029172 2.36 1.4 92.0 auger hole 12- vfg sdy silt w caliche layers - mark 221 222 1029173 2.14 1.45 95.8 auger hole 13- m bn slty qz-fld sltst - mark 222 223 1029174 1.61 1.43 90.9 auger hole 14- vfg qz-fld mica clay- mark 223 224 1029175 2.43 1.97 188.5 auger hole 15- hard salt srfc, 2 12 inch holes, mica clay- mark 224 225 1029176 2.04 1.41 159.5 auger hole 16- slty cly com salt in mtx- mark 225 225 1029177 0.78 0.92 84.3 hand pick of salt concentrate at srfc- mark 225 226 1029178 3.33 0.4 50.8 auger hole 17- tan fg slty ss +/-mca, com thn cly layers- mark 226 227 1029179 0.53 0.52 30.8 thn bedded slty vfg lakebed- mark 227 228 1029180 0.98 0.27 21.8 cross bd qz-fld bio vfg ss- mark 228 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Andrea Diakow, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101, and a consultant of OWM, has read and approved the scientific and technical disclosure as stated in this news release.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of One World Minerals Inc.

Douglas Fulcher, CEO and President

Forward-Looking Information: This press release may include forward looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation concerning the business of the OWM. Forward looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of the OWM, including the closing of the Transaction, the intention of OWM to proceed with the advancement of the Property and exercise of the option, and intentions regarding the proposed exploration program. Although OWM believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because OWM can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. OWM disclaims any intent or obligation to update publically any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from the those anticipated in such statements, important factors that could cause actual results to direr materially from the company's expectations include: (I) potential comments from regulators which may delay or prevent closing; (II) inability for OWM to enter into and close the definitive agreement; (III) inability of OWM to execute its business plan and raise the financing required to close on the Transaction and exercise the option; and (IV) risks and market fluctuations common to the mining industry and lithium sector in particular. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the control of the OWM. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Contacts:

One World Minerals Inc.

Steve@oneworldinvestments.com

Darren@oneworldinvestments.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Benz Mining Corp. (NEX: BZ.H) ("Benz" or the "Company") announces that, subject to the acceptance of the NEX board of the TSX Venture Exchange, it proposes to settle outstanding indebtedness in the amount of $257,000.00 (the "Debt") by the issuance of 1,352,632 common shares having a deemed price of $0.19 per share. The Debt includes amounts due to certain creditors, a promissory note payable to Avaron Mining Corp. and past management, accounting, geological, and engineering services rendered and accrued to senior officers of the Company.

After giving effect to the proposed settlement and subject to the acceptance of the NEX board of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company will have an aggregate of 7,827,402 Shares issued and outstanding.

The Company also announces that it has granted an aggregate of 534,000 incentive stock options to certain directors, officers and consultants of Benz at an exercise price of $0.19 per share for a period of ten years. Such options have been granted pursuant to the Company's 10% rolling stock option plan and are in accordance with policies within the NEX board of the TSX Venture Exchange.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benz Mining Corp.,

Miloje Vicentijevic, President and Chief Executive Officer

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 accuracy or adequacy of this release.

Contacts:

Benz Mining Corp.

604.617.1239

info@benzmining.com




Regulatory News:

The shareholders of Gecina (the "Company") (Paris:GFC) are invited to attend the Combined General Meeting to be held on:

Wednesday April 26, 2017, from 3 pm

at Pavillon Cambon, 46 rue Cambon, 75001 Paris, France.

A meeting notice containing the agenda, the full text for the proposed resolutions and the main conditions for attending and voting at the Combined General Meeting on April 26, 2017 has been published in the French official gazette (Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires) today (announcement no. 1700515). This meeting notice and the Board of Directors' report on the proposed resolutions can be consulted on Gecina's website at www.gecina.fr.

The meeting notice will be followed by an invitation to attend, which will be published in the French official gazette (BALO) and a French legal announcement journal within the legal and regulatory timeframes.

The Company will be sending out the postal, online and proxy voting forms directly to all shareholders.

The preparatory documents for this General Meeting will be made available to shareholders in accordance with the regulatory conditions and timeframes applicable.

All shareholders may ask the Company to send them these documents with written requests to be sent to the Company's registered office or faxed to +33 (0)1 40 40 64 81 up until the fifth day (inclusive) before the Combined General Meeting on April 26, 2017, i.e. April 21, 2017.

They may also be consulted at the Company's registered office and will be available on the Company's website (www.gecina.fr).

The Board of Directors

French limited company (societe anonyme) with a share capital of 475,759,800 euros

Registered office: 14-16, rue des Capucines, 75002 Paris, France

Paris trade and companies register: 592 014 476

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170310005301/en/

Contacts:

Gecina

Laurent Le Goff, Tel: 33 (0)1 40 40 62 69
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- The Toronto Real Estate Board strongly urges against the imposition of another provincial tax on foreign buyers, which would be in addition to existing provincial taxes on home buyers, including the land transfer tax that they already pay. An additional tax on foreign buyers would do little to address the real problem facing the GTA housing market; a supply shortage which is at more than a 15-year low.

The consideration to impose this tax follows on the heels of a statement last year by the Ontario Finance Minister not to follow the lead of British Columbia, which imposed a 15 per cent land transfer tax surcharge on foreign buyers in July 2016.

"When the idea of introducing a foreign buyer tax in Ontario surfaced last year, TREB cautioned it would be a knee-jerk reaction before knowing whether a problem existed. There was little in the way of reliable data on the issue. To better understand the foreign buyer issue, TREB commissioned an Ipsos survey on foreign buying activity in the GTA, the results of which show that concerns about the effect of foreign buyers on the GTA market are widely overblown," said TREB President, Larry Cerqua.

The survey, conducted in the fall of 2016, found that only an estimated 4.9 per cent of GTA transactions, in which TREB REALTOR Members acted on behalf of a buyer, involved a foreign purchaser. The vast majority (80 per cent) of foreign buyers purchased a home as a residence, a home for another family member to live in, or as an investment to rent out to a tenant. TREB is continuing its research in this area.

"The fact that most foreign buyers are looking to purchase a home for their family, for personal use, or to provide a tight rental market with much needed supply is something to be encouraged, as these actions are essential to Ontario's economic success. We can't forget that immigration is the key driver of population growth in the GTA and, therefore, a key driver of economic growth as well. Imposing a tax on foreign buyers will not have the desired effect of cooling the housing market and could create adverse effects on the national, provincial and GTA economies. It will do little to correct the real issue impacting housing affordability, which is the lack of available housing supply," continued Cerqua.

Demand for ownership housing has grown over the past year, up against a shortage of listings. New listings entered into TREB's MLS System in February 2017 were down on a year-over-year basis by 12.5 per cent. Similarly, TREB's average months of inventory trend for February was at one month, while in many neighbourhoods across the GTA, inventory can now be measured in weeks rather than months.

"We can't lose sight of the fact that we have experienced a persistent decline in the inventory of homes available for sale in the GTA. This issue has been acknowledged by provincial and local governments in Ontario, but now policy action is required. Demand- focussed policy changes will not provide long-term solutions for an affordable housing market," said TREB Director of Market Analysis Jason Mercer.

"The provincial government should work with municipalities and related industry stakeholders to look at ways in which the supply of housing could be increased, including, potentially revisiting land use designations in built-up areas to allow for a broader array of home types to be built, streamlining the development approvals process, streamlining the permit process, and examining ways to incentivize land owners to develop," said Cerqua.

TREB has provided a more in-depth analysis on the housing market, including foreign buying activity and the lack of adequate housing supply in its recently released Market Year in Review & Outlook Report 2017 found at TREBHome.com.

Looking forward, TREB is committed to further research on foreign buying activity, housing supply and other issues impacting the housing market. TREB believes that housing policy decisions should be based on a solid foundation of research and analysis.

Greater Toronto REALTORS are passionate about their work. They are governed by a strict Code of Ethics and share a state- of-the-art Multiple Listing Service. Over 46,000 residential and commercial TREB Members serve consumers in the Greater Toronto Area. TREB is Canada's largest real estate board.

Contacts:

Media Inquiries:

Mary Gallagher

Senior Manager Public Affairs

(416) 443-8158

maryg@trebnet.com

www.TREBhome.com




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Precision Drilling Corporation ("Precision") (TSX: PD)(NYSE: PDS) announced that it has filed its annual disclosure documents with the Canadian Securities Commissions and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

Precision's 2016 Annual Report contains the audited consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016. Precision's financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016 were previously released on February 9, 2017.

The Annual Report and Precision's Annual Information Form have been filed on the Canadian System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") and on Form 40-F on the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval ("EDGAR") system.

The documents described above are also available on Precision's website at www.precisiondrilling.com or by emailing Precision at info@precisiondrilling.com.

Precision's Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders will be held at 10:00 a.m. MDT on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at Suite 800, 525 - 8th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2P 1G1.

About Precision

Precision is a leading provider of safe and High Performance, High Value services to the oil and gas industry. Precision provides customers with access to an extensive fleet of contract drilling rigs, directional drilling services, well service & snubbing rigs, camps, rental equipment, and waste water treatment units backed by a comprehensive mix of technical support services and skilled, experienced personnel.

Precision is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Precision is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "PD" and on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "PDS".

Contacts:

Precision Drilling Corporation

Carey T. Ford

Senior Vice President & CFO

403.716.4566

403.716.4755 (FAX)

www.precisiondrilling.com




AUSTIN, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Brandcast, the leader in code-free web design, today announced the launch of Brandcast Design Studio, the first end-to-end web design platform that gives designers, creatives, and marketing teams complete creative control, from design start to publish -- completely free from the need to code or rely on developer resources.

Brandcast will demo Brandcast Design Studio and host designers, brand marketers, and interested media at the Brandcast Design Lounge during the Interactive portion of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festival from Friday, March 10 to Tuesday, March 14 in Room 301-302 in the JW Marriott in Austin. The official Design Studio Launch + Happy Hour event will take place on Saturday, March 11 from 3:00-6:00 PM CT.

Brandcast Design Studio is the only end-to-end web design platform built by highly experienced web designers, for all designers, whether freelance, agency, or at the world's leading brands. Used by brands such as Lowes, Colliers, and New York Fashion Week, Design Studio empowers any designer to easily become a professional web designer, with powerful tools that lets them manage the entire end-to-end website creation workflow, from design and collaboration to publishing and updating.

"At Brandcast, we're driven by one mission: creating the best web design, collaboration and publishing experience on the planet," said Brandcast CEO Richard Yanowitch. "So we're giving complete creative freedom back to designers -- no more coding to hold them back and no more boring commodity-like templates that all look the same. Design Studio democratizes web design so all designers can create beautiful websites true to their artistic vision. And they can do it at the speed and scale needed to keep up with the exponential growth in the demand for fresh content. All with enterprise-class sophistication and security."

Brandcast Design Studio offers an intuitive but powerful browser-based visual interface that will be immediately familiar to any designer that has used other creative software tools. With an entire end-to-end web design process on a single platform, Design Studio liberates designers so they can quickly and easily translate their creative vision into powerful custom websites. This can all be done without the need to write code, which often stymies creativity and slows down the process.

What customers are saying:

Kana LiVolsi, Co-founder and CEO, Dos Mundos Creative:

"I was one of a select group of design firms to try out Brandcast, the new web design platform that is about to blow Squarespace and WordPress out of the water. After getting to test it out, I can confidently say that this is the future of web design."

Shannon Cahoon, President, Madplum Creative:

"We chose Brandcast to give our web designers creative control, increase predictability and cut time and costs so that we can remain competitive without sacrificing quality. Being able to design in-browser without code or templates is unlike any creative tool we've seen and we're excited about the positive impact this will have on our business."

Kristen Kelley, Marketing Manager, Colliers San Diego:

"Using Brandcast has enabled our visual designers, who have minimal experience building websites, to create gorgeous custom property and team websites with ease and consistency. Brandcast saves us a tremendous amount of time, and ultimately money, on publishing a high volume of sites in a short amount of time."

Nicole Fikes, Founder + Creative Director, Merrygood:

"I'm having a great experience designing the Merrygood site with the Brandcast Design Studio. Using a comp that has been sitting in our Dropbox forever, I was able to create in Brandcast in about 15 minutes!"

Brandcast Design Studio includes a powerful and intuitive suite of features, including:

True design freedom. Create a completely custom design without the restrictions of generic templates or code.

Completely visual interface. Designs, content, and web pages displayed in the Design Studio are the actual live versions of the ready-to-publish or published websites. No complex menu interfaces to learn, no code to export and host, and no guessing how changes will affect the live site.

Precise design control. Pixel-level control over every part of the design, even typography.

One-click publishing. Sites are live instantly upon clicking the Publish icon.

End-to-End Workflow on a single platform. Covering every step from design and collaboration to publishing and updating.

Reusable digital assets. Re-apply custom layouts to other websites and maintain a comprehensive media library of design assets, photos, videos, text and global styles for all your websites.

Enterprise-class security and infrastructure. The Brandcast platform automatically hosts, manages and scales to an unlimited number of customer websites, from single landing pages to large corporate sites, so customers needn't invest in costly and complicated IT infrastructure.

See the Design Studio in Action

To sign up for a free Design Studio account, visit: https://app.brandcast.io/signup

To learn more, visit: brandcast.com

About Brandcast

Founded in 2012 in San Francisco at the intersection of design and web technology, Brandcast is ushering in a new era of design freedom in website creation. Brandcast allows designers and marketers to create, collaborate on, and publish custom websites without the use of generic templates or the need to know code. To learn more about Brandcast, visit https://brandcast.com and follow @brandcastapp on Twitter.

Press Contact:

Chad Torbin

Email Contact

415.548.6536




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Kootenay Zinc Corp. (the "Company") (CSE: ZNK)(CSE: ZNK.CN)(OTCQB: KTNNF)(FRANKFURT: KYH) is pleased to announce that its common shares trade on the OTCQB, a U.S. interdealer quotation system, under the symbol "KTNNF". The Company's common shares will also continue to trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange under its trading symbol "ZNK". In connection with the OTCQB listing, the Company obtained DTC eligibility with the Depository Trust Company for its common shares on the OTCQB. The Depository Trust Company (DTC) is a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. and manages the electronic clearing and settlement of publicly traded companies. Securities that are eligible to be electronically cleared and settled through the DTC are considered DTC eligible. This electronic method of clearing securities speeds up the receipt of shares and cash, and thus generally accelerates the settlement process for investors.

Achieving DTC eligibility to simplify trading of the Company's common shares on the OTCQB market makes it accessible to an even broader range of investors and is expected to assist with the Company's goal of increasing the liquidity and convenience of trading its common shares within the U.S.

In addition, the Company announces that its common shares trade on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "KYH" which should help increase the Company's shareholder base and provide increased access to the European capital markets.

About the Company

Kootenay Zinc Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, British Columbia that is presently targeting the Sully Property. The Company is focused on discovering large-scale sedimentary-exhalative ("SEDEX") deposits.

The Sully Property comprises 1,375 hectares located approximately 30 kilometres east of Kimberley, B.C., and overlies rocks of similar age and origin as those which host the world-class Sullivan deposit, owned by Teck Resources Ltd. Sullivan was discovered in 1892, and is known to be one of the largest SEDEX deposits in the world. Over its 100-year lifetime, Sullivan produced approximately 150 million tonnes of ore, including approximately three hundred million ounces of silver, eight million tonnes of zinc and eight million tonnes of lead. The equivalent level of strata as at Sullivan and that formed on the margin of that same basin are present at the Sully Property. The Company cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Sully Property.

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by the Company's Project Manager, Paul Ransom, P.Geo., a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

David Schmidt, President and Chief Executive Officer

Forward Looking Information

This news release includes certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the Sully Property, comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, costs and timing of future exploration and development, requirements for additional capital, other statements relating to the financial and business prospects of the Company. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved), and variations of such words, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions and similar expressions are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statement are necessarily based upon a number of factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements express or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of zinc and other metals, anticipated costs and the ability to achieve goals. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events, level of activity, performance or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: (i) risks related to zinc, base metal and other commodity price fluctuations; (ii) risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration results; (iii) risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; (iv) that resource exploration and development is a speculative business; (v) that the Company may lose or abandon its property interests or may fail to receive necessary licences and permits; (vi) that environmental laws and regulations may become more onerous; (vii) that the Company may not be able to raise additional funds when necessary; (viii) the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; (ix) exploration and development risks, including risks related to accidents, equipment breakdowns, labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in exploration and development; (x) competition; (xi) the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of geologic reports or studies; (xii) the uncertainty of profitability based upon the Company's history of losses; (xiii) risks related to environmental regulation and liability; (xiv) risks associated with failure to maintain community acceptance, agreements and permissions (generally referred to as "social licence"); (xv) risks relating to obtaining and maintaining all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations relating to the continued exploration and development of the Company's projects; (xvi) risks related to the outcome of legal actions; (xvii) political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; (xix) risks related to current global financial conditions; and (xx) other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business strategy.

These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. There can be no assurance that planned exploration will be completed as proposed or at all, or that economic resources will be discovered or developed at the Sully Property. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, the loss of key directors, employees, advisors or consultants and fees charged by service providers. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Contacts:

Kootenay Zinc Corp.

604-833-6999




BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 8:30 am ET Friday, the Labor Department releases U.S. jobs data for February. The employment is expected to have risen by 200,000 jobs in February, down from January's 227,000. The unemployment rate is expected to dip to 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent. Ahead of the data, the greenback traded mixed against its major rivals. While the greenback held steady against the euro and the pound, it rose against the franc and the yen. The greenback was worth 1.0605 against the euro, 115.43 against the yen, 1.0130 against the franc and 1.2160 against the pound as of 8:25 am ET. 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, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Cancer, Cardiovascular, CNS, Other Disease Areas and Non-Therapeutic Applications

The global stem cell technologies and applications market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.4% in the first half of the forecast period and CAGR of 10.5% in the second half of the forecast period. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.7% from 2016 to 2027. The market is estimated at $10,751 million in 2016 and $17,768 million in 2020.

How this report will benefit you

Read on to discover how you can exploit the future business opportunities emerging in this sector.

In this brand new257-page reportyou will receive114 charts- all unavailable elsewhere.

The 257-page report provides clear detailed insight into the global stem cell technologies and applications market. Discover the key drivers and challenges affecting the market.

By ordering and reading our brand new report today you stay better informed and ready to act.

Report Scope

 Global Stem Cell Technologies and Applications Market forecastsfrom 2017-2027

 Global Stem Cell Technologies and Applications submarket forecastsfrom 2017-2027:

- Cancer treatment

- Cardiovascular therapy

- CNS

- Other therapies

- Non-therapeutic applications

 Individual revenue forecast to 2027 for selected top products:

- MSC-100-IV (Mesoblast)

- Hearticellgram-AMI (Pharmicell)

- CardioRel (Reliance Life Sciences)

- Osteocel Plus (NuVasive)

- Trinity Evolution and Elite (Orthofix)

- CARTISTEM (MEDIPOST)

 Analysis of the mostpromising pipeline therapiesin each therapeutic segment

 Discussion on regulatory environments and developments in the US, Japan, Europe and other leading countries

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com

 Analysis of whatdrives and restrainsthe market

 This study also discusses otherinfluences on that field, including these:

- Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT)

- Embryonic stem cells (ESCs), induced pluripotent adult (IPSCs) and parthenogenetic cells

- Uses for umbilical cord blood and related technologies, including cellular and blood banking

- Agents for osteogenesis and treating autoimmune conditions

- Applications in cell-based assays, diagnostics and drug development.

Visiongain's study is intended for anyone requiring commercial analyses for the Global Stem Cell Technologies and Applications Market. You find data, trends and predictions.

Buy our report todayGlobal Stem Cell Technologies and Applications Market 2017-2027: Cancer, Cardiovascular, CNS, Other Disease Areas and Non-Therapeutic Applications.

To request a report overview of this report please email Sara Peerun at sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com or call Tel: +44-(0)-20-7336-6100

Or click on: https://www.visiongain.com/Report/1816/Global-Stem-Cell-Technologies-and-Applications-Market-2017-2027

List of Companies and Organizations Mentioned in the Report

Aastrom Biosciences

Advanced Cell Technology

Alder Biopharmaceuticals

Alkems

AllCells

Allergan

AlloSource

American Academy of Neurology

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

American Neurological Associates Annual Meeting

American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis

Americord

Amgen

Angiocrine Bioscience

Anterogen

Arteriocyte

Associated Press

Asterias Biotherapeutics

Athersys

Auriga Ventures

Axiogenesis

Baxter Healthcare

BaYi Brain Hospital

BioCardia

BioE

BioEden

Biogenea-Cellgenea

Bioheart, Inc

Biologic Therapies

BioMet Orthopedics

BioTime

BioTime Asia

Blackstone Medical

Bluebird Bio

BMJ (The British Medical Journal)

Boston Children's Hospital

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics

Caladrius Biosciences

California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)

Calimmune

Capricor

Cardio3

Caribou

Carolinas Cord Blood Bank (CCBB)

Casey Eye Institute

Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute

Cell Cure Neurosciences

Cell Therapy Catapult

CellCentric

Cellectis

Cellerant Therapeutics

Cellerix

CELLTREE

Cellular Biomedicine Group (CBMG)

Cellular Dynamics International

Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR)

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Cephalon

Cesca Therapeutics

Ceylad

Cha General Hospital

China Cord Blood Corporation

China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Chinese Ministry of Health

Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology

CJ CheilJedang

Clal Biotechnologies Industries

Cleveland Biolabs

Clinicaltrials.gov

ClinImmune Labs

Cochrane

Cognate BioServices

Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP)

Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers

Cook General BioTechnology

Cord Blood America

Cord Blood Registry Systems

Cordlife Group

CRISPR Therapeutics

Cryo-Cell International

CryoCord

Cryonix CJSC

Cryo-Save

CXR Biosciences

Cytori Therapeutics

Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB)

Denali Ventures

Dendreon

Dong-A Pharmaceuticals Co

Drugs and Cell Therapies in Haematology (Journal)

Duke University School of Medicine

Elbit Imaging

Elbit Medical Technologies

Eli Lilly

Elsevier

EMA

EMA Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products

EpiStem

ESI Bio

European Court of Human Rights

European Court of Justice

European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)

European Haematology Association

EuroStemCell

Fate Therapeutics

FDS Pharma

Federal D.C. Court of Appeals

Fondazione Centro San Raffaele

Fondazione Telethon

Forbion Capital Partners

Forticell Bioscience

Gamida Cell

Gemabank

Gene Therapy Advisory Committee

Genetico

Genetrix Group

Geron

Gilead

GlobalStem

Globocan

GSK

Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology

Harvard Business School

Harvard Stem Cell Institute

Harvard University

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)

Human Stem Cells Institute

Human Tissue Authority

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics

Immunovative Therapies

Indian Department of Biotechnology

Insception Biosciences

Intellia Therapeutics

IntelliCell Biosciences

International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)

International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO)

International Stemcell Services

IPS Academia Japan

Isar Medical Centre

Israel Healthcare Venture

Israel Stem Cell Society

Japan Institute of Biomedical Research.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)

Japanese Health Ministry

Japanese Ministry of Labour and Welfare (MHLW)

Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency

JCR Pharmaceuticals

JingYuan Bio

Johnson & Johnson

Karolinska Institute

Korean Food and Drug Administration

Korean MFDS (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety)

Lifebank Cryogenics

LifebankUSA

LifeMap Sciences

LifeMap Solutions

LifeSouth Community Blood Centers Inc

Lonza

Massachusetts General Hospital

Maxcyte

Mayo Clinic

McMaster University

MedCell Bioscience

MEDIPOST

Medistem Panama

Medtronic

Mesoblast

Miltenyi Biotec

Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation(MTF)

National Dental Pulp Laboratory

Nature (journal)

Nature Biotechnology (Journal)

NeoStem

Neuralstem

New England Journal of Medicine

New York Blood Center

New York Blood Center's Milstein National Cord Blood Program (NCBP)

New York Heart Association

NHS Blood and Transplant Authority

Northwestern University

Novartis

Novartis Research Foundation

NurOwn

Nuvasive

Ocata Therapeutics

OncoCyte

Opexa Therapeutics

Oregon Health and Science University

OrLife Bio

Orthofix

Osiris Therapeutics

Pahrump Valley Times

Pfizer

Pharmicell

Pharmsynthez

Plasticell

Pluristem

Polyphor

Prix Galien

Q Therapeutics

Queen Mary University of London

Quest Biomedical

ReCyte

Regenerative Sciences

Regenerex

Regeneron

Regeneus

Reliance Group

Reliance Life Sciences

ReNeuron

RepliCel Life Sciences

Reprobank

ReproCELL

RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology

Roche

Roslin Cellab

RTI Biologics

RTI Surgical

RUSNANO Corporation

RVC OJSC

SanBio

Sangamo BioSciences

Sanofi

Science (journal)

S-Evans Biosciences

Spinesmith Partners

SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center

Stem Cell Bank

Stemcell Technologies

StemCells

StemCore

StemCyte

Stemedica Cell Technologies

StemGen

Stemina Biomarker Discovery

SynBio

TAP Biosystems (Sartorius Stedim Biotech

Tel Aviv University

Teva

The Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT)

The European Commission

The Lancet

The London Project to Cure Blindness

The Marcus Foundation

The Zon Laboratory

Therapeutic Goods Administration

TiGenix

Tong Yuan Stem Cell

TrakCel

Translational Biosciences

U.S. Stem Cell, Inc

UCL Business PLC

UCL Institute of Ophthalmology

UCLA

UK Care Quality Commission

UK Department of Health

UK Department of Health and the Medical Research Council

UK Home Office

UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

UK National Institute for Health Research

UK Regenerative Medicine Platform

uniQure

United Nation's Department of Economic and Social Affairs

University of California

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (AMC)

University of Colorado Cord Blood Bank

University of Kyoto

University of Massachusetts

University of Washington

University of Western Ontario

University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

US Congress

US District Court for the District of Columbia

US FDA

US National Cord Blood Program

US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

US National Institute of Health (NIH)

US National Marrow Donor Program

US National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)

US Patent and Trademark Office

US Supreme Court

Valeant

Vericel Corporation

Vesta Therapeutics

ViaCord

ViaCyte

ViroMed

Vitro Biopharma

WA Optimum Health Care

WHO

Yale University

To see a report overview please email Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com
Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

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PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

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The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh
ORLANDO, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Pandera Systems, a leading, full-service business intelligence (BI) and analytics solutions provider, announces today its new connector that allows companies to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for leading enterprise business analytics platforms, like MicroStrategy, using Amazon's Alexa. The solution harnesses enterprise crowd-sourcing with AI learning loops and voice-enabled technology to continuously evolve and bring new insights to Alexa. Pandera Systems is currently working with industry leaders in several verticals to radically change their information delivery strategy.

"Everything is going to change, and really fast. Even the method by which BI and Big Data teams collect requirements for insights changes instantly because we now know exactly what's needed at the exact moment of the need," said Joshua Sutton, chief executive officer at Pandera Systems.

This solution allows the business units that know their data best to author and submit new points of interest through a controlled workflow. Once published, these data points and facts can be delivered via daily business updates or distributed to thousands of stakeholders on demand. This creates a common endpoint for the analytics teams' visual discovery and data exploration exercises, and ultimately creates an enterprise knowledge framework. The solution also improves the dissemination of knowledge through dialog and connects users instantly to relevant on-screen analytical tools.

"By pairing this solution with Alexa, executives and even system administrators that control technical landscapes can improve knowledge dissemination and drastically increase the speed and reach of information delivery," said Greg Arndall, chief strategy officer at Pandera Systems. "The very nature of how we create enterprise knowledge from our data, store it and distribute it will become embedded into the surfaces of everyday life."

This knowledge framework is capable of delivering a wealth of important answers to more roles across an organization than ever before. Since this new information distribution paradigm requires a unique pattern for identity management and data security, the solution features a multi-presence-based authentication and ties into existing authorization schemes to secure valuable information from unauthorized parties.

For more information on Pandera, please visit www.panderasystems.com.

About Pandera Systems

In an era fixated on big data, Pandera Systems is leading the growth of business intelligence by re-engineering decision-making environments. Pandera's mission is to accelerate business performance through the application of advanced analytical patterns and evolving technology compositions. Pandera provides businesses with the resources to mobilize analytics, and immerse employees in knowledge to enable peak performance. Clients gain a competitive advantage through immediate access to data, user self-service analytics, and applied decision sciences. Pandera has offices in Atlanta; Bangalore, India; Chicago; Nashville, Tenn.; Tampa, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; and Charlotte, N.C.; For more information about Pandera, visit www.panderasystems.com.

Media Contact

Melissa Landy

Uproar PR for Pandera Systems

321-236-0102 x223

Email Contact




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Fluxwerx, a Lumenpulse Group brand and a world leader of high-performance, LED luminaires for commercial and institutional spaces, has won LEDs Magazine 2017 Sapphire Award in the Indoor Troffer, Linear, and Recessed SSL Luminaire Design category for its Fold luminaire. This awards program is singular in the industry for its recognition of valuable contributions across the entire LED and lighting supply chain, from components and test tools to controls and lighting products.

As described in last year's Sapphire Awards roundup, "Linear illumination is abundant in many commercial and municipal spaces. Some of the newest LED-based lighting products almost defy definition or characterization in familiar terms, and that statement certainly holds true for the Fold luminaire," said Maury Wright, Editor-in-Chief of LEDs Magazine.

Fold is a linear pendant luminaire with minimalist, sculptural form and a unique void aperture that creates longitudinal transparency through the fixture without horizontal lenses. Featuring third generation anidolic extraction optics with low brightness and superior efficacy, the luminaire's vertically oriented optics result in a complete absence of glare. Its high-performance, indirect/direct batwing distributions are separately dimmable and deliver efficacy up to 119 LPW with multiple CCTs, chromatic accuracy, less than 2 SDCM and extraordinary lumen maintenance of L70 @ +200,000h.

"The Sapphire Awards program highlights the innovations and advancements in the LED industry. It is an honor to receive an award of this merit," said Tim Berman, President of Fluxwerx. "We are deeply passionate about designing and developing luminaires that deliver an affordable and intelligent combination of contemporary design and practical functionality. Fold's precision optics and quality architectural materials do just that, delivering design and visual comfort with superior lighting and energy performance that was never possible with legacy sources."

Sixty companies working across the LED and solid-state lighting sectors nominated over 100 products to be considered for the third annual Sapphire Awards.

More info: http://www.fluxwerx.com/fold / ledsmagazine.com/sapphireawards

Editor's Notes:

About Fluxwerx

Fluxwerx is a manufacturer of innovative, high-performance, LED luminaires for the general lighting of commercial and institutional spaces, such as office, education and healthcare. Founded in 2011, Fluxwerx has quickly established itself at the forefront of LED lighting technology, with a distinctive product offering and breakthrough proprietary anidolic optics technology that offers substantial energy savings, lighting quality, and remarkable lifetime. The company was acquired by the Lumenpulse Group in 2016.

About Lumenpulse Group

Founded in 2006, the Lumenpulse Group designs, develops, manufactures and sells a wide range of high performance and sustainable specification-grade LED lighting solutions for commercial, institutional and urban environments. The Lumenpulse Group is a leading pure-play specification-grade LED lighting solutions provider and has earned many awards and recognitions, including several Product Innovation Awards (PIA), three Next Generation Luminaires Design Awards, two Red Dot Product Design Awards, a Lightfair Innovation Award, and an iF Design Award. The Lumenpulse Group now has 670 employees worldwide, with corporate headquarters in Montreal, Canada, and offices in Vancouver, Quebec City, Boston, Paris, Florence, London and Manchester. Lumenpulse Inc., the parent company of the Lumenpulse Group, is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol LMP. For more information, visit www.lumenpulsegroup.com.

About LEDs Magazine Sapphire Awards

Sapphire Awards is the first awards program in the lighting industry to focus on the LED-based solid-state lighting (SSL) market from an enabling-technology and elegance-of-design perspective. The judging process, handled by independent industry experts, culminates in an Awards Gala held at Strategies in Light and The LED Show, which puts the spotlight on winners in multiple product categories, as well as an individual or team honored as Illumineer of the Year for noteworthy development in the LED-centric sector.

About LEDs Magazine

LEDs Magazine is the leading information resource for the global LED and lighting community, serving thousands of readers that specify, design, and manufacture LED-based products for a wide range of end-use applications. Its key value proposition is to offer well-written, unbiased, and informative editorial content to more than 63,000 subscribers. LEDs Magazine provides news and product information on a daily basis in combination with in-depth technical articles, analysis, and case studies. For additional information about LEDs Magazine, visit www.ledsmagazine.com

Contacts:

For further information about Fluxwerx

Kristina Kinakin

Marketing Communications

1.604.549.9379 x 126

kristina.kinakin@fluxwerx.com



For further information about the Lumenpulse Group

Andreanne Sirois-Carey

Public Relations Manager

1.514.937.3003 x 294

asiroiscarey@lumenpulse.com




On 10 March 2017, the Administrative Regional court of the Republic of Latvia delivered a judgment about the legality of decision of the Latvian Competition Council of 7 August 2014 with respect to Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS and its subsidiary, KIA Auto AS (initial stock exchange announcement 21 August 2014).



The decision alleged that, in order not to lose warranty and in accordance with the warranty conditions that were valid in the period of 2004-2009, KIA passenger car owners were required to have regular maintenance of KIA passenger cars only in KIA authorized services and that only KIA original spare parts can be installed in KIA cars. This was treated as violation of Article 11 of the Latvian Competition Law within KIA distribution and service network. KIA Auto AS and Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS were sanctioned with a fine of 135 thousand euros, of which 95 thousand euros were imposed jointly and severally.



KIA Auto AS and Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS disagreed with the findings of the Latvian Competition Council on the basis that the whole case was based on one single refusal of warranty by a third party who acknowledged at the court that KIA Auto AS was not involved in the refusal decision and the decision was made only by themselves taking into account objective matters regarding to the case. According to the warranty conditions of Kia that were valid in the period of 2004-2009, Kia passenger vehicles could also be serviced at independent service centres, but in order to ensure the quality of maintenance works and passenger safety, the manufacturer required maintenance works performed at independent service centres to be inspected at an authorized centre free of charge as a prerequisite of the validity of the warranty in order to verify their compliance with the standards established by the manufacturer. However, the Latvian Competition Council did not analyze the referred warranty conditions with elaborated manner and interpreted the whole set-up of the warranty rules as a restriction on maintenance at independent service centres. Finally, there were no legal grounds for the Latvian Competition Council to find Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS jointly and severally liable since Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS was not involved in decisions regarding the matter of the warranty conditions of KIA Auto AS and is merely a holding.



The Administrative Regional court kept in force the decision of the Competition Council, ignoring extensive explanations and submissions of KIA Auto AS and Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS, as well as failing to take into account witness statements and customer surveys.



KIA Auto AS and Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS disagree with the judgment and will submit cassation claim within one month from the receipt of the full text of the judgment. Subsequently the judgement of the Administrative Regional court of the Republic of Latvia dated 10 March 2017 has not become in force.



Raul Puusepp Chairman of the Board Phone: +372 731 5000

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CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Canadian dollar continued to be higher against its major rivals in the European session on Friday, after the economy unexpectedly created jobs in February, while the jobless rate declined.



Data from Statistics Canada showed that the employment increased by 15,300 jobs in February after jumping by 48,300 jobs in January. The figure came as a surprise to economists, who had forecast the jobs to fall by 5,000.



The jobless rate declined to 6.6 percent from 6.8 percent in January. Economists were looking for the jobless rate to remain unchanged for the month.



Oil prices inched up, after suffering steep losses overnight, with investors awaiting the weekly rig count data in the U.S.



Crude for April delivery rose $0.37 to $49.65 per barrel.



The loonie was trading mixed in the Asian session. While the loonie held steady against the greenback and the euro, it rose against the yen. Against the aussie, the loonie declined.



The loonie firmed to 85.90 against the Japanese yen, its strongest since February 24. On the upside, 87.00 is possibly seen as the next resistance level for the loonie-yen pair.



Data the Ministry of Finance showed that Japan's large manufacturing conditions deteriorated in the first quarter of 2017, with a score of 1.1.



That was down sharply from 7.5 in the previous three months, and well shy of expectations for 8.4.



Continuing early rally, the loonie spiked up to a 2-day high of 1.3421 against the greenback. Continuation of the loonie's uptrend may see it challenging resistance around the 1.33 region.



Data from the Labor Department showed a stronger than expected job growth in the month of February.



The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 235,000 jobs in February after surging up by a revised 238,000 jobs in January.



The loonie reversed from an early session's high of 1.4335 against the euro and climbed to 1.4273. The next possible resistance for the loonie is seen around the 1.39 level.



Data from Destatis showed that Germany's wholesale prices increased the most in more than five years in February.



Wholesale prices advanced 5 percent in February from prior year, following a 4 percent increase in January.



The loonie rose back to 1.0131 against the aussie, off its early low of 1.0168. The loonie is seen finding resistance around the 1.00 area.



Looking ahead, U.S. Baker Hughes rig count data is set to be announced in the New York session.



At 2:00 pm ET, U.S. Federal Reserve monthly budget balance statement is due.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recused himself from any role in approving the construction and operation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, a major pipeline to import petroleum from Canada to the United States. Within a week of assuming office, President Donald Trump had invited TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. (TransCanada), to re-submit its application to the Department of State for a Presidential permit for the Keystone project. The Obama administration had previously denied approval for the final segment of the 1,900-kilometer pipeline in 2015 after years of exhaustive study and delays. Revival of the $6.1 billion Keystone project was one of the promises Trump made during election campaign to increase domestic energy production. But Greenpeace launched a petition drive to ask the Office of Government Ethics to urge Secretary Tillerson to recuse himself from any decisions regarding the Keystone pipeline, as the former chief executive of the US energy giant ExxonMobil has a conflict of interest in it. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that Tillerson has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanada's application. 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.
CRM Stock to Move Higher as AI Leads to More PenetrationSalesforce.com, Inc (NYSE:CRM) remained in the limelight in the second half of last year on account of the company's potential interest in buying Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR).The year 2017 has begun on a strong note for CRM stock, which has gained almost 22% year-to-date, whereas the broader S&P 500 index has inched up by about six percent. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been pushing the company into artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which has helped the recovery of Salesforce.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Suggesting that the Republican plan to unilaterally repeal and replace Obamacare will further divide the nation, Ohio Governor John Kasich has urged the GOP to work with Democrats to reform healthcare.



Kasich accused Republicans of using the same tactics Democrats used to push the Affordable Care Act through Congress in 2010.



'Americans are relying on leaders in Washington to fix health care, not engage in yet another unproductive partisan standoff,' Kasich wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Friday.



He added, 'A true and lasting reform of the health insurance system must be accomplished by bringing the two sides together, not by replacing one divisive wedge with another.'



Kasich, who unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, pointed to his bipartisan efforts as chairman of the House Budget Committee in the 1990s.



The Ohio governor also argued that the GOP plan to phase out expanded Medicaid coverage without a viable alternative is counterproductive and unnecessarily puts states' ability to treat the drug-addicted, mentally ill and working poor at risk.



Kasich said members of Congress should listen to governors like himself who have reformed Medicaid programs to control costs while covering more people.



Curbing federal funding for the expansion of Medicaid has been one of the key sticking points in the early debate over the House Republican plan to replace Obamacare.



More conservative lawmakers want the Medicaid expansion to be phased out sooner, while some Republican Senators have said the cuts will prevent them from supporting the bill.



'If both sides work together, we can fix Obamacare in a way that preserves coverage, stabilizes the market, reforms Medicaid and controls costs,' Kasich wrote.



He added, 'It's time for Republicans and Democrats to end the civil war over health care and fight for all Americans. That's how big and necessary change can happen.'



(Photo: Michael Vadon)



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Washington state has filed a response questioning the validity of President Donald Trump's revised travel ban and suspension of refugee resettlement.



It comes a day after attorneys for the Pacific state of Hawaii filed a lawsuit seeking a temporary stay of Trump's revised Executive Order, which is scheduled to take effect on March 16.



In documents filed in federal court Thursday, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson contends that the injunction he obtained blocking key sections of Trump's previous immigration Executive Order applies to the new version.



Trump first issued an Executive Order on January 27, which barred citizens from seven majority Muslim countries - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen - from entering the US for 90 days. Under that order, Syrian refugees were barred indefinitely.



Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit asking the District Court for the Western District of Washington to declare unconstitutional key provisions of the President's Order. Judge James Robert halted its implementation around the country.



And in February, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously affirmed the lower court's ruling.



However, Trump signed a revised Executive order Monday suspending the country's refugee program for 120 days, and barring for 90 days travel to the US by citizens of six countries, exempting Iraq from the original list.



Ferguson argues that key provisions of the new Executive Order remain largely the same as the original travel ban and thus still subject to his original lawsuit and injunction.



Ferguson said the State is asking Judge Robart to confirm that the injunction he issued remains in full force and effect as to the reinstated provisions. He asserts that the burden is on the Trump Administration to argue that the injunction the AG obtained no longer blocks the ban.



The Attorney General's Office anticipates filing an amended complaint on the underlying merits of the case early next week.



Ferguson said two more states - Oregon and New York had asked to join his state's legal action.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A Republican member of the US House Of Representatives has introduced legislation suspending U.S. Foreign Aid to countries that deny or delay accepting their criminal aliens that have been ordered removed from the United States. The bill, introduced by Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah), also requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to submit a report to Congress once a year that lists the countries refusing to allow their criminal citizens to return. In some cases, these criminal aliens have gone on to commit other crimes after their release. For instance, China refused to accept a criminal Chinese citizen after he was arrested for assault and ordered deported. The criminal alien stayed in the U.S. and later murdered the same woman he assaulted. 'I find it appalling that we continue to send foreign aid dollars to countries that are actively putting Americans at risk by refusing to accept their criminal aliens, especially when our own country is so deeply in debt,' said Grothman. 'My bill shifts our immigration system back in the right direction and halts America's condoning of this bad behavior,' he added. The U.S. has tens of thousands of criminal immigrants that are ordered deported, yet their home countries refuse to take them back. Instead, these criminal immigrants are released back into the U.S., posing a dangerous threat to American citizens. According to the DHS and the Department of State, more than 20 countries have refused to accept their criminal citizens back into their borders. 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.
WALNUT CREEK, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Angius & Terry LLP, a boutique firm specializing in community association law, including construction defect litigation, announces its successful representation of the Copper Gate Homeowners Association in its construction defect claim against the community's builder, Western Pacific Housing, Inc., a D.R. Horton subsidiary.

Copper Gate is a 120-unit condominium complex located in Brentwood, California. The predominant claim asserted by the HOA related to foundation movement and damage to the homes caused by soil shifting. Angius & Terry's lead trial attorney for the case, Jordan O'Brien, says, "It was evident from the outset that soils were a big problem at the development. We had the typical indicators, including wide, diagonal cracks in the exterior stucco and the interior drywall, as well as windows and doors that had become inoperable due to the stresses from movement. Despite the complexity of the evidence, we are very pleased that Judge Silver agreed with our experts in linking the expansive soils with the resultant damages manifesting throughout the development."

After nearly a month-long arbitration, Judge Richard M. Silver (ret.) issued an award in favor of the HOA for $4,146,306.58, plus certain costs. Judge Silver cited compelling evidence that "as to the foundation and other aspects of this development the developer failed to adequately consider and mitigate the expansive soil condition." The HOA also successfully obtained monetary damages for other serious construction defects involving the stucco, roofs, windows, doors, asphalt and flatwork.

Julie Mouser, managing partner of Angius & Terry's Walnut Creek office, shares, "this was an extraordinary outcome given the stark contrast between the opinions of the HOA's experts and D.R. Horton's experts. In 19 years of handling similar cases, I have never seen such diametrically opposed positions. Despite this, we knew we had strong legal arguments and credible, experienced experts. While the vast majority of these cases will settle in advance of arbitration or trial, for whatever reason, D.R. Horton wanted to go to the mat on this one. We're just pleased we could obtain this result for these deserving homeowners."

Attorney Lance Stewart and paralegal Amy Laguna rounded out Angius & Terry's legal team in this matter.

Copper Gate HOA board member Nikolai Stephan Hinkle states, "while we were disappointed D.R. Horton didn't resolve our claim short of a lengthy trial, we're thrilled with the verdict and outcome. For most homeowners, our home is our biggest investment. Angius & Terry fought for us and helped us protect our investment. I know our legal team put in a lot of hours to ensure a great outcome. They worked diligently with us, and we knew where we stood every step of the way."

About Angius & Terry LLP

Angius & Terry LLP has recovered in excess of $450 million dollars on behalf of homeowners and community associations in California, Nevada and Florida. For more information visit www.angius-terry.com.

Media Contact

Julie M. Mouser

Angius & Terry LLP

1990 N. California Blvd., Suite 950

Walnut Creek, CA 94596

PH: 925-939-9933

E: Email Contact




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Nevada Copper Corp. (TSX: NCU) ("Nevada Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed the US$5 million investment with its long-term cornerstone shareholder, Pala Investments Limited ("Pala"). As previously announced in the Company's new release dated February 27, 2017, along with these funds from Pala, the Company had also successfully secured extensions to the loan maturities under its existing senior term loan facility with Red Kite and its loan facility with Pala until December 31, 2018.

With the closing of the financing with Pala and the associated loan amendments, the Company is now in a position to quickly advance its previously announced key initiatives and evaluation of project development options at Pumpkin Hollow with the assistance of Pala in its role as Technical Advisor to the Company. These initiatives include:

a. drilling to extend and better define the higher grade North deposit extension, complete an updated mineral resource followed by evaluating an optimized higher-grade Integrated open pit/underground development plan; and b. advance technical studies for the construction of a first-phase smaller- scale, lower capital cost and higher grade underground project.

The two initiatives are not mutually exclusive and, should copper markets continue to improve, both would allow for future expansion to capture more of the 6.3 billion pounds of M&I copper resources(1).

Pumpkin Hollow Project

The Pumpkin Hollow copper development is located entirely on private land close to infrastructure with all required power and water supplies secured. With the project entirely on private land, all required Nevada permits for construction and mine operations are in hand (no federal permits are required). With many analysts forecasting improving copper markets over the next few years, the Company's Pumpkin Hollow Copper Project represents an attractive, "shovel-ready", fully-permitted copper project located in an ideal mine-friendly location.

NEVADA COPPER CORP.

Giulio T. Bonifacio, President & CEO

We seek safe harbour.

(1) From NI43-101 Technical Report Feasibility Study SEDAR-filed on July 9, 2015

Contacts:

Nevada Copper Corp.

Eugene Toffolo

VP, Investor Relations & Communications

604-683-8266 or Toll free: 1-877-648-8266

etoffolo@nevadacopper.com



Nevada Copper Corp.

Robert McKnight, P.Eng., MBA

Executive Vice President & CFO

604-683-1309

bmcknight@nevadacopper.com




Speakers and live demonstrations to highlight key advances in non-invasive ultrasound for breast disease diagnosis during NCBC and the 2017 SBI/ACR Breast Imaging Symposium

Regulatory News:

SuperSonic Imagine (Paris:SSI) (Euronext: SSI, FR0010526814), a company specializing in ultrasound medical imaging, today announced that it will showcase the new version of Aixplorer at two respected breast health meetings: the 27th Annual Interdisciplinary Breast Center Conference, March 11 15 in Las Vegas, and the 2017 SBI/ACR Breast Imaging Symposium, April 6 9 in Los Angeles. Aixplorer, the only UltraFast ultrasound platform, recent upgrades include; enhanced performance, workflow and efficiency; and a combination of impeccable image quality and unprecedented ultrasound advances.

"The latest Aixplorer gives me a level of diagnostic information about breast tissue that I never had before," said Dr. Kathy Schilling, Medical Director, Lynn Women's Health and Wellness Institute, Boca Raton, Florida. "ShearWave Elastography (SWE) allows me to capture a quantitative color-coded map to visualize and analyze tissue stiffness. That tissue stiffness information helps me characterize breast lesions and identify diseased or malignant tissue. The ease of SWE reduces anxiety for patients, and its and accuracy helps us avoid some unnecessary follow-up biopsies."

Aixplorer's latest version demonstrates advancements in several respects. The new package provides a comprehensive solution for breast imaging as well as detailed examination of breast anatomy. The extensive suite of clinical probes also includes a new high frequency SL18-5 probe and a tailored specialty SLH20-6 probe optimized for breast imaging. This suite is complimented by key Aixplorer innovations: SWE, clinically proven to improve the specificity of breast ultrasound; 3D Ultrasound combined with SWE, which offers a 3D color-coded elasticity map of tissue stiffness; and new imaging mode, TriVu, which displays breast anatomy, flow and tissue stiffness in a single screen.

The exclusive new feature called TriVu allows simultaneous real time visualization of anatomy, flow and tissue stiffness without any compromise. Physicians can now observe tissue in B-mode, measure stiffness with SWE and visualize the vascularization in one single view. This new imaging mode may help clinicians save time as it displays important clinical information at the same time.

Angio PL.U.S., another new tool, also has a breast focus, and is a significant advancement in Color Doppler Imaging. Angio PL.U.S. provides a new level of microvascular slow flow for visualization of small vessels through significantly improved color sensitivity and spatial resolution while maintaining exceptional 2D imaging.

"We always look forward to meeting with clinicians in the breast health space, whose imaging needs SSI has worked tirelessly to meet. We know how important it is to visualize breast tissue as clearly as possible, and we continually improve that potentially life-saving capability," said Jacques Souquet, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of SuperSonic Imagine. "We look forward to sharing the newly enhanced features of the Aixplorer, including the exclusive TriVu real-time simultaneous mode, which may prove valuable to breast evaluation as it combines anatomical and functional imaging in one test."

Attendees are invited to join SSI in symposia and on the exhibit floor:

The 27th Annual Interdisciplinary Breast Center Conference

https://www2.breastcare.org/welcome-to-the-annual-national-interdisciplinary-breast-center-conference/

March 11 15 in Las Vegas

Paris Las Vegas Hotel Rivoli Hall, booth #400

The 2017 SBI/ACR Breast Imaging Symposium

https://www.eventscribe.com/2017/SBI-ACR/

April 6 9 in Los Angeles

Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites, Pasadena Hall, Booth 325

About SuperSonic Imagine

Founded in 2005 and based in Aix-en-Provence (France), SuperSonic Imagine is a company specializing in medical imaging. The company designs, develops and markets a revolutionary ultrasound system, Aixplorer, with an UltraFast platform that can acquire images 200 times faster than conventional ultrasound systems. In addition to providing exceptional image quality, this unique technology is the foundation of several innovations which have changed the paradigm of ultrasound imaging: ShearWave Elastography (SWE), UltraFast Doppler, Angio PL.U.S Planewave UltraSensitive Imaging and more recently TriVu.

ShearWave Elastography allows physicians to visualize and analyze the stiffness of tissue in a real-time, reliable, reproducible and non-invasive manner. This criteria has become an important parameter in diagnosing potentially malignant tissue or other diseased tissue. As of today, over 300 peer-reviewed publications have demonstrated the value of SWE for the clinical management of patients with a wide range of diseases.

UltraFast Doppler combines Color Flow Imaging and Pulsed Wave Doppler into one simple exam, providing physicians with exam results simultaneously and helping to increase patient throughput. The latest innovation, Angio PL.U.S, provides a new level of microvascular imaging through significantly improved color sensitivity and spatial resolution while maintaining exceptional 2D imaging.

SuperSonic Imagine has been granted regulatory clearances for the commercialization of Aixplorer in key global markets. SuperSonic Imagine is a listed company since April 2014 on the Euronext, symbol SSI.

For more information about SuperSonic Imagine, please go to www.supersonicimagine.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170310005496/en/

Contacts:

SuperSonic Imagine

Marketing Communication

Emmanuelle Vella, +33 4 86 79 03 27

emmanuelle.vella@supersonicimagine.com

or

NewCap

Investor Relations EU

Pierre Laurent Florent Alba

+33144719855

supersonicimagine@newcap.fr

or

Pascale Communication

Media Relations US

Amy Phillips, +1 412 327 9499

amy@pascalecommunications.com
Leading International Financial Printing Firm Acquires Competitor to Expand Service Offerings; forms one of the world's largest financial communications companies

NEW YORK, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Toppan Vite, a leading international financial printing, communications and technology company, announced today the strategic acquisition of Vintage, a division of PR Newswire. Vintage provides regulatory compliance across capital markets, corporate services, and institutional and fund services.

"We're incredibly excited to be joining forces with Vintage," said Jeffrey Riback, President of Toppan Vite. "Vintage's clients and resources are now part of one of the largest financial printing companies in the world. We're proud to offer Vintage's clients our global financial printing and communications capabilities and enhance the firm's technology-based solutions for today and the future."

The acquisition expands the Toppan Vite global footprint and doubles the size of the company. Toppan Vite plans to make extensive investments into the business following the merger, focusing particularly on enhanced technology.

"Aligning with Toppan Vite will improve Vintage's business offerings for its clients, partners and employees," said Cision CEO, Kevin Akeroyd. "Combined with Vintage's hard-earned reputation for value and nimble service and Toppan Vite's global reach, first-class service offerings and exceptional technology, Toppan Vite will provide countless business advantages for its clients' most important financial moments. We are excited to continue our relationship with Toppan Vite, and to seamlessly deliver their newly combined offerings to our joint customers."

Vintage, formerly Vintage Filings, was founded in 2002 and acquired by PR Newswire in 2007. PR Newswire was acquired as part of the Cision group of companies in 2016. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

About Toppan Vite

Toppan Vite, a leader in financial printing and communications solutions, is part of the Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., the world's largest printing group, headquartered in Tokyo with approximately US $13 billion in annual sales. Toppan Vite has been a pioneer and trusted partner in the financial markets for three decades, serving the financial, legal and corporate communities with meticulous, responsive service and unparalleled local market expertise and capabilities. Toppan Vite's expanding U.S. operations deliver a hassle-free experience for mission-critical content for capital markets transactions, financial reporting and regulatory compliance filings, investment companies and insurance providers. Learn more at www.us.toppanvite.com.

About Cision

Cision is a leading media communication technology and analytics company that enables marketers and communicators to effectively manage their earned media programs in coordination with paid and owned channels to drive business impact. As the creator of the Cision Communications Cloud', the first-of-its-kind earned media cloud-based platform, Cision has combined cutting-edge data, analytics, technology and services into a unified communication ecosystem that brands can use to build consistent, meaningful and enduring relationships with influencers and buyers in order to amplify their marketplace influence. Cision solutions also include market-leading media technologies such as PR Newswire, Gorkana, PRWeb, Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and iContact. Headquartered in Chicago, Cision serves over 100,000 customers in 170 countries and 40 languages worldwide, and maintains offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Australia. For more information, visit www.cision.com or follow @Cision on Twitter.

Media Contacts

Sarah Reilly

Toppan Vite

Marketing Manager

(201) 562-1798

sarahreilly@toppanlf.com

Stacey Miller

Cision

Director, Communications

(301) 683-6038

stacey.miller@cision.com

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/477321/Toppan_Vite_Logo.jpg

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/477316/vintage_Logo.jpg
HOUSTON, TEXAS -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Last night, at the 36th annual international meeting of energy industry leaders in Houston, Texas, Opus One Solutions was recognized as an Energy Innovation Pioneer alongside Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who accepted the Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award in recognition of his commitment to sustainability in energy and the environment.

Of eight companies from around the world, Opus One was the only Canadian company to be named an Energy Innovation Pioneer. In addition, Opus One was invited to participate in a roundtable led by the Prime Minister. The discussion took place with a diverse group of energy executives and innovative clean-tech leaders who are working on the energy transition and how best to accelerate it.

"I am proud to see a Canadian company being recognized as an Energy Innovation Pioneer at the preeminent international energy conference," says Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "Opus One's game changer technology unlocks the potential for lower energy costs for customers by enabling 100% penetration of clean energy resources, leading the transition to a more sustainable energy economy, which benefits not only Canadians, but contributes to combating climate change worldwide."

"Opus One is honoured to be the only Canadian company recognized as an Energy Innovation Pioneer," says Joshua Wong, President and CEO of Opus One. "Participating in important discussions on transitioning to low carbon resources with other energy leaders and policy makers is the first step to achieving the Prime Minster's environmental agenda."

Opus One's software platform uses sophisticated data analytics to operate, manage, and optimize electricity grids - increasing the potential to connect distributed energy resources, including wind, solar, battery storage and EV chargers. Opus One can unlock new support services and business models for utilities while reducing energy costs for customers by enabling 100% penetration of clean energy resources.

About Opus One Solutions

Opus One Solutions is a software engineering and solutions company with the vision of a Connected Distributed Energy Network. Through GridOS, its intelligent energy networking platform, Opus One optimizes complex power flows so that it can deliver real-time energy management to distribution utilities and other managers of distributed energy assets. GridOS is modular, scalable, and integrates seamlessly with existing data systems to unlock greater potential for distributed energy resources, including renewable generation, energy storage, and responsive demand. GridOS also facilitates the management of microgrids - from homes to businesses to communities - for unparalleled grid resiliency and value to the electricity customer. To learn more, visit www.opusonesolutions.com and follow us on twitter: @OpusOneSolns.

Contacts:

Opus One Solutions

Media Contact:

Surbhi Jain

(647) 972-7872

sjain@opusonesolutions.com




PARIS, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Emblem Corp. (TSX VENTURE: EMC) ("Emblem" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has retained the consulting services of Nate Nienhuis for its Canadian cannabis operations.

"This is a major development for our Company," said Gordon Fox, CEO of Emblem. "Mr. Nienhuis is recognized throughout North America as one of the pre-eminent experts in cannabis horticulture and cannabis extraction. He is also an engineer and has consulted extensively on environmental systems, lighting systems and building envelope design for closed-box cannabis production facilities. He has the exact skills that Emblem needs to design and operate the facilities that will fulfill our mandate of producing the highest quality cannabis products for the Canadian market."

"The industry challenge for the Canadian market is to produce high quality cannabis to the exacting standards of the Canadian regime, at scale," said Maxim Zavet, President of Emblem Cannabis Corp. "Mr. Nienhuis brings the leadership and experience that will allow us to produce premium quality cannabis that only indoor growing provides, and in the considerable volumes that the Canadian market is anticipated to require."

Background

Mr. Nienhuis is a mechanical engineer. His introduction to the cannabis industry came through retainers to design environment systems and control systems for cannabis cultivation. These retainers required him to undertake prolonged research into the distinctive demands of cannabis horticulture. The unique inter-relationship between environmental systems and lighting systems for cannabis production led him to design the HID based horticultural lighting systems commonly used in indoor cannabis production across North America today.

His cannabis horticulture expertise has led to a wide variety of consulting projects. He has consulted with nutrient manufacturers in the United States and Canada to develop proprietary fertilizers and plant supplements for use in the cannabis industry. He has acted as a design consultant to cannabis operators in the United States and Canada, designing entire cultivation facilities and extraction laboratories. He has provided training programs for indoor cannabis cultivation and he has also routinely consulted on the development and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures required to comply with a variety of cannabis regulatory regimes across North America.

Mr. Nienhuis has held appointments as head horticulturalist in operations in licensed medical cannabis regimes in California, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Washington DC.

In 2012, under the auspices of the US Department of Health and the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Mr. Nienhuis consulted on the District of Columbia's program for legalized medical cannabis, grew cannabis for that program and developed the extraction capability for that program. He undertook similar consulting retainers in Maryland. The compliance regimes for cannabis production in Washington DC and Maryland have a similar level of complexity to the compliance requirements of the ACMPR regime.

Mr. Nienhuis has also utilized his engineering background to develop and sell equipment for the safe extraction of cannabinoids. He was one of the first individuals to migrate extraction from butane-based to super critical and sub-critical pressure CO2 extraction, the current standard for cannabis extraction in North America. As an extraction expert, he has consulted on facility design for commercial scale cannabis extraction laboratories in the United States and Canada, including the required compliance with Class 1 Division 1 standards (use of volatile chemicals).

Importance to Emblem

Emblem's business plan is focused and dependent on the production of very high quality cannabis in a closed box, clean room environment. Producing cannabis to the exacting standards of the ACMPR regime is quite challenging. Producing cannabis to this standard, but at the scale that the Company expects will be required in the future will be even more demanding. Emblem recognizes that horticultural expertise and leadership will be a key element in the success of Emblem's dried flower strategy.

Emblem's business plan also involves the production of high quality cannabis oil and cannabinoid based medication in standard pharmaceutical dosage formats. A complete command of the science and technology of cannabis extraction is critical to the success of Emblem's oil and pharmaceutical business.

Closed box production facilities are capital intensive. As Emblem builds additional capacity at its facility, it is critical for Emblem to have "in-house" design expertise for all elements of building envelop science, environmental systems, control and lighting systems to ensure the highest quality production facility at the lowest cost and greatest efficiency.

Mr. Nienhuis brings to Emblem all of these essential skills.

"We are delighted to have Nate as a member of our team and delighted that he has made a long-term commitment to Emblem," said Mr. Fox.

About Emblem

Emblem is licensed under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (the "ACMPR") to cultivate and sell medical marihuana. Emblem carries out its principal activities producing marihuana from its facilities in Paris, Ontario pursuant to the provisions of the ACMPR and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) and its regulations.

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 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. Emblem cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Emblem's control. Such factors include those described in the Company's Filing Statement dated November 30, 2016 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Emblem undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

Contacts:

Emblem Corp.

Ali Mahdavi

(416) 962-3300

alimahdavi@emblemcorp.com




Escondido, California--(Newsfile Corp. - March 10, 2017) - Laguna Blends Inc. (CSE: LAG) (OTC Pink: LAGBF) (FSE: LB6A.F) (the "Company" or "Laguna") is pleased to announce that it has appointed Soheil Samimi to its Board of Directors effective immediately.

Mr. Samimi's background includes management positions within leading technology companies, as well as being the successful founder of various start-ups which revolutionized the automated retail and digital media kiosk marketplace, working closely with major retailers, grocers, pharmacies and c-store chains in North America.

Soheil is currently serving as the CEO of a British-Columbia based company within the Canadian hemp and cannabis industry, with ventures for licensed production, clinics and retail operations, in addition to leading the largest distribution of non-psychoactive CBD products across Canada.

"Laguna wishes to welcome Mr. Samimi to team. We look forward to leverage his overall experience to assist Laguna's structuring through this current rapid growth phase, as well as assisting with the development of additional sales and distribution opportunities for the company's products", stated Ray Grimm Jr., Laguna's President and CEO.

The Company has also appointed Dianne Szigety as Corporate Secretary. Ms. Szigety is a fellow with the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) and brings over 25 years of management experience within the corporate and securities industry, providing corporate governance and compliance solutions to publicly traded companies. She has been a director and officer of several publicly traded and private companies.

The Company also announces the resignation of Rhys Williams from the Board of Directors. The Company is grateful for the contributions Mr. Williams brought to the Board and wish him the best moving forward.

About Laguna Blends Inc.

Laguna Blends is a market leader in the distribution of Hemp and CBD products. Lagunas growth strategy includes acquiring and incubating companies who formulate and or manufacture Hemp products. Laguna Blends markets Hemp products utilizing its B to B Network along with driving traffic to its Laguna Blends online marketplace.

It is Lagunas' intent to provide the highest quality hemp product experience for the end user, utilizing a proprietary nanotechnology in many of its consumable and topical skin care products. Laguna is currently seeking joint ventures and acquisitions to expand its portfolio and will aggressively begin international expansion into Asia and Europe in 2017.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Ray Grimm Jr"

CEO, President & Director



COROPRATE MEDIA:

ir@lagunablends.com

www.lagunablends.com

https://cbdskincream.com/

Join Us On Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/LagunaBlends/

Twitter: @LagunaBlends

Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to statements regarding the Company's business, products and future the Company's business, its product offerings and plans for sales and marketing. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Such forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance and developments to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the Company's products and plan will vary from those stated in this news release and the Company may not be able to carry out its business plans as expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation, and does not intend, to update any forward looking statements or forward-looking information in this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and makes no reference to profitability based on sales reported. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release.
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - March 10, 2017) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two former executives at a credit card processing company with masterminding a fraudulent scheme to steal millions of dollars through phony expense reimbursements, inflated invoices, and other improper accounting tactics.

The SEC's complaint alleges that iPayment's then-senior vice president of sales and marketing Nasir N. Shakouri and then-executive vice president and chief operating officer Robert S. Torino routinely reimbursed themselves for payments that were never actually made to third-party vendors using their personal credit cards. They also allegedly conspired with vendors to inflate invoices and receive kickbacks from the overpayments, and claimed improper commissions and bonuses related to other corporate funds they improperly diverted in various ways.

The SEC's complaint also charges three other iPayment executives - Bronson L. Quon, John S. Hong, and Jonathan K. Skarie - with participating in the scheme and helping Shakouri and Torino falsify books and records to hide the thefts of corporate funds. Quon, Hong, and Skarie were allegedly rewarded for their assistance with misappropriated iPayment funds.

"As alleged in our complaint, these executives manipulated iPayment's internal accounting systems, lied to the external auditor, and caused approximately $11.6 million in losses to the company," said Sanjay Wadhwa, Senior Associate Director of the SEC's New York Regional Office.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California today announced criminal charges against Shakouri and Torino.

The SEC is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties as well as officer-and-director bars.

The SEC's investigation has been conducted by Kristin M. Pauley, Melissa A. Coppola, Maureen P. King, Roseann Daniello, Diego Brucculeri, Richard Hong, Nicholas Pilgrim, Scott B. York, and Valerie A. Szczepanik in the New York office. The litigation will be led by Mr. Hong and Ms. Pauley along with John Bulgozdy, who works in the Los Angeles office. The case is being supervised by Mr. Wadhwa. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) today announced that it will host the second meeting of the Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council 2017 (ABLAC 2017) in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 13, 2017.

Gathering 28 senior business leaders from across Asia and Canada, ABLAC 2017 will provide a unique platform for Asian and Canadian business leaders to share strategic policy advice with government, business leaders and policy makers, and will foster open and candid dialogue on how Canada can realize the full potential of its engagement and partnerships with Asia.

Established by APF Canada with the generous support of the Government of British Columbia, Export Development Canada, and the Government of Canada, the ABLAC 2017 theme is "The Canada-Asia Relationship: Seizing the Moment," and features sessions on emergent sectoral opportunities for Canada in the Asia Pacific, the role of public-private-partnerships in Canada-Asia engagement, and rebranding Canada as an innovation hub connected to innovation ecosystems throughout the Asia Pacific.

In the spirit of promoting transparent Canada-Asia engagement, APF Canada will also announce the April 2017 launch of its new Investment Monitor website on the sidelines of ABLAC 2017. In partnership with The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, and with sponsorship from AdvantageBC, the Bank of Canada, the Government of British Columbia, and Export Development Canada, this new online tool will provide more detailed and robust data on two-way foreign direct investment between Canada and Asia Pacific economies than is currently available.

"Canada can play an even larger role to shape future relations between East and West," said Dominic Barton, Global Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company, and ABLAC 2017 Chair. "I am optimistic that relations between Canada and Asia will continue to grow and that ABLAC will help foster closer engagement with our Asian partners."

"In the context of a rise in global isolationism and protectionism, Canada is receiving renewed attention for its social and economic openness," added APF Canada President and CEO, Stewart Beck. "ABLAC provides an important forum that will help us build on that momentum, and strategically focus our efforts and energies in the Asia Pacific."

With members from China, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, the council will meet at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver with representatives of Canada's federal, provincial and municipal governments, as well as the presidents and CEOs of leading Canadian businesses and institutions.

Quoted:

"Canada continues to be a strong advocate for growing global trade and the benefits it delivers, despite recent international developments. Forums like ABLAC are key to building momentum and capitalizing on opportunities that translate it into real, tangible trade gains for Canadian and Asian businesses."

- Benoit Daignault - President and Chief Executive Officer, Export Development Canada

"We know that diversifying B.C.'s markets has kept our province's economy strong, resilient and growing - despite changing global markets, and changeable politics. The fact is trade with Asia holds a paramount role in B.C.'s economy. Deepening our trade ties throughout key Asian markets will help grow B.C.'s economy and create good jobs that British Columbians can depend on."

- Hon. Teresa Wat - British Columbia Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism

"The Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council is a new and vital nexus that enhances Canada-Asia relations through meaningful and candid dialogue among partners. The inaugural ABLAC meeting produced some tangible recommendations and I look forward to seeing similar practical outcomes from this year's summit in Vancouver."

- Hon. David Emerson - Chair of the Board of Directors, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

"There are important gaps in the official data available to the public on the volume, scale and scope of two-way investment between Canada and the Asia Pacific. In addressing these gaps, we hope that our three-year Investment Monitor project will assist government officials in policy making, support businesses in decision making, catalyze academic research on investment, and help provide facts for an informed public debate on foreign investment."

- Dr. Eva Busza - Vice-President, Research and Programs, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

Relevant Links:

Investment Monitor: http://www.asiapacific.ca/theme/trade/investmentmonitor

About the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada:

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is dedicated to strengthening ties between Canada and Asia with a focus on expanding economic relations through trade, investment and innovation; promoting Canada's expertise in offering solutions to Asia's climate change, energy, food security and natural resource management challenges; building Asia skills and competencies among Canadians, including young Canadians; and, improving Canadians' general understanding of Asia and its growing global influence.

The Foundation is well known for its annual national opinion polls of Canadian attitudes regarding relations with Asia, including Asian foreign investment in Canada and Canada's trade with Asia. The Foundation places an emphasis on China, India, Japan and South Korea while also developing expertise in emerging markets in the region, particularly economies within ASEAN.

Visit APF Canada at www.asiapacific.ca

Contacts:

On ABLAC 2017, or to schedule an interview,

Michael Roberts

Communications Manager

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

michael.roberts@asiapacific.ca

Office: 604-630-1527




Delta, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 10, 2017) - Desert Gold Ventures Inc. (TSXV: DAU) (FSE: QXR2) (OTC Pink: DAUGF) ("Desert Gold" or "the Company") Further to the press release dated November 22, 2016, the Company is pleased to announce that it has closed its private placement. The Company has sold 1,200,000 units at a price of $0.25 per unit, raising gross proceeds of $300,000.

Each unit consists of one common share in the equity of the Company and one common share purchase warrant (the "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.30 per share for a period of five (5) years from closing, subject to a thirty (30) day accelerated expiry period, upon announcement by the Company that its shares have traded on a weighted average of $1.00 per common share, or more, for ten (10) consecutive trading days.

The proceeds of the Financing will be used for general working capital and development purposes at the Company's projects in Western Mali and Rwanda. There are no finder's fees or commissions related to this private placement. Securities issued resulting from this private placement will be subject to a statutory hold period. This private placement is subject to approval by TSX Venture Exchange.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Jared Scharf"

Jared Scharf, President

+ 1(858) 247 8195

For further information please visit www.SEDAR.com under the company's profile.

This news release contains forward-looking statements respecting the Company's ability to successfully complete the Offering. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations, are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such statements, including the inability of the Company to successfully complete the Offering. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the capital markets, the price of gold; operational, funding, and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; and the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with mining operations. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these materials. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless 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) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the united states securities act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the united states or to the account or benefit of a U.S. person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such act.
WEST CHESTER, OH -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that it will increase current spot market base prices for all carbon flat-rolled steel products by a minimum of $30 per ton, effective immediately with new orders.

AK Steel

AK Steel is a leading producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, and carbon and stainless tubular products, primarily for automotive, infrastructure and manufacturing, electrical power generation and distribution markets. Headquartered in West Chester, Ohio (Greater Cincinnati), the company employs approximately 8,500 men and women at eight steel plants, two coke plants and two tube manufacturing plants across six states (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia) and one tube plant in Mexico. Additional information about AK Steel is available at www.aksteel.com.

Contacts:

Media -

Lisa H. Jester

Corporate Manager, Communications and Public Relations

(513) 425-2510



Investors -

Douglas O. Mitterholzer

General Manager, Investor Relations

(513) 425-5215




EDMONTON, Alberta, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Alberta Investment Management Corporation ("AIMCo"), on behalf of certain of its clients, is pleased to announce that it has signed a letter of commitment with Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited ("Fairfax") (TSX:FFH)(TSX:FFH.U) to invest US$500 million in order to indirectly acquire just over 10% of the issued and outstanding shares of Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG ("Allied World"), simultaneously with the previously announced acquisition of Allied World by Fairfax and subject to certain approvals. The transaction is anticipated to close by the end of the second quarter of 2017.

AIMCo's investment in Allied World provides its clients an attractive opportunity to gain direct exposure to a global provider of innovative property, casualty and specialty insurance and reinsurance solutions, with an exceptional track record of underwriting.

"On behalf of our clients, AIMCo is very pleased to make this investment in Allied World," states Kevin Uebelein, Chief Executive Officer of AIMCo. "We look forward to working with the team of Allied World, and to be joining Fairfax, OMERS and the other co-investors in this significant transaction."

"We are thrilled that AIMCo has chosen to partner with us," said Prem Watsa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax. "AIMCo has an excellent investing reputation and this is a relationship that we expect to continue to build over time."

About Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)

AIMCo is one of Canada's largest and most diversified institutional investment managers with more than $95 billion of assets under management. AIMCo was established on January 1, 2008 with a mandate to provide superior long-term investment results for its clients. AIMCo operates at arms-length from the Government of Alberta and invests globally on behalf of 32 pension, endowment and government funds in the Province of Alberta. For more information on AIMCo please visit http://www.aimco.alberta.ca.

About Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax)

Fairfax is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management.

Media Contact: Denes Nemeth, Corporate Communication, O: +1-780-392-3857, M: +1-780-932-4013, E: denes.nemeth@aimco.alberta.ca
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/10/17 -- Uranium Participation Corporation ("UPC") (TSX: U) reports its estimated net asset value at February 28, 2017 was CAD$462.3 million or CAD$3.83 per share. As at February 28, 2017, UPC's investment portfolio consisted of the following:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (in thousands of Canadian dollars, except quantity amounts) Quantity Fair Value ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Investments in Uranium: Uranium oxide in concentrates ("U3O8") 10,080,024 lbs $ 297,127 Uranium hexafluoride ("UF6") 1,903,471 KgU $ 161,390 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 458,517 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- U3O8 fair value per pound: - In Canadian dollars 1 $ 29.48 - In United States dollars $ 22.25 UF6 fair value1 per KgU: - In Canadian dollars 1 $ 84.79 - In United States dollars $ 64.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Fair values are month-end spot prices published by Ux Consulting Company, LLC, translated at the month-end noon exchange rate of $1.3248.

On February 28, 2017, the common shares of UPC closed on the TSX at a value of CAD$4.37, which represents a 14.10% premium to the net asset value per share of CAD$3.83.

About Uranium Participation Corporation

Uranium Participation Corporation is a company that invests substantially all of its assets in uranium oxide in concentrates ("U3O8") and uranium hexafluoride ("UF6") (collectively "uranium"), with the primary investment objective of achieving appreciation in the value of its uranium holdings through increases in the uranium price. UPC provides investors with a unique opportunity to gain exposure to the price of uranium without the resource or project risk associated with investing in a traditional mining company. Additional information about Uranium Participation Corporation is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on Uranium Participation Corporation's website at www.uraniumparticipation.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information that are based on the Company's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intent", "estimate", "anticipate", "plan", "should", "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology and include statements with respect to the use of proceeds for the Offering and the anticipated completion of uranium purchases.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous factors, assumptions and estimates. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in commodity prices and foreign exchange as well as the risk that the Company will not be successful in completing the purchase of additional U3O8 and/or UF6 on terms satisfactory to the Company. For a description of the principal risks of the Company, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated May 11, 2016, a copy of which is available at www.sedar.com.

These and other factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although management reviews the reasonableness of its assumptions and estimates, unusual and unanticipated events may occur which render them inaccurate. Under such circumstances, future performance may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Except where required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information statement.

Contacts:

David Cates

President & Chief Executive Officer

(416) 979-1991 Ext. 362



Mac McDonald

Chief Financial Officer

(416) 979-1991 Ext. 242




The British Business Bank recently launched its 400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

Based in Sheffield, the new fund will work with 10 Local Enterprise Partnerships (Tees Valley Combined Authority, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Liverpool City Region, Lancashire, Humber, Leeds City Region, Sheffield City Region, York, North Yorkshire and East Riding), combined authorities and Growth Hubs, as well as local accountants, fund managers and banks, to provide a mixture of debt and equity capital to northern-based SMEs at all stages of their development.

NPIF will provide funding to fund managers who will offer Microfinance (25,000  100,000), Business Loans (100,000  750,000) and Equity Finance (up to 2m).

The fund managers appointed to manage the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund are:

Microfinance: Business Finance Solutions & MSIF, Finance for Enterprise & Business Enterprise Finance

Business Loans: FW Capital and Enterprise Ventures

Equity Finance: Maven Capital Partners and Enterprise Ventures

Initially announced in November 2015, NPIF combines capital allocated to the 10 LEPs in the North West, Yorkshire and Humber and the Tees Valley by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and an additional loan from British Business Finance Limited, a British Business Bank group company.

The project is supported financially by the European Union attracting investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

FinSMEs

10/03/2017
Divimove, a Berlin, Germany-based digital media company and social influencer network, received an additional investment from FremantleMedia.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Following it, FremantleMedia will mantain its 75% stake in Divimove.

The investment will enable the company to continue to pursue its growth strategy by expanding the team, opening further local offices across Europe,

developing more sophisticated media buying capabilities and performance tools for brands and launching new revenue streams such as live events and book publishing.

Founded in 2012 by Brian Ruhe (CEO), Philipp Bernecker (CMO), and Sebastiaan van Dam (CAO), Divimove is a digital media company managing social influencers such as Enzo Knol, Sallys Welt, Nikkie Tutorials and Leonardo Decarli, among others. The company now runs the largest influencer network in Europe with more than 1,200 partners and 350 million social media fans in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and France and more than 1.5 billion views a month.

Divimoves in-house creative agency Brandboost enables international brands to build communities and interact with their audiences by developing sustainable digital video strategies and producing creative branded content. The agency team advises brands including Volkswagen, Ubisoft, Coca Cola, Puma, Gillette, Nestle and more in online video marketing across all relevant platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Divimove will work increasingly closely with the RTL Digital Hub, which bundles the digital businesses owned by FremantleMedias parent company RTL Group, to leverage creative and commercial opportunities across the business. It includes fashion & beauty network StyleHaul, multi-platform network BroadbandTV, and programmatic ad platform SpotX.

FinSMEs

10/03/2017
Rethink Impact, a Washington, DC- New York- and San Francisco-based venture capital firm that invests in social impact companies, raised an over $110m fund.

More than half of the investment came from UBS clients, including high net worth individuals, family offices, private foundations, and universities spanning the majority of the states across the country, and balanced in terms of gender.

Led by Jenny Abramson, Founder & Managing Partner, Rethink Impact invests in gender diverse, tech-enabled companies working to solve the worlds biggest challenges based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The fund is particularly focused on the health, education, environmental sustainability and economic empowerment sectors and includes companies that merge strong businesses with a social mission.

The portfolio includes Change, Classy, Purpose, EverFi, Aclima, etc.

FinSMEs

09/03/2017
ScaleUP Ventures, Inc., a Toronto, Canada-based early-stage technology fund, raised $32.25m in the second closing of its first fund.

This closing, which includes $25m from the Province of Ontario, brought the funds total capital commitment to over $70m.

Announced in May 2016, ScaleUP aims to support startup technology companies in achieving global scale. It achieved a first close in August 2016 of $38m, including commitments from over a dozen of Canadas largest companies.

ScaleUP will have a third and final close in the coming months and expects to over-achieve on the original funding target of $75m.

Led by Kent Thexton and Kevin Kimsa, both formerly of OMERS Ventures, ScaleUP Ventures aims to invest in 25-30 companies. To date, the fund has made seven investments including:

 Fusebill, an Ottawabased company that develops software to manage subscription billings;

 FundThrough, a Torontobased small business lender;

 Naborly, a Toronto-based company using machine learning for tenant screening;

 Neuranet, a Toronto-based AdTech business; and

 CrowdCare, a provider of advanced cognitive digital care solutions for enterprises.

FinSMEs

10/03/2017
Virsae, an Auckland, New Zealand-based global cloud services provider, secured a second round of equity funding.

New Zealand based private equity firm Darby Capital Partners (DCP) took a multi-million dollar stake in the UC monitoring business.

The company, which raised $3m in equity funding from 10 investors, including Auckland-based Ice Angels funding entity Ice Funds Limited, intends to use the funds to continue to scale oprations and grow internationally.

Launched in 2013 and led by CEO Tony Jayne, Virsae provides Virsae Service Management (VSM), which monitors unified communications systems (phones and messaging systems that run on IT networks).

The company, which has more than 30 staff, including a team of New Zealand-based developers, uses an indirect sales model, and currently manages 24 business partners in key markets around the world, including US giant Arrow SI, Californian-based Altura, Maintel and 4Net from the UK, and global systems integrator AGC Networks.

FinSMEs

10/03/2017
Zehus, a Milan, Italy-based urban e-mobility startup, raised a 1.5m in funding.

Backers included existing investor Invitalia Ventures SGR, which made a further commitment to the company bringing the total amount invested to 1M, an unnamed Italian company active in the automotive industry, which committed 750k, and new shareholder Havel Srl.

The company intends to use the funds to advance its solutions.

Founded in 2013 as a spin-off of the Department of Electronics of the Politecnico of Milan, Zehus aims to bring innovation into the urban mobility sector through the development of sustainable solutions and  in particular  of its patented BIKE+ technology, a mobility block that powers hybrid (human-electric) e-bikes that do not need to be recharged and that optimize the riders efficiency reducing their fatigue by up to 40%.

With this latest round, the company has raised nearly 3m in equity funding to be added to a 2.4m Horizon 2020 grant assigned from the European Commission.

FinSMEs

10/03/2017
New Delhi: Air India has posted a standalone operating loss for 2015-16 of Rs 321.4 crore, though the company has claimed an operating profit of Rs 105 crore, the official auditor said on Friday.

The Comptroller and Auditor General also pointd out significant understatement of losses by the national carrier in its financial statements.

"Air India is claiming an operating profit of Rs 105 crore for financial year 2015-16. But based also on the statutory auditors' reports, the airline had an operating loss of Rs 321.4 crore last year because the required provisions were not made," Director General in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)'s office V. Kurian told reporters here.

Kurian was presenting the CAG's audit report on the financial restructuring plan of Air India tabled in Parliament on Friday.

The official auditor said that the understatement of losses was to the extent of Rs 1,455.8 crore for 2012-13, Rs 2,966.66 crore for 2013-14 and Rs 1,992.77 crore for 2014-15.

"Considering the effect of these qualifications on the financial statement, the EBITDA (earning before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation) of Air India would be negative (up to March 2015)," the report said.
One of the major announcements in 2017 Budget was to establish CERT-Fin (computer emergency response team for financial sector) in India. This is the first time that cyber crime menace affecting the financial sector will be handled through a dedicated computer emergency response team. While exact structure and function of CERT-Fin are yet to be disclosed, its time to examine existing data breach reporting norms and the manner in which they will support this initiative.

In October 2016, almost 3.2 million debit cards, issued by major banks in India were allegedly compromised due to the presence of malware in affected ATMs. Website of a major depository in India was hacked in the same month. Reacting to the compromise of cards, issuing banks responded by blocking the cards and reporting the details to RBI. The depository reported the incident to CERT-in (Computer Emergency Response team under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) and later to Sebi. Public, who are the actual stake holders, whose money was in the banks and stocks were with the depository, probably got to see this only through the news reports. Regulators too were probably not informed in time.

It was due to the delayed reporting that RBI directed the banks to report such incidents in space of two to six hours. Sebi directed the depository to report any such breach within a reasonable time. Directions to inform the public however, are still missing.

Even this one sided reporting, almost neglecting the true owners of assets, i.e. the citizens, lacks any legislative sanction. This, however, is not how cyber incidents are reported and handled internationally. European Union in April 2016 adopted General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As per this regulation, failure to report within 72 hours of the breach could lead to fine up to 2 percent of the annual turnover of the entity involved. Almost all states in Unites states of America except Alabama, New Mexico, and South Dakota have security breach laws. Proposed CERT-Fin, to be effective, will require the backing of legally mandated data breach reporting norms for disclosure of security breaches both to itself, regulators and the public.

Besides making the reporting of security breaches mandatory, CERT-Fin will be best served if each reported security breach leading to loss of public money is also mandatorily reported to the Police. As of now in absence of any law requiring compulsory reporting, most such cases are probably neither reported nor criminally investigated. Most cases involving intricate technology details, enquiries end with detailed reports of internal/external auditors and technical committees.

Recently in an alleged misuse of High Frequency Trading option in one of the stock exchanges, probably only internal enquiries/audit by the exchange and the regulator were done. If a breach or misuse of resource provided wrongful advantage to some and wrongful disadvantage to others, it requires being criminally investigation. In cases like these, proposed CERT-Fin will possibly play a pivotal role in providing much needed technical support to investigating agencies.

Building this background of legislative framework for proposed CERT-Fin is also not too difficult. This can be achieved by amending the existing Information Technology Act, 2000. Section 43A of IT Act already provides for compensation to be provided for failure to protect data. Same section can be amended to include time frame in which a security breach has to be reported, both to the concerned regulator/law enforcement agency as well as to the concerned citizens. Punitive action in case of failure to report can also be included in the amendments.

With these changes in existing laws, proposed CERT-Fin will help not only in prompt disclosure of cyber security incidents to the public and regulators, but will also provide much needed technical support to financial institutions in case of future cyber incidents.
New Delhi: The government has released draft guidelines for transactions made through prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) like mobile wallets, smart cards and paper vouchers and also sought feedback from various stakeholders.

The draft IT (Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules 2017 have been designed to ensure adequate integrity, security and confidentiality of electronic payments effected through PPIs.

"With the government promoting cashless economy and boost being given to various digital payment systems, a need is felt to develop a framework for security of various PPIs operating in the country," it said.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has formulated the draft rules for security of prepaid payment instruments under provisions of IT Act 2000, it added.

The rules entails the PPIs to ensure end-to-end encryption of the data exchanged and emphasised that e-PPI issuers assist customers with regard to secure use of the prepaid payment instruments.

"Every e-PPI issuer shall have in place and publish on its website and mobile applications the privacy policy and the terms and conditions for use of the payment systems operated by it in simple language, capable of being understood by a reasonable person," it said.

Also, the rules mandate that each PPI company have a privacy policy posted on its website. They will also have to appoint a chief grievance officer, whose contact details will have to be prominently displayed on the website.

"The Grievance Officer shall act within 36 hours and shall resolve the complaint within one month from the date of receipt of such complaint," it added.

The companies will also have to establish a mechanism for monitoring, handling and follow-up of cyber incidents and breaches.

The last date for submitting comments on the draft is March 20.
The Maternity Leave Amendment Bill passed by the Lok Sabha which makes a 26-week maternity leave mandatory is regarded as a high water mark for women. It seems like a quantitative leap, but what are the qualitative benefits?

When the bill was passed in Parliament, Maneka Gandhi, the minister for women and child development, was ecstatic: "I am very, very happy we have made history today. This will help thousands of women and produce much healthier children. We have been working on it for a long time," she said.

It's hard not to wonder if with the passing of the bill, women in the workforce will be seen as a special breed who now have a government Act to take care of them. Ab toh government bhi tumhare saath hain (Now, even the government is on your side), will possibly be the refrain.

Some organisations in India have the 26-week maternity rule in place already. How will other companies react? What about the unorganised sector? How will they view women employees who want to take maternity leave from the earlier stipulated 12 weeks? Would any employee be comfortable taking six months of leave and be ensured her job will be handed over to her when she comes back? Technology is changing at a fast clip and by the time the employee returns to her job, she may have to learn a new skill. Would the company be willing to bring her up to speed without pushing the burden of learning and coping with the new work load on her?

It is hardly likely that a female employee upon returning from maternity leave would spend more than the stipulated work hours, just to catch up. To be out of touch with work for six months, cope with changes at the workplace in that long absence, is difficult and, ideally, the company should make the transition easy. In fact, the work schedule itself require getting used to after a break. What about female employees who are nursing? What about initiating flexi-hours for female employees who are nursing without it impacting their salaries, designation and status in the organisation?

The policy may work for women in roles where they work as part of a team. But it might not work if she is holds a leadership role in the organisation. How will organisations work towards retaining the female employee at the leadership role? Will it be handed back to her or will organisations find polite ways of displacing women who go on maternity leave?

Now, lets look at this issue from the employers perspective. Wouldnt the six-month leave duration ring alarm bells on hiring women in the work force? Yes, there are laws against discriminatory hiring practices, but it is difficult to prove such discrimination. "When an organisation decides to hire people and has a choice between male and female candidates, chances are that the former would be preferred because the new policy would mean the woman will take six months of maternity leave," says an HR head of a recruiting firm.

The unfortunate truth is that the lopsided unwritten workplace rules inform women that in order to be able to grow their careers, they ought to postpone getting married or planning a family. Leadership tracks don't care much for biology. It isn't uncommon to find women in their late 30s planning families. These women are in the peak of their careers. How will the State and the company ensure the job profile she has and rightfully earned will remain hers after the six-month break? The prospects look bleak.

The one good thing about the bill is that it also addresses earlier apprehensions of what would happen to women in the unorganised sector. The Maternity Leave Amendment Bill that was passed on Thursday takes care of them too. The 1961 Act covered women workers who were employed in factories, mines, plantations, shops and establishments with 10 or more employees and any other establishments. But 90 percent of working women in the unorganised sector were not covered by the 1961 Act. It took four decades before the government could correct this anomaly. In 2015, the Law Commission of India recommended the provisions of the 1961 Act should cover all women, including women working in the unorganised sector. But, who is to stop a contractor from dividing his labourers into different companies where the total number in each is less than 10, asks Lakshmi Murthy, Chief People Office, ITM Group. Where should a worker in a construction site, for instance complain about not getting maternity leave? Are there redressal systems in place which will provide free legal support and quick remedies? Who is she to go to? Since she is from the unorganised sector, there is no one who can be held accountable.

Most places that employ women and men in the unorganised sector do not even have toilets for men and women. What are we talking about really? asks a social worker.

So I wonder what Maneka Gandhi is so "happy" about? What is this "history made" that only looks good on paper?
In a smart move, mobile wallet company MobiKwik said on Thursday it will allow consumers to top up wallets using credit cards without any additional charges. This comes a day after its bigger rival Paytm started levying a 2 percent fee for such transactions.

MobiKwik will continue to offer free uploading of money into their wallet for all users, including credit card users, it said in a statement.

"Post demonetisation, in order to boost the government's vision of cash-less India, the company had a stated policy of revoking fees on uploading money through credit cards and today the company reiterated its policy of continuity," it added.

MobiKwik currently serves over 55 million users and 1.4 million merchants. By the end of 2017, MobiKwik aims to increase its user base to 150 million and serve over 5 million merchants.

Coming at a time when Paytm may be facing negative sentiment from consumers, Mobikwik's assertion that it is offering the service free of cost is indeed a smart business move. The company which is reportedly looking for a valuation of $1 billion in the next round as against Paytm 's current estimated valuation of around $5 billion, seems to be taking aim at the customers who may be disgruntled at its rival's unexpected move.

For Paytm, Mobikwik's attempt to reassert it's loyalty towards the government's demonetisation is likely to be more hurting. It has to be remembered that soon after the note ban announcement, Paytm had projected itself as a poster boy the transition to cashless economy, which, according to the government, was one of the objectives of the exercise.

For the uninitiated, Paytm said on Wednesday it will levy a 2 percent fee on for adding money to wallets using credit cards.

Defending its decision for the levy, Paytm had said it found multiple users using its platform to get free credit by using credit cards to top up their mobile wallets and transferring the money back to their bank accounts at zero transaction cost.

"Some financially savvy users (surprisingly many of them employees of national financial institutions) exploited this model to rotate money. This may surprise normal users like most of us but for a savvy user, it meant freebies at Paytm's cost," Paytm said in a blog post.

Paytm said it pays "hefty charges" when consumers use their credit card to card networks and issuing banks and therefore, if users simply add money from credit card to wallet and transfer the amount to bank, it loses money.

"Our revenue model requires users to spend money within our network and we make money from the margins available to us on various products/services we offer," the Alibaba-backed firm said.

The company has started levying the fee from yesterday. Adding money using other payment options like debit cards and net banking continue to remain free.

Also, Paytm said it would issue a discount coupon for same amount within 24 hours of adding money using credit cards.

With PTI inputs
A section of drivers of Uber and Ola Cabs are on a token one-day strike on Friday in Mumbai protesting against the cut in incentives they are getting from the companies and the resultant fall in incomes.

They are also protesting against the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules 2017, which seeks to regulate app-based cab services and surge pricing, a system where the prices rise with demand.

According to a report in The Hindustan Times, the Action Committee of Maharashtra against Ola and Uber has said that this is just a token strike and if their demands are not met the drivers will start an indefinite strike from 21 March.

Recently, the drivers of these companies have struck work in various cities, including Hyderabad, Delhi and Bangalore, raising the demands for higher incentives.

"It is a debatable issue," a source at one of the cab aggregators told Firstpost. It is true that the drivers are being paid incentives for the number of rides taken which has come down from the high amounts given earlier when the aggregators had started the service, the source said.

However, the companies are also under pressure to increase their profitability for which they have to cut down on incentives to drivers.

Meanwhile, a report in The Hindu BusinessLine on Friday said both Ola and Uber have increased the fares by 50-70 percent. While customers in Bengaluru have told the newspaper that they are witnessing a more than doubling of the fares, the companies insist that the rise is only because of the non-availability of cabs.
Paytm has decided to roll back 2 percent charge it imposed on topping up its wallets using credit card but said it will introduce new features to prevent misuse of the facility.

"With an intent to prevent the misuse of transfer to bank facility at 0%, we had applied a refundable fee of 2% on add-money through credit cards. At the same time, we are conscious that this move caused inconvenience to a large segment of our users, including those who are using their credit card for genuine transactions. Keeping the millions of customers and merchants interest as utmost priority, we have decided to suspend the 2% fees and will continue to build a series of features to curb such misuse," Paytm said in a blog post on its website.

A day after the company introduced the charge, its smaller rival MobiKwik on Thursday said it will allow consumers to top up wallets using credit cards without any additional charges.

MobiKwik will continue to offer free uploading of money into their wallet for all users, including credit card users, it said in a statement.

No 2% Fee!

Add money on #MobiKwik and get 2% Cashback

Use Code: 2PERCENT

Click for more info https://t.co/5bLir1pUnp pic.twitter.com/SlTS54pJac  MobiKwik (@MobiKwik) March 9, 2017

"Post demonetisation, in order to boost the governments vision of cash-less India, the company had a stated policy of revoking fees on uploading money through credit cards and today the company reiterated its policy of continuity," it added.

MobiKwik currently serves over 55 million users and 1.4 million merchants, while Paytm claims to have 200 million customers. By the end of 2017, MobiKwik aims to increase its user base to 150 million and serve over 5 million merchants.

Paytm's decision comes after Mobikwik's decision to continue with free facility.

Defending its decision for the levy, Paytm had on Wednewsday said it found multiple users using its platform to get free credit by using credit cards to top up their mobile wallets and transferring the money back to their bank accounts at zero transaction cost.

"Some financially savvy users (surprisingly many of them employees of national financial institutions) exploited this model to rotate money. This may surprise normal users like most of us but for a savvy user, it meant freebies at Paytms cost," Paytm had said.

However, according to a report in VCCircle, Mobikwik has said the number of people who misuse the facility is too small and it may be because of this the company is ready to bear the cost of such transactions.

"People don't pay anything when they use their credit cards to transfer money to their bank accounts routed through the wallet. This is the loophole. But, people who are doing it are a very small percentage, almost negligible. Hence, continuing our focus on customer acquisitions and increasing transactions on our platform, we have decided not to levy such charges," the report quoted a Mobikwik spokesperson as saying.

With PTI inputs
New Delhi: A consortium of banks, led by the State Bank of India, on Thursday told the Supreme Court that liquor baron Vijay Mallya had "taken it for a ride" and urged it to initiate contempt proceedings against him for "willfully" breaching the court's orders.

The banks also sought that the apex court direct him to bring back $40 million, which Mallya had allegedly transferred to his children.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the banks, told the bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice and U.U. Lalit that Mallya has been mocking the Indian judicial system by "willful, contumacious conduct" and has taken the Supreme Court "for a ride".

"Apart from the public dues, he siphoned $40 million. It was willful, contumacious conduct, trying not only to breach the court orders but to put it out of reach (of Indian courts)," the banks submitted.

Mallya received $40 million from British firm Diageo Plc in February last year and transferred the money to his children in flagrant violation of various judicial orders, including those passed by the Debt Recovery Tribunal and the Karnataka High Court, Rohtagi told the court.

Mallya concealed the fact of receiving $40 million and diverting the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya, said Rohatgi and senior advocate Shyam Divan, who too appeared for banks.

The banks accused Mallya of contempt of court as he did not disclose this $40 million among the assets the Supreme Court had ordered him to reveal so that the banks could recover the loan amount.

Senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, appearing for Mallya, opposed the plea of banks, saying all his properties are attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he is entitled for an equal and fair treatment.

After a daylong hearing, the bench reserved the order on plea by a consortium of 13 banks, which had lent thousands of crores of rupees to Mallya over a period.

Mallya's lawyer also submitted that he has no property of which he has any control as "everything has been attached".

Opposing the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Mallya, Vaidyanathan also accused the judiciary of targetting him, of treating him worse than a "terrorist" with no access to the rule of law.

"Why is this case so unique?" he asked, seeking to know why Mallya was being targetted when banks have seven lakh crore rupees worth of non-performing assets.

Why was Mallya made "the poster boy of loan defaulters?", he asked.

During the hearing, Rohatgi told the court that the government is taking steps to get Mallya back. "We have requested the British government to deport him back."

Now believed to be in Britain, Mallya owes Rs 9,200 crore to these banks. While Rs 8,000 crore worth of his properties have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, he also has income tax dues of about Rs 2,000 crore.
By Ila Ananya

Badrinath Ki Dulhania has the unintended side-effect of making you trawl through Alia Bhatts movies in the hope of finding out why she agreed to act in it.

There is a scene towards the end of the movie where Vaidehi (Alia Bhatt) is sitting with Badrinath (Varun Dhawan) on the terrace of a really tall building in Singapore after a night of clubbing. By this scene, Vaidehi has quickly forgiven Badrinath for all his unbelievably abusive behaviour, because apparently kidnapping and throwing her into his car trunk, stalking, and turning up at her house drunk out of his mind are not that big a deal. After all, she was the one who ran away from their wedding. And because they are having drunk heart-to-heart conversations on top of the building, Vaidehi turns to Badrinath and tells him she has always wished that she was born a boy.

This is when Badrinath delivers the punch-line of this scene (he is always delivering these punch lines, even at the end of the movie). I used to think anyone who marries me will have their life set. But actually anyone who marries you will have their life set, he says. Then he assures her that she has accomplished a lot as a woman. What is beyond me is why Vaidehi had to say that she wished she was born a boyespecially after she had run from her wedding, travelled to Mumbai, passed an interview to become a flight attendant, and had moved to Singapore for job training, all on her own. And why did the man who abused her get to assure her otherwise?

We know Bhatt is a good actor, and her position in the industry does mean that she can get good solid roles in a decent script. But instead of the Bhatt we remember from her most recent Dear Zindagi, in Shashank Khaitans Badrinath Ki Dulhania, we are given a Bhatt who doesnt do quite as much as we have come to expect her to do.

When I think of Alia Bhatt, I usually try not to remember her in Shaandaar because the terrible movie made me feel like director Vikas Bahl thought I was an idiot and that he could sell just anything. I can barely remember Student of the Year either, so instead, I usually think of Bhatt in Highway, or Dear Zindagi. Of course, theres also Udta Punjab, but in almost every other movie, Bhatt has always played the role of a woman with a difficult childhood. In Kapoor and Sons she grew up without parents; in Shaandaar she was adopted, and so she was expected to be sad; in Highway she was sexually abused by her uncle as a child; in Dear Zindagi we heard Shah Rukh Khan tell her she didnt have to forgive her parents or confront them for abandoning her.

Badrinath Ki Dulhania is different, in that it has Bhatt playing the role of a girl who has as difficult a childhood as any girl who has grown up in a lower middle class family in Uttar Pradesh. There is a constant pressure on Vaidehi and her sister to get married, but what she really wants is to become a flight attendant.

The biggest difficulty Vaidehi is shown to be dealing with is betrayal  a man she loved had run away with all the money she had planned to invest in a business she wanted to start. Its also what makes her feel like she has betrayed Badrinath when she runs away from her marriage. And its why she keeps forgiving him despite his abuse.

If in Dear Zindagi Kaira (Bhatt) steadily eats a green chilli when she hears that her lover has got engaged to someone else before she goes back to her studio to work, in Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Vaidehi needs to wait for Badrinath to encourage her to talk to her sister after she runs away from home. She says she is too scared to do it herself.

There is also an extremely unsettling scene where Badrinath tells Vaidehi to run when they get attacked by a gang of masked men in Singapore. We see the gang molesting Badrinath (its supposed to be funny), but when Vaidehi comes back with her friends to scare the men away, they all burst out laughing when they see his shirt is torn. Vaidehi removes her dupatta and covers Badrinaths chest with it as she laughs. Perhaps it is asking for too much, but I find it hard to believe that any of Bhatts other characters would ever have done this. Or laughed.

Vaidehi is perfectly capable of asserting herself time and againshe just isnt given the space to, except when she is yelling at her father that 50 lakhs is too much dowry money. (Thats one more thing about the movie  everyone is talking about reducing the dowry amount, but its never explicitly called bad). But Vaidehi is never fully her independent self, because Khaitan seemed desperate to make the movie about Badrinath. Incidentally, Badrinath reminds me of the meme a friend recently showed me, A male feminist walks into a bar, because it was set so low.

Do you remember Bhatt at the end of Highway? As Veera, she is standing in front of the uncle who sexually abused her as a child and yells at him, and as her mother tries to pull her back, she screams. She keeps screaming, again and again, because she is tired of keeping quiet. It is as though the whole moviewith Veeras own surprise at beginning to like the freedom that being kidnapped has given herhas built up to cement itself at this point, when she can finally leave her family. And she does. But in Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Bhatt, who for once hasnt had a complicated childhood in the way that she usually does, isnt given the chance to be the loud, demanding character Vaidehi is.

The Ladies Finger (TLF) is a leading online womens magazine delivering fresh and witty perspectives on politics, culture, health, sex, work and everything in between.
Emma Watson has wished her fans in India a happy Holi, in a video released by UTV Motion Pictures.

In the video, she joins her hands and says namaste, also urging her fans to watch her upcoming film Beauty and the Beast, which releases on 17 March, 2017. Here's what she said:

"Namaste, India. Wishing you a very happy Holi and don't forget to see Beauty and the Beast this March in cinemas near you."

Watson essays the role of Belle, the female protagonist of this film. The video also features stills from the movie, such as the scene where her character meets the talking tea cup and some moments from her interactions with Beast. One of the songs from the film, 'Belle (Reprise)', sung by Watson herself, plays in the background.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, the video is a way for Emma Watson to reach out to her fans in India, as she realises that there's a huge fan base here.

Emma Watson has developed a considerably large fan base in India, following her portrayal of Hermoine Granger in the Harry Potter series. Recently, Beauty and the Beast has faced a few issues with respect to the release of the film; a Russian MP and a cinema in Alabama, US have expressed their concerns over the film's homosexual content, and the Alabama cinema has even refused to release it.

One of the characters, LeFou, is gay and develops feelings for Beast's antagonist Gaston. This character is Disney's first openly gay character.

This musical fantasy Disney film has been directed by Bill Condon and its stars Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans in the lead roles.

Watch the video here:


LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May defended her finance minister on Thursday against criticism for raising a tax on some self-employed workers in his budget, saying the measure was necessary and "fair".Members of her governing Conservative Party and many British newspapers accused finance minister Philip Hammond of breaking a party pledge ahead of the 2015 national election not to increase national insurance contributions.But in Brussels at her last EU summit before triggering formal divorce talks with the bloc, May said the measure would benefit lower-paid workers while providing revenue to boost skills, schools and social care. "We did make some difficult decisions in the budget yesterday, but those decisions allowed us to fund an ambitious new approach to technical education ... and meet the growing demand for social care as well as investing in the long-term productivity of the economy," she told a news conference. Earlier, Hammond, who became finance minister in 2016 shortly after Britons voted to leave the European Union, defended his decision as a first step in addressing an unfair difference in tax treatment between ordinary employees and the growing number of self-employed workers.Paying national insurance contributions allows workers to qualify for certain benefits, including a state pension. Employed workers pay higher contributions than the self-employed.

In a round of media interviews, Hammond faced tough questions about why he appeared to have reneged on the election promise."No Conservative likes to increase taxes, national insurance, anything else," he told Sky News."But ... our job is to do what needs to be done to get Britain match-fit for its future.""WRONG DIRECTION"

Some Conservative lawmakers urged Hammond to drop the changes or delay them until a broader government-ordered review into employment practices has been completed."This is going in the wrong direction," Conservative lawmaker Anne-Marie Trevelyan told BBC Radio. "We need to put this on hold so we can have a proper review and think in a holistic way."The change was part of Hammond's first full budget statement on Wednesday, which comes as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to trigger the process of leaving the European Union this month.

A spokesman for May, who has a slim majority in parliament, declined to say whether the government would consider scrapping the change if faced with a rebellion among its lawmakers."This has been set out to address an area of unfairness and it does that," he told reporters.Hammond said 60 percent of self-employed people - who account for 15 percent of those in work - would see a fall in their national insurance contributions under his changes, while the higher-earning 40 percent would pay more.The budget also included a cut in the tax-free allowance for dividends, which will largely affect the self-employed. Paul Johnson, director of The Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank, described Hammond's changes as "sensible"."If politicians continue to make silly manifesto pledges about not changing taxes, and the rest of us resist sensible changes such as this, we will end up with the tax system we deserve  inefficient, inequitable, complex and increasingly unable to raise revenue in the face of a changing economy," he said. (Reporting by William Schomberg, Kylie MacLellan and David Milliken; editing by Andrew Roche)

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By Dmitry Zhdannikov

| LONDON

LONDON Royal Dutch Shell has bought only three cargoes of Iranian oil since sanctions were eased a year ago, a small fraction of what it used to buy and an indication of the legal difficulties and high prices that still hamper the trade.The Anglo-Dutch firm did not give a reason for the drop in purchases, which were disclosed in its annual report, and the company declined to comment further.But oil trading sources say Iranian oil is often too expensive and in any case remaining sanctions make dealing with the Islamic Republic a legal minefield.As an example of sanctions-related difficulties, Shell's filings showed it had to disclose payments of only a few hundred dollars when its employees bought tickets with Iranian airlines. After an accord was reached over Iran's nuclear programme, the European Union eased sanctions on Iran in January 2016 and the United States lifted some restrictions on dollar trade, moves that have allowed Iran to raise its oil exports sharply.But while trade with Asian and European buyers soared, many oil majors subject to U.S. legal jurisdiction remain cautious about buying Iranian oil. Earlier this month the Trump administration imposed new sanctions after Iran tested a ballistic missile.The price of falling foul of sanctions can be very high. In 2014 French bank BNP Paribas agreed to pay almost $9 billion to resolve accusations that it had violated U.S. sanctions including those against Iran.

Iran said last month that U.S. sanctions were making it impossible to cooperate with American firms on energy projects.Of the oil majors, only Total has been buying Iranian crude over the past year in volumes comparable to pre-sanctions levels. France's biggest oil firm is looking to clinch a new deal with Tehran to develop oil and gas reserves. THREE CARGOES

Shell said in its annual report it had bought only three cargoes of Iranian oil over the past year.

These were a $45 million cargo in May, on which it made a profit of $1.1 million, followed by 2 cargoes in December costing $103 million and $106 million respectively. Those are still in transit so no profit or loss has been yet made on them, Shell said.During the course of 2016, Shell also repaid $1.942 billion in debts to Iran for oil purchases it made before stricter EU sanctions were imposed on Iran in 2012.At that times, Shell was buying as much as 200,000 barrels per day or six large cargoes of Iranian oil a month.

Despite some easing of U.S. restriction on trading with Iran in dollars, Shell said none of the payments was made in dollars.But even with the difficulties, Shell said it had re-opened an office in Iran in 2016 and signed non-binding agreements with the National Iranian Oil Co to work together in the petrochemical sector, in oil and gas developments, and in gas export opportunities.In a level of disclosure characteristic only of dealings with countries under U.S. sanctions, Shell also reported a series of tiny transactions with Tehran in 2016.These included $224 in stamp duties, $168 paid to the Iranian consulate in the Netherlands to notarise documents, and $592 for tickets with Iranian airlines.Shell, whose international dealings are usually reckoned in tens of millions of dollars, also disclosed a small fuel sale to the Iranian embassy in Argentina."This transaction generated gross revenue of $296 and an estimated net profit of $23," the report said. (Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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OLATHE, Kansas A Kansas man accused of killing an Indian software engineer and shooting two other people while shouting "get out of my country" appeared in Johnson County Circuit Court on Thursday as lawyers worked out a schedule for his upcoming trial.At the short hearing, alleged shooter Adam Purinton, 51, sat quietly, wearing an orange jumpsuit and looking haggard, his hair scraggly, sometimes whispering to his attorney.

Purinton is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32. He is also charged with two counts of attempted murder for wounding Alok Madasani, 32, and an American, Ian Grillot, 24, who tried to intervene.

The shootings raised concerns in India, which sends many immigrants to the United States, and highlighted a spike in hate speech and alleged hate crimes in America in recent months.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has said the number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second straight year in 2016, linking the increase to the recent U.S. election, in which heated rhetoric targeted immigrants, refugees and Muslims. The appearance was Purinton's second since the Feb. 22 shootings at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, a Kansas City suburb. Another hearing was scheduled to be held in May to determine a schedule for more hearings and a trial. (Reporting by Karen Dillon; Writing by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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By David Gaffen

| NEW YORK

NEW YORK Oil skidded again on Friday, pushing prices to three-month lows as investors continued to flee bullish positions on worries that OPEC-led production cuts have not yet reduced a global glut of crude.U.S. crude has slumped nearly 9 percent since Tuesday's close, in what would stand as its biggest three-day decline since February, 2016.U.S. crude CLc1 fell 84 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $48.44 a barrel, as of 1:22 p.m. ET (1822 GMT). Brent crude LCOc1 lost 90 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $51.29 a barrel. Selling appeared to accelerate in the afternoon after U.S. crude fell through the 200-day moving average of $48.68 a barrel.Prices began to slide earlier this week, after news of another big rise in U.S. crude inventories to record highs. On Friday, oil services firm Baker Hughes reported another weekly increase in the U.S. drilling rig count."We have not seen production cuts undertaken by the world's producers really alleviate the overhang in inventories," said Gene McGillian, manager of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.

On Thursday, U.S. crude tumbled below $50 a barrel for the first time since December. Major oil producers like Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates expressed worries that the resurgent U.S. shale industry would undo their efforts to restrict supply. U.S. oil and gas drilling has picked up, with producers planning to expand production in North Dakota, Oklahoma and other shale regions, while output has jumped in the Permian, America's largest oilfield.U.S. drillers added eight rigs in the latest week, lifting the rig count to 617, its highest since September of 2015, Baker Hughes said. [RIG/U]

Senior Saudi officials told U.S. oil companies in a closed-door meeting they should not assume OPEC would extend output curbs to offset rising U.S. production, industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.Separately, Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazrouei, energy minister for the United Arab Emirates, told Reuters this week the rise in U.S. inventories was a "worry," and that "investors need to be cautious not to bring so much production on line."That has cast doubt on how long OPEC will be willing to cut output if prices keep falling. Ministers from Saudi Arabia and Iraq said this week at an energy conference in Houston that it was too early to consider whether cuts would be extended beyond June.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other exporters including Russia agreed last year to cut output by around 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017, but so far the move has had little impact on inventory levels."To the extent that people are concerned that OPEC decides not to extend, you have a real concern about downside weakness, where breaking back below $40 a barrel I don't think is out of the question," said Tony Scott, managing director of analytics at BTU Analytics in Denver.U.S. crude inventories swelled 8.2 million barrels last week to a record 528.4 million barrels. [EIA/S]Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note to clients they still thought Brent crude would end this year higher, at around $62.50.However, they also said gains that followed the OPEC deal could be unwound due to weak gasoline demand, more drilling and heavy long positions. Futures positioning figures will be released Friday afternoon. Last week's data still showed strong bullish sentiment although crude longs edged off record levels. (Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson and Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by David Gregorio and Dale Hudson)

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By Nick Carey

| DETROIT

DETROIT Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty on Friday to three felony counts as part of a $4.3 billion plea agreement reached with the Justice Department in January over the automaker's massive diesel emissions scandal.VW general counsel Manfred Doess made the plea on the company's behalf after he said at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Detroit that he was authorized by the board of directors of VW to enter a guilty plea."Your honor, VW AG is pleading guilty to all three counts because it is guilty on all three counts," Doess told the court. Under the deal, VW agreed to sweeping reforms, new audits and oversight by an independent monitor for three years after admitting to installing secret software in 580,000 U.S. vehicles to enable it to beat emissions tests over a six-year period and emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution.

VW pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, obstruction of justice and entry of goods by false statement charges. Doess said the criminal acts occurred in Germany and United States.

An assistant U.S. attorney, John Neal, told the court that the emissions scheme "was a well thought-out, planned offense that went to the top of the organization."Volkswagen agreed to change the way it operates in the United States and other countries under the settlement. VW, the world's largest automaker by sales, in January agreed to pay $4.3 billion in U.S. civil and criminal fines.

In total, VW has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the United States to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers. The German automaker halted sales of diesel vehicles in late 2015 and has said it has no plans to resume sales of new U.S. diesels. The Justice Department also charged seven current and former VW executives with crimes related to the scandal. One executive is in custody and awaiting trial and another pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate. Five of the seven are believed to be in Germany and have not been arraigned. (Writing by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum)

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Mumbai: An Air India Ahmedabad-London-Newark flight lost communication with the local Air Traffic Control and was escorted by fighter jets over Hungary, officials said here on Friday.

The flight AI-171 had departed from Ahmedabad at 7 am on Friday with 231 passengers and 18 crew members.

En route over Hungarian airspace, it lost contact for some time with the ATC, due to frequency fluctuations, AI officials said.

The flight landed at 11.06 hrs, local time, in London safely, and AI has launched a probe into the incident.

The incident comes barely three weeks after a Jet Airways Mumbai-London flight with 345 persons on board had lost contact with the ground over German airspace and was escorted by fighter jets on 19 February.
New Delhi/Kolkata: In unprecedented happenings in the country's judicial corridors, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against Calcutta High Court Justice CS Karnan for refusing to heed summons to appear, and the judge hit back by ordering the CBI to probe all the seven apex court judges in the constitution bench.

In perhaps another unheard step, Justice Karnan held a press conference  conveyed at a short notice  railing against the Supreme Court order, calling it an "attempt to ruin" his life as a Dalit judge, and directed that a case be filed under the SC and ST Act.

The day started with a seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar asking the West Bengal Director General of Police to serve the bailable warrant personally to Justice Karnan and sought his presence before it on March 31.

The bench also asked Justice Karnan to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000.

The order came as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that Justice Karnan had refused to appear before the court in a contempt case initiated by it suo moto.

The court also said that the Registry of the Supreme Court had received a text message from Justice Karnan on March 8, "seeking a meeting with CJI and other judges so as to discuss certain administrative issues which primarily seem to reflect allegations against certain judges.

"The letter can't be considered as response to contempt petition. In view of the above, there is no alternative but to ensure his presence in the court by issuing bailable warrant."

Besides Chief Justice Khehar, other judges on the bench are Justice Dipak Misra, Justice J Chelameswar, Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Kurian Joseph.

Earlier, the Supreme Court bench had issued contempt notice to Justice Karnan for writing letters casting aspersions on several judges. It had also said Justice Karnan would not discharge any judicial and administrative functions during the pendency of the proceedings.

It is for the first time in the Supreme Court history that it has invoked powers to initiate contempt proceedings against a sitting judge of a High Court.

Justice Karnan had in January named 20 "corrupt judges", seeking probe against them to curb "high corruption" in the Indian judiciary.

At the outset of Friday's hearing, Rohatgi told the court that the contempt notice had been served to Justice Karnan and "we got to know that he wrote two letters to the CJI" with allegations against some Madras High Court judges.

Within a couple of hours after the Supreme Court order, Justice Karnan spoke to the media at his residence in Newtown of North East Kolkata and asked President Pranab Mukherjee to recall the "unconstitutional" and "illegally issued" warrant, arguing contempt proceedings cannot be initiated against a sitting High Court judge.

"It is unconstitutional... Only a motion of impeachment can be initiated against a sitting judge of the higher judiciary before the Parliament after due enquiry under the Judges Enquiry Act.

"Consequently I ask the President of India to recall the bailable warrant illegally issued by the Supreme Court today against me and lift non-work allotment ban of portfolio allocation," he said.

Signing a suo-motu order before the mediapersons, and issued to President Mukherjee and CBI director among others, Karnan directed that a case be registered under appropriate sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act and other penal provisions against the seven judges, including Chief Justice Khehar, and Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.

"I direct the CBI director to register, investigate and file a report," said Karnan, mentioning that he was invoking his inherent power under the High Court to "prevent abuse of process of any court and secure ends of justice".

"I further direct the Secretary-Generals of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to place the entire facts of the case before the Speaker for appropriate enquiry under the Judges Enquiry Act," he said.

He alleged that he was being targeted after he made representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about some judges who had committed "illegal activities".

"This warrant is arbitrary, deliberately issued to ruin my life, my career. A Dalit judge (is being) prevented from doing work in a public office. That is atrocity," he said.

The bench on February 8 had directed Justice Karnan to appear in person to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.
New Delhi: In an unprecedented step, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against Justice CS Karnan of the Calcutta High Court as he did not appear before it as directed.

A seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar asked the West Bengal Director General of Police to serve the bailable warrant to Justice Karnan and sought his presence before it on 31 March.

The bench also asked him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000.

The order came as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that Justice Karnan had refused to appear before the court in a contempt case initiated by it suo moto.

The court also said that the Registry of the Supreme Court had received a text message from Justice Karnan on 8 March, seeking a meeting with CJI and other judges so as to discuss certain administrative issues which primarily seem to reflect allegations against certain judges.

"The letter can't be considered as response to contempt petition. In view of the above, there is no alternative but to ensure his presence in the court by issuing bailable warrant."

Besides Chief Justice Khehar, other judges on the bench were Justice Dipak Misra, Justice J Chelameswar, Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Kurian Joseph.

Earlier, the Supreme Court bench had issued contempt notice to Justice Karnan for writing letters casting aspersions on several judges.

It is for the first time in the Supreme Court history that it has invoked powers to initiate contempt proceedings against a sitting judge of a High Court.

The apex court had earlier said Justice Karnan would not discharge any judicial and administrative functions during the pendency of the proceedings.

At the outset of the hearing, Rohatgi told the court that the contempt notice had been served to Justice Karnan and "we got to know that he wrote two letters to the CJI" with allegations against some Madras High Court judges.
In 2014, police were deployed in civvies during Holi festival to keep a watch on hooliganism. In 2015 and 2016, incidents of violence were limited because a number of people stayed within the confines of their residences. This year, the revelry could take the form of rivalry and aggression if not monitored.

We celebrated Womens Day this week but women still remain the favourite target of hoodlums and gangsters during this festival. Filthy water and dubious materials under the garb of having fun is often thrown at women on the streets. Hours before the festival, the state government and police need to get stricter in order to avoid disastrous consequences.

At the outset, troubling women strangers should be seen as molestation. There is no right granted by law to use Holi as an excuse to rub colour, fling sewage and other filthy stuff or touch strangers. By the same token, I would imagine no means no and whether it is a man or woman, no one should be forced.

Throwing of missiles at passersby and especially those on motorcycles should also be an offense because it endangers life. A lot of people will be maimed and killed in the next two days while they ostensibly celebrate.

Many more will be hit with skin problems, eye infections because of the acid content of the colours thrown at them and it is sad indeed that we have no laws prohibiting the use of grease, oils, sludge, chemical effluence, dyes that are made from faeces being used. Add to that spurious alcohol that will be made available and the hit list is pretty healthy.

In Uttar Pradesh, the election results are going to add dimension to the Holi madness and the potential for violence and confrontation will rise above the normal.

This is the trouble with the otherwise fun festival that deteriorates into a free-for-all occasion where anger supersedes the merriment.

What is most terrible is police and the authorities are also casual and tolerant since taking complaints about people covered in colours is not easy. Yet, thousands of people, mainly women, stay within closed doors, afraid to come out in fear of being harassed.

In Delhi, the filling of water balloons with offensive stuff and poisonous and toxic liquids should be made into a cognisable act of lawlessness. Gangs bullying their way through the bravado should be monitored and arrested if alcohol begins to get the better of their judgment.

We all know these basic rules of engagement but every year, there is a casualty list and fearfulness infused in air.

Even the pretence that Holi is a friendly and loving festival designed to generate togetherness and the brotherhood of man as well as acknowledge the bounty bestowed upon us as spring is here, is pretty much lost when someone rubs muck on your face. By tomorrow, there should be police warnings in the vulnerable cities citing actions against those who cause mayhem or intimidate others.

Blocking an ambulance, frightening young children, trespassing into gated communities, attacking civilian guards and chowkidars, getting into fights are all on the list of Donts.

College campuses and schools, where there are female boarders, should be doubly guarded and cops must patrol these areas. The old trick of chanting 'Bura Na Mano, Holi Hai' is a load of nonsense and must be taken off the chessboard.

Above all, any woman complaining about being hassled should be armed with hotline numbers to the cops.

Just got a bad feeling about it this year, only hope I am wrong.
India and Pakistan engaged in a nasty war of words on Kashmir during a general debate on the UN human rights chiefs observations on human rights violations across the world at the UN Human Rights Council's (HRC's) ongoing 34th session.

The whole state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan remains in illegal occupation of a part of our territory. The two cannot and should not be equated. The neutrality of the term 'Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir' is, therefore, artificial, Ajit Kumar, permanent representative of India to the UN office at Geneva, told the Council on Thursday.

The central problem in Jammu and Kashmir is cross-border terrorism and hence, we are a little surprised that the High Commissioner was silent regarding Pakistan that uses terrorism as an instrument of state policy, Kumar said.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al-Hussein in an address to the HRC on Wednesday had highlighted the current major human rights violations in more than 40 countries in the world and said that his office has faced difficulties in accessing some regions like both sides of the Line of Control, in India-Administered Jammu and Kashmir, and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir among others.

In several areas where we have received indications of severe violations, and where access continues to be refused, my Office has begun remote monitoring, and fact-finding missions to neighbouring countries  reports which we intend to make public, and I will report on this further in June, Al-Hussein had said.

Pakistan had earlier in the day made a statement that it had not denied the UN High Commissioners office access to to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) but that this should be done in tandem with a mission to the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, even though there is no comparison whatsoever in the situation in AJK and the gross, systematic and widespread human rights violations committed with impunity by 70,000 Indian-occupation forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

The refusal is a desperate attempt to hide atrocities in the region, the deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN office at Geneva Aamar Aftab Qureshi said.

India, using its Right of Reply (RoR), said that it is unfortunate that Pakistan has again chosen to misuse and mislead the HRC by making motivated allegations about Jammu and Kashmir, which is an internal matter of India.

The matters that need to be addressed are Pakistan's illegal occupation of a part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the continued suffering of the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who are victims of sectarian conflict, terrorism, extreme economic hardship and discriminatory policies, Alok R Jha, counsellor (political) at the Indian mission to the UN office at Geneva, said.

The continued operations of terrorist groups from Pakistan that has resulted in a series of terrorist attacks in India has denied its victims the most fundamental of rights, which is the right to life, Jha said.

Pakistan, using its RoR, called Indias argument absurd. India twisted facts by claiming that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India, the Pakistani delegate said.

India has the habit of maligning Pakistan for anything and everything under the sun, Qazi Saleem Ahmed Khan, third secretary at the Pakistani mission to the UN offices in Geneva, told the Council.

Senior Indian leadership has openly acknowledged to have interfered in Pakistan, Khan claimed. In recent years the forces of communalism and outright fascism have been cultivated and empowered by the mainstream political parties in India, he accused.
Every morning, a distraught mother sits in the silence of her ramshackle home in Badaun in despair, holding a pair of khaki trousers that comforts her with the scent of her missing son.

Fatima Nafees, 61, is isolated from the cacophony of the Assembly election that has engulfed Uttar Pradesh for almost two months and continues to dominate the news on televisions. For she is on what she calls 'life's biggest search' for her eldest son, Najeeb Ahmed, a first-year MSc student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) who went missing after a fracas with students in the campus.

Najeebs disappearance has forced her to renegotiate life with Allah, the merciful, the benefactor. All she wants is for her son  a brilliant student of biotechnology for whose studies she had sold all her jewellery  to walk through the door and demand food.

She says Najeeb was the best of her three sons, who could have become a scientist, an IAS officer, or perhaps even a judge, if he had luck on his side. Najeeb  who had once tried hard to become a doctor, though unsuccessfully  did not go to tony private schools but rather studied at lowly government-run educational institutions, cracking first class marks throughout. The other sons, Mujeeb and Haseeb, are not even a patch on their brother, says Fatima.

But her brilliant son is missing since October 2016 and Fatima does not know whom to ask where he is. Without fail, she would pray every day: Please return my son, else let me be there and see what has happened to him. I wont ask for anything else. And then, she breaks into a paroxysm of sobbing. When will he return home? Its been almost five months now.

Gossip fills hear ears every now and then. People call her from Delhi, saying Najeeb is hiding in Gurgaon, perhaps in Noida. There are others who express fear that he must have been killed and buried at an undisclosed location. Fatima shudders, hoping against hope that her son is alive, and safe.

Her ailing carpenter husband is unable to earn, unable to do anything at home. Fatima and her sons travel almost every fortnight to Delhi, to visit the campus where Najeeb was seen last by a handful of friends. There, she sits at Ganga Dhaba, a popular roadside eatery that runs round the clock within the campus, meeting lawyers, handful of friends, and if lucky, one or two politicians.

Almost every time, her tea grows cold; Fatima sits motionless for hours hoping for some news about her son. She remembers everything, including the last time she spoke to Najeeb.

It was the morning of 15 October, 2016, Fatima received a call on her phone when, en route to Delhi, she was at the Anand Vihar railway station. She was worried because Najeeb had told her about a scuffle in the hostel, and that he was taken in a JNU ambulance to the Safdarjung Hospital and treated for external injuries. The doctors wanted to get him admitted for observation but insisted on a police complaint, Najeeb backed out and returned to JNU.

And then he hung up. An anxious Fatima headed for Delhi, calling Najeeb every hour but his handset went unanswered. When he called, an infuriated Fatima admonished her son for not responding to her calls. Najeeb laughed: I was in the washroom, Ammi (a colloquial term for mother), my phone was on charge. Kindly wait for me, I am heading for Anand Vihar.

That was the last Najeeb spoke to Fatima, who waited for more than two and a half hours, not realising she was in for some harrowing, uncertain times. She rushed to Najeebs hostel room and found everything but her son: His suitcase, books, tea mug, pens, writing pads, clothes, shoes... everything.

Fatima sensed Najeeb at every corner of the room. She scrimmaged through his clothes, books and bedding, even toiletries. She remembered her previous visits to the hostel, memories locked in, waiting for release. No one could tell her anything, including those with whom Najeeb had a near-violent argument that triggered a complaint from the warden of JNUs Mahi hostel. In fact, Najeeb even wrote an apology letter to the JNU authorities, confessing it was he who hit first.

The gang of nine accused, now named in an FIR by Delhi Police, met up with Fatima and Najeebs sister Sadaf Mosharraf but said nothing. The nine students were members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). They told Fatima that the altercation was over voting issues for hostel elections.

The ABVP maintains that its members, Vikrant Kumar, Ankit Kumar and Sunil Pratap, had met Najeeb at his room on 14 October, 2017, seeking his vote in the upcoming election for Mess-secretary. The scuffle  claims ABVP  happened after Najeeb hit Vikrant for wearing a red-thread on his wrist, usually associated with the Hindu faith.

The ABVP members retaliated, which led the warden to intervene, along with JNU Students Union president Mohit Pandey. Najeeb admitted that he began the scuffle and agreed to leave the hostel on or before 21 October, 2016. The minutes of the meeting, now with the police, has signatures of the ABVP members, Najeeb, his roommate, Mohammed Qasim, and Pandey.

Then Najeeb went missing and the search began. A Rs 10 lakh reward was announced by Delhi Police for anyone offering information about the missing student. Sniffer dogs were brought in by the cops and the woods at JNU were thoroughly and repeatedly searched.

Investigations revealed that Najeeb was last seen in the campus on the morning of 15 October. Delhi Police claims that some students saw him at the auto rickshaw stand, supposedly heading for Jamia Millia University in the southern fringes of Delhi.

The cops further claimed that they even asked Jamia Millia officials to show them CCTV footage of that week, but the request was flatly refused. Till date, the footage has not been shared, despite an official request submitted by the Delhi Police.

Multiple searches within the hostel and campus have yielded nothing; constables of Delhi Police got irritated with Fatimas repeated requests and told her to stay away. She then turned to politicians  their names would easily total Indias best power pack  but all they could offer was solace.

She met up with Union home minister Rajnath Singh, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, but drew a total blank, only sympathies. Each one pointed towards another, saying they were not directly responsible for the search. All of them said they will offer their best. But my son has not returned, rues Fatima.

After having hundreds of people traipse through her home for almost half a year, Fatima, not surprisingly, has learnt how to organise her emotions for what she intended to speak about Najeeb. Sometimes, she allows her sons to talk about their missing brother.

He was a brilliant student, very studious, wanted to learn the flute, says Mujeeb, pain writ large on his face. Najeeb schooled from Florence Nightingale Academy, Badaun, and graduated in Biotechnology from Invertis University, Bareilly, and had joined JNU in August, 2016.

Mujeeb says he is not aware whether his brother went to Jamia Millia University after the attack. The fight had rattled him up. That the Left leaning students no longer had total control in the University was worrying him, he felt Jamia Millia was a safer bet for him, says Mujeeb.

What worries the family is the slow pace of the probe. The Delhi High Court, which continues to hear the case of Najeebs disappearance, has already pulled up the Delhi Police for slow progress. Now polygraph test of persons connected with Najeebs disappearance are being explored as an option; other leads have not yielded any fruit. But thats easier said than done because repeated requests for such tests have been rejected or ignored by the students, delaying the process inordinately.

And then there are other problems. The family claims that cops keep visiting their home in Badaun and also of their relatives, looking for Najeeb. This is total harassment, says Haseeb, the third brother. But the cops say such raids will happen, since he is still listed as a 'missing person'.

"We are still working on the premise that Najeeb is hiding somewhere, or he may have been kidnapped by some people. So search operations will continue," said Ravindra Yadav, joint commissioner of police (Crime). He said the latest raid in February, 2017, at Najeebs ancestral home took place because Najeebs email was accessed by his maternal uncle Ashraf Qadri. The police had been keeping a watch.

Yadav said it's proving difficult to trace Najeeb because he left his cellphone in the hostel, along with his wallet. He said the cops were probing all possibilities, including whether someone with vested interests had deliberately kept him captive to foment mischief.

It is reliably learnt that even relatives of the students were being kept under surveillance, but nothing has worked. But what is strange is that the cops have not questioned those allegedly involved in the brawl the night before Najeeb disappeared. We have sent notices for lie detector tests, said Yadav.

At JNU, many have  expectedly  fallen silent. Najeeb does not figure in their conversations anymore. Senior officials of the University refused to comment, saying that the case was sub-judice. A mail to JNU vice-chancellor, Mamidala Jagadish Kumar, went unanswered. Najeebs roommate, Qasim, says Najeeb left the hostel after the fight. He was a very quiet person and did not tell me anything before leaving the hostel, I am equally worried.

A senior member of the RSS, J Nanda Kumar, said it would be grossly inappropriate to blame Najeebs disappearance on the ABVP. The hostel authorities have obtained details of the fight where Najeeb has admitted to his fault. It would be grossly wrong to blame ABVP for Najeebs disappearance, Nanda Kumar said in an interview. The police is investigating the case, the matter is being heard in the court.

Alok Singh, president of ABVP unit at JNU, said he, along with JNU students union president Pandey, even protested the decision of the three hostel wardens to expel Najeeb as he had admitted to slapping Vikrant. We requested the warden to defer punishment until Najeeb was in a position to make a proper statement, and the three wardens agreed.

But there are others who differ. Kawalpreet Kaur, president of the CPIML Liberation-backed student group AISA's Delhi University unit, says the ABVP students must be questioned to get to the bottom of the case. Everyone is shooting in the dark, says Kaur.

Caught in the crossfire are Fatima and her family members. Fatima says she will urge the lawyers to argue in the courts as to why the JNU officials did not ask the police to question ABVP members, including outsiders involved in the clash.

The lie-detector test, it seems, is key to the crisis.
As the winter recedes in the Kashmir valley, security forces have considerably increased the pressure on militants through a surge in anti-militancy operations, particularly in South Kashmir. As per media reports, in the last one month, forces have killed 11 militants in seven encounters across the Valley.

As these operations pick up pace, a curious rumour is doing the rounds in the Valley. Rumour has it that the LED bulbs distributed by the government in the state, under the Ujala scheme are being used to keep a tab on the militant movements in the Valley. Scores of people have claimed that the LED bulbs have been fitted with surveillance cameras, or chips, which are being used to spy on people.

The Ujala scheme was implemented in the state by the Power Development Department in collaboration with the Union Power Ministry and the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). These LED bulbs were made available at a subsidised rate of Rs 20, as against the market price of close to Rs 250.

Howsoever ridiculous the rumour and the claim may appear to be, many Kashmiris in fact seriously believe that the Indian government has distributed these bulbs just to keep a watch on the activities of Kashmiris.

The sudden increase in anti-militancy operations, which had witnessed a lull post the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, has been attributed to the information 'gathered' with the help of these LED bulbs. The rumour-cum-news went viral on social media a day after the encounter ended in Hafoo area of Tral, in which two militants were killed on 5 March.

Since then, many people across the Valley, especially from South Kashmir, have taken to social media, claiming that an engineering student from Tral of Pulwama district has discovered a 'spy chip' inside the bulb. However, no one has named him.

A video that has surfaced on social media purportedly showing opening a LED bulb to reveal the spy chip inside, has since gone viral on Facebook. The unidentified man can be heard saying, We have an engineer with us. He will show you which chip is fixed in this bulb. Then he takes out a small part of it, This is the sensor and it transmits whatever we do in our home to the control room. The man then warns people against using these LED bulbs. Firstpost has not been able to verify the authenticity of this video.

The authenticity of the claim notwithstanding, the video has fetched 224,000 views and counting, more than 7500 shares, which shows how rumours spread like a wildfire in the Valley. Many Kashmiris, however, have mocked it, terming it as a "non-sense"

I myself am an engineer and that too from the same trade. This video is totally insane. Yeah, it is possible to make a surveillance bulb, but not like the one shown in the video. We need a transmitter, a camera and a running circuit for that. This circuit, that is shown in this video, is a simple circuit required to light the LED bulb. Its the kind of circuit that prevents the LED from diffusing and provides a stabilised current, reads one of the comments on the video.

However, as in the past, the government has been slow to respond to the rumours. Almost four days later, the government on 9 March dismissed the reports about the LED bulb, saying that the Ujala scheme was not Kashmir-centric but pan-India.

"There is absolutely no truth in these reports that surveillance cameras have been fitted inside the LED bulbs. This is not just a Kashmir-centric scheme, Hashmat Qazi, Nodal Officer for Demand Side Management of the Uajala scheme, told PTI.

Rumours are not new to Kashmir. In January last year, hospitals in Kashmir witnessed an abnormal rush of people due to a rumour that the polio vaccine administered in the state had fatal side-effects. The worried parents made a beeline rush to the hospitals, carrying their kids, creating chaos everywhere.

Spiralling traffic jams were seen across the Valley that day, with intense arguments being witnessed in the hospitals between parents and the medical staff. Interestingly, these rumours were confined to the Valley. The same rumour about the polio vaccine drew a less than hysterical reaction in the Jammu region.

In another such instance, after the devastating floods of 2014, rumours of a massive earthquake likely to hit Kashmir created panic among the locals. Social media was abuzz with people raising concerns and seeking 'divine intervention'. However, many rubbished these reports, terming them as a handiwork of mischievous elements to terrify the locals.

Basharat Ahmad from Anantnag district believes that these kinds of rumours are common in Kashmir. "It has been there since the early 1990s. Rumours about ghosts were common in the Valley those days," Ahmad told Firstpost, adding that those 'ghosts' turned out to be the soldiers on night patrol.

He believes that due to social media, these rumours are now spreading swiftly. "I laugh at these rumour mongers. Either they are idiots who need counselling or miscreants who need to be dealt with harshly," Ahmad said.

A senior police officer from South Kashmir, while talking to Firstpost, said, "It's their own choice to suspect their household items, until it's not a law and order problem. I think spreading rumours have become part of our culture now."

He also said that police will take action if such rumours create public outcry or law and order problem. "In case of the polio vaccine rumour last year, it was dangerous and had created chaos, therefore police had acted upon that," he said.

In the current LED bulb rumour, what adds to the peoples apprehensions is the recent increase in encounters between the security forces and militants. The timing of the launch of Ujala scheme in the Valley has also added fuel to the fire. The scheme was co-incidentally launched in September last year when the Valley was under siege after Wanis killing.

However many in Kashmir believe that people have been cynical about the governments intentions for a long time now.

"Its not about the 'spy chips' being fitted into the Ujala distributed LEDs, but its a question about how Kashmiris remain sceptical about India and its policies," Javid Wani, a teacher by profession from Anantnag district told Firstpost.

However, when asked about these rumours spreading in the Valley, he said that people need to be aware. "Unlike other states, Kashmir is more vulnerable to rumours," Wani said.

And that perhaps points to a deeper malaise within the Kashmiri society, where decades of conflict and 'disinformation campaigns' has taken a toll on people's psyche, creating trust issues not only between the locals but also between the Indian government and security forces.

The author is a freelance journalist based in Srinagar. He focuses on socio-political issues of Kashmir.
In an earlier Firstpost article, Ajay Singh optimistically noted that Sartaj, father of the slain Islamic State (IS) terrorist in Lucknow, rather than his son Saifullah, is the true face of Indian Muslim.

Indeed, Sartaj disowned Saifullah because he rejected the traditional values of an Indian Muslim family which is imbued with syncretic values of 'Indian Islam which is an antithesis to the pernicious ideology emanating from Mosul and Raqqa. According to media reports, Sartaj averred on Wednesday: A traitor can't be our son. We are Indians, we were born here, our forefathers were born here. One who indulges in anti-national activities can't be our son... we won't accept his body."

All this signifies the point that in India, Muslims are imbued with a peaceful narrative of Islam which is also the hallmark of Muslim parents like Sartaj. But the fact that Saifullah was allegedly one of the nine members of a newly-formed IS cell in India is a substantial evidence that Islam in India is gradually losing its inherently peaceful soul to the foreign Wahabi ideologues of violent jihadism. Hence, the virulent theology of radical Islamism, which was so far preached only in the distant lands of Iraq and Syria, is catching the imagination of the indoctrinated Muslim youths like Lucknows Saifullah.

In a full contrast to the syncretic and moderate version of Islam, which prides itself in the pluralistic Indian ethos, the self-imposed Islamist caliph  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and those who paid allegiance to his caliphate  theorised, Islam has never been a religion of peace, not even for a day, and it has always been a religion of war and conflict.

But deplorably for Muslims in Lucknow, Uttar Pradeshs capital, which is densely populated by Muslims and is also home to the countrys leading madrasas and other Islamic organisations, it was the first Indian city which found a resonance of allegiance to Abu Bakr Baghdadi as a legitimate Islamic caliph. It was a Lucknow-based leading Islamic cleric, Maulana Salman al-Husaini al-Nadwi, a senior lecturer and mentor at Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama who wrote an Arabic letter to pay allegiance and extend congratulations to al-Baghdadi when he declared himself as the caliph of the global Muslims in the mid-2014.

Given that the congratulatory letter was issued by a senior teacher in Indias leading madrasaNadwatul Ulama in Lucknow it clearly reflected a sharp turnaround in the attitude and approach of the Lucknow-based clergy towards the emergence of a global Islamic caliphate. However, in his letter, Nadwi was only a spokesperson of the petro-dollar-funded Wahabi seminaries in India. On the contrary, Indias mainstream Muslims and spiritually inclined Sufi leaders issued an open letter to Salman Nadwi with unequivocal and strong statements castigating his inclination towards al-Baghdadis conception of the Islamic state.

They challenged Nadwis fantasy with Baghdadis jihadism. Thereafter, Maulana Nadwi dissociated himself with his earlier pro-ISIS statements and congratulatory letter to al-Baghdadi. Furthermore, in his bid to remove the allegations, he continently wrote an Urdu booklet in rebuttal to the Salafi-Wahhabi theology of the Islamic State. The booklet written by Nadwi is entitled ISIS is neither an agent of America nor of Israel; It is a Salafist organisation of violent extremism, as mentioned in this Urdu news report.

Recently, a Firstpost writer met and interviewed Maulana Salman Nadwi in Lucknow and questioned him on his controversial letter to the ISIS chief which was widely criticised by several noted Sufi and Shia Islamic scholars in Lucknow. In his response, Maulana Nadwi did confess that he wrote a congratulatory letter to Baghdadi. However, he also tried to issue a post-facto justification for his support to what he initially thought of as an Islamic state of the true Quranic principles of caliphate. Nadwi told Firstpost: "I congratulated Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi on the point that he had registered victories against the cruel atrocities of Shias in Iraq (shion ke zalimana mazalim).

Maulana further said 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) and the violence spread to other countries. "Now, Daesh is on the path of Kharijites. They talk about Islam but Islam se bari hain (are out of Islam)," Maulana Nadwi said in his interview to Firstpost.

Maulana Nadwis letter of congratulation to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was first highlighted by a Lucknow-based Urdu daily Aag on 17 July, 2014. The main parts of Nadwis letter in Arabic could be loosely translated as below:

Dear chief of the believers (amir-ul-mumineen), I am aware of the Islamic State for a long time and was very excited about its news. Earlier, I kept myself abreast of the Islamic jihad in Afghanistan which was in fact against Russia. Then, there was the American attack on Iraq. I am also aware that in Syria, the differences between Al Nusrah and the Islamic State have intensified. Moreover, differences among the organisations that were fighting in Syria were bad omen for us. However, during the same time, we heard the good news that you have captured Mosul in Iraq and have attained victory over the tyrant Maliki.. I have listened to you with attention though I have not seen you. But I have listened to one who has been appointed as your representative. You are bravely standing as a rock and have embarked on a path filled with thorns and stones. I listened to your speech which you delivered two days ago on Friday in Ramadhan in the Jama Masjid of Mosul. We are aware that all the Sunni tribes are with you. Apart from them, the Jihadi organisations do not want to fight against you. All have accepted whatever role you are playing and have accepted you as amirul Mumineen. I wish that the Islamic State turns into an Islamic Caliphate.

Lets not forget that Maulana Salman Nadwi is highly revered among the young generation of Muslims in Lucknow. For he is positioned not only as a senior faculty member (mudarris) in Lucknows most reputed Islamic seminary, but also as a founder-ideologue of a Lucknow-based global Islamic organisation of Muslim youths widely known in the Arab world as 'Harkatul Shabab al-Islami' (movement of Islamic youths). Before his letter to al-Baghdadi, nearly all Indian Muslims had dissociated themselves from Jihadist organisations and had openly condemned any violence in the name of Islam. But Maulana Salman Nadwis brazen support to the ISIS encouraged those who were lured to the mirage of the heavenly Islamic caliphate on the earth.

Tellingly, Sufi and Shia clergy of Lucknow were protesting against Maulana Salman Nadwis support to Abu Bakr Baghdadi. The Lucknow-based noted Sufi leaders like Syed Muhmmad Ashraf Kichhouchhwi, Maulana Anwar Ahmad, Syed Ammar Ahmad along with the Shia leader Maulana Kalb-e-Jawwad Naqwi were vehemently opposed to this churn in the Nadwa clergy. In his talk to this writer, a prominent Sufi Islamic scholar in Lucknows Firangi Mahl, Maulana Abul Irfan lambasted the letter in these words: Maulana Nadwis attempt to congratulate Baghdadis caliphate was his individual choice and might be of some more like-minded maulvis, but not of the 25 crore peace-loving Muslims in India. He added saying that neither Maulana Nadwi nor the religious seminaries like

He added saying that neither Maulana Nadwi nor the religious seminaries like Nadwa are representative of the mainstream Muslims in India who pride themselves in peaceful coexistence with all citizens, national integration and religious pluralism. Thus, Syed Muhammad Ashraf expressed his deep conviction that clerics like Maulana Nadwi may vocally support the jihadist outfits, but they cannot shape the minds of the Muslims imbued with the democratic ethos of India.

This was the deep conviction of both Sufi and Shia leaders of Indian Muslims in Lucknow. However, in the wake of the recent Lucknow terror encounter, a reversing view is emerging even among the Sufi and Shia circles afraid of losing Islam to the Wahabi ideologues and ISIS sympathisers. In the recent statements published in a newly-launched Urdu daily 'Qasid', many of them including Syed Ashraf Kichchawchchvi seem to be disappointed about the optimistic and wishful thinking that they previously showed.

Now they spell out their fright that the Khorasan module of the Islamic state is captivating a section of the Indian Muslim youth. And this is, of course, a very distressing development, given that the ISIS map shows its nefarious design of jihad in a large part of Kashmir and Gujarat.

The author is a scholar of classical Islamic studies, cultural analyst and researcher in Media and Communication Studies. He can be reached at grdehlavi@gmail.com
Police on Thursday arrested a former Indian Air Force (IAF) employee who they believe is the "mastermind" of a terror module that included Saifullah, a suspected terrorist killed in an encounter on Wednesday.

According to The Indian Express, police said 56-year-old Mohammad Ghaus Khan, a resident of Anwarganj in Kanpur who took voluntary retirement from the IAF in 1993, was arrested in Lucknow while 24-year-old Mohammad Azhar, who is from Chakeri and runs a mobile phone shop, was held in Kanpur.

Khan "is a technical man and a hardcore member of the module," Additional Director General of UP Police Daljit Chaudhary said, adding he was the "main accused and mastermind" of the module. He said Azhar, the second suspect, was the main supplier of arms to the module. He did not say where he was arrested from, or in what capacity Khan worked in the air force.

The UP police claimed that with these two arrests, all the main members of what they alleged was an Islamic State influenced module are in custody.

The latest arrests raised to five the number of people in the UP police custody in connection with the blast on the Bhopal-Ujjain train in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. The MP police also arrested some people.

On Wednesday the UP police arrested three men after an encounter on the outskirts of Lucknow in which Saifullah was killed after a 12-hour ATS operation. Police say he and his alleged accomplices carried out the train blast in which at least ten persons were injured.

Police say he was self-radicalised and was influenced by the West Asia terror group, Islamic State. Saifullah's father has refused to claim his son's body, saying anyone who carries out a terror attack is a traitor to the nation.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Ghaus Khan's son Abdul Qadir said he has no sympathy for his father as he was not loyal to the country. Qadir, who stays in Jajmau area of Kanpur, said most of the times the family would have no clue about his whereabouts. He (Khan) mostly stayed in Lucknow and no one in the family knew about his movements, he added.

According to The Indian Express, Qadir said: My father was in the Air Force and had taken Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) a long time ago. Since then, he had been regularly changing his business. He started dealing in property recently. I last met my father two days ago in Lucknow. We went to our ancestral house in Rae Bareli district and from there, my father left for another place. If my father is involved in anti-national activities, then the police and court should take action against him. If he is innocent, then he should not be harassed.

When media reached Qadir's house, he told them he has no idea where his father was and confirmed that the ATS did not arrest him from there.

"I have no sympathy with my father. Jab wo desh ke nahi ho sake, to hum logon ke ka honge (When he could not be loyal to the nation, how would he be loyal to us)," he said.

He added that no one in the family was in good terms with Khan and nobody would talk to him. "Every time he would come home from Lucknow, some people used to visit him. Last time a few people had visited him, and today we heard about him in the news that he has been arrested... he had a passport and had even visited Saudi Arab," Qadir told reporters.

On Wednesday, slain terror suspect Saifullah's father had made a similar remark after refusing to accept "a traitor's" body.

Notably, terror suspects Saifullah, who was killed in an encounter on Wednesday in Lucknow, Faisal alias Faizan and Imran, who were held from Kanpur and Unnao, Danish, who was held from Madhya Pradesh, and Khan, who was held on Thursday, lived within a radius of one km in Kanpur's Jajmau area.

UP Police later in a statement released on Thursday also said that one of the terror suspects, Faisal Khan, has been taken on 10 days of police remand.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill to increase maternity leave to 26 weeks from 12 weeks at present.

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016, also provides for leave up to 12 weeks for a woman who adopts a child below the age of three months, and for commissioning mothers.

Passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 11, 2016, the bill  once it becomes law  will be applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more persons.

The period of maternity leave will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother.

In surrogacy, the surrogate mother carries a child for another person after an agreement made before conception of the child. The person wishing to adopt and foster the child is called the commissioning person/couple.

According to The Times of India, Maneka Gandhi, women and child development minister said, "I am very, very happy we have made history today. This will help thousands of women and produce much healthier children. We have been working on it for a long time," she said.

The bill paves the way for the ratification of International Labour Organisation convention number 183 that provides for 14 weeks of maternity leave benefit to women.

It also facilitates 'work from home' for nursing mothers once the leave period ends and has made creche facility mandatory in respect of establishments with 50 or more employees.

Employers will have to allow women staff to go to the creche four times, which will also include her rest period.

The bill requires an establishment to inform a woman of all benefits made available under the law, at the time of her appointment. Such information must be given in writing and electronically.

"The well-being of women during pregnancy has been a matter of serious concern," Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said while tabling the Bill in the lower house.

Participating in the debate, Congress MP Sushmita Dev said along with maternity leave, the government should also make provisions for paternity leave.

"This may be a deterrent for the private sector in providing employment to women. There can be two ways of handling this -- The government provide funds to organisations or by making paternity leave mandatory," Dev said.

"If both (men and women) are entitled to leaves, the presumption will be that a man will also avail of it and it won't be disadvantageous for women," she said.

The Congress member questioned why the period of maternity leave was lesser after the birth of two children.

"Why should you deprive the third or fourth child of (mother's care) unless it is a family planning policy in disguise," Dev said.

The Bill will become law after President Pranab Mukherjee's assent.

Now a woman will adore her motherhood with job : Shri @Dattatreya during passage of historic Maternity Bill, 2016. pic.twitter.com/WmN2gyPIp1  BJP (@BJP4India) March 9, 2017

With inputs from IANS
Ahead of the US-based donor NGO Compassion International shutting down its India operations, the Ministry of External Affairs denied the NGO's allegations that it is being forced to shut down operations because of "ideological reasons."

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay has clarified that the government action has nothing to do with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's repeated allegations that the NGO is routing money to convert Indian families to Christianity. The official further added that the NGO's allegations are completely "extraneous to the law enforcement action".

"Any NGO, foreign or Indian, is to operate in India or for that matter anywhere else in the world within the laws of the country. The process has been very transparent. We have been fully transparent in this regard, including in our conversations with the concerned on the prevalent situation. There have been meetings of senior government officials and representatives of the NGO concerned. And we had made our position very clear to them and to all those who have spoken to us about it," Baglay said.

Baglay also asserted that there is a well established legal framework for NGOs for conducting their operations in India, which has one of the largest network of NGOs in the world. Asked about reports in the US media about the RSS' role in the banning of CI, he said, "The alleged suggestion is totally extraneous to the law enforcement action concerning the above-mentioned organisations."

Meanwhile, RSS has also distanced itself from the controversy stating it had no role to play in the government action against the Christian NGO, which was put on the government watch list for foreign donations ten months ago.

The Compassion International, according to a report in The Financial Express, had earlier alleged that the NGO tried to negotiate with the RSS personally but that made things "worse for them."

We understand that the BJP and the RSS are tied together somehow, so it seems to us that we also need to be talking to the R.S.S. Wow, am I negotiating with the government or am I negotiating with an ideological movement that is fueling the government? , the report quotes Compassion International President and CEO Santiago Jimmy Mellado as saying.

Shekhar Tiwari from Washington DC, works with a powerful Indian-American lobby group, according to The Hindu report. The newspaper reported that Tiwari has accepted that the NGO's official's did approach him in 2016 and asked for "advice." He, however, denied telling the CI official at any point that he was intervening on behalf of the government.

Meanwhile, the RSS termed as "false" reports of back channel negotiations with the NGO, adding that no meeting between its representative and the US-based NGO ever happened. It also insisted that it has no representative in any foreign country including the US while condemning the attempt to malign the image of the Sangh.

"The news published regarding Compassion International's so called 'back channel negotiations with RSS representative in Washington DC' is unfair and totally false," Manmohan Vaidya, RSS All India Prachar Pramukh, said in a statement. "RSS works only in Bharat (India) and has no representative in any foreign country including USA. We condemn such an attempt to malign the image of RSS," he said.

Compassion India has been functioning in India for more than 48 years but was recently criticised by Hindu right-wing groups of using it's funds to convert Indian families. It was also under the government scanner for misappropriation if funds.

"The Income Tax officials revealed in 2015, Caruna Bal Vikas (CBV) was receiving a funding of Rs 10 million per year from Compassion International but only 10 percent of that amount was being used for child development and the rest was diverted to other organisations," The Financial Express report states.

Another report in The New York Times, maps the crackdown against the Christian charity directly with Narendra Modi's rise to power.

"More than 11,000 nongovernmental organizations have lost their licenses to accept foreign funds since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014... India has long had a law regulating the use of foreign aid, but Mr. Modis government has applied it in rigorous fashion, canceling the registrations of more than 10,000 nongovernmental groups, mostly small ones, in 2015," the report states.

The Ney York Times report also quotes an anonymous foreign ministry official stating that the government has found that the NGO is violating Indian law by indulging in religious activity. He also added that the NGO rejected the government offer to re-register as a religious organisation which would have allowed it to continue its operations in the nation.

Indian authorities had put CI under prior permission category in May last year following allegations of funding religious conversions, barring it from receiving foreign funds without the government's approval, after which US had raised up the issue with India alleging lack of transparency.

The State Department's acting spokesman Mark Toner expressed concern over the Christian charity closing down it's operations in India. "NGOs do valuable work overseas. Certainly these countries and governments have their own reasons for the laws they pass, but we believe it should be transparent and clear why they're shutting down these organisations," Toner said.

India, on it's part rejected the US' contention of lack of transparency, insisting the matter was of "law enforcement", a euphemism for the US-based Christian NGO allegedly having

violated Indian laws.

In December, the home ministry had said it was unlikely to reconsider the decision, notwithstanding the appeals by American authorities.

With inputs from PTI
Members of a Facebook group, who stormed the Marine Drive in Keralas commercial capital of Kochi with a strong message against the moral police nearly two-and-a-half years ago, returned to the same venue on Thursday. The group called Free Thinkers revived the unique campaign called 'Kiss of Love' after Shiv Sena activists unleashed an attack on a few couples sitting at the Marine Drive walkway on Wednesday evening.

The Sena men, who were protesting against rising sexual assault cases against women in the state, lathi-charged and chased away young couples in the presence of police officials and media persons. The protestors, who came in a procession carrying banners that said "stop love under umbrella", also showered abuse on some couples, who refused to heed their order to vacate the place. After the incident triggered huge outrage across the state, six Sena activists were arrested under non-bailable sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC). The state government suspended a sub-inspector and transferred eight police constables, who remained mute spectators to the incident.

The 'Kiss of Love' campaign at Marine Drive on 2 November, 2014 was spurred by an attack on an eatery in Kozhikode by the youth activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party on 23 October, 2014. The attack by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) followed a report on a local TV channel showing a boy and girl hugging and kissing on its premises.

The plan of the 'Kiss of Love' organisers to register a symbolic protest by hugging and kissing in the open then was foiled by communal and fundamentalist groups. Large numbers of young men and women, who thronged Marine Drive to participate in the event, was chased away by activists of these groups, using canes and pepper. The police also aided the fundamentalists by arresting the 'Kiss of Love' activists.

Most of these groups kept away from Marine Drive on Thursday. The police also did not stop the activists, who took over the place by staging not only protests but also cultural programmes, including street plays. Many activists hugged and locked lips, saying that they will not allow anybody to deny them public spaces. Writer Lazar Shine, one of the organisers of the 'Kiss of Love' protests, said people from all walks of life, including transgenders and physically challenged, joined the protests. He saw an overwhelming response as a strong indication that the new generation will not tolerate any attempt to curb their individual rights.

"Love is not a sin. Young men and women have every right to love those they like. Mine is a love marriage. We are living happily as a couple. The lovers come to parks and such public spaces to get to know each other. Nobody will be allowed to stop them." Lazar said. He said that the guardians of morality were opposing all types of male-female relationship. They dont like men and women to walk together in public spaces, travel together in a car, sit in a room or eat together at a restaurant.

"The people who see sex in these activities have a sick mentality. They are trying to take Kerala back to the Victorian era. We will not allow this. We will keep all public spaces like the Marine Drive as cultural spaces. The protests against those chasing men and women from such places will continue," he added. Apart from 'Kiss of Love', members of various other organisations also marched to Marine Drive to register their protest against moral policing. The student and youth wings of the CPM staged a "sit-in strike", the activists of the Youth Congress organised sales of canes in front of Ernakulam Central Police station as a symbolic protest against the Shiv Sena.

The All India Youth Federation, the youth wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI) also made Marine Drive the venue of their protest. The BJYM, however, used the venue to protest against not only moral policing but also the 'Kiss of Love' campaign. The Congress-led Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) took their protests to the Assembly resulting in acrimonious scenes. The ruling LDF and Opposition MLAs nearly came to blows when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the Shiva Sena attack at Kochi as an Opposition-sponsored event.

Earlier, Vijayan made it clear that the state government would deal sternly with people indulging in moral policing and warned that they would be charged under provisions of the stringent Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007. He said that the state government had also viewed the police lapse in Kochi incident "very seriously". The chief minister had given strict directions to the police to take stern action against acts of moral policing following the suicide of a 23-year-old youth after he was subjected to moral policing by a group of men on Valentine's Day. Aneesh, the son of a daily wage worker at Attapady in Palakkad district, ended his life after he and his female friend were shamed in a video by the moral police.

A few days earlier, members of the chief ministers own party assaulted a youth, who was sitting with three female college mates on the University College campus in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. The police under Vijayan has also not been avoiding moral policing. Members of a new contingent formed mainly for the protection of women rounded up a couple from a public park in Thiruvananthapuram accusing them of indulging in public vulgarity. The man, who had only placed his hand on the shoulder of his woman companion, exposed the police by live-streaming the exchange on Facebook.

The rise in moral policing incidents has come as a shock to cultural leaders. They wonder how this could happen in a state like Kerala, which is considered one of the more forward-thinking and its people have better exposure to the outside world compared to other states. Moral policing in Kerala is distinct from what is seen elsewhere in the country. It is not dominated by Hindu extremists alone. Those who are trying to impose their own code of morality also include extremists from the Muslim community, youth and student bodies of Left parties, police and even the media.

Writer and social activist Professor MN Karaserry said that the concept of morality had undergone changes throughout history and all over the world. He pointed out that the upper castes in Kerala had not allowed women from the lower rungs of society to cover their breasts more than a century-and-a-half ago. The women got the right to cover their breasts only after a prolonged struggle for several years.

"The family planning measures introduced in the country four decades ago were termed anti-religious and immoral. But members of all religions accepted them in spite of the objections from the religious leaders. I am sure society will accept public expression of affection too in the coming days," Karaserry told Firstpost.

Noted writer Paul Zacharia traces the root of moral policing in Kerala to Christian missionary education that teaches sex as a sin.

In an interview to Rediff, the writer had said that the Hindu society in the state never had such a conservative attitude to sex and man-woman relationship. The Christian concept prevailed as they controlled almost 100 percent of modern education in the state, he said.

The writer considers the media as a major culprit in promoting moral policing in the state. He told this correspondent that the effort by media to raise their circulation and viewership by blowing sex stories out of proportion was being exploited by the conservatives. The media constantly showcased man-woman relationships as prostitution. The police followed it up by slapping cases under the Immoral Trafficking Act against men and women even if they were engaged in consensual sex.

Zacharia, who was attacked by youth activists of the CPM in 2009 for criticising their moral policing action against Congress leader Rajmohan Unnithan, believes that the rising moral policing incidents in Kerala were the result of cultural degeneration and sexual starvation. Cultural leaders said moral policing was thriving in Kerala because of the failure of the state machinery to deal with the guardians of morality. Womens activist Geetha said that those responsible for the life of Aneesh would not have dared to attack him if the police had taken action against the CPM student wing activists responsible for the moral policing in the Kerala University Campus.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has slammed The New York Times for an article that shows the Sangh in a bad light, and connected the Right wing body with the Narendra Modi-led central government's decision of shutting down a Christian charity organisation in India.

In an article titled 'Major Christian Charity Is Closing India Operations Amid a Crackdown', the NYT has written quoting Compassion International, "they found themselves in murky back-channel negotiations with a representative of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, a Right wing Hindu ideological group that is closely connected with the governing Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, but that has no official role in governing."

"More than 11,000 non-governmental organisations have lost their licences to accept foreign funds since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. Major Western funders  among them George Soros' Open Society Foundations and the National Endowment for Democracy  have been barred from transferring funds without permission from Indian security officials," it further said.

The article filed with a New Delhi dateline mentions that one Washington-based representative of the RSS, Shekhar Tiwari, acted as an "interlocutor" in a back-channel negotiation between the Indian government and an umbrella organisation of Indian-American Christians.

Slamming the NYT article as a "baseless allegation", the All India Prachar Pramuk (media and publicity head) of RSS Manmohan Vaidya said, "Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh condemns the attempt of New York Times to malign the image of RSS."

Issuing an official note, Vaidya said, "The news published in New York Times on 7 March, 2017 regarding Compassion International's statement  'back channel negotiation with RSS representative in Washington DC' is unfair and totally false. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh works only in Bharat (India) and has no representative in any foreign country including USA. NYT never contacted the RSS in this regard. We condemn such an attempt by NYT to malign the image of RSS."

The New York Times in its report on 7 March wrote that Compassion International, a Colorado-based Christian charity, closed its operation after 48 years. "It is one among 11,000 non-governmental organisations who have lost their licences to accept foreign funds since Prime Minister Modi took office in 2014," the report said.

Quoting Compassion International's official sources, NYT writes that the organisation's executives came to know from an Indian newspaper report last year that their group had been added to the list of organisations whose transfers required prior permission by the Ministry of Home Affairs. "By summer, $600,000 in donations was stuck in an Indian bank account awaiting permission that did not come. In November, two of the groups main affiliates  in Chennai and Kolkata  were denied authorisation to use foreign funds," it said.

The newspaper further wrote that with an increasing sense of urgency, the CEO of Compassion International, Santiago Mellado was trying to find ways to reach to and plead its case with Indian officials. "But the only interlocutors they could find were through unofficial channels. In October, a Washington-based representative of the RSS, Shekhar Tiwari, reached out to John Prabhudoss, who heads an umbrella organisation of Indian-American Christians and has a long association with Compassion International and its leaders," it said.

"We are trying to navigate through understanding of the dynamics on the Indian side," he said. "We understand that the BJP and RSS are tied together somehow, so it seems to us that we also need to be talking to the RSS," NYT quoted Mellado as saying.

Quoting Indian officials, the paper said in a later article published on 9 March: "Indian officials say the charity's partners in the country had violated the law by engaging in religious activities despite being registered as a 'social, cultural, economic and cultural' organisation. They also say Compassion International had declined a government offer to re-register as a religious organisation, which would have allowed it to continue its work in India."

"India has long had a law regulating the use of foreign aid, but Modi's government has applied it more stringently than in the past, refusing to renew the registrations of more than 11,000 non-governmental groups, most of them small operations," the article added.

The paper further wrote, quoting Mark Toner, a spokesman for the State Department, "Washington would raise the issue with India, and urge New Delhi to work transparently and cooperatively in enforcing laws regulating foreign aid."

"Gopal Baglay, a spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs, responded hours later, calling the decision 'a matter of law enforcement, a matter pertaining to following the laid-down laws of the country'. Baglay also dismissed an account by the charity's executives saying that they had been approached in the United States by a representative of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindu organisation associated with the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and had been offered leniency on the condition that they distribute donations through non-Christian service groups," the article added, quoting an Indian official.

What FCRA says?

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) prohibits foreign donations for activities "detrimental to the national interest", including those that disturb religious harmony.

In December 2016, the Centre cancelled the FCRA licences of about 20,000 out of 33,000 NGOs after they were found to have allegedly violated various provisions of the Act, thus barring them from receiving any foreign funds.

Reacting to the government's crackdown on NGOs allegedly violating FCRA norms, Mathew Cherian, chairman of the Voluntary Association Network of India  the largest federation of NGOs in the country had reportedly said, "The quantum of funding for NGOs had dropped sharply from Rs 13,600 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 7,600 crore in 2014-15 . This decline could have a major impact on the employment of about 12.7 million people working in the 1.2 million NGOs."

Misleading headline

"The headline of the NYT's article itself is misleading for an outsider. What is the definition of a 'major Christian charity'? How many people in India have heard about Compassion International and its functioning? There are many Christian charity organisations working in various parts of the country and not all of them have faced a crackdown. If you go through the published article, you can find it is clearly a sponsored piece written on behalf of the said organisation," a senior RSS functionary told Firstpost.
New Delhi: The Election Commission on Friday issued the guidelines on security arrangements for strong rooms and counting centres, and prohibited entry of mobile phones inside the counting halls.

In a detailed set of do's and don'ts, the Commission said three-tier cordoning system should be set up in all the counting premises to prevent the entry of any unauthorised persons.

The 100-metre area around a counting premise or campus should be demacated as pedestrian zone and no vehicles shall be allowed within this perimeter, it said.

There should be a smooth flow of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) between the respective strong rooms where polled machines are kept in the counting halls.



"A proper barricading of the path used for this purpose should be done so that the transportation from strong room to the counting hall of an Assembly Constituency is not interrupted by the presence of the non-officials and the media persons.

"Trespassing through the barricade by any unauthorised person should be duly eliminated," it said.

Polling for state Assembly elections of 5 states  Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur  have recently concluded and counting will take place on Saturday.

"No camera  still or video of the media (except the official video camera for officially recording the entire counting process) is allowed to be fixed inside any counting hall. No camera stand should, therefore, be allowed to be taken inside the counting halls by the media and journalists," the guidelines said.

As part of the three-tier security arrangements, adequate local police force should be stationed at first point of entry to check the identity of the persons seeking entry in the counting premises.

"No person without duly issued authority letter of the EC or photo I-card issued by the concerned District Election officer or Media pass, duly displayed on his person shall be allowed to cross the first cordon. A senior Magistrate shall be posted at the entrance to control the crowd and regulate the entry," the Commission said.

The second-tier and the middle cordon will be at the gate of the counting premise and it will be manned by the armed police of the state concerned.

"Women shall be frisked only by women police personnel/women home guards. They should also tell that mobiles, I-pad, laptop and similar electronic devices etc which can record audio or video are not allowed inside the counting hall and they will need to keep it in the media or public communication room.

"The forces deployed at second cordon will also ensure that no one is loitering outside the counting halls and using mobile phones or other communication equipment. (Mobile etc can only be used from designated rooms as said at the counting centers)," it said.

The third and the inner cordon shall be at the door of the counting hall. This will be manned largely by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).

There will be frisking arrangements at this stage, too so as to ensure that no mobile phones and other prohibited items are carried inside the counting hall, the EC said.

"In its endeavour to conduct free, fair and transparent polls, ECI have initiated innumerable measures, set up different mechanisms and practices along with issuing various instructions and guidelines to tackle various security issues related to storage of EVMs in the strong room and during the counting process," the Commission said.

These latest guidelines have been issued to strengthen the overall electoral process, it said.
Smaller states like Goa witness different brand of political permutations and combinations. After 81 percent out of the states eligible and registered 11.09 lakh voters opted to exercise their right to franchise on 4 February, Goa continues to witness a slugfest over postal ballots. The number may be just 17,590, but constitute the key to make or unmake the next government.

The exit poll results may not have any clue which way the government servants, who were on election duty on 4 February, may vote. They have the option to cast their votes till 8 am of 11 March when the counting of votes is set to start. Nervousness of opposition parties, which took their plea to scrap postal ballots to the Election Commission and the states ruling Bharatiya Janata Partys cool behaviour are being seen as sure indicators that the bureaucrats, police personnel and government school teachers may not be unhappy with the BJPs five-year rule under two chief ministers, namely Manohar Parrikar and Laxmikant Parsekar. Some 11,220 of them had submitted their votes with the respective Returning Officers by 7 March.

Being Indias tiniest state, the average votes cast on 4 February comes to 24,627 votes cast in each of Goas 40 constituencies. If the past is any indicator, victory margins in many constituencies could yet again be very narrow in which roughly 440 postal ballots on an average in each constituency may make or mar the chances of political parties and chief minister aspirants.

With two days still to go for results to be declared, all chief ministerial aspirants are bound to feel the goosebumps. And Goa has over a dozen chief ministerial aspirants, including some independents who are ready with their dreams and sustained dreams if Goa throws up yet another hung Assembly. Goa has a history of electing hung Assemblies and all political parties, while anxiously waiting for the results and praying for at least a simple majority, are ready for yet another fractured mandate in which those possessing political acumen and manipulative skills walk away with chief ministership, sometimes for as less as six days.

Ravi Naik of the Congress party was in the chair for merely six days in 1994 when Congress with 18 seats in the 40-member Assembly had emerged as the single largest party. Churchill Alemao of the Progressive Democratic Front ruled the state for 18 days in 1990 following the Congress party winning just 20 out of 40 seats at stake in 1989 polls.

The state has witnessed formation of 22 governments since its liberation from the Portuguese rule in 1961, with five spells of Presidents Rule, totalling 639 days of central rules, reflecting how politically fragile Goa has been over the years.

Rebellions, splits and horse-trading of legislators, leading to rampant corruption at every level in the society, has been as much part and parcel of Goa as its sun-soaked pristine beaches.

With the focus on whether any political party will get slender majority when results are declared on Saturday, talks about who would grace the desired chief ministers chair is also being discussed since the voting day. Whether federal Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will return as the new Goa chief minister or his lacklustre successor Laxmikant Parsekar would remain in the chair, in case of BJP retaining power, are being debated. BJP also has to consider if nominating a Christian chief minister may prove to be politically beneficial for it in the longer run.

BJPs arch rival and the states principle opposition Congress party probably has more chief ministerial aspirants compared to other parties. Will the partys state unit president Luizinho Faleiro get a second chance to be the next chief minister in the event of the party emerging favourite of Goans? Faleiro had a brief spell lasting 168 days way back in 1999 as the Goa chief minister. Or whether the septuagenarian Pratapsingh Rane will become Goa chief minister for the seventh time in his chequered and long political career, is the question in the minds of Goans. They have to contend with Digambar Kamat, the last Congress party chief minister, who successfully ran the government for five years with his political acumen despite the party winning just 16 seats, compared to BJPs 14, in 2007 Assembly election.

This explains why the faction-ridden Congress party faced so much difficulty in finalising its nominees for Goa polls as all these political stalwarts locked horns over getting their favourites party tickets with an eye on post-poll scenario, which may have marred the partys prospects.

Only two aspirants are assured that in the unlikely event of their respective parties emerging victorious  Elvin Gomes of the debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Ramkrishna alias Sudin Dhavalikar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP)  will face no challenges. Unlike the BJP and the Congress party which did not project its chief ministerial candidates, both AAP and MGP went to polls after naming their chief ministerial face.

Add to this at least half a dozen independents and leaders of smaller parties who are fancying their chances while praying for the election of another hung Assembly.

Whose Holi will be more boisterous and colourful on 13 March may ultimately provide a clue as all aspirants would have weighed pros and cons of their prospects by then.
If exit poll results come true, Goa is definitely headed to deliver a fractured mandate. Three exit polls conducted are unanimous that the states ruling BJP may emerge the single largest party in a hung Assembly.

Taking average of all three exit polls, it appears that BJPs juggernaut may stop in the coastal state at 18, three short of simple majority, while Congress partys dream of returning to power may yield it just three more seats compared to 2012 when it had won nine seats. It seems Congress may snatch three seats from BJP that had won 21 seats five years back.

AAP may manage to open its account by winning three seats, though it had identified Goa as a potential state for its expansion beyond Delhi. Tally of Others and Independents will come down from 10 to 7.

Here's a brief list of possible chief ministerial candidates for the state:

In case of an BJP government:

Manohar Parrikar

Union defence minister is unarguably the most popular BJP leader in Goa and the majority of Goans would want to see Parrikar back as the next chief minister. So would Parrikar, who had moved to the Centre, rather reluctantly in November 2014.

The 61-year-old IIT Mumbai graduate has deep roots in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since his student years. He was instrumental in BJPs phenomenal growth in Goa, got elected as a legislator for the first time in 1994, and served as the Leader of Opposition in 1999 before becoming Goas 10th chief minister in 2000. He served in the post till 2005 when a spate of defections from the BJPs ranks reduced his government to minority.

It was Parrikars strategic masterstroke when he made no attempt to cobble up post poll alliance after the BJP emerged as the single largest party in hung Goa Assembly in 2007. It paid rich political dividends was BJP won simple majority on its own by winning 21 seats in the 40-member Assembly along with three seats won by its ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) in 2012.

Parrikar as chief minister brought stability to Goas infamous murky politics and initiated a slew of development-oriented and people-friendly measures until his services were requisitioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clean up the Defence Ministry perennially associated with controversial defence deals.

BJP realised its folly that without Parrikar it stood no chance of retaining power by the time the next election arrived. He was given a free hand to direct the Goa government and run the party, making him the virtual super chief minister. Parrikar spent more time in Goa than in Delhi and the BJP threw broad hints that he would be sent back as Goa chief minister if voted to power again. The strategy seems to have paid off as prospect of Parrikar back as Goa chief minister is believed to have helped get extra votes.

Circumstances will dictate if Parrikar would be back where Goans want him to. He may be asked to form the next government if BJP falls short of the majority since his magnetic personality will attract Independents and some smaller parties to support BJP. However, if BJP gets majority on its own, Parrikar may stay put as the defence minister and asked to nominate the new chief minister, as he was asked to in 2014 when he handpicked Laxmikant Parsekar as his successor.

Laxmikant Parsekar

Uncertainty hovers over incumbent Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekars future even in the event of BJP forming the new Goa government.

Parrikar had nominated Parsekar as his successor since he allegedly did not want a strong leader to emerge from the BJP ranks as his replacement. Like Parrikar, Parsekar too enjoys unstained reputation which is something so uncommon in Goas politics. But the comparison between the two ends there. Parsekar tried to learn and did his best, which was not good enough to make him popular either within the party or in the state, forcing BJP not to project him the chief ministerial face or seek votes on his name.

The lackluster and indecisive Parrikar has left two major decisions for his successor to tackle. He failed to move the Supreme Court with review petition after the apex court in mid-December announced ban on liquor outlets within radius of 500 metre of national and state highways from 1 April. This threatens large-scale closure of liquor outlets, causing unemployment and domino effect being felt now by cashew nut farmers who are unsure about what to do with the massive crop this season, as brewing feni has ceased to be a lucrative option for them now in view of closure of liquor outlets and decline in demand of Goas favourite alcoholic drink.

As if Parsekars failure to move to the apex court was not enough, comes the news that the Union highways Ministry has agreed to take over Major District Roads (MDR) and convert them into national highways at Parsekars request. The proposed 290-km MDR connects major beaches of North Goa, which is so popular with tourists. It will require large-scale demolitions and closure of liquor outlets, paralysing the tourist industry that sustain Goa and Goans.

There is only an outside chance that Parsekar will be able to hold on to his post even if BJP gets a thumping majority since the part rank and file are against him.

Francis DSouza

Demand for BJP expanding its social base by opting to nominate a Christian community leader as the next Goa chief minister has been growing for some time. It may enable BJP earn the goodwill of the powerful Christian community, especially in South Goa.

Francis DSouza, the incumbent deputy chief minister is the first choice in that scenario. DSouza, 62, entered Goa Assembly in 1999 and remains undefeated since then. He was appointed deputy chief minister when Parrikar formed the government in 2012. He was seen as a strong contender to replace Parrikar as chief minister in 2014 and made his displeasure public when his claim was overlooked in favour of Parsekar, while asking him to continue as deputy chief minister.

DSouza utilised the long break between polling and result to get his ailing heart operated in a Mumbai hospital and is said to be ready to throw his hat in the ring again.

In case BJP overlooks DSouza again but wants pick a Christian leader as the new chief minister, then its possible choice would be popular Calangute legislator Michael Lobo whose rags to riches story inspires the Goas youth.

Lobo washed dishes in a Panjim (now Panaji) bar to support his education and ended up becoming its manager. Today he owns nearly a dozen resorts and restro-bars in North Goa. He has earned reputation of a visionary hardworking legislator. Whether BJP opts for the 40-year-old Lobo will be interesting to look for.

If Parrikar is asked to stay put in Delhi and BJP overlooks Parsekar, DSouza and Lobo, partys Goa unit chief Vinay Tendulkar could come into contention.

Whosoever becomes the next chief minister from BJP, one thing is sure that he would have to be Parrikars yes-man since he may be asked to name one by the partys Parliamentary Board.

In case the Congress comes to power:

Luizinho Faleiro

Luizinho Faleiro may be the first though not the most popular choice in case the Congress party returns to power.

Faleiro had served as Goa chief minister for 168 days in 1999 and is seen as being close to party chief Sonia Gandhi. He was serving as the national general secretary of the party when was asked by Sonia to shift to Goa as the state unit president in 2014 to rebuild the ailing party.

Faleiro has done his best but whether his best is good enough to steer Congress party to power remains to be seen.

The outspoken 65-year-old Faleiro was seen lambasting his party leaders in public, faced hurdles in implementing his youth-first plan and failed to end factionalism within the state unit of the party. At the end, he was heading just another faction instead of the party and was seen dejected and disappointed as his baiters had established direct contact with Digvijaya Singh, the national general secretary in-charge for Goa.

Faleiros baiters would try to put stumbling blocks in his path of becoming the chief minister in case the Congress party manages to form the new Goa government. His only hope is Sonia Gandhi whose dictate continues to rule the roost in the party.

Digambar Kamat

Digambar Kamat, 62, is famous for political manipulations and is the last chief minister from the Congress ranks. It was his manipulations that enabled him to survive as chief minister for five years between 2007 and 2012. Kamat managed to form the government despite the Congress party winning one seat less than the rival BJP in 2007 elections. His government was reduced to a minority in the very first year after resignations and alliance break ups. But Kamat survived to complete his full five year tenure but at the cost of making the party unpopular with BJP winning majority and the Congress party getting reduced to the single figure after winning just nine seats in 2012 Assembly polls.

Kamat is the typical face of Goas politics that degenerated and rotted for long. He started his political career with the Congress party, quit it to join BJP when he was denied nomination in 1994 elections. He was serving as a minister in BJP-led Parrikar government when his chief ministerial ambitions got better of him. He quit the government and party, returned to the Congress party while toppling Parrikar government. He finally fulfilled his chief ministerial ambitions when BJP opted to sit in the Opposition despite being the largest party in 2007.

Kamat can be rightfully blamed for the decline of the Congress party in Goa and rise of BJP. But his chances cannot be ruled out as despite all, he probably is the most popular Congress leader from Goa right now.

Pratapsingh Rane

The septuagenarian Pratapsingh Rane was at one time the most popular leader of Goa and has the unique distinction of being the last chief minister of the Union Territory Goa, Daman and Diu and the first chief minister when Goa became a full-fledged state while he was the chief minister between 1980 and 1990. He is also credited for ending the 16 years of uninterrupted rule of Goa, Daman and Diu of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).

Rane is credited for many developments that Goa witnessed in the 1980s. He has served as Goa chief minister six times, the last being for little over two years between 2005 and 2007.

Although he has been grooming his legislator son Vishwajit Rane as his successor in Goa politics, Rane senior may still have claim to become the next chief minister since he served as Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Assembly.

Elvis Gomes from the Aam Aadmi Party

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominated ex-bureaucrat Elvis Gomes as its chief ministerial candidate. Though there is absolutely no ambiguity over who its chief minister would be, it remains to be seen if AAP manages to do Delhi trick and sweeps Goa election.

Gomes draws inspiration and parallel with AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who too had quit government job to ultimately join politics. Gomes opted for retirement when he was about to be promoted as an IAS officer last year. He enjoys popularity as he was seen as an honest, upright and hardworking bureaucrat. Ironically, his name cropped up in a land scam case in which he denies any role.

That Gomes would be effective as Goa chief minister is beyond doubt, but the big question remains if he and Kejriwal together could do enough to sweep Goa polls and form the next government.

Ramkrishna alias Sudin Dhavalikar (MGP)

The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) went to polls by projecting former PWD minister Ramkrishna alias Sudin Dhavalikar, elder of the two Dhavalikar brothers now dominating once powerful MGP.

Sudin has long nurtured chief ministerial ambitions and the MGPs decision to snap ties with BJP was driven by this ambition. MGP formed alliance with the BJPs breakaway faction Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) and Shiv Sena. The Right-wing alliance named Sudin Dhavalikar as its chief ministerial face.

MGP, founded by Dayanand Bandodkar, was a formidable political force in Goa. Bandodkar became the first chief minister of Goa Daman and Diu after first election were held in 1963 following its liberation from Portuguese rule in 1961.

MGP ruled Goa through Bandodkar and his daughter Shashikala Kakodkar till 1980, interrupted twice by Presidents Rule, when it was finally voted out of power. The party has since declined and has become pocket borough of Dhavalikar brothers particularly after BJP emerged as the first choice party of Goas Hindus.

Sudin Dhavalikars only chance of becoming chief minister hangs on hope that his party wins more than 10 seats and Goa gives a badly fractured mandate.

Follow LIVE here.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) may have announced poll dates for the two parliamentary seats of Srinagar and Anantnag on Friday, but the political parties had started the preparations months before, after the pro-freedom protests subsided and the situation in Kashmir started to normalise. Now, with the dates being announced, the Congress is rooting for an alliance with National Conference Party to counter the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming parliamentary polls on two seats of Srinagar and Anantnag in April.

The political parties had started organising conventions and public meetings well ahead of the poll dates which were announced on Friday. Chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, had been trying to reach out to the people; she recently announced compensation for those who died in the violence that erupted after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander, Burhan Muzafar Wani.

The government has admitted that about 75 people have died in seven months beginning 8 July 2016, when Wani was killed in an encounter in the South Kashmir area of Anantnag. The election on the Anantang seat was due after chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti resigned and got elected as an MLA from Ananatnag. The Srinagar seat has become necessary after former PDP MP, Tariq Hammed Karra, resigned and has now joined the Congress. Karra resigned when the protests were peaking; he had allege that the ruling PDP-BJP alliance has failed to check the excesses committed by government forces on the people during the pro-freedom protests.

The polls will be held on 9 and 12 April for the Srinagar and Anantang seat respectively. The counting will be held on 15 April.

ECI's poll date announcement have made political parties admit that the fresh killings in Kashmir could only prove to be a setback. As a national political party we are gearing up for the polls, but also see in these dates a ploy by the ruling PDP to ensure lesser turn out in the parliamentary polls. PDP is fearing defeat that is the reason that the polls couldnt be held in time and state has been seeking that they should be postponed, said state Congress president, GA Mir.

The state government had sought from the ECI that the Panchayat polls, which were due since June last year, should be held ahead of the Assembly polls. But since the ECI didnt heed to the request, all major political parties had sounded the poll bugle ahead of the dates. Nevertheless, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), which is tasked with the responsibility of monitoring the elections, was ready for both the Assembly as well as Panchayat polls. The government has recently completed the delimitation of Panchayats and at least 35,000 Panch constituencies will go to polls after the by-elections for the Srinagar and Anantang seat. However, Mir said that the pressing issue before the ruling BJP government at the Centre was to hold the by-polls in Kashmir ahead of the polls for the office of President. This shows the nervousness of the BJP government at Centre. They want to fill up all the position of MLAs and MPs ahead of the elections for the office of President. Otherwise the ruling PDP never wanted the polls because they sensed a defeat. The elections for Anantnag seat are due for the last one year while as for the Srinagar seat they are due for last 6 months, he said.

While the leaders of political parties have started lobbying to get a mandate on the Srinagar and Anantnag seats, the NC and Congress are likely to go for a pre-poll alliance against the PDP. Mir said that there was a public demand that the Congress and NC should field joint candidates for the parliamentary seats. The opposition vote wont get divided that way, he said.

From the NC, former chief minister and NC president, Farooq Abdullah, is likely to contest the Srinagar seat. For the Anantang seat, the names of Congress president, Mir, and former minister, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, are being considered. Mir has a stronghold in South Kashmir. He had lost the last assembly polls by a very thin margin from the Dooru constituency. PDP's Tasaduq Mufti (Mehbooba Mufti's brother), her uncle, Sartaj Madni, and her cousin, Mufti Sajad, are being considered for the Anantang seat. The party is looking at fielding former Minister and ex-MLA from Ganderbal, Qazi Mohammad Afzal, or son of former PDP Minister, Nazir Khan from the Srinagar seat.

NC General Secretary, Ali Mohammad Sagar, said that the party will hold a meeting within few days to decide on the names of candidates and the poll strategy that would be adopted. Both the NC and Congress would focus their campaign on the use of harsh measures against people to tackle the unrest in Kashmir. Parties have been lashing out at the PDP-BJP alliance for the excessive use of force against the people. But Mir admitted that the campaigning during the polls may become difficult due to the killings that continue to take place in Kashmir. The situation has not improved much, he said.

The Hurriyat Conference has already asked people to boycott the polls and in fact, the police said in a statement on Friday that the two militants who were killed in South Kashmir were asking people to desist from elections. Two LeT militants were killed in an encounter with police and security forces in Padgampora area of Awantipora. These militants were involved in many incidents of violence including killing of security force police personnel and political activists, grenade attacks on security forces, police installations in South Kashmir. They were also involved in threatening general masses to refrain from forthcoming elections, the police said.
New Delhi: With most of the exit poll surveys predicting a clear victory for BJP in Manipur, a question that is doing the rounds is that if BJP is going to repeat history in the North East after the big Assam win last year.

Since the C-voter survey says that BJP will bag as many as 25 to 31 seats leaving the ruling Congress at 23 seats at the most, it could be a signal that the saffron party's strategy to implement Assam formula in Manipur too might have worked.

When BJP in Manipur started inducting Congress stalwarts as it did in Assam before elections, it was clear that the saffron party was following the Assam path.

Even the enemies of BJP admit the reality that Manipur does not differ much from Assam as a political terrain for the saffron party.

Like Assam, even Manipur has a sizeable Hindu population for BJP to bank upon. Manipur is resided by majority Meiteis, who are mostly Hindus and minority Nagas and Kukis who are mostly Christians.

Anti-incumbency against the three terms old Congress governments in both the states is another resemblance and that has been seen as an advantage by BJP.

While enjoying these advantages in Manipur, the saffron party also has to overcome one hurdle which is the Congress Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh himself.

There is a stark difference between the kind of politics practiced by Ibobi and Gogoi, whom the BJP defeated so easily in Assam.

The three terms that Tarun Gogoi ruled in Assam saw a gradual decline of the gun culture as well as much dreaded extrajudicial killings known as secret killings. On the other hand during Ibobis rule, Manipur saw 1,000 extra-judicial killings in the state.

Recent blasts and subversive activities during election period signify the reality that politics in Manipur is different from what it was in Assam last year which gave an even playing ground to BJP.

The recent period of the election in Manipur also saw freshening of the wounds in Naga-Meitei relationship in the state as Ibobi decided to create seven new districts in Manipur against the wishes of the United Naga Council and the NSCN(IM).

The rift has resulted in polarisation of Meitei nationalistic emotion in favour of Ibobi as the UNC imposed a four-month long blockade in protest of the decision to create seven new districts.

Even though most of the exit polls indicate a clear win for the BJP, there is still doubt about the possible outcome of the election among the experts, given the hurdle.

A Bimol Akoijam, an expert in Manipur politics presently based in Imphal told Firstpost that Congress might get a couple of seats more than BJP.

"BJP in this election is likely to get 15 to 25 seats whereas the Congress is likely to bag 20 to 30 of them in the state with 60 constituencies."

He also said that in that case, the Congress will need one or two and the BJP two or three allies to match the tally of 31 seats required to form a government.

It is not difficult to surmise why Ibobi is likely to remain the chief minister in case Congress matches the tally.

But the lack of a projected chief minister candidate on the part of the saffron party has left the voter wondering about who would occupy the coveted post if BJP happens to form a government.

In fact, BJP did not have a leader to project as the chief minister till a few months ago. Most of its stalwarts are the ones who have recently broken away from Congress.

Thounaojam Chouba Singh who is a frontrunner in the chief ministerial race in the saffron party was a minister of state in the NDA government under the leadership of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajapayee. Prior to that, he was a veteran Congress leader.

The second runner in the race is N Biren Singh who was a Congress MLA till last October when he resigned from the grand old party and joined BJP after a feud with Ibobi.

Y Eerabot Singh who joined BJP in last September was a Congress veteran and MLA before that.

In the case of any disagreement about the chief ministerial candidate, the BJP leadership may pose Ksh Bhabananda Singh, the president of the partys state chapter, who has been with the party since 1995 and without a stint with the Congress. But Bhabananda Singh did not appear as the candidate in the Assembly election, even though he is seen as a leader trusted by the central leadership.
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Bhagwant Mann is no laughing matter. The former comedian could prove to be the joker in the pack in Punjab. If the Aam Aadmi Party wins in the state, the credit for it would go largely to Mann. He is the man who got the party the crowds and wild following, not so much Arvind Kejriwal. Whether the party would discover a serious politician in the funny guy and anoint him chief minister is a matter of conjecture though. The party has to win first.

Warning signs for the ruling Akali-BJP alliance in Punjab had first surfaced in the 2014 elections with two distinct results. The first was the humiliating defeat of finance minister Arun Jaitley in the Akali bastion of Amritsar at the hands of Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh. The second was the phenomenal rise of AAP in the state's Malwa region.

According to the Election Commission of India , the trends and results will be available from 8 am.

Trends and results to be available from 8 am

In Goa, pollsters have predicted a modest debut for AAP with somewhere between 2-4 in the 40-seat Assembly with India News-MRC being the most optimistic at 7. But even AAP may admit that it didn't directed even a fraction of its strategic attention, human capital and resources in Goa that it did in Punjab led by a belief that amid the bipolarity of SAD-BJP and Congress, it has oodles of space to grow.

Even after applying statutory exit poll disclaimers, it seems fairly certain that in Punjab, AAP will either form the government on its own or fall just short  a staggeringly successful causatum for a party that was floated only in 2012. Think about it. Under less than five years of its existence, AAP now rules a quasi-state in Delhi and is poised to clinch power in a full state.

AAP will be the party to keep an eye on in this election. A victory  a possibility going by exit polls  here would be the first step towards its pan-Indian expansion. From a half-state, which is Delhi, the party will shift to a state with full constitutional power. In Delhi, the partys performance has been less than satisfactory. This could be, as the party says, due to the fact that the government does not have control over crucial spheres such as the police, land and services. Punjab would offer no such handicap. All eyes would on the quality of the ministry. This, however, will happen if the party gets the numbers to form the government. It has been called a party of jokers by political rivals. Lets watch whom the joke is on.

Why AAP will be the party to watch out for

The electoral tussle between Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Captain Amarinder Singh would be remembered as the great battle of Lambi. History suggests no one takes on the Badal senior on his home turf and goes back a winner. But the Congress chief has decided to take the battle right into the bastion of the aging Akali Dal war horse. Prestige is at stake for both and it remains to be seen who ends up with a bloodied nose. The AAP has fielded Jarnail Singh on the seat and he is getting some traction among people too. Lets wait for a few hours to know who wins the battle of Lambi.

Punjab has the richest candidates but the worst education indicators, according to Indiaspend .

Exit polls have written the obituary of ruling SAD-BJP combine in this border state. That could well be the case but early leads from 9 seats in Punjab (according to The Times of India) show Congress leading in 6 seats, SAD in 2 and favourites AAP in one seat. Arvind Kejriwal had been focusing all his energies on Punjab for the last one year and Punjab result would be a make-or-break one for him.

Congress is now leading in 61 seats in Punjab. While the exit polls had predicted a massive defeat for SAD-BJP, the alliance is actually leading in 30 seats in the state. AAP got the most disappointing numbers are they are third, leading in 23 seats.

Political analysts are saying that Captain Amarinder Singh's magic worked while AAP needs to realise that mere antics do not translate into votes.

Meanwhile, HS Phoolka is leading in Dakha by 1,828 votes, according to the Election Commission.

It seems Bhagwant Mann's wit and jokes did not work in Jalalabad as he is trailing in the constituency by 9,314 votes.

"This is the revival of the Congress. It is just the beginning. Take energy from Punjab and spread," said the Congress, who was once in BJP. "We have to fight for Punjab now instead of giving in to joy," he said.

"Rumours on social media started by trolls have not worked. The trolls have been defeated," Sidhu said.

"Dharma has won today. Everytime evil takes over somewhere, God teaches arrogant people a lesson," he said. "The two arrogant leaders of the Akali Dal have been taught a lesson."

"The final innings of Rahulji, Soniaji and Amarinderji worked," said Navjot Singh Sidhu as Congress is set to win in Punjab.

Having said that, AAP+ is now leading in more seats than the SAD-BJP alliance. Even though the exit polls were horribly wrong about a close Congress-AAP contest in the state, this is still a decent show from AAP, considering this was they were participating in Punjab polls for the first time.

If Congress actually wins 78 seats in Punjab, it will have 2/3rd majority in the state Assembly. Even other reports are saying that Congress is leading in almost 78 seats.

Of the 117 constituencies which underwent polling in Punjab, several saw close fights between high profile candidates whether it was Bhagwant Mann vs Sukhbir Singh Badal in Jalalabad or Captain Amarinder Singh vs Parkash Singh Badal in Lambi. Click here to read our list of key constituencies in Punjab.

Riding on the anger against the Badals and the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) alliance, the Indian National Congress has won 57 seats (at 3 pm), just two seats away from the 59- seat mark that is required to prove majority in Punjab Assembly. Captain Amarinder Singh seems to have flinched success for the national party in Punjab which went for polling along with four other states in February and March this year.

And today, he is the lone star in leading the party to victory in a state at a time when Congress has almost vanished from the entire country. It's befitting that on the day he turns 75, he is getting the gift of a state that he has nurtured politically during the stormiest times in the history of the Congress party.

He was the lone star that the Congress could flaunt among its slim victory numbers in the 2014 general elections when he had defeated BJP bigwig Arun Jaitley in a one-sided battle in Amritsar constituency.

In the massive shipwreck that the political fortunes of the Congress party have faced in the past few years, the only name to bob up and stay afloat on the political waters is that of Captain Amarinder Singh.

At 5.30 pm, the tally of seats stood at 74 for Congress with leading in three, 20 for AAP and 18 for SAD-BJP. The Lok Insaf Party won two seats.

"I expected 66 plus or minus seat, but we have gotten way above our expectations. In fact, our poll strategist Prashant Kishor has said that if the bubble of AAP burst we will cross 70, but else it will be somewhere around 66."

Singh also rubbished claims of AAP emerging as a national party. He said the party's true colours have come out. " I don't think anything is going to happen for them in 2019," he added.

Clarifying on his allegations of AAP promoting fringe elements in the state, Singh once again said that lot of people who joined AAP have some sort of grudge against the country. "There are people who think differently who curse Congress, and talk about 1984. They (AAP) were collecting individuals who had a grouse against the country and not just Punjab," he said.

Speaking to the TV channel, Captain Amarinder Singh said that AAP was too much hyped. "When they were saying that they are going to sweep Malwa. Even I started wondering how are they going to win Malwa, which has been our own bastion for so many years. But when I started going around, I realised that people liked us," Singh said.

"Punjab's security lies in the security of ties with our neighbours," he also said.

"There will be no vendetta politics, no victimisation. There is a Constitution and law. You can't just break all that," Singh said, when asked about what action he'll take against people from the SAD-BJP alliance facing allegations of promoting drug trade.

"I spoke to Priyanka Gandhi and told her we'll bounce back in UP," he also said.

"The prime minister assured me of all support on the financial front...I have asked the prime minister for debt waiver. We will also reform Punjab police," said the Congress' chief ministerial candidate.

"On the first cabinet meeting, we will bring those issues which have no monetary involvement," said Amarinder Singh.

Earlier today, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Captain Amarinder Singh said that his party won't indulge in vendetta politics. Will this event change his party's stand?

With the results being declared, the knives are out in Punjab. According to India Today, two Congress workers were killed in the state during a violent clash with Shiromani Akali Dal workers in Mansa.

Outgoing chief minister Parkash Singh Badal met Governor VP Singh Badnore earlier today and tendered his resignation. The 89-year-old leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won from Lambi, but his party fared poorly winning just 15 seats while SAD's alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won just three seats at the end of counting of votes on 11 march. SAD, however, was the second most popular party in terms of votes receiving 25.2% of the total vote share.

On the vexed issue of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, Amarinder said it was important to see the quantum of water available with Punjab. "When Punjab does not have enough water, the question of giving it to other states does not arise," he said. He said Punjab has 60 percent of agrarian land with just eight MAF (million acre-feet) water, while Haryana with 40 percent of agriculture land has 12 MAF water. The Congress' chief ministerial candidate said he was committed to fulfill all the promises made by the party in its election manifesto.

Amarinder Singh asserted that his government will form a 'Special Task Force' to curb the drug menace in Punjab, while making the state more investor-friendly. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him full cooperation for the development of the state.

Singh also rubbished claims of AAP emerging as a national party. He said the party's true colours have come out. " I don't think anything is going to happen for them in 2019," he added.

Clarifying on his allegations of AAP promoting fringe elements in the state, Singh once again said that lot of people who joined AAP have some sort of grudge against the country. "There are people who think differently who curse Congress, and talk about 1984. They (AAP) were collecting individuals who had a grouse against the country and not just Punjab," he said.

Speaking to the TV channel, Captain Amarinder Singh said that AAP was too much hyped. "When they were saying that they are going to sweep Malwa. Even I started wondering how are they going to win Malwa, which has been our own bastion for so many years. But when I started going around, I realised that people liked us," Singh said.

Singh also said that he will get rid of synthetic drugs known as chitta from the state in one month. "Everybody is growing bhang, but the killer here is chitta. I have promised to finish it in four weeks. And we are going to do that. We don't believe in catching people and shoving them in jails. If anything comes out during the investigation we will take legal action them," he said.

"The people have gone for stability. There is a debt of Rs 2 lakh crore, our budget is in deficit, jobs are not there and education is in shambles," he said adding that people have voted against all that.

"The people of Punjab have given me two bonus seats on my 75th birthday"

The Election Commission announced the final results of the Punjab Assembly Election with Congress winning 77 seats. According to Amarinder Singh, this is one of the best performance of the party in the state.

"Punjab's security lies in the security of ties with our neighbours," he also said.

"There will be no vendetta politics, no victimisation. There is a Constitution and law. You can't just break all that," Singh said, when asked about what action he'll take against people from the SAD-BJP alliance facing allegations of promoting drug trade.

"I spoke to Priyanka Gandhi and told her we'll bounce back in UP," he also said.

"The prime minister assured me of all support on the financial front...I have asked the prime minister for debt waiver. We will also reform Punjab police," said the Congress' chief ministerial candidate.

"On the first cabinet meeting, we will bring those issues which have no monetary involvement," said Amarinder Singh.

Earlier today, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Captain Amarinder Singh said that his party won't indulge in vendetta politics. Will this event change his party's stand?

With the results being declared, the knives are out in Punjab. According to India Today, two Congress workers were killed in the state during a violent clash with Shiromani Akali Dal workers in Mansa.

Outgoing chief minister Parkash Singh Badal met Governor VP Singh Badnore earlier today and tendered his resignation. The 89-year-old leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won from Lambi, but his party fared poorly winning just 15 seats while SAD's alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won just three seats at the end of counting of votes on 11 march. SAD, however, was the second most popular party in terms of votes receiving 25.2% of the total vote share.

Whatever they (Congress) will do will come in front of you: Parkash Singh Badal after tendering his resignation pic.twitter.com/qHWQgDihKL

On the vexed issue of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, Amarinder said it was important to see the quantum of water available with Punjab. "When Punjab does not have enough water, the question of giving it to other states does not arise," he said. He said Punjab has 60 percent of agrarian land with just eight MAF (million acre-feet) water, while Haryana with 40 percent of agriculture land has 12 MAF water. The Congress' chief ministerial candidate said he was committed to fulfill all the promises made by the party in its election manifesto.

Amarinder Singh asserted that his government will form a 'Special Task Force' to curb the drug menace in Punjab, while making the state more investor-friendly. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him full cooperation for the development of the state.

Met Governor and staked claim to make government, 16th has been fixed as the date: Captain Amarinder Singh #Punjab pic.twitter.com/zvDVHidSYP

Reports have said that Singh has also left for Delhi.

Punjab, which witnessed a triangular contest in the assembly polls, could be in for a neck-and-neck fight between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) while the ruling SAD-BJP may face a drubbing, according to pollsters.

Exit polls released ahead of the 11 March counting predict the SAD-BJP combine, which has been ruling the state for 10 years, could be struggling to get even into double digits in the 117-member House due to multiple factors including the anti-incumbency.

While India Today-Axis exit polls gave 62-71 seats to the Congress and 42-51 to AAP, India TV-C Voter projected 41-49 for the Congress and 59-67 seats for the AAP. India News-MRC and News 24-Chanakya forecast 55 seats to the Congress and 54 to the AAP.

The ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance was reduced to single digit tally in all exit polls.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the exit polls, the SAD-BJP alliance is confident of defying the pollsters like in 2012, when it proved the surveys wrong. 89-year-old chief minister Parkash Singh Badal claimed the combine would win 72 seats.

As for Congress, Amarinder Singh claimed it would win 65 seats and the AAP exuded confidence of bagging close to 100.

The state went to polls in single phase on 4 February and recorded 77.36 percent polling against 78.57 percent in the 2012 polls.

Punjab, which had mostly seen a contest between SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress over the last few decades, added a third front in the 2017 Assembly election with the entrance of Arvind Kejriwal's AAP. There were a total of 1,145 candidates in the fray, with alll the top-three contenders Congress, SAD-BJP alliance as well as AAP fielding 117 candidates. Also in the fray in Punjab are Communisty Party of India  Marxist (CPM), Communist Party of India  Marxist Liberation (CPI-ML), Aapna Punjab Party (APP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Punjab Front, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Punjab United (PU), Akali Dal (AD), Apna Punjab (AP), Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Party (JJJKP), Swabhiman Party (SP) and Janta Dal United (JDU).

The counting of votes will take place on Saturday (11 March) for which all necessary preparations have been made, an election office spokesman said in Chandigarh. It was a record for the state when the SAD (with BJP) came back to power in 2012 as no party had ever been given two consecutive terms. Since reorganisation of Punjab in 1966, the Congress and the SAD have been ruling the state alternately. The SAD-BJP alliance formed the government for the first time in 2007 and retained majority in 2012.

This time around, while the SAD is contesting 94 seats the BJP is 23. The Congress has contested all the seats. The AAP and its ally Lok Insaf Party, led by the Bains brothers of Ludhiana, are fighting 112 and 5 seats respectively.

With inputs from agencies
The RK Nagar bypolls scheduled for 12 April promises to be the 'Amma' of all electoral battles. Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar, that was represented by former chief minister Jayalalithaa in the Tamil Nadu assembly twice, will have its date with the EVM on 12 April. When the former chief minister chose to contest from Chennai for the first time in her political career, she zeroed in on RK Nagar. She won from the seat in June 2015, one month after she was acquitted in the Disproportionate Assets case by the Karnataka High court. She chose to contest again from RK Nagar when the state went to polls in May 2016.

But a lot of water has flown in the Cooum since then. What is certain is that it will not be a cakewalk for either of the two factions of the AIADMK. After managing to win the trust vote on 18 February on the floor of the House, this will be the second big test for the Mannargudi family-led AIADMK.

The Sasikala camp knows it has its back against the wall. Public resentment against Sasikala's attempt to become chief minister came to the fore in February. And from the chatter on the street, it has shown no signs of dying down. Given the antipathy, a candidate from the ruling AIADMK will find the going tough in RK Nagar. It will be difficult for the party managers to justify their allegiance to a convict in Bengaluru central prison.

When Sasikala was chosen as general secretary in December, most expected her to contest from RK Nagar. The conviction in the DA case poured water over all those hopes. It looks unlikely that given how the wind is blowing, her nephew TTV Dinakaran, who Sasikala appointed as the deputy general secretary just before she left for Bengaluru, will want to test the waters in RK Nagar. A local leader from the area is likely to be favoured.

It is a test for the rebel AIADMK as well. RK Nagar will show if all the social media chatter is for real or only a bubble that will be burst when the results are announced on 15 April. In keeping with its image as the cleaner of the two AIADMKs, the O Panneerselvam camp wants to field an honest candidate. One choice could be AIADMK presidium chairman E Madhusudanan who has represented the constituency in 1991-96. But sources within the party are mulling fielding Chennaite and Rajya Sabha member Dr V Maitreyan.

There is however, a hitch should Panneerselvam choose Maitreyan. If he wins, the oncologist will have to resign from the Upper House and the OPS camp will lose an articulate voice in Parliament. Besides, given the slender majority with which Edappadi Palaniswami is surviving, it is anyone's guess how long the regime will survive. A loss in RK Nagar could be the first jolt that could expose the fault-lines in the ruling front.

What will worry both factions of the AIADMK also is the fading Amma aura. When Jayalalithaa contested in 2015, she won by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes. But her margin went down significantly to just 39,000-odd votes a year later. One reason for that of course is that barring the CPI, all other parties decided not to put up a candidate against Jayalalithaa in the 2015 by-election.

But the Amma name is the only thing that Deepa Jayakumar is banking on. Founder of the MGR Amma Deepa Peravai, Deepa plans to be in the fray. But her handicap will be the lack of a party organisation and lack of experience in politics and election management. Waving to the crowds from the balcony, Jayalalithaa-style is one thing, organising a campaign with booth-level cadre to win an election, quite another.

The DMK that has not won from this AIADMK stronghold since 2001, will fancy its chances if the Amma vote is splintered between the two AIADMKs and Deepa. In 2016, it fielded Shimla Muthuchozhan, a lawyer against Jayalalithaa and given that she ran against the former chief minister with a close margin, Shimla could be MK Stalin's choice once again.

However, if both factions of the AIADMK stake claim, as they will, to the 'two leaves' symbol of the party, the ball will be in the Election Commission's court. While the Sasikala camp will claim to be the real AIADMK because it is in power, Panneerselvam is banking on the EC to disqualify her election as general secretary. He also points out that the presidium chairman Madhusudanan is on his side. If the EC freezes the symbol, both sides will lose out.

The RK Nagar bypoll is only the electoral appetiser as it will be immediately followed by the elections to the local bodies. The results to the municipal corporations and other bodies will give a real sense of the mood on the ground. And should they go against Sasikala's AIADMK, Chennai could be in for some mid-summer political action.
There is a reason why updates on Uttar Pradesh elections garner much attention across the country. The Hindi heartland has given eight of the fourteen prime ministers in India as it continues to be play a pivotal role in the nation's politics. It is also the state that sends the most numbers of MPs to both houses, but especially Rajya Sabha (31) apart. And this is what makes the election results to be announced on 11 March even more crucial to national politics.

While for the BJP, UP polls will be one chance to wrest free the Rajya Sabha from the controls of the Opposition, ensuring that BJP's strength is limited in Rajya Sabha is the only respite Congress can hope for until the next Lok Sabha Elections. Add to this the fact that the Presidential elections are nearing and whoever rules UP could have a major say in choosing the next Constitutional head of the country.

Besides this, the high-octane and bitter political campaign in the run-up to election has raised the stakes of all players invested in the election. While it is a prestige issue for the BJP, with the prime minister Modi invested so much in the campaigning, the results could also make or mar Akhilesh Yadav's political Yadav who only recently dethroned his father to take over the Samajwadi Party.

Meanwhile, the election brouhaha though high-pitched from across the state, had epicentres of activity across the seven phases, which draws special attention to these political hotspots in the state. While for the BJP, seats like Varanasi are of paramount importance with Modi camping their for three days, Akhilesh Yadav will have to prove his mettle as the new leader by retaining the traditional Yadav bastion of Saifai-Etawah-Azamgarh belt.

So on the eve of March 11, let's have a quick look at the most important constituencies in the state.
New Delhi: Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Friday blamed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's move to align with the Congress for the expected good showing of the BJP in the state.

Amar Singh flayed the Akhilesh Yadav government for corruption and non-development and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking courageous decisions.

"Modi should thank (Congress Vice-President) Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh for BJP's performance in the state," Singh told News18.

"From 'donkey' to 'terrorist' to 'pagal Modi', filthiest words were used to attack the Prime Minister. They (Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) neither had any issue nor any concrete plan for the polls.

"They talked about Metro rail which is still to come into existence, they talked about roads which are full of potholes.

"So Modi isn't wrong when he says there has been no development (in Uttar Pradesh)," he said.

"Akhilesh had admitted but for the feud with the family, he would never have aligned with the Congress. So this alliance was a compulsion," said Amar Singh, adding the tie-up disillusioned Yadav and Muslim voters.

The result of the Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand Assembly polls will be declared on Saturday.
In Uttar Pradesh, it is not clear whether the BJP would form the next government or Samajwadi Party would retain it, though the exit polls have generated enough speculation. It is as if the ball is still in the air after an agonising seven-phase polling.

The exit polls are not convergent on any point. Each has a different number and only India TodayAxis poll predicts a landslide for the BJP. The poll of polls also varies and it is now clear: No one seems to know what will be the outcome on 11 March. Eminent heads have, and will continue to, almost like a blind man trying to feel the elephant.

In the midst of let-us-guess tamasha, came the news which implied that Akhilesh Yadav had almost given up and indicated that he may not be averse to a tie-up with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party. He said nothing of the sort.

According to this audio track from the BBC Radio, he repeatedly stressed that his party, in an alliance with the Congress, would secure the majority to form the government in Lucknow. Not once, but twice. When the interviewer pressed on with the possibility of a hung House, Yadav said what he said, hypothetically.

No one would want a Presidents Rule as it would mean governance of Uttar Pradesh with the BJP having the remote control. Presidents Rules are conducted by the governor who reports to the Home Minister, though technically, it is to the President in the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

At no time did he concede a possibility of a loss at the hustings so laboriously and vehemently fought, and in which the media kept Mayawati and the BSP on the fringes, making it appear as if it was a direct fight between the BJP and the SP-Congress for the 403 seats.

A hypothetical response to a hypothetical question on which the media pounced. It set such a wildfire that Ravidas Mehrotra, an outgoing minister, went on record to whine about the losses the party would suffer because of the alliance with the Congress. He also had his other reasons: His was a seat on which a Congressman too contested despite their alliance. But the media report citing the BBC gave him the impetus.

It is not that I question the likelihood of the SP-Congress loss but building an entire superstructure of a political pyramid for a state on the strength of a hypothetical response to a hypothetical question detracts from the credibility of the media which is already low for a variety of reasons. This includes paid news, biases because of the ownership of the media outlets, both by way of their political inclinations and business interests, and the sheer inability to build a larger picture because of dependence on circumstantial wisdom which is the requirement for being a sought-after chatting head for a TV studio.

Each and every pundit heard on any channel had his or her own take, each of it sounding quite plausible in isolation but when put together with other views, did not quite fit the jigsaw. When channels have to run from about 5 pm on Friday to about 8 am on Saturday when the results start to indicate trends, it leads to a lot of pointless speculation.

That is the time, I wager, when advertisers flock to the TV channels and book air time and in between, to the exclusion of other news that may or may not be developing, the airtime has to be filled. What better than a discussion on the possibilities till the reality proves one or the other right or wrong?

This is what is precisely wrong with the media. The tendency to waffle and the tendency to provide it with an air of authority, of even butting in during a response of an interviewee with the surprising comment; You have just given us a headline even before, as in Akhilesh Yadavs case, he provides the entire context. Sometimes, such opportunities too are denied.
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After a high-octane campaigning for over two months, the wait is about to end as the results for Uttar Pradesh Election will be announced on 11 March. But before the counting of votes begins, Firstpost will track the outcome of all major exit poll surveys, which will begin trickling in after 5:30.

While most pollsters predicted that BJP will lead, not many media houses predicted that BJP will sweep the election the way it did. Only Chanakya's predictions at 67 were close enough to the 71 seats that BJP won in the state.

Exit polls predicted BJP in lead in 2014 but got the numbers all wrong

Samajwadi Party leader Ravidas Mehrotra is apparently miffed at his party's decision to ally with the Congress. He said that the alliance with Congress has reaped no benefits for SP, while adding that the Congress even tried to defeat SP at many places, according to ANI.

After a high-octane campaigning for over two months, results for Up elections will be out on 11 March, whereas the exit poll results will start coming in shortly. Meanwile, Firstpost gathered the key pre-poll surveys in one place to get a mood of the election season. The data we are interpreting was collected till January 2017.

Interestingly, it was considered that the saffron party will have to bear losses as the Jat community was apparently, miffed at BJP for going back on its promise of Jat reservations.

ABP News-CSDS polls have predicted that BJP will lead the poll results in first phase, with 33-39 seast.

ABP News-CSDS polls have predicted that Samajwadi Party trail at the second position will 20-26 seats, whereas BJP will lead with 33-39 seats. The BSP will be at the third position.

SP-Congress alliance to trail at second position in UP first phase

Earlier, Akhilesh Yadav has also said that the poor people can easily be lead astray. However, Mulayam Singh Yadav had expressed confidence that Akhilesh Yadav will be the CM of UP once again.

"If Akhilesh loses, it'll be a big loss for the public of UP. And, it won't be the sole responsibility of Akhilesh Yadav," Azam Khan said.

Times Now exit poll sees BJP getting 190-210 seats out of the 403 in Uttar Pradesh

Just before the exit poll results were to come, Prashant Kishor used the media to put up a bold face. He and his propaganda machinery put out stories that the SP-Congress alliance would get at least 180-odd seats. However in sharp contrast sources close to Mulayam Singh Yadav maintained that the SP-Congress coalition would fare badly and come poor third in the elections. Of course, in the next two days and nights, knives would be out in the Yadav household . And the exit polls conform to the real results, Akhilesh would face the first real and existential crisis of his political career.

As exit polls predict a BJP win, knives would be out in the Yadav household

If the BJP mops up votes beyond 34 percent in UP, there is little doubt that the party will sweep the polls with a clear majority. This share of vote would not have attained the same kind of result had there been a bipolar contest. Since the state assembly became a triangular contest among the BJP, SP and the BSP, it is going to be spectacular victory for the BJP in UP if the exit-poll surveys are any indication.

Close triangular contest, not Modi wave, could have turned the game for BJP in UP

Much before the real results are out, Akhilesh-loyalists are busy defending their leader. Of course Akhilesh needs to be protected from within his own family. Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal would not let Akhilesh go off the hook in the event of debacle. First, Akhilesh made the cardinal mistake of ceding a huge political ground to Congress which was decimated by Mulayam. Second, he alienated all those leaders who were cultivated by Mulayam for forging an effective social coalition. If the exit-polls come true, the tamasha (drama) within the Yadav household would the biggest political soap opera involving a political family only after fracas between Indira Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi.

It is instructive to note here that the alliance was stitched together against the wishes of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, while many party leaders have also voiced their concerns about ceding too many seats to the Congress.

If ABP-CSDS predictions are to be believed, it looks like the friendly alliance of UP ke ladke, have in fact failed to fetch any votes for the Samajwadi Party, which enjoyed a sweeping majority in the previous Assembly election.

It's quite clear from the trends available so far that demonetisation, instead of being Narendra Modi's monumental hubris that Opposition parties were hoping for and campaigned vigorously against, has actually turned out to be vote catcher for BJP. In fact, demonetisation seems to have turned around the erosion of votes that BJP had been facing in the Hindi heartland of Bihar and given Modi the kind of unbeatable political narrative that most politicians would die for.

If most exit poll trends hold on Saturday, and that's a big 'if', then we can safely write the obit of Mayawati's political career. It is quite clear that the Dalit-Muslim combination didn't take place and she may have even failed to consolidate some of the Jatav Dalit votes who may have, if exit polls are correct, stayed with BJP. She has clearly weaned away some of the Dalit votes since 2014 but that probably hasn't been enough.

What major polling agencies have to say about UP results: The big tally at a glance

Interestingly, Akhilesh used the relation of Bua-Bhatija (nephew-aunt), the same address he has used to take a dig on the BSP supremo, to say that he respects Mayawati as a leader after she considers him his nephew.

In an interview to BBC Hindi, Akhilesh Yadav has said that although he believes that the Samajwadi Party and Congress combine has got the support of majority in UP, but in case need be (read to keep BJP out of power) we are open to ally with the BSP.

The Network-18 exit poll survey has predicted that the BJp will emerge as the largest party with close to 164 seast, while the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance will be trailing at the second position with 147 votes. The pollster predicts bad news for BSP, with the party tariling third with 81 seats.

According to Congress sources, Gandhi has gone abroad for routine a check up as advised by her doctors.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has gone abroad for a routine check up and will not be in the country when results of the crucial assembly elections to five states come in on 11 March.

Earlier, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh had dropped a large hint while talking to BBC Hindi that his alliance is ready for a mahagathbandhan to keep BJP out.

In a fast-paced turn of events, BSP has turned down Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's offer of joining hands to form government in case there's a hung Assembly. BSP supremo Mayawati was quoted as saying in News 18 that her party was confident of forming government on her own.

Mayawati turns down Akhilesh's offer, chooses to keep her cards close to her chest

In an interview to BBC Hindi Radio, Akhilesh has hinted at an alliance with the Maywatis BSP to avoid Presidents Rule in the state.

With Mamata eyeing the 2019 Lok Sabha and projecting herself as a national leader, she is willing to make an alliance out of two very unlikely partners.

If this report tells us anything, it's that Akhilesh Yadav's statement, that was mostly been written-off as a sign of nervousness, has a much deeper meaning. This suggests that a larger counterplan to pull brakes of the BJP bandwagon elsewhere in the country is already underway.

According to CNN-News18, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had reportedly spoken to Akhilesh and Mayawati, saying secular forces must stay united.

Could there be more than what meets the eye in Akhilesh's alliance offer to Mayawati?

The arrogance of the alliance is responsible for the debacle... I dont know if you saw a thela-walas byte on TV who said I have always voted for SP but not this time as Netaji has been insulted. The message has gone far and wide. What could I have done?, Mulayam was quoted by The Economic Time as saying.

The Samajwadi Party's ousted patriarch has said that the alliance was the sole reason the party performed so poorly in the polls.

Apparently UP voters didn't like Akhilesh and Rahul ka sath and now Mulayam too finds it unsavoury.

The BJP parliamentary board will come in a huddle today evening to decide the strategy for forming a government in Goa and Manipur, while the party's CM pick for UP and Uttarakhand will also be decided today. The meeting is scheduled to take place after Modi' s grand welcome at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

Of those who lost,15 were cabinet ministers, a dozen were state ministers with independent-charge, and the remaining ministers of state.

A whopping 31 of the 45 ministers bit the dust at the hustings, and where they did win, the victories were hardly convincing as most made it across the finishing line by slender margins.

Power does not necessarily ensure electoral victory - and so it proved for ministers of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's government, with people overwhelmingly rejecting them in the just-concluded assembly elections.

BJP had expelled the minister after the controversial remark had stormed Parliament. BJP sources had then said that Singh would likely be expelled from the party for six years.

BJP president of UP Keshav Prasad Maurya revoked expulsion of Dayashankar Singh. In 2016, Singh had compared BSP chief Mayawati to a prostitute. "Ek vaishya se bhi badtar charitra ki aaj Mayawatiji ho gayi hain. Isi liye Kanshi Ram ke banaye karyakarta unka saath chhod kar ja rahe hain aur BSP samapt ho rai hai Mayawatiji kisi ko 1 crore mein ticket deti hain. Koi 2 crore dene wala milta hai toh usey ticket de deti hain, aur shaam ko koi 3 crore dene ko taiyyar hota hai toh usey de deti hain (Mayawati gives a ticket for 1 crore which she changes if she is offered 2 crore. And she changes even that ticket if she is offered 3 crore by evening),"Singh had said.

Meanwhile, deliberations are on in the media circles and names liek Rajnath Singh, Manoj Sinha, KP Maurya are being talked about. The suspense will end by tonight, probably.

According to a report in The Times of India , a party source said that Amit Shah wants the new chief minister should be someone "who can hit the ground running."

The Bharatiya Janata Party's parliamentary board is all set to meet today and probably the party will pick the chief minister to be for the states of UP and Uttarakhand. However, just like the way, the BJP's election campaign was a one-man show, the chances are really high that the chief ministerial pick is an Amit Shah loyalist.

No matter who BJP picks to head UP, Amit Shah will be the super CM

Nobody is responsible for the defeat, there are no reasons behind it; this is the peoples mandate. The BJP has made tall promises lets see how much of it they fulfil, Mulayam said.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, who earlier grabbed headlines for reportedly accusing the "arrogance of alliance" for SP's debacle in the just-concluded UP polls, has now said that no one was responsible for the defeat.

The BJP almost repeated its performance from the 2014 parliamentary elections, when it won 42.7 percent votes and 73 (more than 90 percent) of 80 Lok Sabha seats.

In an outcome unmatched over the last 40 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 312 out of 403 (77.4 percent) seats in Indias largest state assembly in its most-populous state, increasing its vote share by 25 percentage points from the 2012 assembly elections to 39.7 percent in 2017.

Sidelined SP leader Shivpal Yadav, who won from his seat in Uttar Pradesh where his party suffered a rout, has vowed to fight back in the state. The win was a consolation for Shivpal who was fighting to redeem his lost pride in his native constituency.

After SP's debacle in UP election, Shivpal Yadav vows to fight back in the state

According to some reports, Modi could travel in his convoy till the Le Meridien hotel from where he could take the 100 m walk down to his party headquarters, where party workers, lined up on both sides of the Ashoka Road, are expected to greet him." - News 18

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi, having ended what the BJP often described in its campaign as '14 saal ka vanvaas', will appear in public for the first time since his party's landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Post a Super Show on Saturday, Modi Out to Take in The Applause

People had been waiting at the party headquarters for over two hours but the programme has been delayed.

According to CNN-News18 ground reporters, BJP supporters from far and wide places have come to see Modi's address in the national capital. A BJP supporter, interacting with the News-18 reporter said he carries Modi's picture everywhere and worships him like a god. Another supporter, decked up in saffron, said he had travelled from Rajasthan to see the Prime Minister.

He also promised that the party will justify the faith that the people have shown in the BJP, by working for their development.

Amit Shah, addressing party workers at the headquarters, said that Narendra Modi was not only a popular leader but he also succeeded in rekindled hope amid the poor that there lives can get better.

Addressing the party workers for the first time after the massive win in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said that elections are the festival of democracy and the fact that people participated in it wholeheartedly is a good sign for the nation.

Paralleling the BJP sweep in recent polls with a fruit laden tree, Modi said that now it is the party's responsibility to accept it with humbleness. He said just like a fruit laden tree remains bowed in humbleness, the party too should work relentlessly for the people who have put their trust in the party.

Tapping the massive support Modi enjoys amid the middle class, the Prime Minister said that the middle class bears the burden of rules and law the most and it contributes for the growth of the nation. He said that he seeks to empower the poor, which will not only strengthen the marginal section of the society but ease the pressure from the middle class.

Middle class bears the most burden, contributes the most for the nation: PM Modi

Addressing party workers, Modi said that the recent election victories mark the golden era for the Bharatiya Janata Party. He, however, added that this golden moment wasn't handed down to the party by anyone, and he doesn't regret the fact. He said that the victory was the fruit of party workers hard work.

In his victory speech, prime minister Narendra Modi said that he will work harder to ensure that the government delivers to the aspirations of the people . He said that the government is for all people, and he would like all the BJP workers and governments to work with this belief in mind.

Addressing the party workers for the first time after the massive win in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said that elections are the festival of democracy and the fact that people participated in it wholeheartedly is a good sign for the nation.

Paralleling the BJP sweep in recent polls with a fruit laden tree, Modi said that now it is the party's responsibility to accept it with humbleness. He said just like a fruit laden tree remains bowed in humbleness, the party too should work relentlessly for the people who have put their trust in the party.

These elections are an emotional issue for us. They come when we mark the centenary celebrations of Pandit Deen Dayal Ji: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/GWDlVFJNOt

Tapping the massive support Modi enjoys amid the middle class, the Prime Minister said that the middle class bears the burden of rules and law the most and it contributes for the growth of the nation. He said that he seeks to empower the poor, which will not only strengthen the marginal section of the society but ease the pressure from the middle class.

Middle class bears the most burden, contributes the most for the nation: PM Modi

Addressing party workers, Modi said that the recent election victories mark the golden era for the Bharatiya Janata Party. He, however, added that this golden moment wasn't handed down to the party by anyone, and he doesn't regret the fact. He said that the victory was the fruit of party workers hard work.

In his victory speech, prime minister Narendra Modi said that he will work harder to ensure that the government delivers to the aspirations of the people . He said that the government is for all people, and he would like all the BJP workers and governments to work with this belief in mind.

All the three major parties in Uttar Pradesh expressed confidence of emerging victorious from the recent assembly polls, the BJP even ordering 'laddoos' and bands ahead of Saturday's vote count. But many contestants had anxiety writ large on their faces and prayer on their lips, and sought divine benevolence after a hectic, two-month campaign.

Preparations for ballot counting have been completed at the 75 centres across the state, said poll officials.

At first, postal ballots will be counted as counting begins at 8 am. After that the seals of the electronic voting machines (EVM) will be broken in front of agents of various parties and contestants and the Election Commission officials.

Ahead of the D-Day, even the most optimistic of candidates are keeping their fingers crossed and many have taken to praying to their favourite gods or undertaking pilgrimages with their families.

Anurag Bhadouria, the Congress candidate from Lucknow East, said he had gone to the Sai Baba temple in Maharashtra's Shirdi and is hopeful that "my Guru would see me through".

Archana Dixit, wife of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Yogesh Dixit, says she is all set for the vote counting day and the family plans to visit the famous Hanuman Setu temple here after victory.

"We have done a lot of hard work and am sure that victory will be ours," she said, adding the family flew to Nepal after the polling in Lucknow and visited the famous Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu to seek blessings of Lord Shiva.

Former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who switched loyalties to the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the polls and re-contested from Lucknow Cantt, says she has full faith in the people of her constituency and is relaxed about her win.

"I have been meeting people, visiting my favourite temple and am confident that with the track record as a legislator and the charisma of Prime Minister Modi, I will emerge victorious," she said.

BJP's state women's wing chief Swati Singh, who contested the election from Sarojiningar constituency in the state capital, said she had undertaken a pilgrimage of Banke Bihari temple in Mathura.

"I have been travelling a lot, campaigned for the party and have also visited the Bhrigu temple in Ballia, praying for my victory," she said.

BSP candidate Shankari Singh is busy with 'hawans' and is hopeful of a "good victory, God willing", while Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav who is contesting her first elections from Lucknow Cantt, has just returned from Patna Saheb and is optimistic about her win. "I have worked hard in my constituency and am sure people will reward me with a victory," she said.

Owing to the high-voltage campaign spearhead by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP workers and leaders are confident of getting a "majority" in the state assembly. Laddos have been ordered and music bands requisitioned for the vote counting day.

BJP state General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the leadership has already said it would be a "vijay ki Holi" so they are all geared up for March 11, while Samajwadi Party legislator Udayveer Singh, a close associate of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, expressed similar sentiments. But he said the celebration part is for the candidates to take care of.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, known for her low profile style of celebrating victories, will stay at her sprawling Mall Avenue residence and has asked cadres and leaders to first focus on counting and to ensure that there is no problem there.

"We will celebrate in style once we romp home safe and with good lead," said a senior party leader.

The Uttar Pradesh assembly has 403 seats and the ruling Samajwadi Party had 224 in the outgoing house. The BSP had 80, the BJP 48, and the Congress 28 members.

With inputs from agencies
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Uttarakhand voters have again voted in favour of anti-incumbency, suggest a series of exit polls released on Thursday. The exit polls  conducted by Chanakya, C-Voter, MRC and Axis My India  were released on Thursday evening at 5.30 pm. Of these, only C-Voter predicted anything close to a tight contest; their exit poll said Congress and BJP would be tied at 32 seats apiece. The Today's Chanakya exit poll claimed the most one-sided win for the BJP with 53 out of 70 seats. As per the News X-MRC exit poll, Congress is likelyt to win 30 seats again but will fall comfortably short of the BJP's tally of 38. Finally, the Axis My India poll gave Congress between 12-21 seats while said BJP will win between 46 to 53 seats.

Counting will begin at 8 am on Saturday morning, initially when postal ballots will be opened. There are 13 centres in district headquarters, and one centre each in Haridwar and Champawat. The counting work will be done on 864 tables in these 15 centres. Each table will be secured by a counting supervisor, a counting assistant, a micro observer and group D staff. Representatives of party and candidates will also be present.

The political fate of Uttarakhand's political parties is sealed in EVM machines, which will be opened on Saturday morning. All preparations for D-Day have been done, and 15 counting centres spread over 70 Assembly constituencies are in readyness. A total of 11,000 poll personnel, with 10,000 police officers have been deployed for counting.

Harish Rawat is the only man for the job for Congress, and he will get a five-year extension if the party wins the election. He has been appealing to voters throughout the campaign, that he needs a full five-year tenure to prove himself. If the Congress does indeed manage to claim a majority, it would become clear to everybody that Harish Rawat is a strong regional leader, who managed to single-handedly defeat the combined might of the BJP, the central government, the prime minister and the national BJP president.

'Baahubali' vs 'baaghi' in hill state as old rivals lock horns again

To attain majority, victory in these seats will play a pivotal role. Party heavyweights on both sides are trying their luck on these seats, including chief minister Harish Rawat, who is contesting from Kichcha and Haridwar.

In 2012, Congress had won five seats and BJP 12 seats in Haridwar and Udham Singh nagar, with both sharing the spoils (four seats each) in Dehradun.

In the hill state of Uttarakhand, winning the 28 plain area seats is enough to secure majority. In this state, 20 seats fall in the plain areas of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, including eight of the 10 seats in Dehradun district.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat had the advantage of playing the victim card  as someone whose legitimate government was toppled by unfair means  and gained sympathy of the masses. He also had the scope to induct fresh blood in terms of candidates and approach the elections with new energy. After all, the troublemakers were out and he had a free hand to choose the best people from the party or outside. However, what the party witnessed were new troubles opening up. Ticket distribution left many hopefuls unhappy and Rawat's alleged high-handed ways alienated party workers. As many as 50 out of 70 seats in the state, according to media reports, had too many angry Congress workers.

Harish Rawat will have himself to blame if Congress suffers defeat

Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh precisely so that exclusive attention could be given to the development of its remote hill districts. These had been left neglected by successive governments based in UPs capital Lucknow, around 600 km away. Sixteen years since, the mountain districts of Uttarakhand are still short of basic facilities, especially healthcare. There are no jobs to be had in these districts and this is leading to large-scale migration to the plains, leaving entire mountain villages uninhabited. And farming, which used to be the principal occupation in the hills, is crippled by small land holdings and a lack of government agri initiatives that neighbouring Himachal Pradesh sees in plenty.

It will not be easy for BJP to ignore the Harak Singh Rawat, Shailendra Mohan SINghal, Subodh UNiyal, and Yashpal Arya like big face of this hill state politics.

If BJP gets a majority in the state, the rebels can again hold the key because the names of some Congress rebels are floating around for post of chief minister. Apart from this, big faces of rebels can claim big position in the government keeping old BJP leaders at bay.

What will happen if BJP gets a majority?

All the poll personnel have reached at counting centres at 6 am. All security arrangements have been made. CCTV cameras have been installed at all centres.

Each table will be secured by a counting supervisor, counting assistant, micro observer and group D staff. Representatives of party and candidates will also be present.

Counting will begin at 8 am when postal ballots will be opened. There are 13 centres in district headquarters and one centre each in Haridwar and Champawat.

Counting work will be done on 864 tables in the centres.

Total 11000 poll personnel and 10,000 police personnel have been deployed for counting.

As state is desperately waiting for its political fate that is closed in the EVM, all set to be opened tomorrow, all the preparations have been done for the counting day. A total of fifteen centres have been made for counting of votes in 70 Assembly seats.

If BJP comes to the power, CM will have to keep balance among party leaders and congress rebels.

BJP former chief minister Ramesh Pokhariyals name can be included in this list as party insiders says.

A news doing the rounds that the performance of its leaders in the assembly elections will bring a clear picture. Name of BJPs State president Ajay Bhatt, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Congress rebel Satpal Maharaj are in the air.

After exit polls results, BJP which fought the elections in the name of PM Modi and did not project any local BJP face, is yet to decide its CM face in the state.

Probable CM candidates if BJP comes to power in Uttarakhand

Look for Chunavi Chin2's posts in the live for some profound insights!

And frankly, who were we to deny him that request?

As it turns out, he is presently focused on Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Much like C Vidyasagar Rao, the governor who handles two states  Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Chin2 demanded that he be tasked with the fascinating (sensing a theme here?) job of handling both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

With college just around the corner, Chin2 is spending his time trying to make sense of India and its fascinating politics.

In fact, to him, the issues and candidates involved matter less than the fascinating experience of voting and waiting for the results. What might seem obvious to you or us, or even the person reading these words over your shoulder, is a fascinating discovery for young Chin2.

Straight outta Compton? Far from it. Try straight outta Chitrakoot. Chunaavi Chin2 (yes, that's the way he spells it and we'll thank you to strictly follow the convention) isn't your quintessential millennial.

Our very own election guide for Uttarakhand: Meet Chunavi Chin2

In each constituency, a few thousand votes decide fate of candidate. Snow fall in higher hills and rain in plain areas increased chill in the state. Coming results are going to increase chill also.

A low percent of voting in higher hills is a reason to worry. Difference of few votes is capable of changing political equations.

Elated at exit poll results, BJP leaders are eyeing on their performance in assembly poll.

Low percentage of voting in hilly region is a reason to worry

He said that results will prove that people wants BJP in the state. Sources suggest that he is the main contender for the post of CM.

Trivendra singh Rawat, BJP leader, Jharkhand in-charge, said he is all sure to form the government with full majority.

Rawat knows he is in a corner, and in during campaigns he projected himself as such. In fact, a video showing Rawat as movie character Baahubali went viral pre-election, where he takes on the BJP's party establishment by himself.

If the Congress does indeed manage to claim a majority, it would become clear to everybody that Harish Rawat is a strong regional leader, who managed to single-handedly defeat the combined might of the BJP, the central government, the prime minister and the national BJP president.

He has been appealing to voters throughout the campaign, that he needs a full five-year tenure to prove himself.

As far as the Congress' chief ministerial candidate is concerned, there is no scope for a contest. Incumbent Harish Rawat is the only man for the job, and he will get a five-year extension if Congress wins the election.

As will the BSP, and the Uttarakhand Krandi Dal (UKD), a regional party that could possibly spring a surprise and win one or two seats.

Given how the last two elections panned out in Uttarakhand, neither party is expected to win with an absolute majority this time either. Analysts believe independent candidates will again hold the key.

Neither party is expected to win with a majority

The ABP-Lokiniti poll and the NewsX-MRC poll also give BJP a comfortable majority in Uttarakhand. However, the India TV-CVoter predicts a hung Assembly. According to this poll, both BJP and Congress may end up winning around 29 to 35 seats in the 70-member Assembly.

The hill state of Uttarkhand may witness BJP's comeback. According to India Today-Axis poll, the saffron party is expected to win a whopping 53 seats, Times Now-VMR poll keeps the tally at 44 seats.

Before the trends start, here's a look at the exit poll numbers

It will also be interesting to see what happens in Sahaspur from where PCC president Kishore Upadhaya is contesting. Ranikhet is important as state BJP president and Leader of Opposition Ajay Bhatt is contesting from there whereas Dhanolti holds much interest as Congress is supporting independent nominee Pritam Singh Panwar from the seat despite fielding Manmohan Mall from there.

Chaubattakhal from where BJP's Satpal Maharaj is in the fray and Kichcha and Haridwar (rural) the two seats from where chief minister Harish Rawat is seeking a second term, will also evoke much curiosity.

Barring Amrita Rawat and Vijay Bahuguna, all the Congress turncoats who are also sitting MLAs, have been fielded by the BJP. However Amrita's husband Satpal Maharaj and Bahuguna's second son Saurav Bahuguna are in the fray as BJP nominees.

With a number of Congress turncoats trying their luck as BJP candidates this time it will be interesting to watch what happens in constituencies like Narendranagar, Bajpur, Roorkee, Khanpur, Kedarnath, Kotdwar, Sitarganj and Nainital from where erstwhile Congress rebels or their wards have been fielded by the saffron party.

What will happen in constituencies with turncoat candidates?

Almost 60 rooms are booked in capital's guesthouses, officer's transit hostel and annexy for newly elected MLAs in the state. Vehicles are arranged to provide facilities.

Congress state president Kishore Upadhyay has demanded complete ban on exit polls. He said that all the exit poll agencies are working under pressure of PM Modi.

The state's only regional party UKD seems nowhere in fray. Even exit polls have discarded it's prospective.

SP is nonexistent while BSP's seats have been continuously decreasing.

Congress ahead with two, while BJP leads with 7. BSP still has not gained anything in Uttarakhand yet.

BJP - 22 Congress - 9 Others - 1 Congress ahead on nine seats, while BJP leads on 22 seats. Source: News18

BJP - 35 Congress - 10 BSP - 1 Congress ahead on ten seats, while BJP leads on 35 seats. BSP gained on one seat. Source: News18

BJP - 38 Congress - 10 BSP - 1 Congress ahead on 10 seats, while BJP leads on 38 seats. BSP gained on one seat.

Other - 1 News18 calls it a win for BJP in Uttarakhand. Congress clinched 15 seats, while BSP gained 1.

BJP - 54 Congress - 13 BSP - 1 Other - 1 News18 calls it a win for BJP in Uttarakhand. Congress clinched 13 seats, while BSP gained 1.

BJP - 53 Congress - 15 BSP - 1 Other - 1 News18 calls it a win for BJP in Uttarakhand. Congress clinched 15 seats, while BSP gained 1.

It created infighting in the BJP ranks, and these rebel candidates were considered serious threats to the party's established nomiees.

Congress' Chief Minister Harish Rawat tried to play the victim card since a failed attempt at toppling his government was made last year. He projected himself as being cheated and downplayed by rebels from his own party, while accommodating Congress rebels has also caused rifts within the BJP.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looked set to storm to a massive win in Uttarakhand on Saturday, as they are likely to clinch the 70-seat Assembly with a comfortable majority, relegating Harish Rawat's incumbent Congress party to a heavy defeat. Here's a list of the key constituencies in Uttarakhand, and which way they voted.

Key constituencies and which way they voted

It is a proof that congress couldn't gaze the mood of voters and kept on living in utopia. While rebels who were considered to be biggest threat to party inmates performance are leading. Big blow to congress.

It was assumed that Rawat camp can escalate the position of Congress in state but Vijay Bahuguna who was proved unable to take care of Uttarakhand after the disaster and was dethroned later, has come out as a winner.

Replacing Vijay Bahuguna and bringing Harish Rawat has proved fatal for Rahul Gandhi. Rawat has lost both the seats and Bahuguna's son Saurabh has registered a remarkable win in Sitarganj.

This election will be known for redefining all the measures and setting new trends. All the points that was considered favorable seemed diminishing the future of the party in the state.

Later, Rawat emerged as a grassroots politician who always stayed in close contact with pahad and pahadi.

Harish Rawat s defeat at both the seats and the victory of Vijay Bahugunas son Saurabh Bahuguna at the Sitarganj seat sets a new equation. After a disaster in 2013, Bahuguna was replaced with Rawat to elevate Congress' position. Rawat focused on reconstruction work in Kedarnath.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat will meet state Governor KK Paul to tender his resignation, after having accepted his defeat in the Assembly election. Rawat contested from two constituencies, but lost both. Moreover, his Congress party is staring at the prospect of an all-time lowest tally.

Congress focussed on Harish Rawat to such an extent that the party alienated other local leaders who rebelled and moved to the BJP. It was these leaders who have won big in Uttarakhand, and have contributed to BJP's victory.

Congress' ploy of focussing on Harish Rawat alone has backfired

Ambitious and influential local leaders have often engaged in one-upmanship in Uttarakhand, which has been to the detriment of the BJP. And since not one person was influential enough to tower above the others, this has always remained the condition. To compensate for this, the party chose to focus heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence in the state, choosing to play down the lack of local leadership. It was actually the Narendra Modi factor that helped BJP win the election.

How the towering figure of PM Modi helped BJP in fragmented Uttarakhand

Results are fast becoming clear in Uttarakhand, and the Congress party looks set for a decimation. Almost all the star names the party had come up with for the Assembly election have suffered heavy defeats. Even its state president and chief minister couldn't escape losses. The party has been swept away by the tsunami-like wave in favour of the BJP. It's time for introspection for Rawat. He has lost face and lost his constituency.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat will meet state Governor KK Paul to tender his resignation, after having accepted his defeat in the Assembly election. Rawat contested from two constituencies, but lost both. Moreover, his Congress party is staring at the prospect of an all-time lowest tally.

They tell me Chief Minister Harish Rawat will tender his resignation now. Which is ironic, because the elections have been brutal on him. Tender and brutal are opposites.

How parties' leads through over the day

Uttarakhand BJP president Ajay Bhatt loses to Karan Mahara of Congress by 4981 votes from Ranikhet assembly constituency #ElectionResults pic.twitter.com/m1ILpELy05

Congress focussed on Harish Rawat to such an extent that the party alienated other local leaders who rebelled and moved to the BJP. It was these leaders who have won big in Uttarakhand, and have contributed to BJP's victory.

Congress' ploy of focussing on Harish Rawat alone has backfired

I congratulate Shri. Narendra Modi and the BJP on their victory in Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand

Ambitious and influential local leaders have often engaged in one-upmanship in Uttarakhand, which has been to the detriment of the BJP. And since not one person was influential enough to tower above the others, this has always remained the condition. To compensate for this, the party chose to focus heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence in the state, choosing to play down the lack of local leadership. It was actually the Narendra Modi factor that helped BJP win the election.

How the towering figure of PM Modi helped BJP in fragmented Uttarakhand

New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Saturday lost from both the Haridwar (Rural) and Kichcha seats, as the ruling Congress was handed a humiliating drubbing by the BJP in the hill state.

Rawat lost the Haridwar (Rural) by 12,000 votes and the Kichcha seats.

His defeat comes as the Congress state unit president Kishore Upadhyay conceded defeat.

The BJP is leading in over 55 seats in the state.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday thanked the people of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for the BJP's "historic victory" in the two states.

Rajnath Singh attributed the victory to "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to the public, his efficient leadership and our commitment to good governance.

"We thank all the people of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for this historic victory and express gratitude towards them."

This, he said, was not a victory but a "mega victory".

"The BJP has changed the political picture of the country by touching the new era of success in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand," he tweeted.

The BJP was projected to win Uttarakhand Assembly Election by various exit polls on Thursday, with projections ranging from 35 to 53 seats for the party in the 70-member house.

The News 24-Today Chanakya poll gave the BJP 53 seats and the ruling Congress 15, and others two in the hill state. India Today-Axis predicted that BJP would get 46-53 seats, the Congress 12-21, and others 2-6 seats. India News-MRC exit poll projected 38 seats for the BJP, 30 for the Congress, two for others.

India TV-Cvoter predicted that BJP and Congress had an even chance at forming a government in the state, and projected 29-35 seats for both parties each. It projected two to nine seats for others.

The poll of polls done by CNN-News18 projected BJP to get 38 seats, Congress 26 and others six, and a similar exercise by NDTV projected the BJP getting 43 seats and the Congress 23 in the hill state.

Exit polls were telecast on Thursday evening at 5.30 pm, after balloting ended on a seat each in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which polls were earlier countermanded following deaths of candidates.

Five states  Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Manipur  witnessed assembly polls over eight phases in February-March. The counting of votes will take place on Saturday.
A day before counting of votes for the Uttarakhand Election 2017, scheduled on 11 March, Uttarakhand is keenly eyeing on forthcoming results of Assembly Election. Among all the five states that went to polls this year, Uttarakhand is the only state where there is a direct fight between congress and BJP.

While the BJP has tried to travel many extra miles to ensure its win in the state, as pushing its top leaders and prime minister Narendra Modi in the campaign, Congress has not lagged behind in anyway.

Its a fight for the survival of the Congress party in the state as Congress is losing ground on the national front. By saving its existence in Uttarakhand, the Congress can heave a sigh of relief and winning assembly polls can give it a resurrection. Expecting a mixed result, chief minister Harish Rawat has dropped some hints to party workers to be prepared for loss and gain both. Perhaps, he wants to keep party workers and leaders to be mentally prepared for both kind of results.

On the other hand, BJP seems to be sure of its win, expected from Modis storming rallies throughout the State and special attention given to state by top party leaders. Tickets given to Congress rebels has been the major cause of resentment inside the party. Moreover, preferences given to rebels over party loyalists can cause problems to BJP on many seats. Old loyalists of party who joined the Congress or fighting independently, can give a big blow to the dream of forming a government in the state.

If BJP gets a majority in the state, the rebels can again hold the key because the names of some Congress rebels are floating around for post of chief minister. Apart from this, big faces of rebels can claim big position in the government keeping old BJP leaders at bay. It will not be easy for BJP to ignore the Harak Singh Rawat, Shailendra Mohan SINghal, Subodh UNiyal, and Yashpal Arya like big face of this hill state politics.

Results will tell the story, how the Congress rebels will benefit the BJP or upset its applecart. BJP rebels can also make the chair chase tough. As per the Congress camp, they are assured of winning seats between 21 to 25 majorly falls in the plain region of state where BSP can give a challenge sharing good vote percent.

Kedarnath reconstruction and permanent capital in Gairsain have been the major poll issues for Congress, while BJP has been successful in drawing the lines between development versus corruption in the state. The prime minister has constantly reminded the voters about demonetisation, OROP and surgical strikes and other work done by BJP government in the Centre. So, it was between Rawat and Modi till elections but now BJP can face a tough challenge projecting a face for state if wins.
The Uttarakhand Assembly election was contested primarily between India's two most prominent parties  Congress and BJP. The state of the two parties in Uttarakhand this time, however, couldn't have been any different.

The Congress party is driven primarily by the personality cult of Chief Minister Harish Rawat. From ticket distribution to campaigning, Rawat was the face of Congress' Uttarakhand campaign.

On the other hand, the BJP has relied primarily on poaching rebel Congress MLAs. With Rawat rising as a towering figure in Congress and the party throwing its weight firmly behind him, other leaders felt slighted and defected to the BJP. It nearly triggered a constitutional crisis last year, but Rawat survived.

Here's a list of the key aspirants to the chief minister's throne in Uttarakhand:

Vijay Bahuguna: The former Congress leader was the previous chief minister of the hill state, and the person most likely to become CM again if the BJP does secure a victory. The cloudburst of 2013 impacted the state in a big way, and many blamed Bahuguna's lackadaisical approach for this.

Rescue operations were launched about four to five days after the disaster hit the state in June 2013, and Bahuguna faced bitter criticism. In April last year, he along with nine other rebel Congress MLAs, had defected to the BJP.

BC Khanduri: Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri, known popularly as BC Khanduri, is a two-time chief minister of Uttarakhand, ascending to the post for a two-year period immediately following BJP's win in the 2007 Assembly election.

He became CM again for another two-year period in 2011. However, his administration was blamed for the party's narrow defeat in the 2012 Assembly election. That, and the presence of Bahuguna in the party ranks could make things difficult for Khanduri to become chief minister again.

Ramesh Pokhriyal: Pokhriyal is another former chief minister of the BJP, who is contesting the polls this year and has hopes of ascending to the CM's throne. Pokhriyal was chief minister for a two-year period between 2009 and 2011, but a series of scams involving the state government meant he was asked by the party high command to step down.

There were fears back in 2011 that having Pokhriyal at the helm of the party may hurt its image, and this may mean that he may again be overlooked for the CM's post, especially since Khanduri and Bahuguna are in the BJP's fold.

Ajay Bhatt: Bhatt has been state BJP president since the summer of last year, when nine Congress rebels joined the party. He has also served as the leader of opposition in the state Assembly since 2012, when the Congress formed a government in the hill state.

As state president, Bhatt's main role has been to keep his flock together, especially since the party now boasts of a series of prominent leaders, and could have resulted in a crisis had the balancing act not worked out. If the party does win the election, as the exit polls have predicted, Bhatt's stock would rise significantly.

Ajay Tamta

Ajay Tamta took charge as Minister of State, Ministry of Textiles today. Shri Tamta is a Lok Sabha MP from Almora constituency, Uttarakhand, and a member of the BJP. Prior to his election to the 16th Lok Sabha, Shri Tamta has served as a member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, from 2007 to 2012 and again from 2012 to 2014. He has also served as a Minister in the Government of Uttarakhand, as Cabinet Minister during 2008  2009 and as MoS during 2007  2008.

Anil Baluni

Anil Baluni is one of the young faces of BJP in Uttarakhand. Anil Baluni hasn't had a spectacular political career. He studied journalism and was active in student politics. Baluni has the right credentials. He is considered politically suave. He is seen within the oribit of the duo of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi.

Trivendra Singh Rawat

He is member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly in India. He was elected from Doiwala (Vidhan Sabha constituency) in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly election, 2002. He is the BJP state in-charge Jharkhand. He was also Uttarakhand State BJP President.

Bhagat Singh Koshiyari

Koshyari began his career with the RSS. In 1997, he became the member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. In 2000, Koshyari was appointed the minister of irrigation, law, energy and legislative affairs of the newly developed state of Uttarakhand. In 2001, Bhagat replaced Nityanand Swami and became the chief minister of the state.

Follow the Uttarakhand Assembly Election Live coverage.
On Saturday, 11 March, 2017, results of the Uttarakhand Assembly election will be declared. The country's two major political parties  Congress and BJP  are in direct competition to form a government in the hill state.

There are a total of 637 candidates in the fray for the 70 Assembly constituencies of the state. Among them, 261 are independent candidates. In fact, in about a dozen constituencies, independent candidates have made for a triangular battle alongside Congress and BJP representatives. In the plain districts of Udhamsinhnagar and Haridwar, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is also considered to be a strong alternative.

However, given how the last two elections panned out in Uttarakhand, neither party is expected to win with an absolute majority this time either. Analysts believe independent candidates will again hold the key. As will the BSP, and the Uttarakhand Krandi Dal (UKD), a regional party that could possibly spring a surprise and win one or two seats.

Congress state president Kishore Upadhyay had accused BJP of trying to lure its candidates and also independent legislators to the saffron side. He also accused BJP of pre-result head hunting. Does that mean he's already acknowledged BJP has an edge? He denies this, claiming Congress will shine again on Saturday, and BJP's tricks and conspiracies will fall flat.

On the other hand, the BJP camp has also expressed confidence. At rallies addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, crowds gathered enthusiastically to listen to him. It will be seen on Saturday, if these crowds have also voted for the BJP.

As with every other election, the party's challenge post counting day will be to decide who heads the BJP's state campaign. The party didn't announce any chief ministerial candidate. There are over half a dozen aspirants to the throne, and the spectre of leadership keeps haunting the BJP. According to party sources, the aspirants  including those with only an outside chance like Satpal Maharaj, Trivendra Rawat, Ajay Bhatt, etc  have started to campaign for themselves in a subtle manner off stage.

It will ultimately be PM Modi, party's national president Amit Shah who will appoint the chief minister of Uttarakhand if the BJP does manage to form a government. He/She will also need to have a stamp of approval from the RSS. If the BJP wins, RSS will also indirectly rule the state.

As far as the Congress' chief ministerial candidate is concerned, there is no scope for a contest. Incumbent Harish Rawat is the only man for the job, and he will get a five-year extension if Congress wins the election. He has been appealing to voters throughout the campaign, that he needs a full five-year tenure to prove himself. If the Congress does indeed manage to claim a majority, it would become clear to everybody that Harish Rawat is a strong regional leader, who managed to single-handedly defeat the combined might of the BJP, the central government, the prime minister and the national BJP president.

Rawat knows he is in a corner, and in during campaigns he projected himself as such. In fact, a video showing Rawat as movie character Baahubali went viral pre-election, where he takes on the BJP's party establishment by himself.

That said, however, one should also not forget that no Uttarakhand chief minister has ever completed his tenure after ND Tiwari who was in charge from 2002 to 2007. And Tiwari had cleverly managed to retain power despite being in the middle of several inner party wranglings.

Even he couldn't save the Congress from defeat in the 2007 elections, however, when BJP formed a government with BC Khanduri at the helm. Within two years, rebellion hit the saffron party too, and Khanduri was dethroned by Ramesh Pokhriyal. The latter remained in power till six months before the 2012 election, when Khanduri revived his own political career and dethroned Pokhriyal.

This drama clearly cost the BJP, as Congress returned to power in 2012. Vijay Bahuguna was Congress' chief minister, but rebellion began early this time, almost since Day 1, when Harish Rawat, the then deputy chief minister, accused Bahuguna of being an "outsider". Bahuguna was ultimately asked to resign and Rawat took over.

But Rawat's win may ultimately come at a price, as Bahuguna left the Congress with his band of trusted loyalists who all rebelled and joined BJP again.

And that is the reason why in the state's political corridors, it's being said that the 2017 election in Uttarakhand is fought between 'baaghi' (rebel) versus 'Baahubali'.
Uttarakhand was expected to go the BJP's way given the turbulence within the ruling Congress government prior to the elections. The exit poll results, thus, don't surprise one. Only two of the five surveys indicate a close fight, the rest give BJP a thumping majority. If they turn out to be correct, the Congress has only itself to blame.

In May last year, nine senior leaders, including former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, had defected to the BJP, triggering a constitutional crisis in the state. This could have been a blessing in disguise for Chief Minister Harish Rawat. He had the advantage of playing the victim card  as someone whose legitimate government was toppled by unfair means  and gained sympathy of the masses. He had the opportunity to paint BJP as the villain.

He also had the scope to induct fresh blood in terms of candidates and approach the elections with new energy. After all, the troublemakers were out and he had a free hand to choose the best people from the party or outside.

However, what the party witnessed between the constitutional crisis mid-last year and the election last month were new troubles opening up. Ticket distribution left many hopefuls unhappy and Rawat's alleged high-handed ways alienated party workers. As many as 50 out of 70 seats in the state, according to media reports, had too many angry Congress workers.

Accommodating so many leaders against the wishes of party workers was a problem for the BJP too. It too faced a problem of dissidence. If Rawat were smart enough, he could have used that to his advantage. But he went about making the polls a Narendra Modi versus Harish Rawat battle. It was unwise to begin with, and the results show in the exit polls.

Thus, the writing was on the wall for the party even before the actual voting took place. If Congress ends up with less than 20 seats, the blame will be solely on Rawat. However, the bigger worry would be if the vote share slips drastically, from a shade beyond 33 percent in 2012. Exit polls suggest that the BJP's share of votes could go up to 40 percent from the current 33. The Congress would find it difficult to regain lost ground in such a scenario.

However, all post-exit poll analyses discount the possibility of independent candidates playing a role in the formation of the government in Uttarakhand. In case they manage around five seats and the final tally gets close between Congress and BJP, then they could have a say. This follows the usual pattern in the state. The BJP would not want a situation like this. It would like to have a clear mandate.

Whatever the final result, Assembly election in Uttarakhand, like in other states, particularly neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, will be a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Incumbent Chief Minister Harish Rawat can only blame himself if the party loses badly. He could have turned adversity into opportunity; he didn't.
By Nelson Acosta

| HAVANA

HAVANA Foreign ministers and other officials from 25 Caribbean countries met in Havana on Friday to discuss a joint response in the face of Trump administration threats to migrants and trade.Opening remarks at the closed-door event, attended by representatives from Colombia, Mexico, Cuba and other countries in Central America and the Caribbean islands, made clear the new U.S. administration and key economic partner was uppermost on the agenda, though the name "Trump" was never uttered."We are meeting at an exceptional historic moment when there are geographic changes on the global scene and we have to be prepared," said June Soomer, from Saint Lucia and secretary general of the Association of Caribbean States.

"We are not going to resign ourselves to what others in the world dictate. We are not a mediocre region, we are one of excellence and peace," Sooner added.Cuban President Raul Castro also attended the meeting.

His foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, lit into U.S. President Donald Trump's policies in his opening remarks and said the organization should come up with a joint response, as they threaten the development models of local economies.

"The excluding and repressive migration policies announced by countries of destination... as well as the implementation of extremely protectionist trade measures, are real challenges for our sub region," he said."In the face of the walls intended to be built, our choice should continue to be unity, solidarity and cooperation to defend the most legitimate interests of our peoples," he said. (Writing by Marc Frank; Editing by Dan Grebler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
BRUSSELS The European Union will be ready to respond within 48 hours to Britain's notification that it plans to leave the 28-nation bloc, the chairman of EU leaders, Donald Tusk, said on Friday.Britain has said it will submit its formal notification to exit the EU by the end of March following last summer's referendum. Some diplomats expect it to come as early as next week.The notification would trigger a legal process lasting two years during which London would negotiate the terms of the divorce. British Prime Minister Theresa May hopes that time can also be used to discuss future trade and other relations.

"We are well prepared for the whole procedure and I have no doubt that we will be ready within 48 hours, I think it is a proper time to react," Tusk told a news conference.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that, depending on the exact timing of the British notification, EU leaders would organise a special summit, at which they would agree broad negotiating guidelines for the European Commission to conduct the divorce talks with London.

"If the letter comes next week, the special summit will be on April 6," Merkel told a news conference."If it comes later than next week then we'll have to find a date after April 6. We are fully prepared and we will wait with interest. But on which day it will come in March is not of such great significance," she said.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny told reporters the April 6 special summit could take place of Britain submited its notification by March 15.EU leaders could then issue within 48 hours the guidelines for the negotiations with Britain. "There would be guidelines issued by the European Council within 48 hours and the European Council meeting to adopt those guidelines will be on April 6," Kenny said. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski and Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Gareth Jones)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Maria Tsvetkova

| MOSCOW

MOSCOW A force of several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia operated until last month in a part of Libya that is under the control of regional leader Khalifa Haftar, the head of the firm that hired the contractors told Reuters.It is the clearest signal to date that Moscow is prepared to back up its public diplomatic support for Haftar -- even at the risk of alarming Western governments already irked at Russia's intervention in Syria to prop up President Bashar al-Assad.Haftar is opposed to a U.N.-backed government which Western states see as the best chance of restoring stability in Libya. But some Russian policy-makers see the Libyan as a strongman who can end the six years of anarchy that followed the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. The presence of the military contractors was, according to the head of the firm, a commercial arrangement. It is unlikely though to have been possible without Moscow's approval, according to people who work in the industry in Russia.Oleg Krinitsyn, owner of private Russian firm RSB-group, said he sent the contractors to eastern Libya last year and they were pulled out in February having completed their mission.In an interview with Reuters, he said their task was to remove mines from an industrial facility near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, in an area that Haftar's forces had liberated from Islamist rebels.He declined to say who hired his firm to provide the contractors, where they were operating or what the industrial facility was. He did not say if the operation had been approved by the U.N.-backed government, which most states view as the sovereign ruler of Libya.Asked whether the mission had official blessing from Moscow, Krinitsyn said his firm did not work with the Russian defence ministry, but was "consulting" with the Russian foreign ministry.The contractors did not take part in combat, Krinitsyn said, but they were armed with weapons they obtained in Libya. He declined to specify what type of weapons. A U.N. arms embargo prohibits the import of weapons to Libya unless it is under the control of the U.N.-backed government.Krinitsyn said his contractors were ready to strike back in case of an attack.

"If we're under assault we enter the battle, of course, to protect our lives and the lives of our clients," Krinitsyn said. "According to military science, a counterattack must follow an attack. That means we would have to destroy the enemy."Military and government officials in eastern Libya said they were not aware of the presence of the contractors, while Haftar did not respond to a request for comment.Officials in Western Libya, where the U.N.-backed government is based, were not immediately available to comment. The Russian foreign ministry said it was working on a response to Reuters questions bit had not commented by Friday. MOSCOW'S PROXIES

Underscoring Libya's volatility, Haftar's forces have this week been fighting to regain control over the Mediterranean oil terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, which a rival faction seized earlier this month.

Russia has a record of using private military contractors as an extension of its own military.In Syria, military contractors have been widely used in combat roles in conjunction with Russian regular forces and their Syrian allies, according to multiple accounts given to Reuters by people involved in the operations.Moscow has not acknowledged using private contractors in Syria. Russian security companies do not reveal the background of people they hire but the contractors usually are special forces veterans.Krinitsyn, the owner of the company which hired the contractors for Libya, was an officer of the Russian border guard service based in Tajikistan, on the border with Afghanistan, where he said he gained battlefield experience.Krinitsyn said some of the contractors he hired for Libya has previously worked in Syria, though not in combat roles.

He declined to say how many contractors were involved in the mission in Libya, citing commercial secrecy. However, he said that in general, a de-mining operation of this type would require around 50 mine clearance experts and around the same number for their security detail.HAWKISH CAMP

Haftar has been seeking outside help to consolidate his control over parts of Libya. Russia has shown a willingness to engage with him that contrasts with the more cautious approach of Western governments.Haftar visited Moscow in November last year and met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In December, Haftar went on board a Russian aircraft carrier off the Libyan coast and spoke with the Russian defence minister via videolink. In recent weeks, Russia has taken in 100 of Haftar's wounded fighters for medical treatment.Moscow also received Haftar's rival, Fayez Serraj, the head of the UN-backed government, for talks this month.President Vladimir Putin, newly confident from the Russian military intervention in Syria, is anxious to restore stability in Libya. But foreign diplomats familiar with Russian thinking say there is so far no consensus on how to achieve that. They say the foreign ministry wants Haftar to join forces with the U.N.-backed government. But the diplomats say there is a more hawkish camp, centred on the Russian defence ministry and some people in the Kremlin, which favours backing Haftar to establish control over the whole of Libya. Krinitsyn, the contractors' boss, said that while in Libya his employees had run into a group of local militants. He said the militants were initially hostile, but became friendly when they realised the outsiders were Russians."It was an uncomfortable situation but the image created by Putin in Syria played a positive role. We realized that Russia is welcomed in Libya more than other countries are," he said. (Additional reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli in Benghazi, Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli and Christian Lowe in Moscow; Editing by Giles Elgood)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday there could never be peace in Syria as long as there was an Iranian presence there."We discussed at length the matter of Iran, its objectives and intentions in Syria, and I clarified that there cannot be a peace deal in Syria when Iran is there and declares its intention to destroy Israel," Netanyahu said in footage supplied by his office after their meeting.Iran, Israel's arch-enemy, has been embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's staunchest backer and has provided militia fighters to help him in the country's civil war.

"(Iran) is arming itself and its forces against Israel including from Syria territory and is, in fact, gaining a foothold to continue the fight against Israel," he said in reply to a reporter's question."There cannot be peace when they continue the war and therefore they have to be removed."

Russia, also Assad's ally, is seen as holding the balance of power in achieving a deal on Syria's future. In Geneva last week, the first U.N.-led Syria peace talks in a year ended without a breakthrough.Israeli leaders have pointed to Tehran's steadily increasing influence in the region during the six-year-old Syrian conflict, whether via its own Revolutionary Guard forces or Shi'ite Muslim proxies, especially Hezbollah.

Last year, Avi Dichter, the chair of Israel's foreign affairs and defence committee, said Iran had tried several times in the past to move forces into the Syrian Golan Heights, next to territory that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.Dichter said those moves were repelled, but gave no details.Netanyahu has said that Israel has carried out dozens of strikes to prevent weapons smuggling to the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah via Syria. Two years ago, Israel and Russia agreed to coordinate military actions over Syria in order to avoid accidentally trading fire. (Writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Andrew Roche)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Leigh Thomas and Sudip Kar-Gupta

| PARIS

PARIS Centrist Emmanuel Macron saw his position as favourite to win France's presidential election boosted on Thursday in two polls, with one showing him ahead of far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of the two-stage contest.A monthly Cevipof survey, considered the most authoritative because it has a far bigger sample size than most polls, put Le Pen well ahead in the April 23 first round, although Macron was seen easily beating her in a May 7 runoff.However, a Harris Interactive poll showed Macron winning the first round with 26 percent of votes, with Le Pen taking second place on 25 percent, setting him up to trounce her in the run-off with a score of 65 percent.It was the second poll in a week that put the 39-year-old ahead of Le Pen in the opening round, a signal that the centrist former economy minister may be consolidating his position 45 days from the first stage of the contest.Le Pen, who leads the anti-European Union, anti-immigration National Front, faced strong criticism of her policies on Thursday from International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, a former French economy minister.

Without referring to Le Pen by name, Lagarde told Le Parisien newspaper that her flagship policy - pulling France out of the euro - would lead in the short term to "a period of very grave uncertainty, of great imbalance and of impoverishment of France."French President Francois Hollande, at a summit in Brussels, said there was concern among his European counterparts about the strength of the National Front. "There is concern because the extreme right is present everywhere in Europe at high levels," he told a news conference.EXAGGERATED

A research note from Credit Suisse bank said, however, that the risk of a Le Pen victory was exaggerated.Macron's showing in the Harris poll helped ease investor concerns about the prospects of Le Pen winning, with the gap between French and German bond yields narrowing on Thursday morning DE10FR10YT=TWEB.The race remains difficult to call, though, after a string of surprises, including Socialist incumbent Hollande's decision not to seek a second term, and surprising wins in primaries for contenders the pollsters had ruled out.

Hollande has asked his ministers to wait until March 24 before stating publicly which candidate they will support. That has led to speculation some senior ministers will throw their weight behind Macron as the best bet to beat Le Pen rather than Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, who is polling poorly.Financial scandals have engulfed Le Pen and conservative Francois Fillon, who slumped in the polls after he was accused of using public cash to pay his wife for a ghost job. The latest surveys suggest his support is stabilising.After a series of resignations, Fillon's team announced senior appointments on Thursday to try to shore up his campaign, including former finance minister Francois Baroin in the special role of unifying the increasingly fragmented Republicans party.Fillon stepped up his attacks on Macron at a rally on Thursday evening, calling him a "golden boy" who was offering disguised socialism. (Writing by Brian Love and Adrian Croft; Editing by Andrew Callus and Larry King)

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BERLIN Pope Francis has said he is willing to consider ordaining older married men in isolated communities, but has ruled out making priestly celibacy optional to tackle a shortage of clergy.The shortage has prompted calls from some progressives to end the ancient tradition of celibacy for Roman Catholic priests.Such a move would represent revolutionary change for the Catholic Church and would likely face massive resistance.

Reformers, however, have long suggested that the Vatican could ordain "viri probati" -- Latin for men of proven character -- who tend to be older, with grown-up families if married.In an interview with Germany's Die Zeit newspaper, the pope said this option could be considered.

"We have to give a thought to whether viri probati are a possibility. We then also need to determine which tasks they could take on, such as in isolated areas, for example," he was quoted as saying.

He ruled out, however, opening the priesthood to all married men or watering down the Catholic Church's commitment to celibacy among priests. "Voluntary celibacy is often discussed in this context, especially in places where there are shortages of clerics. But voluntary celibacy is not a solution," he said.The Catholic Church values celibacy as a virtue that frees priests to devote their lives fully to serve God. (Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum, Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Toby Davis)

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Seoul: In a historic, unanimous ruling Friday, South Korea's Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil, worsened an already serious national divide and prompted calls for sweeping reforms.

It was a stunning fall for Park, the country's first female leader and the daughter of a dictator who rode a lingering conservative nostalgia for her father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency descend into a scandal.

The ruling by the eight-member panel opens her up to possible criminal proceedings and makes her South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy came in the country in the late 1980s.

Park's "acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust," acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said. "The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big. Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye."

South Korea must hold an election within two months to choose Park's successor. Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys. Whoever becomes the next leader will take over a country facing a hostile North Korea, a stagnant economy and deep social and political divides.

Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70 to 80 percent of South Koreans had wanted the court to approve Park's impeachment. But there have been worries that Park's ouster would further polarize the country and cause violence between her supporters and opponents.

Sensing history, thousands of people  both pro-Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who wanted Park gone  gathered around the Constitutional Court building and a huge public square in downtown Seoul.

A big television screen was set up near the court so people could watch the verdict live. Hundreds of police were on hand for any protests, wearing helmets with visors and black, hard-plastic breastplates and shin guards. The streets near the court were lined with police buses and barricades.

Park's parliamentary impeachment in December came after weeks of Saturday rallies that drew millions who wanted her resignation. Overwhelmed by the biggest rallies in decades, the voices of Park supporters were largely ignored. But they've recently regrouped and staged fierce pro-Park rallies since.

People on both sides have threatened not to accept a Constitutional Court decision that they disagree with. One of Park's lawyers told the court last month that there will be "a rebellion and blood will drench the asphalt" if Park is booted from office. Many participants at anti-Park rallies had said they would stage a "revolution" if the court rejected Park's impeachment.

"If Park accepts the ruling and soothes those who opposed her impeachment, things will be quiet," said Yoon Tae-Ryong, a political scientist at Seoul's Konkuk University. "But looking at what she's done so far, I think that might be wishful thinking."

Others disagreed, saying violent protests won't be supported by the general public.

Prosecutors have arrested and indicted a slew of high-profile figures over the scandal, including Park's confidante Choi Soon-sil, top Park administration officials and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong. But Park has avoided a direct investigation thanks to a law that gives a sitting president immunity from prosecution for most of the alleged crimes.

Since she's now no longer in power, prosecutors can summon, question and possibly arrest her. Her critics want to see Park appear on TV while dressed in prison garb, handcuffed and bound like others involved in the scandal. But some analysts worry that could create a backlash by conservatives.

Even after the election, imprisoning Park could still be a burden for a new government, which must pursue national unity to overcome security, economic and other problems, said Chung Jin-young, a professor at Kyung Hee University. Others say it won't be difficult.

Among the most serious problems facing South Korea is China's retaliation against the deployment of a US high-tech missile defense system in the South. Ties with North Korea are terrible, with Pyongyang seeking to expand its nuclear and missile arsenal. Japan hasn't sent back its ambassador, which it recalled two months ago over history disputes. South Korea also worries about the Trump administration asking for a greater financial contribution for US troop deployment in the South.

Park rose to power in 2012 largely thanks to the support of voters who believed her father guided the country out of poverty after the 1950-53 Korean War and that his daughter would show the same charismatic leadership to revive the economy.

But her father was also a burden because there are many who remember the senior Park as a ruthless thug. These critics have linked her alleged unclear and high-handed decision-making and attempts to infringe upon freedom of speech to her father's high-handed style.

"The nostalgia for Park Chung-hee's developmental dictatorship, which has existed as a sort of myth since the '60s, has been shattered along with Park Geun-hye's impeachment," said Lim Jie-Hyun, a professor at Sogang University. "When people voted for Park Geun-hye, they didn't do so because of her."

Park Geun-hye has offered a public apology several times and acknowledged she got some help from Choi for editing speeches and on the issue of public relations. But Park has denied any legal wrongdoing.

The two women became friends in the 1970s, around the time when Park began serving as first lady after her mother was killed during a failed 1974 assassination attempt on her father. Park Geun-hye said Choi helped her "when I had difficulties" in the past. The two women had 573 phone calls between 18 April, 2016 and 26 October, 2016, according to an investigation report by prosecutors.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has led the government as acting leader since Park's impeachment and he will continue to do so until South Korea elects a new president by May. Some media reports said Hwang might run for the presidency as a conservative candidate. If that happens, he should resign to run and a deputy prime minister will serve as another interim leader.

In 2004, then President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached by parliament for alleged election law violations and incompetence, but the Constitutional Court later reinstated his power.
Geneva: Two men shot dead two people and seriously injured a third on Thursday at a cafe in Basel, northwest Switzerland, police said as they hunt for the suspects.

"Two men came into Cafe 56" around 8:15 pm local time (1915 GMT) "and fired several rounds of shots," police said in a statement, without providing information on a possible motive. "Two customers were killed. Another is in a critical condition."

The assailants were on the run following the shooting, according to police, who said they had headed in the direction of the railway station after the attack.

"The reason behind the attack is not yet known and will be investigated," the Basel prosecutor's office said in a statement. Police have asked anyone with information regarding the incident to come forward. The road next to the cafe has been cordoned off and traffic redirected.

A bullet hole was visible in one of the windows of the establishment, a small cafe in a residential neighbourhood. An AFP photographer at the scene saw police dressed in white forensic garb collecting evidence at the site.

"Cafe 56 doesn't have a bad reputation," a neighbourhood resident told local newspaper Basler Zeitung. "It was previously an establishment known for its links to the drug world, but since the owner changed several years ago it became an ordinary cafe," the paper quoted another resident as saying.

Gun crime is infrequent in Switzerland, even though the country has one of the highest rates of firearm ownership in the world. Citizens are allowed to keep their army-issue weapons at home outside periods of mandatory military service. This right has been controversial as sometimes weapons are used at home in domestic incidents.

The number of weapons held at home is believed to be two million for a population of eight million, according to Swiss press.

In January, a man clad in military clothing shot and injured two police officers as they searched his home in northeast Switzerland for a suspected cannabis plantation.

The gunman fled but was eventually cornered and after a standoff lasting several hours, which included negotiations over the telephone, he shot himself dead. Police searching his home found gun publications.
BEIRUT Turkey's military shelled Syrian government forces and their allies on Thursday, causing deaths and injuries, Syrian state media quoted a military source as saying. State-run SANA news agency quoted the military source as saying that the Turkish bombardment targeted Syrian border guard positions in the countryside near the northern city of Manbij.

Turkey intervened in northern Syria in August in support of rebel groups with the twin goals of driving Islamic State from its border and preventing Kurdish groups from building an autonomous zone along the frontier.

Ankara is particularly concerned about the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia which it regards as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a three-decade insurgency inside Turkey.

The area around Manbij has been controlled since last year by the Manbij Military Council, a local militia that is a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella organisation of armed groups of which the YPG is also a part. The United States, which supports the SDF in its fight against Islamic State, and is also an ally of Turkey, has said it has taken steps to try to prevent conflict between the two sides. (Reporting by Angus McDowall; editing by Andrew Roche)

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By Tom Perry and John Davison

| BEIRUT/MOSUL, Iraq

BEIRUT/MOSUL, Iraq U.S.-backed Syrian militias said on Friday they were strong enough to seize Raqqa from Islamic State with support from the U.S.-led coalition, underlining their opposition to any Turkish role in the planned attack.The campaign against the city, Islamic State's Syrian base of operations, is gathering pace as Iraqi forces press ahead with their efforts to recapture Mosul, the jihadists' base in Iraq. The overlapping U.S.-backed campaigns threaten to deal Islamic State (IS) a double blow.Iraqi state TV said about half of western Mosul had been taken. Iraqi forces dislodged the militants from the eastern part of Mosul in January, after 100 days of fighting to reclaim the city seized by the jihadist group in 2014.The Raqqa campaign received a boost in recent days with the deployment of a U.S. Marines artillery unit, adding to the several hundred U.S. special forces already in Syria supporting the operation backed by air strikes from the U.S.-led coalition.The Syrian Democratic Forces, the main U.S. partner in Syria, this week cut the road from Raqqa to Islamic State's stronghold in Deir al-Zor - the last main road out of Raqqa, and declared it would reach the city limits within a few weeks.NATO member Turkey is deeply concerned by the influential role of the Kurdish YPG militia in the SDF, and is pressing Washington to take part in the operation itself. Turkey views the YPG as a threat to its national security.Underlining the SDF's determination to press ahead, a spokeswoman said on Friday it had enough fighters to take Raqqa. "The number of our forces is now increasing, particularly from among the people of the area, and we have enough strength to liberate Raqqa with support from the coalition forces," Jihan Sheikh Ahmed said in a statement.

TURKEY AND KURDS

The SDF, which includes YPG-allied Arab groups, says it ruled out any Turkish role during meetings with U.S. officials last month. Turkey says no decision had been made yet on who would carry out the final assault. The U.S.-led coalition said a possible Turkish role remained a point of discussion. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish government for decades. The YPG controls swathes of northern Syria, where it has battled IS for several years."We have information that the enemy is moving part of its leadership outside the city, as it is also digging tunnels under the ground. We expect they will fortify the city and the terrorist group will depend on street warfare," Ahmed said.Islamic State is also being fought in northern Syria in separate campaigns by the Russian-backed Syrian army, and by the Turkish army and Free Syrian Army rebel groups Turkey backs.

Islamic State has withdrawn from swathes of northern Syria in the last few weeks, a sign of the strain the group is under in both the Syrian and Iraqi halves of its self-declared "caliphate"."For many months the Coalition has been working to enable simultaneous, or overlapping operations," U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, the spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, told Reuters."Conducting operations to isolate and liberate Raqqa while also working to liberate Mosul presents the enemy with more dilemmas than their command and control capabilities can manage," he added in emailed comments.DAWN ATTACK IN MOSUL

In Mosul, Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) and Rapid Response units captured new blocks.U.S.-trained CTS units battled sniper and mortar fire, often moving from house to house, reaching the Aamel district of western Mosul on Friday, in a push to tighten the noose around Islamic State fighters dug into the old city centre."Fighting has entered the first Aamel district today, there was a CTS attack at dawn, and they ran away, retreated," said Captain Muthanna al Saadi of the CTS 2nd division. Seif Rasheed, 28, a medic with the CTS unit operating from a house behind the lines in the Shuhada district said it received one dead and one wounded in the early hours of Friday."The martyr was shot in the head and the wounded in the neck and hip," he said. "Daesh (IS) are hiding in homes, opening the doors and firing at troops from just a few metres."Supplies to the IS-held parts of Mosul have dwindled over the past week as the army shut the main route westward."We used to get potatoes, vegetables and milk from Badoosh, but these areas are no longer accessible," said a man in Zanjeely district over the phone. "The entire family lives in one room and mortars are falling like rain." (Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Andrew Roche)

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By Jon Herskovitz

| AUSTIN, Texas

AUSTIN, Texas A man detained after federal prosecutors said he was involved in a fire in January that destroyed a Texas mosque has been ordered held on a charge unrelated to the arson, court records showed.A federal judge ordered Marq Perez, 25, to be detained after he appeared in U.S. district court on Thursday in Corpus Christi but Perez's lawyer Mark Di Carlo on Friday said he was being held because of "hearsay based on hearsay."Perez was charged with "possession of an unregistered destructive device" unrelated to the fire at the Victoria Islamic Center, about 125 miles (200 km) southwest of Houston, court records showed.There was no description of the device in court papers, but Di Carlo said it was five large firecrackers bundled together and having a single fuse.Islamic rights groups have said they saw the fire as part of a growing wave of bigotry toward Muslims in the United States. President Donald Trump, a Republican, was elected last November having promised to impose a ban on Muslims entering the country, which he said would help protect Americans from terrorism.

"We welcome this arrest and thank investigators for their swift and professional actions in apprehending the alleged arsonist," said Mustafaa Carroll, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Houston.In court, prosecutors presented allegations from two unidentified informants who said that Perez was involved in the arson, Di Carlo said in a telephone interview."The allegations of the criminal informants, we thought, were specious," Di Carlo said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge B. Janice Ellington said the evidence against Perez is substantial and he "represents a serious danger to the community," court records showed.The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas said no one has been charge in relation to the fire but the matter was still being investigated.

At the detention hearing, the government presented evidence that he was involved in the fire, the prosecutor's office said."According to the information presented to the court, he allegedly burglarised the mosque on Jan. 22 and then again on Jan. 28, at which time he also set it on fire," the office said in a statement. Statements from the informants were not entered into online court records.Last month, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled the fire that destroyed the building and caused about $500,000 in damages as arson. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; editing by Grant McCool)

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WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recused himself from issues related to TransCanada Corp's (TRP.TO) application for a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, the State Department said in a letter on Thursday to the environmental group Greenpeace."He has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanada's application," said the letter from Katherine McManus, the State Department's deputy legal adviser.McManus' letter came after Greenpeace wrote to officials at the State Department and the Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday, urging Tillerson recuse himself from any decisions on the multibillion-dollar pipeline, given his former role as chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N).Greenpeace argued in its letter that Exxon Mobil would "directly and predictably" benefit from the approval of Keystone XL because the firm has investments in Canadian oil sands.

Tillerson recused himself from the matter in early February, McManus wrote.TransCanada tried for more than five years to build the 1,179-mile (1,897-km) pipeline, until President Barack Obama rejected it in 2015.

TransCanada resubmitted its application for the Keystone project in January, after Obama's White House successor, Donald Trump, signed an order smoothing its path.The line is designed to link existing pipeline networks in Canada and the United States to bring crude from Alberta and North Dakota to refineries in Illinois en route to the Gulf of Mexico.

Exxon has a majority stake in Imperial Oil, a Calgary, -Alberta-based company that operates the Kearl oil sands project in northern Alberta."Exxon Mobil could benefit from the approval of the pipeline if it has specific contracts or agreements with TransCanada either to transport their Canadian tar sands production, or to receive such shipments at their U.S. refineries," Greenpeace wrote in its letter on Wednesday.Tillerson wrote in a January letter to McManus that for one year after his resignation from Exxon Mobil, he "will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I know that Exxon Mobil is a party or represents a party, unless I am first authorized to participate."He also wrote that "on a case-by-case basis," he would recuse himself "from participation in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I determine that a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would question my impartiality in the matter, unless I am first authorized to participate." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati and Eric Beech; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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By Tom Miles

| GENEVA

GENEVA About 2,000 people were killed and entire neighbourhoods razed in southeastern Turkey in 18 months of government security operations characterised by massive destruction and serious human rights violations, the United Nations said on Friday.The U.N. human rights office said in a report on the period July 2015-December 2016 that up to 500,000 people, mostly Kurds, had been displaced, while satellite imagery showed the "enormous scale of destruction of the housing stock by heavy weaponry".U.N. investigators documented human rights violations including killings, disappearances and torture, often during curfews lasting several days at a time. U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said in a statement that Turkey, which denied access for the investigators, had "contested the veracity" of the allegations. "It appears that not a single suspect was apprehended and not a single individual was prosecuted," Zeid said, adding an independent investigation was urgently needed.Zeid's spokesman, Rupert Colville, said an investigation could be international or Turkish but must be independent and impartial. The U.N. would continue investigating and might publish reports on Turkey every three months or so, he said, adding that security operations were continuing sporadically.

In a written statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the report was based on "biased, incorrect" information and was "far from professional"."We do not accept the unfounded allegations in the report which correspond exactly to the terrorist group's propaganda," it said, adding the report was a clear violation of the impartiality and objectivity required of U.N. representatives.It was referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is the target of the Turkish security forces' operations in the southeast. Turkey, the United States and European Union designate it as a terrorist group.

KILLINGS

Almost 800 of those killed were members of the security forces, and some of the other 1,200 may have been involved in action against the state, the report said. Among the documented killings were those of up to 189 people trapped for weeks in basements in the town of Cizre in early 2016, without water, food, medical attention or power. They were killed by fire induced by shelling.

One woman's family was given "three small pieces of charred flesh", identified by DNA as being her remains. Her sister, who demanded legal action, was charged with terrorist offences, the report said. Colville said the death toll figures came from the Turkish government."Definitely if the PKK have committed crimes and violations they need to be analysed and exposed," Colville said. "The problem is because there has been this void, really, in investigation, nobody knows the scale of who has done what to whom and the precise details," he said.Although Zeid has been invited to Turkey, Colville said a U.N. investigative team needed to go first and it would be "absurd" to think Zeid's visit could be a substitute. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Additional reporting by Daren Butler in Istanbul; Editing by Julia Glover, Larry King)

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By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON The U.S. military said on Friday it plans to forge ahead with building the THAAD missile defence system in South Korea, separating the issue from a political crisis in Seoul that saw President Park Geun-hye's removal from office on Friday.The United States started deploying the first elements of its advanced anti-missile defence system in South Korea on Tuesday in response to North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear tests.Leading candidates to replace Park have split over THAAD. One prominent opposition candidate called for a review while another recently told Chinese media that THAAD deployment should be called off.Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis described THAAD as something that had already been decided upon between both nations and which was fully justified by the North Korean threat. He declined to comment on internal politics in Seoul."Leaders change over time, that's not new," Davis told a news conference."We made an agreement with the Republic of Korea that this was a capability that they needed ... This is something that is needed militarily. That agreement was reached and we remain committed to delivering on it."

Asked whether the United States would continue shipping THAAD components to South Korea, Davis said "Yes."Victor Cha, a Korea expert and former White House official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, played down the chances that THAAD would be rolled back."If THAAD is deployed prior to the elections and given the North Korean missile threat, I don't think it would be prudent for a new government to ask that it be walked back," Cha said.U.S. officials told Reuters the system could be operational in several weeks, although the Pentagon has declined to say when it will be up and running.

South Korea's Constitutional Court removed Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over a graft scandal involving the country's conglomerates. The ruling sparked protests from supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court.Relations with China and the United States could dominate the coming presidential campaign.Beijing has vigorously protested against the deployment, fearing its radar could see into its missile deployments.

China has curbed travel to South Korea and targeted Korean companies operating in the mainland, prompting retaliatory measures from Seoul.North Korea missile expert John Schilling, a contributor to the U.S. monitoring group 38 North, said any future South Korean leader would have a hard time objecting to THAAD if it meant jeopardizing the alliance with the United States.But he noted that South Korea still had leverage."THAAD works best when it is operated in conjunction with existing Patriot and Aegis missiles and an integrated command and control system," Schilling said."South Korea controls enough of that infrastructure that they could make it not worth the bother for the U.S. to set up a single isolated and poorly-sited THAAD battery." (Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, David Brunnstrom, Matt Spetalnick; editing by James Dalgleish)

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WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host a 68-nation meeting in Washington this month to discuss the next moves by a coalition fighting Islamic State, the State Department said on Thursday.The March 22-23 meeting of coalition foreign ministers aimed "to accelerate international efforts to defeat ISIS in the remaining areas it holds in Iraq and Syria and maximize pressure on its branches, affiliates, and networks," the State Department said in a statement, using an acronym for Islamic State.The State Department said it would be the first meeting of the full coalition since December 2014, shortly after it was founded."It's an opportunity for Secretary Tillerson to lay out the challenges that are facing the coalition moving forward," acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

"We all recognise that we have seen progress in defeating ISIS on the ground ... how do we leverage that success? How do we build on that success?"Islamic State has declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. It has been losing ground in both countries, with three separate forces, backed by the United States, Turkey and Russia, advancing on its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 28 requesting the Pentagon, joint chiefs of staff and other agencies to submit a preliminary plan in 30 days for defeating Islamic State.

Toner said details of that plan are still classified, declining to provide further information. He said the meeting would look at how "to augment existing capabilities and processes on the ground."Iraqi forces have advanced deeper into west Mosul, facing stiff resistance from Islamic State militants who have used suicide car bombs and snipers to defend their last major stronghold in Iraq.

The Iraqi operation to retake the eastern bank of the city, launched in mid-October with support from the U.S.-led coalition, took more than three months. The offensive to recapture west Mosul began less than three weeks ago.Mosul is the largest city which Islamic State has held. The group has lost most of the cities it captured in northern and western Iraq in 2014 and 2015.There is little doubt Iraqi forces will eventually prevail over the militants, who are outnumbered and overpowered, but even if it loses Mosul, Islamic State is expected to revert to their insurgent tactics of old.On Wednesday, bomb blasts ripped through a wedding party near Tikrit, which was recaptured by Iraqi forces in 2015, killing more than 20 people. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Yeganeh Torbati; Writing by Eric Walsh; editing by Grant McCool)

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Xiaomi has introduced 90 Minutes Ultra Smart running shoes powered by Intel Curie module under its Mi Ecosystem which is also known as MIJIA on its Mi Home crowd funding platform.

The shoes have been developed in China by the Shanghai RunMi Technology Co. Ltd and is made of foam-like material offering cushion effect suitable for runners. It has heel-piece air cushion, antibacterial removable insole, scattering heel-piece landing impact, and then turning into the spring-back energy.

The Intel Curie model has 32-bit Intel Quark SE SoC that runs for extended periods on a coin-sized battery, has built-in 6-axis combo sensor and Bluetooth LE to connect to smartphones. It also comes with 384kB flash memory and 80kB SRAM.

It can detect movement and store data such as distance covered, speed, calories lost. It can also detect when the user is running, walking or climbing. It promises up to 60 days of battery life.

The Xiaomi 90 Minutes Ultra Smart sport shoes comes in black, surf blue color, black and pink colors. The special blue colored version has luminous material that offers cool shadow for running at night. It is priced at 299 Yuan (US$43 / Rs. 2880 approx.), is available for order will start shipping by April 15th, 2017.

Source
Ingredion

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We turn grains, fruits, vegetables and other plant materials into ingredients that make crackers crunchy, candy sweet, yogurt creamy, lotions and creams silky, plastics biodegradable and tissues softer and stronger. Our innovative ingredient solutions help customers stay on trend with simple ingredients and gluten-free or high-fibre foods that appeal to today's consumers.

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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday there had been significant progress with lenders on a bailout review, and that he hoped for a comprehensive deal by April.

Tsipras, speaking after a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, said he expected peace talks on ethnically-split Cyprus to remain stalled until after a Turkish referendum on April 16.

Creditors started fresh negotiations with Athens last week on signing off on a new bailout review under the terms of the country's 86 billion euro ($91 billion) financing facility.

(Reporting By Renee Maltezou)
Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty to criminal charges for rigging diesel-powered vehicles to cheat on government emissions tests, capping the final significant U.S. legal settlement expected in a long-running deception that hammered the German auto company's reputation and finances.

In an unprecedented resolution for a criminal case involving an automotive company, Volkswagen pleaded guilty in a Detroit federal court Friday to conspiracy to defraud the U.S., commit wire fraud and violate the Clean Air Act; obstruction of justice; and import violations. The auto maker's plea agreement includes a $2.8 billion criminal fine and resolves a longstanding Justice Department probe.

Volkswagen has also agreed to an additional $1.5 billion civil penalty to settle the U.S. investigation. That is on top of previous civil settlements with consumers, regulators, dealers and state attorneys general in the U.S. that could cost Volkswagen more than $20 billion. Some current and former Volkswagen executives and employees were separately charged in the criminal probe, but weren't the subject of Friday's hearing.

Volkswagen General Counsel Manfred Doss entered Friday morning's guilty plea on the company's behalf before U.S. District Judge Sean F. Cox. The company was arraigned on the charges earlier before a magistrate judge in a separate hearing. Volkswagen signed a plea agreement with U.S. prosecutors in January, weeks before Friday's formal court hearings.

Judge Cox said he would forego sentencing until April 21. That final step would formalize Volkswagen criminal penalties that include the assignment of an independent monitor to audit its regulatory compliance practices for at least three years.

"Volkswagen's offenses are very, very, very serious," the judge said. "I just want more time to reflect and study."

The guilty plea codified Volkswagen's admission to conspiring for nearly a decade to deceive U.S. officials with illegal software known as defeat devices that allowed nearly 600,000 diesel-powered vehicles to pass emissions tests and then pollute beyond legal limits on the road.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disclosed Volkswagen's deception in September 2015 and said the company's vehicles spewed toxic tailpipe emissions up to 40 times above allowable levels. Volkswagen admitted to installing the problematic software on some 11 million vehicles globally, sparking government hearings, litigation and investigations around the world targeting the company and many of its senior executives.

Volkswagen's emissions fraud was "a very well thought out, calculated, well-planned offense," said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Neal during Friday's court hearing, adding the conspiracy reached the "highest levels of the corporation."

Mr. Neal added that the government could have fined Volkswagen up to $34 billion, but assessed a lower figure given the auto maker's cooperation with the investigation, previous large civil settlements and efforts to compensate consumers affected by its deception.

Mr. Doss said during court proceedings that some Volkswagen supervisors and employees destroyed documents and files when learning of the emissions probe, and that the auto maker had deceived U.S. environmental regulators and customers.

A federal grand jury separately indicted seven Volkswagen executives and employees for their role in the emissions fraud. Many of them are believed to reside in Germany and it isn't clear whether they will travel to the U.S. to face charges.

U.S. authorities arrested one of them, Oliver Schmidt, the former head of Volkswagen's Environment and Engineering Office in Auburn Hills, Mich., in January at Miami International Airport as he prepared to travel home to Germany. After being transferred to Detroit, he pleaded not guilty to criminal charges and is being held at an area jail awaiting trial.

An engineer who pleaded guilty to criminal conduct for helping Volkswagen cheat on emissions tests, James Liang, is scheduled to be sentenced in May.

Former Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn resigned in the wake of the emissions crisis, and the company then suffered sales declines and financial losses, in part due to freezing affected vehicles on U.S. dealer lots. But the auto maker reported a profit for 2016 and passed Toyota Motor Corp. as global car-sales leader. Volkswagen recently curbed executive pay amid investor ire emanating from the emissions deception.

Still, the corporate criminal case against Volkswagen represented the harshest punishment yet stemming from an unprecedented government crackdown on automotive firms for safety and environmental lapses. Along with stiff financial penalties, prosecutors have been seeking charges against executives and employees implicated in auto-industry scandals.

Takata Corp. in January pleaded guilty to criminal wrongdoing and agreed to $1 billion in penalties to resolve an investigation of the Japanese supplier's handling of rupture-prone air bags linked to numerous death and injuries and historic recalls. Three executives were also charged.

Toyota and General Motors Co. in recent years settled criminal cases resulting from safety transgressions without pleading guilty to charges and suffering smaller financial penalties than that to which Volkswagen agreed.

In the waning days of the Obama administration, U.S. environmental regulators accused Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV of using emissions software on diesel-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee sport-utility vehicles and Ram pickup trucks that allowed them to spew illegal levels of pollution. Officials stopped short of saying the software was designed to cheat emissions tests as Volkswagen's did. The Italian-U.S. auto maker has denied wrongdoing.

(By Mike Spector and Mike Colias; Christina Rogers contributed to this article)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recused himself from issues related to TransCanada Corp's application for a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, the State Department said in a letter on Thursday to the environmental group Greenpeace.

"He has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanada's application," said the letter from Katherine McManus, the State Department's deputy legal adviser.

McManus' letter came after Greenpeace wrote to officials at the State Department and the Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday, urging Tillerson recuse himself from any decisions on the multibillion-dollar pipeline, given his former role as chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp..

Greenpeace argued in its letter that Exxon Mobil would "directly and predictably" benefit from the approval of Keystone XL because the firm has investments in Canadian oil sands.

Tillerson recused himself from the matter in early February, McManus wrote.

TransCanada tried for more than five years to build the 1,179-mile (1,897-km) pipeline, until President Barack Obama rejected it in 2015.

TransCanada resubmitted its application for the Keystone project in January, after Obama's White House successor, Donald Trump, signed an order smoothing its path.

The line is designed to link existing pipeline networks in Canada and the United States to bring crude from Alberta and North Dakota to refineries in Illinois en route to the Gulf of Mexico.

Exxon has a majority stake in Imperial Oil, a Calgary, -Alberta-based company that operates the Kearl oil sands project in northern Alberta.

"Exxon Mobil could benefit from the approval of the pipeline if it has specific contracts or agreements with TransCanada either to transport their Canadian tar sands production, or to receive such shipments at their U.S. refineries," Greenpeace wrote in its letter on Wednesday.

Tillerson wrote in a January letter to McManus that for one year after his resignation from Exxon Mobil, he "will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I know that Exxon Mobil is a party or represents a party, unless I am first authorized to participate."

He also wrote that "on a case-by-case basis," he would recuse himself "from participation in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I determine that a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would question my impartiality in the matter, unless I am first authorized to participate."

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati and Eric Beech; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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Reza Aslan is facing backlash after eating human brain with a Hindu cannibalistic sect on his new CNN show "Believer."

Aslan's news show is meant to explore a variety of faith-based groups around the world. But his exploration of the cannibalistc sect in India has many people up in arms over what they see is a misrepresentation of Hinduism.

In a recent episode, Aslan met with the Aghoris of India and took part in some of their rituals which includes smearing ashes on his face and eating human brain which he said was "burnt to a crisp" and tasted like "charcoal."

However, the secretive sect is generally opposed by mainstream Hindus who and Aslan has been criticized for featuring them on his show.

Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu member of Congress, tweeted her disappointment over the show.

"While good people across our country are working hard to increase mutual understanding and respect between people of different religions," she tweeted. "I am very disturbed that CNN is using its power and influence to increase peoples misunderstanding and fear of Hinduism."

Head of the Republican Hindu Coalition Shalabh Kumarhead tweeted, "I condemn @rezaaslan, CNN for airing Believer with fiction. Disgusting attack on Hindus for supporting @POTUS @stephenkbannon @newtgingrich."

The U.S. India Political Action Committee issued a statement urging CNN to cancel the show.

"CNN story on Hindu rites and cannibalism is completely baseless," the statement said. "This show will create confusion about Indian Americans faith and make them further targets of hate crimes."

Aslan responded to the criticism on Facebook saying he made it clean on the show that the Aghoris are an "extreme Hindu sect" and "are not representative of Hinduism."
Don't mess with Texans' tacos. Food truck-loving foodies in Houston are fighting back against President Trumps immigration policies after a popular food truck owner was recently taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In February ICE officials apprehended Piro Garcia, a cook who ran two popular taco trucks in the south part of Houston.

Garcia, who was never arrested but has been previously charged with a misdemeanor assault, trespassing, and a fake vehicle-inspection sticker, is in a detention center in Houston awaiting deportation while his wife mans the family's taco operation.

NEW YORK FOOD CRITIC BLAMES ANTHONY BOURDAIN FOR CITY'S FOOD TRUCK 'MENACES'

According to NPR, Garcia was born in Guatemala and came to the U.S. in the 1990s amid a civil war in the country. He was initially caught and deported by the Border Patrol but eventually made it back to Houston.

"He's my right hand. He washed the trucks every day," Garcias wife Rosie told NPR. "He bought the meat and the vegetables. It takes two people to run these trucks. I don't know how I'll do it alone."

If its up to loyal customers of the taco trucks, however, she wont have to. A friend of Garcias recently started a GoFundMe fundraising page with calls to Free Piro!

A $2,500 goal has already been surpassed with more than $8,000 raised as of March 9.

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According to the campaign, members of the Garcia family are honest, hard working people and are always there to give back to the community.

"Under the Trump administration, he's considered a criminal because he has these three minor offenses, said Raed Gonzalez, Garcias immigration lawyer. But they equate him and he's at the same level of somebody who kills somebody.

One customer urged ICE to pursue illegal immigrants that have committed more serious crimes.

"He was a good guy, he always helped people, said customer Paul Eberson. He had a good family. Everybody loves his tacos."
Restaurants in Miami are battling a pesky problem: cockroaches.

Lots and lots of cockroaches.

According to Vice, more than 41 restaurants in the city have been cited for roach infestations in the past month alone. Out of the 41 cited by officials, eight eateries were subjected to immediate emergency shutdown orders.

That follows a previous round of citations and closings when 31 restaurants in Miami were cited for roaches at the end of January. Two restaurants were shut down during that time period.

Of those reviewed and cited, Ventura Restaurant was reported to be the most severely infested, with inspectors discovering approximately 100 live roaches walking on plates stored on (a) shelve by three-compartment sink in the kitchen area.

According to the Miami Herald, Catering to Kids, which specializes in food for the younger set, was caught multiple times with the bugs. They were closed on Feb. 17 after approximately 35 live roaches were found. Those cockroaches were discovered on the kitchen floor, underneath sinks, inside an oven and behind a table used for food prep.

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Despite the closing, however, roach activity was discovered in subsequent restaurant checks on Feb. 19, 20 and 21.

And at North Miami Beachs Island Delight Pizzeria, the cockroaches were literally climbing the walls.

According to The Florida Division of Hotels and Restaurants Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspectors, the establishment had approximately 40 to 50 live roaches" on a wall over a preparation table and five roaches crawling on another wall inside the kitchen.

According to Nations Restaurant News, German cockroaches are the most likely to be found in restaurants. One German cockroach females egg case can hold up to 40 eggs, which can be hatched within a month. The roaches then reproduce within six weeks.

Despite the proliferation of bugs, officials have yet to determine the cause of the widespread roach infestation though the Miami Herald reported in January that Miami-Dade and Broward rank third in the nation in terms of number of roaches due mostly to the hot, humid climate and dense population.
Finally, some good news for Chipotle. On Wednesday, the Mexican Grill won the dismissal of a lawsuit in which shareholders alleged the chain had deceived them about its ability to protect customers from outbreaks of food-borne illnesses.

The civil suit, filed back in January 2016 in the U.S. District Court of Southern New York by lead Plaintiffs Metzler Investment GmbH and Construction Laborers Pension Trust of Greater St. Louis, claimed the chain lied about how seriously it took food safety and the ability to keep consumers from contracting at least seven strains of norovirus, E.coli and salmonella outbreaks that erupted at several locations across the country in 2015, Reuters reports.

The suit alleged that the 2015 outbreaks were partially caused by the companys decision, in late 2014, to move the produce prepping from central commissary kitchens to individual locations. The suit goes on to claim that Chipotle made an effort to blame the suppliers for the cause of the outbreak at its onset.

The shareholders also accused Chipotle executives, including CEO Steve Ells, of suspiciously selling off millions of dollars worth of stock just a few months prior to the food safety outbreaks, hinting that Ells likely knew something might cause the chains stock price to take a dive in coming months. The judge rejected those claims.

The lawsuit had been seeking damages on behalf of investors who acquired Chipotle shares from February 2015 to January 2016.

Ultimately, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove Chipotle deceived shareholders about the risk of potential outbreaks or the seriousness of its food safety issues.

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There is no indication in the Complaint that Chipotles projections were inconsistent with or did not account for the Companys assessments of the impact of the food-borne illness outbreaks," Failla wrote in her decision. "And as long as the public statements are consistent with reasonably available data, corporate officials need not present an overly gloomy or cautious picture of current performance and future prospects."

Chipotle says it does not discuss pending litigation.

Chipotles latest victory comes amidst multiple courtroom battles. The chain settled out of court with 100 customers who became sick by E.coli or norovirus during the outbreak in the fall of 2015. Chipotle was also ordered to pay $600,000 in a gender discrimination lawsuit and most recently, sued for $2 billion for allegedly using a customers photo without permission.
President Trump and the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. are at the center of a new lawsuit, alleging that the government-owned property puts competing businesses at a major disadvantage.

Khalid Pitts and Diane Gross, owners of Cork Wine Bar in the nation's capital, filed an unfair competition lawsuit Wednesday night in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Attorneys for Cork point to a clause in the hotels lease with the General Services Administration that says no elected official should have any share or any benefit from the agreement. The lawsuit also argues that the wine bar-- which is located 15 minutes from Trump's new hotel-- is missing out on business from politicians and out-of-state dignitaries officials who are being courted by the president.

Attorney for the case, Mark Zaid, who has represented whistleblowers and journalists in the past, says that although Corks business is down and not in a dire situation, there has been a notable negative impact since Trump's inauguration.

TRUMP HOTELS' TWITTER ACCOUNT TROLLED AFTER PRESIDENT'S IMMIGRATION ORDER

When this started to become an issue in November, with the lease provision, I said find me a plaintiff and Ill take the case. Scott Rome is a business lawyer in D.C. Rome approached me and said he could get some restaurants, Zaid told Fox News.

They [restaurants or hotels] had to have the courage to step up to the plate. Not everyone is willing to do that. A lot of hotels would show interest, and then the CEOs would step away for fear of their shareholders.

"Cork was brave enough to be the pioneer, and were hopeful that others come forward -- not that we need them necessarily, Zaid said.

All attorneys assigned to the wine bar's case are working pro-bono and Zaid says the suit isnt about money.

He told Fox News that his team is looking for one of three outcomes. One, Trump could resign as president. Two, he could sell the property -- and not selling his interest to his kids. Three, the whole Trump clan could shut the hotel down entirely, he said.

Co-council on the lawsuit, Scott Rome, told The Washingtonian the lawsuit isnt just an anti-Trump stunt. From my position, if a Democratic politician was hurting clients in this way, I would have the same response, he said.

Its inappropriate for Trump to own the business while hes president. It wasnt inappropriate in September, but it is now, Zaid said.

7 WAYS TRUMP HOTEL IS TRYING TO MAKE DC GREAT AGAIN

But many online aren't buying the wine bar's motive for filing a suit against the president's business.

A ridiculous lawsuit but good for them for standing up to @realDonaldTrump and his sorry clan. https://t.co/4aM69JRdU3 #DumpTrump  Matthew Steeples (@M_Steeples) March 10, 2017

Others are standing by the popular wine bar in solidarity.

Good for them. Disgusting that @realDonaldTrump uses the Presidency for pay for play #EmolumentsClause https://t.co/jy52vSeau0  Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) March 10, 2017

One #DC restaurant's approach. You will find me at the bar @CorkDC having rose & avocado toast in solidarity https://t.co/foeEFTWuto  Katherine Miller (@table81) March 10, 2017

Cork, however, hosts political events open to both Democrats and Republicans. Lots of law firms used to reserve that space, and now those firms are reserving space at Trump hotel, Zaid says.

According The Hill, in December, the Embassy of Kuwait switched the location of an event from the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown to the Trump International Hotel, which is much closer to the White House.

They do it so when they meet the president they can say, we enjoyed your hotel. And they go so they can see him or by seen by him," Zaid said.

He adds, "You better bet a bunch of my colleagues are eating there hoping someone from the White House is seeing them there. And thats where the unfair competition comes into play. Plus the lease says you cant do this."

But this isnt the only hospitality-related lawsuit President Trump has on his plate.

Celebrity chefs Geoffrey Zakarian and Jose Andres have been embroiled in legal battles with the president since they both pulled out of individual deals to open restaurants at the new D.C. property in 2015, after Trump made disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants during his campaign. Both cases are scheduled for pretrial conferences in May.

The next phase in Corks case is to serve Trump without getting shot by secret service, Zain says jokingly. Once we serve, they have 21 days to respond. This is simply business versus business. The only difference is that this business is owned by the president.

A representative from the Trump Organization was not immediately available for comment.

UPDATE: After this article was published, Alan Garten, executive vice president and chief legal officer for the Trump Organization, told Fox News via email that, "The lawsuit is a publicity stunt brought by activist lawyers and their clients to pursue a political agenda and get their names in the paper. The claims are completely baseless and have no merit."
This week, it pays to be an underpaid Dominos employee.

On Thursday, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that three Dominos franchisees in the state of New York will need to pay a total of $480,000 in restitution to underpaid employees.

Schneiderman first announced a lawsuit against the pizzerias in May 2016, alleging that 10 Dominos locations in New York had underpaid their workers to the tune of $565,000. Furthermore, Schneiderman argued that the franchises parent company  Dominos Pizza, Inc.  should also be held accountable, since the company asked its franchisees to use a computerized payroll system that miscalculated wages.

DOMINO'S LAUNCHES REGISTRY FOR PIZZA-LOVING COUPLES

As part of the case, Schneiderman asserted that Dominos Pizza, Inc. was a joint employer of the underpaid workers. He wasnt without precedent, either; in 2014, a decision by the National Labor Relations Board decided that McDonalds corporate could be treated as a joint employer of its franchises workers.

At the time, Schneidermans case was the first instance in which a fast-food corporation was being held liable for the labor violations of its franchisees, according to a 2016 press release from his office.

However, three franchisees who owned the Dominos locations  Shueb Ahmed, Anthony Maestri Matthew Denman  are the only ones shelling out the dough ($150,000, $240,000 and $90,000, respectively.

Martin Silver, a lawyer for Ahmed, has since stated that confusion led to the pay discrepancies, reports Newsday.

Any mistakes in payroll that my client made were totally inadvertent and unintended, Silver said.

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As part of the settlement, the three franchisees will also be dismissed from the lawsuit, leaving Dominos Pizza, Inc. as the sole defendant.

"In the past three years, my office's investigations have revealed a consistent and outrageous record of disregard for workers' rights by franchisees, and as we allege, with the full knowledge of Dominos Pizza, Schneiderman said on Thursday. "My office will continue with our lawsuit against Domino's Pizza to end the systemic violations of workers' rights that have occurred in franchises across the State.

We will not allow businesses to turn a blind eye to blatant violations that are cheating hard working New Yorkers out of a fair days pay.

Schneiderman has already settled labor-law violations with 71 Dominos franchisees in New York, and secured almost $2 million in restitution to date, reports LongIsland.com.
Two high-end restaurateurs are in a Big Apple food fight over a new eaterys name.

Celebrity chef Marc Murphy, of Landmarc fame, is suing Major Food Group over its new restaurants in the Seagram Building  which will be called Landmark, short for the Landmark Rooms.

The name of the new restaurant, which will consist of two restaurants in the location of the former Four Seasons Restaurant, is confusingly similar to Murphys Landmarc and infringes on his trademark, Murphy said in a Manhattan federal court lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed under Murphys company Anvil NY, requested that the backers of Landmark, slated to open some time this year, be ordered to stop using any variation of the name.

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Major Food Group, which is also behind restaurants Carbone, Dirty French and Parm, did not immediately return a request for comment. Landlord Aby Rosen, who is also involved in the project, did not return a request for comment.

Murphys lawsuit complained that the Seagrams Landmark will cause confusion because diners wont be able to differentiate between them, especially in conversation.

When pronounced, the words Landmark and Landmarc are phonetically identical, the lawsuit pointed out.

This article originally appeared on NYPost.com.
The Nicholas Seafoods company of Sydney, Australia, is in hot water with an animal rights group for causing "immense pain" to one of its catches.

Australia's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) reportedly observed workers from Nicholas butchering lobsters with a band saw, before properly stunning or killing the crustaceans, reports The Guardian.

Investigators also say they watched as living lobsters tails were separated from their bodies, causing immense pain to the animals, the RSPCA claims.

CHRIS PRATT MAKES CLEANING A FISH LOOK SEXY

The animal rights group, however, isnt completely against butchering and selling seafood. They simply want it to be done in accordance with New South Wales anti-cruelty laws.

In 1997, crustaceans were granted protection under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act after researchers and politicians argued that the creatures are capable of feeling pain. After protection was granted, New South Wales implemented guidelines that recommended they be immersed in a salt water/ice slurry for a minimum of 20 minutes before theyre butchered. Alternatively, they can be sliced from top to bottom, which reportedly dulls their nerve centers.

The laws only apply in places where seafood is prepared for sale, or to any seafood intended for such sale.

Nicholas Seafoods violations were observed at the Sydney Fish Market, reports The Guardian. The charges against the fish purveyor led to a conviction  the company pleaded guilty  and theyve agreed to pay a $1,500 fine.

When you look at the guidelines, its pretty black and white and none of it was followed in this instance, said RSPCA inspector Tyson Hohlein. Its quite uncommon for us to get calls about lobsters.

I would say most restaurants are aware of these guidelines and hopefully adhere to them.

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Hohlein added that the RSPCA isnt currently planning to investigate other seafood mongers, but hes glad that others might now be more aware of the most humane way to euthanize crustaceans."

Though animal rights groups have argued that fish and shellfish are capable of feeling pain, in the U.S., neither sea creature is currently covered under the federal Animal Welfare Act, and they are mostly exempt from state animal cruelty laws.

A majority of state laws protect all animals, but there are typically exemptions for hunting and fishing activities, Ann Chynoweth, vice president of the Humane Society of the United Statess animal cruelty campaign, told the Washington Post. Laws regarding slaughter do not cover fish  or chickens.

But cows and pigs are covered.
A young woman in Colombia has reportedly died after an illegal cosmetic surgery to aler her breasts and buttocks.

'MY BOOB JOB RUINED MY LIFE'

Central European News (CEN) reported that Leydi Jhoanna Leyton, 34, recently went to an unauthorized garage clinic in Cali, in west Colombia, where she was injected with dangerous substances.

While at home with friends after the procedure, oil from the injection began running down her legs and she started feeling faint. Friends rushed her to the hospital, but it was too late.

REPORT REVEALS SHOCKING NEW PLASTIC SURGERY TRENDS

This oil, in addition of being in the skin, was introduced into the blood, causing a lung thrombus (blood clot) that was the cause of the death, Jairo Silva, the director of legal medicine in Cali, told CEN.

Authorities are conducting an investigation to find out who performed the surgery and are preparing charges for Leytons death before the prosecutors office, the states health secretary said.

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"She wanted to live. She tried so hard

With tears flowing down her cheeks, Lisa Appenzeller clutched a photo of her daughter Jessica, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 22. Lisa found her on the bathroom floor, another victim of the opioid crisis that claims tens of thousands of lives every year. Jessica tried to get clean, her mother says, going to rehab twice, but the drugs pull was too strong. Her dealer lived two blocks away and fronted her two pills of Fentanyl, an opiate up to 50 times stronger than heroin. Jessica left behind a 3-year-old daughter, and a mother who still searches for answers, eight months after her death.

I miss her every minute but shes in my heart, Lisa said, choking up.

Lisa was comforted by Carol Coolbaugh, who lost her son Eric to a heroin overdose eight years ago. To help deal with the pain, Carol started a support group. They meet once a month in a hospital conference room in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but the session could take place almost anywhere in America.

The opioid crisis affects people from every socio-economic background in every state, afflicting every race, creed and color, from teenagers to senior citizens who often get hooked on pain pills prescribed for an injury or after surgery and then move on to heroin when they cant get their prescriptions refilled or cant afford the pills on the street. Heroin offers a powerful alternative at a much cheaper price, as little as $5 a bag, but its often cut with Fentanyl, with deadly results.

The coroner of Luzerne County, where Eric and Jessica both died, calls the epidemic shocking, surprising, out of control and frustrating.

This has absolutely become routine Coroner William Lisman told Fox News, about the OD calls his office responds to. Just another day in the office, just another phone call on the weekend that we say put the body in the morgue and we will get to the blood work on Monday morning.

Lisman, who started working for the county in the 70s, said back then they might have seen one drug overdose death a month. There were at least nine suspected ODs in the first 19 days of this year.

Back in the hospital conference room, Maureen Kacillas remembers her 21-year-old son, Justin, and talks about the importance of sharing the pain with others.

If you havent lost a child, you dont get it she said. There is no judging, no shame we are trying to erase the stigma."

Across the table, Judy Rosengrant holds a framed photo of her son David, who was 35 and went to rehab seven times trying to kick his heroin habit.

"I found a letter David wrote me in 2013 in one of my purses Judy told the group. He said I am so sorry, like I do so well and I keep hurting you and your family and I don't want to be a scumbag drug addict, I don't want to be that, I love everyone.' And he always said to me 'If I overdose again I'd rather die, I can't put everyone through this another minute.'"

More than a dozen heads nod in understanding and sympathy.

Jennifer Coolbaugh, Carols daughter, was also at the meeting. A recovering addict herself, she said people cannot understand the drugs tremendous pull unless theyve experienced it themselves. She said she wishes so badly she could have saved her brother from the demons. But she found out firsthand why it was so hard for him.

"I knew exactly what I was doing but I couldn't figure out how to stop, she said. It was terrifying."

Jennifer said the focus needs to shift from victims to survivors. She said mourning is important, but hopes the world will pay more attention to helping those in the Opioids spell. She believes treatment works, that it saves lives, but that it must be longer than 28 days.

She said she knows staying sober requires great strength, hard work and true perseverance, and shes determined to stay clean.

"I have more feelings of happiness now... and pure joy, she said. I've never felt that kind of happiness before. I'm not losing that."

Fox News producer Shira Bush contributed to this report.
Since New York's first milk bank opened its doors in September, business has been thriving, with babies in need -- especially preemies -- receiving pasteurized donor milk via Fed Ex from a facility just north of Manhattan.

Now, for hospitals and mothers in a pinch, delivery can be door-to-door, thanks to members of New York City's oldest and largest female motorcycle club who can quickly transport breast milk throughout the city.

Known as the "milk riders," these women are on call at all hours, weaving in and out of traffic to deliver milk from the New York Milk Bank in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., to babies at home or in hospitals.

"They are a fabulous group of women," Julie Bouchet-Horwitz, who founded the bank, told Fox News.

"We use them if were in a pinch and they're always able to help," she said.

"We will text the group that we need a run going from the facility into the Bronx," she said. "And sometimes it's late at night."

Bouchet-Horwitz, a nurse practitioner and lactation consultant, opened the bank in September and has since dispensed 30,000 ounces of milk to babies in New York and surrounding states, like Connecticut and New Jersey.

After the donated milk has been screened and pasteurized, it is typically packaged and sent to babies through the mail or delivered by a representative of the facility if the mother lives nearby.

Delivery to New York City, however, proved a challenge, especially for babies in urgent need of breast milk.

"I was stuck in traffic one day and saw a motorcycle weaving in and out," Bouchet-Horwitz told Fox News. "That's when I thought, 'Why cant we use a motorcyle rider to deliver milk through Manhattan?'"

Bouchet-Horwitz then contacted the Sirens Women's Motorcycle Club, the city's oldest and largest women's motorcycle club founded in 1986.

The all-female crew was happy to help, according to Bouchet-Horwitz. The women, who also raised $2,500 for the bank, volunteer their time whenever a milk run is needed.

"They are volunteers and we pay their travel expenses," she said.

Bouchet-Horwitz recounted an incident in December in which a New York City hospital urgently needed milk for a mother who miscarried one of her babies while delivering twins.

"It was right around the holidays and the Hospital contacted us in a panic," the said. "And we had a rider ready and able to do a midnight run."

Pasteurized donated breast milk is critical for ill or premature babies whose mothers may not produce enough milk of their own.

The New York Milk Bank is the first of its kind in the state. Prior to its opening, New York relied on milk donations from states like Massachusetts and Ohio.

Bouchet-Horwitz said states that don't have milk banks, like Maryland, have expressed interest in her facility's services.

"Weve had an unbelievable growth," she said. "Our freezers are filled with milk."
President Trumps assertion that his phones at Trump Tower were tapped last year has been treated as hilariousand in some circles as beyond contempt. But I can vouch for the fact that extracurricular surveillance does occur, regardless of whether it is officially approved. I was wiretapped in 2011 after taking a phone call in my congressional office from a foreign leader.

That a secret recording had been made of this call was revealed to me by the Washington Times in 2015, a full two years after I left office.

The newspapers investigative reporters called me, saying they had obtained a tape of a sensitive telephone conversation that they wanted me to verify.

When I met them at a Chinese restaurant in Washington, they played back audio of a call I had taken in my D.C. congressional office four years earlier.

The call had been from Saif el-Islam Qaddafi, a high-ranking official in Libyas government and a son of the countrys ruler, Moammar Qaddafi.

At the time I was leading efforts in the House to challenge the Obama administrations war against Libya. The Qaddafi government reached out to me because its appeals to the White House and the State Department to forestall the escalating aggression had gone unanswered.

Before taking the call, I checked with the Houses general counsel to ensure that such a discussion by a member of Congress with a foreign power was permitted by law.

I was assured that under the Constitution a lawmaker had a fundamental duty to ask questions and gather informationactivity expressly protected by the Article I clauses covering separation of powers and congressional speech and debate. I could and did ask questions of the younger Mr. Qaddafi.

On the Libyan end, the risk of the conversation was that whatever phone was used to call my office might serve as a homing beacon for a drone strike.

That possibility was minimized, I was told, by calling me on a cellphone that was used only once and then discarded.

Somehow, the Washington Times had gotten its hands on the surreptitious recording. I authenticated the conversation, and parts of it were published by the newspaper, which provided online links where readers could listen to me talking with Mr. Qaddafi.

The reporters did not say, nor did I ask, who had made the tape. But the papers stories referenced secret audio recordings recovered from Tripoli.

I have only my suspicions about their true provenance. The quality of the recordings was excellent on both ends of the call.

If sources had indeed discovered the tapes in Tripoli, there is no plausible explanation for how they would have chosen the Washington Times to carry the story. And which foreign intelligence service conceivably could have been interested in my phone call, had the technology to intercept it, and then wanted to leak it to the newspaper?

Theres a simpler explanation: I believe the tape was made by an American intelligence agency and then leaked to the Times for political reasons. If so, this episode represented a gross violation of the separation of powers.

Shortly after the Times story was published, I alerted congressional leaders to the breach and then let the matter rest, assuming that a series of routine Freedom of Information Act requests I had made in 2012 before leaving office would provide answers.

Five years later I am still waiting for FOIA responses from some of the intelligence agencies.

I cannot say with assurance that my Libya call was the only one intercepted.

I have never gone public with this story, but when I saw the derision with which President Trumps claims were greetedand notwithstanding our political differencesI felt I should share my experience.

When the president raised the question of wiretapping on his phones in Trump Tower, he was challenged to prove that such a thing could happen.

It happened to me.
Talk about rough road trips. Rex Tillersons voyage next week to Japan, China and South Korea may be one of the most significant, and challenging, by an American diplomat  ever.

The new secretary of state must reassure Japan that President Trump is committed to keeping it safe. He needs to convince China, which Trump has demonized as a currency manipulator and trade cheat, that the United States wants to work cooperatively on common causes, like reining in North Koreas nuclear program. And he is under enormous pressure to provide a sense of stability to South Korea, which just impeached its president and is quaking in the face of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Uns increasingly erratic behavior.

Tillerson, a seasoned businessman and deal-maker, prefers to work quietly, behind the scenes. But his every statement on this trip will be parsed, the length of every meeting judged. His body language, and that of his counterparts, will be subject to intense scrutiny.

Each country Tillerson will visit presents separate, interlocking challenges. Japan is nervously eyeing North Koreas recent ballistic missile test launches, which were aimed at the Sea of Japan. Some Japanese politicians have suggested acquiring first-strike weaponry to pre-emptively ward off an attack.

Tillerson, a seasoned businessman and deal-maker, prefers to work quietly, behind the scenes. But his every statement on this trip will be parsed, the length of every meeting judged. His body language, and that of his counterparts, will be subject to intense scrutiny.

That prospect alarms South Korea, which has a long memory that includes Japans occupation of Korea more than a century ago. Put simply: South Korea distrusts a more militarized Japan. Its mood is further darkened by the removal of its president, on charges she took bribes.

China reacted sharply this week to the U.S. shipment of Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile batteries to South Korea. Beijing warned  somewhat disingenuously  that increasing South Koreas defense capability would destabilize the region, and it hinted at unspecified retaliation.

Most of the Asian nations insecurity stems from the brazen and dangerously unpredictable actions of North Koreas Krazy Kim. In the past few months alone, the 33-year-old authorized the ballistic missile test, which North Korea said was intended to prepare for an attack on U.S. military bases in Japan. He almost certainly sanctioned the fatal poisoning of his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, whom he perceived as a rival, at an airport in Malaysia. And, as the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, the North Korean regime tried to sell lithium-6, which, when sufficiently enriched, can be used to create a nuclear bomb.

Dealing with Kim is just the thorniest of Tillersons tasks. Chinas construction and militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea has unnerved its neighbors. Its alleged use of cyber-espionage is also a sore point. Chinese support for North Korea, both economic and diplomatic, allows Kim to continue to flout international law.

There are also economic issues to be resolved. America racked up a nearly $350 billion trade deficit with China last year. Beijing holds more than $1 trillion in U.S. treasury bonds, giving it some negotiating leverage in any Trump-inspired trade war. How Tillerson handles those topics may shape the future of U.S.-China relations for the duration of Trumps presidency.

The U.S. also runs deficits with Japan and South Korea, but, unlike China, those countries are allies. However, Trumps scrapping of American participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, of which Japan is a signatory, could give China even more influence in the region than it already has.

So, Tillersons plate is full even before he gets airborne. He can only hope that the unhinged North Korean despot doesnt spring any new provocations while he tries to sow diplomacy on Asian soil.
Deep-state Obama holdovers embedded like barnacles in the federal bureaucracy are hell-bent on destroying President Trump. It's time for the Trump administration to purge these saboteurs.

Back to 1861, President Abraham Lincoln created a so-called team of rivals, a cabinet of adversaries that he ran against in the Republican primary. But while Lincoln sought to unify his party through these cabinet selections, he also cleaned house in the federal government. He fired more than 75 percent of executive branch employees, at the time nearly 1,200 people. Why? He had reason to fear they could be disloyal.

President Trump would do well to follow Lincoln's example and a fire anyone and everyone who is actively working against him in government.

After all, even former president Bill Clinton utilized this tactic back in 1993. He fired all 93 U.S. attorneys. According to Conservative Review's Daniel Horowitz, sacking subversive government employees is best done at the start of an administration.

Clinton easily fired all 93 U.S. attorneys on Day 1, Horowitz noted. Nobody blinked an eye. Yet when Bush's attorney general fired eight U.S. attorneys well into his second term, well, that became a national scandal.

It's also very important for President Trump to act now because he's got to end the leaks that are plaguing this administration. This explosion of leaks coincides with President Obama 11th hour revision of federal policy to allow the widespread sharing of raw data collected by American intelligence agencies. Obama had to know making thousands more government workers privy to sensitive information would exponentially increase the likelihood of leaks.

Why did President Obama wait until the waning days of his eight years in office to do this? Maybe because he wanted to facilitate leaks that he hoped would cripple his predecessor.

They're dealing with seditious people within the Department of Justice, within the FBI, within the Department of Interior, within the CIA, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said. There are just people that don't approve of the Trump presidency, and I think that they're trying to take him down from the inside.

I think you have people within the government, what you call the deep state, bureaucrats, Obama appointees that hate Donald Trump, Hunter added.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, agrees.

Donald Trump needs to purge leftists from the executive branch before disloyal, illegal and treasonous acts sink us, he tweeted.

It's important that the president begins to hear this and act now.

For months, deep state antagonists have been working overtime to try and delegitimize Donald Trump's presidency. One tactic has been to insinuate - without any evidence - that there was some sort of campaign collusion with Russia.

Even if they did produce evidence, it would be difficult to evaluate in light of the latest revelations published by WikiLeaks. The CIA, according to the disclosures, has sophisticated malware that can make it appear that cyber activity is being conducted by other nations, when, in fact, people within our own government may be responsible. WikiLeaks, in its press release, specifically pointed out that they could be doing this in the case of this Russian campaign meddling narrative.

My message is simple. Every holdover from the Obama administration needs to go. A thorough investigation of leakers needs to be conducted. And people who have committed felonies or violated the Espionage Act must be prosecuted.

Those who aren't actively working with President Trump to fix the country need to be shown the door. They are hurting the people who pay their salaries.

Adapted from Sean Hannity's monologue on "Hannity," March 9, 2017
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres -just like his predecessor Ban Ki-moon-- is launching all-out war against sexual exploitation and abuse in all its forms, especially on U.N peacekeeping and political missions.

For certain the effort is needed. Last yearBans final year as Secretary Generalthere were 165 incidents of alleged sexual abuse involving U.N. civilians, peacekeepers, and non-U.N. personnel on U.N.-sponsored missions, according to a report published this week by Guterres.

The specifically U.N. allegations totaled 145up from 99 the previous year, or a 46 per cent increase.

The number of known victims for the alleged U.N. offenses hiked even more dramatically, to 311 in 2016 from 99 in 2015, according to the same databasea 214 per cent rise.

The U.N. put much of the increase down to the new attention being given to sexual abuse issueswhich of course, implies that totals in previous years could have been substantially understated.

The vast majority of victims of the U.N. alleged offenses were women and girls, the same report noted. But in fact, children made up more than half of last years victims specifically attributed to peacekeeping personnel, according to a U.N. database.

Thus for Ban, the war on sexual abuse ended in relative disaster. It was accompanied not only by the rising numbers of sexual abuse revelations and victims but by an independent panel report that charged some top U.N. officials with inaction, suppression of evidence and cover-up in connections with sex crimes against young children by non-U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.

Indeed, under Ban, reports on the issue had evolved into a kind of ritual, where an annual U.N. tally of the number of alleged sexual abuse crimes and victims was paired with lengthy lists of measures proposed by the incumbent Secretary Generalusually requiring cooperation from countries that provide peacekeeping forces, and more money to boot.

In fact, the efforts at reform go back to 2003. A 2005 report by Jordans Prince Zeid Raad Zeid Al-Husseincurrently the U.N.s High Commissioner for Human Rightslaid out the first master strategy for eliminating sexual exploitation and abuse (known familiarly in U.N. terms as SEA). Some of its recommendations still have not been implemented.

Guterres, however, claims that the battle this time will be different.

Why? The new Secretary Generalin office little more than two monthssays he will be following a new approach. Its main elements: a relentless effort to end impunity for perpetrators of sex crimes, greater focus on the rights and dignity of sex crime victims, more openness and publicity surrounding such offenses and their investigation, andnot leasta sustained effort by the U.N. to put its own house in order.

How well he will do that definitely remains to be seen. Among other things, critics have long pointed to the fact that U.N. efforts to combat SEA have foundered on procedures that gave the benefit of the doubt to peacekeepers rather than victims; a closed-ranks mentality among military and police personnel that hindered investigations; and a lack of training of peacekeepers and others in awareness of SEA and the responsibility to report it.

Some critics, notably the reform campaign Code Blue, promoted by the organization AIDS-Free World, have underlined that the U.N. is involved in an inherent conflict of interest in such cases, because the investigators come from the organizations own Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), and have called for such investigations to be taken out of U.N. hands entirely.

Critics have also underlined that the U.N. has no right to discipline or punishor even tryoffenders who have committed sexual crimesresponsibilities that fall back on the troop contributors, and that this helps to foster impunity. Only last year, after Ban belatedly made a decision amid the outcry over sex abuse, were the nationalities of alleged abusers even made public.

In 2016, the nation with the largest number of alleged offenders was the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)itself the scene of massive violence and human rights abuse. DRC offenders also lead the roster in 2015.

What will change all that? Guterres says in his report on the U.N.s new methods that he will start, as the U.N. often does, with more bureaucracy: at the top, with a new Assistant Secretary General who will advocate for victims rights.

The new bureaucrats task will be to ensure that reliable, gender-sensitive pathways exist for every victim or witness to file complaints and that assistance is rapidly and sensitively delivered.

Guterres will install similar officials in the four U.N. peacekeeping missions with the most alleged SEA cases: in Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, and South Sudan. He also wants top officials of U.N. agencies to make unannounced spot checks to see whether policies are being followed.

To guarantee speedier action on investigations, he says he will ask U.N. member states to consider procedures to hold back payments to troop contributing countries in the event that investigations are not undertaken, reported on and concluded in a timely manner. He also says he will ask the same member states to allow victims to claim reparations for the crimes against them.

To deal with impunity, he says he will work harder on speeding up the U.N.s own investigationsa standardized incident reporting form was one of the not-very-inspiring ideas he mentionedand use a reinforced policy on whistleblowing to encourage staffers to report incidents.

He expects to have his new reporting policy together by the end of the year.

More dramatically, Guterres wants member states to create a new compact between themselves and the U.N., which would strengthen training and awareness of sexual abuse, build cooperation with the new victims rights advocate, impose penalties on those who fail to report abuse, and agree to hold members of their respective chains of command responsible for failure to establish appropriate conditions to prevent SEA.

The new compact would also involve regular reports on how well the nations were faring in their efforts.

The catch is that, as with Ban Ki-moon before him, Guterres must depend on the U.N.s member states to both endorse his proposals and implement them. The new Secretary General hopes to generate some of the momentum for that at a proposed high-level meeting a favorite U.N. deviceon combating SEA. Of course, member states also have to agree to that.

CLICK HERE FOR GUTERRES PROPOSALS

For critics such as Code Blue, however, Guterres reform efforts dont go far enough, especially in creating truly disinterested investigations of alleged U.N. sexual crimes.

His proposed policy maintains the decades-old conflict of interest that puts the UN on the side of both the accused and accuser whenever women or children report that they've been sexually abused by personnel 'working under the UN flag,' says Paula Donovan, a prominent spokesperson for the Code Blue campaign.

Guterres gets his strongest backing for his reform effortsas Ban didfrom the U.S. in particular, as the largest financial contributor to U.N. peacekeeping.

The new Secretary General is very clear about his views on SEA, a U.S. government official approvingly told Fox News, noting that Guterres had only been in office a couple of weeks before he appointed a task force to push reform on the SEA issue.

But the same official observed that everything at the U.N. moves at a difference pace than anywhere else. The official said the biggest difference in Guterres proposals was the new transparency of reporting on SEA progress, and the public naming of the nationality of alleged offenders, which could help propel improvements.

On Guterres proposals for more enforcement muscle, however, such as withholding money from troop contributors whose investigation efforts lagged, the official said we are still reviewing it in more detail.

The U.S., noted the official, also follows up with other countries to see how well allegations are investigated and, when required, prosecuted.
The ACLU has submitted an ethics complaint with the Alabama State Bar Disciplinary Commission against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, alleging the former senator violated the code of conduct during his confirmation hearing testimony.

"Mr. Sessions is the Attorney General of the United States and violated Rule 8.4 of the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct," according to the complaint filed Thursday by the ACLU's Chris Anders, deputy director at the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, where he represents the ACLU before Congress and the executive branch.

"Mr. Sessions made false statement during sworn testimony on January 10, 2017 and in a subsequent written response to questions January 17, 2017." Anders continued, "Rule 8.4 (c) of the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct states that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to 'engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation."

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL COMPLAINT

On March 2, Sessions told reporters at the Justice Department that 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, 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 later that day. "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."

Earlier this week, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, accused Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., of asking a "gotcha question" after a heating exchange during a confirmation hearing for Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein to become deputy attorney general.

Franken had confronted Rosenstein over Sessions' two previously undisclosed meetings last year with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. when asked if he would prosecute any potential illicit contact between Trump's presidential campaign and Russian officials.

"I consider what Sen. Franken asked Sessions at that late moment, that that story had just come out, as a gotcha question," Grassley said. The Iowa senator then went on to say Franken had new information that Sessions was not aware of during his confirmation hearing.

When asked for comment about the complaint, the Department of Justice referred Fox News back to Sessions' letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 6, which served as a supplement to his testimony before the committee on January 10.

Anders told Fox News few events are more corrosive to a democracy than having the future Attorney General make false statements under oath about a matter the Justice Department is investigating."

No attorney, whether just starting out as a new lawyer or serving as the countrys top law enforcement officer, should lie under oath, he added. The Alabama bar must investigate this wrong fully and fairly.

Fox News' Matt Dean contributed to this report.
Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus criticized House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Thursday over Ryan's reluctance to allow amendments to the GOP's health care bill.

"God bless the Speaker," Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio told Fox News, "but that's not how the legislative process works ... It's not supposed to be closed off."

Jordan spoke after he, a handful of other Freedom Caucus members and some conservative senators met with President Donald Trump to discuss the health care measure.

The House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees both approved their portions of the bill along party-line votes Thursday after grueling all-night debates. The vote in Ways and Means came before dawn, while the Energy and Commerce meeting lasted past 27 hours. However, no members of the 40-plus-strong Freedom Caucus sit on either committee, leaving them out of the so-called "markup" process.

"I would love an open rule," said Jordan, "because then you could offer an amendment that you think can help make this legislation better and consistent with what the voters sent us here to accomplish."

Ryan has repeatedly argued that too much deviation from his original bill would scupper the measure in the Senate due to the Congress' strict rules on budget reconciliation.

Earlier Thursday, Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., another Freedom Caucus member, argued that Vice President Mike Pence should use a version of the Senate's so-called "nuclear option" and lower the threshold to break a filibuster on legislation from 60 to 51.

"I think this hurdle that exists in the Senate is a big problem," Jordan said. "This is something thta I think that we're going to have to have a debate on, and may have to change."

Leaders are aiming for passage by the full House in the next couple of weeks, and from there the legislation would go to the Senate and, they hope, on to Trump's desk.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Liberal groups that oppose Judge Neil Gorsuch's confirmation to the Supreme Court are telling Democratic senators to oppose him or face the consequences.

The groups on Thursday formed "The People's Defense," billed as a massive grassroots campaign to defeat Gorsuch's nomination in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The leaders of the efforts said in a telephone news conference that they expect Democrats to try to delay, or filibuster, Gorsuch's nomination, even if doing so provokes Republicans to try to eliminate the filibuster for high court nominations.

"Any Democrat who votes to advance Judge Gorsuch's nomination will have a permanent stain on their record," said Murshed Zaheed, political director of CREDO Action, which bills itself as a network of progressive activists.

Anna Galland of the activist group MoveOn.org said Democrats "need to catch up with the intensity we are seeing at the grass roots." Gorsuch's Senate hearings are set for the week of March 20.

But while pro-Gorsuch groups are buying $4 million in advertising, the anti-Gorsuch effort is not planning any paid advertising, said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. The ads supporting Gorsuch are mainly targeting Democratic senators who face re-election next year in states that Trump won in November.

"I'd actually argue that they have money because they don't have people, tens of millions of people, which is something money can't buy," Hogue said.

People for the American Way, a liberal group taking part in the new campaign, aired an anti-Gorsuch ad in 14 states, but would not reveal how much it spent.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary on Thursday encouraged Congress in a letter to raise the federal debt ceiling, which has been suspended since 2015, as soon as possible to prevent a U.S. default.

Reuters reported that Secretary Steven Mnuchin wrote a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan and called paying back the U.S.s outstanding debt is a critical commitment. He said extraordinary measures will have to be taken to avoid default.

It is not uncommon for Congress to use the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip with the sitting administration. But Republicans control the House. Some of these Republicans may challenge President Trump on the debt ceiling like they are with his ObamaCare replacement.

TREASURY SECRETARY MNUCHIN ON ECONOMIC GROWTH, TAX POLICY

In one standoff in August 2011, the Standard & Poor's rating agency issued a first-ever downgrade of a portion of America's debt, citing the 11th-hour maneuvering that was need to raise the limit that year to avoid a default.

Mnuchin said that he will employ measures to avoid breaching the borrowing limit once the current suspension of the limit expires on March 16.

Once that happens, Treasury will use a variety of bookkeeping maneuvers to continue to finance government operations, including making interest payments on the national debt. However, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in a report earlier this week that those measures will be exhausted by sometime in the fall.

At the point that Treasury can make no other bookkeeping moves, Congress will have to enact an increase in the borrowing limit to avoid the first-ever default on the government's obligations, an event that would send shock waves through global financial markets. While Congress has often delayed action until the last minute, it has always approved an increase in the debt limit rather than run the risk of a default.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Vice President Mike Pence laid out an ambitious timetable for the GOP's ObamaCare replacement legislation Thursday, telling "Special Report with Bret Baier" that the measure would "be done by this spring."

"President Donald Trump is a man of his word," Pence told Bret Baier. "He decided the day after the election that ... the first priority of the Congress when they came back was to keep his word to repeal and replace ObamaCare, and were going to make sure it happens."

'PROFESSOR RYAN' GIVES OBAMACARE REPEAL LESSON

The vice president signalled a willingness to compromise with conservatives who have slammed the bill as "ObamaCare Lite."

"This is the bill," Pence said, "but if there are ways to improve that bill and to give people greater confidence that we all are going to arrive at the same place ... then that's where we're headed."

In the wide-ranging interview, Pence also reacted to former national security adviser Michael Flynn's lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government during last year's campaign.

FLYNN ADMITS PRE-ELECTION LOBBYING FOR TURKEY CLIENT

The vice president said Flynn's action was "an affirmation of the president's decision to ask General Flynn to resign."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said earlier Thursday that Trump was not aware of Flynn's work before he appointed the former lieutenant general as national security adviser. The president fired Flynn last month for misleading Pence and other officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked the remaining 46 U.S. attorneys who served under the Obama administration to resign, the Justice Department announced Friday, describing the move as part of an effort to ensure a "uniform transition."

The department said some U.S. attorneys, as in prior transitions, already had left the department. Now, "the Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations," a spokeswoman said.

Until the new U.S. Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. Attorneys Offices will continue the great work of the Department in investigating, prosecuting, and deterring the most violent offenders, the statement added.

Department of Justice spokesperson Peter Carr told Fox News late Friday night: The President called Dana Boente and Rod Rosenstein tonight to inform them that he has declined to accept their resignation, and they will remain in their current positions.

However, no additional guidance was given on U.S. Attorney General for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, who was appointed by then-President Barack Obama and assumed the role of Manhattan U.S. Attorney in 2009. Bharara met with Trump in November and said after the meeting that he had agreed to stay on.

It is customary, though not automatic, for the country's 93 U.S. attorneys to leave their positions once a new president is in office. Incoming administrations over the past several decades typically have replaced most U.S. attorneys during the first year or two.

The Obama administration allowed political appointees of President George W. Bush to serve until their replacement had been nominated and confirmed. One U.S. attorney appointed by Bush, Rod Rosenstein of Maryland, remained on the job for the entire Obama administration and is the current nominee for deputy attorney general.

But Sessions' actions are being closely scrutinized by Democrats after a rocky start to the AG's time at the DOJ.

Weeks after his tight confirmation vote on Feb. 8, it emerged that Sessions had met twice with the Russian ambassador last year -- despite testifying during his confirmation hearing he had no communications with the Russians. Sessions later clarified his testimony, while recusing himself from any investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 campaign.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, issued a statement late Friday saying: Im surprised to hear that President Trump and Attorney General Sessions have abruptly fired all 46 remaining U.S. attorneys. "

In January, I met with Vice President Pence and White House Counsel Donald McGahn and asked specifically whether all U.S. attorneys would be fired at once. Mr. McGahn told me that the transition would be done in an orderly fashion to preserve continuity. Clearly this is not the case. Im very concerned about the effect of this sudden and unexpected decision on federal law enforcement," she said.

U.S. attorneys are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the territories they oversee. They report to Justice Department leadership in Washington, and their priorities are expected to be in line with those of the attorney general. The federal prosecutors are nominated by the president, generally upon the recommendation of a home-state senator.

Fox News Matt Dean and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Justice Department is reportedly sending 50 judges to immigration detention centers across the U.S. to hear more cases and cut down on the massive backlog of immigration cases.

Court will be in session from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., two sources told Reuters.

Judges will be asked to volunteer for one or two month deployments at detention centers. If the amount of volunteers is inadequate, the department would assign judges, Reuters reported.

Immigration courts have a backlog of more than 550,000 cases, according to the Justice Department.

The judges will be sent to detention centers in Adelanto, Calf., San Diego and Chicago, Reuters reported, citing a letter from the DOJ to judges.

One of President Trump's first executive orders was to fast-track deportations and detaining illegal immigrants until their cases can be heard, effectively ending the catch and release policy.

Trump campaigned on a pledge to get tougher on the 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., while promising to build a wall along the southern U.S. border.

Click for more from Reuters.
President Trumps defense secretary wants the Pentagons top civilian job to go to a onetime prominent supporter of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, a group Trump may designate as a terrorist organization.

Not surprisingly, the White House is resisting the choice by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, of Anne Patterson to be undersecretary of defense for policy -- the Pentagons fourth most powerful position.

While Pattersons bona fides are not in question  she has served as an ambassador to Egypt, Pakistan, Colombia, El Salvador and the United Nations, along with being President Obamas assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs  there is widespread concern, both at home and abroad, about her close ties to ousted Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Pattersons support of Morsi and his Islamist government  and her denunciation of the 2013 protests against the Egyptian leader as mere street protests  saw herself become the target of widespread criticism. Demonstrators plastered her face on signs and banners and made her the public face of the Obama administrations policies in the North African nation.

President Trump must go ahead with his listing of the Brotherhood.  Sheikh Mohammed el Hajj Hassan, American-Muslim Alliance

The biggest pushback [from the White House] is that she was ambassador to Egypt immediately before and after the Morsi presidency, a person familiar with the conversations told Politico. For Mattis part, he has put her name forward and he doesnt quite understand why people have an objection, the person said.

Her poor standing among the Egyptian public seems to have rubbed off on President Trump and others within the White House at a time when the president is considering declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

Trump himself was often critical of President Obamas outreach to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has proposed a bill to call for declaring the Brotherhood a terror organization. In the past, it has been accused of supporting terrorist groups around the world, and several countries, including Muslim nations, have banned them.

The Brotherhoods critics include prominent Muslim leaders in the U.S. and around the world, with prominent sheikhs of both Shia and Sunni Muslim groups accusing it of engaging in terrorism.

President Trump must go ahead with his listing of the Brotherhood, Sheikh Mohammed el Hajj Hassan, founder of the American-Muslim Alliance, told Fox News. This group since its inception practiced killing, crimes and terror attacks in the Arab world. In Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and other countries their clerics call for violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood was formed in Egypt in the 1920s with the stated goal of establishing a worldwide Islamic caliphate, or empire, ruled under Sharia law. Egypt declared it a terror group in 2013 after the government blamed it for a bombing of a police headquarters that killed 16, even though the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood denied involvement and condemned the attack.

The Defense Department isnt the only government agency that has been battling with the White House over its picks  last month Secretary of State Rex Tillerson saw his top choice for deputy secretary of state denied by Trump  but Mattis appears to be the most adamant about staffing his department and has the least amount of qualms with battling it out with the White House.

The tug-of-war between Mattis and the White House has meant that not a single undersecretary or deputy secretary to the Defense Department has been nominated to a post. For his part Mattis deputy, Robert Work, is a holdover from the Obama administration and is only staying on until the secretary can get his own deputy nominated.

Mattis is a guy who cares very much about personnel, a friend close to Mattis said. He doesnt want people off the tracks that he has laid down and that hes running his train on.
The scandal involving allegations that Marines shared naked photos of female service members online has extended to all service branches, after the discovery of another secret site.

The latest illicit forum is known as Anon-IB, the same site that shared nude photos of Hollywood stars like Jennifer Lawrence. It has a military chat room in which members of other services have been sharing such photos.

The discovery comes after the Defense Department launched an investigation into pictures being shared of female Marines and others  some taken without their knowledge  on the Facebook page Marines United.

These allegations undermine everything we stand for as Marines, Marine Corps commandant Gen. Robert B. Neller said at a briefing Friday. He said the Marines have set up a task force to investigate the matter, following on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service opening a criminal investigation.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in a statement Friday, also said the chain of command is taking all appropriate action to investigate potential misconduct and to maintain good order and discipline.

Mattis decried the lack of respect and said the Pentagon will not excuse or tolerate such behavior. He said: "The purported actions of civilian and military personnel on social media websites, including some associated with the Marines United group and possibly others, represent egregious violations of the fundamental values we uphold at the Department of Defense.

NotInMyMarines, a group of female Marines that formed in response to the controversy, is now seeking legislation to make sharing nude photos and sex videos without someone's permission a federal crime.

In response to the latest allegations, the group said: The publication of this new information has only solidified our belief that the nature of the military must fundamentally change in order to provide equal opportunities, a safe work environment free from harassment and assault, and end the mentality in which women are considered substandard.

The Marines United Facebook page was widely used, with about 30,000 active-duty and former Marines frequenting the group chat space.

Reporters were tipped that the site was being used for predatory behavior to share nude photos -- some of them purely pornographic images of female Marines. Marines stalked the women on social media and egged each other on to find and share photos, some taken in locker rooms and showers when the women were not aware, others shared by former boyfriends.

The story was broken by Thomas Brennan of The War Horse.

Neller issued a stern rebuke in a video to his troops.

When I hear allegations of Marines denigrating their fellow Marines, I don't think such behavior is that of true warriors or warfighters, he said. Right now we all need to be focused on getting better. Not hiding on social media, participating in or being aware of actions that are disrespectful and harmful to other Marines.

Erika Butner, a former Marine radio operator whose nude photos were shared on the site in question, says she was disgusted when she found out and encourages others to speak out.

We will not be silenced. As a rape survivor I can tell you that this exact behavior leads to the normalization of sexual harassment and even sexual violence, she said.

Marine Corps commanders have been called before Congress to explain this breach of discipline, which is seen as a serious recruiting issue for the Marines.
Amazon makes most of its money from being an easy place to shop on the Web and from its role as an internet backbone. Soon, its voice assistant Alexa may also generate billions in sales -- but users still need to be careful what they say to it.

Big business

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney thinks Alexa could be the next big thing for Amazon, potentially generating $10 billion in revenue by as soon as 2020.

"It is very early days so while we see significant opportunity from the proliferation of Alexa, the financial impact also carries significant un certainty," Mahaney wrote in an investor note. "Nevertheless, we see the potential financial tailwind as at least three-fold  1) Device Sales; 2) Incremental Voice Driven Shopping Sales & 3) Platform Revenues."

6-YEAR-OLD ACCIDENTALLY ORDERS HIGH-END TREATS WITH AMAZON'S ALEXA

Sales of Amazon's Alexa-centric devices (Echo, Tap and Dot) have soared as more people become aware of them. Data from Consumer Intelligence Retail Partners show that 8.2 million people in the U.S. now own one of the devices, up 173 percent since last year.

Amazon does not disclose actual figures, but in the fourth-quarter it said Alexa-enabled devices were the top sellers on Amazon during the holidays. It also noted sales of the devices rose an incredible nine times over 2015 figures.

Amazon's 'Trojan Horse'

Alexa works by being connected to a Wi-Fi network and having users speak to it for simple tasks, such as finding out the weather or having it read the news. There are over 7,000 skills (and counting for Alexa) and there may be more use cases to come, as it expands into other areas of tech.

TV NEWS REPORT PROMPTS VIEWERS' AMAZON ECHO DEVICES TO ORDER UNWANTED DOLLHOUSES

In recent weeks, companies like Motorola and Lenovo have announced they're going to use Alexa in their smartphones in an effort to catch up with Apple's Siri and Google's voice assistant.

Jackdaw Research chief analyst Jan Dawson said Amazon's Echo and Alexa strategy could be a "Trojan horse" as Amazon moves into the smart home arena, taking it areas such getting it into another Amazon-branded smartphone or home automation.

Privacy concerns

Amazon's Echo has even been featured in a murder case.

FOR THE LATEST TECH FEATURES FOLLOW FOX NEWS TECH ON FACEBOOK

Police seized James Bates' Amazon Echo as part of an investigation into the murder of Bentonville, Arkansas resident Victor Collins, who was found floating face down in Bates' hot tub in 2015.

Amazon said in a filing that Echo should be protected under the First Amendment, thanks to free expression."At the heart of that First Amendment protection is the right to browse and purchase expressive materials anonymously, without fear of government discovery," Amazon wrote in the filing.

Bates recently gave Amazon the ok to hand over the Echo recordings, which were provided to prosecutors.
As people seek affirmation of their political beliefs in an increasingly polarized nation with accusations of fake news from both sides, smart device AI (artificial intelligence) is more than happy to comply.

Concise, loaded questions tend to yield loaded results when querying Google Assistant, the voice-activated AI technology that comes with Google Pixel phones and Google Home  the latter a voice-activated speaker.

When I asked Google Assistant, Is Donald Trump a racist?  an oft-repeated allegation from some on the left and much of the mainstream media  the top result I got was from the left-leaning Huffington Post, Here Are 16 Examples of Donald Trump Being Racist -- which gives a laundry list of reasons. The story also discusses Steve Bannon, chief strategist for the President, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

GOOGLE HOME CONTRIBUTES TO 'FAKE NEWS,' REPORTS SAY

And if your question is rephrased in less-raw, accusatory terms such as, Is President Trump racially insensitive? the top results are, again, the Huffington Post story and stories like Voxs Trumps win is a reminder of the incredible, unbeatable power of racism.

Jump the political divide and former President Barack Obama doesnt get off that easy either but top results dont tend to be from large media organizations, which have been accused of being softer on the former president than the current commander-in-chief.

If, for example, you ask a loaded question about President Obama, Is [former President] Barack Obama a communist?  an allegation sometimes made on the right  the top result is, Barack Obama and the Communist Party from keywiki.org. But that article doesnt portray Obama in the same stark, unambiguous terms as the top Trump results. And the other top results for the query tend to be less stridently affirming and/or negative.

There could be a few things in play: it could be a function of Trumps more brazen, outspoken approach to politics. Or the fact that he is now President of the United States and almost always a top trending news topic  with mainstream news organizations looking to outdo each other with negative, attention-grabbing headlines. Or the fact that personal digital assistants tend to just grab the same trending stories you get when you type in a Google query. Or it could be the recondite algorithms that search engines use. Or a combination of the above.

AMAZON ECHO VS. GOOGLE HOME IN A VIRTUAL STANDOFF

When I moved on to topics that may dog any politician of any political stripe, such as Is President Trump corrupt? or Is [former] President Obama corrupt? the top results confirm the questions bias. Top results paint both presidents as irrefutably, hopelessly corrupt.

Pose slightly less loaded queries  posed as statements, as you would type into a Google search box  such as President Trump scandals or President Obama scandals I got results like The Many Scandals of Donald Trump: A Cheat Sheet and "Obama Says He's Had A Scandal-Free Administration. Here Are 11 of His Scandals," respectively.

Ask more thoughtful questions and you get better answers

If you ask questions with more modifiers that seek impartial answers, you tend to get results that are more balanced, less partisan. For example, if I ask Google Assistant, Is calling Trump a racist fair? I got results that gave both sides, i.e., some results supported the allegation that Trump is racist while others opposed that argument. Ask similarly-phrased queries about whether Obama is a communist and I got more balanced results.

FOR THE LATEST TECH FEATURES FOLLOW FOX NEWS TECH ON FACEBOOK

And Google Assistant isnt the only popular smart-device AI to reinforce loaded queries. Apples Siri spits out similar results regarding both Presidents Trump and Obama. Though when I asked Siri about Obama being a communist, Siri refused to give a clear answer as the top result. And Siri seems to like queries posed as you would type them into a search box on Google, such as President Obama controversies or "President Trump controversies." You tend to get more results that way.

The moral of the story is that smart-device AI like Google Assistant and Apples Siri often reflect the slant of trending stories on major media sites with lots of readers. And many of those major media sites tend to take a dim view of President Trump.

I asked both Google and Apple for comment on this story but did not get a response.
Frozen organs could be brought back to life safely one day with the aid of nanotechnology, a new study finds. The development could help make donated organs available for virtually everyone who needs them in the future, the researchers say.

The number of donated organs that could be transplanted into patients could increase greatly if there were a way to freeze and reheat organs without damaging the cells within them.

In the new work, scientists developed a way to safely thaw frozen tissues with the aid of nanoparticles  particles only nanometers or billionths of a meter wide. (In comparison, the average human hair is about 100,000 nanometers wide.) [ 9 Most Interesting Transplants ]

The researchers manufactured silica-coated nanoparticles that contained iron oxide . When they applied a magnetic field to frozen tissues suffused with the nanoparticles, the nanoparticles generated heat rapidly and uniformly. The tissue samples warmed up at rates of up to more than 260 degrees Fahrenheit (130 degrees Celsius) per minute, which is 10 to 100 times faster than previous methods.

The scientists tested their method on frozen human skin cells , segments of pig heart valves and sections of pig arteries. None of the rewarmed tissues displayed signs of harm from the heating process, and they preserved key physical properties such as elasticity. Moreover, the researchers were able to wash away the nanoparticles from the sample after thawing.

Previous research successfully thawed tiny biological samples that were only 1 to 3 milliliters in volume. This new technique works for samples that are up to 50 milliliters in size. The researchers said there is a strong possibility they could scale up their technique to even larger systems, such as organs.

"We are at the level of rabbit organs now," said study senior author John Bischof, a mechanical and biomedical engineer at the University of Minnesota. "We have a way to go for human organs , but nothing seems to preclude us from that."

However, this research will likely not make it possible to return frozen heads back to life anytime soon, if ever, the scientists noted.

Since the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, organ transplantation has saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients. If it weren't for the large and growing shortage of donor organs , the life-saving procedure might help even more people. According to the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, more than 120,000 patients are currently on organ-transplant waitlists in the United States, and at least 1 in 5 patients on these waitlists die waiting for an organ that they never receive.

Right now, the majority of organs that could potentially be used for transplants are discarded, in large part because they can only be safely preserved for 4 to 36 hours. If only half the hearts and lungs that are discarded were successfully transplanted, the waitlists for those organs could be eliminated in two to three years, according to the Organ Preservation Alliance.

One way to save donated organs for transplantation is to freeze them. Ice crystals that can damage cells typically form during freezing, but in prior work, researchers have found a technique known as vitrification  which involves flooding biological specimens with antifreeze-like compounds  that could help cool down organs to stave off decay, while also preventing the formation of ice crystals.

Unfortunately, ice crystals can also form during the reheating process. Moreover, if thawing is not uniform across samples, fracturing or cracking may occur. Although scientists had developed methods to safely use freezing-cold temperatures to "cryopreserve" tissues and organs , they had not yet developed a way to safely reheat them. [ 5 Amazing Technologies That Are Revolutionizing Biotech ]

In future research, scientists will attempt to transplant thawed tissues into living animals to see how well they do. "From my perspective and my collaborators' perspective, there is no reason why that should not work," Bischof told Live Science.

However, the researchers stressed that it was unlikely these findings would apply to the controversial field of cryonics , which seeks to freeze patients  or their brains  in the hope that future scientists will find a way to safely revive people. "There are huge scientific hurdles ahead of us, and it's rather premature to get into rewarming a whole person," Bischof said.

"Even if you preserved the whole body, the chances that neural pathways established during life were maintained during and after cryopreservation are probably remote," said study co-author Kelvin Brockbank, chief executive officer of Tissue Testing Technologies in North Charleston, South Carolina. "I don't think we'll see success for rewarming whole bodies within the next hundred years."

The scientists detailed their findings online March 1 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Original article on Live Science .
People are lining up for hours to buy a plastic bottle.

A restaurant in Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., has been converted into a Beauty and the Beast-themed haunt, called Red Rose Taverne, complete with food and drink  Grey Stuff Gateau ($6) and Gaston Punch ($5)  inspired by the new live-action film.

But the restaurants biggest selling item by far is its Enchanted Rose Tumbler, a plastic bottle with a domed top containing a plastic rose that lights up, reminiscent of the glass dome in the movie.

Though the tumblers retail for $15, the demand for them has skyrocketed so that people are selling them for more than $70 on Ebay.

When you hold that cup, you feel like you are Belle holding that glass that covers the enchanted rose, Katie Slockbower, a 29-year-old Orange County native and Disney superfan who bought a tumbler, told New York Magazine.

But its not just Belle lovers who are clamoring for the souvenir.

Slockbower said she saw resellers waiting up to two hours in line at the tavern so they could buy more than a dozen tumblers each.

This story originally appeared in the New York Post.
Many travelers are familiar with the inflight movie but what about an airport terminal flick?

Passengers at Oregon's Portland International Airport (PDX) can now sit back, relax and enjoy a show, all while waiting for a flight.

Alison Hallett, director of marketing and community engagement of Portland's Hollywood Theatre, told Fox News that the new 17-seat microcinema, located on Concouse C, is well-attended and, so far, fliers and workers seem to be thoroughly enjoying the chance to just relax.

The new PDX cinema is free of charge and offers hour-long G-rated short films by Oregon filmmakers that run around the clock. The theater boasts a $200,000 and state-of-the-art projection and sound, thanks to a top-notch crew of technical partners, many of whom donated equipment and time. It came together with a support a huge array of people from the community. We didnt expect it to reach the level that it did, Hallet says.

AIRLINES, AIRPORTS MAINTAIN NORMAL OPERATIONS AMID NATIONWIDE PROTESTS

Executive director of the Hollywood Theater, Doug Whyte, told Fox News that learned about the idea from some theaters in Dusseldorf and Hong Kong and thought it would be a good fit in Portland. "Portland International brings a lot of local businesses in, but we dont have long layovers, so I thought short films would work. We approached them, and thankfully they went for it. That was three years ago," he said.

Id say we have a blockbuster here, Vince Granato, chief operating officer of the Port of Portland, which operates the PDX airport told USA Today. We want to make sure a passengers entire journey  from the roadway to the runway  is great.

Hallet says theres a similar space at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, not a theater, but a sort of screening lounge. But as a standalone theater, theres nothing like this in the U.S., she adds.

The Minneapolis St. Paul space seats 150 and offers an eight-screen display that can be rearranged to accommodate art exhibitions, literary readings and other events.

Whyte explained to USA Today that the new attraction isn't just for travelers. "We expect many people who work at the airport to use it too.

Its been at least two years from conception to opening. Working in airports is complicated. Its a surprise more of these dont exist, except when you consider the logistics, Hallet says.

In addition to the airport's film shorts program, the new microcinema is planning to use the venue for live performances and special events.

HAWAII-BOUND FLIGHT DIVERTED TO LAX AFTER DISPUTE OVER COST OF BLANKET

Portlanders are very proud of their airport, art scene, and artists, that combination makes Portland a great location for this. Were going to see folks start creating things just for the theater.

"The next step is to see what we can do with the space and film content. Maybe wrangle a musician to come by, theres a lot of possibilities, Hallet says.

Whyte says the thing thats most exciting is to expose local filmmakers to a broader audience. "Where literally thousands of people will be watching their films on big screens with great sound," he said.
Staff Sgt. Rebecca Rains was flying 30,000 feet in the air when she recited the oath to re-enlist in the U.S. Air Force -- and not just anywhere.

Rains was soaring over Syria in a KC-10 Extender on March 3 as it refueled an F-22 Raptor. The F-22 pilot, Lt. Col. August Pfluger, 380th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron commander and her deployed squadron commander, administered the oath to Rains while his stealth jet guzzled up the fuel it needed.

Since joining the service in 2009, "This was the coolest thing I've done," Rains said in a recent Air Force release about the event. "So I get on the headset and I'm talking to him, and he shared with me some background about his mission prior to coming up for fuel. He then said,

'You ready to do this?' and I said, 'Yep let's go.' "

Pfluger had hooked up to the KC-10 just 11 minutes after flying missions over Syria, the release said. The Air Force did not disclose Rains' career field, nor did it detail Pfluger's mission that day.

"The Air Force is lucky to retain [Rains] for another four years, and I was honored to be asked to do this," Pfluger said.

Rains, deployed to an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, stood next to the boom operator as the oath came at the end of the nearly eight-hour refueling flight, the release said.

"I really like the Air Force and I'm very passionate about my job," she said. "People are motivated in different ways, and being out here supporting real-world operations and seeing the impact that my job provides for the [area of responsibility] internally motivates me. I feel lucky to have had this opportunity.

"Everything just lined up perfectly, and the fact that [Pfluger] was able to do this was more meaningful to me," Rains said.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
A parochial school in Illinois isn't taking any chances that girls attending its prom will be dressed immodestly.

So Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford recently issued a proper dress and dance policy to the student body for its upcoming prom, with 20 of its 21 pages aimed at the girls' clothing choices.

Among the key areas covered are dress length, necklines (no cleavage), and any slits that might find their way into the dresses (no higher than three inches above the knee).

What's more, the policy also takes on the sensitive topic of body types, leading to charges of body shaming, according to EAGnews.org.

The policy also comes with a stern warning: Guidelines will be strictly enforced. Students, including guests, not in compliance with Dress Code will not be admitted to the dance and refunds will not be issued. There will NOT be a loaner clothing option. Dresses and attire that reflect modesty are required.

The rules for the boys are summed up in one sentence: Young men are expected to wear formal evening attire that would include a tuxedo, suit with a tie, or sport coat and slacks with a tie.

But rules for the girls are extensive.

[Dress necklines] must be cut in a modest way without showing cleavage and any cuts in the back or sides must not be cut below the navel (below your elbow), the booklet says.

Dresses must also be no shorter than mid-thigh, and slits may be no higher than three inches from the knee.

Just in case written descriptions don't get the message across, the guide comes with pictures to illustrate the dress code.

What has drawn the most criticism, however, involves body types.

Some girls may wear the same dress, but due to body types, one dress may be acceptable while the other is not, the booklet says.

Body image experts say this line is body shaming plain and simple.

Girls do not have a choice in how their bodies were made so more voluptuous bodies are going to have more cleavage and curves. Taller girls dresses will hit higher up on the leg than a shorter girl. Its nature, Robyn Goodman, an expert on body image, told a local newspaper, the Register Star.

"Telling one girl she has to restrict her body by only wearing certain fashions and telling another her body is fine for any fashion is sending a message about what is the right body to have and what is the wrong body, she adds. These messages are often damaging to girls. We are not allowed to discriminate in the U.S. based on race, disability, gender, age, etc.  So why are schools discriminating against girls based on their bodies?

Amy Ott, president of the Roman Catholic school, said that she understands that students come in all shapes and sizes but that everyone must be held to the same standards.

You have to try a dress on and see what it looks like on you, not how it looks on someone else.  Its like shopping for any other kind of clothing in this day and age. You want to look your best and look appropriate.

Ott added that the policy was drafted after several girls were forced to cover up during the homecoming dance last fall.

Click here for more from EAGnews.org.
A recent video of a pickup truck going airborne at the end of a police pursuit has drawn a lot of media attention recently. This video, with the theme song from the eighties television show The Dukes of Hazzard added to it, is only one illustration of the danger and excitement involved in a police pursuit.

FORMER COURT-ORDERED GUARDIAN INDICTED IN MASSIVE FRAUD SCHEME

Whether you are a police officer, or someone who once dreamed of being on the job, or you have just watched Cops on TV and found it entertaining, some moments in law enforcement stand out in terms of excitement.

Be advised, radio, they are not stopping!

What now? You need to make a split-second decision. Do you let the perpetrator go? What did you become a cop for if not to catch criminals and put them in jail? Do you chase him? Pursuing a vehicle is probably the most high-risk task you will ever take as a police officer. It causes exhilaration for officers that are actively engaging in the pursuit, and stress headaches for administrators anxiously monitoring the radio.

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with law enforcement officers when it comes to high-speed pursuits in Scott v. Harris. The late Justice Antonin Scalia indicated in his delivery of the Courts opinion that the person who flees from police and essentially necessitates a pursuit should be a factor in deciding qualified immunity for the officer. Agency policies have yet to catch up. In no uncertain terms, policy matters when it comes to whether the officers in your jurisdiction can and should pursue or not. Deterrence can depend, at least in part, on the policies and training of those that serve your community.

Pursuit policies are a constant balance of risk. Be assured that while the suspect is on foot, there is rarely any concern devoted towards how hard the police officers pursue him. As soon as they get behind the wheel of a vehicle, however, the results can quickly become deadly. A sensible pursuit policy is needed to protect the officers in your community from discipline and liability.

One police chief that I worked for throughout the nineties was fond of saying, Well chase them until their wheels fall off! His written policies could be boiled down to, You run, we chase! He did not shy away from it either. On one occasion, when a street supervisor tried to terminate a pursuit, the chief quickly grabbed the radio and told the officer he was authorized to continue it. A few years (and to be fair, over a hundred pursuits that did not end badly) after that incident, a different pursuit ended in a traffic crash that killed an innocent man. A significant amount of money changed hands, and the pursuit policy was soon altered. While my admiration for his approach cannot be denied, I do not dispute that some of the pursuits that happened under that administration were extremely risky to the officers and the surrounding public.

In a USA Today article from June of 2016, a shift in an Illinois pursuit policy is reported. The new policy states, Pursuit is authorized only if the officer has a reasonable belief that the suspect, if allowed to flee, would present a danger to human life or cause serious injury (emphasis added). Since no officer has a crystal ball, a statement such as this in a policy essentially lends administrators, and potentially a judge or jury, the ability to disagree whether that officers belief was reasonable or not.

Click for more from OpsLens.com
Gen. Joseph Votel, who heads U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, told senators Thursday that he has completed an exhaustive review of the Yemen raid that killed a Navy SEAL and has concluded there were no lapses in judgment or decision-making surrounding the operation.

Votel, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, said he sees no need for additional investigations into the January mission that triggered debate over what went wrong and whether important intelligence was actually gathered. It was the first military raid authorized by President Trump.

During the raid on Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants, U.S. special operations forces came under heavy fire. Chief Special Warfare Officer William "Ryan" Owens was killed, six other American service members were injured and a helicopter was damaged.

The Trump administration found itself in debate played out in the media with Sen. John McCain, who questioned the success of the mission. McCain said at the time that he would not describe any operation that resulted in the loss of American life as a success.

Trump, who honored Owens' widow during his speech to Congress last week, has repeatedly defended the raid as successful. He told Congress that it "generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies."

Votel told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington that a separate investigation into potential civilian casualties found that between four and 12 innocent people were killed.

Among the civilians killed was the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric and U.S. citizen who was targeted and killed by a drone strike in 2011.

Votel, who presided over an internal review, said he was "looking for information gaps where we can't explain what happened in a particular situation or we have conflicting information between members of the organization. I am looking for indicators of incompetence or poor decision making or bad judgment throughout all this."

In the end, he said, "I was satisfied that none of those indicators that I identified to you were present. I think we had a good understanding of exactly what happened on this objective and we've been able to pull lessons learned out of that, that we will apply in future operations."

Votel said there was no need for an additional investigation.

Votel added that he believes the U.S. gained valuable information on Al Qaeda militants.

Votel said investigations into the helicopter crash are continuing. One is an aircraft safety investigation, intended to generate any important information for the helicopter fleet. The second is a look at what caused the helicopter to make a hard landing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
A nude photo-sharing scandal that rocked the Marine Corps earlier in the week is reportedly not an isolated incident.

Male service members from all military branches have been sharing nude photos of women on an anonymous website called Anon-IB, BBC reported Friday.

The servicemen allegedly post photographs of clothed female colleagues and ask anyone on the message board if they have any wins  the term used for nude photos, according to BBC.

"Any wright patt wins? I'll start off with some, one anonymous user posted on the message board, referring to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

News of the message board comes days after reports that nude photographs were shared on the Facebook page Marines United," according to a report from the Center for Investigative Reporting.

The report said that more than two dozen active-duty women, officers and enlisted, were identified by their rank, full name and location in the photographs on the Facebook page.

There are still at least a half-dozen similar groups or sites on the internet dedicated to nude photo sharing within the military, marine officials told CBS News.

"The alleged behavior is inconsistent with our values, Defense Department spokesperson Myles Caggins told the BBC, adding that the department was developing new workplace harassment guidelines.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched an investigation and urges whistleblowers to come forward with information.

Click for more from BBC.
Andrew Higgins just wouldnt take no for an answer.

Stuck in a bind in May 1941, the Nebraskan behind Higgins Industries  makers of some of the most iconic American ships used during World War II  was under pressure to deliver 10 tank-landing vessels to the Navy in just two weeks. But there was one problem: the only place he could find bronze tubing needed for a propeller shaft was at an oil field depot in Texas, and its owner refused to sell it.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

He sent a truck, some of his men and some wire cutters to Texas, and in the dark of night they cut through the fence and stole the shafting, and brought it back to New Orleans, Jerry Strahan, author of the book Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Boats That Won World War II, told Fox News.

Mr. Higgins sent him a check the next day, Strahan said, noting that the gutsy move allowed the ships to be built on time. That was typical Higgins.

COMBAT-HARDENED WWII PT BOAT MAKES TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO THE WATER

Higgins Industries, established in New Orleans in 1930, specialized in the creation of amphibious boats aimed at getting U.S. soldiers, vehicles and equipment safely from ship to shore, and were used in every major operation in the European and Pacific theaters, according to the National World War II Museum.

In addition to patrol-torpedo boats  one of which, PT-305, has been restored by the Museum  the New Orleans-based company churned out thousands of Land Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) boats. Those iconic vessels were photographed unloading American troops onto the shores of France during D-Day in 1944.

Higgins superior boat designs landed him government contracts that turned his operation into an economic juggernaut.

He got the Army behind him and he got the Marines behind him, Strahan told Fox News. Those were the two branches that had to land men on the beaches and they wanted to use the Higgins boats. They believed and trusted Higgins.

Higgins was born on August 28, 1886 in Columbus, Nebraska. He became interested in boats at a young age, building his first at age 12 in his parents basement, although there was initially no way to test it outside.

When he went to take it out he realized the boat was too large to go out through the basement doors or windows, Strahan said. So while his mother went to town, he knocked a portion out between two windows and he and his friend took the boat out.

After joining the Nebraska National Guard and working in the timber industry, Higgins big break came when he moved to the south in his early 20s. He could only afford to obtain wood from the swamps, so he designed and built what he called the Eureka boat, which had a protected propeller that would enable it to pull up on river banks without getting damaged or stuck.

Once people saw the boat, they wanted their own  and Higgins Industries was born, Strahan said. The Eureka model would later prove influential in the designs of his other landing crafts.

In 1938, Higgins Industries only boatyard employed less than 75 workers. Five years later, his company grew to more than 25,000 workers making ships and other equipment at seven plants. Higgins was the first in New Orleans to have a racially integrated workforce, as whites and blacks, seniors and people with disabilities all worked alongside each other and were paid equally according to their duties, the museum said.

They had a production line that moved on with boats, like Ford did with cars, Gayle Higgins Jones, the 77-year-old granddaughter of Andrew Higgins, told Fox News.

Higgins Jones said outside of work, her grandfather would invite her and the extended family over to his house every Sunday for dinner, where he loved to tell stories to the children.

He would hold court at the dining room table for a very long time, she said. It was great growing up.

Inside the plants, Higgins was known by his workers as a boss who would listen to any idea.

His workers respected himbecause he knew he understood their problems and he was always open to suggestions from them, Strahan said. He had the ability to talk to everyone on the plant level, but he was also articulate enough to walk in and sit down with Franklin Roosevelt.

By the end of the war, Higgins Industries had built more than 20,000 boats, with 12,500 of them being LCVPs.

Higgins died at 66 on August 1, 1952 and was buried in New Orleans. A national memorial was erected in his hometown, which features a replica LCVP laid on top of sand and statues of soldiers running out of it  similar to the scenes during D-Day. An identical monument in his honor has also been placed at Utah Beach in France.

Following World War II, Higgins didnt downsize his workforce fast enough and a hurricane that damaged one of his under-insured plants contributed to the demise of the company, Strahan said.

But his contributions didnt go unnoticed. The boats had such an impact, that General Dwight Eisenhower said following the war, that Higgins creations won the war for us, according to the museum.

Forceful is such a lame word compared to what he was, Higgins Jones said. He knew what he wanted to do and he did it.

He was sort of like what you could make a movie out of.
Daniela Vargas, the woman from Mississippi who was in the U.S. illegally and was arrested after giving a press conference on her case, will not be deported anytime soon.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DEFENDED IN PHOENIX PROTESTS IS DEPORTED TO MEXICO

After days of speculation, the 22-year-old Argentinian was released Friday with an order of supervision.

"We can confirm that Daniela Vargas has been released from the LaSalle Detention Facility in Louisiana," the Elmore & Peterson Law Firm said in a statement Friday.

Head lawyer Nathan Elmore said the release came as a surprise.

"We have not received an explanation to why Department of Homeland Security released her today and I don't know that we will get one," he said in a conference call.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

The terms of the release include that Vargas checks in periodically with the local ICE office in Jackson. The lawyers said they didn't have yet details on the order of supervision.

They said they are concerned the case got this far since Vargas is the "the ideal" DACA recipient.

The 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation.

Vargas has been in the U.S. since her parents brought her here from Argentina at the age of 7.

"We cannot assume that she is safe," Elmore said. "We believe this was a prosecutorial disgression," he added, also noting that his client has never been in front of an immigration judge.

Federal agents detained Vargas on March 1 just minutes after she criticized U.S. deportation policies at a news conference in Jackson. She was arrested as a friend was driving her home from the event, which was hosted by local immigration lawyers, churches, and advocacy groups.

Vargas father and brother were detained in their home on February 15 as she hid in the closet. The two men were deported shortly after.

SEATTLE DREAMER CASE TO BE DECIDED NEXT WEEK, JUDGE SAYS

Vargas was covered by DACA but that protection expired in November. According to her lawyers, she could not renew it on time due to financial constraints.

Fox News' Maria Karlsson and Willie James Inman contributed to this report.
More than two weeks after Russias ambassador to the United Nations fell ill and died in his New York City office, a senior official told The Associated Press on Friday that Vitaly Churkin died of a heart attack.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

The New York City medical examiners office would not give details, saying Churkin would keep his diplomatic immunity after his death. The senior New York City official spoke on condition of anonymity.



In order to comply with international law and protocol, the New York City Law Department has instructed the Office of Chief Medical Examiner to not publicly disclose the cause and manner of death of Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, Julie Bolcer, spokeswoman for the medical examiners office, said in a statement.

NETANYAHU MEETS WITH PUTIN, RAISES RED FLAGS ON IRAN

The medical examiner investigates deaths that occur by criminal violence, accident or suicide or when the death is sudden. It also takes the case when the person seemed healthy, or died in an unusual manner. Most of the deaths investigated by the office are not suspicious, The Associated Press reports.

Churkin, who died a day before his 65th birthday, had been Russias envoy at the U.N. since 2006. He was the longest-serving ambassador on the Security Council, the U.N.s most powerful body.

Churkin emerged as the face of a new approach to foreign affairs by the Soviet Union in 1986, when he testified before Congress in the U.S. about the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. His fluent English and friendly, sometimes humorous, exchange with lawmakers marked a departure from the tone theyd come to expect from the Soviet Union.

After he returned to the foreign ministry in Moscow, he debated with western correspondents at briefings in the early 1990s. He later held ambassadorships in Canada and Belgium, among other posts.

He could spot even the narrowest opportunities to find a compromise, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said last month, calling Churkin brilliant, wise, gracious, and funny.

Fox News Shira Bush and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
After all these years, she still hasnt lost a step.

Senior Captain George Benedetto pushes the throttle forward, and PT-305  the only combat-hardened World War II boat of its kind to be sailing today  rumbles even faster through the waters of Louisianas Lake Ponchartrain, bobbing up and down as wind hits the captains helm with an intensity enough to make ones eyes squint.

Were setting a speed record for this millennium! gushes Mark Masor, a naval architect, holding up a phone app indicating that the 73-year-old boat is pushing 30 knots (around 34 mph), the fastest it has gone since the completion of its restoration.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

The exhilarating moment onboard the Higgins Industries Patrol-Torpedo boat was just one of many as Fox News got an early ride on the finished product of a multi-year project at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

Its going to be a fabulous ambassador for the museum. Its going to give kids and people a chance to actually feel and be on a World War II vessel and feel in a sense what the servicemen felt at that time riding on the same type of boat, Jerry Strahan, a volunteer and author, told Fox News. Seldom do you get a chance to really ride or take a vessel like this.

The boat operated in the Mediterranean along the coasts of southern France and Northern Italy during World War II, conducting more than 77 offensive patrols and operations. PT-305 fought in 11 separate actions and sank three German ships during its 14-month deployment.

After WWII, PT-305 acted as a civilian tour boat in New York Harbor and a fishing charter, while falling into disrepair. The New Orleans museum purchased the boat in 2007 and since then, a volunteer team of 202 people worked 105,000 hours at its restoration pavilion to get PT-305 back up and running.

Im real anxious to get aboard and hear those engines start up and feel the vibrations under my feet again, James Nerison, a U.S. Navy Torpedoman 1st Class on PT-305, told Fox News.

Nerison, now 92, said he plans to travel from his home in California to New Orleans at the end of March to take a ride on the boat with his son.

WWII VETERANS AIM TO RELIVE HISTORY AS PT BOAT'S RESTORATION NEARLY COMPLETE

Im tickled pink. Ive been following the progress of the restoration since it started, he said. Its been quite a long time.

And Nerisons description of being onboard PT-305 is exactly the same experience today. From the moment the 39-ton, 78-foot long boat starts up, the roar coming from inside the ship can be felt through ones body as the smell of engines fills the air.

After the executive officer yells an all clear! through a megaphone, the boat then backs up from the facility where it is docked, an American flag is raised up the radar tower and PT-305 is on its way in the waters of the lake where it began its journey more than 70 years ago.

On the early ride that Fox News was given before members of the public can ride the boat in April, Benedetto said he was impressed with how well PT-305 handled. The boat was placed in the lake in December, and its volunteer crew has been conducting daily tests and trials after first setting out on the water three weeks ago.

Well get her up to speed and do a nice turn with her to see what she can do, Benedetto said, before spinning the wheel and launching the boat into a graceful maneuver as it glides across the lakes surface.

Imagine doing this, being shot at and shooting back, he adds. The boats were designed to shoot torpedoes at enemy ships and flee, with maneuverability and speed being its greatest defense.

To provide the most authentic experience possible, volunteers at the National World War II Museum outfitted the boat with weaponry  with three of the guns actually being originals from the time period  and a paint scheme PT-305 used in combat during the war.

Using 300 gallons of paint, volunteers back then coated the boat with its Measure 32 modified camouflage, which gave it a tactical advantage when making torpedo attacks in the cover of darkness, according to the museum.

A Thayer blue layer was applied to the front of the boat, which made it difficult to see at night from a distance when it was approaching an enemy ship head-on. In the back, PT-305 was painted with a deck blue color that reduces shadows from light sources and made it harder for ships to spot as it retreated from an attack, according to the museum.

The deck of the boat also has red and yellow colorations in the bow and stern, along with a large red and yellow star intended to make it identifiable to Allied aircraft. Researchers combed over photographs and written reports from the ships original crew to get the markings right, said Tom Czekanski, a senior museum curator and restoration manager.

Among the photos given to the museum to help with the restoration project were ones taken from the personal collection of Joseph Brannon, a former 1st class gunners mate on PT-305 who said it felt real good the boat is running again.

I gave them 100 [photos] I took when we were riding the boat over there, Brannon told Fox News, explaining how he brought a 35 millimeter camera overseas and developed images at a photography shop across the street from his base in the Mediterranean.

Brannon said he returned to New York harbor in June 1945, and that was the last time he ever saw the boat. The war ended before it could be overhauled for deployment to the Pacific.

We never saw the boat again after we went home because they had disbanded and were disposing the boats, he told Fox News.

Everything else about the restoration fell into place, as needed parts were donated and purchased from all over, including eBay.

The amazing thing to me about this project is that every time we came up with something  we were like Where are we going to do this? Where were we going to get that? Czekanski told Fox News. And then something would come up.

Those looking to get a 90-minute ride on the boat will be able to do so starting April 1. Tickets already being sold on the museums website cost $350, with a $45 discount for members, seniors, children or veterans.

Deck tours that last 45 minutes also are available for $12 to $15.
The Denver FBI honored a youth dropout prevention group Thursday, apparently without realizing it is partially funded with taxes from the marijuana industry.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

The U.S. Justice Department, the FBI's parent agency, considers the voter-approved marijuana industry operating in Colorado and other states illegal, and new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has indicated he wants stronger enforcement of federal law.

But Thursday's episode reaffirmed that revenue from sales of the drug has gotten so widely dispersed that it can be tough to keep track of the scores of entities counting on it for at least some support.

CHICAGO TRIES TO LEARN FROM NEW YORK CRIME FIGHTING SUCCESS

Youth on Record Executive Director Jami Duffy mentioned the funding the group receives as she accepted the Director's Community Leadership Award at Denver FBI headquarters.

"If anybody asks you where that money is going, you can say, `I know for sure that some of it is going to Youth on Record and the 1,000 teenagers that they serve,"' Duffy said as FBI Special Agent in Charge Calvin Shivers and other officials stood nearby.

She said after her acceptance speech that the program that focuses on music received $75,000 in marijuana tax revenue last year from the city of Denver and is expecting an additional $148,000 this year.

Asked about the funding, FBI spokeswoman Amy Sanders pointed to the corporations and foundations listed as donors on Youth on Record's website . That list does not include the marijuana-based funding.

FBI staff at the field office voted for Youth on Record over one other finalist for the community award.

Sam Kamin, a marijuana law and policy professor at the University of Denver, said the situation illustrates how inextricable marijuana tax revenue has become from Colorado's economy.

"We sort of have gotten numb to the fact that this money has come through the state and through the federal reserve system (through bank deposits) and then to other organizations," Kamin said.

Colorado's 2012 constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana requires that some money collected from state excise taxes go to public schools. Other groups that have received marijuana funding include the Future Farmers of America, the 4-H Club and state juvenile diversion programs.

Colorado brought in close to $200 million in taxes and fees last year from $1.3 billion in medical and recreational marijuana sales.

Cities and counties that have legalized pot shops get a cut of those state taxes, but they can levy their own pot taxes as well and have greater latitude in how to spend locally generated revenue.
A Hawaii high school teacher has come under fire after sending an email to faculty members Wednesday saying that he would refuse to teach students who have entered the U.S. illegally.

John Sullivan, the social studies teacher at Campbell High School in Ewa Beach on Oahu, sent the email in response to an email sent by a school counselour about students staying home from school due to deportation fears.

This is another attack on the President over deportation, Sullivan said in the email obtained by Hawaii News Now. Their parents need to apply for immigration like everyone else. If they are here in the U.S. illegally, I won't teach them."

Jon Henry Lee, the school's pincipal, told the station that he reminded Sullivan that the school does not discriminate against any individuals and that every registered student will be serviced.

Lee added that Sullivan broke school rules by using the departments email system to share a political opinion.

Sullivan said that entire situation was a misunderstanding. He sent an email to Hawaii News Now saying his comment refered to being unable to teach kids who are home.

Sullivan may still face punishment by the school's principal, the report said.

Click for more from Hawaii News Now.

Ryan Gaydos is a news editor for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @RyanGaydos.
An 18-year-old man accused of decapitating his mother promised an emergency dispatcher that he wouldn't kill two young siblings heard wailing in the background of his 911 call, according to a recording released Thursday.

The suspect, who called 911 not long after the killing Monday afternoon, calmly gave answers throughout the nearly 17-minute recording -- with responses ranging from his location to the names of his 4-year-old sister and 2-year-old brother who were in the house. He said his father was away and recited the man's name and cell phone number in an even tone. The dispatcher asked repeatedly about the children.

"I'm not going to kill them; don't worry," the suspect responded.

The siblings were found unharmed when deputies arrived Monday at the house in Zebulon, about 30 miles east of Raleigh. Court documents said the first deputy on the scene saw the suspect walk out of the house carrying a knife in one hand and his mother's severed head in the other.

'DREAMER' DANIELA VARGAS RELEASED FROM DETENTION CENTER, LAWYERS SAY

The emergency call began with the suspect saying he killed someone and the dispatcher asking him why.

"Why did you kill somebody?" the dispatcher says.

"Because I felt like it," the suspect answers.

Later, the dispatcher later asked if the mother had made him mad: "What was she doing? Did she make you mad, or what happened?"

The suspect responds: "Yes, she made me mad."

The recording offered chilling details of the aftermath of the killing by the suspect described by his defense attorney as mentally disturbed. As they trade questions and answers, the dispatcher sounds unnerved at times. When he says he stabbed his mother eight times, the dispatcher responds: "Oh, mercy."

The exact spelling of the suspect's name was unclear. Local court records listed him as Oliver Funes Machada; federal records as Oliver Funes Machado. He is charged with first-degree murder.

The mother's name, according to local authorities who received the information from a 14-year-old son, is Yesenia Beatriz Funez Machado, 35.

The suspect was from Honduras and in the U.S. illegally, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox.

The prosecutor said officials were seeking a mental evaluation of the suspect, and that his apparent mental issues could delay uncovering a motive for weeks or months. The warrants say he was on four medications for a psychiatric condition, but don't elaborate.

His public defender, attorney C. Boyd Sturges III, has said he spoke to the man and that he is profoundly mentally disturbed.

The suspect's next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
A retired Florida police captain who is accused of shooting and killing another man during an argument over texting in a movie theater will face a trial after a judge rejected his stand your ground defense.

Judge Susan Barthle ruled Friday the stand your ground law in Florida does not apply in the case of Curtis Reeves because he was not in any imminent danger of death when he shot 43-year-old Chad Oulson before a January 2014 movie screening, FOX 13 reported.

LAPD SEARCH FOR SUSPECTS IN $4.5M MAKEUP HEIST

The physical evidence contradicts the defendants version of events, Barthle wrote in her ruling.

The ruling clears the way for Reeves to face jury trial and a second-degree murder charge.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

According to FOX 13, Reeves, then 71 years old, had gone to a Wesley Chapel, Florida movie theater for a matinee screening of Lone Survivor. According to the retired police captain, Oulson threw popcorn at him and hit him in the head with a cell phone.

The argument, which started because Oulson was texting his daughters day care during previews, escalated and ended with Reeves shooting and killing Oulson.

I realized I was in a life-or-death struggle. He was no longer a loudmouth. He was a definite threat, Reeves testified last week in a two-week hearing. He was reaching for me.  He was getting ready to punch me. I perceived that. Thats when the pistol came out. ... At that point, it was his life or mine.

He claimed he was protected by the stand your ground law in Florida which allows citizens to use lethal force if they feel they are in imminent danger of death or significant harm.

Prosecutors dispute Reeves claims and Oulsons wife said it was a rude Reeves who escalated the disagreement. Witnesses claimed to hear Reeves mutter something like, Throw popcorn at me, will you? before pulling the trigger, FOX 13 reported.

In her ruling, Barthle said the evidence showed a different story then what Reeves testified.

For instance, the defendant testified that he was hit in the outside corner of his left eye with a cell phone or a fist, she wrote. The video evidence contradicts this assertion, clearly showing that there was no hit from a fist, and the item argued by the defense to be a cell phone was simply a reflection from the defendants shoes.

Barthle added: In addition, common sense and the credible testimony of the medical examiner casts grave doubt on the likelihood of anything hitting the defendant in the eye beneath his glasses in the manner the defendant described. Which begs the question, why did the defendant say he was hit in the left eye, to the point of being dazed, when the video images and basic physics indicate that he did not get hit in the left eye with anything? The logical conclusion is that he was trying to justify his actions after the fact.

Reeves has been on house arrest since his 2014 release from jail. It was not immediately clear when the trial actually might start.

Click here for more news from Fox 13.
A Colorado megachurch's Hispanic congregation is seeing immense growth, so much so that they will be adding another Sunday service for them to meet.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

New Life Church of Colorado Springs' Nueva Vida congregation will begin to offer an additional worship service starting this coming Sunday.

Brady Boyd, senior pastor of New Life Church, told The Christian Post that having to add a second service was "really phenomenal" and testified to the "obviously great leadership" for the Spanish-speaking congregation.

"Tons of new people flooding into the church right now," noted Boyd, who explained that in addition to Latinos, "English-speaking people are showing up there, which is a new phenomenon for them."

In addition to crediting the Nueva Vida leadership, Boyd also told CP that he felt a contributing factor to the congregation's increasing size was a "spiritual hunger" developing within the Hispanic community, especially in light of uncertainty of current political developments. Illegal immigrants are currently fearing deportation following President Donald Trump's directives to strengthen immigration enforcement guidelines.

"Nueva Vida is about 30 percent documented, legal citizens and about 60 to 70 percent [who are] in some kind of process, they may be here without a green card, they may be in the process, so they're undocumented," explained Boyd.

"I think a lot of the anxiety and a lot of the uncertainty is adding to their spiritual hunger right now and we're honored that we're able to minister to them and to pastor them and they're flooding into the church."

Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com
Millennials abandoning Christianity is mostly fueled by family breakdown, says the author of a new book on why so many of them are leaving their faith, yet reasons do exist to be encouraged.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

In Abandoned Faith: Why Millennials Are Walking Away and How You Can Lead Them Home, co-authors Alex McFarland and Jason Jimenez engage this vaunted generation and examine what went wrong. And they explore the forces influencing young people today while offering advice to parents and church leaders on how to mend relationships and win those who have left back to Christ.

McFarland, 52, who is both an apologist and director of the Christian Worldview Center at North Greenville University in Greenville, South Carolina, said in a recent interview with The Christian Post that he believes that the largest factor driving millennials (born roughly between 1982 and 2004) away from Jesus is the disintegration of their family relationships. But he was quick to note that God is moving among young people and there are welcome signs too.

MUSLIM HEADSCARVES IN EUROPE: THE BATTLE HEATS UP

"Something really good about millennials is they've got a heart to serve others," McFarland said. "Twenty-five years ago to get a bunch of young people to go on missions trips was a challenge," he noted. But today, "it's almost the inverse of that."

"We have no trouble getting kids to go to developing nations and to get dirty and to work hard," he added, hailing their work ethic and heart to serve as "inspiring."

But when it comes to actual spirituality, the majority of American teens today believe in a "combination of works-righteousness, religion as psychological well-being, but a distant non-interfering God," McFarland said, quoting the words of sociologist Christian Smith.

"It's almost as if [they believe] God is a benign therapist and He exists to enhance my life experience but He certainly wouldn't interfere with my life," McFarland said.

CP reported last month that only 10 percent of Americans, and only four percent of millennials, espouse and live out a biblical worldview by any measurable standard, according to recent surveys from the American Culture and Faith Institute that veteran researcher George Barna directed. Also, compared to previous generations, millennials are most likely to be religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center.

While acknowledging the fact that many traditional churches are often full of graying heads and are ineffective at reaching people below the age of 40, McFarland believes there's a bigger issue at play.

"But I've got to say this," he emphasized, "as a pastor, as a researcher, as an educator, as just a Christian who cares, the single greatest contributor to the attrition rate [of the Christian faith] has been the breakdown of the family."

When co-author Jimenez asked deeper questions to find the real cause of why millennials left their faith, a lot of times he would hear of troubled upbringings. Despite growing up in Christian homes, they would say that their parents never lived out their faith.

He recalled a time he encountered an argumentative college student in Florida who asked, "If God exists, and He knew we would suffer, then why did He create us?" Jimenez spoke with the student and his girlfriend and found out that though the student grew up going to church, he never saw his parents reading the Bible or praying together. The girlfriend's father, meanwhile, often lectured her family about the Bible but he left her mother for another woman.

"I could see now why they questioned God, His nature, and His unconditional love," Jimenez stated in the book. "If what their parents believed was true, why didn't they live it? If God is so loving, why didn't their parents show that same love to each other?"

Along with hypocrisy and divorce, legalism and overprotective parenting can also negatively impact a child's faith.

Many parents, whose children left Christianity, testified that they have many regrets about how they raised them.

One father testified, "I didn't do enough."

"I wasn't there for my kids the way I needed to be as a father. And now they're grown up, and neither of them has a strong faith. I should've done more I should've been more of a leader, rather than leave my wife or the church to do it for me," he said, according to Jimenez.

The authors of Abandoned Faith stressed that they're not trying to place the blame on parents. Rather, they want to "help them understand contributing factors in their adult children's lives and move forward with hope for their adult children."

While culture and church play a role in the development of a person's life, the role parents play "far outweighs any other influence," Jimenez stressed.

McFarland told CP, "The home is the church in miniature," recalling the words of Edith Schaeffer, wife of preeminent evangelical thinker Francis Schaeffer, who said that "God gave us the family to prepare our hearts for the Gospel."

Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com
A Pennsylvania man charged with killing one state trooper and injuring another back in 2014 led police on a 48-day manhunt through the Pocono Mountains before authorities captured him. Eric Frein now could face the death penalty in his capital murder trial if he is found guilty of killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and injuring Trooper Alex Douglass.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

Were looking for fairness, Freins lawyer, Michael Weinstein, said as the selection for jury members was under way at the Chester County courthouse outside of Philadelphia. Were looking for jurors who can keep an open mind. Compassion.

Both the prosecution and defense agreed to select the jury from Chester County150 miles away from the murder because of the effect the weeks-long incident had on Pike County residents. The selected jurors will then go to Pike County for the trial.

For now, the group of jurors selected Thursday and Friday will be back in the Chester County courthouse the following week for further questioning.

A video of Frein confessing to the murder could be used in court if his lawyers are unable to suppress it. They argue that investigators didnt tell Frein his family hired a lawyer to speak for him.

Frein has pleaded not guilty. Opening statements are scheduled for April.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Carrollton, Texas, high school teacher was arrested for allegedly recording students undressing.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

George Edwin Thomas III was arrested Thursday morning and charged with six counts of invasive visual recording, a state jail felony.

Carrollton police say the R.L. Turner High School teacher used hidden cameras to record female students who were changing into their uniforms without them knowing during the 2015-2016 school year.

WISCONSIN TEEN ASKS FATHER TO TAKE PHOTOS OF ARREST TO POST ON FACEBOOK

According to an arrest affidavit, Thomas' girlfriend had long suspected him of cheating on her. So when she and a friend found a random thumb drive on the floor of the apartment the couple shared, the friends grew curious and watched it to find disturbing images.

According to a warrant, the thumb drive "contained multiple video recordings of teenage girls disrobing in a closet." The report also states the thumb drive had "recordings that appeared to be at a teacher's desk with female students being called to the desk."

Police say the camera was positioned in order to record under clothing.

When voluntarily questioned by Carrollton police detectives, the report says that Thomas admitted that he recorded videos on his phone in class: but the recordings were of activities for the students to watch and learn."

In a statement, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD said it was made aware of the allegations two weeks ago and placed Thomas on administrative leave.

Click for more from Fox 4.
President Obama was a boon for the firearm industry  while President Trump set off a slump in gun sales.

Except, it seems, for an unexpected group: minorities.

While gun sales have fallen in the wake of Trumps election because Second Amendment proponents no longer feel threatened by potential federal gun-control measures, anecdotal evidence shows minority groups  including gays, African Americans and Hispanics  seem to be heading to gun stores in growing numbers to arm up.

Some minority groups, experts say, are buying guns because they fear the Trump administration could rollback some of their rights or that the divisive political environment could violently escalate.

President Trumps election has introduced a significant amount of uncertainty and turbulence. Whether real or perceived, many minorities feel targeted by negative language and policies which drives a desire to take ones personal protection and security into their own hands, Chris Cheng, the openly gay winner of History Channels Top Shot, NRA news commentator and author of Shoot to Win, told Fox News. Purchasing a firearm is a logical and natural decision to increase a sense of security.

President Obama, a staunch supporter of gun-control measures, inadvertently became the firearms industrys top seller as sales last year hit record highs. According to statistics from the FBIs National Instant Criminal Background Check, since the election the firearms buying trend has been on a downward spiral  for the third month in a row. The system processed 7,049,160 checks between December and February, compared to 8,473,470 in the same time period a year ago.

The most notable increase is being seen in the LGBT community.

Pink Pistols, a gay rights and pro-gun organization, has seen its national membership swell since November. Its spokesperson, Gwendolyn Patton, attributes the current spike to an irrational FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) spread by agitators who want there to be public panic over the Trump election.

You can see that it is FUD because there is no actual reason for such fear coming from the Trump administration, she said. But because he's a Republican, and his vice president has in the past expressed beliefs regarding homosexuality that have since been debunked, the assumption is that the Trump administration bears them ill will.

But the uptick is not solely because of Trump. Marc Whittemore, director of Gays With Guns, said that many in the gay community began buying guns because they felt defenseless after Pulse night club shooting.

We have been growing steadily since Pulse, Whittemore said, so its hard to define it to be Trump specific.

Terry Roethlein, communications director at the activist organization Gays Against Guns, said the LGBT increases post-election are minimal. But, Roethlein said, there are definitely those within the community who seek such means of self-defense.

Unfortunately that is due to the fear-based lie within U.S. culture that says the only way to fight violence is with more violence, Roethlein said. We support sensible gun-control measures that decrease access to guns and the number of guns, which inevitably are used to harm LGBT folks, people of color, women, immigrants, and members of any other marginalized group.

There is also an apparent gun sales growth in other minority communities as well.

Philip Smith, president and founder of the National African American Gun Association (NAAG) noted that there has been a significant uptick in membership in recent months. He said they are in the process of adding several more chapters to their already existing 26 local groups across the country.

I wish I could say that people were joining because they want to go hunting, or shoot for fun with their families. But there is a growing concern. The election cycle racketed up a lot of racial rhetoric, Smith said. I get emails every day from people who dont feel safe.

He highlighted that not only have membership numbers spiked since November, but many more members are also obtaining concealed carry permits.

The Minnesota Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance also noted a spike specific to Somali-American men seeking self-defense gun training in the weeks following Trumps election, according to Minnesotas Star Tribune. There is also a notable spike in gun interest in the Hispanic community  though some said other factors have played a bigger role in the uptick.

Miguel Nogueras of Chicago-based Latino Gun Owners said an increase in high crime and gun violence was the reason members Hispanics want to self-protect.

Others in the gun community are skeptical that the spikes, if legitimate, are a consequence of the new president.

Joe Meaux, CEO/owner of the Louisiana-based Aklys Defense, said that he has not seen a detectable rise in marginalized communities buying guns. He said none of the many dealers he works with have reported such a trend, either.

Jeff Gonzales, president of Trident Concepts and director at The Range at Austin, said sales bumps by minorities likely comes down to fear mongering.

People of all lifestyles, backgrounds and positions confided in me their interest for obtaining a firearm or training because they felt the government would no longer protect them, said. That wasnt two months of being in office, but eight years of an administration. I believe we will simply see more and more diversity in who is buying a gun.

Indeed, many have pointed out that while the stereotype of the white American male gun owner has undergone a notable shift the past few months  it has been steadily changing for years.

The gun community is more diverse than outsiders realizeI've seen that people who identify as LGBTQ feel much more comfortable and even embraced in the firearms community. The same goes for African Americans, Asian Americans, and more, added Natalie Foster, host of Love At First Shot" on NRAWomen.tv and Creator/CEO of GirlsGuidetoGuns.com. Embracing gun rights is not about violence. It is about personal responsibility and self-sufficiency. More and more people are coming to understand that every day.
One of the revelations about the U.S. consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, that has come from the WikiLeaks release of CIA files is that American spies can use the facility for hacking databases that are not connected to the Internet.

The anti-secrecy groups dump this week of nearly 8,761 CIA files confirmed that the consulate is a base for covert and overt CIA operatives. It also provided a window into how American spies operate in Europe and  most importantly -- why Frankfurt has been so valuable for a specialized form of computer espionage.

Germany is central to the rest of the European Union, which minimizes overall travel time to reach physical locations in any other country there. Since the types of attacks described [in the WikiLeaks documents] required physical access to computers, being able to get there quickly via train or other forms of transportation would be vital, Nathan Wenzler, chief security strategist at San Francisco-based security consultancy AsTech Consulting, told Fox News.

Even a one-hour flight to reach a neighboring major city would allow for faster response than, say, a seven-hour flight from the east coast of the U.S, he said.

Trying to hack a system that's connected to the Internet doesn't really require physical proximity, so, like most nation-state intelligence agencies, it's easier and more effective to just run those sorts of attacks from within your own borders, Wenzler said.

Frankfurt would allow for a more social engineering style of hacking, where the agent would need to gain physical access to a system by convincing the people around it to allow the agent to use it. Since that would require moving people around to get to those destinations, having a central location like Frankfurt to use as a hub for your operations just makes logistics more simple and reduces the time needed to execute, Wenzler added.

The files explain how operatives can get through German customs without delay, including claiming they are with the State Department and are supporting technical consultations at the consulate.

Breeze through German Customs because you have your cover-for-action story down pat, and all they did was stamp your passport, the leaked CIA instructions say.

In a report for operatives new to the area, the CIA told operatives how to behave:

Be aware that your coworkers here are all undercover;

While cover seems like an administrative thing back home, it is vital in the Field;

Help protect everyone's cover. Avoid using terms outside of the SCIF that could betray that people are not State Department employees. Better to keep work discussions at work.

"Do not leave anything electronic or sensitive unattended in your room.

Paul Innella, CEO of TDI, a cybersecurity services firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., that works with the U.S. government and private sector clients across the globe, said the leaks have set the CIA back years.

Things change fast in the cyber world and we need to carry out our missions of intelligence gathering, unencumbered by leaks such as this.

The CIA wont respond, the agencys spokesperson Heather Fritz Horniak said: We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents.

But a number of technology experts, federal law enforcement, and members of Congress believe the documents are authentic.

Germanys chief federal prosecutor has launched an investigation into the alleged hacking operations, but Innella said the U.S. may have secret agreements with Germany to assist its government, and noted spies and a state-sponsored hacking activity are effectively untouchable while in that domain.

The voluminous number of CIA documents represents just 1 percent of what Wikileaks has obtained from the CIA, but has already revealed to the world some of the spy agency's most prized cyber tools. The CIA has the ability to spy on its targets through their smartphones, computers, and some televisions, and has researched ways to hack into the electrical systems of automobiles. There could be nearly 1 million files and documents yet to be released.

Germans have known since at least 2013 that the Frankfurt facility, the largest US Consulate in the world, is CIA territory. According to German media, DW, the consulate became the focus of a German investigation into U.S. intelligence capabilities following the 2013 revelation that NSA agents had tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone.
A Wisconsin teen accused of arranging an armed robbery on Facebook asked her father to snap a few photos of her in handcuffs so she could post them on the social media site.

Josephine Garczynski, 18, and her boyfriend, Curtis Britton, 27, both of Sheboygan, were charged Wednesday with armed robbery as a party to a crime in connection to a March 5 incident after Garczynski chatted online with a man she knew to meet and hang out, according to a criminal complaint obtained by MySheboygan.com.

NAKED RAMPAGE FUELED BY MAGIC MUSHROOMS LANDS BROTHERS IN COURT

Once at the location in Sheboygan, the victim entered Garczynskis car, where Britton jumped into the backseat and held a gun to the mans head before taking his wallet and cellphone.

Detectives were able to identify Garczynski through her Facebook alias Josephine King and later located her at her fathers home, where she told a detective she met someone she knew from Facebook the night before and admitted that her plan was to meet the man and steal his marijuana.

Garczynski was then placed under arrest and asked if she could put on a bra, according to the criminal complaint. Officers accompanied her to a bathroom in her fathers home, where she began singing Free Josephine. She then had an unusual request after exiting the bathroom.

While officers were in the process of handcuffing Josephine, Josephine began asking her father to take pictures of her being handcuffed, the criminal complaint reads. She said she wanted to put the photos on Facebook.

Click here to read more at the New York Post.
Even in jail, there are the haves and the have-nots.

Consider California, where ability and willingness to pay $100 a night can get a defendant a cell that is  if not Disney resort quality  better than the unsafe, gritty quarters that scream punishment.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

The amenities -- yes, that word can actually be used in the same sentence as jail cell -- in some places include flat-screen TVs, a computer room, yoga sessions and new beds, according to a story jointly reported by the Marshall Project and the Los Angeles Times.

One defendant opting for a less prison-feeling prison was Alan Wurtzel, described in the story as having been sentenced to a year in jail for sexual battery.

Wurtzel paid $100 a night to avoid the unpleasant experience of being around other convicts like himself, and ended up in Seal Beachs city jail, where he availed himself of flat screen TVs, a new bed among other amenities. He also served six months, all of which did not sit well with his victim, who spoke to the Times and the Marshall Project and expressed disgust that not only did Wurtzel not serve his whole year, which didnt seem like enough to her to begin with, but that he got to choose less unpleasant accommodations than the Los Angeles County Jail.

I feel like, Why did I go through this? she said to reporters covering the story.

WISCONSIN TEEN ASKS FATHER TO TAKE PHOTOS OF ARREST TO POST ON FACEBOOK

The perhaps-dubious practice began as a way to deal with overcrowding in jail. Then it broadened to give those who could pay a chance to stay in safer and less gritty surroundings.

The two news outlets found that of more than 3,500 people who chose the so-called pay-to-stay option for their jail sentence between 2011 and 2015, more than 160 had been convicted of assault, robbery, domestic violence, battery, sexual assault, sexual abuse of children and possession of child pornography, among other serious crimes.

Most people who serve time in pay-to-stay jails are there for offenses such as driving under the influence, the story said.

Its up to judges to determine whether a person convicted of a felony serves time in a county or city jail.

Of course, the two-tiered system has plenty of critics beyond victims who take no comfort in seeing their victimizer pay for their crimes in relative comfort.

Many law enforcement officials see the pay-to-stay option as going against the basic concept of punishment, or retributive justice, for a person who has committed a crime.

The American Civil Liberties Union has slammed the slammer upgrade as jail for the rich, saying its just plain un-American to treat the better-off better.

Wurtzels attorney said that his client just isnt the prison type, and that would have been obvious to the hardcore felons who might have seen him as a target for bullying.

Theres a pecking order among inmateshes not somebody who would do well, the defense attorney, Robert Schwartz, was quoted as saying in the story that appeared in the Times. Its still jail. Theres still the loss of freedom.

Leonol Pelayo, who stayed in a pay-to-stay jail after pleading no contest to statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl who attended his South L.A. church in 2011, said there was no way he was going to stay in a tough place like a real jail.

County jail, youre verbally abused, physically abused by everybody, said Pelayo, who was a church leader, according to the Times story. I didnt want to spend one day there.

Some county officials say in the Times story that there are benefits to the system that go beyond the person serving time.

Each case is decided on its own merits, Jane Robison, Los Angeles County district attorney spokeswoman, wrote in an email.

Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the Orange County district attorney, was quoted as saying that a pay-to-stay sentence for a serious crime is not something we take lightly.

We didnt create the system, Schroeder said. So we have to work within it and figure out what is in the best interest of a case. You could even say that if it helps the taxpayer save money, thats always a good thing."
Hundreds of boars carrying highly radioactive material are reportedly stalking residents hoping the Japanese town of Fukushima six years after the meltdown of the nuclear plant.

The New York Times reported that city officials are working to clear out the contaminated boar population in the area. Japan is set to allow residents to return to their homes in some areas near the plant. These city officials worry that these boars will attack returning residents. Some of these animals are reportedly living in abandoned homes.

We need a strong hunting plan, Hidekiyo Tachiya, the mayor of a nearby town called Soma. I wish for the day to come when we can eat wild game again.

Hunters have been reportedly hired and have so far killed about 800.

The report points out that boar meat is a delicacy in northern Japan, but the animals in the area are considered too toxic to eat.

The country is working to stabilize the region in general. Most residents in Fukushima say they will not return to their homes due to fear of radiation. Whats more, it will take 40 years to dismantle to plant.

The Fukushima disaster at one point forced more than 150,000 people to abandon their homes. The number has decreased significantly as more areas have been decontaminated and the government pushes to showcase the reconstruction. Subsidies for evacuees outside of Fukushima will be cut later this month.

International studies on Fukushima have predicted that cancer rates will not rise as a result of the nuclear accident, though some researchers say the rate of thyroid cancer in the prefecture is higher than what is generally found and could be related to radiation.

The report said video footage shows these Japanese towns overtaken by wild animals. There is a large population of rat colonies, unkempt dogs and boars.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Colombian citizen Hector Albeidis Arboleda Buitrago, known as "The Nurse" of the FARC guerrillas and accused of performing hundreds of forced abortions on female rebels, arrived in Colombia on Thursday after being extradited by Spain, the Attorney General's Office reported.

Arboleda was handed over to Colombian authorities after a formal extradition request made to the Spanish government on March 4, 2016, the AG's Office said in a statement.

In Colombia, Arboleda must face charges for performing forced abortions for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), along with engaging in torture and rape, the report said.

BOTH GUERILLA AND PRESIDENT SANTOS 'BRIBED' BY ODEBRECHT IN COLOMBIA

Spain's Audiencia Nacional - the high court with jurisdiction over international crimes - approved the extradition on Dec. 2, and on Jan. 27, at the request of Justice Minister Rafael Catala, the government gave the green light to handing over Arboleda to Colombian authorities.

According to the extradition order, Arboleda, who also cooperated with the National Liberation Army (ELN) and Guevarista Revolutionary Army (EG) rebels, forced pregnant female guerrillas to drink chemicals to cause spontaneous abortions.

Arboleda, 41, has a degenerative disease and left his homeland in 2005 to request asylum in Spain, which denied that request, although years later he did obtain Spanish citizenship.

COLOMBIA, FARC REBELS REACH DEAL TO END HALF-CENTURY WAR

In 2015, he was arrested in Madrid and then released pending his extradition hearing, but - once the Audiencia Nacional agreed to hand him over - he was taken into custody again to prevent him from fleeing.

After being turned over the Colombian authorities, Arboleda was fingerprinted and given a medical exam, and expectations are that in the coming hours he will be sent to prison to await trial, the report added.

Arboleda has not been recognized as a member of any guerrilla organization.
Frances top diplomat is pressing a French-Swiss cement manufacturer to rethink its bid to sell the United States material to build President Trumps proposed border wall.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Thursday that while construction giant LafargeHolcim can do what they want as a private company, the company should consider the social responsibility it has and the fact that the move could hurt its business with other clients.

"It should reflect upon what its interests are. There are other clients who will be stunned by this," Ayrault told France Info radio. "Lafarge says it doesnt do politics. ... Very well, but I would say companies ... also have social and environmental responsibilities."

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

The comments from Ayrault came a few days after LafargeHolcim CEO Eric Olsen said he was prepared to supply the materials for the wall along the U.S.s southern border with Mexico.

"We are the number-one cement group in the United States, Olsen said, according to Agence France-Presse. We are here to support the construction and development of the country. ... We are not a political organization."

Olsen added that LafargeHolcim has production sites in Texas and operations in New Mexico and Arizona, three of the four U.S. states bordering Mexico. The group has also built two plants in Maryland and Oklahoma and opened facilities in New York and Missouri in anticipation of Trumps big infrastructure push.

Trump wants billions of dollars to start building a wall at the Mexican border and fund efforts to find, jail and deport immigrants in the country illegally. This call has created a rocky relationship with Mexico, which is the U.S.s third-largest trade partner. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a trip to Washington after Trump signed a presidential order kick-starting construction of a border wall and demanding that Mexico pay for it.

Besides its pledge to supply cement for the border wall, LafargeHolcim recently admitted that its business in northern Syria had struck "unacceptable" deals with armed groups, providing funds in order to allow its local activities to continue.

The group said in a statement that an internal investigation has established Lafarge's local branch in Syria provided funds to armed groups via middlemen in 2013 and 2014 to guarantee safe passage for company employees and supply the plant it operated.

Lafarge merged with Swiss company Holcim to create LafargeHolcim, the world's largest cement maker, in 2015. Lafarge stopped operating its $680 million Syrian plant in September 2014.

LafargeHolcim said, "In hindsight, the measures taken in order to continue the plant's activity were unacceptable."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
European governments are increasingly pursuing bans on headscarves worn in public by Muslim women.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

Some political leaders in Europe view the traditional veils worn by those of the Islamic faith as a threat to national identity, a barrier to communication, or even a safety concern.

Already several countries have laws or proposals in place that ban the veils in some fashion.

ISIS MURDERING COPTIC CHRISTIANS ON EGYPT'S SINAI PENINSULA OVER FAITH

In France, presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has shown disdain for the public display of this religious and cultural symbol.

"I'm not waging a religious war," Le Pen said. "It's clear that in France, everyone has the right to practice their religion, to worship as they choose. My war is against Islamic fundamentalism."

Le Pen wishes to ban all religious symbols in the country. In addition, if she became president, she said Sikhs would not be allowed to wear turbans. "But we don't have a lot of Sikhs in France," Le Pen said. "Which is good news."

She said Jewish yarmulkes should not be worn in public either.

This type of discussion is not new to the country, as France has banned headscarves and other religious symbols in schools since 2004.

Other European countries have made recent restrictive moves as well.

Government officials in Austria announced their opposition to allowing women to wear traditional head veils in public. That occurred after the Islamic Religious Community's advisory council issued a recommendation that women start wearing a headscarf from the time of puberty onward.

"I have to say clearly: We reject an obligation to [wear] the headscarf," Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian minister for foreign affairs and integration, told the daily newspaper Osterreich, according to The Associated Press and other outlets.

Mufti Mustafa Mullaoglu, of the Islamic Religious Community in Austria, issued a declaration in February: "For female Muslims from puberty, the covering of the body, with the exception of the face, the hands, and the feet of some lawyers, is a religious commandment, and thus part of the practice of faith."

Austria already bans full-face veils in public spaces, but Austrian leaders have pressed further. "Such a position is an attack on the freedom and self-determination of women," Secretary of State Muna Duzdar said in rejecting the advisory council's position.
A former CIA official made an alarming statement about North Koreas ability to strike the U.S. with a ballistic missile.

Bruce Klingner, a former CIA deputy division chief for Korea, said the isolated nation is closer than people realize to developing a nuclear missile that could cross the ocean and strike the U.S.

We can expect an [intercontinental ballistic missile] test this year with full capability within the next few years, Klingner told Fox News.

North Korea has provoked the world by firing ballistic missiles in defiance of a United Nations Security Council resolution prohibiting the country from doing so. And those tests have sparked global fear that North Korea could soon attack foreign countries with nuclear weaponry.

In his annual address earlier this year, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un said the country was in the final stages of test-launching an intercontinental ballistic rocket. But some, including President Trump, have said the threats were intended to make the world shiver  but werent based on reality.

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! the president tweeted in January.

North Korea has so far conducted five nuclear tests, claiming success as recently as September of last year.

Instability in the region continues, as South Koreas top court has upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. Many experts in the area believe that Kim Jong-un could try to capitalize on the uncertainty gripping the nation.

In a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Gary Samore, former Obama White House Coordinator for Arms Control and Weapons of Mass Destruction, testified on the global nuclear weapons environment. He called North Koreas mission to achieve a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile the most significant and the most immediate of new nuclear threats.

"It's difficult to calculate or predict when North Korea might achieve that capability, a reliable nuclear-armed [intercontinental ballistic missile], Samore said. Certainly with the pace of testing they've been carrying out something in the next five to 10 years seems like a reasonable guess."

Klingner believes North Korea should be put back on the terrorist list. He told Fox News that in 2013, Kim Jong-un was photographed in front of a map of the U.S. which appeared to show four targets for North Korean missiles  Hawaii, San Diego, Washington D.C. and perhaps Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

He said several four-stars generals believe North Korea already has the ability to launch nuclear-tipped missiles.

However, most experts think Pyongyang does not yet have that ability since the regime hasnt tested and demonstrated a reentry vehicle for its [intercontinental missiles], he said.

There have been reports that Trump is mulling a proposal that would send B-52 bombers to Korea. But a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command told Fox News Jennifer Griffin that, there are no plans at this time to send B52s to South Korea to participate in the war games currently taking place on the Korean peninsula.

In a detailed report for the Heritage foundation, Klingner writes, preemptive attacks on test flights that do not clearly pose a security threat could trigger a war with a nuclear-armed state that also has a large conventional military force poised along the border with South Korea.

Klingner said if the U.S. tries to interfere with North Koreas nuclear missile race, it has to tread gently.

Trying to target North Korean mobile nuclear missiles in a crisis is like trying to win three-card monte on a New York street corner, Klingner said, theres a high risk youll lose more than your shirt.
North Korea wasted no time in bashing South Koreas ousted president Friday, calling her a common criminal  and signaling that the countries decades-long war was no close to ending.



SOUTH KOREA'S DISGRACED PRESIDENT FORMALLY IMPEACHED BY COURT

The South Korean leader, Park Geun-hye, had one more year left as president but, now shes been ousted, she will be investigated as a common criminal, North Koreas central news agency reported. It was an unusually quick response from the rogue nation, which typically waits days to report international news, according to Reuters.

South Koreas Constitutional Court removed Park from office in an unanimous ruling earlier Friday over a corruption scandal that plunged the country into political turmoil and worsened an already serious national divide. The decision capped a stunning fall for the countrys first female leader, who rode a wave of lingering conservative nostalgia for her late dictator father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency crumble as millions of furious protesters filled the nations streets.

KIM JONG NAM'S SON APPARENTLY SHOWS HIS FACE FOR FIRST TIME SINCE DAD'S MURDER

The Korean War, which started in 1950, saw a stop to fighting in 1953  but the countries never signed a peace treaty, meaning they are still technically at war. North Koreas push to expand its missile arsenal only has made the situation worse, analysts have said.

In addition, the U.S. deployment of a high-tech missile defense system in South Korea has riled up China, which claimed the Pentagon was trying to beef up its spying capabilities. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last month met with top South Korean officials and said, he had inherited an already strong alliance, but committed to spending his tenure making it stronger than ever, Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, reported.

As much as our position pertaining to national security should remain unwavering regardless of the domestic political situation, we will continue to maintain steady preparedness in close cooperation with our diplomatic and security agencies with regards to North Korea, government officials in Seoul said.

Two people died during protests that followed the court ruling. Police and hospital officials said about 30 protesters and police officers were injured in the violent clashes near the court, which prompted Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the countrys acting head of state, to plead for peace and urge Parks angry supporters to move on.

The ruling allows possible criminal proceedings against the 65-year-old Park  prosecutors already have named her a criminal suspect  and makes her South Koreas first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.

Parks acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust, acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said. The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big. Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye.

Lee accused Park of colluding with longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to extort tens of millions of dollars from businesses and letting Choi, a private citizen, meddle in state affairs and receive and look at documents with state secrets. Those allegations previously were made by prosecutors, but Park has refused to undergo any questioning, citing a law that gives a sitting leader immunity from prosecution.

Park wont vacate the presidential Blue House on Friday as her aides are preparing for her return to her private home in southern Seoul, according to the Blue House. Park has not made a public statement on her removal.

Parks lawyer, Seo Seok-gu, who previously had compared Parks impeachment to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, called the verdict a tragic decision made under popular pressure and questioned the fairness of what he called a kangaroo court.

South Korea must now hold an election within two months to choose Parks successor. Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Police on Friday were hunting for two gunmen who opened fire in a cafe in the Swiss city of Basel, leaving two people dead and a third critically wounded.

A statement from the office of the local prosecutor said two men entered Cafe 56 at 8.15 p.m. Thursday and unleashed a salvo of gunfire. They then escaped on foot in the direction of a nearby railway station.

35 GIRLS KILLED IN GUATEMALA SHELTER FIRE MAY HAVE BEEN LOCKED IN

Prosecutors said the motive for the crime was unknown but the assailants specifically targeted the cafe. The victims were identified as Albanians.

No one else was hurt in the attack.

Investigations are still ongoing but a police officer told The Associated Press: "This is a local incident. It has nothing to do with Islamists or terrorism."

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The office of the prosecutor later confirmed there was no indication of terrorism.

TOXIC WILD BOARS REPORTEDLY STALK FUKUSHIMA RESIDENTS

Forensic teams could be seen overnight going in and out of the cafe collecting evidence.

Prosecutors said police were looking for two men, aged between 30 and 40, who are believed to be eastern European. They had black hair and wore dark clothing.

The attack comes a day after the town concluded celebrations of Fasnacht, the largest carnival in Switzerland.
In a move that could transform the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has said hes open to the possibility of ordaining married men to minister in remote communities facing priest shortages.

In an interview with Germanys Die Zeit newspaper published this week, the pope said the church should study whether so-called viri probati  or married men of proven faith  could be ordained as an answer to the shortage of priests around the world. He called it an enormous problem that must be resolved.

"We must consider if viri probati is a possibility. Then we must determine what tasks they can perform, for example, in remote communities," he was quoted as saying.

NOT IMPRESSED: 2-YEAR-OLD BOY THROWS TANTRUM WHILE MEETING QUEEN ELIZABETH

Francis, however, stressed that removing the celibacy rule mandated to priests is not an answer to the priest shortage.

The Latin rite already allows some married non-Catholic clergymen who become Catholics to be ordained.

In a decree signed by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Church, on June 14, 2014, priests in the eastern rite Catholic Church were allowed to be married, joining married Anglican priests who convert to Catholicism, The National Catholic Register reported.

Clerical marriage, meaning priests who marry once ordained, is not allowed by the church. It is unclear if Francis would issue a decree to allow viri probati throughout the church.

A POLITICAL POPE IS ALSO GROWING THE RANKS OF THE FAITHFUL

The "viri probati" proposal has been around for decades, but it has drawn fresh attention under historys first Latin American pope thanks in part to his appreciation of the challenges facing the church in places like Brazil, a huge Catholic country with an acute shortage of priests.

Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, a longtime friend of Francis and former head of the Vaticans office for clergy, is reportedly pressing to allow viri probati in the Amazon, where the church counts around one priest for every 10,000 Catholics.

CUTE PUP ADOPTED BY MONASTERY MELTS HEARTS AROUND THE WORLD

Francis has shown particular openness to receiving concrete proposals for ordaining married men, reportedly saying in private in 2014 that it could be left for bishops to decide depending on the situation, The Register reported.

Francis also has shown his own pastoral concern for men who have left ministry to marry.

He has maintained friendship with the Argentine widow of a friend who left the priesthood to marry, and he spent one of his Friday mercy missions last year visiting with men who had left ministry to start families.

He also has said that while he favors a celibate priesthood, celibacy technically can be up for discussion since its a discipline of the church, not a dogma.

Francis said the church should be fearless in confronting change.

Truth means not to be afraid, he said. Fears close doors, freedom opens them. And if freedom is small, it at least opens a little window.

In the first major interview that Francis has given a German newspaper, the pope was asked whether he experienced moments in which he doubted the existence of God. He responded: "I, too, know moments of emptiness."

But, he pointed out that periods of crisis are an opportunity to grow, saying a believer who doesnt experience that remains "infantile."

Francis also repeated his warning of the dangers of rising populism in western democracies, saying "populism is evil and ends badly as the past century showed."

In the interview, Francis also confirmed Colombia was on his travel itinerary for 2017 as well as India and Bangladesh. He ruled out Congo, which had been rumored, but mentioned Egypt as a possibility. Francis also recently said he hoped to visit South Sudan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Vladimir Putin hailed the close ties between the Russian and Turkey militaries on Friday as he hosted Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks about Syria.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

Russia and Turkey co-brokered a cease-fire in December that helped reduce the scale of fighting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition. They also co-sponsored two rounds of talks this year between Assad's government and its foes. A third round is set for next week.

Russia and Turkey also coordinated their operations against the Islamic State group in Syria. A Russian air raid last month accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers, but the incident didn't derail the military coordination.

CHOLERA REACHES SOUTH SUDAN'S SECOND-LARGEST CITY, UNITED NATIONS ANNOUNCES

After concluding his meeting with Erdogan at the Kremlin, Putin hailed "efficient and close contact" between their militaries and intelligence agencies around Syria.

He said it was mostly "Russia and Turkey that have made a major contribution not only to securing a cease-fire between Syrian government forces and the armed opposition, but also to launching direct, concrete talks" between them.

Earlier this week, the chief military officers from Russia, the United States and Turkey met in the Turkish city of Antalya in an apparent attempt to work out additional steps to prevent future accidental deaths involving each other's troops.

The talks also focused on how to help assuage mutual mistrust between Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces, U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, and Russian-allied Syrian government forces all fighting their way toward the Islamic State group's de facto capital, Raqqa.

Putin briefed top intelligence and military officials from his Security Council after Friday's meeting with Erdogan.

Asked by a reporter whether Moscow and Ankara shared the idea that Syria and Iraq should be preserved within current borders, Putin spoke of "the complex situation" and "contradictions" in the Syria peace talks.

But he insisted that preserving Syria's territorial integrity is a "necessary condition for the full-scale peace settlement in this country." Erdogan echoed the comments, saying that maintaining Syria's current borders was Turkey's "main goal."

The cooperation on Syria between Russia and Turkey marked a sharp turnaround for the two nations, which have backed opposing sides in Syria, with Moscow siding with Assad and Turkey supporting his foes since the start of the Syrian conflict six years ago.

The conflicting interests led to the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish jet at the Syrian border in November 2015, which put the two nations on the verge of a direct military conflict. Moscow responded by barring the sales of package tours to Turkey and halting imports of agricultural products, moves that badly squeezed the Turkish economy.

Erdogan's apologies for downing the plane helped rebuild ties, and Putin offered firm support to the Turkish leader in the wake of a botched coup last July.

Despite the rapprochement, Russia has moved gradually to lift economic restrictions, keeping some in place as an apparent motivator for Turkey. On the eve of the Kremlin talks, the Russian Cabinet allowed the imports of Turkish cauliflower and broccoli and a couple of other agricultural products.

Erdogan, who called the Russian leader his "dear friend," urged Russia to lift all restrictions against Turkish business, restore visa-free travel and increase the number of commercial flights between the two countries.

During the Kremlin talks, he noted that plans for a prospective Russian natural gas pipeline and a nuclear power plant in Turkey also have regained momentum. Both projects were put on hold amid the tensions following the Russian plane's downing.

Speaking at the news conference at the end of talks on Friday, Putin announced that Russia would reverse the number of restrictions for Turkish companies and their employees in Russia -- a move that crippled Turkish businesses when they were imposed at the end of 2015.

The talks concluded with Putin and Erdogan overseeing the signing of a flurry of agreements between Russian and Turkish companies, from setting up a joint investment fund to holding cultural events in both countries.
Seven people died after a helicopter carrying business executives slammed into a television tower and crashed to the ground Friday in Turkey, the mayor of Istanbul announced.

35 GIRLS KILLED IN GUATEMALA SHELTER FIRE MAY HAVE BEEN LOCKED IN

The Sikorsky S-76 aircraft, owned by private firm Eczacbas, crashed soon after takeoff from Istanbuls Ataturk Airport, Sky News reported. It added that four Russians and three Turkish nationals were in the helicopter, including at least one Eczacbas executive.

It hit the tower and crashed by spinning, taxi driver Fikret Karatekin told CNN Turk.

ARREST AFTER GERMANY AX ATTACK AT TRAIN STATION

Investigators were looking into what may have triggered the crash on the outskirts of the city, Gov. Vasip Sahin added. Officials had earlier said five bodies were recovered from the scene of the crash.

Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from the crash site in the Buyukcekmece district, in video shown on Turkish network DHA. Burning debris was scattered across a large stretch of the highway.

Video from a gas stations security camera showed the helicopter plunging behind a hill, followed by a ball of fire rising to the sky that quickly turned into black smoke. In addition, footage from a helicopter showed rows of rescue vehicles at the crash site.

The helicopters rotor blade hit a vehicle, smashing its windscreen and causing its roof to sink in, DHA reported. Its driver escaped unhurt but in shock, according to the news agency.

The tower, which is no longer used for transmitting television signals, but has a restaurant at the top, didnt appear damaged afterwards.

Eczacbas is one of Turkeys top conglomerates that is involved in pharmaceuticals and building products. Bulent Eczacbas, who heads the company, told reporters near the scene that the Russians on board the helicopter were clients who had been invited to visit a ceramics fair. They were being transported to visit the companys factory near the town of Bozuyuk, some 120 miles south of Istanbul.

The Turkish national who was killed headed the companys operations in Russia, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Sky News.
Denise Shipley was 19 years old when her boyfriend Richard Leonard told her about the body he had put in the refrigerator.

The couple was at his home in Sydneys northern beaches and the man in the refrigerator had last been seen alive just a short drive away at Deep Creek reserve, in North Narrabeen.

'STAND YOUR GROUND' DEFENSE REJECTED IN FLORIDA THEATER-SHOOTING CASE

What Shipley was to do, or rather her inaction, would change the world of a girl she didnt know, 14-year-old Diane Barrera.

And as Barrera told Channel 9s "Murder Calls" this week, Shipley had the power to prevent a second body turning up but she did nothing and so another man died.

NAKED RAMPAGE FUELED BY MAGIC MUSHROOMS LANDS BROTHERS IN COURT

Shipley and Leonard, who were madly in love, had met as teenagers at the Mona Vale Christian Life Center and harbored secret crushes on each other.

When they met up again, Shipley had turned 18 and Leonard was a secret devil worshipper who had a fascination with knives and bows and arrows.

THE WEEK IN PICTURES

The couple started spending time together and taking drugs, in particular amphetamines and LSD.



On August 2, 1994, Leonard fatally shot Stephen Dempsey with a high-powered compound bow at Deep Creek Reserve.

Initially, he had put Dempseys body in creek waters by the reserve, but he returned and dismembered it.

He ferried the body parts back to his Warriewood unit on the back of his motorbike and put them in the refrigerator.

When he told Shipley theres a man in the refrigerator, her response was not to say much.

But she didnt disbelieve him.

In a secretly recorded conversation later in jail, Leonard would tell a cellmate about how during the four months he kept Mr Dempseys remains in the freezer he would take them out to play.

You know sometimes when I got, when I got bored ... Id bring him out and roll his head across the floor and bring his arms out and try to stick his arms and play jigsaws, Leonard said. Denise sort of sat there. She was completely freaked out. Jesus, she couldnt cope. She couldnt cope, she just freaked.

It was November 18, 1994, and Shipley and Leonard again bought drugs. In the afternoon, the couple took a taxi to Collaroy Plateau, 4 miles from Leonards flat.

Migrant father of six Ezzedine Bahmad was the taxi driver and when Leonard took to him with his sharpened meat knife, 42-year-old Bahmad valiantly fought for his life.

Leonard stabbed Bahmad 37 times and slashed his throat.

Leonard received two life sentences for his crimes, but Shipley was acquitted of Bahmads murder and pleaded guilty to two charges of accessory to murder.

Bahmads family was outraged by the shortness of her sentence  eight years, and she served only three-and-a-half years.

Bahmads daughter Diane Barrera described how her fathers murder had torn a hole in her life, and her familys lives.

Click for more from news.com.au
Image360 Franchise Development Closes Out January And February With Steady Stream Of Activity

March 10, 2017 // Franchising.com // Columbia, MD - Visual communications franchisor Image360 has kicked off 2017 with a flurry of activity in franchise development. In the months of January and February, the franchisor has finalized over 15 legacy brand conversions and has signed another Image360-Allegra dual brand franchise agreement in Corona, California.

In addition, the franchisor has signed a new center agreement for a location in Kissimmee, Florida. With momentum running high, the company continues to move toward record growth with the hosting of three Discovery Days in the last two months for new center candidates looking for locations in Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina.

Our Development Team has been working diligently to continue to grow our Image360 network, remarked Vice President of Franchise Development Mike Cline. We are seeing a significant number of interested candidates in the Image360 brand.

In addition to new candidate interest, legacy brand conversions have hit an all-time high for the graphics brand. Image360 will be completing brand conversions over the next several months in Colorado, Texas, North Carolina, Nevada, Florida, Tennessee, Iowa, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Nebraska and South Carolina.

Drawing from more than 25 years of leadership and innovation in the industry, Image360 is one of the premier business-to-business (B2B) franchises, serving the multibillion-dollar market for graphic communication services. Image360 franchise members offer professional visual communication solutions to national, regional and local businesses and organizations, including environmental graphics, mobile graphics, wayfinding solutions and promotional displays. For more information, call (877) 728-7446 or visit www.image360.com.

About Image360

Image360 is part of Alliance Franchise Brands LLC, a world leader in marketing and visual communications, linking nearly 650 locations in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom with combined annual sales approaching $380 million. The companys Sign & Graphics Division, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, comprises the Image360, Signs By Tomorrow and Signs Now brands of sign and visual communications providers. The Marketing & Print Division, headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan, comprises the Allegra, American Speedy Printing, Insty-Prints, Speedy Printing and Zippy Print brands of marketing, printing, mailing and Web services providers. For more information about Alliance Franchise Brands, please call (800) 726-9050 or visit www.alliancefranchisebrands.com.

Contact:

Sarah Malpeli

Image360

E: sarahm@alliancefranchisebrands.com

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Petland Owners Give 7-year-old New Best Friend

Orlando Child Fighting Rare Life-threatening Brain Tumor

March 07, 2017 // Franchising.com // Orlando, FL  In a few short weeks, the Vasquez familys life has turned upside down. In February, Midy and Ricardos 7-year-old son, Alan, was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). DIPG is a rare brain tumor that is highly aggressive and very difficult to treat.

When Petland Orlando East co-owner Ben Hoofnagle heard through the grapevine that Alan really wanted a puppy, Ben reached out and invited the family to his store.

On March 1st, the Vasquez family visited the Petland store in Waterford Lakes.

We showed him a Yorkie-Poo that has the sweetest disposition and the two of them bonded instantly, said Hoofnagle.

Petland also set Alan and his new best friend Junior with supplies, as well as training. The stores consulting veterinarian, Dr. Mole, is providing a years worth of free veterinary care.

Thank you Petland Waterford for making today one of Alan's happiest days, said Ricardo.

The family continues to search for answers and alternative treatments and is grateful for the support they have found in family, friends and co-workers.

Some of my coworkers have donated part of their vacation time and personal time so that I can stay at home with Alan. I am so thankful I work with such caring people, Midy said. They have also donated, raised and are still raising money to help with his treatment as we may seek other options outside of the U. S. Were not going to settle for 0% survival rate.

Alan was diagnosed February 17 at Nemours Childrens Hospital and has since been getting checkups at the Arnold Palmer Hospital. His aunt has set up a GoFundMe Account at https://www.gofundme.com/alans-dipg-medical-journey.

About Petland, Inc.

Petland, Inc. is a franchise operation with quality, full service retail pet centers across the United States, Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil and El Salvador. For more than 49 years, Petland Pet Counselors have been dedicated to matching the right pet with the right person and meeting the needs of both. To its customers who already have pets, Petland is dedicated to enhancing their knowledge and enjoyment of the human-animal bond. Petland was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in south central Ohio. For more information on Petland, visit www.petland.com.

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WASHINGTON - Army officer George S. Patton Jr. was pinned down by German machine gun fire. His tanks were scattered, and many of his men had been hit. Armed only with his revolver, he was afraid to go forward, but knew he couldn't go back.

Trembling, and fighting the urge to run, he looked up and seemed to see his warrior ancestors watching from the clouds. Suddenly calm, he realized he was about to give his life, like his Patton kin in the Civil War.

He rose, made for the enemy lines and was felled by a machine gun bullet.

It was Sept. 26, 1918. And the future World War II hero was then a 32-year-old lieutenant colonel, his fame and notoriety years ahead. Yet it was that fall, near the end of World War I, in northeastern France, that scholars say the combat legend of George Patton was born.

Next month, the Library of Congress will open a major exhibit on World War I that touches on the role the war played in the life of Patton, who is best known as a brilliant but controversial general in the Second World War.

"It is surprising," said Sahr Conway-Lanz, a manuscript historian at the library. "Most people think of George Patton as a figure of World War II and don't remember that (he) also fought in World War I."

"This is where he gets his first experience . . . commanding tanks, which is what he's known for in World War II," he said.

It was during World War I that Patton became the first U.S. soldier assigned to the new tank corps, which he helped create. He built the Army's first tank school from scratch. He helped come up with the tank corps' original triangular, tricolor shoulder patch.

And it was during World War I that he was wounded in what remains the biggest battle in U.S. military history - the Meuse-Argonne offensive, which claimed the lives of 26,000 U.S. soldiers.

It may have been the only time that "Old Blood and Guts," as he came to be known, shed blood on a battlefield. The bullet struck him in the upper left thigh and came out through his buttocks, just missing a crucial nerve and artery.

What was he trying to accomplish by charging the machine guns, biographer Martin Blumenson wondered. "Was he inviting the glory of death . . . on the field of battle? Was he fulfilling his destiny?"

Fellow biographer Carlo D'Este said Patton was defining himself in the "Great War."

"I think it was the basis for what he did later," he said in a telephone interview. "I've always thought, personally, that his accomplishments in World War I were more significant than almost what he did in World War II."

"The legend of . . . Patton the warrior was born" in 1918, D'Este wrote.

The First World War was also where Patton showed some of the grim tendencies that would stain his image in World War II. During the latter war, he was condemned for striking and cursing soldiers suffering from battle fatigue.

Twenty-five years earlier, Patton bragged that he had struck a soldier over the head with a shovel because the man "would not work" during a trench-digging operation under fire.

He told his wife he thought the blow might have killed the man.

A few days earlier, he wrote his father, he had spotted a soldier malingering in a shell hole and went to "cuss him out," according to D'Este's biography. When he reached the man, he discovered that the soldier had a bullet wound in his head and was dead.

The library's exhibit, entitled "Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I," opens April 4, two days before the 100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into the war.

Planned for a gallery in the library's Jefferson Building, across the street from the U.S. Capitol, it will feature hundreds of rotating items - letters, music, film, posters, photographs and scrapbooks.

Artifacts related to, among others, Army Gen. John J. Pershing, African American soldier and future civil rights lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston, and Red Cross volunteer Dorothy Kitchen O'Neill, who survived the influenza pandemic, will be included.

Two Patton items, from 100 boxes of his papers at the library, will be on exhibit: his pocket diary and a bleak poem called "Peace - November 11, 1918," which he wrote lamenting the end of the war that day:

---

"We can but hope that e're we drown

'Neath treacle floods of grace

The tuneless horns of mighty Mars

Once more shall rouse the Race

When such times come, Oh! God of War

Grant that we pass midst strife

Knowing once more the whitehot joy

Of taking human life."

---

A few decades later he would get his wish.

Patton is perhaps best known for his World War II feat of speeding his Third Army to relieve besieged Americans around the town of Bastogne, in Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge.

D'Este called it his "finest hour." Blumenson called it the "sublime moment of his career."

Patton wrote that the German attack that produced "the bulge" in the allied lines in 1944 "reminds me of very much of . . . (a German offensive) in 1918 and I think will have the same results." He was correct. The enemy was defeated.

Patton was profane, courageous, narcissistic and anti-Semitic, according to historians. He was disciplined, driven and thoughtful, and wrote voluminously.

But his achievements were marred, and his career ended, by lapses away from the battlefield, such as the slapping incidents, his rash public statements and his contempt for the war's displaced Jews, whom he called "sub human" and "lower than animals."

He believed in destiny, primarily his own, and reincarnation - claiming that, in past lives, he had been a warrior with the Romans, the Vikings and Napoleon, among others.

He believed he was watched over by his paternal grandfather and a great-uncle who were killed fighting for the Confederacy, according to D'Este's biography. Although he was born in California, he had deep family roots in Virginia.

Patton also played polo, fenced and wrote a book of poetry, much of it about war.

"The more one sees of war, the better it is," he wrote to a family friend after he arrived in Europe in 1917. "Of course there are a few deaths but . . . the party is worth the price of admission."

On Dec. 9, 1945, seven months after World War II ended in Europe, Patton suffered a broken neck in a car accident in Germany while headed out pheasant hunting.

He was paralyzed from the neck down and succumbed twelve days later, at the age of 60. After a lifetime of study and glorification of war, and numerous close calls in combat, he remarked of his fatal injury: "This is a hell of a way to die."

The day after his death, The Washington Post noted: "The curtain has now rung down on a man who was made for no other purpose than for war."
A Stafford County jury late Thursday recommended a 127-year prison sentence for a county man convicted of 45 child pornography-related charges.

Jason Charles Sulser, 40, of Stafford got the verdict at the end of a two-day jury trial in Stafford Circuit Court.

According to the evidence presented by prosecutor Ryan Frank, an investigation began in April after Sulsers roommate reported finding sexually explicit images of young girls on Sulsers computer.

Blake OBrien said he passed through Sulsers living area at the home on Wakefield Avenue in southern Stafford on April 13 on his way to do laundry. He said he bumped the mouse of the computer and the images appeared.

Detective J.R. Duggins obtained a search warrant and recovered numerous images from the computer. One of the images found on the computer was also found on Sulsers personal cellphone, Frank said.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Price Koch called OBriens testimony incredible. He said the evidence showed there were a number of people who had access to that computer and the phone and said any of them could have been responsible for the child pornography.

Koch also suggested that Sulsers estranged wife and OBrien could have conspired to plant the evidence that resulted in Sulsers arrest. He said she was certainly motivated to see Sulser go to prison and that OBrien may have been a pawn in a scheme.

The commonwealth has got to make it make sense and they havent, Koch said. Theyre just sewing together a story.

Frank countered that it was much more than a coincidence that the same image ended up on Sulsers phone and computer. He said that the defense witnesses were not credible and Sulser was simply trying to do anything he can to avoid responsibility.

Much of the two-day trial was taken up by technical testimony about such things as how files are downloaded and shared. Judge Victoria Willis on Wednesday sent home a juror who kept falling asleep and replaced her with an alternate juror.

The minimum amount of time the jury could have recommended Thursday was 55 years. Frank said he made several offers to Sulser that would have resulted in far less time if he accepted responsibility, but he decided to take his chances with a jury.

Prior to his arrest, Sulser became known in the community for his support of the Confederate flag and Southern heritage. He helped organize a spirited rally at Stafford Courthouse in 2015.

Sulser will be formally sentenced on May 19.
A Woodbridge man picked up a felony charge this week following a bizarre incident in which he is accused of giving police a false name before leading them on a foot chase in southern Stafford County that included running through someones home, authorities said.

Sheriffs spokeswoman M.C. Morris Moncure said Mark Seymour, a sheriffs office volunteer, was at Thomas Jefferson Place about 12:40 p.m. Tuesday when he noticed a white Volkswagen with expired state tags and a flat tire. Three men approached Seymour and asked what he would be doing about the vehicle, and one of them said he was the owner.

Deputy W.C. Betush responded and requested the owners identification. The man said he didnt have his ID, but gave Betush a name, date of birth and Social Security number, Moncure said.

After learning that the information provided was bogus, Betush informed the man he would be detained until his true identity was determined. As he was being handcuffed, the man broke away from Betush and took off running.

Betush pursued the fleeing suspect, but lost sight of him as he ran through the woods between Thomas Jefferson Place and James Madison Drive, Moncure said. Several other deputies had responded to assist Betush by this point.

Betush later spotted the suspect sitting on a lawn chair behind a privacy fence. When the suspect saw the deputy, he ran again and jumped the fence.

He entered the basement of a townhouse, Moncure said, and exited through the front door. A resident in the home was startled by the intruder and screamed at him to get out.

He was taken into custody a short time later in the 1200 block of Thomas Jefferson Place, near where the incident began.

Antonio Ronald Scott, 31, was charged with a felony offense of breaking and entering. He was also charged with obstruction of justice, giving false identification to law enforcement and resisting arrest. He was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

Scott was the owner of the car, Moncure said. It was not clear why he give a false name as he was not wanted by police, she said.
Larry Drumgole earned the admiration of his customers at Burlington Coat Factoryso much so that one regular bought him chicken and waffles after noticing his lips looked pale from hunger.

His smile captured me, that customer, Lalita Cream, said.

Valerie Smith laughed as she recalled his typical greeting at the store off State Route 3 in Fredericksburg. The first thing hed say to me: 'Youre here to pick up one of your layaways,'  she said.

Laurie Little noted his infectious smile. Her daughter and Drumgoles son, Malachi, 11, are teammates at J Tiger Martial Arts in Spotsylvania County. That smileI didnt care what kind of day you were having, she said. When he gave you that smile, your pain and woes went away.

One by one, friends and colleagues shared those and other memories with more than 60 people at a candlelight vigil outside Burlington Coat Factory in Fredericksburg late Thursday night.

Drumgole, 44, who lived in Caroline County, was fatally stabbed last Saturday after confronting a man suspected of shoplifting at the Potomac Mills Burlington Coat Factory, where he was a loss prevention associate, Prince William County police said. He recently transferred there after working at the Fredericksburg store for nine years, most recently as a customer service supervisor.

Jamel Carlos Kingsbury, 35, a homeless man with a criminal record, has been charged with murder in the slaying.

Already, a GoFundMe Page has raised more than $10,000 for Drumgole's immediate family.

Derrick Hull said at the vigil that it is tragic for something so violent to happen to someone so good. When I used to work with him, we used to call him Smiley because every time youd see him he would smile, he said.

Cheryl Carbaugh, the manager of the Fredericksburg Burlington, said Drumgole helped everyone in the store with one problem or another. And whenever someones car broke down in the parking lot, he was there, she said.

He was an incredible person, and an incredible husband and an incredible father, Carbaugh said. I praise him for the kind of father he was because, in this world, there arent very many like that.

Drumgoles son, Malachi, wore a stoic expression as Lisa Singh placed her hand on his head and said, Larry lives on inside of Malachi. Drumgoles wife, Lisa, remained in her car, still struggling from the loss.

Singh spoke on behalf of her husband, who manages the Potomac Mills Burlington. "It happened where he works," she said. "So you have to understand and give him some time. But our hearts break for the family. Our pain we feel, we can't imagine what the family feels."

She met Drumgole when her husband managed the Fredericksburg Burlington years ago. He always welcomed her to the store with that smile and a hug, she said, adding that he made sure to ask about her sons.

He loved children, Singh said.

Smith, the Burlington customer known for her layaways, said Drumgole took time to talk with her after a sale. Their conversations inspired her, she said.

"I'm holding two candles. I wish I could hold more because that's just how I feel about Larry," she said.

Little described her husband as a stern military man who does not open up to many people. But he loved talking football with Drumgole, a huge New York Giants fan.

"I didn't realize how much he touched me until this happened," Little said, breaking down into sobs.
MAN, IS our country going to be in good financial shape after this tax season.

After April 15, the United States treasury is going to look like Scrooge McDucks money bin. There will be big coins, little coins and paper money everywhere.

Hundred-dollar bills have already started pouring in and there should be plenty more to come before the federal income tax deadline.

The federal deficit may be erased in one fell swoop.

Where is all this money coming from? Why, from the Hillary Clinton Democrats, of course.

Remember back last fall, when there was all that fuss over Donald Trumps tax returns?

Remember how the Democrats screamed and yelled because the then-Republican presidential nominee reportedly had used legitimate tax loopholes to avoid paying any taxes for a number of years? I think it had something to do with losses from his bankrupt Atlantic City casinos.

Well, as best I can recollect, those Clinton Democrats cried foul and vowed that they would never do such a thing.

Given the Trump criticism, we must assume that those Democrats will be true to their word and pay through the nose this spring. They wont take medical deductions or stock losses or deductions for dependent children or even accept the standard deduction.

These folks are just going to sign their tax forms and say, Take it all! We are not going to exercise our legal rights like President Trump did! We are going to give until it hurts!

At least, thats what the Clinton people appeared to say before the election. I certainly hope they havent changed their minds.

And thats good, because Trump has big plans for that money. Hes going to use some of it to build that big old wall down along the Mexican border and revamp Americas military to where we are as strong as the Roman army was in its day.

Trump desperately needs his wall or some other moral victory because things really havent been going his way since he took office.

The courts smacked down his first immigration travel ban edict and the status of the second one remains unclear.

The Obamacare replacement plan he supports may turn out to be too costly, and he still hasnt been able to produce that new tax plan he promised.

Of course, if the Clinton Democrats dont take their legitimate deductions, there will be no need for a new tax plan. The government will be rolling in money.

Still, Trump would like to get something done because he really hasnt accomplished much of anything during his first two months in office.

Well, thats not true because this week he got Barack Obama madder than a wet hen when he claimed that the former president had his Trump Tower telephones tapped during last falls campaign.

In fact, Trump has irritated a lot of people since he became presidentfrom Hollywood actors to high-powered business executives. Thats what this president is good atmaking people mad.

Maybe thats a good thing, because his attitude has gotten all those Clinton Democrats worked up and now theyre going to send Washington extra tax money just to spite Trump.

Now Trump will have the funds to build that wall. Build that wall! Build that wall!

Sometimes I wonder if this country has not become a reality comedy show for the rest of the world. We have certainly become a wild and crazy nation.

And we get crazier as the days go by.
The veterans bent over the youthful faces that smiled out of the sepia-toned photograph.

Taken in 1954 at Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania, the photo shows the 90 members of the Fredericksburg-based Tank Company, 176th Infantry, arranged in six rows in their khaki service uniforms.

Sixty-three years later, five members of the company gathered recently at the MasonRuhren Readiness Center on Jefferson Davis Highway to put names to the faces of their one-time comrades.

Thats Kidderhe could call cadence better than anyone, said Charles Bandy, who turned 88 this year. Youd walk for miles with him without realizing it.

Theres Leslie Allen, I called him Animal Head,  said George Curtis, 87. And thats MyersI dont know what his first name was, we called him Mutt. 

Its funny that I can remember these guys, but not what happened to me 20 minutes ago, Bandy said.

David James, president of the nonprofit Fredericksburg National Guard Association, who retired from the Guard five years ago as a lieutenant colonel, had blown up the photograph and numbered each of the faces.

I guess thats me, said Bandy, gazing at his fresh-faced 25-year-old self, No. 63 in the photograph.

The original photograph is already hanging in the hallway of the armory, part of a history display James has been working on since his retirement.

With the help of his wife and local frame shops, he has collected and framed more than 100 articles about the units 12 deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.

Then I started getting interested in going back further in time and researching our history, James said. I went to the local library, the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center, the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center, the Virginia Army National Guard State Headquarters. I scanned The Free LanceStar clip files. Anywhere I thought I could find some bit of our history, I looked and Im still looking.

Hed like to be able to identify all the soldiers in the Fort Indiantown Gap photo.

I only knew about two soldiers in the group, James said. I took the picture to the only person I knew who was still living, Lin Bandy, who used to be my neighbor.

It turns out that Bandy meets up with three fellow veterans of the unit almost every day for coffee at the McDonalds on Chatham Heights Road.

Bandy, Curtis, Allen Coates and Fred Davies all have fond memories of their time with the unit, which was a tank company at the time and is now known as 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion.

What do all boys like about the military? asked Davies, 85, who served for seven years. I loved them tanks.

Coates, 86, said he was talked into joining the unit by a friend who sold life insurance, then ended up staying for 11 years.

I just liked the guys, he said. It was hard work, but a lot of fun.

Bandy recalled driving a 20-ton crane to clean up storm damage at the gubernatorial cottage in Camp Pendleton near Virginia Beach after Hurricane Donna struck the area in 1960.

We had a time of it, he said. I enjoyed it all, I really did.

Curtis, whose buddies call him Sir Francis and Old Guardsman, was able to identify 31 of the 90 faces on his own.

When you live with these guys for two weeks, you get to know them, he said. Some memories just stick.

Together, the veterans identified 48 of the soldiers.

James would love to hear from any reader who can help identify the soldiers in the picture. He can be reached by email at fredericksburgguard@hotmail.com.
For the first time, King Georges Board of Supervisors and Economic Development Authority are partnering to provide a $20,000 incentive to bring a new business to the county.

The supervisors on Tuesday approved the purchase of 5.28 acres in the King George Industrial Park by a business currently based in the Bowman Center in Spotsylvania County.

Finish Line Environmental is paying $175,000 for the King George land and will invest up to $1.4 million in a new building with about 15,000 square feet, said Linwood Thomas, the countys economic development director.

It will be the first new construction in seven years in the industrial park, which is across from the King George Landfill.

It wont be the biggest building, but I think it will be one of the prettiest, Thomas said. Any time you get a chance to add an environmental firm to the park, its a good story.

Finish Line is certified by SWaM, a state program that helps Small, Women-owned and Minority-owned businesses. The company focuses on stream restoration, wetland mitigation, stormwater pond cleanup and other measures that address water quality, according to its website. Local projects include stream restoration and bio filters at the University of Mary Washington and a restoration project at Celebrate Virginia South.

The business was established in 1997 by the late Nelson Cole. The current owner and president, Kristen Pruitt, bought the company in 2015 from Coles estate. Revenue was $1.8 million in 2015, according to the website Manta, and were already exceeding that and growing rapidly, Pruitt said.

The company will bring eight to 13 jobs with it and between $2 million and $3 million in personal property, machinery and tools, contributing increased tax revenues to the county, according to the announcement from King George.

Pruitt said her company rented space in the Bowman Center with a plan to build company headquarters elsewhere. She said she looked at a lot of different localities before settling on King George.

King George has been fantastic to work with, she said. Theyre looking for new business. They want you there.

The Board of Supervisors and the EDA each contributed $10,000 in incentives. Finish Line can use the money to extend water, sewer and fiber opticswhich are available elsewhere in the park, but not on this particular lotor invest the money in job training.

The company will get half the money when it breaks ground on the building and the remainder when it gets an occupancy permit, Thomas said.

Finish Line hopes to move into its new headquarters by the end of the year, Pruitt said.

The announcement of the new business came a day after a four-hour budget work session in which several residents asked the Board of Supervisors not to raise taxes again. The real-estate tax rate climbed by 7 cents last spring, to 68 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Supervisors plan a final work session on the budget at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Co. 1 headquarters of the Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services on State Route 3.

Resident Jeff Beuche said to combat more increases in taxes, we need businesses, so please bring some businesses to this county.

Beuche also said Thomas, as the economic development director, is the most important person in this county. A few board members laughed at the timing of the remark because Thomas announced his resignation earlier in the week. Hes leaving King George to become the economic development director in Hanover County and will start his new post April 1.

Thomas has been part of the Fredericksburg-area business community for almost 10 years and worked as director of marketing and global business development for the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance before he took over the King George position in September 2013.

He said hes proud of the strides made during his King George tenure and hopes the incentive package offered by the board and EDA will be the first of many. Licenses for small businesses have grown by an average of 21 percent in the last two years, and he said those improvements, and an ongoing partnership between county agencies, should lay the groundwork for continued success.
Mercy Street, the Civil War drama series filmed in Richmond and Petersburg, hit a dead end on PBS as the public broadcaster canceled the series Thursday, announcing it will not bring the show back for a third season.

In a statement, PBS attributed the cancellation to the complicated nature of aligning production timelines and funding commitments.

Mercy Street executive producer Lisa Wolfinger alluded to production timeline issues in a January Richmond Times-Dispatch story about the shows inability to film a prospective third season in the same May-June period during which the first two seasons were produced due to a lack of funding. Scripts for the first two seasons were prepared the fall before spring production commenced; as of this January nothing had been written for season three.

It didnt look like funding was going to come together several months ago, Wolfinger said Wednesday night. PBS loved the show. Certainly Virginia loved the show and the fact we were shooting there and our cast and crew loved it so we were all ready to do another season or multiple seasons. It was just a combination of things: Funding didnt come through, we couldnt find a corporate sponsor, we lost some of the foundation money we had for seasons one and two and they only sold it to the UK overseas.

Wolfinger said ideally Mercy Street would have run six seasons to the end of the Civil War.

We had a whole scheme for season four where wed send some of our cast to Gettysburg in the aftermath of the battle, Wolfinger said. And we always hoped to expand from six episodes a season to eight or 10. One of the biggest challenges we had was that we have a lot of characters and its really hard to do them all justice in six episodes.

The six-episode second season of Mercy Street ended Sunday and, while ratings were healthy, it appeared viewership would slip below season ones draw, which benefited from a Downton Abbey lead-in. The first season of Mercy Street reached 14 million viewers over six episodes; through the first three episodes of season two Mercy Street drew 6.5 million viewers. (Ratings for the complete second season wont be available for a few weeks.)

Although PBS retains the rights to Mercy Street, a PBS representative said executives are willing to discuss opportunities that might arise should another outlet express interest in continuing the series. Wolfinger brought Mercy Street to PBS and contractually retains the right to put a plan before PBS for consideration should another network want to pick up Mercy Street.

Shopping a canceled series to other outlets happens often in the current media environment. Sometimes its successful (Nashville moved from ABC to CMT) and other times its not (producers of Amazons Good Girls Revolt failed to land a new home). Many cable networks and streaming services program historical fiction, including History, Netflix and Amazon (Amazon already has streaming rights to the existing seasons of Mercy Street).

A #SaveMercyStreet hashtag is likely to spring up on social media sites, with Wolfinger noting, We have a vocal fan base.

Virginia Film Office director Andy Edmunds expressed gratitude for what Mercy Street has meant for film and TV production in the commonwealth.

Obviously we have enjoyed with great enthusiasm our partnership with PBS and Scott Free and the entire production team on Mercy Street, and what the show has meant not only for the film industry but the tourism opportunity for the commonwealth has been nothing less than phenomenal, Edmunds said. One of the great stories for Petersburg is all the film production weve been able to bring to that city. Its a testament to the authenticity of the city of Petersburg and we look forward to working there more.

Edmunds said AMCs Turn, in production locally on its final season, was expected to film in Petersburg Thursday and Friday (March 9 and 10). He noted in its upcoming final season, commercials for Virginia tourism will air during episodes of Turn. On-screen messages about Virginia tourism also appeared at the beginning and end of Mercy Street episodes.

Thats unique to Virginia and connected to our (film tax credit) incentive program, Edmunds said. No (other state) does that.
Two suspected leaders of a gun ring involving 217 guns bought in Virginia to be sold in New York City had previously been convicted of armed violent crimes in Virginia.

Damian King, 27, of Bristow and Levar Shelborne, 29, of Richmond allegedly bought guns in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas and moved them north on Interstate 95, through the Iron Pipeline, to sell on the streets of New Yorks Brooklyn borough, according to New York authorities. They were charged, along with 22 others mostly from Richmond, in a 627-count indictment announced Wednesday. It was the biggest gun bust in Brooklyns history.

King, who also goes by the nickname Havoc, was convicted in Henrico County of malicious wounding and gang participation in 2006. He served seven years in prison.

In an incident from December 2015, he was charged with armed burglary, malicious wounding, use of a firearm and shooting into an occupied dwelling. Hes currently set to go to trial in April, but the process has been delayed several times  presumably because of the pending charges in New York.

Shelborne, also known as Wavy Boy, was convicted in 2007 of wounding 16-year-old Timothy Johnson, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond. Shelborne pleaded guilty to aggravated malicious wounding, use of a firearm and shooting from a vehicle and served eight years in prison.

In September, Shelborne was arrested in Hanover County after he allegedly used two young people as straw purchasers of an AR-15 assault-style rifle from Green Top Sporting Goods  the only gun store mentioned by name in the New York indictment and one of the top sellers of firearms in Virginia.

According to U.S. District Court records in Richmond, agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives watched the alleged straw purchasers leave the store and drive off in a vehicle that followed a vehicle driven by Shelborne. Shelborne stopped at a nearby Goodwill Industries store on U.S. Route 1 where he took the rifle from the back seat of the vehicle occupied by the purchasers.

He was charged in Hanover with being a violent felon in possession of a weapon. A plea is expected in April, according to online court records.

Dwayne Lamont Rawlings, 30, of Hampton, who was cited in the indictment as a supplier, pleaded guilty in 2010 to attempted malicious wounding in Hampton.

Walter Alston, 29; Malyk Hawthorne, 21; Michael Vordjorbe, 21; Antoine Smyre, 28; and Donald Houston, 27, all of Richmond, are listed as fugitives, according to online court records. Hawthorne, identified as a co-conspirator in the gun ring, currently has charges pending in Henrico General District Court. The charges are strangulation, which is a felony, and assault, destruction of property and petit larceny, all misdemeanors.

The defendants were allegedly associated with the Bloods gang, the district attorneys office said. One group worked out of Richmond and Henrico, the other out of Hampton and Newport News before collecting enough guns to make a trip by car or bus to New York for resale.

Many of the purchases were made legally in Virginia, but laws were broken when straw purchases were made on behalf of others or the guns crossed into New York for resale. It is unclear whether Virginia officials also are investigating any of the purchases made here.

New York state has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, and New York Citys are even tougher, making it a lucrative market for those in Southern states, where the laws on gun purchases are more lenient. One official said 90 percent of guns used in crimes in New York City come from out of state, and historically Virginia has been the largest supplier of guns recovered there, according to data from the ATF.

Several of those charged were overheard on wiretaps mocking Virginias gun laws, prompting former and current lawmakers to weigh in, many of them calling for the reinstatement of a repealed rule that limited handgun purchases to one per month.

Its ridiculous that we now have gun runners on tape bragging about how lax Virginias laws are and how easy it is for them to get all the guns they want, said Attorney General Mark R. Herring. We shouldnt be so naive to think these guns are just exported to other states. I have no doubt that schemes like this put guns on the streets here in Virginia that can easily find their way into the hands of criminals and threaten the safety of our communities and police officers. Its way past time for the General Assembly to take the common-sense measures that Virginians widely support to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals, like one handgun a month and universal background checks.

In 1993, when the one-handgun-a-month bill was enacted, L. Douglas Wilder was governor and gun-running was a major problem along the East Coast. Then-Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a bill repealing the law in 2012.

Asked Thursday about the New York cases and the law he helped pass in 1993, Wilder said: This didnt just get to be a problem today, or when the ATF made its raid, or this week or last week.

Weve had 13 murders in Richmond this year, and that doesnt even include March, Wilder said. The question is  this was a problem; it needed to be fixed; it was fixed  is there any effort being made to correct it (now)?

If you want to take the one-gun-a-month bill and bury it forever, what do you have in its place, and who is proposing anything in its place and if not, why not? he asked. This is not a Richmond problem or a Virginia problem. This is a national problem.

In a social media post, Wilder said the law did not restrict ownership, nor did it interfere with hunting, and most importantly, it did not violate the constitutional right to bear arms, which he said he supports.

Richard Cullen, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and a Republican who co-chaired the commission that led to the abolition of parole in Virginia, also supported the one-gun-a-month law. Cullen, now chairman of McGuireWoods LLP, one of the nations largest law firms, was in New York on Wednesday when the announcement of the gun bust was made by the Brooklyn district attorney; his presence there was a coincidence.

The premise behind the legislation was simple economics. If the gun traffickers could only get their hands on one gun, there is no way they can make a profit. When they have an unlimited supply, their profits soar, Cullen said Thursday.

He said it was only intended as one tool to help curb violent crime that included the abolition of parole and the targeting of repeat violent offenders for longer prison terms.

Im realistic enough to know the climate is different now. When we did this back in 1992, it was a different political climate, so I dont expect that the legislature any time soon would pass a limitation on the number of firearms that can be purchased, Cullen said.

17 from Richmond area indicted as NYC police bust Virginia gun ring; 217 weapons purchased in Virginia recovered New York law enforcement officials have thwarted a gun-trafficking ring, mainly operating out of Richmond and Hampton Roads, and recovered 217 firearms bought in Virginia, authorities announced Wednesday.
ACCESSIBILITY to public information has long been a matter of legislative give and take, and during the recent session of the General Assembly, thats exactly what Virginians got.

While there can be partisan disagreement about how much access to its governments work the public needs or deserves, party does not apply when a constituent believes access to information is being arbitrarily denied.

There were a variety of bills this year that dealt with providing or restricting information, but a key issue involves the legislature itself, in particular some committees of the House of Delegates.

In the majority of cases when bills are killed, House subcommittees dont record their votes, opting instead for a voice vote, which means delegates are able to vote in virtual anonymity. For elected officials who believe their constituents might be divided on a given issue, the voice vote is the ideal way to avoid being tagged with voting one way or the other.

According to the General Assemblys Legislative Information Service, a total of 1,086 bills were filed by House members, of which 571 failed. Of those, the fate of 390about two-thirdswas determined by unrecorded voice votes. Theres no way of knowing how your delegate voted.

Some of the legislation that met its demise that way included:

Three bills to increase the minimum wage in Virginia that died in the House Labor and Commerce Committee.

A bill that would have prohibited elected officials from putting campaign funds to personal use.

And, ironically, a bill that would have required all legislation to be given a recorded vote.

Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, calls the need for a recorded vote that will determine a bills fate crucial because it provides voters with insights they would not otherwise have. Also, various organizations give lawmakers a grade on their voting patterns on particular issues. Unrecorded votes mean those grades could be based on incomplete voting data.

The lack of transparency that voice voting perpetuates is a bipartisan pursuit. Just two members of any committee can prevent a voice vote by calling for a recorded one. Even when it might be politically advantageous to force a recorded vote where a case of hypocrisy might emerge, the lawmaker brotherhood seems to trump all.

While some lawmakers fondness for voice votes makes them de facto gatekeepers of their own voting history, they serve in the same role with mixed results when it comes to legislation governing the freedom of information.

To its credit, the state Senate killed a bill approved by the House that would have granted the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) industry an exemption from Freedom of Information Act requests seeking the chemical recipe of solutions that are injected into the ground as part of the fracking process.

Another bill would have made it a crime to release the name of a police officer involved in a shooting incident, which is information worthy of public scrutiny. The House legislations patron withdrew the measure.

The assembly also passed a bill to ensure that family members will have access to information related to the unattended death of a relative. Unattended deaths are often assumed to be suicides. Theres no good reason for withholding the information, which only leaves loved ones in limbo as they face the grieving and healing process.

On the other hand are bills that provide FOIA exemptions, such as the legislation approved by both chambers that would block the sharing of investigative findings in child abuse, neglect and assault cases. Since the release of information in some of these cases might prevent future offenses, they may be best left for a court to review on a case-by-case basis. That bill awaits the governors signature.

Its refreshing, of course, when lawmakers vote to ensure certain information remains accessible and let FOIA do its job. But its troubling when FOIA exemptions are granted that potentially weaken the point of the law.

When it comes to a constituencys discomfort about the direction of its government, transparency is always the go-to antidote.
Congress should repeal its health care coverage, too

To the Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives: Repeal the Affordable Care Act when you are ready to repeal your own health-care coverage.

You can be sure that will never happen.

Why dont we hear from our churches against the repeal? Are they pandering to the Republicans?

Ronald Witkowski

Spotsylvania
New prescription law is a bitter disappointment

As the mother of two daughters who died from opioid abuse, I have read every word that hits the newspaper with hope that the people who write huge prescriptions for these drugs will be reined in and have limits put on what they can hand out.

The Free LanceStar reported that our governor signed four new laws concerning addictive painkillers, one of which makes changes to opioid prescriptions policies [McAuliffe signs opioid bills into law, Feb. 24]. I felt good when I read that.

Then, a few days later, another story explained what the prescription change would be [Virginia lawmakers wrap up session Feb. 26]. If my daughter, Rebecca, was alive, instead of her doctor handing her a paper prescription for 90 dilaudids, by 2020, he would have to do it electronically. What happened to that big change?

I sincerely hope that the governor and all those so-called lawmakers dont have sons and daughters who will end up on pain pills by the dozen. It seems lawmakers are more concerned about the drug makers, doctors and drug pushers than they are the heartbroken families.

I know the drug companies donate millions to politicians. I hope they can look in the mirror at themselves and dont have to get addicted to opioids to sleep at night.

Carol C. Nolan

Spotsylvania
Multiple viruses can add up to worse outcomes for transplant patients, study finds

Patients who undergo bone marrow transplants for blood cancer or related diseases take a serious blow to their immune systems, both from their underlying disease and from the harsh treatments required for a donor's immune cells to take hold. As a result, many transplant patients can have reactivation of what are known as latent infections, or infections that lie dormant in people with functioning immune systems.

For example, many of us are infected with cytomegalovirus, or CMV, but suffer no ill effects. But reactivation of this common virus was for many years one of the most deadly complications of bone marrow transplantation  until effective treatments and preventions for the infection came on the scene.

Other than CMV, many viral infections in transplant patients are poorly understood, said Dr. Joshua Hill, a Fred Hutch infectious disease researcher, and the lead author, along with Fred Hutchs Dr. Michael Boeckh, on a study published last month in the journal Blood describing several of these other viral infections in transplant patients.

To understand the burden of other reactivated viral infections in transplant patients, Hill, Boeckh, and colleagues took a look back at approximately 400 patients who received transplants at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Fred Hutch's clinical care partner, between 2007-2014. Because routine testing for CMV has been in place for many years, leftover weekly blood samples from these patients have been stored in the Infectious Disease Sciences biorepository, a rich resource for studies such as this one. Hill and his colleagues collaborated with the University of Washington Virology Laboratory to test these samples for four viruses in addition to CMV: Epstein-Barr virus, or EBV; adenovirus; human herpes virus 6, or HHV-6; and BK polyomavirus, or BKV.

We wanted to know whether reactivation of these other viruses, which are not routinely screened for due to lack of safe and effective treatments, are contributing to worse outcomes for our transplant patients, Hill said.

Not surprisingly, Hill and his colleagues found that many of these lesser-studied viruses are just as common in transplant patients as CMV. Like CMV, HHV-6 and BKV were found in around 60 percent of patients, and the majority of patients had at least two viruses present in their blood within the first 100 days after transplant.

When the researchers accounted for other factors, such as graft-vs.-host disease and poor immune reconstitution, they found that having infections with multiple different viruses was associated with increased overall and non-relapse mortality  and the more different viral infections the patients had or the more total amount of virus they had in their blood, the worse they fared.

Ultimately, the researchers goal is to establish the burden of virus exposure and its impact in this patient population to inform the design of clinical trials utilizing novel, broad-spectrum antiviral strategies such as small molecules, vaccines, and virus-specific immunotherapy, Hill said. Several such therapies are currently in development.

Rachel Tompa / Fred Hutch News Service
"Maybe he's right, and Black creatives must have the opportunities to tell these Black stories, regardless of how painful they are," writes Preach Jacobs on the upcoming "Till" movie. Read moreFight the Power: Upcoming 'Till' movie a necessary pain
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Story Highlights 23% say U.S. energy situation is very serious, lowest since 2002

Down from 28% last year and 45% in 2011

27% worry "a great deal" about energy; ties all-time low

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' belief that the U.S. energy situation is very serious has dropped to within one point of its all-time low. Currently, 23% say the nation's energy situation is "very serious," down from 28% last year. With the exception of one 22% reading in 2002, this is the lowest percentage since Gallup began asking the question in 1977.

The latest update of Americans' perceptions of the energy situation is part of Gallup's annual Environment survey, this year conducted March 1-5, as the Trump administration has begun rolling back Obama-era regulations on the energy sector and reviving the construction of disputed oil and gas pipelines in the Midwest.

Gallup first asked Americans to rate the nation's energy situation in the late 1970s, then again in the early 1990s and on a yearly basis since 2001. The question has been asked 34 times in all, with an average 37% rating the energy situation in the U.S. as very serious over that period.

In this year's survey, 23% say the energy situation is "very serious," 51% say "fairly serious" and 23% "not at all serious." The combined 74% who rate the situation as very or fairly serious is one percentage point shy of the lowest Gallup has measured.

Americans' "very serious" ratings have ranged from 22% to 47% over the years, with the exception of a 58% reading in May 2001, recorded just after electricity shortages in California caused that state to enact "rolling blackouts." The record-low 22% reading in March 2002 reflected a diminished concern about problems other than terrorism after 9/11.

The public's current low level of concern about energy most likely reflects the low price of gas, which has averaged below $3 per gallon in the U.S. since November 2014. It may also reflect public awareness of the United States' increasing ability to produce its own energy supplies -- including the extraction of oil and gas from domestic shale and the use of alternative sources such as wind and solar. Additionally, Americans may be aware that per capita use of energy has been declining in recent years, and that automobiles, homes and appliances are becoming more energy efficient.

Worry About Availability, Affordability of Energy Stays at Record Low

A separate question included each year in the March Environment survey asks Americans how much they personally worry about a series of problems, including "the availability and affordability of energy." This year, 27% of Americans say they worry about energy "a great deal," tied with the readings last year and in 2003 as the lowest in this trend question's 17-year history. Americans were most worried about energy in 2012 and 2006, both years in which 48% said they worried a great deal.

Worry about the availability and affordability of energy is the lowest on the list of 13 problems tested in the March survey. By way of contrast, 57% of Americans in the survey say they worry a great deal about the availability and affordability of healthcare.

I'm going to read a list of problems facing the country. For each one, please tell me if you personally worry about this problem a great deal, a fair amount, only a little or not at all? First, how much do you personally worry about -- [RANDOM ORDER]? A great deal A fair amount Only a little/Not at all % % % The availability and affordability of healthcare 57 25 18 Federal spending and the budget deficit 49 27 23 Hunger and homelessness 47 30 22 Crime and violence 47 29 24 The quality of the environment 47 30 23 The economy 46 34 20 The Social Security system 45 25 30 Drug use 44 22 34 Race relations 42 27 29 The possibility of future terrorist attacks in the U.S. 40 26 33 Illegal immigration 37 22 40 Unemployment 30 31 38 The availability and affordability of energy 27 32 41 Sorted by "A great deal" Gallup, March 1-5, 2017

This year, in addition to the 27% of Americans who worry a great deal about energy, another 32% say they worry a fair amount, 30% only a little and 11% not at all. The combined 41% in the "only a little" and "not at all" categories is the highest in the history of the trend.

Bottom Line

Americans clearly have things on their minds other than the supply and cost of energy. Worry about energy is at a record low, with ratings of the seriousness of the energy situation within one point of a record low. Additionally, almost no one mentions energy or gas prices in Gallup's ongoing monthly update of views of the most important problem facing the nation.

The general lack of worry about energy suggests a low level of public pressure on government officials to adopt new energy policies. However, this could change in the event of a sudden jump in oil prices or another situation disrupting the flow of oil and other sources of energy -- and the low energy prices -- Americans are enjoying today.

These data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Story Highlights Only 36% think he will do a good job of protecting the environment

Public split on whether he will improve nation's energy policy

Americans less optimistic than at start of Obama, Bush presidencies

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A majority of Americans are optimistic that President Donald Trump can do a good job of making the country prosperous, but they are divided on whether he can improve energy policies, and most think he will do a poor job of protecting the environment. On all three issues, Americans are less optimistic about Trump than they were about George W. Bush or Barack Obama in the early days of their presidencies.

Expectations for Trump, Obama and Bush at Start of Their Presidencies Do you think Donald Trump/Barack Obama/George W. Bush will do a good job or a poor job in handling each of the following issues as president? Good job Poor job Fair/mixed % % % Making America prosperous Trump (2017) 54 41 4 Obama (2009) 61 30 3 Bush (2001) 66 23 7 Protecting the nation's environment Trump (2017) 36 57 4 Obama (2009) 79 14 4 Bush (2001) 51 38 5 Improving nation's energy policies Trump (2017) 46 48 2 Obama (2009) 72 21 2 Bush (2001) 58 29 6 All surveys were conducted in March of that year Gallup

Trump has been less popular in general than either Bush or Obama at the start of their terms in office. His favorability ratings have been lower, as have his job approval ratings. Trump's 45% job rating in January was the lowest initial job reading for any president in Gallup polling dating back to 1953.

High expectations for Bush and Obama were somewhat dampened by the end of their terms. For both presidents, more Americans were likely to expect them to do a good job on the environment, energy or prosperity as they took office than wound up thinking they had done so by the end of their presidencies.

High Expectations Did Not Pan Out for Obama, Bush Percentage who expected Obama/Bush to do a good job in first year of their presidencies; percentage who said they did a good job in last year of their presidencies First year Final year Difference % % pct. pts. Making America prosperous Bush 66 27 39 Obama 61 45 16 Protecting the nation's environment Bush 51 31 20 Obama 79 54 25 Improving nation's energy policies Bush 58 23 35 Obama 72 48 24 All surveys conducted in March of that year Gallup

Trump Calls for Major Shifts in Environmental, Energy, Economic Policies

Trump has consistently found his strongest public support on economic issues. Gallup polling the week after he won the election in November found Americans most optimistic that Trump would be able to "reduce unemployment and create new jobs" (62%) and "improve the economy" (60%). In the same poll, only 35% said Trump would be able to "improve the quality of the environment" -- tied for the smallest percentage for any of the 17 items listed.

On the often-linked issues of the environment and energy, Trump has proposed major rollbacks of Obama-era environmental policies as he shifts toward increasing U.S. energy production. He vowed on the campaign trail to cancel U.S. involvement in the historic Paris agreement on climate change signed by 194 nations last year and plans to end regulations put into place by Obama for cutting greenhouse pollution from coal-fired power plants. Trump's proposals come at a time when Americans' concerns about energy are shrinking.

Partisan Differences Larger Now Than at Start of Bush, Obama Presidencies

The gulf between Republicans and Democrats (including those who lean to either party) is larger on each of the three issues than it was for either Bush or Obama during the first months of their first terms. The smallest gap between the parties now is on the environment, largely because relatively few Republicans and leaners (66%) expect Trump to do a good job. In contrast, 89% of Republicans say he will do a good job of making the nation prosperous. Meanwhile, between 11% and 24% of Democrats think Trump will do a good job on any of the issues.

Gap Between Republicans and Democrats Widens Comparing party difference on percentage of Republicans and Democrats (including leaners) saying Trump/Obama/Bush "will do a good job" Republicans + leaners Democrats + leaners % % Making America prosperous Trump (2017) 89 24 Obama (2009) 28 86 Bush (2001) 88 46 Protecting the nation's environment Trump (2017) 66 11 Obama (2009) 64 95 Bush (2001) 71 33 Improving nation's energy policies Trump (2017) 80 18 Obama (2009) 46 93 Bush (2001) 80 40 All surveys conducted in March of that year Gallup

Bottom Line

The lack of any honeymoon for Trump is evident once again in the public's views of how he will handle the three key issues of prosperity, energy and the environment. Although a slight majority of Americans are optimistic about the effect his presidency will have on national prosperity, they are far less optimistic than at the start of the last two presidencies. Furthermore, bucking normal public support for new presidents, less than half of Americans are optimistic Trump will advance the nation's energy or environmental policies.

Trump might see less of a drop from expectations to ratings of actual performance than Obama or Bush did because expectations for him are already so low. But his plans for action on the environment and energy will seemingly require real shifts in public opinion to succeed, given Americans typically view energy problems as less important than protecting the environment.

Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Defendants used counterfeit cards and stolen credit card numbers as part of the scam

Perpetrators also rang up annual tabs of $95,000 at some of Vegas trendiest clubs

Based in Las Vegas, those charged also used stolen funds to gamble in casinos across the US

Employees of high-end Brazilian steakhouses were utilized to hack into computer systems in order to steal customer credit card info

Federal authorities have charged 21 individuals with running a multimillion-dollar money laundering operation from Las Vegas casinos as part of a 47-count indictment.

The individuals are accused of using counterfeit cards and stolen account numbers for cash withdrawals and retail purchases at casinos and luxury stores over a period of more than three years. Prosecutors are seeking $6 million in forfeiture.

The perpetrators also rang up annual tabs of $95,000 at some of Vegas trendiest clubs including Hakkasan and XS nightclubs.

With Las Vegas as the base of operations, the group traveled from casino to casino across the United States, including those in Biloxi, Mississippi, New Orleans, Atlantic City and Michigan.

The indictment lists $2.6 million in cash withdrawals at MGM Resorts International properties alone. Luxury goods, including expensive Rolex watches, were also purchased using the stolen funds.

Authorities also claim items bought via mail order using the compromised credit cards were shipped to addresses in both Las Vegas and San Jose, California, then pawned off for cash.

The crew even used employees of expensive Brazilian steakhouses to assist in hacking of computer systems in order to obtain customer credit card numbers.

Ten of those named in the indictment remain on the run. Each of the defendants is originally from Brazil.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
Readers, we need your help to prove a merry Christmas for victims of domestic violence.
A packed house at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center heard about sustainability and climate change from the tribal perspective at Thursdays Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Fair and Town Hall.

More than 400 people were on hand to hear Samantha Chisholm Hatfield speak on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Hatfield, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, has worked with the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute and the Northwest Climate Science Center.

Native peoples are so connected to the land, said Hatfield, who added that climate change happens more drastically and at a much faster pace on tribal lands.

The land is integral to our identity. There is no separation.

Hatfield showed slides of tribal involvement in civil disobedience at the Dakota Access pipeline project, which has been targeted by protesters for its impact on tribal lands and watersheds.

The Standing Rock struggle shows how our love of place extends beyond our region, Hatfield said. It also shows how integral the land and water are to us. Water is very sacred.

Hatfield also warned about similar issues that might arise in Oregon with the proposed Jordan Cove liquid natural gas export terminal in Coos Bay  and the pipeline that might serve it.

The town hall portion of the event also featured interactive table discussions on the themes of collaboration and knowing your community. Coalition action team leaders also narrated the annual community scrapbook of 2016 accomplishments. The presentation has grown to such an extent that it is now presented in two parts.

The evening opened with the fair, which filled the foyer and adjacent rooms and hallways at the Alumni Center with booths and tables featuring information from the coalition's 12 action teams and partner organizations. Space was at a premium as the large crowd bustled through the booths.

Included for the first time were breakout sessions, one on community solar projects and the second on community land trusts for agriculture.

The fair also offered a kids activity room, local music and "local 6" food from a half-dozen counties: Benton, Linn, Lane, Polk, Lincoln and Marion.
This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department, the Benton County Sheriffs Office and Oregon State Police. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.

Corvallis Police Department

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8

ROUGH DAY: 8:22 p.m., 1820 N.W. Ninth St. A manager at KFC reported that a man had come into the restaurant, took food from the garbage and left. Police arrived and spoke to the man, who reportedly admitted to taking the food and that he was starving. Later, the same man reportedly went into Jimmy Johns to sleep. Earlier in the evening, police responded to a report of the same man refusing to leave Buffalo Wild Wings. Earlier, police responded to Campus Villa Apartments after the same man reportedly jumped in the pool to bathe. The man reportedly told police that he was homeless and had not had a shower in weeks. The man received trespass notices from all four places.

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY: 4:45 p.m., Northwest Division Street and Hobart Avenue. A woman reported that she was walking when an unknown man made sexual remarks to her. The woman reported that the man said "I know where you live" before she ran away and called police. The man was described as white, in his mid-60s, thinly built, with a full white and gray beard, orange beanie, dark green raincoat, jeans and worn white sneakers. Police searched the area but were unable to locate the man.

TUESDAY, MARCH 7

LICENSE PLATE THEFT: 11 p.m., 1730 N.W. Ninth St. A man at Comfort Suites reported that his front and rear license plates had been stolen off his vehicle. The man also reported that he had a view of his car from his room but did not see or hear anything suspicious.

Benton County Sheriff's Office

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8

ASSAULT: 10:54 a.m., 4455 N.E. Highway 20. A deputy responded to the Children's Farm Home for a reported assault. Staff reported that a 17-year-old at the facility had assaulted another person. The 17-year-old was cited with fourth-degree assault, menacing and attempted strangulation.

TUESDAY, MARCH 7

BURGLARY: 4:53 p.m., 7400 block Northwest Hoodview Circle. Deputies responded to a cold burglary. A resident reported that someone broke into the home and stole a small safe, a laptop and keyboard. The items were valued at around $1,800. The suspects reportedly left tire tracks in nearby grass, but no suspects were located.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1

CHAIN SAW THEFT: 9:57 a.m., 500 block Northeast Thousand Oak Drive. A man reported that someone had stolen his chain saws. The man located one on Craigslist and deputies reported later retrieving it and returning it to the man. The second chain saw, a Stihl 391, was still reported missing. The chain saws were valued at around $1,000.
 ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.

 RASPBERRY (razbere) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.

We hereby deliver:

 ROSES to news that the Special Olympics Summer Games are coming to Corvallis this July.

After six years in Newberg, the state organization for athletes with intellectual disabilities is moving its signature event to Oregon State University and other locales around Corvallis. Scheduled for July 8 and 9, the event will bring about 2,000 competitors to Corvallis, along with another 3,000 or so volunteers, family members and fans.

Athletes will get to stay in OSU dorms and will eat at the university's dining halls: "They're going to be in college," said Margie Hunt, the CEO of Special Olympics Oregon, at a Wednesday ceremony.

Hunt said the summer event essentially had outgrown Newberg, and it made perfect sense to move the event to Oregon State University. Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen.

This event adds to what already was shaping up as a banner summer for tourism in the mid-valley: The Aug. 21 total solar eclipse will be another big attraction, and Corvallis is right in the thick of that. It's a good thing you live here, because it's too late to reserve a hotel room.

 ROSES to the Zonta Club of Corvallis, for carrying on with one of the city's loveliest traditions: On Wednesday, International Women's Day, club members fanned out through the area to deliver yellow roses to citizens to honor outstanding community service.

The theme of this year's Rose Day was "Empower and Celebrate Racial and Cultural Diversity," which couldn't have been much more timely. In all, club members handed out 60 roses on Wednesday. Congratulations to all those recipients. And keep up the good work.

 RASPBERRIES to reports that the so-called "jury duty" scam is making an unwelcome return to the mid-valley. This is a variation of a familiar scam: The victim gets a phone call from someone purporting to be a law enforcement official. (Oftentimes, these scammers can hack your caller ID so that it appears the call is coming from a sheriff's office or other agency, so don't be fooled.)

The victim is told that he has failed to show up for jury duty, and officers are on their way to arrest him. But the victim can stop this pending legal action, if he purchases some cash cards.

Of course, it's a scam  but the people running it are skilled and experienced, and even people who know better sometimes fall for it. Don't you be the next victim. Hang up in a hurry. (Remember that these scammers have experience at keeping you on the phone.) Then call your local law enforcement agency.

 ROSES to everyone involved in the Corvallis School District production of "Cats," which wraps up what is by all accounts a very successful run with four performances this weekend at the Corvallis High School theater.

Regardless of what you think about the show itself (and we confess that "Cats" is not our favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber musical), staging a production of this complexity, with all those costumes and that elaborate set, requires sustained hard work from a huge group of people, and not just the nearly 80 people in the cast  although those cast members sing and dance their furry hearts out.

Anyone who's seen "Cats" (or other recent shows on that stage, including "A Wrinkle in Time" and "Mary Poppins") can attest to the remarkable quality of these productions. And if you haven't seen this production of "Cats," you have four more chances to do so before it becomes "Memory."
Police Log

Editors note: This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or risk to the public. Information comes from the Philomath Police Department and the Benton County Sheriffs Office. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.

FRIDAY, FEB. 24

SUSPENDED LICENSE: Philomath Police cited Hallie Sprague, 48, of Adair Village, for driving with a suspended license after pulling her over at 6:45 a.m. on the 1100 block of Applegate Street.

TUESDAY, FEB. 28

TRESPASSING: Philomath Police responded at 3:02 p.m. to issue a trespass warning to an individual who is not wanted at Chevron gas station.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1

SUSPICIOUS PERSON: Philomath Police took a report at 9:13 p.m. of disconcerting comments a Meetn Place patron made to a bartender.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT: Philomath Police responded at 10:10 p.m. to the 200 block of North 14th Street for a report of an intoxicated individual causing a disturbance. Officers cited Kay Sams, 58, of Philomath, on a charge of second-degree disorderly conduct.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2

POSSIBLE DRUGS: The Philomath High School principal found a suspicious substance in the school bathroom and turned it in to the Philomath Police Department, where it will be destroyed.

PARKING LOT COLLISION: Philomath Police responded at 10 a.m. for a report of a vehicle striking a parked car in the Marys Peak True Value parking lot. Police could not locate the owner of the parked car.

Fire Calls

Editors note: This log is based on information submitted to the newspaper by Philomath Fire and Rescue. Locations are approximate.

FRIDAY, FEB. 24

MEDICAL: 8:05 a.m., 24000 block of Highway 20.

MEDICAL: 4:55 p.m., 23000 block Labare Road.

VEHICLE CRASH: 5:35 p.m., 24000 block of Highway 20.

SATURDAY, FEB. 25

MEDICAL: 2:21 a.m., 1100 block of Main Street.

MEDICAL: 5:33 a.m., 100 block of Neabeack Hill Drive.

MEDICAL: 10:37 a.m., 600 block of South 19th Street.

SUNDAY, FEB. 26

MEDICAL: 11:39 a.m., 600 block of Main Street.

MEDICAL: 2:47 p.m., 100 block of North 18th Street.

AGENCY ASSIST: 7:38 p.m., mutual aid to Monroe Fire Department.

MONDAY, FEB. 27

MEDICAL: 3:30 p.m., 1000 block of Main Street.

TUESDAY, FEB. 28

MEDICAL: 5:30 a.m., 2800 block of Newton Place.
Time for a survey

To the Editor: Its time for a St. Paul survey One of the mistakes of the past with respect to deciding on the future of St. Pauls is that previous...

Election for St. Pauls

To the Editor: Perhaps someday there will be an election where some folks decide about St.Pauls. If the election is conducted in the most popular way, the outcome might not...

Proposal on the ballot

To the Editor: On the bottom of your ballot you will be asked to vote yes or no on creating a state bond which will amount to $4.2 billion. Subject coverage should be...

Botched RFP process

To the Editor: During the last several weeks, village officials sent out RFPs (requests for proposals) seeking candidate firms to provide them with comparative analysis and cost estimates -- ...
Dusseldorf main train station : Man with ax hurts seven people

Dusseldorf Seven people were injured in an ax attack at Dusseldorfs main train station on Thursday night. Police released the information overnight and said the suspected perpetrator was arrested after initially fleeing.

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Three people were severely injured in the ax attack, and four suffered minor injuries. The alleged perpetrator was seriously injured after jumping from a bridge while fleeing. Police said they have been able to talk to him, however, since then. The police operation at the train station lasted four hours, after that the Dusseldorf main train station was gradually re-opened to all rail traffic again. Police did not give any details about the identity of the attacker.

The motive is completely unclear, said a spokesperson. They were still examining whether or not there were other suspects. According to police, the perpetrator began his rampage in a city tram. He went after passengers on Line 28 inside a tram car and then attacked more people at the station. Dusseldorf police first received indications of a violent attack at the main station at around 8:50 pm.

After the attack at the main train station, the suspect ran over the tracks and then jumped from a bridge several meters down to the street. The man, who had not yet been identified, was taken to hospital and initially unresponsive, a police officer reported. Police were able to seize the ax. Following the ax attack, police were still checking two persons. A spokeswoman explained that they had been arrested after raising suspicions. It was not yet clear if they had anything to do with the attack. The main train station of the capital of North Rhine Westphalia was closed off for a time.

Trains were cancelled or diverted. When heavily armed special police forces arrived, the Dusseldorf main train station was evacuated. A helicopter circled over the building in the inner city. Witnesses watched as the injured were carried out. Several people were also treated in fire department buses. Numerous ambulances were at the scene. In the past, there had been other ax attacks in Germany carried out by mentally confused perpetrators.
WLAN hotspots in Bonn : Surf longer for free

Bonn The City of Bonn has expanded its range of WLAN hotspots. One reason for the additional capacity is that the use of these hotspots has risen sharply in recent months.

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Recently, the city administration upgraded its own wireless hotspots and now offers limited surfing in 50 additional locations. Until now, residents experienced rather limited access. After an hour for one device, the surfing was over and in some locations, it was only a half hour.

According to the city, this was a technical test phase, which has now been completed. In the coming weeks, the offer will be expanded to three hours per day. But there could be some disruptions until then. To take advantage of the offer, people do not need to enter a user name or password.

One just needs to click Online gehen (Go online). But then the registration seems to be frozen - for about three minutes. A second attempt produced the same result and a third try brought success. Telekom and Bonn city administration have been working together for about two years on the hotspots.

There are now around 150 hot spots, one third of them in the Bonn inner city. This means that a connection doesnt break up when one moves from Munsterplatz to Bottlerplatz. The 50 city hotspots, which have now been added, are located in the Old Town Hall, the city administration building in the area ofcitizen services and meeting rooms, the town halls in Beuel, Bad Godesberg and Hardtberg, the VHS and the city library, and Dottendorf, Tannenbusch, Beuel and Bad Godesberg.
These Intel powered Xiaomi smart shoes can monitor distance, speed and calories you burn News oi -Rohit The 90 Minutes Ultra Smart Sportswear by Xiaomi can track your movement while you walk run or climb a mountain

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi has expanded its wearable portfolio with the launch of 90 Minutes Ultra Smart Sportswear, the Intel powered smart shoes that can track monitor the distance you cover and the calories you burn.

Powered by Intel Curie chipset, the smart wearables are developed by Shanghai-based Runmi Technology Co. Ltd, and are said to have 60 days of battery life.

The smart shoes can track your movement while you walk, run or climb stairs or surfaces. The shoes will provide a report of the distance you travel, the speed and the calories you burn throughout the day.

SEE ALSO: Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro HD now available in India at Rs. 1,999

The shoes come with air cushions, an arch design soles and antibacterial insoles. Besides, the smart wearables will also come with anti-skid features to offer a good grip.

The Xiaomi smart shoes will be available in Black and Surf Blue colour options for men and in Black and Pink colour variants for women. Xiaomi will also offer a special 'Blue Edition' of wearables that glows in the dark for the night runners.

As of now, Xiaomi has launched the smart shoes in Chinese market at an approximate price of Rs. 2,900 as per Indian currency. The wearables will be available on Mi Home official store.

Image Source: Mi Home

Best Mobiles in India

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Step 1:

Download and install Pushbullet' app from Google Play Store. Sign in to this app using your Google or Facebook account. Once done, it requests you to enable the notification access. Enable the option by clicking Enable' button.

Step 2:

Then open Google chrome browser in your computer and install Pushbullet chrome extension in it. Once installed, sign in with your google or Facebook account which you used to log into the Pushbullet app.

Step 3:

That's it! Now you are able to view all the phone notifications in your computer with no extra effort. Whenever a new notification is received on your phone, the same notification will be shown on your desktop as well. It remains for 30 seconds (You can change this time) and then automatically hides by itself. By tapping on chrome extension, you can view the notification again.

To snooze notifications:

If you wish to snooze the notifications for an hour or so, you can make use of built-in snooze function of this app. Tap on the chrome extension and select settings icon. Then Click on Snooze 1hr' option.

To change default notification settings:

To change the default notifications, tap on chrome extension and select settings icon. Under that click Settings' option once again. It will take you to the settings window. Here, you can alter the default settings based on your interest. To alert you on new notifications when you are not using the browser, you can play sounds as well.

To send links and Files:

You can also send and receive both the links and files using this app. Tap on chrome extension and select People' tab. Here you can send the links as well as files to the connected device. The sent files will arrive as a new message inside your Pushbullet app. Similarly, one can send files and links within this app to the computer.

To delete the connected device:

Click on the chrome extension and then tap Pushbullet icon present at top left corner. It opens Pushbullet home page where you can modify few more settings of the app. The Settings' tab at left menu lets you view all the connected devices logged in using the same account. You can see the delete button located at the right corner of each device name. Tap on that button if you wish to disconnect any particular device from sending and receiving notifications.
Lenovo focusses on offline retail for growth: Plans to open 25-100 exclusive stores News oi -Priyanka Sudhin has recently taken over the post of managing director of Motorola Mobility as well.

Chinese smartphone maker Lenovo is looking to consolidate its position further in the Indian market. The company is planning to expand its offline retail to drive growth.

"We have grown from being No 31 in 2013 to being No 2 in 2016. We are focussed on bringing in differentiated products and offering premium experience to consumers," Lenovo MBG India Executive Director Sudhin Mathur.

Sudhin has recently taken over the post of managing director of Motorola Mobility as well.

"We will also invest in setting up exclusive stores that will give hands on experience for all phones, starting with pilots with large format retail stores..the next growth will come from offline," he said without sharing financial details.

China expected to have installed more industrial robots than other country

"Online market will only grow till the point where it is now, so next growth will come from offline... if half of the sales comes from offline in two years from now, would be great," Mathur said.

According to research firm IDC, Samsung led the smartphone market with 24.8 per cent share, followed by Lenovo (along with Motorola) (8.9 per cent) and Micromax (8.8 per cent).

Regarding Motorola, Mathur said 'mods' will be a key feature of differentiation.'mods' allows users to set of accessories on the back of the device.

"We are working with various developers for future mods, some concepts of which include printer capability, VR mod, charger mod for powering other mods and the phone etc...We will be bringing out three to four mods every quarter, which will come at different and more affordable price points," he said.

Best Mobiles in India
President Tran Dai Quang attaches the Feat Order (first class) to the flag of Special Task Police Battalion No. 1 (Photo: VNA)



The battalion is the first special task police unit of the Ministry of Public Security. It has closely coordinated with other specialised forces of the ministry, the army and relevant agencies to ensure the absolute safety for important political, economic, cultural and social events.

It has conducted operations to prevent riots, terrorism and abduction, cracked down on crimes, and ensured political stability, security and order.

Addressing the ceremony, President Tran Dai Quang said protecting security and order is a heavy task as the global and regional situation remains complex while hostile forces never cease plots to overthrow the Party and the socialist regime in Vietnam.

Non-traditional security threats such as natural disasters, epidemics, climate change, environmental pollution and terrorism are developing complicatedly. Organised and trans-national crimes, hi-tech crimes and drug crimes are still issues of public concern.

The President asked the mobile and special task police to continue close coordination with relevant sides to defeat crimes and hostile forces.

They should enhance relations with the special task force of other countries in training and information and experience sharing, thereby improving their combat capacity, he added.

At the ceremony, President Quang presented the Feat Order (first class) to Special Task Police Battalion No. 1./.
TRAI issues recommendations on public Wi- Fi News oi -Priyanka Broadband India Forum President TV Ramachandran praised the recommendations from the Regulator

With an aim to increase internet penetration across the country, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come up with recommendations like setting up public Wi-Fi hotspots, reducing import duty on Wi-Fi equipment, infrastructure sharing and authentication of the users through eKYC process.

The regulator said, "A new framework should be put in place for setting up of Public Data Offices (PDOs). Under this framework, PDOs in agreement with Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs), should be allowed to provide public Wi-Fi services. This will not only increase the number of public hotspots but also make Internet service more affordable in the country".

TRAI said that during public consultations, it came across certain existing models which have managed to stimulate demand for paid public Wi-Fi by offering "sachet" sized access plans of low denominations ranging Rs 2 to Rs 20.

Aircel announces new offers for customers

It also suggested that these PDOAs should be allowed to provide public Wi-Fi services without obtaining any licence, but should be subject to DoT prescribed registration requirements, including ensuring that e-KYC, authentication and recordkeeping (of customers, devices and PDOAs enlisted with the PDOs). "This will encourage village-level entrepreneurship and provide strong employment opportunities," Trai noted.

The regulator said that, the Department of Telecommunications can amend the terms of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence to allow for sharing of active infrastructure, in line with the Unified Licence (UL) as well as also clarify on all licence categories, that sharing of infrastructure related to Wi-Fi router, access point, backhaul, etc is allowed. The regulator also advised that the authentication through OTP (over the top) for accessing internet every time should be done away with.

It suggested that authentication can be done using eKYC, e-Electronic Customer Application Form (eCAF) and other electronic modes. Besides, after consultation with the security agencies, DoT can consider authentication via Media Access Control ID of the device or through a mobile APP that stores eKYC data of the subscriber. Trai said Wi-Fi hotspots will help in faster penetration of internet, especially in the rural areas, where the practice of using mobile internet still has to catch up.

Meanwhile, Broadband India Forum President TV Ramachandran praised the recommendations from the Regulator on 'Proliferation of Broadband through Public Wifi 'announced on Thursday-9th of March and called it as a huge step towards expediting the availability of affordable and accessible broadband everywhere and to achieve the vision of Digital India.

Lenovo focusses on offline retail for growth: Plans to open 25-100 exclusive stores

He also Explained the importance of this regulation, that based on Global Average of 1 hotspot for every 150 persons; India should have approx. 8 Million hotspots. However, the total number of hotspots as of 2016 based on TRAI's own report was only 31, 500. He was confident with the implementation of these recommendations; the number of hotspots would accelerate to help bridge the huge deficit that exists.

He further said, this would lead to introduction of a number of new small time players in Wifi provisioning space who will be able to boost the broadband availability to the masses. Besides he also mentioned that due to this, there is likely to be huge explosion of backhaul requirements and TSPs are likely to hugely benefit out of this.

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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.
WikiLeaks endangering US personnel and operations: CIA

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 2:2PM

The CIA has publicly accused WikiLeaks of "jeopardizing" the US national security and helping adversaries inflict harm on the United States over the leak of thousands of documents that reveal the agency's hacking and spying secrets.

"The American public should be deeply troubled by any WikiLeaks disclosure designed to damage the Intelligence Community's ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries," the CIA said in a statement.

"Such disclosures not only jeopardize US personnel and operations, but also equip our adversaries with tools and information to do us harm," it added.

However, the spy agency said it could not yet confirm the authenticity of the nearly 9,000 secret files obtained and published by WikiLeaks.

The CIA rejected the notion that it spies on the American people, and insisted the agency's mission is to "aggressively collect foreign intelligence overseas to protect America from terrorists, hostile nation states and other adversaries."

"It is also important to note that CIA is legally prohibited from conducting electronic surveillance targeting individuals here at home, including our fellow Americans, and CIA does not do so," the statement read.

The explosive documents exposed by WikiLeaks showed that the CIA sneaks into high-tech phones and televisions to spy on users around the world, including people in the United States.

They also revealed that the agency has routinely used techniques that enable its hackers to disguise themselves as hacking groups based in Russia and other countries.

US intelligence agencies have launched a criminal investigation into the publication of the secret files, with intelligence and law enforcement officials already pointing the finger at CIA contractors.

WikiLeaks claimed that nearly all of the CIA's cyber tools have been stolen and are potentially in the hands of foreign spies and former US government hackers and contractors.

The White House said President Donald Trump was "extremely concerned" about the security breach.

"Anybody who leaks classified information will be held to the highest degree of law," Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Wednesday.

The WikiLeaks dump came amid an ongoing feud between Trump and the US intelligence community over Russia's alleged efforts to influence the November election in favor of the Republican billionaire.

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CIA leaks prompt criminal investigation

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 9:54AM

US intelligence agencies have launched a criminal investigation into the publication of a series of highly classified CIA hacking secrets by WikiLeaks.

Coordinated by the FBI and the CIA, the probe's main objective is to identify the sources that provided the anti-secrecy website with the confidential data.

Sources within the government told Reuters that CIA contractors were the prime suspects in the case.

WikiLeaks said on Tuesday that it had obtained and published thousands of documents that reveal the agency's hacking and spying secrets.

The nearly 9,000 pages of document showed that the CIA sneaks into smart phones and televisions to spy on users around the world.

The spy agency's hackers also have the ability to disguise themselves as hacking groups based in Russia and other countries.

Germany has already begun to work on WikiLeaks allegations that Washington used the US consulate in Berlin to launch hacking attacks.

WikiLeaks also claimed that nearly all of the CIA's cyber tools have been stolen and are potentially in the hands of foreign spies and former US government hackers and contractors.

The agency has refused to confirm the authenticity of the documents but said in a statement that it was "legally prohibited from conducting electronic surveillance targeting individuals here at home, including our fellow Americans, and CIA does not do so."

No 'absolute privacy' in US

Meanwhile, FBI Director James Comey warned during a Boston College conference that "absolute privacy" was non-existent in the US.

"All of us have a reasonable expectation of privacy in our homes, in our cars, and in our devices. But it also means with good reason, in court, government, through law enforcement, can invade our private spaces," Comey told the 2017 Boston Conference on Cyber Security.

The explosive leaks provide potential ammunition to supporters of President Donald Trump, who claim the alleged Russian hacking attacks against the 2016 presidential election could be a false-flag operation carried out by his domestic foes.

The WikiLeaks dump came amid an ongoing feud between Trump and the US intelligence community over Russia's alleged efforts to influence the November election in favor of the Republican billionaire.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denounced WikiLeaks' move, saying it was "the kind of disclosure that undermines our security, our country and our well-being."

The website claimed that the Tuesday dump was "less than 1%" of a massive archive it has code-named "Vault 7."

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CIA Says WikiLeaks 'Equips Our Adversaries'; Assange Sees 'Incompetence'

RFE/RL March 09, 2017

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has accused WikiLeaks of putting Americans in danger with its release of thousands of documents that the group said were part of a U.S. cyberespionage toolkit.

"The American public should be deeply troubled by any WikiLeaks disclosure designed to damage the intelligence community's ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries," CIA spokeswoman Heather Fritz Horniak said in a statement posted on the agency's website late on March 8.

"Such disclosures not only jeopardize U.S. personnel and operations, but also equip our adversaries with tools and information to do us harm," he said.

WikiLeaks on March 7 published what it says are almost 9,000 documents taken from the CIA's Center for Cyber Intelligence.

While the CIA has not confirmed the authenticity of the documents, Reuters quoted two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying that intelligence agencies had been aware of the breach since the end of last year.

Contractors were likely WikiLeaks' source for the documents, the sources added.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on March 9 ridiculed the CIA for failing to protect its secrets.

Speaking via a live-streamed news conference from Ecuador's embassy in London, where he has lived as a fugitive since 2012, Assange said the CIA had committed "a historic act of devastating incompetence, to have created such an arsenal and then stored it all in one place."

Assange also said WikiLeaks would work with tech companies to develop fixes for the CIA hacking methods before the organization releases any more information about CIA cybertools it has gathered.

At the White House, spokesman Sean Spicer said after the WikiLeaks disclosures that President Donald Trump thinks the CIA's systems are "outdated and need to be updated."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/cia-blasts-wikileak- documents-equip-adversaries/28359451.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 Believes Outdated CIA Computer Systems Need to Be Updated

Sputnik News

21:23 09.03.2017(updated 22:54 09.03.2017)

US President Donald Trump believes that the computer systems of the CIA are outdated and should be updated, according to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  President Donald Trump has acknowledged that the computer systems at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are outdated and should be modernized, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Thursday.

"He [Trump] believes that the systems of the CIA are outdated," Spicer stated. "The situation technology-wise at the CIA, the President acknowledged, needs to be updates."

Spicer noted that Trump will discuss issues of national security with CIA Director Mike Pompeo later this afternoon.

Earlier on Thursday, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accused the CIA of "devastating incompetence" for keeping all the documents in one place. He contended that WikiLeaks shared information on CIA hacking methods with technology manufacturers so they could repair vulnerabilities.

The CIA refused to authenticate intelligence documents published by WikiLeaks but stressed in a statement that those types of disclosures jeopardize US officials and provide tools to the country's main adversaries.

 Sputnik

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Pacific mission demonstrates C-5M upgrades

By Staff Sgt. Nicole Leidholm, 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs / Published March 09, 2017

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- A C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft from the 22nd Airlift Squadron here flew a Pacific channel mission March 4-5, 2017, to deliver cargo to Yokota Air Base, Japan.

"The Yokota mission is our proof of the C-5M concept," said Lt. Col. Cory Damon, the 22nd AS commander. "The range and capabilities we can provide to the Pacific theater are vast. We are the only ones that can take all this cargo to Yokota without stopping or refueling."

According to Damon, the C-5M is now able to cut out a stop at either Joint-Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii or JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska and fly direct to Yokota AB without refueling. This benefits his team and the Air Force by reducing the amount of crew rest required, eliminating potential maintenance or cargo issues at the en-route location, saving time, in addition to cutting overall flight time, thus drastically reducing fuel use.

"We've saved 1,680 flight hours, use 34 percent less fuel and cut $4.8 million in fuel costs per year, saving 14 hours in one mission," Damon said. "We're able to get up to higher altitudes quicker."

Damon added, the advances in technology not only help cut fuel, but allow Air Mobility Command to support a broader area. It's not just the C-5M and the upgrades, it's how it's employed.

The C-5A, B, and C models underwent the M model upgrade in 2014. The new 'M' model upgrade increases fuel efficiency and allows the aircraft to stay in the air longer, extending its global mobility range and capabilities.

"We save gas because we're flying the 'M'; we save time because we don't need to do it in two days, we can do it in one; we save people because we don't need to send three people, we can send two pilots and fewer loadmasters, we save en-route structure because we don't have to get gas at Hickam," said Lt. Col. Richard Linton, the 22nd AS operations officer.

Because of the C-5 upgrades and efficiency of the 22nd AS, mobility Air Force wings globally don't require the extra maintainers to service the C-5M during the Pacific channel missions. This allows the maintenance allocations to be spread to other bases where they are needed.

The 22nd AS is routinely flying missions to Yokota AB, around three times per month.

"We are humbled by the fact that we do this every day," Damon said. "It's normal for us. It's just another mission to most of us, until we step back and look at what we enabled. The C-5 is a strategic asset, projecting strategic power because no one else has a C-5 and the capabilities that it provides."

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The kick-off ceremony

The program targets to train 4,000 farmers in the Mekong Delta on environmental-friendly production method to obtain high yield and quality in the next two years.

The program has piloted two crops which earned higher income for the participants and it matches Vietnams agricultural reform towards building Vietnams rice trademarks in the international market.

Experts from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) will provide technical support to the scheme.

Huynh Van Thon, head of the Loc Troi Group, said the project not only assists his company in making high-quality rice products but also protects the environment and the health of the community./.
Africom Commander: Enabling 'African Solutions to African Problems'

By Karen Parrish DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2017  U.S. Africa Command, its leader told the Senate Armed Services Committee today, employs partner-building efforts and small, targeted investments to enhance security on the African continent.

Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser described the regional and continental challenges his command faces.

"Africa is an enduring interest for the United States. Small, but wise, investments in the capability, legitimacy and accountability of African defense institutions offer disproportionate benefits to America, our allies  and most importantly, enable African solutions to African problems," he said.

Parts of Africa 'a Battleground'

"Parts of Africa remain a battleground between ideologies, interests and values," Waldhauser said. "Equality, prosperity and peace are often pitted against extremism, oppression and conflict."

Transregional violent extremist organizations on the continent constitute the most direct security threat to the United States, the general said. To address those threats, he said, Africom's military strategy articulates a long-term, regionally focused approach for a safe and stable Africa.

Specifically, the strategy outlines an Africa in which regional organizations and states are willing and capable partners. Africom's strategy, he said, builds partners' abilities to direct, manage and operate capable and sustainable defense institutions.

"While we have achieved progress in implementing our strategy, threats and challenges still remain," Waldhauser acknowledged.

Countering Al-Shabab in East Africa

"In East Africa, we support African Union and European Union efforts to neutralize al-Shabab and other violent extremist organizations operating in Somalia," the general said. "And we also support the eventual transfer of security responsibilities from the African Union Mission in Somalia to the Somali national security forces."

In 2016, the general said, al-Shabab regained some previously-held Somali territory, and the group continues to attack African Union Mission in Somalia forces.

"Additionally, we have also seen elements of [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] begin to make inroads into Somalia, which will further test Amisom forces and the central government of Somalia," Waldhauser said.

Stability in Libya is "a long-term proposition," he said, adding that Africom supports Libya's efforts to reestablish legitimate and unified government. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a rising threat, he noted.

"This is a significant challenge," he cautioned, "and we must carefully choose where and with whom we work  in order to counter ISIS-Libya  not to shift the balance between various factions and risk sparking greater conflict in Libya."

West Africa Threats: Boko Haram, ISIS

In western Africa, the general said, Africom's mission centers on extremist groups Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa, an ISIS splinter group.

"Since 2011, Boko Haram has consistently carried out attacks against civilians and targeted partner regional governments and military forces in the Lake Chad basin region," Waldhauser said.

Africom works with forces from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria in a multinational joint task force, he said. The task force, the general added, "has been successful in enabling multinational cooperation in coordinating multinational operations, and placed significant pressure on Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa."

In Central Africa, through the combined efforts of military forces, civilian agencies and nongovernmental organizations, Africom works to build partner capacity to address regional threats such as maritime security, illicit trafficking of goods and persons, the Lord's Resistance Army and other criminal networks and enterprises, Waldhauser said.

Across Africa, the general said, "We support the efforts to enable African partners to respond to humanitarian crises, mass atrocities, disaster contingencies, and to support peace operations."

Through the "National Guard's State Partnership Program, along with their African partners, we've improved disaster management competency and readiness to assist civilian-led efforts," the general said.

Africom sees "great value" in and fully supports the National Guard's persistent engagement in the program, Waldhauser said.

Africom's mission is dynamic and complex, and requires innovative solutions, he said.

"Even with limited resources and capabilities, Africa Command aggressively works with partners and allies to execute our missions and mitigate risk," Waldhauser said. "Moving forward, we continue to focus our decisive efforts on building African partner capacity, and will continue to work closely with the international and interagency partners to make small, wise investments which pay huge dividends in building stable and effective governments -- the foundation for long-term security in Africa."

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Joint press point with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of Estonia, Juri Ratas

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

09 Mar. 2017

So Prime Minister Ratas, welcome to NATO headquarters.

I know that you have been here before but this is your first visit to NATO HQ as Prime Minister. It is really a great pleasure to welcome you here and to meet with you and to discuss a wide range of different issues.

Estonia is really a steadfast Ally, contributing in so many different ways to NATO. You are in Afghanistan, helping to keep Afghanistan a stable country and preventing Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for international terrorists.

You also play a key role in strengthening NATO's cyber-defences. Your Cyber Centre of Excellence is of great importance for the whole Alliance and we think that it's extremely important that we continue to strengthen our cyber-defences very much based on the work that takes place in Estonia. also leads by example on defence spending.

Then we also of course welcome the leadership that you have shown for so many years on defence spending. You spend more than 2% of GDP on defence. That is something I welcome very much and it also show that you are leading through example, helping me to also convince other Allies to increase their defence spending.

We also think it's a very important role that Estonia plays when it comes to strengthening NATO-EU cooperation. I believe we need to work even closer together and later on this year Estonia will have the Presidency of the EU and I look forward to working even closer with you, then also in the capacity of the Presidency of the EU. We of course welcome Estonia's strong support to NATO, Estonia's support for NATO is strong, and NATO's support for Estonia is just as strong. We are air-policing, our jets keep your skies safe. We have increased naval patrols in the Baltic Sea and NATO exercises on land. And next month, a multi-national battlegroup led by the UK will arrive in Estonia and I thank you for Estonia's pro-active engagement as a host nation. All NATO Allies agree that we need to increase our presence in the Baltic countries and in Poland and we are doing that by the deployment of four battlegroups to the three Baltic countries and to Poland. This sends a clear signal of NATO unity, credible deterrence. At the same time our response is measured, it's proportionate, and we continue to strive for a more constructive relationship with Russia. I welcome the fact that we've been able to convene three meetings of the NATO-Russia Council, underlining that we keep channels for political dialogue open and we also think that we need to develop our military lines of communications to avoid miscalculation, to increase predictability and to reduce risks.

So once again, Prime Minister Ratas, welcome, it's great to have you here, welcome, and thank you for being such a steadfast and staunch Ally.

OANA LUNGESCU (Moderator): Okay, we'll go to Estonian television.

Q: Thank you. Johann Stralla (sic) from Estonian Public Broadcasting, I have two questions. First of all a question to the Secretary General, has NATO already received or are you hoping to receive an invitation to observe the ZAPAD exercise that is going to take place in the autumn? And a question for Prime Minister Ratas, the Lithuanian President has pressed NATO to take additional security measures in the region ahead of the exercise, do you see a necessity for that? Do you see, are you seeking for more support from NATO? And then my second question for both of you, should NATO react to the announcement from Russia's Minister of Defense that Russia's creating a dedicated propaganda division in the Army, is that a challenge for the E.U. is that a challenge for NATO or is that a challenge for each and every member State individually?

JENS STOLTENBERG (NATO Secretary General): First on the ZAPAD exercise. Every nation has the right to exercise its forces as long as it's done within the agreed international obligations and relations. We would welcome an invitation to observe the ZAPAD exercise. NATO strongly believes in transparency, predictability related to military activities like exercises. We will also welcome an advanced briefing on the exercise. One of the reasons why we believe it is important to keep channels for political dialogue open to maintain the NATO Russia Council as a platform for dialogue with Russia is that that provides a platform also for advanced briefing, reciprocal briefings from NATO and from Russia on exercises. We invited Russia to observe ten of our exercises last year and of course we would very much welcome an invitation to observe the ZAPAD exercises. Oh, I can do perhaps

JURI RATAS (Prime Minister of Estonia): Okay, thank you. We also know that ZAPAD will take place in the second half of this year or in the end of summer. Also Estonia at the same time holding the Presidency in the European Union and it is a very important period and time for us. How to say, we are monitoring ZAPAD every day and if it is necessary I'm sure that we are together with NATO and reacting very strongly.

JENS STOLTENBERG: When it comes to the question of propaganda I will just say that we are concerned about what we see as more propaganda, more disinformation. This has been a pattern over a long time. At the same time I think it's important to underscore that NATO's response to propaganda is not propaganda. The way to counter propaganda is not by more propaganda. We strongly believe in providing facts, the truth, because in the long run the truth will prevail over propaganda. So what NATO is doing is that we provide facts, we help allies to be able to answer questions and to provide the truth, the facts to counter propaganda. At the same time I think it's also important to remember that an independent press, journalists that ask the hard questions, check the facts and are part of an open democratic society, has always been important but its perhaps even more important know when we see that we see more propaganda more disinformation. Independent press is part of a democratic society and NATO is supporting and protecting democratic open societies.

JURI RATAS: We know quite well what means Russian propaganda in Estonia and what it could do is important that we also building our strategic communication every day and we discuss it I can say every Cabinet meeting how to increase, how to build our strategic communication and I think it's one thing what we could do against a Russian propaganda.

OANA LUNGESCU: BNS

BNS: I'll follow up on what Johann has asked. The President of Lithuania has said that the allied battalions that have not yet been sent to the Baltic States that they are no longer sufficient even though they are not yet there and NATO should consider additional security measures before this ZAPAD exercise in September. Do you think that's necessary and is it a topic that could come up on this, next Summit in May? Thank you.

JENS STOLTENBERG: I will answer that in a moment but just let me add one more thing about propaganda. And that is that of course cyber and cyber defense is also a way of countering propaganda and misinformation. And to and there Estonia plays a key role. You are really a leader when it comes to developing cyber defenses. The Cyber Centre of Excellence, which is an important platform for sharing best practices, having exercises, developing technology is really something I appreciate very much and Estonia plays a key role. Then on the battle groups, I think it's important to remember that the battle groups is not the only thing that NATO does. We have tripled the size of the NATO response force so we can reinforce if needed and part of that is that we have established a new spearhead force where the lead elements are able to move within a couple of days. So we can if needed reinforce quickly the Baltic countries, Poland and also other parts of the Alliance. We have also established eight new small headquarters in the three Baltic countries and some other allies in the Eastern part of the Alliance. Those headquarters, the NATO force integration units, are important to link the national forces of Estonia with NATO forces to prepare exercises but also to help to reinforce if needed. We are also increasing our investments in infrastructure, there would be more pre-positioned in supplies, equipment in the Eastern part of the Alliance, so we are doing much more than only the four battle groups. That's one very important element, but only one element. Let me add that for NATO it is important that we respond in that measured, proportionate way. What we do is defensive, we don't want a new Cold War, we don't seek confrontation with Russia and we don't want a new arms race. And that's exactly why we are looking for the balance between sending a clear signal on NATO solidarity, providing credible deterrence with a multi-national presence and at the same time being proportionate and measured to avoid escalating tensions.

JURI RATAS: If I may to add that for our opinion is important that in this spring time we could see Estonia, the battle groups from United Kingdom, the battle groups from France and they rotating (inaudible) and these are I think where it's important that we are strongly, our national forces on the boots of, the boots on the ground, and also our partners, also our allies is in Estonia if another side of the border will be Zapad.

OANA LUNGESCU: Thank you very much. This concludes this press point. Thank you.

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Bonhomme Richard, 31st MEU Depart Okinawa, Japan for Patrol

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170309-10

Release Date: 3/9/2017 10:32:00 AM

From USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) Public Affairs

OKINAWA, Japan (NNS) -- Amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) departed White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, after embarking personnel, equipment, and supplies of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), March 8.

Bonhomme Richard and the 31st MEU are underway for a routine patrol in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.

"It's good to have the Marines of the 31st MEU back aboard," said Capt. Jeffrey Ward, commanding officer of Bonhomme Richard. "Now that we have the LCACs (landing craft air cushion) in the well deck, the aircraft on the flight deck, and the Marines embarked, it feels like we have the whole team back together. I'm really looking forward to seeing the great things our Sailors and Marines will accomplish during this underway."

Although the ship will also conduct unit-level certifications, the deployment will focus on amphibious integrated training (AIT) followed by a certification exercise (CERTEX) while conducting exchanges with allies and regional partners across a range of mission sets.

"This patrol is an excellent opportunity to refine our crises response capabilities and further our partnership with Bonhomme Richard and Amphibious Squadron 11," said Col. Tye Wallace, commanding officer, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. "We are looking forward to the patrol, and I know we will return as a stronger Navy-Marine Corps team.

Bonhomme Richard and the 31st MEU are scheduled to conduct a routine patrol, operating in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to enhance warfighting readiness and posture forward as a ready-response force for any type of contingency.

Bonhomme Richard is the flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (BHR ESG), which also includes amphibious transport dock USS Green Bay (LPD 20) and amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48).

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Truxtun Aids Pakistani Navy Sailor

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170309-03

Release Date: 3/9/2017 8:51:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tyrell K. Morris, George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs

U.S. 5TH FLEET AREA OF OPERATIONS (NNS) -- Guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun (DDG 103) assisted in the medical evacuation of a Pakistani navy sailor, March 6.

The sailor, assigned to Zulfiquar-class frigate PNS Aslat was in need of medical attention.

"After finding out the status of the patient, I coordinated with my corpsmen and the chain of command to come up with a plan to provide assistance," said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Kelvin Murphy.

That evening, Truxtun sent a crew in a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) to meet Aslat, pick up the sailor and transport him back to Truxtun.

"It was just after nightfall so visibility was low, which provided a challenge for our boat crew," said Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Daniel Martinez.

At approximately 7 p.m., after the sailor was safely aboard Truxton, a MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the embarked Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 70 detachment launched from Truxton to transport the sailor to a shore-based medical facility for treatment.

"Our corpsmen did an outstanding job ensuring the patient was in stable condition prior to transferring him onto the helicopter for medevac to the hospital," said Cmdr. Troy R. Denison, Truxtun's commanding officer. "The coordinated effort between our medical team, deck Sailors and embarked air detachment enabled us to respond with urgency and precise execution."

The sailor is expected to make a full recovery.

U.S. and Pakistan maritime forces have a long history of working through various exercises and real-world operations. These professional engagements have greatly increased interoperability between the two nations.

Truxtun is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of maritime security operations designed to reassure allies and partners and preserve the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce in the region.

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Oklahoma City Visits Stirling during Indo-Asia-Pacific Patrol

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170309-01

Release Date: 3/9/2017 8:06:00 AM

By Lt. j.g. Samuel Theodoris, USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) Public Affairs

ROCKINGHAM, Western Australia (NNS) -- Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) arrived at HMAS Stirling, March 7, for a visit as part of its Indo-Asia-Pacific deployment.

With a crew of approximately 150, Oklahoma City will conduct a multitude of missions and maintain proficiencies of the latest capabilities of the submarine fleet.

"Oklahoma City is honored to have the opportunity to come to Western Australia and participate in submarine exercises with such a strong ally like Australia," said Cmdr. Thomas O'Donnell, commanding officer. "The U.S. Navy and Submarine Force have an unwavering heritage with the Royal Australian navy, and that spans decades. As part of the U.S. forward-deployed naval forces in the [Indo-Asia-Pacific region], Oklahoma City appreciates how vital the Royal Australian navy presence and capabilities are to maintaining regional peace and stability on the high seas."

Measuring more than 360 feet long and weighing approximately 7,000 tons when submerged, Oklahoma City is one of the fastest and stealthiest submarines in the world and is capable of fulfilling a variety of missions.

"The Oklahoma City crew has accomplished a lot to get to this point," said Senior Chief Fire Control Technician Brandon Edmiston, chief of the boat. "Over the past few months, the amount of hard work and effort put into training and readiness is unbelievable. The crew has earned some much deserved time to enjoy some rest and relaxation on this port visit with our friends in Australia and the Royal Australian navy."

For many of the crew members, this is their first time visiting Australia.

"I'm very excited about this port visit," said Sonar Technician (Submarine) Seaman Daniel Lewis. "This is a dream come true. In fact, I plan to move here after the Navy to attend college."

Oklahoma City is homeported in Agana, Guam. It is one of four submarines forward deployed to Guam and serving at the forefront of the nation's defense.

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Colombia atrocities ongoing despite peace deal: Red Cross

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 7:11PM

An international humanitarian aid organization has warned of ongoing hardships and atrocities in Colombia despite recent peace accords reached between the government and leftist rebels.

In its annual report for 2016 published on Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had "documented 838 possible violations of international humanitarian law and other humanitarian principles that have affected more than 18,600 people."

Forty percent of the violations last year  which included torture, rapes and killings -- targeted women and children, it said.

The government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a revised peace deal late last year, ending decades of fighting.

Under the peace deal, thousands of FARC fighters moved to demobilization zones across the country where they were disarmed under the supervision of monitors from the United Nations.

The government has also launched formal peace talks with the remaining Colombian rebel force, the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN).

ICRC, however, claimed that the peace deals alone "will not be enough to end the violence in Colombia."

"Building peace requires an effort by everyone and will take decades," it said.

Christoph Harnisch, the ICRC chief in Colombia, said the ongoing violence is taking a heavy toll. It is continuing to displace civilians who get caught in the crossfire, with nearly 86,000 people currently missing, he said.

UN officials have warned that as leftist guerrillas leave areas traditionally under their control, a power vacuum would be created in the conflict zones.

Remnants of right-wing paramilitary groups and organized criminal gangs running drug trade in the region are reportedly taking advantage of the vacuum.

Colombian authorities say the conflict has killed 260,000 people and displaced 6.9 million since it started with a leftist uprising in 1964.

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US working on new Afghanistan strategy: Commander

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 6:10PM

The top US commander for the Middle East says Washington requires to put more troops on the ground in Afghanistan in the face of resurgent Taliban.

Head of the US Central Command General Joseph L. Votel told the Senate Armed Forces Committee on Thursday that he was working on a new strategy toward the US military presence in Afghanistan.

"I do believe it will involve additional forces to ensure that we can make the advise-and-assist mission more effective," he said.

Votel noted that the subject of American troops' reinforcement in Afghanistan is being discussed "right now" between the US military and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Last month, US General John Nicholson, who commands NATO forces in Afghanistan, underlined the need for thousands more troops to be deployed to Afghanistan.

The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001, triggering a war that has killed thousands and cost tens of billions of dollars. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but the country is still grappling with insecurity.

Former US president, Barack Obama, had pledged to pull American troops out of Afghanistan, but failed to fulfill his promise. The US has 8,400 military personnel out of a total of 13,300 NATO forces in the Asian state.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has yet to set out a strategy for Afghanistan.

Recently, the country has seen a surge in terrorist attacks despite the presence of foreign boots on the ground.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Taliban militants are regaining ground in Afghanistan while the Daesh terror outfit is also attempting to expand its presence there as well.

Daesh, which is mainly active in Syria and Iraq, has lately managed to take recruits from Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda defectors. It has further carried out several deadly attacks across the country.



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US deploys Marines with heavy artillery for Raqqah assault

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 3:56PM

Hundreds of US Marines armed with heavy artillery have arrived in Syria to help allied local forces in preparation for an offensive to recapture the city of Raqqah from Daesh terrorists, officials say.

Marines from the San Diego-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit have deployed a battery of 155mm Howitzers to an outpost in Syria and "are ready to conduct their mission," a US official told AFP on Thursday.

The deployment marks a significant move for conventional US forces in Syria, which have been limited to about 500 Special Operations forces on the ground.

Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman of the coalition purportedly fighting Daesh, said the additional forces, comprising a total of 400 Marines and Army Rangers, would be working with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Arab Coalition.

Dorrian told Reuters that the artillery battery would help "expedite the defeat" of Daesh in Raqqah.

"We have had what I would describe as a pretty relentless air campaign to destroy enemy capabilities and to kill enemy fighters in that area already. That is something that we are going to continue and intensify with this new capability," he said.

The move reflects tactics ahead of the assault on the Iraqi city of Mosul, where the US established bases outside the city as a platform for logistics and heavy artillery.

The SDF, which includes the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), is the main US partner on the ground in Syria and has been fighting Daesh for months around Raqqah, the de facto capital of the terrorist group in the country.

Over the weekend, a separate force of elite US Army Rangers arrived in a town north-west of Raqqah in armored vehicles to head off a confrontation between Turkish and Syrian Kurdish fighters - both US allies.

The deployment was the first of its kind by the US in Manbij.

In a proposal presented to the White House last week, the Pentagon called for a significant increase in US military engagement in Syria including more Special Operations forces, attack helicopters and artillery.

Military planners proposed lifting the cap on military force level in Syria.

US officials say the troops would not be directly involved in ground combat. However, the proposal would allow them to operate closer to the front line and would delegate broader authority down the military line from the White House before an operation is launched.

Turkey has warned of a major damage to US relations with Ankara if Washington includes Kurdish forces in the Raqqah operation.

Turkey views the YPG as a threat to its national security and has threatened to strike the Kurdish forces if they maintain their presence in Manbij.

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US mulls boosting Kuwait force for Syria, Iraq deployment: Report

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 3:16AM

Washington is mulling the creation of a 1,000-strong Kuwait-based military force allegedly aimed at engaging Daesh in Syria and Iraq.

Citing unnamed officials, Reuters said in Wednesday report that the administration of US President Donald Trump was considering bolstering the country's Kuwait-based troops by around 1,000 to act as reserve in the battle against terrorism.

"This is about providing options," said a US official speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that the deployment would differ from the existing US forces stationed in Kuwait.

The officials noted that the decision on whether to send the troops to Kuwait is part of an ongoing evaluation of Washington's strategy to defeat Daesh in Iraq and Syria, where some 6,000 US troops are currently deployed.

The officials refrained from mentioning if the rapidly deployable force has the support of US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Meanwhile, a US defense official announced that a detachment of Marines had arrived in Syria close to Daesh's de-facto capital of Raqqah.

The US-led military coalition operating in Iraq and Syria says it is working with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to try to defeat Daesh in the militant-riddled northern Syrian city. However, there have been numerous reports of US-led airstrikes targeting Syrian civilians, military and infrastructure.

Since 2014, the United States, along with a number of its allies, has been leading a so-called anti-terror campaign in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

The latest development comes as US-backed militant groups continue to gain territory in northern Syria.

On Monday, the Pentagon announced that it had sent additional US soldiers to northern Syria to deter infighting between rival forces in the region.

"We have made visible actions in deploying US forces as part of the coalition in and around Manbij to reassure and deter - that's to deter parties from attacking any other parties other than Daesh itself," Defense Department spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

The US-backed SDF, which includes Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters, is currently in control of Manbij and Syria's entire northern border with Turkey.

Ankara launched an offensive in August in Syria with the declared aim of supporting Free Syrian Army militants and rid the border area of Daesh terrorists and fighters from the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing, the YPG.

In February, Turkey announced that after its forces complete their operations in Syria's al-Bab, they will move towards the nearby Kurdish-held city of Manbij.

Ankara accuses the PYD and YPG of having links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group that has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.

On Tuesday, a senior Turkish official said the US must make a decision on whether to continue supporting the YPG or heed Ankara's call and start supporting Turkish-backed militants in Syria.

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U.S. Deploys Extra Troops To Syria In Battle To Oust IS From Raqqa

RFE/RL March 09, 2017

About 400 additional U.S. forces have been temporarily deployed to Syria with heavy artillery in preparation for a fight to oust the extremist group Islamic State (IS) from its self-declared headquarters in the northern city of Raqqa.

U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq, said on March 9 that the troops would not have a frontline role in the battle and are in addition to the 500 U.S. soldiers already in Syria.

Dorrian said the extra forces would work with local partners in Syria -- the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes the Kurdish YPG militia, and the Syrian Arab Coalition.

The additional forces arrived in "the last few days" and consist of a Marines artillery unit and Army Rangers, Dorrian told Reuters, confirming U.S. media reports of the deployment.

The SDF, the main U.S. partner in the war against IS in Syria, has been working since November with the U.S.-led coalition to encircle Raqqa.

It said this week that the last remaining major artery running between Raqqa and the IS stronghold of Deir al-Zor Province had been cut off.

The drive to isolate Raqqa is "going very, very well" and could be finished in a matter of weeks, Dorrian added.

Previously, several hundred U.S. Special Operations troops have advised local forces in Syria, but the Pentagon has mostly shied away from using conventional forces there.

Reuters also reported that the administration was considering deploying up to 1,000 U.S. soldiers in Kuwait to serve as a reserve force in a bid to accelerate the battle against IS in Syria and Iraq.

The developments are an early indication that President Donald Trump's White House is giving the Pentagon greater flexibility in the fight against IS.

Military commanders have criticized what they saw as micromanagement by the White House during former President Barack Obama's administration and argued for greater freedom to make day-to-day decisions on how best to fight enemies.

With reporting by AP, dpa, Reuters, and The Washington Post

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/us-said-deploy- troops-syria-battle-is-raqqa-eye-putting-reserve- troops-kuwait/28358861.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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Photo: drt.danang.vn Vice Chairman Minh added that Da Nang city had attracted 461 projects with a capital of USD3.8 billion. However, cooperation with Belgium does not yet match its potential.

He suggested that Vice Governor Geert Versnick be a bridge introducing businesses from East Flanders in particular and those across Belgium in general to study cooperation and investment opportunities in Da Nang city, especially in areas that are Belgiums strengths.

In addition, he also urged Mr. Geert Versnick to invite Belgian businesses to join activities of the APEC 2017 Week to be held in Da Nang city, expressing his hope to learn from Belgiums experience in urban management and logistics services.

The Vice Chairman of the Da Nang city Peoples Committee pledged to make favourable conditions for Belgian businesses to invest in Vietnam, and agreed to set up cooperation between Da Nang city and East Flanders province.

Mr. Geert Versnick said that he was impressed by the development of Da Nang city, adding that the two localities had a lot of potential for cooperation.

According to Mr. Geert Versnick, East Flanders province focuses its cooperation with other localities in the agricultural and educational sectors. He said that, as Da Nang city and East Flinders have only set up cooperation in education, the two localities should expand cooperation and relations in the years to come./.
Iran exports death to Yemen and Al-Houthi sells it to citizen as a medicine

Saudi Press Agency

Thursday 1438/6/10 - 2017/03/09

Aden, 10 Jumada II,1438 AH, 09 March,2017 , SPA -- Iran has since its inception continued to export death to all surrounding countries and interfere in the affairs of states by supporting militias to destabilize security in the region.

In Yemen, Iran has supported rebels strategically, logistically and militarily and the Revolutionary Guard used fake companies registered outside the country as a front to help smuggling money and goods to rebels frequently.

In this aspect, press sources said that Al-Houthi militias introduced a drug shipment in large quantities as Iranian aid and medical supplies to Yemen. The sources explained that the drug shipment entered Sanaa and delivered to stores of some traders who have recently established companies for this purpose.

The sources indicated that Al-Houthi militias introduced six containers loaded with 24 varieties of drugs, including narcotic and psychotropic substances whose valued amounted to $ 2,400,000.

The sources said the substances valued in the market at about six million dollars, including narcotics (PTD), (Dezbam) and (midazolam) in large quantities and are sold by Houthi supervisors of pharmacies directly and these dugs cause death directly, which warns of disaster in the Yemen society.

Yemeni observers said that the smuggling of such drugs by Al-Houthi aims to harm the Yemeni society through abuses and addiction, as Iran seeks to sacrifice civilians and help putschists in destroying and looting the capabilities of the country, eliminating the cohesion of Yemen and exporting the revolution to it, in addition to helping Al-Houthi and Saleh in the establishment of illegal trade and smuggling.

Recent reports said that Iran has received about 7,000 Yemenis for studying there and indoctrinating them with Khomeini thought. Iran has also provided coup militias of Al-Houthi and Saleh with explosive mines manufactured in Iran to be planted in the streets and between houses, and continued to smuggle weapons and missiles in spite of Security Council resolution 2216, while Arab Coalition to support the legitimacy in Yemen, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in parallel with the battles takes great care of humanitarian works that precede military actions and carries out medical programs for those in need of medical services.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has worked to help the legitimate government in the restoration of Yemeni social fabrics ruined by coup militias, and rehabilitation and maintenance of affected schools through King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid, in addition to providing everything that assists the Yemeni national army in clearing the Yemeni territories from mines and controlling marine ports to prevent arms smuggling.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has recently announced its intention to establish free trade zones between the Kingdom and Yemen to serve the economy of the two countries after the end of the coup and war, reiterating its confirmation to assist the legitimate government in improving Yemeni economy indicators.

-- SPA

16:23 LOCAL TIME 13:23 GMT

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Five Million Sudanese Currently in Middle of Famine as War Rages

Sputnik News

18:22 09.03.2017(updated 20:11 09.03.2017)

Rim Nada, a regional representative of the World Food Program (WFP) revealed to Sputnik that around five million Sudanese are currently suffering from famine, with the figure expected to rise to 5.5 million during the period of drought.

The World Food Program (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.

Sputnik interviewed Rim Nada, a regional representative of the program, about the catastrophic situation in the African country of South Sudan.

Up to five million Sudanese are suffering from famine there, due to the lack of food and the ongoing war raging in the country.

Five million is 40 per cent of the country's population.

"The figure is expected to rise to 5.5 million in July, during the period of drought," she said.

"WFP is ready to provide all the necessary aid to those starving in South Sudan and Somalia. However we encounter many difficulties. For example, the regions where people are suffering the most, are most actively involved in the military conflict and we are simply unable to deliver food there," she told Sputnik.

She also said that the danger of famine in the country is largely underestimated. Many people already died of starvation even before it was officially acknowledged.

The fact that there is a famine in the country is rarely acknowledged by the government, she said. However recently it admitted starvation in a number of regions, which is unprecedented, she concluded.

 Sputnik

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Yemeni Government Forces Approach Houthi-Held Capital of Sanaa

Sputnik News

15:45 09.03.2017

The Yemeni government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries took control a number of strategically important targets in vicinity of the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa, according to a military source.

SANAA (Sputnik)  The Yemeni government forces have approached the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa and have taken control of a number of strategically important targets in its vicinity, a military source told Sputnik Thursday.

Yemeni forces loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have been fighting with Shia Houthi rebels, the country's main opposition force. The Houthis are backed by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, while the Yemeni government is supported by the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries.

"The forces of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi backed by the coalition have taken control of strategic positions and are close to capturing the center of Nihm district, which is located in 30 kilometers [18.6 miles] from Sanaa," the source said.

The source also added that the air force of the coalition have been mass bombing the area for 14 hours. At least 25 people from both sides have died in the altercations on the ground and over 30 have been wounded.

The Houthi rebels captured Sanaa in 2014.

 Sputnik

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Update: air strikes against Daesh

9 March 2017

The RAF are continuing to take the fight to Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Summary

- Monday 6 March  Typhoons demolished a Daesh headquarters in eastern Syria, while Tornados struck terrorist supply routes within Mosul.

- Tuesday 7 March  Tornados eliminated a sniper team in Mosul, while Typhoons cut a road linking Mosul with Daesh positions to the north-west.

- Wednesday 8 March  Tornados engaged a mortar position north-west of Mosul, and Daesh extremists, including a sniper, within the city.

Detail

Careful intelligence analysis allowed the Coalition to pinpoint the location of a Daesh headquarters at a compound in a remote area of eastern Syria. Two Typhoons were dispatched from RAF Akrotiri on Monday 6 March, targeting the two key buildings within the compound. Both were demolished by Paveway IV guided bombs. Tornados meanwhile supported Iraqi ground operations in western Mosul by using Paveway IVs to strike three key routes within the city, helping to prevent Daesh from sending reinforcements or truck-bombs to areas being successfully liberated by the Iraqi troops.

Similar work was performed by Paveway-armed Typhoons the following day, when they cut a major highway leading out of Mosul towards positions still held by Daesh to the north-west of the city. Inside Mosul, a Tornado flight used a Paveway IV to deal very effectively with a sniper team which was holding up an Iraqi advance.

On Wednesday 8 March, a pair of Tornados initially operated north-west of Mosul, where they struck a mortar position on the south bank of the Tigris using a Paveway IV. They then provided direct support to Iraqi forces inside western Mosul, engaging a sniper who was firing on the Iraqis, and hitting a building defended by a number of terrorists.

UK contribution to the fight against Daesh



Map of UK forces committed to Operation Shader

Campaign against Daesh



Map of Daesh losses and gains in Iraq and Syria since September 2014

Previous update

Wednesday 1 March: A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft assisted Iraqi troops in western Mosul, using a Hellfire missile and a GBU-12 guided bomb to eliminate Daesh fighters, including a sniper, engaged at close quarters with the Iraqis. The Reaper also used its surveillance sensors to check that a target area was clear of civilians before a coalition air strike. Two flights of Tornados armed with Paveway IVs also operated over western Mosul that day. The first pair destroyed a strong-point held by terrorists armed with light machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades, while the second pair dealt with a sniper before demolishing two buildings that were part of a factory producing truck-bombs.

Thursday 2 March: Typhoons had to deal with heavy cloud over Mosul, with the challenging weather conditions denying them clear sight of the target when an Iraqi unit came under machine-gun fire from a Daesh strong-point at short range. Despite these conditions, very careful coordination with the Iraqi troops allowed the Typhoons to hit the Daesh position accurately with a Paveway IV, without endangering friendly forces. The Iraqi unit reported that the machine-gun had been silenced and the threat to them eliminated.

Friday 3 March: Tornados experienced similarly difficult cloud conditions, when they struck four Daesh-held buildings in western Mosul. The Iraqi ground forces reported that all four targets had been safely destroyed, with at least one heavy machine-gun also put out of action. Typhoons also engaged a further three targets in the city, striking a road junction to prevent Daesh moving supplies and truck-bombs along the route, and eliminating sniper and light machine-gun teams.

Sunday 5 March: A pair of Typhoons operated around Tall Afar. They used Paveway IVs to target successfully a cave where terrorists had set up base, together with a near-by fortified position. A second pair of Typhoons maintained close air support over western Mosul, where they bombed first a Daesh strong-point and then a checkpoint that had been established in a large building on the outskirts to control a route out of the city. 20 miles north-west of Mosul, another Daesh location had been detected, with terrorists occupying a building on the banks of the Tigris. Tornados struck the building, and then used a further Paveway IV to collapse a tunnel that had been dug close by.

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'Holistic thinking' needed for peace, development in Lake Chad region  Deputy UN chief Mohammed

9 March 2017  Highlighting the multifaceted nature of the crisis in Africa's Lake Chad Basin, the deputy United Nations chief underlined the need for a holistic approach that includes responding to the Boko Haram as well as closing the gap between humanitarian assistance and development interventions.

"Lasting recovery will entail supporting reconstruction of schools, health centres, and reviving essential infrastructure [] that support the necessary livelihoods," Amina Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, told the Security Council today.

"Effective prevention of future radicalization and violence will also entail comprehensive responses that benefit all members of society," she added.

Ms. Mohammed's briefing follows last week's visit of the Security Council to the region and a global UN-backed conference to raise funding to sustain critical aid operations in the region, held on 24 February.

According to estimates, more than 10 million people in the Lake Chad Basin are in need of humanitarian assistance, including more than seven million needing food support, with 515,000 children affected by severe acute malnutrition.

Noting the response by UN agencies to support the local populations and the contributions pledged by countries at the Oslo Humanitarian Conference, the Deputy Secretary-General said that the needs outstripped the resources and urged UN Member States to ensure that the $1.5 billion humanitarian appeal is funded fully.

Speaking on the region's security challenges and the activities of Boko Haram, Ms. Mohammed informed the Council of UN's work to document information on human rights abuses, as well as its assistance to affected countries to ensure that their counter-terrorism efforts fully complied with international human rights, humanitarian and refugee laws.

In particular, she spoke of the plight of women affected by Boko Haram, many of whom are still displaced in camps, detained by the authorities, or are struggling to reintegrate into their communities.

"We also need to scale up efforts to provide access to sexual and reproductive health and psychosocial support and livelihood support for female-headed households," she said, noting the need to ensure that women have key roles in the response  from food distribution and camp management to all efforts to counter violent extremism, restore state authority and build peace.

Further in her remarks, Ms. Mohammed also underlined the need to address the root causes of the crisis to achieve durable peace and of the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for the region.

"My single clear message today is that the solution lies in holistic thinking," she noted, hailing the role of the African Union and the continent's regional organizations to peace, security and the integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and Africa's own Agenda 2063.

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US Marines Deploy to Syria as Agreement on Raqqa Assault Eludes Allies

By Jamie Dettmer March 09, 2017

A contingent of U.S. Marines has arrived in northeast Syria to provide artillery support for local forces in an upcoming assault on Raqqa, the defacto capital of the Islamic State terror group, U.S. officials said.

But there appears to be no final agreement yet between Washington and Ankara on the disposition of the Raqqa attack force  whether U.S.-backed Kurdish militiamen or Turkish-led Syrian rebels will be in the vanguard to oust an estimated 4,000 jihadists entrenched in the city.

As the Marines arrived, Turkey's foreign minister Thursday warned Turkish-led forces will attack U.S.-backed militiamen from the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, if they don't leave a key town in northern Syria.

Such a move would complicate an assault on Raqqa, one that has been delayed for months because of disputes over who should lead the offensive.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkish forces would strike the YPG in Manbij, arguing the Kurdish occupation of the town is a hindrance to Turkish efforts to carve out a safe zone in northern Syria. He gave no deadline though for an attack. Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist group linked to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, and has repeatedly urged Washington to drop its support of the Syrian Kurdish militiamen.

Cavusoglu accused Washington of being confused in its planning for an attack on the IS stronghold of Raqqa.

According to U.S. officials, a contingent from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit has deployed in northern Syria within 32 kilometer artillery range of Raqqa. The contingent is equipped with M777 Howitzers, capable of firing 155mm shells. The Syrian deployment mirrors a similar move last year in Iraq when artillery-equipped U.S. Marines arrived ahead of the start of the assault to take Mosul, IS's last major urban stronghold in Iraq, in order to provide covering fire for Iraqi security forces.

A senior U.S. defense official says the detachment includes "a couple hundred Marines," but the Pentagon has declined formally to confirm the deployment or to detail any location for the Marines or the numbers on the ground.

The deployment marks an escalation of U.S. military involvement in Syria. Several hundred Special Operations troops have been advising the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Last weekend, some of those Special Forces, a hundred U.S. Rangers, deployed in Manbij in a bid to deter clashes between YPG fighters and Turkish-led rebels.

The deployment comes as the Trump administration debates a Raqqa plan drafted by Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the U.S. commander overseeing the campaign against the Islamic State. On March 1 in a briefing for reporters, Townsend declined to go into any details about the plan but he emphasized the coalition strategy of working with local partners in the battle against IS would continue.

"That's still the right way to go," he said. "It's working. Our local partners are fully invested. They're leading the fight and we're just here helping them."

He confirmed recently as well that a small number of American conventional soldiers have been assisting Special Operations troops in Syria with a truck-mounted High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and with medical and other logistical support.

U.S. military officials told VOA that there is skepticism at the Pentagon about the capability of Turkish-led Syrian rebel forces and they question whether they are up to the task. They point to the drawn-out assault mounted by the Turkish forces to recently retake the town of al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo.

There are also Pentagon concerns that if Turkish-led forces move east of the Euphrates River to attack Raqqa, there will inevitably be clashes with Kurdish militiamen, who will see the arrival of the Turkish-led forces as a move aimed as much at them as IS.

Turkey has been determined to prevent Syrian Kurds from linking Kurdish-majority cantons along the Turkish-Syrian border, fearing the Kurds are determined to set up their own mini-state in northern Syria.

Earlier this week, in an unusual three-way meeting in southern Turkey, the top commanders of the U.S., Russian and Turkish armed forces discussed how IS could be ousted from Raqqa. Turkish officials after the meeting indicated there had been no resolution over who should spearhead the Raqqa assault. Russian commanders insisted that whoever takes Raqqa, the city must be handed over to the Syrian army afterwards, said Turkish officials.

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US General Admits Civilians Killed in Yemen Raid

By Carla Babb March 09, 2017

A U.S. military investigation has found that U.S. forces killed between four and 12 civilians during a January raid targeting al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, according to U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, the commander who oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

Votel, who heads U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday the civilian casualty determination was based on the "best information available." The general took responsibility for the mission against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

"We lost a lot in this operation," Votel said, referring to Ryan Owens, the U.S. Navy SEAL killed during the raid, along with the civilians killed and the V-22 Osprey aircraft that was destroyed.

Some lawmakers have questioned the value of data captured by U.S. forces in the January raid, which was authorized by President Donald Trump.

Votel reaffirmed the Pentagon's stance on the taken data, telling lawmakers that the military "did gain some valuable information that will be helpful" against AQAP.

The general added that he saw "no need for an additional investigation" into the operation. A separate probe is still ongoing to provide accountability for the loss of the V-22 Osprey, an aircraft worth about $70 million, during the raid.

The U.S. military has carried out more than 40 airstrikes in Yemen in recent days targeting members of AQAP. Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis has said the latest round of airstrikes was meant to deny AQAP operatives "freedom of movement."

Iran

Votel also told lawmakers on Thursday that the U.S. military and its allies were "dealing with a range of malign activities perpetrated by Iran and its proxies" in the Middle East.

"It is my view that Iran poses the greatest long-term threat to stability for this part of the world," Votel said.

The general said Iran seeks to be the "regional hegemon" and is using "destabilizing" behavior to achieve its goal.

He voiced concern about Iran and Russia's actions to prop up the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as well as Iran's maritime behavior.

Iranian vessels came within 550 meters of a U.S. Navy ship Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing the American ship and other vessels to change direction.

"No other nation operates the way they do in the Arabian Gulf," Votel said, referring to the body of water also known as the Persian Gulf.

"And they need to be held accountable for that, and they need to be exposed for those types of unprofessional, unsafe and abnormal activities."

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UN: Burundian Authorities Shutting Doors of Engagement on Crisis

By Margaret Besheer March 09, 2017

The United Nations says that nearly two years since the election crisis in Burundi, the country is still at risk of intensifying its problems.

Speaking Thursday to the U.N. Security Council, the secretary-general's special adviser, Jamal Benomar, reported that Burundi was still struggling with a fragile security environment; soaring unemployment, especially among youth; and deterioration of the humanitarian situation.

He also underscored that the political impasse had only deepened in the two years since President Pierre Nkurunziza sought what many viewed as an unconstitutional third term in office. Perhaps most troubling, he said, is the worsening human rights situation.

"Many Burundians live in fear as a result of widespread repression and increasing intimidation by the Imbonerakure, the ruling party's youth militia," Benomar said. "Members of opposition political parties, as well as perceived opponents, reportedly continue to be victims of arbitrary arrest, detention, ill treatment and enforced disappearances."

Benomar said 3 million Burundians need humanitarian assistance, a quarter of the population. Since the crisis erupted in 2015, nearly 400,000 people have fled the country, and the U.N. refugee agency projects that number will reach 500,000 by year's end.

International police force

In July 2016, the Security Council authorized a 228-member international police force to deploy to Burundi to prevent human rights violations and provide stability for an intra-Burundian dialogue. The government has continued to reject the council's decision, and the force has been unable to deploy.

Former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, who is the facilitator for the opposing sides, told the council via a video link from Entebbe that the parties were far apart, despite intensive efforts to bring them together.

"Each side claims to be the depository or the custodians of the Arusha agreement [which ended the country's civil war and created a power-sharing agreement between the Hutu majority and Tutsi minority] and the constitution," he said. "And the tendency is to see other side as the criminals, and therefore they are the ones who should be visited with all the wrath of the power of the state or the power of the international community."

Benomar expressed his frustration with the Burundian government, saying the United Nations had tried to engage with Bujumbura but "the doors to engagement and cooperation have been largely shut by the authorities."

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Moon Jae-in

Moon Jae-in was declared the winner 08 May 2017, with just over 40-percent of the vote, and was inaugurated on May 10, 2017. Hong Joon-pyo was 16-percentage points behind at 24-percent, while Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party finishing at around 21-percent. Meanwhile, the other main candidates Yoo Seung-min of the Bareun Party received 6.7 percent, and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party received 6.1 percent.

President Park Geun-hye was expelled from office 10 March 2017 after the Supreme Court ruled she had violated the responsibility to diligently carry out her duty as stipulated in the Constitution.

By the end of 2016, eight out of nine survey results by Korea's local dailies show the former main opposition party leader Moon Jae-in earning the highest support among several potential presidential candidates, followed by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Only one of the nine surveys shows Ban ahead of Moon. Behind those two possible contenders were Seongnam city mayor Lee Jae-myung, doctor-turned-software tycoon and former minor opposition party leader Ahn Cheol-soo, the governor of Chungcheongnam-do Ahn Hee-jung, and the current Seoul mayor Park Won-soon.

A joint survey by Yonhap News Agency and KBS released in late December 2016 had Moon Jae-in in the lead with 21.2 percent, followed by Ban Ki-moon at 17.2. Seongnam mayor Lee Jae-myung took third place, with single-digit support for Ahn Cheol-soo and Chungcheongnam-do Governor Ahn Hee-jung. A survey conducted by the Chosun Ilbo also showed Moon on top, though by a slightly bigger margin. The other four candidates came in the same order, Ban Ki-moon, again with about 17 percent support. The Donga Ilbo's poll had Moon again in the lead, albeit more narrowly, followed by Ban and Lee. But, interestingly, Prime Minister and current acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn made this poll's top five.

Moon Jae-in expressed hope that his party and the minor opposition Peoples Party will join forces in the upcoming presidential election. Moon, who was considered a front-runner among potential presidential candidates, made the remarks on 02 January 2017. Moon said the two parties took different paths in last year's general elections, but they were all descendants of the democratic governments of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. He said that it was the wish of the people and the demand of Jeolla residents that the two parties join hands to reestablish a democratic government.

Born January 24, 1953, Moon Jae-in's parents are from Heungnam of South Hamgyeong province, in present-day North Korea. They fled to Geojae-do during the Korean War in 1950. Moon was born a Catholic in Geojae-do and moved to Busan when he was young. He attended middle school and high school in Busan. He was accepted to Kyeonghee University Law School in 1972 but was arrested when he was a university law student protesting in Seoul against President Parks Yushin constitutional revisions in 1972. He was arrested and expelled from school in 1975 due to participation in student protests.

He was forced to serve in the Special Forces to fulfill his military service. He was assigned to the 1st Special Forces Brigade, the commander of which was former president Chun Doo-hwan and the battalion commander was Jang Sae-dong, Chuns eventual Blue House chief of staff. He returned to school in 1980 but, during Seouls Spring, he was arrested again for violating martial law. However, he was released, miraculously, by passing the bar exam. Moon returned to his hometown of Busan after not being appointed as a judge, and decided to become a lawyer.

And at this moment in time he met Noh Moo-hyun. During the 1980s, Joint Law Officer of Noh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in was handling nearly all of the cases related to labor and human rights in the Busan area. During the June Democracy Movement of 1987, Headquarter of National Movement for Achieving Democratic Constitution was first organized in Busan, before it was formed in Seoul. The head of Busan Headquarters was Noh Moo-hyun and the senior member was Moon Jae-in.

In 1988, lawyer Roh Moo-hyun was elected to the National Assembly, but lawyer Moon Jae-in was left alone in Busan to handle cases related to labor rights and current state affairs. Moon did not have much of a role during the 2002 Democratic Party Elections. Only after Roh Moo-hyun became president did he come into the Blue House and become the most influential person. After 2002 presidential election had ended, in January of 2003, president-elect Roh Moo-hyun said to Moon Jae-in and Lee Ho-cheol, one of Rohs secretaries. Moon failed to stop scandals involving family members of former President Roh. It is impossible to make a political justification as it ended in a death of the former president.

As Rohs last chief of staff, Moon Jae-in was the standard bearer of the Old Guard, Roh-era liberal politics. Roh is famous for implementing a policy of relatively unconditional engagement with North Korea (the Sunshine Policy) and questioning the functional value of the US-ROK Alliance at the most fundamental levels.

Moon went a step further during the by-election held on April 20, 2011, by actively participating in election campaigns across the country, and he was a popular guest. He wasnt the most charismatic speaker but his openness was appealing to voters. The opposition won the Seoul mayoral by-election, but was soundly defeated in Busans eastern district.

Moon Jae-In was the central figure leading the effort toward unifying South Koreas political opposition. He will be making crucial decisions with former Prime Minister Lee Hae-Chan, among others. Chairman Moon also conducted special sessions for members of the Democratic Party. He is also giving readings of his autobiography Destiny of Moon Jae-in in large cities such as Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Daegu, Chunchon, and Daejeon. He attended a talk show at the University of Busan, conducted by Kim Jae-Dong, as a special guest.

Moon ran against President Park in 2012, losing by a few points. By November 2012 aides to Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo were working round the clock to unify the two campaigns -- a process the two candidates promised will be nice and peaceful. A poll by Real Meter showed Ahn leads Park 47-percent to 42-percent in a hypothetical two-way race. In a two-way competition between Moon and Park, Park had 46-percent support with Moon trailing with 45-percent. On 13 November 2012 the two campaigns took the first step toward the unification process with the completion of a draft of their joint declaration on political reform. The declaration contains a set of political reform plans that Moon and Ahn agree to implement if one of them becomes president -- such as reducing the president's power of appointment and increasing the number of proportional representatives in parliament. The breakthrough came after campaign staffers responsible for negotiating the merger of the two campaigns met for the first time and agreed upon a set of house rules.

On 17 December 2012 Korea's two main presidential candidates, Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in, squared off in their final TV debate, clashing over welfare, education and crime. Both had similar pledges in regards to providing free childcare and free school lunches. But as for how each of them plan to pay for these programs, Park said she would cut government spending while Moon said he would raise taxes on the rich. Then they touched upon reducing high private education costs by reforming school systems and improving curricula.

The National Institute of Korean History was entrusted by the education ministry to put the new Korean History textbook together. However, the opposition bloc strongly resisted the plan. The NPAD's leader Moon Jae-in slammed the government for unilaterally forging ahead with its plan, ignoring what he said is the public's growing demand that the plan be scrapped. Calling the government's move totalitarian, he urged the public to reject the state-issued textbook. He said the party now plans to make use of all legal means available to it, such as filing a constitutional complaint, and for a provisional injunction to stop the education ministry's move.

The liberal party was concerned the textbook might be too right-leaning, and gloss over Korea's dictatorial past, while the conservative ruling Saenuri Party argues most current history textbooks are too left-leaning, and their descriptions on North Korea are too lenient and skewed.

Moon had been under mounting pressure from non-mainstream factions after the party lost two rounds of by-elections on April 29 and October 28 in 2015. The defeat in the April 13 parliamentary elections had seemed like a determined fact. The miraculous victory in the elections brought a dramatic twist. The New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) elected Moon Jae-in, 62, as its new chairperson 01 September 2015. Moon was able to rise again for his contributions to the partys landslide victory in the Seoul metropolitan region and the partys strong performance in the Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do region. Kim Jong-ins emergency committee came to an end and a truly pro-Moon party leadership was launched.

The opposition party changed its name to the Minjoo Party of Korea -- a move seen to reform its image. Political heavyweight Park Jie-won of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea announced his official departure from the party on 22 January 2016, promising more unity in the opposition bloc as a result. The former chief of staff to late President Kim Dae-jung said he will work for cooperation between the People's Party led by Ahn Cheol-soo and the Minjoo Party, without having any party affiliation. Park is de facto leader of a group of lawmakers who have their roots in Jeolla-do Province. They have been denouncing outgoing Minjoo Party chief Moon Jae-in for deepening factional strife between loyalists of late president Roh Moo-hyun and those outside of that faction.

When the Minjoo Party split in two after lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo left the party, Moon gave up control of the party to a former member of the Saenuri Partys emergency committee. Moon Jae-in stepped down as chairman of the main opposition Minjoo Party 27 January 2016 after the Central Committee of the party appointed Kim Chong-in, who was recruited to head the Minjoos general election campaign, as the interim leader. Kim Jong-in seized the reins following the dissolution of the predecessor New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), and was seen as pushing a security-centered party identity that moved out of the shadow of former President Roh Moo-hyun.

The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea held an in-house primary on 05 August 2016 and whittled down the number of contenders for its leadership post from four to three. Two of the candidates -- Choo Mi-ae and Kim Sang-gon -- have close ties to former party leader Moon Jae-in, who represented the Roh Moo-hyun faction, while Lee Jong-kul did not. If Choo Mi-ae was elected, the party's Moon Jae-in faction will be in the driver's seat as she had close ties with Moon, the former party leader and the man who lost to President Park Geun-hye in late 2012. If she won, it was very likely Moon will make a second run at the presidency. But victories for Kim Sang-kon or Lee Jong-kul, who aren't as close to Moon, will make things much more unpredictable as they would want to take the party in a different direction.

At its national convention 28 August 2016, members of the Minjoo Party picked five-term lawmaker Choo Mi-ae as their new chief and elected eight new Supreme Council members, six of whom are considered pro-Moon. Party watchers speculated whether that dominance by his supporters will help the likely presidential candidate Moon in the run-up to the 2017 contest, as unity could help the party achieve stability but could also lead to criticism that it's too dependent on a certain faction.

The debate surrounding Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) deployment to rural Seongju County divided the opposition party along factional lines, with those opposed to THAADs deployment rallying to the pro-Moon camp, with others seeking alternative positions. Ruling Saenuri Party Floor Leader Chung Jin-suk has criticized main opposition heavyweight Moon Jae-in for proposing a temporary halt to the THAAD deployment process. Chung said at a news conference 10 October 2016 that he was disappointed with Moons dismal viewpoints on national security, more so because the former opposition leader is regarded as a promising presidential aspirant. The ruling party floor leader urged Moon to uphold a sense of responsibility as a political heavyweight, saying that suspending the THAAD deployment will only benefit the Kim Jong-un regime.

In October 2016 former Foreign Minister Song Min-soon's account of a decision made during the Roh Moo-hyun administration set off a firestorm in domestic politics. The account from his memoir detailed South Korea's decision to abstain from a 2007 vote on a UN resolution on North Korea's human rights record. According to Song, Moon Jae-in, who was the chief of staff to the late president at the time, proposed that South Korea ask for North Korea's opinion on the matter before voting. In the end, Seoul abstained from voting.

Moon Jae-in, former chairman of the main opposition Minjoo Party and one of major presidential hopefuls, told reporters 15 November 2016 that he will initiate a nationwide campaign to let President Park step down, saying the campaign will last until the president declares her unconditional resignation. Moon said people's frustration, shown in Saturday's mass rally, cannot be cured only by Park's resignation, noting it is high time to replace the current era and overhaul the root of the country. Over a million South Koreans took to the streets in Seoul alone in the third weekend rally to demand Park step down.

Speaking to journalists at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club on 15 December 2016, Moon Jae-in, a leader of the Democratic Party, South Koreas leading opposition party, said it would be his great honor to run as a candidate in the next presidential election. Moon led the field of likely South Korean presidential candidates with a 24 percent approval rating, compared to current UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who is second in the polls with a 19.5 percent rating.

Moon said he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, if it was agreed that the nuclear issue would be on the agenda, and that he would support a deal to freeze the Norths current nuclear capabilities, with the understanding that dismantling the nuclear program is the long term goal.

Moon would to revive a limited version of the past Sunshine Policy of Engagement that in the early 2000s tried to build trust with North Korea through investment, exchanges and aid programs, while also maintaining strong deterrence and international sanctions. We need to have two tracks of measures here. We need to be able to apply some pressure and coercion on North Korea, but on the other hand we should also start discussions and dialogue with North Korea, said Moon.

Moon said he would support some deal to put in place a temporary freeze on the North Korean nuclear program that might lead down the road to further disarmament talks. His support for inter-Korean dialogue could put the South Korean leader at odds with the Trump administration in Washington, which has rejected a similar freeze plan suggested by the leadership in Beijing.

On relations with Japan, Moon wants to renegotiate the 2015 Comfort Women deal in which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered apologies and remorse for the thousands of Korean women who were forced into prostitution by the Japanese military during both WWII and Japans colonization of Asia. Tokyo also agreed to donate more than $8 million to the surviving Korean victims.

Some of the surviving Comfort Women and supporters in South Korea denounced the apology as informal and insufficient, and rejected informal donation instead of formal compensation for war crimes. What Japan needs to do in regards to Comfort Women issues is to recognize fully its legal responsibility and make an official apology. We dont need money, he said.

While he has voiced strong support for the US alliance, Moon also said South Korea should learn to say No to the Americans. He has not directly opposed the US THAAD anti-missile shield being deployed in South Korea, but has said it should be postponed until after the election, so the next president can better evaluate its diplomatic risk versus security benefit, and to better alleviate the concerns of China.





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President Park Geun-hye

Out of the 18 charges that prosecutors brought against her, on 06 April 2018 the Seoul Central District Court found Park guilty of 16 of them, sentencing her to 24 years in prison plus a fine of more than 16 million U.S. dollars. Most of the charges are the wrongful exercise of authority, which she did in the private interests of herself and her confidant Choi Soon-sil.

She not only extorted donations from Korea's largest conglomerates to support the Mir and K-Sports foundations run by her friend Choi, she also pressured many of those conglomerates to hire contractors on unfair terms. On all the charges of abuse of power and coercion, she was found either guilty or partly guilty. She was also convicted of other charges related to the sports foundations with the sums of money paid recognized as bribes. The money paid to support the equestrian career of Choi's daughter, Jung Yoo-ra, was also considered bribery.

The former president was also found guilty of attempted coercion, by pressuring CJ Group to remove its former vice chair, Lee Mi-kyung, from her post and of leaking confidential documents from the presidential office. She was also found guilty of blacklisting some cultural figures from state funding and forcing culture ministry officials to resign.

But in the case of donations from Samsung, in particular -- an amount worth more than 20 million U.S. dollars given to a winter sports talent center and the two foundations -- Park was found not guilty of accepting bribes. That's because the court explained that to be considered bribery, there has to be a request made by the party paying the money, which it found there was not.

On 09 March 2017, the South Korean Constitutional Court voted unanimously to uphold the impeachment of President Park Guen-hye and thus remove her from office on charges of corruption, misconduct and negligence. Under the constitution, Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn were to schedule a presidential election within the following 60 days.

On 09 December 2016, South Korean lawmakers approved an impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye. The measure was passed by a margin of 234 votes for, 56 against, two abstentions, and seven ballots considered spoilt.

As a result of the vote, President Park Geun-hye's duties were temporarily transferred to the country's Prime Minister, until South Korea's Constitutional Court decides within the following 180 days on whether to validate or reject the motion and end President Park's term.

Conservative Saenuri [New Frontier] Party candidate Park Geun-hye made history 19 December 2012 by winning South Korea's presidential election, becoming the country's first female president-elect after defeating liberal rival Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party by several percentage points. Park won 51.6 percent of the vote compared with 48 percent for Moon Jae-in. Turnout 76 percent voter turnout was considered high, surpassing the two previous presidential elections despite sub-freezing temperatures across the country.

Park Geun-hye impresses all who meet her and her complete devotion to her country is unquestionable. For Park, who is 60 and is scheduled to take office February 25, it will actually be the second time residing in the presidential Blue House. She lived there in the 1970's, serving as the country's acting first lady after her mother was assassinated by a North Korea-backed gunman, and has never married. Her father, President Park Chung-hee, had two assassination attempts made on him. The first, in August 1974, took the life of Park Geun-hye's mother, Yook Young-soo; the second, in October 1979, his own intelligence chief killed President Park himself. As former President Park Chung-hee's daughter, she earns votes from those who are nostalgic for the double digit economic growth of President Park's rule (1961-1979) and loses votes from those who remember the injustices of her father's authoritarian reign.

Former GNP Chair Park Geun-hye was born February 2, 1952 and raised in the Blue House from the age of 9. Park's mother made every effort to offer Park a normal life, sending her to public schools and allowing her to ride the tram like other children. According to her official bio, she spent her early years, "learning traditional arts and living a quiet life observing great events." Her mother is credited with ensuring Park had the best education. After hearing a distinguished American visitor to the Blue House say that engineering was the key to Korea's future, Park decided to major in engineering. When she graduated from prestigious Sogang University with a degree in electrical engineering.

After graduating from Catholic Sogang University in 1974, Park went to France for further study. In August of 1974, her mother was killed in a North Korean assassination plot by a Japanese-Korean on then President Park Chung-hee. Park Geun-hye returned home after her mother's death and as the president's eldest daughter, Park served as acting first lady from 1974 to 1979.

On October 26, 1979, her father was assassinated by his KCIA chief. When Park Geun-hye learned of her father's death, her first reaction was apparently to ask, "Is the DMZ all right?" Some believe Park Chung-hee was grooming his eldest daughter to be president, although there is no evidence to support this claim. During the ensuing Chun Doo-hwan regime, Park's personal life was difficult as she was shadowed by the KCIA and many of her confidants were sent to hard-time prisons and even tortured.

From late 1979 until late 1996, Park lived a largely solitary life. She dealt with the shock of both her parents' deaths and spent much of her time dealing with her own grief. As the family head, Park also had a number of serious problems. Her brother suffered serious drug addiction and was arrested on several occasions. Her sister had a difficult divorce during this time. Park Geun-hye worked mostly at home although she did hold the chairperson position at Daegu's Youngnam University during this period. In 1992, she wrote in her diary, "If I were to choose, I might choose death over a life like this again."

She spent a considerable amount of her time with Yukyoung Foundation and the Saemaeum Hospital, charitable foundations established by her father. She also held a controversial position as head of the Jangsu Scholarhip Foundation that was founded with Busan Ilbo newspaper stock "given" -- possibly under pressure -- to the foundation by Busan Ilbo's founder. Since she started work with Girl Scouts of Korea in 1974 and she became involved in various welfare projects during the 70s and 80s, Park has always put a strong emphasis on charitable work.

In 1996 Park joined the New Korea Party (the Grand National Party predecessor party) and became an Assemblywoman representing Daegu through by-elections in 1998. She said she returned to public view to "save the country." In speeches Park says that she was motivated by the economic crisis of 1997 and wanted to "reform the party system and the overall political environment."

She successfully led the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) from March 2004 until June 2006 to a surprisingly good result in the National Assembly elections in April 2004 and multiple victories in subsequent local and by-elections.

Park Geun-hye was attacked 20 May 2006 in Seoul by an assailant with a box-cutter; she suffered deep cuts to her face. Park suffered an eleven-centimeter-long (about four inches) cut to her face, from ear to jaw, one-to-three centimeters deep, and required 60 stitches. Her well-publicized first words after the attack were, "I am all right. Don't overreact," which helped sweep the GNP to victory across the nation. The attack appears to have helped Park project a new image among the Korean public as a tough but calm leader. Her popularity peaked after, despite being attacked during a speech and hospitalized, she heroically left her hospital bed and went directly to campaign. Her inspiring performance led the GNP to a sweeping victory in the May 31 local elections.

She stepped down as the party chairwoman in July 2006 to prepare her 2007 presidential bid. As a presidential candidate, Park's clean image and devotion to her country won her a solid base of conservative support. In January 2007, Park put her campaign into high gear with veiled and not-so-veiled attacks at front-runner Lee Myung-bak. She made a series of high profile speeches laying out her policy positions and she even changed her trademark hairstyle. Her previous hairstyle was identical to that of her mother's. Her current style is much more modern.

While being the authoritarian president's daughter was a net plus as the nation's economic successes in the 1960s and 1970s are remembered fondly, being a woman was potentially a weak point. Korean voters think that it takes a man to stand up to Kim Jong-il's antics. With Park, gender is not a big hindrance to her candidacy since she was able to display her qualifications to lead - determination and dedication - by immediately resuming her public activities after being slashed in the face in May 2006, which led Park to an approval rating of 45%. Park is thought of as Park Chung-hee's daughter first and as a woman second.

In 1975 eight students who struggled against Park's rule were sentenced to death on trumped up charges of violating the National Security Law and treason. The eight were executed less than 24 hours after the trial. In 2007, a court revisited the cases and declared the eight activists innocent. Park Geun-hye was asked to comment on the case. She replied that the case was only being dealt with now for political reasons and she had already apologized for any injustices committed when she was in the Blue House.

Park was for a time a front-runner to be the GNP's nominee in the December 2007 presidential race. Her main challenger within the party was Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak. But by February 2007 she was running 20-30 points behind Lee. After emerging as the GNP candidate on 20 August 2007, Lee stated that he would embrace Park Geun-hye's supporters. However, the formation of his election preparation team revealed his preference for loyalty over mending party factions. Lee's failure to incorporate Park and her people into his administration had garnered much criticism among the Korean people. Park was deeply mistrustful of President Lee, seeing tricks and machinations in every proposal. But the factional divides are personality- and not policy-based and therefore had not significantly impeded the President's legislative agenda. Park Geun-hye's popularity had been growing throughout the country in large part due to the failures of the Lee Myung-bak Administration.

On 07 May 2009 President Lee and GNP Chair Park Hee-tae met to discuss the party's by-election failure. The two publicly attributed the GNP's loss to a persistent factional divide within the party between the President's supporters and those of Representative Park Geun-hye. In the first gesture to heal this rift since Lee narrowly defeated Park in the party's presidential primary race nearly two years ago, the President and Park Hee-tae announced their support for floor leader candidate Kim Moo-sung, a long-time Park Geun-hye supporter, in the intra-party election scheduled to take place on May 21. The animosity between Lee and Park was so deep that a reconciliation was not possible.

Park Geun-hye remained a very popular figure in her native Gyeongsang province and among conservatives, and some say she was arguably the most potentially powerful politician in Korea. She chose to stay quiet and criticize President Lee only on very specific policy-related issues. A clear front-runner to succeed Lee Myung-bak as president, Park walked a fine line between supporting President Lee and remaining loyal to her faction members, many of whom were denied nomination for the National Assembly elections in 2008. Possible strong challengers from the left include former President Roh's chief of staff, lawyer Moon Jae-in. He won a legislative seat in the polling in Busan, the country's second largest city.

On 20 August 2012 South Korea's governing New Frontier (Saenuri) Party selected Park Gyeun-hye as its candidate for president. Park began the general election campaign as the conservative front-runner. Park earned the nickname Queen of Elections for leading election comebacks for the conservatives. Her latest accomplishment in that realm was a widely unexpected victory for the party in elections for the national assembly in April 2012.

A liberal political novice looked set to prove to be her most formidable opponent in the December national election. Many left of center said their best chance to defeat Park lay with a popular outsider and political novice. He is a high-profile university professor who became very wealthy as a software entrepreneur. Ahn Cheol-soo had not joined any political party, and if Ahn ran as an independent that would split the left-wing vote further easing Park's path to victory. For a man who has never held public office, there were questions remaining on where Ahn stands on many domestic and foreign issues. But on 3 November he resigned the presidential candidacy, making it a two way race. All polls before he stepped down showed the ruling party easily winning the presidency if two liberals were in competition for the top elected post.

South Korea's main opposition party, the Democratic United Party, picked former human rights lawyer and former presidential aide Moon Jae-in on 16 September 2012. In his acceptance speech, Moon vowed to push for summit talks and greater economic cooperation with North Korea. The liberal party candidate served as chief of staff for the late president Roh Moo-hyun, who held summit talks with the north in 2007.

South Korean presidential candidate Park Geun-hye unveiled her foreign policy on 05 December 2012 ahead of the December presidential election. The candidate of the governing Saenuri Party suggested that she will take a tough stance on historical issues, but will also pursue dialogues with Japan, China and North Korea. Park said diplomatic friction is intensifying in East Asia over historical and territorial issues. She said she will never allow other countries to violate South Korea's sovereignty, and will deal sternly with historical issues. But Park also said she will consult with the governments and civic communities of Japan and China to overcome existing frictions and bring about reconciliation and cooperation. She said such efforts are needed to help what she calls a correct understanding of history take root in the region. Park stressed that her country will not tolerate North Korea's provocations, such as nuclear and missile development. But she suggested that the 2 Koreas can open liaison offices in each other's capitals, and she can hold summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The presidents image as a strong and incorruptible leader crumbled under allegations her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, secretly exploited her close relationship with Park to force Korean conglomerates to donate nearly $65 million to two dubious foundations, while at the same time funneling some of the funds and lucrative side contracts to companies owned by herself and her friends.

On 09 December 2016 the National Assembly voted 234 to 56 in favor of the impeachment motion. Two lawmakers abstained and seven votes were invalidated. A total of 299 lawmakers out of the total 300 attended the session. Representative Choi Kyung-hwan of the ruling Saenuri Party, a confidant of President Park, attended the voting session, but did not cast a vote. A total of 172 opposition and independent lawmakers were vocal in their support for impeachment, which meant at least 62 Saenuri lawmakers must have joined them in backing the motion.

The passage of the motion meant President Parks duties as the chief executive were suspended, leaving Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn in charge as acting president. South Korea's Constitutional Court now had six months to rule whether Park must leave office altogether, or whether she should be reinstated as president. Park was only the second president to be impeached since the South Korean government was established in 1948. Former President Roh Moo-hyun was reinstated to presidency after the Constitutional Court rejected his 2004 impeachment.

The successful impeachment motion accused Park of violating the Constitution on a number of different counts. It said she allowed close aides, and confidant Choi Soon-sil, to intervene in policies and to exercise influence in Cabinet meetings. It said she forced private companies to pay bribes. And it said she neglected a constitutional duty to protect lives during the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014.

Interim Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi announced the impeachment verdict of President Park Geun-hye as scheduled on 10 March 2017 saying the decision by the eight justices was unanimous. "The respondent President Park Geun-hye is expelled from office. The respondent has violated the responsibility to diligently carry out her duty as stipulated in the Constitution." Chief Justice Lee said it was unconstitutional for Park to have let her confidante, Choi Soon-sil, a civilian with no official government position, meddle in state affairs, and that Park abused her power to collude with Choi to extort money from conglomerates.

The court dismissed several of the charges in the impeachment motion, citing a lack of evidence that the President had abused her authority by removing officials from their posts without solid ground or that she appointed personnel at private companies. Lack of evidence was also cited for the charge that the President had infringed on the freedom of the press by reprimanding local media outlets that reported on her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil and Choi's inner circle. As for the Sewol-ho ferry disaster in 2014, in which 304 people died, the ruling said there were difficulties in holding the President accountable for neglecting her duty to protect citizens' lives.

The countrys first democratically elected president to be ousted from office was sent to jail 31 March 2017 after a South Korean court approved a prosecutors arrest warrant on charges of bribery, extortion and abuse of power.





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The participants at the meeting (Photo: VNA)



At the meeting, the Ambassador wished the women to be healthy, beautiful, happy and successful in their work and life.

Ms Hoa highly appreciated the achievements of women in Vietnam and abroad over the year: in terms of foreign affairs, consistently fighting to defend national interests, expanding cooperation, enhancing the position of Vietnam on the international arena; in terms of business, job creation for many employees, bringing economic benefits and implementing social responsibility; in the field of scientific research and training, the number of women with high educational standard, participating in many research themes; in the family, women continue to be the fulcrum of spirit, cultivating and imparting good cultural values to future generations of the country.

She thanked and appreciated the role of overseas Vietnamese women in community activities and towards the homeland, emphasizing the success of Vietnamese women and their significant contribution to the empowerment of women.

In the coming time, she hoped that the women would continue to promote their roles and strengths, actively study, creatively labour, strive to affirm their great role and contribute to the common work of agencies and common activities of the Vietnamese community in the Netherlands, thereby contributing to the cause of renewing and building national defense and promoting the Vietnam-Netherlands friendship and cooperation.

On this occasion, the Ambassador also wished families happiness and that they always support the women.

The meeting took place in a warm and happy atmosphere with various interesting exchange activities to honor women and families on the International Womens Day./.
Officials warn of Daesh expansion after train blast in India

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 8, 2017 6:43PM

A recent blast on a passenger train in central India and the subsequent confrontation with a gunman have raised suspicions that the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group may be expanding its footprint across the South Asian country.

Indian police said on Wednesday that security forces had managed to kill the gunman, identified as Saifullah, in connection with the train blast in the state of Madhya Pradesh a day earlier.

It took security forces more than 11 hours to neutralize the gunman in Lucknow, the largest and capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh, where he was residing for the past couple of months.

A Daesh flag, eight pistols, 650 rounds of ammunition, 50 fired rounds, explosives, gold, cash, passports, SIM cards and a train time table were found with the gunman's body.

The blast marks the first such incident linked to Daesh in India.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) confirmed that the slain terrorist was suspected of being an active member of Daesh-Khorasan, which claims to operate across South Asia.

"We had received information that a Daesh-related group was being formed here and a suspect linked to it could be hiding here," media outlets quoted Aseem Arun of India's anti-terror squad as saying.

Indian law enforcement agencies have already detained at least nine suspects from Uttar Pradesh and neighboring Madhya Pradesh following the explosion on Ujjain-Bhopal Express on Tuesday morning, in which 10 people were injured.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, said those who orchestrated the blast had planted the bomb on the passenger train as part of a "pre-planned conspiracy."

"The terrorists were influenced by [Daesh] terror ideology and carried out the blast. It was a pre-planned conspiracy," Chouhan said.

Bhupendra Singh, the home minister of Madhya Pradesh, said the improvised explosive device (IED) explosion on the train was a "trial blast."

"It was revealed during initial interrogation of the arrested terrorists that they were connected to [Daesh]. The explosion was a trial blast. The terrorists had plans to orchestrate the blasts at some other places also."

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Berlin Concerned Over US Military Spending, Russian Military Potential in Baltic

Sputnik News

13:31 09.03.2017(updated 15:45 09.03.2017)

Germany's foreign minister voiced Berlin's concern over Washington's plans to increase military spending as well as Moscow's armed forces in the Baltic Region.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Germany is concerned over Russia's "great military potential" in the Baltic region, as well as over the increase in the US defense spending, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Thursday.

"In my point of view we are concerned because in having certain discussions with both sides, we have great potential of the Russian Armed Forces in the Baltic states, in Poland, or a serious increase in the US defense budget, that we are coming close to the danger of another arms race," Gabriel told a press conference.

Gabriel is paying a two-day working visit to Moscow to discuss bilateral relations, as well as the situation in Syria and Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Gabriel and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later in the day to get briefed on their talks.

Earlier in the day, during the meeting with Lavrov Gabriel stated that it was "still a little early" to discuss the specific ways of preventing a new arms race in Europe.

On February 27, the US Office of Management and Budget announced that Donald Trump's budget proposal would boost military and security spending by $54 billion with a corresponding reduction in all other discretionary spending.

Moscow will not to be drawn into an arms race but will take sufficient measures to strengthen its national security, the speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, said in response.

NATO has been significantly increasing its presence in Eastern Europe after the eruption of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014 using alleged Russian interference in the Ukrainian internal affairs as a pretext, a claim Russia has repeatedly denied.

Moscow has repeatedly voiced its protests against the NATO military buildup saying that will undermine regional stability and result in a new arms race.

 Sputnik

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India to Develop 5th-Generation Jet With Russia Only if Gets Technologies

Sputnik News

09:30 09.03.2017(updated 09:34 09.03.2017)

India will participate in a joint development of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) in cooperation with Russia, only if technologies are transferred to New Delhi, The Times of India reported Thursday citing sources in the Indian Defense Ministry.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik)  In February, Vladimir Drozhzhov, the deputy director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) told Sputnik that Russia and India had agreed a draft contract for the joint development of the FGFA and the Russian side was ready for its signing.

However, The Times of India reported that the decision was made at the "highest levels" to avoid "mistakes" made during the acquisition of Russia's Sukhoi Su-30MKI jets, which had not implied the transfer of technologies.

"Though bulk of the 272 Sukhois [240 inducted until now] contracted from Russia have been made by Hindustan Aeronautics [HAL], they have been basically assembled here with imported knocked-down kits. HAL still cannot manufacture the Sukhois on its own," the source told the news outlet.

The media added that New Delhi wanted to receive technologies that would allow India to modernize jets on its own and facilitate development of its own FGFA project dubbed Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

The FGFA project is part of the Make in India initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. In the project, the Russian side is represented by the Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer and the Indian side by the HAL.

 Sputnik

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AEOI chief: Horizon of Iran-IAEA cooperation bright

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 9, IRNA -- Vice-President and Head of the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi congratulated the reelection of Yukiya Amano as director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and said that he sees good horizon in Tehran-IAEA cooperation.

"The landscape of Iran's cooperation with the agency in the new phase is evaluated as good," Salehi told reporters on Thursday.

He reiterated that Iran-IAEA cooperation takes place within a defined framework.

"We have accepted the IAEA's article of association and its safeguards as well as additional protocol and we are acting within those frameworks," Salehi said.

The AEOI chief said that Iran's cooperation with IAEA has been very good so far and we hope that it will continue in the same manner.

Salehi pointed to Iran's uranium reserves, and said, "The total amount of Iran's uranium reserves amounted to 550 tons which were imported form abroad, but since the beginning of discovering and exploiting uranium in Iran until now we have produced 100 tons which makes the total mount of uranium to reach 650 tons."

He pointed to the yellow cake reserves, and said, "We managed to add 384 tons of yellow cake to our reserves in lieu of selling heavy water and rendering uranium enrichment services."

Salehi pointed to purchase of 900 tons of yellow cake from abroad, and said, 'We had a memorandum of understanding with (US Secretary of Energy) Ernest Moniz and the Group 5+1 and in the last meeting with Mr. Moniz in Frankfurt the MoU was approved and signed, but unfortunately in the last moments one of these countries or Britain broke its promise which is under follow-up by the foreign ministry.

'If this MoU becomes operational we will add about 900 tons of yellow cake within three years,' Salehi added.

He said on April 10 in Iran which is day of nuclear technology there will be good news for making people happy.

2050**2050

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Iran successfully test-fires Hormuz-2 ballistic missile

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 4:6PM

A top Iranian commander says the Islamic Republic has successfully test-fired Hormuz-2 ballistic missile.

Iran "fired Hormuz-2 this week and the missile successfully destroyed a target at a distance of 250 kilometers," commander of the Aerospace Division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said Thursday.

Hormuz-2 is a naval strike ballistic missile that can hit mobile targets at sea with high precision. It has a range of almost 300 kilometers.

The missile is very similar to anti-ship Khalij-e-Fars (Persian Gulf) ballistic missile in appearance.

On Monday, Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan warned that Iran's defensive military power would catch the enemies off guard in the event of an aggression against the Islamic Republic.

The warning came one day after Iran successfully tested the S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system, which the Islamic Republic has purchased from Russia.

Following the test, Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, the commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, said the country was designing and manufacturing an indigenous version of the S-300 system, called Bavar-373.

Iran maintains that its military power poses no threat to other countries and that its military doctrine is based on deterrence only.

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Bombs kill 26 near Tikrit as Iraqi forces battle Daesh in Mosul

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 7:40AM

Bomb attacks at a wedding party near the central Iraqi city of Tikrit have claimed the lives of more than two dozen people as government forces push ahead with their battle to retake the strategic northern city of Mosul from Takfiri Daesh terrorists.

A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said four assailants detonated their explosive belts in quick succession in the path of a wedding convoy at Saad village of Hajjaj, district north of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers northwest of the capital, Baghdad, late on Wednesday, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported.

At least 26 people were killed in the bomb blasts, while 25 others sustained injuries.

Even though no group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, they bear the hallmarks of those carried out by Daesh extremists.

Daesh under pressure in Mosul

The act of terror came only hours after Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah announced the liberation of Shuhada al-Oula neighborhood in Mosul.

He added that Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) forces have raised the national Iraqi flag over a number of buildings in the area.

An unnamed security official also said police forces have arrested three Daesh militants, including a cameraman, in Mosul's Zahra neighborhood.

Moreover, soldiers from the 9th Armored Division of the Iraqi Army and pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units  commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha'abi  recaptured the main prison in Badush village northwest of Mosul, and raised the Iraqi flag over its building.

Security forces also wrested full control over al-Atshana Hills on the southwestern outskirts of Mosul.

Separately, spokesman for the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq volunteer forces Jawad al-Talibawi said his fellow fighters had established complete control over Tal Khazaf and Barnajah villages west of Mosul.

CTS forces then liberated al-Mansour and al-Shuhada al-Thaniya districts of Mosul.

The media bureau of Hashd al-Sha'abi also announced in a statement on Wednesday that the pro-government fighters had managed to take control of al-Sabouniyah train station linking the western side of Mosul to Tal Afar city, located 63 kilometers west of Mosul.

Furthermore, Lieutenant General Yarallah said in a press statement that troops from the 9th Armored Division and Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters had recaptured the road connecting Mosul to Kasak district near Tal Afar.

Iraqi army soldiers and allied fighters launched the offensive to retake Mosul, Daesh's last major city stronghold in the country, last October and since then they have made sweeping gains against Takfiri elements.

Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

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Libyan Parliamentarian Blames UK, Italy for Attacks on Oil Fields in the East

Sputnik News

17:43 09.03.2017

On Tuesday, the Libyan parliament situated in the country's eastern city of Tobruk voted to withdraw from a unity government agreement following the attacks on the country's main oil-production area in the east. Parliamentarian Tarik al-Jarushi told Sputnik Arabic which European countries were behind these attacks and why.

The legislative body denounced the UN-brokered deal signed in the Moroccan city of Skhirat on December 17, 2015, which stipulated the creation of the State Council and the Government of National Accord (GNA).

The move came in response to attacks on the country's main oil-production area in the east spearheaded by the Benghazi Defense Brigades, a coalition of mostly Islamist militias and armed groups.

Libya's oil-exporting region is bitterly contested between the country's UN-backed Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and the rival Tobruk-based House of Representatives parliament. It used to be under the control of General Khalifa Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the east of the country and is a close ally of the Tobruk-based administration.

Sputnik Arabic spoke to Tarik al-Jarushi the head of the Tobruk-based parliament's National Security Council who commented on the move.

"How can we be in a dialogue with those who are fighting against Libyans, destroying wells, terminals and ports? So we made a decision to halt this political dialogue," he explained to Sputnik.

He further noted that the militants from the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda and Benghazi Defense Brigades have united their efforts to attack the oil-rich region of the country.

"We urged the Presidential Council of Libya to stop these attacks but they told us that this is none of their business. However it clearly contradicts their actions at the very start of the attacks when the GNA appointed Brigadier General Idris Buhmada the head of the Guards of the defense of the oil facilities. And after the capture of Ras Lanuf (export terminal), the terrorists held a press-conference where they transferred the management of the terminal to Buhmada. It is a very strange contradiction," he told Sputnik.

The parliamentarian further said that after the capture of Ras Lanuf terminal, the Presidential Council is urging a no-fly-zone above the terminal and the bombing of the militants. It was voiced even more loudly after the UK put forward its project to close the sky over Libya to the UN Security Council, he said.

Thus, he said, the UK wants to fully compel the Libyans and the eastern parliament into exchanging oil for food and to repeat the tragic fate of Iraq.

"The play is going on and the plot is clear. Italy supports a hospital in the city of Misurata for the rehabilitation of terrorists, where well-known leaders of al-Qaeda undergo treatment," he said.

"It is Italy and the UK who are behind these recent attacks. All they want is to take these oil terminals under their control," he finally concluded.

 Sputnik

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Over 20,000 Myanmar refugees enter China amid fighting between army, rebels: Beijing

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 2:50PM

Thousands of people from Myanmar have fled into China following recent intense clashes between the military and armed ethnic rebel groups, a senior Chinese official says.

Geng Shuang, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Thursday that over 20,000 Myanmar refugees had taken shelter in China after violent clashes broke out between the Myanmarese army and ethnic rebels this week.

The spokesman added that the Myanmar residents were being offered humanitarian assistance "to temporarily avoid the war."

Beijing has called for an immediate ceasefire between the two warring sides and urged them to "exercise restraint" to "prevent further escalation and take practical and effective measures to restore peace and stability to the border areas," Geng stressed.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Geng noted that bullets and artillery shells had entered Chinese territory from a town in Myanmar bordering China. The shelling injured one Chinese resident and damaged some property.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Myanmar's military said it used heavy artillery to repel rebels who swept into Laukkai, the capital of Kokang region in Myanmar's northeastern state of Shan, in a pre-dawn raid on Monday.

The military said rebels from the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) "failed" in their attempt to take Laukkai. It confirmed that civilians and "some army officers" had died in a series of clashes around the violence-wracked town.

At least three dozen people were killed in fresh intense fighting after MNDAA rebels dressed in police uniforms launched a surprise raid against police and military posts early Monday.

Kokang area has seen repeated bouts of heavy fighting between the army and a band of well-armed ethnic minority militias since November 2016.

Fighting in Shan and the northern state of Kachin along the Myanmar-China border is intensifying day by day.

The clashes have threatened the second round of peace talks slated for later this month.

Last August, delegates from some rebel groups stormed out of the first round of the peace talks with Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi over a spat about their accreditation.

The government's efforts to expand a ceasefire signed with some ethnic rebel groups in 2015 have faltered.

Observers believe Beijing holds significant sway over the ethnic fighters and has a key role to play in peace talks that Suu Kyi has tried to revive since coming to power in 2015.

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South Korean Court Upholds Presidential Impeachment; Park Ousted

By Brian Padden March 09, 2017

The South Korean Constitutional Court has voted unanimously to uphold the impeachment of President Park Guen-hye.

Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mis reading of the ruling from the Constitutional Court in Seoul Friday was broadcast live by national media outlets.

We believe that there are greater benefits by expelling the respondent from the office. Therefore with a unanimous vote of the justices we announced upholding (the impeachment.) The respondent President Park Guen-hye is expelled.

Impeachment ruling

All eight of the Constitutional Court justices endorsed the National Assembly motion, passed in December with more than the two-thirds majority support needed, to remove Park from office on charges of corruption, misconduct and negligence.

The court cited as grave violations of the constitution the allegations that Park colluded with her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil to extort Korean conglomerates to donate more than $69 million to two dubious foundations. Choi was alleged to have a cult-like influence over Park and control over her staff, even though she had no official government role.

These violations undermine the rule law and a representative democracy, Lee said.

Park was also reprimanded for being uncooperative and evasive in the investigations, and attempting to prevent the legislature from acting as a check and balance on executive power.

Other charges the justices found troubling but did not constitute grave violations of the constitution include allegations of negligence related to Parks extended absence during the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster.

The Constitutional Court also clarified that its ruling was focused on the legitimacy of the National Assembly action to oust the president, and not on criminal guilt or innocence.

Leaders react

The 64-year-old Park now becomes the first democratically elected president of South Korea to be removed from office. She is the second president to go through the impeachment process. In 2004 President Roh Moo-hyun was ousted by the legislature but was reinstated by the court two month later.

In Myung-jin, interim head of Parks conservative Liberty Korea Party said his party will respect the grave value of constitutional law and democracy and will humbly accept the decision of the court.

From this moment, the Liberty Korea Party is not a ruling party anymore, In said.

Choo Mi-ae, leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, hailed the court ruling as a historic triumph of people power and democracy over an entrenched government and corporate monopoly.

The world will record the great fight and victory of our people as new history of democracy, Choo said.

The impeached president has repeatedly denied the charges against her, maintaining that the actions she took were in the national interest and insisting she never personally benefited during her 18 years of public service. She also offered a number of public apologies for not being aware that some of her close associates may have been involved in some wrongdoings.

Park is the daughter of a military ruler who led the country for 18 years before being assassinated in 1979.

US reaction

U.S. State Department Spokesman Mark Toner issued a statement, saying We will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang for the remainder of his tenure as acting president, and we look forward to a productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next president.

Toner emphasized that the South Korean impeachment decision is a domestic issue on which the United States takes no position, and that the U.S. will continue to be a steadfast ally, friend, and partner to South Korea, especially with respect to defending against the threat from North Korea.

New election

Park was suspended from her duties following the impeachment vote in December but continued to reside in the Blue House presidential residence. She must now move out as soon as possible.

Under the constitution, Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn must schedule a presidential election with 60 days.

While in office, the president was immune to prosecution, but Park could now face criminal charges. Earlier this week a special prosecutor, appointed to investigate this corruption scandal, accused Park of wrongdoing on several charges, including a bribery conspiracy implicating the Samsung Group.

Samsung Group Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and other company officials were indicted for donating $37.19 million to the Choi-run foundations in exchange for government help on an important merger for the company, and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Choi and a number of presidential aides are facing similar charges and prison terms for their roles in the influence peddling scandal.

Because she was impeached, Park will also lose most post presidency benefits and privileges including a generous pension, health care and administrative support.

Protests

Outside the court, thousands of Park supporters and opponents held rival demonstrations. More than 21,000 police have been dispatched to prevent violent clashes between these groups. Traffic near the court has been shut down.

The anti-Park protesters celebrated the impeachment ruling. Since October there have been weekly massive, peaceful protests across the country demanding the president step down over the corruption scandal. The demonstrations, along with Parks approval rating of less than 10 percent, helped pressure the National Assembly to act.

A recent survey poll found that 79 percent of the South Korea public supported an impeachment ruling.

The presidents supporters reacted with outrage and there were incidents of protesters scuffling with police.

In the last month, increasing numbers of conservative supporters of President Park have been organizing counter demonstrations to denounce the impeachment as tyranny of the mob and an illegal reversal of a democratically held election.

The court was intent to make its ruling by Friday before judicial term limits reduced the normally nine-member body to seven justices. The South Korean Constitution requires at least six justices concur for an impeachment motion to be upheld. But Chief Justice Park Han-chul was forced to step down in January when his term ended, and Friday was the last day of Justice Lee Jung-mis term. During the impeachment process justices terms cannot be extended and no new judges can be appointed.

Youmi Kim contributed to this report.

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In Moscow, German FM Warns Of Danger Of New Arms Race With Russia

RFE/RL March 09, 2017

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has warned Russia about the danger of a new arms race triggered by the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and called for reducing the number of conventional weapons.

Speaking on March 9 in Moscow after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Gabriel said the two agreed on the need to continue talks in the so-called Normandy Format -- which consists of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France -- on ending the conflict between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Germany has contributed some of the roughly 4,000 troops NATO has deployed to the Baltic states and Poland, where Russia's aggression in Ukraine has increased concerns about its intentions in the region.

Meanwhile, Russia has transferred tens of thousands of soldiers to its western border regions.

"We have concerns that we are entering a new arms race," Gabriel said, adding that solving the Ukraine conflict would pave the way to work on further disarmament measures.

Lavrov said Russia rejects accusations that it was disproportionately building up a military force at its western borders.

He acknowledged that Russia and NATO began what he called cautious exchanges of information on military exercises.

Ahead of his arrival in Moscow, Gabriel called for the NATO-Russia Council to resume regular meetings.

NATO and Russia last week held their first top-level talks in three years, with a telephone conversation between the Russian Armed Forces General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov and NATO Military Committee chief Petr Pavel.

NATO suspended ties in April 2014 following Russia's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.

During a joint news conference with Lavrov, Gabriel also said Germany had no knowledge about purported CIA hacking attacks carried out from the U.S. Consulate in the German city of Frankfurt.

According to some of the thousands of purported CIA documents released by WikiLeaks on March 7, the consulate was the hub for U.S. cyberespionage in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

While the CIA has declined to comment on the subject, the German government said on March 8 that it was in close touch with U.S. authorities about the issue, but could not immediately verify the authenticity of the documents.

During the news conference, Lavrov also touched upon cyberattacks, but from a different angle. He used the event to protest what he said were regular accusations by German officials that Russia was perpetrating cyberattacks and was attempting to influence Germany's federal elections scheduled for September.

"All these accusations are absolutely groundless," Lavrov said.

In response, Gabriel said Berlin took any kind of influence operations aimed at affecting public opinion very seriously, regardless of their origin.

Gabriel and Lavrov were scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin later on March 9, the Kremlin said.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia -germany-gabriel-visit-arms-race- warning/28359505.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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He also took the opportunity to help Ha Giang province promote its eco-tourism.

The US Embassy delegation bikes from the flag pole of Lung Cu to a nearby Lo Lo village

During the first stop in Ha Giang, Ambassador visited Hoang Su Phi district to meet with local leaders and learn about the local economy, including an organic tea processing facility. In addition, the delegation toured Pan Hou Village Ecolodge to learn more about eco-friendly tourism in the area.





Ambassador Osius, along with local and provincial representatives, inaugurated the Pho Bang primary school, which hosts a new three-story building with eight classrooms and two meeting rooms and was the 20th school in Vietnam constructed with funding from the US Pacific Commands Overseas Humanitarian Disaster Assistance and Civic Action Program. In addition to inaugurating the Pho Bang primary school, Ambassador Osius presented new bunk beds and bedding, lunch room trays, and gift bags to over 300 students of Sung La primary school on behalf of the US Embassy community and private donors, while visiting Dong Van district.

Ambassador Osius learns about the history of the HMong kings while touring the palace

These children are the future leaders of Vietnam and the world, and the US people are delighted to share these gifts with Sung La in honor of our enduring friendship, noted Ambassador Osius while in Dong Van.

Following the school inauguration, the Ambassador bicycled from Pho Bang to Nha Vuong, the historic palace of a former Hmong King. While biking to Nha Vuong, the Embassy delegation viewed Ha Giangs hallmark natural karst scenery and met with locals along the way. During the tour of Nha Vuong, the Ambassador learned about the history of King Vuong Chinh Duc and about the history of the palace.

According to a press release issued by US Embassy Hanoi on March 10th, the Ambassador also visited one of Vietnams most iconic sites and one of the most northern points in the country, the flag pole of Lung Cu. He traveled to a nearby Lo Lo village to learn about how they are developing sustainable tourism in the area that highlights the regions ethnic diversity.

Ambassador Osius talks with local students about their career goals and the importance of education Ambassador Osius also kicked off the last section of his bicycle journey through Ha Giang at Ma Pi Leng pass, considered the King of Passes and one of the most beautiful sites in the region. Following his visit to Ma Pi Leng, the Ambassador, joined by a group of local students, biked to Meo Vac, where he and the students discussed their career goals and the importance of education.



To conclude his tour, Ambassador Osius visited the Thanh Tam Parish Catholic Church in Ha Giang city to learn about religious life in the province. The church, which was built in 2012, performs religious services and holds regular masses for local residents./.
Lavrov Refutes Claims of Russia's Disproportionate Military Buildup in West

Sputnik News

14:17 09.03.2017(updated 15:33 09.03.2017)

Allegations of Russia's disproportionate buildup in the western direction are not true, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said earlier that Berlin was concerned over Russia's "great military potential" in the Baltic region, as well as over the increase in the US defense spending.

"As for the statement that we are increasing the military disproportionately in the western regions of Russia, you know, we have different figures," Lavrov said at a press conference with his German counterpart.

The Russian diplomat instead proposed to look at the Euro-Atlantic security situation at the NATO-Russia Council and "take an inventory of what is deployed by whom and where."

On February 27, the US Office of Management and Budget announced that Donald Trump's budget proposal would boost military and security spending by $54 billion with a corresponding reduction in all other discretionary spending.

Moscow will not to be drawn into an arms race but will take sufficient measures to strengthen its national security, the speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, said in response.

NATO has been significantly increasing its presence in Eastern Europe after the eruption of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014 using alleged Russian interference in the Ukrainian internal affairs as a pretext, a claim Russia has repeatedly denied.

Moscow has repeatedly voiced its protests against the NATO military buildup saying that will undermine regional stability and result in a new arms race.

In October 2016, media reported that Russia had deployed Iskander-M mobile missile systems in its western exclave of Kaliningrad, which borders NATO members states, namely Poland and Lithuania. The Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed the reports, saying that Moscow made no secret of sending the missile systems since their movement within the country was a standard army practice.

Lavrov told the CNN broadcaster in October 2016 that by placing weapons in Kaliningrad, Russia acts on its territory, while the United States placed weapons in Eastern Europe, which is not US territory.

 Sputnik

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Russia Fully Complies With INF Treaty Despite Not Meeting Moscow's Interests

Sputnik News

12:45 09.03.2017(updated 12:58 09.03.2017)

Russia has been, remains and will remain committed to all international obligations, including arising from the INF Treaty, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russia has been and will be committed to obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday, rejecting any accusations of violating the Russian-US pact.

Peskov noted that Moscow exhibits flexibility on the 1987 treaty despite it not fully corresponding to Russian interests.

"Russia has been, remains and will remain committed to all international obligations, including those arising from the INF Treaty," Peskov told reporters. "Russia remains committed to international obligations even in situations where it does not exactly correspond to Russia's interests, sometimes we are forced to show flexibility, which we do."

US Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Gen. Paul Selva said in congressional testimony Wednesday that Washington aims to "look for leverage points" seeking Moscow's compliance with the INF Treaty. The testimony came nearly a month after US media reports claimed Russia secretly sent ground-based cruise missiles which Selva claimed violates the "spirit and intent" of the INF Treaty.

"In the situation with Russia and our Eurasian geopolitical situation, we have a completely different architecture of possible threats to our security. Nevertheless, Russia still remains committed to its obligations, so we disagree and reject any accusations on this point," Peskov stressed.

 Sputnik

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Putin Aims to Undermine Western Democracies With Election Meddling, Experts Say

By Ken Bredemeier March 09, 2017

Russian President Vladimir Putin is single-handedly trying to undermine democracy in the United States and Europe and rupture their decades-old NATO alliance by meddling in their elections, foreign affairs analysts and Estonia's former president told a congressional hearing Thursday in Washington.

One of the experts, Peter Doran, executive vice president of the Center for European Policy Analysis, a group promoting closer ties between central and eastern European countries and the United States, said U.S. lawmakers "should have no doubt, Russia is a rival to the United States."

Doran declared, "The Russian government is sharpening its use of state-sponsored propaganda against Western democracies. This puts democratic states and NATO at risk. The strategic aims of the Russian government are fundamentally incompatible with American interests in Europe."

Doran added, "Russia wants to establish a sphere of privileged influence in Europe and to do so, [it] must weaken America's links to our allies, divide NATO and, if necessary, use force."

Repeating President Donald Trump's signature campaign slogan, Doran said, "I think it is very obvious that Putin does not want to 'make America great again.' In fact, Putin has the opposite goal, however our allies do. Allies like front-line states, the Baltic states, Poland and others, neighbors of Russia, they actually want us to succeed. Russia does not [want them to]."

Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that Putin "in all cases" wants "anti-European Union, anti-NATO forces" to win European elections in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands this year.

"The Dutch," Ilves said, "are so afraid" of Russian attacks on their electronic voting that the Netherlands has "gone back to paper balloting because they are afraid of what might happen."

'Our democracy is being tested'

The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Putin tried to interfere in November's U.S. presidential election with cyberattacks. Now, U.S. investigators and several congressional panels are probing the details behind the findings of the Central Intelligence Agency and examining contacts Trump aides have had with Russian officials.

Moscow's cyberattacks targeted the computer of Hillary Clinton's campaign chief, John Podesta, with the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks subsequently releasing thousands of his emails in the weeks before the election that showed embarrassing, behind-the-scenes efforts by Democratic operatives trying to help Clinton win the party's presidential nomination before she ultimately lost to Trump.

Lincoln Bloomfield, a former assistant U.S. secretary of state for political military affairs, told the congressional panel that the overall consequences of the Russian interference in the election have yet to be determined.

"But it's very important to realize that our democracy is being tested," he said.

Daniel Baer, a former U.S. representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said it is possible to track Russian disinformation campaigns aimed at Western democracies from Moscow's intelligence agencies through its propaganda arms "to a set of intermediaries disguised as independent sources."

He said purported news accounts that appeared in the United States last year might have described themselves in a way to "legitimize and make them attractive to target audiences. For example, those targeting Trump supporters may have, 'Make America Great Again,' or 'Christian, patriot, USA' in their profiles. Never mind that they might in fact be sitting in a troll factory in St. Petersburg."

Baer said the stories that started in Russia were "then amplified through technical means or bots that send many thousands of tweets with the same false stories accompanied by hashtags."

He said the "burst of activity puts the hashtags on Twitter's trending list and then then the story is picked up by genuine supporters of a candidate or cause, who share it on Twitter or Facebook. Little does the person in Hamilton, New Jersey, or Brea, California, know that what they just shared by their friends and family is junk that was written by a Russian agent."

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Turkey warns US on Raqqah push with Kurdish help

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 2:31PM

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has warned of a major damage to US relations with Ankara if Washington includes Kurdish forces in the operation to retake Syrian city of Raqqah from Daesh.

Yildirim told the Associated Press on Thursday that Turkey will not be part of any mission that includes the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

"If the US were to prefer terrorist organizations over Turkey in the fight against Daesh, that would be their own decision, but that wouldn't be something we would consent" to, he added.

Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organization because of its alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), but Washington regards the YPG as an ally in Syria.

Yildirim said Turkey was still awaiting a US decision on Raqqah amid signs that such a decision could come soon.

Turkish officials had signaled before that they could deny US access to the Incirlik Air Base unless Washington halted its support for Syria's Kurdish militants.

On Thursday, separate reports said a US Marines artillery unit had been deployed to Syria in recent days in preparation for the capture of Raqqah.

US Air Force Colonel John Dorrian said the deployment, comprising a total of 400 American forces, added to around 500 US military personnel already stationed in Syria.

The US and Turkey have deployed troops without permission from the Syrian government or a UN mandate, further complicating the convoluted situation in the Arab country which is plagued by terrorism.

Turkey threatens to hit Kurdish forces in Manbij

On Thursday, Turkey threatened to strike Kurdish forces operating in the northern Syrian city of Manbij if they maintain their presence there in the face of advances by Turkish troops.

Turkey's NTV quoted Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as warning of the threat posed by the YPG as well as its military wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), to the country.

"The PYD is as dangerous for our security as Daesh," Cavusoglu said. Turkey "will not allow the YPG's canton dreams (to come true)," he said, adding, "If we go to Manbij and the PYD is there, we will hit them."

The so-called Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), which is led by the YPG, captured Manbij in August 2016 with the help of the US military.

Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the US had deployed a small number of forces in and around Manbij in an attempt to prevent clashes between the Turkey- and US-backed forces active in the area.

The deployment was the first of its kind by the US in Manbij. American forces have carried out training and advising missions in the city.

Cavusoglu said Washington appears confused in its planning for an attack on Raqqa. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the YPG should move out of Manbij to the eastern side of the Euphrates River.

Kalin further stressed that no decision had yet been taken on who carries out the Raqqah operation.

Turkey is one of the key countries in the Syria conflict, which has raged on since March 2011, allowing militants from around the world to freely enter the Arab nation and wreak havoc there.

Turkey also launched its incursion into Syria in August 2016 in an alleged bid to push Daesh from Turkey's border with Syria and stop the advance of Kurdish forces.

Turkey should not be allowed to occupy Syria: SDF

On Thursday, the SDF said it had told US Senator John McCain and US military officials in northern Syria last month that Turkey must not be involved in the Raqqah campaign.

"The Turkish side is an occupation force and it cannot be allowed to occupy more Syrian land," SDF spokesman Talal Silo told Reuters.

Silo also said the SDF would reach the outskirts of Raqqah "within a few weeks" after severing the last main road to the city this week.

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Syrian army troops retake al-Jarrah airbase in Aleppo from Daesh

Iran Press TV

Thu Mar 9, 2017 11:25AM

Syrian government forces have retaken an airbase in the country's northern province of Aleppo from Takfiri Daesh terrorists.

A military source said Daesh terrorists withdrew from the small al-Jarrah military airport on Thursday as Syrian troopers launched an attack to reestablish control over it, Arabic-language Enab Baladi reported.

Separately, Syrian army soldiers seized back control of 19 towns and villages on the eastern outskirts of the city of Aleppo. Among the liberated areas were Khafiya al-Hamar, al-Raihaniyah, Harna Shahab, and Ma'arba.

Syrian fighter jets also carried out a string of airstrikes against Daesh positions in the villages of al-Boeida Qlieb al-Thour and al-Lweibda in the west-central province of Hama.

More than 40 terrorists were killed and injured in the airstrikes. Seven pickup trucks, some equipped with 23mm-caliber machine guns, were destroyed as well.

Syrian jets bombarded the positions of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant group  formerly known as al-Nusra Front  in the town of Kafr Zita and the village of al-Sayyiad. At least 13 terrorists were killed and more than 15 others were injured in the process.

Moreover, aerial attacks in al-Masasnieh Village left six Nusra Front militants dead and seven others injured.

Elsewhere, in the town of Khan Shaykhun in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syrian government forces killed five Nusra Front terrorists in a special operation.

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Syrian Democratic Forces Vow Offensive on Raqqa in a Few Weeks

Sputnik News

23:28 09.03.2017(updated 00:38 10.03.2017)

The Syrian Democratic Forces, including the Kurdish YPG faction, are moving closer to the Daesh stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, located along the Euphrates River.

Raqqa, a city some 160 km east of Aleppo, is in the process of being encircled by SDF and US artillery and armored personnel carriers. The Kurds have served as America's primary ally in the fight against Daesh. Despite US President Donald Trump's insistence about remaining quiet before launching an offensive, SDF spokesman Talal Silo said, "we expect that within a few weeks there will be a siege of the city."

Trump has vowed to take out Daesh quickly and surgically, saying on numerous occasions, "I would knock the hell out of ISIS," and even suggesting that family members of terrorists should be targets for the military to eliminate as well. The US Marines stationed in the area will not have a front-line role, however, according to US coalition spokesman Col. John Dorrian.

In addition to 500 US personnel currently stationed on the ground in Syria, including air crews, ground forces, and special ops service members, Dorrian noted that a further 400-strong deployment has been pouring in during recent days. The fresh troops consist of US Marines and Army Rangers, the US Army's elite military formation, the colonel said.

Instead of spearheading the attack against Raqqa, US personnel will collaborate and advise local partners, including the Kurdish YPG and SDF, Dorrian said.

In addition to the US-Kurdish-SDF coalition, the Free Syrian Army-Turkey-Saudi Arabia-Qatar coalition, as well as Syrian government forces aided by Russian air support and special ops forces, are all aiming their efforts, at least in public comments, against Daesh.

On Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that US-led coalition airstrikes on targets slightly north of Raqqa, in the rural area, killed 23 noncombatants, eight of whom were children. Dorrian said the coalition is investigating the incident.

The Observatory has also reported that 80 Daesh militants have arrived in Raqqa to push back against an ongoing siege on Raqqa, which the war monitor says is the "main bastion" for Daesh in Syria.

 Sputnik

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Syrian Army Retakes Kashish Military Airport East of Aleppo From Daesh

Sputnik News

16:06 09.03.2017(updated 16:08 09.03.2017)

Syrian troops on Thursday drove militants of Daesh from the territory of the Kashish military airport east of the city of Aleppo, an informed source at the scene told Sputnik Thursday.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  The Kashish airport is located about five kilometers from the city of Dayr Hafir. It was captured by Daesh terrorists three years ago.

The civil war in Syria has been lasting for around six years with government troops fighting against numerous opposition factions and terror organizations such as al-Nusra Front and Daesh, outlawed in Russia.

The nationwide Syrian ceasefire regime was introduced on December 30, 2016. Terrorist organizations are not part of the ceasefire.

 Sputnik

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Syrian Democratic Forces Flush Daesh Out of Menxer Hill Near Raqqa

Sputnik News

12:58 09.03.2017

The units of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces alliance (SDF) have liberated the strategic West Menxer Hill near the Syrian city of Raqqa from Daesh, the SDF statement read Thursday.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  The US-backed SDF are now less than 12 miles away from Raqqa, which Daesh terrorists consider their capital. According to The New York Times citing a US defense official, an estimated 3,000-4,000 militants still remain in Raqqa.

On Monday, the SDF gained control of a road leading from Raqqa to Deir ez-Zor, cutting off an escape route for the terrorists.

The offensive to liberate Raqqa from Daesh, codenamed Operation Euphrates Rage, was launched by the SDF on November 5, 2016.

The SDF were formed in 2015 as the defense force of northern Syria's de facto autonomous Rojava federation and are supported by the US-led anti-Daesh coalition.

 Sputnik

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Next intra-Syrian talks set for late March - UN envoy

9 March 2017  The next round of the United Nations-facilitated intra-Syrian talks is expected to convene on 23 March to discuss issues related to governance, constitution, elections and counter terrorism, the UN Special Envoy for Syria has said.

"My current intention is to bring the invitees back to Geneva for a fifth round with a target date of 23 March," Staffan de Mistura told reporters yesterday at the UN Headquarters in New York after he briefed the Security Council on the outcome of the fourth round of the discussions, which ran in the Swiss city from 23 February to 3 March.

He said the fourth round of the Geneva talks "achieved much more than many people had imagined we could have."

"No one left, everybody stayed. They were focused, we got an agenda, we got a timeline, we got some agreement on substance," Mr. de Mistura said, noting that the fifth round of talks will build on the outcome of the previous one and that counter terrorism is now part of the agenda laid out in UN Security Council resolution 2254.

In parallel with the UN-facilitated intra-Syrian talks, Kazakhstan has been hosting talks on a ceasefire in its capital, Astana  diplomatic efforts led by the so-named ceasefire guarantors, Iran, Russia and Turkey.

On the Astana talks, Mr. de Mistura said that although the responsibility of their success is in the hands of these guarantors, the UN dispatches a technical team to the process, because without a strong ceasefire, the UN-facilitated Geneva talks would be fragile.

The UN envoy urged the Security Council to continue to support his efforts.

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Erdogan, Putin to Meet in Rapprochement Efforts

By Dorian Jones March 09, 2017

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is heading to Russia in the latest step in rapprochement efforts between the countries. Erdogan is to meet Friday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin

Erdogan will be accompanied by several of his Cabinet ministers for bilateral talks, under the auspices of the High level Cooperation Council.

The council was created as part of rapprochement efforts between the countries after the Turkish downing of a Russian jet operating from Syria in 2015.

The meeting comes as differences over Syria remain. Murat Bilhan, an analyst with the Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies, says the agenda will be full.

"Syria will top the agenda, plus the normalization of relations in the economic cooperation field, with the Russians also. I do not see many thorny issues between Russia and Turkey because they have already started escalation of positive relations, positive cooperation," Bilhan said.

With the Turkish economy slowing and unemployment rising, Erdogan is expected to be pushing for Moscow to end sanctions imposed against Turkey after the downing of the jet.

Former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen says despite nearly a year of rapprochement efforts, there have been few concrete gestures by Moscow.

"The relations are better, but on the other hand there is no concrete progress or development. Because we know even the famous tomato issue is not solved yet, the exporting of tomatoes to Russia. So there is little progress actually, but rhetoric-wise, everything is going for the better," Selcen said.

Progress slow in coming

Turkish media report that Moscow has agreed to ease some trade restrictions, but Syria could again threaten relations.

Earlier this year, the Syrian Kurdish group PYD opened an office in Moscow. Ankara accuses the PYD and its YPG militia of seeking to create an independent Kurdish state on its border. It also charges the PYD with being affiliated to the PKK, which is fighting the Turkish state.

Observers say Ankara has been muted in its criticism of Moscow, which last month hosted a gathering of Kurdish groups from the region, including the PYD.

Selcen says with Russia's growing military and political influence in Syria, Ankara probably recognizes it has to work with Moscow.

"From now on, forming a policy toward Kurds of Syria, and in particular toward those PKK-affiliated elements in Syria, they will have to take in[to] consideration what Moscow and Washington, D.C., say. The Russians are also pulling the Kurds of Syria to be more realistic with Damascus. Moscow shows the limits of what can be done and what cannot be done," Selcen said.

Erdogan is expected to offer potentially lucrative arms deals, including possibly purchasing Russia's S400 anti-aircraft missile system, which is incompatible with its NATO partners.

Weakening Turkey's ties to its NATO partners is widely seen as a goal of Putin's foreign policy, while analysts say Erdogan is eager to send a message that Turkey has alternatives to its traditional allies.

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Photo for illustration. (Source: toquoc.vn)

In his speech at a recent meeting in Hanoi, Pavathaneni Harish, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam said that Vietnam is becoming a popular destination for Indian tourists and India is also one of the favored hot spots chosen by Vietnamese.

Statistics showed that in 2016, India sent 16 million tourist arrivals abroad, while the figure in Vietnam is more than six million travelers. However, Vietnam still attracted few visitors from the market with a density of 3% among about two million Indian tourists touring ASEAN countries.

The Vietnamese tourism sector has been organizing promotion activities in the Indian market by joining fairs and exhibitions; arranging famtrip programs for press; travel agencies and tourism companies; organizing roadshow programs and inviting Indian film groups to Vietnam.

From 2014, airlines enhanced connections between the two countries, like Vietnam Airlines, Jet Airways and Air India.

In the near future, together with traditional promotion activities, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism will organize E-marketing; cooperate with air carriers to launch new routes; and intensify regular exchanges with travel agencies, media companies and film makers of the two sides./.
Royal Navy's first new Offshore Patrol Vessel formally named

9 March 2017

The first of the Royal Navy's new Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) has been formally named in Scotland today.

The 90-metre warship, which will be tasked with vital counter-terrorism, anti-smuggling and maritime defence duties, was named HMS Forth in honour of the famous Scottish river in a ceremony at the BAE Systems Scotstoun shipyard.

The ship will soon depart on sea trials before entering service with the Royal Navy in 2018. She is the first of a fleet of five new Batch 2 River-class OPVs being built on the Clyde which are all expected to be in service by 2021.

The work to build HMS Forth and her sister ships is sustaining around 800 Scottish jobs, as well as the critical skills required to build the Type 26 Global Combat Ships, construction of which will begin at the Govan shipyard in the summer, subject to final contract negotiations.

HMS Forth was named by the Lady Sponsor Rachel Johnstone-Burt who, in tribute to Scottish shipbuilding and in keeping with Naval tradition, broke a bottle of whisky on the bow.

Minister for Defence Procurement, Harriett Baldwin, said:

"As part of a sustained programme delivering world-class ships and submarines, HMS Forth's naming is a vitally important part of the Government's ten-year 178 billion plan to provide our Armed Forces with the equipment they need."

"From counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean, to securing the UK's borders on patrols closer to home, the Royal Navy's new Offshore Patrol Vessels will help protect our interests around the world."

HMS Forth, the fifth Royal Navy vessel to bear the name over the past two centuries, is affiliated with the city of Stirling, maintaining a connection which began when the people of the city adopted a previous ship with the name Forth during the Second World War.

It is an advanced vessel equipped with a 30mm cannon and flight deck capable of accommodating a Merlin helicopter, and manned by a crew of 58 sailors. Displacing around 2,000 tonnes, she has a maximum speed of around 24 knots and can sail 5,500 nautical miles without having to resupply.

First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, said:

"With the naming of HMS Forth, the Royal Navy looks forward to another impending arrival in our future Fleet. In a few short years, these five Offshore Patrol Vessels will be busy protecting the security of UK waters and those of our overseas territories."

"They are arriving in service alongside a new generation of attack submarines and Fleet tankers, and will be followed shortly by new frigates and other auxiliaries; all of this capability will coalesce around the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers. Together, they form a truly balanced Fleet, able to provide security at sea, promote international partnership, deter aggression and, when required, fight and win."

The MOD has invested 648 million in the OPV programme,bandits delivery is one of the key commitments laid out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

Chief of Materiel (Fleet) for the MOD's Defence Equipment and Support organisation, Vice Admiral Simon Lister, said:

"HMS Forth, part of the updated River class of Offshore Patrol Vessels, is one of the most advanced ships of its type and will provide the Royal Navy with the means to undertake vital operations safely and effectively."

"The naming is a significant milestone in the life of HMS Forth and in the wider Offshore Patrol Vessel programme, which is well on track to deliver all five of the new ships by the end of 2019."

The Royal Navy currently operates four Batch 1 Offshore Patrol Vessels, one based in the Falkland Islands and three at HMNB Portsmouth, operating globally on tasks ranging from counter-narcotics operations to Atlantic patrols.

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Forestry Commission chief Kevin Stannard has told Foresters that beavers will not become the new boar because he will not allow the dam-building, large-toothed animals to be released until he is 100 per cent sure they can be contained in large enclosures.

The Deputy Surveyor told residents he is considering releasing beavers into a large fenced-off area near Lydbrook to regenerate the woodland valley and stop the village flooding.

But he said he understood how the row over the wild boar meant people were sceptical about new wildlife being brought into the Forest of Dean and promised that the trial would not go ahead until "all the "I" s have been dotted and the Ts crossed."

"I am very well aware of another species re-introduction, which by the way was reintroduced illegally, that has gone totally and utterly pear-shaped," he told around 150 people at the meeting at Lydbrook Memorial Hall, clearly referring to the boar which is the subject of major controversy.

"King Beaver", expert Derek Gow, told the audience that unlike boar, beaver rarely strayed far from their home stretch of riverbank and had a high mortality rate so villagers would not be overwhelmed by the creatures.

Specialist boar-proof and beaver-proof fences would be erected around the six hectares enclosure, which he anticipated would eventually contain a family of between 10 and 15, and the animals would be tagged so they could be located if they escaped.

Mr Stannard said the Forestry Commission were considering re-introducing beavers because a hydrology report commissioned after the last flooding in 2012 pointed out that the culverts in Lydbrook cannot not cope with the flow of water during a storm.

Creating artificial ponds above the village to hold thousands of gallons of storm water would it not be economically feasible or practical, so it was decided to look at a natural solution to the problem.

And Mr Gow, pictured above at the meeting, told residents that the beavers would do a better job than expensive human engineers by building natural dams and canals from twigs and silt and than maintaining them, all for free.

The trial being proposed for the Forest would be at least twice the size of the one being run by Mr Gow in Devon and could start as early as this September.

Mr Gow and Coleford-based ecologist Rebecca Wilson told the meeting they were convinced the beavers would bring an almost dead valley back to life and turn the whole area into a giant natural sponge which would allow the water to be slowly released from Ruardean go the Wye.

They produced photographic evidence and graphs to show the "huge changes" produced by beavers in Europe and America, but said only British reared beavers would be used to prevent bringing in tapeworm disease found abroad.

Mr Stannard was more cautious and said Lydbrook was very steep compared to the other sites where the animals had been introduced previously and added: "It has not been proven by any stretch of the imagination, that this will be a lasting and permanent solution to the problem of flooding in Lydbrook.

"The trial site (in Devon) gives all the indications that it will work but until we do the trial here we cannot say it is replicable because that site is entirely different to this one.

"The reason we want a fenced trial is that that we want to monitor the impact on the environment and see if the animals do what we expect them to do."

But although he said he could not guarantee the beavers would stop Lydbrook flooding, he was convinced the animals could bring about a "step change" in improving the biodiversity of the Forest of Dean.

Mr Stannard, who runs the Forestry in the South West, pledged to halt the trial immediately if the beavers started dying, the sticks started washing downhill towards the culverts or he had any other concerns.

"We need to do this properly, dot the is and cross the Ts and make sure everybody is happy," he said.

"There is a possibility it will not happen at all but, if it is going to happen, it could start as early as this September. If we miss this September it will be another six months because the release is time critical."

Mr Gow told residents that the valley would "bloom like a jewel" when the beavers had finished thinning out the area and improving the water quality in the Greathough Brook.

Residents were told the beavers had led to a proliferation of plants, butterflies, dragonflies, frogs birds and other species and fears about them eating trees were completely unfounded. However conifer trees did not thrive in the damp conditions the beavers created.

Most of those in the hall appeared to be in favour of the proposal and Alistair Fraser, who keeps wild boar at his farm, urged people to listen to Mr Gow because the project would have a positive impact on the area.

One man told the audience he had seen the beavers in action in Canada and America and the environmental results were incredible.

Kenneth Eames, 61, from Berry Hill, seen talking above, was one of the many who said they would support the project.

Kevin and Nicola Winn, above, said they would also welcome the enclosure even though it would be very close to their home on the Pludds

"We think it's a really good project," said Kevin. "The boar are in our field but they are only a very small problem and you can't compare the two. Beavers are a completely different kettle of fish to boar."

Lydbrook councillor Bruce Hogan said: "This seems to be a very carefully controlled trial and if it stops the floods in Lydbrook I think it will be a good idea.

"Mr Gow seems to know what he is talking about and has all the answers at his fingertips, which was very reassuring."

Kate Gamez from Stroud had been involved with releasing beavers into Cotswold Water Park: "This has something that has been studied for decades and nearly everything about it has been positive.

"When you have a captive beaver project you set up an escape plan in case there are any issues and I'm pretty sure you'll never see any beavers in the middle of Lydbrook."

Dan Ward was so excited by the project he had travelled from Cardiff to the meeting and said beavers can help the Forest of Dean cope with climate changes that will bring warmer wetter weather.

"I did my masters on the impact of beavers on anglers in Tayside in Scotland and found there was no negative impact on them at all," he added.

Mr Stannard said he would continue with the consultation before making a final decision on giving the project the green light.
The tourism startup incubator programme will accept business ideas in tourism technology forms as well as traditional models of startup businesses in the first stage.

Representatives of selected startup projects will attend a camp where they develop their business ideas. Best projects of each country will receive MIST awards worth from USD7,000 to USD10,000.

Meanwhile, the market access incubator programme is a chance for larger-scaled travel firms which are in need of support to access the regional market. Selected project owners will join a fact-finding tour to Mekong River countries to study the market, while being introduced to service providing networks of relevant agencies.

Last year, Vietnam welcomed more than 10 million foreign visitors. However, Huynh Kim Tuoc, Executive Director of the Saigon Innovation Hub, pointed out that Vietnams tourism products remain poor, which should be reformed and diversified to attract more tourists.

He also underlined the significance of regional connectivity in boosting tourism growth, while suggesting the promotion of advantages of Vietnamese tourism as well as the preservation of the sectors unique characteristics.

According to the organising board, the two programmes will receive applications until March 27th, 2017. The project owners will have a chance to present their ideas in front of investors and incubators as well as tourism leaders at the Mekong Tourism Forum in June 2017 in Laos and the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in November in Vietnam.

The MIST is a joint initiative of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office and the Mekong Business Initiative./.
MARTINSVILLE  Plans for the evolution of the New College Institute (NCI) are expected to be ready this summer, according to state Sen. Bill Stanley.

The Republican senator from Franklin County, who currently is chairman of the institutes board, said the plans will focus on NCI providing access to baccalaureate degrees in four areas of study: engineering, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity (protecting computer systems from hacking) and health care.

Those are the cutting-edge industries with high-paying jobs, Stanley said. As a result, he and others involved in shaping NCIs future believe those are the fields which area residents, as well as students throughout Virginia and North Carolina, will be most interested in pursuing, he said.

NCI initially will focus its marketing efforts on reaching people in those two states, he said.

The institute also will seek lawmakers help in making it less costly for students to earn degrees there than at other higher education institutions, which should help attract students, Stanley said.

Established in 2006, NCI is a state-supported school in uptown Martinsville offering access to various bachelors and masters degree programs through partnerships with colleges and universities statewide. The programs generally have been ones conferring degrees that people need for jobs in high demand in Southern Virginia, the states only region without a public four-year institution.

NCI also provides training and professional development programs designed to be responsive to needs of businesses and industries in the region.

Students pay tuition and/or fees charged by the colleges and universities conferring their degrees.

Were getting offers from universities interesting in being involved with NCI in the future, Stanley said.

NCI Executive Director Leanna Blevins said were working intensely with our university partners to develop new pathways forward. She referred further comment on the matter to Stanley.

Emphasizing that we havent finalized our plans yet, Stanley declined to say more about them out of fear of giving other higher education institutions ideas.

We want to be the place to be for students interested in the targeted degree fields, he said.

State lawmakers firmly are committed to NCIs growth and development, Stanley said, adding he thinks that is evidenced by their support for an amendment he introduced to budget legislation.

The amendment would increase NCIs state funding by $100,000  to slightly more than $3.9 million  for the biennium that runs through June 2018. The extra money is earmarked for NCIs use in the new fiscal year that will start July 1 toward creating a five-year plan for its future growth and development.

As fast as the process of developing the plan already has gone, amid as much support as has been shown for it, he believes it should be ready no later than this summer, he said.

The sooner it is ready, the quicker it can be implemented, he pointed out.

Both the Senate and the House have endorsed the amendment, Stanley said. It will be considered by Gov. Terry McAuliffe alongside other budget amendments during the next several weeks.

The General Assembly will reconvene on April 5 to hammer out the details of a final budget, taking into account any revisions that McAuliffe wants to see made. Stanley said he so far has not heard any opposition by the governor to the NCI amendment.

Under the amendment, two-year higher education institutions, such as Patrick Henry Community College, would continue to provide students freshman- and sophomore-year courses toward degrees they eventually would earn by attending NCI.

The amendment includes a provision authorizing NCIs board, on the states behalf, to acquire the institutes three-year-old main building on the Baldwin Block between Fayette, Market, West Church and Moss streets from the New College Foundation, the institutes private fundraising arm.

NCI pays the foundation $383,000 a year to occupy the building. The money comes from sources such as the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the U.S. Economic Development Administration, according to Stanley and the amendment.

Because the institute is a state function, the state ultimately believes it should be a state building, Stanley said.

Under state ownership of the building, the foundation no longer would have to pay upkeep and utility expenses on the building, and it would have a source of income with which to support NCI, he reasoned.

Stanley would not go so far as to say that the foundation has no choice but to sell the building, which also is occupied by the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp., the Martinsville-Henry County Visitors Center and the Piedmont Governors School.

However, saying no (to selling it) would present a whole host of issues that dont benefit anybody, he said.

Should the foundation decide not to sell the building, the amendment authorizes NCI and the state to plan for the construction or acquisition of another facility for the institute, the buildings main occupant.

Priority would be given to options utilizing existing state property, such as a community college campus, the amendment reads. Land owned by a local government also could be used, it shows.

The willingness of state officials to already agree with that provision cements the Commonwealth of Virginias commitment to the New College and keeps the institute viable, Stanley said.

Also, the amendment calls for NCI and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to evaluate options for alternative pricing that result in lower charges for programs and courses offered to Southern Virginia residents who attend the institute.

SCHEV is the state body that coordinates higher education endeavors and encourages cooperation by institutions already established.

We want NCI (and the first two years of courses most likely provided by a community college) to be the least expensive four-year college education in Virginia, Stanley said.

Higher education will be more accessible if its more affordable, Blevins added. We want to open the doors to higher education as wide as we can.
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VANCOUVER, March 8, 2017 /CNW/ - International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. ("ITH" or the "Company") (TSX: ITH; NYSE-MKT: THM) today announced that it has corrected previously reported all- in sustaining costs (AISC) downward to conform with World Gold Council guidance. The effect of the error was to overstate AISC at $1,263. As a result of the restatement, the AISC for the Livengood Gold Project (the "Project") located near Fairbanks, Alaska, is projected to be $976/oz.

The results of the Pre-Feasibility Study (the "PFS") set forth in a news release on September 8, 2016 and as filed with the NI 43-101 report on October 24, 2016 had included, contrary to World Gold Council guidance, both initial capital costs and mining and income taxes in the $1,263 previously reported as all-in sustaining costs. All dollar figures in this news release are stated in US Dollars.

The table below identifies the correct costs over the life of the Project based on the PFS:

Costs of Production



$/Ounce

As previously

reported $/Ounce

As corrected LOM

($Million)

As previously

reported LOM

($Million)

As corrected Operating Costs $ 877 $ 877 $ 5,934 $ 5,934 Capital Expenditures (1) 370(2) 99(3) 2,501(2) 665(3) All-In Sustaining Costs $ 1,247 $ 976 $ 8,435 $ 6,599 Capital Expenditures (1) - 271(4) - 1,836(4) Mining and Income Taxes 16 - 104 - All-In Costs $ 1,263 $ 1,247 $ 8,539 $ 8,435

Rounding of some figures may lead to minor discrepancies in totals.

(1) Excludes $18M upfront funding included in operating costs above and $37M of recoverable initial stores inventory.

(2) Includes initial and sustaining capital expenditures

(3) Includes sustaining capital expenditures only

(4) Includes initial capital expenditures only

Qualified Persons

Colin Hardie, P. Eng. (Ontario APEO No. 90512500), a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Hardie is independent of ITH as independence is described in Section 1.5 of NI 43-101.

On behalf of

International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.

(signed) Karl Hanneman

Chief Executive Officer

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements with respect to the mine plan, economic analysis (including CAPEX and OPEX) and production and design details described in the Pre-Feasibility Study; the potential to convert mineral resources to mineral reserves; additional optimization and exploration efforts and the results thereof; the ability of the Company to satisfy the derivative liability and the consequences of any failure to do so; the ability of the Company to potentially include refined and updated results in a subsequent full feasibility study; the ability of the Company to advance environmental baseline work in support of future permitting; the ability of the Company to advance the Livengood Project either as projected or at all; the potential for the Company to make a construction decision, whether when warranted by market conditions or at all; the potential for market conditions to be such that they warrant the making of a production decision; the potential development of any mine at the Livengood Project; business and financing plans and business trends are forward-looking statements. Information concerning mineral reserve/resource estimates and the economic analysis thereof contained in the Pre-Feasibility Study also may be deemed to be forward-looking statements in that it reflects a prediction of the mineralization that would be encountered, and the results of mining it, if a mineral deposit were developed and mined. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, proposed, planned, potential and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital (including, as required, to satisfy the derivative liability) or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Annual Information Form filed with certain securities commissions in Canada and the Company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and other information released by the Company and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and its United States public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sec.gov, and readers are urged to review these materials, including the latest technical report filed with respect to the Company's Livengood property.

Cautionary Note Regarding References to Resources and Reserves

National Instrument 43 101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates contained in or incorporated by reference in this news release have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") Standards on Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council on May 10, 2014 (the "CIM Standards") as they may be amended from time to time by the CIM.

United States shareholders are cautioned that the requirements and terminology of NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards differ significantly from the requirements and terminology of the SEC set forth in the SEC's Industry Guide 7 ("SEC Industry Guide 7"). Accordingly, the Company's disclosures regarding mineralization may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by companies subject to SEC Industry Guide 7. Without limiting the foregoing, while the terms "mineral resources", "inferred mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "measured mineral resources" are recognized and required by NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards, they are not recognized by the SEC and are not permitted to be used in documents filed with the SEC by companies subject to SEC Industry Guide 7.

Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability, and investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral resource will ever be converted into reserves. The preliminary assessments on the Livengood Project are preliminary in nature and include "inferred mineral resources" that have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that such inferred mineral resources at the Livengood Project will ever be realized. Further, it cannot be assumed that all or any part of the inferred resources will ever be upgraded to a higher resource category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of a feasibility study or prefeasibility study, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable.

The SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant "reserves" as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit amounts. The term "contained ounces" is not permitted under the rules of SEC Industry Guide 7. In addition, the NI 43-101 and CIM Standards definition of a "reserve" differs from the definition in SEC Industry Guide 7. In SEC Industry Guide 7, a mineral reserve is defined as a part of a mineral deposit which could be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time the mineral reserve determination is made, and a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis of designated reserves and the primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority.

This news release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.

SOURCE International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.
Vancouver, March 9, 2017 - Barisan Gold Corp. (TSXV: BG) (the "Company") has entered into a Conditional Sales and Purchase Agreement ("CSPA") with a private Indonesian company whereby the private Indonesian company has agreed to purchase Barisan Gold's 80% equity interest in each of PT Gayo Mineral Resources and PT Linge Mineral Resources.

As per the terms of the CSPA, the private Indonesian company will pay the Company a total of US$1,000,000 (equivalent to approximately $1,300,000 Canadian dollars). Closing of the transaction is subject to final due diligence by the private Indonesian company, shareholder approval at a special general meeting (date to be announced soon), a number of regulatory approvals in Indonesia and TSX Venture Exchange approval. The transaction is expected to close during the second calendar quarter of 2017. The proceeds will be used to finance the previously announced Lithium projects and to review other opportunities in technology metals. A finders' fee of $100,000 is to be paid to an arm's length company in association with the transaction.

Financing

In light of the above-mentioned sale, the Company has revised its plans for the previously announced non-brokered private placement (see September 8th, 2016 News Release) to a post consolidated (1 for 5) price of $0.10 per unit to raise gross proceeds of up to $500,000. Each unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one non-transferable share purchase warrant. Each whole share purchase warrant shall be exercisable to acquire one additional common share of the Company for a period of 24 months at a post consolidated (1 for 5) price of $0.15 per share purchase warrant.

The Company intends to use the proceeds from the private placement to finance exploration on the Railroad Valley Lithium brine property, and the Black Canyon Lithium clay property, as well as general administrative purposes. The private placement is subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange. All the securities issued under the private placement are subject to resale restrictions under applicable securities legislation.

The offering will be non-brokered; however, the Company may pay finders' fees in accordance with the rules and policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, visit the Company's website at www.barisangold.com, or contact the company at:

Vancouver T: +1 604 365 6681 E: info@barisangold.com

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this News Release, which are not historical in nature, constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of that phrase under applicable Canadian securities law. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements or information concerning future work programs at the Company's Upper Tengkereng Porphyry prospect, results and timing of any work programs, the Company's performance or events as of the date hereof. These statements reflect management's current assumptions and expectations and by their nature are subject to certain underlying assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or events to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Those risks include the interpretation of drill results; the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with our expectations; commodity and currency price fluctuation; failure to obtain adequate financing; regulatory, recovery rates, refinery costs, and other relevant conversion factors, permitting and licensing risks; and general market and mining exploration risks. Forward-looking statements should not be construed as investment advice. Readers should perform a detailed, independent investigation and analysis of the Company and are encouraged to seek independent professional advice before making any investment decision. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect events or changes in circumstances that occur after the date hereof.


1. United States

The US stands in the first place with 8,133.5 tonnes gold reserves. Percent of foreign reserves is 74.9 percent. The US holds most of its gold at the US Bullion Reservatory at Fort Knox. The U.S. lays claim to nearly as much gold as the next three countries combined. The US is there in the list of highest gold allocations as a percentage of its foreign reserves.

How Gold Prices In Indian Cities Are Fixed?

2. Germany

This western European country has 3,381-tonne gold reserves. Percent of foreign reserves is 68.9 percent. Germany is in the process of repatriating its gold from foreign storage locations, including New York and Paris.

3. Italy

Italy has a reserve of 2,451.8 tonnes of gold. The percent of foreign reserves is 68 percent. Over the years Italy has maintained the gold reserve size. Italy is getting good support from European Central Bank President.

4. France

France is placed fourth in the list with a reserve of 2,435.7 tonnes of gold. The percent of foreign reserves of France is 62.9 percent. France's central bank has sold little of its gold over the past several years.

5. China

China is world's largest gold producer. China stands in the 5th position with a reserve of 1,797.5 tonnes. The percent of foreign reserves is 2.2 percent. In the past few years, China has been buying up and mining massive amounts of gold from around the world. 6 Mistakes To Avoid When Buying Gold Jewellery This Festive Season

6. Russia

Russia has gold reserve of 1,460.4 tonnes. The percent of foreign reserves is 15 percent. In 2015, Russia was the top buyer of gold.

7. Switzerland

Switzerland is in 7th position with 1,040 tonnes gold reserve. The percent of foreign reserves is 6.7 percent. Switzerland has the world's largest reserves of gold per capita. Now, most of the country's gold trading is done with Hong Kong and China.

8. Japan

Japan is world's third largest economy and it is also on the top ten list of largest gold reserves. Japan is the eighth country with 765.2 tonnes of gold reserve in the world. The percent of foreign reserves is 2.4 percent

9. Netherlands

Netherland is in the ninth position with 612.5 tonnes of gold reserve. The percent of foreign reserves is 61.2 percent.

10. India

Indians are very fond of gold. India is one of the largest consumers of gold in the world. India has a gold reserve of 557.7 tonnes. The percent of foreign reserves is 6.3 percent. 5 Banks And Gold Loan Companies To Take A Gold Loan From
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
A Washington state administrative judge on Wednesday upheld fines for three presidential electors who broke their pledges to vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in December.Judge Robert Krabill of Tacoma said Washington's secretary of State was within her rights to levy $1,000 fines against Levi Guerra, Esther John and Peter "Bret" Chiafolo, Democratic electors who voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell over Clinton in the presidential election.All three electors, along with a fourth who voted for a Native American leader, signed a pledge to vote for Clinton if she won Washington's electoral votes. Clinton took 57 percent of the vote in the reliably liberal state in November.After the electors broke their pledges, Secretary of State Kim Wyman (R) said she would impose the fines under a law passed in the late 1970s to discourage "faithless electors."
End federal funds for Medicaid expansion, although states would get $100 billion in grants over several years to stabilize their insurance markets; and

Shift the decades-old Medicaid funding system to a per-capita cap, which would give states a fixed amount of money for every person who enrolls.

"Not much better." "Counterproductive." "Big concern."Those are some of the reactions from Republican governors about U.S. House Republicans' bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).After years of calling for an end to the federal health reform law, state GOP leaders find themselves in a tricky balancing act between trying to follow through on their promises and avoiding the political blowback that could happen if their residents lose insurance as a result.The ACA provided states with funding to make more low-income people eligible for Medicaid. The 31 states that accepted the federal funding -- including many run by Republicans -- have since seen a dramatic rise in the number of residents with health insurance.But the long-awaited GOP plan to replace Obamacare, which was released on Monday , would likely make health care no longer affordable for those newly-insured and increase expansion states' Medicaid costs.Starting in 2020, the bill would:Missing from the legislation is whether states would get more flexibility to do what they want with their Medicaid programs. Many Republican states tried and failed to set Medicaid restrictions like work requirements during the Obama administration. President Trump, however, promised that states would get that during his speech to Congress last month , and that has been a top priority for many GOP states.The response has been mostly tepid from GOP governors, especially of expansion states, so far. Not a single one has given a full-throated endorsement. The bill also received blowback from some conservative interest groups and GOP members of Congress who have criticized it for keeping too many of the ACA's policies and threatening the loss of insurance for many.Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner said that his constituents "won't do very well under the changes that they're recommending, which is a big concern to me."Brian Sandoval of Nevada, one of the first Republican governors to expand Medicaid, complained that the U.S. House leaders ignored the states' concerns."We've said all along, 'Work with the governors,' that it should be a governor-led effort and for the Congress to rely on the governors," he said on Tuesday. "Well, they came out with their own bill, which doesn't include anything that the governors have talked about."The most vocal opponent of the plan among GOP governors is Ohio's John Kasich, who stood by his decision to expand Medicaid when he caught heat for it during his presidential campaign last year.Phasing out Medicaid coverage without a viable alternative," he tweeted on Tuesday, "is counterproductive and unnecessarily puts at risk our ability to treat the drug addicted, mentally ill, and working poor who now have access to a stable source of care."Other GOP governors in expansion states expressed cautious optimism.In Vice President Mike Pences home state of Indiana, a spokesperson for Gov. Eric Holcomb said the bill is a correct first step. However, she acknowledged that if passed as it currently stands, the plan would decrease federal funds for the states Medicaid program.Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said at a press conference on Tuesday that he "would have liked to have seen more flexibility given to the states." Nevertheless, he introduced a plan this week to narrow the states Medicaid eligibility from 138 percent of the federal poverty line to 100 percent and establish a work requirement. If approved, it would remove 60,000 people from the state's Medicaid rolls.He advised the critics to "remind ourselves that its a long process. The announcement is not always the end result."A spokesperson for Arizona's Doug Ducey on Tuesday said the governor is still reviewing the fine print but is thrilled a repeal for Obamacare is on the way.Even in nonexpansion states that stand to lose less under the plan, some governors are still unhappy.Maine Gov. Paul LePage, for example, expressed disappointment in the bill, saying its not much better than the system we have in place now.
Massachusetts, Oregon, New York and Washington state declared Thursday that they will follow Hawaii in challenging President Trump's revised travel order, saying the latest executive directive still amounts to an unconstitutional ban on Muslims.The latest legal dominoes began falling Thursday after Washington state attorney general Bob Ferguson, who successfully sued to block Trump's first travel ban, said he will ask a federal court to extend the current temporary restraining order to cover the new one.Shortly afterward, New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman announced he would join the court fight, followed by Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey, who described the president's latest order as an attempt to "make good on his campaign promise to implement a Muslim ban."Ferguson, while acknowledging the travel ban has been "narrowed" in the latest version, said that "does not mean that its cured its constitutional problems.Late Thursday, U.S. District Court judge James L. Robart granted Oregons request to join Washington and Minnesota in the case opposing the travel ban. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said the executive order has hurt Oregon, its residents, employers, agencies, educational institutions, health care system and economy.Last month, a federal judge in Seattle issued the temporary restraining order halting the initial ban after Washington state and Minnesota sued. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the order, which applied nationwide.The Trump administration went back to the drawing board after Washington state's legal challenge of the initial ban convinced the court to temporarily block it.The revised executive order bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries  Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya  and temporarily halts the U.S. refugee program. The ban does not apply to persons with green cards or travelers who already have visas.
Our SXSW Takeaways as We Take Off

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To Attract New Residents, Denton, Texas, Offers Virtual Tours of the Town

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A Futurists' Advice (and Warning) for Mayors

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D.C. Announces 2 New 'Inclusive Innovation' Initiatives

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When Tragedy Strikes, Mayors All Over Lend Their Support

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The Rise of RideAlong and Becoming Your Own Mark Cuban

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Albuquerque Mayor: Cities Can Be Immigrant-Friendly Without Being Sanctuaries

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Tech Idea for Preventing Fatal Police Interactions Wins Competition

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NOLA's Mayor on What Cities Need From Washington to Reduce Crime

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3 Ways to Become a Change Agent in Your City

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Electric Cars Play Second Fiddle to Futuristic Prototypes

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Mayor Sports Shark-Like Socks for 'Shark Tank'-Style Event

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See What New Technologies Mayors Are Learning About

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Race, Immigration and the World's Fastest Driverless Electric Car

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Is Virtual Reality the Future of Government?

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Q&A With 'The Face of U.S. Sanctuary Cities'

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The Socks of SXSW

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Even Techies Struggle With Technology

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Our Lessons From Day 1

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Immigration a Big Concern Among Mayors

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Talking Tinder and Civic Engagement With Mayor Cabaldon

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This Mayor Uses Cool Socks as a Conversation Starter

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What the Mayors of Louisville and West Sacramento Want From SXSW

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For Policy Nerds, Mayors Are the Real Headliner of This Year's SXSW

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Thecrew compares notes on the Mayor's Summit one last time as they make their way to the airport. We also hear from a couple of mayors en route. And David reminds us that, when emergency hits at home, a mayor is duty bound to leave the fun of SXSW and return home.Listen below. You can also subscribe to the "Not Safe for Government Podcast," a product of our parent company, e.Republic, on iTunes or Stitcher if you want to take it with you.After four days at South by Southwest (SXSW), I had seen my fair share of virtual reality. But I had to stop when I saw one Texas city using the technology to lure visitors and new businesses.This is the first time weve actually used this for economic development, to bring people into the city, says Julie Glover, a program administrator for economic development in the city of Denton, Texas.In the past two years, Denton -- a small suburban town about 40 miles northwest of Dallas -- brought businesses and residents to SXSW. But it was expensive to pay for their travel and hotel costs, says Glover. So this year, she and other city officials brainstormed other ways to show people in Austin what Denton is like.We thought, 'wouldnt it be cool if we could make a video?' she says. And then it was like, 'wouldnt it be cool if we could do virtual reality?'With the help of a local business, their vision became a reality.Once I donned the goggles and headphones, I could visit different Denton rooftops and stand on stage with a conductor during an orchestra performance. The software didnt let me move from my fixed position, but I had panoramic views of an animated cityscape that was only slightly lower resolution than real life.What were hoping to do," says Glover, "is show people Denton and make them curious, so that they want to come see us."If there's one thing Amy Webb, a futurist for the Future Today Institute, wants government leaders to know, it's that the future is in their control."The future hasn't been written," she says, so they should start actively planning for it now. Unfortunately, that's not something most mayors are doing."Mayors are busy managing their day-to-day operations, and I think they understand that certain technologies are looming, but they're not simultaneously thinking about today and 10 to 20 years from now," she warns. "So some of the technologies [such as artificial intelligence] that are on the horizon could significantly disrupt day-to-day life in our communities."At South by Southwest in Austin this weekend, representatives from Washington, D.C., unveiled two new initiatives they'll be undertaking back home.The first is a new grant program for female entrepreneurs. The second is an "inclusive innovation incubator," which Brian Kenner, the district's deputy mayor, thinks will be the first of its kind in the nation.The IN3, as he referred to it, is set to open April 20 and will be a physical space designed for "people who are perhaps less represented in the tech ecosystem to feel at home a little more."In the Facebook Live video below, he talks to's J.B. Wogan more about those projects and what "inclusive innovation" means -- in theory and practice.When a gunman opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., last summer, almost 50 people were killed, and more than 50 were injured. Crises like that require good leadership.Luckily, Mayor Buddy Dyer had the help of other mayors.In the Facebook Live video below, he talks to's J.B. Wogan about the staggering number of mayors -- including Rudy Giuliani, who led New York City through 9/11 -- who emailed or texted him after the shooting. They wanted to share their lessons from dealing with tragedies of their own.At SXSW, mayors played the role of sharks when they judged startups' ideas on Sunday. But instead of business ideas like the ones you see on the "Shark Tank" TV show, all of these aimed to solve a civic problem, such as fatal police interactions.In this episode of the "Not Safe for Government" podcast, we document the rise of RideAlong, the winner of the competition, and how mayors remain in the long shadow of Mark Cuban.Listen below. You can also subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher if you want to take it with you.In polarizing times like these, most politicians choose a side and staunchly stick to it. Not Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry.He's one of the few Republican mayors in the country and is walking the line between complying with the Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants and helping some of those same immigrants."Albuquerque is not a sanctuary for criminal activity," he says. "But we are welcoming to the immigrant community."Proof of that is the fact that the city recently created an office of refugee and immigrant affairs.In the Facebook Live video below,'s J.B. Wogan interviews him about that as well as the difference between racial equality and racial equity.On the third day of Civic I/O, the government and policy sessions at South by Southwest (SXSW), mayors assumed the role of Shark Tank investors.The mayors of Denver, Orlando, Fla.; and West Sacramento, Calif.; joined a panel of tech entrepreneurs to judge startups' proposals for business ideas that help solve a civic problem.The first place prize of $10,000 went to RideAlong, a digital tool meant to facilitate safer interactions between police and people with mental illness. While about 3 percent of U.S. adults suffer from a severe mental illness, they make up a quarter to one-half of all fatal law enforcement encounters, according to the nonprofit Treatment Advocacy Center. The founders of RideAlong hope to prevent such tragic incidents by equipping police with information that will ultimately divert people experiencing a mental health crisis away from the criminal justice system and instead into treatment and other support services.The RideAlong system is already being piloted in Seattle, where police can look up a name or address and view an easy-to-read profile of an individual. The tool automatically collects and organizes helpful information from family members, social service providers and other government agencies. Officers in Seattle already receive a PDF with similar information in their email while theyre driving, but they sometimes struggle to find and read it before they arrive on scene.Meredith Hitchcock, a co-founder of RideAlong, began building the tool as a one-year Code for America fellow in Seattle. Before developing it, she and two other fellows spent a month studying police interactions with citizens who have a mental illness. They rode along with police, spoke to social service case managers and interviewed individuals with mental illness.We were seeing this was a problem across the nation, she says.And their research in the field paid off.RideAlong had such a clarity of understanding of how the day-to-day process works that theyre trying to solve, says West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, one of the judges for the competition. It was impressive in its fidelity to what the needs are. It was clear that it wasnt a technology play first.All seven of the presenting startups received at least $1,000. RoadBotics, a smartphone app that turns cars, trucks and bikes into mobile sensors that detect road features, such as potholes, received $5,000. Smarter Sorting, a company that helps cities sort through household chemical waste and allows for the reuse of some chemicals currently being incinerated, won $2,500.All of the presenters identified pressing problems in cities, from slow and inefficient paper-based government processes to the difficulty that low-income residents face communicating with their government. The judges probed them on the scalability of their products, how they planned to make money and whether their proposals would duplicate existing services in the public or private sector.Amazon Web Services sponsored the competition and put up the prize money. In addition to the mayors, the panel of judges included Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, and Nicole Neditch, the senior director for community engagement at Code for America.Hitchcock says pitching to mayors was slightly different than her earlier efforts to win over first responders and the tech startup community.First responders are interested in the operation, whats going to be involved to get this set up, whos going to manage content, whats the benefit on the day-to-day basis, she says. The mayors were looking much more at, whats the bigger-term vision, how do we use this to make smarter cities, how do we offer more strategic and smarter first responders?When the federal government started investing more in counterterrorism, it invested less in cities, says New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu."That's unfortunate," he says, "because in 1996, when the federal government invested in the cities, we actually reduced crime by half." He also points out that most violent crime is domestic -- not terrorism -- and that local law enforcement is part of the battle against terrorism.'s J.B. Wogan interviewed Landrieu at SXSW after the mayor sat on a panel about the future of policing. In the Facebook Live video below, he discusses "Secure America," the document mayors sent to the White House laying out their federal funding requests.He also calls for a significant investment in researching and treating violence as a public health threat. The money invested, he argues, would be miniscule compared to the money saved on incarcerating people."To stop violence from happening, it's just been the same old model," he says. "There's a lot to be learned out there that we don't know."Sunday is "Smart Cities Day" at SXSW. The sessions have been dedicated to unpacking the different components of a smart city and have brought together a diverse set of public-sector perspectives -- including the federal government's.David Bray, the chief information officer for the Federal Communications Commission, shared three ways officials can become change agents in their city:Rather than relying on a single expert or group of experts with a shared view of issues, its important to have a diversity of opinions in your planning and operations.The best insights do not come from the top but rather the people closest to the action. Its more important than ever to empower those on the edge of your city to share their insights and become change agents for how government services are delivered.Cities are diverse ecosystems with many disparate parts -- such as academia, companies and business. Connecting these parts can better prepare cities for adapting to change.For more on how to be a #changeagent, follow David Bray at @fcc_cio on Twitter I wish I could say the air was electric at the "C3 Smart Mobility Showcase" tent at SXSW. But the small number of electric cars on display -- a Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, among others -- played second fiddle to the free taco table and bar.Fortunately, it was a different story altogether in a small building just a few blocks away.A pair of vehicle prototypes made by NEO, a Chinese startup, were surrounded by attendees mugging for selfies. A blue race car, all low and swoopy, had recently set a record for the fastest lap by an electric car -- a feat it accomplished without a driver onboard. In an adjacent room was another NEO model, this one touted as a future electric car for the masses.While cool, the NEO cars seemed futuristic and decades away. But maybe not. After all, the Nissan Leaf has been on the road for about eight years now.Unlike most people, West Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Christopher Cabaldon thinks socks can serve more than one purpose. He likes to use them as conversation starters, and they usually match his mood or what he's doing that day.That's why we've been tracking his footsteps ( literally ) this weekend at SXSW.Today, he's wearing grey stripes, to mimic a shark, since he's attending a "Shark Tank"-style event. At the SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event, startups will present their business ideas for solving civic problems to a panel of mayors and industry experts. The events sponsor, Amazon Web Services, has put up $25,000 in prize money for the best ideas.Stay tuned to see what he wears tomorrow.Yesterday, mayors at SXSW got the chance to interact with emerging technologies from around the world. Here are a few snapshots.The music, fun and tech at SXSW took a back seat on Saturday to a difficult discussion about race and immigration in America. On this third episode of the "Not Safe for Government" podcast, we talk to the mayors leading those conversations.Plus, the mayors and thecrew spent some time with electric cars, including the world's fastest electric autonomous car, which its Chinese makers rolled out at SXSW. Forget 0 to 60; this car goes 1 to 124 mph in 7 seconds.Listen below. You can also subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher so you can take it with you.Mayors love dashboards and visualizations. It allows them and their employees to make sense of the huge volumes of data that come through city customer relationship relationship (CRM) systems.At SXSW on Saturday, mayors took turns exploring a virtual reality rendering of a city CRM system. It was a head-turning experience but didn't sell everyone just yet."It's a cool tool, but ... where's the value added in terms of applications?" said San Jose, Calif., Mayor Sam Riccardo. "I'm very interested in looking more at it, but I still need to be persuaded this is something we want to invest in."Richard Berry, the mayor of Albuquerque, N.M., however, already has some ideas on how to apply VR to government. Watch the Facebook Live video below to find out.Santa Fe, N.M., Mayor Javier Gonzales is the man Fox News called "the face of U.S. sanctuary cities." So it's fitting that he sat on a SXSW panel on Saturday to discuss ways that cities are trying to become more welcoming places for immigrants and to resist the White House's immigration policies.J.B. Wogan caught up with him after the panel. What follows is a condensed, lightly edited version of that conversation.Obviously, the president has sent out a very negative tone about immigrants and the presence of immigrants in American cities. What weve tried to do is reassure through policy that well continue to be welcoming. Were also taking proactive approaches in Washington, trying to reach out to the administration and saying, 'look, there is a way to achieve the objectives of protecting our country and making sure that we have an immigration system that works.'We all as cities want to make sure that our communities remain safe. We do know that if we dont have strong border security, that there could be bad people that make their way in, and were willing to work alongside the administration -- as long as theyre policies that will actually work. I dont believe that the wall is an effective strategy for keeping people out. Id rather work with law enforcement and intelligence agencies to identify those individuals.We have an immigration committee. The work has changed quite a bit in terms of trying to expand legal resources to make sure that undocumented individuals are able to sit down with lawyers and understand what their rights are. Theyve worked alongside many families who worry about going to work. Theyre working with employers to make sure they understand what their rights are if ICE agents show up.Its really unfortunate that were all having to exert this kind of energy in protecting peaceful people who want to contribute to our country. Really, the president and the Congress could pass some immigration reform that would create easier access toward some kind of documentation and then all of that would go away. We would be able to focus on keeping our communities safe by going after bad people and growing our countrys economy by relying on skilled labor that is really participatory and adding to our economies.There are city funds that do go into legal defense. We now are going to need to put more in. In the meantime, our community has stepped up through foundations and through businesses, and were seeing cities across the country do the same thing.I think what mayors recognize is that we have to do everything we can -- not only from a humanity standpoint to protect people who are here and living peacefully but also to be able to support families so that kids will continue to go to school and parents will continue to go to work. They are critical to our economies and to the social fabric of our communities.In anticipation of discussions about immigration and racial equity, West Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Christopher Cabaldon -- who uses socks as a conversation starter -- is rocking zebra stripes today at SXSW's Civic I/O Mayors Summit.Check out what he wore yesterday , too.We can put a man on the moon, but we can't reliably run a PowerPoint presentation.In front of an audience of mayors and municipal government geeks, a presenter experienced that paradox firsthand as the visual part of her presentation on transforming governance refused to leave the starting blocks. She represented something called the Future Today Institute.I have seen the future and there are no PowerPoints in it.In this second NSFG Extra from the Civic I/O Mayors Summit at SXSW, Reporter J.B. Wogan speaks with the long-serving executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Tom Cochran. They discuss the evolution and importance of technology in government and the wide reach that local leaders have in their citizens' lives."We deal with potholes; We also deal with civil rights," he said.Theteam -- J.B., Photographer David Kidd and Chief Innovation Officer Dustin Haisler -- also compare notes on what we learned during day one of the summit.Listen below. You can also subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher so you can take it with you.During a Friday night cocktail reception at South by Southwest (SXSW), when public officials mingled with startup entrepreneurs, Tom Cochran slipped off to a side table to handwrite his latest missive to the nations mayors. Cochran is executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, where he has worked for 48 years, spanning nine presidential administrations.He's always written these notes by hand -- a staffer types them up afterward -- but they used to be less frequent. In 2017, he writes one a day. The Washington veteran says the election of President Donald Trump has completely changed my job description, making constant dialogue with his members a necessity.People cant find their governor, they cant find their congressman, but they can call their mayor, and their mayor calls me, he says.Cochran is on the frontlines of a new, more contentious relationship between the federal government and cities. In the young life of the Trump administration, the nations mayors have already challenged the White House, most notably on its plans to cut off funding to immigrant sanctuary cities and to eliminate the Community Development Block Grant.On Friday evening, he announced that his group will meet with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on March 29 to discuss the presidents recent executive orders on immigration. Cochran says mayors hope to clarify how the White House plans to define a sanctuary city and which grants might be at risk for them. They also want federal immigration enforcement to let them know when they plan to conduct a raid, so city officials can be prepared for the impact it has on their community.So far, immigration has figured prominently at SXSW's government and policy discussions. During a series of 10-minute presentations to mayors in the afternoon, leaders from the nonprofit and private sector urged urban leaders to protect their immigrant communities and reframe the public narrative around them.Rich Andre, an associate director of state and local initiatives at the New American Economy, a Michael Bloomberg-backed organization that advocates for immigration reform, said mayors should use data to quantify the positive impact that immigrants can have on their citys population and economy. He cited Dayton, Ohio, as an example: Its pro-immigrant strategy helped to reverse the city's decades-long decline in population. His organization provides free data and case studies to help local governments follow in Daytons footsteps.Allegra Love, an attorney from the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, which defends immigrants, called on more mayors to fund the legal defense of immigrants in their communities -- something several big cities have already pledged to do.Its been really bad for us lately. Were heartbroken, and were exhausted, and the people I work with are terrified, she said. This pitch is now turning into a plea, a plea for moral courage ... fund the legal defense of immigrants in your city, and not only the defense but the promotion of them.How do you engage citizens when most of them don't have time or interest in attending local government meetings?"When we make decisions in those kind of meetings based on who shows up ... we end up getting the wrong outcomes; we pick the wrong thing; we chose often the most inequitable things; we sometimes pick based on our most animal instincts," said West Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Christopher Cabaldon.That's why his city, along with Santa Monica, is testing a Tinder-like app that "meets citizens where they are." Like the dating app Tinder, it lets users swipe left or right to express their approval -- or dislike -- of something. But instead of potential dates, users would be rating possible city projects.Watch Cabaldon discuss the app, and what he calls "the analog divide," in this Facebook Live video.West Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Christopher Cabaldon uses socks as a conversation starter. At SXSW, he finds it particularly helpful for connecting with tech entrepreneurs and artists who otherwise wouldn't be inclined to talk to a mayor.We'll be tracking his footsteps -- and his sartorial choices -- for the next few days.His day 1 choice: blue dots on grey and white.We caught up with two early-arriving mayors -- Greg Fischer of Louisville, Ky., and Christopher Cabaldon of West Sacramento, Calif. -- and talked to them about their expectations of the conference.Fischer is most looking forward to meeting with the 23 mayors to discuss the challenges faced by blue cities in red states during the Trump era. Meanwhile, Cabaldon reveals why he thinks public engagement as currently practiced by cities is doing more harm than good.Listen to this episode of the "Not Safe for Government" podcast, which is hosted by's parent company, e.Republic, below. You can also subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher so you can take it with you.People usually go to the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin to learn about the latest in film, music and technology. But this year, Austin Mayor Steve Adler is adding urban innovation to the list of attractions.The city of Austin and the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors have planned a series of events this weekend to convene mayors, venture capitalists and startup owners. Adler wants the conference to spur partnerships between cities and private-sector innovators that aim to address social problems at the local level.Government does not have the ability to solve many of the municipal challenges that cities face, says Adler. We really do need the involvement of the innovation community.At least 20 mayors are expected to be in town from all over the country -- Albuquerque, N.M.; Cambridge, Mass.; Denver; Louisville, Ky.; Milwaukee; New Orleans; Oklahoma City; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Salt Lake City; San Jose, Calif.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Washington, D.C.; and West Sacramento, Calif.The conferences new "Government and Policy Track" includes a demonstration where mayors will interact with cutting-edge technology that could affect their cities, such as drones, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Also on the schedule is a Shark Tank-style competition where new companies will pitch their business ideas for solving civic problems to a panel of mayors and industry experts. The events sponsor, Amazon Web Services, has put up $25,000 in prize money for the best ideas. Mayors will also meet to discuss terrorism, police reform, racial inequity and immigration.For people looking to launch a business, the government and policy sessions will expose them to the most pressing public policy problems facing cities today. In some cases, those problems could be opportunities for public funding if entrepreneurs find a way to monetize new solutions to municipal challenges. The conference is an opportunity for people with really good ideas to interact with people who can capitalize on those good ideas, says Adler.will be live-blogging every government and policy session from Friday morning to Monday night. You can keep up with the latest right here as we post news, interviews, videos and photos. You can also follow our coverage on Twitter and Facebook
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GIS - 10 March, 2017: Education has become the most significant driver of all transformation and innovation and Government deems it essential that all our youth, without any exception, access the best that may be offered. Education has become the most significant driver of all transformation and innovation and Government deems it essential that all our youth, without any exception, access the best that may be offered.

This is the gist of the message of the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit and Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, to secondary school students on the occasion of the 49th anniversary of the Independence day and 25th anniversary of the Republic of Mauritius.

He recalled that the Government has embarked on a double reform agenda aimed at ensuring lifelong learning through the Nine-Year Schooling and the acquisition of skills and tools through technical and vocational education.

Your success in education will not only determine your personal future but also how far you can and will contribute towards taking our country with its rich diversity to new heights, Mr Jugnauth said.

The Prime Minister exhorted students to assume their responsibility as global citizens and contribute to the sustainable development of the world. He underscored the importance of self-discipline and self-motivation while appealing to them to use their critical faculty of judiciously weighing the consequences of their actions before undertaking them.

Mr Jugnauth further stressed the importance of developing a social conscience. If we want to walk la main dans la main we should also be in a position to extend our hand to those of our compatriots who are in need, he said.

In his address to primary school students, the Prime Minister underlined the importance of harnessing the sense of patriotism which has to be reflected in actions and words every day. He recalled that Mauritius is a peaceful and prosperous country where different races and cultures coexist.

Referring to future projects which constitute the base for the transformation of the Republic of Mauritius, Mr Pravind Jugnauth pointed out that these will only materialise if all the children have access to an education which is free and of quality.

He concluded his message by appealing to school children to demonstrate discipline, determination and perseverance so as to achieve success in whatever they plan to undertake.
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GIS - 10 March 2017: Mauritius and India signed, this morning in Port Louis, five agreements of cooperation for consultancy services in relation to five major projects earmarked by Mauritius and which are benefitting from financial assistance from the Government of India.

The instruments of cooperation signed in the presence of the High Commissioner of India to Mauritius, Mr Abhay Thakur, pertain to namely:

 an agreement between Metro Express Ltd and RITES Ltd for the provision of assistance in the supervision of the construction of the Metro Express for which India has allocated some Rs 9.9 billion under a Government to Government agreement;

 an addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding dated 27th November 2014 between Indian Oil Corporation Limited Mangalore Refinery, Petrochemicals Limited, and State Trading Corporation of Mauritius;

 a Memorandum of Understanding on the early digital learning programmefor the supply of tablets PC to pupils of Standard I and II including hardware, software, training, and after sales service between the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, Mauritius and Education Consultants India Ltd. (a Government of India enterprise, under the Ministry of Human Resource Development of India);

 an agreement between the Government of Mauritius and RITES Limited (a Government of India enterprise) for consultancy services for project planning and design for the project Trident consisting of the setting up of the Headquarters of the Mauritius National Coast Guard in the Port area with a line of credit of USD 52.3 million and a grant assistance of USD 4 million from the Government of India;

 an agreement between Mauritius and NBCC (India) Limited and Landscope (Mauritius) Ltd for consultancy services in connection with the construction of a New Supreme Court Building at Edith Cavell Street, Port Louis.

These projects, considered crucial for the socio-economic development of Mauritius, encompass various sectors of the economy such as public transportation, education, judiciary, energy and maritime security.

The Government of India agreed to provide grant funding to the Mauritian Government during the visit of Prime Minister Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, to India in September last year. India responded positively by disbursing funds through a grant envelope of Rs 12.7 billion for several projects in Mauritius.

In a statement, High Commissioner Thakur spoke of further deepening and widening the existing relationship between India and Mauritius. He also expressed interest for a stronger cooperation in other areas in addition to the above-mentioned projects of which the Metro Express project is the biggest leap into strengthening the relation of kinship between India and Mauritius.

For his part, the Chairperson of the Metro Express project, Mr Satiaved Seebaluck, reiterated his gratitude to the Indian Government for the assistance provided to Mauritius towards the implementation of the Metro Express project for which infrastructure works will kick-start this afternoon. This, he said is yet another step forward into furthering the special relations that exists between the two countries.
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GIS - 10 March, 2017: The Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, arrived in Mauritius this afternoon for an Official visit from 10 to 12 March 2017. He is the Chief Guest of the Government for the 2017 National Day celebrations.

Dr Bawumia and his delegation were welcomed at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Mr. Ivan Collendaveloo and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo.

The Ghanaian delegation comprises the spouse of the Vice-President, Mrs Hajia Samira Ramandan Bawumia; the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mrs Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; the Minister of Communication, Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful; and the Minister for Business Development, Mr Ibrahim Mahammed Awal.

From the airport, the Vice-President of Ghana proceeded to the the State House, Reduit for a courtesy call on the President of the Republic of Mauritius, Dr Ameenah Gurib-Fakim ouse . On Saturday morning, the Chief Guest will have a tete-a tete and a working session with the Prime Minister , Mr Pravind Jugnauth at the Treasury Building, Port Louis, followed by a statement to the press. He will then visit the Aapravasi Ghat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Port Louis. A visit to the African Leadership University in Beau Plan, Pamplemousses where he will meet the Ghanaian community in Mauritius is also scheduled.

During the evening, the following personalities: the Chief Justice, Mr Kheshoe Parsad Matadeen; the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mrs Santi Bai Hanoomanjee; and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Xavier-Luc Duval, will call on the Vice-President. Dr Bawumia will also participate in a Banquet offered in his honour by the Prime Minister at the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Centre, Pailles.

On Sunday 12 March 2017, a breakfast business meeting is scheduled with stakeholders of the public and private sector. The Vice-President of Ghana will then visit the Le Morne Cultural Landscape and UNESCO World Heritage Site after which he will attend a lunch hosted by President Gurib-Fakim at the State House, Reduit. In the evening, he will attend the National Day Celebrations at Champs de Mars, Port Louis.

T he programme of activities of the National Day celebrations 2017, comprises the flag hoisting ceremony at 18 25 hours; a flypast by Dornier and Police helicopters; and a march past by Disciplined Forces and uniformed organisations, followed by defile of vehicles. The official programme will be followed by a cultural show.

The Chief Guest and his delegation will leave Mauritius in the night of 12 March 2017.
Since the Great Recession and the rise of IT, states across the nation have sought to save money while simultaneously re-engineering  and often centralizing  their IT operations.In Louisiana, those ideas were already in motion under the stewardship of Dickie Howze , CIO since 2013, whose consolidation plans had saved the state $75 million in their first year.But since January of 2016, when Gov. John Bel Edwards signed an executive order expanding Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Louisianas Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment program has undergone a $65 million modernization  one that has ultimately sparked a renewal of state agencies online enterprise architecture.The results wont begin to go live until later this year. But they amount to a wholesale technological shift away from mainframes and time-consuming tape backups to virtualized machines and integrated systems  one which, because of a partnership with federal officials, received significant financial support from the feds.The states Office of Technology Services worked with Palo Alto-based VMware to stand up a new statewide hyper-converged platform from Nutanix with VMwares ESX hypervisor technology and its NSX virtualization.The goal was far-reaching, said state Chief Technology Officer Michael Allison in a statement: Create a stable, scalable platform that could handle the modernizations and incorporate a hodgepodge of technologies, including thousands of applications spanning all kinds of sectors.VMware also worked with Louisiana to build a private, on-premises cloud  and is developing a partnership with Amazon Web Services to create a public cloud as well.Long-term, Louisiana wants to adopt a public cloud-first strategy, Allison said, characterizing AWSs Lighthouse program as a view into something the state never had before because we never worked with private commercial entities in shaping the solution.This is where we believe the secret sauce will be, Allison toldLouisiana officials said the timing of their push to consolidate IT coincided with new federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services standards, and they were able to leverage federal money focused on Medicaid  with a 10 percent state match  to design statewide solutions.Originally it was only going to be for the Medicaid project, it was going to be an enterprise architecture project of limited scope," said Matthew Vince, Louisianas chief design officer. "That was pre-consolidation. Post-consolidation in the state, we realized there was a whole lot of benefit of building once."The challenge was, Can I take Medicaid funding and come up with something that presumably everyone could use? he added.Allison agreed.The timing was just right, to have this project come up as we were consolidating and have this project be the one that we adopt enterprise-wide," Allison said. "Planning ahead to make sure we are not putting ourselves in the position of building monolithic systems like the state has done in the past."Along the way, the state has saved an estimated $1 million in hardware costs  and designed a system it believes will come across as seamless and agnostic, presenting an improved experience that transcends equipment and software.Tim Merrigan, vice president of state, local and education (SLED) at VMware, agreed that consolidation was a primary force driving the project, but said the results  particularly the move to the cloud  should enable state IT to evolve into a broker of IT services, not having to build everything on premises but retaining that option.This is the next step of how we can help to drive out cost," he said. "And helping IT to focus in on their mission of helping agencies deliver on their mission."The states new streamlined Medicaid process, through its Department of Health (DOH), an early adopter of the new architecture, should enter production next month and debut in August. Agencies likely to make use of the platform and technologies slightly later will include the states departments of Children & Family Services, and Transportation & Development, Vince said.Louisiana's aim, Vince said, is to modernize as effectively and broadly as possible. He characterized employees likely experience with the new systems as pretty substantially different.The current system is mainframe so well be going from terminal to Web-based, itll be responsive, mobile-ready. Their day-to-day will change significantly in just the way they experience the applications, he added.Bill Perkins, the states deputy Medicaid director, said the new architecture should ease the process for employees and residents alike as it will better connect roughly 400 disparate computer systems  and keep DOH live 24 hours a day instead of requiring around 12 hours a day for maintenance and reports.He characterized the modernization of Medicaid enrollment, which is administered by DOH, as a way to work with new vendors that could tailor solutions for specific state agencies rather than developing another one-size-fits-all system.As were putting together this enterprise architecture, that allows us to put together these different modules and make sure theyre integrated as one," Perkins said. "It is going to be more difficult to have different vendors potentially, but I think at the end of the day were going to have a better product in totality."State officials, he said, have already enrolled around 406,000 residents for Medicaid through ACA since the governors executive order, but ultimately hope to register at least a half-million people.
I have to say that I'm not that surprised about potential cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since every day we move further away from 9/11. But I am very concerned about the cuts to the United States Coast Guard (USCG). See this story, To fund border wall, Trump administration weighs cuts to Coast Guard, airport security. When President Trump talked about beefing up the military during his campaign and then mentioned it in his address to the nation a couple of weeks ago, I was thinking  forget the military, the USCG needs beefing up. They don't have nearly enough ships and force structure to do everything that they are required to do today. Making the cuts proposed in their budget would neuter them even further. There wasn't any mention about ice breakers  but these are the ships that need to be built NOW! In a little bit, should they still be floating, grandkids of the original coasties who manned the boats when they were first launched will be manning the bilge pumps to keep them above the water line.The idea that ports don't need the force protection that the Coast Guard gives is pretty crazy too. It makes no sense to me to have this border wall that sacrifices other elements of the security plan for the nation. As the Port Security Director at the Port of Tacoma, I used to say we have the front door locked and guarded (the land gates), but the back door is unlocked and wide open (water side). This would eliminate the minimal waterside security that exists in some port sectors.Back to the cuts to FEMA. Those sound like they will roll on down to the programs supporting state and local emergency management programs. If this is going to happen, then I propose there be block grants given to states that they administer the distribution of resources with a specific percentage being passed down to local jurisdictions (since my compatriots often complain about states hogging the federal money).It won't be long when old emergency managers are hanging out at bars and toasting the "good old days" of $3.2B in annual Federal Homeland Security Grants. I expect we'll need a song, something like "Where have all the equipment grants gone? There's no overtime and back fill for first responders, oh, what will we do?"Remember these are all "proposed" and rumored cuts. There will still be time for fighting it out in Congress. Get ready to testify, NEMA and IAEM presidents!Hey, I like the idea of a surcharge on flood insurance properties. Those who have the risk, should pay for it.
(TNS) -- The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Thursday, March 9:Americans learned Tuesday, March 7, that the CIA has tools that can hack smartphones, computer operating systems, message apps, Wi-Fi networks. That blockbuster revelation came courtesy of WikiLeaks, the organization last in the headlines for its role in the purported Russian leaking of emails to tilt the Nov. 8 election to President Donald Trump.First reaction: We sure hope the CIA has those abilities, given that terrorists around the world need to communicate somehow.Second reaction: That doesnt mean we want the world to know how the CIA does its job. WikiLeaks publishing of the CIAs spying methods is a reprehensible trespass on American security. Under the guise of internet security or privacy or whatever phony justification WikiLeaks claims, the secret-busting organization now hands over the CIAs master keys to cyber criminals, spies and other foreign malefactors. One former intelligence officer told The Wall Street Journal that disclosure, if genuine, likely would disrupt or halt ongoing U.S. intelligence operations.From the Department of Cold Comfort: WikiLeaks says its wasnt publishing details that could be used to replicate Americas cyber tools.Third reaction: What a huge embarrassment for the CIA. The agency devoted to learning and protecting secrets apparently fumbled an invaluable hacking arsenal. The CIA should launch a full-scale investigation to learn who stole this information and how. Some experts theorize that a disgruntled CIA employee or an agency contractor was the culprit. President Trump, get ready to deliver your signature line to CIA officials who should have better protected those secrets: Youre fired.The last time we learned about a leak of this epic scale, National Security Agency turncoat Edward Snowden was decamping to Russia in 2013 and the U.S. government was reeling over disclosures of its global electronic surveillance programs. This time, Snowden, still hiding in Moscow under the protection of Russian President Vladimir Putin, pronounced the latest WikiLeaks dump genuinely a big deal.Yes, this is a big deal. What we dont know yet is how the CIA used these tools, whom the agency spied on, what intel was gleaned. One tool reportedly allowed the CIA to intercept smartphone text messages and calls before their content was encrypted or decrypted. Another reportedly allowed the CIA to use Samsung Smart TVs as covert listening devices, even when they appeared to be off.Former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden explained it this way to TVs Stephen Colbert: I can tell you that these tools would not be used against an American. But there are people out there that you want us to spy on. You want us to have the ability to actually turn on that listening device inside the TV, to learn that persons intentions. This is a wonderful capability. You give the intelligence community $53 billion a year. You gotta get something for your money. (Agreed. See our first reaction above.)Stay tuned. WikiLeaks is promising more installments, divulging more CIA secrets, from a stash it dubbed Vault 7.Who decides that the alleged benefit of revealing this trove of information outweighs the risks to U.S. national security? Presumably that falls to WikiLeaks Supreme Hacker Julian Assange. Hes still holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, sheltered from extradition to Sweden over allegations that he raped a woman there. He also fears extradition to the U.S. on potential espionage charges. (Given this latest disclosure, hed be wise to avoid American soil.)As usual, WikiLeaks hasnt disclosed the source of this information. The source wishes to initiate a public debate about the security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons, WikiLeaks said in a statement.By all means, lets have a debate. But the correct place for that is in Congress, behind closed doors to protect secrets that can  and now will  be exploited by Americas enemies. Now more than ever, you can include Assange and his WikiLeaks co-conspirators in that camp.
(TNS) -- Nearly a week before WikiLeaks revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency may be using personal electronic devices for espionage, a lawsuit settlement admonished Facebook for reading messages the company had led its users to believe were private.These were not the first instances in which Facebook and the federal government have been accused of gathering information from peoples private devices, conversations or even homes.And they wont be the last.What both cases show, experts said, is a grim slice of reality: When it comes to digital data  photos, conversations, health information or finances  nothing can be perfectly private.And for those entities charged with keeping and protecting peoples data, including governments and big tech companies, whats best for consumer privacy may not always be in line with their own priorities.When it comes to making these decisions about privacy and vulnerabilities, without any clear law or anything, it all becomes a matter of opinion, said Jeremiah Grossman, the chief of security strategy for cybersecurity firm SentinelOne. The CIA could have a really reasoned argument for why its in the countrys best interest to hoard (tech vulnerabilities). Whereas I would prefer to have the information so we can fix our software and make everyone safer.Internet users are increasingly aware of this, and increasingly wary of institutions charged with protecting their data, according to studies from the Pew Research Center Just 12 percent of Americans and 9 percent of social media users report a very high level of confidence that the government and tech companies can keep their personal information safe and secure, according to a Pew study from 2016.Overwhelmed with stories of hacks, attacks and the prying eyes of private companies and public agencies, fatigued consumers may feel even attempting to protect themselves in a digital age is futile, security experts said.That, they added, is exactly the wrong approach.The truth is theres no silver bullet, said John Breyault, vice president of public policy at the National Consumers League. Theres no foolproof way to protect your privacy and data security from the government, for example. But there are plenty of basic, important steps people can take to reduce their risk.WikiLeaks, an activist organization that exposes government secrets, revealed what appeared to be a legitimate trove of internal CIA documents Tuesday that suggested hackers within the agency had been able to co-opt Android and Apple smartphones, Samsung SmartTVs, and Internet-enabled cars, among other computer systems, to spy on targets.Using a variety of tools, CIA hackers found ways past antivirus systems and defensive software and around messaging apps that encrypt communication by scrambling messages so third parties cannot intercept a conversation by hacking into the deepest parts of a phone or computer operating system.By Wednesday, companies cited in the data leak had responded, saying they were working to patch the apparent vulnerabilities of their products.Samsung, whose Internet-connected TVs were put into a false off-mode and used as listening devices by CIA operatives, according to the leak, said Wednesday that it was urgently trying to fix the security flaws.According to the leaked documents, the CIA discovered and kept secret 14 methods of exploiting Apple devices. Those vulnerabilities are known as zero-day attacks, meaning they pounce on security defects unknown even to the company itself and, therefore, have no known fix.Apple said in a statement that most of those issues were already fixed in its latest software update; those that werent were being quickly addressed, it said.The spy agency also collected 24 weaponized zero-day exploits against Android devices, the documents said. Google, the creator of Android operating systems, did not respond to a request for comment.Of course, some of these same companies have been embroiled in controversies over how they use and collect consumer data.Google, which was sued for its practice of scanning Gmail users emails for advertising purposes, agreed to modify its own use of data following a lawsuit in 2010.Data has become such a part of wearables, smart homes, social media, smart cars, surveillance, that its not about privacy as much as it is about disclosure, said Jules Polonetsky, CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum. These are data-driven products, tools, services, and the ethics of how you design and use these tools, and how people understand what youre doing with their personal information  thats the central point.Facebook was not named outright in the CIA documents, though WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging service owned by the social media giant, was.But just six days prior to the WikiLeaks data dump, Facebook had been dealing with its own privacy concerns.In settling a 2013 class-action lawsuit accusing it of violating the federal Wiretap Act and Californias Invasion of Privacy Act by mining Facebook users private messages without their knowledge or consent, the company agreed last week not to read its users private messages.Facebook, which pointed out in the settlement that it had dropped that particular message-mining practice several years ago, vowed to make it clearer to users how all their data and information is scanned, used and sold to advertisers. The settlement still has to be reviewed by U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland on April 12 before it can take effect.Though Facebook is not the CIA, and mining user messages using an algorithm is not the same as a human hacker breaking into someones cell phone or the TV they have at home, privacy advocates said both actions stem from a lack of transparency and strict privacy regulations in the U.S.What this settlement suggests, and not just to Facebook, but to other companies in the tech world, is if you tell people youre offering people a private tech service, your word needs to be matched by what youre doing, Breyault said.President Trump has pledged a forthcoming cybersecurity executive order that would push for studies of current vulnerabilities and the United States cyberattack capacity. But leaked drafts do not indicate a clear plan for addressing privacy concerns or creating a national mandate that protects consumer data.One of the key challenges of the Trump administration, which has been very pro-security, is learning how to integrate privacy concerns into surveillance concerns, Polonetsky said. Being responsible for deciding exactly what is too far or what is not for the CIA to use and deciding when we need strong encryption to protect our infrastructure even though that leads to security tensions is so important. These are conversations we need to have.
(TNS) -- WikiLeaks will turn over all the details it has on the CIAs alleged hacking arsenal so that tech companies like Apple and Google can patch holes and fix vulnerabilities in their technology before the activist group makes the code publicly available online, the organizations founder announced Thursday.Julian Assange took questions on the CIA leak in a lengthy online news conference broadcast on Twitter from Ecuadors Embassy in London, where Assange has been since he was granted political asylum in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape accusations, which he has denied.Assange said the organization would work with tech companies whose products appeared to be targets of CIA cyberattacks that included breaking into phones, computers, cars and televisions.WikiLeaks has a lot more information about what has been going on with the cyberweapons program. After considering what we think is the best way to proceed and hearing these calls from some of the manufacturers, we have decided to work with them to give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details that we have so that fixes can be developed and pushed out, so people can be secure, Assange said.He did not detail how WikiLeaks would securely pass the information on to tech firms or to which companies the data would be distributed.Once companies have had a chance to ensure that consumer devices are properly protected, Assange said, the group will release the code showing how the CIA managed to break into phones, work around encrypted messaging apps and avoid detection by software designed to defend against cyberattacks.WikiLeaks published a cache of nearly 9,000 documents that the group said had been leaked by a CIA contractor. Though the CIA itself has declined to comment on the authenticity of the documents, several cybersecurity experts interviewed by The Chronicle, including some with previous government experience, said the trove of data appears legitimate.The initial document release on Tuesday was only a piece of a greater stash of information WikiLeaks said it had hesitated to reveal, due to the sensitive nature of the information and how extensively it could endanger peoples personal data.In a statement that accompanied the documents, WikiLeaks said it avoided the distribution of armed cyberweapons before those tools could be disabled and rendered relatively benign.Companies named in the leak, including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung, said this week that they are investigating the claims and patching security holes.According to the leaked documents, the CIA discovered and kept secret 14 methods of exploiting Apple devices. Those vulnerabilities are known as zero-day attacks, meaning they pounce on security defects unknown even to the company itself and, therefore, have no known fix.The spy agency also collected 24 weaponized zero-day exploits against Android devices, the documents said, and engaged in an attack called Weeping Angel that turned Samsung Smart TVs into listening devices by putting the television sets in a fake off-mode while hackers used them to record conversations.Security experts were outraged over the leak, in part, they said, because by keeping information about technological vulnerabilities to itself, the spy agency could have put the personal data of countless people at risk of being hacked by cybercriminals or other countries.Assange suggested during Thursdays news conference that the CIA may have used some of these tools to spy on Americans, which would be a violation of the agencys legal mandate.He said WikiLeaks had received a list of more than 22,000 IP addresses  numbers that correspond with individual computers  associated with U.S. computers that could have been used in CIA attacks or targeted by CIA hackers.Those IP addresses have not be released nor independently verified.The CIA has denied that it uses electronic surveillance against Americans, and many cybersecurity experts cautioned against trusting Assange, whom many consider to be a tool of Russia.Samsung, Google and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Assanges offer.
Charlie Whiting has reportedly not joined a swathe of other Bernie Ecclestone-linked F1 personalities who have left the sport.

With Liberty Media sweeping into power, it is notable that along with Ecclestone's ousting, also now gone are the F1 supremo's long-time colleagues including Pasquale Lattuneddu and Herbie Blash.

Now, it emerges that Marcin Budkowski has taken over as the FIA's technical delegate, although Whiting - whose deputy is the much younger Laurent Mekies - remains the F1 race director and starter.

But rumours are circulating in the Barcelona test paddock that Whiting, 64, may soon 'retire'.

A report in Speed Week, however, insisted "the rumour is just a rumour, and Charlie Whiting is still there".

Ecclestone's friend and long-time business partner Flavio Briatore has revealed that he held a surprise dinner for the 86-year-old in London this week.

Photos on social media have emerged showing guests including Max Mosley, Niki Lauda, the princes of Monaco and Bahrain and many others greeting the Briton wearing 'Bernie' masks.

"Normally, if you invite 100 people, you have 60 who confirm they can attend because you are talking about people that are very busy or live thousands of kilometres away," said Briatore on Instagram.

"But everybody came to London," he revealed. "It was a kind of tribute to Bernie's career.

"He was not treated well by the new formula one bosses. People easily forget what this man created. It was a bit of a sad evening, but very beautiful."

(GMM)
F1 purist Jacques Villeneuve says he is happy with what he is seeing at the Barcelona test.

The 1997 world champion was one of the fiercest critics of the former technical regulations, characterised by fuel saving, degrading tyres and low cornering speeds.

"What I've seen so far is simply great," the former Williams and Honda driver turned television pundit said in Barcelona.

"First of all, the cars look great. They're now big, proper formula one cars, just like they should be.

"But also how the tyres work is remarkable. Before, the drivers could not keep attacking but you can see they are finally able to drive aggressively without thinking so much about the rubber," Villeneuve added.

"This also means fewer pitstops, which doesn't please everybody, but generally less stops will make the sport more understandable," he continued.

"The drivers can also attack more in the corners without destroying the tyres, which should play into the hands of the best drivers."

The 45-year-old French Canadian also said it's good that the new tyres will make the drivers "sweat more" in 2017 as laptimes tumble and G-forces rise.

"You can see it already with the problems the new drivers are having," Villeneuve told Sky Italia.

(GMM)
Toto Wolff says Valtteri Bottas does not have long to get up to speed in 2017.

Recently, after the champion team signed up the Finn to replace Nico Rosberg, chairman Niki Lauda said Bottas has four races to start emulating Rosberg's former contribution.

"I agree with Niki," team boss Wolff has now told the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat.

In Barcelona, F1 legend Lauda said that while Bottas is only two tenths behind Hamilton on qualifying pace, the 27-year-old is further off on a long run.

Wolff said: "Valtteri does not have a lot of time to prove he can be at Nico's level, to perform well against Lewis Hamilton and help the team keep up the development direction and speed in the car.

"It is clear that Valtteri needs to learn how to swim quickly."

Wolff also agrees with the growing paddock sentiment that Ferrari is looking set to be a strong challenger for the title in 2017.

"We take them seriously," said the Austrian.

"When the rules change it is an opportunity for everyone."

(GMM)
Members of the Supreme Courts conservative majority are questioning the continued use of affirmative action in higher education. In lengthy arguments Monday, the justices wrestled with persistent, difficult questions of race. The justices heard from six different lawyers in challenges to policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard. Those policies consider race among many factors in evaluating applications for admission. One conservative justice likened affirmative action to giving some college applicants a head start in a footrace. But a liberal justice said universities are the pipelines to leadership in our society and suggested that without affirmative action minority enrollment will drop.
Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr, Reps. Mark Walker and Ted Budd, meet John Thompson of Greensboro. Hes 59 years old, married 37 years, pro-life, an evangelical Christian and a Republican voter for 28 years. In other words, he is the very epitome of your political base.

But cancer has no party affiliation. It struck Thompson after he lost his job and his insurance in 2013. As he fought cancer and worked to find another job, the GOP leadership in the General Assembly slashed his unemployment benefits.

Obamacare saved my life, Thompson said at a Save My Care rally in Greensboro on Wednesday.

Thompson said he feels betrayed by the party he has supported for most of his life.

For 40 years, I paid my taxes, worked to support my family, gave to my church, and I contributed to my community, Thompson said. But in my hour of need, when my back was against the wall, in the richest country in the history of the universe, where was the GOP for me? If it was up to those guys, and they could have done to Obamacare then what theyre getting ready to do to it now, shoot, Id probably be laying dead in a ditch somewhere today.

Thompson was joined by physicians, community and faith leaders and representatives of Working America in calling on Congress to preserve the Affordable Care Act. Though speakers acknowledged that the health insurance plan needs to be adjusted and improved, it has covered many people who never had access to insurance, and many more, such as Thompson, who never thought they would need to buy insurance on their own.

The Republicans calling for repeal have ignored physicians, hospitals and, of course, liberal Democrats who support the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. But they ignore people like Thompson at their peril.

Burr, Tillis, Walker and Budd, we are your constituents speaking, Thompson said. Back in 2009, when your Tea Party buddies were raising hell about death panels and government takeovers, you guys were all about town hall meetings. But now in 2017, when your constituents are demanding to know why you are stuffing the pockets of the rich with tax handouts at the same time you are taking away our health insurance, you guys are nowhere to be found.

Despite calls for town hall meetings to address concerns about health care and other issues, the Guilford County congressional delegation was notably absent from public appearances back home during the recent congressional recess.

Most attended private functions, visited locations with limited public access, or held Tele Town Halls, where calls can be vetted to shield politicians from the wrath of their constituents.

Until or unless diabetes, cancer, asthma and other chronic conditions only strike liberal Democrats, GOP leaders need to understand that many members of their base, the ones they DO care about, are benefiting from the Affordable Care Act, and they dont want to lose it. Even many who hate Obamacare in name have come to rely on its substance.

If theres one thing people resent more than something they feel forced into, it is having something they possess taken away. An estimated 10 million people would lose coverage under the current proposal. Those who dont lose coverage outright may not be able to afford it.

Certainly women, the elderly and low-income Americans will be hit hard. Many people now covered by employer plans will lose coverage since this plan ends the employer mandate.

The plan allows insurance companies to charge older Americans five times more than young Americans for health care coverage but provides tax credits to elderly Americans that are only twice what young Americans receive.

It prohibits funding for any organization that performs abortions and drops the requirement for coverage of maternity care under Medicaid after 2019.

Income-based subsidies would be replaced by age-based subsidies. Medicaid expansion would be scaled back, and Medicaid payments to states eventually would be capped.

Meanwhile, the repeal of all of Obamacares taxes would benefit the wealthy to the tune of $346 billion for 10 years for taxpayers earning more than $200,000 ($250,000 for couples).

That current plan is opposed by the AARP, the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and moderate Republicans who understand that this plan will hit hard at the very people who support them and supported Donald Trump in 2016. Conversely, conservative Republicans, including Walker, think the bill doesnt go far enough in destroying the Affordable Care Act.

All Republicans would do well to listen to voters like Thompson.

Get out from under your desks, quit hiding up there in Washington, Thompson said. Get on a plane, fly back home and face your constituents and explain to us how this is going to make America great again.

If its members ignore even their own constituents, the Republican Party could face a major backlash in 2018 and beyond.
McDonalds will host a Coffee With a Cop session with local law enforcement officers in High Point from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the McDonalds restaurant at 114 Greensboro Road in High Point.

These meetings bring police officers and the community members they serve together  over coffee  to discuss community issues, learn more about each other and build relationships in an informal, neutral environment.

As local owner-operators, we agree that supporting our community is an important aspect of our business, the McDonalds owner Jackie King said. Bringing together our customers with local law enforcement is a simple way to do that. We plan to continue to have these open forums throughout the rest of the year.

For information, call (336) 882-3611.

Apple repair provider

to open second location

I.T. Worx plans to open Winston-Salems only Apple Authorized Service Provider repair center on Monday in the Stratford Oaks building at 514 S. Stratford Road.

The Winston-Salem location is the second for I.T. Worx, which was founded in Greensboro 15 years ago to repair and support Apple computer products for businesses, said Jeffrey Loy, the companys founder and president. Since then, I.T. Worx has expanded its services to include managed information technology services, networking, infrastructure support and a retail store that sells Apple products and PCs.

At its Battleground Avenue location in Greensboro, I.T. Worx also services and repairs Apple products and PCs.

The Winston-Salem store will focus on Apple repairs only, at least initially, Loy said.

For information, visit www.itworxonline.com.

N.H. students to work

with Alamance Habitat

Habitat for Humanity of Alamance County will host 10 students from the University of New Hampshire during their spring break  from Sunday through March 18  as part of the national Collegiate Challenge program.

While they are here, the students will serve alongside Habitats partner families to build the house at 1802 Malone Road in Burlington. This house is one of three Habitat houses to be built on that street, and it will be occupied by Tashiba Whitsett and her family.

While Habitat is hosting the New Hampshire students, others in the community are helping them out, too. Twin Lakes is making available its guest house for the students accommodations. In addition to several individuals, churches that are providing meals are Macedonia Lutheran Church, First Baptist Church  Broad Street, First Presbyterian Church and First Christian Church United Church of Christ.
The news reverberating around Lawndale Baptist Church that January 2015 morning was more chilling than the weather outside  and more shocking and sorrowful than if a parishioner had died.

Longtime church lay leader Bill Bailey had suffered a stroke. It would leave him paralyzed on his right side.

Lawndale doesnt elect most valuable players, but if they did, no one would run against Bailey. From national and international missions to handicap ramps to working in the kitchen to refurbishing church property, Bailey was Lawndales go-to man. He admits to, staying pretty busy around the church.

Raised on a Martin County farm that grew tobacco and peanuts, Bailey earned a degree in field crops from N.C. State University. His dad farmed, and Bailey planned to farm.

He married Rose Massey, whom he met on a blind date.

The girl I had a date with didnt show up, so a buddy fixed me up with Rose instead. That was the best no-show in the world, Bailey recalls.

An ROTC military obligation delayed the Baileys initial venture into farming.

We honeymooned to Fort Sill, Okla.,, not the most romantic spot in the world, he says

After artillery training, Bailey went to Camp Walkers, Texas, for helicopter-pilot indoctrination, and to Fort Rucker, Ala., for advanced rotary-flight training. He had already earned his fixed wing pilots license via N.C. States ROTC.

His first permanent duty station was Fort Carson, Colo.

Our atomic firepower command was equipped with Honest John Atomic Missiles, he says. He recalls picking up one of the Armys first Huey helicopters directly from the Bell Plant: It was Number 0017.

From Fort Carson, by C-124, Bailey couriered 14 atomic warheads to Korea and brought back 14 for retesting. My Korean service tour was all of 58 minutes, he says.

With two Colorado-born children, and active duty completed, the Baileys were finally ready to farm in Martin County.

We purchased additional equipment and rented more land, he says. However, during the Cuban Crisis, as an inactive member of the Army Reserve, I was on call to fly medical-evacuation flights.

Bailey completed his military obligation by transferring to the North Carolina National Guard  an infantry unit in Windsor.

I was a 4.2 mortar platoon leader, but when they saw my aviators wings, they recommended me for a helicopter pilots billet in Raleigh.

By then, Bailey had figured out he could make more money making loans to farmers than farming himself. He joined the Department of Agricultures Farmers Home Administration in Greenville.

Bailey moved through a litany of National Guard billets as he advanced in rank and responsibility.

In addition to Windsor and Raleigh, he was affiliated with units in Jacksonville, Butner, Wentworth, Raleigh-Durham, Kinston, Little Washington and Greensboro.

As a lieutenant colonel and later as a colonel, he commanded posts at Butner and Kinston, along with their satellite units, Wentworth, Raleigh and Little Washington.

The Little Washington unit may have been the most unique, he says. It was a military police battalion, trained to establish and operate prisoner-of-war camps during wartime. One of our summer-camp assignments was to relieve the regular Army MPs at Fort Leavenworth while they all took leave. That was quite a challenge.

Bailey kept his flying status active his whole career.

Hardly any of the posts I commanded were aviation; this meant another weekend each month away from home for flight training, he says. Obviously, this also meant my wife of 59 years did most of the raising of our children.

Bailey says he doesnt have a good explanation for his preference of rotary aircraft versus fixed wing, since he qualified to fly both.

I guess I liked helicopters because they kept you busy all the time, he says. In those days, you couldnt trim helicopters up and do something else  you were always doing something to keep it airborne.

Thats exactly what Lawndale parishioners say about Bailey: He was always doing something.

Two years out from his stroke, the question lingers, Why did God let something so bad happen to such a good man?

Baileys quick and broad smile, brilliant mind, quick wit and indomitable spirit dont fit the mold of a stroke victim. His deep faith conveys the assurance that the best is yet to come for him. I would love to hear Patsy Cline sing about the rest of Baileys story.

The Baileys settled in Greensboro in 1973. They have a son, two daughters, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Updated at 8:10 a.m.

RALEIGH  Was it a coincidence that two North Carolina newspapers both used the term "flip flop" in headlines about the Democratic governor's stance on important state issues?

It turns out the answer is no, because neither newspaper wrote that. The wording came from the staff of the state's Republican Senate leader, Phil Berger, (R-Rockingham County), who used special tools available on the senator's Facebook page to alter headlines and photos of stories that they posted. The altered headlines were critical of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports (http://bit.ly/2n4DMky) the manager of the page was responsible for changing the content, which a Facebook spokesman says violates the social media company's use policies. Berger's office acknowledged changing the headlines, but gave no explanation, the report said.

On Jan. 30, The Charlotte Observer published a headline on its website reading, "Carolinas political leaders react to Trump's executive order." On Berger's page, the headline was changed to say, "Cooper flip flops on refugees."

In addition to changing the headline, the Facebook post also removed an image of Sen. Thom Tillis from the Observer story and replaced it with a photo of Cooper laughing.

On Feb. 13, The News & Observer of Raleigh newspaper published a headline that read, "In HB2 repeal effort, Gov. Cooper is silent on proposed nondiscrimination law." On Berger's Facebook page, the headline was changed to read, "Has Roy Cooper flip-flopped on HB 2? Gov. Cooper now refusing to support men in women's bathrooms."

Also in February, the Charlotte Observer published a headline that read, "Sports official says HB2 closing window on hopes of landing NCAA events."

Berger's Facebook page changed it to read, "Cooper's block of HB2 repeal, unwillingness to compromise is closing window on hopes of landing NCAA events."

Beneath the headlines were links to the original, unaltered news stories.

"I am glad for you to post News & Observer articles on your Facebook page," executive editor John Drescher wrote to Berger in a letter dated Feb. 15. "However, I ask that you not change the headline or photo we placed on the story, as you have several times recently. Most readers of your page will think the headline written by your staff was the original N&O headline and will be misled."

The newspaper quoted Facebook spokesman Andy Stone as saying that Berger's office violated a Facebook policy in which users agree they "will not use Facebook to do anything unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory."

Berger spokeswoman Amy Auth issued a statement on Thursday criticizing Facebook for how it interpreted the policy. She did not, however, say why Berger's staff altered the headlines.

Drescher said Thursday that he's concerned by such a response.

"I was surprised that Sen. Berger intentionally misrepresented our news articles by writing fake headlines on them," he said. "And I'm disappointed that even after Facebook has said Sen. Berger is violating its policy, he continues to defend the practice."

The person managing State Sen. Phil Bergers Facebook page used a little-known Facebook tool to change the headline on the article being shared, making it appear that the headline was written by various media organization.

That's according to a Charlotte Observer report. A typical Facebook user cant make such a change, but a manager of a professional or group page can. Facebook says Bergers use of the tool violates its policies.

The Rockingham County Republicans page altered headlines on at least five news articles recently, according to the report.
HOUSE VOTES

In addition to roll call votes this week, the House also passed the Fairness For Breastfeeding Mothers Act, to provide a lactation room in public buildings; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act, to authorize programs.

MILITARY SPENDING: The House has passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act to provide $578 billion of fiscal 2017 funding for the Defense Departments military operations, including $62 billion for overseas wars and anti-terrorism activities. The vote, on March 8, was 371-48.

YEAS: Ted Budd (R-Advance), Mark Walker (R-Greensboro)

CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS: The House has passed the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act to change procedures for class action lawsuits in federal court by setting criteria for determining who can join the lawsuits and limiting payments to lawyers representing the plaintiffs. The vote, on March 9, was 220-201.

YEAS: Budd, Walker

VENUES FOR LAWSUITS: The House has passed the Innocent Party Protection Act to direct federal courts to adopt procedures for finding cases when a lawsuit has been fraudulently moved to a given state court by improperly adding new plaintiffs who have minimal connection to the subject of the lawsuit. The vote, on March 9, was 224-194.

YEAS: Budd, Walker

SENATE VOTES

LABOR RULE FOR CONTRACTORS: The Senate has passed a resolution, sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), stating disapproval of a NASA, Defense Department, and General Services Administration rule requiring contractors to the federal government to report various violations and alleged violations of labor laws, with data on the violations used to determine whether a contractor is eligible to win future contracts. The vote, on March 6, was 49-48.

YEAS: Richard Burr (R), Thom Tillis (R)

RULE FOR USE OF BLM LANDS: The House has passed a resolution stating disapproval of an Interior Department rule regarding plans to use land under the Bureau of Land Managements control. The vote, on March 7, was 51-48.

YEAS: Burr, Tillis

OVERSIGHT OF TEACHER PREPARATION: The House has passed a resolution stating disapproval of an Education Department rule that tied agency grants to evaluations of the adequacy of a states teacher preparation program. The vote, on March 7, was 59-40.

YEAS: Burr, Tillis

OVERSIGHT OF EDUCATION PLANS: The Senate has passed a resolution disapproving of an Education Department rule setting out accountability requirements for state education plans. The vote, on March 9, was 50-49.

YEAS: Burr, Tillis

RUNNING MEDICARE AND MEDICAID: The Senate has approved a cloture motion to end debate on the nomination of Seema Verma to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the Health and Human Services Department. The vote to end debate, on March 9, was 54-44.

YEAS: Burr, Tillis
GREENSBORO  In the past week, Sgt. Ryan Todd has added a custom accessory to his police uniform: a beard.

Its itchy and its weird to have to trim the neckline, said Todd, 37, whos been with the Greensboro Police Department for 14 years. But I feel like Im glowing. Im finally realizing my facial-hair potential.

Hes one of about 500 police department employees letting their hair down, so to speak, during a 90-day respite from the organizations normally strict grooming rules.

Through June 1, male officers can sport beards (a departure from the normally permitted neatly trimmed mustache) while female officers can decorate their hair and nails with shades of green (a distracting hue thats normally forbidden).

The rule change, implemented by police Chief Wayne Scott last week, offers follicle fun but with a purpose: raising awareness about traumatic brain injury.

Typically, a traumatic brain injury results from a violent blow or jolt to the head or body, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms can range from mild (short-term disorientation, confusion and headaches) to severe (loss of consciousness, torn tissues and bleeding). In some cases, traumatic brain injury is fatal. Recovery is usually a long process with an uncertain prognosis.

The issue became personal for members of the department in January, when a 19-year veteran suffered a head injury during a home improvement project. The injured officer, who doesnt want his name released, is doing well, Scott said.

Im ecstatic to tell you that he is recovering, he said. But its a long process. We are very invested in this individual, and his struggle, and what his family is going through.

The police department has raised money for the officers family through a private fundraising page and by selling green rubber wristbands. But employees wanted to do more to show their support, Scott said. Inspiration struck him in Florida.

I was at a crime symposium in Tampa and heard about a similar campaign at a different police department, he said. So I decided to try it here.

The idea was an instant hit with officers, many of whom joined the force at a young age and have never had the chance to experiment with facial hair.

Only full beards are allowed (no goatees, handlebar mustaches or sideburns) and only at a maximum length of an inch.

Not a problem, Todd said.

When (Scott) announced it, all the men in the room who have wanted this for a long time looked around at each other and said, Do not mess this up, he recalled. Nobodys gone crazy. And were always trying to remember why were doing it.

So far, the campaign seems to be attracting the desired attention. Residents have approached Scott and Todd to offer grooming tips, opening the door for conversations about brain injuries. LaTonya Guy, a street crimes detective, has fielded questions about the new bright green streaks in her short, dark hair.

I was at the jail last night and people said, I like your hair, she said. It sparks a conversation. Hopefully the more Im out in the community, the more I can educate people.

Most importantly, Scott said, the campaign offers employees a reminder of their injured colleague.

Every day that were on duty, our folks can look up and know hes in our thoughts, he said. Law enforcement is a family. We talk about that all the time. We want him to know hes in our prayers.
GREENSBORO  A packed meeting of the Guilford County Animal Services Advisory Board proceeded with little drama Thursday, despite tense relations between the county and members of the animal rescue community in the audience.

We need you all, Deputy County Manager Clarence Grier told the standing-room-only crowd. We need the public, we need the rescues, we need the volunteers. Its been a rough couple of weeks. I understand that. We need you all.

Local rescue organizations have a complicated history with the Guilford County Animal Shelter, beginning in the late 1990s when the facility was operated by the now-defunct United Animal Coalition. The UAC, a nonprofit that lost its license in 2015 due to animal cruelty and neglect, essentially barred rescue organizations from entering the facility. The county began to rebuild those relationships after resuming control of the shelter and has been working with several rescue groups since.

Tensions between the two escalated last week, when the county fired eight full-time shelter employees, including a volunteer and foster coordinator and the employee in charge of communicating with area rescues. Almost immediately, rumors about conditions at the shelter began circulating on social media, including that the county had restricted access for rescue volunteers in the wake of the firings and had been euthanizing dogs and cats under the guise of bad temperament to free up space at the facility.

Other social media postings urged members of the rescue community to attend Thursdays meeting and stand up for the animals at the shelter. Several dozen heeded the call, packing the meeting room at the Old Guilford Courthouse and spilling out into the hall.

Few spoke publicly, though a handful used two public comment periods to request that the county respond to some of the allegations.

One woman stood and brandished an animal record form on shelter letterhead that included space as a possible reason for euthanasia.

If you dont do that for space, she said, Id like to know why space is a choice on there.

Grier said he would look into changing the wording on the form, then stated unequivocally that the shelter does not, has not, and will not euthanize animals due to space constraints.

I will say here in front of everyone that we do not euthanize for space. Im a pet owner, and that kind of pains me that someone would think that we  especially myself  would be associated with an organization that euthanizes, especially a dog, for space, he said. We try to save every animal in there ... and we do not hide behind behavioral labels.

The meeting proceeded with no outbursts and few direct accusations leveled at the board, but members still spent a fair amount of time advocating for the shelter and encouraging people in the audience to try to verify rumors before believing and passing them on.

The rumor mill is a powerful thing and its alive and well. I get it, said Guilford County Commissioner Justin Conrad. Be mad, be passionate  just know what youre being mad about, and make sure its accurate. If were all here for the right reasons then it moves on.

Brenda Frizzell, a longtime shelter volunteer and a member of the board, told audience members that she had been to the facility multiple times and saw no evidence of any of the rumors spreading on social media.

I have been through intake, I have been in the sick room, I have been in adoption, she said. I havent seen anything thats being posted on Facebook, and I have no reason to lie to you.

The board discussed the possibility of allowing concerned residents to shadow employees at the shelter, but did not propose anything formal.

Board members and rescue volunteers mingled and chatted after the meeting, though some remained unconvinced that the gathering had done much to smooth relationships between the two groups.

I heard all of you defending yourselves without being accused of anything, said Sharon Gray, director of Animal Rescue and Foster Program in Greensboro. If you havent done anything, you just give the impression, I feel, that something behind the scenes is maybe going on that you dont want people to know about, because youre so defensive about it.
Updated 6:41 p.m.

GREENSBORO  Two men face multiple charges after their workplace argument turned violent Thursday afternoon.

Greensboro police, Guilford County sheriff's deputies and other law enforcement agents from the surrounding area rushed to Insect Shield, at 814 W. Market St., about noon for a shots fired call.

Shaquille Lee McNeill is accused of firing a gun at co-worker Craig Lawrence Brooks, Greensboro police said in a news release. Witnesses said Brooks, 57, of 2324 Bonaire Lane pulled out a sharp weapon first and threatened McNeill. McNeill, 24, of 2106 White St. pulled out a gun and fired a single shot inside the business, according to the release.

Employees inside fled the building for safety.

No one was injured.

Brooks is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and resist, delay or obstruct an officer. He was also served an outstanding warrant in a separate incident. He is being held at the Guilford County jail on $1,000 bail.

McNeill is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill along with discharging a firearm within the city limits and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling. He is being held on $50,000 bail, according to the jail.

Updated 2:32 p.m.

GREENSBORO  Employees were going about their daily work when two co-workers got into a dispute that ended in gunfire Thursday afternoon.

Officers were called to Insect Shield about 12:55 p.m., police said. The business is a factory that treats clothing with an insect repellent. There they found one person with a sharp instrument, possibly a box cutter, and a second person with a gun. Both were taken into custody for questioning.

Neither was injured.

Jean Saunders, 64, has worked at the business for years. She said she was sitting at her desk when she heard a gunshot. She tried to get people out of the business and into the parking lot while a second woman went into an office and locked the door, calling 911.

"We have a loading dock on the side of the business," Saunders said. "They were on the dock on a break. I heard two shots. It's hard to know if they were inside or outside the building."

She said that, as far as she's aware, there's never been an argument between the two employees before today.

"We've never had anything like this, never," Saunders said. "Everyone gets along here."

Capt. Nathaniel Davis confirmed that a gun was fired at least once. He said the confrontation between the two employees escalated from a verbal dispute to a physical one before shots were fired.

The call came in to 911 as an active shooter, said Greensboro Police Chief Wayne Scott. That elicited a large-scale response from police and emergency officials.

No one was injured by gunfire, but two people were treated for reactions to the incident, Scott said.

"It's one of those calls that makes your heart skip a beat," he said.

The police department's motorcycle squad was training nearby, allowing for a quick response, Scott said.

As of mid-afternoon, charges had not been filed, police said.

Posted 1:44 p.m.

GREENSBORO  Police are investigating an incident near downtown that involved two men brandishing weapons.

According to Police Chief Wayne Scott, officers received a call of an active shooter at Insect Shield, 814 W. Market St. Once there, they found one man with a gun and another with a sharp-edged weapon.

The two men were taken into custody for questioning by police. No one was shot and police are still investigating whether shots were fired. It is still unknown if the men worked at the business.

Two other people were taken to the hospital for what police described as a medical reaction to the incident.

An eyewitness said 26 police vehicles and three police motorcycles responded. Police said such a large number was needed in order to get the situation under control quickly and also because of the incident's proximity to downtown.

With Greensboro College across the street from the business, college spokesman Lex Alexander said it "had everyone shelter in place for a few minutes until our security chief got over there" to determine the situation was under control. He said this probably lasted about 15 minutes.

Alexander said due to spring break, there are not many students on campus other than athletes playing this week. A lacrosse match was briefly interrupted.
GREENSBORO  Say Yes to Education Guilford must drastically reduce the overall amount it will pay out in scholarships to local graduates each year, the chairman of the chapters local scholarship board said in an interview late Thursday.

The organizations model underestimated the average amount per student it would need to pay, and it ended up spending about six times the expected total for Guilford County Schools Class of 2016.

Chairman Chuck Cornelio said the board needs to look at changing student eligibility rules for its scholarships. And whatever decision needs to be made must be made quickly, he said  by the end of this month. Changes are poised to affect both current and future college students.

We know that being here in March with uncertainty about the future shape of the program makes a difficult situation more difficult, Cornelio said. We are very sorry about that. We very much regret having another layer of complexity for these kids and their families.

Say Yes Guilford is a local chapter of a national nonprofit organization based in New York that helps communities provide local public school graduates with scholarships for college and support services for younger students to get them ready for college.

The national organization picked Guilford County for its third  and largest  community to support, after chapters in Syracuse and Buffalo, N.Y. From the announcement of the chapter in 2015, it has depended on strong ties with Guilford County Schools and local governments.

A little more than 2,000 of the school systems 2016 graduates received scholarships provided by Say Yes or arranged for by Say Yes and paid for by partnering institutions.

Say Yes spent about $6 million on scholarships for this first year, Cornelio said. However, its models called for spending between $800,000 and $1 million.

He called that unsustainable. It would take something like $550 million, he said, to create an endowment fund that could pay out that much comfortably each year.

The plan has been for the endowment to hold $70 million, and the local program doesnt even have close to that much yet. It has about $42 million raised or committed. Cornelio said the national Say Yes organization has helped some this year with cash flow to make sure payments got to colleges.

Say Yes Guilford received contributions that are for both the endowment and ones that can be used on a current basis, the local chapters communications director, Donnie Turlington, wrote in an email Thursday night. As you know, with an endowment gift, the principal cannot be expended. Rather we can use earnings and growth. Current basis gifts can be spent immediately. It is important to note that the $42 million that we mentioned is not currently on hand. All of the large contributions are commitments that will be paid over a number of years.

So theres a massive gap to $550 million, a canyon Say Yes Guilford will not attempt to hurdle.

Instead, the organization will look to restructure the program.

Cornelio offered a couple ways Say Yes may consider tightening eligibility to reduce costs.

One possibility is changing eligibility based on family income. That could mean many different things, but, in response to a question, Cornelio said putting in a family income restriction on tuition scholarships to public state schools is an option being considered.

Another possibility could involve tightening requirements on how long a student must have been enrolled in Guilford County Schools.

Cornelio also said the group could consider whether to restrict eligibility based on whether a student and their family opted into the services Say Yes to Education plans to help facilitate for younger students.

Obviously, he said, since Say Yes has not started offering these services, even at the 12 schools slated to offer them first, any possible restriction based on this factor would not immediately go into effect. The idea there, he said, is that Say Yes wants as many people as possible to opt into those services because it believes they are significantly helpful in getting students prepared to attend college.

Cornelio said the factors involved with how much money each student gets are complicated and Say Yes Guilford is still working to try to understand what caused the model to fail. The model is based on information about the county, data from Guilford County Schools, and the past track records of the two Say Yes chapters in New York state.

Turlington said he was not aware of any other Say Yes chapters ever experiencing a similar situation of being so far apart in model and payout reality.

Under the current scenario, the issue is not that more students received the scholarship than was originally predicted, he wrote in an email. Its that the average payment per scholarship was higher than what was modeled.

What its looking like, Say Yes officials said, is that there was a higher number or proportion than expected of students applying whose families had incomes high enough that they didnt receive any or very little tuition assistance from federal or other sources. Also, it appears more students chose four-year schools over two-year schools than what the model predicted.

Nora Carr, the chief of staff for Guilford County Schools, said the school system understands that significant changes may have to be made to deal with the shortfall.

We remain hopeful that our community will find a way to make the dream of a college education a reality for as many GCS students and their families as possible, Carr said in a statement late Thursday.
State legislators in North Carolina are paid less than $14,000 a year, so some of them trade their experience for more lucrative opportunities as lobbyists.

Not so fast, says a bipartisan bill introduced in the House by Rep. John Faircloth of High Point and others.

It would double the time, from six months to a year, that a lawmaker would have to be out of office before he or she could register as a lobbyist.

This is a positive step for good government, and it immediately drew support from more than 40 House members. In addition to Faircloth, a Republican, co-sponsors include Republican John Blust and Democrat Pricey Harrison, both from Greensboro.

Former legislators, especially those who were influential legislators, can be very valuable to clients that seek favorable treatment by the General Assembly. Lobbyists can use their connections to gain access and catch the ear of former colleagues. They know the issues, the players and what arguments may be most effective with which people.

Theres a risk, however, that while theyre still in office, some could be working on behalf of future clients. Thats a little more likely if the time between public service and a lobbying career is too short.

Some legislators also resign from office so they can begin lobbying in time for the next legislative session. One was Tom Apodaca, a top lieutenant of Senate leader Phil Berger, who gave up his seat in July and registered in January, exactly six months later, as a lobbyist with his own new firm.

Six months seems to be too short a gap between legislative service and lobbying. A full year is better. Many states impose an even longer wait, which seems wiser still.

Faircloths bill also imposes a one-year waiting period on other state officials, such as elected Council of State officers and leaders of Cabinet departments appointed by the governor. The same concerns apply to those people, and a one-year gap seems to be a prudent minimum.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring for five years employees who leave an agency from lobbying that same agency. While that is an extensive time, the order doesnt bar them from lobbying other agencies. Trumps order also shortened the time before former employees can contact their former agencies from two years to one. This creates an opportunity for unofficial lobbying.

As influence-peddlers, though, lobbyists are only middle men. The big players are special-interest groups that make massive campaign contributions directly to candidates or bankroll independent expenditure organizations. Politicians pay attention to groups that can finance entire campaigns, and some serve those interests rather than the people theyre supposed to represent.

A former legislator who becomes a paid lobbyist, and the special interests that hire him or her, should not have more influence with lawmakers than do ordinary citizens. But, if lobbyists didnt get results, no one would pay them good money for their work.

Yet, small victories are important. If a legislator must wait for a full year after leaving office before cashing in as a lobbyist, the connection between lawmaking and lobbying might be a little less direct and lucrative.

Unfortunately, this bill has been stuck in the House rules committee for more than a month. Maybe, ironically, special interests are preventing it from advancing.

If legislative salaries were a little higher, perhaps the temptation to trade lawmaking experience for a lobbying payoff would be weaker, but thats a complicated issue of its own. Many changes are needed to make politicians serve the people first rather than special interests, and lobbying reform is just one.
GREENWICH  Raises given to school district administrators shortly before the former superintendent left in June have not been forgotten, the Budget of Estimate and Taxations Human Resources Committee reminded the Board of Education nine months later.

The committee met with school board and district representatives Thursday to hear how the district will restrict pay increases like those handed out by former Superintendent William McKersie before leaving the district.

We all know that harmony is the strength and support of all societies, especially ours; why would you want to have something like this? asked Mike Mason, chair of the BET. We need a clear agreement on this.

Robert Stacy, the towns director of human resources, and Mary Forde, director of pupil personnel services and special education, both received raises of 5 percent, bringing their salaries to $177,330 and $179,580 respectively.

Managing Director of Operations James Hricay received a raise of 3.2 percent to $178,000 and Phillip H. Dunn, chief information officer, one of 2.8 percent to $174,200.

The raises awarded by McKersie were legal. The superintendent is responsible for the hiring and compensation of his cabinet members.

Pay raises for town officials and administrators are typically kept to 2.5 percent or lower.

More Information McKersie's raises In June 2016, former Superintendent William McKersie gave raises to four members of the Greenwich Public Schools cabinet that exceeded the town's recommended 2.5 percent individual raises. Central Office Employee Increase from previous year Salary Director of Human Resources Robert Stacy 5% $177,330 Director of Pupil Personnel Services /Special Education Mary Forde 5% $179,580 Managing Director of Operations James Hricay 3.20% $178,000 Chief Information Officer Phillip H. Dunn 2.80% $174,200 See More Collapse

Nancy Weissler, current Human Resources Committee Chair and Chair of the Board of Education from 2005 to 2009, said she wanted the district to make it a priority to develop a salary framework for existing cabinet employees and new hires and limit merit raises to what similar town employees get.

When you are thinking about an organization with a large number of employees, the perception of equity... is an important perception," said Jill Oberlander, HR Committee member. The problem with last years increases, she said, without going in and evaluating each individual benchmark  is the reaction to the perception of inequity that some employees have a potential for a much larger bump.

Mason said he got a formal complaint from a town employee who worked a similar job to the cabinet positions who was held to the towns 2.5 percent maximum increase.

Board of Education Chair Peter Sherr had condemned the raises as another governance failure in July. Interim Superintendent Sal Corda, who inherited the controversy just days after assuming his new role, defended them at the time.

Thursday, Sherr called the raises awarded by McKersie an inappropriate anomaly.

The Board of Education, which employs the superintendent, was not consulted about the raises or informed of them before they were given, several board members said.

In July, McKersie said that the raises were within the budget and allow cabinet positions to have competitive salaries compared with other districts.

"The increases this year are less than the overall budgeted level, he wrote in an email. "Greenwich now has salaries for all its cabinet positions that align with competing districts and will allow the district to pursue top talent if and when any of these positions open up... I made these decisions with the long-term welfare of the district as a priority, while staying within the immediate budget limits."

Based on information obtained by the Greenwich Time from Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, Westport and Wilton public schools through Freedom of Information Act requests, salaries for the Greenwich cabinet position in 2015-16 were already on par with those in surrounding towns; none was among the bottom or second-from-bottom salary for the positions.

In most cases, when annuities were factored in, Greenwich district administrators had the first or second highest compensation based on comparable positions in surrounding towns.

In September 2016, the Board of Education passed a resolution to limit cabinet raises to the percentage given to the towns managerial and confidential employees.

Thursday, Sherr told the committee the superintendent will have to present raises greater than the town employee targets to the Board of Education for review and approval before they are awarded.

Nevertheless, within the school board the issue of how much to intervene in matters of compensation for the cabinet is a contentious one, he said.

There is a long-running dialogue within the board about the Board of Educations role in  let's call them managerial matters  and the administration role, he said. You have half the board that believes strongly in a management model that has no oversight from the board (and) high delegation to the superintendent; you have others who think the reverse of that."

Mason encouraged the town and school district to continue to increase cooperation on human resources.

We need to adopt a system and we are on the right road, he said.

The meeting was attended by five of eight Board of Education members.

emunson@greenwichtime.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
Chicky Krois, 71, is a 37-year town employee who spends her days at the Commission on Aging at the Greenwich Senior Center.

J: How long have you lived in Greenwich?

C: All my life. I was born in Greenwich. The building Im in now, my grandfather built it in 1920. So its been through the family. Its a five-family building. I was lucky enough to acquire one of them. They had three buildings but I got the big one, the big stucco one.

J: Where did you go to elementary school?

C: Well, where I was born, I lived on Park Avenue in Old Greenwich and my dad was a mason. He built a house in Glenville. So while he built it, I lived at St. Rochs with my grandmother. When that was done, we moved to Glenville and I went to Glenville school since first grade.

J: And middle school?

C: We didnt have middle school. Glenville School went to eighth grade. Then you went to the high school -- and when I went to high school you had to make a choice: business, general, or college. General was all the kids that never wanted to study. My mother made me take business because I had to be a secretary. So thats how that went.

J: And college was?

C: My mother said I couldnt go. I had to take business because she wasnt sending her daughter to school. Its the old thoughts. Women, stay home, be a secretary. I did learn to type well. Shorthand, Im a little slow in. I havent done it in a long time. But its different now, so I do different work here. I work with the insurance and events now. You know, I did a lot of traveling.

J: Whered you go?

C: Where do you want to start?

J: The first place that you went to that you remember.

C: The first place I went to was Italy with the Greenwich High School kids. They needed people to go so I went for the Shapers of the World class. My sister and I went to Italy too. We did the whole boot and saw Sicily. I went to Italy, Greece, safari. Ive been to Egypt, France, Switzerland, London and Germany. Im forgetting where Ive been.

J: Where was your favorite?

C: Safari. My first trip to Africa was Egypt, but then I went to Kenya and Tanzania. My next trip was South Africa and we went to all the reserves down there. I walked with the lions at Victoria Falls. I had my hand on his little hip. They were sister and brother. Ive been to the Galapagos -- OK wait, I jumped the subject. I did the extension to Rwanda and sat with the gorillas.

J: Wait, you werent scared at all being with those large animals? Or thinking that lions could eat you? Were they friendly?

C: The lions, when you walk with them, its a brother and sister. And when we did it, everybody carries a twig and we were instructed that if they start to turn their head toward you, you just touch their cheek and they straighten out. The female -- don't bother with her. You don't want no messing around with her! But I just told my oldest son, if I could, my biggest wish would be to take all my children on a safari before its gone. I mean it is fascinating. I never got to see a kill, which is fine by me. I did take photographs. I had a showing at Nathaniel Witherell. I sold about seven of my photos.

J: So you're into photography.

C: Well, I'm not doing it right now, but I did like to take pictures of the animals and the children when I was in Africa. But since I had double-knee replacement, I cant go too far anymore. Otherwise I'd still be going. My last year, I went to Africa with my friend and she wanted her own tent. I said, Are you serious? Youre going to make me sleep in a tent by myself! In the Serengeti? Oh my God! But you know whats funny, they had toilets that worked. I don't know how they did it. And a shower. Every morning the guys that protect you at night, when you come in from your safari, theyll say, Are you ready for your shower? And you go, Yeahhh, and you get in under the big thing, and they pour the hot water on top of the roof, and then it comes down and you shower! And in the morning they had these basins, like canvas basins, filled with water. And you had fresh water every morning. If you had anything you needed to wash out, or wash your laundry, you hang it out...

J: That sounds cool!

C: Yeah it was cool--until you're laying in your tent at night and you hear the lions roaring. Oh my God, Is he in my tent? Is he behind me? Where IS this animal? And in the morning you hear the hyenas.

J: I want to travel everywhere.

C: Dont wait! My sister and I used to travel to Europe all the time. My sister would always ask me, Why are we always traveling over here? And Id say, When we cant go this far anymore well do it here. But then her husband got sick and she never traveled with me after that. A lot of kids will say to me I wanna do it, and I say just go! Thats my advice.
Financial technology (fintech) has emerged as an interesting industry to watch, as more startups aim to become the next unicorn of financial services. And they may be on to something: If theres one aspect of money that has noticeably changed over the past decades, it's how we spend and pay for purchases.

Related: These 14 Top Companies Are Creating an Ecash World

Making cash obsolete has been a trend since the introduction of debit and credit cards systems. A TSYS survey in 2014 showed that just 9 percent of Americans surveyed preferred paying in cash. The majority preferred cards. This makes the cashless payments arena an exciting sector to watch in fintech.

So, whether you are planning to launch a startup or invest in an existing one, or simply deploying fintech technology as part of your business or for personal, you'll find interesting trends you can capitalize on. Here are a few.

1. There is still room for growth in 'digital wallet' utilization.

The peer-to-peer (P2P) payments company PayPal pioneered online money transfers between users, which served as alternatives to checks and money orders. In 2015 alone, transactions using the platform totaled $282 billion, though the brand faces challenges today with the rise of alternatives such as Bitcoin-powered payment gateways, now considered cheaper and more scal.

Smartphone apps are also enabling payments, both online and at physical stores, using Bluetooth and near-field communication (NFC) technologies. Bank account or credit card credentials are linked to a digital wallet, and the mobile device is used to complete the transaction at a merchants terminal.

Android and Apple, meanwhile, are providing digital wallet technologies through Android Pay and Apple Pay, respectively. Adoption of digital wallets is also rising, but its potential has yet to be realized, as fewer than 10 percent of consumers surveyed by McKinsey have ever made such payments.

2. Cultural nuances matter -- with room for other players across international markets.

Local and regional behaviors may also have to be considered in the development of these technologies. Europes non-cash payment rate is rising, with credit cards accounting for the majority of transactions. However, the overall trend may not necessarily hold true for all of Europe.

For example, most non-cash payments in Sweden and Finland are debit transactions rather than charges to credit cards. Those countries' banks offer real-time online banking facilities, making fund transfers easier.

To cater to this market, Swedish Fintech company Trustly aligns its service with this mentality. Payments to merchants are processed through money transfers from customers bank accounts. Thus, there are opportunities for fintech entrepreneurs to look for such trends in other markets.

Regions like Asia still have low credit card penetration, but have rising online connectivity and smartphone use -- and, therefore, an increase in the number of account holders. These markets can benefit from similar non-card-reliant services.

Related: How Innovation In The Fintech Space Can Solve Basic Necessities Of Our Life

3. Easy payments translate to better conversions.

Part of the shopping cart abandonment rate (which stands at 68.3 percent) stems from the scenario where buyers notice that their preferred payment method is not available. This means retailers and digital businesses will need to cater to a wider variety of payment methods, possibly including both cash and cashless payments.

However, doing so may entail costs that need to be weighed carefully, versus the gains possible with successful transactions. The guide for such decisions will be the general preferences observed in your particular market.

For example, Southeast Asian ecommerce firms still offer cash-on-delivery options, due to poor banking penetration. Choosing a payment or fulfilment processor that enables merchants to cater to a wider gamut of payment preferences may be ideal. Cooperation here is one way to go: Competitors working together can achieve synergy in their respective markets.

4. Room for differing solutions in regional markets

Despite the availability of online-payment providers, there remains room for services to offer differing solutions due to nuanced trends in regional markets. Regions like Asia still have low credit-card penetration, but also growing online connectivity and smartphone use. These markets can benefit from similar non-card-reliant services to service the underbanked.

In addition, as more cooperative banking regulations among nations are put into place, fintech technologies can bolster cashless transactions across borders.

In terms of payment solutions overall, we predict more and more collaboration between established and new fintech players. For instance, PayPal and Trustly are both online payment processors, yet they've found ways to collaborate: PayPal users can use Trustly to fund their accounts instantly. And Trustlys B2B positioning plays well with PayPals P2P model.

Traditional financial institutions, then, appear to be comfortable allowing new players to focus on aspects of financial transactions that are non-core to these banks business.

Exciting times

The cashless trend is set to continue, as more people are drawn to the convenience of not having to carry cash around. We are seeing constant innovation in fintech as companies improve on and reimagine the ways we handle money. Opportunities abound for products to cater to specific market needs.

Related: Why Fintech Has Failed to Supplant Big Banks -- So Far

Entrepreneurs would be wise to keep track of developments in fintech because they're ushering in new opportunities. Customers, too, are bound to benefit as financial experiences are reimagined, in order to be more in tune with how people live their lives today.

Related:

4 Things You Should Know About Cashless Payments

Most Fintech Companies Should Get Benefit From the Budget 2017

8 Security Tips for Small Businesses Accepting Online Payments in 2017



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Ten years ago, I walked into my boss's office at the large corporate company where I worked and announced that I was quitting my job. What are your plans? my boss asked casually after he had time to absorb the unexpected news. I took a deep breath and began to explain that I had been reading a book by William Bridges called Managing Transitions, and I wanted to take some time away from the rat race. He looked amazed. Is this a midlife crisis thing? he asked bluffly.

Actually, I had decided to take a mini-retirement. The term originates from Timothy Ferris' The 4-Hour Workweek, in which he argues the case for taking a series of meaningful respites from our structured 9-to-5 careers rather than an end-of-the-line grand exit. I had always planned to retire early and follow a FIRE -- financially independent and retired early -- lifestyle. I had read about it, joined forums, and I started to save and invest my money in real estate to reach this goal. I did well, and by the time I stood in front of my boss, I was 40, financially independent and 50 percent on my way to joining the FIRE set.

There was one problem; I didn't want to retire. What I really wanted was not so much freedom from wage slavery (as Noam Chomsky and others call it), but a meaningful life. I wanted to climb Abraham Maslows pyramid to the self-actualization apex. The work that I had been doing on developing leaders still interested me, I just wanted to have a deeper understanding and to work more independently rather than being bounded to a single organization. So I opted for mini-retirement.

Related: 5 Lessons From People Who Retire at 40

Mini-retirement is different from a sabbatical or career break, which connotes taking time out and resuming where you left off. I needed a complete severance, a transition from my entrenched thinking and task and targeted career path. The idea of personal transition came to me when reading the aforementioned Managing Transitions. This brilliant book tells the story of Bridges, who left his career in teaching and found himself facilitating a weekly support group for people going through major changes in their lives. Based on his experience and observations, Bridges theorized that successful personal transitions go through three stages -- ending (letting go), neutral zone (a moratorium from the conventional activity of your everyday existence) and new beginning (embracing the new opportunity).

The idea of leaving my comfortable life and voluntarily entering a phase of structurelessness and uncertainty (what Bridges terms the wilderness) in order to experience growth, potential and new opportunities appealed to me. For the next five years, I lived in 10 different cities across the world for six month periods studying, researching, writing conspiracy thrillers and having the time of my life.

Today I am back on the hamster wheel and loving every minute of it. I started my own leadership consulting company and feel that my mini-retirement experience enriched my life and allowed me time to assess my life values and preferences and gain a deeper appreciation and passion for developing leaders. The mini-retirement bug is still in my blood. I work for part of the year before heading out into the wilderness with my backpack and laptop.

Here are five insights that I picked up with respect to leaving behind the structured life of work.

1. Don't bank on your organization facilitating your path to enlightenment.

Despite a progressive move toward flexible, mindful and holacratic working environments, the majority of organizations still move around in narrow functional hierarchies as John Kotter termed it in his book Leading Change -- presentism, fixed hierarchies and transactional management are still depressing realities in our workplaces. With the average retirement age remaining at 64 for men and 62 for women, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, and presidential candidates telling us that we need to work longer hours, we may need to take matters into our own hands to bring about the white space needed in our lives.

2. Manage your finances and spending expectations.

This is where reality kicks in. You can't contemplate time away from work unless you have the means to support yourself. Most experts focus on the saving habit, but I think the real secret lies in managing the spending habit. I stayed in affordable locations and rented budget apartments where I lived as a local, shopping in the local markets and cooking at home. It is easy to fall into the Diderot effect, the kind of spiralling consumption that the French philosopher Denis Diderot wrote about in his quirky essay Regrets on Parting with My Old Dressing Gown. Simplifying your life and reducing your spending habit will make your mini-retirement plans more than just a pipe dream.

Related: 11 Ways To Be Frugal Now So You're Rich Later

3. Surround yourself with supportive people.

Isn't it curious that whenever we do something that is a little offbeat and goes against received wisdom, we suddenly find a bunch of previously disinterested parties becoming passionate about how we should run our lives? I received my fair share of negative comments.

You're bonkers to leave a responsible position just when you're hitting your maximum earning potential.

Aren't you scared that people will think you're a drop out?

Have you considered therapy?

It is best to ignore the naysayers and create an inner circle with people who really believe in you.

4. Make it meaningful.

In Henry IV Part 1, Shakespeare wrote: If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work. Sitting in hammocks watching sunsets will soon feel every bit a routine as a 10:00 am team meeting. Have some fun, but also set some goals. It will feel more rewarding and your re-entry into the workplace will be easier if future bosses and clients see personal growth and a transitional journey.

5. Don't think doors will close.

One of the myths about mini-retirements is that it shuts doors and leaves awkward employment gaps. Employers are becoming more tolerant to breaks in resumes especially if you can demonstrate that the time was used in a meaningful way. Keeping a blog is a good way of charting your experience. Trust your network and a little serendipity. Ironically, the first person who offered me a job when I came out of mini-retirement was my old cynical boss, but I already had other plans.

Related: Ignore the Cynics, Hope Is Your Greatest Asset

I guess reading about mini-retirement in a publication dedicated to entrepreneurship may seem a little discordant, but I think reflection, personal transition and a generous sprinkling of nonconformity is key to being an effective entrepreneur. The ancient Sanskrit text, Mundaka Upanishad, uses the metaphor of a bow and arrow to describe how reflection and concentration can help us hit the target: Draw the string with full absorption and shoot at the target. I concede this is not going to be for everyone, particularly those people who find purpose and importance in the workplace, preferring structure, a built-in social group and hierarchical status. But taking time out can help us determine whats important to us and give us the ideas, vision and confidence to become who we truly want to be.

Related:

How a Mini-Retirement Brought Meaning to My Life

9 Ways to Actually Adopt the Better Habits You Know Will Help You Succeed

The Myth of the 'Serenity Prayer'



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting on Friday approved a resolution on the approval of the license conditions for transportation of passengers, hazardous cargo and waste by air envisaging the clear operation rules on the market.

"Without these license conditions access to the market is blocked. A new carrier or company which wants to charter an aircraft faces problems in this area," First Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine Maksym Nedyodov said at the meeting.

He said that the liberalization of the market would help to ensure extra payments to the national budget.

"This is a possibility of demonopolizing the market and allow Ukrainians to buy cheap tickets," he said.
Still in the states crosshairs. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Back in May, New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit accusing both Dominos and several franchisees of systemic wage theft  what his office has routinely blasted as an ongoing pattern of illegally chiseling at the pay of minimum-wage workers by the entire chain. Executives viewed their inclusion in the suit as an annoyance (and possibly even a tactical blunder), since the courts have generally labeled franchisees the bad guys in these matters, not their corporate overlords. Recent labor rulings have started challenging that idea, though; and now, Schneidermans bold move may be paying off, too: His office has announced that the three franchisees named in the suit are settling individually for $480,000, leaving Dominos as the sole defendant.

Schneiderman has now spent the better part of three years arguing that Dominos has full knowledge of franchisees consistent and outrageous record of disregard for workers rights. Legally, his claim boils down to Dominos being whats known in labor law as a joint employer  in this case, that theres clear evidence corporate meddles in worker pay, versus it being entirely at franchisees discretion. His office contends that, for the period outlined in the lawsuit, Dominos encouraged store owners to use a flawed payroll system (called PULSE) that it knew miscalculated workers wages. Also, Dominos allegedly made multiple updates to PULSE every year, yet never bothered to fix the underpayment glitch, or even tell franchisees that this glitch existed. (It was deemed a low priority.) As a result, workers got screwed out of a lot of hard-earned wages  delivery drivers in particular, who were reportedly shafted on miles they put on their private vehicles as well.

The $480,000 Schneidermans office secured in restitution will be divvied up among hundreds of workers mostly in the New York metro area. Including these three new additions, 71 Dominos franchisees statewide have now settled labor violations with the attorney general. That represents more than a third of all the locations in New York state, and comes to nearly $2 million thats been returned to the chains workers.
His plan was to give them kitchen-porter jobs. Photo: Fennel Restaurant/Facebook

A restaurant owner in Scotland has offered jobs to two teenage arsonists who set a fire at his restaurant. William Bird discovered the blaze at his steak-and-burger joint, Fennel, last weekend. The kids had lit some of the outdoor furniture on fire using rolled-up newspaper. The flames burned through a couple of wicker chairs, but luckily didnt do much else. The two idiots in their early teens, though, were all over Fennels surveillance footage (apparently, they stopped in for some quick takeout at the nearby Chinese restaurant).

Bird hatched a plan  he went onto Facebook and asked anybody who might know the duo to pass along a reward offer. But that reward may not be what you think, he wrote. To the two young lads who tried to set a fire at Fennel tonight, Im offering YOU a job.

I get it, he added, explaining he used to be a punk, too. Which is why he felt itd be smart to think hard about his offer:



I dont give a fxxk what your issue is. I have bigger fish to fry  so, if youre ballsy enough to do what you did earlier, youre ballsy enough to take up my challenge.



I dare you, come work for me. Its not for the faint-hearted, takes something pretty special. Think youre up to it, gentlemen?

Peoples response to the kids stupidity blew me away, Bird tells the Daily Record, saying hes read comments like Hang em high and Put their pictures out. His main thought was, If that was your kid who has just made a bad choice and gone out and done something stupid, would you really want them plastered over social media? Better to let them make amends without the internet recording it for eternity, he figured.

One of the culprits, a 13-year-old boy, was just arrested by local police, and true to his word, it seems Bird has already removed the post from the restaurants Facebook page.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) withdrew claims to nine more liquefied gas (LNG) importers and their counterparts, which allowed the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to lift sanctions against them.

Ministry orders Nos. 347 and 351 dated March 10 on lifting sanctions, adopted on the basis of SBU materials dated March 6, have been posted on the agency's website.

In particular, sanctions against Parallel-M Ltd. (Zaporizhia), Ukrgazpetroleum, RVK Plus (both based in Kyiv), Propan-Trade (Kharkiv), Ukrpetrolpostach and UPK-Europlus (both based in Baryshivka, Kyiv region) were canceled.

In addition, the sanctions were lifted from non-residents Exposoft Trade LLP, Luxoil Import LLP (both based in the UK) and Emitrade FZE (the UAE).

As reported, the imposition of sanctions was based on the information from the SBU that the importers accumulated funds on offshore accounts and partly used them to finance militants in the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
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The prime ministers from member countries of the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) will meet in Kyiv on March 27, the Azerbaijan Export and Investments Promotion Foundation said.

"A session of the prime ministers of the GUAM member countries will be held in Kyiv on March 27. A business forum involving entrepreneurs from Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova will take place as part of this event," the foundation said on its website.




Haiti - Justice : Gustavo Gallon harshly judge the Haitian prison system





Thursday, Gustavo Gallon, the Independent Expert of the UN Human Rights Council, on the situation of human rights in Haiti ended his 8th mission in Haiti. At a press conference he presented a summary of his annual report that he will present on 21 March at the United Nations. During his mission. He pointed out, among other things, the markedly insufficient progress made in the case of prolonged detention and has made a harsh judgment in general on the inhuman conditions of detention in most Haitian prisons.



"[...] On average, more than 70 per cent of those detained in Haiti continue to be held in prolonged detention. The situation in the Port-au-Prince National Penitentiary has worsened dramatically : the average length of pre-trial detention increased from 624 days to 1,100 days (or 3 years), according to a study by the Minustah in December 2016. If we count inmates for more than two years and those who, although detained for less than two years, have not seen a magistrate in the last six months, it can be said that 91% of all persons detained in the National Penitentiary awaiting trial are deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, an increase of 23% since 2014.



If the situation of prolonged detainees were resolved, there would be no overcrowding in Haitian prisons. At present, it reaches 358%, as in the 7,359 m2 of total detention area, in the 19 prisons of the Directorate of Prison Administration (DAP), there should not be more than 2,944 detainees to meet the DAP's target of 2.5m2 per person [...] Taking into account the UN-acceptable area of 4.5m2 per prisoner, the overcrowding rate reached 644%. In other words, the capacity of Haiti's prisons only accommodates 1,635 inmates instead of the current 10,538 [As at 31 December 2016]



This excessive level of overpopulation also explains the high degree of death in prison, which is even more evident in 2016 due to the strike of public hospitals; While previously for the same number of severe cases of illness or malnutrition, aggravated by overcrowding, some patients were transferred to the hospital. Such a transfer has not been possible in recent months, and the number of deaths recorded in prisons has increased enormously, making it possible to discover the magnitude of the problem of the death of prisoners in the prison environment.



At the current rate, the projections for the whole of 2017 give a total of 229 prisoners who have died in prison, an annual mortality rate of 21.8 per 1,000.



It is clear that the issue of prolonged detention deserves to be resolved as soon as possible, as has been persistently recommended. The Provisional Government had appointed a presidential commission in September 2016 to deal with the problem. Unfortunately, the Government has not allocated the necessary budgetary resources to do its work. However, the activities of this Commission with the Government Commissioners and the prisons of Croix-de-Bouquet, Petit Goave and Port-au-Prince, resulted in the release of about one hundred detainees temporarily and prolonged detained. The Ministry for the Status of Women has also been concerned with the situation and has acted with the Ministry of Justice to release some 184 women prisoners in 2016, plus one woman sentenced with terminal cancer [...]



Another Commission on the situation of prisons has recently been appointed by the new President. It is hoped that it will continue the efforts of the previous Commission so that there is a real solution in the short term. It is a situation that creates a state of daily violations of the rights of most detainees: both those in prolonged detention and those suffering the negative consequences of prison overcrowding, including health. These are inhuman and degrading conditions. All judges and judicial officials, as well as the entire population, should visit the prisons to observe closely the disgrace to which the persons deprived of liberty are subjected in this country.



This time I visited Hinche prison. It is a new building, inaugurated on January 30, 2017, which replaced the former prison where there were 279 prisoners in 120 square meters, a rate of overpopulation of 1.045% compared to a parameter of 4.5 m2 per individual. The new building, which has a capacity of about 400 people, has housed 292 prisoners (Including 143 convicted prisoners including one woman and 149 prisoners, including five women and seven male minors). The authorities informed that there was no one in prolonged detention. Each cell has 8 beds made of concrete, which would be enough to provide a bed for each detainee, but I found cells with 14 people where prisoners are forced to share their bed, while next to it there are cells. Of the 40 cells there were 10 that were empty. This demonstrates that some civil servants have a mindset of space reduction for detainees that goes beyond the physical capacity of the existing infrastructure, a mentality that makes no sense and that it would be appropriate to correct that as soon as possible."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





PM filled his General Policy

Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant went to the Legislative Building yesterday Thursday to file a copy of his policy statement. "He tabled his policy statement this morning. We should receive him next Monday for the statement of his general policy," said the President of the Senate, Youri Latortue.



Jacmel : DGI stained with fecal

Wednesday, the premises of the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) of Jacmel were soiled with feces. This was reportedly done by unidentified individuals in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, March 8. On Wednesday, employees of the DGI refused to work in protest at the unhealthiness of their workplace.



Lafontant, 50% chance of being ratified

Senator Joseph Lambert, an ally of the PHTK, said that until now, Prime Minister Dr. Jack Guy Lafontant had a 50% chance of getting a Senators vote and a 50% chance of being rejected. Senator Youri Latortue, President of the Senate, agrees, saying that the majority that currently supports the Prime Minister in the Senate is fragile.



Rene Preval : message from the Chamber of Deputies

"The Chamber of Deputies curves itself in front of the remains of Rene Garcia Preval whose qualities of moderation, humility, sense of dialogue with the other powers and especially that of the measure at the helm of the State have earned him two mandates to the Presidency of the Republic [...] On behalf of all the Honorable Deputies and in his own name, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, expresses his condolences to all the members of his family and to all his former collaborators in his difficult management of public affairs and to the Haitian people who were particularly shaken in the circumstances." https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20313-haiti-flash-funeral-of-rene-preval-official-protocol.html



Presidential couple to a dinner-talk

As part of International Women's Day, the presidential couple attended a dinner-talk with women leaders and representatives of international organizations fighting for gender equity in Haiti.



OAS observes 1 minute of silence

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) observed a minute of silence in memory of the former President of Haiti, Rene Garcia Preval.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2017/03/09 | Source

Korean movie of the week "Coin Locker Girl" (2014)

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Directed by Han Jun-hee

With Kim Hye-soo, Kim Go-eun, Um Tae-goo, Park Bo-gum, Go Kyung-pyo, Lee Soo-kyung-I,...

Also known as "China Town"

Synopsis

Il-yeong (Kim Go-eun) was abandoned in the number ten locker in a subway station right after she was born. The movie depicts the world that Il-yeong has been coping with while being raised as a member of a crime organization by Boss (Kim Hye-soo) also called " Mom ", who has been a practical ruler of the China Town.

Festival

Cannes 2015 - Critics' Week (Semaine de la Critique)

Release date in Korea : 2015/04/29

Read William's review on HanCinema

Available on DVD from YESASIA



DVD (En Sub)
Published on 2017/03/09 | Source

Korean movies opening today 2017/03/09 in Korea:"The Artist: Reborn", "Trumpet On The Cliff", "Wife's Friend Reunion" and "My Wife's Excuse"

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"The Artist: Reborn" (2015)

Directed by Kim Kyeong-won

With Ryu Hyun-kyung, Park Jung-min, Moon Jong-won, Kim Ji-an, Song Dong-hwan, Lee Soon-jae,...

Formerly known as "Gisel - Born Again" (,  , ji-jel, da-si tae-eo-nada)

Synopsis

"Behind the irony of art". Oh In-sook, who goes by Gisele in the art world, is a failed artist with nothing going for her. During her shift at her part time job, she meets a cunning and canny art sales representative Jae-bum. Jae-bum believes that Gisele has the potential to become a prominent artist and decides to represent her. He and his colleague James, through their ingenious sales efforts, begin to raise the value of Gisele's paintings, causing Gisele to gain immense fame. As she is ready to bathe in her success, she unexpectedly dies of reasons unknown shocking the art community. Jaebum sees this as an opportunity to hike the prices on his deceased client's paintings and decides to go all-in in doing so. However, Gisele miraculously gains consciousness like the Lazarus syndrome, denting Jae-bum's scheme. In order to save his career, Jaebum suggests to Gisele to stay "dead" and aims to strike a deal with her.

"Trumpet On The Cliff" (2017)

Directed by Han Sang-hee

With Nanami Sakuraba, Byung Hun, Otsuka Nene, Takuro Tatsumi, Yuki Kubota, MIU,...

"Trumpet On The Cliff" is a Korean-Japanese co-production.

Synopsis

A boy meets a girl who is like the transparent summer seas. This fantasy romance is one of the most beautiful this winter.

Aoi is residing in Okinawa after a heart surgery. She meets Ji-oh, a boy who is blowing the trumpet on a cliff in the island. Aoi has given up on everything and Ji-oh only has his precious trumpet that his parents left behind for him. They are strongly attracted to each other and Ji-oh and Aoi promise to go see the dolphins together, not knowing what is waiting for them.

"Wife's Friend Reunion" (2016)

Directed by Lee Ri-dan

With Seo Won-I, Lee Tae-jin, Hyeon Ah, Lee Jae-gwan, Jo Gi-tae, Wang Hoon-ah,...

Synopsis

Ji-yeong is a good looking, slim and big-breasted insurance planner who is really bad at her job. Dae-cheol, her school friend, suggests she sells some insurance at the friends' reunion where alot of wealthy friends will show up. Ji-yeong doesn't really feel like it but she dresses up sexily and goes to the reunion. For some reason, her results at work are getting better and better every time she goes to the reunion...

"My Wife's Excuse" (2016)

Directed by Cha Yoon-yeong

With Yoo Pool-ip, Lee Sang-wook, Lee Dong-gook, Han Seo-ah, Park Se-min, Park Sang-yeong,...

Synopsis

The undeniable seduction of first love.

Ahn Dami is home alone in a house where her husband doesn't come back. He doesn't come back until morning and she's alone again. She goes to the fitness club to work out. However, her target is not just working out. After she lost the first love she gave everything up to, she decides to live the rest of her life as a hot woman. Then the first love she thought had disappears and appears again in front of her...
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Ukrainian law enforcers will not participate in the interrogation of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in the territory of Russia, prosecutor of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko said.

"The suspect, Yanukovych, should be present in court and stand Ukrainian trial, no one will be interrogated in the presence of representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine," Kravchenko said on 112.Ukraine TV channel on Thursday.

The prosecutor noted that Viktor Yanukovych is hiding from the bodies of the pre-trial investigation and the court outside the territory of Ukraine, on the territory of the Russian Federation. "He is a suspect, and in accordance with the ruling of the investigating judge should be detained and brought to court," he said.

Kravchenko also believes that the Russian Federation should not claim that it is ready to interrogate the suspect Viktor Yanukovych, but should have done it four months ago.

"Therefore, if the Russian Federation is ready, then let it comply with the request," he said.

The prosecutor explained that he or an investigator, who carries out a pretrial investigation, do not have the right to interrogate Yanukovych on the territory of the Russian Federation. "This can only be done by law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation, and we can only be present during the interrogation. But you do understand that the Ukrainian prosecutor or the investigator will have to detain the suspect Yanukovych and bring him to the court," Kravchenko said.

As reported, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office is ready to arrange for Ukraine's ex-president Viktor Yanukovych to be questioned on Russian territory in the presence of Ukrainian investigators. "In view of V. F. Yanukovych being in Russia, the Russian Federation Prosecutor General's Office is ready to consider the matter of organizing his questioning in the presence of Ukrainian law enforcement representatives," the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said in its reply to a request from the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, a copy of which was made available to Interfax-Ukraine.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and other competent authorities are currently seeing into the matter of accepting the so-called DPR/LPR passports by banks operating in Russia, in particular, Sberbank of Russia, to make a decision on imposing sanctions, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said.

"Now the legal grounds are being clarified, whether it has real grounds behind. If it has, then I think, the NBU, the National Security and Defense Council, and the president, will promptly react to this situation and this response will be adequate ... I think, we'll sort it out quickly," the prime minister said at a meeting of the Cabinet in Kyiv on Friday.

This issue was again raised by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov. Just like three days earlier, he spoke in favor of imposing sanctions on Sberbank of Russia.
Hawaii V. Trump: A Legal Nothing-Burger

by Phillip Holloway, Daily Caller, March 9, 2017

(President Trump) replaced his order from January which was challenged in courts everywhere. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the January order should be stayed indefinitely rendering the order unenforceable while in litigation. The court got it wrong  completely. Rather than fighting in the liberal 9th Circuit which has a staggering 80% reversal rate  the second highest in the nation  the Administration issued a new more narrow order and avoided the confusing implementation of the January order.

Now we are back in court  the 9th Circuit naturally. Thats where the activist judges are. 72% of the judges in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals were appointed by democrats. Hawaii along with Ismail Elshikh  Imam of the Muslim Association of Hawaii sued to block the revised order. The 38 page lawsuit is assigned to US District Judge Derrick Watson  a 2013 appointee of former President Obama. It was no accident it was brought in Hawaii where two of the three federal judges are Obama appointees.

Lets discuss Hawaiis verbose-yet-meritless lawsuit. Theres 29 pages of policy arguments  not legal ones.

Its a litany of reasons why Hawaii and the Imam think the order is a big scary monster thats embarrassing and keeps the Imams Syrian mother-in-law from visiting even though she hasnt come to visit since 2005.Theres only 7 pages of legal claims. Lets look at the 29 pages of irrelevant material first. They lay out some policy reasons why the executive order, they say, isnt a good idea.

Lead counsel is Neal Katyal  former Solicitor General of the US. Professor Katyal is a brilliant lawyer whom I have met several times and is as nice a guy as you could ever meet. Reasonable minds can disagree and we disagree.

Pages 1-2. Hawaiians cant receive visits from or be reunited with people affected by the order. Universities cant recruit as well. The Imam has to live in a country where people think the government disfavors a religion. The order hurts Hawaiis economy.

Response: Theres no constitutional right to receive visits from foreigners. Those words arent in the Constitution. So what if universities cant recruit from 6 nations for a while. National security is more important. What would a terrorist attack do to recruiting? If the Imam thinks the government has established a disfavored religion hes entitled to his opinion but this order affects ANYONE of any religion from a mere six nations. Muslims from every other country remain unaffected by the order. The Hawaiian economy is booming and its speculative at best to think a handful of affected people will change that.

Pages 7-10. These are campaign speeches and other cherry-picked remarks where Trump advocated ideas about immigration and a relationship between terrorism and immigration.

Response: His campaign remarks arent relevant. He wasnt President, the order doesnt mention Muslims and doesnt apply to any single religion.

Pages 11-15. These describe the January Order.

Response: Thats irrelevant. This is a new order. We arent litigating the first.

Pages 16-19. These describe the rollout of the first order, chaos at airports, and confusion in its implementation.

Response: Its true that the rollout couldve been smoother but this is a new order. We arent litigating the first.

Pages 20-25. These quote and describe the new order.

Response: Millers comments are irrelevant because the new order didnt exist then. It doesnt matter what Miller says. It matters what the order says.

Pages 25-30. These rehash in more detail the initial claims. The Imams mother-in-law cant visit, other residents cant receive certain visitors, it makes people feel bad, it harms the economy etc. This is a policy debate. If the Imams mother-in-law cant visit Hawaii for now and her last visit was in 2005 one wonders if this is a real or pretend problem.

Pages 31-37. The legal arguments. They are legally incorrect for astonishingly simple reasons:

COUNT 1. First Amendment-Establishment Clause

Hawaii and the Imam allege The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the Federal Government from Officially preferring one religion over another. They also allege the order has the effect of disfavoring Islam.

Heres what the Constitution actually says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Ive given you both the Establishment Clause AND the Free Exercise Clause. Read them together. Executive orders are not acts of Congress. Theres no language in the order that mentions Islam. The order does disfavor unfettered entry into the US from the six nations (temporarily)  regardless of religion. Muslims from around the globe enter the US daily and will continue to despite the order. The Establishment Clause claim is laughable.

COUNT 2: Fifth Amendment-Equal Protection

Hawaii and the Imam allege The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibits the Federal Government from denying equal protection of the laws, including on the basis of religion and/or national origin, nationality, or alienage.

The Fifth Amendment does not mention the words Equal Protection. Thats the Fourteenth Amendment. I agree that all people who have rights under the Constitution are entitled to equal protection. Thats simple. But heres the big problem for the plaintiffs: Non-citizens outside of the US have no constitutional rights whatsoever. The people to who have constitutional rights are the people of the US or those present within the US. We dont export US Constitutional Rights. Otherwise, the Navy Seals wouldve needed a search warrant to enter Bin Ladens house. There is no constitutional right that belongs to any alien to enter the US. Permanent residents and visa holders have statutory and other permissions.

COUNT 3: Fifth Amendment Substantive Due Process

Plaintiffs claim The right to international travel is covered by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Really? Lets look. No person shall be held to answer for a capitalcrime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law

I dont see any mention of international travel there. Maybe Hawaii has special reading glasses and can see it.

COUNT 4: Fifth Amendment-Procedural Due Process

Plaintiffs claim citizens may assert  liberty interests with respect to noncitizen relatives who are deprived of due process

Wrong. It isnt possible to deprive someone of something they dont already possess  due process rights.

COUNT 5: Immigration and Nationality Act

Plaintiffs claim the order exceeds the Presidents authority under 8 U.S.C 1182(f) and 1185(a).

Wrong. Article 1, section 8, clause 4 gives plenary (absolute) power over immigration to Congress. Congress has delegated that authority broadly to the President. Section 1182(f), states: Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate

Click here to read 1185(a). It begins with Unless otherwise ordered by the President .

COUNT 6: Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Who knew the left liked RFRA? They claim RFRA grants citizens the right to welcome visitors from anywhere in the world. It does not.

Count 7: Substantive Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act through Violations of the Constitution, Immigration and Nationality Act, and Arbitrary and Capricious Action

Thats the run everything up the flagpole and see if someone salutes approach. This fails for the same reason: Non-citizens outside the United States have no US constitutional rights. Thats why we have borders and why Article 1 specifically grants plenary power to the Federal government over immigration.

The line must be drawn somewhere and its at the border. We know where it is. Thats where US constitutional rights evaporate. This is common sense stuff that shouldnt stand a chance in court. But its the 9th Circuit. If Hawaii wins it will land in the full US Supreme Court and the 9th Circuit should get reversed  again.

---30---

UPDATE March 13, 2017: Trump Admin Motion Against TRO



NBC: Trump Travel Order Raises Specter of Superior Race: Hawaii Attorney General

AP: Hawaii Attorney General: Travel Ban is 'Racis -- "bans people purely based upon their nationality," (IQ Test: Are you laughing?)
The Coalition is making its strongest defence yet of the recent decision by the Fair Work Commission to slash penalty rates.



The move comes after the NSW Police were involved in escorting former Liberal prime minister John Howard through a crowd of vocal union protesters rallying against cuts to penalty rates in Sydney's CBD.



Howard was at a conference on Pitt Street before being confronted by the protest group, who heckled him and held up Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) banners.



The 77-year-old was initially shocked, however NSW Police soon "came to the rescue", according to a spokesman for Howard.



The protests prompted PM Malcolm Turnbull to tweet: "I condemn CFMEU's thuggish harassment of John Howard today. A reminder of why ABCC is needed. Bill Shorten should condemn CFMEU as well."



The uproar comes amid the Coalition giving strong indications that they will ramp up their defence of the FWCs penalty rates decision.



The Finance Minister Mathias Cormann emphasised that the decision needs to be given a fair go.



This is a decision which the Fair Work Commission says will boost employment and will help small business open on a Sunday, he told Sky News.



We believe that this Fair Work Commission decision needs to be given a fair go, thats because we believe that small business needs to be given a fair go, and that unemployed Australians looking for work need to be given a fair go.



And we believe that those Australians that who want to work more, by working more on a Sunday, need to be given a fair go.



So of course, this wasnt our decision, but its a decision that needs to be given a fair go.



Moreover, the government is set to rally backbenchers and businesses to help make a case for the employment boost that will arise from the decision, according to The Australian.



Following the announcement of the decision, Labor and the Greens were swift in promising to fight it. In fact, the Labor leader Bill Shorten used International Womens Day to promote penalty rates and attack Turnbull.



"If Malcolm Turnbull wants to do one good thing for women on International Women's Day, he will join with Labor and stop the penalty cuts right now," Shorten said.



Shorten added that cutting penalty rates will widen the pay gap between men and woman.



"Malcolm Turnbull loves to quote that women hold up half the sky, but women are not getting half the way in Australia," he said.



"This will be the thin edge of the wedge for other women who rely upon penalty rates."



The Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work recently released data showing the traditional measure of the gender pay gap (which has women earning 17% less than men) for ordinary pay, equivalent full-time positions is blown out when the concentration of women in part-time work is taken into account.



The Fair Work Commission is yet to rule on when the cuts to Sunday rates will apply to retail and hospitality workers.



The cut to penalty rates on public holidays begins on July 1.








People's deputy of Ukraine Nadia Savchenko has given testimony to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) regarding her trip to the territory Donetsk, uncontrolled by Kyiv, Vasyl Hrytsak, the chief of the SBU, said.

"She once came for the interrogation, then postponed the interrogation because we were told she was too busy." And when she came again for the interrogation, it was several days ago, she provided evidence," he told reporters in Cherkasy on Friday.

Hrytsak said that this trip was not agreed with the SBU.
Police officers are, if necessary, prepared to break up the demonstrations in the event that they cause considerable danger to public order and security, to people or to property, a police spokesperson said in a press release on Thursday .

The threat posed by the far-right protest scheduled to take place in Helsinki on Saturday is being taken seriously, assures the Helsinki Police Department.

The protest is being orchestrated on social media with the objective of dismantling the protest camp of asylum seekers that was relocated from the front of Kiasma to Helsinki Railway Square in mid-February.

The organisers of the protest state in the event description that local authorities have until 10 March to dismantle the protest camp. Otherwise, they write, we will arrive at the site on 11 March, 2017, and make our thoughts known to those who are in the country illegally. Rumours on social media indicate that the participants will also include people from Estonia and Poland.

One of the organisations advertising the so-called Puhdistus (Eng. purge, cleansing) protest is the Nordic Resistance Movement.

The Helsinki Police Department assures that it has taken the necessary precautions and is monitoring the preparations for the protest. Both police officers and security cameras, it reminds, are monitoring the area constantly.

Were aware of the discussion on social media and were keeping tabs on how it develops. Well take action according to the threat assessment well compile during the week, Jari Taponen, the chief inspector in charge of preventive action at the police department, told Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday.

The social media debate has picked up in the past couple of days after an asylum seeker attempted to hang himself from a tree at Helsinki Railway Square on Wednesday. The suicide attempt was prevented by bystanders, and the man was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The Helsinki Police Department also reminds that it cannot intervene in the long-running protest by asylum seekers or the counter-protest by Suomi Ensin (Eng. Finland first) in central Helsinki unless the protests are deemed to pose a threat threat to public order or security, traffic safety, people or the environment, or if it is asked to do so by the City of Helsinki.

The City of Helsinki has not asked the police to intervene in the situation, but discussions between the city and police are ongoing, it says. The grounds for breaking up an assembly or demonstration must be particularly strong.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa  Lehtikuva
Cabinet approves agreement with Turkey on mutual entry of citizens by ID cards

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved the signing of an agreement with the government of Turkey on the possibility of mutual trips of citizens on the basis of internal passports in the form of ID cards.

The corresponding decision was made at a government meeting on Friday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports.

Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia said that this would be the first such agreement.

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said he intends to sign the agreement during his working visit to Turkey next week.
The department for investigating very serious economic crimes of Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has served the former general consul of Georgia in Odesa region, Timur Nishnianidze, a notice of suspicion for embezzling state funds in large amounts. The issue of his pretrial confinement is being determined.

"PGO departments for investigating very serious economic crimes and main bureau for fighting corruption and organized crime along with Ukraine's SBU Security Service, have served a notice of suspicion to the former general consul of Georgia in Odesa region Nishnianidze. He is suspected of embezzling state funds in large amounts with a group of individuals and in legalizing (laundering) proceeds, which were received in a criminal manner, that is, of committing criminal acts pursuant to Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," PGO spokeswoman wrote on her Facebook page on Friday.

The pretrial investigation established that Nishnianidze, acting in accordance with a premeditated plan with other consulate employees, from June 2012 through November 2013 provided Ukrainian tax authorities with documents for refunding more than UAH 17 million in value-added tax (VAT) payments for purchases of merchandise in brand-name stores Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dsquared2, Helen-Marlen and others located in Kyiv and Odesa. The purchases provide grounds for refunding foreigners VAT payments.

Deputy head of the Odesa regional administration, Solomia Borbovska, said on her Facebook page that a notice of suspicion was served at around midnight, adding a decision on pretrial confinement would be taken by Kyiv's Pechersky District court at its hearing starting at 14.00 on Friday.
Karl Robertson (28) who was knocked down by a van while out running in Artane. Photo: Frank Mc Grath

Gardai are searching for the hit and run van driver who left a jogger fighting for his life in hospital.

Karl Robertson (28), from Castlekevin Road in Artane, was running when he was knocked down on Hazelwood Drive, not far from his home, at 9.45pm on Tuesday.

He was clinging to life in Beaumont Hospital last night as his heartbroken family said they feared the worst.

His aunt Marie Larkin, who lives just yards away from Karl and his family, appealed for whoever was driving the vehicle to come forward.

This driver failed to stop at the scene, and a passing off-duty fireman and another man ran to Karl's aid and tended to him until the emergency services arrived.

Fire

As ambulance crews battled to save Karl, their Dublin Fire Brigade colleagues at North Strand station got a call to deal with a car fire in a nearby park off Beechlawn Grove, close to Parnells GAA Club.

It would later emerge that gardai suspect this vehicle - a white Renault Megane car van from around 2003 - was the one that knocked Karl down. It is not believed that the vehicle found burnt out was stolen.

"Karl's in a very bad way. He has spinal injuries, head injuries and broken limbs," said a tearful Marie Larkin.

"We just want whoever did this to hand themselves in. Please God, come forward for everyone's sake.

"Karl is a gentleman and he didn't deserve this. He doesn't drink or smoke. He just loves to walk his dog and do some jogging. He's a quiet lad. We're all heartbroken."

Marie also wanted to thank the off-duty fireman and the second man who stopped to help Karl.

"Anyone who did anything to help is fantastic. We want to thank them. If anyone knows anything about what happened or can help the gardai please come forward," she said.

Karl's sister Niamh said the family were doing their best to stay positive.

"We got a phone call [from the gardai] at about 11pm. My dad answered and they were asking him questions and all I heard him say was 'yes, he was wearing blue shorts and would have been out jogging'," she told RTE News.

Horrible

"I ran down the stairs and they said we needed to go to Beaumont Hospital.

"I was trying not to think that is was too serious and was trying to keep the family positive. My mam broke down straight away and nearly fell to the ground - it was horrible.

"Anyone who had done this or anyone who may have seen anything, heard anything, seen a car speeding around the area last night, please, please, please contact the gardai even if it's anonymous.

"I expect the person to own up because it's a horrible thing to do."

Karl works at Dunnes Stores in Northside Shopping Centre. He lives at home with Niamh and parents Tony and Cathy.

Neighbours and friends in the tight-knit Artane community were last night offering support to the family.
A postal worker has described how he believed he would never see his partner and baby again during a kidnapping and robbery in Co Louth.

Warren Nawn told a jury how he was tied up and beaten before being sent to An Post to collect 600,000 while his partner, now wife, and baby were held by armed raiders.

He said the raiders repeatedly threatened to kill his family if anything went wrong and at one point Ms Nawn was threatened with rape.

It is the State's case that Jonathan Gill (35) was one of the group of five, who together were involved in holding the family hostage in their own home before moving them to a shed about a 90-minute drive away.

Mr Gill, of Malahide Road, Swords, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to falsely imprisoning Warren Nawn, Jean Marie Nawn and their baby in Drogheda between August 1 and August 2, 2011.

Mr Nawn told Vincent Heneghan, prosecuting, that he was having a relaxing day off and was watching television when he opened his door to a man holding a pizza box and covering his face with a scarf.

The man had a gun and ordered Mr Nawn to the ground before taking him inside. Another man arrived and they wrapped masking tape around his eyes, hands and mouth and started asking him about his work at An Post.

One raider said, "a mad b*****d, madder than me, is coming and he would have no problem raping her", indicating Ms Nawn. He also told Mr Nawn to "remember the baby they found by the river in Mayo".

Another man, who Mr Nawn described as the "boss man", arrived and continued to question him. This man threatened to put a bullet in the back of Mr Nawn's head if he was lying.

Mr Nawn said he was physically lifted up and put in the boot of his own car, which was then driven for 90 minutes to a farmyard. He did not know where his family was at this time.

There, he saw his partner and child and all three were held overnight. The "boss man" gave Mr Nawn detailed instructions on how he should go into work in the morning and wait for a cash van delivery before bringing the money to the LMFM radio studio car park.

Speeding

Mr Nawn said it was clear the "boss man" had very detailed knowledge about where he worked but didn't seem to know the names of the streets and bridges in Drogheda.

In the morning, the raiders put his work uniform on him and drove him to Drogheda. As Mr Nawn was leaving, Ms Nawn told him to do what they said. He replied he would do whatever it took to keep them safe.

When he was dropped off, Mr Nawn drove to work while in phone contact with the raiders. He said he was speeding, overtaking traffic and breaking traffic lights and that he became very concerned when he saw a garda car with its lights on.

He said he thought he would be stopped and would never see his family again. However, he was able to continue to work, where he told his manager about the kidnapping, as instructed by the raiders.

He filled two large bags with money and drove towards LMFM. There, he was told to drive to an overpass and throw the money over the side.

When he did so, he was told he had thrown the money at the wrong place and told to retrieve it.

Mr Nawn climbed into some briars to get the cash but was then instructed to leave it. He was then told to drive to the Boyne Valley Bridge and break up the phone he was given before throwing it in the river.

Having done this, he returned to work, where gardai were called. He refused to speak to officers as he was still concerned about his family's safety, but began co-operating when it was confirmed they were safe.

Mr Nawn identified pieces of a phone that had been recovered from the river by gardai as the one he was using. He also identified cable ties that had been left on his wrists.

The trial continues.
Murder accused Roy Webster lied to Anne Shortall's worried daughters about his meeting with her on the day she died, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Mr Webster repeatedly lied after Ms Shortall's daughters contacted him on finding a text exchange between the pair in which they were arranging to meet that day.

The jury was told he first said to one daughter she had the "wrong number" and told another her mother was going to London to meet a friend.

He told gardai who were searching for Ms Shortall that she had called him out of the blue after he "shifted her months ago".

As evidence for the prosecution continued, the court was also told that Ms Shortall sent a Facebook message to a stranger weeks before she was killed, saying she wanted "5,000 for an abortion" from Mr Webster.

The mother-of-three and grandmother-of-three had sent a private message to the wrong profile, intending to contact a cousin of the accused.

Hammer

Mr Webster (39), of Ashbree, Ashford, Co Wicklow, denies the murder of Ms Shortall (47) on April 3, 2015 at the Murrough, also in Wicklow.

He has pleaded guilty to her manslaughter. The jury previously heard he beat her to death with a hammer after she threatened to "reveal all" about a sexual encounter they had the previous December.

Emma Shortall (22) said her mother suffered from depression and had been on anti-depressants for a number of years.

If she went out, she would always take her cigarettes and mobile phone, but she had left her phone charging and a full box of Marlboro Lights at home that day.

Ms Shortall said her mother was asleep in bed, seemed "fine" and they had a "chit chat" at around 2pm.

At around 3.50pm, she heard the door bang and thought her mother had gone out to the shop. Later, she went out herself and texted her mother but there was no reply.

She returned home at 12.30am on April 4. Her mother was still not there.

Her sister Alanna had already been at the apartment and told her about a message on their mother's phone saying "I'm at the Leitrim" and a number with the name 'Ashwood'.

When she rang the phone it went to voicemail and the name was Roy Webster. She called it again and a man answered.

"I asked him had he seen my mother because there was a text saying he was going to meet her.

"He said you have the wrong number, he hadn't a clue what I was talking about," Emma Shortall told the court.

She texted him asking "had he seen my mum, that his number was on her phone and he was texting her saying she was meeting him".

"It wasn't like her not to tell me where she was or what she was doing," Ms Shortall said.

The next morning, she went to the gardai with her aunt and uncle.

Alanna Shortall (19) said when she could not contact her mother she went to her apartment at about 4.40pm.

Her mother's phone was charging under a pillow and she checked and saw a message from Ashwood Kitchens.

The message said "meet at the Leitrim" and her mother had replied: "on way".

She rang but the call went straight to messages so she saved the number to her own phone. The next morning, she texted the number but there was no reply.

She texted again, saying: "If you don't reply to me, I am going to bring your contact number to the gardai."

Eviction

She said Mr Webster replied: "All I know is she is going to meet a friend in London. As far as I know she was flying out at about seven tonight."

Both daughters said they were not aware of their mother's financial difficulties - her rent arrears or a notice of eviction that she had received.

Garda Neil Doyle said he was at Wicklow Garda Station when James Doyle came in and reported his sister missing.

Emma Shortall told him about contacting Mr Webster and a conversation they had in which she said the accused told her he had not told the truth.

Ms Shortall said he told her he had met her mother only briefly and did not know where she was.

Gda Doyle phoned the accused who told him he did meet Anne Shortall at the Leitrim Lounge for a few minutes, and she was "talking about going to London to meet a friend".

"I asked him how he had met her and he said in his words he had shifted her months ago and she wanted to meet up for a relationship," Gda Doyle said.

Stephen Armstrong recalled getting a Facebook message from an Anne Shortall at 1.30am on a date in late March 2015.

He did not know her and the message read: "Tell your mate Roy that I need 5,000 for an abortion."

On April 7, he became aware that a woman was missing in Wicklow, that a body had been found and it was Anne Shortall.

This triggered his recollection of the messages and he contacted the gardai.

The trial continues.
The widow of murdered Peter Butterly has said her feelings towards his killers go "beyond hatred".

Eithne Butterly spoke exclusively to the Herald after Edward McGrath (35) and Sharif Kelly (47) were convicted at the Special Criminal Court of his "callous murder".

McGrath, of Landale Lawns, Springfield, Tallaght, and Kelly, of Pinewood Green Road, Balbriggan, had both denied the murder of Mr Butterly at the Huntsman Inn, Gormanston, Co Meath.

Dissident republican Butterly (35) was killed on March 6, 2013 in what the court was told was an ambush.

Four men were originally charged with the shooting. One of them, David Cullen, subsequently turned state witness, and his murder charge was dropped.

The fourth man, Dean Evans (24), of Grange Park Rise, Raheny, Dublin, failed to turn up for the trial.

Search

It was alleged in court that Evans was the man who pulled the trigger, but the trial proceeded in his absence as gardai continue to search for him.

It was the second trial for McGrath and Kelly after the first collapsed in January 2015 after 55 days.

In response to the verdicts, Butterly's widow Eithne said she could never forgive his killers.

"Forgiveness is never a word I can use with them. I can move on with my life and the lives of our children without forgiving them," she said.

Ms Butterly said there were no winners in the case. "Yes, there are guilty verdicts, but Peter is not coming home," she said. "These men have killed him and taken him away from his family and destroyed their own families' lives also.

"Other people will move on with their lives, and that is only natural, but we will be left in the same situation, so in that sense, although we are obviously happy that these men have been found guilty of Peter's murder, there is an anti-climax to it as well.

"We could never be sure of a guilty verdict. You never do know. There's always a chance they could be found not guilty, but it's great to see these men being walked out the door to a prison instead of freedom.

"When the first trial collapsed they were released on bail for two whole years because the court ruled it was their 'legal right'. But what about Peter's legal rights? They took all his rights away when they took his life."

Ms Butterly had a message for Evans, who disappeared days before he was due to face trial, warning him that he would not escape justice for ever.

"My message is, 'You're next. You will be caught. You did the prosecution a favour'," she said.

"You think you're a brave man with a balaclava and a gun, but you're just a coward pumped up on steroids."

Delivering judgment yesterday, presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt described the murder as "callous, brutal and premeditated", with Kelly and McGrath "performing their assigned roles".

During the 31-day trial, the court heard evidence that the car used in the shooting, a stolen silver Toyota Corolla, was being watched by members of the National Surveillance Unit.

Gardai observed the Corolla drive past the Huntsman Inn before making a U-turn and returning to the pub, entering the car park.

The driver, McGrath, was wearing a black wig, with Evans "crouched" behind him. The window was rolled down.

Witnesses then reported hearing gunshots.

Chasing

One woman, who lived opposite the pub, saw a man holding a small black handgun.

A student waiting at a nearby bus stop saw two people sprinting away from a car.

One was chasing the other. The second man raised an arm and shot the first man.

The court was satisfied, Mr Justice Hunt said, that Butterly was "shot in the car park by means of a gun fired by Dean Evans".

Evans, he added, was driven to and from the scene by McGrath.

"It was an ambush by people who expected Mr Butterly would be present in the car park," he said, adding that the shooting had required a "considerable degree of forethought".

Ms Butterly said she had been married to her husband for 17 years, and he was buried on their wedding anniversary on March 16. The couple had three children together.

"He was a very funny man and a very hard-working farmer, always up at the crack of dawn," she said.

"He could do anything around the house as well. He'd have the fire cleaned out first thing in the morning and would make the dinners if I wasn't around.

"Peter was a devoted husband and we were the best of friends.

"He was devoted to his children too and got great enjoyment out of them. He was a proud dad.

"He's been denied ever meeting his grandson who has been born within the last year."
Alan Kelly says the call centres merger is unwarranted

The unions that suspended a Dublin Fire Brigade strike warned they will not tolerate the emergency medical system being undermined by transfers or mergers.

Siptu and Impact vowed to defend Dublin's ambulance call and dispatch service as the city council was accused by former Environment Minister Alan Kelly of having "an agenda" over the centre.

The Tipperary TD claimed the merger of the two call centres was "unwarranted" and could jeopardise lives.

He also said he believed the changes were being driven by an internal council agenda.

"I did not believe in early 2016 the economies the city management said existed," he said. "This is an agenda of the Dublin city management. It is wrong and it needs to be stopped. The economies claimed do not exist."

Siptu and Impact are con- vinced that investment in suitable technology will allow for seamless working between the Dublin Fire Brigade call centre and the National Ambulance Service (NAS) complex.

The centres are located only 12km apart.

The unions agreed to suspend planned stoppages for March 18 and 27 after Lord Mayor Brendan Carr intervened in the dispute.

The 24-hour work stoppages were planned in protest at what the unions said were unwarranted changes to the Dublin Fire Brigade call centre. Brigade officials had feared the Dublin centre would lose all ambulance functions to the NAS facility.

Under the talks deal, no industrial action will be mounted by unions and Dublin City Council has agreed not to proceed with proposed changes to the Dublin Fire Brigade emergency medical service system.

Blatant

The brigade centre, at Tara Street in the city centre, covers around 90pc of the Dublin area and has a staff of 45 people.

Unions insisted it was one of the most efficient services of its kind.

However, the NAS centre, in Tallaght, covers the rest of Dublin city and the extensive county area.

Union members claimed it was a blatant attempt to break-up the long-standing Dublin Fire Brigade emergency medical service.

Now, both sides will stage conciliation talks under the chairmanship of Kieran Mulvey.

Siptu official Brendan O'Brien said members wanted the capital to continue to have an outstanding emergency medical response service.

"This dispute results from our members' total commitment to providing the best emergency services possible to the residents of Dublin," he said.

Mr O'Brien thanked the public for its support.

Mr Carr said he was "hopeful" that a compromise solution could be hammered out.
Participants of the blockade of coal supplies threaten to stop the work of the subsidiary bank of Sberbank of Russia in Ukraine - PJSC Sberbank.

"We give two weeks to all depositors of Sberbank of Russia to withdraw their money ... If the government does not close this enterprise, we will close it ourselves," the second commander of the Donbas battalion Anatoliy Vinohorodsky said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

He refused to explain how the participants of the blockade intend to act against the bank.

According to Vinohorodsky, the statement on servicing the clients on ORDLO passports is a sufficient reason to stop Sberbank's activity on the territory of Ukraine.
A 42-year-old widow whose husband was brutally murdered by two of Ireland's most notorious criminals was left terrified after shots were fired into her home as she slept.

In the capital's latest gun attack, it is understood Janet Cawley and a 15-year-old boy were asleep when a window was hit by bullets from a handgun.

The terrifying incident unfolded on Thomas Davis Street West in Inchicore, south Dublin, at around 1.50am yesterday. Ms Cawley's son Jordan (19) was also believed to be in the house.

There were at least three other occupants in the property when the gun attack happened, including three men aged between 19 and 36.

Vicious

The men were in the sitting room when the shots were fired but no one was injured.

Officers rushed to the scene and discovered bullets embedded in furniture.

The house was then sealed off for a technical examination.

Gardai from Kilmainham Garda Station are investigating the incident but no arrests have been made.

A motive has yet to be established.

Ms Cawley witnessed her husband Christopher Cawley (36) being beaten and stabbed to death in front of the block of flats where they lived at Tyrone Place, Inchicore, on October 29, 2006.

Warren (42) and Jeffrey Dumbrell (36) were jailed for life in February 2011 after being convicted of his murder.

They are considered to be among Ireland's most vicious criminals.

It was the second time that a jury had found them guilty of murder after their original conviction was quashed in July 2010 and a re-trial was ordered.

At the original trial, Warren Dumbrell was found not guilty of threatening to kill Ms Cawley.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Cawley said that all her children had been traumatised by their father's death and could not see a future without their dad.

Killing

One of her sons, who was just five years old when he witnessed his father's killing, did not talk for three months after the attack.

Her eldest daughter, Mairead, who also witnessed the murder and gave evidence against the Dumbrells, dropped out of school and took on Mr Cawley's role in the home.

Ms Cawley said she can no longer work and is dependent on her children.
On April 1, an agreement between Ukraine and Albania comes into force providing for the mutual abolition of visa requirements for citizens of both countries for up to 90 days, Consul General of Ukraine in Munich, Vadym Kostiuk, has said.

"On April 1, 2017, the agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania, on the mutual cancellation of visa requirements, comes into effect, which was signed in Tirana on November 4, 2016," Kostiuk wrote on his Facebook page.

In accordance with the provisions of the agreement, it is provided that citizens of Ukraine and Albanian citizens who use valid travel documents (foreign passports, seafarers' identity documents) can enter, leave, follow transit and stay without visas on the territory of the state of the other contracting party for a period not exceeding 90 days within 180 days.

As reported, on November 4, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Foreign Minister of Albania Ditmir Bushati signed an agreement between Ukraine and Albania on the mutual abolition of visa requirements.
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine (SAPO) has appealed the decision of the Kyiv Solomyansky Court on choosing a preventive measure for Roman Nasirov, head of the State Fiscal Service (SFS), temporarily suspended for the period of investigation, in the form of custody with a bail of UAH 100 million.

"Today we have filed a complaint against the court's decision," SAPO told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.

As reported, on March 7, Solomyansky District Court of Kyiv chose a pretrial restriction for the suspended chief of the State Fiscal Service, Roman Nasirov, in the form of arrest for 60 days and levied a bail of UAH 100 million.

At the same time, SAPO asked the court to appoint a bail in the amount of UAH 2 billion to Nasirov.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has denied reports that Canada is providing ammunition to Ukraine.

"It's not true. This statement is nothing but a cynical lie," Bohdan Sennyk, the head of the Ukrainian General Staff press service, told reporters on Friday.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova earlier said Canada had started supplying ammunition to the Ukrainian authorities.
Freedom of speech is a privilege. We need to treat it that way.
Peace Ambassador Ravi Shankar has expressed his hope that he will be able to contribute to the achievement of peace in Ukraine.

"Politicians cannot always change the opinion of people, their consciousness, there must be someone else who is not involved in this process, who will help them lay down their arms. I'm not saying that you should throw away your goals, I say abandon violence and you can pursue your goals, but without the use of violence," Shankar said at a round table meeting "Peace in Ukraine Above All" in the Verkhovna Rada on Friday.

He said he is ready to use his experience of peace negotiations in Iraq, Sri Lanka and other countries to bring peace to Ukraine.

The peace ambassador believes that it is necessary to speak with both sides of the conflict, stressing that any conflict eventually ends.

"I am very glad that the guru has offered his assistance to Ukraine," Indian Ambassador to Ukraine Manoj Kumar Bharti said.

According to Deputy Minister for Temporary Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Heorhiy Tuka, "it is possible that this visit will be ... a step that will bring back peace to our country."
Ukraine insists on the expansion of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine in Donbas along with an improvement in the monitoring procedure, First Deputy Chairperson of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada, envoy of Ukraine in the Tripartite Contact Group's humanitarian subgroup Iryna Gerashchenko has said.

She wrote on Facebook on Friday, March 10, that she had met with European delegates led by Director of the European External Action Service (EEAS) for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, Regional Cooperation, and OSCE Luc Devigne, who have returned from Donbas.

"[We've] exchanged opinions about the effectiveness of the OSCE SMM. Ukraine insists on its expansion and improvement of the monitoring procedure," Gerashchenko wrote.

In addition, the parties discussed issues related to talks on the release of prisoners of war, security matters and the humanitarian situation in Donbas.

"I've briefed [the European side] on the pace of talks on the release of hostages within the framework of the Minsk group, where we are at the stage of engaging the mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which will be a precedent for the engagement of such a mission, but we are open for [everything to find ways for] the liberation of our guys," she wrote.

They also touched on the fight against corruption. "[I've] stressed that the Ukrainian side has created the necessary institutions, and now it is very important that they could work independently of anyone; it will only contribute to real achievements and the process," Gerashchenko said.

She also said that the European delegation had brought "good news about financial assistance to Ukraine."
Ukrainian parliamentarian Nadiia Savchenko has given evidence to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) regarding her visit to the territory of Donbas uncontrolled by Kyiv, SBU chief Vasyl Hrytsak said.

"She came to questioning once and then she rescheduled the questioning because she was told she was probably busy. When she came to be questioned again, it was several days ago, she testified," Hrytsak told reporters in Cherkassy on Friday.

Hrytsak said the visit had not been approved by the SBU.

"At the same time, I want to say that Nadiia Savchenko on most issues cited Article 63 of the Constitution, as the head of the investigative division. If you remember, there was information that she [Savchenko] took part in firing practice on the territory of the DPR. She denied that," Hrytsak said.

Commenting on information provided by Savchenko saying she had visited the territory uncontrolled by Kyiv as a result of a special operation, Hrytsak said: "There was no special operation, at least one in which SBU could be involved. She did not get approval for that visit from anyone from the state authorities, including the administration of the national special service."

The SBU chief said he does not approve of Savchenko's visit to Donbas. "I will never believe that her stay there took place without a blessing from various curators, including from the territory of our eastern neighbor from Moscow," he said.

In February, Savchenko and Volodymyr Ruban, the head of the Officer Corps center for the exchange of prisoners-of-war, arrived in Donetsk and then a penitentiary colony in Makiyivka, where Ukrainian prisoners were kept.

On March 1, Savchenko said on 112 Ukraine television that the crossing of the dividing line during her visit to the DPR was "a planned special operation." She declined to give the details of this operation, saying that "special operations are special operations because they are not disclosed before or after" they are conducted.
(Nosher via JTA)-If you've never made compost cookies, but you love desserts that are a little salty and a little sweet, this cookie (and hamantaschen) are for you. Do a quick Google search for "compost cookie" and you will come up with dozens of recipes. But the original compost cookie was born out of the genius dessert brain of Christina Tosi of Milk Bar, one of my baking heroes. The recipe for her famous cookie (and cakes and crazy desserts) can be found in her cookbook, which I adore and highly recommend for those who love baking projects.

I'm a huge fan of classic hamanastchen dough filled simply with jam or Nutella. But I wanted to get a little crazy with the actual dough this year, which is where the compost part comes in. In Tosi's famous cookies, she adds cornflakes, pretzels, potato chips and even coffee grinds. You know, like you add the coffee grinds to your compost? It's sort of an "everything but the kitchen sink" sort of cookie

The cookies are complex, fun and absolutely delish. Get creative and crazy with your toppings because, after all, it's Purim.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1 cup butter (or margarine)

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons milk or almond milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons crushed potato chips

2 tablespoons crushed cornflakes

1 tablespoon coffee grounds

For the filling:

Nutella, dulce de leche or cookie butter

For the toppings:

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

additional crushed cornflakes, potato chips, cookie crumbs or sprinkles

Directions:

In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl and add sugar. Beat again until light and fluffy.

Add egg, vanilla and milk. Scrape down sides again.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, crushed cornflakes and crushed potato chips. Note: I recommend crushing the potato chips and cornflakes in a food processor to get them very fine, but you can also crush them in a plastic baggie using a mallet or rolling pin for coarser crumbs.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until dough comes together.

Scrape dough from bowl and form into 2 rounds. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

When ready to bake, roll out dough onto lightly floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Cut dough into rounds and fill with 1/2 teaspoon filling (either chocolate spread, cookie butter or dulce de leche).

Pinch up circle into triangles very tight. Place on baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper and pop in freezer for 10 minutes.

Bake for 7-9 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

In a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt white chocolate chips and vegetable oil in 30-second intervals, stirring vigorously between until completely smooth.

Dip part of each cookie in chocolate and place on top of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add sprinkles, crushed cornflakes, potato chip or cookies on top if desired. Allow chocolate to set completely before storing in airtight container.

Shannon Sarna is the editor of The Nosher. The Nosher food blog offers a dazzling array of new and classic Jewish recipes and food news, from Europe to Yemen, from challah to shakshuka and beyond. Check it out at www.TheNosher.com.
A few years ago, I became increasingly interested in learning about my family history and genealogy. As is the case with many people, I never thought to ask questions while my grandparents were alive. So I found myself trying to go back, find clues, and put the pieces of the puzzle back together again.

Ancestry.com was where I began. I started with building a tree. I put in the names of my parents, my grandparents, and what I knew of my great-grandparents. Although I had never met him, my mother told me that my great-grandfather's name was Benjamin Bornstein, but family fondly referred to him as Pop. Interestingly enough, my great-grandfather's brother was also named Benjamin Bornstein (that seemed odd), and our family called him Uncle Ben. My mother had vague memories of Uncle Ben, but nothing really solid other than that he had moved to St. Louis. So I thought that would be a great place to start.

Ancestry.com helped me find census records for a Ben Bornstein in the St. Louis area. Those census records led me to find the listing of a Ben Bornstein and his wife in a St. Louis cemetery index. All the signs pointed to him being my Uncle Ben, but I just was not 100 percent sure. And that is when I discovered what a wonderful group the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando (JGSGO) is after attending only one general meeting. Not long afterwards, Tom Hirsch, the vice president of Programs and Publicity, remembered me talking about having family in St. Louis and emailed me that he was going to be travelling to the St. Louis area. He offered to go to the cemetery with the Ben Bornstein burial and take photos of the headstones of those I believed to be relatives. Fantastic! That was so nice of him to do so! It proved to be an invaluable favor. To finally get that photo gave hope that I would be able to see this Ben's Hebrew name and his father's name. With the photograph, everything started to fall into place. This, indeed, was my Uncle Ben, brother of my great-grandfather, Pop. Uncle Ben's name in Hebrew was Bentzion, in contrast to Pop's name, which was Benyamin. It was simply a coincidence that when the brothers came to the United States-in different years-they both ended up going by the same first name Ben.

Now that I had confirmed I found the correct relative, I went back to Ancestry.com. This time, I looked for any subscriber-created family tree that may be linked to my Uncle Ben. I found one! I messaged the creator through Ancestry.com to see how we were related. As it turns out, we are related through my Uncle Ben's wife. At first glance that may not seem helpful, but it was-while we are not blood relatives, we still share family through marriage. He was actually able to provide me with the first photo I have ever seen of my Uncle Ben's family. It was priceless!

Those initial discoveries continue to lead me from clue to clue. It is amazing that I have been able to find cousins-the living descendants of Uncle Ben, even becoming friends on Facebook.

Unexpectedly, the recent desecration of Jewish graves at the Chesed Shel Emeth cemetery in St. Louis really hit home. That is where my newly discovered family is buried. My heart dropped thinking that my Uncle Ben, the relative that I never met, could possibly have been disrespected in such a way. It is an odd connection like that. I spent all morning the day after I heard trying to get through on a phone line to find out if any of my relatives had been impacted. Thankfully they weren't, but I still felt bad for those that were.

Uncle Ben's family: This was the photo that was sent to Rachel Luce-Hitt after connecting with someone on Ancestry.com who was related to Uncle Ben's wife.

Hopefully my St. Louis cousins and I will have a get together in person one day. Until then, they have shared other stories and family pictures with me. I look at every old photo I unearth in awe. Who were they? What were they like? What did they endure? What choices did they make to ensure that the next generation could thrive? All of a sudden I am part of something much bigger. My research is designed to tell their stories... but what I am coming to realize is that, at the same time, I am telling my own story as well.

You can learn how to access many important resources at the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando's (JGSGO) "My Jewish Roots" workshops. The next one is "Analyze Your DNA Results" when genetic genealogist Diahan Southard returns to explain how to analyze your DNA results after having it tested. It will be held on Tuesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. at the Central Florida Hillel, UCF, at 3925 Lockwood Blvd., Oviedo. The workshop is FREE and open to the public. Bring your own laptop to participate in the lab portion. It is also possible to attend via the Internet. Pre-registration is required. Pre-register for either in-person or online participation at http://www.jgsgo.org/MyJewishRoots.
Hello... Anybody else out there?

For us here on earth it is certainly one of the most intriguing and far-reaching questions imaginable. Are we alone in the cosmos or are there others-perhaps like us or perhaps totally different-somewhere in the universe?

And for those of us who believe the account of creation as recorded in the Torah, are the opening words-"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"-meant as full disclosure of the creation of life by the Almighty or is this merely the information granted to earthlings as necessary for our relationship with God but not purporting to reveal other manifestations of divine power and creativity?

In short, can religious Jews believe in the possibility of alien life?

The question, which until now was purely theoretical in nature, may just have assumed forceful relevance in light of this week's world shaking announcement by NASA. To their great amazement astronomers have just found seven Earth-size planets that seem suitable for life.

Life, they have now concluded, may have evolved on at least three planets in a newly discovered solar system just 39 light years from Earth. Astronomers have detected no less than seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting a cool dwarf star known as TRAPPIST-1.The six inner planets lie in a temperate zone where surface temperatures range from zero to 100 Celsius. Of these, at least three are thought to be capable of having oceans, increasing the likelihood of life. No other star system known contains such a large number of Earth-sized and probably rocky planets.

British astronomer Dr. Chris Copperwheat, from Liverpool John Moores University, who co-led the international team, said: "The discovery of multiple rocky planets with surface temperatures which allow for liquid water make this amazing system an exciting future target in the search for life."

According to Judaism, is this in the realm of possibility? Can we conceive of other worlds whose inhabitants also share a special relationship with God? And from the sublime to the ridiculous, will these aliens from outer space be Jews, observe Torah laws, build synagogues and places of worship, and collect money for charitable purposes?

If from an egotistical perspective we consider human kind the only ones worthy of God's special attention we might readily conclude that "this is all there is." And that is what many rabbinic sages believed. What is fascinating however is that a significant body of opinion in traditional sources not only validates the possibility for alien life on other planets but actually finds biblical and midrashic confirmation for this view, even as it suggests that belief in an all-powerful God forbids placing any limitations on the extent of his creative powers.

Dr. David Weintraub, professor of astronomy at Vanderbilt University and the author of "Religions and Extraterrestrial Life: How Will We Deal With It?," affirms that Judaism is spiritually prepared for little green men. "Judaism accepts the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Jewish theology may actually require a belief in extraterrestrials since there are no limits on the power of the creator. Thus, for Jews to say that no life beyond the Earth could possibly exist would be unacceptable, as such an idea would appear to place shackles on God's creative power... the universe belongs to God and God can do what God wishes to do with the universe."

Going back many centuries, the great Jewish philosopher Hasdai Crescas (1340-1411), in his classic work "Ohr Hashem," wrote an entire chapter in which he maintained that the possibility of life on other planets is not in conflict with Jewish belief. Moreover, Torah sources in fact offer support for them. He invoked the words of Psalm 19:2: "The heavens declare the glory of God"-the rich cosmic landscape with all of its wonders continues to impress us with the infinite possibilities of God's creations.

As further evidence for the possibility of extraterrestrial life, Crescas mentions the Talmudic teaching that "God flies through 18,000 worlds" [Babylonian Talmud Avoda Zara 3B]. Furthermore, Psalm 145:13's statement that "Your kingdom is a kingdom spanning all olamim (worlds)" could imply the existence of extraterrestrial life, since if there were no existence on these other worlds, what kind of kingdom would God have?

Another biblical allusion to alien life are the words in the song of Debora in the book of Judges: "Curse Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse bitterly its inhabitants[5:23] In his book Sefer HaBrit ('Book of the Covenant'), Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Horowitz, (18th century) quotes as his authority a clear Talmud reference the statement that contends that Meroz is an inhabited planet somewhere in outer space. Furthermore, he affirms emphatically that God created an infinite number of worlds, of physical, spiritual and inter-dimensional nature. This view is upheld by the Ari'zal (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria), who also spoke of an "infinite number of spiritual worlds."

Speaking of the verse (Song of Songs 6:8), "Worlds without number," the Zohar, the classic masterwork of Kabalah, Jewish mysticism, states: "The stars certainly are without number. But each star is called a separate world. These are the worlds without number."

What was left unsaid by the sages willing to accept the possibility of life on other planets was a further description of what these beings are like, what relationship they have to the Almighty, by which laws if any they are governed, in what "image" they were created, and most fundamental of all whether they share with us free will, the capacity for independent choice, which we as humans have been granted and which allows us the descriptive of being created "in the image of God."

We simply do not know the answers to these questions. But in terms of our openness to the questions and our willingness to pursue them we might well ponder the response of the Lubavitcher Rebbi to Dr. Velvl Greene, a prominent microbiologist who years ago was enlisted by NASA in their project to determine if there is life on Mars. Dr. Greene asked the Rebbe privately if this was something he should be doing. The Rebbe replied, "Dr. Greene, look for life on Mars! And if you don't find it there, look somewhere else in the universe for it. Because for you to sit here and say there is no life outside of planet Earth is to put limitations on the Creator, and that is not something any of His creatures can do!"

New insights into the wonders of the universe can bring us a step closer to greater love and understanding of God.

Rabbi Benjamin Blech, a frequent contributor to Aish, is a professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and an internationally recognized educator, religious leader, and lecturer. Author of 19 highly acclaimed books with combined sales of over a half million copies, his newest, Redemption- Then and Now, commentaries and essays on the Passover Haggada is presently available to be pre-ordered. See his website at rabbibenjaminblech.com.
David Dalpay and his mom, Lea Davis in Model A Ford.

Finally, getting down to work...

Being a recent widow, I kept putting off looking over things and donating or throwing away things. It took me more time than it should have because parting with "things" can be very painful under such circumstances. I started with boxes that held much paperwork, etc., and found the following clever piece that I decided to share with you. It's titled "Inner Strength." I don't know the writer:

"If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,

If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,

If you can overlook when people take things out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can face the world without lies and deceit,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

If you can do all these things, then you are probably the family dog!"

(NUFF SAID!)

Remembering Jewish history...

On Feb. 14, 1949, the modern Israeli Knesset convened for the first time. In his inaugural speech, Israeli President Chaim Weizmann told the new parliament members that the aim of the Jewish state would be, before everything else, "to gather in the exiles from all parts of the world." He emphasized that this was a great day not only in the lives of the Jewish people but also in the history of the world.

(I agree!)

At last, something older than me...

About a week ago, my neighbors (and long-time friends) LEA DAVIS and her youngest son, DAVID DALPAY, drove over in a 1930 Ford Model A car David had just purchased. He is a collector.

They took me for a ride around my area. Chugging along, we were noticed by other drivers, etc.

(Great fun... and I didn't even have to push!)

Roth Family JCC fun...

On Wednesday, March 15, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. there will be a delightful and informative program at the Roth Family Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando, 851 North Maitland Ave, Maitland.

"Enjoy a delicious lunch while participating in a sophisticated, interactive, in-depth look at many of our earliest leaders from the patriarchs and matriarchs. We will discuss their experiences and breakthroughs, and their major contributions to the tapestry of Jewish wisdom and consciousness."

Class will be led by Rabbi MICHOEL RENNERT of JOIN Orlando.

Please RSVP to MARNI CHEPENIK at 407-621-4056.

The event is free to JCC members: $5 for nonmembers.

Shout-Outs...

What a treat it was recently to meet a wonderful guy, ERIK SALZENSTEIN, a waiter at Outback Steakhouse on Aloma Avenue, Winter Park.

Erik was super efficient, super entertaining and sooooo cute! When I first entered the restaurant, I requested a handsome waiter and my request was filled (and refilled!) Outback is lucky to have you, Erik!

Chaim Weizmann

Another lucky restaurant whose general manager is TIM WOOD, is Toojay's in Altamonte Springs. Their waitress MARY JOHNSON, was not only proficient, she was super-funny and entertaining. What a great way to spend the afternoon!

(Eating and laughing, my two favorite things!)

Speaking of laughing, here's one for the road...

One day, Moshe and Sydney meet at the Altamonte Mall. "So how's life treating you Moshe?" asks Sydney.

"It's not too bad, Sydney. God has been kind to me and let me reach 40 years of age last week."

"Mazel tov, Moshe," says Sydney. "Did you get any nice presents?"

"Well," replies Moshe, "my wife Sarah bought me an SUV."

"Wow!" says Sydney, "What a fantastic present to be given. I would love to have such a great car!"

"Don't get too excited," says Moshe. "Sarah only bought me Socks, Underwear and Viagra."
David Rubinger's iconic photo shows Israeli paratroopers standing in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem shortly after its capture during the Six-Day War, June 7, 1967.

JERUSALEM (JTA)-David Rubinger, the Israeli photographer who took the iconic photo of Israeli paratroopers standing in front of the Western Wall after its capture in the Six-Day War, has died.

Rubinger, whose photos chronicled much of the history of the Jewish state, died Thursday, March 2, 2017. He was 92.

Rubinger was awarded the Israel Prize for his body of work in 1997, the first photographer to receive the award. He reportedly took 500,000 photos of Israeli people and events during his career.

An immigrant to Israel from Austria, he arrived in Israel in 1939 at 15 and fought in 1944 with the Jewish Brigade, a military division of the British army led by British-Jewish officers in Europe.

He began his career as a photojournalist in 1955 with the daily HaOlam Hazeh and then for Yediot Acharonot. He was also Time-Life's main photographer in Israel for five decades, beginning in 1954. He also served as the Knesset's official photographer for 30 years.

The photo at the Western Wall was taken on June 7, 1967, after paratroopers pushed into the Old City of Jerusalem and reached the narrow space between the Western Wall and the houses that faced it at the time. Rubinger maintained that the photo wasn't successful from an artistic perspective but that its wide distribution has made it famous.

David Rubinger doing what he loved most.

His own favorite work, he told interviewer Yossi Klein Halevi in 2007, depicted a blind boy who arrived as a new immigrant in Israel in the 1950s stroking a relief map of Israel.

"I call it, 'Seeing the Homeland,'" Rubinger told Halevi.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin eulogized Rubinger in a statement.

"There are those who write the pages of history, and there are those who illustrate them through their camera's lens," Rivlin said. "Through his photography, David eternalized history as it will be forever etched in our memories. His work will always be felt as it is seen in the eyes of the paratroopers as they looked upon the Western Wall, and in the expressions on the faces of the leaders of Israel, which he captured during the highest of highs and lowest of lows.
NEW YORK (JTA)-Thanking the FBI and police for the arrest of Juan Thompson, who allegedly made eight bomb threats to Jewish institutions, the Anti-Defamation League called the current wave of anti-Semitic acts "unprecedented."

"Law enforcement at all levels is a close friend to the Jewish people in America," Evan Bernstein, ADL's New York regional director, said at a news conference Friday. "Just because there's been an arrest today around our bomb threats does not mean that the threats have disappeared or will stop."

Earlier in the day, sources told the media that Thompson was a "copycat" and that the investigation continued into finding the hoaxers behind the dozens of other bomb threats reported since January.

The news conference was convened after law enforcement announced Friday that Thompson had been charged in connection with the deluge of bomb threats received this year by Jewish institutions. Thompson, 31, of St. Louis, allegedly made bomb threats to JCCs, Jewish schools and an ADL office as part of his cyberstalking of a former romantic partner.

The ADL and several other Jewish groups had met Friday with FBI Director James Comey. According to a statement from the groups in attendance, which were not listed but included the ADL, the Jewish Federations of North America and the JCC Association of North America, the meeting concerned recent anti-Semitic acts and collaboration between Jewish institutions and law enforcement.

"All the organizations in attendance expressed the deep gratitude of the entire community for the extraordinary effort that the FBI is applying to the ongoing investigation," the statement said. "The representatives of the Jewish community left with the highest confidence that the FBI is taking every possible measure to resolve the matter as quickly as possible."

According to statistics compiled by the New York Police Department, anti-Semitic acts have nearly doubled in early 2017 as compared to one year earlier. The ADL said that due to the reach of the Internet and the quantity of recent bomb threats, white supremacists are more emboldened than ever.

"We're in unprecedented times," said Oren Segal, director of the ADL's Center on Extremism. "We've never seen, ever, the volume of bomb threats that we've seen. White supremacists in this country feel more emboldened than they ever have before because of the public discourse and divisive rhetoric."

In total, more than 100 Jewish institutions, mostly JCCs, have received bomb threats since the beginning of the year. The last two weeks saw vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in Philadelphia, St. Louis and Rochester, New York, as well as two more waves of bomb threats called into JCCs, schools and institutions across the country, representing the fourth and fifth waves of such harassment this year. No explosive device was found after any of the calls.

The ADL called on President Donald Trump to take action against anti-Semitism, including by directing the Department of Justice to launch a civil rights investigation into the threats, and by creating a federal interagency task force on combating hate crimes chaired by the attorney general.

"We need action to stop these threats," Bernstein said. "History shows that when anti-Semitism gains the upper hand, courageous leaders need to speak out and take action before it's too late."

Segal said the ADL has been tracking Thompson, a disgraced former journalist, since he fabricated the identity of a cousin of Dylann Roof, the gunman who killed nine at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.

On its Twitter feed Friday, the ADL posted information gleaned from the U.S. Attorney's complaint and media portraying Thompson as a former journalist-he was fired from his job at the online news site The Intercept for inventing quotes and sources-who had recently "became more hostile to whites in general."

According to the ADL, he has posted inflammatory tweets about white police officers and the "white New York liberal media."
Federal authorities arrested Juan M. Thompson, a 31-year-old former reporter from St. Louis, Friday in connection with eight bomb threats called into several Jewish institutions over the last month, including the Anti-Defamation (ADL) League, officials said.

Thompson, who was fired as a reporter for The Intercept, allegedly made threats to exact revenge against a woman who had ended a romantic relationship with him, according to law enforcement officials. Thompson has also been charged with cyberstalking.

According to law enforcement, Thompson does not appear to be behind the robocalls against dozens of JCCs nationwide, which is still part of an active FBI investigation.

"Thompson's alleged pattern of harassment not only involved the defamation of his female victim, but his threats intimidated an entire community," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said in a statement.

Thompson worked as a reporter for The Intercept, a left-center online news site started in 2014 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, from November 2014 to January 2016, when he was fired for fabricating sources and quotes in his stories, according to a statement Friday by The Intercept.

"We were horrified to learn this morning that Juan Thompson, a former employee of The Intercept, has been arrested in connection with bomb threats against the ADL and multiple Jewish Community Centers in addition to cyberstalking," the statement said. "These actions are heinous and should be fully investigated and prosecuted.

"We have no information about the charges against Thompson other than what is included in the criminal complaint."

According to the ADL, Thompson was being tracked by the ADL's Center on Extremism, "which had followed his past activities, including his deceptive and at times false reports for a news website about Dylann Roof, the perpetrator of the church shooting in Charleston, SC. Most recently, Thompson allegedly announced in November 2016 that he was running for mayor of St. Louis, to 'fight back against Trumpian fascism and socio-economic terrorism.' Thompson also claimed that he wanted to dismantle the system of 'racial supremacy and greedy capitalism that is stacked against us.' He created a Gofundme page to raise $5,000 for his ostensible election bid. He got $25. He has tweeted various rants against white people, calling them 'trash' and saying they 'have no shame.'"

Thompson allegedly "emailed ADL's midtown Manhattan office Feb. 21, indicating that his former girlfriend was 'behind the bomb threats against Jews. She lives in New York City and is making more bomb threats tomorrow.' The following day the ADL received a phone call claiming that explosive material had been placed in the building," the ADL stated.

New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill said that "The defendant caused havoc, expending hundreds of hours of police and law enforcement resources to respond and investigate these threats. We will continue to pursue those who pedal fear, making false claims about serious crimes."

Thompson has been accused of making threats over the last month against the Anti-Defamation League offices in New York, a Jewish history museum in New York, as well as Jewish Community Centers (JCCs) and Jewish schools in New York, Michigan, Dallas and San Diego.

A total of 101 bomb threats against 81 different Jewish institutions have been made since the beginning of the year, according to the JCC Association of North America. The most recent wave of bomb threats occurred Feb. 27.

Also on Friday, Jewish leaders met with FBI Director James Comey to discuss the range of threats targeted at Jewish institutions in the past two months. The discussion included the current situation and potential strategies for future collaboration, the groups reported.

Representatives from the organizations "left with the highest confidence that the FBI is taking every possible measure to resolve the matter as quickly as possible," Stephen M. Greenberg, chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman, of the Conference of the Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said in a statement.
(JNS.org)The U.S. House of Representatives announced its relaunch of a bipartisan taskforce for combating anti-Semitism in the wake of a recent wave of anti-Jewish incidents.

Since January 2017, there have been 90 bomb threats called into Jewish organizations, including more than 60 to Jewish community centers, with the latest threats coming Feb. 27.

Last week, an estimated 170 Jewish graves were found toppled at the Chesed Shel Emeth Society cemetery in University City, Mo., and on Sunday, Feb. 26, an estimated 100 headstones were toppled at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia.

The latest FBI statistics show that the number of anti-Semitic criminal offenses in the U.S. rose from 635 in 2014 to 695 in 2015.

The lawmakers heading the taskforce include U.S. Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Kay Granger (R-Texas), Marc Veasey (D-Texas) and Peter Roskam (R-Ill.).

At home and abroad, we continue to witness anti-Semitism that is both dangerous and complex, the taskforce members said in a statement. The recent desecration of Jewish grave sites and bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and Jewish day schools across the country are deplorable. And overseas, the anti-Semitic threats, vandalism, and violence aimed at Jewish schools, synagogues, kosher supermarkets, homes and property are unacceptable. In light of recent events, it is more important than ever that Democrats and Republicans work together to root out hatred and racism in all its ugly forms. We look forward to working with our colleagues in Congress to find innovative solutions that match the 21st-century face of this ancient bigotry.

The taskforcewith more than 100 Republicans and Democratsworks to ensure that Congress plays an integral role in condemning anti-Semitism and spearheading initiatives that promote tolerance worldwide, according to its statement.

The group said it serves as a forum for educating [House] members on this distinct form of intolerance and to engage with the Trump administration, foreign leaders and civil society organizations to share best practices and collaborate on solutions to rebuff this systemic problem. Its members also vow to promote Holocaust remembrance in concert with exploring innovative ways to teach tolerance and confront hate.
(Xinhua) 20:33, March 09, 2017

Two Malaysians working for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) who were stranded in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) amid a diplomatic fallout had left the country, a WFP spokesperson said Thursday.

"WFP confirms that two WFP staff of Malaysian nationality have left the DPRK and arrived in Beijing today," a WFP spokesperson confirmed to Xinhua in a written reply.

"The staff members are international civil servants and not representatives of their national government. They work on WFP's programs in the DPRK," the spokesperson said.

Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Reezal Merican said earlier there were 11 Malaysian citizens stranded in the DPRK.

With the two leaving the DPRK, a total of nine Malaysian citizens are still left behind.

In a statement posted on his facebook page, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said all remaining Malaysians in the DPRK are safe after he had a phone call with the counsellor at the embassy in the DPRK.

"I have given him my assurance that the government will do everything we can to ensure that they return home safely soon. The whole of Malaysia is praying for them," Najib said, adding he was assured by the DPRK government of their safety in the DPRK though they are not allow to leave.

"The government will continue to work on reaching the best solution on this issue. Let us all pray for the best," he said.

In tit-for-tat moves following the death of a DPRK man at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia and DPRK have both expelled the ambassador of the other's side and banned each other's citizens from leaving, as investigations into the case strained bilateral relations.
Nashville, TennesseePJTN has launched a national campaign to define and outlaw anti-Semitism, in light of the recent wave of threats and attacks against American Jewish institutions. The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act will fortify the U.S. State Departments definition of anti-Semitism into law, including the demonization, delegitimization and double standards applied to Israel, declaring them as a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. This new legal campaign comes after PJTN watchmen nationwide encouraged the passing of state legislation in ten states condemning the anti-Semitic boycott Israel movement. The aim is to have the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act written into binding law in all fifty states empowering local governments to crush this deplorable pandemic.

Bomb threats forced evacuations at Jewish schools and community centers in 11 states Monday, with the Jewish Community Center Association confirming threats in states ranging from Florida to Michigan. Over the past decade, there has been a resurgence of anti-Semitic attacks and incidents on college, universities and secondary school campuses in Tennessee. At least five universities and two secondary school campuses have had reports of anti-Semitic incidents.

In response, State Senator and chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Dolores Gresham, as well as State House Representative Judd Matheny, decided it was time to adopt the U.S. State Departments definition of anti-Semitism to ensure this activity stops. This action will put the administrations of these universities on notice that if they fail to reign in these unlawful acts, they will lose federal funding and risk a lawsuit from private individuals.

In 2015, in an effort to confront this growing problem head-on, PJTN encouraged the Tennessee General Assembly to overwhelmingly pass legislation to expose the anti-Semitic BDS Movement peddled by organizations like Students For Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA) on Tennessee campuses that call for the boycott and dismantling of the Jewish State. With the assistance of thousands of PJTN Watchmen across the country, ten additional states have now passed similar legislation with many more in the pipeline.

However, despite legislation that was passed to condemn these deplorable activities, recent media reports have indicated that vile anti-Semitic hate crimes continue to increase on Tennessee campuses and throughout the country.

Members of organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine and Muslim Students Association on Tennessee campuses have taken to social media to congratulate the recent wave of Palestinian terrorism in Israel, in addition to peddling age-old anti-Semitic conspiracies against Jews. PJTN believes that organizations like SJP and MSA should be closely monitored by authorities. These groups have often used violent attacks and intimidation tactics to push Jewish and Christian-Zionists into submission, thus silencing them and diminishing their right to a safe and secure educational environment.

Last fall, PJTN President, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, called on the State Legislature to conduct hearings into whether these unacceptable activities on Tennessee public university campuses are in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Ms. Cardoza-Moore met with Senator Gresham and Representative Matheny to brief them on this growing threat. Senator Gresham stated, On the heals of the passage of Tennessees landmark resolution condemning the BDS movement and groups like SJP and MSA, we will not allow anti-Semitism to flourish in our educational system. Whether it is our secondary schools, or schools of higher learning, the Constitutional rights of all students will be protected in providing a safe environment for our children to excel. No individual will be denied that right. Rep. Judd Matheny has expressed concern that administrators, like Chancellor Cheek of UT - Knoxville, were not taking the threats on their campus seriously and failing to strongly condemn the anti-Semitic activity of these groups.

In 2012, in an effort to confront the growing anti-Semitism in secondary schools, Cardoza-Moore launched a campaign to remove a Pearson Human Geography textbook that contained an anti-Semitic quote from a Williamson County School. The quote legitimized Palestinian homicide bombers blowing themselves up in a Jerusalem restaurant because they were waging a war against Israeli government policies and army actions.

Cardoza-Moore commented: Is the growing anti-Semitism in Tennessees education system due to the indoctrination of our children in our textbooks? The reality is, we cannot afford to wait until anti-Semitic hate and incitement spills over into anti-Semitic violence and bloodshed on American university campuses. No student should be made to feel intimidated or unwelcome on our campuses. The Volunteer State has always led the way in the fight against hate and bigotry, now is the time to uphold state legislation against the anti-Semitic BDS Movement and confront this hatred head-on.
Last month, the students at the Jewish Academy of Orlando celebrated Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish New Year for the trees. Tu B'Shevat is often referred to as "Jewish Arbor Day" and the students at the Jewish Academy used this holiday to integrate their learning about Jewish traditions, Israel as well as the environment. As part of their celebrations, the 4th grade students performed a musical production in Hebrew explaining the holiday, and the students planted saplings to make their own connection to nature. A special thank you to grandfather Laurence Morrell (Nathan, 5th Grade) for providing the saplings for our students. At the Jewish Academy of Orlando, we see the use of active learning, learning that strives to more directly involve students in the learning process, as the most effective teaching method. This year's Tu B'Shevat celebrations allowed the students to actively engage in the learning process and create meaningful connections to the world around them.

For more information about the Jewish Academy of Orlando or to arrange a visit to the school, please contact Alan Rusonik, Head of School, at arusonik@myjao.org or 407-647-0713.
Headstones were toppled at the Waad Hakolel Cemetery, also known as the Stone Road Cemetery, in Rochester, N.Y.

NEW YORK (JTA)-A Jewish cemetery in Rochester, New York, was vandalized, the third such incident in the United States in less than two weeks.

Five headstones were found toppled Thursday morning at the Waad Hakolel Cemetery, also known as the Stone Road Cemetery, in the city in western New York, according to News 10 NBC WHEC.

The president of the nonprofit managing the cemetery said he did not want to call the incident a hate crime or anti-Semitism.

"I don't want to label it a hate crime. I don't think there's any proof of that. I don't want to label it anti-Semitism. I don't think there's any proof of that," said Michael Phillips, president of the Britton Road Association, according to The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Police were awaiting notice from the cemetery before commencing an investigation, News 10 NBC WHEC reported.

The last two weeks saw vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in Philadelphia and St. Louis, as well as two more waves of bomb threats called into Jewish community centers, schools and institutions across the country, representing the fourth and fifth waves of such harassment this year.
(JNS.org)The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship) has launched an online campaign urging supporters to condemn the ongoing wave of anti-Semitism across the U.S. in recent weeks, while calling for unity between Christians and Jews in response to bomb threats at Jewish community centers and vandalism at Jewish cemeteries.

We have heard from so many of our Christian brothers and sisters expressing their profound dismay at the recent rise of anti-Semitic and hate crimes nationwide, and offering their love and support, said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president and founder of The Fellowship. Hatred only reinforces our mutual determination and resolution to continue building bridges between Christians, Jews, and other faith communities, each and every day, to counter anti-Jewish bigotry.

The Fellowships campaign urges Christian supporters to sign a statement condemning the ongoing surge in anti-Semitism and other hate crimes, while calling for religious tolerance in America. The Fellowship plans to deliver the statement to President Donald Trump.

As a Christian and supporter of The Fellowship, I stand with the Jewish people as they endure rising attacks and displays of anti-Semitism in America and abroad. Never again will we remain silent in the face of such threats, the statement reads.

We stand side by side with our Jewish brothers and sisters in deploring the attack on the Jewish cemetery in St. Louis, threats to Jewish community centers, and other such attacks. We declare that there is no place in America for hatred, even as we pledge to build bridges of love, healing, and unity in our nation, it adds.
"Jihadist Deception through Language" is the program Dr. Jonathan Matusitz will present to the Central Florida community on Thursday, March 23, at 7 p.m. at the Eastmonte Civic Center, 830 Magnolia Drive, Altamonte Springs.

This event is sponsored by the Zionistas.

Included in his program, in addition to Jihadist Deception through Language, are Speech Code Theory, and Propaganda and Linguistic Deception.

Jonathan Matusitz received his Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma in 2006 and is currently a tenured associate professor in the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida. His research focuses on the role of communication in terrorism, symbolism in terrorism, the globalization of culture, and health communication. His research methodologies include qualitative interviewing, content analysis, semiotics, and theoretical analysis.

On top of having more than 100 academic publications and over 100 conference presentations, he taught at a NATO-affiliated military base in Belgium in 2010. Originally from Belgium himself, he moved to the United States in 2000.

His first book on terrorism, titled "Terrorism & Communication: A Critical Introduction," was published by SAGE in 2012. His second book, "Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior," was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2014.

In 2011, Dr. Matusitz's research was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. Since 2014, he has collaborated with a representative of the Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO), Ministry of Defense, in India to examine suicide terrorism.

Occasionally, Dr. Matusitz is the featured speaker at law enforcement workshops and training sessions. He has delivered presentations on terrorism to agencies such as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, and local sheriff's offices.

Since his tenure at UCF, Dr. Matusitz has received multiple faculty awards. In 2012, he was honored with a prestigious teaching award by the College of Sciences (COS). In 2014, he received a teaching award by the Nicholson School of Communication: the "Excellence in Teaching Award for 2013-2014." And in 2015, he was the winner of the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award for COS.

This program is open to the community at no cost. Donations are greatly appreciated. Reservations are requested. Please contact Sandi Solomon at 407-831-0176 or sansolomon@hotmail.com.

Founded by Eva London Ritt, Diana Scimone, Judy Shujman and Sandi Solomon, the Zionistas are a coalition of Christian and Jewish women united for Israel. Advocacy, Awareness and Activism is the driving force behind the Zionistas. Men are welcome to join us.
Rena Ferber Finder was born in Krakow, Poland in 1929. She was the youngest of Schindler's List survivors. She is committed to sharing her story in the hope of keeping the lessons of the Holocaust alive.

"In this world of bullying and hate crimes, it's important to teach children not to stand by-you have to go and get help. Don't stand by and do nothing," she said.

Finder will be here at Chabad of North Orlando on Sunday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. to share her story and give encouragement to everyone.

"You can do so much with what you've got. You've got an education, a brain, and your heart. You have the power to make changes."

Finder grew up in a nice middle class neighborhood. When the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939, life as Finder knew it was upended. Nazi troops forced Jews like Finder and her family to move into the ghetto, isolated from the rest of the city. As prejudice, fear, and intolerance began to seep into daily life, it was not uncommon for former neighbors to turn a blind eye to what was happening to their Jewish community members and friends. After Finder's family relocated, the Gestapo came for her father, taking him away-he never returned. Eventually, the SS evacuated the ghetto, ordering all of its residents to move up the hill to the Plaszow work camp.

Finder was a fortunate one. For six months, she and her mother were Schindlerfrauen-women who worked at Emalia, an enamel kitchenware and ammunition factory owned by the German industrialist Oskar Schindler. Unlike other businessmen, Schindler did not take advantage of slave labor in the SS camps or mistreat his workers. Instead Schindler, a non-Jew, did everything in his power to provide the Jews that labored in his factory with sufficient food and accommodations.

In 1944, when Finder was 13, the SS ordered Schindler to shut down Emalia and ordered the women working there to be sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Aware of what would happen if his laborers moved to Auschwitz, Schindler negotiated with the SS and was able to relocate his factory to Brunnlitz, Czechoslovakia. He wrote out a list, which became known as Schindler's List, with the names of former workers who should be kept off the trains headed to Auschwitz. Finder's name was on the list and, along with her mother and thousands of other Jews, she traveled to Brunnlitz to work at Schindler's new plant.

Moses Ferber (r) and business partner. Finder saw similarities between her father and Oskar Schindler.

After the Russians liberated Brunnlitz in May 1945, Finder and her mother went to live in the Bindermichal Displaced Persons camp. This is where she met Mark Finder, her future husband.

Mark Finder was being paid in the form of food rations by the American military to translate German to English. Early on at the camp, three beautiful teenage girls came to see the cans of fruit, ham and eggs that Mark had received as payment. One of them was 16-year-old Rena Ferber. They fell in love and married a year later.

In 1948 she and Mark received visas to move to the United States.

Today Rena lives in Framingham, Massachusetts, with Mark. She has three daughters: Marilyn, Debbie and Anita. Anita passed away in 1990. Rena is also the proud grandmother of six.

For more information about the event with Rena Finder at Chabad, and to reserve seats, visit http://www.JewishNorthOrlando.com or call 407-636-5994.
Sisterhood of Temple Israel will hold its annual Chai Tea event at Oakmonte Village Lake Mary on Sunday, March 19, at 3 p.m. The community is invited to join Sisterhood members and residents of Oakmonte Village for a delightful tea and interesting conversation.

This year's discussion will be led by Rabbi Joshua Neely who will talk about "Prophet and Housewife-Deborah and Yael, Warrior Women in a Man's World." The theme will focus on soft and high power, the expected role of women in societies and the relationship between men and women especially when there is a breaking of expectations.

RSVP is required. Please call the TI office at 407-647-3055.
The seventh in the series of 10 monthly JGSGO (Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Orlando) Workshops was held at the UCF Hillel on March 2. The guest speaker was Crista Cowan, also known as "The Barefoot Genealogist." Cowan is a professional genealogist who has been employed at Ancestry.com since 2004. Her topic was "Using Ancestry.com for Jewish Research." With over 20 billion records indexed and 80 million family trees, Ancestry.com is an invaluable resource for finding historical family information.

The easiest and most important tip Cowan gave in that regard was to use Ancestry.com/Jewish. That section of Ancestry.com resources the world's largest online collection of Jewish historical records. They are provided in partnership with JewishGen, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the American Jewish Historical Society and The Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation, Inc.

New to so many attendees was Cowan's explanation of the "Ancestry Card Catalog," which provides an easy way to search targeted databases, including information from U.S. passenger lists to Holocaust records, etc. For example, type "Jewish" in the title window. You can also use the catalog as a way to verify if there are pertinent databases in the international collection on Ancestry to justify upgrading to an international subscription to Ancestry.com. The "Jewish Given Name Variations" and "Jewish Community (Shtetl) Locator" databases, camp and ghetto databases, among others, are available free, for as long as they exist on Ancestry.com.

Another highlight: Cowan and a JGSGO member provided this helpful recommendation for when U.S. Census records you are looking for don't turn up for a particular period: use the Ancestry Card Catalog for access to annual city directories available for many cities from 1822 to 1995 (1.5 billion records on Ancestry).

Cowan will be back this summer as a featured speaker at the IAJGS 37th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy at Walt Disney World Swan Resort in Orlando July 23-28 (Conference registration fee required). For more information, go to info@iajgs2017.org, or visit http://www.iajgs2017.org.

The next in the series of workshops will be "Analyze your DNA Results" with expert Diahan Southard. It will be held on Tuesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. at the Central Florida Hillel, UCF, at 3925 Lockwood Blvd., Oviedo. The workshop is free and open to the public. Bring your own laptop to participate in the lab portion. It is also possible to attend via the Internet. Pre-registration is required. Pre-register for either in-person or online participation at http://www.jgsgo.org/MyJewishRoots.
For those of us who spent much of 2016, based upon then-candidate Donald Trumps own bombastic declarations, worrying about the thrust of the foreign policy of a future Trump administration, President Trumps address to Congress Feb. 28 provided welcome relief.

As ever, precise details were scarce and important shifts of direction went unacknowledged, but the underlying message was clearand notably more centrist in orientation. Trump correctly identified radical Islamic terror as Americas prime enemy, but he also spoke of the importance of our Muslim allies, thereby offering the clearest clarification yet that we are not at war with Islam as a whole.

Americas key alliance with Israelshunted aside by President Barack Obama, and veritably demonized by the far-right figures who endorsed Trump during the electionwas underlined with enthusiasm. Trump also gave a thoughtful endorsement of NATO, pointing out that the alliance was forged in the bonds of two World Wars and the Cold War. This last point was particularly gratifying, as it emphasized the shared experience of fighting totalitarianism that remains the foundation of our alliances from the Atlantic to the Pacific: a time like now, when we face rogue regimes such as Iran and North Korea, is precisely a time to recall that history. Revealingly, mention of Russiatouted by candidate Trump as an ally in the war against Islamic State even as he poured scorn on NATOwas absent from the speech to Congress entirely.

If democratic principles are going to inform U.S. foreign policyif, in the words of John Adams, American benedictions and prayers will reside wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurledthen it is right that we recognize the value of our historic alliance with our fellow democracies. But affirming those principles shouldnt blind us to to those international institutions that have dominated the post-World War II global order, yet are in sore need of dramatic reform.

The United Nations wasnt featured as a topic in Trumps address, but his new U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, has been making bold efforts to revitalize Americas support for Israel from the nadir of last Decembers abstention on a Security Council vote that harshly criticized the Jewish state. Haley has made clear her distaste for the U.N.s systemic bias against Israel; in that vein, the Trump administration is reconsidering its participation in the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC), citing that bodys obsession with condemning Israel as the main reason.

Those who believe that a U.S. withdrawal from the UNHRC would be ill-advised and hasty should remember that the council has had more than a decade to get its act together. Created in 2006, the UNHRC succeeded the former Commission on Human Rights, a body that was similarly obsessed with Israel. At the time, there were vague hopes that the UNHRC would expend more energy on the gravest abusers, but the wildly disproportionate attention upon Israel has persisted. Nor has the UNHRC prevented grievous human rights abusers, from Venezuela to Saudi Arabia, from serving as members and participating in its decisionsbecause in the U.N.s universe, having an appalling human rights record never disqualifies you from judging the human rights records of others.

Especially if the record that you are judging is Israels.

If confronting this blatant discrimination against a state that was first admitted to the U.N. in 1949 is to be a marker of the Trump administrations approach to the international body, then its important to realize that the battle is much wider than simply the UNHRC. The deeper rot that needs to be addressed set in more than 40 years agoNov. 10, 1975, to be exact.

On that date, the U.N. General Assembly passed the Soviet-inspired Resolution 3379, equating Zionism with racisma resolution that was rescinded in 1991. Less well-known is another resolution passed on that day3376, which created the grandly named Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, giving us the unwieldy acronym CEIRPP.

The inalienable rights that this committee represents include, as Resolution 3376 makes unambiguously clear, the exercise by Palestinians of their inalienable right to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted. Note the terminology used herenot Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war, but all Palestinians, including those born after 1948 in the Arab world, in Europe, in North America and in Latin America. It doesnt take tremendous insight to realize that it is a formula for the elimination of Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israelthe very same formula that drives the BDS hate campaign against Israel and gives it the undeserved gloss of human rights.

For more than 40 yearslonger, when you remember that the U.N. set up its first Israel-bashing committee, the... wait for it... Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Human Rights Practices Affecting the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territoriesyes, SCIIHRPOAOTin 1968, the U.S., Israel and other democratic nations have devoted precious resources to the U.N. even as it deepened its institutionalized anti-Zionism. Since 1979, the CEIRPP has been serviced by a Division for Palestinian Rights, churning out an endless stream of anti-Israel propaganda through international conferences and publications.

(And no, there isnt a division for Tibetan rights, or for Kurdish rights.)

All this costs around $6 million annually. In international organizational terms, thats unremarkable, but when you consider how the money is spent, its little short of obscene. One would like to imagine that fact is one that President Trump will grasp instinctively, and act upon accordingly.

Ben Cohen, senior editor of TheTower.org & The Tower Magazine, writes a weekly column for JNS.org on Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern politics. His writings have been published in Commentary, the New York Post, Haaretz, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. He is the author of Some of My Best Friends: A Journey Through Twenty-First Century Antisemitism (Edition Critic, 2014).
Dozens of bomb threats have been called into Jewish institutions since early January, and scores of headstones at two Jewish cemeteriesone near St. Louis, the other in Philadelphiawere desecrated in February. But is there actually a rising tide of anti-Semitism in America?

Despite the threats and attacks, positive feelings between different American religious groups are on the rise, as measured in mid-to-late January by the well-respected and non-partisan Pew Foundation. Additionally, far more damaging anti-Semitic incidents took place throughout the preceding decade and a half than the ones garnering attention in recent weeks.

During the past two months, there have been nearly 100 documented acts of anti-Semitism across North America, including at least 90 bomb threatsmostly at Jewish community centers (JCCs)and the two cemetery attacks.

Running parallel to these anti-Jewish hate crimes has been a groundswell of anger directed at President Donald Trump for allegedly failing to swiftly or sufficiently denounce anti-Semitism. Some critics have labeled the president an anti-Semite and claimed he is responsible for unleashing a wave of religious hatred.

In response, Trump and his spokespeople have been condemning the recent acts of anti-Semitism, using that specific phrase. The president began his speech to Congress Tuesday by calling attention to the recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries.

But is America witnessing a significant uptick in anti-Semitism, or just a surge in the attention paid to, and the reporting of, anti-Semitic incidents?

To answer that question, the incidents must first be appraised accurately. They are religious hate crimes, according to the FBIs definition: a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offenders bias against a religion.

The past 18 years, however, have witnessed larger-scale crimes against Jewish institutions such as the following:

 In 1999, a white supremacist walked into the lobby of the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, Calif., and fired 50 shots, wounding three children, a teenager and an adult. The shooter, Buford O. Furrow, Jr., was gunning for Jews.

 In 2006, Naveed Haq forced his way into the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle facility, where he shot six people, murdering one of them.

 In April, 2014, Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. drove to the Overland Park JCC and the Village Shalom retirement home in Kansas, and fatally shot three people. Miller hoped to kill Jews by targeting Jewish institutions, but his victims happened to be Christians.

The recent bomb threats, none of which were followed by actual attacks, are not a new phenomenon in the U.S., although the successive and coordinated hits on so many Jewish institutions in a relatively short period of time is in fact unprecedented.

Jewish cemeteries, meanwhile, have been occasionally vandalized for as long as they have existed. In December 2010, more than 200 headstones were knocked over, smashed and graffitied at Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn, N.Y. Internet searches going back decades reveal dozens of Jewish cemetery desecrations, but the overwhelming majority of these attacks received minimal media attention and some were not reported at all. So why have the Philadelphia and St. Louis-area attacks proved different?

A security expert who deals exclusively with Jewish institutions, Jason Friedman of the Community Security Service (CSS), told JNS.org that given his historical perspective, he is not convinced that there has been a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic events rather than a big increase in the reporting of and on such events.

Friedmans organization recently issued a detailed report documenting 45 years of anti-Semitic incidents. The 42-page chronology only catalogues shootings, arsons, explosive devices and hostage situations, and does not include hoax bomb threats and cemetery desecrations.

Two entries from 2016 in the CSS report are a foiled bombing attempt at an Aventura, Fla., synagogue in April and explosives thrown at the homes of two Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis in Rockland, N.Y. Although those acts caused actual property damage and were intended to inflict physical harm, even death, they received little media coverage.

The FBI has been compiling statistics on hate crimes since 1999. From 1999-2015, the most recent year for which data is available, Jews have always been the biggest target of religious hate crimes by a wide margin.

In 1999, Jews were on the receiving end of 76 percent of all religious hate crimes in America. That figure was 56.5 percent in 2001 and 65.3 percent in 2002. No other religion suffered half as many hate crimes as Jews during those years. Jews have been the targets of between 500 and more than 1,000 hate crimes every year since the FBI began its documentation.

While news headlines and politicians decry the rising tide of hatred against Jews, the Pew Foundations recently published reportAmericans Express Increasingly Warm Feelings Toward Religious Groupsbelies such claims. Between June 2014 and January 2017, according to the study, non-Jewish Americans feelings toward Jews grew warmer, from 63 degrees to 67 degrees. The survey was conducted from Jan. 9-23, 2017.

Friedman, meanwhile, said he sees a silver lining in the possible uptick in the reporting of anti-Semitic incidentsthat it encourages Jewish institutions to be forward-thinking and proactive.
Xiao Yaqing, head of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), answers questions on reform of state-owned enterprises at a press conference for the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) performed well in the first two months of 2017 thanks to a stabilizing economy and better management, the state assets regulator said Thursday.

Combined profits of China's centrally-administered SOEs surged 29.1 percent year-on-year to 168.6 billion yuan (about 24.37 billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months, Xiao Yaqing, head of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.

The country's 102 central SOEs saw revenues up 15.2 percent to 3.7 trillion yuan in the two months from the same period last year, according to Xiao.

Xiao said the strong growth was a result of reductions in cost and management expenses, which also reflects the stabilization of the national economy.

Total profits of China's central SOEs climbed 0.5 percent year on year to more than 1.23 trillion yuan in 2016, while revenues rose 2.6 percent to 23.4 trillion yuan, SASAC data showed.

Xiao voiced "full confidence" in the performance of China's SOEs this year, but he also warned of economic uncertainties and stressed the need to keep potential risks under control.

China pledged to deepen SOE reform in 2017 in a government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang Sunday, promising measures such as introducing a mixed ownership system and more efforts to make SOEs leaner,healthier, and perform better.
A Palestinian terrorist who murdered two Hebrew University of Jerusalem students has found a new ally, the far-left Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) group. How mainstream Jewish liberal groups respond will be telling.

The killer, Rasmea Odeh, is locked in a battle, initiated by the Obama administration, to deport her for lying about her terrorist past. It all began in February 1969, when the 20-year-old Odeh, together with a fellow member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), set off a bomb in a Jerusalem supermarket. Two Hebrew University students who were shopping in the store, Edward Jaffe and Leon Kanner, were killed.

Odeh and her accomplice were soon arrested. It didnt take long for the authorities to build an airtight case. Bomb-making materials, including explosives, had been found in Odehs home. She confessed to the bombing within a day of her arrest, provided details of the operation and even made a videotaped reconstruction of how she planted the bombs. Her co-conspirators also confessed, and they all implicated each other. (Later, in a documentary film, one of her comrades named Odeh as the mastermind of the attack.)

Not surprisingly, Odeh was convicted of the two murders. She was also convicted of membership in a terrorist organization, the PFLP. Odeh was sentenced to life imprisonment, but in 1980 she was released in a prisoner exchange. In 1995, she moved to the U.S., and in 2004 received American citizenship.

In 2013, federal immigration officials became aware of Odehs background and took a second look at the forms she filled out when applying for citizenship. The form asked if she had ever been convicted of a crime; she wrote, No. The Obama administration indicted her on charges of immigration fraud.

Odeh was convicted and ordered deported to Jordan. But an appeals court ruled last year that her lawyers were wrongly denied permission to argue that Odeh lied on the forms because she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder while imprisoned in Israel. A new trial is set to begin May 16.

Since she has so little chance of prevailing in court on the merits, Odeh has been desperately trying to create political pressure that she hopes will influence the legal process.

Odeh found allies in the Arab-American community in Chicago, where she lives. Thats disheartening, because one would like to think that the Arab-American community is as horrified by Odehs terrorism as everyone else.

As it turned out, though, Odehs Arab-American allies have proven rather ineffective. The Arab-American Action Network (AAAN), for which Odeh works, has formed its defense of her around two arguments. One is that Odeh misunderstood the question on the form; thats obviously absurd.

The AAANs second line of defense is that Odeh confessed to the bombings only after several weeks of torture and sexual abuse by Israeli interrogators. That, of course, conflicts with the fact that Odeh confessed after just one day in jail. And the AAAN has no way to explain the bombs found in Odehs apartment, the statements of her co-conspirators or her undisputed involvement with a terrorist group.

So Odeh has been looking for other allies. And shes found oneon the edges of the Jewish community. The far-left JVP has announced that Odeh will be one of the featured speakers at its national conference, in Chicago, at the end of March.

JVP was founded by three undergraduates at the University of California, Berkeley. Its ironic that an organization founded by college students should be embracing someone who murdered two college students. I suppose as long as she didnt murder any members of JVP, they dont consider her to be the enemy.

JVP is pretty much as far to the left as you can get in the American Jewish world. The Anti-Defamation League has called it the most influential anti-Zionist group in the United States. JVP is well-known for supporting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign and wholeheartedly endorsing the Black Lives Matter platform, which charges Israel with genocide and apartheid. In other words, the Jewish in JVPs title is essentially a cover for anti-Israel activities.

The problem is when left-wing Jewish groups that are not as radical as JVP start to treat JVP as legitimate, instead of as a pariah. Note, for example, that JVPs director spoke at J Streets 2011 national conference. After Odeh speaks at the JVP gathering in March, she will surely look for other audiences in the Jewish community. She needs them to soften her image and create pressure against her deportation.

Mainstream Jewish liberal groups need to understand that Odeh represents a red line. Anyone who gives a platform to this convicted murderer will be crossing that line. If groups like Americans for Peace Now, Ameinu (Labor Zionists) and others in their camp want to maintain their credibility and be taken seriously in the Jewish community, they need to make it unequivocally clear, right now, that they reject JVPs hosting of Odeh and will never have anything to do with her.

Stephen M. Flatow, a vice president of the Religious Zionists of America, is an attorney in New Jersey and the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995.
Speaking to his ministers on Sunday about his visit to Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heralded a new era in U.S.-Israel relations. To a degree, he was correct.

When U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greeted Netanyahu and his wife Sara as they alighted from their car at the southern entrance to the White House, Trump demonstrated that the eight years of hostile treatment Israel suffered at the hands of his predecessor Barack Obama were no more.

But unfortunately, Obama wasnt the only thing that was wrong with U.S.-Israel relations.

There is also a problem with anti-Semitism.

Rather than confront the problem head on, and where it does Israel and American Jewry the most damage, Netanyahu shied away from contending with the issue.

This was a mistake.

Just hours after he left town, another American Jew was targeted by an anti-Semitic slander of the sort Netanyahu failed to address during his meeting with Trump.

Thursday afternoon, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee held a confirmation hearing for Trumps ambassador designate to Israel, attorney David Friedman.

Friedman is a Jewish attorney. He is unapologetic about his support for Israel. The fact that unlike his liberal Jewish predecessors, Friedman does not make his support for Israel contingent on Israels willingness to appease the territorial and other demands of the PLO, made him the subject of withering criticism at the hands of several Democratic lawmakers.

While unpleasant, the scathing criticism Democratic senators leveled against Friedman was within the bounds of legitimate debate. They support a different, less supportive policy toward Israel than the policy that the Trump administration is developing.

What was not within the bounds of legitimate debate, however, was a question that Democratic Senator Robert Menendez posed to Friedman. Noting that Friedman is very passionate about Israel, Menendez asked Friedman to assure the senators that his loyalty and commitment lay with the U.S., rather than with Israel.

Menendezs query was beyond the pale because it wasnt about Friedmans positions. It was about his Judaism. Inherent to Menendezs question was a barely disguised insinuation: Jews who are passionate about Israel cannot be trusted by their fellow Americans.

It doesnt matter how much you love America. It doesnt matter how much of your life you devote to advancing the interests of America.

If you are a Jew, and you support Israel, then your loyalty to America will be questioned.

This brings us back to Netanyahu and his failure to address the issue of anti-Semitism in his meeting with Trump.

There is one issue where Netanyahu is uniquely positioned to fight the canard that pro-Israel Jews are disloyal to America.

That issue is the plight of Jonathan Pollard.

Pollard was sentenced to life in prison in 1985 for transferring classified materials to Israel. He was paroled in 2015.

Pollards plight is important for two reasons that bear direct relevance to Menendezs anti-Semitic behavior at Friedmans confirmation hearing and to the general problem of anti-Semitism in America.

First, Pollard is proof of American anti-Semitism.

To be sure, Pollard failed the loyalty test. America trusted its secrets to Pollard 35 years ago when he served as an analyst in US Naval Intelligence. And he betrayed that trust when he revealed American secrets to Israel.

Pollard though is not unique. Korean Americans, Japanese Americans, Italian Americans, French Americans, Irish and German Americans have also transferred American secrets to foreign governments with which they felt a kinship. To the extent they transferred secrets to states that are allies of the US, they received prison sentences that ranged on average between two to five years and served their terms in minimum security prisons until they were released back into society and free to leave the U.S.

Pollard, in contrast, was railroaded by the U.S. justice system. He was given a life sentence and served for 30 years in maximum-security prisons. He spent his first 10 years in prison in solitary confinement.

Over the 30 years he sat in prison, U.S. national security officials and lawmakers on both sides of the partisan divide called for successive presidents to commute his sentence.

They all refused.

And when Pollard was finally paroled in November 2015 his nightmare of persecution didnt end. Instead he was given draconian parole conditions that no prisoners are subjected to in state or federal prisons. Not only is Pollard barred from leaving the country, he is barred from leaving Manhattan.

He cannot practice Judaism because he is confined to his apartment from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. so he cannot attend morning and evening prayers. He cannot keep Shabbat because he is required to wear a GPS tracking device that he must charge in an electrical outlet every few hours, including on Shabbat when such activities are prohibited. He cannot get a job because anyone who hires him will be required to allow the government total access to their computer network.

Pollards disproportionate punishment is a powerful expression of official, state-sanctioned anti-Semitism in America. And since 1985, it has served as a warning to American Jews and as a license to anti-Semites like Menendez to discriminate against American Jews.

For 30 years, as Pollard served out his life sentence at a maximum-security prison, no one needed to do anything more than mention his name to put fear into the hearts of American Jews. The message was clear. It doesnt matter what you do. We will destroy your life if you are too supportive of Israel.

During his meeting with Trump, Netanyahu chose not to bring up Pollard and Pollards scandalous parole terms. Instead, Netanyahu sufficed with discussing Pollards plight at his meeting with Vice President Mike Pence. According to media reports, the two men agreed that Ambassador Ron Dermer will work with the administration on the issue. What that means was left open to interpretation.

Given the devastating role the Pollard affair has played in U.S.-Israel relations, it is understandable that Netanyahu wouldnt want to bring up Pollard at his first meeting with Trump. Who wants to bring up unpleasant subjects when youre trying to build a new relationship with a new U.S. president?

But while understandable, Netanyahus decision to minimize his discussions of Pollards plight and then delegate the issue to his ambassador was the wrong way to build that relationship.

Every day Pollard is subjected to prejudicial treatment by the U.S. justice system is another day that the U.S. is officially persecuting an American Jew, not because he breached his oath to protect U.S. secrets, but because he did so as a Jew.

And as Menendezs bigotry toward Friedman made clear, every day that this continues is a day when it is acceptable to slander loyal American Jews simply because they passionately support Israel. Every day that Pollard languishes under effective house arrest is another day when it is acceptable to question the good intentions of Americas greatest ally in the Middle East.

In other words, to rebuild its alliance with the U.S., Israel needs more than a warm embrace at the White House. It needs to receive Pollard at Ben Gurion Airport.

Caroline B. Glick is a columnist with The Jerusalem Post.
(Global Times) 08:33, March 10, 2017

China's top environmental official called for patience with the cleaning up of air pollution in the country, but vowed to solve the problem faster than the time taken by the developed countries.

"The campaign against air pollution cannot be accomplished in a short period of two or three years, and will take a relatively long time," Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining said Thursday on the sidelines of the ongoing sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing.

It took 20 to 40 years, or even 50 years, for developed countries to clean up air pollution, but "China will surely be faster than the developed countries in solving this problem," he said.

Chen said that in the past three years, the number of days with good air quality increased in major Chinese metropolitan areas, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. The PM2.5 density in these three regions, except Beijing, was reduced by more than 30 percent in 2016 compared with 2013, he said.

"We are facing more difficult conditions in China, such as an energy structure with coal and fossil fuel as the main sources and a fast-growing ownership of vehicles," Chen said, compared with developed countries.

The task of making Beijing's air clean is especially difficult. The density of pollutants in the air is caused by both emissions and climate conditions; pollution from emissions in southern Hebei can reach Beijing in several hours with north-bound winds, and there are 2,370 such sources of emissions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, Chen said.

The ministry put in place a special monitoring system for the emissions, and after a year of reporting and punishment, the rate of the emissions exceeding the standard has dropped from 31 percent to 3.8 percent since early 2016.

"The result of environmental protection efforts might be easily affected by meteorological factors over a short period of time, so we need a longer period of three years to tell if the measures are effective," Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a non-profit environmental protection organization based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Stricter law enforcement

According to Chen, the Ministry of Environmental Protectionhas found more than 2,000 problems in the previous special inspections on air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and nearby regions, and the officials would continue to press for strict enforcement to improve environmental conditions.

More than 124,000 administrative penalties have been handed down by different levels of environmental departments, with a combined fine of 6.63 billion yuan ($960 million), in 2016. The fines marked a 56-percent surge from a year earlier, Chen said at the press conference.

China will step up law enforcement to crack down on illegal practices, Chen said, promising "zero tolerance" for such offenses.

In 2017, the ministry will carry out inspections in another 15 provincial regions to check their pollution control efforts.

China's revised Environmental Protection Law took effect in January 2015. The law is considered to be the strictest ever, stipulating harsh punishments for polluters and highlighting the government's duties.

"But after two years, there are some outstanding issues in implementation that need to be studied and solved," Chen said on Thursday.

Some systems and policies in environmental protection are still not complete, and the duties are not clear for some departments.

A number of government departments are involved in the cause of environmental protection. "For instance, the Ministry of Environmental Protection is in charge of industrial pollution and emissions reduction, and the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Transportand Ministry of Construction are also involved," Ma said.

According to Chen, in Atmospheric Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Ministry of Environmental Protection only accounts for one-third of the responsibilities.

"Clarifying the duty of different departments to better implement the law is the emphasis of our work," Chen said.

Experts say the weak enforcement of the environmental protection law in some cases is mainly due to local protection and intervention. "The major sources of pollution not only need to be monitored 24 hours, but the results should be publicized in real time as well," Ma said.
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The animated poll narratives had a mix of divisive and development issues this time in Uttar Pradesh, which is eager to get rid of the laggard state tag. But the debate on the recent trend of states returning incumbent chief ministers in the country for their good work was lost in the public spat over shamshan and kabaristan. West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are recent examples where the Trinamool Congress and AIADMK were returned to power.

Ever since the Congress lost its primacy over Uttar Pradesh, the state has not repeated the same party or chief minister in elections. But this time around, young chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has remained a major factor in the race, the other players being mighty Mayawati and popular Narendra Modi.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been out of power for 14 years and was desperate to win UP - the adopted state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the regional forces - the SP and the BSP who had been alternately ruling the state -- posed major hurdles.

The BJP high command and Amit Shah could corner the state governments headed by the SP and the BSP over their non-performance but he had to convince voters about his partys sincerity to develop the state through good governance. As there was no visible work that the party could showcase in UP barring demonetisation, Shah flaunted states such as Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which had returned their incumbent chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Raman Singh. With pride, Shah described it as a reward for their good governance and promised to develop UP on the same lines.

However, throwing a spanner in their efforts was Akhilesh Yadav, the young chief minister of the state, who had silenced his critics by executing big development projects over his five-year turbulent tenure. He often demanded to know if any other state in the country could show one project as big as the Metro Rail and Agra-Lucknow Expressway that they had completed in their tenure.

While joining the debate, Akhilesh repeatedly told people about the prevailing trend of repeating chief ministers in the country. His one-liner was: This election would prove if people voted for caste or for their aspirations.

He knew UPs penchant for change rather than continuity in every election. The state has had 20 chief ministers since January 26, 1950 including political giants like Govind Ballabh Pant, Sampurnanad and CB Gupta. Of them, only five chief ministers could enjoy more than one term: Charan Singh, Narain Dutt Tiwari, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Kalyan Singh.

Akhileshs concerns can be fathomed considering the fact that even the BJP national president was forced to showcase other BJP-ruled states than Uttar Pradesh. The party had ruled in UP for one-and-a-half years in 1991 and from 1997 to 2002. Its another matter that while in 1991, their government was sacked after the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya .

Prime Minister Modi barely mentioned the tenures of Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh as he knew there was nothing concrete to display barring better law and order then.

Traditionally, UP has never repeated an incumbent chief minister. But apart from ND Tiwari of the Congress,, who is lauded for his development work, perhaps for the first time, an incumbent chief minister is being hailed for the work he has done for the state and is in the race for the crown again. Even his opponents criticised him mostly for ditching his father or for Muslim appeasement, which did not stick as the SP government under him had developed pilgrim centres like Ayodhya and Mathura.

In fact, instead of anti-incumbency, Akhilesh became the driving force for the Congress-SP alliance with poll partner and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi publicly lauding the development works undertaken by his government. All surveys billed him as the most popular chief minister of the state. Surprisingly, even those who had made up their mind to vote against the Samajawadi Party wanted a second term for him.

Interestingly, roadside chats with people often revealed a vote for Modi and support for Akhilesh.

Will UP break the tradition of bringing a new face every election or give him a second term will be known on March 11. Its another matter that many BJP supporters, even if they celebrate the SPs defeat and BJPs victory, will openly sympathise with him if Akhilesh fails to get a second chance.
With the stage is set for counting of votes on March 11, the Amritsar police have laid a foolproof security plan to ensure that the counting passes off peacefully.

As there are five counting centres in the city, the police commissionerate has decided to deploy 1,000 cops for the purpose and officers of the rank of additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) and assistant commissioner of police (ACP) will be present at each centre.

Talking to HT, Amritsar police commissioner Nageshwara Rao said, As per the plan, 1,000 policemen will be deployed at the counting centres. There will be an inner cordon, outer cordon and then cops will also be present in the parkings.

Must read | Punjab poll results: Anxiety rules all with one day to go

No vehicle will be allowed near the counting centres and no unauthorised person will be allowed to come near the counting area, he said.

The police officer added that only authorised mediapersons and the counting agents of candidates will be allowed. In the city also, vigil will be further heightened for the counting day and special nakas will be put up.

Notably, the Border Security Force (BSF) is already deployed in the first security ring surrounding the counting area. Outside, their will be no deployment of the paramilitary on that day.

Already CCTV cameras are installed outside the counting centers and regular police patrolling will also take place outside the venue. The counting of votes starts at 8:00 AM.

Dont miss | What the exit polls tell us

On Wednesday, Punjab chief electoral officer VK Singh visited some counting centres and gave instructions for the counting day to officers of civil and police administration.

Similarly, the Amritsar (rural) police have also made an elaborate plan to ensure smooth counting of votes. Apart from deploying around 1,000 policemen, we have also made arrangements to ensure that no law and order problem takes place during that day,  said senior superintendent of police (rural) J Elanchezhian.

The SSP further said that though a lot of weapons have been deposited, still, a close eye will be kept on those getting into celebratory fires or political conflicts.

The counting centres

Ajnala: Government College, Ajnala

Rajasansi: Government Nursing College, Circular road, Amritsar

Majitha: Government ITI, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar

Amritsar North: Government Medical College, Amritsar

Amritsar West: Auditorium Hall, Khalsa College Amritsar

Amritsar Central: Mai Bhago Woman Politechnic College Majitha Road, Amritsar

Amritsar East: Khalsa College for Women

Amritsar South: Khalsa University for Pharmacy, Amritsar

Attari: Main Hall, Khalsa Senior Secondary School Amritsar

Jandiala: Government College for Girls, Mall Road, Amritsar

Baba Bakala: Mata Ganga Girls Senior Secondary School, Baba Bakala
Officials on Saturday will begin counting votes from month-long elections in five states whose outcome could test Prime Minister Narendra Modis ability to pursue tough economic reforms and see opposition parties forge new alliances at the national level.

Exit polls, which have a patchy record in India, show the Bharatiya Janata Party will storm to power in at least three states, including the political bellwether, Uttar Pradesh.

That would come as vindication of Modis policies, including the controversial decision to recall 500-and 1000-rupee banknotes, and boost his chances for a second term in the national elections in 2019. A strong showing by his party will also provide fresh impetus to politically unpalatable but industry-friendly labour and land reforms.

The elections are also crucial for a clutch of smaller parties such as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which is seeking to expand its national footprint. Exit polls forecast a neck-and-neck race between Congress and the AAP in Punjab, where the ruling coalition, of which the BJP is a member, faces a drubbing.

Polls also predicted that Modis party would retain power in Goa and take Uttarakhand from the Congress, and put the BJP narrowly ahead in Manipur. Such results could signal the BJPs slogan of Congress-mukt Bharat still has resonance on the ground.

BJP is already the dominant national force. This election will show us the extent of dominance, especially if it wins UP, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Centre for Policy Research.

Its victory or loss will also show if the competitive spaces in Indian politics open up or not.

But most eyes are on Uttar Pradesh where Modi staked his reputation on a campaign to win a state the BJP last ruled in 2002. He held 23 public rallies and two road shows in about a month.

If exit polls for the state hold, this could be seen as a personal defeat for chief minister Akhilesh Yadav whose Samajwadi Party remained mired in a family feud in the run up to the polls.

Political re-alignment

A spectacular performance by the BJP will accentuate its domination of the countrys political landscape and further marginalize opposition parties, especially the Congress that looks clueless about how to stop the Modi juggernaut.

It could also lead to renewed attempts by opposition parties to forge a mahagathbandhan, or grand alliance, along the lines of one which was instrumental in the BJPs defeat in Bihar assembly polls in 2015.

But if the exit polls go wrong and the BJP fails to impress, it might force the NDA government to abandon fiscal prudence in favour of populism. Poll reverses would give voice to Modis critics within the BJP and the RSS, making the NDA government vulnerable to pressures.

If the Congress loses Manipur and Uttarakhand and fails to dislodge the BJP from Goa as some forecasts suggested, even a victory in Punjab might not resuscitate a party that has been on a downhill since 2014.

Similarly, should the AAP trump the Congress in Punjab it would become the only regional party that would have a government beyond the boundary of one state  in this case the Union territory of Delhi.

That would pitchfork the AAP at the national political centre-stage as a rallying force for anti-BJP parties.

But if the Congress surprises the pollsters on Saturday with a more creditable performance, it will get a momentum ahead of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections later this year.

The Congress might then well be on the path of revival and well set to play a lead role in forming an anti-BJP front at the national level in the run up to 2019 general elections.

Possible scenarios and implications at the national level

SCENARIO 1: BJP makes a clean sweep

If the BJP is on the winning side in all five states, it would embolden the NDA government at the Centre to go for the jugular by accelerating economic reforms, especially the long-pending ones in the labour sector. The results would silence the snipers in the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, who have strong reservations against the Centres reforms agenda. A spectacular performance by the BJP will accentuate its domination of the countrys political landscape and further marginalize opposition parties, especially the Congress that looks clueless about how to stop the Modi juggernaut. It could lead to renewed attempts by them to forge a mahagathbandhan or grand alliance, which was instrumental in the BJPs defeat in Bihar assembly polls.

SCENARIO II: Dismal show by the BJP

If the BJP fails to impress, especially in Uttar Pradesh, it might force the NDA government to go for course-correction and abandon fiscal prudence in favour of populism. Poll reverses would give voice to Modi-baiters within the BJP and the RSS, making the NDA government vulnerable to pressures. If the Congress retains Uttarakhand and Manipur and returns to power in Goa and Punjab, it will get a momentum ahead of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections later this year. A resurgent Congress might also become the rallying force for opposition parties in future elections.

SCENARIO III: Mixed verdict

If the results are a mixed bag for the BJP and the Congress, the latter will stand to gain. The Congress hasnt been able to retain a single state in elections since 2014. If it breaks this cycle in Uttarakhand or Manipur and defeats the BJP in Goa or the BJP-SAD combine in Punjab, it could be a watershed for a party that has seen a continuous slide in its fortune. UP results will be crucial to the BJP. Modi governments popularity would be judged by the partys performance in the countrys largest state. If it does well in UP, mixed results elsewhere might not have much impact either on the BJPs politics or the NDA government; an obverse scenario might be construed as a setback to Modi who along with his ministers virtually camped in UP, making it the testing ground of their popularity. The BJP is particularly keen on the poll outcome in Punjab. If the Aam Admi Party (AAP) wins Punjab, it would become a threat to reckon with in subsequent elections. Such a poll outcome could propel the AAP to the national political centrestage- a prospect the BJP is not comfortable with.

(Inputs from Prashant Jha)
Exit poll predictions for the 2017 assembly elections have given Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah reasons to smile.

Most pollsters have either given a clear majority to the BJP in three out of five states that went to the polls or projected it as the single-largest party within a striking distance of the magic figure.

If exit poll figures hold true, it will be a shot in the arm for the two politicians from Gujarat who have tried to weave new social equation across the country and a new culture within the BJP.

The social groups they are attempting to cultivate for the BJP have largely been a vote bank for regional or mandal parties, who successfully blocked the BJPs march even at the peak of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement that led to some sort of a Hindu consolidation in the BJP.

A government in Uttar Pradesh, of its own or with some ally, will be a boost to the BJP ahead of assembly elections in the next two years.

Winning UP will have a psychological impact on voters and the BJP cadre.

If pollsters prediction matches the result, it will ring alarm bells for the Congress for two reasons. It clearly hasnt been able to stop the rise of Narendra Modi in states where the BJP is its main rival- such as Uttarakhand. Second, in multi cornered contest, the Congress is either ceding space to a third force, like the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab and Goa, or has to join hands with regional players, such as the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, for survival. That is not a rosy picture for the Congress, which is trying to regain ground ahead of the 2019 election, wherein it will be pitted against a formidable Modi who has been winning a majority of the elections after his dream run in 2014.

The poll prediction also suggests a rise for the AAP in Punjab, a development that could propel it into a much stronger position in 2019.

Arvind Kejriwal winning Punjab would mean AAP being the only regional party having its government in two states. That will prompt him to challenge the Congress in more states, such as Gujarat, and emerge as the axis of anti-BJP politics in 2019.

For complete coverage of Assembly Elections 2017, click here

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As the counting for nine legislative assembly segments will start on Saturday at 8 am, the entire area around the building of district land record society and state school for sports, Kapurthala road has been turned into a high-security zone. More than 2,000 cops including a company of paramilitary force have been deployed around the centres.

The city and rural police have claimed to form a three-tier security system at all the counting centres in the buildings. Entry of commuters will not be allowed near the Kapurthala road from Basti Bawa Khel Canal Bridge to Kapurthala Chowk in the city from Saturday from 5.30 am till the time counting ends. Two deputy commissioners of police (DCPs), five additional DCPs, nine assistant CPs and 1,030 other police officers will guard the counting centres of all the four urban constituencies. Field and traffic staff will do their duties separately to manage the traffic and law and order in their respective areas. The four urban legislative constituencies are Jalandhar North, Jalandhar West (reserve), Jalandhar Central and Jalandhar Cantonment while rural belt includes Shahkot, Nakodar, Kartarpur (reserve), Adampur (reserve) and Phillaur ((reserve). Similarly, rural police have also made elaborate arrangements for the counting centres of its constituencies separately. Close circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been installed outside the counting centres and regular police patrolling will also take place outside the venue. A total of 84 candidates were contesting across nine assembly segments and 15, 45,240 people are registered as voters in the district. A total of 1,830 polling stations were set up in the district.

KAPURTHALA

The administration is all set to hold a peaceful counting of voting of four assembly constituencies in the district on Saturday.Local police officials have been deployed at the counting centres while special security teams are to patrol the city to avoid any untoward incident. The electronic voting machines (EVMs) of all the four assembly segments of Kapurthala district were kept in strongrooms established in nearby premises at Virsa Vihar in Kapurthala and Ramgarhia polytechnic college Phagwara .

SBS NAGAR

The local administration and police have made tight security arrangements for the counting day on Saturday. All three counting centres have been set up at Doaba Group of Colleges. A total of 200 cops including paramilitary force will keep vigil at the respective centres.

Countdown begins Three-tier security system at all the counting centres, claim police officials.
China opposes all forms of cyber attacks, urges US to stop such actions

China opposes all forms of cyber attacks, and urges the US side to stop eavesdropping, monitoring, spying and launching cyber attacks against China and other countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang stressed at a regular press conference on Thursday.

Geng made the remarks when asked about Chinas comments on the reported hacking of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) against Chinese electronic devices.

WikiLeaks on Tuesday posted nearly 9,000 documents that exposed the hacking capacity of the CIA, describing it as the biggest ever leak of confidential papers from the latter.

According to the trove of data released, CIA has a team of more than 5,000 registered hackers and has produced more than 1,000 malware systems, viruses, trojans, and other software that can infiltrate and take control of target electronics.

The agency uses these tools to intercept personal information, hack phone talks, and invade into others daily life. For example, the Samsung smart TVs, as the website said, can be transformed into covert microphones after being hacked.

One day after Wikileaks released those purported confidential CIA documents, the US government launched an investigation on the leak. White House press secretary Sean Spicer declined to confirm the veracity of any of the information in the documents, but stressed the leaking "should be a major concern".

China will stay firm to safeguard its own cyber security,  Geng stressed, adding that it will intensify dialogues and cooperation with international community to reach universally-accepted cyber rules within the UN framework and build a peaceful, secure, open, cooperative and orderly cyberspace.

China, on March 1, released its strategy on cyberspace cooperation. The International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace, issued by Foreign Ministry and State Internet Information Office, is the first China has released regarding the virtual domain.

The strategic document called for a international cyberspace collaboration based on peace, sovereignty, shared governance and shared benefits.

Documents revealed by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden in July, 2013 to Der Spiegel showed that the US has conducted mass cyber-attacks on China, targeting Chinese state leaders and Huawei, a leading telecom solutions provider.

Attacks were also aimed at the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Chinese banks and telecommunication companies. According to Der Spiegel, the spying operations also covered several former Chinese state leaders and some banks.

Subsequently, China's Internet Media Research Center said in a report that the Chinese government, after several months of investigation, has confirmed the veracity of most of Snowdens leaking.
Counting of votes from five states for their assemblies begins on Saturday. Considered a litmus test for the ruling BJP government led by Narendra Modi, the results in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will see new political fortunes being created, and in other cases, being lost. To better understand what the results could mean for Indias political topography, read on.

1. Whoever wins UP should demolish it

The case for breaking UP up isnt really based on ethnic or linguistic grievance or exceptionalism: Its a matter of governance, and of administrative efficiency.

2. UP election: 10 reasons why its difficult to predict results despite BJP hype

The states political landscape is witnessing a sea change in 2017, making the elections complicated for pollsters to predict. The main reason for this is the triangular contest with changing adversaries from constituency to constituency.

3. All parties in UP say theyre winning. Heres how they reason

No party admits defeat in the middle of elections. And, in fact, their success in future phases rests on how confidently they can project success till now. So it is no surprise that all three formations  the SP-Congress alliance, the BJP, and the BSP  are confident.

4. Can Narendra Modi win elections using Big Data as Trump did?

Winning the influence game online will depend on the quality of data and the amount of resources a party has to create and market tailored content. On both these counts, the BJP has advantages. It obviously outspends every other political party in India and is best placed to take advantage of a people search engine, as it develops.

5. Voters liking one leader, voting for another party seems to be a pattern in UP

The smarter India-watchers already know that if the scale alone makes the UP election automatically a political bellwether, this time around its function as a barometer of the national mood is all the more important because it comes midway through the term of the Modi government

6. Why Brahmins give BJP a reason to smile in Uttar Pradeshs caste maze

Why does the BJPs attempted personality transplant not upset the Brahmins? They want the SP punished and are unsure of the Congress as a socio-political sinecure. To them, Muslim consolidation was the sole motivation for the Rahul-Akhilesh entente.

7. On the move: Along Uttar Pradeshs rivers, a new political identity finds voice

Despite a strong presence in 120 of the 403 assembly constituencies in UP, Nishads remain economically backward. However, they are tired of this status and a yearning for self-assertion in the community was evident when Hindustan Times traversed Nishad-dominated Gorakhpur and Maharajganj, some of the poorest districts in the country, on a boat.

8. Dhaba bites: A third of population, Dalits hold key in Punjab power game

Dalits form a third of Punjab  the highest of any Indian state  but have had little political representation.

9. UP polls: In Bijnors Kanshi Ram colony, votes split between Akhilesh, Mayawati

In Kanshi Ram colony in Bijnor city, a constituency that is 40% Muslim, and 20% Dalit, both Mayawati and Akhilesh have offered their own brand of development  houses in 2007, and rickshaws, laptops and cash transfers in 2012.

10. This Goa election, parties hedge their votes on thriving casinos

Both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress have made the closure of casinos a major campaign plank. The laws around casinos were framed by successive Congress governments, but the partys election manifesto pledges to shut all floating casinos

11. Manipur election 2017: Eight bodies and a stolen corpse may dictate outcome

Eight bodies awaiting burial for more than 500 days  and a stolen corpse  could play a role in deciding the outcome in some tribal assembly constituencies of Manipur.

12. Will the lore of Gangotri hold its prophecy again in Devbhoomi?

In Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, Gangotri is unlike any other assembly constituency. A lore has it that the party which wins this seat, forms the government in Uttarakhand.
The Bharatiya Janata Party could emerge as the single-largest party in three of five states, including Uttar Pradesh, which voted to elect new assemblies over the past month, exit polls said on Thursday.

The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party were locked in tight race in Punjab and the principal opposition party was battling with the BJP to retain power in Manipur.

1) Hung assembly predicted in Uttar Pradesh

In the politically crucial UP, all exit polls forecast a hung assembly. Two gave the BJP a clear advantage over its nearest rival, the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance while two others predicted a close fight between the two formations.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was seen as a distant third in all four exit polls available for the 403-member house.

The BJP would need to win 202 seats to secure a majority in the 403-seat assembly in Uttar Pradesh, where voting ended on Wednesday almost a month after the first of seven voting phases kicked off.

2) Drubbing for SAD-BJP combine on cards in Punjab?

In Punjab, all exit polls unanimously predicted a drubbing for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine. But the polls were divided on whether the Congress or the Aam Aadmi Party, which is fighting its debut assembly election in the state, will form the next government.

Two exit polls predicted a photo-finish while two other were split between the Congress and the AAP in the 117-member assembly. The halfway mark is 59.

3) What exit polls say on Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur

The BJP was seen as surging ahead of rivals in Goa and Uttarakhand as well. Official results for all five states are out on March 11.

In Uttarakhand, the BJP looked set to dislodge the Congress as four out of five exit polls gave a clear majority to the saffron party. One poll forecast a close fight in the 70-member legislature.

Three exit polls suggested that the BJP could retain power in Goa. The AAP, which ran a high-voltage campaign in its debut outing in the state, was seen as failing to have had an impact in the 40-member assembly.

But polls were split over Manipur, with one giving a majority to the BJP and the other to the ruling Congress.

4) Exit polls have gone wrong in the past

Exit polls have frequently gone wrong in the past, including in Bihar and Delhi in 2015. Analysts say that states with diverse populations and complex caste, community and religious affiliations tend to throw pollsters off.

Exit polls are not able to assess the real voting patterns. The truth will be out on Saturday and we are confident of our victory, said Samajwadi Party national spokesman Ghanshyam Tiwari.

5) Referendum on Modi governments steps?

Victory for Modis BJP in Uttar Pradesh, which is home to 220 million people, would boost his chances of winning the 2019 general election and underscore his popularity after he made himself the face of the partys campaign.

The PM would also see success as vindication of his sudden decision in November to abolish high-denomination banknotes to rein in corruption. The move was seen as politically risky.

With inputs from Reuters
Ahead of the assembly election results on March 11, we take a look at five controversies that emerged from poll-bound Punjab during the campaigning:

 Kejriwals homestay

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal triggered a political storm by staying at the house of a former Khalistani Commando Force (KCF) militant days before elections. The Congress and SAD-BJP used this as an opportunity to warn voters of AAPs pro-militant leanings.

 Sex, lies and videotape

A video of Akali Dal MP Sher Singh Ghubaya getting intimate with a woman went viral ahead of elections. Ghubaya, who hails from the dominant Rai Sikh community which matters in Deputy CM Sukhbir Badals Jalalabad seat, had turned rebel and made his son contest from Fazilka on a Congress ticket.

 Deras open support

The open declaration of support by Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda to the ruling SAD-BJP raised the hackles of Sikhs in Punjab, including the clergy. The premis, as dera followers are called, lined up in queues to follow their leaders diktat but the Badal-controlled SGPC is still struggling to pacify Sikhs, already angry at series of sacrilege incidents of Guru Granth Sahib in the state.

Shoe at CM

A shoe was hurled at Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal while he was campaigning in his constituency, Lambi. It hit the five-time CM in the eye. Badal is locked in a triangular fight with Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh and Jarnail Singh of AAP, who rose to fame after hurling a shoe at former finance minister P Chdiambaram. The incident occurred days after stones were pelted at Sukhbir Singh Badal when he campaigned in Jalalabad.

 Harsimrats threat

With Badals under attack, CMs daughter-in-law and union minister Harsimrat Badal issued an open threat to AAP saying if Akalis resorted to violence, AAP men would not be even alive. Harsimrat also got also trolled for an emotional video where she asks people to remember her and Sukhbirs sacrifices for Punjab, saying that the couple has hardly spent any time with their children in the last 10 years.
I have done work and I am happy, ready to form the government once again, said a visibly relaxed chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his star campaigner wife Dimple Yadav a day before the counting day.

Both looked completely unnerved by the exit polls that forecast absolute majority for the Bhartiya Janata Party. Instead they joked, sharing their experiences and expectations.

Exit polls are not unanimous in their verdicts. I simply want to know how many booth level workers and villagers they interacted with before delivering their numbers. Our information is from every booth and tomorrow all will know who is the winner, chief minister added.

He is armed with his own list and counts constituencies they were winning in worst possible scenarios. And while media is discussing the possibility of a coalition government, Akhilesh claims they are forming government on their own.

The governor will invite the single largest party, he said in case of a hung house.

Pointing out how exit polls went wrong for Bihar, Dimple said, Our cadre is very excited as the SP is winning the elections. And she lightly refers to the general discussion in the market as to why the BJP had not ordered sweets even after exit polls gave them absolute majority.

Akhilesh on the other hand says that while capturing the elections as a festival, he also met the cadre and travelled the state.

On his reported willingness to ally with BSP in case of a hung house, Akhilesh said, I had only said I will be open to alliance with anyone to stall BJP from coming to power and in giving a secular and stable government to the state. I had not named the BSP. Nonetheless everything depends on the numbers.

However political pundits see it as clever move and perhaps a carrot to willing crossovers from BSP.

Asked why SP was not preparing for the celebrations as the BSP camp was doing, the chief minister said, Here in our camp everything is set. We just have to resume our development projects and remove two or three from positions.

In between this informal chat, he and his wife are all ears for statements coming on channels including that of Mayawati.

Lets wait for the results now. The satta bazaar is today giving the alliance a majority, he said, adding there was close fight on every seat.

On growing criticism from within the party over his decision to ally with the Congress, Akhilesh said, It was the right decision. Two young leaders have come together to give a new direction to the countrys politics.

Our vision is different from that of our elders. I talk about aroma park while they will talk about love jihad.

As for the BJP, Akhilesh said the national party had nothing in its kitty to showcase except for their plan to distribute gas cylinders. The Prime Minister promised bullet train. Three years on, no sign of it. See how fast we will run it if voted back to power.

Some must have voted for development like metro, laptop, smartphone (all part of Akhileshs development initiatives)  where has that vote gone? It has come to us. If caste and religion are the only guiding forces, then I will also take some castes for tonga and rikshaw ride... where is the need for an expressway? Akhilesh said.

A clutch of exit polls predicted the BJP would get the closest to the majority mark of 202 of 403 seats. But Akhilesh says money is at play here as there is so much of political dishonesty.

Tell me if I want to grab limelight on TV, what more I have to do? Obviously, they are encouraging corruption... People are wise and hard work will not go unrewarded, said Akhilesh, adding if the worst was to come, he was ready to accept.

After all, victory has many fathers, defeat has none.

For live coverage of the UP assembly election results, click here
Manipur witnessed its most tightly contested assembly elections in recent memory and now all eyes are on whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will end the Congresss 15-year rule.

In 2012, the Congress  led by chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh - won 42 seats of 60 seats; the BJP, contesting only 19 seats, failed to open its account. The outcome is expected to be much closer this time.

In 2017, the BJP is contesting from all 60 seats in a bid to increase its presence in the North East. The party already runs governments in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

As is now standard practice, the BJP chose not to project a chief minister candidate in Manipur, and banked on Modis charm to woo voters. The Congress contested with its chief minister, Ibobi at the fore.

Blockade Brouhaha

Polling took place in two phasesMarch 4 for 38 seats and March 8 for the other 22 in the backdrop of a continuing four-month blockade of two key national highways by the United Naga Council (UNC). The UNC is protesting the creation of two new districts of Tengnoupal and Kangpokpi. This blockade, which caused hardship and suffering across the state, is likely to prove crucial in the Imphal Valley region that is dominated by non-tribal Meiteis.

While the BJP organised several high profile visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, and home minister Rajnath Singh to lend heft to the state campaign, gaining power might still prove difficult.

In the months leading up to the election, chief minister Ibobi played his cards well by first creating seven new districts, then blaming New Delhi of not doing enough to end the blockade, and finally raking up Centres framework agreement with rebel outfit NSCN-IM to paint the BJP into a corner.

Details of the agreement are yet to be made public and there is apprehension in Manipur that the deal between the Modi government and the Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland might compromise Manipurs territorial integrity.

AFSPA and Inner Line Permit

Given that the BJP is part of the Nagaland Peoples Front-led coalition in Nagaland, the Congresss attempt to portray the saffron party as being sympathetic towards Nagas might work with Meiteis and Kuki-Zomi voters.

Blockade and the Naga framework agreement aside, the scrapping of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and, and the demand for an Inner Line Permit for outsiders visiting Manipur, remained major issues.

This election also marks the entry of anti-AFPSA activist Irom Sharmilas Peoples Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) party, which contested just 3 seats.

Irom sharmila blowing a whistle, her party symbol, near a polling station in Thoubal district on the last phase polling in Manipur on Wednesday. (Sobhapati Samom/Hindustan Times)

The iconic rights activist contested against Ibobi in Thoubal, but neither her and nor the other two PRJA candidates are expected to win.

What is at stake  Okram Ibobi Singh  Manipur Chief Minister

After 15-years at the helm one would assume anti-incumbency would weigh heavily on Manipurs chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh. But the 69-year old, who is already the trouble-torn states longest ruling CM, is confident of a fourth term in the top post.

This has been Singhs toughest electoral battle yet, as an aggressive BJP seeks to win Manipur after coming to power in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Congress veteran faces allegations of corruption and lack of development during his tenure---charges he denies. His 15 years has also been termed as the bloodiest period in Manipurs history with nearly 1,500 extra-judicial killings taking place. Singh played his cards well this time, but it remains to be seen if his strategy will pay off.

The Highs and Lows of the Election Campaign

Highs

 Smartphone recording and web streaming of all 2794 polling stations

 Hundred percent EPIC cards in Manipur polls

 All women polling personnel at 16 polling stations

 GPS tracking on web as well as on smartphones of all flying squads

 Highest voters turn out (86.5 percent) in last three elections in the first phase

 Female voters outnumbered Males

 Low violence

Lows

 Just 11 women candidates in 2017 polls unlike 15 in 2012 polls.

 No proper facilities (including wheelchair for disabled/elderly persons) at polling stations despite assurances.

 Vehicles from Assam used in Manipur polls due to non-availability of enough vehicles.

 Security forces from Assam, Odisha and others used in Manipur Polls.

 Low voltage electioneering, with much less fanfare, because of poll restrictions.

Top Controversies

 AFSPA: The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which has been in force in Manipur since 1980 gives armed forces extraordinary powers, including immunity from legal action, to handle operations in disturbed areas. Despite campaigns to scrap this draconian law, it continues to be in operation barring seven assembly segments. Irom Sharmilas PRJA party wants AFSPA removed immediately.

 Framework Agreement: The secret framework agreement signed between BJP-led government at Centre and the extremist National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) in 2015 was a key poll issue. The Congress has urged BJP to make its details public, citing concerns that the agreement may affect Manipurs territorial integrity, but the BJP is yet to do so.

 UNC Blockade: The United Naga Council (UNC) declared blockade of two key national highways since November 1 in protest against creation of new districts. The issue saw both Congress and BJP blaming each other. The ruling Congress accused New Delhi of not doing enough to end it, while the saffron party blamed CM Okram Ibobi Singh for lack of action. Amit Shah has promised to get it lifted within 24 hours if BJP comes to power.

 Inner Line Permit: There is a demand by a section Manipur, especially in the Imphal Valley, to make inner line permits (ILP) mandatory for outsiders visiting the state in order to protect indigenous people of the state. The provision already exists in Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. None of the two major parties, BJP and Congress, made any specific commitment on the issue in their campaign.

 Corruption: Strife among various groups in Manipur and violence by rebel outfits has affected development in the state. There are also allegations of corruption against the ruling Congress government. In his election rally in Imphal, Narendra Modi accused the state government of taking 10% commission for development works and promised corruption-free governance. Singh refuted the allegations and said Manipur has been more peaceful and became best performing state in many sectors during the last 15 years.
The Samajwadi Party suggested on Friday that television channels were pressurised to fudge exit poll numbers that showed the BJP emerging as the single-largest party in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking to news agency ANI, SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav dismissed exit poll numbers and said the SP-Congress alliance would win a majority.

I have information that the original #ExitPolls were changed under pressure by channels few days back: Ram gopal Yadav,SP pic.twitter.com/aVSb0DHC2K  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 10, 2017

His comments came a day after two exit polls gave the BJP a clear advantage over the SP-Congress alliance, while two others predicted a close fight between the two formations. The Bahujan Samaj Party was seen as a distant third in all four exit polls available.

Results for the 403-member assembly are out on March 11. The halfway mark is 202.

Exit polls have frequently gone wrong in the past, including in Bihar and Delhi in 2015.
A Presidents rule is the second best option for Narendra Modis BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

If predictions of a hung verdict in UP hold true after Saturdays counting, chances of the state being placed under Centres rule cannot be ruled out.

It will all depend on how short the single largest party is from the half-way mark of 202 and if the BSP and the SP can bury their differences to block the BJP from coming to power in case of a hung assembly.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has been projected as the single largest group by three exit polls and if it is within a striking distance of the magic figure, parties like the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Jat stalwart Ajit Singh and independents will hold the key to forming a government. The RLD is believed to have regained ground in the Jat-land (districts of western UP where the community has a strong presence).

BJP leadership is hopeful of winning the countrys most populated and politically crucial state with a comfortable majority.

The party is also confident about cobbling up numbers in case of a hung verdict.

Its problems get compounded only in case it falls 50-60 seats short of the majority, despite emerging as the single largest group. Others are unlikely to win so many seats and hence any government formation will not be possible without the Bahujan Samaj Party of former chief minister Mayawati.

Samajwadi Party president and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav tried to preempt a BJP-BSP coalition, suggesting he was open to an alliance with Mayawati to stop the BJP from coming to power in an interview to BBC on Friday.

The two parties were partners in power in the 90s.

SP strategists explain this as a tactical move by Akhilesh who has now put the onus on Mayawati to stop the BJP from coming to power. She is without much choice now, explained an aide of Akhilesh. Both the SP and the BSP were vying for Muslim votes. So supporting a BJP government in Lucknow could be detrimental to them in 2019 Lok Sabha election, which is just two years from now.

All exit polls have predicted a poor show by Mayawati with India TV-C Voter giving the BSP a maximum of 81-93 seats. India Today-Axis survey has predicted a meager 28-42 seats for it.

If Mayawati loses steam at a figure around 60, it will be difficult for her to keep her flock together. The BSP will be vulnerable to poaching by the BJP and the SP.

A Presidents rule in the state can give the BJP the desired time to arrange numbers to reach the magic figure, in case it is short of the majority by a wide margin. A Presidents rule in UP will be as good as a BJP government. A former BJP MP, Ram Naik, currently occupies the Raj Bhawan in Lucknow and the BJP is at power at the Centre.

Uttar Pradesh has a history of such defections from the BSP camp. The Kalyan Singh-led BJP government in 1997 proved its majority in the state assembly by engineering a defection in the BSP and the Congress.

The BJP also received flaks from political opponents for imposing Presidents rule in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand  both of which were lifted after courts order.

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A five-time octogenarian chief minister, a former maharaja who says hes contesting his last election and an upstart politician fighting the outsider tag.

An unprecedented three-way election in Punjab ends on Saturday as more than 20 million votes are counted to elect a new assembly.

Exit polls have predicted a drubbing for incumbent CM Parkash Singh Badal and his ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance. But the forecast is split between the Congress  led by former royal Amarinder Singh  and rookie Aam Aadmi Party, powered by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, on who will form the next government.

The results will mark the end of a long wait for a state that voted on February 4, which was preceded by months of bitter campaigning that saw religious and caste overtures, development rhetoric and even an explosion at a rally that left six people dead.

The states 117 seats are split between the Malwa (69), Majha (25) and Doaba (23) regions, and the halfway mark is 59.

Each party made the obligatory promises of development, jobs, crop bonuses and smartphone freebies, but any incoming government is likely to find Punjab in a deep fiscal hole. State debt stands at a staggering Rs 1.25 lakh crore, while the states 9.75 lakh farmers collectively owe their banks Rs 80,000 crore in personal debts.

Anger runs high across the state over unsolved cases of desecration of the Sikh holy book in 2015 and parched farmlands that have seen little irrigation from rain or canals. Thousands of farmers have protested against a Supreme Court decision to share water of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal  a flashpoint since the 1980s  with Haryana. All three parties insist they will safeguard Punjabs water but any new government will have to balance local sentiment with legal ramifications. The next hearing in the case is fixed for March 23, a mere 12 days after the poll result.

The stakes are highest for the Congress, which is banking on Amarinder Singhs personal charisma and Navjot Sidhus bluster to carry it past the majority mark. Besieged by a string of electoral reverses, the party desperately needs a win in Punjab to turn around its national political fortunes.

Read | From sex tapes to hurled shoes: 5 controversies that dogged the Punjab elections

For Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab offers an opportunity to prove that the AAP is more than just a Delhi party. A strong anti-incumbency vote against the ruling Badal family, coupled with the Congresss national decline, could create an opening for this third force. The rookie party has made repeated overtures to Sikh faithful and the Dalits, who form a third of the state, by promising a scheduled caste deputy CM.

But the battle seems toughest for the ruling Badals that is beleaguered by mounting anti-incumbency after two straight terms with protests against the CMs family interests in business and alleged corruption in the running of Sikh institutions. But the SAD remains a force in Punjabs panthic (religious) regions, and deputy CM Sukhbir has acquired a reputation as a wily and effective campaign manager.

The highs and lows of the poll fight

Highs

- The arrival of the Aam Aadmi Party offers a genuine third front for those tired of the Congress-Akali Dal duopoly.

- The poll agenda was set by Punjabs active social media users, rather than handed down by respective party high commands.

- The Election Commission played a proactive role in ensuring a fair contest.

Lows

- Parties made extravagant promises despite Punjabs poor fiscal health.

- Punjabs octogenarian chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was hit by a shoe whilst addressing a poll rally.

- A bomb blast in Maur claimed six lives during the poll campaign.

Major controversies

Show Hurled: On January 11, a Sikh youth hurled a shoe at chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, injuring the five time CM in the eye. The incident happened when Badal was campaigning in his Lambi constituency. Hurt and wounded by the shoe attack on Badal, the Akalis blamed the AAP for the incident.

AAP with Sikh Radicals: The Sikh radicals were back in play in Punjab politics, coalescing behind the Aam Aadmi Party. With the newbie party making no effort to distance itself from the fundamentalist fringe, the Akali and Congress went after it all guns blazing.

The alleged nexus of the AAP with the Sikh radicals and hardliners got fillip when AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal stayed overnight at the house of an ex-militant in Moga. This adventurous move of Kejriwal had put the party on the defensive and its spin-masters went into a tizzy.

Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal: The political parties squeezed to the hilt the emotive Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue which sprung itself to the centre stage after the Supreme Court ordered sharing of water with Haryana. For AAP, the SYL was a slippery turf, while Akali Dal and the Congress pulled all the stops to emerge as the true champions of protecting interests of Punjab.

Dera Support: The Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Saudas dramatic move to support the Akali Dal-BJP combine caused unease in AAP and the Congress camps. All the political parties pulled all the stops to woo different Dera heads in the region. Leaders from across all the parties made a beeline to bow before the controversial Sirsa dera head to garner support of his followers who have a formidable presence in Malwa belt of Punjab.

Maur Blasts: The twin blasts at Maur Mandi, just four days before polling, vitiated the atmosphere besides reviving memories of the bloody 1980s. Both SAD and Congress accused AAP of hobnobbing with radicals.

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The Congress has already won more than 60 seats in the 117-seat Punjab assembly by 3.20pm, thus getting a clear majority to form the government in Punjab. This brings good news for birthday boy Capt Amarinder Singh who is the partys chief minister candidate. The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine, whose rout was predicted in exit polls, is third behind the Aam Aadmi Party. Though a majority of exit polls had pointed to a hung House, even the early hours of counting indicated that AAP had not performed as well as expected. Amarinder won Patiala but lost to outgoing chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in Lambi.

Follow Punjab assembly election at Punjab.ht and @httweets

HIGHLIGHTS BELOW

Punjab election 2017 final result: Congress win 77 seats, SAD-BJP bags 18, AAP win 20 and others (2)

5:00 pm: Its Congress all the way with 73 seats in its kitty already

4:35 pm: SAD minister Surjit Singh Rakhra loses.

3:30 pm: Congress surges past the 59-mark with wins in 63 seats. Will form government in Punjab.

2.45 pm: No Congress candidate wins in Mansa district  AAP wins Mansa and Budhlada, SAD bags Sardulgarh

2:25 pm: In a first, an Olympian and a cricketer make it to Punjab assembly: Pargat Singh, Navjot Sidhu on Cong ticket. Read here

2:20 pm: PM Narendra Modi speaks to Congress leader Amarinder Singh to congratulate him on the electoral victory in Punjab.

Click to read: How the AAP threw away the election

2.14 pm: My win a tribute to my son Karan Sandhu, says Kanwar Sandhu after winning from Kharar by 42051 votes.

2:10 pm: To all AAP volunteers and grassroots workers, you were one of the toughest competitors we faced! @ArvindKejriwal @AAPPunjab2017, tweets I-PAC.

To all AAP volunteers and grassroots workers, you were one of the toughest competitors we faced! @ArvindKejriwal @AAPPunjab2017 (2/2)  I-PAC (@IndianPAC) March 11, 2017

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal says he respects the verdict of the people; thanks rank and file. State affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh also tweets on similar lines.

                Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 11, 2017

      ,   ,        ,     Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) March 11, 2017

2:07 pm: Congress sweeps Fatehgarh Sahib district  Segment Fatehgarh Sahib won by Kuljit Singh Nagra against SADs Didar Singh Bhatti by 23,791 votes; Bassi Pathana won by Gurpreet Singh GP against AAPs Santokh Singh Salana by 10,114 votes; and Amloh by Randeep Singh by a margin of 3,976 over SADs Gurpreet Singh.

1:45 pm: Capt Amarinder Singhs friend and former Pakistani journalist Aroosa Alam at his residence in Chandigarh.

Watch: Video | Aroosa Alam on Capt Amarinder Singh, India-Pak relations, and love for yoga

Aroosa Alam at Captain Amarinder Singhs residence in Sector 10, Chandigarh, on Saturday. (Sanjeev Sharma/HT Photo)

1:40 pm: SAD candidate Bikram Majithia wins from Majitha constituency with 22,882 votes.

1:30 pm: Big guns who lost -SAD ministers Adaish Partap Kairon (Patti), who is CM Badals son-in-law; and Sikander Singh Maluka (Rampura Phul) lose. BJP minister Surjit Kumar Jyani loses Fazilka, where rebel Akali MP Sher Singh Ghubayas son, Davinder Ghubaya, has won on a Congress ticket . Sunil Jakhar of Congress loses Abohar to BJP candidate.

1:10 pm: I already conveyed to the media yesterday that we will win and that that is why party workers placed advance orders of ladoos, barfis, flower garlands and bouquets, Bhupinder Sidhu, Congress leader from Ludhiana South, says.

1:00 pm: Punjab has seen more development than any other state in India; will discuss reasons (of SADs poor show) and will try to gain majority in the next elections, says Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal.

12:46 pm: Rajdeep Kaur now trailing. Congress Davinder Singh Ghubaya now leads with 33,000 votes.

12: 30 pm: Let me take this opportunity to thank the Congress rank & file for their tremendous effort! (sic), tweets Capt Amarinder Singh

12:10 pm:Independent candidate Rajdeep Kaur, sister of slain gangster Jaswinder Singh Rocky, gets a lead of 712 votes after 10th round. Rocky, who had finished second last time against BJPs Surjit Jyani, was gunned down by rival gangsters in early 2016.

Celebrations galore, dhol as supporters dance outside Capt Amarinder's residence in Chd @HTPunjab pic.twitter.com/pn0vaUo58H  Aneesha Bedi (@AneeshaBedi) March 11, 2017

Live: Hindustan Times senior resident editor Ramesh Vinayak, assistant editor Chitleen K Sethi and Punjab bureau chief Pawan Sharma discussing the Punjab election results.

11:55 am: AAP Punjab chief Gurpreet Ghuggi Waraich trailing in Batala

11:50 am: Congress surges ahead in 77 seats, might even beat its highest ever

10.50: Shiromani Akali Dal patron and Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal leading in Lambi

. @Akali_Dal_ patron Parkash Singh Badal leading in Lambi | Get all the LIVE updates here : https://t.co/3VQP4AW0ai | @officeofssbadal pic.twitter.com/dnZWWUnteK  HT Punjab (@HTPunjab) March 11, 2017

10 am: Pic below: BJP candidate Praveen Bansal having breakfast outside a polling station at PAU in Ludhiana. Photo by Gurminder Singh.

9.56 am: Davinder Ghubaya of Congress  youngest candidate in fray  leading by 1,530 votes after first round from Fazilka segment.

Davinder Ghubaya (HT Photo)

9.55 am: In Lok Sabha bypoll for Amritsar, Congress Gurjit Singh Aujla leading

9.50 am: SAD candidate Gen JJ Singh (retd) leaves counting centre after trailing badly behind Congs Capt Amarinder Singh in Patiala.

SAD candidate, former army chief Gen JJ Singh (retd), in Patiala. He is trailing behind Congs Capt Amarinder Singh. (Bharat Bhushan/HT)

9.45 am: Congs ex-CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal at third place in Lehra; SADs Parminder Dhindsa leading. AAP candidate is in second place.

9.23 am: SAD minister Bikram Singh Majithia leading in Majitha segment. He is facing Congs Lalli Majithia and AAPs Himmat Singh Shergill.

9.20 am: SAD office in Chandigarh wears a deserted look; party has already served two consecutive terms, and is currently in third place.

Cops watch election results on TV at the SAD office in Chandigarh. (Monica Sharma/HT)

Shiromani Akali Dal headquarters in Sector 28, Chandigarh wear a complete deserted look #PunjabPolls2017 @HTPunjab pic.twitter.com/QGbZBGe9bv  Monica (@Monica70862525) March 11, 2017

#PunjabElection2017 | Congress leading in 23 seats at 9:15 am | @punjabpcc

Get all LIVE updates here https://t.co/3VQP4AW0ai pic.twitter.com/fq2PodgovB  HT Punjab (@HTPunjab) March 11, 2017

9 am: Captain Amarinder Singh leading by 3,435 votes from Patiala (urban); trailing in Lambi

Poll officials during the counting in Jalandhar. (Pardeep Pandit/HT )

8.52 am: CM Badal leads from Lambi. He is being challenged by Congress Capt Amarinder Singh and AAPs Jarnail Singh.

8.45 am: AAP leads in Mansa

Mansa AAP candidate Nazar Manshahia leading by 2400 votes. @HTPunjab pic.twitter.com/kT57ztolZA  Mohammad Ghazali (@ghazalimohammad) March 11, 2017

8.45 am: Congress candidate from Jalandhar Cantonment  former hockey captain Pargat Singh  leading in counting of postal ballots.

At the counting centre in Patiala. (Vishal Rambani/HT)

8.30 am Leads: Congress on 6 seats; SAD-BJP on 2; AAP+ on 1

8 am Counting begins; first trends to be out soon, according to EC; postal ballots to be counted first. The fate of 1,145 candidates, including 81 women, will be known by afternoon. A total of 77.4% of the 1.98 crore electors in Punjab voted on February 4. Over 14,000 officials will be involved in counting, Punjab chief electoral officer VK Singh said. The counting started amid uncertainty and possibility of a hung house. The main contenders for powers are the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). A party needs 59 seats to gain a simple majority in the assembly. The by-election to the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, vacated by Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh who is hoping to become CM now, was also held with the assembly polls.

7.45 am Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh turns 75 today. In the final hours before counting on Saturday, there was no talk of celebrations. Amarinder will be tracking the poll results from his private residence in Sector 10, Chandigarh, and address the media around noon. He would head home to Patiala only if he wins. What he said: Read here

March 11, Saturday, 7:21 am: Counting of votes for the three-way race to power in Punjab is set to begin at 8 am.

March 11, Saturday, 1:00 am: Punjabis overseas track poll results back home, book halls for public viewing. Read full story here.

March 11, Saturday, 12.15 am: SAD America happy to bet $100,000 on win for Sukhbir from Jalalabad! Read full report here

March 10, Friday, 11.30pm The EC have made arrangements for public viewing of the poll results. On all important places in Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala, EC is putting up big screen for the general public to watch the results. We want to involve people in final process of the polling also, said CEO Punjab VK Singh.

11.00pm Union food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal says the politicians know how to manipulate the exit polls. We cannot trust these exit polls. We are politicians; we know how these exit polls are manipulated. We cannot completely trust these polls. All these exit polls will prove to be false, Harsimrat told ANI. She further said it was always best to talk less about the exit polls assuring that the SAD-BJP alliance will win the Punjab elections with majority of votes.

10.30pm Chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi says the counting process will be done according to the rules and will be free from any kind of malpractices, so, that the correct choice of voters is reflected. He says before the counting process starts, the counting supervisors will ask counting agents to be satisfied if the machine, which is being subjected to counting, is the same that was used at the polling stations. After the counting agent is satisfied that the EVM is preserved and has not been subjected to any malpractice, then the results come out.

10.00pm More than 800 officials and security personnel have been deployed at different locations that house electronic voting machines (EVMs) of all 8 assembly constituencies of the Patiala district. Deputy commissioner-cum-district election officer Ramvir Singh inspects all these locations to take stock of the last-minute arrangement before Saturdays counting.

9.30pm Over 150 cops, led by an additional deputy commissioner of police, are set to man each centre in Ludhiana. A three-tier security arrangement will be in place at every counting centre, with paramilitary forces stationed at the outer circle, district police and force from Punjab armed police (PAP) at the two inner circles of security. Deputy commissioner of police Mandeep Singh Sidhu says cops have already been deputed at all the counting centres and police chief Jatinder Singh Aulakh reviewed all the security arrangements on Friday.

9.00pm Congress candidate from Amritsar East and partys star campaigner Navjot Singh Sidhu says, Its time for the Badals to fade away as new sunrise awaits the state. When questioned on exit polls, the cricketer-turned-politician said: Janta ka faisla hai, aap jaan jaoge kal (you will know the peoples mandate tomorrow). Read here

8.30pm Non-resident Punjab diaspora have taken offs from the duties and have made special arrangements in their respective cities to be part of the mega-event. The AAP supporters have booked a banquet hall and have invited people to join. In other Canadian city Toronta, local residents have booked a marriage hall in Brampton. Similar arrangements have been made in California, USA to track the poll results.

8.00pm Prominent politicians in the Malwa region say they will continue working in public life, irrespective of the assembly poll verdict. All are also hopeful of their respective parties at the helm of affairs for the next five years.

7.00pm The election commission (EC) announces complete prohibition on the sale and supply of liquor all over Punjab on Saturday. The Punjab chief electoral office has been directed to ensure absolute compliance with the directions. Read here

6.30pm In Jalandhar, more than 2,000 cops including a company of paramilitary force have been deployed around the centres. Entry of commuters will not be allowed near the Kapurthala road from Basti Bawa Khel Canal Bridge to Kapurthala Chowk in the city from Saturday from 5.30 am till the time counting ends. CCTV cameras have been installed outside the counting centres and regular police patrolling will also take place outside the venue. Read here

Also read | 2,000 cops to keep vigil at counting centres in Amritsar

4.00pm Hoping to do well in the Punjab elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will be installing a giant screen at the office of its Lok Sabha candidate Upkaar Sandhu. In a message on social media, AAP has invited all its party volunteers there to catch the live updates of the results.

Also read | Amritsar: A day before result, prayers on lips of candidates

.
Officials will begin counting more than 120 million votes on Saturday to elect a new assembly in Uttar Pradesh, one of the worlds largest poll exercises that is being billed as a virtual semi-final to general elections in two years.

The stakes are high for almost 5,000 candidates across 403 seats in Indias most-populous state that saw pitched campaigning swing from a development narrative and caste arithmetic to religious polarisation and a bitter war-of-words.

A clutch of exit polls have predicted the BJP to get closest to the majority mark of 202 but the states unmatched caste and religious diversity has often misled pollsters in the past.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned across the state with gusto, holding back-to-back roadshows and addressing scores of rallies to push the BJP back to power after more than a decade.

Uttar Pradesh formed the backbone of Modis Lok Sabha campaign in 2014 when the BJP won 71 of 80 seats.

This time around, the PM coined devastating acronyms for his opponents, who in turn accused him of whipping up communal sentiments. His party tried to stitch together an upper caste-backward alliance that might come unstuck because of the lack of a CM face.

The surveys have shown BJP will win. We are going to get a two-third majority in Uttar Pradesh. Wait for tomorrow, senior BJP leader Om Mathur told reporters.

For incumbent chief minister Akhilesh Yadav who overcame a bruising public spat within his family, the election is a personal prestige fight.

He drove his Samajwadi Party to forge an alliance with the Congress  a coalition that is said to have cemented the Yadav and Muslim votes that make up more than a third of the states population. The 43-year-old enjoys personal popularity and has tried to step out of caste considerations by talking development but high resentment against sitting SP legislators might do him in.

The Samajwadi Party fought the polls on the plank of development and the people of Uttar Pradesh will again repose their faith in us. The SP-Congress alliance will come to power in the state, said Dharmendra Yadav, party MP and cousin of Akhilesh.

The third competitor in the UP poll arena is enigmatic four-time chief minister Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj Party has gone out of its way to weave a Dalit-Muslim coalition by allotting more tickets to Muslim candidates than its core Dalit constituency.

Mayawati is famously tight-lipped about electoral prospects, and her party has mostly flown under-the-radar but her impressive caste-religion arithmetic and large cadre base can spring surprises in a tight election. But a loss could mean that her workers would scatter and party base disintegrate.

Akhilesh has hinted that he wouldnt be averse to a post-poll tie-up with archrival BSP. I always respected her (Mayawati), and because of this many may construe that there could be an alliance (with BSP). But its hard to say anything about the possibility of joining hands (with her)..., Yadav told BBC Hindi, adding that he wouldnt allow the BJP to rule the state by proxy through Presidents Rule.

When counting begins at 8am on Saturday, many hundreds of electronic voting machines would have been guarded by special forces for weeks  the first of seven phase was on February 11. The overall turnout  60.81% -- is the highest-ever.

UPs enormous political importance is a result of its massive size and history  the state has given India nine prime ministers, including Modi who won from Varanasi.

The states electorate also serves as a bellwether of Indian politics  in the 1980s the rise of Kanshi Ram and the BSP signalled the rise of caste-assertion, the Mandir politics of the 1990s marked the BJPs Hindutva-led ascent, and complete irrelevance of the Congress in the 2000s presaged the partys national decline.

But despite the states significance, UP continues to lag in most indices of development and industrialisation. Healthcare and educational standards across the vast province is poor and crime rampant. The state hasnt attracted significant investment in recent years and its traditional industries have stagnated.

It is in this moribund backdrop that Akhilesh pitched his campaign on development, moving away from his father Mulayam Singh Yadavs politics of caste and religion.

Yadavs campaign slogan kam bolta hai (work speaks for itself), sought to draw attention to his governments flagship infrastructure projects such as the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and Lucknow Metro. But many voters say a lot more needs to be done.

Modi and the BJP repeatedly sought to puncture the SPs claims of development. In a rally, Modi said that kam nahin karname bolte hain (misdeeds speak for them).

The PM claimed the state government had privileged kabristaan (graveyards) over shamshaan (cremation grounds) and Ramzan over Diwali. Additionally, the election is a crucial test of BJP chief Amit Shah after a loss in Bihar last year.

The Highs and Lows in this Campaign Season

Highs

Violence-free polls: No violence was reported from any polling booth in UP, making this election the most peaceful in decades

Ban-free polls: No leader was banned for hate speech despite a campaign marked by controversial utterances. In 2014, the election commission had banned rallies by SPs Mohammad Azam Khan and BJP chief Amit Shah

Bollywood missing: Film stars, a staple of previous UP campaigns, were missing in action though each party used Bollywood movies and songs to great effect

Dacoits underground: Unlike elections in the past, assembly elections 2017 saw no diktats from dacoits

Lows

No Muslim candidate: The BJP did not field a single Muslim candidate in a state that has Indias largest Muslim population. The BJP also asked EC to deploy women at polling booths to check burqa-clad women

Stone pelting: A generally peaceful campaign was marred by stone pelting at senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav in Jaswantnagar, while similar incidents were reported during Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Singhs road show

Beastly barbs: Much name-calling was witnessed. Opponents were branded as gadha (donkey), bhains (buffalo), kabootar (pigeon), magarmachh (crocodile), machhli (fish), sher (lion) and chooha (rat)

Funeral and Festival: PM Narendra Modi claimed that the current state government had favoured Muslim kabristaan (graveyards) over Hindu shamshaan (cremation grounds), and Ramzan over Diwali

Heinous crime: Four candidates faced charges of heinous crimes, including SP leader Gayatri Prasad Prajapati and the BSP candidate from Ayodhya, Bazi Siddiqui  both of whom were accused of gang rape. Peace Party president Mohammad Ayub stands accused of sexual harassment, while independent candidate from Nautanwa, Aman Mani Tripathi is accused of murdering his wife

Five Major Controversies

Yadav family feud

The squabble within Uttar Pradeshs ruling party surfaced on August 14 2016, when Shivpal Yadav claimed he was a victim of a party conspiracy. Party patriarch Mulayam sided with his brother, Shivpal, elevating him to the position of party chief. Chief minister Akhilesh, the son, fought back, eventually wining control of the party by sidelining the old guard

Donkey din

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav punned on actor Amitabh Bachchans advertisements for the Indian Wild Ass sanctuary in Gujarat by urging him to steer clear of the donkeys from Gujarat. PM Narendra Modi responded by eulogising the donkey and saying he works like one for the nation

Mafia family walks barefoot to meet Maya

Family members of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari stood barefoot beside Mayawati when they joined the Bahujan Samaj Party on January 26. This angered some Muslim organisations, which slammed Mayawati for disgracing the family of a freedom fighter. The visitors were barefoot, Mayawati explained, because her official residence is also a memorial to BSP founder Kanshi Ram

Hindutva moves

BJP leader Yogi Adityanath urged people to vote BJP if they didnt want western UP to become another Kashmir where Hindus were forced to flee. The partys Sangeet Som added fuel to the fire by screening videos of his inflammatory speeches from his arrest after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots

Kabristan-shamsaan and Ramzan-Diwali

PM Narendra Modi signalled that while the development agenda is all very well, religious overtones werent far away when he accused the SP government of favouring Muslim kabristaan (graveyards) over Hindu shamshaan (cremation grounds), and Ramzan over Diwali

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Hanoi will soon unveil Vietnams first ever metropolitan rail line, a China built and invested project which will link the citys downtown Cat Linh Street and Hadong district.

The 13-kilometer-long Cat Linh-Hadong urban train project is constructed by the 6th bureau of the China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC). The first carriage of the test train for the elevated metro line was hoisted onto the tracks at one of the stations.

Bidding for communication signals and power supply has ended, and the locomotives will be tested in the second half of the year when the power kicks in.

As the first urban railway in Vietnam, the line entirely uses Chinese technology and standards. The hoisting of the first carriages onto the line indicates that this high-profile project is gathering pace.

The railway, as a major cooperation program between China and Vietnam, is expected to be the first operational metro rail in the country. There will be 12 elevated stations and one train depot on the line.

The project has garnered great interest in Vietnam, and when the initial design was revealed in 2015 to the public, thousands of people offered feedback.

The public in Hanoi are counting the days before the railway operates. I only saw a metro rail on TV before. When the route opens, I will be the first group of passengers to experience the convenient and green transportation, Bui Hai Nam, who lives around the La Khe Station, told the Peoples Daily.

As the citys urbanization speeds up, Hanoi, with a population of 8 million, faces se-vere traffic congestion, which has significant influence on its economic development and peoples daily lives. Local people hope that sky train will ease the situation.

The diligence and perseverance of Chinese builders have impressed the Vietnamese side. Doan Van Dung, an engineer with the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport, said that the professionalism and fighting spirit of Chinese technicians is admirable.
To ensure peaceful counting, police have made heavy security arrangements at all the counting centres in the district. Over 150 cops, led by an additional deputy commissioner of police, will man each centre. Police have also planned to divert traffic from outside the counting centres.

A three-tier security arrangement will be in place at every counting centre, with paramilitary forces stationed at the outer circle, district police and force from Punjab armed police (PAP) at the two inner circles of security.

Deputy commissioner of police Mandeep Singh Sidhu said besides an ADCP, assistant commissioners of police and station house officers will also be deputed at centres. He also added that apart from candidates, no unauthorised person will be allowed to enter the counting centres.

The DCP also added that traffic police will be deputed outside counting centres for smooth traffic management. Police will not allow parking outside counting centres and will divert traffic onto other routes.

He further said cops were already deputed at all the counting centres and police chief Jatinder Singh Aulakh reviewed all the security arrangements on Friday.
The month-long elections in Uttar Pradesh has concluded and Election Commission officials on Saturday will begin counting votes. With a few hours to go before counting starts.

Here are the 10 stories from HT correspondents on UP Elections.

1) Did Netaji Mulayam script drama to give his son control of the party?

In this game of one-upmanship, Akhilesh received overwhelming public support. But what raised eyebrows is the support he got from the MLAs and ministers. Could that have been possible without Mulayams covert support? How come none of the elected family members reached party office to attend a meeting called by Mulayam Singh? Of late, second generation leaders have been spotted more at Akhileshs functions.

2) Akhilesh snatches party from father Mulayam, declared SP president

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav appeared to snatch control of the Samajwadi Party from the old guard on as a meet called by his camp elected him as party chief, replacing father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The dramatic event came barely a day after Mulayam revoked Akhileshs suspension in the party following a groundswell of support for the young leader and intense media scrutiny.

3) 15 defeats in elections and counting: Why UPs Phakkad Baba wont quit

He is 73 years old and gives sermons every evening to scores of disciples at one of the oldest temples in Uttar Pradeshs holy town of Mathura.But this holy man is unlike any other. Phakkad Baba, as he is popularly known, says he has fought in 15 state and general elections in the past four decades.

4) Dimple 2.0: Evolution of a bahu into a star campaigner

Dimple, 39, wasnt just the top woman campaigner, leaving former CM and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati behind in election tours and rallies. She also took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and turned Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shahs metaphorical Kasab, an acronym for the Hindi pronunciation of Congress-SP-BSP, on its head.

Elections are a costly affair, but 25-year-old Vandana Sharma stands out as a candidate with a difference. At the time of filing her nomination papers as an independent candidate, she dipped into her savings that she had built up from her pocket money to make a security deposit of Rs 10,000.

5) Like Father, Unlike Son: Shooting star Abbas Ansari wants to salvage family name

The father is accused of pulling the gun on people; the son is applauded for shooting skits at international competitions and bringing glory to the nation.The contrast wasnt lost as jailed -politician Mukhtar Ansaris 25-year-old son, Abbas Ansari, a four-time national shooting champion, plunged into electoral politics to salvage the tarnished family name.

6) Reel life of UPs ex-bandit queen: Seema Parihar bites the bullet, helps ballot

Former dacoit Seema Parihar, the symbol of terror in the once-notorious Chambal region, has a new role to pay: urging people to vote in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Parihar allegedly abducted nearly 200 people during her days in the badlands which ended in 2000 after she surrendered to the Uttar Pradesh police. She was in prison for a few years after being charged with eight counts of murder and half-a-dozen incidents of kidnapping.

7) Guns and politics: UP polls peak time for hitmen, arms and liquor smugglers

Despite steps to keep the politics clean, all is not well in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.Or what else could explain the emergence of contract killers, weapon suppliers and liquor/narcotic smugglers during the last two months.

To keep a check on the activities of jailed criminals the election commission has directed the state government to strictly implement the ban on use of mobile phones by undertrials.

8) UP election: 6th phase has maximum bahubalis candidates including BSPs Mukhtar Ansari

All political parties seem to be banking on bahubalis to script victory in eastern Uttar Pradesh in the 6th phase of polling scheduled on March 4.There are 126 criminals in the fray for the penultimate phase in the Purvanchal (eastern) region of UP.

9) Twin villages in Uttar Pradesh adopted by PM Modi seek more attention

Jayapur is one of the two villages adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna in 2014. Nagepur, about two kilometres away, is the other village adopted by him in 2016. The twin adoptions raised hopes, pushing the villages into the development spotlight. But not all hopes have come to fruition, the locals say. Heres a look at the ground reality.

10 ) UP election: How campaigning turned bitter with every phase of polling

Desperation of all major players, including the BJP, grew with every phase in the first-ever triangular contest in the state. Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav had Dimple Yadav joining the road show for the first time in the entire poll season.

Call it the demonetisation effect, the campaigning remained a low-key affair till it touched the third phase of elections. Thereafter, with every phase the tone grew shriller as campaigning reached its crescendo by the time it reached the last two phases that covered prime constituencies of veteran leaders like Narendra Modi and Mulayam Singh Yadav.

For more stories on Uttar Pradesh elections, click here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party was set for a sweeping victory in Uttar Pradesh as counting of votes till 5pm showed BJP leading in 324 constituencies.

Here is the latest tally- BJP: 324, SP- Congress: 54, BSP: 20, Others: 5

Exit polls had predicted the BJP will be the single largest party in the politically crucial state, where it fared exceptionally well in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

For the latest LIVE updates on Uttar Pradesh assembly election results, click here

Below are the highlights till 10:08 am:

10:08am: BJP is leading in five out of nine seats in Samajwadi Partys stronghold Jaunpur

10:05am: In Jewar, Thakur Dhirendra Singh of BJP is leading by 2122 votes. Singh is a former aide of Rahul Gandhi and was the spokesperson of the UP Congress before switching over to BJP after being denied a ticket.

In Dadri, BJPs Tejpal Singh Nagar is leading over his nearest rival Satvir Singh Gujjar of BSP by 8147 votes after third round.

10:04am: Son of home minister Rajnath Singh and BJP candidate Pankaj Singh is leading over his nearest rival by 11576 votes in Noida after fifth round.

10:00am: Samajwadi Party leads in three out of four seats in Mainpuri

9:55am: BJP announces firecracker show at 10:30 am as trends show party sweeping the state

9:52am: Latest trends: The BJP is now leading in 252 seats, SP-Congress is leading in 72 seats, whereas the BSP is lagging behind with leads in just 30 seats

9:50am: BJP is leading in five of the six constituency seats in Badaun. Badaun is a bastion of Samajwadi Party

9:45am: BSP supporters outside a party camp in Meerut. Trends show BSP lagging behind in the state.

9:41am: On Soraon seat of Allahabad, Apna-Dal BJP candidate Jamuna Prasad is leading

9:36am: SPs Shivpal Yadav is leading from Jaswant Nagar seat

9:34am: Bharatiya Janata Party is now leading on 210 seats, crossing halfway mark of 202

9:31am: SPs Gayatri Prajapati is leading after first round

9:28am: Congress Jitin Prasada is leading after phase 2 of poll counting. He is contesting from Tilhar constituency in Shahjahanpur

9:23am: BJP workers celebrate in Lucknow after early trends show party leading on over 185 seats

9:20am: BJP is leaping ahead -- the party is leading at three seats in PM Modis constituency Varanasi

9:19am: BJP leading on all the six seats in Unnao

9:15am: BJPs Pankaj Singh is leading over his nearest rival by 4200 votes in Noida; BJPs Tejpal Nagar is leading by 7000 votes in Dadri while in Jewar BSPs Vedram Bhati is leading over Thakur Dhirendra Singh of BJP by 1000 votes.

9:12am: BJP is now leading on 132 seats whereas SP-Congress alliance is leading on 35 seats

9:10am: BJP candidate Manish Asija ahead in Firozabad

9:02am: BJP candidate Jitendra Verma leading in Fatehabad

9:00am: BJP national secretary and candidate from Mathura seat, Sri Kant Sharma, leading

8:57am: SPs Aparna Yadav trailing from Lucknow Cantt constituency. She is contesting against BJPs Rita Bahuguna Joshi

8:53am: BJP candidate Sunil Sharma ahead of Congress candidate and sitting MLA Amarpal Sharma in Sahibbad

8:48am: Azam Khans son Abdullah is trailing from Swar, Rampur, reports ANI

8:46am: BJP is leading on all 10 seats in Kanpur

8:45am: Pankaj Singh of BJP leading in Noida Constituency

8:44am: BJP leading on 5 seats in Lucknow, reports ANI

8:42am: BJPs Garima Singh is leading in Amethi

8:40am: Trends from at least 80 seats show BJP leading in 37 seats and the SP-Congress combine in 20. The Bahujan Samaj Party is ahead in 16 seats.

8:37am: SPs Rafeeq Ansari leading at Meerut City constituency. He is contesting against BJPs former state president Dr Laxmikant Bajpai

8:36am: Muzaffarnagar riot-tainted Suresh Rana of BJP leading on Thanabhawan constituency

8:34am: In Pratapgarh, Aradhana Misra leading on Rampur Khas seat. She is daughter of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari.

8:33am: In Pratapgarh, Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiyya leading on Kunda seat. He is contesting as an Independent.

8:31am: According to the early trends, BJP is leading in 12 seats, SP in 9 seats and BSP in 3 seats (Total: 24 seats)

8:30am: Nahid Hasan of SP leading in Kairana constituency of Shamli District.

8:28am: Drone cameras being used for surveillance near a counting centre in Lucknow

8:25am: Counting begins for 5 seats in Mathura and 12 seats in Allahabad

8:23am: : BSP leading from Bulandshahr, reports ANI

8:21am: First leads in, BJP ahead in Uttar Pradeshs Shamli West

8:20am: Security personnel barricade a road leading to a counting centre in Agra (HT Photo)

8:17am: Follow our Facebook live coverage on the assembly elections results

8:10: Counting underway at a centre in Allahabad

8:05am: In the politically crucial UP, all five exit polls forecast a hung assembly. Two gave the BJP a clear advantage over its nearest rival, the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, while two others predicted a close fight between the two formations.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was seen as a distant third in all exit polls available for the 403-member house.

8:00am: And the counting of votes has begun in the state

7:55am: The counting for seven-phased assembly elections is about to begin. Will it be a win for SP-Congress or will BJP get back to power after 14 years?

7:50am: The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which has a big Jat voter base, has indicated it may support the BJP after the polls.

7:45am: Jats, who played a key role in BJPs Lok Sabha victory, are said to have deserted Modis party. Will it affect partys prospects in western UP?

7;39am: In Amethi assembly constituency, SPs rape-accused minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati contesting against the Congresss Rani Amita Singh and BJPs Garima Singh.

7:35am: Security arrangements in place outside counting centres in Moradabad

7:25am: Constituency of Lucknow Cantt may see a tough fight where Mulayam Singhs younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav is contesting against sitting MLA Rita Bahuguna Joshi of the BJP.

7:15am: Uttar Pradesh formed the backbone of PM Narendra Modis Lok Sabha campaign in 2014 when the BJP won 71 of 80 seats.

For incumbent chief minister Akhilesh Yadav who overcame a bruising public spat within his family, the election is a personal prestige fight.

7:10am: BJPs Keshav Prasad Maurya tells ANI the party will win with 2/3rd majority

7:05am: Ahead of the counting, Samajwadi Party workers are seen performing havan in Lucknow

6:55am: SP-Congress alliance will win today,and we will expose the people who were conspiring against CM: Samajwadi Partys Rajendra Chaudhary tells ANI

6:44am: BJP candidate from Lucknow Cantt Rita Bahuguna Joshi offers prayers at Hazratganjs Hanuman Temple (ANI Photo)

6:30am: Good morning and welcome to the Hindustan Times live coverage of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Follow this space for all the updates from the state where the stakes are high.

Below are the highlights from Friday:

10 pm IST: Sweets being prepared ahead of the election results being counted and declared in Varanasi

Uttar Pradesh: 'Ladoos' being prepared in Varanasi ahead of the #ElectionResults tomorrow pic.twitter.com/8BAdYJDE5K  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 10, 2017

9.30 pm IST: Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Sighvi cites the Bihar election as an example of how exit polls can get the results wrong. The reasons why exit polls get it wrong is because it is most successful in homogenous communities. They are less accurate in planet Earths most diverse spot, India, he said during a press briefing by the party in Parliament.

Watch recording of AICC Press Briefing by @DrAMSinghvi from Parliamenthttps://t.co/je1g4E3B0O  INC India (@INCIndia) March 10, 2017

If the exit poll outcomes are a true reflection of the Uttar Pradesh assembly election results, the Bharatiya Janata Party will emerge as the single largest party, but may fall short of a majority. A post-poll alliance between the SP and the BSP has suddenly cropped up as a realistic proposition.

8.10 pm IST: The Congress said it was open to post-poll alliances, even though it exuded confidence of emerging victorious in all five states, including Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.

It is obvious that neither politics nor nature permits a vacuum. In such a situation, not a single voter or party would want elections after elections.

Therefore, in that situation the most easily available handshake which will ensure a certain amount of continuity in governance without a vacuum will be attempted, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.

8.15 pm IST: We have compiled a list of our best stories on the states election season. Ahead of Saturdays declaration of results, here is all you need to know on the complex dynamics in Uttar Pradesh.

8.00 pm IST: Preparations for the counting of votes cast in the seven rounds of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections have been completed, an Election Commission (EC) said. Counting of the ballots for the 403 assembly seats will begin at 8 am and continue till the process is completed and the results declared.

At places where the distance between the strongrooms and the counting centers is more, sanitized corridors will be created.

Mobile phones have been banned inside the counting centres and information about the developments will be given to journalists only at the media centres made at all counting centres.

7.00 pm IST: Leaders across party lines comment on the results of the exit polls released on Thursday. Senior minister Mohammad Azam Khan dismissed the results and predicted 380 seats for his Samajwadi Party, getting his maths wrong.

IANS reports that Khan predicted 80 seats for the Bahujan Samaj Party, 25 for the BJP while neglecting the Congress party completely. The total number of assembly seats, as per Khans prediction, works out to 485 while the assembly has just 403 seats.

RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav also rubbished the exit polls. Like in Bihar elections, all the exit polls would fall flat in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party-Congress would emerge victorious, Prasad told reporters.

Follow complete coverage of the 2017 assembly elections here.
Controversy makes politics in Uttar Pradesh: a uncle and a nephew at war, politicians abusing each other and alleged attempts to divide people made headlines as the state prepared for elections.

Here are five controversies that made headlines:

Yadav family feud: Uncle vs nephew vs father

The tussle for power in the first family of Uttar Pradesh surpassed all controversies in the poll-bound state in terms of its duration, intensity, and outcome. The feud came out in the open on August 14 last year when in Mainpuri Shivpal Yadav threatened to quit claiming conspiracy against him.

Next day in Lucknow, Mulayam took Shivpals side and warned Akhilesh Yadav that the party will split if Shivpal quits. Thereafter, there was no stopping the feud that saw tit-for-tat sackings from the party organisation and the government. Mulayam sacked Akhilesh from the state presidentship and installed Shivpal on the post. Akhilesh then sacked Shivpal and several other ministers from his cabinet. There were open rebellion, street protests and brawls.

Eventually, Akhilesh backed by his other uncle  Ramgopal Yadav  took control of the party on January 1 this year. Akhilesh was declared the national president, Shivpal was sacked from the state presidentship, Amar Singh was expelled from the party, and the chief minister distributed party tickets according to his wishes. The feud had the long and dark shadow on the poll campaign of the party  Mulayam barely campaigned, Shivpal campaigned only for himself.

Said an unsaid: donkeys

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav courted controversy when he asked actor Amitabh Bachchan not to advertise for the donkeys of Gujarat. I urge the biggest star of the century to stop endorsing the donkeys of Gujarat, Akhilesh said while addressing a rally in Rae Bareli. He was referring to an ad in which Bachchan promotes tourism in Gujarat, PM Narendra Modis home state.

The CMs statement evoked strong reactions.

We are in shock. Donkeys are as important for our livelihood as cows are for Yadavs. The CM should consider sentiments of the Prajapati community and take back his statement, said president of Prajapati Samaj Sangharsh Samiti, Rajan Singh.

Modi hit back at Akhilesh soon. I can work like a donkey for the nation. Akhilesh is afraid of donkeys of Gujarat as donkeys are loyal to their masters ... Akhilesh should know when Congress was in power as part of the UPA, it came out with postal stamps on donkeys of Gujarat, the PM said.

Barefoot politics

The Ansari brothers--famous for their familys contribution in Indias freedom movement and infamous for Mukhtar Ansaris tryst with crime--followed Mayawatis household rules, walking barefoot at her home in Lucknow when they merged their with the BSP on January 26. Mayawati reportedly was wearing slippers.

Fearing that the issue might anger the Muslim community, Mayawati gave a clarification.

My official residence  13, Mall Avenue  is also a memorial constructed to commemorate the contribution of BSP founder Kansi Ram. Its a sacred place revered by Dalits and followers of Kanshi Ram. During the programmes organised by the BSP, people visit here to pay obeisance to the Dalit icon. They walk barefoot inside the memorial and it has been mandatory for all the visitors that they will not enter with shoes. I have different sets of sandals for outside visits as well as for indoor. I do not enter my residence with the sandals that are for outside visits.

Divide, seek votes

BJP leader Adityanath triggered a controversy by calling upon people to vote for the BJP candidate if they dont want western UP to become another Kashmir in the country. Addressing a rally in Hapurs Dholana constituency on January 30, Adityanath covertly raised the issue of Hindu exodus and said it was unfortunate that people have become refugees in their own homes.

Another controversial BJP leader, Sangeet Som, ruffled feathers by screening a 20-minute CD that had video clippings of his speeches about the Muzaffarnagar riots, the lynching of a Muslim man in Bisada village in Dadri, and other events. The district administration confiscated the CD and lodged a case against Som on charges of violation of model code of conduct and spreading hatred among people.

Kabristan-smashan and Ramzan-Diwali divide

PM Modi sparked a row by drawing a parallel between Hindu and Muslim festivals and accusing the administration of practising discrimination on the basis of religion. If you create a kabristaan (graveyard) in a village, then a smashan (cremation ground) should also be created. If electricity is given uninterrupted during Ramzan, then it should be supplied without a break even on Diwali. Bhedbhaav nahin hona chahiye (there should be no discrimination, Modi said while addressing a rally in Fatehpur in an apparent attempt to play the Hindutva card.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was quick to react to Modis comment, saying the divisive remarks betrayed the BJP leaders sense of apprehension and jitter. In an election, people are free to vote for anyone of their choice. But they must remain guarded against any attempt to spread hatred and create division in the society, Gandhi said while addressing a rally in an assembly segment of Amethi.
The assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Indias largest state by population, is being seen as a blueprint for the general election in 2019 and the political parties involved have tried their best to seize the moment.

However, several events and actions have impacted the triangular contest between the Samajwadi Party and its ally, Congress, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party, and the Bharatiya Janata Party in their bid to take hold of the state.

Here are the 5 turning points that affected the course of the crucial polls:

Swami Prasad Mauryas exit from BSP

Swami Prasad Maurya, a close confidant of Mayawati and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, quit the BSP on June 22, 2016, accusing the party chief of corruption and auctioning seats. Mauryas decision to leave came as a severe jolt to the party and exposed the chinks in the BSP as some other leaders also left subsequently joining the BJP.

His departure came at a time when his presence in the party was considered as the ticket to a sure-shot victory. Maurya had played an active role in mobilising MLAs of other parties in favour of BSP candidates in Rajya Sabha elections.

PMs demonetisation drive

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, 2016, when the countdown for the state polls was about to begin. It has remained a major issue on states political horizons and the opposition made one or other counter move to target the PM and the BJP on the issue. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav even provided cash relief to the families of those who died in queues outside the ATMs and the banks post-demonetisation to focus on hardships of the people.

Akhilesh control over SP

The Samajwadi Partys move to unseat Mulayam Singh Yadav and appoint Akhilesh as the party president during an emergency convention on January 1, 2017, marked a new beginning. With this one single stroke, the chief minister got a complete control over the SP and thus in the partys ticket distribution for 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

BSPs tickets to Muslims

The BSPs decision to play the Muslim card by fielding nearly 100 Muslim candidates was considered as a major factor that intensified the battle for the minorities vote. This was the largest chunk of Muslim candidates fielded by any mainstream political party in recent years. The BSPs move forced even its rivals to change their ticket distribution strategy. The BJP decided not to field even a single Muslim candidate while SP and Congress had to rework their strategy.

Congress and Samajwadi Party alliance

The Congress and the SPs alliance was an important milestone in the run-up to 2017 assembly elections. The SP and the Congress had been closely working for weeks to forge an alliance. As a tug of war went on between the two parties for some time over the issue of seat sharing, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra worked behind the scenes to seal a deal with the SP. The SP decided to keep 298 seats leaving 105 for the Congress.
Seven chief ministers in 16 years has left the people of Uttarakhand hoping for a stable government that provide jobs, transparent governance, and most importantly, a full five years of work.

Uttarakhand needs a majority government, says SS Pangti, retired bureaucrat and political commentator. In March last year, for instance, nine Congress legislators de-stabilised the government by rebelling against their party.

This year, the election campaign was less about issues and more about personality cults: specifically, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who criticised the Congress government for its perceived corruption; and Harish Rawat, the sitting chief minister, who projected himself as the son of the soil, and dismissed Modi as a Dilli Wale Baba, or an outsider from Delhi.

Rural distress, urban joblessness

In Uttarakhand, the private sector has been unable to provide meaningful employment to young people fleeing the relentless decline of farm jobs.

Attacks from wild animals, dearth of irrigation water, lack of marketing linkages have left farmers nowhere, said Mukesh Pundir, a young farmer from Dehradun.

In its campaign, Rawat and the Congress distributed job cards to the youth as a symbol of its seriousness in tackling the matter: a move that quickly attracted the Election Commissions ire. For Rawat  who is facing a CBI probe allegedly for offering money to his party MLAs  the outcome of this election could determine his long-term political future.

For the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), the Uttarakhand election, like all state elections since 2014, are about Modi, who addressed four rallies in the state. Party workers say they hope that women voters  who come out to vote in greater numbers than their male counterparts  shall be swayed by Modis promise of jobs and development.

The BJP has not announced a candidate for chief minister, but the party has a several candidates vying for the post: Satpal Maharaj, Trivendra Rawat, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Vijay Bahuguna, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Prakash Pant are just some of the names are doing rounds in the BJP circle.

Last year, the inclusion of nine former Congressmen was seen as a coup for the saffron party; but now, party elders fear, these rebels could pose a problem for the BJP as well.

The highs and lows of the campaign season

Highs

 Widespread use of social media for the first time during campaigning

 Women voters came out in large numbers: voter turnout was 8% higher for women as compared to men.

 Rise of the youth vote  57% of total electorate was under 35 years of age.

 Less defacement of public and private properties due to strict vigil of EC

 The elections saw 61 women contesting polls

Lows

 Drugs, liquor and money poured in to lure voters.

 Teams recovered 1.01 lakh liters liquor, R 3.32 crores cash and 81.22 kg of drugs

 Resentment after ticket distribution saw BJP workers tearing party banners and Congress workers spitting on the posters of Harish Rawat.

What is at stake for Satpal Maharaj

The 66 year-old-godman turned politician Satpal Maharaj is a front runner for Chief Minister, should the BJP win. His proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat weighs in his favour, despite being in the BJP for only three years.

Maharaj entered politics in the late 1980s, and served as Minister of State (Railways) in 1996-97 in H.D. Dev Gowdas short-lived union government.

A bete noir of current chief minister Harish Rawat, Maharaj left Congress and joined the BJP when Rawat was sworn in early 2014. A win for the BJP would vindicate Maharajs decision to change sides; a loss would mean five long years in opposition.

Major controversies

 A torched vehicle, and posters calling for an election boycott in Kumaon led to allegations that the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) were stepping up their agitation in the region

 In a poll rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked voters to stop paying Harda Tax in a direct reference to chief minister Harish Rawat.

 A day before the voting on February 15, a regional channel aired a sting of a BJP turncoat alleging that he was paid crores for contesting under the Congress symbol.

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The true account of a 24-year-old sketch artist from a poor family belonging to the lowest caste in India falling in love with a 20-year-old tourist from Sweden who is part nobility is one way to describe The Amazing Story of the Man who Cycled from India to Europe for Love.

But to say that this book is simply a heartwarming, charming love story would be a great disservice to the novel. This isnt just a book about an impossible romance. It is a chronicle of the Indian caste system, of a dalits life and psyche, and of upper caste Indians closed mentality towards untouchables. This is a story about overcoming gargantuan obstacles through the power of unwavering optimism and faith.

Written by Swedish journalist Per J Andersson and translated into English by Anna Holmwood, the book tells the story of Jagat Ananda Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia, or PK. Born in a small village in Orissa, PK grew up deeply aware of caste as it affected his daily life. Accounts of him being bullied, the stories he hears from his mother, and even his own musings over Mahatma Gandhis choice to coin the term harijan for Dalits are some of the most interesting parts of the book.

A village soothsayers prophecy that he would marry a woman from a faraway land appeals to the rebellious young man whose questioning mind makes him a delightful character on page; possibly, even in person.

With a talent for and an interest in art, PK moves to New Delhi to study the subject. Here, in the heart of secular Indias capital city, he is constantly reminded that the caste system is far from dead. He falls for Puni, an upper-middle-class girl, who pursues him. But that love story is abruptly halted in its tracks when the girls family discovers that he is Dalit. That portion of the book is filled with crisp, sharp prose that could very well be a telling of present-day Delhi societys prejudices.

PKs surprise and gratefulness that Punis family cooks a feast for him when he comes to visit; the uncomfortable silence when they find out hes dalit, broken only by the sound of Punis mother slapping her hand against her forehead and saying Oh, my God, are not just scenes from a bygone era, but a reality of Indian society even today. These portions are, perhaps, the most interesting parts of this book, and elevate it far beyond a simple romance or travel novel.

The protagonist Jagat Ananda Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia, or PK (Courtesy PKs Twitter feed)

After hes rejected by Puni, PK falls into the habit of drinking and wallows in the pain of rejection for some time before resuming his work as a portrait artist in Delhis Connaught Place. His work is featured in several newspapers including The Statesman.

It is in CP that PK meets his destiny: a Swedish woman named Lotta who, rather charmingly, likens him to a darker version of Jimi Hendrix. A quiet romance ensues, and eventually PK begins his journey towards Sweden to be with her.

The book has been positioned as a memoir and travelogue, but it is more. It is an account of the hippie route from India, through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Europe seen through fresh eyes by a delightfully optimistic and astute character. PKs observations of Afghanistan and Iran are incisive: an encounter with an Afghan woman who is part of a polygamous marriage and his relentless questioning of her  How do you feel when you have to share him with other women coupled with the observation that she seemed brainwashed make for compelling reading. PK is not judgmental; he observes, accepts, learns and does not moralise. This is refreshing.

His reunion with Lotta in Sweden and the brief portions of the book dedicated to his life in the foreign land with his beloved are not as fleshed out as one would have liked. But then this is a novel about the journey and not the destination. It is enough to know that after a four-month long journey spanning over 11,000km, on May 28, a tired and rather ripe PK found Lotta waiting for him in her hometown Boras, and cared nothing for anything except the fact that they were finally reunited.

The author Per J Andersson (Courtesy the authors Twitter feed)

Despite being a heartwarming read, the book does suffer from several shortcomings. The prose is sparse and the authors attempts at metaphors fall short.

The novels orientalism is glaringly offensive at times. The key to writing a memoir and/or non-fiction narrative is the selection and arrangement of details. Often, The Man Who reads like a retelling of an Indian story seen through a Caucasian eyes. Phrases that have been used to death (and yet refuse to die in Western tellings of India) are littered throughout. Parts of the book are set in Chandni Chowk  a place of countless smells, sights, and food. But it is described only by the smell of jasmine and patchouli! Then theres a line somewhere describing the book as Slumdog Millionare, but true. This is deeply offensive as the difference between the characters in Slumdog and PK are stark, both culturally and socio-economically. These nuances have, however, been lost in the Westernised telling of India that drowns out the interesting portions of this novel.

The women characters in the novel are two-dimensional at best. Even Lotta, the main love interest and the reason behind PKs incredible journey, barely shows up, and her personality is not fleshed out. Puni is also dismissed as a naive upper-middle-class brat who would rather follow her fathers instructions than her own heart. Behind the notional space dedicated to these women in the story, one can see the potential for complex interesting characters who are bound by status, have their own issues and dreams that are equal to PKs. This aspect is left entirely unexplored. A deeper look into these two women would have made for a richer, more balanced story.

Overall, this is feel-good book; easily devoured within a day or two. Yet, it leaves the bibliophile wishing for some more depth for there are ravines in this story that remain unexplored.

Avantika Mehta is an independent journalist.
Tswang Pembas White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings: A Tibetan Tale of Love and War comes as a gift from the past. The late doctor, considered the founding father of Tibetan literature in English, had previously authored two books: his autobiography, Young Days in Tibet (1957), and Idols on the Path (1966), the first Tibetan novel in English.

His posthumous offering, White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings, is fiction on an epic scale and gives readers a birds eye view of Tibets tumultuous history, its deep spirituality, and acts as a geography lesson on Tibet serving as the Water Tower of Asia. In this novel, Tsewang Pemba has evoked the tribal milieu of Kham, Tibets wild east with its own sense of family and tribal honour where revenge and banditry were a way of life. Above all, White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings tells the fate of Tibet, long isolated and friendless, when it was confronted by the modern world in the form of communist China.

Tibets response to this challenge was armed resistance which was scattered, uncoordinated and equipped with antiquated weapons. Sometimes it took the form of spiritual resistance, a form of civil disobedience, of monks and monasteries peacefully ignoring the increasing and insistent demands of the Peoples Liberation Army at great peril to themselves and their monasteries.

In the 1920s, two American missionaries, set up a Lutheran church in Nyakyil, the Middle Nyarong in Kham in eastern Tibet. They stepped in just before the impending face-off between Tibet and resurgent China. They had sailed from San Francisco to spread the gospel on the Roof of the World. At the time, China, through which the couple entered Tibet, was a volatile cocktail of warlordism, a weak nationalist government straining to unite the country, civil war between the nationalist and communist Chinese, the Japanese invasion, World War II and civil war again.

In Shanghai, the couple was encouraged by Reverend Frank Parkinson of the Spirit of Bethlemen Lutheran Mission to the Far East to set up a mission in Kham. You see, its like this as I see it. Tibet is the most religious country in the world. It dominates the spiritual world of Central Asia. A victory for us in Tibet would be Joshua bringing down Jericho. All Central Asia would go Christian. All Buddhist lands and hearts would be the Lords, he said.

Tsewang Pemba

Reverend Parkinson hoped the Spirit of Bethlemen, which he mischievously abbreviates in the book to SOB, would give John Martin Stevens and his wife Mary the courage to accomplish this enormous undertaking high on the Tibetan Plateau. The reverend made the couples missionary work in Tibet sound like an adventure, heightening their sense of anticipation and excitement in spreading Christianity in remote, forbidden Tibet. Parkinson considered pastor John Martin Stevens and Mary Stevens and their mission station in Nyarong in Kham the thin edge of the wedge that would prise open Tibet to the Lord.

The couple discovered Kham in the same state of turmoil as nationalist China but on a lesser scale. The Tibetans were blissfully oblivious of their coming fate at the hands of the communist Chinese. Instead, they were ferociously busy with family and tribal feuds and banditry. In painting a picture of a self-absorbed Tibet unaware of the forces intent on transforming it to what each considered modern and civilised, Tsewang Pemba paints a clear picture of Tibet being easy prey for the opposed forces of Christianity and communism. That Tibet fell so easily to communism is the tragedy at the heart of this gripping story, which Pemba tells with relish and a true storytellers skill.

Tsewang Pembas admiration for Kham and the Khampas is abundantly clear. Tutoring the Stevens on Tibets history, culture, religion and racial composition, Reverend Parkinson expansively holds forth: Here in the Tibetan highlands, called Kham there live the finest of all tribes in the worldthe Khampas. I know the Khampas well  perhaps too well  and Ive spent many years with them. Even the British, who are not given to superlatives like us, have described them as men and women of magnificent physique, immense courage and great honour. Let me assure you, the Khampas are everything the British say. Recently, Charles Bell, a British Political Officer in the Indian Himalayas, had this to say: And as regards physical strength and hardihood, there are few, if any, finer races in the world than some of the tribes in Eastern Tibet.

The reader suspects the author harboured the fond wish that if only the Khampas had abandoned their internecine tribal wars, stopped regarding the Lhasa government with disdain, and had united as one pan-Tibet force, they could have successfully warded off communist China. This is reinforced by the repeated boasts of some Khampa characters in the story that, in hand-to-hand combat, One Khampa is equal to ten Chinese.

Read more: Book review: The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong is gripping

Tsewang Pemba, who was a reputed medical doctor operating out of Thimphu and Darjeeling, has also used his medical expertise to bring alive the story. He makes the missionary couple bring the benefits of Western medical knowledge to Nyarong. In gratitude, one of the most powerful chieftains of Nyarong allowed them to set up a church, only to have it set ablaze by a rival tribe opposed to the spread of an alien god amongst Tibetans.

In the blurb, Tsering Shakya, historian and professor at the University of British Columbia and author of The Dragon in the Land of Snow:A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947, sheds some light on the title. White Crane, Lend Me Your Wing, a poem by the Sixth Dalai Lama in which he consoles his followers banished by the Manchu in 1720, speaks through the title of Dr TY Pembas novel as a wistful plea for the return of the exiled Tibetans to their cherished homeland.

Tsewang Pemba has peopled his minds Nyarong with a crowd of characters, which sometimes makes it difficult for the reader to follow the story. The pace of the narrative, which ends around the early 1950s, also slackens. But these are small faults in a novel that has managed to recreate the world of old Tibet. Perhaps this is Tsewang Pembas way of saying that Tibets story is still un-finished.

Finally, this treasure was discovered by Shelly Bhoil, a PhD scholar, whose thesis is on Tibetan nationalism in exile through the evolution of Tibetan English fiction. I live in Brazil but was fortunately in India when the late Dr Pembas daughter Lhamo Pemba was travelling to Darjeeling from the US. When she handed me her fathers cherished treasure, the first thing that came to mind was the terma textual tradition of Tibet. I felt I had found an intellectual treasure, she said. At an emotional level, because of the trust which Lhamo Pemba invested in me, I felt a sense of responsibility to bring his works to the light of day, and I am glad I could do just that.

Thubten Samphel is the director of the Tibet Policy Institute and author of Falling Through the Roof
The worlds biggest economies should reaffirm their pledge to reject competitive currency devaluations and protectionism, the head of the European Central Bank said on Thursday, after rumors this commitment could be watered down.

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 top economies are set to meet on March 17-18 for the first time since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

A draft of their communique, seen by Reuters, appears to accommodate his more protectionist views on trade.

ECB President Mario Draghi, who will attend the meeting, said free trade and free-floating currencies brought economic stability and prosperity and batted back U.S. accusations that Germany was exploiting a weak euro to gain a trade advantage.

I think its important to reiterate the commitments that were undertaken by our leaders and our finance ministers, Draghi told a news conference after the ECBs policy meeting.

Statements like these have been the pillar of the stability that has accompanied world growth in the last 20 years and longer.

The draft communique, which is dated March 1 and may still change, drops pledges to resist all forms of protectionism, refrain from competitive devaluations and not to target our exchange rates for competitive purposes.

Instead, it says: We will maintain an open and fair international trading system and we reaffirm our previous exchange rate commitments.

Asked about the communique, Draghi said: I know of the rumors but I dont know what to say about that, where they come from, whether theyre true or not.

Trump has threatened German car companies with a border tax of 35 percent on vehicles imported to the United States.

His trade adviser Peter Navarro has called the $65 billion U.S. trade deficit with Germany, which will host the next G20 in Baden-Baden, one of the most difficult trade issues.

Draghi defended Germany, a country where his easy money policy is far from popular, and the ECBs own approach to the exchange rate.

I dont think there is any merit in attacking Germany, Draghi said.

The exchange rate of the euro is determined by market forces, which is consistent with the long-standing commitments of the international community.
China will continue to be an anchor of international stability, an engine of global growth, a champion of peaceful development and a contributor to global governance, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the press Wednesday, while highlighting the important breakthroughs China accomplished in its diplomatic undertakings.

Wang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing.

The minister said that the country has accomplished a great deal of outcomes from diplomatic causes since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012.

Chinese diplomats have, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the core, ushered into a new chapter of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics by rising to challenges, riding the difficulties and breaking new ground, he added.

He used three key words of visionary, pioneering and consistent to describe Chinas diplomacy.

China's far-sighted vision can be proved by a series of new ideas and thoughts put forward by Xi, the diplomat explained, elaborating that getting a right pulse to the historic trend, Xi has proposed to forge partnerships that replace confrontation with dialogue, and alliance with partnership, build a new type of international relationships featuring win-win cooperation, and jointly construct a community of shared future for all of mankind.

These new ideas and concepts can not only serve as action guideline for Chinas diplomacy in the new era, but exert far-reaching influences on the human beings development and progress, Wang pointed out.

By abandoning the old concepts of alliance and confrontation as well as old mind-set of zero-sum games, these thoughts with distinct Chinese characteristics provide significant implications for the world as well, he added.

By saying pioneering, he means that China has taken innovative and pioneering diplomatic activities to serve the interests of the nation and its people.

The global partnership network China covered has offered favorable environment and strategic support to domestic development, while the Belt and Road initiative put forward by China ushered the country into a new round of openness to and mutually beneficial cooperation with the outside world, Wang explained.

Thanks to the diplomats efforts, the overseas diplomatic programs related to peoples livelihood

have effectively guarded the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises, the minister added.

Chinas consistent diplomacy has not only managed to deal with all kinds of uncertainties, but also showed Chinas willpower and confidence, Wang noted, adding that it also represents Chinas high sense of responsibility as a major country.

China has been firm on the path of peaceful development though turbulence, chaos, wars, conflicts and confrontation prevailed the region and the world at large, the minister illustrated the evidence.

Whats more, China has been making efforts to safeguard, reform and improve the current international order and system despite the mounting doubts over the latter. China always holds high the banner of multilateralism, openness and inclusiveness against the rising tide of de-globalization and protectionism, Wang stressed.

As China will host its 19th National Congress of the CPC this year, Chinas diplomacy will forge ahead under the guidance of Xis diplomatic philosophies, Wang pledged at last.
Japan rejected U.S. demands for more access to Japans car market on Friday, casting doubt over whether it can avoid friction over autos and agriculture imports at high level bilateral talks on economic relations next month.

The joint economic dialogue, to be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, could re-write ties between the worlds largest and third-largest economies.

We do not impose import tariffs on cars, and we do not impose any non-tariff barriers, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

Our position is that Japans auto market is already open. This is something that will be settled in our bilateral dialogue.

Suga issued the rebuff after the U.S. government submitted a statement to the World Trade Organization on Wednesday saying a variety of non-tariff barriers impede access to Japans automotive market.

The U.S. government also said Japans agriculture sector remains protected by substantial barriers, giving the clearest indication yet of where battle lines will be drawn in the upcoming bilateral talks.

In 2015 the U.S. government submitted a similar statement to the WTO as part of a regular review of Japans trade policies, but this years statement could carry more weight given the new U.S. administrations emphasis on renegotiating trade deals.

Japanese officials have indicated that they would prefer the talks focused on infrastructure, foreign direct investment and energy to avoid more thorny issues like autos and agriculture.

Japan had already agreed to gradually lower tariffs on U.S. beef and pork for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a multilateral trade deal that was left in tatters after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact.

The new U.S. president has clearly indicated that he prefers to curb free trade to protect U.S. jobs, raising fears of a return to trade friction that marred U.S.-Japan relations in the 1980s.

Trump also rattled Japanese policymakers by criticizing the small number of U.S. auto exports to Japan shortly after taking office in January.

If pressed on agriculture, Japan could fall back on some parts of the TPP agreement, some economists say.

The U.S. would like to increase agriculture exports, but Japan has already made some concessions for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said Daiju Aoki, economist at UBS Securities.

If the United States uses taxes to curb auto imports, that would severely damage Japans auto industry. I hope this can be avoided.

Autos, which have been a source of trade friction before, could be more difficult. Trump has sent mixed signals on whether he supports a Republican proposal to use a border tax to lower imports of specific goods.

The potential damage to Japans economy would be significant because it relies on its auto sector to drive exports and create jobs domestically.
Volkswagen has signed an agreement with Tata Motors to explore cooperation in India, company sources close to the matter said.

Tata Motors has been in talks with the German automaker for more than a year now, over sharing its new advanced modular platform (AMP) development, possibilities of a joint venture or a contract manufacturing with Volkswagen.

Tata Motors MD and CEO Guenter Butschek had on Tuesday confirmed the news of talks, saying, We are in the midst of discussions. We will let you know in good time.

VW, already the biggest carmaker by sales in China, is embracing electric cars and looking for new markets as it battles to recover from its diesel emissions scandal.

According to Autocar India, the automakers signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday and are expected to make an announcement on Friday. Under the partnership, Volkswagen has agreed to make use of Tatas AMP chassis system developed by Germanys EDAG firm, while Tata is keen on using Volkswagens electrical architecture, which is better and more economical than its own, the AutocarIndia report says.

A previous VW attempt to expand in emerging markets through an alliance with Suzuki Motor Corp. collapsed in 2015 after a fierce dispute. Both Tata Motors as well as Volkswagen have been struggling to find a right product mix to succeed in a very price-sensitive market like India.

With its passenger vehicle market share dwindling to under 6% in India and profits dropping by 96% in the October to December quarter, Tata Motors needs Volkswagen in order to learn the German know-how of making better cars and implementing it cost-effectively.

Tata Motors, whose claim to global fame is the one-lakh-rupee Nano, has a strong sales and manufacturing network, which Volkswagen needs to reach that extra mile it has been struggling to go alone. Volkswagen cheating in emissions tests that affected almost 11 million vehicles globally across its brands such as VW, Audi, Skoda and Porsche, has also caused a dent to its brand image.Besides, penalties and damages to be paid are also huge.

In an attempt to conquer emerging markets, Volkswagen has redrawn its China plans to make a budget car, company sources told Reuters, saying the automaker has pared costs for its MQB mass-market platform. The German automaker is likely to make an announcement at the Shanghai Auto Show next month.

We will continue to work on the budget car and we will offer good solutions here in the foreseeable future, chief executive Matthias Mueller told Reuters in Geneva, without elaborating.

Interestingly, Tata Motors owns Jaguar Land Rover, the Britain luxury car brand which is a direct rival of Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group AG.

Tata Motors is also undergoing a major transformation in its home. The company is cutting down its number of suppliers and also its platforms from six to two in order fore more economical and efficient production so as to adjust more quickly to market trends.

The strategy is to have 80-90% commonality among all models made at Tata, the company boss Butschek said at the Geneva Motor Show.

The exact terms of the partnership and possibilities of the products will only be known as the announcements are made. But for both the parties, the sign on the paper could become a win-win situation.

According to IHS Markit, light vehicle sales in India are expected to more than double to 7.1 million cars by 2025 from 3.4 million last year. With cheaper labour, materials and a big push from the government to make in India, India has become a bright spot for Western carmakers looking to grow.
Edwin Samuel Montagu is not a name that will resonate with Indians today. Born in 1879 and dying in 1924, he belongs to a bygone era  the Jewish MP who opposed the Balfour Declaration.

The name Edwin Samuel Montagu means little if anything to contemporary India. And yet, a hundred years ago, in 1917, the 38-year-old Montagu was perhaps the most discussed, the most important Englishman for our country.

Montagu had been appointed secretary of state for India that year. The position made him virtually in charge of the brightest gem on the British Crown, Indias remote controller. A liberal in every sense of the term, Montagu was a radical if not quite a free-thinking politician who could not be stereotypical. Responding to the growing demand for self-government in India, for Swaraj, Montagu proposed to his Cabinet the gradual development of free institutions in India with a view to ultimate self-government.

In 1917 this was a huge leap forward, which consternated conservative opinion in London. Curzon, then the Lord Privy Seal, predictably opposed this colleagues formulation as being too liberal, too radical, and suggested an alternative formulation that suggested the government would work towards increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realisation of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire. Montagus formulation was dropped and Curzons accepted, leading to the Government of India Act of 1919. Crucial was the dropping of Montagus self-government by government.

A bicameral central legislature came into being, presaging our Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, provincial legislatures with partially responsible governments comprising some Indian ministers as well; and a Public Services Commission. These were foundational developments. They cannot all be ascribed to Montagu who, in any case, shared his credit with Chelmsford. But to the extent that any major edifice, physical or ideational, has a principal architect, Montagu was the principal architect of the Montford Reforms of 1917 and of the Government of India Act of 1919.

As India gets to know the outcome on Saturday of the elections held to the assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa, it can reflect on the fact that the seeds of self-government, propagated by Indian hands and Indian agitation, were sown on the constitutional seed-bed by a young English liberal.

Prior to making his recommendations in the report that came to be known as the Montford Reforms, after the first four letters of his surname and those of Indias then Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, Montagu toured India, triggering a new zeal for political reform, for franchise and for representation. The Theosophists Annie Besant and Margaret Cousins catalysed an all-India demand for womens voting rights equal to those of men. This was not granted instantly. Reform is reform, not revolution; but the process had begun.

And once the Act became operational, giving only limited franchise, based on property, educational and titular norms, it was only a question of time before women got the vote. A joint parliamentary committee, while not conceding female suffrage, enabled it by leaving it to provincial legislatures to consider it. Some of these legislatures which had come up, thanks in great measure to Montagu, got into action mode swiftly, and gave women voting and contesting rights. The highly perspicacious princely state of Travancore-Cochin showed the way which Madras and Bombay took eagerly.

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay has written in her autobiography about how difficult it was for a woman even to get a Congress ticket in the elections held in 1926 under the Montford Act of 1919. She was defeated but the fact that she stood was in itself historic and inspirational. The pioneering reformer Muthulakshmi Reddi stood and won in 1927, becoming Indias first woman legislator in 1927. No Muthulakshmi, no Devadasi abolition; no Montford, no Muthulakshmi.

Today, when women voting and contesting elections is taken for granted, one cannot afford to forget the contribution made towards that fundamental force in Indias democracy by a very young, a very radical and a very little-remembered Edwin Montagu.

Montagus independent spirit showed itself in another theatre as well. On August 23, 1917, the House of Commons discussed Palestine in what has become famous as the Balfour Declaration. As the only Jew in the Cabinet at the time, Montagu could have been expected to support the idea of Palestine for the Jews. But Montagu being Montagu, he did the opposite. He passionately opposed the motion and submitted a memorandum to the Cabinet in which he said : Zionism has always seemed to me to be a mischievous political creed, untenable by any patriotic citizenI assert that there is not a Jewish nationWhen the Jews are told that Palestine is their national home, every country will immediately desire to get rid of its Jewish citizens, and you will find a population in Palestine driving out its present inhabitants, taking all the best in the country

It is quite true that Palestine plays a large part in Jewish history, but so it does in modern Mohammedan historyI would say that the Government will be prepared to do everything in their power to obtain for Jews in Palestine complete liberty of settlement and life on an equality with the inhabitants of that country who profess other religious beliefs. I would ask that the Government should go no further.

Montagu died prematurely, aged 45. His life was not happy. His marriage to Venetia Stanley was devoid of joy, it is said, because he was homosexual. If so, that was one matter about which he was not frank.

In Flagstaff House, Barrackpore, the riverside residence of the governor of West Bengal, stands a statue of Edwin Samuel Montagu, brooding over some matter, problem or dilemma. The inscription on its pedestal says, simply, of its tenant: amidst great events greatly served the Empire and the people of India

Gopalkrishna Gandhi is distinguished professor of history and politics, Ashoka University

The views expressed by the author are personal

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The BJP top brass has started the process to pick its chief minister for Uttarakhand with poll surveys pointing to the partys win in the assembly election, the results of which will be out on Saturday, insiders said.

BJP chief Amit Shah is keeping a watch over the process that is being kept under wraps, they said. He (Shah) recently sought complete information on its four second-rung leaders being considered for the top job from his sources in the partys state unit, a BJP senior leader told HT on Friday.

He was referring to the partys state chief Ajay Bhatt, its national executive member Satpal Maharaj and two other leaders Prakash Pant and Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Maharaj, 66, a relatively new entrant to the BJP, happens to be the most senior leader among them. A former Congress strongman, the spiritual guru joined the BJP after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections following his differences with chief minister Harish Rawat.

Maharaj had been a Union minister of state in the HD Deve Gowda government in the late 1990s. Three other BJP veterans competing for the post of chief minister also have administrative experience. Pant had been the parliamentary affairs minister besides being the first Speaker of the Uttarakhand assembly. Singh and Bhatt had also been ministers. Singh had worked for the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and Bhatt had been associated with it since his childhood days. Both rose through the ranks like Pant, a BJP strategist.

All of them have a long political innings to play as they are below 60. All these four second-rung leaders of our party fulfil all its administrative and organisational criteria required for the post of chief minister, a senior state BJP office-bearer said. The high command is taking no chance and started the selection process long before the counting day to ensure the best pick for the top job, he said.

No wonder, the partys top brass is appraising all the four candidates administrative and organisational capabilities, a highly placed source in the BJP said. According to him, it is being closely assessed who among the four has the capability to deliver the best in terms of governance.

It is also being assessed who among them would be the most acceptable to party workers and the elected legislators, a party leader said, adding that the best among the four would be picked by the central parliamentary board. His name would be announced among the members of the partys legislature wing and they will accept him as their leader before he would be declared as the chief minister, the party leader clarified.

Sources said Shah and other central leaders have had separate meetings with the four prospective CMs in Delhi.

Maharaj, when contacted, refused to comment on the selection process, nor on reports about the high command having separate meetings with the prospective chief ministers.

Such interactions are common in a party and also a part of the political process, said Maharaj.

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A six-month-old medical report from a mohalla clinic in Delhi showing an abnormally high blood sugar level of 9,481.7 mg/dl for a patient, has gone viral on social media.

The normal level is usually less than 140 mg/dl, post meals.

The AAP government, which runs the clinics, has however dismissed the report as forged, saying such messages are being spread to discredit the mohalla clinic system.

The HbA1c test result, which measures the average blood glucose level over a period of time, shows the glucose levels of the patient are 332%, whereas a healthy person should have below 6%.

This report resurfaced on Twitter on Friday, days after Delhis vigilance team started investigation into mohalla clinic doctors, calling patients for unnecessary follow-ups.

Twitterati went berserk with comments, blaming doctors and the labs for botched tests and treatment.

OMG!!! This is shocking. (Arvind) Kejriwal ji PM ki degree ko chodo, zara mohalla clinics ke doctors ke bhi degree check karo (Kejriwal, forget the PMs degree, check the degrees of the doctors of mohalla clinics), read a tweet from the account of Pune-based Dr Majboor Gulati.

Delhi governments health department officials, however, said that the report is most likely a fake one as there have been cases of forging reports in the past.

I have not seen the report. However, a similar report had been doing the rounds on social media last year and we found that it had been forged using stationery from the labs, an official said, adding that labs have been asked to be careful about their stationery.

Noting that the mohalla clinic system, which provides consultation, medicine and tests, has benefitted several people, the official said these messages are being spread to discredit the system.

He also said that even if such a report a came from their labs, there is a doctor to check it. And, the doctor would never treat based on such a test report they would resend the samples.

Last year, BJP MLA Vijender Gupta had questioned the quality of healthcare provided at mohalla clinics, citing the example of a pregnant woman who was diagnosed with thalassemia at one clinic and the report was allegedly incorrect according to a private lab.

A D-10 haemoglobin electrophoresis by Bio-Rad, the accepted golden standard test, was performed for the woman and she was found to be carrying thalassemia trait, an official had informed HT.

Carrying the trait does not mean that a person is suffering from thalassemia, but, if the husband also carries the gene, there are 25% chances that the baby suffers from the genetic blood defect, the official explained.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has pulled up the Arvind Kejriwal government for spending R 29 crore in advertisements outside Delhi, which it said was beyond its responsibility.

The government also received flak for issuing advertisements worth Rs 24 crore that were in violation of financial propriety and Supreme Court regulations.

The central auditors report on social sector for the financial year 2015-16 was tabled in the Delhi assembly on Friday.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came back to power in Delhi in February 2015. It presented its first full-fledged budget for the financial year 2015-16, allocating R 522 crore to the department of publicity and information.

Read: AAP ads go in-house to save money for key schemes

Though the ad budget was brought down to R100 crore in the revised estimates, the actual cost of advertisements released during 2015-16 may go beyond R 114.21 crore.

Supreme Court guidelines violated

In the report, the CAG pulled up the Kejriwal government for using the name and symbol of the AAP in official advertisements and referring to the government as Kejriwal sarkar and Aam Aadmi Party Sarkar.

This, the CAG said, was against Supreme Court guidelines that say there should be political neutrality in government advertisements and they should not glorify politicians.

The CAG also said the advertisements on womens safety attempted to project the central government and the Delhi Police in a negative light, again violating the Supreme Courts guidelines.

On test check of records, audit observed that expenditure of R 24.29 crore was incurred on advertisements and publicity campaigns that were not in conformity with the generally accepted principles of financial propriety or the guidelines on content regulation approved by the Supreme Court, the report said.

Over 85 per cent of expenditure of R 33.40 crore incurred in one specific publicity campaign pertained to advertisements released outside Delhi,which was beyond the responsibility of the Delhi government, it added.

Non-verified content in advertisements

In its report, the auditor highlighted instances of non-verifiable content in advertisements. One of them is related to claims of saving R 347 crore in construction of three bridges and the second on construction of dispensary at R 20 lakh as compared to R 5 crore by the previous governments.

Read: AAP govt spent Rs 15 crore in 3 months on advertisements: RTI reply

Audit requested the public works department for details of the project and expenditures incurred. However, no details were providedthe total expenditure projected was only an assessment and was not the actual expenditure incurred. Audit observed that two of the three bridges were yet to be fully completed though they had been open to traffic and the projected savings was admittedly based on assessment and not on actual expenditure, the report said, adding that the cost of balance work was not informed to the audit.

Shabdarth did not achieve objectives

The auditor observed anomalies in the establishment of Shabdarth, a registered society established under the department of information and publicity. The auditor said that the objective with which the organization was set up, to rationalise expenditure on advertisements, was not achieved.
She cuts quite a figure. A woman riding a cart all by herself  very often a little child is seen sitting on the cart while she pedals along.

This is a rare sight in Delhi and each time we spot Salma  and it is always on Lodhi Road  we instinctively look again to confirm the sight. Once we saw plastic flowers decked around her pull carts handle bar.

Quite a few residents of upscale Nizamuddin East, a nearby neighbourhood, have also spotted Salma with her cart around the same place in central Delhi and they all told us of being struck by her presence.

In some ways, Salma appears to be a suitable feminist icon. She lives without a man, is a single parent and earns her independent living (Rs 4,000 monthly) by supplying water from a tube well to two public toilets in the Lodhi Road area.

That is just one part of the story, however.

One evening, while carrying a giant water drum on her cart to a public toilet near Oberoi Hotel flyover, Salma spotted us and immediately pulled the breaks  it was unusual because she mostly keeps to herself and had once politely declined to talk to us. This time though she easily answered all our queries about her life.

It turned out that Salmas biography was more about circumstances than choices.

Although she is unique, her situation may illustrate the hard lives of thousands of women in this city sharing her economic and social situation.

Salma has no house, but once she had a home with a roof, an illegal shanty on the banks of the Yamuna. It was demolished years ago by government authorities. Since then she has been sleeping on a pavement near Sai Baba temple on Bhishm Pitamah Road with her youngest daughter Muskan  the child often seen on the cart.

Salmas husband, Sheikh Kaloo, died of alcohol abuse a few years ago. She has four other children. Three live in schools run by NGOs. One of her boys mysteriously disappeared a couple of years ago when he was six.

I looked for Akbar in so many places, she told me. Im still looking for him... perhaps somebody took him away... perhaps he went on his will... maybe he will come back to me. I look out for him every day. Not a day passes without me thinking about Akbar.

On finally walking back to her cart, Salma flashed a farewell smile so uninhibited and spontaneous that you might imagine she were leaving a friends drawing room after a pleasant meal.

As she started to pedal, she said, picking up speed, I forgot to tell you one very important matter. Salma is only a name that people call me with. In the I-card the government gave to me, I am Shehnaz.
Delhi Police Crime Branch on Thursday arrested a 30-year-old shooter, who was reportedly planning to kill Naresh Balyan, AAP MLA from Uttam Nagar, and also the deputy superintendent of Sonipat jail.

Police said the accused Sombir was reportedly a member of Haryanas Rajesh Nahri gang and Delhis Manjeet Mahal-Nafe Mantri gang, and was wanted in several criminal cases including murder and robbery.

Sombir was wanted in several cases including a murder case, wherein he and an associate Punit Yadav had shot dead a property dealer, Bijender Kumar, on November 8 over a dispute,said Ramgopal Naik, DCP (crime).

Naik said the accused was planning to kill Uttam Nagar MLA Naresh Balyan. He was planning to kill Balyan as he thought the MLA was favouring the rival party on a property dispute matter. Deputy SP of Panipat Jail was also a target, because he had reportedly taken action against Sombirs mischievous activities in Jhajjar Jail, he said.

During investigation into the murder of Bijender Kumar, Sombir was identified as the main suspect. With the help of local intelligence, his location was traced.

The police then received a tip-off that Sombir would go to Dwarka Sector 16A on March 6 to possess illegal weapons. A trap was laid by policemen in mufti near the spot at about 4.50 pm. His car was intercepted under metro line, Dwarka Sector 16A. He tried to flee, but the team overpowered him, Naik said.

During questioning, Sombir said that he was first arrested in 2000 by Haryana police in Sonipat, who booked him under Arms Act, when he was 15 years old. In 2003, he was arrested by Delhi Police in a case of attempt to murder and in a case of car-jacking reported from Gurgaon.

In 2004, he and his associates shot dead a man from Bahadurgarh, Haryana, over personal enmity. Since then, he has been arrested in several cases. He was declared as a proclaimed offender by the court. We have informed other states about his arrest. Further investigation in the matter is on, a police officer said.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation launched Indias largest waste-to-energy plant at Narela-Bawana on Friday.

Venkaiah Naidu, Union minister for urban development, inaugurated the project at the Civic Centre. The project will use 2,000 metric tonnes of waste every day to generate 24 mega watt of energy.

The plant is expected to provide respite from overflowing landfill sites in Delhi as it will incinerate the waste to generate power. Delhi has four landfill sites, of which three  Bhalswa (North Delhi), Ghazipur (East Delhi) and Okhla (South Delhi)  are overflowing.

The landfill site at Narela-Bawana, which is also hailed as the first scientifically engineered landfill in Delhi, is the only one that still has capacity left.

The project, built over 100 acres of land, has been developed on public private partnership model by Ramky Group, a Hyderabad-based waste management company, in collaboration with the North Corporation.

As per the agreement, the electricity generated from the plant will be sold by the concessionaire. However, the company will share 3 of the profit with North Corporation. Thus the civic agency will become the first corporation in Delhi to generate revenue from the project. The decision has been taken on the directions of National Green Tribunal, said a senior north corporation official.

Officials say the tendering for the integrated municipal solid waste to energy plant at Narela-Bawana was done in 2009. It included door-to-door collection and composting of waste, segregation of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) (which can be used as a fuel and to generate electricity) at the landfill and establishment of waste to energy plant.

In 2010, the concessionaire started door-to-door collection of waste from Rohini and Civil Lines zones. It also started composing and storing the segregated RDF. However, disposal became an issue. To resolve the problem, process to establish a waste to energy plant started, said a senior Department for Environment Management Service official.

But the project got delayed due to a dispute between the North Corporation and Ramky Group over alleged violations of agreement. Work was resumed after NGT stepped intevened in December 2016.

After the NGTs direction, the contractor started running the WTE plant on trial basis and using half of the RDF for producing energy, said a senior North Corporation.

At the WTE plant, both the boilers (each with a capacity to consume 600 tonnes of RDF) are ready to use. We have also received grid connection and completed other formalities. As soon as the formal inauguration is done, the project will run to its full capacity, said Abhay Ranjan, of Ramky Group.

Delhi has two waste-to-energy plants at Ghazipur and Okhla landfill sites. The Ghazipur plant uses about 2,000 tonnes of garbage and produces 12 megawatt of energy. Similarly, the Okhla landfill waste-to-energy plant has a capacity to produce 12 megawatt capacity from 1,200 tonnes of garbage.

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Delhi Police on Friday warned residents that forcefully applying colours and throwing water balloons at passers-by, especially women, during Holi celebrations may land them in trouble.

Holi revelers will be dealt with under the law, if we receive any complaint, said special commissioner Dependra Pathak, who is Delhi Polices chief spokesperson.

The past years have seen many incidents of violence and clashes among different groups during the festival of colours.

The festival this year will be celebrated two days after election results of five states is declared. Delhi Police hence is on its toes and have deployed special teams to watch out for unruly revelers. The police have deployed most of their personnel in areas across the cities which have a history of riots or those having mixed population of many religions.

Read more| Amarinder turns 75 on Saturday, will he have his cake and eat it too?

Our teams will ensure that women and also people from others religion are not troubled with water balloons, colour or gulaal against their wishes, said Pathak.

A recent intelligence report circulated across all police stations warns that female students in universities, colleges, womens hostels and other educational campuses may be harassed and molested on the pretext of celebrating Holi. Delhi police commissioner Amulya Patnaik has ordered all the district DCPs to ensure deployment of male and women staff in uniform and plainclothes in educational campuses such as Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia to prevent such incidents of harassment.

The intelligence report also tells police to ensure security in areas that have a mixed population of Hindus and Muslims, so that there is no communal tension. Consumption of liquor and bhang, particularly on the day of Holi, at times leads to street brawls and traffic violations. Holika dahan and celebration of Holi in communally sensitive areas ....should be covered with adequate deployment of force, reads the report prepared by Rajneesh Gupta, DCP (special branch).

Read more| As actors or organisers, UPs Ramlilas have always had a place for Muslims

Special commissioner Pathak said police have been sensitized about the issues and been told to keep a close watch on the sale of spurious liquor, bhaang and other narcotics. The local police will deploy staff with video cameras in vulnerable areas. A special watch will be kept on hooligans, bootleggers and those who attempt to disturb peace and communal harmony during festivals, he added. Police on Saturday arrested two men for smuggling spurious liquor.

On March 5, a 15-year-old boy was beaten by a group in East Delhis Farsh Bazar area when he asked them not to throw water balloons at him. A similar incident was reported last year where a Nigerian national was assaulted by locals after he scolded a boy for throwing water balloons at him in west Delhi.
Rather than talking about "leadership", the world should really be talking about "responsibility", Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday when asked about whether China is ready to take on global leadership, promising that the country is willing to contribute more to the world.

Wang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing.

China believes in the equality of all countries, large and small, and doesn't believe some countries should "lead" other countries, the minister said, but pointed out at the same time that large countries have more resources and capability, so they should shoulder more responsibilities and make a greater contribution.

The UN, as the world's most authoritative and credible inter-governmental organization, should play an effective role in coordinating international affairs according to the purposes and principles of its Charter, Wang added.

The minister affirmed that as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China will fulfill its obligations for international peace and security. As the second largest economy, China will make its due contribution to global growth. As the largest developing country, China will play an even bigger role in upholding the legitimate rights and interests of fellow developing countries.

As the worlds second largest economy, largest manufacturer and largest goods trader, China witnesses an unprecedented close connection with the future of the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, while giving an interview to media from BRICS countries in March 2013, said that the Chinese people are patriotic, yet they are also a people with a global vision and an international perspective.

He vowed that as its strength grows, China will assume more international responsibilities and obligations within its capabilities and make greater contribution to the noble cause of world peace and development.

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, in an article published on Peoples Daily, said that it is a due responsibility for China to actively shoulder international responsibilities and obligations to build major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.

The article, titled "China actively fulfills its international duties and obligations", believed that with the exploration and advance of the major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, China will give full play to its role as a responsible country.
Do not forget your umbrella this weekend as the Met office has predicted cloudy skies with rain and thunderstorm on Saturday morning.

Temperatures are expected to fluctuate between 23 and 12 degrees Celsius on Saturday. But by Holi, the clouds are expected to clear, making the way for a sunny but cool day. Temperatures may range between 10 and 25 degrees Celsius.

It was a cool Friday in the Capital, with traces of rain and isolated instances of hail being recorded. The minimum temperature settled at 15.5 degrees Celsius on Friday morning, and did not rise above 25.8 degrees Celsius during the course of the day.

The average maximum and minimum temperatures for this time of the year are around 28.7 and 14.2 degrees Celsius. This is likely to climb slightly to 29.2 and 15.6 degrees Celsius between March 11 and 15.

Though weather experts and officials at the India Meteorological Department had forecast moderate rain between 2.5 mm and 10 mm for Friday, light drizzle was recorded in parts of the city.

There were isolated reports of hail with some residents taking to social media to share their experiences.

Met officials said hailstorms can occur during moderate to severe thunderstorms. It is quite possible that there may have been some hail in Delhi, as there were reports of a hailstorm in Shimla on Thursday, said an official.

The rain and hail has been attributed to the influences of a western disturbance over Jammu and Kashmir, which has changed the directions of the wind and brought more moisture to the region.

The influences will continue until Friday evening, and there may be some residual rain on Saturday too. There will be no rain on Holi, said an official of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre (RWFC) on Thursday evening.

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Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal termed the Comptroller and Auditor Generals audit report on the Delhi governments ad spend as politically motivated and accused the auditor of acting at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

There was a time when the CAG used to unearth 2G and coal scam. But its painful that now it is doing politics. The moot question is why is the incumbent CAG doing so? I dont want to get into detail, but everybody knows how his name is involved in something. I would request the CAG to leave politics for politicians, Kejriwal told reporters at Delhi assembly.

The Delhi chief minister dared the central auditor to come up with rules that bar the state government from advertising outside Delhi.

All governments are doing it. If we have improved ease of doing business then we will like to advertise in Mumbai, requesting people to invest in Delhi. Other governments spend crores in holding investors summits. We chose to reach out by putting out advertisements. Whats wrong with it? the AAP national convener said.

The chief minister said his government had requested the CAG to audit the advertisement budget of others states and the Centre, but the central auditor refused to conduct it.

We had said that if you audit states, it will help in comparing where do we all stand. The Centre spends hundreds of crores even for small programmes. Audit that as well. But CAG refused and they said there is no future plan as well. A glimpse of politics is visible (in the CAG audit). Why will you audit only the expenditure of Delhi government? Are they following directions from the BJP? Kejriwal said.

Refuting the observations that the Delhi government advertisements on saving money in construction of flyovers and dispensaries were non-verifiable, Kejriwal said all related documents were provided to the auditors.

CAG reports vindicates AAPs claims on MCDs

Accusing the BJP-ruled MCDs of making the municipal bodies a centre of corruption, AAP leader Dilip Pandey said the CAG report submitted to the assembly on Friday vindicated their stand.

The MCD has not fulfilled its responsibilities to control vector-borne diseases. BJP has changed the nomenclature of the MCD from municipal corporation of Delhi into malaria chikunguniya and dengue. BJP and Congress have made MCD a centre of corruption and Delhi as a dustbin, he said.

He said CAG made it clear the municipal bodies did not have shortage of funds to control vector-borne diseases.

The CAG clearly said in its report, which we were saying, that the MCD was not prepared to stop these diseases. The shocking finding of CAG is that all three MCDs had no shortage of funds to stop the diseases. The MCDs lied to people of Delhi. They tried to blame it the Delhi government and cried over lack of funds, Pandey said.
UT school education director Rubinderjit Singh Brar has ordered an inquiry into the Thursday incident at Gyandeep Jyoti High School, Sector 20, on Thursday where 15-odd Class-12 students were not allowed to take their English exam as they did not have roll numbers. The incident had led to huge drama outside the school. The students claimed that the school had not issued them the roll numbers.

Deputy director school education Chanchal Singh said, The school seems to have misguided the students by giving them admission in Class-12 without even asking for their Class-11 pass certificates. We have got to know from students that the school has asked for fee and told them that the rest will be taken care of. Later, some students, whose roll numbers were held back by the school were allowed to enter the examination hall after the intervention of the education department officials, who reached the school at 9.15 am. The officials themselves said that due to irregularities in the schools admission process, students had not received their roll numbers, following which they were not allowed to enter the examination hall.

The deputy director added, Class-12 students who had not got their roll numbers had no document to even prove that they cleared Class-11. The question is: how did they take admission and how the school conveniently gave them admission? A thorough inquiry will be done in this case to see who was at fault.

Education director Brar added, Deputy director school education sorted out the issue today. I have ordered an inquiry to zero in on the lapse by Saturday.

Student Speak

I had taken admission at the Gynadeep school six months ago and had paid Rs 6,000 but at the last moment, I was not given my roll number. The principal has returned my fees as well. I had already applied for the open boards from Haryana as well, thus I am saved, a student who could not take the exam, said.

Gyandeep Model High School, Sector 20, principal Suman Deswal claimed that everything was resolved later and the students were given roll numbers. Sources alleged that in spite of restrictions and directions by the education department and the Chandigarh Rights Panel, Gyandeep Model Jyoti High school, Sector 20, had been running a dummy school for Classes 11, 12 students, even though it was only a high school.

Also read | Aloo bukhar: Asked to buy 50-day stock of potatoes, Punjab schools under tonnes of pressure
The Gurgaon District court has convicted 31 workers of participating in a 2012 factory riot in a Maruti Suzuki factory in Manesar, Haryana.

On Friday, Additional District and Sessions Judge RP Goyal pronounced 13 men guilty of murdering Maruti Suzuki Manager for Human Resources Awanish Dev, and another 18 were found guilty of rioting, destruction of property, causing grievous injury and criminal trespass, making for a total of 31 convictions, while 117 co-accused were acquitted of all charges.

The quantum of punishment is expected on March 17.

On 18 July 2012, a simmering dispute between Maruti Suzuki management and union representatives turned into a violent altercation that concluded with the death of the Manesar plants HR manager Dev, and the arrest of 148 workers.

The incident at Maruti and the case that followed became a benchmark case for both - corporate India, who called on the courts to deliver exemplary punishment, and trade unionists who accused the Maruti management of using the criminal justice system to resolve a long-pending labour dispute.

The government of India is promoting Make in India, Maruti Suzukis lawyer, Vikas Pahwa, argued in court, With this kind of volatile environment and industrial unrest, no country would come forward and invest in India.

In a press statement after the verdict, Maruti counsel Vikas Pahwa said the conviction of 31 accused vindicated the companys position that workers had rioted in large numbers.

Lawyers for the defence contested Pahwas claim.

The acquittal of 117 workers shows that the substratum of the case has collapsed, said Rebecca John, another lawyer for the accused, who said that those convicted would appeal.

Vrinda Grover, another defence counsel, said the police had exaggerated weak evidence to over-awe the judiciary. The 13 workers convicted of murder, she noted, were all prominent leaders of the Maruti trade union.

In one illustrative instance, Grover said, 89 workers were arrested on the testimonies of four labour contractors, who said they saw workers riot in alphabetical order: witness Virendra Yadav said he saw 25 workers, whose names ran from the letters A to G, riot in one part of the plant, while contractor Yaad Ram, saw 25 workers, named between G and P, riot elsewhere. Ashok Rana saw another 26  named between P and S, while the last witness, Rakesh saw 13 rioting workers, whose names fall between the letters S and Y.

These names, Grover said, were mentioned on the basis of an alphabetical list provided in advance by the Maruti Suzuki management.

These workers were jailed for years without bail on the basis of this shoddy investigation, Grover said, The policemen who framed these acquitted workers should be prosecuted.

Jintendra Kumar, who was a temporary worker at Maruti at the time, was one such victim.

I worked for a year at Maruti, and was jailed for three, said Kumar after his acquittal, I wasnt even on duty that day, but the police picked me up anyway.

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The acquittal of 117 persons booked in the Maruti plant violence and murder in July 2012 resulted in celebrations at the court complex. Ecstatic workers thanked the Almighty and called their families in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and various districts of Haryana to share the news.

The acquitted workers said this verdict meant freedom from a life of uncertainty. I have spent 960 days in jail without any involvement in the crime. My friends shunned me and no one gave me a job after I got out on bail. Today, I can say we are born again, Vikas Verma of Yamuna Nagar in Haryana said. He, however, reiterated his support for his convicted colleagues, and said they will continue to fight for their acquittal.

Marriage of many workers had been put on hold because of their prolonged stay in jail, and the social stigma attached to a court case,. We had become pariahs and outcastes for no fault of ours. No family was ready to consider us for marriage, Karambir Singh from Ambala said.

Most of the 148 workers, who were arrested by the Gurgaon police, have spent up to three years and six months in jail before getting bail.

The workers said almost 50 hearings in the last three to four months had cost them a lot as daily travel and other expenses were involved.

All of us are thankful to our families for so much support without which we could not have come out of this difficult situation, Ravi Shanker, an acquitted worker, said.

However, Shravan Kumar the brother of one of the main accused Pradip Gujjar from Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, said the conviction came under pressure from the government and to protect corporate interests. Those with money and power were able to browbeat the poor workers who were implicated wrongly in the case, Kumar said.

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The case concerning the July 2012 violence in Maruti Suzuki car manufacturing plant in Manesar, that left a senior HR executive dead and nearly 100 other officials injured, culminated with the conviction of 31 workers and acquittal of 117 of their colleagues on Friday.

The incident was reportedly triggered by a disciplinary issue with an employee. The unions called for his reinstatement immediately, besides making several other demands, including same salary for contract workers as permanent employees, which were not heeded to by the management.

Here is the brief sequence of the case:

July 18, 2012: A mob of workers go on rampage at the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar, setting afire a building in which a beaten up Awanish Kumar Dev, general manager (human resources) of Maruti Suzuki, was burned to death, and 100 others, including two Japanese officials, were injured.

The two factories are partially set on fire and the offices, security cabins and fire safety systems are completely damaged. As many as 91 workers are arrested. The plant is shut indefinitely

July 19, 2012: Haryana government orders probe by a special investigation team even as the company sacks more than 540 of the 1,500 permanent workers at the Manesar plant

Police arrest 148 workers. A complaint was filed by Deepak Anand, the then general manager of the plant, against 600 workers for murder, attempt to murder, property damage, rioting, and manhandling

July 21, 2012: Police conduct raids in the city and adjoining villages to arrest the main accused. Teams are sent across Haryana, Rajashtan and Himachal Pradesh to nab them

August 21, 2012: Maruti Suzuki resumes production at its plant amid heavy security. About 1,500 policemen, including 540 from the India Reserve Battalion, are deployed in and outside the plant

March 2015: Gurgaon district court grants bail to 77 of the 145 workers

February 2, 2017: Counsels for accused and prosecution, argue on number of workers arrested, and other facts of the case

February 19, 2017: Senior advocate Vrinda Grover argues that 112 of the accused were not identified by any of the prosecution witnesses. Court fixes March 10 for the final verdict

March 10, 2017: Court convicts 31 and acquits 117 factory workers of Manesar plant. Thirteen accused have been held guilty of murder whereas 18 are convicted of rioting and other crimes under various sections of the IPC. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on March 17.

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After the district courts verdict, over 300 workers from various workers associations met at Kamla Nehru Park on Friday amid heavy police deployment and decided to boycott their lunch on March 16 at their factories in Gurgaon, Manesar and Bawal.

Workers said the move is aimed at expressing solidarity with Maruti Suzuki workers accused in the case.

Workers union from four Maruti Suzuki factories of Gurgaon and Manesar, and 30 other companies met at the park to discuss further plan of action in the matter. The workers unions had earlier threatened to protest if the verdict was against their colleagues.

The district court convicted 31 workers of violence and rioting at Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar five year ago. As many as 117 workers were acquitted .

The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on March 17 and workers unions decided that they will decide their next move based on the verdict.

Workers in all factories from Gurgaon to Bawal will boycott their lunch on March 16 as a sign of protest. None of the union members will celebrate Holi. Another meeting will be conducted on March 17 after the court session to determine further course of action, Kushi Ram, provisional working committee, Maruti Suzuki Workers Union, said.

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Thirty one workers were convicted and 117 acquitted in a case of violence and rioting at Maruti Suzuki plant at Manesar, 20 kms from Gurgaon city.

Thirteen accused have been held guilty of murder whereas 18 are convicted of rioting and other crimes under various sections of the IPC. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on March 17.

Workers celebrating their acquittal at the court complex. 117 workers were acquitted by the district and sessions judge RP Goyal on Friday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The police took 22 accused into custody after the verdict was announced in the court of additional district and sessions judge RP Goyal here on Friday amid heavy police presence. Administration had imposed section 144 in the district court premises and within 500 meters of Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar.

Awanish Kumar Dev, general manager (human resources) of Maruti Suzuki, was burned to death and several executives injured in the violence in the car plant allegedly triggered by workers on July 18, 2012. The police had arrested 148 workers in connection with the case, which is under trial at a district court.

Rajender Pathak, counsel of the accused workers, said that they would challenge the conviction in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Iqbal, one of the accused, was not present in the court whereas 147 others were present when the verdict was announced.

Pathak said that the contention of the prosecution that the murder was planned has been set aside. We took the plea that this was an accident and acquittal of 117 persons has vindicated our stand, said Pathak.

Gurgaon police at the district court for the Maruti Suzuki hearing. https://t.co/BLQ0lCIiCp  abhishekbehl (@abhishekbehl) March 10, 2017

Eight workers are still in jail while others were released on bail in different hearings. The workers were accused of various charges including rioting with weapons, murder, attempt to murder, unlawful assembly, assault, and trespass. Violence was triggered after tussle between workers and the management over various demands.

Several workers unions have warned of protest if the court verdict was anti-workers. The unions have decided to hold a meeting in the evening at Kamla Nehru Park to further discuss their strategy.

We will discuss the verdict with all workers and decide future course of action said Khushi Ram, general secretary of Mazdoor Sahyog Kendra, Gurgaon. Khushi is one of the 546 permanent employees who were terminated after the incident.

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A property dealer was shot dead on Thursday night in what could be a real estate related crime, police said.

The deceased, Bharat Bhushan, 40, was shot multiple times, and his body was found in a vacant plot adjacent to his office at Ganpati Nagar in Sadhrana ki Dhani, which comes under the Sector 10 police station.

Police said Bharat Bhushan was watching television with four to five acquaintances at his first floor office when an unidentified man called him downstairs around 9.30pm on the pretext that someone came to meet him. However, after some time, his associates rushed down hearing five to six gun shots only to find him lying wounded.

Police have registered a case against unidentified persons at the Sector 10 police station.

The deceased was shot in the shoulder, right arm and ankle, and he died on the spot. We have registered a case and the investigation is on. This appears to be a property related crime, Jai Prakash, the investigating officer, said.

The CCTV cameras at the property dealers office were non-functional and police could not get any footage to identify the assailants.

Bharat Bhushan is from Chabili village in Jhajjar district and operated his real estate business from his office in Ganpati Nagar. Police suspect that this murder could be the result of a property deal turning sour similar to the Farrukhnagar double murder in which a property dealer had orchestrated the killings.

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It was being rumoured that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe popped the question to girlfriend Erin Darke, but shortly after the news began spreading online (sometime around Thursday), the reports were denied by a different source.

British tabloid site Star Magazine said that Radcliffe, 27, got engaged to Darke. Daniel recently took Erin ring shopping and spared no expense, the source claimed. Theyve been talking about marriage for a while now, and he thought this was something worth splurging on.

But the celebrity website Gossip Cop quoted a different source who shot down the reports. The engagement claim is simply wrong. Unfortunately, were not surprised by the tabloids inaccurate report, Gossip Cop wrote a few hours after the news broke.

The couple has been together for four years.

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China and Africa are a close-knit community with a shared future, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on March 8, promising that no matter how the international situation or the world economy may evolve, there will be no weakening in China's support for Africa.

Our cooperation is mutual help between two brothers, he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing.

Wangs statement came over one year after the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit held in Johannesburg. Presided by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the summit adopted the Johannesburg Declaration and the Johannesburg Action Plan (2016-2018) to boost bilateral cooperation.

During the summit held on December 4 and 5, 2015, both sides agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, bringing China-Africa relations to a new historic starting point.

He also introduced the swift and all-round implementation on the outcomes from the summit, saying that what distinguishes China-Africa cooperation is that China always keeps its word.

Nearly half of the 60-billion-dollar funding support that China promised to Africa has been disbursed or arranged, he said, citing that the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway has been completed, while the Mombasa-Nairobi railway in Kenya will soon be.

A special economic zone in the Republic of Congo, an integrated port development project in Tanzania and a number of industrial parks across Africa are under plan or making headway now, according to the diplomat.

Responding to Africa's needs, China-Africa cooperation, according to the minister, is undergoing three shifts: from government-driven to market-driven, from trade in goods to cooperation on production capacity, and from engineering contracts to capital investment and operations.

These three shifts will provide new momentum and opportunities for Africa's sustainable development, he concluded.

Just as China was Africa's most sincere friend in its quest for national independence and liberation, so China will be Africa's most reliable partner in speeding up industrialization and agricultural modernization and boosting its capacity for home-grown development, Wang stressed at last.
Hyderabad police arrested a 48-year-old head constable for trying to marry a 15-year-old girl with whom he had been in an illicit relationship for the last one year on Thursday night .

The constable Mahboob, father of five children, was planning to marry the minor girl at his Kamatipura residence in the old city of Hyderabad on Friday morning. Ironically, he was also scheduled to perform the engagement of his eldest daughter in the evening.

Mahboob was produced before the court on Friday and remanded to two-week judicial custody.

According to deputy commissioner of police (South Zone) V Satyanarayana, the head constable attached to Kamatipura police station, developed illicit relationship with the minor girl staying in the neighbourhood, as his wife had been suffering from a prolonged illness. He also forced her parents to agree for the relationship by promising to marry her. He even reportedly promised to transfer some of his properties in her name.

The head constable took the minor girl to different places including Gulbarga, Goa and Mumbai for pleasure trips with the consent of her parents in the past one year. "Her father used to drop her at the railway station and bus station, forcing her to go with him", the official said.

On Friday evening, Mahboob fixed the engagement ceremony of his eldest daughter. But before that, he thought of solemnising his marriage with the minor girl in the morning. As he was making preparation for his Nikah, the police got the tip off from her elder sister. They raided his house and took him into custody.

However, the parents of the minor girl refused to lodge a formal complaint and resisted the arrest, saying the marriage was being performed with their consent. They insisted that the police should not interfere in this matter.

"Since Mahboob was a public servant, he has to obtain the department permission for the second marriage, even if it was as per their religious customs. We arrested him on grounds of violating service and conduct rules, the DCP said.

The police sent the girl for medical examination and ordered a departmental enquiry against Mahboob. He was booked under Protection of Child from Sexual Offences (POCSCO) Act, 2012, besides kidnapping and raping sections of the IPC.
A London-bound Air India aircraft from Ahmedabad on Friday had to be escorted by fighter jets after it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control while flying over Hungary.

The plane, with 231 passengers and 18 crew members onboard, lost contact with the ATC due to frequency fluctuation, an Air India spokesperson said.

The aircraft, which took off from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai at 0700 hours, landed safely at Londons Heathrow Airport at 11.05 hours, the spokesperson said.
National carrier Air India incurred a loss of Rs 321 crore in 2015-16 instead of an operating profit of Rs 105 crore that the airline declared last October, officials with the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) said on Friday.

Also, a CAG report tabled in Parliament says the carrier understated losses to the tune of Rs 6,415 crore in three years from 2012.

The heavily-indebted airline had announced for the first time in a decade an operating profit, which entails earnings before interest payouts and taxes.

The airline on a standalone basis made an operating loss of Rs 321.4 crore ... We wont say this was due to misreporting but this was due to non-provisioning, said V Kurian, director general at the auditors office.

Another CAG official, highlighting the state-run carriers financial distress, said Air India didnt make provisions in its balance sheet for expenditures such as depreciation and maintenance.

The airline didnt respond when its comments were sought.

Kurian said the airline made inadequate provisions for payment of various liabilities, including outstanding amounts to the Airports Authority of India and payment to employees for encashing leave, and had also made excess valuation of a company property in Delhi.

The report says Air India didnt heed the advice of a government-appointed committee, formed to restructure the airlines expenses. The panel had recommended that the carrier could cut costs by accommodating its pilots and crew in lower-range lodgings near airports, instead of five-star hotels.

Audit, however, noticed that the company continued to accommodate its crew in five-star hotels. For Delhi station alone, the company incurred an expenditure of Rs 119 crore for hotel accommodation of its crew in five-star hotels from 2012 to 2016, the CAG report says.

The auditor mentioned the heavy loss the carrier incurred when it sold five of its wide-body Boeing 777-200 long-range aircraft to Etihad Airways at a significantly lower price than the indicative market value in 2013.

The planes were sold for $336.5 million, with each accounting for $67.3 million. Two companies  Avitas and Ascent  were apparently paying $86 and $92 million for each aircraft. But Air India sold the planes to Etihad after it found no buyers at the market value, the report says.

The carrier reasoned that the planes were sold to save interest payments and to avoid maintenance costs.

The auditor was not convinced. While audit appreciates the savings realized in maintenance cost and interest payments, such savings cannot justify the shortcomings of the sale process.

The CAG suggested the airline should monetise more of its assets faster to reduce its debt burden and speed up the leasing of narrow-body aircraft to improve its performance.

The auditor said inordinate delay in replacing its vintage fleet of A320 aircraft has defeated the objective of reducing maintenance costs.

The government is expected to use the CAG report to evaluate the progress of Air Indias restructuring, after it was bailed out in 2012 with $5.8 billion of taxpayers money. The amount of bailout funds given to the airline could be reassessed as it has breached loan limits set under the restructuring plan.

The increase in loans was due to failure in generating projected revenue, mainly on account of non-achievement of asset-monetisation target, increase in staff costs, the report says.

(With agency inputs)

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The Parliamentary Board of the BJP may meet on Saturday afternoon when results of the five state assembly elections will be out.

With exit polls projecting a good show by the saffron party, including in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh where it is projected to emerge as the single largest party, its highest decision-making body is likely to take stock of the situation and chalk out future strategy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah are among the boards 12 members who also include Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot and J P Nadda.

A party source said the meeting has been tentatively scheduled for Saturday. However, there is a possibility that it could be held on Sunday depending on how the results pan out.

The counting of votes will start Saturday morning.

Exit polls had on Thursday projected a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh, with BJP likely to lead the table, winning anywhere between 164 and 210 of the 403 seats. They also projected a good show by the party in Goa and Uttarakhand.
Calcutta high court justice C S Karnan hit back at the Supreme Court on Friday, calling its warrant against him unconstitutional and an attempt to ruin his life as he was a Dalit.

I am being targeted as I am a Dalit. This is a caste issue. The order has been deliberately issued against me. This is an attempt to ruin my life. The warrant is unconstitutional, Karnan told the media at a hurriedly organised press conference at his residence in New Town.

A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar had issued the warrant order earlier in the day, directing Karnans presence on March 31 after the judge ignored earlier summons in connection with contempt proceedings initiated against him for accusing several judges of the Madras high court, where he had earlier served, and an SC judge of corruption, nepotism and casteism.

The SC said the warrant should be executed through West Bengal director general of police.

Justice Karnan also signed an order in front of reporters, directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to register, investigate and file a report before the appropriate court of law under Article 226 read with Section 482 CrPC to prevent abuse of process of any court....

In the same order, he also said: I further direct the secretary generals of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to place the entire facts of the case before the Speaker for appropriate inquiry under the Judges Enquiry Act.

Consequently I direct his Excellency the President of India to recall the bailable warrant illegally issued by the Supreme Court on 10.3.2017 and lift the non-work allotment ban of portfolio allocation and file a report within seven days before this Honble Court, the order stated.

Justice Karnan had, however, sent a letter to the CJI asking him to restore his judicial and administrative powers, which the bench rejected.

Asked whether it was appropriate for a sitting judge to talk to the media on this issue, Justice Karnan said, It is a national issue. It should reach the people. Let there be transparency. Whats the secret? Nobody takes a suo motu warrant against a sitting judge.

The SC had on February 8 issued contempt notice to the judge and asked him to appear before it on February 13. But he did not appear and instead, wrote a letter questioning the contempt proceedings against him.

According to Karnan, only Parliament had the power to initiate action against a sitting high court judge by way of an impeachment motion.

The contempt action against him is erroneous and has been willfully and wantonly passed with malafide intention. Therefore, these proceedings may be referred to Parliament, where he would establish the high rate of corruption prevailing in the Madras HC, he had said in the letter.

The courts have no power to enforce punishment against a sitting Judge of the High Court, he had said.

The constitution bench, however, had given him another chance, albeit with a warning, and asked him to appear on Friday, which he did not do.

We will give him one more opportunity. We want to hear him before framing charges, the bench had said on February 13 after attorney general Mukul Rohatgi suggested the court go ahead with the proceedings in his absence.
Eight suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the blast on a train in Madhya Pradesh and the subsequent anti-terror operations leading to the killing of alleged militant Saifullah in Lucknow, home minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday in Rajya Sabha.

Making a statement during the Zero Hour on incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on March 7 and 8, he also showered praise on Saifullahs father Sartaj who has refused to take the body of his son, amid thumping of benches by the entire House.

After the statement, several Opposition members wanted to seek clarification from the minister. Singh would reply to members on the next working day.

Till March 8, six accused were arrested. With the arrest of two more accused by UP ATS on March 9, total 8 arrests have been made in these incidents so far, the minister said.

Singh, who had made statement in this regard in Lok Sabha on Thursday, said UP ATS sieged the house in which Saifullah was hiding in Haji Colony area of Lucknow and made vigorous attempts to nab the suspect.

However, he refused to surrender and started firing on ATS team. Ultimately, after 12 hours of effort, the ATS team entered the room in which Saifulla was holed up and in the ensuing encounter, this suspected terrorist was killed, he said, and gave other details regarding the incidents.

He said that due to the prompt action taken by the police of both the states, a possible threat to national security was successfully averted.

Praising Sartaj, Singh said the entire country is proud of him.

The minister said Indias culture is such that no Hindu, Muslim or Christian will endorse any terror activity in the country, as members from all sides thumped of their desks.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh said the statement of Sartaj reflects the sentiments of the nation and there could be no compromise on terrorism.

Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) said since the minister has made a statement on the issue, members should be allowed to seek clarification. He got support from several other Opposition members.

Later it was decided that Singh would make himself available to members for clarification on the next working day.

The home minister informed the House that eight pistols, 630 live cartridges, Rs 1.5 lakh, three mobiles phone, four sim cards, two wireless sets and some foreign currency were recovered from the place where Saifullah lived.

According to UP police, Saifullah belonged to a self-proclaimed group of ISIS supporters.
Election officials on Saturday will begin counting votes to elect a new assembly in Goa, where exit polls predicted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party might fall short of a clear majority.

But a three-way tussle between the BJP, the opposition Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) makes this a hard election to call.

Experts said the AAP, making its Goa elections debut, might have eroded votes of traditional rivals BJP and Congress. The forecast for the party in the exit polls ranged from zero to seven seats, though.

Pollsters kept the Congress within striking distance of the BJP, but predicted both parties will win less than the assembly halfway mark of 20 seats.

The BJP, led by defence minister Manohar Parrikar, is confident of retaining power.

Parrikar, a former chief minister, tried to keep the partys traditional Hindu vote-base united in the face of a stiff challenge from its estranged partners, the Mahashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Shiv Sena, which have formed an alternative coalition.

The BJP is sure to win 22-23 seats, BJP state president Vinay Tendulkar said.

The Congress under Luizinho Faleiro, another former chief minister, hopes that the BJPs inability to close Goas casinos  called vice dens by many locals  and provide meaningful employment and healthcare will tilt the balance in favour of the opposition party.

We are expecting 23 to 25 seats. Many people, including our senior leaders, were saying the Congress will not get more than three seats. The situation is now from minus to plus, state party chief Faleiro said ahead of the vote count for the February 4 elections.

Also, he hinted that the Congress might seek support from political parties and independent candidates that believe in the partys ideology and manifesto.

The AAP had urged voters disillusioned with the BJP to choose the new entrant over the Congress, which has deep roots in the state. The party chose Elvis Gomes, a former bureaucrat, as its candidate for the chief ministers post.

In 2012, the BJP defeated the Congress and swept to power on the promise of ending corruption by cleaning up the mining sector, withdrawing state support for English-medium primary schools, and closing down casinos, which are a big draw for tourists but unpopular with the locals.

Five years on, Goas tourism-dependent economy has been hit hard by the Centres demonetisation of high-value notes, and the imposition of the election code of conduct during the peak tourist season. Mining operations have resumed after a Supreme Court-mandated hiatus, but are yet to scale up.

Jobs appear to be the chief preoccupation of voters. The AAP has promised 50,000 jobs for locals from sustainable mining and tourism, while the Congress promised to reserve employment for Goans in the private and public sectors.

The BJP promised to generate jobs through tourism by turning Goa into a venue for national and international events.

The absence of healthcare is another major poll issue that all three parties have promised to address.

A controversy over state support to English-medium primary schools has proved to be a headache for the BJP. In 2012, Parrikar sought support of the Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM), a Hindu-nationalist lobby group, promising to make state-supported schools teach in Konkani or Marathi. The BJP has yet to fulfill its promises.

Whats at stake?

Manohar Parrikar: Goas most recognizable politician was hailed in 2012 for stitching an unlikely alliance of Hindus and a section of Catholic voters to give the BJP its first majority government in the state. In 2014, he handpicked his successor before taking charge as defence minister. He remains the face of the BJPs Goa campaign in 2017.

Union defence Minister Manohar Parrikar addresses BJP workers in Cruz, Goa. (PTI Photo)

For Parrikar, the stakes have never been higher. A BJP win will force him to choose between the state and Centre. A loss will be viewed as a personal defeat, and may embolden rivals within the party.

Five turning points:

 The MGP-BJP split: The alliance between the MGP, Shiv Sena and Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) could erode the BJPs traditional Hindu vote base.

 The Parrikar factor: BJP chief Amit Shahs announcement that Parrikar will run Goa from New Delhi could either attract voters, or further antagonise rivals within the party.

 700 soldier votes: Political parties were not allowed to campaign in the Navelim cantonment, but on polling day, 700 troopers voted  prompting a protest from opposition parties.

 Paiso Lo, Vote Do: Both Arvind Kejriwal and Parrikar were served notices by the Election Commission for allegedly urging voters to take money offered by candidates, but vote for their respective parties.

 Party infighting: Tiffs with their high commands prompted veteran leaders Anand Shet of the BJP and Jitendra Deshprabhu of the Congress not to support their party candidates.

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The government is looking to inject an additional Rs 8,000 crore into the cash-starved public sector banks likely by the end of this financial year.

This is in addition to the prescribed recapitalisation amount of Rs 25,000 crore for the current financial year. 2017-18, finance minister Arun Jaitley has earmarked Rs 10,000 crore.

The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India are holding discussions on the issue.

A final decision on recapitalisation will be taken in 10 to 14 days, a senior government official, who did not wish to be named, told Hindustan Times.

The government has already infused Rs 22,915 crore into 13 public sector banks, which include the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Indian Overseas Bank, this financial year. The finance ministry has been regularly reviewing the capital needs of these banks.

The government is keeping a close watch on the performance, especially pertaining to recovery of bad loans of the banks that have been recapitalised..we will also assess the growth projections of various banks and then decide on further recapitalisation, the official added.

The state owned banks require an amount of Rs 1.8 lakh crore by 2018-19, of which the government has committed to provide Rs 70,000 crore in the next four years. A few banks may also hit the market in the next financial year, depending on their

performance. The gross non performing asset levelloans that have turned unproductiveincreased to Rs 6.3 lakh crore as on September end from Rs 5.5 lakh crore at the end of the June quarter  an increase of Rs 79,977 crore on a quarter on quarter basis.

In the economic survey, chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian underlined the need for setting up a state-owned centralised public sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency or for bank to deal with the surge in NPAs.

Subramanian said the issue of NPA has to be addressed at the earliest.

Rs 12 lakh crore injected into the system: Jaitley

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that new currency notes of Rs 12 lakh crore have been pumped into the system since November 9 after the announcement of the demonetization exercise.

According to the Reserve Bank of India data that was released on February 24, the currency in circulation was about Rs 11,64,100 crore, the minister said.

This is the quantum of currency which they, as on February 24, made available in the market. A fortnight has almost elapsed since then..This amount itself would have now increased to beyond Rs 12 lakh crore, Jaitley said in Parliament during Question Hour.

He, however, said that it was difficult to state an exact figure on how much has been deposited in defunct currency notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500.

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The Twitter handle of banned militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen began posting pro-India tweets that denounced Kashmirs separatist leadership on Friday morning, astounding many across the Valley.

While this development led observers to believe that hackers had taken control of the militant organisations handle, the Hizbul leadership has not issued any clarification in this regard.

The tweets under contention were critical of several important resistance leaders, including Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front head Yasin Malik and Hurriyat Conference chairperson Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani is a puppet of Nawaz Sharif, who even tried to corrupt me and the Hizbul with money and land in Pakistan, one of the tweets read. I implore the people of Kashmir to openly denounce those like Syed Ali Shah Geelani & Yasin Malik.

Accusing Geelanis children of having large businesses and being very wealthy, the tweets accused him of spreading mayhem in Kashmir at the cost of its people.

The first tweet by hizbmedia, which came around 10 am, said Hizbul chief Syed Salludin had realised his mistake and now desired peace with India. Another said peace would return to Kashmir, and dialogue was the only way to solve the states problems.

The alleged hackers posted photographs of Kashmiri women and children, identifying them as the families of militants who now wanted to make a homecoming. We are returning to India as good souls of Allah. Please save our families, the last tweet read.

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India will not have the capability to scour its harbours for potential mines and explosives for at least three years, making them highly vulnerable to enemy action.

A parliamentary report on the countrys naval preparedness has revealed that the Indian Navy will be without a minesweeper till 2021, considering that the existing fleet of six Soviet-origin vessels is slated to be decommissioned by next year.

Naval forces use minesweepers to secure harbours by locating and destroying mines.

In its latest report tabled in Parliament, the standing committee on defence asked the government to make sincere and concerted efforts for equipping the navy with the critical capability. The panel is headed by BC Khanduri, a BJP MP who retired as a major general.

If an enemy submarine mines shallow waters outside a key Indian harbour, we will come to know of it only after a ship blows up. We are Ram bharose (at Gods mercy), said a navy officer.

India might sign a Rs 32,640-crore deal with a South Korean shipyard for building 12 mine counter-measure vessels (MCMVs) in the country by March 31, but the first of those is likely to be delivered only in 2021. Any delay in hammering out the deal could further upset the navys calculations, said another officer, adding that securing Indias 12 major harbours requires at least 24 minesweepers.

The MCMVs are slated for de-induction by 2016-2018 2016 has already passed, and moreover, building them will take considerable time. The committee feels that the entire process of MCMV procurement will be delayed inordinately, the report said.

The new MCMVs will be built at the Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in collaboration with Busan-based Kangnam Corporation under the Make in India initiative. Though the deal was supposed to be closed last year, discussions on technology transfer caused delays. The construction of the first vessel is expected to begin in April 2018, and deliveries are likely to be completed between 2021 and 2026.

Not having minesweeping capabilities can have deadly consequences, said Sudarshan Shrikhande, a retired rear admiral. Even modified fishing trawlers can be used for laying mines, multiplying the threat at the sub-conventional level.

So, how has the navy landed into this mess?

The MCMV tender for eight vessels was floated nearly a decade ago, with Kangnam emerging as the frontrunner for the order. However, the government scrapped the tender in 2014 amid allegations that the Korean firm had hired middlemen to swing things in its favour.

In February 2015, the Centre nominated the GSL to build minesweepers in partnership with a foreign shipyard. It was later clarified that the previous tender was scrapped due to procedural issues, and Kangnam could compete again because it was not on the governments blacklist.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye was ousted as the country's head of state after on Friday the constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach the scandal-ridden leader.

The court's acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi read the ruling on the impeachment, broadcast live nationwide, saying it was the unanimous decision of eight justices.

The acting chief justice said the court had made all-out efforts for a fair judgment, hoping their decision would become a base to lead South Korea towards reconciliation and remedy by ending division and chaos.

Lee, who is scheduled to retire on Monday, dismissed a request for retrial from Park's legal team, which demanded a full court's judgement by nine justices. The former chief justice stepped down on Jan. 31 after his term terminated, leaving one vacancy and Lee was nominated as the acting chief justice.

She said there had been no procedural error in the eight-justice court's decision.

The court dismissed Park's violation of press freedom for lack of evidence, saying Park's inaction to the 2014 ferry disaster is not subject to the impeachment judgment. The ferry disaster claimed more than 300 lives, mostly high school students on a school trip to the Jeju Island.

However, the court ruled that Park allowed her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs from the shadows by leaking many of secret documents and influencing the appointment of government officials.

The ruling said Park also helped Choi seek personal gains by establishing two nonprofit foundations, which were set up with donations from major conglomerates.

South Koreans, who had called for Park's resignation, waved national flags and cheered outside the court in downtown Seoul after hearing the impeachment ruling.

A tearful mother and her daughter were among the anti-Park protesters who held placards that read "Impeachment is Victory of Candlelight Vigil" and "No THAAD."

Park's supporters, who rallied just hundreds of meters away on the street, remained silent and burst into tears following the verdict.

Some of the president's loyalists attempted to break into the court building and clashed with the police.

Local media reported that two of Park's supporters died of unidentified reasons during the rally. One of the dead is in his 70s.

Opinion polls have never changed in recent months, with almost eight out of 10 South Koreans demanding Park's ouster. About 15 percent people have insisted on the rejection or no decision on the impeachment.

By law, the court's ruling takes effect immediately after the reading. Park will be required to leave the presidential Blue House as she officially lost all of her presidential power as well as her title as the incumbent president.

President Park became the first South Korean leader to be forcibly removed from office through the impeachment. She was also the second president to be impeached in the country's constitutional history.

In March 2004, late President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached for his call on voters to support his own party in the parliamentary election of that year. About two months later, he was reinstated as the court ruled that his violation of an election law was not grave enough to boot him from office.

Park's impeachment is an unprecedented event in South Korea's modern history, so there is no specific law stipulating that the impeached leader must leave the Cheong Wa Dae by a given date.

Lee Jae-myung from the Minjoo Party, mayor of Seongnam city to the southeast of Seoul, said, "Today is a great day for people. Impeachment is the start to build a fair country free from corruption, foul play and privilege."

"Genuine unity will only be made possible when completely clearing away the legacy of old days," he added.

Cheong Wook-sik, director of local advocacy group Peace Network, believed the result was not surprising.

"President Park breached the constitution and fell short of people's expectations," he said.

Although the deployment of the controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) was not the main reason for Park's impeachment, it adversely affected South Korea's foreign policy, he added.

Cheong hoped the new government to be produced in the upcoming election could revoke the THAAD deployment plan and mend South Korea's ties with China.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that he respected the court's decision.

Only when people, especially those who protested against the impeachment, accepted the ruling, "can the rule of law, which is the basic value of the South Korean constitution, stand upright," Ban was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.

Since the Dec. 9 passage in the National Assembly of the impeachment bill, a total of 20 hearings had been held in the court. It took 92 days before the court's final decision, longer than 64 days required for the 2004 ruling on Roh's impeachment. During the 64-day period, only seven hearings were held in 2004.

Park will be subject to indictment and detention by prosecutors as she lost her presidential immunity following the court's decision.

The court's ruling said Park had rejected face-to-face interrogations by state and special prosecutors despite her earlier pledge to accept, mentioning Park's rejection of prosecutors' attempt to search the presidential Blue House.

Prosecutors have identified Park as an accomplice of her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the corruption scandal that led to Park's impeachment, for multiple charges including bribery.

The scandal surfaced in late October, pushing millions of people into the streets to hold rival rallies for and against the impeachment every week. In its ruling the constitutional court said it hoped the ruling would end national division.

According to the constitution, an election to pick the next president will be held in 60 days and many expect it to fall on May 9.

Meanwhile, the South Korean military has been ordered to put on vigilance against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea given South Korea's current political situation, according to the Yonhap news agency.

U.S. State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington DC that the United States will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn for the remainder of his tenure as the acting president.

"We look forward to a productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next president," Toner said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will continue to cooperate with South Korea after the country's Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park.

International rating agency Moody's said the impeachment of Park has removed the political uncertainty in South Korea.

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn convened a cabinet meeting shortly after the court's ruling.

Hwang will also hold a session of the National Security Council to discuss diplomatic and security issues.
From court verdict on 2012 violence at Maruti Sukuzi plant in Manesar to testing of BrahMos missile, here are some of the important news stories to watch out for:

1- Court verdict on Maruti plant violence

Section 144 has been imposed near the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar from today ahead of the court verdict on the violence at the automobile factory in 2012 where a general manager was burnt to death and several executives injured. The police arrested 147 workers in connection with the case and charged 145 in the case. The unions were planning to hold a meeting today and launch a protest if the decision was not in favour of the workers.

2- Arun Jaitley to chair high-level meet on bank NPAs today

Finance minister Arun Jaitley will chair a high-level meeting with Reserve Bank officials to address the issue of non-performing assets in the banking sector. The meeting, which will also be attended by financial services secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal, will discuss ways of resolution of stressed assets urgently, sources said.

3- Madras high court to examine video footage of TN Assembly trust vote

As directed by the Madras high court, the Tamil Nadu Assembly secretary will produce the video recording of the entire House proceedings on the day of the confidence vote which was adopted amid unruly scenes. The court gave the direction while issuing notice to assembly speaker P Dhanapal and chief minister K Palaniswami and others on a PIL by opposition DMK seeking to declare the confidence vote adopted on February 18 as null and void. The trust vote was won by Palaniswami by a 122-11 margin in the 234-member Assembly after the eviction of DMK MLAs and a walkout by its allies.

4- From 290 km to 450 km: Extended range of BrahMos missile to be tested

India is expected to test an extended range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile whose reach has been increased from 290 km to 450 km, the countrys top military scientist said this week. Defence Research and Development Organisation chief S Christopher said that the configuration of the existing missile has been tweaked to enhance its range.The missile is an Indo-Russian joint venture. Christopher said another version of the missile with a strike range of 800 km was under development. The missile could be tested in two-and-a-half years. BrahMos variants can be launched from land, air, sea and under water.

5- South Koreas Constitutional Court upholds President Park Geun-hyes impeachment

South Koreas Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye on Friday, removing her from office over a graft scandal involving big business that has gripped the country for months. Park becomes South Koreas first democratically elected leader to be forced from office. A presidential election will be held in 60 days, according to the constitution.

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6- Rajasthan to rewrite history books: Maharana Pratap defeated Akbar in Haldighati

School students in Rajasthan will soon be taught that Rajput warrior Maharana Pratap defeated the decorated army of Mughal emperor Akbar in the Battle of Haldighati some 450 years ago. Most academics scoff at this idea because historical evidence shows that Pratap, the ruler of the erstwhile Mewar region, fled the battlefield, although in the later years he continued his guerilla war against the Mughals.

Read the full story here.

7- I-T notice to 550 people for depositing over Rs 15 lakh, post demonetisation

The Income Tax has served notices to 550 account holders in Himachal Pradesh for depositing over Rs 15 lakh in the banks, post demonetisation, a senior official said on Thursday. These depositors would have to disclose their source of income and in case they fail to do so, the money would be treated as black money, said the states chief commissioner of income tax. Chief Commissioner, Income Tax (Himachal Pradesh), Preetam Singh said.

Read the full story here.

8- Delhi ATM dispenses fake Rs 2,000 note, second case in one month

A south-east Delhi resident has alleged that he got a fake Rs2,000 note while withdrawing money from an ATM in south Delhis Amar Colony. The police registered an FIR and are probing the allegations. Last month, police received a similar complaint from Sangam Vihar after which a 27-year-old cash loader was arrested.

Read the full story here.

9- From Kejriwals homestay to hurled shoes: 5 controversies that dogged the Punjab elections

Ahead of the assembly election results on March 11, HT looks at five controversies that emerged from poll-bound Punjab during the campaigning.

Read the full story here.

10- Kansas shooting: Accused shooter who fired at Indian techies appears in court

The Kansas man accused of killing an Indian software engineer and shooting two other people while shouting get out of my country appeared in Johnson County Circuit Court on Thursday as lawyers worked out a schedule for his upcoming trial. Adam Purinton, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32. He is also charged with two counts of attempted murder.

Read the story here.
The government on Friday told the Lok Sabha that over Rs 2.42 lakh crore were spent on purchase of defence equipment from 2013-14 fiscal to 2015-16 fiscal.

Expenditure on purchase of defence equipment for the three armed forces was Rs 66,821 crore in 2013-14 fiscal, Rs 65,583 crore in 2014-15, Rs 62,341 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 47,494 for the ongoing 2016-17 fiscal, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre told the lower house.

In reply to another question, the Minister said the government has approved a Defence Innovation Fund (DIF) with initial funding by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The fund aims at creation of ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence, by engaging research and development institutes/academia and industry including start-ups and provide them the funding to carry out innovative development which has the potential for future commercialisation, he added.
India on Friday launched an inquiry into the death of a Nepalese citizen during a clash on the border after Kathmandu said the man was killed in firing by Indian security forces, as top Indian leaders intervened to defuse tensions.

Local residents said Govinda Gautam, 20, of Kanchanpur district in southwestern Nepal, was hit by shots allegedly fired by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel on Thursday after a dispute over the construction of a culvert by Nepalese authorities.

Fresh clashes between Nepalese nationals and SSB personnel were reported at two places on Friday despite measures taken by both sides to control the situation. Several SSB personnel and at least a dozen civilians were injured, officials said.

Around 500 Nepalese nationals gathered at Gauri Phanta border check post at 9 am. A few miscreants on the Nepal side pelted stones at security officials, said Akash Deep, district magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. Stone pelting was also reported in Basahi area, where some security personnel were injured.

People from the Nepal side used sling shots to shoot glass marbles. They repeatedly tried to provoke the (security) personnel, Akash Deep said.

Another 36 people, including nine SSB personnel, were injured in Thursdays clash. Movement across the border was suspended after the violence.

Gautams death created tension in Kanchanpur and hundreds protested outside the hospital where his body was kept. Nepal deployed armed police contingents to control the situation.

After Nepals foreign ministry condemned the killing of an innocent Nepali nationaldue to fire opened by the Indian security forces, Indias external affairs ministry said the SSB had launched an inquiry. Earlier, the Indian embassy in Kathmandu had denied any firing by SSB personnel.

Nepals foreign secretary Shanker Das Bairagi summoned Indias deputy chief of mission, Vinay Kumar, and handed over a diplomatic note that sought a probe. The Nepali side asked India to stop such inimical activates.

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval spoke to Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed sorrow over the incident.

Doval told Pracahanda India will extend all possible cooperation and requested Nepalese authorities to provide the autopsy report and other information on the incident, an official statement said. Prachanda said he hoped India would take stern action against the guilty after a probe.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said, The government of Nepal is being requested through diplomatic channels to share post-mortem and forensic reports to facilitate the process.

Local officials from both sides held a meeting and agreed to maintain peace and order, he said.

Nepals foreign minister Prakash Sharan Mahat too discussed the incident with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj during a phone call.

Culvert being built in undemarcated section of border

Indian officials said the Nepalese side began constructing the culvert in an area near border pillar number 200, the status of which is yet to be decided. The dispute began after pillar number 200 went missing some time ago, and the culvert is located in an area claimed by India.

Residents on the Nepalese side said the situation became tense on Thursday after SSB personnel, accompanied by people from the Indian border town of Basahi, allegedly fired in the air.

But Lakhimpur Kheri district magistrate Akash Deep said when he had gone to the border to discuss the matter with Nepalese officials, thousands of Nepali citizens entered Indian territory and set up a Nepal flag.

He said border forces had to use teargas to disperse them and denied that any shots were fired.

SSB commandant Dilbag Singh said: SSB jawans on duty objected to (the construction)Following this, Nepalese people gathered there and pelted stones, resulting in injuries to seven SSB jawans and some civilians.

Indian and Nepalese officials agreed after consultations that status quo would be maintained till survey teams of both countries finalised the border. A six-member team comprising officials from both sides will monitor developments and take steps to ease tensions.

The death of Gautam triggered protests in some parts of Nepal that were joined by activists of the ruling CPN-Maoist Center and opposition parties. Home minister Bimalendra Nidhi said Gautam had been declared a martyr and the government will provide his family Rs 1 million as compensation.

Lawmakers from various political parties sought an answer from the government over the incident. They criticised the government for surrendering to India and not seeking compensation.

(With inputs from Chandan Kumar and Deokant Pandey)
India will not have the capability to scour its harbours for potential mines and explosives for at least three years, making them highly vulnerable to enemy action.

The navy will be without a minesweeper till 2021, with the existing fleet of six Soviet-origin vessels on its way to be decommissioned by next year, reveals a parliamentary report on the alarming decline in naval force levels. Navies use minesweepers to secure harbours by locating and destroying mines.

In its latest report tabled in Parliament, the standing committee on defence asked the government to make sincere and concerted efforts to equip the navy with the critical capability. The panel is headed by BC Khanduri, a BJP MP who retired as a major general.

If an enemy submarine mines shallow waters outside a key Indian harbour, we will come to know of it only when a ship is blown up. We are Ram bharose (at Gods mercy), said a navy officer.

India could sign a Rs 32,640-crore deal with a South Korean shipyard for building 12 mine counter-measure vessels (MCMVs) in the country by March 31, but the first of those is likely to be delivered only in 2021. Any delay in hammering out the deal could further upset the navys calculations, said another officer. He said securing Indias 12 major harbours require at least 24 minesweepers.

The MCMVs are slated for de-induction by 2016-20182016 has already passed and moreover, building the MCMVs will also take considerable time. The Committee feels that the entire process of procurement of MCMVs will be delayed inordinately, the report said.

The new MCMVs will be built at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in collaboration with Busan-based Kangnam Corporation under the Make in India initiative. The deal was supposed to be closed last year but discussions on technology transfer caused delays.

The construction of the first vessel is expected to begin in April 2018, and deliveries likely to be completed between 2021 and 2026.

Not having minesweeping capabilities can have deadly consequences, said Sudarshan Shrikhande, a retired rear admiral. Even modified fishing trawlers can be used for laying mines, multiplying the threat at the sub-conventional level.

So how has navy landed into this mess?

The MCMV tender for eight vessels was floated nearly a decade ago, with Kangnam emerging as the frontrunner for the order. However, the government scrapped the tender in 2014 amid allegations that the Korean firm had hired middlemen to swing things in its favour.

The Centre finally nominated GSL in February 2015 to build minesweepers in partnership with a foreign shipyard. It was later clarified that the previous tender was scrapped due to procedural issues and Kangnam could compete again as it was not on the governments blacklist.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president V M Sudheeran resigned from the top party post on Friday citing ill-health.

A staunch loyalist of former defence minister A K Antony, Sudheeran told a press conference he took the decision as doctors advised him rest after he tripped at a public function in Kozhikkode in north Kerala.

It is a painful decision, but I took it in the larger interest of the party, he said, adding it was time to make way for a person who can run around quickly and take swift decisions.

Known for his clean image, he was appointed as the PCC chief after then party chief Ramesh Chennithala joined the Oommen Chandy cabinet in 2014.

After Congresss debacle in the last assembly elections, Sudheeran was blamed by many in the party for denying seats to some veteran leaders.

His relations with Chandy had also soured of late prompting the latter to give many party functions a miss. The Congress high command had to intervene on many occasions to broker peace between the warring party leaders.

Meanwhile, Chandy denied reports that he was a top contender for the post. I have made it clear that I will not accept any post, he said.

Party insiders said K Muralidharan, son of former chief minister K Karunakaran, is tipped to be the frontrunner for the post.
Police on Friday arrested 2 more people in connection with the alleged rape and murder of 2 minor sisters in Kerala where a series of sexual assaults, including one that involved a priest and 7 minor girls in an orphanage, have been reported earlier this month.

The body of the 9-year-old was found hanging from the ceiling of her single room house on March 4 by her parents - both construction workers - after they returned from work in Palakkad district. Medical examinations later confirmed she was sexually assaulted before being killed.

Their elder daughter was also found dead in a similar manner at the same spot about two months ago. The mother said the younger daughter was aware of her sisters murder and she was also done away in a similar manner fearing that she might spill beans.

She said once she had confronted the girls cousin for sexually assaulting her 14-year-old elder daughter and later complained to the police who she said brushed it aside as a suicide.

If the police had acted promptly, my second daughter could have been spared. But nobody took us seriously, the distraught mother said.

The two, including the girls cousin, were arrested only after the mothers revelations. Two persons were earlier arrested on March5, a day after the second murder was arrested.

The embarrassed government had earlier suspended the station house officer of Walayar and ordered an inquiry against two others. It has also constituted a special investigation team to probe the twin-murder case.

The issue also figured prominently in the Kerala assembly with the opposition accusing the government of poor law and order situation in the state.

It is shocking that police were protecting criminals rather than victims. All officials who failed to act on the first complaint of the distraught mother should be dealt with heavily. It should not happen to any other mother, former chief minister VS Achuthanandan said after visiting the girls family.

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Senior diplomat Manjeev Singh Puri on Friday was appointed as Indias new envoy to Nepal.

Puri, a 1982 batch IFS officer, is currently Indias Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.

He is expected to take up the assignment shortly, Ministry of External Affairs said.

Puri will succeed Ranjit Rae, whose term came to an end last month.
A vigilance court on Thursday sent incarcerated secretary of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC), Parmeshwar Ram and two others on two-day police remand in connection with the question paper leak of intermediate level examination, 2017, on Thursday.

Among those to have been forwarded on police remand was Arun Kumar, nephew of senior IAS officer Sudhir Kumar, who has since been jailed and suspended.

Kumars bail petition will be heard on Friday.

Meanwhile, the special investigation team (SIT) of Patna police raided the BSSC office on Thursday to collect more evidence against Kumar and Ram.

The SIT had last raided the BSSC office on March 3, but reportedly failed to secure vital clues. The court had permitted the SIT to re-examine documents at the BSSC office with certain riders.

The SIT team spent more than an hour at the BSSC office, searching official chambers of the accused and some computers. However, it was not immediately known if it had found vital clues during the raid. The raid, said an officer, was conducted on the basis of the statement of Niti Ranjan, an IT expert, engaged with the BSSC.

The officer said that Ranjan had disclosed several startling fact, which had to be corroborated. The SIT is still verifying Ranjans statement. BSSC employees at the office refused to speak to the team, he added.

A police officer said that the SIT had recently raided Kumars house at Hazaribagh in Jharkhand and secured some documents and electronic devices which were later sent to the forensic science laboratory, Patna, for examination.

Kumar and his three relatives were arrested from the Hazaribagh residence of the officer on February 24, while Ram was arrested on February 8.
School students in Rajasthan will soon be taught that Rajput warrior Maharana Pratap defeated the decorated army of Mughal emperor Akbar in the Battle of Haldighati some 450 years ago.

Most academics scoff at this idea because historical evidence shows that Pratap, the ruler of the erstwhile Mewar region, fled the battlefield, although in the later years he continued his guerilla war against the Mughals.

The storied military campaign is among several historical facts that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ruling BJPs ideological fount, is accused of trying to rewrite as part of efforts to promote its vision of Indian culture and way of life.

In fact all heroes --- from Pratap to Prithviraj Chauhan --- that the RSS is projecting had lost conclusively. By twisting facts one cannot re-write history, said professor D N Jha, former member of Indian Council for Historical Research.

Irfan Habib, professor emeritus at Aligarh Muslim Universitys history department, refused to comment, saying it would be senseless to argue with the RSS.

They can teach whatever they want, he said.

But Rajasthan education minister Vasudev Devnani told Hindustan Times students will not read distorted history from the next academic year. Until now, students of class X and XII read Pratap had lost the battle.

If Akbars armies won the battle then why did they return to the battlefield six times? There has been an attempt to downplay the role of our heroes, Devnani said.

The state government is believed to have got its idea of rewriting the history of Haldighati from a book titled Maharana Pratap: Kumbalgarh se Chavand.

KS Gupta, retired professor of history from Udaipurs Mohanlal Sukhadia University, says his book examined contemporary Persian records, near contemporary Rajasthani sources and studied the circumstances to conclude that the dominant view that Maharana Pratap lost the battle is not correct.

Even so, most historians from Rajasthan dispute this.

If the Mughals lost the battle, they should have left but the fact is they never left for several years, and Pratap didnt give up fighting, said Reema Hooja, author of History of Rajasthan.

So if there was any winner in Haldighati, it was the Mughal army which was left standing in the battlefield.

Prof KG Sharma, head of the history department at University of Rajasthan, said, Initially the Rajputs were overpowering in the war but then somebody spread the rumour that Akbar himself had arrived with a large contingent.

The rumour caused Maharana Pratap and his men to retreat into the hills.

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Telecoms company Reliance Jio and digital wallet Paytm have apologized for the inadvertent mistake in the unauthorised use of Prime Minister Narendra Modi photographs in their advertisements, the government informed Parliament on Friday.

The ministry of consumer affairs had sent notices to the two companies under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act of 1950, which bars use of Prime Ministers name and picture for commercial use.

Clarifications were sought by the department of consumer affairs from Paytm and Reliance Jio wherein they have apologised for their inadvertent mistake, junior consumer affairs minister CR Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The two companies used the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in full-page print advertisements contravening the prior permission stipulated under law, he said.

Based on the departments request, the information and broadcasting ministry has issued an advisory to print medium to check-up the permission from competent authority before issuing any advertisement wherein the emblem and names specified under the act are mentioned, he said.

Responding to a query whether there is any mechanism to approve use of the Prime Ministers photo by private firms or if the government plans to introduce one, the minister informed that a committee examines such proposals.

Section 3 of the act provides that no person shall use or continue to use any name or emblem for the purpose of any trade, business, calling or profession without permission of the central government.

The law says any person who contravenes the provisions of Section 3 shall be punishable with fine, which may exceed to Rs 500.

Businessman Mukesh Ambanis Reliance group came out with print advertisements after the launch of Jio last September, offering free voice calls and data services till March 2017.

Reliance Jio dedicated its 4G service to the Modi governments flagship Digital India project. Full-page advertisements were published with a photograph of the Prime Minister in a blue jacket, triggering a political controversy.

Paytm welcomed the governments demonetization decision on November 9, hours after Modi announced the recall of two high-value notes, issuing an advertisement which had the Prime Ministers photograph on it. The ad appealed to the people to start using its digital wallet service.

Experts said it wasnt illegal in dedicating any service or product to the Prime Minister or any constitutional functionary, but permission is normally sought before putting in product advertisements images of popular leaders holding constitutional positions.

The ads drew criticism with the opposition pointing to it to reiterate its charge against the NDA government of being pro-corporate.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: PM of India openly endorses Reliance product.

The Congress did not take particular exception to the advertisement but party spokesperson Ajay Maken said appropriate action should be taken if permission was not sought for using the Prime Ministers image.

Last year, when Bandhan Bank was inaugurated to provide loans to small-scale business, a photo of President Pranab Mukherjee was used.

Former Lok Sabha secretary general TK Vishwanathan found nothing illegal in such ads.

If any corporate house or a private citizen wants to use the PMs picture to dedicate a service or a product, at least legally, the industry has not committed any wrong, he said.

(With inputs from PTI)
The major construction and design work of Chinas second aircraft carrier has been completed, bringing the country one step closer to establishing its own carrier fleet, according to a PLA authority.

The aircraft carriers hull blocks have been joined at the shipyard, and equipment installation is currently underway, said Wang Weiming, deputy chief of staff of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy and an NPC deputy, during a March 9 interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the annual session of the National Peoples Congress. The carrier is now awaiting fitting, Wang added.

In addition to the existing carrier Liaoning, China will put more effort into building its own fleet of aircraft carriers. The number of Chinas future carriers depends on the countrys strategic and military needs. We will not compete with the U.S. to build a fleet of 12 carriers, which is not necessary for China, as the country pursues a national defense policy that is purely defensive in nature, Chen Zhou, a researcher with the Academy of Military Sciences, told Beijing Youth Daily. Chen is also an NPC deputy.

Chens remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump promised that he would bolster the U.S. Navy by expanding its number of carriers from 10 to 12.

Echoing Chen, Wang Huayong, deputy political commissar of the Eastern Theater Command, attempted to allay fears surrounding Chinas rising naval power. He emphasized that the countrys forces are for defensive purposes only.

The aircraft carrier is still in its training and trial stage. Marines remain weak, and the number and quality of long-distance vessels do not meet expectations," Wang told Xinhua.
Illegal withdrawal of ground water, cutting trees without permission, and discharge of untreated waste water were some of the green norm violations by project proponents detected by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Environment clearances were granted to project proponents without checking compliance of conditions mentioned in previous environment clearances and recommendations of regional offices, said the report tabled in Parliament on Friday.

Depicting several loopholes in the ministrys approval process, the report, based on approval given to 4,534 projects between 2008 and 2015, accused the ministry of failing to monitor its own approvals conditions to protect the environment.

More than half of the requisites for approval termed as general and specific conditions were not met by project implementers and the ministry failed to take strict action against them, the report said, naming several public enterprises such as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as violators.

No penalty has been imposed on even a single violator in the last two years, was the stark remark of the governments auditor in its first appraisal of the ministrys environmental clearance process. It hauled the ministry up for failing to delegate penalty powers to its regional offices that monitor implementation of approval conditions.

Under the Environment Protection Act (EPA), the ministry is mandated to appraise and approve infrastructure projects and ensure that conditions imposed on project proponents to protect environment are met.

The National Democratic Alliance government has amended the green norms over a hundred times over the last two years in the name of ease of doing business for faster clearance. The process had caused heartburn within the government, with economic ministries blaming the environment ministry of blocking growth through a long drawn and cumbersome approval mechanism.

The CAG found that the environment had suffered at the cost of faster clearances, with several project proponents not implementing basic conditions such as not discharging waste water without treatment, replenishing ground water, and having adequate green belt around project sites.

The CAG also said the ministry had failed to appoint a national regulator to oversee the environmental clearance process as directed by the Supreme Court in 2011.

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A Sikh man shot outside his home in Washington state by a partially-masked gunman shouting go back to your own country was targeted because of his ethnic origin, authorities have said as they announced a reward of up to $6,000 (around Rs 4 lakh) for anyone providing a lead in the case.

US national Deep Rai, 39, was working on his vehicle outside his home in Kent on March 3 when he was approached by a stranger, who first argued with Rai, and then shot him in the arm.

The account provided by the victim suggests that he was targeted because of his ethnic origin, Kent police chief Ken Thomas told reporters on Thursday, adding hateful acts are not acceptable.

Nearly a week after the shooting that stoked fears among the Indian-American community, the police released the shooters sketch. Thomas said the lone white shooter make, about six-foot tall, medium built and between 35-40 years of age.

On the day of the shooting, he was wearing a dark-coloured or black hood in addition to dark coloured clothing. The lower portion of his face was covered with a mask. The incident is being investigated by the Kent police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a hate crime.

The Kent police department is concerned about any act of violence in our community. The possibility of a hateful violence underscores the need of a through and serious examination of the circumstances around this criminal incident, Thomas said. After the shooting, the suspect departed on foot in an unknown direction, he said.

Thomas said its early in the investigation and still trying to learn the exact circumstances. Rai was wearing a turban. With the dynamics of the situation that occurred we do believe the victim was targeted..., he said.

The Kent police department is committed to protect community members, particularly if they may be targeted because of their race, gender, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation or other protected class. For that reason we have partnered with the FBI to ensure we bring all investigative resources to bear to this case, he said.

The FBI Seattle field agent told reporters that the agency has opened a full civil rights investigation into this matter along with the department of justice civil rights division. We opened this case to help Kent police department to figure out whether or not there was bias, specifically bias related to federal hate crimes laws in this matter, he said.
The Supreme Court issued on Friday a bailable warrant against sitting Calcutta high court justice CS Karnan, an unprecedented order in a bitter confrontation between the judge and the top court.

A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar issued the order directing Karnans presence on March 31 because the judge ignored an earlier court order summoning him. Justice Karnan had to appear on Friday to respond to contempt proceedings initiated against him.

The court said the bailable warrant should be executed through Director General of Police, West Bengal.

Justice Karnan had, however, sent a letter to the CJI asking him to restore his judicial and administrative powers, which the bench rejected.

The SC had on February 8 issued contempt notice to the controversial judge who had accused several judges of the Madras high court -- where he had earlier served -- and a SC judge of corruption, nepotism and casteism.

The SC asked Karnan  who is Dalit  to be personally present before the top court on February 13.

But, justice Karnan did not obey the court order and failed to appear. Instead, he wrote a letter questioning the contempt proceedings against him. According to the judge, only Parliament had the power to initiate action against a sitting high court judge by way of an impeachment motion.

Yet, the constitution bench gave him another chance, albeit with a warning.

We will give him one more opportunity. We want to hear him before framing charges, the bench had said on February 13 after attorney general Mukul Rohatgi suggested the court to go ahead with the proceedings in his absence.

In his earlier letter, justice Karnan has said the contempt action against him is erroneous and has been willfully and wantonly passed with malafide intention. Therefore these proceedings may be referred to Parliament, where, he said, he would establish the high rate of corruption prevailing in the judiciary in the Madras HC.

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The surgical strike at the terror launch pads in PoK last year resulted in significant casualties to the terrorists and their supporters across the border, government said on Friday.

During the surgical strike, significant casualties were done to terrorists and those who provide support to terrorists, minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre said in Lok Sabha during Question Hour.

The surgical strike on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, 2016, was carried out by the army to foil the designs of Pakistan-based terrorist groups to strike on Indian security forces and other places of importance, he said.

It also came as a huge morale booster for the rank and file of the security forces, Bhamre said.

Though no specific assessment of psychological conditions/morale of defence personnel has been carried out after the surgical strike, he said notwithstanding this, surgical strikes by themselves were a huge booster for the rank and file of the Armed Forces.

The minister also said that all those who participated in the surgical strike were suitably rewarded.
Kashmir shut down on Friday, following a call by the Valleys joint separatist leadership against the killing of a civilian during an encounter a day earlier, disrupting normal life.

Shops, business establishments and educational institutions were closed and the streets remained deserted.

On Friday, hardliner Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Geelani, moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Yasin Malik had given call for a complete shutdown and after-prayer protests on Friday in the wake of Pulwama encounter.

Teenager Amir Nazir was hit by a stray bullet near the encounter site, according to the police. Another civilian was brought dead to the hospital after clashes between security forces and protesters but according to the police, he had no pellet or bullet injury and an inquest has been ordered into the death.

A security personnel stands guard at a closed market during restrictions imposed to maintain law and order following a strike call by joint Hurriyat leadership against the killing of civilians during an encounter, in Srinagar on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Congregational prayers were not held in Srinagars Jamia Masjid. Mirwaiz Umar was put under house arrest on Friday morning, while Geelani continued to be under house arrest. Mirwaiz tweeted, Placed under house arrest today, #JamaMasjid under police siege as the shameless ruling regime disallows mandatory Friday Prayers yet again!

However, a police spokesperson said, There were no restrictions in any part of the Kashmir valley, including Srinagar city.

In Bandipora, hundreds offered funeral prayers for local Hizb-ul Mujahideen militant Mushtaq Ahmed, who was killed on Thursday evening in an encounter.

Train service from Srinagar to Banihal remained suspended for the second consecutive day on Friday due to security reasons.

Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained closed for traffic for the third consecutive day as snowfall and rains lashed parts of Kashmir on Friday.

In Srinagar, there was slight snowfall overnight and intermittent rains throughout the day.
From a look at the exit polls for the assembly elections to passing of bill extending maternity leave in India, heres a quick update of whats in the news:

1- Exit polls 2017: BJP ahead in UP, Goa and Uttarakhand; Congress and AAP neck-and-neck in Punjab

The Bharatiya Janata Party could emerge as the single-largest party in three of five states, including Uttar Pradesh, which voted to elect new assemblies over the past month, exit polls showed on Thursday. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party were locked in a tight race in Punjab and the Congress was battling the BJP to retain power in Manipur and Uttarakhand. The results, officially out on Saturday, will be seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modis policies, including the shock recall of 500-and 1000-rupee banknotes.

Read the full story here.

2- Wont let BJP rule by proxy in UP: CM Akhilesh hints at alliance possibilities

With exit polls pointing to a hung House, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Thursday he would not allow the BJP to rule by proxy, hinting at the possibility of tying up with other parties. The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party is the only remaining big player in the state but when asked about a possible tie-up, Yadav said I always respected her (Mayawati), and because of this many may construe that there could be an alliance (with BSP). But its hard to say anything about the possibility of joining hands (with her)....

Read the full story here.

3- Parliament passes bill to extend maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which will raise the maternity leave for working women in public and private sector from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children. The maternity leave beyond the first two children will continue to be 12 weeks.

Read the full story here.

4- India-Pakistan conflict could escalate into nuclear exchange, says US General

A conventional conflict between Pakistan and India could escalate into a nuclear exchange, a top American general warned on Thursday. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Joseph Votel, Commander of the US Central Command or CENTCOM, spoke about ongoing tensions between Pakistan and India and said military responses to terrorist attacks and the potential reactions increase the likelihood of miscalculation by both countries. He said Indias public policy to diplomatically isolate Pakistan hinders any prospects for improved relations. This is especially troubling as a significant conventional conflict between Pakistan and India could escalate into a nuclear exchange, given that both are nuclear powers.

Read the full story here.

5- India seriously concerned about violent clashes in Nepal: MEA

India expressed concern over the killing of four Madhesi protesters in police firing on Monday. Peace and stability in Nepal are of paramount interest to us. We are seriously concerned at the recent violent clashes which you mentioned and in which several people lost their lives. We conveyed our condolences to the families of the deceased and urge all sides to exercise restraint and to avoid any action that may vitiate the atmosphere further, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

Read the full story here.

6- L-G rejects Rs 1-cr aid to family of OROP suicide victim, Delhi govt cries foul

Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal has rejected the AAP governments proposal to award Rs 1 crore as compensation to the family of Ram Kishan Grewal, an ex-serviceman who allegedly committed suicide in November over the non-implementation of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme. Officials said Baijal took the decision on March 6 because the death did not occur in the line of duty, as mandated under the existing policy. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal described the move as anti-army.

Read the full story here.

7- J&K: Three militants, teen die in gunfights between security forces and rebels

Three militants and a 15-year-old boy were killed on Thursday in two separate gunfights between security forces and rebels in Jammu and Kashmir, police said. Two Lashkar men were killed in south Kashmirs Pulwama that again saw protesters throwing stones at troops, police said. Teenager Amir Nazir, who sneaked close to the site of the gunfight, died when was hit by a stray bullet, state police chief SP Vaid said.

Read the full story here.

8- Shiv Sena suspends members involved in Kochi moral policing incident

The Shiv Sena indefinitely suspended party workers from Kerala who harassed couples at Kochis Marine Drive walkway and caned them. Distancing itself from the moral policing incident, the partys youth wing chief and Sena founder Bal Thackerays grandson Aaditya Thackeray, said on Twitter, The incident in Kochi, Kerala, is shameful and unnecessary. The party will not shield or endorse such acts. The said persons involved in the act in Kochi have been immediately suspended from the partys membership indefinitely.

Read the full story here.

9- Mosul: Tired but happy, Iraqis finally escape Islamic State jihadists

Hundreds of civilians rushed down a hillside on the outskirts of Mosul to waiting Iraqi forces, tired but happy after finally being able to flee the clutches of the Islamic State group. Trapped for years inside the jihadist-ruled city, escaping residents say IS fighters are growing increasingly desperate as Iraqi forces advance on their last bastions in west Mosul. Civilians are being forced from their homes, they say, and rounded up by the retreating jihadists.

Read the full story here.

10- Virat Kohli hurled bottle at Australian official, Anil Kumble the puppeteer: Oz paper

The Decision Review System controversy that erupted during the Bangalore Test between India and Australia has taken an ugly with an Australian newspaper accusing Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble of indecent behaviour. On Thursday, The Daily Telegraph alleged that India skipper Virat Kohli had hurled an energy drink bottle which hurt an Australian team official. Read the full story here.

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11- Nagas and other tribes focus of Cambridge exhibit on Indias marginalised

Hundreds of objects acquired from colonial India  some never before seen  have been put on display at an exhibition at the University of Cambridge focusing on Indias indigenous people, casting a new light on the country beyond Bollywood and curry. The exhibition at the universitys Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, features objects brought to Britain by the anthropologist and Indian Civil Service officer, John Henry Hutton, who was deputy commissioner of Assam (then including the Naga Hills) in the early 20th century.

Read the full story here.

12- Fearless Girl statue is a power figure at Wall Street

A statue of a young girl called Fearless Girl was placed in front of Wall Streets famous charging bull, just in time for International Womens Day. A big investment firm, State Street Global Advisors, put the statue there to highlight efforts to get more women on corporate boards.

See the video here.
For a fleeting moment, nobody seemed alarmed by the sound of the explosion inside the sprawling Aahat-e-Noor courtyard of the Ajmer Dargah on the evening of October 11, 2007. Many thought the cause was an old cannon located on a nearby hillock, fired for over a hundred years to signify the start of the namaaz during the holy month of Ramzaan.

But then followed the screams of agony, and the expression on the otherwise sombre faces of countless devotees assembled at the shrine turned to that of horror. The truth dawned, but slowly, as they were greeted by the sight of blood-splattered bodies strewn all around them.

The dargah had fallen victim to a terror attack.

At a corner of the courtyard lay 70-year-old Badiul Hasan spread-eagled, rudely dislodged from the spot where he had kneeled to offer namaaz almost every week for the last 50 years. Today, 10 years after his demise, he is yet to receive justice.

My father would often tell us that even if we cannot help someone, we should never harm them. We still cant bring ourselves to believe how he lost his life. And now it hurts us even more to see that the people who orchestrated the Ajmer Dargah blast have been declared innocent, says Shamsul, Hasans son.

Two days after a special NIA court in Jaipur acquitted seven people  including former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh member Swami Aseemanand  in the Ajmer Dargah blast case, devotees offered their prayers at the shrine with a sense of resignation.

The scene at Ajmer Dargah just after the blast. (HT File/Deepak Sharma)

The relatives of the people who lost their lives in the blast cant help but exclaim how the NIA court verdict has dealt a severe blow to their quest for justice. My mother lost her mental balance in the days that followed my fathers death. He had retired as an English lecturer from an army school, and was a well-respected man. We thought the accused would be stringently punished by the court, not acquitted, says Shamsul.

Inside the office of the Anjuman Committee, which is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the dargah, a motley group of people plan their future course of action in hushed voices. We will appeal against the NIA court order because it is unacceptable that people such as Aseemanand be declared innocent even after their acknowledgment of the crime. The security agencies probing the case didnt follow it up properly, says Mussabbir Hussain, joint general secretary of the panel.

Standing a few metres from the Anjuman Committee office, you cant miss the sound of rustic quawwals singing praises of Moinuddin Chishti  the mystic 12th century Sufi saint  amid a sea of devotees forming serpentine queues to visit the heart of the shrine. An elderly man with an eccentric glint in his eyes fiercely shakes a tambourine as he recites verses in chaste Urdu, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Located in the centre of the courtyard before him is the tree where the blast occurred.

Surrounding the tambourine man is a palpable sense of anger, threatening to burst out like a volcano in full spate. After Aseemanands acquittal, we dont expect that the two people convicted by the court to be punished stringently by the court. No one talks about the blast anymore, and there is a feeling that the government wants us to forget about the entire incident, says Haji Syed Iqbal Ali, another devotee.

Mohammed Khalid Hashmi, a khadim (attendant) at the dargah, says maintaining peace is paramount in a situation such as this. The verdict has angered a lot of people, and we have to ensure that no untoward incidents occur because of it. The acquittal has set a bad precedent, he adds.

According to the dargah administration, no security arrangements were in place at the time of the blast because few had even imagined that such an incident could occur. Many Hindus visit the shrine because it symbolises the Sufi ideals of inclusiveness and humanity. We find satisfaction in the fact that the attack did not succeed in disrupting communal harmony, pitting community against community. We have shown the world that we will continue to champion peace, no matter what, says Hussaain.

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The medical college teachers of all the six government medical colleges called off their boycott on Thursday midnight after the government assured them in writing that the March 7 order will be applicable only to new medical colleges.

Through its March 7 order, the government redesignated junior specialists as assistant professors, senior specialists as associate professors and principal specialists as professors  paving the way for them to teach in medical colleges. The move was part of the Rajasthan governments strategy to fill faculty positions in eight new medical colleges across the state.

Around 350 medical teachers of Sawai Man Singh Medical College had resigned on Wednesday and boycotted work over the state governments decision to redesignate doctors as medical teachers. Medical teachers from other medical colleges joined the agitation and boycotted work on Thursday.

Rajasthan Medical College Teachers Association (RMCTA) secretary Dr Dhananjai Agarwal on Friday said, Talks went on for a long time with health minister Kali Charan Saraf, after which the government gave us in writing that the March 7, 2017, order to make medical officers equivalent to medical college teachers will be applicable only in the eight new medical colleges and not in the existing six government medical colleges.

Doctors in the new medical colleges will be appointed according to the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms, informed RMCTA senior vice president Dr RK Jain.

SMS Medical College principal Dr US Agarwal said, All medical teachers have joined their duties.

Meanwhile, the All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association (ARISDA) welcomed the decision and said that it would pave way for doctors to become medical teachers.

In Rajasthan, medical teachers report to the medication education department and the doctors under the health department. Medical teachers are designated as assistant professor, associate professor and professor. Doctors are designated as medical officer, junior specialist, senior specialist and principal specialist. In the March 7 order, government has redesignated junior specialists as assistant professors, senior specialist as associate professors and principal specialist as professors, paving way for them to teach in medical colleges.
Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to launch a project to conserve leopards by improving their prey base, mitigating conflicts with humans and controlling poaching.

Leopard is an endangered animal under schedule one of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The big cats population in Rajasthan has declined over the years. According to 2015 wildlife census, there are 434 leopards in the state. Around 20 leopards have been killed between 2014 and 2016 in accidents or by humans when they strayed into human habitations or agricultural fields.

Chief minister Vasundhara Raje announced Project Leopard in her budget speech for 2017-18 on March 8 and set aside 7 crore for it.

Many a times leopards enter human settlements adjoining forest areas. Many incidents of human-leopard conflict have come to light. Due to this, there is resentment among the public. But there are examples where humans and leopards co-exist peacefully, she said while announcing the project.

HT has accessed an exclusive copy of the proposal that the forest department sent to the CM for the project.

According to the proposal, Project Leopard will run in eight sanctuaries  Jaisamand Sanctuary in Udaipur, Bassi Sanctuary in Chittorgarh, Shergarh Sanctuary in Baran, Kumbhalgarh Sanctuary-Raoli Todgarh Sanctuary (stretched from Ajmer to Udaipur), Mount Abu Sanctuary-Sundamata Conservation Reserve (Sirohi and Jalore), Jhalana Aamagarh Conservation Reserve in Jaipur, Jawai Conservation Reserve in Pali and Khetri Bansyal Conservation Reserve in Jhunjhunu.

These sanctuaries are spread across 1926.80 square kilometres.

The project work plan will be to mitigate man-leopard conflict, conserve leopard population by countering the threats the predators faces and create goodwill between local communities and leopards, said a senior wildlife official associated with the project. In conserving leopards, the project will also boost conservation of bears, lesser cats, other smaller mammals and prey species, and support leopard conservation through capacity building, research and monitoring, he added.

Pressure is exerted on protected areas by grazing livestock, extraction of fodder, timber and non-timber forest products and illegal occupation. These lead to human-animal conflict inside forests.

Several animals have started moving into habitations and agriculture fields as there is an increasing in the wildlife population, non-availability of food and water inside forests and protected areas. This is leading to man-animal conflict. Conflicts with leopards are generally violent and are on the increase, the proposal read.

Between September 2016 and February 2017, six people were killed by leopards of Sariska Tiger Reserve, who strayed into peripheral villages. A leopard with a broken canine was later trapped and sent to Jaipur.

The steering committee of Project Leopard will be chaired by forest minister; principal chief conservator of the forest will be the vice-chairman, chief wildlife warden, and member secretary. Directors of eight leopard sanctuaries, chief conservator of forest of those areas and wildlife experts will be members of the committee, the proposal said.

The committee will report to the state board of wildlife.

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She has met President Pranab Mukherjee and spent time with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She has had dinner with Union minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi. And, she has been honoured by the Government of India.

Yet, nobody seems to know that 21-year-old Anoyara Khatun is waiting for more than a year for a decent home under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Now a hero in her neighbourhood, Anoyara Khatun was the youngest to receive the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar on International Womens Day in Delhi. What can I say? We applied for a home more than a year ago. But we havent heard from anyone yet, Anoyara told HT on Friday. I cant even remember when I filed the application, she added.

Hailing from a Below-poverty-level family in Choto Asgara village (North 24 Parganas district) Anoyaras mother works as a cook for self help groups that provide mid-day meals to school children. The paltry payment and an old-age stipend is all she has to run the family. Her brother and his family stay separately.

Children speaking with Anoyaras mother near her home in Choto Asgara village, Sandeshkhali. (Samir Jana/HT Photo)

Their hut is in a dilapidated condition and her family applied for a home under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme long ago. We spoke to the local panchayat members who said the family is mentioned on the list of applicants, said Hriday Ghosh, head of Dhagogia Social Welfare Society, a partner of the NGO, Save the Children, at Sandeshkhali which set up children groups to combat trafficking in parts of Bengal.

Financially, the award has done little for Anoyara who is an icon in the fight against child trafficking in Bengal. She is part of the childrens resistance groups that are successfully fighting evils such as trafficking of children and marriage of minors.

We are so happy that Anoyara received the national award. Other children will get inspiration from this, said Chittopriyo Sadhu, head of Bengal state programme, Save the Children.

As a minor Anoyara herself was taken to Delhi by a racket and made to work as a domestic help. She has not only worked for groups, preventing hundreds of attempted trafficking, but has spread the message to other villages for Save the Children. Anoyara is a second-year student of humanities and plans to continue with her studies after graduation. The sum of Rs 1 lakh she received along with the citation, will either be used to buy a plot of land or kept in the bank as a fixed deposit.

Anoyara Khatun with the citation at the office of an NGO in Kolkata. (Samir Jana/HT PHOTO)

I will continue with my studies and work for the children at the same time. I am not thinking about marriage. My three sisters were married off when they were still in school. I can decide my own fate and I have told my mother that I am not ready for marriage, said Anoyara.

It was a life-time experience for the village girl when she visited Delhi on March 7. She was among the 31 women who were honoured for their exemplary work in different fields. On March 8, she went to Rashtrapati Bhawan to receive the award from the President. After that, it was time to have dinner with Maneka Gandhi.

Read: Teens in Bengal villages up in arms against child traffickers

On March 9, she had the opportunity to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence. I told him that I am from Bengal. He not only appreciated the work we are doing, but said that he was with us. I felt so happy and so powerful. What seemed more important than the award is the fact that the President and Prime Minister now know what we do and they stand by us, said Anoyara.

Anoyara now feels the urge to learn Hindi and English so that she may speak at different forums. My Hindi is not very good. I need to learn Hindi and English properly. But I was happy to communicate with government officials in Delhi. I have been asked to give proposals for betterment of children in our country, said Anoyara while showing her certificate.

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The American Society of Civil Engineers on Thursday assigned a grade of D+ to American infrastructure, the same overall grade it received four years ago. As in 2013, Americas cumulative GPA is once again a D+, the report said.

The report card is issued every four years, and is closely followed. It depicts the condition and performance of American infrastructure in the familiar form of a school report card. Any grade within the poor range indicates that the infrastructure is in poor to fair condition and mostly below standard. Since the groups first report card in 1998, American infrastructure has received a nearly failing GPA.

U.S. President Trump is seeking $1 trillion in public and private funds to invest in Americas crumbling infrastructure. According to a report by Bloomberg, Trump met with private-sector leaders on Wednesday to discuss his plan.

The group behind the report card says an additional $2 trillion in funding is needed. Even though the U.S. Congress and some states have recently made efforts to invest more in infrastructure, these efforts do not come close to the $2.0 trillion in needs, the report said. The group estimates $4.59 trillion is needed to improve the nations nearly failing infrastructure by 2025.

In his book Great Again, Trump praised China for its modern infrastructure, saying it is so much better. Were like a third-world country, he wrote. Infrastructure investment has played a key role in Chinas growth and the country leads the world in infrastructure investment.

Trumps ambitious plan to rebuild Americas crumbling infrastructure is off to a slow start and he has yet to provide details for his plan. How to pay for everything is the biggest question hanging over his plan.
A day after voting, all sections of the local people, from intellectuals to rickshaw-pullers and students were seen discussing possible results of the UP assembly elections in Prime Minister Narendra Modis parliamentary constituency that turned a poll battleground last week.

Invariably, all discussions revolved around the outcome. Different political parties supporters indulged in live chats at tea stalls and countered one another with their logic. While some frankly supported the BJP, others spoke in favour of the Samajwadi Party (SP).

At Bhaiya Lal tea stall near Girijaghar intersection, Anup Jaiswal, a diehard BJP supporter, said, BJP will come out with flying colours. All equations are in favour of the BJP. High voting percentage always yielded the desired results for our party. This time, BJP candidates will win with record margin.

No sooner did he finish than SP worker Jeetendra Tripathi countered. SP-Congress alliance is winning. People of Kashi have rejected the BJP and accepted the grand alliance. On March 4, a huge crowd in the joint road show of SP national president Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is clear indication of it, Tripathi said.

He said the crowd in the SP-Congress alliance road show was much bigger than the one by PM Modi. He referred to kaam bolta hai slogan of the SP, citing giving example of the expressway constructed by the ruling Samajwadi party between Agra and Lucknow.

Rickshaw-puller Raju was convinced about the victory of the SP-Congress alliance. He was involved in a lively chat with his friends at Teliabagh intersection. His claim didnt convince his counterpart Sevak Lal. He claimed that the BJP would win since Modi was working hard to bring about a positive change in the lives of poor people.

Tea-seller Bhaiya Lal Yadav said he was confident of the victory of SP-Congress alliance. Akhilesh has carried out development across the state. He is equally popular among the youths and elderly people, he said.

Prof Kaushal Kishore Mishra, a regular participant in live discussions at Pappus tea stall in Assi, said, BJP is winning. Equations have changed after Modis road show. BJP will sweep the polls.

A general store owner in Telia Bagh, Nagendra Nath Singh, said the BJPs chances were bright for the formation of the government.

Varanasi had turned into a battleground as the PM held two back-to-back road shows and three rallies. The leaders of Congress-SP alliance  Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav and Rahul Gandhi  took out a road show and addressed a rally on March 4. BSP chief Mayawati also addressed a huge rally in Rohania.

Whatever may be the results, what is interesting is that it has become Modi versus Akhilesh in chats at various locations.

Varanasi has eight assembly constituencies. At present, BJP has three, SP-2, BSP-2 and Congress-1.

Read more| UP elections: Tents near EVM strongrooms become makeshift shelters for party cadre

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Assams Brahmaputra, the only male river in India, is set to get a touch of the feminine Ganga.

The 10-month-old BJP-led coalition government in Assam is celebrating Namami Brahmaputra, billed as the biggest river festival of India, from March 31 to April 4.

The highlight of this festival will be a lamp-lit show of spiritualism inspired by the elaborate Ganga Aarti on the ghats of Varanasi.

Priests in Varanasi provided a step-by-step guide to the festivals organiser, the Assam State Transport Corporation. But they ran into a technical problem while trying to compose a hymnal song for Brahmaputra because they werent used to singing paeans to a masculine river.

A pundit from Hardwar was roped in to compose the hymn, said AP Tiwari (IPS), managing director, Assam Transport Corporation and director, Assam Skill Development Mission who was on a visit to Lucknow on Thursday to promote the river festival in Uttar Pradesh.

What is Namami Brahmaputra event all about? Assams life and culture are deeply influenced by the rejuvenating splashes of the Brahmaputra  one of the most powerful rivers of the world.

To pay a fitting tribute to the rivers life-giving prosperity and countless blessings, a five-day-long event, Namami Brahmaputra is being organised under the leadership of Sarbananda Sonowal, chief minister of Assam, across 21 districts along the Brahmaputra in its entire stretch from Sadiya to Dhubri, said Tiwari.

NAMAMI BRAHMAPUTRA The 10-month-old BJP-led coalition government in Assam is celebrating Namami Brahmaputra, billed as the biggest river festival of India, from March 31 to April 4. The highlight of this festival will be a lamp-lit show of spiritualism inspired by the elaborate Ganga Aarti on the ghats of Varanasi. The event will include a soulful veneration of river Brahmaputra along with other attractions like indigenous sports, local food, laser shows, exhibition of organic tea, display of handloom and handicrafts, cultural evenings, film festival, business meetings and symposium among others.

The river festival will serve as an ideal platform to showcase Assams potential as a state brimming with trade, tourism and culture opportunities, he said. Why is Brahmaputra called the only male river in India? As the name suggests  Brahmaputra is the son of Lord Brahma, The Hindu God of creation, he explained.

The event would take off in the form of a spectacular opening ceremony on March 31, 2017 at the riverfront of Bharalumukh, Guwahati  the land of Kamakhya Temple, one of the most important and popular Shakti-peeths in India.

The event will include a soulful veneration of river Brahmaputra along with other attractions like indigenous sports, local food, laser shows, exhibition of organic tea, display of handloom and handicrafts, cultural evenings, film festival, business meetings and symposium among others. The conclusion of the event shall be equally spectacular with a grand closing ceremony on April 4, 2017.

Currently, the state government has sanctioned a budget of Rs 10 crore for this event. To promote the event, the organisers are conducting roadshows across the country to create awareness about this event.

What about the security issues in Assam? Currently, there are no security issues in Assam. However, for this event the respective departments have taken measures to ensure security and safety of the event, said the IPS who hails from UP.

Brahmaputra deeply influences the life and culture of Assam. It is Assams pride. The Namami Brahmaputra initiative inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modis Namami Ganga project is aimed at restoring the lost glory of the ancient, holy river that remained neglected for so long, said BJP national secretary Mahendra Singh, also the partys Assam in-charge.

He said the partys win in Assam has shown widespread acceptance for BJPs policies and restoring Brahmaputras glory was part of the partys commitment.

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Fighting against all odds, these young women proved their mettle in the jobs that are usually handled by men.

Today, they are pillars of strength and support for their families. Divorced by husband over unfulfilled dowry demand, Tabassum Bano, then 19, along with her six-month-old son left her village in Pratapgarh district for Allahabad to jump into the Yamuna in 2007.

But destiny had something else for her in store. Some members of an NGO came to her rescue and offered her work in their office. After a year, she mustered courage and hired a cycle rickshaw. That was how she became the first woman auto rickshaw driver of Allahabad.

Tabassum Bano driving a three-wheeler in Allahabad. (HT Photo)

I drove the cycle rickshaw everywhere and saved every penny. I bought an auto just a year ago. Today this auto rickshaw is my bread and butter and I am earning well as my auto is connected to Ola cab service. It supports my family including my aged mother, my brothers wife, sisters children and my son. Life is still tough but now we have hope, smiles Tabassum, now 29, through her tears. Her son is also doing extremely well in a school run by the NGO.

She even educates women around her area about Ola. Many have followed in her footsteps and are financially independent now. In her 20s, Ankita Kesarwani took up her first job at the only all women Pink Petrol Pump in the city after her graduation. I never felt shy in taking up the job at a petrol pump. There was some resistance in the family in the beginning but now they support me, she adds with a glint of pride. I can now support my studies. I also financially help my family. They now feel proud of me, she says.

Sarita Tyagi, who also works with Ankita is of the same age, says, We are a very strong team of girls. We know some self defence tactics but by the Gods grace we have not felt the need of using them till date. My family members were afraid of my security in the beginning. But now they support me. Family support is very important, she says.


Within a month of its opening, its impossible to get a seat at Jia even early in the week. We called multiple times to haggle with the hostess, finally agreeing on an 11pm table on a Tuesday night.

The frenzy is understandable. After 14 years of the always-packed Royal China, co-owner Neville Vazifdar has launched a new brand in a neighbourhood (Colaba) that has recently been having an opening a week. It serves, according to its website, dim sum, Japanese, Thai and modern Chinese dishes. Jias site also says its name translates to I love my family in Mandarin, which reminds us of Karan Johars movies.

The decor is elegant, with tight pools of light over each table offering Instagram-ready illumination for the food. (Bhushan Koyande / HT Photo )

Thats where the reference stops. The restaurant occupies a cool, clean, classy room, done up in shades of white, wood, and blue-grey slate, with tight pools of light over each table, as Instagram-ready illumination for the food. In the spectrum of aesthetics between Yauatcha and Lings, Jia veers towards the former.

Our crispy duck salad is vertical, with perfectly cooked meat stacked with micro greens and lemongrass sauce  we could have had two portions each.

The crispy duck salad was perfectly cooked. We could have had two portions each. (Bhushan Koyande / HT Photo )

The flaky roast pork puff has pastry so short it falls apart at the merest touch to reveal nubs of glistening, sweet, smoky meat inside. The salmon carpaccio involves slices of ponzu-bathed, jalapeno-dotted pink fish that are pleasantly substantial, fanned around a seaweed salad. The tom yum soup is so beautifully balanced, wed tip back a gallon of it.

The tom yum soup is so beautifully balanced, wed tip back a gallon of it. (Bhushan Koyande / HT Photo)

But the lows are as acute as the highs. The menu promises a whole fried red snapper with lemongrass-scented Thai sauce. When it arrives, it is whole as promised, glossy and crisp. But the flesh is dry, the batter greasy, the sauce more a cousin of a Chinese sweet chilli than a Thai glaze. It takes a lot of concentration to detect any of the citrusy herb. Xiao long bao, or chicken soup dumplings, are less broth more bun. In the crispy prawn cheung fun, the prawn is flavourless.

Royal Chinas fried turnip cakes are a bit more polished here  theyre seared and seasoned, topped with a little mountain of fried garlic and spring onion, and just enough chilli oil. With the hot cakes we have pu-erh tea, a fermented variety that can have as much complexity as a glass of wine, and does.

The fried turnip cakes are well-seared and seasoned, topped with a little mountain of fried garlic and spring onion, and just enough chilli oil. (Bhushan Koyande / HT Photo )

With dessert, a well-executed chocolate-glazed orange custard tart, we have jasmine tea.

For cheung fun, wed still go to Royal China. For the duck salad, and pork puffs well haggle for a table at Jia.

JIA: THE ORIENTAL KITCHEN

RATING: 3.5 / 5

WHERE: Dhanraj Mahal, C. S Marg, near Gateway of India, Colaba

WHEN: Noon to 3.30pm, 7.30pm to midnight

COST: Approximately Rs 3,000 for a meal for two without drinks. Full bar available.

CALL: 6156-2222

(HT reviews anonymously and pays for all meals)
Kong: Skull Island

Director - Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Cast - Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, John Goodman, Toby Kebbell, Thomas Mann, Shea Whigham, John C Reilly

Rating - 2.5/5



In 2012, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts trudged up into the woods to shoot a small independent film. The Kings of Summer was about a group of children armed with nothing more than endless curiosity and the limitless possibilities of childhood. Away, finally, from the adults they despised, they built a tree house, swam in lakes, explored their new world, and schemed about hiding away in it forever. They didnt need monsters and mayhem. They could just dream it up.

Three years later, Vogt-Roberts would return to explore the wilderness once again, this time with approximately $185 million more in his pockets, some of the biggest actors in the world by his side, and all the resources he could ever need to make his wildest fantasies a reality.

Funnily enough, none of the state-of-the-art technical wizardry, none of those glamorous faces, untouched by the grit and grime of an unfriendly jungle, not even the stunning sight of a monkey the size of a building could create that same sense of awe those kids conjured up with just sheer will and boundless imagination.

Were it not for the classic films he is pulling from  films like Platoon and more obviously, Apocalypse Now  Vogt-Roberts Kong: Skull Island, which is set during the last days of the Vietnam War, could easily be mistaken for a prettier, more cine-literate Transformers film, obsessed as it is with providing little more than the empty sight of watching large creatures pound each other to a pulp while thinly drawn humans annoyingly keep getting in the way.

But between all that monster action - which, lets face it, should be enough for most - there is the inconvenient task of populating the story with real people. Here, they made the completely miscalculated decision of going with quantity over quality. At any given point in this film, there are at least a dozen central characters, a vast majority of whom are there just to make sure Kong and the rest of Skull Islands monstrous inhabitants get breakfast every couple of hours.

While condolences must go out to each and every one of them for having been treated so poorly (except perhaps Samuel L Jackson, who doesnt seem like he cares anymore, as long as his contractually obligated yelling quota is met), spare a thought for poor Toby Kebbell, who spends the entire film by himself, either writing letters, or fantasising about writing letters.

And then theres Tom Hiddleston, who plays a Bear Grylls-type named Conrad because, you know, his heart is full of darkness. Hes hired by John Goodmans mysterious scientist, who brings together a set of diverse characters to help him explore the legendary Skull Island, as the survival guide of the expedition. The group is rounded off by a bunch of army guys, led by Samuel L Jacksons noisy lieutenant, several expendable scientists, John C Reilly (marooned on the island since World War II and perhaps the only one really having any sort of fun), a photographer (played by the wasted Brie Larson), and the obligatory Chinese actor.

Kong is the second film in the MonsterVerse series that began with 2014s Godzilla, which is a much better movie than most give it credit for. It is, in a nutshell, everything that this one isnt: Visionary, stylish, tonally consistent, and surprisingly philosophical. New species are discovered everyday on our planet, which is a staggeringly humbling idea. Godzilla was intelligent enough to explore this theme. Humanity has spent an eternity deluding itself into believing that it is at the top of the food chain. For a planet that has yet to be fully explored, yet to have all its mysteries solved, it is foolish to think otherwise.

Unfortunately, Kong is mostly empty spectacle. Its beautiful, dont get me wrong; DP Larry Fong, forgive the pun, apes the hell out of Vittorio Storaros work on Apocalypse Now - right down to the smoky, auburn hues - but his visuals are by far the best thing about this film. Especially in the action sequences, which are undeniably impressive. But with what only barely qualifies as character development for Kong, who should ideally have been number one on the list of characters that needed fleshing out, the film makes him seem like little more than a temperamental beast who is overused to the point of being blase.

Their insistence to contrive him into virtually every pivotal moment in the film completely robs him of all majesty. Had the humans been more interesting, their awestruck words wouldve done the trick, but they arent, so it doesnt.

Godzilla meanwhile, is a textbook (written, of course, by Jaws) example of how to correctly portray monsters in these movies. The idea should always be to use them sparingly, to milk the legend, to build suspense, and not to chuck them about willy-nilly like theyre some sort of sheep.

This is King Kong! It shouldve roared, it shouldve been wonderful, towering, breathtakingly larger-than-life.

I never thought Id say this, but were that uneasy romantic subplot from Peter Jacksons 2005 King Kong to be removed, it would be a better movie than this.

Watch the Kong: Skull Island trailer here

Follow @htshowbiz for more

The author tweets @RohanNaahar

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi at the organisations Worli office on Friday.

The two discussed potential strategies to be adopted after the results of assembly polls in five states are announced on Saturday. Senior RSS leader Krishna Gopal attended the meeting held at Yashwant Bhavan. Shah left for Delhi immediately after the meeting, which started at 11.30 am. Though RSS office bearers were tight-lipped about the meeting, sources said the leaders discussed the assembly elections in five states.

Amit and Joshi discussed the party prospects in five states, particularly Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is expected to emerge as the single largest player. The RSS general secretary must have been informed about the possible chief ministerial candidates in UP, if the party is in a position to form the government, said a source from the organisation.

The sources said the previously scheduled meeting at Nagpur was cancelled to avoid the media glare.

Amitji was in Mumbai for a work-related matter. He thought of dropping by the RSS office as he heard Bhaiyyaji was there. It was an informal courtesy call by the BJP chief, Pramod Bapat, RSS coordinator, Konkan, told HT.

According to sources, communication between the RSS and the BJP a day ahead of the results assumes significance in terms of the parties strategy post results.

The BJP may also project RSS workers as its face in some of these states.

Read

UP elections: RSS back to bolster BJP, just like it did in 2014

RSS, BJP up ante against left activism in Amritsar

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After forest officials failed to find the mother of two-month-old male leopard cub, rescued from a sugarcane field at Nashik, Maharashtra in the last week of February, the cub was sent to a rescue centre on Wednesday.

This is the second incident this year from the same area after a four-month-old female leopard was rescued from a sugarcane field in January.

The cub was spotted by farmers near Mhalsa Kore village, who informed the forest department. According to forest department officials, several attempts were made by veterinarians from NGO Wildlife SOS and forest officials to reunite the lost cub with its mother, but the female leopard did not return to the site in search for her missing cub.

The young cub was transferred to Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre, Junnar that houses 34 rescued leopards.

Veterinarians from Wildlife SOS said the cub was weak and has been fed multivitamin supplements. We will have to hand-rear her as she cannot be returned to the wild, said Vinay Deshmukh, veterinarian.

Read

Caught on reel: Leopard family reunion in Pune

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Two weeks after the Army paper leak scam came into light, the Thane police have seized three mobile phones which belongs to three of the 24 people arrested in the case.

A source from the police said that they have found substantial information from the three phones which belong to army clerks Nigamkumar Pandey, Dharam Singh and Ravindra Kumar. All the three accused are from Nagpur.

On February 26, the police conducted raids in Nagpur, Pune and Goa and arrested 21 people for leaking Army recruitment question papers. These three Army clerks were arrested three later. Initially they claimed that they had destroyed their phones but one of the accused helped the police trace the mobile phones.

We have seized three phones and we have found a few chats related to the paper leak. The accused used to operate mostly through WhatsApp, said a police official. He added, We have sent the phones to forensic laboratories to get more information about the chat discussion among the accused groups.

A team from the Thane crime branch is in constant touch with the Army headquarters in Delhi and are regularly sharing updates with them, claimed a police source.

Also read: Army exam paper leak: Thane cops freeze bank accounts of 24 accused

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Do you have environmental clearances to build Metro stations at Hutatma Chowk, Churchgate and Cuffe Parade, the Bombay high court asked the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) on Friday.

A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and justice Girish Kulkarnis directives came after petitions pointed out that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has refused permissions for these stations, with a categorical no to the Cuffe Parade railway station.

The stations are for the Metro-3 underground line, which will connect Colaba in the Island city with the industrial hubs of Bandra and SEEPZ. The court was hearing petitions filed by two residents, Mina Verma and Pravin Jehangir. Verma approached the court raising concern about green cover on the Churchgate-Colaba-Cuffe Parade stretch being harmed, while Jehangir questioned the use of public lands for the construction of the entire line.

Jehangir said that a special purpose vehicle created by MMRDA for the Metro line cannot exercise the same powers the railways has to use public lands for their purposes. He said the Metro Railway Act requires the contractor to acquire specific rights, even for using public lands temporarily.

Vermas counsel, senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas, told the court the petitioners inspected documents pertaining to the three Metro stations in south Mumbai, and it revealed a complete and total abdication of statutory functions both by the MMRCL and the Tree Authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

None of these stations are permitted under the law, Dwarkadas said. In fact, MMRCL has been clearly told it could not construct stations in CRZ-III (coastal regulation zone).

Dwarkadas also raised the question of the replantation of the trees that will be uprooted to make way for the Metro line.

Replantation has been proposed on marshy land, which is affected by inter-tidal waters. This means no tree can survive there, said the senior advocate, adding that this shows the Tree Authority is only paying lip service to the law. He said the Tree Authority should be disbanded and that it had completely abdicated its statutory responsibilities.

Pointing out that in one of the affidavits filed by MMRCL, it has been claimed that girth of a tree could have increased by about ten feet between August 2016 and January 2017, Dwarkadas said this clearly shows that statements are being made by the body with absolutely no sense of responsibility. He urged the court to appoint an expert committee to re-examine the necessity of cutting trees, to ensure that whatever number of trees could be saved are saved.

MMRCLs counsel Aspi Chinoy, however, responded saying the corporation had obtained all the necessary permissions. He said the entire track and all stations on the Metro 3 line will be underground and 90% to 95 % of the land required for laying the line would be restored to its original position. Only the access to stations and ventilation are above the ground, Chinoy said, and the corporation will replant an equal number of mature trees, not saplings, in the same vicinities from where they will be uprooted.

Chinoy said MMRCL will also look after and safeguard these newly planted trees for three years. This is our absolute, specific and categorical promise, he said, adding that what the MMRCL has offered by this undertaking was in addition to the statutory requirement of planting three times the trees cut for any project. We are also open to any further suggestions from the court and petitioners.

The bench, however, directed MMRCL to first clarify its position about the environmental clearances for Hutatma Chowk, Churchgate and Cuffe Parade stations. The bench found it necessary first to verify if CRZ clearance was given and whether MoEF clearance was obtained for these stations. It has now posted the petitions for further hearing on March 16.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has invited college students to suggest policy interventions for critical matters such as drought control, smart cities, transportation, rural education and more. This comes after the chief minister began to involve youngsters into the functioning of the state government through fellowships.

Through Transform Maharashtra, an initiative launched by Action for Collective Transformation (ACT)  an organisation started by young socio entrepreneurs and aided by the state government  Fadnavis is seeking ideas to solve 11 socio-economic challenges that Maharashtra faces. The Transform Maharashtra inter-collegiate competition was launched on December 26 last year and has had 11,500 students participating in 2,588 teams. Each team comprises five to six students.

Nidhi Kamdar, officer on special duty to the chief minister, said, The winners of the competition will present their ideas to the chief minister. The government will see how these suggestions can be implemented, and also involve the team members in the process.

The teams have to suggest policy measures that can be implemented across several of the states focus areas such as Swachh Maharashtra, drought control, smart cities, promoting start-ups in the state, rural education, zero corruption, empowering urban poor, improving mobility in cities, harnessing technology, citizens engagement in governance and digitalisation.

So far, the highest number of entries has been on drought-free Maharashtra, Swachh Maharashtra and reforming rural education themes.

While teams from over 50 colleges across the state have submitted their entries, the College of Engineering Pune (COEP), Punes Sinhagad College of Engineering, and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Powai, have sent the maximum number of entries. Students from COEP have so far submitted 66 entries while there have been 55 entries from Sinhagad College and 54 from IIT, Powai.

Kamdar added, The entries will be judged by a panel of experts as well as through online poll. Experts from various fields will be roped in to judge the entries and the winners will present their solutions to the chief minister on May 1.

Three hundred students have been selected as ambassadors and 2,015 volunteers have been roped in to publicise the contest across the state and attract more participants. The last date for the submission of entries is March 19.

Also read: Devendra Fadnavis: Maharashtra chief minister who tamed Sena tigers in Mumbai

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One last container was hoisted aboard container ship SITC Laem Chabang in the port of Wenzhou prior to the latter's departure on March 9. When it sailed off, the SITC Laem Chabang followed the first ship route linking the port of Wenzhou in eastern China with Southeast Asia.

Container ships will now sail the route once per week, docking at major ports including Ningbo, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok, Manila, Laem Chabang and Shanghai. The new route offers convenient and punctual service to clients in Hangzhou, Wenzhou and Taizhou. It takes the ships five days to reach Ho Chi Minh from Wenzhou; the journey is eight days to Bangkok and nine days to Laem Chabang.

Many goods from Wenzhou are exported to Southeast Asia. According to Chinese Customs, the export value of Wenzhou commodities has increased 15.81 percent since 2015 to reach 8.9 billion RMB. However, for a long time, owing to the absence of a direct ship route, goods from Wenzhou had to be transported through other ports to reach Southeast Asia, resulting in higher costs and lower efficiency.

The new route will effectively promote cooperation between Wenzhou and Southeast Asia, increasing the international competitiveness of the hub and its surrounding cities. The route will also serve to promote the aims of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Seeking loan waivers for farmers has suddenly become a hot issue in Maharashtra, with Opposition parties  the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)  joining hands to corner the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government during the ongoing budget session of the state legislature. The ruling BJPs ally, the Shiv Sena, has also adopted an aggressive approach to this issue.

Despite the government saying loans waivers are not a permanent solution to farmers problems as the issue of falling prices of agricultural produce must be tackled first, political parties continue to press the issue. This has resulted in the proceedings of both houses being disrupted for the third consecutive day.

State revenue minister Chandrakant Patil said the government cannot simply declare a waiver on the floor of the house. He targeted the Congress and NCP, saying they must explain why farmers continue to commit suicide despite the 2008 state government waiving their loans.

Members from the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP stalled the proceedings of the house, affecting legislative work. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Opposition leader, said the three parties did not trust the state government as it had failed to obey the high court order directing it to provide financial support to troubled farmers.

Last year, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court had ordered the state to compensate 11,862 farmers from Vidarbha, who lost less than 50% of their produce. The state has not followed the order. On Thursday, the court asked the state to clarify its stance within a week. This shows how callous the government is towards farmers, Patil told reporters.

Farmers in the state have been affected by drought and acute water shortage in most of the districts since the past four years. Last year, the situation was so bad that more than 70% of the states villages were declared drought-hit. Even after a good monsoon, the situation did not improve.

Shiv Sena ministers Dada Bhuse and Arjun Khotkar sat in front of Shivaji Maharajs statue as a mark of protest against their own government, while party legislators joined Opposition members in the house, demanding loan waivers.

Shiv Sena ministers raised the issue before Fadnavis at the cabinet meeting held on Thursday evening.

Demands for a farm loan waiver continued to rock the state legislative council too, with the upper house adjourned early for the fifth day in a row. NCPs Dhananjay Munde, Opposition leader in the upper house, lashed out at the governments stand that a loan waiver will only help banks and not farmers.

He questioned the BJP-led governments 2016 move to repay loans taken by farmers from private money lenders.

It is evident that the 2007-08 loan waiver did not yield the desired results. It only helped banks financiallly. We invested about Rs25,000 crore in various schemes to boost infrastructure, provide electricity connections, improve access to water and develop technological innovations. The Opposition should discuss how to help farmers instead of disrupting the house, Patil said.

He added that the state was open to a debate on the issue.

State panel to look into Sena legislators demand for funds

To pacify an irate Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Maharashtra government has decided to set up a committee of two ministers each from the Sena and the BJP to ensure that legislators demands for funds required to undertake works in their constituencies are promptly met.

The move comes after Shiv Sena legislators grilled the partys ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis-led governments cabinet, asking them why they could not avail of additional finances through various government schemes, though the same funds were made available to BJP legislators. The ministers said they are not given an adequate say in the BJP-led government. Following this, they immediately sought an audience with the chief minister and led a delegation of the partys rural legislators to his official bungalow, Varsha.

Shiv Senas Subhash Desai, state industries minister, said, Legislators from the states rural areas were unhappy as their proposals for roads works and other works did not get passed. The Shiv Sena had raised this issue earlier too. We met the chief minister with a delegation to complain about the issue earlier, but nothing has changed in the past few months. Now, Fadnavis has decided to set up a committee of BJP and Sena ministers to ensure that the legislators demands are screened and resolved speedily.

The government is, however, yet to name the ministers who will form the panel.

The Shiv Sena, a junior partner in the state government, has had choppy relations with its ally. The party has five cabinet ministers and seven ministers of state.

Read

Maharashtra Assembly adjourned over farmer loan waiver

Shiv Sena ministers meet Maharashtra CM demanding farm loan waiver
Womens Day tweet: Ram Gopal Varma should be in prison, says Shiv Sena

A day after Ram Gopal Varma received flak and apologised for a contentious tweet on International Womens Day, the Shiv Sena on Friday slammed the film maker saying the only place for people like him is prisons. Read

Ola, Uber drivers in Mumbai on strike today, commuters mildly affected

For the first time in the city, thousands of Ola and Uber drivers went on strike on Friday. Though the strike began in the morning, passengers have not seen major impact so far. Read

Mumbai police to tighten security for Holi

With Holi right around the corner, Mumbai police has decided to deploy policemen around the city with extra forces on the streets and sensitive spots for a safe festival. Read

Soon dine aboard a floatel in Mumbai

Soon Mumbaiites will be able to dine on the sea with the iconic cable-stayed Bandra Worli Sea Link in the back drop. The citys first floating hotel or floatel will be inaugurated by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday evening. Read

Two soldiers from Maharashtra die at LoC, Leh

Two soldiers from Maharashtra lost their lives in two separate incidents on India-Pakistan border on Thursday. Read
Residents of Thane filmed an unidentified man shooting birds from a boat at Ambe Ghosale lake on Friday afternoon. The man killed two Indian Cormorants, a species protected under schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The police have registered a case against an unknown man.

Residents telephoned wildlife conservationists around 2.30pm after noticing the poacher. They started taking videos of the man who realised that he was being filmed and ran into the watchmans cabin. He left his gun behind, and the carcasses of the birds and fled the spot.

Wildlife activists found an air gun, pellets and the carcasses of two Indian Cormorants. The birds were taken to Thane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TSPCA) where an autopsy was conducted.

Even though there were guards at the spot, the accused managed to take a gun into the lake. After he shot the birds and realised he was being filmed, he managed to escape but left behind the gun, pellets and dead birds in cabin of the watchman, who was sleeping inside, said Yaman Tatrem, wildlife activist from NGO Animals and Plants Welfare Trust, Kurla, who attended the distress call along with activist Amey Malegaonkar.

The activists informed the local police and forest department about the incident. Officials from the Rabodi police station said that they had filed an offence case but will be filing a first-information-report (FIR) after inspecting the post-mortem report. When we reached the lake, the accused had fled but after interrogating the watchman, we got his basic details. An investigation is being carried out and we will trace the accused soon, said a duty officer from the station.

This is third incident in three months where birds have been shot. Two flamingos were rescued by four teenage bird watchers at Mahul creek in Chembur on January 22. Both birds died due to the severe bullet wounds. Two other flamingoes were found injured with pellet wounds on January 13 and 14 at Thane and Vikhroli, respectively. While one succumbed to its injuries on January 24, the other bird lost its life the next day.

Forest department officials said that they will increase patrolling along wetlands and lakes to stop the recurring cases. We were informed about the incident on Friday evening. Along with our range forest officers, we will be carrying out an independent enquiry into the matter. We will also be sharing a list of guidelines with residents to inform the forest department in such cases, said Kishore Thakre, deputy conservator of forest, Thane.

Wildlife activists were irked with the growing number of bird kills in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. We appreciate the citizens who actively participate in reporting such crimes. While the forest department is understaffed and cannot act early in such situations, there needs to be a proper protocol to nab offenders in such matters, said Pawan Sharma, president, Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW). We will be writing to the forest department to find out the culprit and also ensure such things do not happen in future.

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With Holi right around the corner, Mumbai police has decided to deploy policemen around the city with extra forces on the streets and sensitive spots for a safe festival.

Beaches will witness heavy police presence as many revellers visit the sea side in the afternoon hours after playing Holi. The police said instructions to intensify patrolling have already been given to local police stations.

Keeping in mind womens safety, police teams will have anti-eve teasing squads and also police patrol vans with women squads to quickly address women-related issues.

The stretch between Bandra and Malwani will witness heavy police presence due to a larger population base and more beaches in the patch like Gorai, Aksa and Juhu apart from seafronts like Bandstand and Carter Road.

We have will heavy police bandobast. The entire Mumbai police force will be on duty and additional help has been called in from State Reserve Police Force, said Mumbai police spokesperson Ashok Dudhe, deputy commissioner of police. Teams from Homeguards, Force-One and Quick Response Team will also be on stand-by.

The Mumbai traffic police will also have heavy presence at various checkpoints. A senior traffic official said arrangements have been made to identify motorists and bikers who flout regulations during festivals.

Getting away with a traffic offence this year is almost impossible as you will not only be under traffic police personnels gaze but also watched by the CCTV cameras.

All important junctions have been barricaded to check for drink driving cases. Police will also keep a check on bikers riding without helmet and triple seat.

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Delhi cops on high alert ahead of Holi, election results

Police tighten security ahead of counting day, Holi in Noida

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After several complaints about the gap between the train and platforms at suburban stations, commuter activists are pointing to accidents at the Mumbai Central terminus, from where long-distance trains like the Rajdhani and August Kranti start.

Rajiv Singhal, a member of the Western Railway Mumbai Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), has complained about a gap of nearly six inches  wide and high  that could make getting on and off trains unsafe for travellers carrying luggage. At some places, the platform edge is also broken, he said.

Its not only at suburban stations. The gap on long-distance platforms should also be reduced. There have been several instances of late, where travellers have been injured.

Kailash Verma, another DRUCC member from the WR Mumbai division said, The railways can increase the height of only those platforms where long-distance trains halt, such as platform number 7 and 8 at Andheri; platform 6 and 6A at Borivli and at all Mumbai Central terminus platforms.

Commuters, too, have complained about the gap. Many long-distance passengers miss the mid or lower level footrest while boarding or alighting the long distance trains. It would be better if the railways take note of it and do the needful, said Rohit Shanbaug, a Borivli resident who travels regularly to Gujarat.

But Mukul Jain, the divisional railway manager (DRM), Mumbai WR said, Platform gap is a major issue in suburban trains as there is only one foot rest. In long distance train, we have the mid-and-low-level foot rests, using which the passengers can board or alight trains safely.

Following a series of rail accidents owing to the gap between platforms and trains, the railways started increasing the height from 840mm to 920mm, but that is only on the suburban line.

But recent accidents on long-distance trains raises the issue again.In October last year, a 45-year-old woman died of a heart attack after slipping from the train while boarding the Saurashtra Express at Borivli.

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After a 30-year-old software engineer was allegedly strangled to death by her live-in partner at Badlapur in Thane on Wednesday, the police plans to record their families statements. The incident occurred after they had a fight over the issue of their marriage, police said on Thursday. The cops have also seized their clothes and sent them to the forensic lab.

The engineer has been identified as Punam Punyakar Gajbhiye and belongs to Nashik. She was living in Badlapur since the past three years and worked with an IT firm at Kanjurmarg in Mumbai, police said. Punams partner Vijay Sanjay Jharkad,22, was a mobile repairer and was residing with her from the past six months at Badlapur.

Vijay strangled Punam with her scarf late on Wednesday after she told him that she will not be able to continue the relationship with him as her family members were against it. After the incident, Jharkad locked the door and fled from the spot to his friends place. The 22-year-old met his friend in a nearby area and told him about the murder.

His friend soon alerted the police and Vijay arrested. Vijay is in police custody till March 11.

After the post mortem, Punams body was handed over to her family and they have taken it to Nashik for final rights.

Vijays parents have told the police that their son was in a relationship with Punam and that he used to often tell them about her at home. His parents added that the couple was planning on getting married this year.

M Polekar, investigation police officer said, We are in the process of recording statements of both the couple parents. The building in which they recently shifted to has been newly constructed and that apart from their room all other flats were locked (not sold). We are waiting for the forensic report. The watchman said he did not know much about the couple as they entered at irregular times and he just saw them enter the building.

READ MORE

Woman software engineer strangled by live-in partner in Thanes Badlapur

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Two more people believed to be involved in the dumping of 19 aborted foetuses in Mhaisal village in Maharashtras Sangli district, were arrested. On of the arrested accused is from Karnataka and with these two, the number of arrests made in this case has touched nine.

Sangli police arrested one Yasin Tehsildar from a village in Karnataka while a Satgaunda Patil was picked up from Shirol in Kolhapur district in Maharashtra. They are suspected to be working as agents for homeopath doctor Babasaheb Khidrapure, who is the main accused in the case. They are likely to be produced before court this noon.

Police also detained Khidrapures wife Manisha. She is also a homeopath doctor and used to stay with family in the first floor of the Bharati Hospital. Police are recording her statement.

The police had stumbled upon the foetuses during the investigation of a case in which a 26-year-old woman died during abortion on February 28 at the private hospital of Khidrapure.

Police investigation revealed that Khidrapure had not taken consent of Swati Jamdade, who died of bleeding in the government hospital in Sangli.

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Maharashtra doctor arrested for dumping 19 aborted foetuses in Sangli

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Two soldiers from Maharashtra lost their lives in two separate incidents on India-Pakistan border on Thursday.

Deepak Jagannath Ghatge, 27, died on the Line of Control in Poonch sector in a case of indiscriminate firing by Pakistan soldiers. Ghatge, who hails from Borgaon village in Satara district, is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

In another incident, Mahadeo Tupare died due to suffocation after he got trapped under ice in Leh on Thursday. Tupare hails from Mahipalgad in Kolhapur district.

Bodies of both soldiers are expected to be brought to Maharashtra on Saturday.

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Soldier found dead under mysterious circumstances in Poonch

Family of Kerala soldier, who alleged harassment, refuse to accept his body

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A day after Ram Gopal Varma received flak and apologised for a contentious tweet on International Womens Day, the Shiv Sena on Friday slammed the film maker saying the only place for people like him is prisons.

Varma on March 8 had tweeted, saying as women in the world should give men as much happiness as actor Sunny Leone does. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad and Varma got into war of words with him on social media over the remark.

In an editorial in the partys mouthpiece, Saamana, the Shiv Sena said, Varmas comments are as objectionable as Prashant Paricharaks remarks. People like Ram Gopal Varma dont have the right to stand tall at least in Maharashtra.

Solapur Member of Legislative Council Prashant Paricharak was suspended for 1.5 years from the house for calling army wives unfaithful during a campaign rally last month.

The Sena added that this was not the first time that Varma had drawn himself into a controversy by making objectionable remarks, and has gotten away every time until now.

READ MORE

Complaint against Ram Gopal Varma for sexist tweet, director apologises

Ram Gopal Varma posts nasty Womens Day message, twitterati posts nastier replies

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Noida A 33-year-old Ghaziabad man whose wife allegedly chopped off his penis has said the attack on him was unprovoked and he suspected that she had help.

The man told HT his wife  a 30-year-old woman  struck his head with a grinding stone on Thursday morning that made him dizzy and he collapsed.

I was in a towel after taking a bath. She inflicted three blows on my private parts one after the other. I felt that there was someone else in the room and was holding me from back as she landed the blows, the man said.

The woman, who was arrested on Thursday, said her husband refused to have sex with her for 10 years and humiliated her for being childless. She also alleged physical and mental torture.

The couple hails from Bulandshahr and has been living in Ghaziabad for the past eight years.

The man claimed his wife shouted,Aaj tere ko nahi chhorungi (I will not spare you) while she struck him with the knife. He, however, said she did not inflict any injuries elsewhere on his body.

Then, she opened the room and walked out after latching the door from outside. I was bleeding profusely and was in a semi-conscious state. I somehow walked up to the balcony and cried for help. I think when my neighbours rushed for help, the unidentified man may have escaped, he told HT.

The man is now recuperating at a private hospital in Noida after doctors successfully operated on him.

He said he tried his best to support her family after her father died in an accident around three years ago.

After what she has done to me, there is no point in continuing to live with her. Who knows what she will do to me next? She might even kill me some day. I will lodge a case against her, as her family has been supporting her after the incident. Maybe, she did all this as she doesnt want to stay with me has suspicions of me having an extra marital affair. But her suspicions are unfounded as I am not in any relationship. Perhaps, shes in an affair and this was a ploy to force me to leave her, he added.

The woman had said her husband beat her up and hurled abuses for being childless.

We had a fight over the same issue on Wednesday night. I have no regrets as I suffered a lot of humiliation and mental torture, she had said.

I still tolerated him. I dont know the reason why he hates me. Often, he used to ask me to leave. We got married in June 2006. He used to assault me and often abused me and my sisters, she said in her statement.

Her husband dismissed the claims.

He avoids going to the doctor. The doctor tried calling him several times but he refused to visit. He said he wont have children with me, the woman had said.

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How romantic! Im so touched! These roses are very big and fresh. When I arrive home, I will put them in a vase with water--I feel so happy today! exclaimed Xiao Cai, a young woman living in Beijing. While flying home on China Southern Airlines flight CZ3103 from Guangzhou, Xiao received an Ecuadorian rose delivered by Jose Maria Borja, Ecuador's ambassador to China, to commemorate International Women's Day.

In cooperation with China Southern Airlines, the Consulate General of Ecuador in Guangzhou launched a new campaign on March 8: "An Ecuadorian Rose Illuminates Your Journey from Great Heights."

More than 6,000 bracelets with preserved Ecuadorian roses were delivered to passengers on 50 domestic China Southern Airlines flights. Over 10,000 passengers witnessed the event, and the airlines counters and VIP lounges were decorated with more than 4,500 fresh roses.

"Today, Ecuadorian roses are widely used for many important occasions, such as the Oscars, Golden Globes, Cannes Film Festival and Beijing International Film Festival. Through cooperation with China Southern Airlines, we have achieved a very positive response. China continues to increase the demand for Ecuador's roses each year, which shows that high-quality Ecuadorian products are very popular in China," said Ambassador Borja during the launch.

The senior diplomat added that China and Ecuador are currently experiencing the best bilateral relations in their diplomatic history, defined by their comprehensive strategic partnership. The recent visit to Ecuador by Chinese President Xi Jinping was an honor for the Ecuadorian people, the diplomat said, before noting that China Southern Airlines is opening a major entry point into Latin America via Mexico.

Guo Jianye, chief service officer of China Southern Airlines, remarked: "Ecuador's roses, the queens of all roses, will bring happiness to Chinese women on March 8. We now are together once again, with the hope of embarking on our journey accompanied by their fragrance. These roses will illuminate from above the journey of many women.

Indeed, Ecuadorian roses not only bring warmth and blessings to women from other countries, they also offer Ecuadorian women good employment opportunities.

According Mariella Molina, consul general of Ecuador in Guangzhou, 51 percent of manual workers in Ecuadors flower industry are women, a proportion much higher than in other industries. The flower industry requires 10 to 12 workers per hectare of land, Molina pointed out, whereas in agriculture only five workers are needed for every 50 hectares. Therefore, the flower market is particularly important for female employment.

In terms of export volume, Molina said that Ecuador ranks first as a flower exporter to China, representing more than 65 percent of imported roses in the Chinese market. In addition, the Ecuadorian flower sector has increased its exports to China by 84.3 percent since last year. These exports include fresh roses, preserved roses and babys breath.

The Ecuadorian flower industry is still a relatively young industry, with only two decades of experience. However, due to Ecuadors ideal conditions (the country is known as the "closest country to the sun")--including 12 hours of sunlight a day all year, a stable climate, temperatures between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius--the countrys flower industry is developing rapidly.

In China, competition in the floriculture market is intense. Ecuador is trying to stake out its place to help more women accomplish their dreams, both in China and Ecuador.

As the surprised Xiao Cai confessed to Peoples Daily Online, she used to be unfamiliar with Ecuador, but her roses inspired a desire to understand the remote and beautiful country.
The Afghan national, who was found to have stuffed 110 grams of heroine in seven capsules in his stomach, was interrogated by police on Friday on the hospital premises. However, the police could not take him into custody, fearing his condition might deteriorate.

The 55-year-old Abdul Ali Noori was admitted to Metro Hospital on February 28 with pain in the abdomen and loss of consciousness.

Though we had planned to take Abdul in our custody today evening, but we could not out of concern for his health. We will take him into custody on Saturday, said Vinay Prakash Singh, the station house officer of Sector 24 police station.

Tests have confirmed that the white powder in the capsules wrapped in polythene packs, which were surgically removed from his abdomen, was heroin, police said on Friday.

After conducting CT scan, the doctors found foreign bodies in his abdomen which led them to conduct a surgery on the patient. He was operated on March 2 and some plastic packets containing white powder were surgically removed from his abdomen.

Read I Afghan national admitted to Noida hospital has stomachful of heroin capsules

Preliminary interrogation by the police was carried out after he gained consciousness on Friday. He landed at the IGI airport on February 25, where he was to meet the receiver. But the receiver did not turn up at the airport. He then checked into a hotel in Malviya Nagar, Delhi, investigating officer Vinay Prakash Singh said.

Singh said, Since Noori could not meet the receiver in Delhi, he had to keep the packets in his stomach for the next two days without eating or drinking anything. On February 28, Noori was admitted to the hospital with severe pain in abdomen and loss of consciousness.

A total of seven capsules wrapped in plastic pouches, each about five centimetres in size, were removed from his stomach.

Officers from Local Intelligence Unit (LIU), police and the Intelligence Bureau also questioned Noori on Friday. He was grilled with the help of an interpreter as he spoke in his local dialect.

Singh said further interrogation will be carried out once Noori is taken into custody. He only replied in yes or no and we couldnt gather much details from him, the police officer said.

Noori and his son, Abdul Wali Noori, who accompanied him to India, were booked under section 18/22 of Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act.

During the initial probe, it was found that the two mobile phone numbers on which Noori had spoken, were registered at Jaitpur in Delhi. However, it was found that the numbers were registered on fake addresses. Police are trying to get more details about these two telephone numbers.
The office of the principal director and audit has found irregularities in the lease of a kiosk awarded to an eatery on the Panjab University campus without following proper bidding process, causing a loss of Rs 5.78 lakh to the varsity exchequer.

The kiosk (shop number 12 at Student Centre) was allotted to Mamma Mia eatery, owned by Sanjeev Mehta. The audit team has demanded explanation from the authorities concerned as why proper procedure was not followed in this case.



The report says that the committee constituted for this probably ensured that no other service provider was available for bidding. The audit report sent to the PU registrar has demanded justification behind changing the committee members without the approval the vice-chancellor despite his having screened the panel before.

The audit report says the eatery was allotted at a monthly rent of Rs 14,675 in October 2014 on a simple request while another eatery (Pakhwan, shop no 2) was rented out at Rs 46,811 monthly rent after bidding process.

Must read | UGC may convert Panjab University into a resort

The assistant audit officer sought the reason behind fixing such a low rental.

Flags guest faculty issue

The audit report has also observed that the university departments should get approval from the competent authority (V-C) before hiring guest faculty. It says the departments should have a fair idea of how many people they will be hiring as guest faculty before the academic session starts keeping in mind the vacant posts they have.

It further says in case the prior approval of the competent authority is not obtained, the guest faculty should get ex-post-facto sanction from the V-C for lectures they deliver.



Alterations detected in salary bills

The audit has observed that there are several instances of overwriting in the salary bills of staff, which may lead to errors while transferring salaries to the bank accounts of beneficiaries. The salary bills are prepared in a software developed by the university by spending lakhs of rupees.

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Horrific details have emerged in the case of murder of two children allegedly by their grandmother and father in a bid to rid of evil spirits in Bathindas Kotfatta village, police said on Thursday. The victims  Ranjodh Singh, 5, and his sister Anamika, 3  were being tortured for five days since last Saturday when a religious ceremony was started by their grandmother, Nirmal Kaur, who is a self-declared tantric or exorcism expert, in the house.

Nirmals sister Prem Lata, a resident of Ludhiana, is reportedly suffering from a mental ailment, while her daughter Amandeep Kaur doesn't have any child; and Nirmal believed evil spirits in the two children were responsible for this. Superintendent of police Gurmeet Singh said she had been visiting various religious places. She went to a dera in Faridkot district. She took her sister to a godman in Kalanwali in Haryana too.

Prem Lata was in the house on Saturday when the rituals started but was taken away by her family on Sunday, while two of Nirmals daughters were also in the house during these days.

Jaspreet Singh, 21, an uncle of the deceased, said: My mother started the ceremony by burning clay lamps. (Nirmal and the childrens father, Kulwinder Singh, both arrested) beat the children with whatever they could find. Such was the scene inside the house that all of us were made to drink urine of my mother who also drank liquor while doing all this.

Also read | Patiala: School bus crushes 5-yr-old boy while reversing after dropping him

Police also detained for questioning the mother of the children, Rozy, and four so-called godmen who were brought in by Mukhtyar Singh, the grandfather of the children, on Wednesday. But the parents of the childrens mother staged a protest at police station demanding that she shouldn't be booked in the case. Meanwhile, post-mortem revealed that the kids died of strangulation, and not of electric shock as was earlier reported.

Jaspreet said he had approached several people, including some family members, to intervene and save the children.

On Wednesday morning, I was sent out of the house by mother forcibly. Sensing trouble, I called my father to help and bring the children out. I heard their screams but they went silent after some time. By the evening, my father also reached the house with four religious persons from Deon village to intervene. We entered the house, but the children had already died while Kulwinder was beating his wife. As I tried to save her, he hit me with sticks, he said.

Mukhtyar, who works in Bathinda cantonment, said, I had objected to the religious ceremony at the house and told my wife that instead of this, Prem Lata should be taken to a doctor. But they didn't listen to me, so I had left the house.

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The court of additional district and sessions judge SK Sachdeva has suspended the sentence awarded to Punjab DSP Raka Ghira in an Arms Act case after a criminal appeal was filed in this regard. has issued notice to CBI to appear in this matter on March 27.

The court of civil judge (junior division) Hridejit Singh on February 18 had convicted Raka Ghira, 53, under various sections of the Arms Act and sentenced her to an year in jail. A fine of 2,000 was imposed on the convict.

Grounds for appeal

In the criminal appeal, defence counsel SPS Bhullar said that he prosecutions side had not been able to establish the facts as Raka Ghira had a valid licence during the time of raid and recovery which hadnt been taken into account while framing charges against her. In the grounds for appeal, it has also been mentioned that the prosecution had failed to establish the place from where the recovery had been made.

Furthermore, it was pointed out that the magistrate failed to take note of the fact that the applicant wasnt present in the house when the recovery was made.

It was also stated that the house in Sector 15, Chandigarh was owned by applicant as well as her two sons- Rangat Ghira and Rajat Ghira- and hence it was not possible to conclude that it was only the DSP who had been in possession of the said ammunition.

The arms and ammunitions had never been sent to the Forensic Laboratory and that the witnesses produced in the magistrates court were not able to establish if the cartridges were live. A recent amendment to the provision of the Arms Act had also been cited in the application.

An application under Section 389 of CrPC praying for suspension of sentence imposed on Ghira was also moved on Wednesday.

The case

The Chandigarh Police had booked Gira under the Arms Act in July 2011 after a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from her residence during a CBI raid. A .32 bore German revolver and a double barrel gun were found in her residence apart from multiple cartridges, including 831 of .12 bore, 114 of .38 bore, 114 of SLR and two cartridges of sniper live. She was released on bail furnishing bail bond worth 10, 000, on the same day.
The Punjab government on Thursday suspended former Hoshiarpur sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Anand Sagar Sharma, presently posted in Gidderbaha, for being absent from duty since February 20. Sharma, as per the Punjab vigilance and anti-corruption bureau, is mastermind of the multi-crore Hoshiarpur land scam.

As per to Punjab chief secretary Sarvesh Kaushals orders, Sharma has been declared wilful absent from duty under Section 4(i) of the Punjab Civil Services Rule. Sharma would report at Chandigarh and would not be able to move without the prior permission of the secretary, personnel department, read the order.

Sharma is on the run since February 11 (he was on leave till February 20) after the vigilance bureau registered a first information report (FIR) against him and 12 others, including revenue officials and Akali leaders from Hoshiarpur, in a scam in the acquisition of land for a national highway.

The probe  that has nailed all those who were exposed in a series of reports by the Hindustan Times in June last year  has found that the Sharma, who was then the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Hoshiarpur, colluded with revenue officials and SAD leaders to illegally sell the land that was already notified for acquisition.

A case under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 420 (cheating), 467, 468 and 471 (forgery) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, and under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 has been registered against the accused.

The Akali leaders booked in the case include Hoshiarpur market committee chairman Avtar Singh Johal, councillor Harpinder Gill and district co-operative bank chairman Satwinder Pal Singh Dhatt. The other accused are Devi Ram, Jaswinder Pal Singh and Prateek Gupta.

A Ludhiana court has rejected the bail application of most of the accused who are on run. Vigilance offices say all accused are gone into hiding since the registration of the case.

The SDMs role as nodal officer for land acquisition of the national highway was unfair and full of doubts from the beginning, reads the 19-page report prepared by the VB team.

Must read | Hoshiarpur land scam: VB says SDM was mastermind

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If Pakistan is said to be the root cause of Punjabs drug problem, Jharkhand is a supporting agent. The drug menace in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh ruining lives of youths in thousands every month have a strong connection with the hinterlands of Chatra, Latehar and parts of Palamu districts in north-western Jharkhand.

These areas have, of late, gained notoriety of turning into a hub for narcotics supply to the northern states. Drug peddlers from these states have established a strong nexus with the local traders who are supplying them illegally grown opium in bulk, police sources said.

The huge margin between the purchase and sale price of opium is also luring local youth into this illegal business. The investment doubles up, sometimes even giving more returns, within few days.

The menace of illegal drug abuse is particularly worrying as this has emerged as a serious problem among both the rural and the urban youth of the northern states, especially Punjab. Drug abuse was a major issue in the recently held Punjab assembly polls. Surfacing of names of several Akali leaders muddled in the drug racket gave opposition parties Congress and AAP to corner the ruling Akali-BJP alliance during campaigning.

Punjab and Jharkhand police recently blew the lid of the racket when they nabbed around 30 drug traffickers over the last two months, but there is no let-up in the malady as it continues to spread like wildfire despite concerted efforts by various departments of the state police force.

Acting on intelligence inputs and tip off from arrested peddlers, Jharkhand police have launched a special drive and have destroyed opium crop over 500 acres.

The first arrest in this regard took place around three months back when Chatra police nabbed a man hailing from Patiala who had come to purchase opium. A week later, Palamu police arrested two traffickers from Daltonganj railway station who were natives of Ludhiana. Three drug peddlers from UPs Bareilly were also nabbed in Palamu on Wednesday.

The Punjab police also had nabbed four youths from Jhakhand, three of them belonging to Chatra, with 15 kg of opium from Amritsar.

All the arrests bear connections as they were either caught with the contraband or were trying to strike a deal with the local peddlers.

Chatra superintendent of police Anjani Kumar Jha told HT that Punjab, Haryana and western UP are the market for the illegal opium produced in Jharkhands Chatra and adjoining districts.

Huge profit is drawing youths from both Jharkhand and Punjab into this trade. The opium that is on an average sold at Rs 55,000 per kg here easily gets them more than a lakh in Punjab and other places, Jha said, adding that Punjab police had informed them about arrest of three youths from Chatra in drug trafficking case.

The Chatra SP was also awarded by the DGP for destroying nearly 300 acres of poppy, an officer highlighted.

Sensing the gravity of the alarming situation, the Jharkhand chief secretary Rajbala Verma recently held a video conference with the elected Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI) representatives of 90 panchayats worst affected by poppy cultivation recently and sought their cooperation in curbing the menace.
Post offices in Jharkhand are no more restricted to mere deal with envelops or parcels. Now, one can get items of his/her daily need, right from toothpaste to apparels and LED bulbs to designer craft, from post offices.

The postal department has so far started Post Shoppe in 13 head post offices and planned to take it to all branches across the state to revive and give a new dimension to the post office services. Jharkhand has 3300 post office branches currently, which will go up to 4,000 by end of this year.

Post Shoppe will be started in every district headquarter within a month. Thereafter, it will be extended to Panchayat level, said Anil Kumar, chief post master general, Jharkhand circle.

Jharkhand wing of India Post has tied up with Kasturba Khadi Gramodyog Sansthan (KKGS), Muri to sell Khadi India products from Post Shoppes.

Sale of Khadi products including apparel, bag, handicrafts, herbal products, incense sticks, sandal products, beauty products and spices have started from Ranchis two branches from Wednesday. The sale of Khadi India products will start in 13 other head post offices of the state in a week.

We have already been selling several items like gift pack, envelop, tribal handicrafts, Archies cards and products of Patanjali brand from Post Shoppes. Khadi products are the new addition to the list, Kumar said, adding, our objective is to provide all items of daily need under one-roof, that will not only benefit people but also give strength to postal department.

The Jharkhand wing of India Post has launched several schemes such as sale of Ganga Jal, LED bulbs and non-judicial stamps that were later adopted by many states in the country.

All three schemes including Ganga Jal, LED bulbs and non-judicial stamps have been a huge success in Jharkhand, Kumar said, adding, we have made Rs 1.57 crore additional earning in one year from the new initiatives. It is expected the earning to cross Rs 2 crore mark by March end, he said.

Jharkhand Post has recently started selling of railway tickets. We are selling railway tickets from 14 post offices, which will be extended to 50 shortly. Our purpose is to start selling of railway tickets in remote areas of the state where people have to travel a long distance to railway station for tickets, Kumar said.

A consumer Ravi Ranjan, an under-graduate student, said, Majority of the products of daily need are available here. I take the opportunity to buy something whenever I visit post office.

A 45-year-old, Raju Mahato, who visited Post Shoppe, urged the postal department also to make provision of generic medicine at the Shoppe, which would help the poor.

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Ranchi: The much awaited 111-km Ranchi-Tori railway line project was finally completed with the inauguration of the remaining 29.5-km railway line from Badkichanpi to Tori by Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu and chief minister Raghubar Das on Thursday, paving the way for a two-hour saving on trvavel time to New Delhi.

Prabhu had participated in the programme through video-conferencing from Rail Bhawan in New Delhi while Das was present at Ranchi Railway station with other dignitaries to flag it off.

The Ranchi to Tori (Latehar) railway line project had been sanctioned in 1997, started in 2001 and completed in 15 years at a cost of Rs 583. The new rail line will shorten the distance between Ranchi and Delhi via Lohardaga-Tori by 106 kms and reduce travel time by around two hours.

Rail projects are making fast progress in Jharkhand with the initiatives of its chief minister. The rail budget share for Jharkhand in 2009 was merely Rs 497 crore, which was increased to Rs 2583 crore this budget and projects worth Rs 29,824 are underway in the state, Prabhu said. He said the completion of the railway projects would take care of several problems, including migration from the state.

Chief minister Raghubar Das said that his government was making all efforts to enhance road, rail and air connectivity in the state. Railway service is being started in Hazaribag and it is being expanded in Santhal Pargana, Das said, adding, the government is also trying for rail connectivity to Parasanth, one of the sacred pilgrimage destinations of Jains in Giridih district.

He said the government was also planning to bring countrys first hyperloop mode of transportation in Jharkhand. We will soon carry out a feasibility report and talk to railway ministry in this regard, Das said, adding, We are exploring ideas to introduce the system between Ranchi and Jamshedpur or Ranchi-Jamshedpur-Dhanbad route.

A delegation of Hyperloop Transportation Technology, a company providing transportation facilities, had met chief minister Raghubar Das in the first week of February and given a presentation.

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The perfect culmination of beautiful frames, AR Rahmans music and romance makes the trailer of Mani Ratnams Kaatru Veliyidai truly magical, but you cant infer much about the film or even what to expect. Unlike many recent trailers, including that of Dangal and Naam Shabana, the trailer of Kaatru Veliyidai doesnt give away anything which is a good thing. Unfortunately, you cant make anything of it and that might not encourage everybody to wait with bated breath for the film.

The trailer introduces us to Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari, and its very evident that he is trying to sweep her off her feet. He is a fighter pilot; she is a doctor. There are shots of locales you wouldnt even have imagined seeing in a Tamil film. There are shots that prove that theres more than just romance and that people shouldnt confuse Kaatru Veliyidai as another Ratnams romantic drama.

Its said to be an intense film and features some action too. Dubbed in Telugu as Cheliya, the film will have a simultaneous release on April 7. Produced by Sri Thenandal Films, the film also stars RJ Balaji, Shraddha Srinath and Rukmini Vijayakumar.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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The next schedule of AR Murugadoss - Mahesh Babus yet-untitled project, which is fondly called by fans as Mahesh 23, will begin in Chennai March 11. The team has completed the ongoing schedule, which happened at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad, a few days back and decided to immediately begin work on the Chennai leg of shoot.

Produced by Tagore Madhu, the title, along with a first look poster, of Mahesh 23 is widely believed to be unveiled later this month, though theres no official confirmation from the team yet. There are also rumours that the makers have been considering Sambhavami, Abhimanyu, Marmam as title choices for the movie. We have also learnt that upon the completion of Chennai schedule, the team will head to Vietnam from March 22 for a brief schedule.

Starring Rakul Preet Singh as the lead heroine, the movie has actor-director SJ Suryah playing the antagonist. Harris Jayaraj composes music for the project, which marks the Telugu cinematography debut of veteran lensman Santhosh Sivan, who is collaborating with AR Murugadoss for the second time after their successful last outing Thuppakki. Editor Sreekar Prasad is also part of the crew.

Mahesh Babu plays the role of an intelligence officer in the film, which also features Bharath in a pivotal role.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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Qian Yunxing, a teenaged girl in the city of Bazhong, Sichuan province, used to be known simply as "running girl" among her schoolmates and teachers.

In 2002, when Qian was 5 years old, her father was paralyzed in an accident. Qian began to cook his meals and take care of him when she was just 6 years old. Once she started junior high, she began to run back and forth between her home and school so she could serve her father three meals a day. She completed the sprint eight times each day, which meant a daily distance of 10 kilometers.

In 2015, Qian was admitted to Tongjiang High School. The school exempted her from tuition fees and offered her a stipend of 1,000 RMB a year. The local government also arranged for her father, Qian Haoyuan, to live in a rehab center. That way, she no longer needed to worry about his daily needs and medical treatment.

Due to a heavy work load at school, Qian visits her father in the rehab center every two weeks. She said she hopes to be admitted to a good university, and to one day accompany her father on a trip all around China.

In February 2017, Qian was given the title of "Most Beautiful High School Student" in China by CYL the Central Committee and the All-China Students' Federation in recognition of the meticulous care she provided for her father.
A helicopter carrying high-level business executives crashed onto a Turkish highway on Friday. Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin told state-run news agency Anadolu that five people were killed.

The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter had taken off from Istanbuls main Ataturk airport with seven people on board. According to NTV television channel, the helicopter crashed after it hit a television tower in an outlying district of Istanbul.

CNN Turk quoted local officials as saying the seven included three Turks, two of them pilots, and four foreigners. The DHA agency said four Russians were in the helicopter.

An official of Kugu Havacilik, a company involved in issuing the licence for the helicopter, told Reuters it belonged to Turkish conglomerate Eczacibasi.

Eczacibasi was not immediately available for comment.

The helicopter broke into piece that were scattered on the highway as well as a green area on the side of the road. Video footage from the site showed thick black smoke rising from the highway.
International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and a young Yazidi woman who was enslaved and raped by Islamic State fighters pushed Iraq on Thursday to allow a United Nations investigation into crimes by the militant group.

Britain is drafting a UN Security Council resolution to establish a UN investigation, but Clooney said the Iraqi government needs to send a letter formally requesting the inquiry before the 15-member council can vote.

Islamic State is committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the minority religious community through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes, UN experts reported in June last year.

Clooney, who represents Nadia Murad and other Yazidi victims of Islamic State, said that despite public support by Iraq for a UN investigation, the government has not yet made a request.

Yazidi survivor Nadia Murad (left) during an interview along with international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney at the United Nations headquarters in New York. (REUTERS)

We do want to see an investigation take place with the cooperation of the Iraqi authorities, Clooney told Reuters after speaking at a UN event on accountability for crimes committed by Islamic State.

But ultimately if that support is not forthcoming in terms of real action, then the UN has to think of other ways in which to achieve accountability, she said.

The Yazidis are a religious sect whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions. Islamic State militants consider the Yazidis to be devil-worshippers.

Clooney said the Security Council could establish an inquiry without Iraqs consent, the 193-member UN General Assembly could establish a special team to preserve evidence and prepare cases -- as it did for Syria in December -- or the Security Council could refer the case to the International Criminal Court.

All these options are on the table. They must be seriously considered, because victims like Nadia cant expect to wait forever, said Clooney, adding that it was extremely important that evidence was preserved for future prosecution.

When asked what may be preventing Iraq from requesting the investigation, Murad, 23, speaking through a translator, said: They think that all Iraqis are persecuted by Daesh and they have to seek justice for everybody.

Daesh is another name for Islamic State.

We will be seeking help and assistance, Iraqs UN ambassador, Mohamed Ali Alhakim, told the UN event where Murad also spoke. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why Iraq had not yet requested a UN inquiry.

Britains UN ambassador, Matthew Rycroft, told the UN event that he was working with Iraq on the issue.

The proposal should support Iraqs national efforts and fully respect it national laws and sovereignty. But it is also an urgent task. And we look forward to finalising that proposal with you very, very soon, he said.

Murad was abducted and held by Islamic State fighters for three months in 2014 in Mosul. She told her story to the UN Security Council in December 2015 and since then has been campaigning for justice.

An exhausted Murad told UN ambassadors on Thursday: My words, tears and my testimony have not made you act. I wonder whether there is any point in continuing my campaign at all.
Donald Trump plans to visit Nashville next week to rally supporters and perhaps pay homage to predecessor and unlikely political idol Andrew Jackson, Americas first populist president.

Trump plans to hold a campaign-style rally in the city on Jacksons 250th birthday Wednesday and, according to the Tennessean newspaper, could visit the nearby Hermitage -- the final resting place of Americas seventh president.

Since coming to office in January, Trump aides have sought to draw comparisons between the bareknuckle Democratic president and Trump.

A portrait of Jackson has been introduced to the Oval Office and Trumps top strategist Steve Bannon described his bosss populist inaugural address Jacksonian.

Not so fast, says Jackson historian Daniel Feller, of the University of Tennessee.

I can understand fully why Trump wants to portray himself as the second coming of Andrew Jackson. I dont see much similarity myself, he said.

The narrative of Andrew Jackson is that a great popular hero came in and overthrew the existing establishment in Washington, that he was an outsider, that he was not taken seriously.

That is exactly the image Trump has tried to cultivate -- despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by three million votes.

Where Jackson pledged to speak for the common man and spoke of cleansing the Augean stable, Trump talks of draining the swamp in Washington.

But historians say Jacksons story is more subtle.

Born in the backwoods in 1767, he was orphaned in his early teens. He gained a reputation as a fighter: As a young man he was cut with a sabre for refusing to polish a British soldiers boots and once killed a man in a duel.

He gained fame as a military hero for defeating the British in New Orleans.
Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland on Friday hailed Indias incredibly supportive role in a new trade initiative launched by the 52-member group.

Top trade officials of the member nations were concluding a two-day meeting organised by the Commonwealth secretariat and the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CEIC), which aimed at revitalising trade within the intergovernmental organisation as well as seize Brexit-related opportunities.

India has been incredibly supportive in providing trade facilitation across the Commonwealth, particularly for small and medium enterprises. Indias participation has been intense and enthusiastic, Scotland said, in response to a question by Hindustan Times at a media briefing.

The event acquired added significance in the context of Britain leaving the European single market and thus turning its focus towards the Commonwealth.

Emphasising state-private sector cooperation, Scotland said no country should be left behind in the post-Brexit trade landscape.

Our family has never been more needed that it is today. We all know that weve been living in troubled and troubling times and we will have to look very carefully together at what advantages there are within our family. Therefore, intra-Commonwealth trade has never been more important, Scotland said.

Initiatives agreed at the meeting included appointing a trade ambassador with a mandate across the Commonwealth, sharing best practices on regulation, business, legislation and anti-corruption measures related to trade, and practical ways of enhancing intra-Commonwealth trade.

India is due to host the first summit for Commonwealth small and medium-sized enterprises in New Delhi in May. Commerce secretary Rita A Teotia, who represented India at the meet in London, invited trade ministers to the summit and highlighted the countrys role in emphasising trade facilitation services in intra-Commonwealth trade, currently standing at 17%.

Teotia noted that the Commonwealth secretariat had identified 35 products that India can export in 50 markets and increase exports by $22 billion. Indias efforts will also help link 20 least developed countries in the group to global value chains and increase exports by $12 billion, she added.

CEIC chairman Jonathan Marland said due to Brexit, Britains trade arrangements are up for grabs, adding that London will approach potential partners for free trade agreements post-Brexit (such as India) with a degree of humility.

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The Kansas man accused of killing an Indian software engineer and shooting two other people while shouting get out of my country appeared in Johnson County Circuit Court on Thursday as lawyers worked out a schedule for his upcoming trial.

At the short hearing, alleged shooter Adam Purinton, 51, sat quietly, wearing an orange jumpsuit and looking haggard, his hair scraggly, sometimes whispering to his attorney.

Purinton is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32. He is also charged with two counts of attempted murder for wounding Alok Madasani, 32, and an American, Ian Grillot, 24, who tried to intervene.

The shootings raised concerns in India, which sends many immigrants to the United States, and highlighted a spike in hate speech and alleged hate crimes in America in recent months.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has said the number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second straight year in 2016, linking the increase to the recent U.S. election, in which heated rhetoric targeted immigrants, refugees and Muslims.

The appearance was Purintons second since the Feb. 22 shootings at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, a Kansas City suburb. Another hearing was scheduled to be held in May to determine a schedule for more hearings and a trial.
Legal challenges against US President Donald Trumps revised travel ban have mounted, as Washington state said it would renew its request to block the executive order and a judge granted Oregons request to join the case.

The events happened a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit, and Washington state attorney general Bob Ferguson said New York state also asked to join his states legal effort.

Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey said the state is joining fellow states in challenging the revised travel ban.

Washington was the first state to sue over the original ban, which resulted in judge James Robart in Seattle halting its implementation around the country.

Ferguson said the state would ask Robart to rule that his temporary restraining order against the first ban applies to Trumps revised action.

My message to President Trump is  not so fast, Ferguson told reporters. After spending more than a month to fix a broken order that he rushed out the door, the Presidents new order reinstates several of the same provisions and has the same illegal motivations as the original.

Robart on Thursday granted Oregons request to join Washington and Minnesota in the case opposing the travel ban.

Oregon attorney general Ellen Rosenblum said the executive order has hurt Oregon, its residents, employers, agencies, educational institutions, health care system and economy.

Trumps revised ban bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the US refugee programme.

Unlike the initial order, the new one says current visa holders wont be affected, and removes language that would give priority to religious minorities.

Hawaii attorney general Douglas Chin said the state could not stay silent on Trumps travel ban because of Hawaiis unique culture and history. Hawaii depends heavily on tourism, and the revised ban would hurt the states economy, he said.

The courts need to hear that theres a state where ethnic diversity is the norm, where people are welcomed with aloha and respect, Chin said.

He noted that the new travel ban order comes just after the 75th anniversary of the February 19, 1942, executive order by President Franklin Roosevelt that sent Japanese Americans to internment camps during World War II. That order was put in place after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Hawaii had an internment camp.

Ferguson said its not the government, but the court, that gets to decide whether the revised order is different enough that it would not be covered by previous temporary restraining order.

It cannot be a game of whack-a-mole for the court, he said.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration believed the revised travel ban will stand up to legal scrutiny.

We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given, Spicer said.

Ferguson said he was pleased that attorneys general from New York and Oregon had sought to take part in the legal action.

We have a strong case and they are willing to join our efforts, he said of his fellow Democrats. New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman in a statement called the executive order a Muslim ban by another name.

Other states that have filed briefs supporting Washingtons initial lawsuit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

In his initial lawsuit, Ferguson said the original ban was unconstitutional and hurt the states businesses and universities.

A federal appellate court later upheld a temporary restraining order issued against the first travel ban.

The Trump administration says the old order will be revoked once the new one goes into effect on March 16.

In filing a lawsuit Wednesday night, Hawaii said the revised order would harm its Muslim population, tourism and foreign students.

Attorneys for Hawaii filed the lawsuit against the US government in federal court in Honolulu. The state had previously sued over Trumps initial travel ban, but that lawsuit was put on hold while other cases played out across the country.

Hawaiis complaint says it is suing to protect its residents, businesses and schools, as well as its sovereignty against illegal actions of President Donald J Trump and the federal government.

Imam Ismail Elshikh of the Muslim Association of Hawaii is a plaintiff in the states challenge. The ban will prevent his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting him, he said.

The mam is a US citizen, has rights and would be prevented from seeing his mother-in-law, Chin said. The mother-in-law is awaiting approval of a visa to see her relatives in Hawaii.

The woman and others have become victims because of the bans standardless set of waivers and exceptions that werent set by Congress, Chin said.

Hawaiis lawsuit challenging the travel ban focuses on damage to the states economy and mainly tourism. Chin says the tourism angle is unique because the state relies heavily on visitors and Hawaii officials have a right to defend the economy.

He said people may fear travelling even within Hawaii because they would be forced to encounter a federal agent every time they get on a plane to visit a neighbouring island.
South Koreas Constitutional Court on Friday upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, removing her from office over a graft scandal that has gripped the country for months. Park, 65, becomes the countrys first democratically elected leader to be ousted from office.

Following is a timeline of main developments in the scandal and events in her life and political career.

1974: Parks mother is killed by a bullet fired by a pro-North Korea assassin trying to kill her father, President Park Chung-hee. Park becomes acting first lady.

1979: Parks father is assassinated by his disgruntled spy chief.

1998: Park returns to political life after years of seclusion. She becomes a member of parliament with a vow to save the country suffering from an Asian financial crisis.

2004: Park becomes leader of the main conservative party which scores an upset victory in parliamentary elections.

2006: An assailant slashes Parks cheek with a knife during an election rally.

2012: Park wins her partys primary to become presidential candidate and defeats liberal candidate Moon Jae-in.

February 25, 2013: Park is sworn in as the first female president of South Korea, promising an era of hope.

April 16, 2014: The sinking of the Sewol ferry with the death of 304 people, most of them school children. The toll is attributed to the Park governments failure to act quickly.

October 25, 2016: Park makes her first public apology for giving a friend, Choi Soon-sil, access to draft speeches during the first months of her presidency.

October 31, 2016 : State prosecutors arrest Choi on suspicion of exerting inappropriate influence over state affairs.

November 4, 2016: Park makes her second televised apology, saying she would take responsibility if found guilty.

November 20, 2016: Prosecutors indict Choi on charges of abuse of power and attempted fraud.

November 29, 2016: In her third televised apology, Park asks parliament to decide how and when she could give up power over the scandal.

December 9, 2016: Parliament votes to impeach Park. She is stripped of powers while awaiting a court decision on the vote. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn becomes acting president.

January 1, 2017: Park denies wrongdoing, calling accusations fabrication and falsehood.

February 17: Samsung Group chief Jay Y Lee arrested for suspected role in the scandal.

February 28: Special prosecutor indicts Lee and other company executives for bribery and embezzlement.

March 6: The special prosecutor says Park colluded with Choi to take bribes from the Samsung Group, paving the way for her to be prosecuted, if she is ousted from office.

March 9: Lees trial begins on charges of bribery and embezzlement. He was indicted on charges including pledging 43 billion won ($37.24 million) in payments to Choi.

March 10: Constitutional Court upholds parliaments vote to impeach Park, removing her from office.
The Department of Justice is deploying 50 judges to immigration detention facilities across the United States, according to two sources and a letter seen by Reuters and which was sent to judges on Thursday.

The department is also considering asking judges to sit from 6am to 10pm, split between two rotating shifts, to adjudicate more cases, the sources said. A notice about shift times was not included in the letter.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.

On January 25, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at speeding up deportations and holding migrants in detention until their cases can be heard.

Trump campaigned on a pledge to get tougher on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, playing on fears of violent crime while promising to build a wall on the border with Mexico and to stop potential terrorists from entering the country.

The order called for the end of a policy known as catch and release, by which immigrants were released from detention and given a date to appear in court.

Immigration courts have a backlog of over 550,000 cases, according to the Justice Departments data, so many court dates are set years into the future.

Judges are employed by the Justice Department to oversee cases that determine if immigrants are given protections, such as asylum, or ordered deported. A handful of judges work from detention centres but most work from courts around the country.

Two sources familiar with the Justice Departments plan said the department would ask more judges to volunteer for one or two month deployments at detention centres. If the department cannot find enough volunteers, the department would assign judges to detention centres, the sources said.

Judges who volunteer for the first 50 deployments would be sent to detention centres in Adelanto, California; San Diego, Chicago and elsewhere, according to the letter.

Republican Trumps policy on immigrants has been criticized by Democratic lawmakers and advocates for immigrants, who said he was jeopardising the rights and freedoms of millions while treating Mexico as an enemy, not an ally, and damaging the countrys reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants.
Details added (first version posted on 12:21)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

Trend:

Azerbaijan is leaving the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), said Shahmar Movsumov, executive director of State Oil Fund (SOFAZ), chairman of government commission on EITI and chairman of the EITI Multi-stakeholder Group.

He made the remarks at the 36th EITI Board Meeting held on March 8-9 in Bogota, Columbia.

I have to officially announce that Azerbaijan is leaving the EITI. I kindly ask the International Secretariat to remove Azerbaijan from the list of countries implementing the EITI immediately, said Movsumov.

Azerbaijan was one of the countries that achieved a lot in the EITI. It was the first country to join the EITI and support the international efforts for higher transparency in the extractive industries in 2003. It was the first country to publish the worlds first EITI Report in 2005 and the first Compliant EITI country in 2009, he noted.

From the very beginning the Azerbaijani government was strongly committed to the EITI and its principles, and constantly took steps to underpin positive environment for the smooth implementation of the Initiative, he said.

Movsumov added that Azerbaijan was able to make difference in each EITI report since then by putting multi-stakeholder efforts together to advance the process as much as possible.

In total 20 EITI reports were reconciled and disclosed in Azerbaijan (2003-2015). The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the successful implementation of EITI became a winner of the 2007 United Nations Public Service Award in "Improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the Public Service". In order to give a strong backing to EITI process and rise its momentum at the international level the Government of Azerbaijan initiated and tabled United Nations General Assembly Resolution on EITI, which on 11 September, 2008 was adopted by consensus, said the chairman.

He noted that at its latest meeting in Astana the Board agreed that Azerbaijan had made meaningful progress in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard, and with considerable improvements across several individual requirements compared to the first Validation in 2015.

According to the decision of the Board, Azerbaijan maintained its Candidate status, said Movsumov, adding that the Board assigned a number of new corrective actions to be implemented till the next EITI Board meeting.

We strongly believe that as a result of significant changes, made to the current regulations, Azerbaijan was able to accomplish the implementation of all corrective actions. We consider Boards decision on suspension of Azerbaijan as an unfair one. The mandate of the EITI has been significantly shifted far from transparency and accountability in extractive sectors. The irrelevant facts introduced by different advocacy groups on various occasions show that the Initiative failed to stick to its original mission and objectives, noted the chairman.

In 2003, Azerbaijan has signed up to the principles of revenue transparency and revenue governance and remains strongly committed to those principles of good governance, transparency and accountablity in extractive industries, he said.

Movsumov added that Azerbaijan will continue to disclose all the information related to revenues received from extractive industries to the full extent.
Britains Foreign Office dealt with 79 forced marriage cases related to India, where a victim was at risk of, or had already been taken to during 2016, official figures released on Thursday showed.

The largest number of cases handled by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) during the year was in Pakistan: 612. Overall, it provided support or advice in 1,428 cases involving 69 focus countries, of which the top three were Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

Such marriages usually involve one victim with British citizenship. Campaign groups such as Karma Nirvana and Freedom Charity are encouraged by increasing awareness and more victims coming forward, but believe the practice remains under-reported to authorities.

The 79 India-related cases in 2016 accounted for 6% of the total cases handled during the year. The percentage for previous years was - 6% in 2015, 7.8% in 2014, 10.9% in 2013 and 8% in 2012.

A criminal offence in British law, a forced marriage is described as one in which one or both spouses do not (or, in the case of some adults with learning or physical disabilities or mental incapacity, cannot) consent to the marriage, and violence, threats, or any other form of coercion is involved.

Coercion may include emotional or physical force or the threat of physical force, and, financial pressure, according to the FMU, which is a joint unit of the Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

(No) major faith in the UK advocates forced marriage. It is also important to note that freely given consent is a prerequisite of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh marriagesForced marriage is not a problem specific to one country or culture, the FMU said.

Since it was established in 2005, the FMU has handled cases relating to more than 90 countries across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. It distributes posters in Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Urdu to spread awareness that forced marriage is a crime.

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UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has announced new measures to tackle the increase in sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers and staff, calling for a new focus on victims and bans on alcohol and fraternisation for troops.

A report released on Thursday also calls on the General Assembly to back the UN chiefs call for financial penalties for the failure to investigate allegations and conclude the probe in a timely manner  and to put that money into the Trust Fund already established for victims. But it didnt specify who would have to pay.

I fully recognise that no magic wand exists to end the problem of sexual exploitation and abuse, Guterres said. Nevertheless, I believe that we can dramatically improve how the United Nations addresses this scourge.

In the 82-page report, he proposed a four-part strategy -- putting the rights and dignity for victims at the forefront of UN efforts; working relentlessly to end impunity for those guilty of sexual abuse and exploitation; building a network to support UN efforts including civil society, external experts and organisations; and raising worldwide awareness of the problem to address the stigma victims face.

The report said data collected in 2016 indicates that 80 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involved UN peacekeepers and 65 allegations involved UN civilian staff  an increase from 2015.

The UN said the rise was partly explained by measures encouraging victims and witnesses to come forward.

The 145 allegations last year are associated with at least 311 known victims although there may be more, the report said.

Guterres asked UN envoys in the four peacekeeping operations where the highest numbers of cases of sexual exploitation and abuse are reported  Central African Republic, Congo, Haiti and South Sudan  to immediately appoint a victims rights advocate.

He also announced that he will appoint a human rights expert as an assistant secretary-general to serve as a UN-wide victims rights advocate.

Guterres said he plans to meet with victims to hear from them directly and let these survivors know that their protection is our priority. However, the possibility of apologizing or expressing regret to them raised in earlier drafts was dropped.

In tackling impunity, Guterres said he will work with member states to act more swiftly on credible allegations and promote greater transparency in judicial and administrative processes.

He asked the General Assembly to consider proposals to strengthen the investigative capacity of the UN and its agencies in sex abuse cases.

In UN missions where there are heightened risks of sexual abuse and exploitation, the secretary-general said he will propose a special protocol as part of Security Council mandates and UN budgets that would include measures such as non-fraternisation for all uniformed personnel, prohibitions on the consumption of alcohol, and certification of pre-deployment training on UN policy.

Guterres also called for a voluntary compact with the 193 UN member states to define their commitments to combat sexual abuse and exploitation, to accelerate implementation of agreed measures and to coordinate the response to allegations.

He said he will call for a high-level meeting in September during the annual General Assembly ministerial session to solemnize our commitments and collective pledge to increased accountability.

Amnesty International adviser Joanne Mariner said the rights group welcomes Guterres effort to institute a broad range of reforms to better address this scourge but is concerned that there is still insufficient pressure on UN member nations to ensure that allegations of sexual abuse are fairly investigated and prosecuted.

At present over 95,000 civilians and 100,000 military and police work for the United Nations around the world.

We will not allow the behaviour of anyone who exploits the vulnerable and destroys lives to soil our reputations, diminish our contributions, sow disillusion among our champions or undermine our values, Guterres said. We must break down excuses and end impunity.
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres is mulling the option of talking to senior officials from India and Pakistan on the situation in Kashmir and will see how things can be improved on the ground, his spokesperson has said.

Guterres will talk to different officials if it helps (to) move the process along. Thats something that he is looking into. Beyond that, I have nothing new to say about the issue, UN chiefs deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters here on Thursday.

Haq made the remarks when he was asked at his daily press briefing about the situation in Kashmir and if Guterres has been able to understand the Kashmir dispute and would he be talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to start a dialogue with Pakistan.

When asked if there is a timeline as to when the UN chief will talk to leaders from the two countries, Haq said as with any number of long-running situations, there are a lot of complex issues that need to be examined.

The UN Chief will look into the issue, and certainly, he will try to see what can be done to improve the situation on the ground, Haq said.

Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon had repeatedly expressed deep concern about the deteriorating situation along the Line of Control in Kashmir and called on all those involved to prioritise the restoration of calm and stability in order to prevent any further escalation of tensions and loss of lives.

Ban had called for the two nations to resolve their difference bilaterally, saying that his good offices were available to India and Pakistan if accepted by both sides.
Senior United States lawmaker Ted Poe, who has called for a radical reset of ties with Pakistan, on Thursday introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives proposing that Pakistan be declared a state-sponsor of terrorism.

Not only is Pakistan an untrustworthy ally, Islamabad has also aided and abetted enemies of the United States for years, the Republican from Texas, who heads the Houses sub-committee on terrorism and non-proliferation, said while introducing the bill.

From harbouring Osama bin Laden to its cosy relationship with the Haqqani Network, there is more than enough evidence to determine whose side Pakistan is on in the War on Terror.

The legislation (HR1449), called the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Act of 2017, requires US President Donald Trump to submit a report within 90 days of its enactment if Pakistan has provided support for international terrorism. After 30 days, the secretary of state will be required to file a report saying Pakistan is a state sponsor of terrorism, or cite justification why it is not.

The new congress may just have picked up from where the last one left off, during with lawmakers of both chambers frequently referred to Pakistan as a duplicitous ally and a frenemy and asked for it to be named a state-sponsor of terrorism.

In an op-ed written jointly with former defence official James Clad on Wednesday, Poe called for a radical reset of ties with Pakistan, arguing, Something must change in our dealings with a terrorist-supporting, irresponsible nuclear-weapons state, and it must change soon.

Poe had earlier introduced the bill in September 2016, which lapsed with the previous congress. If enacted, it will limit financial aid to Pakistan, ban defence exports and restrict exports of dual use.

The introduction of the bill comes amid fresh calls for harsher measures to force Pakistan to act decisively against terrorists using its soil to launch attacks across its eastern and western borders in India and Pakistan respectively.

Earlier in the year, a bipartisan group of leading experts on South Asia urged the Trump administration to be ready to adopt tougher measures toward Islamabad, even the threat of declaring it state sponsor of terrorism.

Since May 2011, when Osama bin Laden was found and killed in a house just miles Pakistans elite military school in Abbottabad, the one-time ally has been in a precipitous fall in US eyes. Lawmakers killed a proposal by the Obama administration in 2016 to sell Pakistan new F-16 fighter jets over latters failure to root out terrorists from its soil.

Nervous about the Trump administrations making counterterrorism a priority, Islamabad recently put Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed  accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks under house arrest.

However, the US has made clear it wants Islamabad to do more  a top general told the senate in a hearing on Thursday that to this date the Pakistan military and security services have not taken lasting actions against HQN (the Haqqani Network).
The Trump administration wants to build a deeper relationship with India, the White House has said, expressing confidence that the two countries will continue to grow their ties.

I think we are, as talked about during the campaign and the transition, establishing a deeper relationship with Prime Minister Modi and US-India businesses, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Thursday at his daily news conference.

And I think as we move forward in terms of our foreign policy, well have further updates on that. Trump spoke very clearly and frequently about the relationship that we have and hope to continue to grow with India, Spicer said.

Spicer also condemned the killing of a 32-year-old Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla and another injured in an alleged hate crime in Kansas.

...whether its the event that happened in Kansas City, other events, the attacks on Jewish community centres that continue to plague us -- I guess we saw another report this morning, some unfortunate activity.

We have got to continue to call it out. Weve got to continue to root it out. Weve got to continue to engage law enforcement, he said.

Spicer urged Americans to stand up for the principles that unite them while asking all to be outraged and disgusted by such incidents.

The president spoke so eloquently about during his joint address. He made it very clear that while certain policies may divide us as individuals, there are certain principles that can unite us, Spicer said.
President Vladimir Putin is to host his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks focusing on Syria, where Russia and Turkey have launched mediation efforts and coordinated military action.

The two countries brokered a cease-fire in December that helped reduce the scale of fighting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition, and they also co-sponsored two rounds of talks this year between Assads government and its foes. A third round is set for next week.

At the same time, Russia and Turkey coordinated their operations against the Islamic State group in Syria. A Russian air raid last month accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers, but the incident didnt derail the rapprochement.

Fridays talks in the Kremlin are also set to deal with joint energy projects and trade.
The Japanese and US navies are conducting joint exercises in the East China Sea as tension intensifies in the region following North Koreas missile tests, local media reported on Friday.

The two sides launched the drill earlier this week, involving Japanese destroyers and a US Navy carrier strike group, the Sankei Shimbun daily and Kyodo News said, quoting unnamed Japanese and US government sources.

The Sankei said the drill was aimed at issuing a warning against nuclear-armed North Korea.

But it added that the exercise was also meant to display the joint Japan-US military presence in the East China Sea, where Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets.

In Japan, they are known as the Senkakus, while China claims then as the Diaoyus.

Successive US administrations have assured Japan that the islands fall under their security treaty, meaning if they are attacked the US will defend them.

Japans defence ministry would not comment on the reports while the US Navy in Japan said it was checking on them.

The reported exercise comes after North Korea launched four ballistic missiles on Monday, with three landing provocatively close to Japan, which the US is obligated to defend under a security treaty.

Pyongyang has claimed the launch was a training exercise for a strike on US bases in Japan and supervised by leader Kim Jong-Un.

Seoul and Washington are separately carrying out annual joint military exercises that always infuriate Pyongyang.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is expected to join the South Korea-US drills after finishing the exercise with Japan, the Sankei said.

The two sets of drills come as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is set to visit South Korea, Japan and China next week for his first trip to the region since he became Trumps top diplomat.

The US Pacific Command said Monday that the Americans had begun deploying the THAAD anti-system to South Korea, which is designed to defend the US ally from a North Korean attack.

The deployment has outraged Pyongyang ally China, which strongly opposes it as a challenge to its security ambitions in the region.

China responded that it was firmly opposed to the deployment and vowed to resolutely take necessary measures to defend its security interests.

China has argued that the deployment would further destabilise the situation on the Korean peninsula.
Whats in a name? Everything, if it seems to invite disaster.

Almost as long as there have been airplanes, pilots have given them names. Aviators have often found pride and comfort in personalizing their aircraft, especially during wartime. To World War II airmen and ground crews, for example, their assigned aircraft was often far more than just a collection of parts with a U.S. Army Air Forces serial number. Given a proper name, it assumed a character and personality: It was Piccadilly Lilly, Flak Bait, Special Delivery, Dog Breath, Tinker Toy, My Gal Sal, Shoo Shoo Baby, Memphis Belleor Skylark. It became part of their family, a familiar refuge as well as transportation to, and hopefully home from, a fearsome aerial battleground.

Though many airplanes were beloved by their crews, a few others gained a reputation for being cursedsometimes as maintenance-intensive hangar queens, or worse, unlucky in combat. As former B-17 gunner/flight engineer John Comer pointed out in his book Combat Crew, aircraft that were supposedly jinxed could weigh heavily on the minds of airmen assigned to fly in them. Men in combat tend to become superstitious, he wrote. They go to great lengths to avoid whatever they suspect as being unlucky. They cling to lucky charms and some clothing that they have always worn on missions, or to anything they associate with luck. For some, being assigned to fly in jinxed aircraft was seen as a nightmare come true, an omen of their own possible doom. Sometimes too an aircraft name became feared, as troublesome legends were passed from crew to crew.

One example was Tinker Toy, a B-17 assigned to the Eighth Air Forces 381st Bomb Group. According to Comer, many men trembled when they heard they were scheduled to fly in Tinker Toy, absolutely convinced that bad things would happen because the bomber had time and again served as a magnet for enemy fighters and anti-aircraft artillery. Maybe they were right. On one mission, Tinker Toys pilot was decapitated by a 20mm anti-aircraft shell. Despite being wounded, the copilot managed to fly the cursed bomber back to England. The fact that this B-17 had to be repaired so many times served to perpetuate its unfortunate reputation. In 1943 it was rammed by a German fighter and went down over Bremen, Germany, killing most of its crew.

Among ill-fated names, however, Skylark deserves a special place in the annals of infamy. The bad luck associated with this moniker was more pervasive, more deadly, since several different aircraft given the name strangely met the same fate.

The story dates as far back as May 1910, when James C. Mars Curtiss biplane was christened by his wife before he took off to make the first-ever manned flights in Arkansas. She reportedly broke a bottle of wine over its engine and announced, I christen the Skylark; may she fly long and high. Just a month later Skylark crashed in Topeka, Kan. Fortunately Mars survived that mishap, and the biplane was eventually rebuilt.

Thanks to a popular song written in 1942 by Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael, quite a few airplanes would be named Skylark in WWII. Skylark appeared on pop charts multiple times during the war years, performed by Glenn Miller, Harry James, Dinah Shore and Bing Crosby. The lyrics were inspiring:

Oh skylark

I dont know if you can find these things

But my heart is riding on your wings

So if you see them anywhere

Wont you lead me there

The legend of doomed Skylarks really begins with a twin-engine B-26 Marauder medium bomber, serial no. 41-17917, assigned to the 17th Bomb Group and piloted by 2nd Lt. Conrad Kreps. This Skylark, with six men aboard, was shot out of the sky by antiaircraft artillery in January 1943, crashing just west of Gabes, Tunisia, and killing one crewman. Kreps returned to duty after that incident, but he was killed five days later in another aircraft.

A year later, in January 1944, a 96th Bomb Group B-17 named Skylark, no. 42-30859, collided with another Flying Fortress following a raid on Frankfurt. This Skylark had originally been designated as the squadron lead ship, but during preflight its pilot, 1st Lt. Louis C. Kandl, discovered a mechanical problem that resulted in a late takeoff. When Skylark finally joined the long bomber stream, it filled a slot toward the rear of the formation. After completing the bomb run, another B-17 that had been hit veered off course while the group was under attack by enemy fighters, plowing into Skylark and killing eight of the 10 crewmen. Both bombers crashed near Hermeskeil, Germany. In an eerie foreshadowing of the accident that would take his life, copilot 2nd Lt. Brandon J. Britt had written in his diary, I think we have something in our ship that attracts flak.

Other Skylarks would suffer similar fates. During March 1943, B-17 no. 42-5378, from the 306th Bomb Group, was shot down near Lorient, France. This Skylarks aircraft commander, 1st Lt. Earl C. Tunnel, and five crewmen became POWs, while three others were killed. Just one man, 1st Lt. Robert Biggs, managed to evade enemy forces and escape.

In April 1944, another B-26 dubbed Skylark, no. 42-43293 from the Sardinia-based 17th Bomb Group, was hit in the left engine by flak during a raid on Bucine, Italy. Although the plane had no hydraulic systems pressure or elevator control, the crew managed to dump their bombload, and the aircraft commander, Lieutenant Charles E. Dougan, belly-landed at Alto, a Spitfire field on Corsica. The crewmen survived the ordeal, but the Marauder was a write-off.

That August, a pair of enemy fighters shot down yet another Skylark, B-17 no. 42-97204 from the 384th Bomb Group, piloted by 2nd Lt. Harry W. Rainey Jr., following a raid on Anklam, Germany. Its 10 crewmen bailed out safely, though all but one landed in a military camp housing SS troops. The tail gunner, Staff Sgt. Norman H. Gordon, was shot and killed shortly after landing inside the base. Only waist gunner Staff Sgt. Alfred Knowlton, who landed outside the camp, managed to evade capture.

Even after an aircrafts name was changed from Skylark, on at least one occasion it seemingly could not escape its doom. Eighth Air Force B-24H Liberator no. 41-29192, known as Skylark while assigned to the 389th Bomb Group, was renamed The Sky Shark after being transferred to the 392nd Bomb Group. Piloted by 2nd Lt. Robert K. White, the bomber was heavily damaged by enemy fighters during a February 1944 raid on a Messerschmitt plant in Gotha, Germany. Ten airmen bailed out successfully, and all but one became POWs. Technical Sergeant Richard W. Wenzlaff, the radio operator, was later listed as killed in action.

Bombers werent the only ill-fated Skylarks in the European and Mediterranean theaters. In 1944 two fighters named Skylark from the 55th Fighter Group that were based in England crashed. The first to be lost, in January, was P-38 Lightning no. 42-67080, with pilot 1st Lt. Herbert T. Winter Jr. listed as KIA. Later that year, 1st Lt. Robert K. Harbeck was killed when his Skylark, P-51 Mustang no. 44-14204, went down.

The curse even seemed to extend beyond aircraft. The minesweeper USS Skylark (AM-63) ran into two Japanese mines off Okinawa in March 1945. The first mine exploded on its port side, setting the ship on fire. The minesweepers crewmen fought valiantly to save their vessel, but it was doomed after it struck a second mine. Five sailors were killed in the two blasts aboard this oceangoing Skylark, which sank just 15 minutes later.

Of the many thousands of aircraft churned out on assembly lines during WWII, a surprisingly high percentage of those dubbed Skylark met with destruction. But despite the travails they endured, not all Skylark crewmen believed their airplane was cursed. The crew of the aforementioned B-26 Skylark forced to belly-land on Corsica in April 1944 considered themselves lucky to have suffered no fatalities. We were extremely fortunate that neither of us received major wounds, recalled Charles Dougan, the pilot in command. The copilot and I picked Plexiglas splinters out of our bodies for several weeks afterward.

In the end, its perhaps most important that the Skylark story is viewed in the context of the overarching chronicle of combat aviation. So many young men who went off to war searched for meaning in the conflict. And so many forfeited their lives far from home while reaching for the skies.

Ron Eschmann is retired from the U.S. military and currently works in Washington, D.C. Additional reading: Combat Crew, by John Comer; Untold Valor, by Rob Morris; and Bombers, by Philip Kaplan.

Originally published in the March 2014 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.
In 1897, three Swedish aeronauts set out for the North Pole in a balloon, only to disappear in the vast Arctic. Their fate would remain a mystery for 33 years.

On February 15, 1895, Swedish engineer Salomon August Andree announced his plans to conquer the North Pole. He boldly proclaimed that he would accomplish this not by sledge, since previous attempts by that method had failed, but by something else entirely. Has not the time come to revise this question from the very beginning and to see if we do not possibly possess any other means than the sledge for crossing these tracks? Andree asked, then answered: The means is the air balloon.

Andree outlined four conditions for success. One, the balloon must be able to carry three men and provisions. Two, it must be capable of remaining aloft for up to 30 days. Three, it would have to be filled with gas in the polar region. And four, he said, The balloon must, to some degree, be dirigible. To Andree and other aeronauts of his day, the word dirigible meant the ability to steer through the air in the direction of intended travel, a feat that was not yet possible. But Andree believed he had a solution to that problem: His polar balloon, he said, shall be provided with a system of sails and with several dragor guideropes.

The notion that guide ropes could make a balloon steerable had come to him by accident on October 19, 1893, while he was aloft in his first balloon, the 37,230-cubic-foot Svea. An unexpected gust sent him clear across the Baltic Sea, and 10 hours later aeronaut and balloon landed hard on a lonely Finnish island 170 miles from where he had ascended. Andree spent, as he put it, an extremely unpleasant night there before he was rescued the next day. That misadventure taught him something important. In an effort to slow the balloon as Svea initially hurtled out to sea, he had let his guide ropes float along the waves and discovered that this dragging effect kept the balloon moving in one directioneven if it was not necessarily the right direction.

Andree continued his trials with Svea, keeping a detailed diary of flights and making scientific observations at different heights of temperature, humidity, clouds and optical phenomena, as well his own thirst, facial color and respiration. (Among his more obscure discoveries: At 13,000 feet he could distinctly hear dogs barking on the ground.) After one flight he landed in the countryside and walked to a nearby building. There he found a woman and a boy who had locked themselves in, and they did not dare to come out before they were quite assured that I was an ordinary man. On other flights he tested his guide ropes for purposes of steering, along with a sail attached to the balloon for even more control.

Next Andree began raising the considerable funds required for his aerial journey. He planned to waft himself and two companions from the Spitsbergen archipelago in the Arctic Circle to the North Pole and then, depending upon the winds, to either Alaska or Siberia. The goal was to make the journey in no more than six days. No one knew what discoveries awaited him over these forbidding regions, places not yet seen by human eyes. His audacious scheme bordered on madnessand Artic experts said sobut with backing from prominent individuals such as Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, and King Oscar II, sovereign of Sweden and Norway, Andree raised all the money he needed. On the day before Christmas 1895, he signed a contract with Henri Lachambre of Paris to build a gigantic balloon.

In early June 1896, the freighter Virgo carried the polar expedition and its considerable gear to the icy waters around Spitsbergen. Andree would command the flight, with Nils Ekholm, a meteorologist and astronomer, and Nils Strindberg, a physicist, serving as his two-man crew. After Virgos crew scouted the islands of Spitsbergen, Andree chose a bay (soon named Virgo Harbor) on the north side of Danes Island as the expeditions base. All the gear was unloaded, including the hydrogen gas apparatus, the balloon and the balloons tarpaulin-covered gondola, or car, and an immense six-story balloon shed was built. Then Andree and his two companions patiently waited for a southerly wind to send them on their way. That wind never came, however, and on August 17, the short Arctic summer having ended, everyone headed back home aboard Virgo.

The following year the Swedish gunboat Svenksund accompanied Virgo back to the base on Danes Island, with both arriving on May 30, 1897. They were happy to see that their shed had survived the winter. By June 14, the balloon was positioned inside the structure, and three days later they inflated it with hydrogen gas, produced by pouring sulfuric acid over iron shavings.

It took many days to varnish the balloon and test it for leaks. A violent storm resulted in another delay. Finally, at 1:46 p.m. on July 11, Andree cried, Cut away everywhere! and the freed balloon, christened Ornen (Eagle), rose and headed out to the northeast over Virgo Harbor, 200 to 300 feet above the waves.

Atop Ornens car stood Andree, the old man of the expedition at 43, and his two young and fit colleagues, Strindberg, 25, and Knut Fraenkel, 27. Fraenkel was a replacement for Ekholm, who had lost his nerve for the flight in the intervening 12 months. Seconds after the balloons ascent, its sails unfurled to take advantage of the wind. All appeared normal until the balloon reached the middle of the harbor, where, caught in a sudden downdraft, it dipped down into the waves. Observers on the shore were horrified, but Ornen quickly rebounded high into the air and rotated completely around its vertical axis. The last the observers saw of the intrepid Swedes was Fraenkel climbing into the bearing ring under the hydrogen bag to remove the sails. Ten minutes later, the balloon flew over Hollaner Naze, and after that reached the middle of Vogelsang Island at an altitude of about 2,000 feet. It then swung off to the east and disappeared in a cloud.

Back at the base, a sailor cried, Look! The draglines are lying here on the shore! That the draglines, necessary for dirigible flight, had somehow become detached from the balloon was potentially disastrous. But thanks to the discovery, years later, of diaries, letters and logbooks belonging to the trio, we know that the loss of the draglines (which were quickly replaced) and brief dunk in the harbor had barely fazed the men, and they never considered aborting their expedition.

Of the many messages dispatched by the balloon crew during their odyssey, only three reached the outside world. The first, ironically, became the last one found, stuffed inside a cork buoy and discovered on the coast of Finmark, Norway, three years after its senders met their fate. Dated July 11, 10 p.m., the note read in part, Our journey has so far gone well.We are now in over the ice which is much broken up in all directions. Weather magnificent. In best of humors. The second message turned up in Kollafjord, on the coast of Iceland, two years later. This buoy, it read, is thrown out from Andrees balloon at 10.55 G.M.T. on July 11, 1897, in about 82 latitude and 25 long. The third communication, dispatched via carrier pigeon, was received while the three men were still alive. The winged messenger, hungry and tired from more than 30 hours of flying, landed on the masthead of the Norwegian sealer Alken on July 15 and was promptly shot. Then, wondering whether the bird might have something to do with Andree and his balloon, Alkens captain turned his ship around and managed to retrieve the pigeon (now stuffed and in a museum). Inside its letter cylinder he found a brief note, giving no indication that the expedition might be in dire straits. Dated July 13. 12.30 midday, the dispatch related: All well on board. This is the third pigeon-post. Andree.

Just minutes into the flight, high above Vogelsang Island, the temperature had registered 34 degrees, and Andree estimated the balloons speed at 20 mph. Strindberg remembered a love letter he had written to his fiancee, and placing it in a tin, he tossed it down onto the island (where it remains to be found). Over the next 45 minutes the Swedes flew in and out of clouds, causing Ornen to alternately rise and descend, as the hydrogen expanded in the heat of the sun or contracted in the shade. While they were at 1,625 feet in blue skies, some 117 cubic feet of hydrogen escaped from the safety valve, an insignificant amount considering the size of the balloons 170,000-cubic-foot gasbag. Off the north point of Vogelsang, the crew enjoyed several bottles of ale.

The altimeter read 1,600 feet, the wind was blowing south-southwest and drifting ice appeared to their north. While standing on the roof of the car, the balloonists had a magnificent view of Wijde Bay. Then, entering a light mist, they slowly descended in a winding curve to 780 feet, where they released four of the expeditions 36 carrier pigeons. That first pigeon-post would vanish in the Arctic wastes.

With all going smoothly, Andree put Strindberg in charge while he left the roof and squeezed himself into the cars tiny compartment. He slept for several hours. Meanwhile the endless summer sunshine broke through the mist. Ornen rose to 1,950 and then 2,270 feet. Hydrogen, warmed by the sun, whistled softly out of the safety valve. After a few hours, the balloon passed beneath clouds and began losing altitude. In response, Strindberg dropped 18 pounds of sand. Shortly thereafter he sent the first buoy overboard, the one found three years later, which noted, We are still moving at a height of 800 feet. Eight minutes later Strindberg, still fighting for altitude, dumped more sand plus 11 rungs of the rope ladder. He also sent a second buoy overboard, reporting, We are floating at a height of 600 feet.

Then they approached an altocumulus cloud that was throwing a dark shadow over the ice. At 1:12 a.m. on July 12, Ornen entered its shadow at an altitude of 1,500 feet. In the next four minutes, they lost so much height that the dangling draglines touched the ice less than 400 feet below. The sun has gone, Strindberg wrote in his diary, but we keep a very level course. Fifty minutes later he dumped more sand, this time 26 pounds. Ominously, a solitary black bird appeared on the distant horizon and the wind died completely.

Andree awoke at 2 a.m., and Strindberg and Fraenkel went below to rest. If Andree had any concerns about the loss of altitude and ballast during his absence, he did not mention it. Instead he observed: It is indeed a wonderful journey through the night. I am cold but will not wake the two sleepers. They need their rest. The monotony of the next few hours was briefly broken when Andree sighted a bearded seal and photographed it from a height of 50 or 60 feet. After Strindberg and Fraenkel awoke, the men prepared breakfast. They lowered a remote-controlled stove a safe distance from the potentially explosive hydrogen bag, and in 20 minutes were enjoying freshly brewed coffee.

By midday the three aeronauts had flown for nearly 24 hours. Later that afternoon, Strindberg reported seeing Blood-red ice, perhaps a relic of a bears meala reminder of the inhospitable world below.

A thick, cold fog had enveloped the aeronauts when, at 3:06 p.m., the balloon car stamped the ice. The startled balloonists instantly tried to climb to a sunnier altitude. Everything not urgently needed went overboard, including a buoy with a spring-loaded Swedish flag intended to mark the North Pole. But it made no difference. At that point the balloon was skimming so low above the ice that the car struck the surface hard several more times. Over the next six hours Andree kept a meticulous record of the cars bouncing trajectory. He recorded, for example, that at 5:14 p.m. there had been 8 touches in 30 minutes, and then an hour later every five minutes, and then once every 500 feet, until finally at 10.53 the balloon stopped.

Everything dripped with cold moisture, and the men, hovering only a few feet above the ice, had no option but to wait out the fog. Is it not a little strange to be floating here above the Polar Sea, Andree wrote philosophically, after telling Strindberg and Fraenkel to go to bed. To be the first that have floated here in a balloon? How soon, I wonder, shall we have successors? Shall we be thought mad or will our example be followed? I cannot deny that all three of us are dominated by a feeling of pride. We think we can well face death, having done what we have done. Isnt it all, perhaps, the expression of an extremely strong sense of individuality which cannot bear the thought of living and dying like a man in the ranks, forgotten by coming generations? Is this ambition?

Strindberg took the next watch, and at 9:30 a.m. on July 13 the fog began to lift. An hour and a half later, after spending half a day on the ice, Ornen resumed flight. Another message was dispatched via pigeon post, and this time one of the pigeons got through (the one unlucky enough to reach Alken).

Shortly thereafter, though, the car resumed its horrible stampings along the ice. Desperate for some relief from these heavy shocks, Strindberg took refuge up in the balloons bearing ring, where he said he found It confoundedly pleasant, adding, One feels so safe there and so at home.

The early morning hours brought more fog and a new danger: heavy ice forming on the balloon ropes. The touches, touches came in quick succession, as the balloon dragged the car and its occupants over ice hummocks. Andree suffered a blow to the head, something briefly caught fire and Strindberg vomited. Strindberg escaped to the bearing ring, this time followed by Fraenkel. At 8 p.m., the three aeronauts decided they must attempt to gain altitude at any cost, and within minutes 440 pounds of buoys, winches, sand, barrels and provisions lay scattered over the ice. Ornen then took to the air once more, its sails unfurled and its journey renewed. The balloon goes extremely beautifully, exalted Andree. Altogether it is quite stately!

The airborne respite afforded the trio a chance to recuperate, but two hours later the fog returned and the car began striking the ice again. This continued throughout the early hours of July 14. The flight log captured little of this nightmarish period, but notations indicate that at the very end of the ordeal Ornen attempted one final dash to the heavens. The log read, 6.20, the balloon rose to a great height, but we opened both valves and were down again at 6.29.

Andree, Strindberg and Fraenkel stepped out onto the soft summer ice, their partially deflated balloon lying nearby like a beached whale. Ornens meandering flight had lasted 65 hours and 33 minutes, and covered many hundreds of miles. Now the three stranded aeronauts faced the daunting task of marching south, where they hoped to reach the easternmost islands of Spitsbergen, 200 miles away.

Meticulous as always, Andree took his time packing and organizing three sledges and a canvas boat. They finally departed the landing site eight days later with an inordinate amount of provisions and gear. Andrees sledge alone weighed about 600 pounds and held items of dubious necessity, such as a sounding cable 179 fathoms long. After several days but only a few miles of progress, they decided to lighten their load. The three ate as much as they could and also downed a bottle of champagne. Still, with careful rationing, they had enough provisions left to last weeks, and by hunting polar bears Andree shot the first one on July 17the prospect of unlimited meat.

Ice hummocks and the uneven surface hampered their progress, and the sledges occasionally somersaulted, spilling everything onto the ice. Some days they managed to travel barely a mile. Through it all, though, the three intrepid Swedes maintained their camaraderie. On Strindbergs birthday, September 4, Andree presented him with a surprise cache of letters from his sweetheart and family.

The men marched across the ice in the unending Arctic sunshine. Sometimes they got lucky and were able to sail for miles in open water. As time passed, however, diarrhea, sore feet, accidents and illness took their toll. Eventually the sledges wore out, and their trek ground to a halt. Their only remaining option was to ride an ice floe as it drifted south.

On September 15, more than two months after the trio had set out from Virgo Harbor, they sighted uninhabited White Island. Three days later they celebrated the 25th anniversary of King Oscar IIs ascension to the throne, devouring a seal steak fried in blubber accompanied by an 1834 bottle of port. For the next two weeks White Island lay tantalizingly close by, but Andree, who was building an ice hut, made no effort to move toward the island.

On October 2, catastrophe struck when the ice floe apparently broke up. We know that they managed to make it to White Island, but after that their final days remain a mystery. Strindberg recorded cryptically on October 17, Home 7.05 a.m. and then wrote no more.

Thirty-three years later, in August 1930, sealers from the vessel Bratvaag led by Gunnar Horn of the Polar Sea Research Institution landed on White Island and made a gruesome discovery: the remains of a body. It was frozen and the legs lay in a perfectly natural position, Horn recalled. On the feet were Lapp boots, and these lay partly beneath the snow. Higher up, the bones stuck out from among the clothes. Various articles of clothing lay scattered about, and, as there was not much left of the upper part of the body and the head was missing, it was clear that bears had been there destroying and consuming what they could. We opened the jacket carefully and saw that inside, on the back of the garment, there was sewn a large monogram A., from which we drew the conclusion that it was Andrees remains we had before us.

The bodies of Strindberg and Fraenkel were discovered not far away. Researchers concluded that the trio had likely succumbed to cold and exhaustion rather than to sickness or starvation. Also found nearby were diaries, letters, almanacs, undeveloped film and logbooks, detailing their ordeal.

Svenksund, the same gunboat that had accompanied Andrees expedition north to Danes Island more than three decades earlier, arrived in Stockholm with the bodies on October 5, 1930. Oscar II had long since died, but three coffins were placed on the dock at the feet of his son, King Gustaf V, who stood at attention while guns fired a salute and every bell rang in the city. Despite pelting rain, tens of thousands of Swedes joined in a procession to the citys Great Church, St. Nicholas.

Archbishop Nathan Soderblom presided at the state funeral. Welcome home! he thundered from the pulpit. Welcome, Strindberg! Welcome, Fraenkel! Welcome, Andree! You have been many years away. And what we now receive are merely the ruins of magnificent, well-tempered instruments fitted for indomitable longing and clear-sighted achievement.

C. Michael Hiam is the author of Dirigible Dreams: The Age of the Airship. Also see Andrees Story: The Complete Record of his Polar Flight, by S.A. Andree, Nils Strindberg and Knut Fraenkel.

Originally published in the March 2014 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.
When Commander John Rodgers PN-9 ran low on fuel 400 miles short of his destination, like a good Navy man he rigged the flying boat and sailed the rest of the way.

Two years before Charles Lindbergh made his epic solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, the U.S. Navy was determined to establish a world record for the first nonstop flight from California to Hawaii. Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, chief of the Navys Bureau of Aeronautics, was still smarting from the Army Air Services successful round-the-world flight the previous year. The Navys reputation as an aviation leaderestablished in 1919 with the first transatlantic flight by an airplanewas at stake, and Moffett wanted to make sure Congressional budget authorizers knew that naval aviators were still pioneers.

Prior to 1925, no Navy aircraft had flown more than 1,200 miles without stopping. In fact, no aircraft had as yet been built that was capable of the 2,400-mile flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. The Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia was commissioned to build a twin-engine, bi-winged flying boat designated the PN-9 to make the first attempt.

A modified version of the PN-8, the metal-hulled seaplane was designed to carry five crewmen and one ton of freight. It boasted twin 475-hp Packard engines, had an upper wingspan of 73 feet and weighed 20,000 pounds fully loaded. The PN-9s useful load was 10,100 pounds, quite an accomplishment given that few contemporary planes could carry a useful load equal to or greater than their own weight. The PN-9 also had a larger fuel capacity and a wider cruising range than other seaplanes of its day. In other words, the Navy built a credible aircraft to set a new world record.

Two PN-9s would make the attempt, increasing the chances for success. During testing one of the flying boats set an endurance record when it flew nonstop for more than 28 hours, which boded well for the upcoming Pacific flight.

Commander John Rodgers, who came from a long line of distinguished naval officers, was chosen to oversee the record attempt. His great-grandfather Commodore John Rodgers played a key role in the War of 1812, his grandfather Rear Adm. John Rodgers fought in the Civil War and his father Vice Adm. William Rodgers had commanded the Asiatic Fleet. His mother was the granddaughter of Commodore Matthew C. Perry, whose black ships had opened Japan to international commerce.

Rodgers himself was a pioneer of early aviation. Among the first group of naval officers to receive flight training, he graduated from the Wright Flying School in 1911, only the second naval officer in history to qualify as an aviator. A highly resourceful pilot, he was also an ace navigator and a bit of a daredevil. In 1911, the same year he received his pilots license, Rodgers ascended to 400 feet in a Perkins man-carrying kite (see Man-Carrying Kite from the September 2013 issue). Though that flight lasted only 15 minutes, it demonstrated Rodgers fearlessness. Later that same year he took a leave of absence to assist his cousin, Cal Rodgers, in the first successful transcontinental flight across America.

The eyes of the world were on San Pablo Bay, north of San Francisco, on Monday, August 31, 1925, as PN-9s Nos. 1 and 3 prepared to take off. Thousands of well-wishers lined the shoreline, and newspapers ran breathless stories anticipating the greatest nonstop flight attempted by America.

Rodgers had selected San Pablo Bay for their takeoff because it was a quiet body of water. Still, Coast Guard cutters were kept busy chasing away curious boaters as the takeoff approached. Meanwhile 10 Navy vessels were stationed at 200-mile intervals between California and Hawaii to provide radio bearings, fuel if needed and a rescue force in the event one of the flying boats was forced down.

After a good luck visit from Admiral Moffett, Rodgers cast off No. 1 from its towboat. It was a few minutes past 2 p.m. when Lieutenant Byron J. Connell, piloting Rodgers plane, made his run across the bay. The PN-9 was so heavy, however, that Connell couldnt get airborne. While he prepared for a second attempt, pilot Lieutenant Allen P. Snody clawed his way into the sky in No. 3.

It took Connell more than four miles to get airborne, but a cheer went up when No. 1 finally lifted off the bay. Army planes from Crissy Field dipped their wings in salute as Rodgers headed for the Golden Gate.

Rodgers biggest challenge would be navigation. The Hawaiian Islands were a mere speck in the middle of the Pacific, and there was no guarantee he could find them.

At 5 p.m., just two hours after takeoff, Rodgers reported radio contact with the first Navy ship, the destroyer William Jones. That was a great relief, he recalled. It certainly gave me the assurance that my methods were all right.

But shortly after No. 3 flew past William Jones it began experiencing difficulty. A crewman climbed out on the wing to check the port engine and found it was leaking oil. Twenty-five minutes later the oil pressure gauge was at zero, leaving Snody no choice but to make an emergency landing. It wasnt going to be easy, though. The seas were rough, it was beginning to get dark and they were carrying five tons of gasoline. The force of the landing was so great that the PN-9s normally square fuel tanks were warped into a cylindrical shape. Nevertheless, Snody managed to put the plane down without mishap.

William Jones didnt find No. 3s five man crew until well past midnight. They were taken aboard, and a line was rigged to tow the flying boat to San Francisco. Now all hope for completing the record flight rested with Rodgers and the crew of No. 1.

As Rodgers plane pressed on through the night, he had no trouble finding the ships along his path. In fact, the flight was going so well that he radioed Hawaiis territorial governor to let him know hed see him the next day. But as the night wore on, Rodgers noticed the port engines exhaust flame was burning yellow rather than blue, an indication it wasnt running efficiently. Gas consumption was averaging six gallons per hour more than during test flights. And the 15- to 20-mph tail winds theyd counted on to drive them across the Pacific were much weaker than expected.

When morning dawned on September 1, Hawaii was eager for news of Rodgers progress. At 8 oclock No. 1 was reportedly within 700 miles of its goal. By noon, crowds began forming in Honolulu to welcome Rodgers and his crew.

By the time No. 1 passed the destroyer Farragut, however, Rodgers was two hours behind schedule. He was 1,600 miles west of San Francisco when he realized he didnt have enough fuel to reach Hawaii.

Plane very low on gasoline, No. 1 radioed. Doubt ability to reach destination. Keep careful lookout. According to Rodgers calculations, No. 1 had enough fuel to reach the minelayer Aroostook, the second to last ship along his route. Since

Aroostook was a fully equipped airplane tender, he planned to land alongside, refuel and continue on his way. Though he was disappointed by his failure to fly nonstop to Hawaii, at least the PN-9 could then complete the flight. Aroostook sent radio compass bearings indicating it was north of No. 1s position. Connell followed the bearings, but when he arrived where Aroostook was supposed to be, no ship could be found. It had never occurred to Rodgers that hed have difficulty finding the one ship he really needed after passing by the others so easily. To make matters worse, rainsqualls made visibility poor. It turned out that Aroostook had sent faulty bearings.

Connell searched for an hour without success. As their fuel supply dwindled, Flight Engineer Skiles N. Pope grabbed a sponge and began soaking up whatever gas he could find in the bilges. Just before their engines cut out, No. 1s chief radioman, Otis G. Stantz, sent off a partial message: We will crack up if we have to land in this rough sea without motive power. After that, there was radio silence.

Headlines in The Honolulu Advertiser screamed The Flight Is Doomed, and an extensive search was launched. Since Farragut, Aroostook and the minesweeper Tanager were closest to where Rodgers had presumably gone down, they began scouring the area. But downed aircraft are notoriously difficult to find at sea because they tend to blend in with the water. Submarines, seaplanes and more surface ships soon joined the search, but they found no sign of No. 1 or its crew.

Connell, whod been in the pilots seat for 25 hours, was flying through squalls when No. 1s engines finally cut out. As he began an unpowered glide from 600 feet, the sea below was roiled by heavy swells. Despite the poor conditions, he managed to safely alight on the water. Rodgers might have been nearly 400 miles short of his destination, but hed established a new seaplane record by flying nonstop 2,155 miles. More important, everyone was still alive.

Their radio soon proved a source of frustration. The receiving set ran on a battery, so they could hear messages, but their sending radio was powered by a wind-driven generator that only operated while the plane was in the air. In other words, they could hear but not transmit. It was queerlistening to those hunting for us and being unable to communicate with them, crewman William H. Bowlin recalled. A message addressed to Commander Rodgers from Aroostooks captain gave them hope, however: Cheer up, John, well get you yet.

On their second day adrift, the five men ran out of cigarettes, so they shared a cigar to keep their cravings at bay. Of more concern was their lack of food and water. Theyd already consumed most of their rations. All that remained were 10 ham sandwiches, 10 quarts of water, three pounds of hardtack, six pounds of canned corn beef and assorted scraps. Since the corned beef proved indigestible and they were unable to catch any fish, their food soon ran out.

The real problem was their dwindling supply of drinking water. Before departure, Rodgers had reluctantly accepted the gift of a freshwater still from his mother, but it was useless without fuel to run it. The water from the planes radiator was laced with sealant, making it undrinkable.

The first sign of hope came at 8 a.m. that day, when they spotted a commercial steamer five miles away. Waving frantically, they shot off flares and shouted, but the ship passed them by without stopping.

It became increasingly clear they would not be rescued anytime soon. Radio intercepts indicated the search ships were moving away from them. Radioman Stantz had begun cannibalizing engine parts in an attempt to build a rudimentary sending set, but he wasnt having much success.

At that point Rodgers decided to take fate into his own hands and sail the plane to Hawaii. He knew the area well because hed served as commander of the naval air station at Pearl Harbor. He also had the necessary navigation equipment, as well as confidence in his own abilities.

The crew stripped fabric from the bottom wing to fashion a sail. Unfortunately, a seaplane doesnt make a very good sailboat. The best they could manage was to steer a few degrees either side of the wind, using the planes tail as a rudder. One crewman sat in the cockpit and sailed a compass course for Oahu. Rodgers took bearings three times a day to plot their course.

By the third day, their water was rationed to only a few swallows per man. Theyd also picked up a sinister escort: sharks.

That same day they spotted the minesweeper Pelican, but it steamed off without seeing them. Though 18 destroyers had joined the search, a message from Hawaiis governor to Admiral Moffett captured the general mood: Whatever their fatethey have upheld the best traditions of the great pioneers of our country. It seemed the governor was giving them up for lost.

On the bright side, No. 1 covered 50 miles in a single day, averaging 2 knots per hour. Unless they ran into a storm, Rodgers felt confident theyd eventually reach Hawaii. At one point a light rain fell, which the men soaked up with a cloth, but it was hardly enough to satisfy their thirst. Whenever they picked up a ships radio bearing, Rodgers steered the plane in that direction. They never managed to catch up with the search parties, however, and when the seas turned rough they were forced to take down their sail.

Stantz worked night and day to build a rudimentary sending set, helping keep their hopes alive. He did eventually manage to get one message out that was picked up by a search vessel. But the ships crew couldnt make out the details, so no one realized it had come from Rodgers plane.

On September 5, the aircraft carrier Langley arrived on station and began launching pairs of search planes. It was now a week since Rodgers and his men had left San Francisco. Their water supply had run dry, and the men were so weak they were reduced to crawling around the plane.

On the sixth day at sea they managed to get the freshwater still working, burning wood taken from the wings leading edge. Even so, after five hours theyd only eked out a quart of water. Hope was fading fast among the crew. It didnt help that they overheard a broadcast saying their plane had probably crashed and sunk.

Hell, boys, we might be worse off, Rodgers said, trying to rally his men. I once knew a man who was adrift for 15 days with nothing but a log under him. Not everyone shared his optimism, however.

By the seventh day, more destroyers had joined the search and the local aeronautical association posted a $500 reward. But hopes of finding the flying boat had reached the vanishing point.

They were blessed by a heavy rainstorm on the eighth day. The men spread out fabric from the wings to catch the downpour, collecting a couple of gallons. Since the water was contaminated by the fabrics aluminum paint, they strained it through their shirts before drinking. It tasted lousy, but it was the best water theyd ever drunk.

On the ninth day Stantz heard more discouraging news from the radio. Twenty-one of Langleys pilots concurred that No. 1 had sunk and the search should be discontinued. As it happened, the PN-9s crew sighted Oahus north shore that same afternoon. But when the wind shifted and they couldnt make their way to land, the mens spirits reached their lowest ebb. It was too much, Bowlin recalled. I was ready to call the sharks and say, Come and get me any time youre ready, boys.

All was not lost, however. Analyzing their problem, Connell tore up the planes metal flooring to fashion leeboards and lashed them together with control cable. Soon they were able to navigate up to 15 degrees on either side of the wind.

Knowing that Kauai, farthest north in the Hawaiian chain, represented their final chance to make land, Rodgers set course for the island. He realized that if they werent careful, they could miss Kauai just as they had Oahu and find themselves with nothing ahead save Japan.

As dawn broke on September 10, their tenth day at sea, the crewmen strained to make out Kauai, but it was nowhere to be seen. Could they have missed it? That morning was punctuated with rainsqualls, the horizon shrouded by fog. Finally, at 9 a.m., the sky cleared enough for them to spot Kauai on the horizon, right where Rodgers had plotted it. It was a wonderful sight, said Connell. Now all they had to do was reach land.

The submarine R-4 was about 15 miles off the southeast coast of Kauai when an officer on watch spotted something in the distance. At first he thought it was a sampan, but as the sub drew nearer he recognized it was actually a flying boat. When the subs crew asked the aircraft to identify itself, the response was stunning: PN-9 No. 1 from San Francisco.

As R-4 came alongside, all five crewmen stood atop the upper wing, waving. Their clothes were torn and dirty, their faces darkened by 10-day beards. Do you want to come aboard? asked the subs commanding officer, Lieutenant Donald R. Osborn Jr. No, Rodgers replied.

Bowlin later explained: We didnt want to be picked up. We were only 15 miles from shore and heading in nicely. It was our ambition after sailing nearly 400 miles to complete the rest of the journey under our own power.

Rodgers asked the sub crew for food, water and cigarettes, then informed Osborn he intended to sail the rest of the way into the harbor. When the sub commander insisted the PN-9 be towed instead, Rodgers shot back: No! Stand by in case we miss the harbor.

Deciding the men must be out of their heads, Osborn was about to have them physically removed when Rodgers finally admitted his crew was too weak to swim ashore if anything went wrong. Let them tow us in, Rodgers conceded. Any ship takes a pilot going into harbor.

Once the crew reached shore, Rodgers asked that they be photographed before they had cleaned up. The picture shows them smoking cigars as they stand in line, grinning. A reporter described them as looking like hobosnot surprising given their appearance.

A flood of messages soon arrived from around the world. Navy officials, politicians, foreign governments and the public all clamored to have Rodgers and his crew appear at functions in their honor. San Francisco feted the men with a parade, and Rodgers and Connell were deluged with offers for their stories. Newspapers nicknamed Rodgers Navigatin John, and Honolulu wo men named their sons after him.

In hindsight, even if Aroostooks crew hadnt given No. 1 erroneous bearings, the flying boats port engine wasnt operating efficiently enough and the tail winds were insufficiently strong for Rodgers to have flown nonstop all the way to Hawaii. But the PN-9 had gotten them within 400 miles of their destination, and they set a new world distance record for nonstop flight by a seaplane.

As a reward, Rodgers was appointed to the Bureau of Aeronautics. Unsurprisingly, he was not well suited to desk work and lasted only seven months in the job.

On August 27, 1926, Rodgers flew from Washington to the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia to inspect two new P-10s that he hoped to use for a second attempt at a nonstop flight from California to Hawaii. En route, his plane plunged into the Delaware River, where he remained trapped for an hour. Lieutenant Connell, who had been waiting for Rodgers at a nearby airfield, pulled him from the wreckage. Rodgers died a few hours lateralmost a year to the day after he had set out from San Francisco on his record-breaking feat.

Rodgers California-to-Hawaii flight represents one of the greatest accomplishments in early aviation history. That challenging passage not only demonstrated the Navy commanders incredible resourcefulness, it also helped lay the groundwork for commercial flights over the Pacific. Honolulu would name its international airport after him, and in 1942 the Navy christened a destroyer USS John Rodgers.

Today the floods of tourists who vacation in Hawaii each year owe a lot to Commander John Rodgers, who paved the way for all who followed. They have him and Admiral William Moffett to thank for the foresight and heroism that made crossing the Pacific a matter of routine.

John J. Geoghegan is the author of Operation Storm and the executive director of the SILOE Research Institute in Woodside, Calif. For further reading, he recommends Above the Pacific, by William J. Horvat.

Originally published in the March 2014 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

Bosnia and Herzegovina has generally supported the standpoints of Azerbaijan on the issue of sovereignty and territorial integrity, Mladen Ivanic, chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said in an interview with Trend.

He noted that Bosnia and Herzegovina supports the existing activities at multilateral level aimed at resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Ivanic added that House of Representatives and House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the resolution on respect and support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan in January and February 2013, respectively.

He noted that this had great approval and positive reaction in Azerbaijan.

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
Time and again Lothar von Richthofen risked all for his country, his comrades and his famous elder sibling.

A colorful flight of German Albatros D.IIIs swept high above the shell-blasted wasteland of northern France on April 13, 1917, hunting for prey. Second Lieutenant Lothar von Richthofen saw his squadron commander and older brother Manfred, the Red Baron, suddenly dive to the attack, and followed him down. Like screaming hawks, the Germans pounced upon a six-plane flight of British Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 two-seat observation planes.

Manfred quickly bagged his opponent. I looked around and saw that my brother sat behind a British machine from which flames shot out and which then exploded, the Red Baron recalled. Near this English man flew a second. [Lothar] did nothing else to the first, who had not yet gone down and was still in the air. He turned his machine guns on the next one and immediately shot at him even though he had barely finished with the other. This one also fell after a short fight.

Back at the airfield at Douai, Manfred continued, Lothar asked quite proudly: How many have you shot down? One, was the modest answer. Turning his back to his brother, Lothar flippantly replied, I got two, and walked away. The days action and ensuing exchange perfectly illustrate Lothar von Richthofens style: bold, ambitious and impulsive. The fledgling airman scored his fourth and fifth victories that day, while his famous brother got his 41st.

The Richthofen boys had been raised in a spirit of friendly competition. Born in Breslau on September 27, 1894, Lothar was two years younger than Manfred, and he would be destined to always follow his elder siblings lead. As members of the nobility, the Richthofens lived privileged lives on their estate. Lothar was tall and lean, with shimmering bronze eyes that reflected his boundless joie de vivre. He was educated at home and in public schools, while his elder brother attended a military academy, ultimately joining a cavalry regiment. Emulating his brother, Lothar signed up with the 4th Dragoon Regiment (von Bredow), also cavalry.

When World War I broke out in August 1914, Lothar was still in officers school in Danzig, but he dropped out to fight. He got his first combat experience in Belgium and Poland. In one firefight, his horse was killed from beneath him, and he barely escaped with his life.

Manfred joined the German air service in the summer of 1915, urging his brother to follow him. Lothar entered aviation later that year, tired of the ground wars mixture of dull inactivity and sudden, bloody action. After training as an observer, he was assigned to Kampfstaffel (battle squadron) 23, flying two-seat observation planes over the Verdun battlefield, photographing enemy positions, artillery spotting and carrying out bombing raids. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class for his actions.

With a mixture of pride and envy, Lothar looked on as his older brother transferred to Jagdstaffel (fighter squadron; Jasta for short) 2, led by Germanys then ace of aces, Captain Oswald Boelcke. By the end of 1916, Manfred had racked up a score of 15 and was considered one of Germanys star combat pilots. Lothar burned to follow his brothers path, and worked hard in his spare time to obtain his pilots certificate, which he did by years end.

After Boelckes death in October 1916, Manfred became Germanys most successful living ace. In January 1917, he was awarded the countrys highest decoration, the Orden Pour le Merite, and given command of Jasta 11. With his looks, nobility and flair for the dramatiched begun painting his planes blood-redManfred became a national hero. When the Red Baron had his brother transferred to his squadron so he could mentor him, the German press had a field day. Children, women and aspiring pilots collected postcards of the handsome Richthofen boys.

Manfred built Jasta 11 into one of the wars deadliest and most effective fighter squadrons. Lothar, who reported for duty with the unit on March 6, 1917, stuck close to his experienced brother, learning the art of aerial combat. The younger Richthofens energy, determination and fearlessness were soon apparent. Lothar had his first aerial encounter yesterday, Manfred wrote their parents on March 26. He hit his adversary who, in our parlance, stank, leaving a black, smelly trail [of oil and fuel] behind him. He did not go down, of coursethat would have been too much luck. Lothar is very conscientious and will do well.

Lothar did very well indeed. Just two days later, flying his brothers old Albatros D.III, he got behind an F.E.2b from No. 25 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC). After a running fight, Lothar shot up the two-seaters engine and mortally wounded the observer, bringing the Fee down in no-mans land. He achieved his first double victory on April 11, knocking down two RFC observation aircraft, repeating that same feat on the 13th and 14th.

The methodical Manfred saw his brothers hell-bent-for-leather fighting style as bordering on recklessness. He does not know how to run away, Manfred said. He had only one thought: The enemy must go down. Manfred described Lothar as a shooter, whose only fun is shooting, as opposed to a precise aerial hunter.

Lothar was certainly single-minded in combat, and showed a naive disregard for danger. In one dogfight with an RFC Spad VII on April 29, even after Lothar realized he had already expended his 1,000 rounds of ammunition, he continued his pursuit. He later remembered calculating his next move, asking himself, Shall I knock off his rudder with the help of my propeller?At this moment, my Englishman turns and looks in a horrified way at me. That pilot, Lieutenant William N. Hamilton, of No. 19 Squadron, landedperhaps because of an empty fuel tankand was captured. It was Lothars 13th victory.

In an earlier engagement with F.E.2bs, Lothar was being fired on when, as he wrote: I said to myself: Just wait, when they get close all their bullets will be used up and their guns will jam. Then suddenly I felt a hit in my machine! His controls shot away, Lothar prepared for the worst. Then the Fee exploded in flames, as Jasta 11 comrade Lieutenant Karl-Emil Schafer roared past with a wave, having rescued the young Richthofen.

Lothars gung-ho tactics resulted in an impressive score within a remarkably short period: He had 24 kills by the end of May 1917, and was decorated with the Pour le Merite on May 14, bringing him on a par with his illustrious brother. By September, he was commander of Jasta 11, Manfred having been promoted to lead Jagdgeschwader I (a group of four Jastas).

The Richthofen brothers were now famous worldwide. Whenever they toured the home front, huge crowds mobbed them. Charming and gregarious, Lothar seemed to enjoy the nightlife more than his reserved sibling.

Perhaps Lothars most celebrated exploit was a dramatic dogfight pitting him against Britains leading ace at the time, Captain Albert Ball of 56 Squadron, with 44 victories. On May 7, 1917, as the sun set over the ravished French landscape, Lothar in his yellow-and-red D.III met an enemy fighter. Their aerial duel was witnessed by Lothars squadron mate, Lieutenant Wilhelm Allmenroder, who recorded how, in a wild, circling dogfight, both fliers attempted to get into an effective firing position. Suddenly both turned and rushed at each other as if they intended to ram only a few shots being fired. After three frontal passes, Richthofen reported that his opponent dived down to the ground, and the exhausted German returned to base, his engine shot up.

Controversy still swirls around that epic battle. In his combat report, an obviously nerve-wracked Lothar erroneously identified his opponent as a Sopwith triplane. Though a German army officer who inspected the wreckage of Balls S.E.5a and the doctor who examined his body said they found no evidence he had been shot down, Ball was credited as Lothars 20th kill.

Lothar survived several crashes, and was badly wounded on at least three separate occasions. On May 13, 1917, he was hit in the left hip by flak and spent five months in the hospital. Again on a date that involved his unlucky number, March 13, 1918, Lothars Fokker Dr.I suffered damage to its upper wing, and he struck high-tension wires as he tried to land. When he awoke in the hospital and realized his nose, jaw and various other body parts had been smashed, a frustrated Lothar exclaimed, Damn it all! Again, it took months for his recovery.

On August 13, 1918, he declared, Today the spell of the 13th must be broken. But while he was attacking a two-seater in his Fokker D.VII, six Sopwith Camels jumped him. Pain tore through his right leg, and he landed on the Somme battlefield, bleeding from a gunshot wound. The war was over for Lothar. With an impressive tally of 40 victories to his credit, the young Richthofen was promoted to first lieutenant.

Ironically, while most of his squadron mates were killed over France, Lothars injuries helped him to survive the war by keeping him out of harms way. Informed of his brothers death in action on April 21, 1918, Lothar exclaimed fiercely, Had I been there it would not have happened!

After the war, Lothar married a countess and tried several different occupations. He eventually returned to flying, working for a commercial company. He died on July 4, 1922, when the converted LVG C.VI airliner he was piloting crashed after its engine malfunctioned. In his brief but eventful life, Lothar von Richthofen had relished fame and glory, but he also overcame suffering and loss. He would not have had it any other way.

Originally published in the March 2014 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.
Over nearly half a century, Willy Messerschmitt designed a remarkable array of aircraft.

The career of Germanys most famous airplane designer nearly sputtered out before it took off. Willy Messerschmitt (only his mother called him Wilhelm) began as a builder of stone-simple postWorld War I gliders, then moved on to powered sailplanes with what would today be considered riding-mower engines. A series of light sportplanes followed, and during the late 1920s and early 30s Messerschmitt designed several successful four- to 12-seat airliners. In 1935, thanks to such a modest aviation background, Third Reich officials told him to not even bother competing against Germanys major manufacturers for the contract to build the Luftwaffes new air-superiority fighter.

Messerschmitt tested just how small his chances were by quietly putting out word that he was considering leaving the industry and accepting a professorship at Danzig Technical University. He was then encouraged by the Reichsluftfahrtministeriumthe RLM, the bureaucracy that controlled all aviation in Nazi Germanyto hurry up and accept the job, because his work as an airplane designer was of no importance. Talk about discouraging words

But they didnt discourage Willy Messerschmitt. On his first try at gaining a real military contract, he produced the Bf-109, the most revolutionary and effective fighter of its day. Spitfire advocates will argue that point endlessly, but nobody can deny it was an accomplishment akin to Clyde Cessna turning out the P-51 after a lifetime of lightplanes. Messerschmitt had one advantage over his competitors: Since the RLM initially didnt consider him part of the formal competition, he could design as he wished rather than having to stay within the parameters stipulated by the aviation ministry. The result was the Bf-109the smallest, simplest and lightest possible airframe that could be wrapped around one pilot, the requisite armament and a large and powerful V12 engine.

The Bf-109 was by no stretch of the imagination an up-engined Bf-108, though the family resemblance between the two is strong. What the 109 did take from its family-sedan precursor was Willys extreme emphasis on simple, modular construction with major forces concentrated at a few points on the airframe, such as the sturdy engine mount suspended from the firewall, where landing-gear loads were also localized. Bf/Me-109s could be built in 4,000 to 6,000 man-hours, depending on the year of manufacture, while it took two or three times as long to build a complex, largely hand-wrought Spitfire or Hurricane.

Willy went on to create a second game changer, and he did it while the world was collapsing around him, his factories battered by Allied bombers. American and British fighters by this time were superior to even the best of his 109 versions. Yet while the Yanks and Brits struggled to create a few lumpish proto-jets, few of which ever made it into limited combat, Messerschmitt directed the design and engineering of the Me-262, and his company produced more than 1,400 of the twin-engine jets, 300 of which saw action.

Think of that: While the U.S. and Britain were still experimenting, a nation that had already lost the war managed to produce an effective operational jet fighter 100 mph faster than the Allied fighters that opposed it, thanks to Willy Messerschmitt and the team of engineers he had gathered. (To be fair, no legendary aircraft designer ever created a complex, high-performance airplane on his own. Robert Lusser, Messerschmitts project office director, and Richard Bauer, chief design engineer, had a great deal to do with the design of the Bf-109; and engineers Wolfgang Degel, Karl Althoff and Rudolf Seitz were crucial to the development of the Me-262, a project directed by Waldemar Voigt because Lusser had been hired away by Willys archenemy Ernst Heinkel.)

And lets not belittle Messerschmitts lightplanes. In 1934 he created a four-seat personal aircraft, the Bf-108 Taifun, that would only see its equal in performance and efficiency when the Beech Bonanza was introduced in 1947. There are Taifun owners todaythe design stayed in production with the French Nord company into the 1960swho wouldnt trade their rides for any single-engine spamcan yet produced.

Willy got his own private pilots license in 1929, which wasnt an occasion for universal delight. Fritz Hille, sales director of the company for which Willy worked, Bayerische Flugzeugwerk, went public with the claim that Messerschmitts new flying hobby was an irresponsible distraction from his duties as developmental head of the firm. Hille then resigned, blaming Messerschmitt for a variety of financial problems that BFW was experiencingthe company was close to bankruptcyand immediately went to work for Heinkel, making it clear that the whole ploy was an attempt to discredit BFW.

As a pilot, Messerschmitt was no Kurt Tank, the famous Focke-Wulf designer who was as skilled a test pilot as he was an engineer (and who had worked for Willy in the early 1930s). Messerschmitt had his own Bf-108, though he only flew it with a company pilot in the right seat. On one flight, he announced that he wanted to fly the whole leg on his own, with the copilot acting solely as a silent safety pilot. Messerschmitt forgot to retract the Taifuns landing gear after takeoff and flew the whole distance with the gear down. To Willys embarrassment, his copilot, per orders, never said a word.

Messerschmitt went on to direct the design of a surprisingly varied assortment of aircraft, including the Me-209, which held the world piston-engine speed record until 1969; a four-engine Me-264 Amerika Bomber (a planned six-engine version never flew, nor did the sweptwing version with auxiliary turbojet engines); the worlds first swing-wing jet, the P.1101 prototype, model for the U.S. Air Forces Bell X-5; and a massive cargo glider that in its powered form was the C-5 of its day, the Me-321/323. The one Messerschmitt that Willy had little to do with was the Me-163 rocket plane, a product of Alexander Lippischs fevered brain. Messerschmitt in fact wanted to redesign it as the Me-334, with a Daimler-Benz 605 V12 and pusher prop in place of the dangerous, barely controllable bomb that Lippisch had placed in its tail (Messerschmitt engineers called it the Flying Firecracker).

It all started when 15-year-old Messerschmitt apprenticed himself to German glider pioneer Friedrich Harth just before World War I. Since gliding was the only way to train a cadre of future Luftwaffe pilots without openly flouting the provisions of the Versailles Treaty, the sport became particularly important in Germany in the 1920s, by which time Messerschmitt was improving Harths designs and increasingly working on his own. (Germany was so glider-savvy that the Luftwaffe developed the concept of troop-carrying gliders, first used in combat in May 1940, during a stunningly successful glider assault on the impregnable Belgian Fort Eben-Emael. Even today, German competition sailplanes reign supreme.)

Willy had a lot to learn. His first few designs were controlled by pivoting the entire wing from a joint above the minimal fuselage part wing-warping, part angle-of-attack shifting, a concept hed learned from Harth, who called it wing control. There were no other movable control surfaces, just a trimmable tailplane. Even when Messerschmitt built his first powered airplane, in 1924the S 15, basically a motorgliderhe still resorted to wing-warping for lateral control, though at least now the wing was fixed and the airplane had an elevator.

His next design, the S 16, looked like a real airplane rather than a spindly single-seat glider, and it had normal ailerons, a rudder, an elevator, wheeled landing gear and a passenger seat. Willy was done not only with Harths wing-control concept but also with unpowered flight, other than the aberrant World War II Me-321 Gigant.

In 1924 Messerschmitt founded his own company. He continued his and Harths model numbering sequence, but the designator S (Segelflugzeug, or sailplane) became an M (Motorflugzeug, or motorplane). The S 16 was followed by the M 17. That sequence ended with the sole 1934 M 35a six-seat, single-engine passenger carrier built for a Romanian airline. At that point Adolf Hitlers RLM began assigning designators and model numbers to Germanys various manufacturers, so Messerschmitts next design necessarily became the Bf-108Bf because Willy Messerschmitt was now design director of Bayerische Flugzeugwerke.

This eventually became the excuse for an endlessly argued piece of Messerschmitt trivia: Is Willys fighter a Bf-109 or an Me-109? Reasonable historians say its both, depending on the variant. By 1938, Messerschmitt quietly controlled enough of BFWs stock that the company made him its managing director and chairman of the board. The 109 and its designer had become so well known that Bayerische rode his coattails by renaming itself Messerschmitt AG. As a result, aircraft designed and developed by Bayerische are properly designated Bfs, and those birthed by successor Messerschmitt AG can be considered Mes. Which means the A through D models of the 109 are Bf-109s, and the E through Z models are Me-109s. (Yes, there was an Me-109Za twin-fuselage, F-82-like variant that was built but never flown.) This is also the opinion of the historical office of todays German air force.

Others claim all 109s are Bfs and that theres no such thing as an Me-109. Yet if you ask any air-minded U.S. WWII vet to name the airplane, to a man theyll say, Its a Messerschmitt an Me-109. Which gave rise to that hoariest of aviation jokesthe one that comes in many varieties but always has as its punch line Those fokkers were Messerschmitts.

How, exactly, did an aero nautical engineer become powerful enough to buy the company he worked for? After all, Kelly Johnson never bought Lockheed, nor did Ed Heinemann ever come close to taking over Douglas. But Willy Messerschmitt found himself a rich sponsorand roommate. At the time when BFW was in financial trouble, he had met and fallen for the Baroness Lilly von Michel-Raulino Stromeyer, the daughter of a wealthy Bavarian family. She was smart and beautiful, but she was seven years older than Willy and already married, to financier Otto Stromeyer.

Nevertheless, Willy asked Lilly for help, and she persuaded her husband to buy an 87.5-percent share of BFW; Messerschmitt owned the remaining 12.5 percent of the stock. The more they saw of each other, the more Lilly became fascinated by the daring, dashing young engineer. He was distinguished-looking, in a dark-eyed, sharp-featured, professorial way. And above all, he was a vivid contrast to her boring, stuffy husband. Inevitably, the baroness and the engineer began an affair.

They went about it quite openly, which was shocking to the cackling busybodies, as one Messerschmitt biography put it, of Catholic Bavaria. To say nothing of the fact that Otto Stromeyer was the chairman of Messerschmitts board, of which Willy had become a member. But never mind, that was Willys waythe hell with convention, with the ordinary way of doing things and the baroness was equally bold. Independently wealthy, she soon divorced her husband, took control of her own share of the Stromeyer Messerschmitt stock and moved in with Willy, though they werent married until 1952.

Throughout a large part of his career, Willy Messerschmitt had one implacable and powerful enemy: Erhard Milch, a bureaucrat who became head of the RLM and ultimately a Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall. Their bad blood extended back to the late 1920s, when Milch was managing director of the airline Luft Hansa. Messerschmitt designed and built for Luft Hansa a single-engine, 10-passenger airliner with a large but lightweight cantilever, single-spar wingthe M 20. Its payload as a percentage of gross weight was remarkable, and its huge 500-hp BMW V12 engine could be run at very low power settings in cruise, for economy.

Unfortunately, the first M 20 crashed as a result of some trailing-edge wing fabric tearing loose during a landing approach, which caused Luft Hansas chief test pilot, Hans Hackmack, to panic and jump out only 250 feet above the ground. His parachute never deployed, and he was killed. It was later determined that if hed simply continued the landing, all would have ended well. Hackmack was a close friend of Erhard Milchs, and Milch never forgave Messerschmitt for reacting coldly to the pilots death. As far as Willy was concerned, Hackmack had screwed up and destroyed his airplane. Milch thereafter thwarted Messerschmitt every chance he got, canceling contracts and projects, removing RLM subsidies and openly favoring other manufacturers. In Milchs defense, Messerschmitt seemed unlovable to others as well; he and Ernst Heinkel loathed each otherHeinkel considered him a glider-builder, not a legitimate warplane designerand Willy parted ways with pioneering designer Alexander Lippisch during development of the Me-163.

Willy wasnt perfect as a designer. He has often been accused of building flimsy airplanes that crashed, but only by people who confuse lightness with flimsiness. Some of his aircraft did crash, most notably that Luft Hansa M 20, which also suffered two weather-related fatal crashes in airline service (though Milch blamed Messerschmitts design for the second of them, claiming the specified gross weight resulted in an overload). But Messerschmitts record was no worse than those of other designers of the time.

Landing-gear design, however, was a challenge that Messerschmitt never quite conquered. In 1931 he invented single-strut landing geara simple tubular strut housing the entire shock-absorbing mechanism with few moving parts, a concept that soon became common. But a number of his airplanes suffered landing-gear collapses, and the problems created by the narrow, knock-kneed, difficult-to-align main gear on the 109 have been amply discussed. The original Me-262 prototypes had conventional tailwheel gear, requiring a delicate tap on the brakes during the takeoff run to get the tail off the ground. When Messerschmitt as a result added a tricycle-gear nosewheel, it often collapsed.

Messerschmitts worst blunder, however, was the Me-210. The 109 is easily the most famous German airplane ever to fly, but the 210 has been called the worst single airplane Germany ever developed. Willy was asked by the RLM to quickly turn the Me-110 into a dive bomber, since the Junkers Ju-87 Stuka was growing long in the tooth and the 110 wasnt having much success as a twin-engine fighter/bomber-destroyer. Messerschmitt, as was his wont, did as he wished and instead developed a totally new airplane that turned out to have dangerous stability problems. The Me-210 was laterally unpredictable, and since its propellers were unusually far ahead of the center of gravity, this could have been longitudinally destabilizing, particularly if power was suddenly added during a too-low landing approach.

Thanks to many accidents, including landing-gear collapses while taxiing, the Me-210 was adjudged useless as a combat aircraft and withdrawn from service; production was canceled. It was a hugely expensive mistake, and Messerschmitts reputation suffered a crushing blow. He was shifted to production oversight responsibilities, and design duties were largely removed from his purview.

After World War II, Willy Messerschmitt should have been a beaten man. His fall from grace, from prosperity, from a position of command and control was all but complete. His factories were in ruins, and nobody seemed to care about his accomplishments. He was briefly flown to London and interrogated after Germanys surrender, then summarily shipped back to Germany for internment. While his counterparts Alexander Lippisch and Hans von Ohain were swept up by Operation Paperclip and sent to the U.S., where they lived happily ever after, Messerschmitt ended up forgotten in a harsh, American-run camp called Heilbronn. He nearly died of exposure and starvation during the winter of 1945-46. One guard took it upon himself to shelter Messerschmitt inside a barracks building, and perhaps because of what that soldier learned from talking with him, the Americans finally found out who they had imprisoned.

Messerschmitt was moved to slightly more comfortable quarters, but only to await the 1948 Nuremberg Trials. Meanwhile, a nephew learned where he was being held and brought him a drafting table and supplies. With them, Willy designed a watch that had only three moving parts. He sold the drawings to a Swiss company for 5,000 Swiss francsenough that it became Messerschmitts postwar start-up stake.

But first, Willy was sentenced to two years in prison for knowingly using slave laborers, many of whom had come from Dachau, near his Augsburg factory. Was Messerschmitt a Nazi? Yes. He wore a swastika lapel pin constantly, and his party membership number was 342354. Some say that he was not anti-Semitic, and his membership was simply something he felt he needed to get the government contracts that Erhard Milch had been blocking.

Upon his release, forbidden from laboring in the nonexistent German aviation industry, Messerschmitt put his mind back to work. First he designed a large wind turbine that, though never built, had all the characteristics of todays renewable-energy machines: variable-pitch blades to maintain a constant rpm, automatic overspeed protection and aircraft-quality alloy construction. He also missed the boat in 1953, when he began but never finished work on a hydraulic turbojet engine for forced-water marine propulsion. Today such units propel jet boats and jet skis.

His first productive project was prefab housing to renew Germanys carpet-bombed residential areas. His units were built using the simplified alloy-frame construction techniques that Willy had designed into the 109 and other airplanes, and the individual units were stackable and expandable in multistory complexes.

By 1951, Messerschmitt had reassembled some of his war- time crew and rented factory quarters in Munich to build home sewing machinesmuch needed in postwar Germany. Production of these Messerschmitts continued until 1959, but quality control was poor, and they barely made a mark on the market.

Messerschmitts best-known postwar product was his bubble car, the KR 175 and 200canopied, tandem-seat three-wheelers that looked like rolling fighter cockpits. Today they are prized by enthusiasts, and one sold at this years Barrett-Jackson classic cars auction for $42,900. Willy was always the first to point out, however, that the KR was designed not by him but by aeronautical engineer Fritz Fend. What Willy brought to the party was his talent at rationalizing a final design for the most efficient production, just as he had with the Bf-109.

Neither the repentant Germans nor the Allies could forbid Messerschmitt from working in another countrys aviation industry, so Willy approached both Spain and South Africa to see if either fancied his designing and manufacturing airplanes for them. South Africa passed, but Spain was a natural, since Germany had always had friendly relations with dictator Francisco Francos government, beginning with the provision of aircraftincluding some of the very first Bf-109sfor Francos rebels during the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish company HASA (Hispano Aviacion S.A., which became CASA and eventually was absorbed by Airbus Industrie) was already license-manufacturing a version of the 109 with a Rolls-Royce Merlin enginethe unfortunately bloodhound-nosed HA-1112 Buchonand in 1951 it had called on Willy as a Buchon adviser. In 1952 Messerschmitt put together a small team of German engineers, including some who had worked for him during the war, and he designed a trainer for the Spanish air force.

The HA-100 looked much like the T-28 Trojannot because Willy had copied the North American design but because both were built to the same criteria: an advanced, piston-engine, tricycle gear, tandem-cockpit military trainer. Both the original T-28A and the HA-100 Triana, as it was called, used an 800-hp Wright R-1300 radial, and the Triana was slightly lighter and faster. The Spanish were happy and wanted Willy to build 40 for them, but Spain couldnt afford the Wright engines. The two prototypes were scrapped, though their wings were used in Messerschmitts next project: the HA-200 Saeta jet trainer, a few of which are still being flown by American and European enthusiasts looking for a cheap way to get into jet warbirding.

Always in search of efficiency and economy, Willy recycled as much of the HA-100 design as he could. But removing the big radial from the nose and mounting the two French Turbomeca Marbore jets conventionallyin the wing roots or somewhere behind the cockpitwould create a weight shift requiring a substantial redesign. So he stuck the small turbojets right where the Wright had been, in the nose, just behind a catfish-mouth air inlet.

When HASA tried to sell the HA-100 and -200 to other air forces, its sales brochures emphasized Messerschmitts role, boasting that he had been involved in every facet of the designsboth aircraft have been personally designed and worked through by Willy Messerschmitt down to the last detail. Egypt bought 10 HA-200s and built another 90 under license. It would be the last real Messerschmitt, the final production airplane to fully embody Willys emphasis on light weight, modular construction, the combination of several functions into single components and attention to reducing assembly labor.

But Messerschmitt had one last jewel in his vault: the HA-300, a sweptwing fighter that at least on paper was as sleek and potent-looking as anything from Dassault or Lockheed in the early 1960s. Willys superjet was intended to use an afterburning Bristol (later Rolls-Royce) Olympus engine, a version of which would power the Concorde. The British demanded that Spain co-fund development of the reheat version, which the Spanish couldnt afford any more than they could afford elderly Wright radials.

Egypt, however, ended up owning the HA-300 design when it bought the licensing rights to the HA-200, and the Egyptians were getting tired of Soviet demands as a condition of supporting Egypts MiG fleet. They wanted their own jet, so they built two HA-300 prototypes, one of which first flew (with a non-afterburning Olympus) in 1964. Messerschmitt enticed his friend Ferdinand Brandner to come to Egypt, for Brandner had helped develop the Junkers Jumo 222 jet engine and, after being forcibly adopted by the Soviets, designed the most powerful turboprop in the world at the timethe 12,000-hp Kuznetsov NK-12. Brandner was developing an afterburning engine for Messerschmitts HA-300 when the 1967 Six-Day Wara disaster for the Egyptiansand renewed Soviet ties scotched the project. Had they not, Messerschmitt and Brandner might well have created the lightest supersonic fighter in the world.

Willy Messerschmitt died in September 1978 at the age of 80the only aircraft designer ever to give his name to such a vast and remarkable array of aircraft spanning nearly half a century.

For further reading, frequent contributor Stephan Wilkinson recommends: Willy Messerschmitt: Pioneer of Aviation Design, by Hans J. Ebert, Johann B. Kaiser and Klaus Peters; Sharks of the Air: Willy Messerschmitt and How He Built the Worlds First Operational Jet Fighter, by James Neal Harvey; and Augsburg Eagle: The Story of the Messerschmitt 109, by William Green.

Originally published in the March 2014 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.
Details added (first version posted on 15:01)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

Russia intends to continue its mediatory mission regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, together with other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the basis of coordinated approaches, said Russian Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a briefing Mar. 10.

Russia considers it necessary to resolve the conflict on the basis of the approaches set forth in the statements of the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, Zakharova said.

In particular, these statements call on the sides of the conflict to resolve disputable issues without the use of force and on the basis of the territorial integrity of states and the right of peoples to self-determination, she added.

The agreements reached through Russias mediation are important points of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement, Zakharova said.

She recalled that during the April escalation on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Moscow played a decisive role in bringing the sides of the conflict back to the ceasefire regime.

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.
News, events, history, and other mid-week tidbits.

Tuesday, October 25, 4:30  7 p.m.

Orr Area EMS Open House

Brats and burgers will be served. Event includes a new ambulance tour and blood pressure screenings. For more info: 218-780-3798.

Orr Fire Hall

4540 Lake St., Orr

Tuesday, October 25, 12  6 p.m.

Essentia Health Job Fair

Talent recruiters and department managers will be on-site at Essentia Health-Virginia. Candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to attendnurses, nursing and clinical assistants, surgery technicians, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, human resource professionals, and those interested in environmental services or nutrition services. Essentia staff will greet candidates, conduct an initial screening and filter them to appropriate hiring managers for interviews. Select candidates will be verbally offered a position before leaving. Candidates are asked to bring a resume, but its not required. Attire is business casual. For more info: www.essentiacareers.org.

901 9th St. N., Virginia
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

Trend:

The ways of settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are obvious to everyone, said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

Mammadyarov made the remarks at a meeting with a delegation led by Andre Reichardt, head of the Azerbaijan-France Friendship Group in the French Senate, March 10.

For a progress to happen in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement, Armenia should show a political will, said Mammadyarov.

He also briefed the delegation members about the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, and Bakus position, based on the conflicts settlement in accordance with the norms and principles of international law.

For resolving the conflict, Armenia must first withdraw its armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, the minister said, adding refugees and IDPs must return to their native lands.

Reichardt for his part said the purpose of his visit to Azerbaijan is to get detailed information about the Azerbaijan-France relations, as well as the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Reichardt added that the parliamentary diplomacy can positively influence the conflict settlement.

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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In the final segment of our revelatory, controversial new interview series with Ralo, he gets real about whats most important to him, both as an artist and as a man: the religion of Islam. He sees himself as one of the first contemporary rappers to so openly advertise his Muslim faith. Im a walking commercial for Islam, he said. Im the best walking commercial. This shit almost like the Super Bowl.

Ralo begins by explaining how his time spent in prison led to him becoming a devout Muslim. After sittin down for a long period of time, you just wanna get yourself together, so thats the reason a lot of people in prison get closer to God, said the recent 1017 Records signee.





An especially powerful scene from Ralos recent My Diary video was when he knelt down on his prayer rug in an empty cell and led his fellow inmates in a group worship ritual. He rented out an entire Georgia prison for the video, part of a three-part series that was inspired by his Diary of the Streets 2 mixtape.

Also in the new interview clip, he spoke about the Islamophobia Trumps rhetoric has inspired as well as the presidents proposed Muslim ban. Its just ridiculous, said Ralo. He has to be ignorant  He dont know, he cant know. Cause if he knew, then he would promote Islam like Im promotin it.

Ralo wasnt aware of any Muslim rappers when he first launched his music career. It was almost to the point where they was tryna hide it, he said, like they was almost scared to tell people cause theyd probably lose their fanbase or whatnot. But nah, I have made it into a trending thing, so everybody wanna do it.

As Ralo pointed out, the interview took place on Feb. 21, the date on which Malcolm X was assassinated (in 1965). Thats someone I always looked up to and thats somebody I follow, he said, going on to express how hes grateful that he, as a rapper, can now advance the causes of the black activists hes always admired.

Watch all three of our previous interview segments with Ralo below. His latest tape, last months Famerican Gangster 2, is available below, and hes got a joint project with Gucci Mane, entitled Ralo La Flare, on the way.

Ralo  Famerican Gangster 2

Ralo Explains Why He Doesnt Fuck With Jeezy Anymore





Ralo Apologizes To Lil Yachty, Shades Jeezy For Not Giving Back Like Gucci & Birdman





Ralo Expains Why He Signed To Gucci Manes Label




Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

Trend:

It is necessary to organize comprehensive negotiations in the near future for settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

He made the remarks in Moscow at a Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council meeting, Anadolu Agency reported Mar. 10.

Erdogan said what is happening on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops shows how critical the situation is.

He expressed confidence that Russia, as one of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, can play an important role in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

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.
They have emerged over the past year as one of the brightest new outfits in Ireland o so it is gratifying to see them take the Song of the Year accolade

Picturre This, the bright young outfit from Athy in Co. Kildare, have lifted the Choice Song of the Year prize for Take My Hand.

The song is their signature tune  so far. It was released originally in 2015 and became the bands biggest hit to date, peaking at No.21 in the Irish charts. However, in many ways, that i deceptive. The video for the track has gone on to amass well over 2 million views on YouTube alone. And their Picture This EP, released in 2016, went straight to No.1 in Ireland. Meanwhile, the band have turned into a national phenomenon, filling venues and generally creating the kind of excitement reserved for those outfits that are likely to go all the way. They appeared on the front cover of Hot Press for the first time in the summer of 2016.

Reports from the US suggest that the band  comprising Ryan Hennessy and Jimmy Rainsford  have begun to capture hearts and minds there too, so it is all good. Their momentum will certainly be helped by this accolade and the increased exposure and recognition that will follow.

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They are the real thing, Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. They are real musicians, who have a very special way with a pop song. They know the value of a good melody, of harmonies and of the kind of tunefulness that makes for irresistible pop. Take My Hand was a fantastic first single, so it really deserves the Song of the Year accolade. But this is only the start for Picture This. Long may their rise continue."
The Limerick hip hop crew are celebrating tonight, as Let The Dead Bury The Dead earns them the top prize of 10,000

Ireland has a new set of heroes for the modern era. Hot Press favourites The Rusangano Family have beaten off the competition to snatch the Choice Music Prize for 2016, with their superb album Let The Dead Bury The Dead.

Beating off challenges from Lisa Hannigan, All Tvvins, Overhead, The Albatross, Katie Kim, James Vincent McMorrow, Bantum, We Cut Corners, Wallis Bird and The Divine Comedy, Rusangano's debut album Let The Dead Bury The Dead was the well deserved winner of the Choice Music Prize tonight at Vicar Street.

The third-from-last act to perform on the night, Rusangano took the crowd by storm with their performance, leaving no one in any doubt that they were seriously in contention.

There were wild and emotional scenes in Vicar Street when the result was announced. It was a major coup for the band, given the strength of the other contenders  notably the widely supported Lisa Hannigans At Swim, James Vincent McMorrows We Move and We Cut Corners' The Cadences of Others.

Let The Dead Bury The Dead has been critically acclaimed not just for its socially and politically engaged songs about modern Ireland, emigration and social problems but also for its musical ingenuity and power. However, there is little doubt that the decision of the judges also reflected a strong desire to embrace diversity, in a world where far too many countries have been regressing into a narrow-minded, mono-cultural  and generally white  nationalism.

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The band themselves  comprising God Knows, MuRli and MynameisjOhn  were on an emotional high when the verdict was announced and they made no secret of it, talking ten to the dozen. "We are so shocked! We don't have any words and I'm an MC! We are so shocked! The one thing we have on our side is that we don't have a record label, we did everything on our own."

They also reflected the tough reality of what it is like trying to be a musician in Ireland.

"We wrote that album through pain and struggle and we all work  we all go to work in the morning and we will be celebrating this win with the kids we teach in Limerick and Clare. Big up Limerick and Clare!"

So great was their enthusiasm and so profound the generosity in their message that it was hard to keep from bursting into tears.

"We want to thank the Irish people. You guys made us! I wanna thank my mum, my lady  you gotta do that!  family first. Thank you!"

"I have to thank my mother  a legend! My girlfriend  a legend! My sister  a legend!"

By then, the floodgates really had opened!

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I am thrilled for The Rusangano Family, Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. This is a real coming of age for Irish hip hop. There is so much great music being made by the new Irish and hardcore local hip-hoppers alike. But, as we have long believed in Hot Press, these guys are really special.

"I hope that their success tonight triggers an international breakthrough for them. Great young Irish artists like The Rusangano Family make music against the odds. They do it because they are passionate about wanting to express themselves  and also about making a positive impact on the world and on their community.

We need to properly waken up, as a society, to just how important this is. The new breed that are coming through should be nurtured and supported. But that isnt happening right now, with the extent to which the arts in Ireland are underfunded. That has to change.

The recognition accorded to The Rusangano Family tonight should be the start of a complete reappraisal of priorities. They are a great band, with the potential to conquer the world. But they  and others like them, of every musical stripe  need far more support and encouragement than the current structures provide."
Kong is back. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Kong: Skull Island reimagines the classic creature King Kong, who was first unleashed over eight decades ago and has been thundering through our collective consciousness ever since. First portrayed in Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsacks groundbreaking 1933 classic King Kong, the original effects-driven blockbuster has been remade, parodied and spun-off on every sized screen. Kong is a monster that terrifies through his size, but whose humanlike features and emotion also provoke empathy. Hes a terrifying predator  but one you root for.

Tom Hiddleston, who stars alongside Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman and John C. Reilly, believes that its King Kongs complexity that makes him a cultural icon we keep returning to.

Kong embodies the internal clash between our civilised selves, muses the actor. Its the place in our consciousness that still has a very real sense of something bigger than ourselves. How do you reconcile this massive creature, who is both a terrifying force of nature and a sentient being, with an intelligence that is different from ours but no less sophisticated?
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The expanding role of liquefied natural gas in the world's economy - led in part by Houston companies - is running against recent trends that have made "globalization" a dirty word, reaching across borders even as nationalist movements have sought to harden them.

As cleaner burning natural gas becomes a fuel of choice in a world increasingly concerned about climate change, LNG cargos will increasingly traverse the oceans, unloading in markets from Asia to Europe to Latin America, analysts said. Most the of world's LNG will be exported from three main hubs, Qatar, Australia and the United States, particularly the Gulf Coast, analysts said.

"LNG has moved from being a continental or regional business to being a, dare I say, globalized business," Michael Stoppard, IHS Markit chief global gas strategist, said during CERAWeek, the international energy conference hosted by his firm. "It is gas and not oil that will lie at the heart of your global volume growth."

Although a glut of LNG is expected to flood markets over the next few years, global gas demand is projected to grow 50 percent by 2040, to 5.4 trillion cubic meters from 3.6 trillion cubic meters today. The world's largest energy companies, meanwhile, are expanding their gas holdings; Exxon Mobil said Thursday that it would pay $2.8 billion to buy into the natural gas-rich acreage offshore of Mozambique from the Italian energy company Eni.

More Information Liquid market Projected global demand for gas, including LNG: 2015: 3.6 trillion cubic meters 2040: 5.4 trillion cubic meters Increase: 50 percent Source: IHS Markit. See More Collapse

"We keep looking for oil and finding gas," said Stoppard.

'The era has begun'

The large supplies of gas found in shale deposits have driven a dramatic transformation in the United States. A decade ago, energy companies were building terminals to import LNG and convert it back to its gaseous state for domestic consumption; today they are building facilities to liquefy natural gas and ship it around the world.

Just about a year ago, Cheniere Energy of Houston became the first U.S. company to export LNG, shipping it from its Sabine Pass Terminal near the Texas border. Last week, Cheniere reported the first quarterly profit in its 20-year history as it generated revenues from LNG exports to China, India, Jordan, Egypt and Pakistan.

Other markets, such as Bangladesh and Bahrain are emerging, said Cheniere Chief Commercial Officer Anatol Feygin.

"The era of U.S. LNG has begun," Feygin said. "Cheniere is not finished yet. The U.S. market is not finished yet."

More LNG liquefaction units, called trains, are coming online at the Sabine Pass. The third of six tentatively planned Sabine trains is expected to come online in the coming weeks, while a fourth is slated for the fall.

Cheniere is also developing another project in Corpus Christi, a terminal that is expected to start operations in 2019.

Likewise, Houston's Freeport LNG Development project is scheduled to commence operations south of Houston in late 2018. Sempra Energy's Cameron LNG project in southwestern Louisiana also will come online next year. Several other projects are in development.

Securing financing

Cheniere founder Charif Souki, after his ouster from the company at the end of 2015, launched a new LNG company, Houston-based Tellurian, to compete as well. Tellurian, which has built a team of 65 people, went public in February.

Tellurian is developing the $12 billion Driftwood LNG project south of Lake Charles, La. as part of the next wave of export projects.

The goal is to bring it online in 2022, with the expectation that global demand growth by then will have wiped away the projected oversupply of LNG.

The challenge for U.S. LNG developers is finding buyers, as Cheniere did, to sign long-term deals to help secure financing. Buyers today, however, are increasingly looking for short-term deals and greater flexibility in a market that changes seasonally, with premium prices moving with weather patterns from Asia to southern Europe to the Middle East,

"We're very confident we're going to find buyers for our gas," said Souki. "I absolutely have no doubt the global gas market is going to continue to grow."

Souki added that he expects U.S. drillers to provide ample supplies of cheap natural gas for at least two more decades.

"We think we can offer the low-cost gas on the global basis," he said. "The business model will find itself simply because the world needs this gas."
U.S. oil prices tumbled below $50 a barrel on Thursday, falling to the lowest point in four months after a U.S. energy report raised new doubts about OPEC's efforts to curb the world's oil glut.

Saudi Arabia and nearly two dozen other countries have scaled back crude production since the beginning of the year, a bid to shore up prices and boost economies from Riyadh to Moscow and Houston. But U.S. oil storage tanks have swelled with nearly 50 million new barrels of crude so far this year, a sign, analysts said, that OPEC's output cuts aren't working as quickly as investors hoped.

If prices continue to slide, it could slow the oil industry's modest job growth in Houston.

"If we see $45 oil for several months rather than $55, that will slow hiring, there's no doubt about that," said Karr Ingham, a Texas oil industry economist. "It takes the wind out of our sails a bit. It wasn't that long ago that companies were still shedding jobs."

U.S. oil prices dropped $1, or about 2 percent, on Thursday to $49.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since OPEC announced its plan to cut production in late November. The price has fallen nearly $4, or about 8 percent, this week, dropping sharply Wednesday after an Energy Department report showed U.S. oil stockpiles grew by 8.2 million barrels in the last week, hitting a 35-year record. That frustrated traders who had believed OPEC's cuts would quickly reduce the global oversupply of crude.

"Investors don't have endless patience," said Jim Burkhard, head of oil market research at consultancy IHS Markit. "The ones with weak conviction are getting out now."

If the Energy Department's oil inventory report next week again shows another large increase in inventories, oil prices could drop into the mid-$40-a-barrel range, Burkhard said. Still, he said, IHS Markit believes oil demand will grow 1.5 million barrels a day in 2017, which may help raise oil prices later this year.

Bad memories

For Houston oil companies, the prospect of sub-$50 a barrel oil isn't a pleasant one. It brings memories of deep job cuts that cost Texas more than 100,000 oil industry workers.

In 2015 and 2016, as prices slid to a 13-year low of about $26 a barrel, more than 200 North American drillers and oil service companies filed for bankruptcy. Work dried up for hundreds of firms that provide skilled rig hands and tools to oil companies in the region. Drilling rigs were idled behind chain-linked fences.

But OPEC's international pact to slash oil production by 1.8 million barrels a day gave Houston's key industry hope, pushing prices above $50 a barrel and stabilizing there for the past three months.

One problem for oil markets is that, in recent months, refineries have temporarily slowed the production of gasoline and other fuels for seasonal maintenance work. That reduces the amount refineries draw from oil storage tanks each week. But the bottleneck could also lead to a gasoline glut when refineries come back online, further dampening an oil price recovery,

"Clearly, there are some ominous clouds on the horizon," said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.

This week's oil price drop could signal the end of yet another premature rally that came because of the perception the oil market had begun rebalancing supply and demand, only to be thwarted by hard data, said Robert McNally, president of the Rapidan Group, an energy consultancy.

The oil market witnessed similar episodes in early 2015, when crude prices rose on the assumption that U.S. shale oil production declines would swiftly bring global supply and demand back into balance. It took several months for output in the nation's shale fields to begin dropping.

"These rallies are very powerful," McNally said. "But prices rise on perception, and then sell off on data, because eventually the inventory data contradict the assumptions."

Peak demand?

One of the central questions to emerge from the energy conference CERAWeek by IHS Markit this week has been whether oil demand will peak in coming years in the face of climate change policies discouraging fossil fuels and millions of new electric vehicles.

Several key speakers, including Saudi Arabia's energy minister and the leaders of OPEC and the International Energy Agency, struck out against the idea, saying oil demand growth may slow, but the global markets will probably keep increasing oil purchases amid population and economic growth in places like China and India.

Touting natural gas

One energy executive, however, gave oil demand growth an expiration date: the late 2020s. The energy world is changing, and markets are relying more heavily on natural gas and renewable energy sources, said Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, at CERAWeek in downtown Houston.

Van Beurden said the world must dramatically reduce its carbon dioxide emissions to meet Paris climate accord goals. But he emphasized that doesn't mean eliminating the use of fossil fuels.

"The largest contribution Shell can make to reducing emissions globally in the near term is to continue to grow the role of natural gas," van Beurden said, noting that gas burns cleaner than crude and coal.

About half of Shell's portfolio is now natural gas.

Jordan Blum contributed to this report.
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Scott Pruitt, the new head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Thursday that he questioned man-made carbon emissions contributed significantly to climate change and later signalled at an international energy conference in Houston that he would undo Obama administration policies aimed at slowing global warming.

Pruitt, a climate change skeptic who downplayed those views during his recent confirmation hearings, said in an interview with CNBC that there was still "tremendous disagreement" about impact of human activities - a reference to burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal - in accelerating climate change.

"So no, I would not agree that it's the primary contributor to the global warming that we see," he said. "We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis."

Pruitt made those comments before appearing at CERAWeek by IHS Markit in downtown Houston, where leaders of the some of world's largest oil and gas companies have acknowledged that climate change is a threat to the global environment and the industry must take steps to lower emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to slow its pace. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that the use of fossil fuels is raising temperatures around the world, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

"The world needs more energy," Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday morning. "But we also need to produce all that energy while emitting much less carbon dioxide."

'Stranded cost' burden

Pruitt, who followed van Beurden by a few hours, criticized policies under former President Barack Obama that aimed to push the power sector away from fossil fuels through tighter regulations on emissions and incentives encouraging renewable generating technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels.

Pruitt said power companies should be able to decide how to supply electricity to the grid without government regulators picking "winners and losers."

"When regulators act in such a way to displace investments that you made within two to three years after you did it, you get a lot of stranded cost," Pruitt said. "Stranded costs are being borne by consumers in a way I don't think is healthy for having a pro-growth, pro-environment agenda."

Pruitt gave brief remarks, and was later interviewed by Dan Yergin, the vice chairman of IHS Markit. Unlike many of the oil executives who took the stage during the week, Pruitt was not asked about his views on climate change.

President Donald Trump has expressed his own reservations about climate science, and pledged during the campaign to relax regulations on coal, which emits the highest amounts of greenhouse gases among fossil fuels.

He is also considering whether to pull the United States from the Paris agreement on climate change, a landmark 2015 deal in which the leaders of close to 200 nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the decades to come.

A 2013 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body that draws on the work of thousands of scientists from around the globe, said there was at least a 95 percent chance that "human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century."

Pruitt's past on emissions

Pruitt was confirmed as the EPA administrator on a party line vote in the Senate last month. In his last job as attorney general of oil-rich Oklahoma, Pruitt repeatedly challenged in court efforts by Obama to rein in carbon emissions, including the Clean Power Plan, which sought to reduce emissions from power plants.

After his nomination as EPA administrator, Pruitt took a softer line.

In his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Pruitt said, "The climate is changing, and (human activity) contributes to that in some manner."

When pressed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, the former Democratic presidential candidate from Vermont, whether he believed that humans were the primary cause, Pruitt responded, "My personal opinion is immaterial to the job."

Pruitt's comments Thursday drew a sharp rebuttal from his predecessor, Gina McCarthy.

"Science is about empirical evidence, not beliefs," she said in a statement.

"When it comes to climate change, the evidence is robust and overwhelmingly clear that the cost of inaction is unacceptably high. I cannot imagine what additional information the Administrator might want from scientists for him to understand that."

EPA's new 'future'

In his speech Thursday, Pruitt promised to recreate the EPA, focusing the agency on areas like cleaning up Superfund sites and maintaining clean drinking water supplies. And he said the agency needs to listen when state officials and industries object to its rules and regulations.

"Right now the focal point I think as we get into the agency, one is dealing with these regulations I think are an example of regulatory overreach," Pruitt said, citing Obama's Clean Power Plan as an example. "The future ain't what it used to be at the EPA."
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The future of oil and natural gas relies on one thing only: low prices.

Executives and government energy ministers spent most of CERAWeek bragging about how they've driven down production costs to meet the current low-price environment. At this annual conference, they touted huge oil and gas reserves capable of economically meeting the world's energy needs for generations.

That's a stark contrast to CERAWeek 2014, when Chevron CEO John Watson declared that $100 a barrel was too low a price for oil and that consumers needed to pay more to keep the industry producing. Suddenly, prices have fallen to less than $50 a barrel, and other CEOs say anything above $50 is good, and $60 would be a dream come true.

While this is good news for consumers, it's bad news for oil industry workers and for Houston, which remains far too reliant on oil and gas jobs. Low prices mean low margins, low profits and fewer jobs as companies pinch pennies.

"Our mission is to deliver to people affordable energy, cheap energy, and to do that it must be low cost," Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of the French oil giant Total, told CERAWeek 2017. "And that means you are working on low-cost assets, and you are looking at low break-evens."

Blame Adam Smith's invisible hand: Fossil fuel supplies are high, demand is climbing slowly, and renewable sources are becoming more competitive.

The world's crude oil and natural gas storage facilities are breaking records, and proven reserves are enormous. U.S. inventories hit their highest level since 1982 on Wednesday, sending crude prices down more than 5 percent.

Natural gas prices, meanwhile, remain historically low at less than $3 for a million British thermal units, compared with $11 in 2008. Two unseasonably warm winters have led to huge inventories, and for the first time ever in February, U.S. suppliers injected gas into storage rather than extracting it.

Three-dimensional seismic imaging, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have made it easier to identify and extract fossil fuels than ever before. Digital tools and high-speed computers have boosted well efficiencies. Companies are competing on cost of production.

Almost every speaker at CERAWeek, a fossil fuel cheerleader camp as much as an industry conference, spent their presentations trying to convince investors that demand will grow to consume this glut. They point to the 2 billion people who will move into the middle class between now and 2035, and the expected population growth of another 2 billion people.

Demand, though, has failed to grow as quickly as expected since the Great Recession in 2008. China's demand growth has plummeted, and U.S. and European consumption remains fairly flat. Only Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are showing steep increases in demand, but they are the most price-sensitive consumers.

Cheap and plentiful energy is critical to encouraging demand in poor countries. An oft-repeated talking point is that fossil fuels are the only way to meet the energy needs of developing countries, which is why CEOs called for cuts to environmental regulations.

Charif Souki, the ousted Cheniere CEO and liquefied natural gas promoter, went so far as claiming that rules limiting oil and gas production are racist, denying energy to vulnerable people in Africa and Asia.

Watson, the Chevron CEO, repeated an argument made by Chinese and Indian politicians: Let the poor get rich before worrying about the environment.

"Wealthy nations have the best environment standards," Watkins said. "Let's focus on producing wealth and teaching people how to create wealth. And once people have some measure of wealth, and their basic needs taken care of, they'll start focusing very hard on environmental performance."

He said this is happening in China, failing to note that Chinese pollution is the worst in the world and is now reaching the U.S. West Coast. It's a startling argument to suggest that every poor country should become as rich and polluted as China before worrying about the global environment. When Watson wonders why so many people hate his industry, he need only play back the video from his presentation.

Ben van Beurden, Royal Dutch Shell's CEO, recognizes that the social contract for energy companies is changing, as consumers worry about climate change and adopt low-carbon options as fast as they can. He said demand for oil could peak in the 2020s.

"Societal acceptance of the energy system as we have it is just disappearing," he said, explaining why his corporation is leading its peers in adopting new energy technologies.

U.S. and European executives recognize that 80 percent of the new electricity generation projects commissioned in 2016 are renewable energy projects. They know Tesla's new lithium battery factory will bring down electric vehicle costs, and Elon Musk has plans for three more.

The only way for oil and natural gas companies to compete in the future is to lower costs through standardized drilling, new digital tools and reduced labor costs.

Anyone waiting for a return of the good old days of big spending by oil and gas companies will be disappointed. And that means less wealth and fewer jobs in Houston if the city doesn't diversify its economy more.
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A Harris County grand jury did not indict Friday a suspect for capital murder in the death of David Trejo-Gonzalez.

Chad Holley was accused of shooting and killing Trejo-Gonzalez, 42, on Sept. 21 in the parking lot of a north Houston apartment complex.

"We presented the case to the grand jury and the grand jury declined to indict," said Jim Leitner, bureau chief of the Grand Jury Division for the Harris County District Attorney's Office. "If other substantive evidence emerges, the law allows for a grand jury to again consider this matter."

Holley was accused of capital murder after an eyewitnesses identified him as one of the two suspects the witness had seen fleeing the scene.

But community activist Quanell X called into question the reliability of that witness, who claimed to be a drug customer of Holley's.

"The Chad Holley I know, I would be hard pressed to believe he's a killer," Quanell X said.

Holley's name became a rallying cry in 2010, when a video surfaced that showed police officer beating and kicking the then-15-year-old high school sophomore. The video led to the discipline of a dozen officers and the indictment of four on misdemeanor charges.

Houston Police Department homicide investigators initially said the shooting appeared to be a robbery gone bad.

A man demanded money from Trejo-Gonzalez, as he walked in the parking lot of his apartment in the 100 block of East Crosstimbers, according to court records. Trejo-Gonzalez was shot once in the chest over the course of the robbery, prosecutors said.
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed that if he was elected president, he would resurrect Operation Wetback of 1954.

Operation Wetback, the story goes, was the single largest deportation campaign in U.S. history, resulting in more than one million deportations to Mexico and a dramatic reduction in the number of unlawful entries at the U.S.-Mexico border.

As president, Trump has begun to make good on his pledge by issuing two executive orders that promise to ramp up deportations and expand fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

But mass deportation never happened during Operation Wetback of 1954. And border enforcement did not follow. As I detail in my book, Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol, Operation Wetback was, in fact, a mass legalization campaign chased by an easing of immigration law enforcement in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

Operation Wetback is often cited as a moment when mass deportation and border enforcement reduced the size of the undocumented population living in the United States and ended unlawful entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. They did not. It is time to put this false history to bed.

Texas uprising

In 1942, the U.S. and Mexican governments negotiated a labor agreement, known as the Bracero Program, which allowed millions of Mexican immigrants to temporarily work in the United States.

U.S. and Mexican authorities created the Bracero Program as a way to control Mexican migration. In the U.S., anti-Mexican sentiment generally opposed mass Mexican immigration. In Mexico, political leaders wanted Mexican workers to go to the United States, learn modern farming techniques and bring that knowledge home.

But many agricultural employers rebelled against the program. They preferred the unregulated labor practices they had used for decades to squeeze profits from Mexican workers marginalized by their undocumented status. The Bracero Program, among other things, guaranteed Mexican contract workers a minimum wage and sanitary housing. In South Texas, in particular, farmers and ranchers not only refused to use the Bracero Program but took up arms against the U.S. Border Patrol when they came to apprehend their workers.

Operation Wetback of 1954 was a campaign to crush the South Texas uprising and force their compliance with the Bracero Program. However, Mexican workers paid the greatest price.

Operation Wetback

Operation Wetbacks first iteration began in 1953 when Harlon B. Carter, the head of the U.S. Border Patrol in the southwestern United States, concocted a plan to use the U.S. military to round up and deport undocumented Mexicans. The plan, called Operation Cloudburst, made it all the way to President Eisenhowers desk. Eisenhower considered it but nixed the idea since the Posse Comitatus Act largely prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. Instead, President Eisenhower appointed Joseph Swing, a former military general, to head the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Carter was a convicted murderer. In 1931, at the age of 17, he killed Ramon Casiano, a Mexican-American teen, in Laredo, Texas. Carter had been upset that Casiano and his friends had been hanging out in front of the Carter home. So Carter hunted them down, aimed a shotgun at Casianos chest and pulled the trigger. A jury convicted Carter of the killing, but the conviction was later overturned on a procedural technicality. Several years later, Carter joined the U.S. Border Patrol.

In May of 1954, the U.S. attorney general, Swing and Carter issued a press statement announcing Operation Wetback. Soon, they promised, an unprecedented, paramilitary surge of Border Patrol officers would sweep across the southwestern United States to find, detain and deport unauthorized Mexican immigrants. As Carter explained to the Los Angeles Times, an army of Border Patrol officers complete with jeeps, trucks, and seven aircraft would soon unleash an all-out war to hurl Mexican wetbacks back into Mexico.

Panic whipped through Mexican immigrant communities in southwestern states. Deportations and forced removals had been on the rise for a decade, spiking from 10,613 expulsions in 1942 to 905,236 in 1953. Carter and Swing promised more. So many more that the Border Patrol was already converting public parks into concentration camps for detaining at least 1,000 people at a time.

The officials rhetoric forecast a callous, dehumanizing and warlike campaign, priming immigrants, employers and the American public in general for a spectacular show of force.

Michael Rougier/The LIFE Picture Collection/Gett

The show began at dawn on June 10, 1954 when Border Patrol officers set up checkpoints across southern California and western Arizona. During the next seven days, officers nabbed almost 11,000 unsanctioned Mexican immigrants. By June 30, 1954, 22,000 more were apprehended. In the following three months, Border Patrol task forces swept through California, Arizona, Texas, Chicago, Illinois and the Mississippi Delta, unleashing fast raids on farms, restaurants and Mexican majority communities.

Everywhere the Border Patrol went, reporters followed, snapping photos and broadcasting stories of Mexicans being rounded up, detained and deported back to Mexico. In many cases, the deportees were crammed onto buses, trains, planes or boats to be forcibly relocated into the interior of Mexico and abandoned far from both home and the border. A congressional inquiry into conditions on one of the deportee boats would later describe it as an 18th-century slave ship and a penal hellship.

By October 1954, large numbers of Mexicans had been publicly rounded up, detained and deported. INS Commissioner Joseph Swing declared that the historic campaign had hurled more than one million Mexicans deep into Mexico.

It is true that U.S. Border Patrol reported apprehending more than one million people for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1954. But the patrol apprehended only 33,307 people between the start of Operation Wetback on June 10, 1954, and the close of the fiscal year on June 30, 1954. And they apprehended only 254,096 people between July 1, 1954 and June 30, 1955. In other words, the Border Patrol apprehended, at most, fewer than 300,000 people during the 1954 campaign.

The unreported story

Theres a story that General Swing did not invite journalists to cover. Without reporters in tow, Carter dispatched teams of Border Patrol officers to hold meetings with employers across the Southwest during the summer of 1954.

In particular, they met with South Texas employers, promising them constant raids if they refused to use the Bracero Program. And to appease the employers complaints about the programs requirements, the officers offered two stripped-down versions of the Bracero Program. They were known as the the I-100 and Specials programs, which met some of the employers demands for fewer provisions for Bracero workers, and more control over the hiring and firing process.

If employers still declined to use the program, Border Patrol officials threatened to permanently station a two-man team on the growers farm until the grower signed a pledge to use braceros instead of unauthorized workers. It worked. The number of Mexican workers signed up with the Specials and I-100 programs in Texas surged from 168 in July of 1953 to 41,766 in July of 1954, around the same time Operation Wetback was underway. Across the country, the number of Mexicans participating in the Bracero Program also rose.

As more employers used the Bracero Program, which became increasingly broken and corrupt, the number of deportations fell. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1954, the U.S. Border Patrol reported 1,035,282 apprehensions. In 1955, that number plunged to 254,096, and in 1956, it plummeted to 58,792. The number of Mexican nationals apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol remained under 100,000 until 1967.

But the declining number of deportations was about more than the use of the Bracero Program, which, until terminated in 1964, provided a form of legalization for many Mexican men working in the southwestern United States.

The U.S. Border Patrol also radically changed its police practices. Between 1944 and 1954, the Border Patrol routinely used 12-man task forces bolstered by planes and buses to ramp up apprehensions in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

After Operation Wetback of 1954, the Border Patrol retired the task forces and deescalated its activities in border states, resulting in far fewer apprehensions and deportations. In particular, the Border Patrol assigned officers to two-man patrols, and most were on foot or horseback. As one Border Patrol officer put it, the two-man patrols struggled to just grab one or two and hang on to em.

In other words, after General Swing declared conquest at the border, he kept apprehensions low at the U.S.-Mexico border by changing patrol tactics.

To date, President Trump is pulling from the 1954 playbook.

The executive orders and Department of Homeland Security memos announced sweeping plans to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants. And although swiftly retracted, a leaked memo regarding the possibility of the National Guard assisting in mass deportation churned fears that the federal government is preparing a warlike campaign on undocumented immigrants, namely Mexicans and Central Americans.

But there is no precedent for President Trumps immigration plan. If Congress fully funds President Trumps executive orders, including 10,000 new ICE agents, 5,000 new Border Patrol officers and an expansion of the border wall, they will hurl us into uncharted territory, unleashing an era of mass deportation and border enforcement to which not even Operation Wetback of 1954 will compare.

***

Kelly Lytle Hernandez is an Associate Professor of History and African-American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. This article was originally published on The Conversation.
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March is National Women's history Month. But here's the thing about women and history: The former is largely absent from the latter.

That's not to say that women didn't participate in societal progress. Not at all. It's just that, given women's position as second-class citizens for the majority of American (and Texan) history, women usually didn't make the cut when (male) authors and historians decided which and whose stories to write.

But you knew that already. Just like you knew that the city of Houston - this wide, vibrant, mess of a metropolis - was founded by the Allen brothers, a pair of real-estate speculators: Augustus C. Allen and his younger brother, John Kirby Allen.

Except that it wasn't just them.

It's likely this swath of swamp would never have grown to a major city if it hadn't been for Augustus's wife, Charlotte.

"Charlotte Allen is the one who actually played probably a more significant role than either of the two Allen brothers," says former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, a Charlotte Allen fan.

CHARLOTTE ALLEN grew up in Baldwinsville, N.Y., a small town named for her family. Situated near Syracuse, Baldwinsville was known for its access to the Seneca River and later the Erie Canal. Her father, Jonas Cutler Baldwin, made a fortune developing riverfront property.

"Her dad was in the port business, and she was raised in that atmosphere," says Suzan Deison, CEO of the Greater Houston Women's Chamber of Commerce. In recent years, Deison has dedicated huge chunks of time to uncovering Charlotte's contribution to the city's founding, even traveling to Baldwinsville to learn more about her family.

When Charlotte first met her husband, Augustus was unemployed, after a stint teaching math in a nearby town. Deison speculates that he saw marrying Charlotte as a rare opportunity.

"Her dad left her money - about $2,000, which back then was a lot of money," she says. "He left the girls cash, because women couldn't own land or a business back then."

It was a prime opportunity for Augustus Allen to gain access to cash. But there was something in it for Charlotte too: A rare chance for a young woman to set out from her small hometown.

So they went to Texas. In 1836, barely a month after Texas had won its independence from Mexico, Augustus and John Kirby Allen bought their 8,500 acres of swampland and gave it the River City hard sell.

"There is no place in Texas more healthy, having an abundance of excellent spring water, and enjoying a sea breeze in all its freshness," their first ad proclaimed.

The ad didn't mention mosquitoes. It's likely that a bite caused the fever that killed John Kirby Allen only two years later.

Charlotte and Augustus disagreed over how to divide John's estate, and in 1850, they separated. Augustus left Texas. But first, he deeded her all his land in Houston, which was valued at more than $800,000  more than $20 million in today's dollars.

He had plenty of male relatives who'd moved to Houston, but the court documents  all handwritten  awarded the property to Charlotte.

"Makes sense," says Deison, who contends this is further proof that Charlotte's contribution was greater than prior historians asserted.

CHARLOTTTE STAYED in Houston for another 45 years, until her death in 1895. She donated what is now Market Square to the city. She came to be known as a businesswoman, even registering her own cattle brand in 1838, and eventually running a slaughterhouse as part of her cattle operation. She oversaw the sale of many properties, including the site of what became the Rice Hotel. (It sold for $12,000 in 1857; that would be about $330,000 today.) Legend has it, she's even the brains behind the idea to name the city after Sam Houston, the hero of the Battle of San Jacinto.

Yet most histories cast her merely as a supporting character.

In 1956, the Chronicle published a story about a new school bearing her name, characterizing her by the relationship to men in her life rather than her own actions. "Wife of one of Houston's founders, Mrs. Allen was the daughter of J.C. Baldwin, founder of Baldwinsville, N.Y.," it reads.

There has been progress. In 2009 a historic marker was erected in her honor at Glenwood Cemetery, where she's buried.

"As we digitize more records and are able to get more into history, with every revelation it becomes more clear how important Charlotte Allen was to every aspect of the founding of the city and the flourishing of the city," says former Mayor Parker. "She may have been the real strength in the initiative to found Houston."

But to Parker, it still seems that Charlotte is unfairly eclipsed by the Allen brothers. "Charlotte Allen, whether she was ignored by history or written out of history, I think it's important to go back to the fact that she persisted, she endured, she had grit," Parker says. "Everything that came at her, she took it and did something with it."

Bookmark Gray Matters. And enjoy the sea breeze in all its freshness.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

Trend:

Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom (UK) signed a military cooperation plan, said the press service of Azerbaijans Defense Ministry.

The military cooperation plan between the two countries defense ministries for 2017/2018 financial year was signed as a result of staff talks held at the Office for International Military Cooperation, said the press service.

During the negotiations, the current state and prospective areas of cooperation in the defense sphere between the two countries, issues of cooperation in the areas of training, education and peacekeeping operations were considered. Meanwhile, an exchange of views on regional security was held.
The meaning of the word "constituent" derives from the Latin "constituentem," a body or group that appoints or elects a representative.

As an adjective, "constituent" means being part of a whole; without this part, the structure would be, at best, weakened; at worst, crippled. For example, molars are a constituent part to our tooth structure. Their function is to mash the food we eat, finishing the job begun by the incisors (which cut) and canines (which shred). Were I to lose my back molars, others would not see, at least at first, their absence. Moreover, though it would be difficult, I guess I could call upon my other teeth to do double duty.

But, as my family  and my gut  would soon notice, without those molars something important is nevertheless missing.

Spurring my thoughts about the constitution of the word "constituent" was an email I received last week. Addressed to his constituents, U.S. Congressional Representative Brian Babin had sent it. For a couple of reasons, I appreciated the gesture. First, I was touched because I was among the 15 percent or so who did not vote for Mr. Babin in 2016. (A pointless gesture, perhaps: Following the 2012 redrawing of the state electoral map, my district moved from "safely Republican" to one where Republicans win by margins that would be the envy of Kim Jong-Un.)

Second, the contents of the email underscore the complex character of the word "constituent." Mr. Babin reported on his many meetings with his constituents. For example, he announced that he had joined "nearly 100 local veterans at Pappa Yolk's Grill in Pasadena," where he had "a great discussion on a range of issues from veteran's [sic] medical care to border and national security." As one of Mr. Babin's constituents, though I was disappointed not to have been part of the great discussion, I understood: I was not a veteran, after all. (For the same reason, a back molar should not expect to be invited to a pulling held exclusively for the incisors.)

Also by Robert Zaretsky: The ugly 'facts' in U.S. Rep Brian Babin's email

For this same reason, I understand why I was not invited to the meeting Mr. Babin held with representatives of our local petrochemical factories. Mr. Babin did not say whom these representatives represented. But whether they represented management or corporate interests  who knows, maybe even workers  they and Mr. Babin had a "productive" discussion. Mr. Babin recalled the "tens of thousands of workers in high-paying jobs," vowing that "the actions we are taking ... to repeal job-killing regulations and create an environment [not the one we live in and breathe from, mind you] that helps businesses grow."

Neither a veteran nor a petrochemical representative, I struck out twice to meet with my representative. But I never saw the third pitch. It seems yet another meeting held by Mr. Babin was right down the street  OK, pretty far down the street  from where I live. "I had a great discussion about the economy and national security," he revealed, with "constituents at Ken's Restaurant in Deer Park." As I trudged to the dugout, I realized I had missed yet another great discussion.

The series of meetings I missed goes to the heart of being a constituent. Though I did not vote for Mr. Babin, I am one of his constituents. Though I disagree with nearly all of the positions he has taken since taking office, I form part of the whole that constitutes Congressional District 36. And yet Mr. Babin has made it clear that he has no intention of holding a town hall. (In our one exchange of emails, he claimed I was a member of Indivisible, the organization behind some of the more raucous town hall meetings last month. That is fake news, Mr. Babin. Sad.)

Were he to hold a town hall, though, the back molars of his district would have the chance to ask him questions  questions that, perhaps, were not asked during his many great meetings with other constituents. For example, are clean air and water regulations among those he seeks to kill in Congress? If so, what does he expect to happen to the quality of the air my children breathe and water they drink and bathe in?

Does he know that, 15 years ago, the state of Texas announced that those living in the western part of his district have a greater chance of contracting cancer because of the toxins pumped out by our petrochemical plants?

Is he aware that air quality in Deer Park ranks 50 out of 100, while water quality hovers at 37 out of 100? Is he aware that the scores in nearby Pasadena are nearly identical? (The water and air quality in Woodville, it turns out, is markedly better.)

David J. Phillip/STF

Or, again, the back molars would be able to ask their representative for a more detailed account of his understanding of "national security." How, for instance, does President Trump's revised travel ban, not to mention the original ban, reinforce our security? The several thousand Muslims who are also his constituents take a keen interest in this question. What are the grounds for a ban directed at Muslim countries that have not, since the mid-1970s, produced a single terrorist who reached our shores?

As for Mr. Babin's Hispanic constituents, they might ask how a wall built along our southern border  whose financing will come from monies stripped from the budgets of the Coast Guard and FEMA  enhances our national security?

They would point out that claims about illegal immigrants pouring into our country are contradicted by studies showing that more illegal Mexicans are now leaving rather than entering the United States. Hispanic constituents might also wonder how separating Central American children from their mothers at the border, as the Department of Homeland Security now proposes, will have any impact other than on the emotional well-being of these families.

In Texas politics, Mr. Babin, gerrymandering is another word for electoral destiny. This allows you to confuse your base for your constituents and to forget that the larger parts of your district do not constitute the entirety of your district.

I understand why you feel no pressing need to meet with the back molars. But as any dentist worth her salt would warn, if we ignore those molars for too long, our digestion  perhaps just another word for democracy  will suffer.

Robert Zaretsky teaches at the University of Houston and is the author, most recently, of Boswell's Enlightenment. He's currently writing The Empress and the Philosophe: Catherine the Great, Denis Diderot and the Eclipse of the Enlightenment.





Bookmark Gray Matters. You can have a great discussion on a range of issues from veteran's [sic] medical care to border and national security.


AUSTIN -- There's the famous bathroom bill, and the ones banning abortion, setting the state budget, reforming property taxes and fixing the state's messy school-finance system.

And then there are the others that would dump daylight savings time in Texas, make the cannon the official state gun, require insurance companies to cover eating disorders, even giving breastfeeding mothers an exemption from jury duty.

On Friday, the flurry of bill filings in the Legislature will come to a close, save for a few that will have to get special permission to be filed between now and the end of the 180-day session on May 29.

By mid-afternoon, more than 600 bills and resolutions had been filed, about the same as in some years past, bringing the total for the House to more than 4,800 and over 2,300 in the Senate.

That compares with two years ago, when 8,094 were filed in the House and 3,262 in the Senate by the time the Legislature adjourned.

Among them: A House measure that would cut by $2.3 billion the amount of money that Texas voters in November 2015 approved to allocate for transportation projects , to allow the Legislature more money to balance the budget this spring, and two bills that would block a plan by State Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller to allow Texans to use a lethal pesticide to kill wild pigs.

Friday also marks another important date: Next week, the Legislature can begin passing bills that were not designated emergencies by Abbott -- who in January included ethics reform, a resolution calling for a national convention of the states to consider changes to the U.S. Constitution and banning sanctuary cities as his emergency items.

Check back here through the day to see the highlights of what's being filed on the last day.
Two people who claim to have witnessed the officer-involved fatal shooting of a woman in Galveston, including her boyfriend, said Friday that she was carrying a pink-and-black BB gun shortly before she was shot dead by an off-duty city police officer.

Toni Jo Collins, 36, was shoved against a fence after the BB gun was kicked away, pistol-whipped as she lay on the ground, and then shot after she stood up and faced the officer with a stick in her hand, said her boyfriend, 48-year-old Victor Mangun.

A police spokesman did not immediately respond Friday afternoon to messages seeking comment on Mangun's account.

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Mangun said he and Collins were arguing in the alley when an SUV came to a sudden stop nearby and a man armed with a pistol jumped out and ordered them to get on the ground. He said the man never identified himself as a police officer.

Details of Mangun's version could not be verified, but a neighbor who witnessed the shooting confirmed that Collins was carrying a BB gun when she went into the alley where she was shot about 6:20 p.m. Thursday. The alley is near the intersection of Broadway Boulevard and 10th Street.

Charles Green, 40, who lives next to the alley where the shooting occurred, said he saw Collins minutes before she was killed and he could clearly see that she was carrying a BB gun and he did not feel threatened.

"I can't fathom why he shot her," Green said. He said he did not realize that the man with a gun was a police officer and never heard him identify himself.

Police identified the officer as K-9 Officer Evan Fraley, 25, a three-year veteran. He has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, Lt. Joshua Shirard said.

The shooting is being investigated by the Galveston County sheriff and district attorney, and a separate internal investigation is underway by Galveston police to determine whether Fraley complied with department policy, Schirard said.

Police said Fraley was leaving a residence with his family on 11th Street and Broadway , when he observed some type of disturbance in a nearby alleyway.

As he approached the scene, Fraley saw a woman brandishing a gun and quickly separated from his family, Schirard said. The police account does not refer to an SUV.

The officer began firing shots at the woman and eventually struck her. She was transported to John Sealy emergency room, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

One of the suspects involved in the disturbance was arrested by police. The officer has been placed on administrative leave.
West University Place Police Department

The West University Police Department responded to a bank robbery on Tuesday and are now on the lookout for four suspects.

At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, West University Place Police Department dispatchers received a 911 call in reference to a bank robbery in progress in the 5300 block Kirby. According to a police report, officers arrived at the location in about three minutes but the suspects were gone upon arrival. They fled the scene northbound on Kirby and then westbound on Wroxton.
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After a Pasadena man was killed by flying road debris, Crime Stoppers and the La Porte police are offering a $5,000 reward for information on the container truck the debris seems to have fallen from.

At about 3 p.m. on March 2, 60-year-old Paul Hoffman was traveling southbound on Highway 146 near Wharton Weems Boulevard when his vehicle was struck by a twistlock, a bolt that holds shipping containers onto the flatbed trailers that are common on Houston freeways.

HIT AND RUN DEATH: Pearland victim's family seeks answers in case with little evidence

The twistlock flew through Hoffman's windshield, bending his steering wheel backward before striking him in the neck, La Porte Police Sgt. John Krueger said last week.

Krueger said March 9 that locating the truck will be difficult.

"It takes several weeks for the reconstructionist to complete testing and analysis," he said.

"Part of the investigative effort involves dealing with commercial vehicles. They're going to be checking the area yards that do chassis rentals and things like that. There are a couple of cursory things going on like that, but its obviously going to be a needle-in-a-haystack situation figuring out which one it came from and where."

The reconstructionist, he added, is going to determine more about the speed than the exact location.

First responders found Hoffman's blue Ford Edge SUV against the guard rail on the freeway, and Hoffman unconscious inside. Bystanders and emergency crews attempted to resuscitate him at the scene, Krueger said.

Hoffman, in critical condition at the scene, was transported to Clear Lake regional, where he was pronounced dead. Hoffman's Pasadena address is near Kirby Road in the Taylor Lake Village area.

Krueger said a twistbolt is about the size of a softball. This type of equipment becomes worn over time, and twistbolts fly off of container trucks on a regular basis in the Houston area, he said.

Police believe the flying bolt that struck Hoffman came from a truck that was headed northbound near the same address.

Anyone with information on this case may contact the La Porte Police Department at 281-471-2141 and reference Case No. 1700837.
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The biggest upheaval in Pasadena politics in years has been driven largely by the decisions and actions of one man: Mayor Johnny Isbell.

It was Isbell who, immediately after a U.S. Supreme Court decision made it possible, proposed the 2013 charter change creating a City Council election system of six district seats and two at-large seats, replacing an all-district seat system. Isbell said adding at-large positions would provide residents with better representation.

It was Isbell who emptied his political account to fund a campaign urging support for the charter change and to oppose a council candidate seen as a potential threat. Isbell was the second named defendant, after the city itself, in a 2014 lawsuit claiming the new council structure intentionally diluted Latino voting strength.

And after a federal judge in January rejected the 6-2 system in a resounding victory for the plaintiffs, it was Isbell who instructed the city's attorneys to appeal.

It's fair to say that Johnny Isbell owns this episode. His fingerprints are even on the colorful details, such as police officers escorting council members out of the meeting chamber, a gun clattering to the floor from a pile of the mayor's belongings during a council session, and city employees doing campaign work on city time.

But when the four-year-long drama finally reaches its conclusion, Isbell may be watching from the sidelines.

Attorneys in the case say the city's appeal is likely to be unresolved when Pasadena voters choose a new mayor on May 6. Seven candidates are seeking to replace Isbell, who has led the city off and on over 26 years but can't run this year because of term limits. And at least three of the candidates say they'll drop the appeal if they win.

U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal "spent a week and a half hearing from many witnesses, looking at a lot of information, and made a decision," Councilwoman Pat Van Houte, a candidate for mayor, told my colleague Kristi Nix. "The city has spent almost $2 million on the lawsuit already, and I don't think it is in our best interest to spend more public money on this."

Another candidate, former state Rep. Gilbert Pena, agreed: "If elected, I definitely would stop the appeal process," he said. "There's a lot of other things we could do with this money other than give it to lawyers."

Candidate David Flores, a former city employee who runs a construction company, told Nix that the city's money would be better spent on infrastructure than on additional legal fees.

Fresh leadership style

Councilman Jeff Wagner, a retired Houston police officer, told me he would ask the City Council to vote on whether to continue the appeal if his bid for the mayor's office is successful. Pasadena, like Houston, has a strong-mayor form of government, and Isbell has exercised his authority on this issue without consulting the council. But Wagner said he has a different leadership style.

"I'll put this in front of the council, we'll have a discussion and we'll make a decision," said Wagner, who was one of four council members who voted with Isbell to put the new council structure on the ballot in 2013. (Van Houte cast one of the four votes against the plan.)

I couldn't reach the other three candidates: San Jacinto College trustee John Moon, former state Rep. Robert Talton, and Gloria Gallegos, a Pasadena school district administrator.

The Pasadena lawsuit has attracted the attention of national voting-rights activists in the aftermath of a 2013 Supreme Court decision eliminating a requirement that election changes in certain states be cleared in advance by the Justice Department or a federal court. Experts say it's generally tougher for minority candidates to win elections in at-large, or citywide, races for city councils, county commissions and school boards.

Send a message

I wondered if a decision by Pasadena to drop the appeal would necessarily be the ideal outcome for advocates of minority voting rights. Wouldn't an affirmation of Rosenthal's opinion by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals - or even the Supreme Court, should the case advance that far - send a stronger message?

But Nina Perales, an attorney with the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund representing the plaintiffs, said she would have no problem with a victory by default.

"The job of an attorney is to secure a positive outcome for the client," Perales said. "That's what's important here."

If Isbell's replacement chooses to drop the appeal, the case will quietly disappear. Pasadena residents will continue electing all eight council members from districts - a system being used this year because the 5th Circuit denied the city's request for a stay of Rosenthal's order. And the city government, some $2 million poorer but perhaps a bit wiser, can move on to other issues.
Although I've never been to Perth, Nana Booker, Australia's honorary consul in Houston until her retirement last year, tells me that Australia's west-coast metropolis is similar in several respects to its American sister city. A frontier settlement founded shortly before Houston came into being, Perth is a port city, as well as its nation's energy capital, which means, as Booker points out, that Perthians have to deal with fickle oil and gas price fluctuations just as Houstonians do. A number of Houston-based energy companies, including Schlumberger and until recently Apache, have major operations in Perth. Former Houstonian astronaut John Glenn dubbed Perth the "city of lights" when he looked down and saw that residents had lit up the night sky as he orbited the earth on Feb. 20, 1962.

The most compelling connection dates back to another dark night 75 years ago this month, when two ships named for their respective cities blundered into a covey of Japanese warships during the early months of World War II. In the narrow confines of Sunda Strait off the coast of Java, enemy searchlights lit up the Australian cruiser HMAS Perth and the USS Houston, a heavy cruiser that had been President Franklin D. Roosevelt's favorite vessel. Surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered, the Allied ships engaged their attackers, but the battle lasted less than an hour. Four devastating torpedoes burrowed into the Perth; she sank within seconds. The Houston kept fighting, and when she ran out of ammunition, desperate sailors and Marines fired star shells, harmless flares used for illumination. Pierced by three torpedoes, the "Galloping Ghost of Java" went down shortly after midnight on March 1, 1942. About 650 U.S. sailors went down with her.

Survivors enslaved

Several hundred survived, including Lt. Harold Hamlin, who abandoned ship after an exploding shell knocked him off his feet. After swimming a hundred yards or so, he turned around for one last look. "I could not help thinking what the Houston looked like when I first joined her," he told the History Network. "She was the president's yacht and shined from end to end. ... As I watched her lay down and die, she rolled over on either side and the fires went out with a loud hiss."

Hamlin was among 368 Houston survivors captured by the Japanese. Of that number, 76 died as prisoners of war, although as naval historian James Hornfischer notes, the survivors "would come to envy her dead." They endured 42 months of humiliation, physical and mental torture, starvation and horrible tropical diseases. Forced to work as slaves in coal mines and shipyards and to build a railway linking Burma and Thailand through impossible jungle terrain, they watched their comrades, Australian and American, die slowly day by day. ("The Bridge on the River Kwai" is a fictionalized version of their ordeal.)

Another night years after the war: H. Robert Charles, a Marine who had been aboard the Houston, had his teenaged son drive the two of them to the top of a hill near their Connecticut home. "I had just gotten my driver's license," Dana Charles recalled.

More Information "Guardians of Sunda Strait: The World War II Loss of HMAS Perth and USS Houston" is on display at the Julia Ideson Building of the Houston Public Library, 550 McKinney, through June 30. Free to the public. About the exhibit What: "Guardians of Sunda Strait: The World War II Loss of HMAS Perth and USS Houston." Where: Julia Ideson Building of the Houston Public Library, 550 McKinney. When: Through June 30. Cost: Free to the public. See More Collapse

His father, who had been drinking, was in tears. He wanted to tell his son what happened to him that terrifying night in the Java Sea. He wanted to recall what he endured, what he saw, during three-and-a-half years in Japanese POW camps. He struggled to explain why it had been so hard to let it go.

"I felt rather helpless," Dana Charles said by phone earlier this week from his home in Kirkland, Wash.

As they sat in the car in the darkness, the elder Charles recalled manning his battle station on the Houston's foremast and firing his .50 caliber machine gun at the searchlights providing deadly illumination of the two cruisers. Capt. Albert Rooks gave the order to abandon ship shortly before he was killed by shrapnel from a Japanese shell; Charles ignored the order. A second order came, and the 22-year-old Marine kept firing until his gunnery sergeant told him, "It's finished, Charlie." An explosion blew him off the quarter deck and knocked him out; he came to in the water. The sergeant, still firing, went down with the ship.

Struggled with PTSD

Charles swam for nine hours, for a while helping a wounded sailor stay afloat until the man slipped from his grasp and died. Finally, a Japanese patrol boat spotted him, threw him a line and dragged him ashore. His ordeal was just beginning. Along with other Perth and Houston survivors, he was harnessed to a donkey cart and forced to walk barefoot on hot asphalt until his feet were a mass of blisters. The POW procession halted only long enough for Charles and his comrades to rip the blisters off their feet. In a confinement they called the Bicycle Camp, he suffered from pellagra and malaria, was often beaten and was barely fed. A prison guard jabbed the skeletal young man in the back with his rifle butt; his back bothered him the rest of his life.

When Charles got home to Kansas after the war, "he got tired of his mother bringing people over to look at him," Dana Charles said. He left home, got a degree in journalism from Northwestern University and worked as a magazine writer in New York. For years he struggled to cope with what we know today as post-traumatic stress disorder. A book he wrote in 1988, "Last Man Out," "seemed to get it out of his system," his son said. The elder Charles died in 2009 at 90.

In 1945, a shipmate, Otto Schwarz, was working as a slave laborer building a railroad in Vietnam when a villager on a bicycle whispered to him in English that the war was over. Back home in Union, N.J., Schwarz experienced some of the same readjustment difficulties as Charles. One way that Schwarz coped was to assure that the memory of his shipmates who gave their lives would never be forgotten and that he and other survivors would stay in touch. With his wife Trudy's help, he organized the USS Houston Survivors Association in 1946 and for years produced "The Blue Bonnet," a quarterly newsletter he sent to survivors and their families.

The retired postal worker died in 2006 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. "He loved his service," Trudy Schwarz said. "He loved being in the Navy." John Schwarz continues his father's work with the organization now known as the USS Houston Survivors Association/Next Generations.

Offering them their due

Trudy Schwarz, 93, was in Houston last week for the opening of an exhibition at the Houston Public Library's Ideson Building entitled "Guardians of Sunda Strait: The World War II Loss of HMAS Perth and USS Houston." Spearheaded by Booker, a Houston art gallery owner, and organized by curators of the Australian National Maritime Museum, the exhibition honors the legacy of both ships.

Schwarz also attended the annual USS Houston memorial service last Saturday at Sam Houston Park. Of the 1,068 crew members aboard the Houston on that horrendous night 75 years ago, only three remain. None were able to attend the service. (Only three Perth survivors are alive, as well.) As historian Hornfischer has written, "the surviving men of the USS Houston have lived and aged gracefully, seldom if ever asking for attention or demanding their due."

Now, almost all are gone. The exhibition is a way for both Americans and Australians to offer them their due, to say thank you.
The Houston ISD's board voted unanimously this week to begin providing its own alternative program for middle and high school students who commit infractions that require discipline, ending its longtime contract with a for-profit chain.

Camelot Schools of Texas, LLC, has operated the Beechnut Academy near Sharpstown since 2012. The school serves students in grades 6 through 12 who misbehave in ways that include fighting, being disrespectful toward school staff, possessing alcohol and indecent exposure, according to Houston ISD's student code of conduct.

HISD currently pays $8.6 million a year to Camelot Schools of Texas, LLC, to operate the school each year on top of $1.2 million in transportation costs, according to HISD's school board agenda. HISD staff said opening its own alternative school within the district would save $3.4 million each year.

Superintendent Richard Carranza stressed that ending the contract was not a vote against Camelot Schools or Beechnut Academy and thanked the school and operator for their service.

"An important step is for us to own all of our students and to make a commitment to the community that all students will be taught by HISD teachers, staff and support personnel," Carranza said.

A new, district-run alternative school could open at the old Crawford Elementary School, which now serves as the Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men. The college prep school is already scheduled to close in June 2017.

The vote Thursday night came a day after the Teacher's Project and Slate Magazine published a report detailing abusive staff practices at its schools in Lancaster, Penn.; Philadelphia; New Orleans; and Pensacola, Fla. In response to questions from reporters, Camelot and its chief executive, Todd Bock, denied any claims of systemic abuse across its programs and said it provides effective and supportive services to thousands of the country's most challenging and needy students.

About seven individuals spoke in favor of closing Beechnut, including advocates from the ACLU, One Houston and at least three HISD principals.

Sharlene Laud, a former HISD official who now works for the University of Houston, said that when she and other teachers would have students sent to Beechnut, they would come back unchanged behaviorally and behind academically.

"By sending our students out of district, we're not teaching to reach for high goals or higher educaiton," Laud said. "Let's take a step in fulfilling HISD's mission by creating an in-house program with the highest of expectations."

But about a half-dozen other speakers - including Beechnut staff, a parent of a former student and an alumnae - asked trustees to keep the school open.

Stephanie Mosqueda, now a student at Texas A&M University, said Beechnut staff raised money to give her a scholarship to college and helped her throughout her first semester.

"Without Beechnut, I would not have graduated," Mosqueda said. "They do not give up at all, they pushed me so much. Regardless of how bad the kids are, they will not give up."

The Beechnut Academy is not the only disciplinary alternative school in HISD. The Harris County Juvenile Probation Department operates the Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program, which serves students who have been expelled from any of Harris County's 22 school districts. But those students are often accused of committing more serious offenses including selling drugs, bringing a firearm to school or making a false terroristic threat.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

Azerbaijans Permanent Mission to the OSCE stressed the need for continuing inclusive approach while observing media-related developments in all OSCE participating states in a comprehensive, objective and impartial manner in its statement at a meeting of Permanent Council on Mar. 9.

OSCE institutions must act strictly in line with their mandate and tasking given by the participating states, says the statement. In this regard, we recall Brussels (2006) and Madrid (2007) Ministerial Council decisions that specifically call to ensure professionalism, accuracy and adherence to ethical standards among journalists. The importance of this aspect is even more acute in the context of reporting on conflict situations, as their sensitive nature requires highest level of professionalism and ethics of journalists.

As for the Alexander Lapshin case, which was referred to by representative of Armenia, this is not an issue for the OSCE, said the Azerbaijani representative, adding that this criminal case was addressed between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Belarus on bilateral basis.

Mr. Lapshin is a citizen of several states and they, as a third party in this case, follow legal developments. Armenia has no relevance to this legal case, except that Lapshins case once again indicated that Armenia fraudulently attracts foreign nationals to illegal visits to Azerbaijans occupied territories and then tries to turn them into a tool for its political propaganda, says the statement.

Taking this opportunity, we once again call on journalists and foreign citizens to refrain from illegal visits to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan without prior consent, added the Azerbaijani Permanent Mission.

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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U.S. Attorney Ken Magidson in Houston - appointed by both Republicans and Democrats during his 30 years as a prosecutor - has resigned from office, joining 45 other Obama appointees asked to resign Friday by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

His second-in-command, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez, is expected to assume control of the Southern District of Texas, which stretches from the Houston area to Laredo.

"It has been a privilege and a honor to serve as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas," Magidson said in a written statement released late Friday. "It has been a hallmark of my administration to ensure that our office lived up to the ideals of justice."

Sessions asked the appointees to resign immediately and to name their second-in-command - who are career prosecutors and not political appointees - to take charge until the top jobs can be filled.

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Sarah Isgur Flores, a spokesperson for Sessions, offered the following statement when asked about Magidson.

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"As was the case in prior transitions, many of the United States Attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice," she said. "The Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition. Until the new U.S. Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. Attorney's Offices will continue the great work of the Department in investigating, prosecuting, and deterring the most violent offenders."

Magidson was appointed in 2011 by President Obama, becoming the 22nd U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, according to the U.S. Attorney's website.

Before that, he was an assistant U.S. Attorney dating back to 1983, primarily on the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, which included 11 federal judicial districts in Texas, California, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and the central and southern districts of California.

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He also served under U.S. Attorney Janet Reno in Washington as executive director of the organized crime task force, from 1996-1997. He served as a federal prosecutor for years, and was also chief of the narcotics division.

Before joining the U.S. Attorney's office, he also worked as a assistant district attorney in Harris County.

Magidson served as interim Harris County District Attorney in 2008 after being appointed by Gov. Rick Perry following the resignation of District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal amid a series of scandals.
AUSTIN - It started with teasing over Christmas. Lexus'Kiyra Cubero, then 17, remembers being made fun of by the other youths in the Northeast Texas wilderness camp where she lived in foster care.

"They were all going home for the holidays with their family," she recalled Wednesday. "I had no family. I had no place to go ... They made me feel so horrible."

So, she threatened to "hit someone with a stick." For that, she spent 96 days in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of making a terroristic threat and criminal mischief. Eight years later, the Dallas native has been unable to shake that criminal record.

"I wanted to be a nurse practitioner, and I would be working in a hospital right now except for that charge," she said Wednesday as the House Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee debated a bill that would raise the age at which Texas youths become adults - at least under the state's criminal codes - from 17 to 18. "I'm now 25. I can never be a nurse or the flight attendant that I wanted to be when people see 'terroristic threat' on my record."

Proposed or discussed for years, with a focused push starting in 2013, the change long has been sought by youth advocates and criminal justice experts as a way to bring Texas in line with most other states that already have made 18 the age of adulthood in criminal justice.

"This would move Texas forward," said committee Chairman Harold Dutton, a Houston Democrat and the bill's author. Raising the age to 18, he said, would help reduce costly commitments and allow the state to provide the services to youths that they need instead of sending them to jail or prison.

Prosecutors would still be able to certify youths charged with serious violent crimes as adults, if a judge agreed.

Following a lengthy hearing on Wednesday, the House committee left House Bill 122 pending for now.

Over in the Senate, John Whitmire, the powerful Houston Democrat who chairs the criminal justice committee and whose opinion carries considerable clout on such matters, rates the proposal's current chances of approval at close to zero.

"When I have juvenile probation directors saying it would inundate their existing programs, and when I look at a juvenile system in this state that is absolutely broken and overwhelmed, and when I see that it costs the state tens of millions of dollars more in a year when we already are short billions of dollars in key programs, I can't see this going anywhere," he said. "If someone had a plan to fix the problems in our juvenile system, and to come up with the money to pay for this change, I might have another opinion."

The cost estimate on Dutton's bill is $35 million, most of it from additional costs to Texas' juvenile justice system due to additional services that would be required for the youths, according to a Legislative Budget Board report issued in January.

Advocates for the change disagree.

As Dutton's bill got its first public hearing Wednesday, a national study showed that other states that thought they would be overwhelmed by raising the adult age to 18 found their concerns over costs were unfounded.

Advocates' push

Since 2007, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and South Carolina have raised the age of adulthood to 18. This year, as part of a coordinated national campaign called Raise the Age, the seven remaining states - Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New York and North Carolina - are being lobbied to join them.

"The seven states ... can move youth from the adult court, jails and prisons into the youth justice system, safe in the knowledge that they can make the change without significantly increasing costs, and keep youth and communities safer," said Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, a national clearing house on incarceration and its effects.

According to the group's report, states that changed their laws during the past 10 years to absorb 16- and 17-year-olds into their juvenile justice system, did so without significantly increasing taxpayer costs. During those years, the number of youths in the adult corrections system nationwide dropped by nearly half.

Despite the predictions from naysayers, Dutton said those states kept young people safe, enhanced public safety and conserved taxpayer dollars.

"Seventeen-year-olds belong in the juvenile justice system as opposed to the adult criminal justice system," Dutton said. "Texas recognizes in other areas of the law that 17-year-olds are different."

Texans must be 18 to vote, serve on a jury, marry without parental consent and consent to sex - and even older to buy alcohol or get a handgun license.

In Texas, 17-year-olds are considered adults for most criminal charges under a law that has been in place since 1913, when the age was raised from 13 to 17.

In 2015, statistics show that 15,476 17-year-olds were arrested, most for property and drug crimes. Most paid their debts to society in local probation or treatment programs, but some were sent to Texas Juvenile Justice Department lockups.

In all, 271 were in those lockups in 2015, and another 970 were doing time in adult prisons and jails. Most were there for violent or aggravated crimes.

Brett Merfish, a staff attorney for Texas Appleseed, a justice-advocacy group that supports raising the age in Texas, said statistics show that 17-year-olds stand a much better chance of turning their lives around if they are in juvenile programs.

"Raising the Age helps reduce costly commitments, makes communities safer by providing youth with age-appropriate services that gets them back on track, and promotes fairness by helping states and localities develop more effective justice systems," said Marcy Mistrett, CEO of the Campaign for Youth Justice, a group advocating the change.

'Comes down to cost'

Witnesses during Wednesday's House hearing made much the same point. Bexar County District Judge Daphne Previti Austin, who handles juvenile-court cases, said her county supports the bill "so long as it's fully funded." Other judges and county officials present at the hearing echoed that sentiment.

"It really comes down to cost," said state Rep. Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, noting the high projected cost of the measure.

For Cubero, the questions about cost were little comfort. In state foster care from the time she was a baby until she turned 18, through more than 20 placements that partly resulted from an array of emotional and behavioral issues, she implored lawmakers to make sure no one else goes to jail as an adult when they are 17.

"They see terroristic threat on my record and assume I tried to blow up the White House," she said, explaining she now works at a delivery service handling packages. "It was something I did when I was 17. I can never get past that."
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AUSTIN - Special prosecutors trying Attorney General Ken Paxton on charges he committed securities fraud and failed to register as an investment advisor filed a motion Thursday to put the trial on hold until they get paid, throwing into question when Paxton will see his day in court.

In a court filing with the District Court of Collin County, prosecutors assigned to the case said they have not been paid for more than a year due to a Paxton ally's lawsuits tying up payment to the three lawyers. They propose setting a court date for 60 days after the 5th Court of Appeals orders payment of prosecutors or no later than Sept. 1.

"They are owed significant amounts of money for the work they have performed and expenses they have incurred, and it would be manifestly unfair, unjust, and unconscionable for the Court to expect, let alone, order them to work for free," the prosecutors said in the filing.

Paid in excess?

Paxton is due in court May 1 to face a criminal third-degree charge he failed to register as an investment advisor. He also faces two charges of first degree criminal securities fraud for failing to tell investors he would make a commission by agreeing to invest in a north Texas tech company, which would be taken up in a later trial.

The motion to Judge George Gallagher follows more than a year of lawsuits from Jeffory Blackard, a real estate developer, political donor and friend of Paxton who has filed two lawsuits arguing the three special prosecutors assigned to the case are being paid in excess of a cap on attorneys' fees.

Blackard's first lawsuit to cut payments to the prosecutors was rejected by a trial judge, a decision affirmed by the Firth Court of Appeals. In a second lawsuit, the appeals court issued a stay on a court order by Gallagher to pay the prosecutors, although it is unclear when the court of appeals will make a final judgement.

In January, the prosecutors filed an invoice for $205,000 worth of work preparing for Paxton's trial.

The case would normally be handled by a local prosecutor, but District Attorney Greg Willis recused himself from the case because he is a friend of the attorney general's. The special prosecutors assigned to the case are Houston attorneys Kent Schaffer, Brian Wice and Nicole DeBord.

Paxton's spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.

The prosecutors argue the lawsuit pausing pay could effectively shut down their prosecution against Paxton by cutting off funding.

"No one in a democratic society should be expected to work for free, and it would be fundamentally unfair for this Court, or, for that matter, the defense, to require the Special Prosecutors to work for free," read the filing.

Venue change requested

Paxton was indicted in 2015 on two counts of felony criminal securities fraud for failing to disclose to investors he would make a commission by convincing them to buy stock in Servergy, a technology company that paid him 100,000 shares of stock valued at $1 per share. He was a state legislator at the time. He alsois charged with one count of failing to register as an investment advisor with the state.

A federal judge this month dismissed similarcivil charges against Paxton. The attorney general maintains his innocence.

The prosecutors have also argued for a change in venue in the case, arguing Paxton and his team of supporters, including Blackard, had tainted the jury pool in Collin County through a media blitz to discredit Paxton's accusers and attack prosecutors. The judge said he will try to seat a jury in Collin County before considering a change in venue.
Are Americans losing their collective mind when it comes to immigration and border security? That's how it seems when a White House proudly disdainful of facts and common sense pushes ahead on an absurd border wall costing billions, harasses immigrants in this country who are harming no one and ignores comprehensive reforms that would solve most of our immigration issues.

Consider the facts:

According to a 2013 report from the Migration Policy Institute, the federal government spends more each year on immigration enforcement than on all other federal law enforcement agencies combined. We're now spending more than $19 billion yearly, and President Trump wants to increase that absurd amount to $43.8 billion for the 2018 fiscal year. To throw that amount of money at customs and border enforcement, the White House would drastically cut funding for the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. All three agencies have significant border and homeland security responsibilities.

The size of the Border Patrol more than doubled in the 1990s and doubled again after 9/11. Trump intends to triple the size of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and hire thousands of new Border Patrol agents. He also has talked about mobilizing 100,000 National Guard troops for border duty. The massive law-enforcement presence, plus Texas Department of Public Safety officers Gov. Greg Abbott has dispatched to the region, threatens to turn the borderlands into a militarized zone.

Already we have checkpoints, watchtowers, sensors, floodlights, razor wire, drones, boats and all-terrain vehicles, as well as footprint-checking Border Patrol SUVs dragging tractor tires along isolated dirt roads. To upgrade to Trump's 2,000-mile, double-thick border wall would cost between $27 billion and $40 billion for a thousand miles. Those are figures from the MIT Technology Review, as quoted by the New York Times.

All these billions we'll be spending will be chasing after a problem that no longer exists. Undocumented immigration from Mexico has diminished dramatically in recent years. According to the Pew Center, the net flow across the border is less than zero. And if we're going to expel those 11 million or so still here - as gung-ho ICE officers seem intent on doing - we had better be prepared to spend between $400 billion and $600 billion, and reduce the gross domestic product by $1 trillion. If that's conservatism, we'll eat a bland gringo taco topped with cold sour cream.

Earlier this week, a hard-nosed businessman named Dennis E. Nixon visited the Chronicle editorial board. A Laredo banker with more than 40 years of experience, he offices in a building less than a thousand yards from the border. He's an ardent Trump supporter whose visceral hatred for Hillary Clinton is exceeded only by his simmering rage at the Dodd-Frank Act, the federal law regulating the financial industry.

On border-security and immigration, however, Nixon departs from Republican orthodoxy. He considers a multi-billion-dollar border wall a colossal waste and more border agents unnecessary. What we need, he maintains, are more asylum officers and immigration judges, as well as drastically upgraded border crossings, some of which date back to the Eisenhower administration. More smuggled goods, including drugs, come through official border crossings than are floated across the Rio Grande or over a border fence.

Businessman Nixon takes a blustery pride in his common sense, whether applied to the business of banking or border issues. Immigration figures compiled by the Texas Public Policy Foundation buttress his approach. According to the conservative, Austin-based think tank, unauthorized immigrants are more likely to be in the labor force in Texas and performing a job than either legal immigrants or U.S. natives. As the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has pointed out, they are not "stealing" American jobs; they complement the labor of natives by fulfilling different specialties. The undocumented also pay sales taxes and property taxes and contribute to Social Security and Medicare, with no practical way of ever reclaiming that money. They come for jobs, not welfare.

The infuriating thing, as our banker from Laredo emphasized during his editorial-board visit, is that solutions to most of our immigration-law and border-security headaches are readily available. Whether it's a sensible guest-worker program for agriculture or a path to legal status for the undocumented living settled and peaceful lives among us, we can fix our broken system without scapegoating immigrants.

A bipartisan U.S. Senate offered up a comprehensive plan four years ago, but ideologues in the House blocked it. It gathers dust in Washington, while a shameless, ill-informed president demonizes an entire population and unleashes holy hell on men and women who pose no threat to this nation. What sense does that make?
How the mighty have fallen.

The Texas economy used to rank third in the nation. Now we're at 22nd, according to Governing magazine.

Why? Just watch the 21-hour-long hearing on Senate Bill 6, the so-called bathroom bill.

More than 400 people signed up to testify, and a good majority were opposed, so there was no doubt that some fireworks would eventually erupt between a witness and state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, who authored the bill. The real surprise was the target of her ire: The Texas Association of Business.

"I'm tired of hearing from you," a terse Kolkhorst told TAB president Chris Wallace. "No more talk."

It is a bad sign when the voice of business in Texas isn't welcome in Austin. Our state has changed since the days when Gov. Rick Perry ran campaign ads touting that our state was "open for business."

Now we're just open to petty politics.

The TAB, stalwart advocate of commerce and capital, can no longer rely on our state's political leadership to promote its agenda. Issues like avoiding discriminatory legislation, building infrastructure and investing in higher education and pre-K aren't guaranteed a friendly ear.

Texas faces a similar problem in Washington. Business interests, especially our state's oil and gas sector, aren't used to playing defense against Republicans. The change came about because the Trump administration is promoting Rust Belt coal at the expense of Texas natural gas.

While renewables like wind and solar have grown to meet new electricity demand, the success of natural gas comes at the expense of older, dirtier coal power plants.

"The only way gas markets can increase is by displacing coal and nuclear," said Prajit Ghosh, head of research for North America power and renewables at the energy research firm Wood Mackenzie ("Natural gas may hit a wall," Page B1, March 2).

Texas doesn't come out on top if Trump gets to pick the winners and losers in that fight.

There is some hope, as Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency expressed at CERAWeek. He predicted that the Trump administration's pro-pipeline, anti-regulation positions will provide a boost for domestic shale play.

Birol must not count trade policy as a regulation. The mood out of CERAWeek, according to Politico, has the U.S. energy industry wondering whether it left the Obama-era regulatory slog only to land in a Trump-era protectionist minefield.

The plan for a border tax "scares folks to death," one oil services employee told Politico's Ben Lefebvre.

The United States is on path to produce more oil and gas than we consume, as the Chronicle's Jordan Blum reported Wednesday. Yet hopes have been dashed for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to open the Pacific Rim and European Union to natural gas exports.

Mexico, the largest buyer of U.S. gasoline, has been scared by Trump's rhetoric into diversifying its trading partners away from the United States.

And even those approved pipelines face the potential of new regulations on the national origins of steel.

It has been a long time since Texas had to litigate the free trade rules that allow our state to flourish. But instead of listening to our businesses and fighting on their behalf, politicians like Kolkhorst are wasting time on bills designed to rile up the partisan extremes. Whether in Austin or Washington, Texas needs to confront the fact that an agenda driven by political expediency puts our long-term economic success at risk.

How much further does our state need to fall in the rankings before we really start to worry?
Showboating unveiled

Regarding "GOP offers health plan" (Page 1, Tuesday), it appears the Republican Party is in full treat from its promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act. During the prior four years, they quickly passed "clean repeal" bills many times and sent them to the Obama White House where the bills were vetoed. Now that there is a Republican president who would sign a "clean repeal" bill, the Republicans in the House and Senate will not send a "clean repeal" to the president. Maybe they really were never in favor of a "clean repeal" but only claimed to be as an appeal to their base as long as they were certain a veto awaited their cynical and wasteful efforts.

Maybe all that legislative hot air could have been better spent addressing real problems rather than showboating for the folks back home.

Bruce Williams, Bellaire

Big Pharma's shadow

Regarding "GOP health bill faces revolt" (Page A1, Wednesday), there can be no sustainable national health care plan without the regulation and reform of insurance companies and big pharmaceutical.

When Congress passes programs to subsidize insurance premiums in an effort to assist small business and individuals in obtaining health care, they are merely subsidizing insurance and pharmaceutical companies with taxpayer dollars.

Until the root of the problem is addressed there will be no effective, long-term affordable health care program that either party could implement.

Incidentally, political contributions from insurance and pharmaceutical companies is how many members of Congress help fund their campaigns to get to Congress!

Rhonda Stone, Houston

Quash liquor ads

Regarding "Teens exposed to more alcohol-related ads" (Page A13, Monday), the solution to this was implemented long ago with regard to tobacco advertising - restricting advertising to the point of sale. This same solution is long overdue for alcoholic beverages.

David L. Feldwisch, Houston
Texas lawmakers are considering legislation that would pre-empt local regulations on taxis, limos and "Transportation Network Companies" (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft. This would end the local conflicts between taxis, city leaders, and TNCs that led to Uber and Lyft leaving Austin and San Antonio, and nearly leaving Houston just before the Super Bowl. It's critical, though, that policymakers learn from other states' mistakes and treat the whole industry equally under the law.

The arrival of TNCs prompted a number of Texas cities to update their for-hire vehicle regulations. Yet despite the revisions, many perpetuate the deep-rooted government favoritism in the taxi industry.

While many cities around the country have ended their taxi quotas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio still limit the number of taxi licenses available.

In Houston, this allows just two companies to control 75 percent of taxicabs.

Austin's franchise requirement allows the city to subjectively pick and choose which companies can do business, giving existing companies the chance to protest new competitors. These regulations wall out entrepreneurs, creating a monopoly-like advantage for established firms.

Austin, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth further limit competition by setting taxi fares, keeping companies from lowering prices to attract customers. And Houston's requirements on drivers' uniforms and Dallas' micromanagement of vehicles' appearances don't solve any real social problems.

Michigan charted a new course last December by regulating all for-hire transportation services at the state level. Texas legislators could follow Michigan's lead in creating a single state-wide standard to restore sanity. Here are three principles that can help guide this approach:

First, all regulations must apply equally to every company offering the same service. If special-interest groups can lobby for different standards based on arbitrary factors - like whether you hail a car with a wave or with a smartphone - businesses will naturally be drawn to use regulations to gain an advantage over their competitors. This "unproductive entrepreneurship" leads businesses to focus more on securing government favors than on earning customers' loyalty.

Second, regulations should be "competitively neutral." All too often regulations protect established businesses by making it more difficult for their smaller competitors to comply. Whether intentional or not, this gives established companies a measure of monopoly power.

Similarly, regulations should not mandate exactly how to achieve a goal (like keeping passengers safe). Instead, they should simply set clear accountability for meeting the goal - this allows innovators to find new and perhaps even better methods of compliance.

Third, regulations must only address systematic social problems. Some regulations are motivated instead by political expediency - the sense that someone should "do something" in a time of uncertainty. But uncertainty is a natural part of progress. Progress can be awkward, and even painful, but without it nothing ever gets better.

For guidance, Tyler appears to have the best for-hire vehicle regulations in the state. The East Texas city's regulations treat taxis, limos and TNCs the same. The licensing fees are low, the regulations don't mandate the minutia of business operations and only one license is required, rather than three separate licenses for companies, drivers and vehicles.

Texans can opt out of the tiresome taxi-TNC battles being waged in most major cities. In the process, the state can get regulations right and abandon the dysfunctional system of government privileges and anticompetitive rules that have existed since the origin of taxi regulations.

Taxis do face a serious challenge from TNCs, much like the horse-and-buggy industry was challenged by the rise of the automobile.

But the answer isn't to regulate TNCs like taxis, nor is it to create separate rules for each type of company. The best answer is to allow taxis the same freedom to innovate, and to challenge TNCs to be even better.

Farren is a research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and coauthor of the recent study "Rethinking Taxi Regulations."
When he was Ronald Reagan's secretary of state, George Shultz was once asked about the CIA's disavowal of involvement in a mysterious recent bombing in Lebanon. Replied Shultz: "If the CIA denies something, it's denied."

Has there ever been a more dry, more wry, more ironic verdict on the world of espionage? Within it, there is admission and denial, smoke and mirrors, impenetrable fog and deliberate obfuscation. Truth? Ask the next guy.

Which is why my default view of espionage is to never believe anyone because everyone is trained in deception. This is not a value judgment; it's a job description.

We learn, for example, from Tuesday's spectacular WikiLeaks dump that among the CIA's various and nefarious cybertools is the capacity to simulate intrusion by a foreign power, the equivalent of planting phony fingerprints on a smoking gun.

Who are you going to believe now? I can assure you that some enterprising Trumpite will use this revelation to claim that the whole storyline pointing to Russian interference in the U.S. election was a fabrication. And who was behind that? There is no end to this hall of mirrors. My rule, therefore, is: Stay away.

Hard to do with Washington caught up in one of its periodic conspiracy frenzies. Actually, two. One, anti-Donald Trump, is that he and his campaign colluded with Russian intelligence. The other, anti-Barack Obama-CIA-"deep state," is that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower to ensnare candidate Trump.

The odd thing is that, as of today, there is no evidence for either charge. That won't, of course, stop the launch of multiple all-consuming investigations.

(1) Collusion:

James Clapper, Obama's director of national intelligence, who has been deeply and publicly at odds with Trump, unequivocally states that he has seen zero evidence of any Trump campaign collusion with Russia. Nor has anyone else.

The contrary suspicion arises because it's hard to explain why Michael Flynn falsely denied discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador and why Jeff Sessions falsely denied having any contacts at all. That suggests concealment. But there was nothing inherently inappropriate with either behavior. So why conceal?

Suspicion, nonetheless, is far short of assertion - and a fairly thin basis for a major investigation, let alone for a special prosecutor. To prosecute what exactly?

(2) Wiretap:

The other storyline is simply fantastical. Congressional Republicans have uniformly run away from Trump's Obama-wiretap accusation. Clapper denies it. FBI Director James Comey denies it. Not a single member of Trump's own administration is willing to say it's true.

Loopier still is to demand that Congress find the truth when the president could just pick up the phone and instruct the FBI, CIA and DNI to declare on the record whether this ever occurred. And if there really was an October 2016 FISA court order to wiretap Trump, the president could unilaterally declassify the information yesterday.

The bugging story is less plausible than a zombie invasion. Nevertheless, one could spin a milder - and more plausible - scenario of executive abuse. It goes like this:

The intelligence agencies are allowed to listen in on foreigners. But if any Americans are swept up in the conversation, their part of it is supposed to be redacted or concealed to protect their identity. According to The New York Times, however, the Obama administration appears to have gone out of its way to make sure that information picked up about Trump associates' contacts with Russians was as widely disseminated as possible.

Under Obama, did the agencies deliberately abuse the right to listen in on foreigners as a way to listen in, improperly, on Americans?

If they did, we will find out. But for now, all of this is mere conjuring.

There is no evidence for either the collusion or the wiretap charge. We are headed down a rabbit hole. An enormous amount of heat and energy will be expended, ending - my guess - roughly where we started.

What a waste. There is a major national agenda waiting to be debated and enacted. And there is trouble beyond the cozy confines of the capital that needs to be confronted. Self-created crisis can leave us distracted, spent and unprepared when the real thing hits.

It's unquiet out there.

North Korea keeps testing missiles as practice for attacking U.S. bases in Japan. Meanwhile, we are scrambling to install an antimissile shield in South Korea as early as next month. Fuses are burning. When the detonations begin, we'd better not be in the rabbit hole.

Krauthammer's email address is letters@charleskrauthammer.com.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

Western media outlets, particularly, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) conduct purposeful campaign against Azerbaijan, wrote Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, former editor for the Jerusalem Post and former editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Jewish Times, in her article posted by Foreign Policy News.

The US-government funded broadcasting organization Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) provides news updates and on-demand audio of broadcasts in different languages to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. It was established as an American propaganda machine, chiefly against the Soviets and their satellites. Though that need has since dissipated, Congress keeps RFE/RL running  on taxpayer dollars, says the article.

But while the organization claims to be a non-biased member of the free press, its reporting reflects otherwise, according to the article.

A 2013 report by the Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of State found that the and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which is supposed to provide a firewall against political influence on its new broadcasting is poorly structured and lax about observing its own bylaws, which leads to both internal conflicts and conflicts of interest, says the article.

The challenge is even more acute when you look at the fact that RFE/RL is not only misreporting, but propagandizing against US allies.

A few years ago, I reported about RFE/RLs coverage of US ally Azerbaijan in a piece published by Roll Call. Then, I found that in a one-month period, RFE/RL had published 30 articles and videos about Azerbaijan, not one celebrating the countrys efforts to build an inclusive, tolerant society, its strong international collaboration and friendship with America and even Israel. Instead, articles accused Azerbaijan, a stable ally of the US in the Caspian region, of being a closed, anti-democratic and fear-mongering society, wrote Jaffe-Hoffman.

However, there is still clearly an anti-Azerbaijan agenda, according to the author.

My guess is that this is largely because the country is pro-Western and anti-terrorist, and therefore journalists fear coming out against it less than they do rogue regimes, said Jaffe-Hoffman.

A free press is the foundation of any vibrant and viable democracy. If any media outlet is a propaganda machine, pandering to special interest groups, personal agendas, money or even fear of reprisal by extremist regimes or terrorists, then readers need to label it as such, says the article.
In a sign of how quickly Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to move his so-called Texas Privacy Act, also known as the bathroom bill, out of the Senate, he wants to make it a marquee event as soon as he is able to.

It joins a host of other measures the Texas Senate plans to take up next week, which is the first time, per state law, that the full 31-member chamber can cast votes on issues not designated as emergencies by Gov. Greg Abbott. Legislators are barred from taking up non-emergency items before the first 60 days of a regular legislative session. That means that March 13 marks the moment this session when the Senate will assume much more power in determining its agenda, and in beginning to chart its confrontations with the House.

Last week, Patrick wanted everyone to know that the Senate voted out all four of Abbotts emergency items, which also included reforming Child Protective Services, readying Texas for a Convention of States, and overhauling ethics rules for elected officials.

Today, I am proud to announce that the Texas Senate has voted on and passed legislation addressing all of these critical emergency issues, Patrick said in a March 1 statement. I applaud our hard-working senators who moved swiftly and are committed to a conservative agenda that upholds the principles and values Texas voters have tasked us to protect.

With that behind him  and eager to remind that the House has passed only one of Abbotts items  Patrick now can turn his attention to all the proposals he wishes were on the governors short list. Chief among them: Senate Bill 6, the proposal that would restrict transgender people's access to bathrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms in government-owned buildings. This week, the State Affairs Committee heard nearly 20 hours of testimony on the bill in a hearing that drew more than 400 witnesses to the Capitol, with the vast majority in opposition.

Patrick has other big-ticket items that his allies can shepherd through committee and, as of Monday, get to the Senate floor relatively quickly, such as legislation on abortion and property tax cuts.

SB 6 is different, however.

Until recently, Patrick reportedly did not have the required 19 votes from senators to bring the measure to the full chamber. Couple that with the fact that House lawmakers, many of whom are Republicans, are staunchly against the bill, and weeks of speculation about the fate of SB 6 was stalling any momentum it may have had.

Then, this week, Patrick announced that he won over a Democrat, Sen. Eddie Lucio of Brownsville, pushing support for SB 6 over the threshold and allowing Patrick to place it on the calendar for Monday. Lucios support could not have come at a better time.

While the daily calendar can change in a moments notice, there is no denying that this particular priority of the lieutenant governors still is alive for now. It is on its way to getting further than many political observers thought it would, thanks, in no small part, to the now-wide open Senate calendar.
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Headline changed, details added (first version posted on 11:10)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received a delegation led president of France-Caucasus Friendship Group in the Senate of the French Republic Andre Reichardt.

Stressing the importance of the fact that Andre Richard is accompanied by a large of delegation of French senators, the head of state said the visit will create a good opportunity for them to familiarize themselves with the country.

They noted that relations between the two countries are successfully developing in various areas, and emphasized the significance of high-level reciprocal visits in terms of strengthening the bilateral cooperation.

The sides noted that prospects for economic and energy cooperation and collaboration within the European Union, as well as the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which will be discussed during a forthcoming visit of President Ilham Aliyev to France.

They also discussed how to develop Azerbaijan-France cooperation in the energy, ecological, agricultural and other spheres.
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Conservative leadership candidate Chris Alexander laughs off the suggestion that hes a hard guy to read.

Im in it to win, the 48-year-old tells The Huffington Post Canada over breakfast at The Fairmont Macdonald in Edmonton.

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Its the morning after the would-be leaders debate, and Alexander is looking relaxed. His hair is wet from a morning shower. He is wearing blue jeans, a light blue cotton shirt, navy cotton blazer and light brown suede shoes. Hes sipping black coffee and has just had an orange juice.

He chuckles when asked why he is running  he was just roundly defeated in the Toronto-area riding of Ajax 15 months ago.

Basically, because I love this country. I want our party to win in 2019, and I didnt see a better candidate. Its not because its my last dying wish.

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After his defeat on Oct. 19, 2015, Alexander  Canadas former ambassador to Afghanistan, the former United Nations special representative in Afghanistan, and prime minister Stephen Harpers last immigration minister  watched for a year to see who might emerge to lead the Tories but decided that no one who could do a better job.

Among the senior tier of Harper cabinet ministers, Jim Flaherty and Jim Prentice both died, while Peter MacKay, Jason Kenney and James Moore all decided not to run. The next tier of candidates  Kellie Leitch, Lisa Raitt, Maxime Bernier  are people Alexander views as peers, not as people with deeper relevant experience.

Who can bring people together  all parts of the party, social conservatives, new Conservatives, new Canadians, urban Canada? Who speaks French? Definitely not all of them. And who has a plan, and who can drive a plan, the perfectly bilingual diplomat expands. I talked to a lot of people and came to this decision, and I feel good about it. I think the real race starts in the next three months.

Alexander orders the Macdonald Benedict: two soft poached eggs on English muffins with Canadian back bacon, hollandaise sauce, heirloom potatoes, roasted roma tomatoes and sliced fresh fruit. He asks for his eggs to be poached soft.

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Losing his seat gave him pause, he says. It was a big blow. Probably, for me in a career, the hardest hand to be dealt.

It was difficult on his young family. He and his wife, Hedvig, have two daughters, Selma Zolaykha (born in 2009) and Elisabeth Malalai (born in 2011). He wondered if jumping into the leadership race made sense for them and whether he wanted to put everyone through that again.

But failure in politics is actually part of being a better politician, he says.

Some people have asked Alexander why they should support him when he couldnt hold down his own riding, he says. But most people understand that the Conservatives lost for larger reasons. It wasnt candidates [fault].

He worked harder in 2015 than he did during the 2011 race, he notes. It wasnt single-person combat that let us down or that showed our weakness, it was a national trend, and in urban Canada, we lost a lot of our altitude with new Canadians. We screwed up, we didnt tell our story.

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On social media, we were second rate, and those decisions were not made by us candidates out in the highways and the byways, he says, as the waitress brings more coffee.

Alexander, however, was one of the major faces  and more controversial figures of the 2015 campaign. Following the drowning death of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, Alexander appeared on the CBC showing little empathy for the growing refugee crisis and lashing out at the public broadcaster for failing to cover the Tories previous refugee intake with much fanfare.

Then weeks later, he stood next to Leitch as they announced the Conservatives plan to establish a barbaric-cultural-practices tip line.

Alexander dismisses suggestions his leadership bid is an effort to recast himself and rebuild his public image.

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Listen, that was an unpleasant experience. That issue, that was fake news. Its not about practices, its about forced marriages, Alexander says about the Tories tip line.

Its astonishing how many articles I can point to over a whole year and a half that dont even mention the term forced marriage, he adds.

These are important issues and, yes, it got labelled, framed in a certain way, by Gerald Butts, by the Liberal war-room, and we didnt fight back.

Butts is Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus principal secretary and the main architect of the Liberals electoral win. He is, however, not responsible for the framing of the tip line.

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It was Alexander and Leitch, after all, who stood behind a lectern with the words Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices. He watched as Leitch announced that a re-elected Conservative government would establish an RCMP tip line so that citizens and victims could call with information about incidents of barbaric cultural practices here in Canada or to notify authorities that a child or a woman is at risk of being victimized.

As he takes a sip of coffee, Alexander defends the Tories framing. Forced marriage is tantamount to modern day slavery; it is barbaric in my view.

So, where is the fake news?

For a year and a half people have talked about this issue  Chris Alexander, barbaric practices this, barbaric practices that. They never mention, what the underlying issue is, which is women and girls in forced marriages, he responds.

Im not in this race to overcome some interview. That is in the deep past now. Im in it because Canada needs a better government. I wake up every morning scratching my head, wondering how someone as unqualified as Justin Trudeau became prime minister of Canada. I think it reflects really badly on all of us.

"Failure in politics is actually part of being a better politician."

The waitress arrives with the eggs benedict and Alexander takes a bite.

What Alexander wants to talk about is his desire to build a Canada that is more engaged in international affairs. He envisages a country that spends more on its military, air force and navy, that contributes more to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and isnt afraid of engaging in Syria.

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He believes Canada should be bombing the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria and ensuring that Syrian President Bashar al-Assads air force cant bomb his own people by grounding his air operation, and using Canadian special forces on the ground to help identify targets.

These are the issues of our time, state sponsorship of terrorism really matters to me. The conflict to Syria really matters to me, half a million people dead.

As he told the crowd in Edmonton: I was in Afghanistan for six years. Terrorism in Syria and Iraq is much worse [and] threatens the future of at least a dozen countries.

Alexander also wants to aggressively court world markets in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. He wants Canada to diversify its exports to ensure 50 per cent of trade is done outside the continent. He wants the Canadian Forces used to ensure the safety of marine trade routes and he wants to extend Canadas diplomatic presence round the globe, using it to promote deeper trade.

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Canada needs to tell the world that it is the best place to do business, he says. He promises to slash payroll taxes on small businesses, reduce corporate income taxes (although he doesnt say by how much) and invest heavily in mostly undefined large-scale innovation incentives. He wants to make it attractive for start-ups to stay in Canada and for companies, especially European firms, to set up a North American home-base in Canada.

He wants to bring deep tech to Canada, from artificial intelligence and robotics to genetic engineering. He wants the new economy to happen here.

Its different than the Trudeau thing, he adds unprompted, no doubt anticipating the next question. The prime minister has promised to bring forward an innovation agenda that sounds very similar to what Alexander is pitching. They [the Liberals] talk about it, he says, but then they make government bigger.

Its hard to see how Alexander wouldnt make government bigger. He promises tax cuts and a lot more spending on embassies abroad, on active military missions and to expand the size of the army. While he pledges to repeal any carbon tax and build pipelines in every direction, he also says he wants a larger CBC mandated to provide more foreign coverage that fits with the governments economic and political agenda. He wants to create an independent firearms agency to regulate guns and an independent procurement agency to purchase National Defence equipment, including the best fighter jets and nuclear submarines.

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Im a 2011 Conservative Party of Canada conservative

Alexander wants to nation-build, like the prime ministers he most admires: John Diefenbaker, Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Robert Borden, Brian Mulroney.

Unlike most other Tory candidates, he has policy focused on ending homelessness (he would introduce a private sponsorship plan, for example) and on addressing problems on First Nations' reserves.

If he were prime minister, he says, clean water and good education would be a daily focus for his government.

To win, we need a bigger party than we have today, he explains. While he was a Progressive Conservative youth  he even remembers Leitch from her early activism days  he is now a Conservative Party of Canada conservative.

But, Im a 2011 Conservative Party of Canada conservative in that, in 2011 we won [many] of the seats in the city of Toronto. We won in all parts of Canada except for Quebec, where we went down. And thats the way we need to be to win.

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Unprompted, Alexander takes a swipe at two of the contests perceived front-runners.

Bernier is not going to win. His pledge to end all government subsidies is obscene, Alexander says, adding that Bernier would have a hard time pivoting from a libertarian platform to a forge a broader coalition.

You have to be honest with people at this stage about how you are going to go win the election, he says. Do you think that the Conservative Party of Canada can go into an election against Justin Trudeau promising $60-billion of cuts to government spending?  We wont win.

Similarly, Alexander thinks Leitch wont appeal to millennials and new immigrant voters because of her call to screen all newcomers for so-called Canadian values.

If we go that way, we will end up with a narrowing coalition with a narrower party than we had in 2015, and that was already lower than we had in 2011.

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I could not campaign on a platform of draconian cuts to government spending and I could certainly not campaign on a platform that included mandatory interviews on Canadian values for visitors. I mean that idea is so insipid that I find myself  it sickens me that it is even an issue in this.

Alexander originally committed to run again in 2019 but hes no longer sure.

It depends. Well have to see who the leader is and so forth, he says, adding some hot sauce to whats left of his eggs.

Alexanders policy proposals havent attracted much attention. Perhaps, its because he has raised only $116,396 in 2016 from 230 individuals, placing him ninth of 14 candidates. Perhaps, it is because he has no endorsements from any of his old colleagues in the House of Commons.

Lock her up controversy

Perhaps, it is because Alexander continues to attract a lot of negative attention. He was criticized in December for standing by while protesters in Edmonton shouted lock her up as he spoke about Alberta Premier Rachel Notleys climate policies. Lock her up was the chant used by supporters of then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump against his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton.

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Alexander can be seen in a video, posted by The Rebel, a right-wing website, smiling, nodding and waving his finger with the chanting crowd. He told the media after the incident that he tried to change the chant to vote her out.

"I was somewhat shocked, taken aback, mortified even, that this chant, this slogan, from south of the border was suddenly being picked up by everyone in front of me," Alexander told the CBC after the incident.

"I as well find it offensive that people would be calling for illegal  even if some of them thought it was in jest  for illegal actions, threatening actions, against a sitting premier of Alberta."

He was playing for time, trying to find a way to interject, he said in explaining his body language. As the chant wound down, he talked about voters using the ballot box to send a message to the premier.

Alexander did not lead any chant to "lock her up". Never once uttered those words, it was someone else, you smear merchant @TheKirkHeuserpic.twitter.com/6q0jGPXfDk  Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) December 4, 2016

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A week later, Alexander was in Calgary telling a group of Albertans that he had been warned by a bunch of politically correct people not to return to another rally in the province. There he led a vote her out chant.

In February, with the backdrop of anti-Islamophobia motion M-103 being debated in Parliament, Alexander, along with four other leadership candidates, attended The Rebels Freedom Rally at Canada Christian College in Toronto.

Organizers said the motion was an attempt to expand anti-blasphemy laws in Canada. Alexander took the stage to talk about freedom of speech.

I have a lot of trouble with a motion that talks about hatred this, phobia that, and doesnt mention the No. 1 threat in the world today, which is Islamic jihadist terrorism, he said to cheers. While the leadership candidate noted that there are Muslims who are worried when they go to the mosque, and Alexander said Canada would stand with them to support their freedom of religion and their freedom to be safe from violence, someone in the crowd yelled: Ban Islam!

Cant be with you on that journey, but I support your freedom of speech, Alexander responded.

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The Rebel rally took place only 17 days after a gunman killed six men praying in a Quebec City mosque.

Alexander says he attended the protest in Edmonton because it was a rally for jobs in Alberta.

In Toronto, it was a rally about freedom of speech where I wanted to say, and did say, freedom of speech includes recognizing anti-Muslim hatred in this country is a reality. Islamophobia is a problem. We as Canadians stand together to oppose those things.

At the same time, he said, this misunderstanding doesnt come from hot head Canadians it comes from the fact that essentially the Islamic State has been on a rampage since 2012.

Hate crimes against Muslims have more than doubled since 2012, Alexander notes, something he called worrying.

But what happened in 2012 in 2013? The Islamic State started to up its media machine, beheading people, conducting atrocities in full public view, and so some people, a worrying number of people cant distinguish between a Muslim and the fanatic, the terrorists that are conducting these acts, and it makes them nervous.

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Every poll shows that there is anxiety about these issues so we have to talk about terrorism, and the real threats that are out there that we should be doing more to stop.

The waitress comes by to clear the plates. Alexander hasnt eaten his breakfast potatoes. He orders a cappuccino.

It was one heckler. I think he was misguided. I thought it was absurd what he was saying. He didnt get support from anyone else, so I moved on...

Listen, I dont agree with a lot of what these guys do, just like I dont agree with what is on a lot of CBC but if I am invited to speak to, in Toronto, my hometown, to a meeting where basically everyone is a Conservative, oh yeah I would go, he says, whispering now.

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Oh yeah, the coverage is all about the guys in the Trump hats, but there were 50 Iranian Canadians there, some of them gay, who were brought to this country by us. They are my friends, and they are there saying, lets not go too far on Islamophobia. None of us want hate speech against Islam or any religion, but there is an agenda championed by Saudi Arabia and other countries that wants to shut down all criticism of Islam in Western countries.

Story continues after slideshow:

Chris Alexander Through The Years See Gallery

There is fear mongering on all side, he says. During the last election, he spoke at a mosque in Pickering, Ont., where, he says, the imam gave a blood curdling speech denouncing the West basically calling for violence, not in Canada but against westerners of the world, and his speech could have been written in Tehran.

The man in question is Maulana Syed Mohammad Zaki Baqri, an anti-Semitic extremist imam who, according to media reports, seemed to rub Alexander the wrong way after he bashed Harper.

Alexander says he didnt report the imam or his speech. Im a politician, Im not in law enforcement. I dont interfere I was in an election campaign; its not what you do.

Instead, Alexander says, he told the crowd he disagreed with the imams message but supported his freedom of speech because if he had made a speech like that in Tehran denouncing the supreme leader he would be in jail.

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There is a lot of anger

The forums he chooses to attend may be controversial but Alexander says he wants to be where the people are.

Im not a populist. Im not someone who panders to it Im a modernizer.

To win, he says, Conservatives need to be together. We have to be social conservatives, we have to rally for Alberta conservatives...

There is a lot of anger in the political world today, if you are not able to deal with it, to understand where it is coming from and help people get answers and get solutions, youre not doing your job as a politician today.

* * *

Alexander always wanted to be a politician. In high school, he dreamed of one day becoming prime minister. Who didnt? he asks, with a smile.

He was a bright student who benefited from an upper-middle class upbringing and the attention of smart giving parents who provided him with opportunities that helped him excel.

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Alexander was born at Toronto General Hospital in 1968. His mother, Andrea, was a high school teacher turned arts-and-culture volunteer. His father, Bruce, worked as a lawyer and later served as an assistant deputy minister for the Ontario government.

He attended Oriole Public School, where he took Grades 2 and 3 together. At the quasi-private University of Toronto School, he did Grade 7 and 8 combined with the other students. When he entered McGill University, he was 16.

In high school, he took German and won a provincial language contest. He was actively involved in model United Nations simulations, which piqued his interest in global affairs, and served as president of the student council in Grade 13.

At McGill, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history and political science  joint honours, he notes  he submitted his papers and took exams in French. He served as the student councils vice-president of external affairs and rowed. His accomplishments didnt earn him the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, which recognizes the top students and athletes with a grant to study at the University of Oxford.

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Governor General David Johnson, then the president of McGill, forced him to apply, he says. But not getting it was a blessing. Hed rather not wear the stigma of Cecil Rhodes. (Rhodes believed whites were the master race and the more of the world whites inhabited, the better it would be for humanity).

After graduating in December 1988, Alexander moved to Quebec City to live with his cousin and attend a semester of university at Laval. He wanted to speak French. He was the only federalist in his class.

The following fall, he was at Oxford anyway studying philosophy and economics, having received the Philip F. Vineberg Travelling Fellowship in the Humanities. The scholarship is awarded to, according to its description, the student who best exemplifies the qualities of intelligence.

He had written the foreign service exam before leaving McGill, and mid-way through his second BA at Oxford, the department called to offer him a job. He joined Foreign Affairs in 1991.

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Two weeks into his job as a desk officer, there was an attempted coup against Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. He had expressed an interest in the Soviet Union, having travelled to the region, visited East Germany on an exchange, and Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution. In 1993, he was sent to Moscow as the third secretary and vice-council. Within a month of his arrival, Alexander was standing outside the Russian White House during then-president Boris Yeltsin's standoff with the Russian parliament. He remembers people falling all around him and running as snipers shot into the crowd.

In 1995, he recalls meeting Vladimir Putin, then the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. The two would go on to cross paths several times, with Alexander serving as Putins liaison officer during his G8 visit to Kananaskis. Putin, Alexander says, wanted to know where the Indians were.

After a stint back in Ottawa as the assistant to the deputy minister on G8 issues, and as the deputy director of the Russian section, Alexander was sent back to Moscow in 2000 as the No. 2 person in the mission.

Three years later, Ottawa offered him Canadas top job in Afghanistan. I hesitated for about three seconds. He was an ambassador at 34.

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Two and half years later, Alexander, who had earned rave reviews as an extremely bright, capable, and active diplomat from army commanders and civilians alike, left the federal public service on a leave of absence.

He had no desire to leave Afghanistan after 2 years, he says. I felt the job we were all trying to do in Afghanistan was just starting.

He is particularly proud of Canadas involvement in organizing the 2004 presidential elections, and watching the long lines of women and men form early in the morning.

Months after his arrival in Afghanistan, Alexander had also just met Hedvig, a Danish army captain working with the International Security Assistance Force. Their courtship was normal for the circumstances: their first date was at a Kabul restaurant with three fully armed Canadian soldiers standing guard as a protective detail.

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She later worked for the UN on elections and disarmament and ran two charitable projects in Afghanistan. In 2008, they married in Denmark.

Alexander had been offered the senior civilian job in Afghanistan for NATO and a UN job as special permanent representative. He chose the UN gig and served from 2005 to until mid-2009, after the birth of his first daughter.

Afghanistan was tough, especially after the international community started losing. During his time as Canadian ambassador, things were relatively secure, but then the Taliban rebounded.

When you see villages, districts falling, civilians being killed; yeah, a whole nation losing hope, those are the biggest psychological blows Ive ever felt.

Wrote book on his time in Afghanistan

In 2010, Alexander wrote a book about his experience, The Long Way Back: Afghanistan's Quest for Peace.

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He wrote it, he says, because the larger story was not being told. So much of what was achieved in Afghanistan was obscured by the disaster of the Iraq mission, he says. Moreover, stability could not come to Afghanistan without an end to Pakistani support for the Taliban, the Haqqanis and other groups. I wanted to draw attention to this issue, and still do.

He is still frustrated the international community turned a blind eye at Pakistans involvement.

When he would talk about support for the Taliban by Pakistans intelligence agency, the ISI, the Americans would tell him to keep quiet, that it wasnt true. Its one of his big regrets. He wishes hed been more direct about an ally training and funding groups that were killing foreign soldiers.

If you have good political leadership, even at the margins, it really moves things ahead. It can really make life better. And when you dont things can go backwards.

"I dont have people beating their breasts and ripping their clothes off for me with passionate shows of support. But I find a lot of people say:'You're talking sense.'"

After Alexander left his post in 2009, he headed to Denmark for a few months before coming back to Canada. He already knew he was going into Canadian politics.

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Going back into the foreign service and being in a nice comfortable place but not being in the crucible of decision-making or in the political arena, it would have been boring, he says.

He had spoken to people in the Prime Ministers Office, including Harpers campaign manager, Doug Finley, who told him to find a Toronto-area riding the Tories could win that didnt already have a candidate.

For a few months, he lived in a condo downtown before he and his wife settled in Ajax. By late September, he was the Conservative candidate in that riding.

Alexander says he had thought of running for office earlier but the timing wasnt right. He wanted to join the foreign service to gain relevant experience. And for many of those years, you couldnt run as a Conservative, right? Because we werent united. We werent a force. Certainly, in ridings around Toronto, there was no chance.

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In 2006, he says he saw the potential and in 2008, I was ready to get on board.

Media reports at the time suggested Alexander had been courted by the Liberals as well, but he says those talks were never serious.

After pounding the pavement in the riding for two years, Alexander defeated the Liberal incumbent Mark Holland. (Holland returned the favour when he bested Alexander in 2015).

He found his tenure in government rewarding. He says: I felt very appreciated in government as a voice on some issues.

He was appointed immigration minister two years later. Under his leadership of the department, the government introduced Bill C-24, which stripped dual-citizens convicted of terrorist offences of their Canadian citizenship. Another Conservative policy that backfired during the 2015 campaign.

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This time though, Alexander hopes to build a less exclusionary tent.

I want a broader party that includes people like you and me, that includes a lot of Canadians, he says.

This is a preferential ballot where people are still deciding not only who their first choice is but who their top three or four choices are, and it is not going to be easy for anyone to achieve the numbers, he says.

The Conservative leadership race will also be decided by a point-system that gives every riding equal weight in determining who the next leader is, regardless of size of the membership.

Alexander insists he has a chance of winning. I really do. I wouldnt be here otherwise

I dont have people beating their breasts and ripping their clothes off for me with passionate shows of support. But I find a lot of people say: 'You're talking sense. We need these kinds of messages. An economic message that is well-rounded.'"

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Sen. Don Meredith abused his power and office in engaging in a sexual relationship with a teen that began when she was 16, concluded a bombshell report released Thursday.

The investigation by Lyse Ricard, the Senate ethics officer, found that Meredith breached two sections of the Senate ethics code that require a senator's conduct to be upheld to the "highest standards of dignity inherent to the position of a senator"; and to "refrain from acting in a way that could reflect adversely on the position of senator or the institution of the senate."

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Senator Meredith brought into the relationship the power and influence of the office of Senator, while Ms. M was a vulnerable teenager. That dynamic pervaded the entire relationship, from the time it was initiated through to when it became sexual, wrote Ricard in the 33-page report.

The ethics officer said she heard conflicting testimony from both Meredith and the young woman, who is identified as Ms. M. However, she found Ms. M to be a credible witness, who was forthcoming in answering questions and providing evidence which included sexually explicit text messages, emails, and screengrabs of Skype and Viber chats between herself and Meredith.

"Conversely, I did not find Senator Meredith to be credible in his testimony," Ricard wrote. She stated that from the beginning, Meredith objected to the inquiry because he felt this was a personal family matter unrelated to his role in the upper chamber.

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Ms. M was 16 when she met the senator in February 2013 during a function for Black History Month at an Ottawa church. At the time, the married senator and father of two was 50 years old. Meredith, who was appointed to the Senate in 2010 by former prime minister Stephen Harper, is also a Pentecostal minister.

After giving the student his phone number, the pair began communicating via text message, phone and email. This contact was initiated and encouraged by the senator, said the findings.

The report makes clear the senator knew Ms. M's age just weeks in their acquaintance, even telling her, You do not look your age, according to her testimony.

'You are special'

Meredith invited her to dinner on Valentine's Day 2013 but she turned the invitation down. Something about it just didnt feel right to me, so I consulted my family and they said I shouldnt go, she testified.

Their communication progressed, and Ms. M told Ricard "he would say ... 'you are special' and 'caring' and how he would introduce me to contacts for the future, and stuff like that."

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She said a physical relationship began six months later with their first sexual encounter at her apartment  when she was 16  and that she lost her virginity to Meredith at his Chateau Laurier hotel room in Ottawa when she was 18.

I did not find Senator Meredith to be credible in his testimony.  Senate Ethics Officer Lyse Ricard

There were also sexually explicit chats over Skype, with Meredith in one instance asking the teen to take her top off, because that was "what adults do," according to her testimony.

"Senator Meredith masturbated on camera during these chats at least seven times; on about three of these occasions, he was in his GTA Faith Alliance [church] office," said the inquiry report. It adds the chats also took place while he was away on Senate business, and in his home office.

Senator contacted teens parents

A section of Ricards report also addresses the senator contacting the young womans parents, referring to Viber messages that alluded to potential business dealings.

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When Ricard asked Ms. M why Meredith was communicating with her parents, she said: I think a part of it, now that I look back, was probably just to neutralize the situation and kind of gain everybodys trust.

One particular exchange near the end of their relationship in April 2015 hints at Ms. Ms frustrations over the senators failure to come through on his promise to help both her career and her mom with obtaining permanent Canadian residency.

You told my sister that youd help her NGO (non-governmental organization), you told me youd have me on your National Youth strategy team. You did none, she said in a text submitted as evidence.

Meredith responded: I helped your Mom with investigation of her PR so dont come with your rudeness to me.

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The relationship ended the following month after Meredith said God was not happy with him, texting Ms. M that he should be leading you not making you.

... this process has come this far to publicly embarrass and shame me.  Sen. Don Meredith

Meredith denied many of the details Ms. M raised during the inquiry, or did not remember them, according to the report. When questioned about masturbating on camera, for example, he said he did not recall doing so, but if he did, it was an interaction.

In questioning the young womans motivation, the senator told the inquiry that this process has come this far to publicly embarrass and shame me.

He added he found it quite surprising how his personal messages could be saved, dated, and indexed, saying, That leads me to you know just speculate as to what the motive was about.

But Ricard concluded: "Senator Meredith drew upon his weight, prestige and notability of his office, as well as his relative position of power as a much older adult, to lure or attract Ms. M, a teenager who, by virtue of her age, was necessarily vulnerable," Ricard wrote. "He exploited Ms. M and the power imbalance between them."

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The ethics officer's inquiry began in 2015 after the Toronto Star reported on the alleged affair. Meredith was ejected from the Conservative caucus shortly after the story was published.

In response to Richard's report  which he was given the chance to review on March 2  Meredith submitted a letter outlining the remedial measures he said he has taken. He stated that he has placed himself under the guidance of spiritual advisors, engaged in continuous prayers of repentance as well as counselling.

The lessons and habits that I have learned from these efforts will ensure that any breach of the Code will never be repeated, he wrote. In addition, out of my determination to further improve as a Senator, I have recently reached out to a former, well-respected Senator to provide me with one-on-one guidance on ethical matters.

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Meredith also reiterates to Ricard his concern about the level of detail contained in her report, which he said would put all parties at risk of serious emotional and other harm.

The Senate's ethics committee will now review the report, and could recommend further action, such as expelling Meredith.

Police investigation

In September 2015, Ricard notified Ottawa police after a conversation with the teenager gave her reasonable grounds to believe the senator may have committed a crime. Police closed their investigation in January 2016 and did not lay any charges.

Meredith is also the subject of a separate investigation after allegations of workplace harassment were raised by former staffers. That final report has yet to be tabled.

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In 2014, The Huffington Post Canada found that Merediths masters degree in religious studies and his honourary doctorate were granted from unaccredited institutions.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Heads of governments of GUAM countries  Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova  will meet in Kyiv on Mar. 27.

A business forum will be held as part of the event with participation of member countries entrepreneurs, GUAM told Trend Mar. 10.

Initially, it was planned to hold the meeting of heads of governments of GUAM countries on Dec. 5, 2016, however, due to the busy working schedule of the parties representatives, it was postponed for February 2017.

Azerbaijan, which chaired GUAM in 2016, put the initiative to organize a meeting of heads of GUAM countries governments.

The GUAM format was created by post-Soviet states in 1997 during the summit of heads of the EU states in Strasbourg. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the format and four years later withdrew.

In 2006, Ukraine and Azerbaijan announced plans to further increase the GUAM member relations and established its headquarters in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Currently, GUAM cooperates with Washington and Tokyo within GUAM+US and GUAM+Japan formats.
That's not Ryan Gosling.

Some random dude took the stage at Germany's annual Goldene Kamera Awards this week to accept a trophy for "La La Land." The award was meant for the Canadian actor, but a man with a heavy German accent appeared on stage.

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The Gosling impersonator thanked "Joko and Klass"  two well-known German comedians with a prank show  in his speech.

Hollywood A-listers, like Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell, were caught laughing in the audience, and the award show host quickly returned to stage to apologize for the massive mistake.

"La La Land" apparently can't catch a break this award season. The musical was the victim the Best Picture mix-up at the Oscars just weeks ago.

Watch the video above to see what actually went down.

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It wasn't just people on Twitter who were upset that Casey Affleck won the Oscar for Best Actor this year.

After presenting the award to the actor on Feb. 26, actress and last year's Best Actress winner Brie Larson noticeably refused to clap as the audience gave the "Manchester By the Sea" star a standing ovation.

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I feel you @brielarson for not celebrating Casey Affleck, a sexual abuser & harasser. #Oscarspic.twitter.com/3x2AUTU3ih  Gilluis Perez (@Gilluis_Perez) February 27, 2017

And now, Larson is saying her decision to not clap for Affleck was completely intentional.

At the Los Angeles premiere of "Kong: Skull Island," the "Room" star told Vanity Fair, I think that whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself. Ive said all that I need to say about that topic.

brie larson everytime she sees casey affleck pic.twitter.com/nkQCta9JxZ  chiara (@chapmns) February 27, 2017

This isn't the first time Larson, an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, refused to publicly laud Affleck.

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Back in January, the Twitterverse noticed that she refused to pay respect to the actor when handing him his Golden Globe award.

Brie Larson didn't have a hug, kiss or any warmth whatsoever for Casey Affleck. Somebody is not fond of Sexual Harassment. #GoldenGlobes  Jill Kushner (@TheJillKushner) January 9, 2017

brie larson: *reads casey affleck's name on the card* brie larson: i'd like to be excluded from this narrative  diana fitzsimmons (@jemsfitz) January 9, 2017

Larson, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of a mother who's been held captive and raped for years, notably hugged each sexual assault victim who appeared onstage with Lady Gaga during her performance at the 2016 Oscars.

Then best actress fave Brie Larson gets up, hugs each, every one. #Oscarspic.twitter.com/OI3cFZaLtl  Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) February 29, 2016

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Days after the Oscars, Affleck broke his silence to The Boston Globe about the controversy surrounding his win.

When asked about the lawsuit brought on by two women over accusations of alleged sexual harassment leveled against him in 2010, the actor said, "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 Affleck accepts the Best Actor award for "Manchester by the Sea" from presenter Brie Larson during the 89th Annual Academy Awards on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

"Theres 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," he continued.

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Both lawsuits were eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Affleck has denied the claims, calling them "extortion."

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Theres a social expectation for women to start a family before they reach a certain age. If they dont, they somehow owe the world an explanation and actress Jennifer Aniston is a prime example of this in action.

For years, the former Friends star has been the subject of tabloid magazines that debate whether or not shes pregnant or claim her life is in shambles because she hasn't started a family yet.

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Jennifer Aniston NOT Pregnant At 48, Despite Tabloid Cover Story https://t.co/CXyCinZnblpic.twitter.com/nD5G6Y7lIs  Gossip Cop (@GossipCop) February 16, 2017

In response, the 48-year-old penned a powerful op-ed for The Huffington Post last year.

The sheer amount of resources being spent right now by press trying to simply uncover whether or not I am pregnant points to the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if theyre not married with children, she wrote. We dont need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own happily ever after for ourselves.

Following her op-ed, Aniston appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where she reiterated her point. We as women do a lot of incredible things in this world other than just procreate, she said.

Aniston is right. In fact, theres a growing number of women who choose not to become mothers, despite the taboo, and instead focus their lives on their careers, marriage, travel or whatever else makes them happy.

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There's no one-way route to happiness and fulfillment and a number of celebrities are proving just that. Here we round up nine famous women (other than Aniston) who have created their own happily ever afters without kids  including one who did end up being a mom but has stated she doesn't need children to feel fulfilled.

Helen Mirren has been married for 20 years, but has never felt the need to become a mother. It's just not something that interests me, she once said. An awful lot of women don't want children, but have them because there is such pressure to do so. It's not right.

In 2013, she also admitted: [Having children] was not my destiny. I kept thinking it would be, waiting for it to happen, but it never did, and I didnt care what people thought.

Mirren knows she doesnt need children to be successful. After all, the 71-year-old has always been a career woman and has won a number of acting awards, including an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in The Queen. Additionally, one of her great ambitions has always been to star in a Fast and Furious movie, which is finally happening this year.

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Mirren clearly finds fulfillment in her work.

Whose Line Is It Anyway? host Aisha Tyler and her husband Jeff Tietjens originally wanted to have kids. But after struggling with infertility for so long, the couple changed their minds and accepted that work over family is a completely valid choice, and no one should ever feel embarrassed or regretful about that.

In 2014, Tyler appeared on HuffPost Live where she emphasized that its OK not to have children. Explaining why she shared her decision to no longer pursue motherhood, the 46-year-old said, I wanted people to feel  men and women  it's OK to say, I love my marriage, I love my life, I choose not to have children.

Portia de Rossi married her partner Ellen DeGeneres in 2008. Since then, she has maintained that their marriage is all she needs to be happy.

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There comes some pressure in your mid-30s, and you think, Am I going to have kids so I don't miss out on something that other people really seem to love? Or is it that I really genuinely want to do this with my whole heart? she told Out magazine in 2013. I didn't feel that my response was yes to the latter. You have to really want to have kids, and neither of us did. So its just going to be me and Ellen and no babies  but were the best of friends and married life is blissful, it really is. Ive never been happier than I am right now.

Ashley Judd doesnt want kids of her own because shes found fulfillment helping kids who are already here.

In her 2011 memoir All That Is Bitter and Sweet, she wrote: I figured it was selfish for us to pour our resources into making our own babies when those very resources and energy could not only help children already here, but through advocacy and service transform the world into a place where no child ever needs to be born into poverty and abuse again.

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Rashida Jones told the Guardian in 2014 that shes always struggled with society's expectation that she needs to have children. While she used to want to become a mother, she admitted that she became so happy with her life that motherhood no longer felt like a necessity.

I had the full princess fantasy: the white horse, the whole being saved from my life, which is ridiculous. What do I want to be saved from? My life's great! she said. But it's just this weird thing that's been hammered into my head culturally: that's the only way to succeed, that's the only thing that counts for a woman. I'm happy, but the fact that I'm not married and don't have kids  it's taken me a long time to get to a place where I actually am OK with that, where I actually don't feel like I'm some sort of loser.

After tying the knot in 2003, comedian Margaret Cho told Marie Claire, I do not want children. When I see children, I feel nothing. I have no maternal instinct. I am barren. I ovulate sand.

Nearly a decade later, Cho revealed the reason behind not wanting kids. I dont know if I could stand that kind of commitment, or if I am really honest, I dont think that I could handle being that vulnerable to someone else, she wrote on her blog.

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Despite this, the 48-year-old has found huge success not just as a stand-up comedian, but as an actress, fashion designer and author. Now thats a fulfilling life!

Before Zooey Deschanel became a mother, she was always adamant that she didnt need kids to feel happy or successful.

That's never been my focus, she told Marie Claire in 2012. My sister was always very motherly, babysitting and stuff. I like kids, and I like being around kids, but it was never an ambition  something, like, I need I like working. That's what I like doing. I like to work.

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Like Hellen Mirren, Betty White has always thrown herself into her career and her 113 acting credits are proof of that. As a result, shes never regretted not having kids because she was so content with her career.

No, I've never regretted it, she told CBS News in 2011. I'm so compulsive about stuff. I know that if I had ever gotten pregnant, of course, that would've been my whole focus. But I didn't choose to have children because I'm focused on my career and I don't think as compulsive as I am that I could manage both.

Motherhood never appealed to Cameron Diaz. Its so much more work to have children, she told Esquire in 2014. To have lives besides your own that you are responsible for  I didnt take that on A baby  thats all day, every day for 18 years. Not having a baby might really make things easier, but that doesnt make it an easy decision. I like protecting people, but I was never drawn to being a mother.

That same year, Diaz admitted to Marie Claire that she wasnt going to have kids just because society expected her to. If a family happens, then it happens. If children come to me, then I would do that, she said, but I'm not someone who feels like she has to do something because it's expected.

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Instead, the 44-year-old actress and former fashion model has always put her career first. In 2015, she tied the knot with Benji Madden and now, the actress couldnt be happier.

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A senator who breached Senate ethics rules in his pursuit of a sexual relationship with a vulnerable teenager maintains he did not exploit anyone or abuse my powers" despite a damning public report.

Sen. Don Meredith sent the message to Sen. Elaine McCoy, facilitator of the independent senators, in an email obtained by The Huffington Post Canada. He informed her that he is resigning from her group "effective immediately  but intends to remain in the Senate.

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I will sit as an independent, while we work through this process, he wrote on Friday amid a barrage of calls for him to resign from the upper chamber.

An inquiry into Meredith's intimate relationship with a young woman  which began when she was 16  concluded that he conflated the power and influence of the office of Senator. Results of the investigation by Senate ethics officer Lyse Ricard were released on Thursday.

The independent senators group, which Meredith belongs to, came to an unanimous agreement on Friday in calling for him to step aside. The group differs from party caucuses in that it does not vote together and does not have parliamentary whips.

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I think that would be the honourable thing to do. Im sorry to say that," McCoy told reporters in the House of Commons foyer on Friday.

Meredith was kicked out of the Conservative caucus in 2015 when allegations of the affair were first revealed, and had been sitting as an Independent.

One independent senator told The Huffington Post Canada he was surprised by the level of detail in the report. He said he assumes it was written that way to "shame him to get him to quit voluntarily."

The 33-page report includes a timeline and explicit details of Merediths relationship with the young woman that began in 2013.

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Identified as Ms. M in the inquiry report, she was 16 when she met Meredith at a Black History Month event at an Ottawa church. The senator, who is also a Pentecostal pastor, was 50 at the time.

Over the course of two years, their acquaintance progressed into physically intimate encounters, including intercourse and live sex chats over Skype.

The report also found the Toronto senator used his Senate-issued phone to communicate with the young woman, and made promises to help her career with his parliamentary connections.

Senate government representative Peter Harder said Friday that he found the graphic details in Ricards report very disturbing.

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For the sake of his colleagues and the honour of the institution they collectively serve, he called on Meredith to resign.

It will likely inflict significant scandals behind it. If nothing else, it would not be fair to your peers for you to persist in remaining a member of the Senate, wrote Harder in a letter to Meredith.

Acknowledging that Meredith does have a right of due process, Harder said hes asking his colleague to resign as a matter of choice, not as a matter of force.

Conservative Sen. David Wells echoed Harders sentiments, saying I dont think [Meredith] should walk through the doors again.

Watch the full press conference below:

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The Senate was previously snared in a drawn-out expense scandal involving claims made by senators Patrick Brazeau, Mike Duffy, and Pamela Wallin. They were suspended without pay or benefits in November 2013  but were back on the Senate payroll after the election writ dropped in August 2015.

Senate process underway

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said its up to the Senate to decide how to handle the findings outlined in Ricards report.

It is not for me to weigh in how the Senate should continue to conduct itself, he said Friday at a news conference in Houston.

Despite new Senate rules enacted after the expense scandal, there are no legal mechanisms in place to force a senator out based on inappropriate behaviour, such as in Meredith's case.

According to the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1987, Meredith is not in breach of the five statutes that merit reasonable grounds for a senator to be stripped of their title.

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These rules state a senator can be disqualified from the red chamber if they are considered bankrupt or insolvent. And since Ottawa police closed their investigation of Meredith without any laying any charges, the senator can keep his job because he hasnt been convicted of a felony or any infamous crime.

Ricard's report is now being reviewed by the Standing Senate Committee on Ethics and Conflict of Interest, which will deliberate and recommend a course of action.

The Senate has one of the strongest ethics codes in all of the Commonwealth and a clear process for dealing with possible breaches including referring matters to the independent senate ethics officer, Ricards office said in a statement to The Huffington Post Canada on Friday.

After the committee settles on possible remedial measures or sanctions, it will submit its recommendations to the Senate for consideration.

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PAUL J. RICHARDS via Getty Images

The so-called "polar bear jail" aims to make a bear's stay very uncomfortable and not somewhere they wish to return. The bears are not fed and are not given any human contact , so as to not habituate them.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will launch a tourism project called The Great Silk Road at the Turkic Council in April 2017, Marat Igaliyev, director of the tourism industry department of the Kazakh Ministry for Investment and Development, wrote in a Facebook post.

Completing the project route, covering the four countries territories, will take 12 days.

On the Kazakh section of the route, tourists will arrive in Almaty, where they will visit Shymbulak Ski Resort, Kok-Tobe Mountain and Kolsai Lakes, Igaliyev wrote.

The tourists will then go to the ancient city of Turkestan, which was named the cultural capital of the Turkic world in 2017.

The tourists will be able to visit the Zhambyl Region and the sacred place of foundation of the Kazakh Khanate  the Aulie Ata, Igaliyev said.
We live in a world where there is an app for almost anything, yet we haven't mastered the most basic human requirement: to feed our own species.

Last week, famine was declared for the country of South Sudan. An actual, real, famine, officially announced by the United Nations itself.

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The word "famine" conjures up images of eras gone by -- the Second World War II, or the Ethiopian famine of the 1980s -- but feels out of place now. Surely there can't be famine in 2017, with all the advancements we've made?

"Famine" is a word that's rarely and cautiously used by the international aid community. It's reserved for describing the very gravest of human suffering. For the U.N. to declare "famine," a great many people must be dying of starvation. Hunger, even lots of it, isn't enough for an official declaration.

Starvation in numbers

In the case of South Sudan, 100,000 people are starving, while 42 per cent of the country (4.7 million people) are on the brink, with severe food shortages. A famine declaration is not the start of a tragedy, but the recognition that one is already underway.

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Adhieu Mapal, a mother in South Sudan, saw the warning signs back in 2015. She told World Vision staff how drought and floods had destroyed her family's crops, leaving them with nothing to eat. Adhieu's son became severely malnourished.

Adhieu's family situation has become the norm. There are now 22 million people in East Africa facing severe food shortages. In Somalia, local farmers are on the move -- one man told World Vision staff that he walked more than 100 kilometres, but still can't find anything to eat.

The problem of hunger

The difference between life in South Sudan and my situation in Toronto is vast. In Canada, for instance it's not unusual to scrape leftover food into the trash. And in fact, the combined food waste from industrialized places (like Toronto) equals roughly the net food production of sub-Saharan Africa. In the U.S. alone, 30 to 40 per cent of all food ends up in landfills!

A school child could do the math: surely it's just a problem of distribution? Shouldn't we just take from where there is excess and redistribute to places that are lacking?

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If only that were the answer. The sad truth is that it's not. Famine might present as hunger, but it's not necessarily caused only by a lack of food.

Famine has multiple causes

In the case of South Sudan crops have failed, while at the same time, conflict has driven people from their homes and farms. Individually, those factors might be a little simpler for governments and agencies to respond to. But together, they have joined forces to create the calamity of famine.

"We need to recognize that there is a combination of factors that have led to this critical situation," says World Vision's director for South Sudan, Perry Mansfield. He explains that the factors include things like:

the fighting between political and ethnic groups that have driven people from their homes and farms;

the decline of the country's economy;

irregular rainfall and changes in climate; and

a lack of donor commitment to invest in the future of a very young country.

Giving more than just food

As aid responses ramp up, organizations like World Vision would almost be missing the point if we responded by only distributing food. Food assistance is vital, no question about it. But what happens in conjunction is critical, says World Vision's Lindsay Gladding.

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"In fragile places like South Sudan, World Vision provides life-saving interventions to save children's lives," explains Lindsay. "But we also support recovery efforts to help these communities return to relative stability, and provide programs to help them thrive."

Discouraging as the famine declaration in South Sudan may be, we must not lose hope about what's possible.

As director for Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs, Lindsay has seen and responded to numerous crises, though famines are a rarity. In responding to the South Sudanese crisis, she says, "we may take multiple approaches at the same time. We have to be incredibly agile and in tune with the changes that are happening on the ground."

World Vision might respond to the needs in a community by providing emergency food assistance, while also training farmers in agricultural skills that are specific to drought conditions. We might also train community members to work in livelihoods of different kinds, so they can earn funds and hire workers.

Building resilience for the future

Discouraging as the famine declaration in South Sudan may be, we must not lose hope about what's possible. Canada is already funding something called the FEED project, in partnership with CARE and Oxfam. It works on several fronts at once, building the resilience of communities so they might not slip into famine again.

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FEED represents a hope for South Sudan. Right now, people need immediate emergency support but as World Vision continues to work with families affected by the protracted crisis, they will need longer lasting solutions.

Help bring relief to South Sudan and other countries at risk of famine by donating to World Vision Canada's rawhope.ca today.

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RadekProcyk via Getty Images Suruc, Turkey - April 3, 2015: Syrian people in refugee camp in Suruc. These people are refugees from Kobane and escaped because of Islamic state attack.

We Canadians are often criticized for being too smug for engaging in excessive self-congratulation. You know the drill. We've got universal single-payer healthcare and Americans don't. We have effective gun control laws and low violent crime rates and Americans don't.

Personally, I think we often overdo our polite humble brag. After all, we're far from perfect and really shouldn't be throwing critical stones at America's political glass house, no matter how big and poorly constructed it might be.

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But there is one issue where I have to concede that we have outdone the U. S. in a huge way: the acceptance and resettlement of Syrian refugees. When it comes to welcoming those fleeing the ongoing destructive civil war, we win hands down.

Last year, Canada took in some 39,000 Syrian refugees and Canadian cities from coast to coast have made great efforts to help them adapt and assimilate. The U.S., on the other hand, let in a grand total of roughly 13,000 refugees, an embarrassing number given our population is only a tenth of theirs.

And since Americans have seen fit to elect the Islamophobic Donald Trump, things have only gotten worse. With his proposed Muslim ban, it looks like he wants to halt the trickle of Syrian refugees altogether.

Shameful as all this is just as a matter of pure numbers, it is all the more shameful given who is to blame for the situation. The disastrous Syrian civil war did not arise out of thin air. It was the necessary and tragic result of America's ill-thought-out and illegal incursion into Iraq.

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When George W. Bush stupidly and unlawfully removed the lid from the Pandora's Box that was Iraq, he initiated the events that led to today's Middle Eastern tragedies. That mistake was compounded by other egregious errors such as the disbandment of the Iraqi army that ultimately led to the formation of ISIS and its escalation of the Syrian conflict.

Without America's criminal intervention in Iraq, Syria would likely have remained a relatively stable autocracy. That's not to say that such a repressive state is desirable or laudable but I have no doubt that most Syrians would opt for that functioning society in place of the disaster they are now fleeing.

Like some lumbering leviathan, America ignorantly bumbles into another country with a naive notion of "liberating a dictatorship" or "spreading democracy." Despite repeated warnings from those in the know (including the State Department's own experts), leaders like Bush rush in where even fools know the obvious consequences and thus fear to tread.

But when things go predictably and tragically wrong, America is nowhere to be found. The Pottery Barn rule ("you break it, you own it") seems to have no application to the American bull in the Middle Eastern china shop.

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This, of course, has been the pattern for years. The U. S. invades some poor country, declares victory and eschews any responsibility for cleaning up the resulting mess.

That is why America's position on Syrian refugees is all the more shameful. A responsible democracy which created such a horrible situation would presumably want to make amends and do everything in its power to help the hundreds of thousands of people affected.

"Maybe enough Americans will awake from their comfortable ignorant slumber and help will be offered to those they have harmed although history suggests otherwise."

Yet where is the United States when it comes to helping the Syrian people? Once again, America is last in line. European countries are overwhelmed in their attempts to help and even little Canada does thirty times more than America which again just throws its arms up and says "Who, me?"

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this state of affairs. After all, a nation that still hasn't come to terms with its history of slavery can't be expected to take responsibility for the human damage it has caused elsewhere.

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Maybe things will improve although not likely during the reign of Donald Trump. Maybe enough Americans will awake from their comfortable ignorant slumber and help will be offered to those they have harmed although history suggests otherwise.

In the meantime, I will take pride in Canada's small attempt to assist those hurt by the heedless American giant. After all, it's the least we can do.
In the fall of 2015, Canadians heard news reports of wealthy tax dodgers using accounting giant KPMG's Isle of Man scheme to avoid paying tax at home. Later, in the spring of 2016, we learned that the Canada Revenue Agency negotiated a secret deal with KPMG to offer their clients secret amnesties without penalties and very little interest if they just agreed to pay the taxes they should have paid in the first place.

In response to public outrage, the House of Commons Finance Committee decided to conduct hearings to find how the Canada Revenue Agency was handling the KPMG Isle of Man file. The hearings also aimed to get KPMG officials to explain themselves and their practices.

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Things did not go well -- at least, from the perspective of regular taxpaying Canadians.

After both KPMG and Revenue Canada officials had a chance to explain themselves and the committee was ready to hear from the legal experts and critics of the tax scheme (including representatives of Canadians for Tax Fairness), a KPMG lawyer lobbed a letter into the proceedings. He argued that the Isle of Man issue was "before the courts" and that it could not be discussed by any of the witnesses.

It is a whole other blog to discuss why that argument was incorrect, because parliamentary committees have parliamentary privilege that overrides anything that may be before the courts. The fact remains that the committee bought the argument and did not allow witnesses, including myself, from mentioning KPMG or dealing with specific issues related to the Isle of Man case. This had an impact on their final report, released late last year. KPMG is not mentioned in any of the document's 14 recommendations.

KPMG did not get off so lightly in the United States when they were caught marketing similar dubious tax products there.

They've been willing to gamble that they won't be found out. But they also know that if they are, there is always a way to negotiate a special deal.

U.S. Senate hearings on KPMG tax scams were much more aggressive and resulted in the firm admitting it engaged in a fraud that generated at least $11 billion dollars in phony tax losses, as well as the indictments of a former deputy chairman and two former heads of KPMG's tax practice. KPMG ended up having to pay fines of over a half a billion dollars.

In Canada it was a different story. The committee blinked. They never got to the bottom of the issue -- they did not hear from tax law professors on whether they thought KPMG should be charged with facilitating tax evasion and why those secret CRA deals should not have been approved.

Recently, more wealthy Canadians were named in news stories about the KPMG scheme. And at least one of them admitted in a CBC Fifth Estate documentary that the product was sold to him for the express purpose of creating a false trail. KPMG facilitated this dodge for a down payment of $100,000 and a yearly fee based on a percentage of taxes saved.

It is outrageous enough that wealthy clients got off with a slight reprimand. KPMG has, so far, paid no price for their role. Even more frustrating is that they continue to be awarded lucrative government contracts federally, provincially and municipally. Government suppliers are subject to a code of ethics. But they are safe as long as they aren't found guilty of anything.

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The committee let Canadians down by not recommending a full investigation into this case and laying charges against KPMG if the evidence warrants it. And Canadians are right to keep demanding one.

This is hardly an isolated incident. Whether it is Swiss banks or Panamanian law firms, international tax avoidance industry is big business. In last year's report "What's Wrong at the CRA? And How To Fix it" we showed that the tax avoidance industry knows that the CRA was sucker-punched during the Harper years. And they've been willing to gamble that they won't be found out for over-stepping the line of legality. But they also know that if they are, there is always a way to negotiate a special deal. Quietly. Privately. Cheaply.

The minister has promised to make those findings public and then seek input from Canadians.

Although the Finance Committee report failed to call for that investigation into the actions of KPMG in the Isle of Man case, it did raise some important issues. It recommended that all tax products be registered before they are offered to clients. Registration requirements for tax products could be an effective tool in reining in the frontier attitudes of tax avoidance salespeople. Strong and timely enforcement are critical to that effectiveness.

In a written response to the committee, the Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier indicated some support for beefing up the rules and increasing penalties for non-compliance. She might not have much choice. She is having a hard time balancing her "tough on cheats" rhetoric with a sparse record of prosecutions and stories about secret deals negotiated with big firms like KPMG. She needs to create stricter rules around these schemes and put resources in place to make sure they are followed.

The parliamentary committee also recommended a review of the Voluntary Disclosure Program. This program was designed as an escape hatch for taxpayers who realized omissions -- or had a pang of conscience -- after they had filed. But there are increasing concerns that somehow, some people were receiving notice that they were about to be audited or realized their names may have been included in leaks of information, and then used the VDP before the audit started. A departmental review of the VDP is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

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The minister has promised to make those findings public and then seek input from Canadians. We need to hold her to that promise.

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The United Nations' weather agency says the state of Earth's climate is bad and getting worse faster than before, especially with sea level rise accelerating.
A few weeks ago a video surfaced on YouTube about a Canadian imam who supported the death punishment for apostasy. Such videos, of which there is no dearth, capture the comments of Canadian imams who preach wife beating, condemn gays and support medieval punishments and the Caliphate.

These videos stoke Islamophobia, as evident from online comments that call for the exile or extermination of Muslims. This has dire consequences especially under the current climate where mosques have been burned, Muslim women have been assaulted, worshippers have been murdered and a Muslim MP has been threatened for her motion on condemning Islamophobia.

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Muslims are tired of being constantly on the defence, having to answer for the crimes of radical groups like ISIS, and experiencing prejudice from bigots in Canada.

Those who circulate such videos paint all Muslims with the same hateful brush. The contribution of Muslim researchers, doctors, teachers, engineers, taxi drivers, janitors, et al. are ignored and Muslims are reduced to the viewpoints of rabid Shaykhs who confirm Orientalist tropes by selling Islam as a caricature of a medieval past.

Critics of Islam cannot paint millions of diverse Muslims in Canada with the viewpoints of a few clerics.

Yet, this is no time to play hot potato in relinquishing responsibility for the vicious cycle of hate where religious supremacism and xenophobia feed off each other.

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Islamophobia does not end by apprehending bigots just as terrorism does not end by bombing terrorists. They end when systems of oppression are dismantled. That happens when everyone plays their part -- less foreign intervention and bombing on the one hand and less supremacist speakers and putrid ideologies on the other hand.

Critics of Islam cannot paint millions of diverse Muslims in Canada with the viewpoints of a few clerics while ignoring the voices of Muslims that do not fit their agenda. Likewise, Muslims cannot remain quiet when supremacist speakers speak on behalf of their religion.

The Canadian cleric whose video on death for apostasy was circulated last month, had the following to say on apostasy:

"When a person in an Islamic state apostasizes, leaves religion, let Allah be a witness that I am telling the truth that the punishment for apostasy is death. Anybody telling you on a minbar (pulpit) anything else, wallahil azeem (and Allah is great), they are lying to you, this is an Islamic law, if you apostasize, if you turn your back from Islam, according to the law it is death ...

The viewpoints of this imam are completely at loggerheads with hundreds of other Muslim imams, scholars and academics, as follows.

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1. Imam Mohamad Jebara

Ottawa based Imam Jebara clearly refers to those who reject critical thinking and isolate their devotees with threats of death for apostasy as those who follow a cult. He opines:

We are looked upon with suspicion by those on the outside, while being viewed as traitors and deviant apostates by extremists who claim to be Muslims. We stand between a rock and a hard place.

2. Dr. Shabir Ally

Toronto based Dr. Shabir Ally has many videos on apostasy. In one video he goes to explain how the texts attributed to the Prophet may not be authentic and should be confined by time and circumstance by the Qur'anic verse on there being no compulsion in religion. In another video he expresses:

"The apostasy law has been much misunderstood in Islam, it became a standard law that the apostate should be put to death, ... quite the contrary the Qur'an speaks of people embracing Islam, leaving it, toying with it, going back and forth, and if the Prophet Muhammad himself were killing people for doing such thing, they wouldn't dare to do it in Medina where Prophet Muhammad had risen to power, so it's very clear from the Qur'anic evidence that there should have been no such law in Islam that the apostate should be killed."

3. Dr. Khalid Zaheer and Al Mawrid Canada

Like Dr. Shabir Ally, Dr. Khalid Zaheer, who is affiliated with Al Mawrid Canada, has expressed that the popular Muslim understanding on apostasy goes against the Qur'an. He asserts that the Qur'an restricts capital punishment to only two cases, murder and creating disorder, and that apostasy does not fall in either category.

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Muslim community stakeholders need to send out a strong message that such speakers, some of whom are quite popular, do not speak for them.

4. Alia Hogben

The Executive Director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW), Alia Hogben, has written in her blog that women groups experience hostility from conservative, traditional Muslims and that the awful punishments for apostasy and adultery prescribed by jurists are not mentioned in the Qur'an.

5. Dr. Mohammad Fadel and 100+ notable Islamic voices

The blog post on 100+ notable Islamic voices captures Muslim voices across time from the 8th century Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz and from academics, scholars, imams, community leaders and students that indicate how the apostasy law is contrary to Islamic values and principles. The blog post mentions:

"The longstanding problem of the traditional position, as held by Classical jurists or scholars, can be explained and excused as not being able to see apostasy, an issue of pure freedom of faith and conscience, separate from treason against the community or the state."

Among these voices is that of University of Toronto Law Professor Dr. Fadel, who mentions that the death punishment for apostasy was not a universal position. He reiterates that apostasy was viewed in the context of political and military treason and defection instead of freedom of conscience.

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The above indicates how the viewpoints of the hateful Canadian cleric are in stark contrast to hundreds of Muslim academics and community leaders.

This means instead of milking hateful imams for political gains and stoking more hatred in Canada, critics of Islam should work with Muslim community stakeholders to isolate such hateful voices.

On their part Muslim community stakeholders need to send out a strong message that such speakers, some of whom are quite popular, do not speak for them. This necessitates nurturing the tradition of critical thinking and refusing the pulpit to hatemongers.

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Over the last two months, I have had the opportunity to meet Canadians at town halls, as well as in coffee shops and bakeries. Nothing was scripted and anyone could ask a question. We talked for hours, and you asked me about everything: from pipelines, to the Phoenix pay system, to mental health issues, to the cost of prescription drugs. Because of you, these town halls were a tremendous success.

I want to thank you for welcoming me into your neighbourhoods, your theatres, churches, campuses and arenas. I appreciate that you took the time to show up and ask difficult questions, and am grateful for your passion and honesty.

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These town halls were unpredictable and, at times, the exchanges were intense. There were many laughs, smiles and kids fidgeting behind me, as there were some tears, protests and disagreements. We shared frank conversations and emotional moments. But everywhere I went, I heard directly from you: about what concerns you the most, what you think we're doing right and what you think we can do better.

On several occasions, we had to move a meeting's venue to a larger space because of overwhelming demand. I am heartened that many Canadians wanted to share their concerns and ask thoughtful, passionate questions. I learned about new issues and heard your concerns. Thanks to you, we're now taking a closer look at them.

I listened to recent university graduates who can't get a job because they don't have any work experience, and can't get any work experience because they don't have a job; I heard from parents who are having a hard time paying rent at the end of the month; and I talked to many Canadians like you who want the best for their families, their communities and our country.

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Let's face it, many Canadians are anxious about what the future may hold: that globalization and technological change will leave them behind; that they won't have enough money to retire; and that their kids won't have the same opportunities as they had.

We won't always agree, but I promise to always listen to your ideas, thoughts and suggestions.

When people are worried about their future, they can turn inward and get fearful. They can start to distrust their governments. Meanwhile, slow economic growth and increasing inequality lead to further cynicism and, ultimately, anger.

We have recently seen this anger boil over in some parts of the world. To counter similar anxieties at home, our government has a responsibility to do more for Canadians who need it most, and to reassure Canadians that we're investing in their success and actively listening to them.

Canadians don't need leaders to tell them they have problems. They need leaders to help them build solutions together. That is why I will continue to meet with Canadians in their communities, hear first-hand about their concerns and work with them to develop solutions.

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Whether speaking with members of Parliament, sitting down with a minister or across from a world leader, I will think back to these town halls and our conversations. I will remember what matters to you. And I will continue to carry our conversations into cabinet meetings and international conferences, and wherever else my role as prime minister takes me.

I look forward to continuing to meet with Canadians so we can all work together to strengthen the middle class and help those working hard to join it. Thank you again for welcoming me into your neighbourhoods and communities. We won't always agree, but I promise to always listen to your ideas, thoughts and suggestions. Please, keep them coming.

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Martin CvetkoviA via Getty Images A hand casting a vote in a ballot box for an election in the Canada

Justin Trudeau and the Liberal party have been a major disappointment in their first year in government. From ballooning deficits, cash for access scandals, broken campaign promises, and questionable vacations, Trudeau has shown his inability to move Canada forward in little over one year in office.

While the Liberals mistakes accumulate, 2017 appeared as a golden opportunity for the Progressive Conservatives to emerge with a fresh platform, the current leadership race has seen this opportunity squandered.

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After a crushing defeat in 2015, the Conservatives sought to find a leader who could do what Stephen Harper could not; bring new voters especially millennials to the party, appeal to minorities and immigrants, and present a more moderate platform than the one Harper employed for his campaign.

So far the Conservatives have done the complete opposite, presenting an overcrowded field of 14 lackluster candidates, many of whom are political lightweights, sticking with mostly the same old ideas. You can barely tell the candidates views apart.

In light of the election of Donald Trump, the likes of Kellie Leitch and Kevin O'Leary have been floated as populist candidates who could face off against Justin Trudeau in 2019.

While Donald Trump's victory was a shock to most of the world, Canada is quite different than our neighbors to the south and divisive politics are not a catalyst for success in Canadian elections. The policies outlined by Leitch would surely hand the Conservative Party another major defeat in the next federal election.

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Leitch represents a fringe aspect of the conservative party, taking a page out of Trump's playbook, she has faced enormous backlash for suggesting a Canadian values test for immigrants, to solve an issue Canada does not face.

Andrew McGrath, a former press secretary to Leitch when she was in cabinet addressed his former boss as saying "You were status of women minister-Shame on you."

Such backward policies will hurt the Conservative Party and should face condemnation from all Canadians.

Something has to Change for the Progressive Conservative Party to stand a chance against the popular Justin Trudeau in 2019. A Progressive candidate is needed who can grow the party, who presents bold new ideas while upholding conservative values.

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Who Can Beat Trudeau?

Michael Chong is the clear choice to beat Trudeau in 2019, having stood out as the only moderate candidate with fresh ideas, Chong was not afraid to argue policy against the crowded field of candidates during the debates.

"It is not fair that comparisons paint O'Leary as Canada's Donald Trump."

Chong a two-time member of the Harper Cabinet presents a conservative agenda of fiscal responsibility which is important due to the current reckless Liberal spending. A plan for lowering income taxes for Canadians, and a plan to help small businesses. Chong is the only candidate proposing a Revenue Neutral Carbon tax plan to tackle emissions. Such policies would have great appeal with young Canadians and voters looking for a change.

Chong is the son of immigrant parents from Ireland and Hong Kong, and views immigration as an asset to Canada. Chong has early on criticized the divisive policies of candidates like Kellie Leitch, and called for new members to join the party. Michael Chong has the strongest policies of the 14 candidates.

O'Leary has been compared to Donald Trump in recent months, mainly because of his success in business, he could potentially be a problem for the Liberal party. It is not fair that comparisons paint O'Leary as Canada's Donald Trump, as O'Leary has often stated the importance of his immigrant heritage and has stated he believes the Canadian immigration system to be a great asset to the country.

O'Leary is adamant he can attract young entrepreneurs to the party, grow Canada's economy at 3%, and send important issues which face Canadians to national referendums. While his economic knowledge and understanding of the business world would be a great asset, O'Leary needs to go into more detail on his foreign and domestic policy, and how he would handle issues Canadians value beyond the economy.

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"Conservatives will need a strong Candidate with a bold plan for the party to beat Trudeau in 2019."

As the projected frontrunner, Canadians should hear him out on policy before making up their mind. If O'Leary can better outline his social policies in regards to the environment, health care, and Aboriginal issues, to name a few, he presents the best opportunity for Conservatives to win the federal election in 2019.

Other Candidates who could be strong contenders in the leadership race with promising policies are Lisa Raitt and Maxime Bernier, yet both would face a major uphill battle to defeat Trudeau in 2019.

Conservatives will need a strong Candidate with a bold plan for the party to beat Trudeau in 2019. Voting takes place on Saturday May 27th, the day the new Leader will be elected in Toronto.
Canada's two main opposition parties are in the throes of selecting new leaders to replace Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair. Both found themselves walking the plank after losing the 2015 General Election. The Conservatives face the spectacle of 14 candidates vying to become Leader of the Official Opposition. The New Democratic Party has attracted four candidates to its leadership contest.

The NDP is seen to be the one with the toughest hill to climb. The party faithful believes that the NDP lost ground because it allowed itself to be outmanoeuvred by the Liberal Party -- on the left. The NDP's fiscal policy appeared to be a continuation of the Harper mantra of balanced budgets. Its austerity-lite policy not only cost the NDP the 2015 federal election but also several recent provincial elections.

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Members, including NDP candidates, feel frustrated when they discover that key elements of the electoral platform bear little or no resemblance to policies democratically adopted at a convention. This is emblematic of a party that is undemocratically run from the top and is out of touch with its base. The leadership contest is an opportunity to address some of these problems, and to see which of the candidates are seriously listening to the expressed desire of the rank and file to move the party to the left.

What is needed to fill the void? NDP members are crying out for principled leadership on issues like the following:

Pipelines

The NDP cannot be for more pipelines. It is time to say no new pipelines, and commit to a transition from the current carbon-based economy to a clean, green energy economy. This would entail a massive investment in new technology, and in the re-training of displaced workers.

Free Trade Agreements

Currently, the NDP is all over the map. Its MPs agreed with the South Korean FTA, opposed the TPP, and were practically silent on CETA. Plus, we've had precious little to say about the renegotiation of NAFTA. We cannot support FTAs that undermine our health care, education or water systems. Nor can we support Chapter 11 clauses that impinge upon democratic sovereignty. It is time to bring the labour movement, the environmental movement and First Nations to the table, and challenge the corporate agenda.

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Privatization

New Democrats reject Public Private Partnerships and say NO to privatization. Trudeau recently announced a fire sale of public assets to his friends on Bay Street through his so-called "flywheel of investment" model. This flywheel will be paid for by road and bridge tolls, in addition to user fees. Instead, the NDP should advocate a Social Investment Bank to invest heavily in social housing, public transit and other long neglected infrastructure improvements.

Party Democracy

I'm hearing from some party insiders that certain topics should not be discussed in the leadership debates. Issues such as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, they argue, can be polarizing and therefore are not fair to centrist candidates. I guess one could extend that logic to pipelines or free trade agreements. Hell...why even bother having a leadership contest?

Let's just pick the next leader's name out of a hat and allow the party controllers to develop another milquetoast platform for the 2019 election. The alternative is greater democracy in the party. That should include more time at conventions to debate and vote on policy, and a requirement that the election platform reflects adopted party policy.

Foreign Policy

It is high time the NDP took a principled approach to the Middle East. It can no longer support Israel "right or wrong" and be silent when human rights atrocities and land expropriations are carried out against Palestinians. The occupation must end, and the wall must come down. The NDP must articulate its past policy of Canada Out of NATO, and oppose Ottawa's alignment with U.S.-backed aggression in Eastern Europe and Syria/Iraq.

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Inequality

The growth of precarious employment, two-tier benefits, low wages, and lack of decent, affordable housing all contribute to the social cancer of growing inequality. The NDP should be in the forefront of efforts, inside and outside of Parliament, to turn this around. We need NDP action campaigns to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour, to share the benefits of robotization and gains in productivity by reducing the workweek without loss of pay and benefits, to defend health care and education from cuts and user fees, and to move rapidly away from regressive taxes in favour of progressive taxes on corporations and the rich.

The party is doomed to sit on the sidelines for generations if we elect a centrist leader with another mushy middle-of-the-road platform.

By a just distribution of the wealth created by working people, a country as rich as Canada can abolish post-secondary education fees, cancel student debt, and provide quality national childcare. Billions can be saved by creating a public pharmaceutical provider. The NDP should be the party of the social justice movements, of tenants, farmers, jobless youth, injured workers, victims of price gouging telecoms and energy giants, of environmentalists, social innovators and equality seekers, rather than just a sideline supporter of them.

Since last October, a team of NDP activists from across Canada, including Quebec, have been urging me to join the leadership contest. The premise is that I have a proven track record on key policy areas, such as those listed above. That is where I have stood during my 25-year career as a leader in the labour movement within the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Ontario Federation of Labour.

I can say, without fear of contradiction, that national union leaders -- by and large -- do not speak for their members when it comes to supporting the NDP. Only four out of 54 national unions in Canada openly support the NDP. The union members who belong to the NDP are miles ahead of their leaders on progressive politics, with a few notable exceptions. The NDP leadership contest will not be won by lining up national union leaders, but rather by engaging in the hard slog of reaching the base, local union by local union.

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The party is doomed to sit on the sidelines for generations if we elect a centrist leader with another mushy middle-of-the-road platform. NDP members want a leader with a solid commitment to socialist principles. I have yet to finalize my decision and give an answer to the "Draft Sid" campaign. In part, this is due to my fear of dividing the left vote, and in part, it is because the candidates who have announced so far have yet to flesh out their campaign platforms. If the NDP left can unite behind a genuine socialist candidate, we may be able to avoid a continuation of the debilitating policies and practices of recent years, and confidently head towards victory.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

Trend:

A Coordination and Management Department has been created in Azerbaijans Ministry of Taxes, said Natig Shirinov, head of the Department for Risk Analysis and Control at the ministry.

He was addressing the conference titled Together towards transparency in Baku March 10.

The departments main function is effective coordination of activities between tax authorities and local bodies in the context of making amendments to legislation and administration, Shirinov said.
I believe it is fair to say that since 9/11, Islamophobia has been on the rise in North America. With the terrorist attacks in this country and others, distrust of refugees and immigrants is on the rise.

As an immigrant myself, perhaps I feel the impact of this trend more than my fellow Canadians whose journey to this country is now generations in the past. As I watch the news, and particularly the fledgling and (to a degree) struggling administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, I grow even more troubled.

Trump's recent executive order banning travel to the U.S. from a select list of Muslim-majority countries has run afoul of the nation's constitution and its courts. But as Trump searches for a new way to achieve what his executive order has failed to do, I believe there will be long-term consequences. I believe Trump's actions will encourage otherwise constrained and silent movements within the U.S. and in countries around the globe who have long wished for a legitimate platform to express their racist or xenophobic views in the hope that these views become the policy of their governments.

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Recently On March 7, threats were issued to the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre in Toronto, prompting a response from Toronto Police and Toronto Fire Services. The centre's executive director, Ellen Cole, told CTV News Toronto the call was a bomb threat and the building was evacuated.

In the United States, hundreds of Jewish centres have similarly been the target of threats within the past month.

Also in Toronto, anti-Semitic notes were found on the doors of several units at a Willowdale condo building, and some neighbours reported that their mezuzahs -- blessings traditionally posted on the doorways of Jewish homes -- had been vandalized. Mayor John Tory condemned the hate-motivated vandalism and said those actions do not reflect the city's spirit. "Anti-Semitism has no place in Toronto," he said.

This comes after the recent tragic murder of six Muslims at prayer in a Quebec City mosque. Our government's response to this tragedy was to debate Motion 103 in the Canadian Parliament. Introduced by MP Iqra Khalid, the motion asked MP's to "condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination." Locally, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie strongly supports Mississauga-Erin Mills MP Khalid in her push to end systemic racism in Canada. Mayor Crombie also said that "eliminating systemic racism, religious discrimination and Islamophobia is a national call to action. No one should ever have to think twice about calling Canada home."

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While I feel this a well-meaning act in the face of unspeakable violence and tragedy, racism affects a broad spectrum of people and it is short-sighted of our government to single out Islamophobia in their motion. Racism is in itself an act of violence, and the murders in that Quebec City mosque are that same racist violence made manifest.

It is an act of extreme cowardice, and an insult to God. Our government should condemn all racism equally, and with total conviction. Symbolic acts like Motion 103 should be backed up with a new, comprehensive review of the legislation and enforcement powers that can give meaning and force to such well-intended symbolic gestures.

I know from personal experience the sting of distrust, disrespect and prejudice that racism inflicts on those who are new, or different, or who worship in a different way. Racists ignore the reality that you cannot judge a race or a religion, but that if we are judged at all, it is based on our own behaviour, our own actions. President Trump's anti-Muslim, anti-immigration and refugee rhetoric may not, in itself, lead to the rise of Islamophobia and xenophobia, but the fact a sitting president has given such clear voice to its cause should be reason for great concern for us all. The response of our Canadian government should be one of substance, not symbolism.
LoweStock via Getty Images The historic Victoria, BC government building seen at sunset in the inner harbor of this beautiful city.

Are the BC NDP full of crap?

Yeah, sort of, they are.

They've gone bananas about the fact that Elections BC is asking the governing party about fundraising stuff. What they're not telling anyone is that they're being asked, too.

And John Horgan's crew aren't enthusiastic about anyone probing BC NDP fundraising practices. There's a history, you see.

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Look, no one I know loves to do political fundraising. But, until the media agree to give political parties free ad space, political parties have no choice but to fundraise. And, to put a fine point on it, there's nothing illegitimate about political fundraising. It happens in every democracy. It happens in every political party.

As the sterling examples of Ross Perot and Pete DuPont always remind us, however, you don't win elections with money. You win 'em with great leaders, great teams, great ideas. That's why the B.C. Liberals are doing well on the fundraising front, I think: Christy Clark's got the hottest economy in Canada, people like her, and she's competitive. So B.C. voters are expressing support in the polls, and with their chequebooks, too.

Politics ain't free. Modern political campaigns, of every stripe, demand that political parties develop deep grass-roots networks, to communicate with voters, to develop and learn from voter data, to use social media tools to its advantage, and so on. Advertising, too -- lots of it. That's what any party's fundraising is used for. In some campaigns, up to 90 per cent of fundraising goes to ads in the media (the selfsame media crying "scandal," I note without ironic comment).

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In Canada, in B.C., our campaigns get by on only a fraction of the kind of money that is spent in the U.S. Our system is better than theirs, and our system usually works. Most Canadian political parties fundraise within the rules -- and, if there's a problem, there is typically no shortage of oversight, in the form of arms-length elections overseers, and in the form of investigative reporters. It's easy to say the system is broken. But, most of the time, it just isn't true.

I'm out here in the Centre of the Universe, and I haven't been to B.C. in a long while. But, if I were, I'd say this to Clark's B.C. Libs: you shouldn't take any ethics lessons from the party that skimmed hundreds of thousands of dollars from charities over a 20-year period. You shouldn't take any civics lessons from the BC NDP, which operated lotteries and bingo games with the proceeds going to them, not to local charities.

The scandal -- because that it is what it was -- was massive. It came to be known as "Bingogate," because the BC NDP had literally used the old-fashioned game to rip off the system. It was all overseen by a cabinet minister in the then-government of Mike Harcourt, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were siphoned off, and into BC NDP coffers. The cabinet minister -- Dave Stupich -- pleaded guilty to fraud charges, and the Bingogate scandal contributed to the resignation of Harcourt (who himself was not charged).

I was there when it all went down: the BC NDP was, in my experience, the most corrupt political party I'd ever seen. Ripping off charities to fill their coffers? Seriously?

That's a scandal. Was then, still is now.

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The five things you need to know on Friday, March 10

1) PICK N NICS

Although Theresa May and Philip Hammond have been around a long time in politics, its sometimes easy to forget they - and their advisers - are still relatively inexperienced in their current posts. And that inexperience has been all too obvious in the fierce Budget backlash over the self-employed National Insurance row.

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Their woeful inability to forecast the reaction of Tory newspapers, backbenchers and voters combined with classic Treasury arrogance to make a lethal political cocktail. It was no coincidence that Iain Duncan Smith, himself burned by years of derision by the Treasury, was among the first to rally the Tory rebels against the NI hike.

The first hint of a retreat came when Hammond muttered about listening to colleagues. Then No.10 refused four times at a Lobby briefing to rule out a rethink of the plans. Whips got word of texts being exchanged between Labour and Tory rebels on a wrecking amendment (the Tory Right is much more better at organising a rebellion than the Tory Left). By the time Theresa May took her press conference in Brussels last night, she had decided to press the pause button and delay any change until after a summer report on other self-employed plans.

May made a show of unity with her Chancellor, defending the principle of tackling the unfairness in tax treatment of employed and self-employed. Will the NI rise be amended so it doesnt hit those in the lower tax band? That would cut the tax take and undermine the fairness argument, but it would reduce the pain. Will new parental pay rights really take the sting out of it?

Some of the 18 Tory rebel MPs - one more than the magic (working) majority of 17 - think the latest gambit is another too-clever-by-half idea. They want the tax rise stopped, period. Significantly, the Sun isnt being bought off by the delaying tactic and launches a fresh campaign against it today. Some MPs think that mad as the Osborne tax lock was, it was a manifesto commitment and if broken will undermine the 2020 manifesto.

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May clung to the fiction that no pledge had been broken last night, but her own minister Guto Bebb had already told BBC Radio Cymru I believe we should apologise. I will apologise to every voter in Wales that read the Conservative manifesto in the 2015 election. There will be no need to apologise if the hike doesnt go ahead.

Theres a Cami-NICS angle too now. An ITVNews clip of David Cameron at the Iraq/Afghan memorial yesterday appears to show him saying that breaking the manifesto..a stupid idea. Lipreaders will tell us more in due course. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon nods, but defence minister Mike Penning just looks on.

The blame game has begun behind the scenes, with one Government source telling the Times that the Treasury team were caught cold: They just forgot the manifesto. But others suggest No.10 were as blindsided as their counterparts. Hammond has not kept his Budget secret from the PM like Brown did from Blair. They discussed it several times. The FT suggests Hammond was made aware of the possible backlash when the Sun had a leak of the story on Saturday. Hammond discussed the looming political and media problems with his staff over the weekend but still went ahead. Dont forget too, that telling line from a Treasury official in the Times on Thursday that they knew this would be a George HW Bush Budget ie that a read my lips, no new taxes pledge would be broken.

James Slack, the PMs new official spokesman is the Daily Mails former political editor and knows better than anyone why his old paper and others have slammed the Government. Maybe, just maybe, if hed been in post a few weeks earlier, he could have warned both his new boss and the Treasury that this idea would never fly in Fleet Street. But ultimately advisers can only advise. Its ministers who decide. Thats what the PM and Hammond now have to do. And dumping, not amending or compensating, the NI rise may be the only thing that gets them out of this hole.

2) BREXIT COUNTDOWN

While Theresa May may want to slow things down on national insurance, is she planning to speed things up on triggering the formal Article 50 process for Brexit? She said last night that EU leaders had made clear to me that they want to get on with negotiations - and so do I.

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No.10 also announced the PM would do her usual post-EU summit statement to the Commons on Tuesday, not Monday as usual. With the EU Withdrawal Bill due to clear its Lords and Commons stages on Monday night, that sparked speculation that she was keeping her options open for triggering Brexit on Tuesday to coincide with her Commons performance. Downing St insists the reason is more mundane in that the PM has a Commonwealth Day memorial service at Westminster Abbey on Monday. Lets see.

Linford Christie used to talk about sprinting from the B of the Bang. Some around May want her to create a bit of momentum by tearing out of the blocks on the B of the Brexit, triggering Article 50 a fortnight before her own self-imposed deadline of the end of March.

Still, will there have to be less haste in getting a trade deal? The Telegraphs Europe editor Peter Foster points out the PM said last night the two-year Article 50 talks are to "set the framework" of a future UK-EU deal. Which may seem to some less ambitious than her Lancaster House speech, and may be an acceptance of the reality that a transitional trade deal will be needed.

3) NEVER MIND THE BALLOTS

As I pointed out yesterday, one Tory MP texted me amid the row over National Insurance to point out that White Van Man was not looking likely to vote Labour. And the latest, post-Budget Times/YouGov opinion poll makes grim reading for Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. The Tories have a massive 19 point lead (44% to 25%). And the latest ICM poll puts the Tories an unprecedented 31 points ahead of Labour on the economy.

McDonnell had a problem with trains, planes and automobiles, so he couldnt make it to Sunderland on time for Question Time. But Scottish Labour party leader and noted Corbynsceptic Kezia Dugdale, who replaced him on the show, joked that Labour would do brilliantly in a snap election.

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The Lib Dems last night won yet another council by-election last night, taking a West Oxfordshire seat from the Tories after a 34% increase in their vote. Obviously a major health warning applies to ward by-elections (and they are still hovering around 10% in national opinion polls), but expect that LibDemFightback narrative repeated at their spring conference next week.

And Labour jitters have started about the Lib Dems in the Manchester Gorton by-election. Ive written a story HERE on party in-fighting over candidate selection, and why Corbyn ally Rebecca Long-Bailey was barred from the NEC panel in charge. The Libs came just 5,000 votes behind in 2010, the seat is 60% Remain. But surely Labour will win comfortablywont it?

The Guardian reports that Gordon Brown, who has previously been reluctant to give his own account of the Blair-Brown years, will publish his memoirs this Autumn. Thats guaranteed to help keep the infighting storyline going at Labour party conference.

BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR

Watch this kid invade a US TV weathermans live broadcast with his own forecast of farts and toots.

4) HEALTH N SAFETY ALERT

Last night on Question Time, an NHS staffer in the audience told Cabinet Minister Karen Bradley that the Government just doesnt get it when it comes to the crisis in elderly care. The man, who sounded like a geriatrics doctor, pointed to long waits in A&E for pensioners on admission, and long waits for them to be discharged afterwards.

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And yesterday, away from all the post-Budget noise, the stats on the NHS were truly awful. The Mirror splashes its front page on the worst monthly waiting times in A&E ever recorded. The target of seeing 95% of patients in four hours has been missed in England since July 2015 and there was a record low of 85.1% in January.

Things were so bad that Jeremy Hunt warned hospitals they had to get back to hitting the target to protect patient safety. And despite the 2bn extra for the NHS in the Budget, critics say it was too little, too late (and say the 100m for 100 new A&E triage units is paltry).

5) KATE WITH DESTINY

Admirers of Shadow International Development Secretary Kate Osamor say she is one of the nicest MPs of the 2015 intake. Shes also a passionate supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, but one who is reluctant to get involved in the public spats over Labours future. Today, we publish a HuffPost interview with her and it gives an insight into her political philosophy.

Osamor declares that Labour neglected seats like Copeland for too long. No seat is safe. No seat should be treated as safe. Because unfortunately that means its taken for granted. She says that Manchester Gorton has to be fought with a local candidate in a local campaign. It cant be a national Labour campaign there.

Osamor backs all-BAME shortlists for some seats, attacks Owen Jones as an academic who doesnt understand what struggle is and criticises odds and sods trying to take Momentum too far left. She also declares that Labour MPs should copy Corbyn by doing regular door-knocking in their constituencies. All MPs have to be knocking on doors at least once a week for an hour, she says.

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Osamor adds that she went to South Thanet for Corbyns leadership campaign, she feared she was entering UKIP land. I was scared because I was on my own getting a train down there. But when she saw 500 people at his rally she felt reassured. That was one of the times when it all started getting through to me. There was something for this man. People are supporting him. Even in Ukip-land we had Labour people that came out and they listened and they were rapturous and they were warm and welcoming.

Read the interview in full HERE.

COMMONS PEOPLE

Our latest CommonsPeople podcast is out. Listen to us chinwag HERE about the Budget fall-out, Tory rebellions, Brexit and Jess Phillips leadership remarks. Our weekly quiz is on Budget history.
Last week, White House officials said that President Trump would increase military spending by $54 billion, taking funds from domestic programs and foreign aid to pay the bill. What would a total cut of all USA aid for education mean?

In 2014, the USA was the fourth biggest donor to education, after the UK, France and Germany, allocating just over $1 billion to the sector. It allocated 88% of its total funds to basic education making it the biggest donor for basic education, followed by the UK in second place.

The United States tripled its aid to basic education between 2002/03 and 2013/14. It is among only a few donors that have continued to increase such aid after 2009/10, accounting for more than 20% of total aid to basic education.

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The United States has also been among the champions assigning increasing priority to low income countries. In 2012-2014, it accounted for 11% of total aid to education for low income countries but 8% of total aid to education for all countries.

If the USA pulls its funding completely, therefore, this scoreboard will dramatically change. It will change matters for many aid recipients too, who have been able to rely upon strong funding from the USA for years - and particularly for basic education as this graph shows.

Comparisons can be made with the Netherlands' slashing of aid to education over the past several years, from $443 million in 2008 to just $170 million in 2014, although the USA would be a more drastic shift in landscape, given the relative size of their contributions.

In response to the question asked at the top of this blog: education - and by that we mean girls and boys going to school and learning - would be drastically hit by a change in tune over US funding to the sector. During the 2011-2015 period, for example, USAID's Education Strategy Progress Report from 2011-2015 shows that it has supported 151 basic education programs in 46 countries, directly benefiting more than 41.6 million children and youth. This aid, as we showed above, is being directed at some of the poorest countries, many of which our Report has shown continue to rely on external aid for 10% or more of their total public expenditure on education.

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It also makes little sense to swap increased military might and education opportunity. Especially when, as even the military themselves recognise, "elevating and strengthening diplomacy and development alongside defense are critical". This is, no wonder, why one of the three prongs of USAID's strategy from 2011-2015 was to focus on education in conflict-affected regions.

Peace, not just nationally, but also at a global level, will not be realized if we do not promote education and learning, as our latest publication shows. This is the key takeaway we must urgently convey to the US Congress, the White House and the State Department. If education for education's sake is not enough to protect this aid, then maybe saving the USA from having to spend even more on its future military budget could. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, where the US military has expanded its presence, research has shown that sub-national regions with very low average education in 22 countries had a 50% probability of experiencing the onset of conflict within 21 years, while the corresponding interval for regions with very high average education was 346 years.
Rawpixel Ltd via Getty Images

Zrinka Bralo is a migrant. Growing up in Sarajevo, Bosnia, she became a radio journalist before war broke out across the country in 1992.

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During the conflict, Zrinka fought hard to report the injustices of war to both her own people and the foreign media. She left Bosnia the following year and sought asylum in London.

Fighting deportation for three years, she eventually won the right to stay. But her passion for supporting fellow migrants never faded.

Since 2001, Bralo has headed up Migrants Organise, a platform to help migrants and refugees to be mentored and build their contacts - to secure them the dignity and justice they deserve.

I had the honour of speaking to Bralo ahead of the Women on the Move Awards at Southbank Centre's WOW - Women of the World Festival, six years after winning the award for her tireless campaigning.

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"There is no us and them." - Zrinka Bralo

'Refugees are citizens and should be treated as such'

"My father used to tell me, all children ask why, but Zrinka asks why not?" she recounts to me, describing the moment when, as a child, she knew she wanted to become a journalist.

Having campaigned for years for equality and justice, she believes that it is important that any social justice movement organises together.

Her background in journalism has given her the confidence to agitate, to challenge, and to always ask 'why?' It's shaped her philosophy that change comes from a society that works together.

In the wake of last year's Brexit vote, the number of hate crimes rose to record levels. And the target of these incidents? Largely the migrant and refugee population in the UK.

"Refugees and migrants live here and contribute here. They are citizens and should be treated as such," she told me, arguing that their contribution to society and their communities entitles them to be part of the discussion around their lives.

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They are not just a case study. They are not just a story to be heard. They must be listened to.

Devolving decision-making power

Bralo tells me that it is important to give a platform to refugees and migrants so that their voices are listened to, and action is taken to bring justice.

But it's not as simple as it seems. This needs to be done in a meaningful way. We need to avoid these efforts being just tokenistic.

She calls for more refugees and migrants to be central to decision-making processes that affect them both directly and indirectly. It comes down to the illusion of power.

"Everybody has the ability to act. It should not be about who has the power, it should be about how we open spaces for people to act," she hastens to add.

When platforms are shared, power is shared. More people get an even slice of the cake.

"Every movement requires strategy, organisation, compromise, and most importantly, it needs diversity" - Zrinka Bralo

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Change comes from inclusivity

And let's not forget the importance of the women's rights movement, which, Zrinka warns, "must include all women in order to change society."

All women face different strands of oppression, and different forms of discrimination. Bralo argues that these strands must come together so that all women can access equal rights and opportunities.

"It's important to create safe spaces where everybody is welcome, so that we can bring different ideas together and organise," she adds.

When women come together, big change can happen.

Look at 24th October, 1975, for example, when 90% of Iceland's female population refused to work, cook or look after children. Or even more recently to the 2015 WOW Festival at Southbank, when broadcaster Sandi Toksvig and journalist Catherine Mayer conceived the Women's Equality Party.

Women are more disposed to violence

A stand-out point for Bralo in her campaigning was when she was protesting the conditions for those held at Yarl's Wood, the notorious immigration removal centre in London.

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With many women locked up indefinitely, unsure of if or when they will be deported, many reports of sexual harassment and rape have emerged in recent years.

At a protest against Yarl's Wood a few years ago, Bralo recounts deciding on beginning her speech with, "I am lucky that I was not detained."

But, pipped to the post, actress Juliet Stevenson spoke before her, holding up the declaration of human rights.

Thinking back, Bralo tells me she reconsidered. "Why should I feel lucky not to be detained, or not to be raped? Why do women accept oppression and see access to human rights as a privilege?"

This realisation for Bralo addresses power. Surely the women in Yarl's Wood are entitled to the same rights that British citizens are entitled? After all, they're in the same country.

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The women who endure disempowerment and degradation daily within the confinement of Yarl's Wood do so without the power to change their position.

"There is no us and them," Bralo states, but this constant othering by the most powerful in society certainly makes it feel this way.

The Women on the Move Awards takes place on Friday 10th March in a free event at Southbank Centre's WOW - Women of the World Festival, supported by Bloomberg. The awards celebrate people who champion refugees and migrants in the UK and tell their positive stories of survival, reliance and the contribution they make to their societies.

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
Britain's tech skills shortage has been well documented over the past few years, and in a bid to boost our nation's technical capabilities, Philip Hammond announced a wave of educational reforms in this year's Spring Budget. These included 300m of funding to support 1,000 new PhD places and fellowships in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects; as well as the introduction of a new 'T-level' system, which aims to put technical education on a par with academic studies and boost productivity levels. Training hours for technical students aged 16 to 19 are also to be increased by more than 50%, to an average of 900 hours a year.

These efforts will go some way to equip the future British workforce with the skills needed to plug the gap and increase the status of technical education in the UK. That said, what can employers do now to ensure their staff have the necessary skills today and tomorrow?

Nurture the 'teachable fit'

Employees won't always have all the core credentials and technical skills required for the role they're hired in. Organisations should look to nurture individuals with the aptitude and enthusiasm to learn new skills, and give them the freedom to experiment with new technologies and platforms to further their development. This isn't about fast-tracking certain individuals' careers, but more about giving them the opportunity to fit specific roles within a company.

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Provide continuous opportunities to develop

To keep employees energised and engaged, employers should provide them with opportunities to work on different types of projects and assignments across the business to widen their understanding. Encouraging them to continually up-skill by completing the latest industry-certified courses will also enhance their personal development. This needn't be a complicated or expensive process - a lot of the skills that tech professionals already have are easily transferable. Up-skilling employees also has a number of long-term beneficial effects, such as boosting motivation and improving staff retention.

Recognise that there's no silver bullet for training

Tech employees at different levels want - and need - vastly different kinds of training. For instance, recent graduates will need to grasp the basics; new workers may need to be skilled up in legacy systems and others still might need to complete a specific certification, such as CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional). Some employees will prefer classroom-based training while others will favour online learning. Organisations need to view each element of their talent shortage, and then craft a training strategy that aligns with individual requirements.

Facilitate knowledge sharing

Employers need to implement a flexible and scalable workforce solution both now and for the future. This will often include a mix of employees including perm, short-term contractors and Employed Consultants, as well as off-shoring and outsourcing. Having people from a range of backgrounds enables businesses to bring in a variety of skills and transfer knowledge between people at different times.
NUS

For the past few months, the National Union of Students, the Universities and Colleges Union, and others have been campaigning against the Higher Education and Research bill - the government's new proposals for the future of higher education. In a word, the bill aims to ease the entry of private companies into higher education, as well as lifting the cap on fees, and increasing the competition between institutions, departments, and academics. The bill represents the government's wish to accelerate the direction of travel in higher education towards a greater marketisation of the sector.

This week however, students and staff members in higher education across the country will have breathed a sigh of relief as the news came in that the government's proposals for higher education took a serious hit in the House of Lords on Monday. Indeed, peers voted by 263-211 to de-link university fees from the so-called Teaching Excellence Framework. This is a real win for students and staff members and an important set back for the government because the TEF has been proposed as a key mechanism to regulate both the ranking of universities and the rises in fees.

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It is worth recapping what the TEF actually is. Following the example of the Research Excellence framework - which has been widely criticised in the sector for increasing work pressure on academics as well as narrowing the scope of critical research - the TEF aims to measure the quality of teaching. However, if this can seem a complicated endeavour in itself, the TEF's focus raises real questions as to the government's actual focus. Indeed, the TEF's main indicators are set to be post-study employment statistics and the National Student Survey, the controversial final-year survey which aims to measure student satisfaction with their university.

This is problematic. Firstly, the TEF's focus on post-study employment, is not only a mind-boggling approach to measuring teaching excellence, it will also give universities a material to avoid enrolling students from backgrounds who face structural discrimination in the job market: women, Black, and working class students. Secondly, by making fee rises, university rankings, and higher pressures on academics depended on TEF scores - and therefore on the outcome of the NSS - the government is effectively attempting to make students responsible for the further dismantling of higher education as we know it.

The response from both the NUS and the UCU to these plans has been unequivocal. Together we have called for the bill to be scrapped and for students to refuse to participate in the NSS. We have marched, lobbied, and for the last few months, students across the country have refused to fill in the NSS. The call was clear: students refuse to be complicit in the raising of fees, the further marketisation of Higher Education, and the increase in disciplining pressures on staff.

Yesterday's announcement is therefore an important step forward for our movement. It is a win for all of you who marched and lobbied. It is a win for all the union activists in NUS and UCU who united and campaigned for a different vision of higher education. It is a win for every single student that is currently taking part in the NSS boycott, as well as for all those who continue to argue that education should be free and accessible to all, that it should be a social good, and that profit seeking should not become its guiding star.

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Together, student and staff members have achieved this temporary upset to the government's plans. However, we should remember that the battle is far from over. This should - and can - only be the beginning. MPs can still vote reinstate the link between TEF and fees when the bill is taken back to parliament. Either way TEF is still on the table. It is still a tool in the hands of managers to increase pressure on our tutors and lecturers. It is still a ranking mechanism that claims to measure teaching excellence by focussing on post-study employment statistics. It is therefore still a mechanism that will disproportionally hit female students and students from Black and working class backgrounds.

This tactical victory should give us all energy and strength to redouble our efforts and embolden us to push forward towards a truly free, liberated and accessible education for all.

Our government's policy in education remains one that aims to sell it off to the highest bidder. My union's vision, as I believe that of the majority of people in the UK, is that education should remain a right, to be enjoyed by all, at any time in life. Such a vision is one worth fighting for, and one which we will continue to put forward, with others, until it is achieved.
Andrew Aitchison via Getty Images

For disabled women like me, one of the biggest barriers in life comes from public misconceptions about who we are, and how we live our lives.

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As human beings we learn that life is full of lessons, which can make all the difference to our future. One of the most important lessons in life is to be able to distinguish between myths and facts so that we may move beyond creating erroneous beliefs that result in discriminatory and inhumane practices. So when we receive news reports about harm and the killing of disabled women through the purveying of myths and prejudice this should raise serious global concerns.

Another lesson learnt is that a myth comes from a story and often it's the most erroneous and unrealistic stories that makes the biggest impact, and cause the most damage. It is through the elegance of the story teller and the proclamation made which shapes beliefs on individuals, and entire communities. Such myths, unfair reporting, and misrepresentation of disabled people in the media can become a manifestation of the story and the realisation for disabled women of the world. For example, when an individual is told that a disabled woman cannot make a good mother and should not procreate. It is not surprising to receive news reports about forced sterilisation of a disabled woman, or to learn that a baby is taken away from a mother because she is a disabled woman. This could also be the reason why maternity care during pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal are inaccessible to many disabled women.

Throughout my life, I have come into contact with ludicrous, horrifying myths that can live on in the public conscience and be really damaging for the life chances, and social inclusion of disabled women. In such cases, fear and anxiety is created giving permission to inflict harm and abuse based on biased and unfounded stories which, sadly, are accepted as truth.

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It was only a few days ago when someone said to me that, "I needed protecting, needed to be looked after, not let out and no man should love me". This implies that disabled women (and men) should be hidden away from society but also to a make disabled women out to be needy, and childlike.

The most concerning issue about a myth is its ability to create a problem based on unknown facts which are usually biased against women. As I've just shown, this problem is further exasperated for disabled women and is increased by our different intersections.

So when an individual is told the myth that a disabled 'woman is less of a woman,' society finds itself indoctrinated into believing the myth as truth. As a result, disabled people suffer, can feel ostracised and alienated.. Worringly, when the individual believes the myth as true the action of their behaviour is justified even when it dehumanises the disabled woman.

It's clear that the power of a myth not only poisons people with lies, but renders many disabled women of the world to a life of misery and torture. It is time people for to rise up and challenge such myths, so we can live in an accepting, inclusive world

Women of the world, you know that we can create postive action and conversation that motivates, empowers and supports disabled women to stop the harm and killing of disabled women through unfair, unfounded myths. Because our disabled sister's such as Mary Prince and Harriet Tubman set the momentum for us to build on. It's also worth reminding us of the stirring words of Sojourner Truth, an abolitionist and women's rights activist. My sincere gratitude goes to her for being the hurricane force for fighting for women's equality and human rights. This is what motivates and empowers me as a black disabled woman to produce a website to discuss such issues. Sojourner Truth has made mine and many other women of the world's achievements possible. It is also the reason why the legacy of Sojourner Truth is so pertinent to disabled women of the world today, especially when she rightfully says "Ain't I a women".

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Written in solidarity of disabled women of the world.

Michelle will be speaking at the Disablity, women and taking action panel, 11 March, 1.15 - 2.15pm at Southbank Centre's WOW - Women of the World Festival, supported by Bloomberg.

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
Last month, we heard both Elon Musk and Bill Gates voice concerns over the pace of change within many sections of the labour market, with robots and automation making vast swathes of the workforce redundant. Driverless cars are putting taxi drivers, school bus drivers (accounting for over 660,000 US employees), and truck drivers, which provide work for approximately one million people in the US, at risk.

The concept is not new - the luddite movement in the nineteenth century lasted over five years but it is the speed of change that is surprising many. Over a century ago in the US, technological advances in both transportation and agriculture lead to the introduction of personal income tax.

Soon, it is estimated that most warehouses will be fully automated. Zero comfort breaks, the ability to work 24 hours a day and in built technology and sensors to limit the risk of accidents or collisions makes an attractive proposition to manufacturers and their clients. Reports have suggested that Amazon is set to open a new store, with virtually no retail assistants. Part of the skill in retail has been the ability to pick likely purchases from shoppers, but Amazon's use of AI in its recommendation web tool has been key to its ongoing success, and it will be interesting to see how quickly this can be replicated in bricks and mortar stores.

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Some commentators are pointing to previous industrial revolutions - and how when one set of jobs are taken away these are replaced by a new set are created.

Robots can also perform surgery, diffuse bombs and automate restaurants. There are still some tasks which are better done by humans - such as the interpretation of data or some higher impact sales roles, which require which require some human empathy. Those jobs that demand both empathy, and social interaction, such as doctors and therapists, are likely to be performed better by humans. The creative industry is another where human skills, and the ability to step back and see the bigger picture / think outside the box, can override those of robots - for the moment!

So what is the answer? Automation is inevitable, but there is time to help educate and retrain those whose careers are at risk of being displaced.

Bill Gates has suggested that robots should be taxed to slow automation and allow communities that are most affected to adjust their earning abilities. This idea is sometimes pulled in with plans for a universal basic income - so that governments are prepared for a potential glut of revenue as income taxes freefall. European lawmakers in February rejected a proposal to impose a robot tax, although they did call for more legislation to regulate the rise of the robots.

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For those on the other side, they argue that robots can create more jobs by increasing productivity. They also point out a close correlation between robot density and high employment in industrial nations, such as Germany.

But taxing progress in innovation and productivity will slow economic progress and could limit investment in society. We have all benefitted from improved living standards, and predictions of a far shorter working week due to productivity increases will appeal to one and all.

What does the future hold? AI is unlikely to cause sudden mass unemployment, but it will disrupt the employment market. Workers will need to learn new skills more quickly than they have had to in the past. And governments may need to make it easier for these workers to gain these skills.
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I grew up reading books that didn't feature characters who looked like me but that was okay, I could write my own stories, right? I moved out of my parent's house two years ago and on cleaning out my childhood room I came across some of these lovingly illustrated exercise books of my 'novels'. I smiled. Here was confirmation that I was a true writer. Look, here I was at seven, ten, thirteen writing and writing. I sat down amongst bin bags and boxes to read them. When I got up, hours later, I was embarrassed, as we've all no doubt felt when revisiting our previous selves, but this was different to the usual 'I can't believe I used to wear that/fall out of clubs/cried over him'. This was frightening. In every story I was a little white girl. I had blonde pigtails, I had the bluest eyes, so blue that 'sometimes they were clear'. What was clear to me then was the damage limited representation could do to a child.

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Later, at university studying literature, I'd look at my reading list each new term and wonder where all the great women were, where all the great Black, Asian and minority ethnic writers were. What, not even Morrison?! I'd turn my list over in the hope that it was continued overleaf but no, we'd been excluded - again. I realised then that although I loved it, although I wanted to be part of it, literature systematically marginalised women and people of colour.

Around that same time, I'd begun meeting a number of brilliant women on the London poetry scene at various readings and events. Afterwards, in the bar or making our way home, we'd share heartbreakingly similar anecdotes about how difficult it was for us to be listened to, recognized and untokenised in our respective academic spaces. I decided that we needed somewhere we could come together to read the books that we were in, where we could write our true selves and where we could share and hopefully heal. I badly needed that space and now I knew all these other women who needed that too.

I approached Bea Colley, Literature Co-ordinator at Southbank Centre, who I'd met the year before on a young producers programme. She was incredibly supportive of the idea of our group meeting, which meant unquantifiable amounts. Octavia began to meet monthly at Southbank Centre, and the rest they say is history - or the history we are making. Southbank Centre not only give us space but they consistently support us. They include us in their festival programmes. Octavia have been invited to read at the Poetry Library, at Women of the World and the London Literature Festival. Last October, Southbank invited me to curate and run a series of Octavia-inspired workshops for women of colour. Telling Her Story is a series in which participants can sign up for the whole course or they can dip in and out. It's a wonderful way to extend the ethos of Octavia, to widen the community of women of colour poets.

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Octavia's meetings include reading, writing, discussion and cake - us being able to come together and write together is a celebration after all. Who we read is not exclusive, I don't see the point of that. Reading, I believe, should always be as diverse and rigorous as possible. We'll read everything, we'll critique everything. We'll take it in turns to bring in poems or whole collections that we've fallen in love with and want to interrogate. We'll then write in response, taking inspiration from either the form, tone or theme of the 'focus' poem. We'll each share our work for feedback. Although we all begin from the same poem, the same inspiration source, how we each respond is so different, wonderfully nuanced. There is a variation that I feel is oft not discussed in relation to writers of colour, nor do I feel is it reflected as well as it could be in the small amount that is published.

Our group dynamic is equalitarian, full of chat and raucous laughter. This only changes when we are writing or listening to one another, the room falls silent. There is a deep respect between us that came naturally. I suspect it from knowing intimately what it feels like to not be listened to, to long being ignored.

As a collective we decided that we didn't want to be on any online platforms. Octavia has no Twitter account, no Facebook page. We felt that social media platforms were often unsafe spaces for women and people of colour. Taking a step away has been a great decision. We don't waste time taking photos, sharing updates about what we're doing. It's incredibly freeing to be able to switch the phone off, concentrate solely on writing, to being present with and for each other.

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Octavia has given me a new dedication to poetry. Each of them inspire me to constantly turn the world over as one would a prism, to view it from endless angles and perspectives. They've made me see that the very act of coming together and writing is political. They are evidence that in number we can change things. Above all, Octavia has given me hope for the future of literature. We're recording and reciting our stories in the hope that they might heal, that they'll be passed on, published so that within half a generation they'll be no more little black or brown girls writing themselves white because that seemed to them the only option.

Octavia are: Amaal Said, Sunayana Bhargava, Amina Jama, Belinda Zhawi, Zahrah Sheikh, Aniali Barot, Ankita Saxena, Josette Joseph, Raheela Suleman, Rhonda Rhiannon, Tania Nwachukwu, Theresa Lola, Victoria-Anne Bulley, Sarah Lasoye, Virginia Joseph and Rena Minegishi.

What Collectivism Can Mean for Creative Women of Colour, a voice from within Octavia: Sunayana Bhargava

I came to Octavia as a woman with a lot of baggage. I grew up surrounded by a series of vivid, violent upheavals within my family and extended family over a period of years. I slowly began to understand how violence and difficulty shaped me differently, uniquely, as a girl and then a woman. I learnt about the futility of fighting back with fists, talking back with my tongue and I steadily directed all my force inwards to understand how I could recover some stability outside of the house I came from. I wrote because it was the easiest way to document. It was the only way I could close in on the gap between my experiences and memory. But in my poetry, I remember skirting around precise writing for years. I could not bear to write out my personal history, I didn't dare make it finite, I didn't dare separate it from my body. I was probably scared that writing would render it smaller, compact, fewer words than I imagined for it, with less depth than when it was in my stomach, when all my organs were feeling an invasive suction towards it. It might look small, a crumb, a kidney stone. Apparently, objects feel ten times bigger when they are inside the mouth. I think this is also true of words.

Octavia as a poetry 'space' feels apt, because above all, that is what it gives me: space. I get to listen to other women speaking about their experiences, frankly and honestly. We can discuss damage without being defined by it. We can explore themes of love, loss, politics and womanhood as we move through them in the world. Talking within the walls of Octavia is freeing - there is no censorship, there is no sense of a quota for "those poems" "devastating poems", when this is said it shows a complete unwillingness to recognise my humanity beyond grief. I don't feel tokenised in a room full of other women of colour. I don't get paranoid about voyeurism as I would with men. Frank poems about sexuality do not render me sexualised in the company of other women writers. Octavia has taught me that collectivism is only meaningful if the goal is to showcase strength in numbers rather than as a force for competition. Because we all amplify each other, we are so strong as a group. We are all on the same page and intend to fill it well.

Sunayana Bhargava is a 22-year-old British-Indian poet and astrophysicist based in Brighton. Her writing explores themes of trauma, separation, home and the body. Her work has been featured in Bloodaxe Books' anthology of women's poetry, Spectra and The This Magazine.

Octavia is a poetry collective for women of colour led by Rachel Long and housed at Southbank Centre. Octavia is performing at WOW (Women of the World) Festival, supported by Bloomberg, on Sunday 12 March.

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

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Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

More than 100 million manats have been illegally withdrawn from bank accounts in Azerbaijan until today, said Minister of Taxes Fazil Mammadov.

He made the remarks at the conference titled Together towards transparency in Baku March 10.

These funds have certainly been returned thanks to activities of the Ministry of Taxes and this had a positive impact on banks' liquidity, the minister said.

Further, Mammadov responded to claims of entrepreneurs who think that introduction of a 1-percent tax on cash withdrawals from bank accounts, carried out by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, contradicts the Constitution.

According to the Constitution, paying taxes is every citizens duty. Besides, taxes are determined by laws, not by the Constitution, he said.

As for the one percent rate for cash withdrawals, it has been introduced not to increase tax revenues. The tax is used for keeping records of cashable funds. In general, I believe this will not affect the business environment, the minister added.
Toby Melville / Reuters

Did you go to a grammar school? And if you did, did you get a good education?

If the answer to both those questions is Yes, you may very well have welcomed the government's pledge in the budget this week to make extra money available for new schools that will be allowed to choose their pupils according to academic ability.

So here's another question: Do you believe that encouraging the establishment of more grammar schools gives parents more choice about where to send their children to school? If your answer is Yes again, I fear you are sadly mistaken.

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Because the whole point of selective schools is that it is not the parents who do the choosing. It's the schools. And that - as those of you with long memories will recall - is why grammar schools were abolished: too many parents were left angry and disappointed when their 11-year-old children were labelled 'failures' and shunted off to secondary modern schools.

It also explains, as Simon Jenkins pointed out in The Guardian, why even Margaret Thatcher, as education secretary in 1970, knew better than to halt the move away from selective schools. Tory voters did not like the idea of going back to a system in which their children risked being written off as 11-plus failures.

In a speech last September, Theresa May said: 'For far too many children in Britain, the chance they have in life is determined by where they live, or how much money their parents have.' That comes close to being an 'alternative fact' of Trumpist proportions. But just because she believes it to be true (Trump believes he won the biggest electoral victory since Ronald Reagan, and that Barack Obama bugged his phones, but that's not true either.)

Good schools that offer children good life chances do not exist only in leafy suburbs or where parents are able to pay for the privilege of a private education. Good schools exist wherever good, motivated teachers are given the resources they need to educate, encourage and inspire the children who come through their doors every morning. And there is no evidence whatsoever to back Mrs May's belief that selective schools offer bright children better chances in later life. It is dogma, pure and simple.

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There is, however, plenty of evidence that providing government money to encourage more selective schools is an extravagant misuse of scarce resources. What possible sense can it make to allocate 320million for the establishment of 110 new free schools, some of which will be selective, and only 216million for the 20,000 existing state schools? (Declaration of interest: both my children were educated at a state comprehensive school.)

The budgets of mainstream schools are still being cut, year after year. According to a survey of 1,000 school staff in England published in January, 80% said their school either had made cutbacks or was planning to, a third said their schools were not replacing teachers who leave, and 14% said that teachers at their schools were being made redundant.

That is the current reality in the state system: fewer teachers, fewer support staff, fewer books, and morale at rock bottom. Little wonder that this week the head teachers of more than a thousand schools have sent out letters to parents and MPs warning that their budgets are at breaking point.

In last year's budget, the then chancellor George Osborne - the one who is now being paid 650,000 a year to work one day a week at the asset manager BlackRock - announced that all schools would be forced to turn themselves into independently-run academies by 2020. Less than two months later, the idea was scrapped in the face of near-universal opposition.

Now, his successor, Philip Hammond, is in hot water over his proposal to increase national insurance contributions for the self-employed. So I have the perfect solution for him: scrap the NI increase, and fill the hole in the accounts by also scrapping the free school cash allocation.

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As the Women Of The World Festival takes place at London's South Bank Centre, three politicians from across the political spectrum blog on the challenges facing women in 2017. You can read former Lib Dem minister Jo Swinson on gender equality here, and Labour MP Stella Creasy on Brexit's threat to women's rights here

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Raped, beaten and destitute, Sarah (names changed) had nowhere else to go. Aged 28, and with her young son, she faced no other option than to leave the place she used to call home. Tom, her partner had become increasingly violent over the last year, stripping her of her self-esteem. On one occasion, he had tried to push her out of an upstairs window. Another night, she awoke to find him pouring methylated spirits all over her, trying to set her alight. It only stopped when their son saw and called the police. Sarah had tried to leave over the years but Tom would convince her that he was a changed man and couldn't cope on his own. But that night, after Tom's latest attack, Sarah suddenly realised that she couldn't take anymore and sought help.

This is not the storyline in a soap opera. Sarah was my client when I was a Barrister, instructed late one evening to apply to the court for an emergency order by a judge to provide local authority accommodation for Sarah and her son. She would be provided with a safe place, with support for her son, by the local council, to keep her safe from the very real threat that Tom presented.

Two women die at the hands of domestic abusers each week in England and Wales. One in four women in England and Wales will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes and 8% will suffer domestic violence in any given year. While these shameful statistics are not new and you have probably heard them before, we must keep repeating them. While it can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, women are far more likely to be victims than men. On average a woman will be assaulted 35 times before seeking help. The cost to the UK economy and the public has been estimated at 23billion per annum. This includes the cost to the criminal justice system, to the health service, to social care and to housing. Even this staggering figure is widely accepted to be an underestimation of the true cost.

Earlier this week we marked International Women's Day - a day to celebrate our contribution to social, economic, cultural and political achievements. However, it is also a day to pause and reflect on those areas where long-standing statistics like those I mentioned above highlight how women and girls are still being failed. No one should live in fear of domestic abuse, which is why this Conservative government has made ending violence against women and girls a priority.

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In the Budget on Wednesday, the Chancellor announced that the government will provide an additional 20million to support organisations working to combat domestic violence and abuse, and to support victims, bringing the total funding for implementing the government's Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy to 100million over the Parliament. This is a welcome step, building on this government's commitment to helping vulnerable women. Theresa May has been a champion for victims of domestic violence for many years, first as Home Secretary and now as Prime Minister. This commitment is clear in the Domestic Violence and Abuse Act, which she is determined to bring forward.

Words are important but it is action that has made a true difference. In March 2014 this government introduced Clare's Law - named after Clare Wood, who was tragically murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2009. It allows people to ask the police if their partner has a history of domestic abuse and has already provided lifesaving information to more than 1,300 people.

We've introduced new Domestic Violence Protection Orders that protect victims in the immediate aftermath of domestic violence - when they are at their most vulnerable. These new powers can stop perpetrators from returning to a home or contacting the victim.

What is even more encouraging is that even though the Crime Survey for England and Wales indicates the lowest number of adults aged 16-59 were a victim of domestic abuse in 2014/15, the number of convictions for domestic violence are at its highest level ever - that means that not only are victims more willing to come forward to report abuse, but also that the individuals responsible for violence are being punished. The 2014/15 year saw around 60,000 more perpetrators prosecuted compared to 2004/05.

It is also important to recognise that domestic violence isn't always physical. Not all abuse leaves visible marks. But, that does not mean it is not as damaging or it does not have as deep an impact. Psychological and emotional abuse can lead to total control of the victims lives by the perpetrator. That is why this government has introduced a new offence for coercive or controlling behaviour - meaning that it is no longer just physical abuse that is recognised in the courts. We are sending a very clear message that emotional and controlling abuse will not be tolerated.

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Domestic violence destroys lives. We need to keep on empowering women to come forward, knowing they have the full backing of the justice system and they won't be failed. As a Conservative, and a women, I am enormously proud that this Government is working to protect the most vulnerable women.

Suella Fernandes is the Conservative MP for Fareham

The Women Of The World Festival takes place at London's Southbank Centre from 10-12 March. For more information, visit the WOW Festival website

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
This week I've gained two new role models in life. Megan O' Malley and Gab Murphy are walking across Southeast Asia under the banner of Walk Sew Good. Over the space of a year they will hike 3,500 km of partly heat-scorched, partly landmine-ridden, ground. And Megan, by her own admission, is anything but a hiker:

"We did a test hike before we left for this trip. At one point Gab turned around and said: 'You look like that scene from Wild.' I felt like it too. I had a panic attack on the second day and we had to go home."

Luckily they've made it the 1,100km from Ho Chi Minh to Bangkok where I caught up with them. And here's why I think they're two of the best female role models this planet has to offer.

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Image: author's own

Reason #1: They're doing this to raise awareness of ethical fashion

At every given opportunity Megan and Gab are stopping to meet small business owners who are treating their workers fairly and caring for the environment.

They've spoken with Hanna and Kunthear, founders of Dorsu, which makes comfy casuals from material leftover from Cambodia's large garment factories. They've met Koky Saly, the Cambodian refugee who founded Beekeeper Parade - every backpack sold funds education for a Cambodian child for one year. They are broadcasting their interviews across Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Twitter.

The way they see it, the people are the key. Says Meg: "That human connection is so rewarding. To know the story behind your clothes rather than just buying from a random brand that doesn't really mean anything."

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Reason #2: They're taking a positive approach. It's contagious

There are some horrific human rights abuses associated with the garment trade. Meg and Gab took me to meet one man, Manom, who used to work in a factory where the workers were drugged with amphetamines to keep them awake for two to three day shifts. Sometimes this would cause pregnant women to miscarry. The factory supplied many major global brands - albeit brands which didn't realise what was happening as the owners would cover it up during inspections.

Whilst I, and I'm sure many others, found this shocking, when we are faced with such stories it is so far from our own experience we can barely process it. We often feel disempowered when bombarded on social media with stories of such reckless disregard for human rights.

Megan and Gab's strategy is to flip this. Talk about the people doing it right. Sing their song, promote their businesses, show people where they can direct their attention and their money if they want to support something good.

The reason we're meeting Manom is because him and his fellow workers fled the terrible conditions they were working under and founded Dignity Returns. They're now happy, working decent hours in good conditions. A whole community has built up around it. I went from feeling disempowered to fired up within the space of minutes. These people have built something great, I thought, and I'm going to support it.

Reason #3: they're scared (well one of them is). And they're doing it anyway

Megan, it turns out, is scared of quite a few things. "I don't know if I can make it up a mountain," she tells me. Or: "I'm scared of being eaten by a large mammal. Do you know they have tigers and bears here?" And: "Gab's really good at dealing with vicious dogs, where as I still have this fear that I'm going to die," and so on.

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She drops these fears into our conversation, but she doesn't obsess over them. She's not just facing them, she's laughing in the face of them (even whilst quaking in her cargo pants).

I don't really know what more I can ask from a strong female role model than that.

Reason #4: they have a wicked sense of humour

They keep each other going by laughing together at every given opportunity. They laugh about the time someone thought Megan was a mum and Gab her teenage son. They laugh about the time Gab got a vomiting bug, found a 'miraculous' bin to throw up in, then realised her sick was running right back onto her sandal clad feet through a hole in the bottom. They laugh about the time they were walking through a village and got stopped by the local women to do karaoke. They performed 'Wannabe' by the Spice Girls and then kept right on walking.

Surely the correct approach to life.

Reason #5: they are advocates for humanity

I ask about scary, difficult moments of the trip. And absolutely none of them are associated with human beings. They've had concerned villagers offer them lifts, thrust food upon them, and even plant trees in their honour.

Says Megan: "Before the trip everyone was like oh my god it's so dangerous, so scary! It's like everyone is so scared of the people around them. But the only thing we have experienced is generosity and kindness and it restores your faith in humankind. You realise how much the world is driven by fear, when it doesn't really have to be."

Gab agrees: "So much politics is driven by fear, but this whole trip has been driven by love. Which sounds so cliche, oh my gosh I wanna just punch myself in the face, but it's so true. We're welcomed very openly into the community."

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We live during a time where there appears to be so much hostility and hate among people. But Megan and Gab have spent three months at the mercy of strangers and the truth about their experiences is the opposite.

I admire them for putting themselves in that position and for telling the world. I think it's a story we all need to hear.
Volunteer in Reno County

The Volunteer Center of Reno County, a United Way Agency, is a central clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities in Reno County.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

Trend:

The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is ready to develop a long-term strategic plan of cooperation with such Azerbaijani partners as SOCAR, said Chinas Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Azerbaijan Wei Jinghua.

The ambassador made the remarks during his meeting with a delegation led by President of the Caspian Energy International Media Group Natalya Aliyeva.

Azerbaijan is an investment-attractive country for Chinese companies and of course noteworthy is the big role of the historic visit made by President Ilham Aliyev to China in December 2015, in the course of which a memorandum of cooperation on Great Silk Way was signed, said Wei Jinghua.

This is a very firm foundation for further cooperation between the two countries, added the ambassador.

He, however, noted that mutual understanding between Chinese and Azerbaijani businesses is insufficient and the volume of information that Chinese and Azerbaijani businessmen get about each other is small.

In this regard, the ambassador expressed hope that the Caspian-European Integration Business Club (CEIBC) could play a more active role in mutual familiarization of the Chinese businesses with those of the Caspian countries, letting to expand cooperation and implement a much higher amount of joint projects.

Chinese company CNPC has established a close cooperation as it has been operating in Azerbaijan for a long time. But at present the company enjoys much better conditions and is ready to develop a long-term strategic plan of cooperation with such Azerbaijani partners as SOCAR, noted Wei Jinghua.

The Chinese embassy would like to promote mutual visits of officials of Azerbaijan and China in order to deepen and expand business cooperation between the two countries in different areas, he added.

The ambassador also expressed his gratitude to CEIBC for the efforts made to strengthen relations of China with the Caspian countries.

We, as the embassy, are ready to continue and strengthen cooperation with you, said Wei Jinghua.
Jake Schneider Exits Madison House

Veteran music agent Jake Schneider has left his longtime post at Madison House. Schneider, who joined Madison House as a booking agent in 2005, had become a partner at the company and had most recently served as Madison House's Director of Agency Development.

Before joining the Madison House team, Schneider served as the talent buyer and director of operations for SCOPE Productions in Iowa City, IA for four years, as well as running his own production company, The Pig-Donkey Presents.

Schneider reps an EDM-focused roster that includes Keys N Krates, Casual, Break Science, Twiddle, and Pyramid Scheme.

Schneider did not respond to a request for comment and an after-hours call to Madison House was not answered.

via Celebrity Access

HYPEBOT UPDATE: We've learned that Jake is currently in Fiji at a Tony Robbins seminar, the first stop on what he's calling "A Month Of Jake" dedicated to self-exploration. Go Jake! We're envious

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Baku, Azerbaijan, March 10

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

Russian Kosmos-Neft-Gaz company develops a project of a new plant producing Euro-5 fuel in South Kazakhstan.

The plant is planned to be build in cooperation with Kazakh South Oil company.

This issue was discussed within the meeting of the head of South Kazakhstan region Zhanseit Tuimebayev with the heads of Kosmos-Neft-Gaz Ivan Lachugin and South Oil Serikzhan Seitzhanov, the press-service of regional administration said in a message March 10.

Kazakhstan has three big oil refineries  in Atyrau, Shymkent and Pavlodar. In 2016 as much as 2.95 million tons of gasoline was produced in the country (2.8 percent more than in 2015). Meanwhile, Kazakhstan annually imports about 1.1 million tons of gasoline mainly from Russia to meet domestic demand.

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Change Your Clocks, Check Your Alarms This Weekend

BOSTON  State fire officials are reminding people that as they change their clocks this weekend to check their smoke detectors as well.



"Prevent that annoying chirp of a dying smoke alarm battery by replacing the alkaline batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms now, unless you have newer alarms with 10-year sealed batteries," State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said. "Check the age of your alarms. Smoke alarms need to be replaced after 10 years usually, and carbon monoxide alarms after five to seven years."



Ostroskey said time is the enemy during a fire, and alarms offer precious seconds to evacuate before poisonous gases and heat make escape impossible.



In the average house fire, there are only 1-3 minutes to escape AFTER the smoke alarm sounds, he said.



"Take a few minutes to protect those you love by changing the batteries in your smoke alarms this weekend," he said. "Then take a step stool and some 9-volts to your parents or older neighbor's and ask if you can refresh their smoke alarms."
Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School Taps New Development Director

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.  The Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School welcomes Edward Brozman as director of development.



Brozman brings extensive experience in higher education, development and community building to the school. Most recently, Brozman was the Chief Advancement Officer at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass. He has also served as vice president for Institutional Advancement at Saint Josephs College (Standish, Maine) and executive director of Development and Alumni Relations at Hartwick College (Oneonta, N.Y.).

In the corporate sector, Brozman has been a sales and marketing executive for companies including Winfield Industries (San Diego), Anchor Systems Group (Providence, R.I.), Shared Medical Systems and Haemonetics (Boston) and Baxter Healthcare (Chicago).



Brozman is an alumnus of The State University of New York at Oswego, and also attended executive education at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.






iciHaiti - Politics : Draft Law on the student credit





This Friday, March 10, the Association of Volunteers for Democracy (AVD) launched the work of the Youth Parliament of Haiti on the proposed legislation on Access to Student Credit, proposed to the Senate of the Republic by Senators Youri Latortue and Carl Murat Cantave.



This document was presented to the AVD at the end of February by the President of the Senate, Youri Latortue, so that the young people of the Youth Parliament of Haiti can produce their reflections on the text before submitting it to Parliament.



The work of the two Houses of the Youth Parliament of Haiti on this bill, will be handed over at the end of March to the office of the Senate of the Republic.



Let us recall that this bill on access to student credit aims to give young people access to a structure of bank loans guaranteed by the Haitian State to finance their university, professional and continuing education.



IH/ iciHaiti


















Senior Saudi energy officials told top independent US oil firms in a closed-door meeting this week that they should not assume OPEC would extend output curbs to offset rising production from US shale fields, two industry sources told Reuters.

Speaking at an industry conference in the US energy capital of Houston, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that there would be no "free rides" for US shale producers benefiting from the upturn.

"One of the advisors said that OPEC would not take the hit for the rise in US shale production," a US executive who was at the meeting told Reuters. "He said we and other shale producers should not automatically assume OPEC will extend the cuts."

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries joined forces with Russia and several other non-OPEC producers last November and pledged to cut production by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months starting Jan. 1.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed the law On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution, the presidential press service reported March 10.

The constitutional reform envisages transferring some of powers from president to parliament and government. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev put forward the initiative to redistribute powers in December 2016.

Kazakhstans Parliament passed the Law on Amendments and Additions to the Constitution on March 6.

On March 9, the countrys Constitutional Council ruled that the law on constitutional amendments is in line with the Constitution itself.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Mar. 10

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Ashgabat hosted a meeting with Head of Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Jean-Jerome Casabianca, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a message.

During the meeting, issues of diversification of partnership in line with the cooperation plan between Turkmenistan and ICRC for 2017 were discussed.

The sides also gave attention to the process of implementation of international humanitarian law, as well as cooperation in humanitarian activity on results of the previous meeting, considering the aspects voiced by the Turkmen side and the ICRCs positions, said the message.

Turkmenistan and the ICRC have implemented several programs and projects since the beginning of their cooperation, main goals of which were the dissemination and improvement of knowledge about the norms and principles of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) defined by the 1949 Geneva Convention. Turkmenistan ratified this document in 1992.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Mar. 10

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Turkmenistan is a key partner of the EU, and the two sides have well-established ties in various areas of mutual interests, reads a letter of the EU Special Representative for Central Asia Peter Burian to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

Burian said in his letter that he is happy to witness continuation of a fruitful political dialogue, as well as practical steps in cooperation between the EU member states and Turkmenistan.

He added that Turkmenistans constant work in implementing comprehensive reforms will allow the country to realize its considerable potential, as well as contribute to positive changes throughout the Central Asian region.

The EU is ready to support this work and remain a reliable partner of Turkmenistan, the diplomats letter said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10



By Emil Ilgar  Trend:



Iran has tested the Hormoz 2 missile, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said Mar.10.



The missile reportedly successfully destroyed a target at a 250-km distance, Tasnim news agency reported.



"Hormoz 2" is a 300-km range marine-based ballistic missile, capable to target moving objects.

Hajizadeh didnt say at what date exactly Iran tested the missile, but said that the test was conducted during this week.

Previously, Fox News quoted U.S. officials Mar.6 as saying that Iran this weekend test-fired a pair of ballistic missiles and sent fast-attack vessels close to a U.S. Navy ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

One of Iran's ballistic missile tests were successful, destroying a floating barge approximately 155 miles away, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the launch told Fox News. The launches of the Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missiles were the first tests of the missile in two years, one official said.

According to one official, Iran launched its two short-range ballistic missiles from an IRGC base in Bandar-e-Jask, in southeastern Iran. The first missile was fired on Saturday, but missed its target, though it landed in the vicinity, one official said.

A day later, Iran made another attempt and was successful.
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FTC Testifies Before House Committee About Data Security and Small Businesses

Washington, DC - The Federal Trade Commission told the House Small Business Committee today that the agency is committed to protecting consumers and educating small businesses on ways to keep consumer data secure.

Testifying on behalf of the Commission, Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen outlined the Commissions efforts to protect consumers and help small businesses take steps to secure consumer data.

Failing to take reasonable precautions to secure data from identity thieves and other malicious actors hurts consumers and legitimate businesses alike, Acting Chairman Ohlhausen said in her written testimony. Data breaches can harm a businesss financial interests and reputation as well as result in the loss of consumer confidence in the businesses to whom they entrust their data. In the case of small businesses, a data breach can be devastating.

Since 2001, the Commission has taken action in approximately 60 cases against businesses that it charged with failing to provide reasonable and appropriate protections for consumers personal information.

Acting Chairman Ohlhausen told the committee that FTC staff is working to provide the public with more information about the data security cases it closes. She said that such information would provide businesses, particularly small firms, with additional examples of what practices contribute to reasonable data security.

She also outlined the FTCs extensive efforts to educate business and consumers on data security through blog posts, published guides, videos and workshops. In particular, the Commission provides businesses with user-friendly information to help them protect data in their care and understand what practices may run afoul of the FTC Act.

The Commission provides general business education about security issues, as well as specific guidance on emerging threats, such as tips to prevent phishing scams and ransomware. FTC guides for businesses on data security include the Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business, which was updated in November, and the Data Breach Response: A Guide for Business, which outlines steps businesses should follow when they experience a data breach.

One of the FTCs most recent efforts is its Start with Security initiative, which includes a guide for businesses that summarizes the lessons learned from the FTCs data security cases, as well as several short videos. These materials discuss 10 important security topics and give advice about specific security practices for each topic. As part of this initiative, the FTC hosted events across the country to bring business owners and app developers together with industry experts to discuss practical tips and strategies for implementing effective data security.

The Commission vote approving the testimony and its inclusion in the formal record was 2-0.
(First version posted at 11:11)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10



By Emil Ilgar  Trend:



Iran has tested the Hormoz 2 missile, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said Mar.10.



The missile reportedly successfully destroyed a target at a 250-km distance, Tasnim news agency reported.



"Hormoz 2" is a 300-km range marine-based ballistic missile, capable to target moving objects.

Hajizadeh didnt say at what date exactly Iran tested the missile, but said that the test was conducted during this week.

Previously, Fox News quoted U.S. officials Mar.6 as saying that Iran this weekend test-fired a pair of ballistic missiles and sent fast-attack vessels close to a U.S. Navy ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

One of Iran's ballistic missile tests were successful, destroying a floating barge approximately 155 miles away, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the launch told Fox News. The launches of the Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missiles were the first tests of the missile in two years, one official said.

According to one official, Iran launched its two short-range ballistic missiles from an IRGC base in Bandar-e-Jask, in southeastern Iran. The first missile was fired on Saturday, but missed its target, though it landed in the vicinity, one official said.

A day later, Iran made another attempt and was successful.
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A controversial talk by a rape survivor and the man who raped her has been removed from the schedule of a women's festival following protests.

Icelandic writer Thordis Elva was set to speak at the Women of the World festival at the Southbank Centre in London at the weekend with Australian Tom Stranger, who raped her when she was 16-years-old and his then-girlfriend. Stranger was 18-years-old at the time and living in Iceland as an exchange student.

Evla contacted him eight years after the incident to tell him how she had been affected, after which an email correspondence and face-to-face meeting formed the basis of a new book by Elva: South of Forgiveness.

The event was cancelled following protests against Stranger's scheduled appearance at the festival, following talks with the author, her publisher, rape survivor groups and other interested parties, the Guardian reports.

Instead, a standalone event will be held on 14 March. Stranger will still appear onstage with Elva at the talk, and group discussions will be held afterwards to support anyone whose own memories of sexual assault are triggered, organisers said.

Recommended Woman writes powerful letter to the man who tried to rape her

Southbank Centre artistic director Jude Kelly said the move was made "to enable as many people as possible to contribute outside a festival context".

Kelly also rejected the criticism of the festival, saying the event was created to be an "open, balanced platform for discussion and debate on gender equality and the related ciritical issues that women and men struggle with every day.

"Rape is one of those critical issues and we need to shift the discourse around it, which too often focuses on rape survivors rather than rape perpetrators."
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Lindsay Lohan has prompted further speculation that she has converted to Islam after quoting the Prophet Muhammad.

The actress marked International Womens Day with a eulogising 70-word line and a picture of her with a bindi on her forehead.

Women are not created weaker but more generous than men, said the 30-year-old.

Angels are the strongest of created beings, and women are closer to the angelic nature than men, as they are readier than men to carry angelic light.

She did not however suffix the prophet's name with the phrase Peace Be Upon Him, or PBUH, as is common among Muslims in a sign of respect.

The New York-born performer, who is best known for films including Freaky Friday, Mean Girls and The Parent Trap, started studying Islam last year.

The London-resident says she has found peace with Islam but has not converted.

Last month, she told ITVs Good Morning Britain she was racially profiled at London Heathrow Airport while wearing a headscarf.

Ms Lohan has previously spoken out in support of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria, asking Donald Trump to join her.

Thousands refused to work yesterday, over gender inequality, as part of the Day Without Women protest.
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Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the screenwriting duo behind several James Bond films, have been officially approached to write the script for Bond 25, reports suggest

While unconfirmed, the Daily Mail states that the next 007 film will mark the duo's seventh time working on a bond film.

Their previous credits include Spectre, Skyfall, Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale, Die Another Day and The World Is Not Enough.

It's still unknown whether Daniel Craig will return as the British spy despite producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson remaining enthusiastic to keep him on board.

The eight contenders to be the next James Bond Show all 9 1 /9 The eight contenders to be the next James Bond The eight contenders to be the next James Bond Jamie Dornan, 36 PA The eight contenders to be the next James Bond Aiden Turner, 35 The eight contenders to be the next James Bond Idris Elba, 45 Getty The eight contenders to be the next James Bond Michael Fassbender, 41 Getty The eight contenders to be the next James Bond Luke Evans, 39 Luke Evans Getty The eight contenders to be the next James Bond Jamie Bell, 32 Jamie Bell Getty The eight contenders to be the next James Bond Charlie Hunnam, 38 Getty The eight contenders to be the next James Bond Tom Hiddleston, 37 The eight contenders to be the next James Bond James Norton, 32 BBC

Discussions have previously been held regarding the direction of the next film with Purvis and Wade telling the Telegraph last month that the new film would be quite different to latest Bond film, Spectre.

They even suggested Brexit and Donald Trump's presidency would have an affect on any future script.

 James Bond car to be auctioned

Purvis and Wade are considered to be one of Britain's most successful writing partnerships.
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Jesus H Christ  but this is a brilliant night out. That's not my profane oath, by the way, but Martha's first squiffy shout when she crashes back home (what a dump!) at 2am at the start of this American classic.

James Macdonald's production is the first major revival of what is surely the late Edward Albees greatest play. I got to know the dramatist a little, having interviewed him four times  a fifth, and we might have caused comment on the platform. Enough, at any rate, to say with some confidence that I think he'd have adored this show.

Gore Vidal sleekly put the knife in Truman Capote by saying that the latter's death was a good career move. Every bit as sharp a knife in that particular box of curlicued cutlery, Albee will be quipping, when the reviews hit the stands up there, that the best career move would have been to stick around for this latest Woolf outing.

Recommended Imelda Staunton and Benedict Cumberbatch demanded good theatre manners

Its the most high-energy and the funniest version of the piece that I have seen, and the first to have given the proceedings a really dark and jolting penumbra of almost military as well as marital belligerence. There are always dangling chimes on the wall of George and Martha's living room, pregnant with the possibility of a slapstick gag that does indeed  ah, but that would be telling. Macdonald ups the ante. It's as if an axe has been hurled at the said item from the metallic din that gets the adrenalin racing from the very outset here. In the interval, the bottom of the theatre curtain seems to drift and brood restively as if for a worse fight to come. I thought: where have I seen that effect before. Answer: in Deborah Warner's Barbican production of Julius Caesar. We're in the world of the American university campus, where the name often point back to the ancient Rome. As here: New Carthage.

Martha's father, the head of house, has asked his daughter and son-in-law, in full raddling rancour, to take under their wing Nick and Honey, twenty-something newcomers, gnarled in their own awful soap-smelling naivete. Given what happens at the after-party drinks session all-nighter, one must be grateful for the entire east coast that this partriarch did not venture into human resources as a career.

Imelda Staunton is all of five feet but her performance as Martha  one of the greatest feats of acting I have witnessed  is immense, to use one of those buzz terms that aren't always proportionate to the actual achievement. Why? Well, Martha is often played as sophistication in the toxic sere-and-yellow, acidulated by a husband who can't get it up every which way any more, having once been a precocious star. You feel that Staunton hasn't begrudged an iota of her curves to the black capri pants into which she presses her form here. For all her Bette Davis sophistication, she's stuck like a dope/With a thing called hope.

She shimmies and bounces tummies and seems to have more balls than a pawnbroker's sign. She breaks your heart because she's juicy, akin to Momma Rose, her last part: she''ll go to the end of the road. Except that here her objective is not to get a contract on the music hall circuit. Its to get her husband to look at her. Staunton makes you ache to think how furiously she must, as a girl, to have had to cartwheel in order to attract the attention of Daddy. Everything is comin' up ruses. She's a loud vortex of voraciousness. Cattle have been rustled more softly than she tries to get her husbands attention.

This is a great play, partly because it is so funny about humourlessness. Luke Treadaway is excellent as Nick. He's forever adjusting his belt and blazer as is for about to pose for a photoshoot in which he accepts promotion  manfully, as of right. Conleth Hill, perfection as George, has to stifle giggles at one point in his man-to-man sessions with this rubberised object of his wifes lust. This George never really loses his good manners. He's wafered; like a monody in various shades of mulligatawney.

Imogen Potts as Nick's hysterically pregnant wife rises from the pool of her unwonted squiffiness with an unfortunate timing beautifully timed. Even being necked by Martha, Nick seem to be encased in his own all-over-body prophylactic. It's hilarious; it's utterly excruciating; it's three hours. The ending is, for my taste, a hair too slow. But hasten, hasten. Staunton lives!
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A vast artificial island is to be built at Dogger Bank in the North Sea, complete with a harbour, airstrip and homes, to help provide a vast new supply of renewable energy, under plans drawn up by two companies with the blessing of the European Union.

The North Sea Wind Power Hub would act as a hub for offshore wind turbines and a new place to put solar panels, according to the German and Dutch arms of electricity firm TenneT and Danish company Energinet.

The firms will sign a deal creating a consortium to develop the plan further in Brussels on 23 March in the presence of European Energy Union Commissioner, Maos Sefcovic.

Torben Glar Nielsen, Energinets Danish technical director, said: Maybe it sounds a bit crazy and science fiction-like, but an island on Dogger Bank could make the wind power of the future a lot cheaper and more effective.

It is thought the island  or possibly islands  could act as a hub for thousands of new wind turbines, which would eventually generate green electricity for more than 80 million people.

Under the proposals, the island would be connected by electricity cables to the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Belgium.

Mel Kroon, TenneTs chief executive, said: This project can significantly contribute to a completely renewable supply of electricity in north-west Europe.

TenneT and Energinet.dk both have extensive experience in the fields of onshore grids, the connection of offshore wind energy and cross-border connections.

Recommended Shell bids to leave tanks of oily sludge in North Sea for centuries

I am happy that we are going to take this step with our Danish colleagues and I look forward to the participation of other transmission system operators and possibly other partners.

In a statement, Energinet said European targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions meant that major new sources of solar and wind energy were required.

Wind and solar energy complement each other: there is more sun from spring to autumn, and more wind in the colder and darker months of the year, it said.

So a sustainable and stable energy system for the future will need solar and wind energy, both on a large scale.

This requires optimum cooperation and synergy because it cannot be accomplished by individual member states on their own.

The company said Dogger Bank was an ideal location for an artificial island as it was centrally located and in relatively shallow water and also had optimal wind conditions.

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

Staff, components and assembly workshops can be stationed on the island, thus optimising and simplifying complex offshore logistics, it said.

An island in an area with a lot of space will provide the scale necessary to reduce costs (through economies of scale).
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When the time for beer strikes do you reach for a favourite glass, take whatever drinking vessel is closest, or make your decision depending on the style of beer about to be enjoyed?

In this country, it used to be the case that the majority of ales were served in a weighty mug, lager in a narrower pint pot, and anything else was reserved for wine or soft drinks. But now, as were opening our minds to new and exciting beer flavours from throughout the world, alternatively shaped glasses are appearing behind bars and on coffee tables up and down the land.

If theres space in your kitchen cabinet for a new glass then you might want to consider what shape best matches the style of beer you drink most often  from those traditional pint glasses for honest British bitters, to tall, slender pieces that showcase the doughy head of German weissbiers.

To help you along a bit, here are ten of our glassware suggestions, each paired with a recommended beer to fill them with.

1. Ravenhead Essentials Dimple Glass: 4.65, Amazon.

The dimpled mug is back. Having been elbowed off the bar shelf by taller, narrower and lighter pint glasses, drinkers are once again reaching out for a sturdy, no-nonsense mug. Lancashire glassmakers Ravenhead produces the archetypal design: thick glass all round, with a large, fist-sized handle and the all-important concave dimples that cause the light to shimmer on whatever booze is contained within. Its not ideal for steadily sipping a trendy, modern, strong IPA, but if youre booking in for a real ale session then its the perfect choice.

Filling suggestion: A proper British Bitter like Mantle's copper-coloured Cwrw Teifi.

Buy now

2. Spiegelau IPA Glass: 12.47 for four, Spiegelau

The craft ale movement has brought about a clamour for new glass shapes to best represent the thirsty punters trendy ways, and we reckon glassware ace Spiegelau has created the definitive version. This IPA glass is part of a four piece set that includes barrel aged, American wheat and "stout" alternatives. The glass is thin, light and beautifully balanced, with the ribbed, hollowed out base making it easy to hold while helping to produce foamy white heads that rise and release giddily hoppy aromas. Its a classy outfit with which to cradle your latest favourite beers.

Filling suggestion: Crack open a modern, hop forward IPA. Like Fallens Wonderous Platform C.

Buy now

3. Weihenstephaner Weissbier Glass: 4.49, Beer Hawk

When properly poured, the beer in a weissbeir glass should fill in a majestic fashion, producing a frothy head that towers above the rim like a rising cottage loaf. Weihenstephaner, the worlds oldest brewery, has created our favourite example of the style, with subtle spiral grooves helping to enliven the beer while adding a sparkle to the gently flowing glass curves. If joining in on a hearty weissbier prosit, clink the thick base before upending in confident fashion to drain the vessel.

Filling suggestion: Not only is it the best weissbier glass but youll also find Weihenstephaners Hefe Weissbier hard to beat.

Buy now

4. Rose and Grey Glass Beer Tankard: 10.50, Not On The High Street

Glance upwards at the bar of a traditional boozer and you might see a row of assorted tankards and mugs suspended from hooks (or multiple rows if youre in a busy German beer hall). These will belong to the regulars who find beer nirvana through their favourite jar at every drinking session. This solid glass tankard is worthy of joining the favourites line-up: its an artful piece with natural, smooth edges and a thick base for extra sturdiness to prevent unwanted spillage. Just make sure any hooks are strong enough to hold the weight.

Filling suggestion: A pint of the usual, please. Which at the moment is Bath Ales excellent malty bitter Gem.

Buy now

5. Chimay Chalice Glass: 4.49, Beers of Europe

If youre a fan of Belgian Trappist ales (and show us a beer fan who isnt?) then youll need a goblet or chalice  proud looking vessels with a wide rim to show off a pristine head and allow for confident sippage. Each of the brewing monasteries has its own take on the style  from the curvacious St Bernardus Watou glass to Westmalles elaborate etched bowl  but weve gone for the chunky Chimay chalice, a silver-rimmed receptacle with ample depth and a sturdy stem.

Filling suggestion: Chimay Red, a classic Belgian Trappist dubbel.

Buy now

6. Matalan Belgian Beer Glass: 2, Matalan

The tulip glass (or thistle if youre Scottish), traditionally used for strong Belgian ales and saisons, has become a popular choice for the new wave of craft ale bars whose staff will pour anything into its curvy contours. We like this bargain offering from Matalan: plump enough to be held below the belly, like a cognac glass, for those wishing to swirl and revel in the beers aroma, or gripped in a more orthodox manner for gentle supping.

Filling suggestion: A feisty, frothy-headed saison, such as Twisted Barrels The Saison From Another Place will look and smell great in this glass.

Buy now

7. Dartington Stemmed Beer Glass: 9.98 for two, Amazon

It used to be that Brits would only dare drink from a stemmed glass if it contained a cold lager, sipped while sunning themselves at their favourite holiday bar. But gradually theyve been infiltrating all types of British drinking territories and even the most traditional drinkers are caving in to their delicate charms. Dartingtons thin walled vessel is like an oversized wine glass: a tall, handsome affair thats perfect for effervescent beers or slow-sipping stouts, porters and extra strong ales.

Filling suggestion: This glass will show off the dark body and tan head of Left Hands Nitro Coffee Porter.

Buy now

8. Luminarc La Maison Pilsner Glass: 6.19 for four, Amazon

When the good folk of Plzen, Bohemia, brewed the first clear golden pilsner it coincided with the rise in production of new-fangled glass drinking pots  the perfect solution for viewing its glorious looking lager. These bargain La Maison glasses are typical of the contemporary pilsner style (although some will argue that a true pilsner glass has no curves), their narrow bodies perfectly showing off the beers clarity while gazing at the bubbles rising to a widening surface  just right for the formation of fluffy white heads and big enough to take in refreshing lagery swigs.

Filling suggestion: Pilsner Urquell, the original pilsner.

Buy now

9. Paulaner Stein: 14.29, Beer Merchants

Wander into a pub waving this heavy beast while shouting fill me up is unlikely to impress the locals, but if youre looking to recreate the fun of a German beer festival in your own home then a stein will provide some added authenticity. Pauliners beers are an Oktoberfest attraction and its mighty one litre glass is built to withstand the most raucous clinking.

Filling suggestion: Paulaners Oktoberfest Bier provides a proper taste of Munich at festival time. But youll need a few bottles to fill one glass.

Buy now

10. Ritzenhof Seidel Beer Mug: 19.95, Havens

Heres something for the glass collectors among you. Each year, Ritzenhof commissions illustrators to provide adornment to its range of glasses, which include weissbier, pilsner and this slender mug. Some of the artwork is a little saucy for this sober column, but we do rather like this jolly monk from 2009, illustrated by Kathrin Stockebrand. Each mug comes with a presentation box and beer mats, but if youre going to drink from it, rather than collect it, youll need to provide the beer.

Filling suggestion: A monastic brew is the obvious choice but were suggesting something fun like Pompelmocello, a sour IPA brewed with grapefruit from Siren.

Buy now

The Verdict: Beer glasses

It may not be suitable for all beer styles but the dimpled mug is a British design classic that deserves its place back in the grip of the nations ale drinkers.

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Tehran, Iran, March 10

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

The Iranian embassy in Beijing has expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for offering to help a settlement between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Iran has always worked toward reducing tension with neighbors and is not disillusioned about achieving its goal, the embassy said in a statement March 10.

In the meantime, the statement criticizes Saudi Arabia for contributing to sectarian and ethnic clashes and providing material and spiritual support for terrorist and Takfiri groups and destabilizing the region and the world.

Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry in January said Iran is ready to resume ties with Saudi Arabia if Riyadh makes a serious change in its behavior.

Relations between Tehran and Riyadh have been strained over the past years after their conflicting views on regional developments, particularly on Yemen and Syria, became more noticeable.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran after protesters stormed the kingdoms embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad on January 2, 2016 in response to Riyadh's execution of a prominent Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
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Chemicals found in cannabis could be used to help treat dementia, early studies have shown  but further research into the findings is being stymied by restrictive drug laws, scientists say.

Cannabinoids like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can aid the removal of dangerous dementia proteins from brain cells, according to researchers at the Salk Institute, a renowned biomedical research facility in California.

While initial findings published last year raise hopes cannabis compounds could one day form the basis of a new medicine to help treat Alzheimers disease, the next steps are proving slow.

Professor David Schubert, who led the study, told CNBC legal issues were a major roadblock preventing him and his team from conducting further research into the medicinal properties of marijuana.

Its so blatantly obvious that this plant should be studied in greater detail, he said. Its hard enough to get funding without having to worry about legal issues on top of it.

Professor Schubert said the institute had submitted an application to the US Drug Enforcement Agency for permission to use cannabis extracts for tests on mice in December, but had not yet received a response.

 Hollywood sign changed to Hollyweed' to promote cannabis legalisation

The researchers used a small amount of synthetically-produced cannabinoids in the first study, which was found to stimulate the removal of a toxic plaque associated with dementia in the brain.

Dementia, which mainly affects older people, causes a deterioration in memory, thinking and behaviour and can impede someones ability to perform everyday activities.

It affects around 47.5 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation, and it recently overtook heart disease to become the leading cause of death in England and Wales. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimers disease.

A protein called amyloid beta creates a harmful plaque in the brains of people with dementia that can destroy nerve cells.

Research is ongoing into the role amyloid beta plays in the disease, but scientists believe the protein begins to accumulate in brain cells well before Alzheimers symptoms manifest themselves.

The team at the Salk Institute showed that THC reduced the amount of amyloid beta in nerve cells with high levels of the protein, allowing the cells to survive.

The US Alzheimers Association have said marijuana is a legitimate area of research into possible treatment for the disease, but some experts have been sceptical, reported CNN.

It is difficult to say what, if any, effect this might have in humans, even if it would successfully promote clearance of [amyloid beta plaque], Donovan Maust, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, said.

Where cannabis is and isn't legal Show all 10 1 /10 Where cannabis is and isn't legal Where cannabis is and isn't legal UK Having been reclassified in 2009 from a Class C to a Class B drug, cannabis is now the most used illegal drug within the United Kingdom. The UK is also, however, the only country where Sativex  a prescribed drug that helps to combat muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis and contains some ingredients that are also found in cannabis - is licensed as a treatment Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal North Korea Although many people believe the consumption of cannabis in North Korea to be legal, the official law regarding the drug has never been made entirely clear whilst under Kim Jong Uns regime. However, it is said that the North Korean leader himself has openly said that he does not consider cannabis to be a drug and his regime doesnt take any issue with the consumption or sale of the drug MARCEL VAN HOORN/AFP/Getty Images Where cannabis is and isn't legal Netherlands In the Netherlands smoking cannabis is legal, given that it is smoked within the designated smoking areas and you dont possess more than 5 grams for personal use. It is also legal to sell the substance, but only in specified coffee shops Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal USA Although in some states of America cannabis has now been legalised, prior to the legalisation, police in the U.S. could make a marijuana-related arrest every 42 seconds, according to US News and World Report. The country also used to spend around $3.6 billion a year enforcing marijuana law, the American Civil Liberties Union notes AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Where cannabis is and isn't legal Spain Despite cannabis being officially illegal in Spain, the European hotspot has recently started to be branded, the new Amsterdam. This is because across Spain there are over 700 Cannabis Clubs  these are considered legal venues to consume cannabis in because the consumption of the drug is in private, and not in public. These figures have risen dramatically in the last three years  in 2010 there were just 40 Cannabis Clubs in the whole of Spain. Recent figures also show that in Catalonia alone there are 165,000 registered members of cannabis clubs  this amounts to over 5 million euros (4 million) in revenue each month Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal Uruguay In December 2013, the House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill legalizing and regulating the production and sale of the drug. But the president has since postponed the legalization of cannabis until to 2015 and when it is made legal, it will be the authorities who will grow the cannabis that can be sold legally. Buyers must be 18 or older, residents of Uruguay, and must register with the authorities Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal Pakistan Despite the fact that laws prohibiting the sale and misuse of cannabis exist and is considered a habit only entertained by lower-income groups, it is very rarely enforced. The occasional use of cannabis in community gatherings is broadly tolerated as a centuries old custom. The open use of cannabis by Sufis and Hindus as a means to induce euphoria has never been challenged by the state. Further, large tracts of cannabis grow unchecked in the wild Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal Portugal In 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalize the use of all drugs, and started treating drug users as sick people, instead of criminals. However, you can still be arrested or assigned mandatory rehab if you are caught several times in possession of drugs Getty Where cannabis is and isn't legal Puerto Rico Although the use of cannabis is currently illegal, it is said that Puerto Rico are in the process of decriminalising it RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images Where cannabis is and isn't legal China Cannabis is grown in the wild and has been used to treat conditions such as gout and malaria. But, officially the substance is illegal to consume, possess and sell Getty

There are currently three nobel laureates on the Salk Institutes faculty, and among the scientists who have trained or worked there, 11 have won nobel prizes overall.

It is based in La Jolla, near San Diego in California, where marijuana was made legal in November.

However, as it receives funds from the US government, the institute is prohibited from using cannabis in experiments without authorisation. Applications can take six months to approve.

The Alzheimers Society acknowledged the results of the early research on its website, but warned there is no evidence that cannabis can help to prevent the underlying causes of the disease in people.

It also said heavy use of the drug has been linked to memory and cognitive problems.
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Fans of Mars bars had better hope that Theresa May secures a good trade deal with the EU or the price of the chocolate will rise sharply, a senior executive at the company has said.

A hard Brexit, where the UK ends up trading with the EU under World Trade Organisation rules, would mean 30 per cent tariffs imposed on confectionery imports.

This will inevitably be passed on to consumers and could threaten jobs, Fiona Dawson, global president of Mars Food, will say in a speech to the American Chambers of Commerce in Brussels on Friday.

Recommended UK businesses already facing recruitment crisis as Poles head home

Much of the debate around tariff increases has so far focused on financial services and the car industry, but Mars is attempting to highlight the importance of the food industry.

The company employs 3,800 workers in the UK and, like many other businesses in the food sector, relies on open borders as it uses supplies from all over the world and is packaged and sold in a variety of countries.

The absence of hard borders with all their attendant tariff, customs and non-tariff barriers allows for this integrated supply chain, which helps keep costs down, Ms Dawson will say.

The return of those barriers would create higher costs, which would threaten that supply chain and the jobs that come with it, Ms Dawson will say.

Prices of other foods could also face big price hikes without a friendly trade deal. Under WTO rules, animal products would be taxed 20 per cent, cereals more than 15 per cent and fish and fruit more than 10 per cent.

Significant new tariffs would also apply outside the food sector, notably in the area of clothing and textiles.

Prices of many famous brands have already risen as a result of the collapse in the value of the pound.

Mars campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU but now says focus must be concentrated on securing as free and open trade as possible after Brexit.

There can be no economic advantage in either side restricting trade with a large market situated on its doorstep. In simple terms, if the UK and the EU fail to agree on a new preferential deal, it will be to the detriment of all, Ms Dawson will say.

How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Show all 8 1 /8 How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Weetabix Chief executive of Weetabix Giles Turrell has warned that the price of one of the nations favourite breakfast are likely to go up this year by low-single digits in percentage terms. Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Nescafe The cost of a 100g jar of Nescafe Original at Sainsburys has gone up 40p from 2.75 to 3.15  a 14 per cent risesince the Brexit vote. PA How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Freddo When contacted by The Independent this month, a Mondelez spokesperson declined to discuss specific brands but confirmed that there would be "selective" price increases across its range despite the American multi-national confectionery giant reporting profits of $548m (450m) in its last three-month financial period. Mondelez, which bought Cadbury in 2010, said rising commodity costs combined with the slump in the value of the pound had made its products more expensive to make. Cadbury How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Mr Kipling cakes Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy, said that it was considering price rises on a case-by-case basis Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Walkers Crisps Walkers, owned by US giant PepsiCo, said "the weakened value of the pound" is affecting the import cost of some of its materials. A Walkers spokesman told the Press Association that a 32g standard bag was set to increase from 50p to 55p, and the larger grab bag from 75p to 80p. Getty How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Marmite Tesco removed Marmite and other Unilever household brand from its website last October, after the manufacturer tried to raise its prices by about 10 per cent owing to sterlings slump. Tesco and Unilever resolved their argument, but the price of Marmite has increased in UK supermarkets with the grocer reporting a 250g jar of Marmite will now cost Morrisons customers 2.64 - an increase of 12.5 per cent. Rex How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Toblerone Toblerone came under fire in November after it increased the space between the distinctive triangles of its bars. Mondelez International, the company which makes the product, said the change was made due to price rises in recent months. Pixabay How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Maltesers Maltesers, billed as the lighter way to enjoy chocolate, have also shrunk in size. Mars, which owns the brand, has reduced its pouch weight by 15 per cent. Mars said rising costs mean it had to make the unenviable decision between increasing its prices or reducing the weight of its Malteser packs. iStockphoto

Imposition of significant trade barriers would ultimately hurt everyone and undermine, rather than strengthen, European unity.

Lib Dem MP Tom Brake said: "This shows the threat posed to living standards by a hard Brexit.

"People with a sweet tooth risk being left with a sour taste in their mouths because of this Government's reckless plans to leave the Single Market.

"There is already Brexit squeeze on living standards caused by the plunging pound and higher prices. Crashing out of the EU without a deal would mean more price hikes on some of Britain's favourite foods."

In January, Theresa May signalled she is willing to drag Britain through the hardest of Brexits, risking the loss of billions of pounds and plummeting GDP, if both Brussels and the UKs Parliament fail to give her what she wants.

In an act of brinkmanship, the Prime Minister warned that no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain.

.The Treasurys own calculations have suggested quitting the EU without a new arrangement could strip 66bn from the national income, with GDP dropping by up to 9.5 per cent.
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A company hailed by Prime Minister Theresa May as a business success story said it could be decimated if it was not able to bring in unskilled workers from the continent after the UK leaves the EU.

Earlier this year, Ministry of Cake, a Somerset-based dessert making firm, was sold to French rival Mademoiselle Dessert.

Asked about the deal during Prime Ministers Questions in January, Ms May said the investment shows confidence that people have in the economy for the future.

"It shows the fundamental strength of our economy and it also shows that we can unlock global trade, she added.

However, in an interview with the Financial Times, Chris Ormrod, the managing director of the company, said that the deal had been first agreed before the EU referendum in June.

He said his business faces being decimated by Ms Mays crackdown on unskilled EU workers

In business you deal with lemons as they get sent towards you and you make lemonade, he told the FT.

Brexit is a huge lemon, the size of a small tank, he added.

Mr Ormod said that about half of his 400 workforce are from abroad.

Three years from now I think it could be much worseIts a concern for the wider food industry, which has always used an element of foreign workers to fill the vacancies, Mr Ormod said.

His comments come after Andrea Wareham director of human resources of high-street chain Pret a Manger, earlier this week, told a parliamentary committee that the company may struggle to attract staff once the UK leaves the EU, as just one in 50 of the applicants for jobs at the firm is British.

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

If I had to fill all our vacancies in British-only applicants I would not be able to fill them... because of a lack of applications, Ms Wareham told told the House of Lords economic affairs select committee on Wednesday as they heard evidence about the impact of the Brexit vote on different sectors of the economy.

Brexit Secretary David Davis has previously suggested that the UK could not just suddenly shut the door on immigration, because it would take years and years to fill jobs in sectors that rely heavily on migrants, such as hospitality and social care.
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BT has finally reached an agreement with telecom regulator Ofcom to a legal separation of its Openreach division, paving the way for the transfer of 32,000 employees and their pension rights to the new company.

The deal means Openreach, which builds and maintains the tens of millions of copper and fibre lines that run from telephone exchanges to homes and businesses across the UK, will assume greater independence under its own board of directors.

The BT logo will also be removed from Openreach's branding.

Recommended BT ordered to legally split from Openreach network in Ofcom ruling

BTs rivals that use Openreach to provide their broadband have long been unhappy over the performance of the communications provider.

Companies like Vodafone, Sky and TalkTalk have called for the business to be spun off from its parent. However, both BT and Ofcom have fiercely resisted the demands, and the regulator has long said it believes that legal separation will achieve its aims more quickly and without the need for a messy legal battle.

However, the telecoms giant has now bowed to the regulators demands, meaning that Ofcom will no longer need to resort to legislation in order to introduce the change.

Under the agreement, it is expected 32,000 BT staff will transfer to Openreach later this year once consultation processes and pension arrangements have been completed.

Sharon White, Ofcom chief executive, said this was a significant day day for phone and broadband users.

The new Openreach will be built to serve all its customers equally, working truly independently and taking investment decisions on behalf of the whole industry  not just BT, she said.

We welcome BTs decision to make these reforms, which means they can be implemented much more quickly. We will carefully monitor how the new Openreach performs, while continuing our work to improve the quality of service offered by all telecoms companies, she added.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

A more independent Openreach is a step towards delivering a better service to customers and the investment that the UK needs, a spokesperson for Sky said.

Dido Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk, said: We hope this is the start of a new deal for Britains broadband customers, who will be keen to see a clear timetable from Openreach setting out when their services will improve.

Vodafone said it is an encouraging start.

Gavin Patterson, BT chief executive, said: I believe this agreement will serve the long-term interests of millions of UK households, businesses and service providers that rely on our infrastructure. It will also end a period of uncertainty for our people and support further investment in the UKs digital infrastructure.

This has been a long and challenging review where we have been balancing a number of competing interests. We have listened to criticism of our business and as a result are willing to make fundamental changes to the way Openreach will work in the future.

Shares in BT jumped 4.3 per cent in morning trading and closed 3 per cent higher in London.
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Volkswagen has formally pleaded guilty to cheating the US government by using software to evade emission rules in nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles.

The German automaker pleaded guilty to conspiracy, obstruction of justice and an import crime.

Manfred Doess, VW general counsel, told a court in Detroit the company was guilty on all three counts.

He added the criminal acts occurred in both the US and Germany.

The deal with the Department of Justice (DoJ) was made weeks ago. VW agreed to pay a $4.3bn (3.5bn) penalty, although the scandal has cost the company about $21bn.

The company admitted installing software that activated pollution controls during government tests and switched them off during regular driving.

The devices allowed the carmaker to beat emissions tests over a six-year period and emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution.

US regulators confronted VW about the software after West Virginia University researchers discovered differences in testing and real-world emissions. Volkswagen denied the use of the so-called defeat device but finally admitted it in September 2015, sending shockwaves through the entire global car industry.

According to research presented by scientists from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) last week, more than a thousand people in Europe are likely to die early as a result of being exposed to fumes emitted by Volkswagen cars involved in a major emissions scandal that has rocked the global auto industry.

Biggest business scandals in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Biggest business scandals in pictures Biggest business scandals in pictures Volkswagen emissions scandal VW admitted to rigging its US emission tests so that diesel-powered cars would looks like they were emitting less nitrous oxide, which can damage the ozone layer and contribute to respiratory diseases. Around 11 million cars worldwide were affected. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Martin Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals Martin Shkreli became known as the most hated man in the world after his drug company, Turing, increased the price of a 62-year-old drug that treated HIV patients by 5,000% to $750 a pill. He was charged with illegally taking stock from Retrophin, a biotechnology firm he started in 2011, and using it pay off debts from unrelated business dealings. Shkreli, who maintains he is innocent, and says there is little evidence of fraud because his investors didn't lose money. Biggest business scandals in pictures Panama Papers: Millions of leaked documents expose how worlds rich and powerful hid money - April 2016 Millions of confidential documents have been leaked from one of the worlds most secretive law firms, exposing how the rich and powerful have hidden their money. Dictators and other heads of state have been accused of laundering money, avoiding sanctions and evading tax, according to the unprecedented cache of papers that show the inner workings of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is based in Panama. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Google's tax avoidance Google reached a deal with the HM Revenue and Customs to pay back 130 million in so-called back-taxes that have been due since 2005. George Osborne championed the deal as a major success. But European MEPs have since called for the Chancellor to appear in front of the committee on tax rulings to explain the tax deal. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Rogue trader A French court cut the damages owed by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel from 4.9bn (4.2bn) to just 1m (860,000). The court ruled on that Kerviel was partly responsible for massive losses suffered in 2008 by his former employer Societe Generale through his reckless trades. Kerviel has consistently maintained that bosses at the French bank knew what he was doing all along. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Barclays CEO under investigation for trying to identify whistleblower - Monday Paril 10 Authorities have launched an investigation into Barclays chief executive officer Jes Staley for trying to identify a whistleblower, the bank said on Monday. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are both investigating Mr Staley after the bank notified them that Mr Staley had tried to identify the author of two anonymous letters, which were sent to the board and a senior executive in June 2016. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures UK to crack down on bank money laundering after reports of 65bn Russian scam, City minister says - March 2017 The Economic Secretary to the Treasury has vowed that the Government will crack down on money laundering practices, after several of the UK's biggest banks were accused of processing money from a Russian scam, believed to involve up to $80bn (65bn). Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former HBOS bankers convicted of bribery and fraud over 245m loan scam - February 2017 Two former HBOS bankers were among six people found guilty of bribery and fraud that cost customers and shareholders hundreds of millions of pounds, the BBC reports. Lynden Scourfield, 54, a manager at HBOS, forced struggling clients to use the services of his friends David Mills, 60, and Michael Bancroft, 73. In return, the two businessmen arranged sex parties, cash and lavish gifts. On Monday, the three were convicted at Southwark Crown Court on accounts including bribery, fraud and money laundering. Mark Dobson, another manager at HBOS, Alison Mills, and John Cartwright were also convicted. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Lloyds chief apologises for damage caused by affair allegations - August 2016 Antonio Horta-Osorio, the chief executive of Lloyds Bank, has broken his silence over allegations about his private life admitting he regrets any "damage done to the group's reputation". In a message sent to the bank's 75,000 employees, the banker said that anyone can make mistakes while insisting that staff had to maintain the highest professional standards. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Christine Lagarde faces court over 340m Bernard Tapie payment - July 2016 The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, must stand trial in France over a payment of 403 million (now 340m, then 290m) to tycoon Bernard Tapie, a France's highest appeals court has ruled. The court rejected Ms Lagarde's appeal against a judge's order in December for her to stand trial over allegations of negligence in her handling of the affair. Ms Lagarde could risk a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if convicted. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures HSBC senior manager arrested in FX rigging investigation at JFK airport in New York - July 2016 A senior executive at HSBC has been arrested at New York's JFK airport for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to rig currency benchmarks, according to reports. Mark Johnson, global head of foreign exchange cash trading in London, was reportedly arrested on Tuesday. He will appear before a federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Bloomberg said. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Former PwC employees found guilty in 'Luxleaks' tax scandal - June 2016 Two ex- PricewaterhouseCoopers staffers were found guilty in Luxembourg of stealing confidential tax files that helped unleash a global scandal over generous fiscal deals for hundreds of international companies. Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet face suspended sentences of 12 months and 9 months and were ordered to pay fines of 1,500 (1,230) and 1,000 (822) for their role in the so-called LuxLeaks scandal. Despite the minimal sentences, the ruling was described by Deltours lawyer as shocking and a terrible anomaly. The ruling puts on guard future whistle-blowers, Deltour told reporters.The LuxLeaks revelations sped beyond Luxembourg, causing European Union regulators to expand a tax-subsidy probe and propose new laws to fight corporate tax dodging, while EU lawmakers created a special committee to probe fiscal deals across the 28-nation bloc. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Goldman Sachs dealmakers lavished Libyan officials with prostitutes to win contract - June 2016 A former Goldman Sachs dealmaker trying to persuade Gadaffi-era Libya to invest $1 billion with the investment bank procured prostitutes and invited Libyan officials to lavish parties in the hope of winning the business, the High Court heard on Monday June 13.The Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund is suing Goldman Sachs for inappropriately coercing its naive staff into giving its sovereign wealth fund cash to the bank to invest in products they did not understand. The products were designed to generate big profits for Goldman, the LIA claims.Goldman denies wrongdoing and says the LIA was treated as an arms-length customer Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Former boss of BHS said his life was threatened - June 2016 Darren Topp, the former boss of BHS, has said former owner Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him when he challenged him over a 1.5 million transfer out of the business. MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee asked Mr Topp about a 1.5 million transfer Mr Chappell made from BHS to a company called BHS Sweden. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley admits paying workers below the minimum wage - June 2016 Mike Ashley admitted paying Sports Direct employees below the minimum wage at a hearing in front of MPs. The company founder said that workers were paid less than the statutory minimum because of bottlenecks at security in an admission that could result in sanctions from HMRC. Reuters Biggest business scandals in pictures Mitsubishi admits improper fuel tests - April 2016 Mitsubishi has admitted to using false fuel methods dating back to 1991. The scale of the scandal is only just coming to light after it was revealed in April that data was falsified in the testing of four types of cars, including two Nissan cars. AP Biggest business scandals in pictures Quindell, the scandal-ridden insurance firm Quindell was once a darling of AIM but its share price fell in April 2014 when its accounting practices were attacked in a stinging research note by US short seller Gotham City. In August the group was forced to disclose that the 107 million pre-tax profit it had reported for 2013 was incorrect, and it had in fact suffered a 64million loss. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Toshiba Accounting Scandal The boss of Toshiba, the Japanese technology giant, resigned in disgrace in the wake of one of the countrys biggest ever accounting scandals. His exit came two months after the company revealed that it was investigating accounting irregularities. An independent investigatory panel said that Toshibas management had inflated its reported profits by up to 152 billion yen (780m) between 2008 and 2014. Biggest business scandals in pictures FIFA Corruption Scandal Fifa, football's world governing body, has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption since the summer of 2015, when the US Department of Justice indicted several top executives. It has now claimed the careers of two of the most powerful men in football, Fifa President Sepp Blatter and Uefa President Michel Platini, after they were banned for eight years from all football-related activities by Fifa's ethics committee. A Swiss criminal investigation into the pair is ongoing. Getty Biggest business scandals in pictures Libor fraudster City trader Tom Hayes, 35, has become the first person to be convicted of rigging Libor rates following a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court. Hayes worked as a trader in yen derivatives at UBS before joining the American bank Citigroup in Tokyo. He was fired from Citigroup following an investigation into his trading methods. He returned to the UK in December 2012 and was arrested following a two-and-a-half year criminal investigation by the SFO. Getty

Of the premature deaths, 500 will likely occur in Germany, according to MIT, with the other 60 per cent happening in neighbouring countries, most notably Poland, France, and the Czech Republic.

Volkswagen issued a massive recall of the vehicles affected, faced a multitude of lawsuits and has agreed to pay billions to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers, but the MIT report found that the scandal had already had an impact on public health in Germany and beyond.
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Scratching, yawning and other socially contagious behaviours have long puzzled scientists  if someone else has an itch, why should we?

But now it appears a key part of the mystery has been solved.

In a study on mice, researchers found that the mere act of seeing another individual scratch prompted the brain to release a chemical that helps to communicate an itch signal from the skin to the spinal cord.

So rather than consciously choosing to scratch or feeling the need to do so because of some sense of empathy, the response is essentially hard-wired into the brain.

And, when it is triggered, itches that the brain might otherwise have ignored suddenly become much more noticeable.

In a paper in the leading journal Science, the researchers, of Washington University in St Louis and the Fourth Military Medical University in Shaanxi, China, said it would be of interest to discover if the same process was behind yawning and other behaviour that seems to catch on.

Dr Zhou-Feng Chen, director of the Washington University Centre for the Study of Itch, said the study showed a physical reason, rather than a mental one, behind the phenomena.

Itching is highly contagious. Sometimes even mentioning itching will make someone scratch, he said.

Many people thought it was all in the mind, but our experiments show it is a hard-wired behaviour and is not a form of empathy.

Its an innate behaviour and an instinct. The next time you scratch or yawn in response to someone else doing it, remember its really not a choice nor a psychological response, its hardwired into your brain.

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

In the study, a mouse was played a video of another mouse scratching.

Within a few seconds, the mouse in the enclosure would start scratching too, Dr Chen said.

This was very surprising because mice are known for their poor vision.

They use smell and touch to explore areas, so we didnt know whether a mouse would notice a video.

Not only did it see the video, it could tell that the mouse in the video was scratching.

Part of the mouses brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)  which controls falling asleep and waking up  was particularly active when it saw another mouse scratching.

And it was found to release a chemical known as GRP when this happened. Previous research by Dr Chen found GRP helps transmit itch signals from the skin.

The mouse doesnt see another mouse scratching and then think it might need to scratch, too, Dr Chen said.

Instead, its brain begins sending out itch signals using GRP as a messenger.

To provide more proof of the link, the researchers blocked the release of GRP in mice, then showed them the scratching video  and they did not scratch. However, when they were exposed to itch-inducing substances, they did scratch.

And, when the SCN was artificially stimulated, the mice also started scratching.

Weve been able to show that a single chemical and a single receptor are all thats necessary to mediate this particular behaviour, Dr Chen said.

In the paper in Science, the researchers added: It will also be of interest to determine whether SCN sub-circuits may mediate other types of socially contagious behaviours, such as yawning or empathy for pain.

Various theories have been advanced to explain yawning.

Some have claimed it is designed to give an extra hit of oxygen when we are feeling tired or sluggish, but studies have found they do not actually result in a rise in the amount of air going into the lungs.

It has also been suggested that yawns help cool the brain by increasing the blood flow and taking in a big gulp of air, enabling us to think more clearly. The brains temperature, which has an optimum level much like a computer, rises when we are tired.

But neither of these theories explain why yawning seems to encourage other people to do the same.

This has prompted researchers to claim it is a means of social bonding, with evidence suggesting it is more likely to spread among close relatives.

A study published last year suggested women are more likely to yawn when others do because they have a greater sense of empathy.
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Women who get drunk risk being attacked by rapists, one of Britains most senior female judges has warned.

Lindsey Kushner QC said the "disinhibited" behaviour of women who have been drinking places them in danger of predators who "gravitate" towards drunken females.

She was speaking as she sentenced a man to six years in prison for raping a drunken girl he met in a Burger King branch in Manchester last year.

The case was her last before she steps down from the bench.

"We judges who see one sexual offence trial after another, have often been criticised for suggesting and putting more emphasis on what girls should and shouldn't do than on the act and the blame to be apportioned to rapists," she said. "There is absolutely no excuse and a woman can do with her body what she wants and a man will have to adjust his behaviour accordingly."

She added: "As a woman judge I think it would be remiss of me if I didn't mention one or two things. I don't think it's wrong for a judge to beg women to take actions to protect themselves. That must not put responsibility on them rather than the perpetrator. How I see it is burglars are out there and nobody says burglars are OK but we do say 'please don't leave your back door open at night, take steps to protect yourselves'."

Judge Kushner is a mother of two who has served as a senior circuit judge since 2002.

"Girls are perfectly entitled to drink themselves into the ground but should be aware people who are potential defendants to rape, gravitate towards girls who have been drinking," she said. "It should not be like that but it does happen and we see it time and time again. They do it because, first, a girl who is drunk is more likely to agree as they are more disinhibited even if they don't agree they are less likely to fight a man with evil intentions off.

Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Show all 10 1 /10 Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Brazilian women march in Sao Paulo during a protest following the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl There have been calls for protests to end to what campaigners call Brazil's 'culture of rape' after the attack Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl An online campaign has been set up in response to the crime, using the hashtag #EstuproNuncaMais, meaning 'rape never again' Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl The 16-year-old victim was attacked in a poor neighbourhood in the west of the city on 21 May 2016 Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Two of the attackers posted pictures and video on Twitter of the assault, which has shocked the country Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Brazilian women protest in front of the Candelaria Church in Rio de Janeiro AFP/Getty Images Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Seven men have been charged in connection with the attack AFP/Getty Images Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Women's underwear and photos from Brazilian photographer Marcio Freitas displayed on Copacabana beach during a protest by non-governmental organization Rio de Paz (Rio of Peace) against rape and violence against women REUTERS Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Women's underwear smeared with paint is seen during a protest against rape and violence against women in Brasilia, Brazil REUTERS Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Demonstrators attend a protest against rape and violence against women in Brasilia, Brazil REUTERS

Even if they manage to have their way with a girl or woman with out her consent the likelihood is she will be less likely to report it because she was drunk or cannot remember what happened or feels ashamed to deal with it or, if push comes to shove a girl who has been drunk is less likely to be believed than one who is sober at the time. I beg girls and woman to have this in mind.

They are entitled to do what they like but please be aware there are men out there who gravitate towards a woman who might be more vulnerable than others. That's my final line, in my final criminal trial, and my final sentence.

Judge Kushner spoke after sentencing Ricardo Rodgrigues-Gomes to six years in prison after he was found guilty of having sex, along with a another man, with the 18-year-old victim on a canal bank.

The attack was filmed from a nearby flat by a witness who called the police.

The footage shows the victim saying: No, stop. I dont want to do it. I dont like this, its not fair.

Judge Kushner told Gomes: Its up to any woman to decide what she wants to do with her own body. If she wants to go out on the town and meet somebody and have sex with them with in an hour thats up to her, its her privilege. But thats not a signal for anybody to do what they like to her if she doesnt want it.
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Katie Hopkins legal bills are to top 300,000 after she lost a High Court battle to poverty campaigner and food blogger Jack Monroe, The Independent understands.

The judgement ordered Hopkins pay Monroe compensation of 24,000 for defamatory comments made on Twitter in May 2015.

But Monroes lawyers confirmed to The Independent that Hopkins will also pick up the bill for legal costs in excess of 300,000.

The row between the food blogger and the MailOnline columnist erupted after Hopkins implied Monroe had defaced or vandalised war memorials during protests following the 2015 general election.

In a case of mistaken identity, Hopkins targeted Monroe, sending a message that read: Scrawled on any memorials recently? Vandalised the memory of those who fought for your freedom. Grandma got any more medals?

Hopkins had actually meant to direct the abuse to New Statesman columnist Laurie Penny, who had said she didnt have a problem with seeing graffiti on a memorial to women of the Second World War, which read: F*** Tory scum.

At the time, Monroe offered Hopkins the chance to apologise and give 5,000 to charities to help migrants, or face legal action.

Recommended Katie Hopkins ridiculed for sharing photoshopped Arabic road sign

Monroe wrote: Dear @KTHopkins, public apology + 5K to migrant rescue and I wont sue. Itll be cheaper for you and v satisfying for me.

In the judicial judgement, Mr Justice Warby noted: The case could easily have been resolved at an early stage. There was an open offer to settle for 5,000. It was a reasonable offer.

Instead, he said: Ms Monroe is entitled to fair and reasonable compensation, which I assess at 24,000.

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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following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA

The combined cost will take Hopkins bill beyond 324,000.
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There was much confusion Thursday when Nigel Farage was spotted by BuzzFeed leaving the Ecuadorian Embassy in London  the residence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Asked why he was there, Farage replied that he couldn't remember what he was doing in the building, adding, "I never discuss where I go or who I see."

Emails leaked to Business Insider, however, reveal that UKIP under Farage's leadership had long-standing links to Assange.

In February 2011, after a European Arrest Warrant had been issued in a case in which prosecutors sought to question Assange in connection with a sexual-assault allegation, UKIP repeatedly reached out to Assange to see how they could work together. Assange has not been charged in the case.

The office of UKIP MEP Gerard Batten contacted Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens about "the possibility of meeting Mr Julian Assange."

They added: "So far, UKIP London has been only British political party to openly support Mr Assange fight against EAW and his freedom of speech, and we would very much like to continue doing so."

(Business Insider (Business Insider)

Leaked minutes of a subsequent meeting between Batten and Stephens reveal that Batten promised to table a motion in support of the WikiLeaks founder in the European Parliament. The party also offered the opportunity of a joint video press conference in Brussels.

(Business Insider (Business Insider)

The Farage-led Europe of Freedom and Democracy group subsequently tabled a motion attacking "the possible abuse of the European Arrest Warrant for political purposes."

Sitting alongside Farage, Batten called for the Parliament to debate Assange's arrest warrant.

"Is the Assange case about the alleged crimes committed or is it about the desire of America to extradite him from a compliant European country?" Batten asked MEPs.

Julian Assange on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy, London (John Nguyen/Jnvisuals/Rex Features)

When the European Parliament denied the chance for a debate on Assange, Batten later called them "contemptible."

In an appearance on the Russian state broadcaster Russia Today, Batten also labelled the attempts to extradite Assange as a "legalised kidnap."

A month later, the party organised a House of Lords event on the European Arrest Warrant with Assange's lawyer as the star guest.

(Business Insider (Business Insider)

Senior UKIP figures including Farage and Steven Woolfe met with potential UKIP donors and journalists to speak out against the warrant.

One leaked email, sent by Farage's former assistant Annabelle Fuller, suggests that he spoke with Assange's lawyer at the event.

(Business Insider (Business Insider)

The Trump connection

Farage has also advocated on behalf of Assange since WikiLeaks' involvement in the US presidential election.

Speaking on his LBC radio show in January, Farage repeated Assange's denial of Russian involvement in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton during the election.

Nigel Farage sits in the audience during a press conference in London in February 2017 (Getty)

"Julian Assange ... is absolutely clear that all the information he has got is not from Russian sources," Farage said.

The question of Farage's trip to meet Assange was raised at a White House press conference on Thursday.

The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, was asked whether Farage had visited Assange "on behalf" of Trump. Spicer did not answer the question, saying only that "I don't keep [Farage's] schedule. I generally don't worry about what's going on across the pond."

Watch Trump's spokesman questioned about Farage and Assange.

A representative for Farage was contacted for comment.

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Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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Refugees applying to stay in the UK could be sent home after five years under new Home Office guidelines that came into force on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of people who have been granted refugee status will have to undergo an official review five years after they enter Britain to determine whether they can safely be sent back to their home countries.

Those that are deemed to be at low risk of persecution in their country of origin are likely to be banned from working and subsequently deported.

Recommended Government votes down plan to rescue more child refugees

The change was promised by Theresa May when she was Home Secretary but has only now been implemented.

In her speech to the 2015 Conservative party conference, Ms May said: Well introduce strengthened safe return reviews  so when a refugees temporary stay of protection in the UK comes to an end, or if there is a clear improvement in the conditions of their own country, we will review their need for protection.

If their reason for asylum no longer stands and it is now safe for them to return, we will seek to return them to their home country rather than offer settlement here in Britain.

The new checks will apply to all refugees who apply to remain in the country after their initial five-year probationary period expires.

Previously, refugees were given an automatic right to stay in the UK once they reached the end of the initial period for which they had been granted residency rights. The only exceptions were if an individual had committed a criminal offence or if ministers decided an entire country was safe for refugees to return to.

The change is expected to mean the 59,000 refugees granted entry to Britain in the last five years will all now face a safe country review if they want to remain in the UK.

Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Show all 7 1 /7 Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants arriving in Italy on MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie DeardenI Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants undergoing health checks after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants undergoing security checks after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants being fingerprinted after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily Refugees and migrants being fingerprinted after disembarking from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden Refugees and migrants arriving in Catania, Sicily A man being taken to hospital from MSF rescue ship the Bourbon Argos in Catania, Sicily Lizzie Dearden

The Home Office said the changes were required to maintain a fair immigration system.

The policy is designed to meet our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and EU law by granting refugee status and an appropriate period of leave to those who need our protection, it said on its website.

To maintain a fair immigration system that requires all migrants, including those granted refugee status, to earn the right to settlement, and all the benefits that come with it, by completing an appropriate period of limited leave.

Reforms are needed to ensure that safe return reviews are carried out so that protection is provided for as long as it is needed, but make clear that those who no longer need protection will need to apply to stay on another basis or leave the UK, it added.

Charities condemned the changes, saying they were unnecessary and would create needless stress for refugees.

This policy will result in refugees who have demonstrated their need for protection being prevented from being able to properly rebuild their lives and being left with the constant fear of return hanging over their heads, Dr Lisa Doyle, of the Refugee Council, told The Guardian.

Actively reviewing individual cases after five years promises to be a costly, bureaucratic and unnecessary nightmare that completely misunderstands the fact that many refugees desperately want to return home of their own accord anyway when its safe to do so.
Tehran, Iran, Mar. 10

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

An Iranian fleet of warships under the name Peace and Friendship arrived at Russias Makhachkala, Mehr news agency reported March 10.

The Iranian flotilla was warmly welcomed by Russian officials.

The flotilla is the third Iranian naval fleet to visit Russia. Ahmad Reza Baqeri, a navy official, recently said the fleets voyage will take a week and it will stay at Makhachkala for three days.

He added the voyage is taking place upon invitation by Russian navy officials.

According to Baqeri, the flotilla includes Damavand destroyer and Derafsh missile boat.

Russia has so far dispatched naval fleets to Iran four times, starting in 2007.
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Ships from conflict zones and terrorist strongholds are covertly sailing into European waters on suspected smuggling missions while attempting to evade detection, security analysts have warned.

Research by the Windward maritime data company found that in the first two months of 2017, 50 vessels with invalid registration numbers entered the UK, and 245 more with suspicious gaps in tracking data.

Another 40 ships sailed into Europe from near Isis-controlled territory in Libya after unexplained black-outs on their automatic identification systems (AIS) during January and February.

Ami Daniel, the firms CEO and cofounder, warned that the cases found so far are just a small fraction of covert voyages in Europe.

A Cyprus-flagged cargo ship made several 'suspicious stops' while tracking data disappeared off the coast of Algeria before journeying to the Scottish island of Islay (Windward)

There is a void, he told The Independent. No one is looking at whats coming at sea  everyone is looking at planes, everyone is looking at land borders but no one is looking at shipping.

Its frightening but its the reality.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires all ships to be assigned a unique reference number that can be combined with AIS data to avoid collisions and monitor movements, course and speed.

But Windward found numerous cases where fake IMO numbers were being assigned to large cargo vessels, as well as blips in tracking that appeared to lengthy to be accidental.

Mr Daniel said AIS equipment, which communicates with satellites, is mandatory for all large international ships and passenger vessels.

These are safety transmissions so definition you would not turn that off, he added.

People who turn off transitions are doing a trade-off in their minds.

Analysts believe such a trade would most likely be made for illicit reasons to evade authorities, possibly while carrying illegal cargo such as weapons, drugs or people.

In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Sirte Isis fighters parade through in Sirte in 2015 In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Sirte Islamic State (IS) group jihadists on the outskirts of Libya's western city of Sirte AFP/Getty In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Sirte A photo of a billboard in Sirte, Libya, listing seven rules for women's clothing, saying they must be loose-fitting and undecorated HRW/social media In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Sirte Isis militants process down a street in the coastal city of Sirte in Libya this week; the group has heralded Libya as its strategic gateway to attack Europe AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Sirte An Isis lecture on Sharia at the Ouagadougou complex in Sirte, Libya, in 2016. HRW/social media In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Sirte A sign reading "The city of Sirte, under the shadow of Sharia" as smoke rises in the background while forces aligned with Libya's new unity government advance on the eastern and southern outskirts of the Islamic State stronghold of Sirte on 9 June. Reuters In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Sirte Fighters loyal to Libya's GNA prepare to launch attacks against Isis as they continue their resistance on the outskirts of the western city of Sirte Getty In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Sirte Forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed unity government are seen during clashes with jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) on the western outskirts of Sirte on June 2, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Sirte Forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed unity government fire during clashes with Isis around 14 miles west of Sirte on June 2, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Isis' Libyan stronghold of Sirte Isis in Libya

One of the vessels tracked was a Cyprus-flagged cargo ship owned by a Russian company, which broke from its normal pattern of voyages between Northern Europe and West Africa last month.

It diverted via the Mediterranean Sea to make its first port visit in Ukraine in December, before sailing back towards Gibraltar and engaging in 12 days of suspicious drifting where the AIS repeatedly stopped transmitting.

The ship went dark near the port of Oran in Algeria, where gangs are active trafficking migrants, narcotics and illegal arms, and al-Qaeda is waging an Islamist insurgency.

On 9 January, it set sail for the UK and arrived in Scotland five days later, performing a suspicious stop off the coast of Islay for 11 hours, when analysts said illicit cargo may have been loaded on to smaller boats.

The UKs coastline is vulnerable, a report by Windward found. The maritime domain is vast and laws are difficult to enforce.

Ships with criminal or terror-related intentions can easily conceal their cargo  arms, drugs or people.

Although ships arriving in EU ports have to declare their last calling point, researchers say the measure does not take account of behaviour at sea including diversions and offshore transfers.

As well as fake registration numbers and disappearing location transmissions, more than half of all vessels entering the UK were using flags of convenience  linked to tax avoidance, regulation dodging and crime  as well as hundreds had ship-to-ship meetings just outside territorial waters.

 Cargo ship with 700 migrants on board and no crew docks in Italy

There is particular concern over ships leaving conflict zones including Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia, which have been tracked carrying out suspicious movements off the coast of Greece and other European nations.

Many lose transmission while anchoring around a mile offshore  far from port but close enough to land for smaller vessels to transfer goods.

You might have ship come out of Libya, conduct a ship-to-ship transfer near Malta, change registration numbers and someone has done business with Isis, Mr Daniel said.

Smuggling gangs based in the war-torn country packed disused cargo ships and fishing vessels with hundreds of refugees at the start of the Mediterranean crisis, sailing them into open water before calling for aid and abandoning what became known as ghost ships.

Unseaworthy dinghies are now dominantly used but there have been reports of groups using commercial vessels to transport migrants from port to port before launching them towards Europe.

Mr Daniel, a former officer in the Israeli navy, said the world of shipping presented an easier method of expansion for terrorist groups and criminal organisations than more tightly regulated airports and land borders.

They can transport people, weapons, drugs, they can finance wars, he added. Its still the Wild West in these seas.

European crime agency Europol said it was monitoring people smuggling as part of the refugee crisis but that the primary responsibility for maritime security lay with member states.

A Home Office spokesperson said: Border Force monitors vessels sailing off our coastline for suspicious behaviour, including the disruption of AIS.

The National Maritime Information Centre brings together officers from Border Force, the National Crime Agency, police, Royal Navy, coastguard and others to share intelligence, detect and respond to a range of threats.

This approach is working. In 2015, a vessel carrying more than three tonnes of cocaine was detected despite turning off its AIS system.
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A Central Line train has derailed in West London, causing massive delays for commuters.

The empty train came off the tracks at White City, meaning there is no service between North Acton and Marble Arch.

The driver was not injured in the accident, which happened at around 5am.

Before normal service can be resumed, the train will have to be removed and the track checked for damage.

A spokesperson for Transport for London told the Sun: We have currently got no service between Ealing Broadway and Marble Arch on the Central line.

It was due to one carriage of an engineering train derailing at White City, and it occurred outside of operating hours.

Obviously we want to apologise for the disruption. We are working to resume services as quickly as possible, and there will be a full investigation into the incident.

I believe it was just one set of wheels that came off the tracks on one carriage.

And it was an engineering train, not a passenger train. And nobody was injured.

It was early this morning, about 5 oclock.

Disgruntled commuters took to Twitter to complain about the Friday morning hold-up, on a line which is already the most delayed of all the Underground routes.

According to Time Out, the line suffered 173 days of stoppages in a single year, while the same researchers found it was also the hottest and busiest route.

Twitter user Jon Rimmer wrote: "Your insipid apologies are about as useful as these nonexistent "alternative routes" you keep mentioning."
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Theresa May should refuse to pay the money the European Union says Britain owes it in legally binding liabilities, Boris Johnson has said.

The Foreign Secretary said the PM should follow the example of Margaret Thatcher over the Brexit bill, which is estimated to be around 52bn.

Mr Johnson alluded to the former PMs battle to secure a rebate for Britain from the EUs budget in 1984, an achievement regarded by Eurosceptics as one of her finest moments.

I think we have illustrious precedent in this matter, I think you can recall the 1984 Fontainebleau summit in which Mrs Thatcher said she wanted her money back and I think that is exactly what we will get, he said.

The issue of the so-called divorce bill  intended to cover legally binding budget commitments already made by the UK  could be a major stumbling block in the negotiations after Ms May triggers Article 50.

The Prime Minister has pledged to invoke the treaty clause before the end of this month, starting the two-year countdown to Brexit.

The European Commission's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has reportedly discussed the figure of the liabilities with European leaders ahead of the crucial talks.

But Mr Johnson told BBC2s Brexit: Britains Biggest Deal programme: It is not reasonable, I don't think, for the UK having left the EU to continue to make vast budget payments. I think everybody understands that and that's the reality.

In a sign of the pressure Ms May will face on the issue, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny indicated on Thursday that he would back demands for Britain to pay a divorce fee.

As he arrived at the European Council summit in Brussels, he said: When you sign on for a contract you commit yourself to participation. And obviously the extent of that level of money will be determined.

Brexit Secretary David Davis told the BBC programme that he had told cabinet colleagues to work on plan B or C if the UK failed to secure a favourable deal with Brussels during the negotiations on divorce and a future trade agreement.

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

He said it was not a catastrophe to contemplate things, but insisted that a trade deal  plan A, or some variant of it  was the most likely outcome of the talks.

You contemplate things so that you avoid them or you mitigate them, he said.

Additional reporting by PA
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Brussels most senior official has said he hopes Britain can be persuaded to rejoin the European Union after Brexit.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said: I dont like Brexit because I would like to be in the same boat as the British.

The day will come when the British will re-enter the boat, I hope.

The comments came at a press conference in Brussels after a summit of EU leaders, the last before Theresa May is expected to trigger Britains exit.

Mr Juncker added: Brexit is not the end of the European Union, nor the end of all our developments, nor the end of our continental ambitions.

He insisted the prospect of the UK leaving the EU was strengthening the resolve of other member states to carry on their project and said: The Brexit issue is encouraging the others to continue, unfortunately without the British.

Ms May was not present for the second day of the talks in Brussels, with the leaders of the other 27 nations considering the future of the bloc after Brexit.

With the Prime Minister expected to trigger Article 50 as early as next week, the meeting was the last chance for the leaders to gather together before the formal withdrawal process begins.

European Council president Donald Tusk stressed the need for unity within the EU as it prepares for Brexit in the face of calls for a multi-speed Europe.

Mr Tusk, who was elected to serve a second term on Thursday, said: It is clear from the debate that the unity of the 27 will be our most precious asset.

He said the idea of a multi-speed Europe will be one of the discussions ahead of a declaration on the future of the EU to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which laid the foundations for the union, later this month.

Acknowledging the differences within the bloc, Mr Tusk said: Some expect systemic changes that would loosen intra-EU ties and strengthen the role of nations in relation to the community.

Others, quite the opposite, are looking for new, deeper dimensions of integration, even if they would apply only to some member states.

Mr Tusk stressed that Brexit was not our choice and his main goal was to keep Europe united as 27 today.

It comes after the European Parliaments chief Brexit negotiator said EU citizens in Britain were the victims of political games and that their rights must be the first item in exit talks.

How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Show all 8 1 /8 How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Weetabix Chief executive of Weetabix Giles Turrell has warned that the price of one of the nations favourite breakfast are likely to go up this year by low-single digits in percentage terms. Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Nescafe The cost of a 100g jar of Nescafe Original at Sainsburys has gone up 40p from 2.75 to 3.15  a 14 per cent risesince the Brexit vote. PA How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Freddo When contacted by The Independent this month, a Mondelez spokesperson declined to discuss specific brands but confirmed that there would be "selective" price increases across its range despite the American multi-national confectionery giant reporting profits of $548m (450m) in its last three-month financial period. Mondelez, which bought Cadbury in 2010, said rising commodity costs combined with the slump in the value of the pound had made its products more expensive to make. Cadbury How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Mr Kipling cakes Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy, said that it was considering price rises on a case-by-case basis Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Walkers Crisps Walkers, owned by US giant PepsiCo, said "the weakened value of the pound" is affecting the import cost of some of its materials. A Walkers spokesman told the Press Association that a 32g standard bag was set to increase from 50p to 55p, and the larger grab bag from 75p to 80p. Getty How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Marmite Tesco removed Marmite and other Unilever household brand from its website last October, after the manufacturer tried to raise its prices by about 10 per cent owing to sterlings slump. Tesco and Unilever resolved their argument, but the price of Marmite has increased in UK supermarkets with the grocer reporting a 250g jar of Marmite will now cost Morrisons customers 2.64 - an increase of 12.5 per cent. Rex How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Toblerone Toblerone came under fire in November after it increased the space between the distinctive triangles of its bars. Mondelez International, the company which makes the product, said the change was made due to price rises in recent months. Pixabay How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Maltesers Maltesers, billed as the lighter way to enjoy chocolate, have also shrunk in size. Mars, which owns the brand, has reduced its pouch weight by 15 per cent. Mars said rising costs mean it had to make the unenviable decision between increasing its prices or reducing the weight of its Malteser packs. iStockphoto

Guy Verhofstadt called for the fate of those three million EU nationals, and of British ex-pats, to be settled before negotiations on the rumoured 50bn divorce bill  long thought to be the key early dispute.

He said the Parliament would agree a resolution soon after the Article 50 exit clause was triggered in the next few weeks, which it would expect to guide those talks.
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Two Conservative activists have accused the party of telling lies over allegations it broke election laws in a number of key seats in the lead-up the 2015 General Election.

Gregg and Louise Kinsell, who campaigned for the party in several marginal constituencies, said Tory officials claims they had not acted illegally were untrue.

An investigation by Channel 4 has found the Conservatives transported busloads of volunteers to marginal seats to help with campaigning, but that these expenses, including travel and accommodation costs, were not registered on local spending reports.

Conservative officials have consistently denied the activists taking part in the 'Battlebus2015' campaign were helping local candidates, instead claiming they were only helping to disseminate national messages. The operation would therefore be classed as a national expense rather than a local one.

Speaking last year, then Prime Minister David Cameron said: Lots of political parties have these bus tours - you know buses that go round different constituencies and this is a national expense.

However, Mr and Ms Kinsell said they took part in the Battebus tours and had campaigned for local candidates in every area they visited.

When you hear that theyre saying that we went down and we were just giving the central government message, no, no we werent, Ms Kinsell told Channel 4.

Im not going to lie about that. No we werent ... Theyre telling lies about what we did. We duped people on the doors. It feels like cheating and I dont like that... We were on the bus, we know what happened. We know what we were doing, and they know what we were doing.

The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Show all 20 1 /20 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Digital Economy Bill  Give every household the legal right to fast broadband  but if they live in some remote areas, theyll have to pay part of the cost themselves  Phone and broadband companies to be forced to release details of customer complaints and average broadband speeds  New powers to allow public bodies like councils and government department to share swathes of data  including unpaid bills Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Transport Bill  New laws to govern the development of driverless cars, drones and space planes which the Government hopes will encourage investment in the new technologies to take place in the UK  Making it legal for customers to buy insurance for driverless vehicles Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 This content is subject to copyright. The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Planning Bill  Giving legal powers to villages and towns to set their own priorities for new housing. They wont be able to turn down new homes, but they will have a say in where they can be built  Create a new National Infrastructure Commission to push through big projects such as nuclear power stations and new rail and road links  cutting the amount of time it takes to develop them Controversy Rating: 3/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Jobs Bill  Give powers to local authorities to reduce the level of business rates they charge. City Mayors would also be able to increase rates in some areas to pay for specific infrastructure projects to that would boost local growth Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 2/5 This content is subject to copyright. The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Markets Bill  Making it easier for consumers to switch electricity and gas suppliers  Cutting down the time it takes for the Competition and Markets Authority to launch investigations into uncompetitive practices Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Bus Services Bill  Give local authorities and mayors powers to set standards for local buses  including frequency of services and fairs  Force all bus companies to provide real time information on services to app developers so everyone across the country will have the same ability as Londoners to know when the next bus is coming on their smart phone Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 2007 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 NHS Overseas Charging Bill  Increasing the number of services for which the NHS charges foreign patients  Reduces the number of people from the European Economic Area who are eligible for free services Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 1/5 2016 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Pensions Bill  Capping early exit fees on company pension schemes  Create a new pensions guidance body to help consumers know their pension rights  and make best use of previous Government reforms allowing pensioners the right to take the money they have saved in a lump sum on retirement to invest how they like Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Children and Social Work Bill  New obligation on councils to be a corporate parent to children in care and look after them even after they have grown up  Giving all children leaving care a personal advisor to help them find jobs, secure a home and deal with any problems  Create a new regulator for social work along the lines of Ofsted to drive up standards in the profession Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Education Bill  Force failing local authorities to convert all the schools in their area to academies  Reform school funding to address long standing disparities across the country that has disadvantaged schools in some rural areas Controversy Rating: 3/5 Change Britain Rating: 2/5 2015 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Higher Education Bill  Making it simpler and easier for companies and other providers to set up new universities around the country. Ministers want to encourage institutions like Harvard and companies like Google to consider setting up campuses in the UK  Allowing universities who have been rated "excellent" for teaching to charge more than those who are not  Law to force universities to publish information about their application processes broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio economic background Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Prisons and Courts Bill  New law to create reform prisons giving governors powers to set their own regimes and budgets  Obligation to publish re-offending rates by prison Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 2016 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 National Citizen Service Bill  New law to force schools to promote NCS to all 16 year olds and putting the scheme for the first time on a statutory footing Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Lifetime Savings Bill  Putting into law a Government plans to give people on working tax credits who save 50 a month a Government "bonus" of 50 up to a maximum of 300 a year Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 2/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Soft Drinks Industry Levy Bill  Introduce a sugar tax on soft drinks to fund school sports Controversy Rating: 3/5 Change Britain Rating: 5/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Bill of Rights  A new bill of rights to replace the Human Rights Act that will be based on the European Convention of Human Rights but will also take account of English common law Controversy Rating: 5/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 This content is subject to copyright. 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She added: Theyve cheated and formed a government that affects the whole of the country: money, education, NHS, everything and theyve cheated. How does that make them right to form a government? It doesnt. It doesnt and it wouldnt matter what party they were that stands.

Ms Kinsell said it was obvious Battlebus activists were there to support local candidates.

We had leaflets with their name on and rosettes with their name on [To claim this was a national campaign] is rubbish, absolute rubbish  We were definitely canvassing for the local candidate. will absolutely swear on anything.

In each area you were speaking about the local candidate and what he wants to do for you, not the big government in London, but what this man who lives here, what he wants to do for you, what he wants to change.

There was a sense of lets cover this up about the controversy and the nature of what actually happened on the Battlebus tour, she said.

David Cameron had insisted the costs of the Battlebus operation were 'national expenses'

Gregg Kinsell added: If people are saying, and the MPs concerned in these areas are saying, it was part of a greater expense nationally for the Conservatives, that is a lie and an obvious falsehood. In that case I feel especially motivated to go to the police and go to the Electoral Commission.

The Battlebus2015 tour saw Conservative activists transported to 29 marginal seats in the South West, the Midlands and the North of England in the days immediately before the election.

If the activists were supporting local candidates then this expense should have been declared when local parties registered their election expenses. This did not happen.

The allegations have led a number of police forces to open investigations in the seats of more than 20 current MPs.

Reports earlier in the week suggested Downing Street officials were deeply worried about the investigation and feared the election result in a number of seats could be declared void, thereby triggering a series of by-elections.

A Conservative spokesman said: We are cooperating with the ongoing investigations.
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Footage has emerged that appears to show David Cameron condemning the Governments tax hike on self-employed people as stupid.

The video shows the former prime minister talking to fellow guests at a memorial service for British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He appears to say that breaking a manifesto promise is stupid.

It comes as Theresa May faces a backlash from many of her own MPs after the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, used his first Budget to announce plans to raise National Insurance Contributions (NICs) on people who are registered as self-employed.

Recommended May scrambles to see off rebellion over tax hike

Tory rebels say up to 100 of the partys MPs are prepared to either abstain or vote against the proposals when they are put before the House of Commons later this year.

The Prime Minister also faced accusations her Government was breaking a key manifesto pledge. The 2015 Conservative manifestos said the Tories commit to no increases in VAT, Income Tax or National Insurance.

Speaking after a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday, Ms May insisted the changes did not constitute a broken promise. She pointed to legislation, announced after the 2015 election, that made clear only employed, and not self-employed, workers would be protected.

The legislation was clear that it was honouring our manifesto commitment in our 2015 manifesto, and no amendments or concerns were raised at the time, she said.

However, Labour attacked the proposals, saying they were a total U-turn on the Conservatives manifesto pledge.

The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Show all 20 1 /20 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Digital Economy Bill  Give every household the legal right to fast broadband  but if they live in some remote areas, theyll have to pay part of the cost themselves  Phone and broadband companies to be forced to release details of customer complaints and average broadband speeds  New powers to allow public bodies like councils and government department to share swathes of data  including unpaid bills Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Transport Bill  New laws to govern the development of driverless cars, drones and space planes which the Government hopes will encourage investment in the new technologies to take place in the UK  Making it legal for customers to buy insurance for driverless vehicles Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 This content is subject to copyright. The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Planning Bill  Giving legal powers to villages and towns to set their own priorities for new housing. They wont be able to turn down new homes, but they will have a say in where they can be built  Create a new National Infrastructure Commission to push through big projects such as nuclear power stations and new rail and road links  cutting the amount of time it takes to develop them Controversy Rating: 3/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Jobs Bill  Give powers to local authorities to reduce the level of business rates they charge. City Mayors would also be able to increase rates in some areas to pay for specific infrastructure projects to that would boost local growth Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 2/5 This content is subject to copyright. The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Markets Bill  Making it easier for consumers to switch electricity and gas suppliers  Cutting down the time it takes for the Competition and Markets Authority to launch investigations into uncompetitive practices Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Bus Services Bill  Give local authorities and mayors powers to set standards for local buses  including frequency of services and fairs  Force all bus companies to provide real time information on services to app developers so everyone across the country will have the same ability as Londoners to know when the next bus is coming on their smart phone Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 2007 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 NHS Overseas Charging Bill  Increasing the number of services for which the NHS charges foreign patients  Reduces the number of people from the European Economic Area who are eligible for free services Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 1/5 2016 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Pensions Bill  Capping early exit fees on company pension schemes  Create a new pensions guidance body to help consumers know their pension rights  and make best use of previous Government reforms allowing pensioners the right to take the money they have saved in a lump sum on retirement to invest how they like Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Children and Social Work Bill  New obligation on councils to be a corporate parent to children in care and look after them even after they have grown up  Giving all children leaving care a personal advisor to help them find jobs, secure a home and deal with any problems  Create a new regulator for social work along the lines of Ofsted to drive up standards in the profession Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Education Bill  Force failing local authorities to convert all the schools in their area to academies  Reform school funding to address long standing disparities across the country that has disadvantaged schools in some rural areas Controversy Rating: 3/5 Change Britain Rating: 2/5 2015 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Higher Education Bill  Making it simpler and easier for companies and other providers to set up new universities around the country. Ministers want to encourage institutions like Harvard and companies like Google to consider setting up campuses in the UK  Allowing universities who have been rated "excellent" for teaching to charge more than those who are not  Law to force universities to publish information about their application processes broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio economic background Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Prisons and Courts Bill  New law to create reform prisons giving governors powers to set their own regimes and budgets  Obligation to publish re-offending rates by prison Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 2016 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 National Citizen Service Bill  New law to force schools to promote NCS to all 16 year olds and putting the scheme for the first time on a statutory footing Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Lifetime Savings Bill  Putting into law a Government plans to give people on working tax credits who save 50 a month a Government "bonus" of 50 up to a maximum of 300 a year Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 2/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Soft Drinks Industry Levy Bill  Introduce a sugar tax on soft drinks to fund school sports Controversy Rating: 3/5 Change Britain Rating: 5/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Bill of Rights  A new bill of rights to replace the Human Rights Act that will be based on the European Convention of Human Rights but will also take account of English common law Controversy Rating: 5/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 This content is subject to copyright. The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Counter-Extremism Bill  New civil powers to allow authorities to ban so-called "extremist preachers"  New powers to intervene in Madrassas and other unregulated environments where children are present  New undisclosed powers to come out of Louise Caseys review of Muslim integration Controversy Rating: 5/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Criminal Finances Bill  Make it an offence for companies not to stop their staff facilitating tax evasion  New undisclosed powers for courts to recover criminal assets Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 1/5 2016 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Cultural Property Bill (Armed Forces)  Making it illegal for UK troops to damage cultural property in conflicts at home or abroad Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 1/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Wales Bill  Bill to put plans for further Welsh devolution on a statutory footing  following the new powers recently given to the Scottish Parliament Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5

By hiking National Insurance Contributions on the self-employed, the Tories have walloped low and middle earners to the tune of 2 billion, said Andrew Gwynne MP, Labours Campaign and Elections Chair.

Meanwhile, those at the top get tax breaks. Its not just unfair, its a broken promise: a total U-turn on their General Election pledge.

Announcing the changes, Mr Hammond said reforms were needed to make the tax system fairer and reduce the difference in National Insurance payments between employed and self-employed people.

The differences in National Insurance contributions is no longer justified by the differences in benefit entitlements, Mr Hammond said.

Such dramatically different treatment of two people earning essentially the same undermines the fairness of our tax system. Employed and self-employed alike use our public services in the same way but they are not paying for them in the same way.

The current system is not fair on the 85 per cent of people who are employed, he added.
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EU citizens in Britain are the victims of political games and their rights must be the first item in the exit talks, the European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator has said.

Guy Verhofstadt called for the fate of those three million EU nationals, and of British ex-pats, to be settled before negotiations on the rumoured 50bn divorce bill  long thought to be the key early dispute.

Mr Verhofstadt said the EU parliament would agree a resolution soon after the Article 50 exit clause is triggered in the next few weeks, which it would expect to guide those talks.

Otherwise the parliament could exercise its right to vote down any eventual deal agreed between the UK and the European Commission. We vote no  that is possible, he told BBC Radio 4.

Mr Verhofstadt also ridiculed Theresa Mays hopes of concluding a new trade agreement before Brexit is completed in 2019, saying: Lets not be naive, it will not take two years.

In total, it will take two years plus the whole period of the transition to sort out this new partnership between the UK and the European Union.

On Monday, MPs are expected to overturn a Lords amendment to the Brexit Bill demanding the Prime Minister give a unilateral guarantee that EU citizens will be able to stay in Britain.

The European Parliaments backing for that controversy to begin the exit talks would be a boost for Ms Mays determination for EU leaders to act simultaneously.

Mr Verhofstadt said: The first thing to do  in my opinion, maybe the most important  is to be aware of the difficult position of the EU citizens living in Britain and the opposite, the UK citizens living on the continent.

It is absolutely necessary that, before talking about everything else, we need to clarify that UK citizens and European citizens cannot be the victim of the political games we have seen since Brexit.

In my opinion, we need to put first in these negotiations the treatment of these EU citizens living in Britain and of UK citizens.

This is the first chapter of the withdrawal agreement  then there can be, for example, the whole question of the money.

The Parliaments resolution would also emphasise the need to ensure 20 years of peace in Northern Ireland was not thrust into jeopardy, he said.

No hard border. We cannot return to a hard border ... that is not in the interests of anybody, Mr Verhofstadt said.

And he repeated his call for the Brexit negotiators to listen to the requests he has received from thousands of Britons anxious to remain EU citizens after withdrawal is completed.

All British citizens today have also EU citizenship. That means a number of things: the possibility to participate in the European elections, the freedom of travel without problem inside the union.

We need to have an arrangement in which this arrangement can continue for those citizens who on an individual basis are requesting it.

The chief negotiator added: Emotion is now coming up in all those voters who want to remain in the European Union and have the feeling they have lost  that nobody is defending them anymore.
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Ministers have been accused of deliberately making it hard for 400,000 predominantly young and poor people to vote  while spending millions on helping rich expats to cast their ballots.

Election chiefs have protested over rules which prevent those without a permanent home from registering to vote online, a process quicker than boiling an egg the Government boasts.

Instead, they must print out and return a form, when  as one electoral administrator pointed out  they are the people least likely to have a printer, never mind the room to house it.

Meanwhile, the Government is changing the law to allow Britons living abroad to easily register and vote in UK elections. Many of those expats are pensioners, who are more likely to vote Conservative than any other group.

Now The Independent has learnt that the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) will protest to the Cabinet Office about the unfair hurdles faced by those without a permanent address in order to register to vote. This is thought to include thousands of sofa-surfing young professionals and those forced into short-term lets.

Labour said the situation was another example of the Conservatives giving handouts to the wealthiest whilst disenfranchising the poor and vulnerable.

And the Big Issue Foundation, which supports vendors selling the magazine, condemned a barrier to democracy for people who want to play a full part in society.

Stephen Robertson, the foundations chief executive, said: Just because you are experiencing poverty and homelessness doesnt mean you dont have the same ambitions.

That includes wanting to participate in democracy, but that will not be possible of you dont have access to a printer in order to register to vote.

Under the rules, anyone without a permanent home cannot register online but must print out a local connection form and return it to their local council.

A young voter leaves a polling station after casting her vote during the 2014 referendum on Scotland's independence (Getty Images)

One electoral administrator, Dave Jones, said: The people in our society least likely to be able to afford to have a printer, never mind the room to house it, are the only ones expected to print their own form.

Alternatively, they have to contact their local electoral services office, with many offices passed from call centre pillar to call centre post.

Our registration rates would be catastrophically low if all electors were expected to do this.

One estimate is that up to 400,000 people are affected, including sofa surfers relying on friends for a roof over their heads, as well as people in hostels and homeless on the street.

Mr Jones suggested a similar number of overseas voters would register once the 15-year rule on residency abroad is scrapped, with a staggering difference in resources.

Changing IT systems will cost at least 800,000, ministers have acknowledged  with unknown significant extra costs for local authorities.

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which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died 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cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA

Around 500 overseas voters are currently registered for each local authority, compared with just a few dozen people of no fixed address.

The Government has put significant money and electoral registration staff into registering overseas voters, Mr Jones said.

To find ourselves working within a system that makes it harder to register for the most disadvantaged, while resources are thrown at citizens who are not even required to register, does not sit easily with our professional conscience.

It wouldnt need much tweaking to IT systems to allow online registration of people without a permanent residential address, he said.

Cat Smith, Labours spokesperson for voter engagement, said: Its perverse that while the Government are enfranchising expats who havent lived in the UK for over 15 years, they are placing barriers in the way of voting for people living in the UK without a permanent address.

There is no reason that everyone except those without a permanent address should be able to register online, especially given the difficulty of accessing a printer if you are homeless.

Once again, the Conservatives are giving handouts to the wealthiest whilst disenfranchising the poor and vulnerable.

John Turner, the AEAs chief executive, said: We intend to raise the issue of the registration of the homeless at our regular meeting next week with the Cabinet Office.

It is now 17 years since declarations of local connection were introduced. Given the length of time that has elapsed, we believe that the current provisions need to be reviewed.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone who is eligible to vote is able to do so, addressing the barriers for all under registered groups to ensure that everyone can participate in the democratic process.

"At the same time, we will not deny British citizens - from all political parties - who were born in the UK and have moved abroad the opportunity to register to vote and have their say in the way their country is governed."
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Theresa May has made a desperate bid to avoid a major Conservative rebellion following the Governments attempt to hike National Insurance contributions.

The Prime Minister signalled that the tax rise hitting 2.5 million workers could still be mitigated, as she sought to see off a damaging clash with Tory backbenchers who fear the policy looks like a clear breach of a key election pledge.

While she continued to stand by the NICs rise on Thursday in Brussels, her defence also saw her point to broader policy reviews that may bring forward new protections for the self-employed workers affected and highlight a legislative process that gives MPs a chance to propose changes to the policy.

In the 24 hours since Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the reform, Conservatives have taken to the airwaves to nervously question the move and raised concerns more forcefully with Ms May in private.

With party unity critical ahead of crucial votes in the Commons next week, Ms Mays firefighting appeared to have bought her time with backbenchers saying it was a sensible way to approach their concerns, while others are still unhappy with her defence of the policy, saying it looks like smoke and mirrors.

Addressing reporters, Ms May said: This is a change that leaves lower-paid self-employed workers better off, it's accompanied by more rights and protections for self-employed workers and it reforms the system of National Insurance to make it simpler, to make it fairer and to make it more progressive.

The Conservative 2015 election manifesto clearly stated four times the Tories would not increase NICs once in power, in a move that may have helped convince millions to vote for the party.

Deflecting questions over whether the move breaks the promise, Ms May repeated her defence of the policy  that legislation published after the election made clear that only employed, and not self-employed workers, would be protected.

The legislation was clear that it was honouring our manifesto commitment in our 2015 manifesto, and no amendments or concerns were raised at the time, she told reporters.

 Brexit, Budget and Donald Trump: PM's Brussels talk in 60 seconds

She also pointed out that money raised from the move would provide greater funding for technical education, free schools and social care that MPs had also wanted.

The Prime Minister noted that the NICs rise would be not be passed through Parliament in the usually untouchable Finance Bill, but in separate legislation in the autumn.

She also highlighted a review taking place by Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, into employment practices and said the Government would bring out a separate paper over the summer explaining the NICs changes.

Ms May added: The Chancellor will be speaking, as will his ministers, to MPs, business people and others to listen to the concerns.

The move to change rates for some 2.5 million class four NICs payers would see those hit having to pay an extra 240 a year, though the Government said an accompanying move to abolish the class two category would reduce the number of people losing out to 1.6m and that no one earning less than 16,200 will be worse off.

Nonetheless, it sent a shockwave along the Tory back benches with a string of MPs appearing on TV and radio to question whether the hike was hitting our people  entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Moreover they feared claiming a manifesto commitment had not been breached because the policys small print had been published after the election, would anger voters affected.

London Tory MP Bob Blackman told The Independent: Going on the legislation that we put through after the election looks like smoke and mirrors.

He said he would be lobbying the Government to find a way of bringing employed and self-employed workers NICs into line without increasing NICs on entrepreneurs and people starting their own businesses.

 Philip Hammond defends his maiden Budget

Another Tory MP said: She needs party loyalty because theres some very big votes next week, shes done this tonight because it needs resolving before the Budget and Brexit votes that are coming.

Another Conservative said: You just dont go messing with election manifesto pledges when the atmosphere is as febrile as it is at the moment.

Earlier in the day, Dominic Raab MP was among those who raised concerns. After Ms Mays press conference he said: This was a sensible way to make sure we look carefully at the impact, and treat both self-employed and other workers fairly.

Fellow Tory Andrew Bridgen said: I think shes done enough to placate backbenchers. Im pleased the Prime Minister is taking on peoples concerns. Its going to have its own bill, there will be two reviews.

Mr Bridgen also said that if the reviews threw up problems with the proposed change he would expect it to be stopped.
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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed an ethics complaint against Attorney General Jeff Sessions for denying he had contact with Russian officials.

The non-profit organisation is asking the Alabama Bar to determine whether Mr Sessions violated the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct during his Senate testimony.

Mr. Sessions made false statements during sworn testimony on January 10, 2017, and in a subsequent written response to questions on January 17, 2017, the complaint reads.

The complaint will ask the states bar to launch an investigation into whether Mr Sessions engaged in professional misconduct by denying his contact with Russian officials.

Few events are more corrosive to a democracy than having the Attorney General make false statements under oath about a matter the Justice Department is investigating, ACLU's deputy legislative director Christopher Anders said.

Mr Sessions told a falsehood to the Senate, and did nothing to correct his statement until he was exposed by the press more than a month later. No attorney, whether just starting out as a new lawyer or serving as the countrys top law enforcement officer, should lie under oath. The Alabama bar must investigate this wrong fully and fairly.

Mr Sessions, a former Alabama senator, was accused of lying under oath after he denied having two conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in July and September of last year during his Senate confirmation hearings.

He said at the time: I didnt have, did not have communications with the Russians.

However it later emerged he had met with Mr Kislyak on multiple occasions.

Mr Sessions defended his January response this week saying: I did not mention communications I had had with the Russian ambassador over the years, because the question did not ask about them.

However he did concede he should have been more careful in his testimony, adding: I should have slowed down and said, 'but I did meet one Russian official a couple of times.'

Following the revelations about his meetings, Mr Sessions agreed to step aside from an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, despite still having the support of the President.

When Mr Trump was asked this week if Mr Sessions should remove himself from the investigations into Russian influence in the election, the President said: I don't think so at all. I don't think he should do that at all.

Details emerged this week to suggest Mr Sessions, Americas most senior law enforcement officer, met with Mr Kislyak a third time.

In April 2016, during Mr Trumps presidential campaign, Mr Sessions and Mr Kislyak both attended a small event at which Mr Trump made a foreign policy speech. It is not known if the pair spoke directly.

The Independent has contacted the office of Mr Sessions for further comment.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

The latest on the helicopter crash in Istanbul, Turkey

16:25 (GMT+4) Turkeys Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications has confirmed that the helicopter fell down after hitting a television tower near the TUYAP exhibition center in Istanbul.

In the meantime, Russias Foreign Ministry has confirmed on its Twitter account that five people, including four Russian nationals died in the crash.

15:17 (GMT+4) A civil helicopter belonging to a private company crashed in the Buyukcekmece District of Istanbul on the morning of March 10, killing five people on board, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin has stated, Hurriyet Daily News reports.



The Sikorsky S-76 model helicopter hit a TV tower in the district before crashing onto a nearby highway, according to an eyewitness who spoke to CNN Turk.

The helicopter that belonged to the Eczacibasi Group was carrying Eczacibasi Building Products Country Director Salim Ozen, regional sales manager Aleksandr Vanin, Russian guests Igor Kochergin, Luidmila Chuprova, Elena Badragan along with Turkish pilots Alaattin Nacar and Ahmet Bulut, the holding said in a statement.



One manager and four Russian guests were on board, Bulent Eczacibasi, head of Eczacibasi Holding, told reporters at the scene.

The helicopter was heading to the Bozuyuk District of the northwestern province of Bilecik to bring the passengers to a facility belonging to the group there.



13:41 (GMT+4) The helicopter crashed into a television tower near the TUYAP exhibition center in Istanbul, Turkey, due to low visibility, Turkeys NTV channel reports citing eyewitnesses.

Five people  helicopter passengers and crew members  were killed in the accident, according to preliminary reports.

12:55 (GMT+4) A fire helicopter has crashed in the Buyukcekmece District in Istanbul, Turkey, the countrys media outlets report. Rescue teams have been sent to the accident site.
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Afghan citizens who frequently risked their lives working for the US government and military, have been told they can no longer apply for special visas to the US - even though their country was not among those listed on Donald Trumps travel ban.

Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen said Afghans applying for what are called Special Immigrant Visas, were being told by the US Embassy in Kabul that applications were no longer being accepted.

The US State Department confirmed on Thursday it will soon run out of visas for interpreters and other Afghans who have worked for the US government since the 2001 US and UK invasion of the country, carried out in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Ms Shaheen said up to 10,000 visas were still in the process of being processed. Its both a moral and practical imperative that congress right this wrong immediately, she said in a statement.

Reports suggest it is unclear whether the suspension of the programme is connected to the presidents revised travel ban, which freezes entry to the US for citizens of six Muslim majority countries. The order, which is scheduled to come into effect on March 16, also mandates that the number of refugees allowed into the US should be cut in half to just 50,000 people.

Asghar Farhadi sends statement upon winning Oscar in protest at Donald Trump's travel ban

Ms Shaheen and Republican Senator John McCain led a failed effort last year to pass legislation extending to 4,000 more people an existing special immigrant visa programme for Afghans who assisted US forces, often risking their lives, Reuters said.

In Afghanistan, where the Taliban has steadily expanded its insurgency and where government forces now control less than 60 per cent of the country, there has been deep concern among local contractors working for international forces.

Most of those working with foreigners are in trouble with their relatives, villagers and even family members, said one translator.

He declined to give his name because his visa has not yet been granted.

The Taliban has captured biometric equipment to allow it to identify staff working for the Western-backed government and international forces, heightening the risk for those on official payrolls.

I cannot go to my home and it has been two years now, the translator said. If they don't give us a visa, we will be killed or in big trouble, especially once foreigners leave Afghanistan.

The International Refugee Assistance Project at the Urban Justice Centre in New York, said it had been informed on Thursday that Afghans had been told their applications were no longer being accepted.

Our worst fears are proving true, said Betsy Fisher, the groups policy director. This devastating development means that thousands of trusted allies will remain in danger, waiting for congress to allocate visas that were clearly needed months ago.
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Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney urged Iraq and the world's nations not to let Isis to "get away with genocide" in a speech in New York.

Joined by her client Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman captured by the extremists in Iraq in 2014, she told Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send a letter to the Un Security Council in order to set up a vote on investigating war crimes.

Recommended Amal Clooney urges UN not to let Isis get away with genocide

Here is her speech in full:

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I thank the sponsors of this event for inviting me to address you once again at the United Nations. Six months ago, I came here to discuss the need for accountability for crimes committed by ISIS. I spoke to you as the lawyer for a group of victims of ISIS crimes, including Nadia Murad, who as a 21-year old girl was enslaved and raped by ISIS militants in Iraq. My message to you was that ISIS is a global threat, which requires a global response. And that the response should not be limited to the battlefield: the UN should also investigate ISIS crimes and make sure that those responsible are brought to justice.

Since my last address I have supported the United Kingdoms initiative to have the Security Council set up an investigation into ISIS crimes in Iraq. This would allow the UN to work alongside Iraqis to collect evidence of crimes on the ground and identify specific individuals who are responsible for them. Over the last few months, I have met with Iraqi, EU and UN officials and members of the Security Council, including the Russian and US Ambassadors, to discuss this initiative. All of them expressed support for the idea of a UN investigation to be established by the Security Council with Iraqs cooperation. So the UK took an admirable leadership role, and drafted a short resolution to make this a reality. This draft was presented to Iraq many months ago and Iraq has since repeatedly and publicly expressed its support for the initiative. As recently as October Foreign Minister Jaafari confirmed Iraqs commitment to a Campaign led by the UN [that would] include action to gather and preserve evidence of [ISIS] crimes. The Iraqi government is aware that a one-page letter to the Security Council requesting the investigation would be sufficient to trigger a vote on the resolution.

But months have passed, deadlines set by the UK have come and gone, and the Iraqi government has declined to send the letter. So there has been no vote, no resolution, no investigation. The Council could of course act without this letter. It could establish the investigation without Iraqs consent, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. It could refer the case to the International Criminal Court. The General Assembly could establish an accountability mechanism, as it did for Syria in December. Or the Secretary-General could launch an investigation. But none of this has happened yet. Instead, mass graves in Iraq still lie unprotected and un-exhumed.

Witnesses are fleeing. And there is still not one ISIS militant who has faced trial for international crimes anywhere in the world. So I am speaking to you, the Iraqi government, and to you, UN member states, when I ask: Why? Why has nothing been done? Could it be that these crimes are not serious enough to warrant an international investigation? NO  ISIS is today the most brutal terror group in the world, representing what the Security Council has called an unprecedented threat to international peace and security.

ISIS has carried out or inspired attacks in more than 31 countries that have killed over 2,000 people outside Syria and Iraq in the last 3 years alone. Inside Iraq, ISIS has attacked victims from every community including Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims and Christians. And ISIS has made clear that it intends to destroy Yazidis, like Nadia, completely: through killings, forced conversions, and rape. The UN has concluded that ISIS is committing genocide against this group, and there can be no more serious crime. The UN was created as the worlds way of saying never again to the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis. And yet here we are, 70 years later, discussing the UNs inaction in the face of a genocide that we all know about, and that is ongoing. So is it that the political interests of powerful states stand in the way of accountability? Is that why, over two years after the genocide began, not one ISIS member has been brought to trial for it? No  this is not it either. As a human rights lawyer I am often told that my cause, while commendable, cannot succeed because of political realities. We have seen the Security Council paralysed over Syria, or the road to the International Criminal Court obstructed when powerful states block Council action. But here, ladies and gentlemen, we are dealing with ISIS. No one claims to respect or protect them. No veto-wielding member of the Council is on their side. And yet we are no closer to justice than when I addressed you last year.

Recommended Amal Clooney went to the UN to discuss genocide

Could it be, then, that crimes of this nature will be too difficult to prove? No  this is not a reason for inaction either. ISIS is a bureaucracy of evil leaving a trail of evidence behind it that no one is picking up. It has kicked bodies into uncovered mass graves. It set up a Committee for the Buying and Selling of Slaves and courts to legalise the purchase of women as property. It has kept detailed forms about its recruits, including their name, phone number, address and previous terror experience. ISIS militants have even sent messages to Nadia from their phones, taunting her that they still have her family members in captivity They dont bother to hide their phone number when they do so: they know no one is looking for it.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen: what is shocking here is not just the brutality of ISIS but how long those who know about it can remain passive. If we do not change course, history will judge us, and there will be no excuse for our failure to act. We cannot say that ISIS crimes were not serious enough; we cannot say that the interests of powerful states stood in the way; or that these crimes are too hard to prove. Thats why I am asking you today: to stand up for justice. Every conflict reminds us that there can be no lasting peace without justice. A lack of accountability simply leads to continuing cycles of vengeful violence. So killing ISIS on the battlefield is not enough: we must also kill the idea behind ISIS by exposing its brutality and bringing individual criminals to justice. Justice is also what the victims want  ask the families of the American hostages Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff who were beheaded by the ISIS militant known as Jihadi John. When Jihadi John was reportedly killed by a drone strike in Syria, the hostages families said they would have preferred it if he had been arrested instead. Stevens family said they wanted to sit in a courtroom, watch him sentenced and see him sent to  prison. Yazidi women like Nadia say the same: they want the chance to face their abusers in court; they want legal judgments to be published, to prevent their genocide later being denied. And they deserve nothing less. But justice will forever be out of reach if we allow the evidence to disappear: if mass graves are not protected, if medical evidence is lost, if witnesses can no longer be traced.

Excellencies, it is not too late to turn things around. I believe there is a common will among those in this room, among leaders in Baghdad and capitals around the world that ISIS should be held accountable in a court of law for its crimes. What is needed now is moral leadership to make it happen. Last weeks US State Department report on Iraq reminds us that the vast majority of serious human rights abuses being committed today in Iraq are committed by ISIS, and that all Iraqis  Sunni, Shia, Christian, Yazidi, and others - are its victims. So today, I wish to speak directly to Prime Minister Abadi: on behalf of all of ISIS victims, I call on you to send the letter to the Security Council requesting an investigation into ISIS crimes. Getting the UN involved was initially Iraqs idea, and finally taking action to make it a reality would silence those who doubt your commitment to bring Daesh to justice.

And finally, to all UN member states: if this road to accountability through the Security Council is blocked, you must take the initiative to secure accountability in other ways available to you under the UN Charter. Dont let this be another Rwanda, where you regret doing too little, too late. Dont let ISIS get away with genocide.
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Barack Obamas half-brother has once again repeated the discredited claim that the former US President was born in Kenya.

Ardent Donald Trump supporter, Malik Obama tweeted a copy of what he said was a valid birth certificate proving that his half-brother was born in Mombasa, the West African nation's second city.

It featured Mr Obamas correct date of birth and includes the masthead: Coast Province General Hospital, Mombasa, British Protectorate of Kenya.

Alongside the picture, he wrote: Surely. Whats this?

Malik Obama has repeatedly pedalled "birther conspiracy" claims that the politician was born abroad.

The 55-year-old former president has been dogged with questions about his birthplace since his US Senate campaign in 2004.

The issue, along with questions about his religion, have been frequently discussed matters within right-wing circles and conspiracy theorists, although they have mostly been limited to fringe Conservative news websites.

The unfounded rumours were largely meant to call into question the legitimacy of his presidency. All US presidents must be born in America, according to Article Two of the country's constitution.

Pennsylvania Democrat Philip J Berg also attempted to sue him over his birthplace in 2008 and Donald Trump was vocal about the issue for more than five years before he publicly acknowledged last September that Mr Obama was born in the US.

To silence the rumours, Mr Obama published his birth certificate in 2008, which gives Hawaii as the place of birth, and his long-form certificate in 2011.

These were confirmed by the Hawaii Department of Health and corroborated by contemporaneous birth announcements published in local newspapers.

The document tweeted by Malik Obama appears to be the same forgery that right-wing blogger Lucas Smith tried to sell on eBay in 2009.

The website removed the page because of its policy of barring its users from selling purported government documents.

Malik Obama has nonetheless embraced the unfounded claims and has made a string of wild and bizarre accusations about his half-brother.

He once told American filmmaker Joel Gilbert that Mr Obamas real father was socialist thinker Frank Marshall Davis.

Asked to comment on the supposed birth certificate by The Independent, he demanded $10,000 (8,200) to speak.

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In a separate interview, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain that he has to queue up like everyone else to speak to Mr Obama.

Black Republican radio show host Wayne Dupree responded to his tweet yesterday.

He said: Thats old hes out of office now moving on right? You really think a Republican congress is going to do something Send it up Ill watch.

A Phoenix sheriff has also insisted Mr Obama's birth certificate was "fake" after allegedly investigating for five years.
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The US Justice Department has refused to comment on whether Donald Trump is the subject of an investigation.

Speculation mounted that the US leader was being probed after he claimed on Twitter that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had ordered wiretaps on Trump Tower during the presidential campaign.

Asked whether Mr Trump is being investigated, a Justice Department official told The New York Times it had no comment.

This would be standard practice in normal circumstances on the status of any investigation and there is not suggestion that inquiries have been launched into the President.

Recommended James Comey urges Justice Department to publicly refute wiretap claims

Mr Trump accused his predecessor of executing the wiretaps earlier this month.

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism! he tweeted.

Is it legal for a sitting President to be wire tapping a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW! he later added.

The Presidents claims of wiretapping raised the question of whether Mr Trump might indeed be the subject of an investigation.

By accusing Mr Obama of ordering the wiretapping, the President depicted himself as the victim of surveillance, rather than an investigatory target.

No evidence was produced to support his allegations, which Mr Trump has asked the House and Senate intelligence committees to investigate.

FBI Director James Comey has called on the Justice Department to publicly reject the Presidents claim, believing the allegations to be false, according to US media reports.

Senior officials close to the FBI chief said he has privately asked the department to dismiss the claims as they imply that the FBI has acted illegally, The New York Times reported.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said earlier this week, that the President had not spoken to the FBI head over the claims, but said theres no question that something happened.

He insisted that the President is not the subject of a counterintelligence investigation concerning contacts with Russia, but he admitted that the White House does not know whether Mr Trump is being investigated.

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

Two senior senators leading the congressional inquiry into Russias alleged efforts to sway the US election have asked the FBI and Justice Department to release any information they have on Mr Trumps claim that Mr Obama ordered the wiretapping during the election campaign.

In a letter addressed to Mr Comey and acting deputy attorney general, General Dana Boente, Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse wrote: We request that the Department of Justice provide us copies of any warrant applications and court orders ... related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump campaign, or Trump Tower.

The senators said they would take very seriously any abuse of wiretapping authorities for political reasons.

They added: We would be equally alarmed to learn that a court found enough evidence of criminal activity or contact with a foreign power to legally authorise a wiretap.

A US law professor has said Mr Trumps unsubstantiated claims could be a major scandal that could get the current President impeached, if proven false.

 Trump adviser Roger Stone repeats wiretapping claims on Russia Today

Given how great the executives power is, accusations by the President cant be treated asymmetrically, Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman wrote in an article for Bloomberg. If the alleged action would be impeachable if true, so must be the allegation if false.

Anything else would give the President the power to distort democracy by calling his opponents criminals without ever having to prove it.

Representatives for Mr Obama have vehemently denied that the former President made any kind of surveillance order on Trump Tower.

The Independent has contacted the Justice Department for comment.
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Bernie Sanders has criticised the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after he expressed doubts about carbon dioxide being a primary contributor to climate change.

The former Democratic presidential candidate called Scott Pruitt's position "pathetic".

I wish I could come up with another word," Mr Sanders told CNN, adding that Mr Pruitt's denial came "in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence".

"Not only is it sad," he said. "It is a real threat to the wellbeing of this country and the world.

Recommended Scott Pruitt does not mention climate change in first EPA speech

Mr Pruitt, who was picked by Donald Trump for the role, recently said that he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that (carbon dioxide) is a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," he told US broadcaster CNBC.

He added: We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis.

Scott Pruitt made no mention of global warming during his first EPA speech (Getty)

Mr Pruitt is known for having close ties to the fossil fuel industry and has a history of attacking the EPA.

He sued the agency 13 times in his five years during his time as Oklahomas attorney general.

Mr Sanders insisted that there was no debate to be had and he condemned Mr Pruitt's stance.

The debate is over," said the Vermont senator. "Something like 97 per cent of the scientists who have written peer-reviewed articles on the subject agree that it is human activity and CO2 emissions that are causing devastating problems already in the United States and around the world.

That you have the Trump administration continuing to deny the reality and the horrors that climate change is already causing is very sad indeed.

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

Major scientific bodies around the world agree unanimously that rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have been adding to the atmospheres ability to trap heat  the main driver behind global warming.

A joint statement issued by Nasa and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in January, said the latest figures show Earths average surface temperature has risen by about 1.1 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century.

They added that the warming was driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.

The UK Met Office shared similar figures reached using different measures at around the same time.

Carbon dioxide concentrations are rising every year because of emissions from burning fossil fuels, deforestation and cement production," it says on its website.

Mr Sanders also put out a call to action on Facebook, following his on-air interview.

Secretary Pruitt is more concerned with his friends in the fossil fuel industry than protecting our planet," he said. "Dont mourn. Organize.
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A former spy chief has said President Trump is undermining the efforts of intelligence agencies.

Michael Hayden, director of the Central Intelligence Agency under President George W Bush and National Security Agency director under both he and President Clinton, penned an op-ed in the New York Times on the matter.

Mr Hayden wrote that it is "hard to imagine a more turbulent transition than the current one," commenting that Mr Trumps tweets using the word "intelligence" in quotes is "a kind of dog whistle" that devalues intelligence gathering efforts.

Recommended Trump accuses intelligence agencies of illegally giving info to press

Accusing former President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower during the 2016 election in a series of tweets was "outrageous", according to Mr Hayden.

He also questioned why the Trump administration would "reflexively and punitively" place blame on 17 agencies and more than 100,000 workers that exist to serve it.

Mr Hayden also criticised the administrations Executive Order banning travellers from seven majority Muslim countries.

 Trump adviser Roger Stone repeats wiretapping claims on Russia Today

He wrote that there was no evidence that the administration consulted with anyone in the intelligence community or that the travel ban actually "made America less safe."

He emphasised the importance of keeping the intelligence community "apolitical" in order for it to provide the best intelligence it can to both Republican and Democrat presidents.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus claimed that he was "approved" by anonymous intelligence sources to say that the idea of ties between Russia and Mr Trumps campaign were not true.

Mr Hayden responded to the incident in his op-ed, writing Priebus "language was political, emotional and dismissive. It in no way even tried to mirror the precise phrasing of intelligence."

Current CIA head Mike Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats were issued warnings on how they will have to run their organisations with an administration that "questioned their officers integrity, has been casual in its use of intelligence and is not above calling on intelligence professionals to provide political cover."
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A senior adviser to Donald Trump has backed his leader's claims that Barack Obama ordered wiretaps be placed in Trump Tower during the 2016 Presidential election.

Roger Stone, a key Republican strategist, repeated claims Mr Trump made on Twitter without providing any evidence.

"I believe that [Mr Trump] was under surveillance by the Federal government, by the intelligence agencies, while he was the Republican nominee for President," he told Russia Today, international television network funded by the Russian government. "This is a scandal bigger than Watergate."

Mr Stone, who has a tattoo of former Republican president Richard Nixon on his back, was banned from major American news networks during the 2016 electoral campaign after he used a racial epithet to describe an African American journalist.

 Ex-CIA chief says it would've been impossible for Obama to wiretap Trump

Nicknamed "the dirty trickster", he has a reputation in Washington for underhand campaign tactics and the promulgation of conspiracy theories about his political rivals.

Mr Trump's alleged on Twitter that Barack Obama wiretapped his New York office in 2016.

He wrote: "Terrible! "Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

In a second post, he misspelled the word "tap", writing: "How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!"

Mr Stone supported the assertion.

He said: "This is the most outrageous breach of law and of morality in American public history. Richard Nixon did not know about the Watergate break-in in advance, but he bore ultimate responsibility.

Recommended White House calls for investigation into alleged Trump wiretapping

"If you look at the statement by (former) President Obama this weekend, he said he didnt approve eavesdropping on candidate Trump. Notice he didnt say it didnt happen, only that he didnt approve it."

He also expanded on the President's reference to McCarthyism - a reference to the 20th-century American witch-hunts of suspected Communist sympathisers overseen by Senator Joseph McCarthy.

He said: "In this country, if you are not in favour of war over Syria, then you must be a traitor; you must be in the service of Russian intelligence. Its insulting, its outrageous, its false."

He added: "To say because you are not in favour of war with Russia tomorrow you must be a traitor? This is the worst form of McCarthyism in the 40 years that I have been in American politics."

 Former director of national intelligence denies there was a 'wiretap' at Trump Tower

Mr Obama's spokesman, Kevin Lewis, has previously denied the suggestion that any wiretapping or surveillance had taken place.

"A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice," he said, shortly after Mr Trump's original allegation.

"As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false."
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A top ethics lawyer said Donald Trumps conflicts of interests will become too much to take after they are challenged in court.

Norm Eisen, who was chief ethics counsel under former President Barack Obama, told The Independent that every decision the President makes is motivated by financial gain  including which countries to include on his travel ban executive order.

Eventually the scandal [of conflicts] will be too much to take, said Mr Eisen.

One never hopes for scandal but in this case the President is bringing it upon himself.

Recommended Campaigners demand Donald Trump fully divests from empire

Mr Eisen and Richard Painter, who was chief ethics lawyer under George W Bush, have filed a lawsuit which alleges the President has conflicts of interest after he failed to liquidate his businesses and place the assets in a blind trust. The lawsuit alleges he violated the US Constitutions Foreign Emoluments clause, for example, when he hosted foreign diplomats at his new hotel in Washington DC. Mr Trumps reply to the case is due on 21 April.

He still stands to benefit financially from the business after he leaves the White House. The President is the sole beneficiary of a trust, run by his oldest son and a longtime associate, which he could revoke at any time.

I do think the President has a conflict which is expressing itself in his choice of countries [in the travel ban], said Mr Eisen.

Its continuing to do so. Every decision he makes is overshadowed by his conflicts and thats why he should divest from his businesses. Period.

The price of drinks at his new hotel in Washington DC has reportedly increased significantly since it opened last September. His sons, Donald Jr and Eric Trump, have opened new hotels in Dubai and Vancouver since their fathers Inauguration, and told The New York Times that the Trump brand is the hottest its ever been. The initiation fee to join the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, named the Winter White House, where the President has spent several weekends, has recently soared.

The Presidents motivation for choosing the six countries to include in his newly-reworded travel ban  Iran, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Sudan and Somalia  will more likely be featured in lawsuits which challenge the constitutionality of the executive order than in the lawsuit from Mr Eisen and Mr Painter.

 Donald Trump signs revised travel ban

Asked how much the travel ban was motivated by racism and business interests, Mr Eisen replied: I believe the predominant motivations for the ban are illegitimate, but Im unable to isolate the different strains of the unsavoury virus that produced this legal inflammation.

The original travel ban, signed in late January, was struck down by a federal judge in Washington state for being unconstitutional. Mr Trumps emergency appeal was denied. The ban was re-written, taking Iraq off the list and scrapping the indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees. Green card and visa holders were no longer affected.

Several states have already indicated they will sue, joining Washington states original effort.

Mr Painter told Business Insider that the six countries still on the list are quite poor and have no dealings with the Trump Organisation.

This is a very serious conflict of interest and where this is going to come up is when the travel ban is challenged in court as lacking a reasonable basis, he said.

 Donald Trump points to business papers that appear to be blank

He argued that lawyers would have a strong argument that the ban is arbitrary, with no link to the national interest and no basis to stop terrorism, as countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, from where terrorists have come to the US, are not on the list.

A recent study from the Cato Institute found that nobody from the original seven, and now six, countries impacted by the executive order have killed a single American on US soil as part of a terrorist attack since 2001 and no Syrian refugee had even been charged with the intent to carry out such an attack in more than four decades.

However, Turkey, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan all have dealings with The Trump Organisation and they are not impacted by the ban.

So, this is going to create serious constitutional due process issues for the government when they litigate to defend the travel ban, and thats going to be on top of, of course, the first amendment free exercise or religion claims that will be made because there is still abundant evidence that this travel ban is targeted at Muslims, Mr Painter added.

The President also insisted this week that his tax returns are still under audit and will not release them. Mr Eisen said his taxes have become a hot controversy as they could reveal evidence of financial dealings between him, his aides and the Russians, which the President has denied.
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President Trump could cut millions federal funding to New York Citys public housing.

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), which runs the countrys largest affordable housing program, is rumoured to receive at least $35 million less in funding from the federal government in the 2018 budget, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Also according to the paper's conversations with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), that figure could reach up to $150 million in cuts.

The NYCHA has an overall operating budget of $3.2 billion. At least $2 billion of that comes from HUD. Approximately $17 billion needs to be spent by NYCHA in repairs to public housing buildings.

An NYCHA spokesperson told The Independent that they are concerned about these rumoured cuts. The agency, the Wall Street Journal reports, was ready for a 3 per cent cut in budget. However, in a letter from HUD dated 26 February - ahead of Ben Carson's appointment to lead the agency - HUD said it would cut NYCHAs funding by 5 per cent.

The spokesperson also said the loss of federal funds of this size would deeply impact our ability to serve 600,000 New Yorkers who rely on NYCHA.

There have also been nearly $8 million in cuts made to Section 8, a programme offering subsidised rent to low income people, since President Trump took office.

Shola Olatoye, Chair and CEO of NYCHA, told Curbed the proposed cuts would evaporate the agencys progress made on providing affordable housing in the city.

The New York Times reported that overall rents on one-bedroom units decreased in 2016 by 9.1 per cent, but in certain neighbourhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem rents increased up to 15 per cent.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said in a statement that the White House is actively targeting our most vulnerable citizens. Its wrong.

Plans to bring in private investors and allow private developers to develop mixed-income housing on NYCHA land have already begun.
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A lawsuit alleging that Donald Trump and a real estate development firm misled investors, has been upheld by Canada's highest court.

Sarbjit Singh and Se Na Lee alleged they were sold units in Toronto's, Trump International Hotel, under false pretences.

The pair claimed they were misled to believe their investments would see returns ranging from 7.7 per cent to 20.9 per cent. Instead, they said they lost a combined C$1.2m (732,810).

The Ontario Court of Appeal last year, sided with them in their case against Mr Trump, Talon International Development and former executives of that firm.

Recommended Washington wine bar owners sue Donald Trump over loss of business

That decision was backed by The Supreme Court of Canada which upheld the lower court's ruling and refused to hear an appeal from the defendants.

In a document outlining the case, Justice Paul Rouleau wrote that neither Mr Singh nor Mrs Lee were sophisticated investors, in real estate or otherwise" and "both had to borrow heavily from family to finance their purchases.

Mr Singh had been discharged from bankruptcy three years before making the purchase and was earning around C$55,000 a year as a warehouse supervisor, it said.

He did not have enough money for the deposit for the unit and had to receive help from his father, a retired welder, who agreed to help and took out a line of credit on his own home to finance the loan.

Ms Lee was a homemaker, whose husband worked as a mortgage underwriter at the time. Her parents loaned her money for the deposit.

Both believed that buying into the Trump project would be an excellent investment," Justice Rouleau said. "And in time, both came to realise that they were wrong.

The 65-storey tower in Toronto's financial district includes both hotel rooms and private residences. It is managed by The Trump Organisation.

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

The cornerstone of the plantiffs claims, Justice Rouleau said, was a document that was presented to each of them outlining the estimated return on investment.

Both Mr Singh and Ms Lee said they relied heavily on the estimates provided to them in making their individual decisions to purchase their respective properties.

But as it turned out, the estimates bore no relation to financial reality. The motions judge found as a fact that the estimates were deceptive documents and replete with misrepresentations of commission, of omission, and of half-truth,Justice Rouleau said.

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the investors, ordering that the sale of the unit must be rescinded for Singh and damages must be paid to Lee for negligent misrepresentation.
Watches are not rocket science. Or are they? Watches are not rocket...

Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well, thats a shame, because with some watches, youll need one to understand how to tell the time. Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well,...
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The White House said the Presidents transition team was told that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn might need to register as a foreign agent before accepting the role, but that the President had not been aware.

The team was told before Inauguration day that Mr Flynn would have to alert the Justice Department due to his previous career of lobbying work with foreign countries, according to a White House official and a person with direct knowledge of discussions between transition lawyers and Mr Flynn's representatives.

Mr Flynn registered this week with the Justice Department, identifying his firm, Flynn Intel Group Inc, and that he worked for a Turkish company that could have helped the government.

He reportedly registered due to pressure from Justice Department officials. It is a felony not to register but the Justice Department rarely files such charges.

The move from Mr Flynn to get his papers in order comes too late for the Trump team - weeks after he was forced to resign in light of revelations that he held phone calls with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak before the Inauguration, and around the time that former President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on the country.

The White House did not confirm when exactly it was told of Mr Flynns previous work.

He was paid $530,000 by a Turkish company. The lobbying contract was from August through November last year and ended after the election.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday he did not believe that Mr Trump knew of Mr Flynn's foreign agent work before his appointment.

On Friday, he insisted the President had not been aware of what advice Mr Flynn's personal lawyer had been given by the Trump transition lawyer. When asked why the President was not made aware of this exchange, Mr Spicer compared the situation to someone asking the Internal Revenue Service about tax advice and being instructed to approach a tax lawyer.

"But this was a personal matter, a business matter, it's not something that would be appropriate for a government entity to give someone guidance on when they should file as an individual citizen, as a private citizen."

 Donald Trump says 'the leaks are real, the news is fake' in response to Michael Flynn resignation

Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday said the news was "an affirmation of the presidents decision to ask General Flynn to resign".

He told Fox News he did not know about Mr Flynns failure to file with the Justice Department. Mr Pence was also reportedly misled by Mr Flynn about the calls to Russia. Mr Trump knew about the calls for three weeks and Mr Pence 11 days before reporters exposed the phone calls to the public and Mr Flynn resigned.

In the days after he left the White House, questions were raised over Attorney General Jeff Sessionss contact with the Russian ambassador as he and Mr Flynn sat on the same national security transition council.

Mr Sessions said this week he would recuse himself from any Justice Department investigation on ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

It is the second time Mr Sessions has recused himself, as the highest person of law enforcement in the US, in just over two months. He said he would also not be involved in any investigation of Hillary Clintons alleged misuse of her personal email server when she was secretary of state.
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A senior Democratic politician has claimed that the salacious sex acts alleged in the unverified Russian blackmail dossier against President Donald Trump are absolutely true.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters is the first US politician to say on the record that the document, which alleges the Russian state has compromising sexual and financial information on the President, is genuine.

We already know about the part about the coverage they have on him with sex actions is supposed to be true, Ms Walters told US broadcaster, MSNBC. They have said thats absolutely true, some other things they kind of allude to.

She did not provide evidence to back up her claim or reveal who had said it was "absolutely true".

Pressed for more information, she said: You understand that I am saying the investigations must be done, the drilling down must be done. We must get to the facts of what it has been about.

If the dossier was ever substantiated, she said that Mr Trump should then be impeached.

I dont think you can do the impeachment just because I think or others think," she said. "But I think if we do the investigations, that we will find the connections and I do think that impeachment will be necessary.

Ms Waters' office later claimed she had not intended to suggest the dossier had been verified.

She wasnt talking about anything thats not already in the public domain, an aide said.

Ms Waters was referring to unsubstantiated allegations in the dossier compiled by a former British spy Christopher Steele.

It alleged that the Russian intelligence service, the FSB had videos and recordings of Mr Trump in a Moscow hotel with prostitutes  material that could be used to carry out blackmail.

Never intended for publication, it was compiled as oppositional research, first on behalf of Mr Trump's rivals for the Republican presidential candidacy and later for the Democrats.

But prior to President Trump being sworn in, the BuzzFeed decided to publish it in January, although it admitted it had not been able to verify its contents.

However, it claimed the existence of the dossier meant there was a clear public interest in publishing.

Mr Trump denounced it as fake news but the FBI had attempted to make a deal witht Mr Steele, a former MI6 agent, to obtain the contents of the memo.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

It has since been reported that US investigators have corroborated aspects of the dossier concerning conversations between foreign nationals.

Ms Waters is the most senior of the 12 black women in the US Congress which she was elected to in 1991. She has been a politician for more than 40 years.

A fierce critic of Mr Trump, she has previously called his friends and advisers who have ties to Russia or oil and gas interests a bunch of scumbags.

In February, she warned Mr Trump was leading himself to possible impeachment because of his alleged conflicts of interests and that he was creating chaos and division.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is considering requesting testimony from Mr Steels as it investigates whether Mr Trumps associates worked with Russian hackers in attempts to influence the presidential election.
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Fox News manages its programming blocks on the basis of a loose federalism: Depending on what time you tune in to the No. 1 cable news provider, youll find differing takes on President Trump and his White House. Early mornings? Putrid Trump sycophancy from the Fox & Friends crew. Mid-morning? Much better coverage from the likes of Bill Hemmer and Shannon Bream. Prime time? Lots of very creative defences of our 45th president.

On his own island resides Fox News host Shepard Smith, who anchors the 3pm hour from his space-age news deck. Since the beginning of the year, Smith has ripped Trump for attempting to delegitimise CNN and for complaining about media non-coverage of certain unspecified terror attacks.

Then came today. Smith saw fit to cover the story of former national security adviser Michael Flynns Justice Department filing disclosing that hed done $530,000 of lobbying work during the 2016 campaign that may have aided the Turkish government, according to an Associated Press scoop. Flynn was fired from the Trump administration after misleading Vice President Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States before the inauguration.

In introducing AP reporter Julie Bykowicz, who contributed to the scoop, Smith went off:

Julie, the White House says, Ah, he was a private citizen at the time. But theres been a lot of lying, Julie. And - theres been a lot of lying, theres been lying about who you talk to, and by lots of people and almost inevitably and invariably, they were lying about talking to the Russians, about something. Its too much lying and too much Russia and too much smoke. And now theyre investigating. Where are we in this thing?

From the looks of things, Smith doesnt share the qualms of other news outlets with respect to the appropriateness of a certain inflammatory one-syllable English word.

The Washington Post
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Posters warning commuters to be mindful of suspicious packages on New York's subway system have been altered to urge caution against President Donald Trump.

Several adverts that were originally part of the citys If you see something, say something public safety campaign, now include messages encouraging people to hold politicians to account.

I felt like a hero reporting what I saw," one notice reads, according to Gothamist a news site based in the Big Apple. "But what scares me more than an unattended package is an unattended politician.

We have to keep an eye on how our representatives vote and hold them accountable."

Another poster reads: "I'm glad I was reminded to report that suspicious bag. But I wonder, when my own president uses a willing media to perpetuate a constant state of fear, who arethe real terrorists and who profits off my panic?"

A third says: "I knew to report the unattended bag I saw. But why wasn't I also encouraged to speak up when I saw my government destabilising the Middle East which led to increased terrorism in the first place?"

The altered posters, which look similar to the signs from the original campaign, were placed in only two carriages across the transport network

In the hope of delaying the removal of the subversive advertisements, the anonymous artist responsible asked Gothamist not to reveal which lines were affected.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

He said he approved of the Metropolitan Transport Authority's (MTA) original safety campaign, but said he wanted to encourage the public to question what causes extremism.

"I don't think it's Orwellian, and I think it's responsible to be vigilant," he said. "But given the state of the world that we're in, I wanted to do something that took that conversation and elevated it so that people could be vigilant beyond what's directly in front of their eyes."

The fake adverts were installed overnight by a group of activists dressed in maintenance workers.

MTA have responded by saying the posters are illegal, vowing to remove them, and warning that anyone found posting them could face fines.
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A bill that puts more restrictions on class action lawsuits has been passed in the US House of Representatives.

In future litigators will be required to provide proof that each person in an action suffers from the same severity of injuries in order for a federal court to approve the suit as a result of the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act.

Class action suits have been brought by a variety of groups, who have sued for better consumer protection from pharmaceutical companies, faulty product design by retail manufacturers, sexual harassment cases, and asbestos and lead poisoning.

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Many times these types of suits "pool" those injured because they would not be able to afford to file individual cases against large corporations. It is an expensive and lengthy process in many instances.

The move was criticised by human rights advocates including Mary Katharine Burke, a Washington DC based attorney with experience in civil class action suit against a private prison that violated the rights of foreign detainees.

She told The Independent that the bill would only serve to protect large corporations from accountability.

Trying to prove that all potential members of a suit have the same level of injuries would be incredibly complicated and involve multiple, expensive investigations and subjective determinations, she said.

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It was plainly written by someone who doesnt practise law or understand how the legal process works, she added.

This type of litigation can be a powerful tool to hold corporations accountable, but ultimately serves to protect all citizens, she said.

She is most worried that the power of class action lawsuits are being stymied by the bill.

Ms Burke noted that these types of suits can really change the way we engage with products and societal mindsets - now we accept that smoking can kill you and causes cancer because of a class action suit against tobacco companies.

Eighteen veterans groups also opposed the bill in a letter to Congress because many older veterans have been disproportionately injured by asbestos, a substance often found in older buildings that if inhaled for long periods of time can cause lung cancer and other illnesses.

If the bill passes the Senate, it could limit the liability of manufacturers who continued to use asbestos well after they learned of the health hazards and would limit future accountability as well for those who could still develop symptoms, they said.

Class action asbestos litigation is expensive and lengthy in the US due to the severity of illnesses suffered, widespread occurrence of the substance, and because often symptoms takes years to show up.

But Blake Farenthold, a Republican Congressman from Texas, told The Hill newspaper the purpose of the bill was not to eliminate the ability to bring class action suits, but to stop lawyers to artificially inflate the size of a class to extort a larger settlement for themselves.
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The FBI is reportedly continuing its investigation into an alleged computer link between a Russian bank and the The Trump Organization, US officials have said.

Officers from the bureau and computer scientists are looking at whether there was any meaningful communication between Russian bank, Alfa, and Mr Trumps business last year, sources told CNN.

Questions about a meaningful link were widely dismissed by Mr Trump's team, but the investigation is in the hands of the same counterintelligence team which is looking into a suspected Russian hacking during the US Presidential election.

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Leaked internet data shows that during the election campaign, a computer server owned by Alfa repeatedly looked up contact details for a computer server being used by The Trump Organization.

Between 4 May and 23 September last year, there were a total of 2,820 inquiries by the Alfa-owned server, representing 80 per cent of the searches for a particular server  mail1.trump-email.com.

Publicly available internet records show the server, registered to The Trump Organization, points to an IP address operated by a company in the tiny rural town of Lititz, Pennsylvania.

While there is no obvious impropriety in this, it has been described as odd by those looking into the case, with computer scientists explaining it would normally suggest an intention to communicate.

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Computer researcher, Richard Clayton of Cambridge University, who has independently examined the evidence, said: It's not so much a smoking gun as a faint whiff of smoke a long way away. Maybe there's something else going on. It's hard to tell.

An anonymous IT expert known only as Tea Leaves who had access to the supposedly private technical information was sufficiently alarmed by it to pass it onto a group of computer scientists.

This group then passed the data to American media, including CNN and The New York Times.

Alfa Bank has said the most likely explanation is that the server communication was the result of spam marketing from the Trump Organisation as its executives have stayed at Trump hotels. Such marketing emails might have set off defensive cybersecurity measures at the bank, whose servers would respond with a reverse domain name server lookup.

Computer scientists agree that such an explanation is possible in theory, but say they want to see evidence  but some of those who originally examined the data are said to have gone to ground.

CNN reports that "Tea Leaves" now refuses to be interviewed through an intermediary.
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A groundbreaking climate lawsuit, brought against the federal government by 21 children, has been hailed by environmentalists as a bold new strategy to press for climate action in the United States. But the Trump administration, which has pledged to undo Barack Obamas climate regulations, is doing its best to make sure the case doesnt get far.

The Trump administration this week filed a motion to overturn a ruling by a federal judge back in November that cleared the lawsuit for trial  and filed a separate motion to delay trial preparation until that appeal is considered.

The lawsuit  the first of its kind  argues the federal government has violated the constitutional right of the 21 plaintiffs to a healthy climate system.

Environmental groups say the case  if its successful  could force even a reluctant government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and take other measures to counter warming.

It would be huge, said Pat Gallagher, legal director at the Sierra Club, who is not involved in the case. It would upend climate litigation, climate law, as we know it.

The landmark lawsuit was originally filed during the Obama administration. The 21 plaintiffs, now between the ages of 9 and 20, claim the federal government has consistently engaged in activity that promotes fossil fuel production and greenhouse gas emissions, thereby worsening climate change. They argue this violates their constitutional right to life, liberty and property, as well the public trust doctrine, while holds that the government is responsible for the preservation of certain vital resources  in this case, a healthy climate system  for public use.

While legal experts are uncertain as to the lawsuits likelihood of success, few have disputed its pioneering nature. Similar cases have been brought on the state level, but this is the first against the federal government in the United States. And in November, the case cleared a major early hurdle when U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken denied motions filed by the Obama administration, as well as the fossil fuel industry, to have the lawsuit dismissed, ordering that it should proceed to trial.

The move allowed the case to join the ranks of climate lawsuits filed in other nations, which could upend the way environmental advocacy is conducted around the world. Just last year, a court in the Netherlands ordered the Dutch government to cut carbon emissions by a quarter within five years. Similar climate-related suits have been brought and won in Austria, Pakistan and South Africa.

Shortly after President Trumps inauguration, the plaintiffs submitted a request that the Department of Justice preserve all documents that could be relevant to the lawsuit, including information on climate change, energy and emissions, and cease any destruction of such documents that may otherwise occur during the presidential transition. The request came just days after reports began to surface of climate information disappearing from White House and certain federal agency websites.

We are concerned with the new administrations immediate maneuver to remove important climate change information from the public domain and, based on recent media reports, we are concerned about how deep the scrubbing effort will go,Julia Olson, chief legal counsel for the plaintiffs and executive director of the advocacy group Our Childrens Trust, said in a statement at the time. Destroying evidence is illegal and we just put these new U.S. Defendants and the Industry Defendants on notice that they are barred from doing so.

The Trump administration is combating this request in its motion to stay litigation, along with its motion to appeal. The administration charges that the United States could be irreparably harmed if the cases proceedings are not halted pending consideration of its appeal, claiming that the extraordinary scope of this litigation and the concomitant scope of discovery that Plaintiffs appear to be seeking set this case apart.

One of the things that the government argues is that the preservation of documents itself represents a burden on the government, said Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School. What theyre arguing is that theyll be irreparably injured by having to go through discovery here.

This, he added, sends kind of the wrong signal, or at least a very dangerous signal, in terms of what the governments priorities are or what its thinking of doing. It shouldnt be any kind of burden for the government to preserve documents that are already in existence.

But given the broad implications of the case for US climate action, especially if the plaintiffs prevail, its not surprising that the Trump administration would want to quash it, said Gallagher, the Sierra Club legal director.

If the case were successful, the federal government would be obligated to take meaningful action against climate change, probably through a planned reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. This type of order would run counter to the current administrations priorities. On Thursday, Scott Pruitt, the EPA chief, rejected the underlying science of climate change, and the administration has indicated its intent to cancel a number of Obama-era climate and environmental regulations, including the Clean Power Plan, and withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

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

Whether either of the federal governments most recent motions will hold up remains to be decided. According to Burger, this largely depends on Aiken, the federal judge who ordered that the case proceed to trial, who essentially must sign off in order for the appeal to take place.

In order to do that, the judge needs to basically agree that there are issues of law that could be determinative that the case would be better served if the Ninth Circuit [Court of Appeals] heard it now, Burger said. Appeals most typically occur after a final opinion on a case has been reached through trial, he noted, pointing out that although its common enough for parties to seek interlocutory appeal, its the exception rather than the rule that it be granted.

A stay of the proceedings, pending appeal, is also subject to Aikens decision. This means there are multiple combinations of outcomes that could occur for the cases proceedings.

Its conceivable that Judge Aiken could certify her order on the motion to dismiss for interlocutory appeal and not grant a stay on the proceedings, Burger noted. In this situation, the case would be heard in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which would essentially decide whether it should proceed on the basis of the claims the plaintiffs have already set forth, while at the same time continuing through discovery at the district court level, he said.

Regardless of the final outcome, legal experts have highlighted the lawsuits importance as a novel approach to the climate issue in the United States. It could spawn a whole new universe of litigation at both the state and the federal levels, Gallagher said.

Copyright Washington Post
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Donald Trump has invited the Palestinian President to visit the White House very soon, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas has said.

The two world leaders held a phone conversation today - their first contact since Mr Trumps inauguration six weeks ago.

Spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said after the call: "President Donald Trump invited President Abbas to visit the White House very soon.

He said Mr Abbas was convinced that President Trump is serious about achieving peace and is looking for a deal to achieve the long-awaited peace. The last round of peace talks mediated by the US collapsed in 2014.

The invite signals an attempt by the Trump administration to improve relations with the Palestinians after a series of controversial statements on geopolitics in the region.

During a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington last month, Mr Trump suggested the US was no longer wedded to a two-state solution.

He has also stated his intention to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

 Netanyahu blames Palestinians for lack of peace in Israel

Despite the apparent change in tone, last week the Trump administration warned Israel against annexing parts of the occupied West Bank, saying it would trigger an "immediate crisis".

Earlier on Friday, Mr Abbas spoke to the US President about Israeli settlement building on occupied land and the need for a two-state solution to the conflict.

Mr Netanyahu and Mr Trump have spoken on the phone at least twice since the 20 January inauguration.
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Former oil company chief Rex Tillerson will play no part in overseeing an application to build the hugely-controversial Keystone XL pipeline, the US State Department has revealed, amid mounting pressure from environmentalists over his involvement.

The US Secretary of State, who served as chairman and chief executive officer of the energy giant ExxonMobil before accepting a job in Donald Trumps administration, will recuse himself from an application by a Canadian energy company for a permit to build the pipeline.

The move comes after fears about a conflict of interest were raised.

Recommended US Secretary of State snubs UN request for meeting on climate change

TransCanada has filed its application for a US Presidential Permit to build KXL, a proposed crude oil pipeline that, if built, will stretch from Alberta in Canada to Nebraska in the United States.

The State Department said in a letter to Greenpeace Mr Tillerson had removed himself from the project in February.

"He has not worked on that matter at the Department of State, and will play no role in the deliberations or ultimate resolution of TransCanada's application," the letter from Katherine McManus, the State Department's deputy legal adviser, said.

 Keystone XL pipeline explained

The recusal came after Greenpeace wrote to officials at the State Department and the Office of Government Ethics, urging Mr Tillerson to distance himself from any decisions on the multibillion-dollar pipeline.

Greenpeace argued in its letter that ExxonMobil would "directly and predictably" benefit from the approval of Keystone XL because the firm has investments in Canadian oil sands.

Barack Obama rejected TransCanadas application to build the 1,179-mile pipeline in 2015, after five years of attempts to secure the contract.

 Trump signs executive orders to push through Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines

But in January, TransCanada resubmitted its application after Mr Trump signed an order smoothing its path.

ExxonMobil has a majority stake in Imperial Oil, a Canadian company that operates the Kearl oil sands project in northern Alberta.

"ExxonMobil could benefit from the approval of the pipeline if it has specific contracts or agreements with TransCanada either to transport their Canadian tar sands production, or to receive such shipments at their US refineries," Greenpeace wrote in its letter.
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Burmas government has dismissed the United Nations claims the countrys security services have committed crimes against humanity in Rohingya-dominated areas of the country as exaggerated.

Last month, the United Nations issued a disturbing report outlining a campaign of human rights abuses in northern parts of the western state of Rakhine, close to the Bangladeshi border.

Babies and children have reportedly been slaughtered with knives amid area clearance operations the UN report said, with hundreds of people having been killed since October.

The Burmese government has repeatedly denied persecuting the minority Rohingya Muslim group, dismissing evidence of killings as propaganda.

Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was swept to power after a landslide 2015 election has not responded directly to the UN claims, but the BBC attempted to question her for a Newsnight report into the situation.

A spokesman for her party told the BBC reports of crimes against humanity were exaggerated, and added that the issue was an internal affair.

Sometimes the United Nations is wrong, the spokesperson added.

As a new government we're just trying to achieve to a modern country. We have thousands of problems.

We don't believe it's crimes against humanity. It's an internal affair - it's not an international affair.

The UNs report, which based its claims on over 200 interviews with refugees who had fled over the border to Bangladesh after attacks on a border post in October 2016, found that the counter military operations by security forces subjected the Rohingya population to brutal beatings, disappearances, mass gang-rape, killings and other human rights violations.

The devastating cruelty to which these Rohingya children have been subjected is unbearable  what kind of hatred could make a man stab a baby crying out for his mother's milk. And for the mother to witness this murder while she is being gang-raped by the very security forces who should be protecting her, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein.

Ms Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, with the Nobel committee citing her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

After boycotting Burmas 2010 general election following decades of being frequently subjected to house arrests, she led the National League for Democracy party (NLD) to win the countrys first openly contested election in 25 years.

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

However, the 71-year-old iconic leader has since been accused of legitimising genocide in Burma, after failing to act to protect the Rohingya Muslim population.
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With over a hundred new launches and world premieres, the Geneva Motor Show promises plenty of surprises for petrol heads. WorldTempus is partial to a finely tuned machine, whether horological or automotive, so we decided to have some fun choosing the perfect car/watch pairings. The aim was not to find the most sensible match, or to reflect sponsorship agreements between watch brands and car builders, just to provide a different view.



Aston Martin Vanquish S & Richard Mille RM 07-01

Both British car maker Aston Martin and watchmaker Richard Mille pair the iconic designs of their luxury products with cutting-edge technologies and futuristic materials. After making this a signature feature of his mens ranges, the extreme watchmaker recently unveiled two new womens models, the RM 07-01 and the RM 037, in diamond-set NTPT carbon, a material originally developed for racing yachts because of its superior strength and lightness. It was very quickly adopted by Formula 1 builders for their cars chassis, and is now being used in aviation. The external design of the second-generation Aston Martin Vanquish S follows the companys celebrated aesthetic codes, with plenty of sleek curves that give it its unmistakeable elegance. But it also has a new carbon fibre front splitter, revised inlet manifolds and rear diffuser with quad-exhaust tailpipes to go with its 600 bhp V12 engine! Both machines have a unique aesthetic, and plenty of power under the bonnet.









Ford Fiesta et Tiffany & Co. East West Mini

The Ford Fiesta, a classic city car, is back this year with a new look, in not just one but several new models. WorldTempus particularly likes the top-of-the-range Vignale, whose chrome trim and v-patterned radiator grille give it a discreet touch of refinement. And were going to pair it with Tiffany & Cos bold East West Mini. With its elongated rectangular case and a dial rotated 90 to the right (which is ideal for checking the time when your hands are on the wheel), this striking design is perfect for the modern, contemporary woman who is comfortable enough in her own skin to wear a quirky watch, while still making elegance a priority. Like the new Ford Fiesta, the Tiffany & Co. East West Mini comes in several flavours (a range of materials, colours, dials and straps) to suit a variety of tastes.







Smart Electric Drive & de Grisogono Tondo by Night

Since its launch in 1998, the Smart has become something of a cult object. The little German car is a modern urban classic and, love it or hate it, its certainly unique. Like the Smart, de Grisogono watches also have their own inimitable aesthetic. The original and contemporary Tondo by Night is a collection designed exclusively for women, featuring brightly coloured watches in white, yellow, pink, green, purple and orange, with a diamond-set rotor visible on the dial side. Eye-catching by day, these jewellery watches also sparkle at night, thanks to their pearly photoluminescent composite fibreglass (PLF) enhanced with tiny pieces of glittering mother-of-pearl.





Mini Countryman & Panerai Luminor Due

The Countryman is a versatile workhorse, and its also the biggest Mini to leave the production line since the model was first introduced 57 years ago. The new generation continues the trend, growing by an additional 20 cm to reach a total of 4.3 metres. The Countryman nevertheless retains the stylistic features that have made it so successful: the big oval eyes, elongated radiator grille, two-tone livery and rounded nose. The immediately identifiable Panerai Luminor Due shares the Countrymans bold styling. With a reduced depth of 10.5 mm, the new Luminor Due watches are the thinnest Luminors ever made. But the diameter and design of the Panerai case needed no revision  they are what define the house style. Two versions are available: a 42 mm model with the hand-wound P.1000 movement, and a 45 mm automatic driven by the P.4000 calibre with micro-rotor.









Toyota Yaris & Bubble de Corum

This year the Toyota Yaris is back with a new, updated look. This urban warrior has freshly rounded curves and revised cabin styling. Reflecting a relatively modern trend, two-tone livery is now possible by pairing a black roof with a grey, white, red or blue body. The iconic Bubble by Corum is a logical companion for the Yaris. Like the car, its all about curves. The feature that differentiates this piece from other watches  and from the brands other collections  is its boldly domed sapphire crystal.




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CNN television presenter Reza Aslan has eaten a human brain on camera while filming with an obscure Hindu sect, prompting condemnation from members of the religion's mainstream.

The eponymous host of Believer with Reza Aslan was in India to meet with ascetic members of the Aghori sect, which has fewer than 100 members.

He also drank from a human skull and was pelted with faeces by a guru.

The footage prompted a backlash from critics who accused him of painting a false and extreme picture of Hinduism, with America's only Hindu Member of Congress tweeting: "I am very disturbed that CNN is using its power and influence to increase peoples misunderstanding and fear of Hinduism."

 Statue of Hindu goddess Durga paraded in Kolkata

The Iranian-born religious studies scholar was in India's spiritual capital, Varanasi, which is located on the banks of the sacred Ganges river.

Filming with the Aghori gurus, he also smeared the ash of a cremated body on his face and drank from a human skull.

After Mr Aslan fell out with one of the hermits, the devotee of Shiva began eating his own faeces and hurling it at the presenter, yelling: "I will cut your head off if you keep talking so much".

The Aghori were described as "cannibals" by CNN when promoting the documentary, though they only eat the flesh of people who have died of natural causes.

They believe they can remove the bonds of shame and fear by recognising that all oppositions are ultimately illusory, and their rituals aim to break taboos around body fluids, sexual practices and the dead.

Many live in burial grounds, and they may consume marijuana to aid them in their meditation.

Their extreme devotion to the deity Shiva is said to earn them the respect of rural Hindu populations around Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

However, such practices have no place in mainstream Hinduism as practised by around a billion members of the world's third-largest religion, including Member of Congress for Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard.

As well as the first Hindu, Ms Gabbard is the first American Samoan elected to Congress, and was at one time the youngest woman in the legislative body.

Continuing her condemnation of the programme on Twitter, she wrote: "Aslan apparently sought to find sensationalist and absurd ways to portray Hinduism.

"Aslan and CNN didn't just throw a harsh light on a sect of wandering ascetics to create shocking visualsas if touring a zoobut repeated false stereotypes about caste, karma and reincarnation that Hindus have been combating tirelessly.

"CNN promotional materials and trailers that included a scene showing a group of Hindus under a caption CANNIBALS, perpetuated bizarre and ugly impressions of Hindus and their religion."

She also noted that Hindus are "still reeling after witnessing terrible hate crimes in the last few weeks."

Most recently, Indian-born Harnish Patel was shot dead in South Carolina.

In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival Show all 10 1 /10 In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival10-ap.jpg AP In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival9.jpg Reuters In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival-7-ap.jpg AFP In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival6.jpg AFP In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival5.jpg AP In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival4-afp.jpg AFP In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival3.jpg Reuters In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival2.jpg Reuters In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival1.jpg AP In Pictures: Lathmar Holi hindu Festival holi-festival11-reu.jpg Reuters

His death follows that of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, allegedly murdered last month by a white man who shouted "get out of my country".

These incidents were also cited in a statement from the Hindu American foundation.

They wrote: "When the knowledge deficit is so stark, and minority communities are facing a rise in hate incidents across the US... why would Aslan and CNN sensationalize the Aghoris as a primetime introduction to the faith of a billion Hindus, most of whom have never seen or met an Aghor?"

But Mr Aslan rejected the suggestion his programme could contribute to a climate of anti-Hindu sentiment, writing on Facebook: "as I repeatedly state on camera and in voice-over, [the Aghori] are not representative of Hinduism but are instead an extreme Hindu sect who reject the fundamental Hindu distinction between purity and pollution.

"In almost every interview I did about the show I talked at length about the issue underlying the episode, including the fluidity of the caste system, the problems inherent amongst the untouchable class, and how devout Hindus of all stripes are working tirelessly to overcome both."
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In a historic, unanimous ruling, South Korea's Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil and worsened an already-serious national divide.

It capped a stunning fall for Park, the country's first female leader who rode a wave of lingering conservative nostalgia for her late dictator father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency crumble as millions of furious protesters filled the nation's streets.

The ruling by the eight-member panel opens her up to possible criminal proceedings - prosecutors have already named her a criminal suspect - and makes her South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.

It also deepens South Korea's political and security uncertainty as the country faces existential threats from perennial rival North Korea, reported economic retaliation from a China furious about Seoul's cooperation with the US on an anti-missile system, and questions in Seoul about the new Trump administration's commitment to the countries' decades-long security alliance.

Park's acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust, acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said. The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big. Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye.

Park's lawyer, Seo Seok-gu, who had previously compared Park's impeachment to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, called the verdict a tragic decision made under popular pressure and questioned the fairness of what he called a kangaroo court.

South Korea must now hold an election within two months to choose Park's successor. Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys.

Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70 to 80 percent of South Koreans wanted the court to approve Park's impeachment. But there have been worries that Park's ouster would further polarise the country and cause violence between her supporters and opponents.

Sensing history, thousands of people - both pro-Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who wanted Park gone - gathered around the Constitutional Court building and a huge public square in downtown Seoul.

A big television screen was set up near the court so people could watch the verdict live. Hundreds of police were on hand for any protests, wearing helmets with visors and black, hard-plastic breastplates and shin guards. The streets near the court were lined with police buses and barricades.

The government put South Korea's military and police on heightened alert after the court decision. There were no immediate reports of unusual activities by North Korea's military, which faces nearby Seoul across the world's most heavily armed border.

Some of Park's supporters reacted with anger after the ruling, shouting and hitting police officers with plastic flag poles and climbing on police buses. Anti-Park protesters celebrated by marching in the streets near the presidential Blue House, carrying flags, signs and an effigy of Park dressed in prison clothes and tied up with rope.

Park's parliamentary impeachment in December came after weeks of Saturday rallies that drew millions who wanted her resignation. Overwhelmed by the biggest rallies in decades, the voices of Park supporters were largely ignored. But they've recently regrouped and staged fierce pro-Park rallies since.

People on both sides have threatened not to accept a Constitutional Court decision that they disagree with. One of Park's lawyers told the court last month that there will be a rebellion and blood will drench the asphalt if Park is booted from office. Many participants at anti-Park rallies had said they would stage a revolution if the court rejected Park's impeachment.

If Park accepts the ruling and soothes those who opposed her impeachment, things will be quiet, said Yoon Tae-Ryong, a political scientist at Seoul's Konkuk University. But looking at what she's done so far, I think that might be wishful thinking.

Others disagreed, saying violent protests won't be supported by the general public.

Prosecutors have arrested and indicted a slew of high-profile figures over the scandal, including Park's confidante Choi Soon-sil, top Park administration officials and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong. But Park has avoided a direct investigation thanks to a law that gives a sitting president immunity from prosecution for most of alleged crimes.

Since she's now no longer in power, prosecutors can summon, question and possibly arrest her. Her critics want to see Park appear on TV while dressed in prison garb, handcuffed and bound like others involved in the scandal. But some analysts worry that could create a backlash by conservatives ahead of the presidential vote.

Even after the election, imprisoning Park could still be a burden for a new government, which must pursue national unity to overcome security, economic and other problems, said Chung Jin-young, a professor at Kyung Hee University. Others say it won't be difficult.

Among the most serious problems facing South Korea is China's retaliation against the deployment of a US high-tech missile defence system in the South. Ties with North Korea are terrible, with Pyongyang seeking to expand its nuclear and missile arsenal. Japan hasn't sent back its ambassador, which it recalled two months ago over history disputes. South Korea also worries about the Trump administration asking for a greater financial contribution for US troop deployment in the South.

Park rose to power in 2012 largely thanks to the support of voters who believed her father guided the country out of poverty after the 1950-53 Korean War and that his daughter would show the same charismatic leadership to revive the economy.

But her father was also a burden, as many here remember him as a ruthless thug. These critics have linked her alleged unclear and high-handed decision-making and attempts to infringe upon freedom of speech to her father's high-handed style.

The nostalgia for Park Chung-hee's developmental dictatorship, which has existed as a sort of myth since the '60s, has been shattered along with Park Geun-hye's impeachment, said Lim Jie-Hyun, a professor at Sogang University. When people voted for Park Geun-hye, they didn't do so because of her.

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

Park Geun-hye has offered a public apology several times and acknowledged she got some help from Choi for editing speeches and on the issue of public relations. But Park has denied any legal wrongdoing.

The two women became friends in the 1970s, around the time when Park began serving as first lady after her mother was killed during a failed 1974 assassination attempt on her father. Park Geun-hye said Choi helped her when I had difficulties in the past. Park and Choi had 573 phone calls between April 18 2016, and October 26, 2016, according to an investigation report by prosecutors.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has led the government as acting leader since Park's impeachment, and he will continue to do so until South Korea elects new president by May. Some media reports said Hwang might run for president as a conservative candidate. If that happens, he would have to resign to run and a deputy prime minister would become interim leader.

In 2004, then President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached by parliament for alleged election law violations and incompetence, but the Constitutional Court later reinstated his power.

AP
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A mother who refuses to put her baby in nappies has said that she started toilet training her daughter from two weeks old.

Australian blogger Cindy Lever uses the elimination communication (EC) approach which involves detecting cues in daughter Chloe about her toilet needs, before escorting her to the loo.

This includes hovering and cradling the baby over a sink for her number ones and twos.

This is all part of the fun, she said, in a recent opinion piece for kidspot.com.au. And I love that it allows for an even deeper connection with my baby."

She added: When I first told my husband I planned to do EC before our baby was born I think he thought I had really gone mad. This quickly changed after watching me hold our baby over the sink and asking her to do a wee a couple of times. He leapt into this new parenting challenge and is also now addicted.

Ms Lever said this will start with trying to take Chloe to the toilet as soon as she wakes, just as adults do.

She described how she holds her baby over the sink so the pair can see one another in the mirror.

She added: I then say 'wee, wee' and make the sound 'psss' so this cues her to go to the toilet. If it's a poo I say 'poo, poo'.
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Polish border authorities are coming under fire for routinely denying entry to large numbers of asylum seekers from the former Soviet Union who are stranded in Belarus as they attempt to enter the European Union. Hundreds of citizens of Russia, Tajikistan, and Georgia have been stranded in the western Belarusian city of Brest as they attempt daily crossings by train to the Polish city of Terespol in the EU, a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report maintains.

Many who have been denied entry after multiple attempts to be granted international protection say they are fleeing political persecution in their home countries. One 35-year-old Chechen asylum seeker travelling with his wife and children described trying to enter Poland from Brest as Groundhog Day. The same thing happens every time, he said, after being denied entry to the EU by Polish border guards five times. I start every interview [with Polish border authorities] by saying that my life is in danger [in Chechnya] because Im a journalist, Marcus, who spoke under a pseudonym, said.

They keep asking why I dont have a visa I cite international law and procedure, asking them to take me to a camp to process my [asylum] request. They [Polish officials] tell me they cant do anything but its the Immigration Services. I ask them [Polish officials] how I can get to there [Office of Foreigners] but they just give me my passport back and hand me a paper stating I was denied entry.

HRWs report comes on the heels of a series of similarly damning assessments of Polands border authorities in Terespol. Among concerning allegations, an August inspection by Polands Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that border guards did not allow foreigners to apply for international protection even when they showed that they were persecuted in the country of origin.

A November report by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights titled A Road to Nowhere, estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 were stranded in Brest in the hopes of crossing to Poland. Helsinki Foundation researchers also found that Polish border guards also denied entry to foreign nationals who intended to apply for asylum.

Polish border guards quickly fill Chechens passports with denied-entry stamps. The asylum seekers must return to Russia for new passports (Benas Gerdziunas)

Border Guard officers tend to substantiate such refusals by invoking the absence of a foreign nationals valid entry visa or another title of their legal stay in Poland, their report said.

A lack of visa cannot be regarded as an excuse to reject an asylum-seeker, Rafal Kostrzynski, head of the UN agencies for refugees, told The Independent this week.

Poland  as a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention  is obliged to give people in need of international protection unrestricted access to procedures and territory. This right to asylum is also reflected in the Polish and EU laws, Kostrzynski added.

The journey begins every day at 8.46am when the first train leaves for Poland (Benas Gerdziunas)

Poland is putting people in danger by denying them access to its asylum process and returning them to Belarus, where they cant get protection, said Lydia Gall, Balkans and Eastern Europe researcher at HRW. Trapping families and others at the Belarus border and refusing to hear their asylum claims is no way for an EU state to behave.

In 2016, 118,202 people were denied entry to Poland, according to the Polish border guard. That number was up from 53,000 on 2015. Almost 100,000 were denied for not having visa. The top three nationalities denied entry were Russians mostly of Chechen origin (75,899), Ukrainians and Tajiks. Of over 12,000 asylum applications filed in Poland, just 258 were accepted.

Polands right-wing Law and Justice Party has positioned itself as staunchly anti-immigrant since it came to power in November 2015. At the height of the crisis last year, Polands interior minister told national TV that the Polish border was closed.

Some families are living in the Soviet era train station in Brest. For months, they have been attempting to cross into the EU by train (Benas Gerdziunas)

Personally, I think that this looks like another attempt to create a new migration route, an inflow of Muslims to Europe, Mariusz Blaszczak said.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Mikita Matsiushchankau, a legal consultant with a rights group on the ground in Brest called Human Constanta, does not anticipate an easy resolution to the situation any time soon. In six months of Human Constantas work with the issue have shown that the situation is not going to be resolved easily, he told The Independent.

Since his organisation began supporting asylum seekers in Brest, local and international rights groups have recorded recorded routine violations of international law at Terespol, Matsiushchankau said. But the government is not concerned about this situation, he said.

A few judicial decisions might remind Poland of its human rights obligations. Until this happens, we and our partners just have to carry on with our work.

One man denied entry to Poland 50 times is beginning to lose it, says his friend Lechi. Hes started drinking. Were trying to make him stop (Benas Gerdziunas)

Asylum seekers hoping to cross into Poland are afraid to linger in Belarus, a country which has earned the unfortunate nickname of Belarus last dictatorship, under the decades-long rule of President Alexander Lukashenko. HRW noted in its report that even though Belarus has provisions in law for an asylum, in practise [Belarus] does not offer meaningful protection.

Belarusian state TV aired a report last year showing a 22-year-old Chechen man being arrested on suspicion of terror charges in a joint operation conducted by Russian and Belarusian special forces. Citing the news report, those fleeing repressions at home fear the long arm of the former Soviet Unions repressive governments extends to Brest.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen President who has ruled with an iron first for almost a decade, has stirred fears among Chechens en route to the EU who say they are fleeing political persecution in the North Caucasus republic.

I know about all the sites, every social media account of Chechens who are living in Europe, be it a page on Instagram, Facebook or any other social media, the Chechen strongman said recently. We know who you are  today you may not answer [for every word], but tomorrow you will... you are in our hands.

For families stuck in Brest, living costs and train tickets are a heavy financial burden. Chechens accuse the Polish officials and Belarusian train staff of financial exploitation (Benas Gerdziunas)

Before parliamentary elections in Russia last year, HRW wrote in a report titled Like Walking A Minefield that Kadyrov had gradually built a tyranny in Chechnya.

Even the mildest expressions of dissent about the situation in Chechnya or comments contradicting official policies or paradigms, whether expressed openly or in closed groups on social media, or through off-hand comments to a journalist or in a public place, can trigger ruthless reprisals.

For those fleeing political or religious repression in Russias North Caucasus Central Asia, time is of the essence. Staying in Brest, and travelling to the border, is an unsustainable financial burden for many.

For one woman from Tajikistan, who identified herself to HRW as Asya, time had run out. After failing to claim asylum in Poland 29 times with her husband and three children, they had just one day left to remain in Belarus legally.

Every time, we told the Polish [border guards] that my husband is a member of the Islamic Renaissance Party [persecuted by Tajik authorities] and that if we go back to Tajikistan he will be jailed for life. They dont listen to us.
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European leaders have expressed concern over the fragile situation in the western Balkans, as Theresa May pledged to counter destabilising Russian activities in the region.

It was a key focus of a European Council summit in Brussels, which came amid allegations of Russian involvement in an attempted coup in Montenegro.

The Prime Minister said Britain would increase its cooperation with the country, as well as other nations in the western Balkans including Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia.

I will make clear my concerns about the potential for increased instability in that region and the risks that presents to our collective security, Mrs May said as talks continued.

In light of the alleged Montenegro coup plot, I will call for us to do more to counter destabilising Russian disinformation campaigns and raise the visibility of the western commitment to this region.

She announced that the UK would be hosting the 2018 Western Balkans Summit, as well as enhancing security cooperation on organised crime, corruption and cyber security.

Theresa May pledged to counter destabilising Russian activities(Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

Donald Tusk, the newly re-elected President of the European Council, said the region was vital for Europe.

Tensions and divisions have got out of hand, partly because of unhealthy external influences, which have been destabilising several countries for some time, he told heads of state.

I will propose to leaders that we take action, including in our strategic communications.

The European Union remains faithful to the promise of Thessaloniki [on states joining the EU] and fully committed to the stability and prosperity of the region.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, claimed no new countries would be accepted over his five-year term in 2014.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

But a document supported by 27 members of the European Council, minus Mrs May, said the EU was committed to supporting western Balkans nations to help them join the union.

In light of the internal and external challenges that the region is facing, the European Council discussed the fragile situation in the western Balkans, which it will keep under review, it added, in what was read as a veiled allusion to Russia.

Montenegros special prosecutor has accused Russia and its intelligence operatives of plotting a coup attempt that included plans to kill the countrys former Prime Minister.

Milivoje Katnic said last month there was evidence of Russian state involvement at a certain level in the alleged failed plot to overthrow the government and prevent it joining Nato.

Russia has dismissed the claims as absurd and irresponsible, while also denying allegations of a disinformation campaign using state-backed news outlets.

Both Nato and the Kremlin have increased military deployments and drills in bordering areas including Serbia and Montenegro, exchanging accusations of aggression amid tensions heightened by the wars in Ukraine and Syria, and allegations of Russian interference in elections.
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German states spent more than 20bn (17.5bn) on refugees in 2016, government figures have indicated as Angela Merkel continues to come under pressure for her policy on migration.

Statistics seen by The Independent for the states of Bavaria, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse and Berlin show that the cost of housing and integrating asylum seekers has far outstripped official predictions.

The Bundestags statistics service has listed a total spend of over 7bn (6bn) for those four states alone in 2016, meaning the nationwide figure is likely to be far higher.

 Germany approves new integration law for refugees

Johannes Singhammer, Vice President of the German parliament, told Die Welt: [The figures] show that if the costs are added up for all federal states, around 23bn (20bn) has probably been spent on migrants and refugees in 2016.

The four states recorded have taken around a third of asylum seekers currently living in Germany, where more than a million have arrived since the start of the refugee crisis in 2015.

Berlin set aside 685m (600m) for accommodation, unaccompanied minors, integration programmes, healthcare, language lessons and other projects but spent around 1.3bn (1.1bn) in total  almost double the budget.

The state of Bavaria spent 3.3bn (2.9bn), Hesse 1.6bn (1.4bn) and Schleswig-Holstein 783.7m (685.9m).

A spokesperson for the Bundestags statistics authority said a complete report would be made public when other states had calculated their spending.

An official survey conducted in December 2015 predicted that federal states would spend 17bn (15bn) on dealing with the refugee crisis in the following year but with a huge backlog of asylum claims and difficulties with deportation, costs have spiralled beyond expectations.

Germanys government has drawn up a new package of refugee funding for state authorities, as well as plunging money into new housing construction to prevent migrants sleeping in emergency accommodation like school gymnasiums and military barracks.

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

Despite the huge financial cost of the ongoing crisis, Germanys federal government announced a budget surplus of 6.2bn (5.4bn) last year.

The unprecedented number of refugees arriving in 2015 generated a huge backlog of claims that civil servants are still working to clear, with more than 430,000 cases outstanding at the start of 2017.

Thomas de Maiziere, the German interior minister, said about 55,000 migrants returned home voluntarily, compared with 35,000 in 2015, while another 25,000 were forcibly deported.

Last month, the government announced a scheme to offer migrants financial incentives of up to 1,200 (1,000) each to leave Germany and withdraw their application for protection, with a lower amount of 800 (700) if they choose to depart after being refused asylum.

Mr de Maiziere said StarthilfePlus was intended for those with very poor chances of success under the countrys asylum laws.

I appeal to understanding and reason: For all those who have no prospect of staying in Germany, voluntarily departure represents a better way than deportation, he added.

The flow of asylum seekers into the country has fallen dramatically since the implementation of the controversial EU-Turkey deal last March, which aimed to slow boat crossings to Greece by seeing anyone arriving detained under threat of deportation.

The number of new applications plummeted by more than 600,000 last year, standing at less than a third of those at the height of the crisis, when Ms Merkel opened Germanys borders to Syrian refugees amid a series of boat disasters in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas.

Children play in a building converted into refugee accommodation in Frankfurt (EPA)

Her policy sparked the arrival of more than a million asylum seekers in Germany, many of whom are still housed in temporary accommodation while awaiting a government decision.

Anti-immigration and far-right groups have criticised the decision, blaming the Chancellor for a series of Isis-inspired terror attacks carried out by migrants in Germany last year, including the Berlin Christmas market massacre.

The atrocities and increasing concern over migration have driven surging support for the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is expected to enter the national parliament (Bundestag) for the first time as Ms Merkel battles for a fourth term in Septembers election.

There was fresh scrutiny this week after Germanys federal prosecutor charged three suspected Isis members with planning a terror attack in Dusseldorf.

Officials said the two of the Syrian men, aged between 25 and 27, investigated smuggling routes to Europe for jihadis in 2014, sending several refugees as tests before journeying along the migrant route themselves in 2015.

They allegedly drew the third suspect into the plot and worked with an Isis bomb maker already deployed to Germany by commanders, planning to detonate two suicide bombs in Dusseldorfs popular Old Town before other militants massacred as many passers-by with guns as possible.

The plan was thwarted after one of the conspirators turned himself into French authorities in February last year.

A man injured seven people with an axe in a rampage at Dusseldorfs main railway station on Thursday but police said there was no indication of a link to terrorism and described the 36-year-old suspect as mentally ill.


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A helicopter carrying business executives has crashed in Istanbul, killing at least five people.

The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter had taken off from Istanbul's main Ataturk airport with seven people on board minutes before the accident,

Belonging to the Eczacibasi group of companies, it had been carrying a Turkish official, four Russian citizens and two Turkish pilots.

A damaged car near the site of a helicopter crash in Istanbul, Turkey, on 10 March (EPA)

The victims were named as Eczacbas Vitra Russia CEO Salim Ozen and his Russian guests Aleksandr Vanin, Igor Kochergin, Luidmina Churova and Elena Badraga by Hurriyet.

It was unclear whether any survivors had been found.

Witnesses said the aircraft hit a television tower in dense fog before crashing on to a nearby motorway in Buyukcekmece district.

Fikret Karatekin, a taxi driver, told CNN-Turk television: It hit the tower and crashed by spinning.

The helicopter broke into pieces left scattered along the E-5 motorway, which was closed as firefighters cleared the burning wreckage.

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

It is believed to have crashed into the Endem TV Tower, which stands at a height of 236m and houses a revolving restaurant and observation deck.

Vasip Sahin, the governor of Istanbul, said the cause of the crash is under investigation.
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Vladimir Putin has hailed the "efficient and close" relationship between Russia and Turkey's militaries, as he hosted Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks about Syria.

Relations between the countries  which back opposing sides Syria's ongoing war  have been tumultuous. Ties became strained in 2015 after Turkey's military shot down a Russian warplane near the country's border with Syria.

More recently, interactions between the countries have appeared to warm, with the nations brokering a ceasefire in December that significantly diminished fighting in the country.

Together they have also organised two rounds of talks between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his opponents, with a third round of discussions set to start in the coming days.

After concluding his meeting with Mr Erdogan, the Russian leader hailed what he called efficient and close contact between their militaries and intelligence agencies around Syria.

He told a news conference it was mostly Russia and Turkey that have made a major contribution not only to securing a ceasefire between Syrian government forces and the armed opposition, but also to launching direct, concrete talks between them.

He added that he wanted to "express cautious optimism" that they could "move to a fully-fledged political resolution with other major players like the US.

Despite their opposite sides in the Syrian conflict, the two countries have closely coordinated their operations against Isis in the country.

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Earlier in the week, chief military officers from Russia, the US and Turkey met in the Turkish city of Antalya to negotiate measures that would prevent future accidental deaths of each other's troops.

The talks also focussed on how to temper mistrust between Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces, US-backed Kurdish forces and Russian-allied Syrian government forces, which are all fighting their way towards the Isis group's de facto capital, Raqqa.

Asked whether Moscow and Ankara shared the idea that Syria and Iraq should be preserved within current borders, Mr Putin spoke of the complex situation and contradictions in the Syria peace talks.

But he insisted that preserving Syria's territorial integrity is a necessary condition for the full-scale peace settlement in this country.

Mr Erdogan echoed his comments, saying that maintaining Syria's current borders was Turkey's main goal.
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Russias ambassador to the United Nations, who collapsed in his office last month, reportedly died from a heart attack, and no foul play was suspected.

Postmortem tests were conducted on Vitaly Churkin last month. But a further examination was required, officials said.

The New York City medical examiner's said it had been asked not to publicly comment on the cause of Mr Churkin's passing by the US State Department, which cited diplomatic protocol. But the Associated Press said a city official, briefed by the medical examiners office, said the envoys death was not suspicious.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin died unexpectedly in New York (AFP/Getty Images)

The State Department asked the city in writing on February 24 to not reveal the autopsy results, because Mr Churkin's diplomatic immunity survives his death.

The United States insists on the dignified handling of the remains of our diplomatic personnel who pass away abroad (including in Russia) and works to prevent unnecessary disclosures regarding the circumstances of their deaths, wrote James Donovan, minister for host country affairs for the US mission to the United Nations.

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The AP said that in a follow-up letter on March 1, the State Department said the Russian Federation raised concerns after the autopsy had been conducted, and voluntary statements reported in the media about Ambassador Churkin's medical history prompted complaints from Russian diplomats.

The information reported was very private in nature and included information about which even they had no knowledge, said Mr Donovan. office.

A spokesman for Russia's UN Mission said: We regard the decision of the New York City Law Department as the one that fully complies with the principles of inviolability of private life and diplomatic immunity.

The medical examiner is responsible for investigating deaths that occur by criminal violence, accident, suicide, suddenly or when the person seemed healthy, or if someone died in any unusual or suspicious manner. City policy is to publicly release the cause of death.

Mr Churkin, who died on February 20 at a hospital at the age 64, had been Russias envoy at the UN since 2006. He was the longest-serving ambassador on the Security Council, the UNs most powerful body.

He was buried in Moscow, where he was praised by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised as an exceptional professional and people's diplomat.
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Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Iran of using the Syrian civil war to gain a foothold to fight Israel amid fears over Iranian troops stationed along the border with the occupied Golan Heights.

Tehran is supporting Bashar al-Assad with deployments of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Basij militia and funding to allied militias including Hezbollah.

The IRGC are now reported to be present in Syrian-government controlled territory along the 1967 ceasefire line in the Golan Heights, which has seen months of Israeli air strikes met with rockets fired towards the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, a commander in Irans Basij force, was pictured surveying the border, while a Shia paramilitary group has formed a Golan Liberation Brigade.

Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi force backed by Iran, is ready to take action to liberate Golan from Israeli occupation, according to spokesman quoted by Iranian state media this week.

The deployments have made the Iranian government a major power broker in the Syrian civil war, meeting with Russian and Turkish representatives at ceasefire talks in Astana, Kazakhstan.

In a meeting with Vladimir Putin on Thursday, the Israeli Prime Minister said that any truce must not allow the continued presence of Iranian forces in Syria.

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We do not want to see Shia Islamic terrorism led by Iran step in to replace Sunni Islamic terrorism, Mr Netanyahu told the Russian President.

Iran continues attempts to destroy the Jewish state. They speak of this openly and write this in black and white in their newspapers.

Today, we have our own country and our army, and we can defend ourselves. But I want to say that the threat of Shia Islamic terror is directed not only against us, but against the region and the entire world.

He told reporters Iran was arming itself and its forces against Israel including from Syria territory and is, in fact, gaining a foothold to continue the fight against Israel.

After the meeting, the Israeli Prime Minister said the removal of Iranian forces from Syria were vital to prevent misunderstandings.

I made it clear that regarding Syria, while Israel is not opposed that there should be an agreement there, we strongly oppose the possibility that Iran and its proxies will be left with a military presence in Syria under such an agreement, Mr Netanyahu added.

A statement released by the Kremlin said he and Mr Putin discussed joint efforts to combat international terrorism and examined areas of bilateral cooperation.

Two years ago, Israel and Russia agreed to coordinate military actions over Syria in order to avoid accidentally trading fire but the risk of skirmishes is increasing as pro-Assad forces fight for more territory in the Golan Heights.

The region has been occupied by Israeli forces since the Six Day War in 1967 and was effectively annexed in 1981, despite condemnation from the UN.

In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

Despite maintaining cordial relations with Israel, Russia is a key ally of Iran in Syria as both sides continue to back the Assad regime against both opposition rebels and Isis.

The Iranian government claimed the IRGC were originally sent to Syria in an advisory capacity, but the troops have now taken a more frontline role, being found by The Independent fighting on the frontlines near Aleppo city last year.

Avi Dichter, the chair of Israel's foreign affairs and defence committee, said several attempts by Iran to move forces into the Syrian Golan Heights had been repelled last year, without giving details.

Israel says it has carried out dozens of strikes in Syria to prevent weapons smuggling to the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, with the Russian government denying it had given permission for the operations.

IRGC Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi was among those killed in Israeli bombing, as well as several senior Hezbollah commanders.

The Syrian civil war, now in its sixth year, shows little sign of slowing with fighting breaking out between rival rebel groups who have seized swathes of territory from Isis.

The US has sent hundreds of troops into the country in preparation for an advance on the terrorist groups de-facto capital of Raqqa, risking escalation with Turkey, which classes some American-backed groups as terrorists and wants its own troops to lead the assault.

The first UN-led Syria peace talks in a year ended without a breakthrough in Geneva last week, with further meetings scheduled for later this month.
Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant Construction Site (Photo : Getty Images)

According to a senior Chinese nuclear power executive, construction of new nuclear power plants in China must speed up in order to meet the country's targets on energy consumption. The government is targeting an increase in the use of nuclear energy to cut reliance on traditional fuel sources.



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With the goal of lowering pollution, the government is directed to use alternative energy sources. Coal burning produces smog which fills up Chinas skies. The smog has caused health problems to the people for years.



In an official report of a Chinese newspaper, He Yu, chairman of state-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN), said that China has to build between four to six reactors yearly until 2020.



According to one of Chinas biggest state reactor builders, the countrys installed nuclear capacity could increase to 120-150 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 from 2015s 28.3 GW capacity.



Despite Chinas efforts to boost nuclear energy consumption, repeated delays on nuclear plans still occur. The delays include a three-year suspension of the approval process from 2011 brought about by the countrys safety reviews.



Safety has been a constant concern in the use of nuclear energy resource, considering the explosion of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011.



China would not meet its targets to lower emissions if the roll-out of new third-generation nuclear reactors will not be hastened, He said.



At the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, He stated that "the pace of nuclear power projects in recent years is not in accordance with this target, and it's necessary to make sure the nuclear industry is back on track."



Though it is said to be safer in terms of pollution emission, the third generation nuclear reactor technology is mostly untested. Chinas decision to move toward the use of this technology has caused setbacks on key projects. Design flaws have been reported to be the reason for repeated delays.



With the possible benefits and threats of using nuclear energy, China should consider both safety and efficiency in hastening its new nuclear power plant construction.


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EU leaders meet today and Friday for their last summit before the United Kingdom is anticipated to trigger Article 50 later this month, setting off formal exit negotiations. The two-day session will include focus on a new white paper launched last week by European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker on the future of Europe by 2025.

For while massive attention has focused on the impact of last Junes Brexit referendum for the United Kingdom, how the bloc itself changes will probably prove the more important, but the most overlooked, outcome of the vote. To this end, Junckers paper outlines five main scenarios for how the EU could evolve with a view to shaping debate and finalising a vision for the future that can potentially see the continent emerge from the current political and economic storm engulfing it.

The scenarios range from the EU retreating to no more than the current economic Single Market which seeks to guarantee freedom of movement of goods, capital, services and people. At the other end of the spectrum, however, is a quite different future where the remaining 27 member states decide to do much more together, reigniting European integration.

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Of the 5 scenarios, Carrying on is perhaps the most likely to be realised. This would see the EU muddling through from where it is today and seeking to deliver on the Bratislava Declaration agreed by all 27 non-UK member states last year. This manifesto includes better tackling migration and border security, beefing up external security and defence, and greater stress on enhancing economic and social development, especially for young people across the continent who have been badly impacted by the fall-out from 2008-09 international financial crisis, not least in countries like Spain and Greece.

However, even that middle range future is by no means certain in the current economic and political context. Further setbacks in coming years would instead see either a Nothing but the Single Market or Doing less more efficiently scenario come to pass. In either of these futures, the current scale of EU functions would be rolled back with attention and limited resources focused instead more on a smaller number of policy areas, including the Single Market.

Based on current trends, perhaps the least likely scenario to be realised by 2025 is Doing much more together. This would see all 27 remaining states sharing more power, resources, with decisions agreed faster and enforced much more quickly.

More possible, however, is the Those who want to do more scenario which would see more coalitions of the willing emerging in select policy areas to take forward the integration agenda on a flexible, rather than across-the-board basis. A model here could be the Eurozone where some 19 of the current 28 EU members have decided to enter into a monetary union with the euro as the single currency.

How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Show all 8 1 /8 How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Weetabix Chief executive of Weetabix Giles Turrell has warned that the price of one of the nations favourite breakfast are likely to go up this year by low-single digits in percentage terms. Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Nescafe The cost of a 100g jar of Nescafe Original at Sainsburys has gone up 40p from 2.75 to 3.15  a 14 per cent risesince the Brexit vote. PA How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Freddo When contacted by The Independent this month, a Mondelez spokesperson declined to discuss specific brands but confirmed that there would be "selective" price increases across its range despite the American multi-national confectionery giant reporting profits of $548m (450m) in its last three-month financial period. Mondelez, which bought Cadbury in 2010, said rising commodity costs combined with the slump in the value of the pound had made its products more expensive to make. Cadbury How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Mr Kipling cakes Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy, said that it was considering price rises on a case-by-case basis Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Walkers Crisps Walkers, owned by US giant PepsiCo, said "the weakened value of the pound" is affecting the import cost of some of its materials. A Walkers spokesman told the Press Association that a 32g standard bag was set to increase from 50p to 55p, and the larger grab bag from 75p to 80p. Getty How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Marmite Tesco removed Marmite and other Unilever household brand from its website last October, after the manufacturer tried to raise its prices by about 10 per cent owing to sterlings slump. Tesco and Unilever resolved their argument, but the price of Marmite has increased in UK supermarkets with the grocer reporting a 250g jar of Marmite will now cost Morrisons customers 2.64 - an increase of 12.5 per cent. Rex How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Toblerone Toblerone came under fire in November after it increased the space between the distinctive triangles of its bars. Mondelez International, the company which makes the product, said the change was made due to price rises in recent months. Pixabay How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Maltesers Maltesers, billed as the lighter way to enjoy chocolate, have also shrunk in size. Mars, which owns the brand, has reduced its pouch weight by 15 per cent. Mars said rising costs mean it had to make the unenviable decision between increasing its prices or reducing the weight of its Malteser packs. iStockphoto

Despite the detail in the approximately 30 page white paper, the worst-case scenario of the bloc imploding is not included as a distinctive future for the EU. Nonetheless, given the build-up of challenges now facing the union  which go well beyond Brexit  this outcome cannot now be dismissed in the period before 2025.

Indeed, some 60 years after the Treaty of Rome, which was one of the EUs founding treaties, European Council President Donald Tusk said last month that the threats facing the EU are now more dangerous than ever. He identified three key challenges which have previously not occurred, at least not on such a scale that the EU must tackle.

The first two dangers relate to the rise of anti-EU, nationalist sentiment across the continent, plus the state of mind of pro-European elites which Tusk fears are now too subservient to populist arguments as well as doubting in the fundamental values if liberal democracy. The EU chief is conscious here that, following Brexit, and US President Donald Trumps election, it is continental Europe which will provide a lodestar in 2017 for whether right-wing populism will continue to find fertile electoral ground.

In elections in countries beginning with the Netherlands next week, where polls indicate the far-right Freedom Party could emerge as the largest single party, left-wing and centrist parties are under pressure from insurgency parties championing euroskeptical, anti-immigrant platforms. It is France, however, which alongside Germany has traditionally been the twin-engine of EU integration, which will be the key election to watch in the continent.

The reason is the far right, National Front candidacy of Marine Le Pen who has called for closer ties with Russia, questioned the need for Nato in the 21st century, and called for a French referendum on the countrys EU membership. While she is not currently the favourite to win, she stands a realistic shot of getting to the second-round run-off election in May and Tusk and other EU leaders are well aware that if she pulls off an upset victory, it would be an even more savage blow to the bloc than Brexit, not least given Frances membership of the Eurozone.

The third threat cited by Tusk, this time external to the EU, is what he calls the new geopolitical reality that has witnessed an increasing assertive Russia and China, and instability in the Middle East and Africa which has driven the migration crisis impacting Europe. Intensifying this is the new uncertainty coming from Washington with Trump questioning much of the post-war tenets of US foreign policy, including broad-based support for European integration.

Taken overall, Junckers paper underlines that debate over Europes future will intensify as the formal Brexit talks between the EU and United Kingdom commence. Many leaders are scrambling to come to terms with intensifying internal and external challenges, and their decisions in coming months will define the longer-term economic and political character of the bloc in the face of what could yet become, collectively, an existential threat to the unions future.

Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics
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Women hold four of the most important jobs in the UK: Prime Minister, head of the Metropolitan Police, Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Justice. Women have reached the top in Northern Ireland and head three out of the four main parties in Scotland. We might not agree with their politics, but these women deserve respect for their dedication and drive.

As Buckingham Palace hosted a reception celebrating female achievements, a protest march was taking place in a country where women suffer (according to the United Nations) discrimination and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. Not the United Arab Emirates, where a pregnant tourist has been arrested and imprisoned for having sex outside marriage (with her fiance), but much closer to home  the Republic of Ireland. There women have no rights over their own bodies. Terminations of unwanted pregnancies are banned unless the mothers life is at risk; abortion is illegal even if the foetus shows signs of fatal abnormalities. Every day, women are forced to travel to England for a termination (costing around 2,000) or take illegal abortion pills, which could land them in jail.

On International Womens Day more than 10,000 marched in Dublin and students and workers went on strike all over the country demanding a change in the law. Its easy to condemn the repressive attitudes to women in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, but Irelands abortion laws are equally vile and inappropriate in the civilised world.

 The UK's own abortion ban, explained in 3 minutes

The gruesome discovery last week of almost 800 childrens bodies in a mass grave in the grounds of a Catholic mother and baby home run by the Bon Secours Order in Galway should trigger a referendum to scrap the abortion laws forthwith. But what this horror unleashed was depressingly predictable: shock on the part of politicians and the Catholic Church. How can anyone still be shocked when the appalling treatment of single mothers in Ireland has been common knowledge for decades and yet another official inquiry was set up to investigate these homes just two years ago?

Only two of the babies at Tuam in Galway had burial records; the rest were simply disposed of, placed in the ground in a pit where waste was stored (basically a septic tank), their deaths registered but not considered worthy of any other mark of respect. Many died from malnutrition and gastroenteritis, common enough in poverty-stricken communities, but some were simply listed as restless or delicate. Funny how the Catholic Church believes that human life is sacrosanct but doesnt value the life of a child born out of wedlock enough to read the last rites.

I mourn for these poor little babies, but it is the image of the young mothers I cant get out of my head. Shunned by their conservative, inward-looking communities, forced to hand over their babies without protest, I wonder what impact this abuse had on the rest of their lives? Like the 10,000 single mothers forced to work for no pay in appalling conditions in church and state-run laundries in Ireland, we owe them the same respect as high profile politicians and women of achievement.

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Following the introduction of gender quotas in 2016, a third of the Irish Parliament are women MPs, and yet still the countrys laws and culture lag behind. It should be a matter of conscience to give every woman the right to choose, regardless of religion.

Single mothers werent just persecuted in Catholic countries. On International Womens Day, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in London heard that up to 10,000 children (some as young as three or four, but with an average age of nine) were taken from Anglican, Catholic and charity homes in England and Wales and sent to Australia without their mothers consent. A journey that would end in abuse and maltreatment for many, described as a huge human tragedy. What happened to those single mothers whose children were removed in the post-war years, and whose records were destroyed?

Equal rights for women is a long way off until all these mothers have received the respect they deserve. We have erected monuments to the animals used in warfare, and the women who fought in the second word war, and this week the Queen unveiled a new memorial to the servicemen and woman who died in the three conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But where are the memorials to the single mothers whose lives were wrecked by religion and small-minded society in the first part of the 20th century? The final step in the battle for equality is giving every women the right to control her body.
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The Trump administration is making its first radical policy change in the Middle East by escalating American involvement in the civil war in Yemen. Wrecked by years of conflict, the unfortunate country will supposedly be the place where the US will start to confront and roll back Iranian influence in the region as a whole.

To this end, the US is to increase military support for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and local Yemeni allies in a bid to overthrow the Houthis  a militarised Shia movement strong in northern Yemen  fighting alongside much of the Yemeni army, which remains loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

If ever there was a complicated and unwinnable war to keep out of, it is this one.

Despite Saudi allegations, there is little evidence that the Houthis get more than rhetorical support from Iran and this is far less than Saudi Arabia gets from the US and Britain. There is no sign that the Saudi-led air bombardment, which has been going on for two years, will decisively break the military stalemate. All that Saudi intervention has achieved so far is to bring Yemen close to all out famine. Seven million Yemenis are ever closer to starvation, said Jamie McGoldrick, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen in an appeal for more aid this week.

But at the very moment that the UN is warning about the calamity facing Yemen, the US State Department has given permission for a resumption of the supply of precision guided weapons to Saudi Arabia. These sales were suspended last October by President Obama after Saudi aircraft bombed a funeral in the capital Sanaa, killing more than 100 mourners. Ever since Saudi Arabia started its bombing campaign in March 2015, the US has been refuelling its aircraft and has advisors in the Saudi operational headquarters. For the weapons sales to go ahead all that is needed is White House permission.

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A bizarre element in Trumps decision to take the offensive against Iran in Yemen is that the Iranians provide very little financial and military aid to the Houthis. Saudi propaganda, often echoed by the international media, speaks of the Houthis as Iran-backed, but Yemen is almost entirely cut off from the outside world by Saudi ground, air and sea forces.

Even food imports, on which Yemenis are wholly reliant, are more and more difficult to bring in through the half-wrecked port of Hodeida on the western coast.

The resumption of the supply of precision-guided munitions is not the first indication that the Trump administration sees Yemen as a good place to put into operation a more hawkish strategy in the region. On 29 January, days after he took office, Trump sent some 30 members of US Navy Seal Team 6, backed by helicopters, to attack an impoverished village called al Ghayil in al-Bayda province in southern Yemen. The purpose of the raid, according to the Pentagon, was intelligence-gathering  though it may well have been a failed attempt to kill or capture Qassim al Rimi, the head of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Whatever the aim of the attack, it swiftly turned into a bloody fiasco, with as many 29 civilians in al Ghayil killed along with one Seal, Chief Petty Officer William Owens. The Pentagons explanation of what happened sounds very much like similar attempts to explain away civilian killed and wounded over the past half century in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. The head of the US militarys central command, General Joseph Votel, told a Senate hearing that between four and 12 civilians might have died in the raid, adding that an exhaustive after-action review had not found incompetence, poor decision making or bad judgement.

For its part, the Trump administration tried to shut down any investigation into what had really happened at al Ghayil by saying that an inquiry would be an affront into the legacy of the fallen Seal, William Owens. This stance was swiftly criticised by the father of the dead man, Bill Owens, who said the government owed his son an inquiry. Dont hide behind my sons death to prevent an investigation, he said.

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In the event, the White House and the Pentagon have so far hidden fairly successfully from any real examination of the destruction of this remote Yemeni village, perhaps calculating that no independent journalist could make the dangerous journey to the site of the attack. But a lengthy on-the-spot report by Iona Craig, entitled Death in al Ghayil" and appearing in the online investigative magazine The Intercept, convincingly rebuts the official version of events, little of which appears to be true.

Craig quotes surviving villagers as saying that the Seal team came under heavy fire from the beginning and attack helicopters were sent in. She writes: In what seemed to be blind panic, the gunships bombarded the entire village, striking more than a dozen buildings, razing stone dwellings where families slept, and wiping out more than 120 goats, sheep and donkeys. At least six women and 10 children were killed in their houses as projectiles tore through the straw and timber roofs or were mown down as they ran into the open.

The Trump administration says this was a highly successful operation and there had been an assault on a fortified compound  except that there are no such compounds in the village. Trump claimed that a large amount of vital intelligence had been obtained and the Pentagon released video footage seized in al Ghayil only to later admit that the footage had been around for 10 years and contained nothing new.

Ironically, the villagers who fought back against the Seal team actually belonged to the forces opposing the Houthis and the pro-Saleh forces and, on the night of the assault, local armed tribesmen assumed the Houthis had arrived to capture their village. It was only when they saw coloured laser lights coming from the weapons of the attacking force that they realised that they were fighting Americans. As the Seals retreated, with one dead and two seriously wounded, the MV-22 Osprey that was to extract them crash-landed and had to be destroyed by other US aircraft.

The Trump administrations first counter-terrorism operation was a failure for the US and much worse for the Yemeni villagers who are dead, wounded, homeless and have seen their livestock, on which they depended for their livelihoods, all killed. But when Senator John McCain, who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that the raid has been a failure he was promptly denounced by Trump who said that Owens had died on a winning mission and to debate its outcome would only embolden the enemy.

International media coverage tends to focus on the wars in Syria and Iraq, but in those countries Trump and the Pentagon are largely following the policies and plans of Obama.

It is in Yemen that new policies are beginning to emerge as the Trump administration carries out its first counter-terrorism operation against al Qaeda  if that was what it was  leading to the slaughter of civilians and a botched cover-up. Yemen may soon join Afghanistan and Iraq as wars in which the US wishes it had never got involved.
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Dozens of asylum seekers who have been given temporary shelter at a former hospital ship in a Dutch canal face uncertainty, as a far-right anti-immigrant wave sweeps the country ahead of its federal election.

Polls have suggested that Dutch populist Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, is running neck-and-neck with Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the 15 March election closes in.

Refugees who have been living on the canalside ship, called the Amanpuri are awaiting decisions on appeals made after the government rejected their asylum applications, according to Reuters. They have been offered shelter aboard the ship from the city of Groningen as part of a Bed, Bath, Bread (BBB) program for asylum seekers.

Groningen opened the facility to 100 asylum seekers in January after Prime Minister Mark Ruttes government cut off funding for the BBB program. It hopes to expand its capacity to provide shelter for as many as 300 people later this year, Reuters reports.

Thousands of asylum seekers are living in similar makeshift BBB shelters, run by at least 30 Dutch cities and towns. Their futures have become increasingly uncertain, with the Rutte government enforcing some of the toughest immigration policies in the European Union since 2012.

In January, Mr Rutte said he understands calls for people who dont integrate to leave The Netherlands. In a full-page message published in several newspapers, the Prime Minister said: we have to actively defend our values against those who refuse to integrate or act antisocially. Behave normally or go away, he said.

Additional reporting from Reuters

The cabins of the ship are only a temporary refuge for asylum seekers, including Slaha Mahamud Abukar (right) and Rugya Hassan Mohamed, who have fled from Somalia (Reuters)

Women from Somalia eat lunch in the ships shared dining room (Reuters)

Asylum seekers are given basic shelter, hygiene facilities and food (Reuters)

Moussa Sall fled political violence in Guinea, West Africa and made his way across Europe until he arrived in Groningen (Reuters)

Sall tells Reuters he is worried about the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments in The Netherlands (Reuters)

The city hopes to expand the ships capacity to accommodate 200 more people (Reuters)
88pc of those surveyed feel that Brexit will damage the Irish economy, almost all said it would hurt Irish exporters. Photo: Bloomberg

Two thirds of exporters go through Britain to get their produce to customers on mainland Europe and further afield, a survey suggests.

And 40pc said that using a longer, yet more direct, route would adversely affect the quality of the product.

But 30pc of exporters quizzed for the survey by the Irish Exporters Association (IEA) have taken no action to assess the fallout from the Brexit vote, even though 70pc said a weakening sterling had impacted their business.

Marie Armstrong, IEA vice-president, said the number of exporters relying on the UK as a land bridge to the continent was "hugely significant".

"And those members are very concerned about continuing to use the UK in terms of customs, and being stopped at borders," Ms Armstrong told TDs yesterday.

"They're very concerned that the slow direct route will impact on the quality of the product, and over half will think it will impact on their overall cost. They are looking actively at trying to open other routes."

She said businesses were looking at Irish ports and trying to weigh up which ones provided the easiest access to mainland Europe.

She said they were also in discussions with companies such as shipping giant Maersk to see what can be done. IEA president Nicola Byrne, also addressing the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee, said 66pc of Irish exports are from large foreign-owned multinationals, while 21pc are from medium-sized multinationals and 1pc from small foreign-owned companies. About 4pc of exports are from large Irish-owned multinationals, 6pc from medium sized companies and 2pc from Irish owned multinationals.

The IEA reiterated that, in its opinion, the Government is spending too much time focusing on Northern Ireland in the wake of the Brexit vote, and not enough on trade.

Ms Byrne said the Department of Foreign Affairs needs to "concern itself more with how they're going to protect the 66pc of exports that come from FDI across that landbridge".

"Are we doing enough prep work in talking about anything else but Northern Ireland and the answer is firmly no," she said. "We all travel to Brussels. We all work in the industry, we are not hearing any signs that the word trade is coming to the top of the agenda."

The survey, which was carried out by 150 of the IEA's members in the final week of January, also found that 58pc of companies are planning to diversify export markets, with the US, Germany and France among the top markets.

Unsurprisingly, 88pc of those surveyed feel that Brexit will damage the Irish economy, almost all said it would hurt Irish exporters, and 81pc said it would be harmful to the UK economy.

Just over 80pc said Brexit is a major threat facing the Irish economy this year, while 63pc cited Donald Trump's presidency, 59pc said Ireland's cost competitiveness, 47pc said the lack of affordable housing, 46pc noted elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany and 32pc talked about the lack of skilled talent in Ireland.

Ms Armstrong told the Committee that Ireland is not competitive enough, particularly for startups.

"I see companies all the time who start out and then get bought out by foreign companies and that happens at a very early state.

"People are trying to decide will I stay on, or will I sell up now, and a lot of the time it is driven by what is my after tax return."
Thirty insurance firms have either expressed interest in setting up here in recent months due to Brexit or sought authorisation, the Central Bank has said.

A day after US insurer AIG announced it was setting up an operation in Luxembourg, in a blow to Dublin's post-Brexit ambitions, the regulator here said five companies have sought authorisation as insurance or reinsurance undertakings since November, and another five have signalled a firm intention to do so.

A further 20 insurance entities have contacted the Central Bank to discuss authorisation, Sylvia Cronin, director of insurance supervision, said.

"Unlike other financial sectors, insurance firms are not generally waiting for Article 50 to be triggered before implementing their strategies on location," Ms Cronin said at a KPMG-organised event yesterday.

Ms Cronin said that the Central Bank was open to "discussion and engagement with any applicant". AIG, which already has an office here but doesn't write business, said on Wednesday that from 2019 it is proposing to have two AIG subsidiary insurance companies based in Europe.

One would be in the United Kingdom to write UK business and one in Luxembourg for European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss business.

AIG currently writes business in Europe from a single insurance company based in the UK.

Ireland made a pitch for the insurance giant, with senior executives meeting both Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Financial Services Minister Eoghan Murphy last year.

Lloyd's, the world's largest specialty insurance market, is expected to pick a location for its EU subsidiary by the end of March, with Dublin and Luxembourg on its shortlist.

Major banks have said they plan to set up EU subsidiaries to continue to be able to sell their services across the bloc, but few have announced concrete decisions.
There are "precious few indications" that the UK is prepared for what lies ahead after Brexit, according to EU Commissioner Phil Hogan.

"The rhetoric from Prime Minister May and most of her cabinet has unfortunately been heavy on spin and light on facts," he said, warning that the UK white paper published last month "clearly points in the direction of a hard Brexit".

The Agriculture Commissioner made his comments in a video message delivered to Ibec's business leaders conference in Dublin yesterday.

The conference was also addressed by President Michael D Higgins.

"In order to secure the least harmful outcome, the UK government needs to enter the negotiations with a more realistic approach," he added.

Mr Hogan also said that Brexit will present opportunities for Ireland, but that business leaders must "do more to pave the way".

"For example, is the need for more housing, infrastructure and schools in Dublin being escalated to the urgent priority it needs to be?" he said.

Ibec ceo Danny McCoy told the conference that it was time to put the bust behind us. "Get over it," he said. "It's 10 years ago."

He said that much more needs to be invested by the Government in infrastructure, and that a failure to do so risks creating serious long-term economic and social problems.

Mr McCoy also warned delegates that the potential implications of Brexit are "so profound that companies cannot afford to take a wait-and-see approach".

He said Irish businesses not only have to deal with the impact of weak sterling on trade flows, but also the future complexity of operating under dual regulatory frameworks and other issues such as additional supply chain complexity.
Farmers have called on the retail sector to support the free range sector as the Department of Agriculture confirmed it is to extend its mandatory housing notice for poultry until April 30.

Due to the restrictions the Department of Agriculture has confirmed that processors, producers and retailers in the egg and poultry sector will no longer be able to use the free range label after March 17.

IFA Poultry Chairman Nigel Renaghan has called on the retail sector to work with the processing industry and put in place alternative labelling arrangements that inform consumers of the situation and comply with marketing regulations.

He said the retail sector must support the free range sector during this difficult period, and give a firm commitment that no reduction in price will be sought for poultry products produced from free range poultry farms.

All free range production in Ireland come from small, independently-run family farms whose existence will be threatened if there is any reduction in the price they receive for their eggs or broilers.

Free range production comes with increased costs and requires significant investment in infrastructure over many years.

Similar long term investments have been made by the processing industry in marketing the free range poultry products.

A significant premium is required to justify the extra costs and standards associated with free range production; these extra costs are in no way removed from the production system due to the current temporary housing restriction.

Nigel Renaghan said the Department of Agriculture has been very proactive in measures taken to protect the national flock and farmers have complied with these restrictions as required.

Any attempts to reduce the value of poultry products derived from free range farmers could have a detrimental effect on the long term sustainability of this important sector of Irish agriculture, he said.

Ireland had 12 incidences of bird flu since December as wild birds migrated. Today's announcement means that free range eggs will no longer be available in shops as under EU regulations eggs and poultry meat can marketed as 'free range' for the duration of the restriction but not for more than 12 weeks.

In Ireland's case, the 12-week period expires on March 17.
Just three farmers have thus far to pay their outstanding 2016 superlevy debt, according to a latest update by the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed.

When EU milk quota was abolished in April 2015, some 6,400 Irish dairy farmers had accrued a superlevy liability of 71 million for exceeding their milk quota.

To assist with the large superlevy bill across the EU, the European Commission introduced an optional scheme for member states whereby a milk quota levy incurred by producers in the final quota year could be paid in equal instalments over three years from 2015 to 2017, inclusive, without interest.

This repayment would take the form of a 33% lump sum in 2015 and the balance to be spread over equal instalments in 2016 and 2017.

Ireland was one of seven member states which opted to introduce this scheme. Ireland chose to implement the scheme so as to assist farmers through a period of market volatility.

According to the Minister, the Department paid the full superlevy bill of 71 million to the European Union in November 2015, made up of 35.4 million collected from farmers that year and 35.6 million from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine funds.

The Minister said approximately 2,700 producers opted to pay their full levy in 2015, while the remaining 3,700 opted to join the instalment scheme.

He detailed that repayments are as follows: 17.8 million was paid in five equal instalments from May to September 2016 and 17.8 million is to be paid in five equal instalments from May to September 2017.

The first instalments were due in May 2016 and were repaid in each month up to September.

These months were chosen to coincide with peak production periods for farmers. End-of-year results indicate over 99.7% of the expected payment was received.

The outstanding debt for 2016 is now down to three participants owing 12,700.

My Department is in ongoing contact with these farmers to arrange their repayment as required under the relevant regulations.

To date, 53.2 million of the 71 million in respect of this scheme has been returned to the Exchequer, with the 2017 instalment balance making up the remaining liability.

It is expected that by the end of this year, the entire superlevy will have been repaid in full by farmer, he said.
Guidelines on Pledges for Chinese Students in Taiwan to Be Drafted by MOE

Taiwan University Students (Photo : Getty Images)

Minister Pan Wen-Chung announced on Monday that guidelines on handling pledges for Chinese students in Taiwan will be drafted by the Ministry of Education (MOE).



The guidelines will be used as a reference by Taiwanese universities to make sure that the principles of academic freedom, equality, and reciprocity will be followed.



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The plans presented by Pan focused on how to resolve the recent controversy in student exchange. Pledges have been signed by several schools in Taiwan. These schools will not teach subjects that condemn or refuse the One China policy, upon the appeals of Chinese exchange students.



In some Chinese provinces, taking such pledges is mandatory for the approval of a students plans to study in Taiwan.



According to news reports released last week, Shih Hsin Universitys School of Lifelong Learning signed a pledge to exclude politically sensitive subjects as part of its curriculum. Activities associated with One China, One Taiwan, Two Chinas or Taiwan Independence has also been removed.



The signing of the pledges in December allowed the university to admit 11 Chinese students for the February to June semester. Beneficial as it may seem, the signing of pledges such as what university did raise concerns on the nature of academic freedom.



Over the next two weeks, the MOE will examine the wide range of pledges made by local schools. This is to get a clearer insight into the issue.



Rumors spread of schools that signed such pledges will be punished by the ministry.



Legislator Wang Yu-min of the opposition Kuomintang, a caucus whip, requested that universities would not be randomly labeled by the ministry.



According to Wang, it is simply a pledge, not a commitment to One China.' He exhorted the MOE to esteem the schools professionalism. The ministry must also place schools under needless pressure.



Legislator Lee Chun-yi of the ruling democratic Progressive Party, a caucus whip, contradicted Wangs request. He said that Taiwan must not discuss unification or the 1992 consensus if schools will be signing pledges that commit them to exclude politically sensitive subjects linked to One China, One Taiwan, Two Chinas or Taiwan Independence.



As the MOE drafts guidelines for pledges on Chinese students in Taiwan, proper regulation is needed and the ministry should clarify rumors of punishment for schools.


Over half of Irish workplaces ban the use of all or some social media by their office employees.

In a new survey of 500 staff in Ireland by tech firm Ricoh Ireland, it was found that 56pc of companies blacklist these platforms.

Some 47pc of the workplaces ban the use of Facebook while Twitter is forbidden in 36pc of Irish office.

Picture sharing platform Instagram and multimedia messaging app Snapchat are not approved in a third of workplaces.

Furthermore, the alternative to texting - Whatsapp - is banned from some 30pc of offices.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the large majority of 16-24 year olds surveyed (82pc) believe that social media and collaboration technology will improve their workplace relationships

That's contrasts with only 23pc of office workers aged 55 and over who agree.

However, almost half (49pc) said they would like to see wearable devices equipped with healthcare apps added to their employee packages.

Women (56pc) were more interested in this option than men (44pc).

Meanwhile, less than one fifth (18pc) of office workers deemed their employers current infrastructure as excellent.

Outlawing sites like Facebook demonstrates a draconian approach to social collaboration and prevents employees from developing their own digital workstyles," Chas Moloney, director, Ricoh Ireland and UK, said.

"Businesses should reverse blanket bans on social tools and where appropriate integrate them into office working environments.

Employees cannot improve their digital dexterity if they are denied access to familiar social tools and platforms that can be used to improve their skillsets, Moloney concluded.
The people behind a 150m redevelopment plan for the Clerys department store are to come face-to-face with its former workers for the first time.

An Bord Pleanala has scheduled an oral hearing later this month into the planned redevelopment of the iconic site.

A large number of the 467 workers who lost their jobs when Clerys closed in 2015 will attend as witnesses called by Siptu, the only party to appeal Dublin City Council's decision to give the project the go-ahead.

The project is led by Deirdre Foley's OCS Properties.

Ms Foley found herself at the centre of controversy in June 2015 over the abrupt closure of the store.

The planning board has decided to stage a four-day oral hearing at its Dublin HQ from March 20.

It followed a request from Siptu and came in spite of protests from consultants for OCS Properties, John Spain & Associates, that staging an oral hearing may delay the project.

Mr Spain argued the plan "will play a vital role in the regeneration of O'Connell Street and the north inner city" and that the Siptu appeal "largely misses this point and ignores the reality of the situation in which the Clerys building finds itself".

Mr Spain's submission said the new plan would result in the creation of 1,450 jobs - pointing out that the numbers employed by OCS at Clerys declined from 280 in 2009 to 130 in 2015.

He said it "would revive and enhance the social and cultural importance of the Clerys site and act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the wider area".
A FUND-appointed receiver can sell a Dublin city pub property after a High Court judge refused to grant injunctions restraining the sale.

Receiver Michael McAteer has received bids of about 1.6m for the property comprising Nash's bar and upstairs offices and a residential unit, located at the junction of Patrick Street and Kevin Street.

Ennis Property Finance appointed the receiver last December on foot of repayment demands issued from August 2016 after it acquired loans concerning the property from Bank of Scotland (BOS).

The fund opposed proceedings initiated last October by builder Paul O'Reilly, of O'Curry Avenue, South Circular Road, Dublin, and his company Donore Garages Ltd (DGL), with offices at Harold's Cross Road, Dublin, aimed at restraining sale of the property.

The fund claimed Mr O'Reilly had provided a guarantee over loans concerning the property made by BOS to DGL.

Mr O'Reilly argued he and DGL had reached a "binding" agreement with BOS in 2014 to buy out various loans at agreed prices and that agreement involved five separate settlements.

Four of the five settlements had been completed, on foot of which the plaintiffs had bought back loans and security for 10 of 11 properties.

The outstanding property was the Nash pub property, he said. He claimed the fifth partially-completed settlement initially envisaged a single payment of 2.1m, of which 1.85m had been repaid. While stressing his decision did not involve a final determination of the issues raised, the judge found Mr O'Reilly had not made out an arguable case for the injunctions.
There will be a presidential election in France next month

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) borrowed 1.25bn from the debt markets yesterday, marking its second dual-tranche bond issuance of the year.

The deal deepened expectations that the NTMA will hit its maximum bond issuance target of 13bn by the end of the year as it hoards cash ahead of a slew of Irish bond redemption payments which fall due over the next three years.

The State's debt management agency has already raised half that figure after the latest sale of 850m of benchmark ten year bonds at a yield of 1.046pc, along with an additional 400m of state-backed loans at a yield of 2.187pc.

While NTMA typically issues a greater volume of debt in the first half of the year, mounting uncertainty over the European political landscape may have contributed to the decision to borrow 6.5bn in the first quarter.

According to Ryan McGrath, a senior analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland, the risk of an adverse outcome from next month's French presidential election, inset, is likely to have influenced the timing of yesterday's bond sale.

Mr McGrath argued that NTMA can now approach the markets more "opportunistically" through the rest of the year.

He also pointed out the decision to borrow a larger amount than originally planned partly stemmed from looming redemption commitments.

The State must repay 14bn of Irish bonds in 2019 while a further 19bn falls due in 2020.

That means the amount the State has to borrow on the markets will rise, even though the requirement for new debt has fallen as the national finances have improved.

Last year NTMA set its bond issuance target at 6bn to 10bn but adjusted that range upwards this year to 9bn to 13bn.

Investor appetite for the dual-tranche sale focused largely on the 10-year note with demand for the bonds stemming primarily from European institutions. NTMA's latest bond issuance came on the same day as the euro strengthened after Mario Draghi played down concerns about deflation risks.
NewsBrands Ireland Press Pass awards which took place at the Convension Centre Dublin. Pictured are from left: Tomas O hUallachain, Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, An Daingean, the Overall Winner of the NewsBrands Ireland Press Pass Awards, Jack Farrell, Causeway Comprehensive School, Kerry, Winner of the Photojournalism category, Emma McGoey, Mean Scoil Mhuire, Longford, Winner of the Sports category and Caitriona Ni Chonaill, Colaiste Ghobnatan, Baile Mhic Ire, Winner of the Features category. Photo: Fennell Photography 2017.

NewsBrands Ireland Press Pass awards which took place at the Convension Centre Dublin. Pictured are from left: Kate Ni Dhubhain 1st place Winner of the News category, Tomas O hUallachain, Overall Winner and Ciara Ni Bhruic 2nd place Winner News Category all from Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, An Daingean. of the NewsBrands Ireland Press Pass Awards. Photo: Fennell Photography 2017.

NewsBrands Ireland Press Pass awards which took place at the Convension Centre Dublin. Pictured is Tomas O hUallachain, Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, An Daingean, the Overall Winner of the NewsBrands Ireland Press Pass Awards. Photo: Fennell Photography 2017.

NewsBrands Ireland Press Pass awards which took place at the Convension Centre Dublin. Pictured from left: Kate Ni Dhubhain - Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, An Daingean, Winner of the News category, Siofra ODwyer, Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana, Winner of the Opinion category, Jack Farrell, Causeway Comprehensive School, Kerry, Winner of the Photojournalism category, Caitriona Ni Chonaill, Colaiste Ghobnatan, Baile Mhic Ire, Winner of the Features category and Emma McGoey, Mean Scoil Mhuire, Longford, Winner of the Sports category. Photo: Fennell Photography 2017.

Secondary school students have been awarded for original journalism at the 2017 NewsBrands Ireland Press Pass Awards.

Of the 8,000 Transition Year students who took part in the Press Pass initiative last year, 16 winners were recognised at the ceremony today.

Some 70,000 TY students have participated in the programme, which develops literacy and critical thinking skills and leads students to analyse the society they live in, since it launched five years ago.

Finian McGrath T.D., Minister for State with special responsibility for Disabilities attended the event and presented students with their awards.

Newspapers have a vital role to play in any free society," he said at the event.

"They are watchdogs, chroniclers and the eyes and ears that go where most can not be. Press Pass is a wonderful initiative that promotes literacy and critical thinking skills by bringing newspapers into classrooms and encouraging students to study them in depth."

When you engage with newspapers you engage with society. When young people engage with society, that society benefits enormously from their input and their energy, Mr McGrath commented.

Participating schools receive newspapers and a specially created workbook free of charge. Students are encouraged to engage with the newspapers in the classroom, to analyse them and then to create their own original journalism, the best of which was entered into a national competition.

NewsBrands Ireland Chairman, Vincent Crowley recognised the quality of journalism produced by the winning students.

We are consistently impressed by the standard of work that the young people of this country produce. This year is no exception. It bodes well for the future of journalism in this country and for Ireland more generally, he said.

The audience, made up of nominated students, their teachers and families also heard from the Irish Examiner's Michael Clifford, NewsBrands Ireland Journalist of the Year 2016.

The winners were selected by a panel of newspaper editors and journalists, chaired by Professor John Horgan, the former Press Ombudsman.

The overall winner of the 2016 Press Pass awards was Tomas O hUallachain, Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, An Daingean, while trophies were also awarded in five other categories: Features, Opinion, News, Sport and Photojournalism.

NewsBrands Ireland Press Pass 2016 winners

Overall winner

Tomas O hUallachain (Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, An Daingean)

Features

1st - Caitriona Ni Chonaill (Colaiste Ghobnatan, Baile Mhic Ire)

2nd - Mark ODonnell (St Columbas Comprehensive, Glenties)

3rd - Natasha Holmes (Presentation Secondary School, Clonmel)

Opinion

1st - Siofra ODwyer (Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana)

2nd - Aoife Foley (St Mary's Secondary School, Macroom)

3rd - Ciara Tomlinson (Jesus and Mary College, Goatstown)

News

1st - Kate Ni Dhubhain (Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, An Daingean)

2nd - Ciara Ni Bhruic (Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, An Daingean)

3rd - Niamh ODowd (FCJ Secondary School, Bunclody)

Sport

1st - Emma McGoey (Mean Scoil Mhuire, Longford)

2nd - Sorcha Nic an tSionnaigh (Laurel Hill Colaiste FCJ, Limerick)

3rd - Colm Breslin (Pobalscoil na Trionoide, Youghal)

Photojournalism

1st - Jack Farrell (Causeway Comprehensive School)

2nd - Carley Mannion (Colaiste Iognaid, Galway)

3rd - Clodagh OLeary (FCJ Secondary School, Bunclody)
An artists impression of the data centre plan for the capital

Internet giant Amazon is planning to build a 1bn data centre campus in Dublin as it tackles a global surge in the use of its web services, as well as its own online shopping network.

The company has just submitted plans to build a huge, 20,739 sq metre (223,000 sq feet) data centre in Mulhuddart, close to a huge biologics facility owned by pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb.

The data centre is likely to cost up to 200m. But Amazon said it might build as many as seven more data centres at the 26-hectare location owned by the IDA, which is due to become a data-storage facility campus. That could involve an estimated future spend of another 700m. Those data centres would each be smaller than the one currently planned.

Construction of the latest Amazon data centre - codenamed 'Project G' - is set to begin this year and will take about 18 months to complete. At the peak construction phase, about 400 workers are expected to be on site.

Amazon, headed by founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos, has just applied to Fingal County Council for permission to build the data centre, which will bring the total it has around the capital close to 10.

It already has a number of data centres nearby, in Blanchardstown. It is also building a massive data centre beside Dublin Airport, at the Clonshaugh Business and Technology Park. The site was formerly home to GE Superabrasives. Amazon also has three data centres in the south of the city, around Tallaght.

Earlier this year, it secured permission to begin demolition work at a site that was previously the base of warehousing and distribution firm Barretts in Tallaght in preparation for a new data centre there.

It acquired a former Tesco distribution centre in the suburb in 2010, and converted it to a 22,300sq m data centre. Last year, it began preparing the former Jacobs biscuits site in Tallaght for a data centre project. It was granted planning permission in May 2016 for a 22,000sq m data centre at the location.

It also converted a site in Tallaght that was formerly home to Shinko Microelectronics to a data centre.

Amazon uses its data centres for its own internet operations, but also for its web services business, which offers data hosting to other companies. Its global clients include firms such as Netflix, Expedia, Unilever and Kellogg's.

Amazon said it had chosen the site in Mulhuddart for its latest data centre, partly because it is close to its other facilities in the area.

Other tech giants including Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook have also chosen Ireland has a location for major data centre projects. Facebook is building a 200m data centre in Clonee, Co Meath.
The telecoms regulator is to investigate controversial new data roaming allowances proposed by the Irish mobile operator Three.

The new allowances would drastically reduce a Three customer's EU roaming data provision, even after an EU law on the abolition of roaming fees kicks in this June.

"We are aware that a mobile operator has recently informed its customers of new contractual arrangements that purport to draw a distinction between a contractual data allowance and an unlimited all-you-can-eat data 'service benefit'," a ComReg spokesman told the Irish Independent.

"We have sought information from the operator concerned so that we can assess whether the operator is in compliance with its existing obligations, as well as with the new roaming rules that will come into force on June 15."

Criticised

It is the first time that the telecoms operator has commented on the controversy.

Last week, the European Commission criticised Three's plans.

"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 traveling abroad," a spokesperson said.

This week, Irish Communications Minister Denis Naughten warned that ComReg and Irish mobile operators would be expected to adhere to the new European roaming rules.

"There are serious consequences for non-compliance," the ComReg spokesman told the Irish Independent.

"Over the past year, we have brought several criminal prosecutions, have imposed fixed penalty notices on operators and have taken other action to bring operators into compliance."

Three plans to offer as little as 1GB of roaming data on its plans after the roaming abolition law is introduced in June.

The company says that it cannot translate its 'all-you-can-eat' data allowances, which equate to 60GB, into roaming allowances because of onerous costs of up to 7.70 per gigabyte charged by other European operators.

But the European Commission has warned that mobile operators cannot partially implement the new roaming law.
Chinese Smartphone Oppo (Photo : Getty Images)

Chinese smartphone makers are extending their market reach with the aim to expand globally and challenge other players such as Apple and Samsung.



A CNBC report said that Oppo and Gionee are making waves overseas with a plan to expand to the U.S.



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Last year, Huawei became the world's third biggest smartphone maker, in terms of market share, closely following Apple and Samsung.



Meanwhile, Oppo's global shipment increased by more than 111 percent year-on-year in 2016, becoming the third largest in the world while Vivo grew by 77.9 percent, the fifth largest, based on data from Counterpoint Research.



According to the report, three of the top five smartphone makers in the world came from China and more Chinese smartphone companies are aspiring to enter the competitive smartphone market.



At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, Chinese firms made a big presence, led by Huawei, which held a press conference, while Oppo introduced a new camera technology and Gionee unveiled the A1, a high-spec smartphone, priced at 349 euros ($369).



Expansion strategies



Oppo, Vivo and Gionee succeeded in China by selling offline, which allowed them to reach into smaller towns and cities. They have also expanded into other Asian countries such as Indonesia, India and Thailand, with sites in Africa and the Middle East.



Part of the expansion of these companies may be attributed to advertising efforts and sponsorship deals, the report said.



Gionee CEO William Lu said the company now aims to increase their shares in 50 markets in several countries where their phones are available.



"I think more important is not adding more countries for now, but going deep in each country," Lu said in an interview last week.



The company said that it will try to replicate what they did in India, where 4,000 stores have stocks of their phones.



For Oppo, they succeeded in some developed markets by selling models where users buy contracts from mobile phone operators to have the phone subsidized.



"Recently we have expanded into a number of carrier led markets, such as Taiwan, Singapore, Australia and most recently, New Zealand. The response to date has been extremely encouraging. In Singapore we're now number 3 in the market.



"Likewise in Australia we have signed agreements with major carriers including Vodafone, Virgin and Optus and are experiencing triple digit growth," Sky Li, managing director of the international mobile business at Oppo, told CNBC.



"Our experience in these markets will help us better understand consumer behavior and prepare us for future expansions," Li added.



U.S. and Western expansion



But analysts warned Chinese companies about expanding to the U.S. right away, as they might be faced with intellectual property issues. In addition, the environment for Chinese firms to do business in the U.S. may not be good, considering Trump's threat to impose high tariffs on Chinese imports.



But despite this, Chinese firms are not worried about the issues.



"I don't see that risk because I think the China-U.S. relationship is the most important relationship in the world, we need each other," Yuanqing Yang, CEO of Lenovo, said in an interview last week.



Although many Chinese smartphone companies are now focused on countries where they are welcomed, they are not dismissing their plans to enter the U.S. and other Western markets in the future.



"I think the Gionee brand is not ready to enter in U.S. or Europe, but if we partner with local brands and offer products with them and work with them to understand this market, then we might be able to," Gionee's Lu said.



"For the developed markets, we have a plan to go step by step and not rush," Lu added.


Viewers on last night's First Dates Ireland were treated to the heart-warming story of Paul Holly, who was given up for adoption as a child but later established a strong relationship with his biological parents.

The 34-year-old came up to Dublin's Gibson Hotel on a warm summer evening last August, hoping to find love in front of a full production team and television cameras.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, he admitted producers of the show "definitely" got it right when it came to matching him with Katie, but long distance was to come between them.

Paul applied to the series "for a bit of craic", but admitted he was also seeking out a potential long-term partner.

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Amid media reports that contestants had been offered a few drinks before going on air, he said: "I had one beforehand and left it at that. I didn't want to make an ass of myself on national television."

He said workers on the show immediately put him at ease.

Viewers of the hit RTE reality dating series saw Paul quickly hit it off with Katie, who had been waiting for him at the 'First Dates' bar.

"It was kind of like any other date really, she was a lovely, lovely girl and really easy to talk to from the off," he said.

"I had expected it to be strange, but it was really pretty normal."

But when Katie asked Paul about his family and whether he had any siblings, the intriguing story of his adoption began to unfold. In 2009 and with the help of the Adoption Board in Cork and the support of his adoptive parents, Paul set about finding his biological mother.

"Not only did I find my mother, I realised she had married my biological father and as if that wasn't enough, I had two brothers and a sister too," Paul revealed. "I set out to look for my mother and found an entire new family."

His biological mother and father emigrated to Chicago in the late 1980s and have lived there since.

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Paul, who owns Southern Tree Services in Cork, now meets them regularly. As for his date with Katie, the distance was a bit too much.

They agreed to meet again and went for a drink after the show, but it didn't develop from there.

The forests of Cork will be jointed this weekend with women out on the hunt for Paul #FirstDatesIRL  Niamh Gunning (@niamhspectrum) March 9, 2017

Moves to Cork to find 'a Paul' #FirstDatesIRL  Edel Schultz (@Edel_Schultz) March 9, 2017

"You staying in #Cork for the weekend?"

"Jeez no the place will be jointed with young wans looking for your man #Paul from #firstdatesirl "  Urlofcork (@urlofcork) March 9, 2017

Is it bad to be delighted that it didn't work out for Paul and Katie?! Now will I be able to track him down in @Reardensbar #FirstDatesIRL  Edel Buckley (@EdelBuckley) March 9, 2017

And with that every woman in Ireland has just fallen in love with Paul. Including me. (Don't tell my husband....) #FirstDatesIRL  Elaine Kelly (@ElaineKelly82) March 9, 2017

"My previous two relationships were long distance and I promised myself that I would never again get involved in a long-distance relationship.

"The whole experience of 'First Dates' was fantastic. The possibility of meeting the woman of your dreams was too hard to resist. I've been long enough looking for her."
Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan is to appoint some of her closest associates, some of whom are retired gardai, to an internal unit aimed at preventing her from being sacked as Garda Commissioner.

The Irish Independent can today reveal an unprecedented level of unrest within the force over Ms O'Sullivan's appointments to an internal unit established to liaise with the Charleton Inquiry.

Mr Justice Charleton will establish whether there was a smear campaign within An Garda Siochana against whistleblower and Garda sergeant Maurice McCabe.

But this newspaper can reveal that several senior members of the force have contacted Garda Headquarters in recent days to request instructions and guidance because they either want to submit evidence, or fear they will be called as witnesses.

A number of senior officers voiced concern that this instruction was not forthcoming.

The issue has caused consternation in Garda Headquarters.

And in further revelations, Ms O'Sullivan - who is at the centre of the Charleton Inquiry - has appointed some of her closest associates to the liaison team with the judge involved.

These are understood to include retired assistant commissioner Mick O'Sullivan and former chief superintendent Brendan Mangan.

It can also be revealed that Detective Superintendent Tony Howard has been made go-between for the force and Judge Charleton.

This is despite the fact that the officer is a close associate of both Commissioner and her husband Detective Chief Supt Jim McGowan.

Despite the huge unrest, the Policing Authority last night said: "The deployment of staff is an operational matter for the Garda Siochana."

A spokesman for An Garda Siochana said: "An Garda Siochana is committed to co-operating fully with the Disclosures Tribunal.

"As the Commissioner outlined at the public meeting of the Policing Authority recently, procedures have been put in place to ensure An Garda Siochana provides the Disclosures Tribunal with information it requires from across the organisation on the relevant matters promptly. An Garda Siochana does not comment on named individuals."

Deadline

The Charleton Inquiry has set a deadline for next Monday for the deadline for submissions.

Politicians, journalists, gardai and various State officials will be called.

The terms of reference were expanded following a demand by the family of Sgt McCabe.

The family is taking legal action against the Child and Family Agency after it emerged a file was left on the agency's system for over two years about the family.
Unions at Dublin Fire Brigade warned they will not tolerate the emergency medical system being undermined by transfers or mergers.

Siptu and Impact vowed to defend Dublin's ambulance call and dispatch service, as the city council was accused by former environment minister Alan Kelly of having "an agenda" over the centre.

The Tipperary TD claimed the merger of the two Dublin call centres was "unwarranted" and could jeopardise lives.

Mr Kelly also said he believed the changes were being driven by an internal council agenda.

"I did not believe (in early 2016) the economies the city management said existed," he warned.

"This is an agenda of the Dublin city management. It is wrong and it needs to be stopped. The economies (claimed) do not exist."

Unions said an investment in suitable technology will allow for seamless working between the Dublin Fire Brigade call centre and the National Ambulance Service (NAS) complex, located just 12km apart.

Siptu and Impact agreed to suspend planned work stoppages for March 18 and 27 after Dublin's Lord Mayor councillor Brendan Carr personally intervened in the dispute between the unions and Dublin City Council.

Fire brigade officials had feared the Dublin centre would lose all ambulance functions to the NAS facility - amid concerns there was a historic desire by some to have all ambulance operations in Dublin transferred to the HSE.

Under the talks deal, no industrial action will be mounted by unions and Dublin City Council has agreed not to proceed with proposed changes to the Dublin Fire Brigade emergency medical service system.

The fire brigade centre, which is located at Tara Street in the city centre, covers around 90pc of the Dublin area and is staffed by 45 people.

However the NAS centre, which is located in Tallaght, covers the rest of Dublin city and the extensive county area.

Now both sides are to stage conciliation talks, held under the chairmanship of Kieran Mulvey.

Mr Mulvey, former head of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), will examine a number of options including one settlement proposal which aims to maintain both call centre operations through greater software integration.

Under a 2014 Health Information Quality Authority review, experts felt that call-taking and ambulance dispatch were not configured to offer maximum benefits and efficiency to the users of the Dublin service.

Siptu official Brendan O'Brien said members wanted the capital to continue to have an outstanding emergency medical response service.

"This dispute results from our members' total commitment to providing the best emergency services possible to the residents of Dublin," he said.
Colm Butterly, with an address in Clontarf, Dublin pictured leaving the Four Courts after he appeared before the Circuit Civil Court.Pic: Collins

Colm Butterly, one of the Butterly brothers who owned the ill-fated Stardust Night Club, is fighting to save his home in leafy Clontarf, Dublin, being taken off him by his mortgage company.

Barrister Shaula Connaughton-Deeny told the Circuit Civil Court she had been instructed by EBS Mortgage Finance Limited to seek possession of Mr Butterlys family home at Seacourt, Clontarf, Dublin 3.

Judge Jacqueline Linnane heard that Butterly (70) had paid only 1,500 off his mortgage debt last year and just 1,000 in 2015.

Ms Connaughton-Deeny, who appeared with Ronan Daly Jermyn solicitors, for the bank, said Mr Butterly had borrowed 203,200 from the EBS Building Society in December 1996 and had taken out a further loan of 240,000 in August 2008. Both loans had been secured on No Seacourt and the total debt now due on both loans was over 160,000.

She told the court that this figure included arrears in excess of 80,000 and increasing and Mr Butterly had told the bank he was out of work.

Butterly, in an affidavit, said he had an arrangement to repay the debt at 1,012 a month and had done so up until August 2012 when a receiver had been appointed by AIB to his group of companies, including Patrick Butterly and Sons Limited (in receivership) and Butterly.

He said he had been unable to keep up monthly payments following the loss of income and of his companies. He had no job but was now engaging in some consultancy work and intended renewing repayments to the bank.

Judge Linnane asked how he proposed entering into some repayment arrangement with the bank when he did not have a job. The judge suggested he look at the matter realistically and consider selling the property.

A solicitor for Butterly, who said he would be seeking to come off record for the defendant, told the court that there was still substantial equity in the property being sought by the mortgage company and asked for an adjournment to allow Butterly engage with the bank.

Judge Linnane said there had already been two judgment mortgages registered against the same property in 2012 and 2014 by another financial institution and clearly he had other debts.

Paula Duffy, manager in the arrears support unit of EBS Mortgage Finance, told the court that a clause in the mortgage conditions provided that EBS Building Society could at any time assign the benefit of the total mortgage debt and this had been exercised in favour of her client.

Judge Linnane said she would adjourn the proceedings peremptorily against the defendant until early May to see if some realistic arrangement could be entered into. She said she intended that the hearing would go ahead in May.
A UK grandmother has been jailed for one year 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.

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.

Judge Karen O'Connor noted that Butterworth had entered pleas at the earliest possible stage and said this was very significant factor in her sentence. She imposed a one year sentence backdated to October 2016.

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.

Mr Rea 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 helped care for as their mother was confined to a wheelchair.

Counsel added that as a foreign national, Butterworth would find any prison sentence particularly difficult.
A hill-walker whose 40,000 damages award over injuries suffered on a Wicklow Way boardwalk was overturned will have to pay her own costs of the case under an agreement reached with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The costs could be substantial as the case ran for a number of days in the High Court.

Mr Justice Michael White last month allowed the High Court appeal by the NPWS, who placed the boardwalk on the lands, against the award by the Circuit Court to Teresa Wall.

The decision has significant implications for Ireland's national parks and the future of the Wicklow Way. The NPWS was concerned, if the Circuit Court decision stood, the popular walking route might disintegrate because private landowners might not permit walkers on their property.

In a significant judgment concerning the nature of the duty of care of landowners to hillwalkers, Mr Justice White rejected Ms Wall's arguments a trip hazard is the same whatever the location. He also found contributory negligence by Ms Wall in relation to her fall.

Ms Wall, Rathingle Cottages, Swords, Co Dublin, claimed she tripped and fell after her foot snagged in a hole in one of the old railway sleepers making up a boardwalk just below the JB Malone memorial on the Sally Gap to Djouce trail near Roundwood on August 6th 2013. She suffered a gash to her right knee which required seven stitches and was in significant pain for some time afterwards.

After a Dublin Circuit Court judge found the NPWS negligent and awarded Mrs Wall 40,000 damages, the NPWS successfully appealed to the High Court.

When the matter returned before the judge on Friday to deal with costs issues, he was told agreement had been reached between the sides on costs.

Counsel for the NPWS said it had taken into account the judges suggestion the sides might come to an agreement on costs.

In light of that suggestion, and because of the benefit of the judgment to the NPWS, the sides had agreed the Circuit Court costs order made in favour of Ms Wall should be vacated and both sides should pay their own costs of the High Court appeal.

The judge made those orders along with a formal order allowing the NPWS appeal.

In his judgment last month, Mr Justice White described Ms Wall as a genuine person who suffered injuries in the fall that greatly affected her "active lifestyle".

Ms Wall had claimed the 1995 Occupiers Liability Act imposed, when a land occupier places a structure on the land for recreational use, a duty of care to maintain that structure in a safe condition.

The judge did not accept the duty of care imposed on an occupier under the 1995 Act was an absolute or strict duty.

Due to vigilance expected from hill walkers on moderate mountain trails, the standard of care has to be adapted to the conditions, including the isolated location of the boardwalk and the social utility it provides, he held.

The NPWS was not negligent by not filling in the indentations in the boardwalk or replacing the sleepers with new ones, he found.

Rejecting arguments a trip hazard is the same no matter what the location, he also found a "high degree of negligence on Ms Wall's part due to not looking at the surface of the boardwalk when she fell.
Nuclear Power Station in China (Photo : Getty Images)

China's nuclear power industry should be given priority by ensuring that nuclear power plants become the primary source of power in the country while its output should not be adjusted for fluctuations in power demand, according to the country's top nuclear industry executive, China Daily reported.



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He Yu, chairman of China General Nuclear Power Corp, also called for additional construction and use of a connected grid across provinces and regions to maintain the consistent supply of clean energy.



"Not given full play, nuclear reactors are constantly and sometimes consistently shut down like other power units when the region's electric grid is at or beyond capacity," He said during the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.



"The country has set strict security measures for nuclear development, which means that the sector requires more investment while nuclear projects require a longer construction period," He added.



A report from IHS Market Inc said that the overcapacity in power generation was noticed as early as 2013 before it reached its peak in 2015. But as demand growth slows, overcapacity is expected to continue for another five years, the report added.



the report said that despite the rise in power demand, many of the plants will not be used as originally planned.



According to He, about 35 nuclear power reactors are currently operating in China, which has a total installed capacity of 33.6 GW by the end of 2016, contributing about 2 percent of China's overall installed electric capacity.



BMI Research said that about 8 GW of nuclear power capacity were added last year, raising the installed capacity to about 34 GW.



Waste of nuclear energy



In December, the National Development and Reform Commission said in its 2016-2020 development plan for the power industry that China's nuclear power is expected to hit 58 GW by the end of the decade.



He said that a total 46.2 billion kilowatt-hours of power were wasted last year, which account for about 19 percent as its power industry was capable of generating 242.8 billion kilowatt-hours that year.



He added that the suspension of nuclear reactors result in the waste of uranium and also raise the cost of nuclear waste disposal.



According to He, nuclear power is taken as a base load supply in many countries such as the U.S., Russia, the United Kingdom and South Korea and they would not suspend their nuclear operation even when there are fluctuations in energy demand.



"Nuclear energy plays an irreplaceable role in China's energy security, helping to reduce air pollution caused by coal-fired power generation," He said.



"China's energy sector has been dominated by coal, accounting for 64 percent of primary energy use, far above the global average of around 30 percent," he added.



Renewable energy plan



The government vowed to make use of renewable energy in its sustainable development plan, which is expected to boost the amount of non-fossil energy to 15 percent by 2020 and 20 percent by 2030 while reducing the consumption of coal for energy use to 62 percent by 2020.



Wang Binghua, chairman of State Power Investment Corp, and Wang Shoujun, president of the State-owned China Nuclear Engineering Group Co, who were at the annual session of the CPPCC National Committee, also called for the use of nuclear power plants as the main source of energy supply.



Meanwhile, an analyst agreed that nuclear energy must not be shut down even during irregular energy demand.



"It is far from ideal not to maximize the loads of nuclear reactors, as the general traditional convention or view is that it is not good to lower and then raise the load factors for nuclear reactors frequently from a safety perspective," Joseph Jacobelli, a senior analyst with Asia utilities and infrastructure research at Bloomberg Intelligence, said.


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

IT consultant Daniel Belling and his wife Xing Lei Li, who vanished during a family cruise in the Med on board the MSC Magnifica. Insert. A reenactment shown on Italian television Picture: Kyran O'Brien

Italian police are investigating if an Irish-based father murdered his wife on a cruise, stuffed her in a suitcase and threw her overboard.

The search is continuing for Xing Lei Li who was reported missing on February 20. She has not been seen since February 11 and her husband Daniel Belling (45) remains in custody in Rome on suspicion of her murder.

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Now reports have claimed that police are examining the theory that she was murdered, placed inside a suitcase and thrown overboard.

An Italian crime show Chi L'Ha Visto has reenacted this possible scenario in a video posted online.

In the clip a woman, who they say is the same size as Ms Xing (38), is shown stepping into a suitcase which is then zipped up and wheeled away.

Other photos show Ms Xing with a large suitcase, similar to the one shown in the clip, before their cruise.

Expand Close A reneactment shown on Chi L'Ha Visto / Facebook

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The television show reported that the couple's cabin was located on the 11th floor of the ship. It was 120m away from a terrace facing the sea, where under the cover of darkness and the noise of the engines, an object could be thrown overboard without attracting attention.

But speaking on behalf of his client, Mr Belling's lawyer, Luigi Conti has rubbished the video and the theory:

"We have seen this video of the girl in the bag but this is impossible. It is possible because they don't have any witnesses that say this.

"This is just a possibility being said by journalists but it is not a judicial possibility. This case will be resolved in court, not on television."

He added: "If this is a murder, then where is the body? Where are the witnesses?"

Mr Belling has claimed that he last saw his wife when the MSC Magnifica docked on the Katakolon island in Greece - and that after embarking on a day trip with his children, she was not there on their return.

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However, Italian police now suspect Ms Xing never exited the ship, as her key card did not register on the security card system. The system is used to allow residents on the cruise ship to leave and board the boat.

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It is understood that CCTV footage from the ship is being examined, while Italian authorities have also conducted a number of interviews with staff who were working on the ship for the duration of the cruise.

One member of staff working at the restaurant on the cruise ship is said to have told investigators that he last saw Ms Xing dining with her family on February 10 when the ship was between Genoa and Valetta.

The staff member saw Mr Belling sit at the same spot in the restaurant with his two children for the duration of the cruise - between 6pm and 8pm each night - but says Ms Xing was not present.

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Mr Belling was arrested as he attempted to board a flight to Dublin from Rome.

Mr Conti told Independent.ie he is applying to have his client released on bail.

"We propose that he is moved to another apartment in Italy and he can wear an electronic bracelet."

Mr Conti said his client insists he had nothing to do with her disappearance and maintains that his wife has fled to China or returned to Dublin.

"Mr Belling tells me: 'I did not kill my wife, she is a very particular woman with a strong personality... My wife is in China or another part of Europe, she has done this before where she disappeared on a holiday."
A jury has heard that a man accused of murdering his former partner and mother of their two children has dismissed his legal team.

Vesel Jahiri (35), originally from Kosovo but of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Anna Finnegan (25) at Allendale Glen, Clonsilla, Dublin 15 on September 21, 2012.

He has also pleaded not guilty to assaulting Karl Finnegan, causing him harm, at the same place on the same date.

This morning, Mr Justice Paul Coffey told the jury of nine men and three women that Mr Jahiri has exercised his right to represent himself and has dispensed of his lawyers.

Prosecution counsel Mr Patrick Marrinan SC then called Garda Ryan Breen, who was attached to The Garda Communications Centre at Harcourt Square on September 21, to give evidence. Gda Breen agreed with Mr Marrinan that he answered a 999 call at 9.22pm on September 21 from Mr Jahiri. The jury then heard the 999 call made by a person identifying himself as the accused.

The prosecution also called Brian Conlon, a first cousin of the deceased, to give evidence. He agreed with Mr Marrinan that he identified Anna Finnegans body at the mortuary of Tallaght Hospital on September 22.

Opening the prosecution case to a jury last week, Mr Marrinan said that Mr Jahiri and Anna Finnegan were in a relationship for about ten years and had two young children together. However, their relationship "turned sour" prior to September 2012 and they ended up separating. It is alleged that Mr Jahiri stabbed Ms Finnegan to death after he battered down her front door and attacked her and her brother.

The trial continues.
A man on trial accused of murdering his former partner told the deceased's sister that he was coming for her and her children next, a jury has heard.

Lisa Finnegan, the sister of the late Anna Finnegan, was on Friday giving evidence in the trial of Vesel Jahiri at the Central Criminal Court.

This morning, the accused dismissed his legal team and is now representing himself at the trial.

Mr Jahiri (35), originally from Kosovo but of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Anna Finnegan (25) at Allendale Glen, Clonsilla, Dublin 15 on September 21, 2012.

He has also pleaded not guilty to assaulting Karl Finnegan, causing him harm, at the same place on the same date.

This afternoon, prosecution counsel Mr Patrick Marrinan SC called Lisa Finnegan to give evidence.

Ms Finnegan said she recalled getting a phone call from a woman she did not know, on her brothers phone, on the night her sister was killed.

This woman told Ms Finnegan that her brother was in a bad way but an ambulance was on its way. She said her sister had been taken away in a car.

Ms Finnegan said she was aware of the background circumstances of her sisters relationship with Mr Jahiri. Anna was to be with someone at all times, either myself, my aunt or Karl, she said.

Ms Finnegan said her partner brought her straight to James Connolly Memorial Hospital after the phonecall. The witness said she then tried to ring Vesel but could not get through. Vesel then rang her phone and she asked him where her sister was and what he had done. He told her that he had taken Anna to hospital.

I said if anything happens to my sister or brother jail wont save you, she said, saying she was upset and confused at the time.

"He told me he was coming down for me and my children next," she said. Miss Finnegan said their conversation was on loud-speaker on her phone so her partner heard this and he told her to hang up the phone.

Ms Finnegan agreed with counsel that she was shouting profanities at Mr Jahiri. At that time she had no clue that Anna was as badly hurt as she turned out to be.

In cross-examination Mr Jahiri put it to Ms Finnegan that he had not said that he was coming for her and her children. The witness denied this. Mr Jahiri then accused her of making threats to him on the phone saying that she would have him wiped out.

Mr Jahiri asked the witness if anyone did come to her house. She replied saying: No but we lived in terror of that for days until you were found.

The accused said the trouble between him and Lisa Finnegan began with a dispute over cars. Ms Finnegan said the trouble started on April 7, 2012 when they found out Vesel had punched Anna. Thats a lie, I can prove it, said Mr Jahiri.

Mr Jahiri asked the witness why did she force Anna not to allow him bring their daughter to Kosovo. Ms Finnegan said Anna did not want him taking their daughter to Kosovo as Anna was terrified of him.

Ms Finnegan denied organising Anna to go to Bray Womens Refuge so she could have him wiped out. She said Anna had organised the refuge for her and her children.

This morning, Mr Justice Paul Coffey told the jury of nine men and three women that Mr Jahiri has exercised his right to represent himself and has dispensed with his lawyers.

The prosecution then called Garda Ryan Breen, who was attached to The Garda Communications Centre at Harcourt Square on September 21, to give evidence. Gda Breen agreed with Mr Marrinan that he answered a 999 call at 9.22pm on September 21 from Mr Jahiri. The jury then heard the 999 call made by a person identifying himself as the accused.

Mr Jahiri can be heard on the phonecall saying that there was a problem in the house and made references to being attacked with a knife. Mr Jahiri told Gda Breen that he could not tell him where he was but he would call into Blanchardstown Garda Station the next day. He also said during the phonecall that he was not allowed to see his children and the social services had tried to set him up.

Detective Inspector Ciaran McAnaney told Mr Marrinan that he made several attempts to contact Mr Jahiri after the events of September 21. Det Insp McAnaney spoke to him on the morning of September 22 and Vesel told him he had been in a bad fight and he would hand himself into gardai that day but refused to say where he was. The witness said he was crying and making references to killing himself and how he was better off dead. The court heard that Mr Jahiri presented himself voluntarily at Cabra Garda Station at 5.40pm that day.

Garda Amanda Lynch told the court that Vesel rang her and told her he had been in a fight with Karl Finnegan and Anna Finnegan had got in between them. He told her he couldnt live without Anna. He came in ten minutes later to Cabra Garda Station. In the station Mr Jahiri took a knife from the pocket of his jacket and put it on the table.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Coffey.

It is expected to last between four and five weeks.
Anne Shortall sent a Facebook message to a stranger weeks before she was killed, saying she wanted "5,000 for an abortion" from murder accused Roy Webster.

The Central Criminal Court heard Ms Shortall sent a private message to the wrong profile, intending to contact a cousin of Mr Webster.

The stranger who received the message deleted it but remembered it on hearing of media reports that Ms Shortall's body had been found.

The jury also heard that Mr Webster lied to Ms Shortall's worried daughters about his meeting with her on the day she died.

Mr Webster repeatedly lied after Ms Shortall's daughters contacted him on finding a text exchange between the pair in which they were arranging to meet that day.

The jury was told he said to one daughter she had the "wrong number" and told another her mother was going to London to meet a friend.

He told gardai who were searching for Ms Shortall, a mother-of-three and grandmother-of-three, that she had called him out of the blue after he "shifted her months ago".

Mr Webster (39) of Ashbree, Ashford, Co Wicklow denies murdering Ms Shortall (47) on April 3, 2015 at The Murrough, also in Wicklow. He has pleaded guilty to her manslaughter.

The jury previously heard he beat her to death with a hammer after she threatened to "reveal all" about a sexual encounter they had the previous December.

Stephen Armstrong recalled getting a message from an Anne Shortall at 1.30am on a date in late March 2015.

He did not know her and told the jury the message read: "Tell your mate Roy that I need 5,000 for an abortion."

He said he replied: "Sorry, you have got the wrong number because this means nothing to me."

She messaged back: "Sorry, hun", and he replied: "No worries, I hope it all works out for you."

The jury heard he was "contacted in error" and there was some "name confusion" with what appeared to be Mr Webster's cousin Steven Armstrong - spelled with a V.

Steven Armstrong said he got two Facebook messages from Ms Shortall asking: "Could you get Roy to get in contact with me?"

He passed these on to a mutual cousin of his and the accused.

Mr Armstrong relayed to Ms Shortall: "Roy is trying to contact you."

On March 28, Mr Armstrong met her in a pub and told her: "I don't want any more contact coming to my house at that hour of the morning" and she looked 'ashamed or shocked' and said "alright".

Emma Shortall (22) said her mother would always take her cigarettes and her mobile phone when she went out, but she had left her phone charging and a full box of Marlboro Lights at home on April 3, 2015.

When she rang a number for "Ashwood" on her mother's phone the next day, it went to voicemail and the name was Roy Webster. She called it again and a man answered.

"I asked him had he seen my mother because there was a text saying he was going to meet her, he said you have the wrong number," Emma Shortall told the court.

Alanna Shortall (19) said a text from Ashwood Kitchens on her mother's phone said "meet at the Leitrim" and her mother had replied: "On way."

When Alanna Shortall received no reply from the number, she texted saying: "If you don't reply to me, I am going to bring your contact number to the gardai."

She said he replied: "All I know is she is going to meet a friend in London. As far as I know she was flying out at about seven tonight."

Both daughters said they were not aware of their mother's financial difficulties - her rent arrears or a notice of eviction she had received.

Garda Neil Doyle said he phoned the accused who told him he did briefly meet Anne Shortall at the Leitrim Lounge for a few minutes, and she was "talking about going to London to meet a friend".

"I asked him how he had met her and he said in his words he had shifted her months ago and she wanted to meet up for a relationship," Gda Doyle said. The trial continues.
The wife of murdered dissident republican Peter Butterly has said her feelings for his killers go "beyond hatred".

Eithne Butterly spoke to the Irish Independent as two men were found guilty in the Special Criminal Court yesterday of the "callous, brutal and premeditated murder" of her husband.

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Mr Butterly (35) was shot dead on March 6, 2013, outside The Huntsman Inn, Gormanston, Co Meath, in what the court described as an ambush.

Edward McGrath (35), of Land Dale Lawns, Springfield, Tallaght, and Sharif Kelly (47), of Pinewood Green Road, Balbriggan, both in Dublin, both denied the murder, but were convicted by the non-jury court.

"Forgiveness is never a word I can use with them. I can move on with my life, and the lives of our children, without forgiving them," Ms Butterly said. She said there were no winners in the case.

"Yes there are guilty verdicts. But Peter is not coming home. These men have killed him and taken him away from his family, and destroyed their own families' lives also," she said.

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"Other people will move on with their lives, and that is only natural, but we will be left in the same situation, so in that sense although we are obviously happy that these men have been found guilty of Peter's murder, there is an anti-climax to it as well."

Mrs Butterly also said the family were never sure of a guilty verdict.

"There's always a chance they could be found not guilty, but it's great to see these men being walked out the door to a prison instead of freedom.

"When the first trial collapsed they were released on bail for two whole years because the court ruled it was their 'legal right'.

"But what about Peter's legal rights? They took all his rights away when they took his life.

"We watched the families of McGrath and Kelly crying in court, but they can still see their sons and brothers and fathers. My family will never see Peter again," Mrs Butterly told the Irish Independent.

One man missing from the trial was Dean Evans, who vanished with his girlfriend just days before being due to face his murder charge.

Gardai believe it was Evans who pulled the trigger.

Mrs Butterly said she and Peter had been married for 17 years, and her husband was buried on their wedding anniversary on March 16.

The couple had three children together.

Mrs Butterly described him as "a very funny man" and hard-working farmer.
A taxi driver and father-of-two who was caught with nearly 300,000 worth of illegal drugs has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Stephen Murphy (45) was previously supported in court by Gail O'Rorke, who was acquitted in 2015 of attempting to assist in the suicide of her friend.

Ms O'Rorke, who recently released a book about her experiences, wrote a letter in support of Murphy, who faced a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence for drug dealing.

In the letter, Ms O'Rorke and her husband Barry told Judge Melanie Greally that Murphy has lost so much of his life as a result of the offence. They couple said they were lifelong friends with the accused and pointed out that his son suffers from Crohn's disease.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Murphy was caught with ketamine, ecstasy tablets and cannabis in the boot of his taxi after a surveillance operation by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

Murphy, of Dromcarra Avenue, Jobstown, Tallaght, Dublin pleaded guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply on North Road, Finglas on May 13, 2015.

Sentencing Murphy today, Judge Greally said there were several mitigating factors which would allow her to depart from the mandatory minimum sentence. These included Murphy's previous good character, his guilty plea and remorse, his limited role in the offence and his respectable background, she said.

Detective Garda Alan O'Connor told Anne Rowland BL, prosecuting, that gardai received a tip-off that drugs were being moved in the Finglas area. Gardai launched a surveillance operation which observed Murphy driving his taxi to the Kestrel Inn Pub and picking up another man.

Murphy then drove to an underground car park. A garda in the car park lost sight of them briefly before seeing Murphy close the boot of his car and drive off. He was stopped and searched shortly afterwards.

Gardai found ecstasy tablets and powder along with 103,200 worth of ketamine and 154,548 worth of cannabis. The total value of the drugs was 273,859.

Murphy told gardai he picked up the drugs after receiving a call from a man who asked him if he was interested in picking up some car parts.

Defence counsel Roisin Lacey SC said the worst moment of Murphy's life was when a passenger got in his taxi some months previously and started taking cocaine. Instead of throwing the man out Murphy began talking to him and took some cocaine when offered, she said.

He continued taking the drug and became addicted. He ran up a 1,600 drug debt and he committed this offence to pay that off, counsel said.

Ms Lacey said Murphy had lived a blameless life until now and had an excellent work history.
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (Asti) has cleared the way for about 35,000 third-year students to sit a crucial assessment in English next month.

The 80-minute assessment is worth 10pc of the marks in the written exam for the revamped Junior Cert English course.

Students in about 400 schools where the Asti represents teachers have not yet done the assessment because of the union's dispute over junior cycle reform.

However, exam chiefs found a way around the Asti opposition, which the union's governing body, its 23-member Standing Committee, accepted yesterday. The State Examinations Commission (SEC) announced earlier this week that it was dropping the requirement for students to have completed a separate, but linked, classroom-based assessment with their teachers, before sitting the written Assessment Task.

The absence of the requirement for teachers to have first completed a classroom-based assessment with students ahead of the Assessment Task forced a rethink within the Asti.

In a statement after yesterday's meeting, the Standing Committee said Asti members will be advised to co-operate with the new guidelines issued from the SEC.

Asti president Ed Byrne said it welcomed the new arrangements.

He said the Asti principle on independent assessment was upheld.

It is understood that not all members of the Standing Committee were happy to run with the new guidelines, and contrary views were expressed before the meeting decided its position.

The Asti decision means that the estimated 35,000 students who have not yet done the Assessment Task will now be eligible for up to 100pc of marks in the written part of the new-style English exam.

However, these students will not be awarded descriptors by their teachers for two classroom-based assessments, in the certificate of achievement that will issue for each student at the end of junior cycle.

Asti opposition to junior cycle reforms is based on its view that teachers should not be involved in grading their own students for any State certificate.

Although the Assessment Task is conducted in schools, it will be marked by State examiners, the latter a concession to the Asti during earlier negotiations on the reforms.

English is the first of the junior cycle subjects to undergo change as part of the reform process and, as well as the written assessments - the Assessment Task and a traditional, but shorter, paper in June - there is also provision for two classroom-based assessments, graded by teachers.

While immediate concerns about the Assessment Task have been allayed, the dispute between the Asti and Department of Education on the reforms continues.

Pupils whose teachers are in the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI), or are not union members, sat the Assessment Task in December, and the SEC has made arrangements for a second sitting, at the end of April, to facilitate students whose teachers are in the Asti.
Education Minister Richard Bruton recently opened a consultation on ways to limit or remove the role that religion plays in school admissions (Stock image)

The non-denominational education body, Educate Together, has rejected three options for removing the so-called 'baptism barrier' to school entry, and has given conditional support to the fourth.

Education Minister Richard Bruton recently opened a consultation on ways to limit or remove the role that religion plays in school admissions.

In its submission, Educate Together said approaches involving a catchment area, a nearest school rule or a quota system were unsatisfactory.

It "most fully supports" the option of outright prohibition on the use of religion as a selection criterion, but said it could not include any provision for parents to sign a declaration that they would support a school's ethos.

"It is abhorrent to suggest that parents 'sign a disclaimer' that states they understand and support the ethos of a school that they may only be sending their children to because they lack an alternative," the submission states.
North Korea's Kim Jong Un plans to launch more nuclear missiles in the future. (Photo : Getty Images)

Tensions over North Korea and South Korea are feared to become more intense in the coming months. An article was published by the state media that expressed the thoughts of Chinese foreign ministry representative Wang Yi.



Wang wrote, "Next possible timing would be after North Korea launches the fifth nuclear weapons test and re-entry missile."



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"If the tests went smoothly, it would show the failure of United Nation sanctions and North Korea's military capability to attack the U.S. continent," he added.



He then wrote that if the war commences, China will have to prepare. "This day should not be too far away and China should fully prepare for these two critical timings."



At a press briefing, Wang expressed the same sentiments and said that the two countries were like "two accelerating trains coming towards each other with neither side willing to give way."



The spokesperson appealed to both countries to "apply the breaks" and "avoid a head-on collision." Wang said that a war will be avoided if North Korea ceased nuclear arms testing.



Wang's sentiment was echoed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He said that Asia is entering "a new stage of threat". Three North Korean missiles landed on the shores inside Japan's exclusive economic zone.



China said that the U.S. is pushing for the launch of the THAAD weapons with South Korea. Wang is urging the South Korean government to not pursue the launch.



Wang said, "It is common knowledge that the monitoring radius of THAAD reaches far beyond the Korean Peninsula and has undermined China's strategic security."



He said that "deploying THAAD is a wrong move" and the launch will make South Korea "less secure."



According to Wang's article in the Global Times, Pyongyang is deliberately ignoring the harsh U.N. sanctions and will continue to launch missiles.


The Christian Brothers has withdrawn an offer to hand over to the State an interest in school playing fields worth more than 120m - which was part of a contribution to the redress scheme.

The property was to help pay the State bill of 1.5bn in redress to compensate people who suffered institutional abuse. An original offer was made after the publication of the Ryan report in 2009, which unveiled a catalogue of abuse in religious-run homes.

The order said it would set up a joint trust between the Edmund Rice Schools Trust and the Government for 49 school playing fields and associated lands, valued at around 127m, a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General said yesterday.

However, the order has since said it intends to transfer the freehold title of the properties solely to the Edmund Rice Schools Trust. In response, Br Edmund Garvey, province leader of the Christian Brothers said the joint trust proposal was not accepted.

He said the plans to transfer the playing fields to the Edmund Rice Trust, for the benefit of 37,000 students and "ultimately the State of which they are part" are at an advanced stage.

Br Garvey insisted the financial watchdog's report pre-dates significant payments by the Christian Brothers and 2009 pledges will be honoured.

Some 24m of the 34m pledged in cash has been honoured, with the rest paid on a phased basis this year, he said. Total contributions will be over 600m.

The Comptroller's report said the combined cost of the child abuse inquiry, which resulted in the Ryan Report and the redress scheme, had run to 1.5bn at the end of 2015. The cost of redress at the end of 2015 hit 1.2bn.

The bill is five times higher than the original estimate of 250m.

Religious orders, which entered into an agreement to pay over an equal amount as the State, in return for indemnity if sued, had made a contribution of 192.9m, including interest, at the end of 2015.

In the six years since the publication of the Ryan Report, which led religious orders to pledge another 353m, just 85m - around 38pc - of this had been realised. Based on projections that total redress costs will reach 1.5bn, the contribution from religious congregations is expected to be 760m.

The agreement was worked out with former education minister Michael Woods.

The Comptroller highlighted massive overruns and said the final cost of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was originally forecast to be 2.5m, but it ended up with a bill of 82m. Around 2.6m of this was spent on an examination of vaccine trials which then had to be abandoned following a High Court judgment.

When it was set up in 1999 it had a two-year time frame but it took a decade to publish its report.

At the end of 2015 the Sisters of Mercy had paid over the most at 24.9m, although the order pledged 127.5m in 2009.

Christian Brothers had paid 10m and pledged 34m.

The Oblates paid 20m, having pledged 20.7m.

The Dominican order pledged 6.5m and had paid this in full.

At the end of 2015, awards of 970m in total were paid out to 15,597 survivors of abuse.

The Sisters of Mercy said last night it honoured all of its commitments and contributed property and cash worth 33,091,114.

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who managed St Conleths Reformatory, Daingean in Offaly on behalf of the State until 1971, said it honoured in full commitments to make a voluntary cash contribution towards Redress, following publication of the Ryan Report.

In a statement, the Order said: Following a call from An Taoiseach for voluntary contributions, the congregation immediately responded and committed to a payment of 20m. This was paid on a phased basis following discussions with the Department of Education and the final amounts were paid in 2013.

The Order said the payment was made in cash, no properties were associated with the contribution.

The highest award was 300,000 and the majority were at, or below, 100,000

The awards are based on the severity of abuse and the level of injury. Most of the applicants had legal advice and solicitors were paid 192.9m which was shared among 991 firms.

Seven of the solicitors' firms were paid between 5m and 19m.

The indemnity for religious orders has been invoked 33 times from legal actions taken by survivors.

This resulted in awards of 4.4m and legal costs of more than 5.7m.

The redress scheme is now near an end but there are ongoing support costs for survivors. Some 176m has been spent on counselling, health, housing and educational supports.

The report recommended that the Department of Education actively pursue the 21m due at the end of 2015.

In response the department said it expected cash contributions to be fully realised by 2018, while property transfers are being actively progressed.

Education Minister Richard Bruton expressed "frustration and disappointment" at the lack of progress by the religious congregations.

"This means that even if all the offers currently on the table are delivered upon, the religious congregations will have funded 21.1pc of the total cost of residential abuse, while the State will have funded 78.9pc," he added.
Examinations of the house were carried out by gardai yesterday afternoon (Stock picture)

An elderly man has died following a housefire in Co Donegal. James "Jimmy" Campbell was tragically killed in the incident.

A caller to the house alerted the fire service to the blaze, which happened at around 2pm yesterday afternoon.

Firefighters managed to get into the house and took him from the building, however the man was pronounced dead at the scene, at 2.22pm yesterday afternoon.

Blaze

It is understood he lived alone and nobody else was injured in the blaze.

He is believed to be a widower, and did not have children, according to local sources.

Two units of the Donegal Fire Service from Glenties and Dungloe attended the fire at a house in Glassaghbeg, Cloghan.

A local source said that he had just left a nursing home a few weeks prior to the tragedy, adding that his wife passed away about two years ago.

Gardai from Ballybofey Garda Station responded to the incident.

A postmortem will take place at Letterkenny University Hospital.

Examinations of the house were carried out by gardai yesterday afternoon.

He is believed to have relatives living in the area.
The Government has called the failure of some Catholic institutions to contribute fully to the redress scheme as "exceptionally disappointing".

Several Catholic bodies have yet to pay back the full State bill which adds up to 1.5bn to compensate people who suffered institutional abuse.

Minister Paschal Donohoe said the Church should adhere to a higher moral code, apart from the legal agreement that was made in 2002, at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Grangegorman on Friday.

"The overwhelming duty that we now have though is to those people who suffered during that point in our history - who suffered from abuse," he said.

"And that's why the Government is committed to putting the resources in place to make sure that the redress and support is available to those victims and crucially to avoid them having to go through a tough and public process in our legal system.

"So for our churches who correctly point to a higher moral code, it's particularly disappointing to see that code has not been adhered to in the contribution that they have made," he said.

It has been found that the Christian Brothers have withdrawn an offer to give the State an interest in school playing fields worth 127m.

"The offer, 49 pitches I think, would represent a contribution to the State's meeting of that 1.5bn. The truth is those pitches were in use within schools, they were not being handed over to the State, they were being retained in a Joint Trust," said Education Minister Richard Bruton.

"The Government of the day, under Minister Quinn, sought that firstly there would have to be permission if they were to be sold and if there was permission they would receive 50pc of the proceeds  that was not agreed to.

"So clearly the benefit of the State from money that was presented as being worth 127m simply wasn't going to be of such benefit of the State so it was rejected as a proposal," he said.

He added that he intended to meet the with the religious orders to discuss this, saying that the Orders pledged after the Ryan report that they would pay the 127m.

Several other institutes have not fully repaid what they have pledged to contribute to the State.
Locals pay their respects to the mother and children who died in a fire at Kilcronan Avenue in Clondalkin. Photo: Arthur Carron

The family of Biddy O'Brien is keeping a vigil by her bedside as she fights for her life. Her cousin Joanna Moorehouse has told the Irish Independent they are praying for a miracle.

"She's [Biddy] still in a critical state. All of the family are spending as much time in the hospital as possible and we're praying for a miracle of course," she said.

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Ms O'Brien, aged in her 30s, was the sole survivor of a west Dublin blaze which left four of her family members dead.

Medical staff were last night continuing to battle to save her .

Ms Moorehouse also spoke about the other victims.

"We hope that the bodies will be released at some stage tomorrow, but we're not 100pc sure.

"We'll be lighting candles soon enough in memory of our family who died," she said.

Tributes were paid throughout yesterday to the four fatalities, Annemarie O'Brien (27) - who was seven months pregnant - her daughter Paris (3) as well as Biddy's children Holly (2) and Jordan (4).

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The number of floral tributes and children's toys left at the site of the fire in Kilcronan Avenue, Clondalkin, grew yesterday .

"There are no words at a time like this," one simple message of condolence read.

Those who left tributes included women from the refuge centre that Annemarie O'Brien had been staying in with her daughter Paris.

The site was visited by Tanaiste and local Fine Gael TD Frances Fitzgerald, who described the tragedy as "desperately sad".

"Obviously a lot of people escaped from here but tragically four lives have been lost, so today we're thinking about the families and the friends and the people, the young children, the beautiful young children.

"It's a terrible tragedy this beautiful morning here and to think that four people have lost their lives and that there's another woman in hospital and it's just desperately sad, everybody's very, very traumatised by it," she told 'TV3 News'.

A number of items were removed in evidence bags from the apartment where the tragedy happened. It remained cordoned off yesterday.

In the afternoon, a member of the Garda Technical Bureau carried out an investigation of the first-floor room where the fire broke out.

Gardai said they are keeping an open mind on what caused the fire but one line of inquiry is that the an electrical fault from a TV may be the cause.

Shortly before 1pm, a number of gardai lifted the contents of a large black plastic bag into a white van.

Plain officers then removed a number of evidence bags from the apartment block.

A book of condolences was opened at the South Dublin County Council (SDCC) building in Clondalkin, with people arriving throughout yesterday to pay their respects.

"We are devastated at this tragic event and our thoughts and hearts go out to the families and friends of the deceased. Mother, Biddy O'Brien, remains in a critical condition in hospital," Pavee Point, a group which campaigns for Traveller rights, said in a statement.

It added their thoughts and condolences were with the families and friends of the deceased.

No funeral details have been announced for the four fatalities, who were all originally from Bray, in Co Wicklow.

Parish priest of Shankill Fr John O'Connor said the community would rally to support the victims' families.

"I don't think there's really any words that could respond to this awful tragedy," he told the Irish Independent.

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"I think it's absolutely awful. I was speaking to the dad of the two children earlier today and it's just so sad.

"His wife [Biddy] is still in hospital and in a bad way and we can only pray that the lord will spare her. The loss of three children is just shocking.

"I married that couple and my heart bleeds for them. They're very good and caring people and will be missed terribly," Fr O'Connor said.

"All we can do is put everything in God's hands and to console those who are bereaved."

Ms Moorehouse, spoke of the family's devastation in the wake of the fire.

"We're all devastated. We just want to know what happened," she said.

She said that Annemarie, who was seven months pregnant, was looking forward to the arrival of a baby boy.
Ireland's unseasonably warm weather is set to last into the weekend - but the warmest day may not arrive until Monday.

Temperatures of up to 15 degrees are expected on Saturday, making Ireland warmer than Greece which is experiencing temperatures as low as 12 degrees.

But high pressure due to build up over the country on Sunday night and into Monday means the mercury could hit 17 degrees as everyone returns to work.

"The beginning of next week looks better, a ridge of high pressure will mean it'll be dry with sunshine. If it comes as it looks now, temperatures will be in the teens between 14 and even even up to 17 degrees," Met Eireann forecaster Matthew Martin told Independent.ie.

Despite the warm temperatures the weather was not unusual for March, which often brings "big swings" in the temperature he said.

Today will be marked with cloud and patchy drizzle with the mercury set to hover around the 11 to 13 degrees mark.

Tonight there will be some light rain moving in from the west which will move east early tomororw.

On Saturday the west of the country will get the bright, sunny spells earlier in the day but by afternoon there will be dry, bright, sunny spells across the country.

Sunday morning is due to bring rain but the showers are expected to clear around lunchtime, with cooler temperatures of between 9 and 11 degrees.
The submission compares the basic pay of nurses and other public service grades, including radiographers, respiratory technicians, and teachers (Stock picture)

The main nursing union will demand a 12pc pay rise for its 40,000 members on top of any increases won by public servants at talks on a new wage deal this year.

A submission by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation to the Public Service Pay Commission, seen by the Irish Independent, said Ireland's nursing and midwifery workforce is in crisis due to staffing shortages, and its members are being tempted abroad or to private sector employers by higher pay and big incentive packages.

It said nursing shortages in the UK may already be as high as 190,000 with a million vacancies expected in the US by 2020.

The submission said there is significant justification for the commission to recommend the "adjustment" to pay it is seeking.

This would put nurses' wages on a par with therapeutic grades with similar education, including physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

General secretary of the INMO Liam Doran warned that the manner in which the labour market challenges facing nursing and midwifery are addressed in any pay talks in May will "heavily influence the INMO's approach to any new public sector pay agreement".

He said the union will seek an average 12pc increase in recognition of staff shortages and retention issues in addition to what is achieved by unions in having emergency legislation that cut their pay unwound.

"Our position is simple," he said. "We have to unwind the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest legislation, and resolve the pay issue of nurses and midwives once and for all to ensure Ireland offers a competitive pay structure for nurses and midwives compared to competing countries."

The union recently called off a work-to-rule but reached a deal with the HSE and Department of Health worth an estimated 10m to address the staffing shortage. It included a pilot pre-retirement scheme and restoration of allowances for new entrants, but the union will seek further measures at talks on a successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

The submission compares the basic pay of nurses and other public service grades, including radiographers, respiratory technicians, and teachers.

It also looks at the gardai following their recent 50m pay deal after calling off strikes.

It notes that after one year, a staff nurse is on the lowest salary, 29,497, compared with 31,942 for a garda after the recent deal, 32,806 for a teacher and 35,981 for occupational therapists. After 15 years, they are still on the lowest pay of 43,800 compared with teachers' 55,710 salary.

However, the table does not include additional earnings like overtime and allowances.

The union noted that in almost all other cases, except for gardai, the other public servants worked less than 37 hours a week, while nurses worked 39.

It said nurses rarely achieve full pensionable service, and average retirement is 61. This is mainly because it is a predominantly female workforce who would be more likely to seek a work/life balance.

The union said the HSE had rolled out a high-profile international recruitment campaign in the UK to bring home 500 nurses and midwives who may have left when there was an embargo on recruitment.

But it said the incentive package was not comparable with what was being offered elsewhere.
A boy who spent six weeks in Temple Street Children's Hospital after falling from the sixth floor of a hotel has returned to creche for the first time since the horror incident.

Neil Shanahan, who only turned three last week, fell six stories from a balcony in the Limerick Strand Hotel last July.

This week, the toddler was all smiles as he made his return to creche.

When asked about what happened to him, little Neil told the Limerick Leader: "I fell off the hotel and broke my bones," before launching into a rendition of the Batman theme and confessing his love for Weetabix.

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Despite being placed in a body-cast for an extended period of time after his terrifying ordeal, Neil will not require any special care or attention in creche.

Manager of Rainbow Childcare Academy, Nichola McEwan, said he was running around playing with his new classmates straight away.

"He has just settled back in with so much ease. A lot of children have enrolled this year. He wouldnt have known them. But hes just slotted in. He loved all the activities. Hes very sociable. Hes just a delight to have, Nichola told the Limerick Leader.

Neil's parents Martina and Michael are delighted their son has made a full recovery.

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He returned home from Temple Street Children's Hospital last August.

Martina and Michael held a Halloween trick-or-treat event, which raised 3,000 for the hospital.

Neil was also invited to turn on the Christmas lights in Limerick after his miraculous recovery.
A man has been rushed to hospital after falling 25 feet from scaffolding at Bull Island.

Dublin Fire Brigade rushed to the scene earlier today to assist the man.

The North Strand Fire Engine and Ambulance services helped the man using spinal precautions and gave him pain relief using an IV drip.

It's believed the man has been taken to Beaumont Hospital but the extent of his injuries are unknown.
Vera Twomey places her hands on the gates of Dail Eireann following completion of her protest march from Cork in support of the Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regualation Bill. Photo: Gerry Mooney

A mother who walked from Cork to Dublin to have a meeting with Simon Harris to get vital treatment for her seven-year-old daughter has been left heartbroken as she is still waiting on vital documents.

Vera Twomey, whose daughter Ava (7) suffers from Dravet Syndrome which involves intractable epilepsy, has led the charge for access to medicinal cannabis.

She undertook the 260km walk from Cork to Leinster House in an effort to urge Simon Harris to grant access to medicinal cannabis.

However, Vera was "left in tears" following a four and a half hour meeting with Mr Harris in which he failed to provide her with the vital documentation she needs.

She said she was forced to return home without the necessary papers , causing "serious concern" for the family.

A spokesperson for The Department of Health said: "The Minister is pleased that Ava Barry has an appointment with her consultant tomorrow and he believes this is the appropriate place for clinical decisions to be made."
The end of a long road, Vera Twomey places her hands on the gates of Dail Eireann following completion of her protest march from Cork in support of the Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regualation Bill. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Over 100 supporters in Macroom turned out in solidarity during some heavy showers in support of Vera Twomeys walk from Mallow to the Dail

Syve and Blathin Lynch show their support for Ava and her mother Vera on her walk to Dail Eireann

Vera Twomey and her daughter Ava (7), who has been taking cannabis oil Photo: David Conachy

A mother who walked from Cork to Dublin to have a meeting with Simon Harris to get vital treatment for her seven-year-old daughter has been left "heartbroken" as she is still waiting on vital documents.

Vera Twomey, whose daughter Ava (7) suffers from Dravet Syndrome which involves intractable epilepsy that cannot be controlled by normal medications, has lead the charge for access to medicinal cannabis.

She undertook the 260km walk from her home in Cork to Leinster House in an effort to urge Health Minister Simon Harris to grant access to medicinal cannabis for patients with certain conditions. She suffered a knee injury along the way and finished the journey in a wheelchair.

Vera said she was "left in tears" after a four and a half hour meeting with Mr Harris who she said promised to give her vital documents for her daughter's treatment.

"These important documents were to take a few hours to arrange after several attempts to contact officials regarding the eta of these documents with no response it took certain actions by TDs to eventually make contact with officials regarding said issue.

"This resulted in Paul (Vera's husband) making a trip to collect these papers at six thirty this evening. This callous indifference to our family resulted in a further day in Dublin and and unnecessary day for my children to be without their mother.

Expand Close Vera Twomey on her walk from cork in support of her Daughter Ava. She is pictured arriving on the outskirts of Dublin City at Newlands Cross. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Vera Twomey on her walk from cork in support of her Daughter Ava. She is pictured arriving on the outskirts of Dublin City at Newlands Cross.

"The enclosed documents hold none of the important documents necessary and promised to us by Simon Harris last night. It is truly truly disgraceful."

The Cork mother said she was forced to return home without the necessary documentation., causing "serious concern" for the family.

"I return down the road to Aghabullogue with Paul the tears are falling and my heart is breaking because of the injustice we are experiencing in our country.

"However I cannot say that their cruelty will defeat my efforts to gain access to medicinal cannabis legally for Ava in this country. I would ask you to to stay with us to keep Ava's position in your hearts."

Speaking on Newstalk, Ms Twomey said: "It's humiliating really, even talking about it is really humiliating."

A spokesperson for The Department of Health said: "The Minister is pleased that Ava Barry has an appointment with her Consultant tomorrow and he believes that this is the appropriate place for clinical decisions to be made."
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House Deputy Whip team at the East Room of the White House, March 7, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo : Getty Images)

China has granted preliminary approval for 38 Trump-related trademarks, paving the way for U.S. President Donald Trump and his family to develop branded business ranging from mining and construction to hotels and resorts, official documents show.



At least nine of the applications were approved by China's Trademark Office on February 26 and 27, according to CNN citing Chinese trademark documents.



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Trump's lawyers in China applied for 39 trademarks in April last year during the presidential campaign. Four were rejected in February, although the reasons remain unclear why they were not approved.



If no one objects, all but three of the trademarks will be formally registered under Trump after 90 days. The Chinese government has already allowed for the registration of one trademark to the president, for Trump-branded construction services on February 14, the result of a decade-long legal battle that ruled in Trump's favor after he declared his candidacy.



Democratic lawmakers and ethics lawyers have questioned the timing of the approvals, saying that Trump's growing portfolio of Chinese trademarks raises serious conflict-of-interest questions.



Maryland Senator Ben Cardin told CNN on Wednesday that the trademark approvals pose a "major concern" that could violate the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits federal employees from accepting "present, emolument, office or title," from a foreign state.



The timing of the approvals is a "deliberate decision" by China, Cardin said, adding that Trump "is jeopardizing the office of the presidency" by violating the Constitution.



Richard Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer for former U.S. President George W. Bush, said the large volume of approved trademarks raised red flags.



"A routine trademark, patent or copyright from a foreign government is likely not an unconstitutional emolument, but with so many trademarks being granted over such a short time period, the question arises as to whether there is an accommodation in at least some of them," he told The Guardian in a report published Thursday.



A spokesman for China's foreign ministry declined to comment on the trademarks granted to Trump but said that Chinese authorities "consistently and equally protect domestic and international trademark holders' legal rights."



Alan Garter, a Trump Organization lawyer, said the company has long been trying to protect Trump's intellectual property rights in China, with "core real estate" trademark have been registered in China since 2011.



"The latest registrations are a natural result of those longstanding, diligent efforts and any suggestion to the contrary demonstrates a complete disregard of the facts as well as a lack of understanding of international trademark law," Garten said.



The approved trademarks cover a range of industries including insurance, finance and real estate companies, branded spas, bars, hotels, day care centers, restaurants, and shoe repair and escort services.



Trump has previously accused China during the presidential campaign as a currency manipulator and stealing U.S. jobs. He has also pledged to refrain from making new foreign deals and place his businesses in a trust run by his adult sons.


Paul de Ferreira (34) sustained serious head injuries in an incident involving a quad bike in Clondalkin

A man has slammed the red tape in place that is making it difficult for his son who is recovering from a serious accident to receive additional private therapy in hospital.

Ronnie Spadaccinis son Paul de Ferreira (34) sustained serious head injuries in an incident involving a quad bike in Clondalkin, Dublin on the afternoon of Saturday, October 8, 2016.

The young mechanic was immediately rushed to Tallaght Hospital, before he was transferred to Beaumont Hospitals neurological ward for extensive surgery.

Paul, who was transferred back to Tallaght Hospital following the operation, is now receiving one session of occupational therapy a week.

His father Ronnie told Independent.ie he is trying desperately to supplement the single session a week with a private therapist who could come into the hospital, but said there are obstacles in my way.

Ronnie said Tallaght Hospital told them last-minute their therapist would need to be garda-vetted for the hospital, despite her being garda-vetted for another hospital where she currently works.

"Our whole lives changed in that half an hour, Ronnie said of the accident.

"Paul went into surgery in Beaumont. He was in an induced coma for four weeks.

"After five weeks, he was transferred back to Tallaght Hospital and he's been in Tallaght since.

"Paul requires occupational therapy and only gets it once a week. The occupational therapist told us he needs it twice a week. He still has some difficulties with his short-term memory.

"I've offered to get private therapy for Paul due to the lack of resources in the hospital.

"I arranged for a private therapist. She was meant to come in last Thursday but last-minute they told me she can't come in.

"They said she would have to be garda vetted for Tallaght Hospital, even though she is garda-vetted from another hospital where she has been working.

"My argument is if I'm willing to pay for an occupational therapist to give my son the treatment he needs, why is it being blocked over something trivial?, he continued.

"Why did I only hear about it last-minute? It can't be an unusual case, that nobody has ever tried this.

"At the end of the day, my son is suffering.

Paul is now waiting to return to Beaumont for another surgery which will add a prosthetic piece to his skull.

In the meantime, Pauls father Ronnie, his wife Lisa and his siblings are all trying to help with different occupational therapy exercises, but Ronnie acknowledged their attempts are not enough.

"Since January, Paul has had occupational therapy just six times, he said.

"Coming up to Christmas, he didn't have it at all because of the Christmas period.

"I've tried everything but there are obstacles in my way. Look, this may not help me or my son, but it may help somebody else.

"At the end of the day, Paul is still a young man.

"He is 34 years of age. He's worked all his life as a mechanic. He's paid all his taxes and look at what he's getting for it.

"The Government are robbing an ordinary, working person. His money's not going back into the health service."

Ronnie complimented the staff at Tallaght Hospital and said he wished to take the opportunity to thank them for their work and help. But he said Tallaght Hospital is not equipped for patients with head injuries.

"The nurses in Tallaght are fabulous to Paul. I understand what they have to put up with everyday.

But they don't have a neurological unit in Tallaght, Paul is on an orthopaedic ward with a brain injury.

"It's hospital policy that you go back to the hospital you were initially brought to in the emergency, he said.

"Paul was brought to Tallaght from the accident. We were told its because Paul was brought here first, that's the policy that he comes back here.

"This all comes down the HSE and the Health Minister.

"When your family is trying to bring in somebody, paying for somebody to come in and to give them the extra occupational therapy they need, they block it because of vetting. You'd think I just picked somebody up off the street, he continued.

"The Beaumont hospital consultant saved my son's life. They had to put away a bit of his skull in order to let his brain swell on the day of the surgery and they saved his life.

"They said they did 80pc of what they could do and that he would come back for more surgery."

A spokesperson for Tallaght Hospital told Independent.ie; In the interest of patient confidentiality, Tallaght Hospital cannot comment on individual cases.

While the Hospital does not enforce policies on patients or families who wish to supplement care with external resources, garda vetting is a statutory requirement for all healthcare workers who provide an onsite service to patients in Tallaght Hospital.

The HSE have been contacted for comment by Independent.ie
Scene on Blackrock Road, Cork, where a car crashed into a baby's buggy injuring it's skull Pic from Provision

A MOTHER and baby had a miracle escape in Cork after a car ploughed into a parked vehicle which pushed the infant's buggy against a wooden telephone pole.

The buggy was partially crushed between the left wing of the parked car and the heavy wooden pole.

The baby boy suffered head and soft tissue injuries in the incident. He was rushed to Cork University Hospital (CUH) but is expected to make a full recovery.

The boy's mother was treated at the scene for shock before also being taken to CUH for assessment for minor injuries.

Gardai are now appealing for witnesses to the freak accident last Wednesday.

The incident occurred shortly before 4pm on the Blackrock Road.

It is understood a car skidded out of control and mounted a footpath.

It then collided with the rear of a parked saloon car.

That vehicle, in turn, was pushed against the buggy and the wooden pole.

A number of onlookers rushed to the scene to help the infant and his distraught mother.

"It really is a miracle that we are not dealing with a tragedy," a senior source said.

"This could so easily have had a tragic ending."

Gardai paid tribute to the pedestrians who acted so quickly to help the woman and her child.

"We are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident or the vehicle involved in the minutes before the collision to contact us to help us with our inquiries," a garda spokesperson said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Blackrock Garda Station on (021) 4536690.
The driver of a white van found on fire near the scene of a fatal hit and run in North Dublin has been interviewed by gardai.

Karl Robertson (28), from Castlekevin Road in Artane, was jogging when he was knocked down on Hazelwood Drive, not far from his home, at 9.45pm on Wednesday. He died in hospital on Thursday night.

Expand Close Garda Supt Gerard Donnolly from Coolock Garda Station pictured making an appeal for witness and information at the scene of a fatal hit and run on Hazelwood Drive, Kilmore, Coolock. Picture: Frank Mc Grath / Facebook

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Whatsapp Garda Supt Gerard Donnolly from Coolock Garda Station pictured making an appeal for witness and information at the scene of a fatal hit and run on Hazelwood Drive, Kilmore, Coolock. Picture: Frank Mc Grath

A white Renault Megane van was discovered on fire a short time after the accident at Beechlawn Grove, close to Parnells GAA Club.

At a press conference in Coolock this afternoon Superintendent Gerard Donnelly said they were appealing for the publics assistance.

"A young man, Karl Robertson, was out jogging and was hit by a white Renault Megane van type car at Hazelwood Drive.

That van failed to remain at the scene and left. Karl sadly died as a result of his injuries last night. At the same time last night a 30 year old man presented himself at Coolock garda station and has assisted us with our enquiries, however as part of our ongoing investigations I would like to make an appeal for witnesses to come forward at Coolock garda station."

Expand Close A Family Picture of Karl Robertson [28] from Castlekevin Road who has passed away. Photo: Frank Mc Grath / Facebook

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Whatsapp A Family Picture of Karl Robertson [28] from Castlekevin Road who has passed away. Photo: Frank Mc Grath

Supt Donnelly said he was satisfied that the man who presented himself and was questioned was the driver of the van and that the van was not stolen.

He said that while Gardai are treating this as a criminal investigation he is satisfied there is nothing sinister in relation to it.

We are treating it as a hit and run traffic accident, he said.

He added that he did not know why the van was burned out and added that this was part of the ongoing investigation.

Supt Donnelly said it was his understanding that Karl was crossing the road when he was hit.

The driver was not arrested. He presented himself and came voluntarily to Coolock garda station last night and was interviewed. He is cooperating with the investigation, he said.

He issued an appeal for a number of people who were in the area between 9.45pm and 10pm to come forward.

In particular I am most anxious to contact a man in his 20s who may not be from Ireland but who interacted with some of the people here who were assisting Karl at the scene. That person indicated that they had witnessed the collision and I would ask him to come forward.

I am also aware that there may have been a couple, a man and a woman out walking at Hazelwood Drive at the time of the collision and again I would appeal for them to come forward.

I am also anxious to trace a taxi driver who picked up a man in his early 30s on Oscar Traynor Road shortly after 10pm on Wednesday night and he brought that fare to the Kilbarron Avenue area of Coolock. I would appeal to that taxi driver to make contact with us at Coolock garda station at 01 6664200.
The victims of the Buncrana tragedy: (clockwise from top left) Louises partner Sean McGrotty, their two sons Mark and Evan, sister Jodie Lee Daniels and her mother Ruth

The scene at Buncrana, inset from left Sean McGrotty (46), his mother-in-law Ruth Daniels (57) and her 15-year-old daughter Jodie Lee his sons Mark (12) and Evan (8); far right mum Louise with Evan

The family of the victims of the Buncrana tragedy will host a mass and a memorial walk to mark the first anniversary of the event.

Louise James lost her partner Sean McGrotty (49) their sons Evan (8) and Mark (12), her mother Ruth Daniels (57) and her daughter Jodie Lee Daniels (14) when their car slid on algae on Buncrana pier, Co Donegal.

Seconds before the car sank Mr McGrotty handed the couple's baby Rioghnach through the window to hero Davitt Walsh who swam to their aid on March 20, 2016.

In a statement the family said they "are deeply grateful for the prayers and support over the last year".

The first anniversary mass will be offered in The Holy Family Church, Ballymagroarty on Monday, March 20 at 7.15pm.

The statement adds that a memorial walk "in memory of all five members of the family" will take place on Friday March 24 in Derry.

Expand Close Sean McGrotty and his partner Louise James, with children Mark (12), Evan (8), and baby Rioghnach-Ann / Facebook

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Whatsapp Sean McGrotty and his partner Louise James, with children Mark (12), Evan (8), and baby Rioghnach-Ann

Anyone who is taking part in the walk is asked to pay a registration fee of 2.50 (2.86) and all proceeds will go to the Evan McGrotty Research Fund for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

The statement, released by Fr Michael Canny on behalf of the family, says: "Louise, The Daniels and The McGrotty family are deeply grateful for the prayers and support over the last year. As the Anniversary of the terrible tragedy approaches they would welcome space for privacy at this time."

Fr Joe Gormley, a close fr

To donate to the Evan McGrotty Research Fund for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy click here
A female shop assistant was thrown to the ground, threatened with a long knife and dragged to the cash register during a violent robbery at a jewellery shop in Limerick.

The shocking incident happened at Seoidin jewellers on Thomas Street in the city at 11am yesterday morning.

Gardai say a lone man entered the shop, wearing a blue puffy jacket and light blue bottoms, and pulled a knife on the female shop assistant who was alone in the shop at the time.

He threatened her and threw her to the ground before pulling her to the counter and forcing her to open the register.

The man then fled with a small amount of cash.

Gardai were alerted and a suspect was identified from CCTV footage.

Several units of the gardai carried out patrols in the area and a suspect was arrested nearby a short time later after a premises was searched.

The man, aged 30, was taken to Henry Street garda station and questioned under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

He is due before Limerick District Court this morning in relation to the matter.
A murder investigation has been launched after a 29-year-old man was found dead in an Irish home.

The body of the father-of-two was discovered in the Manor Drive area of the Co Armagh town yesterday afternoon.

It is not yet known how he died, but a post-mortem is set to be carried out.

Police last night arrested two men and a woman, all aged in their 30s.

Tributes have been paid to the victim online who has been named as Paul Curran.

Leading tributes, his cousin posted: "Can't believe I'm writing this. Rest in peace to the bestest cousin. Never will I forget the times I had with you. Love you millions, I'll be missing you."

Another post said: "Hearts broke gonna miss you pal R.I.P Paul Curran".

And another added: "Paul was one of the good guys, always up for a good laugh. Life's too short and this past few months has proved it. Rest in peace."

On Friday a Celtic football top was left at the scene by Mr Curran's family in tribute.

Sinn Fein councillor Liam Mackle said it was a "terrible tragedy" for the family.

"I appeal to anybody with information to bring it forward," he added.

"Everyone is just in shock. Hopefully the police can get information and people in the area will come forward with whatever information they have."

Upper Bann DUP MLA Carla Lockhart expressed her sympathy to the family, calling it a "tragic incident"

She said: "To have a young life cut short in such circumstances is shocking and a cause of concern to the wider community. My thoughts and prayers are with the family, who received the news this afternoon.

"I understand the PSNI has now launched a murder investigation and I would urge anyone with any more details to help in assisting the police with their investigation."

Detective Chief Inspector Eamonn Corrigan said: Pauls body was discovered inside the house shortly after 2.50pm on Thursday afternoon. A post mortem examination will be carried out to determine the cause of death and two men and a woman, all aged in their 30s, remain in police custody at this time in relation to the investigation.

I continue to appeal to anyone with any information which could assist us with our enquiries to contact detectives in Lurgan on 101 quoting reference number 639 09/03/17. Information can also be given anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
One person has been rescued from a fire which broke out in a house in the Poppintree area of Dublin in the early hours of the morning.

The blaze broke out at about 1.45am.

Three units of Dublin Fire Brigade fought the flames and rescued one person from the house.

They did not require hospital treatment.

A fire brigade spokesman said the blaze was brought under control at 2.30am.
RTE is to introduce a new digital service which will include programming aimed at Irish in the UK.

The service is designed to offset the loss of the station's longwave service which is due to shut down in June 2019.

The state broadcaster will launch the service on DAB+ digital radio and will be modelled on RTE Radio 1. In a statement the broadcaster said they work with stakeholders to maintain contact with the Irish community in Britain.

Full details of the service have not been clarified.

The station had originally planned to close the service in May 2017.

But the plan caused widespread anger, particularly among the Irish community in Britain, where the service is seen as a crucial lifeline for thousands of older emigrants who cannot access digital broadcasts.

The decision follows a consultative group which comprised of RTE, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the umbrella organisation Irish in Britain and representatives of Irish community in Britain

Minister of State for the Diaspora, Joe McHugh TD, welcomed the recommendations: I am delighted that there is now a way forward that takes into account as much as possible the views of older members of the Irish community in Britain. I have committed to making a contribution to this via the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme. The research we funded on this issue has made clear that RTE Radio is a fantastic resource for Irish people in Britain. Id like also to acknowledge the leadership the Irish community in Britain has shown on this.

Dee Forbes, Director-General, RTE, added: This is about listening, compromising and forging a way forward in partnership. Longwave as a technology is no longer viable in the long-term. It is crucial that we work with all partner bodies to evolve a replacement service and that RTE plays its part in supporting evolving technologies. Im confident we have a meaningful solution and the goodwill to make a success of it for audiences in the UK.

Since 2004 Irelands national public service media RTE has transmitted its most popular radio station RTE Radio 1 on Longwave 252kHz. This service has significant overspill into the island of Britain. In September 2014, RTE announced the closure of the service which was subsequently deferred to 2017.
SIPTU members working in Trinity College Dublin have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial and strike action, in a dispute concerning the failure of management to offer permanent contracts to staff, in a ballot counted in Liberty Hall, Dublin 1.

SIPTU Public Administration and Community Division Organiser, John King, said: Following this decisive vote by our members today the SIPTU Trinity College Dublin Section Committee will meet on Wednesday, 22nd March, to discuss the next steps in this campaign.

SIPTU representatives have advised the management of Trinity College Dublin that we remain available for meaningful negotiations in advance of the meeting on the 22nd March.
Experts: Beijing Wants to Fix the World, Washington Doesnt Want to Get Involved

Protests in South Korea over the THAAD. (Photo : Getty Images)

Beijing is trying to quell the conflict between North and South Korea and reestablish a world order. Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, wants Pyongyang to put the break on developing their nuclear technology.



Washington, on the other hand, wants to push Seoul to launch THAAD missiles in self-defense, instead to pushing the two countries to negotiate.



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Aside from the work that the Chinese government is doing with North Korea, they are also feeding the hungry in Africa, urging rebels in Myanmar to sign a peace pact, and convincing the Middle East to enter into peace negotiations.



Despite these efforts, foreign minister Wang said that China has no intention of stealing the leadership from the U.S. He did, however, criticized the U.S. for making matters worse for the Koreans.



Wang strongly urged Washington to stop joint military exercises with South Korea and urged all parties to consider a dialogue.



He said, "We are indispensable to the resolution of the nuclear issue."



"Nuclear weapons will not bring security. The use of force is no solution. Talks deserve another chance. And peace is still within our grasp," he noted.



Former Pentagon intelligence Dan Garret said that China is offering an alternative to war that is both moral and ideological.



He said that China's idea is in "sharply contrast their benevolent and more harmonious worldview with that of allegedly chaotic, destabilizing and violent free market capitalism, democracy and liberalism."



Garret said that Beijing wants "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," and will be "to return China to its formal glory as the center of the world."



He added, "We don't believe some countries should lead other countries" and pointed that the United Nations should take the lead in negotiations.



The U.S. has already started sending 8 out 10 missiles to South Korea, according to the U.S. Pacific Command.


A well-organised paedophile ring involving civil servants, ex-clergy, members of political parties and even gardai infiltrated the child-care system in Ireland.

Now campaigners believe that there were links between the Dublin-based ring and members of a well-organised paedophile ring which infiltrated the child-care system in north Wales, and which was finally exposed and broken up in the mid-1990s.

While the Catholic Church has been vilified in the Ryan Report there are now calls for an inquiry into the role of non-clerical abusers in state-run institutions

The Government has been taking a more severe legal attitude to victims of abuse in State-run schools and other institutions than the Catholic Church has to victims of clerical abuse, they say. The Department of Education has "taken on" one such victim, Louise O'Keeffe, who was raped by the headmaster of her school in west Cork when she was eight years old in 1973. Although former primary school headmaster Leo Hickey was convicted of multiple rape and abuse of children, Ms O'Keeffe was left with a legal bill of 500,000 after the State successfully fought her claim for compensation.

Hundreds of victims of rape and abuse by non-clerical teachers or care workers in the State's employ have received letters from the Dept of Education threatening that their cases will be fought.

Ms O'Keeffe, the High Court heard, suffered "catastrophic injuries" at the hands of the paedophile rapist Hickey -- who nevertheless continues to be paid his State pension of 26,000 a year.

Among the figures identified but never exposed because of insufficient evidence is a retired senior civil servant who would have the power to suppress indictments and reports on sex offenders.

Another is a retired former senior garda in Dublin who had well-known links to senior clergy and who was accused of raping a 13-year-old boy. The garda was transferred from a city station after the allegation but was never questioned or charged.

And at least one senior care worker remained in public employ until the mid-1990s, despite repeated claims by boys that he was an abuser and brought paedophiles from Britain and Northern Ireland to care homes to abuse boys.

Many boys who passed through the state-run homes later became teenage prostitutes. Several have made allegations about a ring of apparently rich and well-connected paedophiles with access to the homes in the 1980s.

In an ironic twist, an Irish woman who has been raising the issue of abuse of children in State-run institutions in Dublin, Loretta Byrne, was effectively forced from her job in the Department of Education in 1988 after she persisted in seeking action about allegations of abuse of boys in care.

Among the boys who claimed to have been raped in the late 1980s was Brendan O'Donnell, who went on to murder Imelda Riney, her three-year-old son Liam, and Fr Joe Walsh in 1994.

One home where Loretta Byrne says there was strong evidence of abuse was Trudder House in Wicklow, which was opened and run directly by the State in the 1970s specifically for Traveller children.

One of the first directors of Trudder House in Newtownmountkennedy was Duncan McInnes from Scotland, who raped and abused dozens of children in the home. He fled the country after complaints were made in 1981. He later died in Canada.

Paedophile David Murray was forced to leave the Sisters of Charity in Kilkenny in the mid-1970s after a boy said Murray had raped him. Rather than report this to the gardai, the Sisters helped Murray find a new job at Scoil Ard Mhuire at Oberstown, Co Dublin, where he worked for several years. Murray is believed to have had links with Welsh paedophiles who travelled between here and north Wales and even found jobs for some in State care homes here. He was eventually convicted of buggery and gross indecency and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in 1997.

By the time he was arrested and questioned in the mid-1990s, Murray had raped and abused boys in a succession of homes here and, it is believed, Wales and possibly Northern Ireland. Details of all this were excluded from the report which concentrated almost exclusively on the abuses in Church-run institutions.

Ms Byrne said: "The Government has been aware of the abuse that went on in state institutions for a very long time. [Judge] Mary Laffoy resigned because the Department of Education would not give her papers. They must release these papers if the victims in these places are to get the kind of closure that the clerical abuse victims have had in the redress process."
The rise in Government spending - led by wages - raced ahead of growth in the domestic economy last year, according to official figures.

It comes as Public Spending Minister Paschal Donohoe warned that a growing clamour for wage increases must be balanced against the limited available finances - and the looming threat of Brexit. In a speech at an industrial relations conference in Dublin, the minister called for "pragmatism, realism and compromise" amid rising public sector pay demands.

That includes the latest call from the country's main nursing union, which will seek a 12pc pay rise for its 40,000 members on top of general public sector increases in wage talks this year.

Yesterday, official data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed Irish growth levels plunged dramatically in 2015, but that was a result of the most extreme effects of so-called 'Leprechaun Economics' appearing to wear.

Official preliminary growth figures show the economy grew by 5.2pc in 2016, measured in terms of gross domestic product (gdp). That's down from the officially reported 2015 growth rate of 26pc, a widely mocked reading.

Setting those anomalies aside, Irish growth remained the strongest in the European Union last year, dwarfing average euro area growth of less than 2pc.
Historian Catherine Corless at the site of a mass grave for children who died in the Tuam mother and baby home. Photo: Niall Carson

Children's Minister Katherine Zappone has apologised to the victims of the Mother and Baby Homes scandal.

The minister has agreed to publish the interim report of the Commission of Inquiry into the scandal by the end of this month.

Ms Zappone referred in the Dail to the 474 so-called "unclaimed infant remains" which were transferred from Mother and Baby Homes to medical schools in universities between 1940 and 1965.

The minister also announced that she is about to begin discussions with advocates, historians and other experts who have studied a model of inquiry used by countries like Chile and Argentina to try to come to terms with a range of large-scale past abuses.

Ms Zappone said an interim report from the commission investigating Mother and Baby Homes will be published by the end of the month.

During a special Dail debate on the Tuam babies scandal, the minister acknowledged the calls made since last Friday for an expansion of the terms of reference to cover all institutions, agencies and individuals that were involved with Ireland's unmarried mothers and their children.

Ms Zappone said she wanted to offer solidarity and a personal apology for the wrongs that were done to those affected.

Oireachtas rules state that 20 TDs must be present for a debate to begin.

However, despite the massive public focus on the Tuam scandal over the past week, there was not an adequate attendance at 10am yesterday morning.

Parties scrambled to get sufficient numbers into the Dail Chamber.

When the debate did get under way, Ms Zappone made a personal apology to the victims of the homes.

She also confirmed she will publish a long-awaited interim report from the Commission of Investigation.

This was welcomed by Opposition TDs, but Ms Zappone is still facing calls to widen the scope of the commission's work.

Labour Party TD Jan O'Sullivan said the Commission was set up "to examine a sample" of cases but the events of recent days showed its terms of reference now need to be widened.

Ms O'Sullivan said the country is facing "a scandal of huge proportions".

Ms Zappone agreed to carry out a scoping exercise to decide whether it is viable to extend the inquiry to cover "all institutions".

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Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams questioned why there is no garda investigation into the find in Tuam.

Ms Zappone listed a litany of truths that Irish society and its institutional pillars must now accept, including that, between 1940 and 1965, 474 so-called "unclaimed infant remains" were transferred from such homes to medical schools.

The RTE Prime Time documentary 'Anatomy of a Scandal', which was initially broadcast in 2011, revealed for the first time the remains of hundreds of infants were passed from Mother And Baby Homes and related institutions into the anatomy departments of medical colleges right up to the mid-1960s.

Ms Zappone said she is about to begin discussions about the issue with historians and scholars - specialising in the use of a set of approaches which the UN calls "transitional justice" which enables societies to try to come to terms with a range of large-scale past social abuses.

She cited its use in countries like Chile and Argentina while they were emerging from their repressive pasts.
HSE boss Tony O'Brien is being accused of providing "inaccurate or misleading" information to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) about the 'Grace' foster home case.

It came as the Oireachtas approved the terms of a Commission of Investigation into the controversy over why Grace was allowed to remain in a home in the south east for 13 years, after allegations of sexual abuse were made against her foster father.

Mr O'Brien was appearing before the PAC to be quizzed on the HSE's fair-deal scheme .

However, the committee's chairman, Fianna Fail's Sean Fleming, began the session by challenging him on his previous remarks on the foster home issue.

Mr Fleming said media reports last weekend indicated the HSE waited three years after the completion of a report about Grace's treatment before contacting gardai about publishing the report.

He said that Mr O'Brien last year told the PAC that the HSE had been in "close liaison" with the gardai from the outset of the Conal Devine report.

"I want you to come back within seven days to clarify the accuracy or otherwise of your previous statement," said Mr Fleming.

Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald also challenged Mr O'Brien on the issue.

"I am very concerned that inaccurate, or misleading, information has been given to this committee by yourself in respect of the Devine Report, and what you claimed was a Garda insistence that reports couldn't be published, and disciplinary actions could not be taken against HSE staff on the instruction or advice of An Garda Siochana," she said.

She also referred to the RTE report that stated there was no communication with the gardai for three years.

"I am very concerned that you weren't complete in the information that you gave to this committee," she said.

"I am concerned also that misleading information has been given to the committee in respect of those staff who were responsible for keeping Grace in that foster home," she said.

"Is it the case that one or all of those responsible still work within the public sector? We need to know."

Mr O'Brien said that he hadn't had an opportunity to re-read the transcripts of his previous PAC appearance and that he would need to do so to equip himself fully "to give the most complete answers".

It was agreed that he would have a week to supply information to the PAC and that he would reappear before the committee within another seven days to discuss the matter.

The Oireachtas last night approved expanded terms of reference for the Commission of Investigation into the abuse of Grace.

The second part of the inquiry will examine the cases of 46 other children that stayed in the foster home.
Enda Kenny must provide greater clarity surrounding his pledge to step aside as Taoiseach, ministers have warned.

They want the Taoiseach to make his intentions clear during his first address to the parliamentary party after St Patrick's Day.

Following a brief lull within the party over the leadership issue, Fine Gael figures are now becomingly increasingly concerned that Mr Kenny will seek to extend his tenure beyond the summer.

There is now no appetite within the party for Mr Kenny to remain on as leader beyond April, bar among one or two loyalists.

Mr Kenny, a Mayo TD, is due to travel to the US next week for his much-anticipated visit to the White House to meet US President Donald Trump.

But a number of party sources of various rank this week said Mr Kenny must spell out his plans at the first parliamentary party following his return, expected to be March 29.

"Any failure to do so will cause unrest," one Cabinet source told the Irish Independent.

There have been increasingly audible murmurs of discontent in recent days as more and more ministers and TDs say Kenny should step aside.

Leadership

Meanwhile, the latent leadership battle within Fine Gael rumbles on. While supporters of Simon Coveney said they will maintain their strategy of allowing Mr Kenny to step aside in his own time, supporters of Leo Varadkar have been less yielding and insist Kenny must step aside within weeks following his return.

Both camps are confident that they have the potential to secure the majority of the support in the parliamentary - with focus now turning to courting the 19 senators.

Meanwhile, Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has been gauging support within the party over her prospect of securing seven signatories for a leadership bid.

Names she is expected to seek support from include Health Minister Simon Harris - who withdrew from the leadership race this week.

Sources say Ms Fitzgerald is also eyeing up the backing of European Affairs Minister Dara Murphy and the party's deputy leader James Reilly.

Arts Minister Heather Humphreys, Regional Development Minister Michael Ring and Senator Joe O'Reilly are also set to be asked to sign her nomination form.

The speculation surrounding the Taoiseach's future came as one of his key allies secured a big victory.

Donald Tusk yesterday won a second term as president of the European Council, with the Taoiseach's backing.

The decision was made despite vociferous opposition from the government in Mr Tusk's native Poland, which had put forward an alternative candidate.

Mr Tusk's re-election was supported by all EU countries bar Poland.
Donald Tusk has won a second term as president of the European Council, with the Taoiseach's backing.

The decision was made despite vociferous opposition from the government in Mr Tusk's native Poland, which had put forward an alternative candidate.

There was speculation that Mr Kenny was being touted for the job, but he denied it ahead of the vote. "I have a job and I'm voting for Donald Tusk this evening," Mr Kenny told reporters. Mr Tusk's re-election was supported by all EU countries bar Poland, and alternative candidates were not considered.

"Grateful for trust & positive assessment by #EUCO. I will do my best to make the EU better," Mr Tusk tweeted after being re-elected for another two-and-a-half year term, starting from June.

Mr Tusk was the only candidate except for Polish MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, whose name was thrown into the mix by the Poland's ruling Law and Justice party at the last minute.

The vote was the only tense moment at the EU summit, where leaders gathered to discuss the economy, migration and the fragile political situation in the Western Balkans.

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Brexit was not on the agenda, but the Taoiseach met with British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the summit.

He said the UK must pay its bills upon leaving the EU, and expressed concern at the "political challenge" of maintaining an open border in Northern Ireland.

Mr Kenny pleaded for a "sense of realism" in the upcoming Brexit talks, which are due to kick off in April, once the UK officially notifies the EU of its intention to leave.

"The language on both sides here will change in terms of its rhetoric, from time to time, but I think we have to have a sense of realism."
Historian Catherine Corless at the site of a mass grave for children who died in the Tuam mother and baby home. Photo: Niall Carson

Children's Minister Katherine Zappone has said it will be a number of weeks before her department has finished looking at what other institutions and that she hopes men come forward to testify in any investigations.

She said the shocking revelations have forced Ireland to confront a dark period of our past.

"As the poet laureate Anne Enright says 'the dead do not lie' and we are, all of the people in Ireland, throughout the country and internationally as well, trying to come to terms with what does this actually mean for our country," she said.

"It's an uncovering and a challenge for us to face, maybe in a new way, a really dark period in our history," she said.

Ms Zappone's department is currently undertaking a scoping exercise to extend the terms of reference of the commission to look at other settings where pregnant women and their children were sent.

It will be a "number of weeks" however until any changed terms of reference are announced she confirmed, speaking on RTE'S Radio One.

"I've had many grown men come to me and cry in my presence trying to come to an understanding about what this meant for unmarried women and their children but also who is responsible, what was it about our society, how could people behave this way?," she said.

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In the Dail this week Taoiseach Enda Kenny, commenting on Irish society at the time that "women of that era had an amazing capacity to self-impregnate" and that nuns did not kidnap the children.

Broadcaster Sean O'Rourke questioned whether Ms Zappone imagined a scenario where we would hear from any significant number of men about what they knew at the time pregnant women were being sent to institutions.

"That's a great question Sean and I hope the men hear you as a man asking it and come forward. I would love to see that happen," the minister replied.

Ms Zappone also plans to look at setting up a process which would allow survivors with opportunities to tell their stories publicly.

The TD also looked back on the Gda Maurice McCabe whistleblower scandal which saw a series of conflicting accounts between Ms Zappone and the Taoiseach about a meeting between the Minister and the McCabe family.

She said she never feared being pushed out of Government and was at all times concerned with the McCabes.
'We have no monopoly on gobshites - and we take our prejudices with us." The above comment came from an Irish friend of mine who has lived four decades in Brussels.

It was a swift riposte, delivered quite a few years ago in a bar room discussion among Irish emigres in Brussels, about the prospects of a certain Irish politician landing a big international post.

At times such as that, the small country national inferiority complex can kick in with a vengeance. In that discussion it was on display big-time among some in the company who maintained 'Politician X' just could not measure up.

The reality is that the vast bulk of people we sent overseas to take on international posts acquitted themselves well. Some left a considerable mark in the job they took up. Patrick Hillery, Ray MacSharry, Peter Sutherland and John Bruton are among those who impressed in various EU and other postings.

My friend's net point was mediocre people sometimes achieve high-flown posts in all countries, and some of those about whom we have doubts at home, are better received when they go overseas. Padraig Flynn was a good example of this.

The Mayoman was denigrated by many critics at home before being posted to Brussels, to Labour's relief, in the making of Albert Reynolds' 1992 Fianna Fail-Labour coalition. But the self-styled "Pee" Flynn was an excellent EU Commissioner, who also proved a good behind-the-scenes advocate for Ireland.

All of this is just to take the scenic route towards telling you that Enda Kenny was and is a credible candidate for certain EU appointments. Mr Kenny's name recurred again this week amid a furious row over the candidacy of Polish statesman Donald Tusk for another term as head of the European Council.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo had strongly opposed Mr Tusk's candidacy and proposed another candidate, a little-known Polish MEP called Jacek Saryusz-Wolski.

It is all part of a bitter inter-party row in Poland which should make all Irish people grateful for small mercies. It also led to Mr Kenny being cited on a list of potential standby candidates.

Happily, the other 27 member states banded together and endorsed Mr Tusk, who has operated impressively up to now.

After the vote, the Polish premier said Mr Tusk's reappointment would damage EU efforts to recover after Brexit. And that it was a "question of principles" that any candidate should be backed by his home country.

Happily, Ireland has avoided such small-minded and unseemly behaviour up to now, at least on the international stage. There have been some examples of Irish governments donning the "green jersey" and passing on small-time party interests in such matters. Here are just three instances.

In 1993, Taoiseach Albert Reynolds of Fianna Fail supported Peter Sutherland, originally a Fine Gael politician, for the post as head of the GATT world trade organisation. In 1994, Fine Gael Taoiseach John Bruton re-appointed Padraig Flynn, originally of Fianna Fail, as EU Commissioner for an extended term. In 2004, Taoiseach Brian Cowen of Fianna Fail backed the candidature of John Bruton for the powerful post as EU ambassador to the USA.

All of these appointments were a success at home and abroad. They increased Ireland's international reputation in the medium to longer term as all proved to be people of quality well suited to the challenges.

In a week in which we have had cause to question our ability to order our own affairs, it is well to keep these pointers in mind. We are not the best in the world - but we are very far from the worst.
Jessica Allen, four, was the youngest handler at Crufts. Photo: Penny Wallington

Jessica Allen, four, was the youngest handler at Crufts. Photo: Penny Wallington

Jessica Allen, four, was the youngest handler at Crufts. Photo: Penny Wallington

Jessica Allen, four, was the youngest handler at Crufts. Photo: Penny Wallington

A four-year-old girl is believed to be the youngest dog handler ever to compete at Crufts - with her pet terrier which is older than her.

Jessica Allen impressed the main arena with her five-year-old Australian Terrier Annie today and won the Good Citizens' Australian Terrier category.

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Her dog handler mother Felicity Freer supported Jessica in the crowd, while her father Richard Allen was judging some Welsh Terriers nearby.

Jessica grew up with eight dogs and her grandmother Wendy Allen (69) is also involved in the shows.

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Mrs Freer (34) told the Telegraph: "When we were showing in Windsor last year, Jessica won with Annie in her class. Then when I lost in the challenge with the same dog she was saying to me oh mummy, even I could have done better than that.

"Her headteacher gave her two days off to compete and she has loved every second.

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"I said to her, about half an hour before she went out into the arena look love, it doesnt matter if you lose, its all about the competing, but she just retorted back that there was no point competing unless you could win.

As a competitive person myself I was delighted to here it."

Jessica will be back in the arena today with five-year old Australian Silky Terrier Cariad.

A spokesman for the Kennel Club, which runs Crufts, said Jessica could be the youngest person ever to compete in the adult arena, but they were unable to confirm it.

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Mrs Freer added: "Im so proud Jessica. Its been such an amazing experience for her.

"Its fantastic to see her following in her Dads footsteps  he won the Terrier group at least twice when he was a handler.

Jessica has a lovely personality, and the dogs automatically warm to her.

As soon as she could walk she was in with the puppies, talking to them, playing with them.

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Almost all her life weve been practicing in the kitchen, in the back yard.

Other people have wanted Jessica to show their pups, which is the ultimate compliment.

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Im looking to buy her an Australian Terrier for herself, so that she can compete again and train it herself.

They are wonderful dogs, and have such a gentle way with children.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Being a chef in China has long been viewed as a mostly male affair, given the physically taxing nature of tending to kitchen action. (Photo : Getty Images)

China joins the rest of the world in celebrating International Women's Day, an event highlighting the brilliance of women as they work to prove their capabilities in an otherwise patriarchic milieu. Retired chef Hu Limei, who belongs to China's first wave of professional chefs, stands out as a notable example.



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In a country where sexism remains rampant, Hu stands out as a rare gem of women empowerment among the Chinese. Her skills in the kitchen, as well as her desire to become ahead of her male counterparts, earned her the adulation of all the men who worked with her.



Hu spent a significant part of her professional career as the executive chef of Park Hotel, Shanghai's oldest hotel, since the 1980s. Her stint saw her serve some of China's most notable personalities, including former political leaders Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, China Daily reported.



Despite being retired, Hu remains enthusiastic in sharing her knowledge in imperial Beijing cuisine, which she specializes in despite having worked in Shanghai for a good part of her life. The 76-year-old recently featured as a guest chef for the "China Master Chef Banquet" held at Hilton Beijing Wangfujing.



Hu's dedication to her craft boils down to her sheer passion for culinary arts, and she personally took being a woman as a motivation to become better than her male contemporaries. She underlined that women are typically shunned in favor of men in the kitchen, citing the latter's lesser distractions.



But Hu herself proved that thinking wrong; she managed to hold on to her grit to become a successful chef despite tending to her own big family. She was so determined to succeed, that she even went to the extent of learning Shandong dialect to best communicate with her Shandong master.



With nothing else than a thoroughly-emptied plate of her food to make her happy, Hu takes pride in being a woman by highlighting her penchant for paying greater attention to detail, as well as her willingness to work for longer hours towards achieving perfection.


Once known as boring old Hogtown,Toronto is now a sparkling, bustling metropolis, says Donal Lynch.

Is Canada having a moment?

While Australia currently looks like an expensive, anti-immigrant nightmare and America convulses with news of travel bans and rabid nationalism, 'America junior' (as The Simpsons once condescendingly dubbed it) suddenly seems like a reliably sane alternative - it was recently reported that almost a third of British travellers say they'd prefer it to the US.

Canada has all of the things that really make its southern ally great - spectacular natural scenery, buzzing multi-cultural cities and an English-speaking population - but without the seething culture wars that define its neighbour. Canadian pop culture is all the rage, too, thanks to hip acts such as Drake, the Weeknd, Grimes and the still-huge-but-now-slightly credible Justin Bieber.

As the lumbersexual slowly replaces the hipster, the country that is synonymous with lumberjacks has new cachet. The recent visit to the White House by Canada's premier highlighted other unflattering (for America) comparisons between these two great North American nations.

While America has a ranting orange reality TV star at the helm, Canada is ruled by a baby-kissing, puppy-hugging, equal-opportunity-loving liberal piece of beefcake called Justin Trudeau. And to paraphrase Joni Mitchell in her song about Canada, we could drink a case of him and still be on our feet.

If Canada is suddenly in vogue, then Toronto - or "Trawno" as the locals pronounce it - has quietly been coming into its own for about a decade now.

Once known as boring old Hogtown, the city is now a sparkling, bustling metropolis of 2.8m people that feels more like Dubai or Shanghai, but without the corporate sterility of either of those places.

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For the past few years the skyline of Toronto has been dark with cranes, looming over a city which has become the fourth biggest in all of North America, eclipsing Chicago. If you approach from the water, almost every building you see will have been constructed in the past two decades, and they've done a lot with the waterfront too. The city has been booming for so long and so consistently that few can remember what Toronto was like when it wasn't booming.

There were 13 skyscrapers in 2005; there are now close to 70, with 130 more under major buildings construction. Like LA, Toronto sprawls in all directions and seems to be almost permanently booming.

As many of the Irish who have made their homes in the city have also found, it's a city built on contradictions. Toronto boasts of how clean and energy efficient it is but Torontonians spend most of their brutal winters living and moving beneath their city, in an ever-growing labyrinth of well heated corridors (which, be warned, are also very confusing to navigate if you've never been in them before).

It's a place renowned for its safety - even to the point of being dull - but its most famous politician was undoubtedly its crack-smoking mayor Rob Ford, who died last year. And it's a place which has managed the magical feat of becoming interesting through being so predictable.

The city's reputation for reliable inclusiveness has made it by many metrics the most diverse city in the world, beating out opposition from obvious contenders. It is a melting pot like no other and everywhere you walk in the city you see it. While Montreal, where I landed before connecting onward, is unabashedly French-Canadian, Toronto is a global city. And in an era when public discourse never seemed so shrill and rude, the sheer politeness of Toronto is suddenly chic.

Of course one of Toronto's biggest selling points for international visitors is Niagara Falls, which is a day trip out of town. Canada wins here again over America - the best views are from the Canadian side of the border - but it's important to arrive with an open mind about nature and commerce co-existing.

The falls themselves are spectacular, but the town itself is certainly a little kitsch, full of T-shirt shops, fast-food joints and amusement fairs. Still, nothing can detract from the awe-inspiring power of the falls, and the sight of millions of gallons of water cascading just feet away from an ordinary road and pavement.

A trip on the Maid of the Mist is essential, to experience the force and beauty of the water. The cloud of spray throws spectacular double rainbows. There is also a new zip-line experience over part of the Falls. It isn't as scary as it sounds, though you need a head for heights. The gorge is about 60m below the launch platform and you can control your descent, up to a point, and it's certainly a great selfie-ready update on the standard activities here.

On dry land, the IMAX cinema tells the stories of some of the people who have gone over the falls, and survived, and the various vessels in which they did so are on show in the museum there. Avoid both the American and Canadian cities of Niagara Falls, both are full of tacky casinos. Instead, if your legs are up to it, take a hike into the Niagara Gorge at Devil's Hole State Park, to see the whirlpools and rapids in a more natural setting. The town of Niagara Falls plays host to five restaurants owned by Niagara Parks and all are certified by Feast On, an Ontario scheme under which at least half of ingredients used have to be sourced locally.

As I waited for my ride back to the city I logged into my email and looked at the news and social media websites for a few hours. This was a vacation mistake that I think we should all strive not to make, despite the understandable temptation to make everyone at home jealous with some well chosen shots. There is something gloriously freeing about being unplugged from the digital world for a few days. Rather than looking on oppressive North American roaming charges as an outrage, we should embrace them as an opportunity to liberate ourselves from our devices. Our phones might seem like comforts, but they are hidden sources of stress.

Back in the city I took a walking tour of Toronto, which took in some of the homes of some of the city's most famous entertainers - Mike Myers, Jim Carrey and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels among them.

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We swung by the Eaton Centre, which, depressingly, is still one of the biggest tourist attractions - it's just a huge generic mall, the likes of which you have seen many times. For serious shoppers and fashionistas the place to begin is West Queen West. Recently dubbed "the second hippest neighbourhood in the world" by Vogue, this very cool enclave is home to independently-owned art galleries and boutiques.

Quentin Crisp, when he visited Toronto, found it's inhabitants to be, in the main, in "very self-indulgent physical shape" - but when you see what's on offer food wise you can understand why.

These days many Toronto chefs treat the country's iconic French fries-based dish, poutine, in a less than deferential manner. Instead of the traditional cheese curds and gravy, more creative toppings are being used, from brie to jerk chicken, reflecting the city's multi-cultural dining scene.

For an even deeper dive into this scene it's of course worth scouting the ethnic areas of the city. Toronto has five Chinatowns, but you might want to head for the speciality shops and traditional Oriental stores in the "newer" Chinatown, in particular, around the busy intersection of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street. Nearby, Kensington Market is a veritable United Nations of stalls, shops and restaurants with Middle Eastern, Thai, Cajun, Vietnamese, African, Caribbean, Portuguese and Jewish traders. Toronto is also home to the biggest Italian population outside Italy and much of Little Italy (College Street west of Bathurst) seems to be painted in sepia tones, with many specialist stores and plenty of mom and pop cafes with good coffee and luxurious gelati.

Alternatively, stroll along Gerrard Street and you'll find a small enclave with Indian shops and food stalls in Little India. The Distillery District is a pedestrianised, cobble-stoned heritage area with galleries, cafes and breweries, where the movie Chicago was shot (Toronto doubles as a lot of American cities in the movies, because of generous tax breaks for filming). The district was home to the British Empire's largest whisky distillery in the 1860s, although it must be said that modern Canada's connection to its British heritage seems tenuous (less than a fifth of the population now have British ancestry).

Like Niagara Falls, the famous CN Tower - the signature building of Toronto's skyline - has been given an update. Once the world's tallest tower, the 553m landmark offers panoramic views over the city and Lake Ontario and the views from the glass floor would be more than scary enough for most of us. But real thrill-seekers can now sign up for the EdgeWalk (edgewalkcntower.ca). Harnessed and tethered, you move around the ledge, 356m up: lean out, look down, wave to the camera. Or, at sunset, just enjoy a drink and dinner in the 360 restaurant, from which you can appreciate the gargantuan scale of Toronto.

The one criticism I would make of Canada is that, despite recent appearances to the contrary, it is not necessarily an easy place to get in to. They may be fine with refugees, but on the day I travelled, the customs and immigration queues at the airport were like something from the launch of a new iPhone. I waited for four-and-a-half-hours in Montreal before being allowed to travel on to Toronto, and the processing took longer than it has for any country I've visited.

Yet I'd return to Toronto more quickly than I would to almost anywhere else. When you return from a trip people often ask you about the weather or what you did, but they don't ask the real question: whether, despite the inherent hassles of travel, you felt at least for a short time really free. By this metric Toronto was a success.

The leisurely lie-ins, the casually discovered treasures of a strange city, the reconnection with old friends all added immeasurably to the holiday vibe. And the amiable nature of Canadians, the intuitive user-friendly nature of their de facto capital and the memorable beauty of a blazing Canadian fall made this a holiday that burns brightly in the memory.

Get there

There are several daily direct flights from Dublin to Toronto, with a few cheaper options if you are willing to fly via Montreal. As with the US the return flights are usually red-eye  overnight.

Air Transat (airtransat.ie / 00 800 872 672 83) offers return flights direct from Dublin to Toronto for 502.60pp, based on travel in April 2017.

Toronto is nothing like New York or Paris in terms of getting bang for the buck: you can get a decent-sized room for a reasonable price. For room rates and information for the Chelsea Hotel, where I stayed, visit chelseatoronto.com.

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For further information on Toronto and the surrounding province of Ontario, visit SeeTorontoNow.com and ontariotravel.net.

TAKE TWO: Top attractions

On cruise control

A cruise with Toronto Harbour Tours lets you enjoy the scenic Toronto skyline, and gives you a close up look at the beautiful Toronto Islands (toronto.ca/parks/island)

Living the high life

Experience Niagara Falls as you glide along a 67m high line at speeds of 40mph, along the edge of the vast Niagara river gorge to the Falls observation landing. Visit: wildplay.com/niagarafalls.

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Local schoolgirls pay their respects at the site of the mothers and babies home unmarked grave in Tuam, Co Galway. Photo: Andy Newman. Photo: Andy Newman

Attitudes to unmarried mothers and their babies have changed back and forth over the centuries. The historian Ivy Pinchbeck says that in medieval England, children born outside of marriage were not viewed as being as much of a problem as later and were absorbed into their mothers' communities and worked on the farms like everyone else.

From Elizabethan times, with the introduction of the first poor laws, attitudes began to harden, and then hardened again in the 19th century in both Britain and Ireland. An award-winning essay by Dorothy L Haller called 'Bastardy and Baby Farming in Victorian England', shows how society's attitude became even more punitive in the 19th century and this legacy continued well into the 20th century, with only some attempts to soften the edges.

Ms Haller writes that prior to the 1830s, unmarried mothers and their babies tended to be looked after, reluctantly, out of parish funds, but then it was decided they were too much of a drain on scarce parish resources. They were to be dealt with under new poor laws that made it even harder for them to receive help, including from the father of the child.

Previously the father could sometimes be forced to pay for the upkeep of his child, but then it was decided by the then chancellor that forcing men to pay for their 'illegitimate' children made them "victims of the seducer's art".

The hardening of attitudes to unmarried mothers seems to have happened almost across the board. Many Christians supported it, but so did followers of the rising philosophy of utilitarianism, who were often not at all religious, and who tended to believe in the doctrine of the 'survival of the fittest'.

The Gradgrind character in Charles Dickens' 'Hard Times' caricatures the type.

The New Poor Law of 1834 led to the widespread establishment of workhouses and so on. Unmarried mothers and their babies now found the world an even harsher place.

The London 'Times' of 1834 declared that relief to mothers of 'illegitimate' children had reached "a pitch extremely oppressive to the parishes, and grievously detrimental to female morals".

There was lots more of this kind of thing from the leading organs and thinkers of the day and it lasted for decades. A distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor was made very clear. This was Victorian morality writ large.

The laws and the institutions developed under this new, harsher dispensation for unmarried mothers and their children, extended to Ireland. Here, as in England, the churches ran many of the institutions.

After we won independence in 1922, the Catholic Church and Irish society, instead of looking at the system of institutions we inherited and radically reforming, if not abolishing and replacing them, seemed to instead double down on the worst kind of Victorian morality.

This is what helps to explain the Tuam Mother and Baby home, and other, similar institutions in this country, and elsewhere. (Mother and baby homes continued to exist in Britain until well after the middle of the last century.)

Enda Kenny spoke about the matter in the Dail this week.

He said: "Tuam is not just a burial ground, it is a social and cultural sepulchre. That is what it is. As a society in the so-called 'good old days', we did not just hide away the dead bodies of tiny human beings, we dug deep and deeper still to bury our compassion, our mercy and our humanity itself. No nuns broke into our homes to kidnap our children. We gave them up to what we convinced ourselves was the nuns' care."

His tone and his words contrasted very sharply with those of Labour's Kathleen Lynch in 2013 when she addressed the Dail about Bethany Home, which also housed unmarried mothers and their babies.

Ms Lynch, then the junior minister in the Department of Justice, used much softer language than the Taoiseach, even though hundreds of babies also died in Bethany Home and were buried in an unmarked grave.

Explaining the high death rate in the Protestant-run institution she said: "Unfortunately, poverty and disease were commonplace in Ireland up to the 1950s and this was reflected in infant mortality rates.

"Infant mortality rates in the 1940s were at a level that is hard to comprehend today, about 20 times higher than now and that figure applies across the entire population. For those who were malnourished and subject to disease and a lack of hygiene, the figures would have been higher still."

Responding to critics of the home, she said: "Our Constitution demands we respect the rules of natural justice. People are entitled to a fair hearing and an opportunity to protect their good nameit seems to have been accepted at the time that Bethany Home was run by people with charitable motives."

Was Ms Lynch's speech about the Bethany Home too soft? Did Mr Kenny's speech get the tone right?

I hope the commission set up to investigate our mother and baby homes, and the county homes, gets to the bottom of what exactly happened to those babies and their mothers. I hope it throws a full light on why they were established and how they were run.

I hope it finds out exactly why infant mortality rates were so high in them. I hope it finds out why the bodies were often put in unmarked graves and what the burial practices were for the very poor in those decades.

I hope it looks at what was happening before the mother and baby homes came into existence and what were the realistic alternatives to them.

I hope it looks at what was happening in other countries. For example, in social democratic Sweden, where they were sterilising unmarried mothers.

I hope it gives us a full and complete understanding of the whole miserable business and that this will help deliver both truth and justice. Nothing less will do.
Talk to a supporter of US President Donald Trump and, at some point in the conversation, you are likely to hear some version of this riff: "The mainstream media is fake news. They ignore all the good things Mr Trump is doing because they hate him and wanted Hillary to win. That's why they spend so much time on this ridiculous Russia story and not enough time investigating whether Trump Tower was actually wire-tapped!"

Talk to an opponent of Mr Trump (pictured inset) and, at some point in the conversation, you are likely to hear some version of this riff: "Russia has something on Mr Trump. Michael Flynn, Jeff Sessions, Paul Manafort and the president's own unwillingness to badmouth Vladimir Putin and Russia all make clear that he is being secretly controlled by a foreign power. He needs to be impeached!"

We live in 'X-Files' time now; conspiracy theories aren't dismissed, instead they are taken as something close to fact. "Prove that the conspiracy theory is wrong!" is now our default position.

Conspiracy theories have always been with us - there was a second shooter in the JFK assassination, 9/11 was an inside job - but have almost always existed on the fringes of political dialogue. Not anymore. We are all conspiracy theorists.

Here's what Paul Musgrave, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, wrote recently about the subject: "Less than two months into the administration, the danger is no longer that Mr Trump will make conspiracy thinking mainstream.

"That has already come to pass. Conspiracy theories, rumour and outright lies now drive the news cycle, as the weekend demonstrated once again. (Earlier examples included Mr Trump's false claim about widespread voter fraud and his misrepresentations about a Navy Seal raid in Yemen.) Far worse, such untruths may now be driving government policy in realms as disparate as immigration policy and civil rights. In the long term, the damage done to trust by the normalisation of untruth may threaten the social contract on which democracy itself rests."

It's important to remember how closely Mr Trump's roots in politics are tied to his willingness to embrace conspiracy theories. His candidacy was made possible by his embrace of the disproven idea that former president Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States. During the course of the 2016 campaign, he regularly brought conspiracy theories to the centre of the conversation.

He sat down with noted conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and promised he would do the same as president (he hasn't - yet). He suggested that rival Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz's father was part of the plot to assassinate John F Kennedy.

That conspiracy flirtation has continued as president - with the wire-tapping tweets as the most prominent example.

Mr Trump seems entirely comfortable taking a conspiracy theory and, with scant evidence it is anything more than that, push it into the mainstream. Mr Trump's assertion that he had evidence to prove the claims made by conservative talk show host Mark Levin and championed by Breitbart News turned out to not be true - or at least not true yet.

And, the Trump White House is now trying to claim victory and move on, insisting that Mr Trump's only goal was to get congressional committees to look into the allegations in search of evidence - evidence he insisted he already had.

What Mr Trump knows is that for many of the people who support him, the fact that he has not offered any actual evidence of the wire-tapping is besides the point. Of course the evidence isn't readily available - the political establishment is doing everything it can to cover it up and make Mr Trump look bad! So severe is the distrust directed at the media that if the media says there is not factual basis for Mr Trump's claims, that functions for his supporters as a sort of testimonial that he must be right.

On the other side of the political spectrum, there is the growing sense among Democrats that Mr Trump is, in some serious way, in hock to the Russian government. That Mr Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn and current Attorney General Jeff Sessions both misremembered conversations they had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak is taken as certain evidence of this fact.

As is the fact that Mr Trump refuses to issue a stern condemnation of Mr Putin and Russia. Or call for an independent investigation into the ties between Mr Trump's campaign and Russia.

As always, conspiracy theories could be true. The most prominent example is the reporting the 'National Enquirer' did in the 2008 presidential campaign about a child then Democratic Senator John Edwards had fathered out of wedlock.

But, for every one conspiracy theory that winds up being right, there are a thousand - or a million - that are totally without merit. That used to be a sentence that 98pc of the population could agree on. No longer. Our retreat into partisan camps, the rising dislike and distrust of "elites", the surge in partisan media outlets and the collapse of trust in the mainstream media has created a toxic environment in which conspiracy theories not only can bloom but are nurtured.

We all now see the hidden hand of government/media/corporations/foreign entities behind everything everyone does.

And, what's worse, there's no trusted source of facts that we all agree can be used to debunk conspiracies.

Conspiracies grow and grow.

And we believe them in ways we've never done before.
Behind all the hyperbole, the rhetoric, and sensationalist reporting on Tuam; behind even Taoiseach Enda Kenny's own "chamber of horrors" language, lies a bigger story. Not just of Tuam, but of mother and baby homes, county homes and other institutions across Ireland. Surely you know the tale.

It's not the story of where thousands of children were buried. Of course, that should all be investigated and we hope the resolution is forthcoming for the families concerned.

But the "where" part of the story has been a salacious distraction. It distracts from Catherine Corless's faultless work and left her to become the scapegoat for apologists everywhere - a situation for which they owe her a sincere apology. It distracts the public from understanding the real questions: how and why did these children die?

And why did they die at five times the national infant mortality rate? Especially in homes where there were working farms, with produce and meat sold to local markets. How does a child die of malnutrition in homes touted as "far better than the county homes"?

Yet many of us are living, and giving voice to those who cannot. We understand why we were marginalised, 'othered'. Tens of thousands of us - adopted, boarded out, institutionalised.

We've been living and investigating the wide history behind Tuam for decades. Friday's statement by the Commission of Inquiry wasn't a shock for many of us: it was confirmation of what we've known not only for the last two years, but 20 years. It's our narrative.

And those narratives cross oceans, affect nearly every household in Ireland in one shape or another, and involve the complicity of a State and Church, and a public taught those "important ways" in which we didn't quite measure up.

We're the secrets whispered about at wakes. We're the grainy old photo tucked in the wallet of a heartbroken woman who cries secretly every night, but cannot admit to the photo. We're the hushed-up offspring of TDs, clergy, businessmen and more. We're the ones refused access to our own identities and full equality under law.

A statutory commission is now trying to slog its way through those testimonies and evidence - nearly a century's documenting of those "important ways" in which children were separated from their families, often illegally, and often at their peril.

One hopes it has the will to look into every dark corner, and reflect back an honest, historical narrative. Anything less - another McAleese report - will only serve to prove we've learnt nothing. One also hopes that the forthcoming Adoption Information and Tracing Bill will give us long-denied rights. Rights our counterparts in the UK have enjoyed since 1976, and unbelievably, the sky hasn't fallen in there.

Of the many pieces of dirty carpet needing ripping up in Ireland, we are perhaps the largest and dirtiest. But it needs done if we are to ever move forward as a nation, and one that truly cherishes its children equally. In 1943, the same year that Eamon de Valera delivered his infamous St Patrick's Day poetic waxings on "the laughter of comely maidens, whose firesides would be forums for the wisdom of serene old age", 68pc of the infants born in Bessborough that year died.

We need to face our past and not repeat it. We need to face the citizens who still live it, and give them answers and dignity. As we celebrate International Women's Day 2017, and its motto #BeBoldForChange, let's drop the timidity and be bold not only for change, but for truth.

Mari Steed is US coordinator of the Adoption Rights Alliance, Ireland, and Ireland co-founder and committee director of Justice for Magdalenes Research
EastEnders fans have voiced their sympathy for character Shirley Carter who has been jailed instead of her son, Mick.

In an emotional car scene on Thursday night, Mick (Danny Dyer) prepared himself for his apparently inevitable fate, but Shirley (Linda Henry) insisted on a new plan.

The drama came after Aunt Babe's scheme of illegally selling alcohol at the Queen Vic pub.

As Mick sobbed behind the wheel, his mother calmly told him: "With a bit of luck it might not even go to court, it's my fault. I knew Babe was selling the booze and you didn't have a clue.

"That's why I'm finally stepping up Mick. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you son. I'm going to get you out of this mess. Whether you like it or not."

The second of the two episodes broadcast on BBC One then ended with a close-up of Shirley, sitting in a cell.

In a Twitter post with a shocked face emoji, one viewer wrote: "Shirley gone to prison What the hell #EastEnders."

Another wrote: "Poor Shirley #Eastenders hope she will be ok," while another added: "Shirley you're breaking my heart #eastenders"

Shirley's action also meant that the Carter family could avoid a hefty round of debt that could have led to bankruptcy.

But while it may have been a first jail stint for Shirley, other viewers joked that it wasn't a first for Henry, who is also well known for playing a central character in prison drama Bad Girls.

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She played long-standing inmate Yvonne Atkins in the show, which ran from 1999 to 2006.

One viewer wrote: "Just heard that Shirley from #EastEnders has gone to prison for 3 months. She must have been a 'bad girl'."

Another commented: "Shirley taking the rap for Mick in #eastenders. Its ok she's got previous experience of prison life #badgirls."

Another added: "Oh it was like Bad Girls all over again end of that episode! #Eastenders @bbceastenders #Shirley"
Emily Ratajkowski attends the Valentino show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2017/2018 on March 5, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

Model-actress Emily Ratajkowski attends the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Emily Ratajkowski hosts the H&M Studio Collection New York Event at H&M Fifth Avenue on March 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for H&M )

Emily Ratajowski and Jeff Magid attends the Maison De Mode Oscar week lunch hosted by Rosario Dawson, Amanda Hearst, Hassan Pierre & Spotify at Petit Ermitage on February 18, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images for Maison de Mode)

Actress/model Emily Ratajkowski (L) and producer Jeff Magid attend Global Green USA's 13th annual pre-Oscar party at Mr. C Beverly Hills on February 24, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Global Green)

Emily Ratajkowski and Jeff Magid attend the #Chillchella brunch hosted by Bai beverages, Dannijo, Same Swim and Diane von Furstenberg on April 16, 2016 in Thermal, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Bai)

Emily Ratajkowski and Jeff Magid participate in the Creative Coalition's Arts Team Arts Day on the Hill to focus national leaders on the efficacy of the arts at the U.S. Capitol on April 29, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images)

Emily Ratajkowski is seen strolling on the place vendome on March 3, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pierre Suu/GC Images)

Emily Ratajkowski attends the Valentino show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2017/2018 on March 5, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

Emily Ratajkowski hit the beach in a rare public appearance with her long-term boyfriend.

The popular model (25) and Jeff Magid have been dating for three years but have only been pictured together a handful of times as he prefers life away from the limelight.

But it's clear that the musician is supportive of Emily's career as he was taking pictures of her in a tiny white bikini as they hit the beach in Malibu, California, together, which she later posted for her 11 million followers on Instagram.

The couple opted for a beach date on Thursday after Emily finished a tour of New York, London, Milan and Paris for fashion month.

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She's never been one to shy away from showing off her world famous figure in public and has built a loyal fanbase based on her uninhibited style.

And she is a self-professed feminist, saying she feels a duty to the public to fight for the cause.

"I think if you are a public figure, you have a responsibility to say something for a cause you truly believe in and help it on its course," she told The New York Times last September.

"Its incredibly frustrating that society somehow feels that women cant manage to be political, feminist and a sex symbol."

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In her personal life, Emily is a frequent poster of nude or barely-clothed pictures on her social media sites, and hit headlines when she went topless for a selfie with Kim Kardashian last year with the pair both sticking their middle fingers up at the camera.

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Speaking to Harper's Bazaar magazine about that shot, Emily explained: "Some posts are more intentioned than others. That selfie with Kim was very intentioned, very direct.

"I had the tweets lined up for when it launched because I wanted those things to be what came with the image when the media started covering it. But then other times it's just a tool, you know? I'm a young woman who lives in a world of social media; I'll post boring things too!"
Tom Cruise and Bill Paxton speak onstage at the Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures preview of 'Edge of Tomorrow' during Comic-Con International 2013 at San Diego Convention Center. (Photo : Getty Images/Kevin Winter)

"Training Day" Season 1 episode 6 titled "Faultlines" will air on CBS on March 9, Thursday at 10:00 p.m. In the episode, viewers will see how an investigation into weapons trafficking becomes personal for Tommy Campbell (Drew Van Acker).



An old friend of Tommy will become connected to the case. Elsewhere, Deputy Chief Joy Lockhart (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) will demand to see results from the probe of Det. Kyle Craig (Justine Cornwell) into the actions of Det. Fran Rourke (Bill Paxton).



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Because of this, Frank will reveal some surprising information to his trainee. Unfortunately, Paxton did not live to see his "Training Day" character do this.



On Feb. 14, Paxton had surgery replace a heart valve and correct an aortic aneurysm but he died on Feb. 25, according to the death certificate obtained by People. He was 61.



Paxton died just two days after "Training Day" Season 1 episode 4 titled "Code of Honor," which was written by Rebecca Dameron and directed by Milan Cheylov. In the episode, yakuza assassins a longtime friend and informant of Paxton's character and his quest for revenge jeopardized an FBI agent's operation against the same killers.



"Training Day" is a follow up to the 2001 film of the same name. The character played by Paxton in the CBS series is similar to Detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington) because they are both off-the-books.



Washington won his second Academy Award for his performance in the "Training Day" film, which was written by David Ayer and directed by Antoine Fuqua. The film also starred Ethan Hawke and Scott Glenn.



Recently, Washington received his seventh Oscar nomination for his performance in "Fences" but he lost to Casey Affleck. Washington's "Fences" co-star Viola Davis won her first Oscar.



"I really feel this is her time, her turn," Washington told People referring to David. He described her as an "obviously brilliant" and "pretty good" actress.



On the other hand, Paxton had four Golden Globe Award nominations. Here is a video of Conan O'Brien remembering the late "Training Day" actor:






Death In Paradise star Kris Marshall has revealed he will not feature in the Love Actually Red Nose Day special.

Marshall played hopeless-in-love Colin Frissell who moves to America to try his luck with the ladies in the 2003 movie, which is being revisited for a 10-minute sequel set 14 years later.

But viewers will not be given the chance to see how Colin's life turned out as director Richard Curtis lacked the time and budget to squeeze the character in.

Marshall told the Daily Mirror: "I did get a very, very sweet email from Richard.

"Richard said, 'Look, we're making a charity, where-are-they-now movie of Love Actually, but I didn't have the time or the budget to go and see where your character went'."

However Marshall thinks Colin was "so mad" that his story is "best left untouched" in the sequel.

He added: "But with Emma Thompson and Martin Freeman also not in it, I'm in good company."

The short film, dubbed Red Nose Day Actually, will air during the Comic Relief broadcast later this month.

Several of the stars from the film will reprise their roles, including Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Colin Firth and Rowan Atkinson.
Gerald Kean and Lisa Murphy at home by the fire in the reception room of Drayton Manor, Co. Wicklow.

Natanya Cafolla and Gerald Kean at the Annual Charity Gala Ball in the Heritage Hotel , Killenard. Picture: Michael Scully

Celebrity lawyer Gerald Kean has a new girlfriend, just months after he split from fiancee Lisa Murphy for good.

Gerald (59) is now dating glamorous Natanya Cafolla, the Herald can reveal.

The mum-of-four is from the famous Irish-Italian Cafolla family, whose relatives include socialite Cindy and DJ Ivano.

Gerald and Natanya have been dating for at least three months and she escorted him to two functions in recent weeks - the annual charity ball in Portlaoise in aid of Down syndrome and an event at Cork Constitution rugby club.

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Natanya's property developer husband Joe (Giovanni) died of a heart attack in Florida in 2008.

She lives in Delgany, Co Wicklow, and is mother of four children who range in age from 13 to 31.

"Gerald and Natanya have been friends for over 20 years and Gerald was quite close to Joe," said a close friend.

"It has only been in the last three months that they've started seeing each other and are now quite smitten.

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"Gerald lives in the 13-bedroom Drayton Manor near Brittas Bay, which is only a stone's throw from Delgany.

"After Lisa left, he basically had an empty house as his only child, Kirsten, is currently living and studying in Miami."

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The Cafollas are well known on the Dublin social scene.

Socialite Cindy's ex-husband Ivano was a brother of Joe. Ivano Jnr (33) is a popular house DJ, while Cindy, who used to run a furniture business in the capital, now lives in Dubai.

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The family are related to the famous Irish-Italian chip shop-owning Cafolla family, which has a string of cafes located across the country.

When asked about the relationship last night, Gerald declined to comment.

The 'lawyer to the stars' became the darling of the social pages when he was married to fellow lawyer Clodagh Hopkins, Kirsten's mother.

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The couple split up in 2006 after 20 years of marriage and are now divorced.

Gerald began dating former model Lisa Murphy in 2006.

They met through mutual friends in the Ice Bar of the Four Seasons Hotel - now the InterContinental - in Ballsbridge, Dublin.

The couple got engaged in December 2009, with a Sotheby's diamond ring to mark the occasion.
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys in Game of Thrones (Sky)

The seventh series of fantasy epic Game Of Thrones will come to UK screens on July 17, it has been announced.

Bosses of the HBO show made the revelation via social media, in an elaborate live video stunt.

Fans watched for more than an hour in anticipation as a huge block of ice in a room lit with torches melted away to reveal the date they had been waiting for.

The video then continued with teaser clips of the upcoming series, complete with a fresh wave of battles, dragons and creepy creatures.

In a new trailer, returning character Jon Snow says: "There is only one war that matters. The Great War. And it is here."

After being pushed back from its usual April launch, this will mark the show's penultimate series.

It will be available from 2am on Sky Atlantic on July 17 and online streaming service Now TV, followed by a repeat at 9pm the same day.

The sixth season culminated in Daenerys setting sail for the Seven Kingdoms, Snow dubbed King of the North, Cersei seizing the Iron Throne and the Night King amassing forces.

According to broadcasters, the coming series promises a "brutal, bloody and wintry return to Westeros".

Due to the time difference, the series' official launch date in the USA is July 16.
It's the oldest profession in the world but the recession is driving a new breed of woman into its ranks. Next month, an autobiography called Between the Sheets will tell the story of how one middle-class Irish woman mired in debt turned to the sex trade to pay the bills.

But the author, known only by her pseudonym Scarlett O'Kelly, is far from alone. She is just one of a growing number of Irish women from respectable backgrounds who are selling their bodies to make it through the downturn.

Some were once high-fliers whose careers in banking, law and property have turned to dust. Others are stay-at-home mums who long for the trappings of their tiger lifestyle and need the cash for school fees and car loans. An alarming number are young graduates fresh out of college with no hope of finding work beyond the sex industry.

Niamh (not her real name) is the last sort of woman you'd put down as a call girl. She grew up in a wealthy suburb of south Dublin, studied psychology at university and used to have a career in marketing. She's into healthy living and doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs. But today, the 40-year-old runs a one-woman escort service from her home near Dun Laoghaire.

For 220 an hour, she offers "nice conversation", "companionship" and "personal services" in her home. She's happy to be taken out for dinner, and if the money's right, she'll do an overnight. On an average week, she takes home 1,500, which she can make in a matter of hours.

"It's the only way of making ends meet at the moment," she says.

"I won't say it's easy money, but it is fast money. For example, this afternoon, I was down with a dentist near Wicklow. He gave me 250 and he didn't even last five minutes.

"It's always very busy at this time of year, during and after Christmas. My phone is on call most of the time and there is a lot of work after midnight."

Niamh has been working in the trade since the economy started to flounder. Back then, most of her counterparts were Brazilian and Eastern European, but she notices a stark difference today.

"Five years ago, virtually everyone working in the business was foreign, but suddenly in the last year, there's been an influx of Irish women coming into it. I know at least 10 off the top of my head. There's definitely a demand for them among the clientele."

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In a country whose sex industry is booming, recent figures suggest that on any given day at least 1,000 women are selling sex in Ireland. But this surge in private escorting is meeting a new demand from men who are moving away from drugged-up street workers and foreign girls, and buying into the fantasy of the high-class hooker.

Most of Niamh's clients are professionals who call the shots in the office but want her to take control in the bedroom.

"I see all types of men all across the country. Lawyers, doctors, people you might see on television. One of my clients is on the Sunday Times Rich List but he will open the door to me on his knees in a pair of ladies' underwear. He tells me he is fully under my control."

Another is a garda I've seen a few times, a very kind man who likes to pretend he's a prison warden and I'm the female prisoner. I've been in some really hilarious situations."

But support agencies who witness first hand the fallout from prostitution -- drug addiction, rape, violence and suicide -- rarely see the funny side of the trade.

"No matter what side of the tracks they come from, I have never met a happy prostitute in my 12 years working in this business," says Linda Latham, of the Women's Health Service on Dublin's Baggot Street, which has seen a dramatic increase in middle-class women coming to its door.

"In the '80s and '90s, we saw mainly heroin addicts but now across the board we are seeing educated women who are so strapped for cash they are resorting to it out of dire economic need.

"We see a lot of women with degrees and qualifications who just can't get work. They are usually trying to fund families. It's particularly noticeable at certain times of year when Communions are coming up or Christmas.

"I've seldom seen a woman who hasn't got mental health issues. Some will say 'oh it's fine, it's fine', but when they get out of it they tell you the actual horrors of the situation -- the rapes, the beatings, not being allowed to use condoms or attend clinics. Most women are afraid of their lives and want to get the hell out of it."

But the view that women who work in the sex trade are vulnerable, helpless mugs controlled by pimps and incapable of making decisions for themselves is increasingly challenged.

"It's not always the case that women are forced into prostitution," says Dr Paul Ryan, sociology lecturer at NUI Maynooth and a member of the Sex Workers Alliance of Ireland (SWAI), a representative body for Irish prostitutes opposed to the criminalisation of sex workers and their clients.

"Some make a choice to do it. It is something women enter and leave all the time depending on whether they have a First Communion coming up or another financial pressure.

"I did research which showed that some women prefer to do sex work than resort to shoplifting. It is actually a moral choice for them and there is a lot of decision-making based around it. That notion is often brushed under the carpet with the attitude that all prostitution is violent, all prostitutes need to be rescued. . . end of. That's far too simplistic."

A senior garda detective based in Limerick, a city that has become a magnet for sex workers, backs up this claim.

"None of the women we have caught has been trafficked. A lot are coming over to make money and they are certainly not always under the control of a pimp, especially the Romanians and Brazilians. They make more in a week here than they would in a year in their home country. Sadly, it's a lifestyle choice for them and they can make very big money out of it."

Niamh claims to be a prime example of this new class of sex worker. A strong-minded, opinionated, single woman, she operates as a sole agent, squirms at the idea of having a pimp, and claims she has never put her life in danger. As for the psychological baggage, she tolerates it to keep a roof over her head.

"I've never had any trouble. If you get a late-night call out to somewhere you don't know, you would be a little bit wary, but most of the guys are just ordinary men who are desperately lonely and want a bit of company. Some just want to give you a hug and a kiss and have a cup of tea. The only problem I've had is that sometimes they want to marry you.

"How do I deal with it all emotionally? I just switch off. No matter how ugly or fat or unattractive they might be, once you've done the first one or two, you break down that barrier and become immune to it.

"But sometimes, like last night, I feel guilty. I went to see a guy I know quite well. He usually comes to me but this time he asked me to go to his house because his wife was away. He lives in a fabulous mansion on the east coast. They've been married for more than 20 years and have three children but the sex has gone down to about once a month and even then it isn't great.

"He wanted me to come dressed as a nurse, which I did, but when I went into the house and there were children's toys scattered around and photographs of the wife and kids on the wall, I felt terrible to be honest.

"I thought to myself 'what if it was me and my husband was paying to sleep with other women? How would I feel?' But at the end of the day, men have their needs and I am just providing them. It's all a big act, and each one is nothing more than a business transaction."
An Egyptian woman, believed to be the heaviest in the world at 78 stone, has undergone life-saving weight loss surgery.

Eman Ahmed Adb El Aty was flown to Mumbai's Saifee Hospital on a specially modified plane for the bariatric surgery. The 36-year-old had reportedly not left her home for 25 years before she was airlifted out of her bedroom by crane.

Ms Adb El Aty, who was diagnosed with elephantiasis, a condition that causes body parts to swell, as a child, has lost 15st (210lb) since arriving at the hospital in January, the BBC reports.

Her surgeon, Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, believes his patient actually has lymphoedema, a long-term condition that causes swelling in the body's tissues, which usually develops in the arms or legs.

"We are happy to inform all well-wishers that the medical team has successfully performed the surgery on Eman Ahmed," the hospital said.

"Eman successfully underwent a Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy on March 7. She had an uneventful surgery and anaesthesia course. She is now on oral fluids and accepting them well. The future course of action for the medical team working on her will be to correct all her associated medical problems to get her fit enough to fly back to Egypt as soon as possible."

The heaviest woman ever, according to Guinness World Records, was Rosalie Bradford from the US. She recorded a peak weight of 85 stone in January 1987. She died in 2006.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
China has strongly criticised what it called America's "terrible human rights problems" in its annual report on rights abuses in the United States, citing police brutality, high levels of incarceration, racial prejudice and money politics.

The report issued by the Information Office of the State Council is a response to the US State Department's yearly report on human rights around the world, that said repression and coercion of those involved in civil and political rights in China remained "severe".

As in previous years, China's report accused the US of sitting in judgment of the human rights situations in other nations while ignoring its own defects. Mainly citing facts and figures from the US media and civil rights groups, the report focused heavily on what it called a deterioration of race relations in 2016.

"With the gunshots lingering in people's ears behind the Statue of Liberty, worsening racial discrimination and the election farce dominated by money politics, the self-proclaimed human rights defender has exposed its human rights 'myth' with its own deeds," the report said.

The report specifically mentioned the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police and the killing of five officers in Dallas, Texas, and pointed to a pattern of what it called law enforcement treating people of colour more harshly than whites. It also said blacks and Hispanics were discriminated against in incarceration, employment and education, earning less and facing harsher penalties for violations.

Its final section dealt with what it called "gross violations of human rights in other countries," pointing to reports of civilian deaths from US military action in countries including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. It also criticised Washington's failure to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and the US government's electronic surveillance of other countries and foreign nationals.

China has issued the report every year since 2000 as a means of countering US criticisms.

China, whose population of 1.37 billion is more than 91% Han Chinese, portrays itself as a multi-ethnic state where all groups live in harmony. However, members of the Tibetan and Turkic-speaking Uighur minorities allege rampant discrimination in employment and education and religious minorities including Christians and Muslims are subject to heavy restrictions on their activities.

The one-party authoritarian communist state also has no political opposition and heavily polices the internet and public forums, censoring and sometimes imprisoning those perceived to be challenging its authority.

The State Department's report focused mainly on Chinese legal abuses and restrictions on constitutionally guaranteed civil rights, including free speech and freedom of religion. It said China locked up "tens of thousands" of political prisoners, sometimes denying them medical treatment and said authorities continued to harass them even after their release.

Lawyers, dissidents and those petitioning for redress of official abuses have been rounded up, while high-profile prisoners such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo remained in prison, the report said.

This year's US report was issued amid concerns the US was backing away from its traditionally vocal advocacy on human rights under President Donald Trump.

In a departure from past practice, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson skipped the launch of the report.

Mr Trump has made little mention of human rights during his campaign or presidency, and Human Rights Watch, whose research is cited by the State Department in its reports, said his administration's commitment to human rights is already in question due to his policies related to Muslims and his plan to drastically cut the foreign aid budget.

AP
Parents have been warned about potent ecstasy tablets shaped like teddy bears after four teenagers were rushed to hospital.

The drugs, which are brightly coloured and shaped like cuddly toys, have been implicated in a number of serious incidents in the UK.

This week four 13-year-old teenagers were rushed to hospital after taking the tablets.

They have since been released.

This could have caused devastation for several families and, as with any illegal drug, there can be serious or even fatal consequences if you use them," Detective Inspector Gareth Davies, from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said, the Sun UK reports.

We dont know exactly what these particular tablets contain and I would urge you not to take them.

If you are offered drugs, particularly ones which are a pink and purple colour and have teddy markings on them, then please contact police.

If you have any information about this incident or have concerns about drugs in the area, I would also urge you to contact police.

It is understood that the HSE has not been made aware of any instances of the tablets being sold here or being behind any recent hospitalisations.

However, officials have pointed again to advice that they offer in relation to all types of ecstasy, which includes a warning that it is safer never to take drugs but, if using, it is important to test dose a new batch.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Turkey to stop invoking Berlin's Nazi past in criticising cancellations of Turkish ministers' rallies in Germany, and said she would do everything possible to keep Turkish domestic conflicts from spilling onto German soil.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who survived an army attempt to topple him last July, is working to win the votes of Turks abroad in an April referendum that would give him sweeping new powers. But unease is spreading in Europe over the dispatch of ministers to communities themselves sometimes deeply divided.

"To the many people with Turkish roots who are German citizens or have lived here for a long time, I say: you are part of our country," Mrs Merkel said yesterday.

"We want to do everything we can to make sure that possible internal Turkish conflicts are not carried over into this life together (here).

"Let us support our way of life together and even improve it where possible. That is a matter of the heart."

Some took a harsher line than Mrs Merkel.

Andreas Scheuer, head of her CSU Bavarian sister party, said "the campaigner Erdogan and his henchmen" were not wanted in Germany.

The dispute over cancellations has become entangled with other tensions between Turkey and its Nato allies.

West European politicians have accused Mr Erdogan of using the coup as a pretext for mass arrests and dismissals that stifle dissent. Mr Erdogan, for his part, accuses European powers of racism, harbouring enemies of Turkey, including Kurdish militants, hardline leftists and people linked to the coup. Scores of Turks, including diplomats and army officers, have applied for political asylum in Germany, Switzerland, Greece, and other countries.

Mrs Merkel spoke unusually bluntly in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, calling for the release of a German-Turkish journalist being held in a Turkish prison. She said she was saddened by deep differences between the allies.

Mr Erdogan's references to Germany's Nazi past were, however, "so misplaced that you can't seriously comment on them". "These comparisons of Germany with Nazism must stop. They are unworthy of the close ties between Germany and Turkey and of our peoples," she said.

Turkey's foreign minister effectively repeated the comparison within hours.

"We are not calling the government Nazi. Its practices recall that era," NTV television quoted Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying.
Giants of the global automotive industry have also taken note of Chinese firms great potential and growing expertise in car-making. (Photo : Getty Images)

Global car firms expressed their great faith in the Chinese market and the potential of Chinese carmakers as the 87th Geneva International Auto Show opened its doors to the public on March 9.



We still see growing demand and more and more people in China becoming more wealthy and who are willing to spend money on premium cars, and this segment is still growing, BMW spokesperson Kai Lichte told the Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday, March 8.



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A little more than one quarter of all sales are in China, its the biggest market, bigger than the U.S. and Germany, Lichte added.



Jurgen Stackmann, the marketing manager of Volkswagen, also expressed the same sentiments. Fifty percent of Volkswagens sales are in China.



The power of the Chinese people is enormous, there is no other place so vibrant, so full of energy, so full of entrepreneurship globally, Stackmann said in an interview with Xinhua.



Giants of the global automotive industry have also taken note of Chinese firms great potential and growing expertise in car-making. This is most evident in the recent buyout of Ford Motor Co.s Volvo Cars, acquired by Chinese carmaker Geely Holdings Group Co. Ltd. The purchase cost $1.8 billion.



I think it has been a very successful acquisition. If you look at it for Volvo, I think we would not have been where we are today without the support and the ownership of Geely, Hakan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars, said.



For Samuelsson, the buyout was a win-win situation in which Volvo now has access to the Chinese market while Geely now has ownership over technologies. This paves the way for Geely, a Hangzhou-based company, to upgrade and create products.



Chinas growing presence in the manufacturing sector have also been noticed, with representatives from industry leaders saying the label made in China is now synonymous with quality.


Pope Francis said 'populism is evil and ends badly, as the past century showed' (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Pope Francis has warned in an interview with a German newspaper of the dangers of rising populism in western democracies.

The pope told Die Zeit on Thursday populism is evil and ends badly as the past century showed.

He also said he rejects any kind of cult around the papacy and that he's a normal believer just like everyone else.

Francis said that, I don't see myself as anything special... I'm a sinner, I'm fallible.

In the first major interview that Francis has given a German newspaper, the pope was asked whether he experienced moments in which he doubted the existence of God. He responded: I, too, know moments of emptiness.

But, he pointed out periods of crisis are also a chance to grow, saying a believer who doesn't experience that remains infantile.

The pontiff also said the Catholic Church must study whether it is possible to ordain married men to minister in remote communities facing priest shortages.

He stressed that removing the celibacy rule is not the answer to the Catholic Church's priest shortage.

But he expressed an openness to studying whether so-called "viri probati" - or married men of proven faith - could be ordained.

"We must consider if viri probati is a possibility. Then we must determine what tasks they can perform, for example, in remote communities," he was quoted as saying.

The "viri probati" proposal has been around for decades, but it has drawn fresh attention under history's first Latin American pope thanks in part to his appreciation of the challenges facing the church in places such as Brazil, a huge Catholic country with an acute shortage of priests.

Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, a longtime Francis friend and former head of the Vatican's office for clergy, is reportedly pressing to allow viri probati in the Amazon, where the church counts around one priest for every 10,000 Catholics.

Francis has shown particular openness to receiving concrete proposals for ordaining married men as well as his own pastoral concern for men who have left ministry to marry.

He has maintained friendship with the Argentine widow of a friend who left the priesthood to marry, and he spent one of his Friday mercy missions last year visiting men who had left ministry to start families.

He has also said that while he favours a celibate priesthood, celibacy technically can be up for discussion since it is a discipline of the church, not a dogma.

In the interview, Francis also confirmed Colombia was on his travel plans for 2017, as well as India and Bangladesh.

He ruled out Congo, which had been rumoured, but mentioned Egypt as a possibility.

Francis has also recently said he hoped to visit South Sudan.
Candles, flowers and stuffed animals have been placed in front of the home of the murdered 9-year-old boy in Herne, Germany (Marcel Kusch/dpa via AP)

A 19-year-old man arrested over the death of a neighbour's son has admitted killing the child as well as a 22-year-old acquaintance, prosecutors in western Germany said.

The suspect, identified as Marcel Hesse, is said to have blamed his actions on frustration over a rejected bid to join the German army and the recent loss of his internet connection.

The case shocked the western German city of Herne after the suspect allegedly circulated photos of the bloodied crime scenes online.

Hundreds of officers spent three days hunting the suspect before he gave himself up on Thursday night.

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Bochum prosecutor Danyal Maibaum said Hesse made a comprehensive confession following his arrest and is being held on suspicion of murder.

Hesse allegedly lured a nine-year-old boy out of his home under a pretext on Monday, Mr Maibaum said. The child's body was found in a basement with 52 stab wounds, following a tip from a member of the public.

Hesse called police from a Greek restaurant on Thursday evening to turn himself in, and informed officers of a fire in a nearby apartment.

Police found the body of an adult male in the apartment, believed to be a 22-year-old acquaintance of Hesse's.

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Klaus-Peter Lipphaus, the head of the police homicide department for Bochum, told reporters the suspect was speaking freely to investigators and was "ice cold, emotionless" as he detailed his alleged crimes.

During his interview with police, Hesse claimed that he had attempted to kill himself recently after his application to join the German army was rejected and a recent move to a new home resulted in him being unable to access the internet, Mr Lipphaus said.

Hesse said he spontaneously decided to kill somebody else after he failed to take his own life and sought out the neighbour's child, Mr Lipphaus added.

After killing the child, Hesse contacted a nearby friend, Mr Lipphaus said. They ate dinner and played computer games together before Hesse killed the 22-year-old the following morning, he said.
US House of Representatives minority leader Nancy Pelosi has suggested the director of the FBI should step forward to dispute Donald Trump's claim that he was wiretapped by former president Barack Obama.

When asked about James Comey's responsibility in the matter, Ms Pelosi responded: "Theoretically, do I think that a director of the FBI who knows for a fact that something is mythology but misleading to the American people, and he should set the record straight? Yes, I do think he should say that publicly."

Mr Trump's claim, Ms Pelosi added, "couldn't possibly be true".

The US president made the claim over Twitter about Mr Obama wiretapping him, but did not present any evidence.

Mr Comey has privately urged the US justice department to dispute the claim, but has not come forward to do so himself.

Ms Pelosi spoke at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions is asking for the resignations of 46 attorneys hired by former president Barack Obama, the Justice Department said Friday.

Many of the federal prosecutors who were nominated by Mr Obama have already left their positions.

But the 46 who stayed on in the first weeks of the Donald Trump administration have now been asked to leave "in order to ensure a uniform transition," Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said.

"Until the new US attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our US attorney's offices will continue the great work of the department in investigating, prosecuting and deterring the most violent offenders," she said in a statement.

It is customary, though not automatic, for the country's 93 US attorneys to leave their positions once a new president is in office.

The Obama administration allowed political appointees of President George W Bush to serve until their replacement had been nominated and confirmed.

The federal prosecutors are nominated by the president, generally upon the recommendation of a home-state senator.

One US attorney appointed by Bush, Rod Rosenstein of Maryland, remained on the job for the entire Obama administration and is the current nominee for deputy attorney general.

US attorneys are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the territories they oversee. They report to Justice Department leadership in Washington, and their priorities are expected to be in line with those of the attorney general.
Local authorities and businesses in Wellington are offering free trips to talented workers to attend interviews for jobs in the New Zealand capital's growing tech sector.

The scheme is being offered to 100 workers from around the world, and 12,000 people have completed applications so far, with thousands more registering interest ahead of the March 20 deadline.

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said the city's tech sector has been growing at an annual rate of 14% over the past five years.

"The problem we need to solve is that we have a whole lot of businesses that are struggling to keep up with recruitment," he said.

The LookSee campaign was first promoted in tech hubs such as San Francisco.

About a third of the applicants are from the US but that mix is changing as more people from other parts of the world find out about the offer, said David Jones, who is helping to oversee the campaign at the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency.

"This is the first time a city has approached recruitment in this way," Mr Jones said. "We've been absolutely amazed at the level of interest."

Successful applicants get free flights to New Zealand and free accommodation during their four-day stay in Wellington.

They also get to see some of the sights and meet tech leaders. They are expected to apply for three jobs each but are not obliged to accept any offers.

The 850,000 New Zealand dollar (483,000) cost of the campaign is paid for from a combination of taxpayer money and contributions from local businesses.

Nick Piesco, 40, moved to Wellington from Austin, Texas, two weeks ago to take a job as a developer at Xero, an online accounting software company.

He said his wife Reneau Skinner had loved Wellington when she visited more than a decade ago for an eight-month working holiday and that they made the decision to move to the city before the LookSee offer.

He said people in New Zealand seemed to really value having a life outside of work and that he was making some life changes, including foregoing a car.

"I can walk to work, I can walk to the shops. I live between two breweries, so I think I'm pretty well situated," he said. "The fact that you live in such a beautiful city in such a beautiful country means that you are urged to get outside and enjoy it."

He said the timing of his move soon after US President Donald Trump was elected was "coincidental but fortuitous".

AP
George A Olah, standing third from right, and other 1994 Nobel Prize laureates, pose for a group photo at the Royal Swedish Academy in Stockholm (AP)

George A Olah, whose work won a Nobel Prize in chemistry and paved the way for more effective oil refining and ways of producing less polluting forms of petrol, has died aged 89.

Mr Olah died at his Beverly Hills home, according to the University of Southern California's Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, of which he was founding director. No cause of death was provided.

Mr Olah's research brought him the 1994 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his ground-breaking study of the unstable carbon molecules known as carbocations.

"Distinguished professor George Olah was a true legend in the field of chemistry," USC President CL Max Nikias said in a statement.

"His pioneering research fundamentally redefined the field's landscape and will influence its scholarly work for generations to come."

The Hungarian government offered its condolences for Mr Olah, who fled Hungary during a 1950s Soviet crackdown on dissent.

"The country has lost a great patriot and one of the most outstanding figures of Hungarian scientific life," said Janos Lazar, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Mr Olah received the Nobel Prize for his work on superacids, research that led to his observation of carbocations - an unstable, fleeting chemical species that he discovered how to stabilise long enough to study its properties.

He said there was no "eureka moment" and credited the find to long hours spent in his chemistry lab, usually starting before dawn and continuing late into the night.

He also singled out for praise his long-time USC collaborator Surya Prakash, who began working with Mr Olah in the 1970s as a 20-year-old grad student and now leads the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute.

Born in Budapest on May 22 1927, Mr Olah said he had little interest in chemistry as a youngster.

"My main interest was in the humanities, particularly history, literature, etc," he said in a statement published on the Nobel website.

"I was (and still am) (an) avid reader and believe that getting attached too early to a specific field frequently short-changes a balanced broad education."

Instead he studied Latin for eight years as well as German, French and other languages. The son of a lawyer said he was fortunate to attend a school he called one of the best in Budapest.

It was at the Technical University of Budapest where his interest in science was finally piqued.

After earning a doctorate in organic chemistry, he went to work for the Central Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Science.

He was leading a research team there in 1956 when the Soviet Union cracked down on the country following the Hungarian Uprising of that year. He, his wife, their young son and most of his research team fled the country.

Eventually moving to Michigan, he began research on carbocations while employed by Dow Chemical Co. Later he taught at Cleveland's Western Reserve University before moving to USC in the late 1970s.

Honoured by numerous scientific societies as well as his native country, Mr Olah authored or co-authored nearly two dozen books and published nearly 1,500 papers. He held 160 patents from seven countries, according to USC.

He is survived by his wife, Judith Olah, sons George and Ronald, and several grandchildren.

The university plans a campus celebration of his life at a later date.

AP
A woman lights a candle outside the presidential house during a protest to demand justice for the girls who died in a fire at the Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home in Guatemala City (Moises Castillo/AP)

A blaze that killed at least 35 girls at a shelter for troubled youths erupted when some of them set fire to mattresses to protest against mistreatment at the badly overcrowded institution, the parent of one victim has said.

Officials said they are still investigating who started the fire at the long-criticised shelter on the outskirts of Guatemala's capital. It houses troubled and abused boys and girls as well as juvenile offenders.

Nineteen victims were found dead at the scene, and 16 more succumbed one by one to their grisly injuries at hospitals in Guatemala City.

Several more girls were fighting for their lives, some with severe burns over more than half their bodies. The National Institute of Forensic Science said that 17 of the bodies have been identified.

The 35th death was announced by the General Hospital late on Thursday, while President Jimmy Morales called for a restructuring of the country's youth shelter system, which houses some 1,500 children around the country. Outside the presidential palace, dozens of protesters gathered to demand answers.

The fire started when someone ignited mattresses in a dormitory that held girls who had been caught the day before during a mass breakout attempt, authorities said.

Distraught parents gathered at hospitals and the morgue, passing scraps of paper scrawled with the names of loved ones they hoped to find.

Geovany Castillo said his 15-year-old daughter Kimberly suffered burns on her face, arms and hands but survived. She was in a locked area where girls who took part in the escape attempt had been placed, he said.

"My daughter said the area was locked and that several girls broke down a door, and she survived because she put a wet sheet over herself," Mr Castillo said.

"She said the girls themselves set the fire," he said, adding: "She said the girls told her that they had been raped and in protest they escaped, and that later, to protest, to get attention, they set fire to the mattresses."

Another surviving 15-year-old girl said that male residents had apparently been able to enter at least some of the girls' dormitories before the fire. She and others took refuge on a roof for fear of being attacked and saw the fire break out in a nearby building.

"I saw the smoke in the place," she said. "It smelled like flesh."

The state-run Virgin of the Assumption Safe House has long been the subject of complaints about abuse, inadequate food and crowded and unsanitary conditions behind its 30-foot wall. The shelter was built to hold 500 young residents but housed at least 800 at the time of the fire.

Mr Morales issued a statement blaming the disaster on the courts for ignoring a request by his administration to transfer juvenile offenders out.

"Before the fire, the government had asked the appropriate authorities to immediately transfer youthful offenders to other detention centres, to avoid greater consequences," the president's office wrote.

"The government regrets the fact that those authorities did not heed that request in an opportune way, something which could have prevented the tragedy."

AP
Police outside the station in Dusseldorf, Germany (Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP)

A man who injured seven people with an axe in Dusseldorf's main train station acted alone, and there is no indication the attack was terror-related, German authorities said.

Police said initial reports there may have been a second attacker appear to be unfounded and they believe a 36-year-old suspect acted alone and "had psychological problems".

The man, described as being from the former Yugoslavia and living in the nearby city of Wuppertal, is alleged to have attacked people at random in the train station on Thursday night.

Seven people were hurt - including three seriously - in the incident.

The suspect jumped from a bridge as he fled the scene and is currently being treated for serious injuries.
Shanghai is home to more than 150 "comfort stations" used for sexual slavery under Japanese imperial rule during World War 2. (Photo : Getty Images)

This week, China celebrated International Women's Day with the rest of the world, although it remains divided over one of the most devastating episodes on Chinese women's dignity. Japan's acts of sexual slavery within Chinese territory during World War 2 continues to be a source of controversy.



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China's largest city, Shanghai, is home to around 150 facilities formerly used as so-called "comfort stations" during Japanese imperial rule. Today, only 30 of these buildings are left, and many more are set for demolition as the megalopolis continues its urban transformation, Business Times reported



Su Zhiliang, a historian specializing in Chinese comfort women history during World War 2, endeavored to save one of the comfort stations set for demolition by gaining media mileage for featuring its atrocious past, much to the interest of many Chinese people.



Nonetheless, Su understands that much needs to be done to sway the Chinese government into commemorating the plight of Chinese comfort women, what with its reluctance in doing so to preserve good relations with Japan. He currently runs a fundraising for the 17 surviving Chinese comfort women.



Following the end of World War 2, Chinese comfort women have seen their struggles prolonged as they have received no government assistance recognizing their bitter plight. But Su is optimistic that the issue will gain greater attention, given Japan's right-leaning approach under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.



Although Tokyo has profusely apologized over the comfort women issue during the early 1990s, it continues to voice out its opposition to further investigating the matter, prompting Beijing's eerie silence on the matter. Any move to bring up the issue, Japan deems, would only detriment Japan-China relations.



In fact, the Japanese consulate in Shanghai even went as far as denouncing Su's move to open a museum on comfort women history in Shanghai Normal University as "extremely regrettable," which includes a statue of two comfort women outside it.


US and Iraqi officials believe the leader of Isil, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has left operational commanders behind with diehard followers to fight the battle of Mosul, and is now hiding out in the desert, focussing mainly on his own survival.

It is impossible to confirm the whereabouts of the Isil "caliph", who declared himself the ruler of all Muslims from Mosul's Great Mosque after his forces swept through northern Iraq in 2014. But US and Iraqi intelligence sources say an absence of official communication from the group's leadership and the loss of territory in Mosul suggest he has abandoned the city, by far the largest population centre his group has ever held.

He has proved to be an elusive target, rarely using communication that can be monitored, and moving constantly, often multiple times in one 24-hour cycle, the sources say.

From their efforts to track him, they believe he hides mostly among sympathetic civilians in familiar desert villages, rather than with fighters in their barracks in urban areas where combat has been under way.

Read more: US faces 'train wreck' as final battle for Syria looms in Raqqa

US-backed Iraqi forces began an operation five months ago to recapture Mosul, a city at least four times the size of any other the group has held. The biggest battle in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003, it has been slow going, in part because hundreds of thousands of civilians remain in harm's way. The 100,000-strong Iraqi force fully captured the eastern half of Mosul in January, and commanders began an operation to cross the Tigris and take the western half last month.

Baghdadi himself has not released a recorded speech since early November, two weeks after the start of the Mosul battle, when he called on his followers to fight the "unbelievers" and "make their blood flow as rivers".

The last official report about Baghdadi was from the Iraqi military on February 13. Iraqi F-16s carried out a strike on a house where he was thought to be meeting other commanders, in western Iraq, near the Syrian border, it said.
The US was warned yesterday it is facing "a train wreck" in Syria amid an escalating confrontation between Turkey and Kurdish forces over who should lead the final assault on the Isil stronghold of Raqqa.

The Pentagon began laying the foundation for the siege this week by deploying several hundred marines to northern Syria armed with heavy artillery. But the assault on Raqqa threatened to descend into chaos after the Turkish government and the main US-backed rebels in Syria each demanded that America exclude the other from taking part in the attack.

Turkey's prime minister accused Kurdish fighters within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) rebel group of being "terrorists", while the SDF said Turkish troops inside Syria were an "occupation force" who must leave.

The tension has escalated to the point that the US has deployed its own troops between the two sides in an effort to prevent confrontation between them, and a senior American general conceded he was worried the rivalry could undermine the fight against Isil.

"I foresee a train wreck here," John McCain, the senior Republican senator, told General Joseph Votel, the commander of US forces in the Middle East, at a hearing in Washington.

The general said he was also concerned and added: "We are trying to take actions to prevent [a clash] from occurring."

The showdown between Turkey and the SDF highlights the difficulties facing Donald Trump as he takes over the complex task of managing rival US allies in Syria and rallying them for the attack on Raqqa.

The US artillery units that began arriving this week will be tasked with pounding Isil's defences as Syrian rebel forces cut off its supply lines and surround the city in anticipation of a full assault. The marines are only deployed temporarily but the move signals Mr Trump's willingness to send more conventional ground troops into Syria and to give more freedom to military commanders to make decisions on troop levels. The approach contrasts with the Obama administration, where the White House imposed strict limits on US numbers in Syria and preferred sending clusters of special forces over large numbers of traditional troops.

Read more: Isil leader al-Baghdadi has 'given up on Mosul and fled into desert'

Mr Trump's advisers are also weighing a plan to send a reserve force of 1,000 troops to Kuwait and giving commanders the flexibility to deploy them to either Iraq or Syria. Gen Votel also suggested more US troops might be needed in Syria to ensure stability once Isil was defeated.

The additional movements around Raqqa came as bitter fighting continued in Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi forces are driving Isil from its final city stronghold in Iraq. The jihadist group took responsibility for an attack carried out by two suicide bombers who struck a wedding in a village near the Iraqi city of Tikrit, killing 26 people. The complexity in northern Syria is only added to by the presence of forces from the Syrian regime and the Russian military. Mr Trump has not yet decided on how closely the US should co-operate with either the Russians or the Assad regime but has in the past appeared more open to co-operation than Barack Obama.

Russian troops have been seen in northern Syria and the close proximity raises questions about what role the Syrian regime might play in the attack on Raqqa. Vladimir Evseev, a Russian military expert at the Commonwealth of Independent States Institution, said it was possible that the US and Assad regime would directly collaborate, marking a turning point in US policy that has so far shunned collaboration with Damascus.

Meanwhile, air strikes killed 23 civilians, including eight children, yesterday in countryside around Raqqa, by warplanes understood to belong to the US-led coalition.
A Canadian judge who asked an alleged rape victim why she could "not just keep your knees together" has resigned.

The judge said in a statement, released through his lawyer, that he was guilty of victim-blaming throughout the trial.

Justice Robin Camp has today stepped down following a 15-month review.

Mr Camp incorrectly referred to the woman as "the accused" on several occasions, and asked why she did not "just sink your bottom" into a bathroom sink to avoid the rape.

In more than 1,000 pages in transcripts from the trial, released last year, Mr Camp asks: "Why didnt you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldnt penetrate you?"

After the alleged victim answered that she "was drunk" he asked: "And when your ankles were held together by your jeans, your skinny jeans, why couldnt you just keep your knees together?"

Mr Camp also told her "pain and sex sometimes go together".

The review findings, released on Wednesday, found Mr Camp at times addressed the complainant  a young indigenous woman who was homeless at the time of the alleged rape  "in a manner that was at times condescending, humiliating and disrespectful".

Alexander Wagner stood trial in Calgary in 2014 accused of sexually assaulting a woman, then aged 19, as she sat in a bathroom sink in 2011.

Mr Wagner was ultimately found not guilty in 2014 and again not guilty after a retrial last year.
The President brandishing a copy of the Wall Street Journal on the campaign trail Joel Page/Reuters

Donald Trump has been president of the United States for just a mere 50 days, but there has been no sign of the Republican man easing into his role.

From travel bans to radical healthcare reform, Trump got straight down to business and his policies have certainly got people talking.

The tweet-happy president has broke with tradition and adopted an unconventional approach to his role as one of the most powerful men in the world.

To mark his first 50 days as US President, we highlight some of his most controversial moments over the past two months - and look at what we can expect before he hits the 100 mark.

1. Accused Barack Obama of tapping his phones

Trump accused his predecessor Barack Obama of wiretapping him during the late stages of the 2016 election campaign, but offered no evidence for an allegation which an Obama spokesman said was "simply false".

Now, the White House is demanding a probe into the claims, which are unarguably controversial.

Trump lashed out at Obama in a series of tweets, calling him a "bad (or sick) guy".

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Sean Spicer this week said the president had "no regrets" about his claims, even though they have so far proven unsubstantiated.

2. Admitted he's finding the job tough

Not one to admit his wrongdoings, Trump exudes confidence when it comes to defending his actions. However, since he became president, he gave himself an "A for achievement but a C for communication".

The US president told Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor that he typically works until midnight or 1am, then wakes up at 5am to eat, read newspapers and check the television.

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Mr Trump said that at the start of his presidency he has been surprised by "the size, the magnitude of everything" and being president can be a "surreal experience in a certain way".

3. Travel ban

Arguably the biggest talking point since he took office, people all over the world were in panic mode when news of Trump's seven country travel ban broke.

Citizens from Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen will, from March 16, be prevented from entering the US, unless they have previously been granted a visa.

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Iraq has since been dropped from the previous list of banned countries.

Mr Trump's first attempt to implement a travel ban, in January, was a chaotic series of announcements, wrongful detentions, protests and legal action that culminated in an appeal court ruling that it was unlawful.

4. His relations with Russia

Controversies surrounding America's relations with Russia during the presidential campaign have resulted in Trump losing two members of his team.

Michael Flynn, his national security adviser, was asked to resign after it became clear that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his transition-era conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the US.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions then recused himself from any existing or future Department of Justice probes related to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign because of his failure to disclose information involving his meetings with Mr Kislyak.

5. His anti-media tweets

Accusing the media of engaging in a witch hunt against him, Trump's Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave birth to the much-used phrases of "fake news" and "alternative facts".

Following his inauguration, Trump said the media misrepresented the number of people in attendance by manipulating photographs to make it seem there was far less people there.

His team retorted with some "alternative facts" about the attendance, arguing more people attended his inauguration than Barack Obama's.

This week, he called the US media the "enemy of the people".

What's next?

At the halfway point of his first 100 days, what's on the horizon?

Trumpcare is set to replace Obamacare, despite Democrats working overtime to frustrate the legislations progress, they appear powerless so far to block its advancement.

Meanwhile, a top ethics lawyer said Donald Trump's conflicts of interests will become "too much to take" after they are challenged in court.

Norm Eisen said every decision Trump makes is motivated by financial gain - including the countries he included on his travel ban executive order.

As investigations into Russia's alleged interference in the US election set to rumble on, with the travel ban due to come into effect on March 16, the next 50 days are likely to be just as eventful and controversial.
A US Lawmaker, whose great uncle was John F. Kennedy, made a passionate speech denouncing Donald Trump's plan to repeal Obamacare.

Congressman Joe Kennedy was responding to House Speaker Paul Ryan's statement that the Republican plan was an "act of mercy".

"I was struck last night by a comment that I heard made by Speaker Ryan, where he called this repeal bill an act of mercy. With all due respect to our speaker, he and I must have read different Scripture," Kennedy said as the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

"The one I read calls on us to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, and to comfort the sick. It reminds us that we are judged not by how we treat the powerful, but by how we care for the least among us.

"There is no mercy in a system that makes healthcare a luxury."

Kennedy posted the video of his address to his Facebook page, where it has been viewed more than 7 million times since it was published on Wednesday.
Turkish army soldiers during exercises along its border with Syria (AP)

Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition forces have killed 71 Syrian Kurdish fighters in northern Syria this week.

The operations are part of Turkey's months-long incursion into its war-torn neighbour in a push against the Islamic State group but also in an effort to restrict US-backed Syrian Kurdish militias.

Ankara considers the militias a terrorist organisation linked to its home-grown Kurdish insurgency.

Friday's military statement by Turkey's military says, since the operation started in August, the joint Turkish and Syrian opposition forces killed as many as 2,647 IS militants and 425 Syrian Kurdish fighters in Syria.

More than 772 square miles in northern Syria are now under control of the Turkish-backed forces, the military said.

AP
The measles virus - Romania has lowered the age for the first vaccine dose from the usual 12 months to nine months

Seventeen people have died from measles in Romania in an outbreak affecting thousands, the country's health minister said on Friday.

Florian Bodog said that around 3,400 people had contracted the disease since September 2016.

He said the virus was similar to strains found in Hungary or Italy, but could not confirm if it was the same one.

Romania has lowered the age for administering the first vaccine dose from the usual 12 months to nine months, recommending all children under nine are vaccinated.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warned this week that "the likelihood of exportation of measles (from Romania) cases is high".

Most cases have been registered in the west and south-west of Romania.

In neighbouring Hungary there are 31 suspected cases of measles, said Beatrix Oroszi, head of the National Centre for Epidemiology.

AP
Protesters shout slogans during a rally near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea (Lee Jin-man/AP)

Supporters of South Korean President Park Geun-hye are blocked by police as they march towards Constitutional Court in Seoul (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

Supporters of South Korean President Park Geun-hye are blocked by police as they march towards Constitutional Court in Seoul (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

South Korea's Constitutional Court has formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil.

It was a stunning fall for Ms Park, the country's first female leader, who came to power in 2012 only to see her presidency descend into scandal.

The presidential office said Ms Park would not leave the presidential Blue House on Friday.

A Blue House spokesman said some of Ms Park's aides were at her southern Seoul home to prepare for her return, but it has not been determined exactly when she will leave the Blue House.

The spokesman said Ms Park has no plans to issue a statement over the ruling on Friday.

The ruling by the eight-member panel opens her up to possible criminal proceedings, and makes her South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy came to the country in the late 1980s.

Ms Park's "acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust", acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said.

"The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big.

"Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye."

Ms Park's party said it "humbly accepts" the ruling and that it feels responsible for her downfall.

South Korea must hold an election within two months to choose Ms Park's successor.

Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Ms Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys.

Whoever becomes the next leader will take over a country facing a hostile North Korea, a stagnant economy and deep social and political divides.

Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70-80% of South Koreans had wanted the court to approve Ms Park's impeachment.

But there have been worries that Ms Park's removal would further polarise the country and cause violence between her supporters and opponents.

Thousands of people, both pro-Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who wanted Park gone, gathered around the Constitutional Court building and a huge public square in central Seoul.

Hundreds of police were on hand, while the streets near the court were lined with barricades.

Two people died as protests erupted following the court's decision.

A South Korean hospital official said a man in his 70s, believed to be a Park supporter, died from head wounds after falling from a police bus in front of the court. Police later confirmed a second death, without giving further details.

Thousands of Ms Park's supporters reacted angrily to the verdict, shouting and hitting police officers with flag poles, and climbing on buses the police used to create a perimeter protecting the court.

Meanwhile, South Korea's defence minister has ordered the military to be on alert for possible North Korean provocations attempting to exploit "unstable situations at home and abroad".

In a video conference with military commanders, Defence Minister Han Min Koo said North Korea can make "strategic or operational" provocations at any time. The North has test-fired ballistic missiles in recent weeks.

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency published a short dispatch on the court ruling in Seoul, anticipating Ms Park will now come under investigation as a "regular criminal".

Ms Park's parliamentary impeachment in December came after weeks of Saturday rallies that drew millions who wanted her resignation.

Overwhelmed by the biggest rallies in decades, the voices of Park supporters were largely ignored. But they have recently regrouped and staged fierce pro-Park rallies.

People on both sides had threatened not to accept a Constitutional Court decision that they disagree with.

One of Ms Park's lawyers told the court last month that there will be "a rebellion and blood will drench the asphalt" if Ms Park was booted from office.

Many participants at anti-Park rallies had said they would stage a "revolution" if the court rejected Ms Park's impeachment.

"If Park accepts the ruling and soothes those who opposed her impeachment, things will be quiet," said Yoon Tae-Ryong, a political scientist at Seoul's Konkuk University. "But looking at what she's done so far, I think that might be wishful thinking."

Others disagreed, saying violent protests would not be supported by the general public.

Prosecutors have arrested and indicted many high-profile figures over the scandal, including Ms Park's confidante Choi Soon-sil, top Park administration officials and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.

But Ms Park has avoided a direct investigation thanks to a law that gives a sitting president immunity from prosecution for most alleged crimes.

Since she is now no longer in power, prosecutors can summon, question and possibly arrest her.

Her critics want to see Ms Park appear on TV while dressed in prison garb, handcuffed and bound like others involved in the scandal. But some analysts worry that could create a backlash by conservatives.

The United States said the removal of Ms Park is a domestic issue that does not affect its strong alliance with the country.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the US will continue to work with the acting president, prime minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, and looks forward to whomever South Koreans choose in a presidential election to be held within two months.

Mr Toner said Ms Park's removal is "a domestic issue on which the United States takes no position," and that it is up to the South Korean people to determine their country's future.

He said the two nations' alliance "will continue to be a linchpin of regional stability and security".

Japan's top diplomat said the country will continue to work with a South Korean government led by Ms Park's successor.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters he would not comment on the court ruling that removed the impeached president, citing internal politics.

AP
A Turkish army soldier holds his fighting position during exercises, at a military outpost near the town of Kilis, south-eastern Turkey, at the border with conflict-stricken Syria (AP)

The main Syrian Kurdish force fighting Islamic State (IS) in northern Syria said it has enough fighters to take the extremists' de facto capital of Raqqa - with US help.

The claims by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reflect a veiled warning to Ankara and also to rival, Turkish-backed opposition forces which are making headway towards the northern city.

The comments by SDF spokeswoman Cihan Sheikh Ehmed came as US military leaders signalled American troops could play a bigger role on the ground in the battle to capture Raqqa.

Gen Joseph Votel, the top US commander in the Middle East, suggested that there will be a larger and longer American military presence in Syria to accelerate the fight against IS and quell friction within the complicated mix of warring factions there.

The SDF spokeswoman said their numbers are increasing with more residents of newly-liberated areas from IS joining the ethnically-mixed force, which has been the most effective group on the ground in Syria in the battle against the extremists.

Ms Sheikh Ehmed said: "We have enough forces to liberate Raqqa with the help of the coalition," adding that their troops received intelligence that IS is moving some of its leaders outside the city and are digging tunnels in preparation for intense street battles.

Her remarks are likely to anger Turkey, which has insisted that Syrian opposition fighters backed by Ankara should lead the offensive on Raqqa rather than the SDF, which is dominated by the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units (YPG).

Turkey has declared the YPG a terrorist organisation and considers it to be linked to its own home-grown Kurdish insurgency.

As the SDF advances in areas close to Raqqa, US-led coalition aircraft pounded areas in the city and its outskirts, according to the US central command and Syrian opposition activists.

The US command said 13 strikes had engaged a number of targets.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists around the country, reported air strikes on Raqqa as well as its outskirts.

Meanwhile, Turkey's military said Turkish troops and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition forces have killed - or "neutralised"- 71 Syrian Kurdish fighters in northern Syria this week.

The operations are part of Turkey's months-long incursion into its war-torn neighbour in a push against IS but also in an effort to restrict the US-backed SDF.

Since the Turkish operation started in August, the joint Turkish and Syrian opposition forces have killed as many as 2,647 IS militants and 425 Syrian Kurdish fighters in Syria, said a Turkish military statement.

It added that more than 772 square miles in northern Syria are now under control of the Turkish-backed forces.

Syria criticised Turkey over its intervention in the country and support for opposition forces trying to remove president Bashar Assad from power, saying it has killed thousands, and called on the UN Security Council to press Ankara to withdraw its troops.

The statement came a day after Syria's state media reported that Turkish troops had shelled Syrian army positions north of the country, killing and wounding several troops.

SDF fighters have been on the offensive in the Raqqa area since November and have closed major supply roads used by IS. They have captured large areas from IS since then under the cover of air strikes of the US-led coalition.

Late last month, Pentagon leaders sent a new plan on how to defeat IS to the White House, including a variety of options for the ongoing fight in Iraq and Syria.

The White House has not yet approved the plans, but the recent deployments into Syria suggest that President Donald Trump may be leaning toward giving the Pentagon greater flexibility to make routine combat decisions in the IS fight.

Russia is not likely to stay out of the push on Raqqa, either. Nor are Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces, which Moscow backs.

The Russian military said its jets have killed more than 600 militants in just one week while backing the Syrian army's offensive against IS.

Col Gen Sergei Rudskoi said Russian aircraft have carried out 452 air strikes in support of the Syrian government forces.

In addition, Col Gen Rudskoi stated that Syrian government forces have recaptured 92 towns and villages across a territory of 185 square miles from IS in the past week.
Photo shows visitors gathering at Amazon booth during the 2016 China International Electronic Commerce Expo in Yiwu. (Photo : Getty Images)

Despite Amazon having entered China more than a decade ago, it has struggled to make its mark in one of the largest online retail markets in the world.



According to eMarketer, a research company that provides insights and trends related to digital marketing, media and commerce, China is expected to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest retail market, and its gap is expected to grow even wider in the coming years.



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Amazon has not made a big impact on the Chinese market dominated by Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant.



Although Alibaba serves the same online retail market, it uses a completely different model for its electronic retail (e-tail market) operations. It assumes the role of a supervisor when it comes to logistics while providing a technology platform that will facilitate transactions between sellers and buyers.



Amazon, meanwhile, is more of a hands-on retail with strong buy and sell activities. This resulted in Alibaba crossing the 30 percent operating margin while Amazon hardly ever gets close to 5 percent.



Amazon currently only has 0.8 percent share of the Chinese market despite having the best e-commerce technology in the world. Tmall, the business-to-consumer portal, controls more than half of the market. JD.com nearly controls 80 percent of the market, which leaves very little space for other e-commerce players.



In the United States, nobody is able to come close to Amazon despite big box retailers pouring billions of dollars every year into e-commerce initiatives. As it currently has the bulk of online shoppers, sellers gravitate to sell on its platform, which moves the Gross Merchandise Volume a lot.



The more GMV moves, the higher Amazon's margins go. This is why it has been reinventing more of its business, which gives some benefits to its customers so that they will be happy and keep ordering.


General Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command, told senators he will need more conventional US forces in Syria (AP)

The top US commander in the Middle East has signalled that there will be a larger and longer American military presence in Syria to accelerate the fight against the Islamic State group and quell friction within warring factions in the country.

General Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command, told senators he will need more conventional US forces to ensure stability once the fight to defeat IS militants in their self-declared capital of Raqqa is over.

The US military, he said, cannot just leave once the fight is over because the Syrians will need help keeping IS out and ensuring the peaceful transition to local control.

Gen Votel's testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee comes as up to 400 US forces have moved into Syria in recent days.

Well more than half of those are Marines, bringing in large artillery guns for the Raqqa fight, and the rest are Army Rangers who went into northern Syria to tackle skirmishes between Turkish and Syrian forces near the border. The numbers have been fluctuating, often on a daily basis, as troops move in and out.

"I think as we move towards the latter part of these operations into more of the stability and other aspects of the operations, we will see more conventional forces requirements," Gen Votel said.

Until recently, the US military presence in Syria was made up of special operations forces advising and assisting the US-backed Syrian troops.

It will be critical, Votel said, to get humanitarian aid, basic working services and good local leaders in place in Raqqa so that businesses can return and the city can move on.

He also told senators that the US is looking for options to ease the tensions with Turkey over the plan to use US-backed Syrian Kurds in the fight to oust IS fighters from Raqqa. But he offered no details on what those options could be.

The US is considering arming the Syrian Kurdish forces, which the Pentagon considers the most effective fighters against IS militants in northern and eastern Syria.

But Turkey, a key Nato ally, considers the Syrian force, known as the YPG, a terrorist organisation. Turkey wants to work with other Syrian opposition fighters known as the Free Syrian Army to liberate Raqqa.

Pentagon leaders sent a new plan to defeat IS to the White House late last month that included a variety of options for the ongoing fight in Iraq and Syria.

The White House has not yet approved the plans, but the recent deployments into Syria suggest that President Donald Trump may be leaning towards giving the Pentagon greater flexibility to make routine combat decisions in the IS fight.

Military commanders frustrated by what they considered micromanagement under the previous administration have argued for greater freedom to make daily decisions on how best to fight the enemy

In separate comments, Gen Votel also reaffirmed that more American forces are needed in Afghanistan, a point the top US commander in that country made to Congress several weeks ago. Gen Votel agreed that the fight against the Taliban is in a stalemate, and said "it will involve additional forces" to ensure the U. can better advise and assist the Afghan forces.

US General John Nicholson, the top American commander in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month that he needs a few thousand more troops to help end the stalemate there.

And Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said in recent weeks that he will make decisions soon on whether to recommend an increase in the US force.

AP
GREENSBORO  State Bureau of Investigation agents searched the Rockingham County District Attorney's office Wednesday as part of a larger investigation into an alleged theft of state funds.

That same day the N.C. Adminstrative Office of the Courts released a memo stating that Superior Court in Rockingham County would be canceled through March 20.

Court documents state that the search warrant was issued as part of an SBI investigation, launched on July 17, 2016, into fraudulent activity into the offices of Rockingham County District Attorney Craig Blitzer and Person/Caswell County DA Wallace Bradsher.

A motion to seal that search warrant states that SBI agents specifically were targeting a computer "in the possession of the Rockingham County District Attorney."

Further information about items that might have been seized in the search are not available publicly. Wake County Superior Court Judge A. Graham Shirley II signed the order that sealed for 90 days both the warrant and the inventory of what was seized.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Deborah Shandles requested the seal to withhold the names of suspects, to prevent incriminating people who are not under investigation and to protect the identities of the SBI's sources.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman adopted the investigation last month after a former employee of Bradsher's office filed a whistleblower lawsuit in Wake County accusing Bradsher of firing that staff member when he learned she had reported him to the SBI.

In her civil suit, Debra Halbrook of Caswell County accuses Blitzer and Bradsher of hiring each other's wives, Cindy Blitzer and Pamela Bradsher, to work for them in a scheme to collect more than $100,000 in salaries. Halbrook swore under oath that, to her knowledge, both wives worked very seldom despite collecting full-time salaries.

Before Freeman took over, Iredell County Superior Court Judge Joe Crosswhite oversaw the SBI's investigation. He said in October he ordered the investigation into both prosecutors' offices after learning about the alleged theft of state funds.

When Halbrook's lawsuit was filed, Crosswhite had been attempting to work with the Administrative Office of the Courts to find a prosecutor to assume the investigation.

Freeman said in an interview in February that, because of the entities involved, this is the type of case her staff usually takes on.

Charges have not been filed in either county.

But Superior Court cases have halted in Rockingham County.

Rockingham County Clerk of Courts Mark Pegram said he received that information from the AOC via an email on Wednesday. He said only one trial had been scheduled for this 2-week trial period. That case concluded Tuesday.

A receptionist at the Rockingham County District Attorney's Office said neither Blitzer nor Chief Assistant District Attorney Mark Keeney was available to speak about the cancellation. Keeney was at the courthouse Wednesday but not in his office. The receptionist said Blitzer was not at work. He had skipped a court hearing on Feb. 27 because a medical appointment and has not been in the courthouse since.

Superior Court Judge Stuart Albright is assigned to Rockingham County through July. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
New Delhi, Mar 10 (IBNS): The Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday that India's Sahastra Seema Bal has initiated an inquiry into the death of a Nepali citizen in the India-Nepal border.

In its Friday press release, the MEA said, "Following reports of the death of a Nepali national yesterday at the India-Nepal border, allegedly in a firing incident, the Sashastra Seema Bal has initiated an enquiry on this matter. The Government of Nepal is being requested through diplomatic channels to share post-mortem and forensic reports to facilitate the process.

Officials of the two bordering districts  Kanchanpur of Nepal and Lakhimpur Khiri of India  have met in the backdrop of the prevailing situation and agreed to maintain peace and order."

The press release was also tweeted by MEA's Official Spokesperson Gopal Baglay.

it has been alleged that Nepal's Govinda Gautam died from injuries sustained when he was fired upon by Indian security forces following a dispute over the construction of a culvert in Kanchanpur district, across the border from India.

India has denied any role in the death and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal, categorically denied firing by the Indian security forces at the border, media reported.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) meets with President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz (R) as he arrives for 10th EU-China Business Summit in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo : Getty Images)

The plans of Beijing in creating national champions in 10 high-tech manufacturing sectors by 2025 have come under fire from the EU Chamber of Commerce, as European businesses fear that Chinese producers will swamp the whole industry.



The EU Chamber of Commerce released a 70-page critique on the China Manufacturing 2025, the country's industrial policy. The report was timed to coincide with the National People's Congress this year.



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The CM2025 was modeled on Germany's "Industry 4.0" program of smart manufacturing. The plan identified 10 sectors for China to dominate locally so that it would be competitive globally. It specified precise targets for domestic and foreign market share, which awoke concerns in Europe about state companies swamping lucrative sectors.



The body that represents European businesses in China said: "The broad set of policy tools that are being employed to facilitate CM2025's development are highly problematic. Foreign carmakers with electric models were being pressed to turn over their battery technology to Chinese partners in exchange for being able to produce and sell in China."



"European business is facing intense pressure to turn over advanced technology in exchange for near-term market access. Current measures on subsidizing local producers of battery-powered cars are possibly in violation of China's commitments to the World Trade Organization," the EU Chamber stated.



Given the length of the process of the WTO resolution, foreign business fear that it may not be an option.



China's government appeared to react to this criticism at the opening of the NPC this year. It stated that when it comes to licensing deals, standards setting, and government procurement, foreign markets would be treated the same as domestic groups. Foreign companies will also enjoy the same preferential policies under the "Made in China 2025" initiative.



"The report was intended to pre-empt rather than champion trade barriers.We are saying this not to encourage protection but with an eye to the rise of populism across Europe," said the president of the EU chamber, Jorg Wuttke.


K-Pop boy band Super Junior performs live at the Cotai Arena in The Venetian on November 30, 2013 in Macau. (Photo : Getty Images/Nicky Loh )

Chinese-South Korean boy band Super Junior-M member Henry Lau, 27, who is professionally known as Henry, is set to release a new single. The release date of the song titled "Girlfriend" has been pushed back because of the impeachment of former South Korean president Park Geun Hye, 65.



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Because of the impeachment, the scheduled broadcast of "I Live Alone" on March 10, Friday, was cancelled. Henry was supposed to show a behind-the-scenes look at the production of "Girlfriend" on the MBC show.



"Girlfriend" was previously titled "What Should I Do?" Part of the song was sung during the appearance of the Super Junior-M member of the music program "You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook."



Viewers will then get to see on the March 17 episode of "I Live Alone" the process of making "Girlfriend," Soompi has learned. On March 18, Henry will release the song on various music charts.



Hours before the airing of the March 10, Friday, episode of "I Live Alone," Chief Justice Lee Jung Mi, the acting chief of South Korea's Constitutional Court, announced live on TV that they have unanimously upheld the impeachment of Park. This made the former president the country's first democratically elected leader to be ousted.



On Dec. 9, 2016, parliament impeached Park on several charges, one of which accused her of neglecting her duties during a 2014 Sewol ferry sinking that killed 304 people. Her office allegedly created a blacklist of artists who protested against the government's handling of the disaster.



Cannes winner "Oldboy" director Park Chan Wook, 53, and "Snowpiercer" actor Song Kang Ho, 50, were among those who were reported to be in the blacklist. They were said be denied government support.



In 2016, several Korean celebrities actively protested against the former president. Among them were "The Crying Woman" actor Kim Yoo Jung, 17, former K-Pop boy band MBLAQ member Lee Joon, 29, and former K-pop group Kara member Han Seung Yeon, 28.



The impeached president's successor must be elected within 60 days. An election is expected to take place on May 9, according to Yonhap News.



Meanwhile, watch Henry's appearance on "We Got Married" with "Suspiria" star Chloe Grace Moretz, 20, here:






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Egypt's Minister of Tourism Yehia Rashed said in an interview with the Russian Ria Novosti news agency that Egypt has not made a final decision regarding whether it will increase fees for entry visas.

Last month, an official source in Cairo airport told Ahram Online that the foreign ministry informed airport security officials that the cost of entry visas would be increased from $25 to $60 starting 1 March.

Days later, the foreign ministry informed its envoys abroad of a cabinet order to postpone the price increase until July.

Officials have not announced a reason for the delay, though sources in the tourism sector told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that the decision to postpone came after the foreign ministry received complaints from the tourism industry that the hike would negatively impact the sector.

Egypt last increased its visa fee in April 2014 from $15 to $25.

The country has struggled to attract tourists pushed away by the political turmoil that followed the 2011 uprising.

Tourism sector revenues dropped to $3.4 billion in 2016, a 44.3 percent decline from the previous year, the Central Bank of Egypt said in January. The figure is a far cry from the $11 billion in revenues generated by the sector in 2010, when 14.7 million tourists visited the country.

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Authorities at Egypt's Red Sea port of Safaga destroyed on Thursday 146 tonnes of bad fish which had been exported to Saudi Arabia, but which the gulf country refused to receive, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

The decision by the General Organisation for Export and Import control to destroy the eight shipments of fish came after the Gulf Kingdom refused them at its Daba Port saying they were unsuitable for human use. The shipments were then returned to Safaga.

The exporters requested an inspection of the shipments upon their return, said Al-Walid Hassan, food control manager at the Safaga Port. A committee of health ministry food safety and animal quarantine experts then examined the fish and confirmed it was unsuitable for consumption.

Ten committees of customs, food control, police, environment and other Egyptian official bodies supervised the destruction.

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Before tying the knot, couples today want their special moments to be captured forever just so that they can safe keep memories. They hire a kickass wedding and candid photographer so that they can capture their special moments.

But what if someone crashes your wedding photoshoot? And that 'someone' is not any ordinary person but a Hollywood superstar Chris Hemsworth? No, this is not a film because this actually happened IRL.

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According to a Mashable report, Thor actor Chris Hemsworth casually dropped by during a couple's pre-wedding wedding shoot, that was happening on the beach.

A newlywed couple Anneka and Kent were getting their wedding day portraits taken in Byron Bay, Australia, when the photographer noticed the actor on the beach.

Smashing day in #byronbay, wonderful couple in Anneka & Kent A post shared by Benjamin Lynch (@studiobluetulip) on Mar 3, 2017 at 1:47am PST

And the couple posted pictures with the superstar and bride took to Instagram to post a picture and she even revealed her own blooper! She could not recognise the superstar and she captioned the pic as, I WAS WONDERING, WHY WE WERE GETTING A PHOTO WITH A RANDOM PERSON? I WAS SAYING, WHO IS THIS PERSON?'
Sholay is one of the iconic films of Bollywood, which is still remembered for Jai and Veerus bromance, and is often referred to as a benchmark of cinematic brilliance. And like its said, Rome wasnt built in day, Sholay was also not filmed in a short span of time. In fact, to shoot one of the scenes perfectly, filmmaker Ramesh Sippy waited for three long years, as revealed by Amitabh Bachchan recently.

Describing the scene, Bib B told Mumbai Mirror:

I wonder if you remember a scene in Sholay where Jaya (Bachchan) had to light a lamp in the corridor and I am sitting in the outhouse playing the mouth organ. There was particular kind of lighting that was required for the shot. Our DOP (Director of Photography) Mr Divecha was keen to take the shot at the time of sunset. You would not believe that Rameshji spent almost three years before we finally got that shot.

typepad.com

He also explained why it took so much to film that particular scene.

Every time we would go to enact that sequence, something would not be right with the lighting. And Rameshji said 'until we get a correct light, we are not going to shoot this'. We waited for three years for one flash of a shot for the film.

ytimg.com

Furthermore, the song Yeh Dosti which is almost five minutes long took about 21 days to be filmed. Also, the book Sholay: The Making of a Classic mentioned that the scene in which Gabbar Singh kills Imams son was shot in about 19 days. The train robbery scene, according to the book, was shot in seven weeks.

After all, it takes time to make classics!
He is called King Khan. Millions of fans wait for him at Mannat just to catch a glimpse of him. Shah Rukh Khan is not just a regular superstar. His fan-following and fan base globally proves that he is loved for the person he has always been.

Even if he does bad films, his fans forgive him because they know, the superstar will bounce back higher than ever.

We have heard stories about his big heart and humble nature, haven't we? And that too plenty of them. Here's another story that will warm the cockles of your heart and make you respect and admire the actor lot more!

(Also read: Every Lady In SRK's Team Got Special Gifts On Valentine's Day And It'll Make You Wish For A Boss Like Him!)

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A UK-based video game developer Shahid Kamal Ahmad tweeted details of his meeting with Shah Rukh Khan and how it changed his life. In series of tweets, he mentioned how Shah Rukh Khan inspired him to pursue his dreams and that eventually changed the course of his life drastically.

(Also read: SRK's Ex-Employee Reveals Her Experience Of Working With Him & It's All Kinds Of Amazing!)

In his tweets, Shahid wrote,

Shahid

"Six years ago today the one and only @iamsrk treated me to dinner in Langkawi. We worked on a game together. He is a complete gentleman. And not only did we have dinner, afterwards he treated me to a beautiful Cuban cigar bought from the hotel. (He was filming Don 2 there). At that time, I was still a kind of loser, but he showed me that nice guys can be winners. (And his work ethic inspired my life changes). He showed me just how gracious and decent an extraordinarily gifted and successful man can be. Nice guys don't have to finish last".

Here is the thread:

Six years ago today the one and only @iamsrk treated me to dinner in Langkawi. We worked on a game together. He is a complete gentleman.  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

And not only did we have dinner, afterwards he treated me to a beautiful Cuban cigar bought from the hotel. (He was filming Don 2 there)  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

And not only did we have dinner, afterwards he treated me to a beautiful Cuban cigar bought from the hotel. (He was filming Don 2 there)  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

At that time, I was still a kind of loser, but he showed me that nice guys can be winners. (And his work ethic inspired my life changes)  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

He showed me just how gracious and decent an extraordinarily gifted and successful man can be. Nice guys dont have to finish last.  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

I didnt like Shah Rukhs films when I was young. I was a cynic and begrudged success. He changed me. Now I smile when my wife watches. :)  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

Who was I? Just s tiny cog in a games company. A nobody. But Shah Rukh treated me with honour. I was utterly humbled.  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

When we met in London, he invited me to a private screening of the unreleased A-Team in his hotel. He *personally* brought a drink to me.  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

He showed me the power of service. I was changed. I brought that attitude he showed me in 2011 to all my future dealings with devs.  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

It wasnt a put-on. No act. That was the thing. That was just how he was. I realised I had to change from within to match that attitude.  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

Not many people will get to spend as much time as I did in the company of a legend like SRK, so I feel compelled to report his decency.  Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) March 4, 2017

@shahidkamal how r u my man. Miss you. U showed respect to taking Indian film stuff into gaming. Thanks. Be well  Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 4, 2017

@shahidkamal let me know where u r at...will come and see u. U still gaming??  Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 4, 2017
Looks like Shekhar Suman has just refused to give up!

When Shekhar Suman tried to put Kangana Ranaut down by tweeting against her, calling her a coicained actress and taking a dig at the failure of her recently released film Rangoon, he was savagely trolled on Twitter. Although, he didnt mention her name, Twitterati were quick to guess who he was talking about.

Now, once again, the actor who has been missing from the big as well as small screen from quite some time has attempted to take another sly dig at her in regard to the nepotism controversy.

Bad ass bad mouth bad films bad acting bad behaviour bad english ..what next?  Shekhar Suman (@shekharsuman7) March 9, 2017

And guess what?! He got trolled yet again!

@shekharsuman7 You forgot bad boyfriend & his bad dad who gets fame these days speaking bad  Swapneel Dabholkar (@Neel_Dabholkar) March 9, 2017

@shekharsuman7 coming 4m a flop comedian and a flop host irony !  Abdul Azeem (@zeeemz) March 9, 2017

@shekharsuman7 shabash kya moves liye hai Shekhar ne. Bad moves... 60 complete hone se pehle sathiya gaye  Swati (@chitchatmontu) March 9, 2017

@shekharsuman7 what do u have to say about @AdhyayanSsuman ? jinke ghar sheeshe ke hote hai unhe bakwas kam karni chhiye  Archit Rastogi (@rarchitr1) March 9, 2017

@shekharsuman7 budhape mein kya ho gaya hai bhai... Sambhalo apne aap ko  ritulistic (@Ritulritul) March 9, 2017

@shekharsuman7 flop father flop son. Bad ass se panga na le. Katori leke bhik mangte dhikega nahi to kahi baap beta  vijay kumar (@vijayku53471526) March 9, 2017
"Kuch Kuch hota hai Rahul, tum nahi samjhoge.."

If you're a 1990's kid, this phrase still has the potential to teleport you to good old days of 1990's where happiness was watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. KJo's film was a bomb of an entertainer and we as kids have grown up, reciting those dialogues isn't it?

From Rahul and Anjali's 'Cheater' dialogue-

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To Anjali's 'I give a damn' attitude, KKHH was a film that made us happy!

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Or Mrs. Briganzaaaaa!

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This film still has the magical power to turn around your unhappy day to a happy one!

A video that we stumbled upon on the internet today is pure gold and a great treat for all you KKHH fans! This video of the making of KKHH has super-awkward SRK-Kajol and Rani talking about their unforgettable moments from the shoot of the film.

Dharma Productions

And wait, it has their bloopers too. Like, Kajol recalls how during their Mauritius shoot, she tripped on her cycle and was unconscious for hours!

Dharma Productions

Without further ado, watch the video right here.
The government suspects that some of the country's most prestigious universities are underperforming and has, hence, asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to audit them for academic and research quality.

thewire

The Union ministry of HRD has identified a number of "non-performing" centrally funded institutions, and of these, 11 will undergo the audit, according to a senior ministry official.

Aligarh Muslim University, Allahabad University, Pondicherry University and the Central University of Jammu are among the 11 universities to undergo an audit.

BCCL

The other seven varsities are Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Central University of Jharkhand, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University at Lucknow, Central University of Rajasthan, Dr Hari Singh Gour University at Sagar, Tripura University and Mahatma Gandhi Antarashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya.

"The list has been forwarded and UGC has been asked to conduct the audit as soon as possible. No specific time frame has been set. The UGC will first set the criteria for the audit and then the process will commence. The broad mandate of the audit is to assess academic quality, research activities and research output," said the official.

indiaeducationreview

A three-member team has been constituted to monitor the audit. According to UGC sources, the audit will include output and quality of research, students' results, and placement records wherever applicable. The team is also working on other criteria and is likely to intimate the ministry about them.

" There is an urgent need to look at the universities and their performance. Academic and research quality at the universities reflect the quality of education in the country. There will be various other factors, such as frequency of review of courses, new courses, and how relevant current campus research is, which will be taken into account," said a senior UGC official. "The idea is to find out if the return on investment is being justified and whether students are getting the kind of education for which they come to these universities," he added.

collegedunia

Sources said there are more "non-performing universities" and that this audit could be extended once they were identified. "The audit is likely to start by the end of March, or in April 2017 and will end depending on how much time will be needed," he said.
The North Sinai-based militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, an affiliate of the Islamic State militant group, has claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed a police colonel in North Sinai Wednesday night.

The militant group said in a statement released on social media on Thursday that its members planted two explosive devices in El-Arish city targeting a military convey, killing colonel Yasser El-Hadidi and injuring three policemen.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2014.

Egypts army and police forces have been battling a North Sinai-based Islamist insurgency that intensified following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Security forces have recently conducted a number of anti-terror operations in central Sinai.

Hundreds of security personnel have been killed in terror attacks by militants in recent years, while the army says it has killed hundreds of militants in security campaigns in the governorate.

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Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after lieutenant governor Anil Baijal rejected the Delhi government's decision to give Rs one crore compensation to the family of ex-serviceman Ram Kishen Grewal, who had committed suicide over the one rank one pension issue last year.

The LG turned down the proposal, sent by the Delhi cabinet for his approval, saying it was not in line with the state's compensation policy as the death had not occurred in the line of duty.

Vipin/BCCL

Grewal, an ex-serviceman had consumed poison on November 1, 2016 during a protest for the implementation of OROP. His death had turned into a political slugfest with the opposition including Congress and AAP accusing the Modi government of failing to fulfil its promise to ex-servicemen.

Vipin/BCCL

Rejecting government' proposal LG Baijal said it doesn't come come udder the government's set parameters.

"This specific case does not fall within the parameters of the scheme for grant of ex gratia payment, that is, death occurring in the discharge of official duty. Therefore, while I fully sympathise with the family of subedar (retd) late Ram Kishen Grewal, I'm not able to agree to the proposal for payment of ex-gratia relief in this case."

BCCL

As per the existing scheme, ex gratia is payment is made in cases of defence, paramilitary forces, Delhi Police, home guard, civil defence and Delhi fire service personnel dying during the discharge of bona fide official duty.

Baijal was appointed the LG Delhi after his predecessor Najeeb Jung announced his surprise resignation in December. Jung and Kejriwal had a long history of allegations and counter allegations, with the Delhi CM accusing the Modi government of muzzling his government through the LG.
In a move that could benefit around 1.8 million women employed in the organised sector, the Parliament has passed a bill to increase the paid maternity leaves to 26 weeks from the existing 12.

BCCL/ Representative Image

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday. Rajya Sabha had passed it in August last year. It will come into effect once the president signs the bill.

Humble gift to women

Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya termed the bill as a "humble gift to women".

"This is my humble gift to women, a day after the world celebrated International Women's Day."

PTI

Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi said this was a major step towards empowering women.

"I am very, very happy we have made history today. This will help thousands of women and produce much healthier children. We have been working on it for a long time."

Third highest in the world

With this India will become the country with the third highest maternity leave after Canada (50 weeks) and Norway (44 weeks) of paid maternity leaves.

BCCL/ Representative Image

The law will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people and the entitlement will be for the first two children. For the third child, the entitlement will be 12 weeks.

The bill also has a provision for 12 weeks of maternity leave to a woman who legally adopts a child under three months of age and a commissioning mother (defined as a biological mother) who uses her egg to have a surrogate child.

Concerns

While the bill has been widely welcomed, many also have expressed fears of the move being counter productive.

Congress's Sushmita Dev said it could affect women's employability in the private sector.

"Since the employer has to pay the salary during the leave period, the amendment might turn out to be counter-productive. Innovative thing to do would be to bring in paternity benefit."

During the debate in the Lok Sabha some members also called for an increase in paternity leaves, citing that these days most children were born in nuclear families where both the father and mother have to take care of the child.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is renowned for her quick thinking when it comes to helping Indians in distress. More recently, Swaraj offered her help to a student of New York University who suffered brain haemorrhage.

Debarpan Mukherjee, a student of NYU was hospitalised due to brain haemorrhage, Swaraj immediately made arrangements to get in touch with the student's parents.

I have just learnt that Debarpan Mukherjee a student of NYU is in Hospital because of brain haemorrhage. @IndiainNewYork /1  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 10, 2017

Swaraj coordinated with the New York consulate and the students mother, to make all the necessary travel arrangements. She also consoled Debarpa's friends that everything was taken care of and the he was in safe hands.

We will ensure that his parents reach there at the earliest. Our Consulate in New York will provide all help. /2 @IndiainNewYork  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) 10 March 2017

And as usual, people couldn't stop heaping praises on Swaraj's efficiency.

@SushmaSwaraj @IndiainNewYork You are simply the best FM India has ever had. God Bless You  Manjeet Bagga (@Goldenthrust) 10 March 2017

@SushmaSwaraj @IndiainNewYork Why don't other parties leaders learn from you that how to help people.  MSK (@MSK138) 10 March 2017

And, yet again Swaraj saved the day!
India on Thursday asked Pakistan to take action against the increasing number of terrorists being spotted at "launch pads" along the Line of Control, even as it conveyed the two Pakistani teenagers who had accidentally strayed across the border last September would be handed over at the Wagah border on Friday.

BCCL

"In the DGMO-level talks over the hotline on Thursday morning, Lt-Gen A K Bhatt expressed concern to his Pakistani counterpart about the movement of terrorists noticed along the LoC," said an Army officer.

With infiltration attempts on the rise once again as the snow in the mountain passes melts, sources said it was clearly conveyed to Islamabad that the "onus was on the Pakistan Army to take action against the terrorists and not allow them to cross-over into Kashmir."

BCCL

The Pakistan Army, on its part, "rejected Indian concerns on movement of terrorists along the LoC" and asked the Indian Army to "look inward, share evidence".

But the Indian security establishment, which is closely tracking the situation along the 778-km long LoC, maintains that 18-20 terror-training camps directed against India are still very much active in the hinterland in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

"Moreover, there are scores of makeshift launch pads closer to the LoC. Some new ones have come up, while some older ones are being re-activated. Our reports hold that terrorists are going up and down, waiting for the opportune moment to infiltrate into Kashmir," said a source.

BCCL

In January, Army chief General Bipin Rawat had warned Pakistan that it should stop actively aiding cross-border infiltration and terrorism. Pointing to the "surgical strikes" conducted by the Indian Special Forces against terror launch pads in PoK on September 29, Gen Rawat had said: "The operation's unequivocal message was that we have the capability, we are aware of the terrorist infrastructure that lies across the border and the intelligence is forthcoming."

During the DGMO talks on Thursday, Islamabad was also informed about the repatriation of the two Pakistani teenagers, Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed, who were earlier suspected to have facilitated the infiltration of the terrorists who attacked the Uri Army camp in September. But they were later cleared by the NIA and handed back to the Army. "They will be handed over to Pakistani authorities at the Wagah border on Friday. The modalities have been worked out," said the officer.
A heartbreaking photo captures the moment a U.S. airman said his last goodbye to his best friend, his 11-year-old military working dog.

Facebook/Greg McBrayer

U.S. Air Force official Kylie Smith and his loyal K9, have been through thick and thin.He was paired with Bodza, a trained military German Shepherd, during his 2012 deployment to Kyrgyzstan. And since then, there was no looking back.

Bodza had been working as a bomb detection dog with the US Air Force since 2006 and he has been a part of multiple missions Iraq, Kyrgyzstan and Kuwait. After Bodza retired in 2014, Smith took him in as a pet.

Facebook/German Shepherd Den

He was one of those gentle giants. He was trained to bite, but I swear he only did it to make people happy. He had no interest in the world of hurting anyone," Smith told CBS8.

Unfortunately, in 2016 the canine was diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy, an incurable disease that affects the spinal cord.

As, days passed, Bodza grew sicker, and Smith was faced with a gut-wrenching decision that no dog lover would ever want to take- to put him down.

Facebook/Kylie Smith

Before he took him to the vet, Smith treated Bodza with his favourite meal, a Big Mac from McDonalds.

While Bodza was being euthanized, Smith clung on to him and draped the American flag over him, to honour his loyalty and service for the country.

"All of us have that dog that is so special to us.I got married with this dog, I got divorced with this dog. I have a son on the way, and the most heartbreaking part is I really wish he was younger, so my son would be able to play with him. He was the nicest dog in the world. said a heartbroken Smith.
The attack comes a day after a police colonel was killed in a bomb attack on a security checkpoint in Arish

Related Islamic State affiliate in North Sinai claims murder of police colonel Police colonel killed in bomb attack in Sinai's El-Arish: Interior ministry Two police officers were killed and four wounded after an IED exploded near a security convoy in North Sinai's capital city of Arish on Thursday.

A statement by Egypt's interior ministry identified the victims as a lieutenant colonel and a captain.

The attack comes one day after a police colonel was killed in a bomb attack on a security checkpoint in the same city.

Egypts army and police forces have been waging a war over the past several years against an Islamist militant insurgency in North Sinai, concentrated in the cities of Arish, Rafah and Sheikh Zweid.

Hundreds of security personnel have been killed in terror attacks by militants.

The army says it has killed hundreds of militants in intensified comprehensive military campaigns in the governorate since 2013.

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Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets.

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Related Suicide bombers kill 26 at Iraq wedding celebration: Police Egypt's foreign ministry has condemned a terrorist attack in Iraq which killed 26 people and injured dozens of others during a wedding on Thursday.

"The foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu-Zeid assured that Egypt stands by and fully supports the Iraqi government in the fight against terrorism which targets its security and stability," a ministry statement read, noting that Egypt sends its condolences to the Iraqi people and government.

The spokesman also reiterated Egypt's stance that "terrorism contradicts all humanitarian principles and that ending the phenomenon relies on international solidarity to crack down on financing and militant ideology."

The bomb blast targeted a wedding ceremony in Hajjaj village near Tikrit city, and was reported by local officials and medics as a suicide attack.

The attack was not immediately claimed, although the Islamic State militant group has carried out similar actions as it comes under pressure in Mosul.

IS overran large areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014, declaring a cross-border "caliphate" in territories it controlled, but has since lost ground.

Iraqi forces launched the massive operation to retake IS Mosul's stronghold on 17 October, first recapturing its eastern side before expanding operations at other regions in Iraq's second largest city.

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Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan arrived inthis week, amid heightened concerns by local producers over the loss of feta cheese's status as a Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) product under the CETA agreement between Canada and the EU.
Repentant armed bandits and livestock rustlers have continued to surrender their weapons to the military in Zamfara state, this is following the peace initiative by the state government together with the 1 Division Nigerian Army which started in 2016.



On Wednesday March 8, 2017, repentant armed bandits and local vigilante group called Yansakai in Ruwan Tofa, Yar Galadima and Babban Doka in Maru Local Government Area, Danwaren Daji in Tsafe Local Government Area, as well as Mada in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State, handed over large quantities of dangerous arms and ammunition.

In a statement by Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman said, 3 AK-47 Rifles, 1 foreign made Pistol, 1,169 Dane Guns, 323 Locally Made Pistols, 54 X Locally Made Revolvers, 102 Locally Made Multi-Barrel Pistols and 22 X Locally Made Double Barrel Rifles, were handed to 223 Battalion, 1 Brigade Nigerian Army in the presence of some state government officials and representatives of the various heads of security agencies in the State.

Over the last few months over a thousand assorted weapons have been surrendered across the North West Zone.
Former Chocolate City Boss, Audu Maikori has been re arrested and whisked away to Kaduna. He was instructed to report at the Lagos Police Command, which he did, but on getting there he was taken into Custody and transferred to Kaduna on the orders of Governor El Rufai despite the protestations of his Lawyers.

Audu Maikori was arrested earlier in February following a social media post he wrote on the killings in Southern Kaduna. He was finally released after intense on social media.

Also, following his ordeal, he had collapsed early this week at a WIMBIZ event hosted by Media mogul Mo Abudu.

More details to follow soon.
Seasoned Nollywood actor, Chief Pete Edochie, clocked 70 on Tuesday and the social media was agog with celebration. Goodwill messages flooded Twitter and Instagram, as appreciative movie fans across the country strove to outdo one another in celebrating him.

One of the revelations of the day was that Edochie possessed a string of chieftaincy titles, real and invented, that would make most traditional Igbo chiefs go green with envy any day.

For many fans, the occasion also provided an opportunity to unveil the popular actor, fondly addressed as the Igwe Ogadagidi 1 of Nollywood, as the ultimate king of African proverbs. While the celebration lasted, the social media was virtually awash with proverbs and quotes credited to the birthday boy.

Much later, Edochie, in an interview with our correspondent, said he was grateful to God for making him to live this long. I am very grateful to God that he permitted me to live up to 70 years. This calls for a special celebration. When I remember that many of my age mates have gone to the great beyond without attaining this age, I really feel grateful to God.

I come from a family that enjoys longevity. My father was 96 years-old before he died. My fathers immediate sister also departed at 98 years. So, we are nonagenarians in a sense, he said.

Admitting that his acting career, which officially began with the production of Things Fall Apart, the celebrated film adaptation of Chinua Achebes epic novel of the same title, predated Nollywood by seven years, the popular actor described his experience in the film industry as warm and fulfilling.

When I did Things Fall Apart in 1985, Nollywood was still slumbering in the womb of time. I think that a lot of people in Nollywood look up to me for inspiration because I am one of the oldest people there. They see me as their mentor and father. It is a role that I have enjoyed. So my experience in Nollywood has been wonderful and inspiring. I worked in other places before I joined Nollywood, but I dont think that I would like to give up my experience in the industry for any other thing, he said.

Edochie, who was honoured with a national award  Member of the Order of the Niger  in 2006, also described Nollywood as one of the biggest things to happen to Nigeria. Arguing that the film industry had always positively advertised Nigeria to the rest of the world, especially at a time the countrys image abroad had taken a turn for the worse, he said, When people keep talking about how Nigeria has become phenomenally corrupt, there is always a redeeming factor. That factor is Nollywood. Nollywood has placed Nigeria on the world map. It has been so good to Nigeria that the most celebrated people in the country today are actors, not politicians.

Although the actor expressed the opinion that the present situation in the country could be better, he is worried about the part played by ethnic and religious bigots in derailing the progress of the country.

Wishing that Nigerians would truly imbibe the spirit of positive change, especially in their reaction to leadership issues, he said, The situation in the country certainly could be better. What I dont feel happy about in this country is the suspicion that characterises our reaction to leadership. When a Christian is in authority, every move he makes is misinterpreted by the Muslims. Similarly, when a Muslim is in power, every move he makes is viewed with suspicion by the Christians. One thing that is destroying this country is ethnic and religious discrimination.

A Muslim does not think that a Christian can come up with a successful policy and vice versa. This is all nonsense. Why do I say that it is nonsense? Look at the state of the economy, for example. If a country has as many internationally recognised technocrats as this country, there is no reason why the economy of the country should be in shambles. Besides, Nigeria is endowed with vast human and natural resources. We shouldnt be suffering as much as we are doing now.

Source: Punch
The residents of Obudu in Cross River State, have heaved a sigh of relief as Kidnappers who abducted an 8 year old girl on 8th March 2017, met their waterloo today as they were captured by the police, and some items were recovered from them.

Source: BreakingTimes
The Nigerian military has disclosed plans to change the Nigerian Army Institute of Technology and Environmental Studiesm, NAITES, to a military university.

The school will now be known as the Nigerian Army University of Technology and Environmental Studies, NAUTES, when the plan is fully implemented, making it the second military university in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Defense Academy, NDA, in Kaduna is currently the only military university in Nigeria.

The rector of the technology and environmental institute, Clement Ojo, told pressmen that the change will take full effect when the committee that was set up to effect the transition submits its report and it is approved by the convening authority.

The committee is to submit some essential documents to the National Universities Commission, NUC. When that is done, the school will then reflects the new designation, Mr. Ojo, a brigadier general, said.

On the initial relocation of the school from Makurdi, Benue State to Biu in Borno State, the rector noted that the school has only partly moved to Biu, Borno State.

The remaining movement will be gradual depending on availability of structures to accommodate all students. The Rector and other administrative staff have however moved fully, Mr. Ojo added.

The army had earlier disclosed the commencement of the 2016/2017 academic session in Biu, after relocation from Benue.
Tina, who resides in Ghana, was murdered by a 34-year-old man, Isaac Sackey, for allegedly stealing GH120 after he had sex with her.

According to reports , Sackey reported to the police after stabbing Tina in the stomach and thigh.

Sackey was said to have approached Tina for sex at a drinking spot in Accra, where he had gone to have drinks with his male friends. The two were said to have agreed on a fee for the service before heading to Sackeys house where they spent the night.

Narrating the circumstances leading to Tinas death, Sackey told the Accra Regional Police Command that he had gone to the bathroom to freshen up at about 2am, leaving the woman in the bedroom. He claimed that when he returned he saw the Nigerian going through his belongings and realised that GH120 cash had been stolen.

The Commands Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mrs Effia Tenge, said that Sackey told the police that he immediately accused the woman of stealing the money but she denied it.

She said, The suspect lives in a single room in some compound house at Spintex.

In the course of the confrontation, the lady took a kitchen knife from the mans room and threatened to stab him. But the man overpowered the lady and incidentally stabbed her after he managed to take back the knife from the lady.

Tenge said Sackey locked his room and then went to the Psychiatric Hospital to report the issue where he was directed by the hospital authorities to report himself to the police.

She said police officers went to Sackeys apartment where the body of the victim was found lying in a pool of blood. A careful assessment of the body by the police, she said, revealed that the victim had a knife wound in the stomach and on the thigh, indicating that she had been stabbed twice.

The body has since been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue for preservation.

The deceased is yet to be identified by the family since the suspect claimed it was the first time they had met at the drinking spot.

Some neighbours of the suspect claimed he had a mental disorder, but the police are yet to verify that information.

( Punch Nigeria )
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi prayed alongside top military commanders and state officials at the Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi Mosque in New Cairo on Friday, as part of the celebration of the armed forces' martyrs day.

The president listened to a sermon delivered by Grand Mufti Shawky Allam on the "heroic sacrifices" of the country's army and security forces in services of protecting the nation.

The day is celebrated in Egypt in remembrance of Lieutenant General Abdel-Moneim Riyad, an Egyptian army chief of staff and veteran commander who was killed along with several of his aides in an Israeli mortar attack on 9 March 1969 during the War of Attrition.

Last month, President El-Sisi praised and honoured policemen killed in recent years in a celebration marking Police Day, saying that Egypt is "fighting a vicious war, and the whole world knows that it is fighting it alone."

He said Egypt has been fighting a 40-month war fought by "men who took the responsibility to protect Egyptians", and called on people to support security and state institutions.

The Egyptian army and police have been battling an entrenched Islamist insurgency for several years in North Sinai, with hundreds of security forces killed in the process.
The Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris NPM, has deployed Police Special Intervention Force to Ile-Ife, Osun state, following the clash that occurred on March 8, 2017 and resulted in the loss of innocent lives as well as destruction of property worth Millions of Naira.

The Special Intervention Force, comprises Five units of the Police Mobile Force (PMF) specially trained Anti-Riot Policemen, Five Cells of Counter Terrorism Unit, Conventional Policemen, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Intelligence Response Team, Technical Intelligence Unit, SIB, detachment of EOD, Police K9 (Sniffer Dogs Section), with their Headquarters in Ile-Ife.

They would be led by the Commissioner of Police in charge of PMF, Force Headquarters, Abuja and their operations would cover the entire Ile-Ife and environs, and other flash/trouble spots in Osun State.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Jimoh O. Moshood.

Furthermore, the statement revealed that the Police Special Intervention Forces are already on the ground working in synergy with the Osun State Police Command to ensure that total peace and normalcy is restored and sustained in Ile-Ife and environs.

To achieve success in the operations, the Force will be proactive and strict in the enforcement of its mandates, Police standard operations procedures and rule of engagement. The Force will ensure the full enforcement of the curfew imposed on Ile-Ife and environs by the Osun state government.

The personnel of the Police Special Intervention Force will carry out 24 hours surveillance and patrol, stop and search; continuous raids of identified criminal hideouts and black spots, with a view to arrest promptly trouble makers, their sponsors and nip in the bud, any further attempt to cause violence and other criminalities in the general area.

The deployment of the personnel will equally cover communities, towns, villages, vulnerable points, Government and private infrastructures and facilities in Ile-Ife and environs.

Joint Investigation Team made up of Personnel of Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, (FSARS), SIP and Osun State Police Command CIID headed by an experienced Commissioner of Police under the supervision of Deputy Inspector General of Police (FCIID), are already in Ile-Ife and have succeeded in arresting the arrow-head and principal suspect including some of his thugs that caused the death of most of the innocent victims.

Idris, therefore, called on citizens to support security officials in eliminating crime in the state.

Traditional rulers, religious leaders, public office holders, politicians, opinion leaders, parents and guardians are hereby called upon to prevail on their subjects, supporters, children and wards to support the personnel of the Police Special Intervention Force in the discharge of their responsibilities, and propagate peace, demonstrate love, and tolerance to promote harmonious co-existence with their fellow citizens, irrespective of religious, ethnic inclinations and differences.

The Police boss then assured residents of adequate security and protection of their lives and property.

He urged them to be law abiding and to give a chance for peace to prevail.
Laura Ikeji, fashion entrepreneur and sister to famous blogger, Linda Ikeji has asked her fans to help her beg Linda Ikeji to buy her a Range Rover for her upcoming birthday celebration.

She took to her instagram page to ask her fans persuade her sister into buying her the car for her birthday present on the 15th of March, stating that her elder sister only needs to transfer the money for the car.

See post below:
The Association of has raised an alarm over increasing rate of Non-Communicable Diseases like diabetes, cancer and hypertension in the country.

The association stated this in Ado Ekiti at the 33rd National Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting themed: Non-Communicable Disease Burden: Health System Preparedness in Nigeria.

Speaking at the opening, the Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Dr. Olusegun Elegbede, blamed this on change in lifestyle of people and the economic recession.

According to him, there is evidence that NCDs are undermining the attainment of Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals.

There has been growing burden of NCD and the World Economic Forum has reported it as leading macro-economic risk at global level, he said.

The National Chairman of APHPN, Professor T.M. Akande, said the conference offered another opportunity to network and rub minds on burning public health issues in Nigeria and the strategies for advancing public health practice in Nigeria.

In a paper entitled, Nigerian Health System Response to the Emerging Epidemics of NCDs, the Guest Speaker, Professor Olanipekun Alausa, said chronic NCDs have become more prominent causes of illness, disabilities and deaths.

In addition, changes in lifestyles and in the environment have increased the morbidity and mortality rates due to NCDs, he said.

Recommending solutions, Alausa called for the strengthening of health systems with appropriate technologies in tertiary institutions.

According to him, the cost of management must be made affordable and heavily subsidised by the government and other health agencies.

Affected people with diagnosed NCDs should seek hospital patronage early and desist from consulting and seeking for traditional and religious solutions in the first instance.

The government should come to the assistance of patients, rather than the patients begging for donations on television stations and social media, he added.

( Channels Television)
The Police Command in Ogun State has arrested two persons who have allegedly been parading themselves as officers of the Nigerian Army in order to extort and maltreat innocent citizens in Agbado area of Ogun state.

In a press release by the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, it was stated that, the two men, Joseph David and Adebayo Olanrewaju Ojoye, were arrested following a complaint from Barrister Paul Oniyo and Chima Solomon, that the two suspects who put on military camouflage accosted them, beat them up and inflicted injuries on them over a minor disagreement.

Upon their complaint, the Divisional Police Officer, Agbado Division, (CSP) Abioye Shittu, led detectives to the scene where the suspects were arrested and brought to the station.

On interrogation, it was discovered that the suspects acclaimed military men were mere impostors thriving on illegality for sustenance. the P.R.O said.

Items recovered from them include: various military hard wares, cap and camp bed.

The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has now ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation.
In his first meeting with top government officials led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa Friday morning, after he returned from medical vacation, President Buhari said,  I am pleased I am back, I am feeling much better now.

( Punch Newspaper )
The Edo State Police Command have arrested an NYSC member for allegedly assaulting one of his pupil.

The corp member, Gbadamosi Oluwamayowa got the attention he needed last month when he shared a photo of himself and one of his underage students on Facebook, bragging about sleeping with her.

The Editor-in-Chief at Women of Rubies, Esther Ijewere, in a post on Facebook, said Oluwamayowa was arrested on Thursday.

She said, OluwaMayowa Gbadamosi, the Edo state youth corps member who bragged about sleeping with an underage girl online was arrested yesterday.

The President of the National Association of Edo State Students; Comr. David Amenaghawon, the Director for child, the NYSC, the civil group Omo Edo Pataki and myself worked alongside the Commissioner of Police to fish him out.

I will give more update as things unfold.

Ijewere is also the National Coordinator at Walk Against Rape Nigeria and Founder & Executive Director at Rubies Ink Initiative.

( Punch Nigeria)
Toke Makinwa is an outstanding Nigerian radio personality, television host, vlogger and author of On Becoming, where she talked about her life and time with ex-husband, Maje Ayida.

Ever since the release of the memoir, social media and blogs has given a lot of towards mixed reaction it. Most recently, about her and estranged husbands lawsuit.

The media personality took to Twitter earlier this morning to advise people to mind their own business.

See photos:
On Wednesday,the United States Embassy in Abuja gave a possible reason for the deportation of a Nigerian believed to be a victim of the ongoing immigration overhaul by the Donald Trump administration. Mr. Trump recently intensified a crackdown on immigrants from specific countries across the world, majority of them Muslim-majority countries. But despite the U.S. State Departments position that the new rules will not affect Nigeria, there have been reported cases of deportation involving Nigerians in recent weeks. Femi Olaniyi said he was deported after being detained for several days, despite having a visa valid for two years. I travelled to the United States of America on 21 of February 2017, with two years valid multiple visa. When I got to the point of entry of Los Angeles, the immigration officer directed me to one BPD, he interrogated me and I answered him politely. When he has nothing to hold me, he said I should come for biometric whether I have any criminal offence.

I told him that Im not a criminal that he should go ahead. Later, he brought some documents that I should sign, I told him that I will need to read before I sign.

He quickly withdrew the document and put me in a cold cell. From there he held me for four days. Collected all my phone so that I will not get access to my family and later revoked and return me back to Nigeria.

Honestly, this is unfair, Nigeria needs to do something, Mr. Olaniyi said.

Mr. Olaniyi told PREMIUM TIMES he had travelled to different countries across the world in the past, but the botched journey was his first to the United States.

The U.S. Embassy did not deny Mr. Olaniyis allegations, but maintained there are no restrictions on Nigerians with valid documents.

There is no restriction on Nigerians travelling to the United States, Embassy spokesman, Russell Brooks, told PREMIUM TIMES by email Wednesday afternoon. Nigerians with valid visas are welcome to travel to the United States.

Mr. Russell blamed Mr. Olaniyis incident on a long-standing immigration policy that a visa does not guarantee entry into the United States, a practice he said remained popular amongst different countries across the world.

However, many people are unaware of the fact that a visa does not automatically guarantee you entry into the United States, Mr. Brooks said. As is the case in most countries, all travellers are still subject to an interview by an immigration official at the point of entry.

The official said U.S.-bound travellers must convince immigration officials that they had reasons to enter the country, adding that such officers should be given maximum cooperation.

At U.S. airports, the immigration inspector representing the Department of Homeland Security is the official who actually authorises entry.

The inspector must be convinced that the purpose of the travel is legitimate and he or she will have access to information concerning prior travel.

We certainly encourage all travellers to be clear, consistent, and cooperative during such an interview.

Mr. Olaniyis ordeal came amidst growing concerns about deliberate denial of Nigerians an entry into the United States.

On Monday, an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigerians appear to be targeted by the United States due to the controversial new immigration rules imposed by President Donald Trump.
Another week, another consumer protection falls. Get ready to kiss good-bye forever rules aimed at protecting broadband users privacy.

Plans to strip the FCC of its authority are continuing apace. At the 11th hour, the agencys chairman, Ajit Pai, put the skids on rules that would have required ISPs to take utterly reasonable measures to protect consumers data and notify consumers should a breach take place.

Even more shocking is the bill introduced this week by Arizona Senator Jeff Flake and co-sponsored by more than 20 Republicans. Their resolution not only kills the privacy rules, which had been set to go into effect last week, it uses an obscure, expedited legislative process to prohibit the reissuing of any new rule that is substantially the same. That sound you hear is a door slamming in consumers faces.

The Congressional Review Act (CRA), penned in 1996 and used only once before this year, has been getting a vigorous workout of late. Its been used to kill everything from regulations that curbed runaway fees on prepaid debit cards to rules that banned coal-mining companies from dumping debris and waste into nearby waterways.

The broadband privacy rules crafted last year by Tom Wheelers FCC upset ISPs, which cried foul because they were being held to a different standard than internet companies like Google and Facebookwhich are regulated by the FTC. But as Wheeler correctly pointed out, the lack of broadband competition means a consumers relationship with her ISP is very different than the one she has with a website or app. Consumers can move instantaneously to a different website, search engine, or application. But once they sign up for broadband service, consumers can scarcely avoid the network for which they are paying a monthly fee.

ISPs are able to gather personal information about people when they are on their PCs, mobile devices, andas underscored this weekeven while watching TV. Unlike the opt-out standard of privacy applied by the FTC to edge providers, the FCC wanted to require opt-in consent before ISPs could sell to third parties sensitive data like Social Security numbers, geolocation, financial information, health information, and browsing histories. The FCC also recommended a system of corporate accountability for data breaches that included notifying users when their data was stolen. The nerve!

To hear Republicans and telecom industry groups tell it, the new rules would harm consumers by creating confusion over the FCCs and FTCs differing approaches to privacy oversight. Americans care about the overall privacy of their information when they use the internet, and they shouldnt have to be lawyers or engineers to figure out if their information is protected differently depending on which part of the internet holds it, FCC Commissioners Pai and Maureen Ohlhausen wrote.

To which Ars Technica reader Cognac commented: Im not quite sure [they] understand how the internet works. This is kind of like saying big retail stores need to adhere to the same standards as the companies that make and maintain the roads consumers drive on to get to those stores, otherwise people will be confused.

Pai and Ohlhausen said they favored having privacy oversight uniformly administered by the FTC. But they disingenuously failed to mention that the FTC is barred by statute from regulating common carriersand the FCC reclassified broadband as a utility in 2015 in order to implement net neutrality rules. The FTC wrote the new privacy rules to close the gap in oversight the move created.

While Republicans will certainly turn their attention next to overturning net neutrality, even that may not restore the FTCs authority over ISPs. Ars Technica notes that because of a federal appeals court ruling last year, even if broadband loses its common carrier designation, AT&T would still be a common carrier because of its landline telephone and mobile voice services. Verizon, CenturyLink, Frontier, T-Mobile USA, and Sprint would all still be common carriers as well.  In short, the FTC might not be able to regulate all ISPs unless that court ruling is overturned or Congress changes the law to let the FTC regulate common carriers.

Ultimately, this elimination of basic data security rules gives ISPs a free ride, while online services and other edge providers are still required to take reasonable measures to protect their customers information under the FTCs framework, consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge said. That is not a level playing field.

A study last year found that more Americans are worried about their data privacy than they are about losing their main source of income. Its the governments job to protect consumers, but the current administration doesnt seem to view it that way. This attack on broadband privacy rules would only help telecoms make a quick buck on your data, Gizmodo writes.

Electronic Frontier Foundation has called on people to contact their senators and representatives to oppose the use of the CRA to roll back the FCCs privacy rules.
Soybean (ZS) Retests Weekly Chart Triangle Resistance Ahead of WASDE Tradable Patterns - Sun Nov 6, 10:53PM CST Soybean (ZSF23) is forming a daily and weekly Doji to start the week, hesitating after last weeks strong surge to triangle resistance (on the weekly chart). With ZS having reversed more than half... ZSF23 : 1455-0 (-0.50%) SOYB : 27.65 (+1.51%)

Cattle and Hog support and resistance for the week ONE44 Analytics - Sun Nov 6, 5:17PM CST You take care of the growing and we will take care of where it's going!

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...
Related Egyptian policeman detained for stealing money from vehicle at checkpoint

Egyptian prosecutors have ordered two policemen and a private citizen be detained on charges that they attempted to extort money out of a teacher by convincing him he was wanted on a warrant related to terrorism.

Prosecutors in Fayoum governorate in Upper Egypt ordered the two low-ranking policemen and a cafe owner be detained for 15 days on investigation, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

The defendants allegedly attempted to convince a local teacher that he was wanted by the authorities for membership of a terrorist organisation, and promised to halt criminal proceedings against him in exchange for money.

The 39-year-old teacher filed a legal complaint last week

The three defendants, who were apprehended on Thursday, denied all charges. A fourth alleged plotter, a contractor, has not yet been apprehended.

In the past three years, authorities have arrested and tried thousands of people on charges of membership of banned terrorist groups, committing violent acts against the state or breaking the protest law.

Fayoum is home to many Islamists and supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

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An industry veteran has said brokers need to ditch the title broker to ensure their future success. Anthony Moorhouse , founder and director of strategy at global emergency management company Dynamiq , said that brokers need to go beyond their job title to ensure their survival.The term broker really needs to die, Moorhouse told Insurance Business.They need to be risk advisers. Certainly risk transfer is always going to be the biggest part of their advice and portfolio but they are not going to be able to establish that trusted client adviser status if they are a one trick pony in that regard.Moorhouse is not the first to suggest that the title of insurance broker should be ditched. Mark Searles , CEO and managing director of AUB Group , and Lambros Lambrou , CEO of Aon Risk Solutions in Australia, both mooted the idea at the 2016 NIBA convention.Ditching a job title will not be enough on its own, however: Moorhouse noted that brokers also need to become a holistic risk adviser for their clients businesses.Brokers should look to partner with other expert industries linked to the insurance industry so they can become the first port of call when a risk issue arises, he continued.The broker needs to have the tools to be able to help that client recover, Moorhouse said.A big part of recovery is filing a claim and getting reimbursed for the direct financial loss, but it goes to so much more. It is about their reputation, their stakeholders, their people, their customers, their supply chain  and no-one is better placed than the insurance broker to fulfil that trusted role.Many brokers would argue that they already fill this role as trusted adviser but could a change in title enhance broker business? Only time will tell.What do you think? Do brokers need to change their titles to reflect the nature of their work? Let us know in the comments below.
Iraqi special forces battling the Islamic State (IS) militants on Friday pushed deeper into west Mosul, where a commander said Islamist militant resistance is showing signs of weakening under repeated assaults.

The Islamist militants are also facing simultaneous offensives in Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, piling more pressure on IS.

But the battle for Mosul's Old City -- which could see some of the toughest fighting of the operation -- has not yet begun, nor has fighting inside the city of Raqa, IS's main bastion in Syria.

Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service attacked the Al-Amil al-Oula neighbourhood of west Mosul early on Friday, and were battling the Islamist militants inside it, said Staff Major General Maan al-Saadi, a CTS commander.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command later announced that CTS had retaken that area along with another neighbourhood, Al-Amil al-Thaniyah.

Saadi said that following a string of losses since the launch of the government's assault on west Mosul on February 19, IS resistance had diminished.

"After we broke the (first) defensive line, they lost many fighters," he said.

"The enemy has begun to collapse. They have lost many of their combat capabilities. Today, the enemy sent (suicide car bombs), but not in the numbers that they sent at the beginning of the battle."

In another sign that the Islamist militants are feeling the squeeze, their chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reported to have abandoned Mosul, leaving local commanders behind to oversee defence of the city.

Iraqi forces launched their operation to retake Mosul in October, and recaptured the whole east bank of the Tigris River that runs through it in January.

They then set their sights on the smaller but more densely populated west side of the city.

More than 215,000 people are displaced as a result of the battle for Mosul, according to the International Organization for Migration. Others fled their homes but later returned.

Almost a quarter of the displaced -- more than 50,000 people -- have fled west Mosul since February 25, the IOM said.

But that is only a small fraction of the 750,000 civilians estimated to have stayed on in west Mosul under IS rule.

In neighbouring Syria, the Islamist militants lost more ground to a Russian-backed offensive by government forces east of second city Aleppo.

Russian warplanes and regime aircraft and artillery pounded IS positions around Jarrah airbase, held by the Islamist militants since January 2014.

Russia's military said on Friday that it had carried out more than 450 air strikes in support of the offensive over the past week, killing more than 600 IS fighters, and destroying 16 infantry fighting vehicles and 41 machinegun-mounted pickups.

Washington too has turned up the heat on IS in Syria, more than doubling its troop numbers in the country with the deployment of 400 reinforcements to back the offensive on Raqa.

Around 500 US military advisers were already deployed alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters that Washington regards as the force best equipped to drive IS from its stronghold.

But the operation is complicated by the implacable opposition to the SDF of US NATO ally Turkey, which is leading a rival offensive against IS in northern Syria.

Ankara regards the dominant force within the SDF, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), as a terrorist organisation, because of its links to a Kurdish rebel group that has waged a deadly 33-year insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

Ankara has said its intervention is aimed as much against the YPG as IS, and there have been repeated clashes between Turkish forces and the Kurdish militia.

Asked about the standoff at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, the top US commander for the region, General Joseph Votel, acknowledged that tensions between Ankara and the Kurds were near breaking point.

Efforts have been made to address the issue at a military level, "and there has to be an effort at the political level to address this," Votel said.

Some of the US troop reinforcements being sent to Syria are to be deployed to SDF-held areas near the front line to deter further clashes between Turkish forces and Washington's Kurdish-Arab allies.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow, however, are much improved even though they have supported opposite sides in the conflict between the rebels and the regime.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Moscow on Friday for a new round of consultations with President Vladimir Putin.

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The global re/insurance market faced more than US$1 billion in losses due to natural disasters in February 2017, according to Impact Forecasting, the risk modelling unit of major re/insurer Aon Benfield.Impact Forecasting highlighted a number of severe weather events all over the world during last month. These included five outbreaks of severe convective or thunderstorm type weather that hit the United States in February, with one causing 60 tornado touch-downs in the Midwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic states. According to Impact Forecasting, economic and insured losses from these disasters could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.Claire Darbinyan, associate director and meteorologist at Impact Forecasting, commented: While the United States endured another active and costly month from severe thunderstorms, it was not the only region coping with major losses from the peril. Australian insurers continue to take stock following a major hail event in New South Wales, including the greater Sydney metro region.In Europe, windstorm Thomas caused insured damages of around US$105 million across the UK and Germany.Major flood events were recorded in Peru, Chile, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, and Australia, while winter storms in Afghanistan and Pakistan caused avalanches that led to over 200 fatalities.Meanwhile, a magnitude-6.5 earthquake in the southern Philippines killed eight people and injured hundreds. Economic losses were estimated at PHP720 million (US$14 million).
Image: @RepMarshall Twitter

A US congressman is facing backlash over comments he recently made about the poor during a discussion of the Affordable Care Act.Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) was recently interviewed about Obamacares Medicaid expansion.Just like Jesus said, The poor will always be with us, Marshall said. There is a group of people that just dont want health care and arent going to take care of themselves.The comments were widely reported, and Marshall, a medical doctor, quickly found himself facing condemnation from advocacy groups.I cant understand how a physician would not already have a fundamental understanding of that issue, but it doesnt feel like he does, Medicaid advocate Sean Gatewood told the Kansas City Star.Marshall has since sought to walk back the comments, according to a Bloomberg report. He told the Star that he was a physician, not a politician, and that his point was that Obamacare has been detrimental to patients.
A hitman convicted of killing a Texas woman in a life insurance plot has been executed.Rolando Ruiz carried out the contract killing in 1992, after he was paid $2,000 by the victims husband and brother-in-law in a plan to collect life insurance benefits.The victim, Theresa Rodriguez, was 29 when she was shot outside her home.Her husband of seven years, Michael Rodriguez, stood to collect $250,000 in insurance benefits from his wifes death, and had also applied for another $150,000 in life insurance for his wife at the time of her killing.The police investigation into the crime was aided by a telephone tip after Theresa Rodriguezs employer, San Antonio-based financial services firm USAA, offered a $50,000 reward for information about her death.While the two Rodriguez brothers accepted life prison terms in plea deals, with the victims brother-in-law, Mark Rodriguez, eventually paroled in 2011, Ruiz was put on death row in 1995.Ruiz was executed in Texas on Tuesday with Theresa Rodriguezs family in attendance. He was given a lethal dose of pentobarbital and pronounced dead at 11:06pm, CBS News reported.While strapped to the death chamber gurney, he apologised to the family of the victim who sat watching, which included Theresa Rodriguezs two sisters.Words cannot begin to express how sorry I am and the hurt I have caused you and your family, he said. May this bring you peace and forgiveness.Ruiz also thanked his own family for their love and support, and said he was at peace.His execution was delayed for nearly five hours as the US Supreme Court rejected three appeals that had been filed by Ruizs attorneys in an effort to stop the punishment.
When news broke yesterday that AIG CEO Peter Hancock was to quit the firm , it hardly came as a surprise despite the company lavishing praise on its soon-to-depart leader. So having seemingly lost the backing of investors and board members, as well as the faith of many staff, what exactly went wrong for one of the biggest names in the industry?Hancock, who will stay on in his role until a new CEO is named, had a vision for AIG  he wanted to establish it as a tech powerhouse, which many saw as a target that could not be reached.In addition he was struck by costs that reached levels much higher than expected across a host of different segments  ranging from commercial vehicles with guaranteed payments to accident victims; to environmental liabilities and workers compensation. Even though many of the policies were written before he arrived, when the company posted a $3.04 billion loss in February it became hard for him to avoid the blame.Yet despite this, Hancock maintained a positive outlook noting that he couldnt be prouder of his teams work in delivering the latest results.There became a feeling that he was losing trust in the role  backed by analysts at firms such as Evercore Partners and Barclays who both said that the company itself was losing credibility, and this on the back of a downgrade by S&P.Over a period of just three years, Hancock also replaced his head of investing, chief financial officer and life insurance leader. It was just this week too that one of his first hires, chief information officer Phil Fasano, also announced that he would be leaving the firm Hancock wanted  rightly or wrongly  to change AIGs approach. Back in January last year he proposed a plan to pass on $25 billion to shareholders over a two-year period; sold a broker-dealer network; and exited some overseas operations in Turkey and Japan. He also exited a Lloyds of London unit, as well as a mortgage guarantor.The hope was to take AIG forward from the platform famously built by Maurice Hank Greenberg  but that was an era in which AIG was considered the largest insurance company in the world following a spate of acquisitions, and one in which it boasted a huge balance sheet and top credit rating.Following the bailout, however, that position of power was lost. AIG was a weakened giant that saw rivals including Berkshire Hathaway and Travelers impressing in its place.Has he made the future brighter?Though Hancock may have fallen, there are many who believe he has made the job of the incoming CEO much easier. He took a huge reserve charge during the previous period, which should set AIG for better results next time around.So much of what has happened today is very short run, former AIG general counsel Tom Russo told Bloomberg. I thought it was the wrong way to go because I would have let Peters strategy play itself out with Hancock still at the helm.Indeed late yesterday, AIG even committed to sticking to Hancocks turnaround plan : however, whether the new CEO agrees remains to be seen.Perhaps what we can reflect on the most was his declaration back in November 2015. Hancock had been in his job as CEO for around a year  and informed employees that they could not rely on lifetime jobs. At that point many chose to leave and just a year and a half later, Hancocks own tenure at the firm came to an end.
Other board changes also announced
The Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut Inc. (PIACT) elected Kenneth A. Distel of Avon, Conn., as president at the associations Annual Convention held in March at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn.

PIACT is a trade association representing professional, independent insurance agencies and their employees throughout the state.

Distel is area vice president of RPS Distel in Farmington, Conn.

As an active member of PIACT, Distel served as president-elect of the association in 2016-17, treasurer in 2015-16 and secretary in 2014-15. Currently, Distel is vice president of the Administrative/Nominations Committee. He also is a member of the Executive/Budget & Finance and Legislative/Business Issues Committees.

As an affiliate of PIACT, Distel served as president of the Connecticut Young Insurance Professionals (CTYIP) from 2004-06. CTYIP promotes the professional and personal growth of those new to the insurance field by providing education and networking opportunities.

Source: The Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut Inc.

Topics Agencies Connecticut
Chinas Communist leaders will this week introduce sweeping new laws that codify social responsibilities for the countrys 1.4 billion citizens while also providing some modest new protections.

The preamble of what state media is calling Chinas declaration of rights will be announced on Wednesday and is expected to be passed by the close of the National Peoples Congress (NPC) on March 15, paving the way for more detailed laws expected to be passed in 2020.

The changes are part of President Xi Jinpings wider push to align the legal system with the countrys social and economic modernisation and for some legal reformers, the code is a test of how far China will go in allowing civil liberties that might impinge upon state power.

Civil law is the fundamental doctrine for a countrys legal system, the source of its basic essence, Liang Ying, head of the NPC Legislative Affairs Research institute, told state media on Sunday.

A foundational civil (law) system is an important sign of whether a countrys legal system is mature.

Xi has made governing the nation by law a top priority of his tenure though he has drawn a line at allowing the courts to expand their power at the expense of the Communist Partys control. Since pledging to reform and open in 1978, China has been gradually shifting its legal system away from a socialist law towards something closer to a European-style legal system.

In 2011, China declared that socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics had been established, but officials themselves say Chinas laws remains a work in progress.

SAMARITANS, PROPERTY RIGHTS

The preamble, which was released in draft form to the public in June last year, seeks to address some of the legal issues that have gnawed at public consciousness in recent years, such as who is responsible for Chinas abandoned children and elderly, or what protections cover so-called Good Samaritans.

Chinas incomplete legal system was heavily criticized for an incident in 2011 when multiple passersby ignored a toddler knocked to the ground in a hit-and-run.

Shocked observers said the lack of clarity on civil rights leaves helpers at risk of liability when coming to the aid of strangers.

Reformers also hope the code will resolve the issue of guardianship for left behind children whose parents work away from home and empty nest elderly folk who are similarly abandoned by their children.

One issue that lawyers say remains mostly unresolved in the draft code is that of property rights.

Most Chinese homeowners do not legally own the land on which their homes are built. Instead, they lease the rights to use the property for a limited number of years from the government, an arrangement that creates uncertainty for buyers.

Whether farmers or city folk, businessman or scientists, an inability to guarantee your own property in the way that other nations allow will impact social stability, said Li Shu, a lawyer at Anli Law Firm in Beijing.

But Philip Cheng, a lawyer at Hogan Lovells in Shanghai, said a provision in the current draft requiring civil activities to be carried out in a fair and reasonable manner could help with certain property disputes.

It may, for example, allow companies and individuals to be paid market rates for land that is rezoned to produce new housing in major cities or make way for industrial development, he said.

LIMITS OF PROTECTION

Many legal experts say the latest draft of general rules that form the basis of the code falls short of enshrining sweeping private rights and makes little progress in key areas including property and civil liberties.

Another issue: how far the code will go in defending the rights of individuals, known as personality rights, a broad term Chinese legal experts use to talk about the basic rights each individual should enjoy.

Health, reputation, image, name and freedom are included, but the term is significantly narrower and de-politicized compared to human rights, according to Chinese academics.

Proponents of individual rights have called for a dedicated section of the code, while others worry granting too many private rights could lead to revolution.

The current scope of personality rights in the draft rules makes them seriously imbalanced, according to Xu Xianming, deputy chairman of the National Peoples Legal Association, an advocate for more personal freedoms being included in the code.

First, the list of rights is incomplete; second, the number of rights is insufficient; third, the civil rights system is curtailed, Xu wrote last year in an essay for the official magazine of Chinas parliament.

As Chinas constitution cannot be cited in court, rights must be passed by parliament before can they be protected, Xu argued.

Chinas constitution on paper promises freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly among others. In practice, however, such provisions are not considered legally actionable and the partys right to govern as it sees fit takes precedent.

Liang Huixing, a scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has repeatedly warned that writing personality rights into the civil code might lead to a color revolution in China, referring to mass political movements in former Soviet Union states in the early 2000s.

(Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Tony Munroe and Sam Holmes)

Topics Property China
Kansas rancher Greg Gardiner got into some of his scorched pastures for the first time on March 8 and surveyed what he likened to a battle zone: carcasses of dead cattle everywhere.

Its pretty much a catastrophe, Gardiner said as he looked out on his ranch near Ashland, charred by wildfires that have burned through hundreds of acres in four states. Its as bad as a mind can make it.

Gardiner cries when he talks about how thankful he is that none of his family members were lost in wildfires that that have led to the deaths of six people. Gardiners brother Mark lost his home  like dozens of other people in largely rural areas of Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado  but he is safe.

Gardiner figures he lost 500 cattle. Any badly burned animals found still alive are mercifully shot.

A lot of people have gone out and run out of shells and come back to get more shells, said Gardiner, speaking by cellphone. Its pretty grisly work out here right now, to be honest.

He saw a coyotes carcass and wryly stated that theres not even coyotes left to clean up the dead. No wildlife is left as far as he can tell.

While cattle producers like Gardiner spent much of Wednesday assessing their losses, fire crews were attempting to extinguish the blazes. Most of the burned land is in Kansas, where more than 1,000 square miles has been consumed in a series of blazes, including one believed to be the largest in the states recorded history.

It is too soon to know yet how many animals perished. In Clark County, where Gardiner lives, ranchers so far have lost about 2,500 adult cattle and at least 1,000 calves, said Randall Spare, co-owner of Ashland Veterinary Center.

It is just horrendous, rancher David Clawson said from his home near Englewood, a Kansas town of about 50 residents where a fire destroyed 12 homes.

Ranch hands were among those who have been killed in the fires. In the Texas Panhandle, three ranch hands died trying to save cattle from fires that have burned nearly 750 square miles.

Gray County Judge Richard Peet said it appears 20-year-old Cody Crockett was on horseback and his girlfriend, 23-year-old Sydney Wallace, was nearby on foot as fire and smoke swirled around them. Peet says Wallace died of smoke inhalation. Crockett suffered burns, as did 35-year-old Sloan Everett who also was on horseback. Their bodies were found near each other.

A fourth person who died in Texas  25-year-old Cade Koch  was attempting to drive home when smoke from a separate fire to the north enveloped him. His wife, Sierra Koch, who is pregnant, described her husband as a hard-working, friendly man who treated everybody with the utmost respect.

He was hard-headed and had a huge heart, she said.

In Kansas, the Highway Patrol said Corey Holt, of Oklahoma City, died Monday when his tractor-trailer jackknifed as he tried to back up because of poor visibility on a highway, and he succumbed to smoke after getting out of his vehicle.

About 545 square miles also has burned in Oklahoma, where a woman had a heart attack while trying to keep her farm and died.

No deaths were recorded in Colorado, where more than 45 square miles burned.

Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Texas Wildfire Oklahoma Kansas
Before he lost the confidence of big-name investors and his companys board members, Peter Hancock squandered the faith of many of his staff.

It was November 2015, after a disappointing quarter for American International Group Inc., and Hancock  then a year into his tenure as chief executive officer  told employees they shouldnt count on lifetime jobs. Many in the organization felt insulted. Some of them cried. A lot of them ended up quitting.

On Thursday, Hancock ended his own career at AIG, following a long line of leaders at the insurer who found it easier to make promises than deliver. The former banker, who drew skepticism with his vision of turning AIG into a tech powerhouse, will stay on as CEO until the company names a replacement.

During Hancocks watch, AIG was burned on higher-than-expected costs on one segment after another: workers compensation, environmental liabilities, commercial vehicles and even guaranteed payments to accident victims. While some of the policies were written before Hancock joined AIG, it was becoming harder for him to avoid the blame. The company posted a $3.04 billion quarterly loss in February and lowered a 2017 profitability target made just months earlier. Hancocks decision to take a huge reserve charge in the period was the right thing to do, and will make the next CEOs job easier, said Tom Russo, AIGs former general counsel, who retired last year.

So much of what has happened today is very short run, Russo said. I thought it was the wrong way to go because I would have let Peters strategy play itself out with Hancock still at the helm.

AIG dropped 23 cents to $63.21, extending its loss since Dec. 31 to 3.2 percent. Icahn said in a Twitter post that We fully support the actions taken today by the board of $AIG.

Losing Credibility

Activist investors John Paulson and Carl Icahn, who won board representation last year, have been pushing for more immediate moves to bolster the share price. It didnt help that analysts at firms like Barclays Plc and Evercore Partners Inc. said the company was losing credibility. S&P Global Ratings downgraded AIG in January, and A.M. Best dealt the company another blow when it said that it was reviewing the insurers grades amid challenges in reserving and risk management.

Buyers of U.S. commercial property/casualty coverage play close attention to A.M. Bests scores when picking an insurer. Hancock acknowledged Feb. 16 that a downgrade would certainly impact certain lines with major accounts.

AIGs been such an outlier in terms of having to take reserve charges while most of its competitors are releasing reserves, Rob Haines, an analyst at CreditSights, said in an interview. Ultimately, someones going to have to take the blame there.

A former J.P. Morgan & Co. executive, Hancock, 58, joined AIG in 2010 to help the insurer avoid the investing blunders that led to a 2008 government bailout that swelled to $182.3 billion. After helping to repay the rescue, Hancock became CEO in 2014. From that post, he learned that mistakes in insurance underwriting could also be expensive.

Visionary Plans

Hancock had big plans for the insurer, and some felt that he tried too hard to turn AIG into a technology-driven company. He was an avid watcher of talks by Silicon Valley leaders and would send videos of titans such as Sergey Brin and Elon Musk to his colleagues. But many executives no longer fit in, some of them preferring to focus on traditional underwriting, rather than tech upgrades. And, one after another, they started to depart.

In less than three years, Hancock replaced the chief financial officer, head of investing, leader of life insurance and others. Phil Fasano, the chief information officer who was one of Hancocks first major hires, said this week he was leaving AIG.

Hancocks remarks could seem dissonant, like the day after posting a loss in February when he told analysts, I couldnt be prouder of how the team has worked together under a great deal of pressure to deliver these results.

By the time Hancock intensified his focus on cutting costs, Icahn had taken a stake and began agitating to split off AIG into three insurers. Hancock said he wanted to avoid a fire sale, but still promised to boost performance and cut jobs. He could fall back on AIGs stock, which was outperforming the S&P 500 from his arrival until Icahn entered the picture in October 2015.

Different Era

In January 2016, Hancock made a presentation about a plan to return $25 billion to shareholders over two years. He announced the sale of a broker-dealer network and followed with deals to exit a mortgage guarantor, a Lloyds of London unit and some operations in nations including Japan and Turkey.

The sales were an acknowledgment that AIG was built for a different era. Maurice Hank Greenberg made the New York-based company the worlds largest insurer through decades of acquisitions. When AIG had a top credit rating and giant balance sheet, company executives assumed they could profit from ventures such as aircraft leasing or a financial products unit that bet on subprime mortgages. And it was easy to win business from commercial clients impressed by the companys huge balance sheet, not to mention its motto The Strength to Be There.

After the bailout, AIG was no longer operating from a position of strength. Rivals such as Travelers Cos., Chubb Corp. and Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. impressed investors with their vows to shun business at unattractive prices. AIG was under pressure to show it could retain or win customers.

Credit Apocalypse

AIG was basically forced to give business away during the credit apocalypse and its aftermath, David Havens, a debt analyst at Imperial Capital, wrote after the company announced another reserve shortfall. Years later, the bills came due.

AIGs stock missed out on this years rally in financial shares. The hedge fund led by Paulson, a director at AIG, has been cutting its stake in the insurer.

Other members of the board, which includes a director chosen by Icahn, were also growing impatient. Late into Wednesday night they discussed the companys future. Hancock announced Thursday that it didnt make sense to stick around without wholehearted shareholder support. He was unavailable to comment Thursday, AIG said.

We are not surprised by the change in management, Elyse Greenspan, an analyst at Wells Fargo & Co., said in a note to investors. We think a new CEO will be helpful.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Carriers
Twenty-seven percent of employers are offering their employees a high deductible plan with co-insurance as part of their specialty drug benefit, and although this strategy helps to lower insurance premiums, it can also result in members not being able to afford to follow their prescribed drug therapy regimen.

Thats according to the 2017 Trends in Specialty Drug Benefit Report published by the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI) and sponsored by Walgreens. It includes responses from 298 employers representing 10 million covered lives.

As our research shows, the growing use and cost of specialty drugs continues to be of great concern to employers, says Jane Lutz, executive director of PBMI. As a result, employers are faced with tough decisions to continue to offer an affordable benefit to their members.

The top two specialty-drug related problems employers face are the cost of new specialty treatments and the changes in manufacturer pricing on existing specialty medications. More than 60 percent of employers are in favor of government controls on manufacturer pricing of specialty medications.

Other findings:

Managing specialty drug cost trend remains the number one goal for employers (51%), followed by reducing inappropriate utilization (13%).

Ninety percent of employers are concerned with the impact direct-to-consumer advertising has on patients pressuring physicians to prescribe specific medications.

For the first time since the inception of this report, the percentage of employers with coinsurance cost-sharing designs has surpassed those using co-payment structures (51% vs. 43%).

In addition to the use of high deductible plans and coinsurance strategies, 54 percent of employers have implemented formulary exclusions to manage costs for specialty drugs. Fertility, hepatitis C, and inflammatory conditions were the most common specialty drug classes with formulary exclusions. However, 53 percent of employers rate member dissatisfaction as the greatest challenge with formulary exclusion, while 38 percent are considering implementing or increasing the use of exclusions on their formulary.

Topics Commercial Lines Excess Surplus Business Insurance Drugs
Louisianas majority-Republican congressional delegation hasnt exactly embraced the GOP proposal to replace President Barack Obamas health care law, with most members instead offering a cautious, noncommittal response.

Only Rep. Steve Scalise, the third-ranking House Republican and a member of the leadership team pushing the replacement plan, has given a full-throated endorsement to the legislation. He described it Wednesday as a plan to put patients back in charge of their health care decisions.

Other Louisiana Republicans in Congress are more reticent, saying theyre studying the bill.

Rep. Ralph Abraham, a Republican doctor who represents northeast and central Louisiana, said Congress is on the right road, but he stopped short of backing the legislation, citing outstanding questions.

Obamacare has failed and must be repealed. This bill seeks to do that, but many of my colleagues have raised significant questions that I agree this Congress must have the courage to address as we move forward, Abraham said in a statement.

Others were equally muted about the GOP legislation.

A spokesman for Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican representing the Acadiana region, said the congressman was still learning about it and would have more information on his position soon. A representative for Republican Rep. Garret Graves didnt respond Wednesday to inquiries about the congressmans thoughts on the bill.

Rep. Mike Johnson, a Republican who represents northwest Louisiana, said hes following the legislation and is actively discussing and researching possible amendments and alternatives with my colleagues.

Both of Louisianas U.S. senators, Republicans Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, said theyre still digging into details of the proposal.

Cassidy spokesman John Cummins said the senator, a doctor who offered an alternative health law replacement proposal, was waiting for Congressional Budget Office estimates of how many people would be covered under the House GOP plan and what it would cost.

Nationally, Republicans are divided on the proposal devised by House GOP leaders, a plan that has the backing of President Donald Trump. Conservatives say tax credits proposed to replace existing subsidies for health insurance would be too pricey, and they object to the long phase-out of parts of Obamas Medicaid expansion. Republican moderates worry about Medicaid changes that could cost states lost financing.

Louisianas lone Democrat in the congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans, like other members of his party supports Obamas health overhaul and doesnt want it uprooted.

Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is raising objections about the plans intention to end the higher federal financing rate for Medicaid expansion beneficiaries starting in 2020. States could continue to receive some enhanced federal payments, but only for expansion enrollees covered before that. States would get a lower match for new enrollees.

The first draft of the replacement fails a critical test for Louisiana by not preserving the Medicaid expansion, the governor said in a statement.

Edwards embraced the expansion program when he took office last year. More than 405,000 people, mostly the working poor, have enrolled in the new coverage.

Edwards said that coverage has caught previously untreated diseases, is offering health care services to people previously without access and is saving the state nearly $200 million this year. Louisiana has taken advantage of enhanced federal financing available through the expansion for services it already was providing to the poor and uninsured.

Louisianas governor urged Congress to reconsider the GOPs proposed approach to Medicaid expansion and to wait for financial analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office before advancing the bill.

Its important to remember that many of the faults with the Affordable Care Act exist today because the bill was rushed through Congress. We have to get this right, Edwards said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation Louisiana Politics
Mississippi lawmakers may be unable to decide this year how to spend $750 million in oil spill damage payments, with sniping between House and Senate members after a bill died at a Tuesday deadline for action when the House Appropriations Committee didnt bring it up.

House members from Mississippis coast said Senate Bill 2634 didnt have the detailed structure they wanted to determine how the money would be distributed. Sixteen bipartisan representatives from Gulf Coast counties stated jointly that no action is better than passing a bill that only gives the appearance of action.

But Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and state Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, said they feared the failure to act would only increase pressure to spend the money away from the Gulf Coast. Reeves called the decision mind-boggling.

Im really concerned that this will be the day that the House made the decision that they would spend the money all over the state, Reeves, a Republican, told The Associated Press.

For now, money that BP agreed to give Mississippi for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico is deposited in a general budget account. Lawmakers agreed to spend about $40 million of the first $150 million last year. The remaining payments to compensate Mississippi for lost tax revenue will be made over 17 years.

Reeves had touted his decision to make sure all the economic damage money went to coast. But Scott Delano, R-Biloxi, said the proposal didnt adequately protect the money from being raided, although its unclear how current lawmakers could prevent raids by future lawmakers without a state constitutional amendment, which would require a statewide referendum.

Delano said a substitute had been prepared in the House but said coastal lawmakers chose not to go forward because they feared they wouldnt be able to fend off other House members.

The fact that we didnt act this year, Im not losing sleep over that, Delano said. We want to get it right.

Delano said the top priority of House members is to spend the money on projects that will create more tax revenue and avoid having it used for infrastructure projects that would normally be paid for by borrowing money.

Wiggins said he sent a letter Monday to House members telling them he was totally fine if they sent an amended version of the bill back to the Senate.

The House has had ample opportunity to present a plan to their members and the membership in the Senate, Wiggins said.

Wiggins said he would ask Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, to call a special session to address the issue. Both Wiggins and Delano said they expect the Legislature to spend an additional chunk of the money this year. Delano said that might be acceptable if more lawmakers have input. Wiggins, though, warns the money is ripe for the picking by noncoastal interests.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation Energy Oil Gas Mississippi Politics
Utah could soon have the strictest DUI threshold in the nation after state lawmakers on Wednesday night voted to lower the limit for a drivers blood-alcohol content to 0.05 percent, down from 0.08 percent.

The measure heads to Utahs governor, who has said he supports the legislation.

If Republican Gov. Gary Herbert signs the bill, it would take effect Dec. 30, 2018, an unusual effective date for Utah laws that would ensure the harsher standard is in place before alcohol-laden celebrations on New Years Eve.

Supporters of the legislation said it would save lives by keeping people off the road if theyve been drinking. A mix of lawmakers, including Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans, opposed the measure. Some cited concerns that it could hurt tourism as the heavily Mormon state grapples with its reputation as an unfriendly place for drinkers.

The proposal would mean that a 150-pound man could get a DUI after two beers, while a 120-pound woman could get one after a single drink, according to the American Beverage Institute, a restaurant trade group that opposes the bill. A number of factors, including how much food is in someones stomach, could impact how much a drink will raise someones blood-alcohol content.

American Beverage Institute Managing Director Sarah Longwell said in a statement Wednesday night that the proposal will do little to make roads safer because more than 77 percent of alcohol-related traffic deaths in Utah come from drivers with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 and above. Utah legislators missed an opportunity today to target the hard-core drunk drivers who cause the vast majority of drunk driving fatalities and instead decided to criminalize perfectly responsible behavior, Longwell said.

Lawmakers in Washington are considering lowering the limit for blood-alcohol content this year, while a similar proposal recently died in Hawaiis Legislature.

Across the country, the blood-alcohol content limit for most drivers is 0.08, but limits vary among states for commercial drivers or drivers who have had a past DUI conviction.

Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, who sponsored Utahs measure, said its important because a person starts to become impaired with the first drink. He notes a number of foreign countries have blood-alcohol content thresholds at 0.05. or lower.

At a blood-alcohol content of 0.05 percent, a driver may have trouble steering and have a harder time coordinating, tracking moving objects and responding to emergencies, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For several years, the National Transportation Safety Board has encouraged states to drop their blood-alcohol content levels to 0.05 or even lower, though local officials have not adopted the standards, in part because of pressure from the hospitality industry.

The tougher stance on DUIs comes as Utah legislators passed changes Wednesday easing other liquor laws that deal with the preparation of alcoholic drinks in restaurants. That measure, waiting for approval from the governor, would let diners see their drinks being poured or mixed if restaurants set up child-free buffer zones around bars.

Associated Press writer Hallie Golden contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation
Deloitte and KPMG have bagged the most nominations following the announcement of the AsiaTax Awards 2017 shortlists today. Each is up for awards in 48 categories, though when affiliate firms and individual recognition are included, KPMG is ahead, with nominees in 55 out of a total of 70 categories. Deloitte has 50.

The awards will be held at the Goodwood Park Hotel in Singapore on Thursday May 4, following the end of International Tax Reviews two-day Asia Tax Forum.

Of the other big four firms, EY has 38 nominations and PwC has been shortlisted in 36 categories. The leading law firm is Baker McKenzie, which is shortlisted for 26 awards. DLA Piper comes next with eight.

ITR Asia Tax Awards 2017

FINALISTS

COUNTRY AWARDS

Australia Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

DLA Piper

Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills

KPMG

Australia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

Grant Thornton

KPMG

Quantera Global

Transfer Pricing Solutions

Australia Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

Herbert Smith Freehills & Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills

KPMG

Cambodia Tax Firm of the Year

Bun & Associates

Deloitte

DFDL

Sciaroni & Associates

VDB Loi

Cambodia Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Deloitte

DFDL

Sciaroni & Associates

China Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

DLA Piper

EY

JunHe

King & Wood Mallesons

KPMG

PwC

Zhong Lun

China Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

DLA Piper

EY

KPMG

PwC

Quantera Global

China Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

EY

KPMG

PwC

Hong Kong Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

DLA Piper

KPMG

PwC

Hong Kong Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

EY

KPMG

PwC

Hong Kong Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Clifford Chance

Deloitte

DLA Piper

KPMG

PwC

India Tax Firm of the Year

Advaita Legal

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Deloitte

Dhruva Advisors

EY

KPMG

Majmudar & Partners

Nangia & Co

Nishith Desai Associates

PwC

India Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

India Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

BMR Legal

Deloitte

Dhruva Advisors

EY

KPMG

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan

PwC

Indonesia Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners

KPMG

PwC

Indonesia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Indonesia Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners

KPMG

PwC

Japan Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

DLA Piper

KPMG

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

Withers

Japan Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Japan Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

DLA Piper

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

Nishimura & Asahi

Malaysia Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

PwC

Wong & Partners

Malaysia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

PwC

Malaysia Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Deloitte

KPMG

Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill

PwC

Shearn Delamore

Wong & Partners

Myanmar Tax Firm of the Year

DFDL

KPMG

Tilleke & Gibbins

VDB Loi

Myanmar Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

VDB Loi

New Zealand Tax Firm of the Year

Bell Gully

Chapman Tripp

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Russell McVeagh

New Zealand Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Bell Gully

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

New Zealand Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Bell Gully

Chapman Tripp

Deloitte

KPMG

Russell McVeagh

Pakistan Tax Firm of the Year

Grant Thornton

HaidermotaBNR

RIAA Barker Gillette

Pakistan Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Grant Thornton

HaidermotaBNR

RIAA Barker Gillette

Philippines Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

Isla Lipana & Co (PwC)

Quisumbing Torres

Reyes Tacandong & Co

RG Manabat & Co (KPMG)

Salvador Llanillo & Bernardo, Taxand Philippines

SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co (EY)

SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan

Philippines Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

Isla Lipana & Co (PwC)

Quantera Global

RG Manabat & Co (KPMG)

SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co (EY)

Philippines Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

BDB Law

Deloitte

Quisumbing Torres

RG Manabat & Co (KPMG)

Salvador Llanillo & Bernardo, Taxand Philippines

SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co (EY)

Singapore Tax Firm of the Year

Allen & Gledhill

Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Withers KhattarWong, Taxand Singapore

WongPartnership

Singapore Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Quantera Global

Transfer Pricing Solutions Asia

Singapore Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow

Deloitte

KPMG

Rajah & Tann

Withers KhattarWong, Taxand Singapore

South Korea Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Kim & Chang

Lee & Ko

PwC

Yoon & Yang

Yulchon

South Korea Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Kim & Chang

KPMG

PwC

Yoon & Yang

Yulchon

South Korea Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Bae Kim & Lee

Kim & Chang

Lee & Ko

Yoon & Yang

Yulchon

Sri Lanka Tax Firm of the Year

FJ&G De Saram

KPMG

Nithya Partners

Sri Lanka Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

KPMG

Taiwan Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

Lee and Li

PwC

Taiwan Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Grant Thornton

KPMG

PwC

Taiwan Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Thailand Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

KPMG

SCL Tax Consultants

Tilleke & Gibbins

Thailand Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

KPMG

Quantera Global

Thailand Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

KPMG

LawAlliance

SCL Tax Consultants

Vietnam Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

KPMG

Vietnam Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Quantera Global

Vietnam Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

KPMG

PwC

REGIONAL FIRM, INDIVIDUAL AND IN-HOUSE AWARDS FINALISTS

Asia Tax Transactions Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Deloitte

EY

JunHe

Kim & Chang

KPMG

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

PwC

Yulchon

Asia Tax Policy Firm of the Year

Dhruva Advisors

EY

KPMG

Yoon & Yang

Asia Tax Compliance & Reporting Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

Asia Tax Technology Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

Thomson Reuters

Wolters Kluwer

Asia Tax Innovator of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

Wolters Kluwer

Global Executive Mobility Team of the Year in Asia

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

US Corporate Tax Team of the Year

EY

KPMG

Withholding Tax Team of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Lee & Ko

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

PwC

International Tax Law Firm of the Year in Asia

Baker McKenzie

DFDL

DLA Piper

Withers

Best Newcomer of the Year

Advaita Legal

SCL Tax Consultants

Transfer Pricing Solutions Asia

VDB Loi (Indonesia)

Asia Tax Disputes & Litigation Practice Leader of the Year

Ahdianto, GNV Consulting Services

Sujit Ghosh, Advaita Legal

Oh-Young Jeon, Yoon & Yang

Yuko Miyazaki, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

Nguyen Huong Giang, PwC

Anand Raj, Shearn Delamore

Vikna Rajah, Rajah & Tann

Steven Sieker, Baker McKenzie

Angela Wood, KPMG

Asia Transfer Pricing Practice Leader of the Year

Kyung Geun Lee, Yulchon

Amit Maheshwari, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates

Rahul Mitra, KPMG

Ay Tjhing Phan, PwC

Shannon Smit, Transfer Pricing Solutions

Geoffrey Soh, KPMG

Michael Tabart, Deloitte

Shanwu Yuan, Baker McKenzie

Asia Tax Practice Leader of the Year

Khoon Ming Ho, KPMG

Dinesh Kanabar, Dhruva Advisors

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Un ottobre da sogno per Antonio Conte: lex ct della Nazionale italiana, attualmente alla guida del Chelsea, nelle ultime quattro gare di Premier League ha collezionato solo successi, conditi da 11 reti segnate e addirittura nessuna incassata. Numeri da record che non sono certo passati inosservati alla Federazione inglese, la quale ha conferito al tecnico leccese lambito premio di Manager del mese.

Unavventura oltremanica iniziata in sordina, quella di Conte, pur a fronte di tre vittorie nelle prime tre gare di campionato. A far vacillare, anche se solo per un momento, le certezze del patron del club londinese, Roman Abramovich, i risultati conseguiti tra la 4a e la 6a giornata, coincisi con un pareggio sul campo dello Swansea City e, soprattutto, con le due pesanti sconfitte subite dal Liverpool, sul terreno casalingo di Stamford Bridge, e dallArsenal. In particolare, la debacle interna coi Reds, aveva irritato non poco il numero uno russo, poiche occorsa proprio nel giorno della sua 250esima partita da presidente della societa.

Come detto, solo un momento. Dopo lincontro dellEmirates, il tecnico salentino cambia modulo, adottando un piu equilibrato 3-4-3 e inserendo elementi di corsa come lo spagnolo Pedro. Una svolta totale perche, di li in poi, il Chelsea inanellera solo e soltanto vittorie: 2 gol allHull City e al Southampton in trasferta, 3 ai campioni dInghilterra del Leicester e 4 allo United in casa, con un meraviglioso numero zero nella casella delle reti subite. Un fantastico poker, ottenuto tra l1 e il 29 ottobre. Un cambio di marcia sbalorditivo, confermato dal 5 a 0 rifilato ai toffees dellEverton nel primo match di novembre, e una scalata che, man mano, ha portato i blues al secondo posto in classifica, a soli 2 punti dal Liverpool capolista.

E allora, non poteva mancare il riconoscimento di migliore allenatore del mese, ottenuto surclassando tecnici del calibro di Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) e Mark Hughes (Southampton). Tanta, ovviamente, la soddisfazione: E un grande onore e voglio condividerlo con i giocatori e con la societa  ha dichiarato Conte sul sito ufficiale della Premier League -. E la prima volta che lavoro in un altro Paese, con una cultura diversa, e portare la propria filosofia non e facile, ma ora sono contento di questa scelta.

A completare la festa, la premiazione del fantasista belga, Eden Hazard, come miglior giocatore di ottobre. Due risultati importanti per il club, ottimo incentivo per la rincorsa al trono dei campioni, occupato dal Leicester di Ranieri. Il prossimo appuntamento per l11 di Conte sara al Riverside Stadium, tana del Middlesborough neopromosso. Il tempo di festeggiare e gia finito.
While physicist Sir Isaac Newton is widely viewed as the leading authority on gravity and motion, economist Benjamin Graham, best known for his book The Intelligent Investor, is lauded as a top guru of finance and investment. Known as the father of value investing, The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing is considered one of the most important books on the topic. By evaluating companies with surgical precision, Graham excelled at making money in the stock market without taking big risks.

One of Graham's key contributions was to point out the irrationality and group-think that was often rampant in the stock market. Thus, according to Graham, investors should always aim to profit from the whims of the stock market, rather than participate in it. His principles of investing safely and successfully continue to influence investors today.

This article will examine Graham's early career work, some key concepts related to value investing from The Intelligent Investor, and how Graham's ideas helped inform the successful investing principles of later investors, namely Warren Buffett.

Key Takeaways Economist Benjamin Graham, best known for his book The Intelligent Investor, is lauded as a top guru of finance and investment.

Known as the father of value investing, The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing is considered one of the most important books on the topic.

Graham's method advises investors to concentrate on the real-life performance of their companies and the dividends they receive, rather than paying attention to the changing sentiments of the market.

Graham also advocated for an investing approach that provides a margin of safetyor room for human errorfor the investor.

Most importantly, investors should look for price-value discrepancieswhen the market price of a stock is less than its intrinsic value.

1:23 What is Value Investing?

The Intelligent Investors Beginnings

After graduating from Columbia University in 1914, Graham went to work on Wall Street. During his 15-year career, he was able to cultivate a sizable personal nest egg. Unfortunately, Graham, like many others, lost most of his money in the stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression.

Those experiences taught Graham lessons about minimizing downside risk by investing in companies whose shares traded far below the companies' liquidation value. In simple terms, his goal was to buy a dollar's worth of assets for $0.50. To do this, he utilized market psychology, using market fears to his advantage. These ideals inspired him to write Security Analysis, which was published in 1934 with a co-author, David Dodd. The book was written in the early 1930s when both authors were professors at Columbia University's business school. The book chronicles Graham's methods for analyzing securities.

In Security Analysis, Graham's first task is to help stock market participants distinguish between an investment and speculation. After a thorough analysis, it should be clear that an investment is going to protect the principal and provide an adequate return. Anything that does not meet these criteria is speculation. Graham also advocated for a different perspective in regards to stock ownership; equity stocks confer part ownership of a business. For Graham, in the short-term, the stock market acts like a voting machine, and in the long-term, the stock market acts like a weighing machineso, in the long run, the true value will be reflected in the stock's price.

Graham's method focused on determining the value of the operating company behind a stock. Security Analysis enumerates several examples where the market under-valued certain out-of-favor stocks which ended up being important opportunities for the savviest investors. These and other concepts, including "margin of safety" and "period of financial distress," helped to lay the groundwork for Graham's later work in The Intelligent Investor and helped to pioneer some of his pivotal investing concepts.

What You Can Learn From The Intelligent Investor

Graham, along with David Dodd, began teaching value investing as an investment approach at Columbia Business School in 1928. In 1949, Graham and Dodd published The Intelligent Investor. Here are some of the key concepts from the book.

Mr. Market

Graham's favorite allegory was that of Mr. Market. This imaginary person, "Mr. Market," turns up every day at the stockholder's office offering to buy or sell his shares at a different price. Sometimes the proposed prices make sense, but other times, the proposed prices are off the mark, given current economic realities.

Individual investors have the power to accept or reject Mr. Market's offers on any given day, giving them a leg up over those who feel compelled to be invested at all times, regardless of the current valuation of securities. It is most advisable for an investor to concentrate on the real-life performance of their companies and the dividends they receive, rather than paying attention to the changing sentiments of Mr. Market as determining the value of the stocks. An investor is neither right nor wrong if others share the same sentiments as them; only facts and analysis can make them right.

Value Investing

Value investing is deriving the intrinsic value of a common stock independent of its market price. Analyzing a company's assets, earnings, and dividend payouts can help identify the intrinsic value of a stock, which can then be compared to its market price. If the intrinsic value is more than the market valuein other words, the stock is undervalued in the marketthe investor should buy and hold until a mean reversion occurs. The mean reversion theory holds that over time, the market price and the intrinsic price will converge. At this point, the stock price will reflect its true value.

Focus on stocks that are trading at two-thirds of their net-net value. Net-net is a value investing technique developed by Benjamin Graham in which a company is valued based solely on its net current assets.

When an investor buys a stock at a price less than its intrinsic value, they are essentially purchasing it at a discount. Once the stock is actually trading at its intrinsic value, they should sell.

Margin of Safety

Graham also advocated for an investing approach that provides a margin of safetyor room for human errorfor the investor. There are a couple of ways to accomplish this, but buying undervalued or out-of-favor stocks is the most important. The irrationality of investors, the inability to predict the future, and the fluctuations of the stock market can provide a margin of safety for investors.

Investors can also achieve a margin of safety by diversifying their portfolios and purchasing stocks in companies with high dividend yields and low debt-to-equity ratios. This margin of safety is intended to mitigate the investor's losses in the event that a company goes bankrupt.

The Benjamin Graham Formula

Typically, Graham only purchased stocks that were trading at two-thirds of their net-net value, as a way of establishing his margin of safety. Net-net value is another value investing technique developed by Graham, where a company is valued based solely on its net current assets.

The original Benjamin Graham Formula for finding the intrinsic value of a stock was:

V = EPS  ( 8.5 + 2 g ) where: EPS = Trailing 12-month earnings per share g = Long-term growth rate \begin{aligned}&\text{V} = \text{EPS} \times ( 8.5 + 2g ) \\&\textbf{where:} \\&\text{EPS} = \text{Trailing 12-month earnings per share} \\&g = \text{Long-term growth rate} \\\end{aligned} V=EPS(8.5+2g)where:EPS=Trailing 12-month earnings per shareg=Long-term growth rate

With V representing the intrinsic value of the stock, EPS as the trailing 12-month earnings per share, , 8.5 is the price/earnings ratio of a zero-growth company, and g is the company's long-term growth rate.

Later, Graham revised his formula to include both a risk-free rate of 4.4% (the average yield of high-grade corporate bonds in 1962) and the current yield on AAA corporate bonds represented by the letter Y:

V = EPS  ( 8.5 + 2 g )  4.4 Y where: Y = AAA corporate bond yield (in 1962) \begin{aligned}&\text{V} = \frac { \text{EPS} \times ( 8.5 + 2g ) \times 4.4 }{ Y } \\&\textbf{where:} \\&Y = \text{AAA corporate bond yield (in 1962)} \\\end{aligned} V=YEPS(8.5+2g)4.4where:Y=AAA corporate bond yield (in 1962)

Dividend Stocks

Many of Graham's investment principles are timelessthey remain as relevant today as they were when he penned them. Graham criticized corporations for their obscure and irregular methods of financial reporting that made it difficult for investors to get an accurate picture of the health of a company. Graham would later write a book about how to interpret financial statements, from balance sheets and income and expense statements to financial ratios. Graham also advocated for companies paying dividends to their shareholders, rather than keeping all of their profits as retained earnings.

The Intelligent Investor and Warren Buffett

About The Intelligent Investor, legendary investor Warren Buffett, who Graham famously mentored, described it as "by far the best book on investing ever written. In fact, after reading it at age 19, Buffett enrolled in Columbia Business School in order to study under Graham, with whom he developed a lifelong friendship. He later worked for Graham at his investment company, the Graham-Newman Corporation, until Graham retired.

$25,250 The price of a Warren Buffett-signed copy of The Intelligent Investor that sold at an auction in 2010.

Graham's students all eventually developed their own strategies and philosophies, but they all shared the main principle of creating a margin of safety.

In general, Buffett follows the principles of value investing, which looks for securities whose prices are unjustifiably low based on their intrinsic worth. Buffett also considers company performance, company debt, profit margins, whether companies are public, how reliant they are on commodities, and how cheap they are.

Buffett's strategy differs from Graham's in that he stresses the importance of a business's quality, and he preaches the virtue of holding stocks for the long haul. Buffett doesn't seek capital gain. Rather, his goal is ownership in quality companies that are extremely capable of generating earnings; Buffett is not concerned that the stock market ever recognizes a company's value. Even so, Buffett said that no one ever lost money by following Graham's methods.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does The Intelligent Investor Teach You? The Intelligent Investor is widely considered to be the definitive text on value investing. According to Graham, investors should analyze a company's financial reports and its operations but ignore the market noise. The whims of investorstheir greed and fearare what creates this noise and fuels daily market sentiments. Most importantly, investors should look for price-value discrepancieswhen the market price of a stock is less than its intrinsic value. When these opportunities are identified, investors should make a purchase. Once the market price and the intrinsic value are aligned, investors should sell. The Intelligent Investor also advises investors to hold a portfolio of 50% stocks and 50% bonds or cash, to be the pitfalls of day trading, to take advantage of market fluctuations and market volatility, to avoid buying stocks simply when they are fashionable, and to look out for ways that companies may be manipulating their accounting methods in order to inflate their EPS value.

Is The Intelligent Investor Good for Beginners? The Intelligent Investor is a great book for beginners, especially since it's been continually updated and revised since its original publication in 1949. It's considered a must-have for new investors who are trying to figure out the basics of how the market works. The book is written with long-term investors in mind. For those who are interested in something more glamorous and potentially trendier, this book may not hit the spot. It dispenses a lot of common-sense advice, rather than how to profit in the short-term through day trading or other frequent trading strategies.

Is The Intelligent Investor Outdated? Even though this book is over 70 years old, it is still relevant. The advice to buy with a margin of safety is just as sound today as it was when Graham was first teaching his philosophy. Investors should do their homework (research, research, research) and once they have identified what a company is worth, buy it at a price that will give them a cushion, should prices fall. Graham's advice that investors should always be prepared for volatility is also still very relevant.

What Type of Book Is The Intelligent Investor? The Intelligent Investor, first published in 1949, is a widely acclaimed book on value investing. Value investing is intended to protect investors from substantial harm and teaches them to develop long-term strategies. The Intelligent Investor is a practical book; it teaches readers to apply Graham's principles.

How Do I Become an Intelligent Investor? Benjamin Graham urges the twin principles of valuation and patience for anyone that wants to succeed as an investor. In order to determine a company's true worth, you must be prepared to do the research. Then, once you've bought shares of a company, you must be prepared to wait until the market realizes it is undervalued and marks up its price. If you only buy into those companies that are trading below their true worth, or intrinsic value, even when a business suffers, the investor has a cushion. This is called a margin of safety and is the key to investing success.

The Bottom Line

Although details of Graham's specific investments arent readily available, he reportedly averaged an approximate 20% annual return over his many years managing money. His method of buying low-risk stocks with high return potential has made him a true pioneer in the financial analysis space, and many other successful value investors have his methodology to thank.

While he is best known for the books he published in the field of value investingmost notably The Intelligent InvestorGraham was also instrumental in drafting elements of the Securities Act of 1933, legislation requiring companies to provide financial statements certified by independent accountants.
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EU leaders clashed Friday over plans to build unity in the wake of Brexit, a day after a row with Poland over Donald Tusk's re-election as the bloc's president underscored deep divisions.

European heavyweights Germany and France backed a "multi-speed" Europe after Britain's divorce with the union, despite opposition by eastern Europeans that fear being left behind.

EU leaders -- without British Prime Minister Theresa May -- struggled to draft a declaration that is to be unveiled at the March 25 summit in Rome to mark the EU's 60th birthday.

"The motto is that we are united in diversity," Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the talks in describing what message would carry the day in Rome.

Leaders have stressed the need to pull together as the European Union comes to terms with Britain's seismic decision to leave the bloc.

The EU 27 will "work together to promote the common good on the understanding that some of us can move closer, further and faster in some areas, keeping the door open to those who want to join later," said a draft of the Rome proposals.

The wording clearly prioritises a "multi-speed" Europe and drew the ire from countries like Poland who are loathe to see EU heavyweights go it alone.

"We disagree with any talk of a multi-speed Europe," said Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo a day after fighting her EU leader counterparts over Tusk.

Szydlo skewered the EU's older members who "believe that they have the right to impose solutions, but we as newer members are entitled to have a say too."

Tusk, a former Polish premier, backed the drive for unity but also cautioned: "If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together."

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said any plans to integrate at different speeds after Brexit will not create a "new iron curtain" between east and west.

"This is seen as introducing a new dividing line, a new kind of iron curtain between the east and west. That is not the intention," Juncker said.

The struggle to forge a more unified future for Europe was overshadowed by the clash with Poland over Tusk's re-election as head of the European Council, which groups the bloc's political leaders.

Most of the 28 leaders -- Britain still being a member -- had hoped to push through Polish ex-premier Tusk's re-election on Thursday with a minimum of fuss so they could concentrate on the bloc's future.

Instead, they ran into outright opposition from the staunchly eurosceptic Polish government which cast the only "no" vote against 27 in favour.

Szydlo accused her EU partners of setting a "dangerous precedent" by railroading their pick over the opinion of the candidate's home government.

Szydlo, whose right-wing eurosceptic Law and Justice party has nursed a long and bitter enmity with the centrist Tusk, blocked the summit's final statement in response.

"It's not acceptable that one member says 'I don't want that', and then the other 27 are paralysed," Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said of the Polish move as he arrived for the talks Friday.

Britain's May, who left Brussels after the first day of the summit, said she wanted to "get on with" leaving the European Union -- and her fellow EU leaders agreed.

The EU summit was May's last before her self-imposed deadline to trigger the Article 50 withdrawal process by the end of March.

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Pope Francis will travel to Colombia in September, the Vatican said Friday, after the pontiff closely followed peace negotiations between the government and FARC rebels.

The September 6-11 trip will include stops in the capital Bogota as well as Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena, the Church said, adding that a fuller itinerary for the trip will be published shortly.

The visit is at "the invitation of the President of the Republic and the Colombian bishops", a Vatican statement said.

The Argentinian pope has followed Colombia's peace negotiations closely, having brought together President Juan Manuel Santos and his predecessor Alvaro Uribe at the Vatican in December in an unsuccessful bid to persuade them to overcome their differences over a deal with the rebels.

The FARC began disarming last week under a historic peace deal, beginning the delicate transition from guerrilla army to political party after more than half a century at war.

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West Texas Intermediate fell up to 3% after losing 5.7% in the previous three sessions.

Crude supplies rose 8.2 million to the highest level in weekly US government data since 1982.

Harold Hamm, the US shale oil billionaire, had warned this week that the industry could kill the market if it embarks on another spending binge.

The market swoon stoked the second-highest West Texas Intermediate options trading volume ever and sent volatility surging.

Oil had fluctuated above $50 a barrel since the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other nations started trimming supply for six months starting in January to reduce a global glut.

While US shale production has rebounded, larger-than-expected cuts elsewhere and signs of growing demand suggest stockpiles will eventually decline, according to Goldman Sachs.

People are nervous about the global supply-demand balance, Adam Sieminski, a scholar at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and former head of the Energy Information Administration, said.

Shale is coming back with $50 oil and theres uncertainty about whether Opec and its partners are going to roll over the production agreement, he said.

West Texas Intermediate for April delivery dropped 60c, or 1.2%, to $49.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Total volume traded was more than double the 100-day average. The contract had fallen 5.4% to $50.28 on Wednesday, the biggest fall since February 2016.

Brent for May settlement was down 56c to $52.55 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices fell to $51.60, the lowest since the start of December.

The global benchmark crude traded at a $2.33 premium to May West Texas Intermediate.
BlackRock announced in January Mr. Osborne would work as a part-time senior adviser to the BlackRock Investment Institute, an arm of the asset manager that serves as a think-tank on investment strategy.

Mr. Osborne, who was British Chancellor for six years before he lost his job following Britains vote to leave the EU last year, spearheaded an austerity drive by the Conservative-led government following the global financial crisis.
Operating profit at Aviva Ireland rose to 82m, while the value of new business in life and pensions rose a third to 29m. Its general insurance business increased net written premiums by 19%.

Chief executive John Quinlan called for accident payouts for minor injuries to be reduced. The cost of claims remains a serious challenge in the personal motor market.
Cork Business Association (CBA) spoke out ahead of a public forum tonight on the huge infrastructural project.

The Save Cork City campaign claims the OPWs proposed defence plan will make flooding worse in the city centre and destroy the historic fabric and heritage of the city.

However, CBA CEO Lawrence Owens said most CBA members, who between them employ up to 30,000 people in the city centre, do not see anything in the design that will destroy the city.

What it will do is protect the city from flooding, said Mr Owens. Where was everybody for the last 20 years? They seem to have arrived with this conviction with just months to go, putting untested, non-practical solutions forward.

If they have something practical that could work, of course it should be considered. But at the last minute, as the clock ticks towards midnight, to come forward with these suggestions now, I think its rather strange. It has the potential to delay the project, to throw a spanner in the works.

The OPW is in the final stages of public consultation on the massive plan which features a suite of measures to minimise flood risk to more than 3,000 properties, including the construction of walls, embankments and the raising of existing quay walls, on the north and south channels of the river in the city centre.

Save Cork City claims the solution is based around constructing ugly concrete walls and pump chambers in a historical city centre.

Building walls and heavy infrastructure in an urban environment as a flood defence mechanism has to be the absolute last resort when it comes to protecting against flooding, said a spokesperson. The construction of heavy civil engineering includes the removal, demolition, and interference with unique and irreplaceable historical assets such as the quay walls and historic Cork-manufactured railings. The solution will cause severe and far-reaching loss of economic potential to the city with the loss of heritage value.

Campaign spokeswoman Polly Magee said the campaign arose because of the lack of public engagement and that the first time the general public realised the enormity of the proposals was last December, when design details were published.

Our campaign rhetoric isnt half as damaging as the impact this proposal will have on the city. It could be done so much better, with vision, empathy, and inclusion, she said.

CBA president Pat OConnell criticised the groups late involvement.

Do they have any idea of the human misery this flooding has caused people in the city centre? he asked. I dont think they have. I have no idea where they were for the last seven or eight years when submissions were being made to the OPW. If they had concerns, why did they wait until the last minute to make a submission? 

The issues will be debated at a public forum in City Hall, Cork, tonight.
The North Kerry Wind Turbine Awareness Group had asked the High Court to overturn the boards July 2016 decision granting an appeal by Stacks Mountain Windfarm Ltd against Kerry County Councils refusal of permission for 10 wind turbines.

The group claimed the proposed development did not comply with requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive and the Habitats Directive.

It relied on a significant Court of Appeal judgment of 2014 dealing with the boards obligations, arising from a decision of the Court of Justice of the EU, to provide an appropriate assessment under the Habitats Directive.

The developer, joined to the case as a third party, successfully applied last November to have it fast-tracked in the Commercial Court, saying the overall scheme will cost 46m and it was anxious to avoid serious delays.

In his judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Brian McGovern upheld the boards decision as clear, properly reasoned and in accordance with law.

He rejected arguments the board failed to carry out or record any proper appropriate assessment or any proper Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), contrary to national and European law.

The board did conduct an appropriate assessment and, when doing so, had a Natura Impact Statement and additional documents, he said. That material was sufficient to assess the potential impact of the wind farm on all relevant European sites and there was no lacuna in the information before the board.

The Environmental Impact Statement accompanying the planning application addressed and appraised the environmental impact of the wind farm and the board also got an EIS addendum addressing and appraising the environmental impact of the grid connection, he said.

There is no legal requirement in the Planning and Development Act 2000 that the boards decision include a written statement of what the EIA comprises, he held.

Once the decision and documents referred to made clear to how the EIA was arrived at, that met the boards obligations.

He dismissed other claims the EIA was inadequate for alleged failure to deal with the issue of noise. The boards inspector was entitled to reverse his original concerns about noise issues and had set out the reasons for that, he said.

Apart from the noise issue, it was notable this application raised nothing of substance in terms of any particular environmental concern or impact, he said.

He also dismissed claims the permission involved a material contravention of an objective of the Co Kerry development plan concerning wind turbines.

That objective was not to permit development of wind farms in areas designated open to consideration in the Tralee and Listowel districts pending full assessment of the cumulative effect of all permitted turbines in the vicinity.
Childrens Minister Katherine Zappone has confirmed she is looking at introducing a transitional justice system here as a way of dealing with the victims and relatives of those who were sent to institutions.

This could include a truth commission as used in South Africa from 1996, or, as suggested by Ms Zappone in the Dail, could be based on the Museums of Memory in Argentina and Chile.

Ms Zappone also confirmed she will publish the interim report into mother and baby homes by the end of this month. It comes after numerous calls in the Dail to make public the commissions second interim report which has been with the minister since September.

During Dail statements on the scandal of the Tuam mother and baby home, Ms Zappone said she acknowledged the calls for an expansion of the terms of reference to cover all institutions, agencies and individuals involved with unmarried women and their children. She promised to announce the detail of a scoping exercise to see if all institutions could be included in the inquiry in the coming weeks: What happened in Tuam is part of a larger picture.

She added that even before the commission confirmed the existence of the bodies of almost 800 babies buried in chambers in the Tuam home, people were aware of it: What was happening in these institutions was not without the support of many pillars in society.

She told the Dail that between 1940 and 1965, some 474 so-called unclaimed infant remains were transferred from mother and baby homes to medical schools in Irish universities.

She said TDs had spoken out on the issue many years ago and cited finance committee debates in July 1953 during which it was said putting unmarried mothers in county homes to effectively involuntary labour was an act of revenge  This history may be dark, but it was not entirely unknown. We must listen to, record, and honour the truth of peoples experiences.

She spoke of transitional justice, which the UN defines as approaches a society uses to try to come to terms with a range of large-scale past abuses: Taking a transitional justice approach means that we will find out and record the truth, ensure accountability, make reparation, undertake, institutional reform, and achieve reconciliation.

This was first seen with the establishment of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg after the Second World War and has evolved to truth commissions which have been carried out in in South Africa, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka.

Ms Zappone said this country could learn from international best practice in transitional justice and cited the Museums of Memory in Argentina and Chile. She said a system of transitional justice would put survivors and victims at the heart of the process.

Ms Zappone said that in the coming days she will start a conversation with advocates, historians and scholars specialising in transitional justice. It takes the brave testimony of survivors, long studied by historians and the dogged determination of investigative journalists to bring a spotlight to events which were previously only whispered about  in this case for generations.

The debate on the Tuam scandal was delayed by 10 minutes yesterday morning as the Dail failed to meet the quorum of 20 TDs.

Fianna Fails Anne Rabbitte said the commission scope needs to be broadened to allow those who had horrific lives to come forward. But she said the investigation will have to be inclusive so that those who come forward do not sit at a table across from six people who are investigating them.

FF TD Lisa Chambers said the word burial suggested a level of decency but said there was no decency involved in these cases.
Egypt has been chosen as the vice head of the World Bank (WB) Board of Governors for Africans for 2017, Egypt's Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation announced on Thursday.

According to a statement by Minister Sahar Nasr, the new position paves the way for Egypt to head the board in 2018. The board is now headed by Benin.

Nasr said that the position places Egypt "at the core of the ongoing international commercial discussions over the means of enhancing the role of international financial institutions, topped by the WB, while facing challenges like poverty, enhancing the standard of living for lower-income groups and enhancing the private sector's role in society."

The Board of Governors for Africans was established in 1963 and is considered the main platform that allows African countries to coordinate their positions on various issues, included in the biannual meetings of the WB and the IMF.

The board aims to advance African interests, especially with regard to economic issues of priority such as combating poverty, supporting developmental financing policies and the efforts of attracting foreign investments and focusing on the social dimension in the economic development.

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Mr Noonans comments came as the terms of reference of the inquiry in Graces care will, among other issues, include an examination of his role in what happened.

As the Irish Examiner revealed last year, Mr Noonan was lobbied by the father at the foster home at the centre of Graces care weeks before a 1996 decision to remove her from the home was reversed for still unknown reasons.

While there is no evidence Mr Noonan directly interfered, the issue has led to repeated questions over whether his decision to revert the foster familys query to health board officials involved in the planned decision led to it being reversed.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Mr Noonan insisted he has nothing to do with the scandal and that it is a coincidence the decision to remove Grace was reversed after he was lobbied while health minister.

He said calls for him to step down from his position, made repeatedly on social media in recent weeks, are ridiculous and very unfair, stressing I dont see the connection between his actions and the case.

Thats a ridiculous question [whether he should resign]. I have nothing to do with the Grace case. I have made public statements on this already, and I have nothing to add to the statements Ive made already. I always co-operate with any commission of inquiry.

It was a coincidence I was minister for health at the time. I have had no direct involvement whatsoever in the Grace case, he said.

Mr Noonan also controversially confirmed he was aware of the Grace case in 1996 and that the matter had been passed onto his junior minister at the time, Austin Currie.

However, while he initially said he was told Grace would be removed, some weeks later it transpired the South Eastern Health Board had reversed the decision for some reason.

Asked about Mondays RTE interview with the mother of Grace, who described what happened as a living hell, Mr Noonan said he did not watch the broadcast and made no further comment.

Mr Noonans actions in relation to the Grace case while health minister in the mid-1990s have been the subject of repeated questions.

The terms of reference for the Grace inquiry into her case and that of 46 other people will specifically examine the matter.

In particular, this part of the inquiry will focus on what impact Mr Noonans decision to revert the lobbying letter to health board officials looking after the case had on the decision, and whether it inadvertently played a role in the U-turn.

However, while being the cabinet member who drew up the terms, Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath has recently said he has already spoken to Mr Noonan and personally believes that he does not have a case to answer.
Neil Shanahan spent six weeks in Temple Street Childrens Hospital after falling from the sixth floor of the Strand Hotel.

And this week, the smiling toddler, who only turned three last week, returned to play at the Rainbow Childcare Academy at the Riverpoint complex for the first time since his accident last July.

He has just settled back in with so much ease. A lot of children have enrolled this year. He wouldnt have known them. But hes just slotted in. He loved all the activities. Hes very sociable. Hes just a delight to have, said manager Nichola McEwan.

When asked about what happened to him last year, Neil who is the middle child to his brothers Billy, 1, and Martin, 5, said: I fell off the hotel and broke my bones.

He then launched into the Batman theme, before declaring: I like Weetabix! Despite Neils ordeal, which included him being placed in a body cast  Nichola says he does not need any special care or attention.

Its really miraculous. He listens and just gets in the thick of it. Just like one of the other kids. But he has been through something quite horrific. Looking at him there, you cannot relate the two things, she said.

Neils mother Martina said she and husband Michael are delighted with the creche.

We think the creche is so professional. It is very nice to leave him there, and to collect him as we get a lot of information on how he is doing. The staff are wonderful, she said.

Neil returned home in August last year, and in the autumn, his parents held a Halloween trick-or-treat event, which raised 3,000 for Temple Street. A mother-and-toddler bake sale raised a further 200. And at Christmas, Neil had the honour of switching on Limericks festive lights.

Before the fall, Neil and his family had been attending a community coffee morning at the Strand Hotel. Neil ran ahead of his parents and stepped into a lift before making his way to the rooftop balcony. From there, he fell to a concrete area on the first floor of the hotel. In the crucial moments following this, an American nurse, Julie Genova, who was on holiday in Ireland and visiting Limerick at the time, came to administer first aid to the toddler, before he was rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick.
It was first developed with the establishment of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg after the Second World War and the trials of Japanese soldiers at the Tokyo Tribunal.

However, it can include criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations programmes, and various kinds of institutional reforms as well as criminal prosecutions. Transitional justice attempts to confront impunity; seek effective redress; and prevent any recurrence of similar violations. Truth commissions have often been used as part of the process to allow society learn from the past.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu with fellow commissioners listen to testimony from witnesses during the start of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for South Africa.

Possibly the most famous was the truth commission in post-apartheid South Africa. Victims were invited to give statements but perpetrators could give testimony and request amnesty from civil and criminal prosecution. Much of this commission was televised.

Reparations for human rights violations can also form part of the process. For example, from 1996 to 2008, the Chilean government paid more than $1.6bn in pensions to victims of the Pinochet regime. A healthcare program for survivors was also set up and an official apology was issued by the president.

However, different initiatives and activities have been used to help promote dialogue including though arts and culture.

An exhibition in the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum of portrait of the victims in the torture center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, an example of a Museum of Memory.

The Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Argentina is dedicated to remembering the awful atrocities carried out during the Dirty War between 1976 and 1983. It is housed in one of the 400 detention and torture camps that were set up by the military junta and acts as a public memorial to the disappeared.

In Chile a similar museum commemorates the victims of human rights violations during the civic-military regime led by Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990.

Taiwan is currently going through a transitional justice process. The minister of culture will next month begin a series of activities including seminars, film festivals and exhibitions to mark the 70th anniversary of the 228 Incident. The 228 Incident began with an anti-government uprising in Taiwan that was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang-led Republic of China government, and saw tens of thousands of civilians killed.
Patrick ORourke is refusing to take food or fluids, said Mahon Corkery, defence barrister at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

Mr Corkery said he did not want sentencing to go ahead yesterday due to the hunger strike and related circumstances: I have an application to adjourn sentence. I cannot take proper instructions from my client. I am told he is refusing food and fluids. He is a lot less lucid than I would like for him to give me instructions.

Prosecution barrister Donal OSullivan said the prosecution was keen to proceed with sentencing. Mr OSullivan said ORourke was convicted in 2014 of producing a sword and causing the injury; he was granted bail pending sentence and then failed to appear in court for that purpose and was unlawfully at large for more than two years until his arrest last month: The injured party is here and he would like the matter to proceed.

Judge Riordan said that because of the defence apprehension that clear instructions could not be obtained he was prepared to adjourn sentencing until March 30 but it would be peremptory against the defendant. Mr Corkery said a psychiatric report was being prepared on the accused.

A jury reached unanimous guilty verdicts in the case against the accused back in November 2014 on charges of producing a samurai sword and assault causing harm.

ORourke, whose address at the time was 3 The Cottages, Tramore Rd, Cork, pleaded not guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to a charge of assault causing harm to Trevor Morgan on June 11, 2012 at Tramore Rd, and to a charge of producing a samurai sword.

Judge Riordan remanded ORourke on bail for sentencing in November 2014. However, when the case was called there was no sign of ORourke and a warrant had to be issued for his arrest.

During the trial, Mr Morgan said he worked in the Tramore Rd area and the defendant, who lived by the entrance to the workplace, had had a dispute with him in relation to traffic at the gateway. The court heard Trevor and Karen Morgan testified that when they saw the accused that night he had something long in his hand and he started verbally abusing them and walking toward them. They said ORourke slapped Mr Morgan in the face with his hand, Mr Morgan threw chips at him and O Rourke brought down the samurai sword on Mr Morgan over his right eye, causing a skull fracture.
He said that offshore wind projects might be the more sustainable option in the future.

Speaking at a public meeting on the Governments National Planning Framework at Athlone Institute of Technology, Co Westmeath, the minister said the Government will be investing a lot of money into energy infrastructure at sea.

I think we are reaching a point where communities on land are struggling to accept many more large-scale windfarms and many of you will be in communities that would be very resistant to [windfarm] planning applications.

Offshore wind energy is moving to being cost competitive, he said.

I think while wind on land is important, so too are the views of communities. It may be a lot easier to do this in significant scale in the future at sea rather than land, and also cost competitive.

He cited the wave-test tank facilities in Cork Harbour and wave-testing facilities in Galway Bay and he spoke of plans for commercial-scale operations off the coast of Co Mayo.

Mr Coveney said that once the UK leaves the European Union, Ireland will be the third largest country in the EU in terms of size if our maritime resource as well as our land resources are counted.

We are moving in the direction of wind at sea being cost competitive.

Only last week I had a meeting with Statoil regarding what they are doing in Scotland, around the technology for floating wind turbines off Aberdeen and whether or not they could extend that research and that potential to Ireland as well. So it is happening and it will be a big part of this plan.

Solar power will also have a role to play, but a solar takeover was unlikely, he told the audience.

If every planned solar farm in Ireland was to materialise youd have enough energy to power this country about three times over, but youd also cover huge amounts of agriculture land, he said.

I think there will be some solar, particularly on poor agricultural land, and certainly on big agricultural and industrial buildings.

However, he thought it was unlikely that solar energy would cover a lot of good agricultural land.

Speaking to the media, Mr Coveney said he and Natural Resources Minister Denis Naughten are continuing to work on new guidelines for windfarms.

We need to put a new draft guideline in place. That will have to go for a stakeholder consultation for a period as required under European directives.

There is a process in train and I hope that we will be able to publish those draft guidelines in the not too distant future.
It now looks certain that the scope of the commission will be widened to include all homes across the country, but Childrens Minister Katherine Zappone is anxious that there is justice for all victims and their families as the scale of the scandal unfolds.

Ms Zappone is now considering a separate and much wider transitional justice system  similar to what was introduced after apartheid in South Africa  to allow victims be heard and possibly pave the way for some form of reparation.

She will meet advocates, historians, and scholars in the coming days about how to begin such a process, which she said would put survivors and victims at the heart of the process.

The Dail heard details of the shocking number of deaths in these institutions which Ms Zappone said many knew about.

She highlighted the 474 so-called unclaimed infant remains transferred from mother and baby homes to medical schools in Irish universities between 1940 and 1965. Ms Zappone suggested a transitional justice system would achieve not only individual justice, but a wider societal transition from more repressive times.

Transitional justice has been used in many countries in the wake of dictatorships, genocide, and other atrocities, including in post-apartheid South Africa where a televised truth commission allowed victims and perpetrators come forward to give testimony.

Ms Zappone said we could learn from international best practice and cited the Museums of Memory in Argentina and Chile. She committed to do justice not solely through law, but through speaking and listening and through believing with our eyes, our ears what our compatriots tell us.

Separately, religious orders have been criticised for contributing only 13% of the amount it has cost to operate the child abuse inquiry and redress scheme and to support survivors of residential abuse.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) has said 14 properties worth around 20m that were due to be transferred by congregations under the 2002 Indemnity Agreement had not yet been passed on, and that of the 225.6m that had been offered by the religious since the publication of the Ryan Report in 2009, just 83.5m had been paid over.

The chairman of the Dails Public Accounts Committee, Sean Fleming, described the situation as inexcusable.

It is astonishing and inexcusable that six years after the publication of the Ryan report, only 85m of the 226m offer has been received by the State.

Education Minister Richard Bruton also strongly criticised the Church for failing to meet the 50/50 target between the State and the congregations.

The inquiry, which resulted in the Ryan Report, cost an estimated 82m, versus an initial estimate of 2.5m. The projected cost for the redress scheme was 250m, but it ended up costing an estimated 1.25bn.

The report shows the average settlement secured by the small percentage of survivors who brought cases to court was typically almost double that of the average redress award, at 132,535.

In its recommendations the C&AG said the Department of Education should actively pursue the outstanding balance of approximately 21m linked to properties that have yet to be handed over under the terms of the 2002 indemnity deal and that arrangements for transfer of those properties should be concluded as soon as practicable.

The Irish Examiner has also learnt that the Department of Education is now considering a permanent exhibition to remember residential institution abuse victims, instead of the memorial recommended in the 2009 Ryan Report.
ITS not every day that a man gets to celebrate his two beloved grandmothers on the big screen.

But Roger Goldby, the British writer and director of a feel-good buddy movie, called The Time Of Their Lives, released in cinemas today, has done just that.

Goldby has called the two main characters Helen (played by Joan Collins) and Priscilla (played by Pauline Collins), after his two grandmothers, who were in their 90s when they passed away two decades ago.

They are the inspiration for the road movie, which sees two very different women  one a faded Hollywood star, the other a repressed housewife  who team up by accident, become friends and have an extraordinary adventure which brings them from Britain to France.

Although I have used my grandmothers first names for the characters in the film, I should stress that neither of the women in the story are based on them, Goldby hastens to add.

Their strength, warmth, independence and wise counsel to him growing up, left an indelible positive impression about older people though.

The fact that actresses Joan Collins, who will be 84 in May, and 76-year-old Pauline Collins, can still put in leading star performances in their own inimitable way, is a celebration in itself against ageism on the big screen.

As part of the plot, and amidst many madcap adventures, the life-affirming comedy sees the two of them caught in a love triangle with 75year-old Italian, Alberto ( Franco Nero), driving home the message that its never too late to escape; to break free and start over.

His grandmothers were very much on his mind when he wrote the script, Goldby tells Feelgood: They were able to offer guidance when times were tough emotionally as a teenager and then as a young adult, they were on hand to offer support.

"Both my grandmothers, who incidentally were friends, were a great source of comfort. They were also both very strong independent women, who had both been to university at a time when it would have been rare to go.

Basically, they were the inspiration because I had such a great connection with them  I could see they had a wisdom, and strength, and thought wouldnt it be great if they could have an adventure!

The independent film should appeal hugely to an older niche market; a market which has been trying to replicate the surprise 129,979,725 star box office takings worldwide of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, in 2011.

However 51-year-old Goldby says he didnt write The Time Of Their Lives for a particular market, but because he wanted to tell this story.

I wanted to show older people in a positive light, that they are just like us, just in older bodies and that they deserve respect and admiration and should be listened to.

"It astounds me how poorly we can treat our elderly when we will all be there ourselves one day, he says.

The hopeful message that it is never too late to change your life for the better and the fact that its a female-led story about the transformative power of female friendship, should broaden its appeal across all age groups, he believes.

What I am so pleased about regarding the film is that Joan and Pauline have pulled off something very special, created two wonderful characters whom audiences identify with and can then live their lives through, as they watch the film, he says.

I think it is a celebration of grandmothers and of older people, but also for younger people, to show you can have an adventure. Also Joan and Pauline play the characters so naturally that their adventure is believable, and that is very important.

For older audiences Joan Collins is an icon, whose most memorable role arguably was playing Alexis Carrington, the beautiful and vengeful ex-wife of tycoon Blake Carrington in soap opera Dynasty, when TVs were the centre of our entertainment universe back in the 1980s.

Its no surprise that even as an octogenarian, the colourful and feisty actress and author has her own Twitter account from where she fed her 159,000 followers titbits while she was making the film. #TOTL by the way.

Check out the poster for The Time Of Their Lives! We had a blast making this film. Can't wait for you all to see it! #TOTLFilm pic.twitter.com/BnlhwhjhwU  Joan Collins (@Joancollinsdbe) February 17, 2017

Stage and film actress Pauline Collins has a full career behind her also, but for us oldies she will always be memorable for her role in the film Shirley Valentine in 1989 which followed her transformation from her rut as a Liverpool housewife after she heads off on a holiday to Greece with a friend.

The actresses  both who have OBEs  seem like chalk and cheese in their personalities.

We were very lucky to get them, says Goldby.

Yes, they are perfect because in real life they are very different. Both bring something from their past to the role and both worked together before and are friends, so all that important chemistry was there from the start.

"They are inspiring women, still working, still ambitious, totally professional and Franco was a delight also with a great presence and lovely charm.

Time to buy the popcorn so.

Silver surfer

Women aged over 60 go to school for first time http://bit.ly/2kYgvzx

Ageing quote

The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time

14th US president Abraham Lincoln
The upcoming Microsoft Project Scorpio console will launch Holiday 2017, as revealed by Microsoft on a new pre-order page for the console on the Xbox Store.

Project Scorpio is billed as the next generation of Xbox One, and will come with impressive features such as 6 TFLOPS of power plus support for 4K gamin.
How should a conservative government commemorate a revolution that was crucial to the foundation of its state?

The Governments response last year to the Easter Rising centenary was commendably open and pluralistic. The heroes of 1916 were lionised, but their victims were remembered.

The Rising was celebrated, but respect was accorded to critics of its violence. The negative, as well as the positive, consequences of the Rising were debated. While radicals bemoaned the failure to implement the egalitarian ideals of 1916, the Government emphasised the political, social, and economic progress of the past 100 years.

The conservative regime of Russian president Vladimir Putin faces more complex problems in approaching the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Firstly, there were two revolutions in Russia in 1917  the February Revolution, which overthrew Tsarist autocracy, and the October Revolution, through which the Bolsheviks took power.

(According to our Gregorian calendar, rather than the Julian calendar used in Russia at the time, these revolutions took place in March and November 1917.)

October was the more important of the two risings: It brought to power radical socialists dedicated to revolutionising not only Russia, but the world. The Soviet system established by the Bolsheviks challenged western capitalism and imperialist activities and shaped world politics for much of the 20th century.

The Bolsheviks seized power during the First World War and, two decades later, their communist successors fought a life-and-death struggle against Hitler and Nazi Germany. The Soviet triumph in the Second World War saved western democracy and propelled the USSR to superpower status.

For the next 40 years, the Soviets fought the west to a standstill in a global cold war that only ended when Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Unions final leader, introduced democratic reforms. These undermined the communist system and led to the break-up of the USSR in 1991.

Since Putin is neither a monarchist nor an autocrat, he has no difficulty endorsing the March, 1917 democratic revolution that forced the resignation of Tsar Nicholas II. However, the collapse of Tsarism was followed by violence, chaos, and disorder, allowing the Bolsheviks to overthrow the provisional government that had replaced the Tsars rule.

Putin could condemn the Bolsheviks  and he often does  but, as a former communist, he sees much to admire in their ideals. Moreover, while the Bolsheviks introduced communism to Russia, they also defended the borders of the Tsarist empire, not least during the civil war and foreign-state interventions that followed the revolution.

Bolshevik victory in the civil war was the foundation of the advanced industrial state that is the heritage of post-Soviet Russia.

Yet, as a conservative, Putin favours evolution, not revolution. There is nothing he fears more than a western, state-inspired and state-sponsored colour revolution in Russia. Such a development could topple his regime and he could suffer a fate similar to governments in the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine.

Putin will, therefore, strive to celebrate the 1917 Russian Revolution, while using it as a parable about the dangers of too much freedom and of foreigners being allowed to interfere in Russias affairs.

American journalist John Reeds Ten Days that Shook the World, a dramatic eyewitness account of the Bolshevik insurrection in Petrograd in November 1917, is perhaps the most famous book about the Russian Revolution.

Reed was an idealistic socialist and portrayed the Bolshevik leaders as revolutionary heroes. He was not the only one. At the time, admiration was widespread throughout the world for both revolutions. They were considered legitimate revolts against economic and social injustice, in pursuit of fundamental civil and political liberties.

Reed, who died in 1920, did not live to see the degeneration of this idealistic revolution into a repressive Bolshevik party dictatorship. Reeds ashes were interred in the Kremlin wall on Red Square, in Moscow  he is the only foreigner ever to be so honoured.

His book became the foundation for Sergey Eisensteins film, October (1927), a silent movie depiction of the Bolshevik insurrection that did much to consolidate its image as a popular revolution. Famously, Eisensteins recreation of the Bolsheviks storming of the Tsars Winter Palace, in Petrograd, caused more damage than the original assault did.

The Storming of the Winter Palace was a 1920 mass spectacle, based on historical events that took place in Petrograd during the 1917 October Revolution.

Like the Easter Rising, the Russian Revolution had a long gestation. Some historians trace its seeds back to the liberal, so-called Decemberist Revolt of 1825, against Tsar Alexander I, the conqueror of Napoleonic France.

Other historians focus on the destabilising effects of Tsar Alexander IIs emancipation of the serfs in the 1850s  an action designed to prevent a peasant revolution, but which, instead, destroyed traditional relations in the countryside, sowing the agrarian discontent in Russia that was to lodge at the heart of subsequent upheavals, including those in 1917.

Tsarist suppression of national and ethnic minorities was another important factor. Russia under the Tsars was a multinational, multiracial empire seething with discontents  the Bolsheviks called it the prison of the peoples.

Heavy-handed Tsarist attempts to pacify and unify the people, by imposing Russian language and culture  so-called Russification  rather intensified the spiralling resentments of oppressed minorities. Thus, in 1917, the centrifugal forces of nationalism came to the fore.

The political road leading to 1917 began with the failed Russian Revolution of 1905, which was prompted by the bloody suppression of a peaceful protest in St Petersburg (later renamed Petrograd) in January of that year.

During a demonstration demanding political and economic reforms, hundreds of people were shot dead by troops. Bloody Sunday, as it came to be called, sparked strikes and demonstrations in cities throughout Russia.

Then, when the protests spread to the countryside, there were riots, murders, and attacks on property. An armed uprising against the imperial government took place in Moscow in December 1905.

Unrest in the armed forces added to Tsar Nicholas IIs woes. This unrest was in part as a result of the disastrous 1904-05 war with Japan, which had begun when the Japanese launched a surprise attacked on the Russian Far Eastern Fleet, pursuant of disputes about imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea.

Nicholas II was forced to make concessions to the protesters, through the October Manifesto, which promised a constitutional monarchy, and legalised political parties. It also established a Russian parliament, the Duma. But when the immediate crisis had passed, the Tsar returned to repression and eroded the constitutional reforms of the October Manifesto.

Nicholas II was a stern critic of divisive democracy and a true believer in Tsarist autocracy, as divined by god to protect Holy Russia from internal and external enemies. Prime minister Peter Stolypin led the Tsars repression.

His hangings of insurgents became known as the Stolypin Necktie. But this did not prevent radicals and revolutionaries carrying out 2,000 assassinations from 1908-1912. Stolypins 15-year-old daughter was killed by a terrorist bomb and, in 1911, Stolypin was assassinated.

While the bloody repercussions of 1905 meant another revolutionary outburst in Russia was highly likely, they did not make inevitable the violent overthrow of Tsarism. Nicholas II resisted political reform, but he remained open to the economic and social evolution of his empire, not least because Russia needed to compete for resources with its great power rivals in Europe and Asia.

In the 1890s, Sergey Witte, the Tsars finance minister, presided over the state-sponsored industrialisation of Russia. Industrialisation was accompanied by urbanisation, an expansion of the middle classes, and the development of a more extensive and sophisticated civil society in Russia.

According to some historians, Tsarist Russia was on the cusp of successfully completing its modernisation when it was halted by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Indeed, without the war, there would have been no Russian Revolution. The demands of war exposed both how the Tsarist system was deficient and the limits of its modernisation. Russia lost territory and suffered 5m casualties during battles with German, Austro-Hungarian, and Turkish armies, from 1914-1917.

In 1915, Tsar Nicholas II took personal command of Russias armed forces and was blamed for subsequent military defeats. The Russian elite began to lose faith in the Tsar and, in the Duma, opposition grew to his conduct of the war.

Rumours spread that Nicholas II was overly influenced by his German princess wife, Alexandra, who, in turn, was under the control of the mystic Russian monk, Grigory Rasputin (assassinated in December 1916). But it was the growing economic crisis that became the tipping point.

Inflation devalued the currency, so peasants stopped supplying food to the towns, because prices were too low and there was nothing to spend money on. Food shortages in the cities sparked industrial unrest and political protestsma d 1916 became a year of strikes in Russia, with membership and support for revolutionary organisations increasing significantly.

Events came to a head with a strike and demonstration on International Womens Day by female textile workers in Petrograd, which escalated into a citywide strike.

Troops sent to suppress the protests refused to fire on the workers and began to fraternise with the crowds, resulting in a soldiers mutiny in which some 200,000 troops of the Petrograd garrison defected to the revolt.

Duma representatives then petitioned the Tsar to abdicate, a recommendation supported by many generals, who feared the mutiny would undermine Russias war effort.

On March 15, 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in favour of his brother, Grand Duke Michael. But Michael refused to accept the crown without the approval of an as-yet-unfounded Constituent Assembly, thus bringing the 300-year Romanov dynasty to an end. In July 1918, the Bolsheviks, fearing a resurgence of support for the monarchy, executed the Tsar and his family.

It fell to a provisional government to fill the power vacuum and to organise democratic elections to a Constituent Assembly that was to be tasked with creating and adopting a new constitution for Russia. Meanwhile, Russia became increasingly unruly. Mutinous soldiers demanded the right to elect their officers.

Peasants seized land from the aristocracy. Workers took control of their factories. The economic crisis deepened, as strikes and demonstrations continued, accompanied by widespread violence and lawlessness. The provisional government was a reformist government trapped in a revolutionary state.

Nor did the provisional government rule alone. As the revolt spread, soviets  peoples popular power organisations that first appeared during the 1905 Revolution  were revived. The soviet in Petrograd was particularly important. It wielded the power of veto over the provisional governments decisions and actions.

Vladimir Lenin addressing a crowd in Red Square, Moscow, during the Russian Revolution in October 1917.

Into this unstable system of dual power stepped Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the single most important actor in the 1917 drama. If any one person can be said to have changed the course of world history, it was Lenin.

In exile in Switzerland when the Tsar fell, Lenin was secreted back to Russia in a sealed train provided by the Germans to transport him, and his entourage, across Europe. The Germans aimed to destabilise their Russian enemy and, in this, they certainly succeeded.

Lenin believed the effects of war, combined with the aftermath of the Tsars fall, made Russia ripe for socialist revolution. He also perceived there to be a rising tide of revolution across Europe, including in Ireland. When he returned to Russia, he realigned the Bolshevik Party as the provisional governments main opposition.

The Bolshevik slogan was All power to the soviets. They supported the peasant and worker revolt, and demanded an end to Russias participation in the First World War.

The provisional government was as much undone by the war as the Tsar had been. It supported Russias involvement as patriotic national duty in defending the country from its enemies. Moderate socialists, in both the government and the Soviets, supported this mission.

Yet, when, in June, 1917, the provisional government launched a disastrous offensive against Germany and Austria-Hungary, the operations failure led to the collapse of the provisional government coalition. In its stead came a new coalition, dominated by moderate socialists and headed by a socialist prime minister, Alexander Kerensky, who had been war minister in the previous government.

Throughout spring and summer of 1917, popular support for the Bolsheviks grew. More and more delegates to the increasing number of soviets across the country were Bolshevik supporters.

The Bolshevik Revolution was not a majority revolution  the party was too weak in the countryside  but by the time they had seized power, the Bolsheviks represented a mass revolutionary movement in urban Russia. Particularly important were the high levels of support for the Bolsheviks among industrial workers and conscripted soldiers and sailors.

In July 1917, the Bolsheviks almost overplayed their hand when large-scale clashes occurred in Petrograd between their supporters and troops loyal to the provisional government.

When it became clear that the Bolsheviks were not strong enough to seize power, Lenin called the demonstrations off. Nevertheless, after the July Days, the provisional government began to arrest Bolshevik leaders and Lenin was forced to flee to Finland.

The provisional government clampdown on the Bolsheviks convinced Lenin that power could only be attained by a violent insurrection to overthrow the government. Lenins view was reinforced when a Tsarist general mounted an attempted coup  the Kornilov affair.

Kornilovs troops were stopped in their tracks by striking railway workers and armed workers militias. The only way to avert counter-revolution, argued Lenin, was for the Bolsheviks to seize power on behalf of the soviets.

But Lenin, although Bolshevik founder, chief strategist, and theoretician, did not have the power to dictate policy to his party. There was outright opposition to his proposed coup on grounds that it was premature and would see the Bolsheviks crushed by the provisional government.

Others argued that the Congress of Soviets, due to meet in Petrograd at the end of October, should be asked to allow the overthrow of the provisional government.

After much argument, Lenins view prevailed and, on the night of November 7-8, Bolshevik Red Guards seized control of public buildings in Petrograd and arrested provisional government ministers, although Kerensky himself escaped capture. The Bolsheviks then went to the Congress of Soviets and won support to establish a Soviet government.

That first Soviet government was a coalition between the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, who represented militant peasants. Elections to the Constituent Assembly went ahead, but the Bolsheviks shut down the Assembly when it met in January 1918, on the pretext that it was not representative of public opinion.

The real reason was that the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries had failed to win a majority in the assembly elections.

In March 1918, when the Bolsheviks kept their promise to take Russia out of the war and signed the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty with Germany, their coalition with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries broke up.

The Bolsheviks opponents then felt free to launch a violent campaign to forcibly overthrow Lenins government, now Russia was no longer at war. This violent resistance to the Bolsheviks was actively aided and abetted by Britain, France, and the US, leading to the Russian civil war of 1918-1921, in which 7m people died.

The civil war was close-run. At its height, in 1919, the Bolsheviks were corralled in central Russia, and attacked from all sides by White Armies led by former Tsarist generals and admirals.

The Bolsheviks won the civil war for many reasons, but most important was that they defended the continuation of the revolution, as opposed to the counter-revolution sought by most of their opponents.

The Bolshevik victory in the civil war was, for them, an even greater triumph than their revolution. Through the processes of civil war, they consolidated their grip on power and began their experiment in socialism.

However, success came at a high price. The civil war transformed a party of idealistic, radical revolutionaries into a group of ruthless rulers, ready and willing to deploy extreme violence in pursuit of utopia.

The Soviet state emerging from the aftermath of civil war was authoritarian, repressive, and often terroristic. Joseph Stalin, one of the 20th centurys most notorious dictators, ascended to power after Lenins death, in 1924.

During Soviet times, the anniversary of the Bolshevik seizure of power was an occasion of major celebration, marked by a menacing military parade through Red Square, in Moscow.

In 2005, Putin disposed of the public holiday on Revolution Day and, instead, introduced a Day of National Unity. What unity may mean in Russias future will be Putins most important consideration in this 100th anniversary year, as he wrestles to reconcile the complex continuities and discontinuities of Russias recent history.
Friday, March 10th, 2017 (7:38 am) - Score 4,103

After an exhausting year of disagreements its today been announced that BT and the UK telecoms regulator have finally reached an agreement on the future of the operators network access division, which means that Ofcom wont need to force through Openreachs legal separation.

The situation began last February after Ofcom published their Strategic Review (full summary), which aimed to build a new framework for the next decade of telecoms and broadband regulation in the United Kingdom. The review noted that Openreach still had an incentive to make decisions in the interests of BT, rather than BTs competitors, which can lead to competition problems and that the BT had failed to sufficiently consult rival ISPs, such as those that piggyback off their network, on future investment plans that affect them.

Openreach was also accused of having under-invested in its network to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds. The newly appointed chairman of Openreach, Mike McTighe, recently appeared to support this claim by agreeing that the operator should have invested more into their national infrastructure.

A further Strategic Review update followed in July 2016 (here) and then another one in November 2016 (here). In short, Ofcom aimed to boost competition by giving rivals greater access to BTs infrastructure and fostering an independent governance structure for Openreach, as well as tougher minimum service quality standards, new consumer protection measures and better information sharing.

However until now there has been no voluntary agreement because of several outstanding issues. One of the roadblocks was BTs huge pension pot and related deficit, with the operator being concerned about the risks and costs of moving staff and pension liabilities to the new company.

The other problem related Ofcoms demand for Openreach to become a ring-fenced, wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group, with its own purpose and board members. As part of that Openreach would be allowed to have confidential discussions with its customers (i.e. without oversight by BT). However no CEO likes to lose full control over part of their business, even if the BT board would still have a say.

Ofcom had warned that it would force its changes through if no agreement could be reached but that is no longer necessary as the two have managed to find some common ground. The regulator said that BT has agreed to all of the changes needed to address [our] competition concerns. Openreach will now become a distinct company with its own staff and management, together with its own strategy and a legal purpose to serve all of its customers equally.

How the new Openreach will work * Openreach will become a distinct company. Openreach will be incorporated as a legally separate company within BT Group, with its own Articles of Association. Openreach  and its directors  will be legally required to make decisions in the interests of all Openreachs customers, and to promote the success of the company. * The Openreach Board will run the company. The Openreach Board that BT has already established in recent weeks, which has a majority of directors independent of BT, will become the Board of the new company. It will be truly responsible for running Openreach, under a new governance agreement. * A separate strategy and control over budget allocation. Openreach will develop its own strategy and annual operating plans, within an overall budget set by BT Group. * Executives will be accountable to the new Board. Openreachs Chief Executive will in future be appointed by, and accountable to, the Openreach Board. BT Group will be able to veto appointment of the Openreach CEO, but only on notification to Ofcom. The Openreach Chief Executive will then be responsible for other executive appointments, and will report to the Openreach Chair  with a secondary accountability to the Chief Executive of BT, limited to necessary legal, fiduciary or regulatory obligations. * Staff will work for Openreach. The new Openreach will directly employ all its 32,000 staff, who will be transferred across from BT. This will allow Openreach to develop its own distinct organisational culture. * Assets will be controlled by Openreach alone. Openreach will have control of those assets  such as the physical access network  required to deliver on its purpose. The Openreach Board will make decisions on building and maintaining these assets: BT will hand these powers to Openreach, while retaining a title of ownership. * Consultation and confidentiality for Openreachs customers. Openreach will be obliged to consult formally with customers such as Sky Broadband, TalkTalk and Vodafone on large-scale investments. In future, there will be a confidential phase during which customers can discuss ideas without this being disclosed to BT Group, as well as further protections for confidential customer information. * Distinct branding. BT will be removed from Openreach branding, to reflect these changes and the companys greater independence.

On BTs Pensions its noted that to implement this agreement with the smallest possible effect will require that the existing Crown Guarantee (i.e. this requires the Government to foot the bill in the unlikely event that the company should be wound up) would need to be maintained for Openreach staff who are members of BTs pension scheme. This will require the Government to change their existing legislation.

The deal also means a change for Northern Ireland. Historically, Openreach has existed in Great Britain, but not in Northern Ireland. Instead, BT Northern Ireland has adapted its processes to closely reflect those of Openreach, which Ofcom says is an arrangement that has generally worked well.

However todays deal will extend the benefits of the Openreach changes to BT Northern Ireland  including greater independence, confidentiality and independent branding. BT Northern Ireland will also remain able to take account of specific local circumstances and opportunities.

Sharon White, Ofcom Chief Executive, said: This is a significant day for phone and broadband users. The new Openreach will be built to serve all its customers equally, working truly independently and taking investment decisions on behalf of the whole industry  not just BT. We welcome BTs decision to make these reforms, which means they can be implemented much more quickly. We will carefully monitor how the new Openreach performs, while continuing our work to improve the quality of service offered by all telecoms companies.

Gavin Patterson, BT Chief Executive, said: I believe this agreement will serve the long-term interests of millions of UK households, businesses and service providers that rely on our infrastructure. It will also end a period of uncertainty for our people and support further investment in the UKs digital infrastructure. This has been a long and challenging review where we have been balancing a number of competing interests. We have listened to criticism of our business and as a result are willing to make fundamental changes to the way Openreach will work in the future.

Ofcom states that their new model for Openreach will also be supported by careful, continual monitoring to ensure it is effective. As part of this, BT will provide Ofcom with additional transparency on the nature of interactions between the new Openreach and the rest of BT Group.

The agreement will also necessitate the transfer of around 32,000 employees, under TUPE regulations, which will be one of the largest such transfers in UK corporate history. It will take place once the agreement has been implemented and pension arrangements are in place for these employees. Under the agreement, Openreach will manage and operate its assets and trading but ownership of those assets and trading will remain with BT.

We should point out that Openreach has already begun to introduce many of the proposed changes, such as by establishing a new independent board and separating some of their other work practices. However there may be some disappointment that todays deal does not appear to have encouraged a greater roll-out of ultrafast FTTP services than the currently proposed 2 million premises by 2020 (mostly businesses and new builds).

Its important to recognise that most of major changes under this agreement wont have a huge impact on consumers in the short to medium term. However, over the longer term, Ofcom hopes that fostering greater independence and competition at the infrastructure level will deliver a more diverse and flexible market for better / faster digital connectivity.

The Governments recent decision to push fresh investment towards alternative ultrafast fibre optic broadband providers (here and here) appears to form part of the same approach, although it takes time to grow new networks and copper line based technology will still be around for a long time to come.

Crucially todays changes arent a magic quick-fix for the economic challenges of getting such connectivity into rural areas and indeed such locations will, with a few exceptions, remain last on the list to benefit. But given enough time even they may benefit.

The commitments that BT has notified to Ofcom are available on this page http://www.btplc.com/UKDigitalFuture/ and the regulator has said that they will shortly publish further detail on how todays agreement addresses their competition concerns, together with proposals to release BT from its previous undertakings around Openreach once the new commitments are fully in place.

It may be worth keeping tabs on BT Groups share price this morning..



UPDATE 8:01am

The first comment on todays deal has come from Sky (Sky Broadband), although weve put out requests from quite a few of the big players so expect a lot more to follow.

A Sky spokesperson said: This is a welcome step that we have long called for on behalf of our customers. A more independent Openreach is a step towards delivering better service to customers and the investment that the UK needs. Its important that todays agreement is now implemented by BT in good faith and without delay.

UPDATE 8:36am

Now one from TalkTalk.

Dido Harding, TalkTalks CEO, said: We welcome the agreement to create a legally separate Openreach. The new company will be better placed to deliver the improved investment and service that consumers and businesses deserve. This deal will require robust Ofcom monitoring and enforcement to ensure it delivers the improvements the regulator expects. We hope this is the start of a new deal for Britains broadband customers, who will be keen to see a clear timetable from Openreach setting out when their services will improve.

UPDATE 10:58am

Cityfibres turn.

Mark Collins, CityFibres Director of Strategy and Policy, said: The real story here is the UKs shocking fibre gap. Whilst it is welcome that these time-consuming negotiations seem to be at an end, there is nothing in this announcement to suggest Openreach will now start to build the fibre infrastructure this country needs. Ofcoms focus needs to shift to encouraging alternative fibre builders to do the things Openreach cant or wont do  whatever its legal status. CityFibre is well placed to take on that challenge and to meet Ofcoms strategic objective of reducing the UKs reliance on Openreach to get the job done. The substantial Government funding for fibre announced in the budget this week will help to accelerate our own full fibre rollout programme.

We wouldnt describe 600m as substantial Government funding when talking about FTTP/H networks because it could take tens of billions to blanket the country with it. A good improvement, but a lot more will be needed.

UPDATE 12:30pm

No beating around the bush from Virgin Media today.

Tom Mockridge, CEO of Virgin Media, said: Openreach is just the same old snails paced network with a new shell. Call it what you like but its still BT, four times slower than Virgin Media.

Oh and they also tweeted this..
The sense for about a year has been that the adoption path to 5G, which initially called for the new standard to arrive in 2020, is accelerating.

That quickening pace was made official by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the body charged with creating the new standard. At a meeting this week in Dubrovnik, Croatia, an interim 5G standard was agreed upon. The participants agreed to a variant of the standard called Non-Standalone NSA 5G New Radio (NSA 5G NR). This is an intermediate milestone that would enable large-scale trials and deployments in 2019, according to Lorenzo Casaccia, Qualcomms vice president of Technical Standards.

Casaccia suggested that it is needed both as a platform for future development and to meet the challenge of todays quickly growing capacity needs. It sounds as if it will be a true interim hybrid affair:

Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G NR will utilize the existing LTE radio and core network as an anchor for mobility management and coverage while adding a new 5G carrier. This is the configuration that will be the target of early 2019 deployments (in 3GPP terminology, this is NSA 5G NR deployment scenario Option 3).

Sprint, Qualcomm, Motorola Mobility Launch Gigabit LTE

There will be a stop on road to 5G even before NSA 5G NR. Gigabit. This week, Sprint said that it, Qualcomm and Motorola Mobility initiated Gigabit class LTE in New Orleans.

The service, according to Sprint, uses three-channel carrier aggregation and 60 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum. It employs 44 multiple in multiple out (MIMO) antennas and 256 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The service was demonstrated on a device using Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 mobile platform and a Snapdragon X16 LTE modem.

The rollout of the service across Sprints network will require upgrades to the network. Some of these have already been made in many markets and others are planned, according to the press release.

Verizon Offers Zero-Rated Service

Verizon sees what is happening at The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and in Congress in terms of rolling back changes made during the eight years of the Obama administration. The carrier has introduced a plan that zero-rates some streaming and download services to the FiOS Mobile App.

Zero rating takes various forms. The idea is that subscribers are given access to content and services without data charges. Its seen by some as a way around net neutrality rules, since zero rating can enable the carrier to favor one service (which perhaps it has a stake in or owns) over another.

Verizon will offer such free service on four plans. The story points out that the FCC ended an investigation into AT&Ts Data Free TV, which is similar to the Verizon is offering.

Extreme Networks Stalking Horse Bidder for Avaya Networking

Extreme Networks said on Tuesday that it has entered a purchase agreement with Avaya to acquire its networking business.

The price of the unit is $100 million. The press release suggests that the company expects the deal to close during its fiscal 2018. Avaya went into chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 19. Extreme is the stalking horse bidder and will get a breakup fee and expense reimbursement if it does not prevail in the auction, which is being held under the bankruptcy rules.

Resolution Introduced in Senate to Overturn Privacy Rule



Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) this week introduced legislation that would reverse Federal Communications Commission (FCC) privacy rules that now are in place.

The idea is to use a process through which recently introduced legislation can be nullified by majority vote. The existing rule, the Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services regulation, limits providers right to collect customer information. The Hill says that this includes app usage and Web browsing history.

The rules were passed in October, and thus fall under the Congressional Review Act. It was opposed at the time by internet service providers. The privacy rules are also under attack by the FCCs new leadership.

Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at [email protected] and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.
If youre in an IT shop that supports a lot of road warriors who have to give presentations and the like, youre probably used to getting calls from panicked users with last-minute connectivity and adapter issues. Would you like a few tips to help prevent all that panic? I thought so.

Jason Kaul, helpdesk supervisor at StarTech, a connectivity hardware supplier headquartered in London, Ontario, has come up with a list of five such tips that I found to be well worth sharing here:

Use technologies and devices that are compatible with both Windows and Mac systems. Employees are increasingly demanding advanced mobility tools to keep them as productive on the road as they are in the office. Technologies and devices like external hard drives and universal docking stations that can transform any laptop or mobile phone brand into a fully functional workstation can help IT maximize workplace flexibility.

Employees are increasingly demanding advanced mobility tools to keep them as productive on the road as they are in the office. Technologies and devices like external hard drives and universal docking stations that can transform any laptop or mobile phone brand into a fully functional workstation can help IT maximize workplace flexibility. Invest in multiport accessories. Todays work force is eager to connect universally from wherever they happen to be located. IT can respond by investing in multiport accessories such as USB-C, which can carry multiple technology protocols like DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 3. This technology is being adopted by manufacturers to support universal connections.

Todays work force is eager to connect universally from wherever they happen to be located. IT can respond by investing in multiport accessories such as USB-C, which can carry multiple technology protocols like DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 3. This technology is being adopted by manufacturers to support universal connections. Purchase technologies that support remote accessibility. The work force expects anytime, anywhere connectivity today, so products like VPN/terminal services and cloud-based software can provide the flexibility employees require when theyre on the road. Travel A/V adapters with the latest I/O profiles (like USB-C) are becoming increasingly essential for connectivity and full functionality everywhere.

The work force expects anytime, anywhere connectivity today, so products like VPN/terminal services and cloud-based software can provide the flexibility employees require when theyre on the road. Travel A/V adapters with the latest I/O profiles (like USB-C) are becoming increasingly essential for connectivity and full functionality everywhere. Add audio/video conferencing technology. Meeting spaces are evolving due to work force mobility. There is now greater demand for technologies that accommodate onsite workers, as well as colleagues and customers located in the field. Advanced A/V products like multiple displays and sophisticated conferencing systems can simplify and streamline the meeting experience.

Meeting spaces are evolving due to work force mobility. There is now greater demand for technologies that accommodate onsite workers, as well as colleagues and customers located in the field. Advanced A/V products like multiple displays and sophisticated conferencing systems can simplify and streamline the meeting experience. Use Thunderbolt 3/USB-C for new devices (adapters, chargers, audio/video connections). In a knowledge and data economy, people need tools that accommodate high-resolution, high-bandwidth and graphically intensive images, as well as video and CAD drawings. IT can support these activities with technologies like Thunderbolt 3, which facilitate single-cable docking of laptops to multiple displays and peripherals.

A contributing writer on IT management and career topics with IT Business Edge since 2009, Don Tennant began his technology journalism career in 1990 in Hong Kong, where he served as editor of the Hong Kong edition of Computerworld. After returning to the U.S. in 2000, he became Editor in Chief of the U.S. edition of Computerworld, and later assumed the editorial directorship of Computerworld and InfoWorld. Don was presented with the 2007 Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity by American Business Media, and he is a recipient of the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for editorial excellence in news coverage. Follow him on Twitter @dontennant.
I was at the NVIDIA TX2 launch earlier this week, which was a showcase for partners bringing to market AI-enhanced products. The Jetson platform is NVIDIAs early attempt to produce in volume low-powered, relatively affordable AI brains to be used in virtually anything that needs one. This is part of an initiative to push intelligence to the edge, largely due to the limitations in bandwidth, latency and security concerns surrounding centralizing AIs to work on remote systems.

Lets talk about some of the more interesting products.

300W Supercomputer

Now, if it had been me, I would have made this 300W supercomputer the center of my presentation, largely because a one-shelf, rack-mounted, 300W supercomputer is pretty unique. This little jewel took 24 Jetson boards and interconnected them into an amazingly powerful AI server. Granted, it kind of goes against the intelligence at the edge concept, since this would be a centralized solution, but it should be able to support an impressive number of video cameras, for instance, in a mobile facial recognition implementation, or could be ideal for TSA checkpoints to identify known criminals or terrorists. In any case, it is an impressive amount of power in a small package. The company that made this is Connect Tech Inc., and it specializes in creating interface boards and packaging (hardened) for technical solutions like the Jetson TX2.

Small Facial Recognition

Leopard Imaging had an interesting one small board implementation, which linked up to six cameras to this board and then connected the board wirelessly to the network for simultaneous broadcast and facial recognition. This would be a great solution to fully monitor a lot of homes to attempt to catch a known criminal or terrorist, or to instrument the area around a reception desk so you could get early warning if the boss had just shown up unexpectedly to work. (I know of a few folks that worked at Apple that would have given their left arm for something like this, given that Steve Jobs wasnt someone you wanted to drop in and surprise you.) You could fit this entire solution in a book, place the book on a table, and pretty much cover almost any room.

Hand-Held 3D Scanner

Artec 3D had a hand-held 3D scanner that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. This scanner allows you to fully scan any small or relatively large object reasonably quickly, and then you can place this object in a virtual environment at scale. (Personally, I thought it would be a cool way to scan dream cars and create a virtual garage that you could visit with a VR headset. Given that folks who buy cars like this almost never drive or even sit in them, youd get 98 percent of the benefit with virtually none of the cost!) This would be great for space planning, architecture, interior and exterior design, and it could do interesting things for competitive analysis departments. It might also be a way to keep track of your daughters dates, but I expect she might find that a tad invasive.

Autonomous Search and Rescue

Enroute had something that could save your or my life: autonomous drones. These could be kind of a set-and-forget implementation, where a mother truck, copter, or even far larger autonomous drone arrives at the site of a disaster, kidnapping or lost hiker and then deploys a ton of these things, which then organize a grid pattern and fly off looking for a designated target. One person working remotely could, in theory, handle thousands of these things because they wouldnt require individual flying and would only report back if they observed something interesting. The example was large enough to also be able to carry a limited amount of medical equipment, food, and water which, once the individual was found, could be used to keep them alive until help arrived. The same technology could be used for security and it strikes me that this solution would likely be both more effective and far less expensive, in theory, than President Trumps border wall.

Cisco Spark Board

The Cisco Spark Board is one of the latest in what has been a resurgence in increasingly smart collaboration products. No, this wont do your presentation for you, I expect that will come in a later model, but the intelligence is used to make bringing up a video conferencing session, sharing your laptop screen, and whiteboarding remotely drop-dead, single-icon easy. So easy your boss wont have to get your kid to do it for him. One of the big problems with this class of product has been that they are hard to set up and use and that people are embarrassed to admit they dont know how to use them. This implementation seems to address that problem nicely, and it is certainly better than using the Jetson intelligence to provide real-time presentation critiques (though those would be a ton of fun for the audience, particularly if this feature could be turned on secretly and only when the speaker wasnt actually looking at the board).

Agriculture

I grew up on a ranch and a farm. I spent winters on the ranch and summers on the farm and I learned one very important lesson. Farming smells, has way too many people eating bugs, and farmers get up way the hell too early and go to bed way the hell too early as a result. So, I learned faming sucks. Farmers also have to use a lot of chemicals regularly without proper protection and spray an impressive number of them around their neighborhoods and into the ground water. Blue River had a weed control solution that applied the chemicals in far smaller amounts directly onto the weeds at volume automatically. This vastly increased yields, reduced the contamination by the chemicals, and you likely could do this with a robotic tractor so you could go to bed and get up at a decent time and not fight bugs, when you are just waking up, for your body parts.

Robots

Several robots were at the event. Two that stood out were by Fellow Robots and Toyota. The Fellow robot is already in use for inventory management and to help customers find what they are looking for at Lowes. Toyotas robot was designed to help bed-ridden patients as a servant providing an intelligent fetch service that could bring them medication, food, water, and a spare hand when they need it. I think they should put bells on employees at stores like Lowes because you can never find one when you need one, so Im a fan of the Fellow implementation but, at some point, Ill likely need the Toyota solution, because I am not at all fun when Im sick and it might keep my wife from an impromptu visit to her sister.

Wrapping Up: Cheap Brains

While this kind of sounds like a sale sign during the zombie apocalypse, the fact is that low-cost intelligence will be critical for the next generation of tools we need to advance the technology art. Whether it is serving us when we are sick, helping us find our way around stores, or locating us when we are lost, eventually all of us will need these services. At some point, sadly, some of us may need this technology to remind us who we are. In any case, an affordable AI brain is a critical step to moving to the next phase of automation, and the Jetson TX2 is a major and important component of that step.

One final thought: Were it me who had a brain product named after the cartoon show The Jetsons and I made a digital rendering product, Id likely have Rosie, the Jetsons maid, be a major part of the presentation. Just saying.

Rob Enderle is President and Principal Analyst of the Enderle Group, a forward-looking emerging technology advisory firm. With over 30 years experience in emerging technologies, he has provided regional and global companies with guidance in how to better target customer needs; create new business opportunities; anticipate technology changes; select vendors and products; and present their products in the best possible light. Rob covers the technology industry broadly. Before founding the Enderle Group, Rob was the Senior Research Fellow for Forrester Research and the Giga Information Group, and held senior positions at IBM and ROLM. Follow Rob on Twitter @enderle, on Facebook and on Google+
Airbus has unveiled a spectacular transformer taxi at the recent Geneva Motor Show that can be picked up by drones to fly. The modular system consists of a two-seater capsule that could put an end to traffic jams. Called Pop.Up, it functions as a car which can carry the rider to the destination by a vertical take-off when the roads are too congested.

Once passengers reach their destination, both the air and ground modules will return to dedicated recharge stations and wait to be summoned by the next customers. Pop.Up is a collaboration between Airbus and Italdesign, a design and engineering firm based in Italy. The CEO of Italdesign hopes that transportation will reach new levels in the years to come.

The transformer taxi sounds pretty good and easy to use. All the customer has to do is book their trip on Airbus' application. The companion app can also instantly display the best way the transportation can lead them to their destination.

After Pop.Up looks at all the possibilities based on timing, traffic congestion, costs and ridesharing demands, it then advises the rider on what route to choose. Customers can select the ground, air transportation, or even both. Once ordered, the two-seater capsule will then roll up at your location, the Stock News USA reports.

Once inside the transformer taxi, it will scan the passengers face for authenticity and according to a concept video, it will also show content on the screen for users to watch as they travel. Consisting of monocoque carbon-fiber cocoon, it measures 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) long, 4.5 feet (1.4 meters) high, and 16 feet (meters) wide. It runs on a battery, and can travel for 62 miles (100 kilometers) on a single charge, the Daily Mail reports.

The self-piloted air vehicle will take advantage of the third dimension to get from A to B efficiently to avoid traffic congestion on the ground. This system is expected to start working in 2024 or even in 2027. Airbus main purpose is to avoid the traffic congestion that will definitely take place in about ten years.
It is not clear yet why the vulnerability of Apache Struts is being exploited widely 48 hours after a patch was released. One of the possible reasons is that the Apache Struts maintainers didn't sufficiently disclose the risk. Although the whole team involved in the issue categorized the vulnerability security rank as high, they also define it as a "possible remote code execution" hazard.

Public Attacks Exploiting Against Apache Struts Vulnerability

According to Arnet, public attackers are widely exploiting a newly patched vulnerability in Apache Struts which allows them to remotely produce malicious code on various web servers. The attacks and scans are exposed on Apache web servers and have ramped up dramatically since Monday, March 6. It started when a vulnerability in the Apache Struts was patched and proof-of-concept exploit code was launched into the Metasploit module.

The second someone starts working on a Metasploit module," Craig Williams, manager and senior leader of the Ciscos Talos Outreach team, said. He also noted that what happened is a ramp-up for the rapid exploitation by a huge number of people and that is likely going to continue to increase. With that, it is also possible to see people trying to scan for the vulnerability of the web developer.

How Risky Is This Situation?

The ThreatPost said that the attacks in the vulnerability, CVE-2017-5638, are particularly risky to anyone operating their Apache web servers as the root of the development. Williams said that until now, its unclear whether an attacker can be harmful or not. However, as with some earlier internet-wide bugs, there are surely a large number of scans happening.

If the attacker/s will modify a single line of the operating system, the target will still run but with just a limited function. Unless the attackers are looking for a content, its easy not to see the malformed content type. Williams also said that the chances are very critical for a firm running an exposed Apache Struts server especially if its compromised. The skys the limit, Williams said describing how risky this situation is.
The new Rolls-Royce Ghost Elegance literally shone brightest at the 2017 version of the Geneva Motor Show. The ghosts of 1,000 real diamonds live in the Ghost Elegance or to be more particular, in the luxury car's paint.

Rolls-Royce's Technical Laboratories labored for two months to come up with arguably the glitteriest car ever. The process included grounding 1,000 pieces of diamonds and finding out a way to integrate the dust into the paint. The car was then painted with what the company now calls Diamond Stardust. The Ghost Elegance was given a two-tone paint job with dark gray paint used on the upper portion and lighter gray on the lower parts of the car. Mark Court, Rolls-Royce in-house pinstriper, hand-painted Mugello Red and Black pinstripes along the sides of the luxury car. Crimson accents were also hand painted on the 21-inch wheels as mentioned by InAutoNews.

CNN Money mentioned that the company decided to use a coat of clear lacquer on top of the Diamond Stardust to give the Ghost Elegance a smooth finish. The clear coat also provides protection for the precious dust. An additional two days were required to paint the finishing coat while hand-polishing the whole body took another whole day.

The expensive diamond-dusted paint job gave the Rolls Royce Ghost Elegance a one-of-a-kind sparkly finish but what makes the luxury car unique is that it was reportedly commissioned by someone rich enough to have 1,000 pieces of precious diamond stones to be ground to dust. The impressive features of the Rolls-Royce Ghost Elegance do not end with the glittery paint job. Rolls-Royce also fitted the Elegance with black leather seats with Mugello Red stitching to match the accents of the exterior and a Tudor Oak veneer for the chauffeur. At the back, the leather seats come in Selby Grey color with Mugello Red trim.

The diamond-painted Rolls-Royce Ghost Elegance was not the only Bespoke car at the Geneva Motor Show. The Wraith Black Badge and the Dawn Inspired by Fashion also showed off. The former's 623bhp engine comes with additional 52lb ft of torque while the latter, inspired by Dutch painter Piet Modarian's masterpieces, has an Andalucian White finish and a folding fabric roof that comes in Mugello Red, Mandarin, or Cobalto Blue.
"Jessica Jones" season 2 is still far from its known premiere, but countless theories and supposed spoilers are already coming out to brief the fans. The Netflix heroine series is said to cross paths with Luke Cage, and their romance will start to blossom in the next installment. Kilgrave, on the other hand, will reappear in season 2 and Jessica will receive retribution in a way that she did not expect.

There is no definitive date yet on the return of "Jessica Jones", but talks are persistent that season 2 will kick off sometime next year. There is a previous report saying that the installment is set back to give way to "The Defenders." Despite the long wait for "Jessica Jones" season 2 premiere, fans are already getting countless updates about the Marvel titular character.

A speculation suggest that season 2 will reward Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) with romance. Fans of Marvel heroes know very well that when it comes to Jessica's love life, Luke Cage is someone closest to her. Theories suggest that Luke (Mike Colter) will crossover to "Jessica Jones" to rekindle the love that they have already started in season 1.

The romance between Jessica Jones and Luke Cage has been cut-short in the later part of the series. It can be recalled that Jessica confessed to Luke that she led his wife to her demise. The duo then reconciled when Luke realized how it is like to be under Kilgrave's power. With the couple taking some time-off, fans now believe that it is time for them to portray their love written on Marvel comic books.

As for Kilgrave, rumors are rife that the villain will reappear in "Jessica Jones" season 2. After Jessica murdered her longtime enemy in season 1, spoilers say that Kilgrave will appear only on flashbacks, but Jessica will have to face the consequences of the crime, which will make her suffer in ways she did not imagine. Her conscience is reportedly going to be at work, which will give her an emotional baggage in season 2.

Netflix is still mum about the release of "Jessica Jones season 2." However, there are a lot of rumors that the series might premiere early next year after "The Defenders" finishes towards the end of 2017.


ether were trying to grab a few minutes of rest or need to make a deadline, the YouTube Kids app is a great way to ensure that our little ones stay entertained without worrying that theyve tapped on something they shouldnt. However, some possible upcoming changes to the app might make it even easier for parents to ensure their kids are sticking to ppa g w trol.

In its customary A Teardown, Android lice has spotted some interesting code strings that suggest may be developing a new Family nk app for remotely managing content in the YouTube Kids app. Currently, any content restrictions need to be made in the app itself, but this new feature will seemingly let parents manage their childs search content settings block videos from their own device. That means if youre at work your child is with a babysitter, youll presumably be able to see what theyre watching shut it down if you dont think its appropriate.

Additionally, Android lice has discovered a new icon of an animated video game controller. ile there isnt any information beyond its existence, the site surmises that it likely signals the addition of a new page dedicated to gaming videos along with the usual Shows, Music, arning, Explore tabs.

Neither feature has gone live in the YouTube Kids app yet, but to keep up with the latest changes to the app, you can side-load the -signed A from A Mirror.

tchful eye: Its a fact of life that our kids have much more access to unsavory material than we ever did, thats why we love the YouTube Kids app. Curated for innocent eyes, it keeps our little ones entertained without us having to hover over their shoulder every time they get bored with whatever they were watching start a new video. But since nothings perfect, the ability to remotely manage their content without needing to wrestle the device from their little hs is a great idea.
Update 3:25 : This article has been updated to reflect the news that has pulled the h security update for the Nexus 6.

The Moto Z ay is the latest in the novo family of smartphones to get Android Nougat. But thats not the only big update this weeks xel Nexus devices are getting several critical security patches.

Each week, we round up all the major software updates to hit the Android ecosystem, including phones tablets on U.S. carriers, unlocked phones, smartwatches, Android TV devices. Make sure your device is running the latest available software so you can enjoy new features fewer bugs security holes.

Motorola

Moto Z ay: Motorola tends to be one of the better Android manufacturers when it comes to delivering Android updates. Thats fallen off a bit since the novo acquisition, but youre still part of a rather exclusive club now that your phone is getting Nougat. Motorola recommends you have at least 50 percent battery life be connected to -Fi when installing the update.

h security update: Before its time to celebrate the luck of the Irish, be sure you get the latest round of security patches from . The monthly update is now available for the xel, xel X Nexus 6 Nexus 5X, xel C, Nexus 9 (-Fi E models), Nexus 6. (However, has pulled the Nexus 6 update after numerous reports of it disabling Apple y. No other phones seem to be affected.)

Android distribution numbers: Sales of the xel some recent Nougat updates have bumped the Nougat numbers in s latest monthly report. However, that still leaves Nougat barely cracking the two percent threshold.

llipop remains the biggest piece of the pie, coming in at 32.5 percent. For the 31.3 percent still on Marshmallow, theres one piece of good news: Assistant is coming to your device soon.
A CHARITY calling for compassion in the law surrounding the right to end your own life has spoken out in the wake of an Isle of Wight man's death.

Dignity in Dying chief executive Sarah Wootton said the current law forced people in situations like Jim Maguire to end their own lives in traumatic circumstances.









Chief executive of Dignity in Dying, Sarah Wootton said: "We are saddened by the conclusion of the inquest into the death of Jim Maguire, who ended his own life at home in March 2015 in an attempt to relieve the suffering that motor neurone disease was causing him.





"Tragically, this is not an isolated incident. Around 300 terminally ill people end their own lives in this country every year. Every eight days someone from Britain travels to Dignitas for an assisted death.





"The UKs current blanket ban on assisted dying denies dying people the choice and control they deserve at the end of life. It forces many people like Jim to take matters into their own hands, ending their own lives behind closed doors in traumatic circumstances.





"The effect this has on their loved ones can be devastating.





"People who are well enough, wealthy enough and have loved ones willing to risk prosecution in accompanying them, can travel hundreds of miles to have an assisted death abroad. That choice is not open to everyone.





"People with motor neurone disease deserve better  they deserve a compassionate law that respects individual choice and allows people to wrestle back control from an illness that has robbed them of so much. Noel Conway, also living with MND , is currently fighting for these rights in the courts.





"When will Parliament finally listen to the pleas of dying people and take action?"
March is Womens History Month, and female historical figures are being honored all throughout the month. In addition to these intrepid women, it also seems fitting to pay tribute to the women who have made their mark in the beauty industry, as they deserve to be lauded for their vision, innovation, and for their initiatives to create products that are not only affordable but are designed for women of all races across the globe.

According to Bustle, it may seem like women run the beauty industry upon first glance. However, the CEOs of major beauty companies such as LOreal, Revlon, Estee Lauder, and MAC Cosmetics are all men, which means that these tycoons are basically running the $50 billion beauty industry. Thats why for Womens History Month, its important to know which beauty brands are run by women in order to support them for all their efforts to make beauty products accessible and affordable to women of all over the world.

Here are the best female-owned beauty brands to support this month.

The Lip Bar

Last year, entrepreneurs Melissa Butler and Roscoe Spears appeared on Shark Tank in hopes of getting an investor on their colorful lipstick line called The Lip Bar. However, their idea was mocked and one of the Sharks even said that the ladies would be crushed like the colorful cockroaches that they are by larger brands should they try to get women to buy their unusual lip colors.

Though they did not get a Shark, Butler and Spears were able to prove them wrong as they now have a mobile boutique and have traveled to New York, Toronto, Detroit, and Washington, D.C., among others. Their products are also available on the Target website.

Honest Beauty

Co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, the company specializes in cosmetics that are free of harmful chemicals such as parabens, phthalates, and sulfates.

Nuance

The company was founded by actress Salma Hayek. From skincare to makeup to hair products, Hayeks products have been raved about by beauty experts for their great quality and affordable prices. All her products are available at CVS and are available at under $20.

Circa

This makeup line is directed by Eva Mendes and is available at Walgreens. Just like Hayeks products, everything is below $20.

Iman Cosmetics

Founded by supermodel Iman, the line is very much a makeup fan favorite as it has a wide range of makeup shades to fit a wide range of skin tones. Iman cosmetics was also the first to come out with a BB cream specifically for darker skin tones. According to Buzzfeed, the supermodel was once told that black women dont buy foundation, and this encouraged her to make her own line and sell it to public.

For more, check out Jobs & Hires report on female characters in literature with the best leadership skills.
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WASHINGTON  If you were writing a pitch for a Hollywood series about the roiling investigation of the Trump campaigns possible dealings with Russian operatives, you might describe it as Billions meets The Americans.

This plot has already had some weird twists and turns, and we arent even at the end of Season One. Its must-see television, for sure, but disheartening, like the O.J. Simpson trial. You know its not going to end happily for most of the characters (or, indeed, for the country), but you cant stop watching.

Lets look at the two protagonists in our presidential potboiler. First, our billionaire president. Hed be lucky to have as much hair (or money) as Damian Lewis, who stars as the fictional hedge-fund trader Bobby Axelrod in Showtimes Billions. But Trump has a similar scorched-earth approach to dealing with his adversaries, which is part of why hes in growing difficulty in the Russia investigation.

Trumps behavior over the past year, as allegations deepened of Russian covert action to help his campaign, has been comparable to his business life. As chief executive of the Trump Organization, he bargained hard. When he was sued, he often countersued, creating a costly jumble of litigation that intimidated many adversaries. And he disliked settling cases, on the theory that such compromise only invited more attacks.

This hyper-adversarial style has been on display with the Russia story. Trump has denied having business contacts with Russian oligarchs (he tweeted: NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA,), a claim thats contradicted by the public record. When the allegations continued, he counterattacked  first accusing the intelligence agencies of leaking information in the style of Nazi Germany and then alleging that President Obama had wiretapped his offices at Trump Tower. Both charges were false, but useful distractions.

Trump from the beginning has refused any hint of compromise on the Russia issue. It would have been easy, early on, to have affirmed the easily documented facts, said he favored a better relationship with Moscow because it was good policy, and ordered his associates to explain their past dealings. But he didnt do that.

Trumps defiance has put his presidency on a collision course with Congress and the FBI. Some supporters claim hes facing a secret coup from an intelligence and foreign policy establishment that comprises a despotic deep state. But really, Trump is confronting the orderly process we call the rule of law.

Why is Trump so resistant to compromise? Does he fear the revelations that might eventually emerge? Or is this simply his perennial negotiating style  never bend, lest you diminish the tough-guy, always-a-winner image? We dont know, but Trump is taking us to a dark place where we may find out.

Now, what about the Russian players in our drama? First, they are masters of the intelligence game. The characters in the FX series The Americans offer a hint of the subtle and implacable tradecraft the Russians have brought to espionage since the tsars time. They are a relentless adversary. But that doesnt mean theyre perfect, or that we are doomed to perpetual Cold War.

As Trumps associates are learning, Russian diplomats and top business leaders often perform an intelligence function, too. So a discussion with an ambassador, say, or a prominent oligarch is likely to be monitored by U.S. intelligence. And when these Kremlin insiders brag among themselves about their access to the Trump entourage (hypothetically speaking), these conversations may well be intercepted, too. And sometimes leaked to the press.

But we should remember, when we read stories about Russian intelligence contacts with the Trump team (or anyone else), this is raw information  and often unreliable. Russian diplomats, intelligence operatives and business executives routinely boast about their contacts  inflating their access and information.

State Department officials have been unfairly tarred by such surveillance, as when the FBI pursued false claims that a U.S. diplomat in Pakistan had been recruited as a spy. We need to understand the possibility that Trump and his associates could be unfairly maligned by raw intelligence, too  gossip thats dressed up as top secret. Thats why we need quiet, careful investigations to establish the truth.

Russians arent 10 feet tall, as an earlier generation of CIA officers sometimes imagined. They arent monsters who are Americas permanent enemies. They spy on us, as we spy on them. But they are very good at it, as our real-life espionage blockbuster has demonstrated over the past few months.

This one is going to Season Two. Spoiler alert: The Russians have already won.
[JURIST] The Colorado House of Representatives [official website] approved a bill [text, PDF] on Thursday that would ban sexual orientation conversion therapy for people under 18. The bill would also make licensed physicians and mental health providers subject to disciplinary action for performing conversion therapy. The bill defines conversion therapy as any practice by a licensee or registrant that seeks to change an individuals sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings towards individuals of the same sex. It explicitly does not include therapies that assist gender transition, help people cope with their sexual orientation, or prevent illegal sexual behavior. The bill passed [Denver Channel report] by a 38-27 vote. Next, the bill will move to the Republican-majority Senate, where it may face resistance.

A few states have already banned conversion therapy for minors, meeting with opposition. In August pastors sued Illinois over the states conversion therapy ban, which had been passed [JURIST reports] the year before. In April 2015 the White House voiced support [JURIST report] for banning conversion therapy. In 2014 a federal appeals court upheld [JURIST report] New Jerseys ban on conversion therapy.
The European Court of Justice [official website] ruled [judgment] Thursday that individuals cannot demand that their personal data be erased from company records. The court said the ruling came from the public need for legal certainty to protect third party interests. The registers hold very little personal data and do not infringe on privacy. The court reserved its right to assess specific circumstances under which company registers should be limited on an individual basis. The case was brought by Italy due to their loss of a case over compensation to a man whose properties had failed to sell because a bankruptcy he filed was kept on record at Lecce Chamber of Commerce [official website]. In May 2014 the EU court ruled that individuals could request that irrelevant information be removed in the search results from search engines like Google and Bing [corporate websites].

Data collection, government surveillance and digital privacy laws [JURIST backgrounder] continue to be a contentious issue worldwide since Edward Snowden [BBC profile] revealed [JURIST report] the scale of bulk data collection in the US and the UK in 2013. Earlier this week the UN condemned [JURIST report] modern-day surveillance laws. In January a UK advocacy group challenged [JURIST report] the Investigatory Powers Act [PDF], which allows the UK government to record the Internet history of every citizen for up to a year. A month earlier the European Court of Justice [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that [g]eneral and indiscriminate retention of e-mails and other electronic communications by governments is illegal. In October a UN expert on free expression said claims that Yahoo allowed the US government to search hundreds of millions of consumer e-mails raise serious human rights concerns [JURIST report]. In January 2016 the Ontario Superior Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that police orders requiring telecommunications companies to hand over cellphone user data breached the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms [text].
South Koreas Constitutional Court [official website] on Friday upheld parliaments [official website] decision to impeach [JURIST report] President Park Geun-hye over a scandal related to government bribes paid by Samsung. The Court unanimously upheld the decision to impeach, the first time in South Koreas history. Park now loses her political immunity, which leaves her open to criminal charges in the coming months. After the court decision, law requires that a new election take place in the country within 60 days. While Park has been embroiled in scandal, the country has been run by Hwang Kyo-ahn as acting President. Hwang has called for calm, yet there has been a divide among the population over the impeachment proceedings, which have left some protesters injured and killed in the past few months.

In February Samsungs [corporate website] head Lee Jae-yong was arrested [JURIST report] on charges of bribery and undue influence in connection with the scandal. On Thursday five Samsung executives denied the charges [JURIST report] of bribery, embezzlement and corruption that were leveled against them in connection with President Park. Now that Park will not have political immunity it leaves her open to being joined in a number of lawsuits that have been leveled in connection to the scandal, which may include the indictment [JURIST report] of former culture minister Cho Yoon-sun and former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon over the coercion, abuse of power and perjury due to suppression of artists involved with the impeachment process.
[JURIST] Five Samsung executives, including the head of Samsung Group [corporate website], Jay Y. Lee, on Thursday denied [press release, in Korean] all bribery, embezzlement and corruption charges levied against them. During a preliminary hearing at the Seoul Central District Court [official website, in Korean], the Samsung defense team argued that the evidence gathered by the special prosecutor includes numerous conversations and other various testimonies that were not gathered in accordance with Korean evidence rules. Additionally, Samsung attorneys argued that many of the statements in the indictment of Lee were opinions of the prosecutor and not matters of fact. The trial is estimated to last three months.

The past several months have been an embarrassing turn of events both for Samsung and the South Korea Government. Two weeks ago South Koreas special prosecutor indicted [JURIST report] Choi and former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon on charges of bribery, coercion and abuse of power for their roles in creating a blacklist of opposition artists. In November, the Parliament of South Korea [official website] appointed a special prosecutor [JURIST report] to investigate Park for allegedly allowing individuals to influence state affairs. The investigation led to the impeachment of Park [JURIST report], who has been accused of sharing confidential governmental information and extorting millions of dollars from large corporations. That investigation led to the discovery Samsung and Lees involvement.
[JURIST] The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association [official website] said [press release] Thursday that the fundamental right to strike must be preserved. Special Rapporteur Maina Kiais [official profile] remarks were in response to a Human Rights Council [official website] event about freedoms of association and assembly in the workplace in addition to an important meeting of the International Labor Organization (ILO) [official website]. Kiai said that the right to strike is an intrinsic corollary to freedom of assembly and has a long history as part of international law. He continued:

[P]rotecting the right to strike is not simply about States fulfilling their legal obligations. It is also about them creating democratic and equitable societies that are sustainable in the long run. The concentration of power in one sectorwhether in the hands of government or businessinevitably leads to the erosion of democracy, and an increase in inequalities and marginalization with all their attendant consequences. The right to strike is a check on this concentration of power.

Kiai concluded by voicing his support for the goals of the ILO.

Labor rights are controversial issues in the US and abroad, and issues have arose within the last week. On Friday a UK court ruled [JURIST report] that London cab drivers must pass an English test. In the US, the Minnesota House approved [JURIST report] a bill last week to prevent cities from implementing labor laws. Last week the Missouri Supreme Court upheld [JURIST report] Missouris minimum wage hike.
UN experts said [press release] on Thursday that the new recommendation from the European Commission [official website] is a slippery slope to solve migration problems. According to the UN the recommendation is focused on more rapid return rates and is disregarding the human rights of the migrants. The recommendation also encourages the use of increased detention, even for children, as a deterrence to future migrants. The report states that there is no empirical evidence that shows the use of detention works as a disincentive for migrantion. In addition, the report draws attention to the welfare of migrant children:

Placing children in detention on the basis of their or of their parents immigration status is never in the best interests of the child and constitutes a violation of the rights of the child. Locking up children and their families has a profound and negative impact on childrens health and wellbeing.

The report concludes with a call for alternatives to detention such as registration and reporting requirements.

The rights of migrant populations have emerged as significant humanitarian issues around the world, as millions seek asylum from conflict nations. In February Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] expressed concern [JURIST report] over a proposed Hungary migration amendment. In January HRW said [JURIST report] that it was against EU policy for Croatia to force asylum seekers back to Serbia. Also in January the European Commission labeled [JURIST report] the conditions on Greek Islands for asylum seekers as untenable due to heavy snowfall in the region. Ahead of the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in September, UN experts urged [JURIST report] states to protect women and girls in the movement of refugees and migrants by adhering to international human rights conventions and standards. That same month HRW and Amnesty International said that the draft of the final outcome document for the UN summit on refugees fell short [JURIST report] of dealing with the issue effectively. Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said [JURIST report] earlier in September that Austria will take Hungary to the International Court of Justice if Hungary does not begin accepting returning migrants that crossed into Austria from Hungary.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson [official website] on Thursday requested [text, pdf] that federal judge James L. Robart [official profile] block President Trumps new travel ban, arguing that the suspension of the first ban should apply to the second. The March 6 executive order from the Trump administration is similar to the the original travel ban executive order [texts], which has been subject to significant legal challenges. The State of Washington cites that the new ban imposes the same economic hardships and other issues of the first order, suspending visas from 6 majority Muslim countries for 90 days, and suspending immigration for refugees for 120 days. Washington says that the new ban still violates the Equal Protection Clause and Establishment Clause of the United State Constitution [14 Amendment].

President Donald Trumps [official bio] series of executive orders overhauling immigration in the name of protecting the borders from terrorist threats have led to a series of legal challenges. JURIST Guest Columnist Ali Khan of Washburn University School of Law discussed the effects of the original travel ban on the increased harassment [JURIST op-ed] at US airports by US Customs and Border Protection officials. As much as the order has had an impact on those trying to get into the United States, it has also tested the very fabric of the US system of governance. In February JURIST Guest Columnist Victor Williams discussed how the travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration has tested the separation of powers [JURIST op-ed]between the executive and judicial branches of government.
Eight months after opening its Brazilian assembly plant in Itatiaia, 174km/110 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro City, Tata Motors luxury vehicle unit Jaguar Land Rovers South American outpost has a new executive president for Brazil and Latin America: Frederic Drouin.

Hes French Swiss and has learned much about this country having worked here for a total of 10 years on two postings to Peugeot of Brazil, most recently as president from 2010 to 2014.

As an expert in the ups and downs of both the Brazilian economy and its automotive industry, he is awaiting the details of the new Inovar-Auto local production/content rules which should be announced some time this year. The current regulations end on 31 December, 2017.

We need a planning window of 10 years minimum to decide on development of our plant . This will enable us to set a timeline for increasing local content and consider exporting opportuinities, Drouin said in his meeting with the press.

The plant currently produces the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

Last year the automaker sold 7,458 vehicles  788 Jaguars and 6,670 Land Rover. Of the Land Rovers, two thirds were assembled at Itatiaia.

Volume was down 23% year on year while total automobile and light commercial vehicle sales in Brazil fell 21%.

Drouin expects a levelling-off of top end vehicle sales in 2017 and some recovery in 2018.

He said personal security concerns were diverting some potential buyers funds and said sky rocketing service costs were also a barrier in the segment.

JLR has responded by offering factory-certified armour [its special vehicles unit in the UK has years of experience with armoured vehicles  ed] and scheduled service packages at fixed prices frozen for five years.

Drouin reckons the luxury vehicle sector must adapt to present conditions and believe in the Brazilian markets future growth.

Initial spend on the plant  JLRs first fully self-funded factory outside the United Kingdom  was BRL750m/US$245m.

Capacity is 24,000 units on three shifts though currently only one shift of 320 direct employees is operating.
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

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.
German dairy Muller is shaking up its Frijj milkshake brand in the UK and introducing a Frijj zero added sugar line.

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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Muller said the zero added sugar product will replace its existing 40% less sugar Frijj range. The new line, containing only naturally occurring sugars will be available from towards the end of next month in Frijjs existing flavours of Chocolate, Strawberry and Mango & Passionfruit.

Chief marketing officer Michael Inpong said: New product development is vital when it comes to driving the growth of flavoured milk and this new improved recipe and rebrand really shows our ambition for the brand. When it comes to flavoured milk, its important that consumers have the option to have it with or without added sugar, without compromising on taste.

Inpong said Mullers commitment to invest in the business, outlined last year, was needed to continue strong growth rates in milk drinks ,which are seen as a major area of opportunity for the dairy industry in the UK.

In addition, Muller said it has reformulated the recipe for its overall Frijj range in response to consumer testing which shows that respondents much preferred the new recipe.

The improved recipe will be rolled out across the UK from April in all existing SKUs of Chocolate, Banana, Strawberry, Fudge Brownie, Cookie Dough and Choc Orange flavours  plus a new Choco-Hazelnut flavour.

Muller said the revamp is in line with its ambition to significantly grow the dairy category, potentially unlocking category growth of GBP700m (US$851m) by 2020.

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Nestle has secured listings at over 400 Tesco stores in the UK for nutritional drink and snack brand Meritene.

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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The company said the range, previously available in hospitals and online chemists, would be sold at Tesco and at Boots, the UKs largest pharmacy retailer.

Meritene is also available in continental Europe Nestle said it has devised Meritene drinks, shakes and soups to help consumers aged over 50 take in the nutrients they need, particularly to help maintain muscle mass and vitamins to assist with tiredness and fatigue. The company says the products are rich in vitamins B2 and B6 and contain high-quality protein.

Nigel Bathurst, the managing director of the food giants Nestle Health Science arm in the UK, said: We all know that our nutritional needs change throughout life, but what we have discovered is that the needs of the 50+ age group are especially unique.

Some 416 Tesco stores are stocking Meritene products, Nestle said.

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Kansas State University veterinary researcher collaborates on aerosol-based treatment for lung cancer



Friday, March 10, 2017

Kansas State University's Masaaki Tamura, associate professor of anatomy and physiology, is collaborating with a Lawrence pharmaceutical firm on National Institutes of Health-funded research project. | Download this photo.





MANHATTAN Lung cancer patients may one day be able to breathe a sigh of relief because of a new potential treatment for the disease. Kansas State University's Masaaki Tamura is collaborating on a National Institutes of Health-funded research project for a therapeutic compound that would be administered directly to the lungs in aerosol form.



"The standard treatments for lung cancer include chemotherapy, radiation and surgery," said Tamura, who is an associate professor of anatomy and physiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and affiliate of the university's Johnson Cancer Research Center. "Cisplatin is a first-line chemotherapy for lung cancer, but intravenous delivery can be complicated by a variety of factors such as toxicities, poor penetration into tumors and lymph nodes, organ damage, and spontaneous drug resistance. Cancer becomes poorly responsive to chemotherapeutics after repetitive uses."



Chad Groer, chief science officer with Hylapharm in Lawrence, is the principal investigator on the project, which has received a $150,000 business development grant from the NIH. Hylapharm develops chemical-based therapeutics to treat cancer and partners with universities to test delivery methods and effectiveness of potential treatments and methods.



"We call this product HylaPlat," Groer said. "It delivers high-dose targeted cisplatin directly to the lungs to target primary lung cancers and lymphatic metastases. This would replace intravenous cisplatin therapy for advanced CD44-plus non-small cell lung cancers."



Tamura said Hylapharm approached him to collaborate on this project because of his expertise in lung cancer research.



"We have been collaborating since 2015 and already have one publication," Tamura said. "Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths with more than 200,000 new diagnoses made each year. We're hopeful the pulmonary delivery of aerosolized HylaPlat will be more efficacious and more tolerable than cisplatin delivered intravenously."



This method could prevent the spread of metastatic cancer, reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy and lessen the need for extensive surgical resection and radiotherapy, all of which cause irreversible harm to patients' health and quality of life, Tamura said.



The first phase of the project, titled "Aerosolized platinum nanoparticle chemotherapy for lung cancer," will position aerosolized HylaPlat for investigational new drug-enabling studies, after which Hylapharm will seek partnerships for phase one clinical trials with humans.






ALMA  A Platte-Republican diversion project proposed by the Lower Republican and Tri-Basin natural resources districts is feasible and would pass a cost-benefit test.

That was the message in a feasibility study recently completed for the two districts by Olsson Associates of Lincoln and made public for the first time at Thursdays LRNRD board meeting in Alma, according to LRNRD Assistant General Manager Scott Dicke.

The proposal is to transport high Platte River flows, when available and above any already allocated high flows, through the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation Districts E-65 Canal and into the east branch of Turkey Creek near Smithfield. The water would be carried by the creek for about 25 miles through Gosper and Furnas counties to the Republican River as an additional water source for Republican River Compact compliance.

This adds another tool to the toolbox, Dicke said.

He said the LRNRD directors voted unanimously Thursday to move the Platte-Republican diversion project forward into the design stage, which also will include continued talks with CNPPID officials.

The feasibility study is on the agenda for the Tri-Basin NRD board meeting at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the district office in Holdrege.

The study was shared last week with landowners along Turkey Creek. Dicke said they are interested in potential effects on their land, including both erosion concerns and potential benefits such as groundwater recharge.

He said some also talked about the importance of using such projects for compact compliance rather than having to retire irrigated acres along the river where groundwater use has the greatest effect on streamflows to Kansas. Dicke said there are 77,000 such irrigated acres within the LRNRD.

When asked about project costs, Dicke said the feasibility study determined it could cost $1.4 million to $1.5 million for a project with a 50-year design life.

Other study findings were that Turkey Creek could handle the volume of water considered. This is water that is otherwise leaving Nebraska, Dicke said about the excess Platte flows.

In another compact-related decision Thursday, the LRNRD board approved a rule change following a public hearing.

It sets a groundwater irrigation cap of 13 inches per acre in years when the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources designates a compact call year based on water supplies in the Republican Basin. That designation is made by Jan. 1.

In the past, the board has set the cap year-to-year.

This will provide water users some knowledge early so they can plan ahead. It provides some certainty, Dicke said about knowing what the cap will be every compact call year.

The district has a groundwater allocation of 45 inches over five years, or an average of 9 inches per acre-per year. Dicke said average irrigation use across the LRNRD in 2016 was 8 inches per acre. It was 7.3 inches in 2015 and the 2005-2015 average was 7 inches.

The current allocation period expires at the end of 2017. Dicke said a new five-year allocation will be set by the board in time for ag producers to make plans for 2018.

In other business, he said the board voted to allocate $1,000 each to the Franklin, Alma and Red Cloud FFA chapters to help pay expenses to attend the National Land and Range Judging Contest May 2-4 in Oklahoma City.

Dicke noted that five Nebraska teams qualified for the national land judging contest, and those three getting the support are within the Lower Republican NRD.
My twin sister Lisa always seemed more excited than I was about the animal-shaped birthday cakes Mom made during our pre-teen years. Mom had a words-and-pictures instruction book that described the number and sizes of round, square or rectangular cakes needed for each design; how to cut them; and the frosting, cookie and candy decorations required.

I found the book Animal Cut-Up Cakes by Bakers Coconut on the Internet that has the animal cakes I remember, including a teddy bear, fox terrier, rocking horse, butterfly, Ella Elephant, Jerry Giraffe, Myrtle and Milton Mouse, and Fanny the Fish.

Dandy-Lion, with a toasted coconut mane and black licorice legs, is on the cover.

Mom always made two birthday cakes for us. Some animal designs were repeated, either because wed used them all before or we each had favorites.

I liked the animal cakes better than the identical doll cakes of our toddler years. Each had a doll standing in the center hole of a round angel food cake decorated like a dress. Ive never cared much for dolls or angel food cake, so I would have been happy with candles stuck into one of Moms amazing chocolate sheet cakes.

The cakes were on my mind this week because Thursday was my first birthday without Mom, who died Dec. 6 at age 97. It was a blessing to be with her for 60-plus years and that she was full of life, mind, body and soul, for all but her final months.

I miss many things about her, but especially her listening skills. She always was on my side when I needed to talk to someone.

We were together most weekends when I returned to Kearney 30-plus years ago and she (and Dad, who died in June 1996) lived in Wilcox. At times from April 2001-July 2015, when Mom lived at Kearneys Northridge retirement community, I saw her nearly every day.

She still knew me last fall, but not most of the people, places and experiences I talked about. She would smile and show interest, because thats what moms do.

At the end of nearly every K-12 school day, Lisa and I would walk into our farmhouse south of Wilcox and be asked What did you do at school today? Mom often joked that she never knew so much went on at school until her girls started kindergarten.

Our brothers James and Glen already were in high school then and apparently gave nothing much answers to her question. The boys also are gone. Glen died in July 2012 after a long illness and James left us suddenly last Aug. 6.

Only Lisa and I remain of our immediate family. We sent our birthday cards to each other early this year and will have a birthday dinner late because shes in California this week to visit her Marine Corps boy, Andrew.

James did not send me birthday cards, but I never doubted that this well-respected Nebraska historian knew the date on which his twin sisters were born.

Glen always sent cards Im sure he carefully selected. Sometimes he would call on March 9 to tell me the date sounded kinda familiar when he wrote it while working cattle. In years when a birthday boosted my age into the same decade as his, he would try to convince me that I was catching up.

Clearly, our birthdays arent just our own. They also belong to our families, especially our moms who knew us intimately months before anyone else. I now know that a first birthday without your mom can make you feel like an orphan.

Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

It would have been nice to spend part of my birthday with Mom and maybe a homemade birthday cake shaped like a lion, with a toasted coconut mane and black licorice legs.
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Protesters hold up their smart phone lights during a rally calling for impeached President Park Geun-hye's arrest in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 10, 2017. Constitutional Court removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office in a unanimous ruling Friday over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil and worsened an already-serious national divide. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Bob Ferguson, Washington state's attorney general, said the states have a solid legal argument. The president's new immigration order is "narrower" than the original version, Ferguson said, but "that does not mean that it's cured its constitutional problems."

The states of Oregon, Minnesota and New York have joined Washington state's legal action, and Massachusetts announced late Thursday that it, too, will take part when an amended complaint is filed next week.

The West Coast state of Washington, which played a leading role in resisting the original presidential order, asked a federal judge in Seattle to affirm that a court order suspending enforcement of Trump's January 27 edict also applies to the new version released by the White House.

The state of Hawaii already has filed suit, arguing the new federal order will harm Muslims living in the Pacific island state. Five other states have banded together in a combined challenge to the latest order from Trump, meant to replace an earlier decree that was overturned by U.S. courts.

Six U.S. states are challenging President Donald Trump's revised executive order banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries.

 New Order to Take Effect March 16

Trump signed a new executive order Monday barring citizens from six countries -- Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- from traveling to the United States for three months, and suspended for four months a U.S. refugee resettlement program.

Foreign travelers who received visas to the United States before January 22, or who already are legal permanent residents of the U.S., are exempted from the new order.

A federal judge will hold a hearing on Hawaii's lawsuit on March 15, one day before the new ban is to take effect. The revised order removed Iraq from the list of countries whose nationals were to be barred from entering the United States, and also clarified the exempt status of "green card" holders -- legal permanent residents.

 Airport Chaos Moved into Court

The original immigration order issued Jan. 27 led to chaos and confusion at airports across the U.S. All travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries were affected, either detained for prolonged periods or sent back on return flights to their home countries.

Crowds of protesters gathered at many airports demanding that would-be immigrants be allowed into the U.S. and many volunteer attorneys came out seeking to represent foreign detainees.

Customs and border patrol agents who apparently had little time to prepare for the immigration action carried out the president's order unevenly in different cities, and dozens of legal challenges were mounted in courts across the country.

Days of chaos ended only when a federal appellate court on the West Coast issued a temporary order preventing enforcement of the travel ban.

The Department of Justice in Washington argued against the temporary order, but was overruled by the court, and the original restraining order still is in effect. However, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday that the Trump administration is "very confident" the new travel ban will withstand legal challenges.


WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accused the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency of "devastating incompetence" Thursday after his organization was able to obtain and publish documents related to CIA hacking programs.

"This is a historic act of devastating incompetence, to have created such an arsenal and then stored it all in one place and not secured it," Assange said during a live-streamed press conference.

Earlier this week, WikiLeaks published thousands of pages of what it says are classified CIA documents that expose the entire hacking capacity of the CIA.

The documents allege that the CIA has the tools to hack into smart phones and some televisions, allowing the agency to remotely spy on people through microphones on the devices.

Assange said during the news conference that several technology companies contacted WikiLeaks and asked for more information about the CIA operation. Assange said he would work with technology companies to help them protect against the hacking tools.

"We have decided to work with them, to give them some exclusive access to some of the technical details we have, so that fixes can be pushed out," he said.
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Crowborough and Margate have been named the South East's best places to live in Britain.

The towns were selected in part 1 of the Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide.

They were picked on crime and education levels, but the decisions were also based on knowledge from The Sunday Times judging panel.

The judges combine the numbers with their own experience of the villages, towns and cities, such as local pubs, ease of transport and the range of attractive property.

A wide range of factors is assessed during selection. These include jobs, exam results, culture, community spirit and even the speed of the broadband.

Crowborough and Margate also gained a nod in the prestigious list as both towns in East Sussex and Kent respectively, featured in the top 15.

Average property prices for sale and to rent were provided by Countrywide plc, which is the UK's leading residential estate agency and property services group.

Johnny Morris, Research and Analytics Director at Countrywide plc, said: "Using extensive data from across our businesses, along with official statistics, we have been able to paint a detailed picture, not just of how much it costs to buy or rent in different places across the country, but what it is like to live there too.

"We've been able to do this for all types of people, from someone renting their first flat to a family buying their forever home.
If the North had enough lithium-6 to sell overseas, it also seems more likely that it really tested a so-called boosted fission nuclear weapon, a precursor to a hydrogen bomb, in tests last year.

North Korea last year tried to sell lithium-6, a core material for the production of hydrogen bombs, on an open website, a report by a UN Security Council panel said Thursday.

Making nuclear weapons with tritiated water using lithium-6 would also make it easier to miniaturize nuclear warheads so they fit on a missile.

The UNSC panel of experts last summer discovered a lithium-6 sales ad on Global Companies, a website that introduces businesses around the world.

The ad said, "We are General Precious Metal Complex (GPM) based in Beijing, China. We can offer 10 kilograms of the lithium metal..." It adds it can ship out the material from Dandong within a month.

The sale of lithium-6 is banned around the world.

The UNSC panel soon found out that GPM is an alias for Chongsong Yonhap, a North Korean arms exporter.

Chongsong Yonhap was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2010 over its sales of the CHT-02D torpedo, the model that sank the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March that year.

It has been under fresh sanctions imposed by the UNSC since 2012.
Samsung plans to build a new factory in the U.S. where it will make home appliances after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to raise trade barriers.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday said Samsung is eyeing South Carolina, Ohio or three other states to build a plant making microwave ovens, with Blythewood, South Carolina the strongest contender.

The decision has gained some urgency after Peter Navarro, the head of Trump's new National Trade Council, criticized Samsung for "country hopping" to evade anti-dumping tariffs on washing machines.

One electronics industry insider said, "Rather than producing microwaves, which have only a small market, Samsung probably wants to produce washing machines in the U.S."

Samsung follows in the footsteps of LG, which early this month announced plans to build a US$250 million plant in Tennessee capable of producing one million washing machines a year.

The plans got top billing in a White House press briefing by hapless spokesman Sean Spicer, who has had little good news to announce so far as the Trump administration stumbles from blunder to blunder.

"And just this morning, Samsung confirmed that it's planning a 'major investment' in U.S. production facilities, directly citing the president's election as an influence in their decision," Spicer said. "The initial investment is expected to reach around $300 million."

Already on in early February, Trump himself tweeted, "Thank you Samsung!" following a media report about the possibility, though Samsung declared itself baffled at the time.

Spicer mentioned the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery in Korea only later in the briefing, even though that has reverberated rather more noisily across Asia.


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(This letter was jointly written by members of the American Association of Women Emergency Physicians.)

We are writing to condemn James Greens letter Equal Pay for Women has Consequences in which he suggested women be paid less than men as a matter of simple economics. This letter is heavily laden with bias against both women and men. The assumption that men need to earn more money than women and prefer to be the breadwinner is fundamentally flawed and perpetuates misguided stereotypes for both genders. The idea that ones gender relegates the individual to a particular role in the family undermines the choices for both men and women.

As emergency medicine physicians, we are aware that many women are the primary wage earners for their families for a variety of reasons. While earning less money than their male counterparts for equal work, women physicians and scientists also do more domestic work and reshuffle their work priorities to care for sick family members. How, then, can Mr. Green justify that women earn less than men while fundamentally working more than a full-time job? The suggestion that women be paid less while also being subject to higher expectations to do domestic work adds insult to injury.

Men also dont deserve to be subject to the biases perpetuated in this letter. Mr. Green assumes that men should be the sole breadwinners for the family by virtue of their gender. However, more and more men are choosing to stay home with their families while their significant other goes to work. Men deserve the right to be able to make the decision to either work or stay home and should not be pressured to adhere to outdated stereotypes.

Mr. Green also assumes that women prefer to stay home rather than go to work, and this is an unfounded opinion. While this is a decision that some women make, it is a false assumption that all women in the workforce would prefer to be home.

Women make up one-third of physicians in the U.S. and nearly half of all medical school graduates. There is evidence that female physicians provide better medical care to patients, including being more likely to adhere to clinical guidelines, provide preventive care, use patient-centered communication and provide psychosocial counseling. Recent evidence also suggests that elderly hospitalized patients treated by female internal medicine physicians have lower mortality and hospital readmission rates. Despite this, women physicians earn less than their male counterparts and fail to reach equal representation in leadership even when accounting for confounding variables. Certainly, this evidence would justify equal pay for women. However, we should not be forced to justify our worth by proving that we are good enough to earn equal pay; instead, we should be fighting the stereotypes that assign different career and family expectations according to a persons gender.

Such outright opposition to equal pay for women, as was perpetuated by James Green, is common at all levels of government and has significant consequences for women, including female physicians in practice and those entering the workforce. In fact, one student told us that she has chosen to leave Utah for medical training, and will not be returning there to practice medicine, due to these sexist biases and the fact that Utah has one of the highest gender wage gaps in the country. Many other women physicians in practice experience sexism regularly.

Workplace discrimination, lack of policies that support women, different societal expectations for women and other forms of sexism, both subtle and blatant, are all contributors to unequal pay for women. Outright opposition to equal pay for women, as was suggested by Mr. Green, normalizes gender bias and is harmful. Mr. Greens opinion has nothing to do with simple economics and has everything to do with gender bias about the roles of both men and women. Although Mr. Green has stepped down in his position as Wasatch County GOP vice-chairman, he is likely not alone in holding such misguided assumptions about gender, and we should be fighting against outdated gender stereotypes.

Jamie Santistevan is an emergency physician. This article originally appeared in FemInEm, where references may also be found.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
After a three-day trip to our Nation's Capital, city officials report back to it's residents about what was discussed at the annual legislative trip.

Mayor Pete Saenz, along with Nuevo Laredo Mayor Enrique Rivas, said they met with several members of Congress to discuss topics like the border wall, NAFTA and transportation infrastructure like the proposed modifications to the World Trade Bridge.

"Overall, it was a fruitful trip," Saenz said. "Of course, decisions won't be forthcoming until hopefully soon. The sooner the better, frankly, because the uncertainty exists. And of course, it's costing us business and commerce as well. We made that point that decisions need to be made quickly."

Saenz says both Senator John Cornyn and Senator Ted Cruz are talking to President Donald Trump about visiting Laredo once again.

There is no word yet on when this visit would take place.
As the diamond industry marks its foray into 2017, Q1 demand for rough has been stronger relative to Q4 2016 and also relative to a year ago. Christmas season 2016, albeit mediocre, and a strong 2017 Chinese New year has driven seasonal restocking demand, and most, but not all, Indian cutters have begun to show signs of recovery after the initial shock of the demonetization last year.

Last year, most miners liquidated excess rough inventories which they accumulated in 2015, and have since ramped-up production into 2017, resuming more normal pre-indigestion output levels of three years ago.

Demand growth this year is likely to come from a post-election U.S. market where employment is stable and the stock market is at an all-time-high, driving positive sentiment that should translate into discretionary spending. The U.S. is the largest diamond jewelry market in the world representing 45% of global demand.



A round-cut, flawless diamond. Source: Paul Zimnisky

China, the worlds second largest jewelry market, at 16% of global demand, should be driven by continued government stimulus and an ever-expanding middle-class consumer. India, representing 8% of the market, should show improvement year-over-year as domestic demand for jewelry returns as the demonetization impact is digested, especially in the second half of the year.

Near-to-medium term risks to the industry are primarily tied to macro factors in the industrys most important markets. For instance: the U.S. economy struggling to digest tighter monetary policy, Chinese economic deleveraging, a longer than expected recovery in the Indian market post-demonetization, signs of further disintegration of the Euro-zone, and protectionist pressure on global trade.

Year-to-date, rough diamond prices are up 0.9%, and polished prices are down 4.1%. In full-year 2016, rough and polished were both up, 13.2% and 2.1%, respectively.

Below is an outline of current industry developments, categorized by industry segment:

Upstream: The miners

De Beers (Anglo American) :

A year ago, De Beers parent, Anglo Americans (LSE: AAL), credit default swaps were trading at a precarious level implying the company was in danger of a liquidity crisis; the stock traded at a multi-decade low. The company responded with an aggressive strategy to sell-off non-core assets, reduce debt, and restructure the company with a primary focus on diamonds, platinum and copper going forward.

Iron ore and coal prices unexpectedly surged in 2016, driven by Chinese steel production which was supported by government stimulus and tax incentives. The two commodities drove Anglo into profitability, even though they were only planned to be peripheral assets in the companys portfolio post-restructuring.

Anglo credit default swaps normalized by the end of the year, and the stock rallied over 300% from the low in January. By year-end, the company produced $2.6B in free cash flow (operating income minus capital investment), which far exceeded the companys February 2016 guidance of $400M (and the negative $1.0B in 2015).

In 2016, diamonds (via De Beers) contributed 23% towards Anglos earnings on an EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) basis, followed by iron ore at 22%, metallurgical coal at 16%, copper at 15%, thermal coal at 12%, and platinum at 9%.



Venetia Diamond mine, South Africa. Source: De Beers Group

While iron ore and coal were the stars of Anglo's portfolio in 2016, EBITDA from diamonds was up 42% over 2015, as rough diamond sales exceeded $5.6B (from selling 30.0M carats), which compares to $4.1B (from selling 20.0M carats) in 2015.

De Beers strong trend in diamond sales continued into 2017, as the first sale of the year, ending on January 20th, grossed $729M, making it the companys single largest sale since mid-2014, and represented an increase of 34% over the equivalent sale in 2016, 62% over 2015, and 4% over 2014. In addition, De Beers felt that demand was strong enough to justify a 4-5% price increase in sizes greater than  carats.

In the companys second sale of the year, which ended February 20th, demand was stable but not nearly as impressive as in January, coming in at $545M, which compared to -12%, -1%, -16%, versus 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively.

De Beers is guiding 2017 production of 31-33M carats, which on the low-end would represent a 14% increase over 2016, and on the high-end 21%. In 2016, De Beers produced 27.3M carats, which was a 5% decrease, compared to the 28.7M carats produced in 2015. The production decrease in 2016 was part of a strategy to reduce global diamond supply and allow the supply/demand balance to normalize following an industry-wide diamond stock indigestion which accumulated primarily in 2015.

The supply curtailment worked, and a pickup in demand in 2016 flushed the excess supply held by the manufacturers and retailers, and it also allowed De Beers to sell excess rough inventory held, primarily of smaller and lower-quality diamonds, in the $60-80/ct range. De Beers unloaded a total of $300M, or 4.7M carats, of excess inventory in 2016, and ended the year with a more normal inventory level of approximately $1.2B, or approximately 19M carats.

Its worth noting that De Beers current production capacity is 35M carats, so the 2017 guidance assumes the company will produce 89-94% of capacity. De Beers has explicitly said that future production will be subject to trading conditions.

De Beers is currently the largest diamond producer in the world on a value basis representing approximately 40% of global diamond supply in dollars.

ALROSA :

In 2016, Russian diamond major ALROSA (RTS: ALRS), sold 40.1M carats for $4.3B, which compares to 30.0M carats sold for $3.4B in 2015.

In September 2016, the Russian government removed a 6.5% export duty on rough diamonds, but since ALROSA was subsidizing the tax for international clients, the move did not have a direct impact global diamond prices. The move does, however, incentivize ALROSA to increase production and sales since the tax savings will almost directly translate to the companys bottom line. Russia exports 74% of rough diamond production in volume and 81% in dollar terms. ALROSA represents 95% of all Russian diamond production.



Udachny open-pit mine in Russia. Source: ALROSA Group

ALROSA has indicated that 2017 production will remain at least flat year-over-year, or increase slightly. The company produced 37.2M carats in 2016, eclipsing De Beers on a production volume basis by 36% (however, ALROSAs diamonds are typically worth about 50% less than De Beers). Despite the big number, ALROSAs production was down 2% compared to 2015, as the company pulled back production at more flexible alluvial operations in an effort to strategically reduce global diamond supply along with De Beers following the indigestion from 2015. The companys production capacity is approximately 41M carat, so the company is expected to produce at 91% of capacity in 2017.

During 2016, ALROSA reduced almost all excess rough inventory, approximately 2M carats, and ended the year with a normal inventory level of about 20M carats which the company has indicated as (translated from Russian) technically the minimum level possible from a processing viewpoint."

ALROSA is the largest diamond producer in the world on a volume basis representing almost 30% of global diamond supply in carats.

Rio Tinto :

As second largest diversified miner in the world (BHP Billiton is number one), Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO), owns and operates the largest diamond mine in the world by production volume, Argyle in Australia. The companys only other diamond asset is a 60% stake in Canadian mine Diavik.

Both mines realized a production increase of 4% in 2016, despite indications early in the year that the company would reduce production in sympathy with De Beers and ALROSAs plan to curtail supply until industry fundamentals improve. Production net to Rio in 2016 was 18M carats, 14M of which came from Argyle. The company recently provided a wide-ranging production guidance figure for 2017 of 19-24M carats.

Rios current official plans are to keep Argyle open until 2021, however the company took a $241M impairment charge on the mine last year. The impairment could be an indication that Rio may not proceed with financing the second stage of underground block cave development at the mine, which would mean only about two more years production. Rio said the impairment was a result of lower production volumes compared with forecast, and lower prices achieved for bulk diamonds.



Diamond sample from Bunder project in India. Source: Rio Tinto

However, in December, Rios CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques said on Bloomberg TV that diamonds are a priority area of growth for the company. But, given the companys uncertain plans with Argyle, the gifting away of its only diamond development asset, the Bunder project in India, last month, and the selling of its 78% stake in Zimbabwe producing asset, Murowa, in 2015, Rios longer-term diamond plans are quite unclear.

But then again, it should be noted that politics played a primary role in Rio moving on from both Bunder and Murowa, and the Argyle decision is strictly based on economics of a mine that is at the end of its life, so these decisions are not necessarily based on Rios view of diamonds as a asset.

Similar to the other large diversified miners, Rio is flush with cash after a much better than expected 2016 driven by iron ore and coal, generating $5.5B in free cash flow, so maybe a diamond asset acquisition is in Rios future.

When Argyle closes, Rios only remaining diamond asset would be its 60% of Diavik. For the second largest diversified miner in the world, it wouldnt seem to make sense for a company that thrives on economics of scale to only hold one diamond asset (let alone only a 60% stake). Making an acquisition to acquire more producing assets or selling its remaining asset and exiting diamonds all together seems more likely.

Currently, diamonds only represent 1.7% of Rios revenue, 1.0% of its earnings, 1.3% of its assets by book value.

Dominion Diamond Corp :

Rios 40% partner in Diavik and majority owner of Northwest Territory neighboring Ekati mine, Dominion Diamond (TSX, NYSE: DDC), may be an attractive acquisition target for Rio. Expansion projects at both Diavik and Eakti are planned to extend mine lives to 2023 and 2034, respectively.

Dominion has stated that internal estimates call for Diavik and Ekati to produce $1.0B and $2.9B in net free cash flow from 2018-2023 and 2018-2034, respectively. Both mines are among the richest in the world on a value-per-tonne basis because of the high concentration of diamonds in the ore, although, the average value of the diamonds is on the lower end.

In Q4 2016, Diavik diamonds sold for $112/ct and Ekati only $77/ct, which is indicative of the quality of diamonds these mines will be primarily producing going forward. Lower-quality diamonds, primarily sub-$100/ct, are currently out of favor and have been the most impacted by Indias demonetization, so there is room for improvement in the value of Dominions diamonds as conditions in India normalize throughout the year.

Dominion has provided production guidance of 9.1-10.0M carats for their fiscal year ending Jan 31, 2018. In the 12-months ending Jan 31, 2017 Dominion produced 7.9M carats, a challenging year for the company as the Ekati mine was disrupted by a processing plant fire that resulted in approximately 1M carats of lost production.

The company held $198M in cash as last reported, has no debt, and has the potential to generate significant free cash flow in 2017 (in the $150M range), even with diamond prices at current levels. Dominion has confirmed it will pay a regular dividend of at least $0.40/sh in 2017, which currently yields 4.7%.

Petra Diamonds :

Petra Diamonds (LSE: PDL), the London-listed, South African producer that owns and operates a portfolio of 5 ex-De Beers mines is guiding to grow production from current level of 4.5M carats to 5.3M carats by 2019 as it produces higher-quality ore from its Cullinan and Finsch mine expansion projects.



Plant at Finsch mine in South Africa. Source: Petra Diamonds

Petras inventory has remained relatively stable for the last 3 years at $45-55M as the company did not participate in supply reduction post-indigestion as did De Beers and ALROSA. Petra expects to be free cash flow positive by mid-2017 as production ramps up and cash allocated towards the expansion projects declines.

The company has said that it is considering reinstating a dividend and will make a decision by mid-year.

Lucara Diamond Corp :

Lucara (TSX: LUC), the single-asset producer, but owner of the world-class Karowe mine in Botswana, has guided to produce 290-315k carats in 2017, which compares to 354M carats in 2016. In 2017, the company will continue to mine the rich South Lobe portion of the Karowe ore body, which is known to produce exceptional diamonds such as the Lesedi La Rona, the second-largest rough gem-diamond ever produced, which was uncovered by Lucara in 2015.

After failing to meet the reserve price with a high bid of $61M at a Sothebys auction last summer, the Lesedi La Rona is expected to be sold through private channels in 2017. A selling price of less than $70M would be a disappointment, a price close to or above $100M would be an upside surprise. With 382M shares outstanding, a $100M sale would equate to $0.26/share. The current stock price is $2.10 (C$2.78) and has a dividend yield of 3.6%.

Gem Diamonds :

Gem Diamonds (LSE: GEMD) currently operates only one mine, Letseng in Lesotho, but it produces some of the highest quality diamonds in the world. In 2016, the mine produced 108k diamonds that averaged $1,695/ct. However, last year Letseng saw a decrease in notable stones recovered, as it only produced 2 diamonds that were both >100ct and >$10k/ct, compared to 7 in both 2015 and 2014.

Of note, the company also owns the Ghaghoo mine in Botswana, which produced 41k carats in 2016, worth an average of $142/ct. However, the company put the mine on care and maintenance last month as the recent diamond price achieved does not make the mine economically viable, and the company believes that the (market) prices for this category of diamonds may remain constrained.

Endiama :

The Angolan state-run diamond miner, Endiama, produced 9M carats at $119/ct in 2016, versus 8M carats at ~$150/ct in prior years. The company said it would slightly curtail production in 2017 to help support global prices, until its new world-class mine, Luaxe (also referred to as Luachi), goes into production, which could be as early as next year.

Currently the Catoca mine represents the companys largest share of production, at about 75%, but according to unofficial communication from Endiama, the Luaxe project has the potential to produce almost 12M carats annually, which would be almost double what Catoca is currently producing.

ALROSA is partnered with Endiama on the Catoca mine, and also the Luaxe project.

Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company :

Production at the Marange alluvial diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe, with a soiled history of civil rights abuse, and illegal production and trade, was likely to be less than 2 million carats in 2016, and is expected to fall even further in 2017.

Last year the government nationalized diamond mining under the moniker, Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, revoking mining licenses from a handful of private companies, primarily Chinese. Since, the government has failed to effectively take on operations independently, especially as the alluvial mines reach economic depletion.

The mines produced as much as an estimated 17M carats, albeit very low-quality diamonds, as recently as 4 years ago.

Synthetics :

Lab-created diamond production technology continues to improve as capital is being invested in improving product quality and production economics. Participation is global as manufacturers from California, to St. Petersburg, to Singapore see opportunity in advancing synthetic diamond technology.

U.S. based Diamond Foundry (private) is focused on the jewelry market, while Russias New Diamond Technology (private) is only using the jewelry market as a stepping stone, as its sees high-tech application as the most lucrative channel for lab-created diamonds.



Lab-created diamond plates for high-tech application. Source: New Diamond Technology

Monthly lab-created production, fabricated to be sold as jewelry, is only in the tens-of-thousands-of-carats range, compared to mined natural diamond production, which is in the 10-11M carats/month range.

Most synthetics are being sold directly from the manufactures, or on memo, or consignment, at jewelers. The lack of motivation for jewelers (selling on consignment) to push product is limiting product awareness, and new customers opportunities. The current environment is indicative of the significant investment in branding, advertising, and distribution necessary for synthetics to effectively penetrate the jewelry industry.

In 2016, industrial-application synthetic diamond demand was hurt by a depressed global oil and gas industry. Most, over 90%, of industrial grade diamonds are provided by synthetic production, mostly in China and India. The balance comes as a by-product of mine production.

ALROSAs industrial-grade diamonds are currently selling for $6/ct compared to $7-8/ct a year ago. However, a recent uptick in oil prices, as OPEC implements a new supply curtailment program, should incentivize year-over-year growth in oil and gas drilling and equipment that utilize diamonds as abrasives.

Midstream: The manufacturers

Early-2016 diamond manufacturer restocking demand, after a stronger than expected 2015 holiday season, combined with De Beers' and ALROSA's production curtailment, alleviated most of the industry-wide inventory indigestion by the second half of 2016.

However, just as diamond supply/demand dynamics were beginning to normalize, Indias surprise demonetization in November threw another blow at the already recovering industry. Over 90% of diamonds, by volume, are cut in India, a business that is heavily reliant on cash transactions. In addition, India has become the third largest end-consumer of diamond jewelry in the world, at 8% of global demand, so the restriction also impacted domestic jewelry consumption as most Indian consumers are accustom to cash purchases.

The implication has primarily been felt on lower-quality rough diamonds, those that sell for less than $100/ct, produced at mines like Rio Tintos Argyle, Dominions Ekati, Petras Finsch, ALROSAs Aikhal, and alluvial operations around the world. Demand for these stones are typically driven by the hundreds of small, independent, cash-reliant Indian manufactures, which buy on the secondary market; a lot of stones in this category eventually end up being purchased domestically by Indian jewelry consumers.



Rough diamonds from the Grib mine in Russia. Source: Grib Diamonds

The larger manufacturers have been much less affected by the demonetization, as they have a global presence, more structured businesses, adhere to more formal accounting measures, and are not reliant on cash for their Indian business.

Most of the smaller and medium sized Indian business that will survive are expected to have integrated more-transparent, digital payment processes by the second half of the year. The result will be a pickup in demand for lower priced rough, as the these manufacturers bid to restock, competing to fill a pending shortage of smaller, lower-quality polished in the market that will be felt around Q2 2017.

Downstream: The retailers

Tiffany & Co. :

Full year 2016 results from Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) will not be out until mid-March, but will likely show net sales and SSS (same-store-sales) down low-single digits. The companys largest market, the U.S., representing 40% of business, was challenged by a stronger dollar, which had a negative impact on tourism spending, particularly impacting Chinese and European travelers to the U.S.

Domestic consumption in the U.S. was relatively stable, however, uncertainty surrounding the November election had a minor impact on consumer spending, and post-election protesting outside of the companys flagship location in New York, which is adjacent to the Trump Building, notably impacted sales.

Japan, representing 18% of Tiffanys business, was the companys best performing region on a SSS basis through November 2016. Japanese growth was driven by domestic consumption, however, a stronger yen has deterred Chinese tourism spending in the country. Mainland China, South Korea, and the U.K. were also notable positive markets for the company, in addition, Hong Kong showed a decelerating sales decline. Europe, ex-UK, especially France, Australia, and Singapore were marginally weaker.

The company recently noted strength in its fashion jewelry products, which is typically lower priced non-fine jewelry.

Signet Jewelers :

Signet (NYSE: SIG), parent of Kay Jewelers and Zales brands, is the U.S.s largest jeweler. The companys fiscal Q4, which runs from November through January, and typically accounts for half of the companys annual profit, showed a SSS decline of 5% through mid-January.



Kay Jewelers store in New Jersey, USA. Source: Paul Zimnisky

The company attributed the weakness to underperformance online, as their website was unable to effectively handle considerable growth in web-consumer traffic. Web currently accounts for approximately 5-6% of the companys sales.

Performance was also impacted by lower mall traffic, however off-mall (standalone stores and outdoor malls) outperformed. Regional weakness in oil and gas reliant areas, such as Texas, North Dakota, and Alberta, Canada was also noted.

Similar to Tiffany, Signet recently noted strength in lower-priced fashion jewelry lines, but also noted strength in branded diamond jewelry.

Chow Tai Fook :

Greater China proxy, Chow Tai Fook (HK: 1929), showed positive same store sales growth in Q4 2016 for the first time in 6 quarters. Over the last year-and-a-half, the company has attributed weakness to consumer sentiment and high SSS comparable figures, but recently noted stabilizing industry fundamentals and margin improvement.

Mainland China has been less-weak than Hong Kong and Macau for the company, and they continue to open net-new stores in Mainland, and continue to close net-stores in Hong Kong and Macau. Currently, Mainland represents 55% of the companys revenue.

The percentage of the companys revenue from gem-set jewelry has been increasing over the last 5 years, from 22-27%, and revenue from gold has been slightly decreasing from 56-54% over the same time frame. Although, recent performance has been driven by gold sales, as the metal has been less expensive, down about 12% in Q4, 2016.

At the time of writing Paul Zimnisky held a long position in Dominion Diamond Corp.

Paul Zimnisky is an independent diamond industry analyst and consultant. He can be reached at www.paulzimnisky.com, and followed on Twitter @paulzimnisky.
The case for diversifying your portfolio with gold is clear. Numerous studies reveal that a gold allocation up to 10 percent can smooth out overall portfolio volatility and improve long-term returns.

Non-correlated assets are an essential feature of successful portfolio diversification and gold performance reveals a negative correlation to stocks, especially during bear markets. In recent decades, gold has produced the highest level of returns when the stock market is in a bear cycle.

Since 1968, the average gold return was +14.2%

when the S&P 500 Index fell by more than 20%.

The Next Level of Diversification

Within the physical gold and silver world, there are additional layers of diversification opportunity. Expanding your physical holdings into rare coins could offer increased levels of safety and the potential for even greater price appreciation.

While gold bullion or a typical Gold American Eagle coin tends to track the underlying price of gold higher and lower, rare coins can trade at a premium to spot gold. High quality rare coins, or numismatics, have outperformed the price of gold over the past 38 years, according to an academic study by economics Professor Raymond Lombra at Penn State University.

Here's what Lombra found:

Average Annual Return 1979-2016



Stocks 12.6% Treasury Bonds 8.0% Gold bullion 5.2% Coins (all types  MS65) 11.0% Coins (all types  MS63-65) 9.3%

New Demand Source Since 2008 Crisis

The rise of Family Offices as an investment force is becoming increasingly known. These family offices, who manage assets for ultra-high-net-worth individuals have turned to both the gold bullion and rare coin market post-2008 global financial crisis in attempt to diversify away from paper investments and to preserve and grow capital.

Early U.S. gold coins have a dual capital appreciation stream. First the high gold content level support gains amid rising gold price periods. Second, the premium to gold bullion can escalate dramatically amid the unchanging supply level and increased demand, which is notably emerging from a new crop of buyers in recent years, namely family offices.

History of Gold Ownership in America

Many gold investors are aware of the events that led up to the dramatic decision in 1933 for President Franklin Roosevelt to suspend the U.S. gold standard.

This occurred after a financial crisis triggered Americans to rush to Federal Reserve banks to exchange their paper money for gold. In March 1933, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York could no longer honor its commitment to convert U.S. paper money to gold and President Franklin Roosevelt was forced to declare a banking holiday. From there, FDR issued the now infamous Executive Order, which demonetized gold and required Americans to surrender all gold to a Federal Reserve Bank.

The Rare Coin Exemption

The Secretary of the Treasury William Woodin was an avid coin collector and is credited for supporting the exception of rare and unusual coins. At that time, Americans were allowed to keep rare and unusual gold coins of "recognizable numismatic value" or collector's items. The provision specified that gold coins minted prior to April 5, 1933 were considered to be of special numismatic value.

From that period forward, Americans were prohibited from owing gold coins and bullion, although jewelry was allowed, until 1974 when Congress once again legalized private gold ownership in the U.S.

Rare coins can provide both additional layers of safety and opportunity for capital appreciation. What's in your portfolio now?
Trump has been president for more than a month. What has he done so far and how will it affect the gold market? Trumps presidency has begun like no other  four weeks of conflict and chaos: travel ban, war with media and intelligence agencies, and the resignation of Flynn as a national security advisor. However, beneath the noise, Trump has been steadily fulfilling his campaign promises, or so it seems. The pace of actions has been very intense  so far, Trump has signed more than 20 executive orders or memoranda, submitted a few bills, nominated one Supreme Court justice, and talked to several foreign leaders. However, investors should be aware that there is a huge gap between what the new administration has said and what it has done in reality  most of Trumps orders have not changed the reality in any significant way (for example, take the order authorizing the construction of a border wall  without Congress approval of funding for that purpose, the order is meaningless).

Anyway, markets keep tracking Trumps conflated words or actions with both trepidation and excitement. The point is that the new president is two-faced. Investors love his big promises about the deregulation and tax cuts, but tremble because of his foreign policy and protectionist stance. From the beginning, Trumps presidency has been rather chaotic and filled with aggressive diplomacy. Although the transition period is always a rather nervous time, the past month was unique in that matter, which sparked some safe-haven demand for gold as a hedge against the unpredictability of Trump. Indeed, his diplomacy is turning geopolitics on its head (and there was even a small diplomatic crisis with Australia  one of the strongest allies of the U.S, can you believe it?), although he may just be using chaos as a tool to run the government and to negotiate better deals with other countries. In the meantime, investors started slightly correcting their excessive expectations of Trump boosting economic growth. Then there was a pullback in the U.S. dollar, while gold rallied, as one can see in the chart below.

Chart 1: The price of gold (yellow line, left axis, London P.M. Fix) and the U.S. dollar (green line, right axis, broad Trade Weighted Index) over the last year.

However, we believe that there are more downward risks stemming from Trump for gold. Why? The reason is that the new president seems to be backing off his protectionist trade policies, which were the biggest market risk. You see, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after a meeting with the U.S. president that Trump shared his view that Japan's monetary policy was not currency manipulation. Similarly, in a phone call with China's leader Xi Jinping, Trump agreed to honor the one China policy. And he has not yet labeled China a currency manipulator, suggesting perhaps some willingness to pull back from some of his more extreme ideas. It goes without saying that the softening of Trumps stance toward China and Japan reduced the risk of a trade war and would be welcomed by the financial markets, but not necessarily by gold bulls.

Summing up, the first month of the Trumps presidency is behind us. The transition has been quite dysfunctional so far, although Trump seemed to be determined to fulfill his promises (or to pretend to do so at least). He undertook a lot of executive actions, but most of them were just good for showing-off. The most important development during these weeks was backing off from the most extreme ideas about trade policies (which could trigger a trade war). Trumps previous threats could have been a negotiating strategy only, his famous art of the deal. Surely, it may be too early to declare a withdrawal from protectionism, especially given the fact that Trumps economic advisors are clearly against free trade with China, and Trumps unpredictability itself. However, after Trumps latest exchanges with Japan and China, the biggest risks associated with the new administration should dissipate a bit. It could be negative for gold, which may lose some of its safe-haven demand.

If you enjoyed the above analysis and would you like to know more about the impact of the current macroeconomic trends and political uncertainty on the gold market, we invite you to read the March Market Overview report. If youre interested in the detailed price analysis and price projections with targets, we invite you to sign up for our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. If youre not ready to subscribe at this time, we invite you to sign up for our gold newsletter and stay up-to-date with our latest free articles. It's free and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Thank you.
BEIJING, March 10 (Reuters) - China's independent oil refineries, known as "teapots", have sought to lobby the government to lift a ban on fuel exports, in a proposal made to the annual meeting of parliament this week, two refinery executives said on Friday.

China has suspended the grant of export quotas to independent refiners for this year, ending a year-old policy allowing some independents to sell diesel, gasoline and naphtha abroad and dealing a blow to the group. In the proposal, Wang Youde, chairman of Hengyuan Petrochemical Co, a local-government-backed small refiner, and Li Xiangping, chairman of largest teapot refiner, Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group, have sought lifting of that ban.

Both are parliament members of eastern Shandong province, a hub for China's teapots, which have become a catalyst in the global oil market since late 2015 and helped lift the country's purchases of crude oil to all-time highs last year.

"As the government did not allow independents to export fuel this year, we are facing tougher competition in the domestic fuel market, as well as declining profits," Dongming's Li said in an email response to questions from Reuters.

"We suggest the government grant us this policy change so that private refiners can reach both domestic and international markets, a key condition for us to become global players."

Though teapots exported only a fraction of China's record fuel exports last year, ending the scheme will hand control of the lucrative export business back to the "Big Four" state-run oil majors. It is not clear when the government will respond to the proposal, said Hengyuans' Wang.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Meng Meng; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
By Marja Novak

LJUBLJANA, March 10 (Reuters) - Exports of euro zone member Slovenia jumped by 13.8 percent year-on-year in January, the highest rise since August 2011, the statistics office said on Friday, supporting expectations of robust growth in gross domestic product (GDP) this year.

The office said exports reached 2.1 billion euros while imports rose by 17.9 percent to 2.05 billion, creating a trade surplus of 45 million euros. Exports to other European Union states represented 78 percent of all exports.

"These figures are very positive and if such trends continue GDP growth could exceed 3 percent this year," Iztok Trobec from the treasury department of Dezelna Banka told Reuters.

"The rise in exports confirms higher demand from abroad while higher imports signal higher domestic spending and investment in Slovenia, which will also push up GDP," he added.

Analysts said further growth of exports and imports is expected in the coming months, noting that consumption in Germany, Slovenia's main trading partner, was rising.

Exports are the main driver of the Slovenian economy and include cars, car parts, pharmaceuticals and household appliances. Apart from Germany, Slovenia's main trading partners are Italy, Croatia and Austria.

Slovenia narrowly avoided an international bailout for its banks in 2013 and returned to growth a year later.

The government expects the economy to expand by 2.9 percent this year versus 2.5 percent in 2016 but the European Commission said last month that growth would be 3 percent this year.

(Reporting By Marja Novak; Editing by Gareth Jones)
COLOMBO, March 10 (Reuters) - A Sri Lankan commission investigating possible irregularities in government bond sales recorded a statement on Friday by former central bank governor Arjuna Mahendran, who oversaw a controversial sale.

Mahendran, who has denied any wrongdoing, declined to comment after a police criminal investigations department attached to the commission recorded a statement for three hours. The secretary of the commission said the statement was not open to the public.

Mahendran made the statement days after central bank officials confirmed to the commission that he came to the government's debt office on Feb. 27, 2015, when the bond sale took place.

President Maithripala Sirisena appointed the commission to investigate the sale after opposition lawmakers demanded an independent inquiry. They charge that the sale has cost the state more than $1 billion in rising borrowing costs over the past two years. The central bank rejects those claims.

Sirisena appointed career central banker Indrajith Coomaraswamy to replace Mahendran in July last year, after civic organizations that backed Sirisena in a January 2015 election demanded Mahendran not be re-appointed.

The commission questioned Coomaraswamy on the alleged irregularities in the issuance of treasury bonds two weeks ago .

The February 2015 bond auction was originally intended to sell 1 billion rupees ($7 million) of 30-year bonds. It eventually grew to more than 10 times that amount, to meet government borrowing needs.

More than half of the issue was sold to Perpetual Treasuries, a subsidiary of a company owned by Mahendran's son-in-law, in what has been criticised as a conflict of interest.

Both Mahendran and his son-in-law, Arjun Aloysius, have denied any wrongdoing. So do officials at Perpetual Treasuries.

Coomaraswamy told reporters in early February the central bank had taken some action against Perpetual Treasuries after a preliminary investigation, but he declined to elaborate on the actions taken.

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Writing by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Larry King)
Constitutional Court's acting President Lee Jung-mi, center, and other justices deliver a ruling on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye to remove her from office, Friday, at the court in Seoul. / Joint Press Corps



By Yoon Ja-young

The impeachment verdict on former President Park Geun-hye is likely to be an opportunity for Korea to sever the corrupt ties between politics and businesses, market watchers said Friday.

"History doesn't make progress in just one moment, but I think this will be the start of an irreversible change," said Kim Sang-jo, a professor of economics at Hansung University.

The Constitutional Court ruled that former President Park infringed upon the Constitution and other laws by abusing her status and power for the interests of her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil. The country's 53 leading companies provided 77.4 billion won in funding for two foundations controlled by Choi. This included 20.4 billion won "donated" by Samsung Group, Hyundai Motor Group's 12.8 billion won and SK Group's 7.8 billion won. The independent counsel team investigating the scandal regarded the donations as bribes from the conglomerates which were seeking business favors in return.

A former executive of a leading conglomerate expected a change in business practices. "It was customary for the political circle to pressure conglomerates to make donations for diverse projects, but the special prosecution deemed it as bribery. It might work as an opportunity for the business circle to get rid of such practice."

Prof. Kim pointed out that the corrupt ties between politics and business stem not only from the abuse of power by those in the administration but also from the intrinsic problems at the chaebol themselves.

"There was a hole in the conglomerates' decision-making process, which made them succumb to outside pressure," Prof. Kim said.

He said that reform within conglomerates is more effective than political reform to sever the corrupt ties, since corporate reform would be irreversible once it starts.

The country's major conglomerates came up with reform plans, with critics pointing out that their internal control such as boards of directors didn't function at all when they donated the 77.4 billion won.

Following the arrest of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Samsung Group's de facto leader, the country's top conglomerate changed company rules. Any donations or sponsorship exceeding 1 billion won now has to be approved by a board of directors first. Samsung also dismantled its Future Strategy Office, the group's control tower which was in charge of handling affairs related to the government and political circle.

SK Hynix and SK Telecom also changed their rules, making it obligatory to get the board's approval first for any donation exceeding 1 billion won.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the chaebol lobby group which turned out to have worked as a channel for Cheong Wa Dae to collect money from conglomerates, also announced plans to reform itself.

Prof. Kim said it would provide momentum for efforts to improve corporate governance structures and get rid of crony capitalism.

"The country witnessed that setting up well-functioning internal control systems and improving corporate governance structures are the keys to sever corrupt ties. These are essential in making the country's businesses more productive, effective and respectable."

He said that the public's awareness of such needs and the businesses' recognition that they cannot avoid changes will provide important momentum for the country.
A supporter of President Park Geun-hye holds up her portrait during a rally opposing her impeachment in Seoul, Friday. In a historic ruling, the Constitutional Court formally removed the impeached president from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil, worsening an already-serious national divide and leading to calls for sweeping reforms. / AP-Yonhap



By Park Hyong-ki

The confirmation of the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye will have a limited effect on the Korean economy, analysts said Friday.

Hopes are high that the Constitutional Court's ruling will ease uncertainty and gradually revive consumer and investor confidence.

The impeachment and political scandal, unfortunately, left behind greater division and disparity among the people  between the old and young; conservatives and progressives; and the rich and the poor.

Analysts say that the outlook for economic reform and revival still remains uncertain, given unfavorable internal and external economic conditions.

"We are seeing the division between rich and poor, and young and old widening. Along with external factors, the division will affect the real economy more than the impeachment ruling," said Kim Doo-un, an economist at Hana Financial Investment.

Externally, the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue its rate hike campaign, and the Trump administration will propose its 2017 fiscal budget.

The U.S. deadline for its federal debt ceiling extension is March 15.

Also, there is the Netherlands general election, which is expected to be swayed by a wave of populism as was the U.S. presidential election.

These negative external factors could weigh more on the economy than the presidential impeachment, the analyst said.

Independent economist Chu Jin-hyung agreed that the division will make it more difficult for economic reform.

"The parliamentary system here already makes it difficult to pass bills. And the division will make it even more difficult as there will likely be more infighting. The economy will not be much different. The impeachment is unlikely to change it for the better in the short run," Chu said.

Also, the impeachment left behind a leadership vacuum.

"Government policy-making had reached a state of paralysis due to the mounting political uncertainty as the political crisis around Park escalated," said Rajiv Biswas, an economist at IHS Global Insight.

Analysts say the country needs a new leader immediately.

The next leader will not only have to reduce tension here and gain solid support, but also resolve regional issues with other countries such as the U.S. and China.

"The leadership vacuum following the impeachment has left Korea economically vulnerable," said Prof. Yun Chang-hyun, an economist at the University of Seoul.

"The next leader will have to sow seeds of unity at home and send a clear message to the U.S. over trade and to China over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile defense battery."

Yun added that one thing that came out favorably from the impeachment and the special prosecution was that Samsung Group decided to change by having its subsidiaries and affiliates independently manage their businesses without central control.

This comes after Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was indicted on bribery charges linked to Park and her close associate Choi Soon-sil.

Following the impeachment, Korea has 60 days to elect its new president.
By Yoon Ja-young

The Constitutional Court's decision to uphold the National Assembly's impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye boosted the stock market by getting rid of political uncertainties.

The main index KOSPI once reached 2,102.05 points in the morning session, right after the announcement by the court to uphold the impeachment. It stabilized in the later session, closing at 2,097.35 points, up 0.3 percent from the previous day. The junior, tech-heavy KOSDAQ also gained 6.13 points, closing at 612.26.

Analysts said that the disappearance of uncertainties is the positive factor on investor sentiment.

Kim Yong-gu, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment, said that the market would make a turnaround when a few conditions are met, citing the case of Brazil back in 2015 when its president Dilma Rousseff was impeached.

"There should be stabilization of the political turmoil, and the launch of a new administration and the suggestion of policies should follow soon. There should also be expectations of policies such as the economic stimulus plans," the analyst said.

He said that expectations of economic policies of new administration will materialize following the presidential election, which will take place within 60 days.

Also, there are shares that will benefit more than others.

"The court's decision is likely to increase investors' expectations that a candidate from the opposition parties will win the next presidency. Note that they are deemed to be relatively on better terms with China."












By Park Hyong-ki



Korea needs to readjust its policies to encourage companies operating plants abroad to return, analysts said Wednesday.



The policies should include bigger and better tax benefits and financial help for relocation, like those offered by the United States, Japan and Taiwan. Otherwise, the country could continue to lose money and its edge in manufacturing and face higher unemployment.



There were about 5,780 Korean manufacturers operating abroad at the end of last June, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). They employ about 3 million people.



If Korea could attract about 10 percent of those companies back, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said the country could create up to 290,000 jobs.



"That could help resolve our youth unemployment," KERI researcher Yang Geum-seung said.



There about 467,000 young unemployed Koreans, a record high.



Even though Seoul introduced the so-called "U-turn" incentive policy four years ago, only 30 manufacturers returned as of last year, investing about 160 billion won and hiring just 1,800 people.



This is in stark contrast to the U.S. U-turn policy under the Barack Obama administration, which resulted in more than 150 companies moving back to the U.S. and creating more than 600,000 jobs. More U.S. firms are expected to return to the world's biggest economy as the Trump administration seeks to impose higher tariffs, even on American manufacturers operating abroad.



More than half the 30 companies that returned to Korea said they were not satisfied with the level of state support for relocation, according to KOTRA and KERI.



They said that even with the incentives, relocation costs outweighed those of maintaining and expanding their overseas plants. They also complained of Korea's higher labor costs compared with emerging markets and its inflexible labor market.



About $3.4 billion a year, on average, has flowed out of the country to local manufacturers' overseas operations since 2006, according to the Hyundai Research Institute (HRI). This is up from $344 million between 1991 and 2005.

As the companies increase their investment abroad, Korea loses about 24,000 jobs a year.



"The state incentives should not only encourage them to relocate but also naturally expand their facilities here," the HRI said in a report.




Emergency medical crews treat a pro-Park protester who collapsed after having breathing problems on a street in front of Anguk Station, near the Constitutional Court, Friday. / Yonhap



By Ko Dong-hwan

Two people died and five were hurt on Friday during a demonstration protesting the Constitutional Court's decision to impeach former Korean President Park Geun-hye. The incidents happened near the court in central Seoul.

The court's eight judges announced their unanimous decision before noon.

A man surnamed Kim, 60, was found unconscious near Anguk subway station, near the court, about 12:15 p.m., according to the National Police Agency. He was taken to a hospital but died.

A man in his 70s, surnamed Kim, was found with a head injury near the station. He was bleeding heavily and taken to a hospital but also died.












By Lee Kyung-min

Choi Soon-sil, the central figure of the influence-peddling scandal and confidant of former President Park Geun-hye, was shaken, Friday, after she became aware of the unanimous ruling by the Constitutional Court that permanently removed Park from power.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Choi was inside a courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court to attend an ongoing criminal trial at 11:21 a.m. when the Constitutional Court acting President Lee Jung-mi read the ruling.

The news was shared by one of the prosecutors sitting opposite to Choi. "The Constitutional Court just announced that President Park Geun-hye has been removed from office. Now it would be proper to refer to her as a former President," he was quoted as saying.

According to her defense attorney, Choi was already aware of the ruling before the prosecutor's announcement as he told her about the news after receiving a mobile news alert.

While Choi tried to maintain calm by refusing to show any expressions of shock or dismay, she drank a bottle of water, indicating her anxiety over what she thought was an "unexpected decision," according to the agency.












With South Korea gearing up for a presidential election, talk of the large-scale reorganization of government ministries and agencies is becoming a hot topic at offices in the government complex in Sejong, home to about 13,000 civil servants.



With leading presidential candidates, including the current front-runner Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic Party, churning out their visions and pledges including plans on government restructuring over the months, it seems a foregone conclusion that a shakeup will occur in the near future.



If President Park Geun-hye is ousted by the Constitutional Court, an election must be held within 60 days. If she is reinstated, South Korea will still go to the polls in December. The chief executive has been impeached by parliament on Dec. 9 for allegedly letting her close friend Choi Soon-sil meddle in state policymaking. The high court is to make a ruling around noon.



At Sejong, an administrative city some 130 kilometers south of Seoul, officials at the powerful Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy are expecting the policy responsibilities they control to be divided up in the future.



Many have forecast that the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, which was newly created by President Park, will be disbanded under the future administration, along with the Ministry of Education.



"It's very confusing and complex. I and my colleagues are worried about how our office will change, or where we will work in the new government," said a government official working in the Sejong complex who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. "It's hard to concentrate on work."



The Democratic Party has already announced the draft of a plan to abolish both the finance ministry, which is in charge of budget, tax and fiscal affairs, and the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the top financial regulatory body, and to then create two new ministries that handle budget affairs and financial policies, respectively.



Officials in the finance ministry are divided on the idea of an independent budget office, which was merged with the finance ministry in 2008 and has apparently remained peripheral within the organization.



"We prefer being separated. We can be an independent ministry, not a subordinate organization," said a director general from the budget office at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. "We can have our own decision-making process as we did a decade ago."



But those from the economic policy bureau, the mainstream line of the current finance ministry system, oppose the division, saying that fiscal tools need national budgetary control.



"We've done everything. We have had a separate budget office and an independent economic policy planning body," said another official at the director level in the policy bureau. "The current institution has the least complaints. No need to change it now."



Meanwhile, officials at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy are also wary of talking about a possible breakup.



Some criticize the current trade ministry as being too big to deal with a rapidly changing global environment and the re-emergence of protectionism sparked by the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.



The Park administration combined the commerce ministry and the trade affairs division, which had been under the foreign ministry, in 2013.



As the possibility of separation has emerged, people are reluctant to take positions in the outgoing trade department. Since January, the post of deputy minister of trade negotiations has remained vacant, and nobody has applied for the position due to such lingering concerns.



"Trade negotiations are not an easy task. The representative has to wield full power over other ministries who have different interests," said a high-ranking official in the trade ministry. "It can exercise power under a big ministry."



The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning was the symbol of the Park administration under the slogan of "creative economy." It remained in Seoul, while 13 other government ministries and agencies moved to Sejong.



People in the science ministry think it is only a matter of time before their office is dissolved. Some of them are preparing to move, as the leading presidential candidate Moon promised to send the ministry to the administrative city.



"I just want to know where my wife, who is working at the science ministry, will go," said a director from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. "I have to decide whether or not to renew the lease on my apartment in Sejong."



Experts, however, noted that government restructuring or reorganizing should be aimed at constructing a capable and effective government institution, instead of erasing all traces of the previous administration.



It is also important to bring in a reasonable and effective plan that government officials can accept in order to return to work as usual. (Yonhap)




Protesters at the fifth nationwide weekly demonstration on Nov. 27 demand Park Geun-hye's resignation over the corruption scandal. They are pictured on Jahamun-ro in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Park's effigy in a prisoner's uniform and bound by rope is being held by the protesters. / Korea Times file



By Ko Dong-hwan

President Park Geun-hye has been stripped of her presidential name tag following the Constitutional Court's decision over a high-profile corruption scandal and now faces an extensive investigation that the independent counsel failed to wrap up.

Independent counsel Park Young-soo and his team of special prosecutors secured arrest warrants for Ewha Womans University's former president Choi Kyung-hee and a dean, Kim Kyung-sook, and Samsung Electronics Vice-Chairman Lee Jae-yong in efforts to unravel the scandal.

But when the probe's term ran out, the team left some allegations against the former president hanging, including her whereabouts during the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014 that claimed 304 lives and her ties to former presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo. The Seoul Central Court refused an arrest warrant for Woo, citing lack of evidence.

The special prosecutors wanted to know how much influence Park allegedly had exerted over political and business authorities to help her longtime friend and accused influence-peddler Choi Soon-sil. But Park's lawyers denied all allegations.












President Park Geun-hye / Korea Times file



By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo

The Constitutional Court's ruling has conferred on former President Park Geun-hye a shameful ticket to join the league of disgraced leaders. Now she sees her name tarnished irreparably. And the only way for her to seek recovery would be to make thorough preparations for an investigation and beg for court mercy.

Here are her predecessors whose reputations were damaged significantly after being embroiled in ugly scandals triggered by themselves, close friends or family members.





Former President Syngman Rhee / Korea Times file



Syngman Rhee (Aug. 15, 1945-April 26, 1960)



The lineage of presidential disgrace goes back to Syngman Rhee, South Korea's first President. He stepped down on April 26, 1960, after a series of nationwide protests over a vote-rigging scandal linked to the presidential election on March 15, 1960.



Public anger reached its peak after a student protester was killed by a police tear gas canister in Masan on April 14, 1960. After resignation, Rhee lived in exile in Hawaii, where he died on July, 28 1965.





Former President Park Chung-hee / Korea Times file



Park Chung-hee (Dec. 17, 1963-Oct. 26, 1979)



Park Chung-hee is the father of incumbent President Park Geun-hye. He came to power through a military coup on May 19, 1961, and became Korea's third President on Dec. 17, 1963.



He is credited with the country's dramatic economic rise, but is also criticized for his iron-fisted governing style. He amended the Constitution and gained unrestricted power in all three powers of the government.



His dictatorship faced a strong backlash, but he put this down with brute force. In the process, many anti-Park politicians, activists and students were tortured or killed.



His wife, Yuk Young-soo, was assassinated by a Japanese-born North Korean on Aug. 15 1974. And Park was assassinated by his spy chief on Oct. 26, 1979.



It was confirmed that the spy chief informed him of an "inappropriate relationship" between his eldest daughter, Park Geun-hye, and Choi Tae-min, a cult leader and father of Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in the ongoing corruption scandal, but he ignored the warning.





Former President Chun Doo-hwan / Korea Times file Former President Roh Tae-woo / Korea Times file



Chun Doo-hwan (Sept. 1, 1980-Feb. 24, 1988) and Roh Tae-woo (Feb. 25, 1988-Feb. 24, 1993)



After Park Chung-hee's assassination Choi Kyu-ha, then Prime Minister, became the nation's first acting President. His presidency lasted less than a year because Army General Chun Doo-hwan grabbed power in a military coup on Dec. 12 1979.



Chun's regime faced a violent uprising in Gwangju in May 1980 and the solider-turned-politician responded with a bloody crackdown. He also raked in huge illegal gains while in office. Amid intense pressure for him to adopt a democratic governing system, Chun promised to find his successor through a nationwide presidential election.













Roh Tae-woo became the nation's first democratically elected president in February 1988. Roh is credited with keeping the momentum of economic growth and the successfully hosting the 1988 Seoul Olympics. But he is also criticized for a brutal crackdown on his political foes. It later turned out that Roh was as corrupt as his predecessor.



Chun and Roh stood trial on charges including bribery, mutiny and treason, and were given lengthy jail sentences.





Former President Kim Young-sam / Korea Times file



Kim Young-sam (Feb. 25, 1993-Feb. 24, 1998)



President Kim Young-sam was credited with commanding Korea's largest anti-corruption campaign. His two predecessors were jailed for corruption and other charges during his time in office. He is also credited with boosting transparency of the nation's financial transaction system. But his feats were overshadowed by a series of ugly scandals involving his son and confidants.



During his presidency, the cozy relationship between business and politics was brought into the limelight for the first time.



In 1997, the bankruptcy of Hanbo Steel caused a domino bankruptcy of numerous companies, including Kia Motors and constructor Hansin. The nation's credit rates dived, dealing a devastating blow to its foreign currency reserves.



This led Kim's administration to accept a $58 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.



Kim's reputation was also tarnished by an influence-peddling scandal involving his son, for which Kim apologized publicly.





Former President Kim Dae-jung / Korea Times file



Kim Dae-jung (Feb. 25, 1998-Feb. 24, 2003)



President Kim Dae-jung became the first South Korean to receive Nobel Prize (in peace) in 2000. He was touted for boosting the inter-Korean relationship with his "Sunshine policy," but he was also trapped in a corruption scandal toward the end of his presidency.



His reputation was damaged by an influence-peddling scandal involving his two sons, for which he delivered a public apology and left his own Millennium Democratic Party.





Former President Roh Moo-hyun / Korea Times file



Roh Moo-hyun (Feb. 25, 2003-Feb. 24, 2008)



President Roh Moo-hyun is credited with ending the era of authoritarianism. But his reputation suffered toward the end of his term, like his predecessors, after being embroiled in a corruption scandal involving his elder brother and billionaire friends.



The prosecution investigated the scandal after his resignation. Amid widening probe and criticism, Roh jumped to his death from a mountain cliff behind his house in Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, on May 23, 2009.





Former President Lee Myung-bak / Korea Times file
Park makes a third public apology on Nov.29, with a conditional offer to resign if the parliament arranges a stable power transfer. / Korea Times file



By Eom Da-sol, Park Si-soo

The Constitutional Court's landmark ruling has stripped Park Geun-hye of her presidency as well as legal shields that have blocked her prosecution and other legal action.

The decision makes Park the nation's first democratically elected leader to be ousted in a widespread corruption and influence-peddling scandal that has rocked the country for months.

Park saw her presidency suspended by the National Assembly in December. And after 92 days, she was permanently removed from the seat, marking the end of her tumultuous 1,475 days in office.

The following are the major events showing how she rose and fell  and crashed to a president-turned-criminal suspect.

Mar. 10: The Constitutional Court upholds President Park Geun-hye's impeachment.





Independent Counsel Park Young-soo announces the results of the 70-day investigation of the Park Geun-hye scandal on Mar. 6. / Korea Times file



Mar. 6: Independent counsel Park Young-soo accuses the President and her confidant Choi Soon-sil of colluding in a corruption scandal in the announcement of 90-day investigation outcome.

Feb. 28: Justices of the Constitutional Court start their final discussion period of two weeks.

Feb. 26: President Park, who was not present at any of the previous hearings, says she will not attend the last hearing on Feb. 27.





Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye's confidant at the center of an unprecedented influence-peddling scandal, arrives at the special counsel team's office in southern Seoul on Jan. 25. / Korea Times file



Jan. 31: After nine hearings, Chief Justice Park Han-chul retires and Justice Lee Jung-mi succeeds him as acting court president.

Jan. 3: The first pleading session of the impeachment trial is held, but President Park does not show up.

Dec. 16: President Park submits a denial letter to the court, saying: "There is no evident reason for me to be impeached."

Dec. 9: The National Assembly passes Park's impeachment bill and submits it to the Constitutional Court for consideration. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn becomes acting president until the court's decision.

Dec. 7: The National Assembly hearing questions key witnesses and suspects related to the scandal, including Choi's two aides  Cha Eun-taek, and Ko Young-tae  and Choi's niece, Jang Si-ho. But Choi and Choi's daughter do not attend.

Dec. 6: Lawmakers question the leaders of the country's biggest businesses in a rare televised hearing about their alleged behind-the-scenes deals with Choi, and to learn whether the presidential office forced them to donate to Choi's two foundations. Attendees include the chiefs of Samsung, Hyundai Motor, Lotte, and LG.





More than 2 million people protest across the nation on Dec. 3 for the sixth straight weekend of demonstrations. It is the biggest protest in the country's history. / Yonhap



Dec. 3: More than 2 million people protest across the nation for the sixth straight weekend of demonstrations. It is the biggest protest in the country's history. Also on the same day, opposition lawmakers vow to vote for Park's impeachment on Dec. 9.

Nov. 29: Under increasing pressure to resign, Park makes a third public apology, with a conditional offer to resign if the parliament arranges a stable power transfer. Opposition lawmakers criticize the offer as a stalling tactic to win back dissenters from her ruling party who support impeachment.

Nov. 20: Prosecutors cite Park as an "accomplice" to Choi, saying they believe Park was involved in bullying businesses into donating billions of won to Choi's two foundations. It is the first time the prosecution has named an incumbent President as a "criminal suspect".

Nov. 12: Hundreds of thousands of people protest in a third anti-president rally in central Seoul calling for Park's removal.

Nov. 11: Police arrest Choi's close aide Cha Eun-taek  a well-known company director  on charges of using his ties with Choi and other senior government officials to win lucrative projects.

Nov. 6: Two of Park's aides  An Chong-bum and Jeong Ho-seong, a former secretary for presidential affairs,  are arrested on charges including extortion, power abuse, and leaking classified information to Choi.

Nov. 4: Park makes a second public apology, but denies any wrongdoing in the scandal. Park says she will accept prosecutors' investigation into her action. Park's support rate drops to record-low 5 percent.

Oct. 30: Choi returns to Korea from Europe and is arrested without warrant at Incheon International Airport.

Oct. 29: The first massive anti-president rally is held in central Seoul, calling for Park's resignation.

Oct. 27: The special investigation probe team on the scandal is launched.

Oct. 25: Park, who had initially denied the allegations surrounding Choi, makes a public apology and admits her ties with Choi. Park says she had merely sought advice from her longtime friend about speeches and public relations issues.





Cable TV channel JTBC reported on Oct. 24 that advance drafts of the President's speeches have been found on Choi's tablet computer. / Screencaptured from the Internet



Oct. 24: Cable TV channel JTBC reports that advance drafts of the President's speeches have been found on Choi's tablet computer. The report adds that Choi also had access to classified material about national security and foreign affairs. This decisive incident proves Choi's link to Park, increasing suspicion that Choi held undue influence on Park and meddled in state affairs.

Oct. 20: Choi's close aide Ko Young-tae reportedly exposes Choi and Park's close relationship, saying, "Choi's favorite hobby is changing Park's speech drafts."

Oct. 19: The president of Ewha Womans University resigns, alleging that the university gave special treatment to Choi's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, in admission and grading.

Sept. 20: Newspaper Hankyoreh reports that Park's longtime friend Choi-Soon-sil established and ran Mir and another non-profit organization called K-Sports that also received donation from the businesses. The report raises suspicions about whether Choi used her ties with Park to extort donations from the businesses to establish the two foundations she controlled. The presidential office immediately denies Choi's alleged involvement in the coercive fundraising.

July 26: Cable news channel TV Chosun reports that the presidential office forced conglomerates to donate almost 80 billion won ($71.8 million) to Mir Foundation, a newly founded non-profit organization aimed at promoting Korean culture to the world. The report says An Chong-bum, Park's former senior secretary for policy coordination, used his power in the fundraising. Local media raises suspicion about why such a dubious foundation was established and who ran the organization.
By Choi Ha-young





Park Geun-hye, then 27, leaves Cheong Wa Dae, Nov. 21, 1979, following her father President Park Chung-hee's assassination. / Yonhap

Park Geun-hye will unwillingly leave Cheong Wa Dae for the second time in her life, following the Constitutional Court's decision to unseat her, Friday.

As the daughter of then-President Park Chung-hee (1917-1979), who took power through a coup, she spent her childhood as a "princess" in the presidential residence. But her tragedy started with her mother's death.

In the middle of the Cold War, her mother, Yuk Young-soo, was shot dead by an assassin in 1974, allegedly on the orders of a pro-North Korean organization based in Japan to kill her father. Replacing her mother, Park, 22, had to quit her studies in France and was summoned by her father to act as "first lady."

Five years later, her father was assassinated by his right-hand man Kim Jae-gyu, then director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, during a drinking party. "It was a revolution to revive liberal democracy that Park destroyed. Citizens, please fully enjoy the democracy," Kim said in his final argument before being sentenced to death.

The dictator's rule was nightmarish for pro-democracy fighters. Park changed the Constitution into his "Yushin" theory, in 1972 to pave the way for him to remain in power.

Under the dictatorship, numerous political opponents were persecuted. By fabricating the People's Revolution Party Incident in 1974, the dictator killed seven citizens only 18 hours after they were given the death sentence, in order to quell the discontent of the people.

Her isolation after her parents' deaths heralded another tragedy  the deeper relationship with Choi Soon-sil. Before entering into politics in 1997, Park built up a wall around herself, possibly due to the trauma she experienced.

The unmarried Park, notorious for her closed mind, did not keep in touch with her siblings.













A visitor looks at portraits of former President Park Geun-hye's parents  Park Chung-hee and Yuk Young-soo  displayed at his birthplace in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Friday. / Yonhap

Family feud

Due to her family background, she was given the nickname, "The Strongman's Daughter" right after being elected president in 2012, by Time magazine.

Contrary to the expectations of the people to be the cleanest leader without corruption involving her family, the lonely President was bogged down by an influence-peddling scandal involving her confidant Choi.

Her "incompetence" in dealing with the Sewol ferry disaster, in which 304, mostly young students, died, kept haunting her. In the end, the scandal  dotted with drugs, plastic surgery, bribery and pseudo religion  ignited the people's anger. Her reputation was tarnished by the suspicious relationship with Choi's father, the pseudo-pastor Choi Tae-min.

Mysterious deaths constantly occurred around Park. The Yookyoung Foundation, established by her mother, has been at the center of friction between Park's younger brother, Ji-man and younger sister, Geun-ryeong.

The younger siblings claimed that the Choi family exerted their power arbitrarily through the older Park who headed the foundation. "Please save our sister from being fooled by Choi Tae-min," her younger brother and sister said in a letter to then-President Roh Tae-woo.

Amid lingering conflicts, Park Geun-hye didn't show up at her sister's wedding in 2008. From 1989 to 2002, Ji-man was caught six times and arrested five times, for using drugs and prostitutes.

Park's family life turned uglier after Geun-ryeong's husband Shin Dong-wook exposed a "murder" allegedly engineered by Ji-man in 2007. Park's relatives Yong-cheol and Yong-soo, who were allegedly involved in an attempted killing of Shin, were found dead in 2011. Those who testified or looked into the incident also met untimely deaths.

Park's last moment as the nation's leader was not so beautiful. On the day of the final ruling on her impeachment, two elderly pro-Park protesters died. Now, closing her and her father's era filled with humiliation, a civilian, Park Geun-hye is awaiting a prosecution investigation and the judgment of history.
/ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Park Si-soo, Ko Dong-hwan, Lee Han-soo, Eom Da-sol, Woo Ji-won



People hailed the Constitutional Court's historic decision on Friday to turf President Park Geun-hye from office, calling it a "people's victory" and hoping the verdict will pave the way for a "more transparent and ethical society."

Park So-young, a Korean-American English teacher living in Seoul, said: "I am very glad to hear the results. I think a majority of the Korean people will be relieved and will finally be able to get closure and move on. I hope for peace, unity and strength amid the chaos."

Park Seul-ki, a researcher at Sogang University, said: "Candles of democracy seemed to have weakened but I am happy to find out that the candles were still blazing. Authorities kneeled at the people's court. They saw to whom the real authority belongs and just need to accept it."





/ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



An Irish student who has paid keen attention to the Choi Soon-sil scandal said: "Thinking of what she has done with her confidant Choi Soon-sil, the Constitutional Court of South Korea ruling President Park to be impeached is not surprising." He said Park "should be dealt with accordingly and any of her associates who helped her corruption should be punished, especially Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong."

Fabien Delcambre, 31, a French teacher in Seoul, said the Constitutional Court "made the right decision." He said: "I think Koreans need to put more trust in their government but they are pressuring the nation to make its decision to be sure that there is no manipulation in the process. I heard that some Koreans are ashamed of Park's scandal. However, I think they should be proud to be living in a country where the justice system is actually working."

Another Frenchman in Seoul, Benjamin Kemmel, said: "I believe the situation was prolonged because Park refused to resign from her office even though the demonstrations began last autumn. I believe if people no longer want her, she must leave her office immediately so the nation can heal itself and form a new government the people approve."





/ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



He noted people should try to make the country more transparent. "The (Korean) government is not transparent enough to the public," Kemmel said. "People have no access to the expenses of the politicians -- just like what's happening in the United Kingdom. This can lead to a lack of confidence in the government and facilitate the corruption. Overall, the impeachment has defended the country's democratic ideals and will serve as a great example in future Korean politics."

Yuta Shimada, 24, a Japanese student, said: "Not only Park, but I expect future Korean politicians will be found guilty of similar crimes. I believe the whole scandal was possible because of the connection between government and conglomerates."




President Park Geun-hye was ousted Friday, but she refused to leave Cheong Wa Dae immediately, saying it will take time to repair her long-vacated private residence in southern Seoul and move her belongings. / Yonhap



By Kim Rahn

Park Geun-hye, the ousted leader of the country, has not left Cheong Wa Dae or made any comments on the Constitutional Court's ruling to unseat her Friday amid subsequent violent rallies by her supporters.

Her silence is feared to aggravate protests from her loyalists and throw the nation into more confusion, while all political parties called for steps to overcome the trauma of her impeachment and move the nation forward.

After the court unanimously upheld her ouster over a major influence-peddling and corruption scandal, Park was expected to speak to the nation in the form of a message or a press conference. Some politicians urged her to announce she would accept the ruling, because it would be the former president's last moral duty to soothe her angry supporters and mend the national division between liberals and conservatives.

However, she opted for silence, as she has always done when facing trouble. Sources at the presidential office said she would not issue any message.

The silence, which was again against public expectations, is interpreted as her refusal to accept the court decision. Some of her defense attorneys have already said they would reject the ruling. This may cause further political and social confusion and instigate more protests from her supporters, who are getting violent, with two people dying during a rally right after the court ruling.

Instead of Park, acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn issued a statement to call for national unity. "Even now some refuse to accept the ruling, but it is time to accept it and end conflicts," Hwang said in a televised address.

Park did not vacate Cheong Wa Dae immediately. Her aides said earlier that if she was ousted, Park would return to her private residence in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, where she lived for 23 years before she became president in 2013.

But sources said it will take time to repair the long-vacated house and move her belongings.
By Kim Bo-eun

Police stepped up protection of the eight Constitutional Court justices, Friday, following their unanimous ruling supporting the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

The measures came due to threats made by pro-Park group members against acting court President Lee Jung-mi, who disclosed her home address and the location of a hair salon she frequents.

Ahead of the ruling, the activists also referred to justices supporting the impeachment as "rebels."

Police have been expecting the pro-Park activists might attempt violent protests in front of the justices' homes, and have allocated two to three guards for each of them. Guards will continue to protect Lee, after she resigns Monday.












Screenshot from CNN Website



By Eom Da-sol

Major foreign media outlets have covered in detail the Constitutional Court's decision on Friday to uphold the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. Japan's NHK, China's CCTV and CNBC in the U.S. live-streamed the court's announcement. CNN was the most aggressive with "PARK OUT" as top headline of its website.

1. The United Kingdom

The Guardian said "South Korea must elect a new president at a time of widespread anger at the state of the economy," and expected presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in to seek dialogue with North Korea and China on nuclear missile testing and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile battery deployment. It also anticipated "political stability" in Korea after the impeachment.

2. Japan

Japanese broadcasting company TV Asahi was concerned about the future relationship of Seoul and Tokyo. It said: "Considering the last North Korean missile test that breached the Japanese border, South Korea is clearly a nation to cooperate with. But after the impeachment, there lies a possibility of Seoul reducing its hostile attitude toward Pyongyang."

Reuters Japan quoted Koreans who are working at IBK Asset as saying: "The stock market will actually rise after the impeachment, and the market is expected to turn positively to Seoul."

3. North Korea

Extraordinarily, even North Korea's national broadcasting agency delivered the news. Korean Central TV said: "After the continued demand of South Koreans for the impeachment of Park, the Constitutional Court officially ousted the president."
Acting President, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn



By Jun Ji-hye



Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn's fate is now up in the air after Park Geun-hye was removed from office, Friday.



Hwang, who was appointed to the position by Park in June 2015, discontinued the independent counsel's investigation into the presidential scandal last week in defiance of public demand. He also previously blocked the team's attempt to search the offices of scandal-ridden aides to Park inside Cheong Wa Dae.



His behavior triggered criticism that he was abusing his authority as acting president in order to protect Park.

There has been speculation that these decisions were linked to his possible presidential ambitions because he has emerged as the odds-on favorite to become the ruling Liberty Korea Party's candidate.



However, the removal of Park from power bodes ill for him.



He may face increasing pressure from opposition parties to quit in the coming weeks, being labeled as a "collaborator" of the ill-fated leader. Most of all, depending on how the prosecution's investigation will unfold, it cannot be ruled out that he himself could become a subject of the probe.



Some experts say he could opt to contend for the presidency to avoid possible political "persecution." However, even if he does, chances are slim that he will win because the Park factor will hugely influence the presidential race.



Hwang became the leading candidate for conservatives after former U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon abruptly dropped out of the race, Feb. 1.



Having absorbed Ban's popularity and made some moves construed as helping Park, Hwang is now ranked second in the opinion polls following Moon Jae-in, former chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).



A Realmeter survey released Thursday showed that Moon garnered support of 36.1 percent, followed by Hwang at 14.2 percent and Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung, also from the DPK, at 12.9 percent.



If Hwang decides to become a candidate for the presidency, he will have to leave office 30 days before the election, meaning that he should resign from the position early next month at the latest.



The Public Official Election Act stipulates that a civil servant should leave office three months before a presidential election, but 30 days before the election if a by-election takes place.



In this case, the post of acting president would be passed onto Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, which is likely to provoke criticism over Hwang's irresponsibility and Yoo's uncertainty.



Rep. Kim Moo-sung of the minor conservative Bareun Party said Hwang should remove himself from the "temptation" to run in the election.



"The nation has suffered a leadership vacuum," Kim said. "If Hwang decides to run after leaving the position of acting president to the deputy prime minister, it will just show the absence of his sense of duty in managing state affairs."



Even if Hwang decides not to run in the election, it will be difficult for him to stay in office until the election. Opposition lawmakers are raising concerns over whether he will be able to observe the election process objectively, considering the conservative moves he made.



Opposition lawmakers have claimed that using his former position as a prosecutor who specialized in security affairs, Hwang has played a core role in the Park government's attempt to minimize various controversies facing it regarding major events such as the National Intelligence Service's (NIS) alleged meddling in the 2012 presidential election.



Moon also expressed his concern over the possibility that the spy agency's suspected intervention in the election could be repeated in this year's poll.



"As long as the election takes place fairly, we can change the government," he said during a media interview. "But we can be confronted with a difficult problem if the spy agency intervenes in the election again as it did in 2012."



Former NIS director Won Sei-hoon was indicted for ordering NIS officials to systematically meddle in the election by conducting a smear campaign against Park's rival candidate, Moon. An appeals court decision on whether Won is guilty or innocent is pending.
Park Geun-hye will go down in history as the first democratically-elected Korean President to be forced out of office after the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled in favor of her impeachment, Friday. / Korea Times file



Court delivers unanimous verdict on impeachment of Park Geun-hye



By Jung Min-ho

The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, Friday, in a historic ruling to remove her from office over a corruption scandal involving her friend Choi Soon-sil.

The court's decision was unanimous, with all eight justices voting for her ouster from Cheong Wa Dae for good, putting an end to Korea's leadership crisis for the past 92 days.

The verdict, announced by acting court President Lee Jung-mi in a live broadcast, made her the first-ever Korean president to be removed from power through impeachment.

The court said the decision was based on the fact that she abused her power to allow Choi to reap personal gains and permitted her to meddle in state affairs.

"President Park impaired the spirit of democracy and the rule of law," Lee said in the ruling. "In regard to the protection of the Constitution, the benefits of removing her far outweigh those of keeping her in power, given the negative effects and seriousness of her actions."

Lee also noted that impeaching the President was "not a matter of ideology, but of protecting constitutional order."

On the charges brought against Park, the court accepted her involvement in actively helping Choi, who took advantage of their friendship for personal gains throughout her presidency.

"As a government official who is obligated to keep confidential information about work, she neglected her duty by leaking many documents containing such information to Choi  Park also infringed on the property rights and managerial freedom of private companies by forcing them to help her create and operate the Mir and K-Sports foundations," Lee said. "Park's actions cannot be regarded as part of performing her duties. They are an abuse of her power as president and violations of the Constitution and the law."

Park had chances to put things right many times when her illegal conduct was revealed by the media and the National Assembly, but instead of solving the problem, she tried to hide it  until she no longer could.
By Rachel Lee



Calls are expected to mount for reconsideration of former President Park Geun-hye's controversial policies following her removal from power, Friday.



They include the county's sex slavery deal with Japan, which has drawn strong protests from victims.



In accordance with the agreement in 2015 to resolve disputes over Tokyo's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, Japan offered 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) to give aid to the surviving victims of wartime sex slavery. But it still has faced strong objections from opposition parties and civic groups, arguing that Tokyo has yet to offer a sincere apology for its wrongdoings conducted during the 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea.



The country's leading presidential contenders, including Moon Jae-in from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung, have called for a reassessment of the accord.



The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Tokyo is one of the Park administration's key policies that is likely to be reviewed.



The military intelligence-sharing pact  signed in November last year  has stirred up a strong backlash from opposition parties and civic groups, who accused the Park government of pushing for it despite the then growing calls for Park to step aside from all state affairs due to the corruption scandal involving Park and her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil.



They also blamed the current government for unilaterally striking the deal without considering public sentiment against Japan's unrepentant views towards its atrocities before and during World War II. Seoul and Tokyo resumed the controversial talks in November last year after a four-year hiatus, and it took less than a month to conclude the deal.



The Park government's controversial state-authored history textbooks for middle and high schools could also be abolished.



The "right-leaning" textbooks have faced fierce opposition from liberal historians for containing definitions and interpretations of historical events skewed in favor of conservatives.



An official from the main opposition DPK said the abolition of the book will be a "top priority for the new education minister under the new government," considering a high possibility of the opposition bloc taking power. The opposition parties expect the textbook to be scrapped within three months after the early presidential election.



The reopening of an industrial park that was jointly run with North Korea may be reconsidered.



Park's government closed the Gaeseong complex last year following a nuclear test and long-range rocket launch by the North.



The Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary vote to impeach Park over the scandal, Friday, leading to an early presidential election, likely to be on May 9.



Park was found to have broken the law by allowing her friend Choi to meddle in state affairs, thus breaching rules on public servants' activities. "Park's breaching of the constitution and the laws betrayed the trust of the people," said Constitutional Court chief justice Lee Jung-Mi, describing her actions as "a serious and unacceptable violation of the laws."




Police officers and former President Park Geun-hye's supporters clash near the Constitutional Court in Seoul after an impeachment ruling ousted her Friday. Some Officers stand on top of police vehicles to monitor the situation. /Yonhap



By Kim Se-jeong

The Constitutional Court's unanimous impeachment ruling was met with fierce opposition from conservative supporters of former President Park Geun-hye on Friday, with two dead and a couple of dozen injured.

Police confirmed the deaths, saying one fell inside Anguk Station and that they were investigating the cause of the other one. In addition, five demonstrators had been detained as of 5 p.m.

Their identities were not disclosed.

Opposition from Park supporters was anticipated but the extent of violence and casualties took many by surprise.

A crowd of pro-Park supporters was gathering near the Seoul court when the ruling came. After a moment of silence in shock, the group began condemning justices for their decisions and the prosecution and demanding the police clear the way for them to march toward the court. Facing police resistance, some climbed on the police buses that were surrounding them _ one reportedly fell from a bus and was taken to a nearby hospital.

Others fought with fellow demonstrators and with the police force. They were also hostile to journalists who were there trying to take photos and speak to them.

The confrontation with the police continued through the evening with chants, such as "We'll fight for President Park," "Korea is a communist country," "We need to stay together to fight" and "It's time to have bloodshed to bring justice."

On the other side of the street, anti-Park demonstrators welcomed the decision.

As the ruling was announced through a television set up in the middle of the street, the crowd quickly went into ecstasy. They jumped up and down, hugged and shook hands. Some cried out. "I am so happy," Lee Chae-hyun from Ilsan said in tears. "We have fought so hard to get common sense back and we won."

The anti-Park crowd marched in excitement toward Cheong Wa Dae where Park was staying. People were chanting "It's time to go," "Your destination is a prison cell," "Candle lights have won," among others. They gathered again in the evening at the Gwanghwamun Square in celebration of the impeachment.

Kim Kwang-bae, who lost a son to the Sewol ferry incident on April 16, 2014, said he finally felt a sense of relief.

"Nothing happened after he died," Kim said. "What happened today will be the beginning of finding the culprits behind the incident and bringing them to justice."

Former President Park's corruption scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil took anti-Park demonstrators to the streets since the end of October, demanding her resignation and the decision by the court. They gathered with candle lights, which have become the symbol of their protest.

However, protests began showing a stark divide. For the last couple of weeks, tensions between Pro- and Anti-Park factions were extremely high at each protest.

Saturday will be the final weekly protest of anti-Park demonstrators, according to the organizer.

Pro-Park protests are likely to continue, as the demonstrators have vowed to carry on. Many worry about a brutal confrontation between the two groups Saturday.

The National Police Agency which mobilized 216,000 officers near the court and protest sites, Friday, is expected to maintain these numbers Saturday.
By Kim Jae-kyoung



SINGAPORE  The decision to uphold the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye will have a positive impact on Korea and its economy, according to foreign experts Friday.



They said the decision will open the door for the country to move forward and provide an impetus for financial markets and the economy as it will remove political and economic uncertainty.



The positive views came after all eight judges of South Korea's Constitutional Court voted to remove Park, the country's first female president, over an influence-peddling and graft scandal that has ensnared Samsung, the country's largest conglomerate.



She is the first democratically elected president to be forced to leave office. With the impeachment decision, a presidential election will be held within 60 days, as required by law.



"This is a positive step.It clears uncertainty and charts a path forward. Markets will like it," independent economist Andy Xie told The Korea Times. He is the former Asia chief economist at Morgan Stanley.



"More importantly, it deters future presidents from doing the same thing. Corruption is the most important factor that makes countries poor. Deterring corruption is a necessary condition for any country to become an advanced economy."



Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis, echoed this view, expecting the decision to bring an end to ongoing political and economic turmoil.



"The impeachment paves the way for a presidential election," she said. "Markets are breathing a sigh of relief that hopefully this period of paralysis is coming to an end soon for Korea.



"Much of the long-standing issues for Korea have been at a standstill due to the political scandal and the hope of having a new leader brings back prospects of reforms and progress."



Moody's Analytics economist Emily Dabbs expects the decision will provide a boost for consumer sentiment.



"The impeachment should provide a much-needed boost to consumer sentiment, which plunged in late 2016 as the scandal unfolded," she said.



"A resolution to the ongoing saga does start to provide some semi-balance of normality, which will support investment and hiring decisions."



The analysts expect the decision will also give momentum for the country to speed up reform and tackle structural challenges.



Dabbs said Korean policymakers have been in a state of uncertainty since the National Assembly voted for the impeachment in December, which left reform policies on hold.



Moody's Investors Service said: "The conclusion of the impeachment process removes one important element of political uncertainty, allowing a new president to come in and focus on formulating reforms that address Korea's structural challenges."



The analysts stressed that it is crucial for Koreans to choose a strong leader to keep Asia's fourth-largest economy going forward.



"At this time, the only thing that can be done is to wait for the election and the decision of the Korean voters," Jeffrey Jones, former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, said. He is an international lawyer at Kim & Chang.



"Hopefully, a strong, wise and decisive president will be elected who will work tirelessly to improve the economy and who will lead by example and persuasion."




By Oh Young-jin



Chinese leader Xi Jinping had dream for his country.In 2012, Xi laid out the plan for it, called "Two 100s."



The first 100 is that by 2021, the centennial of the communist party, China will be moderately wealthy. The second is about it joining the ranks of advanced nations by 2049, the 100th anniversary of People's Republic of China.



For the first goal, he may claim some credit but for the more ambitious second, he is foundering. More exactly he runs the risk of turning China into a monstrous bully that is doomed to the second-rated state.



By and large, Xi only has himself to blame.



At the heart of the coming failure is his tendency to lie blatantly and get his way whatever way, even if it goes against the norms in advanced countries' behavior.



One example is about China's Korea bashing.



Xi's government has instigated the boycott of products and outlets of Lotte, the Korean retailer that has offered land for the deployment of U.S. missile interceptor here to counter North Korea's missile threat.



Its Foreign Ministry made an unveiled bold threat, telling Korea that it should get ready to take punitive measures. China's official papers  People's Daily and Global Times  also participated in the Korea bashing, saying that Korea would suffer the worst of crossfire in a war between China and the United States. Beijing feigned ignorance about administrative harassment inflicted on Lotte, which has closed one third of its retail outlets in China.



Barely two months ago in Davos, Switzerland, Xi played the role of globalist evangelist to the international audience at the World Economic Forum, condemning protectionism and isolationism and calling for the open and rules-based economy.



Then, Xi said, "We must remain committed to developing global free trade and investment, and say no to protectionism" "pursuing protectionism is just like locking one's self in a dark room. Wind and rain might be kept outside but so are light and air."



Which version represents the real Xi?



At the start of this speech, Xi was even caught disclosing his one-man-above-everybody else autocratic tendency calling the Davos forum the summit of "Schwab" for the annual confab's founder Klaus Schwab. If he were a real democratic leader, he wouldn't have made such a comparison.



There is another Xi, a dyed-in-wool Cold War warrior. In his speech marking the 95th anniversary of his party in July 2016, Xi revealed his true colors.



"We are now witnessing the aggressive actions by the United States against Russia and China. I believe that Russia and China may form an alliance before which NATO will be powerless and it will put the end to the imperialist aspirations of the West."



This statement explains why they have renewed their joint effort to counter the Korea-U.S. decision to deploy THAAD missile defense system. Also indicative is that Xi has an animosity against the West ingrained into his DNA with the ultimate goal of destroying the world order.



This Cold-War camaraderie also extends to North Korea despite embarrassment it brought to China with defiant acts of building its own nuclear arsenal and delivery systems.



It may be concluded that China will not take sides with the outside world and make a serious effort to force the North to give up on its weapons of mass destruction. That assessment should be the basis for a more realistic and skeptical approach Seoul and Washington should take to address the North Korean challenge.



Xi's Sept. 3, 2015, speech marking the 70th anniversary of what China called its victory over imperial Japan showed how deep-seated his distrust of the outside world is.



He said in part, "The victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression is the first complete victory won by China in its resistance against foreign aggression in modern times."



This great triumph crushed the plot of the Japanese militarists to colonize and enslave China and put an end to China's national humiliation of suffering successive defeats at the hands of foreign aggressors in modern times."



From this statement, it can be understood that Xi's animosity didn't end with Japan and extended to other countries _ Britain that inflicted on China great shame and damage through the Opium Wars, Portugal that won the trophy of Macau and Germany that took Qingdao, among others.



Then Xi said, "No matter how much stronger it may become, China will never seek hegemony or expansion. It will never inflict its past suffering on any other nation." He is caught of lying through teeth.



At Xi's order, China has built artificial islands in South China Sea and tried to deny the global rule of freedom of navigation in international waters, seeking dominance in the region.



If that is not an example of China seeking hegemony or expansion, what could be qualified as such?



The irony is that his speech was peppered with word "peace" that it was called peace speech but obviously Xi's peace is different from one with the universally accepted notion. That can make his China Dream a scary nightmare for the rest of the world.







Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.




By Doug Bandow



North Korea acts like an incorrigible child, only with nuclear weapons. Whenever hopes begin to build that Pyongyang is ready to try a new approach, it engages in some new mischief or malice.



So it is with the apparent assassination of Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kin Jong-un. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea likely used the deadly nerve agent VX at a busy airport filled with bustling travelers.



So what to do about Pyongyang?



No one has any particularly good ideas. Some propose putting the DPRK back on the official State Sponsors of Terrorism list.



Washington originally added North Korea in 1988 after the latter planted a bomb destroying a South Korean airliner. The Bush administration removed the North from the list in 2008 in an unsuccessful attempt to further the so-called Six-Party Talks regarding Pyongyang's nuclear program.



Out of frustration with the North the House Foreign Affairs Committee last year approved legislation reinstating North Korea on the terrorism list. Another House bill doing so was introduced in January and a half dozen senators recently urged State to consider the possibility.



After the North's latest outrage, the Heritage Foundation's Bruce Klingner argued that "It is long past time for Washington to do the right thing and belatedly acknowledge that North Korea's repeated deadly acts legally constitute terrorist acts and justify returning the regime to the State Sponsors of Terrorism list." Such a designation would allow the Trump administration to target financial transactions, mandate Washington's opposition to loans and aid from international financial institutions, and eliminate North Korean sovereign immunity from civil lawsuit.



Alas, the North's behavior, while odious, is not terrorism by any normal definition.



As the State Department explained, "Countries determined by the Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism are designated pursuant to three laws." Currently three countries are so designated, with dubious justification.



Sudan has been on the list since 1993. But Khartoum long ago abandoned its dalliance with al-Qaeda and U.S. officials acknowledge that Sudan assists Washington in combatting Islamist violence.



Syria was added in 1979. Damascus has been a repressive rather than terrorist state as most people would understand it. It has hosted offices for a number of Palestinian groups. Most recently the designation has been justified based on the Assad regime's support for Hezbollah in Lebanon, a de facto government in conflict with Israel. Even State admitted that "the Syrian government has not been implicated directly in an act of terrorism since 1986."



The designation of Iran, added in 1984, is similarly dubious. Historically Tehran backed Palestinian terror groups, but that era is over. Iran has backed other extremist groups and supported Hezbollah and Hamas, which governs Gaza, but they are much more than terrorist organizations.



In these cases the terrorism designation was turned into a political tool largely unrelated to terrorism. If the U.S. wants to sanction these nations for these activities it should do so directly.



What of North Korea? In the 2007 country report, the year before the Bush administration removed the DPRK, State noted that the North "was not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987." A number of actions by the North, though odious, aren't terrorism.



That's the same with the bill of particulars prepared by Klingner. Targeting Sony Pictures, launching cyber-attacks against South Korean targets, jamming GPS signals for South Korean airliners, and sending agents to kill a defector and an anti-DPRK activist, as well as selling conventional arms to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, just don't count. Nor does the apparent assassination of Kim Jong-nam.



Of course, one could simply expand the definition of terrorism to any act intended to influence the conduct of any government or people. The Weekly Standard's Ethan Epstein argued that the cyber-attack on Sony was "arguably an act of terrorism" since it was intended to influence Americans' conduct "by preventing them from seeing a movie that mocked North Korea." But by this definition the U.S. government constantly commits terrorism, since it routinely intervenes in an attempt to influence the conduct of other nations, both governments and peoples.



The problem of North Korea should be addressed directly. Affixing the terrorism label offers no relief from the North's misbehavior. Instead, the U.S. and its allies should respond to what Pyongyang is rather than what it isn't.







Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire."




By Lee Sun-ho





While we are living our incredible hectic, destined finite lives, there is no denying that we must be sure to use our time efficiently and effectively. Virtually, our actions must be directed intelligently for accompanying goals with purpose. In this regard, it is amusing to ponder two comparative theories initiated by world-renowned thinkers related to productivity as we advance toward the fourth industrial revolution.

The 20/80 rule, known as the Pareto principle, named after Italian genius micro-economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923). It states that for many events, roughly 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. It was rooted on his famous observation that 20 percent of the population owned 80 percent of the property in Italy. It is a common rule of thumb in business, say, 80 percent of our sales come from 20 percent of our clients. Pragmatically, the 20/80 rule is roughly followed by a power law distribution (known as Pareto distribution) for a particular set of parameters, and many natural phenomena have been shown empirically to exhibit such a distribution. The Pareto principle is only tangentially related to Pareto efficiency. Pareto developed both concepts in the context of the sharing of income and wealth among the population.

In contrast, the long-tail feature has found some ground for application, research, and experimentation. Our culture as well as economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of hits (mainstream products and markets) at the head of demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail. The notion of looking at the tail itself as a new market of consumers was first coined by Chris Anderson (born 1961), the British-American author of the article entitled "The Long Tail" as the editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine in October 2004.Anderson described the effects of the long tail on current and future business models. Conventional retail economics dictate that stores only stock the likely hits, because shelf space is expensive. But online retailers (like Amazon) can stock virtually everything, and the number of available niche products outnumbers the hits by several orders of magnitude. The shift from hits to niches is a rich scar, manifest in all sorts of surprising places. The long tail is a potential market and, the distribution and sales channel opportunities created by the Internet often enable businesses to tap that market successfully. The primary value of the Internet to consumers comes from releasing new sources of value by providing access to products in the long tail.

The above-mentioned two theories advocated by both Pareto and Anderson, respectively, are working reasonably well in many aspects of human lives, no doubt. However, they cannot be practically generalized with sweeping applications across mankind activities. Then such criteria should be thoroughly adapted to different spheres of industries on a case-by-case basis, with respect to the specific characteristics of each business, leaving open the possibility of innovation and environmental changes having a large impact on the future, which could produce as new way of analyzing trends and businesses. Who knows? Maybe this is how we have been looking at things all along.

The writer is an ombudsman columnist for The Korea Times in Seoul. Contact him at kexim2 @unitel.co.kr.
Medical professionals have the right to protect people -- that's what a federal appeals court in Florida unanimously ruled in mid-February when it said doctors can't be penalized for discussing gun safety with their patients. It was a well-deserved comeuppance for the gun lobby and its latest ploy to pit Second Amendment rights against the First Amendment. They sought to muzzle doctors when they talked to their patients about gun safety, but the court didn't buy the argument.



Lawmakers in Florida had passed a state law in 2011 that threatened to rescind doctors' licenses and impose fines if they asked patients simple questions about weapons storage. But doctors, and especially pediatricians, regularly discuss safety surrounding guns, pools and other important health-related issues with their patients.



In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics encourages pediatricians to discuss firearm safety with their patients. One in three American homes with children have guns, and 1.7 million kids live in homes with loaded firearms. It's the reasonable thing to do, and absolutely in keeping with the medical profession's mission to protect and sustain human life. Gun accidents are a leading cause of child deaths, and when doctors make recommendations, their patients are three times more likely to safely store their guns.



Besides, any attempt to block free speech, as the Florida measure attempted to do, represents a clear violation of a doctor's First Amendment rights. Since Florida passed its gag law, 10 other states have tried and failed to pass their own bills. Some, though, did manage to pass other measures that stand in between the doctor-patient relationship.



Missouri in 2014 passed a bill making it more difficult for doctors to ask patients about firearm safety but falling short of an outright gag order. Gun safety groups say the law nevertheless helps stifle doctor-patient discussions about guns. A 2016 study by the Washington University School of Medicine showed that only 13 percent of families were asked by their pediatricians about household firearms. The report's researchers found that laws like Missouri's and Florida's "have likely increased physicians' uncertainty about what they can say and their concern that discussing the topic may be received negatively."



Almost three-quarters of gun-owning parents surveyed by the Washington University researchers say they want their kids' physicians to advise them about household gun safety.



The National Rifle Association suggests that such doctor-patient discussions impinge on gun owners' privacy, which is an absurd notion. Every patient has a right to tell the doctor to mind his or her own business. But the conversation could cause gun owners to think twice before carelessly leaving a gun where a child could access it. If it's a question between privacy and saving lives, the latter priority should prevail every time.





This editorial appeared on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.




By Kim Ji-myung





The two statements, presented in totally different vocabularies, describe the same world; however, it is no longer the same one we used to know. There are two kinds of people on this earth -- those who know about ontology and those who don't. Meanwhile, world history will soon be remembered as "before the internet" and "after the internet."

Machines have begun to understand what people speak or instruct, thanks to the many years of steady tutoring by humans. Terms like semantic web, digital data, autonomous learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and knowledge-sharing have been developed to express the smooth communication between men and machines.

After trying to understand what "ontology" is for the past three years, I came to a conclusion that we all are hostages of this concept. But being a hostage or a master of it, depends on how one deals with it.

The Korea Times has not mentioned much about ontology. But already in 2008, in an article datelined in New York, artificial intelligence expert Riza C. Barkan reported:

"In the not-so-distant future, students will be able to graduate from high school without ever touching a book. Twenty years ago, they could graduate from high school without ever using a computer."

Since then, computer technology and the Internet have transformed the core principles of information, knowledge, and education, as Barkan said.

Recent duals between AI and humans in baduk (go) and chess games, and translation competence, have enlightened people about the advancements of AI. In technological and commercial dimensions, it is already deeply embedded in many products used in our daily living.

"An ontology is an explicit specification of a conceptualization." is the most widely accepted definition by Tom R. Gruber in "Toward principles for the design of ontologies used for knowledge sharing," a paper presented at the Padua workshop on Formal Ontology in March 1993.

According to Gruber, ontology means organized knowledge expressed clearly about things and their relationships. While the terms "specification" and "conceptualization" have caused much debate, the essential points of this definition of ontology are: An ontology defines (specifies) the concepts, relationships, and other distinctions that are relevant for modeling a domain.

The specification takes the form of the definitions of representational vocabulary (classes, relations, and so forth), which provide meanings for the vocabulary and formal constraints on its coherent use.

Why do we need ontology? Or why is it important?

Because people can no longer live totally outside the help or use of machines. Machines are trained to obey and serve people; AI serves to instill a kind of brain in the machines that should listen to their master, us.

For example, you cannot manage your inventory of your shop manually if it is not a small mom-and-pop store. You will use inventory control software to do that, which is designed for your store, based on ontology.

A paper published in the Journal Artificial Intelligence for Cultural Heritage in 2016 presented a domain ontology for historical research documents. This means that cultural heritage knowledge nodes will be recognized and the relationship among them will be analyzed so that they will be transformed into semantic digital data for machines to be able to handle.

This is news, as cultural heritage content has been considered to be the last type data able to be processed by machines, because of the heavy amount of contextual information and the heterogenous forms and provenances involved.

Just a few weeks ago, the government announced that an AI-based program will translate the Seungjeong-won Ilgi, the diary of the royal secretariat of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) written in Chinese characters for 151 years, into modern Korean.

Digital Humanities scholars have anticipated this kind of breakthrough in research, aided by the digital competence of machines. They can crop big data and come up with fresh discoveries of hidden patterns behind resulting statistics.

Understanding ontology and the machine way of thinking has awakened me from my own fuzzy disorderly habit of reasoning. When atomized into data format, facts are clear and truths are evidence-based -- and that is the chief value of ontology.

The writer is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). Her email address is Heritagekorea21@gmail.com.
POSCO Chairman and CEO Kwon Oh-joon speaks during a general shareholders' meeting at the POSCO Center in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of POSCO



By Jhoo Dong-chan

Incumbent POSCO Chairman and CEO Kwon is set to serve another three-year term.

During the company's 49th regular general shareholders' meeting, Kwon was appointed to serve another term as chairman. The nation's largest steelmaker has shown positive performances over the past three years under his leadership, a POSCO official said in a press release.

First appointed to the post as the company's eighth chairman in 2014, Kwon has been praised for enhancing the firm's competiveness in steel technologies and improving its financial stability during his term.

"Over the last three years, POSCO has raised 5.8 trillion won ($5 billion) in liquidity through a massive restructuring process that included selling non-core assets and saving costs amid the slowdown in the global steel industry," Kwon said.

Under the slogan of "World Best, World First," POSCO concentrated on steel technologies and introducing systematic marketing in the company's business operations.

"Now, Smartness will be the key to define POSCO's future for the next 50 years," Kwon added.

"Under the new slogan, POSCO will focus its full competence on higher value-added products, including eco-friendly secondary cell batteries."

Since Kwon came to the office in 2014, not only POSCO's financial stability but also operating profit has vastly improved. According to the official, POSCO's operating profit reached 2.6 trillion won in 2016, up 19 percent from the 2013 figure of 2.2 trillion won. The company's earned profit ratio also hit 10.8 percent in the same period, the first in double-digits in five years.

Kwon also said he will actively engage the protectionist trade trends prevailing around the world.

"The U.S. government has pushed ahead with a plan to impose unacceptable anti-dumping duties on POSCO's hot-rolled steel plate products. POSCO is considering taking the case to the World Trade Organization," he said.

"POSCO plans to soon open a new duty management office in Washington D.C., signing a consultative contract with top law firms there."

Kwon was also questioned over his possible involvement with Choi, the ousted President Park's close friend during the press conference, but immediately denied the allegations.

"I managed to get rid of the false allegations after being questioned for 12 hours by prosecutors," he said.

"Some alleged that I came to the post with Choi's help, adding she is a close friend of my wife. They are all false allegations, and I will response sternly against such groundless rumors."

However, Kwon partly admitted that former senior presidential secretary Ahn Jong-beom did intervene in some of POSCO operations in the past, but claimed his influence was modest at best.
This is the sixth in a series highlighting operations of foreign luxury brands in Korea.  ED.





Swatch Group Korea representative director Christophe Savioz

By Park Jae-hyuk

The Swatch Group has attracted a wide range of consumers in Korea, offering various watch brands addressing all segments of the market  from luxury range Breguet, Blancpain and Omega to mid- and basic-range Tissot, Mido and Swatch.

As an employer, however, the Korean branch of the world's largest watchmaker appears not to be so popular here.

According to corporate assessment platform Job Planet, Friday, more than 60 percent of former and incumbent employees of Swatch Group Korea did not recommend working for the company, rating it a 2.5 out of 5 in satisfaction level.

"The company enjoys a high level of brand equity, but it lacks a reasonable business management system," a Swatch Group Korea worker commented.

A former employee also said, "Managers are reluctant to share important information and they unilaterally order tasks without caring much about teamwork."

The group by no means is silent on its commitment to its staff. On its official website, it highlights the welfare of its employees and the conservation of the natural environment as its two most important corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles.
By Lee Hyo-sik



China has suspended operations of LG's cosmetics plant there, making Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate the latest victim in Beijing's escalating retaliation against the country's decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system here, according to company officials Friday.



This indicates that Beijing, which has so far been targeting corporate interests of Lotte Group, is moving to undermine LG and other Korean companies operating in China as Seoul and Washington are speeding up the installation of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.



LG Household & Health Care said Friday that Chinese government officials recently inspected its cosmetics plant in Hangzhou allegedly to check the facility's fire protection system.



"It is true that our Hangzhou plant underwent a state inspection," a company official said. "As far as we know, it has not received any official document from the Chinese authorities, ordering it to suspend production. We cannot confirm whether it was told verbally to do so."



The official then said its second plant in Beijing, which makes toothpaste and other household items, has not been subject to any inspection.



According to industry analysts familiar with the matter, the Hangzhou factory, which produces mostly low-priced skincare products, was verbally ordered March 6 to close for a month due to a violation of China's rules concerning industrial fire protection systems.



They also said multiple business sites run by other LG units in China have and will be subject to a range of administrative inspections, largely designed to disrupt their operations.



"As expected, China's THAAD retaliation has begun spreading beyond Lotte as Korea and the United States are moving quickly to deploy the missile defense system," said an executive at one of Korea's major businesses associations, who declined to be named.



"I think LG Household & Health Care is only the beginning. China will target more Korean consumer goods makers running plants there, as a means of expressing its displeasure," the executive said.



Early this week, Beijing ordered Lotte Shanghai Foods, a 50-50 joint venture between Lotte Confectionary and U.S. confectionary giant, Hershey Chocolate, to close for a month, citing its "inadequate" fire protection system.



Chinese authorities have continued to shut down more Lotte Mart outlets there, with 55 out of its 99 stores forced to close for various reasons.




Lay of EXO confirms that he will be out of the EXO PLANET #3 - The EXO'rDIUM". The series of concerts that he will miss are in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and North America.

He says that this is due to his very busy schedule as well as his back-to-back projects. Because of this, a lot of Lay's fans were very disappointed with the unfortunate news.

However, the agency of EXO also sent out their sincere apology to all of the expecting fans. The agency points out that the busy schedules are indeed the reason as to why he will be absent in the concert tour.

According to Soompi, Lay is busy with the filming of his upcoming Chinese drama that is entitled, "Operation Love". It is a remake of a Japanese drama. The group is composed of Suho, Lay, Xiumin, Chen, Baekhyun, D.O., Chanyeol, Kai and Sehun.

One of the most notable successes that the boy band has been in was when they sold more than 2.13 million albums for "EX'ACT". Meanwhile, their "Lotto" also sold more than 1.17 million copies.

Their "For Life" is still in a fair accomplishment, having sold more than 425,000 up to this point of writing. The group has also been hailed as the most influential celebrity in South Korea.

What makes it interesting is that they got the award for two straight years, in 2014 and in 2015. The award was given to them by Forbes Korea.

According to Officially K Music, EXO is already ready to push through with their tour in North America this coming April, even if Lay would not be with them. This would surely help EXO in strengthening its popularity in the U.S., as well as in the other countries that it will visit over the course of their global concert tour.

They are not only bringing their band's image with them, but they are also representing the entire K-pop industry as a whole. With this, they need to ensure that they give out all their best in their performances, even if this means that Lay won't be with them.
UP10TION is a rookie group formed in 2015. Under the label of TOP Media, the boy group debuted with mini album "Top Secret." Making the appearances in Japan since last year, their Japanese single "ID" has set a record for them.

As reported by AllKpop, the Japanese single album "ID" became the most-sold debut album by a K-Pop artist of all time. They succeeded selling over 167,000 copies and landed number 3 on the daily Oricon album chart. The previous record was held by EXO's "Love Me Right" which was sold 147,000 copies.

UP10TION was in number 3 on Oricon album chart below Morning Musume'17 in number 2 and Sandaime J Soul Brothers. It shows that UP10TION is really popular in Japan. Moreover, they placed number 1 on Tower Records daily album chart.

Previously, UP10TION had showcased the "ID" live in Tokyo on March 8. It was flooded with fans as they were so excited with the first Japanese single. Before having the first Japanese single, UP10TION has caught attention in Japan even with Korean albums. The reason behind it is that they had promoted in Japan since last year. They held many fan meetings in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo, and more and thus they have strong base fans already, reported by Kpopmap.

It was reported that after the release, fans were flooded to Tower Records to buy the album. Having reached such a record, UP10TION is really happy and they will have another showcase On March 10. After releasing the MV for "ID" on Feb. 27, the boys released the dance version on March 6. It was like a surprise to fans and they were flooding YouTube to give comments and likes.

The choreography of the song is so nice and the group dances in unity really well. With the success for the Japanese debut, UP10TION is sure to be anticipated among boy groups in the future.

Read Next: Joo Won Renewed His Contract With His Current Label, Huayi Brothers, Continuing Seven Years Of Good Partnership
After completing his month-long training at the military boot camp, fans are now worried about BIG BANG's T.O.P. after he failed to attend his training completion ceremony because of health issues. This came as a shock for fans who were very happy to see T.O.P.'s earlier photos in training looking happy and well.

It can be recalled that since reporting for basic army training for his mandatory military enlistment, photos surfaced of T.O.P. with his batchmates, looking like he is acclimating well to his new environment. There were even photos of him and co-trainees sporting wacky hand gestures with T.O.P. breaking out his signature finger pointing move, Drama Fever reported.

After completing his month-long training however, the BIG BANG member was conspicuously missing from his completion ceremony, making fans wonder what happened to T.O.P. Army officials addressed the concern by assuring that T.O.P, whose real name is Choi Seung Heun, was unable to attend the graduation because of health issues.

According to them, T.O.P. was receiving treatment at the army base's infirmary rendering him unable to attend the rites. It was not made public if he was receiving treatment for an injury or an illness. They did assure however, that T.O.P. completed his training requirements and will proceed for the next phase of his service with no problems.

T.O.P will be transferred to the riot police training base in Gyeonggi province for two additional weeks of police training. Afterwards, he will be deployed at the Gangnam Police Station where he will render his official police duty, reported Big Bang Updates.

T.O.P was not the only K-pop idol to complete the first phase of their military service as JYJ's Kim Jinsu will also be leaving the Nonsan Army Training Center on March 9. Kim Jinsu will be transferred to a separate training center in Gyeonggi province to attend task group police training and will be deployed at the South Gyeonggi Police Agency.
The Arkansas Senate approved a bill that would allow concealed handguns at colleges, some bars and even the state Capitol. Its vote broke a deadlock among gun rights supporters over a measure that originally just focused on campus firearms.

The Senate voted 18-9 for the legislation that would allow anyone with a concealed handgun license to carry at the locations if they undergo up to eight hours of active shooter training. The bill goes back to the House to take up changes to the bill, which originally focused on colleges and universities.

The National Rifle Association and Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson support the amended version of the bill, which previously allowed anyone 25 and older with a license to carry at colleges if they underwent up to 16 hours of active shooter training.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:

Think of your palate as a living, tangible thing, like a physique, or a muscle. Your palate can be sharp, on its game"or in need of practice. While its OK to subject yourself to wine monogamy by drinking the same wine nightly or weekly, challenge yourself to become an adventurous wine taster.

Lets get started. Evaluating wine is a complex, multi-sensory experience. Palate development is linked to training your olfactory sensory system. Next time you are drinking wine, coax your palate and brain to make the connection between sight, smell and taste to create your own personal impression of wine.

Take the time to follow these four steps and make note of what appeals to you in a wine, but also what you dont enjoy.

1. SIGHT SEQUENCE:

 Clarity: This is the degree in which you can see through the wine

 Color: Is the color light or dark, ruby or crimson?

 Other: Observe if there is any rim variation, sediment, gas, or tears/legs

2. AROMA SEQUENCE: Try to distinguish or detect these aromas:

 Fruits: Berry, citrus, dried fruits, melon, apple, pear, tropical or stone fruits.

 Earth: Barnyard, forest floor, musty, petrichor (wet stone)

 Other: Floral, spice, nuts, herbs, vegetative or animal notes

 Faults: Check the wine for faults, or any deviation from what is normal. Cork taint, volatile acids or oxidation can be assessed by the funky odors of wet newspaper, band-aids, vinegar, rogue yeast or envelope glue smell.

3. TASTE SEQUENCE: When the wine is in your mouth, assess these qualities:

 Sweetness: The presence of unfermented residual sugar on the palate

 Body: The impression of weight on the tongue. (Does it feel like whole-milk or non-fat milk?)

 Tannin: Astringent/bitter chemical compound found naturally in the skins and seeds of grapes.

 Structure: The relationship between the elements that make up a wines backbone

 Texture: The tactical/physical sensation on the palate

4. QUALITY SEQUENCE:

 Complexity: Number and amount of aromas, flavors and nuances and how they interact.

 Balance: Relationship between aromas, flavors and the wines structure

 Finish: A wines flavor, texture and the sensation that stays on the palate after the wine has been swallowed.

 Length: Amount of time the perception of a wine stays on your palate

Take the next step. So you enjoyed a glass of wine and made mental notes of what you smelled, tasted and felt on your palate. How do you know if your palate has developed? The next step is up to you. Go to your trusted fine wine shop owner down the street and tell them you enjoy a full body tannic Cabernet Sauvignon but want to branch out. They might have you try a Nebbiolo from the Piedmont region of Italy. If you like the earthy qualities of Pinot Noir, maybe a Tempranillo from La Rioja might become your new favorite summertime barbecue wine.

If you need more of a personal experience, come by LJ Crafted Wines in Bird Rock and join me or one of my fellow associates in walking you through a wine tasting. Our winery specializes in vineyard specific, small batch wines from Sonoma and Napa poured directly from the wine barrel. A few of the unique wines we serve are Viognier, a full-body white wine with aromas of peaches and cream, and native to Frances Northern Rhone Valley; Albarino, a high-acid grape with striking notes of white peach and tangerine, native to the Rias Baixas region in Galicia, Spain; Petit Verdot, a grape thats famous for it minor role in the red blends of Bordeaux. Currently, my favorite wine is our Grenache, a dry, earthy plum and cranberry driven wine with overtones of white pepper.

 LJ Crafted Wines is at 5621 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Hours: 3-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. (858) 551-8890. ljcraftedwines.com

Business Spotlight features commercial enterprises that support La Jolla Light.
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This article appears in the March 10, 2017 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

Trump, Lincoln,

and LaRouches Four Laws

by Robert Ingraham

[Print version of this article]

March 5, 2017The speech which President Donald Trump delivered to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 28, contained the following remarks:

Its been a long time since we had fair trade. The first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, warned that the abandonment of the protective policy by the American government will produce want and ruin among our people. Lincoln was rightand its time we heeded his advice and his words... In nine years, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding250 years since the day we declared our independence. It will be one of the great milestones in the history of the world. But what will America look like as we reach our 250th year? What kind of country will we leave for our children? On our 100th anniversary, in 1876, citizens from across our nation came to Philadelphia to celebrate Americas centennial. At that celebration, the countrys builders and artists and inventors showed off their wonderful creations. Alexander Graham Bell displayed his telephone for the first time. Remington unveiled the first typewriter. An early attempt was made at electric light. Thomas Edison showed an automatic telegraph and an electric pen. Imagine the wonders our country could know in Americas 250th year. Think of the marvels we can achieve if we simply set free the dreams of our people. Cures to the 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 beforefor 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 great American flag. And we all are made by the same God. 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 those dreams into action... True love for our people requires us to find common ground, to advance the common good, and to cooperate on behalf of every American child who deserves a much brighter future... 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. The Axiomatic Approach to Moving Forward

How is this visionso eloquently enunciated by President Trumpto be actualized? What is the pathway we must take if we are to successfully return the United States of America to the Temple of Hope and Beacon of Liberty it must once again become, by its 250th birthday in 2026? The challenge is manifest; the battle-plan, for many, remains unclear.

In 2014, Lyndon LaRouche issued the three page document The Four New Laws to Save the U.S.A. Now! That document, whose Four Laws are grounded in the principles of Public Credit and National Banking, as promulgated by Alexander Hamilton, remains, starkly, as the only viable solution to the banking and economic crisis facing the United States and the world today. It defines the only possible strategy for fulfilling President Trumps promise to create a new chapter of American Greatnessand in the process to lay the basis, in cooperation with friendly foreign nations, for the beginning of a new global economic and scientific Renaissance.

The paramount feature of those Four Laws is to be found in the concluding paragraphs of the document. It is here that LaRouche defines the basis for all economic policy. He says,

The knowable measure, in principle, of the difference between man and all among the lower forms of life, is found in what has been usefully regarded as the naturally upward evolution of the human species, in contrast to all other known categories of living species. The standard of measurement of these compared relationships, is that mankind is enabled to evolve upward, and that categorically, by those voluntarily noetic powers of the human individual will. Mankinds progress, as measured rather simply as a species, is expressed typically in the rising power of the principle of human life, over the abilities of animal life generally, and relatively absolute superiority over the powers of non-living processes to achieve within mankinds willful intervention to that intended effect. Progress exists so only under a continuing, progressive increase of the productive and related powers of the human species. That progress defines the absolute distinction of the human species from all others presently known to us. A government of people based on a policy of zero-population growth and per capita standard of human life is a moral, and practical abomination.

It is in this section of the Four Laws that LaRouche defines a scientifically precise notion of human productivity. LaRouches words echo the intent of the Preamble of the United States Constitution as well as the sentiment expressed in Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address. It is in the noetic creative distinction between members of the human species and all of the lower beasts that proper economic policy must be grounded.

Real economics, economics as LaRouche defines it as the naturally upward evolution of the human species is not about money or profits, as those terms are usually understood. Rather, it is the purpose of a Hamiltonian system, anchored by the principles of Public Credit and National Banking, to establish a sound basis whereby an escalating increase in human and national productivity might be realized.

When the Gouverneur Morris-authored Preamble speaks of We the People..., or when Lincoln speaks of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people..., the profundity of that idea-content must not be obscured by maudlin romanticism. Rather, it represents an intentionto marshal the power of government to advance the opportunities, skills, talents and productivity of the citizens of the nation, to aid in the emergence of a national culture grounded in happiness.

II. Lincoln and Grant

If one examines the entire sweep of Abraham Lincolns policy initiativesfrom the protectionist tariff policies to the Greenback national credit policy; from the Emancipation Proclamation to the Homestead Act; from the Transcontinental Railroad to the Land-Grant Colleges Actall of these are aimed at accomplishing a powerful improvement in the physical economy of the nation, accompanied by an increase in productivity and opportunity for the all of the citizenry. Neither de jure slavery nor de facto economic servitude were to be tolerated. As LaRouche puts it, the outlook was grounded in the rising power of the principle of human life, over the abilities of animal life generally.

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The White House Historical Association

Lincoln launched an economic revolution, and he quickly found himself at war with entrenched monied interests, particularly with leading Wall Street banking houses and the financial institutions of the British Empires City of London. Their system was a money system; his was a physical economic system. Beginning in 1861, and continuing over the next four years, the New York Associated Banks, and their leader James Gallatin, relentlessly endeavored to destroy the Lincoln Presidency, demanding that President Lincolns efforts to impose national sovereignty over economic and banking policy be killed.

The outlook of those 19th century financiers is no different than what we hear today, emanating from Wall Street apologists who denounce Glass-Steagall legislation as government interference into private banking matters and deleterious to their designs to accumulate speculative financial profits. Lincoln, like Hamilton, comprehended the power and responsibility of government to regulate, and even promulgate, policy related to banking and finance, so as to secure a Credit Policy that achieves the greatest reward for the common good. Such an approach is the only one that honors the Oath of Office to uphold the United States Constitution.

In truth, only those policieseconomic or otherwisewhich stem from an intention to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity can be rightfully considered lawful, either in the strict sense of U.S. Constitutional Law, or from the vantage point of a natural law which recognizes the unique nature of the human species.

It is also within this intention to promote the General Welfare and to secure a positive future for the children of the United States of America, that President Trumps praiseworthy vow to stop the drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth must be seen. This is a sacred promise to yet unborn generations, and many nations will be eager to work with the United States in such an effort.

1876: Philadelphia Centennial Exposition

President Trumps extended reference to the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition is truly heartening. Implied, but unstated in his remarks, is the reality that the industrial and scientific wonders that were there displayed, were all made possible through the intention and effects of the Lincoln Economic Revolution. Also left unsaid in the Presidents remarks was that the Exposition was organized under the Presidency of Ulysses Grant, who attended the opening ceremony and flipped the switch to turn on the Corliss Steam Engine, then the most powerful engine in the world.

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Library of Congress

Grants Presidency was characterized by an ironclad commitment to secure equal rights for Black Americans. It was Grant who initiated military campaigns against the Ku Klux Klan; it was Grant who defended black voting rights with U.S. troops; and it was Grant who defended and supported the creation of educational institutions for freed slaves. This included his use of troops to defend the facilities of the Freedmens Bureau, an organization created by Abraham Lincoln; and his later support for the black universities which were being established.

This is the same Grant who, beginning in 1869, put an end to the wars of extermination against American Indians. For Grant, as with Lincoln, celebrating the triumphs of American science and inventiveness was not separate from the commitment to human equality and justice. For Lincoln, economic and financial policies were never allowed to serve the financial elitesevery policy, every initiative must have as its intention to secure the blessings of liberty to every one of the nations citizens, as well to secure a better worlda better futurefor the nations posterity.

Today, the policies of Glass-Steagall, national banking, public credit, and a science policy centered on fusion energy and space exploration willas LaRouche defines in his Four Lawsfulfill exactly that mission, as defined in the Lincoln and Grant Presidencies from 1861 to 1877. A financial system which generates speculative mega-profits, while little is produced in terms of tangible physical wealth, leaving millions to languish in poverty, is not the legacy of our greatest President. A nations credit is a bounty; it should not be squandered on frivolous things, but put to work building for the future.

III. Partners

Abraham Lincoln stated, in a speech shortly before his 1861 inauguration, that the American Declaration of Independence gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time.

It should come as no surprise that both Lincoln and Grant approached foreign powers from the standpoint of winning friends based on the Principles embedded in that Declaration. From Lincolns friendly initiatives with Russia, Japan and Benito Juarezs Mexico, to Grants world tour of 1877-1879, the United States offered a hand of friendship to every nation in the world, an offer which stemmed from a genuine desire to work with other nations in the great task of uplifting civilization through science, industry and the eradication of human impoverishment.

Today, in 2017, the tables have turned, and it is now the nations of China and Russia, together with their partners, who are offering a helping hand to the United Statesto aid the United States in recovering from the 16 years of murderous geopolitics unleashed by George W. Bush and Barack Obama, to join with them in building a great world-wide economic and scientific Renaissance.

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) will be held in Beijing from May 14 to 15 of this year. Already, more than 65 countries, encompassing more than half of the human race, have joined this initiative. More than 20 heads of state, including President Xi Jinping of China, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, and President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines will be in attendance. This conference is a watershed event in the ongoing work of the Chinese One Belt-One Road policy, a policy which is redefining relations among nation states away from imperial geopolitical conflict toward cooperation and major economic development projects.

President Trump should attend the May Conference in Beijing. Were Lincoln and Grant alive today, they would not hesitate. The world today does not need more wars. Great economic projects and great scientific challenges the type of challenges which pull nations together as partners and friends is the required future.

Speaking to an audience in New York City on February 4, 2017, Helga Zepp-LaRouche declaimed,

And I think if we can convince the United States with the Trump administration to cooperate with China on the New Silk Road, I am safe on the prediction that Mr. Trump will not be only a great American President, but if he can mobilize his country to join hands with China right now, he will go into history as one of the towering giants of all of universal history.

The operative word in Mrs. LaRouches statement is if. It is a word pregnant with potential, but it is not yet realized. Americas 250th birthday is nine years away. As President Trump asked, But what will America look like as we reach our 250th year? What kind of country will we leave for our children? The answer is right in front of us. The still-living minds of Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton, together with the economic principles defined by Lyndon LaRouche in his Four Laws, offer the path that will get us to that promised great future.
PRESS RELEASE

Famine Threatens 17 Million People Living in the Horn of Africa

March 9, 2017 (EIRNS)The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has issued an urgent appeal for humanitarian aid to save 17 million people in the Horn of Africa facing a deadly famine. Somalia, along with Djibouti, Eritria, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda, are on the brink of imminent famine, and almost half of Somalias 6 million people need immediate help, Malaysias Bernama news agency reported. On March 7,

"Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres arrived in Somalia and appealed for $825 million in aid to address drought and cholera in the East Africa nation on the brink of famine,"

the New York Times reported. Earlier, Guterres had issued a similar appeal pointing out that famine was underway in part of South Sudan, and warned that people in areas away from the Horn of Africa, such as Nigeria and Yemen, were also at risk of dying from hunger.

Somalia had suffered two consecutive years of drought, and the New York Times reported meteorologists expect crops to fail again this year. In the 2011 famine, Somalia lost 260,000 people in a period of two months. The OIC pointed out that

"more than 110 persons have died in Somalia in the last two days from cholera and famine caused by continuous drought, as announced by Prime Minister Hassan Ali in Mogadishu on March 4,"

Bernama reported.

"It should be noted that Somalia is one of the four countries categorized as being close to facing serious famine, alongside Nigeria, South Sudan, and Yemen, where over 20 million people face horrific conditions, thus requiring urgent action to avoid the spread of famine to wider areas,"

said the OIC.
California is back on the map as a state thats serious about welcoming driverless cars.

Truly driverless cars  vehicles with no human behind the wheel, and perhaps no steering wheel at all  are headed toward California streets and highways starting in 2018.

After months of criticism, state regulators Friday released a proposal for a new set of regulations to govern the testing and deployment of driverless cars on public roadways. They are seeking public comment and expect approval by the end of the year.

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The regulations lay out a clear path for future deployment of autonomous vehicles in California, said Bernard Soriano, deputy director at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The move comes after months of dissatisfaction with the DMV concerning an earlier set of proposed regulations considered draconian and anti-innovation by automakers and technology companies  especially compared with those of other states.

Florida and Michigan allow driverless cars on their roadways with few restrictions. Arizona has no driverless vehicle laws at all, and the states governor has made clear that driverless cars and trucks are welcome on Arizona highways.

Testing of driverless cars with a human behind the wheel has been allowed in California under certain conditions since 2014.

The new plan is much friendlier to driverless car testing but its no free ride. The DMV has long made clear that it must balance the introduction of new technology with public safety, and although driverless cars hold the promise of far fewer crashes and highway deaths, the technology is not fully baked.

Testing companies will be required to comply with federal safety standards and certify that their robot cars can adhere to California traffic laws and regulations. If you program your vehicle to obey the law, its not going to run over pedestrians or crash into other automobiles, Soriano said.

Communications technology monitored by a remote operator that could take immediate control of the car would be required.

The proposals also include regulations that could eventually result in deployment of driverless taxis and driverless vehicles for sale to the general public.

But some tough provisions in the earlier proposals have been softened or removed. Rather than seek special permission from each locality a driverless car passes through, a testing company merely needs to inform each locality of its plans. Instead of working out an emergency plan with each law enforcement and first responder unit that might be involved, the testers instead can file a communications plan.

The original regulations demanded that data be turned over to law enforcement after a crash. Thats been scrapped, though Soriano said testers are still subject to subpoena.

California has taken a big step, said Bryant Walker Smith, an expert in autonomous vehicle law at the University of South Carolina. As I understand them, the DMVs rules are a sea change from what was proposed.

The new proposed autonomous-vehicle regulations are a positive step for the California DMV, said Grayson Brulte, an autonomous technology consultant in Beverly HIlls. The new proposed autonomous vehicle regulations clearly demonstrate the state of Californias commitment to the development and advancement of autonomous vehicle technology.

Brad Stertz, director of government affairs for Audi in Washington, D.C., lauded the DMV for striking a delicate balance between safety and technology.

Not everyone is thrilled, though. The new rules are too industry-friendly and dont adequately protect consumers, said John Simpson of Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog.

Among the new proposals is a rule that bars advertisements that mislead customers about a cars autonomous capabilities.

If you use terms that imply that a vehicle is autonomous and its not, we would consider that an advertising misstatement, Soriano said.

In earlier proposals the DMV singled out names such as autopilot as possible violations. This time, we are not calling out specific terms, Soriano said.

A spokeswoman for Tesla, whose cars are fitted with a semi-autonomous system called Autopilot, said the company appreciated that the DMV had refined its proposed regulations since last years draft.

We are also pleased that the DMV removed the proposed restrictions around use of the name Autopilot. Our customers have made clear that they understand Autopilots intended use.

russ.mitchell@latimes.com

Twitter: @russ1mitchell

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3:45 p.m.: This article was updated with a comment from Audi.
The Trump administrations determination to roll back regulations protecting the environment, voting rights and financial services consumers has been drawing most of the publics attention. But a stunningly swift and thorough deregulatory campaign is happening elsewhere in Washington: at the Federal Communications Commission.

Under its new chairman, the Republican former telecommunications industry attorney Ajit Pai, the FCC has cancelled, suspended or stayed a whole checklist of consumer-friendly regulations affecting broadband services, telecommunications, video content and customer privacy rights. Consumer advocates say the consequences may include higher rates for Internet service, less privacy for customers going online and a narrower choice of content.

In what may be his most far-reaching act, Pai announced Feb. 27 that the FCC would take a hands-off approach to the AT&T-Time Warner merger, an $85-billion deal between a content distributor and content producer that could remake both industries. That leaves jurisdiction over the merger to the Department of Justice, which is unlikely to block it. President Trump has said he opposes the merger, but he also held a closed-door meeting with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson just before the inauguration, so whether he will intervene to block the deal remains unknown.

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Saying, [regulation] is going to slow down our incentive to invest is everybodys first line of defense...Its balderdash.  Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler

As an FCC commissioner since 2012, Pai consistently expressed skepticism about FCC initiatives aimed at protecting network neutrality, which prohibits Internet service providers, or ISPs, from favoring particular content, especially video or data from sources able to pay for preferential treatment  or fast lanes  into subscribers homes. Hes the ultimate free-market warrior, arguing that the FCC shouldnt interfere with broadband firms initiatives to compete by almost any means. Critics say that without regulation, there will be less customer choice, not more, and that big mergers will eventually sap the incentive to provide the fastest and cheapest services.

Within days of his appointment as FCC chairman on Jan. 22, Pai began what Id characterize as a radical reversal of initiatives going back decades, says Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a veteran telecommunications consumer advocate.

Pai hasnt wasted any time getting started. Since he already was an FCC commissioner, his elevation to the chairmanship didnt require Senate confirmation. Further, many of the initiatives Pai targeted had been implemented fairly recently by former Chairman Tom Wheeler, so under federal administrative procedures they could be rolled back. Other regulatory orders had been launched by Wheeler and his Democratic majority but not completed, so they could simply be withdrawn. Roughly a dozen were set aside on a single day  Friday, Feb. 3  in what consumer advocates have taken to calling the Friday night massacre.

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn issued an immediate howl of protest.

Today, she stated, multiple bureaus retract  without a shred of explanation  several items released under the previous administration that focus on competition, consumer protection, cybersecurity and other issues core to the FCCs mission. But since Clyburn is currently the only Democrat on the commission  Wheeler resigned prior to the inauguration and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcels reappointment to a second term has been withdrawn by Trump  her objection was unavailing.

Theyre taking the vaunted weed-whacker  a term Pai himself used to signify his approach to deregulation  at whatever targets they can get at now, said Matt Wood, policy director for the advocacy group Free Press.

Among the initiatives reversed was one designating nine companies as lifeline broadband providers to bring high-speed Internet to indigent households at a bargain rate under a newly expanded federal subsidy program. Pai also withdrew the FCCs defense of its own regulation limiting phone charges for prison inmates, which has been challenged in court. That forced consumer advocates, who say phone companies profiteer off inmate calls, to take over the legal defense.

Another major action came March 1, when the FCC suspended a rule giving broadband customers enhanced privacy rights against Internet service providers. Under the rule, ISPs would need customers express permission to use customers personal data, including their browsing history, to sell them services or to market their data to other companies. Nine telecom lobbying groups argued that the rule would put them in an unfair competitive position and confuse customers because it was stricter than a privacy rule applied to Internet companies such as Google and Amazon by the Federal Trade Commission.

The commission saw things the industrys way. The stay order reiterated the position of Michael ORiely, one of two sitting Republicans on the panel, that there is no benefit to be gained from increased regulations. Once again, Clyburn was the dissenter: With a stroke of the proverbial pen, she stated, the same agency that should be the cop on the beat when it comes to ensuring appropriate consumer protections is leaving broadband customers without assurances that their providers will keep their data secure.

Pai didnt respond directly to my request for an interview, but he hasnt been shy about explaining his rationale for deregulation: The FCCs heavy hand has suppressed broadband investment in the U.S. He points the finger at the commissions 2015 reclassification of broadband service as a utility. That gave the FCC legal authority to prohibit unfair treatment of competing content companies, data throttling and other anti-consumer practices.

Our new approach injected tremendous uncertainty into the broadband market, Pai told a mobile industry gathering in Barcelona on Feb. 28. He claimed that 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.

This would be interesting, if true. But theres no hard evidence that the new regulatory regime produced a material decline in broadband investment. Broadband capital investment declined 1.3% in 2015 compared with 2014, according to the industry lobbying group USTelecom  to $76 billion in 2015 from $77 billion in 2014. That seems a meager basis to justify wholesale deregulation.

USTelecom says it doesnt have capital investment figures yet for 2016. But last year major broadband companies reported stable or increased investment, rather than a pullback. Comcast NBCUniversal, the biggest broadband company, says it spent $7.6 billion on cable network infrastructure last year, up about 8% from $7 billion spent in 2015. AT&T says it recorded $21.5 billion in capital expenditures in 2016, compared with $21.2 billion in 2014 and $19.2 billion in 2015. Verizons capital spending declined about 4% last year compared with 2015, but the companys spending has been fixed at 13.5% of revenue year after year, so that may have more to do with the reduction than any panic over FCC regulation.

If theres a reason that broadband providers arent investing even more on building out their networks and improving service, its because they dont face a competitive incentive to do so. Cable-based broadband companies such as Comcast and Charter are near-monopolies in their service areas. When Googles fiber initiative secured the right to bring its hyperspeed Internet service to Atlanta, AT&T and Comcast leaped into action, offering city residents competitive 1-gigabit speeds that they hadnt bothered to roll out until then. But that sort of rivalry is rare in the U.S., thanks to our permissive merger oversight. So much of the country is saddled with slow, expensive service.

No one knows this better than Wheeler, Pais predecessor as FCC chairman. A former telecommunications lobbyist himself, Wheeler saw through the industry argument that regulation harms investment. Since the FCC strengthened its network neutrality rules in 2015, he told telecommunications expert Susan Crawford in a public discussion last month, broadband investment is up, fiber connections are up, usage of broadband is up, investment in companies that use broadband is up, and revenues in the broadband providers are up, because people are using it more.

Saying, It is going to slow down our incentive to invest is everybodys first line of defense, he continued. Its balderdash.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltziks blog.
As the city debated slow-growth Measure S, developer Century West Partners refused to buy land that would need special exemptions to build, fearful the two-year moratorium on such projects would pass.

This week, the Los Angeles initiative went down to a resounding defeat at the polls, losing by more than a 2-to-1 margin. Now if a broker called with such a deal, Century West may bite.

We are going to answer the phone, said Kevin Farrell, the chief operating officer of Century West, which has built about 1,000 housing units in Los Angeles over the last four years.

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But Farrell and other developers said they arent taking the vote as a mandate to go on an acquisition and building spree. Instead, they said voters simply rejected an extreme measure amid a housing shortage  but one that exposed deep resentment among Los Angeles residents.

It reminds us to step carefully, Farrell said.

Going forward, he and others said theyd more carefully scrutinize potential deals to ensure the community and the local City Council member is on board, especially for developments that need council approval.

In part, thats because council members themselves are likely to looker closer after an uproar from some of their constituents, said Bob Champion, a Los Angeles developer currently asking for a zoning change to build a large mixed-use complex in Hollywood that would require the demolition of rent-controlled apartments.

Champion said he agreed before the Measure S vote to allow existing tenants the option to live at his new project at Yucca Street and Argyle Avenue at their current rents. He also said that while the project is being built, he would pay the difference between tenants current rent and the rent at whatever temporary place they find in the area.

He said he sees such an offer as a model going forward if he proposes a similar project.

The truth is every council district is run by the councilman and the councilman has the ultimate ability to fight any projects, Champion said. I dont think the failure of Measure S meant that people want more density.

But more density is exactly what many in the business community believe Los Angeles needs to thrive.

Measure S got walloped and that was the fate it deserved, said longtime developer and Los Angeles Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff. You dont put our economy on moratorium.

Shiraz Tangri, a land-use attorney with Meyers Nave, said most people understand development equals more jobs and more housing. He said politicians can point to the vote as a way to support policies that would allow increased density as a way to ease the housing crunch.

Southern California understands we got to build our way out of this, he said.

How much of that is true is hard to know, even though the debate over Measure S became one that pitted a taller, denser future against a more suburban ideal. A day after the election, the Los Angeles County registrar of voters said turnout in the city was likely the lowest ever recorded.

Still, the uncertainty over what will be welcomed both by politicians and the community is something developers said they want to end. Its also something Measure S attempted to address.

The initiative would have placed a two-year moratorium on zone changes or height district changes, while permanently barring, for individual projects, general plan amendments typically needed for a land-use change such as building homes in a manufacturing district.

Proponents of the measure said the City Council too often approved such exemptions for deep-pocketed campaign contributors who wanted to build out-of-scale luxury developments. Opponents countered the moratorium and amendment ban would slash housing construction of all types, jacking up home prices and rents in the process.

But the moratorium was also designed to push the city to update its outdated community plans, 35 documents that govern what can be built and where. Most are more than 15 years old and developers say thats why they often need exemptions for projects that are economically viable today.

Real estate broker Mark Tarczynski of Collliers International, who helps developers get city approval for projects, said Measure S was too far-reaching, like taking a sledge hammer to kill a fly.

It did, however, illuminate how important it is that the city update its zoning codes so developers wouldnt have to go into a council persons office on bended knee and pray for his support.

Shortly before the election, the City Council raced to start updating the plans, aiming to have each done by 2024. Both proponents of Measure S and developers say they want the council to follow through on that goal, though many who rallied around the measure probably would disagree with the community plans sought by business groups.

But Farrell of Century West said builders want that battle settled at the community plan level, not when individual projects arise.

Nothing is better for us than having a fully vetted community plan thats been through the war and everyones weighed in, he said. That is all we can ask. We dont go in and buy a site to pick a fight.

Developer Sonny Astani, who has built about 7,500 apartments and has three projects underway, said he also hopes the failed measure will spur an update of community plans so that developers can color within those lines and avoid lawsuits.

The tumor is still there, Astani said. The opposition has woken up so now we have to make truce. Weve got to sit down and work with planners to get something that works for everyone.

andrew.khouri@latimes.com

roger.vincent@latimes.com
Rookie doctors can work up to 24 hours straight under new work limits taking effect this summer  a move supporters say will enhance training and foes maintain will do just the opposite.

A Chicago-based group that establishes work standards for U.S. medical school graduates has voted to eliminate a 16-hour cap for first-year residents. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education announced the move Friday as part of revisions that include reinstating the longer limit for rookies  the same maximum allowed for advanced residents.

An 80-hour per week limit for residents at all levels remains in place under the new rules.

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Dr. Anai Kothari, a third-year resident on a council panel that recommended the changes, says he only occasionally works 24-hour shifts. The extra hours give him time to finish up with patients instead of being sent home in the middle of a case, said Kothari, who works at Loyola University Medical Center near Chicago.

But first-year resident Dr. Samantha Harrington thinks it will endanger the safety of residents and patients.

Harrington says her 14-hour shifts this winter at Cambridge Hospital near Boston are already plenty long. To stay awake while driving home after work, she sometimes rolls down the window to let the freezing air blast her in the face.

Harrington says the grueling hours are based on a patriarchal hazing system, in which longtime physicians think, I went through it, so therefore you have to go through it too. She is a member of the Committee of Interns and Residents, a union group that opposes the work-shift changes. So does the American Medical Student Assn.

Dr. Kelly Thibert, the groups president, says putting a 16-hour cap on all residents work shifts would be a safer way to even the playing field.

There are more than 120,000 U.S. doctors-in-training including rookies.

The accreditation council has for years wrestled with ensuring that doctors are adequately trained but not over-worked.

The 1984 death of an 18-year-old college student in a New York hospital while under the care of medical residents working long hours put a national spotlight on the issue. Medication error and inadequate supervision were cited in that case, which prompted a lengthy investigation and state limits for residents work hours.

In 2003, the council implemented national standards that established the 24-hour shift cap and 80-hour work week for all residents. After an Institute of Medicine report raised additional safety concerns about sleep-deprived residents, the council in 2010 shortened work shift caps for first-year residents to 16 hours and strongly recommended strategic napping.

Critics of the shorter limit said it short-changed rookie doctors. Dr. Karl Bilimoria, a Northwestern University surgery professor, said some residents have complained that theyve had to leave work in the middle of surgeries.

Bilimoria led a study published last year suggesting that first-year residents could work longer without endangering patient safety or their own well-being. The research was among published findings that helped persuade the panel to recommend lifting the 16-hour cap. The councils board approved the recommendation in a vote last month. The group delayed announcing the vote until its annual education conference, which ends Sunday in Orlando, Fla.

We all agree that nobody wants tired physicians, said Dr. Rowen Zetterman, board chairman.

He said the new rules give training programs more flexibility, help eliminate abrupt handoffs of patients and will enhance teamwork among new doctors and their supervisors. The rules say rookie doctors must have supervisors nearby, and those more experienced doctors can step in if a new resident is exhausted, Zetterman said.

U.S. doctor training generally includes an undergraduate science-related degree followed by four years of medical school. After that, newly minted doctors pursue several years of on-the-job training as medical residents, usually in hospitals. Fellowships or extra training in medical specialties may follow after that.

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The Republican-controlled House voted late Thursday to approve the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act, which purports to protect consumers but does the opposite by making it harder for people to join class-action lawsuits.

The legislation is among a handful of bills that Republican lawmakers have rushed through the House Judiciary Committee in recent weeks while the attention of the public and press has been elsewhere (read: the presidents Twitter feed).

Each bill addresses some aspect of the legal system that businesses find bothersome but that consumer advocates say fosters accountability.

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Ironically, Thursdays vote on class actions came during National Consumer Protection Week, which the Federal Trade Commission says is intended to celebrate empowered consumers.

Robert Weissman, president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, said the actions of Republican lawmakers speak much louder than the FTCs words.

People assume they can get their day in court, he told me. If theyre injured, they can get redress. What these bills are about is stripping people of that right.

Thats not how the authors of the various bills tell it, of course. They say theyre fighting the good fight on behalf of beleaguered citizens.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee and author of the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act, told me his bill is intended to provide Americans with an efficient and just legal system.

Frivolous lawsuits have no place in our legal system, and the true victims of frivolous lawsuits are often small businesses and individuals who cannot afford to fight these claims, he said.

Apparently this is an extremely urgent issue because Goodlatte introduced his bill only a month ago. It was approved by his committees Republican majority less than a week later without any public hearings or debate.

The legislation ... addresses the abuses within our civil justice system, helps ensure that baseless lawsuits are quickly dispensed with and improves protections for deserving victims so the doors to justice remain open for parties with legitimate claims, Goodlatte said.

What it really does is impose strict new rules on class actions that make them a lot harder to get off the ground. Not surprisingly, the bill is strongly supported by the business-boosting U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has spent millions lobbying on its behalf.

The legislations key provision would allow a class to be certified  that is, to receive court approval for plaintiffs to band together  only if all members suffered the same type and scope of injury as the named class representative.

Thats a spectacularly unfair stipulation for a bill claiming to be all about fairness.

Take air bags. Lets say the originator of a class-action lawsuit was severely injured by an exploding air bag. If Goodlattes bill were law, the only people who could join the suit would be people who received similarly extensive harm.

Someone who sustained lesser or different injuries probably wouldnt qualify for the case.

Classes typically include a range of individuals who almost never suffer precisely the same degree of injury, said Christine Hines, legislative director for the National Assn. of Consumer Advocates.

If membership in class actions became as narrowly defined as Goodlattes bill envisions, she said, far fewer people would be able to participate in seeking redress for defective products or unfair business practices.

Thats why the legislation is opposed by dozens of consumer, civil rights, labor and environmental groups, which said in a letter to the Judiciary Committee that it would obliterate class actions in America.

The shame of it is that Goodlattes bill also contains some thoughtful provisions, such as limiting lawyers payouts to a reasonable percentage of whatever plaintiffs are awarded. Often, attorneys walk off with a big chunk of the cash and leave individual class members with relatively little.

But these worthwhile ideas are far outweighed by the ridiculous same scope of injury provision.

On Friday, the House is scheduled to take up another bill rapidly green-lighted by Goodlattes committee  the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act from Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas). It would impose mandatory fines on lawyers if a judge determines a case to be meritless. Judges currently have the discretion not to levy penalties in such instances and to just dismiss the lawsuit.

Smith told me his bill would serve as a disincentive for lawyers to file junk lawsuits.

Democratic lawmakers say the legislation, which also was championed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, could deter lawyers from taking on complex cases that require novel legal arguments, which often are the basis of civil-rights disputes.

Another bill thats been approved by the Judiciary Committee and still awaits a turn on the House floor is the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act from Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas).

He told me his legislation is intended to prevent double dipping by people submitting more than one claim for asbestos-related harm. It would do this by requiring publication of claimants personal information and work history.

Critics say the bill uses the prospect of non-existent fraud to make the claims process so onerous and so invasive for victims that the payments will be delayed ... or victims will be deterred from filing claims entirely, according to the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.

Put it all together and youve got a bunch of busy-beaver conservative lawmakers quietly, and quickly, pushing through business-backed legislation that failed for years to get anywhere under a Democratic president. The bills now stand a better-than-fair chance of being signed into law by President Trump.

Backers of these bills are able to introduce and ram through such pernicious legislation  and then sleep at night  because they dont talk to those affected, dont listen to their stories, dont grapple with the real-life impact of their actions, Public Citizens Weissman said.

Our legal system is far from perfect and, yes, there are abuses of class actions and damages claims. But significantly tilting the playing field in favor of businesses doesnt improve things.

Consider recent fraud and defective-product scandals involving Wells Fargo, Volkswagen and air bag maker Takata. Consumers and employees responded with class-action lawsuits.

Anyone think those cases are frivolous?

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
Two businessmen are staring at Jim Broadbent. Theyre trying not to be obvious, sneaking glances at the tall 67-year-old British actor as he sips a glass of orange juice at the Soho Hotel here. but they clearly know his face. After Broadbent leaves, the men lean over and ask, Whats he called again?

And thats the thing about Jim Broadbent: You know his face, certainly, but hes not the sort of actor who gets by on the celebrity of his name.

Even when hes leading a film, as he does in the new movie The Sense of an Ending, the actor sinks himself into the role so deeply that its not so much about Broadbent the man as it is about his character. Hes always been that way, whether its starring in the British drama Longford or as the devious Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! or the nervous Professor Horace Slughorn in the Harry Potter films. Among his acting honors is a supporting actor Oscar for the 2001 film Iris.

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The initial idea, when I left college and started out, was that I didnt fall into any particular category, Broadbent reflects in a recent interview. Which, in some ways, was difficult because people couldnt understand where to put me. There wasnt an easy casting choice for me. So I consciously made a career being as varied as possible.

The range of his work is startling, even for a British character actor. After Sense of an Ending, for example, hell be in a childrens film (Paddington 2) and in the upcoming season of HBOs mega-hit Game of Thrones (he cant say much about that).

Notes Broadbent: Im from a middle-class background and went to private school. I made a conscious decision that I could also be happy playing working-class characters and investigators, and I could do a Northern accent or a London one. I became concentrated on character acting, being able to do a range of things. That put me in good stead later on.

Broadbent has been working as a professional thespian since he graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972. He exited with one major goal in mind: One of my criteria for myself when leaving drama school was, Ill do any job where Ill learn something I havent learned before. In whatever aspect that is  working with different people, doing different kinds of theater, working in front of a television camera or a film camera. If it was going to be a new experience I would do it. That still stands. You want to get as many strings to your bow as possible.

That sensibility comes through in The Sense of an Ending, which is adapted from Julian Barnes 2011 novel of the same name and which opened Friday. The slim tome is a beautifully wrought exercise in late-life existentialism. It asks whether our perception of history is right, and grapples with what we should do if it turns out to be wrong.

Broadbent was offered the lead role of Anthony Webster before the script, penned by Nick Payne, was even finished. He was sold on the description of the story and the prospect of working with director Ritesh Batra, who was then best-known for his 2013 film The Lunchbox, a comedy about Mumbais elaborate lunch delivery systems.

He was someone I didnt know at all, but then I saw his film and thought, Yeah, Id love to work with him, Broadbent says. I read the novel before I read the script. Im not sure if it was the right way to do it, but I think it worked out. You have to accept the script for what it is anyway. It does stand alone. I think it was useful reading the book and really getting insight into the character and the whole world.

The film, which also stars Charlotte Rampling, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Dockery, is largely faithful to the novel. It follows an aging, self-righteous Anthony as he paces slowly through his life. Hes divorced and struggles to connect with his pregnant daughter. Everything is shaken up when he receives a letter stating that his ex-girlfriends mother has bequeathed him some documents.

These bring about startling revelations about his youth and urges Anthony to reconsider the way certain events may have played out, flashing between his solitary adulthood and boyhood years in school in the 1960s. It was a narrative to which Broadbent immediately felt connected.

I just understood him, the actor says of Anthony. Julian Barnes writing is so impeccable and it conjured up that world. And I think I was contemporaneous with the character. I knew and understood that dynamic. I understood the character, really, and his vulnerabilities and his arrogance. I knew him. Thats something I looked forward to getting into. He adds, I get more and more picky. It was so lovely to get something that was absolutely something I havent done before and that was of this quality and grown-up.

Its the sort of movie thats quiet and introspective. It moves slowly and carefully, allowing Anthony space to consider how his life has played out. What if one action, which you believed happened in a certain way, wasnt at all what it had seemed? How do you reconcile that now?

Broadbents subtle performance stood out to his director, who said the actors work as Anthony allows the eventual revelations of the film to resonate more strongly.

When I was working with Jim I was really struck by how every beat of every scene we worked on felt like a pebble in clear water  simple, honest, unaffected and true, Batra says. Jim is not there to perform; he is there with his craft and alluring presence to tell the truth in the simplest of ways.

Since completing The Sense of an Ending in 2015, Broadbent has been busy, as usual. He filmed a movie called Black 47, as well as scenes for the upcoming Paddington 2 last year. He also shot a mysterious role for the new season of Game of Thrones.

I dont think Im allowed to say anything, the actor says with a laugh. Being on the show hadnt occurred to me. I havent been watching. [But] it seemed like a good thing to be part of, a bit like when I was asked to be in Harry Potter. Youre like, Oh, thats something good to get ticked off.

Next up Broadbent is in talks to star alongside Michael Caine, Michael Gambon and Ray Winstone in a film based on the so-called Diamond Geezers, about a gang of elderly London robbers who caused a lot of news commotion in 2015. When the story came out originally I thought, Oh, that sounds like a nice job! I can imagine theyll make a film of that. I wonder if it will come my way, Broadbent notes. And then it has.

calendar@latimes.com
In the alarmingly beige conference room of a Beverly Hills hotel, the man who helped launch six princesses, more than a dozen musical films, and a national songbook of singalongs sits down at a piano.

And immediately beige is no longer accurate.

With just a few immediately evocative chords from Oscar-, Grammy- and Tony-winning composer Alan Menken, an equally familiar voice rises in glorious crescendo.

Perfect adored paragooooon, sings Josh Gad with that unmistakable combination of bravado and vibrato. Its a sound he honed as Elder Cunningham in the original Broadway production of The Book of Mormon, made ubiquitous with his portrayal of Frozens beloved snowman Olaf and now brought to Disneys new live action film Beauty and the Beast.

Gad, of course, is neither Beauty nor the Beast; hes singing LeFou, the bumbling buddy of the storys self-obsessed villain Gaston, played by Luke Evans, who gamely answers the musical call and harmonizes with Gads high note.

We live in the clouds, Gad jokes about their range. The many fans already following the duos singing Instagrams will not be surprised to know that the Evans and Gad pairing has already been praised as the films standout performance.

But before they can get into the next verse Evans stops; hes forgotten the chorus. So whats the line? he asks. No ones quick as Gaston, no ones thick as Gaston?

Menken, at the piano, shoots Evans a phony look of disbelief, and loudly reminds the room that hed handed out the lyrics to everyone earlier. The composer, of course, not only wrote the score for Beauty and the Beast (with lyrics by the late Howard Ashman), but also The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Enchanted, Little Shop of Horrors and many others.

I dont know the lyrics because I dont sing them, Evans pleads. Gad, as helpful as his on-screen character, rapidly recites the lyrics from his villainous tribute.

Its a chain reaction that brings Menken back to the piano, and Evans into full Gaston mode. Chest out, head back, he blossoms into a man who most certainly would use antlers in all of his decorating. And, sheesh, were his shoulders this big a moment ago?

The magic is real; it feels like a rowdy 17th century tavern in here, if only for a while. That has been the concern all along, whether the live action film could recapture the thrill of the original film. From the moment Menkens swirling, delicate refrain danced with the foreboding bass of the animated films prologue, the audience knew something special was coming. Twenty-five years later, that same feeling of anticipation is back, conjured, with the aid of one piano, by three guys in a conference room having a grand time talking about the next generation of Beauty and the Beast.

Because if its not baroque

This is a musical brain trust, Luke Evans, Josh Gad and Alan Menken the Disney legend, the Broadway legend

Evans: Oscar-winning Tony-winning.

Gad: You are, youre a legend. Youre more than that. How many awards do you have, can you even count them at this point?

Menken: Awards in total?

Gad: Yes. And they can include high school awards. Youve got to be a Guinness record holder.

Menken: All Ill say is I do not have the E from EGOT. Except I have an honorary E. And I got an R for Razzie. Worst song of the year!

Gad: Somehow all Ive got is the G. I won the Grammy and nothing else.

Menken: You didnt get the Tony for Mormon?

Gad: We dont talk about it. Moving on. Moving on.

Menken: You damn well shouldve.

Gad: Oh I love you, Menken.

A clip from the live-action adaptation "Beauty and the Beast" featuring Josh Gad as LeFou and Luke Evans as Gaston. (Disney)

What was it like seeing the characters you wrote music for in the flesh on screen singing your music?

Menken: It was great, it was amazing. It's been a long process and we turned into kind of the Beauty and the Beast family. It's wonderful, it's ... A dream come true.[Begins to hum and play the piano]

Josh and Luke, how did it feel when you found out you were going to perform Menkens music?

Gad: I was 10 years old when Beauty and the Beast came out. The distinct, vivid memory that I have is sitting in a theater in South Florida, and the audience breaking out into applause at the end of Gaston, at the end of Be Our Guest and, of course, at the end of the ballroom dance of Beauty and the Beast. And that left this indelible impression on me. Those songs are the soundscape to my childhood, and now to my own kids. So being able to bring one to life is incredible.

Evans: I was 12 years old. I came out [of the movie] humming the tunes, didnt know the lyrics. Waited for the album to come out, got my mum to buy it for me. Read the little booklet, learned all the songs and then the show came out, the Broadway show. It came to London, I saw it opening night. So its part of my life the whole way through. It is like a soundtrack to ones life, isn't it?

Is there a particular line that you sing that made you feel like a kid again while you were singing?

Evans: Mine has to be, [sings] Im especially good at expectorating

Menken: Tooey! Ten points for Gaston!

Gad: I remember the first time practicing, when I found out I got the role. The first time I rehearsed it by myself, I was in my office and I was singing it. I had a friend, Rory OMalley, staying above me on the second floor. He comes downstairs and he goes, Thats such an interesting audition song to choose. What are you singing for? And I go, Actually playing LeFou in the new Beauty and the Beast.

It was so out of body and surreal to be singing this song that I grew up so reverential of, and the songs that you and Howard wrote. Whether it's Gaston, whether it's Be Our Guest, or whether it's, Friend Like Me, or Part of your World, those songs take you to a place and a time, and I can remember every screening that I went to of each of those movies. Those songs defined that experience. So thank you, Menken. You deserve all 3,000 awards that you've won. Am I in the right ballpark?

Menken: Give or take.

Luke Evans plays Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. (Laurie Sparham)

What does it take to write a great villain song?

Menken: Stay true to character and stay true to the story. You dont think villain song," you think its a song for this character whos got this emotion, who's got this intention. And you have to think, is it going to be a song like Hellfire, [from The Hunchback of Notre Dame], which is not comedic in the slightest, or is it going to be like Gaston or the Dentist song from Little Shop [of Horrors], which intend to be hilarious. Villains always come in a lot of shapes and sizes and just got to serve you well.

Evans: Thats right. Serve me well.

Gad: The first villain song that I remember seeing in a Disney movie was actually Ursulas in Little Mermaid. [Sings] Im afraid in the past Ive been a baddie. Na na na na ... well a witch. Which when you play it off the piano sounds like something you would hear at a temple on Yom Kippur. At that time, I feel like there werent a lot of villain songs. Was that a new sort of twist that you guys played?

Menken: There werent a lot of theatrically structured Disney animated movies, or hadn't been for a generation. So in reaching out to Howard Ashman, and me, to come and do Little Mermaid, there was overt desire to have musical theater transferred to Disney. Certainly there was a lot of music-theater smarts in Pinocchio or other Disney classics, but we were a different generation. I always say I think Little Mermaid is Howards and my follow-up to Little Shop of Horrors. Some people call Part Of Your World, Somewhere Thats Wet. We kind of delved into, What is the Disney ethos? Part of the Disney ethos is bringing in very specific musical styles. So for Mermaid we brought the sea shanty to Brecht and Weill for that scene. Thats really what Poor Unfortunate Souls is, very Brecht and Weill. German cabaret and calypso.

Evans: Do you remember which song you wrote first [for Beauty and the Beast]?

Menken: I think it was Belle and Howard was terrified. Howard did not want to send the song on to Disney. He said, Who asked for a six and half minute opening number? Are we crazy? He literally said, This is going to get around, people are going to laugh at us. I said, I think its really good, Howard. I think its really good. He was tearing his hair out. And in those days you couldnt just send an MP3 and an hour later, Oh my God, its great! You stuck it in the mail and waited. And they loved it. I believe that was the first one. That and Be Our Guest.

Luke Evans as Gaston, left, and Josh Gad as LeFou in Beauty and the Beast. (Laurie Sparham)

Theres lots of new music in the live action film. The Beast has a new song and Belle has a song and Gaston has a song. But LeFou doesnt have a song.

Gad: Yeah, whats that about? Ive been meaning to ask you the same thing.

Menken: Well

Gad: You were holding it for the sequel.

Menken: Im writing a whole musical for you, Josh. Were doing a project that is actually a Josh Gad vehicle.

But what would a LeFou song sound like, what do you think he would want?

Menken: You cant just serve characters. What you're serving is the story. Where would LeFous song moment be?

Gad: I know what it would be. [Sings] Food, glorious food.

Menken: Frankly, much of Gaston is LeFou.

Evans: And is sung by LeFou.

Gad: The reason that I did the movie is because that song is such, it really is a duet. Its an amazing duet, but its LeFous hero worship of this guy. Hes like a historian and celebrates this guys legacy and thats what makes it so funny. And thank you for raising it an octave for Luke and I, because now we have to sing it live all the time.

Evans: That is our own fault. The curse of the two tenors.

Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Luke Evans star in the live-action movie "Beauty and the Beast." (Walt Disney Pictures)

You revived a lot of old lyrics that were lost for this movie. What was that like hearing those lyrics again?

Menken: Great. That was great. And also, hearing at the end of the movie, the long lost verse from Beauty and the Beast that Howard wrote. Oh man.

I gotta say, [director] Bill Condon is really smart. Because it was really Bill who reached in and said, I want to do that. That was huge, Bill having that curiosity and willingness to open it up. There is a little treasure-trove of lost Ashman thats wonderful.

When youre actually filming Gaston what were the directors notes? Did he say, Dont worry about going too big? Whats the balance between villainy and comedy?

Evans: There was a lot of, there was a lot of

Gad: I think shes just saying we mugged it.

Evans: You mean we were theatrical about our performances? We had a lot of rehearsal. So we worked out the level and the size of our performances from the rehearsal room. Because it is a larger-than-life moment, in the film theres this huge group of people being rallied by one to make the ego of another feel grand. And so there is a very sort of jolly atmosphere in that room and everybodys had a beer or two and music is playing. I think we had a license to be a little larger than we would have been outside of the tavern because the tavern was a place of frivolity and happiness.

Gad: I remember one of my favorite songs growing up. Have you guys seen the original Petes Dragon? When they're going to the tavern and [Mickey Rooney is singing], A dragon, a dragon, I swear I saw a dragon. That sort of felt like that was the spirit of what we were doing. The song is so infectious that you want people to watch it and feel like they want to be in this tavern and jump onto the table and sing Gastons praises alongside you.

Menken: Also, Howards lyrics are hilarious. I actually found recordings of me working  because I used to keep them on cassette  and I get to, Every last inch of mes covered with hair. And I just crack up, I just stop. I use antlers in [all of my decorating]. Imagine, looking at that lyric for the first time. You had to know Howard too, he was just beating Gaston senseless. And it was delicious.

Its a very happy villain song as well, its hard not to get caught up in it.

Menken: You know it may be one of the happiest villain songs ever, its true.

Evans: I was watching the audience [at the recent premiere], everyones really into that scene. There were people just moving along. It just rouses everyone.

Menken: They love Gaston. They did applaud when you died.

Evans: They applauded when I died.

Gad: I led the applause.

Evans: You did. You whooped along. I didnt even hit the ground and you were already clapping.

Gad: My daughter said, Daddy, why are you laughing, hes horrible.

Evans: Right here [points to chest]. It was wonderful.

meredith.woerner@latimes.com

Twitter: @MdellW

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Kristen Stewart settles into a chair and trains her piercing, kohl-rimmed eyes on you. The best actress of her generation  as Olivier Assayas declared after directing her to a Cesar Award for their film Clouds of Sils Maria  was until a few minutes ago pantless, but now wears slim jeans and a white T-shirt. A delicate padlock on a gold chain from a just-concluded photo shoot still dangles around her neck.

Shes the loneliest person Ive ever played, Stewart says, diving into conversation about her new film, Personal Shopper, and her character, Maureen, a haunted stylist to the stars who spends her days motoring from one Paris couture house to the next for her famous client while mourning the loss of her twin brother.

Its her second film with French auteur Assayas, and a mesmeric showcase for the Twilight star turned art house darling to whom stratospheric fame has lent an air of mystique, at once open and eternally unknowable.

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Caught between two worlds, Stewarts character in the stylish, psychological thriller is a high-fashion buyer who spends her free time chasing her brothers ghost around Paris, desperate to know if theres more beyond.

She is unique! . . . She has this extraordinary combination of incredible control and simultaneous freedom.  Director Olivier Assayas on Kristen Stewart

There is this default reality that we all agree to live in with each other; she is not in it at all, Stewart says, brimming with overcaffeinated energy. And trust me, she would love to wake up in the morning and get coffee and be normal. She just has this preoccupation with these larger questions that dont have answers, and it trips her out to a point where she cant function.

A few years ago, Stewart admits, those kinds of paralyzing existential conundrums used to keep her up at night.

Ive had tastes of that kind of debilitating question spiral where you go, I cant know for certain whether or not were alone. I cant know whats going to happen to me when I die. I cant know whats going to happen tomorrow,  she says. But you never, ever will. Ive had bouts of anxiety where Im like, Oh my God, how can we not know this and still carry on?

At 26, Stewart lives in a strange, rarefied reality. Shes starred in more than 35 films, headlined the $3.3 billion grossing Twilight franchise, topped Forbes list of Hollywoods highest-earning actresses and found herself in the paparazzi sights of more than her share of fame-fueled controversies by early adulthood.

I could have said queer. It would have been, maybe, more applicable.  Kristen Stewart on her SNL coming out

If anyone has earned the right to protect themselves from eyes that would pry into her private life, and perhaps even her soul, its Stewart.

Im constantly skirting people, she says, mimicking the head down, eyes averted posture she learned to adopt years ago, when fame showed up on her doorstep overnight. Im really good at avoiding peoples gaze, walking through any public space. I can literally sense when theres an energy to be avoided.

Still, even in Los Angeles shell occasionally find a new spot where no one cares that shes, well, Kristen Stewart.

You walk into a place and go, Wow, this is nice, no ones going to  with me here  maybe Ill even talk to somebody I dont know! she says, laughing. You feel it immediately. People dont suck everywhere.

On-screen and off Stewart has cultivated a defiantly iconoclastic confidence, as if released from the self-imposed anxiety of having to constantly protect herself. In interviews, that translates into the sense that shes always somehow speaking her unfiltered mind. In movies, it imparts the feeling that every performance is a window into the persona of Kristen Stewart.

1 / 6 Actress Kristen Stewart arrives at the premiere of the film Personal Shopper at the Carondelet House on March 7, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) 2 / 6 Kristen Stewart during promotion of her newest film, Personal Shopper, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 6 Director Kristen Stewart from the film, Come Swim, photographed in the L.A. Times photo studio, during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Jan. 20, 2017. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 6 Ask any pre-teen girl and theyll tell you Kristen Stewart has it made -- she clinched the coveted role of Bella in the blockbuster Twilight franchise, after all. But long before she was cast in the vampire romance, Hollywood had already taken note. From her breakthrough role opposite Jodie Foster in Panic Room to her nuanced performance in Sean Penns Into the Wild, we look back at Stewarts standout roles. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 6 (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Kristen Stewart was voted the least sexy Hollywood actress in a poll of British men in February 2013. The poll conducted on behalf of U.K. gadget website MenKind (presumably to lure folks into its selection of Tetris Mood Lights, Zombie Gnomes and Star Wars Jedi Dressing Gowns, items likely to land on a womans least-sexy list). 6 / 6 All those Chanel fashion shows she attended must have paid off. In December 2013, Kristen Stewart was named the new face of the iconic French fashion houses Metiers dArt Paris-Dallas collection campaign, shot by designer and creative director Karl Lagerfeld. The country-western-themed campaign is set for release in May 2014. (Cooper Neill / Getty Images for Chanel)

Rather than trying to show someone something, accidentally revealing something is so much more interesting, she explains. I always want to set myself up, to put myself within parameters so I can just completely lose it, so its always me. I cant bring anything other than myself.

Assayas, who debuted both of his films with Stewart in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, found her to be a fascinating presence ever since her Twilight days. He was inspired to write the character of Maureen, the emotionally isolated heroine of Personal Shopper, specifically for Stewart after watching her lose herself during the filming of Clouds of Sils Maria, in which she plays the assistant to Juliette Binoches mercurial actress character.

She is unique! Assayas raves in French-accented English, calling from his home in Paris a few days before Tuesdays Los Angeles premiere of Personal Shopper  where Stewart made headlines simply by debuting a newly shorn, platinum blond shaved head.

Id seen her in many films, but I always had the instinct that she could go much further, he adds. I tried to give her the message that it was OK to run, to be herself, to follow her instincts. She has this extraordinary combination of incredible control and simultaneous freedom. I have a hard time thinking of another actress who has a similar combination, and who knows that well how to use it.

Assayas even extols Stewarts thumb acting in one particularly tense Personal Shopper sequence in which Maureen receives a mysterious text message and is lured into a dangerous cat and mouse game with its unknown sender.

Even the stuff that she does when shes typing  shes acting, says Assayas, who filmed Stewarts texting replies in close-up, a tete-a-tete with a ghost in the machine.

Stewart, he says, is creating the film with me. Shes inventing the mood of the film, shes inventing the pace of the film  Im helping her fine-tune it but she follows me, and I follow her.

Its no coincidence that as Stewart has come into her power as a critically acclaimed indie star, shes also turned to directing, reaching inward for artistic inspiration. Her first short film, a 17-minute meditation on love and loneliness, was inspired by the poetry shed been writing for years, processing past experiences and lost loves.

I started reading everything that I had written over the past four or five years. I realized, she says, I had written the same poem over and over again  I was just trying to say the same thing in different iterations.

Come Swim premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, where Stewart was amused by the journalists who attempted to sleuth out which of her famous exes the film was about.

Ive had like three or four really public relationships, she says, laughing. Its all of them! I am only a sum of my experiences, so obviously I have something to do with those things.

The debut of her short film was overshadowed two weeks later when Stewart delivered her opening monologue as guest host of Saturday Night Live. Roasting President Trumps Twitter obsession over her relationship with Robert Pattinson years ago, Stewart made a surprise declaration to Trump and the world: Im, like, so gay, dude.

Stewart laughs, appreciative of the positive reception her SNL coming out received despite the fact that shes made no secret of her relationships with women over the years.

She pauses, searching for the words to convey the one lingering regret over that SNL line heard round the blogosphere.

Ive had tastes of that kind of debilitating question spiral where you go, I cant know for certain whether or not were alone.  Kristen Stewart, star of Personal Shopper

I dont like blanket terms, she says. Its too simplified. It would have been less effective to go up there and be like, Because Im really fluid  you know what I mean? I could have said queer. It would have been, maybe, more applicable. That word is for everything thats not completely heterosexual.

Perhaps were on the verge of a politically unbridled new phase for Stewart, who stays current on Trumps America via CNN alerts on her phone, and at Sundance joined the Womens March protesting in solidarity down Main Street. Shes already directed her next project, a musically oriented piece with the band Chvrches for Planned Parenthood.

I had been asking them to let me do something for them for a while, she says excitedly of the Scottish synth pop trio. Theyre so good. I ended up with a pretty simple but definitive narrative arc that highlights the cause in a sweet but quiet and confronting way.

Next for Stewart is a Lizzie Borden biopic she shot opposite Chloe Sevigny as the infamous hatchet woman, and a JT Leroy film in which shell play Savannah Knoop, the woman who posed publicly as the literary sensation later revealed to be a hoax.

I hope that goes soon, says Stewart. Its just such a crazy thing that happened to this girl who does something just to be involved and to have placement in the world, who loses herself completely and is the subject of mass criticism

First, shes off to New Orleans to film the Fox action picture Underwater, in which shell play the leader of a crew trapped beneath the ocean.

Its pretty epic, if we do it right. Its about a crew of people who find themselves in an imploded oil rig base they cant get out of, she says, but its a big movie that also functions like a stage play, which makes it more interesting.

And maybe down the line, another reunion with Assayas?

Even after doing Personal Shopper I have the sense that theres more to her, he says. Im not sure where the limits are. I think there are none.

Stewarts also game for a third collaboration. She does, after all, sport a permanent memento of their work together in the form of the tattoo she dreamed up for her Clouds of Sils Maria character, which she had etched onto her own forearm before Personal Shopper.

I thought if you put indicators of a personal life on her, youd be like, Who are you? But when I went home and it wasnt there anymore I was like, Thats mine. I want that, she explains of the piece, a partial replica of Picassos Guernica, the first piece of art that took her breath away in person.

Its the top of the painting  a sun  but nothing about the painting is illuminated, she explains, glancing down at the ink. The center of the sun sort of functions as a pupil, but the lights not on. Just open your eyes.

Its always going to be dark, Stewart adds, if your eyes are closed.

jen.yamato@latimes.com

@jenyamato

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Movie recommendations from critics Kenneth Turan, Justin Chang and other reviewers.

The Founder Michael Keaton gives a performance of ratty, reptilian brilliance as Ray Kroc, the American salesman who turned a California burger stand into the global fast-food behemoth that is McDonalds, in John Lee Hancocks shrewd and satisfyingly fat-free biopic. (Justin Chang) PG-13.

I Am Not Your Negro As directed by the gifted Raoul Peck, this documentary on James Baldwin uses the entire spectrum of movie effects, not only spoken language but also sound, music, editing and all manner of visuals, to create a cinematic essay that is powerful and painfully relevant. (Kenneth Turan) NR.

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La La Land Starring a well-paired Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, writer-director Damien Chazelles tuneful tribute to classic movie musicals is often stronger in concept than execution, but its lovely and transporting all the same. (Justin Chang) PG-13.

Land of Mine Explosive devices that can detonate at any moment are intrinsically dramatic, and this Danish World War II film makes good use of that plot mechanism, but it has a whole lot more going for it as well. (Kenneth Turan) R.

Manchester by the Sea Powerful, emotional filmmaking that leaves a scar, Kenneth Lonergans drama starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams is both heartbreaking and heartening, a film that just wallops you with its honesty, its authenticity and its access to despair. (Kenneth Turan) R.

Moonlight Superb filmmaking and an exceptional level of emotional honesty universalize a very specific coming-of-age experience, that of a gay black man growing from child to adult starting in 1980s Miamis crack cocaine epidemic years. (Kenneth Turan) R.

My Life as a Zucchini As unexpectedly wonderful as its title is initially perplexing, this fine Swiss stop-motion animation feature is short, but oh so satisfyingly bittersweet, an example of pure movie magic on more than one level. (Kenneth Turan) PG-13.

The Other Half Canadian filmmaker Joey Kleins impressive feature debut is a granular depiction of trauma, illness and protectiveness disguised as a love story and guided by a pair of intense portrayals from Tatiana Maslany and Tom Cullen. (Robert Abele) NR.

Personal Shopper Kristen Stewart gives her most accomplished screen performance to date in Olivier Assayas shivery paranormal thriller  a haunted-house movie, a murder mystery and, in many ways, Assayas most surprising film yet about the anxieties of modern life. (Justin Chang) R.

Raw A grossout that goes down like a delicacy, Julia Ducournaus exquisitely grisly writing-directing debut finds a ripe pubescent metaphor in the tale of a French teenager who develops an unexpected taste for human flesh. (Justin Chang)

Toni Erdmann Sandra Huller and Peter Simonischek give splendid performances as a high-strung businesswoman and her screw-loose dad in this magnificently unpredictable comedy from German writer-director Maren Ade. (Justin Chang) R.

The Womens Balcony An Israeli box-office hit about a Jerusalem clash of religious cultures, this is an unapologetically warm-hearted comedic drama, a fine example of commercial filmmaking grounded in a persuasive knowledge of human behavior. (Kenneth Turan) NR.

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The petitioners challenged the Constitutional amendment that enabled the government to make a special 10% quota for the advancement of any economically weaker section.
Outfest Fusion, a Hollywood film festival dedicated to images of LGBTQ people of color, was supposed to be an occasion of joy for Tehran-born director Pouria Heidary Oureh. But when his film Apricot Groves had its U.S. premiere during the festival that ran through Tuesday at the TCL Chinese Theatre, he was back in Iran, unable to take in the applause.

Heidary Oureh is one of a number of foreign-born filmmakers affected by the chill thats set in after Donald Trumps executive order barred travel to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries  reduced to six on Monday in a revised executive order that still includes Iran.

Last month, Syrian cinematographer Khaled Khateeb, of the short documentary The White Helmets, was refused entry into the United States to celebrate the films Oscar win, which was also Netflixs first Academy Award. This came after Iranian director Asghar Farhadi announced he was boycotting the ceremony where the picture he directed, The Salesman, won the Oscar for foreign film. Actress Taraneh Alidoosti, who starred in The Salesman, also didnt attend the awards. Trumps visa ban for Iranians is racist, Alidoosti wrote in a statement.

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We have always said that if we were to be nominated, we would bring Raed Saleh, the head of the White Helmets, who has spoken many times in D.C., and Khaled Khateeb, the young cinematographer who risked his life over and over again, as our guests, Joanna Natasegara, producer of The White Helmets told The Times shortly after the initial travel ban was announced. Theyve been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize  these people are the bravest humanitarians on the planet, and the idea that they could not be able to come with us and enjoy that success is just abhorrent.

Unlike Khateeb, Heidary Oureh was not officially denied entry to the U.S. But in an email interview a few days after his film screened at Outfest Fusion, the filmmaker told the L.A. Times how events after the original executive order affected his plans.

I was watching the news when I heard about the new law by President Trump and I was utterly shocked, he said. As The Salesman by Asghar Farhadi was in the Oscars, I followed the news concerning his attendance and thought there might be a way for other filmmakers and artists.

Asghars and Alidoostis boycott shook his resolve, but it was the action against Khateeb that affected him most.

After I heard [Khateeb], the Syrian filmmaker, had been denied a visa, I stopped trying to get one and lost hope.

The new ban, which takes effect March 16, halts travel to the U.S. for 90 days for residents of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The refugee suspension will last 120 days.

To get an American visa has always been difficult for Iranians, but banning entry is a kind of disrespect more than anything else, he said. There are good and bad people in all countries. I think we must pass laws out of respect for the good people.

What follows is an edited conversation with Heidary Oureh about becoming a filmmaker, about the travel ban, about expressions of support for immigrants from Hollywood figures, such as Meryl Streep, and his personal message for President Trump.

How did you become a filmmaker?

I was born in Tehran in 1984. After high school, I left Iran to continue my studies in Cyprus and the UAE and then worked on projects in Turkey and Iran to gain filmmaking experience. I traveled to many countries, mostly to Armenia because it is near Iran and does not require a visa [for] Iranians. Although Iran has always been my first home, Armenia has been my second home in the past few years. I have had only an Iranian passport.

At what point did you find out that your film was going to be screened at Outfest Fusion?

After sending the film to international festivals, we received the good news our film was chosen in Outfest Fusion. I was doubly happy when I heard it because my first short film had been chosen in Woodstock in New York and my cinema profession had started there in the U.S. in 2012. I had gotten a U.S. visa easily back then.

If you could say something to President Trump directly, what would you say?

Mr. President, I neither hate nor like you because I have not met you yet, and I know you have your own reasons for this law. What is clear, however, is that there are always good things in bad events. The good point about this law was that the kindness and love and altruism of the American people was proven to the world, and you created a support and bond between the people of the countries you banned from entering the U.S. and the American people.

Creation of that bond might have taken years by other methods. I read something interesting in the book Flashes of Wisdom by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, which I will never forget: It is easy to rule through fear, but it takes a rare leader to rule through love.

What has the support of Outfest Fusion and expressions from Hollywood stars like Meryl Streep about the important role of foreign filmmakers meant to you?

I would like to thank Outfest Fusion for choosing my film. Despite the difficulties I have faced since the start of shooting in Armenia because of the films LGBT theme, its presence in [the] festival encouraged me greatly. I thank all American artists who support their colleagues in the banned countries, and I kiss the hand of adorable Meryl Streep for all her support.

Times staff writers Libby Hill and Amy Kaufman contributed to this report.

Get your life! Follow me on Twitter (@TrevellAnderson) or email me: trevell.anderson@latimes.com.

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Hugh Jackman was no one when he was cast as Wolverine. He was 32 years old when X-Men debuted in theaters in 2000, just his third credited film role. Nearly overnight, the unknown Australian theater actor became the sometimes furry face of one of the most iconic comic book characters of all time.

In the 17 years since, he has donned the adamantium claws of Wolverine in nine different films in the X-Men franchise, embodying a role that requires all action and little talk. But with Logan, the latest chapter of the saga, Jackman reveals his characters most humane battle yet: aging.

The movie features Wolverine, a powerful mutant with regenerative healing abilities, grappling with mortality for the first time as he struggles with the reality that hes getting old.

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Theres something powerful about watching larger-than-life characters who, in some cases, audiences have grown up with. (Consider this: An 8-year-old who saw X-Men in 2000 is now 25.) Granted, its all make-believe, but we see their struggles on the screen as we go through our own.

Jackman is unique in the world of superheroes, even within his own franchise. The series did a nifty pivot with its characters in 2011s X-Men: First Class, a prequel set in the 1960s that seamlessly recast beloved characters such as Professor X and Magneto. Yet Wolverine, given his regeneration, remained the same.

Remember that, since 2000, there have been three different Spider-Men, two different Batmen (not counting the Lego variety) and two different Supermen. All of the versions of those iconic characters have struggled to interact with humanity, but only Wolverine has stared down the specter of death. (OK, OK. Superman flirted with death in the comics, but the topic has not been meaningfully explored in film. No, Batman v. Superman doesnt count.)

In Jackman, the X-Men franchise found an asset too valuable to recast and nearly impossible to replace, so it chose to pursue a storyline that explored what happens when a superhuman becomes less super and more human.

And it might not be alone. With 2018s Avengers: Infinity War, Robert Downey Jr. will enter his 10th year of depicting Iron Man, a similarly iconic character not so easily replaced. Or think about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, where revisiting Luke and Leia and Han was an act of nostalgia but also a harsh reminder that our favorite characters are not spared the ravages of time.

Perhaps were entering a new golden era of superheroes and Hollywood has finally found a way to make a band of untouchables just like the rest of us.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

libby.hill@latimes.com

@midwestspitfire
When Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuted on March 10, 1997, Los Angeles Times reviewer Howard Rosenberg described it as a way cooler, way funnier, way scarier version of the movie that inspired the TV series -- a show in which plots ... are secondary to fun. Of course, our Buffy did some growing up after the pilot.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is Clueless with teeth.

The WB network hopes to take a bite out of the competition with its way cooler, way funnier, way scarier weekly version of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer theatrical movie, memorable mainly for Paul Reubens (the former Pee-wee Herman) in fangs, Donald Sutherland lurking in a slouch hat and Luke Perry just barely avoiding the hickey of his life.

The new series is deliciously funny satirical gore, tracing the exploits of a 16-year-old high school girl (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who has the guile, strength and martial arts skills (to say nothing of an ever-present stake and cross hanging from her neck) to slay blood-guzzling vampires. Its a dirty job, you know, but somebody has to do it.

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Whats to worry about vampires? Buffy explains the concept: To make you a vampire, they have to suck your blood, and then you have to suck their blood. Its a whole big sucking thing.

Speaking of that, however, someone also must be sucking brain matter from the WB executives who scheduled this two-hour premiere at 8 p.m. (the regular time slot for the weekly hours is 9 p.m.). Even beyond its considerable violence, its vampires (much more heavily made up and menacing than their au naturel counterparts in the 1992 movie) could be terrifying to younger children.

In another example of TVs new content ratings being much too vague, the potentially frightening nature of the material is not at all clear from the relatively mild TV-PG that WB has applied to initial episodes of this series. TV-PG is shorthand meaning: The program may contain infrequent coarse language, limited violence, some suggestive sexual dialogue and situations.

If that is so, why did WB run a promo for the series (replete with those snarling, ghoulish images) last Thursday afternoon on its Kids WB! network, between benign cartoons aimed at young children? If WB executives are trying to entice callow young kids to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then a plague of boils on them. If not, then why deploy the scary promo when WB knows little kids are the predominant audience?

In either case, the offense spells irresponsibility.

The neck suckers in this comic thriller of a series may take themselves seriously, meanwhile, but at least Buffy slays with a sense of humor, thanks to the writing of series creator Joss Whedon and the talented Gellars easy grasp of parody and effortless execution of his lines. Theyre more clever than those Whedon wrote for the movie. Moreover, Gellars Buffy is better and edgier than Kristy Swansons in the movie.

Tonight finds Buffy and her mother as recent arrivals in Sunnydale. Adjusting is hard: new town, new school, new teens, new vampires, some of them secretly mingling with ordinary students who include Buffys close friends, the bookish Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and the loyal Xander (Nicholas Brendon), as well as nasty Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), the campus snot and Buffys biggest rival.

Willow and Xander know Buffy is a slayer, as does Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), the very droll, very British school librarian who, as one chosen to be a vampire watcher, guides and oversees Buffys activities.

They begin tonight after a students drained, alabaster-hued body is found in a school locker. Behind the ghastly blood work is the master, a vampire deluxe with an attitude and really bad skin problem. We watch him get ever pastier in his candle-lit underground chamber while awaiting offerings from his sub-vampires and pontificating endlessly: As it is written, so shall it be. That would freak out even Bela Lugosi.

We hear foreboding vampire talk of a harvest, a prophecy and the anointed, and in a coming episode Buffy is forced to choose between her social life and her higher calling as a slayer standing between these covens of darkness and the endangered residents of Sunnydale. But plots here are secondary to fun.

Why do the master and his toothy crowd spend much of their time slinking underground? Vampires really jam on sewer systems, explains Buffy, who is capable of breezy one-liners even while nailing her foes with a stake or taekwondo. And showing hes in touch, Whedon also includes some serious teen dialogue.

Owen: Hey.

Angel: Hey.

Still . . . theres something bothersome about the cross that makes the vampires in Buffy shrink in horror. As a non-Christian, I demand to know why a Jewish star doesnt also work. Perhaps, like TVs aged record of exposing young children to inappropriate promos, its a matter of irreversible tradition.

As it is written, so shall it be.

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Thanks to the farm-to-table movement and the work of a generation of chefs, cooks, farmers and other producers, weve opened the window to the source of much of our food. We often know the farm where the turnips and lettuces on our plate come from, the fields where the cows or sheep grazed, even the names of the chickens that laid our eggs. But this kind of traceability has been very slow to come to the seafood industry, which is notorious for being secretive and often fraudulent. A small group of fishermen and chefs has been working to fix this through their Dock to Dish program, adopting the methods and principles of the land movement and CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture, to bring that kind of transparency to the sea.

Started in 2012 in Montauk by fisherman Sean Barrett and chef Dan Barber, Dock to Dish connects fishermen to restaurants, markets and the public through a subscription service. The program has expanded to California, Costa Rica, Canada and the legendary fishing community of Gloucester, Mass. In Los Angeles, it is run out of chef Michael Cimarustis sustainable seafood shop, Cape Seafood and Provisions, on Fairfax Avenue.

Now the folks at Dock to Dish are developing a sophisticated tracking system that will allow people to monitor the seafood from the point that its caught, to shore and through its transportation to the restaurant or market where its sold. Its a level of transparency that will finally allow consumers to know exactly how  and from where and exactly when  the salmon and scallops and striped bass and rock fish on their plate got there.

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The future of sustainability is traceability, said Cimarusti the other day by phone from Cape Seafood. Cimarusti, who also owns and operates the lauded L.A. seafood restaurants Providence and Connie & Teds, has long been an advocate for the responsible sourcing of seafood. You want transparency. The seafood industry is already on the mat. Change starts on a small scale, but all good things do.

In an effort to get funding for the new system, which will monitor the seafood in real time and put the information on a dashboard on the Dock to Dish website, Dock to Dish has this month launched a Kickstarter campaign. Why crowd-funding?

Were a little bootstrap organization, said Barrett by phone from the East Coast. We want to remain independent; any time you accept funding from outside investment, its problematic.

The seafood industry is at a critical point right now, Barrett said. Over 90% of seafood in the U.S. is imported. Half of that is farmed, much of which is unregulated. Much of the rest of it is unregulated too. Then were only inspecting 1% of it. Fraud is everywhere.

But the solution is really simple. Know your fisherman.

Barrett has been working with tech companies, notably the folks at Google, and says that innovations in the industry have changed the way he and the others at Dock to Dish have been thinking about the project. The first step was moving away from using satellites and instead using cellular towers, which get updates more quickly. The disconnect is when the fish hits the land. Then it disappears into this mysterious system. Fish is the No. 1 most traded commodity on the planet; we realized that we had to make real-time traceability happen.

The fraud happens during the processing, said Cimarusti, noting that other methods used to track fish or ensure traceability, such as using gill tags or DNA testing, are often partial or after the fact. DNA testing is a gotcha kind of thing. At that point, its already too late.

Dock to Dish 2.0, as Barrett and Cimarusti and their partners are calling the project, is a program that they want to be as transparent on the back end as the front. So another reason for independent funding is that theyll give away the blueprint, said Barrett, when theyre done. Ultimately were trying to change the seafood system. To initiate large-scale change, you need a paradigm shift.

Its a window into the whole process; it takes all the murky water out of it, said Cimarusti about the new tracking system.

I feel like whats needed is for someone to prove that it actually works, the chef and lifelong fisherman continued. And that creates pressure back up the supply chain.

If all goes as planned and Dock to Dish can raise the $75,000 they estimate they need (theyve raised over $20,000 already), the new tracking system will be launched in Montauk this summer.

Its cool, right? said Barrett, the enthusiasm and optimism evident in his voice. Ancient fisheries are suddenly being catapulted into the digital age.

amy.scattergood@latimes.com

@ascattergood

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The morning after my last meal at Maestro, Danny Godinezs new Mexican restaurant in Old Pasadena, I pulled the leftover barbacoa out of the refrigerator to see if I could salvage enough for a taco. There were still a few scraps of lamb left, but the container seemed half-filled with a mysterious goo. I was about to abandon the project  congealed lamb fat is no fun. I dipped in a spoon to see whether it might be worth reheating. And I was flabbergasted to discover that what Id thought was grease was in fact beautifully jellied consomme, clear and as richly flavored as a demi-glace, without a speck of fat.

This was Mexican food with a different point of view. And while Im not sure I dont prefer the magnificent hangover barbacoa from the beloved Aqui es Texcoco in Commerce or the dense, oily barbacoa from My Taco in Highland Park, Godinezs version is very, very good  more delicate than its counterparts, slightly stringy, and without the insanely delicious pockets of fat that burst on your tongue, but still lovely and substantial. You could compare it to a Provencal daube, but flavored with chiles and cinnamon instead of orange zest and thyme. When you eat it at Maestro, you have the benefit of fragrant tortillas patted to order and maybe something from the restaurants first-rate mezcal list to go with it. It is a thoroughly Mexican meal.

Maestro is the newest outpost of Godinezs small empire, crammed into what used to be the Afghan restaurant Azeens. It is his first restaurant outside Orange County, where he is considered a chef as ambitious as Taco Marias Carlos Salgado or Irenias Ryan Garlitos. He cooked for years with chefs such as Charlie Palmer and Michael Mina. When he was interviewed by the OC Weekly a few years ago, he confessed that his goals included three Michelin stars.

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The first time I went to Anepalco, his Mexican diner near the St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, I had barely found a seat before a customer came up to me, put her hand on my shoulder and said, One word: chilaquiles, as if she were the guy giving Dustin Hoffman advice in The Graduate. I was there to try Godinezs take on French-Mexican cuisine, which there includes things such as chipotle crepes, pork-belly tartines, and croques madames made with Oaxacan cheese, but his version of chilaquiles, the humble casserole made with stale tortillas and last nights salsa, has always been his famous dish.

The chilaquiles were perfect. And I dont mean perfect in that it was the best Ive ever had, but in that it had been assembled in what must have been a pastry mold, the top was even as an ice rink, and the shape was as precise a cylinder as any Michelin-starred creme brulee. On top was set an exact quarter-circle of thin omelet striped with guacamole, crema and chopped-tomato salsa, the colors of the Mexican flag. The surface of the plate was as saturated with brick-red splatter as the background of a Chaz Bojorquez painting. Godinez took a preparation generally noted for its moreness and made it his own by exercising restraint.

Grilled octopus served atop a mezcal bottle with chorizo salso, sweet plantain and a puree of avocado at Maestro. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The chilaquiles havent quite made it to Maestro yet  Godinez promises brunch will be coming soon  but the food there is also dominated by the themes of big flavors, clean preparations and restraint.

Grilled octopus tentacles are lightly attached to the top of the mezcal bottle on which they are served with dabs of chorizo puree and avocado. Picadas, corn disks normally as chunky as sopes, are millimeters-thin, smeared precisely with the Mexican cream called jocoque and pureed chiles, sprinkled with hair-thin shreds of radish and a bit of Oaxacan string cheese. Chicken taquitos are half-dunked in broth; you savor the contrast between slightly soggy and crisp the way that the Japanese do with tempura swimming in a bowl of udon.

Esquites, the street-corn dish that has become almost a cliche in Los Angeles restaurants this year, becomes skewered cobs of baby corn whose coating includes toasted grasshoppers as well as the inevitable grated cheese. Fat, seared scallops are served on a rich bed of rice saturated with the essence of huitlacoche, which may be as close as you can get to truffled risotto within the context of Mexican cuisine.

Would you rather be eating your chicken mole at Guelaguetza, your duck carnitas at Eagle Rocks CaCao or your tamal at Broken Spanish? Probably. Sometimes one perfect tortilla per person isnt quite enough. As clean as the preparations, as ambitious as the interpretation of regional flavors, sometimes you want Mexican cooking to be more soulful than precise, to smack you across the head with intensity, funk and heat.

::

Maestro

The newest outpost of chef Danny Godinezs small empire

LOCATION

110 E. Union St., Pasadena, (626) 787-1512, maestropasadena.com.

PRICES

Small plates $9-$12; somewhat larger plates $15-$29.

DETAILS

Dinner Tues.-Sun., 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Credit cards accepted. Full bar. Street and nearby city lot parking.

RECOMMENDED DISHES

Baked oysters with cheese; picadas; lamb barbacoa; day boat scallops with huitlacoche rice.

jonathan.gold@latimes.com

@thejgold

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At 71Above, the view of L.A. is even prettier than the food
A Silicon Valley man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of stalking four teens after authorities discovered inside his home a trove of gifts and collages, with some photographs of young girls snipped into heart shapes, deputies said.

Rajeev Sanhi, 35, of Cupertino was taken into custody on suspicion of stalking and annoying the girls, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office. Authorities say they have uncovered evidence that links Sanhi to at least 15 other girls and similar incidents throughout the state.

What was discovered inside his home  its extremely unsettling, sheriffs spokesman Sgt. Richard Glennon said.

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The investigation began when a 14-year-old girl reported that Sanhi had approached her 15 times, including more than a dozen as she walked home from school, Glennon said. In those instances, Sanhi allegedly tried to give her money, gifts, show tickets and other items.

Although Sanhi was confronted by a family member about his actions, he continued to follow the girl, deputies said.

As detectives investigated Sanhi, Glennon said, they discovered similar reports had been filed with law enforcement agencies in Los Altos, Los Angeles, Los Gatos, Saratoga and San Jose.

Sheriffs officials feared that Sanhis actions could have escalated, Glennon said, so they obtained a warrant to search his home on Wednesday.

Inside his home, deputies found photo collages depicting young girls and a personalized license plate that he had created for one of the victims, the sergeant said.

Sheriff Laurie Smith told KGO-TV that Sanhi had placed some of the photographs almost in kind of a shrine on a wall.

Authorities are still trying to identify the girls in the photographs, Glennon said. It is unclear how he obtained the photographs.

When Sanhi approached young girls, he would give them a calling card or business card promoting his book, The Makeover Dude and his website, J C Makeover, the sergeant said.

The simple website includes excerpts purportedly written by young girls or women and religious references, with chapters about Sanhi, details about what he likes and his advice on relationships.

Glennon said Sanhi tried to promote himself as a self-help guru.

According to sheriffs officials, Sanhi has ties to several churches in the Bay Area and had tried to volunteer as a pastor and mentor, but he was turned away because of his behavior toward young girls.

Sanhi also applied to be teacher, nanny and in home child care provider for private individuals, according to the Sheriffs Office. Authorities said it appears Sanhi was never hired as a teacher.

Sheriffs detectives continue to investigate possible ties to other communities throughout the state.

Our main concern is for the protection of those young females, Glennon said. We had to act quickly.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA

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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti lingered at his election party Tuesday night in Pico-Union, staying late to pose for selfies with supporters and celebrate with longtime aides.

The mayor had a record-setting night. He won a higher percentage of the vote than any of his predecessors in more than a century. Moreover, voters appeared to back the mayors vision for Los Angeles  an urban city with denser development along transportation lines  by soundly rejecting a slow-growth measure that was also on the ballot.

But what Garcetti does with the mandate remains a subject of speculation both inside and outside City Hall. The mayor is known for being risk-averse, but he now faces a crucial decision: Stay in the job or run for higher office.

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The mayor has not ruled out running for either U.S. Senate or governor in 2018. Tuesdays win could give him more political standing if he chooses to run.

Asked Wednesday if he has a timeline for deciding whether to jump into the governors race, Garcetti said: Absolutely not. Im just focused on being mayor.

Garcetti could also serve out his 5 -year term, using his big margin of victory to push through a bolder agenda. But that also comes with risk.

The election of Donald Trump has transformed the political landscape, sparking more activism in liberal L.A. and pushing Garcetti and other political leaders to react on issues ranging from immigration to climate change. Garcetti is also trying to secure the 2024 Olympics for L.A., a task some have said has gotten harder since the rise of Trump.

The presidents crackdown on immigrants has heightened concerns that the International Olympic Committee may choose Paris over L.A.

In a sign of these new challenges, the mayors victory speech Tuesday was interrupted by protesters who want him to take a tougher stand against Trump on immigration issues.

Because Garcetti faced token opposition in the mayoral election, he didnt have to run much of a campaign or lay out his vision for a second term.

Amid a third year of rising crime, Garcetti last week announced a goal of taking 20,000 guns off the streets in the next five years. He said the Los Angeles Police Department will hire more civilian employees and shift some of its more than 9,000 sworn officers from desk jobs to street patrol.

Building off Measure M, which voters last fall approved to fund the most ambitious transit expansion in Los Angeles County history, the mayor wants to do more to relieve traffic, he said.

He also held a press conference Thursday to announce several planning department reforms, such as barring some types of meetings between planning commissioners and developers.

The mayor told reporters hed been unfairly labeled as pro-density and said hes trying to prepare for the influx of people moving into Los Angeles. The announced planning reforms come after voters rejected Measure S, which would have halted some types of development across the city.

With such a wide margin of victory on Tuesday, Garcetti has the wind at his back, said Jaime Regalado, a professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A.

But what he does with it remains to be seen, Regalado added. Whatever decision he makes is going to be fraught with a bit of chance and bit of danger.

First elected in 2013, the mayor rode a economic recovery wave that spurred the development of housing, restaurants and shops in neighborhoods such as downtown Los Angeles, Venice and Hollywood. The improved economy helped raise city revenues to fund Garcettis back to basics plan  paving more streets and trimming more trees  and restore cuts to the police and fire departments.

But the financial turnaround also brought rapid gentrification. Homelessness surged and crime rose under Garcettis watch. The economic disparity seen in San Francisco and New York is now evident in Los Angeles, which has a glut of minimum-wage jobs but high rents.

Lawsuit payouts by City Hall and pension costs are chipping away at the citys funds. Garcetti has also committed to hiring thousands of new employees in the coming years, another financial drag.

Initial results show Garcetti picked up nearly 81% percent of the vote in an 11-way contest, a margin that outpaced that of every other L.A. City Hall politician who faced a challenger in Tuesdays election.

Tom Hogen-Esch, professor of politics at Cal State Northridge, believes Garcettis focus on the nuts and bolts of governing worked with voters.

Garcetti doesnt have a lot of major victories on his resume, but hes certainly proven himself to be a competent manager, Hogen-Esch said. Certain times call for vision, and other times call for competent managers.

The mayor has more freedom to undertake bolder initiatives in a second term, Hogen-Esch believes, because it will be 1  years longer than the usual four-year term. The extended term is due to an upcoming change in mayoral election dates to line up with gubernatorial elections.

He has the luxury of time to craft something more innovative or politically risky, Hogen-Esch said.

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., said the mayors reelection win should encourage him to take bold action.

While Garcetti has moved to lower the citys business tax since taking office, Waldman suggested this week that the mayor eliminate the tax  which businesses argue puts local firms at a competitive disadvantage  during his second term.

Asked if his large win gives him license to think bigger, Garcetti argued hed pushed for bold initiatives in his first four years. He cited a new earthquake retrofitting law, expansion of the county transit system, and a higher L.A. minimum wage as examples, stating hed done big things the first time and Im not going to stop doing that.

As he gears up for his second term, rising crime will put pressure on Garcetti to hire police officers. Policing is the core service of any city, said Hogen-Esch, and it was the one area of vulnerability in the election.

Garcettis election night speech was interrupted by a protest organized by the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, a leftist group that has seen its membership surge across the nation following Trumps election.

Many of its members were supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders insurgent Democratic candidacy for president, and now they have turned some of their energies to local issues.

Standing on the sidewalk outside Garcettis election party, protester Tricia Todd accused the mayor of speaking out of both sides of his mouth on the sanctuary city label. The mayor has declined to use the phrase, saying it doesnt apply to Los Angeles.

Despite her frustration, the Los Feliz resident said she voted for Garcetti in Tuesdays election.

Times staff writers Emily Alpert Reyes and David Zahniser contributed to this report.

dakota.smith@latimes.com

Twitter: @dakotacdsmith
Los Angeles police are searching for the thieves who made off with $4.5 million worth of makeup from a warehouse.

The LAPD said Thursday that the suspects sawed through the roof of a San Fernando Valley warehouse and snatched more than 100,000 packages of eye shadow.

The warehouse stores Anastasia Beverly Hills-branded makeup, and the burglars stole palettes of the Modern Renaissance line of eye shadow, which retail for about $42 each.

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The shadowy heist occurred between Jan. 28 and Jan. 30. No surveillance video recorded the theft, according to Officer Tony Im, an LAPD spokesman.

A spokesman for Anastasia Beverly Hills did not respond to a request for comment late Thursday.

The cosmetics brand was founded by Anastasia Soare, who opened her first eyebrow salon in Beverly Hills.

The Romanian-born mogul was dubbed the definitive brow expert for her work.

Soares makeup empire since has expanded around the globe and her products are available at department stores in more than two dozen countries.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

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A South Pasadena High School student was detained Friday after making a social media threat about gun violence on campus, police said.

The 17-year-old boy turned himself in to the South Pasadena Police Department and was taken into custody, Sgt. Spencer Louie said. The boys identity was not released because he is a minor.

An investigation was launched Friday morning after someone had taken a snapshot of the threatening post and shown it to police, officials said.

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After officers determined the post was created by a student, they went to his home, but he wasnt there, police said. They eventually managed to reach him by phone.

The threat triggered a brief lockdown of the campus, at 1401 Fremont Ave. in South Pasadena.

There is no reason for panic, Principal Janet Anderson said in a message sent to parents. We just want to exercise the utmost caution. All staff and students are remaining in place with doors locked.

She said staff and students were key in keeping the situation as calm as possible.

This isnt the first threat directed at the campus.

In September 2014, two South Pasadena High students were charged with planning a mass shooting on campus.

At the time, police said the teenagers developed a plan to carry out a mass shooting and kill as many people as possible.

The students allegedly swapped ideas over Skype about using explosives and firearms to target certain school staff members and kill classmates.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA

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UPDATES:

12:25 p.m.: This article was updated with a student being taken into custody.

10:20 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Principal Janet Anderson about a suspect being located.

This article was originally published at 9:50 a.m.
William J. Genego, a prominent trial and appellate attorney who successfully fought to overturn the wrongful murder convictions of at least five people serving life sentences, has died. He was 66.

Genego died of cancer in his Santa Monica home on Wednesday, said Vicki Podberesky, a friend and former law partner.

He liked to represent the underdog and righting a wrong, said Podberesky, who met Genego when she was a student at USC Gould School of Law, where he was a professor. His enthusiam, passion and compassion for people was inspiring.

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Colleagues said Genego was drawn to cases in which he felt the criminal justice system failed to treat a defendant fairly. He won acquittals in cases involving federal fraud prosecutions and first-degree murder. He also had a reputation for securing appellate reversals in cases including bank fraud, conspiracy, controlled substances and entrapment.

Genego helped overturn the conviction of Marine Cpl. Thomas R. Merrill, who was implicated in a double murder during a coin shop robbery. He also represented Harold Hall, a man convicted of a double slaying in Los Angeles, and had the case overturned and the charges dropped.

One of his most notable cases was in the wrongful conviction of Bruce Lisker, a man who spent 26 years behind bars in the killing of his mother. That case was the subject of a Times investigation that exposed police misconduct and undermined key prosecution evidence.

He was a soldier, a tearful Lisker said Thursday. He had an amazing command of the legal process. Court was not a fun place for me. In the courtroom he was my rock. He was a pillar of strength. He had a glint in his eye that gave me confidence. He took the injustices inflicted on others as a personal affront.

Genego was born and raised in East Greenbush, New York, near Albany. He went to New York University and drove a cab as an undergrad to pay for his schooling. He graduated from Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. He taught at USC for nine years and went into private practice.

Attorney Evan Jenness, a friend and colleague, said Genego had stacks of letters on his desk from inmates asking for his help. He took the time, she said, to answer them all, assessing their cases. His beloved Jack Russell terrier, Myla, would be by his side.

He had an indefatigable passion for justice for the disenfranchised, Jenness said. He wanted to be there for people who had nobody.

U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt said Genego was a model of what a lawyer should be: a really good person.

It was clear in cases he argued before me that he had a dedication to the people who were in need of help, he said.

Judith Resnik, a longtime friend and professor at Yale Law School, gave Genego the ultimate endorsement.

The rule in my household was if you ever got arrested, you call Bill Genego, she said. He was a mixture of tireless worker, committed and kind. And when the law failed, he would keep pressing for the law to make good on its promises of justice.

When Genego became ill, Podberesky helped out with his legal caseload and discovered that he was representing most of his clients for free.

He did it because he believed these people were wronged, she said. He did it because he loved it.

He is survived by a sister and a brother, Barbara and John Genego; his step children, Nicolo, Lorenzo and Leonardo Nourafchan; their mother, Veronica Gentilli; and grandchildren Zehava, Adelle and Yisroel.

A funeral will be held 9 a.m. Friday at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the ACLU of Southern California designated for The Bill Genego fund against governmental encroachment on civil liberties.
The number of immigrants caught by Border Patrol agents as they attempt to cross the Southwest border has plunged dramatically, dropping 40% since President Trump took office and signed sweeping executive orders to enforce immigration laws.

About 840 people a day were caught trying to cross the border or deemed inadmissible after presenting themselves at a port of entry in February, down from about 1,370 a day in January, according to new figures released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Although there are often seasonal fluctuations  fewer immigrants usually attempt to cross the border from Mexico into the U.S. in winter  Border Patrol agents typically see a 10% to 20% surge of people making the journey in February.

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Already, Trumps supporters and leading members of his administration are celebrating the new data as an early payoff of the new presidents strident stance on illegal immigration.

The early results show that enforcement matters, deterrence matters and that comprehensive immigration enforcement can make an impact, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said, citing it as encouraging news.

Fewer people are putting themselves and their families at risk of exploitation, assault and injury by human traffickers and the physical dangers of the treacherous journey north, he added.

Although the drop is significant and larger than expected, migration policy experts say, it is too early to assume a long-term trend particularly before many of the key measures of Trumps executive orders have taken effect.

What were seeing is really about perception, said Faye Hipsman, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C.: The orders offer the possibility of very meaningful changes at the border  increased detentions, more people subject to rapid deportations  so that creates a perception that its more difficult to reach the United States. More importantly, theres a lot of fear inside the U.S., and those feedback loops reach people who are thinking about making the journey.

However, Hipsman cautioned, typically each time the government adopts new immigration enforcement measures  for example, building detention centers to accommodate the surge of Central American women and children  the numbers fall, only to rebound, in some cases higher than before.

While the new administrations rhetoric on immigration enforcement may, in the short term, be a strong deterrent to people who are thinking of coming to the U.S., the long-term repercussions of Trumps policies are not likely to be seen for months and years, said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative Washington-based research institute that advocates stricter immigration policy.

In addition to installing more physical barriers, such as walls and fences, along the border, Vaughan said long-term success in deterring illegal immigration would depend on whether the federal government ended catch and release, the unofficial name for a policy in which immigration officials allow immigrants they deem low-risk to remain at large pending a hearing. It also would require stricter enforcement within the U.S., especially in workplaces, she said.

When its much more difficult to get a job and live here legally, people will simply decide its not worth coming, Vaughan said.

Advocates for immigrants say the data raise new questions about what is happening to immigrants crossing the border illegally, particularly asylum seekers  families and unaccompanied children fleeing poverty and violence in Central America and beyond.

The decline in the numbers of those migrants was especially extreme: An average of 442 families and unaccompanied children were caught crossing the border every day in January; that fell to 180 a day in February. And the number presenting themselves at a port of entry slowed from 107 a day to 47.

We do not know where they are now, said Amy Fischer, policy director at the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services in San Antonio. We know the conditions in their home countries have not changed drastically. Why are they not coming? Thats the key question here. We do not have the answers.

A Border Patrol agent walks along the border in San Diego County, Calif., in June. (Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

Although its possible that asylum seekers are now looking for new and different avenues to win asylum, Fischer said, her organization had also seen evidence of efforts to turn people away at the border. A handful of people interviewed at family detention centers in Texas, she said, reported they had been turned away at the port of entry or told to come back another day before trying to cross the river.

We dont know if essentially whats going on is an increase in the collusion between Mexican and U.S. authorities to turn people away at the border so they are not counted as apprehensions, she said. Throughout history, the U.S. has always been a safe place where people seeking protection can go. If thats changing, look at what message that is sending to the rest of the world.

In February, a total of 18,762 migrants were caught as they crossed or attempted to cross the Southwest border, compared with 31,578 in January, 43,255 in December and 47,210 in November. The number of people who presented themselves at ports of entry and were deemed inadmissible dropped to 4,808, compared with 10,899 in January, 15,176 in December and 16,153 in November.

The drop was stark at the busiest stretch of the border -- the Rio Grande Valley sector  which in recent years has seen a surge in families and unaccompanied children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. About 280 people a day were apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley in February, compared with 502 in January and 755 in December.

When you start detaining people and deporting people, people stop coming in great masses, Manuel Padilla, chief of the Border Patrols Rio Grande Valley sector, said in a telephone interview. Weve seen that historically throughout the years. Were deporting people expeditiously, and just the fact that were doing that and the fact the administration is messaging that, they have quit coming in the same numbers.

Already, numbers have dropped to the point that federal authorities have closed two multimillion-dollar, temporary holding facilities  one in Donna, Texas, near McAllen, and one in Tornillo, near El Paso  built just a few months ago to help provide temporary shelter to the influx of migrants crossing the border.

After Jan. 20th, 22nd, you can very distinctly see the decrease in traffic because of the change in policy and executive orders, Padilla said. (Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20.) If we continue in enforcing the immigration law and we continue building up the resources to detect and respond, I expect manageable numbers.

Last year, border agents also saw an unprecedented spike in long-distance migrants making the journey from countries as far flung as Haiti, India, Bangladesh and parts of Africa. About 15,000 migrants from outside Latin America crossed through Baja California last year, nearly five times as many as in 2015.

Yet that number dropped dramatically in recent months, Hipsman said  not simply because of Trumps executive orders, but because Obamas administration tightened policy, expediting deportations to Haiti, at the end of 2016.

In some ways, its not surprising that the numbers have dropped in response to the rhetoric by Trumps administration, Hipsman said. But its far from certain that will be sustained.

Jarvie is a special Los Angeles Times correspondent.
Immigrant and civil rights advocates celebrated Friday as Daniela Vargas, a Mississippi Dreamer who was detained by federal agents minutes after speaking at a news conference about her plight, was released from custody.

The 22-year-old, who was brought to the United States from Argentina when she was 7, spent more than a week at the LaSalle Detention Facility in Jena, La., following her arrest in Jackson, Miss.

Daniela is really happy to be out right now, understandably, her attorney, Abigail Peterson, told reporters. She was very surprised this morning, when all this happened, and very relieved. She was told to get her things, and she was given about five minutes to get out, and she took it.

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Vargas case drew nationwide attention in part because she had been accepted for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, an Obama administration measure that allows so-called Dreamers, young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children, to obtain work permits and protects them from deportation.

She also won publicity because her attorneys claimed she was targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in retaliation for speaking to the media about her hopes for immigration reform and the effect of enforcement raids on her family.

This is a moment for celebration in what has been a terrifying set of months for the immigrant community and their families, said Karen Tumlin, legal director for the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles. Today shows you what happens when a brave young woman stands up  stands up and expresses her rights, the rights of her family and community  and fights back.

After she was released at around noon, Vargas was driven back to Mississippi by a friend.

The deportation order against her has not been rescinded, however, and she is required to check in with her local ICE office in April, her attorneys said.

One of the worries is they could enforce it at any point, Peterson said, noting that the decision to release her seemed to be the result of prosecutorial discretion, based largely on community pressure and media attention.

At the beginning of the week, a coalition of civil rights and immigration attorneys filed a petition in federal court alleging that enforcement agents violated Vargas constitutional due process rights and her right to be free from retaliation for protected speech. The petition sought her immediate release, as well as a hearing before an immigration judge to challenge the decision to deport her.

On Friday, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued an order transferring that habeas petition to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

According to attorneys, Vargas has two pending applications for immigration relief. First, although her DACA status expired in November 2016 while she says she was trying to save up the $495 needed to renew it, her attorneys filed a renewal application in February.

She also has a pending 2014 petition for a non-immigrant U visa based on her status as the child of a victim of a serious crime who has suffered mental or physical abuse and is cooperating with the investigation of criminal activity.

We will continue to challenge the unconstitutional actions of ICE agents in this case and will not rest until she is no longer under threat of deportation, Naomi Tsu, deputy legal director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in a statement. It is counterproductive and harmful to our communities for ICE to be targeting aspiring young people in this country.

Jarvie is a special correspondent.
In his first month in office, Paul Penzone had angered almost every political faction in Maricopa County. By his second month, he made sure to get the rest.

One of his first major moves was to break with his predecessors controversial practice of keeping immigrants in jail longer to allow immigration authorities time to determine whether they were in the country illegally.

That predecessor was former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, famous for pushing legal boundaries in his dealings with people suspected to be in the country illegally. Penzone, on the advice of his legal team, decided in February that the constitutional questions were too murky to continue the so-called immigration detainers.

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But Penzone has refused to take another step demanded by immigrant advocates: Remove Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the jail entirely.

ICE is staying in the jails, Penzone told the Los Angeles Times. There are law enforcement agencies that have a responsibility for our borders.

Penzone is showing early that neither immigrant advocates nor hard-line conservatives may get what they want from the new sheriff in town.

Ive met with the Dreamers and I have a heart for them, said Penzone, referring to immigrants brought into the country illegally as children. I dont want to see families broken. But I will not allow for people who are violent criminals in our community to come in and out of our jail system if they are also undocumented in this nation.

The head of the agency charged with protecting Maricopa Countys 4 million residents was elected in large part to undo much of the damage his predecessor, Arpaio, did to relations with the Latino community.

I have a chance to wipe the board clean and rewrite the script, and thats what were doing here.  Paul Penzone, on following Joe Arpaio as Maricopa County sheriff

I have a chance to wipe the board clean and rewrite the script, and thats what were doing here, Penzone said.

But President Trumps executive orders aimed at tightening border security have the first-time elected official caught between the liberal change-minded constituents who helped elect him and a strict new federal immigration policy.

Arizonas most populous county has been home to some of the nations most spectacular clashes over the duties of police officers when it comes to immigrants, but those who imagined a white knight riding into the Sheriffs Office and vanquishing Arpaios controversial legacy with a stroke of his pen are sure to be disappointed with Penzones measured approach.

So, too, will the conservative voters in the Phoenix exurbs who voiced hopes of deportation squads while then-Sheriff Arpaio campaigned with Trump.

The fate of a jail known as Tent City, the result of Arpaios first act as sheriff in January 1993, gives both factions another chance to be displeased with Penzone.

Tent City houses inmates in Korean War-era tents, which reach temperatures in excess of 130 degrees in Arizonas punishing summer heat. Arpaio said the tents were an added deterrent for criminals. Civil liberties advocates criticize them as inhumane.

Penzone hasnt decided what hell do with Tent City, but the political consequences are already clear to him.

No matter what decision I make on Tent City, half the population will cheer, half the population will boo, Penzone said, adding that his predecessors legacy was to satisfy only half of his constituency. I will change the perception of this office by leading with a public safety law enforcement attitude and leaving politics for election cycles.

A Democrat elected with 56% of the vote in November, the 49-year-old got his first job in law enforcement as a Phoenix police officer, rising within the organization to the rank of sergeant, where he ran the departments Silent Witness program for anonymous tips.

Later, as the departments liaison to the Drug Enforcement Agency, Penzone led a wiretap investigation that toppled a methamphetamine ring in Arizona. He retired after 21 years.

After narrowly losing to Arpaio in 2012, Penzone campaigned last year by attacking the departments shortcomings, highlighting investigations that found the department failed to investigate more than 400 alleged sex crimes. Penzone also highlighted the hefty legal fees incurred defending the department from civil rights lawsuits and the mistrust of the department expressed by Phoenixs Latino population.

You dont fix that in a day and its over with, Penzone said of improving relations with Latinos. You invest that over a lifetime, and thats what were doing right now.

Penzone has made repairing those relationships a top priority. He has deployed members of the department to new assignments to work directly with Latino groups, and has personally contacted the Mexican consulate and appeared at town halls in Phoenixs Latino neighborhoods.

An early test of those efforts came when a Phoenix woman in the U.S. illegally was detained at a regularly scheduled check-in with ICE in mid-February, setting off protests in Phoenix and at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Immigration activists and attorneys in Arizona questioned why other immigrants in the country illegally should ever again trust the government and present themselves to immigration officials.

Such questions raise uncomfortable possibilities for law enforcement. Penzone, as a former police officer who worked with anonymous witnesses, says his greatest fear is missing crimes because members of the Latino community are too afraid to call the Sheriffs Office, much less file a complaint with their names attached.

Oftentimes the ones were speaking to are the ones who yell the loudest because theyre most actively engaged, Penzone said. But its the softest voices in the neighborhoods that we have not yet heard that are as, if not more, important.

People who have not had a voice [should] understand that were here for everyone.

Carlos Garcia, director of immigrant advocacy group Puente Arizona, says he isnt yet sure what to make of Penzone. Unless and until the sheriff rejects ICEs presence in the jails, though, Garcia says Penzone will always face suspicion from more liberal Latinos in Phoenix.

Its basic humanity. He can do his job and [still] not violate the rights of people by handing them to ICE, Garcia said.

Within his first 60 days, Penzone has said, he aims to bring the Sheriffs Office into line with modern-day law enforcement practices that Arpaio rejected, primarily the use of data to identify crime trends as well as community input into use-of-force policies.

He has also proposed ensuring that the Sheriffs Posse  a group of armed volunteers primarily deployed on search-and-rescue missions  has basic law enforcement certification.

Where Arpaio attempted to forge his own path on immigration enforcement and hoped the courts would uphold his decisions, Penzone says he is not a politician, but a law enforcement officer in a political post.

Were not an immigration enforcement agency, but we have to all be law-abiding, Penzone said.

His most obvious break with his predecessor is not in policy or party, but in his choice of a work space. Arpaio would greet visitors in his cavernous office atop a downtown skyscraper; Penzone instead leads them to small meeting rooms on the departments first floor.

But hes beginning to make himself comfortable. Asked how hes adjusting to Arpaios office, he smirked.

Its my office now.

nigel.duara@latimes.com

Follow Nigel Duara on Twitter: @nigelduara

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Three of the four Washington state electoral college voters who went rogue in December have lost their appeals over $1,000 fines for writing in the names of Colin Powell and Faith Spotted Eagle as Americas next president.

They plan to appeal the administrative decision, said their attorney, Sumeer Singla, challenging the constitutionality of the statute that required them to vote for another non-winner, Hillary Clinton.

She should have received all 13 electoral votes in Washington, one of 29 states where electors are bound by law or pledge to vote for the states popular vote winner. Other states divvy up the votes proportionally.

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We need to get through the administrative [process] to argue constitutional questions in front of an appellate court, Singla said. We anticipate an appeal to address the constitutional question.

His clients, electors Levi Guerra, Esther John and Peter Chiafolo, all voted for Powell, who wasnt running, in a protest triggered by Donald Trumps abrasive and untraditional campaign.

Chiafolo, who called himself a conscientious elector, said Trump epitomized the need for a way to break tradition and vote freely.

The fourth rogue voter, Native American activist Bob Satiacum Jr., a radio host who also conducts peyote and sweat lodge rituals, will face a hearing next week and seems equally adamant about changing the 212-year-old electoral system.

Faith Spotted Eagle of the Yankton Sioux Nation. (Nicholas Kamm / AFP-Getty Images)

Im not going to pay the state a dime, Satiacum said in an interview. He cast the vote for Faith Spotted Eagle, a member of the Yankton Sioux Nation who helped block development of the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelines  and is the only female Native American to receive an electoral vote for president.

Its a federal election with different rules from state to state, Satiacum said. How can they fine me with their own system all messed up?

Donald Trump, who lost the popular vote in Washington state, wound up with zero electoral votes there. Clinton drew support from 57% of the states voters.

Trump also lost the popular vote nationwide. But he nailed the vote that counted, winning 304 electoral votes to Clintons 227.

In all, there were seven so-called faithless electors: the four in Washington, plus two in Texas and one in Hawaii.

On Wednesday, Administrative Law Judge Robert C. Krabill found no problems with a law that allows the secretary of state to level civil penalties against electors who vote for candidates that were not nominated by the electors party.

He felt, however, he didnt have the authority to rule on the constitutional question of demanding that electors vote as the state tells them to.

Chiafolo, a 37-year-old Microsoft employee and co-founder of Hamilton Electors, which seeks to change the electoral process, said he wanted to eliminate the electoral college.

Anderson is a special correspondent.

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A Florida judge has denied a stand your ground defense for a retired Florida police officer who fatally shot a man in a movie theater over texting.

Judge Susan Barthle ruled Friday that 74-year-old Curtis Reeves must stand trial in the death of 43-year-old Chad Oulson. Reeves is charged with second-degree murder.

Reeves said he shot Oulson after he was either punched or hit in the face with a cellphone. The judge said video of the events that afternoon didnt support his testimony.

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The incident happened in a movie theater in a suburb north of Tampa, after the two men got into an argument because Oulson was texting his daughters day care provider during the coming attraction trailers.

Reeves is free on bond.

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Good morning. Its Friday, March 10, and heres whats happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Pay for your jail stay

When you commit a crime, get ready for a stay in one of L.A. County or Orange Countys violent and run-down jails. But if you have some money to spare, you can avoid these horrid conditions and get a much nicer setup at one of the regions small-city jails. What started out as an antidote to overcrowding has evolved into a two-tiered justice system that allows people convicted of serious crimes to buy their way into safer and more comfortable jail stays. Los Angeles Times

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Take a tour

The Seal Beach jail is one place where inmates can pay to stay. This is like paradise, one said. In Seal Beach he shares a room with three people. There was a large selection of DVDs and books, the hot water never ran out, and he was treated like a human being, he said. Los Angeles Times

A selfie conversation starter

Think of it as the selfie that launched a thousand conversations. It showed one African American man with his eight white neighbors. The photo DeMille Halliburton uploaded that day in October set off a storm of debate in Leimert Park, a middle-class, traditionally African American neighborhood. Los Angeles Times

Two decades later

Twenty years later, the Notorious B.I.G.'s killing remains one of L.A.s biggest unsolved homicides. There are competing theories about who conspired to kill him, but authorities are no closer to solving the case. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

Tragic story: Tony Alsabaa, 5, dreams of going home to Damascus, but after coming to Los Angeles alone for treatment for a rare disease, hes stuck here missing his mother. Los Angeles Times

Watch this: The huge infrastructure program funded by L.A. Countys Measure M is one area where the states interests and Trump administrations priorities overlap, and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti is working hard to take advantage of that. This is a look at what one needs to do to build a massive infrastructure project in the age of Trump. Vice

The development question: The push and pull of Los Angeles transformation preoccupies locals of all stripes. One writer wonders whether downtown L.A. can make room for wealthy new arrivals who will live beside its longstanding homeless population, or if its doomed to become an enclave of the super-rich like so many other urban centers. Curbed LA

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

Illegal crossings: The number of immigrants caught at the Mexican border has plunged 40% under Trump. Los Angeles Times

Where to detain them? Heres how ICE could rapidly ramp up its immigration detention capabilities to meet President Trumps pledge to deport 2 million to 3 million people this year. A key part of that effort will be Californias county jails, which have plenty of space available due to criminal justice reforms in 2012. KQED

A tough conversation: Los Angeles teachers are talking with their students about what they should do if a parent is detained by ICE. NPR

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

The Sen-anator? Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering running for U.S. Senate in 2018  possibly as an independent. Politico

No one voted: The voter turnout in Tuesdays election will likely have been the lowest ever. It was so low that even as he trounced his competitors, Mayor Garcetti will have won fewer votes than at least six other L.A. mayors. Los Angeles Times

What does Garcetti do now? After his big win, Mayor Garcetti now has a mandate, but how he will use it has City Hall and the political world guessing. Los Angeles Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Unsafe conditions: A government watchdog says immigrant inmates were given rotten meat and held in 24-hour solitary confinement at the Theo Lacy jail in Orange County. Orange County Register

Neo-Nazi convicted: A man with swastika tattoos was convicted of yelling racial epithets and slashing a knife at an African American camp counselor outside a summer youth program in San Franciscos Potrero Hill neighborhood. San Francisco Chronicle

Tragic story: A Suisun City, Calif., man was arrested Wednesday after police say he bludgeoned his daughter-in-law to death with a hammer because she was disrespectful. Los Angeles Times

THE ENVIRONMENT

Water everywhere: California is having its rainiest water year since record-keeping began in 1895  a phenomenon that has lifted tens of millions of residents from drought, according to government records. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Riot anniversary exhibition: Were coming up on the 25th anniversary of the L.A. riots, which occurred after a predominantly white jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. A new exhibition at the California African American Museum called No Justice, No Peace: LA 1992 looks back. Los Angeles Times

Bunny Museum on the move: The San Gabriel Valleys Bunny Museum is hopping on over to a new location. The museum holds the Guinness World Record for most bunny items. San Gabriel Valley-Tribune

Flower bloom awesomeness: The flower bloom in California this year is expected to be epic. Here are some of the best places to see this Super Bloom. Mens Journal

More self-driving cars: The number of autonomous vehicles on Californias roads has more than doubled as carmakers and big tech companies race against secretive start-ups to test their self-driving cars. Financial Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles area: partly cloudy Friday and Saturday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Todays California memory comes from Vic Bradley:

In 1990 I took my then-new girlfriend from Vancouver, Canada, to the Napa Valley Wine Auction and we had a blast. On the drive back to San Francisco, she told me that we were not going straight home. She, a struggling sculptor, had gone into debt to show me her favorite place on Earth. She took me onto a puddle jumper plane and we got off in Santa Barbara  heaven, indeed. Guess who I married a couple of years later? We now live in the South of France, close climatically to SB but not quite the same. Never will be.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.
Someone who believes hes lost weight isnt afraid to step on a scale. Why, then, wont Republicans let the Congressional Budget Office provide a cost estimate, or score, for their Affordable Care Act replacement?

Early reviews of the proposed legislation reveal that it would harm low-income populations  and the states left holding the bag for those populations  as well as likely further destabilize insurance markets. It would radically change the healthcare system. But neither Congress nor the American public knows the exact implications.

Thats where the CBO should come in. Its required by law to estimate the costs and consequences for the federal budget of every bill (other than an appropriations bill) approved by a full committee of either the House or the Senate.

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These professional, nonpartisan estimates provide critical information to legislators. The Republicans leading the repeal effort, however, have already moved the replacement bill through the two House committees that oversee the ACA, without letting the CBO do its job.

The Republican Congress is racing through its repeal at breakneck pace, without deliberation, study or accountability.

Democrats and Republicans alike complain if the CBO scores a bill in a way that hurts their aims. But no major piece of modern legislation has been passed without the CBOs analysis. The CBO was founded in 1975 precisely to address the problem of Congress passing legislation with an incomplete, partisan assessment of its likely effects. Congress created the new budget agency, under its own control, in the wake of concerns about the objectivity and transparency of the Nixon administrations cost estimates. The CBOs importance has grown through the years, under control of both parties, and its current director is a Republican.

The CBOs role in health reform has been particularly important. Its estimates disappointed proponents of President Clintons health plan and contributed to its poor reception in Congress. Conversely, the CBOs estimates of the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, which were even more favorable than those provided by the Bush administration, facilitated passage of that legislation.

Republicans often claim that the ACA was passed under cover of night. But during debate over the ACA, the CBO released 35 separate reports estimating the costs of various legislative proposals, as well as additional analyses responding to specific congressional concerns. Committee members  and the public  had the benefit of these calculations before they were expected to vote. Now the Republican Congress is racing through its repeal at breakneck pace, without deliberation, study or accountability. Indeed, the bill went through the two committees on Thursday, without a single change.

The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, has already tried to discredit the CBO  presumably laying the groundwork to ignore a score the president wont like. But subsequent analyses have shown that the CBOs forecasts of the likely effects of the ACA, as well as its forecasts of earlier expansion efforts, were admirably accurate, and generally more accurate than anyone elses, including those of most private sector forecasters.

And the CBOs work goes beyond assessing how legislation might affect the federal budget. In the run-up to the ACAs passage, the CBO also assessed how various proposals would change the nature and cost of coverage in private markets. The repeal legislation would likewise change these markets. The CBO could tell us how.

Republican sidelining of the CBO is especially galling since the party likes to sell itself as the one that cares about dollars, cents and deficits. In fact, Republicans passed a rules package last month that required the CBO to more carefully document how legislation affects the deficit. At the same time, they specifically exempted ACA repeal from that requirement. They want us to have faith in their repeal without even having the CBO complete its standard analysis.

Republicans claim they want to repeal the ACA because it has been an economic disaster. All right, then  on what measure would their bill count as an improvement? The number of people covered? No one has suggested that the Republican proposal would preserve coverage for all of the 20 million Americans who got insurance under the ACA, never mind the millions more who could still benefit from it. If the advantage is an economic one, the CBO should be allowed to do the books.

Abbe R. Gluck is professor of law and faculty director of the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School. Sherry Glied is dean of New York Universitys Wagner School of Public Service and former assistant secretary of planning and evaluation at the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook

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To the editor: The issue isnt that our state climate change goals are too ambitious  our regional and local governments just arent equipped for the challenge. (California wont meet its climate change goals without a lot more housing density in its cities, March 6)

In Los Angeles County, our housing market is one of the most unaffordable in the country, and traffic crashes are the biggest killer of children. With the defeat of Measure S and the overwhelming support last November for Measure Ms transportation plan, the message is clear: Our families and neighbors want more housing and more walkable communities.

Our leaders need to rise to the challenge.

Jessica Meaney, Los Angeles

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The writer is executive director of the transportation advocacy group Investing in Place.

..

To the editor: The way this article talks about high-density housing conjures up visions of sardine tins.

I live in the densest part of Santa Monica, and I dont feel tightly packed. Admittedly, I live in a 17-story tower near the beach, and I think this kind of residence is too high. The Coastal Conservancy was founded to stop development like this.

While denser housing is the way to go, Id hate to see the canyon-like corridor that exists on Wilshire Boulevard east of Westwood Boulevard spread across Los Angeles. If five-story buildings with some land between them were constructed, Los Angeles would have a lot more housing, and people would not feel tightly packed.

Kay Devonshire, Santa Monica

..

To the editor: A key objection by conservatives in the discussion on climate change is that the measures to fight it often require us to give up some of our freedoms.

Here, the freedoms in question are to live where we want and to drive what we want. The proposals to alter both run counter to our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I submit that abandoning our fossil burners for already-existing fuel-cell vehicle technology can completely eliminate all vehicular carbon dioxide emissions without requiring us to give up our freedom to live where we wish and drive what we wish.

Show how we can fight global warming and retain our freedom, and youll get conservatives to listen.

Craig R. Hover, Monrovia

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
In recent decades, Americans have become more aware, and more appreciative, of the sacrifices made by the men and women in the U.S. armed forces. It would be a good thing if we could develop the same sense of gratitude for the men and women in our diplomatic corps.

Many more American soldiers would have died on battlefields if American diplomats  from skilled ambassadors down to the most anonymous, unsung employees of the State Department  had not been doing the knotty business of preserving peace by building alliances, negotiating with adversaries and cultivating new friends in flashpoints across the globe. The Defense Department lays claim to half the discretionary federal budget while diplomatic programs limp along with barely 2%, but that relatively small expenditure has had as much to do with maintaining Americas preeminent position of leadership in the world as the trillions that have gone to the military.

Apparently, though, the Trump administration does not appreciate the indispensable contribution made by American diplomats. In fact, the presidents closest advisor, Stephen Bannon, exhibits a deep mistrust of State Department officials. Bannon is a hyper-nationalist and an enemy of what he calls globalism. Behind the scenes, he seems to be the one whispering words in President Trumps ear that later come out in tweets or speeches that slam the usefulness of NATO, the importance of the European Union, the value of multilateral trade deals and the principle of opposing human rights violations in places such as Russia.

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1 / 51 la-1491523602-y7ephyarj1-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 51 la-1491368625-0bgh58ihw8-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los angeles Times) 6 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 51 Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 51 Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 51 Old radicals and big media descend on Selma (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 51 Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 51 This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 51 Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 51 Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 51 The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 51 David Horsey / Los Angeles Times (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)

Numerous reports indicate that the Bannon-dominated White House is treating the State Department like a wayward child that needs to be spanked and sent to bed without supper. Apparently, the departments chronically underfunded budget will be slashed as Trump shifts dollars to the Pentagon and to his border wall folly. Large numbers of veteran diplomats and experts who have served multiple presidents have been dismissed. Hundreds of jobs remain unfilled. Those who stay on have received scant direction about what they are supposed to be doing. Dangerously, in the day-to-day business of protecting U.S. interests in international relations, Americans are suddenly missing in action.

There is a new secretary of State, of course  former Exxon Mobil boss Rex Tillerson. Given his heft in the corporate world, it was expected he would be a major player in an administration staffed by lightweights. But Tillerson was not allowed to pick his own deputy. His choice, Elliot Abrams, was nixed by Trump. Reports indicate that Bannon made sure the president was reminded of negative statements Abrams had made about Trump during the campaign.

Neither Tillerson nor anyone at the State Department was brought in to offer advice when Bannon and the White House crew were cobbling together their ill-fated ban on immigrants from seven Muslim nations. Tillerson has been left out of meetings with several world leaders, including the prime ministers of Canada and Japan. Meanwhile, U.S. policy to promote peace in the Middle East has been handed off to Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a young man with zero experience in foreign affairs.

Tillerson is doing one thing that probably gets the new presidents approval; he is shunning the media. He allowed only a few journalists to travel with him on his recent trips to Mexico and Europe and is heading off on a very important journey to China, Japan and South Korea with no reporters at all in tow. CNNs Jake Tapper expressed his concern about this in a tweet: Not bringing press on a trip like that is unusual & insulting to any American who is looking for anything but a state-run version of events.

Making it difficult for the media to get access is a bad thing. Even worse, though, is the inclination of the president and his tiny circle of novices to make things up as they go along instead of giving the patriots in the State Department the support they need to do their jobs.

David.Horsey@latimes.com

Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter

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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
Poor California.

So big. So beautiful. So frustrated.

Every four years, as smaller, less cutting-edge states are lavished with love and attention from presidential candidates, California is all but ignored, like one of those kids, nose to the glass, smudging up a candy store window.

Sure, White House hopefuls parachute into the state on a not-infrequent basis. They breeze through Pacific Heights or Bel-Air, gathering checks they quickly spirit off to spend elsewhere. Sometimes theyll throw in a photo opportunity or chat up a local reporter on the ride between the airport and a fundraising stop.

Yes, damage from the drought/recent flooding/mudslide/earthquake is a terrible thing. And, gee whiz, look at what theyre up to these days in Silicon Valley!

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Then its so long until time for the next cash infusion, which has started some folks in Sacramento to grousing.

Again.

Its been nearly 50 years since California held a truly consequential Democratic presidential primary and more than half a century since Republicans in the state voted in a nominating contest that really mattered.

So an effort is underway once more to move Californias primary up closer to the start of the 2020 balloting, theoretically elevating the states import and, thus, ensuring a greater political say.

Californias the six-largest economy in the world and should be shaping the national discussion in the presidential primary process, said Assemblyman Kevin Mullin.

The Democrat from San Mateo is sponsoring legislation that would shift Californias presidential primary from June to early March, placing it smack in the midst of the coast-to-coast balloting known as Super Tuesday. (In nonpresidential years, such as 2018, the state would continue its June primary.)

If it sounds familiar, well, thats because it is.

For those counting  dont bother, we did it for you  the shift would mark the sixth time in recent decades that California has fiddled with the timing of its presidential primary. Since 1992, the date has bounced among June, March, February and back again.

While voter participation fluctuated  not surprisingly, turnout soared in 2008, when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama brawled for the Democratic nomination  the states political clout, or lack thereof, didnt change much.

That has a little to do with the nature of presidential politicking. And a lot to do with California.

For decades, Iowa and New Hampshire have enjoyed a privileged place on the political calendar, with voters there casting the first ballots of the election season in precinct-level caucuses in Iowa and, eight days later, a primary in New Hampshire.

Many have challenged the states enormous influence, to no avail. For one thing, few running for president want to alienate Iowa or New Hampshire voters by opposing their coveted status; since the two states gained preeminence, no candidate has won the White House without seriously competing in at least one or the other.

And reform efforts dont always work as expected. When California sought to elbow its way into the presidential action, advancing its primary in 1996, it served only to elevate the import of the two lead-off states.

Its very hard to create that buzz if youre campaigning in Redding and have it reach down to Fresno or Bakersfield.  Steve Schmidt, veteran GOP strategist

As John Kasich quite rightly explained in 1999, the first time the Ohio Republican ran for president, I would love to campaign in California. I cant even think about that until I get out of Iowa and New Hampshire. If I die in New Hampshire  therell be no California. (He ultimately quit the race without even making it to Iowa.)

Of course, other states werent about to slink back in Californias outsized shadow. They too pushed their elections forward, resulting in an absurdly front-loaded nominating process.

On Feb. 5, 2008  Super-Duper Tuesday  California was one of 24 states voting in what, effectively, amounted to a nationwide primary. Needless to say, with so much ground to cover in such a short time California was again little more than a pit stop.

Figuring it wasnt worth the tens of millions it cost to hold separate presidential and nonpresidential primaries, the state in 2012 pushed its balloting back to June, where it remains.

But all those are political explanations. There are other reasons the state has been sidelined in presidential races, which no legislation, however well-intentioned, can change.

Size is perhaps foremost. California is huge, stretching more than 500 miles east to west and 1,000-plus miles north to south; thats about the distance from Augusta, Maine, to Columbia, S.C.

Campaigning in California is time-consuming and, more important, terribly expensive. Forget about shaking hands or hosting town hall meetings. The only way to reach a meaningful number of voters is by running costly TV ads. Thats why candidates prefer running in much smaller states.

As Steve Schmidt, a veteran GOP strategist, once explained, Even if a person hasnt actually met a candidate, someone in their family probably has. A mother, brother, cousin, or maybe the wife of a close friend. That creates a buzz.

In California, Its very hard to create that buzz if youre campaigning in Redding and have it reach down to Fresno or Bakersfield.

Still, Mullin believes moving up the primary is worth another try, especially as an increasing number of Californians enjoy the convenience of voting by mail; that, he said, means millions will be casting ballots even before Super Tuesday rolls around, forcing candidates to pay more attention early on.

The reality is theres no way to guarantee that California will be decisive, Mullin said, but moving the primary to early March will certainly increase the likelihood that we will be able to shape the national discussion.

Of course, you cant have everything. Even if California remains a political afterthought, there are worse things than living in a coastal Eden.

mark.barabak@latimes.com

@markzbarabak on Twitter

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Conservative critics launching daggers at the Republican healthcare bill emerged confidently from the White House this week, insisting President Trump was heeding their concerns. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz  a sometime rival  dined at Trumps private residence. Renegade GOP lawmakers were invited to bowl at the White House.

This is what Trump looks like in sell mode, as his staff calls it.

Trump and his advisors have yet to utter the term Trumpcare, and some still doubt his commitment to the latest congressional plan to alter President Obamas signature healthcare law.

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But theres little question that the outcome of the healthcare debate will play a major role in defining Trumps first term in office, affecting his ability to deliver on other priorities such as a $1-trillion plan to rebuild public works, a multibillion-dollar border wall and a daunting challenge to rewrite the tax code.

Aware of those stakes, Trump is engaging in the complex effort to change the health system, albeit cautiously after the tumult that grew out of his early actions on immigration and other issues. Selling the healthcare bill, which has already met sharp resistance within his party, will present the stiffest test yet of his pledge to play the deal-maker.

No president wants to have early in their administration a major legislative defeat because it makes them look weak, said former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has advised Trump in public and private.

And Trump, perhaps as much as anyone who has held the office, despises such perceptions. Unlike Obama, who shied from schmoozing or publicly confronting lawmakers from his own party, Trump seems to relish the art of puffing up friends and belittling those who get in his way. And despite low popularity ratings with the public at large, Trump maintains very high support in Republican congressional districts, giving him leverage over conservatives rebelling against the bill.

Every conservative that has come out publicly opposed to this has been called by the White House and is being cajoled and wooed by the White House to give in, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a prominent Republican critic, said on MSNBC on Wednesday.

To get the bill passed, however, Trump will probably have to spend all that leverage. And even that may not be enough.

Among the problems to emerge so far is the broad array of conservatives who have attacked the plan, which was written by leaders in Congress after a year of listening sessions and policy conferences with rank-and-file lawmakers.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that helped Trump craft much of his early agenda and staff his transition team, has said Trump should drop it immediately. Its representatives were joined at a Wednesday meeting with Trump in the White Houses Roosevelt Room by a tea party leader, the head of a group backed by the powerful Koch brothers and another that helped pressure Republicans to shut down the government in 2013.

Breitbart News, the hard-right populist website with close ties to Trumps administration, ran a series of critical headlines this week, including one that blamed House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) for Obamacare 2.0 and a companion piece that noted that Trump supports, despite conservative dissent.

Unlike Obama, who tried but failed to get bipartisan support for his healthcare plan, Republicans have shown no interest in courting Democrats, who face intense political pressure to avoid compromise.

At the same time, healthcare industry leaders, hospitals, doctors and nurses have become some of the most vocal and pointed critics of the bill, warning that it risks leaving millions of patients without access to health coverage. Health insurers caution that it could lead to the collapse of insurance markets across the country.

On Thursday, the legislation sailed through the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees after intense overnight sessions, but the slim resistance from Republicans on the panels was not an indication of broad support.

As Republican leaders push the bill forward, it continues to face criticism from the most conservative lawmakers who complain it does not go far enough in fully repealing Obamacare as well as more moderate Republicans who worry their residents will be dumped from the Medicaid safety net.

Some Republican critics say they think Trump will drop the bill and let Ryan take the fall. Several GOP senators, including Utahs Mike Lee, Floridas Marco Rubio and Maines Susan Collins, have expressed reservations, urged Trump to slow down or insisted he start from scratch.

House health-care bill cant pass Senate w/o major changes. To my friends in House: pause, start over. Get it right, dont get it fast, tweeted Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, another conservative.

But Trumps advisors say that he remains committed to Ryans plan, even as he has signaled he is willing to make changes that could complicate efforts to pass it. They note that he campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare, as did most members of his party. And that is their chief selling point among the wavering.

Trump has told several conservative critics that he is open to changing the bill. But altering it to court conservatives in the House could make the bill harder to pass in the Senate, where statewide voting forces Republicans to hold more moderate positions.

Hes certainly in salesman mode, said one White House official. I dont think you take that position if youre not owning the product.

Trump has sent a few tweets touting the plan, including cajolery to Paul to fall in line and some pushback on Thursday against the notion that the bill is faltering.

Despite what you hear in the press, healthcare is coming along great, he wrote. We are talking to many groups and it will end in a beautiful picture!

But since the bills Monday night release, Trump has not done much public promotion. He has let Ryan and other congressional leaders handle the details, including a lengthy slide-show presentation Ryan gave on Thursday with his sleeves rolled and jacket off. Trumps Health and Human Services secretary, Tom Price, presented details and took questions during a White House briefing with reporters on Tuesday.

White House aides said a variety of other officials  Vice President Mike Pence, Cabinet secretaries, press surrogates and Domestic Policy Council Director Andrew Bremberg  gave more than 70 interviews selling the plan on local and conservative radio and television stations this week.

Pence, in what many see as a warning shot to critical Republicans, plans to speak in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday. Trump scheduled a rally in Nashville for next week through his campaign. And White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer promised Thursday to make a more aggressive pitch throughout next week.

Gingrich said Trump is right to pace his pressure tactics, allowing Republicans in Congress to air their problems before tightening the screws.

I dont think he should go out this morning and try to defend the bill in its current form, he said earlier this week. That was the big Obamacare mistake.

He believes Trump will unleash his full arsenal when its most needed, in the final tussle, when every president feels a desperate need to pass things.

Thats when the bombastic, confrontational Trump could return, should he choose, to unleash his passionate supporters on fellow Republicans with accusatory tweets, angry rallies or calls to protest at their district headquarters.

Many conservative lawmakers seem unmoved, so far, by White House arguments.

Rep. Scott Perry, a Republican holdout who has been invited to the White House, said a chat with Trump might help. But if its real negotiation, Trump needs to give something up, he added, comparing the transaction to haggling over the price of a car.

Look, Im a fan of the president, I support the president, but I have constituents I answer to, said Perry, who represents the Gettysburg, Pa., area where Trump delivered a major policy speech during the campaign in which he promised to replace Obamacare. I work for them.

Christopher Ruddy, a confidant of Trump who publishes the conservative website Newsmax, said he believes this is Trumps first major learning experience in dealing with Congress. And its also a learning experience for everyone else.

The idea that its his way or the highway is a myth, he said.

Ruddy believes Trump can escape blame if the bill fails because of intransigence in Congress, but he does not think Trump views it that way.

Trumps reluctance to dictate the details is also a result of his lack of experience in legislating and his inability to fill out his administration with policy writers. He said recently that he was surprised at the complexity of the healthcare system, a comment that shocked policy experts and lawmakers who have spent decades trying to improve it.

Times staff writers Noam N. Levey and Michael A. Memoli contributed to this report.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman

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Many of Californias congressional Republicans represent districts with a large number of people who have insurance under Obamacare, and theyre taking a cautious approach to the House Republican plan to replace the healthcare law.

A proposed replacement for Obamacare released earlier this week has drawn a firestorm of criticism on the left and the right. By Thursday, most of the 14 Republicans in the California delegation, including some of the seven who represent districts that backed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, had said only that they were still assessing the proposed law.

Millions of Californians would lose health insurance if the GOP bill is approved, experts have estimated, largely because 1 in 3 residents are covered by Medi-Cal, the states Medicaid program that expanded under Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act. The GOP bill would start phasing out federal funding for that expansion in 2020, leaving states to foot the bill or drop poor people from Medicaid rolls.

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Since President Trump took office promising to repeal Obamacare, a flood of Californians have crowded Republican and Democratic town halls and held protests outside members offices to press them on the future of the Affordable Care Act.

Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) is among those who have encountered those protesters and is taking time to take the temperature of his constituents.

Consumer advocacy group Health Access estimated that over the summer, 76,369 of Knights constituents got insurance through the Affordable Care Act, either through Covered California or Medi-Cal. His district narrowly backed Clinton with 50.1% of the vote.

Knight, whom Democrats are targeting for the 2018 election, said he was reaching out to the medical community to find out how a change to Medicaid would affect people in his district. He likes that the proposed bill allows children to stay on their parents insurance until they turn 26, but said there were three or four things in the bill, which he wouldnt specify, that concerned him.

Theres some good things in there. Were still reading through it and weve got, I guess, a few weeks to figure out what the district thinks, Knight said. This is the first look at it and there could be some changes.

Knight seems to be doing what Republican political strategist Rob Stutzman said hed advise members like him to do.

Its a good time to keep your head down and try to figure out, on the left and the right, what reaction there might be to the bill, Stutzman said. A lot of people are just waiting to see what this is branded as.

Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock), Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove), David Valadao (R-Hanford), Doug LeMalfa (R-Richvale), Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) have all taken the wait-and-see approach, declining to say much beyond that theyre still weighing the bill.

A side-by-side comparison of Obamacare and the GOPs replacement plan 

The bill has been approved by the necessary committees, but changes are still possible before a vote, which could happen as early as next week. Rohrabacher said he wants to see what the bill looks like when it comes to the House floor. He has 76,899 constituents who have gotten coverage through the Affordable Care Act, according to Health Access. His district backed Clinton over Trump by nearly 2 percentage points, and his seat is also in Democrats sights.

Im going to wait and see what comes before me and I will try my best to back up the Republican leadership in coming up with what is a defensible alternative to the Affordable Care Act, he said.

One outlier appears to be Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine), whose district voted for Clinton by more than 5 percentage points and where more than 100,000 people have coverage through the Affordable Care Act, according to Health Access. Shes being targeted by Democrats in 2018 too, but she seems to support the new bill, saying in a statement it offers real solutions that will allow Americans to have healthcare plans that work for them and keeps Republicans healthcare promises.

Walters joins Republicans like House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), who have been the most vocally supportive of the bill and represent some of the states most reliably red districts.

I promised the voters in my district that I would take action and work to repeal and replace Obamacare with patient-centered healthcare solutions that actually reduce costs and expand choices, Calvert said in a statement.

Calvert has 78,757 constituents who received coverage through Obamacare, according to Health Access. But his district backed Trump with 53% of the vote.

House Republican leaders are twisting arms to hold their partys members together and get the bill through to the chamber, where theyll need a simple majority to pass it. Though opposition has been growing, Republicans hold a large enough majority in the House that the bill could pass even if a few uncomfortable California members decide to vote against it.

Theres a bigger chance the bill will stall in the Senate, where several Republican senators have already said they are displeased with the bill, which is all it would take to stop it. Californias Democratic senators, along with its large Democratic House delegation, quickly rejected the bill as a huge downgrade.

Some Democrats have hoped to work on improvements to Obamacare if Republicans cant agree on how to replace it.

Unless you plan on staying healthy and wealthy and can guarantee that, I just dont think this is going to work for most people, Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) said. I dont think its even as good as we had before the ACA.

sarah.wire@latimes.com

Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter

Read more about the 55 members of Californias delegation at latimes.com/politics

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A side-by-side comparison of Obamacare and the GOPs replacement plan

GOP leaders turn up the pressure on reluctant Republicans to support Obamacare replacement

Updates on California politics
Presidents whose parties have a congressional majority almost never lose a major piece of legislation in the House; the fact that President Trump is in danger of doing so says much about both his administration and his party.

Trumps administration has lurched from crisis to crisis in its seven weeks, impelled by a combination of inexperience and errors of judgment. The GOP has had a majority in the House for six years and in the Senate for two, but as Speaker Paul Ryan noted this week, it still has not adjusted to the difference between opposition and governing.

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Good afternoon, Im David Lauter, Washington bureau chief. Welcome to the Friday edition of our Essential Politics newsletter, in which we look at the events of the week in Washington and elsewhere in national politics and highlight some particularly insightful stories.

FIVE DECISIONS THAT HAVE BOXED IN THE GOP

Republicans have campaigned against Obamacare for more than six years but never have come together around a proposal to replace it.

The Republican leaderships initial plan  repeal the law first, delay implementation and promise to come up with a replacement in the meantime  proved unpopular. So theyve been forced to cobble together a replacement bill in a hurry.

The plan, which was unveiled Monday, would make huge changes in healthcare, almost certainly depriving health coverage to millions of Americans, as Noam Levey and Lisa Mascaro write.

Heres a side-by-side comparison of chief features of the existing Affordable Care Act and the proposed Republican plan.

The haste with which the bill was put together, combined with several strategic decisions by GOP leaders, have put Republicans at risk of losing at least the first round of a defining political fight.

The first big decision was to abandon any effort at bipartisanship and opt for a legislative path  the so-called budget reconciliation process  that allows passage with Republican votes, alone. Republicans note that the Obama administration passed the Affordable Care Act with no Republican votes. Democrats did so, however, only after spending more than a year in an ultimately fruitless effort to negotiate.

The GOP decision to give up on that effort without even trying has left party leaders with very little margin for error.

A second strategic decision was to concede a major point to Democrats and accept the principle that the federal government has a responsibility to help low-income Americans buy health insurance if they dont get coverage through their jobs. Speaker Ryan and other GOP leaders see that as political reality: Some 20 million adults  voters and their relatives, including many Republicans  have gotten help through the current law; yanking it away from all of them at once would be politically perilous.

Rather than uproot Obamacare entirely, that has left Republicans seeking to trim it. Their bill almost certainly would take health coverage away from millions of Americans  a finding that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office likely will make next week. But it still would leave the government more involved in the healthcare system than it was before President Obamas law passed.

That concession of a principle has upset many conservatives who are trying to defeat the current bill.

A third big decision was to abandon a major goal of Republican health policy experts: changing the tax treatment of employer-sponsored healthcare. Currently, the health benefits that most workers get on the job are tax free. Republican policy experts argue that favorable treatment encourages overspending on healthcare. Theyve long argued for leveling the field and taxing health benefits the way that wages are taxed. That idea was at the core of Ryans earlier health reform plans, but Republican leaders realized earlier this year that its unpopularity almost certainly would sink their bill.

Dropping the tax plan deprived the Republican bill of intellectual coherence, as well as a lot of revenue that could have been used to resolve other problems.

A fourth decision was to sweeten the deal for Republican lawmakers by putting a big tax cut at the center of the healthcare bill. Obamacare imposed several new taxes to help pay for its benefits. The new bill would eliminate most of them, notably two tax increases on Americans with incomes of $250,000 and higher, which amount to more than $20 billion per year, mostly from the top 1% of earners. To cover those tax cuts without increasing the deficit and still provide help to working families, the bill imposes deep cuts on Medicaid.

That has upset GOP senators from states like Ohio, Maine and Arkansas, who have many constituents who have benefited from Obamacares expansion of Medicaid.

Finally, to keep overall costs down, the bill drops Obamacares flexible system that provides more aid to people in areas where healthcare costs more. The GOP bill also allows insurers to charge more to older people, which would allow lower premiums for the young. High-cost areas tend to be rural because they have less competition. So the counties that would be the worst off under the GOP bill tend to be rural places with older populations  exactly the places that voted most heavily for Trump in the last election.

Each of those decisions has boxed in Republican lawmakers.

Now, Trump has moved into sell mode, but as Mascaro and Noah Bierman write, hes encountered more resistance than the White House expected, including harsh reviews of the proposed bill from Breitbart News, once run by his top strategist, Steve Bannon.

Its not clear whether Trumps hints at negotiating flexibility are helping or just undermining Ryan and his efforts to prod GOP members into line.

Some members of Congress wonder if, in the end, Trump will simply let Ryan take the fall for a loss. But after repeatedly promising their voters to repeal the law, failure now would be a severe blow to Republican credibility. Thats why, in the end, the partys lawmakers probably will pull together, at least in the House, to get a bill through.

Passage of the current bill in the Senate, however, seems a very difficult proposition.

Meantime, if the GOP bill does become law, one provision could cause special difficulty in California, Melanie Mason writes: The Republican proposal would forbid people from using their federal subsidies to buy any health plan that includes coverage of abortions. But California law requires nearly all health plans to cover the procedures.

PARTIAL SURRENDER ON THE TRAVEL BAN

When President Trump issued the first version of his temporary ban on travel from seven mostly Muslim countries, he did so with great fanfare, one week after taking office.

The revised version, issued Monday, came with almost no visible sign of the president, who signed the new order without TV cameras watching. Instead, Trumps appointees, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, announced the new order, making brief statements and taking no questions.

The lower profile was no surprise. Despite much brash rhetoric from the White House in the weeks since federal judges blocked the original order, the new version represented a major retreat on multiple fronts, as Bierman, Mike Memoli and Brian Bennett report.

Not only was the list one country shorter  Iraq was dropped  but all 60,000 existing holders of U.S. visas were protected, as were permanent U.S. residents. The administration also dropped the provision of its original order that gave preference to Christians from the Mideast. It gave up the permanent ban on refugees from Syria. And it provided multiple exemptions from the travel ban itself.

The final version of the order essentially had two major provisions left: a reduction in the total number of refugee admissions for this year, from 110,000 to 50,000, and a temporary slowdown in issuing new visas for people from the now six Middle Eastern and North African countries.

The change left Iraqis happy to have been taken off the revised list, Molly Hennessey-Fiske reports from Irbil. But it did not stop attorneys general in several Democratic states from renewing their court challenges, most of which lean heavily on Trumps campaign statements promising a ban on Muslims.

Meantime, on immigration more generally, the administration can tout some evidence that deterrence may be working: Apprehensions at the southern border have declined sharply since Trump took office, Jennie Jarvie reports.

Even critics of the administration say much of the change reflects Trumps tough rhetoric, which has discouraged would-be migrants, especially Central Americans coming up through Mexico fleeing violence in their home countries.

If the trend continues, expect to see members of Congress question the need to spend billions of dollars to build more border fencing, especially as the administration now seems to want to pay for its wall, not by billing Mexico, but by cutting the budget for airport security and the Coast Guard.

A CHANGING CLIMATE AT THE EPA

In the 1990s, restrictions on federal regulation forced the Environmental Protection Agency to give up trying to control exposure to asbestos. The resulting lack of government oversight led to a flood of lawsuits against manufacturers and the bankruptcy of the industry. Some 15,000 Americans still die every year from asbestos-related disease.

Now, Evan Halper writes, the GOP is trying to insert similar restrictions into the law that governs regulation of a much broader range of environmental hazards. The result could be to render the EPA almost powerless.

The GOPs proposed change in regulatory policy comes as the new EPA chief, Scott Pruitt, continues to put his stamp on environmental policy. This week, he expressed his doubts about the degree to which human activity was influencing the climate  a view that flies in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence.

ALL THE PRESIDENTS TWEETS

The president ended last week in a very bad mood, by multiple accounts, frustrated by the continued attention on Russias potential interference in the 2016 election and angered by his attorney generals decision to step aside from any role in the case.

Saturday morning, he vented his frustration with an astonishing series of tweets, accusing Obama of having had my wires tapped in Trump Tower.

Neither Trump nor White House officials offered any evidence for the charge, which essentially accused Obama of a felony. Obamas spokesman denied it. So did a series of former top officials. The head of the FBI, James Comey, privately asked the Justice Department to repudiate Trump, as Del Wilber and Laura King report.

Over the next several days, the White House gingerly backed away from Trumps accusation without ever actually retracting it. Spokesman Sean Spicer began with a statement declaring that Trump wanted Congress to investigate his charge. As the week went on, he repeatedly declined to offer any evidence. GOP leaders said they would look into the issue but mostly seemed to want to keep Trumps accusation at arms-length.

Twitter has long been Trumps favored means of pushing his message. Were compiling all of Trumps tweets. Its a great resource. Take a look.

CAN THE ADMINISTRATION INVESTIGATE ITSELF?

Atty. Gen. Sessions decision to step aside from the Russia investigation removed one issue for the administration, but it still faces a much bigger one, Cathy Decker writes: Can the White House create public confidence in the administration investigating itself?

The man in whose lap that task will mostly fall, Rod Rosenstein, Trumps nominee to be deputy attorney general, had his Senate hearing this week. Rosenstein, a career prosecutor who has a strong reputation for nonpartisanship, resisted Democratic calls that he commit in advance to appoint a special prosecutor to lead the Russia investigation, Wilber writes. He is widely expected to win confirmation.

Meantime, on another, smaller, legal issue involving Trump, Joe Tanfani writes that a lawsuit from a downtown Washington wine bar could lead to a court test of claims that Trumps ownership of his DC hotel violates the terms of his lease.

FOREIGN POLICY IN THE DARK

After seven weeks absence, the State Department finally returned to daily briefings on U.S. foreign policy this week, Tracy Wilkinson reports. The hiatus  far longer than during any other recent presidential transition  reflected Secretary of State Tillersons apparent preference for minimal press coverage.

Tillerson plans to head to Asia next week without bringing any reporters with him, a departure from the practice of his predecessors going back at least half a century. Press organizations have appealed to Tillerson to reconsider, arguing that taxpayers have a right to have eyes on what their diplomats are up to.

Some foreign policy experts cite another concern: Not having a press corps with him means that Tillerson will give foreign governments a big advantage in establishing the public narrative of how their meetings go.

Theres also the issue of influence within the administration  a scale on which the State Department appears to be losing weight. When Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray came to Washington on Thursday, he headed straight to the White House and did not make even a courtesy stop at State, although he did speak to Tillerson by phone.

As Brian Bennett notes, however, U.S. diplomats did gain some new leverage as a result of a clause in the revised travel ban. The order directs diplomats to negotiate new agreements with countries over the granting of U.S. visas. The administration wants to use that process to force some countries to change policies against taking back their nationals when the U.S. tries to deport them.

LOGISTICS

That wraps up this week. My colleague Sarah Wire will be back Monday with the weekday edition of Essential Politics. Until then, keep track of all the developments in national politics and the Trump administration with our Essential Washington blog, at our Politics page and on Twitter @latimespolitics.

Send your comments, suggestions and news tips to politics@latimes.com.

If you like this newsletter, tell your friends to sign up.

David.lauter@latimes.com

@davidlauter
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
There is one viable solution for business owners who lose their undocumented workers. If Trumps voters are constantly kvetching and complaining that illegals are stealing jobs from citizens, business owners need to look to the Trump voters who want their jobs back and hire those people to work in those vacated positions once held by illegals.

While we are at it, we can also use some extreme vetting to get lazy people off their collective rear ends and back to work doing the jobs that illegals once did. Itll be a great day in America when Trump voters scrub toilets and flip burgers for $10 and hour. Theyll be glad to have these terrific but low-paying positions.

Its not just about what is made in America, but what is done in America that will Make America Great Again.

Jodi Lawson

Burbank

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Elections should have coincided

Congratulations to Sharon Springer for qualifying for the general election. She will have the opportunity to be the lone rational voice on the City Council and could possibly limit the stranglehold that the developers have on this city. Sharon cares deeply about the residents of Burbank and their quality of life. Hopefully, she will prevail on April 11. The voters need to turn out for Sharon.

It is shameful that only 16% of eligible voters took the time to vote on Feb. 28. If the 84% who did not vote are dissatisfied with the city government, they had the opportunity to let their voices be heard but it was too much of an inconvenience for them to fill out their ballots and mail them. It is truly pathetic that there was a 16% turnout in an important election that will determine the future of Burbank for several years. Indeed, the election winners know that they were elected by less than 10% of eligible voters.

Although there is no justification for the incredibly low voter turnout, the timing of the election is questionable. If some voters were confused by the fact that there was a Los Angeles County election on March 7, that situation needed to clarified by the city of Burbank. Why wasnt the city election scheduled for March 7 and somehow combined with the county election to include in-person voting instead of only by mail? It is somewhat of an inconvenience to vote twice in consecutive weeks.

Thomas Saito

Burbank

..

A real scandal waits in wings

It is truly fascinating to read that City Council candidate Sharon Springer is infuriated and Vice Mayor Will Rogers has concerns over unaccepted campaign donations to David Gordon and Juan Guillen. Gordon and Guillen both pledged not to take developer donations during this election. When a local developer made an online contribution, both candidates kept that promise to the public and returned the money.

Ironically, in the 2015 election, Rogers accepted at least $2,000 from developers. Any citizen has the right to donate to any candidate. Its what happens to the money afterward that is most telling. Will Rogers chose to keep his developer money. And he had way more than 10 days to return it!

Curiously, Rogers and Springer dont seem nearly as disturbed about the $50,000 donation of taxpayer funds to the Yes on Measure B campaign. These were public monies used to influence an election. Where is the disgust and outrage over those campaign finances?

Anyone by chance, feeling infuriated now at this lack of transparency? For months, David Gordon, along with a number of citizens, has been calling for a public hearing to shed light on this election fraud. So far, no other council member will join him.

This $50,000 is the real scandal and speaks volumes about who to vote for in April.

Roy Wiegand

Burbank

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Springer, Rogers ire unwarranted

We found it sad and irritating that the Leader reporter Anthony Clark Carpio chose to include in his article Donations to City Council candidates from real estate developer draw criticism, unsubstantiated concerns from Sharon Springer and Will Rogers regarding donations to other candidates. Neither of them did due diligence in actually asking about the donations, which were returned to the donor. Hopefully, during the General Election period, the Leader will refrain from printing false or inaccurate information that amount to mud-slinging and innuendos.

Glenn and Gail Nicol

Burbank

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Cusumanos $400 is a distraction

In response to the Contribution commotion letter to the editor by Will Rogers (March 4), I agree with Rogers that actions speak louder than words. David Gordon is our only current City Council member who asks questions and votes against the current wave of overdevelopment on the horizon for Burbank. The motivation behind Michael Cusumanos $400 donation to Gordons campaign may have been to cause a distraction from this fact.

If you truly care about maintaining some semblance of Burbanks quality of life, vote for Gordon and Juan Guillen in order to have true discussions on the consequence of proposed plans. Otherwise, our other esteemed council members will continue approving every proposed overdevelopment deal that crosses their dais.

We cant scratch our way out of the pension hole we have dug ourselves into by relying on the developers to add tax dollars to our coffers. Those same tax dollars will be needed to supply all of the new residents with city services too.

Debra Freedman

Burbank

..

Suddenly Gordon seems familiar

No doubt David Gordon winning Stacey Murphys seat in 2006 was an accomplishment. However, after documenting the machinations of his win and subsequent policy decisions there are clear parallels with another new politician in our country. To start with, Gordon won with 38% of the vote with no runoff. Not a majority. Sound familiar? During our severe drought, Gordon declared there was lots of snow after a flyover of some local mountains. He then used this grand analysis to attack any water usage restrictions.

Thankfully the usual occurred and his vote was noted by an asterisk that indicated he was the lone no vote and got no concessions or votes from other council members. That flyover, however, caught the attention and praise of the anti-climate change fringe here in Burbank. Seeing this opportunity, Gordon quickly followed up by tugging on irrational fears about a nonexistent threat from UN Order 21. This was followed by the usual right-wing suspicions of the undocumented, environmentalists, the always scary mass transit and so on. It is true that this is a nonpartisan race, but local candidates draw from larger political pools and it is obvious who Gordon appeals to politically.

We as citizens of Burbank can do so much better, and my hope is that after seeing the results of the 2016 presidential race, we will.

Alfred Aboulsaad

Burbank
His penthouse received a luxurious makeover, largely thanks to local artists.

Christian Grey, the fictional character in the Fifty Shades trilogy, based on E.L. James best-selling books, is a 29-year-old billionaire living in a sumptuous pad overlooking the Seattle skyline.

His home, Escala, plays a key role in the second movie in the series, Fifty Shades Darker, and the new decor and artwork helping to update the living quarters has a clear connection to Laguna Beach.

The films creative team recruited set decorator Carolyn Loucks and production designer Nelson Coates to conceptualize a new look in the erotic romantic sequel to the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey, which starred Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson.

Coates, an Emmy-nominated set designer, currently serves on the board of trustees of the Laguna College of Art and Design in Laguna Beach, and he has a practice of working with local artists to include their paintings and sculptures in projects. Coates has been a friend of the college since 2007 and has served on the board since 2010.

In September 2015, Coates sent a message to LCAD students and faculty asking that interested artists submit work that could appear in an unnamed box-office film.

He then sifted through digital images and selected pieces he deemed suitable for the films scenic design.

Six months later, three LCAD artists learned that their paintings would be in the Universal Pictures film, either in the apartment or elsewhere, and they would be given a stipend to send their artwork to Vancouver, Canada, where the movie was being filmed. It has since grossed $356 million worldwide.

MFA painting candidate Stephanie Leonard submitted four images, three of which are spotlighted in the movie. Leonard, a San Clemente resident who emigrated from Peru when she was 13, said her artwork is about fear, loss and salvation.

Her 3-foot-5 oil painting The Passage hangs in Greys home office and is frequently seen in main scenes. The piece is reminiscent of an old hospital, where pools of water and beds transform into church pews that lead to a hallway where a game of hopscotch is being played.

Another of her pieces, With This Sacrifice, illustrates surgical scissors dangling from a cardboard box, and the last selection, The Curtain of Imprinted Memories, contains variations of the color gray.

They tug at you in a poignant way, and my wish is that people feel intrigued by something thats familiar, she said of her work.

Leonard said her daughter being diagnosed with cancer motivated the mother to draw and paint, the process of recording memories serving as a catharsis.

She saw the film with her husband when it was released to theaters Feb. 10, but they would not allow the 13-year-old to see it.

Its pretty surreal to see my paintings on a large screen, said Leonard, noting that they were returned to her studio at the end of filming last year.

LCAD President Jonathan Burke had his five submitted pieces approved but said he wasnt sure which of the paintings made the film  since he hadnt yet seen Fifty Shades Darker and knows that anything can happen in the editing process.

Burke, who described his work as highly realistic and representative art, submitted food paintings he was invited to draw for an exhibit held years ago at the Peter Blake Gallery in Laguna Beach.

His still-life entries were a chocolate doughnut, a piece of layer cake, a red-glazed doughnut, a slice of pepperoni pizza with green peppers and mushrooms, and a pink cake decorated with whipped cream, mint leaves and blueberries.

I will see the film, but Ill be focused on the walls, waiting for that moment to see my paintings, Burke said. My works are probably cameo roles, and I think the characters are a bit more important.

The work of Betty Shelton, LCADs chairwoman of the post-baccalaureate program, is in the film. Survivor Suite features an unclothed woman mostly in profile, looking wistfully out a window in an apartment building. The painting is distinctive for its interesting patterns of light and shadow, Burke said.

Burke said until theres a phone application that freezes a painting on a movie screen and identifies its cost and owner, he doesnt expect viewers to inquire about a purchase.

I dont think so, Burke said with a laugh. Im just a prop.

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi
A man whose vehicle police say contained marijuana, cocaine, a loaded gun and cash was arrested in Fountain Valley, authorities said.

Fountain Valley police pulled over a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Brookhurst Street and Slater Avenue on what authorities said was a vehicle code violation. Officers checked the drivers record and learned he had felony convictions in Nevada, according to police.

Officers searched the vehicle and said they found 5 pounds of marijuana, about 13.7 grams of cocaine, a large amount of cash and a loaded handgun with a high-capacity magazine.

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Jake Daniel Antonacci, 28, of Las Vegas was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, transportation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of more than 28.5 grams of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance while armed with a loaded firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person and possession of a high-capacity magazine, police said.

Antonacci was released on bond Friday morning, according to Orange County Jail records.

--

Hannah Fry, hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
Fountain Valley police are seeking the publics help in identifying a man and a woman suspected of stealing nearly $1,600 in merchandise from Frys Electronics.

Police said the two fled the store at 10800 Kalama River Ave. at about noon Feb. 26 with $1,597 worth of items. They drove off in a black two-door car, possibly a Toyota Solara, police said.

The stores security cameras captured photos of the suspects.

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Police described the man as about 6 feet tall, 25 to 30 years old, with an average build and a shaved head. He was wearing a black hoodie, a black shirt and jeans.

The woman was described as 20 to 30 years old, with long black hair and a medium build. She was wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Det. Ben Roddy at (714) 593-4465 or ben.roddy@fountainvalley.org.

--

Hannah Fry, hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
An Orange County Superior Court judge denied the Orange County Museum of Arts request for a temporary restraining order intended to prevent the Newport Beach City Council from finalizing its decision to rescind approval of the Museum House development planned for the art museums current site.

Judge Geoffrey Glass did not provide a reason for his ruling, which he reached Wednesday afternoon after hearing attorneys written and oral arguments that morning, according to court records.

We are obviously disappointed by this decision, OCMA Director and Chief Executive Todd Smith said Thursday. He declined further comment.

OCMA had sought to prevent the City Councils procedural second vote, scheduled for next Tuesday, that would scuttle its approval last year of Museum House, a 100-unit, 25-story condominium tower.

The luxury development, planned for 850 San Clemente Drive in Newport Center, would replace the museum, which hopes to move to Costa Mesa in a facility that would be built at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

But following a certified petition effort organized by local activist group Line in the Sand that called for a public vote on the condo project, the council opted Feb. 28 to cancel the original entitlements for Museum House rather than call an election to decide its future.

OCMAs legal filings have said Museum House developer Related California was willing to pay a high price for the museum land, though the amount has not been publicly disclosed.

OCMA has an ongoing lawsuit against the city and Line in the Sand, arguing that the referendum petition violated state elections code. It sought the restraining order to last as long as four months, enough time for the court to make a decision on the lawsuit.

Line in the Sand spokesman Tim Stoaks said Thursday that his group is appreciative of Judge Glass denial of the restraining order requested by OCMA and for allowing the City Council to finalize their rescind of the Museum House project.

We are hopeful that Judge Glass will ultimately rule in favor of the 14,000-signature Newport Beach residents petition, Stoaks said.

bradley.zint@latimes.com

Twitter: @BradleyZint
State Sen. John Moorlach is ringing a warning bell regarding Californias financial health.

This is the same guy who predicted the Orange County bankruptcy in 1994. At the time, no one was really taking him seriously, and we all know how that turned out.

Fast forward to today. Should we again be listening to this Costa Mesa Republican?

Californians pay the highest rate of personal income tax in the country, yet according to a March 1 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, More than 1 in 5 Californians live in poverty, the highest rate in the country when you factor in the higher cost of housing and living in the state.

Reading Moorlachs email updates, hes concerned on several fronts. Prison costs and unfunded pension liabilities are among the factors contributing to Californias fiscal house of cards.

So I called him last week to chat about his concerns in Sacramento, and to discuss legislation hes planning to bring forward.

Crime is one topic hes hot to talk about after attending a recent budget and fiscal review hearing. At the meeting, reasons for the increase in costs for our prison system were discussed, even though populations have decreased. And Assembly Bill 109 and Propositions 47 and 57  a bill and two voter-approved referendums, respectively, that allowed early release of inmates  were also touched on.

I took on the Department of Finance at the beginning of the three hour-plus hearing, Moorlach says, noting that "$1.155 billion of the $2.141 billion in increased costs were due to normal increases in wages and pension contributions.

He says each inmate costs California $70,000 a year, a cost that can be reduced to as low as $29,500 by outsourcing the prison population.

If they were serious about reducing costs, the answer was sitting right there, he says.

The Senate recently voted to approve three bills related to the Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) between the governor and nearly two-thirds of the states employees, through their respective bargaining units. Senate Bills 28, 47 and 48 will cost $2.7 billion.

Moorlach voted against all three.

And one wonders how the state doesnt have enough money to fix roads and dams, but does for paying employees higher benefits?

Moorlach says cities should have more control over their pension funds and wants to propose a plan in which they can exit the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) without a huge payout.

Leaving CalPERS is expensive for cities. CalPERS computes a citys pension liability at a 2% to 3% investment-return formula, then the city gets a massive bill that must be paid immediately because the pension system was making contributions based on a 7.5% assumption, Moorlach says.

Hes proposing to change that calculation formula.

Hes working on a bill that would calculate what a city paid into CalPERS over the years, what it made in investment income and what it paid in retiree benefits. The sum would be paid in full to the respective city to start its own retirement trust fund that meets federal codes, making it responsible for their own pension liability destiny.

Moorlach also explained the day an employee starts with a city they get benefits that cannot be legally reduced.

He wants to introduce a bill that can tier the benefits so they can be changed prospectively.

We need to give tools to these cities, he says.

Moorlach says residents are starting to realize unfunded pension liabilities are going to run us over.

Yet in his home town, he says, its a crazy move in Costa Mesa to lower pension input.

What hes referring to is a newly approved contract that decreases the amount city employees pay toward their pensions from 17.04% to 12% by year three. The proposed contract is expected to cost taxpayers $5.65 million more over the life of the agreement than the previous one.

Moorlach will most certainly continue to ring this financial warning bell. Lets see if anyone will listen.

BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com.
Our readers are increasingly going mobile.

So are we.

Times Community News, which publishes the Daily Pilot, the Huntington Beach Independent, the Coastline Pilot and Weekend, is launching all-new web pages Wednesday morning.

Sites will be optimized for mobile phones and tablets, as well as social media and search engines. iOS and Android users will no longer need to fuss with their screens just to read a story. Pages should load faster and are built for scrolling.

Desktop users should feel welcome too. The cleaner layout emphasizes the navigation bar and critical categories  news, sports, opinion and features. Less-read categories have been dropped.

Content wont change. Story archives will be transferred.

But the user-generated online calendar will be replaced with staff selections. And article comments will move from Facebook to a new system. (Old comments cannot be archived, as they belong to Facebook.)

The Los Angeles Times will host the sites, making our work far more visible to search engines, news aggregators and one of the nations biggest newspaper audiences. The technology behind our previous platform is being phased out by our parent company, but the old URLs will still get you to the new pages.

Our content will remain free  its positioned in front of The Times pay wall  for the foreseeable future. The Times Community News products in Los Angeles County are also making the move.

Were not quite done transferring all of the data  and some staffers are still learning the content management system  so expect temporary hiccups in the user experience.

This closes the loop on a year of change. We launched our first countywide product, Weekend, which is getting a dedicated web page, and completed redesigns of all of our print editions.

As always, thanks for reading  be it on phone, tablet, desktop or newsprint  and supporting local news.

Our old web addresses, or URLs, still work and will redirect users to the new sites. In the meantime, for fast access, bookmark these pages:

 www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot

 www.latimes.com/socal/coastline-pilot

 www.latimes.com/socal/hb-independent

 www.latimes.com/socal/weekend

JOHN CANALIS is the editor for Weekend, the Daily Pilot, the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot and the Huntington Beach Independent. He can be reached at (714) 966-4607 and john.canalis@latimes.com.
This is the span that connects us to Big Sur  or used to. The sinking Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge on Highway 1 has left locals and one of the most beloved places on the coast cut off from the rest of us after heavy winter rains pounded the area in mid-February.

The gap in Californias coastal route is likely to persist for at least a year until the bridge is replaced.

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What can you do in the meantime?

You could drive to the southern side of the bridge closure, make a big inland loop, and restart your trip on the other side. That would be about a 250-mile detour (which you cant do right now, but more on that later).

That route includes a lot of backtracking and traveling east on California Highway 46 to Paso Robles, north on the 101 Freeway to Salinas, southwest to Monterey (you have a choice of roads) and south on Highway 1 to the other side of the broken bridge.

Of course, you can choose to visit either the north or south side of the closure without having to stop and start at the bridge.

But you wont be able to attempt that crazy-long detour until repairs are completed on other parts of Highway 1.

Stretches have been closed in both directions after mud and rock slides caused serious damage at places like Ragged Point and near the towns of Gorda and Lucia.

Caltrans has been working on fixing the road and hopes to reopen some parts as soon as next week.

Until then, check on status of Highway 1 closures online at Caltrans QuickMap to plan your trip.

ALSO

After summers wildfire and winters heavy rains, five coastal parks in the Big Sur area remain closed indefinitely

Californias coastal Highway 1 is now temporarily closed in several places after recent storms

This is what the storm damage in Yosemite looks like, and this is what it means

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravel
Washingtons famed cherry blossoms are predicted to reach their peak earlier than usual this year between March 15 and April 2  and luxury hotels in D.C. are rolling out extras that appear only with the blooms.

The Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C. offers a perfect location for those who want to overlook the Tidal Basins historic trees from the comfort of their hotel room. And you can enjoy the cherry trees on the hotel grounds that were planted by the granddaughter of Tokyos mayor who made the original gift to the U.S. in 1912.

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Youll also be treated to a hanami or Japanese-style picnic under the trees and receive daily breakfast, valet parking and Wi-Fi. Prices start at $595 a night, excluding tax, and require a two-night stay.

The offer is available until May 24. Info: Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C., 1330 Maryland Ave. SW; (202) 554 8588

The Rosewood Washington, D.C., located along the C&O Canal in Georgetown will send you on a Segway tour to see the cherry blossoms and spoil you with specialty cocktails topped off with an edible cherry blossom flower.

Daily breakfast, a kite (you can fly it at the Tidal Basin or elsewhere), dried-cherry scones and valet parking come with your stay too.

The offer is available March 20 to April 16. Prices start at $675 a night, excluding tax, and require a two-night stay. Info: Rosewood Washington, D.C., 1050 31st St. NW; (888) 767-3966

The Ritz-Carlton welcomes cherry blossom season by serving a traditional Sakura tea to guests in their room and a small plate-cocktail creation too. It also adds a cherry and lychee dessert in a bento box, daily breakfast and valet parking.

Prices start at $409 a night, excluding tax. The offer is good March 14 to April 16. Info: The Ritz-Carlton, 1150 22nd St. NW; (202) 835-0500

ALSO

Things in D.C. are so overheated that the cherry blossoms are popping prematurely, forcing an earlier start to the festival

Where did all those high rollers come from? Las Vegas newest hotel is adding more VIP gaming salons

A weekend in Santa Barbara is more than a run-of-the-mill escape

Wheres the best mai tai in Hawaii? Whats the best island? Best place to stay? Readers share their favorites

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravel
Pope Francis is making waves again, this time suggesting the Roman Catholic Church should consider ordaining married men to make up for serious shortages of priests in distant dioceses.

In an interview with Germanys Die Zeit, Francis mulled the possibility of ordaining so-called Viri Probati, meaning religious married men of proven character.

We have to give a thought to whether Viri Probati are a possibility. We then also need to determine which tasks they could take on, such as in isolated areas, for example, he said.

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Calling priest shortages an enormous problem, Francis said the question needed to be tackled fearlessly.

In 2014, Erwin Krautler, the bishop of Xingu in the Brazilian rainforest, said he had discussed the ordination of married men with Pope Francis. Bishop Krautler complained that in his diocese, which counted 700,000 faithful, he had only 27 priests.

Latin America has the largest priest shortage, according to Paul Sullins, a sociology professor at the Catholic University of America.

Last year, there were more than 10,000 Catholics per priest in Brazil, which has the worlds largest Catholic population, he said. Meanwhile in the United States, there were roughly 1,800 Catholics for every priest.

We dont have a clergy shortage in global terms, Sullins said.

In his interview on Thursday, Francis made it clear he was not pushing to make celibacy optional for new priests.

Voluntary celibacy is often discussed in this context, especially in places where there are shortages of clerics. But voluntary celibacy is not a solution, he said.

The pope has previously praised celibacy, stating: For now, I am in favor of maintaining celibacy, with all the pros and cons that come with it, because in 10 centuries there have been more positive experiences than errors.

Francis has, however, said celibacy is more about church tradition than doctrine, recalling how it was an option until 1100.

In 2013, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, before he became Vatican secretary of state, said priestly celibacy was not part of church dogma and the issue is open to discussion because it is an ecclesiastical tradition.

Eastern Catholic Churches allow the ordination of married men as priests, and in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI created the Anglo-Catholic Ordinariate to bring Anglican priests, even if married, into the Catholic Church.

Pope John Paul II, responding to requests received from some priests and laity formerly or actually belonging to the Episcopal Church in the United States, had decided to make a special pastoral provision for their reception into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis acknowledged the stress and loneliness of celibate life last year when he visited a group of former priests who left the church to get married and have children.

By pushing the church toward more open debate about married priests, Francis may anger Catholic conservatives who are already opposed to his move to offer communion to some divorcees who remarry in civil courts.

Since the church does not recognize civil divorce, it holds that anyone who remarries is living in sin.

Even if it is restricted to areas like Amazonia, conservatives may see the ordaining of married men as the thin end of the wedge, said Marco Tosatti, a Vatican correspondent with Italys La Stampa.

But Tostatti added that he was doubtful Francis would make changes.

He says that we should reflect on the issue, but he has done nothing about it despite pressure from some within the church for three years, so I am not sure he will do anything now, he said.

Kington is a special correspondent.

ALSO:

A controversial Thai monk is wanted in connection with a fraud case. His followers wont give him up

Old slavery mentality is making a comeback in lawless Libya, migrants say

Presidents ouster caps months of discontent in South Korea, but will it change anything?

UPDATES:

2:15 p.m.: This article was updated with statistics on the number of priests serving in Brazil and the United States.

This article was originally published at 1 p.m.
President Park Geun-hyes long-anticipated ouster from office Friday will probably do little to address the growing list of complaints that many South Koreans have about their troubled nation.

Asias fourth-largest economy has experienced slower economic growth, higher youth unemployment, rising income inequality and endemic collusion between leaders in business and government  all while internal critics complain that its dysfunctional democracy seems incapable of reform.

Park became the focal point for a number of grievances that have been going on for decades, said David Kang, an international relations professor at USC who directs the universitys Korean Studies Institute. I dont think Ive seen any indication that Korean society, politics or business is going to change.

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These issues, among others, helped swell the crowds of millions who flooded the nations streets in recent months as the burgeoning scandal that began last October mushroomed into a national crisis and, ultimately, the presidents removal.

Tens of thousands occupied a square in central Seoul on Friday to celebrate Parks ouster after the countrys constitutional court found unanimously that the president had violated the duty to safeguard the nation.

Violent clashes broke out between police and some of Parks supporters. About 30 people were injured, and three people believed to be protesters died, officials said.

Frustration with societal ills was perhaps why many national opinion surveys found that a large majority of South Koreans favored the presidents Parks removal from office  if not her arrest  amid allegations that she had participated in a bribery scheme with the countrys most powerful conglomerate, the Samsung Group.

In impeaching Park last December, the National Assembly cited a list of allegations, including abuse of authority and influence peddling. But representatives also cited more political concerns, such as her handling of a ferry accident in 2014.

Parks downfall began on Oct. 24, 2016, when a television network obtained a tablet computer containing evidence that a longtime Park confidante with no official role in government had edited her official speeches.

The revelation quickly turned into a massive corruption scandal, including disclosures that the confidante, Choi Soon-sil, used her influence with Park to extort money for her businesses from large companies, including Samsung.

Prosecutors later arrested Samsungs de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, on charges that he organized payments to Choi in an effort to gain support from Park for a controversial merger between two of his companys affiliates.

Authorities also accused Park of bribery in the scheme, and she could be subject to legal action now that she has lost the prosecutorial immunity that came with the presidency.

Park became the focal point for a number of grievances that have been going on for decades.  David Kang, an international relations professor at USC

One possible place for substantive change after Parks removal could, of course, be the presidency itself. Park and her predecessor, Lee Myung-bak, were members of the ruling conservative party, now known as Liberty Korea.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who since December has filled in as head of state during Parks suspension, will continue to lead the nation for now.

But its possible that a more liberal candidate could win a special presidential election in early May. Some analysts believe that the conservatives have been deeply hurt by the scandal and could face a voter backlash.

An ideological shift at the top could have real implications for South Korean society, including how it deals with the advancing nuclear threat in North Korea and how it communicates with China, which has retaliated economically over Parks plan to deploy an American anti-missile system.

[Liberals] stand a good chance of winning and, if they win, would have a mandate  maybe not a sweeping one  to implement changes, said Peter Kim, an assistant professor at Kookmin University in Seoul.

A welcome change for some would be reforming the system to prevent collusion between business titans and political leaders  a longstanding issue in South Korea that prosecutors cited in their investigative report in the Park case.

There are relationships the public doesnt see between politicians and corporations, said Kim Chan Young, a student at Dongguk University in Seoul. Presidential candidates are saying they will root out corruption, and Im hoping that this will come true.

With her removal, Park  South Koreas first female leader  also becomes the nations first president to lose office through impeachment. She has repeatedly apologized  most recently for her carelessness  but never defended herself before prosecutors or the courts.

Her supporters may have projected onto Park their nostalgia for the bygone era of her father, a former military dictator. Park Chung-hee reigned in the 1960s and 70s, when the nation began to emerge from devastation and poverty after the Korean War and turn into an Asian economic powerhouse.

Her detractors see her as a symbol of something else entirely.

This impeachment proceeding somehow has become a referendum on the leadership of Korea for the dysfunction of the economy, politics and social cohesion, all embodied in the person of Park Geun-hye, said Ryan Song, a law professor at Kyung Hee University in Seoul.

The courts ruling will have other consequences for the disgraced leader: She will be stripped of the $10,000 monthly pension usually afforded former presidents and must leave the presidential complex, known as the Blue House for its distinctly colored tile roof.

She has her own residence in Seouls posh Gangnam district, about eight miles to the south.

But Parks foreign media spokesman, D.J. Kim, said the former president planned to remain at the Blue House at least until Saturday, citing the difficulty of moving in and around the complex because of the post-verdict protests.

Park lived there as a young woman, serving as de facto first lady after a North Korean sympathizer killed her mother in an ill-fated attempt on her fathers life. He was assassinated by his spy chief in 1979, adding another layer of tragedy to her life.

After serving in the assembly and working as a conservative party organizer, she narrowly won the presidency in 2012. But she never developed the ability to shape South Korean policy as did her famous father.

Her tenure, even before the corruption scandal, was marked by controversy and hurt by what some observers say was a secretive and aloof governing style  a style perhaps learned by observing her father, who seized power in a coup and ruled as a strongman.

Other than the scandal, perhaps the defining moment of her time in office was the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster in which nearly 300 people  most of them high school students  perished when the vessel capsized en route to Jeju Island.

It was an intensely painful event for many South Koreans and led to widespread public criticism of the authorities. Distraught parents pressed for a more robust investigation, and Parks presidency never really recovered.

Questions about her whereabouts during a crucial seven-hour period while the disaster unfolded continued to haunt her. Indeed, the court hearing the impeachment case demanded an accounting of what happened during that time. Park refused to answer.

Woo Jiann, a student at Seoul National University who said she attended five anti-Park street rallies, cited the Sewol incident as one of her chief concerns about the ousted leader  and the nations corrupt politics.

This weeks events give her hope, however.

Its the first time this has happened in the history of democracy, she said of the impeachment. And though it doesnt feel real right now, I think it will have a positive effect on people.

Stiles is a special correspondent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ALSO

In Belarus, a rising fear: Will we be the next Ukraine?

French police on the hunt for poachers who killed a white rhino in a zoo

As Erdogan consolidates power in Turkey, the Kurdish opposition faces crackdown

UPDATES:

7:30 p.m.: This article was updated with the death of a third protester.

This article was originally published at 3:20 a.m.
All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced.  19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc.
A DNA analysis that published in Nature has again confirmed that the hair sample collected from Aboriginal people across the Australia in the early mid-1900s has revealed that the population that arrived 50,000 years ago have been continuously present. The analysis indicated that the populations stayed in specific areas during the continental migration have been present in the same regions ever since.

According to PHYS ORG, the researchers that analyzed the mitochondrial DNA from 111 hair samples that were originally collected across the Australia from 1928 until the 1970s, allows tracing a maternal ancestry. The results show that the modern Aboriginal Australians are the descendants of a population that arrived 50,000 years ago in Australia.

Professor Alan Cooper said that it is fantastic that from the basic population the patterns have persisted for the next 50,000 years, which shows that the communities remained in discrete geographical regions. Moreover, co-author Lesley Williams added the Aboriginal people was played an important major role in developing the right cultural and ethical system for the study.

ABC reported that the DNA analysis was only taken with a consent of the donors or the descendants and the outcomes were discussed in front with the families before it publishes. The researchers hoping that by this project will lead to a rewriting of Australia's history to include the Aboriginal history and what it means to have on their land for 50,000 years.

However, reconstructing a genetic history of Aboriginal Australia is very complex due to some past government policies that imposed population relocation and a child removal that might erase of the physical connection between the groups and geography of Australia today. According to Brian Oldman, the director of the South Australian Museum, the Aboriginal Heritage Project was to able to exist because of its far-reaching records that are collected in the expeditions, which held in trust for all at the South Australian Museum.
The United States is on high alert after yellow fever in rural Brazil turns into an outbreak. Yellow fever in the country has now claimed the lives of 220 people and the number could still rise over time. With international travel more accessible and more frequent than ever, travel-related cases of yellow fever may happen in the U.S.

Experts say that the yellow fever outbreak in Brazil could spread just like the way Zika virus did, CNN reported. Zika started in Brazil in 2015 and has spread to about 60 countries. The United States also had the worst Zika outbreak with Florida being the most affected. The yellow fever in Brazil started in December 2016 and reports said that the very first victims were from the rural areas of the country along the states of Espirito Santo, Sao Paulo and Mina Gerais.

According to the Pan American Health Organization, there are 326 confirmed cases of yellow fever in Brazil with 916 suspected cases. The PAHO also said that the fatality rate is around 33% for confirmed cases and 11% for suspected cases. Aside from areas in rural Brazil, there are clustered cases in Rio de Janeiro which is the busiest and the most highly-populated city in the country.

Although there is a vaccine for yellow fever it is not given as a routine vaccination program in Brazil, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. With the recent outbreak, Brazilians health workers are now urging people to get vaccinated right away. Officials also said that they are worried about infected people coming from the jungles of Brazil. These people are infected by jungle-dwelling mosquito species and may travel to the city and spread the virus.

The Word Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are closely monitoring the outbreak. According to officials, the entire state of Espirito Santo has been considered for yellow fever transmission. CDC reiterated the importance of quickly detecting and controlling outbreaks to reduce the illness, death and prevent the spread of the disease to other regions.
China is now in the midst of developing an advanced new spaceship that is capable of landing on the moon and flying in low-Earth orbit. China is another bold step for a space program that is reportedly matched the U.S in the number of rocket launches in the previous year.

Zhang Bainian, a spaceship engineer stated that the new spacecraft have several rooms for the astronauts and would be recoverable. On Tuesday, the newspapers Science and Technology Daily reported that Zhang has raised a comparison between the NASA and European Space Agency's Orion spacecraft, New York Post has reported.

NASA's Orion spacecraft hope to carry astronauts into space by 2023 with the goal of bringing another human into the moon. Though China's developing spacecraft still has no concrete details yet and its spacecraft design is still unknown. CNSA's (China National Space Administration) Shenzhou space capsule is based on Russia's Soyuz and it is capable of carrying a total of three astronauts in its re-entry module.

China has launched its first manned mission into space back in 2003, reported that China's space flight came late. After the first manned mission, China was rapidly advanced and improved since then.

In the previous year, China has launched 22 rockets, the very first time the country matched the figure of the U.S launches. At the end of 2016, China successfully launched its second space station and the CNSA's ambiguously plan to launch a third space station in 2020 and an advanced space telescope.

According to Bloomberg, a fully functioning and permanently crewed space station is on the way to begin operations in five years. Also, a manned lunar mission is eyeing in the future by the People's Republic.

Now, China is one of the big three in space travel and is one of the most ambiguous countries to explore the moon. CNSA has developed a rover to further explore the far side of the moon hopefully next year.

China's primary mission of the new spacecraft is to land taikonauts on the moon in the year 2030. The human's natural satellite might be witnessing a lot more activity in the next 20 years.
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Mar 10, 2017, 2:51am ET

Alpine won't sell A110 coupe in the U.S.

The company\'s top exec told Leftlane that overseas markets are a priority right now.

Renault's Alpine division has put an end to the rumors that claim the new, 252-horsepower A110 coupe (pictured) will battle the Porsche 718 Cayman in the United States.

"At the moment we are not planning on selling the A110 in the U.S.," company boss Bernard Ollivier told Leftlane on the sidelines of the Geneva Auto Show. "Re-launching the brand is a big project. Right now we're focusing on markets like Europe and Japan," he explained.

Though disappointing, the decision isn't a surprise. Alpine nearly entered the U.S. market in the late 1980s, but it backtracked at the last minute because Renault's American arm was crumbling. Consequently, the company is virtually unknown on this side of the pond, so luring enthusiasts into showrooms that don't exist yet would be an uphill battle.

The story is different abroad: Alpine retains a strong image in Europe and in Japan even though it just barely returned to life after spending over 20 years gathering dust in the pantheon of dead car brands. The first A110s to roll off the line will be part of a limited-edition series named Premiere Edition. Production is limited to 1,955 examples, and fans claimed a vast majority of them well before the coupe made its official debut.

Photo by Ronan Glon.
Mar 10, 2017, 3:33am ET

Geneva 2017: The complete roundup

Step inside for a recap of this year\'s Geneva Auto Show.

The Geneva Auto Show is one of our favorite automotive events because it puts an unabashed focus on high-end cars. Companies big and small from all over the world convene in Switzerland annually to display horsepower, luxury, outlandish designs, and sometimes all of the above.

This year's edition was one of the smaller ones in recent memory, but there were still plenty of cars to drool over. Miss any of the action in the Palexpo convention center? Read on for a recap of this year's highlights.

2018 Lamborghini Huracan Performante

The Huracan Performante is the most powerful V10-powered model Lamborghini has ever built. The naturally-aspirated 5.2-liter unit pumps out 640 horsepower at 8,000 rpm and 443 pound-feet of torque at 6,500 rpm. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Flaps integrated into the front bumper and at the base of the rear wing provide a huge amount of downforce without adding excessive drag. The Performante also features a unique design, and it makes extensive use of a weight-saving material named Forged Composite that was patented by Lamborghini.

McLaren 720S

"This is the first time we have replaced a product family," McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt pointed out as the veil came off the 720S. To say that it's a monumentally important model for the British brand is a massive understatement.

McLaren applied the lessons it learned from competing against Lamborghini and Ferrari to the 720S. It's lighter than the 650S it replaces, it has more power, and it's got a head-turning design penned in a wind tunnel.

Mercedes-AMG GT concept

This close-to-production concept looks like a longer version of the GT coupe with two sets of doors, but the similarities are only skin-deep. It rides on an evolution of the modular MRA platform that underpins a number of recent Mercedes-Benz models including the E-Class.

AMG's first-ever hybrid drivetrain gives the GT concept 805 horsepower. It's made up of a turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 engine borrowed from the E63, and a compact electric motor. The sedan performs the benchmark zero-to-60-mph sprint in under three seconds.

Want one? You're in luck, because the production variant is less than a year away from making its debut.

Mercedes-Maybach G650 Landaulet

We've been hearing rumors of a Maybach SUV for several years now. The more credible ones pointed to a GLS-based off-roader, but it turns out Mercedes had something much more decadent in the pipeline.
Mar 10, 2017, 9:58am ET

VW to submit guilty plea for felony charges in emissions case

The DoJ has called the scandal \"one of the largest corporate fraud schemes in the history of the United States.\"

Volkswagen is expected to submit its guilty plea today for felony charges in the diesel emissions scandal.

The move will finalize a plea deal the company reached in January with the US Department of Justice. The agreement includes three felony counts of obstruction of justice, fraud and entry of goods by false statements.

A company attorney will likely visit the US District Court in Detroit to formally sign the guilty pleas, according to Reuters.

The German automaker has agreed to pay billions in civil and criminal penalties. It will also hire an outside auditor to monitor compliance for several years.

The DoJ has reportedly described the scandal as "one of the largest corporate fraud schemes in the history of the United States."
2 charged in $15K jewelry burglary in Bethlehem Township

From left, Lyle T. Jones III and his girlfriend, Brianna Smith, both 20 and from Bethlehem, face felony counts after a Bethlehem Township home was burglarized, leading to the theft of handguns and $15,000 worth of jewelry, police said. (Courtesy photos | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Two Bethlehem residents face felony counts after a Bethlehem Township home was burglarized, leading to the theft of handguns and $15,000 worth of jewelry, police said.

Lyle T. Jones III and his girlfriend, Brianna Smith, both 20 and of the 500 block of Broadway, were both released on bail following their arraignments earlier this week.

The residence in the 2500 block of 10th Street was burglarized while the homeowner was on vacation.

A juvenile suspect interviewed by police said he entered the home Jan. 13 via an unlocked garage door and stole a Kahr 9mm handgun and a Ruger .38 Special revolver, according to court records.

The following day, the juvenile said, he and Jones entered the home while Smith was parked nearby in Jones' vehicle, acting as a lookout, police said. She was on the phone with Jones while they were in the house and told Jones to flee because the homeowner's 15-year-old son was arriving home, court records say.

Later on Jan. 14, the juvenile, Jones and Smith went to Cash for Gold on Stefko Boulevard in Bethlehem, where Smith sold jewelry taken from the home, police said.

Taken from the home, in addition to the handguns, were diamond rings, gold bracelets and chains, a pearl necklace and a ring set, along with 350 Euros and several Louis Vuitton belts.

Cash for Gold told investigators it paid Smith $364 for six gold rings, two bracelets, a chain and five charms, court records say; Smith used her state identification card in the sale.

Jones took the Ruger from the juvenile to his mother's house, where she told him to return it to the juvenile, police said. Court records do not indicate whether the guns were recovered.

Jones and Smith were each arraigned Monday before District Judge John Capobianco on three counts of conspiracy and one count each of burglary, theft and receiving stolen property. Jones is additionally charged with trespass and a second count of receiving stolen property.

Both were initially sent to Northampton County Prison before Jones was released on $20,000 bond and Smith was freed on 10 percent of $10,000 bond.

Both face preliminary hearings scheduled March 20.

The juvenile, who is not identified in court records, is also charged with burglary and theft.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
It's cold and snowy now, but Bethlehem police are alerting residents to prepare for a warm-weather nuisance: graffiti.

Police issued a notice Friday reminding residents that as the weather starts to warm up, property vandalism increases.

"No matter how good the message is, it is unlawful, disrespectful, and diminishes the quality of life in a neighborhood or business community," police Chief Mark DiLuzio said in a news release.

Police ask residents that if they see a graffiti vandal in action, to immediately call 911.

Residents can report graffiti to the city's graffiti hotline at 610-865-7065. The city's "graffiti busters" use a heated pressure washer to get rid of the paint, but need a waiver from private property owners before taking action.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The truck driver's wife pronounced dead after an incident Wednesday in Bethlehem Township suffered injuries consistent with having been run over by a truck, investigators say.

Maurice Butch Adams, 42, of Norcross, Georgia, is charged in an incident in Bethlehem Township after which his wife, Catrina, died March 8, 2017. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Maurice Butch Adams, 42, of Norcross, Georgia, is charged with homicide in the death of his wife, 43-year-old Catrina Adams, who is also from Norcross.

At his arraignment Thursday night before District Judge John Capobianco, Maurice Adams allegedly shed light on his mindset during the incident reported about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday outside the View Inn and Suites, 3191 Highfield Drive in Bethlehem Township.

While in a Bethlehem hospital, where his wife was pronounced dead at 12:16 p.m. Wednesday, Adams had admitted the two were arguing, court records say. He claimed she had been holding onto the side of his bobtail cab and collapsed, police said.

"I was upset," he exclaimed just prior to being arraigned Thursday night at central booking in Easton, according to township police Investigator Anthony Stevens. "I was trying to leave the situation. I was driving the truck trying to leave, and I didn't think she would grab the damn mirror."

An autopsy conducted Thursday by the Lehigh County Coroner's Office determined Catrina Adams "died from a heart contusion, multiple contusions/lacerations to her lungs, a fractured sternum, extensive blunt force trauma to the chest, multiple rib fractures, a lacerated liver and multiple vertebral fractures, determined by the pathologist and coroner to be consistent with a truck driving over the victim's body," Stevens wrote in court records.

Surveillance video from the hotel shows Catrina Adams exiting the hotel and walking toward the maroon 2007 Freightliner, police said. Maurice Adams is in the truck, and his wife at one point approaches the driver's side, the video allegedly shows.

"The defendant then pulls out of the parking spot and turns the truck left into the parking lot," police say in court records. "As the truck makes a left, (Catrina) Adams is seen lying in the path that the truck just drove.

"The truck stops and the defendant exits the truck from the driver's side and tends to the victim."

Police called to respond found Maurice Adams tending to his wife as she lay on the ground, and say he claimed she'd been having dizzy spells and collapsed, according to court records.

Capobianco ordered Maurice Adams to be held in Northampton County Prison without the possibility of bail.

A preliminary hearing on homicide and aggravated assault charges is tentatively scheduled March 23 before District Judge Patricia Broscius. Adams is also charged with reckless endangerment.

The truck belongs to Sunshine Trucking LLC in West Easton. A woman who answered the phone there Friday morning said the company had no comment on the incident.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The Bethlehem Area School District is paying $80,000 to settle a lawsuit by the mother of a boy who drowned after a Liberty High School swimming class.

An attorney for the estate of Juanya Spady filed settlement documents Thursday in U.S. District Court in Allentown, The Morning Call reported.

Spady was a 15-year-old 10th grader at Liberty High in December 2010 when he died from an unusual condition known as delayed drowning. That happens when someone inhales water while swimming, but isn't stricken for hours later.

Federal courts had refused the Bethlehem Area School District's request to throw out the lawsuit, but all other defendants -- including the teacher overseeing the class -- had previously been dismissed from the case.

According to the documents, $50,000 will go to Spady's estate and $30,000 to attorneys.

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UPDATE: 'I was upset': Trucker suspected of running over wife, police say

Bethlehem Township police Thursday charged a Georgia truck driver with homicide in the death of his wife Wednesday.

Maurice Butch Adams, 42, of Norcross, Georgia, is charged in an incident in Bethlehem Township after which his wife, Catrina, died March 8, 2017. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Maurice Butch Adams, 42, of Norcross, Ga., was arraigned on homicide and aggravated assault charges following an autopsy on the body of his wife, 43-year-old Catrina Adams, township police Sgt. Rick Blake said.

Police had labeled the death suspicious after they were called about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday to the parking lot of the View Inn and Suites, 3191 Highfield Drive in Bethlehem Township.

Catrina Adams was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg in Bethlehem, where she was pronounced dead at 12:16 p.m. Wednesday.

Even though the autopsy is done and Maurice Adams has been charged with homicide, Lehigh County First Deputy Coroner Eric Minnich said Thursday night further testing is required to officially rule on the cause and manner of death.

Maurice Adams was taken into custody for questioning immediately after the incident at the View Inn and Suites and was originally charged Wednesday night with reckless endangerment.

Following his arraignment Thursday night on the upgraded charges, Maurice Adams was ordered by District Judge John Capobianco to be held in Northampton County Prison without the possibility of bail, Blake said.

Catrina Adams had gotten into the cab of Maurice Adams' truck and during a "domestic incident," climbed out of the passenger side and fell to the ground, police said.

Surveillance video shows her getting up and falling at least two more times before Maurice Adams began to drive the cab without a trailer out of the hotel parking lot, police said.

As the truck pulled away, Catrina Adams can be seen on the ground where the driver's side of the truck had been, according to police.

She had bruising on her neck and blood in her mouth when paramedics arrived, police said. A doctor told a detective at the hospital that Catrina Adams suffered a skull fracture, according to court records.

Maurice Adams initially told police his wife was suffering dizzy spells before the fall, police said.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Bethlehem is getting ready for medical marijuana like other Lehigh Valley towns.

The Bethlehem Planning Commission on Thursday recommended city council approve a zoning amendment that lays out where in the city medical marijuana growers/processors, dispensaries and academic clinical research centers can set up shop. It's the first step in a lengthy process.

The proposal could result in patients filling prescriptions at a Stefko Boulevard dispensary, while in a South Mountain research facility Lehigh scientists study the benefits of medical marijuana for St. Luke's, and nearby, pot is growing in a secure warehouse in an industrial area.

That's not to say that Bethlehem proposes allowing medical marijuana facilities to set up shop wherever they want. None are going to be able to open in the city's urban core, officials said.

"Most of the city you can't do it," city Planning Director Darlene Heller said.

Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana in 2016 and the program is expected to be fully implemented in 2018. Every municipality in the state now must update its zoning, because state law requires allowing for every possible use within a zoning ordinance.

The Lehigh Valley's two counties are among 10 areas that comprise a region where four dispensary permits and two grower/processor permits are set to be awarded.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health says it will accept permit applications until March 20 for medical marijuana growers/processors and dispensaries.

Bethlehem has fielded inquiries from some interested in the city, Heller said.

But the options of where those medical marijuana facilities can be are quite limited since state law prohibits dispensaries and grower/processors from being within 1,000 feet of a school or day care facility.

If a school opens after a medical marijuana facility is already operating, the restriction does not apply.

Dispensaries will be highly regulated and prescriptions will be required, much like pharmacies. They will be limited to commercial spaces while marijuana growers/processors would be restricted to mostly industrial areas, Heller explained.

Dispensaries and growing facilities cannot be in the same place.

Patients will be able to take marijuana in pill, oil, vapor, ointment or liquid form but won't be able to legally obtain marijuana to smoke or grow. Dispensaries in Bethlehem can't have drive through services, home delivery, outdoor seating areas or vending machines or on-site consumption, according to the proposal.

The colored areas on the map show where Bethlehem proposes allowing three types of medical marijuana facilities.

Where would they be allowed in Bethlehem?

Academic clinical research center: May be located in areas zoned for light or planned industrial, industrial, institutional, research areas on South Mountain and commercial mixed use areas, such as the Martin Tower property and at Eighth and Eaton avenues.

An academic clinical research center must be an accredited hospital, such as Lehigh Valley Hospital or St. Luke's University Health Network, conducing medical marijuana research or a university or college conducting research on behalf of the hospital.

Medical marijuana grower/processor: Permitted in areas zoned for light or planned industrial, industrial and areas zoned for research on South Mountain.

Medical marijuana dispensary: Permitted in areas zoned for general commercial district, commercial shopping centers and industrial redevelopment districts, such as Schoenersville or Airport roads, northern areas of Stefko Boulevard and Easton Avenue or along Route 412.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
UPDATE: Tractor-trailer crash snarls I-78 traffic

A tanker trucked rolled on Friday morning after the operator fell asleep, closing a lane on Route 33 South in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Joseph L. Klemczak, 60, of Lehighton, was driving a 2016 Volvo tractor-trailer at 6:06 a.m. in the left lane when he fell asleep and struck the concrete median barrier, state police said. The truck swerved to the right, overturned and struck a light pole at the Freemansburg interchange.

The truck was hauling cement, some of which spilled on the road, state police said.

Despite snow picking up in intensity at that hour, the crash didn't appear to be weather-related, authorities said.

Klemczak, who was wearing a seat belt but suffered minor injuries to his neck, hand and head, was taken to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill, police said

Klemczak, who couldn't remember what happened, will be cited with careless driving, police said.

The highway was closed for a time just before 8 a.m. as wreckers tried to remove the overturned truck.

Another wreck was reported about 7 a.m. with a vehicle against a tree off Route 33 South, at mile marker 11.2 in Bushkill Township. First-responders reported no injuries.

A car hit a utility pole before 7 a.m. March 10, 2017, in Greenwich Township. (Dave Dabour | lehighvalleytlive.com contributor)

A car crashed into a pole before 6:30 a.m. at Greenwich Street and Yvonne Way in Greenwich Township.

The westbound car bounced partially through a fence after striking the pole, according to an on-scene report. The driver complained of back pain and was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in Phillipsburg. Township police, rescue and fire personnel responded.

A crash without injuries was reported at 7:10 a.m. at Brass Castle Harmony Road and Brass Castle Road in Washington Township, the Warren County Department of Public Safety said.

The Allamuchy Hill on Interstate 80 was icy and at least one crash happened near mile marker 19 in Allamuchy Township, New Jersey State Police at Hope said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
FLEMINGTON - The Borough Council will vote on Monday on a redevelopment agreement that, if approved, begins the process of transforming part of Main Street, including the Union Hotel, into a mixed-use facility called Courthouse Square.

The agreement between the borough and Jack Cust, Jr. will allow the demolition of the circa-1878 hotel and surrounding buildings to construct a 100-room hotel, up to 250 apartments, a 900-vehicle parking garage, stores, restaurants and a pedestrian plaza. There will also be a separate building for a college and medical offices.

While the redevelopment plan remains unchanged from the plan first shown to the public on Aug. 22, 2016, the area under redevelopment has been expanded to included adjacent buildings on Bloomfield Avenue owned by Flemington Furs.

The public meeting takes place at 7 p.m. at the Hunterdon County Historic Court House on Main Street. An executive session meeting for the council to receive legal advice on the agreement between the borough and Cust's Flemington Center Urban Renewal will be held at 6 p.m.

It will take between nine months to two years before demolition and construction begins.

Construction on the project cannot move forward until it receives approval from the Planning Board, which will hold public hearings.

Work on the first phase - the hotel, parking garage and a mixed-use building - will take two years, with construction of the three-story educational and medical building on Spring Street taking place a year after.

In all, construction could begin between November of this year and March of 2019, making the completion of all phases of the project happening as early as November of 2020 and March of 2022. The agreement gives Cust a total of eight years, or to 2025, to complete the project.

"It's been a very good negotiation process and it's gone on long enough to identify all the things that need to be tried," commented Flemington Mayor Phil Greiner, an advocate of the project. "All the most important aspects have been looked at. It's a major step. We're finally moving forward."

The college that will be located in the project will be "an expansion from an existing school, not a new school," Greiner said.

Greiner said the new school might be a satellite campus for Raritan Valley Community College, which serves both Hunterdon and Somerset counties but is presently located only in Somerset at its main campus in Branchburg and a satellite in Franklin Township.

However, Greiner said, it might be another college other than RVCC and he added that Cust, the developer, will be making decisions about the college.

The property owned by Flemington Furs will be part of the hotel-retail-residential development, Greiner said. Meanwhile, Flemington Furs will be moving across the street to be part of the new project, while the college and medical offices will be situated where Flemington Furs is presently located, the mayor said.

The project has received support from the Hunterdon County Freeholders, the county Chamber of Commerce, Hunterdon Medical Center and Roger Brooks, who had been hired to help market the borough as a destination.

It has also been the subject of criticism and opposition. A number of preservationists, including the National Trust, the Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission and Preservation New Jersey's have listed both the borough and the hotel on endangered lists. Some have also suggested alternatives to demolition.

Friends of Historic Flemington has been a vocal opponent and has raised funds to fight the plan to demolish the hotel.

A map of the proposed look of the Courthouse Square project in Flemington. (courtesy image)

The borough has posted the 57-page redevelopment agreement on its website, as well as a summary of the proposal.

Some of the highlights of the agreement include:

A provision for Cust to make enough of the units qualify as affordable housing so the borough meets its state obligation. This is part of a proposed settlement between the borough and the state that will head to state Superior Court for approval.

Cust will fund water and sewer improvements, including replenishing the borough's reserve well capacity. Cust will need to set aside $2 million to fund the well work, "which should be sufficient to not obligate the borough to cover any cost of the project," according to the agreement.

The project will also be eligible for a

The borough will sell both 90 and 100 Main Street, and the adjacent parking lots, subject to a review of the State Historic Preservation Office. 90 Main Street is currently operated by volunteers under the name Flemington DIY, serving as a gallery and performance venue. The borough police department occupies 100 Main Street.

Demolition will not be allowed without full financing for the first phase of the work having been secured. The agreement allows the developer to request the borough "consider condemnation if necessary to acquire properties."

Construction will not interfere with the $1 million streetscape grant project or damage the work already done.

A liquor license already acquired from Union Hotel, LLC will be used unless a new license is obtained for the 100-room hotel, which can qualify for its own license.

Flemington Center Urban Renewal will allow access to the buildings so they can be photographed prior to demolition

Although the payment in lieu of taxes rate has not been finalized, Greiner said borough officials "have discussed it enough that we have a rough idea what it will be. We know it will be a good deal for the taxpayers."

Greiner said the project and the payment in lieu of taxes will have "no noticeable impact" on the tax rates of the surrounding towns.

Flemington shares a regional K-8 school district with Raritan Township and is also part of one of five districts sending students to Hunterdon Central Regional High School.

Because Flemington's share of students is only 3.8 percent of the regional high school, "No matter how you budge that up or down, it's not going to affect anyone," Greiner said.

And because the district's enrollment has dropped by 17 percent since 2010, any additional students brought into the new housing won't require additional school facilities, the mayor added.
A Wilson Borough man was charged Friday in last month's armed robbery of a Wind Gap cellphone store, and authorities were looking for a second suspect.

The gunpoint holdup was among a series of cellphone store robberies in Lehigh, Northampton and Warren counties dating to October. The first of the crimes occurred at a Verizon store in Forks Township, where an employee was subsequently shot to death last November outside his Palmer Township home.

Vaughn Felix, 26, is wanted in a Dec. 23 jewelry store robbery in Easton and Feb. 9 cellphone store robbery in Wind Gap. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Gregory Lewis Jr. and Vaughn D.J. Felix, both 26, are the first to be charged with robbery in any of the cellphone holdups, and are only accused in the crime Feb. 9 at the 1001 S. Broadway Verizon store in Wind Gap.

The investigation is continuing, said Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Patricia Mulqueen, who is leading a task force investigating the run of crimes.

Feilx was not in custody as of Friday afternoon, while District Judge Douglas Schlegel in Wind Gap ordered Lewis held in lieu of $100,000 bail. That's on top of bail set Monday by District Judge Daniel Corpora in Easton on receiving stolen property charges filed by Easton police.

Easton police had said a search of Lewis' car turned up evidence from the Feb. 9 robbery at the Wind Gap Verizon store, and a search of his apartment revealed evidence from the Dec. 23 armed robbery at JC Jewelry at 24 S. Second St. in Easton. Lewis and Felix each face receiving stolen property charges in the jewelry store robbery.

Authorities sealed the affidavit in the Wind Gap robbery, citing the ongoing investigation, according to Mulqueen.

Slate Belt Regional police, however, previously described the allegations on which Lewis and Felix now face charges.

Amid this winter's worst snowstorm on the morning of Feb. 9, the two entered the store, one displayed a handgun and tied a clerk's hands behind his back, and both then ordered the clerk to provide the combination to the safe where cellphones were kept, police said.

The suspects ordered the clerk into a restroom and fled through a back door. The employee then ran to a gas station on South Broadway and called police.

Police believe the robbers made off with 40 to 45 cellphones, along with an undisclosed cash deposit made from the night before.

No one was reported injured.

Lewis and Felix are each charged in the crime with robbery, kidnapping, theft, false imprisonment, simple assault, possession of a weapon, possession of an instrument of crime and three counts of conspiracy.

Lewis faces a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled March 23 before Schlegel.

The robbery charges follow two additional arrests last Friday in connection with the cellphone store robbery investigation. Eric Quentin Watson, 25, who said he'd been staying with a friend in the 200 block of St. George Street in Allentown, and Patricia Calcano, 29, who lives in that block in Allentown, were both charged with receiving stolen property.

Police were continuing to investigate the Oct. 29 robbery of Verizon at 301 Town Center Blvd. in Forks Township, where 25-year-old Michael Davis had worked before he was shot to death Nov. 21 outside his home in the 2800 block of Eldridge Avenue in Palmer Township. That store's manager, 42-year-old Michael DeRose, was the victim of assault and robbery Nov. 22 outside his own home, in the 3300 block of Sherwood Road, also in Palmer.

The AT&T store at 3859 Nazareth Pike in Bethlehem Township was robbed Jan. 5, followed on Jan. 16 by the robbery of the Cellular Connection at 3075 Tilghman St. in South Whitehall Township, the Verizon store in Wind Gap on Feb. 9 and an AT&T store at 760 Memorial Parkway in Lopatcong Township on Feb. 25.

A stolen car linked to the Lopatcong robbery was recovered in Easton, and investigators said it contained a trove of stolen tablet computers, cellphones and other electronics.

Each of the robberies, the homicide and the store manager assault was perpetrated by two males, authorities had said.

A burglary also occurred March 3 at T-Mobile at 4402 Birkland Place in Bethlehem Township, leading to the arrests of Chris Williams and Donald Potter, both of whom are 29 and from New York.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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Laois' busiest playground in Portlaoise has been missing its main item for eight months, but a replacement is on the way.

Dun Spraoi, beside Portlaoise leisure centre, had its centrepiece wooden fort (pictured) demolished by Laois County Council last July.

There were reports of drug abuse and loitering in hidden areas of the wooden fort which forced its removal.

A new unit was promised to come in September.

Sports officer Ann Marie Maher said at the time that anti social behaviour was not the main reason, but that it needed to be refurbished after nine years, adding that the area had to be cleared to see what space there is.

Last week on hearing a replacement was on the way, Cllr Willie Aird, placed the blame on anti social behaviour.

People spent a huge amount of money on that ship, it was enjoyed and adored. It had to be taken out for one reason and one reason only, anti social behaviour by a very small group of people. We have to stamp this out and show authority. Those people beat us on this. Its terrible to think theres small kids growing up who would have enjoyed this, its damning on society, he said at the February council meeting.

Cllr Noel Tuohy welcomed the coming of a new feature.

The last one was not ideal for various reasons. We have the skatepark, and the ship for younger children, but in the middle they have nothing. As the weather gets better, there will be hundreds of kids using it, its money well spent, he said.
A Portarlington man who tried to rob two separate women with a knife has been sentenced to eight and a half years in jail, with the final four years suspended on strict conditions.

It is clear the accused is not a person to be trusted, said Judge Keenan Johnson today (Friday, March 10), in the case of Kenny Lyons (29), of Arlington Estate, Portarlington, convicted of two attempted robberies.

The circuit court heard that on October 26, 2015, the accused entered Slevins Shop, Bracklone Street, Portarlington, with his face masked and his hands covered with socks, carrying a knife with a nine inch blade. A female shop assistant fled the shop in terror, running outside screaming and shouting for help.

Upon hearing the screams, a catering woman working at the rear of the shop came out holding a rolling pin, at which point the accused fled the scene.

The accused committed this offence while on a suspended sentence and was then granted High Court bail. After getting bail, he next went out and tried to rob a woman on December 21, 2015.

The injured party was walking home from the train station after work when the accused followed her, attacking her with a knife in his hand. The woman had headphones on listening to music and when confronted by the accused, she struck him with her shopping bag.

States evidence, given by Garda Paul Dooley and Detective Garda Derek Barnett, said the accused was a known drug user who owed a large drug debt.

The accused had 52 previous convictions.

In sentencing, Judge Keenan Johnson said it was clear each of the victims had been terrorised as a result of the accuseds criminal behaviour. The fact that the second offence was committed while the accused was out on High Court bail made it clear the accused is not a person to be trusted, said the judge.

A probation report on the accused had listed him at a very high risk of reoffending.

On one count of attempted robbery, Judge Johnson imposed five years and six months; on the second court, which the judge said must run consecutively, the judge imposed three years.

Of the total eight years and six months imposed, the judge suspended the final four years, on condition the accused enter into a peace bond for four years; he remain under probation supervision for two years post release; he refrain from consuming alcohol and illicit substances for four years; and he complete residential treatment for his drug addiction.

The sentence was backdated to December 23, 2015, the date the accused went into custody.

Judge Johnson praised both women who defended themselves and chased off the accused.

He also commended both Garda Dooley and Det Barnett for their excellent detective and police work, in particular Garda Dooley, who exercised great bravery in giving chase and arresting the accused after the attempted robbery of the shop.
Some doubt hangs over a claim by Irish water that there are no meters on a Portlaoise street after it emerged that there are 16 devices on the street.

Irish Water has claimed that one of Portlaoise's oldest houses, which was hit by a contaminated water problem, is not metered and any problem is the result of it being on a shared supply with other properties.

Irish Water says it has carried out further investigations into the water supplies at Pepper Lane and Main Street, Portlaoise and established that the properties are "unmetered".

"At the time that properties such as those at Pepper Lane and Main Street were built, they often were built to have shared or connected water supplies. Properties that have a shared water supply are unmetered as only properties with a single supply have a meter," said the company in a statement issued to the Leinster Express.

Karl Meehan and his partner Katie live with their family in an above shop property in a line of old houses on Peppers Lane Portlaoise. In recent weeks their supply became contaminated with thousands of tiny beads that are used in filter systems.

Mr Meehan insisted that there was no filter in his property and the house has a meter. Mr Meehan identified 15 metres on the lane.

"Shared water supplies can result in a private homes sharing the supply with a property that it is either above, below or beside them and as a result the source of the beads entering the water supply at the property could be from any of the properties around," said a statement from Irish Water.

Irish Water reiterated that the source of the beads is not from any treatment carried out by Irish Water and is not an issue that has occurred on the public network and is a private matter.
The hospital to which Laois people are referred for a range of treatments is swamped by people waiting for a bed while there are 18 patients waiting at Portlaoise hospital's A&E to be admitted.

A total of 21 ill patients were on A&E trollies and 19 are on wards waiting for beds at the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore according to the daily Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation figures.

The figures for Friday, March 10 show that there are 19 people waiting on trollies at the A&E in the Midlands Regional Hospital, Portlaoise.

Tullamore is the first referral hospital for Laois patients with conditions that cannot be treated at Portloise hospital.

The figures come in the wake of a meeting between health service management and hospital consultants in Portlaoise this week on the future direction of the hospital. Management want to open a new unit in Portlaoise for medical assessment but doctors fear that this will lead to the closure of the A&E.

Management want to carry out the change on a phased basis to ensure hospitals in Tullamore, Naas and Dublin are not overloaded.
The supply of land has plummeted in Laois while the value of what went to market last year has also dropped, according to Irish Farmers Journal Land Report 2016.

The farming newspaper reports that just 1,647 acres of agricultural land was put on the market last year a 28% drop on 2015 when 2,291 acres was offered for sale. This is the second consecutive year that supply has fallen.

However, the report seems to show that Laois defies the supply and demand rule. Normally when supply falls price and value goes up but in Laois, that average values fell by 6% going from 10,350 per acre to 9,769 last year.

The figures also reveal that land prices have nowhere near recovered to Celtic Tiger Levels. In 2007 the average land price per acre peaked at 25,000. Today's value of less than 10,000 is down a massive 60% on boom values.

The Farmers Journal reports that prices ranged from 4,700 an acre for land in the Mountmellick area to the top price of 18,200 an acre for a small piece of land close to the motorway that had planning permission for a house. A total of 41 farms went to market the biggest being a 255 acre property.

Despite the big drop last year there was a health level of activity. In total, 22 sales deals were done - a 69% success. Eleven properties made 9,000 an acre or more.

Despite the fall in value in Laois, land here is still making above average prices. Nationally, the average land values fell by 1.6% down from 8,771 a second consecutive year of decline.

Among the sales highlighted by the paper were a 45-acre residential package of land at Tarbert, Abbeyleix which sold for 429,000 or 9,500 an acre. A 45-acre farm at Larkins Cross, Portlaoise sold for 300,000 or 6,600 an acre. A 42.7 acre farm on the Kilkenny border at Ballyouskil, Attanagh sold for 610,000 or 14,200. A 26.5 acre parcel at Luggacurren wen for 35,000 or 12,200 an acre.

Other highlights included a 42 acre farm at Glenfield, Portlaoise which made 405,000 or 9,600 an acre. A small 20 acre plot at Treascon, Portarlington made 130,000 or 6,500 an acre. A 21-acre parcel in Stradbally was purchsed for 267,500 or 12,700 an acre.

A 74-acre farm in the Portlaoise area made 5,700 and acre while a 42-acre plot at Corrig, Portarlington reached 480,00.

A landmark deal that went through last year was the sale of a 255 acre farm which included an impressive country residence at Tulach Nore, Pike of Rushall. It is understood to have sold privately. It also mentions the 109 acre stretch of development land beside the motorway near Portlaoise which has attracted the interest of Supermacs owner Pat McDonagh.

Other key stats on Laois were:

62% of farms sold were under 40 -acres

61% were offered for sale by private treaty

51%of farms sold were non-residential
Rathdowney will have the pleasure of welcoming RTE cameras to the town for the St Patrick's Day Parade.

The parade will be starting from St Fergals College meeting from 11.30am for registration floats and groups cost 20. The parade this year will be led by Mrs Finane starting at 1pm through the town to Dorothy's cross and back to the square where tea/coffee and refreshments will be served in the Parochial Hall.

There will also be face painting and a kiddies disco tots to teens 3 starting at 3pm. There is a picture slide show in O'Malleys Bar starting at 3.30pm of Rathdowney reeling in the years, loads of live music from local bands and musicians on the day and a raffle for an Anugs Calf.

The plaque for the best float was kindly donated by Michael Madden.

Hopefully the weather will not go against Rathdowney's first ever soap box derby also planned for the big day.

Please come along and show your support for more details please contact Aidan 089 4459528 or Mary on 087 2849268.
Rathangan Transition Year students were shocked when they surveyed the local town and discovered that very few people own a donor card.

The students are currently participating in the Young Social Innovators project and carrying out a study on organ donation.

Whilst taking the survey, most people said they would be a donor but just never thought about it.

Student Ella Mangan said: "We could clearly see that organ donation was not something that was talked about in Rathangan. We knew we could raise awareness as everyone showed interest and was more than happy to let us advertise and hand out cards".

The TY group aims to get people talking about their project and make organ donation an important topic. They hope to make Rathangan a donor town, where most people carry a card.

In the weeks, the TY class are preparing for a Speak Out in Athlone where they will be presenting their project to other schools and judges.

They have a Facebook page, Open Your Eyes To Organ Donation, which has received over 400 likes. They also have a Twitter page, Think Talk Text, where members of the public can be kept up to date on what they plan to do next with their project.

Student Niamh Hanafey promoting organ donation to Alan Darcy of Alice's Dry Cleaning in Rathangan
An organisation to help families who are being intimidated by drugs gangs has established a centre in Kill.

Called Hope Cottage Family Support, the organisation works with families who are facing demands for money to recoup drug debt incurred by family members.

Last Mondays meeting of the Joint Policing Committee heard presentations by Carmel Cushen of Hope Cottage who explained the kind of the work the organisation did.

She recounted a story of a woman who was told in late December to come up with a sum of money or, the gang members warned, they would return on Christmas morning and remove the toys from the womans young children.

She also told of families who owed as much as 13,000 to drug dealers.

Ms Cushen explained that Hope Cottage allowed families to interact with Gardai in safe environment without being seeing going to the Garda station.

Her presentation was made in conjunction with a presentation by Philip Jennings, the Co-ordinator of Safer Blanchardstown, a similar organisation.

His presentation explained how people who are not involved in the drugs trade, or people who are only occasional users of drugs, are still caught up in the drugs trade.

His overall point was that it is wrong to think that mainstream society is not immune from the drugs trade.

Both he and Ms Cushen explained how the extended families of drug users could inadvertently find themselves dragged in if there is a unpaid drug debt.

Ms Cushen pointed out that as a problem, drugs is a classless one.

Inspector Oliver Henry is the contact person for Kildare for families who are caught up in a situation like this.

And he noted that it must be devastating for somebody to come to your door.

The Inspector told the Joint Policing Committee that the Gardai are open to anything that works in terms of solutions.
A UK grandmother has been jailed for one year for her role in a gang of fraudsters who travelled to Ireland on weekends to buy high value items using fake credit cards.

A Newbridge jeweller was targetted as part of their crime spree.

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.

Butterworth, with an address at 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 and and Dublin, as well as Kildare.

Judge Karen O'Connor noted that Butterworth had entered pleas at the earliest possible stage and said this was very significant factor in her sentence. She imposed a one year sentence backdated to October 2016.

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.

Mr Rea 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 helped care for as their mother was confined to a wheelchair.

Counsel added that as a foreign national, Butterworth would find any prison sentence particularly difficult.
The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association ANC campaign, which has been growing in momentum since its launch in Letterkenny last month, will move to The Bee Park Centre in Manorhamilton tonight, March 10 at 8pm.

Considering the huge crowds, now well in excess of 1500 farmers, who have attended these meetings in Donegal, Mayo, and Galway, the Leitrim, Sligo, West Cavan INHFA Team are expecting another great turnout at their regions meeting in Manorhamilton.

Local representatives, TD's and MEP's are all scheduled to attend the meeting, and this is an ideal opportunity for farming families to lobby them to ensure fair play is achieved under the ongoing ANC Review. This review has been called for by the EU Auditors because of their belief that the current criteria for qualifying for payment is showing an unfair bias against the farmers in the most disadvantaged and constrained lands, whose income the funds were primarily targeted towards improving.

The new criteria for qualifying for the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) payment has already been agreed with the EU. It is no longer based on Social and Economic circumstances, but on the Bio-physical constraints of the lands farmed. Contrary to what some would like farmers to believe, it is not a question of simply asking for the retention of the payment for everyone, or dividing farmers on this issue. Brussels is clear that science should decide on whether land qualifies for this payment, and under what category, and not politics.

It is imperative to the future sustainability of farm families within our region that we do not allow tweaking of the new system to divert funds away from the very farmers it was set up to support - those farming lands with natural constraints impacting on their costs and ability to produce and farm as easily as others in better quality lands, and such constraints are clearly visible in the landscape and farmland right across our region.

The INHFA plan calls for a specific payment on hill type and marginal land, and proposes to frontload payments on the first 20ha at the rate of 250/ha, with a rate of 170/ha on next 14ha, and 70/ha on an additional 6ha up to 40ha. This would effectively double payments for many farmers, and provide critical support especially for smaller farm families, with payments on a 20ha farm increasing from 2056 up to 5000.

Its vital that people show their support and attend in large numbers as the monies are there for the type of land that they are farming. Its high time that the farmers with most constraint on their lands receive the most monies .
On February 25, 2017 the Regional Northern Colorado Spelling Bee was held at Nevin Platt Middle School. Fifty-one schools were represented and participating students would have to go through 20 rounds of spelling challenging words in order to be named the champion. The task was tough and the competition was toothe winner of this event goes to Washington, DC to compete in the National Spelling Bee.

So how do you spell Bolshevik, rutile, sonicatejust ask Sunset Middle School 7th grader Ben Lenger. Ben represented Sunset Middle School and was joined by SMS Spelling Bee advisor Mrs. Karen Packard, judge Eva Kitlen (former Sunset Middle School student and 2 time regional winner), along with Bens family, for this momentous event. Mrs. Packard runs the Spelling Bee program at Sunset and encourages all sixth through eighth-graders to participate, keeping it as a low key and fun club for the students.

On the day of the event, half of the participating students were eliminated by lunch, and as round 12 began, the Regional Spelling Bee was down to the last two competitors. For eight rounds, Ben and one other student from Peak to Peak went head to head. In the 19th round Bens opponent had misspelled the word assigned to her. Ben was given lysis to spell. Ben needed to spell one more word and in round 20 he was given Hansard. Mrs. Packard said she could hear Ben utter, Oh rats, names are so hard. As all students are allowed, Ben inquired to the judges, Is there an alternate pronunciation? The judges responded, and Mrs. Packard saw the look on Bens face change  he had figured out the correct spelling and with that became the champion of the Regional Spelling Bee.

You can tune in to watch Ben during the National Spelling Bee, which will be televised on ESPN during Spelling Week beginning May 28, 2017.
As the UK continues to drift away from the EU it becomes increasingly important to seek out new geopolitical alliances and trading partners. The Tories have pivoted towards the US to fill this role. However, with its scepticism of globalisation and lack of credibility the Trump administration is hardly an ideal ally. Instead we should turn towards Canada, Australia and New Zealand and form a CANZUK Union.

The CANZUK Union would be led by a Council of Prime Ministers and built on three pillars: free trade, freedom of movement and intergovernmental cooperation. A trade deal would strike down tariffs and regulatory barriers but not create a customs union. This would allow each member to pursue its own regional trade deals. The existing travel agreement between Australia and New Zealand (1) would be extended to involve Canada and the UK. Building on Five Eyes and NATO arrangement committees of government ministers would cooperate on areas such as defence, security and foreign policy.

This new union is not intended to replace EU membership. Over 50% of our imports come from the EU, compared to 3% from Canada, Australia and New Zealand combined. Of our exports, over 40% go to the EU compared to 3% to the CANZ countries (4). Geography determines who we trade with most, and we cant just move Britain to the Pacific.

Nor should CANZUK attempt to revive the British Empire. It should be a partnership of equals with a rotating presidency and a headquarters outside of Britain. CANZUK has been referred to as the white Commonwealthbut all four countries are diverse societies, and this diversity should be embraced.

There are plenty of reasons why CANZUK is a natural alliance. All countries are Commonwealth realms with Westminster-style parliaments, common law-based legal systems and majority English-speaking populations. All are developed economies with low unemployment rates and a similar GDP per capita, and are ranked by Forbes as among the top 10% of countries to do business in. Furthermore, all are overshadowed by larger economies nearby: the UK by the EU, Canada by the US and Australia and New Zealand by China.

CANZUK would be popular with voters by avoiding the flaws of the EU. Without a commission, parliament or court of justice it would be cheaper, more accountable and less bureaucratic. Polling in each country already shows support for freedom of movement and the idea has found support amongst politicians such as Erin OToole in Canada, Eric Abetz in Australia and David Seymour in New Zealand.

* Eddie from Edinburgh is a Lib Dem member from Edinburgh whose identity is known to the LDV team
On the 2nd March at 7.50 am I boarded a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Charleroi in Belgium. It is an hour and a half train journey from Charleroi to Brussels and the first thing that you notice is the friendliness of the people and the matter of fact way they switch from one language to another without pause. The next thing is the extent of the industrialisation of the landscape as it flashes by.

I was travelling to join Catherine Bearder at the EU Parliament in Brussels on the European Information Program in the hope of finding out how Brexit will be affecting us here in the Wirral. I was not surprised in the least to find that Brussels knows as little about Brexit as we do here in the UK.

The visit lasted two packed days and I found it very informative during the conversations I had with colleagues, from across the UK, and the question and answer sessions with MEPs.

I found out, for instance, that the only country to have left the EU so far is Greenland who had only one treaty to negotiate (fish). It took over seven years to complete their single negotiation, whilst here in the UK we have over four hundred agreements to unravel.

Each of the 28 countries need to agree for anything to be passed, and now following my visit I am beginning to appreciate the forces at work, the pressures from business, the domestic political agendas in both the UK and the EU, and the compromises that have been reached and agreed to over the years. The recent purchase of Vauxhalls by the French Group PSA illustrates just how closely interwoven our economies have become and the complexities of the tasks ahead.

Theresa May has let it be known that if the EU does not agree to her terms then she will walk away for a hard Brexit. I still cannot say what a hard Brexit really looks like. but what I do know is that Britain cannot afford the risk of getting it wrong.

I am a firm remainer and believe in being an open and outward looking nation and this trip has bolstered my resolve in fighting for our inclusion in such things as the single market and cross boarder policing, and to those who say the EU waste money on frivolous things I can assure you that is not the case.

I was set a task to obtain an EU flag for the forthcoming EU action weekend. The rules were simple it had to be obtained without paying for it, for which I have to sadly report that despite begging, pleading and cajoling I failed completely and had to buy some from eBay when I got home.

* Chris Carubia is a councillor in Wirral, and was the Lib Dem candidate for the Merseyside's Police and Crime Commissioner in 2016.
Scottish Liberal Democrats gather in Perth today for our Spring Conference. Some of us gathered last night and enjoyed a delicious meal in a French restaurant. Sorry if I breathe garlic fumes on everybody I meet today.

We meet just seven weeks before every council seat in Scotland is up for election. A better than expected result in last years Holyrood elections, with solid parliamentary work on mental health, education and justice since has heartened the party but the national opinion polls are yet to show any significant movement in our favour. The political environment up here is very different from south of the border where we have the advantage of being the only party standing up against the Tory and Labour compete with each other to get to the Brexit cliff first.

Up here, the SNP are making a great deal out of the fact that Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain. Of course they are going to use it to call for independence although even a former nationalist leader said this week that they were being forced into it at the worst possible time.

Gordon Wilson, who led the SNP from 1979 to 1990, said he did not want an early independence referendum but recognised its apparent inevitability. He said: The Scottish National party must exercise extreme care if, as it appears, it is caught in a political vortex and cannot avoid holding a second referendum on independence at the worst possible time. For many supporters, that is not the only problem. It is the seeming unpreparedness, almost as if the Party hierarchy is giving priority to the local government elections. When are we to be given the answers on the currency, budget and trade? Who is to lead the campaign and how is it to be financed?

This comes the same week as a former SNP MSP admits that oil is not going to be the source of riches that we were told in 2014 by any stretch of the imagination.

But we know from the Brexit vote that people dont always choose the option that is in their clear economic self interest. Itll be about the mood. The choice between Theresa Mays Brexit Britain and Nicola Sturgeons isolated independent Scotland, outside both EU and UK, is not one which inspires. It will be up to us as the one progressive, pro EU, pro UK party in Scotland to craft a positive case to stay that resonates with people, that shows a pathway from Theresa Mays Brexit Britain to a positive, internationalist partnership of nations.

Willie Rennie said ahead of the Conference:

If there is to be another independence referendum the responsibility on liberals is great. We must stand up and be counted for our values. The Conservatives have done more damage to the Union with their Brexit gamble and with Labour in complete disarray they have turned from the party of opposition to the party of compliance. The argument of independence is a battle of ideas and values, not of identities and flags. We must stand up for our family whether in Britain or across Europe. We must make the positive, open, internationalist case. Send a message of hope that things can be better still. We can turn back the tide of division. We can celebrate both our differences and the ties that bind us. We can say no to independence and yes to partnership. We can, once and for all, put an end to the claim that if you do not believe in independence you do not believe in Scotland. Our job is to turn back the tide of division.

Today the Conference will hear keynote speeches from Alistair Carmichael and Nick Clegg.

11.00  12.30 Morning session

Welcome address

SC1: Protecting independent consumer advocacy

EM1: Emergency motion

Speech by Alistair Carmichael MP

14.00  16.50 Afternoon session

SC2: Preventing drug-related deaths

SC3: Updating speed limits for HGVs over 7.5 tonnes

Speech by Nick Clegg MP

TI1: Topical issue

SC4: Education

You can read the text of the motions here.

On the fringe, Nick Clegg will be taking part in a fringe meeting speaking about the global threat from populism and nationalism. ALDC will be looking ahead to the Scottish elections and Universities Scotland will be discussing the role or universities in Scottish enterprise.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Key theme today from speakers - get involved! Write a blog post, present, make a poster, join groups etc #SLIP2017 February 25, 2017

James Gracey

is a Library Assistant at St Mary's, Belfast. He studies LIM at UU.

Stephanie Chen

is a recent MSc Information and Library Management graduate, volunteer at the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and blog manager for SAH Journal Blog.

Emma Doran

is a 2016 graduate of the MLIS at University College Dublin with a background in History and Classics form Maynooth University Emma has previously worked abroad as an English Teacher in Japan and currently works with Kildare County Council as a Library assistant in the Maynooth branch. Doran

At the recent SLIP Conference one bit of advice given to early career librarians was to write, to publish. Libfocus was mentioned as a good place to start. In the spirit of that sentiment we present three reviews of the event, all presenting a personal perspective of a different author.The recent SLIP conference in Dublin was dedicated to the provision of advice and information for recent graduates, and for those new (and indeed not so new) to the profession who might wish to advance their career. Proceedings kicked off with a discussion between representatives from several institutions offering LIM courses. Professor Kalpana Shankar UCD ), Marie ONeill Dublin Business School ) and Dr. Jessica Bates UU ) reflected on various changes in the sector and how these have influenced certain changes and modifications to the LIS courses they each offer.After this discussion, various lightning presentations were delivered by current students and recent graduates, all of whom shared personal experiences, offered practical advice and presented with efficiency and passion. The current, frankly Orwellian climate of fake news, political propaganda, misinformation and alternative facts was addressed by Professor Kalpana Shankar in her quick-fire talk Why Information Professionals are Needed More than Ever. Kalpana detailed, with some urgency, the vital work carried out by renegade information professionals, such as data rescue, the promotion of information literacy and guerrilla archiving, in an ongoing attempt to keep federal climate and environmental data accessible and untainted by those who wish to alter it or wipe it from existence.Recent graduate and Trinity College librarian Jesse Waters discussed his endeavours to find a permanent position in My First Year Out of Library School. Offering practical advice and sharing anecdotes of working 40 hour weeks in various positions to further his experience, Jesse talked about the importance of determination, commitment to professional development and a positive mental attitude in navigating the uncertainty and knock-backs of post-graduate life. Current PhD students Anne Marie McInerney and Jayne Finlay discussed their current research into prison libraries and the importance of literacy in rehabilitation. Jayne also reflected on the importance of embracing change and the unexpected, the wide range of roles within the LIS profession and how they can interconnect and complement each other, ensuring the honing of transferable skills. Other speakers explored the importance of presentation and stepping outside of comfort zones, the librarians role in promoting literacies, the importance of critical thinking while networking (which can often just perpetuate positive reinforcement), balancing the need for qualifications with acquiring experience, the interdependence of theory and practice, the utilisation of transferable skills, and the importance of continuous professional development, which was reiterated throughout the day.The closing discussion was a personal highlight because of the practical advice offered by the panel - Jane Burns (RCSI), Meadhbh Murphy (UCD Archives), Katherine McSharry (National Library of Ireland) and Helena Byrne (British Library) - and because of their candidness and camaraderie. Amongst a deceptively wide range of subjects they discussed increasing digitisation, how to further experience, wielding a positive attitude, dealing with confrontation, improving your CV, networking, mentoring, and preparing for interviews.The rapid delivery of the presentations throughout the day ensured a lively pace and the opportunity to informally approach speakers ensured an engaging atmosphere. Ultimately, Connecting the Dots: From Study to Practice provided a very positive and encouraging experience for attendees.The 2nd Annual SLIP Conference took place on Saturday, February 25th at Pearse Street Library. The theme of the conference this year was Connecting the Dots: From Study to Practice and featured two expert panels as well as lightning presentations and posters from current students and recent graduates.As a recent graduate from the MSc Informatiom & Library Management program at DBS, Ive highlighted a selection of points that resonated with me below.The conference opened with a Library School Panel Discussion with Professor Kalpana Shankar from UCD, Marie ONeill from DBS, and Dr. Jessica Bates from Ulster University. Key remarks included Dr. Jessica Bates and Professor Kalpana Shankar stressing the importance of theory and having a strong foundation to inform practice and Marie ONeill offering practical advice of publishing, joining associations (such as the LAI ), and, of course, networking. But, what I found most important, was the commitment they all had towards supporting and advocating for students and graduates. I got the sense the panel was keenly aware those in library school are the next generation of leaders. As such, the three library schools recognize they have a responsibility to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skill sets to succeed. It was reassuring to know all three library schools were involved in the formation of the Information Professionals Network , which will be hosting its first Careers Expo on May 19th. Not only will this Expo highlight the numerous skill sets we as students and graduates have, but it will also create opportunities for more non-traditional librarian roles.In his lightning presentation, recent graduate Jesse Waters offered attendees great advice: be flexible and be involved. I was impressed with his ability to recognize gaps in his skill set and commit to constantly upskilling. Case in point  he wrote a blog post and made a poster because they were things hed never done before. His willingness to step outside his comfort zones to close these gaps is something I feel we all should strive to emulate.Speaking on behalf of the Library Association of Ireland (who sponsored the event), Dr. Philip Cohen highlighted the various ways in which the LAI supports the library and information profession  through accreditation, awards, formal and informal networking events, and much, much more. Most relevant to the attendees was the fact that student membership in the LAI is free for 2 years.Professor Shankar, speaking on behalf of the events other sponsor, UCD School of Information and Communication Studies, also gave a short talk on the value of and need for information professionals. The passion Professor Shankar showed in her talk was inspiring and highlighted the fact that the profession is relevant now more than ever. We are the ones who come equipped with skills to rescue data, combat alternative facts, and manage the high volume, velocity, and veracity of information.In her lightning presentation, Jayne Finlay, a first-year PhD student at Ulster University, traced her career path and demonstrated how it has not always been straightforward, a fact I feel many of us can relate to. Through her experiences as a student and assistant librarian, she realized her strengths and interests were in doing research. By drawing from her own personal experiences, Jayne demonstrated the importance of critical self-reflection as it can reveal how one can best contribute to the profession. Lastly, Jayne closed her presentation by asking attendees to be open to new paths and, most importantly, to say yes to things that scare you (like writing a blog post!).The conference closed with a Practitioners Panel Discussion with Jane Burns, Meadhbh Murphy, Katherine McSharry, and Helena Byrne, who all offered fantastic advice. They stressed the importance of highlighting all transferable skills, doing all you can to demonstrate your competency, and being resilient.One key theme throughout the day was the importance of getting involved and engaging with the profession. While library school can equip us students and recent graduates with a tremendous array of skills and a strong foundation, at the end of the day, the onus is on us to use these skills and upskill. We are the next generation of leaders so we should be making our voices heard by joining groups, publishing, and presenting.On Saturday the 25th of February 2017 SLIP Ireland held their Second Annual Student Conference. SLIP or Students, Librarians & Information Professionals Ireland is a relatively new organization to the world of library and information and champions the need for more discussion in the field of Library science in both practical and theoretical terms for students, librarians and other information professionals.The Theme of this years conference was Connecting The Dots: From Study to Practice. As a newly qualified Librarian myself, I felt attending this conference was a huge benefit to me personally and gave me more awareness about the steps I need to take as a budding librarian to help my career flourish. Not only were the presentations and panels highly interesting and teaming with information but I found them to also be quite reassuring. I dont know about you, but oftentimes when I speak to fellow graduates about the struggle to establish oneself as a librarian or information professional and to pin down that sometimes elusive dream librarian position. I find I am not alone in being disheartened occasionally. This conference helped me to meet other graduates in the same boat as myself professionally and helped to thoroughly re-energize my motivation and my ambition to succeed, while providing me with useful and career changing advice.The day began with an opening Library School Panel hosted by Clare Murnane and featuring key representatives from UCD, DBS and Ulster University. They spoke to us about the changes happening currently in the schools and the possibility of introducing further avenues of career professional development for graduates and professionals. Afterwards we were treated to some wonderful lightning presentations by:Jesse Waters on Work, Job Applications, and Professional Development: My First Year Out of Library School. He gave some great advice for recent graduates.  Be as flexible as you can and apply for jobs that you think you may not get.Next Anne Marie McInerney opened our eyes to an outlet of Library and information needs I was not very aware of in her talk on Prison Libraries and Prisoners Information Needs.After Ann Marie the SLIP Platinum Sponsor Presentation was given by the then President of The Library Association of Ireland, Dr. Philip Cohen on the Lai and what membership can do for you. He summed it up very nicely in one word by saying In one word what do we do? We support, we support you through your career.Following Dr. Cohen was, Dr. Kalpana Shakar (UCD) who spoke to us about the key roles for librarians in their field and of the scope of information 3Vs volume, velocity and veracity. (Jane Burns)A short break was taken and afterwards we were treated with some more presentations by Jayne Finlay, Gary LaCumbre , Michael Arnold and Rachel Hludzinski. Jayne spoke to us about how her library experiences shaped her research and advised us to say yes to things that scare you and dont be discourages. Network, do CPD and follow your interests and they will lead you where you need to be. Gary spoke to us about Networking as Critical Disengagement: Crisis in the Information Profession and how to be mindful of when and where we network. Michael spoke to us about the importance of presenting and reminded us  sometimes what you dont see as your main strength may actually be very unique to you. Rachel taught us all a little about digital literacies. I felt I learned some valuable new things from her presentation.Posters were also presented at the conference. This year featured a poster by Sarah Connaghan on Three Phases of Understanding: The Job of a Librarian. Eanna O Keefe Enda Kehoe , and Stephanie Chen also presented a poster From Cupboard to Cloud: How a Small Organization Carries Out a Large Scale Digitization Project. Both of which have inspired to try my hand at a poster of my own this year.And finally the day ended with a hugely beneficial closing panel of: Jane Burns (RCs), Meabh Murphy (UCD Archives), Katherine Mc Sharry (NLI) and Helena Byrne (The British Library). I found this panel to be extremely helpful; they gave guidance on how to further your career, how to future-proof yourself and how to be resilient and to value yourself even in the face of rejection. I felt the conference was a huge success and I personally cannot wait for next year!For any nuggets of advice or inspiring and motivating quotesFrom the day please feel free to head over to my twitter account @tumbling_tomes . Finally I will leave you with this wonderful piece of advice from Jane Burns  Youre more than your work experience, youre more than your education.I hope it inspires you as much as it inspired me.
A FORMER Ballyhoura chairman has reiterated calls for a nightcare facility following the attempted burglary of a 93-year-olds home in Kilfinane / Ballylanders and the death of 90-year-old Paddy Lyons.

John Walsh, Boher, said fear is rampant amongst the elderly living in rural County Limerick.

Having people miserable, nervous and frightened at night-time in their own homes is no life. Doors are shuts at 4pm in the winter and not opened until 10 the following morning with people inside shivering with the fear. They are sleeping with hurleys and guns beside the bed, said Mr Walsh.

He first raised the idea of a nightcare facility a year ago following the closure of the convent in Doon.

I think there is a huge demand for it but I cant get the statutory bodies to buy into it. It isnt rocket science. We have a lot of daycare facilities in County Limerick, who provide a fantastic service, so why not one or two nightcare ones?

They could go there in the evening, enjoy a good nights sleep in a secure environment, have breakfast in the morning and then go home. It would bring great peace of mind. I think if they had the choice they could make their own decision, said Mr Walsh.

Of course there is a concern that the house will be broken into when the person is gone for the night, he says.

It is still better that they are broken into when they are not there than when they are. We saw what happened that poor man in Waterford and the brave actions of the the 93-year-old in Kilfinane / Ballylanders. But these are only the ones that we hear about due to their severity.

I have got complaints from the elderly living on their own on the Main Streets of villages and towns that young fellows are coming out of the pub and knocking on their doors. It is very upsetting for a poor old woman or man inside, not knowing whether to open the door or ring the guards or what to do. There are poor people scared every night about what could happen, said Mr Walsh.

The nightcare idea came from one man who would often ring him at 3am, saying there was someone outside.

It was pure fear. It was just wind blowing an old gutter or something but he was a nervous wreck. There is an awful lot of people I know like that. He was afraid of his life to stay in the place at night. In the finish he did go to a bed and breakfast, paid for it and came home during the day. He did that for six months, he was that frightened, said Mr Walsh.

As a farming representative on the councils Economic Development, Enterprise and Planning SPC, Mr Walsh has his nightcare plan on the agenda of Aprils meeting.
THE INSTALLATION of new fibre broadband near Mungret had raised hopes that the village would be covered after years of disappointment for residents - but it seems that those in the heart of the village will have to wait that bit longer.

A new connection, which will provide parts of Dooradoyle and Raheen with speeds of up to one gigabit, is creeping closer to Mungret than ever before, and will go live in the next few weeks.

However, it appears the village has again lost out, and will have to wait for the Governments National Broadband Plan (NBP) for a complete rollout of high-speed broadband.

There was confusion among residents in Mungret this week, as some reported that they were offered fibre powered broadband, while some of their neighbours were not eligible. Anyone that has been sold broadband by Eir will be eligible for it - this is based on eircodes so is very targeted, said an Eir spokesperson.

Village centre addresses are expected to be part of the National Broadband Plan footprint, said the spokesperson.

While that means that some will be left out initially, the good news is that they will get fibre broadband at a later date. We understand that the NBP tender is intended to be launched before the end of the current year, continued the spokesperson.

Mungret Village can currently only avail of speeds up to 24MB, but the estates on the outskirts, namely Mungret Woods and Ard Aulin, will soon be connected to high-speed broadband - hence our recent activity, says Eir.

Deputy Mayor of the Metropolitan District of Limerick Cllr Daniel Butler said that he is disillusioned over the broadband snub to Mungret.

Mungret is within the metropolitan area and has no broadband service, but a few miles out the road, further outside the metropolitan area, Clarina and Patrickswell have high speed broadband. It is nothing short of a disgrace, he said.

I feel hugely angered and disappointed after we believed we finally secured broadband that now we are being told by the same organisation that we are not getting it. We cannot wait infinitely for the National Broadband Plan to roll out  we must see action soon, to see the full potential of Mungret be exploited as a prime location for small business, added Cllr Butler.
THE OWNERS of one of the four dogs killed locally by poison have erected warning signs.

Catherine Deere, Castleconnell, said her son Shane was walking Patch (1) on the Clonlara side of the river, near the bridge.

They were just walking along as normal. Shane used to walk him every day. When they came home Patch went out the back and a few minutes later he just tumbled over. I thought it was an epileptic fit, said Catherine.

They rushed Patch to Henry Street vet, John ODwyer.

John knew straight away it was poison. Patch was dead within half an hour. It is a terrible thing to happen. He was a lovely little terrier - he is sadly missed, said Catherine.

It is every dog lovers worst nightmare  seeing their pet in convulsions and dying in distress.

Patch was poisoned on February 21 and John took to Facebook on the same day as it was the third such incident he had seen.

Just be careful if walking your dog in the Clonlara / Castleconnell area. There is still someone putting poison down on the public walks there.

"They are using a mixture of strychnine and rat poison in a very concentrated form and it has been impossible to save any that have come in to us. If anyone has any suspicion as to who is doing this please contact your local garda. This person needs to be caught.

John says the owners dont see the poison as it is contained in a biscuit or something else small.

They arent eating a big pile of bones or anything like that. We had two of them tested and they came back positive for strychnine and rat poison. They are using it in huge doses. Strychnine is illegal in Ireland, said John, who stresses that these are not people walking their dogs through farmers fields but on public walkways. Catherine said her other son Pat has put up warning posters down by the bank and in the village.

We dont want another dog to go through what Patch went through. We had dogs for years and years and nothing ever happened to them. We always took them for walks down there, said Catherine.
LIMERICK-based trio Rusangano Family have won the RTE Choice Music Prize for Irish album of the year.

The rap/hip-hop/electro outfit won the award - seen by many as Ireland's answer to the Mercury Prize - at an event in Dublin's Vicar Street this Thursday night.

We have a winner! Massive congrats to @RusanganoFamily, winners of the #RTEChoiceMusic Album of the Year with Let The Dead Bury The Dead! pic.twitter.com/u8jLleTqa4  RTE Choice Music (@choiceprize) March 9, 2017

Rusangano, made up of MynameisjOhn  alter ego of Clare man John Lillis, who plies his trade in Limerick  Zimbabwean born, Shannon raised, Limerick identifying rapper God Knows Jonas and vocalist MuRLI  based in Limerick, but of Togolese descent - beat off competition from the choice of Irish music for the award, which carries a 10,000 prize.

They scooped All Tvvins, Bantum, Wallis Bird, The Divine Comedy, Lisa Hannigan, Katie Kim, Overhead, The Albatross and We Cut Corners - all of whom performed at the event, along with a blistering performance by the Limerick based trio.

James Vincent McMorrow was also nominated.

In an emotional acceptance speech, the trio spoke about battling adversity making the album, while God Knows shouted out to the "teachers in Limerick and Clare", noting that they had to work in the morning, regardless of attaining Choice glory.

All are associated with Music Generation in Limerick.

Emotional scenes as @RusanganoFamily win #RTEChoicemusic Prize for album of the year. So deserved! Support independent music! @RTE2fm pic.twitter.com/JHq0JYeqEi  Eoghan McDermott (@eoghanmcdermo) March 9, 2017

Speaking to the Limerick Leader after the award was presented, MuRli said: "I feel legitimate for once as a musician."

God Knows said it "feels amazing that we have made Limerick and Clare proud, but most importantly, I think we made our families proud. My little brother was saying, if we don't win today, he was going to cry. Now he doesn't have to cry! I think he might cry happy tears".

Asked about the reaction to their blistering performance, MuRli said: "We knew it had nothing to do with the performance and what was happening in the room.

"We are very happy with the performance and relieved now, and let's see what happens," he added.

John explained: "It is also quite daunting that, some of the acts - when you are in waiting beside them, you are like 'I have been listening to you for so long, I have so much admiration for what you do'.

"Now we feel like we are musicians. This has legitimised it for us. We know what we are doing - it has been received on a national scale and for us, it is a big moment, definitely," he added.

The electric and powerful album was bursting with samples from the inner reaches of producer MynameisjOhns mind and driven by the insightful, socially engaged lyrics of vocalists God Knows Jonas and MuRLI and was perhaps the most vital album of the last twelve months, drawing heavily on themes of immigration and the places and sounds that have influenced each of them in turn.

The 12th annual Choice - backed for the first time by RTE this year - "celebrates and acknowledge the best in Irish recorded music".

It has become one of the highlights of the calendar since its inception in 2005 and is awarded to the Irish Album of the Year, as chosen from a shortlist of ten releases by a panel of twelve Irish music media professionals and industry experts.

The prize fund for the winning act was provided by IMRO and IRMA.
Spin South West presenter Meghann Scully was due to arrive in Dusseldorf train station at the time of yesterday evening's axe attack.

Seven people were injured in the German city during the rampage by an axe-wielding man.

Police say it was a random attack. Officers were alerted shortly before 9pm on Thursday, prompting a large-scale emergency response.

Meghann landed in Cologne and decided to stay in Dusseldorf as she is heading for Amsterdam this Friday morning.

I missed my train that would have had me in the station when the attack occurred! I got the next train and just as we arrived into the station it stopped just short of the platform. Eventually an announcer came on but there was no English spoken. People seemed annoyed so it seemed like we were stuck.

I then heard sirens around the area but initially thought nothing of it. Then there was another announcement and this time I asked other passengers what was going on. They said something bad had happened so that's when I checked Twitter to hear an attack had taken place. There was talks of a terror attack and that one man was still at large with a weapon, said Meghann.

They were stationary for over two hours.

Made it to our hotel after being dropped 20km away from Dusseldorf! We are staying right beside the station! Cops still at the scene! pic.twitter.com/lmgY4FQsMu  Meghann Scully  (@Meghann_Scully) March 9, 2017

Being on the train for that long was unnerving, not knowing what was happening. When it did get moving it brought them to another city - about 20kms away. We werent sure what was happening, we had to get back to Dusseldorf so we got a taxi. Our hotel was 300 metres from the station. By the time we got there local media was around and the station was still closed. The area was quiet with an eerie feel, said Meghann, who co-presents the morning show Fully Charged.

She was booked on the 7am train this morning from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam and is now in Holland.

The suspected attacker was arrested after jumping off an overpass near the train station. The 36-year-old man, described as being from "the former Yugoslavia", suffered serious injuries and is being treated in a hospital.
Mar 10, 2017, 4 PM

An analysis of the market for mint panes of 50 5 John F. Kennedy and Eternal Flame stamps was the week's top post on Linns.com.

By Joe ODonnell

Its time to catch up on the week that was in stamp-collecting insights and news.

Linns Stamp News is looking back at its five most-read stories of the week.

Click the links to read the stories.

5. The possible problems lurking in your stamp collection: It is not only current purchases of classic material that need to be expertized, but also stamps and covers purchased much earlier.

4. Rare 1927 Libya express mail stamp, one of only two known, at March 20-25 Koehler auction: According to the Koehler auction catalog description, just one additional example of this particular variety is believed to exist.

3. A newly discovered Swiss rarity solves one of philatelys mysteries: The stamp is the missing piece in a philatelic puzzle that has perplexed stamp collectors for many years.

2. Informed Delivery lets USPS customers see their mail ahead of delivery: Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan says this new test program, which should be nationwide later this year, puts the power of mail onto digital channels.

1. Why you might want to sell your JFK and Eternal Flame stamps: If you hold mint panes of 50 of the 5 John F. Kennedy and Eternal Flame stamp in your collection or stock, now is a good time to sell them.

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Campaign trail Will brand campaigns of Indian couture and jewellery houses break out of the template of princess, pearls and palaces? /news/talking-point/campaign-trail-111646894132114.html 111646894132114 story

Is it a coincidence that the advertising campaigns of a majority of Indian couture and jewellery brands speak a similar language in the way they portray women? Whether its Sabyasachi couture, Tarun Tahiliani, Manish Malhotra, Anita Dongre, LAffaire, Ekaya, Frontier Raas, Sunita Shekhawat, Khanna Jewellers or Hazoorilal Jewellersthe communication of these brands may be visualized and styled by diverse creative teams but it shows women in near identical ways.

The language is one of unruffled grace and conventional beauty, not the disruptive ideas of body and beauty that currently define womens lives and choices. These advertisements are noticeably different from the playful and whimsical images in the campaigns of ready-to-wear brands like Globus, Reliance Brands, Nicobar, Ritu Kumar Label and W, to name a few.

A visual reading of couture campaigns in the days of Instagram and selfies turns into a revelatory exercise. Heres what you get: Women who wear pearls and sapphires, embroidered lehngas and designer couture, sequinned purses and handwoven textiles, embody conformist feminine values. The shorter length of a choli in an Anita Dongre couture ad or the diaphanous capes of Tarun Tahiliani paired with bold black lehngas may add a touch of modernity but the essential portrayal is of content women in languid poses, smiling, without a wrinkle of rebellion, urgency or flurry in their kingdom. A kingdom with rose petals, fine art, Banarasi saris, vermillion, turmeric tilaks, gota patti lehngas, saffron-laced milk in black handis, maang tikkas, marigolds and palaces with marble floors, ivory carving and crystal vases. No sign, not even remotely, of the kind of concerns and causes you witness for, and by, women on social media and in society.

Clearly, the target customers of Indian couture and jewellery, the rich and the well-heeled, want to buy into a mythical idea of the Indian woman, perhaps to allay current social anxieties. There is no scope then for even a glass of martini in the hands of the model wearing jadau jewellery or for a bride in a precious lehnga to kick off her stilettos.

In fact, the title of jewellery house Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas current campaign, Adaa Of Jodhabai, evokes a Mughal queen, with the models eyes averted from the camera. The television campaign of beauty brand Forest Esssentials shows a warrior princess setting off for battle, but only after she is blessed by a pandit in white robes.

An image from ad campaign of Anita Dongres new collection.

These are vastly different constructs from the dynamic body language of models of Western brands, where the storytelling revolves around newer plots. The body in motionthe photographic style reminiscent of the work of two influential fashion photographers, Martin Munkacsi and Irving Penn from the last centurystill dominates Western fashion. But there is experimentation, and a clear touch of contemporary insouciance, in lighting and location, as well as in the poses and facial expressions of models. Even in couture and jewellery, it is hard to miss the overall agency of the person over style. Some campaigns of brands like Balenciaga, Valentino, Calvin Klein, and Dolce & Gabbana, shot by American photographer Steven Meisel, even became controversial for their suggestive shoots.

This enormous difference between couture photography in the West and East is befuddling, particularly in a scenario where fashion images are shared 24x7 on social media, blurring cultural distinctions. And, because the designers, photographers and brand directors who create the campaigns of Indias most sought after brands make a strong case for liberated women.

We have always tried to capture the modern Indian woman who takes pride in her cultural heritage and is rooted in her traditional aesthetic. Being a part of the fashion fraternity for almost 27 years, I have the utmost respect for women who push their boundaries," says Manish Malhotra, about his recent Regal Threads couture campaign inspired by the Make in India theme. Shot by photographer Abhay Singh, it shows models in resplendent Banarasis. This resonates in Dongres definition of her woman. She is feminine, elegant and, at the same time, strong and independent and grounded," she says about her campaign, shot by photographer Rid Burman.

Krishna Aroop, the founder and owner of Delhis sari and fabric store LAffaire, praises the divine in the female form, emphasizing that his brand is a celebration of women as the ultimate inspiration in beauty". LAffaire campaigns feature fine handloom saris and barefoot women wearing tikkas and rudraksh malas, photographed on the ghats of Varanasi.

The observations of Himanshu Dogra the founder of Ilum Designs, a branding and design identity firm which created some of LAffaires campaigns, resonate with those of Aroop and well-known fashion photographer Tarun Khiwal, who shot the photographs.

From the moment you step into LAffaire, the way you are greeted, the use of Hindi language as the medium of communication, Aroops spiritual ideas, and his passion for handlooms, conveys the brand story," says Dogra. The alta (red dye) on the feet of the model, the choice of Varanasi ghats as the shoot locationit all builds from what LAffaire stands for. We created the mood board accordingly," he says.

Khiwal, who has been in the business for more than 25 years and worked briefly with storied photographer Prabuddha Dasgupta, describes Aroop as his guru-bhai, saying they share a spiritual connect. When I was shooting the stores campaign with the model meditating on the ghats of Varanasi, as if in search of her identity, it was like my own journey was evolving through that story." Khiwal says his childhood vacations, spent on the ghats of Mathura, his early exposure to Indian ritual practices of birth, death and other life events, helped create the LAffaire story.

An image from ad campaign of Sunita Shekhawats new collection.

A brands mood board, explains Dogra, evolves from sketches and a bunch of ideas that lead to repeated meetings with clients in which firms like his help crystallize the outstanding features of a brands identity. A clients own definition of the brand is fundamental. But when we met Sunita Shekhawat for her jewellery campaign, we found that her meenakari (enamelling) was the outstanding feature of her work. We advised her to focus on that for her new campaign, The Lost Princess."

Designers like Tahiliani and Sabyasachi take deep personal interest in their campaigns, from the mood board to the final selection of campaign images. Couturier JJ Valaya is an accomplished photographer himself and Dongre says she is involved in her advertisements, from the choice of the model to the location, even hair and make-up. None of them uses voyeurism, transgression or even social innuendos for their couture photography. And none of them has experimented with any disruptive idea for a brand campaign.

Couture in India really means bridal couture. It is like selling a dream that every girl hasthat one day she will get married to a man of her choice in beautiful clothes and the wedding will be in a palace!" says Dongre, adding that she hasnt done something different because she hasnt given it enough thought.

There are, as always, some exceptions. A new print advertisement by designers Falguni Shane Peacock has a sexier interpretation of the couture wearer, a woman half slouching on a sofa with a plate of fruits at her side, riding her desires instead of hiding them. The Shantanu & Nikhil Spring/Summer 2017 ad has a model caught up in the swirl of a personal moment. Unconventional campaigns from other commercially successful couture brands like these may just help turn the tide of the princess, pearls and palaces formula as the only bet for commercial success.
Eat your art out in Fort Kochi Heading to Kochi before the Kochi-Muziris Biennale wraps up? Here's where to get your meals between the art intake /how-to-lounge/art-culture/eat-your-art-out-in-fort-kochi-111646892484945.html 111646892484945 story

By and large, eating out in Fort Kochi (and in Ernakulam) is extremely reasonable. However, its not uncommon for cafes and restaurants to mellow spicy local flavours to make them agreeable for tourist palates. Also, thanks to Keralas prohibition laws, it isnt as easy to cool off with a chilled beer as it once was. Only a few select establishments in Fort Kochi serve alcoholand only wine and beer at that.

David Hall Gallery Cafe

Located in the David Hall Galleryone of the exhibition venues during the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which ends on 29 Marchthis alfresco cafe is a great spot for coffee and quiet contemplation. While the menu includes generic cafe staples such as salads, sandwiches and quiches, its the wood-fired pizzas that enjoy a reputation locally.

David Hall Gallery Cafe, 1/264, opposite Parade Ground, KB Jacob Road, near Bishop House, Fort Kochi (tel. 0484-2218298). 10am-9pm daily. Davidhall.in. Coffee starts from approximately Rs50.

The Drawing Room

A relatively new addition to the Fort Kochi dining scene, The Drawing Room exudes a laid-back, tropical vibe, with large bay windows that overlook the ocean. Seafood is the mainstay of the menu, which also includes modern renditions of classic Kerala dishes. For instance, the Kosambari Salad features long ribbons of carrot and cucumber, simply dressed with grated coconut, mustard seeds, curry leaves and moong dal. Our vote goes to the Pal Kappa and Naadan Currya classic pairing of boiled tapioca and fish currywhich has creamy chunks of bland tapioca with a nutty tempering of mustard seeds to accompany a tart and perfectly spiced fish curry. The salt-baked fish comes highly recommended.

The Drawing Room, Cochin Club, opposite Parade Ground, Fort Kochi (tel. 09048666922). Noon-10pm daily. Meal for two, approximately Rs1,200.

Arca Nova, Fort House Hotel

The alfresco section of this waterfront restaurant may be uncomfortably warm for a mid-day meal, but it is perfect for a leisurely dinner after a long day of walking. Breezy and dimly lit at night, the restaurant offers elegant versions of Kerala classics such as appams, slightly sweetened with toddy, paired with a fish curry with green mango, and beef fry in coconut oil.

Arca Nova, Fort House Hotel, 2/6A, Calvathy Road, Fort Kochi (tel. 0484-2217103). 7.30am-10.30pm daily. Hotelforthouse.com. Meal for two, approximately Rs800.

Kashi Art Cafe is an especially picturesque spot for coffee or a light meal.

Kashi Art Cafe

The Kashi Art Gallery may be part of the biennale, but the cafe attached to it is popular through the year. With much of the seating arranged in open courtyards, with a green canopy overhead, the cafe is an especially picturesque spot for coffee or a light meal. While the breakfast omelettes are not particularly impressive, we lingered over a pot of French press coffee, and a sumptuous serving of the cafes signature chocolate cake, enough for two-three people.

Kashi Art Cafe, Burgher Street, Fort Kochi (tel. 0484-221 5769). 8.30am-10pm daily. Kashiartgallery.com. Breakfast for two, approximately Rs500.

Pepper House Cafe

One of the main exhibition venues, Pepper House is a heritage property that once served as a spice warehouse. The cafe consists of just a few benches and tables laid out to face an open courtyard, where some exhibits are displayed. With a small selection of open sandwiches and salads, Pepper House Cafes food menu is not particularly inspiring. But the tall, chilled passion-fruit lemonade, a balanced blend of sweet and sour flavours with a welcome hit of fizz, was a refreshing way to soak in the unhurried pace of Fort Kochi (tip: pop by the design store).

Pepper House Cafe, Pepper House, Calvathy Road, Fort Kochi (tel. 0484-2215667). 10am-6pm daily. Drinks, starting from approximately Rs100.

Malabar Junction, Malabar House

For an afternoon tipple in an elegant setting, head to Malabar Junction. The menu features mostly European dishes with an Asian or Indian touchsuch as Snapper Gravlax with Irumban Puli salad, slices of cured snapper served with thin slivers of tart irumban puli (also known as bilimbi or tree sorrel, a sour tropical fruit). The menu also includes plenty of grilled seafood. Temper your expectations from the fusion" food and pick instead from the selection of Indian wines, sold both by glass and bottle, or from the smaller selection of beers (the five-course, Kerala-style degustation menu may also be worth a try).

Malabar Junction, The Malabar House, Parade Road, Fort Kochi (tel. )484-2216666). 7am-11.15pm daily. Malabarhouse.com. Meal for two, approximately Rs1,500; wines, starting from Rs350 for a glass.

Hotel Seagull

Although its vantage location by the seafront makes it a great daytime destination, Hotel Seagull truly comes alive in the evenings. As one of the few establishments in the area to serve beerand at reasonable pricesit attracts large crowds. The Kerala-centric food doesnt shy away from spice. The dry, peppery beef fry pairs particularly well with flaky Malabar parottas, and the prawn masala with fried coconut and curry leaves is flavoursome without being fiery. The vast menu includes local favourites like Fish Chatti Curry or fish cooked in a clay pot, and Crab Varuthrachathu, or a sour-spicy curry with a roasted coconut gravy.

Hotel Seagull, 2/7, Calvathy Road, Fort Kochi (tel. 0484-2218128). 10am-10.30pm daily. Meal for two, approximately Rs1,200; Rs270 for a 650ml bottle of Kingfisher beer.

Grand Pavilion, Grand Hotel

In the noisy and chaotic heart of Ernakulam, Grand Pavilion, more popularly known as Grand Hotel, enjoys a well-deserved reputation for authentic Kerala cuisine. Our vote goes to the Vazha Ilayil Policha Meen, slices of seer fish coated in a spicy, onion-laden marinade and sealed in a banana leaf before being grilled. The moist, flaky pieces of fish marry perfectly with the warmly spiced masala, and the spongy and slightly sweet appams make for the perfect delivery vehicle. The Kerala ishtew was oddly gluggy and sweet, but the Malabar parotta here was among the best in Kochi.

Grand Hotel, MG Road, Ernakulam (tel. 0484-2380261). Noon-3pm; 6-9pm. Grandhotelkerala.com. Meal for two, Rs1,200-1,500; Rs250 for a 650ml bottle of Kingfisher beer.

Fusion Bay

If your tastebuds have been dulled by mediocre restaurants, Fusion Bay is likely to jolt them back to life. This nondescript restaurant enjoys a cult following for its faithful renditions of Syrian Christian, Jewish and Dutch-influenced dishes such as Chuttullimeen, a whole fried fish stuffed with a spicy shallot filling, wrapped in banana leaves and roasted. Their other specialities include Meen Moilee, a mild fish curry flavoured with coconut milk, and fish pappas, a hot curry flavoured with fenugreek and kadumpulli or Malabar tamarind.

Fusion Bay, KB Jacob Road, Fort Kochi (tel. 09595345925).Noon-3.30pm; 6.30-10.30pm daily. Meal for two, approximately Rs800.
Lounge Preview | Raw Mango: Move over Alfonso Sanjay Garg's Mumbai store blends old-world charm with minimal modernism /news/talking-point/lounge-preview-raw-mango-move-over-alfonso-111646892508196.html 111646892508196 story

Sanjay Garg established early on that he has an instinct for raw, unadulterated beauty in textiles . In the eight years of Raw Mango, Gargs clothing line has developed a cult following among those who are drawn to his unusual colours, whimsical silhouettes and free-flowing drapes. His work represents that tangent of Indian fashion that has moved away from the overly ornate or kitschy. Gargs collaborations with weavers from across the country have produced radical results in Chanderi, Mashru and Banarasi. Some of his works have made it to the Victoria and Albert museum in London. He retails from his studio in Chhatarpur, Delhi.

The new store in Mumbai, his second stand-alone outlet in the country, portrays the same brand philosophy, one that is careful not to overstate. My India is not a maharaja India," quips Garg. The hardest thing is to simplify, to communicate with less." The store, designed by Garg himself along with architect Ashiesh Shah and designer Isla Maria Loulou" van Damme, embodies that concept.

A piece from Monkey Business.

You enter the 2,500 sq. ft space through a brick-paved courtyard. The main hall is spacious and deep with its double-height ceiling. A passage in the front houses all the delicious saris and the trial rooms are set in the back. A winding staircase leads up to the bridal section. Sculptures dot the entire storesome installed upside down, and all collected by Garg. With unpolished iron pillars, exposed wooden beams, a striking brass tabletop, and details like doorknobs, window latches, gaddis and dhurries, Garg blends an old-world charm with a minimal modernism, like the work of Charles Correa", explains Garg.

The store stocks handloom saris, lehngas, jackets and dresses, mens bundis and handkerchiefs. Its a mix of all Raw Mango collections, with the latest, Monkey Businessa fun line of combination silks woven with a monkey motiffor good measure. There are no mannequins, only clothes hung or folded away in glass almirahs lined with soft cotton. Thats the sweetest spot of this Raw Mango; reaching for the clothes evokes that intimate memory of finding some precious heirloom tucked away in mulmul.

Raw Mango opened on Friday at 1, Reay House, BEST Marg, Colaba, Mumbai.
Monkey business The rhesus and bonnet macaque menace in many parts of the country continues to drive demand for langurs, trained to scare them off /news/talking-point/monkey-business-111646892593710.html 111646892593710 story

Chained to a stone pillar under a thatched roof by the road in Narsapur village, 400km from Hyderabad, are three grey langurs with distinctive black faces and light grey bodies. Barely two-four years old, they are munching on the leaves and vegetables their owner, Pendrao Bujji, has thrown their way. But they are already formidable allies of farmers, helping them fight off hordes of rhesus and bonnet macaques that raid their fields and plantations, leading to significant losses each year.

Sitting on a plastic chair nearby, Bujji, a slightly built 39-year-old with a stick in hand, is on the phone with Rajiv Reddy, a farmer. Reddys 2-acre orchard, where he grows mango, chikoo and custard apple, is under attack and he needs help.

Reddy has learnt that Bujji supplies trained langurs for a price and they soon strike a deal. Bujji agrees to deliver two of them for Rs11,000 each. Business is brisk. He has been doing this for 15 years and sells 10-15 langurs each month during pre-harvest seasons.

The only catch here is that Bujjis business is illegal. Under Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the grey langur is a protected species and under the Indian Penal Codes Sections 2, 8, 11, 40, 41, 43, 48, 51, 61 and 62, it cannot be owned, traded, bought, sold or hired. Anyone violating the law is liable to a three-year jail term or a fine of up to Rs20,000, or both.

Bujji is aware of the law. He has been arrested by the police twice but was let off with a warning both times after local villagers came to his support. My livelihood is dependent on the monkey business, yes, but I do it for the welfare of the farmers," he says.

It started 15 years ago, when a farmer from a village nearby asked me if I could catch a langur, saying he would pay me Rs500 for it," recalls Bujji. I didnt know what he wanted a langur for. But when I understood why, I saw a clear business opportunity. Its easy for me to catch them by tricking them with bananas. Ive never turned back from it ever since."

Langurs are better than any watchdog in keeping away rhesus and bonnet macaques. Their shrill screams, enormous incisors and aggressive behaviour seem to terrify the macaques. Their fearsome reputation, in fact, briefly earned them a living warding off macaques even in the nations capital.

Over the years, a growing horde of macaques has wreaked havoc in Delhi, breaking into houses, stealing food, damaging public property and injuring people. In the last four years, more than 4,500 cases of macaque bites have been reported by the authorities.

But controlling the macaque population is a particularly sensitive subject since they are revered by many Hindus. Culling them is definitely not an option and attempts to capture and relocate them to their supposed natural" habitats have failed. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has started catching and rehabilitating them in the citys Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. During 2015-16, 188 macaques were shifted to the sanctuary.

In 2012, according to a report in Hindustan Times, the NDMC deployed langurs in VIP areas to scare away macaques that had invaded government buildings. The ministry of external affairs, it turned out, had made a regular provision in its annual budget for hiring langur-keepers to rid its premises of macaques. Following this, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) issued a circular stopping the government from using langurs to control macaques.

During the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the authorities relied on langurs to keep macaques away from the stadium. This drew flak from the international media, including the BBC, The Wall Street Journal and The Telegraph.

In the early 2000s, the government had hired a langurwalla, Fazal, to guard the iconic South Block and Parliament buildings. But after protests by animal rights activists, including Union minister Maneka Gandhi, the government backtracked. In July 2014, it decided to ban the practice of hiring langurs and suggested an alternative: hiring young men to imitate langurs and shoo away macaques.

The issue has plagued even Parliament House. Various efforts are being made to tackle the monkey and dog menace inside and around Parliament House," M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union minister for urban development, told the Rajya Sabha in July 2014. The NDMC has hired 40 young persons for this purpose. The NDMC also acquired sure-shot rubber-bullet guns for scaring away the monkeys."

In 2016, in a bid to control the macaque menace, the Uttarakhand forest department collaborated with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and started a project under which female macaques were given oral immuno-contraceptives. But the professors at the institute say the process of identifying and marking the animals is a long and cumbersome one.

Suggesting a solution, P.C. Tyagi, the principal chief conservator of forests, Tamil Nadu, says: The best way to control the monkey menace would be to create a primate park, say about 300-400 acres of fenced area, and put the sterilized monkeys there. They should be fed with natural food for a year and later taken to a forest. The vaccination method can work in a captive environment, but not when they are in the wild or in urban areas."

The Himachal Pradesh government estimates farm-produce losses of over Rs500 crore a year due to wild animals, including macaques. Yet, in June, the MoEFs decision to declare macaques vermin" in 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh came under fire from environmental bodies and Maneka Gandhi. For once they were declared vermin, they would lose the protection of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and could be culled for a defined period.

Himachal Pradesh was unable to implement the order since it was challenged in the high court, which promptly stayed it. To the relief of farmers, the Supreme Court refused to stay a July MoEF notification permitting the culling of nilgai (the largest Asian antelope) and wild boar in Bihar and Uttarakhand and macaques in Himachal Pradesh. It asked the petitioners to approach the high court again for relief. The matter is pending before the Himachal Pradesh high court.

Macaques continue to be a menace on the farmlands of Guntur and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, Medak and Karimnagar in Telangana, Dehradun in Uttarakhand, and in Himachal Pradesh. According to a news report in DNA, around 800 farmers cultivating paddy, spices and areca nut in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka suffered such severe crop losses owing to the menace that they were forced to give up farming.

Meanwhile, Bujji continues to trap langurs from the Rajahmundry forest range, about 150km from Visannapeta in the Krishna district, where his family lives. He works as a farm labourer when he isnt busy with the langur trade. He domesticates and trains the kondamuchullu, as they are known in Telugu, before he sells them.

R.V. Prasad, range forest officer, Vijayawada, doesnt think theres a problem. It has not come to our notice that people are still trading in grey langurs," he says. It has reduced since 2014. We have not booked any case on this in the last two years at least."

The langurs fetch Bujji Rs3,000-12,000 depending on their size, build and age. It takes less than Rs50 a day to maintain them," he assures his customers.
The challenges of measuring Mount Everest As the Survey of India plans to remeasure Mount Everest, there is one mystery that enduresthe role of a 19-year-old Indian mathematician in the discovery of the world's highest peak /news/talking-point/the-challenges-of-measuring-mount-everest-111646892608064.html 111646892608064 story

At 7,000ft above mean sea level, Hathipaon is far removed from the touristy din of Mussoorie, the Uttarakhand hill station 8km away. Another few hundred metres further up, a ridge stands like a frontier postwith the Shivalik hills in the south, the seemingly endless Gangetic plains at its base, and the concrete warren of Uttarakhands busy capital city, Dehradun, in front. Turn around, and the Himalayas are visible on the north-eastern horizon, in their primeval, snow-clad best.

It was here that the surveyor general of India, Britains George Everest, chose to settle down in 1833. An airy residence called Park House, a mini laboratory, an observatory and a bungalow that was christened Logarithm Lodge were his base for a little over 10 years.

A hill rises steeply, about 1,000ft, adjacent to the house. It is said that Everest would occasionally climb it for his observations. The hilltop offers views of the icy presence of Himalayan worthies like the peaks Bandarpunch, Kedarnath, Kamet, Trishul (West) and Nanda Devi. When I visited it in February, a rambunctious group from Panipat reached the hilltop, locally referred to as the George Everest peak, before merecording their presence by stringing up a flag" in the form of a handkerchief on the branch of a tree, delighting in the sunset hour and the view.

Everest, who wasnt keeping good health, took advantage of the location to recuperate as he worked on one of the grandest geographical projects in human history, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India (GTSI). The British authorities wanted him to be based in Calcutta (now Kolkata), then the capital, instead of Hathipaon. Everest, in his dual role as superintendent of the GTSI and the surveyor general, had his way, though he had to agree to a concession. Kolkata would continue to be the computational and administrative hub of the Survey of India (SOI); a separate office would be set up in the plains of Dehradun and Everest himself could remain close to his work at Hathipaon.

What was the work? In short, it was the measurement and mapping of India, an exercise both in geodesy and geography.

There is no doubt that Sikdar was the chief computor at SOIs Kolkata office when the measurement was done. George Everest saw enough mathematical genius in Sikdar to describe him as his right arm, eventually paving the way for the latter to inarguably be the first significant native Indian association with the peak-

It was in 1800, a year after the British forces decisively defeated Tipu Sultan in the last of the Anglo-Mysore wars, that British surveyor and geographer William Lambton suggested a mathematical and geographical survey of peninsular India. Studying the arc of a meridian by measuring the distance between two points with the same longitude, may have been the primary motivation, but the colonial interest in understanding the lay of the land was implicit. Lambtons project to establish the size of India, starting from the southernmost tip of peninsular India, 78 degrees east from Cape Comorin (now Kanyakumari), got the governments approval soon.

The National Survey Museum in Dehradun.

In 1802, work began on this ambitious project with the establishment of a simple baseline. This involved triangulation. In his book The Great Arc: The Dramatic Tale Of How India Was Mapped And Everest Was Named (2000), historian John Keay explains triangulation as conceiving of three mutually visible reference points, usually on prominent hills or buildings, as the corners of a triangle. Knowing the exact distance between two of these points, and then measuring each of the angles made by the connecting sightline (an imaginary line-of-sight between points A and B) with those of the third point, could help establish the distance and position of the third point. One of the newly determined sides of this triangle would then become the base for a second triangle embracing a new reference point whose position would be determined in the same way. Another triangle would thus be completed and one of its sides would become the base for a third, and so on.

Slowly, the grid of triangles moved up from Kanyakumari, measuring heights and distances all the way north to Hyderabad, over 700 miles away. After Lambtons death in 1823, his assistant, Everest, took over as GTSI superintendent. Between 1833 and 1843 (the years Everest moved to Hathipaon and he left India for good, respectively), the survey reached a critical stage. Banog, a hilltop that is just a short trek away from Hathipaon, was the terminal base station of the north-south arc starting from Kanyakumari.

Building on Lambtons pioneering work, Everest would initiate geodetic innovations, such as changes to the theodolitean instrument used for measuring angles between two pointsconcluding the Great Arc of the meridian survey in 1841the longest measurement on the earths surface ever to be accomplished in human history.

Andrew Scott Waugh, who succeeded Everest as surveyor general in 1843, would use the results of Everests Great Arc as the base for a survey of the Himalayas. Though British interest was piqued by sightings of the perennially snow-capped mountains in Nepal, a country which didnt allow outsiders, it was only in 1856 that Peak XV would be declared the highest point on earth.

In a story that some consider apocryphal, but one which is recounted in multiple books, Radhanath Sikdar, a 19-year-old Bengali mathematical genius" who was handpicked by Everest as a computor at SOIs Kolkata office, rushed into Waughs office exclaiming, Sir! I have discovered the worlds highest mountain." Keay rubbishes this story. He reasons that Waughs office was in Dehradun while Sikdars was in Kolkata, but admits that it is quite probable that Sickdars (the spelling Britishers used) computations provided the first clear proof of XVs superiority". After a rigorous and painstaking study, the announcement was finally made at the Asiatic Society in Kolkata in 1856: Peak XV, rising 29,002ft above sea level, was indeed the roof of the world.

The Survey of Indias proposal to remeasure Mount Everest will definitely try to infer if the peak has shrunk following the 2015 Nepal earthquake.... If this current mission is successful, Ill be only the third person from India to announce the height of Everest.- Swarna Subba Rao

Waugh, a disciplined understudy of Everest, but without his magnetic personality, and forever beholden to his former boss, suggested the peak be named Mount Everest. Despite opposition from many quarters, including Everest himself, the name stuck. Local names like Chomolungma, Qomolungma and Sagarmatha fell into disuse.

Views of the Himalayas make the area around Everests house in Hathipaon a picnickers spot. The house itself remained a footnote till some years ago, when local authorities re-plastered the walls and applied a fresh coat of paint. Visitors have left their markalmost every inch is marked by graffiti, including one bit that reads, Who is Everest? Me Rupinder." A small signboard outside the house outlines Everests contribution to our geographical understanding of India.

Everest himself had a late introduction to the Himalayas and there is no record of him ever being fascinated by their mystical, mesmerizing presence. Keays research tells us that he never offered his expertise to measure the height of the Himalayan peaks and scorned attempts by those who tried. In fact, Everest never set eyes on Peak XV.

A shrinking giant?

At SOIs headquarters in Dehradun, a large, horizontal, framed photograph of Mount Everest and its surrounding peaks overlooks the office of Nitin Joshi, SOIs geodetic and research branch director. The first measure of the mountain in 1856 is, understandably, the mightiest among SOIs many accomplishments since it was set up 250 years ago. Fittingly, then, to mark the milestone year and its survival as the oldest scientific institution in India, SOI plans to remeasure Mount Everest. The current surveyor general of India, Swarna Subba Rao, announced this at the Geospatial World Forum in Hyderabad in January.

The photo of the Everest in the office of Joshi, who heads the technical team working on the current remeasurement plan, puts the height of the peak at 29,028ft. In 1956, 100 years after the first measurement, Rao says SOI used indirect trigonometric methods" for a second round of surveying: the 26ft difference from the previous measurement underlined the efficacy of the measuring process used in the 19th century survey.

Since then, not unlike the competitive spirit evident in scaling the Everest, other countries too have attempted to measure the peak that straddles the border between Nepal and China. In the 1970s, a Chinese team put its height at 29,029.29ft. In 1999, an American expedition, using a global positioning system (GPS) device, found the height to be 29,035ftyet again reiterating the credibility of the 1856 finding, which used traditional trigonometric methods and calculated the height from a distance to arrive within 33ft of the American figure that used modern technology. Though both the Indian- and American-measured heights of 29,028ft and 29,035ft, respectively, have been widely referred to as the height of Mount Everest, a 2005 Chinese survey created a stir when it found the height had come down to 29,017.16ft.

Even though the 2005 Chinese survey measured the actual height of the rock-head of the mountain and not its height with the ice cap at the summit, there has been a growing murmur in the scientific community that the Everest, considered to be part of a growing mountain range, might have shrunk in height following the 7.8 magnitude Nepal earthquake in 2015an assertion that the proposed SOI survey will attempt to assess.

One needs to go back in geological time to understand this growing mountain range theory.

It is said that approximately 400 million years ago, there was a vast sea between India and Asia called Tethys, where the Himalayas now stand; the discovery of rocks with marine fossils like that of the sea lily at the pinnacle has confirmed this. Around 50 million years ago, India, as we know it now, moved away from the supercontinent, Gondwana, and started travelling north. Over 30 million years, the land mass travelled 4,000 miles (6,437km) north and collided with Asia. The impact resulted in the sea floor being raised abruptly, with the northern margins of India buckling and folding under pressure. Spread across 2,400km and home to 14 of the worlds highest peaks, the folds from the collision are now called the Himalayas. The Indian tectonic plate continues to push further into the greater Asian plate.

The Survey of Indias proposal to remeasure Mount Everest will definitely try to infer if the peak has shrunk following the 2015 Nepal earthquake," says Rao, sitting in Survey House, his official, colonial-era residence in a quiet corner of Dehradun. Even though no major and comprehensive scientific assessment work has been conducted since the Nepal earthquake, some members of the scientific community believe that the Everest, along with other peaks in the region, could even have moved sideways. Preliminary studies conducted over the years maintain that the Everest has been rising by 0.1 inches annually and sliding in a north-east direction by over an inch every year. That is something we will consider as well," says Rao.

On the day we meet, The Kathmandu Post carried an opinion piece by a former director general of Nepals survey department advising India to collaborate with Nepal and China on the remeasurement exercise. Since the announcement by Rao in Hyderabad, the international press, including the BBC, has quoted Nepalese officials as saying that no agreement has been reached on allowing an Indian team access to measure the Everest.

Rao, however, says the issue had come up at the 2016 annual meeting of the boundary working group that monitors the boundaries between India and Nepal. Krishna Raj (director general of Nepals survey department) had agreed. (The) government of India is willing to bear the cost. We discussed technical issues, the inclusion of Nepalese officers in the expedition and the formalities will be completed through diplomatic channels. Meanwhile, we have already had some technical-level meetings with the Nepalese side. It will be a combined survey where the results too will be declared through a combined effort," says Rao.

Having received all the approvals in principle" from the Central government, the remeasurement proposal is currently awaiting the go-ahead from the Union ministry of external affairs. As things stand, a 30-member team will be formed: half of it will consist of officials, scientists and climbers from India and Nepal, the rest will be Sherpas; without their help the mission cant be successful," says Rao of Sherpa support. Im proposing to measure by two methods. First, we want to send someone up the mountain with a GPS device to measure the peak using satellite technology. Simultaneously, we will be taking measurements on the same day from different locations on the ground also using the old trigonometrical method," says Rao.

The combination of modern GPS technology and the traditional triangulation system will make for a solid" round of surveying, he believes. We will select five-six places for observation, including a couple in Nepal, and solve as many triangles as possible. The criterion is the angle and the ideal angle is one of 45-50 degrees from which one can see the Everest comfortably."

One really understands the breadth of the triangulation method used for the GTSI in the 19th century when Arun Kumar, a soft-spoken man in charge of the library and SOIs National Survey Museum in Dehradun, makes me pause before an extraordinary map of India, seemingly joined together by what looks like a triangular grid of necklaces.

It is while working on the north-east longitudinal series, under Waughs supervision in the mid-1800s, that British surveyors first spied the gleaming Himalayan peaks from the Gangetic floodplains of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, places like Bhagalpur and Pilibhit, as well as from Darjeeling in West Bengal. One of the earlier records of Himalayan sightings, though, is by William Jones, a judge at the Calcutta high court. He would go on to pursue his interests as a linguist, historian, philologist and naturalist and found the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Kolkata in 1784.

Around sunset on 5 October 1784, Jones would get a distinct view from Bhagilpoor (Bhagalpur) of Chumalary peak (Jomolhari in Bhutan)." He went on to say that there was abundant reason to think that we saw from Bhagilpoor the highest mountains in the world, without excepting the Andes". It was because of Jones, Keay opines in The Great Arc, that the height of the Himalayas was added to the agenda of Orientalist research.

Open to the general public only on special days, Dehraduns National Survey Museum is a treasure trove for geodesists, geographers, cartographers and researchers as well as those interested in the history of mapping mountains. Most of what is on display goes back to the GTSI days. Among handwritten letters by Everest, Colby compensation bars, chains and instruments used for measurement, are a couple of theodolites dating back to the 19th century. Photographs with captions of important personalities line the walls, while a shelf contains a starfish marine fossil found in the Himalayas. There are black and white photographs of Everest, Waugh, Sikdar, and surveyors at work. The GTSI men also braved an unfamiliar terrain of wild forests, infested with bandits and tigers. Many succumbed to malaria and typhoid; a frame at the museum lists the names of some of those who died.

In Kolkata, one would often cross a 75ft-high masonry tower a little north of Shyambazar. Neither a factory chimney nor a watch tower, the tall structure would be plastered with cinema posters or drying dung cakes. About a decade back, the authorities whitewashed it and pasted a brief history of the tower on it. It told us of its 1831-vintage, the time when Everest, then based in Kolkata, built it for work related to the GTSI. In his autobiographical book, High Exposure: An Enduring Passion For Everest And Unforgiving Places, mountaineer-film-maker David Breashears recalls seeing one such GTSI tower in the plains of Bihar, a place far removed from the Nepal Himalayas but from where, before air pollution dulled the scene, one could get a view of the Himalayas.

Standing in front of the triangulated map of India at the National Survey Museum, I wonder how the towers could have contributed to the measurement of Everest. Such towers (built where no other tall structures were available) did contribute, even if not directly, Kumar tells me.

For Peak XV was eventually calculated from six different places in the plains by surveyor J.O. Nicholson; each survey site was located well over 100km away from the actual peak. The average of the height readings measured from Jarol, Mirzapur, Janjipati, Ladnia, Harpur and Minai, where similar towers had been erected to make them intervisible for triangulation, and arguably calculated by Sikdar, read 29,002ft. Along with GPS technology, this model of deduction is being sought to be replicated by SOI.

All the heights in our country are considered as above mean sea level (MSL), but GPS receivers give you a different height known as ellipsoidal height. The two heights dont tally. To convert ellipsoidal height to MSL, we are trying to come out with a mathematical equation. That kind of equation is known as the Geoid Model, on which our director Nitin Joshi and the geodetic and research branch of the Survey of India is working," Rao says. We have worked on the Geoid Model for most of the country and now we want to extend it to the Himalayas also. If we extend it to Mount Everest and it is proved, my job becomes easy.

The Survey of India-provided height of Mount Everest has been considered the most credible over the years and we have the oldest association with the peak," the surveyor general continues. If this current mission is successful, Ill be only the third person from India to announce the height of Everest.

It will be a proud moment for the Survey of India in its 251st year, as well as for India."

Radhanath Sikdar.

The mystery man

In 2011, Ashish Lahiri, a Kolkata-based author and independent researcher of the history of science, went looking for the grave of Radhanath Sikdar at Chandannagar, a former French colonial town more than 50km away from Kolkata. Sikdar, a Bengali-Christian, had retired to Chandannagar and died there in 1870. Though a small street there is named after him, his house has since been demolished to make way for an apartment building, says Lahiri.

In his search for Sikdars grave, Lahiri sought help from multiple sources. Some local club members eventually led him to a cemetery where they thought his grave might be. But the grave they pointed at did not have an epitaph. Lahiri had to give up the search for lack of credible evidence.

Though his role in the measurement of Mount Everest may be contested, there is no doubt that Sikdar was the chief computor at SOIs Kolkata office when the measurement was done. Everest saw enough mathematical genius" in Sikdar to describe him as his right arm", eventually paving the way for the latter to inarguably be the first significant native Indian association with the peak.

While a legendary explorer like Francis Younghusband would weigh in on the side of Sikdar, giving credence to the popular story of the young computor exclaiming that he had discovered the worlds highest mountain", Sikdars role was undermined by SOI historians like B.L. Gulatee, S.G. Burrard and R.H. Phillimore, and George Everests biographer J.R. Smith, who have all maintained that the computation work took place in Dehradun.

A diary containing letters written to George Everest by his subordinates at the museum.

In the recent past, there have been two significant supporters of SikdarAmerican journalist and climber Jon Krakauer, who, without going into much detail, credits Sikdar with the discovery in his best-selling book, Into Thin Air (1996), and Walt Unsworth, who goes into the Sikdar controversy with a detailed analysis in Everest: A Mountaineering History (1981), widely considered the most exhaustive account of the peaks association with man.

In Everest: A Mountaineering History, Unsworth says, Since the publication of the first edition a closer study of the evidence leads me to suspect that the computation of Everests height might have been by Sikhdar (Unsworths spelling) after all." He doesnt ignore contrarian evidence, including that of the widely respected survey historian Phillimore, even though the latter seems somewhat uncertain in his repudiation of Sikdars role.

Unsworth quotes a letter that Waugh wrote to Henry Thuillier in 1856, who was then in charge of SOIs Kolkata office: We have for some years known that the mountain is higher than any hitherto measured in India. In justice to my able assistant, J. Hennesy (Unsworths spelling), it is proper that I acknowledge that I am greatly indebted to him for his cordial cooperation in revising these computations."

The George Everest house in Hathipaon.

In the last paragraph of the chapter The Height Of Everest", Unsworth adds: It seems to me that what Waugh is acknowledging in this letter is the fact that there already existed some previous calculations for Everest, perhaps preliminary and rough ones, and that Hennesy had revised these to produce a final published version. It could be that Radanath Sikhdar had made these preliminary calculations, and hence the confusion. Both Sikhdar and Hennesy had worked on the figures."

After two short biographies of Sikdar, Sahitya Samsad published Lahiris new book, Radhanath Sikdar And Colonial Science: An Indian Surveys An Uncharted Terrain, in November. The book provides a detailed biographical sketch of Sikdar and includes previously unpublished notes, letters and documents sourced from the National Archives of India in Delhi.

I meet Lahiri on a winter evening at Boi-Chitra, an over 100-year-old photographic studio which, back in the day, competed with the famous European-owned studios in the city. The studio, located on the second floor of Albert Hall, Kolkata, now the College Street Coffee House, has been revived through the efforts of a group of well-wishers, including Lahiri. It seemed to be the perfect setting for a discussion on revisionist history.

Borrowing from his new book, Lahiri patiently outlines Sikdars commendable work in the areas of compensation for atmospheric refraction of light, a critical area in the computation of height, and mastering the ray tracing method introduced by Everest. Ray tracing was the determination of the direction between two points that would be intervisible if it were not for removable obstacles such as trees and huts, Lahiri explains.

Our conversation leads to the subject of Sikdars infamous fallout with Thuillier, who was many rungs his senior. After Thuillier made a technical blunder, Sikdar wrote an admonishing letter to him. This was in 1858, just after the rebellion of Indian sepoys had been quelled by the British, and here was a native questioning the technical competence of a white man", Lahiri wrote. Thuillier didnt take well to this and reported the matter to the surveyor general. It was the ideal ground for a trial for insubordination, but Waugh, possibly because of Sikdars indispensability, took a kind view. The issue would be settled after Sikdar wrote a letter to Waugh apologizing for the harshness of his language, but not for the charge he had brought against his superior.

Babu Radhanath Sikdar, distinguished head of the computing department of GTSI", was acknowledged by Thuillier when he, along with another author, published The Manual Of Surveying For India in 1851. After Sikdars death, however, the third edition of the manual, published in 1875, dropped the acknowledgement. The first Indian to climb up the European hierarchy of SOI, Sikdar, Lahiri contends in his new book, had to overcome discrimination during his career, which Kumar of the SOI alludes to as well during our conversations.

Arun Kumar, a published author, is currently researching The Great Arc project as well as Sikdar. But when it comes to finding the most critical documentthat of the final computation which eventually established Peak XV as the highest point on earth, along with the name of the person responsible for the calculationboth Lahiri and Kumar have drawn a blank.

Even as the SOI goes about its current mission to remeasure Mount Everest, Sikdar, and his role in the pioneering discovery, remain veiled in a mist.
NEW DELHI : In a recent interview, Donald R. Winslow, a veteran US photojournalist and former editor of News Photographer magazine, rued what he called the philosophical devaluation of photojournalism. It used to be about the vision of the photographer you were sending..., Winslow told The New York Times. Now, were willing to accept whatever we can afford to buy from somebody whos already there. Its not about the caliber of the journalism or photography.

The question of location is certainly fundamentaljust not necessarily in the way Winslow presumes in his classic view from the metropole. The 200 photographs that make up the magnificent new photo book Witness: Kashmir 1986-2016/Nine Photographers were all taken in Kashmir, shot by somebody whos already there. Barring one, the nine photographers grew up in Kashmir, and continue to live there or at least visit frequently. Their work, then, is precisely the opposite of the outsider who jets into the conflict zone to get a great picture: It is a fine-grained, long-time engagement with the world around them, a turbulent world of which they are themselves part.

Witness: Kashmir 1986-2016/Nine Photographers: Yaarbal, 440 pages, Rs3,400.

In a world where photographers, their subjects and spectators all share the recognition that what they are witnessing is intolerable, as film-maker and writer Sanjay Kak suggests in his introduction, photography becomes the exercise of a civic skill. The stunning archive of images in Witness is, thus, an excavation of Kashmiri public memory, of the sort that almost never gets seen outside the state. Along with Kaks detailed, thoughtful profiles of the photographers, these photographs leave us in no doubt about what it is like to live and work in Kashmirwhat it has been like for 30 years. As the pot of memories is stirred, the photographers own experiences of violence rise to the surface: a schoolmate found dead one morning, a teenaged brother lost to a cause, frightening encounters with the army or police.

For many of the photographers, the camera was a personal response to the harrowing times they grew up in. In those days, when you left in the morning, you didnt know if you would come home in the evening. I thought if I get a press card, it might save my life, Javed Dar said at the books Delhi launch in February. Dar smiled broadly, but it was no joke. And what began as a strategic tactic the press card as a way to stand out from the crowd in a landscape strewn with army and police barrierstransformed into something more deeply felt. Pictures gave me something. When I go out with my camera I still do feel strong and powerful, like a soldier with a gun, photographer Dar Yasin told Kak.

Of course, the life of the Kashmiri press photographer is inextricably entwined with the threat of violence. Meraj Ud Din, the most senior photographer in the book, speaks of the death of a photojournalist (in a bomb attack ) in whose honour Srinagars Press Colony was renamed Mushtaq Ali Enclave. Vulnerable as individuals, photographers in Srinagar began to move around in groups, with no fewer than three cars, a practice that is visible to this day, writes Kak. Risk is the photographers currency, and it is normalized to the point of becoming an initiation ritual.

Soon after his arrival in Srinagar in 2009, when Sumit Dayal, who was brought up in Nepal, got beaten up by a crowd calling him CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) ka aadmi, his photojournalist friends received the news with equanimity, and that brand of mordant humour one hears often in Kashmir. Welcome to the club. Now you are officially a Kashmiri photographer, Dar Yasin told Dayal. What you also need is a beating from the other side, from the CRPF. Then youll be a full man, a photojournalist.

Photography in Kashmir has emerged in a cultural context where there is almost no local film-making, and little space for art. Witness opens up a much needed conversation about Kashmir, including the role of creative and intellectual practice in a place so embattled. Not all the images here refer directly to the conflict. But whether we are looking at a child at an Eid sacrifice, or a watchful migrant worker bundled up in plastic during the 2014 flood, violence can never be far from our minds. In Kaks words: There will be blood, but in what way will you confront it on the page?

****

Photo: Meraj Ud Din

Meraj Ud Din, B. 1959

The doyen of Kashmiri photojournalists, by 1990 he was the first port of call for all journalists visiting the state. His images act as an archive: a beret-wearing Yasin Malik at a 1986 rally for Palestine; the open-mouthed body of Neelkanth Ganjoo, a Kashmiri Pandit judge assassinated in 1989 (possibly for sentencing Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front founder Maqbool Bhat to death); and, in the image here, the militant-turned-counterinsurgent Kuka Parray, posing with his infamous pro-government militia, the Ikhwan.

Photo: By Javeed shah

Javeed Shah, b. 1967

To newspaper readers, Shahs photographs are familiar from his years at The Indian Express and, later, Mint. Shah often composes a picture along a diagonal axis, like the one here, which makes clear how different life is for boys and girls in Kashmir. His flair for colour can sometimes produce something disturbingly elemental: His image of a watermelon, bleeding red pulp on to the tarmac after the 2006 blast at Naaz Cinema, is pure documentation and metaphor.

Photo: By Dar Yasin/AP

Dar Yasin, b. 1973

Yasin has worked with Associated Press for a decade; his images must feed the relentless maw of the news cycle. He likes to think of himself as doing a job, one that he simply wants to do well, writes Kak. And yet, as his Witness images reveal, Yasins work can always be read for more. The stone-throwers he captures in dramatic mid-leap have blank, masked facessharply juxtaposed with the angry gaze of the boy pockmarked with pellet-gun injuries. In the image above, the crimson blankets that swathe dead militants bodies lend their funerals a mythic air, evoking blood but also royalty and martyrdom.

By Javed Dar

Javed Dar, b. 1975

In 1992, when he was 17, Dar had a narrow escape from the army. The trauma aged his father overnight. In 2015, when Dars son Danish (then 17) was hit by a bullet in the leg, the shadow of the past reappeared. The image here is an example of how the constant brutalizing presence of armed men in uniform haunts Dars images, often seeming like automatons with their helmeted anonymity and synchronized stride. Other pictures depict violence and ruin in painterly ways: the smoke billowing behind a sad-faced woman in 2012s After The Fire, or the blood being scooped off a Srinagar street in 2013 in After Killing Of Policeman.

Photo: By Altaf Qadri

Altaf Qadri, b. 1976

A staff photographer with Associated Press since 2008, Qadris pictures in Witness are often composed radially, with the eye being led inwards. In Washing Of Muharram Wounds, a disparate circle is united by bloodied hands; in Funeral After A Staged Encounter, we see older men reaching out to a grieving boy at the centre; in Grave Of A Militant Commander, pheran-clad men guard the periphery while a thorny branch descends, as if to shield the grave. In the image above, the radial motif is upfront: Everyday life in Kashmir must be viewed through cracks in the windscreen, guarded by a baffled man in uniform.

Photo: By Sumit Dayal

Sumit Dayal, b. 1981

Brought up in Kathmandu and trained at New Yorks International Center for Photography, Dayals beginnings as a photographer in Kashmir could not have been more different from those of the others in this book. His images, too, locate themselves less squarely in the political domain and more in the interstices of personal and collective memory. Since 2009, when he visited Srinagar after 17 years, Dayals desire to recapture the Kashmir of his childhood memories has taken new shape, expressed increasingly in work with found photographs: from private collections, bureaucratic files, local studio pictures, as well as his own family albums. But the theme of home abides.

Photo: By Showkat Nanda

Showkat Nanda, b. 1982

Nanda was 7 when police firing in Baramulla killed his teenaged cousin Parvez. Months later, in March 1990, Nandas 16-year-old brother Sajad joined the Jammu and Kashmir Students Liberation Front. He died in an accident while crossing the Line of Control, and Kaks conversations with Nanda in the book elicit the familys stored-up grief: a fiery speech Sajad once crafted; a poem their headmaster-father wrote about losing a son to a cause. Much of his work appears rooted in that personal loss: Theres a series on young boys on the run, a series on stone-throwers, another on women whose sons and husbands have disappeared.

Photo: By Syed Shahriyar

Syed Shahriyar, b. 1992

Why would I choose to have five pictures of the flood and five of Muharram in Shahriyars images? asked Kak at the Witness launch. Because I can see there is a pausehe is figuring something out for himself. Shahriyar is a Shia, and his studied black and white Muharram images, often of women in the stillness and contemplation of grief, mark a deliberate departure from the usual goriness of Muharram depictions. Several other photographs underline the crucial place of image-making in the new Kashmir: cameraphones at a militants funeral, or during a police announcement, wielded as tiny weapons of the everyday.

Photo: By Azaan Shah

Azaan Shah, b. 1997

The youngest to be included in Witness, Shah lives with his parents and elder sister in Fatehkadal and likes to think of himself as a photographer of Srinagars streets. I want to show only one thing well, and that is downtown, he told Kak in the book. But even as he stalks the downtown neighbourhoods of Zainakadal, Bohrikadal, Alikadal and Jamia Masjid (seen in picture), he usually overlooks the protest image for the street that is shut down, or the stillness of a lone figure against a background. The most dramatic things in his pictures are the shadows.
Harry Banga: The commodities captain The master mariner, who founded a start-up after two decades at one of Asia's biggest commodity trading firms, on Chinese hotels, Sunday dinners and god /news/talking-point/harry-banga-the-commodities-captain-111646894550655.html 111646894550655 story

Harry Banga always thought he would retire from a career in trading commodities when he turned 60. Much to his own relief, however, things didnt go according to plan or he would have been at a loss for things to do. He tells me he has no hobbies.

Banga, now 66, is immersed at work when we meet. His office is where he is happiest. It probably helps that it has a breathtaking view of Hong Kongs Victoria Harbour, dotted with ships.

The Amritsar-born, Hong Kong-based Harindarpal BangaHarry" to everyone who knows himis the chairman and chief executive officer of The Caravel Group. Its a start-up," Banga chuckles. But one with grey-haired managers, an experienced team, and a billion-dollar balance sheet. We created something new," Banga demurs. Thats what a start-up is."

A diversified global conglomerate, Caravel was founded in 2013 by Banga and his two sons, Guneet (37) and Angad (33). The Bangas own all of it. He says his sons, who were working elsewhere, forced him to start his own venture, promising they would join him if he did. Though both have leadership roles within Caravel, Guneet, who is the executive director, is currently on a sabbatical, working on philanthropic projects in Thailand. Angad, the groups chief operating officer, plays an active role in the day-to-day operations and heads the asset manage-ment division.

Harry Banga made a name and fortune for himself over two decades at Noble Group, a commodity trading company based in Hong Kong. As group vice-chairman, he was widely credited with turning the company into one of Asias biggest business successes.

He had joined Noble in 1989 to head its new shipping division. It was the perfect match: Noble could trade commodities and transport raw materials from suppliers to buyers. The timing was fortuitous. Chinas economy was regaining momentum and the government was spending liberally on domestic infrastructure projects. It had a voracious appetite for raw materials. Banga quickly realized the impact an emerging China would have on the world stage, so thats where he focused his attention.

Illustration: By Jayachandran/Mint

I pretty much lived there, not in five-star hotels but in dirty, filthy, smelly guest houses," he says, remembering the years he spent travelling to remote corners of China. And the food was terrible." It was rough, but he persisted, even picking up Mandarin during those years of travel and establishing key contacts within China.

For an Indian national to be so respected, to have such guanxi(relationships) within China, is very rare," says Sam Chambers, editorial director of Asia Shipping Media, which controls global maritime news portal Splash.

Banga left Noble in 2010. He doesnt say much about why he stepped down, except that the way Noble was growing (too fast") and diversifying (becoming asset heavy") didnt match his sensibilities. He continued with them as vice-chairman emeritus till their 2013 annual general meeting to enable a smooth transition.

His exit was well timed. Noble has been plagued by accounting problems, several high-level departures, and a downturn in the commodity market. The company is nowhere near the darling of the stock market it once was.

Rich with experience and cash from selling his stake in Noble, Banga set up Caravel. It is named after a small, nimble, 15th century sailing ship developed by the Spanish and Portuguese to explore uncharted waters. The business has three verticals: logistics, which includes maritime services such as ship management, commodities trading, and asset management. Asset management was introduced to attract Angad, who has a background in private equity.

In a little over three years, Caravel has put Banga back on the list of Hong Kongs 50 Richest People, with a fortune of $1.02 billion (around Rs6,800 crore), according to Forbes magazine. Caravel, which posted a revenue of $80 million in its first year of operation, estimates a jump to $1.8 billion last year. Banga looks embarrassed when I talk to him about his wealth. What means more to me is when they compare Caravel to companies that have been around for 50 or 80 years," he says, adding, At this age, if I have more than three drinks, the doctors bill is bigger than the drinks bill, so where will you spend the money?"

In an understated office, the only sign of Bangas immense wealth is a gallery-worthy collection of modern and contemporary art. Theres a limited-edition work by Pablo Picasso, pieces by F.N. Souza, several M.F. Husains, an S.H. Raza, a Satish Gujral and a work by Chinese artist Xue Song. A commissioned work by Indian artist Paresh Maitydepicting, you got it, a caravelhangs in the boardroom.-

Later, I understand where the money goeswell, some of it at least. I dont fly commercial, I have my own plane," Banga says in a matter-of-fact tone. Sometimes I say, why should I go in my own plane? I worry about my carbon footprint. But Angad says, Dad, just enjoy your life."

As we speak in his office, I cant help but notice that the view makes a perfect backdrop to Bangas story. He began his life on the seas. He was not really interested in an engineering or medical degree, the traditional career path for most Indian men with his kind of family background at the time, and a chance meeting with a family friend who worked for the Indian Merchant Navy piqued his interest. Growing up in landlocked Punjab, Banga had never seen the sea. Without telling his father, he applied for a position with the Indian merchant navy. An exam and an interview later, he was accepted as a cadet.

Banga loved his life as a seafarer. It was the lure of seeing the world. You went to a port and stayed there for months. I loved it. Seeing new places, meeting new people. It was amazing."

He went on to become a master mariner (a qualification that allows you to become the captain of a ship) and at 28, the youngest captain in the navy.

It was during his time on the sea that the young Sikh cut his hair. It was impractical, with all that travel and being on a ship, he says. Bangas father didnt allow him into the house for three years. Three years," he emphasizes. Even after they made their peace, Banga had to grow a beard and put on a turban before going to meet his father.

I meet Banga for a second time at a gurdwara in Hong Kong on a chilly Saturday morning. He is there with his family to attend an akhand path (continuous recitation of religious hymns). I believe in god and god for me is Sikhism," Banga says. Being Sikh defines who they are, its a big part of their identity," Angad says of his parents. I learn that Banga has donated $1.2 million to the gurdwara for a new building and is closely involved in the design as well.

I watch Banga mingle easily with others from the local Indian community. Hes a slight man with a towering personality, the recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (the highest award given to overseas Indians) conferred by the then president, Pratibha Patil, in 2011.

Over the years, he has also developed a fiercely loyal inner circle of colleagues. The senior management at Caravel came with him from Noble. His secretary has been working with him for 30 years; the head of iron ore, for 25 years; and the head of his China unit, for 20 years. Perhaps his most endearing quality is his friendly disposition. Hes affable. Every morning, he walks the floor of his office at 10.30 and greets people personally. He has done this for 20 years. He has a monthly list of birthdays on his desk and doesnt miss wishing an employee.

Its a we and us culture, never you, never me. At our Monday morning meetings, theres no finger-pointing. If someone did something that cost the company, its we made a loss, never you made a loss," says Angad. He credits his fathers leadership stylebased on developing trustfor creating a family-like atmosphere in the office.

For Banga, nothing in the world is more important than family. I understand that within minutes of meeting him. He talks often of his father, a former civil servant, now 95 and ailing. Banga returns to New Delhi frequently to visit him. His wife of 37 years, Indra, goes through the days schedule with him before he comes to office. She has chosen all the art that is displayed in the office. His daughter-in-law Dana (Angads wife) works at the Caravel Foundation with Indra.

The family gets together for Sunday-night dinners. Its not just a tradition, but one that is sacred", Angad says. If anyone cant make it, there had better be a very good reason for it. It doesnt matter that they have seen each other in office every day, all week.

Sometimes, hes kind of old fashioned, laughs Angad. Theres so much pressure on my wife and I to have children. Hes like, all my friends have grandchildren, I am the only one who doesnt!"

Speaking about the next generation (and a potential third), I ask Banga what he would like his legacy to be. He seems puzzled. I havent really thought about it, he responds. I rephrase the question. How would he like to be remembered? Banga pauses. Finally, he says, I think I would just want someone to say, I miss him having a drink with me."

In case you are wondering, that would be single malt whisky.
The ancestors of the Shona people built Great Zimbabwe, which flourished between the 11th and 15th centuries A.D.

Great Zimbabwe was a 720-hectare (1,779 acres) city that flourished between roughly the 10th and 15th centuries A.D.

"Zimbabwe" is a Shona name that, while the translation varies, can mean houses of stone. The ruins contain numerous stone enclosures with soaring walls as tall as 11 meters (36 feet). They were made without the use of mortar.

Much of Great Zimbabwe is unexcavated and what the different enclosures were used for is a source of debate among archaeologists. The earliest written records for the city date to the 16th century, a time after it was largely abandoned.

Today, Great Zimbabwe is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is considered a sort of national symbol for the modern-day country of Zimbabwe. The nation adopted the name Zimbabwe in 1980, using the name that the Shona had long before given to the city. Also the flag of Zimbabwe shows a bird sitting on a pedestal, which is a representation of a type of artifact found at Great Zimbabwe.

Despite the importance of Great Zimbabwe, much of it is unexcavated. "If we combine areas dug by antiquarians with those by professional archaeologists, it becomes clear that the excavated area at Great Zimbabwe is less than 2 percent," wrote a team of scientists who are remapping the city in a paper published in 2016 in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.

The remapping team found that the site encompassed about 720 hectares (1,779 acres) of land and that "its size at any given point in time was considerably smaller than the 720 ha, making up the site today," they wrote in the journal article. They explained that different parts of the city were inhabited at different times and the earliest evidence for habitation dates to around A.D. 900.

A view of a portion of Great Zimbabwe from a nearby hill. (Image credit: 2630ben/Shutterstock )

No 'lost city'

Great Zimbabwe has never been a "lost" city; the people of Zimbabwe have always been aware of its ruins. However, when European explorers arrived in the area in the 19th and early 20th centuries, they took artifacts from the ruins of Great Zimbabwe and put forward claims that the city wasn't built by Africans at all, claiming that it was built by the Phoenicians or other groups from Asia or Europe.

The earliest European to describe Great Zimbabwe was Karl Mauch (first name sometimes spelled Carl). He lived from 1837 to 1875 and claimed that he had found cedar from Lebanon at Great Zimbabwe and "that the ruins were built by the Queen of Sheba," a character mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, wrote Innocent Pikirayi, a professor at the University of Pretoria (located in South Africa), in a paper published in the book "Cities in the World, 15002000" (Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, 2006).

Pikirayi wrote that archaeologists have long since dismissed claims that Great Zimbabwe was built by Phoenicians, people from Europe or the Queen of Sheba. Today, scholars widely believed that Great Zimbabwe was built by the ancestors of the Shona and other groups located in Zimbabwe and nearby countries.

Climate

Great Zimbabwe is located in "a tropical savanna climate" where "rainfall is received in October and persists well into AprilMay," wrote a team of researchers in a paper published in 2016 in the South African Archaeological Bulletin. "Much of the rainfall around Great Zimbabwe comes in the form of mists, locally known as guti, that come with the southeast trade winds."

The research team examined charcoal found at the site and discovered that the inhabitants used types of wood called Spirostachys africana and Colophospermum mopane, which may have been imported from other sites in southern Africa, to construct the city.

Research indicates that Great Zimbabwe declined in the 15th century; however, climate change was not a cause. "Recent research suggests environmental degradation may not have been primarily responsible for the abandonment of the town, as climatic conditions prevailing at the time were favourable," wrote Pikirayi in his 2006 book.

A close up of the main entrance that leads inside the main structure of Great Zimbabwe. The city was built without the use of mortar. (Image credit: Cecil Bo Dzwowa/Shutterstock)

Artifacts

"The material culture from different areas [of Great Zimbabwe] regardless of time period mostly consisted of local pottery, imported glass beads, infrastructure for metalworking such as crucibles, finished metal objects, spindle whorls and, among others, grinding stones," wrote the research team conducting the remapping of Great Zimbabwe in their 2016 Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory paper.

The most famous artifacts are eight birds, carved out of soapstone. They "are all about 33 cm [13 inches] in height and were once perched atop pedestals," wrote Paul Hubbard, a researcher at the National Museum and Monuments of Zimbabwe, in a paper published in 2009 in the journal "Honeyguide."

"Most researchers agree that the birds represent birds of prey but it is not possible to identify the species because the carvings combine human and avian elements; beaks with lips on some, and four or five toes or fingers on all," wrote Hubbard.

Six of the eight birds were found in a place which modern-day archaeologists call the "Eastern Enclosure," which is located on a hill.

"The Eastern Enclosure yielded meager amounts of cultural debris and the existence of platforms and monoliths has suggested the use of this enclosure for priestly functions," wrote Shadreck Chirikure, a professor at the University of Cape Town, and Innocent Pikirayi in a paper published in 2008 in the journal Antiquity.

A number of artifacts obtained through long-distance trade have been found at Great Zimbabwe. These include a 14th-century Arab coin, the remains of 13th-century Persian pottery as well as pottery that dates to China's Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644), wrote Webber Ndoro, the director of the African World Heritage Fund, in his book "The Preservation of Great Zimbabwe: Your Monument Our Shrine" (ICCROM, 2005). Ndoro notes that these artifacts would have been obtained through trade that occurred across the Indian Ocean and that Great Zimbabwe offered gold, among other products, that it could trade abroad.

Many mysteries

Archaeologists have many questions and disagreements about Great Zimbabwe. The earliest surviving texts that mention Great Zimbabwe date to the 16th century and were often written by Europeans. This means that archaeologists have to rely, in large part, on the ruins themselves, to determine how the city functioned.

Some scholars think that the city's rulers secluded themselves in a hilltop area where they could conduct rainmaking ceremonies, while others think that the city's rulers were willing to mix with people from different walks of life. Some scholars also think that the city's rulers didn't have a permanent palace but that when a ruler died the heir ruled from wherever they happened to be living at the time.

The relationship between Great Zimbabwe and other cities in the region is also a source of debate. Some scholars think that Great Zimbabwe was the capital of a sizable kingdom or empire that included other cities, such as Thulamela, which is located in modern-day South Africa. However this idea is disputed. Another idea is that a dynasty of rulers from another city named Mapungubwe moved their capital to Great Zimbabwe in the 13th century.

With only 2 percent of Great Zimbabwe having been excavated, new discoveries may be made in the future that will shed light on the city's history.

Additional resources
Young students lucky enough to benefit from a science education will likely recognize Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, or Gregor Mendel. But ask them about Georges Lemaitre and they'd probably be stumped.

Indeed, the man who first proposed that the universe is expanding and formulated the theory of the Big Bang is scarcely recognized by Google. Search for "famous scientists" and scroll through the horizontal list that pops up. Lemaitre is nowhere to be seen.

To be fair, there are a number of worthy contenders to science fame, but I argue that Lemaitre is truly a cut above the rest. An honest examination of his life and accomplishments should place him next to Einstein as one of the greatest scientists who ever lived.

Georges Lemaitre was born in Charleroi, Belgium in 1894. Bright and curious, he would earn his degree in engineering nineteen years later. But before he could set about beginning a new career, war engulfed Europe. Lemaitre fought bravely in World War I against the invaders from the Central Powers, earning Belgium's equivalent to America's Silver Star. Afterwards, he returned to school to earn a doctorate in mathematics, then turned down academic offers to pursue a lifelong passion: priesthood.

Lemaitre's spirituality flourished over the next few years, but this did not diminish his scientific aspirations one bit. Upon being ordained in 1923, he traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts to study astronomy at Harvard Observatory, while at the same time earning a doctorate in physics from MIT. Two years later, he finally began his academic career as an associate professor of mathematics at the Catholic University of Leuven.

In 1927, Lemaitre proposed that the Universe is expanding, deriving the notion mathematically from Einstein's theory of relativity. When Einstein and Lemaitre met that same year, Einstein told him "Your calculations are correct, but your physics is atrocious." Einstein did not question the math, but he could not accept the finding. When Edwin Hubble discovered astronomical evidence of expansion two years later, Lemaitre's theory was confirmed. Einstein, along with the rest of the physics community, was convinced.

At the same time, a more existential question was born: If the universe is expanding, does that mean it originated from a specific point in time and space? In 1931, in a now legendary paper (opens in new tab) published to the journal Nature, Lemaitre answered "yes." The universe began as a "primeval atom," he argued. Today, this idea is better known as the Big Bang.

More than 80 years later, Georges Lemaitre's theories are widely known, yet he his not. Gracious and humble until his death in 1966, Lemaitre would not lament his lack of fame if he were alive today. But it is this attitude that starts to showcase why he should be better known. Lemaitre should be mentioned in every science classroom not just because he was a great scientist, but because he was also a great person, something that can't necessarily be said of other, more prominent, scientific idols.

Throughout his adult life, Lemaitre straddled both science and religion, often receiving harsh criticisms from naysayers in both disciplines. Scientists accused him of trying to promote creation with cosmology. Not helping this perception was the fact that Lemaitre wore his clerics all the time, even at scientific meetings. At the same time, believers accused him of placing constraints on God. When Lemaitre heard that Pope Pius XII intended to speak to members of the International Astronomical Union in Rome, he urged the Pope's advisors to ask the Holy Father to refrain from using his findings as evidence for divine creation.

"Professor Lemaitre wanted his scientific theories to be judged exclusively on their physical merit, keeping metaphysical implications completely separate," Joseph R. Laracy wrote.

Lemaitre believed that science and religion must be separate, but at the same time, he also believed they could co-exist.

"Should a priest reject relativity because it contains no authoritative exposition on the doctrine of the Trinity?" he wrote. "Once you realize that the Bible does not purport to be a textbook of science, the old controversy between religion and science vanishes..."

Popular British science writer Simon Singh, who founded the Good Thinking Society, excellently sums up Lemaitre's views on science and religion:

"He said that there were two ways of arriving at the truth, and he decided to follow them both. If he wanted to explore issues of morality, ethics, and spirituality, he would look at his Bible. But if he wanted to understand the universe he would do experiments."

Just as important as his contributions to knowledge, Lemaitre showed incredible genius in rationally reconciling two competing notions that still divide peoples today: science and religion. His way of thinking  measured, considerate, rational -- is a blueprint for peace and understanding. We all can, and should, learn from his example.

Original article on RealClearScience.
An imager on the Landsat 8 satellite captured this image, on March 5, 2017, of Antarctica's Granite Harbor, a cove near the Ross Sea, where the sea ice has a green hue due to a bloom of phytoplankton.

No, Antarctica isn't busting out the green beer for St. Patrick's Day. But a new satellite image of the continent shows strange green ice floating in the Ross Sea.

The green-tinged ice is probably the work of phytoplankton, marine glaciologist Jan Lieser of Australia's Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Center told NASA's Earth Observatory, which released the image yesterday (March 9).

Photosynthetic plankton called phytoplankton (and algae) grow all around Antarctica in summer (which runs from October to February, because Antarctica is in the Southern Hemisphere). It's now autumn on the icy continent, but algae blooms can happen in the Antarctic fall, too, the Earth Observatory reported.

In 2012, Lieser and her colleagues noted an enormous bloom in late February and early March that was 124 miles (200 kilometers) long and 62 miles (100 km) wide. Scientists on an expedition to observe the green swirls found that the bloom was not free-floating algae, but green sea ice, or sea ice with algae growing on it.

A zoomed-in patch of green ice near Antarctica's Ross Sea can be seen in this Landsat 8 image captured on March 5, 2017. (Image credit: NASA)

The current late-season bloom appears to have gotten trapped in the slushy, just-forming sea ice, lending it a green hue. It's unclear whether the algae bloom is on the ice, or trapped within or beneath it.

On the other end of the globe, Arctic waters experience phytoplankton blooms, too. As in Antarctica, these tiny organisms are the basis of the food web. Scientists have found, however, that the Arctic's spring phytoplankton blooms are coming earlier. What's more, a second season of algae blooms has emerged in the fall, as sea ice has retreated.

Original article on Live Science.
President Donald Trump recently accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of wiretapping the current president's phones during the U.S. election. Though the claims are unsubstantiated, they have raised questions about how such technology really works.

Some people may think wiretapping involves breaking into someone's house or office, clipping wires to a phone line, and listening in on conversations between Mafia dons or spying on foreign agents. But in the 21st century, eavesdropping on phone calls might not even involve a phone.

This is because current wiretapping techniques involve data; most phone calls, even cell phones, now go over the internet at some point, said David Holtzman, author of the book "Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy" (Jossey-Bass, 2006). Holtzman is a former intelligence officer himself; in the 1980s, he was a code breaker in the U.S. Navy. He has also worked as a scientist at IBM, developing cryptography products. [6 Incredible Spy Technologies That Are Real]

Modes of communication

There are three communication lines that the government could tap: landline phones, cellphones and internet communication (email, Skype and internet-based phones, for instance), he told Live Science. Tapping a landline phone would require a legal warrant explicitly outlining who is being listened to, how long the surveillance will last and the probable cause that law enforcement has for using a wiretap. Before the evolution of more sophisticated technologies, this type of wiretap involved someone opening a panel and clipping actual wires to the phone line.

Cellphones are a different story. Holtzman said a number of tools can be installed on a phone to allow a third party to listen in on communications before they are encrypted.

Earlier this week, WikiLeaks released documents from the CIA that reportedly reveal technical tools at the agency's disposal for hacking into various devices. The leaked documents suggest it's possible to install software on a smartphone, even remotely, that can record data from the device. It's even easier if someone gets access to the phone, but malware can be downloaded to a mobile device that surreptitiously turns on the cameras and microphones, or simply transmits personal data. It's even easier to do this to a computer because the tools have been "in the wild" for some years, according to experts.

The electronics manufacturer Samsung came under fire in 2015 when several outlets reported that the company's televisions were sending owners' voices over the internet to improve voice-recognition software's ability to react to customers. And the proliferation of internet-connected "smart" devices makes this problem more acute, Holtzman said.

The law regarding such surveillance is much less clear-cut than it is for landline phones, he added. "It's not exactly clear what legal protection [there] is" against surveillance, Holtzman said.

Online metadata

Online communication has the least amount of legal protections, noted Rashida Richardson, legislative counsel of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

To monitor data that comes out of, say, Trump Tower (as Trump's allegations suggest has happened), the FBI or National Security Agency (NSA) could obtain a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Foreign Intelligence Service Court, which makes decisions on these cases in secret, would approve the request if the FBI or NSA showed there was some probable cause that a crime was being committed.

The NSA, for example, could submit to the court a list of organizations it wanted to monitor. If the request was approved, the NSA would be allowed to conduct surveillance for 15 days; after that period, the request would have to be renewed.

But rather than trying to monitor specific communications, it could be simpler to just sweep up data from an internet service provider. In 2013, it was revealed that the NSA used a program known as PRISM to gain access, from several internet service providers, to private communications. Whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked details of the PRISM program, which showed a large amount of cooperation between private companies and the NSA. [The 8 Craziest Intelligence Leaks in US History]

The NSA's engagement in this type of activity has since been curtailed, after a federal appeals court ruled in 2015 that the agency's massive data collection was illegal. It's possible, though extremely unlikely, that Trump's data, or that of someone he knows, could get swept up in a wide-ranging search similar to what occurred within the PRISM program.

If this was the case, the NSA would ask a provider  a company like Verizon, for example  to provide "metadata," which is information about the calls, emails and other messages that go out on a fiber optic cable. (For example, the data in a cellphone call consists of your conversation, while the metadata includes information such as the number you called, and the time and duration of the call.) Richardson noted that a law enforcement agency only needs to subpoena the service provider. Under the Stored Communications Act, written in 1986, not even a search warrant is required.

In the case of the NSA, in principle, the agency can monitor data or calls only when they involve foreign actors. Holtzman said that when he worked for the NSA in the 1980s, any information involving a person in the U.S. was automatically deleted. That's less true now, he said. He added that the NSA can also listen to phone calls and pick out certain keywords.

"That capability was in place decades ago," Holtzman said. "I'd be shocked if they weren't doing it now."

Holtzman added that the technical capabilities as well as the legal restraints (or lack thereof) of intelligence and security agencies raise several important questions about how surveillance gets done and what it means for privacy. For example, the NSA's keyword search is passed to a human being for evaluation, to prevent flagging something harmless as being dangerous. But that might one day be automated, he said, and biases can be built into artificial intelligence that even the programmers aren't aware of.

Original article on Live Science.
Can South Australia's power crisis be solved in 100 days? Elon Musk said he thinks so, and he even bet on it.

The Tesla CEO took to Twitter on today (March 10) to offer the Australian state a solution to its worsening blackouts. South Australia is a renewable-energy-dependent state, and the market has been in short supply recently, causing blackouts across the region, reported Reuters.

Backup battery power could avert blackouts, Reuters reported, and Musk offered to install $25 million in Tesla battery storage for South Australia. In fact, Musk gave himself a 100-day deadline for the installation  or the batteries would be free. [Top 10 Craziest Environmental Ideas]

Musk's offer came in response to a call-out on social media by Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Australian software company Atlassian, Reuters said. Cannon-Brookes said he would find funding and political support for the battery farm if Tesla would supply the batteries.

"Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature, or it is free. That serious enough for you?" Musk replied in a tweet, Reuters reported.

See more

In a follow-up tweet, Musk offered Cannon-Brookes a pricing quote for the project: $250 per kilowatt-hour of energy for 100-megawatt-hour systems, according to Reuters, which amounts to a total of $25 million for the batteries.

Cannon-Brookes told Reuters he was already fielding calls from people in support of the project, including companies offering funding. Though the offers were made on social media, the South Australia government said it would support the offer of Tesla batteries, according to Reuters.

"The government stands ready through ARENA [the Australian Renewable Energy Agency] and the CEFC [the Clean Energy Finance Corporation] to work with companies with serious proposals to support the deployment of more storage," Josh Frydenberg, the Australian environment and energy minister, said in an email to Reuters.

Tesla's work in renewable energy was in the news earlier this week, too, with the completion of a solar farm on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The project includes a 13-megawatt solar farm and a 52-megawatt-hour battery installation, reported The Verge. Solar energy generated from the farm could reduce fossil fuel consumption by 1.6 million gallons of fuel per year, the Verge said.

Original article on Live Science.
A wild boar is caught in a trap near a residential area in an evacuation zone close to the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, Japan, on Feb. 28, 2017.

Hundreds of aggressive, and potentially radioactive, wild boars have prompted public safety concerns in Japan, according to news reports, as homeowners prepare to return to towns near Fukushima, where a 2011 earthquake and tsunami triggered a meltdown at a nuclear power plant in the region.

Six years after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, people from the region are preparing to return home, reported Reuters. Evacuation orders for parts of Namie, a seaside town located just 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from the nuclear plant, and three other towns will be lifted by the Japanese government at the end of March, according to Reuters.

However, after the area was evacuated, wild boars moved in from the surrounding hills and forests. The animals, which can be aggressive toward humans, now freely roam the deserted towns, reported Reuters. [In Pictures: Japan Earthquake & Tsunami]

"It is not really clear now which is the master of the town, people or wild boars," Tamotsu Baba, mayor of Namie, told Reuters. "If we don't get rid of them and turn this into a human-led town, the situation will get even wilder and uninhabitable."

Despite concerns over radiation that leaked from the nuclear power plant following the earthquake and tsunami, and amid questions about the plant's safety (it is being decommissioned), a government survey found that more than half of the 21,500 former residents of Namie plan to return, according to Reuters. Those who are planning to return home are now worried about the wild boars, and residents voiced their concerns about the animals at town meetings earlier this year, Reuters reported.

In the nearby town of Tomioka, located 11.4 miles (18.4 km) south of Namie, a team is working to catch and kill the wild boars, according to Reuters. Since April 2016, the hunters have captured an estimated 300 boars. Shoichiro Sakamoto, a local hunter who leads the wild boar team, told Reuters that the animals aren't afraid of people now.

"After people left, they began coming down from the mountains and now they are not going back," Sakamoto told Reuters. "They found a place that was comfortable. There was plenty of food and no one to come after them."

Original article on Live Science.
A woman was arrested for allegedly punching her children in the back of their heads, according to Laredo police.

Jessica Casquehua Macuixtle, 27, was charged with injury to a child Wednesday.




Benjamin A. Botkin Folklife Lecture Series

Through the Benjamin A. Botkin Folklife Lecture Series, the American Folklife Center (AFC) presents distinguished experts speaking about their research and current issues and best practices in folklore, folklife, ethnomusicology, and related fields. Lectures are recorded for the AFC archive and posted on the Library's website. (See below for list of speakers and topics.) The series honors Benjamin A. Botkin (1901-1975), a pioneering folklorist who headed the Library's Archive of American Folksong from 1942-1945.

Request ADA accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or [email protected]

2020 Botkin Lectures

All Library of Congress public events on site have been cancelled until September 1. Check back for more information.





Includes descriptions of each lecture, photos, and informational essays from the event flyers. Links to webcasts of lectures are included as available.

2020 Lecture Series

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2004 Lecture Series
#education minister Yoon appoints new education minister President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed his new education minister Monday, his office said, completing the lineup of his first Cabinet. Lee Ju-ho, a professor at the Korea Development ...
Editors note: On March 9, Thomas Joscelyn testified before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The hearing, Resolving the Conflict in Yemen: U.S. Interests, Risks, and Policy, was called to explore the political dynamics of the ongoing war in Yemen, as well as the roles played by foreign actors and al Qaeda. His written testimony can be read below. A version of Mr. Joscelyns testimony with footnotes can be found here.

Senator Corker and other members of the committee, thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the ongoing war in Yemen. Unfortunately, I do not see a way that this conflict can be resolved any time soon. Yemen is rife with internal divisions, which are exacerbated by the proxy war being waged by several actors. Arab states, Iran, and others see Yemen as a key battleground in their contest for regional power. In addition, al Qaeda has taken advantage of the crisis to pursue its chief objective, which is seizing territory and building an emirate inside the country.

I discuss these various actors in my written testimony below and look forward to answering your questions.

The Iranian-backed Houthi offensive has significantly undermined U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

Governance in Yemen has been a longstanding problem. But the Houthi offensive in late 2014 knocked President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi from power at a time when the U.S. was counting on his government to act as a vital counterterrorism partner.

There is a debate over how close the Houthis and Iran really are. Some have argued that the Houthis should not be thought of as an Iranian terror proxy, such as Hezbollah. While this accurate  the Houthis have their own culture and traditions  there is no question that Iran and the Houthis are allies. And it is in Irans interest to work with the Houthis against Saudi-backed forces in Yemen, while also encouraging Houthi incursions into the Saudi kingdom.

The U.S. government has long recognized Iran as one of the Houthis two key backers. (The other being former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his network, which is discussed below.) In its Country Reports on Terrorism 2012, the State Department noted:

Iran actively supported members of the Houthi tribe in northern Yemen, including activities intended to build military capabilities, which could pose a greater threat to security and stability in Yemen and the surrounding region. In July 2012, the Yemeni Interior Ministry arrested members of an alleged Iranian spy ring, headed by a former member of the IRGC.

That warning proved to be accurate, as the Houthis made significant gains just over two years later. The U.S. and its allies have intercepted multiple Iranian arms shipments reportedly intended for the Houthis. And senior U.S. officials have repeatedly referenced Irans ongoing assistance. Late last year, Reuters reported that Iran has stepped up weapons transfers to the Houthis, including missiles and small arms.

In September 2015, then-Secretary of Defense Ash Carter listed Americas core interests in the region. Among them, according to Carter, was supporting Saudi Arabia in protecting its territory and people from Houthi attacks, and supporting international efforts to prevent Iranian shipments of lethal equipment from reaching Houthi and Saleh-affiliated forces in Yemen. The Houthis have responded by launching missiles at American ships, as well as ships operated by other countries.

Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his supporters have worked to undermine President Hadis government.

Former President Saleh and his son have allied with the Houthis to thwart any chance of having a stable political process inside Yemen. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Saleh and two Houthi military commanders in 2014, describing them as political spoilers. Saleh became one of the primary supporters of violence perpetrated by the Houthis as of the fall of 2012, and has provided them with funds and political support. Then, in April 2015, Treasury sanctioned Salehs son, Ahmed Ali Saleh. The junior Saleh was commander of Yemens Republican Guard, but was removed from that post by Hadi. Still, Ahmed Ali Saleh retained significant influence within the Yemeni military, even after he was removed from command. And he has played a key role in facilitating the Houthi military expansion.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is attempting to build an Islamic state in Yemen.

Al Qaeda is working to build Islamic emirates in several countries and regions, including Afghanistan, North and West Africa, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. Unlike its rivals in the Islamic State (or ISIS), al Qaeda has adopted a long-term approach for state-building. While AQAP has begun to implement its version of sharia law in Yemen, it has not advertised the most gruesome aspects of its draconian code for fear of alienating the population. Still, AQAP controlled much of southern Yemen from April 2015 to April 2016, including the port city of Mukallah, where it reportedly earned substantial revenues via taxes. AQAPs forces simply melted away when the Arab-led coalition entered Mukallah and other areas. By doing so, AQAP presented itself as a protector of the local population and lived to fight another day. The group is capable of seizing more territory at any time.

AQAP isnt just an affiliate of al Qaeda; it is al Qaeda.

In addition to being a regional branch of al Qaedas international organization, AQAP has housed senior al Qaeda managers who are tasked with responsibilities far outside of Yemen. For example, Nasir al Wuhayshi (who was killed in 2015) served as both AQAPs emir and as al Qaedas general manager. At the time of his death, Wuhayshi was the deputy emir of al Qaedas global operations.

Beginning in 2014, the Islamic State (or ISIS), mushroomed in size after declaring the establishment of its so-called caliphate across a large part of Iraq and Syria. Some predicted, erroneously, that AQAP would defect to Abu Bakr al Baghdadis cause in the event that Wuhayshi was killed. That prediction was based on a stunning ignorance of AQAPs organization and implicitly assumed that AQAPs loyalty to al Qaeda was embodied in a single man. Wuhayshis successor, Qasim al Raymi, quickly reaffirmed his and AQAPs allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri. Al Qaeda veterans and loyalists from a new generation of jihadists are peppered throughout AQAPs ranks.

The U.S. has killed a number of top AQAP leaders, but the group has effectively replaced them and likely retains a bench of capable fill-ins.

Wuhayshi was one of several senior AQAP leaders killed in the drone campaign in 2015. Others have perished since. But AQAP has quickly filled their positions with other al Qaeda veterans, including Raymi, Ibrahim al Qosi (a former Guantanamo detainee), Ibrahim al Banna (discussed below), and others. Most of AQAPs insurgency organization, including its middle management, has not been systematically targeted. Therefore, the organization as a whole has not been systematically degraded. AQAP still threatens the West, but most of its resources are devoted to waging the insurgency and building a state inside Yemen. Recently, the U.S. has stepped up its air campaign, launching 40 or more airstrikes against AQAP this month. Those airstrikes are intended, in part, to weaken AQAPs guerrilla army. But it will require more than bombings to do that. Without an effective government representing most of the Sunni tribes and people, AQAP will continue to position itself as the legitimate ruler in many areas of Yemen.

Al Qaeda has deep roots inside Yemen.

Osama bin Ladens and Ayman al Zawahiris men first began to lay the groundwork for al Qaedas organization inside Yemen in the early 1990s, if not earlier. Zawahiri himself spent time in Yemen alongside his comrades in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), which effectively merged with bin Ladens operation in the 1990s. Zawahiri, his brother, and their fellow EIJ jihadists established a base of operations in Yemen. One of these EIJ veterans, Ibrahim al Banna, was designated as a senior AQAP leader by the U.S. government late last year. In 1992 or 1993, Zawahiri ordered al Banna to oversee the administration of al Qaedas affairs in Yemen, opening public relationships with all the students of knowledge and the notables and the tribal sheikhs. That was more than a quarter of a century ago. Yet al Banna, a co-founder of AQAP, continues to command jihadists inside the country to this day.

Al Qaeda has suffered multiple setbacks inside Yemen since al Banna was first dispatched to the country in the early 1990s. But the jihadists patient approach has clearly borne fruit. An unnamed U.S. military official recently explained that AQAP has skillfully exploited the disorder in Yemen to build its strength and reinvigorate its membership and training. This same official estimated that AQAPs total group strength is in the low thousands, but warned that because many of its members are Yemeni they can blend in with the tribes there.

This assessment of AQAPs overall strength may or may not be accurate with respect to the total number of deployed fighters. But the U.S. has underestimated the size of jihadist organizations in the past, including the Islamic State (ISIS) and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. AQAP maintains a deep support network within Yemeni society that allows it to regenerate its forces and continue waging jihad despite fighting on multiple fronts for many years.

The U.S. Treasury Department has outlined parts of AQAPs fundraising apparatus in a series of terrorist designations. Treasurys work has highlighted the mix of tribal politics, Gulf fundraising, and local banking that has helped fuel AQAPs war in Yemen.

Files recovered in Osama bin Ladens compound reveal that al Qaeda has sought to maintain friendly tribal relations and avoid the mistakes made in Iraq, where the predecessor to the current Islamic State alienated tribal leaders. It is difficult to gauge the extent of ideological support for AQAPs cause within Yemens tribes, but the jihadists do not need key tribes to be completely committed to their cause. While there have been tensions at times, AQAP benefits from the tribes frequent unwillingness to back government forces against the jihadists.

Some tribal leaders are closely allied with AQAP, so much so that they have been integrated into the organizations infrastructure. This has led to an awkward situation in which some of AQAPs leaders are also partnered with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Hadis government in the war against the Houthis. For instance, during a raid against AQAP in January, U.S. forces killed a prominent tribal leader named Sheikh Abdel-Raouf al-Dhahab. The Associated Press (AP), citing military officials, tribal figures and relatives, reported that Dhahab met with the military chief of staff in Hadis government shortly before the raid. Fahd al-Qasi, Dhahabs top aide, accompanied Dhahab to the meeting and subsequently confirmed that it took place. During five days of talks with the military, al-Dhahab  who commands a force of some 800 tribal fighters  was given around 15 million Yemeni riyals ($60,000) to pay his men in the fight against the rebels, al-Qasi and the two officials said, according to the AP. Al-Qasi distributed the money to the fighters just hours before the raid.

AQAP has also benefitted from its longstanding relationship with Shaykh Abd-al-Majid al-Zindani and his network. The U.S. Treasury Department first designated Zindani as a terrorist in 2004, describing him as a loyalist to Usama bin Laden and supporter of al-Qaeda. In 2013, Treasury said that Zindani was providing religious guidance for AQAPs operations. Zindani has been a prominent leader in Islah, which is a Yemeni political party affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi Arabia and Islah have a lengthy history of relations, which had cooled in the not-so-distant past. However, as a result of the Houthis successful push across Yemen, Saudi Arabia has embraced Islah once again. Zindani himself has maintained friendly relations with the Saudis.

Zindani is the founder of Al-Iman University, which has served as a jihadist recruiting hub. Some al Qaeda leaders have not always been happy with the elderly ideologue. But one letter recovered in bin Ladens Abbottabad compound demonstrates why al Qaeda would not publicly criticize him. To be fair, a significant number of al-Mujahidin who reach the jihadi arena here were instructed or prepared by him, especially the new Russian converts to Islam who moved from Russia to Yemen and stayed for a while at al-Iman University and then moved with their families to the field of Jihad, a senior al Qaeda leader wrote in March 2008. Whatever disagreements al Qaeda may have had with Zindani at times, he and his broad network have provided valuable support for AQAPs operations.

The preceding paragraphs above give a brief overview of AQAPs deep network inside Yemen, demonstrating why it remains a potent force. The Islamic State has also established a much smaller presence inside Yemen. The Islamic States men are capable of carrying out large attacks, particularly against soft targets such as funerals and markets. AQAP avoids such operations, seeing them as detrimental to its cause, which is based on building more popular support for the jihadist group.

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

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What was your first leisure boat experience?

I wanted to tender for a government order to build a 17 ft outboard motor boat for the Customs and Excise. I bought a boat from Gordon Robinson of Marlborough Fibreglass in New Zealand and took the boat out to a nearby island. On the way back to Penang, a storm kicked up and we couldnt see land. Friends who came along on the trip were white-faced, yet I was comfortable in the knowledge that I had bought a good seaworthy boat and should not worry. We got back to Penang safely, but it was a rapid learning curve for me. Remember, during that time, there was no GPS and we only had a compass. I had never had any navigational training or idea of navigational rules!

When did you make your first leisure boat sale?

We started a boatel for storage of small boats and bought a 14 ft Yamaha outboard motor boat which we sold within a week to a dam operator. In 1989, I sold my first Grand Banks 49 motor yacht to a banker in Penang, Im still the dealer in Malaysia for Grand Banks today, and am proud to be one of the longest serving Grand Banks dealers.

How has the business side grown for you?

I have been involved in an advisory role with the banking and yachting industry to remove the import duty on boats and help the industry grow, and it has. I was also involved in the formation of AMIM (Association of Marine Industry Malaysia) and was Honorary Treasurer for eight years. I assisted the Malaysian Government in the formation of Langkawi International Yacht Registry and was an advisor to the EPU (Economic Planning Unit) on the development of marinas in Malaysia. A big move for Pen Marine was when we went into the superyacht business as an area representative for the Dutch builders Heesen. I sold the first yacht in South East Asia for them in 1996, with an additional four more since. I have always felt that being a direct representative for a shipyard presents a better picture to a prospective customer than being a broker with no strong ties to any shipyard.

Your daughter Shi is now involved in the business and you have been developing the Princess brand now for some four years. How is that working out?

Shi is a mechanical engineer, having graduated from Imperial College in London four years ago. She has fitted into the yachting industry like a pea in a pod, which I suppose is not surprising as she has grown up with boating! When she joined the business three years ago, I immediately placed her as the Princess Yachts manager for Pen Marine and she handles most aspects of the business including dealing with customers. She is at home on a boat and is well liked in the industry and by our clients.

Where do you see the industry and Pen Marine going in the future?

35 years ago, Pen Marine set a goal for five years, then another five years and another five years. We may not have been completely accurate with our forecasting, but the yachting industry has grown and we will continue to grow. I am confident that our range of products and our outreach across the region will continue to be our focus at Pen Marine. There are several challenges to overcome and the next generation will need to work on them. In the near future, there is a need to develop yacht financing for the middle class market, provide professional captains and crews to satisfy the yacht owners, and develop a world class infrastructure for yacht repair, skills and knowledge.
Apple owns all the oxygen in several territories across its ecosystems, like music-library management and photo management, competing only with giants such as Amazon and Google that can offer similar features. But in the arena of podcast apps, the decentralized distribution of audio episodes has left what seems like just enough room for independent developers.

Over the years, three companies have released version after version of the most popular non-Apple podcast apps: Pocket Casts from Shiftyjelly, Supertops Castro, and Overcast from Marco Arments Overcast Radio.

While Apple maintains the most comprehensive central directory via iTunes and preinstalls the Podcast app in iOS, it also follows its usual path of restricting choices for the crispest and simplest possible user experience. Clearly, podcast listeners want more. While Podcast dominates listenership, these three indie apps have remained viable enough to mature, plus a variety of others, including some that offer paid-subscription-only content and deep archives of past episodes.

The time seems ripe to compare these apps, because Overcast just ticked over with a major interface improvement in version 3; Castro made some slight tweaks in its latest release with version 2.3; and Pocket Casts had its first significant revamp since launching in 2011 with last Julys version 6. (Its now up to 6.5.)

After spending some time with the latest versions of each app, I look at their major features and differences to help guide you to a choice of what works best. Because the apps are free with ads (Overcast) or inexpensive ($4 for the other two), its hard to go wrong if you cant figure out the right fit at first.

[ Further reading: Individual reviews of Overcast 3, Castro 2.3 and Pocket Casts 6.5 ]

The basics

While the apps take a different approach to creating queues, managing downloads, and displaying interfaces to take actions and modify settings, they share a lot of basics.

Subscriptions. Whats the point of a podcast app without recurring subscriptions? Each app has slightly different options for controlling what happens when a new episode appears. Ill discuss episode and storage management below. Each app also lets you download individual episodes by viewing a list.

Automatic feed updates. The apps have their own server-side polling of the podcast feeds that announce new episodes. With the same subscriptions across three apps and notifications of new episodes enabled in each app, in my observation over several days theres no clear winner as to which app discovers new episodes first. It varies for every show and sometimes by episodes in a show.

IDG Castros notifications offer a full description and several options with 3D Touch.

Notifications. Related to new episodes, you can opt in each app to get a push notification when a new episode arrives. Overcast and Pocket Casts both let you drill down and disable notifications on a per-subscription basis, too. You can 3D Touch the notifications for each to download or queue episodes. Castro also pops up an notification if you stop playing an episode near its end.

Discovery. Each has a directory that lets you find a specific podcasts or browse by genres or groups to find more. Overcast is probably the richest in this area, by letting you link your Twitter account, which then lets you see episodes and podcast recommended by people you follow. When you mark a podcast with a star, those recommendations are pushed out as well. Both Overcast and Castro allow you to add episodes from the discovery view; Pocket Casts can only subscribe to a podcast.

Downloading and streaming. These three apps all support both downloading and streaming episodes of podcasts, and offer a lot of controls and settings for when podcasts are automatically retrieved, as I discuss below.

Speed of playback. Each app lets you speed up and slow down podcast playback. While I listen to everything at the rate at which it was released, some people prefer to bump to 1.2x or 1.5x, allowing them to cram more listening in.

Sleep. For people who fall asleep while listening to playback, all three apps let you set a timer after which they stop.

CarPlay. If you enjoy the often painful experience of using CarPlay, all three apps can provide that experience with podcasts.

Storage management. The apps vary in approach to avoid filling up your iOS storage. By default, Overcast and Pocket Casts delete episodes after theyre played, and let you control how many episodes from the back catalog to retain, either as a global setting or with per-podcast overrides. Castro always deletes episodes after theyre played (when they leave its Queue), but you can set a maximum number of hours of podcasts to keep downloaded.

Exporting and importing subscriptions. You can export your podcast subscription list from one app to another. These three apps all support OPML (Outline Process Markup Language), which for peculiar and atavistic reasons became established as the interchange format. In each apps settings, theres an export option that allows you to share with any compatible software, which includes all the other podcast apps. However, none of the apps have tools to resolve duplicate subscriptions.

Beyond these features, everything diverges. The apps demonstrate a striking lack of similarity and make strong design and feature choices that differentiate them from one another.

Triage, queuing, and playlists

Most people fare poorly when confronted with overchoice: too many options relative to the necessity at hand. People speak of podcast bankruptcy in the same way they describe a pile of unread The New Yorker or The Economist magazines looming in the corner of their living room. Hundreds of hours of podcasts you havent listened to yet are likely to remain mostly unlistened-to ever.

If you subscribe to just a handful of podcasts and have regular allotted time during a commute, runs, or work when you can keep caught up, this doesnt affect you. But I suspect most people reading this far in a podcast app feature comparison are drowning in episodes.

Each of these apps employs a unique approach to let you try to carve out the space youll listen to through a combination of triage, playlists, and queuing:

Triage: dealing with incoming episodes.

Queuing: setting up automatically and manually reordering which podcast plays next.

Playlists: breaking subscriptions or filters to sort episodes into lists.

IDG Castro focuses on the Queue and Inbox, allowing more sophisticated triage and sorting. Each podcasts new episodes are shown at the Inbox top next to its tiny thumbnail.

Castro uses a queue. Castro uses a paired approach of the Queue and the Inbox, starting in version 2. Newly released episodes flow by default into the Inbox, much like an email inbox, and arent downloaded. The Queue, by contrast, is your active playlist, and Castro downloads all queued episodes when youre connected Wi-Fi unless you change the preference. You can also opt to download via cellular. (Turning off downloads turns the Queue into a streaming playlist.)

You triage the Inbox by tapping individual episodes and then either adding them to the top or bottom of the Queue, or tapping Archive, which removes the entry from the Inbox. I find this a very quick way to pick just the episodes from my subscriptions I definitely want to listen to. Theres also an Archive All button at the top right of the screen, which clears out the inbox when tapped. And, bravo to Supertop, you can tap an undo button if you accidentally tap Archive All!

Individual episodes found through searches or older episodes from your subscriptions can be added to the queue by tapping the episode. And you can mark any episode in the Queue, Archive, or Search areas as a favorite, which adds them to a list in the Archive view to find later.

Castro 2.3 added more descriptive notifications to help with on-the-fly queue management. When a new episode appears, you can use 3D Touch to start playing it immediately, add it to the queue, or shift it to archive, so it never appears in your inbox. If you pause during the last three minutes of a podcast, a notification shows up that lets you skip the rest of the episode or start playing the next one.

Who will like Castros approach? Anyone who subscribes to a lot of podcasts and doesnt listen to every episode of each podcast.

IDG Overcast emphasizes playlists, though it added a queuing option in the latest release.

Overcast focuses on playlists. Overcast started with a playlist-only mentality, though thats shifted slightly in version 3. Unlike Castro, Overcast creates a master smart playlist, All Episodes, that includes every downloaded episode, whether via subscriptions or chosen individually.

The master playlist and any additional smart playlists can have Priority Podcasts, new episodes of which automatically sort to the top. But you can also edit a smart playlists current list to re-prioritize individual episodes. Regular playlists let you pick from the episodes already downloaded.

Starting in Overcast 3, however, a new option threads the needle between an All Episodes and defined playlist approach, letting you quickly add episodesdownloaded or notto a Main Queue list. This is effectively a special static-episode list thats baked in. Its not a full triage, but it makes it easier to set up and modify a set of episodes on the fly that you want to listen to next.

Overcasts episode notification also allows a triage of Play, Add to Queue, and Delete.

Who will like Overcasts approach? People who listen to most of the episodes of podcasts to which they subscribe, or who like to set up custom arrangements of what to listen to and switch easily among those.

IDG Pocket Casts Up Next queue provides quick access to an on-the-fly created list.

Pocket Casts has a default list with a queue for triage and a form of playlist. Several people Ive spoken to about podcast apps call out Pocket Casts because of its thumbnail queue, which is the apps home screen. This queue, by default, displays the podcast graphic for each episode in the queue from newest to oldest.

This main queue is mostly like Castros Inbox. Pocket Casts also offers a triage queue, called Up Next, into which you can select to push new episodes or add as an automatic per-subscription option. The Up Next queue occupies a bar at the bottom of the screen, and swiping left reveals the icons of the next upcoming episode. Tapping the bar opens a full-screen view for playback controls and management of the Up Next queue.

However, the app also has a playlist-like feature in the form of filters, which resembles smart playlists in Overast. A filter can use a time cutoff (starting with the last 24 hours), only show episodes youve starred, and include or exclude any subscription. Filters are found in a sort of pre-home screen that includes prefab items for New Releases and In Progress (episodes youve started listening to). Its a bit awkward.

Who will like Pocket Casts approach? If you like to see a thumbnail showing you which shows have new episodes, and rely on that to assemble of a queue of to listen to next, while not needing the richer triage features in Castro.

Other feature differentiators

While figuring out what to listen to next is the biggest issue for most people, a few other features can be deciding factors.

IDG Overcast brags about saved time with its Smart Speed silence eliminator.

Omit pauses. Overcast and Pocket Casts both offer a variant on eliminating the spaces between sound: they can trim out silence on the fly, removing anything more than a brief pause. For some interview and talk podcasts, the pauses dont signifymuch. (With podcasts that include music or acting, youll want to turn it off, and you can control it in both apps per podcast.)

In testing the same podcast in both apps, I prefer Overcasts version. Pocket Casts more noticeably clamped down the ends of words to my ear, sounding like tiny edits. Overcasts jiggery-pokery either waits slightly longer or uses fading to avoid what sounds like editing chops.

Sync. Castro doesnt include sync, while the other two apps offer (free) account-based synchronization across any copy of the app logged into the same account, including what youre currently listening to, the current position in any episode that youve started, subscriptions, and playlists.

Platforms and pricing. This is where it gets complicated if you plan to listen to podcasts on more than one device or via the wb.

Overcast ships for iOS only in a version that works across all iOS devices. Its free with ads, but has a $10-a-year Premium in-app purchase that removes ads and allows uploads of audio that isnt available via a feed using the Web app.

Pocket Casts has versions for iOS (all devices), Android, and the Web, and charges separately for each. While the iOS version is just $4, the web app is $9, which seems a bit steep in relative terms, though its well built.

Castro is the most limited. Its $4, doesnt sync, and is designed just for the iPhone, not the iPad. If you like its features and youre solely using an iPhone, this isnt a problem.

Bottom line

Each of these three alternatives to Apples Podcast app has its strengths, and unlike some app categories, in which many apps produce similar results, you can examine the differences to figure out which appeals most to you.

For some people, Castro lacking any silence-slicing option is a non-starter. While I love that feature in Overcast, the podcast app I used the longest, Castro 2s triage feature won me over and I cope with a few extra seconds here and there.

Because each of these apps is made by independent developers, teams that range from one person to a handful, your suggestions for features to add are more likely to be taken seriously, and each new release from these companies reference the most-asked-for changes and additions that their users want.

[Further reading: Individual reviews of Overcast 3, Castro 2.3 and Pocket Casts 6.5]
On December 26 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) issued the first draft of China's first Ecommerce Law, with an invitation for public comment within 30 days.

The IP-related provisions in the draft law have attracted mostly negative feedback, with trade mark owners raising concern over provisions that seem designed to dilute the duties of care already applicable to online trade platforms.

Although there is no stated timeline for the law's final promulgation, it is rumoured that the legislature and central government regard the law as a critical tool for regulating online trade. There is therefore a good chance the law will be enacted by the end of 2017.

"Notice and take-down" versus "proactive measures"

The draft law implicitly retains the traditional duty of care that requires online trade platforms to take down ads for offending goods following the receipt of notice from the IP owner.

Industry has instead recommended that the NPC consider adopting a more progressive duty of care for online trade platforms  one which requires them to take reasonable measures to prevent infringements, also known as "proactive measures".

This proactive measures standard has in fact already been accepted by judicial authorities in Beijing, as reflected in a 2016 opinion (the Beijing High People's Court Guidelines on Trial of IP Cases involving Networks). But this judicial opinion is technically only applicable to disputes raised before the courts in Beijing.

Industry argues that the need for a proactive measures standard for online platforms is justified based upon the growing levels of counterfeiting, the limited capacity of most IP owners and government authorities to cost-effectively police the web for violations, the balance of convenience, and the fact that online trading platforms in most countries  and particularly China  are now mature and financially able to bear greater burdens with respect to online policing of IP rights.

China's leading online trade platforms are lobbying for retention of the current notice-and-take-down standard. But many leading Chinese platforms have in fact been applying proactive measures to prevent infringements for some time now via big data monitoring, filtering and other means.

Knowledge requirements

Article 53 of the draft law would require online trade platforms to stop infringements only after they are deemed to "clearly" or "actually" know of violations (). By contrast, other Chinese laws adopt the lower standard of "knowledge" (see Article 36 of the Tort Liability Law or Article 52 of the Trade Mark Law). Judicial decisions also make reference to a standard of deemed knowledge ("knew or should have known" or "") that creates a duty for intermediaries to intervene against infringements.

IP owners fear that the higher standard for notice under Article 53 of the draft law will embolden both platforms and vendors to push back against take-down requests citing the lack of airtight evidence that goods are counterfeit or infringing, and undermine the current custom under which platforms take down suspected fakes with limited fuss, thus shifting the burden to infringers to prove the goods are non-infringing.

Infringer "Guarantees"

Article 53 of the draft law indicates online trade platforms may continue offering infringing goods if the vendor offers a "statement  guaranteeing" that the goods are not infringing. If the vendor provides this guarantee, the IP owner's only recourse under the draft law is to file complaints with the courts or administrative enforcement authorities  a process that normally takes several months or even years.

While not explicitly stated, it is possible that the NPC drafters intended Article 53 to apply only to more complex IP disputes, such as patent violations, infringements of unregistered trade marks and trade dress and contractual matters where the merits of the rightholder's case are less clear. However, on its face, this provision appears to offer an unwarranted safe harbour for any sort of dispute involving an online seller  including counterfeiting. As a result, industry comments on Article 53 have highlighted the risk that platforms and vendors will abuse the proposed guarantee mechanism, thereby making policing impractical.

It is unclear whether, once a guarantee has been given by the vendor, Article 53 would offer a trade platforms protection against compensation claims from IP owners once the dispute has been finally adjudicated by relevant authorities. Industry comments have noted that the risk of such liability should remain, since trade platforms would otherwise be incentivised to give vendors greater opportunities to give guarantees to facilitate continued sales.

Scope of law

The draft law is clearly intended to regulate advertising, sale and other services conducted through traditional online trade platforms. But it is unclear whether as the draft is intended to cover other online businesses where goods are advertised, including social media, messaging apps, stand-alone websites and search engines. Industry comments on the draft law have naturally recommended a broader scope of coverage.

The draft law also leaves unclear whether it is intended to cover only domestic transactions or also advertising and sales targeting foreign buyers.

Government role in protecting IP online

Article 88 of the draft law allows unspecified administrative authorities to impose fines of Rmb30,000 to Rmb500,000 ($4,400 to $74,000), and in serious cases to cancel the business licences of platforms that have failed to act against infringements despite having "clear/actual knowledge".

While these provisions are laudable, the draft law fails to clarify the role of administrative enforcement authorities in dealing with individual infringements or in broadly supervising the work of platforms in protecting the rights of IP owners and consumers.

The law also leaves unclear whether administrative enforcement authorities have the legal authority to request evidence held by platforms and other parties (including payment services, banks, shipping companies and email service providers). To date, local AICs, TSBs and other administrative enforcement authorities have been unable or unwilling to handle most online cases due in part to the lack of such powers.

Industry self-policing

The draft law contains various provisions that clearly foresee self-policing by industry as a primary means of protecting IP and consumer interests, including through reliance on support from trade associations as well as alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including mediation and arbitration.

The Chinese government is experimenting with mediation and arbitration for patent disputes involving domestic parties.

SIPS Hong Kong

Lockhart Road No 3

Wanchai, Hong Kong

China

mail@sips.asia

Tel: +852 2866 6400

Fax: +852 2866 6408
The Supreme Court of Thailand recently reaffirmed the test for distinctiveness in regard to trade marks, in a positive decision that will hopefully provide brand owners with better prospects for successfully arguing before the Thai Trade Marks Office and Appeal Board that their distinctive word marks should be registrable.

The decision in TMB Bank Public Company Limited v The Department of Intellectual Property (Case Number 2587/2559  2016) reaffirms the Court's interpretation of the definition of trade mark distinctiveness, as outlined in its 2011 decision, Burger King Corporation v The Department of Intellectual Property 5448/2554 (2011).

In Thailand, the primary definition of trade mark distinctiveness is given in Section 7 of the Thai Trade Mark Act: "A distinctive trade mark is one which allows the public to distinguish between those trade marked goods and other goods." Further, Paragraph 2 of this Section prescribes that "a trade mark having, or consisting of, a word or clause that has no direct reference to the character or quality of the goods, and is not a geographical name as prescribed by the Minister in the Ministerial Notifications (among others), shall be deemed distinctive".

In the 2011 decision, Burger King Corporation v The Department of Intellectual Property, the claimant's application to register the mark Have It Your Way for class 43 services had been rejected by the Registrar and the Trade Mark Appeals Board consecutively. Initially the Registrar's rejection was based on the interpretation that the mark was descriptive of the relevant class 43 restaurant services. However, on appeal, the Appeal Board analysed the mark and found it non-distinctive for being a generic phrase, a position reversed by the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court (CIPIT). The Supreme Court, upon final appeal, observed that, although Section 7 commands that the words or phrases comprising a trade mark must not directly describe a characteristic or quality of the goods/services in relation to which the mark is used, there is no law stating that generic terms or expressions cannot be distinctive. Thus, the point considered by the Supreme Court was whether the primary definition under Section 7 was satisfied. On that point, the claimant's case was won on consideration of extensive evidence of use.

Under Thai case law, it can be seen that marks comprising general words or expressions can be distinctive. However, at the Registrar level, such proposed marks are often rejected, and any general word or expression component is usually met with a disclaimer request or rejection from the Registrar. This practice is traceable to the Trademark Office's internal Trademark Examination and Opposition Manual (issued 2011), which instructs registrars to pronounce non-distinctive trade mark components that are general words or expressions. As this manual is internal and does not form part of the binding body of law and regulations, it bears little, if at all, on the statutory interpretation at the court stages. This means there is a higher level of legal certainty and closer following of the law in full litigation court stages, and therefore the state of this practice area often requires applicants to litigate to reach a favourable outcome.

More recently, the Supreme Court in TMB Bank Public Company Limited v The Department of Intellectual Property (Case Number 2587/2559  2016) focused on the fact the slogan mark in question (TMB Make THE Difference) constituted a suggestive mark, that is one that is not directly descriptive.

This case, again, involved the Registrar, Appeals Board and even the CIPIT Court agreeing that the mark is descriptive of the relevant banking services. However, the Supreme Court did not find the mark descriptive, finding the expression was not common among the expressions used by other providers of similar services, making it a good indication of the source of the services, which presents a direct and liberal approach to interpreting Section 7 Paragraph 1, as seen earlier in the 2011 Burger King decision. Another implication of this 2016 decision is how distinctiveness, being a measure of a mark's ability to distinguish the source of the goods/services is linked to use, as such use will suggest that consumers and the public identify the relevant goods/services as originating from the applicant.

Ultimately, if a non-prohibited mark is inherently distinctive or so widely used by the applicant that consumers and the public identify the relevant goods/services with the applicant, then the mark is legally registrable. Historically, to reach this conclusion, applicants in Thailand have often had to take cases all the way to the Thai Supreme Court, which entails several years of appeals and significant expense.

The decision in TMB Bank Public Company Limited v the Department of Intellectual Property (Case Number 2587/2559  2016) is a positive development for brand owners and, it is hoped, this decision will be considered by the Registrar, the Appeals Board and the CIPIT Court in evaluating word marks brought before them for consideration, resulting in fewer decisions rejecting proposed marks on non-distinctiveness grounds.

Daniel Greif Dhanasun Chumchuay

Spruson & FergusonNos. 496-502 Amarin Plaza BuildingUnit Nos. 1806-1807, 18th Floor, Ploenchit Road, Lumpini Sub-District, Pathumwan District, Bangkok 10330 ThailandTel: +66 2 305 6893mail.asia@spruson.comwww.spruson.com
On January 12 2017, the Ho Chi Minh City Court rendered a ruling in favour of a major Silicon Valley high-tech company. This ended a lengthy dispute between the company and a Vietnamese entity over the latter's unauthorised use and registration of a company name and a domain name which incorporated the former's registered trade mark. To the delight of the US company, the court resolved the dispute in an expedient 55 days. The brand owner's course of action provided a useful test of new regulations on domain name and company name disputes.

Domain names

Until recent changes were made in the law, domain name disputes have been difficult to resolve efficiently in Vietnam due to a lack of cohesion between the IP administrative enforcement bodies and the domain name registry. Enforcement bodies such as the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) regularly ordered domain names to be withdrawn in their final rulings on IP infringements, but the domain name registry would refuse to enforce the decision. In August 2015, the Ministry of Information and Communication (the parent authority of the registry) introduced Circular Number 24/2015/TT-BTTTT (Circular 24) with guidance on domain name violations. However, the gap between the IP authorities and the registry persisted until the issuance of Joint Circular Number 14/2016/TTLT-BTTTT-BKHCN in June 2016, which codified a mechanism to cancel disputed domain names based on IP authorities' rulings.

At the end of 2016, this new mechanism had yet to be tested. Despite the uncertainties involved, the US company decided to petition the MOST Inspectorate for an administrative action to combat this blatant cyber-squatting, and at the same time sued the infringer before the Ho Chi Minh City Court, to take advantage of benefits that an administrative action could not bring forth.

In the course of a domain name dispute settlement, it is critical to freeze the disputed domain name, or run the risk that the infringer might transfer it to another entity, forcing the brand owner to restart the proceedings with the new registrant as the infringer. However, under current regulations, there is no system to do so. Circular 24 removed the automatic system of freezing domain names upon the commencement of court action.

Fortunately, the US company convinced MOST to call on the domain name registry to freeze the domain names. After multiple discussions, the registry agreed to freeze the domain names not only at MOST's request but also due to the commencement of a civil suit. The registry's move could mark a good precedent for further cases, especially in civil actions, freezing disputed domain names upon the filing of a civil suit, without waiting for preliminary injunctions.

While this administrative action was in progress, the court ruled on the dispute. As such, the brand owner did not fully test the new regulation on administrative action, but saw that the new regulations could indeed help to effectively facilitate enforcement.

Company names

IP-infringing company names are another headache for brand owners, as there has not been an effective mechanism in place to enforce administrative bodies' final rulings on IP infringement. Per Decree 99/2013/ND-CP, if a brand owner wins an administrative action, the IP authority's final ruling can order the removal of an infringing word mark from a company's name, or require the infringer to abandon any identical/similar business lines. Failure to comply with this order can lead to revocation of the infringer's business licence.

However, the Law on Enterprises does not recognise such revocation based on a ruling from an IP administrative body. To deal with this gap in the law, MOST and the Ministry of Planning and Investment introduced Joint Circular 05/2016/TTLT-BKHCN-BKHDT, shifting the legal basis for the licence cancellation from the IP body's ruling on infringement to a new basis concerning the failure of the infringer to provide a requested justification for infringement. Per the Law on Enterprises, such failure to deliver a justification for certain violations can result in a cancellation of the business licence. Under the new regulation, the business registry will request the infringer to justify its IP violation, failing which the registry will withdraw its business licence. This regulation is somewhat convoluted, but now provides hope to rights-holder plaintiffs.

In this case, the US company believed that the infringer would lodge an explanation if requested, which would put it at risk of losing the battle for the company name. Thus, the company focused on a civil suit instead of an administrative action. Following a civil action, the business registry would be required to enforce the court's judgment on the name change as well as the business licence revocation. In fact, given the conclusive evidence submitted to the court, the defendant had to admit to infringement in its company name and agreed to settle the dispute.

The brand owner's harmonious combination of administrative action and civil action allowed it to reap the advantages of both systems and mitigate the associated risks. These legal proceedings provide useful information for the company and other IP owners in dealing with future infringement, and the swift civil suit could encourage other owners to rely on the courts more in coming years.

Loc Xuan Le Linh Duy Mai

Tilleke & GibbinsHAREC Building, 4th Floor4A Lang Ha Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: +84 4 3772 6688Fax: +84 4 3772 5568vietnam@tilleke.comwww.tilleke.com
Algeria's state energy company Sonatrach will renew a deal with French gas and power group Engie to supply 10 billion cubic meters of LNG per year, a source at Sonatrach told Reuters on Wednesday.



The signing ceremony will take place in France, likely before the end of March, and Algeria's Energy Minister Nouredine Bouterfa will attend, the source said.



No further details have been provided on the length of the contract, which will replace one that has just expired. But Sonatrach's CEO Amine Mazouzi said recently that new contracts will be for at least 10 to 15 years but no longer than 20 to 25 years.



Sonatrach has opted for a dual approach that mixes its traditional preference for long-term contracts with spot market deals to get the maximum out of them at a difficult time for Algeria, which has been hit hard by the drop in oil prices.



Most of the current long-term gas export contracts between Algeria and European customers are due to start coming to an end between now and 2020.



Gas exports from Algeria are expected to grow to 57 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2017 versus sales of 54 bcm in 2016, according to Sonatrach's figure.



Algeria, a major supplier of gas to Europe through pipelines, has covered 55 percent of Spain's needs in gas in 2016, 16 percent of Italy's demand and 15 percent of Portugal's needs, according to Sonatrach.



After years of stagnation in energy production, the North African OPEC member country is starting to see gains since last year in oil and gas output, helped by investments in getting more yield from maturer fields and bringing delayed gasfields online.





(Reporting By Lamine Chikhi)
In 2016 the big political fears centered on Britain and America, with investors concerned Brexit and the odd US presidential election would roil markets. We all know how that turned out-stocks went up-but that hasn't stopped political fears from sprouting elsewhere. The focus now is Europe, and specifically the Netherlands, as Geert Wilders and his far-right, anti-euro Party for Freedom (PVV) are projected to do well in next week's parliamentary election. Some fear the Dutch vote is a bellwether for Europe's other upcoming elections and could give momentum to other anti-euro movements across the Continent (e.g., Marine Le Pen's Front National in April's French presidential contest). However, in our view, this overstates both Wilders's prospects as well as the general potential for Europe's populist movements. With many investors focused on potential negatives, uncertainty is presently high. But the results from the Netherlands should be a first step in falling uncertainty across Europe-an underappreciated bullish positive.

Wilders has grabbed headlines both at home and abroad for promoting radical stances-mostly sociological in nature, related to his nationalist bent. On a more market-related front, Wilders has long supported abandoning the euro and EU, a major plank of his campaign platform. Though Wilders is the third-longest-sitting member of the Dutch Parliament, his outsider status stems from breaking away from the mainstream conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy-known as the Liberals-to form his anti-establishment PVV. He wields total control of the PVV's platform and decision-making, as he is technically his party's only member. The rest of his parliamentary caucus is ideologically aligned but not card-carrying, hand-selected by Wilders.

For most of this year, PVV sat atop the polls, fueling fears Wilders would win and threaten the euro. Though recent polls show PVV falling behind, the race looks tight: Depending on the poll, the Liberals are neck-and-neck with the PVV or just slightly ahead. However, even if the PVV wins a plurality, Wilders seems likely to struggle to form a government and would be in no position to implement radical change, like exiting the euro (i.e., Nexit). The Dutch Parliament awards seats proportionally to the party's share of the vote, and currently, the PVV is projected to win about 25 of Parliament's 150 seats. Even the most extreme estimates put them at only about 35 seats. The PVV would need 76 seats to form a government, so Wilders would need to work with other parties to form a governing coalition. But no other political party has expressed a willingness to join a PVV-led coalition. Thus, even if PVV "wins," the most likely result is Wilders and his party acting as opposition to a coalition of centrist parties.

Many speculate markets are missing potential negative fallout from PVV success, but folks are mostly focused on the current state of uncertainty-not considering life after the vote. Once the election occurs, all those speculative hypotheticals and possibilities go away. With a final result, investors and businesses know exactly whom they're dealing with and can plan and adjust accordingly. Also, knowing who the primary actors will be means investors can recognize other political realities (e.g., gridlock), too. In the case of the Netherlands, though many folks focus on the potential ramifications of a PVV victory, fewer recognize the likely inability of Wilders and the PVV to govern and enact radical change. This disconnect between perception and reality sets up a bullish upside surprise, as relief gradually ensues.

The Dutch vote is the year's first major European election, and while it merits monitoring, the result is much more likely to foretell a broad trend of bullish falling uncertainty across the Continent than spreading euroland doom. France's presidential election in April and May, along with Germany's federal election in September, should add to this. Similar to the US presidential election and the Brexit referendum last year, falling European political uncertainty means investors can start appreciating other positives, like the economy's overlooked growth streak.
STUART-A total of 36 people linked to drug activity in Patrick County were arrested Thursday, part of a manhunt organized by the sheriffs office.

All total, the department had been searching for 98 people named in 340 sealed indictments. As the indictments remain sealed, those names have not yet been released. Those indictments were handed down Monday by a Patrick County grand jury.

Sheriff Dan Smith said this is the largest narcotics operation his office has ever conducted. Martinsville police officers and Henry County deputies helped in the effort, along with people from the Carroll County Sheriffs Office, the Grayson County Sheriffs Office, Virginia State Police, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the Surry County, NC Sheriffs Office and Stokes County NC Sheriffs Office. They also received federal help from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Work started in the early morning hours and by 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the operation had located and arrested 36 suspects. Smith said that the group found several of those named in the indictments were either locked up on other charges elsewhere or are living in North Carolina.

Over the past eight years, we have arrested and successfully prosecuted more than 400 people who chose to sell drugs in Patrick County, Smith said in a statement. If you are selling and havent been caught yet, your day is coming.

Thursdays manhunt was the product of an 18 month investigation, led by Patrick County Sgt. Eric OConnell and Investigator Nicholas Pendleton. In addition to finding the 36 suspects, officials also uncovered portions of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, Ecstacy, marijuana and a number of prescription pills yet to be identified. Some of the material seized was sent to the state lab for testing, so a final total in terms of the amount cant be determined at this time.

Out of the 98 suspects named in the indictments, about half of them are not Patrick County residents. All of the indictments will be released by the Patrick County Circuit Court on Monday.

Our community will not tolerate this, Smith said. Our county is a wonderful place to live and raise a family, and this office is committed to keeping it that way.

Smith said the operation will continue until all of those on the list have either been identified in prison elsewhere or arrested. He thanked the other departments for their support, as well as Circuit Court Clerk Susan Gasparini and Commonwealths Attorney Stephanie Vipperman for their work to prepare and organize the indictments.

This puts a strain on the entire criminal justice system in our county, but the end result is well worth it, Smith said.
action.ambul.jpg

Action Ambulance Service Inc. of Wilmington is the new ambulance service in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

(PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK PAGE)

HOLYOKE -- Discussion about the new ambulance service operating here was postponed Thursday because the fire chief was unable to attend a meeting of the City Council Public Safety Committee at City Hall.

Chairman Daniel B. Bresnahan said he will try to hold a meeting in the next few weeks with Fire Chief John A. Pond and Police Chief James M. Neiswanger regarding Action Ambulance Service Inc. of Wilmington, which Mayor Alex B. Morse announced in January had replaced AMR as the city's main ambulance service.

Ward 7 Councilor Todd A. McGee had asked that the police and fire chiefs and a representative of Holyoke Medical Center be invited to discuss the city having a new ambulance service.

Action Ambulance will station ambulances at Fire Department headquarters at 600 High St., at Station 3 at 1579 Northampton St. and at Station 5 at 33 Whiting Farms Road, Pond has said.
GRANBY, Connecticut - Fire Departments from several area communities and Bradley International Airport responded to fire Friday morning on Rickwood Lane, according to Granby police.

The fire was reported just before 7 a.m.

Residents of the house were able to evacuate safely and were not injured.

Granby firefighters were assisted through mutual aid by fire departments from East Hartland, East Granby, Simbury in Connecticut and Southwick. Firefighters from the Air National Guard at Bradley International Airport also assisted.

The fire is contained and Granby firefighters remain on the scene, police said. The road is a dead-end street and traffic is not affect.

The state Fire Marshal is investigating.

Ridgewood Lane is off Route 168 near the Southwick line.
HOLYOKE -- Help with a resume or application, suggestions on what courses to take, what skills to acquire and where to look for a job or internship are all as close for Dean Tech students as the lunchroom.

CareerPoint, a Massachusetts One-Stop Career Center located nearby at 850 High St., hosted a grand opening Friday for its office at William J. Dean Technical High School.

"It's OK to not know as a high school freshman what you want to do with the rest of your life," said David Gadaire, executive director of CareerPoint. "What's not OK is not wanting to do anything."

The center opened informally in February.

Xandria Sotomayor, coordinator of the center, said she'll offer job hunting tips and interview preparation, including how to dress appropriately, as well as job listings, guest speakers from the business community and field trips to employers.

Gadaire said the center's location right off the cafeteria will make it easy to run lunchtime programs and seminars for students.

The center also makes it easy for employers to recruit and build relationships, and ensure that students pick up the skills employers need. The skills gap between what employers want and what job seekers have leads to good jobs going unfilled, Gadaire said.

Dean Tech Principal Jeff Peterson said he relishes the opportunity to work with the community and employers.

The new CareerPoint center replaces an underused career exploration room. The state mandates career exploration and entrepreneurship training at technical schools, he said. But up until now, Dean students have been doing that part of their training in their vocational shops.

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse said the career center works with the city's ongoing effort to reorganize its secondary schools to better meet students' needs. The idea is to send those students out with more than just a diploma; they'll also have job experience and a workplace training certificate recognized by potential employers.

Stephen K. Zrike, the state-appointed receiver in charge of the Holyoke public schools, said a lot of attention was paid recently to increasing graduation rates. That's fine, he said.

"But that is a baseline," he said. "That's the minimum. Our goal is not just to keep kids in school. The real goal is to get these students ready to face the challenges of their future."

Gadaire said the Holyoke schools are paying CareerPoint to run the center. It's about $22,000 for the rest of this year and $75,000 for a full year.

"We want to expand. First to Holyoke High School and then to schools in Chicopee and Westfield," he said. "Its an exiting program."

Employers, as well as the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, attended Friday's ceremonial ribbon cutting.
SPRINGFIELD -- Nearly 100 companies are expected when the College Career Centers of Western Massachusetts hosts its annual career fair March 29 from noon to 3 p.m. in the Alumni Healthful Living Center on the campus of Western New England University.

Employers will offer full-time and part-time employment opportunities and internships, according to a news release from Western New England.

The College Career Centers of Western Massachusetts is a consortium of eight colleges in Hampden County: American International College, Bay Path University, Elms College, Holyoke Community College, Springfield College, Springfield Technical Community College, Western New England University and Westfield State University.

For students, no pre-registration required. Students are asked to dress professionally and bring resumes.

The fair's website is here.

The eight institutions enroll more than 27,000 students and graduate approximately 5,000 students each year with a range of academic degrees, according to the news release.

Most of the employers who responded to a national survey characterized the job market for 2017 graduates as "good" or better, according to National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE. Employers from across the country reported they would hire 5.8 percent more new college graduates from the class of 2017 than they hired from the class of 2016.

Last year at this time employers projected an 11 percent increase for 2016 graduates, but subsequent surveys showed that hiring would be less, with a 5 percent increase.

Darkening the outlook, 52 percent of the employers surveyed reported plans to maintain their college hiring at what it was in 2016.
This story elaborates on an article published at 8:53 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, 2017: City to inspect pigeon-droppings danger in Mater Dolorosa Church if Diocese agrees: Holyoke Councilors

HOLYOKE -- At City Hall Thursday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield didn't have any representatives in the room, or friends.

The Diocese elected not to send anyone to the City Council Public Safety Committee meeting. Councilors there told the Health Department to seek permission from the Diocese to examine the accumulation of pigeon droppings in the steeple of the closed Mater Dolorosa Church to determine if it poses a public health danger.

Ward 5 Councilor Linda L. Vacon questioned the propriety of the Diocese requesting an emergency demolition order from the city to take down the 116-year-old church at Maple and Lyman streets. The Diocese has cited deterioration that has led to public safety concerns at the church despite failing to maintain the building to avoid such deterioration after closing the church in 2011, she said.

Finally, as she did at a public hearing Tuesday on the proposed demolition, Sandra Zieminski of South Hadley told the committee it was hypocritical of the Diocese not to be willing to spend money to fix the church given the pedophile-priest, scandal-payments it has made.Diocese warns of danger but hearing on proposed demolition in Holyoke dominated by church defenders

Spokesman Mark E. Dupont said later that the Diocese would consider the steeple inspection request but that it seemed "political theater" intended to draw attention away from the public safety threat at the church.

Dupont said Vacon's assessment was inaccurate because building maintenance is the responsibility of each parish and not the Diocese.

And it was callous to compare the "minor inconvenience" of having to worship at another church to the "tremendous and continuing pain" suffered by victims of clergy abuse, Dupont said.

Dupont had said Diocese representatives would not attend the Public Safety Committee meeting. Dupont suggested that the orders the committee was considering in relation to Mater Dolorosa Church be tabled pending the outcome of a process related to the Diocese's emergency demolition request.

Diocese consultants said that deterioration makes demolition of Mater Dolorosa Church necessary because the steeple could collapse and pieces from it have broken off and fallen to the ground. The Diocese requested a permit to begin emergency demolition on Jan. 27.

Emergency demolition of Mater Dolorosa Church in Holyoke recommended: engineer

But Building Commissioner Damian J. Cote on Feb. 1 declined the emergency demolition order and referred the proposal to the Historical Commission.

The commission is holding the public hearing to take testimony as it determines whether the historical significance of the church property outweighs the Diocese assertions that demolition is necessary.

The Public Safety Committee was considering these orders filed by Councilor at Large Michael J. Sullivan:

the Board of Health take immediate enforcement action against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield to clean and prevent further accumulation of avian fecal matter in the Mater Dolorosa Church. This material is a serious respiratory threat and breeding ground for maggots and other fungus.

That the Board of Health or Building Inspector take immediate enforcement action against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield to take the necessary measures to prevent the growth of white mold in the Mater Dolorosa Church. This fungus is not only a serious respiratory threat but it also accelerates the deterioration of valuable historic artifacts.

That Mark E. Dupont and Russell A. Sprague of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, and their agent Barry Engineers, be invited to answer questions of public safety surrounding the Mater Dolorosa Church and Rectory.

"It seems to me that they do not have any realistic public safety concerns about the church," Sullivan said. "If they did, they would be here to express them to the Public Safety Committee."

City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain said he opposes demolition of the church. But ultimately, a private property owner has the right to dispose of property, he said

Sullivan said that he shared Jourdain's view on private property rights but that the situation takes on greater meaning when the property is over 100 years old and has historical value to the community.

Like Vacon, Sullivan questioned why the Diocese had failed to sell the church. He also questioned if the Diocese was trying to use the condition of the church in seeking a property tax abatement from the city.

Victor M. Anop, leader of Friends of Mater Dolorosa, which has worked to save the church, said that Polish immigrants built, paid for and worshiped in the church. Besides such devotion, the church contains religious artifacts, he said.

"These points make it different" from just another private property, Anop said.

Anop later provided a copy of a letter he said he would send to Cote and Holyoke Health Director Brian Fitzgerald under the city's blighted building ordinance requesting enforcement to ensure the Diocese maintains Mater Dolorosa Church. (See below).

The Diocese has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal and consultants' fees and taxes since 2011, but not on maintenance on Mater Dolorosa Church. And it is the bishop of the Diocese, Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, and not individual parishes, who owns the church properties, Anop said.

"We have a problem property because of one reason and one reason only, the owner didn't maintain the premises," he said.

Jourdain said that he admired "Vic's passion on this thing," but that as with other organizations, decisions in the Catholic church are made by its leaders.

"This is not a democracy. No religion is," Jourdain said.

Committee Chairman Daniel B. Bresnahan said he agreed. Mater Dolorosa Church is beautiful, but belonging to an organization means often having to abide by its leaders' decisions, he said.

Jourdain and Bresnahan both asked why a public health hazard could exist if the pigeon droppings are inside the steeple and the building is locked. Fitzgerald said a concern is if the droppings dry and crack and wind makes the spores airborne.

Openings in the steeple exist since separation of bricks has been cited and pigeons have entered through holes.

"Eighteen dollars worth of chicken wire would take care of it," Sullivan said.

The committee voted 3-0 to have Fitzgerald contact the Diocese for permission to inspect the pigeon droppings in the Mater Dolorosa Church steeple.

Dupont replied later by email: "The Diocese will carefully review all requests. But let me state again, this is an unfortunate, continuing attempt to distract and draw attention away from a very real threat to public safety. Given all the building collapses and machinery falling into the canal incidents that the city has experienced, one would think they wouldn't be engaging in such political theater. If they were really serious they would seek guidance from a qualified bonded structural engineer."

Vacon said it was "hypocritical" of the Diocese to cloak itself in religion and urge the city to approve its demolition request despite letting the church deteriorate.

"Now they're coming in and saying they need an emergency demolition because of their own negligence?" Vacon said.

"I just think it's insulting to common sense, this argument that we're in right now," she said.

Dupont replied: "Let me clear up Councilor Vacon's very inaccurate assessment. It is the responsibility of the individual parish, not the Diocese, to oversee maintenance of its buildings. That's the requirement for every parish. But her point is well taken in that based on what we know now, and the fact the former parish was unable to pay all its expenses, the closing of the former much beloved parish though sad was necessary."

The Diocese cited declining parishioner numbers and concerns about the steeple's stability in shutting down Mater Dolorosa Church in June 2011. The Diocese combined Mater Dolorosa with the former Holy Cross Church to form Our Lady of the Cross at 23 Sycamore St.

Zieminski told the Public Safety Committee she wanted the Diocese held accountable for repairing Mater Dolorosa Church.

"Do you have the right to tell them, fix it?" Zieminski said. "My comment is, fix it. If you can spend billions, and that's with a 'b,' on (the) pedophile crisis, why can't you open and fix that church?"

Dupont replied: "To compare the minor inconvenience of having to worship at another Catholic church with that of the tremendous and continuing pain, suffering and hardships endured by victims of clergy abuse and their families is a thoughtless and callous comparison deserving of no further comment."

Victor Anop letter to Holyoke officials: by Mike Plaisance on Scribd
Now we know Elon Musk is a betting man.

Yesterday, Teslas Vice President for energy products Lyndon Rive (who is Musks cousin) said the company could build enough battery storage capacity with its Powerwall 2, to solve lingering energy supply concerns in the state of South Australia, within 100 days. So modest.

It was an idea enthusiastically taken aboard by Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, who offered to help find the cash on Twitter Thursday. That is, if Tesla could deliver on their ambitious claim.

BY JOHNNY LIEU

Full Story: http://mashable.com/2017/03/10/elon-musk-powerwall-australia/?utm_cid=hp-h-3#QRh1qHOwh5qG

***

If you havent read it yet, I highly recommend: "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" https://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-SpaceX-Fantastic-Future/dp/0062301233
Truth be known conversational skills make you more employable.

Small talk can feel like it sounds, unimportant and insignificant, but learning how to start a conversation is a crucial skill in your career. People naturally think of small talk as discussing the weather or bringing up some trivial information that seems meaningless when your time is valuable.

By Kim Thompson

Full Story: http://blog.sfgate.com/gettowork/2017/03/09/small-talk-has-a-big-impact-on-your-career/
The Montana Department of Commerce works with statewide and local partners, private industry and small businesses to enhance and sustain economic prosperity in Montana. - Montana Is On The Move
Lavertissement de pluie torrentielle nous permet de vous mettre au courant du protocole ne cas de ce genre devenement meteorologique pour les fonctionnaires.

The Protocol is applicable to employees of Ministries/Departments and Public Sector

Organisations, except for those:

 in the essential services;

 operating on roster, shift and staggered hours;

 whose services are required in connection with extreme weather conditions; and

 where such Protocol already exists.

As regards organisations operating on roster, shift and staggered hours, other than those of the essential services, the Supervising Officers may consider drawing up a protocol and work arrangement along the same lines to meet their specific needs.

Upon issue of a heavy rainfall warning by the MMS, employees will have to report for duty, as usual, by taking necessary precautions for their own safety. However, they should not report for duty in the event a communique is issued by the authority concerned, before working hours, to the effect that public officers, other than those of the essential services, should not report for duty.

In case a communique is issued during working hours for the release of employees:

(i) the MCSAR will issue a circular/email to Ministries/Departments/Public Sector Organisations and/or inform them through direct phone calls, to that effect;

(ii) Supervising Officers should immediately take necessary actions on the basis of established arrangements for the release of their employees; and

(iii) employees should await for instructions from Supervising Officer of their respective Ministry/Department/Public Sector Organisation before leaving office.

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On November 1 and 2, 2022, the Executive Committee and the Pan-African Council of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) will meet in ordinary sessions in Tangiers, Morocco.

These two meetings will be preceded on Monday, October 31, 2022 by the Constitutive Assembly of the Network of Young Local Elected Officials of Africa (YELO).

The 28th session of the Executive Committee will be held on November 01, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. at the Barcelo Hotel in Tangiers and will focus on the adoption of the 2023-2024 work plan and the 2023 budget of UCLG Africa. The members of the Committee will also discuss the preparation of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) scheduled for November 6 to 18, 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt).

The official opening of the 28th session of the Executive Committee will be made in the presence of:

 Mrs. Fatimetou Abdel Malick, President of the Region of Nouakchott (Mauritania) and President of UCLG Africa,

 Mr. Mounir Lymouri, President of the Municipal Council of Tangiers and President of the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Municipal Councils (AMPCC);

 Mrs. Christine Mba Ndutume, Mayor of Libreville (Gabon) and Vice-President UCLG Africa for the Central Africa Region;

 Mr. Claude Paulin Danho, Minister of Youth and Sports, President of the Union of Cities and Municipalities of Cote dIvoire (UVICOCI) and Vice-President of UCLG Africa for the West Africa Region;

 Mrs. Florah Mpetsane, President of the Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) and UCLG Africa Vice-President for the Southern Africa Region;

 Mrs. Rohey Malick Lowe, Mayor of Banjul (The Gambia), and President of the Network of Locally Elected Women of Africa (REFELA);

 Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa.

The Pan-African Council responsible for supervising the work of UCLG Africa between the ordinary sessions of the General Assembly of the organization will meet on November 2, 2022 at 9 a.m. still at the Barcelo hotel in Tangiers. In particular, the Pan-African Council will provide an opportunity to take stock of Africas participation in the UCLG World Congress which took place from October 10 to 14, 2022 in Daejeon, South Korea, and to draw the consequences for UCLG Africa. Members of the Pan-African Council will also be briefed on the progress made by UCLG Africa following the successful organization of the 9th edition of the Africities Summit last May 2022 in Kisumu, Kenya.

In addition, it is reported that the Constituent Assembly of the Network of Young Local Elected Representatives of Africa, YELO, will take place for its part on Monday, October 31, 2022 from 10 a.m. at the Marina Bay hotel in Tangiers. The meeting will be devoted to the adoption of the rules of procedure and the roadmap of the YELO Network, as well as the election of the members of the governing bodies of the Network.

The Moroccan and international press are invited to cover the opening ceremony of the General Assembly of the YELO Network on Monday, October 31, 2022 at 10 a.m. at the Marina Bay hotel in Tangiers, as well as the opening ceremony of the 28th session of the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa on Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. at the Barcelo hotel in Tangiers.

As a reminder, the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa is the body responsible for the political leadership of the organization. The Executive Committee comprises 16 members, 15 members elected by the General Assembly from among the members of the Pan-African Council (3 for each of the 5 regions of Africa) to which is added the President of the Network of Locally Elected Women of Africa (REFELA, Standing Committee for Gender Equality of UCLG Africa). The members of the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa represent the Africa chapter at the World Executive Bureau of UCLG.

The Pan-African Council of UCLG Africa is the body in charge of the annual supervision of the conduct of the affairs of UCLG Africa between the meetings of the General Assembly which take place every three (3) years within the framework of the Africities Summits. The Pan-African Council comprises forty-five (45) active members elected by the General Assembly, i.e. nine (9) for each of the five sub-regions of Africa. The members of the Pan-African Council of UCLG Africa represent the Africa chapter in the World Council of UCLG.

United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is the world organization in charge of defining and carrying the positions of the leaders and elected representatives of regional and local governments within the United Nations and the international community. UCLG has its headquarters in Barcelona, Spain. UCLG has seven (7) regional sections and one metropolitan section: The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) based in Brussels, Belgium. United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) based in Rabat, Morocco; the section of the countries of the former Soviet republics (EURASIE) based in Kazan, Russia; the Middle East and West Asia section (UCLG MEWA) based in Istanbul, Turkey; the Asia Pacific section (UCLG ASPAC) based in Jakarta, Indonesia; the Latin America and Caribbean Section represented by FLAGMA (based in Mexico City, Mexico) and Mercociudades (based in Montevideo, Uruguay); the North American Section based at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Ottawa, Canada; and the Metropolitan Section based in Barcelona, Spain.

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by Tanya Gazdik , March 9, 2017

VisitBritain is once again targeting LGBTQ audiences in the U.S. and Australia.

Now in its third year, this years effort aims to raise awareness of the UK as a welcoming and friendly destination. This year the campaign marks the the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in England and Wales.

To mark the significant anniversary, cultural establishments in Great Britain, including the British Museum and the Tate, are featuring special exhibits and events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalized homosexual acts in private between two men over the age of 21 in England and Wales. Subsequent acts changed the law in Scotland in 1980 and Northern Ireland in 1982.

UK cities such as Birmingham and Brighton have also just revealed the first details of this year's Pride celebrations.

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The Love is GREAT campaign will incorporate native content stories, videos, cross-platform banners and promotional units, as well as social syndication via Here Media and Q Digital. The campaign will also feature a sweepstakes with Out.com, entitled Out in Britain that awards an all-expenses paid trip for two to the UK. Rounding out the campaign activity, the Love is GREAT Web site has also been updated with the latest events and travel inspiration.

The effort is part of VisitBritain's larger Home of Amazing Moments campaign, which was launched in 2016, inspiring visitors to the UK to seek out their own amazing experiences and share them on social media using #OMGB (Oh My GREAT Britain).

Last year was a record-breaker for inbound tourism to the UK with 37.3 million visits, up 3% on 2015 with visitors spending 22.2 billion pounds (nearly $27 billion U.S.), matching 2015's record spend. The figures showed strong growth in 2016 from North America with 4.3 million visits, up 7% on 2015. Comparing growth during the last six years shows there were 7.5 million more visits in 2016 than 2010, an increase of 25%.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, March 10, 2017

Dell Technologies, the umbrella for seven companies, recently launched its first campaign since closing on the $67 billion acquisition of EMC last September 2016. The branded campaign aims to teach agencies, brands and consumers about the new organization.

The campaign -- anchored in the idea that the Dell tech companies exist to drive human progress -- will roll out in time for the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas in multiple phases across search, social, video, out-of-home, print and television, said Liz Matthews, SVP of global brand and creative at Dell.

It takes more than magic to create a digital transformation, Matthews said -- but the campaign reel she shared with Search Marketing Daily pictures a women in a fairy dress waving a magic wand, saying "you can't just wave a wand and poof, create a data center."

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"We know people typically begin with search," Matthews said.

Search -- organic and paid advertising -- and social advertising campaigns will run on desktop and mobile throughout the 2017 campaign. About 70 pieces of content on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram will support the campaign.

Out-of-home and digital ads kicked off this week, with billboards running in Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Boston Logan International Airport.

The first 60-second television advertisement will run on March 22, 2017. Three brand spots will follow detailing stories from Columbia Sportswear, General Electric, and India-based Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale. Then native advertisements will begin running in April.

The television spots were directed by Tom Hooper, the winner of an Academy Award for The King's Speech, and Westworld star Jeffrey Wright to help narrate the stories.

Matthews said Dell will use the data from the different media to continually update the content.
by Larissa Faw , March 10, 2017

Holiday Inn. Big Boy. McDonald's. The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH is the one place where visitors can experience iconic advertisements from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s.

For the past few years, the largest sign museum in the U.S. has grown to include more than 200 signs chronicling 100 years of advertising history. "It's a nostalgia trip," says guest services manager Kevin Wallace. "We want to preserve historic signs and promote the sign industry's contributions to commerce, culture and the American landscape."

Now the museum is shifting its focus to advertising agencies and soliciting their support and participation. The museum wants agencies to host events and use its facilities for corporate retreats. The museum's organizers feel that agencies can also help develop educational programs and lessons using its exhibits. And it wants agencies to use its channels to help spread the word about the role advertisements have played in American culture.

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There are many unique one-of-a-kind signs on display. Some of the exhibits highlights include the 1963 single-arch McDonald's sign featuring Speedee, a cookie-shaped character who was phased out in favor of Ronald McDonald in the 1960s. There are early hand-painted signs from Kant-Rust Richfield and pre-electric signs.

There is also a rotating neon windmill from a Denver doughnut shop, Las Vegas showcards, Gulf Oil and Howard Johnson signs, and a globe-shaped plastic orb from a Compton, CA shopping center that includes a bullet hole after being caught in gang crossfire. A recreated old-fashioned downtown street features a gas station, general store, and barber shop amid numerous neon old-fashioned signs to harken back to yesteryear.

The museum also documents the transition from hand-painted to bulbs to neon signs, as well as the differing lettering formats, such as the 'Chrysler' and 'Nice for a Bank.' Furthermore, the museum displays the equipment utilized in the design and manufacture of signs. An in-house neon workshop lets visitors experience the creation of these still popular signs as well as work with outside companies to develop their own neon brands.

Hollywoodland is the one sign that got away, says Wallace. The museum wishes it could display the iconic white letters, but notes that it was purchased on eBay for $750,000 in 2012. Another key challenge is the $4,200 monthly bill to keep the lights bright and operational.

Curator Tod Swormstedt, former editor and publisher of Signs of the Times magazine, wanted to capture these stories before they were lost forever, and so he founded the museum as his self-proclaimed mid-life crisis project. He considered building the museum in Los Angeles, St. Louis, or Memphis before deciding on Cincinnati, the hometown of his Signs of the Times publication.
A portable device that covers the head and uses microwave technology to examine brain tissue in prehospital settings could cut the time it takes to evaluate brain injuries. So conclude researchers after evaluating their microwave helmet in a small trial. Share on Pinterest Researchers suggest that their microwave helmet could cut the triage time for brain injuries.

Image credit: Bold/Chalmers University of Technology The researchers  including members from Chalmers University of Technology and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, both in Gothenburg, Sweden  report their findings in the Journal of Neurotrauma. They suggest that the results of their small trial show that microwave technology can be used for the rapid detection of intracranial bleeding that can result from head injuries. First author Dr. Johan Ljungqvist, a specialist in neurosurgery at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, says: The microwave helmet could improve the medical assessment of traumatic head injuries even before the patient arrives at the hospital. He notes that even though their study was small, and they only focused on one type of head injury, the result indicates that the microwave measurements can be useful in ambulances and in other care settings. In their study paper, he and his colleagues note that microwave technology has already been evaluated for other medical applications  such as distinguishing between strokes caused by blood clots and strokes caused by bleeding in the brain.

TBI is a leading cause of disability and death Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is disruption of normal brain function due to trauma that results from an injury that bumps, jolts, hits, or penetrates the head. The severity of trauma ranges from mild (the most common kind, also known as concussion) to severe. Fast facts about TBI In the U.S. between 2006 and 2010, TBI-related deaths were highest in people aged 65 and older

Over that period, vehicle crashes were the leading cause of TBI-related deaths for young people aged between 5 and 24

Among nonfatal TBI-related injuries, rates of ED visits were highest for children aged 4 and under. Learn more about TBI TBI can disrupt memory, thinking, movement, vision, hearing, and emotional functioning. It can also result in personality changes and depression. The effects are not confined to individuals; they can also impact families, friends, and communities. TBI is a major cause of death and disability in the United States, where estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that 138 people die every day from injuries that include TBI. The majority of TBI survivors experience effects that last a few days, while others are left with enduring disabilities that can last for the rest of their lives. In the U.S. in 2010, the amount of visits to emergency departments (EDs), admissions to hospitals, and deaths either related to TBI alone or to TBI linked with other injuries totaled around 2.5 million. CDC figures for between 2006 and 2010 show falls as the leading cause of TBI (accounting for 40.5 percent of ED visits, hospitalizations, and deaths), followed by unintentional blunt trauma (15.5 percent), and motor vehicle crashes (14.3 percent). Dr. Ljungqvist and colleagues note that the key to improving outcomes for people who sustain TBIs is to reduce the time it takes from when the injury occurs to deciding the right treatment.

Microwave helmet The microwave helmet has three parts: a helmet incorporating microwave antennae that is placed on the patients head; a microwave signal generator; and a computer that controls the equipment, collects the data, and processes them through advanced mathematical algorithms. The microwave generator sends signals through transmit antennae in the helmet into the patients brain. Receiving antennae in the helmet pick up the signals after they have been scattered by and reflected from the brain tissue. The advanced algorithms analyze the complex patterns in the microwave signals to deduce what they might indicate about changes in the brain. Dr. Ljungqvist and colleagues evaluated the ability of their microwave technology to differentiate between people with brain bleeds due to injury and people without brain injury.
The model has important implications across health systems globally, say researchers.

A new model of healthcare that focuses on a stronger role for nurses in primary care has been associated with a higher uptake of insulin treatment among patients with type 2 diabetes, reports a study published in The BMJ.

By 2030, almost 600 million people will have type 2 diabetes, therefore, innovation in delivering effective clinical care to patients with type 2 diabetes is an urgent global priority.

Guidelines in the UK, US and Europe recommend early adoption of insulin treatment to improve long term outcomes. However, insulin initiation is often delayed, particularly in primary care, because of barriers in clinical practice.

A team of researchers, led by John Furler from the University of Melbourne, assessed the outcomes of implementing "The Stepping Up" model of care that focuses on addressing some of the barriers seen in clinical practice, by enabling nurses to lead on insulin treatment initiation among patients within the practice as a part of routine care.

By focusing on an enhanced role for the practice nurse, who is trained and mentored by a registered nurse with diabetes educator credentials, the model uses existing resources within the practice in a bid to improve outcomes.

The study compared patients enrolled in an intervention group where they had consultations with the practice nurse as part of the Stepping Up Model, with a control group where patients received usual healthcare.

In total, 266 patients took part and were based across 74 practices in Australia.

Results show the model was associated with significantly higher rates of insulin initiation 105/151 (70%) patients starting insulin, compared with 25/115 (22%) in control practices.

After 12 months, patients had significantly better HbA1c levels (an important measure of glucose in the blood), which is associated with better long term outcomes, such as reduced rates of kidney and eye disease, compared to the control group.

The authors note the study may be subject to selection bias, and the patients in the study may not be representative of all people with diabetes.

Nevertheless, they say "our results indicate that, with appropriate support and redesign of the practice system, insulin initiation can become part of routine diabetes management in primary care, obviating the need to refer to specialist services with geographical, cost, and accessibility barriers."

"Our pragmatic, translational study has important implications for policymakers, funders, and practitioners seeking innovative ways to provide the best care for people with type 2 diabetes in primary care," they conclude.
Deakin University scientists have discovered a new way to combat malaria, one of the world's top three infectious disease killers.

Senior researcher Professor Tania de Koning-Ward, from Deakin's Centre for Molecular and Medical Research, said her team had found a way to starve the malaria parasite, which in 2015 killed more than 400,000 people from an estimated 212 million cases.

"Malaria parasites live inside a red blood cell. They produce a group of proteins to change the permeability of the red blood cell, making it more porous, so they can absorb vital nutrients from plasma, and remove toxic waste products," Professor de Koning-Ward said.

"What we've shown is that if you genetically block one of these parasite proteins, you can effectively starve the parasite and it dies.

"Scientists have long been unsure about how the parasite makes the red blood cell permeable, so it's exciting to now have the evidence that shows this protein plays an important part in allowing the malaria parasite to take hold."

Professor de Koning-Ward said her team's finding was critical as the malaria parasites were becoming more resistant to current malaria medications, and half the world's population is estimated to be at risk of contracting the disease.

"Obviously we'd like to prevent malaria in first place, but unfortunately we don't yet have a vaccine that works really well," she said.

"We can also use preventative measures like mosquito nets, but even with these people are always going to get infected, so we need to be able to treat them with drugs.

"But along the line the parasites have become resistant to drugs. The World Health Organisation has recommended artemisinin combination therapies for people with malaria but now people in South East Asia are developing resistance to that.

"If that resistance spreads, we lose our last anti-malarial drugs. So we are really desperate to find new strategies to combat malaria.

"We're constantly searching for new drugs. We need to give people a combination of drugs that act on different pathways in the parasite so that we don't give the parasite a chance to thrive."

The scientists' findings were recently published in eLife, with a paper titled: 'Plasmodium parasites deploy RhopH2 into the host erythrocyte to obtain nutrients, grow and replicate'.

The work was published alongside two other papers from research groups in the UK and USA who used different approaches to also show this parasite protein, and another protein it interacts with, are critical for red blood cell permeability.

Lead author Dr Natalie Counihan, a research fellow at Deakin's School of Medicine, said the work was a crucial step in developing new drug targets.

"If you had a drug that blocked this protein then the parasite will die. Once you know what's responsible for something you can start designing drugs to fight that," Dr Counihan said.

"The fact that three research groups have independently come to the same conclusion is a real strength and means that we can now get on with designing drugs to block these pathways.

"To address the World Health Organisation's goal of control and elimination of malaria by 2030, effective new anti-malaria drugs are desperately required."

The Deakin-led research was completed with support from the Burnet Institute and Monash Institute of Pharmacological Sciences.

Article: Plasmodium falciparum parasites deploy RhopH2 into the host erythrocyte to obtain nutrients, grow and replicate, Natalie Counihan, Scott A Chisholm, Hayley E Bullen, Anubhav Srivastava, Paul R Sanders, Thorey K Jonsdottir, Greta E Weiss, Sreejoyee Ghosh, Brendan S Crabb, Darren J Creek, Paul R Gilson, Tania F de Koning-Ward, eLife, doi: 10.7554/eLife.23217, published 2 March 2017.
A minimally invasive treatment that reduces urinary tract symptoms for men with enlarged prostates maintains its effectiveness for at least three years after patients undergo the therapy, according to research being presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting today. This study of 1,000 men is the largest of its kind to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of prostate artery embolization (PAE).

Enlarged prostate, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), is one of the most common prostate problems occurring in men older than 50. According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 14 million men in the U.S. had symptoms suggestive of BPH, which can affect 50 percent of men between 51 and 60 years of age and up to 90 percent of men older than 80.

Researchers also found that PAE, developed and performed by interventional radiologists, is especially effective in men with BPH who also have acute urinary retention or the inability to voluntarily urinate and in patients with very large prostates who are normally treated with open surgery.

"Prostate artery embolization gives men with BPH a treatment option that is less invasive than other therapies and allows them to return to their normal lives sooner," said Joao Martins Pisco, M.D., an interventional radiologist at St. Louis Hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, and the study's lead author. "Time and time again, I see patients who are relieved to find out about PAE because they are not able to tolerate medications for BPH due to their side effects. These men also don't want traditional surgery because it involves greater risks, has possible sexual side effects, and has a recovery time that is relatively long compared to PAE, which is generally performed under local anesthesia and on an outpatient basis."

Between March 2007 and March 2016, Pisco and his team performed prostate artery embolization on 1,000 men who averaged 67 years of age. All patients were evaluated in the short term (one, three, and six months), 807 patients were seen through the medium term (every six months between six months and three years), and 406 patients were evaluated long term (every year after three years).

During each evaluation, the men's symptoms were measured by the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), which tests for the blockage of urine flow, and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), which assesses erectile dysfunction. Researchers also measured the size of the prostate and the amount of urine left in the bladder after urination. They also evaluated the peak urinary flow rate and the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, a test used to screen for prostate cancer.

The data from these measures revealed at the short-term mark that the treatment had an 89 percent cumulative success rate - measuring the success across all variables through the given testing period. The 807 men evaluated at the medium-term mark had an 82 percent success rate. And of the 406 patients measured at the long-term mark, 78 percent were considered cumulative successes.

"Our results demonstrate that this minimally invasive treatment is successful in the long term and should always be presented to patients who are exploring options to resolve their BPH," remarked Dr. Pisco.

During PAE, an interventional radiologist makes a tiny incision in either the groin or wrist to insert a catheter (a small tube about the size of a strand of spaghetti) into an artery and, using image guidance, directs the catheter to the blood vessels on both sides of the enlarged prostate gland. Once there, the doctor uses microscopic beads to block the blood flow to specific areas of the prostate, depriving those cells of oxygen, which results in the gland's shrinkage. In an additional analysis, researchers found that among 112 patients who also suffered acute urinary retention (AUR) before undergoing PAE, 106 or 94.6 percent had their catheter removed between two days and three months after treatment. At medium-term and long-term follow up, 95 of the 112 (84.8 percent) and 89 of the 112 (78.5 percent) did not experience any recurrence of their AUR.

The team also performed PAE in 210 patients who had limited treatment options due to extreme enlargement of the prostate (larger than 100 cm). Of these men, 84 percent experienced cumulative success at short-term evaluation and 76.2 percent at medium- and long-term. The normal size of a prostate is 15 cm3 to 30 cm3.

While this research demonstrated that PAE was highly successful, Pisco noted that the treatment may not be appropriate for all patients, such as those with advanced arterial atherosclerosis that may be due to smoking or diabetes. He recommends that men speak with an interventional radiologist or other members of their care team to discuss treatment options.

As a next step, researchers are now conducting a study comparing the effectiveness of PAE to a sham - or placebo - treatment to address any possible placebo effect that may have occurred during Pisco's research with these 1,000 patients.

Abstract: "Short, Medium and Long-Term Outcomes of Prostate Artery Embolization for Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: 1,000 Patients." J. Pisco, Lisbon, Portugal; T. Bilhim, Lisbon, Portugal; L. Campos Pinheiro, Lisbon, Portugal, L. Fernandes, Lisbon, Portugal; N. Costa, Lisbon, Portugal; A. Oliveira Universidade Federal de Rio Grande do Norte. Natal, RN Brasil. SIR Annual Scientific Meeting, March 4-9, 2017.
During the past decade, the gut has experienced a renaissance as investigations focus on the role of the microbiome on human health. While most studies have focused on bacteria, the dominant microbial inhabitants in the gut, scientists at University of Utah Health Sciences used mouse studies to show the role of yeast in aggravating the symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Their work suggests that allopurinol, a generic drug already on the market, could offer some relief. The results of the study will be published online in Science Translational Medicine.

IBD is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that produces severe diarrhea, pain, fatigue and weight loss. For several decades, doctors have used the presence of yeast antibodies, specifically antibodies to the cell wall of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to differentiate between Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, two variations of IBD. But it was unclear the role that yeast played in relation to IBD.

"To me this was a huge hole in our understanding of the role of yeast in IBD and our health," begins June Round, Ph.D. associate professor in pathology at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

Broad surveys of yeast in the human gastrointestinal system are just now being published, but the research team chose two types of yeast that are common in the gut microbiota of healthy and IBD patients.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also called Baker's yeast, is a prominent organism in our environment and our food. Rhodotorula aurantiaca is commonly found in our environment, as well as milk and fruit juice.

In this study, the scientists gave each type of yeast to mice that had been treated with chemicals to induce IBD-like symptoms. The symptoms increased in mice fed S. cerevisiae, but not in those fed R aurantiaca. "The mice fed S. cerevisiae experienced significant weight loss, diarrhea, bloody stool, just like a person with IBD," said Tyson Chiaro, graduate student in Round's lab.

The researchers were curious as to why.

They looked at mouse intestinal compounds to decipher this mystery. Mice fed S. cerevisiae had a higher concentration of nitrogen-rich compounds, called purines, than mice fed R. aurantiaca.

Unlike other yeast varieties, S. cerevisiae cannot break down purines that accumulate in the intestinal tract and transition to another compound called uric acid. Uric acid exacerbates inflammation, which may worsen IBD symptoms.

In addition to the mouse study, the scientists examined serum samples from normal adults. "We found that every human serum sample with high S. cerevisiae antibodies also had high uric acid levels," she said. While only a subset of patients with IBD are colonized by S. cerevisiae, the findings of this study support the idea that yeast exacerbates the illness in those individuals, and that relief may be within reach.

To test the idea, the scientists treated mice with a generic drug, allopurinol, used to prevent production of uric acid in patients with gout. The drug significantly reduced intestinal inflammation in these mice.

"Our work suggests that if we can block the mechanism leading to the production of uric acid, perhaps with allopurinol, IBD patients with a high concentration of S. cerevisiae antibodies may have a new treatment option to reduce inflammation, which could allow the intestine time to heal," said Round.

Clinical trials will need to be done determine whether yeast exacerbates IBD in people as it does in mice.

Round wants to expand this work by investigating how bacteria and yeast interact with one another in the gut. "Yeast and bacteria might influence the biology of one another within our gut. Yet, we have no idea how that interaction effects human disease." said Round. "Our research will continue to explore the role intestinal micro-organisms play in our health with the hopes of identifying microbiota-based therapies to treat different diseases."

Round and Chiaro collaborated with colleagues from University of Utah School of Medicine and ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health New Innovator Award, Edward Mallinckrodt J. Foundation, Pew Scholars Program, NSF Career award, Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering.
Johns Hopkins researchers report that in-home occupational therapy appears to reduce the rate and severity of depression in people at higher risk for the disorder because of seriously impaired vision.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says older adults in the United States are already at an increased risk of depression as their health and social lives change. Vision-impairing diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, contribute to these changes for an estimated 1.6 million Americans.

The new study, described in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, used measures obtained from the previous Low Vision Depression Prevention Trial in Age-Related Macular Degeneration (VITAL) study to conclude that low-vision patients who improve in their day-to-day functions, such as cooking, reading mail or using a computer, through at-home training with an occupational therapist have less severe symptoms of depression than similar patients who did not train with an occupational therapist.

"Our goal for this study was to see if occupational therapy was a better investment than supportive therapy in preventing depression in low-vision patients," says Ashley Deemer, O.D., instructor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The study was based on information originally gathered for the VITAL study at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and included data on 188 patients with age-related macular degeneration. The patients' average age was 84, and 70.2 percent of the patients were women. The patients had an average visual acuity of 20/96, meaning that the average person in this study could see an object 20 feet away, while someone with normal vision could see the same object at 96 feet. All patients also reported borderline depressive symptoms, scoring greater than five on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, a clinical survey used to estimate depression risk. In this survey, a score of zero is an indication that the patient has no depression or is at a low risk, and a score of 20 or higher marks a patient as at risk for severe depression.

After enrollment in the study, all patients visited a low vision rehabilitation optometrist and filled out a questionnaire designed to assess the importance and difficulty of daily activities, such as cooking, driving, pleasure reading and using a computer.

Patients were then divided into two treatment groups - an occupational therapy group and a supportive therapy group. The group of patients receiving occupational therapy met with an occupational therapist for six one-hour sessions in their homes. Utilizing tools like magnifying glasses, electronic devices and computer programs, the occupational therapist helped train patients to find new ways to achieve the tasks patients had ranked as both important and difficult.

"For example, if a patient had difficulty reading his or her mail, the therapist would use a magnification device to train and practice with the patient until he or she could successfully read the mail," says Deemer.

The supportive therapy group acted as a control group for comparison. These patients met with a social worker for six one-hour sessions of talk therapy, which emphasized personal expression about loss and disability. In essence, the researchers say, this group got attention and empathetic support but not specific occupational therapy directed to improve their ability to function.

Four months after treatment, the researchers followed up with the patients in the study. Before treatment, the occupational therapy group's average PHQ-9 score was 5.5, and the supportive therapy group's average score was 5.6, placing both groups at the borderline of having a depressive disorder. After re-administering the questionnaire after treatment, the researchers found that the occupational therapy patient group's average score decreased to 4.62 and the supportive therapy's score decreased to 4.54.

At this follow-up, the researchers found that 26 percent of the supportive therapy patients reported that their depression symptoms worsened, while only 12 percent of the occupational therapy patients reported worsening symptoms. In total, these data show that while both forms of therapy decreased depression in patients, the group that received occupational therapy reduced its risk of depression by much more.

Comprehensive low vision rehabilitative services typically incorporate specialized care from an optometrist and other rehabilitation therapists, including occupational therapists. Because the VITAL study was not originally designed to distinguish the differences among these particular low-vision rehabilitation services, Deemer says one limitation of her findings is the researchers were unable to measure visual function improvements from occupational therapy services alone. Rather, the effects on visual function seen here are the result of comprehensive low vision rehabilitative care, including services given by both the optometrist and the occupational therapist.

Deemer says the costs associated with occupational therapy are often covered by Medicare, but such services appear to be underutilized.

"Many caregivers and patients may not realize how prevalent depression is among people with low vision, and our duty as health care providers is to raise awareness of the problem and the availability of help," says Deemer. "It is good practice not only to refer low vision patients to a mental health expert, but to also suggest low vision rehabilitation and occupational therapy, which could have a huge impact on our patients' lives."

This work was supported by National Eye Institute grant U01 EY018819.

Article: Functional Outcomes of the Low Vision Depression Prevention Trial in Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Ashley D. Deemer; Robert W. Massof; Barry W. Rovner; Robin J. Casten; Catherine V. Piersol, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, doi:10.1167/iovs.16-20001, published March 2017.
Fragile X syndrome is the most common cause of autism. Even though the single gene that's responsible for it was discovered in 1991, and the disease is detected by a simple blood test, there's no treatment or cure.

A team of researchers led by Michigan State University, however, has provided a promising lead in battling this disease. In the current issue of Nature Communications, the scientists identified a single protein that appears to be the culprit in causing many behavioral symptoms as well as molecular and cellular abnormalities related to Fragile X.

"We began with 600-800 potential protein targets, searching for the equivalent of a needle in a haystack," said Hongbing Wang, MSU physiologist and study co-author. "Our needle turned out to be ADCY1. When we compared levels of this protein in Fragile X mouse model to normal controls, we saw a 20-25 percent increase of ADCY1."

Subsequent tests of the team's prime-target protein on the Fragile X mouse model revealed four key results. First, by reducing the expression of ADCY1, the team eliminated many autism-like behaviors. Second, the protein's increased expression caused increased signaling in neurons. By reducing levels of ADCY1, the team dampened neuron signaling to levels within a normal range.

Lastly, neurons associated with Fragile X have excessive dendritic spines, or bumps, when compared to those in healthy patients. Reduction of the rampant protein also resulted in improving the appearance of the neurons.

Finding a single target that's responsible for so many of the causes makes the research attractive to pharmaceutical companies, Wang said.

"Our research has identified a key target and a new approach that could easily be pursued by pharmaceutical companies," he said. "We've shown an accessible target that, through treatment using NB001, suppresses activity. The next steps would be to test toxicity and optimization."

NB001, an experimental compound that also holds potential as a painkiller, delivered positive preliminary toxicity tests as well as demonstrated the ability to pass the blood brain barrier, the protective membrane separating the bloodstream from brain extracellular fluid.

Although the study revealed a critical target and potential medicine, the findings are still years away from being considered for human clinical trials, Wang added.

In addition to potential drug development for adults, future studies could focus on children. Since the team studied adult mice, the question of catching the problem at an earlier age has yet to be addressed. If caught at an early age by a blood test, could the disease be stopped before symptoms surfaced?

Additional MSU researchers who were part of this study include Ferzin Sethna, Qi Ding and Alfred Robison. Wei Feng and Yue Feng with Emory University also contributed to the paper.

The National Institutes of Health and FRAXA Research Foundation funded this research.
A team of researchers repaired a hole in a mouse's skull by regrowing "quality bone," a breakthrough that could drastically improve the care of people who suffer severe trauma to the skull or face.

The work by a joint team of Northwestern University and University of Chicago researchers was a resounding success, showing that a potent combination of technologies was able to regenerate the skull bone with supporting blood vessels in just the discrete area needed without developing scar tissue - and more rapidly than with previous methods.

"The results are very exciting," said Guillermo Ameer, professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, and professor of surgery at Feinberg School of Medicine.

Supported by the China Scholarship Council, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Chicago Community Trust, and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the research was published in the journal PLOS One. Russell Reid, associate professor of surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center, is the article's corresponding author. Reid, his long-time collaborator Dr. Tong-Chuan He, and colleagues in Hyde Park brought the surgical and biological knowledge and skills. Zari P. Dumanian, affiliated with the medical center's surgery department, was the paper's first author.

"This project was a true collaborative team effort in which our Regenerative Engineering Laboratory provided the biomaterials expertise," Ameer said.

Injuries or defects in the skull or facial bones are very challenging to treat, often requiring the surgeon to graft bone from the patient's pelvis, ribs, or elsewhere, a painful procedure in itself. Difficulties increase if the injury area is large or if the graft needs to be contoured to the angle of the jaw or the cranial curve.

But if all goes well with this new approach, it may make painful bone grafting obsolete.

In the experiment, the researchers harvested skull cells from the mouse and engineered them to produce a potent protein to promote bone growth. They then used Ameer's hydrogel, which acted like a temporary scaffolding, to deliver and contain these cells to the affected area. It was the combination of all three technologies that proved so successful, Ameer said.

Using calvaria or skull cells from the subject meant the body didn't reject those cells.

The protein, BMP9, has been shown to promote bone cell growth more rapidly than other types of BMPs. Importantly, BMP9 also appeared to improve the creation of blood vessels in the area. Being able to safely deliver skull cells that are capable of rapidly regrowing bone in the affected site, in vivo as opposed to using them to grow bone in the laboratory, which would take a very long time, promises a therapy that might be more "surgeon friendly, if you will, and not too complicated to scale up for the patients," Ameer said.

The scaffolding developed in Ameer's laboratory, which is a material based on citric acid and called PPCN-g, is a liquid that when warmed to body temperature becomes a gel-like elastic material. "When applied, the liquid, which contains cells capable of producing bone, will conform to the shape of the bone defect to make a perfect fit," Ameer said. "It then stays in place as a gel, localizing the cells to the site for the duration of the repair." As the bone regrows, the PPCN-g is reabsorbed by the body.

"What we found is that these cells make natural-looking bone in the presence of the PPCN-g," Ameer said. "The new bone is very similar to normal bone in that location."

In fact, the three-part method was successful on a number of fronts: The regenerated bone was better quality, the bone growth was contained to the area defined by the scaffolding, the area healed much more quickly, and the new and old bone were continuous with no scar tissue.

The potential, if the procedure can be adapted to treat people that suffered trauma from car accidents or aggressive cancers that have affected the skull or face, would be huge, and give surgeons a much-sought-after option.

"The reconstruction procedure is a lot easier when you can harvest a few cells, make them produce the BMP9 protein, mix them in the PPCN-g solution, and apply it to the bone defect site to jump-start the new bone growth process where you want it." Ameer said.

Ameer cautioned that the technology is years away to being used in humans, but added, "We did show proof of concept that we can heal large defects in the skull that would normally not heal on their own using a protein, cells and a new material that come together in a completely new way. Our team is very excited about these findings and the future of reconstructive surgery."
Babies in prams accompanying older siblings on the school run are twice as likely to be exposed to harmful air pollution in the morning than in the afternoon, a new study has found.

The new research, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, highlights the high levels exposure of babies in prams to fine and ultrafine particulate matter during the morning drop-in hours of school children compared with the afternoon drop-off hours.

The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Surrey, also revealed that the worst places for infants to be exposed was at bus stops and traffic lights when they are waiting to cross roads.

A recent WHO report states that 570,000 children under the age of 5 die every year from respiratory infections, such as pneumonia, attributable to indoor and outdoor air pollution, and second-hand smoke.

Surrey researchers carried out a series of experiments using high specification air monitoring equipment located inside a pram to gauge the kind of pollutants and toxic chemicals toddlers are exposed to when accompanying older siblings during the school drop off/pick up peak times.

During the study tests, the monitoring equipment simulated the average primary school drop off/pick up, passing through a number of traffic intersections and bus stops during the drop-in (morning) and pick-up (afternoon) hours.

Primarily, the work of the research group identified that traffic intersections and bus stops emerged as pollution hotspots, with high levels of both coarse (PM2.5-10) and fine (PM2.5) particles.

The researchers also found that small-sized particles, including ultrafine particles, were higher on an average by about 47% (PM1), 31% (PM2.5) and 31% (PNC) during the morning than afternoon hours, reflecting the influence of traffic emissions during the morning peak hours.

Coarse particles (PM2.5-10) showed an opposite trend with 70% higher concentration during afternoon than morning, indicating that re-suspension was affected by the wetness of road pavement due to overnight dew in the early mornings.

The above findings clearly suggest much higher concentrations of fine and ultrafine particles during the morning peak hours, especially at the traffic intersections and bus stops, substantiating their past research findings.

Dr Prashant Kumar, lead author and Reader at the University of Surrey, said: "Previous research has shown that young children are far more susceptible to pollution than adults, due to their immature and developing systems and lower body weight. These findings provide an insight for families who walk to and from nursery/primary schools with young children. Essentially, children could be at risk of breathing in some nasty and harmful chemical species such as iron, aluminium and silica that form together the particles of various size ranges.

"One of the simplest ways to combat this is to use a barrier between the in-pram children and the exhaust emissions, especially at pollution hotspots such as traffic intersections, so parents could use pram covers if at all possible. We are also working closely with our industrial partners to develop innovative methods to clean the air around the children in their in-pram microenvironments."

This project has been carried out under the framework of the University Global Partnership Network funded project, NEST-SEAS (Next-Generation Environmental Sensing for Local To Global Scale Health Impact Assessment).

The research was carried out in Guildford, Surrey, in the United Kingdom.

Article: Exposure of in-pram babies to airborne particles during morning drop-in and afternoon pick-up of school children, Prashant Kumar, Ioar Rivas, Lovish Sachdeva, Environmental Pollution, doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.02.021, published online 6 March 2017.
BLAINVILLE

OSAKA, Japan

March 10, 2017

the United States

Canada

the United States

Canada

the United States

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April 2014

Canada

Isao Teshirogi

February 2013

Canada

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Florham Park, NJ

London, England

, QC and/CNW Telbec/ - Duchesnay, a specialty pharma company with a long-standing commitment to women's health, has acquired exclusive U.S. and Canadian rights to market and distribute Osphena(ospemifene) from Shionogi Inc. Osphenais the only oral, non-hormonal prescription medication indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe dyspareunia (painful intercourse), a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy (VVA) due to menopause. The acquisition is effective immediately.The exclusive rights granted to Duchesnay enable the company to develop, manufacture and commercialize ospemifene-based products inand. Duchesnay intends to immediately begin detailing Osphenainthrough its existing sales force which has well-established relationships with healthcare providers focused on women's health issues. The company will also pursue regulatory approvals in. Shionogi Inc. will continue to book sales for Osphenainthrough March 31, 2021, and is expected to continue to supply Osphenato Duchesnay for 8 years from the effective date of the transaction."We are very pleased to be continuing the excellent work done by Shionogi with Osphenain the U.S and look forward to introducing this new product inas soon as possible to help the thousands of women suffering from dyspareunia", said Eric Gervais, Executive Vice President of Duchesnay.It is estimated that 50% of postmenopausal women experience VVA symptoms and that 40% of these women also suffer from dyspareunia (Parish, Sharon, Int J Womens Health 2013: 5: 437-447). A survey of women with VVA undergoing therapy found that approximately 35% had concerns about hormone exposure (Krychman et al.,, Revive Survey). With the acquisition of Osphena, Duchesnay can now offer these women a non-hormonal oral treatment option. The addition of Osphenato the Duchesnay product portfolio is also expected to enhance the company's robust relationship with the leading healthcare professionals by providing them with an additional resource to address their postmenopausal patients' health needs."Shionogi feels that Duchesnay is the ideal partner to maximize the value of Osphenabecause of its track record of success, sole focus on women's health and commitment to improving the health of women. We are also very happy to embark in this new endeavor with Duchesnay to bring Osphenato patients in," said Dr., President and CEO of Shionogi & Co., Ltd.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Osphenafor the treatment of moderate to severe dyspareunia, a symptom of VVA, due to menopause in. That same year, the Cleveland Clinic recognized Osphenaas one of the top 100 women's health highlights of the year. Osphenais included in guidelines issued by both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).Under the terms of the transaction, Shionogi Inc. will receive certain minimum payments quarterly over a period of 8 yearsUnder certain conditions dependent upon annual Osphenaperformance, Shionogi Inc. may also be eligible to receive additional payments.Shionogi Inc. will continue to retain its rights to ospemifene in all other countries of the world.This acquisition enhances Duchesnay's commitment to being a leader in the field of women's health, serving as a complement to the company's flagship product, Diclegis(Diclectinin) and its multivitamin/multimineral supplement tablets, Mterytiand MterytiFolic 5 (Pregvitand PregvitFolic 5 in). As a company, Duchesnay is dedicated to women's health at every stage of life.Osphenais a prescription oral pill that treats moderate to severe painful intercourse, a symptom of changes in and around the vagina, due to menopause.Duchesnay is a specialty pharmaceutical company with a long-standing commitment to women's health. In addition to filling the void in terms of scientific research, education and information and developing pharmacological solutions that are safe for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding, Duchesnay is equally committed to ensuring women's health and improving their quality of life at every stage.Thus, Duchesnay has broadened its portfolio of products to offer safe and effective therapeutic options that meet the health and quality of life needs of women and their family members at different stages of their lives. To learn more about Duchesnay, visit duchesnay.comShionogi & Co., Ltd. is a major research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing benefits to patients based on its corporate philosophy of "supplying the best possible medicine to protect the health and well-being of the patients we serve." Shionogi's research and development currently targets two therapeutic areas: infectious diseases and pain/CNS disorders. A 138 year old company, Shionogi has developed and commercialized innovative oral and parenteral anti-infectives for over 50 years. In addition, Shionogi is engaged in new research areas, such as obesity/geriatric metabolic disease and oncology/immunology. Contributing to the health and quality of life of patients around the world through development in these therapeutic areas is Shionogi's primary goal. For more details, please visit www.shionogi.co.jp/en/. For more information on Shionogi Inc., the US-based subsidiary of Shionogi & Co., Ltd., headquartered in, USA, please visit www.shionogi.com. For more information on Shionogi Ltd., the European-based subsidiary of Shionogi & Co., Ltd., headquartered in, please visit www.shionogi.eu.SOURCE Duchesnay inc.
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"Self-reported overweight people were significantly more likely to believe obesity is caused by genetics than normal weight people," Joslyn said. "The belief that obesity is due to genetics tends to remove blame. Obesity is not a choice, some would argue, but rather people are simply genetically wired to be obese. In this way, overweight people are motivated to believe in the genetics-obesity link. We found normal weight people were not so motivated."Joslyn and Don Haider-Markel, chair and professor of the Department of Political Science, published their findings recently in the journal American Politics Research.The research could have important implications for policymakers, especially at the local and state levels that tend to focus on public health interventions, either through appealing to healthy lifestyles by constructing biking and walking paths to encourage exercise or by passing stricter regulations on food and drinks, such as demanding publication of calorie counts and levying taxes on soft drinks.Former New York City Mayor - and billionaire - Michael Bloomberg has donated millions of dollars to fund pro-soda tax initiatives in major cities. Berkeley, California, and Philadelphia are among those that have passed them in recent years.Most Americans oppose bans on large-size drinks and higher soda taxes, Joslyn said, which is likely a disparity between the perception of the problem and support for government intervention. Those who have argued against soda taxes, for example, often refer to a "nanny state," blaming government intervention when they perceive personal choice is causing the problem.For policymakers, as obesity rates continue to climb and the debate surrounding how to make people healthier continues, the genetic attribution as a cause may continue to rise as well, which could influence people's opposition to certain practices."To the extent that genetic attributions increase in popularity, stronger opposition to discriminatory hiring practices by weight can be expected," Joslyn said.Also, it's likely the issue remains politicized because most Republicans are inclined to support individual blame for obesity and not supportive of government regulations.Lastly, while the soda taxes have gained much attention, most government action recently does seem to be directed toward changing people's individual behavior, such as developing public spaces to encourage fitness and ways to discourage unhealthy eating habits, like publication of calorie counts."If obesity persists in the face of such initiatives, blame and discrimination of obese people is likely to continue," Joslyn said. "On the other hand, if governments treat obesity similar to diseases that afflict the population, as circumstances beyond the control of individuals, then individual blame and discrimination may diminish."Source: Eurekalert


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While the super rich industrialists invite A-listers from Bollywood to dance at their weddings, this couple from Perth had all their stars in place when none other than Thor star, Chris Hemsworth, crashed their wedding shoot. Anneka and Kent were busy getting their wedding pictures clicked on the beach at Byron Bay in New South Wales, when Hemsworth walked in and posed for pictures with them.

 Instagram

Much to the embarrassment of everybody, the bride did not recognize him and kept asking the groom Kent who was this person who seemed to be crashing their wedding shoot. She confessed, I was wondering, Why we were getting a photo with a random person? I was saying, Who is this person?

 Instagram

Turns out that Chris was taking a walk on the beach when the couples best man spotted him and asked him if he could take a pic or two with the newly-wed couple. He told news.com.au, It was Chris Hemsworth on the beach and he (the best man) was like, Hey, do you think you could get a photo with the bride and groom? And of course, Thor agreed.

 Instagram

Chris Hemsworth owns a home at Byron Bay that he purchased in 2014, and is often seen chilling at the beach. Luckily, for the newly-wed couple, he was enjoying a stroll on the beach with his wife and kids.

Now we know we will never see Shah Rukh dancing at our wedding, we wonder if getting married at a star destination might get us lucky.
The Google Pixel is widely considered one of the best smartphones of 2016. Google made a premium Android phone that is long lasting, has a fresh take on design and has a stunning camera. However, the Pixel is currently facing some major hardware problems as a flurry of complaints have emerged.

 Google

Google has confirmed that some models of the Pixels have a faulty microphone, which prevents the phone from recording audio. Google also clarified that this is a hardware issue and cannot be fixed by software updates. Google will recall all the affected phones and replace them with brand new Pixel handsets.

 Thinkstock

The Vice President of Product Management at Google, Brian Rakowski, responded to a disgruntled post in the official forums stating:

We do believe this is a hardware issue. You are correct that software updates will not fix it. We are taking additional steps to qualify refurbished phones to make sure they don't have this mic problem. It's possible that some replacement phones were not properly qualified before we understood this issue, but that's no longer the case.

 YouTube

Rakowski further detailed that a hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec, caused the problem. He also informed users that this problem persists in less than one percent of the total number of Pixels produced and advises all affected users to send in their Pixels for a replacement.

This is not the first time where the Pixel and Pixel XL has faced issues. A lens flare was caused due to the shape of the lens on the camera where Google tried to partially fix it via a software update. Of course, these issues seem insignificant when compared to Samsungs exploding battery issue, however, this minor setback might reflect on sales if this problem is not dealt with soon.
Best-selling author and academic says initiative could play a major role in revitalizing the struggling world economy

Peter Frankopan says China with its Belt and Road Initiative - one of the government's key strategies discussed at the two sessions - is revitalizing what could be a major new axis for world trade.

The director of the Centre for Byzantine Research at Oxford University and author of the best-selling The Silk Roads, believes it could provide the global economy with a new much needed growth engine.

"The reason why there is so much excitement about these routes is because they have existed before. You only have to look back in history to see how all these connections and pathways were made," he says.

Peter Frankopan, director of the Centre for Byzantine Research at Oxford University, says it is not just China but other countries which see the opportunities provided by the Belt and Road Initiative. Nick J.b. Moore / For China Daily

"If they have existed before it can work again. It will lead to a greater level of ease of distributing goods and services along the routes which will make the whole process cheaper and quicker."

The Belt and Road Initiative consists of The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road.

More than 30 countries along the routes have signed cooperative agreements with China. Last Year Chinese companies invested $14.5 billion in markets along them.

Zong Qinghou, deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman and general manager of Hangzhou Wahaha Group, China's largest soft drinks maker, said the new routes provided opportunities not just for Chinese companies but to local businesses too.

"The Belt and Road countries are full of business opportunities and development potential. Investment in the countries and regions is not only able to help the development of local economies, but also promote the transformation of domestic industry," he said.

Frankopan, whose book topped The Sunday Times bestseller list and was translated into Chinese in October 2016, says it is not just China but other countries which see the opportunities provided by these routes.

"Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the Central Asian republics have all started to think about their economic futures in terms of these connections. You get leaders in the Saudi Arabian press talking about the new silk roads and how Saudi Arabia fits into this," he says.

The academic says China's reaching out through the initiative comes at a time when the United States is talking the language of isolationism and protectionism.

"What everyone is waiting to see is whether the rhetoric and language of American isolationism becomes a fact," he says.

"If these signals are right and America is pulling back, then China's fostering of new links, particularly with countries with which it borders on the West, gains greater significance."

Frankopan, 45, became interested in the East at the exclusive British public school Eton, where he won a scholarship, largely due to an inspirational teacher.

"I had a fantastic Russian teacher who used to say the best way to learn a language was to sing its peasant songs. He was sent by the school to Baghdad and when he came back he said he would teach us Arabic if we wanted to learn," he recalls.

He went on to study history Jesus College, Cambridge, where he received a prize for the highest first of his year.

He then did both a master's and doctorate in Byzantine history before embarking on an academic career, which he has mostly spent at Oxford, apart from brief spells at Harvard and Princeton.

Despite being British, he also happens to be a Croatian prince, also having the title Count Doimi de Lupis.

"In a bygone age that might have meant something," he says. "I am from a very old family that traces itself back to the Dalmatian coast 700 or 800 years. Nowadays it closes as many doors as it opens."

The historian, however, has come to greater prominence as a result of the huge success of his book, which is also evidence of the interest in the new relevance of these ancient trade routes.

Frankopan insists the new connectivity is not just about building new roads and infrastructure.

"We think above all about roads, trains, ports and airport hubs but it is now also about digital connectivity and internet access," he says.

"Fundamentally, it is also about rule of law. In the book I quote a Chinese text from the 7th century which is about Syria and the protections people had under then law. Today this is still vital as far as how your rights are protected as either an importer or exporter."

The author says it will take many years to assess the success of China's new initiative.

"This transformation of its backyard cannot really happen over four or five years. This is something that is being done for the long term and I think that is also China's own investment horizon and political agenda. It is much more likely to be successful with a longer time scale."

He insists that key to its success is fostering these relationships with the countries on the new routes.

"These types of relationships take an enormously long time to build up. It is about learning how to get on with people, working out what they are like and building strong diplomatic ties."

Frankopan, who addressed Britain's All Party Parliamentary China Group at Westminster earlier this month, says there is a growing awareness in Europe about how important these routes can be.

"I think the question in the UK, in particular, is how do we play a part in this. I think it means spending more time in these regions, sending senior figures and to constantly talk to those in Beijing about initiatives like the AIIB (Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank) and how we can play a more active role."

andrewmoody@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 03/10/2017 page7)
Innovation

Humans, animals and the environment  our health is all connected

Why the One Health approach is important now more than ever
File photo of former Utah Republican Governor Jon Huntsman. [Photo/VCG]

WASHINGTON - Former Utah Republican Governor Jon Huntsman has accepted President Donald Trump's offer to be ambassador to Russia, an administration official said on Wednesday.

The job, which requires Senate confirmation, would put Huntsman in Moscow at a time when US-Russian ties have sunk to a post-Cold War low.

Huntsman served as ambassador to China under Democratic President Barack Obama before launching an unsuccessful bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Trump has said he wants to improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which deteriorated under Obama.

The tensions peaked in December when Obama expelled 35 Russian suspected spies after US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia hacked and leaked Democratic emails during the 2016 election campaign as part of an effort to tilt the vote in Trump's favor. The Kremlin has denied the allegations.

Reuters
Kazakhstan to increase frequency of flights to Georgia

Kazakh Airlines Air Astana will increase the frequency of flights to Georgia starting from June, the press-service of the company said in a message March 3.In June, we will be increasing flights to Tbilisi. Almaty-Tbilisi will become a daily service; Astana-Tbilisi will operate 4 times a week, the company said.Currently, Air Astana operates two flights per week on both Almaty-Tbilisi and Astana- Tbilisi destinations.In June-September 2017, Kazakhstan will host EXPO-2017 exhibition. Over 100 countries will take part in the exhibition. Kazakhstan plans to launch a number of new flights and increase the frequency of existing flights in period of EXPO.
New Russia nuke deployment strategy could unleash massive tidal wave that destroys the entire East Coast of the USA

A Russian military expert, retired army colonel and former spokesman for the Defense Ministry says in a recently-published tabloid article that one asymmetrical response Moscow has taken to counter the massive amounts of money the U.S. spends on its military is to seed the Atlantic coastline of America with self-burrowing nuclear bombs.

In a recent article, published in the Russian paper Komsomolskaya Pravda, titled, Trump-Pump-Pump And Our Big Bang, Viktor Baranetz explained that Moscow is deploying mole missiles that dig themselves in and sleep until they are given the command to detonate, thereby creating a massive tidal wave that would overwhelm certain major American coastal cities.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors such communiques, a spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, denied those claims, telling reporters who asked about the article, This sounds strange, to say the least, and so I would suggest that you not take newspaper reports like this seriously. (RELATED: Russia Planning To Field Defense-Evading Hypersonic Missiles By 2020)

However, Baranetz nevertheless stood by his claims and, to some observers, he seems credible.

The U.S. is the permanent world champion in the size of its military budget  almost $600 billion, which is 10 times more than Russias, he wrote. Even if we add together the military budgets of the top ten countries in the world, they would not reach the American budget! Now it turns out that even that is not enough for Donald Trump. He intends to increase defense expenditure by $54 billion. This money would be enough to maintain five Polish armies. Or 10 Ukrainian ones.

He goes on to say that Trump is attempting to buy the loyalty and support of the U.S. military  a concept that may be necessary for Russia to maintain power, but one that does not apply to our military, which follows the orders of the commander-in-chief, regardless who he or she may be. And besides, most servicemen and servicewomen surveyed said they preferred Trump over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Still, Trump does want to boost military spending, which the Pentagon says is necessary to rebuild and revitalize a force badly worn down and then neglected during the Obama administration. For their part, Baranetz and other Russian military officials believe that President Trump is being goaded into spending more on the U.S. military as a bulwark against the Russian armed forces, which they say are beginning to become a threat once more.

Former Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army Yuri Baluyevsky is certain that the idea to increase defense expenditure was presented to Trump by the U.S. military, who argue a lot about the power of the Russian army, realizing this is an opportunity to get new money.

Fair enough. But how is Moscow planning to counter this new influx of cash, if it materializes, since it cannot hope to match U.S. military spending anytime soon?

Says Baluyevsky, Russia will not compete with the U.S. in defense expenditure. We are in a different weight class. For us, the main question is how to ensure Russias defense at a lower cost. I am sure that we have already found asymmetrical responses. I dont see a big problem here.

Baranetz assures readers that the commanding generals use of the term asymmetrical response isnt just a fancy phrase. He goes on to say that one such response has been the development of nuclear warheads capable of modifying their course and height, thereby making it impossible for U.S. missile defense computers to lock onto them and destroy them. (RELATED: Geopolitical Observers See World War III Developing Once More In Europe, As Civil Unrest Fears Grow)

Or, for example, the Americans are deploying their tanks, airplanes and special forces battalions along the Russian border, he wrote. And we are quietly seeding the U.S. shoreline with nuclear mole missiles

Oh, it seems Ive said too much. I should hold my tongue.

Now, this could be carefully placed propaganda  or it could be 100 percent accurate. After all, a Russian spy vessel was spotted near the U.S. coast near a Connecticut sub base recently; could it have really been deploying mole missiles?

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

MEMRI.org

GoodGopher.com

MilitaryTimes.com
Mr. Rector, thank you very much for the invitation. Normally, before I became Minister, every Friday between 2 to 3 p.m. I used to teach Foreign Policy of China, and between 3 to 6 p.m., Foreign Policy of Russia.

It is a great pleasure to be here in Yerevan, the capital of a friendly country with which Greece maintains close historical, cultural and religious ties.

It is an even greater pleasure, and very moving, to be here among students of the International Relations Department of the University of Yerevan.

You may know that I have taught International Relations for almost three decades.

And I am deeply grateful and honoured to be receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Yerevan.

Yesterday, as I was laying a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Memorial, I was thinking that Armenians and Greeks, throughout their centuries-long common History, have experienced similar dramas; they have suffered many tragedies. At the same time, thinking and re-thinking about the past, we have to walk together on the path of the future; the path of peace and cooperation.

And this is something we need to remind to our common neighbours, who need to realise that the path of confrontation and revisionism leads nowhere.

We live in an era when the world is changing in two directions. One direction is globalisation. And the second is that society is moving on to a paradigm, a new manner of production, which some refer to as the "second machine age". Others call it the "fourth industrial revolution."



What is the fundamental characteristic of this change in production?

It is that physical power is being replaced, to a great extent, by intellectual power.



Humankind is no longer in the first machine age, when the machine was an extension of its physical strength.



Man is now in the second machine age, where his intellectual attributes are being adopted, replaced, used by new types of machines associated with informatics and other new technologies.



And the question is: what capacity do these digital machines have?

They reproduce intellectual wealth and knowledge, and they reproduce it in a special way. We have the digital machines themselves, which reproduce knowledge. After the era of the industrial revolution, when large industrial units were built, we have now an opposite trend, which is the trend towards nanotechnology. A tiny robot circulates in your blood and it can even photograph or alter what it finds in front of it. Even in the most widespread medical treatment, you can swallow a tiny chip and it can film the body's whole medical record.



So, next to the trend we had in the first machine age, which brought, we now have the small machine. For example, we have the bulky old photocopy machine that your professors send you to for photocopies. And we now have the 3-D printer, which can produce anything from buildings to weapons. It can be very useful in construction, but very dangerous when used by terrorists.



What is more interesting to me about this new smart era we are living in is that machines are gaining the capacity to replicate natural phenomena and act like organic beings. You will see many machines reproducing, like plants that climb and weave themselves, like parasites, around a tree. Or machines that can replicate the movements of animals. For instance, scientists know that one of the most interesting living things is the ant. A creature we usually walk past and ignore as something unworthy of our attention.



But ant societies can weigh as much as 30 or 40 kilos, with considerable power when they move, with unique systems of communication, with exceptional internal organization of work which we are studying. And they are part of this replication of nature's systems. We don't have just the replication of one movement of the hand, as in the industrial revolution.

Nowadays, we have the replication of whole systems or whole systems of teamwork.



We have to add robotics, the technology that produces robots, even replicating the movements of the human being. And, for sure, investment in this sector is very important for both countries.



So, the first trend is that of the fourth industrial revolution, the time for creation. On the other hand, we have the trend of the 'unification' of the world: globalisation. But there is no pure trend of globalisation. And there is also the trend of fragmentation. Look at how the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia broke up.



In the 1990s, a debate began at the universities -in California at the beginning- as to whether or not the nation state will survive. Are we going towards a global society where the nation state will not survive? Or is the nation state acquiring a new function in the system? In fact, in the 1990s there was a significant trend that said that the nation state is obsolete and that from now on the dynamics of globalisation will prevail, or at least of regional integration. Others fewer- had the opinion that the national state, now, in the time of globalisation, will become stronger. Will we have nation states or not?



In my view, which I made public in a discussion we had at Harvard at the beginning of this century, each nation state has its capabilities. It depends on these capabilities whether it can survive or not.

The question is: can it survive? Can it have the capacity in the era of globalisation? Will the nation state be proactive enough to survive in the 21st century? After all, as you may know from history, more than 6,600 nations and political entities have become extinct. Life is tough, and the nation state, despite what they said, is surviving -that is my position.



But the nation state that survives is one that is more proactive. One that has a proactive foreign policy and develops specific capabilities, this one will survive.



What capabilities does it need to grow strong in the 21st century? Three.



First, to have the capacity to recognize the problems in a timely manner, before they become too big to deal with.



Second, to come up with alternative scenarios and alternative solutions. Looking for what might happen without restraining ourselves and by thinking "outside of the box".



Third, to be able to choose the best possible solution. As we know from game theory, the 'best solution' is one thing, and the 'best possible solution' is another.

I don't know if you remember a scene from the movie "A Beautiful Mind". Four men are in a bar, and five women walk in. Four couples form. Which woman is left out? The most beautiful.



Why? Because each man believes that the most beautiful woman is not for me, is for somebody else", and they go for the second best solution. This is a classic scenario in game theory. This is why I say: "To find the 'best possible', and not the best of all."



In this new era of ours, with its new technologies and innovation -the second machine age, the special role of a proactive nation state and foreign policy requires certain things. It requires a focus on the protection of the rights of the individual and of personal liberties.



Why personal liberties are so important today, more than ever? Because it is an era that needs creativity. It is an era when there should not be self-censorship. Always you have to express your opinion. It is an era when one has to be able to put forward ground-breaking proposals.



So, liberty is not only a moral right for the human beings. As it was first said by the great Nobel Laureate of the poor, Amartya Sen -- "the main thing is that this freedom is, not only a moral, but also an economic necessity." But this personal liberty must be integrated into collective efforts. This freedom must be manifested and protected within a framework. The freedom of action as a freedom to think about the future and that is special for young people- we have to have the right to dream. Neither individuals nor nation states can thrive without dreams, without vision, without values. And the problem of vision and values today is a problem of the European Union.



One of the problems the European Union has today is that we limit our thinking. We are thinking more and more like a bureaucracy and not like a creative politician.



We are constantly thinking about whom to impose sanctions on, where we will impose an embargo. Or on how we will force an austerity memorandum on a country  as it happened in Greece. Is it possible that young people are dreaming about sanctions and embargo? Are these the values that we offer them?



We have lost the ability to reflect on what kind of Europe we want in the 21st century, what we want its role to be. How we can make our European home attractive.



We need dreams. To have a vision, to secure our countries economically. We need to think about high technology as a social good. What else we need? Energy, investment, education and research.



But, the most decisive element of the new society of knowledge is the individual and his capacity to innovate. To dream, to change. From a small thing, to a whole society. You must not cut spending on the human being, on the human mind. And by "investing in the individual", I mean investment in the mind of the people, in their culture, so that we are not just "idiot specialists", as they said in the 19th century.



We need to widen the horizons of the young people, not be afraid of 'the new', and we need to learn from history. As I always say, to my students and colleagues at the Foreign Affairs Council, history has to be a school, not a prison. Because if it is a prison, you have to future. If you learn from history, then you will have the best possible future.



If we want history to be a school, we need to learn how to create a social political model that can face crises. We have many forms of crises in the European Union. Refugee crisis, financial crisis, currency crisis. We have Brexit.



But the core of these crises is that the EU does not have the mechanisms to manage the crises. We have a crisis of management. And why? Because we do not have a vision, we forget our values and without vision, without a plan or a thought where we would like to be in the 21st century, after 20 or 30 years, there is no future.



And you need personalities who take the risks and think about creating a new situation. Not bureaucrats. The debate on the future of Europe must open once again. And the participants in this debate must include citizens and politicians as well as scientists from countries with close ties to Europe, like Armenia.



I have to say that our European policy is a part of our foreign policy. A very important part of our foreign policy is what we call "a policy of triangles". Relationships, that is, between European and non-European states to help bring them closer to the European Union.



Greece has developed systematic cooperation, on all levels and in the most diverse political regions, in multiple sectors, ranging from culture and education to economy and industry.



The core of these triangular partnerships are Greece and Cyprus two European States -and we are about to form a new one between Greece and Bulgaria- cooperating with countries that are outside of the EU.



We maintain such partnerships with Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon, and we are going to form a new one with two European countries and Armenia too.



We are also promoting a cooperation platform between six European countries and the Arab world -- now twelve Arab countries. The Rhodes Conference for Security and Stability because the first meeting was in Rhodes. We are planning on holding the second conference this coming May.



If you look at a map, the geography, Southern Europe --the Balkans and Italy-- forms a continuous region with the Eastern Mediterranean and the six Gulf States. This continuity existed in the past, for 3000 years, forming a region of wealth and cooperation, with major trade networks and exchange of knowledge and culture. T his continuity was lost over time, like it was between Europe and Armenia, Europe and the Caucasus.



We are now making an effort to develop a positive agenda in the region, an effort our partners in the Eastern Mediterranean started referring to as the "Spirit of Rhodes". A positive agenda on youth relations, cultural relations, from cultural festivals to exchange of cultural goods. Forming networks between Universities and Research Centres. I hope that it will be possible to include Armenia in this big project.



We have also forged an alliance -- in a manner of speaking -- of the EU member states of the south: The Euromed. Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus.



We have also developed a cooperation platform for the protection of the religious communities in the Middle East.



I would like to make a remark about the West where we belong. The West is always talking about its pluralistic societies, but pluralistic societies existed and exist beyond the West. In the Middle East, Judaism, the Muslim world, Christianity coexisted for 2,000 years. This is now being destroyed. We will be glad and we have expressed it- to welcome once again representatives from Armenia at the next Conference on the protection of multiculturalism and religious communities in the Middle East which is going to be held in Athens this coming November.



Finally, we formed a number of other cooperation schemes, a dream of mine since 25 years. The GC10 -that we are launching with China in April this year. It is a cooperation scheme that I initially called the GC10 as it brings together ten great ancient cultures that have influence on today's world.



Culture is a great power, you know it. Next to the hard power of guns, there is culture, civilization, which we call the smart or soft power. And this power has an economic dimension too. So we are taking the initiative to bring together ten countries: Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Italy and Greece, to create this formation which will be open to other countries too.



With these initiatives, Greece is pursuing a proactive foreign policy. A policy that allows it to meet the requirements of our modern era and to fully exploit all new possibilities and synergies.



Last but not least. From this very podium, I would like to say that I am here in Armenia in order to explore ways by which Armenia could work together with us, in a strategic partnership, in common initiatives such as the ones I mentioned before in order to promote peace and regional stability.



And in this regard, I would like to reiterate that the path to regional stability and good neighbourly relations lies, of course, in the respect of international law. And I am saying that to all our neighbours, common or not.



And good neighbourly relations include the respect of international treaties, customary law and the principles of the UN Charter.



Last but not least, I would like to express once again my country's fervent desire to build stronger ties with Armenia and the people of Armenia. And in order to achieve this, we have to address three fundamental asymmetries in our relation: first, between the feelings that exist between our two nations and the actual relation between them. Our feelings are very deep, they have historical roots. But our relation s are not deep enough. Secondly, between the excellent level of our political relations and the low -until now- level of our economic relations. Our economic relations have the a very small volume. And thirdly, between our willingness to cooperate and the actual implementation of that willingness.



We want to pursue, together with Armenia, a common course towards peace and prosperity to the benefit of the people and the nations of the region. Working more closely together and based on a positive agenda, we can move forward together towards a better future without conflict or instability.



Mr. Rector, once again, thank you very much for your invitation and the opportunity to address your students.

It is a great honour for me to meet again, after a long time, students. Thank you very much.
I would like to thank Edward for his warm welcome here in Armenia, and for our cooperation all of these years being together in the international fora and organizations. Today, like yesterday, we had a very constructive meeting during which we discussed all our bilateral and multilateral interests.

As you know, this year we are celebrating the anniversary for the 25 years of our diplomatic relations, but that stands for our modern States and as I say we have had thousands of years of diplomatic relations, without having official diplomacy.

We explored ways to expand our relations in all the fields. We have three asymmetries in our relations: we have much stronger feelings than the reality of our relations proves, hence we love each other as countries, but we have not deepened our relations enough we have very good political relations, but our economic relations are still lagging and finally, we have always had the will to cooperate but from our side, as Greece, but we have not done enough to implement everything. So we have agreed to find the way in order to create the institutions we need for our cooperation and to take stock of all our treaties and agreements in order to decide what we are going to do and which initiatives we need to start or restart.

We think that on trade and investments there is a lot of possibilities, so we have agreed to organize at the end of this year a Business Forum, here in Erevan, where Greek companies will come to seek ways of cooperation and investments in fields like energy, health, telecommunications, construction, etc.

For me and Edward, as well, diplomatic relations are not only about economic relations. There are relations in other very important fields, like education, culture, cooperation between universities and research centers. We also discussed how to deepen our cooperation in the field of tourism. We would like to see more Armenians visiting the Greek islands; we would like to see more Greeks visiting the beautiful Armenia.

We have also discussed how we can cooperate in questions regarding European Union and how to find ways in order to deepen the relations between Armenia and EU. As you know, we are one the oldest members of the EU, with a long tradition and expertise. We would like to find ways to deepen our cooperation on European matters. One of the most important issues is to make efforts concerning the visa regime, so that the EU opens up a real discussion for the visa liberalization for Armenian citizens.

Last but not least, we have discussed the cooperation between our Diasporas. We are not big countries  maybe small or medium in size- but we do have very important Diasporas.

We have not only discussed our cooperation, we have also discussed important regional problems, such as the Cyprus issue and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. We support the peace process, the peace negotiations, the OSCE Minsk group Cochairs efforts. We support security and stability in these crisis ridden regions.

Once again, Edward, my good friend, thank you very much for our discussions, for what you have done for the development of our relations. Many thanks to the Armenian people. Thank you!
Obama Admin set up Jeff Sessions meeting with Russian ambassador

One of two meeting that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak was orchestrated by the Obama State Department.

In another tedious example of faux outrage, unhinged Democrats started calling for Sessions to step down after the purveyor of fake news, the Washington Post, breathlessly published a misleading report that the former Alabama GOP senator met twice last year with the Russian envoy.

Taking a cue from entrenched, Deep State federal bureaucrats, the Post and other globalist, anti-Trump fake news outlets have been working overtime to connect the president and his team with the narrative of alleged Russian meddling in the campaign to the detriment of Democrat Hillary Clinton.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Sessions told TV clown Stuart Smalley (aka Minnesota Democrat Al Franken) in response to a question that he never discussed the election with Russian officials.

Franken is one of those shameless grandstanders now accusing Sessions of perjury.

According to former Justice Department official Hans von Spakovsky, Sessions encountered the Russian ambassador, and other foreign dignitaries, at an event sponsored by the U.S. State Department and other groups called Global Partners in Diplomacy. Sessions keynoted the event which was held at the July 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. As noted by Fox News:

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 ambassadors  including the Russian ambassador  approached the senator as he left the stage and thanked him for his remarks. Thats the first meeting. And its hardly an occasion  much less a venue  in when a conspiracy to interfere with the November election could be hatched.

Breitbart News suggested that the Post story downplayed the circumstances surrounding the Ohio meeting by alluding to it in paragraphs 32 and 33 of the article while omitting the State Department angle.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sessions met with the Russian ambassador in his office a few months later as he routinely did with many other diplomats.

Sessions has since recused himself from any Justice Department investigations into the 2016 presidential campaign, which leaves career DOJ lawyers and Obama holdovers in charge of the inquiry for now.

AG Sessions has since acknowledged that he should have mentioned that he met with the ambassador on two occasions unrelated to the election.

Reports have since emerged that prominent Democrat lawmakers also met with the Russian ambassador, and Kislyak reportedly visited the Obama White House at least 22 times.

As NewsTarget insisted several days ago, there is no evidence of any Trump-Russia collusion or cooperation, adding that if such evidence existed, the Deep State and the ever-compliant media would have leaked it before the election, especially if they thought Trump was going to win. The whole Democrat-media political complex, as well as many never-Trump Republicans who are part of what has been called the globalist, establishment Uni-party, were exposed on Election Day as being completely out of touch with facts on the ground.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton claims that the Sessions recusal was unnecessary. The real Russian scandal is that President Barack Obamas team used the pretext of Russian interference in the election to justify wiretaps and illegal leaks of the Trump team, including a U.S. senator, now attorney general, he told The Daily Signal.

Judicial Watch is suing the government to obtain records relating to the surveillance of the conversation between Gen. Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador that led to Flynns resignation as National Security Adviser after just about three weeks on the job.

President Trump has accused Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower, and Congress plans to look into those allegations. (RELATED: Read more about the Trump administration at Trump.news.)

Sources:

FoxNews.com

Breitbart.com

NewsTarget.com

Breitbart.com

DailySignal.com
BAD AXE  The city of Bad Axe is asking for input from its residents regarding an upcoming grant it plans to apply for next month, council members learned Thursday morning.

Monday nights council meeting was canceled because there were not enough members to conduct business, so the meeting was rescheduled for Thursday.
UPPER THUMB  With Wednesdays wind storm affecting nearly 1 million people in the state, roughly 1,300 dwellings in Huron County are still without power in what DTE Energy is calling the largest weather event in company history.

As of Thursday afternoon, a timeline of complete power restoration is still undetermined.

Crews have been working 16-hour shifts to restore power and by the end of Thursday, nearly 650 additional crews from surrounding states assisted.

The goal is to have 90 percent of customers up and running by the end of the day Sunday, Roneisha Mullen, spokesperson for DTE, told the Tribune.

With DTEs power outage map crashing on Wednesday, Mullen said a breakdown of power outages in certain villages, towns and cities cant be determined.

The biggest issue DTE crews have ran into are downed power lines. Mullen said there were roughly 4,500 power lines down throughout the state. DTE is advising its customers to never drive across a downed power line. If a power line falls on your vehicle, remain inside until help arrives.

While theyre down, its possible that theyre energized, Mullen said.

No injuries or issues regarding wind turbines were reported.

Michigan State University Extension advises consumers that food safety can be a major concern for people during an outage. Temperatures are considered safe if they are 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower in the refrigerator or zero degree or lower in the freezer.

The United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service recommends the following tips to follow:

 Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible.

 The refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours if it is unopened.

 A full freezer will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours if the door remains closed.

 Buy dry or block ice to keep the refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time.

 If you plan to eat refrigerated or frozen meat, poultry, fish or eggs while it is still at safe temperatures, its important that each item is thoroughly cooked to the proper temperature to assure that any foodborne bacteria that may be present is destroyed.

 Wash fruits and vegetables with water from a safe source before eating.

 For infants, try to use prepared, canned baby formula that requires no added water. When using concentrated or powdered formulas, prepare with bottled water if the local water source is potentially contaminated.

Once power is restored, you will need to determine the safety of your food. Here is how:

 If an appliance thermometer was kept in the freezer, check the temperature when the power comes back on. If the freezer thermometer reads 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below, the food is safe and may be refrozen.

 If a thermometer has not been kept in the freezer, check each package of food to determine its safety. If the food still contains ice crystals or is 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below, it is safe to refreeze or cook.

 Refrigerated food should be safe as long as the power was out for no more than four hours and the refrigerator door was kept shut. Discard any perishable food that has been above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours or more.
BAD AXE  Whats it take to topple a 400-foot, 485,000-pound wind turbine?

Mechanical failures, an imbalance and the ensuing violent act.

Essentially, self-destruction.

And a dose of irony.

Or as officials call it, an overspeed event.

Thats the determination wind energy developer Exelon Wind Generation, turbine manufacturer Vestas and a third party have made after a months-long investigation into the root cause of a turbines collapse onto an Oliver Township farm field at the site of the states first utility-scale wind energy project. It happened on Feb. 25.

The turbines in Harvest 1 Wind Farm are eight years old. On the turbine that fell, near Berne and Gagetown roads, seals failed on all three cylinders in its pitch system, which controls how the turbines blades move back and forth, officials said.

The turbine exceeded designed rotation speeds  14.4 rpm (revolutions per minute) is nominal, and at that speed, blade tips are moving at about 200 mph, according to Exelon. It created an imbalance as blades picked up speed. At the time of collapse, rotation speeds reached 18 rpm, officials said.

At that high of an rpm, the thing just basically shook itself apart, said Chris Higgins, an Exelon operations manager.

It was a pretty violent act going on at that speed with an imbalance in the blades.

Mark Van Diepenbeek, senior operations manager at Vestas, headquartered in Denmark, told county planners Wednesday the seal was worn on all three cylinders in the turbine.

And it would take all three cylinders to be worn to cause this event, Van Diepenbeek said.

Exelon says the pitch cylinder seals leaked internally and werent able to hold the blades out of the wind. A hydraulic pump also shut off, and oil pressure couldnt be maintained, officials said.

It happened during an eight-hour period, according to Exelon.

It was there, we just didnt see it, Higgins said. We werent monitoring it at the time.

Checking for such cylinder wear was not part of normal maintenance, officials said.

We are finding wear and anything thats showing wear will be replaced, Van Diepenbeek said, adding recent inspections found wear on no more than one cylinder.

May that become part of normal maintenance? Planning Chair Clark Brock asked.

Yes, Van Diepenbeek said.

The company will now have remote, 24/7 monitoring of turbines, and that maintenance will be added, he said.

Adding to the irony, officials say a contributing factor to the collapse was wind speeds near 45 mph.

Any lower than that, the winds wouldnt have had enough force to push the blades into that position which created an overspeed, Van Diepenbeek said.

However, the explanation left county planners with some uncertainty.

Member John Nugent asked Van Diepenbeek whether a turbine that exceeds designed rotation will always result in catastrophic failure.

I cant answer that question, Van Diepenbeek said.

Typically  do you expect it to? Nugent said. Thats a pretty thin line.

Exelon Spokesperson Kristen Otterness says the company is fully committed to ensuring an event that happened in the Harvest Wind Farm doesnt happen anywhere else across our fleet, and that Exelon has shared this information with the industry.

Worldwide, this is the first (failure) for the V82 model turbine, Van Diepenbeek said.

The turbine was valued at $1.5 million, Exelon says. The company said in March it hadnt made a decision on whether it will be replaced.
An Ohio congressman wants to know why there's so much junk food served on base -- all while the military is losing thousands of troops a year who can't meet height and fitness standards.

At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday about quality of life in the military, Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat, grilled Sergeant Major of the Army Daniel Dailey and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright about the challenge of finding healthy options on base.

Ryan noted that many Army dining facilities have been consolidated or closed, and others have cut back their hours, as part of a multi-year drawdown and budget cut constraints. With limited access to chow halls and few healthy alternatives, he said, soldiers are more likely to grab a greasy and unhealthy meal.

"There's a continued high rate of service members losing their careers due to weight and fitness standards," Ryan said. "The number of Army soldiers kicked out for weight standards jumped tenfold between 2008 and 2012, with 1,800 soldiers losing their job [in 2012]. In the Navy, almost 10 percent of the force, 34,000 sailors, have failed at least one physical fitness test since 2011, and most were due to weight standards. So we know these problems."

Ryan complained that the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which runs convenience and fast food restaurants on base, seems to be functioning apart from the effort to make troops healthier. The Army "Be Fit" program promoted by AAFES had in one instance spotlighted Popeyes Chicken as a healthy on-base choice, he said.

"I'm not saying we all have to go vegan in the military," he said. "What I am saying is, we understand now what healthy eating and the impact on unhealthy eating has on our warfighters, and to me, this just doesn't make any sense."

In the Air Force, Wright said, leaders are trying to bring in fresh options with a "Food Transformation Initiative" that includes gourmet menu items and a more robust salad bar at certain dining halls. But he said bases have struggled to attract more healthy restaurants and chains due to concerns about profitability and volume of business.

"We talk to some of these businesses, and it becomes a value proposition for them. They look and see if they can be profitable on a military installation," he said. "In some instances, the answer for them is no."

Dailey acknowledged similar challenges in attracting healthy food providers, saying franchising laws, local competition, and the costs associated with building on base all worked against leaders' efforts to get troops to eat differently. But he also said troops are to blame for eating unhealthily.

"The truth is, our soldiers make choices that aren't consistent with the values and traditions of military service," he said.

Ryan indicated he still isn't satisfied with the work being done to get troops to eat their greens.

"We've got 1,815 soldiers that we trained and spent a hell of a lot of money on that are no longer now in the Army, so that's wasted money," he said. "So here we are squeezing the budget, and that's a cost that I think goes overlooked a lot of the time."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
A military fact-finding investigation found no evidence of "incompetence or poor decision making" in the Jan. 29 Yemen raid that would require a broader probe as demanded by the father of slain Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens, a top commander said Thursday.

Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, said he presided over what he called an "exhaustive" after-action review of the raid. "As a result, I made the determination that there was no need for an additional investigation into this particular operation."

"We've lost a lot on this operation," Votel said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the first combat mission personally authorized by President Donald Trump. "We lost a valued operator, we had people wounded, we caused civilian casualties, we lost an expensive aircraft."

Trump has repeatedly called the mission a "success." Votel said, "We did gain some valuable information that will be helpful to us. Our intention here was to improve our knowledge against this threat" posed by Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has gained control over remote areas in central Yemen.

However, Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and the committee chairman, and Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, continued to question whether it was correct to deem a mission a success in which Special Warfare Chief Petty Officer Owens, 36, of Peoria, Illinois, lost his life; three other team members were wounded; and a $70 million Marine MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft had to be destroyed on the ground.

"We honor their sacrifice no matter what happened in the mission," McCain told Votel. But when civilians are killed, an aircraft is lost, a SEAL is killed and "when you do not capture anyone as was part of the mission, that mission was not a success. But that happens in war. There's a thing called the fog of war. They did the best they could."

McCain said he still wants to know "why the decision was made to continue" with the mission when heavy fire from the enemy was encountered at the outset. "I still don't think this committee has an answer to that question."

McCaskill echoed McCain on questioning why the mission continued under heavy fire. "I'm also anxious to have the questions answered about the real value of the intelligence that was gathered. I think there have been some mixed signals about the value of the intelligence that was gathered," she said.

Last month, Votel told CBS News that the purpose of the raid was "to go in and collect intelligence. We accomplished that so, from that perspective, it was successful. I certainly understand how the family would look at this in a different light."

William Owens, father of Ryan Owens, told the Miami Herald last month that he wants a broader investigation to pursue the White House decision-making process and whether approval of the mission was done in haste.

"The government owes my son an investigation," the father told the newspaper. "Don't hide behind my son's death to prevent an investigation."

The elder Owens also said he refused to meet with Trump during the "dignified transfer" of his son's remains at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, although other members of the family did.

"I know that the mission has a lot of different critics, but it did yield a substantial amount of very important intel and resources that helped save American lives and other lives," Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy White House press secretary, said on ABC's "This Week" program last month.

When asked if Trump would support an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Owens' death, Sanders said she had not spoken directly to the president about it but added, "I would imagine that he would be supportive of that."

Following the raid, the military began three separate investigations: a fact-finding investigation under Article 15-6 of military regulations, an investigation into the loss of the Osprey, and an investigation of the civilian casualties.

Votel told the committee that the civilian casualty and fact-finding investigations had been concluded, but the aircraft investigation is still underway.

"We have made a determination based on our best information available that we did cause civilian casualties, somewhere between four and 12, that we accept responsibility for -- I accept responsibility for," Votel said.

Previous estimates from the Pentagon were that 14 to 20 civilians were killed, along with about 16 AQAP fighters in what CentCom has described as a "ferocious firefight." Yemeni officials have said that among the civilian dead was eight-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki, the daughter of AQAP's chief propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011.

In his testimony, Votel said the committee should look to him for accountability in the Jan. 29 raid in the remote and mountainous Yakla district of Yemen's Al Bayda governorate.

"I am responsible for this mission; I am the CentCom commander," he said. In his oversight of the fact-finding investigation, Votel said he was looking for "indicators" of possible "incompetence or poor decision-making or bad judgment throughout all this."

"I was satisfied that none of those indicators that I identified to you were present," he said. "I think we had a good understanding of exactly what happened on this objective, and we've been able to pull lessons learned out of that, that we will apply in future operations."

On Feb. 28, during the emotional highlight of his address to a joint session of Congress, Trump directed the attention of the audience to the gallery where Carryn Owens, Ryan Owens' widow, was seated in the same section with First Lady Melania Trump.

"Ryan died as he lived -- a warrior, and a hero --- battling against terrorism and securing our nation" in the Yemen raid, Trump said.

Trump also said that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had told him that "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."

On March 2, the U.S. began a series of wide-ranging airstrikes against AQAP targets, using a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft. On Monday, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said the total number of airstrikes in Yemen was more than 40.

Toward the end of the SASC hearing, McCain referred to Vietnam in stating that a fuller examination of the Yemen raid might be needed.

He said, "Unless we tell the American people the truth, the absolute truth, then we are going to revisit another war a long time ago where we didn't tell the American people the truth and we paid a very high price for it."

"There's 55,000 names engraved in black granite not far from here," McCain said of the Vietnam Memorial. "The American people were not told the truth about whether we were succeeding or failing in that war and then, because of that, it all collapsed."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go.

Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune...
Gen. James "Mike" Holmes took over as head of Air Combat Command from Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle during a change of command ceremony Friday at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.

Then-President Barack Obama in September nominated then-Lt. Gen. Holmes, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements at the Pentagon, to pin on his fourth star and lead ACC. He was confirmed by the Senate for the role in December.

Holmes, who joined the service in 1981, is command pilot with more than 4,000 flight hours, including 500 combat hours in the F-15, according to the Air Force. He commanded air combat wings such as the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, and the 4th Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., prior to his role at the Pentagon.

Holmes recently said the Air Force could use a "light attack" aircraft -- an idea leadership is currently mulling over, with an experimental flight scheduled this summer -- to help dilute the fighter pilot shortage and gradually increase readiness.

"We don't think it would cost a lot of money, and it's designed just to help us get our arms around [questions like], 'What can you actually do? Does it actually contribute? Can it survive in different threat environments?' " Holmes told Defense News in September.

Carlisle, a 1978 graduate of the Air Force Academy who served four decades in the Air Force, planned to participate in a retirement ceremony Friday night, though his official retirement is set for May 1, Maj. AJ Schrag, spokesman for the command, told Military.com.

He assumed the role as ACC chief in October 2014. In his role, the general saw the Air Force declare the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter "combat ready" when it reached initial operational capability, or IOC, in August 2016.

One month later, the service unexpectedly ordered a temporary stand-down of 13 out of 104 F-35s in the fleet, "due to the discovery of peeling and crumbling insulation in avionics cooling lines inside the fuel tanks," it said at the time. Carlisle took aim at the aircraft's critics when he said there are people "who will make comments, but will never actually have to do anything." As far as he was concerned, Carlisle said, "If a [combatant commander] called me up and said, 'I need these attributes' and the F-35 fits, I would send it tomorrow. No doubt in my mind."

Carlisle also hinted at the prospect of delaying the retirement of A-10 Thunderbolt II -- a move that could have shelved some Warthog units as early as 2018.

"I think we would probably move the retirement slightly to the right," he said in 2015. "I think moving it to the right and starting it a bit later and keeping the airplane a bit longer is something to consider, based on things as they are today and what we see in the future," Air Force Times reported.

The service announced a few months later it would sustain the A-10 "indefinitely" -- or at least into the foreseeable future.

Carlisle told reporters last month that once he retires, he will move to Washington, D.C. Carlisle has not publicly disclosed prospective job offers.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
ANN ARBOR, MI - A downtown Ann Arbor restaurant was recently listed for sale with an asking price of $895,000.

Cafe Felix, 204 S. Main St., is available through Swisher Commercial, and the listing states the owner is "starting new venture in another state."

The sale is for the assets of a full-service restaurant operation, located near the University of Michigan campus and stadium, and would include a Class C liquor license. The sale includes a building lease.

Owner Felix Landrum and Swisher Commercial could not be reached immediately for comment.

Landrum started Cafe Felix as a coffee bar in 1997 along with his father and brothers, and later revamped the business with the addition of a bar and food menu featuring French bistro items.

In January 2015, Cafe Felix went through a two-week renovation aimed at the restaurant's kitchen and dining room.

The listing states the property has an updated interior, mechanical systems, restrooms and kitchen appliances, and the owner would provide a "meticulous list" of equipment and lease documentation for qualified buyers.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Cottage Inn Pizza has come a long way from its first restaurant, now the company's flagship store, still located at 512 E. William in Ann Arbor.

The Ann Arbor-based company, founded in 1948, is expanding with revamped franchise options and new pizza delivery spots in the works for Washtenaw County and across the world.

The newest locations expected to open in 2017 include Pigeon, Berkley and South Lyon in Michigan and Greensboro, North Carolina.

The moves are part of Cottage Inn's goal to reach 100 stores by the end of the year, according to Deborah Masse, a senior vice president at Cottage Inn. She joined the company in 2012 and has seen the company's expansion change over the past five years.

"It happened organically, that people wanted to start their own store," she said about Cottage Inn Pizza franchises in the '80s.

Cottage Inn Pizza currently has more than 50 locations across the United States, including four in Ann Arbor. The company has opened 15 stores in the last two years and is set up to expand internationally with new locations in China to add to its existing storefront in Qingdao.

Those locations serve a menu that features gourmet and gluten-free pizza, calzones, lasagna and assorted side dishes, which can be seen at the Michigan International Speedway and the University of Michigan's Big House.

Cottage Inn Pizza is a private company operated by the same family for more than 65 years.

Masse said the company is unique in offering one of the lowest startup costs related to a pizza business, starting at $15,000. Other pizza chains require a fee of $25,000 to open a franchise, in comparison.

"We've made a commitment to keep it there until 100 stores," Masse said about the startup costs.

The franchise cost does not include business items like the build-outs of brick-and-mortar stores or purchasing property. A franchise requires an investment between $200,000 and $350,000, according to Cottage Inn franchise information, including the franchise fee.

The Cottage Inn team has seen a lot of changes since 2013, Masse said, including an online training program and social media marketing team.

"When I got here, it was strictly print and we turned that around and got into social and digital," Masse said.

It has meant double-digit growth for the past three years, Masse said, and a renewed interest in franchises.

"Hopefully, we're going to gear that up to the local Midwest to go even further, faster," Masse said. "Our product is in the knowledge of a lot of people in Michigan, so I think we'll see more stores throughout Michigan as well."
ANN ARBOR, MI - Expect to see some changes at Arborland over the next year as new property owners take over and assess what to do with the 404,000-square-foot retail center in southeast Ann Arbor.

New York-based Brixmor Property Group purchased Arborland, 3600 Washtenaw Ave., for $102 million, an acquisition announced March 6 that company leadership said was in the works since last year.

Mark Horgan is executive vice president and chief investment officer at Brixmor. He said the company reached an agreement at the end of 2016 to purchase Arborland from its previous owner, Connecticut-based AmCap Inc.

"We have wanted to own Arborland for a long time," Horgan said.

The purchase is an example of Brixmor's strategy to grow its portfolio. According to Horgan, the company is currently the third-largest open-air landlord in the United States with more than 500 properties.

It owns 19 properties in Michigan, including Maple Village in north Ann Arbor and two shopping centers in Ypsilanti.

"We like to cluster our investments near each other in markets we think are dynamic and growing, and ultimately Ann Arbor is an attractive market for all the obvious reasons," Horgan said.

Arborland is now one of Brixmor's larger assets, Horgan said. It had a taxable value of $34.2 million in 2017 and was among Washtenaw County's top taxpayers, according to county records.

Current tenants include Kroger, Marshalls, Nordstrom Rack, Ulta, Starbucks and DSW. There is one, 14,420-square-foot retail space available near OfficeMax, which Arhaus furniture company vacated in 2013.

Arborland has gone through changes over the decades, starting life as a strip mall and then being converted to a mall before developers partially razed and returned it once again to a strip mall.

It was sold in 1997 for about $7 million, according to Crain's Detroit Business, and sold again in 2005 for $102 million to a joint venture of Hart Realty Advisers Inc. and AmCap.

AmCap saw national retailers like Border's and Circuit City close at the shopping center before making a deal to sell Arborland for the same amount it bought it for to Brixmor.

"Long-term, we would like to make a center that continues to service the community even better than it does today," Horgan said. "Our goal is just to create a better center for people and for Ann Arbor to use."

He would like to see additional uses at the shopping center and unique restaurants to take advantage of the amount of activity along Washtenaw Avenue and nearby retail sites.

"It would be great to find some great local restaurants to work with to bring to the site," Horgan said.

Brixmor wants to hear from the community what changes they would like to see at Arborland, Horgan said, encouraging residents to reach out to the company's marketing group with their ideas and suggestions.

In the meantime, Brixmor is planning to spend some capital and implementing some noticeable changes with a focus on the shopping center's parking lot and sidewalks and some updated landscaping.

Those improvements would happen throughout 2017, Horgan said.

There is one thing that won't be changing anytime soon. The iconic Arborland sign, featuring a bright red A, isn't going anywhere.

"I love that sign, it's so great," Horgan said. "I've been coming to Ann Arbor on and off for a long time, and I remember driving down Washtenaw Avenue and seeing that sign."

It is a symbol Brixmor is going to be proud of going forward, he said.

"It just shows you over time, Arborland has gone through a variety of evolutions in its life, as a mall, open air mall, outlet, and now what it is today," Horgan said. "We're excited to bring Arborland into the next part of its evolution."
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate this week includes language that would tighten a loophole that a Grand Rapids-based apartment developer has used to convert seven of its properties from low income to market rate developments.

The bill, introduced by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and co-sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is designed to expand the federal low income housing tax credit program by 50 percent over the next five years.

The program, which has been popular with investors and low income housing developers for more than 30 years, would make more funding available to address a shortage of low income housing in the U.S, according to Richard Goldstein, counsel for the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition.

But the bill also has provisions that will restrict property owners from shedding their low income housing promises by foreclosing on them and converting them into market rate developments.

Eenhoorn LLC of Grand Rapids has been accused by state housing regulators and housing advocates of using foreclosures to escape its obligations to provide low income rents at four of its Michigan apartment projects, including two in the Grand Rapids area.

The properties were acquired by Eenhoorn and given loans by Eenhoorn-related entities. The properties gave their lenders "deeds in lieu of foreclosure" after they failed to keep up with the Eenhoorn mortgages.

Those foreclosures allowed Eenhoorn to prematurely charge market rate rents at 540 of their apartments, according to the housing advocates.

Introduced as Senate Bill 548 on Tuesday, March 7, Cantwell's bill would require housing developers to give state housing agencies 60 days before their obligations to provide low income housing could be waived as a result of foreclosure, according to Goldstein.

Low income housing tax credits offer their investors full tax write-offs for 10 years, but the developers are required by the IRS to offer lower rents to low-income residents for up to 30 years.

A foreclosure cancels those requirements and allows landlords to charge higher rents for the final 15 years, provided they give their low-income tenants a three-year grace period to find new housing after the foreclosure.

Cantwell's bill would allow state regulators to determine if the foreclosure was intended to terminate the low rent obligations, Goldstein said. Currently, the IRS has no rules or procedures in place to determine if a planned foreclosure has occurred and state and local housing agencies are left in the dark, he said.

Goldstein said few developments financed by low income housing tax credits have failed and gone through foreclosure compared to other real estate ventures. Goldstein said he was not familiar with the Eenhoorn foreclosures.

State housing officials said they were caught off guard by the Eenhoorn foreclosures, which occurred over the past five years. They were made aware of the foreclosures by lawyers from Legal Aid of West Michigan, which was defending a low income tenant who was being evicted.

Last fall, Michigan State Housing Development Authority asked the Internal Revenue Service to stop Eenhoorn from converting two of its developments to market rates. So far, the IRS has not responded.

Eenhoorn-related projects in Madison, Wis., in Franklin, Ind. and near Springboro, Ohio also have gone through the "deed in lieu of foreclosure" process.

Nyal Deems, Eenhoorn's lawyer, said the mortgages were intended to revive unprofitable housing developments. Eenhoorn owned the properties for between nine and 12 years before foreclosing on them, he said.



"These properties were not acquired as part of planned elimination of affordable housing," he said. "It would be an odd investment indeed to acquire a property interest, planning to foreclose on it and then hold it and invest money in it for 12 years before foreclosing."

Despite the foreclosures, Eenhoorn will continue to offer its low-income tenants subsidized rates for as long as they stay - even beyond the three years that is required by law after a foreclosure, Deems said.

But new tenants pay market rates at the apartment complexes that went through the foreclosure process.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Maru Sushi & Grill is open in downtown Kalamazoo.

The restaurant, which features Japanese-style sushi and cuisine is the sixth of a Grand Rapids-based group of eateries.

"We try to do a modern take on sushi and Japanese cuisine," said Megan Fortuna, manager of the restaurant, which uses the totally renovated, southernmost portion of downtown Kalamazoo's historic train depot building at 427 E. Michigan Ave.

She said its sushi and other foods have Korean and other influences, however.

"There's some Korean influence, some Thai, some Vietnamese, as well as some some American," she said.

The latter includes sushi rolls with such things as cream cheese and bacon.

It serves sushi rolls that are fully cooked as well as those that are fully raw, she said.

"We just try to really appeal to everyone," Fortuna said. "We try to appeal to everyone from a beginner -- someone who has never had sushi before, to someone who is very experienced with sushi. We also try to make sure that someone who's not so into sushi has options to eat."

Its daily menu includes chicken gyoza, fire cracker shrimp, edamame, flash fried calamari, land and sea tempura, Sashimi, nigiri and various salmon dishes. It also serves soups, salads and noodle dishes as well as cocktails, local beers and wine.

"We also are an hibachi grill," she said. "We're probably most well known for sushi but we do more than sushi."

HopCat beer bar and restaurant, the 11th of another Grand Rapids-based group of dining spots, opened in October and utilizes more than 7,900 square feet of space in the center part of the depot building.

Built in the mid-1920s, the depot is a narrow wood and brick building that was originally a freight office for Grand Trunk Western Railroad. Renovation work by property manager PlazaCorp Realty Advisors sought to make improvements in the building but maintain the rustic integrity of the structure.

The 3,500-square-foot Maru Sushi & Grill, which opened March 4, seats about 100 patrons but will ultimately seat 140, Fortuna said. The business employs 75 workers, of which about 20 are full-time workers.

It's urban-industrial interior design includes more than one kind of warm wood, including ash at the bar area and walnut and other woods in other areas.

The venue takes advantage of mixing the old with the new, integrating wood and tile. Booths have different seat textures including wool, leather and velvet.

Quynh Lai is head chef at this location of Maru Sushi, with executive chef Kyoung Yang overseeing food operations at all of the Maru Sushi locations.

The restaurant requests that patrons make reservations and reserves about 30 percent of its seating for that. It will have an online reservation system in place in the coming months, Fortuna said.

Those interested in learning more about the restaurant, or seeing what's on its menu, may find that at www.marurestaurant.com

The business may be contacted at 269-488-4888.

Hours are 11:30 a.m. to -10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. until midnight on Friday and Saturday; and 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Its other locations are Midland, East Lansing, Okemus, Detroit and Grand Rapids.
COOPERSVILLE, MI - The Betten Baker Automotive Group announced it will break ground this month on two new stores, creating a three-store campus in this Ottawa County community.

Co-owners Bryan Betten and Chris Baker announced on Tuesday, March 7, they will build a "state-of-the-art" Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store and a "Pre-Owned Super Center" west of the current Betten-Baker Chevrolet Buick store at 68th Street and I-96.

As part of a strategy to double their size, the new dealerships will create 12 Betten Baker Automotive Group stores in West Michigan. The new dealerships will bring about 50 new jobs to the Coopersville area, they said.

The Betten Baker Automotive Group also owns Betten Baker Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Betten Baker Honda, Betten Baker Hyundai and Shoreline Motors in Muskegon. The company also owns Betten Baker Pre-owned in Twin Lake.

Last month, the company announced the purchase of Gary Trimarco Chevrolet Buick GMC in Big Rapids. In January, the company announced the purchase of Grand Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, 930 W. Main St. in Lowell from Harvey Koning of Grand Auto Family.

"This Coopersville expansion is truly a testament to the Betten Baker brand. We look forward to announce our plans for more expansion in the near future." said co-owner, Bryan Betten.



"As our first Betten Baker location on Henry Street in Muskegon celebrates 34 years in business we are also celebrating the addition of six more dealerships in West Michigan," said co-owner Chris Baker.

"We strive to give our customers the best service possible, and these new locations will give us more opportunities to do so."
The proliferation of sub-divisions and multi-acre country homes in the 1980s and 1990s came at the expense of large tracts of rural farmland and open spaces property says Stacy Byers, program director of the Ingham County (MI) Farmland and Open Spaces Preservation Board (FOSP).

"These development trends became a major area of concern, first on the east and west coasts, but then the same sprawl unfolded in the Midwest," she explains. "Fortunately, there were a number of highly successful preservation programs established in the East, and many of us in Michigan were able to learn about those programs firsthand though tours, primarily to Pennsylvania and Maryland."

Most of the Michigan farmland and open spaces preservation programs, which are technically purchase of development rights programs, are based on the Pennsylvania and Maryland models.

"Every property has a bundle of rights associated with it--like development rights and mineral rights," Byers says. "Those rights can be sold by the property owner even as the owner continues to use the land."

Farmland and open spaces preservation programs specifically purchase the development rights from the property owner. Once those development rights are sold, the land can only be used for farming and/or designated open spaces activities (e.g. hiking, fishing, bird watching) into perpetuity.

Byers cites several examples of successful programs across a wide geographic range--from Peninsula and Acme townships in northern Michigan to Kent and Ottawa counties in west Michigan to Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor's Greenbelt Program.

The operation of and funding for programs vary. But whether a program is supported by philanthropic donations, federal grants or local taxes, the end goals are the same: to protect and preserve properties that provide economic, social and aesthetic value to their associated communities.

The greatest challenge for all programs, Byers explains, is always funding. She is "very proud" that Ingham was the first county in Michigan to pass a millage to support preservation.

But that millage expires in a couple years, and proponents of preservation will be hard at work on a renewal.

"What undergirds all preservation programs," Byers says, "is the compelling and on-going need in every municipality for wise land use planning and smart growth."

Please click here to hear my conversation with Byers.

And please join me for Greening of the Great Lakes every Sunday evening at 7:00 on News/Talk 760 WJR.
Michigan's pork industry exports more than a quarter of production every year

On this week's Ag Report on

, Mary Kelpinski, Chief Executive Officer of the

discusses the positive impact of trade agreements for Michigan's pig farmers, and U.S. agriculture as a whole.

"During the past decade, the United States has become the number one exporter of pork products in the world, with more than a quarter of our production going to overseas markets," says Kelpinski. "Michigan's pork industry is responsible for more than $100 million in exports every year, primarily to our trading partners in Canada and Mexico."

Kelpinski says in the two decades since the North American Free Trade Agreement was ratified, U.S. agriculture is exporting more than four times as much to those nations, and Michigan has shared in those benefits. In addition, Asia and the Pacific Rim are important emerging markets for the pork industry, as the growth of the middle class throughout the region means that people will demand more animal protein.

"Exports are a bright spot in America's agriculture sector, a positive influence on the nation's trade balance sheet, and an engine to grow the U.S. economy. We support efforts to maintain strong international markets that benefit Michigan farmers, and encourage policy leaders to do the same," she says.

You can hear this week's report

.

The Ag Report on

is brought to you by the

. It airs weekly on

and features voices from Michigan's growing agriculture sector.
How can women get started in tech?

Heres a hint: The answer is in the question.

Getting started in business can be intimidating  especially for women and especially in Silicon Valley, where only one in 10 tech execs is female. As the founder and CEO of MojiLaLa and a woman, Im proud to be an example for women who want to marry creativity and tech to make a difference in the world. My advice is to start by asking the right questions. For me, those questions were twofold: How can we help people more fully express themselves in the digital world?" and How can we help artists get paid for their work?

Emojis and stickers are increasingly important in communication, and smartphone users need image options for communicating about topics they care aboutfrom politics to pop culture. I wanted to create a way to give smartphone users unique and diverse emojis to aid communication in our increasingly visual world.

But as a former visual artist, I also wanted to help artists around the world monetize their art. I was sick of seeing my friends struggle to find ways to be paid for their work, and I knew artists around the country and the world were facing similar struggles. I wanted to create a way for artists to create revenue streams from their art.

I founded MojiLala in order to do both.

We use keyboard, image recognition, geolocation, and API technology to connect artists and consumers in a symbiotic relationship. Artists are able to deliver their work (in the form of emojis and stickers) simply, quickly, and for a profit, while users have an endless supply of emojis at their fingertips.

Asking the right questions, and answering them in the right way, has been successful for us. In six months, we have signed over 2,000 artists who have produced over 15,000 emojis. Our MojiLaLa Unlimited app has been downloaded 200,000 times, and we are the No. 1 sticker distributor for Apple iMessage.

The emoji marketplace is a multibillion dollar industry, and with MojiLala, were not only making it work for consumers, we are helping artists get paid for their work. Weve dubbed our artists "emojipreneurs, artists who are turning a profit by creating emoji and stickers that are used on billions of smartphones all over the world. Our artists share 50 percent of emoji sales profits, and we help them build iMessage sticker apps without writing any code. Artists around the world are jumping at the opportunity to earn cash for their work, while simultaneously getting their portfolios out there for the world to see. Thats why 2017 is the year of the emojipreneur.

Its an exciting time to be living and working in technology, and also to be building in such a creative space. Its such an honor to help people enrich their communication  and to help artists enrich their bank accounts. Are you a woman interested in getting started in tech? I encourage you to look at the problems that you think need solving, and then create the companies that can solve them.

About the Author

Dana Loberg is the CEO and co-founder of MojiLaLa, an emoji marketplace for artist and studios from all over the world. By connecting designers and their emojis with chat platforms, keyboards and bot platforms, artists get greater distribution, monetization and visibility for their sticker-making skills. Prior to founding MojiLaLa, Dana was also the co-founder of MovieLaLa: a mobile distribution platform for Hollywood studios. She worked with top studios including Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Universal, Skydance and others. A Los Angeles native, Dana is a former artist who wants to help bridge the gap between the creative and technology world in which we live. She started her career in the creative development and production department at Fox Studios, later breaking into the advertising world, working as a copywriter and creative associate for agencies such as McCann Erickson and JWT. She currently resides in San Francisco. Dana Loberg is currently in 500 Startups Silicon Valley, Batch 19.

TMC is working to raise awareness of important issues, such as promoting women in the tech industry, through its Tech Culture Awards program. Its dedicated to bringing these issues to light and recognizing those companies, like MojiLaLa, that are creating positive change in the workplace. TMC invites you to explore and participate in the TMC Workplace Excellence Award program, which includes the Tech Culture Award, the Tech Diversity Award and the Social Responsibility Award.

Edited by Alicia Young
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Corporate office of Maruti Suzuki India Limited is pictured in New Delhi

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A highly-guarded district court in Gurugram on Friday convicted 31 plant workers and acquitted 117 others in the Maruti violence case of 2012 which injured over 100 employees and killed a senior officer.

Additional District and Sessions Judge of Gurugram District Court delivered the verdict. The court has scheduled the afternoon session to declare the quantum of sentence for the convicted workers.

General Manager Human Resources of the Manesar unit, Awanish Kumar Dev, was charred to death beyond recognition and several other executives were injured in a violent clash between the workers and the management on the plant premises on July 18, 2012.

Immediately after the clash, around 546 workers were laid off and 147 were arrested, out of whom 145 were charged with rioting, murder, attempt to murder, unlawful assembly, assault, and trespass among other sections of the penal code.

The case trial has been going on for the last five years. Senior advocates like RS Cheema, Rebecca John and Vrinda Grover appeared on behalf of the accused employees in the case. The counsels had submitted that the case lacked the support of proper evidence to convict the accused ones.

They had stated that there was no evidence to back the allegation that the workers had unlawfully assembled with a common objective to kill or set the office on fire. They had also argued there were loopholes in the investigation which suggested the accused were being falsely implicated as there was no evidence to back the claim of the prosecution.

During the final arguments, the prosecution had submitted that the court should in no way show mercy to the accused as it led to large scale vandalism in the company and killed a senior official.

Out of the total accused in the case, 138 were out on bail. During a course of arguments, Vrinda Grover had submitted that almost 112 of the accused were not identified by any of the prosecution witness.

The district administration has deployed heavy security at Maruti's Manesar plant ahead of court verdict. Prohibitory orders have been imposed under Section 144 of the CrPC around the plant and the district courts complex.

An official statement issued by the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union hinted at a possible protest if the court verdict was not in their favour.

"We are apprehensive and have grounds to believe that it will be a politically motivated anti-worker judgment. We will stand by those facing conviction or were left jobless after the incident," read an official.

In 2011, Maruti incurred a loss over 0 million worth of production due the continuous weeks of labour unrest. This violence had also created a dent on India's appeal as an investor friendly location.

It is interesting to note that when the violence broke out, almost half of the workers in the Manesar plant were on contract basis earning around Rs 6,000 per month, a one third of what permanent employees were paid for.
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Mid-sized private lender IndusInd Bank said it is in talks with multiple entities for business expansion, including the widely speculated merger of Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFI).

"...the management has been exploring strategic alternatives, and engaging in discussions from time to time with various parties, including Bharat Financial, as and when required," the bank said in a late evening exchange filing.

In the statement issued to bourses following media reports that IndusInd and BFI (formerly SKS Microfinance) are likely to announce a merger in an all-stock deal, the bank said the management has been authorised to evaluate strategic opportunities for business expansion.

It soon added that no decision has yet been made in this regard by either the board or any of the committees and also termed the media reports as "speculative".

As per the reports, the merger ratio is likely to be 10:7, wherein shareholders will get seven shares of IndusInd Bank for every 10 shares of BF. In its clarification to bourses yesterday, BF said it had been exploring various options but termed the media reports as "speculative".

Speculation regarding a deal between the two has been on for many months now and some reports had said the Hinduja Group-promoted bank may be looking at buying a minority stake in BFI. But off late the buzz has shifted to takeover.

There have been a slew of deals between private sector lenders and MFIs as the former eye to expand their network in the hinterland which will help them meet the priority sector lending mandates and offer cross-sell opportunities.

In a note yesterday, Australian brokerage Macquarie had said such a merger was positive from a medium-term perspective for the bank but flagged execution as the key given the stress on MFI's books. A merger can enhance IndusInd's return on assets by up to 0.25 percent and make it among the highest in the industry, it said.

BFI already has a business correspondent relationship with IndusInd in Karnataka for many years now. The then SKS had a tumultuous time four years ago as it first faced a repayment crisis in its largest market of Andhra Pradesh and a corporate battle over leadership which ended with the exit of founder Vikram Akula.

If the merger fructifies, it will be the third deal for IndusInd Bank, after Deutsche Bank's credit card portfolio in 2011 and RBS' diamond financing book in 2015.

Both IndusInd and BFI counters have seen a rally this year, but the stocks today corrected 0.26 percent and 1.40 percent respectively on the BSE.

Other banks, including IDFC Bank, Kotak and RBL, have either acquired or taken minority stakes in MFIs in past 18 months.
Private sector non-life insurer Tata AIG General Insurance is expecting a more rational pricing mechanism in the general insurance industry. In his first media interaction after taking over, Neelesh Garg, MD & CEO, Tata AIG General Insurance talks to M Saraswathy from Moneycontrol.com about the business strategies and growth plans. Excerpts:Tata AIG Genera aims to be a full service company. Hence, we will aim to be a strong player in both the retail lines as well as the commercial lines of business. Overall, the size of the industry is also getting bigger and is expected to touch Rs 1.20 lakh crore by the end of this financial year. In this, both individual and group policies will see a growth. However, newer concepts like risk-based premium will also come into the retail market in segments like health and motor.With respect to products, we will have new features added to the existing health product. Further, value-added benefits like road-side assistance and distress call will be provided under the motor cover.Selling through the bank channel is a big opportunity. In public sector banks, the customer base has not been tapped fully. Since the insurance regulator has now allowed banks to tie-up with three life, non-life and standalone health insurers each, this will be a good opportunity for us. We are looking tie-up with a few more banks so that our product reach improves.We are investing heavily in new technology. However, the aim is to increase the number of touch-points that the company has. Tata AIG is looking at having service points at 1000 locations for customers by the end of this financial year. This would enable customers to have access to our entire bouquet of services including claim intimation, document submission as well as buying add-ons.Old private sector insurers are the most rational in terms of pricing. For them, combined ratios are going down meaning that underwriting situation is slowly improving. The cost of irrational behaviour in product pricing is huge. Going forward, we will see more discipline in the market. We as a company do not compete in a particular business where the premium is not sustainable in the long run. Hence, in the future, we expect the pricing in segments like fire and group health to improve.
business UP election results to have marginal impact on mkts: Samir Arora Even if BJP wins in UP, life for investors will not change much, says Samir Arora, Founder & Fund Manager at Helios Capital. On the other hand, if BJP disappoints then it would have mattered only for few days.
India's skilled manpower and Finland's high-end tech prowess should be leveraged under the 'Make in India' initiative for an efficient and cost-effective business framework, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

The minister was speaking at the first meeting of 'Indo-Finnish Business Working Group on Energy & Mining' organised by FICCI and Embassy of Finland, New Delhi, according to a FICCI statement.

This meeting was a follow-up after the high-level visit of Goyal to Finland in November 2016, responded by the Finnish delegation visiting India.

The Union minister said in the statement it was commendable that Indian and Finnish companies had come together in just three months to step up the bilateral relations in sectors such as waste-to-energy, solar, bio-energy, electric mobility, smart grids, coal and mining.

He said India had surplus electricity and the technology of converting waste to energy was in use in the country. Thus, India needed technology to transform waste to other forms such as bio-energy, Goyal added.

Finland with its small population had made great strides in the field of innovation, technology and research, and India could learn from such Finnish endeavors, Goyal noted.

The minister said that Finnish companies could help India to scale up technology and fruitful partnerships could be built between the two nations if Finland could align its processes and technology to make them efficient and cost effective for India.

Goyal said that Finnish companies could partner with their Indian counterparts under various government initiatives such as 'Make in India'.

Finnish technologies should be leveraged to improve processes in India, he said, adding Indian private sector should play a proactive role towards forging alliances with their Finnish counterparts.

Finnish companies were already working in various sectors in India and had the capacity to scale up its technology and processes for India and were competitive, said Nina Vaskunlahti, Ambassador, Embassy of Finland, New Delhi.

She said Finland would like to contribute to the Government of India's initiative 'Make in India' and look forward to favourable tariffs.

Vaskunlahti said the aim of the working group was to enhance business prospects between Finland and India. With the support of Finnish and Indian industry the platform had become active in three months of Goyal's visit to Finland which exhibits the keen interest of the two sides in augmenting bilateral relation.
The industry is still sensing a hint of uncertainty on the economic growth front even though the industrial output rose 2.7 per cent in January and urged the government to pursue reforms to stimulate investments.

Industrial production bounced back in January, expanding by 2.7 per cent year-on-year mainly due to better performance by capital goods segment, a barometer of investment activities.

"The manufacturing growth, though positive in January, remains fragile and a cause for concern. The sector may see a revival in the coming months as a result of measures taken in budget and other areas," Ficci President Pankaj Patel said.

He said it is important to continue the reform momentum to boost investor confidence and stimulate investments.

The indices of industrial production for mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors posted growth rates of 5.3 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively in January 2017.

Assocham President Sandeep Jajodia said the risks to the Indian economy continue to prevail owing to the uncertainty related to monsoon, protectionist policies adopted by the US, change in the policy stance by RBI from accommodative to neutral, muted growth in fixed capital formation in GDP and mounting bad debt in public sector banks.

The factory output measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in December had contracted by 0.1 per cent on account of cash crunch following demonetisation of high value currency notes.
All eyes are on the state election results due tomorrow and whether Bharatiya Janata Party, which is also the ruling party, will secure its win in Uttar Pradesh.



Markets, which was not happy with the downgraded earnings season in January, factored in the positives of the assembly polls. This led to the re-rating of valuations as there was significant feedback from people that the ruling party will get a strong mandate in the state elections.



"This partly explains why the market is flat today," said Manishi Raychaudhuri of BNP Paribas.



Market sentiment will be positive if BJP comes to power as people will bet on the continuation of the reform agenda by the ruling party, he said.



He expects market to touch 30,300 level by the end of calendar year 2017.



Market expert Ambareesh Baliga listed few scenarios on how market will react to the results of the battle for the states.



In the first scenario he said that if BJP gets less than 150 seats, the probability of which is low then the markets will crack and will be closer to 8400-8500 level. In the second case, BJP will win around 160 to 190 seats but will not be able to form the government.



In that situation, an alliance of Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) may form the government. In this case, markets will correct as the mandate will be against BJP.



If BJP forms the government then market will be high but we will get sold into as the valuations will be steep. There will be a rally of 200 points, he said.



He further said that events like these (state elections) get digested in four to five days and then the focus of the market is back to global news, earnings.



Oil and gas stocks like ONGC, HPCL bounced back from the lows of the day. But, SP Tulsian is not in the favour of a merger between upstream and downstream companies.



If you are making a khichdi of oil marketing companies then you will not derive the right valuations, he said.



To know more, watch video...
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has said that the Congress would win more than 40 seats in the 60-member assembly.

Exit polls have predicted a remarkable victory for the Congress in Manipur. C- Voter has given 25 to 31 seats to BJP, 17 to 23 seats to Congress. While India today- Axis has given majority to Congress with 30 to 36 seats and 16 to 22 seats to BJP.

"I hope people of Manipur will give us a clear mandate. We will cross 40 seats. The voter turnout shows that they wanted to vote for the present Congress government, he added.

Manipur this time is billed as a major test for the 15-year-old Congress regime which is facing a stiff challenge from the BJP. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has not been keeping well, did not campaign in the state.

The task of spearheading the Congress campaign was left to party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who addressed a rally in Imphal on February 28.

BJP held rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 25 and by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on February 19 in Imphal.

Irom Sharmila, who fasted for 16 years for repealing the AFSPA from the state, is in the election fray for the first time and is pitted against Ibobi Singh himself in Thoubal constituency.
People queue up to vote during the state assembly election, in the town of Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton - RTS10K8I

With the BJP almost certain to win the UP Election, is yet to name their Chief Ministerial candidate.



Since the beginning of the election campaign many names have come up and many have speculated that Rajnath Singh may be a frontrunner.

However, the Union home minister has said that he is not too keen to return to Lucknow.

Given the social construct and mindset of India's most populous state, BJP will have to keep in mind that two things while selecting a CM: 1) social composition of castes who have voted for the BJP, 2) the upcoming 2019 general elections.

"BJP this election has worked on non-Yadav OBC and upper caste mobilisation. If this combination is successful in bringing BJP back to power in UP, then the CM could be from either of the communities," Sumit Pande of CNN-News18 says.

"Two names from the OBC category in the reckoning would be State President Keshav Maurya and Mos Finance andBaraily MP Santosh Gangwar," he said.

From the upper caste, union culture minister Mahesh Sharma is a contender.

"The doctor from Noida is close to the Sangh but has on occasions created unnecessary controversies by shooting his mouth off," Pande says.

Other contenders who could lead Uttar Pradesh are Telecom Minister and Ghazipur MP Manoj Sinha, Uma Bharti, Kalraj Mishra and Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath.
business Here is why SP Tulsian is bullish on Dish TV SP Tulsian of sptulsian.com, explains why he is bullish on Dish TV. He also talks about some energy and sugar stocks.
China warned that United States ignoring World Trade Organisation rulings could trigger a "trade war" after President Donald Trump's administration said it was not bound by the body's decisions.

Last week a letter sent from the United States Trade Representative to Congress outlining Trump policy reviewed the terms under which the United States joined the WTO when it was founded in 1995.

According to the Trump administration's interpretation, "Congress had made clear that Americans are not directly subject to WTO rulings", said the document.

China warned that moves to discredit the WTO would be detrimental to the future of multilateral trade.

"If WTO members ignore the organisation's rules for their own sake and refuse to implement its rulings on disputes, the multilateral trade system will exist in name only and there could even be a repetition of the trade war of the 1930s," Sun Jiwen, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman, said at a briefing in Beijing.

"We call on major WTO members to live by what they teach, abide by WTO rules and fulfill their duties," he added.

President Trump has repeatedly said the United States could accomplish its trade goals by focusing on bilateral talks rather than multilateral negotiations.

During his campaign, Trump described WTO's performance as the global trade referee a "disaster" and promised a more aggressive approach to open up foreign markets to US companies, including threatening to unilaterally impose tariffs.

Trump has also accused China of being a free-rider in the international system, saying its unfair trade policies have cost the United States tens of thousands of jobs and threatening to slap Beijing with massive tariffs of up to 45 percent.
The United States has launched a trade case accusing Chinese aluminium foil producers of dumping product and damaging its domestic industry, the first such case since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

The Aluminum Association filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions with the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission charging that unfairly traded imports of certain aluminium foil from China are causing material injury to the domestic industry.

The action was part of the industry's broad trade strategy to address overcapacity in top producer China, it said.

The move "reflects both the intensive injury being suffered by US aluminium foil producers and also our commitment to ensuring that trade laws are enforced to create a level playing field for domestic producers," said Heidi Brock, President and Chief Executive of the Aluminum Association.

The antidumping margins alleged by the domestic industry range from 38 percent to more than 134 percent of the value of the imported aluminium foil.

Responding to the move, China's Commerce Ministry urged the United States to act "cautiously".

"China hopes the US side will not readily resort to using trade rescue measures," it said.
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March 10, 2017

Syria - Preparing For The Big Move On Idlib

During the last week significant moves in Syria have taken place east of Aleppo. But the situation there will likely soon calm down. The next intense phase of the war may well be a Syrian army attack on al-Qaeda's position in Idlib governate in the north-west of the country.

One objective of the Syrian Arab Army move east of Aleppo city was to block the invading Turkish forces from reaching further south. This had been achieved as of last week. The main objective though was to reach the pumping stations at the Euphrates which supply Aleppo city with drinking water. This aim was achieved yesterday. The SAA managed to evict the Islamic State from the shut-down station before it could blow it up. The generators and pumps were booby trapped but seem otherwise operational. After 40 days of strictly rationed water Aleppo city and its nearly 2 million people will soon be back on a normal water supply.



map by Peto Lucem bigger

I expect that the SAA contingent in east-Aleppo will now move further south and then east along the Euphrates towards Raqqa. This move though will no longer have a high priority. There is no longer an urgent need to continue in the area. Should the Islamic State stop its retreat in the area and show significant resistance the SAA is likely to stop and only hold its line.

The Turkish government still insists on taking Manbij currently held by the Kurdish YPK (under the label "Syrian Democratic Forces" (SDF)) which is now a U.S. proxy force under U.S. military command. Russia moved to insert Syrian army forces between the Turkish forces west of Manbij and the city. Thereby a buffer has been created between the Turkish (proxy) forces of "moderate rebels" and U.S. proxy forces of the Kurdish SDF. A few Russian special forces entered the area. As no SAA soldiers were readily available some local Arabs and Kurds were asked to put up a Syrian flag and to call themselves "Syrian border guard". They happily agreed to do so.



map via WaPo bigger

Parallel to the Russian move a U.S. sub-unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment made a show of force by driving five 8-wheeler Stryker vehicles with U.S. flags through some towns around Manbij. The signal to Turkey is clear. There are Russian and U.S. forces here. Do not dare to proceed into the area and to attack their Kurdish friends. A meeting was held in Ankara between the Turkish military command and the U.S. and Russian chiefs of staff. It is not yet known what the outcome was.

Despite the clear signals some proxy units under Turkish command opened fire on the "Syrian border guard" in the area. The Syrian government says that a a few of them were killed and it again raised the issue of the Turkish invasion with the United Nations. I expect the situation around Manbij to calm down. It would be very dangerous for Turkey to continue attacking in the area against the clear position of Russia and the U.S. military.

Further to the east the SDF continued to move towards Raqqa which is last bigger city in Syria held by the Islamic State. It is likely that ISIS will defend the city when it gets attacked. Turkey would like to take part in the attack on the city but the U.S. military has blocked that idea. It prefers to continue with its Kurdish partners. As these do not have heavy weapons the U.S. is introducing new forces into the area.

Already some 500 U.S. special forces (Green Berets) are training and leading the 10,000+ strong SDF proxy force. A small army unit is with them and provides artillery support with two long range MLRS missile systems. Added to these were the Ranger elements seen around Manbij. 400 U.S. Marines (11th MEU) were announced to soon enter the area. They will mostly provide 155mm artillery support and will take care of resupplies. 2,500 soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne are currently staging in Kuwait. It is not yet known what their task might be. The U.S. now has four military air fields in the Syrian Kurdish area north-east of the Euphrates. Two are for helicopters and two will soon be able to also service larger fixed-wing transport planes.

All this build up is taking place without a definite decision by the White House on how to proceed in Syria. The Wall Street Journal reports of discussions about a model where the U.S. and its proxies take Raqqa from the Islamic State and then concede it to the Syrian government. This would make a lot of sense but will surely be opposed by the Israeli/Saudi lobby in Washington as well as by some U.S. military. No final decision is expected before mid April when Turkey will hold a referendum about a presidential constitution. Other reports cite the U.S. commander in the area talking about a bigger "U.S. stabilization force" that will take over the area when the Islamic State is defeated.

Such a force would clearly be consider a U.S. occupation hostile to the Syrian government. It would be met with intense guerilla operations aimed at evicting the occupiers.

East of Homs the Syrian army has retaken Palmyra and the surrounding mountain and oil-field areas. Russian special forces were involved in this operation. I do not expect further large moves from there for the time being.

In the Damascus area the Syrian army continues to squeeze a few "rebel" held enclaves. These are binding many Syrian soldiers. When they are eliminated a sizable reserve will be available to be used in further battles.

There have recently been no significant movements in the southern areas around Daraa and near the Jordanian border. Jordan is involved in talks with Russia. Other talks have been held in Moscow between Putin and Netanyahoo. Some plans are obviously made to evict the Islamic State and al-Qaeda from the Jordan-Israel-Lebanon borderline but especially the Israeli position is difficult to manage. It prefers to keep al-Qaeda in the area as a pressure group against the Syrian state. No results from the recent talks have been announced.

West of Aleppo city around Idlib city al-Qaeda has continued fighting with other Islamist groups like Ahrar al Sham. The al-Qaeda led "rebel" alliance in Idlib is some 10,000 strong and the biggest force in the area. It will be difficult to defeat or evict. Retaking Idlib governate and city requires a large operation by the Syrian army. But currently al-Qaeda is losing support with the population and is involved in infighting. Its support from the outside has diminished. But outside support for al-Qaeda, by Turkey, the U.S., Saudi Arabia or Qatar, could come back when the Syrian army attacks the area.

Main operations by the Syrian army in east-Aleppo and east-Homs have achieved their immediate aims. The units involved in these could now be moved to other areas. When the "rebel" pockets around Damascus are eliminated, hopefully soon, more forces become available. The large force and reserve the Syrian army needs to attack Idlib will soon be available.

Curiously the NY Times just published a somewhat sympathetic portrait of a U.S. born al-Qaeda propagandist who operates as al-Qaeda's English language media channel in the area. Are we back to the "cuddly, moderate al-Qaeda" caricature that was earlier used to justify U.S. support for Takfiri terrorists? Will the U.S. again support al-Qaeda should the Syrian army finally move to retake Idlib?

Posted by b on March 10, 2017 at 19:33 UTC | Permalink

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Gautam Gupta, a finance manager from London, has been investing for around fifteen years. He says: I started looking at ways to invest my spare cash when I began my second job, in London, in 2001. I started off investing in property and individual shares. I enjoyed researching and reading up about individual companies.

The main advantage of an ISA is the savings on capital gains tax

Despite some strong gains, Gupta says that, over time, this strategy became unsustainable, admitting: It is very time-consuming to keep on top of all the information for a large number of companies.

As a result, he switched some of his holdings into mutual funds instead.

I found it easier to invest in these funds, but a few years down the line I became more aware of the higher charges on some of these funds, he added

The fees he was being charged became more apparent to Gupta following the Retail Distribution Review, a regulatory initiative which forced asset managers, financial advisors and platforms to become more transparent about charges.

In some ways my investment strategy has come full circle. I do still invest in some mutual funds, but tend to favour company shares, investment trusts and ETFs, where the charges are more competitive, he says. Gupta uses his annual ISA allowance and also has a few pensions.

The main advantage of an ISA is the savings on capital gains tax. But in most cases my investments are not anywhere near the CGT threshold, he added.

Which Stocks Have Delivered?

Over the years Guptas investments have produced mixed returns. One of his better investments has been in BAE Systems (BA.). In fact, he has very recently taken profits from this stock. Over the past few years he also describes Vodafone (VOD) as a solid performer in his portfolio.

BAE Systems has a two-star valuation rating from Morningstar meaning analysts consider it to be overvalued. The stock has risen in value by 20% over three years. It is up by 33% in the last year alone, according to Morningstar, comfortably beating the returns on the FTSE 100, which itself has had a buoyant 12 months.

Jeffrey Vonk, equity analyst at Morningstar points out that BAE, one of the worlds largest defence contractors, has had a bumper year, with results ahead of expectations. However, he said that the companys shares still look overvalued at current levels, despite an expectation that many countries, including the US, will increase defence spending.

Vodafone, has seen its share price slip marginally over the past 12 months, but it has been a steadier performer over five and 10 years.

Morningstar equity analysts say that recent price falls mean the company is trading below its fair value estimate of 2.40 per share. The company has a narrow moat, meaning it has some protection from competitors moving into its market.

Analysts point out that in recent years Vodafone has gone through a transitional period, going from worlds largest mobile-only telecom firms to a diversified operator, offering converged mobile and fixed-line services in most of its developed markets. This it said should put it in a better position to grow in future.

Which Stocks Have Not Delivered?

Gupta admits not all of his investments have been as profitable: There have been a few shares that were good for a long time, and produced decent returns, but then all these gains were lost. He says probably the worse example of this was Tanfield Group (TAN), an AIM-listed investment company.

Back in 2007 shares in this company were rocketed to peak of 10.17 according to Morningstar data. Gupta said the shares starting sliding from this point: Rather than sell out I held on, hoping that these shares would come good again. I even invested more via a new rights issue. But it turned into quite a horror story.

In July 2008, after complaints from analysts about poor standards of disclosure and weak financial controls, the share price plunged from 3.70 to 60p. Today shares in the company are trading at just 14p.

Gupta says: I lost around 99% of the money Id invested in this company. It certainly had a big influence on how I subsequently invested my money.

But although Gupta is more cautious as a result of this experience, this does not mean he is shying away from smaller company investments. In fact, he says this is where he think the best gains are to be made at present.

At the moment many assets look very expensive  both in the bond and equity markets. Im taking profits from bigger blue chip shares, but I think its quite hard to find good investment opportunities in the UK. Im on the look out for smaller company investment trusts with potential, but many look over-priced at present, he said.

Overseas Investment Opportunities

Gupta is looking for investment opportunities overseas, saying: At the moment Im actively putting my money into a couple of investment trusts that invest in India.

He points out the Indian stock market has been steadily increasing in value over the past few years, and the rupee has appreciated against other currencies. The two trusts he invested in are the Aberdeen New India Investment Trust (ANII) and the India Capital Growth fund (IGC).

These are both pretty small trusts, he says. But returns to date have been encouraging. The Aberdeen trust has a four-star performance rating from Morningstar, while the India Capital Growth fund has a three-star rating. Both funds have also been trading on substantial discounts, offering opportunities for investors like Gupta.

He adds: These are long term holdings. I am confident as the Indian stock market continues to develop they should provide reasonable returns.
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Kris Kringle to support library programs The Moorpark Friends of the Library is offering the second annual Letter from Santa fundraiser. For a $25 donation to the Moorpark Friends of the Library, children will receive a...

Oakmont welcomes new executive director Ronda Wilkin, certified dementia practitioner and a senior living executive, joins Oakmont of Moorpark with more than three decades of experience in health and human services. During her 15 years...
New American Funding President Patty Arvielo was chosen by the Los Angeles Times Multicultural Business Forum as one of their panelists this week, according to a news release.I feel honored to share my perspective in a manner intended to benefit other businesswomen, said Arvielo. Unity among women is paramount to our success.As president and co-founder of New American Funding, Arvielo handles sales, operations of their headquarters and branches and 2,400 employees. She has been an honoree on MPAs Elite Women and Hot 100 lists, and has been recognized by Ernst & Young as Entrepreneur of the Year of Orange County, and the LA Times Latinos de Hoys 2016 Business Award winner.Im grateful to be in a position where I can inspire and educate other career women, she said. The harder I work, the more of my dreams come true.Arvielo spoke before the Women in Business Forum Wednesday.In January, her husband Rick, CEO and co-founder of NAF, was named chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association Political Action Committee to lead industry advocacy efforts within the political system.
Just how deeply the low oil price-fueled decline cut into Midlands economy became apparent Friday when the Texas Workforce Commission issued its January employment report.

The commission said the Midland metropolitan statistical area had an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent, up from 4 percent in December and from January 2016.

Odessa reported an unemployment rate of 5.8 percent, up from 5.6 percent in January and from January 2016.

Looking at the revisions, Amarillo economist Karr Ingham said the numbers showed an average of 3,400 additional jobs were lost monthly than previously thought.

To be clear, the numbers were talking about today are not actual jobs lost, but it does give a clearer picture of how deep the contraction was, Ingham said.

Reviewing the numbers, which the Workforce Commission revises each February, Ingham said Midland employment went from a peak 97,800 jobs in November 2014 to a low point of 86,300 in June 2016.

Thats a loss of 11,500 jobs, he said. In the space of 19 or 20 months, Midland had a 12 percent job loss.

Odessa suffered similar losses, he said.

Imagine, in a broader economy, say the state of Texas, a 12 percent job loss. Theyd think the world had come to an end, Ingham said.

The good news is that job loss in Midland has bottomed out and begun moving in the right direction, he said, estimating 1,200 jobs have been added since the low point last June.

Job creation has not been robust; its mostly signaled the end of job loss is here, he said. As sluggish as it is, we are in a period of job growth instead of job loss and have been for the last four to six months.

Willie Taylor, chief executive officer of Texas Workforce Solutions Permian Basin, said he sees things beginning to trend upward.

He said Midlands wages seem to be trending upward slightly, while the civilian labor force has held steady and the number of people filing for unemployment benefits has been declining. He said this an indication job seekers are finding work.

The folks that are struggling are those with limited job skills, and it takes more time to get them employed, he said.

As Ingham pointed out, job loss has continued when compared to year-ago figures. For the 12 months from January 2016 to January 2017, Midland lost 2,200 jobs, led by 1,200 jobs in the trade, transportation and utilities sector and 600 jobs in the professional and business services sector.

From December to January, Midland lost 400 jobs. The loss of 700 jobs in the trade, transportation and utilities sector was offset by 100-job gains each in the mining, logging and construction, the other services and the government sectors.

Taylor predicted that as the mining, logging and construction sector  Midlands dominant industrial sector at 28 percent  begins to add jobs, other sectors also will begin to add jobs.

I just hope our infrastructure and education systems can keep up, he said.

Ingham said he hopes we will be picking up some momentum in 2017. (Though) oil prices have become worrisome over the last two days.

Statewide, the unemployment rate held at a seasonally adjusted 4.8 percent as 51,300 jobs were added in January.

While Amarillo and Lubbock each had the lowest unemployment at 3.4 percent, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission had the highest rate at 9 percent.

Midland unemployment

January 2017 4.1 percent

January 2016 4.0 percent

Preliminary numbers for January with December numbers in parentheses:

Amarillo: 3.4 (3.1)

Lubbock: 3.4 (3.2)

Austin-Round Rock: 3.5 (3.2)

College Station-Bryan: 3.7 (3.4)

San Antonio-New Braunfels: 3.9 (3.6)

Dallas-Plano-Irving: 4.0 (3.7)

Sherman-Denison: 4.0 (3.6)

Midland: 4.1 (4.0)

Abilene: 4.2 (3.8)

Fort Worth-Arlington: 4.2 (3.8)

Waco: 4.2 (3.8)

Wichita Falls: 4.5 (4.2)

San Angelo: 4.6 (4.2)

Killeen-Temple: 4.7 (4.3)

Tyler: 4.7 (4.3)

Laredo: 5.0 (4.6)

Texarkana: 5.1 (4.6)

El Paso: 5.2 (4.8)

Victoria 5.8 (5.27)

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land: 5.8 (5.3)

Odessa: 5.8 (5.6)

Longview: 6.6 (5.9)

Corpus Christi: 6.8 (6.2)

Brownsville-Harlingen: 8.1 (7.4)

Beaumont-Port Arthur: 8.2 (7.5)

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission: 9.0 (8.2)
Steve Kuhlmann

Senior Link Midland is in need of volunteers for the Meals On Wheels program during spring break week. Many of their regular drivers will be away during that time, which means fewer people to deliver to area homebound seniors who depend on the program.

If you have been wanting to make a difference but not sure how, this is the perfect opportunity to get involved, said interim director Kathleen Kirwan-Haynie. We have the best volunteers. We just need more.
For the fourth time, state Rep. Tom Craddick can celebrate that his bill to ban texting while driving in Texas will go to the House floor.

The House Committee on Transportation delivered a unanimous endorsement on Thursday of the bipartisan piece of legislation -- marked House Bill 62. Craddick is a co-author along with state Reps. Byron Cook, Eddie Lucio, Gene Wu and Sarah Davis.

The bill will be sent to the House Calendars committee, which will consider it for placement on a House General Calendar for floor debate in the near future. Craddick expects the bill to go to the floor in the next two weeks.

He said each of the three previous bills have garnered at least 100 votes in the House, more than two-thirds of the governing body. The Senate has been a thorn in the side of Texas dean of representatives.

In 2013, Sen. Robert Nichols, head of the Senate Transportation Committee, wouldnt allow a committee vote on Craddicks bill. It was expected to pass the Senate with little trouble.

In 2015, HB 80 passed the House with a 104-39 vote. However, its Senate sponsor, Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, could not get the 19 votes needed to bring the bill to the floor for debate. The so-called Liberty Caucus in the Senate had the 13 votes to shut down the bill. Those voting against bringing the bill to the floor included Midland native Van Taylor, a Republican residing in the Metroplex.

Craddick said Thursday the chair of the Senate State Affairs Committee, Joan Huffman, said she supports legislation addressing distracting driving, and it will get out of committee.

HB 62 was passed around 9:45 a.m. Thursday, Craddick said, and within minutes, the Senate scheduled a hearing at 9 a.m. Monday for its version of the bill.

Craddick had previously told the Reporter-Telegram that state law bans cellphone use for drivers under 18; school bus drivers are prohibited from using a cellphone while driving with children on the bus; and drivers cannot use a cellphone or other handheld wireless device in an active school zone where signs are present.

This week the committee heard testimony from witnesses including Mike Myers, who lost his daughter, Elana; James Shaffer, who lost his wife, Emma and daughter, Tita; Justin Neumann from Encana who testified on their corporate policy; Beaman Floyd representing insurance companies; Robin Garza, an ER nurse; Noel Johnson a law enforcement officer with Texas Municipal Police Association; Captain Matthew May with Houston Police Department and Judge Kevin Madison of Lakeway.

About 100 witnesses (individuals, companies, associations, organizations) signed up in favor of the bill but did not testify, according to Craddicks office.

Craddick said there are four states that havent passed texting while driving bans, and deaths are down in those states that have distracted driving laws on the books.

But the number that gets my attention and concerns me gravely is the 482 deaths that occurred on Texas roadways in 2015 due to distracted driving, Craddick previously told the Reporter-Telegram. I filed House Bill 62 because there should be zero deaths.
Musician Aaron Carter's twin sister, Angel Carter ConradShe has broken her silence about the death of her brother, with whom she had a turbulent relationship in the last years of his life. The former child singer was found dead at his home
A Bartow Police officer has been placed on administrative leave after a comment on Facebook that led to protests Thursday.

Officer Christina Arribas placed on paid administrative leave

Facebook post brought to attention of state attorney

Arribas has been with department since 2006



Officer Christina Arribas, with the police force since 2006, will be paid during the administrative leave. A notice of pre-disciplinary action is forthcoming, the police department said.

The social media post prompted a state attorney to issue what's referred to as a "death letter," letting her know she will no longer be called upon to serve as a witness in any case.

State Attorney Brian Haas issued the letter to Arribas after learning about her November post to Facebook under the alias "Chrissy Gillrakers."

The post read, "This year we lost two gorillas, one is in heaven and one is moving out of the White House. One will be missed. One will not be."

The post was brought to Haas' attention by Pastor Clayton Cowart of the Poor Minority Justice Association. Cowart said he learned about the post through a public records request, which he made in an attempt to help former Bartow Police Officer Deonte Broom, who was terminated by the department in 2016.

The pastor assembled students and teachers from his church to protest outside of the police department Thursday. They held signs and dropped off bananas for Bartow Police Chief Joe Hall, who declined to come out of his office.

The police department said Hall won't comment further about the decision.
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The FBI raided multiple homes and served warrants in Orange County on Thursday as part of a drug operation.

FBI, law enforcement raided multiple homes, served drug warrants

Drug operation extended from Central Florida to Tampa

Grand jury indictment charges more than dozen people



The operation took place not only in the Orlando area but Tampa as well.

At Chatham Place in Orlando, several unmarked cars belonging to FBI investigators were at a house since early Thursday morning. The home's door appeared to have signs of forced entry.

The vice president of the homeowner's association where the home is located said he's shocked about having FBI agents on site, but he also hopes anyone at fault faces the courts.

The way our country is, the way this is, it's a process," Richard Victor said. "If we can get this resolved, then our community can go back to being a little more quiet.

According to documents from the U.S. Attorneys Office, a grand jury indictment charges more than a dozen people with intention to sell thousands of dollars in heroin and cocaine.

All of the people are in custody with the exception of one, authorities said. The defendants made their initial appearance in federal court Thursday.



A home on Chatham Place in Orlando shows a dented door after an FBI raid there Thursday, March 9, 2017. (Stephanie Bechara, staff)
Orange County plans to sink over $2 million into studies and road improvements of a busy corridor in the Pine Hills neighborhood, but they need the community's help.

The County's Transportation Planning Division is conducting a survey which squares around pedestrian and bicyclist safety, eliciting feedback from those who live and travel in Pine Hills.

Orange County studying Pine Hills Road pedestrian safety

Needs community to take survey

RELATED: Take the Pine Hills Road Community Survey

We want to know how theyre moving along the corridor now. How are they traveling, why are they choosing to cross mid-block? said Anoch Whitfield, who wrote the scope and interviewed consultants for the project.

Im hoping it will bring more of a focus on whats going on," said community organizer Sandra Fatmi. People in the median, in the middle, thats dangerous. Its very concerning. Too many accidents have happened here.

Standing on the corner of Pine Hills and Silver Star Roads, Fatmi watches a man dart across six lanes of traffic.

I think everyone is just too busy in their own world, not paying attention," she said. Sometimes youre texting on the phone, not paying attention. So thats a problem. Then, the drivers are focused on where theyre going.

Whitfield said the overall study is a facet of the county's "Walk-Ride-Thrive!" program. It focuses specifically on a three-and-a-half mile stretch of Pine Hills Road, from State Road 50 to Bonnie Brae Circle.

The county has budgeted $377,000 for the study, $500,000 for design and $1.2 million for construction, according to Whitfield.

Were going to be looking at traffic history, crash history, lighting, street lighting, pedestrian lighting, connectivity," Whitfield said.

And at the end of the study next January, the planner said she hopes to present findings to commissioners and develop a plan for a "complete" corridor.

That allows for our driving population to get where they need to go safely, and also our walking and biking population. Especially the young people in Pine Hills," she said.

However, the community survey, which needs to be completed by April 15, is a vital component of the study.



Theres almost 72,000 people here. Lets see how many we can reach with this study and help us to find a solution," said Fatmi. Were trying to bring everyone to the table and say, 'Hey, you all have to be responsible citizens.'"



The county said that community meetings will take place in the summer and fall, ahead of the study's completion.
Congressional investigations are starting to take shape into accusations that Russia sought to influence the 2016 presidential election.

House Intelligence Committee to hold public hearing on Russia March 20

Senate already investigating and meeting on the matter

Sen. Marco Rubio warns about Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression against the west

D.C. DIGEST: Latest News | Find your Congressman | Washington D.C. Calendar

The House Intelligence Committee will hold the first public hearing on the Russia probe on March 20. The Senate has already started meeting and investigating the matter.

Among those involved is Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida.

"Im interested in arriving at the truth," Rubio told Spectrum Networks reporter Alberto Pimienta in a one-on-one interview Thursday. "And whatever the truth is, whether it's good politically for my party or bad politically for the other party, thats not my agenda.



Sen. Marco Rubio speaks to Spectrum Networks' Alberto Pimienta.

Rubio is on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. Rubio was one of the committeemembers who visited CIA headquarters this week to review classified documents.

He said he couldn't say whether there was anything in particular that caught his attention in those documents because they are classified.

"The report is going to show as much as we possibly can within the confines of the law," Rubio said. "But I think - when its all said and done, its going to be a very credible, bipartisan document that lays out for the American people what happened and how it happened.

I plan to go back again later next week," he added. "Theres a lot of documents to view and a lot of work to go through.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;

One thing Rubio says he hasn't seen in his time on the committee -- any proof to President Trump's recent claims that President Obama tapped Trump Tower during the election.

I dont have anything I have ever seen that I can speak to that speaks to what he said, Rubio said.

Obviously the White House [has] additional information or notions and I would imagine they have the power to declassify these things if they so choose.

Rubio and Delaware Democrat Sen. Chris Coons took to the Senate floor on March 1 to say the U.S. should stand against Russian President Valdimir Putin, who is taking action against western countries.

"I have extraordinary admiration for the Russian people," Rubio said on the floor. "I have extraordinary admiration for the sacrifices and the contributions that they have made throughout history to our culture and to the world, but unfortunately today their government is run by an individual who has no respect for his own people and has no respect for the freedom and the liberty of others, and it is important for our policymakers on both sides of the aisle to be clear-eyed and clear-voiced in what we do moving forward."

See the full speech here:
WASHINGTON - On Thursday, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) introduced the Veterans, Employees and Taxpayer (VET) Protection Act. This bill would require VA to track the use of official time and prohibit employees involved with direct patient care from spending more than 25 percent of their time on union activities and any VA employee from spending more than 50 percent of their time on union activities. This legislation would also put an end to forcing VA employees to pay union dues, giving them the freedom to opt out at any time. The men and women who raised their right hand and committed to serve deserve nothing but the best. Unfortunately, time and time again, our veterans have not received the care that measures up to this standard of excellence. In fact, several veterans have died waiting for care, said Arrington. It is outrageous and unconscionable that VA employees, especially employees who provide much needed health care services, are spending the majority of their time conducting union business instead of fulfilling the duties they were hired to do. The VET Protection Act will go a long way to restore public confidence by ensuring VA is using taxpayer resources appropriately and that employees are focused on their primary mission of serving our nations heroes. The mission of the VA isnt to take care of unions; its to take care of veterans said U.S. Phil Roe, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. This legislation will ensure that the well-being of our heroes is prioritized above all else, and I thank subcommittee chairman Arrington for his leadership on this issue. Lubbock veteran, Col. David J. Lewis, USAF (retired), in support of Rep. Arringtons legislation said, This is exactly the kind of accountability we need from our federal agencies and precisely how our elected officials can insist on accountability. Access to timely healthcare for our veterans is reaching a crisis level, and requires an All Hands on Deck approach to address these needs, especially in mental health. We must look for ways to reduce the bureaucracy and get our veterans the care they earned. I'm proud of Congressman Arrington's willingness to tackle this issue head on. Under VAs current union agreements, union members can use official time to conduct union business such as working on employee grievances, addressing bargaining issues and some lobbying efforts while being paid by VA. A Government Accountability Office report found that more than 340 VA employees, including numerous high level health care providers, spend 100 percent of their time working on union duties instead of the work VA hired them to do. Whats more, VA does not have a standardized system to track how much time its employees spend doing union work.
The Plainview City Council at its regular meeting Tuesday will continuing the process of reviewing the citys various codes to bring them into compliance with the latest international construction patterned codes.

Theyve already updated commercial and residential building codes as well as regulations on the reconstruction and restoration of existing residential, commercial and historical structures. On Tuesday, they will consider on first reading the 2014 edition of the electrical code and the 2015 edition of the plumbing code.

In previewing the updates at Thursdays council work session, Community Development Manager Cris Valverde explained that in early 2016, city staff began the process of reviewing and updating the codes in consultation with representatives of the different trades governed by those codes.

With any model code updates, changes made to previous editions of the code are done. A majority of the changes are minor and include formatting changes, changes in text, but some changes can be considered significant, he noted.

On Tuesday, the council will first consider adopting the 2014 National Electrical Code.

The National Electrical Code is published by the National Fire Protection Association and updated every three years by issuing a new edition, Valverde told the council. The City of Plainview is currently operating under the 2008 Edition of the NEC. A state-mandated code, city staff is recommending no local amendments. He said most of the changes in the update code are designed to provide increased clarity concerning code provisions.

The 2015 International Plumbing Code also contains many changes that provide clarity to content and resolve common interpretation problems, Valverde said. The scope of the 2015 IPC continues to encompass the initial design of the plumbing system, the installation and construction of plumbing systems, and the maintenance of operating systems. All plumbing systems which are provided for utilization by and for the general safety and well-being of the occupants of a building are intended to be governed by the code. Plumbing installations associated with one- and two-family dwellings are regulated by the International Residential Code.

One proposed change applies to drainage and vent water tests. Instead of a 10-foot head test, city staff is recommending that the code be changed to require a 5-foot head test in accordance with normally accepted practices. The test, during the plumbing rough-in inspection, requires pressure be maintained for at least 15 minutes.

Also Tuesday the City Council will be asked to add an Employee Health Insurance Trust Fund Account and authorize a seven-member trust panel to oversee the in-and-out account. This adds a step in the citys employee health benefit fund. According to staff, the added layer sets up a tax exempt trust under IRS codes. The trustees, composed of a mix of city elected officials and administrative staff, will administer the citys health insurance program. The process wont add any cost to the city. Instead, it will result in an annual savings of about $38,000 or 1.75 percent on taxes applied to health premiums.

City Manager Jeffery Snyder said the action will have no impact on city employees, but will reduce city expenses.

The council also will be asked to adopt an ordinance approving a resolution concerning a negotiated settlement between Atmos Energy and the Atmos West Texas Cities Steering Committee on a 2016 utility rate request.

Under that negotiated settlement, residential customers will see an average 5.3 percent increase in natural gas costs, or about $2.25 per month. Their average monthly bill will rise from $42.42 now to $44.66.

Also on Tuesdays agenda is the awarding a bid for a new 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe police patrol unit to Caldwell Country. The dealer bid $31,490 for SUV, which will replace a 2015 Chevrolet Impala that was totaled in a weather-related mishap in January. The officer was out of his vehicle when it was hit, and was not injured. The city will apply the $14,604 insurance settlement to the purchase price. Local dealerships had an opportunity to bid, but did not.

District 7 Representative Oliver Aldape received an excused absence Thursday. All other council members were present.
WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Wednesday submitted a statement to the Congressional Record to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the capture of the Texas Lost Battalion, the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment from Camp Bowie in Brownwood, by the Imperial Japanese Army on Java on March 8, 1942. That unit included a sizable contingent from Hale, Floyd and surrounding counties.

This week, we remember the brave men of Texas who gave so much to preserve freedom in the Pacific and survived the greatest horrors of World War II. Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment from Camp Bowie Texas, a Texas National Guard unit, were fighting alongside Australian forces on Java, an island in Indonesia, against invading Japanese forces, Cornyn said.
The Ollie Liner Center could soon host regular visits of Covenants Community Dental Health Van.

Local nurse practitioner Greg Curry met with Hale County commissioners at Fridays work session with a request to use the Ollie Liner Centers RV park as a location for the mobile dental clinic.

Working with the Plainview/Hale County Health Department and Covenant Medical Group, Curry hopes to bring the free and low-cost dental clinic van to Plainview for a four-day clinic in April 2017, and a four-day return visit every six weeks.

Covenants Mobile Services program consists of two dental vans serving Texas, according to Covenants website. Mobile dental vans provide dental services to the rural, adult, indigent population within a 100-mile radius of Lubbock.

The units are staffed by licensed dentists and experienced dental assistance. Professional services include fillings, extractions and other basic dental procedures. Clients must meet financial eligibility criteria, the website notes. A denture program is also available.

Curry said services are provided on a sliding scale based on financial ability, but it is extremely affordable. And those dental services are badly needed. At least one in 10 medical patients we see now have dental issues that are impacting their physical health. Often we have to treat those underlying conditions before we can address their medical issues, and we often have to do it again the next time they come in.

Curry works with Dr. Sergio Lara, medical director of the City-County Health Department. We would like to have the dental van parked outside the Health Department offices, but there just isnt a good place. As an alternative, we thought the Ollie Liner Center would be convenient since it already has RV hookups.

The mobile dental van would general be in Plainview from Monday through Thursday during its visits, Curry said.

Commissioners noted that the Ollie Liner Center is convenient for county jail inmates needed dental services. Currently inmates are treated by a local dentist with his services billed to the county.

No formal action on the dental van request is anticipated by commissioners at Mondays regular meeting. Instead, they told Curry to contact Ollie Liner Center Manager Benito Garcia so he can reserve an RV space for each visit.

Action items on Monday include:

--Approval of current accounts payable, including $36,223 from the 2016 budget and $124,677.68 from the 2017 budget.

--Consideration of a request from Marci Brown, executive director of the Crisis Center of the Plains, for use of the courthouse square April 22 for the annual Walk-A-Mile in Her Shoes event.

--Adoption of a resolution authorizing Precinct 3 Constable Terry Timms to apply for a grant to purchase a 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe patrol unit.

--Act on a request to place 35 mph speed limit signs along a half-mile paved stretch of CR 325 (Cemetery Road) north of Abernathy and west of I-27. Its in a residential development.

--Hear a request concerning the April 22 Color Run to benefit the Alzheimers Association.

--Review and award bids for the Ollie Liner Center and RV park improvement project. Two Hale County contractors submitted proposals which are below preliminary estimates.

Mondays meeting is at 9 a.m. in the courthouse, 500 Broadway, and is open to the public.
AUSTIN -- The Senate Business and Commerce Committee Thursday considered a modified version of a bill intended to address what supporters say is an increase in lawsuit abuse surrounding hailstorm and other weather related claims. Author and committee Chair Sen. Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills said the changes to the filed legislation came after working with stakeholders to address concerns in the bill as filed. "Through the process, what we're saying in this is that we heard you, we made significant changes, and I will say significant changes," he said.

Hancock described the issues surrounding hailstorm litigation in the state. He said that a few unscrupulous lawyers and contractors are engaging in what he called "storm-chasing," where they incite policy holders to sue their insurers rather than using the standard claims process. Over the interim, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick charged Hancock and his committee with investigating the issue and proposing solutions. They received data from the Texas Department of Insurance that Hancock says demonstrated a mounting problem. "The report shows the lawsuit-to-claim ratio increased a staggering 15 times over immediately after storm-chasing lawyers created an explosion of lawsuits in 2011," he said. "Thats a 1,400 percent increase." In some cases, he said, lawsuits were filed before insurance claims. While he stressed this activity is limited to a few bad actors, he said the results have wide ranging effects including increasing premiums for home owners and some insurers reducing or even eliminating coverage due to excessive litigation.
Although strong by historical standards, local and area sales tax payments are continuing to lag from the blistering pace set a year ago when a number of wind turbine projects were under construction and dozens of construction crews were busy in Plainview and surrounding communities replacing roofs damaged from a series of hailstorms in 2015.

On Wednesday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced the distribution of $619.7 million in local sales tax allocations for March, 5.8 percent more statewide than in March 2016.

For the 15 taxing entities in the Herald circulation area that take advantage of the option to assess a local sales tax levy on top of the existing state sales tax, Hegar is distributing $532,928.15 in payments this March. Thats down 2.62 percent from March 2016 when the state returned $547,245.63 to the participating cities and counties in Briscoe, Castro, Floyd, Hale, Lamb and Swisher counties.

For the calendar year-to-date (January, February and March), the payments total $1,908,329.30 for 2017. Thats off 0.93 percent from the same period in 2016, when participating entities received $1,926,215.78.

The March allocations are based on sales made in January by businesses that report tax collections on a monthly basis.

Plainviews March payment totals $283,936.35. Thats 9.26 percent below the payment for March 2016 of $296,139.34. For the year-to-date, the citys payments are down just 0.69 percent, falling from $1,040,811.89 in 2016 to $1,033,594.65 now.

For Hale County, the March allocation was $107,272.24 which is down 3.07 percent from a year ago when it received $110,679.06. The year-to-date total for 2017 is $403,524.52, which is down 1.18 percent from the 2016 year-to-date total of $408,348.21.

Both the city and county are essentially flat year-to-date with 2016, commented Mike Fox, executive director of the Plainview-Hale County Economic Development Corp. While that is not ideal, the good news is that the city has taken in more than a million dollars and the county more than $400,000 and we still have most of 2017 ahead of us.

My hope for our local businesses is that sales activity will pick up as our local farmers begin preparation for their new crop year, Fox adds. Spring break is just ahead and hopefully increased sales will be generated from that as well. I remain optimistic for economic growth for both Plainview and Hale County for 2017!

Eight cities and counties in the Herald circulation area received smaller payments in March as compared to a year ago, while seven saw increases. For the year-to-date, nine are showing a decline in payments while six are running ahead of 2016.

Percentagewise, the largest decline for the March payment cycle was posted by Abernathy which saw a drop of 24.04 percent, followed by Hale Center, down 11.18 percent; Lockney, off 9.97 percent; Petersburg, down 9.26 percent; Plainview, off 4.12 percent; Floydada, off 3.23 percent; Hale County, off 3.07 percent; and Tulia, down 0.62 percent.

The largest percentage increase in March was reported by Edmonson with a huge jump of 160.9 percent, from $113.98 in 2016 to $297.38.

Swisher County saw its payment rise 40.41 percent; Olton, 29.2 percent; Kress, 11.75 percent; Hart, 10.6 percent; Silverton, 4.8 percent; and Castro County, 1.29 percent.

Sales tax allocations were both up and down across the state.

The cities of Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Austin saw noticeable increases in sales tax allocations, Hegar said. The cities of McAllen and Sugar Land saw noticeable decreases.

Current and year-to-date payments, and changes from 2016, for area taxing entities include:

--Abernathy, $14,017.52, -24.04%; $46,906.59, -14.54%

--Castro Co., $11,725.80, 1.29%; $46,076.86, -8.29%

--Edmonson, $297.38, 160.9%; $791.52, -60.08%

--Floydada, $27,344.86, -3.23%; $88,809.90, -16.05%

--Kress, $1,095.14, 11.75%; $3.460.95, -8.29%

--Hale Center, $7,018.35, -11.18%; $25,117.78, 6.49%

--Hale Co., $107,272.24, -3.07%; $403,524.52, -1.18%

--Hart, $2,721.33, 10.6%; $10,251.69, 4.16%

--Lockney, $10,449.58, -9.97%; $31,071.96, -3.13%

--Olton, $15,503.56, 29.2%; $44,423.28, 2.33%

--Petersburg, $3,248.26, -9.26%; $11,093.35, -12.69%

--Plainview, $283,936.35, -4.12%; $1,033,594.65, -0.69%

--Silverton, $4,975.64, 4.80%; $16,866.66, 4.68%

--Swisher Co., $16,588.04, 40.41%; $54,154.28, 44.13%

--Tulia, $26,764.10, -0.62%; $92,185.31, 8.37%
LUBBOCK  Arleen Theres Keithley, 36, was sentenced Friday before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings for her role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Keithley was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison. Keithly pleaded guilty in November 2016 to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and aiding and abetting.

According to documents filed in the case, on April 30, 2016, a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) stopped a vehicle in Lubbock for traffic violations. Keithley was the driver; co-defendant Crystal Ann Alaniz was the passenger. Keithley was arrested for driving with an invalid license, and Alaniz, who had several outstanding warrants, was also placed under arrest.

Both Keithley and Alaniz were placed in the troopers vehicle. The in-car video recording system captured Keithley maneuver her hands  while handcuffed  to her left breast area and force a substance in a plastic bag out of her bra. Keithley then used her teeth to remove the item from her bra and toss it to the back seat area where Alaniz was seated. Alaniz hid the item in her pants. Both women were transported to the Lubbock County Detention Center. When asked if either was in possession of any contraband, Alaniz initially stated, no, before admitting I have stuff on me. Alaniz was searched and two plastic bags containing suspected methamphetamine were found in her pants. Alaniz was also in possession of two plastic bags that contained several smaller plastic bags with markings consistent with narcotics trafficking. Two additional plastic bags, containing suspected methamphetamine were found in Keithleys bra. Two bundles of money, totaling nearly $2,000 were found in Keithleys purse along with a digital scale that contained drug residue. Keithley also had $2,500 in small bills on her person.

The Texas DPS Crime Lab determined that the suspected methamphetamine was in fact methamphetamine, and it weighed a total of 54.93 grams.

The Lubbock Police Department, the Littlefield Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Long prosecuted.
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Nothing says seasons greetings like a gaping sinkhole.

Impatient with legislators slow to approve funding to fix roadways damaged by winter storms, Santa Cruz County has sent every member of the state Assembly and Senate a series of greeting cards with a cheerful message paired with photos of the wrecked roads.

Rather than show off the countys sandy beaches and boardwalks, the cards feature scenes like that of a van nearly swallowed whole on a mountain road in February.

Another shows a road cracked and buckling as though it is about to become a fiery portal to hell, emblazoned with Greetings! From beautiful... Santa Cruz County!

The county is seeking emergency funding from the state and federal government to repair 170 damage incidents.

Winter storms have caused $70 million in damages so far this season, the county estimates, and any deal on road funding must be reached by an April 6 deadline set by the governor.

Wed love for you to come visit, the cards say, but good luck getting here!

Filipa A. Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi
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Bob Meyer scrutinized the fudge square before pulling it from its tiny wrapper.

The vice president of purchasing for Landry's nodded as he chewed, thoughtful as a sommelier. He paused, straight-faced, before declaring the verdict.

"Very smooth," he said.

It was an early vote of confidence for Robin Strickland and her business partner, Kevin Graham, who together own Big Little Fudge in Montgomery. They were among hundreds of local small business owners who gathered Thursday at the George R. Brown Convention Center in hope of being selected to compete on the third season of CNBC reality show "Billion Dollar Buyer."

PARTY TIME: Tilman Fertitta's Mardi Gras bash turns 21, Jason Derulo performs during Galveston celebration

The show stars Landry's owner and CEO Tilman Fertitta, who operates a restaurant and hospitality empire that includes as Landry's Seafood, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Rainforest Cafe, Morton's The Steakhouse and many others. Each hour-long episode features two businesses vying to strike a deal with Fertitta to supply some sort of product for his company.

The all-day casting event was the first of its kind for the show, which typically selects its characters by winnowing down thousands of online applications. Organizers expected more than 200 people to attend.

By midmorning, a long line had formed as business owners waited to pitch their products to buyers for Landry's, and, with luck, CNBC executives. Fertitta, who prefers to meet business owners for the first time during the show, said he expected his buyers to select as many as four businesses from the wide lineup.

"Competition is stiff," he said. "You want interesting people as well as good products."

In the past, Fertitta has struck several deals with Texas companies, including Bravado Spice, 44 Farms and Liber & Co.

TASTY: Fertitta to debut Texas' first Mastro's Steakhouse in the Galleria area

Executive producer David Tibballs said small businesses bring a certain energy to the show, keeping it interesting for both Fertitta and the audience.

"Small business owners are the most passionate, crazy people," he said. "They care so much about what they do because that's their life."

Michael Pitre, owner of Spring-based Heaven Made Products, has watched every episode of the show's last two seasons. He showed up with a sampling of his seasonings and spice rubs, which he insists pack a greater punch with less salt than traditional brands thanks to his proprietary flavor base.

"I'm hoping he'll want at least two," he said, estimating that a deal to supply one of Fertitta's restaurant chains could net him at least $50,000.

Kerry Stessel, "chief chilehead officer" of Spring-based Hot Line Pepper Products, saw the casting call as a way to launch his brand in front of a national audience. He began experimenting with recipes about 19 years ago, when he made habanero hot sauce for a poker game to one-up those who brought salsa or pico de gallo. He finally made a business of it in 2011.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS: Tilman Fertitta says Major Applewhite better win big at UH

"I've see the amazing things (Fertitta) has accomplished," he said. "This would be tremendous exposure."

Strickland and Graham of Big Little Fudge, one of the first businesses to make a pitch, had a detailed answer for each of the buyers' questions. They described their sales, production methods and manufacturing facility while doling out samples from a bag that read, "Fudge Completes Me."

Their goal, Strickland said, was to transform an old-time confection into a more modern treat with fresher ingredients and packaging. She acknowledged that many people think of fudge as a sugary block carved up in a gift shop or something Grandma brings at Christmas.

"We're trying to change that," she said.

Meyer, impressed at their preparedness, introduced the partners to the CNBC producers after the initial meeting. He was impressed with their understanding of drier matters such as food safety compliance, an important issue when making products for a large-scale chain.

"This is the kind of small company we're looking for," he said.
Gander Mountain filed for bankruptcy Friday and said it expects to attract a buyer as the company lowers its operating costs as part of its restructuring.

The company expects to close 10 of its 22 stores in Texas. In the Houston area, that includes stores at 13441 Westheimer Road, 19820 Hempstead Highway and 19890 Southwest Freeway in Sugar Land
Trading a career helping crime victims in New York City for helping clothing stain victims in Midland isnt exactly what Dan Corrales ever imagined he would do, but the former prosecutor has done just that.

Corrales and his wife, Michelle, own Pristine Organic Cleaners, which is opening today.

Pristine, located at 1307 N. Loop 250 W. Suite 10B in the Red Oak Plaza, offers a healthier, more environmentally friendly method of clothes cleaning, Corrales said.

Typically, when your clothes are dry cleaned, instead of a washing machine with water, theyre put in a machine that bathes them in solvent, he said. A lot of the older dry cleaners use a chemical called perc (perchloroethylene), that the EPA has stated is a carcinogen. We dont use that.

Instead, Pristine uses a plant-based hypoallergenic detergent in specially designed machines that wet clean garments of all types, particularly those that would otherwise require dry cleaning, such as silks and wools.

The equipment has to be capable of injecting the detergents at the proper time and maintain the humidity level, especially when youre drying it, he said. If the humidity level is not controlled on silks, jackets and blazers, the fabric dries out and its very hard to get wrinkles out and can compromise the integrity of the clothing.

It wasnt long ago that Corrales was only a clothes-cleaning customer, taking his suits in for service when he was a big city prosecutor. I worked in the district attorneys office in Manhattan for three years and in the Brooklyn DAs office for a year. I tried my first case in the Eastern District under Loretta Lynch in the U.S. Justice Department, he said.

But what brought him into Midlands dry cleaning business? That would be my wife, he said. The paternal side of my family is from here. My grandmother was a councilwoman from here many years ago. My wife, who is from here, was a friend of our family, and we had never met until a few years ago. We got married and moved here during the boom thinking the grass was greener. That was 2014 toward the end, when the grass wasnt so green anymore.

Michelle Corrales grew up in the local dry cleaning industry. Her father, Larry Carrasco, has been in the business for more than three decades. He owns New Method Cleaners and Snow White Cleaners and bought Michelle the Image Cleaners facility in Odessa several years ago.

While organic cleaning is new to Midland, its not unfamiliar to Dan Corrales. Im from a larger city where there are a lot more options for green cleaning, and we thought it would be appealing to provide that in the Permian Basin, where no one else offers it. We thought we could have a niche in organic cleaning.

Corrales said the trend is gaining steam because organic cleaning is safer. Its common in a lot of metropolitan areas. In cities like San Antonio, demand is growing for it because people are looking for ways that dont involve toxic chemicals. In New York City, they forbid cleaners from using these products on the ground floor of a mixed-use building because the vapors rise through the high-rise building and affects the air quality.

Organic doesnt necessarily mean more expensive. Corrales said Pristines prices are comparable to competitors. Shirts are $4 to $5, jeans and pants are $6. Peoples perception is if it costs more, its better for your clothes. I, myself, am guilty of it. I dry cleaned my suits and my Brooks Brothers shirts thinking that was better, and that was not the case.

Corrales isnt completely out of the law business. He said he practices here a bit, mostly representing landowners. The transition hasnt been easy, though, because hes now practicing in an entirely different state and demography.

Dry cleaning, however, is a little bit lighter in tone than representing crime victims. Its been interesting. Its been an addition to my education. Im learning whats endemic to this area. Not many people in New York have starched pants that can stand up by themselves.

Corrales hopes his business is successful so he can give back to the community. He would like to donate a portion of sales to MARC and Bynum School. Until then, he and his wife will be working hard to educate the public about the benefits of organic cleaning.

Like Trevor on Facebook and follow him on Twitter at @HowdyHawes.
Texas added 51,300 jobs in January, a healthy rate that accelerates the state's recovery from the energy bust and reflects growing optimism among the state's employers.

That number brings Texas to a 1.9 percent growth rate over the year. The surge was powered by jobs in professional and business services, such as lawyers and accountants, as well as manufacturing, which added 7,300 positions on a seasonally adjusted basis -- the largest monthly gain since 1990.

Oil and gas added 1,900 jobs in January, as the rig count continued to increase, although payrolls are still nearly 10 percent smaller than they were at this time this year. The unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, unchanged from the previous month, and equal to the national rate in January.

In surveys by the Dallas Federal Reserve, businesses in the state have reported hiring and sales increases in recent months, with the yet-unrealized promise of regulatory rollbacks on energy production, agriculture, and manufacturing coming from the administration of President Donald Trump.

Dallas Fed economists wrote this week that they expect the Texas economy to shift into second gear this year, projecting a percentage gain in employment of between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent.

Houston continues to lag behind the rest of the state, with only a 0.1 growth rate over the year. Houston's unemployment rate also jumped to 5.8 percent in January, up from 4.9 percent a year ago, which could be an indication that workers are coming off the sidelines to look for jobs as the market comes back.

Local economic conditions have shown slow but consistent improvement. The local purchasing manager's index, a poll of area businesses that serves as a broad measure of industrial activity, showed increases in sales, purchases, and employment in January  its fifth month of positive territory.

The state's most oil and gas-dependent metro areas, Midland and Odessa, are still showing employment declines of 2.2 percent and 2.6 percent over the year. Jobs in College Station grew at 5.4 percent, faster than anywhere in the state.
OncoResponse, a Houston-based oncology company, closed its first round of venture funding, or Series A, with a total of $22.5 million.

Funding will go toward ongoing research for cancer immunotherapy.
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Texas employment rose in January, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday morning, but the number of San Antonio employed workers fell, raising the local jobless rate.

Texas total employment rose by 51,300 in January, keeping the states seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 4.8 percent for the first month of the year.
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Kong: Skull Island destroyed the box office competition with a $61 million opening weekend.

Thats no surprise: The big ape is always a big box-office draw. Peter Jacksons version opened No. 1 in December 2005, as did the 1976 version starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange, which was director John Guillermins follow-up to The Towering Inferno.

In his review of the Skull: Kong Island, film critic Mick LaSalle said King Kong has never looked so good.

Do you agree? Click through the slideshow to see photos of King Kong through the years.
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If you believe slavery no longer exists in America, sit down with the new season of American Crime and prepare to be horrified.

The various forms of servitude depicted in the latest round of John Ridleys unflinchingly frank anthology series may be fictionalized but are far from fictional  from the inhumane treatment of undocumented farm workers to the disturbing lives of underage sex workers virtually owned by their pimps.

Season three of American Crime debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday on ABC.

Though far from what youd call relaxing television, Crime, which draws from real stories, strives to engage more thoroughly than most flashier small-screen fare.

Similar to the dramas previous installments, this one explores issues prominent in the news: immigration, gender, race, civil rights, sex trafficking, economic disparity. Its stories humanize the headlines, the results being both memorable and heartbreaking.

Its setting this go-round is North Carolina, but the events are just as relevant to Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, anywhere marginalized people struggle to survive in what can be a hostile environment.

What makes us connect so completely to situations that we may have no experience with personally is Ridleys style: the thoughtful, caring  at times, jarring  ways characters are presented to viewers. The camera lingers on their faces and expressions. Were allowed time to bond with them, absorb their words and feelings.

Its no wonder Crimes fine cadre of actors sign up for season after season, playing new characters each time: Regina King, Felicity Huffman, Benito Martinez, Timothy Hutton, Lili Taylor and Richard Cabral once again star.

We express our art by being chameleons, by playing different roles, and the beauty of American Crime is not only do we know were in good hands but we know this group of actors that were working with, theyre going to bring their A game, King, a two-time Emmy winner for Crime, said at a recent press session. It just really doesnt get better than this.

As is the case with earlier seasons, this one starts with a mystery, a single crime that represents a larger American tragedy that eventually draws us into a variety of lives and situations.

Here, the initial focus is a dead body floating in a river. Who it is and how it got there are questions left unanswered until episode four.

(Its) something that an audience can focus on, but then, at some point, be able to expand beyond a central inciting incident and see how it spreads through a community, said creator and executive producer Ridley, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave.

The unsettling image remains in our heads as were led into a larger story: A group of hot, weary travelers are herded from Mexico into the United States.

Among them is Luis (Martinez), who, as we soon learn, is on a personal mission to find his son.

This takes him to the fields of North Carolina  and the family-run Hesby tomato farm. Struggling to remain competitive in a market that continually demands lower prices, the Hesbys bring in immigrants and runaways to harvest their crops.

The pittance theyre paid, however, barely covers the exorbitant fees charged for food and shelter. As a result, most are forced to live as cheaply as possible in filthy, crowded shacks and trailers.

Huffman plays the unlikely conscience of this story: Jeanette Hesby, who grew up poor and married into the family that owns the farm. Although shes made to feel inadequate and has learned not to ask questions about her in-laws business practices, a tragic incident changes her.

Shocked when a trailer fire that killed many of the workers who were trapped inside is downplayed, she speaks up and takes action, putting her at odds with the family.

Even scarier than the living conditions are the farms bosses. We watch one, Isaac (Cabral), lure in workers, such as Coy (Connor Jessup)  a desperate young man estranged from his family and addicted to drugs  with false promises. Once hired, theyre controlled by fear, violence and, in some cases, rape.

Running parallel to this storyline is one that presents sexual servitude more directly. We meet a teenage prostitute named Shae (luminous newcomer Ana Mulvoy-Ten), who has convinced herself that life with her pimp is preferable to the family she escaped. Demeaning hotel encounters with clients make it painfully clear that it isnt.

Shae eventually is taken under the wing of dedicated social worker Kimara (King). She does her best to help others while unable to help herself. Lonely and in her 40s, Kimaras dream is to have a baby; her tragedy is her inability to get pregnant, even after doling out more than she can afford for in vitro treatments.

Each and every character is relatable thanks to beautiful writing and performances that both disturb and captivate.

The only takeaway that I want, Ridley said, is that we are connected. We need to stop thinking about ourselves as isolated individuals.

Not everyone shares my socioeconomic background, my world view, but we share connectivity. We share family, he added. Almost every one of the dynamics that you see represented here is parents and children, people who are creating connections in absence of family.
Billionaire Tilman Fertitta, sole owner of Landry's Inc., a corporation responsible for a number of recognizable chain restaurants including Claim Jumper, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Rainforest Cafe, and McCormick & Schmick's Seafood & Steaks, believes that San Francisco shouldn't mandate its restaurants pay for city workers' healthcare.

In "Billion Dollar Buyer," a CNBC show starring the restauranteur, Fertitta says his businesses have to charge more for the same menu items because San Francisco requires some types of businesses to contribute to their workers' healthcare coverage.

"All these states now are doing their own mandates," Fertita says. "Why should the city of San Francisco be able to do absolutely whatever they want to do?"

Within the city of San Francisco, restaurants with 20 people or more on the staff (excluding the owners and managers) must contribute to its employees' healthcare as part of the Healthy SF program. To make up for the extra expense, some add a separate line item charge to patrons' bills, and others roll it into a dish's total cost, but all restaurants under local legislation have a choice as to how they work with the added cost of business.

SFCHRONICLE.com: Why it's more expensive to eat out in SF

The restaurant must then do one of three things for all employees who work more than eight hours a week: purchase health insurance for employees, contribute to a public city-run program that will provide healthcare for employees, or add money to a health reimbursement account.

Fertitta employs 60,000 people by CNBC's estimates, although it's not clear how many of them work in San Francisco.

"Do you realize, all the restaurants in San Francisco, we all have added charge?" says Fertitta. "We have a 3 percent or 4 percent or 5 percent add-on to the menu because they make us give all our employees full healthcare. We can't afford to do it."

He adds that cities like San Francisco should be forced to follow a federally-defined law as far as what kinds of benefits restaurants should be required to provide to their employees. Until then, customers at his San Francisco restaurants will just have to fork out a little more for their "Bucket of Boat Trash."

This story has been updated.
Former National Public Radio host Diane Rehm began her appearance at Planned Parenthood South Texas annual fundraising luncheon with a declaration aimed at what she called forces allied against the health services provider.

We will not be intimidated, we will not back off, we will not shut up she told the 1,200 attendees, a record crowd for the event.

Rehm shared the stage in the Marriott Rivercenter ballroom with Jeffrey Rosen, a George Washington University law professor and president and CEO of the National Constitution Center. On a raised stage dressed with two large striped chairs, the two discussed the possible direction of the Supreme Court under the Trump Administration and what that might mean for pro-choice advocates.

For almost four decades, until her run ended at the end of last year, Rehm, 80, hosted her own NPR program, talking public affairs with newsmakers from all walks of life. She became known and appreciated for her gentle but insistent prodding of guests reluctant to answer questions as well as, in later years, her battles with spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder that causes the vocal cords to spasm and on many days left her with a timorous speaking voice.

After the 2014 death of her beloved husband, John Rehm, from Parkinsons disease, Rehm also became a staunch advocate for what she calls death with dignity, rejecting the more common term assisted suicide.

If you believe God should be the only (life and death) decision maker, I support you 1,000 percent, she told the luncheon crowd. If you believe that what you want is every option modern medicine has to offer, I support you 1,000 percent.

But if you decide that you wish to end your life when you choose, when death is on the horizon, then I also support you 1,000 percent.

The Express-News caught up with Rehm shortly before she left for Austin to visit a longtime friend.

Q. A lot of people here and around the country have been missing you since your show ended. How have you been keeping yourself busy since then?

A. It touches my heart to hear that people are missing me. I have begun doing a weekly podcast (Diane Rehm: On My Mind, available on iTunes), and that gives me freedom to do absolutely whatever Id like to do. We did one segment on death with dignity, but I usually try to cover the weekly news and talk about whats been going on with my guests. Topics like, how things are changing after the Obama Administration and, frankly, what to make of the new Trump Administration.

Q. What do you make of it?

A. I dont know what to make of it. I think his tweets are setting peoples teeth on edge, whipsawing them as they try to figure out what it is hes saying. What is this man trying to communicate when he says that the former president of the United States is tapping his phones?

Q. What do you think he was saying?

A. Now, heres what I wonder. I wonder if he found out that the CIA and the NSA were wiretapping the Russians and caught them on the line with him.

Q. Is the podcast enough to get your juices flowing?

A. You bet! And now my life doesnt begin until 7 oclock in the morning. For 37 years I got up at 5 oclock every morning, except for weekends. But at age 80 I am ready to cut myself a little more slack.

Q. During the Planned Parenthood luncheon, you linked being pro-choice with supporting death with dignity. How do you tie those two together?

A. The beginning of life and the end of life are both about control of ones own life. Its belief in my ability to control my own life, my own body, my own vision of what I believe is right for me. And I dont think there are many situations where I want to give over that control  either at the beginning or at the end of life  to someone else. Therefore, they are the one and the same.

Q. Some would say the unborn child doesnt get a say in the decision the same way the death-with-dignity patient does.

A. When a woman makes a decision to have an abortion, she is making it for her own well being or for the size of her family or for her ability to afford another child. She is making it for the well being not just of herself but for the the people around her. And in the very same way we are thinking about family, thinking about the needs, the desires, the well being of the family at the end of life, we think about those things at the beginning. And thats how I think they really do join forces.

Q. Your interviews are known for promoting what Jeffery Rosen called civil dialogue. What needs to happen to encourage more civil dialogue in our country?

A. I think that the press and the media in general has to work to do an even better job to make sure that absolutely everything thats said is right on target and is an absolute quotation with as many sources as possible. I think we all get in trouble with unnamed sources. I think what everybody wants is the truth.

And where does the truth lie? Certainly not necessarily in Mr. Trumps tweets. Im really bothered by a president who gets up in the morning and tweets without knowing the full story. If he would listen a little more to NPR, maybe he might have a better sense of what the actual facts are. I think hes listening too much to people who agree with him. People from Breitbart, for example. I think he would do well to listen to NPR a lot more.

rmarini@express-news.net

Twitter: @RichardMarini
My 5-year-old is so giddy, hes doing a happy dance atop his fathers shoulders. Its a crisp Saturday morning, and we are standing before Yosemites Tunnel View with a small group of hikers. The bright sun casts shadows on the iconic El Capitan and Half Dome rock formations as Benjamin regales us with imagined tales of the creatures lurking beyond the basin.

He gets this way  joyful, then focused and professorial  when immersed in the natural world. I remember how excited he was when he spotted the wonderfully spiky silversword plant on a recent trip to Hawaiis Volcanoes National Park and how smitten he was by Olympic National Parks Hoh Rainforest.

More Information If you go Education: The National Park Service offers a Little Cubs (kids 3-6) program that allows kids to earn a button during their visit to Yosemite Valley by completing a self-guided booklet ($3) published by the Yosemite Conservancy. They have a similar Junior Rangers program ($3.50) for children ages 7-13. Find more information at tinyurl.com/h3qav9n. Tours: Guests staying at Groveland's Rush Creek Lodge have several Yosemite tour options, including the half-day Range of Light tour, which runs from 9:15 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. and includes lunch and transportation. The tour is $95 for adults and $65 for children under 13; www.rushcreeklodge.com. See More Collapse

Unlike those trips, where we drove and discovered on our own, this time we decided to put ourselves in the hands of an expert for our first family trip to Yosemite. As our senior naturalist guide  Kevin Perry from Grovelands Rush Creek and Evergreen lodges  pointed out the light, swaying flow of Bridalveil Fall, I realized something. Sure, the greatest gift you can give kids is a love of the outdoors. But the greatest gift you can give yourself is an excursion that is manageable in duration and intensity  with plenty of snacks and periodic piggy-back rides.

We chose this particular tour for its half-day length and easy, mostly flat walks designed for families with kids 4 and older. In addition to lunch and transportation, Perry promised to provide history lessons about Yosemites most famous and impressive wonders, as well as a few hidden treasures only a seasoned expert would know.

As we hopped in the van and drove along the gurgling Merced River toward the national parks northern entrance, Perry explained the difference between the 300 to 500 American black bears that live in Yosemite and the California grizzly, which no longer exists here, despite its presence on the state flag. Euro-American settlers perceived grizzles as a threat to life and property and killed them in large numbers. The last one was shot outside the Yosemite region in the early 1920s, Perry told us. Everyone in the van let that one sink in.

We parked in the Valley and made our way through the towering trees toward Yosemite Falls, as Perry pointed out a cluster of rocks that some kids were using as a makeshift slide. He encouraged Benjamin and the other child in our group to join him (sweet: first climbing lesson). From there, we made the short, paved walk to the base of the falls and took in all three: Upper Yosemite Falls (1,430 feet), the Middle Cascades (675 feet) and Lower Yosemite Falls (320 feet) with their strong, steady streams that, come spring, transform into roaring runoff.

After taking us to stunning viewpoints of Half Dome, our guide knew we were ready for a break. Perry led us to a clearing in neighboring Sentinel Meadow, where we sat outside the old superintendents house, which was set awash during the 1997 Yosemite Flood.

We munched sandwiches, chips and apples from our sack lunches and asked Perry to share his most incredible hiking story. Hed been hiking  not here, but in the Mojave Desert along a ravine on the Pacific Crest Trail, when he suddenly heard a loud buzzing in the dry grass. The word rattlesnake entered his mind, and he started to high step and run.

Then I felt the wind of the snake as it struck after me, he told the kids, who werent the only ones with eyes wide. I was just inches from being bitten by one mean Mojave rattlesnake!

We sat motionless, imagining a run-in with a rattlesnake. It was so quiet that the only sound we could hear was the wind tickling the grass. Then, a pair of deer appeared in our clearing, their serene pose banishing any thought of rattlers  and Benjamin grinned once more.
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ALBANY -- The Capital District Irish American Association's Green Tie Luncheon was held Thursday at the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany.

Money raised at the event benefits the museum's educational programs.
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Upcoming events mark the 22nd annual Maple Weekends at 168 maple farms in 45 upstate counties. The state Agriculture Department expects over 400,000 visitors for activities on March 18-19 and March 25-26.

A searchable list of Maple Weekend events is at www.MapleWeekend.com. Additional events will take place throughout the month.

The Warren County town of Thurman opens up its sugar houses beginning this weekend for free tours, tastings and demonstrations.

Neighboring farms will host open houses with talks, tours, samples and items available for sale. This is a self-guided tour and maps are available in the Thurman area and online at http://www.thurmanmapledays.com/.

Farms will offer tours and pancake breakfasts, sell maple products and demonstrate the syrup-making process. An unusual warm spell this winter has given farmers an early start on sap production.

Many producers have moved away from the traditional system of hanging buckets on trees in favor of modern methods of production using vacuum systems to increase the yield of sap per tree. Sap is transported to evaporators that reduce raw sap to syrup. It can take 40 gallons of sap or more to make one gallon of pure syrup.

New York's maple producers rank second in the nation in the production of syrup, with a record season in 2016 of more than 700,000 gallons of syrup. This was an increase of 18 percent and broke the previous year's 70-year production record by over 100,000 gallons, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Some 40 light years away, there are seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the ultra-cool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. We think they are mostly in the habitable zone. We believe they are rocky. We really, really want to know more -- not that we'll travel there any time soon, but knowing if they have water and, gasp, life would be pretty slick.

Want to help? Well, you'd have to be pretty skilled in the ways of science and astronomy but you can dig in. NASA announced this week that its astronomers were quick to point the Kepler spacecraft at the solar system in December, just after the discovery of several of the planets was announced. The mission was dubbed K2 and ran until March 4.
A Splendora ISD administrator recently received regionwide recognition.

Troy Reynolds was honored in February as the outstanding testing coordinator for the Education Service Center Region IV at the Texas Statewide Network of Assessment Professionals (T-SNAP) luncheon in Austin.

Region VI T-SNAP Director Jana Lawrence presented the award for going above and beyond the call of duty in his role as district testing coordinator.

Region VI serves 57 school districts and 11 charter schools in the 15 county areas of Austin, Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Houston, Leon, Madison, Milam, Montgomery, Polk, Robertson, San Jacinto, Trinity, Walker and Washington counties.

Reynolds began his career with Splendora in 1991 when he was the theater director for the high school. He left in 1998, and returned in 2010 as principal of Peach Creek Elementary. Along with his duties as district testing coordinator, he now serves as director of curriculum and federal programs.
courtesy photo

Humble Independent School District will hold the district's annual performance report public meeting in conjunction with the Board of Trustees Meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 21.

The meeting will be held in the Humble ISD Administration Building Room, 20200 Eastway Village Drive, in Humble.
Motorcyclists and the community are invited to attend the Blessing of the Bikes event to be held in the front of St. Martha Catholic Church in Porter on Saturday, March 25, at 10 a.m.

"This is a motorcycle event open to anyone who wants to share in the opportunity to look to Jesus Christ and accept God's blessing," said event coordinator Gary J. Rabalais.

Motorcycles of all makes and models are welcome.

Father Richard McNeillie, of St. Martha Catholic Church, will preside over the blessing of the bikes as a way to launch into the 2017 riding season.

"It's the people that are really being impacted," Rabalais said. "Some people may think it's about superstition or luck, but it's not. The message is that God is love. We have to pause and come together as a group to think about His blessings."

The event is not limited to riders.

Rain or shine, the community is welcome to join representatives of the Christian Motorcycle Association and others for the free event.

"This is open to the community," Rabalais said. "This is an opportunity for people to enjoy each other's presence and for motorcyclists to show off their chrome.

"Families, children, anyone who is interested in coming together in fellowship is welcome."

St. Martha Catholic Church is at 4301 Woodridge Parkway in Porter, just outside of Kingwood.

For more information, contact Gary Rabalais at 832-656-3485 or rabalaisgaryj@gmail.com.
Humble Rabbi Dan Gordon believes the Jewish community can relate to the plight of Muslim refugees.

"In our history, both ancient and 20th-century history, we have been pushed out; we have been put in ghettos," said Gordon, who heads the Temple Beth Torah in Humble. "During World War II, we had boats that tried to come to the United States that were turned away. So, the idea of fleeing an oppressive land is something that we as Jewish people relate to. Looking for comfort in a land that's free makes perfect sense to us," Gordon said.

President Donald Trump's executive orders concerning immigration and refugees have prompted responses from several religious leaders across different faiths over the past two months.

Released Jan. 27, certain aspects of Trump's original order sparked conversation among leaders in religious communities about the balance between national security and religious-based moral imperatives.

Houston-area rabbis published a letter Feb. 9 condemning the executive order, stating: "Our convictions are rooted in the fact that the Torah repeatedly forbids us from oppressing the stranger."

Gordon was one of the 27 Houston-area rabbis to sign the letter, and said his opinions on the topic do not necessarily reflect his congregation or the entire Jewish community, but his decision to sign the letter was based on the concept of what the Torah teaches about how to treat a stranger.

"The Hebrew scriptures repeat over and over again, 'Ye shall not oppress the stranger nor wrong him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt,'" Gordon said.

While Gordon sees a call for compassion, Judaism also teaches the importance of knowing when not to put oneself at risk.

"But, it's equally problematic to just pick a country and say everyone from this country is more likely to be a criminal than others," Gordon said.

As a religious leader and someone who has a passion for interfaith events, Gordon feels it is important to learn about and build relationships with people of other cultures and beliefs.

"If the norm is to present curiosity, understanding and acceptance of others, then those whose first thought is prejudice and fear are going to feel out of place," Gordon said. "My goal is to get more people making friends with each other and learning that people are people so that becomes the new norm."

On Feb. 3, the United Methodist Bishops of the State of Texas posted a letter calling upon President Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott and other leaders to "seek a more compassionate response to immigrants and refugees."

Senior Pastor Deborah Proctor, with the Atascocita United Methodist Church, said Feb. 13 she thought the letter was a very balanced response to a complex issue.

"I think they did a good job at saying they understand that national security is important and security of our communities is important, and yet we're a country that's a country of immigrants and we need to be sensitive to that," Proctor said. "I think the letter itself is just a reminder that, at least for us in the church, we're all about hospitality."

Pastor Jim Flagg, of First United Methodist Church Humble, believes most people understand that borders are artificially created by governments in an e-mail dated Feb. 7.

"Sadly, the world is not as it was, and there are people bound and determined to undermine the stability and freedom we readily enjoy," Flagg said.

According to Flagg, the difference between the goals of the church and state become apparent in this situation.

"The government of the United States is tasked with keeping the citizens of this nation safe from outside forces and protect the liberties and freedoms of those same citizens," Flagg wrote. "The church is not a national entity but a global one concerned with living and sharing the Good News of Christ Jesus with all people fitting them for eternal salvation. This calls for a different set of eyes and, at times, different responses than those of a government bureaucracy."

In response to the original executive order, Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, sent a letter to President Trump calling for the administration to clarify certain ambiguities, to resume the Refugee Admission Program including Syrian refugees, to ensure the safety of Americans in majority-Muslim countries, and to uphold the "administration's commitment to religious freedom and the inalienable human dignity" regardless of religious belief.

Pastor Marcus Allen of Faith Family Baptist Church stated via email Tuesday, Feb. 14, that while the commission does speak for the SBC, Southern Baptists are not required to share the opinions expressed in the letter. Allen said he does feel, in general, the letter reflects the values and beliefs of Southern Baptists.

He described the position of the original executive order as "right heart; wrong head."

"What I mean is the intent of the executive order was to protect America and reset our policy on immigration from hostile countries," Allen said. "However, they in the process of doing so, inadvertently and unintentionally caused grief to some. And this, as Dr. Moore pointed out, could directly affect SBC mission efforts as well as endanger refugees fleeing persecution."

The letter discusses the importance of finding the balance between the call for compassion toward refugees and protection of Americans. Allen described a similar effort to find balance on the topic of immigration and refugees among members of his congregation.

"My sense is, like so many others, they are struggling with the balance between loving the refugee who is in danger and having sound policies that protect America from those who would want to harm us," Allen said.

On Jan. 25, the Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church released a statement emphasizing that refugee settlement is a ministry, and the Rev. William Richter of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Kingwood said Feb. 14 that, for him, this is not a political issue.

"It's been politicized, but I think whatever's going on with this issue, the church needs to have a voice in it, and it needs to have a strong voice that's pro-refugee," Richter said. "That's not to say that we have all the problems worked out or that we have a viable solution, but we do have a powerful voice about what we believe God calls us to do, and that's clearly laid out in the old testament."

Richter said rather than arguing from a political standpoint, he believes from a faith and religious standing that people are called to love, care for and help others.

"The commandments are pretty clear: You take care of the widow, orphan, stranger in your midst and Jesus continues that (into) the early church - that you welcome everyone. That in Christ, there is not east or west, no slave or free, no Greek or Barbarian - it's all made one in Christ. So, we all care for one another."

On March 6, the new executive order was released with changes that included the removal of Iraq from the list of countries, exemptions for visa holders, and the order does not include an indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees.

MJ Khan, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, said March 8 while there are some aspects of the executive order the society does not take issue with, there are some the group definitely considers inappropriate.

First, he said, whatever precautionary vetting done for people attempting to enter the United States should be done for every immigrant and refugee regardless of their country, religion or race.

The second issue with the executive order, Khan said, is the 120-day moratorium on refugees.

Khan said Islam also teaches a moral imperative to help people who are in distress.

"Refugees are people who are persecuted, and in many cases lose their family members and have no choice except to leave their home to find safety," Khan said. "They are trying to protect themselves, their children, their families, their loved ones. It takes a tremendous toll on the person physically, psychologically and otherwise to become a refugee. They are not becoming a refugee by choice. It says 120 days of moratorium on refuges. How many children will lose their lives in 120 days? How many people will lose their lives because of that? The good people around the world should not turn their back on them."

He said another aspect to consider is the danger of encouraging a divisive mentality.

"The people who are using this for propaganda are the very people we are fighting against, and these are extremists and terrorists," Khan said. "They have this false narrative, and they do false propaganda on this false narrative that there's a war between America and Islam, and there's a war between the west and Islam. These kind of situations give fuel to their false propaganda."

Khan said the Islamic Society of Greater Houston encourages people to learn about civic responsibilities and become active in writing to political leaders about important issues. Additionally, he said it is important to build not only interfaith relationships, but intercommunity relationships as well.

Khan found that the recent issues surrounding immigration and refugees has actually served to, in some ways, strengthen these relationships.

"Muslims, by faith, are optimistic people and whatever happens, we always thank the Lord Almighty," Khan said, later adding, "There is so much support and camaraderie built up for the Muslim community. Who could have imagined six months ago that there's so many people who would stand in solidarity with the Muslim community?"
Pearland Police Department officers responded to a range of misdeeds the week of Feb. 27 to March 5, from a false kidnapping report to a trespassing incident involving a goat at Dawson High School.

TRESPASS

Police arrested a 60-year-old Houston man for criminal trespass Feb. 27 in the 16100 block of Texas 288.

After a warning to stay off campus after school, a male student was seen walking a goat at 3:06 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Dawson High School agriculture barn, 4700 Bailey Road, according to a March 1 police report.

FALSE REPORT

A 19-year-old Houston woman was arrested for falsely reporting a kidnapping Feb. 27 in the 1900 block of Main Street, police said.

LITTERING

Police arrested a 22-year-old Porter man for littering following a traffic stop Feb. 28 in the 100 block of Winding Road.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF

A suspect or suspects poured paint on the floors of a vacant apartment Feb. 25 in the 2100 block of Kingsley, according to a March 1 police report.

A 33-year-old Pearland man was arrested for criminal mischief March 5 in the 4500 block of Stonebridge Drive, police said.

HARASSMENT

A 25-year-old woman filed a report of harassment by another woman March 2 in the 2900 block of Windemere Drive, police said.

CREDIT, DEBIT CARD ABUSE

A 32-year-old woman's debit card was used without authorization Feb. 25 at H-E-B grocery store, 2710 Pearland Parkway, according to a Feb. 27 police report.

A 49-year-old Pearland woman reported her debit card number had been used March 1 at two Houston businesses, police said.

A caregiver reportedly stole funds from an 80-year-old woman's account between Dec. 1, 2016, and March 1 in the 1400 block of North Riviera Circle, police said.

NARCOTICS

Police arrested a 19-year-old Pearland man for possession of marijuana and a controlled substance Feb. 27 in the 13900 block of Shadow Grove Lane.

Police found a male student to be in possession of drug paraphernalia Feb. 28 in the 3700 block of Main Street.

Police arrested two people for possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and warrants March 1 in the 2800 block of Business Center Drive.

A 52-year-old Houston man and 29-year-old Houston woman were arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia after a traffic stop March 1 in the 14800 block of Texas 288, police said.

A 55-year-old Houston woman arrested on a Harris County Sheriff's Office warrant March 2 in the 1400 block of North Riviera Circle was found in possession of drugs when she entered the Pearland jail, police said.

Police arrested a 26-year-old Denton man for driving while license invalid and possession of marijuana following a crash March 5 in the 2900 block of Pearland Parkway.

A person suspected of possession of a controlled substance evaded arrest using a vehicle Feb. 20 in the 1400 block of Pearland Parkway, police said.

Police arrested a man for possession of marijuana Feb. 21 in the 4400 block of Main Street. A woman also was arrested for warrants.

Police arrested a man and a juvenile for possession of marijuana Feb. 22 in the 16500 block of Texas 288.

Police arrested a person for possession of marijuana and weapons charges Feb. 25 in the 4800 block of Main Street.

Police arrested a woman for DWI and possession of drug paraphernalia Feb. 26 in the 11600 block of Broadway Street.

THEFT

Police filed a shoplifting report Feb. 20 at CVS Pharmacy in the 2900 block of Broadway Street.

Police investigated a shoplifting incident Feb. 20 at Academy, 2804 Business Center Drive.

Police arrested suspects involved in shoplifting Feb. 21 at Macy's, 11200 Broadway St. A few hours later, two more people were arrested for shoplifting at the same store.

A theft occurred Feb. 8 in the 3100 block of South Sam Houston Parkway East, according to a Feb. 21 police report.

Money was stolen Feb. 21 from Houston Community Bank, 4605 Broadway St., via checks and debit and credit card transactions, police said.

A 28-year-old man reported a package was stolen between Feb. 15 and Feb. 21 in the 11200 block of Broadway Street, police said.

A 56-year-old man reported his vehicle was taken without consent Feb. 21 from the 3100 block of Keithwood Drive, police said.

A 20-year-old woman paid $250 online for a pair of shoes between Sept. 20-22, 2016, and did not receive them, according to a Feb. 22 police report filed in the 3100 block of Berryfield Lane. She said the business owner will not refund her money.

A 27-year-old man reported theft of motor vehicle parts or accessories Feb. 23 in the 12000 block of Bogey Way, police said.

A woman reportedly shoplifted Feb. 25 at Buc-ee's, 11151 Shadow Creek Parkway.

A man stole several cell phones Feb. 25 in the 2700 block of West Oaks Circle, police said.

FRAUD

Police took a subject into custody for possession of identifying information, unlawful possession of criminal instruments and credit card abuse Feb. 20 in the 10600 block of Broadway Street after an investigation of suspicious activity in the 8300 block of Broadway Street.

A 60-year-old man in the 2300 block of Cunningham Drive reported his credit card number was used to make unauthorized purchases between Feb. 18-20, police said.

A 53-year-old man said his identity was used to open an account with Comcast between Oct. 10, 2010, and Oct. 1, 2016, according to a Feb. 22 police report.

A 67-year-old woman reported she was the victim of forgery in the 2800 block of Business Center Drive after a man wired $25,000 into her bank account and asked her to deposit the money into another account. She did, and Jan. 26 a bank representative told her the wire transfer was fraudulent, according to a Feb. 22 police report.

A 39-year-old woman's debit card number was used to withdraw $300 from an ATM in Sugar Land, police said. Her identity also was used in Charlotte, N.C., in an attempt to withdraw $7,000 from her checking account, according to a Feb. 22 police report filed in the 6100 block of Patridge Drive.

A 66-year-old woman's identity was used to open an account with Walmart between Feb. 2-17, according to a Feb. 24 police report filed in the 2900 block of Oak Road.

RESISTING ARREST

Police arrested a person for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, search or transportation Feb. 23 in the 1700 block of Broadway Street.

Suspects evading arrest or detention in a motor vehicle were taken into custody Feb. 25 in the 16800 block of Texas 288, police said.

DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED

Police arrested a 25-year-old Pearland woman for DWI Feb. 28 in the 8800 block of Broadway Street.

A 26-year-old Houston woman was arrested for DWI March 2 in the 15000 block of Texas 288, police said.

Police arrested a 64-year-old Pearland man for DWI and an accident involving damage to a vehicle March 2 in the 2700 block of Manvel Road.

A 37-year-old Pearland man was taken into custody for DWI March 2 in the 3100 block of Dixie Farm Road, police said.

A 37-year-old Houston man involved in a crash was arrested for DWI March 3 in the 8200 block of Brookside Road, police said.

Police arrested a 49-year-old Pearland man for DWI March 4 in the 8300 block of Broadway Street.

A traffic stop for suspicious activity led to the arrest of a 37-year-old Houston man for DWI March 5 in the 1900 block of Business Center Drive, police said.

Police arrested a person for DWI and unlawful carrying of a weapon Feb. 21 in the 2800 block of Kirby Drive.

A traffic stop Feb. 23 in the 2700 block of Manvel Road at Broadway Street led to the arrest of a 26-year-old man for DWI, police said.

STOLEN PROPERTY

A man found stolen handguns Feb. 21 in the 11600 block of Cherry Creek Drive, police said.

TRAFFIC

Police arrested a 40-year-old man for driving while license invalid after a traffic stop Feb. 22 in the 6400 block of Broadway Street. The man also had three active Bellaire Municipal Court warrants.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF

A 27-year-old man reported criminal mischief to a vehicle Feb. 22 in the 1200 block of Lazy Springs Lane, police said.

Damaged property was reported Feb. 26 at Fellowship Bible Church, 1720 Broadway St., police said.

ASSAULT

A family violence incident led to the arrest of two people Feb. 22 in the 2000 block of Business Center Drive, police said.

Police completed an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon report Feb. 23 in the 13500 block of Hooper Road.

A 16-year-old girl said she was sexually assaulted in July 2016 in Pearland, according to a Feb. 23 police report.

A juvenile reportedly was assaulted by another juvenile while walking home from school Feb. 24 in the 2500 block of Business Center Drive, police said.

BURGLARY

A handgun and merchandise were stolen from a parked truck Feb. 27 at Cracker Barrel, 11019 Shadow Creek Parkway, police said.

Police investigated a burglary of habitation report March 2 in the 2600 block of Sunbird Court.

A 34-year-old woman reported a burglary of motor vehicle March 2 in the 2900 block of Manvel Road, police said. Upon reporting the incident, she also learned her stolen credit cards were being used.

Police filed a burglary of a motor vehicle report March 4 in the 6700 block of Sharon Drive.

A 59-year-old woman reported her SUV broken into and purse stolen March 4 at Yoga One, 2810 Business Center Drive, police said.

First Baptist Church, 3005 Pearland Parkway, was burglarized Feb. 24, police said.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT

Police arrested a man for disorderly conduct Feb. 24 in the 2100 block of Venezia Drive.

Two men were arrested for disorderly conduct and fighting Feb. 25 in the 3100 block of Hatfield Road, police said.

THEFT

Police investigated the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle Feb. 27 in the 16000 block of Texas 288, according to a Feb. 28 report.

A 15-year-old Dawson High School student detailed a Feb. 17 theft in the 2000 block of Cullen Parkway, according to a Feb. 28 report.

A vehicle was reported stolen between Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 from the 16900 block of Wellborne Drive, police said.

A 79-year-old woman reported her wallet was stolen March 2 in the 4100 block of Broadway Street, police said.

A woman moving out of a home reportedly took items that belonged to her ex-roommate March 2 in the 1900 block of West Oak Hollow Drive, police said.

Police investigated an employee theft reported March 2 in the 1700 block of Broadway Street.

A 33-year-old Alvin man and a 30-year-old Alvin man were arrested after reportedly stealing sunglasses March 3 at Macy's, 11200 Broadway Street, police said.
Spring Independent School District's Spring High School's U.S. Navy JROTC program is not just the largest program in Texas, but the fifth largest open-enrollment program in the United States, with an enrollment of 417 students this year.

"Our Spring High Lion Regiment has earned the status of regiment for the past five years due to enrollment numbers that have been as high as 525," said lead instructor, Capt. James Boyer. "Only programs with over 350 students enrolled are given the status of regiment."

To Boyer, scholarships and the area's "strong support for the military" are the primary reasons for the program's popularity.

"I think the community in the Spring-Klein-Tomball area is very pro-military," he said. "In part, the reason for that could be that a fair number of our students enter into the military from this area, so they have a lot of family and neighborhood support.

At Spring High School, Navy JROTC has consistently garnered high interest among students, making it one of the largest programs in the nation for the last five years.

Boyer said students who have graduated from the program at Spring High have received nearly $37 million in scholarships since 2005. Last year, students were awarded $3.9 million.

"There is no other JROTC program in Texas that even comes close to that amount," he said of the scholarship sum in the last decade.

For cadets in the program, "it is pretty much like the school day for any other student attending high school," Boyer said. Afterschool, however, is when they're involved in various teams and do community service work.

For Boyer, who said he's worked with numerous JROTC programs throughout Texas, his cadets have earned their way into the Naval and Coast Guard academies and West Point, but also schools like University of Texas, Prairie View A&M, the University of Houston, Texas A&M University and Northeast Louisiana State.

"Those scholarships don't come without a lot of hard work from both the students and program instructors," district spokesperson Karen Garrison said. "Boyer has been known to spend an entire day working with cadets on earning scholarships that includes a trip to a university campus for interviews and a visit to the admissions office."

Cadet Regimental Commander Courtney Lundquist is waiting to hear whether she has been accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy. She believes the program is successful because it lets the students take charge and puts them first.

"The instructors, first off, they really guide us, but really, we run the program," Lundquist said. "If we mess up, the instructors are there to help us get back on our feet. We take pride in that, and it really teaches us."

For Lundquist, who has been in the program since her freshman year, there's always an opportunity to grow.

"They teach us that we are always learning. Basically, we never quit learning," Lundquist said.
CASA Child Advocates of Montgomery County is pleased to announce its recent hire of Shannon Wilson, who joins the CASA team as Development Director. Within this role, Wilson will be responsible for planning, organizing and directing all of the nonprofit organization's fundraising efforts, including the major gifts program, annual fund, planned giving, special events, and capital campaigns.

"I'm honored to be working with an organization that is making such a tremendous impact in the community," Wilson explained, "Helping kids who have been victims of abuse or neglect is a cause everyone can feel passionate about. A child can never have too much love."

Wilson comes to CASA Child Advocates of Montgomery County with more than 30 years of experience in marketing and public relations. Most recently, Wilson served as the Director of Marketing & Education for The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas. There, she led community outreach efforts, including presentations, educational programming, event production, and the development of collateral marketing materials. This background will help Wilson make an easy transition into her current position with CASA.

CASA Child Advocates' Executive Director, Ann McAlpin, shares in the excitement of welcoming Wilson to the CASA team. "We're completely convinced that Shannon is just the right person for this important role at CASA," McAlpin continues, "I'm personally looking forward to working with Shannon to expand CASA's ability to change the lives of children in our community - children who've been abused or neglected, and who really need the help that CASA volunteers offer so effectively."

In addition to her most recent outreach and public relations experience, Wilson spent most of her career marketing both the commercial and residential aspects of The Woodlands. Before working for The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Wilson served as the Director of Marketing for The Woodlands Operating Company, LP, Life Forms, Inc., and the Town Center Improvement District.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) speak up for the best interests of children who have been removed from their parents and are under the Court's jurisdiction. CASA's goal is to continue to provide a court-appointed volunteer to serve as Guardian ad Litem for every child in the foster care system, and to break the cycle of abuse. For the past 25 years, CASA has been training volunteers, raising awareness in the community, and working to stop the cycle of child abuse in Montgomery County.

You may contact Shannon Wilson at CASA Child Advocates of Montgomery County via email at Shannon@CASASpeaks4Kids.com or call 936-441-5437, ext. 212. For more information about CASA Child Advocates of Montgomery County, visit the website at www.CASASpeaks4Kids.com.
For the Intelligencer

St. Andrews Episcopal Church will host a program of local history on Sunday, March 19 at 2 p.m. in the churchs fellowship hall. As part of St. Andrews Centennial Celebration, local historian Cindy Reinhardt will present a program of stories aing of St. Andrews Church and some interesting tales of the early days in the new church.

The members of the congregation at that time included journalists, architects, bankers, feminists, industrialists, politicians and more. Many of the names are familiar; Boeschenstein, Brown, Burroughs, Hadley, Lawnin, Mudge, and Travous to name a few. More than a century ago, these members began planning for the new edifice which was completed in time to celebrate Easter services in April, 1917.
Editors note: This is the second story in a series exploring TEAM Westports essay contest for 2017. The first part of this series can be found www.westport-news.com and explored the media storm surrounding this years contest and the racist fallout. This story explores TEAM Westports leader Harold Bailey Jr. and his groundbreaking journey through life.

WESTPORTSince gaining national attention, the TEAM (Together Effectively Achieving Multiculturalism) Westport essay competition on white privilege has received heated and often intemperate views unleashed in emails and phones calls to local officials and Harold Bailey Jr., the chairman of TEAM Westport, the committee charged with celebrating the towns cultural and ethnic mix.

Bailey, who attended high school in the South during the 1960s, is no stranger to the dark side of race relations.

Although he now lives in Westport, Bailey went to school in Knoxville, Tennessee when white privilege was the law. As one of 20 black students selected in 1963 to be the first sizable class to integrate into Fulton High School, Bailey, was bombarded daily with racial slurs, physical violence and threats of death. That year around 1 percent of black children in the South attended school with white children, according to ProPublica.

They were saying the n-word all over the placeif you ended up in the hall alone you could get  I ended up getting  thrown against lockers and stuff like that. It was ugly, Bailey said, adding that the cat-calls on the bus were a regular feature of life and just outrageous.

One day the waves of hateful and disrespectful rhetoric got to be too much, he said. When the bus got to the downtown where white and black students would disembark the white students would then board a separate bus to their neighborhood and the black students would board a separate bus to theirs  a fight broke out and the students on a bus from Austin High School, the black high school, joined in the melee.

The next day at school, Bailey heard that some students from another white high school were planning on showing up to Fulton armed with zip guns  makeshift, homemade guns.

We finally said thats it, he said. Bailey and his friend went to alert the principal who then told the assistant principal, a burly man. Both administrators took the threats seriously and it prompted the assistant principal to warn the white students at the school that nothing must happen.

That afternoon, it was announced that President John F. Kennedy, a man who championed integration for so many blacks, had been shot to death. As Bailey and his friends solemnly crossed the bridge to leave school that day  all devastated by the assassination of their presidentthat same assistant principal was standing there to protect them from harm, literally with the longest switch which was like a branch and he was doing that to show nobodys doing anything, Bailey said.

The threat of imminent violence dissipated somewhat, but Bailey and his friends still heard someone shout your leader is dead.

The next year Bailey accepted a scholarship to Tilton School, a prep school in New Hampshire and eventually he went on to Brown University where he received a degree in Philosophy and Applied Mathematics.

It was like an escape, Bailey said of Tilton. It took a long time to get used towhat you could say, what you couldnt say. Because in the South there were certain ways you had to operate. I mean you couldnt confront white people directly. Not if you wanted to survive.

In the South, white privilege was based on law compared to Tilton and Brown where the disparity was more economic and predicated on what kinds of jobs Bailey would eventually be able to apply to.

There were companies that werent hiring black people to do certain things, he said.

Bailey came to be a Jackie Robinson of the corporate world. He broke barrier after barrier, rising to positions that had never been filled by anything but white people. He eventually became IBMs Vice President of Lotus Marketing Integration.

By 1988, Bailey had moved to Westport and established himself as a pillar of the community. But that hasnt protected him from the kinds of personal attacks that used to haunt his childhood.

One email came from a white male, who grew up in Bridgeport and worked at IBM, proudly signed his name after writing to Bailey directly: And in this case, Im 110 percent right to call out Baily as a hypocritical, scheming, race baiting nr White privilege? Why doesnt the TEAM ask Baily how black privilege got him into IBM and got him promoted at IBM? IBMs culture is so paranoid about race that blacks are regularly promoted no matter how little they know and regardless of their performance record. I learned early on in Bridgeports projects that black kids were the best actors, performers, manipulators, con artists, and practitioners of misdirection, in town.

A white supremacist blog post called TEAM Westport a Case Study in Anti-White Activism.

Then there was the voicemail left on Baileys home phone number by a man who said: So Mr. Bailey why dont you do an essay on Mexican privilege? Why dont you do an essay on Jewish privilege? Why dont you do an essay on black privilege?...All you liberals want to attack white people and run your little psychological operation guilt trip on little white kidsYou attack white people and youre going to find out what happens. Things like this where we respond to your attacks.

Despite facing rampant racism and hate when he was a student in the South, Bailey said the reaction from this essay contest has invoked a new type of hateveiled hate.

The difference now is you dont know who these people are and its coming from literally all over the countryBut when the emails hit, you have no idea and thats a part of it thats more troubling, he said. That they can hide.

Asked if he regretted any part of this years essay prompt, Bailey responded with a confident, calm sense of purpose.

No, not at all. Not at all. Because it needs to be taken on.
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The Texas General Land Office is preparing to sue the federal government to have an endangered songbird that nests in Bexar County taken off the endangered list.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation filed a notice March 1 on behalf the GLO that states the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not consider the best available data when it said last summer that the golden-cheeked warbler is still endangered.

RELATED: The endangered species of Texas

The effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act should be measured in the successful delisting of species, not by the number of species on it, said Land Commissioner George P. Bush in a prepared statement. When a new species is listed, there should be a realistic and holistic plan for achieving the goal of increasing the population so that it can be safely delisted.

The group cites a 2015 study by the Texas A&M Universitys Institute of Renewable Natural Resources that estimates the birds population is 19 times higher than biologist thought 26 years ago.

The golden-cheeked warbler is a songbird that spends its winters in Mexico and Central America and nests only in Central Texas. Federal authorities first put it on the list in 1990.

Its habitat includes Bexar County, where parts of Government Canyon State Natural Area and other public lands serve as summer sanctuaries for breeding warblers. It builds nests in mature woodlands of mixed oak and Ashe juniper, or mountain cedar.

bgibbons@express-news.net, Twitter: @bgibbs
William Luther, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas has reached a multi-year agreement with Tenet Healthcare, ensuring Tenets facilities, including those in the Baptist Health System, will remain in network for policyholders.

Fridays announcement came more than one month after Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas notified insurance agents and brokers that the two companies were headed for a split following 10 months of negotiations. They would have severed ties on April 15 had they not reached an agreement.
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Emergency officials in Guadalupe County have closed multiple roads due to flooding tonight and rescued several people from their cars after thunderstorms socked the area.

More than a dozen roadways had been barricaded due to high water as of 8 p.m., most of them in the southern part of Guadalupe County and south of Interstate 10.

No injuries were immediately reported and no homes were known to have flooded, said Guadalupe County Emergency Management Coordinator and Fire Marshal Patrick Pinder. The rainfall was continuing in some areas, he said.

RELATED: Storms sweeping into S.A.

East of Seguin got hit pretty hard, Pinder said from the Guadalupe County Sheriffs Office. New Berlin, North La Vernia, the Geronimo area got hit pretty good.

The storms swept into Guadalupe County around 4:30 p.m. New Berlin Volunteer Fire Department officials reported as much as 6 inches of rain in their jurisdiction, but that measurement had not been confirmed, Pinder said.

Some areas around Geronimo Creek saw 2 to 2.5 inches of rain, he reported.

At least 14 roads had been barricaded as of 8 p.m. tonight. Additional flooded roadways were continuing to be reported at that hour, Pinder said.

Among those roadways closed were the 6600 block of Elm Creek Road, the intersection of Zion Hill Road and Fox Trotter Road, the 1500 block of Zion Hill Road, a portion of Old Seguin Luling Road, the 1400 block of ODaniel Road, the 11600 block of Kingsbury Road and the intersection of Sweet Home Road and FM 467.

The Kingsbury Volunteer Fire Department rescued two people from a vehicle that was swept off a roadway into a ditch in the 600 block of Tschoepe Road near Highway 90, Pinder said.

The New Berlin Volunteer Fire Department rescued another motorist from a separate vehicle swept off the road in the 7500 block of FM 467, Pinder said.

While rain is still falling in some places, the worst of the weather appears to have passed, according to National Weather Service reports, he said.

This appears to be dissipating, Pinder said. We will see some flooding for a little bit, but it should all be going away.

The forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of rain in the San Antonio and Austin areas on Friday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Cory Van Pelt. A 50 percent chance of rain is also forecast for Saturday afternoon and evening.
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Efforts to rescue a construction worker trapped at the site of a drainage project in an 8-foot deep trench Thursday afternoon on the West Side were unsuccessful.

San Antonio Fire Department Chief Charles Hood said firefighters found constructions workers attempting to save the man who was buried up to his neck when they arrived at about 4:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Classic Drive.

The man died during the rescue, he confirmed. He said the weight of the soil could have caused a multitude of complications, including limiting his breathing and breaking parts of his body.

"There was no way any human could survive the tonnage of soil that collapsed on him," Hood said.

Hood said the project was not a city project, and that they are working to determine who was in charge of the operation.

Firefighters do not know the cause of the collapse, but Hood said similar incidents occur in other such sites every day.

RELATED: Investor says S.A. senator, others stole $900K investment

"A lot of times though there's nobody involved, or they're shoring materials in place," Hood said. OSHA will investigate the cause of the accident.

Hood said efforts to recover the man's body continued into the night because of a multitude of factors.

The type of soil is clay. If any of the soil collapses further, it will collapse in a wall, firefighters said.

"It's some of the worst conditions for trying to dig someone out," Hood said.

Sprinkles of rain fell from the sky as dark clouds loomed over head. Hood said trucks were on standby capable of vacuuming water from the trench.

"We have both of our heavy rescue teams here, our hazardous materials team here, and several fire units working to get him out," Hood said.

Hood said there were no hazardous gasses present at the site.

Firefighters restricted vehicles from operating within a 300-foot radius of the site because vibrations could shift the soil and cause further collapse. Even air traffic was ordered to stay away.

Other preparations included shoring up the trenches to prevent further collapse and creating more space for firefighters to work.

"We're going to open that trench up, make it a safe place to remove him," Hood said. "We're going to be using buckets, moving this earth very slowly. A very difficult and tedious task for firefighters."

As the sun set, lights were setup all around the scene.

The man's wife stood in the roadway which was packed with fire trucks. She shouted in anguish taking in the news of her husband's death.

"We have chaplains available for the wife," Hood said, noting that she went home to grieve.

Other coworkers were not injured in the incident, but Hood said they were very grief stricken.

"Workers were obviously upset that we ordered them out of the trench, but again we can't lose three or four other people in that situation," Hood said. "We're going to get him out as soon as we possibly can and provide him with all the dignity in this operation that we can."

jbeltran@express-news.net

Twitter: @JBfromSA

This is a breaking story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
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The body of a woman who was swept away with her vehicle early Friday in Santa Clara Creek in Guadalupe County has been found by Cibolo police and emergency personnel, according to multiple media outlets.

Cibolo Police Chief Gary Cox told KSAT-TV in a video that the woman is 58-year-old Shireal Boulanger, and she was a passenger in a car driven by her husband, 68-year-old Ricky Boulanger.

Misty Sacky, who said she is the victim's daughter, said in a phone interview with mySA.com that she watched the video, but Sacky not receive confirmation of the woman's death directly from police, so she was unable to comment further on the situation.

Cox said the couple received a call from someone early Friday stating they were stranded on Interstate 10. The couple then went to help them around 1 or 2 a.m. and missed their exit off the highway.

Cox said when they went to turn around near the exit toward Marion on I -10, they drove down a feeder road that did not have any barricades and their vehicle was swept away.

RELATED: 36-year-old man who died in far West Side trench collapse identified

"When he got to the water it was too late," Cox said in an interview with mySA.com.

The driver tried to rescue his wife, but he became separated from the vehicle.

At about 5 a.m., Texas Department of Transportation officials found the man yelling for help as they were checking water levels. He was transported to a Seguin hospital at about 7:30 a.m. He did not suffer any serious injuries.

RELATED: 'Deeply hurt' man sets fire to girlfriend's Southeast Side apartment

Officials deployed a helicopter and drone to help in the search for the vehicle and woman.

Text "Breaking" to 48421 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite
A 41-year-old man was arrested on arson charges after he allegedly set fire to his girlfriend's apartment when he found out she had been cheating on him.

Joe Anthony Dominguez of San Antonio was booked into the Bexar County Jail Wednesday on a $30,000 bond.

RELATED: Construction worker killed in trench collapse identified

According to his arrest affidavit, Dominguez told police that he had recently reignited a relationship with a woman he had been "on and off" with since 2009 and with whom he had two children.

He had been living with her for about two months at her apartment in the 6800 block of Pecan Valley Drive, when he found out that "she had another boyfriend on the side."

Dominguez told police his discovery "hurt him deeply because she had been using him all this time."

The other boyfriend, however, had been booked into jail and then released the night before the fire.

RELATED: 36 charged in synthetic drug operation in Austin

"Hearing this news, he was again deeply hurt, so he took a bus to her apartment" the next morning, March 2, according to the affidavit.

Dominguez broke in through the front window and found letters and evidence that the woman had been in contact with the other man for the entire two months that he had been staying with her.

"He looked at her bed and imagined what he now knew to be true," according to the affidavit. "So, he took some toilet paper from the bathroom, used his lighter to ignite the paper and then placed it on top of her sheets."

The affidavit says Dominguez was "caught off guard" by how quickly the fire spread, so he grabbed a suitcase with the letters between the woman and the other man and took off.

RELATED: East Central High School teacher resigns, accused of inappropriate relationship with student

Dominguez "started to read [the letters] while he was leaving the apartment, but he couldn't bear to read them all so he tossed the suitcase in a dumpster."

After responding to the fire around 10 a.m., investigators spoke with the woman, who told them she suspected Dominguez started the fire. He was arrested and booked into jail a few days later.

Text "Breaking" to 48421 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

cdowns@mysa.com

Twitter: @calebjdowns
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A self-professed drug dealer was arrested last month after parking next to an unmarked police squad car to do drugs.

Gilbert Ramirez, 41, faces six felony drug charges and a misdemeanor evading arrest charge. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail Friday on a $42,000 bond.

RELATED: Woman, car swept away by floodwaters in Guadalupe County

According to his arrest affidavit, San Antonio police officers were monitoring an unidentified area that "has been plagued with narcotic trafficking, property crimes and prostitution."

While surveying the area, Ramirez and another man pulled up and parked directly next to the officers, who were in an unmarked car.

Police say Ramirez parked close enough to where they could see into his window as he pulled out a large plastic bag with smaller plastic bags filled with a white substance.

RELATED: 'Deeply hurt' man sets fire to girlfriend's Southeast Side apartment

The officers got out of their car and flashed their badges. Ramirez then "apologized and dropped the baggie onto his driver's seat."

He then "blurted out that all he had was a little 'cream,'" a slang term for methamphetamine.

As he was arrested, Ramirez said "he had been through this s--t before" and that he "picks up and sells cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine throughout" San Antonio.

RELATED: Construction worker killed in trench collapse identified

Ramirez said he had just finished doing "drops" and had pulled over so he could "'hit' some of the product he had in his custody."

Ramirez was caught with 2.4 grams of cocaine, 7.4 grams of meth and 1 gram of heroin.

Text "Breaking" to 48421 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

cdowns@mysa.com

Twitter: @calebjdowns
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Five people were found dead and some were stuffed in body bags on Friday along a southern Mexico highway, according to media reports.

El Universal, a Mexican publication, reported that three of the five people found were dismembered inside black bags located in Chilpancingo, a city in Guerrero about 65 miles northeast of Acapulco.
For years, relatives begged Mariana Ornelas to return to Boston, where the college professor, community activist and accomplished musician had lived before first moving to San Antonio in the early 1980s.

But Ornelas had developed strong ties to her adopted home.

After a while, it was like, well, she was never going to come back, said Ornelas cousin Dianne Rockas-Leary, who lives in Fairfax Station, Virginia. After seeing what Ive seen, I know why she didnt  because she created such a family for herself (in San Antonio). She really did.

Ornelas died March 6, about two years after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was 67.

An only child raised by a single mother, Ornelas was born in Framingham, Massachusetts. Of Greek heritage, her given name was Marianne Sculos. After earning a bachelors degree in Spanish and French from Marietta College in Ohio in 1971, she enrolled at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City to pursue graduate studies in Latin American literature. Around this time, she met a harpist from Paraguay and moved to the South American country to learn the instrument.

She lived there for about five years, and she learned to play the Paraguayan harp, but the Mexican culture was always in her blood, Rockas-Leary said. She is a Greek American  100 percent Greek  but she just became so entrenched in the Latin culture. Thats what attracted her to San Antonio.

Back in the United States, Ornelas enrolled at Tufts University, where she earned a masters degree in citizen participation and public policy in 1982. While she was a student there, she met Willie Velasquez, founder of the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project. After graduation, she came to San Antonio to work for the nonprofit organization.

More Information Mariana Ornelas Born: Sept. 18, 1949, Farmingham, Massachusetts Died: March 6, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Mother Thalia Girdis Sculos. Survived by: Uncle Constantine Rockas; aunt Dorothea Fotis; cousins and nieces. Services: Details pending. See More Collapse

Though she left the city at least twice to pursue employment elsewhere, Ornelas ultimately returned to San Antonio to stay. In 1997, she was hired as an instructor at Palo Alto College, where she taught until last year, when she stepped down as a professor of humanities and sociology. In 1999, she traveled to Turkey on a Fulbright Scholarship and wrote a paper about womens issues.

In San Antonio, she was active in the community, serving on the board of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center among other organizations. She also co-founded the Dellview Area Neighborhood Association and served as its president.

Margarita Castillo, a friend for more than a decade and Ornelas primary caregiver in the months leading up to her death, said she was always ready to enlist others to do something for the community.

Her middle name should have been community, said Castillo, a licensed massage therapist. Everything was about the community with this woman. She lived it, she breathed it, she advocated for it. She couldnt tolerate somebody getting one up on somebody else.

Award-winning Latina writer Barbara Renaud Gonzalez met Ornelas through the Esperanza.

Mariana was firmly grounded in her history  her own family story, she said. But I used to tell people that I thought of her as a Latin American woman.

At Palo Alto, Ornelas taught the first course in Mexican American womens studies, said Dorothy Haecker, professor emerita of philosophy. She also introduced students to community leaders such as Maria Berriozabal and Rosie Castro and brought prominent jazz musicians and groups to perform on campus.

She was a person who made you appreciate life, and that was never truer than when she was walking this path of death and dying over these last two years, Heacker said. She renewed interest in the harp; she took her playing to a whole other level; she began volunteering at churches and nursing homes, anywhere that people could be uplifted by her music. She simply wanted to share it. She was quite a spirit.

lsilva@express-news.net
The Capitol is buzzing following a busy couple of weeks. Committees are underway and hearing bills, and on the House floor we are at the point in session where legislation starts getting debated.

Around the Capitol

The House recently passed two reform bills to help address the broken foster care system, House Bill 4 and House Bill 5. HB 4 reformed the payment structure for foster parents to ensure that we are really helping those who volunteer to care for these innocent children.

HB 5 addressed the structure of the Department of Family and Protective Services itself and makes the department more streamlined and efficient so that it may better serve and respond to the needs of the children it serves. Both pieces of legislation will now be sent to the Senate for hearings and debate. I hope both of these bills pass quickly and easily. The welfare of children in foster care is too important an issue to delay any further.

The Metcalf Minute

I was thrilled to welcome leaders and constituents from Montgomery County to the Capitol on March 7. Montgomery County Day is always a great occasion during the Legislative Session. As one of the fastest growing areas in the state, our community's voice is growing louder in our statewide policy discussions in Austin. I enjoyed visiting with community members and discussing their legislative priorities. It is wonderful seeing our community so well represented!

Illegal immigration continues to be a top concern of mine and for many Texans. I filed a sanctuary city ban, House Bill 52, to take state funding away from a local entity that adopts a sanctuary city policy wherein they refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Additionally, I am a co-author of a similar sanctuary city ban, House Bill 889, which will be heard in the House Committee on State Affairs next week. It is time we bring local officials to task who refuse to obey our laws. I look forward to the day we pass an anti-sanctuary city policy that is signed into law by Governor Abbott.

Throughout the session it is common for many committees that may have a heavy workload to appoint a subcommittee to assist with the level of work. One of those committees is the Committee on Economic and Small Business Development on which I sit. I was humbled to be appointed the Chair of the Subcommittee on Small Business by Chairwoman Angie Chen Button. I will work with my fellow subcommittee members to focus on the issues affecting small businesses. Small businesses are essential to our economy and the creation of good jobs for Texans. I look forward to studying this important issue.

I am honored and excited to continue my work on your behalf here in Austin. May God bless you, your family, and the Great State of Texas!
Lanier High School juniors Angel Morales and Hailey Villarreal have more to think about this Spring Break than their schools upcoming prom.

With a 1-year-old son and another baby due in about eight months, they are worried about finishing high school and going on to college. However, before any of that can occur they will have to deal with truancy problems that have landed them in court.

The 19-year-olds were among the 300 Lanier area students summoned to the Frank Wing Municipal Court building last Saturday for excessive unexcused absences.

The young parents arrived in court early on a cold, drizzly morning with their toddler and Angels parents in tow. The two couples came expecting someone would be going to jail for the school days the young parents missed due to baby Elijah being sick, their own illnesses and other family-related issues.

When we got here, I expected my babys dad or my boyfriends dad to go jail, Hailey said.

They were all relieved when they realized truancy officials just wanted to meet with them, work out a plan to get them back to attending class on a regular basis, and direct them to social service agencies that had set up tables in the hallways.

Angel and Hailey readily signed up for parenting classes. They have family support, and they want to graduate from high school and start taking college classes. They have good grades and lack only a few credits to finish. They are optimistic they can make it work.

Truancy court officials are optimistic, too.

Changes in state law two years ago decriminalized truancy. State law now requires school and truancy officials to address the root problems and provide intervention at the campus level to address those issues. Criminal truancy charges can only be filed if intervention measures fail.

The program has been a success. Few parents are fined. More important, it has raised awareness about the problems facing our youth and interfering with their education. Still, we have a long way to go before truancy problems are resolved.

The issues are getting deeper and deeper into the weeds. We need to tighten the net, said Municipal Court Administrative Judge John Bull, who oversees the truancy court dockets.

The court is coming across more and more teen dads. Texas has always had one of the highest teen birth rates in the country, so teen parents in high school are not unusual, but including the boys in the teen pregnancy picture is rare.

When teen pregnancy rates are released, there is no mention of the age of the dads. In 2014, there were 2,412 babies born to moms ages 15 to 19 in Bexar County. It is troubling to think there were likely as many as 4,800 new teen parents that year and the vast majority of them were students.

Last Saturday, at least eight other teen parents were in court along with Angel and Hailey. One, a slightly built youth of 14, who appeared in court with his grandmother, said he has a pregnant 13-year-old girlfriend. It was not the most shocking case presented to the court in recent weeks. There was a teen on an earlier docket who had gotten three girls pregnant.

Finding programs for the mothers is not a problem  there are several  but resources to deal with teen fathers are limited.

(The) male mentors piece is one we are really trying to cultivate, Bull said. They dont have strong role models and we have young boys slipping through the cracks.

It would probably also help if we started thinking of teen pregnancy as not just about the girls, but also about the fathers of those babies.

gpadilla@express-news.net
Some San Antonians, especially those living in Texas House Speaker Joe Straus district, were treated to a 30-second horror flick this week.

As ominous background music rises in volume, a swarthy man walks into a womans bathroom as a woman intones: Unless SB 6 is passed, then any man at any time could enter any womans bathroom by claiming to be a woman.  Even registered sex offenders could follow women into the bathroom. If a business tried to protect them, they would be fined.

At 18 seconds in, a girl  maybe 10 years old, wearing a backpack walks briskly into a bathroom. Then, this: As the girl goes into a stall, the man exits the adjacent stall and opens her door. The final shot is of her looking up at him in horror.

Meanwhile, a male voice commands: Tell Speaker Joe Straus to pass SB 6. Joe, the safety of our wives and daughters is priceless. No men in womens bathrooms!

Never mind that the narrative has about as much to do with reality as your average vampire movie. Its not meant to inform. Its meant to frighten voters  and get them to frighten Straus.

Senate Bill 6 is the darling of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the former right-wing radio host who knows how to build an audience. The ad was paid for by a longtime backer of his, a Houston physician named Steve Hotze. Reportedly, it was a $100,000 placement.

In reality, SB 6 has nothing to do with preventing the horrors trumpeted in the 30-second political ad.

First of all, it covers only bathrooms in schools and government buildings. It requires nothing of businesses and would not protect them from any lawsuits.

The only fines it authorizes are of governmental entities that dont pass and enforce policies requiring people to use restrooms labeled for the sex on their birth certificates.

The bill does not even make it a crime to use the wrong bathroom. There was originally a provision that any crime  such as assault  that was committed in the wrong bathroom would have its level raised one notch. But that provision was removed before a Senate committee approved the bill this week.

Transgendered humans, the targets of this bill, have been using the bathrooms where they are most comfortable for a very long time, and no supporter of SB 6 was able to cite a single incidence in which their use has caused a bathroom assault.

But the ad run has nothing to do with assault. It has to do with Hotzes obsession with homosexuality and with Patricks political ambitions.

Hotzes attitude toward gays and toward Straus is demonstrated in two recent rhetorical flourishes. In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision on marital equality, Hotze, a longtime power in Harris County Republican politics, wrote this in a message urging Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to defy the ruling:

The illegitimate SCOTUS ruling does not name Texas, so fight those lousy bastards. They hate God and want to let the Sodomites queer our country.

And last year he blasted out an email with this: Speaker Joe Straus and his RINO lieutenants, members of the Homosexual Political Movement (LGBT and Log Cabin Republicans), their corporate business donors and pro-Muslim sympathizers are organizing and spending millions of dollars to drive Christian conservatives and their values out of the Texas Republican Party.

Actually, Straus is not likely to kill SB 6 because he hates Christians. If the bill dies in committee, it will because because, unlike Patrick, Straus isnt elected speaker in the Republican primary, where very conservative Christians hold power.

Straus is elected speaker by the members of the House, and many of them would like not to vote on a measure that is strongly supported by many of their primary voters  but strongly opposed by many business leaders who are major campaign contributors. If SB 6 never goes to the House floor, it will be because Straus is serving his constituency. Oh, and theres this: He knows that the attacks against him are vicious fear-mongering nonsense.

This column first appeared as the Last Word on KLRNs Texas Week with Rick Casey. The program appears Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Muslims and terrorists  in too much of the public imagination, the two are conflated. And they are apparently given equal standing in the mind of President Trump, our commander-in-chief of wild imaginings these days.

This is why his revised travel ban on Muslim-majority countries is only nominally an improvement over his previous haphazard, chaos-inducing effort that was shut down by the federal courts. The underlying problems remain. It still relies on this faulty, unproven equation of Islam and terrorism  and it doesnt keep us any safer.

In this version, Iraq is no longer among the banned countries because it is an ally in the fight against the Islamic State. And the new ban does not exempt religious minority groups, a feature of the first ban that critics said pointed to an explicit anti-Muslim bias. But the fact is that the six remaining countries: Libya, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Yemen and Somalia are overwhelmingly Muslim majority countries. This is still a Muslim ban, but one that ignores countries where terrorism also exists, such as Colombia, Venezuela, the Philippines and Pakistan.

The new ban will also cease to target U.S. legal permanent residents who travel from those countries and those who have refugee or asylum status here.

The administration says that hundreds of people from abroad have been convicted of terrorism related-crimes. And it says that more than 300 refugees are actively being investigated by counter-terrorism authorities, even if the administration wont name their countries of origin. But this is akin to blaming the vast majority of immigrants  or Americans  who commit no crimes for the misdeeds of the few who do.

These bans are temporary until new extreme vetting procedures can be crafted. But serious vetting already occurs for refugees, why it is about a two-year process.

Its still doubtful if this new ban can withstand court scrutiny. It is arbitrary and theres the matter of the presidents campaign rhetoric in which he explicitly called for a Muslim ban  and even, perhaps, closing down mosques.

This ban plays to the same fears and should not be allowed to stand.
How many jobs will be lost that depend on tourist travel to the U.S., when the rest of the world boycotts us?

Vicki Seifert, Fredericksburg

In the gutter

Several years ago, Texas Republicans all wanted to know what was going on in private bedrooms, so concerned about consensual behavior that they were always talking and making laws about it. Then the Supreme Court told them that they could not do that anymore.

So, now the Republicans are expending great effort on a bathroom bill, an issue, I might add, with no complaints, arrests, or convictions. Is this just one more effort by Republicans to get their base all excited? Over nothing. But the one question that I really want to ask Lt. Gov. Patrick is this, Exactly who is going to enforce this law?

The Legislature meets only every other year. Is the bathroom bill intended to divert attention from the many real problems needing to be solved? Granted the lieutenant governor has the power to push his bathroom bill over everything else. Thankfully, there is at least one adult in the room, the Speaker of the House, who has no interest in bathroom police.

Lt. Gov. Patrick, how about getting your head out of the gutter and start considering the real problems Texas faces.

Timothy Richley

Do the right thing

In light of the Republican senators dereliction of their constitutional duty to consider Judge Merrick Garlands nomination to the Supreme Court in 2016, I believe the honorable thing for Judge Neil Gorsuch to do is to remove his name from consideration until Judge Garland is given the hearing he deserves. Judge Gorsuch is young enough. Let him spend some more time in Colorado with his family. With anticipated Supreme Court vacancies coming up, he will have his chance to have the hearing shamefully denied to Judge Garland.

Paul Hess
STAMFORD  A woman was arrested last week when she got involved in a fight her daughter was having with another student outside the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, police said.

Sgt. Simon Blanc said the schools resource officer, Carl Franzetti, called for backup at 2 p.m. Thursday when the two girls, ages 16 and 15, starting fighting as the High Ridge Road school was dismissed.

Dollie Thompson, 35, the mother of one of the girls, began yelling at a school security guard as the students were fighting, Blanc said. As she was yelling, Thompson approached the security guard in an aggressive manner, Blanc said.

Police discovered the same two girls got into a fight in Bridgeport on Wednesday afternoon. It was not immediately known why they were in Bridgeport, but one of the girls lives there.

In addition to Thompson, several other members of the one girls family were at school when the fight started on Thursday, Blanc said.

It is not known if they were there to instigate the fight, but all of the girls family were being very vocal about the incident, Blanc said.

Thompson, of Mill Spring Lane, was charged with breach of peace.

Thompson was told she needs to notify the principal before going on school property.

The girls were not charged, but will face school discipline, Blanc said.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com;
Three development groups have been selected to submit housing proposals for the Balboa Reservoir property next to City College, a 17-acre site that could bring hundreds of new units to a western neighborhood that is already experiencing a small explosion in new residential building.

On Thursday, the Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development identified the three teams that were deemed to be the most competitive among the nine that responded to the request for qualifications issued in November.

The groups selected all consist of a market-rate developer working with one or more groups specializing in affordable housing. Avalon Bay, which built the 173 apartment and Whole Foods project at 1100 Ocean Ave., is working with nonprofit developers Bridge Housing, Mission Housing and Habitat for Humanity; Emerald Fund, which has been building housing in San Francisco for 30 years, has partnered with the nonprofit Mercy Housing; and Related of California, which is building 500 units and a city office building at 1500 Mission St., is collaborating with Sares Regis Group, Curtis Development and the affordable-housing builder Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp.

The Balboa Reservoir, on Phelan Avenue just to the west of City College, was built in 1957 but has never been used to store drinking water. Instead, for the past 50 years it has been used as a 1,005-vehicle parking lot for City College. There are no permanent structures on the site. The property is surrounded by three residential neighborhoods  Westwood Park, Ingleside and Sunnyside  and is within walking distance of the Balboa Park BART Station.

Like all major projects in San Francisco, the proposed transformation of the parking lot will be a long and controversial process. Some residents in surrounding neighborhoods oppose any dense housing  the number of units has not been determined  because they say it will exacerbate parking and traffic headaches. Some City College of San Francisco faculty and administrators argue the land should be preserved for campus expansion.

The main sticking point, however, will likely be focused on how many of the housing units will be priced at below market rate and what income levels will be targeted. The request for proposals for the project, which was also issued Thursday, calls for 50 percent of the units to be permanently affordable. Of that, 18 percent should target low-income residents  about $59,000 for a family of four  and 15 percent should target moderate-income families, about $129,000 for a family of four. The remaining 17 percent would be a mix of low-, moderate- and middle-income households, according to the document. The other 50 percent would be market-rate units.

This project is an important step in the citys efforts to create much-needed affordable housing, particularly for our low-, moderate- and middle-income households, said Ken Rich, director of development with the citys Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

He said the three development teams selected as finalists represent a tremendous amount of experience in building affordable housing in San Francisco and a commitment to engage the surrounding community to ensure a proposal that meets the needs and cultural fabric of this neighborhood.

Some affordable-housing advocates, however, argue that the public land is an opportunity to build a higher percentage of units aimed for low-income families.

I think its a lost chance to get affordable housing on public land, said Fernando Marti, co-director of the Council for Community Housing Organizations. An opportunity like this isnt going to happen again. Let market-rate developers build what they are going to build on private land. On public land lets get majority affordable housing.

Howard Chung, who owns property along Ocean Avenue and has been part of the community advisory committee advising the city on the project, said the neighborhood debate over the project has been civil and cordial so far.

Not everyone is convinced its a good idea, but everyone is listening, he said.

The idea is that denser housing  with a height limit of 65 feet  would be clustered on the Phelan Avenue portion of the parcel. Shorter two-story townhomes would likely back up to the single-family homes behind the property. There will be 4 acres of open space.

We hope it will add to the overall vibrancy of Ocean Avenue without overwhelming the existing neighborhood, Chung said. They have to be complementary. You dont want a huge five-story residential complex that abuts single-family homes.

The site is part of the Balboa Park Station Area Plan, which calls for 1,780 housing units around one of the citys busiest BART stations. So far, 450 have been built.

J.K. Dineen is San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
A construction worker was fatally injured Saturday after being involved in a work-related accident at Rock Hill High School in Rock Hill, North Carolina.

About the Rock Hill Construction Accident

According to The Herald, the accident occurred on the school campus around 5:50 pm. A deputy arrived to the scene to find a man lodged in the air between the railing of a boom and railing that was attached to the high school.

After the boom was lawyer, the man collapsed backward into the boon, unconscious in not breathing. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The deceased has since been identified as 30-year-old Zachary Crotts of Morganton, North Carolina. Autopsy and toxicology results are pending.

Construction Accident Statistics

The following information was provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA):

4,836 workers were killed on the job in 2015. That averages to more than 13 deaths every day.

Of the workplace fatalities recorded, 4,379 occurred in private industry and 937 were linked to construction.

Among the leading causes of death in construction were:

oFalls

oStruck by Object

oElectrocutions

oCaught-in/between

Contact an Experienced Workplace Accident Attorney

Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys fight to protect the rights of workplace injury victims. If you or someone you love has been injured or killed on the job, contact Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys. The goal of our offices is to not only protect your rights, but to send a message so the same tragedy does not happen again. We represent clients/victims all over the country.

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 man was fatally injured Wednesday evening after a car fell from a trailer and into the path of oncoming traffic.

Details of the Tragic Accident

According to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, John Turner, 33, was killed after his vehicle collided with a Ford Mustang that fell from a trailer being towed by a Ford truck. Two other passengers in Turners vehicle were transported to the hospital.

The crash occurred around 7:30 pm on Loop 49, just north of Highway 64.

Authorities are investigating several aspects of the accident, including whether the Mustang was properly secured. It is unclear if the driver of the Ford truck will face charges.

Texas Auto Accident Statistics

According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT):

3,531 people were killed in auto accidents in Texas in 2015 - an average of one death every 2 hours and 29 minutes.

1,925 of those deaths were attributed to crashes that occurred in rural areas of the state, and 581 deaths were the result of head-on collisions.

An additional 246,335 people were injured in traffic accidents in Texas in 2015 with 17,011 people suffering serious injuries.

On average, a reportable crash occurred every 61 seconds in 2015.

Contact an Experienced Auto Accident Attorney

Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys are available to respond to auto 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. Remember, your choice does matter. Contact our offices - we are available 24/7, nights and weekends and we represent clients/victims all over the country.

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.
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SEOUL  In a historic, unanimous ruling Friday, South Koreas Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil and worsened an already-serious national divide.

Two people later died during protests against the courts decision, which capped a stunning fall for Park, the countrys first female leader who rode a wave of lingering conservative nostalgia for her late dictator father to victory in 2012, only to see her presidency crumble as millions of furious protesters filled the nations streets.

The ruling by the eight-member panel opens her up to possible criminal proceedings and makes her South Koreas first democratically elected leader to be removed from office since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.

It also deepens South Koreas political and security uncertainty as the country faces existential threats from perennial rival North Korea, reported economic retaliation from a China furious about Seouls cooperation with the U.S. on an antimissile system, and questions in Seoul about the Trump administrations commitment to the countries security alliance.

Parks acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust, acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said. The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big. Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye.

Parks lawyer, Seo Seok-gu, called the verdict a tragic decision made under popular pressure and questioned the fairness of what he called a kangaroo court.

The presidential office said that Park wouldnt leave the presidential Blue House on Friday. A Blue House spokesman said that some of Parks aides are at her southern Seoul home to prepare for her return, but it hasnt been determined exactly when she will leave the Blue House. The spokesman said Park had no plans to issue a statement over the ruling on Friday.

South Korea must now hold an election within two months to choose Parks successor.

A big television screen was set up near the court so people could watch the verdict live. Hundreds of police in riot gear were on hand for any protests. The government put South Koreas military and police on heightened alert after the court decision. There were no immediate reports of unusual activities by North Koreas military.

Some of Parks supporters reacted with anger after the ruling, shouting and hitting police officers with plastic flag poles. Anti-Park demonstrators celebrated by marching in the streets near the Blue House, carrying flags, signs and an effigy of Park dressed in prison clothes.

Hyung-Jin Kim and Foster Klug are Associated Press writers.
Police in South Africa are on alert in case of renewed clashes between residents of Johannesburgs Alexandra township and foreign street vendors.

Alexandra is one of the poorest areas of the country but from its shacks, residents can easily see the towering skyscrapers of Sandton, one of the richest commercial districts on the whole continent, just a few kilometres away. As a result people from across South Africa and neighbouring countries flock to the township to use it as a base to earn a living.

Two controversial groups  the Alexandra Dudula Movement and Operation Dudula  which are campaigning against undocumented foreign nationals have emerged recently and support seems to be growing among South African communities who feel marginalised.

There are concerns that their campaigns could lead to yet another outbreak of xenophobic violence in the country.

What do these groups want?

Poverty is the main driver of the tension as South African residents believe  whether rightly or wrongly  that foreigners are the cause of many of their difficulties.

Dudula is a word in the Zulu language which loosely means to push back or drive back  this gives a clue about what they want.

Though the two groups are separate, they have been inspired by the same cause  they both hope to drive out undocumented African migrants from their communities.

They believe by doing this they can ensure that jobs and business opportunities go to South Africans.

What is the difference between the two groups?

The Alexandra Dudula Movement was founded last year. The people behind it alleged that foreign nationals were illegally occupying government-issued housing in Alexandra, which is supposed to be for poor citizens.

Supporters of the Alexandra Dudula Movement allege that foreign nationals were living in government-subsidised housing

But the campaign has expanded to include a call for all undocumented African migrants to stop trading in Alexandra. Last month, the movement closed down all the stalls owned by foreign nationals who could not show the correct papers for running the business or a valid passport.

They then assigned the stalls to South Africans, such as Alexandra resident Wendy Sithole, who started selling vegetables when the foreigners were forced to stop.

We as South Africans are unemployed and are going hungry. All we want is to get jobs too, she told the BBC. How do they expect us to survive in our own country?

Not all of the groups actions have been legal and the authorities are investigating cases of public disorder and intimidation.

Operation Dudula is based in Johannesburgs Soweto township  more than 25km (16 miles) away on the other side of the city.

Founded by 33-year-old Nhlanhla Lux Dlamini, it came to prominence last June when Soweto residents marched through the township on what was called a clean-up operation.

It targeted suspected drug dealers and people who were alleged to be illegally occupying government property.

But just as in Alexandra, the groups scope of interest has expanded.

Last month, members of Operation Dudula marched in Soweto

Members now want the many foreign shop owners in South Africa to shut down their businesses and leave the country.

They also want small businesses, such as restaurants and shops, to only employ South African citizens. This is because campaigners believe these places overlook South Africans and hire undocumented migrants instead because they can pay them less than the minimum wage.

Authorities have said while this may happen in some places it is not a widespread problem.

Both groups have denied that their motives are xenophobic and argue that they are simply protecting the livelihoods of South Africans, something they say the African National Congress (ANC) government is failing to do.

They both say they are not affiliated to any political party.

What has the reaction been?

From foreigners there is a sense that they are being blamed for wider problems.

Were not taking anyones job, we create our own opportunities, were not stopping South Africans from doing the same, Mozambican Sam Manane, who has been selling snacks in Alexandra for the past 10 years, told the BBC.

Were just being targeted.

The national government has not yet reacted but the premier of Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, the ANCs David Makhura, has said he is concerned about the recent violence against foreign nationals in Alexandra. He called on civil society groups to work with the government to promote peace and tolerance.

But some opposition parties are trying to make political capital out of the issue.

One that is taking a hardline approach is the newly formed Patriotic Alliance (PA) led by ex-prisoner Gayton McKenzie. The PA, which has some local council seats but has not yet run in a national vote, wants all undocumented migrants to leave the country.

Earlier this year, members of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters unexpectedly visited restaurants in Johannesburg to inspect the ratio of foreign workers employed and to put pressure on business to hire more South Africans.

On the issue of checking peoples status, the government has said that it is doing more to ensure the people have the correct documentation  but that will take a while.

Why is this happening now?

This is not the first time there has been an upsurge in anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa.

In 2008, there was a wave of attacks across the country against refugees and migrants  more than 60 people were reported to have been killed and thousands displaced.

There were further outbreaks of violence against non-South Africans in 2015, mostly in the cities of Durban and Johannesburg, which led to the deployment of the army to deter further unrest.

And three years ago another rise in attacks on foreigners led to hundreds of Nigerians leaving the country.

It is not clear exactly why the issue is coming up again but South Africas numerous economic problems have been exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19 mitigation measures which resulted in the loss of countless jobs and a sharp spike in the cost of living.

 BBC

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A LEADER of the Johanne Masowe Echishanu, prophet Andby Makururu has pledged allegiance to the ruling Zanu PF party, saying President Emmerson Mnangagwa was economically empowering members of his sect.

I realised that if a person is poverty stricken, he or she will start to think to vote for the opposition party, but President Mnangagwa has always urged us to work hard, Makururu told members of his sect at a prayer session.

He said members of his sect, one of the largest apostolic groupings in the country, would support Mnangagwa in the elections expected in 2023.

All my church members are going to vote for Mnangagwa in 2023, and how I am going to do that, you can ask me. Poverty is the number one enemy, and so I am supporting my church members with poultry, bakery and other projects so that they can self-sustain, he said.

Mnangagwa has the country at heart and we are fully behind him. As church leaders, we are there to provide spiritual guidance to the President.

Recently, Makururu launched a womens empowerment programme under which women from the sect would get loans from the Zimbabwe Womens Microfinance Bank to start businesses.

 NewsDay

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Yves here. Yet another reminder that in the eyes of the media, some lives are way more important than others. And we dont mean just those of political leaders or other people in positions of power.

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram, former UN Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development. Originally published at Inter Press Service and cross posted from Triple Crisis

Last month, the United Nations declared another famine threat in Somalia due to yet another drought in the Horn of Africa. Important lessons must be drawn from the Somalia famine of 2010-2012, which probably killed about 258,000 people, half of whom were under-five. This was the greatest tragedy in terms of famine deaths in the 21st century, and in recent decades since the Ethiopian famine of the late 1980s.

A 2013 report, for the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) and the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU), used a variety of sources to estimate the likely death toll. The report  jointly commissioned and funded by FAO and the USAID-funded FEWS Net, and covering the period from October 2010 to April 2012  was undertaken by independent experts from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Early Warning, but No Early Action

Both FEWS Net and FSNAU had been warning of the impending tragedy with increasing urgency for some time, producing numerous early warning alerts besides directly briefing agencies and donor governments. Some critics claim that the early warnings may actually have been late, and even under-estimated the scale of the emerging crisis.

Many insist that the lateness of the intervention was responsible for many deaths. About 120,000 people had already died in the months before the UN declared a famine and intervened from mid-2011 after issuing 16 early warnings to indifferent responses. Many observers feel outraged about the international communitys seeming indifference when it comes to African famine deaths.

If the international community had responded quickly, early interventions could have been undertaken to minimize the resulting destitution and starvation. But an entire year of early warnings failed to elicit the needed responses. Donor governments did not increase aid, while most major humanitarian agencies did not step up their efforts. The system only began to act after famine was declared, i.e., long after the window of opportunity to avoid disaster had passed.

Politics in the Way

The failure to respond was primarily due to politics. The worst affected areas in Somalia were believed to be controlled by as-Shabaab, which was engaged in a war with the Western-supported Somali transitional federal government (TFG). Western donor governments were reticent in case their aid fell into the hands of their adversary.

US laws imply that humanitarian workers in Somalia would have been liable to prosecution and 15 years imprisonment if the aid they were distributing fell into the hands of as-Shabaab. Such legal and other constraints contributed to the significant decline in aid to Somalia, which fell by half between 2008 and 2011, after the US government decision to significantly reduce humanitarian funding in as-Shabaab-controlled areas from 2008.

The World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director at the time  Josette Sheeran, a Bush nominee  had a well known history of conflict with Hillary Clinton, then US Secretary of State. Ertharin Cousin, US Permanent Representative to the UN system in Rome for much of the period involved, went on to succeed Sheeran after Clinton blocked a second term for her. Meanwhile, the head of UNICEF, Tony Lake, had been US National Security Adviser at the time of the infamous 1993 Black Hawk Down incident in Somalia, imprinted in the American collective memory by the Hollywood movie.

By ignoring early warnings, cutting aid and constraining humanitarian interventions in Somalia, Western governments exacerbated the deteriorating situation, making famine more, not less likely. Instead of trying harder, humanitarian organizations presumed it would be politically unfeasible to raise resources. As-Shabaabs expulsion of the UNs World Food Programme in 2010 only made things worse, with another 16 UN agencies and international NGOs suffering similar fates in 2011 for allegedly illicit activities and misconduct.

Thus, Western donors prioritized their geopolitical priorities over the urgent need to avoid famine. Rob Bailey, a senior research fellow specializing in food security at Chatham House in London, has even asserted that In Somalia, western donors made famine more, not less likely.

As-Shabaab also paid little heed to the Somali population under its control. It not only restricted humanitarian access and rejected emergency aid, but also limited the ability of people to move besides taxing food production and distribution.

Both sides did not prioritize the growing need for massive, early, pro-active initiatives to stem the spreading destitution and to prevent famine. Donor governments only changed their stances after famine was declared, as public attention meant that the governments could not be seen to be the problem.

Lessons Learnt?

Although donor governments and humanitarian organizations were quick to announce that they had learnt the lessons of the Somali famine, things are now worse in some respects. In recent years, both the US and the EU have imposed strict sanctions on remittances to Somalia, which have cut the meagre resources available to destitute households. As income from such remittances served to mitigate the devastating impact of the last famine, it would be worse this time without them.

Meanwhile, aid and other humanitarian interventions remain highly politicized. While early warning systems are under critical scrutiny, there is nothing to ensure that early warnings lead to early action despite the existence of early warning systems and resources needed to prevent famine.
One of the reasons for dysfunction and poor governance at CalPERS is that its board has gone from being an effective oversight body to acting as a rubber stamp for CalPERS staff. Weak supervision is dangerous in any organization and the public should be alarmed about the ongoing evidence of it at CalPERS. The California public pension fund already had an infamous case of staff misconduct in form of the successful criminal prosecution of its former CEO, Fred Buenrostro, for taking bribes. Now like most of its peers, CalPERS is also under attack for its underfunding, which plays into the hands of public pension fund opponents.

CalPERS needs to aspire to be as pure as Caesars wife in terms of its governance standards, yet it appears to be going forcefully in the wrong direction.

One example of CalPERS board failing to assert its proper authority over staff is in the selection of fiduciary counsel, arguably the most important advisor to the board. CalPERS has already suffered a public relations fiasco over tolerating a power grab by its then-new general counsel, Matthew Jacobs, when it last selected a fiduciary counsel in October 2014.

The result was that CalPERS retained a scandal-plagued Florida lawyer, Robert Klausner, who had nearly two decades of press reports of ethically questionable conduct, including ones by the New York Times and Forbes, describing how he ran pay-to-play conferences. More recently, he had helped set up a secret and allegedly illegal pension fund in Jacksonville, Florida. Klausner resigned last year as the barrage of critical media coverage continued, leading to the need to hire a new fiduciary counsel. The board will interview finalists next week.

In the 2014 process that led to the embarrassing selection of Klausner, Jacobs withheld information that the board had always gotten in the past. Both lawyers on the board, Richard Costigan and Dana Hollinger, plus even the reliably staff-friendly Priya Mathur, objected to the thin briefing. But no one had the guts to call the process procedurally deficient and demand the decision be put on hold until the board got the materials it needed.

The board briefing materials for next weeks fiduciary counsel hiring interviews make clear that it is the board, and not the legal department, that should be choosing the fiduciary counsel:

The objective of this agenda item is for the Board to reestablish its primary control over the selection of fiduciary counsel.

Unless the board objects to Jacobs thumbing his nose at the board in a more flagrant manner than he did in 2014, it will be sanctioning a deficient process for choosing a key adviser and tolerating staff insubordination. The board needs to tell Jacobs that it cannot make a decision on the fiduciary counsel candidates until it has had the opportunity to review written background information properly. That means the interviews and vote need to be moved back to a later board meeting.

The apparent reason for Jacobs misconduct is either sheer laziness or attempting to put the finger on the dial so as to favor the candidate that the board knows better, its current interim general counsel, Ashley Dunning. Neither is an acceptable reason. A lack of adequate briefing will work against the less familiar party. And while Dunning may in the end be the better choice, some of the positions she has taken as interim general counsel indicate she is too willing to take dubious legal positions that help staff further increase its power relative to the board.

How the Board Is Being Deprived of Information

Fiduciary counsel is hired by the board, which is the board of trustees, or in the case of CalPERS, the Board of Administration. However, there is a gap between theory and practice. In CalPERS case, as occurs in other public pension systems, the candidates for fiduciary counsel submit requests for proposal that are vetted by staff. In CalPERS case, they are scored and staff makes a recommendation to the board to interview only a subset of proposers before the board interview and vote.

This process allows the staff to influence the decision, which also occurs even when a fiduciary counsel contract is up for renewal. That means there is a significant risk that fiduciary counsel will see himself as serving staff, or at least needing to be unduly attentive to its agenda, even though it is the board that is formally his primary client. As well discuss below, the fiduciary counsel bias in favor of staff is already evident in the case of the interim general counsel who is also one of the two finalists, Ashley Dunning of Nossaman, LLP.

In the 2014 interviews, four board members objected to the fact that the board was being denied detailed backup information on the responses to the RFPs, which made them more dependent on the staffs subjective overall ranking. Yet no one moved to halt or change it.1

Moreover, the legal staff keeps the board on a short informational leash in another respect. The Request for Proposal stipulates that the presentation time and board question time are limited; youll see from the 2014 interviews that the candidates each have 10 minutes to present and the board has only 20 minutes per firm for questions (see here at 4:30). While it make sense to make sure every candidate has the same amount of time to make its pitch, theres no good reason to limit board question time, particularly since 20 minutes is so short that only three or four at most of the 13 board members could probe what a prospect had said.

And even more troubling, in introducing the candidates in 2014, Jacobs treated the board like children. At 2:43: You have also been provided with sample questions that you may ask the firms during the interviews. While Jacobs allowed for the possibility of asking firms further questions after all had made their presentations, in practice this does not happen. One board member, Richard Costigan, stated that he had had no opportunity to ask questions at all. He was answered by Jacobs rather than having any of the firms called back.

But what is vastly worse about 2014 versus now is that even though the board was unhappy then about being short-shrifted on information, it did get further detail in advance of the meeting. This came about in part by the fact that the entire board in 2014 participated in the process of reviewing the 5 candidates recommended by staff based on interviews (out of 10 who responded to the request for proposal), and then deciding which three were to be interviewed. This time, only Jacobs, board president Rob Feckner, and State Controller Betty Yee participated in his screening process. Neither Feckner nor Yee are lawyers, raising questions as to why they were chosen as opposed to board members with expertise.

Its gotten even worse this year in other respects. Youll see embedded at the end of this post the sketchy summaries produced by CalPERS legal office. The 2016 versions are even more cursory than the 2014 ones. And even though the agenda item promises that the board members will receive A complete copy of each finalists proposal and sample interview questions, that has not been provided. If youve ever looked at the CalPERS board meeting agendas, you will see that any written material, as well as slide shows, is provided in advance. Thats because it is understood that it takes time to read and think about information in order to deliberate properly. No judge would accept being presented with briefing documents in a courtroom with the counsels from both sides waiting for him to get on with it.

Yet Jacobs apparently plans to give the additional material either the very day of the meeting, when it is impossible for the board members to read and reflect on it, or at worst early in the week, when they will be in the throes of the board meeting and too distracted and tired to give it the attention it deserves.

Why Dunning Warrants More Scrutiny

With only two candidates and the board already likely predisposed towards Ashley Dunning by virtue of her having acted as interim fiduciary counsel and giving the board its annual fiduciary training, why is Jacobs putting his finger so heavily on the dial by railroading the board?

While Dunning is no Robert Klausner, shes already tipped her hand that she regards her real loyalty as to the staff and has made clearly dodgy recommendations, with the apparent aim of further increasing staffs control over the board.

In the fiduciary training session in January, the board discussed the question whether and when board members could e-mail articles to each other. The reason this can be a no-go for a public board in California is that under the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, a deliberative process is supposed to take place in view of the public unless the topic area is deemed so sensitive that the board is permitted to discuss it in private, in a so-called closed session. Even so, those closed session discussions are all to be listed as agenda items with the statutory basis for it being in closed session cited. In other words, having substantive discussions about pending board matters outside board meetings isnt kosher.

Now obviously, this prohibition isnt absolute; board members can and do talk to each other off line. But what Bagley-Keene prohibits is deliberative discussions, as the board thrashing out issues in private outside the formal process. Thus theres a legal question: when is sending an article around merely useful general information versus serving as part of a deliberative process that should be limited to board meetings?

If you look at the board video staring at 1:05:00, youll see Dunning not only taking a very hard line on what can and cant be shared, but then proposing a fix that the California Attorney General explicitly has deemed to be a violation of Bagley-Keene. What kind of lawyering is this?

Let us remember that the paramount goal of Bagley Keene is public participation and monitoring. From a 2004 document from the Attorney General, A Handy Guide to The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act:

In effect, the Legislature said that when a body sits down to develop its consensus, there needs to be a seat at the table reserved for the public. ( 11120.) By reserving this place for the public, the Legislature has provided the public with the ability to monitor and participate in the decision-making process. If the body were permitted to meet in secret, the publics role in the decision-making process would be negated.

It is perverse to see Dunning repeatedly take a very dim view of the board not only sharing general information via e-mail but also even writing op-eds, when an op-ed is explicitly communicating with the public. Her basis for reservation seems to be that citizens might communicate back. Huh? Taken to its logical conclusion, this similarly means board members should never give speeches or meet with beneficiaries similarly because they might say stuff, and that even general CalPERS matters might turn into board questions at some point down the road. State Controller Betty Yee roused herself to object at one point, but didnt pursue the matter that far.

Specifically, youll see that Dunning treats even a tweet or a comment on LinkedIn as potentially troublesome, when Twitter and LinkedIn, unlike e-mails to fellow board members, are used to communicate to people that have chosen to follow you, and thus extends well beyond the board. How a one-way communication to ad hoc groups can be construed to resembling a board engaged in a deliberative process is beyond me. 2

Dunnings (and implicitly Jacobs) position is astonishing in light of the fact that CalPERS regularly and routinely engaged in activities that contradict her recommendation. In fact, the legal department is apparently fine with board members writing op-eds, as board president Robert Feckner did last July on CalPERS investment strategy, a topic the board addresses every month in its Investment Committee. But Feckner was acting as a mouthpiece for staff, so no wonder the legal department didnt raise any objections.

Similarly, CalPERS Media & Stakeholder Relations Department prepares a daily summary of news which it post on an internal website, and also e-mails the board about these stories. This is not only identical to the sort of e-mail on general topics of interest that Dunning deems to be verboten, but more specifically, if you see sharing news items in the ambit of CalPERS general interest as being potentially a deliberative process, this fits the classic definition of a hub and spoke serial meeting, something that the Attorney General specifically deemed to be a violation of Bagley-Keene.3

So it should not be surprising to see Dunning endorse what amounts to an extension of CalPERS arguable ongoing violation of Bagley-Keene. If its not kosher for board members to share even general articles with each other because it might amount to a deliberative process, its not any more permissible to launder them through the CEO or another staff member. This is what Dunning recommends:

Dunning: So the Attorney General has said communicating even about whats to be on the agenda could be a violation of open meeting rules. My view is the type of communication youre talking about is something that should be given to your CEO to decide whether it should be part of agenda backup, or if you want to mention it during trustee comment at a board meeting  Hey, I saw this really fascinating article. I think youd all be interested. Ive brought copies of it. Im happy to provide it. Thats where you do it. You dont do it through emails before the meeting.

Notice that what Dunning recommends is to make the CEO the arbiter of what the board can and cannot share, further limiting its authority and even competence. If this really is a legal issue, the CEO is not the person to make the call, but the fiduciary counsel, in its presumed capacity as a lawyer acting primarily for the board.

Moreover, as anyone who participates in meetings knows, information in an article will not be read carefully or digested in real time. Thats the big reason PowerPoint is a poor information vehicle: studies have found repeatedly that people cannot digest information verbally and visually at the same time. Even trying to absorb dumbed down bullet points interferes with comprehension.

Finally, there is a fix for CalPERS problem, even if you accept Dunnings stringent view of when information-sharing amounts to deliberation. The Board could convene a weekly meeting solely for this purpose. The board does not need to have a quorum, since that is a requirement for decision-making under Rogers Rules of Order, not for Bagley-Keene. The board president or a designee could call the session, where any other interested members could participate telephonically. He could take any news or other information items, without further comment, from board members. The video would be posted and the stories and/or URLs would be posted on CalPERS website.

The fact that Dunning proposed to reduce the caliber of information going to the board and the public rather than trying to increase the quality of decision-making and transparency, does not speak well of her sense of priorities or her problem-solving skills. She may still be the better of the two candidates, but at a minimum, she should be subjected to probing questions so that she understands who she is really serving.

____

From a 2015 post, with the times referencing a video clip:

Here, staff takes the position that the board does not deserve to have the information it received in the past because its not required under California law. In other words, board members are being pushed to accept a lowest-common-denominator standard of review. This is particularly troubling given that the fiduciary counsel advises the board, and not CalPERS as an institution. Thus the board should feel free to set whatever parameters it deems fit above and beyond the legal nminimum. To their credit, the board members that do object to general counsel Matt Jacobs and his staff trying to present the degradation of the review process as a fait accompli do not back down quickly. Priya Mathur, who speaks at the beginning of this segment, describes how the information about candidates was broken down into subcategories and repeats her view that not having this information makes the board more dependent on staffs subjective overall ranking. As she makes clear, the candidates supplied information on their various aspects of competence and the board, unlike in the past, is now being denied access to that data (astonishingly, Jacobs takes the position at roughly 1:10 that it would be difficult to do this type of scoring when it was previously the norm). Similarly, at 2:50, Richard Costigan makes the most vigorous objection to this process, and points out that other recent contracts provided detailed rankings and subcategory information. Again the legal team falls back on the lame, That information is not required to hire attorneys. And at 12:31, Dana Hollinger voices her support for the earlier objections and points out that an attorney that already knew CalPERS might be cheaper all in and that she wanted to see an overall budget. While her tone stays level, her face conveys her disgust. And at 2:12, JJ Jelincic had pointed out that the staff scoring process had not corresponded with boards assessment: the lowest scored candidate last time got the highest marks in the board interviews.

2 The threshold question in Bagley-Keene is whether a meeting has occurred and the public has been deprived of the opportunity to participate. As the Attorney Generals guide notes:

A meeting occurs when a quorum of a body convenes, either serially or all together, in one place, to address issues under the bodys jurisdictionBut a meeting also includes situations in which the body is merely receiving information. To the extent that a body receives information under circumstances where the public is deprived of the opportunity to monitor the information provided, and either agree with it or challenge it, the open-meeting process is deficient.

Its hard to see how Twitter is problematic. First, its not clear that a quorum of board members even subscribes to each others Twitter feeds. Second, any member of the public can not only follow a board members Twitter feed, but they can talk back and everyone who follows can see the reply. In fact, Twitter is arguably a better means for the board to get public input than the tightly subscribed comments period, which required members of the public to schlepp to Sacramento merely to get three minutes of input.

3 From the attorney generals guide:

The Act expressly prohibits the use of direct communication, personal intermediaries, or technological devices that are employed by a majority of the members of the state body to develop a collective concurrence as to action to be taken on an item by the members of the state body outside of an open meeting. ( 11122.5(b).) Typically, a serial meeting is a series of communications, each

of which involves less than a quorum of the legislative body, but which taken as a whole involves a majority of the bodys members. For example, a chain of communications involving contact from member A to member B who then communicates with member C would constitute a serial meeting in the case of a five-person body. Similarly, when a person acts as the hub of a wheel (member A) and communicates individually with the various spokes (members B and C), a serial meeting has occurred.

CalPERS 2014 Fiduciary Counsel Summary



Calpers 2016 Fiduciary Counsel Summary


Maltas Azure Window rock formation collapses into the sea Reuters (YY)

Alaskas Big Problem With Warmer Winters Bloomberg (resilc)

Dying robots and failing hope: Fukushima clean-up falters six years after tsunami Guardian

Researchers create time crystals envisioned by Princeton scientists PhysOrg (guurst)

Quantum leaps Economist (David L)

Dental plaque DNA shows Neandertals used aspirin PhysOrg. Chuck L: And Penicillium fungus!

Ancient technique can dramatically improve memory, research suggests Guardian (Chuck L)

China?

As North Korea loses its use, China loses its patience South China Morning Post

Tesla humiliates Do-nothing Australian government MacroBusiness

Professor Steve Keen on the problem with Europe Daily Reckoning (Chuck L)

Wilders one-man band heads for Dutch poll destiny Financial Times

Germans Really, Really Love the Euro  Bloomberg (Chuck L). As they should. A new Deutschemark would shoot to the moon and kill Germanys trade surplus. Not that it is healthy for them but they are fixated on it, sort of like Alberich and his gold.

Charismatic legitimacy Irrusianality

Brexit

Well fight EU demand for 52bn divorce bill, warns May: PM tells leaders British people did not vote for Brexit to carry on sending money to Brussels DailyMail. Help me. Again, the EU has been crystal clear: we arent negotiating with you on your new trade arrangement until this tab is settled (or more accurately, a way to settle it has been sorted out/finessed). As we described in our post yesterday, the UK has a ton more to lose than the EU if it triggers Article 50 and then gets to the end of the 24 month you are out, deal or no deal period with no deal. The British obtuseness about their upside and downside makes Trump look like a paragon of circumspection by comparison. Britain will have to pay Brexit divorce bill, says Irish Prime Minister Independent

Mrs May is our first Catholic prime minister The Times. Wow, you can publish openly bigoted stuff like this in the UK as long as you wrap it in enough historical blather. To their credit, the Times readers savaged the piece.

Poland reacts with fury to re-election of Donald Tusk Guardian

Vault 7

New Cold War

Syraqiatan

IS conflict: US sends Marines to support Raqqa assault BBC (resilc)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Trump Transition

The Rehabilitation of George W. Bush, War Criminal Alternet (Sid S)

2016 Post Mortem

Bernie Sanders Has A Plan To Win Back Trump Voters Huffington Post (UserFriendly)

Obamacare

Samsung to expand in U.S., shift some manufacturing from Mexico: WSJ Reuters (furzy)

US Infrastructure Report Card: America gets a D Plus, and a Big Bill to Fix it Wired (resilc)

Exclusive  Saudis tell U.S. oil: OPEC wont extend cuts to offset shale  sources Reuters (resilc)

Guillotine Watch

This Rolls Royce is painted with real diamond dust CNN (UserFriendly)

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour. Timotheus: An Icelandic horse, taken by a friend.

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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.
A remarkable Tipperary man who had both his legs amputated says his horrific ordeal has made him a better and happier person.

Paul Cunningham is enjoying a new lease of life since the Ardfinnan community and surrounding areas raised 16,000 to buy him a specially adapted car last October.

Paul, who is currently living in rented property in the village that isnt disabled friendly, is beaming that Tipperary County Council have bought him a home in Ardfinnan that is being made suitable for his needs.

Paul gets satisfaction out of sharing his journey with local schools.

I cant say enough great things about the people of Ardfinnan and the surrounding areas. The car has given me total freedom and Im really looking forward to moving into my new home because this house has a stairs and doesnt even have a suitable toilet for me, an emotional Paul underlines.

The local Tipperary communities raised 16,000 to help Paul purchase a hand controlled Skoda Fabia Estate.

Paul is also "over the moon" with his recent appointment as PRO of the South Tipperary Branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA).

But despite appreciating a new sense of freedom, he says the icing on the cake would be landing a job. Getting work for a disabled person is a major problem in Ireland. I have been with employment support services, but I still cant get a job. Yes I come with conditions, but as long as the ground is level I can do most things, he expresses.

A painter and decorator by trade, Paul was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1994, but it wasnt until 17 years later that complications set in.

In 2011 he had triple bypass surgery before having his right leg amputated a year later. He then tragically lost his left leg in 2014, recalling: I went into hospital on the Friday after getting another blockage and my left leg was cut off by Sunday. I was given no chance.

Pauls health deteriorated further in 2015 when he got septicemia, followed by two seizures, kidney failure and endocarditis (heart infection). My public health nurse Trish Walsh called over one day to clean my stumps and said I looked awful. I didnt want to go into hospital again and laughed it off, but she persisted until I went in. She told me to lock my wheelchair down and not leave the hospital until I was thoroughly examined.

I then remember sitting on a hospital bed vomiting and that was it. I went to cuckoo land for three weeks.

I completely lost all coordination for about a week after being discharged. I couldnt put a knife and fork together, and had to be brought to the toilet. It was scary, Paul continues.

The father of Sarah (18) and Daniel (19) cant fault the HSE one bit for how theyve treated him and looks back on everything as an emotional rollercoaster.

Doctors describe what Ive been through as horrific, but I was never depressed. Im on a waiting list to see a urologist and will need more open heart surgery in years to come, but Im enjoying life more than ever. The frontline hospital staff have always been brilliant to me and Im even learning to walk at the moment. Its very difficult but Im enjoying it.

My story is a positive one, and medical staff totally understand me and like me for my success in overcoming the obstacles that have been thrown in my way.

I don't remember being in pain much and look back on the experience as a journey. The people Ive met along the way have been amazing, happy people. I dont meet miserable people anymore; just positive people who have helped me when Ive needed it the most.

53 year old Paul is now living a fulfilled life, reveling in sharing his story with local schools and fishing with his friends.

I do a lot with the IWA and go to their outreach centre in Tipperary Town every Tuesday. Every now and then I get to go out to schools and share my story. I find it quite satisfying and the IWA have been brilliant to me.

A group of 12 of us, eight with disability and four helpers, go fishing once a month to different lakes around the south east.

Losing both my legs has changed my life for the better. I see things clearer and Im a happier person. Im not stressed and in the rat race anymore, he laughs.
Thursday, March 09, 2017 by: Vicki Batts Tags: Canada , pink water , tap water This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) It would be considered very unusual to turn on your faucet and see a stream of hot pink water come rushing out, but for one small town in Alberta, Canada this perplexing circumstance has become a reality. Canadian residents of Onoway, a town just northwest of Edmonton say that they were shocked to see bright pink water come pouring out of their taps.

Vicki Veldhuyzen Van Zanten of Onoway said that one of her neighbors had called to ask if her water was pink. At the time, Veldhuyzen Van Zantens water hadnt turned pink yet. But, a short time later, her daughter discovered that the water coming from their bathroom faucet was a purple hue. Eventually, Veldhuyzen Van Zanten said that her water too changed over to a definite bright pink shade.

After posting on a town Facebook page, she noted hundreds of other residents were experiencing the same bizarre event.

Mayor Dale Krasnow posted a message to the website addressing the townspeoples concerns, stating that they were safe and not at any risk. According to Krasnow, town workers at the water treatment plant were doing their weekly washing of the filters using potassium permanganate, which turns water pink when used in large quantities.

The mayor said it appeared that a valve had gotten stuck somewhere, allowing the compound to enter the sump reservoir and make its way into the local water supply. The town has since drained the reservoir and flushed the distribution system.

Mayor Krasnow told Chemistry World, There was just a trace, a backwash, from a valve that didnt close soon enough. All the lines are flushed, and everyone has good, clear water again.

In his statement on the towns Facebook page, Krasnow conceded that they should have been more forthcoming with their constituents about the situation. Could the town have done a better job of communicating what was going on yesterday to our community? Absolutely, without a doubt.

Krasnow went on to say, And we do apologize for that. This is a situation we can certainly learn from and develop a strategy for better response and communication should we ever face the same or similar situation in the future.

Potassium permanganate is used in water treatment to remove iron and hydrogen sulfide. According to the World Health Organization, the compound can cause skin irritations and cause exposed skin to be stained brown.

Mayor Krasnow says that Alberta Environment officials would be coming to Onoway to review their water treatment system to investigate the pink water incident and see what needs correcting to prevent it from happening again.

Despite the governments assurances that the water was safe, Ms. Veldhuysen Van Zaten said she refrained from drinking the water or using it to cook, and instead choose to heat up some leftovers for dinner that night. Surely, many other citizens were not terribly swayed by the promise of the pink waters safety.

It is rather ironic that pink water is considered safe when rainwater is so often considered criminal.

Sources:

CTVNews.ca

ChemistryWorld.com
(Natural News) The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, is an enormous piece of legislation with thousands of moving parts, so to speak, and tentacles that reach into several federal agencies and scores of statutes.

Its a gargantuan law that was designed to be pervasive, complex and difficult to dismantle.

So it should come as no surprise to anyone that despite a pledge by President Donald Trump and the Republican congressional majority to quickly repeal and replace Obamacare, its not going to be as simple a task as Americans were initially led to believe.

That said, it seems that, finally, there is at least an Obamacare repeal bill being offered by House Speaker Paul Ryan and other GOP leaders, having been introduced on Thursday to a cacophony of criticism from conservatives in both chambers of Congress.

Among the bills most vociferous critics is Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., himself a physician who got Trumps attention early on with his plea to both repeal and replace Obamacare, though not at the same time, lest Republicans get bogged down and stuck with similarly bad legislation that perpetuates all the worst things about the Affordable Care Act. (RELATED: GOP Sen. Cotton: Start over on Obamacare replacement because current bill wont pass)

In an interview with Breitbart News, Paul slammed Ryan for misleading the president on the process of getting the bill through the House, as well as the level of support for it (sources told Breitbart that as many as 70 House Republicans are not in favor of the legislation as written).

Nevertheless, Ryan is moving ahead, claiming in press conferences that he believes he has the 218 votes necessary to pass what critics have already dubbed Ryan-Care, though it is not at all clear he does.

Paul said he was confused by Ryans strategy, and insisted that the Speaker is intentionally fooling the president over the bills level of support.

I dont think it makes any sense and I think hes trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the president, Paul said. I think when Ive spoken with President Trump, I think he agrees with me that we should repeal and replace but I dont think hes stuck on that they have to be in the same bill necessarily. Paul Ryan, I think, is selling it to the White House and telling the White House, Oh, its a piece of cake, its a done deal. And I dont think thats an accurate depiction of things.

Paul thinks a repeal bill that all Republicans supported in 2015 and sent to President Obama, only to have it vetoed, should be introduced again because it would likely pass. Then, he said, lawmakers could get down to the business of combining ideas for how best to replace Obamacare.

It would be better for all of us if we separated it out with clean repeal and had replacement as a separate bill, he said.

Senior aides to other House Republicans who are not members of the conservative Freedom Caucus said their bosses were also opposed to the new legislation.

I think youre looking at 60 to 70 noes right now on the floor, one aide told Breitbart News. The phone lines have been blowing up with opposition to what theyre calling Ryan-Care. This is a hell of a Mexican standoffits Freedom Caucus versus Trump, and Ryan who I think is driving the process. Who blinks here? Its bigger than the Freedom Caucus but the Freedom Caucus has planted their flag on this one. Whos going to blink first?

Trump has signaled support for the House bill, but Bloomberg News also reported that Trump is open-minded and agnostic about the legislation, meaning he could be persuaded to support other provisions or different versions. More than anything, the president believes it will be a bloodbath for Republicans in the 2018 elections if nothing is passed. (RELATED: Obamacare in death spiral as entire system unravels)

To Pauls way of thinking, it might be worse for Republicans if they pass a worse bill or one that doesnt eliminate the worst facets of Obamacare, which are being blamed for dramatically increased rates and out-of-pocket expenses.

And in many ways, he says, the bill does retain some of the worst Obamacare provisions.

I think the reason why the House leadership bill is Obamacare Lite is because it retains subsidies. Obamacare had subsidies for people to buy insurance. In the Paul Ryan bill, they keep the subsidiesthey just call them refundable tax credits, he said. Some people are predicting that its actually going to be more expensive than the subsidies we have under Obamacare. This isnt you getting your own money back, this is you getting somebody elses money.

Either way, something has to be done with this monumental failure of public policy. Americans can no longer afford the mistake that is Obamacare.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

Breitbart.com

Bloomberg.com

WashingtonTimes.com
(Natural News) While Wikipedia may seem like a useful site if you need quick information at hand for trivial topics like the average population of Kazakhstan, its reliability and validity have long been questioned by professors, intellectuals and even the media. One reason for this distrust is the fact that quite a bit of the information on Wikipedia is either incomplete or downright false. Because anyone can technically edit or contribute to Wikipedia, the site is vulnerable to hackers and vandalism.

There is also the fact that strings at Wikipedia are being pulled and controlled by corporate influences. Once corporate America realized that Wikipedia was distributing information they had carefully and thoroughly suppressed in the media, they launched a plan that ensured they had the final say on what did and did not get published.

Articles on Wikipedia that go against the corporate line are quickly edited out and replaced by more mainstream-friendly versions. Writers who post material that offends the status quo are subsequently banned by editors who consider themselves to be unbiased. Over the years, entries about natural healing, holistic medicine and other subjects began to resemble publicity blurbs from Monsanto, Merck or the NIH. Contributors are supposed to be anonymous volunteers, but it is clear that for certain sensitive subjects, this is far from the case. (RELATED: Get all the news the fake media is hiding from you at Censored.news)

Take for example their page about chemotherapy. The article is very pro-chemo. There is no mention of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centers study that finds that chemotherapy makes cancer much worse. Adverse effects are not mentioned until well towards the end of the article. This is just one article out of hundreds where Wikipedia has been allowed to only report one side of a very serious matter, and its the side thats footing their bill.

Wikipedia continually requests that users help fund the site, but since the average reader typically does not donate, it has been speculated and proven that the major contributors to the site are Big Pharma and many other corporations. Jimmy Wales, CEO of Wikipedia, continually makes claims that the site is run by volunteers. What he fails to disclose, however, is that these so-called volunteers are paid by drug companies, food giants and the biotech industry to exploit editing privileges to censor information they dont want the public to see.

The lack of freedom in the flow of information on the site has become such a problem, that a petition was submitted on Change.org and signed by almost 8,000 people, demanding that Wikipedia allow for more articles and discussion on alternative medicine. Jimmy Wales, whose mantra is free knowledge, free minds, found the request to be absurd, saying, You have to be kidding me. Every single person who signed this petition needs to go back to check their premises and think harder about what it means to be honest, factual, truthful. What we wont do is pretend that the work of lunatic charlatans is the equivalent of true scientific discourse.

Thankfully several alternative websites to Wikipedia can provide quick information without having a sneaky corporate agenda. Businesses, in theory, are afforded the right to decide what data will be allowed on their platforms. But just as with Google and its information censorship, these companies cannot continue to court our business for years and encourage us to use their sites, only to change their minds along the way and decide to censor certain information.

Sources

Orthomolecular.org

Businessinsider.com

LifeWire.com
(Natural News) One of the greatest U.S. presidents of all time, the late Ronald Reagan, once famously said that as government expands, liberty contracts. This is about as true as saying the sky is blue, and it applies to just about everything that is going on in our country today. The more bureaucrats get hired at the Environmental Protection Agency, the less freedom businesses have to grow and prosper. The more control the government obtains over the United States healthcare system, the less freedom the people have to choose the plans that they like. These are just two examples out of dozens.

Individual liberty is a rather straightforward concept on the surface, yet millions of Americans, both inside and outside of Washington D.C., fail to understand it. Liberty means having the ability to pursue your own interests, to do what motivates you, and to make your own decisions free from government interference, so long as those decisions are legal and generally ethical.

When it comes to vaccinations, government restrictions and guidelines vary from state to state. Despite this, it is now generally accepted that failing to vaccinate your children is a form of child neglect, and could potentially lead to loss of custody.

Medical neglect is defined as failure to exercise a minimum degree of care in supplying the child with adequate health care. The definition adds that this omission of care may either be compromising the childs health, or potentially compromising it.

Frank A. Chervenak, M.D., Laurence McCullough, Ph.D., and Robert Brent, M.D., are the three authors of a new vaccine policy analysis entitled Professional Responsibility and Early Childhood Vaccination. The analysis examines past legal decisions and whether or not vaccine refusal warrants intervention by child protection services and government officials.

The authors of the study suggest that refusing to give a child vaccinations or other necessary medical care may be accepted as neglect, since a child is exposed to some potential risk of harm by a parental act of omission.

Given the emphasis that America puts on individual liberty, it is understandable that many parents would consider such harsh policies and guidelines as a threat to their parental rights. Indeed, this is a legitimate concern. Just as many Second Amendment advocates believe they dont need the federal government telling them how to defend themselves, many parents feel that they dont need the government to tell them what medical procedures are best for their children. (RELATED: A school in Minnesota is banning students who do not receive vaccinations).

The three authors of the analysis, however, disagree. They make the case in their study that parents who refuse to vaccinate their children should be charged with child neglect. If parents remain unpersuaded, their informed refusal becomes child neglect, because they are refusing to authorize evidence-based, effective, and safe preventive care required by the best interests of the child standard as a norm, they conclude. There is a strict legal obligation to report child neglect to the local child health protective services agency. (RELATED: Expect a wave of pro-vaccine legislation from congress over the next few months).

Chervenak, McCullough and Brent argue further that reporting those who refuse to give their children vaccines to the federal government can help educate the parents. They do note, however, that this could cause the patients to lose trust in their doctors.

Ultimately, the authors conclude that the best option is to use threats and coercion to make parents come around to the idea of vaccinating their kids. We have seen numerous steadfast refusers of vaccines come around to acceptance, they write, when faced with a physician who feels so strongly about the benefits of vaccination that he/she is willing to go to the extreme length of discharging a family who refuses vaccination.

Sources

TheVaccineReaction.org

ScientificAmerican.com
Japan offers a variety of unique cafes to entertain tourists and locals. However, one popular and peculiar diner, an owl cafe, is under fire after animal activists cry foul.

The cafe, called "Owl Village," is just one of the unique animal cafes that started surfacing in Japan. Animal activists say that using owls and other animals as attractions is considered a form of abuse.

"When people think about animal abuse, they think about kicking or hitting." Chihiro Okada, representative director of Animal Rights Center, said in an interview with Reuters. "But it isn't limited to that. Confining an animal to a small space is certainly a form of abuse."

Furthermore, the activists mention that depriving owls of adequate sleep during the day is also another form or abuse. The animals were kept awake during the day in a rather bright and noisy environment; different from the conducive surrounding they're supposed to be in.

Restaurant owners, however, reiterated that the owls were being taken cared of. Despite the abusive claims, some cafes still insist that they owls are not being maltreated.

"Some owl cafes are short staffed and customers are allowed to freely interact with the birds. But here, they have to be accompanied by a staff member who explains how to touch the animal," Aya Matsuda, manager of Owl Cafe, said in a statement.

Owls are considered good luck in Japan, according to a report. However, the birds themselves seem not too fortunate if they're being patronized in a cafe since they are not getting enough sleep during the day. Activists say that the nocturnal birds should not be kept awake during daytime.

Other abusive conditions were cited by animal activists including the fact that owls were forced to perch in an uncomfortable stance for the whole day not being able to move and feed freely.

Extreme brightness and noisy environments drastically affect owls. As a result, some of the owls suffer from neurotic behaviors such as feather pulling and pacing.

Although the law is lenient when it comes to owl cafes, experts say that keeping them in restaurants shouldn't be a problem if the animals are properly cared for. Despite that, there were reported deaths of owls used in cafes since the outpouring of these establishments.
Jackie Chan turned heads during the last Oscars awards night, not because of flashy designer clothing but because he brought with him two adorable stuffed pandas. Many were surprised to see the legendary martial artist with the toys, but Chan's pandas meant more than being just red carpet accessories.

Chan, who received an honorary Oscar at the 69th Academy Awards on Feb. 26, might as well receive an environment honorary recognition because of this act. The actor brought the stuffed animals to promote his cause. Aside from voicing a character in the movie "Kung Fu Panda" in 2009, he is also a proud foster parent of two pandas in China.

"I am the ambassador of panda," Jackie Chan told host Ryan Seacrest in an interview. "After [an] earthquake, they get hurt and I raise them. I have two pandas in China, my own. They go wherever I go. They meet all the famous people."

Read Also: Scientists Answer the Age-Old Question: Why Are Pandas Black and White?

Chan was seen on the red carpet carrying two stuffed pandas. The toys were dressed in yellow jackets and silver boots. The pandas represent the actual animals that Chan adopted in China. Chan raised the pandas after an earthquake in Sichuan province. The devastating earthquake killed 87,000 people. After a donation of $145,000, Chan named the pandas Cheng Cheng and Long Long.

The heartwarming stunt raised awareness about giant pandas and the devastating effect of the earthquake that killed 87,000 people. Based on Chan's interviews, it wasn't the first time his pandas met famous people and attended events.

Chan is celebrating his 56th year in the business. He expressed his gratitude for the award and is clearly helping raise awareness for his valued causes using the credibility he had built for himself over the years.

"I'd like to say a heartfelt thank you to the Oscars for giving me this award of encouragement and recognizing my achievements while I'm still young," actor Jackie Chan said in a Facebook post. "I'm absolutely honored to be the first Chinese in history to receive this award."

Read Also: Giant Panda Bao Bao Is Bound for China
Humans moving to Mars in the future will not go hungry as a new study by a NASA scientist reveals that the red planet may be conducive for growing potatoes.

The study was conducted by NASA scientist Chris McKay and was sponsored by the International Potato Center. McKay's study dabbled on the possibility of growing potatoes on Mars by studying the soil from the Pampas de La Joya desert. The experiment was conducted in a CubeSat courtesy of the University of Engineering and Technology in Peru.

According to the study, the Peruvian desert's soil has similar properties to the soil on the Red Planet. McKay posits that if potatoes can grow in the Pampas de La Joya environment, then it can grow on Martian soil too.

Read Also: Martian Food: Veggies Grown on Mars-Simulated Soil Safe to Eat

CS Monitor notes that the recent experiment will not only benefit future Mars explorations but also our technological and biological future. Growing potatoes in arid, extreme environments can solve the lack of food astronauts experience when in space.

The International Potato Center detailed over 4,000 potato varieties that can be suitable candidates to be grown on Mars. Phys Org said McKay's study reveals that it may even be possible to grow potatoes by hydroponics and aeroponics. These technologies will allow nutrients to be delivered by water and air directly to plants without the need for soil.

The new discovery can also be a way to solve hunger on Earth. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has reported climate change as a major threat to progress in various fields, but especially to food safety. More than 795 million people are estimated to be undernourished worldwide.

The potential of potatoes growing in harsh and warm climates is a good indication that the crop may, in fact, be a solution not only to Martian hunger plights but that of Earth as well.

Read Also: Survival on Mars: NASA Scientists Developing 'Martian Garden'
The Great Barrier Reef is still recovering from what was considered to be the worst coral bleaching event in recorded history. However, warmer ocean temperatures this year could cause another mass bleaching event.

A mass coral bleaching event this 2017 will make it the second year in a row. This is the first time that two mass coral bleaching events occurred so close together, highlighting the need for immediate actions.

"What's happening with global warming is that these events are becoming the new normal," Terry Hughes, from James Cook University's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, told BuzzFeed News. "The gap between them is becoming shorter and shorter. This is the first time we've had back-to-back bleaching. It's a real wake up call."

Evidence of another mass bleaching event was apparent in the images released by Greenpeace. These images were backed up by a survey conducted by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). The survey was conducted over the area between Cairns and Townsville in northern Queensland.

The GBRMPA survey revealed that about two-thirds of coral coverage in a 700-kilometer stretch of reef north of Port Douglas in far north Queensland has died due to warmer ocean temperatures. Scientists note that it's too soon to access the damage done of this year's mass coral bleaching event compared to last year's.

"To some extent it's not as important whether this event is not quite as bad or worse than last year's," said David Wachenfeld, a researchers at GBRMPA, in a report from ABC News. "I think what's important is that the climate is changing and that is bringing a much greater frequency of extreme weather events to the Great Barrier Reef."

Experts warn that as bleaching events occur in close succession, affected corals will have a hard time coping up and repairing themselves. When the corals never fully recover from past bleaching events, it could put the whole reef system in danger.
By nature, larger animals tend to scare off smaller ones due to the obvious dominance in size. For instance, many fear elephants including men. But did you know that elephants are terrified of bees?

Farmers who are trying to prevent elephants from intruding their farms are using beehives to ward off the gigantic species. Surprisingly, it looks like they already found a solution to the perennial crop raid problem.

Elephants co-existing with humans in the wild have a reputation of raiding farms and trampling crops. This means the humongous animal breed is responsible for destroying the livelihood of human communities living near their habitat.

African farmers and researchers found a way to ward off elephants, not by strong fences but by a low-cost solution using beehives. Reports say that elephants retreat just by hearing the sound of bees, according to Quartz.

The Elephant and Bees Project, and its group called Save the Elephants, thought of hanging beehives 10 meters apart along fences as an effective way to protect farms from elephant crop raids. Based on reports, there is an 80 percent success rate by using this method. Due to its efficacy, the technique is now being used in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and Africa.

"Elephants have come to my farm but they couldn't manage to enter the farm," Hesron Nzumu, a farmer near Tsavo East National Park in Kenya said in an interview. "They see the beehive and they are really afraid of the bees. When they see them, they run away."

To validate the success of the method, a group of researchers collected the data from 10 farms in Africa where 131 beehives were placed in a span of 3 and a half years. From their study, they found out that only 20 out of 253 elephants managed to successfully cross the fences.

"It's a sustainable, long-term, low-cost solution for these small-scale farms, and we're not at all pretending this is going to work on a large-scale, for 100-acre farms; this is for the one-acre, two-acres farms, who have absolutely minimal income," Lucy King, who heads the Human-Elephant Coexistence Program at Save the Elephants, said in a statement.

Aside from protecting farms from elephant crop raids, farmers also gained another source of income by selling the harvested honey from the beehives.
A reptile expert has managed to breed an emoji-patterned ball python. It took Justin Kobylka eight years of selective breeding before finally creating his reptilian masterpiece.

IFL Science reported that the snake is a lavender albino piebald ball python, which is distinctive for its white and orange coloring and piebald pattern.

Daily Mail explains that the distinctive pattern of pigmented spots on an unpigmented background is determined by the animal's genes.



Due to recessive mutation that occurs naturally, the piebald pattern could turn out warped. In Kobylka's case, it just so happens that the ball python came out with three perfect emoji shapes on its body -- an occurrence that is extremely rare.

Kobylka breeds snakes with distinctive patterns to sell them. Popsugar noted that it is valued at more than $4,000. However, Kobylka said the emoji-patterned ball python is not for sale.



Kobylka started his business after deciding to leave his medical/surgical practice. In his blog, the said he has had an unexplainable attraction towards reptiles since he was young.

"In college, I hid snakes in my dorm room and hatched out my first clutch of Sinaloan Kingsnakes in a small incubator under my bed," he wrote.



Ball pythons are not venomous and make popular pets because of their small size and are generally friendly. Reptiles Magazine noted that with proper care, they can live up to 30 years or more. Female ball pythons, 3 to 5 feet long, are generally longer than the male ball pythons, 2 to 3 feet long.



In the wild, these creatures thrive in warm tropical areas. They are originally from Africa, and are considered royals in their native land.

Many people debate over whether or not pythons make a good pet. Last month, a woman from Oregon was rushed to a hospital after her pet ball python got stuck in her earlobe.
Its been two years since San Francisco implemented measures to regulate illegal hotels advertising on sites like Airbnb. But registration records from the Office of Short-Term Rentals, obtained by NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit, show the vast majority of hosts in San Francisco are apparently still skirting the law.

Since 2015, San Francisco has issued over $1 million in fines to hosts renting on sites like Airbnb, records show. It is a problem the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit first exposed last summer.

Our investigation found rentals advertised on Airbnb were apparently being used as illegal hotels across San Francisco. The city has since significantly ramped up its enforcement issuing a total of 483 violations to date. Most of the citations were issued in the last 10 months.

WATCH OUR ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION BELOW

With rent prices soaring, more and more San Francisco residents are looking to earn some extra cash by renting out their homes to tourists through websites like Airbnb and Craigslist. But as the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit uncovered, many of these listings are illegal, with thousands breaking the law each day and getting away with it. Bigad Shaban reports.

Currently, only 1,877 hosts are registered with the Office of Short-Term Rentals to legally rent out their homes. But NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit discovered Airbnb alone had 8,800 hosts listing its site as of late 2016. That means more than 70 percent of hosts in San Francisco are seemingly breaking the law.

Airbnb over the past seven months has been locked in a legal battle with San Francisco. Airbnb sued its hometown to block a new law that would slap home-sharing companies with pricey fines and possible criminal penalties if they post rental listings that arent registered with the city.

MIDDLE CLASS BEING FORCED OUT

The average price for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco is north of $3,000 a month, making it one of the most expensive housing markets in the world.

Affordable housing advocates partly blame short term rentals for driving up the price, but longtime resident Dr. Lisa Cohn says that home sharing actually helps residents afford to live in the high priced city.

It is becoming harder and harder for middle class individuals and families to stay in this city. Theyre being forced out, Cohn told NBC Bay Area. The psychologist, homeowner, and single mom says despite her private practice, she still struggles to make ends meet after the tragic loss of her wife Francis in a scuba diving accident.

Every aspect of my life changed in an instant. I suddenly was thrust into becoming a full-time single parent, sole source of income for my family, Cohn said.

Cohn hoped to begin earning some extra money by renting out her home short-term, but says she decided against it after learning about the citys mandatory registration process for hosts.

Last fall, the Office of Short-Term Rentals proposed cutting down the registration fee from $250 to the original price of $50. However, no one on the board of supervisors decided to sponsor that legislation.

Cohn believes the regulations hurt single home owners trying to keep up with the cost of living.

I think there's a number of people that exploit the housing market, and I don't think single property homeowners, like myself, are those people, Cohn said, fearing more restrictions could be on the way.

SAN FRANCISCO SHORT-TERM RENTAL REQUIREMENTS

Obtain a business license

Pay a $250 short-term rental registration fee every two years

Restricted to only renting out one property, which must be your primary residence

Hosts can only rent their home for a total of 90 days per year if they are not present in the home

I think it should be an unrestricted option. I dont think its anybodys business what I do with the rooms in my house if I am living here, Cohn said.

But housing advocates dont believe the citys regulations go far enough to protect San Franciscos housing stock. The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) is a fierce Airbnb critic and competitor. Thursday, the association released a new study that found a growing number of Airbnb hosts are turning homes into full-time hotels.

The study looked at 20,078 listings in San Francisco, San Mateo, Sonoma and Marin counties and found 717 home owners listed multiple properties on Airbnb. Thats a violation of San Franciscos housing laws.

The study also found those types of listings brought in $38.5 million of revenue for Airbnb in 2016, showing a 34 percent increase from just the year before.

There's very little home sharing and theres too much home stealing, AHLA consultant Dale Carlson told NBC Bay Area. The problem is we've got too many units that have been converted to full-time tourist accommodations at a time when the city is going through one of its worst housing crisis in probably more than a century.

AIRBNB CALLS CRITICAL STUDY "MISLEADING"

Airbnb refutes AHLAs findings and maintain that Airbnb has a strict one host, one home policy.

This misleading, inaccurate report was bought and paid for by the big hotels and is the latest example of the industrys willingness to say and do anything to protect their record profits, preserve their ability to price gouge consumers and squash their competition, Airbnb spokesman Christopher Nulty said in response to AHLAs report.

As the AHLA already knows, many of their member inns, motels and hotels list rooms on our platform, so these are included in the very data on commercial listings the big hotels seem so concerned about, Nulty said.

Lawyers for Airbnb and San Francisco are due back in court next month.

______________________________________

Watch the entire series in this NBC Bay Area investigation:
Metal detectors and evidence markers in hand, investigators searched a park in Southcrest Friday, following up on possible leads related to the shooting death of San Diego Police Department (SDPD) Officer Jonathan JD De Guzman.

At 8:45 a.m., several police vehicles were parked near the Southcrest Recreation Center at South 40th and Alpha streets. Investigators cordoned certain sections of the park, including some grassy areas, and used metal detectors. They placed small flags in certain areas and took notes.

The park is located just a few blocks from Acacia Grove Way, the street where De Guzman and his partner SDPD Officer Wade Irwin were gunned down while on duty on July 28, 2016.

San Diego Deputy District Attorney Michael Runyon told NBC 7 that investigators from the SDPD Homicide Unit, along with evidence collection specialists, were at the park following up on leads and possible evidence that may be related to the ongoing investigation of the shooting of De Guzman and Irwin.

Runyon said the work would likely take all day.

[Theyre] documenting certain items of potential interest, he explained.

Runyon said he could not elaborate on what those items might be or what investigators were looking for, as the investigation is ongoing.

The deadly shooting of De Guzman and Irwin last summer shook San Diego to its core. The city has rallied time and time again to support the fallen officer's family.

Irwin survived the shooting, but was seriously injured.

The SDPD officers were shot when they stopped suspect Jesse Michael Gomez, 52, and asked if he lived in the area.

Gomez opened fire at point-blank range at both officers, shooting Irwin in the throat and hitting De Guzman with multiple bullets. The attack happened so quickly, prosecutors said De Guzman never even had a chance to draw his service weapon.

De Guzman was a 16-year veteran of the SDPD, beloved by his colleagues and family. In 2003, the officer survived a stabbing while on duty, and was awarded a Purple Heart by the department for his valor. Zimmerman said that even after that incident, De Guzman eagerly returned to the force and his passion to protect the public never wavered.

Since his killing, De Guzman has been memorialized in many ways around San Diego. Just this past Monday, the U.S. Post Office in the Eastlake community of Chula Vista, California, was named in honor of the fallen officer.
Exposing a person to HIV is treated more seriously under California law than infecting someone with any other communicable disease, a policy some lawmakers say is a relic of the decades-old AIDS scare that unfairly punishes HIV-positive people based on outdated science.

Several lawmakers are promoting a bill by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, that would make it a misdemeanor instead of a felony to intentionally expose someone to HIV, the virus that causes the immune system-weakening disease AIDS. The change would treat HIV like other communicable diseases under California law.

Under current law, if a person who knows they are infected with HIV has unprotected sex without telling their partner they have the virus, they can be convicted of a felony and face years of jail time. Intentional transmission of any other communicable disease, even a potentially deadly condition like hepatitis, is a misdemeanor.

"These laws were passed at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic when there was enormous fear and ignorance and misinformation around HIV," Wiener said. "It's time for California to lead and to repeal these laws to send a clear signal that we are going to take a science-based approach to HIV not a fear-based approach."

Wiener's bill, SB239, would also repeal California laws that require people convicted of prostitution for the first time to be tested for AIDS and that increase penalties for prostitution if the sex worker tested positive for AIDS in connection with a previous conviction.

The original laws were passed during the 1980s and 1990s based on incomplete and outdated science, said Dr. Edward Machtinger, director of the Women's HIV Program at the University of California, San Francisco. Transmission rates are much lower than people believed when the laws were enacted. Modern treatment dramatically reduces the effects of the virus and chances for transmission, he said.

Although modern treatments are highly effective, the current laws deter people from getting tested for HIV and seeking treatment, Wiener said.

Between 1988 and 2014, at least 800 people were arrested, charged or otherwise came into contact with the criminal justice system related to their HIV status, according to a study conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles. The study found "HIV criminalization" laws disproportionately affected women and people of color.
Many South Bay students and parents are up in arms after school officials canceled a field trip to Yosemite.

Cupertino Union School District officials said they were forced to cancel the week-long trip due to safety concerns. Last Sunday, a woman was killed when a Ponderosa pine crashed onto a tent-cabin in Half Dome Village, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

"This is a decision that we did not take lightly as we know how much it means to our students, and to the members of our team who spend countless hours organizing it," Superintendent Wendy Gudalewicz said in a letter to sent to families. "Unfortunately, due to the extremely dangerous road conditions, and the death of an individual at the camp on Sunday, our organizing team has recommended that it is the best interest of student safety to cancel the trip."

Students from Kennedy Middle School were on their way to Yosemite last week, but were forced to turn around after officials were alerted the children's safety was at risk.

Cupertino Middle School and two other schools were also planning trips. The district made the announcement to cancel the trips during a meeting Wednesday.

Some parents said they have been raising money since October and spent up to $1,000 for their students to attend the annual trip. Gudalewicz said the district is working to reimburse families.

The Mercury News reports $1.34 million was raised by parents and supporters to finance this year's Yosemite trips.
Deputies are asking for help finding a missing hiker last seen Thursday afternoon in unincorporated Woodside, San Mateo County sheriff's officials said Friday.

Bethnee Haury was last seen at about 4 p.m. on Skyline Boulevard.

Search teams spent Friday looking for Haury in the Kings Mountain area of unincorporated San Mateo County, according to sheriff's officials. The search, which was too dangerous even for trained search teams on the ground, will continue overnight with the help of a specially-equipped sheriffs office aircraft.

"Our airplane has infrared capabilities that can search" and detect body heat, said Det. Salvador Zuno.

An army of volunteers will again comb through the mountains above Woodside, starting Saturday morning, according to officials.

Haury is 56 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, about 140 pounds with red hair and blue eyes.

Haury, her husband and son, who are Bay Area residents, were staying at a bed and breakfast when Haury left and went on a hike at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday with her brown and white Aussie or Australian Shepherd.

The family had been traveling on vacation, sheriff's spokesman Detective Salvador Zuno said.

At about 7:30 p.m., her husband called the sheriff's office to report that his wife had not returned.

"They are not familiar with the area," Zuno said.

Haury suffers from early onset dementia and has Type-2 diabetes and requires insulin injections.

A resident or business owner in the area said they saw Haury and her dog at about 4 p.m. and she looked okay.

But Zuno said Haury may have become disoriented.

The incident has been "very difficult" Haury's husband, Zuno said, adding, "We just hope we [can] hurry up and locate Mrs. Haury.'

The San Mateo County Search and Rescue team and the Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit, professional volunteer search teams, have been searching for Haury round-the-clock since last night, according to Zuno.

More than 70 searchers with trained dogs, teams on horseback, along with off-road vehicles from 16-different Bay Area agencies have been scouring the trails about seven miles northwest of Woodside. They have triple-checked more than a dozen trails within a two-and-a-half mile radius, Zuno said.

Zuno said the area is wooded and steep.

Anyone who sees someone who looks like Haury or anything that would help rescuers find her is asked to call 911 and say "I believe I saw a missing person."

Zuno said there is nothing now to suggest foul play.
Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin spoke out against President Donald Trump's revised immigration order on Thursday, alleging that the ban is so "blantantly discriminatory" that it's designed to divide people into a "superior race," NBC News reported.

The core of the new order remains a "Muslim ban," said Chin, whose state was the first to challenge it in court, filing its lawsuit on Thursday. A hearing is schedule for March 15, the day before Trump's order is to take effect.

More states said they would follow in Hawaii's footsteps on Thursday, including Washington and New York.

The president signed his first immigration order on Jan. 27, restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority nations. His revised order, signed on Monday, removed Iraq from the list of countries.
Firefighters are responding to a 4-alarm blaze in Southbridge, Massachusetts, Friday morning.

Southbridge fire officials say it's on River Street.

Both Webster and Auburn's fire departments confirm they're assisting Southbridge firefighters as mutual aid.

No other details were immediately available from officials, but viewer photos show flames engulfing the top floor of a building.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy slammed Gov. Bruce Rauner Thursday, faulting the Republican for Illinois ongoing budget stalemate.

How grim things have become in our state, to see one of the great institutions in our country idle, belittled, weakened by a governor who does not care, Kennedy said during a state of the state speech to local pastors at Bethlehem Star Church.

The governor is holding the state budget hostage, he added. He says he wont do a budget until he gets his turnaround agenda.

Kennedy, who announced his bid for governor last month, said job creators moving their companies to Illinois arent concerned with Rauners reforms, noting that he dealt with roughly 5,000 companies while serving as the president of Chicagos Merchandise Mart.

Not one in 25 years ever said to me they were worried about coming to Illinois because of the we draw our state rep districts, or how we deal with tort reform, workers comp or term limits, he said. That agenda is B.S."

Illinois Republican Party spokesman Steven Yaffe dismissed the claim, linking Kennedy to House Speaker Michael Madigan, Rauner's chief political foe.

"Chris Kennedy keeps repeating Mike Madigan's talking points because he wants to be the Speaker's chosen candidate," Yaffe said in a statement. "Only a Madigan machine politician would call term limits, fair maps and job-creating economic reforms 'B.S.'"

Over the past week, Democrats accused Rauner of derailing ongoing budget negotiations, while Grammy award-winning Chicagoan Chance the Rapper used a meeting with the governor to bring national attention to the citys underfunded public school system.

After the Illinois Senate failed to take action last Wednesday on items from its elusive grand bargain," Senate President John Cullerton blamed Rauner for inserting himself in the ongoing negotiations.

Last week, Cullerton noted that senators are now in a holding pattern as bills are amended to forge a compromise with Rauner and the Republicans. On Tuesday, Rauner said hes willing to sign off on bills to fund Chicago Public Schools and reform the states pension system, even if theyre not attached to the Illinois Senates stalled grand compromise, which he described as still evolving.

Every time we get close, he moves the goal post, Kennedy said Thursday.
The Illinois House adopted a resolution last month designating October of this year as Zombie Preparedness Month.

The living-dead-legislation, sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch, encourages Illinoisans to learn about natural disasters and take steps toward stockpiling three days worth of emergency rations.

I am told that if you are prepared for zombies, then you would be prepared to deal with a natural disaster like tornadoes, blizzards, natural disasters of any kind, Welch said on the House floor in February. You would have proper food storage, you wouldve identified a place where you would go for shelter and youd be prepared for a natural disaster.

Before opening the floor up to other lawmakers, Rep. Lou Lang noted that the resolution awakened various zombies in the chamber.

State Rep. Steven Andersson jokingly asked Welch which zombies the state is defending against, citing monsters from a pair of television shows. Andersson noted that zombies from Z Nation are fast and smart, while zombies from The Walking Dead are slow, but overpowering.

Im talking about preparation for all zombies, Welch responded. If youre prepared for all zombies, youre prepared for a natural disaster."

Rep. Grant Wehrli, one of the bills co-sponsors, said he appreciates the resolution's good humor and aim, noting that the measure is a good thing.

Its not when things go well that we need a plan, its when things go off the rails, Wehrli said.

Additionally, Rep. William Davis asked why the state was equating natural disasters to a zombie apocalypse, which typically means a cataclysmic, end of the world event. He pressed the resolution's sponsor on whether this was a fair comparison.

In response, Welch said the goal was to use the allusion to grab and direct Illinoisans' attention to a worthy cause.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jeanne Ives slammed members of the Illinois House for focusing on fun and games, instead of the states ongoing budget impasse.

This bill is incredibly misplaced at a time when our budget is in such dire straits, Ives said, pointing to the states struggling economy.

This may sound like fun, but if youre really concerned about disaster, the natural disaster thats happening in Illinois is all economic and its all our doing," she added. And actually with the right policies in places, we can change this disaster into a real benefit. So lets get to work on the real stuff instead of bills like this."

At the end of the floor debate, Welch also called for budget action, stressing the importance of his resolution.

If we need to do something like Zombie Preparedness Month to get peoples attention to an important issue like preparing for a natural disaster, then so be it, he said.

The Illinois House adopted a resolution Thursday designating October of this year as Zombie Preparedness Month.

The measure, sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch, encourages Illinoisans to learn about natural disasters and take steps toward stockpiling three days worth of emergency rations.

I am told that if you are prepared for zombies, then you would be prepared to deal with a natural disaster like tornadoes, blizzards, natural disasters of any kind, Welch said on the House floor Thursday. You would have proper food storage, you wouldve identifeid a place where you would go for shelter and youd be prepared for a natural disaster.

Before opening the floor up to other lawmaker Thursday, Rep. Lou Lang noted that the resolution awakened various zombies in the chamber.

State Rep. Steven Andersson jokingly asked Welch which zombies the state is defending against, citing monsters from a pair of television shows. Andersson noted that zombies from Z Nation are fast and smart, while zombies from The Walking Dead are slow, but overpowering.

Im talking about preparation for all zombies, Welch responded. If youre prepared for all zombies, youre prepared for a natural disaster."

Rep. Grant Wehrli, one of the bills co-sponsors, said he appreciates the resolution's good humor and aim, noting that the measure is a good thing.

Its not when things go well that we need a plan, its when things go off the rails, Wehrli said Tuesday.

Additionally, Rep. William Davis asked why the state was equating natural disasters to a zombie apocalypse, which typically means a cataclysmic, end of the world event. He pressed the resolution's sponsor on whether this was a fair comparison.

in response, Welch said the goal was to use the allusion to grab and direct Illinoisans' attention to a worthy cause.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jeanne Ives slammed members of the Illinois House Thursday for focusing on fun and games, instead of the states ongoing budget impasse.

This bill is incredibly misplaced at a time when our budget is in such dire straits, Ives said, pointing to the states struggling economy.

This may sound like fun, but if youre really concerned about disaster, the natural disaster thats happening in Illinois is all economic and its all our doing," she added. And actually with the right policies in places, we can change this disaster into a real benefit. So lets get to work on the real stuff instead of bills like this."

At the end of the floor debate, Welch also called for budget action, stressing the importance of his resolution.

If we need to do something like Zombie Preparedness Month to get peoples attention to an important issue like preparing for a natural disaster, then so be it, he sa
A popular over-the-counter medication is coming under intense scrutiny, after some parents claim their children experienced neuropsychiatric problems while taking the drug.

MiraLAX is recommended for adults and children ages 17 and over and for use no more than seven days. However, many pediatricians prescribe the laxative off-label to children who experience chronic constipation.

Of concern for many parents is the active ingredient in MiraLAX and similar generic laxatives called polyethylene glycol 3350, or PEG 3350, and its possible adverse effects in children.

Beth Novak from Naperville said her daughter Sadie took MiraLAX daily for four years.

I said I had concerns about it and (her pediatric gastroenterologist) said it was very safe, Novak said.

Sadie was 2 years old when she first started taking the laxative, after struggling with chronic constipation for a year. Novak said the medication worked but she started noticing behavioral problems, including uncontrollable anxiety, inexplicable rage and restlessness.

The behaviors were so extreme that you couldnt really explain what was going on, Novak said. You think its the terrible twos and then you think its an extended terrible twos and then you think its something else. But this lasted until she was six, when we took her off (MiraLAX).

Novak said she heard and read complaints from other parents who observed neuropsychiatric issues in their children who took MiraLAX long-term and noticed the same symptoms in Sadie.

I knew this was happening to her, Novak said. It was an answer that you were looking for the whole time.

A private Facebook group called Parents Against Miralax (PEG 3350) has more than 16,000 members.

We are a group of parents and family members who are very suspicious of PEG 3350 and are here to discuss its effects on our children, the Facebook group description states. We discuss alternative options and ways to talk to doctors about our opposition to this very dangerous drug.

But doctors arent convinced PEG 3550 is linked to behavioral problems in children.

Dr. Mark Fishbein, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Lurie Childrens Hospital, said MiraLAX is often a first line treatment he recommends because it is safe, easy for kids to take and offered over-the-counter.

Millions of individuals have taken MiraLAX since it went over-the-counter and they really only have a handful of claims, Dr. Fishbein said. I would caution (families) regarding giving a cause and effect to the medication because we dont know all the factors involved. I dont necessarily know what the childs underlying issues might be that might make them more predisposed to having a neuropsychiatric problem that develops.

A group petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 2012 to make changes to labeling PEG 3350 and to investigate possible side effects in children.

In its 2014 response, the FDA awarded a grant to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia to study the potential exposure of the pediatric population to smaller molecules that may be found in PEG 3350 and possible adverse side effects. That study is still ongoing, according to a CHOP official.

The FDA in 2014 reported 167 adverse side effects in children who had taken MiraLAX. Thirty-seven included neurological or psychiatric reactions.

However, the agency decided against altering labeling.

These reviews have indicated that the approved labeling for PEG 3350 products accurately conveys their risks, and additional warnings regarding neuropsychiatric issues in children are not warranted at this time, said an FDA spokesperson.

Bayer, the manufacturer of MiraLAX, said the drug is not labeled for use in the pediatric population but continued saying, there have been many clinical studies conducted with PEG 3350 in pediatric populations which have demonstrated safety for short and long term use in children with a history of chronic constipation.

Novak said she wants physicians and parents to know about the potential of negative side effects in laxative use. She said she noticed almost an immediate change in Sadie once she stopped taking MiraLAX.

Shes delightful. Shes not difficult. Shes a good child. We dont have behavioral problems, said Novak. Parents need to know that its a possibility. Constipation is so scary when its your child and so the last thing you need to be doing is causing more damage.
A Chicago bakery is taking a page from Chance the Rappers recipe book and donating partial proceeds of a special run of baked goods themed after the Chicago-area rapper.

Hey Governor Rauner DO YOUR JOB! Alliance Bakery's Facebook post reads, echoing the words of Chance. Until then well be selling Chance The Rapper cookies and donating partial proceeds to SocialWorks to directly impact local Chicago Public School students!

Alliance Bakery is located in the city's Wicker Park neighborhood on the city's North Side.

The post garnered hundreds of likes and shares.

Following a meeting last week with Rauner, Chance the Rapper, whose real name is Chancelor Bennett, announced Monday hed be donating $1 million to CPS as the underfunded district continues to languish amid the states ongoing budget impasse.

This isnt about politics. This isnt about posturing, Bennett told reporters at Westcott Elementary School. This is about taking care of the kids.

Gov. Rauner, do your job, Bennett said Monday, noting that he had another "unsuccessful" conversation with the governor over the weekend.

Bennett also said hes calling on friends, fellow artists and corporations to support his push to better fund CPS. He noted that he has a call later Monday to discuss the project with fellow Chicago rapper Common.

Bennett also said hes calling on friends, fellow artists and corporations to support his push to better fund CPS.

Former first lady and fellow Chicago native Michelle Obama shared her appreciation for Bennetts gift, tweeting, Thanks @chancetherapper for giving back to the Chicago community, which gave us so much. You are an example of the power of arts education.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 10, 2017 / Asiamet Resources Limited ("ARS" or the "Company") is pleased to advise that Resource infill and extension drilling being completed as part of feasibility studies on the Beruang Kanan Main ("BKM") copper deposit in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia continues to substantially de-risk the Resource which underpins the project. In particular:

Ongoing infill drilling at the BKM deposit confirms excellent internal continuity of high grade copper mineralisation at the BK044 Zone

New copper mineralisation has been intersected outside of the current BKM resource envelope, indicating potential for further extensions to the Resource

Results will be incorporated into the ongoing Feasibility study to refine, and potentially improve, the project's already favourable economics*

A total 93 holes for 9050 metres of diamond core drilling have now been completed and three holes are currently in progress. The results from nine holes are reported below. All nine holes were drilled in the northern part of the BKM deposit. A further 25 holes/1950 metres are planned, and an updated Resource estimate incorporating all of the 2016-2017 drilling will be prepared for release shortly thereafter.

Better results from the most recent drilling include:

BKM32565-01 93.0 metres at 0.72% Cu (from 8.5 metres)

Including 7.0 metres at 1.03% Cu (from 12.5 metres)

Including 12.0 metres at 1.57% Cu (from 41.5 metres)

Including 13.0 metres at 1.18% Cu (from 60.5 metres)

Including 4.0 metres at 1.27% Cu (from 92.5 metres)

BKM32660-01 67.0 metres at 0.63% Cu (from 20.0 metres)

Including 20.0 metres at 1.12% Cu (from 62.0 metres)

BKM32650-04 47.0 metres at 0.68% Cu (from 77.0 metres)

Including 2.0 metres at 1.11% Cu (from 93.0 metres)

Including 2.0 metres at 1.03% Cu (from 98.0 metres)

Including 7.0 metres at 1.59% Cu (from 103.0 metres)

Including 3.0 metres at 1.37% Cu (from 112.0 metres)

BKM32090-01 58.1 metres at 0.48% Cu (from 3.0 metres)

Including 4.0 metres at 1.04% Cu (from 21.5 metres)

Story continues

BKM32065-01 75.0 metres at 0.43% Cu (from 0.0 metres)

Including 4.0 metres at 0.75% Cu (from 13.0 metres)

Including 4.0 metres at 0.84% Cu (from 28.0 metres)

Including 2.0 metres at 1.12% Cu (from 39.0 metres)

Resource infill hole BKM32050-04 (78.0m End of Hole "EOH") was drilled west of BKM32050-03 (no significant assays) and south of the BK044 Zone. The hole confirmed a zone of near surface low to moderate grade chalcocite mineralisation hosted in quartz stockwork and pyrite veins. Infill hole BKM32065-01 drilled off section to line BKM32050 (75.0m EOH) intersected a broad zone of shallow moderate to high grade copper mineralisation, located south of the BK044 Zone.

Resource infill hole BKM32090-01 (97.0m EOH) drilled approximately 50m east of BKM32100-02 (92.3m EOH), confirmed the continuity of moderate to locally high grade copper mineralisation further eastward. BKM32090-01 intersected chalcocite - covellite copper mineralisation from near surface hosted in quartz-pyrite veins. Infill hole BKM32100-03 (98.4m EOH) drilled approximately 50m east of BKM32090-01 intersected moderate grade chalcocite-covellite mineralisation of similar style. Both holes were drilled south of the BK044 Zone.

BKM32565-01 (109.4m EOH), drilled as a quality control twin hole to BK-3 (240.4m EOH; 79m @ 0.89% Cu, including 22m @ 1.25% Cu and 39m @ 0.99% Cu) successfully confirmed a broad zone of moderate and high grade copper mineralisation as seen in BK03.

Infill hole BKM32660-01 (128m EOH) drilled at the northern area of BK044 Zone intersected moderate to strong chalcocite-covellite mineralisation was just below the zone of oxidation, with individual samples (1-metre intervals) returning up to 3.31% copper in a broad zone of high grade mineralisation. Infill hole BKM32650-03 (110m EOH) drilled approximately 50m east of BKM32660-01 intersected moderate to locally high grade chalcocite-covellite copper mineralisation. Infill hole BKM32650-04 (140m EOH) drilled approximately 50m east of BKM32650-03 intersected moderate to high grade chalcocite-covellite mineralisation. Expansion hole BKM32650-02 (94m EOH) drilled at the western edge of BKM, outside the resource envelope intersected narrow zones of high grade chalcocite-covellite mineralisation at deeper levels and this hole closes off the mineralisation to the west as expected.

A drill hole location plan and a table of full assay results are provided in Figure 1 and Table 1, respectively.

Peter Bird, Asiamet's Chief Executive Officer, commented:

The drilling and feasibility studies work being undertaken by our highly-experienced team continues to substantially de-risk and thereby improve BKM project's potential economics. Drilling within the BKM resource envelope, and particularly the high grade BK044 zone, has delivered further excellent results. The goal of the drilling campaign is to upgrade and expand the Mineral Resources at the BKM deposit and we are very pleased with the geometry of the mineralization and both the lateral and vertical continuity. Several additional strategic and high value targets outside of the current resource envelope are also being targeted for drill testing. In addition to continuing to communicate progress upon Asiamet's Feasibility Study and other corporate initiatives, we greatly look forward to an updated Resource estimate as the current campaign nears its completion.



Qualified Person

Data disclosed in this press release have been reviewed and verified by ARS's qualified person, Stephen Hughes, P. Geo, Vice President Exploration of the Company, and a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and for the purposes of the AIM Rules.

*As identified in the Preliminary Economic Assessment

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Peter Bird, Managing Director & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Peter Bird, Managing Director & CEO, Asiamet Resources Limited

Telephone: +61 3 8644 1300

Email: peter.bird@asiametresources.com

Tony Manini

Executive Chairman, Asiamet Resources Limited

Telephone: +61 3 8644 1300

Email: tony.manini@asiametresources.com

FlowComms Limited Investor Relations

Sasha Sethi

Telephone: +44 (0) 7891 677 441

Email: Sasha@flowcomms.com



Asiamet Resources Nominated Adviser

RFC Ambrian Limited

Andrew Thomson / Oliver Morse

Telephone: +61 8 9480 2500

Email: Andrew.Thomson@rfcambrian.com / Oliver.Morse@rfcambrian.com

VSA Capital Limited

Andrew Raca / Justin McKeegan

Telephone: +44 20 3005 5004 / +44 20 3005 5009

Email: araca@vsacapital.com

Optiva Securities Limited

Christian Dennis

Telephone: +44 20 3137 1903

Email: Christian.Dennis@optivasecurities.com

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's current expectations and estimates. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "suggest," "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: the actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parametres as plans continue to be refined; possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing; and fluctuations in metal prices. There may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. 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, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

Table 1: Recent drill intercepts.

HOLE ID From To Length Copper (%) Cumulative Cu Mineralized Interval BKM32050-04 0.3 23.0 22.7 0.31 34.7 Metres BKM32050-04 37.0 42.0 5.0 0.42 BKM32050-04 62.0 64.0 2.0 0.40 BKM32050-04 73.0 78.0 5.0 0.31 BKM32065-01 0.0 75.0 75.0 0.43 75.0 Metres Including 13.0 17.0 4.0 0.75 Including 28.0 32.0 4.0 0.84 Including 39.0 41.0 2.0 1.12 Including 50.0 55.0 5.0 0.60 Including 64.0 75.0 11.0 0.62 BKM32090-01 1.4 59.5 58.1 0.48 58.1 Metres Including 21.5 25.5 4.0 1.04 Including 45.5 57.5 12.0 0.72 BKM32100-03 1.6 39.0 37.4 0.34 46.4 Metres BKM32100-03 55.0 58.0 3.0 1.11 BKM32100-03 70.0 73.0 3.0 0.25 BKM32100-03 83.0 86.0 3.0 0.62 BKM32565-01 8.5 101.5 93.0 0.72 37.0 Metres Including 12.5 19.5 7.0 1.03 Including 41.5 53.5 12.0 1.57 Including 60.5 73.5 13.0 1.18 Including 92.5 96.5 4.0 1.27 BKM32660-01 20.0 87.0 67.0 0.63 67.0 Metres Including 62.0 82.0 20.0 1.12

Notes: Grade intercepts are calculated as a weighted average grade 0.2% copper (uncut).

True widths are interpreted to be between 80-100% of the reported lengths, unless otherwise stated.

Table 1: Recent drill intercepts (continued)

HOLE ID From To Length Copper (%) Cumulative Cu Mineralized Interval BKM32650-02 74.0 76.0 2.0 1.95 3.0 Metres BKM32650-02 80.0 81.0 1.0 3.24 BKM32650-03 3.5 8.0 4.5 0.22 65.5 Metres BKM32650-03 12.0 15.0 3.0 0.42 BKM32650-03 19.0 21.0 2.0 0.30 BKM32650-03 34.0 65.0 31.0 0.31 BKM32650-03 71.0 82.0 11.0 0.95 BKM32650-03 92.0 106.0 14.0 0.44 BKM32650-04 77.0 124.0 47.0 0.68 53.0 Metres Including 93.0 95.0 2.0 1.11 Including 98.0 100.0 2.0 1.03 Including 103.0 110.0 7.0 1.59 Including 112.0 115.0 3.0 1.37 BKM32650-04 134.0 140.0 6.0 0.48

Notes: Grade intercepts are calculated as a weighted average grade 0.2% copper (uncut).

True widths are interpreted to be between 80-100% of the reported lengths, unless otherwise stated.

To view the graphic, please click here.

Figure 1: Location map showing section lines and drill collars

SOURCE: Asiamet Resources Limited
A Chicago woman says she was violently carjacked and then kidnapped outside her apartment building Thursday night, steps from Wrigley Field, before making a dramatic escape, police said.

The 24-year-old woman told police she was in the back of her Wrigleyville neighborhood apartment building in the 3700 block of North Fremont around 8:30 p.m. when a man approached her and pulled out a gun, forcing her into the trunk of her blue 2012 Mazda. [[415892923, C]]

Police say the suspect then took off on a joyride that spanned more than 20 miles, all while the woman was locked inside the trunk of the vehicle.

The suspect made his way to the citys Far South Side, making several stops along the way, police said, before crashing the vehicle into a tree in the 1100 block of South Throop.

That is when the woman says she used the emergency trunk release to free herself and call police. [[415893043, C]]

Chicago police are still searching for the suspect, who was described as being a heavy-set man in his 30s, with a goatee. The victim said he was wearing tan khakis and a red sweat shirt, police said.

News of the incident had residents on edge Friday.

Wow, Evan Wilson said, who just moved to Chicagos Wrigleyville neighborhood from Georgia. Thats usually no something you associate with the neighborhood. Thats one of the reasons I moved up here, I perceived it to be a really safe neighborhood.

The victim suffered minor injuries but is expected to be okay, police said.
A womans car window was smashed and her purse was taken from the vehicle as she dropped her child off at a daycare in suburban Darien Wednesday.

The woman says she locked her car doors, but it took just a few seconds for the burglar to steal her purse outside the Goodard School in the 8300 block of Lemont Road about 7:20 a.m.

The school is equipped with cameras and surveillance footage did capture the suspects cara dark colored SUV.

In January, there were similar burglaries in Lisle and Downers Grove but Darien police say they dont believe the crimes are connected.

Police urge residents not to leave anything visible in their car while running errands. They are also urging anyone with information about the crime to contact them.
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has chosen a conservative doctor-turned-pundit with deep ties to Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry to lead the powerful Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb would be tasked with Trump's goal of cutting red tape at the FDA, which regulates everything from pharmaceuticals to seafood to electronic cigarettes. Trump has called the FDA's drug approval process "slow and burdensome" despite changes to speed reviews, particularly of cutting-edge products.

Gottlieb, 44, is no stranger to the FDA  he served as a deputy commissioner under President George W. Bush. While he has frequently criticized the FDA for unnecessary regulations and urged changes to get safe and effective drugs onto the market faster, he generally has supported its overall mission.

A Senate vote is required before Gottlieb can take over as head of the agency.

Gottlieb is a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a partner in the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. He has spent more than a decade in Washington rotating between the worlds of government, health policy consulting and political think tanks.

Since leaving the FDA in 2007, Gottlieb has served as a board member or adviser to at least nine pharmaceutical or medical technology companies, according to his LinkedIn profile. Gottlieb is a consultant to GlaxoSmithKline's product investment board; a managing director at T.R. Winston & Company merchant bank, which specializes in health care; and a clinical assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine. He also is a policy adviser to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.

There are likely to be questions at his Senate confirmation hearing about how those ties might affect his decisions at the FDA.

Federal ethics rules do not require government officials to sell off their investments, but they must recuse themselves from matters that would affect those investments. As part of the federal vetting process, FDA nominees typically disclose and sell stocks, funds and other investments that could pose a financial conflict of interest.

Gottlieb generally supports reduced FDA regulation, particularly for emerging products like health apps and wearable devices like the Apple Watch. But he has never embraced libertarian-leaning proposals that would have the FDA abandon its effectiveness reviews of drugs and medical products. Under those plans, the FDA would simply approve products that appear safe, allowing the private sector to determine how well they actually treat diseases or medical conditions.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who serves on the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees FDA funding, said the nomination sends the message that Trump is committed to "rolling back regulations and opening the floodgates to potentially dangerous drugs and medical devices."

The evaluation of medical effectiveness has been a cornerstone of the FDA's mission since the early 1960s and is universally embraced by its staff and the businesses it regulates.

"If FDA were not in business of evaluating effectiveness then these companies wouldn't be able to say much. Where companies distinguish themselves is by being able to claim that their product actually does something," said Michael Gaba, an industry attorney who specializes in FDA law.
No injuries are reported in a house fire on Rickwood Lane in Granby and the fire marshal is investigating what started it.

Police officers and firefighters responded to the house fire on Friday morning and said the residents were out of the house and no injuries are reported.

Fire crews from East Hartland; East Granby; Simsbury; Southwick, Massachusetts and the Air National Guard assisted. Granby fire units remain on the scene finalizing operations.
Police are investigating reports that a man in a van approached a Windsor High School student Tuesday morning and offered the boy a ride to school.

The student told the Windsor police school resource officer that a man in a white work van approached him around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Plymouth Street and Tobey Avenue, said he knew the boy attended Sage Park Middle School and offered him a ride to school, police said.

The student ignored the man and continued to walk to Windsor High School, where he immediately reported the incident to the school resource officer.

An investigation is underway. The white work van had no markings and the man driving was heavy set, bald, appeared to be 30 to 40 years old and had a light brown beard.
A Wallingford man who operated a Ponzi scheme that cheated investors out of more than $1.4 million has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison.

Federal prosecutors say 59-year-old Joseph Castellano was sentenced Wednesday to five years and eight months behind bars and three years of probation.

Authorities say he was an accountant and tax preparer who also offered investment opportunities and operated various entities out of offices in Wallingford, including Casbo Investments, Wallingford Investors Limited Partnership, AIM Realty Investors, and Castellano & Co., LLC.

Starting in 2007, he falsely represented to victims that he had clients who were in need of capital to fund businesses or real estate projects, but were unable to secure funding from traditional sources.

Authorities said he used much of the money for personal expenses, including international travel.

Some victims lost most of their retirement savings.

Castellano pleaded guilty in September to mail fraud and money laundering.
Most apartments require security deposits to give a landlord protection in case of damage.

Kim McNally says she didn't have a problem with that, so she signed a lease, put down a security deposit and moved into a Dallas apartment complex.

After two years of living there, McNally was ready to move out. She made sure it was clean and ready for the next tenant to move in.

McNally thought she was in good standing and her security deposit would be mailed to her new address, but it never came. She said she tried calling the leasing office, but they kept giving her the runaround.

So McNally reached out to NBC 5 Responds and we reached out to the apartment's management. They wouldn't give us any information but said they'd reach out to McNally directly.

Not long after, McNally received a letter from the apartment complex saying "after a revision to your account, we are forwarding a check of $115.23."

McNally has since received her check and is one very happy consumer. Thankfully, she had the pictures to back up her claim.
Police said they issued an Amber Alert Friday morning in connection with the abduction of two children and their mother in El Paso.

El Paso police said 9-year-old Ashley Michelle Estrada and 10-year-old Brandon Jesus Estrada were taken along with their mother, Brenda Estrada.

The Amber Alert was discontinued after 9:30 a.m. Friday, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman.

Police said they're searching for 29-year-old Miguel Mendez in connection with the abduction. He was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall and 210 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen driving a blue-green 2001 Acura TL with the Texas license plate HGV4546.

Ashley Estrada was described as 4 feet 6 inches tall and 100 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

Brandon Estrada was described as 4 feet 5 inches tall and 90 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a dark shirt and jeans.

Police said they suspected the children and their mother were in grave or immediate danger.

El Paso police asked anyone with information about this abduction to call them at 915-832-4498.
The nations third busiest Consulate General of Mexico is in North Texas, and its even busier than usual.

Many parents are rushing to ensure that if they are deported, they can take their American children with them.

You will see a stream of U.S. born children and their undocumented parents on any given day at the Mexican Consulate in Dallas.

Javier Ordonez is among the 700 people being served on Thursday.

Ordonez is trying to ensure his daughter will come with him if he is deported back to Mexico.

Shes so young, so I have to take care of her, he said.

Dallas is the third busiest Mexican consulate in the U.S., after Los Angeles and Chicago.

The consulate has seen an increase of parents applying so that their children are dual-citizens.

The feeling is that, if I have to leave, I want my family to come with me or if my family stays, I want them to be able to reunify with me wherever I am with all of the documents in order, said Victor Arriaga, deputy consul general.

An estimated three million undocumented people in the U.S. live with at least one child who is an American citizen, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Some of them feel its important to have all of their documents ready, said Arriaga.

He adds registering your American child as a Mexican dual-national has to be done in the U.S.

Luciano Godinez and his wife have five American children, two with disabilities.

They, too, are looking to take them with them if they are deported.

Godinez is worried because he says he has not lived in Mexico since he was a child.

Ive not lived, never really lived in Mexico, but I dont think they have the resources that my kids need, he said.

Marisol Gomez is contemplating whether to take her 1-year-old daughter with her or leaving her in the legal custody of the girls grandfather.

Our children will never be safer than they will be with their parents, she said. But its better to be prepared.

The Mexican Consulate urges parents interested in seeking dual-citizenship for their U.S. born children to call the consulate to make an appointment.

Parents should bring their official identification cards and their birth certificates to prove they are Mexican nationals.

They should also bring their childs official identification card and birth certificate, which can be obtained at the Dallas Vital Statistics office.
A Fort Worth man said it "felt beautiful" to be reunited with his stolen 1943 vintage guitar after police tracked it 4,479 miles away  all the way to Ireland.

Daniel Massey, a preacher and retired General Motors worker, returned from an extended trip in early December to learn someone had broken in to his East Fort Worth home.

Among the items taken was a Gibson guitar his mother passed on to him when she died about 10 years ago.

"When I did notice that it was gone, my heart sank, because actually the guitar had more value and meant more to me than anything else that was taken," Massey said Thursday.

A Fort Worth police detective tracked some of Massey's stolen items to a pawn shop and arrested two alleged burglars.

But the guitar was gone. It had already been sold on eBay.

The man who bought it was in Dublin, Ireland.

Detectives didn't give up.

They sent a letter to the Irishman who unknowingly bought the stolen guitar. They included a photo of Massey's mother holding it to explain the sentimental value.

Massey, a preacher, said he wasn't sure he would ever see it again.

"You talk about really challenging my faith," he said. "I said, 'If it gets over the pond, will I ever see it again?' That's what I'm thinking, you know?"

Then, Massey got an unexpected phone call.

It was from a strange number and he let it go to voicemail.

"Hello Daniel, my name is Owen McQuail," the caller said. "I seem to be in possession of your 1943 Gibson  We'll sort all this out when I talk to you, OK?"

"(He is) a prince of a man," Massey said. "And I said, 'God, there are still people with morals who will do the right thing.'"

After a couple voicemails, the two strangers finally talked.

"I said, 'Sir, you've got quite an accent.' He said, 'And you have quite a one yourself,'" Massey said.

McQuail agreed to ship the guitar back and just asked to be reimbursed for the shipping costs.

Massey picked up the guitar at the police station.

"Oh, it felt beautiful," Massey said. "But more than just the instrument itself, what flashed back was all the memories that I remember of that guitar and who possessed it."

Massey told the stranger he'd like to thank him face to face and maybe even meet him in Ireland one day.

"He said, 'Well, that would be fine, Daniel. Maybe you can buy me a cup of coffee.'"

Police said they were grateful it all worked out.

"If he had not agreed to send it back, who knows what would have happened to it," said Officer Tamara Valle. "It's so far away."
JOHANNESBURG, March 10 (Reuters) - Sixteen banks accused of colluding to rig South Africa's rand currency could face a competition tribunal in July after a private pre-hearing was held on Friday, a source at the competition commission said.

Barclays and Citigroup previously approached South Africa's competition regulators with information linked to the case and Citigroup was fined 69.5 million rand ($5.25 million) last month for its role.

Citigroup will face a separate hearing on March 22 when the agreed fine is expected to be ratified as a final settlement, although the tribunal could recommend changes, the source said.

The other banks named in the case were, Nomura, Standard Bank, Investec, JP Morgan, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse Group, Commerzbank AG, Standard New York Securities Inc, Macquarie Bank , Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), ANZ Banking Group Ltd and Standard Chartered Plc. ($1 = 13.2275 rand) (Reporting by Joe Brock; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
A man is in custody and recovering at the hospital after engaging in a shootout with police during a nearly four-hour standoff in Johnson County Thursday night. [[415858823,C]]

Godley police, Johnson County Sheriff's deputies and a Cleburne SWAT team responded to reports of a man shooting a gun in the 400 block of East Godley Avenue in Godley at about 6 p.m.

Police tried to negotiate with the man, but he began firing at officers. The man was armed with a shotgun and other guns, according to a news released issued by Godley police.

Officers returned fire and the man ran back inside the house, said police.

After several hours, communication with the suspect stopped and police sent in a remote controlled tracking vehicle with a camera inside the house. The camera showed the man inside, huddled in the fetal position on the floor, according to the Johnson County Sheriff's Department.

SWAT officers went into the home and found the man with multiple gunshot wounds.

The man  later identified as 26-year-old Michael Ward Seddon  was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for treatment.

Seddon will remain under guard by Johnson County deputies until he is ready to be released.

No one else was injured during the incident.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.
State Senators and local representatives are in Austin hoping to give families who live in food desert communities more healthy options.

According to the USDA, a food desert is an area where access to affordable, healthy food options is limited or nonexistent because of quality grocery stores are too far away. Roughly 23.5 million people live in food deserts in the United States.

The majority of food deserts are in low-income areas. There are 40 food desert communities in the city of Dallas.

There are four bills in the Texas Legislative Session that address food deserts:

 Senate Bill 723 Creates a community development grocery store and healthy corner store revolving loan fund program. The fund would not be allocated money from the legislature, but would be composed of grants, private funds, plus income earned from the loans

 House Bill 3324 Relating to the establishment of a grocery access investment fund program, the Texas Grocery Access Investment Fund

 HB 3299 Relating to a franchise tax credit for entities that establish a grocery store or healthy corner store in a food desert

 SB 700 Reduces property taxes on small tracts of land used for sustainable farming purposes




Nearly 100 people, some of them undocumented immigrants, gathered in West Dallas Thursday to learn what rights they have should they face deportation.

Dozens of families fearful of being torn apart learned about immigration law, power of attorney, and legal guardianship from attorneys and activists.

"I don't like to think about it. To think about my parents gone, it's scary," said Samantha Serrato, the child of undocumented immigrant parents.

Serrato came to the meeting to learn about her parents' rights. She was also looking for a little bit of hope. Neither of her parents speaks English very well and Samantha said their lifestyle has changed since the November election.

"My parents have to be more careful when driving. It's dangerous whenever they go out," she said. "They could get deported at anytime."

If that were to happen Samantha and her three siblings, all U.S. citizens, would be left alone in the country. Samantha's parents have already started preparing for that possibility.

"They're fixing up the house to sell it so that, just in case anything happens, we don't have much of a weight on my sister and I," she said.

Brian Wayman, an attorney, participated in the meeting to dispel any rumors of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and to let families know that even though they are undocumented they can take steps to protect their families.

"They are trying to push to deport the parents, but then put these children into custody, into foster care," he said. "We want them to know their rights."
Figures in camouflage and ski masks gather at a fishing lodge. Many are armed with long knives, bayonets and hatchets, NBC News reported.

The 35 men and women are on the hunt in Strandzha Massif, a forested mountain range on Bulgaria's border with Turkey. Migrants trying to cross into Europe are their prey.

Patches on their irregular uniforms  a coat of arms bearing a snarling wolf's head framed by Cyrillic text  proclaim them to be members of the Bulgarian National Movement Shipka, abbreviated in Bulgarian as "BNO Shipka."

Conspiracy theories abound among BNO Shipka members, some of whom make a point of speaking Russian.

Krassimir Kanev, a founder of the human rights group Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, sees BNO Shipka and similar groups as xenophobic nationalists at best, or at worst, violent and racist extremists.
Guatemala's president called for a restructuring of his country's youth shelter system following a fire that killed at least 36 girls at an overcrowded government facility for children, while grieving families began receiving the bodies of their loved ones.

The shelter outside Guatemala City held some 800 children and mixed victims of abuse with youthful offenders. Relatives and officials said Wednesday's blaze began when youths set fire to mattresses to protest abuses at the Virgin of the Assumption Safe House. The flames swept through the female section of the facility where some of the girls had been locked inside a dormitory after an escape attempt.

"This is a rigid system that has become insensitive," said President Jimmy Morales, adding that there are 1,500 children in government facilities across Guatemala, the vast majority of whom have families.

Morales called for the system to be decentralized. Despite his promises of change, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the seat of government calling for the president's resignation.

Late Thursday night, in a low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Guatemala's capital, relatives and friends gathered for the wake of 14-year-old Madelyn Patricia Hernandez Hernandez.

A wooden casket swathed in white silk and flanked by tall candles sat inside the family's humble home. A picture of Madelyn stood between purple flowers.

Madelyn had been orphaned since gang members killed her mother for not paying extortion when she was three years old, said her grandmother, Maria Antonia Garcia. Her father had not been involved in her life.

Madelyn had misbehaved, but was expected to get out of the shelter on March 30 after several months in the facility, Garcia said. However, a judge did not want to return the girl to the custody of her 73-year-old grandmother because of her age.

Garcia said Madelyn had complained that she and other girls were beaten.

"She never told me who beat them," the grandmother said, demanding justice from authorities. "If there isn't justice now, they are going to keep doing the same. It's going to happen again."

Nineteen girls died at the scene of the fire and another 16 later succumbed to their injuries in area hospitals.

Geovany Castillo said his 15-year-old daughter Kimberly suffered burns on her face, arms and hands but survived. She was in a locked area where girls who took part in the escape attempt had been placed, he said.

"My daughter said the area was locked and that several girls broke down a door, and she survived because she put a wet sheet over herself," Castillo said.

"She said the girls told her that they had been raped and in protest they escaped, and that later, to protest, to get attention, they set fire to the mattresses," he said.
Simple chores, like taking out the trash and folding laundry, send stabbing pains rushing through Silvia Youngs frail body.

It feels like my internal organs are wrapped in barbed wire, Young said, struggling to sit upright in her dining room chair. Every move hurts. Sometimes, I cant even breathe.

The 46-year-old Danville woman consulted more than 25 doctors over the last three decades to treat endometriosis, the puzzling condition causing her debilitating pain. There is no known cure or cause for the illness, but experts are acutely aware of the damage it wreaks on a woman's reproductive system.

In severe cases like Young's, tissue similar to endometrial lining grows outside the uterus and bonds like glue to other organs, fusing them together. Patients often find themselves plagued by a lifetime of pain, compounded with infertility issues, repeated invasive surgeries and medical bills totaling tens of thousands of dollars.

The condition, for which there will be an awareness march at San Franciscos City Hall on March 25, has also been linked to heart disease and some forms of cancer.

An estimated 5 million women suffer annually from endometriosis in the United States, yet four medical experts and nine patients told NBC Bay Area its commonly dismissed as a non-serious ailment and frequently misdiagnosed. Some women are turned away and labeled "drug seekers," while others languish in silence. The average patient waits almost 10 years for a proper diagnosis  a decade in which endometrial lesions are left to breed and organs have time to bond like glue.

The San Francisco march is meant to empower women to come forward with their stories. For too long, advocates say, women have been told to hush up about ailments affecting reproductive health, a trend of mass silencing that results in inferior care.

Raising awareness is really all we can do at this point, said Young, who co-founded the online hub Unite Endo and runs an online-only campaign, #31FemTruths, for women who cant physically participate in the march due to pain. Theres a lot of shame with this condition, so being vocal about what we go through and coming out of the shadows could help make change.

EndoMarch.org

Advocates are also hoping the visual display will produce more funding for research. The National Institute of Health estimates $11 million in funding for studying the condition in 2017, a pittance compared to conditions that affect a similar number of people, such as diabetes.

Women are literally killing themselves because of this, said Dr. Peter Gregersen, a New York-based researcher who has been studying genes that could be linked to endometriosis. But the funding is pathetic. There are endless stories of the travails that these women have, and most gynecologists dont know a lot about it, or they have an attitude about it that is not commensurate with its degree of severity.

Because the disease can only be diagnosed through exploratory surgery, called laparoscopy, many doctors will wait until a patient presents with infertility to investigate, Gregerson said. By then, any lesions could have spread to other organs.

But thats not the only roadblock stymying diagnoses. Long-established gender biases in healthcare may be partly to blame, too. Studies have shown that women are treated less seriously compared to male counterparts when presenting with pain in emergency rooms.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of doctors dont really believe women are having this much pain, said Dr. Andrew Cook, a Los Gatos reproductive endocrinologist who specializes in pelvic pain disorders. Lack of proper training, lack of believing the patient. There are a lot of factors in play.

Some women are also taught that immensely painful periods  one of the telltale symptoms of the condition  are to be expected.

The culture says to them, well, pain isnt abnormal, Gregerson said. '"Maybe pain is something you should suck up. So, the condition isnt treated unless its severe.

Peggy Santa Maria, a 63-year-old Los Gatos woman, worked for decades to have her condition taken seriously by insurance providers and doctors. Along with her husband, she now runs the Endo Inn out of her home, a safe space where women can stay free of charge before and after surgery.

Just to be believed can be a huge relief, Santa Maria, who is also the President of the Endometriosis Association of San Francisco, said. To cry with someone, to hold them and become better through the tears.

More than 100 women have walked through her doors in search of someone with whom they can commiserate.

Endo Stat

For low-income women living with the condition, additional hurdles abound after diagnosis. Visits to an endometriosis specialist are often deemed out-of-network, leaving many women scrambling to find care.

Denita Espino, a San Jose woman who relies on Medicaid for healthcare coverage, knows the burden all too well.

For years, her gynecologist prescribed birth control pills and doled out drugs for pain management, but nothing alleviated her crippling cramps. She was then presented with a cure-all hysterectomy, a surgery in which the uterus is removed.

Desperate to live pain-free, Espino went through with the surgery. It didnt help. Instead, doctors stopped taking her pain seriously, she said.

She was dismissed as a drug seeker, a label given to many endometriosis sufferers who demand pain management. She cant afford to see experts in thoracic endometriosis, a rare form of the disease that could be causing the sharp pains in her chest that she equates to getting stabbed over and over again by Freddie Krueger.

I feel bullied by the doctors, she said, wiping away tears. Like it was just a way to get me out. It has ruined my life, and I know its not going to be over until I die.

Sometimes, the pain is so severe she passes out.

Its just not fair, Espino said. If you have money, if youre privileged, this is more manageable. But if you cant afford the treatments, youre forgotten about and pushed to the side. Its like your body doesnt matter. Its like you dont matter.

Espino now counsels women about the added struggles that befall low-income women with the condition. Though she wants to participate in the march, she cant go due to constant pain and is counting on allies to show up in her stead.

Its not uncommon for women suffering from endometriosis to find themselves haunted by unsuccessful surgeries, according to Dr. Tamer Seckin, a gynecologic surgeon who co-founded the Endometriosis Foundation of America.

In his practice, he has seen teen girls given unnecessary hysterectomies by doctors who are not properly trained in other methods, such as excision therapy, which is the procedure he and Cook recommend. It involves meticulously cutting lesions away and separating organs that have fused together, but its an expensive operation.

A hysterectomy is not going to help if the endometriosis has grown outside the uterus Seskin said. I have had girls at the age of 17 given hysterectomies. Its indiscriminately prescribed as treatment. Its hard not to shed tears when you see these women.

After the march later this month, Young, Espino and Santa Maria hope to reach other women who may be suffering in silence. Meanwhile, Cook, Seckin and Gregerson are working within the medical community to increase awareness about the need for early intervention and proper treatment.

All agree: when womens pain is taken more seriously, outcomes will improve. Better funding and treatment will follow, they hope.

I just want everyone to know about it, so we can do something, Espino said. Were not depressed. Were not sad and were not wrong. Were human. And all were asking for help.
After a 64-year-old father of two was left to die in the street in a hit-and-run crash, a Hemet family is pleading with the public to help track down the person who struck him and took off.

Danny Silva came from a big family.

The retired painter was struck and killed Tuesday at the intersection of Florida Avenue at Mayflower Street, not far from his home, Hemet police confirmed.

"Oh my God, it's so painful," said his sister Silva Perez as she wept. "My brother was the best man... He was the kind of man who loved everybody."

Silva's sister said she had just spoken to him by phone right before the crash.

He told her he was walking home from dinner and was only a block away.

Moments later, at around 6 p.m., Silva tried to cross the street when witnesses said a white SUV slammed into him. The driver never stopped to see if he was OK.

"It's really sad that people can actually do this and not have any remorse. He was just left there. You don't even do that if you run over a dog. You go back for them. How can they do that for a human life," his cousin Ofelia Saldana said.

Family members said Hemet police told them that they were able to get two different surveillance videos of the SUV leaving the area. Witnesses said the driver is a woman.

"Do I have hate for the woman? No, I don't know what was going on. I just don't think that she should have left him there," Saldana said.
A slow speed chase turned bizarre as the driver waved to tourists on the Walk of Fame Thursday evening.

Authorities began pursuing a suspected stolen vehicle in the Valley area Thursday evening as the driver weaved on and off the 101 Freeway, heading north and southbound.

Authorities said the driver may have taken the car after someone left the keys in the sedan.

After the driver exited the 101 Freeway and headed down Hollywood Boulevard, the driver began waving to tourists as they snapped photos.

After many attempts by the Los Angeles Police Department to throw spike strips in front of the sedan, the driver was finally removed from the car and taken down.

In an odd twist, the car apparently ran out of gas. Officers were forced to push the sedan down the boulevard.
A 24-year-old Riverside man accused of contacting young boys throughout the country and convincing them to make and provide him with explicit videos -- then threatening to distribute the material publicly if the victims didn't send him more -- was arrested today by federal agents.

Francisco Javier Soledad of Eastvale was charged with one count of production of child pornography. He was slated to make his initial appearance Thursday afternoon at U.S. District Court in downtown Riverside.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Soledad allegedly targeted at least six boys between the ages of 12 and 15 years old, though investigators believe there may be additional victims, as yet unidentified.

Prosecutors said that the investigation began earlier this year when the family of a 13-year-old boy from Illinois learned that the teenager had allegedly provided compromising videos of himself to the defendant, who was insisting that the juvenile continue feeding him material.

U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement investigators uncovered evidence that Soledad had allegedly used Snapchat to initiate communication with the boy, whose identity was not released, leading the victim to believe that he was chatting with either a boy or a woman.

After sending the defendant several videos, the boy became suspicious and attempted to block further communication with Soledad, who turned threatening, directing the boy to continue supplying explicit videos of himself -- or risk being exposed and shamed via social media platforms, prosecutors alleged.

When federal agents dug deeper into the defendant's activities, they allegedly discovered that he had done the same thing to five other boys located in California, Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee and Texas, according to court papers.

"Tragically, cases like this are part of a growing trend where children are being enticed, tricked and coerced online by adults to produce sexually explicit material of themselves,'' said Edward Owens, deputy special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations, Los Angeles.

"The decision by the victim's parents to quickly alert law enforcement may have saved an untold number of other children from falling prey, but the key to combating online sexual predation is for children and adults alike to learn how to stay safe in cyberspace.''

A search of Soledad's digital devices allegedly resulted in the seizure of more than 5,000 still images and videos involving children that were pornographic in nature, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Not all of the kids have been identified.

According to investigators, Soledad used the Snapchat handle "linkinparkrocks.'' Anyone with information was asked to contact the Department of Homeland Security at (866) 234-7423.

If convicted, Soledad could face up to 30 years in federal prison.
A married mother of two died after undergoing a popular cosmetic surgery in Miami.

A family member of Nikisha Lewis tells the NBC 6 Investigators the 32-year-old traveled from her home in Antigua to Spectrum Aesthetics on Monday to undergo a liposuction procedure.

Someone at Spectrum dialed 911 around 5:30pm Monday stating Lewis had stopped breathing and paramedics rushed her to the hospital. Medical Examiner reports show Lewis was pronounced dead approximately two hours later.

A judge ruled that the former officer will stand trial for the 2014 shooting death of a fellow moviegoer during an argument.

Lewis was an immigration officer for the airport on the island of Antigua, a wife, and a mother to two children. Family members did not want to speak on camera but told the NBC 6 Investigators they were devastated by the sudden loss and are anxious to hear her exact cause of death.

The Miami Dade Medical Examiners Office said the cause of death could not be determined immediately after the autopsy and it could take weeks to find out the exact reason Lewis died.

A couple captured cellphone video of what they say shows a cruise ship drifting dangerously close to their home in Fort Lauderdale.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Rami Ghurani. His attorney, Julie Ingle, sent NBC 6 Investigators the following statement: "Our deepest condolences go out to the patients family. Dr. Ghurani is deeply saddened by the loss of his patient and offers his thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. We are unable to provide any details on the patients care and treatment due to privacy laws; however, Dr. Ghurani provided the highest level of care as he does with all patients."

An attorney for Spectrum Aesthetics, Kubs Lalchandani, also said he could not comment on specifics about what happened due to privacy laws but he also released a statement: "Our prayers go out to the patients family and loved ones. Spectrum Aesthetics is a proud member of the South Florida community and is committed to upholding the highest standards of medical care and patient safety. Spectrum is conducting a comprehensive investigation into the matter and is cooperating with state officials to determine the cause of the incident."

Naples came out on top for the second straight year in the poll ranking peoples well being.

The NBC 6 Investigators found Lewis is one of 10 women who died after cosmetic surgery in our area in the past six years. Those are the deaths NBC 6 Investigators were able to track down through public records and information from family. Doctors and clinics are not required to disclose deaths to the public.
Three teens were injured after shots were fired at an apartment complex in Northwest Miami-Dade Thursday evening.

Police responded to the scene located on Northwest 50th Street and 24th Avenue.

Miami-Dade Police said 14-year-old Jason Gardon, 15-year-old Lawrencia Barrett and 18-year-old Alexander Stalens were shot around 8 p.m. They were rushed to the hospital in stable condition.

The teen girl was shot in her abdomen. Gardon suffered injuries to his right leg and Stalens was shot in the hand.

The violence started after one of the victims and the suspect got into an altercation. The suspect left but came back with a gun and started shooting.

"They say he walked up on the porch and started shooting at whoever he was shooting at, shooting at everybody. My grand baby was right there he was standing, right next to my grand baby shooting," said Barrett's mother, Frances Robinson.

Miami-Dade detectives said Barrett is a student at Edison Senior High School and Gardon attends Robert Renick Education Center.

Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted against the gun violence. He said "The culture of disrespect and violence that resulted in tonight's shooting is unacceptable."

Police said one person has been detained. Officers are looking for two other men, who are said to be between the age of 18 and 20 years old.
A Florida judge on Friday denied a stand your ground'' defense for a retired Florida police officer who fatally shot a man in a movie theater over texting, which means the 74-year-old could stand trial on second-degree murder charges.

Judge Susan Barthle ruled that Curtis is not immune from prosecution in the death of 43-year-old Chad Oulson. The shooting happened in a movie theater in a suburb north of Tampa in January of 2014 after the two men got into an argument because Oulson was texting his daughter's day care during the movie previews.

The two men and their wives were seated near each other during a showing of the movie Lone Survivor.''

Reeves is free on bond.

Florida has been a leader in giving citizens immunity in cases of self-defense, with its stand your ground'' law serving as an emotional point of debate after several high-profile shooting deaths. That includes the death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

During a two-week hearing to determine whether Reeves would have to stand trial, Reeves testified he shot Oulson after he was either punched or hit in the face with a cellphone.

I realized I was in a life-or-death struggle. He was no longer a loudmouth; he was a definite threat,'' Reeves said in court. He was reaching for me. ... He was getting ready to punch me. I perceived that. That's when the pistol came out.''

The judge said a videotape of the events captured that afternoon by a movie theater surveillance camera didn't support Reeves' testimony that he felt physically threatened. The video did show Oulson throwing popcorn at Reeves. An instant later, Reeves pulled a gun from his pocket and fired. Oulson was shot in the chest.

The physical evidence contradicts the defendant's version of events,'' the judge wrote in her ruling. She found that while Reeves testified he was hit in the outside corner of his left eye with a cellphone or a fist, that common sense and the credible testimony of the medical examiner'' casts doubt that he was hit in the eye beneath his glasses.

The logical conclusion is that he was trying to justify his actions after the fact,'' she said.

Reeves also is charged with aggravated battery because the shot hit Oulson's wife in the finger.

Dino Michaels, a Tampa lawyer who is a member of the defense team, said Friday that Reeves will appeal Judge Barthle's ruling.

We respect the decision of the court,'' Michaels said. I don't think it's proper to comment on the court's order at this point, and we're taking the next step available for our client.''

The attorney for Nicole Oulson, T.J. Grimaldi, told The Associated Press Friday that he and his client are thrilled'' with the judge's ruling.

Grimaldi said they're prepared for a long delay because of the appeal the stand your ground'' ruling. If the appeals court agrees with the lower court, Grimaldi said a trial probably wouldn't happen until next year.

But this is without a doubt good news,'' Grimaldi said. In my opinion, this was the defense's only shot. I really feel this was a bastardization of the `stand your ground' law. You cannot convince me that the legislature's intent was to pass a law that when someone throws popcorn on someone else, that person can shoot them.''

Richard Escobar, the attorney for Reeves, did not immediately return a call for comment.
Monks at a monastery in Cochabamba, Bolivia introduced the world to its newest member  Friar Bigoton, a furry pup.

Friar Bigoton  meaning mustache in Spanish  lived as a stray dog before the brothers at the Franciscan monastery adopted him from a local animal rescue organization, Proyecto Narices Frias.

The animal rescue group hopes Friar Bigotons story will inspire more monasteries to adopt to open their doors to rescued dogs.

If all the churches in our country would take just a puppy, the group posted on Facebook, we are sure that parishioners will follow her example.

Friar Bigoton was introduced to the world in a Facebook post that has since been shared over 38,000 times.
A woman was followed home in the Bronx and then punched in the face by a man in a violent robbery that police believe is part of a pattern of attacks in New York and Connecticut.

The man escaped in a gray Honda and police said they think 20-year-old Melissa Triana was behind the wheel of the getaway car.

Authorities believe the two are targeting exotic dancers in the cross-state robberies, but they could not confirm if the woman attacked Thursday was a dancer or not.

The woman in the Bronx was walking home in Tremont Thursday morning when the man came up and punched her, police said. He then dragged her toward a street and stole $1,300 from her before taking off in the Honda.

The NYPD released a photo of Triana and the vehicle in the hopes of catching the pair before they target another victim. They said the vehicle has New York plates with the license number HGL1682.
Posters for slave auctions created by fifth graders have been removed from the wall of a New Jersey elementary school hallway after some parents questioned the assignment.

The South Orange School District is planning a community meeting to discuss whether the assignment is appropriate for fifth graders.

Superintendent John Ramos said in a note to parents that the project at South Mountain Elementary School is part of a larger Colonial America unit that's been used for 10 years, according to NJ.com.

Ramos says that some parents have supported the project because they see it as an "important opportunity to examine this shameful and too-often ignored chapter of American history."



One poster listed the names of available slaves, who included 12-year-old Anne, "a fine housegirl." Another poster said, "All slaves raised on the plantation of John Carter," and specified that only cash was accepted.

Ramos says that the projects should have been accompanied by an explanation.
Seven people were injured when a man wielding an ax rampaged through a German station, jumped off an overpass and was arrested Thursday, NBC News reported.

Three victims were seriously hurt in the 8:50 p.m. (2:50 p.m. ET) attack, Dusseldorf police said

"We were at the track waiting for the train. The train arrived, and suddenly someone jumped out with an ax and struck at the people," the national newspaper Bild quoted a witness as saying. "There was blood everywhere. I have never experienced anything like that."

Police at one point reported two people were arrested, but later clarified there is only one suspect, a 36-year-old man from the former Yugoslavia with apparent mental problems.
After Nordstrom pulled first daughter Ivanka Trump's clothing line in February, the responses from President Donald Trump and advisor Kellyanne Conway alarmed ethics lawyers enough to jump into action, according to emails obtained by NBC News.

The messages show Stefan Passantino, Trump's lawyer, was on the phone with the Office of Government Ethics the same day the president defended his daughter on Twitter. The OGE recommended Trump not use his position for personal gain, guidelines that are common but not legally required for the president.

Passantino was working with the OGE again the next morning just after Conway gave her "free commercial," assuring that "appropriate action" would be taken to "address her conduct."

The revelation of the emails comes after the OGE shot back at the White House sent a letter to the White House Counsel's office and top members of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee Thursday. OGE Director Walter Shaub said he remains "concerned about Ms. Conway's misuse of position."
Jim Rosenfield (JR): You were in Philly recently doing a story on Strawberry Mansion, about a program that is helping young people get engaged, and get excited about learning. Why did you want to do that story?

Lester Holt (LH): You know Im always looking for stories that inspire people. People were are tackling the big issues of the day in a micro way. And in this case it was a Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, a guy who grew up there, and still lives there, he had the ability, he had this former bar that his mother left him. She said do something great, and he did something great. He started an after school program not only getting kids off of the street at a critical time of the day, but also a place where they can get help with their homework and be enriched. Those are the kinds of stories that our viewers time and time again tell us theyre craving. People stop me and say Holt thank you, thank you for showing us something other than divisiveness. Thank you for showing something that makes me smile at the end of the newscast. And Im with them, sometimes I cant I hide my emotions, well run one of those stories where you see my eyes glisten up, or a big grin on my face, I love it too. You know the news is very heavy.

The great thing about Philadelphia for me, is that we have access, its close by, I can come to a place like this and do a story and still get back to NYC in time for the Nightly News. This is in many ways is a part of my wider community, but there are stories like these happening all over the country, we get people who are seeing an issue and thinking you know what I have the resources, I have the ability to organize people and do something, and thats why this is such a great story. We walked the streets of Strawberry Mansion, he helped me understand the issues there what the kids face and what I love is after we did that story, I started getting emails and calls from people hey I want to volunteer, I want to help you know we put them in contact, you stand back and you smile you know what, we did something really good today we told a great story, and we call the segment Inspiring America and dog-on-it if it didnt inspire people.

Jacqueline London (JL): You have seen too much flooding, tornadoes, police involved shootings, and youve been there. How does that make you feel?

LH: When at a scene of a calamity I always go through this process. I guess its a personal process of thinking, ok what if this was me? What if this was family how would I deal with this? How would I want to be treated? Part of our job as reporters is to bring compassion to stories, I think thats a necessary element of journalism and its very life affirming to me. Its strikes me, sometimes I go do these horrible stories, people have been through hell and yet they are able to put one foot in front of the other and move forward. Its very life affirming. I think if it were me I would be curled up in a ball somewhere, but time and time again people show their resilience thats part of our storytelling, is to look at how people are able to deal with it.

JL: How do you see yourself as an anchor?

LH: I feel like Im the viewers representative. Sometimes I hear that voice in my ear, people yelling, Come on Lester ask him this and I ask it because I want to be the representative Im the guy that has the ability to bring people to the table and get answers. I try to look at the questions that people want answered, I think about the questions I would want answered, its not always the high flouting question but the something that really gets to the heart of the matter. I definitely sit there when Im anchoring and am trying to picture people at home, saying what right are they television at the TV about saying no, ask him that. I think whats really important is to remember its about the viewers. The issues that they want to know about, and the questions they what answered. We have the access, we have the technology so lets get the answers for them

JL: We know how important listening is but how important is understanding?

LH: Its important that we understand so we can appreciate the differences. If I dont understand where youre coming from or the issue then were are never going to find any ground. Our job is not to make everyone hold hands and sing kum-ba-ya but it is to help them process information.

JL: Why is going to the story so important?

LH: I always tell people the most satisfying moments of my career have been not sitting behind a desk but its out there. So when something huge happens, I get off the set and I have to be there. Even if its not on camera, just talking to people in a given situations is such an enrichment and helps to frame the story. We do a lot of talking in this business, but listening is as important because weve got to see the story and where people are coming from.

JR: What makes this city so unique?

LH: Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods, when you have a city neighborhoods you have of great organic stories of people who were changing those broader issues of the day, theyre changing their blocks or within a two mile radius, this is a place that is rich in those kinds of stories I would except we will be down here a lot.

JR: Do you guys still have a dog?

LH: We were without dogs for a while, but we have a puppy now. A labradoodle back in the fall, 8 months old now, so fun. Because she's a red head we named her Lucy. Shes the best dog Ive ever had. She's a lover, very affectionate.

JL: One day after your birthday, Happy Birthday! You have big news to announce!

LH: Yeah, I going to be a grandad. My oldest son Stefan and his wife Morgan are expecting their first child in September, Im more excited than them. I happen to love babies, I really love babies and especially when they are other peoples babies, we are thrilled. I have a lot to teach this kid.

JR: Do we have any names you want to be called?

LH: Yes I want to be known as grand-dude, I think that could stick. But it might be a mouthful for the little one. Its a boy, so Ive been getting ultrasound pictures saying to myself, Yes it looks like me!

JL: Everyone knows your son is an anchor in New York as well, all of your family is right there in NY. You can spoil that baby as frequently as you want

LH: Yeah, Stefan works in the same building as me. All I know is when he was a little boy he used to love to go to the TV station and hang around. Of course he became a TV anchor, so I look forward to bringing my grandson to work I am proud to be a journalist and I would be thrilled if my grandchild became a journalist.
The upcoming trial of two Pennsylvania men charged in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme will have an unusual feature  two juries.

A New Castle County Superior Court judge this week granted a prosecution request to partially sever the scheduled January trial of Ryan Shover of York, Pennsylvania, and Michael Kman of Enola, Pennsylvania. In doing so, Judge Richard Cooch also granted the state's request to try the defendants simultaneously, before two separate juries.

Prosecutors said separate trials are needed because they expect co-conspirators to testify that Kman confessed to the crime and implicated Shover, meaning the defenses presented by their respective attorneys could be antagonistic.

At the same time, prosecutors believe simultaneous trials, with two different juries being ushered in and out of the courtroom as needed, will ensure fairness while promoting judicial economy.

"The court will remove, as needed, one jury from the courtroom when evidence that is inadmissible as to a particular defendant is offered, as well as undertake other measures necessary to ensure a fair trial under the unusual procedural circumstances of a dual jury trial," Cooch wrote.

In his ruling, Cooch noted that, though unusual, dual jury trials have been approved by judges in Delaware and other states in the past.

Cooch also included model guidelines from a 2010 Connecticut law review article regarding dual jury trials suggesting that attorneys use it as a template in developing a protocol for the trial of Kman and Shover. The guidelines cover issues ranging from jury selection and instructions to courtroom layout and presenting evidence.

Kman and Shover are charged with murder, conspiracy, insurance fraud and a weapons offense in the death of Wayne Cappelli, 43.

Authorities have said Cappelli was last seen leaving a store where he worked in February 2013. His body was found two days later in a roadside ditch north of Wilmington, Delaware. Investigators believe he was beaten with a softball bat.

According to investigators, Cappelli had named another man charged in the case as the beneficiary of a $300,000 life insurance policy a few months before he was killed.
TipRanks

Seesaw trading and mixed messages  thats been the markets pattern for the past few weeks, and last week was no exception. The week started with four straight days losses, but ended on a winning Friday session after an unexpectedly strong jobs report. Even so, the S&P 500 was down 3.35% for the week, snapping a four week rally. Overall, the index is down 21% for the year, in bear territory, and losses on the tech-heavy NASDAQ are even steeper, at 33%. The conflicting currents make it difficult
A New Castle County man is facing at least 17 years in prison after pleading guilty in the killing of his grandfather.

Twenty-year-old Shawn Hagerty pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony in the death of 69-year-old James Steppi.

Authorities say Steppi's daughter found him lying in a pool of blood inside his home last March.

Investigators said Hagerty was the last person seen leaving Steppi's home, driving his grandfather's car.

Officers in Landenberg, Pennsylvania, later spotted the car and took Hagerty into custody.
Prosecutors say they haven't decided whether to seek the death penalty for a Pennsylvania woman charged along with her boyfriend in the rape, death and dismemberment of her adopted daughter.

Forty-two-year-old Sara Packer has pleaded not guilty Friday to homicide, rape, kidnapping and other charges in 14-year-old Grace Packer's death last year. She wore an orange jumpsuit, slip-on sneakers and was handcuffed as she appeared in front of the judge.

Bucks County prosecutors say aggravated circumstances exist to seek the death penalty because Grace was kidnapped and tortured before she was killed.

Defense lawyer Keith Williams say there's no evidence Sara Packer raped or killed the girl.

Prosecutors say Packer watched 44-year-old boyfriend Jacob Sullivan act out a rape-murder fantasy they shared. He faces his formal arraignment March 21.

Sara Packer is also charged with illegally collecting more than $4,000 in government benefits after Grace's death.
Port Authority police officers say they've arrested a New Jersey man who owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in tolls and fees.

Jose Ramirez arrived to pick up his impounded 2002 International truck at the Lincoln Tunnel around 4 p.m. Thursday, Port Authority officials said. A warrant check showed the 50-year-old driver had an outstanding warrant issued Feb. 13 for theft of service.

Authorities said Ramirez's EZ Pass records showed 3,250 known toll violations totaling more than a whopping $308,600 in tolls and fees. He owns a trucking company based in Jersey City called "Mambo Transportation".

The Jersey City resident was charged with theft of service and theft by unlawful taking, police said.

Ramirez's truck remains impounded.
A school bus with children headed to a school for the deaf and a dump truck collided in Wilmington, Delaware Friday morning leaving multiple people in each vehicle hurt.

The bus and truck crashed at D and Heald streets around 7:50 a.m., Wilmington firefighters said.

The Christiana School District bus was bound for the Delaware School for the Deaf and came to rest against a pole, firefighters said.

The school bus driver, an aide and one minor student were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, firefighters said.

Firefighters extricated a passenger from the dump truck -- its windshield and front end smashed -- and transported her to the hospital.

"When I got to the dump truck I noticed they were bleeding, really bad, the lady was pinned underneath the dashboard," Witness Rodney Harmon said.

Harmon and others called 911 and emergency responders quickly arrived.

The dump truck driver suffered minor injuries, firefighters said.

The unharmed students would be released to parents, firefighters said.

No word official yet on what caused the wreck but a witness said it appeared the dump truck missed a stop light.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More
While fans will be disappointed to learn that Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey won't be playing Viejas Arena on May 8, they'll be glad to hear a show is on the books in San Diego for the summer.

Live Nation announced the news on Thursday afternoon, letting fans know that Richie is still recovering from treatment to his knee and that the concert will go on as planned on July 27. Ticketholders who can't make that date can get refunds at their point of purchase, officials said.

"When you have been performing as long as I have, it takes a toll on your body," Richie said in the statement released Thursday. "Unfortunately, my recovery from a knee procedure will not have me 100 percent ready to start the tour next month. I don't want to disappoint my fans and I look forward to be back onstage so we can all be 'Dancing on the Ceiling' together again."

The last time Richie rolled through town was in 2014. For Carey, its been even longer, so were due for some Mariah love.

Tickets to the general public went on sale on Dec. 17 at LiveNation.com -- and some were still available on Thursday.

While Richie and Carey havent collaborated on any hit songs to date, Carey did cover Richie and Diana Ross' "Endless Love" with Luther Vandross, which generated quite a bit of success in the '90s.

Richie first rose to prominence in the '60s and '70s with the soul funk superstars of the Commodores, but he went on to an illustrious solo career replete with chart-topping hits and Grammy awards. Meanwhile, Carey blossomed in the '90s as she earned more No. 1 singles in the United States than any other solo artist and five -- count it, FIVE -- Grammys.

While the two come from different generations of soul and R&B, their combined success is sure to bring San Diego an unforgettable night this summer.
Memories are still raw for neighbors shocked by a tragic pedestrian accident that happened two years ago in a crosswalk in Point Loma.

The victims, struck in the 4000 block of Canon Street, near Catalina Boulevard, were a baby girl -- just seven months old -- and her father.

New information uncovered by NBC 7 Investigates shows the City of San Diego was aware of dangerous conditions at that intersection at least five years before the driver of an SUV accidently killed baby Juniper Aavang and seriously injured her father, John Aavang.

Despite some improvements made at and near the crosswalk in recent years, residents and a pedestrian safety expert insists the intersection is still too dangerous for safe pedestrian crossings.

Here is a perfect example of where safe street design really needed to be put in place, much, much earlier than waiting until someone died, said Kathleen Ferrier, a pedestrian advocate with Circulate San Diego.

On March 2, 2015, John Aavang was pushing his infant daughter, Juniper, in a stroller through the pedestrian crossing, when they were hit by the SUV. Police traffic investigators concluded neither the victims nor the motorist were at fault.

According to the police report, obtained by NBC 7 Investigates, an overgrown palm tree and a street-side utility box obstructed views from both sides of the curve leading to the pedestrian crossing.

If the foliage and palm trees had not been at the location and all other factors remained the same, the line-of-sight issues that directly aided in this collision would have been greatly reduced, an investigator said in the report.

Other documents obtained by NBC 7 Investigates show the city had been repeatedly warned about potential dangers at this intersection, years before Juniper was killed.

In 2009, in a complaint to the City, one homeowner asked traffic engineers to "evaluate visibility of the crosswalk on Catalina Boulevard north of Jennings Street." In 2010, another neighbor complained the intersection was "dangerous since it is a complete blind spot for families with kids trying to cross." That resident also warned city engineers traffic is like a freeway during rush hour, and people [are] going entirely too fast since there are NO lights or speed controls in this corridor.

In response to those complaints, City of San Diego traffic engineers said they would install pedestrian warning signs and ask police to more strictly enforce the speed limit.

In the documents, engineers also noted: "...vegetation near the crosswalk has been recently trimmed and the visibility has been significantly improved."

Still, complaints continued.

Three years later, in 2013, another resident asked traffic engineers to evaluate [the] visibility of the crosswalk and noted, ...vehicles do not stop/yield for pedestrians.

After Junipers death, more improvements were made by the city. The palm tree and utility box, referred to in the police report as obstructing views of motorists and pedestrians, were removed and, in July 2015, a stoplight was installed at the pedestrian crossing.

Junipers family is suing the City of San Diego for negligence, dangerous condition of public property and wrongful death.

Citing the pending lawsuit, neither city traffic engineers nor the city attorneys office will answer questions about the intersection or any additional improvements that might be planned for the area.

In court documents, the city argues John Aavang was negligent, and at least partly responsible for the accident. The city also argues it exercised reasonable care in keeping the intersection safe.

Despite the improvements, Ferrier and others told NBC 7 Investigates they feel the intersection is still dangerous.

"We [are] just scared, said Nayra Cordero. She works near the intersection and frequently walks in the area with her friend, Gabriela Mendoza. We actually [just] crossed, and we were both scared, looking around just to make sure, she said. Even if we saw it's green for us to cross, it's safe for us to cross, we still were careful."

Both Cordero and Mendoza said the 40 mph speed limit at the intersection is too high.

You cant even see the light until youve hit the curve, Mendoza said.

Ferrier agrees that some motorists disregard even the 40 mph speed limit.

"The design of the street may be 40 miles an hour, but cars are going much faster because they can," said Ferrier.

"Oh, yeah, I would say between 45 and 65," Mendoza added.

Ferrier said the stop light has improved safety at the intersection, but also says other improvements should be made. Along with better signage, a lower speed limit, and more enforcement, Ferrier said a round-about like those along La Jolla Boulevard would calm the traffic flow.

It forces cars to slow down, so as the pedestrian is crossing, the car is absolutely going to see that person crossing and has enough time to react, she said.

Whatever improvements are made, Ferrier said she hopes they happen soon and, in her words, "certainly to do it before someone is killed again.
When word arrived in May 2016 that Voodoo Doughnut, one of the ultimate edible icons of the great city of Portland, Oregon, would make its Southern California debut, pastry-loving people around LA nodded, collectively and enthusiastically.

Because here's the thing: There's always room for more doughnut consumption 'round this region, a place that's basically worn a delicious crown made of doughnuts for decades, and has refused, politely, and with kindness, to ever give that doughnut crown up.

In short? Welcome, Voodoo Doughnut. You're now open on Universal CityWalk, as of Thursday, March 9, though let it be known it is a soft opening, which is restaurant parlance, or restaurantese, if you prefer, for "just getting going."

A soft opening, though, fits well for a spot selling oh-so-soft, easy-to-bite delectables that are sometimes garishly decorated, and named, as is the famous way of Voodoo Doughnut.

Doughnut types have included the Grape Ape  mmm, grape dust and lavender sprinkles  and the Arnold Palmer doughnut, which boasts hint o' both lemonade and iced tea.

Have you seen this founded-in-2003 indie doughnut shop on a food show or in a magazine? Very likely. Have you queued up, in the rain, in Portland, for a maple bacon bar? Many have.

Do you happen to know that LA isn't the first out-of-state outpost for the delightfully daffy doughnut-porium? It's not. There are shops in Denver, Austin, and beyond. (And "delightfully daffy," of course, is said in a complimentary manner, an ode to the company's panache.)

LA still will not relinquish its doughnut crown, nor should it: We like our fried, doughy, sometimes round, sometimes fritter-shaped, sometimes globular goodies, and that's that. It's tradition. It is, in fact, the way of things.

But trying treats from points beyond our own doughnut-devoted metro is part of what wearing a doughnut crown entails, too. One thing to note, if you can't wait: The soft opening has "limited hours" for the time being, so keep that in mind if you head up the hill for an Arnold Palmer.
Three San Diego-based construction companies are adding their names to the hat for a bid to build President Donald Trump's proposed border wall.

Currently, the government is fielding bids from contractors for the construction of a wall along the 2,000-mile long border between the U.S. and Mexico.

We're very excited about being a part of, really, something on a national level, said Ralph Hicks of R.E. Staite Engineering in San Diego.

Hes heading up the companys bid process, but admitted that as things stand, there is not a lot of clarity on the project.

We have some set goals that we've established internally that we think the federal government may ask us to consider, he said.

There are some basics the government has asked for: the wall will likely be concrete. It will be roughly 30-feet high. It should be "aesthetically pleasing," hard to climb, and hard to damage.

Hicks said they have put something together that limits carbon emissions. They say their wall will be smart and will prevent tunneling.

A representative of another San Diego firm, vScenario also spoke with NBC 7, saying their proposal is heavily influenced by their military operators and technology.

Winning a contract on the border wall could mean hundreds of jobs.

Obviously from an economic standpoint it's going to be a very high value contract that we hope to secure and that does great candidly for our company and does candidly great for the region, Hicks said.

On the subject of the walls controversy, neither seemed concern with the building of this wall having a negative impact.

"Back in the day, where they had construction for interstate highways, the Hoover Dam--all those have been incredibly controversial. So controversy typically follows large construction projects. On this particular one, we're not looking at the politics, we're looking at the work, Hicks said.
Five families are scheduled to arrive in San Diego next week, before the revised executive order on immigration takes effect, according to a non-profit organization that works to resettle refugees in the region.

The state of Washington said Thursday it would renew its request to block the newest executive order signed Monday by President Donald Trump. Other states have plans to join in on Washington's legal action while Hawaii has launched its own lawsuit.

Over the last three weeks, between executive orders, we resettled a family from Afghanistan and then two families and two single individuals from Iraq. How grateful are they, Jewish Family Service San Diego CEO Michael Hopkins asked those who attended a public forum Wednesday night at Temple Emanu-El.

Several people spoke about the status of refugee resettlement in the U.S. following the March 6 signing of the newest executive order.

The revised travel order leaves Iraq off the list of banned countries but still affects would-be visitors from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya.

Mark Hetfield, U.S. president and CEO of HIAS, the oldest international migration and refugee resettlement agency, said he sees no difference between the revised travel order and the one rejected by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

He described it as a little less cruel and chaotic than the first one.

Make no mistake about it," he said. "The refugee ban in this executive order is totally intact and remains unchanged from the previous one. The Muslim ban is basically intact.

Basma Al-Khateeb, an aid worker from Baghdad, was able to move to San Diego with the help of a Jewish host family. She had to leave Iraq when she could no longer protect her daughters from threats of violence.

She offered a perspective for those hoping to settle in San Diego.

When they learn they are leaving for the U.S., refugees will sell or give away anything they cant pack and take with them, she said.

When you fled your country, you leave so many things, she said describing how she had to leave behind mementoes of her parents. You bring your home with you. Your loved ones with you.

She said she couldnt imagine getting approval to relocate, getting on a plane and then being told she could not enter the U.S.

That would be the most difficult thing, Al-Khateeb said. Just thinking you just have nowhere to go.

Hetfield asked those who wish to support the resettlement of refugees in the U.S., make noise and get involved.

The Anti-Defamation League of San Diego County, Jewish Family Service of San Diego, Jewish Federation of San Diego and the Leichtag Foundation hosted the discussion.

Since 2005, Jewish Family Service San Diego has resettled more than 3800 refugees in our region, Hopkins said.
An argument between an 87-year-old San Diego father and his adult son led to a violent late-night attack in Clairemont when the son allegedly used a crowbar to choke his dad.

The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said Charles Duval, 62, called police just before midnight Thursday to report that he had attacked his father while the victim was sleeping at their home in the 5500 block of Diane Avenue.

According to investigators, the father and son had gotten into an argument. After Duvals father went to sleep, Duval allegedly grabbed a crowbar and used it to choke the elderly victim.

As the father struggled to fight back, Duval allegedly beat him with his fists.

The victim told police he believes Duval was trying to kill him. Investigators said the victim was not able to call for help because Duval had allegedly disabled the telephone.

The victim suffered injuries to his upper body; he is expected to recover, according to authorities.

Duval was arrested and booked into San Diego Central Jail on two counts: attempted murder and elder abuse. He's scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
A man accused of premeditated attempted murder in the random stabbing of a County psychiatrist nurse has been bound over for trial, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's office.

Gregg Taylor, 57, allegedly walked over to 59-year-old Cindy Doucette as she was getting out of her car to heading to work, said "hi", then stabbed her multiple times near Morena Boulevard and Savannah Street in San Diego's Morena neighborhood, Deputy District Attorney Karra Reedy alleged in court..

Taylor allegedly stabbed her six times in the chest, neck and head, her family said. The 25-year County of San Diego employee has since been released from the hospital.

Taylor previously pleaded not guilty to a premeditated attempted murder charge. If convicted, he could face a maximum exposure of life in prison, plus four years, with the possibility of parole. He is being held on $2 million bail.

At Taylor's preliminary hearing, Superior Court Judge Frederic Link ruled that there was enough evidence to send Taylor to trail.

A Superior Court arraignment is set for March 23.
Escondido police officers, investigating a death inside a home early Friday, were confronted by a family member who brandished a gun. An officer opened fire, killing the family member, homicide investigators said.

Officers were called to the home on James Street to investigate the death of Elizabeth "Betty" Seitz. Officers arrived at 7:06 a.m. and spoke with her son, Damon Seitz, at the home while they were investigating, officials said.

Then, at 7:50 a.m., shots were fired inside the home and Damon Seitz was killed, Lt. Justin Murphy said. One officer was inside the home at the time. Two officers were outside, he said.

Officers attempted CPR and called for medical assistance. Seitz, 40, was taken to Palomar Hospital West where he died from injuries, Murphy said.

No details were given on the type of gun used. No shots were fired Seitz.

"For whatever reason, this person decided he was going to brandish a firearm and threaten the officers with that and they had to defend themselves," Murphy said. "What caused that, or what happened with that, we're not sure yet."

Investigators were not sure who made the initial call reporting the death of 70-year-old Elizabeth "Betty" Seitz. Cause of death has not been released.

Murphy did not know if Damon Seitz has a past criminal history or any history of mental illness.

According to neighbors, he was a quiet person and had stopped talking to people three years ago. He lived alone with his mother inside the home.

The shooting has shaken up some residents in the area.

"From our experience, this is a really great, safe neighborhood, people know each other, so i'ts horrible and I think the biggest concern to me is that it's so close to a school," said Abby Dunlea.

Police had crime scene tape blocking traffic to James Street, near Valley Parkway.

Orange Glen Elementary School is less than a mile from the scene.

Escondido School District officials tell NBC 7 they have been in contact with the police but have no reason for a lockdown.

Principal Rick Ausby said he was aware of an incident outside of the school and spoke with two officers who told him it involved a medical emergency.

There is no danger to the school at this time, he said.

No officers were injured in the shooting.

The community has been on edge since Tuesday, when a driver was caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting.

Cathy Kennedy, 55, was shot in the head while driving east on Grand Avenue around 9 p.m. Police said Kennedy was returning home from church function when she was struck by a stray bullet, causing her to lose control of the car and crash into a parked vehicle.

The suspects have not been identified yet. Escondido police have asked the public for help to solve the crime.

Murphy said the shooting on James Street is not believed to be connected to Tuesday's homicide.
San Diego police are searching for a driver who struck and killed a teenager in Tierrasanta Thursday.

Two teenagers, both 16, were walking along Santo Road near Antigua Boulevard just before midnight. Police say the teens were not crossing the street at a crosswalk but were walking in the road.

One boy was able to jump onto the median and out of the way of the oncoming car.

The second teenager was struck and killed, police said.

The driver failed to stop at the scene, continuing to travel southbound on Santo Road.

Resident Cindy Matrai said it's inexcusable for the driver not to stop and render aid to the teenager.

"I understand it's tragic and it's shocking," she said. "But at the same time, stop."

The suspect's vehicle is described as a dark colored Ford Taurus with front-end damage to the passenger side, San Diego police said.

The neighborhood is located south of State Route 52 and east of Interstate 15.

No other information was available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news.
Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is in critical condition after undergoing two brain surgeries.

Noriega, 83, underwent the first procedure Tuesday morning to remove a benign tumor from his brain. But after that surgery, doctors discovered a hemorrhage that forced them to go back in that afternoon, his daughters and lawyer said.

He was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Santo Tomas public hospital in Panama City, attorney Ezra Angel said Tuesday night.

Angel said doctors had succeeded in stopping the bleeding during the second procedure and Noriega was returned to intensive care.

"He is sedated," the lawyer said. "His condition is critical after undergoing a (second) open brain surgery in less than eight hours."

Officials at the hospital did not comment or return calls.

Earlier Tuesday, Noriega's daughters, Thays and Sandra Noriega, said their father was returned to the operating room after doctors detected bleeding following the first operation to remove the tumor.

The tumor was detected in the months after Noriega returned to Panama in December 2011 and was imprisoned for corruption and the killings of political opponents during his reign in the 1980s.

Doctors have said it grew unexpectedly recently and threatened the life of the former dictator, who has also suffered from vascular ailments and uses a wheelchair.

Noriega was transferred from prison to house arrest Jan. 29 to prepare for the procedure, which was originally scheduled for mid-February.

The former general ruled Panama with an iron fist in 1983-89. He was ousted by a U.S. invasion in 1989 and jailed for years in the United States on drug charges.

He was then imprisoned in France for money laundering, before being returned in 2011 to Panama, where he had already been convicted in absentia.
The United States on Wednesday rejected China's proposal for a halt to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises if North Korea suspends its nuclear and missile activities. It called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un irrational and demanded "positive action" before the U.S. can take his regime seriously.

In Washington, U.S. State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said, "At this point we don't see it as a viable deal." A Pentagon spokesman, Cmdr. Gary Ross, said U.S. activities to defend South Korea "cannot be equated to North Korea's repeated violations of its obligations and agreements."

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, told reporters after an emergency Security Council meeting on North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches that the United States must see "some sort of positive action" by Kim's regime before discussing ways to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

"They've given us enough reason to think how irresponsible that they are that we ever try and think that we're dealing with a rational person on this," she said.

Earlier Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed the freeze-for-freeze, likening escalating tensions between the North and Washington and Seoul to "two accelerating trains, coming toward each other with neither side willing to give way."

The idea was rejected by South Korea and Japan as well as the U.S.

Haley said the military drills are especially needed now after North Korea conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile launches last year and two sets of missile launches and the assassination of Kim Jong Un's estranged brother using a chemical weapon this year.

She also defended the upcoming deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea, a move that has been strongly opposed by China. She said America would not leave its ally facing the threat from North Korea without help.

"We have not seen any goodwill at all coming from North Korea," Haley said. "I appreciate all my counterparts wanting to talk about talks and negotiations, (but) we are not dealing with a rational person."

With any other country, the United States would be seeking negotiations, she said.

"This is not a rational person, who has not had rational acts, who is not thinking clearly," Haley said of North Korea's leader. "This is someone who is trying to get attention. This is someone who is trying to get a reaction."

Haley said the United States is re-evaluating how it is going to deal with North Korea going forward "and we are making those decisions now and will act accordingly."

"We're not ruling anything out and we're considering every option that's on the table," she said.

South Korean Ambassador Cho Tae-yul also rejected the idea of a North Korean nuclear freeze in exchange for halting U.S.-South Korea military exercises, which he stressed are defensive in nature.

"Linking this exercise to anything else, which is illegal nuclear and missile provocation by North Korea, is inappropriate and unacceptable, and I think this is just trying to link the unlinkable," he said.

"All kinds of options have been exhausted so far," Cho said, "So the only available means to change the North Korean behavior fundamentally is to continue to keep up the pressure and sanctions on North Korea."

Japan's U.N. ambassador, Koro Bessho, said that "at the starting point we need some assurances they are serious about the denuclearization."

"So Japan's position is that it's not freeze-for-freeze but it's denuclearization that we're looking for," Bessho said.

But Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi warned that "if you look at ... the development of events now on the Korean Peninsula there's a real danger, there's a real risk."

The alternative to China's proposal "would be escalation of tension, and the situation may get out of control," he told The Associated Press and two other reporters.

"We should avoid any worsening of the situation, or still any conflict, any sparks triggering a larger-scale conflict or even war on the Korean Peninsula," Liu said. "That's not something that's in the interest of anyone."

He said implementing China's proposal "shouldn't be hard" if there is political will, but "it would take the agreement of all the sides to get this result."

When asked whether China had a commitment from North Korea to freeze testing, he told the AP that "we have been talking to various parties concerned about this."

Haley said talks are one option on the table for U.S. consideration along with many others that she declined to specify. She said other Security Council members would also all be discussing with their capitals what to do next on North Korea.

Japan's Bessho said three of the missiles launched Sunday night landed in his country's exclusive economic zone where fishermen troll for squid. He said the North Korean military unit that conducted the launches is tasked with striking U.S. military bases in Japan when necessary.

"This shows us they are serious in these aggressive actions," Bessho said, calling the North's actions "a serious matter for the whole world."

He welcomed the Security Council's reaction late Tuesday, which was stronger than after previous launches.

The council strongly condemned the North's missile tests, "increasingly destabilizing behavior" and defiance of the council's resolutions. It said the missile activity increases tensions in the region and beyond, and risks a regional arms race.

The Security Council has already imposed six rounds of increasingly tougher sanctions on North Korea. It urged all countries to "redouble efforts" to implement them and warned of possible "further significant measures."

North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman on Wednesday categorically rejected the council statement that labeled what he called its "routine" ballistic missile launches a threat. The spokesman reiterated that the U.S.-South Korean exercises are pushing the situation "to the brink of a nuclear war" and the North was responding with "the self-defensive right of a sovereign state."

At the Security Council meeting, British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, the current council president, said members discussed "a potential role" for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in pursuing "a united council position," but gave no details.

Speaking on behalf of Britain, Rycroft backed the U.S. saying it's "very important that the first step" come from North Korea to demonstrate its commitment to denuclearization.

China's Liu told the AP the Security Council must follow the situation closely "but it is key that the main players in the region refrain from doing anything that would exacerbate the current highly tense situation on the Korean Peninsula."
The U.S. House Oversight Committee has unanimously approved a bill to combat on-the-job pornography viewing by federal government employees.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), requires the U.S Office of Management and Budget to issue new guidelines prohibiting the viewing of porn on government computers. Meadows, in a formal markup of the legislation this week, cited the recent findings of the News-4 I-Team as reason to pass the legislation.

Last month, an investigation by the I-Team revealed that almost 100 federal government employees have admitted to or been caught viewing copious amounts of pornography while on the job in the past five years. Those employees were working for one of 12 major agencies from whom the I-Team requested records of misconduct under the Freedom of Information Act.

The cases include workers who admitted spending six hours a day surfing illicit images and videos and maintaining tens of thousands of adult images on their office desktops.

During debate over the new legislation, Rep. Meadows cited the I-Teams findings that discipline for on-the-job pornography viewing varies by agency. In some cases, discipline ranged from as little as a reprimand.

"This is not only disturbing, but it creates an unhealthy work environment that must be addressed," Meadows said.

During the hearing on Meadows legislation, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said federal agencies already prohibit pornography viewing. But Cummings said he would not oppose Meadows bill, and expressed incredulity about the findings reported by the I-Team.

Somebody looking at porn six hours a day -- I don't even know how you do that," Cummings said.

At the Environmental Protection Agency, inspector general memos showed at least two employees at the agencys Washington, D.C., offices admitted viewing large quantities of pornographic material at their work spaces. In one case, the employee acknowledged watching porn for up to six hours a day for several years. In the second case, at the agencys Office of Water, on Constitution Avenue, an employee was suspended for five days after being seen watching pornographic videos at a work terminal.

These cases are improper and constitute time fraud by workers whose salaries are funded by taxpayers, EPA Deputy Assistant Inspector General Craig Ulmer said.

The computer systems were purchased to perform government work, he said. Thats classified as fraud, waste and abuse," he said. "They should be working on their EPA projects.

At the Department of Commerce, internal investigators found a patent and trademark employee made 1,800 connections to pornographic websites. According to memos released by the agencys inspector generals office, the employee told investigators, When I am working hard, I go to these images to take a mental break.

An employee at the D.C. headquarters of the Federal Railroad Administration searched for porn for 252 hours in one year, the equivalent of 10 full work days, according to memos from the agencys inspector general.

Representatives for the EPA, Department of Commerce and Department of Transportation told the I-Team computer misuse is prohibited and opens employees to possible disciplinary action, including termination.

The full U.S. House and U.S. Senate must approve the bill before it goes to President Donald Trump's desk. They have until Dec. 2018.
Forty years ago Thursday, a dozen gunmen stormed three buildings in downtown Washington, D.C. They took 150 hostages. They killed one person, a radio reporter. And they left dozens injured, including then-Councilmember Marion Barry.

For 39 hours, D.C. residents watched and waited as negotiators bargained to free the hostages. Muslim ambassadors from Iran, Egypt and Pakistan worked with police to convince the gunmen, all Hanafi Muslims, to surrender.

It came to be known as the Hanafi Siege, and it is the focus of a panel discussion Thursday night hosted by D.C. Council at the Wilson Building, one of the siege sites.

The panel will feature Arrington Dixon, Ward 4 Councilmember at the time and former hostage; Maurice Cullinane, police chief at the time; Earl Silbert, then the United States Attorney for Washington, D.C.; and Mark Tuohey, an assistant U.S. Attorney at the time. News4s Pat Collins, who covered the siege, will moderate.

The siege was led by Hamas Abdul Khaalis, a former member of the Nation of Islam who became an outspoken critic of the movement after he broke off to form the Hanafi Movement. Khaalis set up his own Hanafi Muslim Center in Northwest D.C. in a home purchased for him by an associate, Los Angeles Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Collins reported on the 35th anniversary of the siege.

In 1973, gunmen broke into Khaalis Hanafi Center and slaughtered seven members of his family, including his children and grandchildren. The murders were caught, tried and sentenced, but Khaalis wasnt satisfied. He believed the men were sent by the Nation of Islam and that the judge in their trial ignored that connection.

Four years later, Khaalis led a group of Hanafi Muslims as they stormed the Wilson Building (then known as the District Building), the Bnai Brith International Center and the Islamic Center of Washington.

Khaalis had two main demands: that the D.C. government turn over the men who had been convicted of murdering Khaalis family and that the movie Mohammad, Messenger of God be banned because of its sacrilegious portrayal of the prophet Mohammad, according to a 1977 TIME Magazine article. (Mohammad is not actually seen or heard at any point in the movie.)

"We have told this government to get busy and get the murderers that came into out house on January 18, [1973] and murdered our babies. And our children. And shot up our women. Tell them the payday is here. We gonna pull the cover off of them. No more games," Khaalis told the Washington Post at the time.

The majority of the hostages, over 100, were taken at the Bnai Brith headquarters, then located on Rhode Island Avenue NW.

When I entered the second floor, there were bodies on top of bodies, Rae Ehrlich, a hostage at Bnai Brith, told the Post in 2007. I thought everyone was dead.

They were not dead. Tragically, the gunmen at the Wilson Building did open fire, killing Maurice Williams, a young radio reporter for WHUR-FM. A security guard, Mack Cantrell, was shot. He later died of a heart attack, which his family has always blamed on the siege, News4's Mark Segraves said.

Marion Barry walked out of his office after hearing the commotion and was struck by a shotgun pellet just above the heart. Barry stumbled back into the council chamber, where he was rescued via firetruck ladder and taken to the hospital.

The next year Barry would be elected to his first term as mayor. Thirty years after the attack, the press room in the Wilson Building was dedicated to Williams.

The ordeal finally came to an end the next day, after Khaalis agreed to meet with city officials and the Iranian, Egyptian and Pakistani ambassadors. Hostages were released from all three locations and Khaalis and his men were charged.

All the gunmen were tried and convicted. Khaalis died in prison in 2003.

Its been a long time, but some things you never forget," Barry told the Post in 2007. "And thats one of them.
A woman who some praise as a dog whisperer in Fairfax County, Virginia, has been accused of stealing packages from mailboxes she passes while walking dogs.

Alicia Wolman, 28, was arrested on larceny charges, police said. Wolman runs a dog walking and training company called Sublime Canine.

An alert resident on Dominy Circle in Oakton said he looked out of his window the afternoon of Wednesday, March 1 and saw a woman stop her SUV, take a package and drive off.

"I saw the window of a vehicle I have never seen before pull up and a young lady got out and I didn't think much of it, but then she grabbed a package off the top of my neighbor's mailbox and tossed it in the back of her car very nonchalantly and it just seemed odd to me that if she was picking up the mail for somebody she would've gone inside the mailbox too," John Kloman said.

Kloman got a look at the driver's vanity license plate, which read "DGBOSS," and called police.

Police tracked the license plate back to Wolman's parent's home in Vienna. According to a search warrant affidavit, police could see packages and mail inside Wolman's SUV with names other than Wolman's. One package was the one missing from the mailbox on Dominy Circle, according to the documents.

Police also tracked an envelope back to it's owner and learned the man had mailed three checks for bills that never arrived to their destination.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is also investigating a complaint that Wolman stole a $1,500 check & changed the name on it to her own.

Records show Wolman has faced numerous charges in the past, including having an unlicensed dog, larceny and drug possession charges.

Wolman told News4 she has never taken anything from her dog-walking clients and said the charges are embarrassing. She said she is being treated for a mental health disorder and hopes to show in court that she did not steal any of the packages.

Residents who believe they may be a victim of mail theft can file a report on the U.S. Postal Inspection Service website.
Two children who waltzed into a live TV interview about a very serious matter of world affairs became a viral video sensation Friday.

The precocious pair walked into a BBC interview with Pusan National University professor Robert Kelly, an expert on Korea, during a discussion on the ramifications of the ouster of South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Video the BBC posted on Twitter had more than 6,000 retweets and 7,500 favorites after about four hours, and other posts with the video had tens of thousands more.

Our favourite live TV moment of the week by far  pic.twitter.com/GXSCUl5hYI  BBC Newsbeat (@BBCNewsbeat) March 10, 2017

First, a little girl in glasses and a yellow sweater opened the door to the office where Kelly was speaking and sauntered up to him. It was his daughter, according to the BBC's write-up of the high jinx.

"I think one of your children has just walked in," presenter James Menendez said.

Kelly tried to soldier on, but things only escalated from there.

Ya Lun and Xi Lun, the only two giant panda twins in the US, have reached a new milestone as they now enjoy all-day play in their dayroom habitat, the Atlanta Zoo said on Thursday.

An exuberant baby in a baby walker next entered the scene. Then, in a slapstick moment worthy of Buster Keaton, a woman burst through the door after the kids. She hastily rounded them up and pulled them out of the room, with a few books knocked over in the process.

"My apologies," Kelly said, with a slight snicker.

NBC has reached out to Kelly for comment. He hasn't yet addressed the issue on Twitter, except to tweet his thanks to someone who pointed out he's "a damn good Korea analyst."

In other kids-do-the-darndest-thing news Friday, a different video went viral for showing a girl fly through the air after the door she was opening at her Ohio home was caught by powerful winds. (She was okay.)

A little girl in Lyndhurst, Ohio, was blown into the air on a gusty afternoon. Security video shows 4-year-old Madison Gardner grab onto the door knob at her home as she tries to open the door. Strong wind caught the door and the little girl was whipped around, but she held tight. Her mother, Brittany Gardner, quickly ran to help her daughter. She said Madison laughed about it later and is OK. Brittany Gardner posted the video to Facebook on March 8.

And a toddler threw a temper tantrum in front of the Queen of England, who handled the outburst gracefully.

[NATL-ARCHIVED] Royal Family Photos
Actress Eliza Dushku, who gained fame on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Bring It On," said she has been sober for eight years after battling alcoholism and drug addiction.

WCVB reports the 36-year-old detailed her battle with alcohol and drug addiction at the New Hampshire Youth Summit on Opioid Awareness earlier this week.

She said she began to experiment with drugs at 14. She said she loved the way drugs made her feel.

She initially sought treatment after her brother told her he didn't want her around his daughter if she was using drugs and drinking heavily.

Now she said she's a "good auntie" and staying sober for herself.

She said drugs and alcohol are powerful, "but we're more powerful."

Dushku spoke at the request of Jim Wahlberg, brother of actor Mark Wahlberg, whose youth foundation sponsored the summit.
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are expecting a second baby girl, the Facebook founder announced Thursday in a post that paid tribute to his and his wife's sisters.

"When Priscilla and I first found out she was pregnant again, our first hope was that the child would be healthy," Zuckerberg wrote. "My next hope was that it would be a girl. I cannot think of a greater gift than having a sister and I'm so happy Max and our new child will have each other."

Max Chan Zuckerberg was born in November 2015, her father announced on Facebook soon afterward. The couple also pledged to donate the lionshare of their Facebook wealth to their charity.

In announcing his second daughter, Zuckerberg shared childhood family photos of his and his wife with their families and what their sisters taught them: "to learn from smart, strong women" in Zuckerberg's case, "the importance of family, caring for others and hard work" in Chan's case.

"We are all better people because of the strong women in our lives -- sisters, mothers and friends," he wrote.

He and Chan tied the knot at a small ceremony at his Palo Alto, California, home in 2012. They met at Harvard and have been together for more than nine years before getting married.

[NATL] Celebrity Baby Boom: Christian Slater u0026 Wife Welcome Daughter
The call came from what looked like a government number. When an immigrant in New York City answered, the voice on the other end told him he was in the U.S. illegally and would have to pay $1,550 to stay.

It was scam, carried out by one of a number of con artists who have been exploiting immigrants' heightened fears of deportation by posing as federal agents and demanding money, authorities say.

Such scams have been around for a long time, but there has been a flurry of reported cases since Donald Trump was elected president on promises to get tough on immigrants in the country without permission.

Police in Lynn, Massachusetts, warned immigrants to be on guard last month after a family reported getting a call from a person who claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would raid their home if they didn't wire money.

In Illinois, authorities are looking into reports from about 10 Chicago-area residents with ties to Ecuador who said a woman posing as a lawyer reached out through text messages and Facebook, falsely warned people they had a pending immigration case and demanded money for visa and tax help.

And in Greenville, South Carolina, prosecutors charged a man last week stealing more than $70,000 from a group of immigrants by pretending to be a federal agent.

The defendant, Michael Ruiz, 53, had been released from prison in New Jersey in September after serving a seven-year sentence for scamming immigrants by posing as an immigration officer and telling them he could help them get documents or bring relatives to the U.S. A lawyer for Ruiz didn't return a call and email seeking comment.

With anxieties running high over Trump's accelerated efforts to round up and deport immigrants, "scammers can thrive more than ever," said New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, a Democrat from a Queens district with a large number of Spanish-speaking immigrants.

The targets of such rip-offs are often reluctant to go to the police for fear of exposing their immigration status. That has made it difficult to investigate such schemes or determine how common they are.

"It's very hard to persuade people, especially now, to come forward and file a complaint," said Raluca Oncioiu, director of immigration legal services for Catholic Charities.

The New York attorney general's office, Catholic Charities and ICE have urged immigrants to contact them about such shakedowns. And the attorney general issued an alert last week warning people not to fall for such scams.

Real ICE agents, it said, "will never ask you for money or threaten detainment or deportation if you do not pay them."

The cases reported in New York include the immigrant who got the phone call demanding $1,550 and a person in suburban Orange County who received a text from "ICE" telling him he needed to pay $479 if he wanted to stay in the U.S.

Perhaps the most brazen example in New York City was recorded this month, when a woman called Van Bramer's office to report that four men wearing ICE jackets approached her husband on a Queens street and told him they would take him into custody unless he gave them all his money. He gave them $250.

The couple have since resisted efforts to coax them into helping police find the men.

"I think there's a great deal of fear and also a bit of embarrassment about what happened," the councilman said. "They called because they wanted to let people know about it so it might not happen to others."
Proceedings in the double murder trial of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez continued Friday with the judge discussing the defense team's motion for a mistrial.

The motion for a mistrial from Hernandezs defense team centered around Thursdays testimony by surviving shooting victim Raychides Sanches.

Defense attorney Ronald Sullivan said, Mr. Sanches testified that the alleged shooter was  quote  white just like him where him was followed by a knowing look and a head nod in the direction of Mr. Hernandez.

The defense team argued Sanches was not allowed to make that identification of Hernandez in court, which led to this fiery exchange.

Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Patrick Haggan said, This is not only inaccurate, its disingenuous and quite frankly offensive.

Sullivan interrupted, I find it offensive that Mr. Haggan now stands here and tries to articulate what this witness said and what this witness would say as the truth, it wasnt the truth, it was a lie!

With the jury present, Judge Jeffrey Locke made it clear.

Mr. Sanches did not identify anyone as the perpetrator of the crime, said Judge Locke to the jury.

The defense claimed prosecutors elicited testimony from witness Raychides Sanches earlier this week that was not allowed. Sanches testified Wednesday that he was riding in a vehicle with the two victims when they were shot and killed.

Hernandez is accused of gunning down Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado after one of them bumped into him at a Boston nightclub in July 2012, spilling his drink. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty.

The defense team claimed Sanches' description was tainted by media coverage of the Odin Lloyd murder trial. Hernandez is already serving a life sentence without parole after he was convicted two years ago of killing Lloyd in 2013.

Prosecutors said Friday that the defense allegations are "not only inaccurate but disingenuous and offensive."

In court on Thursday, Judge Jeffrey Locke prevented defense attorneys from claiming in front of jurors that Hernandez's alleged victims were killed as a result of gang activity.

Jose Baez, Hernandez's lawyer, used the social media activity of a man who survived the South End shooting in an effort to connect him and the victims to gangs instead of his client, but Locke would not allow it.

"You can't just throw things out there to simply smear a witness," Locke said.
Authorities in Maine have located the body of a woman suffering from severe Alzheimer's disease, who was missing when her husband's body was found earlier this week.

A K9 team with the Maine Warden Service discovered the body of 65-year-old Sue Kim Coito Friday morning in a wooded, swampy area covered in snow about 400 yards from her home on Campground Road in Arundel, Maine.

"There was no trauma to the body," said Sgt. Chris Harriman, with the Maine State Police.

The body of her husband, 63-year-old Matthew Coito, was found in the couple's kitchen by family members Wednesday afternoon. State police revealed Friday that he died from a gunshot wound, and they are now trying to determine if it is a suicide or homicide  or if Sue Kim is a suspect.

"With her being at the scene, and having Alzheimer's, we don't know exactly what her reaction would have been to what happened in the house," said Sgt. Harriman.

Police said there was no evidence of a break-in at the home. They believe Matthew died about three days before his body was discovered, and did not say how long they believe Sue Kim was outdoors. Wardens spent two days and used five K9 teams to search for Sue Kim in the wooded area around their home.

"It's sad to think she had been out there," said next-door neighbor Kandis Hayes. "I wish we would have known sooner. We could have gone looking."

Neighbors described the couple as friendly, quiet, and private. Police say there was no history of domestic violence.

Matthew's twin brother, Michael Coito, told necn that his brother recently retired to care for Sue Kim, in her worsening condition.

The State Medical Examiner is performing an autopsy on Sue Kim Friday. The M.E. has completed Matthews autopsy, but has not released the results.
A sign along Route 9 is causing political rift in Brookfield, Massachusetts.

"We challenged where he lived," said Selectman Clarence Snyder when describing how the tension between him and Advisory Committee Chairman John David Holdcraft started.

In 2009, Holdcraft was accused of being a resident of Sturbridge, but that turned out to be untrue.

"I asked that question," said Snyder. "It rolled up to have a formal hearing where his neighbors came and said he lives here."

Since that hearing, Snyder said Holdcraft has been using a double-sided yellow sign across from Brookfield Elementary School to display his thoughts regarding town officials.

"If you don't agree with David, you go on the sign," said Snyder.

Highway Superintendent Herbert Chaffee said he's been on the sign before.

"Many of times," he said.

When asked how being on the sign made him feel, Chaffee said, "very unhappy."

He's now filed a complaint with the town selectmen.

"There's an ongoing issue right now that I cannot talk about," said Chaffee.

According to Snyder, the town's attorney says the sign is a form of free speech.

"It's protected by the first amendment," said Snyder.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Snyder filed a motion to suspend Holdraft for "appalling" behavior that took place at a meeting in December. During the meeting, Holdcraft put a garbage can on top of a table and threw out a letter he was given by Snyder.

That letter from Snyder alleged that Holdcraft creates a "hostile work environment."

Snyder filed a motion on Tuesday to suspend Holdcraft, but Selectmen Linda Lincoln and Stephen Comtois voted in opposition.

Instead of suspension, Holdcraft will be given a written warning.
A Massachusetts fire chief abruptly retired last month just days after getting a new contract amid accusations of assault.

"I didn't want this to happen to another person," said 23-year-old Ryan Williams of Kingston. "I didn't want them to feel my pain."

Williams is coming forward with his accusations against former Kingston Fire Chief Robert Heath, now that charges of indecent assault and battery have been filed against the man he used to consider a friend.

Williams says on Feb. 9, the then-chief sexually assaulted him at a home during a snowstorm.

"[Heath] started to take off his shirt, came over to me, started to force kiss me," Williams said. "He shoved his hands down my pants."

Williams said he was in shock and had never expected the married father of three to do that. He says he reported it to police the next day.

"He had texted me afterwards, he told me that he was sorry for what he did and sorry for destroying our friendship, and that it would never happen again," Williams said.

Documents show Kingston Selectwoman Susan Munford reported the incident to the chairman of the board of selectmen Feb. 10.

"Five days later, I hadn't heard any action, any meetings, so I did a follow-up text to the chairman of the board of selectman, and I learned the next day that they contacted the department head and brought him in for a meeting," Munford said.

Chief Heath had just been given a new three year contract on Feb. 7, but he abruptly retired the day after that meeting.

"I don't understand why action wasn't taken sooner," Munford said.

NBC Boston reached out to Heath and the chair of the board of selectmen with no response. We then reached out to the fire department, which referred us to the town administrator. The town administrator referred us to the district attorney. The district attorney's office said until Heath is arraigned on March 16, it remains a town matter and it cannot comment.
A New Hampshire student is now the target of extreme cyber harassment from around the world after she posted a fundraising page online to help pay a $250 parking ticket.

The 16-year-old Manchester girl is a junior at Memorial High School, but her mom tells NBC Boston she was too upset to go to school Friday because of the awful things people are saying about her online.

Christine LaFrance says her daughter accidentally parked in a handicapped parking spot and was issued a ticket.

She didnt have the money and didnt want to burden her mom, so the teen created a GoFundMe page, but never expected a barrage of hateful backlash.

LaFrance spoke with NBC Boston over the phone requesting that we leave her daughters name out of it.

Her daughters Facebook post about the fundraising effort attracted negative comments from Internet users around the world. People suggested everything from prostitution to suicide.

One person wrote, You might as well kill urself.

I just cant believe the vulgar and sexual comments to a child, LaFrance said. Its not acceptable, there are ways to be an adult and this isnt one of them.

Manchester Attorney Jim OShaughnessy prosecutes cyber harassment cases and isnt surprised at how quickly such cruelty can rise to the surface.

Those posts get reposted and the snowball effect is incredible, OShaughnessy said. Teenagers are vulnerable and absolutely this type of thing can get out of control and can be very harmful.

For LaFrances daughter, its proof that words are powerful, a life lesson learned the hard way.

She will persevere, shes a strong young woman, Ive raised her not to be any less than that, LaFrance said.

In a statement to NBC Boston, Superintendent Bolgen Vargas wrote, Any reports of bullying or harassment are automatically investigated by the school administration and school resource officer because its our responsibility to help keep our students safe. The principal spoke to the student who indicated that no one from school was among those online who contributed to the issue.

According to the GoFundMe Page, LaFrances daughter has raised more than enough money to pay her parking ticket.
Police have arrested a man and charged him with indecent assault after an incident in East Boston Monday evening.

Miguel Zelaya-Garcia was arrested Thursday without incident, according to Boston police.

Authorities said a woman was on Brooks Street at about 6:30 p.m. Monday when Zelaya-Garcia allegedly assaulted her as she was entering a building. He then fled on foot down the street and onto Condor Street.

Around the same time, a woman who works at a local tow yard said a man came running into the lot. At first, workers thought he was being robbed, because he was frantically running.

"He was scared. But then we asked him to call the cops in Spanish and he was saying, 'no,'" said the woman, who did not want to be identified. "It seems like he was trying to cut through, but the lot doesn't cut through."

A photo was captured of the man. That photo was released Wednesday, and police said they were looking to speak with him. Thursday, in a separate statement, they confirmed the photo led to the man's arrest.

Women in the neighborhood say they are already being extra vigilant.

"We always keep our eyes open for each other, try to watch, it's a little nerve wrecking right now," said resident Dottie Diechdue.

Police are urging women to be aware of their surroundings, keep their heads up and walk in groups.
SAO PAULO, March 9 (Reuters) - The chief financial officer of Brazilian food processor BRF SA, Alexandre Carneiro Borges, resigned on Thursday, less than two weeks after the company posted a steep quarterly loss and promised to overhaul management protocols.

Elcio Mitsuhiro Ito will be the interim CFO while the company seeks a replacement, BRF said in a securities filing. Rodrigo Vieira, marketing vice president, also resigned, the filing said.

Two weeks ago, Chairman Abilio Diniz and Chief Executive Officer Pedro Faria told analysts that lack of real-time information and miscommunication between industrial and commercial divisions were the reasons for the 460 million reais ($144 million) fourth-quarter loss.

Shares in BRF were up 1.8 percent on Thursday, reducing losses so far this year to 15.9 percent.

($1 = 3.1927 reais) (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Rhode Island State Police have arrested a man accused of stealing a bag of money from Twin River Casino and fleeing.

Marvin Rojo, 30, of Chestnut Falls, has been charged with larceny over $1,500 and is expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.

Police said an armored car was delivering bags of money to an ATM around 12:25 p.m. when Rojo allegedly took one and ran off.

Witnesses gave a description of Rojos vehicle and police gave chase, eventually arresting Rojo on the north side of the Providence Place Mall. The chase did not reach high speeds.

The money was recovered and there is no evidence a weapon was used in the robbery.

Its not clear if Rojo has an attorney.
A New Hampshire woman is facing drug charges after she allegedly attempted to shoplift from a Walmart in Manchester, New Hampshire and was caught with heroin and crack cocaine in her possession.

Krystal Mello, 23, of Londonderry is charged with theft by unauthorized taking, two counts of possession of a controlled drug and falsifying physical evidence. She was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday in Manchester District Court.

Manchester police were called to the Walmart at 725 Gold St. around 1 p.m. Thursday for a report of a shoplifter. A loss prevention officer told police that a woman had concealed multiple items before leaving the store. The loss prevention officer was able to get the suspect, later identified as Mello, to return to the store with the concealed items. Police didn't say what items were taken.

As she was being arrested, a Manchester police officer located a hypodermic needle loaded with heroin inside Mello's handbag.

Later, while being searched inside the booking area, police said she also attempted to conceal a small amount of crack cocaine.
An off-duty police officer hiking in a wooded area on Friday discovered human remains believed to those of a man who went missing nearly three months ago, according to Derry police.

The off-duty officer was hiking in a wooded area off Rockingham Road in Derry when he discovered the remains. Jack Walsh, a 63-year-old Derry resident with special needs, went missing back on Dec. 12, 2016 when he walked away from an appointment at Parkland Medical Center.

The Walsh family issued the following statement:

"Earlier today a body was found in Derry NH off of Rockingham Rd (Rte 28). It is with heavy hearts that we disclose that it was, in fact, Jack. We thank you all for being supportive and overwhelmingly helpful for the last three months. As of right now we have limited information and will share with you upon any new findings."

Walshs family said they reported him missing to Derry police right away, but officials didnt notify the public for another three days, and Walshs family said that was three days too late.

"We feel that if there had been some type of alert in those first 24 or 48 hours, it would have been very easy to locate him," Connolly said at the time.

There is no so-called "Silver Alert" in the state of New Hampshire. A Silver Alert, much like an Amber Alert, is a public notification system that prompts text messages, television interruptions, even reverse 911 calls when an adult with special needs is missing.
Police say a man left a bag of drugs in a New Hampshire hotel room and was arrested when he tried to get them back.

A Red Roof Inn in Salem found 32 bags of cocaine and 25 bags of heroin in Walter Velez's room, according to police.

When Velez called the hotel, telling them he was coming back to get his belongings, police were there waiting for him.

Velez was charged with two felony counts of drug possession and held on $10,000 cash bail. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
The investigation is expanding into a Texas man accused of tricking a Vermont college student into a bogus pelvic exam.

Prosecutors in Addison County said last fall that 32-year-old Nam Vu Bui of Houston pretended to be a cervical cancer researcher so he could trick a Middlebury College student into a nude exam which he recorded on his cell phone.

According to detectives, Bui was very convincing. He had a friend on campus who trusted him and believed his ruse, which enabled him to meet other students, prosecutors said.

The suspect is not really a doctor, a prosecutor said at a court appearance in October, and the so-called medical exams had no real basis in legitimate medicine.

Now, the investigation is expanding into the Burlington area, where authorities said there may be more potential victims.

Police at the University of Vermont notified the campus this week about the case in Middlebury, and urged anyone at UVM who may also have been targeted by the phony physician to come forward.

UVM police said in the alert there are significant support services available to people reporting unwanted sexual contact or other concerns.

Nam Vu Bui pled not guilty to a host of charges in October 2016, including an allegation of sexual assault, and another of voyeurism.

The suspect remains jailed while the investigation and court case proceed.
After manning a machine gun on a combat helicopter as a U.S. Marine during the liberation of Kuwait, Antonio Romo came back to the United States traumatized by the death and carnage he saw.

He says he turned to alcohol and narcotics to try to quiet the nightmares, and made multiple suicide attempts. With addiction, he fell into dealing, and was arrested for selling cocaine. And after getting out of prison, Romo was deported in 2008 to Mexico, from where he had migrated to Lynwood, California, illegally at age 12.

Today he's part of a group of dozens of U.S. military veterans, most of them former legal residents but noncitizens, who were deported after criminal convictions and who for years have tried to convince multiple administrations to let them return. They acknowledge committing serious crimes such as felony drug dealing, but argue that they did their time and being kicked out of the country amounts to being punished twice.

Now these veterans are pinning their hopes on the new administration of Donald Trump, and their cause presents a sharp conflict for two of the new president's stated priorities: Trump has promised to support the military and veterans; at the same time, he has also moved to ramp up deportations of immigrants in the United States illegally -- particularly those convicted of crimes.

"President Donald Trump has said that he supports veterans, but ..." the 48-year-old Romo said, his voice trailing off. "We are Mexicans. ... I don't know."

Either congressional legislation or a presidential executive order could open the door for Romo and the others.

A White House official declined a request for an official administration comment on the issue. The person, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "The current policy is reflective of those that have transcended administrations from both parties. I do not have any information regarding any changes to that."

In September, then-candidate Trump suggested he would be open to letting immigrants who serve stay in the U.S. even if they came illegally.

"I think that when you serve in the armed forces, that's a special situation, and I could see myself working that out," Trump said at NBC's Commander-in-Chief Forum. "Absolutely."

The United States has recruited foreign-born soldiers since the mid-19th century, and between 1999 and 2008, more than 70,000 of them enlisted, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union. Service has provided an expedited path to citizenship, with more than 109,000 veterans becoming naturalized Americans between 2001 and 2015, according to U.S. government statistics.

But that doesn't happen automatically; it's up to the veterans to follow through on the process. Some, like Romo -- who was awarded a medal for the liberation of Kuwait, according to a copy of his discharge order he provided to The Associated Press -- fall through the cracks. And those who commit felonies, which psychologists say are often linked to post-traumatic stress from battle, risk being kicked out of the country.

In 1996, U.S. immigration law was toughened to include around 30 deportable offenses for such cases, including robbery or drug crimes.

The Tijuana-based Deported Veterans Support House says it has documented at least 301 cases of veterans being deported to some 30 countries. More than 60 of them are Mexican.

Hector Barajas, a former paratrooper who was born in Zacatecas state, crossed illegally into the United States at age 7 and served in the Army from 1995 to 2001. He recalled the first time he was deported in 2004, after spending a year-and-a-half in prison for shooting at a vehicle, to Nogales, across the border from Arizona.

"I remember they took me to the border, opened a door and that was it," Barajas said. "You feel lost."

Unaccustomed to speaking Spanish and with no idea of how to make a living, Barajas crossed back into the States six months later. He was deported again in 2010, moved to Tijuana and founded the Support House, nicknamed "the bunker."

Many deported vets gravitate to Tijuana to be closer to relatives in Southern California, some of whom are U.S. citizens and can cross the border to visit.

Often the first door they knock on is "the bunker," a stone-facade shop decorated with American flags.

Barajas puts the veterans in touch with lawyers who help them receive pensions when possible, with psychologists who help them overcome trauma and addiction, and with job counseling programs. Above all the house is something of a support community.

Like many deported Mexicans who spent decades in the United States, some veterans struggle to find work in an unfamiliar country. Others are hired by Mexico-based call centers, prized for their fluent English. Deported veterans have died in Mexico, or been forced to watch from afar as loved ones die on the other side of the border.

Still many say they wouldn't hesitate to serve again if given the chance.

"I would enlist all over again," Romo said.

"Where do I sign up?" said Barajas.

The ACLU and some lawmakers have tried to build bipartisan support for stopping or reducing veteran deportations in the past. But others say they like the current laws just fine.

"We owe all the men and women who have fought for our nation an enormous debt of gratitude and respect. Prior military service alone, however, cannot create a blanket exemption from the laws of our country," said John Shimkus, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Republican congressman from Illinois. "The current policy, which requires senior immigration officials to review each situation in which a green-card-holding veteran faces deportation, allows for the unique circumstances of each case to be considered."

California state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a San Diego Democrat married to a Marine vet who served in Iraq, has proposed a legal fund to help deported vets apply for readmission.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it does not have figures on how many deported veterans have requested naturalization and that it considers each petition individually.

Regardless of what happens, Barajas hopes to open another "bunker" to serve vets in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, and to lobby both Congress and the executive branch on the issue.

Romo had become a legal resident before enlisting in the military and was living in San Diego when his legal troubles began. He was sent to federal prison in Big Spring, Texas, in 2001, convicted of conspiracy to distribute and sell cocaine. He said prison made him feel human again because it was there that he first got psychological help.

When he got out, a judge broke the news that he had not automatically become a citizen through his military service, but said he could apply to become one. He began working with a lawyer.

But Romo was deported five days before an appointment to settle his immigration status and deposited across the Rio Grande before dawn one day in July 2008 into Tamaulipas, a key smuggling corridor for drug cartels and one of Mexico's most violent states.

"I was scared," Romo said.

Today, from his Tijuana apartment decorated with replicas of guns, Romo can see the wall that separates him from family on the other side including his 22-year-old daughter. Darkly, he mused that ultimately he may only go home in a coffin: The U.S. awards posthumous citizenship to combat veterans who have not been convicted of crimes that carry a possible death penalty or life sentence.

"We offered our lives, in exchange for nothing," Romo said.

With their hopes on Washington, some still talk of respect for the chain of command.

"Donald Trump is the commander in chief, and we have to work with that," Barajas said. "We are soldiers."
Massachusetts' attorney general announced the state is joining a growing number of states renewing their lawsuits against President Donald Trump's immigration executive order.

Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement Thursday that the Bay State will join Washington state's renewed lawsuit against the revised travel ban, which prohibits new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. However, unlike the original executive order, current visa holders from these countries won't be affected.

Despite the changes, the revised executive order "remains a discriminatory and unconstitutional attempt to make good on his campaign promise to implement a Muslim ban," Healey said.

"We look forward to presenting our arguments to the court in the coming days to protect our residents, institutions, and economy in Massachusetts," the attorney general added.

Washington's attorney general previously announced Thursday that attorneys general in Oregon and New York had asked to join in on the lawsuit. Hawaii announced it was filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration's immigration ban late Wednesday night.
President Donald Trump's transition team learned before the inauguration that incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn might register with the government as a foreign agent, White House officials acknowledged Friday.

The disclosure suggests that Trump transition lawyers did not view Flynn's lobbying work for a Turkish businessman as a liability for an official who serves as the president's closest adviser on security and international affairs. It also raises new questions about whether Trump's transition team, and later his White House lawyers, fully vetted Flynn.

Flynn's registration this week with the Justice Department disclosed lobbying by him and his firm that may have benefited the government of Turkey.

Trump fired Flynn last month on other grounds  that he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. Flynn's registration comes amid intense scrutiny over his and other Trump associates' potential contacts with Russia. The FBI is investigating, as are House and Senate intelligence committees.

Flynn registered with the Justice Department on Tuesday, citing $530,000 worth of lobbying. His work on behalf of a company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin occurred at the same time he was advising Trump's presidential campaign.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump had not been aware Flynn might register as a foreign agent. He said Flynn's lawyer had raised the possible filing with the transition team, but Trump's attorneys responded that it was a personal matter and not something they would consult on.

"It's a business matter, it's not something that would be appropriate for a government entity to give someone guidance on when they should file as an individual," Spicer said. He dismissed questions about whether Flynn's work should have raised red flags for the new administration, saying the retired Army lieutenant general had "impeccable credentials."

Among those told of Flynn's lobbying work during the transition was Don McGahn, a campaign lawyer who has gone on to become White House counsel, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversations between Flynn's representatives and the transition team.

A White House official said McGahn and others were not aware of the details of Flynn's work. It's not clear why the Trump advisers did not seek additional information once Flynn's lawyers raised the potential filing.

According to the person with knowledge of the discussions, Flynn's representatives had a second conversation with Trump lawyers after the inauguration and made clear the national security adviser would indeed be registering with the Justice Department. The White House official said the counsel's office had no recollection of that second discussion.

Both the White House official and person with knowledge of the discussions insisted on anonymity in order to disclose the private conversations.

In the filings with the Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Unit, Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group, Inc., acknowledged that his work for Alptekin's company "could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey." The lobbying on behalf of Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Alptekin, occurred from August through November.

Flynn's filing said that he and his firm were not certain whether Turkey's government was involved in Inovo's hiring of them as lobbyists. The firm said it was aware, however, that Alptekin "consulted with officials of the Republic of Turkey regarding potential work by Flynn Intel Group."

The firm also acknowledged that Alptekin introduced Flynn to two senior Turkish government officials in September, but it identified them only by their titles. The officials included in the meeting were Turkey's minister of foreign affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law.

In an interview with the AP, Alptekin said Flynn and his firm filed the registration under pressure from Justice Department officials. Alptekin said he disagreed with the decision to register. He also said he had asked for some of his money back.

In an interview Thursday with Fox News, Vice President Pence said he was unaware of Flynn's foreign agent work until this week, but called the disclosure "an affirmation of the president's decision to ask Gen. Flynn to resign."

In November, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, sent Pence a letter warning about conflicts created by Flynn's lobbying work.

"If the vice president had heeded my warnings, it's clear now he could have prevented the problems that occurred with Lt. Gen. Flynn," Cummings said Friday.

After Flynn joined the administration, he agreed not to lobby for five years after leaving government service and never to represent foreign governments. It appears that his work wouldn't violate the pledge because it occurred before he joined the administration. The pledge bars Flynn from ever doing the same type of work again in his lifetime.

Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, U.S. citizens who lobby on behalf of foreign governments or political entities must disclose their work to the Justice Department. Willfully failing to register is a felony, though the department rarely files criminal charges in such cases. It routinely works with lobbying firms to help them get back in compliance by registering and disclosing their work.

According to Flynn's filings, his firm's work involved research, informational materials and a video on the cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkish President Erdogan has accused Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, of orchestrating a botched coup last summer. Erdogan has called for Gulen's extradition, a request the Obama administration rebuffed.

Alptekin, the Turkish businessman, has denied having any ties to Erdogan's government. But he is a member of a Turkish economic relations board run by an Erdogan appointee.


Former Norfolk priest withdraws from Bishop chance Former Norfolk priest withdraws from Bishop chance

A former priest from the Diocese of Norwich has withdrawn from his nomination as the new Bishop of Sheffield after a furore over his traditional views on women holding positions of church leadership.
The head quarters of Germany's Deutsche Bank are photographed early evening in Frankfurt, Germany, January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

By Julie Zhu

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese conglomerate HNA Group would like to increase its stake of 3 percent in Germany's Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

However, the Chinese company would have to resolve some issues before it could complete any deal, said one of the sources, who has direct knowledge of the matter, without elaborating.

Representatives of HNA and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

HNA purchased a 3.04 percent stake in the German lender last month, making it the bank's third-biggest shareholder after Qatar, which has close to 10 percent of stock, and BlackRock (BLK.N), which owns 6.1 percent.

Deutsche Bank's top three investors are likely to back its latest capital hike, which will see the bank attempt to raise 8 billion euros ($8.5 billion) to back another revamp, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Although HNA said last month the investment in Deutsche Bank was passive, the desire to boost its holding suggests HNA may have strategic ambitions.

The Chinese group has been on a acquisition spree that has seen it expand from its traditional business of aviation and logistics into financial services, betting on asset managers and consumer finance for growth at home and overseas.

With more than $100 billion in assets, HNA's other financial investments this year have included a hedge fund platform and a New Zealand lender. The group is also bidding for UK-listed insurer Old Mutual's $900 million controlling stake in its U.S. asset management business, sources have said.

The moves reflect a broader push by China into financial services globally as Beijing encourages its corporate sector to expand overseas, although it faces increased regulatory scrutiny in the United States and Europe.

A person familiar with HNA strategy said the group saw financial services - particularly asset management - as an attractive strategic sector as the Chinese continue to grow in wealth and their demand for investment opportunities increases, Reuters reported on Friday.

(Reporting by Julie Zhu; Additional reporting by Matt Miller in Beijing and the Frankfurt Newsroom; Writing by Michelle Price; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Microsoft's .NET Core is now making its way to Raspberry Pi developer boards, and an official .NET 2.0 Core is coming from the software company later this year.

The .NET Core for Raspberry Pi and instructions to install it are available on the Github site.

The .NET platform can be used to develop mobile, PC, and server applications and services. The Raspberry Pi 3 board can serve as an entry-level PC or be used to develop smart gadgets, robots, or internet-of-things devices.

Microsoft recently opened up the programming framework for .NET Core, and separate from the Raspberry Pi move, Samsung is adopting it for the Tizen OS platform. Tizen is a Linux-based OS being developed by Samsung used in smartwatches and other devices.

The version of .NET Core for Raspberry Pi is fairly rudimentary, more of a stepping stone to the final version of .NET 2.0 Core. The Raspberry Pi has an ARM processor, and a version of .NET Core is being adapted for that architecture.

"We can confirm there is an ARM32 version of .NET Core out on GitHub," a Microsoft spokesman said in an email. "It is an implementation of .NET Core that Samsung, Microsoft, and the community are working on. We are making it available to customers ... so they can use it on Raspberry Pis, IoT, etc."

The .NET Core build on Github will work with Ubuntu 16.04 and Windows 10 IoT Core, which are both supported by Raspberry Pi. Support for the .NET Core will be through Github and not official Microsoft support channels, the spokesman said.

"This development work is part of the 2.0 wave of .NET Core, which is coming later in 2017. We have nothing yet to share on Microsoft support for ARM32 outside of Tizen, the spokesman said.

A Tizen roadmap states that native ARM32 support for .Net Core will come around October this year.

"Samsung will be shipping their Tizen platform on both .NET Core x86 and .NET Core ARM32. They will build their own supported releases of this just like Red Hat builds their own supported releases of .NET Core," the Microsoft spokesman said.

Customers who want support for .NET Core on the Tizen platform will have to go through Samsung, the same way Red Hat customers would get support for .NET Core on their platform.
Criminals are increasingly offering crime as a service (CaaS) and using sharing-economy ride-sharing and accommodation services, too, a major law enforcement agency says.

Europol, the European Unions policing office says tech-oriented CaaS is being offered to swathes of the underbelly of Europe. Criminals gain an advantage because they can perform crimes better and more efficiently, and they can work at scales greater than their existing technical proficiency.

+ Also on Network World: Anonymous hacker causes dark web to shrink by as much as 85% +

An estimated 5,000 internationally operating crime gangs are currently being investigated in the trading bloc, according to Europol.

CaaS allows even entry-level cybercriminals to carry out attacks of a scale disproportionate to their technical capability, the agency says in its latest organized crime study (PDF).

And it doesnt make any difference whether the crooks are top-tier players or entry-level; they are taking advantage of this new form of gangster outsourcing.

Tech disrupting traditional criminal markets

Technology is a key component of most, if not all, criminal activities undertaken by organized crime now, Europol says. And its disrupting traditional criminal markets just like legal online platforms have done in the regular economy.

Virtually all illicit commodities are now traded online either on dedicated criminal online marketplaces or by exploiting otherwise legal online platforms, the agency says.

The criminal offerings include surface web markets, which are used for stolen goods and fake prescription drugs. Legitimate photo sharing platforms are used, too. In that case, users scroll through images and communicate through direct messaging.

Below that visible-surface tier is the iceberg-mass-like hidden darknet (or dark web), which offers illegal drugs, child sexual exploitation material, cybercriminal servicessuch as those to create malwareand guns, Europol says.

CaaS such as DDoS, botnet hire and money laundering is also offered.

Prevalent cybercrime found includes malware and ID theft, cryptoware, network intrusion solutions to grab private data and intellectual property, and fraudulent payment orders and payment cards.

Advanced tech employed by the new-fangled crooks ranges from cutting-edge lighting for growing plants and increasing output to using ride-sharing and accommodation apps for facilitating migrant smuggling.

Voice over IP is used throughout the people-smuggling process, as is social media and instant messaging, the report explains. Social networks are increasingly used to discover whether a mark is absent from a targeted residence. Mapping apps are used to reconnoiter neighborhoods.

Internet enables criminal activity

The bad guys are ingenious and adaptable, the report says.

Criminals quickly adopt and integrate new technologies into their modi operandi or build brand-new business models around them, it says. That includes CaaS, which lets gangs operate a criminal enterprise without requiring infrastructure.

The internet is a key enabler of criminal activity. Its unlike how organized crime and gangs have operated in the past.

It will continue to escalate, too, the experts say. More accessible and cheaper high-performance drone technology, for example, is expected to become a part of the arsenal.

Cyber-dependent crime is underpinned by a mature CaaS model, providing easy access to the tools and services required to carry out cyber attacks, the report says.

But what about old-school hoods? Should they worry about getting left behind? No worries there. It also appears that CaaS and the crime-utilized sharing-economy trend is taking off outside of tech offerings, too. Racketeering and extortion as a servicewhere groups lend out professional gangstersis also trending.
By Yawen Chen and Elias Glenn

HEFEI, China (Reuters) - In 2016, Hefei, a manufacturing hub of about 8 million people in China's east, was one of the world's hottest property markets and a prime target for price curbs designed to knock speculative heat out the sector.

Analysts say restrictions introduced last year and subsequent rhetoric from policymakers should have sent a very clear signal to investors that authorities would tighten further in Hefei and elsewhere.

Instead, speculators in Anhui's provincial capital are betting just the opposite - that the government will ease curbs to support growth.

Investors like Zhou Xiansheng say they are in no rush to sell their holdings.

"Prices have only gone up in the past... The government will not let the market correct as long as property is still the pillar of economic growth," said Zhou, a businessman who owns multiple homes in Hefei.

Analysts say such views, based on observations of past cycles, are a major miscalculation of government intent and that future curbs will be harsher than previous measures, bad news for highly-leveraged investors.

Nowhere else in China are speculative forces more apparent than they are in Hefei. Last year, new home prices rose 48.4 percent, the fastest rise in the world, according to a report by China's Hurun Research Institute and real estate agency Global House Buyer.

With home prices hitting records, policymakers have been rolling out restrictions.

Sales and price growth in Hefei - one of 16 cities slammed by curbs since October - have slowed, hitting speculators who had made up more than 80 percent of its market at the height of last year's buying frenzy.

But investors appear less easily frightened than they were in the past: a recent poll by local property commentator Zhang Xian showed only 21 percent of the total 5,036 people surveyed believed Hefei prices would fall this year.

China's "seesaw" approach over past three major cycles of property tightening - capping price growth when a boom becomes too concerning and releasing the brake quickly to prevent a market collapse - has cemented the bullish mentality of investors seeking to reap big profits over a short period of time.

Story continues

"I'd buy another one if I could," said Duan, a Hefei local who just bought a house in the city and who only gave his family name.

Elly Chen, a Hong-Kong based property analyst at Nomura, notes in past cycles, the government only began to relax curbs once prices started falling.

"The government is definitely willing to let prices fall," said Chen.

Property consultancy Centaline's research arm said upward market momentum in the hottest cities, including Hefei, is yet to be contained, based on its sales figures for January and February.

"If it persists, the government will be pressured to tighten credit," Centaline said in a Reuters poll conducted in late February.

PROPERTY TAX

Analysts say the signals from political leaders are unambiguous. In uncharacteristically pointed remarks made in December, Beijing's new mayor, Cai Qi, said that prices in the Chinese capital will not rise this year but stopped short of outlining any new curbs.

And Chinese President Xi Jinping last week singled out property market stability as one of the key policy areas to focus on this year.

China's historic pattern of tightening and easing measures has been designed to avoid prolonged corrections such as those seen in Japan in the 1990s.

But last year's furious price increase in the nation - the fastest since 2011 - and speculators' resilience to curbs underscored the urgency to implement alternative measures.

Establishing a long-term mechanism is Xi's priority in 2017 as he looks to promote the healthy development of the property market, based on the belief that "houses are for living in, not for speculating", though details have been thin.

China has for years mulled a property tax, which could deter speculation in real estate, though little progress has been made due to resistance from local governments who rely heavily on land sales for revenue.

In 2012, China was close to expanding a property tax trial from two to 10 cities, says Joyce Man, professor of economics and public policy at Indiana University, who worked with government officials to study the implementation of the tax and prepare for the rollout.

While the process of introducing a property tax would be politically challenging - and arguably more difficult now than it was in the past - analysts say the case for such a policy is growing.

"China was very close to moving forward on property tax reform, but they've lost momentum and the political will until very recently," Man said.

"(There is a) newly-found urgency due to sky-rocketing housing price in big cities."

(Reporting by Yawen Chen and Elias Glenn; Editing by Sam Holmes)
Staff at company's headquarters put at risk as company 'simplifies business structure'

HUNDREDS of staff at Vodafones UK headquarters in Newbury are set to be made redundant.

The has learned that the telecommunications firm has placed staff at risk of redundancy and that employees, mainly in project management, managerial and functional roles, are affected.

Vodafone would not say exactly how many of its 4,500 staff at Newbury were at risk, but confirmed the number was in the low hundreds.

The roles at risk affect a limited number of frontline staff.

A Vodafone spokesman said: We continually review our costs to ensure we have an efficient, sustainable and agile organisation.

As a result, while we created hundreds of new roles within our UK-based customer services team last year, with more to follow this year, we are simplifying some of our business structures over the next couple of months.

We will be working with all those affected to support them through this period.

Last year, Vodafone axed around 250 staff as it cut part of its corporate functions department in an effort to refocus on its frontline team.

A source at Vodafone said the latest round of redundancies was rumoured to be higher than those made last year.

Question marks over the future of Vodafone were raised following the result of the EU referendum last year.

Following the vote to leave, a spokesperson said that the firm could not rule out the possibility of moving its London HQ to Europe in the wake of an exit from the EU, but said it had no plans to move the Newbury base.

As we said before the referendum, we remain committed to supporting our UK customers regardless as to the outcome, now and in the future.

A Vodafone spokesperson said again yesterday (Wednesday): We remain fully committed to the UK, our UK customers and to Newbury.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: Indias first large scale fertiliser company, Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) came into existence 73 years ago. Owing to liberalisation and increased competition from companies, including those in private sector, FACT had a tough journey in the recent past. Its constant efforts to keep its head above water has borne fruit.

The company has achieved 7.7 lakh tonnes of fertiliser production in this fiscal with a sales of 6.8 lakh tonnes. FACT now sets an ambitious target of one million production in 2017-18.

Our future expansion plans are under the consideration of the government. We hope to get approval for these proposals in 2017-18. It will help FACT to move into green. The interest liability on the Rs 1000 crore loan given by the central government is huge AB Khare, chairman and managing director, FACT told Express.

With 2400 permanent employees and around 700 contract labourers, the company has an annual turnover of Rs 2000 crore. The major products of FACT are Factomfos and Ammonium Sulphate. The total loss of the company was reduced to Rs 240 crore (till date) from Rs 400 crore in 2015-16.

The situation of drought in our key markets such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala has affected the companys performance. Otherwise the loss would have been only Rs 120 crore. With the expansion plans we are hopeful to touch one million tonnes production by financial year 2017-18, said FACT chief general manager, marketing, D Nanda Kumar.

The immediate plans of the company include enhancing Factomfos production from 2000 tonnes per day capacity to 3000 tonnes per day. This will incur a cost of Rs 320 crore.

The major competitors for FACT include Madras Fertilisers and Southern Petrochemicals (Tamil Nadu), Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (Karnataka) among others.

Our growth prospects are entirely based on a good monsoon. We hope that the company will record good sales figures in this financial year. At $9 per mmbtu LNG will support our growth plans of our , Nandakumar added.

KOCHI: Indias first large scale fertiliser company, Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) came into existence 73 years ago. Owing to liberalisation and increased competition from companies, including those in private sector, FACT had a tough journey in the recent past. Its constant efforts to keep its head above water has borne fruit. The company has achieved 7.7 lakh tonnes of fertiliser production in this fiscal with a sales of 6.8 lakh tonnes. FACT now sets an ambitious target of one million production in 2017-18. Our future expansion plans are under the consideration of the government. We hope to get approval for these proposals in 2017-18. It will help FACT to move into green. The interest liability on the Rs 1000 crore loan given by the central government is huge AB Khare, chairman and managing director, FACT told Express. With 2400 permanent employees and around 700 contract labourers, the company has an annual turnover of Rs 2000 crore. The major products of FACT are Factomfos and Ammonium Sulphate. The total loss of the company was reduced to Rs 240 crore (till date) from Rs 400 crore in 2015-16. The situation of drought in our key markets such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala has affected the companys performance. Otherwise the loss would have been only Rs 120 crore. With the expansion plans we are hopeful to touch one million tonnes production by financial year 2017-18, said FACT chief general manager, marketing, D Nanda Kumar. The immediate plans of the company include enhancing Factomfos production from 2000 tonnes per day capacity to 3000 tonnes per day. This will incur a cost of Rs 320 crore. The major competitors for FACT include Madras Fertilisers and Southern Petrochemicals (Tamil Nadu), Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (Karnataka) among others. Our growth prospects are entirely based on a good monsoon. We hope that the company will record good sales figures in this financial year. At $9 per mmbtu LNG will support our growth plans of our , Nandakumar added.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Two of the worlds largest, and yet struggling, automakers, signed a pact on Wednesday to

explore the possibility of working together to develop a new range of products. These, according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be shared by Tata, VW and the latters unit Skoda Auto AS.

According to sources (no formal announcement has been made so far) the MoU was signed Guenter Butschek, chief executive officer of Tata Motors and Matthias Muller, chief executive of the VW Group, in Geneva. The MoU will open up the possibility of a full-fledged joint venture between the two groups.

Any MoU of this kind will open up the way for closer collaboration in the form of a JV. There will be a wider range of discussions, sharing of data and information that reveal any synergies to be had between the two firms, pointed out an expert.

The deal has been in the works for a while. Volkswagen had reportedly pushed for joint development of its MQB-A platform, however, the platform was a tad bit expensive for the price sensitive Indian market. Sources say the MoU has agreed on Tatas Advanced Modular Platform.

The alliance, if it fructifies, will also develop components and new technologies.

Analysts say that the two groups stand to gain a lot from such a partnership. For Tata, it means having immense economies of scale on its side. It will also cut down the costs of developing the AMP platform. For Volkswagen, it will give a foothold in the Indian market it can hopefully exploit.

One of the worlds largest automakers, it is still a small player in India, where its products are too expensive. Gaps in its portfolio, especially in the mid segment, have not helped it either. The company is striving hard to change the consumers perception about the Tata Motors brand which was further hit by the Nano, the cheapest car in India.

Tata Motors has not been able to transform its brand image though rivals Maruti Suzuki has successfully made the transition to a manufacturer of premium cars from a affordable-to-own mass market carmaker.

Two of the worlds largest, and yet struggling, automakers, signed a pact on Wednesday to

explore the possibility of working together to develop a new range of products. These, according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be shared by Tata, VW and the latters unit Skoda Auto AS.

According to sources (no formal announcement has been made so far) the MoU was signed Guenter Butschek, chief executive officer of Tata Motors and Matthias Muller, chief executive of the VW Group, in Geneva. The MoU will open up the possibility of a full-fledged joint venture between the two groups.

Any MoU of this kind will open up the way for closer collaboration in the form of a JV. There will be a wider range of discussions, sharing of data and information that reveal any synergies to be had between the two firms, pointed out an expert.

The deal has been in the works for a while. Volkswagen had reportedly pushed for joint development of its MQB-A platform, however, the platform was a tad bit expensive for the price sensitive Indian market. Sources say the MoU has agreed on Tatas Advanced Modular Platform.

The alliance, if it fructifies, will also develop components and new technologies.

Analysts say that the two groups stand to gain a lot from such a partnership. For Tata, it means having immense economies of scale on its side. It will also cut down the costs of developing the AMP platform. For Volkswagen, it will give a foothold in the Indian market it can hopefully exploit. One of the worlds largest automakers, it is still a small player in India, where its products are too expensive.

Gaps in its portfolio, especially in the mid segment, have not helped it either. The company is striving hard to change the consumers perception about the Tata Motors brand which was further hit by the Nano, the cheapest car in India. Tata Motors has not been able to transform its brand image though rivals Maruti Suzuki has successfully made the transition to a manufacturer of premium cars from a affordable-to-own mass market carmaker.

CHENNAI: Two of the worlds largest, and yet struggling, automakers, signed a pact on Wednesday to explore the possibility of working together to develop a new range of products. These, according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be shared by Tata, VW and the latters unit Skoda Auto AS. According to sources (no formal announcement has been made so far) the MoU was signed Guenter Butschek, chief executive officer of Tata Motors and Matthias Muller, chief executive of the VW Group, in Geneva. The MoU will open up the possibility of a full-fledged joint venture between the two groups. Any MoU of this kind will open up the way for closer collaboration in the form of a JV. There will be a wider range of discussions, sharing of data and information that reveal any synergies to be had between the two firms, pointed out an expert. The deal has been in the works for a while. Volkswagen had reportedly pushed for joint development of its MQB-A platform, however, the platform was a tad bit expensive for the price sensitive Indian market. Sources say the MoU has agreed on Tatas Advanced Modular Platform. The alliance, if it fructifies, will also develop components and new technologies. Analysts say that the two groups stand to gain a lot from such a partnership. For Tata, it means having immense economies of scale on its side. It will also cut down the costs of developing the AMP platform. For Volkswagen, it will give a foothold in the Indian market it can hopefully exploit. One of the worlds largest automakers, it is still a small player in India, where its products are too expensive. Gaps in its portfolio, especially in the mid segment, have not helped it either. The company is striving hard to change the consumers perception about the Tata Motors brand which was further hit by the Nano, the cheapest car in India. Tata Motors has not been able to transform its brand image though rivals Maruti Suzuki has successfully made the transition to a manufacturer of premium cars from a affordable-to-own mass market carmaker. Two of the worlds largest, and yet struggling, automakers, signed a pact on Wednesday to explore the possibility of working together to develop a new range of products. These, according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be shared by Tata, VW and the latters unit Skoda Auto AS. According to sources (no formal announcement has been made so far) the MoU was signed Guenter Butschek, chief executive officer of Tata Motors and Matthias Muller, chief executive of the VW Group, in Geneva. The MoU will open up the possibility of a full-fledged joint venture between the two groups. Any MoU of this kind will open up the way for closer collaboration in the form of a JV. There will be a wider range of discussions, sharing of data and information that reveal any synergies to be had between the two firms, pointed out an expert. The deal has been in the works for a while. Volkswagen had reportedly pushed for joint development of its MQB-A platform, however, the platform was a tad bit expensive for the price sensitive Indian market. Sources say the MoU has agreed on Tatas Advanced Modular Platform. The alliance, if it fructifies, will also develop components and new technologies. Analysts say that the two groups stand to gain a lot from such a partnership. For Tata, it means having immense economies of scale on its side. It will also cut down the costs of developing the AMP platform. For Volkswagen, it will give a foothold in the Indian market it can hopefully exploit. One of the worlds largest automakers, it is still a small player in India, where its products are too expensive. Gaps in its portfolio, especially in the mid segment, have not helped it either. The company is striving hard to change the consumers perception about the Tata Motors brand which was further hit by the Nano, the cheapest car in India. Tata Motors has not been able to transform its brand image though rivals Maruti Suzuki has successfully made the transition to a manufacturer of premium cars from a affordable-to-own mass market carmaker.
Express News Service

BENGALURU: A contract lecturer of St Josephs Autonomous College was terminated from service, allegedly due to his sexual orientation, here on Thursday. While the lecturer, identified as Ashley Tellis, maintained that his homosexuality cost him the job, college authorities said his termination has nothing to do with his sexual orientation.

According to Ashley , he was fired from the college, located near Richmond Circle, without any notice.

He said he was summoned to the principals office, while he was conducting classes for second year BCom students. As soon as I was summoned, I went to the principals office. In the office, principal told me that the students were disturbed by my personal opinions, Ashley said.



Soon after that he informed me that the management of the Institute had asked him to remove me and I was relieved immediately, he added.



Ashley also alleged that the management of the Catholic institute was against him, as they did not approve of his homosexuality. In the classroom, I used to discuss everything with students. Sometimes, it also included issues related to different sexual orientations, Ashley added.



He also said that he was denied a job in St Josephs College, Brigade Road, for the same reason a couple of years ago.

Principal denies allegation

When contacted, Victor Lobo, principal of the college, said that the allegations made by Ashley are baseless. He said the termination has nothing to do with his sexual orientation.



This faculty member was not following the rules of the contract and was not teaching what he was supposed to. Students, who were disturbed by it, complained to us in batches. After consulting our legal adviser, we decided to remove him, he added.

BENGALURU: A contract lecturer of St Josephs Autonomous College was terminated from service, allegedly due to his sexual orientation, here on Thursday. While the lecturer, identified as Ashley Tellis, maintained that his homosexuality cost him the job, college authorities said his termination has nothing to do with his sexual orientation. According to Ashley , he was fired from the college, located near Richmond Circle, without any notice. He said he was summoned to the principals office, while he was conducting classes for second year BCom students. As soon as I was summoned, I went to the principals office. In the office, principal told me that the students were disturbed by my personal opinions, Ashley said. Soon after that he informed me that the management of the Institute had asked him to remove me and I was relieved immediately, he added. Ashley also alleged that the management of the Catholic institute was against him, as they did not approve of his homosexuality. In the classroom, I used to discuss everything with students. Sometimes, it also included issues related to different sexual orientations, Ashley added. He also said that he was denied a job in St Josephs College, Brigade Road, for the same reason a couple of years ago. Principal denies allegation When contacted, Victor Lobo, principal of the college, said that the allegations made by Ashley are baseless. He said the termination has nothing to do with his sexual orientation. This faculty member was not following the rules of the contract and was not teaching what he was supposed to. Students, who were disturbed by it, complained to us in batches. After consulting our legal adviser, we decided to remove him, he added.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Amid tight security BJP leader and MP Subramanian Swamy on Friday addressed students at the law faculty in Delhi University.

Freedom of speech is a constitutional right but students in the last years episode of JNU were found inciting people against the country, the democracy in India is strong, nobody needs to teach us the values of democracy and tolerance said Swamy addressing the students of Delhi University.

Addressing the students 'Freedom of Speech and Expression under Constitution of India' Swamy along with Supreme Court lawyer Monika Arora and former Chief Justice Patna High Court Iqbal Ahmad Ansari were present at the function.

Touching on the topic of Ram Mandir Swamy said, There is only place of birth of Lord Ram and that is Ayodhya, a mosque can be made nearby but in that spot, there should be a mandir(temple). There is a difference between a Masjid and Mandir, mosque can be shifted to another location but a mandir cannot be.

Earlier this week Swamy was supposed to speak at the Delhi College of Arts and Commerce but the permission for the event was denied by the principal citing unauthorized invitation to the BJP leader.

Students of India will not allow this disease of so-called Azaadi in the country. The constitution does allow a Right to dissent but you do not have the right to break India said Monika Arora amid huge round of applause.

Swamy while parting asked the students to give more focus on the language of Sanskrit as most of the regional Indian languages are derived from it and it needs a better propagation in student community.

NEW DELHI: Amid tight security BJP leader and MP Subramanian Swamy on Friday addressed students at the law faculty in Delhi University. Freedom of speech is a constitutional right but students in the last years episode of JNU were found inciting people against the country, the democracy in India is strong, nobody needs to teach us the values of democracy and tolerance said Swamy addressing the students of Delhi University. Addressing the students 'Freedom of Speech and Expression under Constitution of India' Swamy along with Supreme Court lawyer Monika Arora and former Chief Justice Patna High Court Iqbal Ahmad Ansari were present at the function. Touching on the topic of Ram Mandir Swamy said, There is only place of birth of Lord Ram and that is Ayodhya, a mosque can be made nearby but in that spot, there should be a mandir(temple). There is a difference between a Masjid and Mandir, mosque can be shifted to another location but a mandir cannot be. Earlier this week Swamy was supposed to speak at the Delhi College of Arts and Commerce but the permission for the event was denied by the principal citing unauthorized invitation to the BJP leader. Students of India will not allow this disease of so-called Azaadi in the country. The constitution does allow a Right to dissent but you do not have the right to break India said Monika Arora amid huge round of applause. Swamy while parting asked the students to give more focus on the language of Sanskrit as most of the regional Indian languages are derived from it and it needs a better propagation in student community.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: A 42-year-old head constable of a Hyderabad police station was arrested for sexually assaulting a minor girl, whom he allegedly maintained an illicit relationship with, by taking advantage of her poverty.



Head constable Mohammed Mahboob has been a part of Kamatipura police station for the past two years. The victim and her family live in a hut opposite the police station.



Kamatipura police inspector S Sudarshan said, "The head constable Mahboob developed a relationship with the victim by offering gifts and taking advantage of her poverty. Due to his wifes illness, the head constable started maintaining an illegal relationship with the minor girl. He also took her to different states. Later, he assaulted the victim sexually."



Though the parents of the accused knew about the relationship between the two, it was the elder sister of the victim who complained to Kamatipura police. Later, the victim and her family members lodged a complaint of sexual abuse against Mohammed Mahboob.



The minor was shifted to hospital for proper medical examination to establish her age. The top rung of the police department are likely to issue orders by Friday evening, suspending Mahboob for indulging in the heinous crime.



"An enquiry has been ordered. No one is above the law. Report will be sent to Hyderabad city police commissioner recommending stringent action against the accused," Hyderabad South Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) V Satyanarayana said.

Based on the complaint, police arrested Mahboob and registered cases under section of rape, kidnapping and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act (POCSO) against him.

HYDERABAD: A 42-year-old head constable of a Hyderabad police station was arrested for sexually assaulting a minor girl, whom he allegedly maintained an illicit relationship with, by taking advantage of her poverty. Head constable Mohammed Mahboob has been a part of Kamatipura police station for the past two years. The victim and her family live in a hut opposite the police station. Kamatipura police inspector S Sudarshan said, "The head constable Mahboob developed a relationship with the victim by offering gifts and taking advantage of her poverty. Due to his wifes illness, the head constable started maintaining an illegal relationship with the minor girl. He also took her to different states. Later, he assaulted the victim sexually." Though the parents of the accused knew about the relationship between the two, it was the elder sister of the victim who complained to Kamatipura police. Later, the victim and her family members lodged a complaint of sexual abuse against Mohammed Mahboob. The minor was shifted to hospital for proper medical examination to establish her age. The top rung of the police department are likely to issue orders by Friday evening, suspending Mahboob for indulging in the heinous crime. "An enquiry has been ordered. No one is above the law. Report will be sent to Hyderabad city police commissioner recommending stringent action against the accused," Hyderabad South Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) V Satyanarayana said. Based on the complaint, police arrested Mahboob and registered cases under section of rape, kidnapping and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act (POCSO) against him.
By ANI

HYDERABAD: Condemning the alleged racial attacks that have recently taken place in the U.S., the latest being the killing of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla, people in Hyderabad staged a candlelight protest.

Organised jointly by Telangana NRI Parents association and All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO), the candlelight tribute was held under the slogan  Wake up India: Unite to save NRIs in U.S.

So far, four people have fallen prey to what is being dubbed as racial attacks.

An Indian engineer, Kuchibhotla was earlier on February 22 shot to death in Kansas in an alleged racial attack, after the gunman was heard shouting "get out of my country".

According to local media, the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran was arrested after fleeing the spot of incident after he allegedly blasted off several rounds on Thursday.

The police say Purinton shot and killed Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani.

He was reportedly taken into custody by the police at Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles southeast of Olathe.

Purinton was working as a desktop support specialist for an information technology company in the Kansas City area.

In a similar heart-breaking incident, a 27-year-old student Vamshi Reddy, also belonging to Hyderabad, was shot dead outside the garage of his apartment in Californias Milpitas.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department expressed its condolences over the incident, assuring of proper investigation.

"Secretary Tillerson has made clear to his counterparts our condolences over these killings. They are, it's important to note, still under investigation by local law enforcement and we're waiting to see the results of those investigations," U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said in a statement.

HYDERABAD: Condemning the alleged racial attacks that have recently taken place in the U.S., the latest being the killing of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla, people in Hyderabad staged a candlelight protest. Organised jointly by Telangana NRI Parents association and All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO), the candlelight tribute was held under the slogan  Wake up India: Unite to save NRIs in U.S. So far, four people have fallen prey to what is being dubbed as racial attacks. An Indian engineer, Kuchibhotla was earlier on February 22 shot to death in Kansas in an alleged racial attack, after the gunman was heard shouting "get out of my country". According to local media, the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran was arrested after fleeing the spot of incident after he allegedly blasted off several rounds on Thursday. The police say Purinton shot and killed Kuchibhotla, an engineer at GPS maker Garmin International and wounded his colleague Alok Madasani. He was reportedly taken into custody by the police at Applebee's in Clinton, Missouri, about 82 miles southeast of Olathe. Purinton was working as a desktop support specialist for an information technology company in the Kansas City area. In a similar heart-breaking incident, a 27-year-old student Vamshi Reddy, also belonging to Hyderabad, was shot dead outside the garage of his apartment in Californias Milpitas. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department expressed its condolences over the incident, assuring of proper investigation. "Secretary Tillerson has made clear to his counterparts our condolences over these killings. They are, it's important to note, still under investigation by local law enforcement and we're waiting to see the results of those investigations," U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said in a statement.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: After a gap of three years, Kochis iconic Marine Drive on Thursday witnessed a slew of protests, under the banner of social media collective Kiss of Love, against Wednesdays moral policing incident involving Shiv Sena workers.

Hundreds of activists including writers and painters gathered at Marine Drive, responding to a protest call by Facebook group Kiss of Love. The protestors raised slogans against Shiv Sena and moral policing.

Various other organisations, including the People Against Fascism and the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad, also participated in the protest, where several pairs locked their lips. The agitation began with a street play against the self-proclaimed moral cops. It was followed by the kissing protest.

We stand together against the hatred prevailing in society. Nothing can put out the fire in our hearts, said writer Lasar Shine. Terming it a warning to all those who spread hatred in society, Lasar said the protest was against intolerance in the form of racism, sexism and discrimination against gender minorities.

Members of the LGBT community who gathered at the venue in support of the protesters raised slogans against the discrimination allegedly meted out to them by the police, and demanded withdrawal of Section-377 of the IPC.

The Kiss of Love protest organised against moral policing at Marine Drive in Kochi on Thursday | Albin Mathew

The venue witnessed tense moments when a group of BJP-Yuva Morcha workers marched along the Marine Drive walkway, raising slogans against the kissing protestors and the Shiv Sena. Timely intervention by the police prevented the activists from entering the venue.



In the morning, the DYFI had staged a protest titled Sneha Iruppu (Friendly Sitting) against the moral policing incident. The protest was inaugurated by CPM district secretary P Rajeev.



Youth Congress activists also took out a march to the venue, alleging the Shiv Sena engaged in moral policing with support of the state government. Anwar Sadath MLA; KPCC leaders Joseph Vazhackan, Benny Behanan and Deputy Mayor TJ Vinod attended.

KOCHI: After a gap of three years, Kochis iconic Marine Drive on Thursday witnessed a slew of protests, under the banner of social media collective Kiss of Love, against Wednesdays moral policing incident involving Shiv Sena workers. Hundreds of activists including writers and painters gathered at Marine Drive, responding to a protest call by Facebook group Kiss of Love. The protestors raised slogans against Shiv Sena and moral policing. Various other organisations, including the People Against Fascism and the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad, also participated in the protest, where several pairs locked their lips. The agitation began with a street play against the self-proclaimed moral cops. It was followed by the kissing protest. We stand together against the hatred prevailing in society. Nothing can put out the fire in our hearts, said writer Lasar Shine. Terming it a warning to all those who spread hatred in society, Lasar said the protest was against intolerance in the form of racism, sexism and discrimination against gender minorities. Members of the LGBT community who gathered at the venue in support of the protesters raised slogans against the discrimination allegedly meted out to them by the police, and demanded withdrawal of Section-377 of the IPC. The Kiss of Love protest organised against moral policing at Marine Drive in Kochi on Thursday | Albin Mathew The venue witnessed tense moments when a group of BJP-Yuva Morcha workers marched along the Marine Drive walkway, raising slogans against the kissing protestors and the Shiv Sena. Timely intervention by the police prevented the activists from entering the venue. In the morning, the DYFI had staged a protest titled Sneha Iruppu (Friendly Sitting) against the moral policing incident. The protest was inaugurated by CPM district secretary P Rajeev. Youth Congress activists also took out a march to the venue, alleging the Shiv Sena engaged in moral policing with support of the state government. Anwar Sadath MLA; KPCC leaders Joseph Vazhackan, Benny Behanan and Deputy Mayor TJ Vinod attended.
Malini Mannath By

Express News Service

Film

Nisabdham Director Michael Arun Cast Ajay, Abhinaya, Baby Sathanya , Kishore, Ruth.

Child sexual abuse and the emotional trauma the victim and the parents undergo, form the theme of the plot. The director has attempted to strike a different chord in the manner in which he approaches the issue. Lending a realistic tone to his story telling, he avoids the cliched approach to such themes. It's more an emotional take on the subject as seen from the perspective of the victim and her parents, than a suspenseful, investigative mode of treatment.

Set in Bangalore, the opening episodes briefly touch on the romance between Aadhi and Aadhira ( debutant Ajay, Abhinaya). While we appreciate the director for keeping these episodes short, we do get the feel that even these moments are a distraction. They could have been dispensed with and substituted with a different prelude that would have jelled better with the sordid happenings that followed. The two are parents of an eight-year-old Bhoomi, Aadhira pregnant with her second child. While Aadhira runs their grocery store, Aadhi works in a garage. It's what happens when Bhoomi on her way to school helps out a stranger to find his way. Rain plays an important character in the plot. It was a rainy day when her parents first met and it was a rainy day when Bhoomi had to face the most traumatic moment of her life.

Appreciable is the manner in which Bhoomi's character is etched. Bold and sensible, its her presence of mind that comes to her aid in the trying circumstance. From a victim to a survivor, Bhoomi after the initial moments of shock, takes control of her life. Even in her hospital bed and in a state of trauma, Bhoomi asks her father not to let the 'bad man' go unpunished. Baby Sathanya surprises one with her instinctive and mature handling of the character. How counselling can play a significant part in such situations, is brought out well. Touching is Bhoomi's innocent query to her therapist, "Helping someone is a good thing they say. I only went to help the man, then why do they say I committed a mistake?" But the moment is let go, where a brief take on not interacting with strangers could have been an eye opener. But the director probably didn't want to sound sermonising or preachy.

The investigation by the cop (Kishore) sans any drama or fake heroism, has a realistic feel. A tad slow paced, it may have its glitches. But what one appreciates is that amidst the horrific scenario, the director has managed to infuse his narration with a positive flavour. A promising work of a debutant maker 'Nisabdham' taking about 126 minutes of viewing time, strikes a chord different from the routine formula fare.

Film Nisabdham Director Michael Arun Cast Ajay, Abhinaya, Baby Sathanya , Kishore, Ruth. Child sexual abuse and the emotional trauma the victim and the parents undergo, form the theme of the plot. The director has attempted to strike a different chord in the manner in which he approaches the issue. Lending a realistic tone to his story telling, he avoids the cliched approach to such themes. It's more an emotional take on the subject as seen from the perspective of the victim and her parents, than a suspenseful, investigative mode of treatment. Set in Bangalore, the opening episodes briefly touch on the romance between Aadhi and Aadhira ( debutant Ajay, Abhinaya). While we appreciate the director for keeping these episodes short, we do get the feel that even these moments are a distraction. They could have been dispensed with and substituted with a different prelude that would have jelled better with the sordid happenings that followed. The two are parents of an eight-year-old Bhoomi, Aadhira pregnant with her second child. While Aadhira runs their grocery store, Aadhi works in a garage. It's what happens when Bhoomi on her way to school helps out a stranger to find his way. Rain plays an important character in the plot. It was a rainy day when her parents first met and it was a rainy day when Bhoomi had to face the most traumatic moment of her life. Appreciable is the manner in which Bhoomi's character is etched. Bold and sensible, its her presence of mind that comes to her aid in the trying circumstance. From a victim to a survivor, Bhoomi after the initial moments of shock, takes control of her life. Even in her hospital bed and in a state of trauma, Bhoomi asks her father not to let the 'bad man' go unpunished. Baby Sathanya surprises one with her instinctive and mature handling of the character. How counselling can play a significant part in such situations, is brought out well. Touching is Bhoomi's innocent query to her therapist, "Helping someone is a good thing they say. I only went to help the man, then why do they say I committed a mistake?" But the moment is let go, where a brief take on not interacting with strangers could have been an eye opener. But the director probably didn't want to sound sermonising or preachy. The investigation by the cop (Kishore) sans any drama or fake heroism, has a realistic feel. A tad slow paced, it may have its glitches. But what one appreciates is that amidst the horrific scenario, the director has managed to infuse his narration with a positive flavour. A promising work of a debutant maker 'Nisabdham' taking about 126 minutes of viewing time, strikes a chord different from the routine formula fare.
By Express News Service

AAP-led Delhi governments one of the most controversial advertisement policy has been criticized by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) as well. According to the CAG, AAP-led Delhi government, in its first year, spent Rs 29 crore in releasing advertisements outside Delhi which was "beyond" its responsibility. Report also said that advertisements worth Rs 24 crore released by it were in violation of financial propriety and Supreme Court regulations.

"Over 85 percent of expenditure of Rs 33.40 crore incurred in one specific publicity campaign pertained to advertisements released outside Delhi which was beyond the responsibility of the Delhi government," it said. The Arvind Kejriwal government had allotted a whopping Rs 522 crore for advertisement and publicity in 2015-16 budget, which was later revised to Rs 134 crore. CAG has also slammed Delhi government over poor planning for RTE implementation.

Similarly, The CAG has hit BJP-ruled civic bodies in the national capital for failing use of adequate funds to control Dengue. CAG has said that crores of rupees were wasted. The CAG's performance audit report tabled in the Delhi Assembly said the municipal bodies spent Rs 109.43 crore, between 2013-15, on domestic breeding checkers without any supervision of the work done or any assessment. The audit was conducted to assess whether the steps taken by government agencies and municipal corporations to control dengue were adequate and effective, the Comptroller and Auditor General said.

AAP-led Delhi governments one of the most controversial advertisement policy has been criticized by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) as well. According to the CAG, AAP-led Delhi government, in its first year, spent Rs 29 crore in releasing advertisements outside Delhi which was "beyond" its responsibility. Report also said that advertisements worth Rs 24 crore released by it were in violation of financial propriety and Supreme Court regulations. "Over 85 percent of expenditure of Rs 33.40 crore incurred in one specific publicity campaign pertained to advertisements released outside Delhi which was beyond the responsibility of the Delhi government," it said. The Arvind Kejriwal government had allotted a whopping Rs 522 crore for advertisement and publicity in 2015-16 budget, which was later revised to Rs 134 crore. CAG has also slammed Delhi government over poor planning for RTE implementation. Similarly, The CAG has hit BJP-ruled civic bodies in the national capital for failing use of adequate funds to control Dengue. CAG has said that crores of rupees were wasted. The CAG's performance audit report tabled in the Delhi Assembly said the municipal bodies spent Rs 109.43 crore, between 2013-15, on domestic breeding checkers without any supervision of the work done or any assessment. The audit was conducted to assess whether the steps taken by government agencies and municipal corporations to control dengue were adequate and effective, the Comptroller and Auditor General said.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Air India flight bound for London from Ahmedabad on Friday lost contact with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) while flying over Hungarys airspace following which it was escorted by fighter jets.

German and Belgian fighter jets were scrambled to escort an Air India flight into Heathrow airport at London. The flight lost radio contact which sparked hijack fears.

Air India spokesperson said the plane, with 231 passengers and 18 crew members onboard lost contact with the ATC due to frequency fluctuation.

According to the spokesperson the aircraft took off from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai at 0700 hours and landed safely at Londons Heathrow Airport at 11.05 hours.



By the time the plane entered British skies the fault was rectified and it did not require the Royal Air Force (RAF) of Britain to escort the AI plane.



A similar incident was reported on February 16 last month when Jet Airways, Mumbai- London flight had a communication failure on board while flying over the German airspace which forced German authorities to scramble fighter jets fearing a hijack. The plane was carrying 330 passengers and 15 crew members.



The plane has communication failure with ATC for a brief period while flying over Cologne, Germany. However, the communication was safely restored within minutes and the flight landed at its destination without any hitch.

NEW DELHI: Air India flight bound for London from Ahmedabad on Friday lost contact with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) while flying over Hungarys airspace following which it was escorted by fighter jets. German and Belgian fighter jets were scrambled to escort an Air India flight into Heathrow airport at London. The flight lost radio contact which sparked hijack fears. Air India spokesperson said the plane, with 231 passengers and 18 crew members onboard lost contact with the ATC due to frequency fluctuation. According to the spokesperson the aircraft took off from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai at 0700 hours and landed safely at Londons Heathrow Airport at 11.05 hours. By the time the plane entered British skies the fault was rectified and it did not require the Royal Air Force (RAF) of Britain to escort the AI plane. A similar incident was reported on February 16 last month when Jet Airways, Mumbai- London flight had a communication failure on board while flying over the German airspace which forced German authorities to scramble fighter jets fearing a hijack. The plane was carrying 330 passengers and 15 crew members. The plane has communication failure with ATC for a brief period while flying over Cologne, Germany. However, the communication was safely restored within minutes and the flight landed at its destination without any hitch.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: A top-ranking army official from Bangladesh today thanked India's armed forces for extending support to his country in the field of medicine.



Maj Gen S M Motahar Hossain, Director General of Medical Services (DGMS) of Bangladesh Army met Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Unni, DG Armed Force Medical Services, and expressed gratitude for "unflinching" support and cooperation in areas of health and medicine.



Hossain also mentioned about treatment of Bangladeshi patients in India.



India has been training doctors and paramedical staff of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Bangladesh through the Indian Armed Forces Medical Services.



"Visiting DGMS sought expert technical advice on medical matters through telemedicine and in other sophisticated fields of surgery and organ transplant to which the hosts expressed willingness," said an army statement.

NEW DELHI: A top-ranking army official from Bangladesh today thanked India's armed forces for extending support to his country in the field of medicine. Maj Gen S M Motahar Hossain, Director General of Medical Services (DGMS) of Bangladesh Army met Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Unni, DG Armed Force Medical Services, and expressed gratitude for "unflinching" support and cooperation in areas of health and medicine. Hossain also mentioned about treatment of Bangladeshi patients in India. India has been training doctors and paramedical staff of Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Bangladesh through the Indian Armed Forces Medical Services. "Visiting DGMS sought expert technical advice on medical matters through telemedicine and in other sophisticated fields of surgery and organ transplant to which the hosts expressed willingness," said an army statement.
By ANI

KANPUR: Two girls were injured after somebody threw a bomb inside the Sardar Patel Inter College near the Barrah Police Station area on Thursday.

Nikita and Nikki had gone to the school to collect their exam admit cards.

Suddenly, someone threw a bomb in the school and it exploded. The particles of bomb injured the face and back of both girls who were present there at that moment.

We both were sitting on a bench in school waiting for our teacher to collect admit card. Suddenly, someone threw a bomb inside school which bumped into our bench and exploded, said Nikita.

Police is investigating the matter.

KANPUR: Two girls were injured after somebody threw a bomb inside the Sardar Patel Inter College near the Barrah Police Station area on Thursday. Nikita and Nikki had gone to the school to collect their exam admit cards. Suddenly, someone threw a bomb in the school and it exploded. The particles of bomb injured the face and back of both girls who were present there at that moment. We both were sitting on a bench in school waiting for our teacher to collect admit card. Suddenly, someone threw a bomb inside school which bumped into our bench and exploded, said Nikita. Police is investigating the matter.
Cold War relations between the US and Russia threaten global security, says VTB president

U.S.-Russia relations have regressed to levels of hostility not seen since the Cold War era but improved relations under the new Trump administration will be crucial to ensuring global security, according to the chairman and president of Russia's VTB Bank (: @VTBLFDC16N-GB).

The two countries have long-since had a volatile relationship but they have experienced increased division over recent years following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, which prompted the U.S. to impose sanctions on the country.

Russia holds no "foolish optimism" that these sanctions will be lifted by President Donald Trump anytime soon, Andrey Kostin told CNBC Friday, insisting that Russia has now adjusted to living with sanctions.

However, he said he remained optimistic that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could work together to counter other global threats.

"We are not actually now particularly emphasising the removal of sanctions. We've somehow adjusted. It's not good for Russia but we're somehow got used to living with them," said Kostin.



"More important is to start the dialogue on the key issues like disarmament, fighting terrorism and many other things," he added, saying that the recent hostility had caused U.S.-Russia relations to regress to the Cold War era.

"I don't think the relationship with the U.S. and Russia can get much worse  they almost reached the levels of the Cold War  so I think both sides will need to do something to come back to better relations."

Russia has been improving ties with regional powers with President Putin meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday and extending an invitation to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Kostin said. He added that the real opposition to improved relations between Washington and Moscow was due to U.S. domestic politics.

"The problem for Trump today is not with Russia but with domestic opposition.

"He needs more time to form his team and more time to formulate some basic policies regarding Russia."



Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pulled up national carrier Air India for the inordinate delay in the process of leasing narrow body planes for replacing its vintage A320 aircraft.

The inordinate delay defeated the objective of reducing maintenance costs by way of inducting new planes in their place, according to the CAG report tabled in Parliament today.

The Company took more than three years (May 2010-August 2013)) to float the global tender after recommendation of the consultant and five years to induct the aircraft.

Global network consultant SH&E had in May 2010 observed that the 1989-1994 vintage Airbus A-320 planes with V2500-A1 engines were "uneconomical" and needed to be phased out "urgently" as maintenance cost of these aircraft was USD four million per year per aircraft.

"The SH&E recommended immediate leasing of 10 A-320s or B-737s to replace these classic aircraft. During July 2010, the Board considered and approved the recommendation of the network consultant for dry leasing of 10 new A-320 aircraft in March 2010," the report said.

As per the report, the Air India Board was apprised that turnaround plan (TAP) envisaged aggressive fleet induction.

"However, the same would involve incremental lease charge which was risky keeping in view the financial position of Air India. Therefore, pending government approval for financial Restructuring Plan and financial constraints of Air India, aircraft induction had not progressed," it noted.

In May, 2013, the Board approved the fleet renewal plan, envisaging leasing of 19 A320 units as replacement capacity to maintain network and authorised management to issue Request for Proposal for the same.

According to CAG, China Aircraft Leasing Company (CALC) was the sole qualified bidder, which submitted its bids through e-mail which was in contravention of the general terms and conditions of tender.

"However, CALC was given a chance to furnish bids as per tender requirements and tender closing dates were extended twice. Audit noticed that two of the other shortlisted bidders (Bank of China and AWAS, Singapore) had withdrawn their bids," it said.

Air India executed a lease agreement with CALC for inducting five A-320 aircraft in June 2014. The company has also signed a lease agreement for 14 A-320 aircraft in March 2016 delivery of which has already commenced from last month.

"Though the consultant pointed out urgent need for the aircraft, Air India could induct only five aircraft till March 2016, (after a delay of five years)," the CAG said. Air India in its reply informed the CAG that "though concerted efforts were made to replace the old classic fleet, no suitable aircraft was available in the market for which the deal could be concluded. Therefore, the airline concluded the deal in two parts with CALC and ALAFCO (of Kuwait)."

According to the CAG, Air India said the amount spent on maintenance cost of old aircraft would be more or less equal to the amount the airline would have contributed towards maintenance reserve of new aircraft.

"Air India did not incur any additional cost except on schedule interruptions. Besides, due to company's financial situation, induction of these aircraft on lease was postponed," it said.

The Civil Aviation Ministry, in its reply, said the leasing activities could not be completed due to "weak financial position of the company, high cost of operations in view of the steep increase in fuel prices leading to a number of domestic routes also not meeting the operating costs, among others."

The reply was not tenable as "despite approval of the Board for leasing ten aircraft in September 2010, the tender was issued only in August 2013, after 34 months. Such a long delay points to inefficiency of the procurement process given the urgency of the requirement," the CAG said.

The CAG report also said the contention that maintenance cost of old aircraft would be equal to contribution required for maintenance reserve for new aircraft was not tenable as the management had informed the board of the high maintenance costs of the old aircraft emphasising the need to replace these uneconomical old classic aircraft urgently.

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pulled up national carrier Air India for the inordinate delay in the process of leasing narrow body planes for replacing its vintage A320 aircraft. The inordinate delay defeated the objective of reducing maintenance costs by way of inducting new planes in their place, according to the CAG report tabled in Parliament today. The Company took more than three years (May 2010-August 2013)) to float the global tender after recommendation of the consultant and five years to induct the aircraft. Global network consultant SH&E had in May 2010 observed that the 1989-1994 vintage Airbus A-320 planes with V2500-A1 engines were "uneconomical" and needed to be phased out "urgently" as maintenance cost of these aircraft was USD four million per year per aircraft. "The SH&E recommended immediate leasing of 10 A-320s or B-737s to replace these classic aircraft. During July 2010, the Board considered and approved the recommendation of the network consultant for dry leasing of 10 new A-320 aircraft in March 2010," the report said. As per the report, the Air India Board was apprised that turnaround plan (TAP) envisaged aggressive fleet induction. "However, the same would involve incremental lease charge which was risky keeping in view the financial position of Air India. Therefore, pending government approval for financial Restructuring Plan and financial constraints of Air India, aircraft induction had not progressed," it noted. In May, 2013, the Board approved the fleet renewal plan, envisaging leasing of 19 A320 units as replacement capacity to maintain network and authorised management to issue Request for Proposal for the same. According to CAG, China Aircraft Leasing Company (CALC) was the sole qualified bidder, which submitted its bids through e-mail which was in contravention of the general terms and conditions of tender. "However, CALC was given a chance to furnish bids as per tender requirements and tender closing dates were extended twice. Audit noticed that two of the other shortlisted bidders (Bank of China and AWAS, Singapore) had withdrawn their bids," it said. Air India executed a lease agreement with CALC for inducting five A-320 aircraft in June 2014. The company has also signed a lease agreement for 14 A-320 aircraft in March 2016 delivery of which has already commenced from last month. "Though the consultant pointed out urgent need for the aircraft, Air India could induct only five aircraft till March 2016, (after a delay of five years)," the CAG said. Air India in its reply informed the CAG that "though concerted efforts were made to replace the old classic fleet, no suitable aircraft was available in the market for which the deal could be concluded. Therefore, the airline concluded the deal in two parts with CALC and ALAFCO (of Kuwait)." According to the CAG, Air India said the amount spent on maintenance cost of old aircraft would be more or less equal to the amount the airline would have contributed towards maintenance reserve of new aircraft. "Air India did not incur any additional cost except on schedule interruptions. Besides, due to company's financial situation, induction of these aircraft on lease was postponed," it said. The Civil Aviation Ministry, in its reply, said the leasing activities could not be completed due to "weak financial position of the company, high cost of operations in view of the steep increase in fuel prices leading to a number of domestic routes also not meeting the operating costs, among others." The reply was not tenable as "despite approval of the Board for leasing ten aircraft in September 2010, the tender was issued only in August 2013, after 34 months. Such a long delay points to inefficiency of the procurement process given the urgency of the requirement," the CAG said. The CAG report also said the contention that maintenance cost of old aircraft would be equal to contribution required for maintenance reserve for new aircraft was not tenable as the management had informed the board of the high maintenance costs of the old aircraft emphasising the need to replace these uneconomical old classic aircraft urgently.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: While terming the death of a jawan as an isolated incident, Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday refused to make any comment in Lok Sabha. However, the minister said Army has been told to work on how to appropriately address the grievances of soldiers.

Parrikar was responding to questions about the mysterious death of the soldier when he said that consultations are on over the Sahayak system.

It (Naiks case) was an isolated incident. Police is carrying out an independent probe.I dont want to make any comment on it as it would be prejudicial to say anything at this stage, he said.

Lance Naik Roy Mathew was found dead in a barrack in Maharashtras Devlali Cantonment on March 3.

We are in consultation with all concerned and an appropriate mechanism would be worked out soon, Parrikar said.

Minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre, responding to the question earlier, said there were a few incidents of complaints by jawans, but it did not reflect the collective mood of the soldiers.

There are various mechanism to address the grievances of jawans, that include regular holding of Sainik Sammelan where the soldiers can raise their problems, Bhamre informed the House.

Earlier this week, another soldier - Sep Sindhav Jogidas Lakhubhai of the Army Medical Corps - took to social media to attack the batman or Sahayak system in the Army. Earlier, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap had posted a video over the same issue.

NEW DELHI: While terming the death of a jawan as an isolated incident, Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday refused to make any comment in Lok Sabha. However, the minister said Army has been told to work on how to appropriately address the grievances of soldiers. Parrikar was responding to questions about the mysterious death of the soldier when he said that consultations are on over the Sahayak system. It (Naiks case) was an isolated incident. Police is carrying out an independent probe.I dont want to make any comment on it as it would be prejudicial to say anything at this stage, he said. Lance Naik Roy Mathew was found dead in a barrack in Maharashtras Devlali Cantonment on March 3. We are in consultation with all concerned and an appropriate mechanism would be worked out soon, Parrikar said. Minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre, responding to the question earlier, said there were a few incidents of complaints by jawans, but it did not reflect the collective mood of the soldiers. There are various mechanism to address the grievances of jawans, that include regular holding of Sainik Sammelan where the soldiers can raise their problems, Bhamre informed the House. Earlier this week, another soldier - Sep Sindhav Jogidas Lakhubhai of the Army Medical Corps - took to social media to attack the batman or Sahayak system in the Army. Earlier, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap had posted a video over the same issue.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards the Indo-Nepal Border said on Friday that the situation along the border in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh continues to be tense with the Nepalese citizens gathering in large numbers and shouting anti-India slogans.



Denying media reports that a Nepalese citizen was killed in firing by the SSB, the paramilitary said its personnel did not fire along the border.



However, taking cognisance of media reports, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Director General Archana Ramasundaram has detailed a Deputy Inspector General rank officer to enquire into it.



In a statement issued here, the SSB said, "It is alleged in the media that one Nepalese citizen has died due to firing by SSB. The SSB officials concerned have denied any firing."



"The situation is tense and a large number of Nepalese people have gathered on the spot again and resorted to shouting anti-India slogans and stone-pelting. Local officers and SSB officers and officials of the local administration are on the spot," it said.



The SSB said the clashes first started on Wednesday when some "Nepalese people gathered near pillar no 200" in the Basai area of Lakhimpur Kheri and started pelting stones on the local administration and SSB officials. As many as nine SSB personnel and 34 civilians sustained injuries due to the stone pelting by the Nepalese citizens.



The Nepalese citizens had on Tuesday gathered in the area to build a culvert which was stopped by the SSB personnel deployed in the area. Authorities from both the sides had agreed to allow construction of culvert only after conducting a joint geological survey.



While the local police fired a teargas shell, two were fired by the Nepal police to "disperse the crowd" on Thursday, the SSB said in its statement.



The situation was brought under control by the intervention of the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur Kheri and Nepalese authorities from Kanchanpur.



The SSB, a paramilitary force under the Union Home Ministry, guards the 1,751 km long Indo-Nepal border.

NEW DELHI: The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards the Indo-Nepal Border said on Friday that the situation along the border in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh continues to be tense with the Nepalese citizens gathering in large numbers and shouting anti-India slogans. Denying media reports that a Nepalese citizen was killed in firing by the SSB, the paramilitary said its personnel did not fire along the border. However, taking cognisance of media reports, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Director General Archana Ramasundaram has detailed a Deputy Inspector General rank officer to enquire into it. In a statement issued here, the SSB said, "It is alleged in the media that one Nepalese citizen has died due to firing by SSB. The SSB officials concerned have denied any firing." "The situation is tense and a large number of Nepalese people have gathered on the spot again and resorted to shouting anti-India slogans and stone-pelting. Local officers and SSB officers and officials of the local administration are on the spot," it said. The SSB said the clashes first started on Wednesday when some "Nepalese people gathered near pillar no 200" in the Basai area of Lakhimpur Kheri and started pelting stones on the local administration and SSB officials. As many as nine SSB personnel and 34 civilians sustained injuries due to the stone pelting by the Nepalese citizens. The Nepalese citizens had on Tuesday gathered in the area to build a culvert which was stopped by the SSB personnel deployed in the area. Authorities from both the sides had agreed to allow construction of culvert only after conducting a joint geological survey. While the local police fired a teargas shell, two were fired by the Nepal police to "disperse the crowd" on Thursday, the SSB said in its statement. The situation was brought under control by the intervention of the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur Kheri and Nepalese authorities from Kanchanpur. The SSB, a paramilitary force under the Union Home Ministry, guards the 1,751 km long Indo-Nepal border.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: After staying the proceedings in the Patna High Court in the case challenging Bihars liquor prohibition law, the Supreme Court is set to hear the petition today.

The Bihar Government in January had moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of plea against liquor ban legislation from the Patna High Court.

Alcohol companies had earlier moved the Patna High Court against the liquor ban.

The new legislation banning sale and consumption of alcohol, including Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) as well as spiced and domestic liquor, prescribes harsher punishment for possession and consumption of alcohol.

The apex court, last October, had stayed the Patna High Court's order quashing the notification banning consumption and sale of liquor in Bihar.

The apex court admitted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Bihar Government's plea and also issued notice to Confederation of Alcoholic Beverage Companies.

The state government had moved the apex court challenging the Patna High Court's order of striking down the Bihar Prohibition of Liquor Act.

NEW DELHI: After staying the proceedings in the Patna High Court in the case challenging Bihars liquor prohibition law, the Supreme Court is set to hear the petition today. The Bihar Government in January had moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of plea against liquor ban legislation from the Patna High Court. Alcohol companies had earlier moved the Patna High Court against the liquor ban. The new legislation banning sale and consumption of alcohol, including Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) as well as spiced and domestic liquor, prescribes harsher punishment for possession and consumption of alcohol. The apex court, last October, had stayed the Patna High Court's order quashing the notification banning consumption and sale of liquor in Bihar. The apex court admitted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Bihar Government's plea and also issued notice to Confederation of Alcoholic Beverage Companies. The state government had moved the apex court challenging the Patna High Court's order of striking down the Bihar Prohibition of Liquor Act.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today dismissed a PIL seeking an SIT probe into the role of media in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam case, saying it is an "attack" on media's independence.

"We will not direct any investigation against the media unless there is a direct involvement," a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said, while rejecting the PIL filed by veteran journalist Hari Jaisingh. It seems there is a disguised attempt to curtail independence and freedom of media, the bench said, adding "this is an attack on media. We will not entertain this."

"We cannot curtail the right of the media in this manner. Media has been given an independent status in our democratic polity. Why should we entertain this," said the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and Mohan M Shantanagoudar.

The court, however, clarified that if the investigative agencies come across evidence with regard to involvement of certain individuals then they are free to probe.

However, there cannot be an investigation into the role of media as a whole, it said. Senior advocate Geeta Luthra, appearing for Singh, alleged that some members of the media where bribed by the offshore chopper firm to influence the decision making authority in favour of the VVIP helicopter deal.

"I am seeking a direction to the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to also investigate the role of media persons in the case," she said.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, sought dimissal of the plea at the threshold saying how can there be an investigation into the role of media when there is an allegation that two persons entered into the "media management agreement".

Considering the arguments, the bench asked, "Is this agreement registered. What is the admissibility of the agreement as evidence."

"Freedom of media is going to be curtailed and smothered.... We will not entertain this." The journalist in his PIL alleged that some media persons were bribed and extended unwarranted benefits in exchange for favouring the VVIP chopper deal. It was also alleged that certain journalist were sent to Italy along with their families by the company in question.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today dismissed a PIL seeking an SIT probe into the role of media in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam case, saying it is an "attack" on media's independence. "We will not direct any investigation against the media unless there is a direct involvement," a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said, while rejecting the PIL filed by veteran journalist Hari Jaisingh. It seems there is a disguised attempt to curtail independence and freedom of media, the bench said, adding "this is an attack on media. We will not entertain this." "We cannot curtail the right of the media in this manner. Media has been given an independent status in our democratic polity. Why should we entertain this," said the bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and Mohan M Shantanagoudar. The court, however, clarified that if the investigative agencies come across evidence with regard to involvement of certain individuals then they are free to probe. However, there cannot be an investigation into the role of media as a whole, it said. Senior advocate Geeta Luthra, appearing for Singh, alleged that some members of the media where bribed by the offshore chopper firm to influence the decision making authority in favour of the VVIP helicopter deal. "I am seeking a direction to the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to also investigate the role of media persons in the case," she said. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, sought dimissal of the plea at the threshold saying how can there be an investigation into the role of media when there is an allegation that two persons entered into the "media management agreement". Considering the arguments, the bench asked, "Is this agreement registered. What is the admissibility of the agreement as evidence." "Freedom of media is going to be curtailed and smothered.... We will not entertain this." The journalist in his PIL alleged that some media persons were bribed and extended unwarranted benefits in exchange for favouring the VVIP chopper deal. It was also alleged that certain journalist were sent to Italy along with their families by the company in question.
Sangeeta Bora and Kiran Parashar K M By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Three workers suffocated to death in a city manhole on Tuesday but till Thursday, BWSSB allegedly did not furnish details on the contractor firm Ramky Infrastructure or its own officials who ordered the work on the manhole. This gave ample time for company officials to do the vanishing act after the incident.

Police suspect BWSSB delayed in providing information to them to protect the company officials. By the time, a police team got official confirmation from BWSSB and landed at Ramky Infrastructures Bengaluru office, it was locked up and there was no trace of any staff.



Now, a police team has been dispatched to the companys main office in Hyderabad to get details.



BWSSB chief engineer (project) Manjunath admitted to the lapse, saying, We had asked our engineers to reply to the police as soon as possible but they delayed fearing arrest.

With BWSSB allegedly delaying in furnishing details on the contractor firm Ramky Infrastructure, the company officials got ample time to flee after the incident. The BWSSB also did not give details of its own officials who ordered the work on the manhole.



A police source said, BWSSB merely informed that the contract was given to Ramky Infrastructure and gave the Hebbal address of the company. They did not name any BWSSB officials responsible for giving the contract. They even told us that had the contractor informed BWSSB about taking up the work, they would have sent officials and the necessary machinery. When asked why it took three days to identify the address, the police said, We knew the companys name, but didnt get any official confirmation from BWSSB.

When police visited the Bengaluru office of the contractor on Thursday, they were informed that the office has been locked since Tuesday.



Ajay Hillori, DCP (East) said, A team has been dispatched to Hyderabad. In its response, BWSSB has not named any of its officials. The probe will look into any lapses by BWSSB too.



Meanwhile, the internal report by BWSSB on the deaths has been submitted to its chairman on Thursday. The areas assistant engineer, assistant executive engineer and contractor will come under the scanner.

BENGALURU: Three workers suffocated to death in a city manhole on Tuesday but till Thursday, BWSSB allegedly did not furnish details on the contractor firm Ramky Infrastructure or its own officials who ordered the work on the manhole. This gave ample time for company officials to do the vanishing act after the incident. Police suspect BWSSB delayed in providing information to them to protect the company officials. By the time, a police team got official confirmation from BWSSB and landed at Ramky Infrastructures Bengaluru office, it was locked up and there was no trace of any staff. Now, a police team has been dispatched to the companys main office in Hyderabad to get details. BWSSB chief engineer (project) Manjunath admitted to the lapse, saying, We had asked our engineers to reply to the police as soon as possible but they delayed fearing arrest. With BWSSB allegedly delaying in furnishing details on the contractor firm Ramky Infrastructure, the company officials got ample time to flee after the incident. The BWSSB also did not give details of its own officials who ordered the work on the manhole. A police source said, BWSSB merely informed that the contract was given to Ramky Infrastructure and gave the Hebbal address of the company. They did not name any BWSSB officials responsible for giving the contract. They even told us that had the contractor informed BWSSB about taking up the work, they would have sent officials and the necessary machinery. When asked why it took three days to identify the address, the police said, We knew the companys name, but didnt get any official confirmation from BWSSB. When police visited the Bengaluru office of the contractor on Thursday, they were informed that the office has been locked since Tuesday. Ajay Hillori, DCP (East) said, A team has been dispatched to Hyderabad. In its response, BWSSB has not named any of its officials. The probe will look into any lapses by BWSSB too. Meanwhile, the internal report by BWSSB on the deaths has been submitted to its chairman on Thursday. The areas assistant engineer, assistant executive engineer and contractor will come under the scanner.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a three-year stint as the KPCC president, V M Sudheeran on Friday took everyone by surprise announcing his resignation from the top post. The reason: Serious health issues aggravated by a fall while attending a party function in Kozhikode recently. Sudheeran said issues within the party had no role in him arriving at the decision. The 67-year-old Congress leader said the resignation letter would be sent to the AICC president soon.

The party is going through a demanding phase, championing the cause of common man and fighting against the anti-people policies of the state and Central governments. It is impossible to stay away from the struggle against this, even for a day. Anarchy is prevailing in the state. My ribs were damaged during a recent fall and doctors have prescribed a long spell of rest for natural healing. At the moment, I cannot live up to the expectations of the party and supporters or oversee the reconstitution of the partys grassroots committees - essential to make the organisation more vibrant.

KPCC president V M Sudheeran

going through his resignation

letter at the Indira Bhavan in

Thiruvananthapuram on

Friday | B P Deepu

I cannot do justice to the post of KPCC president with my present health status. I did justice to whatever positions I had held and remained active. I cannot do it now, he said. Sudheeran said he hadnt discussed his decision to step down with any of his colleagues, acting on his own volition. I could have gone on leave or given temporary charge to some senior office-bearer. But it is against my conscience. My commitment to the well being of the party is above my personal interests.

New challenges are arising every day in the state due to the misrule of the LDF Government and the policies of the BJP Government at the Centre have added to it. I cannot keep myself away from discharging duties while being the KPCC president, he said. AICC will make alternative arrangements. A new president will be announced soon, he said. Sudheeran thanked party workers, media, senior leader A K Antony, AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other leaders for their valuable support.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a three-year stint as the KPCC president, V M Sudheeran on Friday took everyone by surprise announcing his resignation from the top post. The reason: Serious health issues aggravated by a fall while attending a party function in Kozhikode recently. Sudheeran said issues within the party had no role in him arriving at the decision. The 67-year-old Congress leader said the resignation letter would be sent to the AICC president soon. The party is going through a demanding phase, championing the cause of common man and fighting against the anti-people policies of the state and Central governments. It is impossible to stay away from the struggle against this, even for a day. Anarchy is prevailing in the state. My ribs were damaged during a recent fall and doctors have prescribed a long spell of rest for natural healing. At the moment, I cannot live up to the expectations of the party and supporters or oversee the reconstitution of the partys grassroots committees - essential to make the organisation more vibrant. KPCC president V M Sudheeran going through his resignation letter at the Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday | B P DeepuI cannot do justice to the post of KPCC president with my present health status. I did justice to whatever positions I had held and remained active. I cannot do it now, he said. Sudheeran said he hadnt discussed his decision to step down with any of his colleagues, acting on his own volition. I could have gone on leave or given temporary charge to some senior office-bearer. But it is against my conscience. My commitment to the well being of the party is above my personal interests. New challenges are arising every day in the state due to the misrule of the LDF Government and the policies of the BJP Government at the Centre have added to it. I cannot keep myself away from discharging duties while being the KPCC president, he said. AICC will make alternative arrangements. A new president will be announced soon, he said. Sudheeran thanked party workers, media, senior leader A K Antony, AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other leaders for their valuable support.
Pramod Thomas By

Express News Service

KOCHI: The rubber tree was indigenous to Brazil. Even export of its seeds was prohibited. Then came the Colonial rule that spread the cash crop across Asia. The rubber evolution has now come full circle with a company from Kerala exporting rubber to Brazil. Manimalayar Rubbers Private Ltd - a company owned jointly by the Rubber Board and the Rubber Producers Societies (RPSs) - exported 19 metric tonnes of natural rubber valued at`30 lakh to the South American nation this February. The purchase was made by Industria de Artefatos de Borracha, a company based at Sorocaba in Sao Paulo.

The company is making a foray into the export market in accordance with the Rubber Boards view that export of natural rubber is essential to create positive movements in the domestic market, said Manimalayar Rubbers managing director B Rajeevan. The consignment was exported under the brand name Indian Natural Rubber after a quality check by the Rubber Board. Manimalayar Rubbers procured quality sheet rubber from Aimkombu, Neelur, Kurinji, and Elangulam North RPSs in Kottayam.

Its a unique initiative by the Board and the RPSs. Though Brazil is the place of origin of rubber, the country now requires it from Asian countries. This is a big opportunity for India, said Tomy Abraham, president, Indian Rubber Dealers Federation. Tomy said this is the right time for India to explore export markets as international rubber price is currently higher by `10-15 a kg compared to domestic prices. The rise in rubber production continues in the country and the production of natural rubber during January 2017 showed an increase of 26.93% as compared to the same period last year. Export of natural rubber has also increased. As per Rubber Board data, 12,000 tonnes were exported up to February 20, 2017.

KOCHI: The rubber tree was indigenous to Brazil. Even export of its seeds was prohibited. Then came the Colonial rule that spread the cash crop across Asia. The rubber evolution has now come full circle with a company from Kerala exporting rubber to Brazil. Manimalayar Rubbers Private Ltd - a company owned jointly by the Rubber Board and the Rubber Producers Societies (RPSs) - exported 19 metric tonnes of natural rubber valued at`30 lakh to the South American nation this February. The purchase was made by Industria de Artefatos de Borracha, a company based at Sorocaba in Sao Paulo. The company is making a foray into the export market in accordance with the Rubber Boards view that export of natural rubber is essential to create positive movements in the domestic market, said Manimalayar Rubbers managing director B Rajeevan. The consignment was exported under the brand name Indian Natural Rubber after a quality check by the Rubber Board. Manimalayar Rubbers procured quality sheet rubber from Aimkombu, Neelur, Kurinji, and Elangulam North RPSs in Kottayam. Its a unique initiative by the Board and the RPSs. Though Brazil is the place of origin of rubber, the country now requires it from Asian countries. This is a big opportunity for India, said Tomy Abraham, president, Indian Rubber Dealers Federation. Tomy said this is the right time for India to explore export markets as international rubber price is currently higher by `10-15 a kg compared to domestic prices. The rise in rubber production continues in the country and the production of natural rubber during January 2017 showed an increase of 26.93% as compared to the same period last year. Export of natural rubber has also increased. As per Rubber Board data, 12,000 tonnes were exported up to February 20, 2017.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: While popularity of the ruling TRS is on the rise, some of the ministers approval rating is declining, as per the latest survey results carried out by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to gauge the performance of all MLAs including ministers.



If CM Rao significantly improved his rating as an MLA, along with finance minister Eatela Rajender and irrigation minister T Harish Rao, by moving upwards on the performance indicator, some ministers including IT Minister KT Rama Rao and energy minister G Jagadish Reddy, who had good ratings in the previous survey, witnessed a downswing in their popularity among electors in their respective Assembly segments, during the latest survey.

KCR, who had during the last meeting of the State Cabinet told his colleagues that he had been continuously evaluating the performance of all ministers and legislators with periodical internal surveys, on Thursday during the TRS Legislative Party (TRSLP) meeting, held at Telangana Bhavan here, disclosed details of the latest survey undertaken by the CM himself.



Sources said that, while reading out the results of the survey district-wise, the Chief Minister told his party leaders that the ruling partys approval rating among people is increasing with each passing day. No doubt, our party will win 101 to 106 seats if the elections are held, now. As per the current trend, in the 2019 polls, we will not only retain power but also win more seats and marginalise the opposition parties, Rao reportedly told his party members.

The TRS boss, however, expressed displeasure over the declining popularity of some of his party MLAs including ministers. I am not at all satisfied with the mediocre performance of some of the MLAs. Same is the case with some ministers. Those who are at the bottom of the performance ladder should improve their rankings in the coming days. Or else, they will be shown the door, Rao warned.



Poor performers to be shown door?

Following CMs survey results, the talk in the party circles is that the TRS boss might be preparing the ground for a Cabinet reshuffle. By disclosing his latest survey results, the CM appears to have begun dropping hints that some of the non-performers will be dropped, a TRS leader commented.

HYDERABAD: While popularity of the ruling TRS is on the rise, some of the ministers approval rating is declining, as per the latest survey results carried out by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to gauge the performance of all MLAs including ministers. If CM Rao significantly improved his rating as an MLA, along with finance minister Eatela Rajender and irrigation minister T Harish Rao, by moving upwards on the performance indicator, some ministers including IT Minister KT Rama Rao and energy minister G Jagadish Reddy, who had good ratings in the previous survey, witnessed a downswing in their popularity among electors in their respective Assembly segments, during the latest survey. KCR, who had during the last meeting of the State Cabinet told his colleagues that he had been continuously evaluating the performance of all ministers and legislators with periodical internal surveys, on Thursday during the TRS Legislative Party (TRSLP) meeting, held at Telangana Bhavan here, disclosed details of the latest survey undertaken by the CM himself. Sources said that, while reading out the results of the survey district-wise, the Chief Minister told his party leaders that the ruling partys approval rating among people is increasing with each passing day. No doubt, our party will win 101 to 106 seats if the elections are held, now. As per the current trend, in the 2019 polls, we will not only retain power but also win more seats and marginalise the opposition parties, Rao reportedly told his party members. The TRS boss, however, expressed displeasure over the declining popularity of some of his party MLAs including ministers. I am not at all satisfied with the mediocre performance of some of the MLAs. Same is the case with some ministers. Those who are at the bottom of the performance ladder should improve their rankings in the coming days. Or else, they will be shown the door, Rao warned.Poor performers to be shown door? Following CMs survey results, the talk in the party circles is that the TRS boss might be preparing the ground for a Cabinet reshuffle. By disclosing his latest survey results, the CM appears to have begun dropping hints that some of the non-performers will be dropped, a TRS leader commented.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: A Republican lawmaker has introduced a legislation aimed at suspending Foreign Aid to countries that deny or delay accepting their criminal citizens who have been ordered removed from the United States.

Congressman Glenn Grothman, who introduced the bill, said that in some cases, these criminal citizens have gone on to commit other crimes after their release.

"For instance, China refused to accept a criminal Chinese citizen after he was arrested for assault and ordered deported. The criminal alien stayed in the US and later murdered the same woman he assaulted," he said.

The bill also requires the Department of Homeland Security to submit a report to Congress once a year that lists the countries refusing to allow their criminal citizens to return.

"I find it appalling that we continue to send foreign aid dollars to countries that are actively putting Americans at risk by refusing to accept their criminal aliens, especially when our own country is so deeply in debt," said Grothman.

"My bill shifts our immigration system back in the right direction and halts America's condoning of this bad behaviour," he said.

The US currently has tens of thousands of criminal immigrants that are ordered deported, yet their home countries refuse to take them back.

Instead, these criminal immigrants are released back into the US, posing a threat to American citizens, his office said.

According to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, more than 20 countries have refused to accept their criminal citizens back into their borders.

Currently, the US is planning to send USD 36.5 billion in Foreign Aid in Fiscal Year 2017  a portion of which is sent to these countries that refuse to take back their criminal immigrants.

WASHINGTON: A Republican lawmaker has introduced a legislation aimed at suspending Foreign Aid to countries that deny or delay accepting their criminal citizens who have been ordered removed from the United States. Congressman Glenn Grothman, who introduced the bill, said that in some cases, these criminal citizens have gone on to commit other crimes after their release. "For instance, China refused to accept a criminal Chinese citizen after he was arrested for assault and ordered deported. The criminal alien stayed in the US and later murdered the same woman he assaulted," he said. The bill also requires the Department of Homeland Security to submit a report to Congress once a year that lists the countries refusing to allow their criminal citizens to return. "I find it appalling that we continue to send foreign aid dollars to countries that are actively putting Americans at risk by refusing to accept their criminal aliens, especially when our own country is so deeply in debt," said Grothman. "My bill shifts our immigration system back in the right direction and halts America's condoning of this bad behaviour," he said. The US currently has tens of thousands of criminal immigrants that are ordered deported, yet their home countries refuse to take them back. Instead, these criminal immigrants are released back into the US, posing a threat to American citizens, his office said. According to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, more than 20 countries have refused to accept their criminal citizens back into their borders. Currently, the US is planning to send USD 36.5 billion in Foreign Aid in Fiscal Year 2017  a portion of which is sent to these countries that refuse to take back their criminal immigrants.


A few years ago, backstage at a conference, I spotted a blind woman using her phone. The phone was speaking everything her finger touched on the screen, allowing her to tear through her apps. My jaw hit the floor. After years of practice, she had cranked the voices speed so high, I couldnt understand a word it was saying.

And heres the kicker: She could do all of this with the screen turned off. Her phones battery lasted forever.

Ever since that day, Ive been like a kid at a magic show. Ive wanted to know how its done. Ive wanted an inside look at how the blind could navigate a phone thats basically a slab of featureless glass.

This week, I got my chance. Joseph Danowsky offered to spend a morning with me, showing me the ropes.

Joe majored in economics at the University of Pennsylvania, got a law degree at Harvard, worked in the legal department at Bear Stearns, became head of solutions at Barclays Wealth, and is now a private-client banker at US Trust. He commutes to his office in Manhattan every morning from his home in New Jersey.

Joe was born with cone-rod dystrophy. He can see general shapes and colors, but no detail. (Only about 10 or 15 percent of visually impaired people see no light or color at all.) He cant read a computer screen or printed materials, recognize faces, read street signs or building numbers, or drive. And he certainly cant see whats on his phone.

Yet Joe spends his entire day on his iPhone. In fact, he calls it probably the number one assistive device for people who cant see, right up there with a cane and a seeing eye dog.

The key to all of this is an iPhone (AAPL) feature called VoiceOver. At its heart, its a screen readersoftware that makes the phone speak everything you touch. (Androids TalkBack feature is similar in concept, but blind users find it far less complete; for example, it doesnt work in all apps.)

You turn on VoiceOver in Settings -> General -> Accessibility. If you turn on VoiceOver, you hear a female voice begin reading the names of the controls she sees on the screen. You can adjust the Speaking Rate of the synthesized voice.

Story continues

Theres a lot to learn in VoiceOver mode; people like Joe have its various gestures committed to muscle memory, so that they can operate with incredible speed and confidence.

But the short version is that you touch anything on the screenicons, words, even status icons at the top; as you go, the voice tells you what youre tapping. Messages. Calendar. Mail14 new items. 45 percent battery power. You can tap the dots on the Home screen, and youll hear, Page 3 of 9.

You dont even have to lift your finger; you can just slide it around, getting the lay of the land.

Once youve tapped a screen element, you can also flick your finger left or rightanywhere on the screento walk through everything on the screen, left to right, top to bottom.

Ordinarily, you tap something on the screen to open it. But since single-tapping now means speak this, you need a new way to open everything. So: To open something youve just heard identified, you double tap. (You dont have to wait for the voice to finish talking.) In fact, you can double-tap anywhere on the screen; since the phone already knows whats currently highlighted, its like pressing the Enter key.

There are all kinds of other special gestures in VoiceOver. You can make the voice stop speaking with a two-finger tap; read everything, in sequence, from the top of the screen with a two-finger upward flick; scroll one page at a time with a three-finger flick up or down; go to the next or previous screen (Home, Stocks, and so on) with a three-finger flick left or right; and more.

If you do a three-finger triple-tap, you turn on Screen Curtain, meaning that the screen goes black. You gain visual privacy as well as a heck of a battery boost. (Repeat to turn the screen back on.)

Joe, however, doesnt see that battery boost, since hes on the phone all day long. In fact, hes equipped his phone with one of those backup-battery cases.

The Rotor

Joe also demonstrated for me the Rotor: a brilliant solution to a thorny problem. There are dozens of settings to control in a screen reader like VoiceOver: voice, gender, language, volume, speaking speed, verbosity, and so on. How do you make all of these options available in a concise form that you can call up from within any appespecially for people who cant see controls on the screen?

The Rotor is an imaginary dial. It appears when you twist two fingers on the screen as if you were turning an actual dial.

Each notch around the dial represents a different setting you might want to change: Characters, Words, Speech Rate, Volume, Punctuation, Zoom, and so on.

Lets say we want VoiceOver to read word by word, because theres something there that we want to hear spelled. We bring up the Rotor, Joe told me. Its a deep menu system. And I can choose what Im putting there, and the order. There are 20 or 30 items that could go on the Rotor.

Once youve dialed up a setting, you can get VoiceOver to move from one item to another by flicking a finger up or down. For example, if youve chosen Volume from the Rotor, then you make the playback volume louder or quieter with each flick up or down. If youve chosen Zoom, then each flick adjusts the screen magnification.

The Rotor is especially important if youre reading on the web. It lets you jump among web page elements like pictures, headings, links, text boxes, and so on. Use the Rotor to choose, for example, imagesthen you can flick up and down from one picture to the next on that page.

A day in the life

Joe walked me through a typical day, starting with a check of the weather and the train schedule, followed by a scan of his To Do list and email Inbox; on the train, he might read the news or listen to a podcast, audiobook, or music.

Through the workday, he has a few other tricks:

Theres another gesture, called scrubbing. You take two fingers, and you kind of Z-line it. It means, Go Back.

Getting a cab is very hard for me to do. Ill be standing on the street corner, and people look at me and say, What is this guy doing? They dont see that Im visually impaired, that I cant see if somebodys inside the cab! But now, I call a Lyft car or an Uber car, and its saying, The car is 2 minutes away; I just call him. Im gonna say to the driver, Im on this corner, Ive got a blue shirt on, Ive got a briefcase. I cant recognize you, so just yell out to me when you get there.

Its also kinda cool to be able to project my photos to a huge TV screen. Theres a lot I can see if I get in really close to the screen.

If he needs to read a printed document, Joe uses called Kurzweils KNFB Reader app. As I watched, he used it to photograph a printed letter; instantly, the app converted the image to text and began reading it aloud, with astonishing accuracy.

This was very cool: If Im in my office and put my headphones on, Im hearing the phone call and Im hearing what VoiceOver is saying, all through the headphones. But the person on the other end cannot hear any of the VoiceOver stuff. You dont know what Im reading, what Im doing. I can do all these complicated things without you hearing it. Thats whats really incredible. If you and I were working together on a three-way call, and you were to text me, Lets wrap this up or Dont bring that up on this callI would know, but the other guy wouldnt hear it.

Joe showed me how he takes photos. As he holds up the iPhone, VoiceOver tells him what hes seeing: One face. Centered. Focus lock, and so on. Later, as hes reviewing his photos in the Camera Roll, VoiceOver once again tells him what hes looking at: One face; slightly blurry.

If a cab or an Uber lets me off somewhere, and Im not sure which way is uptown, I open the Compass app. Since NYC is a nice grid, it lets me know which way Im walking.

Or I might just say to Siri, Where am I? She tells me exactly where I am.

Joe uses a lot of text macros. Hes set one up that says, for example, Where are you? when he types.

He knows the positions of all his apps iconsbut often, hell just say to Siri, Open Calendar (or whatever).

The big picture

I asked Joe if theres anything hed ask Apple to improve in VoiceOver.

The biggest problem with the iPhone is when you use it a lot, you need a bigger battery. Im using it all the time. If the phone were just a little thicker, to accommodate a double battery, thatd be a nice thing. Im also a little disappointed they did away with the standard headphone jack, because when you use it a lot, you need to charge it all the time [and the new earbuds plug into the Lightning charging jack].

I pointed out that none of his complaints about the iPhone have anything to do with accessibility. Theyre the same complaints we all have.

I know, he said, laughing. VoiceOver is very consistent and its extremely good. Theres no problem with VoiceOver.

(The Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired would undoubtedly agree; in January, it gave Apple its Louis Braille Award.)

And how about society? What dont we understand? What drives him crazy? Stop grabbing my arm when Im crossing the street, or Stop talking louder to me?

I have to tell you, there arent that many anymore, surprisingly, he replied. As more visually impaired people enter the workforce, there arent too many things, honestly.

Theres an age gap in awareness of these accessibility features, too. What I find is, people who are older, in their 70s, who have macular degeneration and could benefit from this, dont, Joe says. I dont know why. To me, its so intuitive and fast and easy.

Well, heres the bright side: Maybe Joes story will help get the word out.

David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the web, hes davidpogue.com. On Twitter, hes @pogue. On email, hes poguester@yahoo.com. You can read all his articles here or you can sign up to get his columns by email.
By Associated Press

SEATTLE: In stepping up legal challenges to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban, Democratic attorneys general are trying to use the court system to thwart the executive branch in the same way their GOP counterparts did under President Barack Obama.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday he was asking a federal judge to find that his order last month halting the old travel ban applies to the new one, too.

Ferguson's action came a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit. Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, New York and Massachusetts planned to file a new complaint challenging the revised travel ban Monday.

"My message to President Trump is: Not so fast," Ferguson said.

Ferguson and his fellow Democratic attorneys general are now doing what Republicans did when Obama was in office  filing lawsuits to block policies. Republican attorneys general took Obama to court over a variety of issues, most notably his health care legislation.

Attorneys general are the chief lawyers for state governments and can sue more broadly on behalf of their states. Most are elected and can act independently of their legislatures or governors, although Ferguson, for example, has the support of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, also a Democrat.

Trump's revised ban bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.

Unlike the initial order, the new one says current visa holders won't be affected, and removes language that would give priority to religious minorities.

Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said that the state could not stay silent on Trump's travel ban because of Hawaii's unique culture and history. Hawaii depends heavily on tourism, and the revised ban would hurt the state's economy, he said.

The courts need to hear "that there's a state where ethnic diversity is the norm, where people are welcomed with aloha and respect," Chin said.

In the original lawsuit targeting the first ban, Ferguson said it was unconstitutional and hurt the state's businesses and universities.

Ferguson said it's not the government, but the court, that gets to decide whether the revised order is different enough that it would not be covered by previous temporary restraining order.

"When a court enjoins a defendant from implementing policies, the defendant cannot evade that injunction simply by reissuing the same basic policies in a new form," Washington state Solicitor General Noah Purcell said in the state's new court filing. "Courts do not issue injunctive relief in a game of whack-a-mole, forced to start anew at a defendant's whim."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration believed the revised travel ban will stand up to legal scrutiny.

"We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given," Spicer said.

Ferguson said he was pleased other that attorneys general had sought to take part in the legal action. On Thursday, the Seattle judge granted Oregon's request to join Washington and Minnesota in the case opposing the travel ban; New York and Massachusetts say they'll also join the case.

All of those states except Pennsylvania and Iowa were won by Trump's Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, in last year's presidential election.

"We have a strong case and they are willing to join our efforts," Ferguson said of his fellow Democrats. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement called the executive order "a Muslim ban by another name."

Other states that have filed briefs supporting Washington's initial lawsuit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

SEATTLE: In stepping up legal challenges to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban, Democratic attorneys general are trying to use the court system to thwart the executive branch in the same way their GOP counterparts did under President Barack Obama. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday he was asking a federal judge to find that his order last month halting the old travel ban applies to the new one, too. Ferguson's action came a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit. Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, New York and Massachusetts planned to file a new complaint challenging the revised travel ban Monday. "My message to President Trump is: Not so fast," Ferguson said. Ferguson and his fellow Democratic attorneys general are now doing what Republicans did when Obama was in office  filing lawsuits to block policies. Republican attorneys general took Obama to court over a variety of issues, most notably his health care legislation. Attorneys general are the chief lawyers for state governments and can sue more broadly on behalf of their states. Most are elected and can act independently of their legislatures or governors, although Ferguson, for example, has the support of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, also a Democrat. Trump's revised ban bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program. Unlike the initial order, the new one says current visa holders won't be affected, and removes language that would give priority to religious minorities. Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said that the state could not stay silent on Trump's travel ban because of Hawaii's unique culture and history. Hawaii depends heavily on tourism, and the revised ban would hurt the state's economy, he said. The courts need to hear "that there's a state where ethnic diversity is the norm, where people are welcomed with aloha and respect," Chin said. In the original lawsuit targeting the first ban, Ferguson said it was unconstitutional and hurt the state's businesses and universities. Ferguson said it's not the government, but the court, that gets to decide whether the revised order is different enough that it would not be covered by previous temporary restraining order. "When a court enjoins a defendant from implementing policies, the defendant cannot evade that injunction simply by reissuing the same basic policies in a new form," Washington state Solicitor General Noah Purcell said in the state's new court filing. "Courts do not issue injunctive relief in a game of whack-a-mole, forced to start anew at a defendant's whim." White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration believed the revised travel ban will stand up to legal scrutiny. "We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given," Spicer said. Ferguson said he was pleased other that attorneys general had sought to take part in the legal action. On Thursday, the Seattle judge granted Oregon's request to join Washington and Minnesota in the case opposing the travel ban; New York and Massachusetts say they'll also join the case. All of those states except Pennsylvania and Iowa were won by Trump's Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, in last year's presidential election. "We have a strong case and they are willing to join our efforts," Ferguson said of his fellow Democrats. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement called the executive order "a Muslim ban by another name." Other states that have filed briefs supporting Washington's initial lawsuit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.
By IANS

MOSCOW: Irans Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) have successfully test-fired a domestically built Hormuz-2 ballistic missile, media reports said on Thursday.



A floating target was destroyed from a distance of 250 kilometers, Russian news agency TASS cited Tasnim news agency as saying.



However, this missile is capable of engaging targets at a distance of up to 300 kilometers.



"The naval ballistic missile called Hormuz-2 has successfully destroyed a target that was 250 kilometers away," Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force, was quoted as saying.



The announcements follow earlier reports by the US media of an Iranian missile test.



Fox News had reported on Monday that the IRGC had fired two short-range missiles over southeastern Iran -- one on March 4 that missed its target and another on March 5 that hit its intended target.

MOSCOW: Irans Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) have successfully test-fired a domestically built Hormuz-2 ballistic missile, media reports said on Thursday. A floating target was destroyed from a distance of 250 kilometers, Russian news agency TASS cited Tasnim news agency as saying. However, this missile is capable of engaging targets at a distance of up to 300 kilometers. "The naval ballistic missile called Hormuz-2 has successfully destroyed a target that was 250 kilometers away," Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force, was quoted as saying. The announcements follow earlier reports by the US media of an Iranian missile test. Fox News had reported on Monday that the IRGC had fired two short-range missiles over southeastern Iran -- one on March 4 that missed its target and another on March 5 that hit its intended target.
By AFP

GAZA CITY: Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Friday denounced planned Israeli legislation that would quieten mosques, warning such a law would face stiff resistance.

The Israeli parliament on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to two controversial measures that would limit calls to prayers from mosques in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, including one prohibiting the use of loudspeakers at all hours.

Ismail Haniya, deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, condemned the move.

"This decision will not pass," he said after Friday prayers in the Gaza Strip, which the Islamists run.

"Our people and nation will raise the Azan all over the world," he said, using the Arabic word for the Muslim call to prayer.

While the bills in theory would apply to any religious place of worship, Muslims say they are clearly meant to silence the traditional call to prayer at mosques.

The measures have become commonly known as the "muezzin law" after the Muslim official charged with calling the faithful to prayer, often through powerful speakers mounted on minarets.

The notion of Israeli legislation silencing mosques has sparked outrage around the Arab and wider Muslim world.

Supporters of the move say it is needed to prevent daily disturbance to the lives of hundreds of thousands Israelis.

Wednesday's bills were approved after a heated discussion that turned into shouting matches between ruling coalition members and Arab lawmakers, some of whom tore copies of the legislation and were ejected from the chamber.

GAZA CITY: Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Friday denounced planned Israeli legislation that would quieten mosques, warning such a law would face stiff resistance. The Israeli parliament on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to two controversial measures that would limit calls to prayers from mosques in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, including one prohibiting the use of loudspeakers at all hours. Ismail Haniya, deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, condemned the move. "This decision will not pass," he said after Friday prayers in the Gaza Strip, which the Islamists run. "Our people and nation will raise the Azan all over the world," he said, using the Arabic word for the Muslim call to prayer. While the bills in theory would apply to any religious place of worship, Muslims say they are clearly meant to silence the traditional call to prayer at mosques. The measures have become commonly known as the "muezzin law" after the Muslim official charged with calling the faithful to prayer, often through powerful speakers mounted on minarets. The notion of Israeli legislation silencing mosques has sparked outrage around the Arab and wider Muslim world. Supporters of the move say it is needed to prevent daily disturbance to the lives of hundreds of thousands Israelis. Wednesday's bills were approved after a heated discussion that turned into shouting matches between ruling coalition members and Arab lawmakers, some of whom tore copies of the legislation and were ejected from the chamber.
By Associated Press

TOKYO: Japan is ending its peacekeeping mission in troubled South Sudan after five years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday.

Abe said Japan would not renew the mission after the current rotation returns in May. The 350-person team has focused on road construction.

The team, which arrived in South Sudan in November, was Japan's first with an expanded mandate to use force if necessary to protect civilians and U.N. staff. The Japanese military's use of force is limited by the post-World War II constitution.

Abe said Japan would continue to assist South Sudan in other ways such as with food and humanitarian support, and will keep some personnel at the U.N. peacekeeping command office.

"As South Sudan enters a new phase of nation-building, we have decided that we can now put an end to our infrastructure building efforts," Abe told reporters.

The announcement came amid concern about the safety of the Japanese troops in South Sudan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, however, denied that led to the decision.

"The decision is a result of our comprehensive considerations and not because of the deteriorating security situation," he said.

Ateny Wek Ateny, a spokesman for South Sudan President Salva Kiir, said he was not aware of the Japanese decision. Japanese officials said Tokyo has notified both South Sudan's government and the United Nations of its decision.

Japanese defense officials have recently come under fire over their reluctance to explain the deteriorating security situation in the area where Japan's troops operate. The peacekeepers' daily log from last July, which the defense ministry initially said had been destroyed, described nearby clashes and concern about becoming embroiled in the fighting. Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has repeatedly refused to acknowledge any local combat action.

Opposition lawmakers and peace activists have accused the government of trying to cover up the worsening safety situation. They say the government violated Japan's war-renouncing constitutional principles by continuing with the mission despite the nearby fighting.

Japan's earlier missions in South Sudan and other areas, including Golan Heights and Cambodia were limited to post-cease-fire assistance and noncombat roles.

The departure of the Japanese peacekeepers is a setback for international support of South Sudan's government. In a speech last month, Kiir singled out Abe and Japan for "continued support to the government and people of South Sudan."

Hopes were high that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011. But the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 between forces loyal to Kiir and those loyal to his former vice president.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 has failed, and clashes last July between the two forces set off further violence, killing tens of thousands of people and forcing 3.1 million to flee their homes. An estimated 100,000 people are experiencing famine, and 1 million others are on the brink of starvation.

The U.N. Security Council decided in August to send 4,000 more peacekeepers after clashes the previous month killed hundreds in South Sudan's capital, Juba. Some progress was mentioned in a U.N. secretary-general's report this week.

TOKYO: Japan is ending its peacekeeping mission in troubled South Sudan after five years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Friday. Abe said Japan would not renew the mission after the current rotation returns in May. The 350-person team has focused on road construction. The team, which arrived in South Sudan in November, was Japan's first with an expanded mandate to use force if necessary to protect civilians and U.N. staff. The Japanese military's use of force is limited by the post-World War II constitution. Abe said Japan would continue to assist South Sudan in other ways such as with food and humanitarian support, and will keep some personnel at the U.N. peacekeeping command office. "As South Sudan enters a new phase of nation-building, we have decided that we can now put an end to our infrastructure building efforts," Abe told reporters. The announcement came amid concern about the safety of the Japanese troops in South Sudan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, however, denied that led to the decision. "The decision is a result of our comprehensive considerations and not because of the deteriorating security situation," he said. Ateny Wek Ateny, a spokesman for South Sudan President Salva Kiir, said he was not aware of the Japanese decision. Japanese officials said Tokyo has notified both South Sudan's government and the United Nations of its decision. Japanese defense officials have recently come under fire over their reluctance to explain the deteriorating security situation in the area where Japan's troops operate. The peacekeepers' daily log from last July, which the defense ministry initially said had been destroyed, described nearby clashes and concern about becoming embroiled in the fighting. Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has repeatedly refused to acknowledge any local combat action. Opposition lawmakers and peace activists have accused the government of trying to cover up the worsening safety situation. They say the government violated Japan's war-renouncing constitutional principles by continuing with the mission despite the nearby fighting. Japan's earlier missions in South Sudan and other areas, including Golan Heights and Cambodia were limited to post-cease-fire assistance and noncombat roles. The departure of the Japanese peacekeepers is a setback for international support of South Sudan's government. In a speech last month, Kiir singled out Abe and Japan for "continued support to the government and people of South Sudan." Hopes were high that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011. But the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 between forces loyal to Kiir and those loyal to his former vice president. A peace deal signed in August 2015 has failed, and clashes last July between the two forces set off further violence, killing tens of thousands of people and forcing 3.1 million to flee their homes. An estimated 100,000 people are experiencing famine, and 1 million others are on the brink of starvation. The U.N. Security Council decided in August to send 4,000 more peacekeepers after clashes the previous month killed hundreds in South Sudan's capital, Juba. Some progress was mentioned in a U.N. secretary-general's report this week.
By AFP

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on Friday a plan to pull the nation's engineering troops from South Sudan in May after five years of a peace-keeping mission.

"As South Sudan's nation-building reaches a new stage, I assessed that the Self Defense Force's construction and maintenance work in Juba has reached," an appropriate point to end, Abe told reporters.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stressed at a separate news conference that it was not due to a deterioration in security in the area, according to Kyodo News.

Currently roughly 350 Japanese military engineer troops are in the violence-hit nation as part of the UN peacekeeping mission to perform tasks such as road construction and maintenance.

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, was engulfed by a civil war in 2013 and faces various humanitarian crises such as famine.

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on Friday a plan to pull the nation's engineering troops from South Sudan in May after five years of a peace-keeping mission. "As South Sudan's nation-building reaches a new stage, I assessed that the Self Defense Force's construction and maintenance work in Juba has reached," an appropriate point to end, Abe told reporters. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stressed at a separate news conference that it was not due to a deterioration in security in the area, according to Kyodo News. Currently roughly 350 Japanese military engineer troops are in the violence-hit nation as part of the UN peacekeeping mission to perform tasks such as road construction and maintenance. South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, was engulfed by a civil war in 2013 and faces various humanitarian crises such as famine.
By AFP

COLOMBO: Maldivian opposition parties protested today a planned visit by King Salman following reports that Saudi business interests were buying an entire atoll in the politically-troubled Indian Ocean republic.

A coalition of opposition parties and dissidents said they would stage street demonstrations against the alleged sale of islands when the Saudi monarch and his 1,000-strong entourage visits the Maldives.

"We will make it very clear to the Saudi Royals that we are against the sale of our land," former Maldives foreign minister Ahmed Naseem told reporters in Colombo. He said there were persistent reports in the Maldives that either the Saudi government or a Saudi business entity was buying an atoll of 28 small coral islands for billions of dollars.

The announcement by the Colombo-based Maldives United Opposition (MUO) came a day after the government of President Abdulla Yameen denied it was selling islands to the Saudis or anyone else.

However, the MUO insisted that the government was planning to go ahead with a deal that could be worth twice the USD 5.2 billion economy of the island nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims. MUO leaders accused Yameen's regime of ordering a crackdown on opposition activists ahead of the royal visit, which is part of the monarch's Asian tour which began in Malaysia and has taken him to Indonesia.

He is due to travel to China and Japan before ending the tour in the Maldives. The Maldivian opposition accuses Yameen of ceding control of the inhabited atoll of Faafu to Saudi Arabia. In 2015, Yameen lifted a ban on foreign ownership of real estate.

Land is scarce in the Maldives where 99.9 per cent of its territory is sea and the nation's 1,192 tiny coral islands account for just 300 square kilometres (115 square miles) of land.

However, the islands are strategically located -- scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator -- straddling the main East-West international shipping lanes. The country is a popular upmarket holiday destination but its image has been hit by political unrest in recent years.

COLOMBO: Maldivian opposition parties protested today a planned visit by King Salman following reports that Saudi business interests were buying an entire atoll in the politically-troubled Indian Ocean republic. A coalition of opposition parties and dissidents said they would stage street demonstrations against the alleged sale of islands when the Saudi monarch and his 1,000-strong entourage visits the Maldives. "We will make it very clear to the Saudi Royals that we are against the sale of our land," former Maldives foreign minister Ahmed Naseem told reporters in Colombo. He said there were persistent reports in the Maldives that either the Saudi government or a Saudi business entity was buying an atoll of 28 small coral islands for billions of dollars. The announcement by the Colombo-based Maldives United Opposition (MUO) came a day after the government of President Abdulla Yameen denied it was selling islands to the Saudis or anyone else. However, the MUO insisted that the government was planning to go ahead with a deal that could be worth twice the USD 5.2 billion economy of the island nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims. MUO leaders accused Yameen's regime of ordering a crackdown on opposition activists ahead of the royal visit, which is part of the monarch's Asian tour which began in Malaysia and has taken him to Indonesia. He is due to travel to China and Japan before ending the tour in the Maldives. The Maldivian opposition accuses Yameen of ceding control of the inhabited atoll of Faafu to Saudi Arabia. In 2015, Yameen lifted a ban on foreign ownership of real estate. Land is scarce in the Maldives where 99.9 per cent of its territory is sea and the nation's 1,192 tiny coral islands account for just 300 square kilometres (115 square miles) of land. However, the islands are strategically located -- scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator -- straddling the main East-West international shipping lanes. The country is a popular upmarket holiday destination but its image has been hit by political unrest in recent years.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's parliament is set to debate a bill next week that would legalize trials before military courts for another two years, a measure human rights activists say negates the basic principles of justice and denies those on trial the chance for a fair defense.

The bill, designed to combat terrorism, was presented before the lower house of parliament Friday by law minister Zahid Hamid.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government was expected to fast-track the draft before lawmakers amid indications the National Assembly  the lower house of parliament  would unanimously back the constitutional amendment.

All parties except for slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party agreed on the government proposed draft.

A member of the PPP, the main opposition party, said her party had suggestions that should be incorporated in the draft. Azra Fazal said the bill was not acceptable unless debated and improved. The session was adjourned until Monday when the debate would take place.

The proposed amendment authorizes the military to try any suspect on terrorism-related charges.

Barrister Zafarullah Khan, adviser to the prime minister on law and human rights, said there was a consensus between all the political parties that under extraordinary circumstances "we have to set military courts." But, he said, there are some small differences on certain points.

A similar amendment was adopted in 2015, allowing military courts to carry out trials of suspected militants under a two-year mandate, which expired in January.

That measure came after a December 2014 Taliban attack at a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, which killed 154 people, mostly schoolchildren. The assault also prompted Pakistan to lift its moratorium on the death penalty. Since then, more than 400 convicts have been executed, though most were not linked to terrorism-related cases.

Along with military trials, Pakistani forces have carried out several military operations against militants in lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, including a major push that began in mid-2014 in North Waziristan, a militant base.

Militants in Pakistan have killed tens of thousands of people over the years, seeking to overthrow the government and install their own harsh brand of Islamic law.

Last month, authorities expanded the powers of the paramilitary Rangers to include the eastern Punjab province. Previously, the force could only pursue and arrest suspects in the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan, as well as in the northwest.

Rights groups have consistently criticized the military courts, which had a total of 274 cases referred to them over the past two years. During that time, the courts sentenced 161 people to death.

"They don't meet the internationally accepted principles of justice. These courts don't give the suspects the right to select a lawyer," Zohra Yusuf, who heads the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told The Associated Press.

The trials are conducted by army officers  not lawyers  who lack proper legal background and experience, she said. The trials are held behind closed doors and suspects' families often learn about the rulings against their kin through the media.

Instead of relying on military courts to be judge, jury and executioner, Yusuf appealed to authorities to reform the country's judicial system.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's parliament is set to debate a bill next week that would legalize trials before military courts for another two years, a measure human rights activists say negates the basic principles of justice and denies those on trial the chance for a fair defense. The bill, designed to combat terrorism, was presented before the lower house of parliament Friday by law minister Zahid Hamid. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government was expected to fast-track the draft before lawmakers amid indications the National Assembly  the lower house of parliament  would unanimously back the constitutional amendment. All parties except for slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party agreed on the government proposed draft. A member of the PPP, the main opposition party, said her party had suggestions that should be incorporated in the draft. Azra Fazal said the bill was not acceptable unless debated and improved. The session was adjourned until Monday when the debate would take place. The proposed amendment authorizes the military to try any suspect on terrorism-related charges. Barrister Zafarullah Khan, adviser to the prime minister on law and human rights, said there was a consensus between all the political parties that under extraordinary circumstances "we have to set military courts." But, he said, there are some small differences on certain points. A similar amendment was adopted in 2015, allowing military courts to carry out trials of suspected militants under a two-year mandate, which expired in January. That measure came after a December 2014 Taliban attack at a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, which killed 154 people, mostly schoolchildren. The assault also prompted Pakistan to lift its moratorium on the death penalty. Since then, more than 400 convicts have been executed, though most were not linked to terrorism-related cases. Along with military trials, Pakistani forces have carried out several military operations against militants in lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, including a major push that began in mid-2014 in North Waziristan, a militant base. Militants in Pakistan have killed tens of thousands of people over the years, seeking to overthrow the government and install their own harsh brand of Islamic law. Last month, authorities expanded the powers of the paramilitary Rangers to include the eastern Punjab province. Previously, the force could only pursue and arrest suspects in the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan, as well as in the northwest. Rights groups have consistently criticized the military courts, which had a total of 274 cases referred to them over the past two years. During that time, the courts sentenced 161 people to death. "They don't meet the internationally accepted principles of justice. These courts don't give the suspects the right to select a lawyer," Zohra Yusuf, who heads the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told The Associated Press. The trials are conducted by army officers  not lawyers  who lack proper legal background and experience, she said. The trials are held behind closed doors and suspects' families often learn about the rulings against their kin through the media. Instead of relying on military courts to be judge, jury and executioner, Yusuf appealed to authorities to reform the country's judicial system.
By Associated Press

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin hailed close ties between the Russian and Turkey militaries as he welcomed Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for Friday's talks focusing on Syria.

Russia and Turkey co-brokered a cease-fire in December that helped reduce the scale of fighting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition, and they also co-sponsored two rounds of talks this year between Assad's government and its foes. A third round is set for next week.

Russia and Turkey also coordinated their operations against the Islamic State group in Syria. A Russian air raid last month accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers, but the incident didn't derail the military coordination.

"We are actively working to solve the most acute crises, first of all in Syria," Putin said as he greeted Erdogan at the start of the talks in the Kremlin. "I'm very pleased to note, and few seemed to expect it, that our military and special services have established such efficient and close contact."

Earlier this week, the chief military officers from Russia, the U.S. and Turkey met in the Turkish city of Antalya in an apparent attempt to work out additional steps to prevent incidents. The talks also focused on how to help assuage mutual mistrust between Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces, U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, and Russian-allied Syrian government forces all fighting their way toward IS' de facto capital, Raqqa.

Putin scheduled a meeting of his Security Council including top military and intelligence officials later Friday to follow the talks with Erdogan.

The increasingly close cooperation on Syria between Russia and Turkey marked a sharp turnaround for the two nations, which have backed opposing sides in Syria, with Moscow siding with Assad and Turkey supporting his foes since the start of the Syrian conflict six years ago.

The conflicting interests led to the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish jet at the Syrian border in November 2015, which put the two nations on the verge of a direct military conflict. Moscow responded by barring the sales of package tours to Turkey and halting imports of agricultural products, moves that badly squeezed the Turkish economy.

Erdogan's apologies for downing the plane helped rebuild ties, and Putin offered firm support to the Turkish leader in the wake of a botched coup last July.

Despite the rapprochement, Russia has moved gradually to lift economic restrictions, keeping some in place as an apparent motivator for Turkey. On the eve of the Kremlin talks, the Russian Cabinet allowed the imports of Turkish cauliflower and broccoli and a couple of other agricultural products.

"We are pleased to see our ties recovering at a quick tempo," Putin said.

Erdogan, who called the Russian leader his "dear friend," urged Russia to lift all restrictions against Turkish business, restore visa-free travel and increase the number of commercial flights between the two countries.

During the Kremlin talks, he noted that cooperation in building a prospective Russian natural gas pipeline and a nuclear power plant in Turkey also have regained pace. Both projects were put on hold amid the tensions following the Russian plane's downing.

Reaching out to Russia, Erdogan also voiced interest in developing cooperation in defense industries.

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin hailed close ties between the Russian and Turkey militaries as he welcomed Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for Friday's talks focusing on Syria. Russia and Turkey co-brokered a cease-fire in December that helped reduce the scale of fighting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition, and they also co-sponsored two rounds of talks this year between Assad's government and its foes. A third round is set for next week. Russia and Turkey also coordinated their operations against the Islamic State group in Syria. A Russian air raid last month accidentally killed three Turkish soldiers, but the incident didn't derail the military coordination. "We are actively working to solve the most acute crises, first of all in Syria," Putin said as he greeted Erdogan at the start of the talks in the Kremlin. "I'm very pleased to note, and few seemed to expect it, that our military and special services have established such efficient and close contact." Earlier this week, the chief military officers from Russia, the U.S. and Turkey met in the Turkish city of Antalya in an apparent attempt to work out additional steps to prevent incidents. The talks also focused on how to help assuage mutual mistrust between Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces, U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, and Russian-allied Syrian government forces all fighting their way toward IS' de facto capital, Raqqa. Putin scheduled a meeting of his Security Council including top military and intelligence officials later Friday to follow the talks with Erdogan. The increasingly close cooperation on Syria between Russia and Turkey marked a sharp turnaround for the two nations, which have backed opposing sides in Syria, with Moscow siding with Assad and Turkey supporting his foes since the start of the Syrian conflict six years ago. The conflicting interests led to the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish jet at the Syrian border in November 2015, which put the two nations on the verge of a direct military conflict. Moscow responded by barring the sales of package tours to Turkey and halting imports of agricultural products, moves that badly squeezed the Turkish economy. Erdogan's apologies for downing the plane helped rebuild ties, and Putin offered firm support to the Turkish leader in the wake of a botched coup last July. Despite the rapprochement, Russia has moved gradually to lift economic restrictions, keeping some in place as an apparent motivator for Turkey. On the eve of the Kremlin talks, the Russian Cabinet allowed the imports of Turkish cauliflower and broccoli and a couple of other agricultural products. "We are pleased to see our ties recovering at a quick tempo," Putin said. Erdogan, who called the Russian leader his "dear friend," urged Russia to lift all restrictions against Turkish business, restore visa-free travel and increase the number of commercial flights between the two countries. During the Kremlin talks, he noted that cooperation in building a prospective Russian natural gas pipeline and a nuclear power plant in Turkey also have regained pace. Both projects were put on hold amid the tensions following the Russian plane's downing. Reaching out to Russia, Erdogan also voiced interest in developing cooperation in defense industries.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: A 63-year-old Sikh man has been arrested in the US for allegedly killing his "disrespectful" Muslim daughter-in law by hitting her on the head several times with a hammer.

Amarjit Singh was taken into custody on Wednesday on suspicion of murder and booked at the Solano County jail in San Francisco Bay, according to the Suisun City Police Department. Singh confessed that he was upset with his daughter- in-law Shameena Bibi for being "disrespectful".

Singh confronted the 29-year-old daughter-in-law in the garage and attacked her with a hammer, police was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times. A family member called police to report what appeared to be a body in the garage.

When officers and firefighters arrived, they found Bibi suffering from "major blunt force trauma to the head", police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Bibi's mother-in-law and her 2-year-old son were inside the home when the fatal attack occurred, police said. She lived at the home with Singh, her mother-in-law, her husband and her toddler, police said.

"There was some previous issues regarding the family member and the father-in-law's acceptance of her being in the family," a police official said.

WASHINGTON: A 63-year-old Sikh man has been arrested in the US for allegedly killing his "disrespectful" Muslim daughter-in law by hitting her on the head several times with a hammer. Amarjit Singh was taken into custody on Wednesday on suspicion of murder and booked at the Solano County jail in San Francisco Bay, according to the Suisun City Police Department. Singh confessed that he was upset with his daughter- in-law Shameena Bibi for being "disrespectful". Singh confronted the 29-year-old daughter-in-law in the garage and attacked her with a hammer, police was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times. A family member called police to report what appeared to be a body in the garage. When officers and firefighters arrived, they found Bibi suffering from "major blunt force trauma to the head", police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Bibi's mother-in-law and her 2-year-old son were inside the home when the fatal attack occurred, police said. She lived at the home with Singh, her mother-in-law, her husband and her toddler, police said. "There was some previous issues regarding the family member and the father-in-law's acceptance of her being in the family," a police official said.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: A Sikh man shot outside his home in Washington state by a partially-masked gunman shouting "go back to your own country" was targeted because of his ethnic origin, authorities have said as they announced a reward of up to USD 6,000 for anyone providing a lead in the case.

US national Deep Rai, 39, was working on his vehicle outside his home in Kent on March 3 when he was approached by a stranger, who first argued with Rai, and then shot him in the arm.

"The account provided by the victim suggests that he was targeted because of his ethnic origin," Kent Police chief Ken Thomas told reporters yesterday, adding "Hateful acts are not acceptable."

Nearly a week after the shooting that stoked fears among the Indian-American community, the police released the sketch of the shooter. Thomas said the lone white shooter make, about six-feet tall, medium built and between 35-40 years of age.

On the day of the shooting, he was wearing a dark-coloured or black hoodie in addition to dark coloured clothing. The lower portion of his face was covered with a mask.

The incident is being investigated by the Kent Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a hate crime.

Unable to find any lead towards the shooter, who is still at large, the authorities have announced a reward of up to USD 6,000 for anyone providing information that could lead to his arrest.

"The Kent Police Department is concerned about any act of violence in our community. The possibility of a hateful violence underscores the need of a through and serious examination of the circumstances around this criminal incident," Thomas said.

After the shooting the suspect departed on foot in an unknown direction, he said.

Thomas said it's early in the investigation and still trying to learn the exact circumstances. "(Rai) was wearing a turban. With the dynamics of the situation that occurred we do believe the victim was targeted...," he said.

The Kent Police Department is committed to protect community members, "particularly if they may be targeted because of their race, gender, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation or other protected class. For that reason we have partnered with the FBI to ensure we bring all investigative resources to bear to this case," he said.

The FBI Seattle Field Agent told reporters that the agency has opened a full civil rights investigation into this matter along with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

"We opened this case to help Kent Police Department to figure out whether or not there was bias, specifically bias related to Federal hate crimes laws in this matter," he said.

WASHINGTON: A Sikh man shot outside his home in Washington state by a partially-masked gunman shouting "go back to your own country" was targeted because of his ethnic origin, authorities have said as they announced a reward of up to USD 6,000 for anyone providing a lead in the case. US national Deep Rai, 39, was working on his vehicle outside his home in Kent on March 3 when he was approached by a stranger, who first argued with Rai, and then shot him in the arm. "The account provided by the victim suggests that he was targeted because of his ethnic origin," Kent Police chief Ken Thomas told reporters yesterday, adding "Hateful acts are not acceptable." Nearly a week after the shooting that stoked fears among the Indian-American community, the police released the sketch of the shooter. Thomas said the lone white shooter make, about six-feet tall, medium built and between 35-40 years of age. On the day of the shooting, he was wearing a dark-coloured or black hoodie in addition to dark coloured clothing. The lower portion of his face was covered with a mask. The incident is being investigated by the Kent Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a hate crime. Unable to find any lead towards the shooter, who is still at large, the authorities have announced a reward of up to USD 6,000 for anyone providing information that could lead to his arrest. "The Kent Police Department is concerned about any act of violence in our community. The possibility of a hateful violence underscores the need of a through and serious examination of the circumstances around this criminal incident," Thomas said. After the shooting the suspect departed on foot in an unknown direction, he said. Thomas said it's early in the investigation and still trying to learn the exact circumstances. "(Rai) was wearing a turban. With the dynamics of the situation that occurred we do believe the victim was targeted...," he said. The Kent Police Department is committed to protect community members, "particularly if they may be targeted because of their race, gender, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation or other protected class. For that reason we have partnered with the FBI to ensure we bring all investigative resources to bear to this case," he said. The FBI Seattle Field Agent told reporters that the agency has opened a full civil rights investigation into this matter along with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. "We opened this case to help Kent Police Department to figure out whether or not there was bias, specifically bias related to Federal hate crimes laws in this matter," he said.
Despite push for gender diversity on boards, Asia lags behind in female representation

Asia is playing catch-up in the race towards greater gender diversity on company boards and in the workplace, though notable progress has been made, with a report out of Hong Kong showing the good and the bad.

Despite growing research on the benefits of gender diverse boards  including improved company performance, sensitivity to consumer trends, and stronger governance  Asian companies lag international counterparts in placing women in executive positions, according to the latest Women on Boards Hong Kong Report released on Wednesday.

The report coincides with International Women's Day and also offers a bit of hope.

For the first time since the study was launched in 2009, one-fifth of Hong Kong boards achieved 20 percent or higher female participation. There was also a decline in all-male boards.

The representation of women on the boards of Hong Kong 's leading companies increased marginally to 12.4 percent in 2017, after stagnating at 11.1 percent for the past two years, according to the report, which analysed Hong Kong's top companies listed on the Hang Seng Index (HSI). The report looked at data between Jan. 3, 2016 to Jan. 2, 2017.

The study was released by Community Business, a Hong Kong-based not-for-profit organization promoting responsible and inclusive business standards in Asia, and launched in partnership with global executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles.

"Two ongoing issues are whether capable female leaders are being promoted to board positions, and whether there is a big enough pool of senior female leaders who are truly board-ready," said Steve Mullinjer, regional leader for Asia Pacific at Heidrick & Struggles.

He recognized that boards with a "good mix of nationalities, age groups, gender and cultural backgrounds, as well as skills and experience, can lead to better decision making and improve a company's bottom line. "

These changes were driven primarily by a few companies. Only four out of 14 HSI companies- CK Hutchinson Holdings (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 1-HK), China Life Insurance Company (Shanghai Stock Exchange: 1628-SZ), China Merchants Port Holdings Company, The Bank of East Asia (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 23-HK)- experienced an increase in the percentage of women on boards last year had actively increased the number of female directors.

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A few companies stood out as being highly committed to increasing gender diversity. CLP Holdings (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 2-HK), HSBC Holdings (London Stock Exchange: HSBA-GB), Link Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and MTR Corporation (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 66-HK) all saw a net increase in the number and percentage of female directors on these company boards over the last five years. In addition, these companies had internal initiatives in place to support the development of female executives.

In Hong Kong, the banking sector led the way when it came to appointing female CEOs, with HSBC (London Stock Exchange: HSBA-GB) and Standard Chartered (London Stock Exchange: STAN-GB) appointing women at the helm.

Hong Kong's progress pales in comparison against its global counterparts such as the United Kingdom, where female representation on FTSE 100 boards has tripled since 2009 to 26.8 percent, and is now voluntarily targeting 33 percent by 2020.

Within Asia, Malaysia has superseded Hong Kong in its increase in representation of female directors, from 9.7 percent to 14.6 percent in just four years. It could be simply that Asian companies are seeing less of the benefits of a gender diverse board, the study noted. But such a mindset may backfire and send top-notch Asian female executives to seek further opportunities abroad at multinational corporations that value their diverse skill-set.

The 30 percent Club Hong Kong launched a campaign last year to increase the percentage of women directors on HSI company boards to 20 percent by 2020, working toward a long-term goal of 30 percent. But Hong Kong executives think the push towards diverse boards goes beyond mandated quotas, and gender.

"I am not a fan of quotas. Regardless of gender, you should be considered for a board position because of the skills, relationships, experience and insights that you bring to the table." said Poh Lee Tan, independent non-executive director at Link Real Estate Investment Trust, in the report.

This limited progress is also echoed in Singapore , where remuneration of females in Singapore Exchange-listed (SGX) boards trail behind their male counterparts.

A recent study by the National University of Singapore's Business School's Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations has found that significant disparities in salary between both genders were present across all categories of directors and all firm sizes.

The study, which made use of director remuneration disclosures required under SGX's new corporate governance code, found that on average, female directors of SGX-listed companies earned 56.8 percent of their male counterparts. The largest discrepancies in salary were found among firms with a market capitalization over $1 billion, at 45.5 percent, and among executive directors, at 43.9 percent.

There is growing international consensus that a gender diverse board correlates with better company performance. In a 2015 study by MSCI on women representation on companies in the MSCI World Index, it was found that companies with strong female leadership generated a Return on Equity of 10.1 percent per year vs. 7.4 percent for those without.

Despite this, progress remains slow.

"The rate of new appointments to women has really failed to accelerate," Fern Ngai, CEO of Community Business told CNBC's " Squawk Box ."

"Board diversity may still struggle to make it onto the agenda for much of the business community in Hong Kong." She urged Hong Kong companies actively develop a sustainable strategy to advance female talent to senior executive and board roles.

Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
By IANS

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis will make an official visit to Colombia from September 6 to 11, the Vatican announced on Friday.



"Accepting the invitation of the President of the Republic and the Colombian bishops, His Holiness the Pope Francis will make an Apostolic Trip to Colombia from September 6 to 11, 2017, visiting the cities of Bogota, Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena," a statement said.



"The programme for the trip will be published shortly," the statement added.



The visit by Francis comes after the Colombian government and leftist Farc rebels signed an historic peace deal in November to end more than 50 years of onflict, in which the Vatican had sought to avoid taking sides.



The logo for the trip contains the motto 'Let's take the first step' and an accompanying message says the words refer to "the more than 50 years of violence" which divided Colombia, Vatican Radio reported.



Francis will be the third pontiff to visit Colombia after Pope Paul VI in 1968 and Pope John Paul II, who visited 11 Colombian cities on a seven-day trip to the country in 1986

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis will make an official visit to Colombia from September 6 to 11, the Vatican announced on Friday. "Accepting the invitation of the President of the Republic and the Colombian bishops, His Holiness the Pope Francis will make an Apostolic Trip to Colombia from September 6 to 11, 2017, visiting the cities of Bogota, Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena," a statement said. "The programme for the trip will be published shortly," the statement added. The visit by Francis comes after the Colombian government and leftist Farc rebels signed an historic peace deal in November to end more than 50 years of onflict, in which the Vatican had sought to avoid taking sides. The logo for the trip contains the motto 'Let's take the first step' and an accompanying message says the words refer to "the more than 50 years of violence" which divided Colombia, Vatican Radio reported. Francis will be the third pontiff to visit Colombia after Pope Paul VI in 1968 and Pope John Paul II, who visited 11 Colombian cities on a seven-day trip to the country in 1986
By IANS

BRUSSELS: European Council President Donald Tusk urged member states of the European Union (EU) to strive towards maintaining political unity after Brexit as the debate over a multi-speed Europe is getting fierce.



Tusk chaired the debate on the future of Europe on Friday with all EU leaders, with the exception British Prime Minister Theresa May, who are gathered in Brussels for a two-day summit, Xinhua news agency reported.



"When discussing the various scenarios for Europe, our main objective should be to strengthen mutual trust and unity among 27," Tusk said at a press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday.



"After today's debate, I can openly say that all 27 leaders agree with this objective. This was an optimistic discussion about our common future, with a positive approach from all sides, without any exception," Tusk added.



The debate on a 'multi-speed' Europe gained momentum after the publication of the European Commission's White Paper and a meeting of leaders of continental Europe's biggest economies who back the idea of differentiated integration for EU member states.



Some EU member states, including France, Germany, Spain and Italy are calling for a multi-speed Europe, in which some could deepen their integration faster than others.



However, the bloc's eastern members fear that they would be excluded from deeper integration in the future and are against the idea.

BRUSSELS: European Council President Donald Tusk urged member states of the European Union (EU) to strive towards maintaining political unity after Brexit as the debate over a multi-speed Europe is getting fierce. Tusk chaired the debate on the future of Europe on Friday with all EU leaders, with the exception British Prime Minister Theresa May, who are gathered in Brussels for a two-day summit, Xinhua news agency reported. "When discussing the various scenarios for Europe, our main objective should be to strengthen mutual trust and unity among 27," Tusk said at a press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday. "After today's debate, I can openly say that all 27 leaders agree with this objective. This was an optimistic discussion about our common future, with a positive approach from all sides, without any exception," Tusk added. The debate on a 'multi-speed' Europe gained momentum after the publication of the European Commission's White Paper and a meeting of leaders of continental Europe's biggest economies who back the idea of differentiated integration for EU member states. Some EU member states, including France, Germany, Spain and Italy are calling for a multi-speed Europe, in which some could deepen their integration faster than others. However, the bloc's eastern members fear that they would be excluded from deeper integration in the future and are against the idea.
Queen Rania of Jordan accepted the Global Trailblazer Award at the 16th annual Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards ceremony held in Washington DC. Vital Voices Global Partnership is an American international, non-profit, non-governmental organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights.
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carter page

An early foreign policy adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump's presidential campaign wrote a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday claiming he may have been subject to wiretapping because he "spent many hours" at Trump campaign headquarters last year.

In a letter addressed to the chairman of the committee, Republican Sen. Richard Burr, and ranking Democratic member Sen. Mark Warner, Carter Page wrote that as a Trump "campaign surrogate" with "a peaceful relationship with Russian citizens," he thinks he could have been "an associated political target" of "potentially criminal surveillance" carried out by the Obama administration.

"For your information, I have frequently dined in Trump Grill, had lunch in Trump Cafe, had coffee meetings in the Starbucks at Trump Tower, attended events and spent many hours in campaign headquarters on the fifth floor last year," Page wrote. "As a sister skyscraper in Manhattan, my office at the IBM Building (590 Madison Avenue) is literally connected to the Trump Tower building by an atrium."

The far-right news outlet Breitbart, chaired until recently by White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, reported last week without evidence that "the Obama administration sought, and eventually obtained, authorization to eavesdrop on the Trump campaign." Trump subsequently tweeted, also with no evidence, that Obama "ordered" his phones to be tapped before the election.

In response to questions about Page's claim that he spent "many hours" at Trump campaign headquarters on the fifth floor of Trump Tower, an administration official who worked with the campaign pointed to the fact that its headquarters moved from the fifth floor to the 14th and 15th floors of Trump Tower before the Republican National Convention last July.

After checking with two people who worked on the fifth floor of Trump Tower before the headquarters moved, the official said these people don't recall ever seeing Carter Page there. Page had no badge, the official said, and never signed a non-disclosure agreement  two requirements of anyone working with the campaign in an official capacity. He also wasn't on the campaign's payroll, the official said, and did not have a campaign email account.

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"He's clearly inflating his role with the campaign and trying to cash in on Trump's victory," the official said.

Page appeared to still be affiliated with the Trump campaign when he attended the RNC, where he and other Trump advisers  including JD Gordon and Jeff Sessions  met Russia's ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. Corey Lewandowski, a top Trump campaign official at the time, also approved Page's controversial trip to Moscow in July 2016, Politico reported Wednesday.

Sergey Kislyak

News of that trip surfaced as Russia was being accused of feeding hacked Democratic National Committee emails to WikiLeaks, raising questions about the timing of Trump campaign adviser's appearance in Russia as the stolen documents were being published online. Page was there in part to speak at Moscow's New Economic School, where he criticized the US for its "hypocritical focus on ideas such as democratization" and "inequality."

Hope Hicks, a top campaign aide who now works in the White House, released a statement then saying that Page was "informal foreign policy adviser" who "does not speak for Mr. Trump or the campaign." But in late September, Jason Miller, then the Trump campaign's communications director, told The Hill that Page had "never been a part of [the] campaign," and then-campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on CNN's State of the Union that Page was "certainly not part of the campaign that I'm running."

Trump's team distanced itself from Page again in January, after an unverified dossier detailing Trump's ties to Russia, written by former British spy Christopher Steele, listed Page as an intermediary between the campaign and Kremlin officials.

"Carter Page is an individual whom the president-elect does not know and was put on notice months ago by the campaign," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said at the time.

When asked why, if he spent many hours at Trump campaign headquarters last year, the Trump team has contended that they never worked closely, Page replied that the question was "irrelevant."

"Rather than continuing to harass me with conspiracy theories, why don't you call Chappaqua and ask Mrs Clinton why her criminal gang in Brooklyn invited Steele to write his fabricated report which that campaign illegally used for Obstruction of Justice purposes with the US Government?" Page said. "Now that's a question for the real story which you should be doing."

It has been widely reported that Steele's work was commissioned by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which was first hired by an anti-Trump Republican donor. Asked if he had evidence to the contrary, Page replied that "the Republicans certainly aren't the ones who illegally gave [the dossier] to the CIA, FBI, et al, as they committed some of their many illegal activities."

Sen. John McCain, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he turned the dossier over to the FBI last year after receiving it from an unspecified source.

"Late last year, I received sensitive information that has since been made public," McCain said in January, days after BuzzFeed published the dossier in full. "Upon examination of the contents, and unable to make a judgment about their accuracy, I delivered the information to the director of the FBI."





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OICR researchers, together with international collaborators, have invented a technique to avoid a major problem with common laboratory techniques and improve the sensitivity of important cancer tests.

The findings, recently published in the journal Nature Protocols, describe a process by which the sensitivity of DNA sequencing can be improved. The technology, called SiMSen-Seq, could aid in detecting the recurrence of cancers, catching possible disease relapses faster than current methods and improving patient outcomes.

To sequence DNA, scientists often use a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to increase the amount of DNA available from a sample. However, PCR can introduce mistakes that can limit researchers' ability to detect real mutations in the original DNA molecules. To track the original molecules in a sample, molecular tags called DNA barcodes are added. This technique is essential for sensitive detection of mutations but can lead to other errors, as components of the tags can interfere with each other and affect the final results.

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"We created a DNA barcode with a hairpin structure that opens up to be read when heated and contracts when cooled. This allows us to 'hide' the barcode and analyze more patient DNA fragments in a single reaction," said Dr. Paul Krzyzanowski, Program Manager of OICR's Genome Technologies Program. Krzyzanowski led the development of analysis pipeline software used in SiMSen-Seq. This software flags errors in sequencing results and corrects them computationally.

Current genome sequencing technologies return results with error rates of about one per cent, meaning that for researchers to be certain that a mutation exists it has to be detected in a sample at a rate of greater than one per cent. SimSen-Seq technology has lowered this error rate 100-fold, meaning that the recurrence of cancers could be detected at lower levels and earlier than before, allowing patients to receive additional treatment sooner.

The team has patented their technique, and while it can conceivably be performed in any molecular biology lab, the group also hopes to make their expertise in using the method available to the research community. "Our paper describes how this process can be carried out, but we think that our experience in using the technique could be leveraged by other research groups and save them the trial and error of instituting a new process," said Krzyzanowski. Those interested in accessing this service can do so through OICR's Collaborative Research Resources directory.

"Ontario is pleased to support this collaborative research project through the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research," said Reza Moridi, Ontario's Minister of Research, Innovation and Science. "This innovative technique that increases the sensitivity of DNA sequencing is a remarkable breakthrough and one that could improve patient outcomes in Ontario and around the world by detecting the reoccurrence of cancers earlier."
Surgery patients often go home from the hospital with a prescription for painkillers to take as they recover.

But a new study suggests that doctors should also focus on patients who were taking such medicines before their operations.

People who received prescriptions for opioid painkillers in the months before elective abdominal operations had longer hospital stays, and a higher chance of needing follow-up care in a hospital or rehabilitation facility, than patients who weren't taking such medications before they had the same operations, the study finds.

The extra care translated into higher costs for their post-surgery care - double or triple the amount, with higher opioid doses associated with higher costs. The results are published in Annals of Surgery by a team from the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.

The new findings, and past research on the association between opioids and outcomes for other types of surgery, are enough to prompt the researchers to suggest that pre-operation opioid use should be considered a preoperative risk factor.

"We often pause when we are considering elective surgery with a patient, based on known risk factors such as smoking, anticoagulant use, and overall medical conditions. These findings suggest that perhaps preoperative opioid use warrants the same awareness," says Jennifer Waljee, M.D., M.S., lead author of the study and a plastic surgeon at Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center.

Options such as tapering down opioid doses and alternative pain relief approaches could be options prior to surgery, she explains. But also, she says, "Physicians should make a plan to manage the patient's pain during the perioperative period that takes into account their past opioid use." Past research has suggested that chronic opioid use may lead to tolerance and can increase sensitivity to pain - leaving patients more vulnerable after an operation.

Waljee and her U-M colleagues have launched a massive effort to help surgeons across Michigan prescribe opioids wisely - and understand the special needs of patients who come to them already taking opioids. Called Michigan-OPEN, it has funding from IHPI and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

About the new study

Before doing the new national study, the authors identified similar trends in Michigan hospitals using data from the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative, led by medical student David Cron and published in July 2016. In that study, 21 percent of patients used opioids prior to surgery, according to their medical records. They had a substantially higher risk of complications, readmissions, and higher costs.

For the new study, the authors used national claims data drawn from private insurance companies, through IHPI's repository from Truven Health MarketScan. They studied more than 200,000 middle-class Americans who had common operations -- hysterectomies, bariatric surgery, hernia repair and reflux surgery - over a 42-month period, and who spent at least one night in the hospital.

About nine percent of the patients had filled at least two opioid prescriptions within the 90 days before their operation -- including at least one within a month before the operation. They tended to have more medical and psychological conditions than non-opioid patients.

The patients who had been prescribed opioids before surgery spent an average of an extra half a day in the hospital after their operations, the researchers found - even after they adjusted for a wide range of co-existing factors such as medical conditions and demographic characteristics.

They also were more likely to end up back in the hospital or to go to a rehabilitation facility within 30 days of the operation -- except for those taking the lowest-possible doses. These difference weren't huge - 4.5 percent of opioid users had a hospital readmission, compared with 3.6 percent of those who hadn't taken opioids. But they were enough to make a difference in cost.

In the first 90 days after surgery, those who had been taking opioids had medical costs three times higher than those who hadn't. The gap narrowed as time went on, but even at a year post-surgery, the pre-surgery opioid users had twice the medical costs - at about $25,000 -- as those who hadn't been taking the drugs, who came in at an average of $12,113.

These data add to a growing body of evidence that in general shows that patients who take opioid painkillers on an ongoing basis use more medical care, and have higher medical costs, than those who don't.

"The bottom line is that preoperative opioid use is an important and potentially modifiable risk factor prior to surgery, and should be on surgeons' radar as well as the minds of primary care providers," says Waljee. "Coordinating care throughout the surgical period could improve clinical outcomes and the patient experience."
The researchers from Turku Centre for Biotechnology discovered an unexpected link between cancer and autism

Researchers from Turku Centre for Biotechnology have observed that a protein called SHANK prevents the spread of breast cancer cells to the surrounding tissue. The SHANK protein has been previously studied only in the central nervous system, and it is known that its absence or gene mutations are related to autism. The research was conducted at Turku Centre for Biotechnology.

The novel discovery impinges upon the protein called SHANK which has been intensively studied in several processes in central nervous system and gene mutations in SHANK are linked to autism.

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- The same factors can regulate cell shape and adhesion in very different cell types. Our results revealed that gene mutations in SHANK, found in autistic patients, impair SHANKs ability to prevent the adherence of both neurons and breast cancer cells. This once again demonstrates the power of basic research in facilitating our understanding of several human diseases, rejoices Academy professor Johanna Ivaska.

Ivaska's research team is working at Turku Centre for Biotechnology, University of Turku and Abo Academy.

Large-scale screens aiming at find potential new genes regulating cancer cell metastasis revealed to the research team an unexpected link between brain development and tumor invasion.

 - Amazingly, the ability of cancer cells to adhere and migrate on their environment and invade into surrounding tissue were prevented by SHANK protein - a molecule previously studied in the central nervous system and linked to autism, describes graduate student Johanna Lilja.

In cell culture experiments, the researchers found that SHANK protein limits the ability of a protein called Rap1 to activate cell adhesion receptors, integrins. This same mechanism regulated cancer cell motility as well as the morphology and branching of neurites, known to be essential for normal brain function.

To reveal the underlying mechanism the co-operation of three international research group was needed. Dr. Igor Barsukov's laboratory from University of Liverpool solved the 3-dimensional structure of SHANK protein, which led the researchers to study the correct mechanism. Then, Ivaska's research team in collaboration with neuroscientist Dr. Hans-Juergen Kreienkamp from Institute for Human Genetics, Hamburg, studied the function of SHANK in both cancer cells and neurons.

The research team and their collaborators are currently assessing if SHANK proteins have other impacts on cancer cells - especially on their proliferation.
People with social anxiety avoid situations in which they are exposed to judgment by others. Those affected also lead a withdrawn life and maintain contact above all on the Internet. Around one in ten people is affected by this anxiety disorder over the course of their life. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now found evidence for a gene that is believed to be linked to the illness. It encodes a serotonin transporter in the brain. Interestingly, this messenger suppresses feelings of anxiety and depressiveness. The scientists want to investigate this cause more precisely and are thus looking for more study participants. The results will be published in the journal "Psychiatric Genetics".

Heart palpitations, trembling and shortness of breath: those who suffer from social phobia avoid larger groups. Verbal tests or everyday arrangements are filled with fear - after all, other people could make a negative judgement. Those affected often avoid such situations for this reason. Contact is often easier over social media or anonymously over the Internet. Social phobias are among the psychiatric disorders that are triggered simultaneously by genetic and environmental factors. "There is still a great deal to be done in terms of researching the genetic causes of this illness," says Dr. Andreas Forstner from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Bonn. "Until now, only a few candidate genes have been known that could be linked to this."

Individual base pairs can vary in the DNA

Together with the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University Hospital Bonn, Dr. Forstner is conducting a study into the genetic causes of social phobia. The research team investigated the DNA of a total of 321 patients and compared it with 804 control individuals. The focus of the scientists lay on what are known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). "There are variable positions in the DNA that can exist to various degrees in different people," explains Dr. Forstner.

The cause of genetic illnesses often lies in the SNPs. It is estimated that more than thirteen million such changes exist in the human DNA. The scientists investigated a total of 24 SNPs that are suspected in the widest sense of being the cause of social phobias and other mental disorders. "This is the largest association study so far into social phobia," says associate professor (Privatdozent) Johannes Schumacher from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Bonn.

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Patients provided information about their symptoms

Over the course of the study, scientists at the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University Hospital Bonn will ask the patients about their symptoms and the severity of their social phobia. Their DNA is also examined using a blood sample. Whether there is a link between the signs of the illness and the genes is being investigated by the scientists using statistical methods. The evaluation of the previously collected data indicated that an SNP in the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4 is involved in the development of social phobia.

This gene encodes a mechanism in the brain that is involved in transporting the important messenger serotonin. This substance suppresses, among other things, feelings of fear and depressive moods. "The result substantiates indications from previous studies that serotonin plays an important role in social phobia," says associate professor (Privatdozent) Dr. Rupert Conrad from the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy. Medications that block serotonin reuptake and increase the concentration of the messenger in the tissue fluid in the brain have already long been used to treat anxiety disorders and depression.

Subjects can participate in expanded study

The scientists now want to investigate more closely what the links are between the DNA and social phobia. "In order to achieve this goal, we need many more study participants who suffer from social anxiety," says the psychologist and study coordinator Stefanie Rambau from the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at University Hospital Bonn. Information about the study is available at www.SocialPhobiaResearch.de. "Those who take part will help to research social phobia. This is the basis of better diagnosis and treatment procedures in the future," says Stefanie Rambau.
Jason Dyck has long believed in the beneficial properties of resveratrol--a powerful antioxidant produced by some plants to protect against environmental stresses. The professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta has spent years studying the natural compound, exploring its potential benefits for exercise performance, reduced blood pressure and heart health. Now his work is revealing resveratrol's potential for the treatment of diabetes.

Although studies in obese patients treated with resveratrol have shown to be effective at lowering blood sugar levels, the amount of resveratrol found circulating in the blood is very low, leaving scientists questioning how resveratrol is working. In a new study published in the journal Diabetes, researchers at the U of A examined the impact of resveratrol on the community of bacteria, or microbiome, in the gut of obese mice. The team found that feeding resveratrol to obese mice over a period of 6 weeks altered the makeup of the bacteria in their intestines, improving glucose tolerance.

To expand upon the findings, the scientists conducted a second experiment in which they fed healthy mice resveratrol for 8 weeks. From those mice, they collected fecal waste for the purpose of fecal transplant into obese mice with insulin resistance. The results from these fecal transplants were striking, with more dramatic and rapid effects than giving the mice resveratrol orally.

"Whatever was in this fecal material was more potent and efficacious than the resveratrol itself," says Dyck, also a member of the Alberta Diabetes Institute. "We performed fecal transplants in pre-diabetic obese mice and within two weeks their blood sugar levels were almost back to normal."

Dyck says his team was initially unsure if the fecal transplant was altering the gut microbiome in the mice or if it was producing a metabolite that was behind the effect. However, he is now convinced that the dramatic change is actually the result of an unknown metabolite in the fecal matter.

"I believe that there's something else in the mix that's causing this improvement in glucose homeostasis in obese mice," says Dyck. "We're trying to isolate this unknown compound, with the hopes of using it as a potential treatment for impaired glucose homeostasis in obesity."

"To me, this is very exciting," he adds. "If there's a small molecule in the fecal material that we can identify, we may be able to rapidly advance this into human testing."

The team believes the findings could open the door to new therapies for diabetes patients in the future. Dyck though says it is already clear that their work is far from done.

"It's going to take a herculean effort to find what that molecule is" says Dyck. "Maybe it's one, maybe it's a combination of four or five, or maybe even a hundred. We don't know, but we intend to find out."

Meet our partners in innovation:

The Alberta Diabetes Institute (ADI) is a research facility on the University of Alberta campus dedicated to translating discovery science into health solutions for the prevention, treatment and cure of diabetes. The Institute uses an integrated, multidisciplinary and collaborative approach towards diabetes research and health solutions with ongoing progress towards understanding and treating all forms of diabetes.

The Canadian Diabetes Association is a registered charitable organization, leading the fight against diabetes by helping people with diabetes live healthy lives while we work to find a cure. Our professional staff and more than 20,000 volunteers provide education and services to help people in their daily fight against the disease, advocate on behalf of people with diabetes for the opportunity to achieve their highest quality of life, and break ground towards a cure.

Source: https://www.ualberta.ca/medicine/news/2017/march/ualberta-research-may-provide-solutions-for-the-future-treatment-of-diabetes-and-insulin-resistance
Psychotic illness affects approximately 100,000 young people nationwide, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. But until recently, New Jersey had no clinics to help teens or young adults within their first two years of exhibiting symptoms when intervention is likely to be most effective.

Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC) recently opened a first-episode psychosis outpatient clinic in its Edison Metroplex location to serve 15-to-35-year-old residents of Middlesex, Monmouth and Mercer counties, funded by a grant from the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Two other grant-funded clinics - in Paramus, managed by Care Plus, and in Cherry Hill, managed by Oaks Integrated - also recently began serving young adult patients in those regions.

Early adulthood provides the best window for intervention, as this population is at a crucial point in developing independent living skills, career goals and relationships. "The longer someone has a serious mental illness that affects their development, the more difficult it is for them to get back to their desired level of functioning in educational, work and social settings," says Steven Silverstein, Rutgers' clinic director.

New Jersey is among a growing group of states addressing care for young adults who have experienced early psychosis, following a 2016 Congressional mandate requiring that states set aside 10 percent of their mental health block grant for use in treating first-episode psychosis.

Psychosis - characterized by an impaired sense of reality - typically occurs between the ages of 18 and 28. First-episode symptoms appear gradually, often pushing people into state of denial: They know something is amiss but assume it is temporary, says Silverstein. Troublesome signs include seeing or hearing things that no one else does, withdrawing from family and friends, having difficulty concentrating and experiencing a decline in self-care.

"They may not admit they have a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder, but they will admit that they are having experiences - like lack of concentration, poor grades or hearing voices - that are interfering with meeting their life goals," Silverstein says. Focusing on how recent changes are interfering with life goals, rather than on whether the person does or does not have a disorder such as schizophrenia, is an important part of motiving a young person to enter treatment.

A clinic, such as UBHC's, dedicated to young adults and staffed by professionals with specialized knowledge in treating this population, is key to long-term success. "There are big changes that happen in the brain from about two years before the onset of psychotic symptoms to three years after," he explains. "This is why early identification of people in need of treatment, and provision of treatment as early as possible, are critical. Unfortunately, the average person with a first episode of psychosis currently can go 15 months or longer with symptoms before treatment is provided, leading to greater challenges in helping a person recover."

Silverstein notes that most treatments for psychotic disorders are designed for those who have been living with these conditions for many years, which can be a deterrent to teens or 20-somethings in need of care. "Young people cannot identify with older adults who have been living on medication for decades and will often leave clinics," he says. "In addition, these treatments do not address the specific concerns of people of this age group, such as finishing college, landing that first job and dating."

UBHC's program, which can treat up to 50 people at a time, accepts patients who are within two years of the onset of psychotic symptoms, such as auditory hallucinations, severe paranoia or delusional ideas. Prior hospitalization is not required to qualify for treatment.

The clinic plans to treat patients for about a year before transitioning them to a traditional outpatient program. While under the clinic's care, people in treatment meet weekly, or as needed depending on treatment goals, with different members of the treatment team, including a therapist, psychiatrist, family therapist, peer support and wellness specialist and a substance abuse counselor. Patients also can use the services of an employment and education specialist, who can provide them with support as they transition back into a job or to school.

The clinic also educates families on how to work with the treatment team and support their loved ones.

"The goal is to reduce a person's symptoms so they can return to their lives, needing less treatment," Silverstein says. "Ideally, after an initial period of more frequent assistance, they can scale back to coming to this clinic or another program once a week or less."
The continuous daylight conditions of summer in Antarctica are known to interfere with physiological functions such as sleep patterns and the release of melatonin, a hormone associated with circadian rhythms and sleep. Now, a study offers new information about why people in this region sleep poorly, and suggests that social behavior may also play a role. The study, published ahead of print in the Journal of Applied Physiology, was chosen as an APSselect article for March.

Antarctica, located at the tip of the Southern Hemisphere, experiences 24-hour daylight and no darkness for several months of the year (Antarctic summer). An expedition team stationed in Antarctica during the summer followed their daily work routine and volunteered for sleep studies at night. Belgian researchers monitored the volunteers' sleep stages and recorded the secretion of cortisol (a stress hormone also associated with wakefulness) and melatonin.

In normal circumstances, we begin the night with proportionally more deep sleep that provides the body with physical recovery. As morning approaches, sleep patterns contain more dream sleep. The research team found the reverse was true in the Antarctic expedition workerstheir dream sleep occurred earlier, with a deep sleep period at the end of the night. In addition, melatonin secretiona process that helps you fall asleepwas delayed by several hours. Melatonin is sensitive to light and is usually released in the darkness of night. Members of the expedition team also reported "morning sleepiness, which waned with exposure to sunlight." This may be due to the delayed release of melatonin, which remained high in the body upon waking, explained Nathalie Pattyn, first author of the study.

To the researchers' surprise, cortisol secretion remained normal, with the highest levels secreted in the morning. Typically, melatonin and cortisol have an inverse relationship: When one hormone is high, the other is low. The common schedule of the expedition memberswho worked and slept at the same timekept the cortisol from delaying its release. If the expedition team had been on different schedules, the timing of cortisol secretion would have likely changed. These findings warrant more study about how social behavior modifies physiological function explained Pattyn, because it "shows the story behind sleep complaints in Antarctica is more complicated" than just being exposed to continuous sunlight.
Fewer than half of American adults get vaccinated despite strong recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and widespread availability of free and low-cost vaccines. Furthermore, African Americans are less likely to get the flu shot than white Americans, and concerns about side effects from the vaccine play a large role in this disparity. According to the CDC, only 41 percent of African American adults received the flu vaccine compared with 47 percent of white adults.

For those who opted not to get vaccinated, the risk of suffering side effects from the vaccine seemed greater than the risk of getting the flu itself, according to the new study, "The role of risk perception in flu vaccine behavior among African American and white adults in the US," published in the latest issue of the journal Risk Analysis. One of the reasons white participants decided to forgo vaccination was because they did not view getting sick with seasonal flu as a "big deal." Many African Americans said they worried about the safety of the shot itself.

The study included 800 white and 800 African American participants. The researchers contracted with Gfk, an international research firm that uses a probability-based online panel, to conduct the survey, which took place in March after peak flu season had ended. The survey instrument was developed based on initial insights gathered from interviews and focus groups with the target audience.

While flu vaccine campaigns often focus on the dangers of the flu, the results of this study suggest that flu vaccine campaigns should also address the perceived risks of vaccination by highlighting how vaccines work.

"The trust of the American people in government is at an all-time low, which also feeds into fear of vaccines," suggests Vicki Freimuth, lead author of the study and professor of health and risk communication at the University of Georgia. "Most people have very limited understanding of the way vaccine recommendations are determined and how vaccines are made and distributed. Perhaps increasing knowledge about the process and its many contributing organizations may decrease perception of risk from the vaccine."

Six researchers at the University of Georgia, the University of Maryland and the University of Pittsburgh conducted the research, which was supported by the Center of Excellence in Race, Ethnicity and Health Disparities Research of the National Institutes of Health.

While the researchers found disparities between the two races as a whole, they also found trends that were common between certain demographic characteristics. For example, women and older individuals within both races were more likely to view getting the flu as a bigger risk than vaccine side effects. The researchers found that in the white sample, older, more educated individuals and those with a higher income were less likely to worry about side effects of the vaccine. In the African-American sample, older individuals and those with a higher level of education were also less likely to worry about the risk of side effects, while women viewed the side effects of the vaccine as a bigger threat.

The researchers noted that the results of the study may have been different if they had studied outbreaks such as the H1N1 virus or bird flu. Seasonal flu did not trigger the same emotional reactions as these emergency flu outbreaks, perhaps leading to survey respondents giving greater weight to perceived risks from vaccination.

"One implication for flu vaccine campaigns is very clear. Messages must address both kinds of risk, disease and vaccine," said Freimuth. "Since flu vaccination is routine and may not stimulate the kind of emotional reactions that an emergency does, the public may be more concerned about vaccine risk than disease risk."

The researchers say larger studies are now needed to take a closer look at the role risk plays in people's decisions to get or skip vaccines but they also see immediate opportunities for action.
The French, along with the rest of Europe, were on the edges of their seats before the American elections last autumn: Who will it bea right-wing populist disrupter or a centrist favoring liberal economics, open borders, global institutions, and a foreign policy that rests on longstanding alliances?

Now its our turn to watch and wonder as the first round of Frances presidential elections approaches. While numerous contenders will be on the April 23rd ballot, there are two names to watch. One is the Front Nationals Marine Le Pen, a vigorous nationalist and the closest the French have to Donald Trump. The other is Emmanuel Macron, a centrist defector from Francois Hollandes socialist government who has surged swiftly to the fore after creating his own political movement a year ago called, En Marche!

Related: Macron Consolidates Lead Over Le Pen in French Election Polls

The winner will be setting the political, economic and cultural course for France and perhaps the rest of Europe and its allies for years to come.

The emergence of these two as front-runners follows months of uncertainty and some unexpected political casualties. Now the opinion surveys are becoming a lot clearer. A Harris Interactive poll released Thursday has Macron taking 26 percent of the first-round tally to Le Pens 25 percent. Thats a gain of 6 percentage points for the 39-year-old Macron in the past two weeks.

In a May 7 runoff between Macron and Le Pen, which seems extremely likely, Macron will likely trounce Le Pen, 65 percent to 35 percent, the Harris poll indicates. But French politics have proven as volatile as Americas during this campaign season. Its far too soon to count Le Pen out.

Theres a lot at stake in the French results for Americans. Starting at the top, the strength of the transAtlantic alliance hangs in the balance. While Macron is a staunch believer in the European Union, Le Pen is radically opposed to itand the euro, too. Many analysts assert that if she is the Elysee Palaces next resident, its the end of the European project altogether.

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A splintering Europe is a weaker Europe, which is the last thing Washington needs to maintain global security. If the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership dies along with its Pacific counterpart, the U.S. goal of a unified trade regime based on free-market principles will come to nothing. The alternative will be a pasta bowl of separately agreed bilateral accords--a Commerce Department nightmare. A divided Continent will complicate Washingtons transAtlantic ties economically.

Related: Dollar Rises as Euro Dips on French Election Development

On Monday, the EU announced in Brussels that members agreed to institutionalize joint military traininga move that would please the Pentagon. If Le Pen goes to the second round and wins, that deal is off the table. De Gaulle-like, shes on the record promising to pull France out of the NATO alliance. Along with this, she favors a Trump-style detente with Russia, which would complicate both US foreign policy with a core ally, but also American national security. Le Pen received a hefty loan from a Russian bank, and Mr. Macrons organization has suffered more than 4,000 hacking attacks, The Economist reported.

Like other right-wing populists in Europeand our own presidentLe Pen trades on insecurities. Horrible terrorist attacks that eluded Frances security system, a chronically sluggish economy and persistently high unemployment25 percent of French youth are unemployedhave turned France into the most pessimistic of the industrial democracies, a recent survey shows. Such conditions are just right for a candidate fanning anxieties about immigrant populations, global institutions, and free trade.

Even though Donald Trump eschews multinational trade deals in favors of bilateral deals, a Le Pen victory this spring would be bad news for the U.S. And even though Trump is also a disrupter, his America First campaign along with his border tax proposal could alienate a France First nationalist like Le Pen.

Related: Kremlin Denies French Election Meddling, Macron Camp Renews Charges

Macron is 180 Le Pens opposite on all the core questions. He backs the basic institutions supporting the postwar order, and his economics are neoliberal centrist. He pledges to cut the corporate tax rate from 33 percent to 25 percent while giving companies permanent breaks on payroll taxes. Hell also exempt the corporate sector from some of Frances famously considerable social levies.

Macrons a fresh face in a field of old-timers and, asserting that Frances middle class has been neglected, promises to make reviving it his priority. But Macrons not superman. Last week he issued a manifesto, and it exposes potential vulnerabilities. His tax cuts are unconvincing, some analysts say, because theyre effectively tied to a European Union pledge to keep the budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP.

Macron promises to bring Frances jobless rate down from 10 percent to 7 percentimpressive, except that he gives himself five years to get it done. Hes an austerian who cuts himself some slack, but austerity doesnt play too well among a lot of voters in France (or anywhere else on the Continent). This election matters far beyond Frances borders, and there are no sure things these days.
In 1981 the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) first emerged in the United States1. In the intervening years a tremendous effort has been made to eradicate HIV and AIDS. With the advent of retroviral therapies, HIV can be controlled for decades, drastically increasing the lifespan of those suffering from this infection.

However, as these HIV+ individuals age, they become increasingly at risk of developing other medical issues, such as HIV associated neurological disorders (HAND). A vaccination to impede the spread of this virus is still greatly needed and highly sought after within the field.

 Spectral-Design /shutterstock.com

There are many challenges in developing a vaccine for HIV, particularly its high rate of mutation and large number of strains in circulation. Indeed, many vaccines have been tested over the years; all of which have failed except one, RV144. Using the wisdom of previously successful subunit vaccines for other viruses, such as tetanus, researchers found that the correct use of a single viral protein or protein subunit was sufficient to induce the production of protective antibody titers within the human body.

Unfortunately, the first two attempts at subunit-based vaccination of HIV did not succeed. These studies attempted to induce cell mediated immune responses towards HIV proteins. The trials were not successful in doing so, and in one case the vaccine may even have increased risk of contracting HIV in homosexual men2.

These unsuccessful trials employed a homologous prime-boost method, in which the same vaccination is given multiple times in order to boost the immune response against the antigen and therefore the virus as well. This multi-dose regimen is known to increase the efficacy of many vaccines, and is commonly used (e.g. tetanus booster). However, it has been shown that a heterologous prime-boost strategy, wherein the boost vaccinations are performed using alternate delivery methods, can be even more effective3.

The first HIV vaccine to show efficacy in a phase 3 trial was RV144, which employed a heterologous prime-boost methodology. This trial showed that within 1 year of immunization, 60% efficacy was observed, although this success rate dropped to 31% by the endpoint of the study, which was 3.5 years later4. This success has generated excitement in the field, but implies that there is still significant room for improvement in future vaccine development.

Thus, researchers such as Dr. Mohammed Aiyegbo, of the New York University, aim to determine what factors contributed to the success of RV144. By elucidating the mechanism and key players involved in reducing the risk of HIV contraction, future HIV vaccines may one day share a success story as inspiring as that of the Polio vaccine.

In his recent paper, published in the journal PLoS One, Dr. Aiyegbo and colleagues determined the structural conformation of a small peptide known to be targeted by protective antibodies that are generated during RV144 vaccination5. By understanding the structure of this molecule, they hope to aid the development of antibodies which provide more robust and more consistent protection against the virus.

The authors of this paper performed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), using a Bruker AVANCE II spectrometer, in order to determine the structure of this protection-associated peptide. By including NMR data into computer algorithms designed to rapidly predict the many possible conformations a protein sequence can physically undergo, the authors were able to determine that the most energetically favorable structure was that of a flexible alpha-helix. This information will allow other researchers in the field to develop antibodies that more effectively target this peptide, not only based upon its sequence, but its structure as well.

By using the Bruker AVANCE II spectrometer to perform NMR, researchers are able to determine the structure of a protein in solution, which is not possible with x-ray crystallography6. This allows for a potentially more physiologically relevant, as well as a more dynamic, understanding of the conformation(s) observed. The versatility of NMR lends it a wide range of possible applications, including both drug target studies, as described above, as well as rational drug design efforts, among many others.

Dr. Aiyegbo and his colleagues have demonstrated the importance of this technique with their study elucidating the flexible structure of an HIV protection-associated peptide. The authors posit that this novel understanding will lead to future improvements in the design of vaccinations against HIV, an undertaking which may benefit from the use of NMR spectroscopy as well.

References:

Girard, Marc P., Saladin Osmanov, Olga M. Assossou, and Marie-Paule Kieny. "Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Immunopathogenesis and Vaccine Development: A Review." Vaccine 29.37 (2011): 6191-218. Kim JH, Rerks-Ngarm S, Excler JL, Michael NL. HIV vaccines: lessons learned and the way forward. Curr Opin HIV AIDS. 2010; 5(5):42834. Lu, Shan. "Heterologous Prime Boost Vaccination." Current Opinion in Immunology 21.3 (2009): 346-51. Rerks-Ngarm S, Pitisuttithum P, Nitayaphan S, Kaewkungwal J, Chiu J, Paris R, et al. Vaccination with ALVAC and AIDSVAX to prevent HIV-1 infection in Thailand. NEngl J Med. 2009; 361(23):220920. Aiyegbo, Mohammed S., Evgeny Shmelkov, Lorenzo Dominguez, Michael Goger, Shibani Battacharya, Allan C. Decamp, Peter B. Gilbert, Phillip W. Berman, and Timothy Cardozo. "Peptide Targeted by Human Antibodies Associated with HIV Vaccine-Associated Protection Assumes a Dynamic I-Helical Structure." Plos One 12.1 (2017) Ambrus, Attila. "Comparison of NMR and X-ray Crystallography." Comparison of NMR and X-ray Crystallography.

About Bruker BioSpin - NMR, EPR and Imaging

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As the State Bank of India and Debt Recovery Tribunal push for arrest of businessman Vijay Mallya for defaulting on loans, the government and banks are preparing the ground to take tough action on bank loan borrowers who are capable of repaying but have defaulted.According to sources the government has collated details on bad loans worth nearly Rs 50,000 crore that need immediate action against promoters and directors of chronic defaulters.As reported by Gaurav Choudhary of moneycontrol.com , the top wilful defaulters' list prepared by the government and banks includes a string of diamond traders, two now-grounded airlines, a central government commodity trading agency, an erstwhile state government-promoted communication undertaking, a regional industry association, a media house with operations across the country, a multi-state agricultural cooperative, mining companies, realty developers, garment brands, and several individual proprietors.Reportedly, these "wilful defaulters" have not repaid bank loans despite having the capacity to do so. Some of these have been found to have diverted funds to projects other than those for which the loan was secured, while some others have been found to have sold off assets that were pledged to get loans without knowledge of the banks.Wilful defaults are the worst kind of bad loans that empowers banks to get after the promoters and directors by even naming and shaming them through public notices and advertisements for not paying up on loans that banks believe that they have the ability to honour.In September last year, the RBI told banks to formulate a policy on publishing wilful defaulters' photographs, without being discriminatory.A lending institution can consider publication of the photographs of only those borrowers, including proprietors/ partners /directors / guarantors of borrower firms/ companies, who have been declared as wilful defaulters following the mechanism set out in the RBI instructions, the central bank said in a September 29, 2016 circular to banks.Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan had set banks a March 2017 deadline to clean up their balance sheets.Mounting bad loans and high default rates by large companies have drawn criticism from experts and regulators.If you owe a lot of money and still celebrate birthday bashes, it gives a wrong message to the people. If you are in trouble cut down your expenses, show to the people that you are doing something, Rajan, known for not mincing words, had said last year in an oblique reference to a flamboyant industrialist whose companies have failed to repay large amounts of bank loans.Rajan had also asked central bank employees to show no leniency towards rich wrong-doers.No one wants to go after the rich and well-connected wrong-doer, which means they get away with even more. If we are to have strong sustainable growth, this culture of impunity should stop, Rajan had said in a message to RBI employees.
Kolkata: As many as 125 schools in the state have been put on notice by the West Bengal government for allegedly creating a religious divide and preaching intolerance.



The move comes two days after CPI(M) MLA Manas Mukherjee pointed out during the Assembly session that 350 schools in the state were allegedly promoting religious intolerance, most of which were located in the North 24 Parganas district and the districts in north Bengal.



Education Minister Partha Chatterjee agreed to the point put forward by the Mukherjee and said, We will not tolerate spreading of religious intolerance in the name of teaching students and running schools.



Over 60,000 students are enrolled in the 350 schools in question.



Mukherjee went on to claim that some government-aided schools were not following government rules under the influence of the RSS. Adding to it, Chatterjee said these schools had deviated from the State-approved curriculum.



The schools under scanner are run by NGOs which follow the syllabus approved by the Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan of Lucknow. The remaining 225 schools that are not under notice teach up to Class 8. Since many of these 350 schools are primary schools, they may not require the West Bengal board affiliation.



Reacting to notice, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, There are many such schools in the country and they run with the necessary permissions.



These school are affiliated to central boards like the CBSE and the ICSE or the various State boards, and Vidya Bharati follows the required rules.
New Delhi: An Air India Ahmedabad-London-Newark flight lost communication with the local Air Traffic Control and was escorted by fighter jets over Hungary, officials said here on Friday.



The flight AI-171 had departed from Ahmedabad at 7 a.m. on Friday with 231 passengers and 18 crew members.



En route over Hungarian airspace, it lost contact for some time with the ATC, due to frequency fluctuations, AI officials said.



The flight landed at 11.06 hrs, local time, in London safely, and AI has launched a probe into the incident.



The incident comes barely three weeks after a Jet Airways Mumbai-London flight with 345 persons on board had lost contact with the ground over German airspace and was escorted by fighter jets on February 19.




New Delhi: A highly-guarded district court in Gurugram on Friday convicted 31 plant workers and acquitted 117 others in the Maruti violence case of 2012 which injured over 100 employees and killed a senior officer.



The quantum of punishment will be announced on March 17. Out of 31 convicted, 13 workers have been convicted for murder section 302, 307 of IPC and the other 18 have been convicted for rioting and criminal conspiracy. The counsel for the company has demanded harsh punishment for all the convicts.



Additional District and Sessions Judge of Gurugram District Court delivered the verdict. The court has scheduled the afternoon session to declare the quantum of sentence for the convicted workers.



Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant wore a deserted look a day earlier as all the workers had boycotted the plant lunch to express solidarity with the 145 workers, who have been prosecuted for violence at the plan in July, 2012.



General Manager Human Resources of the Manesar unit, Awanish Kumar Dev, was charred to death beyond recognition and several other executives were injured in a violent clash between the workers and the management on the plant premises on July 18, 2012.



Immediately after the clash, around 546 workers were laid off and 147 were arrested, out of whom 145 were charged with rioting, murder, attempt to murder, unlawful assembly, assault, and trespass among other sections of the penal code.



The case trial has been going on for the last five years. Senior advocates like RS Cheema, Rebecca John and Vrinda Grover appeared on behalf of the accused employees in the case. The counsels had submitted that the case lacked the support of proper evidence to convict the accused ones.



They had stated that there was no evidence to back the allegation that the workers had unlawfully assembled with a common objective to kill or set the office on fire. They had also argued there were loopholes in the investigation which suggested the accused were being falsely implicated as there was no evidence to back the claim of the prosecution.



During the final arguments, the prosecution had submitted that the court should in no way show mercy to the accused as it led to large scale vandalism in the company and killed a senior official.



Out of the total accused in the case, 138 were out on bail. During a course of arguments, Vrinda Grover had submitted that almost 112 of the accused were not identified by any of the prosecution witness.



The district administration has deployed heavy security at Maruti's Manesar plant ahead of court verdict. Prohibitory orders have been imposed under Section 144 of the CrPC around the plant and the district courts complex.



An official statement issued by the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union hinted at a possible protest if the court verdict was not in their favour.



"We are apprehensive and have grounds to believe that it will be a politically motivated anti-worker judgment. We will stand by those facing conviction or were left jobless after the incident," read an official.



In 2011, Maruti incurred a loss over $500 million worth of production due the continuous weeks of labour unrest. This violence had also created a dent on India's appeal as an investor friendly location.



It is interesting to note that when the violence broke out, almost half of the workers in the Manesar plant were on contract basis earning around Rs 6,000 per month, a one third of what permanent employees were paid for.






New Delhi: Islamic scholars have welcomed a trend that started from 2008 when the mother of a Lashkar militant refused to take the body of her son for burial as he was guilty of anti-national activities and now slain Saifullahs body too was rejected by his father for burial, calling it a symbolic act of upholding an essential teaching of Islam and that is to love the land they live in.Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali, executive member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), told News18 thats Saifullahs fathers refusal to take his body for burial upholds the Islamic teaching of loving ones own country dearly.The fact that Saifullahs parents refused to take his body back is certainly Islamic. In Islam, a love for ones own country has been given a lot of importance. It cannot be compromised at any cost. Hence when a Muslim goes against this principle and attacks his own countrymen, he is violating a fundamental principle of Islam and thus refusing to take the body of such a person for cremation is certainly not barred in Islam, said Rasheed.Saifullah was killed in Lucknow on Monday in an exchange of fire with the police after a 12-hour stand-off. He was suspected to be linked with the blast in the Bhopal-Ujjain train. After the police tried to hand over the body to his father Sartaj, he refused to accept his body saying "a traitor" is no son of theirs."One who indulges in anti-national activities can't be my son. Look, someone who's a traitor cannot be our son. We will absolutely not accept a traitor's body. He has brought infamy not only to us but to the whole nation, therefore we will not accept his body for last rites" said Sartaj.Similarly in 2008 when four militants were killed in an encounter in Kashmirs Kupwara district, one of them was Abdul Raheem from Malappuram. But his mother refused to accept his body.If my son was involved in anti-national activities, he deserved the fate he met. My prayers are that no woman should face the fate of being called the mother of an extremist, Raheems mother had said.Even the chairman of the Imam Council of India, Maulana Masood Ul Hassan Qasmi agreed with Khalid Rasheed and told News18 that the act of not accepting the body back is certainly not against Islam.No certainly it is not un-Islamic as the rationale given by the family fits the bill of not violating the principle of Islam. Certainly the love for ones own nation has been accorded great importance in Islam and a refusal take back the body of a person who has gone against the country is a personal choice and does not violate the religion at all, said Qasmi.He also expressed concern as to the probability of Saifullah being later declared innocent by the courts and chance for the parents to repent their decision.But there is a possibility that the parents might repent their decision at a later date because there are hundreds of fake encounters which take place in India. If there is an investigation and 10 years and if 10 years down the line it is proven that Saifullah was innocent was just planted by agencies then this decision would be repented. But nonetheless the parents have displayed a very symbolic gesture, said Qasmi.However, another member of the AIMPLB, Zafaryab Jilani, differed with the above scholars and told News18 that this refusal amounts to insulting the dead and this is certainly not allowed.This is definitely not a trend is only a very rare instance. Even during the time of the holy Prophet there used to be wars and enemies used to be killed, but there is no mention of insulting a dead body. A human is guilty only till he is alive and after his death, the decision lies with the almighty to convict him. But insulting a dead body is not allowed and refusing to bury is a personal call, said Jilani.
New Delhi: Just after a seven judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice issued a bailable warrant to the Calcutta High Court Judge Justice CS Karnan for refusing to appear before the court in relation to the contempt proceedings against him, Justice Karnan has now passed an order directing the CBI to investigate all the seven judges of the apex court.



Addressing the media, Justice Karnan agreed that this was indeed an unparallel instance in the Indian judicial history.



"Yes, this has never happened before just like the SC order which issued bailable warrant against me. It is all happening after the current government has come to power and the lower class is being further oppressed and suppressed," said Justice Karnan.



Karnan has now directed the Director of the CBI to register, investigate and file a report before the CBI court in Delhi against all the seven judges who passed the bailable warrant and also Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi who pleaded for such an order.



"This order has been passed by me to prevent abuse of any court. I have invoked my inherent power under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code and Article 226 of the Indian Constitution. There will be inquiry to see that if they have violated the provisions of not only SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 but also the Indian Penal Code," he said.



It is important to note that Justice Karnan was stripped of his judicial and administrative power by the SC bench in February but even then the Calcutta High Court judge did not take such an order into consideration.



He has further directed the Secretary General of Lok Sabha to place the entire facts of the case before the speaker of the Lok Sabha so that inquiry under the Judges Inquiry Act can be initiated and proceedings of impeachment against the SC judges can be carried out.



"I have also requested the President to stay the bailable warrant issued by the SC today," said Justice Karnan.



While Justice Karnan maintained that "SC is a separate constitutional office than the High Court and one constitutional office cannot stand in the way of another constitutional office," he said that he was being singularly targeted by the higher judiciary for being a Dalit.



"Learned Senior Advocate Shanthi Bhushan had filed an affidavit before the SC stating that nine former Chief Justices of the SC were guilty of corruption, but the affidavit is still pending and no contempt action against her. Why? Because he belongs to the upper caste. They are doing this to ruin my life and career," said Justice Karnan.



He also said that a month ago, an advocates association gave a press statement that a Judge of the Karnataka High Court, Justice Kumaraswamy was paid Rs 200 crores for passing a favourable verdict in the Jayalalithaa case and questioned as to why there was no contempt order against them.







On February 8, SC had taken a suo motu action to initiate contempt proceedings against the sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court when the court took note of the letters that the judge had written in which he had levelled serious allegations against several sitting and retired judges.



Today a seven-judge bench comprising of CJI J.S. Khehar, Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Chelameshwar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice MB Lokur, Justice PC Ghose and Justice Kurian Joseph, was extremely displeased with constant disregard that Justice Karnan had shown towards an order of the SC and hence passed the bailable warrant against the Calcutta HC Judge.


Bhopal: One person killed and nearly 16 others suffered serious injuries after an under construction building of the Central Academy for Police Training (CAPT) in Bhopal collapsed on Thursday night.



Soon after the mishap, a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot and carried out the rescue operations.



A senior police officer said, "Many believed to be trapped and the rescue operation is underway. The deceased was identified as Matlu Koda."



"We are investigating the cause of mishap and action will be taken if someone is found guilty of providing inferior construction materials," he said.



Superintendent of Police (South) Siddharth Bahuguna said that a Delhi based company was engaged in constructing the building and badminton court as to be developed on the third floor where the mishap took place. The officer said that a case has been registered and the probe would look into the slackness angle as well.



The laying of beam was underway on the third floor of Central Police Training Academy in Kanhasaiya area when the mishap took place, a labourer said adding that at the time of incident, close to 300 labourers were present in the building.



The labourers had witnessed the crack in the beam but before they could run for safety the beam crashed and fell on the ground floor damaging other floors as well. The 17 helpless labourers fell down 30 feet sustaining injures.



The injured were rushed to hospital in private vehicles. One of the injured Matlu Koda, a native of Bihar died on way to hospital.



Most of the victims are residents of Chhattisgarh who had come to Bhopal to work as labourers.



Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh to next to kin of the deceased, Rs 50,000 each to those seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for those injured with minor injuries.



One of the labourers Ganesh Uike said the he was cooking food inside his shanty when he heard a loud thud. As I out, I saw portion of building crashed on the ground and people crying for help under the debris, he said.




New Delhi: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya hits out at Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and said that his allegations against him before the Supreme Court only prove the attitude of the government.



The banks have alleged that Mallya concealed the facts and diverted USD 40 Million to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in "flagrant violation" of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.



Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the banks, contended that unless Mallya deposits USD 40 million before this court, he does not deserve to be heard and, moreover, he needed to appear personally as the contempt notice has already been issued.



"He did not disclose the USD 40 million deal with Diageo to this court. He took the Supreme Court for a ride, cares two hoots for the courts," Rohatgi had said.



Reacting on Rohatgis allegations, Mallya in a series of tweets on Friday, said, "I have humbly obeyed every single Court Order without exception. Seems as if Government is bent upon holding me guilty without fair trial."



"Public sector banks have policies for one time settlements. Hundreds of borrowers have settled. Why should this be denied to us? Our substantial offer before the hon'ble Supreme Court was rejected by banks without consideration," Mallya's tweet reads.



"I am ready to talk settlement on fair basis. Wish the Supreme Court would intervene and put an end to all this by directing banks and us to negotiate and settle. we are ready," his another tweet reads.



In October last year, the court had rapped Mallya for not making full disclosure of his overseas properties and had asked him to do so within a month.



The bench had also pulled up Mallya for not giving details of USD 40 million which he had allegedly received from British firm Diageo in February last year, saying it was of the "prima facie view" that proper disclosure as per its earlier order was not made.



The banks had on August 29 last year told the Supreme Court that Mallya had deliberately not made full disclosure of his assets including the USD 40 million he received on February 25 from Diageo.



(PTI inputs)








Delhi: Delhi University professor Prasanta Chakravarty, who suffered several internal injuries after being kicked and punched in the stomach during the violence unleashed at the Ramjas college on 22 February by suspected members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), continues to receive life threats in the form of calls, messages and mails.



He has been calls threatening him to leave the city if he wishes well for himself and his family. He has also been threatened to stay out of the protests and political battles in and around the campus.



But that does not dissuade him.



We cannot sit quietly inside our homes, these incidents have pushed us in a direction where we cannot afford to stay out. Succumbing to threats and fleeing is not the solution, there is no escape because wherever you go, you will have to face this climate. There is a wave of fascism across the globe. We have to be very strategic with our ideological framework. Liberal Idealism will not help us anymore. Prof. Chakravarty told News18.



Ramjas College students, with the support of members of the Left, had called for a protest march against Delhi University Students' Union and ABVP, the BJPs student wing. When the members of the ABVP descended on the college campus to stop the march, the violent clashes, stone-pelting and the assault that followed left several teachers, students and journalists injured. They were slapped, punched and kicked by policemen, all of them reportedly without nameplates.



Prasanta Chakravarty, who is an assistant professor in the Department of English, Delhi University, was admitted to Fortis Hospital after he suffered several injuries, and continues to face long-term abdominal issues, and will not be able to take classes for another one month.



The incident was a result of precipitation of a condition and was not the first in recent times.



These clashes are happening owing to a highly tensed and ratcheted-up climate of manufactured polarisation in the campuses. It is about wresting political initiative around certain symbols  by deploying effective and rhetorical registers around a topography which is supposed to a be a place where ideas are tested," said Prof Prasanta Chakravarty.



Professor Chakravarty believes it is important to analyse what actually transpires in the universities leading to such volatility.



The idea of jousting minds has never been isolated in our campuses. So, first of all we have to have a matter-of-fact, strategic sense of what actually transpires in our universities. It is not merely about condemning violence from a position of empathy and argument but to first understand the background of the poisonous polarisation of our spaces of education. he says.



The presence of a small number of liberal and other progressive groups, in the prevalent climate cannot be overlooked.



They have been trying to forge a different climate but their number remains small, even though their role is confined to just resisting rather than deciding the agenda of the day. Tellingly, there is a sense of fragmentation and isolation among such forces, so that even basic security to this group is never ever ensured.



This dissociation of sensibility is telling for a campus life which is largely anyway hierarchical, clandestine and coterie bound," said Prof Chakravarty.



He believes that campuses are places from which a new language and a new ideology could indeed develop, primarily coming from the student community. That new language seems to be fed up with violence and a climate of rank intimidation.



What needs to be done to fight this climate of violence?



According to the Prof, Such mobilisations should not just become merely a series of events but take a much longer and real perspective of how political battles are fought gradually, especially forms of political organization have to be studied afresh.



The Prof advises that the intellectual sophistication of the argumentative approach must also be deeply cognizant of the popular grievances and the nature of such grievances.



Cognizance of what has been unfolding in other the campuses of smaller cities and towns of the nation is just as important as the political and academic moves in and around the campuses of the national capital.



In towns like Banaras, Vadodara, Gaya, Aligarh, Bardhaman and Thiruvanathapuram, the Prof feels, the situation is completely handed over to organised mobs and to a culture of homogeneity.



These places have in the past witnessed political battles, virtual and real, that not just lacked nuance but also had no garb of any rational discourse. There is hardly any media coverage about such places. But it is important to look into all these places because only then can we have a larger sense of the structural changes that are being affected right now in our campuses and how battle lines could be drawn and joined, said Prof Chakravarty.






When a free ride for college is more like 'taken for a ride'

High school seniors may already have their college acceptance letters and financial aid offers in hand, but there's no reason to rush on making an enrollment decision.

Take time to assess those aid packages carefully.

Six in 10 colleges sent financial aid offers to students before the winter holidays, according to a new analysis of 145 colleges from Royall & Company. (Last year it took until early March to hit that benchmark.) More students have already decided which college they'll attend, too, with admissions up 5 percent compared to last year.

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"Those students who were accepted and got a reasonable need-based award from an institution were content with that," said Pamela Kiecker Royall, head of research at Royall & Company.

The surge in early-bird offers are largely due to a recent change in the start date for filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (aka the FAFSA), a form that determines eligibility for financial aid .

Families are now able to file as early as October for the upcoming academic year, using income data from an earlier tax return. Under the old system, families had to wait until Jan. 1  three months later  and use data from the just-concluded tax year.

Many families took advantage of the new start date to apply for financial aid early , giving them more time to assess the affordability , said Mark Kantrowitz, vice president of strategy for college and scholarship search site Cappex.com. Many colleges set their enrollment deadline as May 1, which has come to be known as National College Decision Day.

"I would encourage families to use the luxury of the extra time," he said. "You have the time to make a more informed decision."

Deciphering college aid letters

Due diligence ahead of "decision day" might include practical measures, like making another visit to campus. It should also include a thorough assessment of the aid offer, said Kevin Fudge, director of consumer advocacy for American Student Assistance, a nonprofit focused on higher education financing.

Story continues

"It can be overwhelming and daunting to look at that letter," he said.

1) Analyze the components.

Terms aren't always clear, so start your review by going through the offer line-by-line to determine what's what. Separate out scholarships and grants, which don't have to be repaid, from loans that do, Kantrowitz said. That gives you a truer picture of your out-of-pocket costs.

"You may think you have a free ride from this college, when in reality you have a ridiculous amount of loans," he said.

If you expect your student will receive outside scholarships, ask about the displacement policy, he said. Some colleges use those to offset loans, while others will first use them to offset grant aid from the college. That calculation could make a big difference in comparing offers.

2) Crunch costs.

Check what's included in the college's cost estimate, said Kantrowitz. It should include indirect expenses like travel to and from campus and textbooks, as well as tuition, room and board. Fill in the blanks for any missing expenses so you can better compare different colleges' offers.

Look to see if the college estimates are reasonable, too, based on personal details like your student's major.

"A single physics or calculus textbook can cost you as much as $250," he said.

3) Think long term.

"Look at [college cost] from a four-year perspective rather than a one-year perspective," Fudge said.

The aid package's addendum typically contains details like whether a scholarship can be renewed in future years, and under what circumstances, he said. That's also where you'll find any conditions your student has to meet to keep the aid, like meeting a minimum GPA.

A generous aid package as a freshman doesn't mean your student will be awarded the same deal as an upperclassman. Depending on the terms, a college offering a smaller amount of annual aid, but as a four-year award, might be the more valuable offer, he said. (CollegeNavigator.gov offers breakdowns of average aid for freshmen and for all undergraduate students.)

That multiyear assessment is a better gauge of affordability, Fudge said, and can help you figure out the best plan to pay for college .

4) Ask for more help

If your financial situation has changed since filing for financial aid, consider preparing an appeal to the college. They may be willing to adjust your aid package, Kantrowitz said, although that may simply mean more loans, rather than additional grants.

You might also reach out for a reassessment if one college offers more aid than another. But any bump up in aid resulting from that tactic is typically because the reviewing college realizes it was missing a piece of information about your finances that other colleges had, he said.

"It's not because of your strong negotiating skills," Kantrowitz said. "Colleges really aren't car dealerships, where bluff and bluster can get you a better deal."





More From CNBC


"We cannot sit quietly inside our homes, these incidents have pushed us in a direction where we cannot afford to stay bhadra"

The presence of a small number of liberal and other progressive groups, in the prevalent climate, cannot be overlooked.

Delhi University professor Prasanta Chakravarty, who suffered several internal injuries after being kicked and punched in the stomach during the violence unleashed at the Ramjas college on 22 February by suspected members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), continues to receive life threats in the form of calls, messages and emails.He has been receiving calls and messages from suspects, threatening him to leave the city if he wishes well for himself and his family. He has also been threatened to stay out of the protests and political battles in and around the campus.But little does that dissuade him."Succumbing to threats and fleeing is not the solution, there is no escape because wherever you go, you will have to face this climate. There is a wave of fascism across the globe. We have to be very strategic with our ideological framework. Liberal Idealism will not help us anymore." Prof. Chakravarty tells News18.com.Ramjas College students with the support of members of the Left outfits, had called for a protest march against Delhi University Students Union and ABVP, the BJPs student wing. When the members of the ABVP descended on the college to stop the march, the violent clashes, stone-pelting and mass assaults that followed left several teachers, students and journalists covering the incident injured. They were slapped, punched and kicked by policemen, all of them reportedly without nameplates.Prasanta Chakravarty, who is an assistant professor in the Department of English, Delhi University, was admitted to Fortis Hospital after he suffered several injuries, and continues to face long-term abdominal issues, and will not be able to take classes for another one month.The incident concerning his assault and other forms of violence that were witnessed in Delhi University ought to be approached from a wider perspective.The incident was a result of precipitation of a condition and was not the first in recent times.These clashes are being attributed to a highly tensed and ratcheted-up climate of manufactured polarisation in the campuses."It is about wresting political initiative around certain symbols, by deploying affective and rhetorical registers around a topography which is supposed to a be a place where ideas are tested," says Prof Prasanta Chakravarty.Professor Chakravarty believes it is important to analyse what actually transpires in the universities leading to such volatility."The idea of jousting minds has never been isolated in our campuses. So, first of all, we have to have a matter-of-fact, strategic sense of what actually transpires in our universities. It is not merely about condemning violence from a position of empathy and argument but to first understand the background of the poisonous polarisation of our spaces of education. he says.They have been trying to forge a different climate but their number remains small, even though their role is confined to just resisting rather than deciding the agenda of the day. More tellingly, there is a sense of fragmentation and isolation among such forces, so that even basic security to this group is never ever ensured.This dissociation of sensibility has been telling for a campus life which is largely anyway hierarchical, clandestine and coterie bound.  says Prof Chakravarty.He believes that campuses are places from which a new language and a new ideology could indeed develop, primarily coming from the student community. That new language seems to be fed up with violence and a climate of rank intimidation.# Such mobilizations should not just become merely a series of events but take a much longer and real perspective of how political battles are fought gradually, especially forms of political organization have to be studied afresh.# The students actually must participate in the electoral process and must not detach themselves from their times. They do not have to rely on abstract jargon if their ideas are tested at the ground level.# The idea of being apolitical and objective is not going to last for long. We are passing through a time that demands that we think through issues rigorously and take strong positions rather than be wishy-washy.# The intellectual sophistication of the argumentative approach must also be deeply cognizant of the popular grievances and the nature of such grievances.Cognizance of what has been unfolding in other campuses of smaller cities and towns of the nation is just as important as the political and academic moves in and around the campuses of the national capital.In towns like Banaras, Vadodara, Gaya, Aligarh, Bardhaman and Thiruvananthapuram the situation is completely handed over to organised mobs and to a culture of homogeneity."These places have in the past witnessed political battles, virtual and real, that not just lacked nuance but also had no garb of any rational discourse. There is hardly any media coverage about such places. But it is important to look into all these places because only then can we have a larger sense of the structural changes that are being affected right now in our campuses and how battle lines could be drawn and joined", says Prof Chakravarty.
Was just expressing my feelings but I apologise to all who were offended due to my unintended insensitive tweets in context of women's day  Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) March 9, 2017

My apology is only to those who genuinely got offended and not to those who ranted for publicity nd threatened to take law into their hands  Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) March 9, 2017

: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma's derogatory tweet on Women's Day landed him in trouble after a women's organisation filed a police complaint against him.Facing criticism, the filmmaker apologised on Thursday saying he was "just expressing my feelings".Varma, who is not new to social media feuds, had tweeted on Wednesday, "I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives."The complaint said Varma has gravely insulted women with his tweet.Ranragini, which has affiliation to Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, filed a complaint with Mapusa police last evening with its local office-bearer Vishakha Mhambare demanding that Varma be booked under Cyber laws and section 292 of IPC.(Also read: Ram Gopal Varma Lands In Trouble; Complaint Filed Over His Sunny Leone Tweet On Thursday evening, he put out a series of tweets apologising."Was just expressing my feelings but I apologise to all who were offended due to my unintended insensitive tweets in context of women's day," Varma said."My apology is only to those who genuinely got offended and not to those who ranted for publicity nd threatened to take law into their hands," he added.Earlier in the day, the director also got into a war of words with NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad on Twitter.Awhad asked Varma to apologise or "face the consequences, we don't mind taking law in hand (sic)."To which, the director replied, "If you don't apologise to threat of taking law into your own hands, will formally register complaint, so let me know. Please note."Meanwhile, Congress too demanded that the Maharashtra government and State Women's Commission file an FIR against the filmmaker for his "sexist" remarks.
New Delhi: Not naming a Chief Ministerial candidate has its own advantages. Ambiguity at the top keeps all contenders and their supporters interested.



Union Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha in a recent interview just before the last phase in fact did indicate how this has helped party in the UP Election.



This despite the fact that BJP as a party has been a firm believer in giving a tangible face to its election campaigns. The tradition started with Atal Bihari Vajpayees projection in 1996. And there have been occasions when the party has impressed upon its allies to project a CM candidate in states where the BJP is the junior partner.



If exit poll results in UP are to hold, BJP may soon be presented with the task of naming it's CM for UP.



In the last six months and in the run up to the elections, many names have come up of discussion. Union home minister Rajnath Singh is certainly not inclined to return to Lucknow.



In that case if a first time CM has to be chosen then two issues would weigh heavy on the selection process: social composition of castes who have voted for the BJP and 2019 general elections.



BJP this election has worked on non-Yadav OBC and upper caste mobilisation. If this combination is successful in bringing BJP back to power in UP, then the CM could be from either of the communities.



Two names from the OBC category in the reckoning would be State President Keshav Maurya and Mos Finance and Baraily MP Santosh Gangwar. Maurya comes from the VHP stock and is an MBC. UP has never in the past had a MBC chief minister. If chosen, UP would again have a CM from Poorvanchal after many years.



Gangwar on the other hand is the veteran BJP MP since 1989. He's lost only one election in 2009. Soft spoken, Gangwar is a Kurmi. The community has traditionally voted for the BJP in the Rohelkhand region.



Of the upper caste contenders, union culture minister Mahesh Sharma is one such name. The doctor from Noida is close to the Sangh but has on occasions created unnecessary controversies by shooting his mouth off.



Telecom Minister and Ghazipur MP Manoj Sinha is another names doing the rounds. A graduate of Banaras Hindu University, Sinha comes from the numerically less dominant Bhumihar community. When dominant communities slug it out, Caste neutrality at times is an asset in identity politics.



Of the remaining state leaders, Uma Bharti and Kalraj Mishra are the only ones apart from Rajnath and Maurya whose pictures dotted the hoardings put up by the party across the state.



Bharti, the mercurial sanyasin and the former Madhya Pradesh CM has had to shift base to Uttar Pradesh after a protracted tussle with current MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Her heart, they say, is still in Madhya Pradesh.



Kalraj Mishra, on the other hand, has legislative and executive experience both in Lucknow and Delhi. The Brahmin leader from Deoria is currently the only above-75 minister in the Union council.



And last but not the least is the fiery Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath. The head of the Gorakhnath Temple was also considered as the CM face. A section of the local RSS leadership backed the move. But caste configurations, especially in eastern UP, forced the BJP to abandon the idea and instead approach the elections under a collective state leadership.
Thiruvananthapuram: Congress Kerala unit chief VM Sudheeran resigned on Friday hinting at a larger organizational revamp happening in the party that has been struggling to find its feet after the drubbing in the recent assembly polls.



The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief told media he is quitting because of health problems. My responsibilities as KPCC chief doesnt allow me a days rest. But my health situation doesnt allow me that, he told reporters.



However, analysts are not buying that. KPCC is tipped to undergo a massive organizational revamp and the senior-most leader from the state AK Antony has been camping in Kerala for several days now parleying with party leaders. Sources told News18 that Antony had several rounds of talks with Sudheeran and the message was that he will have to make way.



The Congress unit in Kerala has historically been affected by faction feuds, but the fights intensified after the assembly polls last year. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy controls the biggest faction known as the A group while former state home minister and Opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chenniathala leads the I faction. Sudheeran has held his neutral ground and has been targeted by both the groups. He has landed the KPCC post mostly because of his proximity to the party high command, especially Rahul Gandhi.



Sudheeran was instrumental in forcing the hand of Chandy to implement the controversial prohibition policy, which party leaders later complained didnt help Congress net any goodwill votes from women.



Sudheeran was also vocal when corruption charges surfaced against Congress ministers, especially against former excise minister K Babu, a Chandy confidante. His abrupt resignation comes in the wake of threats issued by the A group that they will resign from KPCC en masse if Sudheeran is not removed, sources told News18.



The A group wants to have its own candidate as the new party chief  if not Chandy himself  and restore the power balance vis-a-vis the I group.



Reports indicate the party might settle for a new working president for now and go for a full revamp soon.


Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has said that the Congress would win more than 40 seats in the 60-member assembly.



"I hope people of Manipur will give us a clear mandate. We will cross 40 seats. The voter turnout shows that they wanted to vote for the present Congress government, he added.



Exit polls have predicted a remarkable victory for the Congress in Manipur. C- Voter has given 25 to 31 seats to BJP, 17 to 23 seats to Congress. While India today- Axis has given majority to Congress with 30 to 36 seats and 16 to 22 seats to BJP.



Manipur this time is billed as a major test for the 15-year-old Congress regime which is facing a stiff challenge from the BJP. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has not been keeping well, did not campaign in the state.



The task of spearheading the Congress campaign was left to party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who addressed a rally in Imphal on February 28.



BJP held rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 25 and by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on February 19 in Imphal.



Irom Sharmila, who fasted for 16 years for repealing the AFSPA from the state, is in the election fray for the first time and is pitted against Ibobi Singh himself in Thoubal constituency.



(PTI inputs)






Ahmedabad: BJP president Amit Shah today asked party workers to remain active on social media and reach out to people using the platform to spread good work of the Gujarat government and counter negative propaganda.



On the third day of his Gujarat visit, Shah held two meetings with state leaders and Ministers at BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar, the party said in a release.



Assembly elections in Gujarat, where BJP is in power for over two decades, will be held in the later part of 2017.



In the first meet of BJP's social media team, attended by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, his deputy Nitin Patel and Gujarat BJP chief Jitu Vaghani, Shah talked about how to remain alert as well as active on social media, it said.



He advised the cadres to reach out to people by spreading awareness about pro-people government work on social media platforms.



In addition, the social media team should remain alert to counter myths, lies, rumours and false propaganda on the new-age platform.



Later, Shah chaired a meeting with state leaders to discuss the current political scenario and future party programmes in Gujarat.



Apart from Rupani, Patel and Vaghani, other key party leaders and several state ministers attended the gathering, said the release.
New Delhi: If exit polls are to be believed, the BJP is all set to end its 14-year-long exile from the corridors of power in Uttar Pradesh. All seven exit poll results released on Thursday claim the BJP will emerge as the single-largest party in UP. Three of them even claim the party will cross the 200 mark.



In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP managed a near-sweep of the state after support from the influential Jat community in western UP.



The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the traditional "party of the Jats", faced a severe drubbing and failed to win even a single seat.



Over the last year, however, there was silent resentment brewing among Jats. The Jat agitation in neighboring Haryana threatened to chip away at the gains the BJP made in 2014. However, if exit polls are anything to go by, the Jats seem to have largely stuck with the BJP.



This runs contrary to the standard narrative that Jats were miffed with the BJP. While the quota agitation was the last straw for Jats, their resentment has deeper roots. For a community that produced not only Chief Ministers but also a Prime Minister, the political marginalization after the Charan Singhs death has not gone down well.



Western UP is one of the highest sugar-producing regions in the country. Over the last three years, the sugar industry had faced a serious crisis of overproduction. The supply of sugar in the market had far outstripped the demand.



All this has made sugarcane farming, the Jat communitys main trade, an unviable profession. This has only added to the communitys frustrations. The Muzaffarnagar riots ruptured the relationship between Jats, traditionally land owners, and Muslims, who traditionally worked as farm hands on Jats land.



The exit polls, however, tell a different story. The Todays Chanakya Poll has been most charitable to BJP, giving the saffron party a thumping majority of 285 seats out of 403. This is far more than the halfway mark of 202 seats needed to form government.



The Axis poll gives the BJP between 251 and 279 seats. Another poll that puts BJP at the 200 mark is the VMR poll. Even the most conservative of polls, the C-Voter Survey, puts the BJP on top as the single-largest party with 161 seats. The Network18-Gramener poll gives 193 seats to the BJP, just short of a majority.



All issues seem to have had only a marginal impact, if any, on BJPs support among Jats. Before the polls, even BJP leaders admitted in private to being nervous about the resentment among Jats. The community is, after all, crucial to the BJPs campaign in the state.



Now, they are singing a different tune. Muzaffarnagar MP and Union minister Sanjeev Balyan, the BJPs Jat face in western UP, told News 18, While it is too early to say anything at this stage since the verdict is not officially out,the exit polls seem to confirm our belief that BJP will form the government in UP. This will not be possible without support from Jats.



The community has been solidly for the BJP since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and we will retain most o f that support. Those who say that BJP backstabbed Jats are wrong. We have supported all demands of Jats, including reservations.



Leaders of the Jat agitation, howeever, disagree. Yashpal Malik, president of the Akhil Bhartiya Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJSS) who is spearheading the Haryana Jat agitation, rejected the exit polls. Exit polls are not always accurate. These polls claim BJP will win most of the seats in western UP but that is simply not possible. They will not win more than 20 seats in the first phase. BJP has underestimated the anger among the Jats and they will pay a heavy price.



While Jats make up only around 8-9% of the states population, their concentration in key assembly seats in western UP makes them an important voting bloc.



Malik added, Everybody knows BJP is anti-minority. That is why Muslims and Dalits never vote for them. This time, even Jats will abandon them.



In the 21 districts that make up western UP, Jats form around 17% of the population. Districts with a high concentration of Jats are Mathura (5 seats), Meerut (7 seats), Muzaffarnagar (6 seats), Baghpat (3 seats), Shamli (3 seats), Saharanpur (7 seats) and Bijnor (8 seats).






Bollywood actor Salman Khan is ready to launch his own smartphone brand. Khan, who already owns the clothing brand named 'Being Human'.Read more: Bose SoundSport Wireless Review: Delivers Great Sound Sans Pesky Wires According to a report , Salman Khan has gotten 'BeingSmart' trademark registered for smartphones and will foray into the middle and entry market segment. A manufacturing plant in China has also been selected to build handpicked models that will carry the BeingSmart tag.An operational management team is also being set up for the venture, which would be headed by professionals with working experience in tech firms like Samsung and Micromax.Read more: TRAI Moots Aggregators, PDOs for Low-Cost Public Wi-Fi Service The upcoming line of smartphones will be available at Being Human retail stores and later made available in electronic retail chains.Salman Khan's BeingSmart line of Android smartphones will compete with Chinese rivals such as Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi in the mid-budget segment.Read more: Indian Startups Bet on Artificial Intelligence in 2017: Report The report adds that Salman had tried venturing into smartphone market two years ago too but the brands were wary due to the high royalty charges he had demanded.
The Delhi government has reduced the tax on aviation fuel to 1 percent from 25 percent for flights operating to smaller towns and cities, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, in a move to reduce costs for airlines flying to remote areas from the Indian capital.



The tax reduction is only for airlines operating under the federal government's regional connectivity scheme, introduced last year to make flying more affordable, Sisodia said on Wednesday while presenting Delhi's annual budget.



India is the world's fastest-growing aviation market but most of the air travel is between big cities. Under the regional connectivity scheme, the government will subsidise part of the cost for airlines to operate flights to smaller towns.



Jet fuel is one of the biggest costs for airlines, especially for low-cost carriers such as IndiGo Airlines, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, SpiceJet and GoAir.



Aditya Ghosh, president of IndiGo, India's largest carrier, requested that the tax break be extended to all air travel out of Delhi, which is the airline's biggest base.



Airline stocks surged after the news. InterGlobe shares rose as much as 4.37 percent, SpiceJet was up as much as 8.6 percent and Jet Airways gained as much as 6.6 percent.
A Kansas man accused of killing an Indian software engineer and shooting two other people while shouting "get out of my country" appeared in Johnson County Circuit Court on Thursday as lawyers worked out a schedule for his upcoming trial.At the short hearing, alleged shooter Adam Purinton, 51, sat quietly, wearing an orange jumpsuit and looking haggard, his hair scraggly, sometimes whispering to his attorney. Adam Purinton, 51, accused of killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, 32, as well as an American who tried to intervene, is shown in closed circuit TV in court from the Johnson County detention center as Purinton heads towards a room with his public defender, Michelle R. Durrett (L) during his initial court appearance in Olathe, Kansas. (Image: Reuters)Purinton is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32. He is also charged with two counts of attempted murder for wounding Alok Madasani, 32, and an American, Ian Grillot, 24, who tried to intervene. Adam Purinton, 51, accused of killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, 32, as well as an American who tried to intervene, appearing via video conference from jail during his initial court appearance in Olathe, Kansas. (Image: Reuters)The shootings raised concerns in India, which sends many immigrants to the United States, and highlighted a spike in hate speech and alleged hate crimes in America in recent months.Adam Purinton, 51, accused of killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, 32, as well as an American who tried to intervene, appears with his public defender Michelle R. Durrett (R) via video conference from jail during his initial court appearance in Olathe, Kansas. (Image: Reuters)The Southern Poverty Law Center has said the number of hate groups in the United States rose for a second straight year in 2016, linking the increase to the recent US election, in which heated rhetoric targeted immigrants, refugees and Muslims. Adam Purinton, 51, accused of killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounding Alok Madasani, 32, as well as an American who tried to intervene, appears with his public defender Michelle R. Durrett (R) via video conference from jail during his initial court appearance in Olathe, Kansas. (Image: Reuters)The appearance was Purinton's second since the Feb. 22 shootings at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, a Kansas City suburb. Another hearing was scheduled to be held in May to determine a schedule for more hearings and a trial.
London (AFP) - The doping scandal that enveloped Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum's Goldophin stable in 2013 served to shake the racing authorities out of a false sense of security, Irish racing's chief vet told AFP.

The doping of 22 horses with anabolic steroids at their English stables -- including the 2012 St Leger winner Encke -- resulted in an eight year ban for trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni and did untold damage to the image of his employer.

Dr Lynn Hillyer was a central figure in the case as she then worked for the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).

Now with the Irish Turf Club she told AFP after the initial shock and negative headlines the affair served to shake up different racing authorities across the world.

"Nobody likes the sport you love being splashed across the papers or on the 10 o'clock News," said Hillyer on Thursday on the sidelines of the Tackling Doping in Sport conference.

"Some saw it as a success that they had been caught, I saw it as something had gone wrong somewhere.

"However, two good things evolved from it. With anabolic steroids there was a real impetus to co-ordinate policy.

"It would also be fair to say it focussed the minds of individual racing authorities on doping because perhaps when things aren't happening the thought is everything is ok.

"When something does happen everyone from those in the sport to the fans require reassurance and this had a sort of impetus of reviewing what we were doing."

Hillyer says though mercifully for a sport that relies heavily for its credibility on integrity doping is not a scourge.

"It is very rare," she said.

"When I was at the BHA there might be 20 positives a year against say 8-9000 samples and the ratio would be similar of what I've seen so far in Ireland.

"There have been three positive tests in six months, all of those are conventional antibiotics which are commonly used.

"There have not been any nasties if you like."

Story continues

- 'Goalposts are clear' -

Hillyer, who says she has rarely seen a greater density of drug testing than in Ireland with both pre-race and post race testing on the racedays themselves, said for those few who stepped over a clear line there is zero tolerance.

"The vast majority of trainers look after their horses and don't wish to give them doping agents and are doing a good job," she said.

"What we are trying to do is differentiate between those who wish to use medication for therapeutic use and on the other hand make it very clear alternative practise won't be tolerated. Zero tolerance if it affects racing performance.

"We have done a lot of work in recent years to differentiate between two groups of drugs.

"Integrity is one side but there is a welfare and ethical side as well.

"Horses don't choose to give themselves medication which puts added responsibility on to the trainers."

Hillyer's role has restrictions for if she sees a prohibited substance at a stables she cannot seize it with her only recourse to take samples from the horses to see if they have been doped.

She says it doesn't need a sledgehammer approach to a nut when one has suspicions about a stable or a stud farm.

"A key thing is to make sure that goalposts are clear and those who are prepared to go too close to the line know what that line is.

"However, you don't always need size 12s and a heavyhanded approach."
Geneva: Two men shot dead two people and seriously injured a third on Thursday at a cafe in Basel, north-west Switzerland, police said as they hunt for the suspects.



"Two men came into Cafe 56" around 8.15 pm local time (1915 GMT) "and fired several rounds of shots," police said in a statement, without providing information on a possible motive.



"Two customers were killed. Another is in a critical condition."



The assailants were on the run following the shooting, according to police, who said they had headed in the direction of the railway station after the attack.



"The reason behind the attack is not yet known and will be investigated," the Basel prosecutor's office said in a statement.



Police have asked anyone with information regarding the incident to come forward.



The road next to the cafe has been cordoned off and traffic redirected.



A bullet hole was visible in one of the windows of the establishment, a small cafe in a residential neighbourhood.



An AFP photographer at the scene saw police dressed in white forensic garb collecting evidence at the site.



"Cafe 56 doesn't have a bad reputation," a neighbourhood resident told local newspaper Basler Zeitung.



"It was previously an establishment known for its links to the drug world, but since the owner changed several years ago it became an ordinary cafe," the paper quoted another resident as saying.



Gun crime is infrequent in Switzerland, even though the country has one of the highest rates of firearm ownership in the world.





Citizens are allowed to keep their army-issue weapons at home outside periods of mandatory military service.



This right has been controversial as sometimes weapons are used at home in domestic incidents.



The number of weapons held at home is believed to be two million for a population of eight million, according to Swiss press.



In January, a man clad in military clothing shot and injured two police officers as they searched his home in northeast Switzerland for a suspected cannabis plantation.





The gunman fled but was eventually cornered and after a standoff lasting several hours, which included negotiations over the telephone, he shot himself dead.



Police searching his home found gun publications.


The Nelson County distiller running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination and his firebrand anti-tax, anti-regulation and anti-establishment message found a warm audience with the Lynchburg Tea Party on Thursday evening.

Denver Riggleman, also a former Air Force intelligence officer, related his biography Thursday evening to about 40 people at Lynchburg Public Library, highlighting his path through manual labor, military service and following his wifes dream to build Silverback Distillery in Nelson County.

Riggleman was the last Republican to officially enter the race, although he publically mulled jumping in for several weeks. He faces longtime national GOP strategist Ed Gillespie, state Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, and Prince William County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart.

The other three candidates are better known and are backed by donors with deeper pockets, he said, referring to them as establishment candidates.

Im running against guys, three guys with 70 years of combined political experience, Riggleman said.  I have zero. I think that puts me 70 points in front of them.

Riggleman, whose campaign touts itself as a Whiskey Rebellion, recounted specific regulations and taxes he considers cumbersome that are involved in building or operating the distillery.

His political ambitions grew out of wrestling with the beer, wine and restaurant industry starting during the 2016 General Assembly, he said, as well as eminent domain issues involving the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

His speech targeted the intersection of money, influence, law and politics, including the lobbyist community that holds significant sway in Richmond.

The system of fees, taxes and regulations has been built over years, he said.

Just give me an equal playing field. Put me in a cage with these other guys and let me fight. Thats what I want, Riggleman said, referring to his business.

A few people who had not yet decided who they will support in the June 13 Republican primary said after the meeting they like that Riggleman didnt sound like a politician, comparing him to President Donald Trump, who crashed the Republican primary last year.

Theres another Trump in the air, said Shirley Lilly, of Lynchburg. Someone thats outspoken against the establishment, because weve had more than enough; we just need to search for more honesty.

Riggleman did not overtly tout the Trump comparison Thursday. Stewart, a onetime Trump Virginia state campaign co-chairman, has tried to take that mantle himself.

While some Lynchburg Tea Party members had not made up their minds regarding the gubernatorial primary, Edward Olivares, of Monroe, came supporting Gillespie. Although Olivares said he liked Rigglemans personality and message, he left still supporting Gillespie, the purported frontrunner, for practical reasons.

I know Gillespie. Ive met him. I respect him for the work he did when he was chairman for the Republican Party. He did a hell of a good job, so Ill vote him, Olivares said. Hes the only one who has a chance of beating the Democrat.

Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and former 5th Congressional District Rep. Tom Perriello are running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

The Lynchburg Tea Party is not endorsing any candidates at this time, according to President Karen Angulo. She has reached out to all Republican gubernatorial candidates but hasnt been able to schedule the other three. Democratic candidates would be welcome, too, she said.

While Rigglemans campaign has found Tea Party groups to be receptive, theyre hoping to build a broader coalition of activists and civic groups, said Riggleman Political Director Josiah Tillett, also a Bedford County planning commissioner.

Were not like a tunnel-vision Tea Party, Tillett said. We have a very, very broad spectrum. We think our coalition can be broader than that because Denvers a free-thinking candidate, and we think well have more of a reach than that.
A wreck Friday morning in Bedford County involving a school bus killed a Vinton man, according to state police.

A three-vehicle crash occurred at 7:39 a.m. at the intersection of Joppa Mill Road and Virginia 24 (Stewartsville Road), Sgt. Rick Garletts, spokesman for the Virginia State Police, said in a news release.

A 1993 Chevrolet Geo Tracker was traveling east on Virginia 24 with a 2005 Ford F-250 pickup truck behind it. The Tracker was slowing to make a left turn onto Joppa Mill Road when the truck crossed the double yellow center line, sideswiped the Tracker and struck a Bedford County school bus traveling west head on, Garletts said.

Travis Jay Snyder, 29, was driving the pickup truck; he died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, Garletts said.

A 17-year-old man from Moneta was driving the Tracker, and Glenn E. Montgomery, 65, of Goodview, was driving the school bus. Both were wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash; they werent injured. There were no children on the bus at the time.

Garletts said the crash still is under investigation.
trump mcconnell ryan

The House Republican leadership's American Health Care Act, which would overhaul large parts of the US healthcare system, was introduced this week after years of debate within the GOP. But it still has a ways to go to become law.

The bill will face some tough pushback from not only Democrats, but conservatives within the Republican Party, as well. Conservatives are angry that the bill still includes tax credits to buy insurance and have dubbed the law "Obamacare lite," while moderates are worried about potential cuts to Medicaid funding.

Trump healthcare approval_v02

Add on opposition from conservative thinks tanks, medical groups, and insurance lobbyists and the AHCA could have a tough road to President Donald Trump's desk.

To get a sense of where we are in the process, we've created a handy checklist for the AHCA's passage to make it easy. Let's break it down.

House goes first

The first step for the AHCA came in the two committees that oversee healthcare matters. The bill was introduced to the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees on Wednesday, which started a long debate process.

Democrats tried to add amendments to the bill but were rebuffed by the Republican-controlled committees. The process also allowed Democrats to express their displeasure and delay it from moving forward  the Energy & Commerce Democrats, for instance, had the entire bill read aloud by committee clerks  but not stop it.

The Ways & Means committee eventually approved the bill at around 4:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, while the Energy & Commerce committee dragged on until around 2:20 p.m. ET.

The bill will next go to the House Budget Committee, which will consider it in much the same way the others did. If it approved by the Budget Committee (also Republican-controlled), it will move on to the House floor.

So, once the three committees have approved the bill and any amendments, it advances to the House floor for consideration. The full body will debate the bill and attach amendments, and then vote.

Story continues

Obamacare Repeal Checklist_v03

On to the Senate

If the bill is passed by the House, it will move on to the Senate.

In theory, Senate committees with jurisdiction over the bill could go through and do their own review and amendments process. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, suggested Wednesday that Republicans may take the bill straight to the full Senate floor for a vote. McConnell aides later clarified that this was only a suggestion.

The Senate could be the biggest hurdle for the proposed legislation. Conservatives such as Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee have said they will not support it because of the tax credits included in the bill, and because they argue it does not truly repeal Obamacare.

On the other end, senators in states that expanded the Medicaid program under the ACA, like Tom Cotton of Arkansas, have bristled at the AHCA's rollback of Medicaid expansion funding after 2019.

Since Republicans only hold 52 seats in the Senate, only a few defections would be needed to kill the bill.

If the Senate makes changes to the bill and passes it, but it differs from the House version, there would be another step added. A conference committee, made up of members of the House and Senate committees that oversee healthcare, would convene and craft a compromise bill.

This compromise bill would then have to be pass both the House and the Senate before the bill would go to President Donald Trump's desk.

Trump's desk

Trump has said that he supports the AHCA, so he would likely sign it if it came to his desk in its current form.

The only real hiccup would be if an amendment or compromise is added that he does not favor. If that were the case, he could veto the bill, sending it back to Congress. Congress would need two-thirds of both the House and Senate to override the president's veto for the bill to become law. This would be unlikely, given Democratic opposition.

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Another gubernatorial administration is entering its final months in power in Virginia, the only state in the country that constitutionally bars its chief executive from running for re-election.

Business leaders and organizations, advocates for government transparency and former governors themselves have all called for the state to ask voters to amend the constitution to allow a governor to succeed himself, but the General Assembly  filled with 140 senators and delegates, many of whom would love a chance to run for the top spot  has consistently turned a deaf ear to them.

That needs to change.

Now youre probably wondering just whats so bad about barring a governor from running for re-election. After all, politicians these days arent very high up on anyones Most Admired list.

We get that. We understand that many folks like the idea of being able to stick it to politicians in the belief that theyre taking back control from the political class. But honestly, theyre hurting their own interests in the long run.

Hear us out, please, on why we think it would be in the best interest of the commonwealth and all Virginians to make this constitutional change.

Virginia operates on a two-year budget cycle. Budgets are drawn up by governor to cover that two-year period; the budget is adopted in even-numbered Assembly sessions (60 days) and amended in odd-numbered sessions (45 days). Right now, the state is in the final year of the 2016-18 budget biennium, after legislators spent the 45-day, 2017 session tweaking the budget and covering a $1.2 billion revenue shortfall.

In December, Gov. Terry McAuliffe will present his proposed 2018-20 budget to the Assembly. But heres the problem: A gubernatorial election occurs in November, and McAuliffes single term ends in January 2018. His successor, whether a Democrat or a Republican, likely will come in and totally rework the budget to match his or her priorities. Its been the same for every previous governor  they come into office, inherit their predecessors already-crafted budget, operate under their own budget for only two years and present a second budget that likely will be completely reworked by their successor.

And therein lies the primary reason so many leaders of the business community wish Virginias governors could succeed themselves: policy continuity. Any CEO worth her salt knows that no business can be successful if company priorities and direction can change on a dime every couple of years. Policy initiatives cant be devised, instituted and judged successful or not in such a short period of time. Running a company based on that operational basis would be a recipe simple for treading water.

And thats what Virginia runs the risk of doing: treading fiscal water in an economic environment that is changing rapidly. The commonwealth has prospered for decades because of its location in the backyard of the nations capital; federal spending has powered the Northern Virginia and Tidewater economies, keeping the rest of the state afloat. Federal spending levels are uncertain at best, and putting the states economic eggs in that one basket makes no sense these days.

No well-run business would fire its CEO every four years for no reason other than tradition. Nor should any well-run state. If we want Virginia to continue to prosper and grow, we must give governors the ability to succeed themselves.

It makes sense ... and cents. As well as dollars.
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Two sentenced to hang for killing pundit

Sunil Singh and Baldath Rampersad were before Justice Carla Brown-Antoine in the Port-of-Spain Second Criminal Court, charged with the murder of pundit Kamal Harripersad who was chopped to death at his home.

After a three-day summation, a 12-member jury panel deliberated for three hours before returning with guilty verdicts for the two men.

Harripersad, 54, of St Johns Trace, Orange Field Road, Chaguanas, was at home with his wife and children when intruders stormed the house and chopped him to death.

The men demanded money, struck Harripersads wife Tara Lochan on the head with a gun butt and stole cellular phones, pieces of jewellery and $300.

Lochan testified at the trial.

Singh and Rampersad were charged with the murder and, after a preliminary inquiry in the Chaguanas Magistrates Court, they were committed to stand trial in 2009.

Also testifying for the prosecution was Jagdeo Goolie Persad who claimed he was the driver of the getaway car the killers used in carrying out the crime.

Persad, who turned hostile on the witness stand, was treated as a witness with an interest to serve.

There was a hushed silence when Brown-Antoine read out the sentence of death to the two men who were represented by attorneys Sophia Chote,SC, Michelle Solomon and Keith Scotland.

State attorneys from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Nigel Pilgrim and Giselle Ferguson-Heller prosecuted.
SEATTLE (AP)  Legal challenges against President Donald Trump's revised travel ban mounted Thursday as Washington state said it would renew its request to block the executive order and a judge granted Oregon's request to join the case.

The events happened a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit, and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said New York state also asked to join his state's legal effort. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said the state is joining fellow states in challenging the revised travel ban.

Washington was the first state to sue over the original ban, which resulted in Judge James Robart in Seattle halting its implementation around the country. Ferguson said the state would ask Robart to rule that his temporary restraining order against the first ban applies to Trump's revised action.

"My message to President Trump is  not so fast," Ferguson told reporters. "After spending more than a month to fix a broken order that he rushed out the door, the President's new order reinstates several of the same provisions and has the same illegal motivations as the original."

Robart on Thursday granted Oregon's request to join Washington and Minnesota in the case opposing the travel ban.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said the executive order has hurt Oregon, its residents, employers, agencies, educational institutions, health care system and economy.

Trump's revised ban bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.

Unlike the initial order, the new one says current visa holders won't be affected, and removes language that would give priority to religious minorities.

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin said that the state could not stay silent on Trump's travel ban because of Hawaii's unique culture and history. Hawaii depends heavily on tourism, and the revised ban would hurt the state's economy, he said.

Story continues

The courts need to hear "that there's a state where ethnic diversity is the norm, where people are welcomed with aloha and respect," Chin said.

He noted that the new travel ban order comes just after the 75th anniversary of the Feb. 19, 1942, executive order by President Franklin Roosevelt that sent Japanese Americans to internment camps during World War II. That order was put in place after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Hawaii had an internment camp.

Ferguson said it's not the government, but the court, that gets to decide whether the revised order is different enough that it would not be covered by previous temporary restraining order.

"It cannot be a game of whack-a-mole for the court," he said.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration believed the revised travel ban will stand up to legal scrutiny.

"We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given," Spicer said.

Ferguson said he was pleased that attorneys general from New York and Oregon had sought to take part in the legal action.

"We have a strong case and they are willing to join our efforts," he said of his fellow Democrats. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement called the executive order "a Muslim ban by another name."

Other states that have filed briefs supporting Washington's initial lawsuit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

In his initial lawsuit Ferguson said the original ban was unconstitutional and hurt the state's businesses and universities.

A federal appellate court later upheld a temporary restraining order issued against the first travel ban.

The Trump administration says the old order will be revoked once the new one goes into effect on March 16.

In filing a lawsuit Wednesday night, Hawaii said the revised order would harm its Muslim population, tourism and foreign students.

Attorneys for Hawaii filed the lawsuit against the U.S. government in federal court in Honolulu. The state had previously sued over Trump's initial travel ban, but that lawsuit was put on hold while other cases played out across the country.

Hawaii's complaint says it is suing to protect its residents, businesses and schools, as well as its "sovereignty against illegal actions of President Donald J. Trump and the federal government."

Imam Ismail Elshikh of the Muslim Association of Hawaii is a plaintiff in the state's challenge. The ban will prevent his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting him, he said.

The mam is a U.S. citizen, has rights and would be prevented from seeing his mother-in-law, Chin said. The mother-in-law is awaiting approval of a visa to see her relatives in Hawaii.

The woman and others have become victims because of the ban's "standardless set of waivers and exceptions that weren't set by Congress," Chin said.

Hawaii's lawsuit challenging the travel ban focuses on damage to the state's economy and mainly tourism. Chin says the tourism angle is unique because the state relies heavily on visitors and Hawaii officials have a right to defend the economy.

He said people may fear traveling even within Hawaii because they would be forced to encounter a federal agent every time they get on a plane to visit a neighboring island.

___

Sinco Kelleher reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Tarek Hamada in Phoenix and Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show the spelling of Judge Robart's name on the first reference.
BLOWS, CHOPS ON WOMENS DAY

One woman was beaten, thrown down a precipice and left for dead while the other was chopped repeatedly.

In the first incident, at 6.30 pm, Melissa Valley was at her Kingdom Avenue, Arima home when she was accosted by a male relative during a heated argument.

The angry man grabbed cutlass and began chopping the screaming 36-year-old woman.

Valley managed to escape when the man lost his grip of her arm which became soaked in her blood and she ran out of the house.

The woman ran to the nearby home of her sister Ria, who locked the house and contacted the police. Valley was later taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) in Mt Hope where she underwent emergency surgery and remains warded in serious but stable condition. Police, meanwhile, arrested a suspect who up to press time, was in custody.

In the second incident, a 33-year-unemployed woman of John Lane, DAbadie is today thanking her lucky y thanking her lucky stars after surviving a most horrendous attack at the hands of her boyfriend who is 11 years her junior. Sterla Yorke remains warded in excruciating pain at the EWMSC where she is receiving treatment for injuries to her head and neck.

Yorke told police she began a relationship with a 22-yearold Lopinot man some months ago. On Wednesday the suspect picked up Yorke at her home telling her he wanted company as he goes to Blanchisseuse Road in Arima to look for someone. Yorke told police everything appeared well as they chatted in the car.

On reaching Blanchisseuse Road at 9 pm, the young man stopped the vehicle in a dark area, alighted from the vehicle and began choking Yorke. She was struck to the back of the head and lost consciousness.

When Yorke regained consciousness, she found herself alone at the bottom of a ten-foot deep precipice. Her boyfriend was gone.

Bleeding from injuries, Yorke slowly and painfully climbed back to the the roadway and while walking aimlessly along Blanchisseause Road, was helped by a passer-by who contacted Arima police. She was taken in an ambulance to the EWMSC and warded. Police sources told Newsday that a manhunt had been launched for the suspect who is believed to have gone into hiding.

Yesterday, Yorke was visited at the Accident Emergency Ward by her mother Gail who told Newsday that she was too distraught to say anything about the incident but was happy that her daughter was alive.

The attack of these two women was discussed in depth on Wednesday as this country joined the world in observing International Womens Day and making a call for equality for women and protection of girls and women from domestic violence, sexual violence and discrimination on the basis of gender.
Trini activist fights deportation

Immigrant activist Ravi Ragbir, who emigrated from Trinidad to the US in 1991 had the support of a crowd of demonstrators as he headed to the Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) New York City office yesterday ahead of a mandatory annual check-in  a meeting which he and his followers feared would result in his deportation to his native land given the new aggressive immigration policies of the Trump administration.

According to a report from New Yorks Observer Media, dozens of advocates and elected officials joined Ragbir, an organizer for the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City an interfaith organization that helps undocumented individuals fight detention and deportation near the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Lower Manhattan before his yearly conference with authorities.

Ragbir came to the US from Trinidad on a visitors visa in 1991 and obtained a green card in 1994. He was convicted of wire fraud in 2001, served five years in prison and was ordered deported in 2006. The Observer Media reported that Ragbir received a stay-of-removal in 2011 and has since been subject to prosecutorial discretion, which permits an agency or officer to decide how to pursue individual cases on a year-to-year basis  and which spared him from expulsion again yesterday.

You would think that I would be happy coming back out and I am happy to be back here with my family, to sit with you, to sing with you, to talk to you...

yes, I am, an emotional Ragbir, whose wife and daughter are US citizens, was quoted by the Observer as saying afterwards. But I have to go through this again. Addressing reporters after the post-appointment press conference in Foley Square, Ragbir said that this check-in differed from last years, as ICE did not allow his wife or ministers to sit in on the appointment. Ragbirs lawyer, Alina Das, said her client would have to go back in one month in order to attempt to secure a travel document.

To see the tears streaming down her (Ragbirs wife) face as we exited to know what it meansboth that Ravi was able to come out but that he has to go right back in again in one month just demonstrates how horrific the system can be, Das said.

And that we still hope that people will do the right thing, that people will be given discretion, that there will be due process and that people like Ravi will be allowed to remain with us. Ragbir said the election of President Donald Trump indicated the worst is to come for immigrants and said that if nothing was changing for him, then he shouldnt be checking in next month. He voiced sympathy for less prominent immigrants who might face deportation under the new administrations aggressive enforcement agenda.

I have support, I have you guys, I met you guys, I have been with you guys, Ragbir told his supporters. But imagine those who do not. Ragbirs wife, Anna Gottlieb thanked Das and other lawyersand vowed she and her husband would take back control of their lives. Activists in attendance voiced outrage that Ragbir and his family should fear his deportation.

It is a travesty of justice and we as the New York Immigration Coalition are committed to doing everything that we can to stop the detaining and deportation of people like Ravi Ragbir and we will commit to do that, Steve Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said. To fighting back against all of the deportations that are tearing families apart, that are ripping our communities apart. Several politicians entered the center with Ragbir, while protesters marched around the building through the hour-long appointment, carrying signs bearing slogans such as Refugees are welcome!, This Rabbi Rallies With Immigrants and Not one more deportation.
Lift suspension from classmate

Yousef Hosein, speaking with Newsday yesterday, said he was contacted by the school supervisor for the area to discuss the incident.

He told the official that he had one request and that was for the alleged attacker to be allowed to return to school and not face a seven-day suspension. I dont want him to miss classes, Hosein said.

What will he do at home for all those days? They have test coming up. Acknowledging that boys will be boys, Hosein said the boy who hurt his son needs help and that was his reason for going public with the incident in the first place. He is also calling on the nation to pray for the speedy recovery of his son.

Hosein also showered praises on the chairman of the South West Regional Health Authority, Anil Gosine, for what he called the good services offered to his son at the San Fernando General Hospital on Tuesday.

Eshan was injured during the lunch-time break on Tuesday when the other student allegedly pushed him to the ground and beat him up.

The Ministry of Education has since launched an investigation into the alleged claims of bullying at the school. Additionally, a meeting with parents of both students is scheduled for Monday at the Couva Education Office.

Meanwhile, counselling by the Student Support Services Division of the Ministry of Education is being offered to both students.

Eshan is expected to return to school this morning.
TTMA gets new president

Balgobin, the Chairman of Angostura Holdings Limited, has been the subject of protests over the last few months over allegations of sexual harassment of a female executive at the company.
It May Not Be the Time

You Think It Is
About 9,000 additional staff will be needed until 2020.

With the increasing healthcare demand due to an ageing population and growing chronic disease burden, the Ministry of Health will be needing about 9,000 additional staff for new facilities and services in the next three years.

According to senior minister of state for health Dr Amy Khor, approximately 50% of these jobs are PMET level roles which include nurses, therapists, administrative executives, and operations managers.

"MOH will invest an additional $24m over the next three years to enhance our healthcare conversion and training programmes, to enable more mid-career Singaporeans to take up new careers in the sector," said Khor.

To recall, the MOH and Workforce Singapore (WSG) have established Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) for mid-career Singaporeans to be trained as Registered and Enrolled Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, and Diagnostic Radiographers.

Khor noted, " This year, MOH will further increase funding for nursing PCP training so that employers co-fund only 10% of the training cost, down from the current 20% to 50%. We will also provide new on-the-job training support of $12,000 per mid-career enrolled nurse and $16,000 per mid-career registered nurse to employers."

The funding is expected to encourage employers to admit more PCP-trained nurses and enable them to better support these nurses in their transition to a new career.

Besides enhancing the local professional conversion programme, MOH will also introduce a new overseas nursing scholarship under the Healthcare Graduate Studies Award (HGSA) for non-nursing degree graduates, including fresh graduates and those with prior work experience.

Meanwhile, Khor mentioned that there will also be new jobs in the aged care sector, as nursing home capacity is expected to reach 17,000 in 2020. However, she said the needs of aged care are not and should not be met by nursing homes alone.

"In fact, most Singaporeans prefer to age at home, so we should work towards making nursing home care an option of last resort. To achieve this, MOH is strengthening home and community care options to help seniors avoid institutionalisation, and age comfortably at home and in the community," she noted.

Story continues

In the next three years, MOH aims to increase day and home care services by 40%.







More From Singapore Business Review


After serving 32 years behind bars for arson and murders they didn't commit, Amaury Villalobos and William Vasquez are finally getting what one official calls "closure." The two men wrongly convicted following a 1980 fire that killed a mother and her five children in a Brooklyn townhouse will each receive $9.7 million from New York City, plus an additional $5.75 million from the state, NYC comptroller Scott Stringer says, per the New York Times. The pair served 32 years in prison before being released on parole in 2012. Three years later, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office ruled the fire an accidentpossibly caused by residents burning heroinand said the owner of the townhouse, a drug dealer, had lied about the men's involvement.

"We have reached an agreement that recognizes the years these men spent incarcerated and allows them and their families closure," Stringer said in a statement Friday, noting the men's case "represents the longest period of incarceration for any conviction vacated" by the Brooklyn DAs Conviction Review Unit. "It's a significant settlement," but "this is a case where the system completely failed these men," says Vasquez's lawyer. He tells the New York Post he hopes the money will allow Vasquez to "pick up the pieces of his life." The family of a third man, Raymond Mora, who was also exonerated of the crime following his death in prison in 1989, has not yet settled their claim with the city, reports the New York Daily News. (This man is getting just $175,000 over his wrongful imprisonment of 13 years.)
How much are 13 years of your life worth? Per the state of Oklahoma, $175,000 should cover it for Thomas Webb III, who spent that amount of time behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Per NBC News, Webb's lawyers say that after 20 years of on-again, off-again lobbying, the state has finally agreed to compensate him under the Tort Claims Act passed there in 2003, which caps payback for the wrongly imprisoned at that amount. The National Registry of Exonerations tells Webb's story, which began in March 1982 with the rape of a University of Oklahoma student, for which Webb was ultimately convicted in 1983 and sentenced to 60 years in prison after the victim mistakenly IDed him in a lineup. In 1996, DNA testing proved Webb wasn't the rapist, and after a new trial, the charges were dropped and he was released.

His fight for compensation took many swerves, and he struggled with drugs, homelessness, and his marriage (he eventually divorced). But Webb then found his current lawyer, who persistently pushed his case, and the state AG who took over for Scott Pruitt when he left to head Trump's EPA finally signed off on payment. In an NBC News story last year, Webb revealed he's since become friendly with his accuser, who has apologized for her mistake, and that they still meet for lunch. "He is a good man," she told NBC, which takes an in-depth look at their emotional meeting 32 years after she first faced him in a courtroom. What Webb tells NBC he's going to do with the money once he signs the papers that arrived Tuesday and a judge OKs them: Pay back his ex-wife for all of the money she poured into clearing his name, as well as settle back taxes. What he'd still like from the state: "a public apology." (Read more exoneration stories.)
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson says President Donald Trump's revised travel ban has "the same illegal motivations as the original." Ferguson on Thursday asked a federal judge to block the new order by ruling a temporary restraining order against the first ban to also to the revised executive order, the AP reports. In the original lawsuit targeting the first ban, Ferguson said it was unconstitutional and hurt the state's businesses and universities. Ferguson says his message to Trump about the revised order is "not so fast" and that courts must decide the issue.

Earlier Thursday, US District Judge James Robart in Seattle granted Oregon's request to join Washington and Minnesota in their lawsuit opposing Trump's travel ban. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum asked to intervene in the lawsuit on Feb. 22, arguing that it is harmed the state in the same way as Washington claims. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said their states are also joining the lawsuit. Hawaii has filed its own lawsuit against the revised travel ban. (Read more Trump travel ban stories.)
A stunning fall for South Korea's leader: In a historic ruling Friday, the nation's Constitutional Court formally removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office over a corruption scandal that has plunged the country into political turmoil, worsened an already serious national divide, and led to calls for sweeping reforms. It marks a remarkable reversal of fortune for Park, the daughter of a dictator who rode a lingering conservative nostalgia for her father to a big win in 2012, only to see her presidency descend into scandal. The unanimous ruling opens her up to possible criminal proceedings, and makes her South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be removed early from office since democracy came in the country in the late 1980s, per AP. South Korea must now hold an election within two months to choose Park's successor.

Park's parliamentary impeachment in December came after weeks of Saturday rallies that drew millions who wanted her resignation. Overwhelmed by the biggest rallies in decades, the voices of Park supporters were largely ignored. But they've recently regrouped and staged fierce pro-Park rallies since. People on both sides have threatened not to accept a Constitutional Court decision that they disagree with. One of Park's lawyers told the court last month that there will be "a rebellion and blood will drench the asphalt" if Park is booted from office. Many participants at anti-Park rallies had said they would stage a "revolution" if the court rejected Park's impeachment. (More on the scandal here.)
South Korea's president was kicked out of office Friday after the country's Constitutional Court upheld her impeachmentand while much of the country is celebrating, loyal supporters are furious. At least two of them were killed in protest outside the court, reports Reuters. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is now South Korea's acting president until an election is held, which, by law, must happen on or before May 9. A spokesman said Park, who could now face criminal charges over a corruption scandal, will not be leaving the Blue House residence Friday. A roundup of coverage:

With Park's center-right party tainted by scandal, most analysts expect the primaries of the country's liberal Democratic Party to determine South Korea's next president, the AP reports. Front-runners Moon Jae-in and An Heejung have differing views on North Korea and the US, with Moon more open to dialogue with Pyongyang and to challenging the US over the THAAD anti-missile system.

Prosecutors say the case for removing Park from office for her role in the corruption scandal could not have been clearer, but her lawyers have vowed to fight on, the Washington Post reports. So have her supporters, who tend to be older, more conservative South Koreans.

The New York Times describes the removal of Park as part of the backlash against the old order once represented by her father, who ruled as a dictator from 1961 until his assassination in1979. "Her removal means that the curtain is finally drawing on the authoritarian political and economic order that has dominated South Korea for decades,"says Ahn Byong-jin, of the Global Academy for Future Civilizations at Seoul's Kyung Hee University.

Reuters reports that restaurants acrossSouth Korea are selling out of chicken as people order chicken dishes to celebrate the removal of the leader with the derogatory nickname "Chicken Guen-hye."

Al Jazeera has a day-by-day look at the events that led to Park's stunning downfall, starting with the raising of suspicions last summer about organizations connected to her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil.

The BBC reports that the predicted leftward shift in South Korean politics could see the reopening of a joint venture industrial complex just across the border in North Koreaand could complicate relations with the US when it is trying to isolate Pyongyang internationally.

(Read more South Korea stories.)
The Florida cop who killed a 73-year-old librarian when he fired real bullets during a role-playing exercise is now an ex-cop. Punta Gorda Officer Lee Coel has been on administrative leave since last summer, when he shot Mary Knowlton dead in front of her husband of 55 years, but he has now been informed that his last day will be Friday, the New York Daily News reports. Coel has said he thought he was firing blanks during the exercise at a citizen police academy event, where Knowlton was among dozens of volunteers.

In a letter to the officer, the city says he should have taken "appropriate and reasonable steps" to ensure the safety of Knowlton, who had been selected at random to play a bad guy, including making sure that no live ammunition was used during the exercise, WBBH reports. Coelwho was accused of using excessive force in his previous jobwas charged with felony manslaughter after the death and pleaded not guilty earlier this week. Punta Gorda Police Chief Thomas Lewis is charged with misdemeanor negligence in the shooting. Knowlton's family reached a $2 million settlement with the city last fall. (Read more Florida stories.)
The Roman Catholic Church has an "enormous problem," Pope Francis told German newspaper Die Zeit in an interview published Thursday: a dearth of clergy. To solve that issue, CNN reports, the pontiff is considering tapping into "viri probati""tested men," or married ones. What Francis is mulling would allow men who've already said their "I do's" to be ordained, though priests already of the cloth wouldn't get to walk down the aisle. As it stands now, the only priests in the Catholic Church who can wear wedding rings are already married Protestant priests who convert to Catholicism, as well as Eastern Rite priests who become ordained after marriage. The AP notes that the viri probati concept has received renewed interest under the Argentinian-born pope, as he understands the struggles of countries like Brazil, which has a huge Catholic demographic but very few priests.

What's got some irritated about the clergy shortage and the solutions being bandied about: that women aren't being considered in the mix. Per Catholic News Service, while Francis did note he has OKed a commission to research the role of women deacons early in the church's history, he clarified that was more for theological study purposes, "not to open a door." That lines up with statements the pontiff made late last year in which he conceded women did "many other things better than men," but would still likely never be priests, per the Guardian. Also broached in the pope's Die Zeit interview, per the AP: his thoughts on populism popping up in more democratic societies of late (it's "evil" and "ends badly, as the past century showed") and whether he ever harbored his own uncertainties about God. "I, too, know moments of emptiness," he said. (Read more Pope Francis stories.)
Alabama's Briarwood Presbyterian Church already has more than 4,000 members, two private schools, and its own radio station. And if administrators have their way, the wealthy congregation could soon add something that no other American church has: its own police force. Briarwood has asked the state legislature for permission to set up a private law enforcement department to watch over its flock and schools, the AP reports. But a church-only police force raises constitutional questions that are ripe for a legal challenge, and opponents worry crimes could be covered up by the church. Experts believe a church with its own police department would be unprecedented in the US.

The Birmingham church hires off-duty police officers from nearby jurisdictions to cover its events, but it says there often are not enough officers available to help. Church officials also worry about mass shootings. The bill was introduced by Republican Rep. Arnold Mooney, whose wife and daughter work at Briarwood Christian School. All three of his children graduated from Briarwood schools. Twenty-one of Mooney's colleagues in the Republican-controlled House support his bill. The bill was first proposed after students at Briarwood's high school were arrested in a drug bust in early 2015. While church administrators deny the raid was a catalyst for the bill, critics worry that similar instances could go unreported if the church had its own police. (Read more Alabama stories.)
Stephen Hawking once again came out against the potential threats created by technology advancements especially by Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. While the world population is worried about job-loss and other imminent troubles, he lashed out and said that it could wipe out the humanity from the earth.

Hawking said that people have to stand together to protect humanity from being wiped out. He says that it is the need of the hour to form a global government to manage and control the both robotics and AI. "It would look like tyranny and might look strange as well, but I am optimistic on that. I am hopeful that the human would stand up to meet these challenges on time," Hawking said in a recent interview. He also said that human aggression is shaped in such a way that it can wipe out everyone in a nuclear war or biological war. He advised the humans to control the instinct by reason and logic.

Even before, he came against the potential threats by both the technologies. "The biggest challenge of AI is not about malice but competence," He wrote in 2015. "A highly intelligence AI system is extremely useful in completing our tasks, but if those results are not for the benefit of us, there is a real trouble." He was a vocal supporter of various peace initiatives between countries. While discussing the possibility of aliens, he said that if aliens are coming to earth, it has a high probability that those aliens may destroy the earth.

Interestingly, the advancement of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics have received severe criticism in the recent years. Tech majors including Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and Bill Gates warned about the advancement of these technologies and pointed out the potential threats. Former President, Barack Obama was also worried about the situation of evil minds exploiting these technologies.
* Rare criminal case against Uber drivers

* Several Asian countries taking tough line against Uber

* Drivers appeal verdict (Adds more details of charges, background)

By Venus Wu and Sijia Jiang

HONG KONG, March 10 (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court on Friday found five Uber drivers guilty of illegally offering ride-hailing services, the latest clampdown against Uber Technologies Inc's operations in Asia and a rare case where drivers have been found criminally liable.

Authorities in several Asian countries are taking a tougher stance against the San Francisco-based firm, amid growing complaints from traditional taxi drivers who say Uber drivers are not properly registered nor insured.

Uber pulled out of Taiwan less than a month ago over mounting fines from regulators, while Thai authorities have cracked down on drivers following protests from unhappy taxi firms.

The five were convicted for not having proper licenses and insurance to operate vehicles for commercial purposes.

"Members of the public may find the innovative mode of transport very attractive," Judge So Wai-tak said while issuing the sentence.

"However, any private car service with the aim of carrying members of the public as passengers must be regulated and put under control, otherwise the interest and safety of passengers might be compromised."

The judge said he didn't see much difference between Uber drivers and "pirate taxi drivers in the past."

The court fined the drivers HK$10,000 ($1,287.91) each. It also revoked their driving licences for a year, but that punishment was suspended upon the drivers' appeal.

Uber said it was disappointed with the verdict.

"Sharing a ride shouldn't be a crime," said Kenneth She, General Manager for Uber in Hong Kong, adding the firm would continue to promote ride-sharing services in the city.

"Hong Kong's current transportation regulations have failed to catch up with this new reality and now risk reducing choice and competition."

CHILLING EFFECT

Story continues

The ruling is seen having a chilling effect on Uber drivers in Hong Kong, experts said.

"The court's ruling today is likely to have a short-term deterrence effect on Uber drivers in Hong Kong, as we have seen recently in Taiwan," said Mimi Zou, a law professor with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, without elaborating on its expected impact.

"Hong Kong is one of the rare cases in jurisdictions around the world where the drivers have taken on this criminal liability instead of civil claims," she said.

The Hong Kong police told Reuters it attached great importance to illegal car-hiring cases, and would continue to take action to enforce the law.

Uber told Reuters over 1 million people in the city of 7.3 million have downloaded the app, while tens of thousands have registered as drivers.

The company has had a bumpy ride in Asia after facing similar legal scrutiny as well as fierce local competition in a number of markets.

It sold its China business to local rival Didi Chuxing in August 2016 after an intense two-year battle when Uber was estimated to have lost $2 billion.

In Korea and Japan, where private car-hailing is banned, Uber had to adjust its business models and relinquish significant market opportunities.

($1 = 7.7645 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Venus Wu and Sijia Jiang; Editing by James Pomfret and Randy Fabi)
500 kg Egyptian woman Eman Ahmed undergoes weight-loss surgery

Mumbai : Egyptian woman Eman Ahmed Abdelaly, admitted in Saifee Hospital here since a month, underwent a successful weight reduction surgery on March 7, a medical bulletin said on Thursday.

Eman, 37, weighing nearly 500 kgs and billed as the heaviest woman in the world, was brought from Alexandria on February 11 for a weight-loss programme which includes surgery.

The surgery was conducted under the supervision of well-known bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala, Chairman of Saifee Hospital's Institute of Minimal Access Surgical Sciences & Research Centre.

Since her arrival in Mumbai, Eman has already lost over 100 kg and presents a different picture -- the surgery will help her shed more weight.

Though the hospital authorities declined to give details of the actual weight loss accrued till date, it is believed to be another 100 kgs or so.

"The medical team of Saifee Hospital successfully performed a Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy surgery on Eman on March 7. She had an uneventful surgery and anaesthesia course," a hospital medical bulletin said on Thursday.

She is now on oral fluids and is accepting them well as the weight-reduction course progresses.

"The future course of action for the medical team working on her will be to correct all her associated medical problems, to get her fit enough to fly back to Egypt as soon as possible. The patient is now in post-op care and we will share more updates in due course," the hospital said.

Earlier, Lakdawala had said that they planned to reduce another around 150-200 kgs and bring her around to 100 kgs or less.

Eman's condition will now be monitored before the next surgery is fixed to bring her down to a lean and trim 100 kgs or so.

The hospital has already announced that all the treatment for the high-profile patient would be free of cost.
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New Delhi:

The voting for last phase of election is presently underway in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. In seventh and last phase of election, voting is going on in 40 seats of seven districts in the state. Elections were conducted in seven phases on 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Political parties are leaving no stone unturned in the important UP elections. Their seriousness towards UP elections can be made out from the fact that political leaders have addressed 336 rallies in total.

UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has addressed a total of 211 rallies which is maximum for a political leader. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is at second spot with 55 rallies. BSP supremo Mayawati has addressed 51 rallies for UP assembly elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was very active with 31 rallies during Bihar assembly polls, was behind Akhilesh, Rahul and Mayawati in UP elections. He was at number four in total number of rallies in UP polls.

Akhilesh Yadav remained as the sole super star campaigner for Samajwadi Party. He addressed 211 public gatherings in Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh even addressed three to seven rallies in a single day and also participated in roadshow. Mulayam Singh Yadav only addressed four rallies whereas Shivpal confined himself to his area.

Rahul Gandhi who is at second spot has addressed 55 public gatherings and also participated in roadshows. It was for the first time that Sonia Gandhi has not addressed a rally. Priyanka Gandhi has addressed only two public gatherings.

Mayawati has addressed 51 public gatherings and hence she is at number 3 spot. BSP General Secretary Satish Mishra and Nasimuddin Siddiqui was not behind in addressing public gatherings.

PM Narendra Modi was not successful in breaking his own record of addressing rallies. Despite living in his constituency Varanasi for three consecutive days, PM Modi has only addressed 24 rallies in the state. PM Modi has started his campaign from Meerut on January 4. He addressed rallies in Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Bijnor, Badayun, Lakhimpur Khiri, Kannauj, Hardoi, Barabanki, Fatehpur, Urai, Allahabad, Gonda, Bahraich, Basti and Mau

Prime Minister has addressed most number of rallies in Awadh region at Khiri, Hardoi, Barabanki, Gonda and Bahraich.

PM Modi has addressed rally in Mirzapur on March 3. He addressed rally in Jaunpur and participated in roadshow in Varanasi on March 4. PM Modi also addressed rally in Varanasi and Rohania on March 5 and 6.

During the campaign for seventh phase, PM Modi stayed in Varanasi for more than three days. As a Prime Minister, he made record for spending most amount of time during elections.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Home minister Rajnath Singh issued a statement in Parliament on Bhopal-Ujjain Express blast and Lucknow terror encounter on Thursday during the first day of the second leg of the budget session.

The opposition is also planning to corner the Modi government over such incidents that indicated self-styled terrorist group ISIS' growing footprints in the country.

Here are the live updates:

#1.53pm

LoK Sabha adjourned till 2.40pm-ANI

#12.47pm

Will take steps to ensure that Indians in USA feel secure there. Govt will make a detailed statement soon: Rajnath Singh tells Lok Sabha

#12.34pm

Such incidents (attacks on Indians in US) have increased after the new US President has taken charge: Mallikarjun Kharge in LS

#12.32pm

NIA to investigate Lucknow terror encounter, Rajnath Singh tells Rajya SabhaA

#12.13pm

Lucknow encounter was carried out after gathering strongA evidences- Rajnath Singh

#12.12pm

Rajnath praises father of suspected ISIS terrorist killed in Lucknow encounter

#12.11pm

Home minister Rajnath Singh addresses Lok Sabha over Lucknow encounter and Bhopal-Ujjain train blast

#11:15 am

Rajya Sabha adjourned till Friday-ANIA

#11:12 am

Incidents regarding Indians in USA taken very seriously, statement on behalf of GoI to be given in the Parl next week: Rajnath Singh in LS-ANI

#11.05 am

PM Modi hopes that discussions will take place in a democratic manner and the level of debate will be good- PTI

WATCH: Hope to see breakthrough on GST, all parties & states have shown a positive approach says PM Modi ahead of #BudgetSession 2nd leg pic.twitter.com/6kVj8tTZ3c a ANI (@ANI_news) March 9, 2017

#11.00am

PM Modi hopes for support from the opposition parties over GST and other important bills-ANI

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  The Latest on South Korean President Park Geun-hye's removal from office Friday by the Constitutional Court (all times local):

5:32 a.m.

The United States is taking no position on the outcome of South Korea's upcoming presidential election, saying it's a domestic issue to be decided by South Koreans and their democratic institutions.

Spokesman Sean Spicer says the White House is monitoring developments after South Korea's Constitutional Court removed impeached President Park Geun-hye from office Friday over a corruption scandal.

Spicer says the U.S. will remain a "steadfast ally, friend and partner" to the Republic of Korea, regardless of the outcome of the election.

South Korea must hold a presidential election within two months to choose Park's successor.

___

8: 30 p.m.

North Korea's official media have briefly reported South Korean President Park Geun-hye's ouster.

The Korean Central News Agency said South Korea's Constitutional Court made the decision "amid the high-pitched public struggle demanding her impeachment."

It said after being ousted, Park would "reportedly face a thorough investigation as an ordinary criminal."

As a former president, Park has lost her immunity to prosecution.

Park took a tougher line toward North Korea than other recent presidents, and the North routinely threw vicious sexist and violent insults at her, including calling her an "aging witch" and a "female dog."

___

8:10 p.m.

Tens of thousands of South Koreans have occupied a square in front of an old palace gate in Seoul to celebrate the ousting of President Park Geun-hye, hours after the Constitutional Court removed her from office over a corruption scandal.

Carrying signs and candles, the crowd cheered to speeches and swayed to music Friday night, while angry supporters of Park continued to scuffle with police in streets near the court. Two people died and dozens were injured in the clashes between Park's supporters and police following the ruling.

Story continues

South Korean lawmakers voted to impeach Park in December, following weeks of massive but peaceful protests participated in by millions of people amid allegations that Park colluded with a longtime confidante to accept money from companies and allowed the friend to secretly manipulate state affairs.

___

6:30 p.m.

South Korean police and hospital officials say about 30 protesters and police officers have been hurt in violent clashes near Seoul's Constitutional Court following a ruling that ousted Park Geun-hye as president over a corruption scandal.

Two men believed to be protesters died on Friday as Park's supporters angrily reacted to the ruling, hitting police officers and reporters and climbing on police buses used to create a perimeter to protect the court. Police say protesters also smashed the windows of several buses.

An official from Inje University Paik Hospital says about 20 protesters are being treated for injuries from the rallies. An official from Kangbuk Samsung Hospital says it's also treating injured protesters, but couldn't say how many.

An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency says seven officers are also being treated for mostly minor injuries.

___

5:35 p.m.

South Korea's acting head of state has pleaded with opponents and supporters of ousted President Park Geun-hye to stop their fierce rallies that have divided the streets of capital Seoul.

The comments by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Friday came hours after two men died amid clashes between Park's supporters and police following the Constitutional Court's ruling to formally remove her from office.

In a televised speech, Hwang says "there would be people who feel they cannot understand or accept (the court ruling), but it's now time to move on and end all conflict and standoff."

He adds: "It's not ideal to expand the conflict by continuing the protests outside on the streets ... Precious lives were lost during the rallies today, and this must no longer happen."

Hwang has served as the government caretaker since lawmakers voted to impeach Park in December.

___

3:45 p.m.

South Korea's presidential office says Park Geun-hye won't leave the presidential Blue House on Friday after the constitutional court stripped her of her powers over a corruption scandal.

A Blue House spokesman says some of Park's aides are at her southern Seoul home to prepare for her return, but it hasn't been determined exactly when she will leave the Blue House.

The spokesman says Park has no plans to issue a statement over the ruling on Friday.

___

3:20 p.m.

South Korea's acting head of state says he feels "heavy responsibility" after the Constitutional Court formally removed Park Geun-hye as president over a corruption scandal.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has been the government caretaker since lawmakers voted to impeach Park in December. He said Friday in a meeting with Cabinet ministers that the government needs to focus on maintaining defense and economic stability while preparing for a presidential by-election that must be held within 60 days.

Hwang also instructed the Justice Ministry and police to prepare for the possibility of violent protests following the ruling.

___

2:40 p.m.

South Korean netizens are seeing a South Korean judge's hair rollers as a symbol of dedication and hard-working women on the day that the court that the judge leads dismissed the president from office.

Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi arrived at the Constitutional Court earlier Friday with two pink hair rollers attached to the back of her bobbed hair.

Pictures of her profile showing the round curlers as the justice walked to her office, apparently unaware, went viral.

Some South Koreans saw the apparent mistake as a sign of Lee's dedication to her work. Some linked it to President Park Geun-hye, who summoned her hair stylist to work hours after a deadly ferry sinking.

Lee, 54, is the sole female among eight judges on the Constitutional Court.

___

This item corrects Lee's age.

___

2:30 p.m.

South Korean police say a second person has died in protests against a court's decision to remove President Park Geun-hye from office.

Police had no other details about the death Friday. Hospital official earlier said that another person, a man in his 70s, died from head wounds after falling from a police bus in front of the Constitutional Court after it ruled to oust Park.

The official said the man, believed to be a Park supporter, was bleeding heavily when he arrived at the office and died at around 1:50 p.m.

Thousands of Park's supporters angrily reacted to the verdict, shouting and hitting police officers with flag poles and climbing on buses the police used to create a perimeter protecting the court.

___

2:25 p.m.

South Korea's defense minister has ordered the military to be on alert for possible North Korean provocations attempting to exploit "unstable situations at home and abroad."

In a video conference on Friday with military commanders, Defense Minister Han Min Koo said North Korea can make "strategic or operational" provocations at any time. The North has test-fired ballistic missiles in recent weeks.

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency has published a short dispatch on the court ruling in Seoul, anticipating that Park will now come under investigation as a "regular criminal."

The party of ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye, meanwhile, says it "humbly accepts" the ruling by the Constitutional Court to remove Park from office and that it feels responsible for her downfall.

___

2:10 p.m.

A South Korean hospital official says that a man in his 70s died from head wounds after falling from a police bus in front of the Constitutional Court after it ruled to remove President Park Geun-hye from office.

The official said Friday that the man, believed to be a Park supporter, was bleeding heavily when he arrived at the hospital and died at about 1:50 p.m.

Thousands of Park's supporters have angrily reacted to the verdict, shouting and hitting police officers with flag poles, and climbing on buses the police used to create a perimeter protecting the court.

___

1:55 p.m.

Japan's top diplomat says it will continue to work with a South Korean government led by the successor of ousted President Park Geun-hye.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Friday that he would not comment on the court ruling that removed the impeached president, citing internal politics.

Kishida says both countries must work on the "comfort women" dispute that has strained their relations for decades. He says he hopes Tokyo and South Korea's new government can implement a 2015 agreement they signed to fully resolve the impasse over sexual exploitation of the women by Japan for its troops before and during World War II.

Kishida says Japan has no immediate plan to send back the ambassador it temporarily recalled to protest a "comfort woman" statue built outside of its consulate in the South Korean city of Busan.

___

11:55 a.m.

The United States says the removal of South Korean President Park Geun-hye is a domestic issue that doesn't affect its strong alliance with the country.

The Constitutional Court formally removed the impeached Park from office Friday over a corruption scandal.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner says the U.S. will continue to work with the acting president, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, and looks forward to whomever South Koreans choose in a presidential election to be held within two months.

Toner says Park's removal is "a domestic issue on which the United States takes no position," and that it's up to the South Korean people to determine their country's future.

He says the two nations' alliance "will continue to be a linchpin of regional stability and security."

___

This story has been corrected to show that Lee Jung-mi is acting chief justice of the Constitutional Court, not chief justice.
New Delhi:

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Thursday asserted that Akhilesh Yadav will get a second consecutive term as chief minister in Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav said the party along with the Congress will get absolute majority in the state Assembly as he ruled out possibility of a hung verdict.

The Samajwadi Party-Congress combine is set to get absolute majority. We will win 236-240 seats...there is no question of hung assembly, the party general secretary told reporters on Parliament premises.

To a question on the BJP forming a government in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav said it is not aware of ground realities. On the other hand, expelled SP leader Amar Singh said BJP has got an advantage over its rivals in bitterly-fought Assembly elections.

ALSO READ | 336 rallies in 7-phase UP polls: CM Akhilesh tops list with 211 rallies, BSP's Mayawati did 51 as PM Modi addressed 21 rallies

With opposition parties using expletives against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singh said the BJP stands to benefit from it electorally. Asserting that the BJP will have an edge over all other parties in the polls, Singh claimed that the BSP too will surpass the SPs tally.

On whether the BJP and the BSP will come together if the elections throw up a hung verdict, the Rajya Sabha member said UP is a wonderful state and politics a game of possibilities.

Singh also dodged questions over the possibility of him joining the BJP, saying such issues are not to be discussed before camera.

The results of polls in the politically crucial state will be out on March 11. The Assembly polls were held in seven phases stretching between February 11 and March 8 in the state.

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New Delhi:

In a surprise move, Reliance Capitals long-serving CEO Sam Ghosh will leave the company on March 31, after spending nine years at the financial services arm of Anil Ambani-led business conglomerate.

Ghosh had joined the company in April 2008 as Group Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Capital, while he was elevated to the board in May 2015.

The company, which is present in insurance, mutual fund and a host of other financial services sectors, said in a regulatory filing that Ghosh will be completing his term of office on March 31, 2017, and the appointment of a new CEO will be announced in due course.

During this entire period (of nine years), Ghosh has served Reliance Capital with great passion and commitment, and contributed towards building up a strong portfolio of businesses across asset management, life and general insurance, commercial and housing finance, broking and distribution among others, the company said.

It also said that Reliance Capital is on track to complete its transition towards becoming a CIC (Core Investment Company) by end of March 31, as per RBI guidelines.

All operating businesses will be housed in wholly or majority owned subsidiaries, each led by the respective CEOs of those businesses and their respective full-fledged independent organisations.

Ghosh, a Chartered Accountant from England, has been instrumental in several deals and alliances signed by Reliance Capital during his tenure. He played a key role in expansion of core businesses as also in divestment of non-core assets to beef up its resources.

Besides, he was said to be deeply involved in mentoring of Anil Ambanis elder son Anmol, who joined Reliance Capital board last year after two years of training at the company.

Welcoming him on the board, Ghosh had said at that time, Anmol has been a fast learner, active participant in all reviews and displayed sharp business acumen in various decision-making processes,.

Before joining Reliance Capital, he was the Regional CEO of Middle East and India Sub Continent region of Allianz, a German insurance company.

He has also served as CEO of Bajaj Allianzs India operations. Prior to that he was involved in setting up operations for Allianz in South East Asia.

He spent ten years in Australia in various capacities with Allianz from CFO to managing subsidiary companies as well as operations in the Pacific Rim.

The company did not disclose any particular reason for his departure, while immediately it could not be ascertained where he is headed to.

The Board of Directors of Reliance Capital and all its people thank Ghosh for his service, and wish him the very best in his future endeavours, the company said.
New Delhi:

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, controversial remarks, has again found himself in the eye of storm after his 'sexiest' tweet on Women's Day landed him in trouble a police complaint was filed against him.

Facing criticism, the filmmaker apologised on Thursday saying he was just expressing my feelings.

On the occasion of International Women's Day he tweeted:"I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives".

After his tweet on women, a complaint was filed by activist Vishaka Mhambre in Goa. Also, Film Studio Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union with 52,000 members decided to boycott Ram Gopal Varma for his controversial tweet.

Also Read: Five times when Ram Gopal Varma's sharp tongue sparked row

The complaint said Varma has gravely insulted women with his tweet.

Ranragini, which has affiliation to Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, filed a complaint with Mapusa police last evening with its local office-bearer Vishakha Mhambare demanding that Varma be booked under Cyber laws and section 292 of IPC.

This evening he put out a series of tweets apologising.

Also Read: Ram Gopal Varma 'wishes all women to give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives', later says 'Leone has more self respect than any women'

Ram Gopal Varma 'wishes all women to give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives', later says 'Leone has more self respect than any women'

Was just expressing my feelings but I apologise to all who were offended due to my unintended insensitive tweets in context of womens day, Varma said.

My apology is only to those who genuinely got offended and not to those who ranted for publicity nd threatened to take law into their hands, he added.

Earlier in the day, the director also got into a war of words with NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad on Twitter.

Awhad asked Varma to apologise or face the consequences, we dont mind taking law in hand (sic).

To which, the director replied, If you dont apologise to threat of taking law into your own hands, will formally register complaint, so let me know. Please note.

Meanwhile, Congress too demanded that the Maharashtra government and State Womens Commission file an FIR against the filmmaker for his sexist remarks.

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New Delhi :

Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday offered her help to a student of New York University who suffered brain haemorrhage.

Swaraj assured Debarpan Mukherjees parents on Twitter that all possible help will be provided to them and their travelling will be arranged at the earliest. She said Indian consulate will provide all help.

Addressing to Indian students in New York, Sushma said the ministry got in touch with Debparans mother in Kolkata and they are doing everything to help.

Also Read | Hate crime: Investigation on in Indian-origin businessman's death in US, says EAM Sushma Swaraj

I have just learnt that Debarpan Mukherjee a student of NYU is in Hospital because of brain haemorrhage. @IndiainNewYork /1

 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 10, 2017

We will ensure that his parents reach there at the earliest. Our Consulate in New York will provide all help. /2 @IndiainNewYork

 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) March 10, 2017

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Lucknow :

Amid tight security arrangements, counting of votes for all the 403 Uttar Pradesh Assembly seats will be taken up on Saturday.

Counting of votes for 403 Assembly seats will start at 8 in the morning. Counting of ballots will take place in all the 75 districts, state election office said in Lucknow on Friday.

In addition to general observers, a micro-observer will be deputed at each and every counting table to keep an eye on counting.

Three-tier security arrangements have been made to ensure full proof security in and around the counting centres.

Also read: Exit Polls 2017 | Massive Modi wave in UP as BJP to get 280 seats: News 24-Chanakya, India Today-Axis

Only central para-military forces will be deployed inside the counting centres while local police will be deployed in the outer circle and armed forces from other states will be around the centres to prevent the entry of any unauthorised persons.

20,000 personnel of central forces were being deployed, police said.

A total of 78 counting centres have been set up in the state. In three districts of Amethi, Azamgarh and Kushinagar two counting centres each have been set up and in remaining all 72 district counting will be held at one place.

The Election Commission has issued strict guidelines on security arrangements for counting of votes. It has prohibited mobile phones inside the counting halls.

As part of the three-tier security arrangements, adequate local police force shall be stationed at first point of entry to check the identity of the persons seeking entry into the counting premises.

A senior magistrate will be posted at the entrance to control the crowd and regulate the entry. The Election commission has said the 100-metre area around a counting premise or campus should be demarcated as pedestrian zone and no vehicles should be allowed within this perimeter.

Additional CCTV cameras will be installed at such locations from where the carrying of EVMs from strong rooms to the counting hall can be recorded for effective monitoring.

Uttar Pradesh had seven-phase polling that started on February 11 and ended on March 8.

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Lucknow:

The recently-concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly elections have been a roller coaster ride for the ruling Samajwadi Party. Starting from the infighting within the state's most famous Yadav clan to forging an alliance with the Congress to maintain 'probabilities', the party has seen numerous ups and downs during the past three months.

And now, when the exit polls have indicated a possible electoral loss for SP, all eyes are now on party's national president Akhilesh Yadav who will be calling the shots once the actual results are declared on March 11.

In the past five years, Akhilesh has tried to steer the party and the SP government on his shoulders alone after charming the voters in the 2012 assembly polls.

He even revolted against his father and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Many political pundits were of the opinion that the SP feud was just an eyewash with an intent to add more gloss to Akhilesh's 'clean' image.

With questions are being raised on the accuracy of exit polls, it is totally fair to assume that it is not a dead end for the young chief minister and his party.

ALSO READ | Exit Polls 2017: Ready for tie-up with BSP in case of hung assembly, says Akhilesh Yadav

What if Samajwadi Party gets majority

Contrary to what opinion polls have predicted, If Samajwadi Party succeeds in retaining power with Congress' help, it may soon find itself on the negotiation table with its ally.

In that case, the party and mainly Akhilesh Yadav will find it difficult to cater the demands of its own leaders and the Congress.

Akhilesh, during an interview with the Economic Times, had defended his seat-sharing arrangement with Congress saying: People can say Congress (given 105 seats by SP) vote share is less. We know vote numbers at the booth level too. We are very strong at the booth level. Maybe they are weaker at the booth level. But I feel whatever their vote share... if it is combined with the SPs, we stand to benefit.

ALSO READ | UP Polls 2017: Akhilesh Yadav will get second consecutive term as CM in Uttar pradesh, says Ram Gopal Yadav

This clearly states that this time, the Yadav scion is unsure of his party's performance as compared to the last election tally in which the Samajwadi Party rose to a thumping majority with 224 seats.

However, the major challenge Akhilesh will face will be to live up to party's promises about the all-round development of the state which is largely limited to state capital Lucknow and party's stronghold Safai.

Litmus test for 'Kaam Bolta Hai' slogan

ALSO READ | Exit Polls 2017 | Massive Modi wave in UP as BJP to get 280 seats: News 24-Chanakya, India Today-Axis



The win will also put Akhilesh to test for his much-vounted slogan 'Kaam Bolta Hai' as he has used the development card during all his election campaigns in Uttar Pradesh highlighting his work in and around Lucknow.

SP's main rivals, the BJP and the BSP too have taken the fight to the voters, highlighting the shortcomings in the works which they said have been carried out in haste and flagged off even without achieving full completion.

The Lucknow Metro project has become a bone of contention with with PM Modi ridiculing it for the green signal given even before it was thrown open to public.

What if Samajwadi Party loses

ALSO READ | Election Results 2017: BSP not considering alliance options, bets on favourable election results



The defeat, as most of the exit polls have predicted, however, will not dent Akhilesh's image. In that case, it will be termed as Samajwadi Party's defeat.

The blame will put on the anti-incumbency factor apparently triggered by the infighting within the Yadav family. However, the Samajwadi Party may join the next assembly as the principal opposition party.

ALSO READ | Exit Polls: BJP riding on Modi Wave in 3 states, Congress to get majority in Punjab

Akhilesh is still young and he will have few crucial years to rejuvenate the party cadre and its base across the state.

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New Delhi:

Microphones have fallen silent, road shows have reached their destination and fates have been sealed. The blitzkrieg of assembly elections in Punjab, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and above all political pivot of India Uttar Pradesh is finally over.



As the political powers hold their breath for the results on March 11, let us have a look at what is at stake for them in Assembly elections 2017.



Bharatiya Janata Party



The incumbent power at the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party is playing the highest stake in the states battle 2017. Party, read PM Modi, stands to win or lose a lot including his own charismatic spell over the people.



After a stellar performance in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party has been on a winning streak  bagging state and local elections with ease across the nation, barring some. Though, the exceptions Delhi and Bihar have created suspense over the longevity of the Modi wave.



According to political expert Suhas Palishkar, If the BJP cannot produce a winning performance in UP, that failure would have a cascading effect. Ironically, then, the current elections are not a test of strength for the incumbent SP, but for the BJP, which has its 2014 record to protect.



Demonetisation effect



In five states, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, going to the assembly polls, demonetisation has clearly emerged as the war cry of not only the saffron party but also its rivals, who have latched onto the hardships facing people in form of long queues outside banks and ATMs to term the measure anti-people.



In 2016, BJP put up an impressive show in Maharashtra and the tiny municipal corporation of Chandigarh. These two wins were held by the party as an evidence of peoples support to demonetisation at a time it has come under intense attack from a united Opposition over the decision, cited by the government as a measure against black money and corruption.



While economic fallout of the radical exercise will take some time to be evaluated, there wont be a long wait before its political implications are out in the open.

Exit Polls 2017 | Massive Modi wave in UP as BJP to get 280+ seats: News 24-Chanakya, India Today-Axis



High-stakes



Besides Uttar Pradesh, it has a lot at stake in polls to three other state assemblies, including Uttarakhand, Punjab and Goa. In Manipur, it has never been in power but has forged a strong regional alliance to have a realistic shot at power.



In Punjab and Goa, the presence of AAP has upset the conventional poll dynamics and BJP, which is in power in both the states is trying hard to keep the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit at bay while battling its traditional rival Congress.



However, it is capturing the big prize of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha compared to 22 of four other states together, that is at the heart of BJPs poll strategy in the fag end of the outgoing year.



UP means Rajya Sabha



Uttar Pradesh is called the king-maker state and it's not for nothing. The northern Indian state, with over 14,12,53,172 voters, sends the largest number of Members of Parliament to the Rajya Sabha, where both the ruling party and the Opposition vie to stake control.



The Modi government enjoys a brute majority in Lok Sabha. While the BJP-led NDA government can pass any law as it pleases in the Lower House, key legislation often gets stuck in the Upper House  where the Congress enjoys a majority  due to Parliament logjams and political bickering.

While for the BJP, UP polls are one chance to wrest free the Rajya Sabha from the controls of the Opposition, ensuring that BJP's strength is limited in Rajya Sabha is the only respite Congress can hope for until the next Lok Sabha Elections.

Read | Ready for tie-up with BSP in case of hung assembly, says Akhilesh Yadav



The state elections also arguably set the precursor to the 2019 Lok Sabha election as UP was crucial in BJP's clean sweep in 2014 Lok Sabha elections  the saffron party's one-third parliamentarians come from the state that sends 80 MPs to the Lower House. Besides this, with the 2017 Presidential Election is in the offing, UP's strength will also play up in selecting the Constitutional head of the state.



Parrikars Goa



Coastal state Goa may be minor in the electorate, but a win in the state is crucial to BJP. Loosing Goa would not only be an evidence of anti-incumbency against BJP, it will also be a blot on defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who has been projected as the returning chief minister of the state.



Over 11 lakh Goans voted in the state assembly election which witnessed a multi-cornered contest between the major contenders: the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party.



A changed scenario from the previous elections in 2012 when the confident BJP was given a tough fight by the incumbent Congress and very little influence of regional parties could be seen, the 2017 elections in Goa are dipped in the shades of black and white.

Read | BJP will win over two-thirds of the seats in Goa, says Manohar Parrikar



But the competition becomes interesting and difficult to judge only with the entrance of the newly formed alliance between Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) mentored by former Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar and the Shiv Sena, which are contesting the elections in 26, 5 and 3 seats respectively.



It is this alliance that can make or break the existence of the ruling BJP in Goa.



Dev Bhoomi of Uttarakhand



Uttarakhand, where the BJP tried a coup after breaking the Congress party last year, will also be a test for the parry to prove that it can capitalise on the anti-incumbency and form a government on its own.



The Brahmin party of India, Bhartiya Janta Party may be in a weak position in Dev Bhoomi Uttarakhand, but if it manages to win the state, it will be a huge boost to their image amongst the loyal vote bank across the nation. The exit polls are divided on the possibility of BJPs win in the state. It may turn out to be a very close call just like 2012 Assembly elections.

Read | Uttarakhand election: CM Harish Rawat confident of Congress' victory



Punjab



BJP faces anti-incumbency in Punjab. Ten years in power has given them enough time to show their strengths and expose their weaknesses. It is also the only state, where exit polls have unanimously given poor predictions for the party. Exit polls, issued on March 9, project BJP to win merely 4-6 seats on March 11.



If BJP and Shrimoni Akali Dal lose Punjab to Congress or Arvind Kejriwals Aam Aadami Party, it would give their opposition an edge and evidence that they have the ability to beat the massive 'Modi wave', starting from Punjab.

Read | Will throw Badals, their ministers and OSDs into jail for destroying people's lives: Captain Amarinder Singh



Manipur

Northeastern states voted overwhelmingly in favour of BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But it will be very difficult to repeat such a performance, especially in Manipur. The state is a traditional Congress bastion. In Lok Sabha polls too, the two parliamentary seats went to Congress.



While PM Modi and Amit Shah has put in their back to bring saffron colour to the hill state, Congress chief minister Ibobi Singh has fought the war from the forefront.



Congress leaders, including party vice president Rahul Gandhi, put the spotlight on the secretive nature and contents of the Naga Framework Agreement between the central government and the NSCN (IM) in 2015.



BJP leaders targeted the ruling party for its alleged failure to lift the over three-month-long economic blockade on the two national highways of the land-locked state.



BJP leaders also levelled corruption charges against the Congress government and its inability to provide basic amenities to the people of the state, particularly the supply of potable water.



The Congress counterposed, saying the government during its 15-year rule implemented several development projects and improved the power supply.Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh in a recent election rally had accused the BJP of trying to take credit for development projects like railway projects initiated and inaugurated by the Congress.



In midst of the credit battle, BJP also faces a possible upset from activist Irom Sharmilla, who recently ended her decades-long fast and entered politics, in an effort to end AFSPA in Northeastern regions of India.

Read | Assembly polls: Manipur mothers vow to continue fight till AFSPA is withdrawn

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Panaji:

The focus in Goa on Saturday will be on whether the BJP will be able to retain power and if it gets a fresh mandate, will Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar return to his home state as chief minister.



The main fight for the 40-member assembly, which went to polls on February 4 and recorded an impressive turnout of 83 per cent, is between the BJP and the Congress.



The Aam Admi Party also made a serious bid this time round, contesting a majority of seats. The BJP fielded candidates in 36 constituencies and supported Independents in the remaining seats.



The BJPs poll campaign was led by Parrikar, which fuelled speculation that he may be chosen as chief minister if the the party returns to power in the state. Incumbent Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar is also in the fray.

READ | Election Results 2017: Modi wave fading or still intact? Here's what at stake for BJP in UP, U'khand, Goa, Punjab, Manipur



Though the BJP leadership has not come out with an official statement on the leadership issue, some senior party leaders said during campaigning that the chief ministerial nominee would be chosen by the elected legislators.



The Congress, the main opposition in the state, has fielded its nominees in 37 seats and backed the candidates of the United Goan, Goa Forward and an Independent in the rest.

ALSO READ | Election results 2017: Exit polls indicate Congress struggling for breath in Indian states



The outcome will also decide the fate of the alliance between Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) and the Shiv Sena.



The MGP, one of the oldest regional outfits, broke alliance with the BJP before the elections, while the GSM was floated by RSS rebel Subhash Velingkar.



The combine, according to political analysts, could harm the BJP more than the Congress and the NCP.



A new entrant to the electoral scene in the coastal state, the AAP has contested in 39 seats and the leaders who campaigned for the party included Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

ALSO READ | Exit Polls 2017 | Massive Modi wave in UP as BJP to get 280 seats: News 24-Chanakya, India Today-Axis



Keenly watched constituencies in the state include Mandrem in North Goa from where Parsekar is seeking re-election and Panaji, which was represented by Parrikar before he moved to the Centre.



In 2012, the BJP had come to power in Goa with 21 seats, The Congress had got 9 seats, MGP 3, Goa Vikas Party 2 and Independents 5.

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New Delhi:

A Delhi-bound GoAir flight with 165 passengers onboard grounded on Friday at Kolkata airport after it failed to take off twice due to some technical glitch.

The Kolkata-Delhi GoAir flight G8-128 returned from the runway after the problem was observed by the technical staff.

The repairing of the aircraft is underway and passengers have been accommodated in different flights.

Later in the day, the airline issued a statement stating the cause of the delay and possible departure of the stranded flight.



"Aircraft is currently undergoing component replacement and expected departure of flight is now 1pm," ANI quoted GoAir as saying.

(With inputs from agencies, more details awaited)

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New Delhi:

The Parliament met on Friday to resume its operations in both the houses. The Lok Sabha witnessed uproar over probe of J Jayalalithaa's death. It is believed private members bills that are likely to be tabled. Earlier in the morning, the Congress Party convened for a strategy meeting with an aim to chalk out a plan for the day in parliament.

The bill which can be tabled on Friday are:

Thaawar Chand Gehlot to move -For leave to introduce a Bill further to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 to modify the list of Scheduled Castes in the State of Odisha and to amend the Constitution Pondicherry) scheduled Castes Order, 1964.

Ahmed Patel to move the Bill provide for the protection Girl Child and Adolescent Girls (Protection from Malnutrition, Anaemia, Diseases And Welfare) Bill, 2014.

The bill also comprises other measures that have to be undertaken by the Central and State Governments for the girl child and adolescent girls to save them from malnutrition, anaemia and various diseases afflicting them in Gujarat and other parts of the country and for special provisions for nutritious meals supplemented by folic acid and multivitamin tablets, timely health check-ups and medication free of cost and certain welfare measures.

Read | Lok Sabha passes bill to raise maternity leave to 26 weeks

As it Happened

#1:01 PM

Rajya Sabha adjourned till 02:30 PM



#11:58 AM

Police is investigating the issue independently: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in Lok Sabha on Lance Naik Roy Mathew case-ANI

#11:56AM

Army has been told to work out a mechanism to ensure the particular complaint is addressed: Manohar Parrikar in Lok Sabha on Sahayak system-ANI



#11:27 AM

I think the whole house(Rajya Sabha) will be proud of the sentiments of his(Saifulla)'s father: PJ Kurien, Deputy Chairman-ANI



#11:23 AM

The whole incident will be probed by NIA: HM Rajnath Singh in Rajya Sabha on Lucknow Terror Operations and MP train blast-ANI



#11:21 AM

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh made statement in RS

#11:05 AM

Lok Sabha adjourned till 11:20 AM

#10:21AM

Sitaram Yechury gives suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha over ABVP & Ramjas row



#10:00AM

BJP Parliamentary Board meeting likely to be held tomorrow at 4 PM.

#9:12AM

Congress has given a notice in Lok Sabha on LPG and petrol price rise issue



#9:00AM

Congress Lok Sabha strategy meeting at 10:15 am today

Read | Parliament Budget Session: Will take steps to ensure Indians feel secure in US, Rajnath Singh tells Lok Sabha

On Thursday, the Upper House was adjourned for the day after obituary references to sitting member Haji Abdul Salam and four former members while the Lok Sabha was adjourned after a heated exchanges took place between TMC and BJP.

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At least 2 protesters dead as Park supporters stage mass rally in South Korea

At least two South Korean protesters died on Friday at a street rally staged by ousted President Park Geun-hye's supporters in central Seoul, local police said.

"We confirm that two protesters against upholding impeachment have died," Lim Jae Beom, an officer at the public relations office of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said.

Earlier in the day, both supporters and critics of Park gathered outside the Constitutional Court compound, where around 20,000 police officers stood in anticipation of potential violent clashes.

In reaction to Friday's historic ruling that removed the South Korean leader from office , loud cheers had from the anti-Park group following the Court's televised decision, while Park's supporters began expressing their anger.

They were heard singing the national anthem, and saying the president should have been protected from the impeachment ruling. Several individuals also broke through police cordons, clambered on cars and buses that had been parked as a barrier, then used ladders to get from one bus to another. Some were carried away from the scene, with little resistance.

Many of Park's backers were elderly or middle aged, and two people received first-aid emergency procedures.

The national police agency had raised their alert level to the highest ahead of Friday's ruling amid elevated public anger towards the embattled head of state. Since news of the scandal broke in October, mass street demonstrations have rocked Asia's fourth-largest economy.



NBC News and CNBC's Jonathan Stayton contributed to this report.

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New Delhi:

RSS on Thursday termed as "false" reports of back channel negotiations regarding Compassion International and said no meeting between its representative and the US-based NGO ever happened.

It also insisted that it has no representative in any foreign country including the US while condemning the attempt to malign the image of the Sangh.

"The news published regarding Compassion International's so called 'back channel negotiations with RSS representative in Washington DC' is unfair and totally false," Manmohan Vaidya, RSS All India Prachar Pramukh, said in a statement.

"RSS works only in Bharat (India) and has no representative in any foreign country including USA. We condemn such an attempt to malign the image of RSS," he said.

When contacted, Vaidya said that no meeting has ever taken place between the two organisations.Indian authorities had put CI under prior permission category in May last year following allegations of funding religious conversions, barring it from receiving foreign funds without the government's approval.

In December, the Home Ministry had said it was unlikely to reconsider the decision, notwithstanding the appeals by American authorities.India today rejected the US' contention of lack of transparency in banning US-based Christian NGO Compassion International, insisting the matter was of "law enforcement".

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay also trashed suggestions in the US media about RSS' involvement in getting the NGO banned, saying it was "completely extraneous" to the matter.

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New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a bailable warrant against sitting Calcutta high court judge CS Karnan for his failure to appear before it in a contempt case.

The Apex court directed the West Bengal DGP to personally execute the warrant against Justice Karnan to ensure his appearance before it on March 31.

The court refused to consider Justice Karnan's letter as his reply to contempt notice.

Justice Karnan will have to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000 to secure bail in the contempt case.

Eralier , the Supreme Court had asked Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan to appear in person and explain his allegations against judges, saying the apex court must have thought "enough is enough" and that his actions needed to be dealt with a "stern hand".

A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar had not only summoned Justice Karnan on February 13 but also asked him to refrain from doing judicial and administrative work with immediate effect.

Noted jurist and former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee was blunt in his reaction and called for "stern" action against the HC judge.

"Justice Karnans actions have lowered the authority and dignity of the judiciary. A sitting judge making such allegations against brother judges must be dealt with a stern hand," Sorabjee had said.

On the issue of the show cause notice to the judge in the suo-motu contempt proceeding, he said, "Lets see what happens."

Another senior lawyer, who is associated with the case and did not want to be named, had said the apex court rightly issued the notice and divested Justice Karnan from taking up judicial and administrative work as it must have thought "enough is enough".

Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha member K T S Tulsi condemned Justice Karnans actions and his open letters, saying he has rendered himself "unfit" as a judge with his "gross misbehaviour".

He concurred with the views of Sorabjee and said, "Justice Karnan has rendered himself unfit as a judge and deserves to be impeached. This is gross misbehaviour by him. If he had any issues, he should have informed the proper authority and not have gone out to the media."

In a packed courtroom, the seven-judge bench asked Justice Karnan to return all judicial and administrative files in his possession to Registrar General of the High Court immediately. (with PTI Inputs)

Also Read: SC directs Vijay Mallya to bring back USD 40 million received from Diageo, allegedly transferred to his children in 'flagrant judicial orders violation'

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New Delhi:

Police have detained a suspected member of a banned Islamist group blamed for last year's Dhaka cafe attack from a hideout in Kolkata.

According to media reports, the suspect, Mohammed Idris, is a member of the reconstituted Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (neo-JMB) and was hiding in state capital's Burrabazar area.

Reports say that a team from the Delhi Police had arrived in the West Bengal capital to look for the Bangladeshi citizen who was reportedly hiding in the locality.

The operation was carried out with the help of Kolkata Police following specific inputs about the whereabouts of the suspect.

In an attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan area of Dhaka, in July last year, over 20 people, including an Indian national, were killed.

The attack sparked a massive outrage in the country following which the Bangladesh government initiated a major crackdown on the Islamists involved in militant activities.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Washington:

Scientists have been searching for alien life on various planets since time immemorial. But have you ever thought that life could ever thrive on the moon of one of the planets of our solar system? To hunt for alien life, NASA will be launching Europa Clipper in the 2020s in order to find if the icy moon of the Jupiter called Europa is habitable.

The mission was informally named Europa Clipper when it was still in its conceptual phase, but now NASA has adopted the name as the formal title for the mission.

The moniker harkens back to the clipper ships that sailed across the oceans of our planet Earth in the 19th century. Clipper ships were streamlined, three-masted sailing vessels renowned for their grace and swiftness.

These ships were frequently used to ship shuttled tea and other goods back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean and around the globe.

The Europa Clipper in the grand tradition of these classic ships would sail past Europa at a rapid pace as frequently as every two weeks. Thus, it will provide several opportunities to probe the moon up close.

ALSO READ | NASA's JunoCam captures breath-taking image of white oval storms, cyclone swirls on Jupiter

40 to 45 flybys will be carried out in the prime mission. The spacecraft would capture the icy surface of the moon at high resolution and will probe its composition and the structure of its interior icy shell.

A salty liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust makes Europa a high priority for exploration since long.



Europa Clippers main aim is to determine if Jupiters moon Europa is habitable and whether it possesses all three of the ingredients necessary for life: liquid water, chemical ingredients, and energy sources sufficient to enable biology.

ALSO READ | NASA reveals stunning view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot along with beautiful 'string of pearls'



During each orbit, the spacecraft spends only a short time within the challenging radiation environment near Europa. It speeds past, gathers a huge amount of science data, then sails on out of there, said Robert Pappalardo, Europa Clipper project scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US.



The mission is being planned for launch in the 2020s, arriving in the Jupiter system after a journey of several years.

(With inputs from PTI)

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

Remember TRAPPIST-1, the ultra-cool dwarf star that was discovered recently? Well, NASAs Kepler mission has more information in store about the star that hosts potentially habitable Earth-size planets 40-light years away.

Astronomers had on February 22 declared that TRAPPIST-1 hosts no less than seven planets that may be rocky. NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope in combination with ground-based telescopes had made the discovery.

NASAs Kepler spacecraft operates as the K2 mission and between December 15 and March 4 it has gathered data on stars minuscule changes in brightness due to transiting planets.

With the new information, astronomers are expected to refine the previous measurements of the six planets, pin down the orbital period and mass of the seventh and farthest planet, TRAPPIST-1h, and learn more about the magnetic activity of the host star.



Scientists and enthusiasts around the world are invested in learning everything they can about these Earth-size worlds, said Geert Barentsen, K2 research scientist at NASAs Ames Research Centre in California.

ALSO READ | NASA Kepler K2 mission discovers dense 'hot Jupiter' exoplanet located 1,800 light years from the Earth



Providing the K2 raw data as quickly as possible was a priority to give investigators an early look so they could best define their follow-up research plans. Were thrilled that this will also allow the public to witness the process of discovery, said Barentsen.

NASA said that the raw and uncalibrated data will help astronomers in preparing proposals due this month to use telescopes on the Earth to further probe TRAPPIST-1.

NASA further said that the routine processing of the data will be finished by late May and the fully calibrated data will be made available at the public archive.

The observation period, known as K2 Campaign 12, provides 74 days of monitoring.

ALSO READ | Star Kepler 11145123: Astronomers find the roundest ever celestial object in the universe

This is the longest, nearly continuous set of observations of TRAPPIST-1 yet, and provides researchers with an opportunity to further study the gravitational interaction between the seven planets, and search for planets that may remain undiscovered in the system.



During Campaign 12, a cosmic ray event reset the spacecrafts onboard software causing a five-day break in science data collection, NASA said.



The benign event is the fourth occurrence of cosmic ray susceptibility since launch in March 2009. The spacecraft remains healthy and is operating nominally.

ALSO READ | K2-33b: NASA Kepler probe discovers youngest exoplanet ever



We were lucky that the K2 mission was able to observe TRAPPIST-1, said Michael Haas, science office director for the Kepler and K2 missions at Ames.



The observing field for Campaign 12 was set when the discovery of the first planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 was announced, and the science community had already submitted proposals for specific targets of interest in that field, said Haas.



(With inputs from PTI)

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Beijing:

China on Thursday warned that United States ignoring World Trade Organisation rulings could trigger a "trade war" after President Donald Trump's administration said it was not bound by the body's decisions.

Last week a letter sent from the United States Trade Representative to Congress outlining Trump policy reviewed the terms under which the United States joined the WTO when it was founded in 1995.

According to the Trump administration's interpretation, "Congress had made clear that Americans are not directly subject to WTO rulings", said the document. China warned that moves to discredit the WTO would be detrimental to the future of multilateral trade.

"If WTO members ignore the organisation's rules for their own sake and refuse to implement its rulings on disputes, the multilateral trade system will exist in name only and there could even be a repetition of the trade war of the 1930s," Sun Jiwen, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman, said at a briefing in Beijing.

"We call on major WTO members to live by what they teach, abide by WTO rules and fulfill their duties," he added. President Trump has repeatedly said the United States could accomplish its trade goals by focusing on bilateral talks rather than multilateral negotiations. During his campaign, Trump described WTO's performance as the global trade referee a "disaster" and promised a more aggressive approach to open up foreign markets to US companies, including threatening to unilaterally impose tariffs.

Trump has also accused China of being a free-rider in the international system, saying its unfair trade policies have cost the United States tens of thousands of jobs and threatening to slap Beijing with massive tariffs of up to 45 per cent.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Expressing concern over the killing of four Madhesi protesters in police firing, India has said peace and stability in Nepal were of "paramount interest" to it.



External affairs ministry's spokesperson Gopal Baglay said India's consistent view had been that political leaders in Nepal should address the issue of the Constitution through dialogue and consultations with participation of all sections of its society.



"India will continue to support efforts for peace, progress and stability in Nepal," Baglay said.



Four United Democratic Madhesi Front supporters were killed on Monday when police opened fire to disperse protesters who had encircled a venue in Saptari district where a public meeting of the main opposition party CPN-UML was taking place.



The Madhesi Front had disrupted the meeting as part of its separate campaign against local body polls scheduled for May 14. The Nepalese police have also formed a three-member committee to investigate the killing.



"Peace and stability in Nepal are of paramount interest to us. We are seriously concerned at the recent violent clashes which you mentioned and in which several people lost their lives. "We conveyed our condolences to the families of the deceased and urge all sides to exercise restraint and to avoid any action that may vitiate the atmosphere further," Baglay said.



Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, launched a six-month-long agitation in 2015 against the implementation of the Constitution without amending its provisions that would address the demands for more representation and re-demarcation of state boundaries.



At least 50 people died in the violent Madhesi protests between September 2015 and February last year. Replying to a separate query, Baglay said the government was also making sincere efforts to secure the release of Father Tom Uzhunnalil from captivity in Yemen.



The priest was abducted by ISIS terrorists in March 2015 from an old age home in Aden run by the Missionaries of Charity.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Tel Aviv:

Israel's powerful transportation and intelligence minister says he is pushing forward with a proposal to build an artificial island with a seaport off the coast of Hamas-ruled Gaza that he believes will alleviate hardship in the blockaded territory and offer residents their first real bridge to the outside world in a decade.



With an independent Palestinian state unlikely anytime soon, Yisrael Katz told The Associated Press that an island for moving goods in and out of Gaza was part of his broader goal of creating regional security and "economic peace" between Israel and its neighbors.



The plan has been derided by critics as impractical but presents a bold platform for Katz, who speaks openly of succeeding Benjamin Netanyahu even as the embattled Prime Minister faces a series of potentially devastating corruption probes.



Katz's plan calls for an eight-square-kilometer (three-square-mile) island linked to Gaza by a five-kilometer (three-mile) bridge.



The island, estimated to cost 5 billion dollar, would take five years to build and include a seaport, a power station, a desalination plant and perhaps a future airport.



Israel would supervise security but it would otherwise be run by the Palestinians and the international community which he says would mark the completion of Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza.



"No Palestinian can oppose this, not Abu Mazen and not Hamas, because it gives them an opening to the world," Katz said in an interview at his Tel Aviv office.



"In an absurd way, we are giving Hamas the keys to the world's largest prison." West Bank-based Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is also known as Abu Mazen.



The Palestinians have greeted the plan with skepticism, concerned that it is an Israeli power play whose real aim is to cement control over Gaza and further sever the territory from the West Bank. The Palestinians seek both territories, which are divided between rival governments, as parts of a future state.



Israel destroyed Gaza's airport during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s, and it restricts access to Gaza's small seaport, mostly to local fishermen. Nabil Shaath, Abbas' adviser for foreign affairs, said the Palestinians have their own plans for developing Gaza's coastline. "We are capable of taking care of ourselves.



All we need is for Israel to leave us alone and lift the siege on Gaza," he said. He said Israel has rejected a number of initiatives over the years on security grounds. These include a French-Dutch offer to build a seaport in Gaza and a proposal for the Palestinians to rent a port in Cyprus, where international inspectors could check all cargo before it is shipped to Gaza.



"Katz's idea is to build a place that will be easy for Israel to control," he said. "Israel is the main reason for the crisis in Gaza and it is the obstacle in the way of our development." Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, declined comment.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

Washington is scrambling to develop a new strategy to counter North Koreas aggressive nuclear weapon and missile programs, but tougher sanctions could provoke a diplomatic clash with China.



Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit the United States frontline allies South Korea and Japan next week before heading on to great power rival China to discuss the mounting crisis.



Kim Jong-Uns regime is testing a new ballistic missile that could threaten US bases and cities in the Pacific Rim and rocket salvo tactics that could overwhelm missile defence systems.



Most observers see China as the only power with the leverage to get its isolated neighbour to stand down and existing United Nations-backed sanctions have had little effect so far.

Read | US rejects China's call to stop drills if North Korea suspends nuclear activities



The crisis is the first major security challenge of Donald Trumps presidency, and the Pentagon has already provoked Chinas ire by deploying an advanced anti-missile system to South Korea.



Now, other options are being considered and the hawkish wing of the Washington foreign policy community is pushing for measures that would hurt Chinese banks that work with Pyongyang.



State Department spokesman Mark Toner would not be drawn on the details of any plan Tillerson might take to Asia, but officials confirmed that an urgent policy review is underway.

Read | China urges US, N Korea to avoid 'head-on collision' amid rising tensions



Toner said the North Korean threat would be front and center in the planned talks next week between Tillerson and his Chinese, South Korean and Japanese counterparts.



The senior diplomats would, he said, talk through what our options are and new ways to look at resolving the situation.



But the signals coming out of China are not encouraging for those in Washington who cling to the hope that Beijing may be ready to rein in its small but belligerent neighbour.

Read | UNSC to meet on N Korea missile launches



On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi implied that the United States and North Korea were equally at fault for provoking the latest crisis and headed towards a head-on collision.



Wang urged the US military to halt planned exercises with South Korea, in exchange for Pyongyang halting its nuclear and missile programsan idea Washington promptly dismissed.



The onus is on North Korea to take meaningful actions toward denuclearization and refrain from provocations, Toner said.



China has in the past supported measures against North Koreas nuclear program, but six sets of UN sanctions since Pyongyangs first test in 2006 have failed to slow it.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Malaysian police officers stand guard outside the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday, March 10, 2017. In front of the embassy, Malaysians were protesting the rising tensions between Malaysia and North Korea following the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysian police on Friday formally identified Kim Jong Nam as the victim of a fatal nerve agent attack at Kuala Lumpur's airport, an expected but significant development in a case that has broken down the once-warm ties between North Korea and Malaysia.

Kim is the long-estranged half brother of North Korea's ruler, and the North has refused to acknowledge he was the victim of the Feb. 13 murder. Instead, North Korea refers to him as Kim Chol, the name on the passport Kim was carrying when he was attacked in a crowded airport terminal.

"We have established that Kim Chol is Kim Jong Nam," Malaysian national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said. "We have fulfilled the requirements of the laws on his identification."

He refused to say how police identified Kim, saying "the safety and security of the witnesses" were at stake.

Malaysian authorities have asked for Kim's immediate family to provide DNA samples to identify the body, but nobody has come forward. Malaysia's prime minister has said they may be too scared.

Khalid said Kim's relatives have been notified but have not claimed the body.

Malaysia's investigation into the killing has infuriated North Korea.

Although Malaysia has never directly accused North Korea of being behind the attack, many speculate that it must have orchestrated it. Experts say the VX nerve agent used to kill Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, and North Korea is widely believed to possess large quantities of chemical weapons.

Malaysian authorities say the two women who allegedly poisoned Kim were recruited by a team of North Koreans. North Korea has denied any responsibility and accused Malaysia of being swayed by the North's enemies.

Relations have steadily deteriorated, with each country expelling the other's ambassador. On Tuesday, North Korea announced that it was blocking all Malaysians from leaving the country until a "fair settlement" of the case was reached. Malaysia then barred North Koreans from exiting its soil.

Four of the seven North Korean suspects being sought by Malaysia are believed to have left the country the day Kim was killed. Police say the remaining three suspects, including a North Korean diplomat, are believed to be in hiding at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The attack was caught on surveillance video that shows two women going up to Kim and apparently smearing something on his face. He was dead within 20 minutes, authorities say. Two women  one Indonesian, one Vietnamese  have been charged with murder but say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank.
How does the U.S. rank in economic freedom? The results may surprise you

According to the Heritage Foundations Index of Economic Freedom for 2017, the United States has less economic freedom than New Zealand, Australia, Estonia, Ireland, Chile, the United Kingdom and Lithuania. America is currently ranked 17th with a total score of 75.1, the lowest ever.

The index uses a scale of one to 100 to demonstrate the level of economic freedom in any given country. Hong Kong, for example, is the freest place on earth with a score of 89.8. Unsurprisingly, North Korea ranked last on the list with an economic freedom score of 4.9.

The report gave details as to why the United States received its lowest score ever. The substantial expansion in the size and scope of the U.S. government, increased regulatory and tax burdens in many sectors, and the loss of trust and confidence that has accompanied a growing perception of cronyism have severely undermined Americas global competitiveness, the report explained.

The scores that are assigned are based on the Heritage Foundations four pillars of economic freedom: the rule of law, the size and scope of the federal government, the regulatory state, and open markets. Considering all of this, it is easy to see how and why America received such a poor score. In virtually all four of these areas, especially under the previous administration, the United States has underperformed.

Few presidents have been more hostile to the rule of law in the United States than former President Barack Obama. In what at times seemed like an all out assault on private property rights and the ability of Americans to keep most of what they earn, Obama consistently sabotaged the rule of law and economic freedom. High corruption levels within the Obama Administration also created an environment of economic insecurity and uncertainty.

If there was one thing that the federal government wasnt during Obamas presidency, its limited. That is to say, under for the former administration, the size and scope of government expanded in nearly every way imaginable. From corporate taxes to taxes embedded inside of the Affordable Care Act, the government has been participating in massive redistribution of wealth practices, often transferring money from businesses both big and small to big, bloated bureaucrats and federal agencies. Overtime, this significantly erodes economic freedom.

Year after year throughout the Obama administration, tens of thousands of pages of regulations were spit out by various departments, including the Energy Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Agriculture Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. These regulations significantly hinder the ability of businesses to grow, expand, hire more employees, and ultimately prosper. Whats worse is that most of these regulations are imposed by handfuls of unelected bureaucrats, meaning that we the people have virtually no say in the rules and restrictions they put in place that effect our day to day lives.

Barack Obama certainly wasnt an advocate of open markets and the current president of the United States isnt either. Donald Trumps proposed tariffs and protectionist trade policy is in many ways a complete contradiction to open markets, and the American consumers will be the ones who will be forced to deal with the expensive consequences.

Even though the United States received its lowest economic freedom score ever, the report indicated that economic freedom has advanced in a majority of the worlds countries over the past year. While a total of 103 nations around the world showed advances, America appears to be going in the opposite direction. Only when our leaders once again embrace free market principles and the rule of law will we see the United States bounce back.

Sources:

OffTheGridNews.com

Heritage.org

Submit a correction >>
John Podesta Got $170K to end U.S. sanctions on Russian bank

At 5:00 p.m. on election night, the Democrats were as giddy as children in a toy store. They had been working for the better part of a year for their candidate, Hillary Clinton, and now all the polls and talking heads in the media were predicting an upset victory over her opponent Donald Trump. (RELATED: Just how many things in America are rigged?). Adding to the hype was the fact that Hillary was just hours away from becoming the first female president of the United States, a new milestone for progressives and feminists alike.

Roughly ten hours later, though, all of those hopes disappeared down the drain. Against all odds, and despite all of the polls indicating otherwise, Donald Trump emerged victorious. Naturally, the liberals were devastated and left wondering how something they were so sure of could have possibly been ripped away from them. Almost immediately the media started with the excuses, including one excuse that they are still trying to sell to the American people four months later  that Donald Trump won the election because of assistance from the Russians.

There is still not a shred of concrete evidence that the Russians swayed the election in Trumps favor, yet the liberals continue spreading the false narrative that they did. It seems as though every time you turn on the television, some liberal pundit is talking about how Donald Trump has deep ties to Russia and the Kremlin.

But there is something extremely ironic about this. Once again, the Democrats are exposing themselves as hypocritical propagandists.

Tony Podesta, the brother of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta, founded a Washington D.C. lobbying firm called The Podesta Group. Their website describes the group as a top-ranked, bipartisan team of global public affairs specialists that are always original, never ordinary and that knows how to change outcomes. Evidently, changing outcomes includes lifting sanctions against Russia and profiting off of it.

The Daily Caller News Foundations Investigative Group has learned that Tony Podesta was paid $170,000 over a period of six months in 2016 for representing Russias largest bank and working to lift the sanctions Barack Obama had put in place. According to Senate lobbying disclosure forms, Tony Podesta is listed as a key lobbyist on behalf of Russias Sberbank. The Center of Responsive Politics has determined that The Podesta Group collected over $24 million in fees in 2016 alone, much of it coming from foreign governments.

It sure is peculiar how the same news outlets and left wing publications that are accusing Trump of having ties to Russia are all but ignoring this story. Why would it be significant if Donald Trump were influenced by Russia in the presidential election but not significant if Hillarys own campaign manager and his brother were?

Of course, this wasnt the first time the democrats have been caught cozying up to the Russians. Who could forget the scandal that occurred a few years ago when Hillary Clinton effectively sold 20% of Americas uranium production to the Russians? This too was a story that was largely glazed over by the mainstream media because it didnt fit their protect-democrats-at-all-costs agenda. (RELATED: You wont believe the hypocrisy of the Washington Post after you read about their ties to Russia.)

More recently, we learned that Sergey Kislyak, Russias ambassador to the United States, visited the Obama White House a total of 22 times between the years 2009 and 2016. The last visit from Kislyak was listed in the visitor log in September of 2016, when the Russian ambassador had a meeting scheduled with John Holdren in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Why was this story not reported on MSNBC or any of the other liberal news stations? If Donald Trump had met with the Russian ambassador 22 times like Obama did, the left would be having a field day. (Related: Stay up to date with all the news they dont report in the mainstream at Censored.news.)

Maybe its time republicans call for an investigation into the ties between Russia and the Democrat Party, just like they have done to our side. What do you think?

Sources:

DailyCaller.com

Podesta.com

NYtimes.com

Submit a correction >>
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DANBURY  Concerns about witness intimidation and retaliation took center stage during a murder trial in Superior Court Thursday when a witness appeared in court wearing a bulletproof vest.

The defense attorney, Michael Courtney, objected to the vest, noting that the jury could infer that the defendant, Garfield Sanderson, could be dangerous. But federal corrections officers, who have the woman in custody, said the vest was for her safety and must stay.

The woman is one of two eyewitnesses who testified this week that they saw Sanderson shoot Bridgeport resident Jeiel Kingston after a brawl at the Mambo Cafe along White Street on May, 2, 2014. The woman is in federal custody on a conspiracy charge for an unrelated case.

Senior States Attorney Jason Germain said in court this week that the case has gang ties ties and the state has had a difficult time locating a number of potential witnesses, many of whom have already been subpoenaed in the case.

At least one witness was arrested this week in New York state, Courtney said.

There has been a lot of talk about witness intimidation and tampering in this case but there has been no evidence of that, Courtney said in court.

Another eyewitness who pointed to Sanderson as the shooter during Thursdays court proceedings is being offered witness protection. The woman also admitted on the stand that she attempted to elude authorities to avoid testifying in the case but was taken into custody by police on Monday.

The names of the two eyewitnesses are being withheld by Hearst Connecticut Media to protect their identities.

Courtney indicated Thursday that he may claim self defense in the case noting that Kingston may have had a violent past. The attorney said he will likely call the victims mother to the stand later in the trial to testify about an incident in 2011 when her son was charged with third-degree assault by Bridgeport police.

Kingston plead guilty to the charge in June 2012, according to court records, and was sentenced to four months in prison and two years of probation.

Also on Thursday, a pathologist with the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner testified about the injuries that caused Kingstons death.

Maura DeJoseph testified that the bullet had gone through the left arm before entering the chest. The bullet then pierced a hole in both lungs and the heart.

Members of Kingstons family, including his mother and sister, left the courtroom when autopsy photos of his body and the damaged organs where shown to the jury.

Testimony in the case is expected to continue Friday.

dperrefort@newstimes.com
My_Scientology_Movie_press_3 BBC:BBC Worldwide

Since the release of Alex Gibney's Emmy-winning documentary "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" and the A&E series "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath," fascination over the Church of Scientology has been at an all-time high.

Now the church is being examined through the unique style of BBC filmmaker Louis Theroux. Known as the Michael Moore of Britain, Theroux often stars in his docuseries projects featuring off-beat cultural subjects like "America's Most Medicated Kids" and "Twilight of the Porn Stars." "My Scientology Movie," Theroux's first feature film (directed by John Dower), is less of a broad historic look at Scientology, like Gibney's film, and more a spotlight on the alleged incidents church members have experienced under the thumb of current Scientology leader David Miscavige.

"I had tried to do something on Scientology in 2002, but I reengaged with the subject after our producer Simon Chinn read the Lawrence Wright New Yorker piece [in 2011]," Theroux told Business Insider of the documentary, which opens in theaters and is available on streaming/VOD Friday.

The film follows Theroux as he travels to Los Angeles to investigate what goes on at the church's headquarters. With the church unwilling to cooperate, Theroux enlists ex-Scientology executive Marty Rathbun (who also stars in "Going Clear") to give insight into what goes on there.

This then leads to Theroux asking Rathburn to help him in casting reenactments of incidents that allegedly happened to church members, many of which involve the church's leader, David Miscavige, bullying and physically abusing Scientologists.

As with "Going Clear," making "My Scientology Movie" involved lawyers dissecting every piece of footage in the final cut to make sure BBC Films and others with stakes in the film weren't making themselves legally vulnerable.

Due to differences in laws in the UK versus the US, Theroux believes "My Scientology Movie" was scrutinized more by its lawyers than "Going Clear."

Story continues

"When you don't have access to a subject and all you have is ex-members and critics, there is this gravitational pull toward telling a certain version of events," Theroux said. "Scientology would say this, and they have a point, that it's like doing a portrait of a marriage in which you're only hearing from the ex-wife and not the ex-husband. So as a journalist it's this nagging feeling that I'm not getting the full picture."

In the movie, many title cards giving information about alleged incidents also include counter-statements from the church. But Theroux believes Scientology's side comes through most clearly in its actions during filming.

In a few instances, Theroux finds camera crews, apparently Scientologists, filming him making the movie. (Scientology informed Theroux that it's making a film on him.) Rathburn also films alleged Scientology members harassing him.

"When they show up saying they are making their own film on me, or filming Marty, as a viewer you no longer have that thought, 'I wonder how Scientology would characterize this?' It strengthens the film," Theroux said.

But Theroux admits he may have gone too far in a key moment in the film. Following an encounter Rathburn has with alleged church members, Theroux and Rathburn discuss the incident, with Theroux reminding Rathburn that when he was in Scientology these were the kind of tactics he instructed people to use on ex-members. This sets Rathburn off, and he curses out Theroux.

scientology xlarge

"I think I was probably over the line," Theroux said. "Every screening I've been in when that moment plays, it's tense and people think, 'I don't know what I feel about this.'"

But director John Dower believes it needed to be addressed.

"Louis needs to ask that question because Marty had consistently batted it away so many times before," he said. "It so happens that's the only time he could get an answer out of him."

"My Scientology Movie" offers the impression that even if you decide to leave the church, members will never leave you alone  especially if you go public with what goes on inside it.

Since filming wrapped, those involved with the movie have thought the church was behind bizarre moments in their lives.

Dower knows his Instagram account was hacked by the church because, according to Dower, Scientology officials admitted to doing it in one of their cease-and-desist letters to the BBC regarding the film.

Then there are the threats toward Theroux.

The morning of his interview with Business Insider, Theroux was locked out of his email account due to, as he called it, "suspicious activity." Police told him some of the activity came from Clearwater, Florida, headquarters of Scientology.

And a few months ago, the police came to his house telling him they'd been tipped that someone wanted to do bodily harm to him due to his Scientology movie. The church, in fact, was involved.

"I asked the police where the threat came from and they said Scientology called them saying they had heard it," Theroux said. (According to the filmmaker, police told him Scientology said in its tip that it was "concerned" for his "well-being.")

"I was like hold on, that doesn't sound right," Theroux said. "They were the ones who made the call? Now I'm on a special list where if I call the police they are on the fast track to where I am. But my take is it sounded like Scientologists were just trying to wind me up by getting the police to come to my house."

Numerous attempts to contact Scientology to comment for this story were not successful.

Here's a clip from the movie:

NOW WATCH: Oscar nominees receive a $100,000+ swag bag  here's what's inside





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MONTREAL, March 9, 2017 /CNW/ - The Fifth Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas (RP17) brought together delegates from across the Americas to discuss efforts to reduce disaster risks posed by natural and human-induced hazards and to approve a Regional Action Plan (RAP) to meet the United Nations (UN) Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2015-2030 commitments.

RP17 came after a year that has thrown the spotlight squarely on risk in the Americas, in the wake of wildfires in Canada, the United States, and in Chile, as well as high-profile disasters like Hurricane Matthew, which brought destruction in the Caribbean and the United States having a devastating impact on the lives of people around the world.

Today, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Canada's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency and Preparedness and Mr. Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, hosted a Ministerial and High-Level Authorities Meeting. Senior officials from across the Americas approved the RAP and the Montreal Declaration, which reinforces the high level commitment of Ministers and senior officials to DRR. A Chair's Summary of the Regional Platform  a concise overview of the proceedings of the event, including its outcomes, recommendations and next steps  will be released shortly.

The RAP marks an evolutionary step towards a concerted regional approach to supporting countries in their efforts to build community resilience and reduce disaster risk and impacts. It serves as foundation to further the implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR's four key priorities through the identification of regional initiatives that contribute to one or more of the Sendai Actions. Members States, civil society organizations, volunteers and other relevant actors, may wish to advance these initiatives collectively.

RP17 also offered the opportunity for stakeholders, including the Government of Canada and the Office of United Nations for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), to demonstrate progress towards meeting Sendai objectives. The Sendai Framework aims to tackle risk head-on and contribute to substantially reducing the number of lives lost, numbers of people affected, and economic losses. It also seeks to curb damage to critical infrastructure and disruption to basic services such as health and educational facilities.

Minister Goodale took the opportunity to release the Federal Floodplain Mapping Framework, a joint project led by Public Safety Canada and Natural Resources Canada, which will contribute to the Sendai Framework Priority One "Understanding the Risks". The first in a series of Floodplain Mapping Guidelines, the Floodplain Mapping Framework will help to reduce flood risk and ultimately associated costs domestically.

In keeping with the Sendai Framework's emphasis on the importance for governments to engage with Indigenous peoples on DRR policies, practices, and standards, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) co-sponsored and co-hosted with the Government of Mexico a parallel session at RP17 on Indigenous Communities and DRR. At this session, best practices related to "Building Resiliency through Reconciliation" were discussed. At a session focusing on public-private engagement, Mr. Glasser marked the launch of the Canada Chapter of ARISE, the UNISDR-endorsed Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies.

RP17 and the RAP will contribute to the recommendations to be put forward by the Americas region at the upcoming Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction, to be hosted in Cancun, Mexico in May 2017.

Quotes

"I'm proud to stand with my colleagues from across the Americas and take this important step forward to meet the commitments of the Sendai Framework together. Disaster risk reduction efforts have proven time and again that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Our collective efforts to prevent and mitigate  as governments, stakeholders, and as proud citizens and community members  will cost far less than the cost of responding and rebuilding, and the loss of lives and livelihood."

The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

"The adoption of this Regional Action Plan marks a key step towards making the Americas more resilient to the interlocking natural and human-induced hazards that countries and populations here face. Like its equivalents endorsed over recent months by Africa, Asia and Europe, it will help accelerate efforts to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. It is vital for the future of our world that we all work together to reduce disaster mortality and economic impacts, and make the link between the Sendai Framework and the global agendas on sustainable development and climate change. Regional action is a critical way to drive real change, and we all look forward to sharing the valuable lessons that it offers when we meet in May at the 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, in Mexico."

Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction

Quick Facts

This week, the Government of Canada , in collaboration with the UNISDR, hosted delegates from 50 countries and territories from the Americas in Montreal, Quebec for RP17 .

, in collaboration with the UNISDR, hosted delegates from 50 countries and territories from the Americas in Montreal, Quebec for . The UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 was endorsed by Canada and 186 other countries in March, 2015. This landmark Framework aims to substantially reduce losses in lives, livelihoods and health due to disasters.

and 186 other countries in March, 2015. This landmark Framework aims to substantially reduce losses in lives, livelihoods and health due to disasters. RP17 demonstrated great progress in its engagement. All plenary sessions were available via webcast, and Public Forums were held from various sites across North, Central and South America and the Caribbean , giving the public the opportunity to participate in discussions. Additionally, in the lead up to RP17 , more than 50 videos were submitted by youth across the Americas as part of UNISDR's Youth Video Challenge.

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Associated Links

Follow Public Safety Canada (@Safety_Canada) on Twitter.

For more information, please visit the website www.publicsafety.gc.ca.

SOURCE Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada

For further information: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, Scott Bardsley, Office of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, 613-998-5681; Media Relations, Public Safety Canada, 613-991-0657; The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Humberto Jaime, Communications Manager, UNISDR - The Americas, email: [email protected]

Related Links

www.publicsafety.gc.ca


Establishes strong platform in the plant-based proteins market

MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 10, 2017 /CNW/ - Maple Leaf Foods (MFI: TSX) today announced that its acquisition of Lightlife Foods, Inc., a leading manufacturer and brand of refrigerated plant-based protein foods in the United States, has closed. The transaction value of $140 million plus related costs was financed from cash on hand.

Lightlife is the leading refrigerated plant protein brand and manufacturer in the United States, with approximately 38% market share, and provides an important growth opportunity in one of Maple Leaf's strategic growth platforms. The U.S. market for plant-based proteins is estimated at US$600 million, with the refrigerated category representing over US$110 million and delivering double-digit annual growth. Lightlife management will continue to lead the business, which will operate as a subsidiary of Maple Leaf Foods.

"Expanding into the fast growing alternative proteins market is one of Maple Leaf's strategic growth platforms and advances our commitment to become a leader in sustainability," said Michael McCain, President and CEO. "The acquisition of Lightlife provides Maple Leaf with a leading market position and brand in the United States in a category that is outpacing growth in the broader packaged foods sector. We are committed to growing the business through investment in brand building, innovation and leveraging our respective capabilities."

About Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading consumer protein company, making high quality, innovative products under national brands including Maple Leaf, Maple Leaf Prime, Maple Leaf Natural Selections, Schneiders, Schneiders Country Naturals, and Mina. The Company employs approximately 11,000 people across Canada and exports to global markets, including the U.S. and Asia. The Company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario and its shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MFI).

SOURCE Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

For further information: Investor Contact: Jennifer Postelnik, 905-285-5898; Media Contact: Annemarie Dijkhuis, 905-285-1510

Related Links

http://www.mapleleaffoods.com


Mars Canada has invested $70 million in 60,000 square foot expansion of its Chocolate manufacturing facility in Newmarket, Ontario to accommodate the production of MALTESERS 

has invested in 60,000 square foot expansion of its Chocolate manufacturing facility in to accommodate the production of MALTESERS The Newmarket facility, which will produce MALTESERS for the first time in North America , brings together the best manufacturing, packaging practices and new technology from Mars, Incorporated's global facilities

NEWMARKET, ON, March 10, 2017 /CNW/ - Mars Canada today is celebrating the official opening of its expanded Newmarket, Ontario facility, which is now manufacturing and packaging the iconic MALTESERS brand of chocolate. The $70 million, 60,000 square foot expansion will create up to 30 new full-time, highly-skilled jobs, significantly increasing the company's manufacturing capacity in Ontario to serve the growing North American market.

MALTESERS produced at the Newmarket facility will be sold across Canada and the United States, where the product is being launched for the first time. The expansion adds to Mars Canada's already significant presence in Ontario and will be a key pillar of growth for the Mars Canada chocolate business.

"This expansion builds on Mars' rich history in Canada and comes at an exciting time for our overall investment and growth in Canada," says Jeremy Daveau, General Manager of Wrigley Canada, a division of Mars Canada. "Our Newmarket facility is the ideal home for MALTESERS, with access to a highly skilled workforce, close proximity to the U.S. for export and potential for expansion."

The sustainable and state-of-the-art facility brings together the best manufacturing, packaging and technology from Mars, Incorporated's global facilities. Operating at peak capacity, the facility will employ up to 150 Associates.

Created in England in 1936 by Forrest Mars Sr. and first sold in 1937, MALTESERS contain a crisp honeycombed centre covered in delicious chocolate that helps customers look on the light side. Canadians are encouraged to engage with MALTESERS online using #HaveABall.

In addition to MALTESERS, Mars Chocolate currently produces the MARS, MILKY WAY and 3 MUSKETEERS brands at its Newmarket facility, which is nut-free.

About Mars Canada

Mars Canada is a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated, a private family-owned business. In Canada, Mars was established in late 1940s and is known for some of the Canada's best-loved brands, including MALTESERS, M&M'S, PEDIGREE, SNICKERS, ROYAL CANIN, WHISKAS, EXCEL and UNCLE BEN'S. Mars in Canada comprises four business segments: Food, Chocolate, Wrigley and Petcare. More than 1,300 associates across the country are united by the company's Five Principles: Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom and strive every day to create relationships with stakeholders that deliver growth we are proud of as a company. Mars Canada is one of Canada's Top 100 Employers. For more information, visit http://www.mars.com/canada/en.

Images and b-roll are available upon request.



SOURCE Mars Canada Inc.

For further information: or to schedule an interview, please contact: Leslie Brams-Baker, Mars Canada, Tel: (416) 473-0322 Email: [email protected]; Katherine Heydon, FleishmanHillard on behalf of Mars Canada, Tel: (416) 645-3665 (direct) Mobile: (416) 702-4121, Email: [email protected]
(Adds details on trade, comments by Videgaray)

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - Accords to update trade relations between Mexico and the United States could be possible toward the end of this year, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Thursday, hinting at a quicker timetable than U.S. officials have ventured so far.

Mexico is facing tough negotiations with Washington because U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to dump the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the two nations and Canada if he cannot rework it in the United States' favor.

Speaking to reporters in Washington after meeting Trump administration officials, Videgaray said he expected formal talks on commerce to begin around the middle of 2017 and that "possible deals over trade could be reached towards the end of the year."

Videgaray noted that Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo was also meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who this week said substantive trade talks could begin in the second half of 2017 and might take a year to complete.

Threats by Trump to slap tariffs on Mexican-made goods if the renegotiation of NAFTA does not suit him have sparked fears of a major chill in foreign investment in Mexico and a possible trade war.

Trump has vowed to bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States, saying during his presidential election campaign that Mexico is "killing" the United States on trade.

Still, Videgaray said initial soundings have been positive on reworking NAFTA, which officials say could ultimately lead to tougher rules of origin for goods made in North America.

"All of the preliminary conversations we've had about the potential renegotiation of NAFTA have actually been constructive. There is no talk about unilateral actions, there is talk about the potential for making NAFTA better for the three countries - Mexico, the U.S. and Canada," he said.

Talks have been complicated by Trump's aggressive campaign rhetoric against Mexico and his pledge to make the United States' poorer southern neighbor pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out illegal immigrants.

Story continues

A Twitter spat in January over who would pay for the wall led to the cancellation of a planned meeting between Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Videgaray said funding for the wall was not discussed on Thursday, and was it clear when the two leaders would meet next.

"There is no plan for a meeting between the presidents in the immediate future," Videgaray said.

(Additional reporting by Christine Murray in Mexico City; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler)
TORONTO, March 9, 2017 /CNW/ - The LGBT Corporate Canadian Index Company is pleased to announce the launch of the first-of-its kind LGBT index for Canada. The LGBT Corporate Canadian Index (the "LGBT CCI") is a benchmark for understanding and measuring LGBT Diversity and Inclusion ("LGBT D&I") within corporate Canada.

LGBT CCI identifies corporations listed on the S&P/TSX Composite Index that are promoting diversity by embracing LGBT D&I. Inclusion in the LGBT CCI requires the completion and submission of the LGBT CCI 2016 Survey and is subject to a minimum pass-grade questionnaire-based scoring system.

"LGBT CCI is an important and valuable tool for championing the rights of LGBT individuals on a national level. We have launched the LGBT index for Canada to focus exclusively on S&P/TSX Composite Index listed corporations. It's very encouraging to see that corporations included in LGBT CCI represent a wide spectrum of industries and sectors, ranging from financial services and communication services to aerospace defense, consumer cyclical, industrial products and many more," said Alexis Klein, Founder, LGBT CCI. "Going forward, LGBT CCI will be released annually, in March, to the general public."

LGBT CCI provides transparency around best practices as it pertains to corporate policies and corporate advocacy. It serves leading and supporting corporations to actively promote LGBT inclusion as part of their key initiatives and be an integral part of the way forward.

"We applaud the introduction of an LGBT screen and index for Canada. The increasing level of awareness among corporations and lawmakers for the business case for LGBT Diversity & Inclusion is key to the fight for greater freedoms and equality for the LGBT community globally. Indices such as LGBT CCI allow companies that implement effective LGBT Diversity & Inclusion programmes to be considered by value-driven investors seeking LGBT friendly policies and behaviour in their stock holdings," said Anders Jacobsen, co-founder of LGBT Capital and Advisor to the LGBT Diversity Fund.

About LGBT CCI

Celebrating achievements in promoting equality and inclusion for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals. The goal is to recognize S&P/TSX Composite Index listed corporations that embrace LGBT inclusion. The LGBT CCI, the first-of-its-kind in Canada, identifies corporations that have demonstrated a strong commitment towards supporting the LGBT community by taking quantifiable actions. Data for LGBT CCI is compiled and released on an annual basis.

SOURCE LGBT Corporate Canadian Index

For further information: Media contact: For more information about LGBT CCI (www.lgbtcci.com), please contact: Alexis Klein, 647-223-1001, [email protected]
There is a $19.5 billion funding bill that has been approved by the US congress. This is a slight increase from last years $19.3 billion funding.

It is more of the same NASA funding that has been mostly repeating since George Bush 2 and even George Bush 1 and Clinton and Obama.

The new plan says make a roadmap to send people to Mars by 2033 and the US will still fund the overpriced by 10 times or more space launch system.

Journey to Mars  asks NASA for a roadmap to send people to Mars by 2033 and moves NASA away from the Asteroid Redirect Mission.

Assuring Core Capabilities For Exploration :

an uncrewed launch of SLS and Orion in 2018

a crewed mission to the moon in 2021

more trips to the moon and Mars after that date.

NOTE -Spacex and Elon Musk have discussed unmanned Mars missions in 2020 and a manned Mars mission around 2024. Spacex and Elon Musk would have costs that are ten times less than NASA and 8 to 10 years earlier.

The Space Exploration Initiative was a 19891993 space public policy initiative of the George H. W. Bush administration. On July 20, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, George H. W. Bush  then President of the United States  announced plans for what came to be known as the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). In a speech on the steps of the National Air and Space Museum he described plans calling for constructing Space Station Freedom, sending humans back to the Moon to stay and ultimately sending astronauts to explore Mars. He proposed not a 10-year Apollo-style plan, but a long-range continuing commitment based on the three above elements, ending with a journey into tomorrow  a journey to another planet  a manned mission to Mars.

The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American Space Shuttle-derived heavy expendable launch vehicle being designed by NASA. It follows the cancellation of the Constellation program, and is to replace the retired Space Shuttle.

The Constellation Program was a manned spaceflight program developed by NASA, the space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. The major goals of the program were completion of the International Space Station and a return to the Moon no later than 2020 with a crewed flight to the planet Mars as the ultimate goal. The programs logo reflected the three stages of the program: the Earth (ISS), the Moon, and finally Marswhile the Mars goal also found expression in the name given to the programs booster rocket.

NASA estimated that the original Constellation related policy would cost $230 billion (in 2004 dollars) through 2025, including the Commercial Crew and Cargo program, which is separate from the Constellation program. However, unsolved technical and design challenges made it impossible for NASA to provide a conclusive estimate.

Upon taking office, President Obama declared Constellation to be over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation. A review concluded that it would cost on the order of $150 billion for Constellation to reach its objective if adhering to the original schedule. Another review in 2009, ordered by President Obama, indicated that neither a return to the Moon nor a manned flight to Mars was within NASAs current budget.

$9 billion as spent on Constellation before they pulled the plug.

About $10 billion has been spent on Space Launch System so far. Spending is at about $2 to 3 billion per year.

NASA hoped in 2012 that each eventual space launch would cost $500 million but most estimate that each launch will be about $2 billion (without including the $50-90 billion of development cost).

Combined Constellation and Space Launch System will have spent $23 billion before the first launch of Space launch system late in 2018 (assuming no delays from this point).

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated in 2010 that he would personally guarantee that his company could build the conceptual Falcon XX, a vehicle in the 140-150 t payload range, for $2.5 billion, or $300 million per launch, but cautioned that this price tag did not include a potential upper-stage upgrade. SpaceXs privately funded MCT launch vehicle, powered by multiple Raptor engines, has also been proposed for lifting very large payloads from Earth in the 2020
[March 10, 2017] John Addison Delivers Inspiring Message to Thousands at LegalShield's LevelUp Convention

LegalShield, one of North America's leading providers of affordable legal plans and the IDShield identity theft solution for individuals, families and small businesses, has begun its annual LevelUp Convention at the Cox (News - Alert) Convention Center in Oklahoma City. This year's five-day event began on March 8 and brings together LegalShield's experienced, new and aspiring Independent Sales Associates from all 50 states and Canada. They have come together to hear from motivating speakers who share their expertise in owning and running a business, and in marketing for maximum success. Attendees will also get highly specialized professional development training and benefit from networking opportunities. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170310005565/en/ John Addison (Photo: Business Wire) The lineup of speakers includes John Addison, CEO of Addison Leadership Group and Leadership Editor of Success Magazine who is renowned for his insight and wisdom on leadership, personal development and success. He is a sought-after, world-class speaker and motivator, as well as a business author.



"Life is too short for timid dreams," he said. "You can either have excuses in life or you can have results. It takes energy, effort and enthusiasm." His rousing motivational speech brought the crowd to their feet multiple times. Addison also emphasized the importance of creating a passionate, energetic environment to recruit and grow a business. "Environment determines what grows. You have to light a fire inside someone, not under them. Yelling at someone is what a boss does."

"We are thrilled to have our longtime friend John Addison's continued strong support of LegalShield," said Jeff Bell, CEO LegalShield. "His incredible passionate speeches are always a highlight of the LevelUp Convention weekend." Addison, former co-chief executive officer of Primerica from 1999-2015, emerged as a leader shortly after joining the company in the early 1980's. During his more than 25-year tenure at Primerica, John rose in management and was critical to helping the company transition after the departure of its founder. Following the financial crisis of 2008, he spearheaded the process of separating from Citigroup. These efforts culminated with a successful IPO in 2010 that was 22 times oversubscribed. Addison currently serves on the Board of Directors for Primerica and LegalShield, and has previously served on the boards of the Direct Selling Association, the Georgia Conservancy, the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce and the Gwinnett Children's Shelter. About LegalShield LegalShield is one of North America's leading providers of legal safeguards for individuals, families and small businesses. The company also offers one of the industry's most affordable and comprehensive identity theft plans, IDShield. LegalShield plans provide protection to more than 4.2 million individuals, and IDShield provides identity monitoring and restoration services to more than one million individuals across North America. In addition, LegalShield and IDShield serve more than 141,000 businesses. For as low as $20 per month, LegalShield members get access to attorneys with an average of 19 years of experience in areas such as family matters, estate planning, financial and business issues, consumer protection, tax, real estate, benefits disputes and auto/driving issues. Unlike other legal plans or do-it-yourself websites, LegalShield has dedicated law firms in 50 states and four provinces in Canada that members can call for help without having to worry about high hourly rates. For more information, visit http://www.LegalShield.com or http://www.IDShield.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170310005565/en/

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[March 10, 2017] New Hunter Douglas Ad Campaign Pairs Style Icon Iris Apfel With PowerView Motorization Technology

PEARL RIVER, N.Y., March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hunter Douglas, a pioneer in the custom window treatments category and known for its artful blending of high-end design and product innovation, is kicking-off 2017 in fashion  with a bold, multi-media marketing campaign starring style icon Iris Apfel  and the Hunter Douglas PowerView intelligent shade system. Apfel, an instantly recognizable textile industry legend, designer and tastemaker like no other, was a natural collaboration partner to help spotlight the fashion-focused innovation within the Hunter Douglas portfolio and to add color to a category whose advertising is typically quite traditional. Anchored by a 30-second commercial video, the new campaign leverages Apfel's star power to highlight the benefits of pairing beautiful window treatment designs with advanced operating technologies. "For 2017 we wanted a disruptive marketing campaign that communicated the exciting possibilities of our intelligent PowerView system along with the trend-setting styles within our product line," said Vic Carlson, Hunter Douglas SVP of Corporate Marketing. "Given our company's leadership status in offering the most extensive breadth and depth of custom window treatment styles and our innovation track record  including the creation of product types that literally established several of the window treatment product categories that exist today  it was only natural for us to develop the most intelligent smart shade technologies to accompany the most beautiful window fashions. Iris' shared passion for timeless design and individual style made her the perfect muse for us. We both celebrate a devotion to bold thinking, quality, and design. And as Iris says, 'In your home, the right lighting is just as important as style.'" "There's more to Hunter Douglas than beautiful shades," said Apfel. "What I really love is the creativity and energy the company has put int making them more than just a window covering. Now you can have stunning windows coverings that behave exactly how you want them to, exactly when they want them to. It's a brilliant way of making your home reflect youfrom what you do to what you love."



The revolutionary Hunter Douglas PowerView motorization system is an intelligent wireless operating system that allows users to program their shades to automatically adjust throughout the day. Consumers start by creating what are called Scenes  different combinations of shade positions in one room or throughout the house, chosen by the user to achieve their sense of perfect room lighting, window privacy and energy-efficiency. PowerView's advanced scheduling feature can then automatically move the shades to the pre-set Scene positions, according to fixed times chosen by the user or based upon the ever-changing sunrise and sunset times calculated by PowerView based on the home's location. The system is designed to take full advantage of the transformative power of light, how light changes within the home, and how the shades can be scheduled to automatically create the perfect ambiance throughout the day. Hunter Douglas partnered with its creative agency, Roberts & Langer, to develop the breakthrough ad creative that communicates the ways PowerView can simplify and enhance everyday living. Acclaimed director Daniela Federici shot the ad on-location in New York with the concept of following Apfel throughout her day  greeting the morning, designing in the afternoon, and enjoying some well-deserved down time  and illustrating how scheduled PowerView Scenes automatically provide Apfel with the room lighting effects, privacy and overall room ambiance she loves.

The Iris Apfel + PowerView campaign debuts this month, backed by a multi-million dollar national TV buy spanning network primetime, cable, video-on-demand and online streaming TV. To further celebrate the Iris relationship and broaden the campaign's reach, the marketing activation will also include digital pre-roll and other online advertising, dedicated content on the brand's website, e-mail blasts, PR and social media activities, PPC, SEO, and more. The commercial can be viewed at hunterdouglas.com About Hunter Douglas

Hunter Douglas Inc., headquartered in Pearl River, NY, is the leading manufacturer and marketer of custom window treatments in North America and a major manufacturer of architectural products. The company is a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, covering windows in every Habitat home built in the U.S. and Canada. Hunter Douglas branded products are designed, developed and custom-crafted in the U.S. Get details at www.hunterdouglas.com or call 1-800-274-2985.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-hunter-douglas-ad-campaign-pairs-style-icon-iris-apfel-with-powerview-motorization-technology-300422035.html SOURCE Hunter Douglas

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[March 10, 2017] National Canadian Conference on Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Financial Services Sells Out

The Digital Finance Institute will hold Canada's first national conference for quantum computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning for financial services on March 29, 2017 TORONTO, March 10, 2017 /CNW/ - The Digital Finance Institute, a leading think tank in financial innovation and technology, is holding Canada's first national conference on quantum computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning specifically for financial services in Toronto on March 29, 2017, and the event is sold out. AIToronto.org brings together top companies in technology innovation from Canada and the US to showcase emerging technology for enterprise, and in particular financial services. AIToronto.org will open with a Toronto-designed humanoid robot that will speak to attendees and feature a chatbot designed by a team oflawyers that answers anti-money laundering questions to make banks smarter and help them identify financial crime.



The keynote speakers are Cortex, the Boston-based company that uses machine learning to manage the social media presence of Maroon 5, and D-Wave, the Vancouver-based quantum computing leader. Other companies speaking include IBM, CIBC, RBC and Google. At AIToronto.org, the Digital Finance Institute will release a comprehensive report on the economic impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning through a bot, and it will be the first time a research report will be released only by a bot at a conference.

"We are excited to be presenting an array of thought leaders in quantum computers, artificial intelligence and machine learning at AIToronto.org and to showcase Canadian talent," said Christine Duhaime, the Founder of the Digital Finance Institute. "Our research shows us that AI presents an opportunity for Canada to be the leader in this area, especially in law, financial services and critical infrastructure. We hope the Conference will help start a meaningful dialogue on the promises, as well as managing the perils, of AI innovation leadership in an inclusive manner with stakeholders from coast to coast to coast." About the Digital Finance Institute

The Digital Finance Institute is a think tank created for the next generation of financial services. We address issues in respect of the nexus between financial innovation, digital finance policy and regulation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, financial inclusion and women in financial technology. For More Information: http://www.aitoronto.org SOURCE Digital Finance Institute

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[March 10, 2017] Quorum Health Corporation Announces Definitive Agreement to Divest Hospital in Centre, Alabama

Quorum Health Corporation (NYSE: QHC) announced today that the Company has signed a definitive agreement to sell 60-bed Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama, and its associated assets, to NNZ Holdings, LLC. The divestiture is expected to close within 60 days, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Thomas D. Miller, Quorum Health's president and chief executive officer stated, "Our efforts to refine our portfolio continue as we announce our third definitive agreement to divest non-core assets and we continue to have active discussions on further divestiture opportunities." About Quorum Health Corporation Quorum Health Corporation is an operator and manager of general acute care hospitals and outpatient services in the United States. Through its affiliates, the Company owns or leases a diversified portfolio of 36 affiliated hospitals with an aggregate of over 3,400 licensed beds. The Company also operates Quorum Health Resources, LLC, a leading hospital anagement advisory and consulting services business. Quorum Health began trading on the NYSE under ticker symbol "QHC" on May 2, 2016, after completing its spin-off from Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH). More information about Quorum Health Corporation can be found at www.quorumhealth.com.



Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this news release regarding expected operating results, acquisition transactions or divestitures and other events are forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. Actual future events or results may differ materially from these statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Quorum Health Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including current reports on Form 8-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. These filings identify important risk factors and other uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The terms "QHC," "Quorum Health," "the Company," "we," "us" or "our" refer to Quorum Health Corporation or one or more of its subsidiaries or affiliates as applicable. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170310005735/en/

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Emirates Boeing 777-200LR

United Airlines announced Wednesday that its employees, along with several members of Congress, would stage a protest on Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The protest, which United and its unions expect to draw between 150 and 200 people, is in reaction to the inaugural flight of Emirates' new daily service between Newark, New Jersey, and Athens, Greece.

The fury surrounding Emirates' new flight is just the latest episode in the contention between the Middle East's trio of mega-carriers (Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways) and their US rivals (American, Delta, and United Airlines).

Last year, Qatar Airways' inaugural flight to Atlanta proved to be equally dramatic, leading to a showdown with Delta. The soap-opera-worthy incident left more than 500 Qatar Airways passengers without a gate to deplane, an Atlanta landmark without Delta's sponsorship dollars, and allegations of poor etiquette bandied about by both parties.

Over the past decade, the Middle Eastern trio, known as the ME3, have expanded at an incredible pace while garnering critical acclaim.

Emirates, for example, now operates the world's largest fleet of Boeing 777s and Airbus A380 superjumbos by a significant margin. It was also named the best airline in the world by the consumer-aviation website Skytrax in 2016.

United Airlines Boeing 777

However, the US trio, or US3, accuse their Middle Eastern rivals of being fueled by more than $50 billion in subsidies from the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that unfairly tilt the playing field against US airlines. The US3 even contend that most of the ME3's expansion into the US would be untenable without those subsidies.

The ME3 have repeatedly denied these allegations.

"At the end of the day, we have a shareholder who placed equity in the airline who gave us loans to be repaid. That's what people do when they invest in the business," Etihad CEO James Hogan told Business Insider in a 2015 interview. "We've done nothing improper. We've created a great airline with great service, created value  and the accounts are audited by one of the top accounting firms in the world."

Story continues

Emirates has reported 28 straight years of profitability while returning more than $3 billion in dividends to the airline's investors. In 2015, Emirates released a report that accused the US airlines of receiving more than $100 billion in support from the US government since 2002 in the form of government assumption of pension responsibilities, bankruptcy protection, antitrust immunity, direct grants, loan guarantees, and tax exemptions.

Emirates Airbus A380

As for Emirates' move into United's New York-area hub, United CEO Oscar Munoz told Business Insider in a recent interview that United believes Emirates would lose an estimated $25 million a year on the Newark-to-Athens route, based on United's experience operating seasonal service to the Greek capital. United declined to elaborate on how it generated that figure.

"At the end of the day, the economics of it is that, if it indeed continues, it's going to affect the jobs in this country because I'm not going to fly from Newark to Athens, Greece, every day," Munoz said. "I fly there seasonally now, because that's where the demand is. If they are going to fly every day, they are going to lose $25 million on that route every year. If they are going to continue to do that, then I have no business in making that route."

An Emirates representative denied these accusations and told Business Insider that the airline's launching of the flight fulfilled consumer demand for a service other airlines weren't offering.

Oscar Munoz United Polaris

"The New York-Athens route was underserved by other carriers  no airline has operated a year-round, nonstop service between the US and Greece for more than five years," the Emirates representative told Business Insider in an email. "We are launching our New York-to-Athens service following multiple requests from Athens International Airport and the Greek aviation authorities, and after careful study, we believe it will be commercially successful and mutually beneficial to the US, Greece, and the UAE."

The crux of the US3's concern is that the ME3 could enter a market and flood it with many seats at unsustainably low prices made possible by subsidies. This, the US3 contend, would eventually force them to curtail service or even exit certain markets, leading to the loss of US jobs.

"For me, it's the jobs aspect. That's why the unions are so engaged with us and so aligned, because they understand that when demand dies down, we are not going to fly there," Munoz told Business Insider. "Which means I am not going to buy an aircraft for the route and obviously I'm not going to hire people to crew it."

As a result, the US airlines say the ME3 are in violation of the Open Skies agreements that govern air travel between the US and the UAE and Qatar.

Emirates Boeing 777-300 ER

Munoz said that even though he understands the ME3 are global marketing machines for their respective countries, he believes the Open Skies agreements should be updated to strike a balance between the need for open competition and the protection of American jobs.

"It would be nice to be able to write something that benefits everyone without being so protectionist, which is sometimes how we come off. Sometimes the industry comes across as a little bit too much of that, and it makes people not want to help you," Munoz said. "Where's the delicate balance? Is the situation unfair? Yes. Do I support what these airlines are doing? Absolutely not."

Emirates' 2015 report hit back at the US3 for what it said was failing to properly show that the US3 had been hurt by the presence of the ME3 while reporting record profits and returning billions of dollars to investors. The report also accused the US3 of failing to note that the ME3's growth was because of their presence in the Asian subcontinent  a market that the US3 have long abandoned.

People walk at the United Airlines terminal at the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, July 8, 2015. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

The US3 and ME3 compete head-to-head on very few routes. This is because, apart from a few exceptions, all of the ME3's flights are routed through their mega-hubs in Abu Dhabi, UAE; Dubai, UAE; and Doha, Qatar. After all, these airlines exist partly to drive trade and commerce to their homelands.

The exceptions include Emirates' service between Milan, Italy, and New York  where it competes against American, Delta, and Delta's joint-venture partner, Etihad-owned Alitalia  and the new Newark-Athens route.

NOW WATCH: This guy used a frequent-flyer loophole to take a $60,000 trip in a first-class suite on Emirates





More From Business Insider


The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday secured the conviction of four counterfeit currency dealers before Justice Simon ...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday secured the conviction of four counterfeit currency dealers before Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court, Kebbi, on a four-count charge of conspiracy and possession of counterfeit currency.The convicts, Usman Ahmed, Isiyaku Mohammed, Mohammed Badadi, and Rilwanu Abdullahi were arrested by officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps at Birnin Kebbi while in possession of a sum of N583,000 in fake one thousand Naira notes.The case was eventually transferred to the commission for further investigation.After listening to the charge, all the accused persons pleaded guilty to the four-count charge.In view of the plea of the accused persons, prosecution counsel, N. K. Ukoha, urged the court to convict them accordingly.Justice Amobeda convicted all the accused persons as charged.Before the sentence was delivered, the counsel to the defendants, S. B. Kaoje, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy given that the convicts are first time offenders with no criminal record. He added that the convicts are all family men with children and many defendants.In his ruling, Justice Amobeda sentenced the convicts to five years imprisonment on each of the four count charge. The sentence is to run concurrently and also to begin from the day of their arrest.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday returned to the country after about two-month medical vacation in London, United Kingdom.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday returned to the country after about two-month medical vacation in London, United Kingdom.The presidential jet that conveyed Buhari landed at the Air Force Base in Kaduna at 7.40am.He will be conveyed in a helicopter to the Presidential Villa, Abuja where top government officials are already waiting to receive him.Those already at the helipad include Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammad Bello; National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno; Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura; Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.Details later
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to return to the country tomorrow,Friday the Presidency said on Thursday.

A statement signed by the Presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina stated that President Buhari expresses appreciation to teeming Nigerians from across the country, and beyond, who had prayed fervently for him, and also sent their good wishes.It will be recalled that the President left the country on January 19, 2017 for a vacation, during which he had routine medical check-ups.He was originally billed to return on February 6 but the holiday was extended based on doctors recommendation for further tests and rest.Before leaving Nigeria, he sent a letter to the National Assembly for a 10-day vacation. He transferred power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as Acting President.He could not resume on February 6 as contained in his letter. Another letter seeking extension of the vacation was sent to the Senate. The President said the tests had not been concluded.Details of the arrival plan were sketchy last night. Even the Presidents party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) said it was unaware of the arrival programme.National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said last night the party did not know when the President was returning. He said his return would, however, be a welcome development.Abdullahi said a lot had happened since the President travelled out of the country, adding that his return would put an end to speculations on his health.As a result of the speculations about his health, the acting president had to announce to the nation that the President was hale and hearty. He said he was speaking to the President everyday on governance.Also, a stalwart of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the pioneer National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, visted the President in London,Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun and the leadership of the National Assembly  Senate President Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan  also visted the President and took phtographs with him.The President has also been calling many Nigerians to react to various developmentsIt was learnt last night that the presidential plane, Nigerian Air Force One, is expected to land in Kaduna because of the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja for runway repairs and a chopper will fly the President to the Presidential Villa.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) says President Muhammadu Buhari has returned back to the country with new vigour to fix the challeng...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says President Muhammadu Buhari has returned back to the country with new vigour to fix the challenges facing Nigerians.Buhari returned to the country on Friday after a 49-day vacation in the United Kingdom.After a meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, Buhari said his deputy will continue running the affairs of the country while he continues his rest.But in a statement, Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson of the APC, said Buhari was back to fulfil the partys promises to Nigerians.The party believes that President Buhari is now well rested and has returned with new vigour and optimism to fix the challenges facing our people and fulfil the promises our party made to Nigerians during the 2015 elections, the statement by Abdullahi read.We thank the president for following due process and properly handing over to his deputy, vice-president Yemi Osinbajo and thereby saving the country the needless controversies and crises that we experienced in the past.The Party also commend the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for competently holding fort on behalf of Mr. President and for his loyalty and commitment to the change agenda of our party.We thank Nigerians and all men and women of goodwill who have been praying for the health and safe return of the President and note that the government is fully committed to the Partys manifesto of Change, couched on true transformation in every area of national life.
- By Alberto Abaterusso





Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) announced in a news release it has entered an agreement with Goldstrike Resources Ltd. (GSR.V) to explore the Yukon territory of Canada.





According to Goldstrike, Newmont Mining will privately buy 12,705,715 shares of Goldstrike for a total consideration of approximately 6,025,050 Canadian dollars ($4.5 million), without the mediation of a broker.

According to the terms of the agreement, Newmont can earn a 51% interest in Goldstrike's Plateau project in the Yukon territory if the American gold producer pays $6 million in cash to the Canadian gold explorer, spends at least $13 million in exploration activities on the project and completes the NI 43-101 Resource Estimate, which is a technical document reporting estimates on resources available at the project.

The project is structured in two phases:

Phase 1 of the project will last about two years. During that time, Newmont has to invest approximately CA$14.66 million.

During Phase 2 of the project, Newmont will pay approximately CA$21.4 million to finance exploration activities and produce a feasibility study that will determine the economic viability of the project. The technical and economic document must be prepared by Newmont by the end of mid December 2027. Upon the satisfaction of its commitments required, Newmont will earn an extra 24% interest in the Plateau project. If Newmont fails to complete its end of the deal, its interest will be reduced to 49%.







Newmont has to invest a total amount of at least CA$53 million to be able to complete the two phases of the project.

According to Gary Goldberg, Newmont's president and CEO, this agreement bolsters the company's "long-term growth pipeline" and enhances the effectiveness of the U.S. miner's exploration activities.

"We've added more than 125 million ounces of gold reserves by the drill bit over the last 16 years and about three-quarters of our reserves are located in North America and Australia," Goldberg said. "We will continue to invest in opportunities that combine the best value with the most favorable technical and geopolitical attributes."

Story continues

Over time, Newmont has successfully built one of the best asset bases in the gold stock industry. These assets are located in the Americas, Australia and Africa and produced approximately 4.9 million ounces of gold in 2016.

As of Dec. 31, 2016, Newmont has approximately 68.5 million ounces of gold reserves. Explorations added approximately 4.1 million ounces of gold reserves in 2016, of which 34.1% came from Tanami in Australia, 14.6% from Merian in Suriname, 28.6% from Carlin and another 28.6% came from Kalgoorlie in Australia. From 2015 to 2016, Newmont also increased the overall grade of its gold reserves to 1.2 grams.

In 2017, the largest gold producer in the U.S. expects to spend over $200 million on explorations, of which approximately 73% will be spent in the Americas and the rest on exploration activities in Africa and Oceania. In the allocation of its financial resources, the miner will give priority to brownfield explorations over greenfield explorations.

Newmont has defined its approximately 68.5 million in gold reserves on the basis of a gold price of $1,200 per ounce. This means its gold reserves will increase by 1.5% to 69.5 million ounces if the precious metal trades around $1,244 per ounce on average in 2017.

Analysts forecast Newmont's earnings will come in at 99 cents per share, a 15.4% decrease on a year-over-year basis, which leads to a forward price-earnings ratio of 25.11 and an average price per share of $24.86, versus a market price of $32.89.

Based on the current share price, the stock seems overvalued. Nine analysts out of a total of 19, however, recommend buying shares of Newmont Mining. The average target price per share is $39.32.

Newmont Mining is trading at 2.6 times its trailing 12-month sales and at 1.63 times its book value. The EV/EBITDA ratio is 7.59.

Goldstrike Resources closed at 33 cents yesterday, up two cents or 4.76% from the previous trading day.

The Canadian gold explorer has 168.7 million shares outstanding, of which 78% are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stock mentioned in this article.

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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






President Muhammadu Buhari has hinted that he may be going back to UK for more treatment in few weeks to come.

President Muhammadu Buhari has hinted that he may be going back to UK for more treatment in few weeks to come.I am feeling much better now. There may, however, be need for further follow up within some weeks, he stated.President Muhammadu Buhari landed at the Aso Presidential Villa, Abuja helipad after some 51 days vacation in London United Kingdom.President Buhari announced this at his first meeting with his Cabinet and Service Chiefs at the First Ladys Conference Room at the Presidential Villa Abuja.According to the president who proceeded to his residence after the meeting, he needed more rest. He expressed his gratitude to Nigerians who called and also prayed for him while his medical vacation lasted in London, United Kingdom.He said that Osinbajo who has been acting in his place in the last 51 days he has been away would continue to act.The President said he felt much better, saying that whatever the case Im still grateful to Nigerians. According to him, the cost of his treatment abroad was not lost on him even as he said he received the best of treatment.
Pope Francis has revealed that the Catholic Church may reconsider its position on not allowing older married men become ordained as priest...

Pope Francis has revealed that the Catholic Church may reconsider its position on not allowing older married men become ordained as priests.Pope Francis told German weekly Die Ziet yesterday that the church may consider ordaining married men who could work in remote areas faced with a shortage of priests.We must think about whether viri probati are a possibility, Francis said referring to older, married men who are already involved in church business.Then we have to decide what tasks they can take on, for example in remote communities.Many in the church think that in addition to priests who take a vow of celibacy, older, married men with a long commitment to the church could also be considered.Recall that Pope Francis said in May 2014 that there are married priests in the Church.However, Francis said allowing priests in training to choose whether or not to be celibate was not the solution.
Chocolate City boss, Audu Maikori has been re-arrested.This comes after 3 weeks when he was arrested and detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) for false comments he made about the Southern Kaduna killings.Maikori had been arrested in Lagos and flown to the DSS headquarters in Abuja.He had claimed five students of an institution in Kaduna State were killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen.The news however turned out to be false, prompting him to apologise.Kaduna State governor. Nasir El-Rufai has however said Maikori will be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.Recall that he has just been discharged from hospital after collapsing at an event in Lagos three days ago.
The Nigeria Customs Service has handed over the 661 pump action rifles seized in January to the Department of State Security for further i...

The Nigeria Customs Service has handed over the 661 pump action rifles seized in January to the Department of State Security for further investigation.The event took place at the Federal Operations Unit, Zone A Ikeja command of the NCS on Friday.The 661 pump action riffles were handed over to the Director-General, Department of State Security, Mr. Lawal Daura, who was represented by the Director, DSS, Lagos State Command, Ms. Betty Adoki, along with two suspects, Mr. Oscan Okafor (importer) and Mr. Mahmud Hassan (clearing agent).While handing over the arms and suspects to the DSS, the Deputy Comptroller General of Customs in charge of Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation, DCG Dan Ugo, who spoke on behalf of the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd), called on all well-meaning Nigerians to support the service with necessary information that could assist the service perform its statutory responsibilities better.The 661 pump action riffles were intercepted by men of the command on Sunday, January 23 along Mile 2 Apapa road, Lagos.They were laden in a Mack truck with registration number BDG 265 XG conveying a 1x40ft container with number: PONU/825914/3.According to the Customs CG, physical examination of the container had revealed 49 boxes containing a total number of 661 pieces of pump action rifles concealed with steal doors and other merchandise goods.The interception of these arms is a clear indication of how committed and dedicated the service is to the economy, security and wellbeing of the country, he said.
Ali Modu Sheriff, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has warned Ekiti governor Ayo Fayose to stop making derogatory ...

Ali Modu Sheriff, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has warned Ekiti governor Ayo Fayose to stop making derogatory comments about him, saying enough is enough.Sheriff on Thursday said while he will not sink to Fayoses level of verbal altercation, he will discipline him through the constitution of the PDP.He said this while speaking with journalists in Abuja after the meeting of members of the PDP national working committee.Sheriff said, Let me make it clear to some of the party members, particularly, Ayo Fayose. I will not condescend to his level.I must be very clear to him, party has rules and we will look at the constitution at the appropriate time to do the right thing. He has made it a point of duty; every day, he will be insulting Ali Sheriff. I want to tell him that enough is enough.Belonging to a political party is by choice. Yes, you may have a right, but your right should not trample on another persons right. Political party is a voluntary association. If you are a leader of a political party, we have to allow people to have their choice of leadership.In all these things we are doing, we believe that the PDP belongs to all Nigerians, we believe that PDP must be handed over to the owners.That does not mean a sign of weakness. The PDP has produced 28 governors, and today it has 12. If we allow impunity to continue, Nigerians have the right to reject our party. You can take a horse to the river but you cant force it to drink.We can make this party attractive to everybody. We want to reposition the party so that it can win elections. Nobody has the monopoly to do what he is doing, like we dont have the rule of law.
The Federal Government on Friday refuted the Nigeria Labour Congress accusation of foot-dragging to constitute a tripartite committee whi...

The Federal Government on Friday refuted the Nigeria Labour Congress accusation of foot-dragging to constitute a tripartite committee which is expected to deliberate on the proposed N56,000 minimum wage for workers in the country.The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen Chris Ngige, in a statement by Mr Samuel Olowookere, Deputy Director of Press in the ministry, said his attention had been drawn to publications in some section of the media, alleging the Federal Government of intentionally stalling the process of constituting a tripartite committee for the minimum wage.He said, The above statement is false and misleading as the Federal Government has demonstrated its commitment to improving the welfare of the Nigerian workforce by holding series of meetings with stakeholders on the subject matter.The final meeting of the technical committee on new minimum wage was slated for 23rd February 2017 but could not hold as scheduled.The Nigerian Labour Congress and its Trade Union Congress counterpart requested for a postponement of the meeting.This was in order to attend the delegate conference of National Union of Civil Engineering Construction/ Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), at Asaba Delta State.He said that in a demonstration of the Federal Governments commitment, a new date for the meeting of the technical committee on minimum wage has been scheduled for March 14 by 2:00 pm at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.The minister said that the new date had been communicated to both the government and workers representatives of the technical committee.Ngige, therefore, said the allegation as ascribed to the NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba, was `mischievous and unfounded.The NLC President is fully aware of the rescheduled meeting and the reason for the postponement of the earlier meeting which was at the instance of labour unions, he added.
There was wild jubilation and excitement in Katsina and Daura, hometown of President Muhammadu Buhari over his safe return.

There was wild jubilation and excitement in Katsina and Daura, hometown of President Muhammadu Buhari over his safe return.Information reaching our Correspondent from Daura, was that as early as 8am Friday morning residents trooped frontage of the Emir of Dauras palace jubilating.In Katsina, youths stormed the major roads with posters chanting Sai Baba and Baban mu ya dawo meaning Our Father has returned.The people were seen doing car and motorcycle display and carrying out rally on the streets to show their happiness and excitement over his return.A visit to Mai Shai joint by our Correspondent, it gathered that the well to do people in the society settle bills of people there to take breakfast.Around Sabuwar Kasuwa and Sabon Laye, area of Katsina, people were seen in cluster groups discussing President Buharis arrival.President Buhari had left Nigeria for London on a 10 days vacation and returned Friday after spending 50 days due to his heath condition.
The protracted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership crisis boiled over yesterday as Caretaker Committee Chairman Ahmed Makarfi vowe...

The protracted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership crisis boiled over yesterday as Caretaker Committee Chairman Ahmed Makarfi vowed to flush out court-backed party chair Ali Modu Sheriff.But Sheriff insists that he means well for the PDP. He has accepted the recommendations of the Governor Seriake Dickson-led Reconciliation Committee for a national convention tentatively fixed for June 30.The two factions made their positions known at separate media briefings in Abuja.Makarfi camp spokesman Dayo Adeyeye said it would be a disaster for the party to allow Sheriff preside over the planned convention.Describing Sheriff as a snake under the partys roof, Adeyeye said the Caretaker Committee, in agreement with all organs and stakeholders in the PDP, would deploy all legal means to ensure that Sheriff is chased out of the party.Asking Sheriff to stop parading himself as the chairman of the PDP, the Makarfi camp pointed out that the spirit and letter of the February 17 judgment of the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal did not confer the chairmanship on the ex-Borno State Governor.Said Adeyeye: To buttress this, the general public will also recall that the judgment of the Appeal Court, Port Harcourt Division of Friday, February 17, 2017 that nullified the national convention of May 21, 2016 limited itself solely to the legality or otherwise of the National Convention of May 21st, 2016 and not on the legality or otherwise of the appointment of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the Acting National Chairman of the PDP.Firstly, let us remind the public of our earlier calls on Senator Ali Modu Sheriff to stop parading himself as Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following the judgement of an Abuja High Court delivered by Justice Valentine Ashi on June 29, 2016 in which the court nullified the 2014 Amendment to the PDP Constitution that produced Senator Sheriff as Acting National Chairman of the PDP.This judgment was never appealed by Senator Sheriff and the time frame stipulated by law for the appeal has elapsed and, as such, the judgment subsists.Another judgment delivered on August 17, 2016 by Justice Nwamaka Ogbonnaya of the FCT High Court in Abuja reaffirmed the sack of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the chairman of the PDP on the ground that the judgment of Justice Valentine Ashi, which nullified his appointment, has not been set aside or vacated and therefore its subsisting.Justice Ogbonnaya further held that all actions taken by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff are null, void and of no effect; and the Order further restrained him from parading himself as the Acting National Chairman of the party.Once again, he is currently an illegal Acting National Chairman, given the decisions of the courts, the constitution of the PDP, decision of the National Convention coupled with his act of breaking and entering into the national secretariat of our great party.It is interesting to note that Senator Sheriff is very much aware of the binding implication of the subsisting judgments on his status as national chairman because we have been reliably informed that he is now seeking the leave of court to appeal the judgment. But, unfortunately, time is against this latter move. So, he is an illegal national chairman.Ruling out any possibility of reconciliation with Sheriff, the Makarfi camp said there are more disturbing issues that could ultimately forestall efforts by stakeholders to unite Sheriff with the party.But Sheriff has continued to restate his pledge to rebuild and unite the party, saying that in line with the recommendations of the Dickson Committee, he would be convening the partys National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in the days ahead.According to him, it is only NEC that can approve preparation for the national convention after deliberations.Sheriff said: From today, I am going to meet with all the organs of the party and collect their list of membership with a view to picking their members to be part of the convention committee.We are going to contact the National Assembly caucus, the Board of Trustees and other stakeholders. We are writing them formally on that, so that we can collect the specific number of nominees that are required.He also hinted of plans to organise congresses in Oyo, Kwara, Sokoto, Lagos and Anambra states where attempts to conduct the exercise in 2016 collapsed.But the Makarfi camp dismissed the Sheriff camps plan with a wave of the hand, saying that none of the stakeholders would respond to its overtures. It called on party members in those states to boycott the congresses in case Sheriff decides to conduct same.Adeyeye said: All the party organs and stakeholders are with us and none of them will respond to this deception. There is no way Sheriff would be allowed to conduct a convention for the PDP. It is at the convention that everybody would see his true self. He is an agent of the ruling party.We wish to use this opportunity to inform and clarify to our members and teeming supporters nationwide that the PDP has no standing Reconciliation Committee chaired by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Rt. Hon. Seriake Dickson.However, we respect our Governor, Seriake Dickson and acknowledge his effort towards holding the next national convention. But he acted hastily and presented the proposal in error to Senator Sheriff.According Adeyeye, the four ad-hoc committees set up by the party for the botched May 21, 2016 Port Harcourt convention ceased to exist. The ad hoc committees were inaugurated by Sheriff.Adeyeye listed the committees to include the National Convention Planning Committee, chaired by the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, with Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State as Deputy Chairman and Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State as Secretary; the Reconciliation Committee is chaired by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Henry Seriake Dickson, with Senator Ibrahim Mantu as the Deputy Chairman; and Finance Committee, chaired by the Governor of Gombe State, Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, with Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Deputy Chairman.The Zoning Committee is chaired by the Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State. Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State Mr. Kelechi Igwe is the Secretary.These committees were inaugurated by Senator Sheriff as the Acting National Chairman on April 5, 2016 to carry out their specific roles in line with the directives of the 69th NEC for a hitch-free national convention in May 2016.That Reconciliation Committee was constituted to reconcile aggrieved party members before the National Convention in Port Harcourt, he added.The Caretaker Committee said it would continue to work with all the organs of the party to for reconciliation efforts that will bring lasting peace to the PDP, to the exclusion of Sheriff.Listing conditions for a way forward, the Caretaker Committee called on Sheriff to vacate the party secretariat immediately or risked being forced out by security agencies.Given the lawless and untoward behavior of Senator Sheriff so far, it appears that there will be no meeting point in this matter. However, without prejudice to the appeal suit before the Supreme Court challenging the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal, the National Caretaker Committee working for the organs of the party and the people is not averse to reconciliation processes that may result in a workable political solution as proposed by the Governors Forum with the former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.The present illegally constituted NWC, led by Senator Sheriff, must stop operations on behalf of the party immediately. We want to state unequivocally that the party will not hold any national convention under the leadership of Senator Sheriff.We are determined to pursue the matter before the Supreme Court conclusively in the interest of justice, equity, fair play and democracy in general.Finally, we call on all our members, teeming supporters and all lovers of democracy to be calm and continue to support the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee in its quest to return our great party to the people in line with the ideals of our founding fathers.It is indeed our desire to rebuild, revive and revitalise the PDP in collaboration with all the organs and structures of the party that will culminate in a well-deserving, all-inclusive and participatory national convention very soon.We enjoin you all to not despair because surely, justice shall be served; and we will reposition our party to reclaim government in 2019, Adeyeye stated.But Sheriff said he would not join issues with his traducers, particularly Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State who has been his most virulent critic.Said he: Let me make it clear to some of the party members, particularly, Gov. Ayo Fayose that I will not condescend to his level. It must be very clear to him that the party has rules, and we will look at the constitution, at the appropriate time to do the right time.He has made it a point of duty to be insulting Ali Sheriff everyday. I want to tell him that enough is enough. Belonging to a political party is by choice. Yes, you may have a right, but your right should not trample on another persons right. Political party is a voluntary association.If you are a leader of a political party, we have to allow people to have their choice of leadership. In all these things we are doing, we believe that PDP belongs to all Nigerians. We believe that PDP must be handed over to the owners.The owners of the party must be allowed to do the right thing. That does not mean a sign of weakness. PDP that has produced 28 governors, today has 12. If we allow impunity to continue, Nigerians have the right to reject our party. You can take a horse to the river but you cannot force it to drink water.We can make this party attractive to everybody. We want to reposition the party so that it can win elections. Nobody hasy the monopoly to do what they are doing, as if we dont have the rule of law.
The news on the arrival of Mr. presidents has filed the ears of those who wants to be informed perhaps has gone everywhere and has douse...





The news on the arrival of Mr. presidents has filed the ears of those who wants to be informed perhaps has gone everywhere and has doused tensions and insinuations about his health condition.This journalists found it important to take a walk to Kogi state to know their heart felt intentions and how their joy knows no bound about his return.In Lokoja, Kogi State, the residents have expressed mixed feelings over the return of President Buhari back to the country.In separate interviews with newsmen, some of them expressed joy over his return, while others opined that the President should have enjoyed a much longer rest.A legal practitioner, Mr Peter Bolaji, saidthat his return was good news and thanked God for restoring his health and bringing him back safely.We urge him to immediately continue his good works; he should continue his commitment and determination to eliminate corruption, end insurgencies and bring the country out of recession as soon as possible, Bolaji said.In separate interviews with newsmen, some of them expressed joy over his return, while others opined that the President should have enjoyed a much longer rest. A legal practitioner, Mr Peter Bolaji, saidthat his return was good news and thanked God for restoring his health and bringing him back safely. We urge him to immediately continue his good works; he should continue his commitment and determination to eliminate corruption, end insurgencies and bring the country out of recession as soon as possible, Bolaji said.A former Deputy Director in the ministry of information in Kogi, Mr Yomi Adewumi, however told newsmen that the presidents return could only make sense if it was accompanied by a clean bill of health.What is the point, if he came home today, only to be ferried back to London a week or two later? Now that he is back, we should not be told, soon afterwards, that he has returned to the UK for further medical treatment, Adewumi said.A civil servant, Mrs. Aisha Usman, expressed gratitude to God for the return of the president.Now that he is back every, the rumour about his death has been finally laid to rest; we are sure now that our President is not dead.We are glad that he is back home and pray God to perfect his health to enable him work toward pulling Nigeria out of recession because Nigerians are suffering, she said.Mr Mike Abu, former Chief Press Secretary to former Kogi Deputy Governor, told newsmen that Buharis return was a good development because Nigerians had always prayed for him.We expect him to get back to action at once; we also expect him to try to rest in between, because we understand that he still needs some rest.The challenges of our country are so enormous and should not be allowed to affect his health.We believe some practical positive steps have been taken by the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osibajo, while the President was away and we want him to leverage on them.Osibanjo has made meaningful gains in the efforts to restore peace the in Niger Delta. He has also improved the fortunes of the exchange rate and curbed the activities of herdsmen; we want Buhari to build on that, he said.
A former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, has called on Acting President Yemi ...

A former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, has called on Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to adopt a transparent crude oil swap arrangement to solve the countrys foreign exchange problems.The Jonathan administration had relied on crude oil swap arrangement, but the NNPC had, in September 2015, decided to dump the programme, which it said was corrupt, in favour of a direct-sale-direct-purchase arrangement.In an open letter to Osinbajo on Thursday, Okupe argued that the swap deal would help decrease the demand for dollars by up to $14m daily.It is obvious that if we can remove or substantially decrease this demand of $5bn from our forex pull, the value of the Naira will significantly appreciate further, he wrote.Your excellency, I want to submit that this is achievable through a responsibly and transparently organised crude swap scheme.He said although the Muhammadu Buhari administration has undertaken a limited crude oil swap arrangement, it would not suffice.We need to carry it to the level at which we will not commit any significant amount of forex to import of petroleum products anymore, Okupe said.The former presidential aide, whose analysis in the letter put daily dollar demand for the importation of petrol, added, Under this (crude oil swap) scheme, we will therefore remove a demand of $14m per day or $420m per month from the aggregate import demand for Forex by the petroleum and oil marketers.He explained although the current intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria was highly successful, it is based on injecting hard earned Forex (to the tune of over $1bn a month) into the forex market through the banks, and also grossly reduces the amount of Forex inflow from sales of crude oil to the federation account; for sharing by the state and federal governments.The crude oil swap is a better sustainable alternative as it does not affect in any way our revenues from crude oil sales, Okupe said.
By Camillus Eboh and Chijioke Ohuocha ABUJA/LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's telecoms regulator and central bank governor intervened on Thursday to try and help Etisalat Nigeria resolve debt restructuring talks with its lenders, after the company missed a payment on a $1.2 billion loan. A banking source told Reuters on Wednesday that the Nigerian affiliate of Abu Dhabi-listed telecoms company Etisalat, had given notice to its Nigerian lenders that it would miss a payment in February. Debt talks were triggered 10 days ago but the two sides have not been able to agree on terms. One of the lenders, Access Bank said on Thursday that it was owed 40 billion naira ($131 million) by Etisalat Nigeria. The consortium of 13 banks had asked Etisalat to convert loans from its parent into equity and inject fresh capital into its Nigerian unit. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said in a statement that it was worried about the negative impact the issue could have on Eitisalat subscribers and the industry, and wanted to prevent a possible takeover of Etisalat by the banks. NCC Chairman Umar Danbatta met with central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele to try and find a solution and ordered Etisalat Nigeria and the banks to meet again on Friday. It gave no details. "NCC was worried about the fate of the over 20 million Etisalat subscribers and the wrong signals this may send to potential investors in the telecom industry," it said in the statement. LEASE PAYMENT AT RISK Emirates Telecommunications Group (Etisalat) owns a 40 percent stake in its Nigerian affiliate, which accounted for around 3.7 percent of the group's revenue in 2013. Etisalat Nigeria signed a $1.2 billion medium-term facility with 13 Nigerian banks in 2013, which it used to refinance an existing $650 million loan and fund a modernisation of its network. Banks involved in the loan deal include: Zenith Bank , GT Bank, First Bank, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Union Bank. Access Bank's Chief Executive Herbert Wigwe told an analysts' call on Thursday that Etisalat had converted a shareholder loan to the Nigerian arm to equity to free up cashflows and that it may need to bring in fresh equity. As well as the loan from banks, Etisalat also entered into a sale and lease-back of its phone towers with tower firm IHS Nigeria to free up cash. Analysts worry that IHS, which has Etisalat as its second-biggest customer, may be affected too. JP Morgan analyst Zafar Nazim said in a note on Thursday that on Wednesday it downgraded IHS bonds due 2021 because of Etisalat Nigeria as it was uncertain whether the company could keep up with lease commitments. Nazim also said it was unclear whether Etisalat's parent firm would recapitalize the Nigerian operations given its small market share in the country, but added that a quick resolution to the loan issue would boost IHS bonds. (Additional reporting by Andrew Torchia in Dubai; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Potter and Susan Fenton)
The Peoples Democratic Party, National Youths Frontier, PDPNYF, on Friday advised President Muhammadu Buhari against allowing the cabals...

The Peoples Democratic Party, National Youths Frontier, PDPNYF, on Friday advised President Muhammadu Buhari against allowing the cabals demystified by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo while he was on medical vacation from returning to work.In a series of tweets on its social media handle @PDPNYF, the body urged Buhari to continue in the good steps taken by Osinbajo during his absence.The tweet reads, The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, President Buhari, while you are away Acting President embraced leadership challenges not your normal way of blaming pdp for your failure.Welcome Baba is our prayer that peace and calmness Nigerians enjoyed while you are away continue as you are back safely.Welcome Baba Buhari, we pray the powerful cabals demystified by the Acting President will not resume work urgently.Welcome Baba is our prayer that peace and calmness Nigerians enjoyed while you are away continue as you are back safely.Welcome Baba, we strongly advise you to build on some good steps taken by @ProfOsinbajo while you are away. Nigerians are suffering under youEnd of phone calls. Buhari is back, we pray Naira will not suffer against Dollar againWe pray Herdsmen/Farmer crisis will not start soon.Buhari had arrived the country in the wee hours of Friday after 49 days of medical vacation abroad.
Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, former Kaduna governor and PDPs national caretaker committee chairman, has urged Nigerians to continue to pray for th...

Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, former Kaduna governor and PDPs national caretaker committee chairman, has urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the full recovery of President Muhammadu Buhari.We are happy to welcome the president from his medical vacation in London. We welcome him home; but we will continue to pry his full recovery, Makarfi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in a telephone interview on Friday in Jos.Buhari, who traveled to London on a medical vacation on Jan. 19, returned to the country on Friday, March 10. The PDP will continue to pray for the president; all Nigerians should do same.Presiding over Nigeria is a huge task, so we must pray for sound and steady health so that Buhari can effectively handle that tough job, Makarfi said, in his reaction to the news.Meanwhile, Nigerians across religious and political faiths have taken to the streets in Masaka, Mararaba and Keffi in Nasarawa State, to celebrate the safe return of the president from London.Newsmen report that the jubilant crowds took over the busy Abuja-Keffi highway, causing a heavy traffic snarl. Some of the residents, who spoke with journalists in Karu, said that they were happy over his safe return, and prayed for Gods guidance and protection to enable him perform his constitutional responsibilities to Nigerians.Our correspondents, who monitored the jubilation, observed that the residents held placards appreciating God for the safe return of Buhari.Some of the placards read: Baba, Welcome to Nigeria, We thank God for your safe return; Nigerians have been waiting for you; we stand with you and trust you for good governance in Nigeria, while another screamed: Oyoyo Baba Buhari.News also reports that many motorists were forced to park their vehicles by the road sides, while others were seeing pleading with the crowd to make way for traffic.A resident of Karu, Halilu Abu, told journalists that they were celebrating Gods kindness to the president. We prayed to God for his return. Now that he is here, we are celebrating, he said.He urged the president to redouble his efforts towards a better Nigeria, and called for full support to government policies. Another resident of Karu, Mrs. Sarah Oboha, a trader, said that she was very happy over the return of President President Muhammadu Buhari.The stories about him and his fate out there were many. Now that he is here, all those stories have gone and we are happy, she said. But in Lokoja, Kogi State, the residents have expressed mixed feelings over the return of President Buhari back to the country.In separate interviews with newsmen, some of them expressed joy over his return, while others opined that the President should have enjoyed a much longer rest. A legal practitioner, Mr Peter Bolaji, saidthat his return was good news and thanked God for restoring his health and bringing him back safely.We urge him to immediately continue his good works; he should continue his commitment and determination to eliminate corruption, end insurgencies and bring the country out of recession as soon as possible, Bolaji said.A former Deputy Director in the ministry of information in Kogi, Mr Yomi Adewumi, however told NAN that the presidents return could only make sense if it was accompanied by a clean bill of health. What is the point, if he came home today, only to be ferried back to London a week or two later?Now that he is back, we should not be told, soon afterwards, that he has returned to the UK for further medical treatment, Adewumi said.A civil servant, Mrs. Aisha Usman, expressed gratitude to God for the return of the president. Now that he is back every, the rumour about his death has been finally laid to rest; we are sure now that our President is not dead.We are glad that he is back home and pray God to perfect his health to enable him work toward pulling Nigeria out of recession because Nigerians are suffering, she said. Mr Mike Abu, former Chief Press Secretary to former Kogi Deputy Governor, told newsmen that Buharis return was a good development because Nigerians had always prayed for him.We expect him to get back to action at once; we also expect him to try to rest in between, because we understand that he still needs some rest.The challenges of our country are so enormous and should not be allowed to affect his health. We believe some practical positive steps have been taken by the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osibajo, while the President was away and we want him to leverage on them.Osibanjo has made meaningful gains in the efforts to restore peace the in Niger Delta. He has also improved the fortunes of the exchange rate and curbed the activities of herdsmen; we want Buhari to build on that, he said.
The Most Rev. Justin Welby, Thursday, met with President Muhammadu Buhari at Abuja House, London. Buhari according to a statement signed...

The Most Rev. Justin Welby, Thursday, met with President Muhammadu Buhari at Abuja House, London. Buhari according to a statement signed by the Presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina stated the president is expected back tomorrow, Friday, and that he expressed appreciation to Nigerians who had prayed fervently for him.Buhari posted pictures of himself and his guest on his Twitter handle, @MBuhari on Thursday afternoon.The President wrote, Very pleased to welcome the Most Revd and Rt Hon @JustinWelby, Archbishop of Canterbury, to Abuja House this afternoon.Buhari was decked in a golden yellow prayer gown with white skull cap while Welby was in black suit with clerical shirt and collar.They were both seated in the pictures.In one of the pictures, Buhari and Welby were exchanging handshake.Since he left the country on January 19, the Presidency has been releasing photographs of those who visited the President in its quest to dispel the rumour of his death.Those who have visited Buhari included the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; the partys former national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; and Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun; President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; and the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan.The President had also made telephone calls to some state governors and some presidential aides.
A new video of Ms. Stephanie Otobo, the alleged mistress of Apostle Johnson Suleman of Omega Fire Ministry has been posted online.

A new video of Ms. Stephanie Otobo, the alleged mistress of Apostle Johnson Suleman of Omega Fire Ministry has been posted online.In the video, Stephanie said going to prison has made her closer to God."Yes, I went to prison and I think that was my own share of punishment for rolling with a married man after knowing he was married. That was not the right thing to do. But I believed him because when a superior person that you look closer to God through tells you something, I would think he is right because he is like closer to God because what do I know"she said"I want the truth to come out. Nothing but the truth and people need to know who he really is. Is he a true man of God or he is just using women."She also advised Apostle Suleiman's wife to read Proverbs 22:14. Ms Otobo will address a press conference tomorrow at 10 am No.1 Festus Keyamo Lane, Anthony Village Lagos
South African anti-apartheid veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of the late Nelson Mandela, has been admitted to hospital for...

South African anti-apartheid veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of the late Nelson Mandela, has been admitted to hospital for observation, a statement from her family said on Thursday.Mrs. Mandela went to the hospital for routine medical checkup on Wednesday, March 8. A decision was taken to admit her for further observation, the statement said.Former first lady Madikizela-Mandela, 80, was in hospital for several weeks in 2016 for back surgery.During her ex-husbands 27-year incarceration for his fight against apartheid, Madikizela-Mandela campaigned for his release and for the rights of black South Africans, undergoing detention, banishment and arrest.According to media reports Mandela died in 2013 and made no mention of Madikizela-Mandela in his will. She plans to challenge the will.NAN
Repair work started yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja. A Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) officia...

Repair work started yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.A Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) official confirmed to NE that markings had been done on the runway to indicate that it was closed.They are also doing a survey of the runway.The makings will indicate to air flyers that the runway is closed and they cannot land here.So, that is the beginning of the work, the official added.Another official and FAANs International Terminal Manager Mrs. Hajara Musa said work started on Wednesday after the management handed over the runway to the contractors.However, passengers heading to Benin, Ibadan and other destination on various flights were screened at the Abuja airport before they were conveyed to Kaduna.As at the time journalists visited the airport, FAAN officials were directing passengers to their buses.Before passengers gained access to the buses, they were made to fill their names, signature and the airline they were following in a register book, which was placed at the entry point of the airport.But the Kaduna International Airport was agog yesterday with activities.Five domestic carriers  Air Peace, DANA Air, Aero, Arik Air and Medview Airlines  operated flights from Lagos.The carriers operated their scheduled flights on the route following the closure of the Abuja Airport.Amid tight security, scores of passengers expressed excitement over the use of Kaduna Airport for the flights.As early as 8.00 am, flights from Lagos started landing at the Kaduna Airport.Apart from the ground handling firm Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), aviation fuel suppliers  Conoil, So Aviation  and other ancillary services providers were on ground to facilitate smooth flight operations.Besides scheduled carriers, charter operators were also at Kaduna Airport to facilitate smooth operations.Airport security, aerodrome safety and fire-fighters were also at work to ensure smooth operations.The government secured an agreement with a private transport firm -Chisco Limited  with security escort patrol vehicles to convey passengers between Kaduna and Abuja as well as between Abuja and Kaduna.A source said most of the airlines recorded low passenger traffic out of Kaduna Airport into Lagos.While some passengers plied the buses provided by the government from Kaduna to Abuja, others were transported by bus provided by government from Kaduna Airport to the train station in Rigasa, a suburb along the Kaduna / Abuja Expressway, where the train terminal is located.Minister of State, Aviation Hadi Sirika was on hand in Kaduna to witness flight operations.But work is yet to be completed at the Kaduna Airport as workers of the construction firm were making last minute efforts to see the project to fruition.Investigations revealed that passenger profiling for international passengers were handled manually.Personnel of aviation agencies were sufficiently mobilised to ensure safety and security at the airport.Apart from a new toll gate plaza being completed at the entrance into the airport, the staff quarters for workers of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were being renovated.From the Airport Road Junction on the expressway into the terminal, there was heavy security presence with members of the Nigerian Police Anti  Bomb Squad, Special Anti  Robbery Squad (SARS) mobilised at strategic locations.The Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (rtd), has given assurance of strict narcotic screening at the Kaduna Airport.This, according to him, will help in preventing illicit movement of narcotic drugs by drug cartels.Abdallah made the pledge following the interception of two suspected drug traffickers at Abuja Airport few hours to its closure on Wednesday.They were caught with 2.150-kilogramme of heroin from Tanzania and 386 grammes of cocaine en-route Cambodia.Preliminary investigation revealed that both suspects wanted to capitalise on the temporary relocation to Kaduna Airport in moving narcotics at the Abuja Airport, but the NDLEA promptly arrested them.
PHILADELPHIA -- The discovery of a centuries-old burial ground is giving students and staff from Rutgers University's Camden an opportunity to examine the lifestyle of the nation's earliest citizens.

PMC Properties discovered some bones on the site this fall, after they began work on a 10-story apartment building. According to news reports, more coffins stacked three deep were discovered on Feb. 20, according to the university.

Soon afterward, the company contacted archaeologists at Rutgers and volunteers to help remove the coffins.

"We'll try to find out anything that these bones can tell us about who these people were in life," said Kimberlee Moran, a Rutgers-Camden associate teaching professor and director of forensics center.

"Ultimately," Moran added, "we want to reinter them at Mount Moriah Cemetery with the rest of the remains from this time period."

Historical paper show that the site dates back to the 1700s and was a decommissioned burial ground for the First Baptist Church, which was established in 1707, according to the university.

The remains were supposed to be removed and re-interred at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia when the church moved around 1860, Rutgers officials said in a release.

Now, Rutgers-Camden staff and students are getting some "unprecedented" hands-on experience while PMC Properties pauses its construction project, the university said.

The site's developer plans to "assess the situation" come Saturday, according to philly.com.

According to Rutgers-Camden, Moran "jumped" at the chance to help out after the discovery was revealed.

Presently, more than 50 sets of remains have been found and are in line for a months-long study. According to the university, they will be taken to a forensics lab to be documented, cleaned and analyzed to determine gender, ethnicity and age at the time of death.

According to Moran -- who regularly helps law enforcement agencies investigate human remains -- Rutgers-Camden undergraduates "are getting real-world experience that you could never duplicate in a classroom."

Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
TRENTON -- New Jersey lawmakers are considering lifting a ban on an item once considered so disruptive and synonymous with drug dealers that it was outlawed on school grounds.

Soon, if state Senators Ron Rice and Jim Whelan get their way, the once controversial pager, also known as a beeper, will be considered contraband in schools no longer.

The Democratic lawmakers don't think teens actually want a pager. But that's the point, they said.

"Fast forward almost three decades and it's no longer an issue," said Rice (D-Essex), the original sponsor of the law banning pagers in schools. "The law has clearly outlived its usefulness, and it's time to come off the books."

The pager, popular with doctors and other professionals before cellular telephones became ubiquitous, became problematic in schools over concern that students were using them to arrange drug deals or tip off dealers that police were nearby.

Nationwide, schools began to crackdown on pagers in the late 1980s, and New Jersey passed a law in 1989 that not only banned them in schools but outlawed the sale of beepers to anyone under the age of 18 unless they needed it for a job or medical reasons.

''Beepers are status symbols to some youngsters," Rice, a former police detective said as he pushed for the ban in the summer of 1989. "They represent power, influence and easy access to crack and money.''

But teens often ignored the law and the ban on selling pagers to young people was repealed in 1996. Now, it's finally time to lift the ban on beepers in schools, Whelan (D-Atlantic) said.

"Keeping a law on the books that bans pagers in school seems futile," Whelan said. "Social dynamics have changed so significantly that it no longer makes sense to keep the law."

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NEWARK -- The Union City grandfather who galvanized clergy leaders across the state -- including the Archbishop of Newark -- to fight his deportation, will be able to stay in the U.S. for at least another two months.

Immigration officials gave Catalino Guerrero a 60-day extension Friday morning as they review his request to stay his deportation order. The news came as 100 supporters rallied in his defense outside the Peter Rodino Federal building, chanting "let him stay."

"I want all the people through this, to fight," Guerrero, 59, told a crush of media reporters in Spanish as he sat inside Grace Church, visibly exhausted.

Guerrero, who was ordered deported back to Mexico in 2009, will have to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on May 22. His attorney, Cesar Martin Estela, said ICE is reviewing their request for a stay of removal that would let Guerrero remain in the country for six more months. ICE has previously granted Guerrero temporary stays of his deportation order, requiring he check in periodically.

"Catalino is still under a threat of deportation," said Richard Morales, immigration policy director for PICO National Network, a network of faith-based groups. "What Catalino is going through should not be happening to anyone in this country now; this is wrong."

Supporting himself on a cane, Guerrero walked into the immigration building on Broad Street shortly after 9 a.m. as supporters and his family waited outside in the snow.

BREAKING: Catalino gets extension and is released. Will come back in May to meet with ICE pic.twitter.com/z1MtE4Wc8s  Karen Yi (@karen_yi) March 10, 2017

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, joined the throng of clergy members and advocates.

Tobin, who started in January and speaks Spanish, has criticized President Trump's executive actions on immigration as harmful to families.

"It's important to put a face on people," Tobin told NJ Advance Media. "I can't accompany the 11 million undocumented people in this country, what I hope to do is say look, they've got faces, they've got histories and there's a lot of advantage to leaving them alone."

"I hope President Trump is watching because Catalino is not a 'bad hombre,' he's a good man," Menendez said referring to the way Trump has characterized some undocumented immigrants. "If he can be deported then we truly are on the verge of mass deportations."

Menendez said he was pleased with the 60-day extension but that the "peace of mind was only temporary."

Seeking relief

Guerrero has lived in the U.S. for more than 25 years and owns his home in Union County. He has four children and four grandchildren.

His granddaughter Elizabeth Perez, 7, cried as she waited for her grandfather to come out. She wore a hat that read "stay" in different colors.

"I don't want my grandfather to leave because he is the only grandfather I have and he is very good to me," she said as tears streamed down her face.

Estela said apart from the stay, Guerrero was applying for a U-Visa that allows undocumented immigrants who have been victims of crimes and who have helped authorities investigate receive permanent residency. Guerrero was a victim of a home invasion in 2007.

"We had to find a solution that provided him real relief from removal," Estela said. "By going this route ... we'll hopefully stop reporting to ICE and get him his green card."

Under what advocates have said was bad legal advice, Guerreo filed for asylum in 1992. His case was denied and in 2009 he was ordered deported. He was arrested by ICE in 2011 and granted a stay of removal and an order of supervision due to his poor health.

ICE spokesperson Lou Martinez said in a statement Thursday that Guerrero is "a Mexican national unlawfully present, was ordered removed from the United States in 2009 by an immigration judge. Guerrero remains free from custody and must periodically report to ICE as a condition of his release."

'Low hanging fruit'

Early Friday morning, clergy members gathered at the Courtyard Marriott hotel before marching to the immigration building chanting "build communities, not a wall."

"This is our place, this is our moment," Rabbi Joel Abraham of Temple Sholom in Scotch Plains. He said Guerrero is "representing all sorts of people ... We need to hear what needs to be fixed and we need to step up and fix it."

Last month was Guerrero's first check-in with ICE under the Trump Administration, who vowed as a centerpiece of his campaign to crack down in illegal immigration.

Guerrero's supporters feared he would be deported when ICE asked him to bring his passport for his next meeting on March 10.

"I ask that you help me, I have my family here, with my granddaughters, my health is poor, I have heart problems, diabetes and high blood pressure," Guerrero said last week on a call with reporters. "With all these worries and the appointments and all this stress it's not good for my health and the nurses are concerned. I ask that you help me so I can stay in this country."

Guerrero works as a delivery man and Uber driver.

"Everything that I've earned, everything that I've worked for, I've invested here," he said.

The Department of Homeland Security issued guidelines last month about how it planed to implement Trump's executive orders on immigration. The rules widen the net of who can be detained and deported -- and include hiring 10,000 more ICE officers.

Among those prioritized for deportation are those who have prior orders of removal and who "in the judgment of an immigration officer, otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security," one of the memos reads.

"Basically, this is low hanging fruit," Morales of PICO National Network said of people like Guerrero. "It's clear, it's written in black and white that this administration wants to deport as many undocumented immigrants from this country."

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.
* Buhari back in Nigeria after 7 weeks

* Former military ruler walks off plane unaided

* Medical treatment involved transfusions, details unclear

* Vice-President Osinbajo active as interim leader (Adds Buhari to notify parliament, analyst, background)

By Felix Onuah and Ulf Laessing

ABUJA/LAGOS, Nigeria, March 10 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Friday he would need more rest and health tests after coming home from nearly two months of medical leave in Britain during which his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, stamped his authority on economic policy.

Shortly after arriving back from London, the 74-year-old former general told officials he was feeling "much better" but wanted to rest over the weekend, raising questions about his ability to run Africa's biggest economy and most populous nation.

Osinbajo, a lawyer who is seen as more business-friendly than Buhari, played an active role in driving policy changes during the president's seven-week absence.

The Nigerian stock exchange jumped to a one-month high when Buhari returned, but trimmed gains after his comments about his ill-health raised fears of policy confusion and a power vacuum.

Dressed in a dark kaftan and Muslim prayer cap, Buhari walked stiffly but unaided from his plane after it landed at an air force base in the northern city of Kaduna.

After greeting a handful of provincial and military officials, he boarded a helicopter to the capital Abuja to address Osinbajo and his top military and security commanders in a brief speech.

"I deliberately came back towards the weekend so that the Vice President will continue and I will continue to rest," Buhari said at the presidential villa. "All I need is to do further follow-ups within some weeks."

He said he was "conscious" of the needs of the economy, mired in its first recession in 25 years due to a collapse in oil revenues, but failed to clarify Osinbajo's role.

His spokesman Femi Adesina later said Buhari would formally notify parliament on Monday that he was back in charge. He had made Osinbajo acting president during his absence.

Story continues

Buhari has not revealed any details about his illness.

"I couldn't recall when last I had a blood transfusion," he said. About his treatment in London he added: "Blood transfusions, going to the laboratories and so on and forth."

Buhari, who first led the country from 1983 to 1985 after taking power in a military coup, was elected democratically two years ago. Since then he has travelled to Britain several times to consult doctors.

GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS

He is a northern Muslim, while Osinbajo is a lawyer from Nigeria's predominantly Christian south, a political arrangement that reflects Nigeria's broad geographic and religious divisions.

Reflecting his popularity in the north, armed police had to control hundreds of cheering supporters as Buhari's plane landed in Kaduna.

Hundreds also celebrated in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state in the northeast, where the army under Buhari's command has retaken territory previously lost to Boko Haram jihadists.

Osinbajo played an active role in Buhari's absence, chairing cabinet meetings and finishing an economic reform plan needed to secure a World Bank loan to help plug a deficit caused by low oil revenues in Africa's biggest producer.

He also travelled several times to the commercial capital Lagos and the Niger Delta oil hub to calm tensions with militants attacking oil facilities - two regions Buhari had largely ignored.

NAIRA TALK

While Buhari was away, the central bank also devalued the naira for retail customers and investors hope for more. The currency slipped against the dollar on Friday in the non-deliverable forward market, which enables companies or investors to hedge their naira exposure, as devaluation talk gained momentum on expectations that Osinbajo would keep a prominent role.

"The big question must be how many of the changes were carried out with the president's blessing," said Simon Quijano-Evans, emerging markets strategist at Legal & General Investment Management in London.

With Abuja airport closed for six weeks of repairs, fewer visitors will flock to the presidential villa. Buhari may be able to keep a low public profile without raising too much suspicion about his health while Osinbajo can work on the economic file. A trade conference has been shelved.

The transparency over the temporary handover to Osinbajo stands in marked contrast to the secrecy and confusion that surrounded the illness of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who died in 2010 after a long period of medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.

(Reporting by Garba Mohammed, Felix Onuah, Ulf Laessing, Lanre Ola and Karin Strohecker; Writing by Ed Cropley and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
"Knock-Knock."

The rap on the door is from his family, friends, and a performing arts circle in mourning. They want Shamsuddin Abdul-Hamid of Newark to answer.

They'd love to hear him recite that poem - "Knock-Knock - '' in person again and not on YouTube, where tears stream down his face. He mastered it in 2010 to win the New Jersey Poetry Out Loud competition, a crown that took him three years to capture.

"Knock-Knock." If he could just respond, they'd give anything to see the 25-year-old promising actor perform monologues, from Moliere to William Shakespeare to August Wilson, his favorite playwright.

"Some people you can teach it, but some people are born with it,'' said Leonora Brazell-Rafua, his mentor and retired Newark Arts High School drama teacher.

"He was born with it.''

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns

But there won't be any more poetry for Abdul-Hamid, whom everybody calls "Sham." He died suddenly last Friday, his body discovered about 8 a.m. by a passerby at the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Grant Avenue in Jersey City. Authorities would not release further details, other than saying his death did not appear suspicious. A medical examiner's report is pending.

"You think they live forever, but when God wants you back that's what happens,'' said his mother Jamillah Lawson, of Newark. "I wasn't prepared for this.''

No one was.

Sham, a 2010 graduate of Arts High School and Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, was developing his theatrical gift, maturing with each performance.

He recently landed the lead role at The Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. for "Wig Out," a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who won an Academy Award last month for co-writing "Moonlight,'' itself an Oscar winner for best picture.

Several months ago, he taped an episode of "Shades of Blue," a television series starring Jennifer Lopez. Last year he was in "Fences" at Triad Stage in North Carolina and in "The Brothers Size" at Luna Stage in West Orange.

"His work was so fresh and so vibrant, so full of that life force of a promising young actor,'' said Cheryl Katz, artistic director at Luna Stage. "I think he was on his way to a fine career.''

His artistic experiences were many, filling up nearly every minute of his short life. In high school, Sham was a Star-Ledger Scholarship recipient. He went on to perform plays at Rutgers, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Shakespeare's Globe in London.

Acting, poetry and theater was everything to him. The performance arts community said he loved exploring characters, or attending a lecture or scraping together enough money to see a Broadway play. On his way to auditions or rehearsals, friends and family said, Sham read books on self-improvement, theater, history, anything to better himself as a person or an artist.

And it showed wherever he went.

"Sham could step on stage and before he even spoke, you were immediately glued to him because he just had that much presence,'' said Naja Selby, a classmate and actress. "And when he opened his mouth, my God. Absolutely breathtaking.''

Sheer, voluminous power erupted from every inch of his 6-foot-tall frame. Whatever the part called for, he could go from down and dirty slang, then pivot to a southern dialect, and regale you with the crisp, snappy diction of Elizabethan English.

Sham, one of nine children, was bound for the stage. Lawson, his mother, said he was talking by age 1, writing his long name by age 3 and making up his own stories by studying customers at her hair salon.

He was 8 years-old when he met Brazell-Rafua, a playwright who at the time didn't want to work with children. But his grandmother kept bringing him back to the summer theater program in Newark that Brazell-Rafua was conducting for high school students.

In three days, the young Sham not only impressed Brazell-Rafua with his ability to learn his lines, she gave him three parts for "Macbeth in the Hood,'' a play she wrote and directed. By sixth grade, Sham completed his first play - "Troubled Waters" - which featured his classmates at Lady Liberty School. It was such a well-done production, that Sham even had the maintenance crew build the set.

"Knock-Knock.''

It's his senior year and he's mesmerizing the crowd with that poem by Daniel Beaty. Sham loves the piece about a son whose father awakens him in the morning with a "Knock-Knock" at his bedroom door. They play this game with the child pretending to be asleep until the father's knocks disappear because he's in jail. The son misses his dad, but he makes up an imaginary father, who tells him that a parent's choices in life do not define him, that goodness lives within him.

Newark misses Sham.

MORE CARTER: Business in the Ironbound is suffering as Newark's fearful immigrant community hides

The news of his death was louder than any monologue Sham could have performed or any thunderous knock at a door that loved ones wish he could answer.

Everyone who knows Sham is looking for his boyish charm again, his stadium-size personality and a laugh so ginormous, you couldn't help but crack up right along with him.

"He's so vibrant and big that he wasn't able to hide it,'' said Jasmine Mans, his classmate and performance artist. "He could walk into a room and people had no choice but to accept him and fall in love with him.''

That was evident Tuesday night when hundreds gathered in front of Newark's Arts High School for a candle light vigil. Among them were his principal, his teachers, debate team members and fellow poets, who are now actors, actresses and performance artists. City officials, including the mayor, were there along with Marques-Aquil Lewis, a board of education member and classmate who organized the gathering.

Speakers amused the crowd, telling stories, some tearfully, about the friend they adored. Sham, they said, was a genuine, endearing "old soul'' who made himself a part of your life.

"He was the son I never had,'' said at-large Councilman Carlos Gonzalez, who had Sham as an intern at Newark City Hall.

Ameer Natson said he is still waiting on that call from his younger brother to help him with an Uber ride for an audition or rehearsal. He called him a bright star whose life should be celebrated.

That happens Monday at the Metorpolitan Baptist Church on Springfield Avenue in Newark. His viewing is from 10 a.m. to noon. The funeral will immediately follow.

"Knock-Knock."

It's Sham tapping us on the shoulder the way he once said a good poem is supposed to do.

"It's all inside of you and says 'See me, hear me. I'm here. I will not be ignored,' '' he said.

Sham never was.

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or nj.com barry carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL
Robbie Felice has cooked across the country and around Europe, but he grew up in New Jersey. So the Sussex County resident knew when he was opening Viaggio in Wayne last August that serving chicken would be mandatory.

"It's just kind of a Jersey thing," he maintained.

"If you went out to dinner and there was no chicken on the menu, most Jersey people would walk out the door."

But what he does with the Lancaster Amish chicken ($29) encapsulates the virtues of Viaggio. His vision of "alla cacciatore" merits its quotation marks on the menu because it is far from the usual rendition.

A feature is the chicken skin, with a blend of house-made bread crumbs, thyme, rosemary, butter, olive oil, Parmigiano and fontina cheese piped beneath it. Then it's basted, roasted and emerges from the oven "super crispy," as Felice puts it. The meat, which has been soaked in beer brine for 24 hours at the beginning of the process, is rewardingly juicy.

"I told myself it had to be the best chicken anyone ever had," said Felice.

You may well think he has accomplished his mission with this memorable modern take on rustic Italian, served with a variety of "finds" from around the kitchen, including pieces of mushrooms, other vegetables, salumi scraps and whatever else comes to hand, along with chicken confit and premium polenta.

If your fondest dining desires go beyond chicken, no worries. The menu is stocked with spectacular options, a list that's led by the fazzoletti ($20 and worth every cent). Beautiful and ethereal, it's practically a spiritual experience.

The fazzoletti at Viaggio Ristorante in Wayne.

Handkerchief-like pieces of pasta are folded over a variety of herbs, including mint, chervil, basil and parsley. The preserved Meyer lemon butter sauce adds just enough tart silkiness to enhance the dish, which is topped with an exclamation point of microgreens. Like the fazzoletti, most of the pasta is made in-house, with the exception of linguine and buccatini, which are imported from Italy.

Other dishes to try include the gnocchi ($20), a 50-50 combo of potato and ricotta (which adds to the fluffiness quotient). It's served with a duck ragu; duck leg meat mixed with sofrito (cooked-down carrot, onion and celery), red wine and house-cured pancetta. The duck is cooked for four to five hours, and then the whole dish is topped with shavings of ricotta salata for an accent.

Interested in seafood? Try the branzino al cartoccio ($29) cooked in parchment to incorporate the flavors of olives and tomatoes. For beef, it's the Piedmontese tagliata ($31), lean but tender, served with Cipollini onions in a sweet and sour sauce.

He's only 26, but Felice is accomplished beyond his years because he hasn't wasted a second while learning his craft. His father, Joe Felice, a partner in Viaggio, has had several restaurants in New Jersey.

"Before I could walk, I was in restaurants, they have always been a part of my life," said the chef, who went on to the Culinary Institute of America. He continued to learn, working at Mario Batali's Babbo in New York and the Batali-Bastianich outpost B&B Ristorante in Las Vegas.

The chef's table in front of Viaggio's open kitchen is the vantage point for those interested in seeing Felice work his magic, but don't think you can do what he does when you go home, kids. He gave me detailed explanations of several dishes, including the chicken, and the steps that he goes through -- some of which can't be seen from the chef's table because they involve prep -- are daunting for non-professionals, to say the least.

Viaggio chef Robbie Felice in the kitchen.

Desiree Morrison does the desserts, including chocolate budino ($12) a cakelike pudding (or maybe a pudding-like cake) enhanced by salted caramel and meringue. After a big meal, that might be a bit more than you can handle, so consider the more modest olive oil cake ($9) with house-made vanilla gelato, or perhaps just peppermint gelato ($11) with peppermint bark.

The odds are that you'll see words you don't know scattered around the menu like confetti, but staffers not only are well-informed about the nuances of the food, but also able to impart that knowledge to their customers, which is refreshing. That's a tribute to manager Jin Lee, who moved to New Jersey from Las Vegas, where he worked with Felice.

The atmosphere is the right match for the food. The interior, produced by Lauren DiGenova at LRD Design, combines reclaimed barn wood and brick wall treatment (Felice was inspired by walls he saw in Florence and Bologna) with strings of white lights for a Tuscan farmhouse atmosphere that takes patrons from an ordinary northern New Jersey strip mall to a festive evening in the Italian countryside.

Did you forget your wine? It can be ordered from a local liquor store, which delivers. For bargain hunters, there's a prix fixe $53 available Sunday through Thursday only.

The name Viaggio means journey in Italian. It involves a voyage of discovery that's worth taking for anyone looking for a different take on Italian food that will have them coming back for more.

Viaggio Ristorante

1055 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne. 973-706-7277. Viaggioristorante.com. Hours: 5-9:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 5-10:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 4-9 p.m. Sundays. Closed Mondays. BYOW. 3 1/2 stars.

Cody Kendall may be reached at CodyDine@aim.com. Follow Cody on Twitter@CodyDine. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.
WASHINGTON TWP. -- An ex-police officer who was found not guilty of criminal charges in connection with a state assemblyman's drunk driving arrest has filed suit against his former police chief and the county prosecutor.

Joseph DiBuonaventura claims retired police chief Rafael Muniz and Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton mishandled an internal affairs investigation and the subsequent prosecution stemming from a traffic stop involving Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-4, Washington Township).

DiBuonaventura accuses Muniz, who retired at the end of 2016, of malicious conduct in pursuing his dismissal from the force.

Dalton had no comment on the lawsuit. "The policy of the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office is not to comment on matters of litigation," prosecutor's office spokesman Bernie Weisenfeld said Friday.

Efforts to reach Muniz were unsuccessful on Friday.

DiBuonaventura arrested Moriarty on charges of driving while intoxicated in July 2012. Moriarty denied he had been drinking, refused a breath test and said the incident was the result of an "abuse of power" by DiBuonaventura.

The DWI charge was dismissed after the county prosecutor's office concluded that the officer lied about his reasons for stopping Moriarty.

Moriarty filed 27 criminal complaints against DiBuonaventura, claiming the officer committed perjury, filed false reports and committed official misconduct, among other allegations. A judge charged DiBuonaventura with 13 of those 27 complaints and forwarded those charges to the prosecutor's office.

DiBuonaventura was found not guilty on all counts in a 2015 trial.

The township then brought disciplinary charges against him in connection with the case and DiBuonaventura, who had been suspended without pay since 2012, was fired in 2016.

In his suit, DiBuonaventura claims Muniz improperly initiated a probe into his arrest of Moriarty.

Since Moriarty, who previously served as Washington Township mayor, had appointed Muniz as police chief in 2006, Muniz had a potential conflict of interest in investigating Moriarty's claims against DiBuonaventura. As a result, Muniz asked the prosecutor's office to assume the investigation.

At the same time, though, Muniz ordered that evidence be gathered as part of the probe, DiBuonaventura alleges, before the case was turned over to the prosecutor.

The prosecutor consulted with the state Attorney General's office, which advised that the prosecutor's office should take up the matter but "cautioned" that the internal affairs probe should not proceed until Moriarty's DWI case was concluded, according to the suit.

The prosecutor did not delay the internal affairs probe as recommended, the suit states.

Dalton "had the authority and obligation" to stay the internal affairs and criminal investigation until the DWI case was tried, the suit states, but instead Dalton instructed his investigator to convert the internal affairs probe into a criminal investigation, leading to DiBuonaventura's suspension without pay.

Meanwhile, DiBuonaventura alleges that Muniz met with Moriarty to work on building a case against the officer.

"These meetings were designed to assist Moriarty in drafting and filing criminal charges against Plaintiff," the suit states.

After charging DiBuonaventura, the prosecutor "moved improperly and successfully to dismiss all charges against Moriarty," the plaintiff states.

Following DiBuonaventura's acquittal, he claims Muniz used a private email server to contact Dalton and request approval to proceed with the internal affairs investigation, which Dalton approved.

That investigation concluded that in addition to lying about his reasons for stopping Moriarty, DiBuonaventura purposefully wrote "phantom" warning tickets to six drivers during 2012 for violations that never actually occurred. Those warnings were never given to the drivers and were later discarded. The alleged practice was used by some officers to inflate performance statistics, according to a previous report.

"As a result of the unfair, targeted, vindictive and unlawful internal affairs process initiated and prosecuted by Muniz, Plaintiff was terminated from his employment by Muniz on the basis of the administrative charges filed by Muniz and permitted by Dalton."

This was the second time DiBuonaventura lost his job with the department.

He was fired in 2009 for allegedly lying in an internal affairs investigation, but was reinstated by a judge after he appealed the decision.

DuBuonaventura also claims in his suit that Muniz targeted him because the officer had filed a complaint over the handling of a case against the chief's son. Lorenzo Muniz was accused of theft in April 2012 and DiBuonaventura claimed the incident was not referred to the prosecutor's officer per standard operating procedures. DiBuonaventura filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office just days before the Moriarty arrest.

Lorenzo Muniz was ultimately charged with theft by unlawful taking and admitted to the pre-trial intervention program.

The case has resulted in several lawsuits.

Moriarty filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against DiBuonaventura and that case was settled last year by the Tri-County Joint Insurance Fund, which insures Washington Township employees.

Moriarty also sued the township police department, but a federal judge dismissed that claim in 2015.

Meanwhile, DiBuonaventura is fighting another court battle to get his old job back. He is seeking reinstatement with the township police department and back pay.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
BRodriguez.jpg

Benjamin Rodriguez, 41, of Bayonne, appears in court in Jersey City on Friday, March 3, 2017, on sex related charges involving a then 14-year-old boy and a then 16-year-old boy.

JERSEY CITY -- A 41-year-old Bayonne man is facing charges that he sexually assaulted a teenage boy and fondled another.

Benjamin Rodriguez, who is listed as homeless, is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy on three occasions, for which he's charged with sexual assault, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child, according to his criminal complaint.

Rodriguez is also charged with one count each of the criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly fondling a 16-year-old boy in May, the complaint states.

It's unclear when the alleged abuse of the younger boy took place.

Rodriguez was arrested Feb. 28 and he made his first appearance on the charges on March 3 in Criminal Justice Reform Court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.

At the hearing, the state moved to detain Rodriguez pending trial and a detention hearing before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale.
Bayonne City Hall.JPG

A Bayonne Planning Board member has abruptly resigned after posting a controversial Facebook post referencing a resident speaking out against the proposed Muslim community center.

(Journal File Photo)

BAYONNE -- A city Planning Board commissioner has abruptly resigned after writing a controversial Facebook post about a resident who spoke against the proposed Muslim community center during Monday's Zoning Board meeting.

Laura Marsella resigned from her position on the Planning Board, and will consequently no longer serve as the Board's representative on the Historic Preservation Commission, Bayonne spokesman Joe Ryan confirmed Friday.

"I've decided my best course of action is to offer a heartfelt apology for a sadly human moment," Marsella wrote in a Facebook post Friday morning.

In the Facebook post that landed her in hot water, Marsella criticized a woman who addressed the Zoning Board before the seven-member panel voted down the plan Monday night. The woman, whose son has cancer, opposed the proposal for the East 24th Street community center, citing concerns that construction would release carcinogens in the neighborhood in which her family lives.

Marsella then took to Facebook, calling the woman "the cancer mother," and accused her of being behind in her taxes. When contacted for comment, Marsella referred The Jersey Journal to her apology on Facebook.

"I found recently while on the (Planning) Board, we were faced with, not just contentiousness, but being cursed at, accused of being corrupt and being called names, such as 'traitor,'" Marsella wrote in her apology. "Unfortunately, those things hurt me personally. My building frustration came out just as unkindly as those words leveled at us. I feel ashamed and embarrassed. I am sincerely sorry."

Marsella was appointed to the unpaid post during former Mayor Mark Smith's tenure, Ryan said. She held the position for four years, according to her recent post on Facebook.

The controversial plan failed to pass despite the Zoning Board's 4-3 vote in favor of it, because approval required a minimum of five votes.
By Rosalba O'Brien and Antonio De la Jara

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Countries that signed up for the failed trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will meet in Chile next week, seeking a way forward on a possible future regional deal, Chile's head of international trade told Reuters.

Representatives from the 12 countries that formed the TPP, plus China and South Korea, will meet for the first time since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out the TPP in January, effectively killing the accord in its current form.

The Chile meeting is a sign efforts to find an alternative Asia-Pacific trade pact are moving ahead, with China now likely leading the talks after the United States dropped out.

Chile has accomplished its first goal of getting everyone together and will now seek commitments for further meetings to evaluate alternatives, Paulina Nazal told Reuters in an interview in Santiago on Wednesday evening.

"The objective is to confirm if the strategy of growth and openness of recent years is what we believe to be correct," she said.

"Do we need to include other issues? Do we need to implement policies that complement the opening of trade or not?"

It was still premature to say what the future roadmap would look like, she added.

"What we have seen from the various delegations is that it's too open still," said Nazal. "This is going to be the first meeting on how we go forward."

Likely options could be to build on the base of pre-existing agreements - such as Latin America's four-country Pacific Alliance, or the proposed Southeast Asian-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - she said.

Countries including Australia, New Zealand and Canada had a "similar commercial approach" to the Pacific Alliance and had signalled an interest in joining or negotiating as a bloc, said Nazal.

"Others evidently feel more comfortable with the RCEP model and they could open a door to let others in."

China, which is part of RCEP talks, has argued the TPP was too complex and political rather than purely trade-based. Critics of the RCEP - including the former Obama administration - warned it would not include strong protections for workers, the environment or intellectual property.

Story continues

With the election of Trump and the demise of the TPP, eyes have been on Beijing to take the lead on future trade talks.

"The Chinese want to be the leaders, the benchmark," said Nazal. "That was not like that before."

(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien and Antonio de la Jara; Editing by Andrew Hay)
Press release

12 October 1994

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to

Professor George A. Olah, University of Southern California, USA

for his contributions to carbocation chemistry.

Carbocations: from hypothetical intermediate products to well defined molecules

Most of us can recall from our high school chemistry courses that many so called inorganic compounds, like for example ordinary table salt, NaCl, could be regarded as built up from atoms or groups of atoms that are electrically charged. This table salt can be regarded as positively charged sodium ions (Na+) forming a bond with negatively charged chlorine ions (Cl). To take another example; glauber salt, Na 2 SO 4 , can be thought of as two Na+ ions forming a bond with one SO 4 2- ion.

While such electrically charged species  ions  are common in the world of inorganic compounds the opposite is true in the world of organic compounds, particularly in the case of the so called hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are compounds that are made up from only two types of elements  hydrogen (H) and carbon (C). Hydrocarbons constitute a very large and important group of organic compounds  for example most products from natural mineral oil are hydrocarbons. Although some hydrocarbons prepared by chemists around the turn of the century were thought to be ionic  e.g. a group of compounds formed from benzene and methane (triarylmethane derivatives) these were largely regarded as curiosities.

When some chemists in Britain (Ingold & Hughes) and Germany (Meerwein) in the 1920s and 1930s started detailed studies of how chemical reactions between organic molecules took place it, however, became apparent that positively charged hydrocarbons  what chemists call carbocations  actually could occur as very short lived (lifetimes of microseconds to nanoseconds) intermediates in the reactions.

Since these postulated carbocation intermediates were likely to be not only very short lived but also very reactive, it was generally assumed that one would never be able to prepare them in some quantities. Nor be able to study their properties with different physical techniques  e.g. NMR and infrared (IR) spectroscopy or X-ray diffraction  like one could do with normal uncharged hydrocarbons. But the direction of this field did change completely through the original and imaginative work by this years Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry Professor George A. Olah.

In the early 1960s Olah and co-workers discovered that stable carbocations could be prepared through the use of a new type of extremely acid compounds  far stronger than classical acids like sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid etc. These new acids  some of which were first described by the Canadian inorganic chemist, R. J. Gillespie  became generally known as superacids. A superacid can for example be prepared from hydrogen fluoride (HF) and antimony pentafluoride (SbF 5 ).

Olahs discovery completely transformed the scientific study of the elusive carbocations. Since the original discovery a large number of carbocations have been prepared and their properties studied in great detail. Olah has also shown how basic knowledge on superacids and carbocations can be applied to the facile synthesis of new and important organic compounds and that a number of small organic molecules, with widespread use as starting material in many large scale synthesis, can be produced in a simple and inexpensive way using superacids as catalysts. His work has resulted in new methods for the conversion of straight chain hydrocarbons (when used in combustion engines these have very low octane number and they are also difficult to degrade biologically) into branched hydrocarbons that have high octane numbers and are more easily biodegradable.

Olahs scientific contributions have won widespread recognition among organic chemists and his work on carbocations now has a prominent position in all modern textbooks on organic chemistry.

Background

George A. Olah has through his research on the cations from carbon compounds (carbocations) in superacidic solvents and at low temperatures opened new avenues towards new and detailed knowledge of their structure and reactivity. His work has also led to the discovery of new reactions of considerable potential in the chemical industry and elsewhere.

In a chemical reaction, the molecules of the original material are converted into a final product. This most often occurs via very short-lived (10-10  10-6seconds) entities termed reactive intermediates. In many organic reactions these are carbocations. Since they are so short-lived they occur in such low concentrations that they cannot be directly observed with, for example, spectroscopy. Knowledge of their existence, structure, reactivity and so on has therefore been very incomplete.

It is important to understand how reactions proceed to be able to control them, intervening to obtain the products desired. This is especially important for the chemical industry. In his research, Olah endeavoured to give the short-lived carbocations a long life. It was necessary to get them to react more slowly with solvents and other nucleophilic molecules. (Nucleophiles are anions or solvents that have a free electron pair and that can attack a positive ion or a positively polarised atom in a molecule.) Olah found he could use solvents that were very little nucleophilic (e.g. S0 2 , SO 2 ClF and SO 2 F 2 ) and that therefore at low temperatures react slowly with carbocations. To produce carbocations he used what are termed superacids (acids that are stronger than 100% sulphuric acid).

Dissolving alkyl halides at low temperature in hydrogen fluoride-antimon pentafluoride (HF-SbF 5 ), which is 1018 times stronger than 100% sulphuric acid, he managed for the first time to produce trivalent carbocations (carbenium ions) in such high concentrations and of such long life spans that, using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), he was able to study their structure, stability, properties and reactivity. Olahs pioneering work has made it possible to observe carbocations directly with various spectroscopic methods and to gain detailed knowledge of their structure and reactivity.

Olah also found that superacids are so strong that they can even bind more hydrogen ions to simple hydrocarbons, forming pentacoordinated carbocations (carbonium ions). This has already had practical consequences in hydrocarbon chemistry, leading, for example, to new methods of isomerising hydrocarbons and synthesising higher hydrocarbons from methane.

Very many carbocations of great structural variation have now been studied. The results have brought many surprising and important contributions to our understanding of chemical bindings. Besides trivalent (tricoordinated) carbocations, carbocations with higher coordination  tetra, penta- and hexacoordination  have been generated and their structure determined. The old dogma of the tetravalency of carbon, a cornerstone of structural organic chemistry since the days of Kekule in the 1860s, was thus destroyed.

History

During the 1920s, mainly through the research of C.-K Ingold (1893-1970, UK), the mechanisms of many organic reactions were elucidated. Two of the commonest and most widely used reactions in synthetic organic chemistry are nucleophilic substitution and elimination. In nucleophilic substitution the attacking reagent (the nucleophile) carries an electron pair to the substrate, using this pair to form the new bond while the leaving group departs with an electron pair. In elimination, two groups on adjacent carbon atoms are lost and an olefine (alkene) is formed. Depending upon the structure of the substrate, the solvent and a number of other factors, these reactions can occur in two stages. These are exemplified below with isopropyl chloride which, in the presence of the nucleophile Nu-, reacts to give a nucleophilic substitution product and/or an elimination product:

In the first stage the carbon-chlorine bond is split, and a short-lived carbenium ion is obtained. In the next step this rapidly reacts either with Nu- and gives the substitution product or transfers a proton to the solvent or Nu- to give propene.

The results of extensive kinetic and stereochemical investigations were consistent with mechanisms involving carbocations as intermediates. Carbenium ion structures and carbonium ion structures (non-classical ions) were suggested as hypothetical intermediates. To explain the results, it was also necessary to assume that the carbocations could often be associated with some negatively charged ion to give contact-ion pairs or solvent-separated ion pairs. A prominent figure in this later research was S. Winstein (1912-1969, USA).

The carbocations studied, however, were so short-lived (10-10 10-6 seconds) that they could not be directly observed with spectroscopy. The picture of these important intermediates still remained incomplete.

Olahs extremely important contribution lies in the methods he evolved for developing carbocations in high concentrations and under conditions which give them long life. To achieve this, he used solvents which were so extremely little nucleophilic that they did not attack carbocations. Such solvents are SO 2 , SO 2 ClF and SO 2 F 2 in which, at least at temperatures around -100C, carbocations do have long life. To generate carbocations, Olah used various superacids including SbF 5 , which is a Lewis superacid, giving carbocations with e.g. alkyl halides. Others were Brnsted superacids such as HSO 3 F or the extremely strong superacids obtained by combining e.g. HSO 3 F or HF with SbF 5 . Magic Acid, HSO 3 F:SbF 5 and HF:SbF 5 are 1018 times stronger than 100% sulphuric acid. Of these, Magic Acid and H:SbF 5 are so strong that they can completely protonate alcohols and olefines, thus giving carbocations in high concentrations. Temperatures between -78C and -120C are usually used. Especially 1H- and 13C- NMR-spectroscopic studies have given detailed knowledge of the structure, stability and reactivity of carbocations.

Investigations of the nucleophilic substitution reactions and rearrangements of 2-norbornyl derivatives led S.Winstein to suggest in the early 1950s that the intermediate carbocation was non-classical and contained a pentacoordinated carbon (C 6 in Figure la coordinates to two hydrogen atoms besides C 1 , C 2 and C 5 ). This interpretation was questioned by H.C. Brown (1912, USA), who received the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of boron compounds into important reagents in organic synthesis. Brown claimed that the 2-norbornyl cation did not have carbonium ion structure but was a carbenium ion that rapidly rearranged itself into itself, i.e. it was a rapidly equilibrating carbenium ion (Figure 1b).

Figure 1. a) Carbonium ion b) Equilibrating carbenium ions

The ensuing scientific controversy lasted until about 1980. As the structures of carbonium ions were of great theoretical interest, the problem fascinated many leading physical organic chemists, yet despite great efforts and many ingenious experiments, no definitive solution was found until the 2-norbornyl cation could be directly studied with NMR-spectroscopy.

Olah and his co-workers finally observed the 2-norbornyl carbocation in a solution of SbF 5 -SO 2 ClF-SO 2 F 2 at -158C. Both 1,2-hydride shifts and more complicated rearrangements at this low temperature are slow enough not to disturb the interpretation of the NMR-spectra.

The spectra accorded completely with Winsteins symmetrical bridged structure, with a pentacoordinated carbon (Figure la) and not with a rapidly equilibrating carbenium ion. Studies using electron-spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), developed by the Swedish Nobel laureate in physics for 1981, Kai Siegbahn, confirmed these conclusions.

Molecules containing pentacoordinated carbon atoms are no longer an exotic curiosity in organic chemistry. They have been found in inorganic compounds, organometallic compounds e.g. organolithium compounds, carboranes and other cluster compounds.

Superacids are so strong that they can protonate such extremely weak bases as the alkanes, as was shown by Olah and independently by H. Hogeveen. Thus, pentacoordinated carbonium ions have been obtained from methane higher alkanes and various cycloalkanes. Methane gives the methionium ion CH 5 +, which Olah has formulated as containing a three-centre, two-electron bond (Figure 2a, indicated with triangular dotted lines). Note that their junction does not represent an additional atom. Higher alkanes can be protonated both at C-H bonds (Figure 2b) and at C-C bonds (Figure 2c).

Figure 2.

Olah found that for instance protonated isobutane decomposes to the t-butyl cation and molecular hydrogen. From the classical point of view, this is quite an unreasonable reaction; isobutane is oxidized by the proton to give the t-butyl cation and molecular hydrogen.

The protonation of saturated hydrocarbons in superacidic media has, through Olahs work, already had practical consequences. It has led to a method for isomerising straight alkanes into branched alkanes of higher octane number. It has permitted the preparation of higher alkanes with methane as building block, illustrated below in the formation of ethane from methane. Superacid catalysis has also made it possible to crack heavy oils and to liquefy coal under surprisingly mild conditions.

Olah has recently shown that our most common electrophiles such as the acyl cation and the nitronium ion are protonated in superacidic media into doubly charged superelectrophiles. This leads to a dramatic increase in electrophilic reactivity. It is already obvious that Olahs new chemistry has very broad and important applications.

To cite this section

MLA style: Press release. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Mon. 7 Nov 2022. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1994/press-release/>
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand speaks at a Friday (March 10, 2017) news conference on the arrests of two men in connection with threatening graffiti spray-painted on to East Jefferson High School earlier this week. (Photo by Laura McKnight, The Times-Picayune).
With the U.S. bull market completing its eighth successive annual run, equities have revived from the sharpest recession since the Great Depression. The crash heralded the start of what has been a remarkable run. In fact, the current bull market is the second longest in history.



The consumer discretionary sector, which tracks the performance of the S&P 500 consumer discretionary stocks, has performed the best in this bull market run. Higher consumer spending levels given rising consumer confidence, positive economic data and an improving job market have bolstered the sectors performance. In fact, the Zacks categorized Consumer discretionary sector has gained 341.2% in this time frame.





One such company from the sector  Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. RCL  has been a value addition to investors portfolio and outrun the bull market. Moreover, it continues to reflect strength in several areas. Notably, this global cruise vacation company has gained a massive 1508.3% in the last eight years, while the broader S&P 500 index has returned over 250%.





Key Growth Drivers



Strong Brand Recognition : Serving over five million passengers annually, Royal Caribbean enjoys significant brand recognition, while its strong relationship with travel agents makes it one of the leading cruise companies in the U.S. Given the strength and diversity of its brands and itineraries, the company has been able to successfully capture potential and repeat cruise vacationers, and enjoys immense popularity among cruisers.



Demand Across Geographies : Royal Caribbean has been delivering solid results backed by strong booking trends and capacity growth.



The companys Asia-Pacific itineraries have been performing extremely well and investment in the fast-growing Chinese cruise markets is also bearing fruit. Meanwhile, overall demand for cruising in North America continues to be solid, while Caribbean and Alaskan itineraries are all doing fine with solid yield improvements. Thus, most of the capacity growth has been recorded in North America.



Given the consistent increase in bookings, the company has been increasing its capacity. The majority of the capacity growth has been recorded in the Asia-Pacific region, with the remaining mostly in the Caribbean. Additionally, strong booking trends witnessed for new ships launched by the company should further drive growth.



The company has also implemented a price integrity policy and stopped the previous practice of offering dramatic last-minute discounts before sailing. Among guests and travel partners, the program instills greater confidence in the integrity of the companys pricing and encourages prior booking. In fact, this expanded booking window is helping the company make better and more efficient pricing decisions.



Reduced Costs Given Profitability Initiatives : Royal Caribbean has been undertaking profitability improvement initiatives aimed at generating long-term cost savings. The company has now entered the final phase of its Double-Double program launched in 2014. In fact, we note that that the program has mostly done what it set out to do  bookings are at record levels, dividends are at an all-time high, costs have been well managed and guest satisfaction has improved.



Other initiatives that have resulted in reduced costs include carrying out home porting from secondary cities for some of its bigger vessels, improving fuel efficiency of ships to reduce fuel usage and using fuel swaps to mitigate volatility in fuel prices.



Technological Innovation : The company has been deploying technology which includes revamped websites, new vacation packaging capabilities, support for mobile apps, increased bandwidth onboard and streaming WiFi. These initiatives have not only aided in enhancing guest experience but have also driven occupancy.



Bottom Line



Does this mean that the company has been lying on a bed of roses? Well, not really!



Adverse forex translations along with lingering global uncertainties in certain international markets have been keeping growth at check.



However, despite these headwinds, the fact remains that Royal Caribbean has been a solid performer and is well poised to grow in the long run given its strong fundamentals.



Meanwhile, over the past 60 days, current quarter and current year earnings estimates have gone up by 31.4% and 3.5%, respectively, testifying to the unwavering confidence that analysts have in the company. This bullish trend is why the stock boasts a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). It is also behind our expectation of an outperformance from the company in the near term. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Other Stocks to Consider



Other favorably placed stocks in this sector include Marcus Corporation MCS, Pool Corporation POOL and Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc. SNOW. While Marcus and Pool sport a Zacks Rank #1, Intrawest Resorts carries the same Zacks Rank as Royal Caribbean.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Marcus 2017 earnings climbed 9.5% over the past 60 days. Further, for 2017, EPS is expected to grow 10.3%.



Pools earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 19.93%. Meanwhile, for 2017, EPS is expected to improve 17.4%.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Intrawest Resorts Holdings fiscal 2017 earnings climbed nearly 26% over the past 60 days. Moreover, the trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise is a positive 8.71%.



8 Stocks with Huge Profit Potential



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Friends gather for a vigil at N. Claiborne and Columbus, scene of last Monday's fatal stabbing of Ciara McElveen. Photographed on Sunday, March 5, 2017. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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.
China is lashing out at South Korea and Washington for the deployment of a powerful missile defense system known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, deposited at the Osan Air Base in South Korea on Monday evening.

The deployment of THAAD follows several ballistic missile tests by North Korea in recent months, including the launch of four missiles on Monday , three of which landed in the sea off the coast of Japan. Though THAAD would help South Korea protect itself from a North Korean missile attack, China is vocally protesting the deployment of the system, claiming it upsets the "strategic equilibrium" in the region because its radar will allow the United States to detect and track missiles launched from China.

North Korean provocations aside, THAAD's arrival on the Korean Peninsula comes amid heightened tensions between the new U.S. administration and China, as well as uncertainty surrounding the U.S. military's commitment to its security relationships in the region and around the world. Within that context, THAAD's deployment packs a significant amount of symbolic firepower alongside its battery of interceptor missiles.

Already there has been a blacklash. Liu Yuan, a retired Chinese general who is generally outspoken on Chinese security matters, wrote for China's state-run Global Times that the Chinese military could conduct a "surgical hard-kill operation that would destroy the target, paralyzing it and making it unable to hit back."

Though such military actions are unlikely, China has already forced the closing of 23 stores owned by Lotte, one of South Korea's huge family-run conglomerates (Lotte agreed to turn over a parcel of land in South Korea on which the THAAD system would be placed). State media has also encouraged Chinese citizens to boycott South Korean products, a move that, if effective, could rob major South Korean companies, like Samsung and Hyundai, of a massive consumer market.

Story continues

South Korea is reportedly considering filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization over China's economic retaliation. The commercial ramifications of THAAD could still escalate further.

What can THAAD do?

THAAD is a relatively new addition to the U.S. military's missile defense arsenal. Produced by Lockheed Martin (and priced at more than $1 billion per system), THAAD consists of a battery of truck-launched interceptor missiles and a powerful X-band radar that can detect, track and target inbound missile threats.

In other words, THAAD can see enemy ballistic missiles coming and can knock them out of the sky as they plunge toward their targets. Unlike some missile interceptors that navigate into the proximity of a missile and then explode to destroy or deflect the incoming threat, THAAD's missiles simply slam into their targets head-on, destroying them purely through kinetic force.

THADD's military value is spelled out in its name. It intercepts ballistic missiles during their "terminal" phase  that is, when they have passed their apogee and begun falling toward their targets. They can intercept these missiles at very high altitudes, up to roughly 90 miles above Earth's surface. Unlike other missile defense systems, like the Patriot PAC-3 that are designed mainly to defend a particular patch of ground, THAAD's powerful AN/TPY-2 radar can both monitor and defend large areas from short- and medium-range missiles.

There are a number of things THAAD cannot do, however. Given that its missiles do not contain a warhead, its batteries are fairly useless as an offensive weapon, a characteristic that some consider a feature from a political standpoint. In a statement announcing THAAD's deployment to South Korea, U.S Pacific Command was careful to note that "the THAAD system is a strictly defensive capability and it poses no threat to other countries in the region."

Moreover, THAAD is not designed to destroy missiles while they are boosting skyward, nor can it shoot down something like an intercontinental-range ballistic missile, or ICBM. (Intermediate and intercontinental range missiles travel far too fast for systems like THAAD to target and intercept.) In a scenario in which North Korea or China were to launch missiles bound for targets in the United States, THAAD batteries in South Korea and Japan would not be able to target those weapons.

A historical perspective

China has long vowed retaliation if the United States should deploy THAAD to South Korea, citing security concerns that center more on the radar than the interceptor missiles. THAAD's radar is powerful enough to peer into Chinese airspace, military officials there argue, allowing the United States to monitor Chinese missile tests and provide early warning of any Chinese missile launch, upsetting the strategic balance of power.

Following the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency in November, one Chinese official called the potential deployment of THAAD a "political weather vane" for the new U.S. administration and its relationship with China.



But as Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterrey in California, points out, China's objection to THAAD rings somewhat hollow. Radar installations in Taiwan, Japan and even Qatar already have the capacity to peer into Chinese airspace, to say nothing of the many space-based satellites that provide missile tracking and early warning capabilities to the United States. "It's not that [China's objections] are irrational, but it's more about what the deployment symbolizes than the radar's actual capability," Lewis says.

In other words, beyond its technical capability THAAD's deployment symbolizes further solidification of the military ties between the United States and South Korea, ties Beijing has sought to loosen for decades.

"I think the photo op really helped seal the deal for some of the political and assurance significance," Tom Karako, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says of the video released showing the first pieces of the THAAD system rolling off the C-17 at Osan on Monday evening. "This marks a real act of courage on the part of the South Korean government, working with its American allies, to do what these two countries together feel is a necessary and appropriate action in the face of Chinese bullying."

If THAAD is a political weather vane, Beijing now knows which way the wind is blowing. Why is this happening now?

The United States and South Korea declared their intention to deploy THAAD to South Korea last year (and have discussed the possibility going back as far as 2013), but China's staunch opposition to the deployment and other geopolitical considerations kept the United States from doing so.

One reason the United States and South Korea are moving to deploy THAAD now, Lewis says, is likely due to the fact that at least one of the major political stumbling blocks has been removed. South Korean president Park Geun-hye is currently embroiled in political scandal and facing impeachment, creating a unique political opportunity for the South Korean government.

"It's very controversial, the THAAD system," Lewis says. "And whoever comes after Park will have the system in place without the responsibility of having agreed to it."

What lies ahead

Consequences  intended and not  from the deployment of THAAD will continue to manifest themselves over the coming weeks and months. In terms of positive fallout, U.S.-based makers of missile defense systems like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are positioned to benefit from growing ballistic missile threats across Asia, the Middle East and Europe  threats underscored by THAAD's deployment to South Korea.



A recent note to investors by Cowen and Co. defense analyst Roman Schweizer cites both Lockheed Martin (LMT) (maker of THAAD) and Raytheon (RTN) (maker of various interceptor missiles, as well as components of THAAD's radar and tracking systems) as likely beneficiaries of an ongoing uptick in global defense expenditures, in large part due to their missile defense technology.

However, one potential negative consequence of THAAD's deployment stems from the sense of complacency that such systems can foster. THAAD can soften the effect of a missile salvo, but it's not a silver bullet for either North Korean or Chinese ballistic missile arsenals that are both growing in size and sophistication.

"They're missiles, and this is missile defense, and for a lot of people that checks all the boxes," Lewis says. "The unintended consequence I can see is that you don't want the South Korean people to think this solves the North Korean missile problem, because it doesn't."



 By Clay Dillow, special to CNBC.com
IOWA CITY  More than 10 percent of Iowa firefighters were granted national certifications over a four-year period despite failing exams at a state academy, authorities said Wednesday, as hundreds more were notified of the testing errors.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety informed 739 firefighters in 94 departments this week that they should not have been granted certifications by its Fire Services Training Bureau, the agency said.

Its unclear if any additional southwest Iowa departments were affected.

The department announced in January that 1,706 firefighters and emergency personnel were issued nearly 2,300 improper certifications between 2012 and 2016.

A review of tests launched last year found that they did not have the scores they needed to pass written exams and earn certifications in areas such as basic firefighting knowledge, hazardous materials handling and operation of firetrucks.

In southwest Iowa, letters were sent to the volunteer departments in Carter Lake, Treynor, Underwood, Neola, Lewis Township, Glenwood, Avoca, Shelby, Missouri Valley, Logan, Woodbine, Persia, Pisgah, Minden, McClelland, Crescent, Hancock, Oakland and Atlantic. Council Bluffs was not affected.

Attempts to reach the Iowa Department of Public Safety Thursday to clarify if there are any additional southwest Iowa fire departments affected were unsuccessful.

On Wednesday, the department said the 739 additional firefighters should have been notified at that time because their tests had already been identified as failing as part of the review. But the department recently discovered that the manner in which it used a database to send letters did not capture the entire group that was affected, said special agent in charge Steve DeJoode of the State Fire Marshal Division.

The discovery means that 2,445 firefighters have been affected, or more than 10 percent of Iowas mostly volunteer force. The department has said that additional tests could not be rescored because they were no longer available.

Firefighters had been given until June 30 to retake the tests or be faced with starting the certification process over from scratch. But following the new discovery, the bureau will be extending retesting through much of 2017, DeJoode said.

Some leaders in the profession worry that firefighters will quit rather than go through with retesting, which the department is offering for free at several locations across the state. The department said Wednesday that 350 firefighters have undergone retesting since it began last month.

It makes us look bad, in a way, Carter Lake Fire Coordinator Phil Newton said after word of the improper certifications first broke. Not us as individuals. But it makes the process look bad, knowing how it was done and what was affected by it.

The certifications are not mandated by Iowa law but some departments require them to be hired or promoted. Carrying the seals of the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress and the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications, the credentials are also recognized by departments in other states and used as prerequisites for more advanced training.

John McPhee, the former certification and accreditation coordinator for the Fire Services Training Bureau, is accused of failing to properly grade tests for years and simply assigning them random scores. He has pleaded not guilty to misconduct in public office and tampering with records, and is awaiting trial. His attorney hasnt returned messages seeking comment.

The department has also alleged that McPhee failed to schedule a site visit with the national board, costing the bureau its accreditation. DeJoode said the bureau is still working to regain accreditation from that body, known as the ProBoard.
Scientists estimated the prehistoric creature was probably 14 feet high as it stood upright on the Iowa landscape near Wilton. When it roamed, the Iowa countryside was an unsolved mystery.

The bones of the mammoth animal were unearthed in 1874 by a farmer as he walked near the track of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Strolling along a stream, he spotted something protruding from the bank.

Curious, the farmer went to his home to get a spade. As he dug, the huge object emerged. It was obviously a bone of some kind.

Somehow, Professor H.T. Woodman of Dubuque heard about the discovery and negotiated with the farmer to acquire the bone and permission to dig for more specimens on the farmers land. At one point, the professor had accumulated nearly 70 bones and was continuing the search for more. All the bones were found within 30-35 feet of each other.

He uncovered a shoulder blade described as so perfect that it looked as though it had come off the animal only recently, despite being thousands of years old. The 3-foot-long, 3-foot wide piece was long enough for an ordinary sized family to dine on, according to a report.

A lower bone of a hind leg measured 33 inches long and 32 inches around at its largest end. Parts of the backbone formed joints from 10 to 12 inches across. A bone belonging to a foot was 28 inches around. The head cavity was nearly a foot across.

Everyone who saw the bones was surprised at their condition. Found only about four feet below the surface, they were embedded in fine sand, which helped to preserve them, according to the professor.

He believed the body of the mastodon may have been crushed between masses of floating ice during a glacier period. The professor believed the bones belonged to a very young animal.

The bones ended up at the museum of the State Normal School in Winona, Minnesota. The museum staff couldnt believe their luck and were greatly surprised that the state of Iowa ever allowed the valuable find to leave its borders.
The Iowa School for the Deaf will host its first-ever Deaf Cultural Celebration weekend next month.

The three-day event will kick off on Friday, April 21 and continue through Sunday, April 23.

While the events main focus is to bring together the deaf and hard-of-hearing community through a celebration, everyone from the Council Bluffs-Omaha metro area is invited to attend, said Cynthia Angeroth, the schools outreach coordinator.

We want to provide parents and families with deaf and hard-of-hearing students with tools and resources that help their students become more successful and more literate, Angeroth said. But, the public, at large, is welcome.

Friday night will include a large social barbecue followed by the schools annual Celebrate ISD carnival with games, face painting, a bounce house and more. Each activity will cost 25 cents.

On Saturday and Sunday, workshops will focus on learning more about American Sign Language.

One set of workshops focuses on how to express yourself in ASL, and one set will focus on phonological awareness of rhyme and rhythm in ASL, said Deborah Cates, the schools event coordinator. One workshop on Sunday morning is specifically for middle school and high school students to learn more about deaf culture.

The event will also feature two panels, including one that will focus on career paths of successful deaf adults.

On Saturday, an art exhibition of work by deaf artists will be on display and a resource fair is planned on Sunday, along with opportunities to tour the campus and the ISD museum, Cates said.

Both Saturday and Sunday will conclude with performances by comedians Crom Saunders and Keith Wann.

All of the events will be accessible to both ASL and English speakers.

We decided to provide English interpretation because many people involved in the lives of deaf individuals, children and adults are not confident in their knowledge of ASL to be able to fully access and participate in these events, Cates said. Accessibility to communication is an issue of great importance to the deaf community, and we feel it is important to model accessibility at all times.

While the event is free, registration is required.

The Iowa Lions Foundation will provide a limited number of scholarships to anyone interested in attending that might not be able to because of traveling or lodging expenses. The deadline to register for those needing lodging assistance is March 22. Otherwise, registration will be accepted through April 14.

For more information on scholarships, contact Cates at dcates@iowaschoolforthedeaf.org.

Weve never hosted anything like this before, Angeroth said. Its a pretty great opportunity for all people with or without knowledge of deafness, and it will be really neat with everything presented in American Sign Language and English because, even if you dont know sign language, youll know whats going on  accessibility for everybody.
(Adds detail)

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - A second Scottish independence referendum is now looking inevitable and ministers in the United Kingdom government have now concluded it is a question of when such a vote will be held, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that Scotland could hold an independence vote in late 2018, just months before the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union, though Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly said there is no need for such a vote.

"Its looking inevitable, I dont think were in any position to stop it happening," the FT quoted one unidentified minister close to the discussions as saying.

Another unidentified person briefed on current thinking in PM Theresa May's office said: "The debate is only going to be about the date."

The FT said that the London government would fight to delay the vote until after the exit from the European Union.

The prospect of an independence vote in Scotland that could rip apart the United Kingdom just months before an EU exit would add a tumultuous twist to Brexit with uncertain consequences for the world's fifth largest economy.

The results of the June 23 Brexit referendum called the future of the United Kingdom into question because England and Wales voted to leave the EU but Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by James Davey)
Miki Agrawal Thinx 1515

First, Miki Agrawal encouraged women to toss their tampons.

Agrawal is the brains behind Thinx, the "period-proof underwear" startup that makes garments out of a special fabric designed to prevent menstrual blood from leaking and staining.

Now, the serial entrepreneur is taking on toilet paper.

Her new venture, Tushy, sells a portable bidet that attaches to a regular toilet and transforms it into, as Agrawal says, a "booty washer." Agrawal and cofounder Monica Pereira are on a mission to change the way Americans clean their behinds, in an effort to save the water and trees that go into making toilet paper.

In March, the company announced it raised a seed fund of $500,000 from angel investors, including Luke Sherwin and Neil Parikh, the cofounders of mattress startup Casper.

"The way you wipe yourself hasn't changed since the late 1800s," when modern toilet paper was invented, Agrawal tells Business Insider. "No one wants to talk about it, so no one is innovating. It's causing major issues for the planet."

On average, Americans burn through 57 squares of toilet paper a day and 50 pounds a year. Making a single roll of toilet paper requires 37 gallons of water and some 1.5 pounds of wood, according to Scientific American.

There may be an easy solution to saving some 15 million trees annually, according to Tushy: Americans need only swap toilet paper for bidets.

tushy bidet attachment 1

The bidet made by Tushy is actually a device that users insert under their toilet seat and connect to the toilet's clean water supply. When in use, a nozzle lowers and ejects water. Users can adjust the water pressure, temperature, and jet stream angle for maximum comfort.

The company claims that using its bidet for a week requires just 1.3 gallons of water, compared to the 55.5 gallons of water wasted when you use toilet paper for a week.

tushy bidet attachment 2

Agrawal is half-Japanese, half-Indian  joining two cultures that both routinely use bidets. In the US, she knew there was a weirdness factor around the hygiene product. When she set out to design a portable bidet accessory, she wanted it to be "cool," drawing inspiration from Apple product designs. "We wanted to look like an iPhone next to your toilet," Agrawal says.

Story continues

The bidet comes in two models: a cold-only unit that costs $69 and a dual temperature unit that runs $84. It's available in three metallic colors, a la iPhone.

NOW WATCH: Scientists have discovered that we're going to the bathroom the wrong way





More From Business Insider


More than 40 North Platte Community College students will be inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society on Sunday.

The public is invited to attend the hourlong ceremony. It will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the McDonald-Belton Theater on NPCCs South Campus and will be followed by refreshments.

Dr. Aaron McLean, chemistry instructor at NPCC, will be the featured speaker. After his talk, inductees will be presented with yellow stoles to wear at commencement May 12.

Being inducted into PTK is quite an honor, said Dr. Glynn Wolar, faculty advisor for Alpha Beta Theta, the colleges PTK chapter. The greatest reason to be a member is the opportunity to qualify for scholarships specifically reserved for PTK members.

Inclusion also allows students to network with professionals at state and national conferences and is one more experience to list on a resume.

Those who advance to a four-year college or university may transfer into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest honor society for liberal arts and sciences.

The students who will be inducted this weekend received personal invitations to join PTK. Selection was based upon grade point average.

To be considered, they had to complete a minimum of 12 credit hours at NPCC and have a GPA of at least 3.5. They will have to maintain a GPA of 3.25 to remain PTK members.
Ron Holscher doesnt care for my opinion even as he expresses his opinion. (Lefty Talking Points.)

So lets have some lefty facts:

1. If you like your doctor, you can keep him.

2. If you like your health plan, you can keep it.

3. You will save $2,500 a year on health insurance (if you go on Medicaid).

4. I dont have the power to change the immigration law (pen and phone).

5. Benghazi was caused by a video.

6. Et cetera and et alia.

When Barack Obama was elected, the right didnt riot, vandalize or commit arson. We just went to work and won back Washington.

As Obama said, Elections have consequences. We won.

Donald Trump won. Get over it.

Jim Kohl

Ogallala
Jack Bird is set to line up at fullback for the Sharks in their Round 2 clash with the Raiders at GIO Stadium on Saturday night.



Match Draw Widget

[2017] Telstra Premiership - Round 2: Raiders vs Sharks

Initially named in the centres, Bird was moved to fullback as part of a backline overhaul announced 24 hours prior to kick-off, with Gerard Beale out of the side with a hamstring complaint.

Kurt Capewell will join the starting side in the centres, with Sam Tagataese also dropping out of the 21-man squad named on Tuesday afternoon.

Updated Sharks and Raiders squads
Brisbane Broncos halfback Ben Hunt is still looking to improve, despite an outstanding performance that almost delivered his side a thrilling win against North Queensland on Friday night.

Hunt's heroics were not enough, with the Broncos falling 21-20 to the Cowboys in another exhilarating golden point contest at Suncorp Stadium.

Despite the loss, there are positive signs for Brisbane and their fans, with Hunt putting in an inspiring 80-minute performance.

After receiving a lot of criticism during the week about his poor kicking performance in Round 1, Hunt bounced back in a big way and sent a message to his critics.



Match Draw Widget

[2017] Telstra Premiership - Round 2: Broncos vs Cowboys

The 26-year-old produced two try assists off the boot, putting two perfectly weighted grubber kicks in for James Roberts and Darius Boyd respectively.

He also kicked an important 40/20 and accumulated 394 kicking metres for the match.

It was a mature performance that saw Hunt named Brisbane's man of the match, and if it wasn't for Cowboy Johnathan Thurston's field goal heroics, Hunt would be the halfback stealing the headlines.

Despite the strong performance, Hunt told media after the clash that he still wants to work on aspects of his game and he is confident that he will do so successfully.

"I have a lot of belief in myself," Hunt said.

"I was happy with a lot of my kicks because they were a lot better than what they have been, but I still think I have some things I can improve on.

"I found the winger on the full a couple of times and put a ball dead so there's still some work to do.

"The two try assists just came from practice. When I see the fullback in the line I like to put a little grubber through.

"It's just something I've been working on. For me it's game awareness and knowing where the fullback is."



Player Stats Widget

[2017] Telstra Premiership: Ben Hunt

Tries, Try Assists, All Run Metres, Total Kicks.



It will be a tactic that Hunt will look to use when the Broncos travel to play the unbeaten Storm in Melbourne in Round 3 of the NRL Telstra Premiership.

Hunt is already looking ahead to that match, and he said he expects a grinding battle that is decided by the forwards in the middle of the park.

"They've always produced quite a challenge for us down there," he said.

"They had a pretty good win against the Warriors so we expect them to be strong.

"It's always a tough grinding game and they have some excellent players.

"In saying that, I like playing in Melbourne. It's a great place and their fans are always passionate."



JT field goal seals another Cowboys-Broncos classic

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Region residents spend many sunny summer days at music festivals in Chicago, including Pitchfork, North Coast, Riot Fest and, of course, Lollapalooza.

But a music festival in their own backyard is coming back this summer.

After a one-year hiatus, the Lightning Bug Music Festival is returning to Valparaiso this year.

"Lightning Bug Music Festival is returning to beautiful Sunset Hill Farm on July 2nd," organizers announced. "We're so excited for this year and are planning a spectacular lineup for a great day of family fun. Look for early bird tickets to become available soon."

The festival is a fundraiser for the Dunes Learning Center, and has raised more than $15,000 to bring inner city kids to nature camp programs in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Previous acts have featured Special Consensus, Blitzen Trapper, Buckwheat Zydeco, The Infamous Stringdusters, The Wood Brothers and the Grammy-winning bluegrass legend Jerry Douglas & The Earls of Leicester.

Jim Chaddock and Andrea Georgion, who had founded The Rolling Stonebaker food truck together, launched the music festival in 2014 to support education at the Indiana Dunes and to bring national acts to Northwest Indiana. It's drawn more than 1,000 attendees to the Sunset Hill Farm County Park at 775 Meridian Road.

For more information, visit lightningbugmusicfestival.com.
GARY  High school students from public and private schools across Lake County peppered retiring Indiana Supreme Court Justice Robert Rucker with questions about his life, his career and fond memories of his alma mater, Gary Roosevelt High School.

The Indiana Supreme Court traveled to Roosevelt Thursday to hear oral arguments in the case of Danny Sims v. Andrew Pappas and Melissa Pappas. The justices did not issue a decision but said the case would be taken under advisement and a legal opinion will be forthcoming.

About 300 high school students from nine high schools had an opportunity to hear the case. The traveling oral arguments program addresses state academic standards in U.S. government and United States history.

Rucker, who turned 70 in January, has been on the Indiana Supreme Court since 1999, and has written more than 1,000 legal opinions. He will retire in May.

Time and again, the crowd of high school students, local attorneys and judges, and politicians gave Rucker a standing ovation and repeatedly clapped and laughed as he responded to questions and comments.

Roosevelt sophomore Afrika Williams asked Rucker about the educational road he took to become a Supreme Court Justice, and if he enjoys his work.

Rucker told students he previously was an Indiana Court of Appeals judge from 1991 to 1999, and worked as a deputy Lake County prosecutor and deputy Gary city attorney. He was in private practice after graduating from Indiana University Northwest in Gary and Valparaiso University School of Law following military service in Vietnam.

"Actually, I never anticipated going to law school. I was in the pre-med program. I was in osteopathic medicine," he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

Rucker said he met an attorney who seemed to know everything about everything, and Rucker told the crowd, "I was so impressed, that I went to IU Northwest and abandoned my pre-med path and decided to become an attorney."

Schererville attorney Cordell Funk said he came to hear Rucker, and has previously practiced with Rucker and assisted when Rucker was on the Appellate Court.

"I'm here to pay homage to him," Funk said. "I think all of the people are here to pay homage to him. He's from Lake County and well respected in Lake County. We all knew him when he practiced here. He was primarily a criminal defense lawyer but he also did civil work. I've worked against him on occasion and I've joined forces with him on others."

Hunter Balczo, a first-year Valparaiso University law student who lives in Highland, asked the justices what advice they would offer a first-year student.

They told him not to take a job based on the amount of pay but based on how much he enjoys the work.

Students and other members of the audience were not allowed to ask questions about the case itself.

According to information provided, Andrew Pappas was injured in a car accident with Danny Sims, who was drunk. Pappas and his wife sued Sims for negligence. Over Sims objection, the Lake Superior Court admitted evidence that he had prior alcohol-related driving convictions in 1983 and 1996.

A jury awarded the Pappases $2 million in damages. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial, finding evidence of Sims prior convictions should not have been admitted. The Supreme Court granted a petition to transfer the case and has assumed jurisdiction over the appeal.
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CROWN POINT  Lake County Councilman Jamal Washington said he hopes to find a way for the County Council to broadcast its meetings live on social media.

Washington, D-Merrillville, said he believes the county can record and post live feeds of monthly county meetings by purchasing an inexpensive computer tablet.

"It isn't going to cost the thousands of dollars council members had worried it would," Washington said.

Washington raised the issue at Thursday's council workshop meeting with Mark Pearman, executive director of Cenifax, which provides information services to county government.

Washington said, "I would love get aboard with this to promote transparency and for people who can't make our meetings." Pearman said he was looking into the equipment needed. "It's simple technology," Pearman said.

Council President Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, said, "For someone who just can't stand Facebook and doesn't know anything about live streaming, how would we do that?"

Pearman said the county could open a Facebook account that could be used by other county government departments."

Washington has been using his cell phone to live stream council and Gary municipal meetings.

Washington's efforts to reduce county government's $2.5 million annual contribution for expansion of the South Shore commuter train was brought to a screeching halt.

He asked, "Are we in a position to negotiate to lower our amount so instead of thinking about a train that could happen 10 maybe 15 years from now, we can address needs right now?"

Commissioner Mike Repay, D-Hammond, who was attending the council meeting, responded, "The short answer is no."

Repay said the county signed an interlocal agreement, which amounts to a binding deal to provide the full amount the county earlier negotiated and agreed to."

The council also heard a request by Lake County Public Defender Marce Gonzalez to fill a job vacancy left by January's departure of David Olson, who served as chief deputy public defender for more than 16 years.

Gonzalez said he will hire Merrillville attorney Thomas Vanes to be his second in command.

Vanes is a former deputy prosecutor who has been a private defense attorney and a local public defender for more than three decades. Vanes also served as Lowell town judge for 12 years.
CROWN POINT  Local judges are suing Lake County to win salary increases for their court employees.

Some 14 Superior Court judges on Feb. 21 filed an "Order for Mandate of Funds" seeking thousands of dollars in raises for each of more than 350 secretaries, bailiffs, office managers, stenographers and other court administrators listed on their payroll.

They are suing the Lake County Council, which would have to find the money from tax revenues.

Council President Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, said Thursday the council has appointed its lawyer to defend against the mandate and will meet behind closed doors Tuesday with the Lake County Board of Commissioners to discuss legal strategy.

Indianapolis attorney William J. Barkimer, who represents the judges, referred all comment to fellow attorney Jeffrey McDermott, also of Indianapolis, who couldn't be reached for comment.

The attorneys state in court papers that the 14 judges have lost valuable employees and have trouble replacing them because of county government's low pay scale, which ranges from less than $28,000 for secretaries to less than $62,000 for the Superior Court administrator. The courts' annual payroll exceeds $6.3 million.

The judges argue Lake County pays below the state average, according to a 2015 statewide judicial branch salary analysis, including courts in Porter County, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Lafayette, Indiana.

The judges' papers include a pay schedule that appears to propose raises for secretaries, bailiffs, stenographers and administrators that are higher than their current pay.

They range from $34,000 to $56,000 for starting employees, and between $39,0000 and $73,000 for employees with more than 20 years seniority. It doesn't include raises for the judges or their judicial assistants.

Superior Court judges Jesse Villalpando and Elizabeth Tavitas didn't sign the mandate. Villalpando said Thursday he refused to join. "I won't be a party to a suit against the people of Lake County," he said. Tavitas couldn't be reached Thursday for comment.

Lake Circuit Court Judge Marissa McDermott and the county's municipal judges didn't join the lawsuit, either.

Bilski said bowing to the mandate would frustrate the council's continuing efforts to provide a fair salary for all of the county's nearly 3,000 full- and part-time employees.

Bilski said the council is working on calculating the cost of the judges' mandate on this year's and future budgets.

The council was forced to freeze public salaries and reduce the county government's payroll between 2007 to 2013 when property tax revenues shrank because of a nationwide business recession and state law capping individuals' property taxes.

The council granted a 3 percent across-the-board raise in 2014 and again for this year to more than 900 full-time county government employees, including court employees, in the wake of the economic recovery and the adoption of a 1.5 percent personal income tax on county employees and residents.

Many of the same judges filed a similar mandate in 2014. The council settled that suit by granting $300,000 in raises to their court employees.
INDIANAPOLIS  The Gary Community School Corp. may be allowed to draw on a limited state financial backstop if it is unable to continue managing its $8.6 million operating deficit and $103 million debt burden on its own.

The Indiana Distressed Unit Appeals Board voted 5-0 Friday to recommend the State Board of Finance authorize a $3.75 million loan from the Common School Fund if needed to pay Gary teachers and critical vendors through the end of March.

However, DUAB Chairman Micah Vincent insisted that distribution of the borrowed state funds be subject to numerous conditions, including a requirement that the school corporation first try to obtain loans from banks, or other private funding sources, if spending outpaces revenue.

Earlier this month, the district was forced to take out a short-term loan from First Internet Bank to meet its $1.5 million biweekly payroll.

"I think the state's money should be the last money in," said Vincent, director of the Indiana Office of Management and Budget.

In addition, to receive state assistance the school corporation must present DUAB within the next two weeks a plan to pay off its state unemployment insurance debt, which is preventing it from receiving some state grant funds; its outstanding federal food program obligations; a review of busing costs; and its 2017-18 staffing plan.

"What we would be looking for in that is that we can see the broad kind of progress that is going to help Gary schools move on to a stronger, long-term financial position," Vincent said.

Jack Martin, the school district's state-appointed financial consultant, originally asked DUAB for approval of a $12 million loan to give Gary schools and its employees relative financial stability and peace of mind through June.

He said afterward that the DUAB recommendation will keep the doors open at least through March, though he admitted, "It will be difficult."

"The only way we can get a handle on this is through, obviously, decreasing expenses," Martin said. "But there comes a time when you can't cut expenses any more without damaging your programs and your academic product."

The State Board of Finance, which includes Gov. Eric Holcomb, State Auditor Tera Klutz and State Treasurer Kelly Mitchell, all Republicans, is next scheduled to meet March 21 to consider the DUAB loan recommendation.

Vincent said the finance board could hold an emergency meeting sooner if Gary schools are unable to cover the March 17 payroll without state help.

In addition, he said DUAB likely will meet again March 24 to determine whether to provide Gary schools any assistance for April.

The Indiana General Assembly separately is considering a proposal to supplant the Gary school board with a state-appointed emergency manager who'd have near-unilateral authority to manage school corporation spending, contracts and finances.

Senate Bill 567, sponsored by state Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Merrillville, is awaiting action in the Republican-controlled House after winning unanimous support in the GOP-led Senate.

It would take effect immediately if approved by the Legislature and Holcomb signs it into law.
LANSING  Candidates spoke to voters Wednesday during a forum at the Lansing Public Library.

Library Director Debbie Albrecht moderated. Office seekers from the Village Voice Party, along with independent candidates, spoke and took questions.

Current Trustee Patty Eidam heads the ticket for the VVP. Her opponent in the village president race is write-in candidate Mike Gaffney.

Eidam emphasized her plan to form what she called a human relations commission.

In my vision, I see at least quarterly meetings which would include representatives from all of the school districts  public and private, our churches, the park district, actually anybody that has an interest in working with the village, Eidam said.

Restarting an economic development commission of residents and business owners was another talking point for Eidam. Lansing created a commission in 2011 but it has since dissolved.

Gaffney heads an independent group that includes clerk candidate Vivian Payne and trustee hopefuls Maureen Grady-Perovich, Melanie Jongsma and Jeff White.

Mary Wells is an independent write-in candidate for trustee. She was also the only black office-seeker on the stage Wednesday.

What I was so happy about, when talking to people in Lansing, is that they were really excited about me running, Wells said. Theyre excited about diversity and theyre excited that theres someone whos going to represent the other almost half of Lansing.

Jongsma also highlighted her hope to include more minority residents in village government, calling diversity a strength to be leveraged.

I think in our past, we were afraid of diversity. In our future, we can celebrate diversity, Jongsma said. Theres some nervousness around the whole concept of diversity but looking to the future, this is something that we have to get over and there are ways to do that. Thats one of the first things I want to address as a trustee.

Eidam painted a picture of a need for change. She and other VVP candidates said morale among village employees is low and communication at Village Hall is lacking.

Its no big secret that theres some unhappy people, right now, working at the village. We need to work on that. We need to fix it, VVP clerk candidate Megan Roe said. I bring a fresh face.

Payne, current assistant to Village President Norm Abbott, disputed those points.

Im not quite sure where the comment came from that there are some unhappy people because I am there everyday and I think our camaraderie in the Village Hall is fantastic right now, Payne said. Id like to continue the camaraderie that (Clerk) Donna (Kooyenga) has promoted within the village.

Almost all the candidates praised Lansing Director of Economic Development Travis Bandstra and talked about a need to push for more business in the village.

I believe that what we need to do is aggressively showcase the properties that we have, land or vacant buildings, to developers and contractors all across the whole south side here and even going further than that, touching and reaching out to franchisees that may want to come in here, VVP trustee hopeful Brian Hardy said.

Grady-Perovich said the villages facade grant program, along with the interior grant program in discussion, make Lansing attractive to business owners.

(Those programs) help people build their business, polish it up, make it look better, is going to make the town look more inviting, she said. I think we need to showcase the folks who have been a part of the facade program so that they, too, can reach out to other vendors.

New developments will entice business, White said. He pointed to the amphitheater and event site under construction at Fox Pointe.

Lansing is creating what we might call signature spaces, White said. Fox Pointe, when finally completed, is going to be a nice, signature space in our town that will start to become an anchor for other businesses, especially around Ridge Road.

Jerry Zeldenrust, a retired Lansing police officer, said he was seeking a spot on the board on the VVP ticket because he wanted to give back.

Since I was schooled here, trained here, worked here, went to church here, the people of Lansing really helped make me who I am today, he said. You actually raised me as an asset and now its time to put me to good use.

Trustee Mike Manno is also running as an incumbent VVP candidate.
An elderly New Chicago woman with dementia, missing since Sunday, has been found safe and sound, police said Thursday night.

Maria Ramos, 74, was located about 4 p.m. Thursday in Chicago by her son, New Chicago Police Chief James Richardson said. Ramos was reportedly traveling to all of her favorite places in the city since she first went missing on Sunday, Richardson said.

She was found after she left one of her favorite restaurants in Chicago on 18th Street, Richardson said.

At about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Ramos had left the home she shares with her daughter Rosemary Herrera Meza to buy tortillas at a nearby store, Herrera Meza said.

Richardson said two women came forward Wednesday and told police they gave Ramos a ride to a train station. Ramos was last seen Sunday afternoon leaving Millennium Station in Chicago via the Randolph Street route, police said.

Ramos approached the two women for a ride at a gas station, and they took her to the Gary Metro Center and bought her a Shore Shore Line ticket, New Chicago Police Chief James Richardson and Herrera Meza said.

The women were grief-stricken, Richardson said.

"They were just doing a good deed," he said, adding Ramos didn't appear confused and knew the location of the train station.

However, the story Ramos told them indicated she was confused. She told the women she was going to work at a Tyson Foods facility where she was employed years ago, Herrera Meza said.

The women told police Ramos had tortillas with her, Herrera Meza said.

Ramos was at the Metro Center about 11:30 a.m. Sunday and likely boarded a westbound train about 1:38 p.m. She arrived in Chicago about 2:45 p.m., police said.

Herrera Meza said her sister, who lives in Chicago, had been canvassing the area. They also called locations their mother might frequent, she said.

Richardson said he had contacted Chicago police to be on the lookout and had been gathering documentation needed to issue a Silver Alert in Illinois and Indiana.

Im so happy shes been found," Richardson said.
MUNSTER  In its 104-year history, the St. Joseph's Carmelite Home has evolved from an orphanage to a group home to a residential treatment center, and on Thursday 300 people gathered at the Munster Center for the Visual and Performing Arts to show their support.

The event is the third annual fundraiser for the home, one of two major fundraising events, the other held by the Carmelite Guild in September, to help cover the costs of feeding, clothing, schooling and caring for scores of children from infants to teens. Tom Dabertin, president of the home's advisory board, said the home currently houses about 90 children and has an annual budget of about $650,000. Thursday's event was expected to raise about $50,000.

Dabertin said the home in East Chicago receives some state money from the Department of Children's Services, but it isn't nearly enough to cover all the costs. So, fundraising goes on all year. Sister Maria Giuseppei, who has been the home's administrator for 39 years, called the support of those at the dinner "humbling."

"This is an overwhelming tribute to the Carmelite Order and the work they have done," Sister Giuseppe said. "Now that we are a treatment center, we have a team of therapists that provide service to the children and their families. The goal is always family reunification. Mostly everybody here are our friends. They help us throughout the year, and we depend on these funds for the continuance of the home."

"This is needed revenue to do the good work of the Carmelites," advisory board member Lou Martinez said. "My father was raised by the nuns in the home, so, when they asked me to serve, how could I say no. The good news is we have a home like this in Northwest Indiana. The bad news is that there are so many kids who need it."

Martinez's father, Jesse "Lou" Martinez, now 92, also attended the event. He said he and his brother and their two sisters were residents of the Carmelite homes after their mother died. He stayed there from 1929 to 1937 and said, at that time, it was operated by German nuns who didn't speak a word of English, "but they each had a ruler and we understood that."

The elder Martinez said the nuns considered him a "bad seed" because he was frequently fighting. He said the fights resulted from his nationality and the bigotry of the day. It was while he was in the home that he became a lifelong Cardinals fan. When children were good, they were allowed to listen to the radio, and he would listen to Cardinals' games. After serving in World War II, he operated a body shop until his retirement at age 84.

Board member Tom Gryzbek said, "The thing that impresses us all is the total devotion of the sisters. The love the sisters have for the children is palpable."

Peggy Katona, another board member, said, "The nuns hold those babies like they were their own. They teach them and nurture them. They make this a home for those children."

Guest speaker for the event was Mary Ann Ahern, political reporter for WMAQ-TV in Chicago. Ahern grew up as the youngest of seven children in Michigan City and said, "I'm a Hoosier." She shared stories of her political beat and of her experiences covering the Catholic Church. The latter included several trips to Rome covering the installation of new popes and following Pope John Paul during his World Youth Day tour.
MICHIGAN CITY | Denise Luwpas, a patient access representative who has served with the hospital 14 months, is Franciscan Health Michigan Citys March Ambassador of the Month.

The award has been presented by the hospitals Social and Recognition Committee since 1988 and recognizes employees who exhibit the mission and values of Franciscan Alliance, which include compassion for those in need, respect for life and the dignity of mankind, wellness and prevention of illness, restoration to health and acceptance of death as the final step toward wholeness. Recipients also have demonstrated courtesy, the proper attitude and enthusiasm for their work.

Luwpas, who resides in LaPorte with her husband, Mike (they have two grown sons), was nominated for the award by a co-worker, who called her patient care and compassion second to none.

Added the fellow employee, Denise is a great team player and willing to help out wherever and whenever needed.

Asked how she felt about receiving the honor, Luwpas said she was surprised, honored, humbled and blessed.

I greatly appreciate receiving the honor, she said, I take pride in my job and do my best to make our patients feel welcomed, comforted and special.

In recognition of the honor, Luwpas, as are all Ambassador recipients, was honored with a special billboard display for the month, a privileged parking spot, an Ambassador badge holder, a photo on the Ambassador of the Month wall that displays the previous 12 months' winners, and $150.
PORTAGE  Police officers here have chosen their Civilian of the Year, Reserve Officer of the Year and Officer of the Year.

Individuals are nominated and voted up by their peers in the department.

Detective bureau secretary Renae Czilli was nominated by Detective Corporal Janis Crafton for her tireless efforts assisting the detective bureau, aiding in evidence storage and processing and with the move of the police department to its new facility. She is a 24-year member of the Portage Police Department.

Reserve Officer Bob Anderson was nominated by Reserve Capt. Chris Segard for his countless hours donated to the Portage Police Department and the city of Portage as well as assisting with the move of the police department to its new facility. He is a 14-year member of the Portage Police Reserve Program and serves as one of the citys part-time animal wardens.

Chief Troy Williams was nominated by Patrol Capt. Mike Candiano for his efforts to oversee and ensure the finest construction of the new Portage Police Department facility. This is Williams third Officer of the Year selection. He was also selected as the Indiana Officer of the Year in 2006. Williams is a 20-year member of the Portage Police Department. He will now be in contention for state officer of the year.
Patient lauds sleep center

Irma Chavez has been treated for sleep apnea for about 10 years, most recently at the Franciscan Health Munster Sleep Disorders Center at Hammond Clinic.

There, last summer, after receiving a physician referral, she was set up to undergo a home sleep testing process and was able to get the needed results. Prior to that, in 2014, she received two studies at Franciscan Health Hammond, whose services since have been combined with the Munster facility.

The Burnham, Illinois, resident found the home test to be a bit easier for the most part, because I was in my own room and bed.

Every night, she wears a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, system mask, which regulates her breathing during sleep and helps her feel better rested in the morning. Without it, she could stop breathing and possibly die.

Chavez praised the centers staff and services. They explained everything to me, hooked me up for the home study and were really sweet, she said, pointing to center supervisor Pam Keister as an example. They get back to you with answers right away.

For more information on the sleep center, 7847 Calumet Ave. in Munster, call 219-836-7535.

Baby fair to be held March 18

Bed, Bath & Beyond/Buy Buy Baby's third baby fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 18 with Munster Community Hospital experts in lactation, physical therapy, safe sleeping and more.

Vendors include Healthy Families and a car seat expert from Griffith police. There will be giveaways including a car seat from Britax, and a Mom A Roo, as well as refreshments. Come and learn more about how to have a healthy baby and safer home.

The store is at 124 U.S. 41 in Schererville. If you have questions, call 219-322-6809. You can also register at the store.

St. Mary to raise awareness on colon cancer

Talking about colon cancer may be uncomfortable, but as the second leading cause of cancer deaths, its not a subject to ignore. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three adults older than 50 are not being screened for colon cancer, mainly because of one reason  fear. Yet the disease is nearly 90 percent curable when diagnosed early, thanks to advances in screenings and treatments.

Join gastroenterologist Mark Fesenmyer and geneticist Janice Zunich for a presentation on the latest screening options, treatments and genetic testing for colon cancer. The lecture will take place at 6 p.m. March 28 in the auditorium at St. Mary Medical Center, 1500 S. Lake Park Ave. in Hobart. Please use the west entrance.

To register for this free presentation, call 866-836-3477.

Limit sugar for National Nutrition Month

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 25 grams of added sugars per day for women and 38 grams for men. To put that into perspective, one teaspoon equals 4 grams of sugar. However, the average American consumes 89 grams of added sugars per day  thats two to three times the recommended amount.

For National Nutrition Month, Carolyn Lammersfeld, vice president of integrative medicine at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in suburban Chicago and author of Cancer Nutrition & Recipes for Dummies, says you can easily cut back on added sugars by following the simple tips in the acronym SLASH:

Stay in for meals: gain control by cooking at home and packing lunch and snacks

Look at labels: identify the difference the between naturally occurring and added sugars on nutrition labels

Alternate sugar sources: use or make your own condiments and sauces without added sugar

Sweeten yourself: buy unsweetened products and sweeten them yourself to use less of any alternative sweetener

Hydrate: rethink what you are drinking and choose more water

Radio station awards Gary doctor

WLTH Radio, as part of their Black History month celebration, surprised Dr. Janet Seabrook, CEO of Community HealthNet, with a plaque during a live interview last month.

Dr. Seabrook was given this award due to her outstanding contributions to the health and welfare of the citizens in the Northwest Indiana region," WLTH manager Natalie Ammons said.

In 1995, the U.S. Public Health Services designated Gary as the neediest community in the nation without a community health center. Federally qualified health centers treat medically underserved urban and rural areas by offering preventive, prenatal, pediatric, family practice, obstetrics dental and behavioral services.

Seabrook is a Gary native and wrote the original grant for the FQHC. The Meharry Medical School graduate has practiced in Gary since 1996 and was the first medical director of the health center when it opened in 1998. In 2004, Seabrook was promoted to executive director and then CEO.

Weve evolved from basically a one-doc shop into a multi-specialty organization with five locations in Lake County, " Seabrook said. "Currently, we are working on our sixth location that will be open soon.

Loan repayment assistance for substance abuse, mental health professionals

Indianas Loan Repayment Assistance Program for Mental Health and Addiction Professionals is currently accepting applications to provide loan repayment assistance to eligible psychiatrists, addiction psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses (including psychiatric nurse practitioners), addiction counselors and mental health professionals. Applications must be submitted by May 1 for consideration and are available on the states loan repayment website.

The program will award up to 25 percent of the awardees student loan debt, not to exceed $25,000 per year, for up to four years. The exception is for an addiction psychiatrist who can apply for assistance for up to five years.

Visit the loan repayment website at in.gov/fssa/dmha/2892.htm for information or to apply online, or email DmhaHB1360@fssa.in.gov or call 317-232-7800 with questions.

Methodist breast care center honored

The Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center at Methodist Hospitals has been named one of Americas Best Breast Centers by the Womens Choice Award. The award signifies that the Breast Care Center is in the top 7 percent of 4,789 U.S. hospitals offering breast care services.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime, and it is the second leading cause of cancer death in women.

The methodology used to select Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center as one of Americas Best Breast Centers is unique in that it evaluates Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey results along with primary research about womens healthcare preferences.
Yemenis at the site of the January 29 US military attack

Survivors of the recent US military raid in a remote Yemeni village provided more details concerning the civilian deaths that resulted from the attack in a report published by The Intercept on Thursday.

She was hit by the plane. The American plane, Sinan al Ameri, a 5-year-old survivor said of his mother, 30-year-old Fatim Saleh Mohsen, who was shot in the head while fleeing her home carrying her 18-month-old child. Shes in heaven now."

The US military has acknowledged that civilians "were likely killed" during the January 29 attack  President Donald Trump's first counterterrorism operation. But The Intercept reported that at least 11 children and six women, including one pregnant woman, died during the raid in al Ghayil.

Sinan was asleep in a one-room stone hut with his mother, aunt, and twelve other children when they awoke to gunfire and military helicopters bombarding the village from above.

About 30 members of Navy Seal Team 6 killed 14 Al-Qaeda fighters during a nearly hourlong firefight that also took the life of Chief Petty Officer William Ryan Owens  the first US military death under Trump's watch.

The attack was the fourth ever US ground operation in Yemen and by far the most destructive and deadly, marking a possible shift from the Obama administration's presidential policy guidelines, which required "near certainty" that civilians will not be injured or killed in American operations.

It is true they were targeting Al-Qaeda but why did they have to kill children and women and elderly people? Zabnallah Saif al Ameri, a villager who lost nine family members, five of whom were children, told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in February. If such slaughter happened in their country, there would be a lot of shouting about human rights. When our children are killed, they are quiet.

Following news of the attack, White House press secretary Sean Spicer called the raid "very, very well thought out and executed" and "a successful operation by all standards."

Story continues

Spicer told reporters that the goal of the raid had been to gather intelligence, and that it was successful in doing so. But military and intelligence officials told NBC News that the operation was instead intended to capture or kill Qassim al-Rimi, the head of Al-Qaeda's Yemeni arm.

Al-Rimi remains alive in Yemen and released an audio recording after the attack mocking Trump. The military has not yet determined whether al-Rimi was present in the village during the raid.

There is also doubt about the significance of the intelligence the military collected during the operation. On February 3, U.S. Central Command posted an Al-Qaeda training video on its website that it said was captured during the raid and evidence of "the volumes of sensitive Al-Qaeda terror-planning information recovered during the operation," according to a CENTCOM spokesman.

But the video was taken down just hours later, after CENTCOM realized the clip was in fact a decade old and had long been in wide circulation online.

The American Civil Liberties Union has called for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the raid, and the intelligence and legal basis upon which it was authorized. The White House announced the Pentagon would review the circumstances of Owens' death, the loss of a US helicopter during the attack, and the civilian casualties.

Notably, survivors of the attack in al Ghayil say they are not seeking compensation from the US government for their family members' deaths. Instead, they hope only for revenge. Talking to The Intercept, villagers called the president "dog Trump."

In the weeks following the January attack, the US military has conducted dozens more airstrikes on targets in Yemen, including several consecutive days of new attacks on al Ghayil. Civilians, including children, were reported killed in these attacks. The Trump administration has now conducted more strikes in Yemen than the Obama administration officially carried out in all of 2016.

NOW WATCH: 'Sit down! Quiet!': Watch Trump's heated exchanges with reporters in his longest press conference as president





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WASHINGTON  Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, said Thursday that the anti-secrecy organization would work with Apple, Google and other technology companies to fix flaws that have allowed the CIA to hack into the phones, computers and other devices they produce.

Speaking from London in an online news conference, Assange accused the CIA of withholding information about the vulnerabilities the agency was exploiting in U.S. technology even after it realized documents describing the flaws had been leaked weeks ago.

While some companies have already fixed the weaknesses revealed in a batch of secret CIA documents made public by WikiLeaks on Tuesday, Assange said, others say they need more technical information on the hacking techniques.

Theres a limited ability to try and produce security fixes for iPhones, for Samsung TVs, for Android phones produced by Google, for Microsoft, for Linux, because the exact technical details are not known, Assange said. We have decided to work with them to give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details we have, so that fixes can be developed and pushed out so people can be secured.

For Assange, it was a remarkable turning of the tables. He spoke from the Ecuadorean Embassy, where he sought refuge in 2012 from a sexual assault investigation in Sweden and has lived ever since. He has frequently been accused by U.S. officials of being an enemy of the United States and an ally of Russia, especially since WikiLeaks released emails from Hillary Clintons presidential campaign that were believed to have come from Russian government hackers.

But Thursday the Australian-born Assange presented himself as a defender of some of the most prominent U.S. technology companies against their own governments overreaching and double-dealing.

Why has the Central Intelligence Agency not acted with speed to come together with Apple, Microsoft and other manufacturers to defend us all from its own weapons systems? Assange asked.

Calmly fielding questions submitted via Twitter, Assange sought to insert himself into the strained relationship between the government and Silicon Valley, where some executives see their products reputations as being endangered by aggressive U.S. espionage efforts.

The CIA responded with an unusually full response, attacking Assanges credibility and noting that any spying it does is restricted by law to foreigners and foreign countries, with Americans off limits.

As weve said previously, Julian Assange is not exactly a bastion of truth and integrity, Heather Fritz Horniak, an agency spokeswoman, said in a statement. Despite the efforts of Assange and his ilk, CIA continues to aggressively collect foreign intelligence overseas to protect America from terrorists, hostile nation states and other adversaries.

The statement declined to acknowledge the authenticity of the more than 8,000 documents from the CIAs Center for Cyber Intelligence that WikiLeaks posted online, although officials have said privately that the leaked material is genuine. But the statement defended the agencys use of innovative, cutting-edge methods to gather intelligence.

The statement also asserted that the WikiLeaks revelations were damaging national security.

The American public should be deeply troubled by any WikiLeaks disclosure designed to damage the intelligence communitys ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries, the statement said.

WikiLeaks said Tuesday that the CIA documents it was releasing, which appeared to show the agency could compromise iPhones, Android phones and even internet-connected televisions, were only the first phase of a much larger set of disclosures to come regarding the agencys hacking program. It claimed to have received the documents from an unnamed source who hoped the revelations would provoke a public debate over the U.S. use of cyberweapons.

The disclosure has set off a hunt for the leaker, who officials have said was most likely an agency insider or contractor.
Remember to set your clocks forward  daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 12.

After a failed attempt to end daylight saving time in California in 2016 assembly member Kansen Chu, D-San Jose, introduced AB807 on Feb. 15. The bill would keep California on Pacific Standard Time year-round. Chu cites his older constituents complaints about the twice-annual time change as the motivation behind the bill.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of moving daylight saving time to March, but the concept of changing the clock is centuries old.

WHOSE BRIGHT IDEA WAS THIS?
Orange County is not ready for kindergarten. We are not just talking about our 4- and 5-year-old residents. We mean all of us. From lawmakers to parents to school districts, we have not created an evidenced-based plan for ushering our communitys youngest children into a lifetime of learning, achieving and succeeding.

As a result, 62 percent of kindergarten-aged children in Orange County do not have the general knowledge needed to start school. A full 62 percent lack the prosocial, or helping, behavior they need to succeed in a classroom, and nearly 50 percent of kindergartners in the county dont have the gross and fine motor skills needed to grasp a crayon.

And, yet, we are optimistic. Why? Because, for the first time, thanks to an effort pioneered by the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, this county has the quantifiable, actionable information we need to get ready  and get our young children ready  for school.

The Orange County Childrens Partnership recently released the 22nd Annual Conditions of Children Report. For the first time, this study includes a look at Kindergarten readiness, using the Early Development Index.

The EDI is a valid population measure of school readiness that drills down into five developmental areas known to affect well-being and school performance: physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills and communication skills and general knowledge. Each of the five developmental criteria are broken down into several highly detailed subareas.

All Orange County public schools with a kindergarten population are included in the analysis. Never before have our communitys leaders had this level of detailed, county-wide information.

The information couldnt be more valuable, and the stakes couldnt be higher. Nationally, children who do not have access to high-quality early childhood opportunities and experiences are 25 percent more likely to drop out of high school, and 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime.

So, when we look at the state of our incoming kindergartners, were really taking a sneak peek into the future of our county. What were finding is a landscape of incredible variability: Based on all five of the measures, 72 percent of kindergarten-age children in one community are ready for school, while in a neighboring community, that number drops to 43 percent.

By breaking down the information across developmental measures as well as across geography for the entire county, the report can serve as a catalyst for bringing together parents, organizations and community leaders to improve school readiness and create more enriching environments for our children.

One district using the EDI data to take action is the Santa Ana Unified School District. We are focusing heavily on early education to improve students third-grade reading and math proficiency and social-emotional development, said John Palacio, president of the SAUSD Board of Trustees. At the center of this effort is the EDI data, which will help us precisely measure if our students are on a positive trajectory for success in school and life.

Kindergarten readiness information can help Orange Countys policymakers improve school readiness, make more strategic decisions about allocating resources, engage leaders and capitalize on the efforts, programs and movements that have been shown to work. By uncovering the areas of success and concern, we can meet challenges intelligently and effectively.

In other words, we  parents, teachers, lawmakers and stakeholders alike  can use this information to get ready for kindergarten.

Sandra Barry is chair of the Children and Families Commission of Orange County and former superintendent of the Anaheim City School District. Stefanie P. Phillips, Ed.D., is superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District.
BRUSSELS  Donald Tusk was appointed Thursday to a second term as president of the European Council, one of the European Unions governing bodies, despite objections from the government of his own country, Poland, that had created an unprecedented confrontation in Brussels.

Poland was overruled by leaders of the 27 other EU member countries as they gathered for their spring summit meeting. It was the first time such a decision was made without unanimity since the job was created in 2009.

The council sets the leaders agenda, and Tusk will be expected to forge compromise among its fractious membership during a 2 1/2-year term, during which the countries will debate, and possibly decide, whether the European Union even survives in its current form.

Tusk acknowledged the unusual circumstances created by the opposition of his own nation and offered the government in Warsaw an olive branch by pledging to work with all members without any exceptions.

But Beata Szydlo, the Polish prime minister, curtly dismissed the councils decision, saying at a news conference that it risked deepening divisions in the European Union. She also said she would block a joint statement usually issued at the end of EU summit meetings to make the meetings results nonbinding. EU officials said such a move would not alter the decision to reappoint Tusk.

Tusk, 59, was a driving force in last years deal with Turkey to address the migration crisis, and he has coordinated the European Unions response to Britains plan to withdraw.

Hes decent, hes effective, hes a very good president, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands told reporters Thursday.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said at a news conference that leaders had been obliged to abandon the customary practice of consensus to overcome a blockade by Poland and ensure Tusks continued leadership.

The right-wing government that took power in Poland in 2015 wanted him out of the job, and it had even suggested  without evidence  that he betrayed his country.

Dalia Grybauskaite, Lithuanias president, told reporters Thursday that EU leaders should not be hostages of national politics inside Poland.

There had been speculation that Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, also a right-winger, could support Szydlo, the Polish prime minister. That hope fell away Thursday when Orban, arriving at the summit meeting, indicated he would not oppose the choice of Tusk.

The leaders seemed keen to get down to discussions to give an impression of continuity and stability before elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands where anti-European populists have been doing well in the polls.

The meeting also was the first time the leaders gathered inside an orblike structure at the heart of their new headquarters, called Europa, which is expected to cost more than 320 million euros, or about $339 million, when the bill is settled.

A key goal for European leaders this week and later this month is quelling speculation that Britains expected departure may be the start of a great unraveling of the European Union amid an upsurge of populism in countries like France and the Netherlands that have been at the blocs core since its founding.

Yet leaders remain in a waiting game with Britain, since Prime Minister Theresa May still must send formal notice of her countrys decision to start a two-year timetable to leave. In a news conference in Brussels on Thursday, May acknowledged that she was facing pressure from the other leaders to get those talks underway.

Our European partners have made clear to me that they want to get on with negotiations, and so do I, said May, who reiterated that she would start the timetable by the end of this month.

On Thursday, leaders were expected to also discuss the latest influx of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya and other North African countries to Italy.

Leaders agreed last month to train more Libyan coast guard officers to stop the boats and to return migrants to Libyas shores, but there are growing concerns that not enough is being done to curb departures now that calmer weather will make sea crossings easier.

Merkel said Thursday that Europe had not yet reached a situation of stability with regard to migration.

The leaders also face ferocious criticism from human rights groups who say that returning migrants to Libya is inhumane, since the country still is barely functioning and refugees are often held in miserable, prisonlike conditions.

Separate plans to detain more migrants, including children, who reach the European Union could constitute inhuman or degrading treatment, according to the Council of Europe, a body that helps promote human rights in 47 countries.

During dinner Thursday, the leaders were also expected to discuss the fragile situation in the Western Balkans, where there is widespread concern about an upsurge in tensions and Russian interference.

The region has not been discussed at the leaders level since 2014, and it is back on the agenda, as leaders seek to avoid a return to the conflicts of the 1990s, which the rest of Europe was unable to pacify without intervention from the United States.

On Friday, the leaders will meet for a second day of talks  but without May of Britain  to discuss their future before a ceremony in Rome on March 25 to mark six decades since the blocs foundations were laid.

Older member states like France and Germany in the West are pressing for a European Union that allows countries to integrate at different speeds. But newer member states like Hungary and Poland in the East fear they will be dictated to by Brussels or lose access to generous subsidies if they are given second-class status.

President Francois Hollande of France warned this week in interviews with six European newspapers that the bloc runs the risk of an explosion if some states are not allowed to progress more quickly in areas like defense and monetary policy.

The plan, even if never carried out, represents a way for France and Germany to warn newer member states like Hungary and Slovakia to stop balking at sharing the burden of taking care of migrants and to show more solidarity in the future, according to European diplomats.
P Photo/Steven Senne, File

WikiLeaks posting Tuesday of a gigantic trove of CIA documents shows one thing: Our communications are increasingly secure.

You, however, may have seen a different distillation of this data dump in headlines warning the CIA could have been spying on you through your phone, tablet and even TV all along.

But that take gets this story wrong. And we need to get it right to understand a debate we keep coming back to: Should developers of encrypted devices and apps provide special access to law-enforcement agencies?

Your TV is a target if the CIA is in your home

WikiLeaks announced Tuesday that it had posted 8,761 documents from a CIA facility in Langley, Va.  the first in a series of planned disclosures of the agencys activities that the group calls Vault 7. This batch focused on the CIAs ability to conduct surveillance by hacking devices and apps, something WikiLeaks chose to highlight by playing up the scare factor of the CIA or the United Kingdoms MI5 intelligence agency hacking into your smart TV to turn it into a clandestine listening device.

Thats the goal of a CIA program, code-named Weeping Angel, that targeted some Samsung smart TVs to listen in on people. WikiLeaks  the secretive group founded by Julian Assange to post government documents  called Weeping Angel the most emblematic realization of the endless surveillance described in George Orwells book 1984.

Much first-round coverage  for instance, a New York Daily News front page, inspired by the movie Poltergeist, that had a headline screaming THEY HEE-EAR  obligingly focused on that angle without providing an important bit of context.

That would be the detail that Weeping Angel apparently requires somebody to plug a USB flash drive into the TV in question to load this malware. And the CIA document posted by WikiLeaks observes that Firmware version 1118+ eliminated the current USB installation method, so it no longer works on an updated set anyway.

Story continues

If somebody from the CIA can sneak into your house and pop a flash drive into your TV, you have many larger problems. The CIA agent, meanwhile, might find it more efficient to hide traditional listening bugs throughout your house instead of limiting her attention to your TV.

Aging Android and iOS attacks

The CIAs attempts to crack smartphones, meanwhile, all appear to target old versions of iOS and Android.

For example, a table of iOS exploits doesnt list any versions of that Apple (AAPL) operating system newer than 9.2. The current release is iOS 10, and its already on 79% of devices. The 24 Android exploits listed, meanwhile, dont specify a version newer than 4.4.4, far behind the current 7.1.1 release of the Google (GOOG, GOOGL) operating systemalthough an embarrassingly high 33.4% of Android devices run versions as old as 4.4.4.

Both Google and Apple have said theyve closed most of these holes, many of which also require physical access to a phone. In a Thursday video appearance, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said the group would share data on the other vulnerabilities with companies affected.

Donald Trumps Android may be more at risk than other devices. AP Photo/Matt Rourke

President Donald Trumps own Android phone  photos suggest its a 2012 Galaxy S3  may be among the more exposed devices, owing to its Android software seeing its last update in 2015. That and the sight of WikiLeaks targeting the CIA instead of his political opponents may explain why the man who in October tweeted a compliment for the incredible information provided by WikiLeaks now seems much less fond of the group.

Summed up security analyst Robert Graham in a post unpacking the Vault 7 news: Most of this dump is childs play, simply malware/trojans cobbled together from bits found on the internet.

The lesson of device hacking: Encryption works

WikiLeaks says its only posted about 1% of the total Vault 7 info, so its possible that scarier stuff lurks in this file. And other details, like the disclosure of CIA efforts to hack wireless routers remotely, point to lingering security problems that the tech industry needs to address before it connects every computerized device to the internet.

But we can draw one conclusion from the revelations available now: Encryption works. Otherwise intelligence agencies would not work so hard to compromise individual devices.

Thats an easy thing to overlook in, for example, a tweet from WikiLeaks suggesting that these exploits allow the CIA to defeat such encrypted communications apps as Signal or WhatsApp. Yes, they could allow the CIA to take over a phone and thereby log a users speech and touchscreen interactions  but a CIA technician could also bypass Signals encryption by looking over a Signal users shoulder.

But without that compromise of an individual phone, the CIA cant snoop on a Signal chat.

The alternative to hacking into specific devices is to require manufacturers and developers to keep extra keys for cops. That was the focus of last years dispute between Apple and the FBI over unlocking an iPhone 5 used by one of the San Bernardino shooters: The Feds wanted Apple to write software that would defeat the lock on any iPhone 5, but Apple resisted and the FBI eventually paid a third party to hack into that particular device.

FBI director James Comey offered a reminder of that in a speech Wednesday in which he said there is no such thing as absolute privacy in America and called on tech firms to provide some way for law enforcement to access a locked device after getting a court order.

The prospect of the three-letter agencies targeting your phone can be scary, not least since they could probably do it. As security expert Bruce Schneier said at a May 2015 event in Washington, when the debate over whether to restrain the National Security Agencys bulk surveillance was nearing its end: If the NSA wanted to be in my computer, theyd be in it.

But, Schneier noted, that must be seen as a desirable outcome of encryption systems operating as designed: They make bulk collection infeasible and force the listeners to target.

More from Rob:

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
California does a good job of letting medical marijuana patients get their treatment of choice, but some elements of the states marijuana laws still fail to protect people with legitimate ailments, according to a report released Thursday by a patient advocacy group.

Americans for Safe Access said California is one of three states to receive a B+ grade  the highest issued by the group  and commended the Golden State for having an abundant supply of cannabis, reasonable taxes, the right to home cultivation and few limits on medical conditions that qualify for treatment.

The really good news in California is that if youre medical cannabis patient, you can almost surely get access to your medicine, said Don Duncan, California director of Washington, D.C.-based organization.

But the report also states California has a ways to go when it comes to protecting civil rights for medical marijuana patients and improving consumer safety.

We still have some unfinished work to do, Duncan noted.

No state has ever earned an A in the three years that Americans for Safe Access has issued its annual report, according to Steph Sherer, the groups founder and executive director. But overall, she said access in the United States is the best its ever been, with five more states legalizing medical marijuana and many more taking steps to boost access in 2016.

What was really exciting was that 23 states took our recommendations from last year and improved their laws, Sherer said.

That included California, which was the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996.

Though the state didnt pass any new medical marijuana legislation in 2016, Americans for Safe Access and others lobbied to get new protections for patients included in Proposition 64, the recreational marijuana measure approved by voters in November. That included a stipulation that Child Protective Services can no longer restrict parental rights based solely on the fact that someone is a medical marijuana patient.

Those protections helped California earn a 10-point improvement in the organizations annual ranking, giving it that B+ score along with Michigan and Illinois.

Americans for Safe Access always gives states the benefit of the doubt that when they pass new legislation that they will actually implement those policies, Sherer said. So Californias high score is based on the assumption that it will carry out protections both in Prop. 64 and in a trio of bills passed in 2015, known as the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.

The big test will come this year, with a Jan. 1, 2018 deadline for California to roll out its new marijuana licensing and regulatory scheme.

Whats key is just going to be getting the medical cannabis program implemented and getting the state licenses out, Sherer said.

If it doesnt, she said the states score could potentially drop significantly next year.

Californias 2016 grade was unchanged from 2015. But the vast majority of others states improved their scores.

Florida, for example, moved from an F to a B- after voters legalized medical marijuana in November. Montana and Michigan also made big strides in 2016. While both states already had medical cannabis laws on the books, until last year, they had no centralized distribution system in place so patients could actually get access to cannabis.

More than a dozen states still received Fs, including Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. But overall, there was a 58 percent increase in the number of states scoring a B and 12 percent increase in states scoring a C.

For the first time, the report gave a few states negative points.

Maryland and Massachusetts both lost points because their medical marijuana programs are taking so long to roll out, Sherer said.

These programs are useless if they dont put them into action, she said.

The third state to lose points was Washington, which merged its medical and recreational marijuana programs in 2016  an idea thats been floated in other legal weed states, including California.

Where it may seem like a good idea on paper, it has a detrimental impact on patients, Sherer said, noting that patients in Washington now face reduced access, product restrictions and privacy concerns. She hopes that will serve as a canary in the coal mine moment for other states that might be considering whether to merge their medical and recreational programs.

Americans for Safe Access ranks states based on how well they meet the needs of patients in five categories, from patients rights to ease in navigating the program to consumer safety. States can also receive up to 25 bonus points for passing legislation or regulations that improve any of the above areas.

California scored in the 90s out of 100 possible points for access, ease of navigating the program and functionality.

The state scored 77 for patient rights. The report notes California remains the best place in the country for patients to get legal protection and quick access to medicine. But it said the state still lags on providing civil discrimination protections for its patients.

Workers in California can still be fired for having marijuana in their system, for example. Sherer said her group has tried several times to pass legislation that would change that, but has found the biggest opposition coming from the powerful Chamber of Commerce.

California also scored just 59 out of 100 for consumer safety.

While the new medical marijuana laws and Prop. 64 both add a number of protections  including mandatory testing and a tracking program  the report says the state still needs to adopt stronger product safety regulations. That includes boosting requirements for staff training, adding a system for recalling unsafe products and adopting standards for sanitary workplaces.
FOUNTAIN VALLEY  A man was arrested Tuesday after a firearm, drugs and cash were found inside his car, police said.

Jake Daniel Antonacci, 28, of Las Vegas, was booked into the Orange County Jail on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, transportation of marijuana, being a felon in possession of a firearm and other offenses.

On Tuesday at 11:07 p.m., a Fountain Valley officer made a traffic stop near Brookhurst Street and Slater Avenue, police said in a statement.

Inside the vehicle, officers found about 5 pounds of marijuana, nearly 14 grams of cocaine, a loaded handgun with a high capacity magazine, and a large amount of cash, police said.

Officers identified the driver as Antonacci and a records check revealed that he had previous felony convictions in Nevada, the statement said.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@scng.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline
SANTA ANA  A 27-year-old man was convicted Thursday of carving his name on his girlfriends chest with a razor blade and several other attacks in Santa Ana two years ago.

Sergio Joaquin Mendoza was convicted of misdemeanor false imprisonment with jurors rejecting a felony kidnapping charge. The jurors, who deliberated for about a day and a half, found the defendant guilty of a felony count of false imprisonment, rejecting another count of kidnapping.

Jurors also convicted him of a felony count of kidnapping for another incident as well as felony counts of corporal injury on a cohabitant and criminal threats.

He could have faced more than 11 years in prison if convicted on all original charges, but now he is more likely to be sentenced to about four years behind bars, his attorney Doug Potratz said.

I asked them to go through each and every count and they took a day and a half, and I think the verdicts show they did a lot of study, he said. I think they came up with the right decision to tell you the truth.

Jurors did not appear to accept the legal theory that he was kidnapping her when he was accused of forcing her to go to work with him for four or five days, Potratz said.

Police alleged that he made the victim sit in his car while he was at work.

That didnt wash and the jury found that out too, Potratz said.

Mendoza and the victim were renting a room in his grandmothers home in Santa Ana at the time of the attacks in March of 2015, according to Santa Ana police.

They got into an argument on March 17, 2015, when Mendoza hit her and prevented her from leaving the home, police said.

On March 22, 2015, Mendoza refused to let the victim leave the house and then carved his first name on her chest with a razor blade, police said.

He also carved some sort of apology on his own chest before carving his name on her chest, Potratz said.

Police said the defendants grandmother and uncle kicked Mendoza out of the house at that point and that evening he forced his girlfriend into his car and drove her around to several parking lots in the city.

The victim managed to get out of the car eventually and got a business owner in the area to dial 911 for her, police said.
Volkswagen pleaded guilty on Friday in federal court to criminal felony charges over the diesel emissions scandal that has roiled the German automaker for more than a year and cost it tens of billions of dollars in settlements and penalties.

The company had been charged with fraud, obstruction of justice and making false statements about vehicles it imported into the United States, using software designed to cheat on emissions tests during lab testing that helped deceive environmental regulators.

The plea was part of a criminal settlement worked out with the Department of Justice that calls on Volkswagen to pay $4.3 billion in fines and penalties. In a separate civil settlement, the company has already agreed to spend $15 billion to compensate its customers in the United States.

The Volkswagen case is the latest in which the Justice Department has extracted a guilty plea from an automotive company accused of wrongdoing. Last month, Takata, the Japanese auto parts maker, pleaded guilty to criminal charges linked to faulty air bags, agreeing to pay $1 billion in fines and penalties. Three Takata executives face criminal charges.

That marks a contrast with the settlement the Justice Department reached with General Motors over faulty ignition switches that were linked to more than 100 deaths. GM paid $2 billion in fines, but no executives were charged.

Manfred Doess, Volkswagens general counsel, acknowledged in court that the carmaker knowingly and intentionally mounted a conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and deceive federal environmental regulators, and destroyed or concealed records and other data in a bid to cover up its actions.

He maintained, however, that the conspiracy was carried out by midlevel managers and engineers without the knowledge of the top executives who sit on the companys management board.

Judge Sean F. Cox, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, heard a brief objection to the settlement from a lawyer representing about 300 Volkswagen customers seeking higher compensation than what the company has already agreed to pay in its civil settlement.

The court accepted the plea but delayed sentencing until April 21.

Volkswagens guilty plea does not, however, end its legal troubles.

Federal prosecutors have announced criminal charges against six Volkswagen executives, including a former head of development of the Volkswagen brand and the head of engine development. One, Oliver Schmidt, was arrested in Florida in January and remains in custody. The other five are believed to be in Germany.

Shareholder lawsuits in the United States and Europe, meanwhile, could cost an additional $10 billion.

Volkswagen developed the illegal software more a decade ago after it planned to ramp up sales of diesel cars and sport utility vehicles in the United States, but learned it could not get them to meet emissions requirements.

In 2014, researchers testing emissions of VW vehicles found they met tailpipe rules when tested in laboratory settings but released up to 40 times the pollutants allowed in real-world driving. When pressed by U.S. regulators to explain the matter, Volkswagen at first disputed the researchers findings. But in September 2015, it acknowledged the deception.

The news rocked the company. Its chief executive at the time, Martin Winterkorn, resigned soon after the revelations, more than a dozen others left the company in the months that followed, and sales in United States slumped as its diesel models were pulled from the market  all badly damaging Volkswagens reputation and brand image.
A Franciscan monastery in Cochabamba, Bolivia, recently made international headlines after adopting an abandoned schnauzer and making him one of their own.

How the worlds hairiest Franciscan monk ended up at the San Francisco de Cochabamba monastery, four months ago, is still a mystery, but what matters is that hes now one of the family. Named Carmelo, the adorable schnauzer has become known as Fray Bigoton (Spanish for Friar Mustache) on the internet, after photos of him dressed in his own little Franciscan robe went viral online.

The photos of Fray Bigoton were originally posted on Facebook by Kasper Mariusz Kapron Ohm, a monk at San Francisco de Cochabamba monastery, as part of a schnauzer mascot contest on Facebook. The friars thought his beard alone made him a proper mascot for their monastery, but they also made him a little Franciscan robe just for fun.

The photos of Fray Bigoton were quickly picked up by several international news outlets and shared thousands of times on various social networks. Soon, Bolivian news crews started calling the monastery asking for information on the four-legged monk that had melted the hearts of millions around the world.

Kapron himself was shocked that Carmelos little robe had such a huge effect, drawing attention both to his order and the issue of stray animal adoption. The number of likes and shares already reached into the thousands, he said. We have had visits from different television channels, radio stations and newspapers.



As for the newest monk of the San Francisco de Cochabamba, his only responsibility is enjoying his new life of comfort.

His life is all about playing and running. Here, all of the brothers love him very much. He is a creature of God, said friar Jorge Fernandez.

Proyecto Narices Frias, a Bolivian animal rescue organization also picked up the photos of Fray Bigoton, and also posted a message encouraging more churches and monasteries to follow the example of San Francisco de Cochabamba. If only all the churches of our country adopt a dog and care for him like Friar Bigoton we are sure that the parishioners would follow their example, they wrote.

via The Dodo
A few years ago, most of the 2,000 or so villagers in Donggaozhuang, northern China, were struggling to put food on the table by growing wheat and corn. Now, dozens of them are millionaires and more on well on their way of making six-figure fortunes after switching to selling yarn online.

Donggaozhuangs success story started with the idea of one villager, who set up an e-shop on Taobao, Chinas largest online commerce platform, to sell yarn. Things went way better than he had anticipated, and in just three months, he made a profit of $2,900, a small fortune, considering that the highest minimum wage in China is currently around $330 per month. Word of his booming business spread like wildfire around Donggaozhuang, and the village elders soon approached the man, asking him to teach other members of the community how to set up their own online businesses.

Since yarn had worked so well for Donggaozhuangs first online entrepreneur, everyone followed in his footsteps and they all started making money. Realizing the potential of their businesses, many sold their lands and put their farming days behind them to focus solely on their e-shops. They started buying wool, turning it into yarn and selling that on Taobao.

Photo: Beijing Youth Daily

Today, Donggaozhuang is home to over 400 Taobao e-shop owners, all of which sell yarn online. A few dozens of them are millionaires, and the rest are doing a lot better than when they were slaving in the fields, planting and harvesting crops. The yarn trade has been going so well that many children in the village have quit school in order to help their families manage their businesses.

So if youre looking for a profitable venture, selling yarn online seems to work pretty well.

But Donggaozhuang isnt the only rural success story to come out of China. A couple of years ago, we wrote about Nanliu, a small village in Shaanxi province that became known as Chinas stock trading village, after many local farmers switched to trading stocks online. And then theres Huaxi, Chinas richest village, where every villager is a shareholder of the profitable local industry and has a net worth of over $100,000.

via SCMP
Two Muslim women in India have recently filed complaints against their husbands  who happen to be brothers  for divorcing them via WhatsApp.

The triple talaq is a controversial clause in Sharia Law that allows husbands to instantly divorce their wives by uttering the word talaq three times. This allows men to throw their wives out of the house for literally any reason, without fearing any legal repercussions. The practice is frowned upon by the vast majority of Muslims and banned in most of the Islamic world, but not in India. Here, triple talaq is still frequently used, keeping women in a perpetual state of fear that their husbands could give them talaq if they say or do anything that displeases them.

Ironically, more an more Indian Muslims are using modern technology to make the archaic triple talaq divorce even more effective. Data shows that a growing number of men are now sending the words to their wives via email or messaging apps, which is perfectly legit. How can that be legal? you ask, well, according to the law, the woman doesnt even have to be present when the words are spoken, she need not even be aware. If the guy says them, its done!

The sad story of two women who were divorced by triple talaq over WhatsApp was recently covered by Indian media. Syed Heena Fatima and Mehreen Noor, from Hyderabad, were married to brothers Syed Fayazuddin Hussaini and Mohd Abdul Akheel, both of which had left to work in the United States. But instead of using this opportunity to provide for their families, the men decided to divorce and abandon their wives in the most despicable way possible  by messaging them talaq, talaq, talaq via WhatsApp.

Heena Fatima received her triple talaq six months ago, while she was pregnant, and Noor got the same terrible message recently, which prompted their in-laws to throw them out of the house. The two women, along with their family members, have since lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad police, and have staged a protest in front of their old home.

My husband put Talaq Talaq Talaq as his WhatsApp display picture and messaged same saying everything is finished, Mehreen Noor told ANI. He said this is how it is done these days. How can it be done on WhatsApp?

I have two children, who will take care of my children? Fatima complained. Sharia law lets you divorce me, but who is going to look after our children? Doesnt Sharia law ask of you to take care of your children?

Unfortunately, because their husbands opted for triple talaq rather than a divorce under Indias secular law, the wives are also denied the right to receive a third of their husbands salaries as alimony.

Last year, several women have filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking annulment of the triple talaq rule. Indias Central Government has also stated that it is against gender injustice, and for equality between men and women under the Constitution, but the controversial clause is unfortunately still in effect.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board actually defended triple talaq, saying that it is better to divorce a woman that kill her. Wow

The rights bestowed by religion cant be questioned in a court of law, the AIMPLB added.
Kantar CEO to Step Down in Wake of Stabbing

Tue, Dec. 10, 2019

By Kevin McCauley

Eric Salama, who survived a stabbing attack about a year ago, has decided to step down as CEO of Kantar, now that WPP has completed the sale of a 60 percent stake in the data business to Bain Capital.
Flynn Intel Group, the lobbying firm owned by short-lived national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, has disclosed new documents to the Justice Department in an attempt to set the record straight concerning its controversial work last year for an obscure company with ties to the Turkish government, work that was performed while Flynn was serving as a top adviser to the Trump campaign.

Michael T. Flynn

Inovo BV, a privately-owned Dutch business consultancy services company, hired FIG in September for lobbying work to advise the company on U.S. domestic and foreign policy. Those lobbying activities continued after the U.S. election and terminated in late November, at which time Flynn was working as part of Trumps transition team.

Inovo, which was founded in 2005, is owned by Turkish businessman Kamil Ekim Alptekin, who has ties to Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and also currently serves as chairman of the Turkish-American Business Council, a non-profit unit of Turkeys Foreign Economic Relations Board whose members are picked by that countrys general assembly and economic minister.

Flynn on election day penned an editorial in Washington political tabloid The Hill, where he expressed the need for the U.S. to support Erdogans government, and called for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric living in the U.S. who Turkish government officials believe was behind the attempted 2016 military coup to remove Erdogan from power. Gulen, who has lived in the U.S. since 1999, has denied involvement in the failed coup. The editorial did not disclose that Flynns consulting firm had been retained by Alptekins company.

Erdogan, whose government has been accused of authoritarian tendencies, has faced repeated allegations of maintaining financial ties to terrorist groups such as ISIS. Turkey, which opposes the Assad-led government in Syria and whose relations with Russia and Iran have soured amid its role in Syrias civil war, has lent support to Syrian rebel groups such as The Army of Conquest, which allegedly bears ties to al-Qaeda-linked group Al-Nusra Front, which also allegedly cooperates with ISIS. Erdogan stirred more controversy in February when, speaking with Arabic news station Al Arabiya, said he doesnt consider the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, but rather, an ideological organization.

Turkeys ties to Inovo BV were first reported in November by the D.C.-based news site the Daily Caller. Flynn Intel Group had disclosed via lobbying registration documents in September that it was working for Inovo, but never registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent. Writing for the Huffington Post, David L. Phillips, a Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia Universitys Institute for the Study of Human Rights, noted that Flynn had violated U.S. law if he knew about Alptekins ties to the Turkish government but failed to register FIGs work for Inovo under the FARA act.

Finally registering the work in March, Flynn Intel Group stated that Inovo last year had represented a private company in Israel that sought to export natural gas to Turkey. Inovo tapped FIG in September for consulting and investigative research help so the company could better advise its client regarding Turkish business and investment opportunities, according to Foreign Agents Registration Act documents.

FIG in FARA documents stated that it does not know whether or the extent to which the Republic of Turkey was involved with FIGs retention by Inovo for the project, but is aware that Mr. Alptekin consulted with officials of the Republic of Turkey regarding potential work by Flynn Intel Group, though Inovo has not received, directly or indirectly, funds or financial support from any government during the course of its engagement of Flynn Intel Group Inc., including the Republic of Turkey.

The three-month project called for FIG to activate its investigative laboratory comprised of its most senior principals, which, according to FARA documents, included former Director of United States Central Intelligence Agency, former director of the United States Defense Intelligence Agency, former chairman of the Audit Committee of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, former Director of Intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former Special Operations (Green Beret) investigator and intelligence officer, former Deputy Assistant Director of Federal Bureau of Investigations of the United States, former senior legal counsel to the United States Senate Committee, two senior former FBI specialist investigators, chairman of the Asymmetric Institute of the Department of Military Studies at Johns Hopkins University and the head of Flynn Intel Groups Special Operations Cyber Force.

The agreement also called for hiring a filming and production crew for the purpose of developing a short film on the results of FIGs work. FIG also held weekly calls with Inovo to report its progress and even met with Turkish officials in New York on September 19  officials who were introduced to the lobbying firm by Alptekin.

Flynn Intel Groups work for Inovo netted the firm $535,000.

Separate FARA documents filed in March also show that SGR LLC Government Relations and Lobbying had been hired as a subcontractor for FIGs Groups work for Inovo BV, to perform public affairs work as a means of encouraging and strengthening relations between the governments and business communities of the U.S., Turkey and Europe.

SGRs work for FIG, which began in late September and ran until December, included research and analysis of the U.S. political environment, media monitoring and outreach to journalists and policy-makers on national security and education issues.

SGR received payments from FIG last year totaling approximately $30,000.

The Hill in March retroactively appended Flynns November editorial to reflect the fact that he had not disclosed his consulting firm was representing a client with ties to matters discussed in the editorial.

Alptekin has continued to deny that Inovo BV is linked to the Turkish government.

Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, served as national security adviser for 24 days before resigning on February 13 after it was revealed that he misled White House officials regarding conversations hed had with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey I. Kislyak. On at least one occasion, that communication involved the topic of the recent sanctions the U.S. had levied against Russia for interfering with the 2016 election.

U.S. Army lieutenant general H.R. McMaster in February was tapped to succeed Flynn in the national security adviser post.
Seth McConnell | The Denver Post | Getty Images. Trump's plan would push states to streamline local permitting, favor renovation of existing streets and more, the Journal reports.

The White House was pressured this week by President Donald Trump to map out a plan for $1 trillion in infrastructure spending, one of Trump's key promises during his presidential campaign, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal said the plan would push states to streamline local permitting, favor renovation of existing roads and highways and prioritize projects that can begin construction as soon as possible.

Trump has said he would push for an infrastructure program to rebuild roads, bridges, airports and other public works projects, but he has not presented a specific plan.

Trump suggested, in a private meeting with aides and executives that the Journal was invited to observe, a 90-day deadline for states to start projects, the Journal said. Trump asked Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt to provide a recommendation.

"We're not going to give the money to states unless they can prove that they can be ready, willing and able to start the project," Trump said.

On Thursday, the American Society of Civil Engineers released its 2017 infrastructure report card, giving the nation's overall infrastructure a grade of D+.

Speaking to a group of governors at the White House last month, Trump pledged for a "big" infrastructure spending.

"We spend $6 trillion in the Middle East and we have potholes all over our highways and our roads," he said, "so we're going to take care of that. Infrastructure  we're going to start spending on infrastructure big. Not like we have a choice. It's not like, oh gee, let's hold it off."

Trump's plan, however, could run into some roadblocks with fellow Republicans.

Read the full story from The Wall Street Journal here.



Reuters contributed to this report.





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If there ever was a premium SUV that strikes a balance between comfort and versatility, the all-new 2017 Land Rover Discovery makes a strong case for the title. The fifth generation Discovery comes from a long lineage of four-wheel drive sport utility vehicles made for adventure. Originally developed to fit between the Defender and Range Rover models, the Discovery could offer more seating and versatility matched with Land Rovers off-road capability. The basic principles are still there today, but Land Rover has decided to take the Discovery family in a new direction in order to appeal to a wider audience.

We recently had the opportunity to test drive the New Discovery during its global launch in North America. The two-day adventure included long stretches of highway between Utah and Arizona that allowed us to experience the comfort and performance of the New Discovery. Scenic and curvy roads through Zion and the Grand Canyon made for exhilarating road carving and seat time behind the wheel of the premium full size SUV. Staying true to its roots, our Land Rover adventure also included off-road sections that allowed us to test the New Discoverys capabilities in dirt, sand, and even rock crawling.



Lets go for a ride.

The 2017 Land Rover Discovery

The new Discovery takes a different approach to the old boxy design many of us are accustomed to seeing in earlier Land Rover Discovery models. From the Discovery 1 introduced in 1989 to the LR4, the versatility and distinct design features like a stepped roof and alpine windows have helped set it apart from other SUVs on the market. Although Land Rover is now moving in a new direction with the New Discovery, it didnt want to leave its rich 27-year heritage behind. This includes its off-road capability.

The new Discovery ties in elements from previous generations into its radically modern design. The patented stepped roof and highly visible C-pillar found on past Discovery models makes the cut. The asymmetric tailgate is also there, but now moves focus to the license plate holder area. Moving away from the boxy construct of previous generations, the new Discovery instead features smooth, rounded curvature and a lower stancesimilar to the Range Rover. Some similarities are also visible in the headlights, front bumper and grill.

Using state-of-the-art aluminum unibody construction, the new Discovery delivers greater levels of performance and strength than previous generations. Land Rover was able to leverage technologies from its flagship Range Rover SUV when developing the new Discovery. They used the latest materials and build technologies to make it stronger and lighter. The New Discovery is actually 1,000 lbs. lighter than the previous generation Discovery LR4. Its also important to note that Land Rover cares about sustainability. Fifty percent of the sheet aluminum used in the new Discovery comes from recycled aluminum.





FAMILY FRIENDLY

The designers and engineers at Land Rover went to great lengths to make the new Discovery the ultimate family SUV. A great amount of time was spent researching what active families want in a vehicle. The New Discovery delivers on those findings with a number of features and first-in-class technologies that will pique the interest of the modern family.

The new Discovery offers seating for up to seven adults and has an optional third-row seat. Built into the second- and third-row seats are a total of four child safety seat latch points for the growing family. The versatility of the cabin comes to light with the easily configurable seating and plentiful storage available. The optional Intelligent Seat Fold allows users to configure the second- and third-row seating using switches located in the cargo area, on the main touchscreen or even remotely via smartphone.

The new Discovery also helps keep the family connected with 9 USB ports, Wi-Fi hotspot for up to eight devices, six 12V charging ports, and storage for up to four iPads in the center console. After spending two days in the new Discovery and driving over 350 miles in comfort, we can see how having all these amenities built into the vehicle can make life easierespecially with kids. I cant guarantee the Are we there yet? questions will disappear, but it should make for a much more pleasant travel experience for the entire family.

Safety is paramount, and the New Discovery makes it its mission to get your family to its destination safely. The Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) includes a host of new features, including Traffic Sign Recognition, Intelligent Speed Limiter, Driver Condition Monitor, and Surround Camera System for peace of mind when approaching a blind intersection or tight spaces. The Lane Keep Assist will gently counter steer if it notices the vehicle is unintentionally drifting out of the lane.

The New Discovery can even park itself in parallel or perpendicular spaces, only requiring pedal input from the driver. When towing, the Advanced Tow Assist system takes the stress out of reversing a trailer. The New Discovery will actually do it for you. All you have to do is tell it where you want the trailer to go by rotating a controller knob and controlling the pedals. It will even alert you if theres a chance for jackknife.

Additional safety features include Autonomous Braking, which will stop the car if it notices pedestrians or a stopped car in the road.

THE DRIVE

For the U.S. market, the new Discovery is offered with a supercharged 3.0L 340 HP V-6 gasoline engine or a 3.0L turbocharged 254 HP V-6 diesel engine that is rated to produce 443 lb.-ft. of torque. Both the gas and diesel are equipped with the ZF 8-speed automatic transmission, which has been tuned by Land Rover engineers for each specific model. We had seat time in both the diesel- and gas-powered vehicles. What surprised us the most about the TdV6 diesel is how quiet the engine is; in fact, when we first jumped in we werent sure if it was a diesel.

The diesel-powered Discovery climbed effortlessly up the winding road through Zion National Park. On the open road, it cruised comfortably and had plenty of power for acceleration. Off-road the diesel delivered great power and torque when climbing. If youre looking for fuel economy and towing power, the TdV6 24 valve, common rail diesel makes a good choice. It has an EPA rating of 21 mpg city and 26 mph for the highway.

The 3.0L Si6 gasoline-powered Discovery is what we spent most of our time in, and we loved it. The extra horsepower made it fun to drive and it was much more responsive. The additional 80+ HP over the diesel made a difference when we tackled the sand at Coral Pink Sand Dunes. Theres just something about having a vehicle that can run at higher RPM and has power on tap whenever you hit the accelerator. If youre more of a performance driver, the 3.0L Si6 24 valve, Quad cam DIVCT (Dual Independent Variable Cam Timing) gas engine is a good choice. It has an EPA rating of 16 mpg city, 21 mpg highway.

OFF-ROAD

Although the new Discovery may seem like its made for the city, dont let those looks deceive you. The new Discovery feels surefooted in most any terrain thanks to its full-time four-wheel drive system, low range with 2.93:1 ratio, and a standard locking center differential (an optional locking rear differential is also available). It has a 115-inch wheelbase with a respectable approach angle of 34 degrees, and departure angle of 30 degrees. We didnt cross any ponds, but its reassuring to know that the new Discovery can handle a wading depth of up to 35.4 inches.

The new Discovery can also be lifted for the trail thanks to 4-Wheel Independent Electronic Air Suspension. It gives it 11 inches of ground clearance and almost 20 inches of wheel articulation at full height. Theres also a great deal of all-terrain technology embedded into the new Discovery, like the Terrain Response 2 system. Its designed to automatically monitor the driving conditions to ensure the vehicle is performing optimally off-road while in Auto mode. The Terrain Response 2 also allows the driver to select the mode manually from a dial on the center console. It includes Grass, Gravel and Snow, Mud and Ruts, Sand, and Rock Crawling mode. We kept ours in Auto most of the time but did get to use Rock Crawling mode when going up a series of rock ledges, and the Sand mode while driving in the dunes.





The New Discovery also includes Hill Descent Control (HDC), which helps the driver negotiate difficult slopes by keeping a constant speed and applying braking separately to each wheel. This makes going downhill easy. Then theres Land Rovers All-Terrain Progress Control (ATPC). This took a little getting used to. The ATPC is designed to make off-road driving easier and safer by allowing the driver to set a crawl speed and only focus on the steering. We tried it going up a rocky dirt hillit works! The vehicle slowly ascended up the hill and all we did was steer (no brake or gas pedal input needed). When we hit a larger obstacle, the vehicle stopped, held its place while it configured our next move, and then it began to crawl again. It was amazing! Before we know it Land Rover will have an autonomous 4WD.

The all-new 2017 Land Rover new Discovery starts from $49,990 and is available in three trims levels: SE, HSE and HSE Luxury. There will also be a limited First Edition with only 500 made. You can choose from 18 exterior colors and three wheels sizes ranging from 19- to 21-inch diameter.

2017 Discovery Models for the U.S. Market

DISCOVERY SE

FROM $49,990

340HP Petrol V-6 Only

Coil Spring Suspension Standard (Air Suspension Optional)

Seating for Five (Seven Passenger Optional)

Single Speed Transfer Case (Two-Speed Optional)

Halogen Lights

Manual Steering Column

STANDARD FEATURES INCLUDE:

19 Wheels  Style 5021

250 Watt Land Rover Audio System with InControl Touch (Opt. Navigation)

Fixed Panoramic Glass Sunroof

Rear Parking Sensors

Rain Sensing Wipers

Infrared Reflective Windshield

12 Way Grained Leather Seats

Powerfold Door Mirrors with Approach lights

Two Zone Auto AC

Keyless Entry

Gesture Power Tailgate

Homelink

InControl Protect

DISCOVERY HSE

FROM $56,950

Supercharged 340HP Petrol V-6 or Turbocharged 254HP Diesel V-6

Coil Spring Suspension Standard (Air Suspension Optional)

Seating for Five (Seven Passenger Optional)

Single Speed Transfer Case (Two-Speed Optional)

LED Headlights and Front Fog Lights

Power Steering Column

STANDARD FEATURES ADDED INCLUDE:

#20 Wheels  Style 5011

#380 Watt Meridian Audio System and Sirius XM and HD Radio

#InControl Touch Pro Navigation

#Three Zone Climate Control

#Memory 12 Way Grained Leather Seats

#Power Sliding Panoramic Glass Sunroof

#InControl Remote

#InControl Pro Services

#Wood Dashboard Veneers

#High Line Taillights

#Front and Rear Parking Sensors

#Power Inner Tailgate

#Bright Metal Treadplates

#In Dash Storage Behind Climate Controls

#Upgraded Center Console with Sliding Cover For Cupholders

#Front Shopping Bag Hook

DISCOVERY HSE LUXURY

FROM $63,950

Supercharged 340HP Petrol V-6 or Turbocharged 254HP Diesel V-6

Standard Air Suspension

Seating for Seven - Power Folding Third Row Seats with Remote

Standard Two-Speed Transfer Case

LED Headlights and Front Fog Lights

Power Steering Column

STANDARD FEATURES ADDED INCLUDE:

#20 Wheels  Style 1011

#825 Watt Meridian Audio System

#Intelligent Seat Fold

#16 way Windsor Leather Seats

#Extended Leather

#Front & Rear Heated Seats

#Heated Steering Wheel

#Heated Washer Jets

#Chrome Door Handles

#Configurable Interior Mood Lighting



DISCOVERY FIRST EDITION

*only 500 units made

FROM $73,950

STANDARD FEATURES ADDED INCLUDE:

#Special First Edition Badging and Cartography Interior Trim

#21 Wheels Style 1012

#Premium Metallic Paint

#Front Center Console Cooler Compartment

#Terrain Response 2 and All-Terrain Progress Control

#Black Exterior Trim

#Autonomous Emergency Braking

#Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning

#Park Assist and 360 Parking Aid and Surround Camera

#Blind Spot Monitor with Reverse Traffic Detection

#Driver Condition Monitor

#Intelligent Speed Limiter with Traffic Sign Recognition

#Activity Key

#Heated Windshield

#Auto Dimming Exterior Mirrors and Auto High Beam Assist

#Loadspace Cover
Postmasters are to hold a protest outside the GPO next Tuesday saying they will resist any Post Office closures driven by An Post.

The Irish Postmasters Union (IPU) also demanded the immediate publication and implementation of the completed Post Office Network plan Chaired by Bobby Kerr.

IPU General Secretary Ned OHara said Government must immediately intervene and stop An Post from stalling the 56m Network development plan.

An Posts Group Chief Executive, David McRedmond, has said that the company wants to stall any decision on planning for future of the Post Office Network until at least next May, while it works on a separate Post Office strategy of its own, and has signalled the potential for significant Post Office closures.

Ned OHara said the IPU was completely opposed to the approach being taken by An Post and would oppose any closures driven by the company.

He said that Postmasters had signed up to the Post Office Network Strategy Board report (Chaired by businessman Bobby Kerr), which was completed before Christmas, and includes a structured plan to sustain and develop the Post Office Network over four years, and includes a Government investment of 56m.

The plan was developed in partnership between Government, the IPU and An Post, following a two-year process, and recommends immediate implementation from January 2017.

Mr OHara said An Post should not be allowed to now ignore this work and a do solo run on the future of the Network and the fate of rural communities, while focusing on its commercial targets.

The IPU does not accept An Posts position of abandoning the vast amount of work done over the last two years and developing its own new plan. This is ignoring Government, unfair to Postmasters, damaging to the Network  and not representative of community concerns.

Government had ongoing oversight of the Bobby Kerr Chaired report and in principle agreed to its contents at each stage. We have already negotiated on each issue and we have all brought compromise to the table in the interest of the Network.

An Post cannot now be left alone to place its commercial mandate ahead of the social needs of communities. Postmasters are calling on Communications Minister Denis Naughton and the Government to intervene immediately. Bobby Kerr has already drawn all of the information and views together and, while Postmasters do not agree with all of the contents, we believe it offers a workable solution for the Network. The plan includes many new products and services which Post Offices can provide to increase their offering to the public.

We call on the Ministers concerned Naughton, Humphreys and Ring to publish the report and demand immediate transition to its implementation. Our Post Office Network is in crisis and delay will damage it further.

The An Post plan can be discussed when it is published later in the year on its own merits, but it must not delay the collective report that Government, Postmasters and An Post have worked together on.

We all signed up to this plan and we all worked on it for two years. It is now finalised and has a start date of January 2017. This must be honoured  and Government must take this responsibility and represent the needs of communities which are carefully considered in the report.

Postmasters presented half a million signatures to Government calling for action in 2015 and research in 2016 showed that the vast majority of people place a social and community value on their Post Office and want services in their community, Mr OHara concluded.

The protest will take place outside the GPO on OConnell Street, Dublin at 11am next Tuesday, March 14
The other day, I heard a song that took me back to my childhood in one of those sensory-triggered, time machine moments.

Three notes into Too Much Heaven by the Bee Gees, and I was in my first-grade bedroom, sitting amongst a Raggedy Ann bedspread, an Easy-Bake oven, a shelf of Judy Blume books and a poster of a half-naked Erik Estrada taped up on the wall.

What? Yes, a shirtless Frank "Ponch" Poncharello adorned my wall.

I remember that poster in vivid detail. It had been the centerfold of Teen Talk" magazine, which Id begged my parents to buy for me. The raven-haired actor was lying on blue satin sheets, fully-exposing his tanned chest and bedroom gaze to this four-eyed, blinky little 6-year-old who considered him to be the love of her life.

What had my parents been thinking  letting me pin that thing on my wall like I was some sort of hyper-hormoned frat bro? My sister and I have asked this question during so many of our walks down memory lane, teasingly judging our creators through the golden light of rightness that shines in the rear view mirror.

There was the time they encouraged me to select my own eyeglasses and I chose big, black, octagon frames that made me look like a deranged owl. When we were stationed in the Philippines, they allowed us to wait outside of the commissary  unaccompanied  while they shopped, resulting in us selling our dads cigarettes to taxi drivers for doughnut money. There was the day they told us to take our time on the walk to kindergarten, so we went to the park for two hours. We were later picked up by the cops and scolded by scary Principal OConnor.

What on earth had they been thinking? Did they know anything about child-rearing at all? Of course they did. They were actually really good at it.

Im starting to get these types of reactions from my own offspring when they reminisce together. Why did you let me wear my hair like that? What were you thinking, letting me sleep over at her house? And my favorite generality, Did that really seem like the best idea, mom?

I could enlighten them with harsh truths:

I allowed you to have floppy Justin Bieber hair because it seemed important to your middle school identity  even though I dreamed of haircuts and head shavings throughout the entire sixth-grade year. Every time you flipped your head like "The Biebs," I gritted my teeth to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

How about: You were painfully shy and a tad awkward, so I thought hanging with someone who was socially-extroverted might help. Turns out it didnt, but I thought the slumber party was worth a shot.

Why bother explaining? The reality is that parenting is hard, and there is an ultra-fine balance between making kids happy, keeping them safe, raising good human beings and trying not to sweat the small stuff. When we tell them no, our kiddos are clueless as to just how much in-depth deliberation is involved. And when we actually coerce our mouths into forming a yes, theyll never know the terrifying apprehension that accompanies the breath which pushes forth the perilous y word.

We muddle through, though, and if were lucky, the only residual damage will be the annoyingly judgmental questions posed by our future know-it-all children.

Questions like: You really thought it was appropriate for your first-grader to hang a half-naked highway patrolman poster on her bedroom wall? Did that really seem like the best idea, mom?

***

Lynn Kirkle is married and lives in Omaha with her husband and five children. She is a young adult author, and you can follow her on twitter @LAPainter.
By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Friday that he hopes to launch formal talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in a little over three months, setting in motion a campaign promise made by President Donald Trump. During his election campaign, Trump threatened to pull out of NAFTA, which he views as damaging to U.S. workers, unless it was renegotiated to his liking and reduced the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico. Ross told reporters that "sometime in the next couple of weeks" he hopes to send a letter notifying Congress that the Trump administration intends to launch NAFTA negotiations in 90 days. "That's what triggers the beginnings of the formal process itself," Ross said at a news conference with Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo. A notification about NAFTA in the next two weeks would put the likely start of talks late June or early July. Trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico has nearly quadrupled in goods since NAFTA took effect in 1994 to $1.1 trillion last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The deal has accelerated the integration of the three economies, with parts supply chains and commodities now crisscrossing their borders. The 90-day period is required under the so-called "fast track" negotiating authority granted to the president by Congress. Fast-track allows only an up-or-down vote on trade deals, in order to streamline their approval and strengthen the U.S. negotiating hand with partner countries. Congress granted fast-track to former President Barack Obama in 2015 when his administration was negotiating the now-defunct 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Unless rescinded by lawmakers, the fast-track authority is scheduled to remain in effect until July 2021. Ross added that he was consulting on the NAFTA talks with leaders of Congress' two trade panels, the Senate Finance Committee and the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee. Trump's fellow Republicans hold the majority in both the Senate and House, but many in the party are pro-trade and will insist that any renegotiation not erect protectionist barriers. But a deal that aims to protect more U.S. jobs would likely win support from many Democrats. Guajardo said that Mexico would be ready to start NAFTA talks any time after the end of May, but would wait until the United States and Canada finish their own legislative processes to prepare for talks. Asked whether he anticipated that NAFTA negotiations would include a border tax adjustment plan that would levy a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports, as proposed by House Republicans, Ross said that he and the administration would need to see full details on the proposal to pass judgment on it. Ross and Guajardo also announced a new round of negotiations to try to resolve a long-simmering dispute over U.S. imports of Mexican sugar. Speaking at a news conference in Houston on Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was open to working with the Trump administration to revise NAFTA. The U.S. notification period on NAFTA will also give the Trump administration time to secure confirmation of Robert Lighthizer, the nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, who would take a lead role in NAFTA talks. Lighthizer, a long-time trade lawyer for the steel industry, is scheduled for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Frances Kerry)
IOWA CITY  An Iowa City gym manager has been implicated in a five-year conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids.

Investigators said in court documents filed Wednesday that 39-year-old Stanley Szeto was a co-conspirator in a large-scale nationwide distribution network.

The bodybuilder was arrested in August.

Officers executed warrants at his Iowa City home and gym, 319 Elite Fitness in Coralville, seizing dozens of vials and tablets of suspected steroids and packaging materials.

The governments seeking an order to keep $2,680 in seized cash.

A DEA agent said theres evidence that Szeto bought steroids from a supplier in China and filled orders for 200 customers. Szetos expected to plead guilty to a federal charge next week.

Separately, hes awaiting trial on an assault charge after he allegedly fractured the skull of a patron at Union Bar in Iowa City, where he was working as a bouncer. Szeto claims self-defense.

Copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Workplace discrimination. Convention of the states. Lethal injection supplier secrecy. Voter ID. Medical marijuana.

Those are among the hot-button topics picked by members of the Nebraska Legislature as top priorities.

The deadline for naming priority bills was Thursday, about halfway through the 90-day legislative session.

From now on, priority bills will dominate lawmakers agenda. Priority bills, if advanced from committee, are virtually guaranteed debate on the floor.

Among the measures selected:

 LGBT discrimination. Lincoln State Sen. Kate Bolz prioritized Legislative Bill 173, which would ban employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Nebraskans in the workplace. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, is awaiting first-round debate.

 Mandatory minimums. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha introduced and prioritized a bill to repeal some mandatory minimum prison sentences. LB 447 was amended to apply only to serious drug offenses. The bill advanced to second-round debate this week.

 Student restraint. A bill that would allow teachers to use physical force to control violent students has been prioritized by Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte. Groene, who chairs the Education Committee, introduced LB 595.

 Convention of the states. Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings prioritized Legislative Resolution 6, which seeks to have Nebraska call for a convention of the states that would potentially amend the U.S. Constitution to limit the power and spending of the federal government. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, was advanced from committee.

 Gun pre-emption. Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln prioritized a bill that would put an end to local gun regulations. Introduced by Hilgers, LB 68 would require that the carrying, registration, transfer and storage of firearms be regulated by state law, not local ordinance. A similar measure failed to overcome a filibuster last year.

 Lethal injection. Prison officials could hide the identities of lethal injection suppliers under LB 661 introduced and prioritized by Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell. Kuehn has said he thinks the existing lethal injection law allows officials to shield information from public disclosure, though addressing it in state law would help keep the death penalty viable.

 Voter identification. Legislative Resolution 1CA, introduced and prioritized by Sen. John Murante of Gretna, would ask voters in 2018 to approve a constitutional amendment requiring photo ID to vote. Past voter ID bills were either killed on the floor, or failed to make it out of committee.

 Online retailers paying sales tax. Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse introduced and prioritized LB 44, which would force Internet retailers from other states to begin collecting sales taxes owed on purchases by Nebraskans. The bill would require companies that made at least $100,000 a year in sales in Nebraska to remit taxes.

 Voting rights. Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha prioritized LB 75, which would restore voting rights to felons as soon as they complete their sentences, eliminating a two-year waiting period required by current law. The measure, which Wayne introduced, was advanced from committee.

 Medical marijuana. Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln named LB 622, the Medical Cannabis Act, as her priority. The measure she also introduced would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes, under strict state control. A similar bill died in the face of a filibuster last year.
Any snowmen plans in the works for this weekends snow will likely have to be scaled down. Any snow falling in the Omaha area early today wont be nearly as heavy as predicted earlier in the week.

Instead of the 2 to 3 inches forecast for the area a few days ago, the area now has just a 20 percent chance of snow today with no accumulation likely, according to the National Weather Service.

Becky Kern, a meteorologist with the weather service, cited two reasons for the change in forecast: The air is dry and the approaching storms are not as strong as expected.

Its just looking like we are going to have too much dry air in the area to really accumulate much, Kern said.

Nebraskans living nearer to the Kansas border  in and around such cities as Fairbury and Beatrice  could see closer to 2 inches.

Omaha city crews were pretreating streets in Omaha early Friday with a brine mix to keep snow off roadways.

Thursday, forecasters had called for 2 to 4 inches of snow, with some locations receiving up to 6 inches.

This is not as strong as it initially looked, KMTV meteorologist Ryan McPike said Friday morning. The overall intensity is just not as strong.

Welcome to the month of March and weather forecasting at its finest, he said.

Normal high temperatures for early to mid-March in the Omaha area are around 50 degrees. Normal overnight lows are around 30.

The St. Patricks Day Parade in downtown Omaha will be held at 10 a.m. today, organizers said. Some people were concerned that snow would lead organizers to postpone the event. Still, some groups that were scheduled to participate have pulled out of the parade because of the weather conditions.

Snow lovers may have another opportunity this weekend, at least for a bit.

Theres a chance of snow Sunday night, but the weather service was predicting between a tenth of an inch to a quarter of an inch at most.

World-Herald staff writer Jay Withrow contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Julian Assange should be locked up.

At least thats the opinion of Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who issued a statement Thursday denouncing the WikiLeaks founder, whose group has been releasing documents on CIA hacking tools.

It is imprudent to comment on the particulars of these leaks but this is dead certain: Julian Assange should spend the rest of his life wearing an orange jumpsuit, Sasse said. Hes an enemy of the American people and an ally to Vladimir Putin. Mr. Assange has dedicated his lifes work to endangering innocent lives, abetting despots, and stoking a crisis of confidence in the West.

Later in the day, White House press secretary Sean Spicer referred questions about the presidents position on Assange to the Justice Department.

That statement brought a response from Sasse, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, which oversees the department.

Does the Department of Justice believe Julian Assange has broken the law and is the department aggressively pursuing his detention and prosecution? Sasse wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Frankly, it is amazing that I even have to ask this question of the administration in light of the intelligence communitys formal assessment that Mr. Assanges website is a known outlet for foreign propaganda and in light of Mr. Assanges history of recklessly endangering the lives of Americans through his illegal disclosures.

Nevertheless, because Mr. Spicer referred this matter to DOJ, I am now asking you.
(Adds comments from Ross on review, background on dispute)

By David Lawder

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - The United States and Mexico will launch a new round of negotiations to resolve a years-long trade dispute over Mexico's sugar exports to the United States, senior officials in both governments said on Friday.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said that the talks would be aimed at resuming Mexican imports to the United States after they had been halted earlier this week as Mexico reached a temporary limit on sugar exports to the United States.

"These discussions are the beginning of our work together on the day-to-day issues that arise from our very important bilateral relationship," Ross told a news conference.

The U.S. sugar quotas are set under a 2014 trade pact that has become a source of tension between the two countries. The deal ended a year-long investigation by the U.S. government after domestic farmers and sugar companies said Mexican millers were flooding the market with cheap, subsidized sugar.

Ross said the Commerce Department pushed back an April 4 deadline for completing a review of the trade pact until May 1, to allow more time to reach a resolution that suits both countries. The government said in November that a preliminary review indicated the deal may not be working.

The two countries have been in ongoing negotiations to rework the agreements since 2016, under pressure from the U.S. industry. Those discussions were slowed amid the transition to a new administration under President Donald Trump.

Earlier this week, Reuters learned that Mexico had canceled export licenses, at a time of tightening cane supplies for U.S. refiners, who have said that Mexico's mills are circumventing them to sell refined sugar into the U.S. market.

The U.S. sugar industry has asked the government to cancel the 2014 pact unless it can be renegotiated. The country's cane refiners have said that Mexican suppliers are continuing to circumvent them to sell refined sugar, starving them of raw supplies.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Additional reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
SEATTLE (AP)  In stepping up legal challenges to President Donald Trumps revised travel ban, Democratic attorneys general are trying to use the court system to thwart the executive branch in the same way their GOP counterparts did under President Barack Obama.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday he was asking a federal judge to find that his order last month halting the old travel ban applies to the new one, too.

Fergusons action came a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit. Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, New York and Massachusetts planned to file a new complaint challenging the revised travel ban Monday.

My message to President Trump is: Not so fast, Ferguson said.

Ferguson and his fellow Democratic attorneys general are now doing what Republicans did when Obama was in office  filing lawsuits to block policies. Republican attorneys general took Obama to court over a variety of issues, most notably his health care legislation.

Attorneys general are the chief lawyers for state governments and can sue more broadly on behalf of their states. Most are elected and can act independently of their legislatures or governors, although Ferguson, for example, has the support of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, also a Democrat.

Trumps revised ban bars new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries: Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also temporarily shuts down the U.S. refugee program.

Unlike the initial order, the new one says current visa holders wont be affected, and removes language that would give priority to religious minorities.

Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said that the state could not stay silent on Trumps travel ban because of Hawaiis unique culture and history. Hawaii depends heavily on tourism, and the revised ban would hurt the states economy, he said.

The courts need to hear that theres a state where ethnic diversity is the norm, where people are welcomed with aloha and respect, Chin said.

In the original lawsuit targeting the first ban, Ferguson said it was unconstitutional and hurt the states businesses and universities.

Ferguson said its not the government, but the court, that gets to decide whether the revised order is different enough that it would not be covered by previous temporary restraining order.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday the administration believed the revised travel ban will stand up to legal scrutiny.

We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given, Spicer said.

Ferguson said he was pleased other that attorneys general had sought to take part in the legal action. On Thursday, the Seattle judge granted Oregons request to join Washington and Minnesota in the case opposing the travel ban; New York and Massachusetts say theyll also join the case.

We have a strong case and they are willing to join our efforts, Ferguson said of his fellow Democrats. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement called the executive order a Muslim ban by another name.

Other states that have filed briefs supporting Washingtons initial lawsuit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.

Copyright 2017, the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A jaunt down Fishery Road, a windy, gravel side street near the Platte River, affords views of tall trees, rolling hills and Interstate 80  and not much else. But beyond the no trespassing signs lining the road, work is well underway on the sprawling religious retreat being built by billionaire Joe Ricketts.

The Cloisters on the Platte, situated roughly between I-80 on the west and Nebraska Highway 31 on the east, is a nearly 1,000-acre undertaking. Thats larger than Mahoney State Park, its neighbor across the river.

A letter sent recently to area Catholics boasted of plans for the facility and the retreats it will offer when it opens in summer 2018. It also requested that people mail in cards expressing interest in attending one of the centers future, gender-specific retreats.

We look forward to sharing this transformative experience with you, the letter reads. It is signed by Ricketts, who founded Omahas TD Ameritrade and is the father of Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Although Ricketts isnt disclosing the cost of construction, the retreat center will be enormous. The land alone cost $13.6 million when The Cloisters on the Platte Foundation, founded by Ricketts, purchased it back in late 2014.

Plans for the campus include seven guest lodges, each with 10 private bedrooms and private bathrooms. A chapel, retreat center building and courtyard are to serve as common areas. The facilities are designed to accommodate up to 80 men or women at a time.

Guests will park in an underground parking garage and take shuttles to the main campus.

The property is 931 acres of hilly terrain intermingled with farmland. The grounds will feature two lakes, nature trails and a Stations of the Cross walk that spans roughly 2,500 feet, the length Jesus is said to have walked in Jerusalem. The Stations of the Cross walk includes all 14 stations, designed by sculptors, and a 140-foot pedestrian bridge through the trees.

Land outside the formal retreat site will be returned to its natural habitat to attract wildlife.

I feel closer to God when I am among natures beauty, so Ive made it a priority ... to unite the land and the spiritual experience, Ricketts told The World-Herald on Thursday.

Construction began in 2015 and is on schedule, a project spokesman said. According to the projects website, the chapel is taking shape. Inspired by St. Margaret Mary Church in Omaha, that building has a 400-pound cross perched atop its vaulted roof.

The parking garage is finished, and work on the lodges, retreat center building and a gatehouse is underway.

Its busy and hopping right now with a lot of noise, said senior architect Doug Peters in a video posted on the site earlier this year. But its all going to settle down and become a quiet, prayerful place.

The Jesuit-inspired retreats will be gender-specific and mostly silent. While theyll follow the teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola, attendees of any religion are welcome, Ricketts has said.

Ricketts nonprofit foundation for the center is not only footing the bill for construction, but it will also pay operating costs. That amount wont be figured until the end of 2018, after the first retreats have been held, the spokesman said. Retreat attendees will be encouraged to make a voluntary donation to help defray the costs, he said.

The Cloisters on the Platte is already hosting retreats at alternate sites while the center is being built. Seven retreats are on deck for the remainder of this year and early 2018 before the center is open. Most are full.

The foundation will ultimately be managed by a board of directors. The board is to be assembled once construction is wrapped up.

Ricketts has attended a Jesuit retreat near Minneapolis since the late 1990s. Building a similar retreat center is a longtime dream of his.

The most important aspect of the retreat center will be its quiet environment, he said.

No retreat center has been built in a long while, Ricketts said. And now more than ever, I believe people need the chance to stay connected to their spirituality and relationship with God.
LINCOLN  The Nebraska Supreme Court rejected Friday the claims of a convicted killer who said a former crime scene investigator planted blood evidence in a 1996 murder investigation.

Michael T. Jackson of Omaha is serving a life term for gunning down a man and trying to kill the mans girlfriend as the three were conspiring to make a major cocaine purchase. The woman, who was shot twice by Jackson, survived by playing dead.

Among the evidence used to convince a jury of Jacksons guilt was a blood stain investigators recovered from clothing found in the trunk of Jacksons car. DNA testing of the blood matched the male victim.

In his second motion for post-conviction relief, Jackson said David Kofoed, who supervised the CSI laboratory for the Douglas County Sheriffs Office, had control of vials of the victims blood. The stain on Jacksons clothing was not tested for months.

On appeal, Jacksons lawyer noted Kofoeds history of tainting evidence with victim blood. Kofoed was convicted of felony evidence tampering in a 2006 Murdock double-homicide investigation that implicated two innocent men. He served time in prison, and the men won a $6.5 million civil judgment against him.

After Kofoeds trial, a judge also concluded that the CSI chief likely planted blood evidence in the investigation into the murder of a 4-year-old Plattsmouth boy.

The Supreme Court noted that in Jacksons case, the blood stain was discovered by another officer before Kofoed had arrived on the scene. The other officer noted the stain in a report written the day after the homicide.

The opinion, written by Judge William Cassel, also said at no time did Kofoed work on the crime scene without another officer present. The high court said Kofoeds involvement in the Jackson investigation was significantly different from the pattern he followed in cases where a judge determined he tampered with evidence.

The Supreme Court has upheld Kofoeds conviction, but has rejected appeals by two other killers serving life terms who alleged they were framed by the former investigator.
When rocker Tom Petty found out Republican George W. Bush was blaring his song I Wont Back Down at campaign rallies in 2000, he sent a cease-and-desist letter.

Maybe the reason Donald Trump avoided the song in his campaign is that he didnt want similar trouble. Or maybe its because he will, in fact, back down.

After a federal court blocked his February travel ban, Trump tweeted, See you in court, the security of our nation is at stake! From that bold declaration, you would expect him to fight all the way to the Supreme Court. But he didnt. On Monday, he caved in and issued a new travel ban designed to appease the judiciary.

Backing down is not a departure from his usual style. It is his usual style.

Ask the Chinese. Shortly after he was elected, Trump took a call from the president of Taiwan, in defiance of the long-standing U.S. policy of recognizing only one China. Then, when the Beijing government took offense, he snapped back on Twitter, asking, Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency?

Conservatives applauded his manly bravado. Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said Trump was alerting the Chinese that nobody in Beijing gets to dictate who we talk to.

Actually, somebody in Beijing does. His name is Xi Jinping. Hes the president of China, and he refused to speak with Trump on the phone until he agreed to eat his words. As Chinas government media reported, Trump tamely assured Xi that the U.S. government adheres to the One China policy.

Sean Spicer did his best to mask the humiliating retreat. Asked whether the president had gotten anything in return, the press secretary insisted, The president always gets something.

Of course he does. In this instance, he got a lesson in the ancient Chinese art of kowtowing.

The surrender came as no surprise to anyone who watched him during the campaign or after. After months of promising his supporters he would build a border wall at Mexicos expense, he paid a visit to President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City and, at a news conference afterward, admitted he didnt even raise the topic: We didnt discuss payment of the wall.

In fact, Pena Nieto said later that during their session, he informed his guest that Mexico would not pay for it. Only when Trump was safely back across the Rio Grande did he dare to repeat that our neighbor would foot the bill.

After his boast about grabbing women by the genitals came out on video, several women came forward to accuse him of groping or kissing them without their consent. He denied it and announced, All of these liars will be sued after the election is over. When is that lawsuit going to be filed?

Probably right after he finishes fighting the lawsuit against Trump University. Oh, wait  he has already finished that fight, by capitulating.

I dont settle cases, he said last year about the dispute. Watch how we win it. But in the end, Trump agreed to pay $25 million to the people accusing him of fraud.

Idle threats are his specialty. Last year, he pledged to immediately terminate President Obamas two illegal executive amnesties, one of which allowed unauthorized immigrants brought here as children to stay and work. But that order is still in place, to the disgust of anti-immigration groups.

On torture, NATO, seizing Iraqs oil and the Iranian nuclear deal, Trumps Cabinet officers have contradicted him  and he has let them.

When confronted by people with sturdy backbones, Trump has real trouble backing up his fierce words. And he is finding it harder to intimidate political opponents and foreign leaders than he expected.

Weve all heard of the wolf in sheeps clothing. More often than not, Trump is a sheep in wolfs clothing.
Stothert not afraid to make hard decisions

As Ive followed the public anguish in the Public Pulse regarding Jean Stotherts failure to repeal the restaurant tax, I find it amusing that this seems to be the common outcry aimed at making a case to choose Heath Mello as Omahas next mayor.

Jean Stothert takes on the tough issues and doesnt back down. Because of her, the city budget is in the best condition weve seen in years.

Mellos thin, baseless attacks attempting to deflate Stotherts campaign make me believe he would be incapable of standing up against the strong influences that would like to force their agendas onto the backs of the Omaha taxpayers.

Mad about the restaurant tax? Go grocery shopping and prepare your meals at home. You do have a choice.

Rick VanRoy, Omaha

Sheriff should do his job or quit

I am very upset that Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning is not in communication with the mayor of Omaha (Once an ally of Stothert, sheriff endorses Mello, March 2 World-Herald).

I believe it is his duty as an elected official. While he has complaints about her making phone calls to him, he shouldnt forget that the majority of his county is Omaha. He needs to do his job and be in contact with all the officials within his jurisdiction.

Its time for Dunning to step up or resign and allow proper cooperation to exist.

David Zerbe, Papillion

Support for GOP reason to reject mayor

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert says she did not vote for Donald Trump and was uncomfortable with his demeanor (President could be Democrats trump card, Feb. 26 World-Herald).

Heath Mello wants to tie Trumps unpopular actions to Stothert, and that seems reasonable, considering a key member of the seasoned campaign team Stothert hired is her campaign manager, Sam Fischer, a Trump supporter.

Omahas citizens need to know which of President Trumps policies Stothert does support.

Ricky Fulton, Omaha

Another way to cut carbon emissions

In his March 1 Midlands Voices, Another option for clean electricity, Barry Butterfield wrote that he understands the need to reduce carbon emissions.

Many people across the political spectrum already favor the transition to clean energy.

The most encouraging possibility is the growing bipartisan support in Congress and the country for a revenue-neutral tax on fossil fuels, which would give all of that tax to the people of the U.S.

It would actually grow the economy while cutting carbon emissions.

I hope Rep. Don Bacon, in his key position as a new member of the Climate Solutions Caucus, will introduce this legislation.

Will Nebraska Republican Reps. Adrian Smith and Jeff Fortenberry join Bacon in this caucus to help write this legislation and protect Nebraskans interests and farmers from the devastating repercussions of climate change?

Bonnie Cosentino, Omaha

Consistent behavior behind bars

There was another incident at Tecumseh State Prison the other day, and two more inmates were killed (Two inmates die in hours-long melee, March 3 World-Herald).

Everyone wants these situations fixed yesterday, especially all of our politicians. They blame everyone except themselves about our prison system, especially the overcrowding of our institutions. They do not have a solution to the problem.

These correctional facilities are not meant to be Boy Scout camps.

These are individuals who chose not to live in a lawful manner in our society, and it looks like some of them cant live lawfully in a prison society.

Donald M. ONeill, Omaha

Medicaid cuts hurt most vulnerable

Medicaid is one of the most important financial resource available for older adults needing help to cover the cost of care as they age, whether in their homes and communities or in nursing homes.

As of Jan. 30, there were 12,251 Nebraskans calling nursing homes their home. Of that number, more than 50 percent of them are on Medicaid.

Gov. Pete Ricketts budget proposed cuts for all Medicaid providers. This would be devastating to aging services providers in a time when the aging population is rapidly growing.

In Nebraska, fewer nursing homes are accepting Medicaid as a payor source, and many are reducing the number of beds they will dedicate to Medicaid.

This is a direct result of declining Medicaid reimbursements, and the proposed cuts will only exacerbate this.

Nebraska needs to pay providers a fair rate. We need creative solutions instead of targeted cuts that hurt this vulnerable population.

We need to work together to ensure that older Nebraskans can live out all of their days with the dignity and respect they have rightly earned.

Julie Kaminski, Omaha
20,000 women were victims of human trafficking in 2016: Govt

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

By Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi: According to data submitted by the government, more than 20,000 women and children were said to be the victims of human trafficking in 2016 - 25% more when compared with 2015. The ministry of women and child development informed Parliament that the highest number of the victims are from West Bengal and added that 19,223 women and children were trafficked in 2016 against 15,448 in 2015.

A Delhi police official, who refused to be named, claimed that human trafficking crimes are on the rise dramatically and added that police officials attributed in bringing awareness on trafficking-related cases and more training.

[Also read: Saifullah's father praised again, this time in Rajya Sabha]

The officer said that more victims are reporting against such cases. He added that the numbers of these cases could be higher as many victims still don't come forward to report.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 16:12 [IST]
FILE PHOTO - The logo of Exxon Mobil Corporation is shown on a monitor above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, New York, U.S. December 30, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

By Alexandra Ulmer

CARACAS (Reuters) - A World Bank tribunal's order for Venezuela to pay $1.4 billion in damages to Exxon Mobil Corp over nationalizations has been annulled, a lawyer for the Venezuelan government said on Thursday.

The case at the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes is one of many arising from nationalizations during late President Hugo Chavez's 1999-2013 rule of the South American OPEC member country.

"We were confident all along that our position was correct and are very pleased that the annulment committee agreed," Venezuela's lawyer George Kahale said.

A reduction to the overall $1.6 billion award would be welcome news to President Nicolas Maduro's cash-strapped government as it faces heavy foreign debt repayments amid a deep economic recession that has led to widespread shortages.

The ICSID ruling, dated Thursday, said "portions of the award" were annulled but did not give a breakdown of figures.

A spokesman for the U.S.-based oil company, Todd Spitler, did not confirm financial details, but said: "Exxon Mobil will continue to evaluate its legal rights and determine next steps."

Venezuela had challenged the 2014 award with various arguments, including that a previous decision from Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce to award Exxon $908 million should be deducted from the ICSID award.

Chavez, the firebrand socialist leader whose rule was cut short by death from cancer, nationalized a range of oil ventures, including the Cerro Negro heavy crude project and a smaller project called La Ceiba, both operated by Exxon.

Despite its appeal of the World Bank court's initial ruling in the Exxon case, Venezuela's government had hailed that as a success because the company had been seeking compensation of up to $10 billion.

Chavez led a wave of takeovers that also encompassed the electricity, telecoms, metal and agricultural sectors. Many companies deemed the takeovers unlawful, and Venezuela faces more than 20 international arbitration cases.

Supporters of Chavez's nationalizations say he was right to take back control of Venezuela's commodities riches to channel the profits into social programs at home rather than profits for multinational companies.

(Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston, writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by G Crosse and Lisa Shumaker)
2012 Maruti factory violence case: 31 convicted, 117 acquitted

India

oi-Shubir

By Shubir Rishi

A Gurgaon court has convicted 31 persons for the violence at India's largest auto manufacturer Maruti's factory in Manesar in which a manager was set on fire in a conference room on July 18, 2012. After four years of trial, the court has acquitted 117 persons. The quantum of punishment will be announced on March 17.

On July 18, 2002, an argument broke out between the management and workers, which soon got out of hand, with the workers allegedly setting fire to the floors. Avanish Kumar Dev, a senior manager died in the fire, and several others were injured. About 147 workers were arrested and charged with rioting, murder, unlawful assembly and criminal intimidation under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

While most of the workers got bail, 11 of them were still in jail.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 15:14 [IST]
After exit polls, SP leader complains about Congress alliance in UP

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

With exit polls 2017 suggesting a BJP win in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, there are already many in the Samajwadi Party who are complaining about the alliance with the Congress. Some in the SP feel that the party should have gone alone in the elections, and the alliance has hurt them.

[Exit Poll 2017 at a glance]

Ravidas Mehrotra, the family welfare minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government said in Lucknow, that it was his personal opinion that the alliance would benefit only the Congress. "It has not helped the Samajwadi Party," he said. He said that the Congress rebel candidates contesting the seats given to the SP have sabotaged the elections.

He also said that the people were ready to give the SP under Akhilesh another chance. "The people would have given more seats to the SP had it gone alone," he said. He, however, expressed confidence that the SP would still form the government in the current scenario.

The Congress has however dismissed the statements as a personal one. The party feels that the statement represented an individual and not that of the SP as a whole.

OneIndia News
AgustaWestland: After saying witness may have died, ED cites a little birdie to say he is alive

AgustaWestland: Plea seeking probe into media role rejected by SC

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Supreme Court rejected a plea that sought an investigation into the role played by the media in the AgustaWestland probe on Friday. A plea was filed alleging that journalists were paid off Rs 50 crore to write in favour of the AgustaWestLand deal.

[Two more accused get bail in AgustaWestland case]

Since the scam broke out there have been allegations of some journalists in Delhi being paid off huge sums of money to back the deal. It was alleged that while one journalist was paid off Rs 5 crore another was taken on a junket by the chopper firm.

The payoffs in the AgustaWestland deal amounts to Rs 360 crore according to the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. Out of the Rs 360 crore that was earmarked to bribe influential people, an amount of Rs 50 crore was set aside for the media alone.

[AgustaWestland: CBI opposes bail granted to SP Tyagi]

While the Enforcement Directorate has learnt that an amount of Rs 28 lakh had been spent on a journalist and his wife, the ED is also looking into another transaction of Rs 5 crore that was paid off to one journalist.

Rs 50 crore payoff:

The ED has been hot on the trail of the Rs 50 crore that was spent by James Christian Michel the middleman in charge of handling the media. Documents which have been accessed by the Enforcement Directorate suggest that a large chunk of the Rs 50 crore was spent on a media junket to Italy.

The ED says that not all those who went on the junket were part of this scam. However, there are a few names we have with us who we suspect had ensured that the narrative in the news was in favour of AgustaWestland. There is a journalist for whom Michel had earmarked Rs 28 lakh. This looked like a suspicious transaction since the money was spent on the journalist's wife as well.

Another journalist has come under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate. The ED suspects that middlemen had paid off this journalist a sum of Rs 5 crore.

OneIndia News
Lunar eclipse 2022: Temples to be closed on Nov 8; Are you allowed to worship?

AIADMK MPs seek CBI probe into Jayalalithaa's death, raise slogans in LS

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, March 10: Proceedings of the Lok Sabha were adjourned briefly when some AIADMK members raised slogans demanding a CBI probe into the death of party supremo J Jayalalithaa.

As soon as the House met for the day, six AIADMK members rushed to the Well raising slogans seeking a CBI probe into the death of the then Tamil Nadu chief minister and party supremo. They were holding placards with the picture of Jayalalithaa laying in state.

Amid slogan shouting, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House for 10 minutes at 11.10 am when the Question Hour was in progress. Soon after the House re-assembled, the AIADMK members raised slogans and then announced a walk-out after their demand for an adjournment motion to discuss the issue was turned down by the Chair.

While a section of the AIADMK MPs are supporting V K Sasikala, some others are with former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.

PTI
Rajnath Singh wanted to join Indian Army, but couldn't; know why

Aatmanirbhar Bharat: Make in India, Make for the World, says Rajnath Singh

Army asked to devise mechanism to address jawans' grievances: Parrikar

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

With jawans taking to social media to vent out their ire at their superiors, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday said the army has been asked put in place a mechanism to address grievances of soldiers.

Recently a soldier had complained of discrimination on the social media under the army's sahayak system. The sahayak is a colonial practice under which jawans are assigned to officers to assist them in their personal tasks. A CRPF constable had complained about being made to mop floors and walk and clean the dogs of officers.

Army has been told to work out a mechanism to ensure the particular complaint is addressed: Manohar Parrikar in Lok Sabha on Sahayak system pic.twitter.com/0TP4A8gPNL  ANI (@ANI_news) March 10, 2017

In February, Lance Naik Roy Mathew was found hanging dead after which his family complained of him being harassed.

[Jawan who exposed rot in 'sahayak system' found dead]

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Mathew's suicide, Parrikar said that the matter is being investigated.

"Police is investigating the issue independently," he said.

According to reports, the army has proposed raising a new cadre of non-combatant assistants to help officers with their routine personal administration in peace stations.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 12:31 [IST]
Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership

Reforms in India being done by conviction, not compulsion: PM Narendra Modi

BJP leaders pay tribute to former minister Arun Jaitley on his third death anniversary

Arun Jaitley to discuss banks bad loans with RBI officials

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, March 10: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet with senior Reserve Bank of India officials here on Friday to discuss the issue of banks' non-performing assets or bad loans, sources said.

The magnitude of the problem can be gauged from the NPA figures of state-run banks, which at the end of the current fiscal's second quarter that ended in September, rose to Rs 6.3 lakh crore, as compared to Rs 5.5 lakh crore at the end of the first quarter.

RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya has suggested forming of a Private Asset Management Company and National Asset Management Company to tackle the bad loans issue.

As per the plan, the banking sector could be asked to restructure about 50 large stressed assets in sectors like metals, construction, telecom and textiles, by December 31, 2017.

IANS

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 10:16 [IST]
Bill to declare Pak a terror state withdrawn in Rajya Sabha

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A bill to declare Pakistan a terrorist state has been withdrawn. The bill, moved by Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar was withdrawn on Friday. Interestingly, this development comes just a few hours a US lawmaker introduced a bill to declare Pakistan as a sponsor of terrorism.

It may be recalled that OneIndia had reported the move would be opposed by the government. The Home ministry had decided to oppose this bill stating that it would damage international relations under the Geneva Convention. India is bound by international norms and since there are trade relations that are shared, it would not be correct to declare such countries as terror states, the Home ministry has said.

A private member's bill can become a law once it is screened by a house committee. The bill would then have to be passed by a majority vote in Parliament. The Bill moved by MP, Rajeev Chandrashekhar had sought to impose legal, economic and travel sanctions on citizens of countries which promote terror. The Bill had been discussed on February 3. The Home ministry has told the Parliament secretariat that it opposes the bill as it could jeopardise international relations under the Geneva Convention.

OneIndia News
BJP Parliamentary Board likely to meet on Saturday

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, March 10: The Parliamentary Board of the BJP may meet on Saturday afternoon when results of the five state assembly elections will be out.

With exit polls projecting a good show by the saffron party, including in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh where it is projected to emerge as the single largest party, its highest decision-making body is likely to take stock of the situation and chalk out future strategy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah are among the board's 12 members who also include Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot and J P Nadda.

A party source said the meeting has been tentatively scheduled for Saturday. However, there is a possibility that it could be held on Sunday depending on how the results pan out. The counting of votes will start Saturday morning.

Exit polls had on Thursday projected a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh, with BJP likely to lead the table, winning anywhere between 164 and 210 of the 403 seats. They also projected a good show by the party in Goa and Uttarakhand.

PTI

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 12:12 [IST]
Congress, Left, TMC walk out of Lok Sabha over LPG price hike

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, March 10: The Congress, Left and Trinamool Congress walked out of the Lok Sabha on Friday over the issue of hike in cooking gas price.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of increase in the gas price by Rs 2 every month. He was supported by the Left and the Trinamool Congress.

"The price of LPG was Rs 466 in 2016. It was increased six times in the past two years and now it is Rs 737 per cylinder," Kharge said.

"Crude prices have fallen in the international market, why is the benefit not being passed to the people?" he asked.

According to the Congress, the government was cheating those who gave up gas subsidy by increasing LPG prices.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, however, said the prices had to be increased as the price of LPG in the international market went up from $471 to $564 per metric tonne in the last one month.

"You should not mislead the house," Kumar said.

According to Ananth Kumar, an Empowered Group of Ministers in 2010 had decided that price of the LPG would be increased by Rs 2 a month.

"The credit for the hike therefore goes to Mallikarjun Kharge and Manmohan Singh," he said, triggering an uproar in the opposition benches.

The members denied the government's claim and soon after the members from the Congress, Left and the Trinamool Congress staged a walkout.

IANS
Counting of votes for all 5 states starts today, trends expected by 11 AM

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 11: Counting of votes for the high- stakes assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will take place on Saturday morning with trends expected to be available by 11 am.

By 12 noon, a final picture could emerge on who would be the major players in the five states. Election Commission officials said the counting of votes commences at 8 am and will be completed by late evening. Counting will take place at 157 centres -- Punjab (53), Goa (2), UP (75), Uttarakhand (15) and Manipur (12).

According to Election Commission guidelines, half-an-hour after the postal ballots are counted, the process of counting of EVM votes begins. The 'ballot unit' is switched on in the presence of senior poll officials and counting agents of candidates and the result command keyed in to get the results per machine. Where a paper trail audit or 'voter-verified paper audit trail' has been used, the counting agent can call for a count of the paper slips in the drop box attached to the voting machine, but a final count is taken by the returning officer.

Once the results are declared, the names of the winning candidates will find mention in the gazette. The gazette notification will initiate the process to form the next legislative assemblies in the states.

Exit polls by various news channel had predicted a hung assembly in the key Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh where BJP would emerge as the single largest party, winning anywhere between 164 and 210 of the 403 seats.

Most polls also forecast a close fight between the Congress, which is seeking to return to power in Punjab after a hiatus of 10 years, and Arvind Kejriwal's AAP, making its debut in the assembly polls in the state. They predicted victory for BJP in Uttarakhand, but the saffron party, though likely to lead the table in Goa, was projected to fall short of a majority in the tiny coastal state.

PTI
By Alexandra Ulmer CARACAS (Reuters) - A World Bank tribunal order for Venezuela to pay $1.4 billion in damages to Exxon Mobil Corp over nationalizations has been annulled, a lawyer for the government said on Thursday. "We were confident all along that our position was correct and are very pleased that the annulment committee agreed," Venezuela's lawyer George Kahale told Reuters by email. There was no immediate confirmation by the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) that is handling the case, one of many arising from nationalizations during Hugo Chavez's 1999-2013 rule of the South American OPEC nation. A spokesman for the U.S.-based oil company, Todd Spitler, did not confirm details but said: "ExxonMobil will continue to evaluate its legal rights and determine next steps." An annulment of the Exxon award would be welcome news to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's cash-strapped government as it faces a heavy foreign debt repayment schedule amid a deep domestic recession that has led to widespread shortages. Venezuela had challenged the 2014 award with various arguments, including that a previous decision from Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce to award Exxon $908 million should be deducted from the ICSID award. Chavez, the firebrand socialist leader whose rule was cut short by death from cancer, nationalized a range of oil ventures, including the Cerro Negro heavy crude project and a smaller project called La Ceiba, both operated by Exxon. (Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Sandra Maler and David Gregorio)
Exit polls: How Congress beat anti-incumbency in Manipur

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

It was a mixed bag in Manipur where the exit polls 2017 are concerned. While some polls gave the Congress a big win, others predicted that the BJP would take the state. According to the India Today-My Axis India exit polls, the Congress is winning 30 to 36 seats in Manipur.

If the Congress wins the state there would be a couple of factors that would have worked in its favour. The exit poll says that BJP would win 16 to 22 states and would not be able to wrest power from the Congress that has ruled the state for 15 years.

The key highlight of this poll is that Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has managed to beat the anti-incumbency wave. He has in fact used the economic blockade that paralysed the state for 127 days to his advantage. If the exit poll results are anything to go by then, Singh has managed to tell the people that the centre had not cooperated with the state government in solving the problem.

The Congress in the run up to the elections managed to rope in several BJP leaders who were disgruntled for not getting tickets. This could be another favour that may have worked for the Congress.

If the exit polls are right then the BJP would ponder over a couple of factors. The BJP should have played a better role in sorting out the crisis as a result of the economic blockade. Further it would introspect on its ticket distribution.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 8:15 [IST]
Former IAF employee was 'prime motivator' in IS inspired module

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A man who took voluntary retirement from the Indian Air force has been arrested in connection with the Bhopal-Ujjain train bombing case. A bomb exploded on the train on Tuesday in which nine persons were injured.

The accused, Ghaus Khan, according to investigators is a resident of Anwarganj and had retired from the IAF in 1993. Investigators said that he was the prime motivator for the group. Khan's arrest takes the total number of persons in custody to nine.

UP Anti-Terrorism Squad officials say that it was Khan who rented out the house in Thakurganj where the encounter took place. In the encounter that lasted 11 hours, Saifullah was gunned down.

[How confusion marred the Lucknow encounter]

Meanwhile, investigations into the train bombing showed that potassium mixed with gun powder was used in the bomb. It was a low-intensity explosion. "Material which is commonly used in firecrackers had been used," an investigating officer told OneIndia.

The probe into the train bombing has now been handed over to the National Investigation Agency. The NIA will study the similarities between this case and other incidents of train accidents that are being probed as Inter-Services Intelligence sponsored sabotages.

OneIndia News
Petrol, diesel new rates: Check the price of fuel in your city today

India stands up again, sends 40,000 Metric Tonnes of diesel to Sri Lanka

'Govt not considering reduction of taxes on petrol, diesel'

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, March 10: The government is not considering any reduction of taxes on petrol and diesel, Parliament was informed on Friday.

"Government has no such proposal under consideration at present to reduce taxes on petrol and diesel," Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

On unbranded petrol, central excise duty is currently Rs 21.48 per litre, additional duty of customs is Rs 6 per litre, while basic customs duty is at 2.5 per cent.

On branded petrol, central excise duty is currently Rs 22.66 per litre, additional duty of customs is Rs 6 per litre, while basic customs duty is at 2.5 per cent.

On unbranded diesel, central excise duty is currently Rs 17.33 per litre, additional duty of customs is Rs 6 per litre, while basic customs duty is at 2.5 per cent.

On branded diesel, central excise duty is currently Rs 19.69 per litre, additional duty of customs is Rs 6 per litre, while basic customs duty is at 2.5 per cent.

As on March 1, petrol price in the national capital stood at Rs 71.14 per litre, while diesel at Rs 59.02 per litre.

IANS
It's Modi wave: Celebrations begin for BJP ahead of UP election results

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Lucknow, March 10: The 'confident' cadres of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh began 'victory' celebrations on Friday, hours ahead of the election results scheduled to be announced on Saturday.

"BJP workers celebrate in Allahabad after #ExitPolls show the party leading/winning in Uttar Pradesh," tweeted ANI.

BJP workers celebrate in Allahabad after #ExitPolls show the party leading/winning in Uttar Pradesh pic.twitter.com/th1oLgTKsF  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 10, 2017

According to all the exit poll predictions--announced on Thursday-- the BJP would emerge as the single largest party in UP. Two exit poll results gave the party a complete sweep to form the next government in the state. Three results--HuffPost-CVoter, MRC-NewsX and Lokniti-ABP--gave the BJP fewer than 200 seats in UP, while Times Now-VMR gave the party between 190-210 seats. However, Today's Chanakya and India Today - Axis My India gave the party a massive majority. In UP, a party needs 202 seats to form the government.

Earlier, senior BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi has said that the people of the state have decided not to support any alliance (the Samajwadi Party-Congress) in the state. Expressing confidence, Lekhi said that the BJP would form the next government in the state with absolute majority.

On Thursday, Bollywood actress and Mathura MP Hema Malini said that the saffron party has worked extremely hard to ensure that the results are in its favour this time.

"What is better to know than the fact that BJP is winning as per the exit polls? I have done quite a lot of campaign; we have all worked very hard for the election," she said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 15:50 [IST]
Final summit in May

The 8,167-metre tall peak is located in Nepal and this will be the first expedition of the force to this mountain. It was successfully climbed for the first time by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition in 1960, an ITBP official said. The team is expected to make the final summit anytime in May and return by June.

Photo courtesy: ITBP's Twitter handle

Extensively trained team

"The expedition team has been put through rigorous physical training and has been extensively trained on all technical aspects required to tackle difficulties while ascending through glacial fields, knife icy ridges, rocky spires on its way to higher altitude camps and summit," the official said.

Photo courtesy: ITBP's Twitter handle

A gateway to climbers

"The team is fully equipped with latest snow and rock equipment. It may summit the peak on any day in May, 2017 depending upon favorable weather conditions," the official said.

The town of Pokhara is south of the Annapurnas, an important regional center and the gateway for climbers and trekkers visiting both ranges as well as a tourist destination in its own right.

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Raised in 1962

The force, raised in 1962, is tasked to guard the 3,488-km Sino-Indian frontier and its border posts are located at altitudes ranging from 9,000-feet to 18,700-feet.

Photo courtesy: ITBP's Twitter handle
Lunar eclipse 2022: Temples to be closed on Nov 8; Are you allowed to worship?

Modi lauds passage of Maternity Leave Bill, says it protects women's employment

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, March 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the passage of the Maternity Benefit Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha. Its passage "is a landmark moment in our efforts towards women-led development", he tweeted.

The bill ensures better health and well-being of the mother and child. "Increase in maternity leave is a welcome provision," Modi said. "Employment of women is protected thanks to the bill." He also lauded the mandatory provision of creche in offices.

Employment of women is protected thanks to Maternity Benefit Amendment Bill. Mandatory provision of creche in offices is laudable.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 10, 2017

The bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday, increases maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks. It also provides for leave up to 12 weeks for a woman who adopts a child below the age of three months and for commissioning mothers.

Passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 11, 2016, the bill -- once it becomes law -- will be applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more persons.

IANS
Neduvasal protests called off after Union minister holds talks

India

oi-Anusha

The 22-day long protest in Neduvasal against the Union government's hydrocarbon exploration project was called off on Thursday. Talks held between Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and the protesting villagers led to the temporary withdrawal of the stir. The Bharatiya Janata Party's Radhakrishnan assured protesters that a meeting would be arranged with Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan where concerns of the villagers would be addressed.

[#SaveNeduvasal: No permission for hydrocarbon project says TN CM]

The protesters at neighbouring Nallandarkollai and Vadakadu villages, however, refused to call off the agitation. Neduvasal protesters told the minister that they will resume protests if the project was not scrapped in a week's time. "Arrangements are being made for a delegation to meet Pradhan in Delhi on March 15 or 16. Agricultural activities have been affected due to the ongoing protests in around 60 villages. Students who are part of the protests should not face hindrance to their examinations and so we have decided to call off the protest for now," said Senthilnathan, a member of the committee protesting against Neduvasal hydrocarbon project.

[Neduvasal says no to Centre's hydrocarbon exploration project]

Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and Tamil Nadu Health Minister Vijay Bhaskar along with District Collector S Ganesh held talks with protesters at Neduvasal on Thursday to convince them to give up protests and talk over the concerns. "The Union government will not implement any project that is against the interests of the people. The project was conceived much before the BJP came into power but I have not come here in my capacity as a minister or politician. I am here to understand your plight and help resolve your problems," said Pon Radhakrishnan.

OneIndia News
No joyrides in jeep, motorcycle on Goa beaches

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Panaji, March 10: Taking a joyride in a jeep or a motorcycle on Goa's popular beaches may soon be a thing of the past, with a top official of a private lifeguard agency saying that a strategy was being worked out with the state police machinery to stop the errant practice.

Ankit Somani, MD, Drishti Lifesaving, the private agency hired by the state Tourism Ministry to provide beach management solutions along Goa's busy beaches, also said it is working to ensure better coordination with the state police machinery to make conditions more secure for the four million plus visiting tourists.

"It is the tourists who largely complain and face the menace of private vehicular movement on the beaches. Playing the additional role of stewards at the beaches, we put across this problem and other wrongdoings which take place at the beaches to the police," Somani told IANS, adding that car registration numbers of the violators would be recorded and be handed over to the police for action.

The Goa Tourism Ministry first appointed a private lifeguard agency nearly a decade ago to bring down the rate of drowning along popular beaches like Calangute, Baga and Anjuna. The lifeguard cover was later extended to most of the beaches frequented by tourists.

Somani now claims that there was still a need to create awareness about beach safety to ensure that visitors are safe. The issue of beach visitors defying lifeguards, especially vis-a-vis sticking to the demarcated swim zone, persists.

"There are times when we come across tourists who don't want to adhere to preventive measures, for example, they may insist on swimming in the no-swim zones. We explain the dangers to them in a calm manner. However, in case we can't handle them we inform the police officers, who come in and assist in the situation," Somani said.

The official also said that strategies were being worked out with the state police to handle trouble makers and crowd management on the beaches.

Somani said that at a recent meeting with top police officers, a strategy was worked out to "handle aggressive tourists on the beaches and deployment of IRB (India Reserve Battalion) personnel at some of the less popular beaches which has seen a surge of crowds in recent times, especially over weekends and holidays".

Somani also said that in view of the rush of tourists to Goa's beaches on weekends, marshalling of lifeguards and their duties is key.

"Our lifeguards are at full strength on holidays and weekends due to the surge of visitors to the beaches. We don't plan any day offs during weekends and holidays. On an average we have 14 lifeguards stationed on each of the 40 beaches which are manned by us," he said.

"On popular beaches such as Baga, Calangute and Colva we have an average of 22 lifeguards deployed. Lifeguards take their weekly offs, and planned leaves on non-peak days," Somani said.

IANS

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 12:43 [IST]
Rahul Gandhi hopes for Bihar victory encore in Uttar Pradesh

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, March 10: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday dismissed the results of various exit polls--giving maximum number of seats to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

When reporters asked him to comment on the exit poll results, Rahul said, "Our alliance is winning. Such exit polls we saw in Bihar also. We will talk tomorrow."

During the Bihar Assembly elections in 2015, pollsters predicted the BJP to win the state. Contrary to the exit poll reports, the grand alliance of the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress emerged victorious with a thumping majority. For the UP Assembly elections, the Congress has forged an alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party. Like in Bihar, the Congress is a junior partner in the UP alliance.

According to all the exit poll predictions--announced on Thursday-- the BJP would emerge as the single largest party in UP. Two exit poll results gave the party a complete sweep to form the next government in the state. Three results--HuffPost-CVoter, MRC-NewsX and Lokniti-ABP--gave the BJP fewer than 200 seats in UP, while Times Now-VMR gave the party between 190-210 seats. However, Today's Chanakya and India Today - Axis My India gave the party a massive majority. In UP, a party needs 202 seats to form the government.

On Thursday, in an interview with BBC Hindi, SP president Akhilesh Yadav indicted that he might join hands with the Bahujan Samaj Party--in case the alliance does not get a majority-- to form the next government in the state. "Nobody wants President's Rule, the BJP to run Uttar Pradesh by remote control," Akhilesh said in the interview.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 14:39 [IST]
Reliance Jio and Paytm tenders apology for using PM's photo in ads

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 10: Reliance Jio and Paytm have apologised for their "inadvertent mistake" in using Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photograph in their advertisements without permission, the government on Friday informed Parliament.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs had sent notices to both the companies under the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act of 1950, which bars of Prime Minister's name and picture for commercial use.

"Clarifications were sought by the Department of Consumer Affairs from Paytm and Reliance Jio wherein they have apologised for their inadvertent mistake," Minister of State for Consumer Affairs C R Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

[Also read: Bill to declare Pak a terror state withdrawn in Rajya Sabha]

The two companies used the photograph of the Prime Minister in their respective full page advertisements contravening the 'prior permission' stipulated under the Act, he said. Based on the department's request, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has issued an advisory to print medium to check-up the permission from competent authority before issuing any advertisement wherein the emblem and names specified under the Act are mentioned, he added.

Responding to a query whether there is any mechanism to approve of Prime Minister's photo by private firms or if the government plans to introduce one, the minister said a committee is in place to examine such proposals.

The Section 3 of the Act provides that no person shall use or continue to use any name or emblem for the purpose of any trade, business, calling or profession without the previous permission of the central government. The law provides that "any person who contravenes the provisions of Section 3 shall be punishable with fine, which may exceed to Rs 500".

In September last year, Reliance Jio had through its advertisements, dedicated the Reliance Jio 4G service to the Modi government's flagship Digital India project. Full-page "Reliance Jio: Digital Life" advertisements were published with a photograph of the Prime Minister, dressed in a blue jacket, triggering a political controversy.

After the government announced the decision on 8 November, issued an advertisement welcoming the move as it boosted use of e-wallets.

PTI
FINEST KIND CLINIC AND FISHMARKET.... Discussing medicine, culture, and the joys of cooking Pansit.
RSS worker's killers had Indian Mujahideen links say police

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The killers of RSS worker Rudresh who was murdered in Bengaluru had links with the Indian Mujahideen according to the police. The police informed the Karnataka High Court the killers had no personal enmity with Rudresh but they were in touch with members of the IM and al-Ummah.

Further it was submitted that the accused were trained on how to kill people instantly. The government submitted that the call records revealed that the accused were in contact with IM and al-Ummah leaders.

During the interrogation the accused were alleged to have told the police that they were told to target leaders of a particular community. The accused including Popular Front of India leader Asim Sharif challenged the transfer of the case to the NIA from the police.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 16:45 [IST]
Saifullah's father praised again, this time in Rajya Sabha

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

By Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha on Friday praised Saifullah's father Sartaj for his sentiments towards the country. During the proceedings, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that both Lucknow terror operation and Madhya Pradesh train blast incident will be probed by NIA.

Singh once again said that the whole country is proud of Sartaj who refused to take his Islamic State-inspired son's body who was gunned in Lucknow terror operation a few days ago. He added that both the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh police has acted very swiftly during the Lucknow terror operation and Madhya Pradesh train blast.

[Also read: Why the statement by slain terrorist's father is encouraging]

Deputy Speaker of Rajya Sabha PJ Kurien said that "I think the whole house will be proud of the sentiments of Sartaj." Sartaj on Thursday expressed his gratitude towards Singh and said that the message should be passed to everyone in the country.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 11: 20 am on Friday after disruption in the Lok Sabha by the oppositions.

OneIndia News
SC issues bailable warrant against Justice Karnan

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Supreme Court has issued a bailable warrant against Justice C Karnan in a contempt case. The case was taken up suo motu by the Supreme Court. Justice Karnan had defied the SC order and failed to appear before the benxh.

The Bench is currently debating how to deal with the defiance. The court had given Justice Karnan time till March 10 to reply to the contempt notice, but he failed to do so.

Justice Karnan had created a storm after he alleged that he was being targeted because he was a Dalit. He also questioned the collegium of the Supreme Court which transferred him from the Madras High Court to Calcutta.

Senior counsel, K K Venugopal appearing for the Madras High Court told the Bench that the judges need protection from Justice Karnan's verbal abuse and wild charges. He also said that the judge had leveled malicious rape charges against a Madras HC judge.

On Wednesday the Supreme Court had issued contempt notices to Justice R Karnan, a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court. The SC also directed the judge to be present before the court on February 13 to explain why contempt proceedings could not be initiated against him. The court also withdrew all judicial work from Justice Karnan and asked him to return all files.

It is for the first time in history that a contempt case is being heard against a sitting judge of a high court. A seven-judge Constitutional Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, J S Khehar is hearing the case against Justice C S Karnan who had lashed out at his colleagues accusing them of corruption.

Justice Karnan had also written to the Prime Minister on January 23 accusing a sitting high court judge due for elevation of corruption. He also said that the charges leveled by him must be probed.

OneIndia News
ISI pumped in millions and separatists diverted 40 per cent of it to fund childrens lifestyle

Separatists call for shutdown, put under house arrest in Srinagar

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Srinagar, March 10: Senior separatist leaders in the Kashmir Valley were placed under house arrest and heavy deployment of security forces was made to prevent protests after Friday's congregational prayers here.

Senior separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah, Ashraf Sehrai, Zafar Akbar Bhat and Ashraf Laway were put under house arrest to prevent post Friday prayer protests in Srinagar.

Mirwaiz Umer was scheduled to lead a protest march after the Friday prayers in the Nowhatta area of old city Srinagar. After the killing of a teenager, Aamir Wani, in clashes with the security forces in Padgampora village in Pulwama district on Thursday, separatists had called for a protest shutdown across the valley on Friday.

Another civilian, Jalal-ud-Din, was also brought dead to the hospital after the clashes. According to police, doctors had certified that he had no external or internal injury and his death was not connected with the clashes.

Police said inquest proceedings were ordered into Jalal-ud-Din's death. Heavy deployments of police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were made in old city and law and order sensitive areas of uptown Srinagar.

"Similar law and order maintenance arrangements have been made in south Kashmir areas as well, but no curfew has been imposed anywhere in the valley," a senior police official said. Shops, public transport and other businesses remained closed across the valley. Most educational institutions were also closed.

Attendance in banks, post offices and government offices was thin due to non-availability of public transport.

IANS
SP cries foul over exit poll results; alleges manipulation by TV channels under pressure

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Lucknow, March 10: After the exit poll results predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to get the maximum number of seats in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2017, the incumbent Samajwadi Party has cast aspersion on the validity of the entire process. "I have information that the original exit polls were changed under pressure by channels a few days ago," senior SP leader Ram gopal Yadav was quoted by ANI.

Looking at the high-stake UP exit poll results--all of them predicted that the BJP would emerge as the single largest party, but two gave the party a complete sweep to form the next government in the state. HuffPost-CVoter, MRC-NewsX and Lokniti-ABP all gave the BJP fewer than 200 seats in UP, while Times Now-VMR gave the party between 190-210 seats. However, Today's Chanakya and India Today - Axis My India gave the party a massive majority. In UP, a party needs 202 seats to form the government.

On Thursday, Ram Gopal asserted that Akhilesh Yadav will get a second consecutive term as chief minister in UP. Ram Gopal said the party along with the Congress will get 'absolute majority' in the state assembly as he ruled out possibility of a hung verdict.

"The Samajwadi Party-Congress combine is set to get absolute majority. We will win 236-240 seats...there is no question of hung assembly," the party general secretary told reporters on Parliament premises.

Even party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav said that the SP is coming to come in the state, once again. He added that his son will become the chief minister of the state.

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 11:36 [IST]
Tibetan in exile will thank the world for support

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Dharamsala, March 10: The Central Tibetan Administration will in 2018 mark completion of 60 years in exile and observe it as a year of gratitude to the world, especially India, for extending support, Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay said on Friday.

He asked the Chinese government to end discriminatory policies, issue travel documents to Tibetans and respect their freedom of movement -- within and outside of Tibet.

"The Kashag (cabinet) is observing 2017 as a year of campaign. The year 2018 will mark 60 years since Tibetans first set foothold in exile," Sangay said.

"We will, therefore, observe 2018 as a year of gratitude to express our deep appreciation to the governments and people around the world, in particular India," he said here on the 58th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day.

The Tibetan administration observes March 10 as the day Chinese troops suppressed the Tibetan uprising in Lhasa in 1959, forcing the Dalai Lama and over 80,000 Tibetans into exile in India and other countries.

Calling on the Chinese leadership to review its policies in Tibet and revisit Hu Yaobang initiated liberal policies on Tibetan people, Sangay said the Amnesty International Report 2015/2016 pointed to increasing restrictions on Tibetan monasteries.

The 2016 Freedom House report ranked Tibet the second worst in political and civil rights after Syria, he said in a statement.

Congratulating once again US President Donald Trump on his election, Sangay said: "We are encouraged to see the new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's assurance that the Trump administration will continue to support the Tibetan cause, receive His Holiness the Dalai Lama and continue to encourage dialogue between Beijing and representatives of Tibet's government in exile and/or the Dalai Lama."

Sangay in December last year said the European Parliament demonstrated its concern about the issue of Tibet by adopting an urgency resolution on Tibet, calling on the resumption of dialogue with Tibetan representatives to peacefully resolve the issue.

The urgency resolution condemned the demolition of Larung Gar.

The recent self-immolation by 33-year-old Tashi Rabten in addition to 144 self-immolations in Tibet in the past is evidence of the repression and crackdown, Sangay, the first democratically elected Prime Minister, said.

The Tibetan administration in exile is based in the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala.

IANS

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 12:12 [IST]
Tight security in UP ahead for counting of votes

India

pti-PTI

Lucknow, March 10: Amid tight security arrangements, counting of votes for all the 403 Uttar Pradesh Assembly seats will be taken up on Saturday. "Counting of votes for 403 Assembly seats will start at 8 in the morning. Counting of ballots will take place in all the 75 districts," state election office said here on Friday.

ABP-CSDS predicts hung assembly in UP, BJP to bag maximum seats

In addition to general observers, a micro-observer will be deputed at each and every counting table to keep an eye on counting. Three-tier security arrangements have been made to ensure full proof security in and around the counting centres. Only central para-military forces will be deployed inside the counting centres while local police will be deployed in the outer circle and armed forces from other states will be around the centres to prevent the entry of any unauthorised persons.

20,000 personnel of central forces were being deployed, police said. A total of 78 counting centres have been set up in the state. In three districts of Amethi, Azamgarh and Kushinagar two counting centres each have been set up and in remaining all 72 district counting will be held at one place. The Election Commission has issued strict guidelines on security arrangements for counting of votes.

UP elections 2017: Rahul Gandhi dismisses opinion polls, confident of victory

It has prohibited mobile phones inside the counting halls. As part of the three-tier security arrangements, adequate local police force shall be stationed at first point of entry to check the identity of the persons seeking entry into the counting premises. A senior magistrate will be posted at the entrance to control the crowd and regulate the entry.

The Election commission has said the 100-metre area around a counting premise or campus should be demarcated as pedestrian zone and no vehicles should be allowed within this perimeter. Additional CCTV cameras will be installed at such locations from where the carrying of EVMs from strong rooms to the counting hall can be recorded for effective monitoring. Uttar Pradesh had seven-phase polling that started on February 11 and ended on March 8.

PTI
UP: Kanpur airport to get World-Class facilities by year end

Two injured in an explosion at medical college in Kanpur

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

By Gulam Rabbani

Kanpur: Two people were injured after an explosion in Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. According to reports, it is said that it could be a firecracker. The injured are undergoing treatment at the same hospital.

Kanpur (UP): Two injured in an explosion in GSVM Medical College pic.twitter.com/a3OT11QJNo  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 10, 2017

There is no action from the police or the administration yet. Further details awaited.
UP election: Here are the memorable firsts

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Lucknow, March 10: The long, staggered assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, whose results are to be announced on March 11, would be remembered for innumerable reasons. While, like most similar tests at the hustings, this one too had its share of the avoidable -- be it use of words like KaSaB, gadha (ass) or below the belt jibes against political opponents, there were many firsts in the staggered, seven-phased polls spread over a month of voting.

It was for the first time since 1999 that Congress President Sonia Gandhi did not campaign in Uttar Pradesh, from where she and her son Rahul Gandhi are members of the Lok Sabha. Citing poor health and doctors' advice, especially after the near-fatal bout of asthma she suffered in Varanasi during a road show last year, she thought it best to avoid the hurly-burly of campaigning.

Samajwadi Party mentor and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav too largely skipped the campaign and only canvassed for daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who is contesting from Lucknow Cantt on an SP ticket, brother Shivpal Singh Yadav in Jaswantnagar and old aide Parasnath Yadav in Ghazipur. This is the first time since he started practising active politics in the 1960s that the Yadav chieftain largely missed a campaign.

Completely sidelined this time by his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who edged him out as President of the SP, Mulayam had addressed some 100 rallies in the 2012 assembly polls. Shivpal Singh Yadav, who until not long ago was the number two in the party and its chief strategist, had no work this time around. He was neither invited nor did he go anywhere to campaign for party workers.

The other first from the first family of Uttar Pradesh was the public statements by Mulayam's second wife Sadhna Gupta, who, just hours before the last round in Poorvanchal, gave an hour-long interview to a TV news agency, alleging slight and saying that Akhilesh should not have humiliated 'Neta-ji'. Largely in the background over the past two decades, this was Sadhna's first outing in public.

It was also for the first time that the Yadav clan stepped out of Saifai to contest state elections. While most members of the Mulayam clan are from in and around the Saifai belt, this time nephew Anurag Yadav was fielded from Sarojininagar and, of course, Aparna Yadav from Lucknow Cantt.

The state polls also had a first in the fact that Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Vadra figured in the list of all phases as a star campaigner though she obliged with just one rally in Rae Bareli, her mother's Lok Sabha constituency. It was also the first time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or for that matter any Prime Minister, spent so much time and energy on a state assembly election.

At the end of the seven-phase polls, Modi had addressed 23 mega rallies and had done two roadshows. Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah also got into the "first list" by addressing 210 rallies.

It was, incidentally, also the first time that BJP veterans L.K. Advani and Kanpur MP Murli Manohar Joshi did not hit the campaign trail. Once the faces of all BJP campaigns, they were a complete washout in the Uttar Pradesh polls this time.

Sheila Dixit, the former Delhi Chief Minister, who was pitched as the 'UP bahu' and the presumptive Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister before the Congress struck an alliance with the SP, was also nowhere to be seen during the campaign.

For the state police, there were many firsts too. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljeet Chowdhary said there were 'highest seizures of unaccounted money, illicit liquor and illegal vehicles' during the campaign. The state police seized almost Rs 40 crore of the total Rs 119.42 crores of illegal cash caught during elections.

A staggering 2.23 million bulk litres of liquor, costing a whopping Rs 64.17 crore, was seized and 3.62 million people were booked under various sections of the IPC and of the warrants issued against 22,400 people, 21,653 were served. Police also undertook a mammoth task on depositing 870,000 licensed weapons.

"The experience of conducting smooth elections is satisfying," a senior official told IANS, while pointing out that despite a huge influx of VVIPs, there was no untoward incident. Intelligence officials concede that the road shows undertaken by Modi in an open SUV in Varanasi and another SPG protectee, Rahul Gandhi, in Meerut, Agra, Allahabad, Varanasi and Lucknow were security nightmares. But now that all has ended well, they have heaved a sigh of relief.

Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Singh, while talking to IANS on phone from New Delhi, said there were many firsts for the poll panel too during the Uttar Pradesh elections. "Many first-time initiatives were undertaken by the state CEO -- like launch of many mobile applications for helping voters and a grievance redressal portal," he informed.

Incidentally, it was for the first time that a suspected terrorist was killed in a gun battle on the day of polling -- the last phase in Poorvanchal -- on March 8.

IANS

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 14:26 [IST]
Vijay Mallya ready for one-time settlement with banks

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, March 10: The embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Friday took to Twitter saying he is ready to negotiate with banks to pay a one-time settlement charge on Rs 9,000-crore loan default.

"Public sector banks have policies for one-time settlements. Hundreds of borrowers have settled. Why should this be denied to us? Our substantial offer before the honourable Supreme Court was rejected by banks without consideration. (I) am ready to talk settlement on fair basis," Mallya said in a tweet.

He further said: "Wish the Supreme Court would intervene and put an end to all this by directing banks and us to negotiate and settle. We are ready." Mallya added that he has "humbly obeyed every single court order without exception" and "seems as if government is bent on holding me guilty without fair trial".

"The allegations against me by the Attorney General before the Supreme Court only prove the attitude of the government against me," he went on to say. On Thursday, the Supreme Court posed a question to Mallya about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and transfer of USD 40 million to his children.

A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and U U Lalit put forth the queries during the day-long hearing following which it reserved the orders on two pleas from lenders seeking contempt action against Mallya and a direction to him to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo.

Last month, the Indian government handed over to the UK an extradition request for the businessman, who is facing cases of loan default and other financial irregularities. Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2.

PTI

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 12:38 [IST]
West Bengal government issues notices to 125 schools over religious intolerance

India

oi-Anusha

The West Bengal government on Thursday issued show cause notices to 125 schools accusing them of promoting 'religious intolerance'. The state's Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said that out of the 125 schools, 96 had not obtained NOC objection certificates from the government. The minister added that the notice was only the first step of investigation following a complaint against the schools for allegedly promoting religious intolerance.

"This is a genuine complaint and the school education department is inquiring into the charges against those schools. I have to mention that 5 of these schools have permissions from previous government but 96 do not have an NOC. They are running without required permission," he said after confirming that the notices have been sent.

The government, however, is being accused of targeting Hindu schools for appeasement politics. "I was informed that the RSS website claims that 300 schools are run by their trust in west Bengal. If that is the case, then we will identify those schools. If they are found to be in line with the claim of the RSS then everything will be stopped and nobody will be allowed to teach on religious doctrine," Chatterjee told the media.

OneIndia News
Why the statement by slain terrorist's father is encouraging

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

In the aftermath of the Lucknow encounter, there have been two very encouraging statements made by the family members of the accused. Saifullah, who was shot dead in the encounter was allegedly part of a module that carried out the Bhopal-Ujjain train bombing.

[How confusion marred the Lucknow encounter]

His father, Sartaj who was obviously angry with his son that he would not accept the body of an anti-national. He was praised by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Parliament on Thursday. Sartaj said that the message from the Home minister should be for the entire nation. "Ordinary people like us are being respected by ministers," he said.

[LS discusses Lucknow encounter, hate crimes]

On the other hand, Kadir, the son of Ghaus Khan, the former IAF employee too said that his father should be punished if found guilty. Kadir said a thorough probe should be conducted and if found guilty his father must be punished.

These are encouraging messages from family members. With the threat of terrorism rising with each passing day, there are so many youths who get carried away by ideology preached by terrorist outfits. While dealing with groups such as the Islamic State which thrive on imposing its ideology on the youngsters, such statements by family members are only encouraging and heartening.

Several youths get indoctrinated on the internet with the promises made by the IS. The agencies had always maintained that this war against the IS cannot be fought on the basis of investigation and punishment alone. The elders have a big role to play in telling their children about the evil ways of the IS or any other terror outfit.

Parents, elders and religious leaders have been roped in several times to counsel the youth who have gone astray. They play a big role in preventing their children from joining such groups. This would effectively work better in solving the problem rather than punish the youth.

In such a scenario, the statement by Sartaj is welcome. It delivers a very strong message to many that a criminal or anti-national is not welcome even it is their own. This is a message to all those who believe that the IS is the solution to the problem. If the country has more people such as Sartaj, who knows, a bulk of the problem may just be solved.

OneIndia News
Will Akhilesh make unlikely moves to keep BJP out of UP?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Ratan Mani Lal

A day before the Big Day, Lucknow is agog with all kinds of wild and exciting possibilities. Out of the more than 14 crore voters in Uttar Pradesh, nearly 60 per cent have marked their choice and all the three major political formations in the fray are claiming that they are the favoured ones.

But despite the day of results being so close, there are signs of upheaval in the ruling Samajwadi Party that could speaks volumes about the stakes the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav seems to have put in the 2017 assembly election.

Having emerged as the statutory custodian of the Samajwadi Party and its symbol at the end of a prolonged internecine conflict within the party, Akhilesh put his political reputation at stake by aligning with the Congress party to take on the big challenger Bharatiya Janata Party. This coalition came after months of speculation and rumours. At the end of it all, it was made to appear that his friendship with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was more important than all the high-sounding talk about Kaam bolta hai. The coalition with the Congress, apparently, was supposed to weigh in heavier on voters' minds than the expressway, metro train, pension scheme, free laptops and other projects that the SP government had launched.

The exit polls on March 9, however, indicated that the 'development' works as well as the alliance with the Congress had possibly failed to win popular support for the SP-Congress combine. The combine, without exception, was placed at the second spot after the BJP with the Bahujan Samaj Party at the third spot in all the exit polls conducted by various TV channels and agencies.

Instead of saying that the exit polls were not needed to be taken seriously and one must wait for the actual results, different representatives of the SP took it upon themselves to give out predictable yet unwarranted statements about the exit poll results.

First, it was a Cabinet Minister Ravidas Mehrotra who holds the dubious distinction of having been arrested for the maximum number of times in his political career. He said that the SP was better off without the Congress, and that the Congress workers did not do anything to help SP candidates, and that the SP would have won more seats if it had fought the election alone. It was obvious that the blame for the supposed poor show of the SP was being laid at the doors of the Congress.

Then came the statement of Mohammad Azam Khan, another senior cabinet minister who is said to be the most prominent Muslim face of the SP. He said that the blame for the supposed defeat of the SP did not rest upon Akhilesh alone. The hint was obvious that the Congress could be responsible for the combine's poor show. Interestingly, statements of both Mehrotra and Khan indicated a Congress-style defence mechanism where, in case of an electoral setback, the party president is never to be blamed.

And then came the much-quoted statement of Akhilesh himself. He said in an interaction with a news organisation that no one wanted President's Rule in the state and BJP running the government 'through remote control'. And then he did not rule the possibility of a tie-up with the BSP, recalling how he used to call Mayawati bua (aunt or father's sister). He indicated that he would be open to all possibilities to prevent the BJP from coming to power.

For Akhilesh, the success of the alliance with the Congress is vital for his political future, since not many in his party or family take kindly to the decision, and if the SP-Congress combine failed to come to power on its own, it could well put a big question mark over his political maturity to have taken the decision about the alliance.

Throughout the campaign, Akhilesh has commented upon Mayawati as 'the leader of the party of stones' in an apparent reference to the huge marble-and-stone monuments built by Mayawati during the BSP regime in the past. However, the more scathing comments were always reserved for Modi, including the jibe related to 'donkeys from Gujarat'.

On the other hand, Mayawati never made a scathing comment against the Congress or Rahul, reserving her barbs instead for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Akhilesh. Earlier on, on the day of their first joint press meet, Rahul had made clear his respect for Mayawati even as Akhilesh had made a sarcastic comment about her.

Could it be that Akhilesh is expecting his newly-found ally Rahul approaching the BSP to cobble up a coalition in case the numbers of the two parties so demanded and the BJP fell short of a simple majority? Could it be that Akhilesh too was trying to put up his case before Mayawati? Could it be that in case of none of the three formations reaching the magic figure of 202, it could be Congress+BSP, or SP+BSP, or better still, SP+Congress+BSP that could approach the governor with a claim to form to keep the BJP out of power?

Could it be that the BJP wanted just this to happen in case it was not reaching the magic figure?

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 11:22 [IST]
How the numbers add up in UP: This is what BJP's win percentage was

Will regional parties be able to stop BJP in UP?

India

oi-PTI

Lucknow, March 10: The results of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Saturday will decide the fate of regional satraps Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati as they seek to prevent the BJP from gaining power in the politically-crucial state.

These elections are widely being seen as a virtual referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation decision and they would also be a test for Yadav who recently took charge as the national president of the Samajwadi Party.

The elections will decide the fate of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party which had failed to open its account in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Since Akhilesh took over the reins of the SP in January, this is the first assembly election where he is calling all the shots ranging from choice of candidates to deciding the party's poll strategy.

He had met with stiff opposition from different quarters of the party but he stuck to his stand. The result of the elections would prove his leadership abilities, decision- making skills and political acumen. He forged a pre-poll alliance with the Congress whose success or failure may establish or destablise him depending upon the poll outcome.

The BJP, which has been out of power in UP for 14 years, is anxiously waiting for the 'lotus' to bloom in the politically crucial state. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and its ally, Apna Dal, swept the polls bagging 73 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, riding the Modi wave. The popularity of the BSP would also be put to test this time.

In the last two assembly elections, the voters of the state had given clear mandates. In 2012, the SP won 224 seats followed by the BSP (80) and the BJP (47). The Congress and the RLD, which had contested the Assembly elections together, bagged 28 and 9 seats respectively.

In 2007, the BSP had emerged as the largest party with 206 seats followed by the SP which won 97 seats. The BJP had won 51 seats, while the RLD bagged 10 seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the RLD could not win a single seat. Ajit Singh lost to BJP's Satypal Singh in his bastion of Baghpat, while his son Jayant Chaudhary also lost in Mathura to BJP's Hema Malini.

PTI

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 16:52 [IST]
As a goodwill gesture, SriLanka releases 53 Indian fishermen

International

pti-PTI

Colombo, Mar 10: Fifty-three Indian fishermen were today released from a Sri Lankan jail, days after the two countries decided to release fishermen in each other's custody to defuse tension following the killing of an Indian fisherman allegedly by the Lankan navy.

"53 fishermen have been released from Jaffna jail while 32 others are still in custody in Vuvuniya jail," Fishery Ministry officials said. Sri Lanka had earlier informed the Indian High Commission in Colombo that it will release all 85 Indian fishermen in their custody, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

Sri Lanka and India on Wednesday agreed to release fishermen held in each other's custody after a high-level discussion between the two sides in Colombo in a bid to defuse the tension following the killing of an Indian fisherman.

A 22-year-old fisherman from Tamil Nadu was killed and another injured on March 6 allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy.

PTI
China to cut 3 lakh troops

International

pti-PTI

Beijing, Mar 10: China will reduce the number of reserves for its 2.3-million-strong army and increase them for other services as part of reforms aimed at reshaping the reserve forces adapt to information warfare.

Sheng Bin, chief of National Defence Mobilisation department of China's Central Military Commission, said China will reduce the reserves for the world's largest army and increase reserves for other services.

Sheng's comments on the sidelines of the National People's Congress. China's parliament did not refer to the number of troops to be reduced. While carrying Sheng's remarks, state-run Global Times said China has announced a cut of 300,000 troops by the end of 2017 to build a more elite and efficient military.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also the head of the CMC which is the overall high command of the People's Liberation Army, had announced in 2015 to cut down three lakh troops, which according to later reports caused resentment and concern over loss of jobs. It is not clear whether the three lakh troops would be relocated in different units or if the process of their retirement is underway.

While the army reserve will be reduced, the reserves of other military services including the navy, air force and the rocket force will be increased in a bid to keep up with China's military modernisation, the report said.

The structure of the reserve forces will adapt to information warfare from traditional combat-oriented and mechanised ones, Sheng said.

According to the CMC guideline, a new structure will be established in which the CMC will take charge of the overall administration of the PLA, the Chinese People's Armed Police and the militia and reserve forces. The battle zone commands will focus on combat preparedness, and various military services will pursue development.

President Xi has ordered widespread reforms to restructure the country's military including carrying out exercises involving live ammunition and battle conditions. The report quoted Major Gen Chen Zhou of the PLA Academy of Military Science as saying that many officers will retire and will be assigned to new positions in this round of military reform. China will step up efforts at the national level to help retired servicemen resettle to civilian life by adopting a series of laws and regulations, Chen told reporters.

PTI
Hatred, prejudice on rise post Donald Trump's inauguration: poll

International

pti-PTI

New York, March 10: Nearly two-thirds of US voters say hatred and prejudice in the United States have risen since Donald Trump was elected president, an opinion poll revealed on Thursday. Sixty-three per cent of subjects polled by Quinnipiac University said hatred and prejudice have increased since Trump's November 2016 election, while 32 per cent said the levels have not changed.

Just two percent said they have decreased. The survey found that 77 per cent of voters characterized prejudice against minority groups in America as a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem. Seventy per cent of voters said anti-Semitism was a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem, up from 49 percent in February, the poll found.

The Quinnipiac poll said US voters were split over Trump's response to threats and acts of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries, with 37 percent who approve and 38 percent who disapprove. Trump remained silent for several days on an attack damaging more than 100 headstones at a Jewish cemetery in Missouri, before decrying anti-Semitic threats as "horrible" and "painful."

The Anti-Defamation League, a national civil rights group dedicated to the fight against anti-Semitism, has recorded 140 bomb threats against Jewish institutions across the country since January 1. To date, one man has been arrested in connection with eight of those threats, the organization said earlier this week.

Critics voiced concern about Trump's embrace by white supremacist groups and an "alt-right" movement given a platform on Breitbart, the online news outlet once headed by his chief White House strategist Steve Bannon. "Americans are concerned that the dark forces of prejudice and anti-Semitism are rearing their ugly heads," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. The survey polled 1,323 voters nationwide from March 2-6 and carried a margin of error of 2.7 per cent.

PTI
FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

Jammu and Kashmir is not for sale, says Junaid Qureshi to UN

International

oi-Madhuri

Geneva: Junaid Qureshi, a writer, International human rights activist, and a senior leader of the Jammu Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party on Friday told United Nations that he strongly reject the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) of exploitation.

Geneva: Kashmiri writer and Director, European Foundation for South Asian Studies Junaid Qureshi tells UN that J&K is not for sale. pic.twitter.com/F0oCJJRvhN  ANI (@ANI_news) March 10, 2017

While addressing, Qureshi said,''Construction of CPEC is illegal and in contravention of International law. It requires your urgent attention & intervention''.

He further said that Gilgit Baltistan is integral part of Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan has no right to divide J&K. He further tells UN that J&K is not for sale.

Junaid is also the son of separatist leader Hashim Qureshi, who was one of the founding members of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. He currently lives in Amsterdam and maintains a keen interest in the affairs of his home state, Kashmir.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, March 10, 2017, 19:49 [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

This cop from Pakistan became a millionaire overnight: Here is how

Pakistan: Hindu marriage law adopted

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Islamabad, March 10: The Pakistani parliament has adopted the landmark Hindu Marriage Law to regulate the community's marriages in the country.

The Hindu Marriage Bill, unanimously passed on Thursday, will be the first personal law to regulate marriages in the Hindu community living in Pakistan, Dawn online reported.

Minister for human rights Kamran Michael presented the bill, which was approved by the senate in February, in the National assembly. It now needs President Mamnoon Hussain's signature to become a law.

According to Michael, it was a constitutional obligation to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities and to protect the marriage, the family, the mother and the child.

"There was no law to regulate the registration of Hindu marriages and ancillary matters thereto", he said.

He said the government was committed to protecting and promoting the human rights, including the rights of women and minorities.

The bill was finalised after numerous consultations with relevant ministries/divisions and representatives of the Hindu community.

According to the bill, the minimum age of 18 has been prescribed for marriage.

For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a bill provides mechanism for registration of Hindu marriage which includes conditions for contracting the marriage, procedure for dissolution of the marriage and the grounds on the basis of which such a marriage can be dissolved.

It also provides the concept of judicial separation where marriage remains intact, however, parties are no longer under obligation to cohabit each other.

The bill will help Hindu women to get documentary proof of their marriage.

The Ministry of human rights had been working relentlessly for three years to have a Hindu marriage law in the country.

The law will be applicable in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The Sindh province already has its own Hindu marriage law.

The law paves the way for 'Shadi Parat' containing particulars of bride and groom to be signed by a pundit and registered with the relevant government department.

IANS
Deployed close to India's border?

In a brief newscast on the state broadcaster CCTV, the announcer said that the J-20 had entered the service'.

All photographs: Screengrabs

'High instability'

According to reports, the J-20 has a wide fuselage, and a frameless canopy resembling that of the F-22 Raptor. One important design criterion for the J-20 describes high instability. The prototype is believed to be initially powered by WS-10 and / or the AL-31F engines.

Short and long-range air-to-air missiles

The aircraft features a glass cockpit, with two main large color liquid crystal displays situated side-by-side, three smaller auxiliary displays, and a wide-angle holographic HUD. The main weapon bay is capable of housing both short and long-range air-to-air missiles.

Radar-evading stealth fighter

More recent speculations refer to the J-20 as an air-to-air fighter with an emphasis on forward stealth, high-speed aerodynamics, range, and adequate agility.

China's state aerospace company AVIC manufactures the J-20, and is also working on a radar-evading stealth fighter called the FC-31, previously known as the J-31.
Five youth get one-month jail for ticketless travel and creating nuisance

Washington asks judge to block new Trump ban

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By Ians English

Washington, March 10: Washington has said that it would ask a federal judge to block President Donald Trump's new travel ban, joining Hawaii as the second state to challenge the executive order, the media reported.

The move comes a day after Hawaii launched its own lawsuit, and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, said that despite the significant changes to the President's previous executive order, the new travel ban still suffers from legal flaws, CNN reported.

"The revised executive order does narrow its impact, but there is still harm," Ferguson said in a news conference on Thursday.

"This is effectively a Muslim ban," he added.

Attorney generals from Massachusetts, New York and Oregon also confirmed that they were planning to join the lawsuit. Minnesota is already part of the challenge to Trump's actions.

Trump signed the new executive order on Monday banning foreign nationals from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for 90 days and banning all refugees for 120 days, but excluded green card holders and those with existing valid visas from the order.

The original ban included Iraq, but the new order does not. Ferguson said that 'change doesn't pass muster', reports CNN.

Rather than a seven nation ban, it is only "now a six-nation ban", he said.

"The language is virtually identical".

According to Ferguson, US District Court Judge James Robart's current temporary restraining order halting the original travel ban should block implementation of the new executive order as well.

Robart had issued a nationwide temporary restraining order blocking implementation of the original January 27 ban on February 3.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Thursday said the executive order was consistent with federal law.

"We're going to go forward on this," Spicer said, adding "We feel very confident with how that was crafted and the input that was given."

IANS
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Digicel Business-owned company AllcomMcr has helped PNGs favourite beer company, SP Brewery, upgrade its IT systems, resulting in a sophisticated network that now connects all of the companys offices nationwide.



After being acquired by a global beer company in 2012, the South Pacific Brewery developed its operations to a world-class level to apply the same standard as its new parent companys other breweries globally.



As an existing customer of Digicel since 2007, SP Brewery turned to AllcomMcr to install state-of-the-art IT infrastructure to help the company achieve their goal by implementing a new desktop environment, the Standard Operating Environment.



Digicel Business has always been in front to offer the latest ICT technology in PNG, which is what SP Brewery was looking for. AllcomMcr was acquired by Digicel Business two years ago, and I am really happy to see it continue to grow by bringing more value to our existing customers, said Gary Cobain, Head of Digicel Business.



Prior to that major upgrading operation, AllcomMcr started providing ICT professional services to SP Brewery for over the last 12 months. It has also provided professional services including network health checks and upgrading its server. SP Brewery also requested AllcomMcrs expertise on providing and installing Cisco equipment such as switches and smartnets, power supplies, wireless controller, access points and router. AllcomMcr is a Certified Cisco Gold Partner in PNG.



SP Brewery Business Control Director Shun Shou said the beer company contacted AllcomMcr as a result of its positive existing relationship with Digicel.



AllcomMcr pays attention to our queries and comes up with innovative solutions to relevant issues regarding our network. Their customer support is responsive, he said.



Through this partnership, over the space of three weeks, AllcomMcr installed the new global companys standard operating environment on more than 200 computers and laptops, migrating all users files from existing PCs/Laptops to the new devices.



This is the first time Ive seen a team so dedicated, three weeks is a world record for this kind of work. They worked tirelessly for 21 days, to complete this project, said Shun.



Digicel Business and AllcomMcr offer business solutions for businesses of all sizes in Papua New Guinea. With an expert team of 35 IT specialists nationwide, AllcomMcr currently provides assistance to over 100 businesses across the country.
Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

Activist hedge funds ruled the hedge fund universe in February with an industry-leading +2.53% performance for the month, bringing year-to-date returns to +3.03%, according to the just-released eVestment February 2017 Hedge Fund Industry Performance Report.

The industry as a whole had aggregate February returns of +1.08%, which marked the third consecutive month in which more than 70% of hedge funds saw positive returns. Following investor redemptions of $106 billion in 2016 and heightened investor and media scrutiny, 2017 is starting off on a very positive note for the industry.

On an individual strategy basis, managed futures funds, which saw a barely positive +0.58% return in 2016, were among the strongest performers in February, racking up +1.32% returns. Quantitative directional equity funds were also strong performers in February, at +1.65%, bringing their year-to-date returns to +2.41%.

Commodity funds were the lone major-category decliner in February, returning -0.50% for the month, bringing year-to-date returns to +0.07%.

In terms of global strategies, funds focused on India and Brazil were among the best performing country-focused funds, returning +4.87% and +4.58% respectively. However, Russia-focused funds, having returned +30.23% in 2016, are having a slower go of it so far this year, returning -0.97% in February and squeaking by with a barely positive +1.03% return year-to-date.......................

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Opalesque Industry Update - Man Group today announces the appointment of Michelle McCloskey as President of Man Americas. In this newly created role, Michelle will work with the Americas sales team, under Eric Burl's leadership as Head of Man Americas, to deepen Man's relationships with investors in the Americas. She also remains President of FRM, where she will continue to work with Keith Haydon, CIO, and Mike Turner, COO, in leading the business, which is overseen by Man Group's President, Jonathan Sorrell. Michelle joined Man Group in 2006. She became a Senior Managing Director of Man FRM and a member of Man Group's Executive Committee in 2013 and was appointed President of Man FRM in 2015. ?Alongside her new role, Michelle will continue to sit on Man Group's Executive Committee and remain closely involved with Man FRM. As President of Man FRM, Michelle is responsible for overseeing a number of key strategic relationships and driving the expansion and evolution of the business in North America. Prior to becoming President of Man FRM, she was Head of Manager Research at FRM and before that, Head of the Commodities and New Alternatives teams within hedge fund research for Man Group's multi-manager business. Before joining Man Group, Michelle was a portfolio manager for over twenty years in the commodities sector for a variety of institutions in the US. Eric Burl, Head of Man Americas, said: "Man Group and Man FRM have grown significantly across the Americas in recent years, both organically and through strategic acquisitions, and I am delighted to announce that Michelle has been appointed President of Man Americas. She has played a leading role as the firm has expanded here and this appointment reflects our continued commitment to serving our clients and developing our business in the Americas. Our clients are at the heart of everything we do and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Michelle for her exceptional contribution to Man Group in the Americas over the past decade. I look forward to working with Michelle in her new leadership role."
Opalesque Industry Update - ETFGI, an independent research and consultancy firm on trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today following on from January's strong start to the year assets invested in ETFs/ETPs listed globally reached a new record high of US$3.844 trillion at the end February 2017 surpassing the prior record of US$3.689 trillion set at the end of January 2017. ETFs/ETPs gathered a record level of US$68.29 billion in net inflows in February, marking the 37th consecutive month or over 3 years of net inflows and a record US$130.99 billion in year to date net inflows, according to preliminary data from ETFGI's February 2017 global ETF and ETP industry insights report. Record levels of assets under management were reached at the end of February 2017 for ETFs/ETPs listed globally at US$3.844 trillion, in the United States at US$2.758 trillion, in Europe at US$620 billion, in Asia Pacific ex Japan at US$136 billion, Japan at US$198 billion and in Canada at US$91 billion. At the end of February 2017, the Global ETF/ETP industry had 6,699 ETFs/ETPs, with 12,646 listings, assets of US$3,844 Bn, from 298 providers listed on 65 exchanges in 53 countries. "The US equity market performed strongly in February with the S&P 500 up 3.97% and the DJIA was up 5.17%. International equity markets continued to perform well in February with the S&P Developed Ex-U.S. BMI up 1.42% while the S&P Emerging BMI was up 3.46%. There are significant upcoming political and economic events that investors will be watching in Europe in the next two months: the first round of the French election, a Dutch general election, the beginning of the U.K.'s "Brexit" negotiations and, officials from the EU and the IMF are once again locked in negotiations over the Greek bailout," according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner and co-founder of ETFGI. In February 2017, ETFs/ETPs gathered a record level net inflows of US$68.29 Bn. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered US$44.59 Bn a record level of net inflows for February, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with US$14.38 Bn, and commodity ETFs/ETPs with US$6.01 Bn. YTD through end of February 2017, ETFs/ETPs have gathered US$130.99 Bn a record amount of YTD net inflows. Equity ETFs/ETPs gathered the largest and a record level of YTD net inflows with US$90.62 Bn, followed by fixed income ETFs/ETPs with a record level of YTD US$27.51 Bn, and commodity ETFs/ETPs with a record level of YTD US$7.57 Bn. iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows in February with US$18.85 Bn, followed by Vanguard with US$13.23 Bn and SPDR ETFs with US$10.12 Bn net inflows. YTD, iShares gathered the largest net ETF/ETP inflows YTD with US$38.04 Bn, followed by Vanguard with US$29.17 Bn and SPDR ETFs with US$12.42 Bn net inflows.
Global Silicon Photonics Market Analysis by Application, Type, Revenue, Price and Trend 2017 - 2022

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Global Silicon Photonics Market 2017-2022 Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Silicon Photonics Market.Silicon photonics is the study and application of photonic systems which use silicon as an optical medium.The silicon is usually patterned with sub-micrometre precision, into microphotonic components.These operate in the infrared, most commonly at the 1.55 micrometre wavelength used by most fiber optic telecommunication systems.[6] The silicon typically lies on top of a layer of silica in what (by analogy with a similar construction in microelectronics) is known as silicon on insulator (SOI).Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Silicon Photonics 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.Global Silicon Photonics Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversMellanox technologiesIntel CorporationLuxtera IncIBM CorporationMolex IncCisco SystemsGlobal Silicon Photonics Market of 119 pages having tables and figures is available for purchase atGlobal Silicon Photonics Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Global Silicon Photonics Market Segment by Type, coversOptical WaveguidesOptical ModulatorsPhotodetectorsWavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM) FiltersThe listed pricing for this Global Silicon Photonics Market report starts at $ 3480. Request Discount for Global Silicon Photonics Market Research Report @Table of Contents in Global Silicon Photonics Market Research Report3 Global Silicon Photonics Market Competition, by Manufacturer3.1 Global Silicon Photonics Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer3.2 Global Silicon Photonics Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer3.3 Market Concentration Rate5 North America Silicon Photonics by Countries5.1 North America Silicon Photonics Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries5.1.1 North America Silicon Photonics Sales by Countries (2012-2017)5.1.2 North America Silicon Photonics Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)6 Europe Silicon Photonics by Countries6.1 Europe Silicon Photonics Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries6.1.1 Europe Silicon Photonics Sales by Countries (2012-2017)6.1.2 Europe Silicon Photonics Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)Request a sample copy of Global Silicon Photonics Market Research Report @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoIT & TelecommunicationsConsumer ElectronicsHealthcare & Life SciencesDefense and SecurityCommercialOthersBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Global Silicon Photonics Market Report @Related Reports: -United States Silicon Photonics Market by Manufacturers, States, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022This report focuses on the Silicon Photonics in United States market, to split the market based on manufacturers, states, type and application.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
Global Power Driver IC Market Research Report 2017

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Power Driver IC Market Research Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.This market intelligence report examines extensively the trends in the global Power Driver IC 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.The publication further presents a valuation of the facets that are likely to prevent or encourage the expansion of the global Power Driver IC market. The global Power Driver IC 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 Power Driver IC market. The estimated revenue and volume valuation of the global market for Power Driver IC has also been stated in the study.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @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 Power Driver IC 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 Power Driver IC Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Power Driver IC1.2 Power Driver IC Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Power Driver IC by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.3 Power Driver IC Segment by Application1.3.1 Power Driver IC Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Power Driver IC Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Power Driver IC (2012-2022)2 Global Power Driver IC Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Power Driver IC Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Power Driver IC Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Power Driver IC Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Power Driver IC Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Power Driver IC Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Power Driver IC Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Power Driver IC Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Power Driver IC Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Power Driver IC Production by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Power Driver IC Production Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Power Driver IC Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Power Driver IC Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Power Driver IC Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Power Driver IC Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Power Driver IC Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Power Driver IC Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Korea Power Driver IC Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Power Driver IC Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)4.1 Global Power Driver IC Consumption by Regions (2012-2017)4.2 North America Power Driver IC Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Power Driver IC Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Power Driver IC Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Power Driver IC Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Korea Power Driver IC Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 Taiwan Power Driver IC Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Power Driver ICFigure Global Production Market Share of Power Driver IC by Type in 2015Figure Product Picture of Type ITable Major Manufacturers of Type IFigure Product Picture of Type IITable Major Manufacturers of Type IITable Power Driver IC Consumption Market Share by Application in 2015Figure Application 1 ExamplesFigure Application 2 ExamplesFigure North America Power Driver IC Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Power Driver IC Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)For Latest QYResearchreports Press Release Visit @QYReseachReports.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.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Global Waterproof Power Supply Market Research Report 2017

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Waterproof Power Supply Market Research Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.This market intelligence report serves its readers with an executive-level blueprint of the global Waterproof Power Supply market. Data from a number of paid and unpaid sources including press releases, journals, presentations, and white papers has been taken into account for collating this report.The various factors influencing the growth of the global Waterproof Power Supply market, including drivers, restraints, and opportunities, are studied in detail. The report serves as a repository of analysis and information regarding various aspects and is aimed at updating stakeholders about the prevailing market dynamics. It identifies the ongoing trends of the global Waterproof Power Supply market in both developed and emerging marketplace.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report uses tools such as Porters five force analysis and market attractiveness analysis to offer essential insights into the vendor landscape of the global Waterproof Power Supply market. It profiles the key companies operating in the market along with their revenue generation, market shares, latest developments, contact information, and business strategies. Details pertaining to the latest mergers and acquisitions in the market are also mentioned in the report. The report also includes a SWOT analysis that aids in deriving the potential growth trajectory of each prominent player in the market. It contains a separate section of recommendations that help organizations in the market in decision-making and formulate their future strategies.To provide a holistic overview, the report has divided the global Waterproof Power Supply market on the basis of various criteria such as geography and application. It identifies the leading and the most promising segment based on both value and volume. The statistics presented for each segment have been represented through graphical segmentation for a better understanding. This report, thus, provides a 360-degree view of the global Waterproof Power Supply market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Waterproof Power Supply Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Waterproof Power Supply1.2 Waterproof Power Supply Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Waterproof Power Supply by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.3 Waterproof Power Supply Segment by Application1.3.1 Waterproof Power Supply Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Waterproof Power Supply Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)2 Global Waterproof Power Supply Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Waterproof Power Supply Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Waterproof Power Supply Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Waterproof Power Supply Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Waterproof Power Supply Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Waterproof Power Supply Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Waterproof Power Supply Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Waterproof Power Supply Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Waterproof Power Supply Production by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Waterproof Power Supply Production Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Waterproof Power Supply Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7 Global Waterproof Power Supply Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Delta Electronics (Eltek)7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 Waterproof Power Supply Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Delta Electronics (Eltek) Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Lite-On Technology7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 Waterproof Power Supply Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Lite-On Technology Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Acbel Polytech7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 Waterproof Power Supply Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Acbel Polytech Waterproof Power Supply Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business OverviewList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Waterproof Power SupplyFigure Global Production Market Share of Waterproof Power Supply by Type in 2015Figure Product Picture of Type ITable Major Manufacturers of Type IFigure Product Picture of Type IITable Major Manufacturers of Type IITable Waterproof Power Supply Consumption Market Share by Application in 2015Figure Application 1 ExamplesFigure Application 2 ExamplesFigure North America Waterproof Power Supply Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)For Latest QYResearchreports Press Release Visit @QYReseachReports.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.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Global Laser Processing Industry SHares, Size, Growth, Ket Drivers 2016, Trends And Forecast Report

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2016 Global Laser Processing Industry Report is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions of the Laser Processing industry, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia) and the main countries (United States, Germany, Japan and China).The report firstly introduced the Laser Processing basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.The report includes six parts, dealing with: 1.) basic information; 2.) the Asia Laser Processing industry; 3.) the North American Laser Processing industry; 4.) the European Laser Processing industry; 5.) market entry and investment feasibility; and 6.) the report conclusion.Download Sample Copy Of This Report:Table of ContentsPart I Laser Processing Industry OverviewChapter One Laser Processing Industry Overview1.1 Laser Processing Definition1.2 Laser Processing Classification Analysis1.2.1 Laser Processing Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 Laser Processing Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 Laser Processing Application Analysis1.3.1 Laser Processing Main Application Analysis1.3.2 Laser Processing Main Application Share Analysis1.4 Laser Processing Industry Chain Structure Analysis1.5 Laser Processing Industry Development Overview1.5.1 Laser Processing Product History Development Overview1.5.1 Laser Processing Product Market Development Overview1.6 Laser Processing Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.1 Laser Processing Global Import Market Analysis1.6.2 Laser Processing Global Export Market Analysis1.6.3 Laser Processing Global Main Region Market Analysis1.6.4 Laser Processing Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.5 Laser Processing Global Market Development Trend AnalysisChapter Two Laser Processing Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend AnalysisPart II Asia Laser Processing Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)Chapter Three Asia Laser Processing Market Analysis3.1 Asia Laser Processing Product Development History3.2 Asia Laser Processing Process Development History3.3 Asia Laser Processing Industry Policy and Plan Analysis3.4 Asia Laser Processing Competitive Landscape Analysis3.5 Asia Laser Processing Market Development TrendChapter Four 2011-2016 Asia Laser Processing Productions Supply Sales Demand Market Status and Forecast4.1 2011-2016 Laser Processing Capacity Production Overview4.2 2011-2016 Laser Processing Production Market Share Analysis4.3 2011-2016 Laser Processing Demand Overview4.4 2011-2016 Laser Processing Supply Demand and Shortage4.5 2011-2016 Laser Processing Import Export Consumption4.6 2011-2016 Laser Processing Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginMarketResearchReports.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
Knights of Columbus Donate Funds from Annual Tootsie Roll Drive to NorthPointe Resources

NorthPointe's CEO, Dina Donohue-Chase, (left) with Father Paul Stemn at the Knight of Columbus' check presentation.

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[ZION, IL]  In January, Our Lady of Humility Knights of Columbus Council donated the proceeds from their annual Tootsie Roll Drive to NorthPointe Resources. Their generous donation of $1,500 was presented by Grand Knight, Joe McGrath, at a church gathering hosted by the Knights of Columbus #13598 and was accepted by NorthPointe Resources CEO, Dina Donohue-Chase.The Tootsie Roll Drive was conducted over the span of three days last September at the Zion Piggly Wiggly store. NorthPointe volunteers joined the Knights of Columbus members to pass out Tootsie Rolls and bring awareness to the community about NorthPointe and their dedication to their mission of empowering individuals with disabilities and/or mental illness to achieve their dreams. For over twenty years NorthPointe has been fortunate to have been the designated recipient of the fundraiser.Since 1970, The Tootsie Roll Drive has been part of an international Campaign for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Knights of Columbus members in the US, Canada, and British Colombia participate in The Tootsie Roll Drive to raise funds and help support organizations similar to NorthPointe Resources. Members of Knights of Columbus embrace this campaign each year as an opportunity to make a direct impact on the quality of life of people with disabilities, especially within each councils local community.The Knights of Columbus are an international religious group with over 1.9 million members that are committed to making their communities a better place to live for everyone. By donating their time and talent, the 15,342 councils around the world are involved within their communities through charitable events and other service duties that provide support for worthwhile local organizations.Both the Our Lady of Humility Knights of Columbus Council and NorthPointe Resources would like to thank the local businesses and contributors for their continued generous support of the annual fundraiser.Established in 1953, NorthPointe Resources is a premier provider of a full range of award-winning programs for people with disabilities and/or mental illness living in northern Illinois, supporting approximately 500 people annually. To learn more please visitNorthPointe ResourcesMarisa Markowskimmarkowski@nri1953.org3441 Sheridan Road, Zion, IL 60099
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Bad Hofgastein, 06 March 2017 - In the run-up to the 20th European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), this year themed Health in All Politics  a better future for Europe, which will take place in Austrias Gastein Valley from 4th to 6th October 2017, the EHFG is welcoming applications for the European Health Award 2017. The award of 10,000 will be sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health and FOPI, the Association of the Research & Development based Pharmaceutical Industry in Austria.Designed to honour initiatives aiming to improve public health or healthcare in Europe, the European Health Award promotes cross-border cooperation, multi-country working and the development of sustainable, innovative and transferable initiatives which address current challenges such as disparities in health status, access to services and the provision of treatment within Europe.The purpose of the European Health Award is to promote cross-border working and celebrate European initiatives that tackle todays health challenges which are more complex and multi-faceted than ever, says EHFG President Professor Helmut Brand. Promoting multi-country working and the development of innovative and sustainable initiatives will help us to meet our vision of a healthy, social and prosperous Europe.Submitted applications will be evaluated over the summer by a renowned jury panel of European representatives from academia, policy, industry and civil society.Applications for the European Health Award 2017 must be submitted by midnight on Friday 26 May 2017. Further information and an application form can be found on our homepage.Follow the EHFG here:Twitter:Facebook:For further information on the EHA:European Health Forum GasteinJosef.Wenninger(at)ehfg.org Contact for media enquiries:Press OfficeEuropean Health Forum GasteinPress(at)ehfg.org | +32 2 321 90 16Over the past decade the European Health Forum Gastein has developed into an indispensable institution in the scope of European health policy. It has made a decisive contribution to the development of guidelines and above all the cross-border exchange of experience, information and cooperation.The overall aim is a platform for discussion for the various stakeholders in the field of public health and health care.About 600 leading experts participate in the annual conference held in the Gastein Valley in Austria in October. The unparalleled mix of participants including leading country- and EU-level representatives from the areas of health policy, administration, science, business and patient organisations, are especially critical to the success of this event.Press officeEuropean Health Forum Gastein (EHFG)Rue de la Loi 227, bte 4, 1040 BrusselsE: press@ehfg.orgT: +32 2 321 90 16M: +32 473 46 9118
Global High Voltage Regulator Market Research Report 2017 Key Plyares  Siemens, Toshiba Corporation, General Electric, Texas Instruments-Analysis and Forecast to 2022

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High Voltage Regulator Market 2017SummaryWiseguyreports.Com Adds High Voltage Regulator -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Manufacturers, Analysis of Top Suppliers and 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 High Voltage Regulator in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwanRequest for Sample report visit@Global High Voltage Regulator market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer;the top players includingSiemensGeneral ElectricHoward IndustriesEaton CorporationABBMaschinenfabrik ReinhausenToshiba CorporationBasler Electric CompanySchweitzer Engineering LaboratoriesJ. Schneider ElektrotechnikSL IndustriesBelotti S.R.L.Daihen CorporationTebian Electric ApparatusUtility Systems TechnologiesTexas InstrumentsON SemiconductorOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoManual TypeAutomatic TypeOn 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 High Voltage Regulator for each application, includingElectronics IndustryPower IndustryPetrochemical IndustryOthersTo get complete report visit@Key Points in Table Of Content :Global High Voltage Regulator Market Research Report 20171 High Voltage Regulator Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of High Voltage Regulator1.2 High Voltage Regulator Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global High Voltage Regulator Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global High Voltage Regulator Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Manual Type1.2.4 Automatic Type1.3 Global High Voltage Regulator Segment by Application1.3.1 High Voltage Regulator Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Electronics Industry1.3.3 Power Industry1.3.4 Petrochemical Industry1.3.5 Others1.4 Global High Voltage Regulator Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global High Voltage Regulator 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 High Voltage Regulator (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global High Voltage Regulator Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)..7 Global High Voltage Regulator Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Siemens7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Siemens High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 General Electric7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 General Electric High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Howard Industries7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Howard Industries High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Eaton Corporation7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Eaton Corporation High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 ABB7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 ABB High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Toshiba Corporation7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Toshiba Corporation High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Basler Electric Company7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Basler Electric Company High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 J. Schneider Elektrotechnik7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 High Voltage Regulator Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 J. Schneider Elektrotechnik High Voltage Regulator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.11 SL Industries7.12 Belotti S.R.L.7.13 Daihen Corporation7.14 Tebian Electric Apparatus7.15 Utility Systems Technologies7.16 Texas Instruments7.17 ON SemiconductorFor Purchase this report visit @Continued...Contact Us:NORAH TRENTSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Follow on LinkedIn @Subscribe Our YouTube Channel @Click Here For More DetailsABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Global Biodefense Market 2017 Analysis & Forecast to 2022 Market Research Report

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Biodefense Market 2017SummaryWiseguyreports.Com Adds Biodefense -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Manufacturers, Analysis of Top Suppliers and Forecast to 2021 To Its Research DatabaseThis report studies the global Biodefense market, analyzes and researches the Biodefense development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia.Request for Sample report visit@This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeEmergent BiosolutionsHytestGSKSanofiPharmAtheneBavarian NordicSIGA TechnologiesArbutus BiopharmaDynPort VaccineXoma CorporationIchor Medical SystemsAeolus PharmaceuticalsAchaogenElusys TherapeuticsDynavax TechnologiesCleveland BioLabsSoligenixAlnylam PharmaceuticalsMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, Biodefense can be split intoAnthraxSmallpoxBotulismRadiation/nuclearOtherMarket segment by Application, Biodefense can be split intoApplication 1Application 2To get complete report visit@Key Points in Table of Content:Global Biodefense Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Biodefense1.1 Biodefense Market Overview1.1.1 Biodefense Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Biodefense Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Biodefense Market by Type1.3.1 Anthrax1.3.2 Smallpox1.3.3 Botulism1.3.4 Radiation/nuclear1.3.5 Other1.4 Biodefense Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Application 11.4.2 Application 2..3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Emergent Biosolutions3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Biodefense Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Hytest3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Biodefense Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 GSK3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Biodefense Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Sanofi3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Biodefense Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 PharmAthene3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Biodefense Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Bavarian Nordic3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Biodefense Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 SIGA Technologies3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Biodefense Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Arbutus Biopharma3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Biodefense Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 DynPort Vaccine3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Biodefense Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Xoma CorporationFor Purchase this report visit @Continued...Contact Us:NORAH TRENTSales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Follow on LinkedIn @Subscribe Our YouTube Channel @Click Here For More DetailsABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
CeraNet Named Top Performing Service Provider for Energy Efficiency by AEP of Ohio Data Center Program

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COLUMBUS, OH  March 9, 2017  CeraNet, Inc., a leading Green Data Center and Managed Solutions Provider located in Columbus, Ohio, was identified as a top performing solutions provider for 2016 in the AEP Ohio Energy Efficiency and Data Center programs. CeraNet was awarded multiple individual awards throughout the year totaling over 420,000 kWh of energy savings. Energy savings were calculated from the difference in power draw between older physical servers and the newer high efficiency cloud servers that replaced them. These awards provide incentive payments that CeraNet uses to fund client upgrades. Clients were able to upgrade their infrastructure to CeraNets high availability cloud computing servers, reduce costs, and minimize their environmental impact.CeraNet engineers also worked to identify additional energy saving opportunities within the physical data center infrastructure using cool white roof coatings and specialized data center floor layout with spot cooling to save an additional 450,000 kWh of utility power. These solutions help minimize the power needed to cool the data center, as well as reduce load on the utility grid during peak times. State of the art solutions like these allow CeraNet operate at a higher efficiency than most data centers and in turn charge much lower rates for equipment colocation and power.CeraNet recently launched an initiative to drive 1,000,000 kWh in energy savings for 2017 through an ongoing partnership with clients and AEP Ohio. Jason Harris with CeraNet stated, Weve committed $100,000 in direct payments and services to help clients discover innovative ways to upgrade their technology infrastructure while saving massive amounts of energy. These funds will be used to help clients transition from old inefficient physical servers to new high efficiency equipment that power cloud computing solutions. We offer free expert assistance that enable organizations to develop comprehensive IT infrastructure solutions that not only give them more for their IT budget, but also show them how they can environmentally friendly at the same time added Mr. Harris.Additional information on green data center solutions:About CeraNetCeraNet was founded in 1996 and is located in Columbus, Ohio. CeraNet is in business to help clients solve complex business issues and create innovative e-business solutions in the most economical and environmentally sustainably way. CeraNet's core data center infrastructure solutions are based on its HybridPLUS services that allow you to combine your colocation equipment, dedicated physical equipment, and high availability cloud computing solutions into one seamless, easy to use control panel. CeraNet provides advanced expert technical consulting and management services with experienced engineers to help support your systems and business needs. For more information about CeraNet, please visitCeraNet, Inc.826 Morrison RoadColumbus, OH 43230Tel: 614-856-2096Fax: 614-856-2097Media contact: Megan Shelton, 614-856-2096, mshelton@cera.net
Global Plastic Caps Market Research Report- Manufacturers, Analysis and Forecast from 2017 To 2022

Plastic Caps

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Plastic Caps ManufacturersWiseGuyReports Publish a Latest Market Research Report On  Global Plastic Caps Market Report 2017  Industry Research, Manufacturers, Sales, Consumption, Segmentation, Price, Revenue, Share and Forecasts to 2022.Request Sample Copy of this Report @Description:The Global Plastic Caps Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Plastic Caps industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Plastic Caps market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states importexport, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, Asia-Pacific and Africa), and other regions can be added.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Plastic Caps industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Check Discount on this report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comTable of Contents1 Industry Overview of Plastic Caps 11.1 Definition and Specifications of Plastic Caps 11.1.1 Definition of Plastic Caps 11.1.2 Specifications of Plastic Caps 21.2 Classification of Plastic Caps 21.2.1 PP Caps 31.2.2 PE Caps 41.2.3 Other Materials Plastic Caps 51.3 Applications of Plastic Caps 61.3.1 Beverage Industry 71.3.2 Pharmaceutical Industry 71.3.3 Personal Care Products 81.3.4 Other 91.4 Industry Chain Structure of Plastic Caps 101.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Plastic Caps 111.5.1 Industry Overview of Plastic Caps 111.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Plastic Caps 141.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Plastic Caps 141.7 Industry News Analysis of Plastic Caps 162 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Plastic Caps 182.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Plastic Caps 182.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Plastic Caps 192.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Plastic Caps 192.4 Other Costs Analysis of Plastic Caps 212.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Plastic Caps 242.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Plastic Caps 268 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Plastic Caps 918.1 Closure Systems International 918.1.1 Company Profile 918.1.2 Product Picture and Specification 928.1.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 938.2 Bericap 958.2.1 Company Profile 958.2.2 Product Picture and Specification 968.2.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 978.3 Berry Plastics Corporation 998.3.1 Company Profile 998.3.2 Product Picture and Specification 1008.3.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1018.4 ALPLA 1038.4.1 Company Profile 1038.4.2 Product Picture and Specification 1048.4.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1048.5 Taiwan Hon Chuan Enterprise Co., Ltd. 1068.5.1 Company Profile 1068.5.2 Product Picture and Specification 1078.5.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1098.6 Silgan Plastics 1118.6.1 Company Profile 1118.6.2 Product Picture and Specification 1128.6.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1138.7 Crown 1158.7.1 Company Profile 1158.7.2 Product Picture and Specification 1168.7.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1178.8 Global Closure Systems 1188.8.1 Company Profile 1188.8.2 Product Picture and Specification 1208.8.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1208.9 AptarGroup 1228.9.1 Company Profile 1228.9.2 Product Picture and Specification 1238.9.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1248.10 Oriental Containers 1258.10.1 Company Profile 1258.10.2 Product Picture and Specification 1268.10.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1278.11 Mold-Rite Plastics 1298.11.1 Company Profile 1298.11.2 Product Picture and Specification 1308.11.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1308.12 Blackhawk Molding 1328.12.1 Company Profile 1328.12.2 Product Picture and Specification 1338.12.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1338.13 Mocap 1358.13.1 Company Profile 1358.13.2 Product Picture and Specification 1368.13.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1378.14 Zijing Enterprise 1388.14.1 Company Profile 1388.14.2 Product Picture and Specification 1398.14.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1398.15 Jinfu 1418.15.1 Company Profile 1418.15.2 Product Picture and Specification 1428.15.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 1428.16 Zhuhai Zhongfu Enterprise 1448.16.1 Company Profile 1448.16.2 Product Picture and Specification 1458.16.3 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value 145..CONTINUEDComplete Report @CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations and Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers, Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune  411028, Maharashtra, India
Pediatric Supplements Market - By Raw Materials (Protein, Vitamin, Mineral, Omega 3 Fatty acids) Forecast (2016-2021)

Pediatric Supplements Market 2021

http://www.marketintelreports.com/report/FBR0086/pediatric-supplements-market--by-raw-materials-protein-vitamin-mineral-omega-3-fatty-acids-by-age-groupinfants-middle-age-adolescence-by-geography-americas-apac-europe-row--forecast-20162021

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Pediatrics is the subdivision of medicine industry which deals with the health and medical care of different age groups such as infants, children, and adolescents from birth up to the age of 18. Pediatric supplements provide the health care medications to the children to increase their resistant power.Check Complete Report @The Pediatric supplementary market has been segmented on the basis of raw-material, age group and geography. The Pediatric supplementary market is classified into several types such as vitamins, proteins, minerals, iron and omega 3 fatty acid. Pediatrics supplements are attaining enormous growth owing to the rising consumer preferences to safeguard the children from the diseases. Children need proteins, vitamins in their daily food, but now a day it becomes difficult to the parents to feed the children.The demand for pediatric supplements is growing at a faster pace due to its benefits and increasing demand in the market. Pediatric supplements exhibit high performance properties as they consist of essential ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, herbs. APAC is considered as the major consumer of pediatric supplements. A detailed qualitative analysis of the factors responsible for driving and restraining growth of the pediatric supplements market and future opportunities are provided in the report.Get Sample Brochure of the Report @APAC region is projected to register fastest growth rate during forecast period and accounted for xx% of the pediatric supplements market. It is estimated to continue in the future due to huge investments from key players. Followed by APAC, North America is considered as next major consumer for pediatric supplements. The study forecasts that pediatric supplements market will increase at a CAGR of x.x% during the forecast period 2016 and 2021, to attain an anticipated value of $xx.x billion by the end of the forecast period.Order a copy of Pediatric Supplements Market Report now @About us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand  Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.Contact us:Mayur SSales Manager2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington,Delaware,19808United Statespr@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343
Global Marine Gensets Market  Growth, Trends & Forecasts (2017-2022)

Marine Gensets

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Marine Gensets MarketWiseGuyReports Publish a Latest Market Research Report On  Global Marine Gensets Market Report 2017  Industry Research, Manufacturers, Sales, Consumption, Segmentation, Price, Revenue, Share and Forecasts to 2022.Request Sample Copy of this Report @Description:In this report, the global Marine Gensets market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Marine Gensets in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Marine Gensets market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingCummins, Inc.Mitsubishi Heavy IndustriesCaterpillar, Inc.Man Diesel & Turbo SEValley Power Systems, Inc.Volvo GroupKohler Co.Deutz AGYanmar Co., Ltd.ABB Ltd.Wartsila CorporationDresser RandDaihatsu Diesel MFG. Co., Ltd.Rolls-Royce Power System AGSole DieselOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDiesel Fuel Marine GensetsGas Fuel Marine GensetsHybrid Fuel Marine GensetsOthersOn 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 Marine Gensets for each application, includingCommercial VesselsOffshore Support VesselsDefense VesselsOthersCheck Discount on this report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comTable of ContentsGlobal Marine Gensets Market Research Report 20171 Marine Gensets Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Marine Gensets1.2 Marine Gensets Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Marine Gensets Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Marine Gensets Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Diesel Fuel Marine Gensets1.2.4 Gas Fuel Marine Gensets1.2.5 Hybrid Fuel Marine Gensets1.2.6 Others1.3 Global Marine Gensets Segment by Application1.3.1 Marine Gensets Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Commercial Vessels1.3.3 Offshore Support Vessels1.3.4 Defense Vessels1.3.5 Others1.4 Global Marine Gensets Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Marine Gensets Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe 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 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Marine Gensets (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Marine Gensets Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Marine Gensets Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Marine Gensets Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Marine Gensets Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Marine Gensets Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Marine Gensets Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Marine Gensets Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Marine Gensets Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Marine Gensets Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Marine Gensets Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Marine Gensets Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Marine Gensets Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion7 Global Marine Gensets Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Cummins, Inc.7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Cummins, Inc. Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Caterpillar, Inc.7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Caterpillar, Inc. Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Man Diesel & Turbo SE7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Man Diesel & Turbo SE Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Valley Power Systems, Inc.7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Valley Power Systems, Inc. Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Volvo Group7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Volvo Group Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Kohler Co.7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Kohler Co. Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Deutz AG7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Deutz AG Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Yanmar Co., Ltd.7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Yanmar Co., Ltd. Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 ABB Ltd.7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Marine Gensets Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 ABB Ltd. Marine Gensets Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.11 Wartsila Corporation7.12 Dresser Rand7.13 Daihatsu Diesel MFG. Co., Ltd.7.14 Rolls-Royce Power System AG7.15 Sole Diesel..CONTINUEDComplete Report @CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers, Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune  411028, Maharashtra, India
Michigan Businesses and Organization Need Commercial Cleaning Partners

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Lincoln Park, MI- Knowing how to manage commercial office sanitation helps eliminate unwanted germs and bacteria. However, finding a partner to help you achieve this goal can be a daunting task.Allen Maintenance Corporation, is a Michigan, family owned corporation, who has been working with, both large and small, corporations, for more than 25 years.Headquartered in Lincoln Park, MI; this corporation has developed and rendered professional services for clients such as Pepsi Bottling Company, Bridgestone Firestone, and ATI Therapy, to name a few.Services provided includes dusting and removal of cobwebs in hard to reach places germ and bacteria extraction, with EPA products restroom sanitation floor waxing and mopping cleaning of all top usage surfaces (e.g. door handles, desk tops, interior windows, and waste receptacles) building renovations and property managementProfessional references are provided upon request.Allen Maintenance Corporation, is an active member of the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association and the International Janitorial Cleaning Service Association; and complies with the professional cleaning and sanitation regulations practiced by these professional associations.To learn more about Allen Maintenance Corporation. and the professional services this corporation provides, please log on to our newly designed company Web site ator, contact us at 313.383.4840; Mon.-Fri. 9am-3pm.Allen Maintenance Corporation has been providing Michigan businesses and organizations, professional commercial cleaning services, for more than 25 years.4224 Dix Toledo Hwy.Lincoln Park, MI 48146
Claddings Market Expected to Reach $262,381 Million, Globally, by 2022

Allied Market Research

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Cladding Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, states that the global claddings market size was estimated to be $166,026 million in 2015 and is expected to reach $262,381 million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 6.7%.Access Full Summary at:Non-residential segment is expected to dominate the end-user sector in the global claddings market from 2015 to 2022. North America dominated the market with 34.3% of the global claddings market share in 2015.Cladding is defined as a non-loadbearing skin or layer attached to the outside or inside of a building and includes all moisture barriers and siding materials used to cover the exterior of a structure. It is one of the key components where certain material layer is added to provide high performance outer envelope, as well as enhance and transform the existing constructions. Cladding systems are versatile, long lasting, and save energy. They are designed to meet the most demanding aesthetic and functional requirements. Careful assessment and prioritization of each of these roles for each orientation of the building is involved when before any cladding system is finalized.The global claddings market is segmented based on component type, material type, end-use sector, and by geography. Based on the component type, the claddings market is segmented into walls, roofs, doors & windows, and others. Walls are the most dominant component type accounting for around 63.1% of the overall market in 2015. The wall cladding segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period. In most cases it is designed to be permanent and provide benefits, such as insulation and waterproofing.Based on material type, the global cladding market is classified into masonry & concrete, brick & stone, stucco & EIFS, fiber cement, metal, vinyl, wood and others. Vinyl is the most widely used material for making cladding systems, and accounted for the largest market share in 2015. The vinyl cladding sector dominates due to its low-cost and easy availability, which makes it one of the most widely used materials for cladding systems globally. Vinyl cladding market accounted for $38,810 million in 2015. Fiber cement is estimated to be the fastest growing material type for cladding growing at a CAGR of 7.7%.The global claddings market based on end-user sector is categorized into residential and non-residential segments. Non-residential segment includes both commercial buildings, public infrastructure, and industrial buildings. The non-residential segment dominates the market in 2015 accounting for $102,252 million. Commercial constructions witnessed consistent and impressive growth in 2015, and it is expected to keep this momentum throughout the forecast period 2016-2022.By geography, the claddings market is analyzed across four regions, namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA along with their prominent countries. North America was the most dominant geographical market in 2015, is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.9%. Increase in residential construction spending in the U.S. and Canada markets largely drive the market growth for cladding systems in North America. The U.S. residential expenditure is expected to increase due to improved household net worth, better job growth numbers, and improved consumer confidence.Key findings of the Cladding Market Wood claddings market accounted for $24,605 million in 2015 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period. Roof claddings market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4%. Non-residential is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing regional market with a CAGR of 7.6%.The key players in the market focus on collaborations, partnerships, and product developments to remain competitive in the market. Some of the key players in the claddings market include Acme Brick Company, Alcoa Inc., Axiall Corporation, Boral Limited, CSR Limited, Etex Group, Armstrong Metalldecken AG, James Hardie Plc, Nichiha Corporation, and Tata Steel Limited.The other companies mentioned in the report include A. Steadman & Sons, C A Building Products and Metal Technology.About Us: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: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285Fax: +1-800-792-5285help@alliedmarketresearch.com
Bariatric Surgery Devices Market Globally Expected to Drive Growth through 2025

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Market OverviewUndertaking a bariatric surgery has become relatively necessary for the majority of the global population, especially the obese and the overweight demographic. The fact that obesity is one of the most prevalent and endangering health disorders has increased the awareness about bariatric surgery and devices. The demand for bariatric surgery devices has registered a considerable surge by the virtue of growing preference for less-invasive bariatric surgeries. Additionally, the rising expenditure on weight loss procedures has promoted the sales of bariatric surgery devices at the individual level. Regional government initiatives are also influencing the growth of the global market for bariatric surgery devices.Demand for Bariatric Surgery Devices: Drivers & RestraintsThe high occurrence of obesity cases is regarded as the primary driver of the global bariatric surgery devices market. The growing awareness among the obsess population is expected to fuel the demand for bariatric surgery devices. Apart from that, the other factors driving the growth of the bariatric surgery devices market include,Availability of surgeons specialised in bariatric surgical techniquesSince bariatric surgeries are gaining demand, the existing as well as the new medical surgeons are developing and qualifying their surgical skills accordingly. As a result, the demand for bariatric surgery devices is experience a positive impact.Prevention of weight-related risksIncidence of diabetes, hypertension, gastric reflux disorders and blood pressure complications are at a higher risks among obese patients. As the surgeries intend on preventing occurrence of such diseases, the demand for bariatric surgery devices has surged extensively.Request Free Report Sample@Less-incisive methodsBariatric surgeries such as the sleeve gastrectomy require lower incision, which helps the patients adopt the surgeries without apprehension. This results more consumption of bariatric surgery devices by hospitals and weight-loss clinics.However, the implications arriving post-surgery are posing to be the major challenge in the global market for bariatric surgery devices. Since the surgical procedures are operated on the stomach and the intestines of the patient, there is a high risk of acquiring infections. Gastrointestinal ulcers, internal bleeding, small bowel obstruction, gastric band slippage, and hernias are some of the common implications that lower the use of bariatric surgery devices.Market Segmentation & Regional OutlookThe global market for bariatric surgery devices can be segmented on the basis the type of bariatric surgery and the device used.Based on the different kinds of bariatric surgery procedures, the market is classified into,Gastric Bypass SurgerySleeve Gastrectomy SurgeryGastric Banding SurgeryOthersBy device-type, the global market is further segmented into,Stapling DevicesGastric BandsGastric BalloonsBased on the regional segmentation, North America is expected to lead the global bariatric surgery devices market on the account of the high obesity levels in the US and Canada. Subsequently, the higher risks of diabetes and blood pressure disorders are equally inciting the demand for bariatric surgery devices. Asia Pacific & Japan are anticipated to expand at a remarkable CAGR, owing to the rising expenditure on weight-loss treatments in APEJ countries.Request For TOC@Key PlayersJohnson & Johnson, Covidien Plc, Cousin Biotech, and Pare Surgical, Inc., among others are the some of the key companies in the global bariatric surgery devices market. Pharmaceutical and medical devices leaders such as Medtronic has launched flagship devices for sleeve gastrectomy, indicating the positive expansion of the global market. The government funding is also playing a major role in providing manufacturers with the capital required to produce enhanced devices for bariatric surgeries.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:Future Market Insights616 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:
Micro Printing Market 10-Year Forecast and Trends Analysis Research Report

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Micro Printing Market OverviewMicro printing is an anti-counterfeit technique of printing alphabetic letters and numbers on currency, stamps, bank checks and others item of value for security purposes. Micro print is generally invisible with our naked eyes and is generally placed at an unnoticeable area of the item. The computer scanner and photocopier machines cannot view the micro print and hence display it in the form of line or dots. The demand for micro printing has arisen due to focus on detecting and preventing fraudulent activities. The global micro printing market has witnessed tremendous growth due to its global adoption across different verticals, especially for driving licences and employee ID cards.Micro Printing Market DynamicsThe main factor that drives the growth of micro printing market is development and introduction of innovative products and services. Government and corporate organizations are increasingly adopting micro printing for identity cards and licences as a security tool to avoid misuse and fraud. This is another factor that has boosted the growth of global micro printing market. Currency and stamps are the prominent sectors for micro printing market.The global micro printing market is quite mature and there is limited scope for new entrants to survive. The market is expected to show double-digit growth during the forecasted period.The US$ 100 bill has been released recently with micro printing along the quill of the note. Development of cost-effective micro printing technology has further enhanced its application range along different verticals. The different universities around the world are researching on micro printing to enhance its scope and fuel future opportunities.Researchers from Penn State University have recently discovered cost-effective artificial cells using micro printing technology, which can be used for drug and gene delivery devices.Request Free Report Sample@Micro Printing Market SegmentationThe global micro printing market is segmented on the basis of type, application and geography. On the basis of type, the global micro printing market is categorized into  micro- embossing, special inks, magnetic inks, UV invisible inks, infrared ink marking and others. On the basis of application, global micro printing market is categorized into  currency, stamps, bank cheques, labels, defence, packaging, ID cards, consumer electronics and others. On the basis of geography, global micro printing market is divided into  North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Japan, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Middle East & Africa.The micro printing technique is used as an additional security measure by the government and corporate companies for providing licence and employee identity card. The micro printing provide easy detection and prevents misuse of fraudulent or duplicity of the things of importance. Packaging and ID card are the segments which are expected to witness the highest growth during forecasted period. The micro printing has an increasing scope to be used in biomaterials and bio sensing applications. There are innovative products like microprint pen, patented by Google to create a unique mark. There is a need to understand the value chain for micro printing market that include product OEMs, contract manufacturers, service providers, component suppliers, system integrators, maintenance providers and others in order to understand and exploit current market dynamics.Request For TOC@Micro Printing Market Key PlayersDiagramm Halbach GMBH (Germany), Saueressig GmbH Co KG (Germany), Team NiSCA (U.S.),Xerox Corporation (U.S.),Micro Format Inc. (U.S.), Hewlett-Packard Company (U.S.), Gallas Label & Decal (U.S.),Brady Inc. (U.S.), Printegra (U.S.), Huber Group (India) etc. among others are some of the top players in global micro printing market. These companies adopt the strategy of innovation, mergers and acquisition in order to grab maximum market share in global micro printing market. Innovative efforts are needed to improve the output quality of micro printing, reduce the cost of micro printing devices and development of end user acceptable product.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:Future Market Insights616 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:
Digital Power Conversion Market Set for Rapid Growth And Trend, by 2025

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Market OverviewProducts and devices implementing the digital power conversion techniques are gaining tremendous demand and manufacturers are boosting their production capacity to meet these needs. Digital power conversion techniques are used in electronic devices that require analog-to-digital or digital-to-digital conversions. The demand for digital power conversion is growing, owing to its technical applicability in a wide range of conversion processes for audio signals.Since audio and power signals are fundamental to almost every electronic device, the demand for digital power conversion systems will continue growing and advancing in the future. The global digital power conversion market forecast is likely to register substantial CAGR during the forecast period 2015-2025.Digital Power Conversion Market: Drivers & RestraintsSince the onset of electronic handheld devices, the processes of digital power conversion have become miniaturised. However, the demand for such mini-converters is gaining momentum, and electronic manufacturers are adopting these newly developed digital power conversion systems. Key drivers fuelling market growth include,Mandatory regulations on power-supply requirementsAdvancements in power system design for newly-launched devicesWireless automation systems for existing buildingsOverall growth of semiconductor industriesSupportive government initiativesRequest Free Report Sample@Although the outlook on the digital power conversion market is positive, the current digital power conversion market is still at a nascent stage, and key challenges need to be addressed for the market to flourish. The digital control loop replacing the Key companies in the market include existing common power supply analog control loop is a major challenge restraining the growth of the digital power conversion market. Operational expenditures, environmental concerns, additional system cooling, and safety concerns are also limiting the growth of the global digital power conversion market.Market SegmentationBesides the geographical segmentation, the global digital power conversion market can be classified on the basis of product type and applications.Based on application, the global digital power conversion market is segmented into:IndustrialAutomotiveEnterprise & Cloud ComputingCommunication InfrastructureBased on product type, the global digital power conversion market is segmented into:AC/DCIsolated DC/DCSequencersDC/ACPower Conditioning / Active Power FilteringHot SwapRequest For TOC@Digital Power Conversion Market: Region-wise OutlookNorth America, Europe, and Asia Pacific are leading markets for digital power conversion equipment and services. Japan and the Middle East & Africa (MEA) will also continue to witness steady growth during the forecast period. North America is likely to dominate the global market for digital power conversion, while China is expected to be a key market in terms of production and supply of converters.Competitive AnalysisTexas Instruments Incorporated, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Linear Technology Corporation, Microchip Technology Inc., Qualcomm Incorporated, some of are the leading players in the global digital power conversion 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:Future Market Insights616 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:
Photo Sharing Market Trends, Regulations And Competitive Landscape Outlook to 2025

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Social media is a networking tool which helps any individual to exchange, create, and share information photos, videos and others. In the current scenario social media tool has become the best mode for marketing, promotion and building social relationship across the globe. Photo sharing tool helps in storing, organising and sharing ones photo collections. Increasing internet penetration coupled with adoption of photo sharing tool as a marketing strategy among the social media platforms is fuelling the growth of photo sharing market across the globe.Photo Sharing Market SegmentationPhoto sharing market is segmented on the basis of platform which includes paid services membership and free services membership. Among both these segments free services membership segment is expected to account for the major market share as compared to paid services membership. However, services provider are offering increased features and add on services in paid services membership which is expected to support the demand of paid services membership during the forecast period.Photo sharing market is also segmented on the basis of application, which includes personal computers and mobile devices. Personal computers can be further sub segmented as desktop and laptop. Among both of these sub segments laptop is expected to be the major contributor on the pie for photo sharing market as compared to desktop. Increased in number of usage of laptop across the globe is expected to support its growth in photo sharing market during the forecast period. Mobile devices sub-segments include smart phone, tablets and notebook. Among all of these sub-segments smart phones is expected to account for the major share in photo sharing market as compared to other sub-segments. This growth has been supported by the increased usage of smart phone across the developing countries. Moreover, contribution of tablets in terms of share in photo sharing market is also expected show a substantial increase during the forecast period.Request Free Report Sample@On the basis of end user, the photo sharing market segmentation includes enterprises and individual. Enterprises can further be sub segmented as large scale enterprise, medium scale enterprise and small scale enterprise. Among all these sub segment large scale enterprise is expected to account for the major share in photo sharing market. Increased adoption of online marketing among the product manufacturers and service providers is expected to support the growth of enterprises in photo sharing market during the forecast period.Globally, photo sharing market is expected to reflect a double digit growth during the forecast period. North America is expected to account for major share followed by Europe in the near future. Moreover developing regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America are expected to show a substantial growth in photo sharing market during the forecast period. Countries such as Singapore and Japan are expected to be the major contributor in terms of revenue in photo sharing market. Increased penetration of internet in developing regions is expected to support the growth of photo sharing market.Photo Sharing MarketDriversAvailability of wide features for creating and sharing or collections of photos with one and another coupled with increasing connectivity medium is expected to drive the growth of photo sharing market in the near future. Moreover, increased adoption of social media for generating awareness and promotion of the product and services is predicted to fuel the growth of photo sharing market during the forecast period.Request For TOC@Photo Sharing Market Key PlayersKey players operating in photo sharing market includes Yahoo Inc., Cooliris Path Inc., Photobucket Corporation, Phonezoo Communications Inc., Trover, Facebook Inc., Bump Technologies LLC., and Hewlett Packard among 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:Future Market Insights616 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:
New Trends of Drug Delivery Technology Market with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2026

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Drug delivery system is the process of administering therapeutic substance through common route of administration to achieve a therapeutic effect in humans or animals. Drugs release the active ingredients in the target area so that in the period of time it controls though its formulation. The most important driving factor for drug delivery technology market is the increasing demand for effective delivery mechanisms of novel biopharmaceuticals.Recently, AstraZeneca signed a licensing agreement with Starpharma for the use of its DEP drug delivery technology aiming to enhancing the dosing and efficacy characteristics of pharmaceuticals. AstraZeneca agreed to fund all development and commercialization costs, including ongoing and future collaborative work conducted with Starpharma.Drug Delivery Technology Market: Drivers & RestraintsGrowing incidence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer, technological advancement, innovation, the growing focus on pediatric and geriatric patients, change in lifestyle due to growing urbanization, the increasing demand for minimally invasive surgeries, are the most important driving factors in drug delivery technology market. Since growth of biopharmaceutical market is fast, the demand for drug delivery technology market has increased.Request Free Report Sample@With so many advantages and splendid features of drug delivery technology, it has few disadvantages too. Side-effects related to drugs, patents expiry and regulatory hurdles are acting as key barrier for drug delivery technology.Drug Delivery Technology Market: SegmentationDrug delivery technology market is broadly classified on the basis of the following segments By Route of Administration :Oral RouteParenteral RouteIntramuscularIntravenousIntra-arterialSubcutaneous routeTransdermal RouteInhalation RouteNasal Drug DeliveryBy End User:HospitalsClinicsDiagnostic CentresHome care settingsOthersDrug Delivery Technology Market: OverviewThe drug delivery technology market has grown substantially at a healthy CAGR due to growing incidence of chronic diseases and change in lifestyle. With rapid technological advancement and innovation, drug delivery technology market is expected to grow globally. North America is the largest market for drug delivery technology and Asia Pacific would be the fastest growing market in the forecast period.Request For TOC@Drug Delivery Technology Market: Region-wise OutlookThe drug delivery technology market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, drug delivery technology is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America is the largest market for drug delivery technology market and is contributing the most as compare to other regions. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region in the forecast period.Drug Delivery Technology Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in drug delivery technology market are Johnson and Johnson Pvt Ltd, 3M, Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc, Glaxosmithkline PLC, Merck & Co., Inc, Antares Pharma, Generex Biotechnology, pSivida Corppration, Alkermes, Aradigm Corp., Vectura Group plc, NanoPass Technologies 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:Future Market Insights616 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:
Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck Market: 2017 Global Trend and 2021 Forecast Research Report

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This market analysis includes a detailed segmentation of the Global Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck Market by development trend and by application.The report covers the present year 2017 scenario and the growth prospects of the Global Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck Market for 2017-2021.The report Global Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck 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 Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck Market By Geography North America Asia-Pacific EuropeRequest a sample of Global Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck Market Research Report @The Global Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck 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 Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck Market key players are: Company A Company B Company C Company DBrowse the full Global Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck Market Research Report @The report provides an extensive analysis of current and future market status of the world Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck 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 Aerial Work Platform (AWP) Truck Market Research Report This report helps to analyzed the world's main region market conditions It provides product manufacturing processes It provides industry policies and plans It provides overview of product specification It provides cost structures & so on.The Report Contains: 167 Pages.Price of the report: 2850$ (single user license)Check discount @About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Follow us on G+ :
Global Central Venous Catheter Market projected to register a CAGR of 5.1% over 2016-2026

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Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the global central venous catheter market in its latest report titled, Global Central Venous Catheter Market: Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 20162026. In terms of revenue, the global central venous catheter market is projected to register a CAGR of 5.1% over the forecast period owing to various factors, on which FMI offers detailed insights and forecasts.Growth of the global central venous catheter market is mainly driven by rising adoption and growing demand for antimicrobial coated catheters, coupled with socio-economic factors such as increasing disease incidences due to a growing geriatric population. Other prominent growth drivers are product innovations and increasing rates of hospitalisations. A key trend in the global central venous catheter market is the increasing usage of tip location devices for locating the tip of the catheter during central access procedure. Increasing number of oncologists are prescribing antimicrobial coated tunnelled catheters for chemotherapy regimens, which is another prominent trend in the global central venous catheter market.Request Report Sample@Segmentation highlightsThe market is segmented based on product type, design of the catheters, composition of the catheters, properties, end user and regions. Based on product type, the market has been segmented into tunnelled and non-tunnelled catheters.Non-tunnelled catheters are expected to exhibit the fastest CAGR, due to increase in the usage of these catheters by anaesthesiologists in the emergency room. The segment is expected to register a CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period. However risk of catheter related blood stream infection with non-tunnelled catheters is expected to adversely affect demand for these central venous catheters over the forecast periodTo provide deeper insight into pattern of demand for central venous catheters, the market has been segmented based on the properties of the central venous catheters such as antimicrobial coated catheters and non-antimicrobial coated cathetersThe antimicrobial coated catheters property segment is expected to witness a highest CAGR of 6.0% over the forecast period. The market has also been segmented based on the composition of the catheter such as catheters made up of polyurethane, polyurethane/polycarbonate and silicon. Polyurethane CVCs are expected to exhibit the fastest CAGR during the forecast periodTo analyse the sales of central venous catheter further, the market has been segmented based on the design of the catheters such as single lumen catheters, double lumen catheters and multi lumen cathetersIn addition to this, the market has also been segmented by end users into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centres, and speciality clinics. The Hospital end user segment is expected to account for the highest demand for central venous catheter over the forecast period, registering a CAGR of 5.3%. Increasing patient admissions for major surgeries, trauma cases, accidents etc. is anticipated to push the demand for central venous catheters in hospitals over the forecast periodSend An Enquiry@Regional projectionsThis report assesses trends driving growth of each segment on the global as well as regional levels, and offers potential takeaways that could prove substantially useful to central venous catheters manufacturers looking to enter the market. North America has been estimated to dominate the global central venous catheter market with a maximum market share in 2015. North America and Western Europe have been collectively expected to account for around 50% of the total global central venous catheter market share in terms of value in 2015. Amongst the emerging markets, APEJ region is estimated to exhibit the highest CAGR of 6.2% over the forecast period, due to an increase in the number of patients admitted to hospitals.Vendor insightsSome key players in the global central venous catheter market identified in the report include AngioDynamics, C.R. Bard, Teleflex Incorporated, Kimal, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Vygon (UK) Ltd., Smiths Medical and Comed B.V. FMI has discussed individual strategies of these companies in terms of enhancing product portfolio, distribution partnerships, market consolidation and advanced R&D initiatives. In addition, the report also provides company share and competitive dashboard for players already present 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:
U.S. Mens Underwear Market projected to grow at 5.8% CAGR through 2026

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Manufacturers boosting sales by making L+ size underwear affordable, counting upon US mens bloating waist sizeBigger waist sizes and selective preference for boxers, boxer briefs, and regular briefs will continue to shape up the growth in revenue of the mens underwear market in the US. According to a latest study by Future Market Insights, sales of XXXL size mens underwear in the US will surpass US$ 590 million in 2016. The L and XL sizes will account for an impressive 21.7% and 21.4% value share respectively of the US$ 3.3 billion market. Future Market Insights projects the US mens underwear market to grow at 5.8% CAGR through 2026.Request Report Sample@Popularity of regular briefs and boxer briefs is evidently impacting the US mens underwear market growth. The countrys urban life demands a proactive lifestyle, compelling men to hustle through their daily tasks at a quicker pace. Such a lifestyle trend defines the type of underwear worn by men in the US. The comparatively low cost of making regular briefs enables apparel manufacturers in the US to expand their production capacity, increasing the gross volume production of mens regular briefs. By 2026, sales of mens regular briefs and boxer briefs will collectively surpass 500 million units.Top Research Findings in Future Market Insights Report on the US Mens Underwear MarketMore than 80% men in the US buy their own underwear, inducing higher importance on personalised shopping outletsNortheast States are likely to account for nearly 40% of the US markets gross revenue over the forecast periodAvailability of all underwear brands at flexible prices to increase US mens underwear sales through mass merchandisers, while online stores will contribute with just over 10% value share as a distribution channelProducts offered by Hanesbrand Inc. and Calvin Klein Inc. have gained nationwide prominence in the US, while companies such as Jockey International, Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, Ralph Lauren Corporation, and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. among others, are intensifying their measures for a strategic expansion of their market shares.Send An Enquiry@Competitive Pricing  The Key to SuccessDesign styles, fabric materials, and type of underwear are likely to be secondary factors influencing buying behaviour. Availing inner comfort at a reasonable price remains an important buyer consideration. Manufacturers must consider the fact that men in the US own over a dozen of underwear pairs in a year, and still continue to buy a couple or more according to their usage. The average annual spend on underwear in the mens segment is pegged at US$ 80, making mid-price range underwear a lucrative segment for end users. In 2016, mid-priced mens underwear will garner over 42% share in the US market  nearly 12% more than the market share of the premium priced segment.At an average price of US$ 30 or above, the US mens underwear sales are projected to reach 130 million units by 2026. Underwear sold in the US$ 20-29 price range will continue to dominate the market, accounting for over US$ 1 billion market value in 2016.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:
Cellulase Market Analysis, Segments, Growth and Value Chain 2016-2026

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Industry from many centuries has utilized natural resources in the manufacturing of products that we use in our Daily lives. As the industry has expanded and brought in technological innovations, so have the different types of natural resources evolved in the process of manufacturing. Molecules derived from natural sources have become an important part of manufacturing process all over the globe. One of those widely used molecules are enzymes. From wine making to detergent manufacturing, enzymes have been used in myriad applications. One of the most widely used enzymes all over the globe is Cellulase.Cellulase is a group of enzymes that helps in the breakdown of the cellulose into smaller carbohydrates. The term Cellulase is also used to describe a mixture of enzymes working together to break down cellulose. Cellulase applications are not just limited to the healthcare and food and beverage industry. Industrial sector has widely adopted cellulase due to its catalyzing effect in cellulolysisRequest Report Sample@Cellulase Market- Market Segmentation:Based on the Source, the Cellulasemarket is segmented into:FungiBacteriaAcinomycetesPlantsAnimalsBased on end use, the Cellulasemarket is segmented into:HealthcareIndustrialFood and BeveragesTextilePulp and paperCellulase Market- Market Dynamics:Cellulase is widely used in the processing of coffee, especially during the process of drying. Cellulase is also utilized in wine making due to its cellulolytic properties. Cellulase breaks down the skin of the grape and along with it removes tannins and the unpleasant aroma. Cellulase synergistically with other enzymes are also used to make fruit juices. With the exponential growth in the food and beverage industry, we can expect the cellulase market to grow at a healthy CAGR throughout our forecasted period of 2016-2026. Cellulase is also used in industrial applications to produce laundry detergents, cleaning and washing agents. With the burgeoning rise in the industrial sector, cellulase market is bound to witness an exponential growth throughut our forecasted period of 2016-2026. Cellulase is being recognized as an alternative to anti-biotic in the treatment of biofilms produced by Pseudomonas. With the double digit growth in the global healthcare industry and the struggle against anti-biotic resistant bacteria, we can expect the cellulase market to witness a healthy CAGR throughout our forecast period. Cellulase is also used in the burgeoning paper and pulp industry. The restraints for the cellulase market are that its production is quite costly.Visit For TOC@Cellulase Market- Regional Outlook:In terms of geography, the cellulase market has been divided in to five key regions; North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. The cellulase market is expected to exhibit an above average CAGR during the forecast period. Asia Pacific region is expected to witness a high demand for cellulase over the forecasted period. Highest growth is expected to be seen specifically from India and China. Significant growth will also be witness in Middle East and Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America.Cellulase Market- Major Players:Some of the key players in the cellulase market are Worthington Biochemical Corporation, MP Biomedicals LLC, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, Prozmix LLC, Creative Enzymes, bioWORLD, Amano enzyme U.S.A., Amano Enzyme Inc., Zhongbei Bio-Chem Industry Co., Ltd., Hunan Hong Ying Biotech Co., Ltd.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global EMI OR RFI Inductor Components Market Research Report Forecast 2017-2021

EMI OR RFI Inductor Components Market

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In depth analysis of EMI/RFI Inductor Components Market is a professional research report.The review has been based on the report titled, " EMI/RFI Inductor Components Market 2017 - 2021."Read Complete Report @To begin with, the report elaborates the EMI/RFI Inductor Components Market Various definitions and classification of the industry, applications of the industry and chain structure are given. Present day status of the EMI/RFI Inductor Components Market in key regions is stated and industry policies and news are analysed.After the EMI/RFI Inductor Components Market analysis report speaks about the manufacturing process and cost structures.The process is analysed thoroughly Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers, various manufacturing associated costs (material cost, labour cost, etc.) and the actual process.Global EMI/RFI Inductor Components Market: Top ManufacturesWurth ElektronikPanasonicHammond Manufacturing - TransformersVishayMurataKEMETTE ConnectivityMurata Power SolutionsBournsGlobal EMI/RFI Inductor Components Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaTo provide information on competitive landscape, this report includes detailed profiles of EMI/RFI Inductor Components Market key players. For each player, product details, capacity, price, cost, gross and revenue numbers are given.Request for Sample Report @In this report analysis, traders and distributors analysis is given along with contact details. For material and equipment suppliers also, contact details are given. New investment feasibility analysis and Market growth is included in the report.About Us:MarketResearchStore 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 UsJoel JohnTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651Email: sales@marketresearchstore.com
Global Capacitor Mounting Clips Market 2017 - KEMET, EPCOS, RS Pro, Richco, Cornell-Dubilier, Genteq, General Electric Co.

Capacitor Mounting Clips Market

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In depth analysis of Capacitor Mounting Clips Market is a professional research report.The review has been based on the report titled, " Capacitor Mounting Clips Market 2017 - 2021."Read Complete Report @To begin with, the report elaborates the Capacitor Mounting Clips Market Various definitions and classification of the industry, applications of the industry and chain structure are given. Present day status of the Capacitor Mounting Clips Market in key regions is stated and industry policies and news are analysed.After the Capacitor Mounting Clips Market analysis report speaks about the manufacturing process and cost structures.The process is analysed thoroughly Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers, various manufacturing associated costs (material cost, labour cost, etc.) and the actual process.Global Capacitor Mounting Clips Market: Top ManufacturesKEMETTE ConnectivityEPCOSRS ProRichcoCornell-DubilierGenteqVishayGeneral Electric Co.Global Capacitor Mounting Clips Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaTo provide information on competitive landscape, this report includes detailed profiles of Capacitor Mounting Clips Market key players. For each player, product details, capacity, price, cost, gross and revenue numbers are given.Request for Sample Report @In this report analysis, traders and distributors analysis is given along with contact details. For material and equipment suppliers also, contact details are given. New investment feasibility analysis and Market growth is included in the report.About Us:MarketResearchStore 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 UsJoel JohnTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651Email: sales@marketresearchstore.com
Digital disruption along with increasing penetration of 3D printing technology is expected to drive the skin replacement market

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Skin Replacement Market IntroductionCosmetic industry has been a success story over the last few years compared to other consumer products. In cosmetic industry, skin replacement market is gaining remarkable share worldwide. The trend is attributed primarily to burn injuries and technological adoption to treat various skin-related issues. Burnt skin induces the growth of microbes and bacteria that ultimately results in rapid loss of body fluids. Thus, to protect the skin traditionally skin grafts from the donors or cadavers were used. However, uptake of these substitutes was impeded due to probability of graft rejection and unavailability of large skin patch. Hence, to resolve the problem synthetic skin substitutes came into picture to treat deep skin wounds which promotes regeneration of artificial skin. These technological advancements have led to enhanced survival of burned patients and in the past years several skin replacement products have been used for the treatment of chronic wounds. Skin replacement market is likely to grow at a relatively moderate pace in-between 2016 to 2020 before taking upward trend to 2023. The average sales is expected to go above 1.5X between 2016 and 2023.Browse Market Research Report:Burn injuries have increased over the last few years. According to independent estimates, over 1.5 million population in the U.S. suffers from burn related skin loss each year. Similarly, in the United Kingdom approximately 175,000 report to emergency departments for the burn injuries and of these approximately 13,000 require hospital admissions. As a result, skin replacement product is expected to gain traction with innovative products being launched in the market including artificial skin. The industry will be further driven by increasing 3D printing technology in healthcare. Companies such as LOreal and Proctor & Gamble leverages 3D printing technology to develop artificial skin.Market Taxonomy:Coherent Market Insights has segmented the skin replacement products market byTechnologyProductOn the basis of technology, 3D printing technology is expected to be the attractive segment driving huge revenue for market players. Skin grown in laboratories will dominate the market throughout the forecast period.Various types of skin replacement products have been divided in three major categories namely permanent skin replacement products, temporary skin replacement products and cultured epidermal skin replacement products.North America to dominate the skin market with US$ 25 Bn spending on wound treatment and presence of over 14% geriatrics populationThe skin replacement market report covers market analysis across regions  North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa.Global skin replacement market is witnessing a positive trend with North America and Europe as the main engine of growth. North America and Europe are expected to capture a major chunk of the market before easing out to Asia Pacific market by 2020.Get 10% Discount For First Time Buyers:North America currently represents the largest regional market for skin replacement products followed by Europe. A rise in the number of burn cases has been majorly driving the skin replacement substitutes market in these two regions.Penetration rate of skin replacement products in Asia Pacific is still at its nascent stage. However, the growth will gain upward trend by mid of forecast period. The growth will be driven by India and Japan.Companies such as LOreal and Proctor & Gamble leverages 3D printing technology to develop artificial skin replacement productsSome of the key players in the skin replacement market include Platelet BioGenesis, Tengion, and Cellular Dynamics International, TissueGene, Inc., Cynata Therapeutics Limited, LOreal and Proctor & Gamble.Companies need to emphasis on value creation by channelizing product manufacturing capability with digital marketing. Close collaboration with leading life science universities could further help companies to deliver innovative skin replacement products in the market.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report: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.com
Oncology Information System Market Size and Demand Forecast to 2024

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Oncology information system is an image and information management system that allows to check all parts of oncology care for patients. Oncology information system combines medical, surgical, and radiation oncology information into a comprehensive, oncology electronic medical record that allows to manage patient's details from start of the patients admission through diagnosis and follow-up details.Browse Market Research Report @The factors driving the growth of the oncology information system market are increase in technological adaption and technological advancement. Increase in health care infrastructure in developing nations, growth in prevalence of secondary tumor, and rise in incidence of cancer are the other factors anticipated to propel the growth of the oncology information system market during the forecast period. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide; in 2012, there were 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths worldwide. However, lack of health care IT professionals and strict regulation are likely to restrict the growth of the oncology information system market.According to a report by the American Cancer Society, 50% of men and 30% of women are estimated to develop cancer in some form or the other in their lifetime. Increase in amount of cancer patients is a major driver of the sales of the oncology information system market. Additionally, rise in amount of tobacco consumption and increase in amount of carcinogens present in the polluted air or in any other form are projected to drive the oncology information system market in the near future. Some of the factors driving the growth of the market are rising disposable income, which enables patients to avail expensive treatments, easily available medical insurance policies, and growing medical tourism activities. Heavy investments in R&D further act as an opportunity for the growth of the market since innovative and technologically advanced products always have the capability of substituting its predecessors.The oncology information system market has been segmented by product, application, end-user, and geography. Based on product, the oncology information system market is classified into patient information system, treatment planning system, consulting/optimization, implementation, maintenance, services, and others. Based on application, the market is segmented into care management, treatment management, and knowledge management. Based on end-user, the oncology information system market is segmented into hospital, government institution, research center, and others.Geographically, the oncology information system market in segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to account for a large market share in terms of revenue, followed by Europe. The oncology information system market in North America is expected to grow due to technological advancement and increase in demand for advanced product. The growing need to implement advanced systems in the health care sector in the region and, at the same time, deliver quality care to patients are the factors likely to drive the market in the near future. Asia Pacific is expected to rise at a high CAGR owing to increase in adoption of technological advanced products, growth in disposable income, and rise in health care infrastructure in countries such as India, China, Australia, and other countries in the region. The Latin America oncology information system market is mainly driven by the increasing adoption of technological products in countries such as Brazil and Mexico. The Middle East & Africa oncology information system market is estimated to grow in the near future due to rise in incidence of cancer. According to World Health Organization, women in the African region had the highest incidence of cancer of the cervix uteri.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Major players operating in this market include CureMD Healthcare, Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Flatiron Health, Inc., Epic Systems Corporation, Bogardus Medical Systems, Inc., Cerner Corporation, McKesson Corporation, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Elekta AB, and Accuray Inc.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:
Uncooled Thermal Imaging Market Forecast By End-use Industry 2016-2026

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Thermal imaging is a technology, which is invented specially for military operation in 1950, but it has been implemented in other applications as well due to realized benefits. Cameras based in thermal imaging technologies are able to capture clearer image even in dark surrounding. They dont need any light to operate in darkest of night and allow seeing objects without making itself visible. Thermal imaging cameras can see object even in fog and smoke that is why it is more preferable for military operations in battleground. In short, thermal imaging technology is used to observe the objects in dark environment or in unfavorable atmospheric condition with the help of some parameters like temperature difference in the human body, electrical appliances, mechanical equipment and many other assets. The key component used in thermal imaging camera is the detecting material (detector) that detects change in temperature and helps to create an image. On the basis of nature of detector, thermal imaging technique is segmented into cooled thermal imaging technique and uncooled thermal imaging technique. Those devices which use thermal imaging technique with mechanism to cool down temperature of sensor is termed as cooled thermal imaging systems and those devices which make use of thermal imaging technology without any necessity of cooling down the sensor is termed as uncooled thermal imaging system.Uncooled thermal imaging market has been witnessed a tremendous growth of double digit in 2014 and is expected to grow with a substantial CAGR over forecast period.Uncooled Thermal Imaging: Market Drivers and RestraintThe key trend of global uncooled thermal imaging has been recorded for past some years is that the different vendors are launching the integration of uncooled imaging technology with smart phones and tablets (consumer goods). The key growth drivers of global uncooled thermal imaging market are increasing demand in industrial and commercial application because of its low price as compare to cooled thermal imaging system, also the increasing adoption in military application under soldier modernization programs help in driving the growth of global uncooled thermal imaging market. On the other hand there is also some factors which are deterring the growth of global uncooled thermal imaging market as availability of advanced technology with clearer image quality, which suppresses the growth of global uncooled thermal imaging market.Request For Report Sample@Uncooled Thermal Imaging: SegmentationSegmentation of uncooled thermal imaging market is done on the basis of spectrum range, application, vertical & Geography. On the basis of spectrum range, global uncooled thermal imaging market is segmented as short wave IR, mid wave IR and long wave IR. On the basis of application, global uncooled thermal imaging market is segmented as building surveillance, night vision camera, firefighting, military, mapping & surveying and others.By vertical, global uncooled thermal imaging market is industrial, medical, automotive, test and measurement, maritime, research & development, commercial, security and surveillance, test & measurement, maritime and others.Uncooled Thermal Imaging Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, uncooled thermal imaging is segmented into seven regions which are ; North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Among all the regions North America is the highest contributor in term of revenue in global uncooled thermal imaging market followed by Asia Pacific and it is expected that same trend is being followed in near future as well.Visit For TOC@Uncooled Thermal Imaging Market: Key PlayersThe key players of global uncooled thermal imaging market are FLIR systems, Inc., Bosch security systems, Axis communications AB, Infrared Integrated Systems Ltd, Safran Group, Danaher Corporation 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:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Refractory Glaucoma Treatment Market - Global Trends, Market Share, Industry Size, Growth, Opportunities, and Market Forecast,2016-2024

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Globally, Glaucoma is on rise. According to the Glaucoma research Foundation, Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness globally. Nearly 10% of the glaucoma patients who receive proper treatment still experience a loss of vision. Around 64.3 million people were estimated to be having glaucoma globally in 2013. Furthermore, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the current prevalence is high in Africa, and Latin America. Patients who fail to respond to medications, undergo trabeculectomy surgery. However, few patients do not get completely relieved from glaucoma even after trabeculectomy surgery. Therefore, novel treatment options are required to be introduced for providing relief to such patients. Reducing intra-ocular pressure is the most important long term medical need of refractory glaucoma patients.Get More Details About This Report:Refractory Glaucoma Treatment OptionsThe global refractory glaucoma treatment market can be characterized based on the treatment options and devices available in the market.Ahmed Glaucoma Valve from New World Medical Inc., is a good treatment option available since 1993 for refractory glaucoma. This device also has applications in primary open angle glaucoma unresponsive to medication, neovascular glaucoma, and congenital or infantile glaucoma. Various studies have reflected the positive outcomes of using Ahmed Glaucoma Valve in refractory glaucoma both in pediatrics and adults. Therefore, this device is in very high demand and usage globally.Alternate option like CyPass Micro-Stent from Transcend Medical showed impressive results in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. CyPass is a micro-invasive surgery which according to the FDA guidelines needs to be performed in combination with cataract surgery. This is restricting the wider acceptance among patients due to increased cost.Clinical trials of Xen System showed positive results with 44% reduction in eye pressure and 65% reduction in IOP medications in one year period. The Xen gel stent form Allergan reduces IOP with a permanent implant that becomes flexible, allowing doctors to use IOP reduction therapies event after the Xen implantation. Allergan received U.S. FDA approval for Xen Gel stent in November 2016. The company plans to launch the Xen Gel stent in the U.S. market, for refractory glaucoma treatment, in early 2017. The Xen system has already received CE mark and has distributed more than 10,500 stents globally. Moreover, the new surgical system is also licensed for use in Canada, Switzerland, and Turkey.Iridex Corporation, a global provider of innovative laser systems, device and consumables in ophthalmology announced at the European Glaucoma Society held in June 2016 about the positive results of its MicroPulse P3 (MP3) device. The device powered with MicroPulse laser technology showed long term benefits for patients with refractory glaucoma. Few detailed studies with successful outcomes could lead global acceptance of this technology in future.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:Glaucoma drainage devices are frequently used in refractory glaucoma to reduce the intra-ocular pressure (IOC). These devices are available in either with IOP regulating valves or without it. Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) is the most commonly used valve-based drainage device while Molteno, Baerveldt, Shocket, and Eagle Vision implants are the non-valved drainage devices available in the market.Future Market DynamicsAccording to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the global prevalence of glaucoma is estimated to rise to 76 million in 2020 and 111.8 million in 2040. Rapidly aging population will be one of the important factors for the increasing prevalence rate. There would be a disproportionate rise in the prevalence in people residing in Asia and Africa. Slower adoption rate and high cost of the surgery is limiting the market growth of refractory glaucoma treatment devices in emerging nations where cataract surgery is the largely performed eye surgery. With new devices and technology being introduced, there could be a strong wave of growth experienced in the North America and European markets.Get 10% Discount For First Time Buyers: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.com
Body Screening Market Growth and Regional 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.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).Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.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:
Global Fuel Hose Market 2017 - Sunrise Limited, DuPont, Kokoku Rubber, Precision Hose-Stone Mountain, FlexFab LLC

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Global Fuel Hose Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Fuel Hose market globally, providing basic overview of Fuel Hose market including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure, Fuel Hose Market report provides development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. Fuel Hose market size, share and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies. The Current global Fuel Hose Analysis and opportunities are also taken into consideration in Fuel Hose industry study. Fuel Hose market report provides the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.Download Sample Report @The Fuel Hose report is offers a clear picture of the current and future trends, developments and opportunities. The report, prepared by a highly seasoned team of analysts and data experts, carries an array of tables and graphs besides qualitative analyses. Starting with a discussion on the current state of the Fuel Hose market, the report goes on to discuss the dynamics affecting each segment within it. The report segments the market to up to three levels and studies each of these in great detail. The result is a set of sharp insights and recommendations that will help companies stay ahead of the next new trend in the Fuel Hose industry.A basic overview of the Fuel Hose market is offered to readers through the use of market definition, segmentation, applications, and value chain analysis. The analysis for the Fuel Hose market is not limited only to traditional or emerging markets. It also covers regions that have been hitherto unexplored but have white space that could be lucratively tapped. In order to do this, however, a clear understanding of ones competitors is imperative. The report provides just that through a section dedicated to key company profiles and news. Equipped with this vital information, players in the Fuel Hose market will be in a better position to foresee opportunities and threats alike and make informed decisions.Access Full Report With TOC @The regulatory environment, being such an intrinsic part of the Fuel Hose market, does need special focus. The report collates information relating to current and future policies and regulations that could directly or indirectly affect business operations. The report is an invaluable business intelligence repository for new and existing players in the Fuel Hose market.For technical data and manufacturing plants analysis, the report analyzes Fuel Hose leading suppliers on capacity, commercial production date, manufacturing plants distribution, R&D Status, technology sources, and raw materials sources.This report also presents product specification, manufacturing process, and product cost structure etc. Production is separated by regions, technology and applications. Analysis also covers upstream raw materials, equipment, downstream client survey, marketing channels, industry development trend and proposals. In the end, the report includes Fuel Hose new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, investment return analysis, and development trend analysis. In conclusion, it is a deep research report on Global Fuel Hose industry.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:
Packer Bottles Market Volume Analysis, size, share and Key Trends 2017-2027

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Packer bottles are a prominent packaging product for primary packaging of non-liquid products. Though packer bottles were traditionally made of glass, rigid plastics such as high density polyethylene (HDPE) have been increasingly replacing the glass packer bottles. Vitamin pills, powdered chemical contents, nutritional supplements, medicinal tablets, agro chemicals, industrial chemicals, etc. are packed in packer bottles of various colors, materials, capacity size etc.The packer bottles have been used as a staple packaging solution for industries such as pharmaceutical, food and beverage, industrial chemicals, etc. throughout ages, as they provide an ideal way to pack products such as tablets, powder medicines, capsules and pills. Packer bottles manufactured through bow molding technology are characterized by cylindrical shape with wide mouth and threaded screw closure system. Packer bottle due to its characteristics offer convenience of storing non-liquid as well as viscous contents of less sensitive chemical properties.Packer bottles market is encompassed under the larger market for primary packaging. As a primary packaging product, packer bottles preserve the product from damage, contamination and leakage while protecting the contents over a long period of time through complex supply chain. Apart from this, packer bottles also allow convenient shelving and ease of handling for retailers as well as consumers.Request Report Sample@Packer Bottles Market, Market Dynamics:Glass packer bottles have been traditionally enjoyed larger pie of packer bottles market, as glass offers resistance to chemical properties of the content along with bulk packaging and storing capabilities. However, glass due to its heavyweight and fragile characteristics pose of risk of breakage and leakage of contents. Rigid plastics such as Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) are increasingly being preferred by manufacturers as they offer functionalities similar to glass. Plastic packer bottles offer better resistance against stress and impact compared to glass packer bottles. This allows hassle free transportation and shipping of packer bottles through the supply chain across industries.Packer bottles, which are a key packaging products for pharmaceutical products, evolve with the developments and advancements in the pharmaceutical market. Closure systems for packer bottles are gradually made of tamper evident and tamper resistant technology in order to protect the integrity and authenticity of the packed contents.However, flexible packaging formats such as blisters are progressively replacing packer bottles as preferred mediums for non-liquid products packaging. In pharmaceutical packaging market, use of blisters for packing pharmaceutical products offer higher tamper evident measure right up to the administration of the drug, as every dosage unit is packed in a separate compartments of the blister pack. This also allows protection against moisture and environment, for products with sensitive chemical properties, as moisture in packer bottles is replaced every time a bottle is opened to consume the contents within.Request For TOC@Packer Bottles Market, Market Segments:Packer bottles market can be segmented according to end user industry, application type, material type, color type and capacity size. As per end user industry, packer bottles are used in industries including pharmaceutical, healthcare, food, and beverages. According to application, packer bottles can be used to pack pills, capsules, tablets and powder. Based on the material used, packer bottles are made of glass and plastics. In plastics, packer bottles can be further segmented into Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high density polyethylene (HDPE). Packer bottles are supplied in color variants including white, amber, cobalt blue and transparent. As per capacity size, packer bottles can be segmented as below 100 cc, 100 to 300 cc, 300 to 500 cc and above 500 ccPacker Bottles Market, Regional Outlook:The regional markets for packer bottles market include North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific, excluding Japan (APEJ) and Japan. Emerging markets in APEJ such as India and China, due to increase in disposable income, will contribute to the growth of packer bottles market. Further benchmark performance of pharmaceutical industries in the U.S. and Europe will see higher growth in demand for packer bottles in these regions.Packer Bottles Market, Key Players:Key players operating in the packer bottles market are Berry Plastics Corporation, The Cary Company, Silver Spur Corporation, Alpha Packaging, Captivaco, Qorpak, Golden Needle Acupuncture, Herbal & Medical Supply, Kinnek, Inc., Comar, LLC., Pharmacy Automation Supplies, Kush Bottles, Inc., Aaron Packaging, Freund Container, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Thomas Scientific.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:
ALCOR's Joint Venture model : How it Works?

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Entering a joint venture is a smart move to grow your companys influence, reach new markets and diversify its products. But, starting your joint venture might be difficult without a structured plan, and your aspirations for joint venture could fall flat. ALCOR M&A helps you in identifying the right partner for your business, defining the goals and keeps you on track with the ongoing communication.Request Information:enquire-now.phpFinding the Right PartnerWhen you are identifying the best partner, several considerations are made for starting a joint venture. So, its better to look out for an organization with a similar target market, blended skillset, shared values and a commitment to success for a sustainable joint venture.Depending on what kind of business your company wants to accomplish with a joint venture, it may be in quest of a partner with specialized knowledge as well as expertise, or feasibly a joint venture company that can proffer economic support for developing a new service or service.Study the size of your business in comparison with your potential partner and how both organization would be benefited. By partnering with a large company, small company might gain expertise and two small companies might see success by merging forces against extensive competition in the market.Although you might have figured out the type and size of business you want to engage with, but sometimes it becomes very difficult to find your perfect match despite network of contacts to help you. This is where big data and technology comes in. Through big data algorithms and online databases, companies can land to their top matches based on their business needs.ALCOR M&A helps companies in finding their best partner, distributor or supplier based on their mutual business needs.Defining Goals While Starting Your Joint VentureAfter finding your right business partner, create a business proposal that plans an agreement on expenses, shared costs, and returns for the joint venture.During the process of a joint venture, each company is responsible for the costs, profits and losses associated with it, so business partners should clearly understand their set of responsibilities for making that joint venture successful. And from this stage, one can work on objectives and goals with their business partner that will give tangible results in future.While defining goals, always consider similar businesses that have gone through joint ventures as well as what results they have achieved through it. After setting your business goals, create key performance indicators that will help you in keeping track on your projects so that you can be prepared with all the possibilities before any problem arises.Communicate OftenOnce all your business objectives and goals are set as well as all the business partners are on board, there is a need of developing an ongoing meeting schedule to keep everyone in loop about the joint venture. During the joint venture process, ensure that meetings have a clear purpose and send an agenda beforehand to make each partner be prepared. As everyone might not reside in the same place, each partner must be up-to-date through various video conferencing tools like Skype.Always discuss with business partner about the future of the joint venture to avoid conflict. It may happen that you decide to ultimately absorb it into the business or your partners business, rather its better for a set period to continue it as a joint entity.If you are willing to wind down a joint venture, then work together with your business partner on how to protect confidential information and un-bundle intellectual property.So, to begin your joint venture process on strong foundations, leverage the ALCOR M&A power in finding your perfect business partner.About ALCOR Mergers and AcquisitionsALCOR offers its fund management services with an investment range of US$10mn to US$500mn along with an array of investment banking services. ALCOR, augmented with an elite Board of Harvard and Oxford alumni; extends its dynamic leadership for M&A advisory, buy-side & sell-side advisory, JV advisory & execution, strategic alliance, management buyouts & leveraged buyouts, Corporate Finance & Restructuring and Business Growth Consultancy. ALCOR Fund has several portfolio companies in emerging markets.ALCOR has become one of the leading players in PE consulting, M&A, International Business Development and consulting services over last five years. Alcor has assisted numerous clients in North America, Europe, and Asia to grow their business in organic as well as through inorganic way. At ALCOR, we advise clients across industries during different stages of capital requirements with the primary goal of offering long term appreciation of the capital.Our team of experts in different industry verticals assists clients in identification, execution, procedure and exit from the transactions. Our functional expertise, in-depth industry knowledge, global reach, and dedicated team of experts assist us to offer best growth strategies according to their exact requirements. Alcor holds exclusive expertise in private equity syndication and venture capital, which ensures a successful deal closure, every time.Contact:ALCOR Fund,8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave,Suite 1300Chicago, IL 60631USA Tel: +1 773 896 1534, 800 507 4489Fax No.: +1 877 284 0818Email: lgodage@alcorfund.comWebsite:
Nuclear Response Robot Market - Key Trends, Opportunities, Challenges, Report Overview And Competitive Landscape

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Though robots have been developed since many decades, they are still not able to reasonably supplement humans in several tasks, such as assisting them in nuclear plants. This is no longer the case now, because now robots have been developed which have sufficient mobility, sensors, size and tooling to be effective in emergency situations. People in nuclear industry have now started to recognize the benefits of automated technologies and have started investing in such technologies.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Nuclear response robots are specially designed automated machines which are programmed to assist humans in safe functioning of nuclear power plants. Nuclear plants have several hazardous operations such as handling of radioactive material, disposing the used material and leakage detection in emergency situations. The robots are specifically designed to assist workers in such situations. Thus to manage radioactive materials, nuclear responsive robots are now being adopted in few countries. Nuclear response robot market is anticipated to grow at a steady pace by 2020.The post Fukushima nuclear power plant incident in Japan has raised concerns about the safety of plants in cases of such disasters. Thus for safe handling of nuclear plants, technological development will consistently be an important issue. Nuclear response robot technology will be driven by the fact that, more nuclear plants are to be deployed in future and safety would be the prime priority in such installations. Recently Chiba Future Robotics developed a robot, which can roll on dangerous radioactively contaminated grounds where firemen cannot easily enter.Browse Market Research Report @Research and Development in the field of nuclear response robots is likely to increase owing to specific requirements of nuclear plants in coming future. There are some issues that need to be resolved for wide adoption of technology. Primarily the material availability may act as a restraint for technological development. The material must be of high quality that does not alter with the reach of gamma rays in order to bear the radiation exposure. Another major issue for the nuclear response robots market is the unreliable wireless communication in case of emergency situations.The nuclear response robots can be segmented based on their applications. These robots are equipped with different sensors and come in different sizes based on their application. A majority of these robots are tele-operated. These robots can assist humans in, operation & maintenance of industrial nuclear facilities and maintenance in nuclear reactors. They are of special use in areas where safety concerns related to humans are high, such as decommissioning & dismantling nuclear facilities and emergency intervention situations.The global demand for nuclear response robots was very low until the recent accident in Fukushima power plant took place. At present no nuclear plant is in as insecure a state as Fukushima, but adoption of robots in nuclear plants around the world would reduce risks for plant workers. Now many nations which are investing in nuclear power plants have also started to invest in this technology. Especially countries like China, Japan, France and Russia are potential markets for nuclear response robots. The regional segmentation will be done as North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the world (Row).There are many major technological innovators investing in nuclear response robots. Key companies in this industry are Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Romotec, General Dynamics, iRobot, Thales Group, Boston Dynamics, ECA Robotics and Elbid Systems.Top Research Report by TMR :Automated Microscopy Market -Water Meter 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:
Food Glazing Agents Market Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016  2022

Global Food Glazing Agents Market

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Market Highlights:Food Glazing Agents Market are natural or synthetic substanceS to food to provide a waxy, homogeneous, glazed texture to prevent water loss and impart protection. These substances are considered as food additives which gives coating ability, binding capability and improves the visual appeal. Food glazing agents are used as food toppings in various bakery and confectionary products in order to improve the texture and appearance of cakes, biscuits, cookies, chocolates, toffees and other products. These are often used as coatings on fruits and vegetables preserving its freshness and value, and hence exporting the fruits and vegetables to various countries becomes easy. Globally, food glazing agents market is growing at the rate of 6.7% during 2016 to 2022.With the growing consumer awareness & their increasing interest in the appearance and texture of foods along with the multiple benefits of food glazing agents, the huge demand for food glazing agents will drive the market growth from 2016 to 2021. Also, with the growth of food additive market and advancement in food technology coupled with the innovation and introduction of new natural and organic products under the food glazing agents category has boosted the sales of food glazing agents. These factors have led to the adoption of the food glazing agents in various food applications such as processed foods and convenience foods manufacturing industries, among others. These factors will play a key role in the growth of food glazing agents market at the CAGR of 6.7% during 2016-2022.Taste Through The Market Data And Market Information Presented In More Than 60 Market Data Tables And Figures In 110 Pages Of The Project Report. Go Through The In-Depth Table Of Content (Toc) & Market Synopsis On Global Food Glazing Agents Market Information From 2016 To 2022"Major Key Players: Capol GmbH (Germany) Mantrose - Haeuser Co., Inc. (U.S.) Strahl & Pitsch (U.S.) British Wax (U.K.) Masterol Foods (Australia) Stearinerie Dubois (France) Koster Keunen (U.S.)Downstream Analysis:Carnauba wax holds a promising market as it has huge application in confectionery and bakery applications. Stearic acid is moderately used in food industry but largely used in cosmetics, personal care products and detergent. Paraffin wax is tremendously used in packaging and candle making industries. Such huge application of food glazing agents is driving this market. The recent trend wherein the demand for processed meat, seafood has increased has indirectly driven the market for glazing food agents. However, organic food glazing agent market has great potential as demand for organic food is increasing.Request A Sample Report @Study Objectives Of Food Glazing Agents Market: In depth analysis of the markets segments and sub-segments To estimate and forecast market size by source, type, application and region To analyses key driving forces which are influencing the market Region level market analysis and market estimation of North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW) and their countries Value chain analysis & supply chain analysis of the market Company profiling of major players in the market Competitive strategy analysis and mapping key stakeholders in the market Analysis of historical market trends and technologies along with current government regulatory requirementsCompetitive Analysis:Global Food Glazing Agents Market is highly concentrated in Europe. APAC has huge potential for food glazing agents, as there is rise in disposal income, increased in demand for processed food and convenience food. Food glazing agents manufacturers are focusing on expanding their product line by providing larger application in various other types of food and packaging.Regional Analysis:The global Food glazing agents market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). Among these Europe region has the major market share. The market is projected to grow at a steady pace in the review period. Asia-pacific will be the fastest growing region in the Food Glazing Agents market and high growth in emerging economies such as China, India, Japan, Australia, and the Latin American countries, offers ample opportunities for expansion to major players. The high consumption of processed and convenience food products in growing economies of Asia-Pacific and Latin America and growing demand for bakery and confectionery products especially in China and India will be the crucial factor underlining the market growth.Access Report Details @Market Segmentation-Global food glazing agents market is segmented by source, type, application and regionThe report for Global Food Glazing Agents 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.Table Of Content1 Executive Summary2 Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Markets Structure2.4 Stakeholders3 Research Methodology3.1 Research process3.2 Secondary research3.3 Primary research3.4 Forecast model3.5 Market Size estimation4 MARKET DYNAMICS4.1 Drivers4.2 Restraints4.3 Opportunities4.4 ChallengesList Of TablesTable 1 Pestle Analysis - U.S.Table 2 Pestle Analysis- CanadaTable 3 Pestle Analysis- FranceTable 4 Pestle Analysis- ChinaTable 5 Pestle Analysis- GermanyList Of FiguresFigure 1 Research MethodologyFigure 2 Primary Data Analysis ApproachFigure 3 Secondary Data Analysis ApproachFigure 4 Trend In Food Glazing Agents Market Imports 2012-15Figure 5 Growth Rate In Food Glazing Agents Market Imports 2012-15About 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
Solid-state Lasers for Data Storage Market - Geographical and Competitive Dynamics, Report Overview

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Over the past few years, the increasing adoption of information technology across various sectors is resulting in the growing use of a large amount of data. This is prompting consumers to implement highly efficient data storage solutions. The data stored in one system can be transferred to another through either portable data storage solution or Wi-Fi based local area network (LAN). However, the former is preferred to latter owing to the fact that it is more secure. Portable data storage solutions are classified into optical storage and solid state drive. Optical data storage solutions take help of solid-state laser technology to write data on the disc. The demand for solid state lasers for data storage is strong as the loss of data due to the aging of drive is lesser in optical data storage.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @This market intelligence report serves as a reliable business tool providing essential insights into the global market for solid-state lasers for data storage. The report extensively covers critical parameters such as market dynamics, trends, and opportunities. It includes in-depth analysis of the competitive landscape of the market. It profiles the prominent players in the market along with their latest developments, market shares, business strategies, and contact information. It also covers tools such as value chain and stakeholder analysis, market attractiveness analysis, and Porters five force analysis. A detailed description of the technological breakthroughs forms an important part of the report. For a clear understanding, the report segments the market for solid-state lasers for data storage on the basis of various criteria including product and geography.Browse Market Research Report @Drives such as digital versatile discs (DVD) and compact discs (CD) incorporate solid-state laser technology to write data. There is a high adoption of these drives across commercial and residential sector due to benefits such as low power consumption and high cost-effectivity. The embedding of DVD/CD writer in computers and laptops by their manufacturers is also assisting the growth of the market. Moreover, the low cost and easy availability of these drives are providing a fillip to the global market for solid-state lasers for data storage.On the flip side, the introduction of Blue-ray disc in data storage solution is jeopardizing the very existence of the market. Since a greater amount of data can be stored in Blue-ray discs, they are gaining a competitive edge over CDs and DVDs. Their high adoption is prompting manufacturers using solid-state laser technology to adopt blue ray diode-pumped solid-state laser technology. This factor is likely to turn into a driver for the market in the long run. Furthermore, innovation in multilayer recording in discs will also help manufacturers in creating ample growth opportunities for the market. However, the introduction of novel technologies such as heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), three-dimensional (3D) optical storage, and holographic data storage is anticipated to change the outlook of the market tremendously.The key regions analyzed in this report are North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. The demand for solid state lasers for data storage will be low in North America and Western Europe. These regions are considered to be early adapters of new technologies and therefore the demand for Blue-ray discs is high in these regions. Asia Pacific and Latin America are major revenue contributors in the market owing to the presence of a large number of players. Moreover, the demand for CDs and DVDs is still significant in less developed countries of these regions.Some of the key solid-state laser manufacturers for data storage are IPG Photonics Corporation, Laserglow Technologies, Newport Corporation, Quanta System, EKSPLA, Jenoptik AG, Photonic Solutions, Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc, JDS Uniphase Corporation, Photonics Industries International Inc, Coherent Inc, and Trumpf Inc.Top Research Report by TMR :Point of Sale (PoS) Receipt Printer Market -Cloud Robotics 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:
North America to Contribute over 41% to the Global Oligonucleotide Synthesis Market By 2023

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The global oligonucleotide synthesis market is projected to reach $2,744.5 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 10.5% during 2017 - 2023.Global oligonucleotide synthesis market worth $1,368.1 million in 2016According to the study, the global oligonucleotide synthesis market is likely to grow from $1.3 billion in 2016 to $2.7 billion by 2023. Recent technological and other advances, leading to cost effective and rapid synthesis of oligomers, increased government funding and other initiatives, have been driving the global oligonucleotide synthesis market. The market is further expected to gain revenue from increased focus on personalized medicine, offering tailored medical treatment to individual characteristics, needs and preferences of patients and rising compliance for oligonucleotide synthesis in the emerging economies.Browse the Report Summary at:Insights on market segmentsAs per the findings of research, globally synthesized oligonucleotide is the largest product of oligonucleotide synthesis market, followed by reagents and equipment. Based on application, synthesized oligonucleotide finds largest application in research, followed by diagnostic and therapeutic.North America stands as the largest oligonucleotide synthesis marketGeographically, North America has been the largest market for oligonucleotide synthesis market, with the U.S. being the largest contributor to the regional market. In Europe, the U.K. has been the largest region contributing to oligonucleotide synthesis market, followed by Germany and France.Explore Report Sample at:Technological advancements expected to have high impact on the oligonucleotide synthesis marketTechnological advancements are the key growth drivers for this market, as oligonucleotide synthesis is technology dependent. The various technological advancements such as microchip-based oligonucleotide synthesis offer the potential to increase throughput and decrease cost of oligonucleotide synthesis. With the efficient nucleotide assembly method and enzymatic error correction, these technologies are bolstering the global oligonucleotide synthesis market.Browse Other Related Report at:About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:AbhishekExecutive  Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-Free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016
Contactless Payment Market with Current Trends Analysis, 2017-2027

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Contactless payment is the mode where in secure payment transactions are done using technologies such as bluetooth, infrared, radio frequency identification (RFID), and near field communication (NFC). Contactless payment takes almost one-tenth of the time taken by the traditional electronic transaction making it more hassle-free for the customers. The need to make payment more securely and the convenience to pay fast without having any cash or identity details is making contactless payment mode popular game changer. Initially, contactless cards were used in the form of travelling tickets only; it has evolved and is helping consumers to make payments for almost anything. Contactless payment has an upper limit to amount paid and number of transactions per day.Contactless Payment Market: DriversA number of factors are contributing to the growth of contactless payment systems such as advancement in contactless payment technology, rising awareness of plastic money among the buyers, increasing frequency of purchases and the need for fast transaction time without any inconvenience of standing in long queues. Contactless payment is further evolving, making itself a useful interface between the consumers and retailers, advertiser, and marketers.Request For Report Sample@Contactless Payment Market: RestraintsThe initial installation cost, government limitation to number of contactless payment transactions per day and the amount limitation that can be transacted per day are few shortfalls of contactless payment which are hindering the contactless payment market growth. Risk of spyware, malware and virus attacks due to usage of numerous systems is limiting the adoption of contactless payment globally. Low awareness of this mode of payment, especially across Asia Pacific and Latin America, is further restricting the contactless payment market growth.Contactless Payment Market: SegmentationContactless payment market can be segmented on the basis of type, mode of payment, end user, technology and region. On the basis of type, contactless payment market can be segmented into hardware and software. Hardware can be sub-segmented into smart-cards, point of sale (POS) terminals and smart-card readers. The software segment can be sub-segmented into smartcard reader drivers, POS software, application programing interface (API), software development kit (SDK) and mobile applications. On the basis of mode of payment, contactless payment market can be segmented into smart card, smart wearable, smartphone and others. On the basis of end user, contactless payment market can be segmented into Banking, Financial services and Insurance (BFSI), retail, public sector, transportation and logistics, hospitality, and others. On the basis of technology, contactless payment market can be segmented into infrared based, Bluetooth based, NFC based and RFID based. On the basis of region, contactless payment can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East and Africa.Contactless Payment Market: Regional OutlookAs of 2016, contactless payment system has high penetration in North America. The market in Europe is expected to grow considerably in the near future. Asia Pacific is contributing to the contactless payment market with growing purchasing power of people in the region, and also due to increasing acceptance of this mode of payment.Request For TOC@Contactless Payment Market: Competition LandscapeThe key players in the contactless payment market include ACS (Advanced Card Systems) Ltd., Chip & Pin Solutions Ltd., Mifare Pty Limited, Ingenico Inc., Gemalto N.V., Verifone Systems Inc., Heartland Payment Systems Inc., On Track Innovations Ltd., Castles Technology Co. Ltd., and Bindo Labs Inc. These companies are investing in updated technologies to improve the existing system and a few of them are following the strategy of mergers and acquisition to upgrade their payment system. Increasing innovation in the contactless payment mode and initiatives to enhance awareness of contactless payment technology is anticipated to drive the contactless payment 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.comWebsite:
Europe Relay Market 2017 - By Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022

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The Europe Relay market report is created with an in-depth study of the trending growth opportunities and also includes self-explaining statistics of the Europe Relay market development. The global market report provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental definitions, specifications and also explains overall manufacturing process along with various advanced production methods. Our qualified researchers have intensely crafted Europe Relay market report by referring the databases, secondary sources, and the directories to enhance the understanding of the related technical terms.The report presents accurate information that is significant to competitive analysis based on regional perceptions along with future forecast. The Europe Relay market report explains each and every segment of the Europe Relay industry based on, applications, various technology and processes, end users industries and products. The report also comprises various future based predictions that are developed by using advanced data analytics and techniques.Visit Here For Free Report for In-feature Information of Europe Relay Market @It also provides an In-depth summary of the major key players that includes manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers along with individually analyzed historic data and the companys growth plans. Europe Relay market report also highlights the latest mergers and acquisitions, expansions, product development, and modifications carried out by the companies. The report comprises data created with deep study of global economic aspect and its effect on Europe Relay market economy.The segmentation of Europe Relay Market has been classified into Regions, Manufacturers, Applications, Products, and Key Players. Below is the segmentation:Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversOmronTE ConnectivityPanasonicFujitsuNECTeledyneABBSchneider ElectricEatonHoneywellFuji ElectricSharpRockwell AutomationFinderHELLASprecher+SchuhHongfaSong ChuanSanyouNingbo ForwardCHINT ElectricsDelixiHu GongSongle RelayTianyi ElectricalQunli ElectricNingbo HuikeMarket Segment by Countries, coveringGermanyUKFranceRussiaItalyMarket Segment by Type, coversElectromagneticSSR & Power ModuleCombined RelayOthersFree Inquiry For Buying Premium Report of Europe Relay Market @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoAutomotiveIndustrialCommunicationsHousehold ApplianceOthersAbout Market research StoreMarket Research Store 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. Market Research Store is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading publishers and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442, USAUSA Tel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@marketresearchstore.comWeb:
Manufacturing Analytics Market Forecast By End-use Industry 2017-2027

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Statistical tool that performs rule-based analysis to enhance business process and production quality is termed to be manufacturing analytics. The application of analytics in various industries such as in banking, retail and other are popularly known but recently there is an increase in demand for application of analytics in manufacturing sector in order to minimize operational cost, simplify supply-chain requirements and more. Additionally, the manufacturing companies which adopt process improvement programs including SCADA, lean manufacturing, and six sigma has enhanced the adoption of manufacturing analytics.Manufacturing analytics gathers data from geographically distributed resources, using PLCs, historians and offer organized and modeled analysis. On premise manufacturing analytical tools enable installation and service of these software suite at client side and are expensive.Manufacturing Analytics Market: Drivers and ChallengesThe analysis of manufacturing process data are fading out due to increasing multiple industry data sources such as in-factory databases, sensor, images and among others have led to the increasing demand for big data analytics in manufacturing. This is the prime factor contributing to the growth of manufacturing analytics market globally. Additionally, growing demand to optimize business process and make them more agile and scalable is further encouraging the growth of manufacturing analytics software in manufacturing sector.Request For Report Sample@Complex operation and low returns on investment from manufacturing analytics tools is hindering the market growth of manufacturing analytics solutions. Technical constraints including data breaching in cloud deployment and privacy are among other factors that negatively impact the growth of manufacturing analytics market.Manufacturing Analytics Market: SegmentationManufacturing analytics market can be segmented on the basis of solution, type of deployment, industry and regionsOn the basis of solution, manufacturing analytics market can be segmented into software and services. Services segment can further be sub-segmented into managed service and professional service.On the basis of type of deployment, manufacturing analytics market can be segmented into on-premise and cloud-based.On the basis of industry, manufacturing analytics market can be segmented into banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), IT and telecommunication, energy and utility, public sector manufacturing, healthcare, retail, hospitality and others.Manufacturing Analytics Market: Regional OverviewRegionally, manufacturing analytics market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East and AfricaNorth America and Western Europe regions are expected to contribute majorly to the revenue of global manufacturing analytics market. Asia Pacific excluding Japan and Japan are expected to have the maximum growth opportunities in the forecast period from 2017 to 2027.Manufacturing Analytics Market: Competition LandscapeFew prominent players in the manufacturing analytics market include:SAP SE,IBM Corporation, Wipro Limited, General Electric Company, TIBCO Software, Inc., Zensar Technologies Ltd., Sisense, Inc., Oracle Corporation and Gemini Software solutions Pvt. Ltd.Request For TOC@Recent contracts/deals in Manufacturing Analytics Market:In March 2015, Caterpillar Inc. signed an agreement with Uptake, which is a provider of dynamic analytics and insight platform to a wide array of industries. The two companies jointly develop end-to-end platform for predictive diagnostic to aid caterpillar customers monitor and optimize their fleets more effectively.In November 2016, GE Aviation launched new solution after teaming up with Capgemini. The new solutions launched enables key operations allowing digital exchange in data, maintenance and configuration of data.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:
Market Forecast Report on Instant Cereals 2017-2027

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Instant cereals is a new category of food which consists of dried flakes and powders. They are produced from a number of cereals which including legumes, buckwheat, semolina, barley, rye, oats and rice amongst others.Instant cereals are rich in fiber which improves digestive function of our body. Instant cereals are very easy to make, it dissolves very easily in cold as well as hot liquids and get thick immediately to gain consistency. Instant cereals are very tasty and are high in nutritive value. Instant cereals are also used as a thickening agent while making pastas. Instant cereals has good shelf life because of which the product dont get damaged easily. Instant cereals are a great alternative to the conventional breakfast. Rising demand for value-added instant cereal in various countries is prompting the food manufacturers to offer healthy breakfast alternative with additional nutrients.Market Segmentation:Instant Cereals marketis segment on the basis of type, distribution channel and region. On the basis of type the instant cereals market is segmented into legumes, buckwheat, semolina, barley, rye, oats and rice amongst others. Among these segment oats is expected to grow to a great extent in the forecast period, as there are many ready to eat oat meal available in variety of flavors. The demand for instant cereals is also more because if offers a great alternative to the conventional breakfast. On the basis of distribution channel the instant cereals market is segmented into supermarkets/hypermarkets, grocery stores and online stores. Grocery stores is expected to hold a relatively higher share in the instant cereals market, followed by hypermarket/supermarket. On the basis of region the instant cereals market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and MEA.Request For Report Sample@Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of Instant Cereals is divided into seven different regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and MEA. Among these segment North America and Western Europe are expected to be the leader of instant cereals market share globally, and is expected to be dominant in the forecaster period. In Europe region the countries like France, Italy and Germany are the key market for instant cereals. In terms of revenue Asia Pacific is the also expected to be a leading contributor in theinstant cerealsmarket.Market Drivers:Having a breakfast in ample amount of time is probably a thing of the past, especially in developing as well as the developed countries due to the speed of life which has accelerated to new levels. Working people are preferring a substitutes to the convenient breakfast that can be consumed very quickly. Increasing participation of women in the office along with the fast paced lifestyles are all fuelling the demand for instant cereals across the globe, especially in the developed regions of North America along with the fast growing regions of Asia Pacific. The rising demand for products that has high protein content and high protein fiber is increasing dramatically in countries such as U.K and US. In addition to that, the concept of nuclear families is making it very difficult for a working women to manage office and domestic responsibility, consequently there is very less time for making a conventional breakfast. All these factors together contributes heavily to the popularity of instant cereals that are easy to make and consume and is healthier if compared to the conventional breakfast.Request For TOC@Market Key Players:Some of the key players in instant cereals market are NutreMill, Quaker, Gold Kili, Nestle, Kellogs, General mills, Unisoy, Post and Marico among othersFuture 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:
Market Size of Instant Dry Yeast, Forecast Report 2017-2027

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Yeast is a kind of fungus which is used to convert sugar into alcohol. Yeast is an important ingredient for bakery as well as beverage industry.Instant dry yeast is type of dry yeast which has a fine texture unlike activate dry yeast which has a big granular structure. Instant dry yeast was introduced in the market in late 1970s after active dry yeast was introduced. Instant dry yeast are processed similarly the way active dry yeast are processed but the instant yeast are milled much finer. In order to use active yeast it is first mixed with water, but that is not the case for instant dry yeast, it can be used without mixing it with water and can directly be mixed with dry ingredient. As the name suggests, instant dry yeast has a faster ac activity rate, compared to that of active dry yeast. Instant dry yeast and active dry yeast are interchangeable, but if active dry yeast is used in place of instant dry yeast then it is expected a deal of 10-15 mins for the rise time.Market Segmentation:Instant Dry Yeast marketis segment on the basis of application, end user industry, distribution channel and region. On the basis of application the instant dry yeast market is segmented into fermentation and clinical research. Among these segment fermentation is expected to grow to a great extent in the forecast period, as there is numerous amount of use of instant dry yeastin the food and beverage industry. The demand for instant dry yeast is also more as it offer shorter rising time than any other dry yeast. On the basis of end user industry the instant dry yeast market is distributed into food and bakery and brewery. On the basis of distribution channel the instant dry yeast market is segmented into supermarkets/hypermarkets, medical stores and online stores. Medical stores is anticipated to hold a relatively higher share in the instant dry yeast market, followed by conventional stores. On the basis of region the Instant Dry Yeast market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and MEA.Request For Report Sample@Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of Instant Dry Yeast is divided into seven different regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and MEA. Among these segment Europe and North America is expected to be the leader of instant dry yeast market share globally, and is expected to be dominant in the forecaster period. In Europe region the countries like Germany and France are the key market for instant dry yeast. In terms of revenue Asia Pacific is the expected to be the third leading contributor in theinstant dry yeastmarket, followed by Latin America.Market Drivers:The market of instant dry yeast is increasing due to the multiple use of instant dry yeast in the food & beverage and pharmaceutical industry. With the arrival of new market players in the global market is anticipated to boost the growth of instant dry yeastmarketglobally during the forecast period. Instant dry yeast are now used very much in the field of biotechnology in order to make biofuels from agricultural food waste. Instant dry yeast are also used to make various kinds of chemicals. The instant dry yeast market is driven mainly by the end user industries such as bakery and brewery. Yeast is a daily used item which is required at every home, which is used for fermentation process of various The cost of production of instant dry yeast is also very low as it mainly comes from molasses which is the end product of sugarcane, hence the cost of instant dry yeast is low, which will defiantly drive the market of instant dry yeast to a great extant in the forecast period.Request For TOC@Market Key Players:Some of the key players in instant dry yeast market areLesaffre, Hagold Hefe Gmbh, Asmussen Gmbh, ACH Foods, Fleischmann's Yeast, LALLEMAND Inc, AB Mauri Food Inc., And Pakmaya, Angel Yeast Co., Ltd 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:
Luxury Furniture Market to Register Substantial Expansion by 2024

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The global Luxury Furniture market is segmented on the basis of type of materials which include wood, metal, plastic, glass, leather and others. Wooden furniture segment contributed the highest share in the overall global luxury furniture market in 2014. Over the past few years, furniture manufacturers are introducing products including materials such as leather, metal, leather, glass in order to replace wood. The global luxury furniture market is also divided on the basis of end use which include commercial and domestic use. The commercial segment is further sub-segmented on the basis of hospitality, office and others. Whereas the domestic segment is sub-segmented by living and bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, lighting, outdoor and others. In 2014, the domestic luxury furniture segment contributed the highest share in the overall revenue of global luxury furniture market. Bedroom and living room segment marked substantial share in the global luxury furniture market in 2014. The global luxury furniture market is also segmented on the basis of unorganized and organized sector.Inclination in the online retailing and higher media penetration are some of the major factors driving the growth of global luxury furniture market. Apart from that, rising impact of globalization, organized retailing, and robust growth in real estate sector is anticipated to foster the growth of global luxury furniture market. Rising demand of eco-friendly luxury segment is also expected to bolster the growth of global luxury furniture market. Apart from this, rising trend of modular kitchen is also strengthening the demand for global luxury furniture market and will impel the market from the period 2016-2024.Geographically, the Global Luxury Furniture industry can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Amongst all the regions, Europe captured the highest share in the global luxury furniture market in 2014. China is expected to be the biggest and rapidly growing furniture market in future which will drive the overall Asia luxury furniture market. Latin American region is also anticipated to showcase fast growth over the next few years till 2024. The requirement of luxury furniture especially in the hospitality sector in Middle East region and African region is expected to drive the market of this region in future.Request to view table of content @The major players identified across the value chain of global Luxury Furniture market include Muebles Pico, Valderamobili, Scavolini, Laura Ashley Folding Plc, Nella Vetrina, Henredon Furniture Industries Inc., and others. It has been noticed that furniture manufacturers are concerned about reduction in carbon footprints and initiated offering eco-friendly furniture. The global luxury furniture market is highly competitive with large number of players (both small and big) dominating the industry. In the next few years, various furniture manufacturers are anticipated to enter in this market.A sample of this report is available upon request @The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, and applications.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Tobacco Company Profile - SNTA Extensive and Highly Detailed Current and Future Market

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Albany, New York, March 10, 2017: Market Research Hub has recently announced the addition of a new report to it broad database titled as Tobacco Company Profile - SNTA. "Tobacco Company Profile - SNTA" is an analytical company report by GlobalData that provides extensive and highly detailed current and future market trends in the cigarette market.Request for Sample Report:It covers market size and structure along with per capita and overall consumption. Additionally, it focuses on brand data, retail pricing, prospects, and forecasts for sales and consumption.Socit Nationale des Tabacs et Allumettes (SNTA) was established in 1963 when the tobacco industry was nationalized; following which SNTA became the sole manufacturer of tobacco products in the country. In addition to its cigarette manufacturing activities, SNTA produces snuff and chewing and cut tobacco. SNTA is also the sole distributor of cigarettes in Algeria.Scope- The company's global cigarette sales are estimated at 10.3 billion pieces in 2015, equivalent to 0.210% of the global market.- The company still dominates the domestic market, although recording a reduced 38% of sales in 2015.- Rym is its most popular brand in the legitimate market.- International trade has always been limited and, as far as official exports are concerned, volumes have been falling back with none reported for 2014 and minimal quantities in earlier years.Reasons to buy- Get a detailed understanding of consumption to align your sales and marketing efforts with the latest trends in the market.- Identify the areas of growth and opportunities, which will aid effective marketing planning.- The differing growth rates in regional product sales drive fundamental shifts in the market.- This report provides detailed, authoritative data on these changes - prime intelligence for marketers.- Understand the market dynamics and essential data to benchmark your position and to identify where to compete in the future.Make an Enquiry:Table of Contents:1 Introduction2 Key Company Facts3 Corporate Structure3.1 Ownership3.2 Organization4 Financial Highlights5 Cigarette Business Review5.1 Overview5.2 Algeria5.3 International Markets6 Other Tobacco Interests7 Company Strengths, Strategies & Performance8 Appendix8.1 What is this Report About?8.2 Product Category Coverage8.3 Methodology8.4 About GlobalData8.5 DisclaimerCONTINUED@...Get Full Report With TOC:About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Details:90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Follow Us on:Twitter: twitter.com/MktResearchHubLinkedIn:Facebook:
Vehicle Anti-Theft System Market - Trends, Growth Propellers, Segmentation And Top Players

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From the simple lock and key to the sophisticated biometric identification systems  the vehicle anti-theft systems have come a long way over the course of years. The underpinning technologies and the devices, meant to thwart unauthorized access to vehicles, have undergone a sea change. The uptake of vehicle anti-theft systems is guided by different factors such as ease of use, financial costs, and threshold for theft. While some basic devices disable the vehicle, others enable advanced protection such as tracking of the stolen vehicle, detection of interior intrusion, battery backed sounders, and inclination sensing devices, among others.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @With an aim to study the global market for vehicle anti-theft systems, the Transparency Market Research report segments it by product, by technology, and by vehicle type. In terms of technology, for example, the market can be divided into global positioning system (GPS), real-time location system (RTLS), and global system for mobile communication (GSM). By product, the market can be classified into steering lock, immobilizer, biometric capture device, and alarm. Among them, the immobilizer segment dominates due to mandatory installation of immobilizers that has significantly brought down the number of thefts in different countries. Going forward, the segment would likely retain its leading position due to government mandates.Depending upon the type of vehicle, the market can again be segmented into passenger car, off-highway vehicle, and commercial vehicle. Besides furnishing a granular analysis of each segment, the TMR report also provides insights into the current competitive dynamics in the market by factoring in the growth drivers and restraints and the leading players and their strategies. It calculates the current market size and leverages it along with historical data to make forecasts about the markets future prospects.The massive increase in the number of vehicles of different kinds, alarming instances of vehicle thefts, and the rising awareness about vehicle anti-theft devices are at the forefront of driving demand in the global vehicle anti-theft system market. Staving off vehicle thefts, particularly in common parking lots, has necessitated the use of more advanced anti-theft systems with superior technology to augment passenger safety and convenience. Vehicle immobilizers, for instance, notify vehicle owners on their registered phone numbers in case of a forced entry. The notification also includes image of the person driving the vehicle and the location of the vehicle. All these features have led to the soaring popularity of immobilizers.Browse Market Research Report @The use of cutting-edge technologies such as continuous-wave and pulse-echo algorithms, microprocessors with digital signal processing, inclination and ultrasonic sensors, closed tool chain for configuration and simulation, and rechargeable batteries, in such innovative products has greatly boosted the market. The increasing demand for multifactor authentication and rising use of biometric technology are key factors driving the growth of the vehicle anti-theft system market across all regions. Besides, government regulations pertaining to vehicle safety in different countries are also driving growth. One factor preventing uptake of the anti-theft systems is their expensiveness.Regionally, the global market for anti-theft systems can be segmented into Asia-Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. Among them, Asia-Pacific region leads the market in terms of value. This is because of the year-on-year growth in sales in the automotive industry and burgeoning production of automobiles in the region brought about by the rapidly rising urban population. Going forward too, Asia Pacific will maintain its dominant market share.Asia Pacific is followed by North America and then Europe vis-a-vis market share. The market in North America is being propelled by the presence of original equipment manufacturers (OEM), namely Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Fiat-Chrysler Automotive in the region. This coupled with a substantial customer base and high purchasing power of end-users has upped demand for vehicles, which in turn has boosted the market for anti-theft vehicle systems.To present an in-depth assessment of the competition prevailing in the global market for anti-theft systems, the report profiles companies such as Robert Bosch GmbH, Continental AG, Tokai Rika, Ltd., Lear Corporation, Johnson Electric, Delphi Automotive LLP, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and VOXX International Corp.Top Research Report by TMR :Flat Panel X-Ray Detectors Market -Capsule Filler 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:
Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables Market : Global Industry Analysis and Forecasts 2015-2022

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The Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables Market Research report offered by Decisiondatabases.com covers the growth trend and complete market overview. The report is useful for business strategists for gaining a detailed understanding about the market, its value chain, competitor study and detailed company profile.The report on global nickel alloy welding consumables market evaluates the growth trends of the industry through historical study and estimates future prospects based on comprehensive research. The report extensively provides the market share, growth, trends and forecasts for the period 2015-2022. The market size in terms of volume (KT) and revenue (USD MN) is calculated for the study period along with the details of the factors affecting the market growth (drivers and restraints).Get FREE Report Sample @Highlighted below are some prominent market drivers and restraints:A. Market Drivers> Increasing demand of nickel> Developing power generation sector> IndustrializationB. Market Restraints> Fluctuating cost of the raw material> Lack of expertiseFurthermore, the report quantifies the market share held by the major players of the industry and provides an in-depth view of the competitive landscape. This market is classified into different segments with detailed analysis of each with respect to geography for the study period 2015-2022.The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.The report covers following company profiles (can be customized as per requirement):> Ador Welding Ltd.> Colfax Corporation> Illinois Tool Works, Inc.> Kobe Steel, Ltd.> Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.> MEC Holding GmbH> Sandvik Materials Technology AB> Special Metal Corporation> Tianjin Golden Bridge Welding Materials Group Co., Ltd.> voestalpine Bohler Welding GmbH> Berkenhoff GmbH> Cor-Met Inc.> Kunshan Gintune Welding Co., Ltd.> Linan Dayang Welding Material Co., Ltd.> Oxford Alloys, Inc.> Ramtec Welding Products Limited> Senor Metals Pvt. Ltd.> Weld Mold CompanySee the complete TOC and segmentations @The report classifies the market into different segments based on product, technology, alloy type and application. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.Table Of Contents - Overview1. Introduction2. Executive Summary3. Market Analysis4. Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables Market Analysis By Product5. Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables Market Analysis By Technology6. Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables Market Analysis By Alloy Types7. Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables Market Analysis By Application8. Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables Market Analysis By Geography9. Competitive Landscape Of The Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables Companies10. Company Profiles Of The Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables IndustryPurchase Complete Global Nickel Alloy Welding Consumables Market Research Report At: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.Follow us on LinkedIn for our latest upcoming reports -3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
CMI Releases New Report on the Anti-Suicide Drugs Market, 2016-2024.

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There is a Dire Need for an Effective and Targeted DrugSuicide is viewed as an end stage of depression, whereas it is a distinct medical condition that needs special attention. The current market for the treatment of suicide is a subset of the drugs used to treat anxiety and depression. A fast track approval of the drug D-cycloserine will help address this unmet medical condition. A recent study carried out by the Nordic Cochrane Centre, with 70 trials involving 18,000 people found that antidepressants doubled the risk of suicide and aggressive behavior in people under the age of 18 years. Therefore, there is dire need for targeted and effective drug to treat suicides.Additional Information on such Research Findings can be Availed At:Suicidal thoughts have many causative factors such as depression, no hope in life, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, or financial crisis. Moreover, suicides may be the result of side effects from drugs such as anti-depressants, an overdose of opioids. Treatment for suicidal thoughts includes psychotherapy, medications, addiction treatment, and family support. Medications include antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, antipsychotic medications, and other medications for mental illness. These medications will only help to reduce the symptoms of suicidal thoughts. Addiction treatment which includes detoxification, self-help group meetings and addiction treatment programs may also help in alleviating the thoughts of suicide.Get 10% Discount For First Time Buyers :Increasing Incidences of Suicides GloballyGlobally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 800,000 people die to suicide every year. When it comes to regional analysis the scenario doesnt differ much based on the economic status of the country. Suicidal attempts are the highest in emerging nations in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe followed by the Latina America, the U.S., Australia and some European countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate, more than 9 million people in the United States reported having suicidal thoughts in 2013. The suicide rates in the country have been increasing according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, reaching a suicide rate of 12.93 per 1,000 populations in 2014.New Treatment Options under ResearchLack of an effective and focused therapy for suicidal attempts is compelling the use of alternative, less effective and unapproved therapies. Researchers are in an endeavor to find an effective therapeutic solution to this perilous condition. A recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, demonstrated the benefits of administering buprenorphine in curbing the suicidal thoughts after one week of the trial. Anti-depressants and some anti-psychotic medications take longer time to be effective in curing suicidal thoughts. The drug could become the first fast-acting anti-suicide drug in future studies also result with similar findings as in this preliminary study. Although use of opioids also carries a risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts, buprenorphine has the lowest risk amongst the drugs in this class.Browse Global Strategic Business Report :Another study from NeuroRx, an Israeli based life science startup found the molecule D-cycloserine and effective treatment option for depression and suicide. D-cycloserine is a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist. The drug has shown to reduce the symptoms within two hours of treatment in it Phase 2 trails. Moreover, the positive outcomes were observed to lasts for over eight weeks. The company also found that use of combination therapy which includes ketamine, D-cycloserine and one of three FDA-approved mood stabilizer is much more effective than ketamine alone which is also used by many doctors to treat acute depression. The company expects a fast track approval process for this drug from the U.S. FDA once the clinical trials are completed by the end of 2017.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 @
Wi-Fi as a Service Market - Industry Trends, Opportunities & Competitive Landscape Analysis

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In the recent past, mobile phones and other electronic devices have quickly became ubiquitous objects, which has led to an exponential increase in the demand for data connectivity. Nowadays, high-speed data connectivity is almost mandatory for any workplace to function efficiently and as a result, the demand for advanced Wi-Fi technology is surging. Wi-Fi technology allows electronic devices within range to connect with wireless LAN networks (WLAN), which may be password protected or open. Devices such as personal computers, smartphones, tablets, modern printers, and digital cameras are compatible to connect to the internet via wireless access point and WLAN network.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Wi-Fi as a service (WaaS) is a fully cloud-based management system, which allows organizations with limited IT resources to provide secure, reliable, and fast WLAN access across various locations. Since the deployment of WaaS is easy and time-efficient as no installation of cable is required, it can be managed via network operating center (NOC), and consequently allows smaller business organizations to attain fast and reliable data network. WaaS is ideal for temporary locations, heritage buildings, and office relocations. Moreover, advanced analytic tools are provided with WaaS, which help in analyzing customers and staff behavior. WaaS is also equipped with automatic system upgrades and allow safe guest access.Gaining from this increasing dependency on the internet and advancements in cloud-based services, the global Wi-Fi as a service (Waas) market is estimated for a robust growth rate during the forecast period of 2016 to 2024.Browse Market Research Report @Numerous factors are driving the global market for WaaS in the positive direction, including the increasing demand for centralized management, remote troubleshooting, reduced cost of ownership, and low capital expenditure. Also, factors such as strong emphasis on employee empowerment and the ensuing need to deliver digital mobility tools, globalization of businesses are further augmenting the demand. Increasing number of medium-sized organizations are adopting WaaS because of its end-to-end visibility, improved agility and efficiency, fast deployment, cost-effectiveness, and labor management. In addition to all of it, WaaS is also primed to revolutionize the transportation and logistics sector, particularly in mass transits.The global market for WaaS can be bifurcated on the basis of type of service, user location, enterprise size, end-use industry, and geography. By service, the global WaaS market can be segmented into network designing and planning, maintenance and support, cloud access point, and others. By user location, the market can be segmented into indoor or outdoor. By end-use industry, the market can be divided into banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), retail, education, public sector and government, healthcare, logistics and transportations, IT and telecommunications, manufacturing, and hospitality and travel.Geographically, the global WaaS market can be divided into North America, Europe, South America, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. Currently, North America contributes to the most prominent market for WaaS due to robust infrastructure and favorable governmental policies. However, Asia Pacific is projected for the most significant growth rate during the forecast period due to boom in enterprise networking, strong economic growth, development in enterprise IT infrastructure, mushrooming SMBs and increase in the number of cloud ready Asian countries, and large scale outsourcing of BPO/KPO operations to countries such as India, China, and Malaysia.Some of the prominent players in the global Wi-Fi as a service market include Cisco Systems Inc., Singapore Telecommunications Limited, Rogers Communications, Inc., BigAir Group Limited, Mojo Networks, Inc., Telstra Corporation Limited, ViaSat Inc., Aerohive Networks, Inc., ADTRAN, Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Zebra Technologies Corporation, iPass, Inc., and Ruckus Wireless, Inc. The report observes that the outlook of the the global market is highly competitive and the providers of WaaS solutions and services are focusing on consolidating their grounds through new product developments and build feature-rich solutions and attain better market visibility. Companies in the WaaS market are also strategically partnering with domestic players to enhance individual offerings into a multi-faceted solution in order to suite for the expanding customer bases.Top Research Report by TMR :Industrial Gas Regulator Market -Cloud Service Brokerage 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:
Para Xylene Market is expected to reach USD 81.05 Billion-Increasing Demand of High End Domestic & Household Products and Personalized Apparel

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Para Xylene Market is set for a potential growth and is expected to reach USD 81.05 billion by 2022; Para Xylene Market is expected to grow at 12.05% CAGRMarket HighlightsPara xylene market is anticipated to grow at steady pace. Para xylene market is currently experiencing an up-cycle for producers. In recent years, new capacity coming on-stream has not kept pace with steadily increasing demand. Existing producers can capitalize in this environment by maximizing production. Since most plants are already operating at full capacity, further increases may require some type of modification. Developments in process technology are the key to enabling revamps that allow low cost expansions that can be executed quickly market is currently.Request a Sample Report@Para xylene is used in the production of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Dimethyl Terephthalate (DMT) which is further used in production of polyester fiber, film, and resin for a variety of application. Due to downstream demand, the para xylene market is robust and is growing at 6% to 8% every year. By 2005, globally, the production of para xylene capacity has demanded by more than 5.5 million metric tons per annum, lowering the average capacity up to 85%.Industry NewsReliance Industries contributes about 14% to the total Indian export it has presence in various sector. In India, Reliance is the largest producer of polyester fiber and yarn and the 5th largest producer of Para xylene.Honeywell UOP has developed and successfully commercialized its latest breakthrough in Para xylene technology. Use of ADS-37TM adsorbent.Key Player Honeywell UOP BP JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. CNPC S-Oil Reliance Industries Ltd Dragon NPC Iran FCFC GS Caltex KPPC ONGC Orpic China National Offshore Oil CorporationRegional analysis:The Asia-Pacific para xylene market is anticipated to grow at fastest growing CAGR. Asia-Pacific para xylene market is estimated to reach USD 9,909 million by 2022. The key driver of the market is the growing demand from the automotive, electrical & electronics marketChina has grown at a fast pace in the past decade. In the next decade, The Chinese economy maintains a high speed growth which has been stimulated by the consecutive increases of industrial output, import & export, consumer consumption and capital investment for over two decades.As per the Indian Chemical Industry Five Year Plan 2012-2017, the production of Para xylene had reached in millions tons in 2016, whereas the consumption rate is anticipated to stand at USD 4.9 million tons in 2016.Segmentation:By Application - Plastic industry, Textile industry and othersBy End-use - Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Dimethyl Terephthalate (DMT)By Region  North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RowTable of Content1 Executive Summary2 Scope of the Report3 Market Research Methodologies4 Market Landscape5 Industry Overview of Global Para xylene Market6 Market Trends7. Global Para xylene Market by Region8. Global Para xylene Market by Application (Plastic industry, Textile industry and others)9. Global Para xylene Market by End-Use (Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Dimethyl Terephthalate (DMT) and others)10. Competitive landscape11. Company ProfilesContinuedBrowse Full Para Xylene Market @List of TablesTable 1 World Population by Major Regions (2015 To 2030) (Million)Table 2 Global Para xylene Market: By Region, 2014-2022 (USD Million)Table 3 North America Para xylene Market: By Country, 2014-2022 (USD Million)Table 4 Europe Para xylene Market: By Country, 2014-2022 (USD Million)Table 5 Asia-Pacific Para xylene Market: By Country, 2014-2022 (USD Million)Table 6 ROW Para xylene Market: By Country, 2014-2022 (USD Million)Table 7 Global Para xylene for Application Market: By Regions, 2014-2022 (USD Million)Table 8 North America Para xylene for Application Market: By Country, (USD Million)Table 9 Europe Para xylene for Application Market: By Country, 2022 (USD Million)Table 10 Asia-Pacific Para xylene for Application Market: By Country, (USD Million)Table 11 ROW Para xylene for Application Market: By Country, 2022 (USD Million)List of FiguresFIGURE 1 Global Para xylene Market segmentationFIGURE 2 Forecast MethodologyFIGURE 3 Five Forces Analysis of Global Para xylene MarketFIGURE 4 Value Chain of Global Para xylene MarketFIGURE 5 Share of Global Para xylene Market in 2014, by country (in %)FIGURE 6 Global Para xylene Market, 2015-2022, (USD billion)FIGURE 7 Sub-segments of End-UseFIGURE 8 Global Para xylene Market size by End-Use, 2015FIGURE 9 Share of Global Para xylene Market by End-Use, 2012 to 2022FIGURE 10 Global Para xylene Market size by Application, 2015FIGURE 11 Share of Global Para xylene Market by Application, 2012 to 2022About Market Research FutureAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.comWeb:
Car Security System Market - Advanced technologies & growth opportunities in global Industry

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The global car security system market has largely benefitted from the technological advancements over the past few years. Security system manufacturers are likely to capitalize on the proliferation of smart devices such as smartphones and smartwatches. They are offering security features in consumer mobile phones that will help them to track the car in case of theft. Moreover, with the growing adoption of the internet, companies are increasingly focusing on global positioning systems (GPS) and internet connectivity systems that are capable of providing advanced security.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @The increasing cases of car theft worldwide are also escalating the growth of the global car security system market. Several governments are making it compulsory for automakers to install immobilizers as a standard feature in every new car. A case in point is the Western Australia Department of Transport that mandates the use of immobilizers before licensing and transferring a vehicle in a territory.This research report offers a detailed analysis of the various aspects of the global car security systems market. These aspects include market dynamics, trends, geographical segmentation, market size, and competitive landscape. Information from several sources such as press releases, paid databases, presentations, white papers, and journals was taken into account to compile this study on the global car security systems market and its affiliated industries. The report profiles prominent players in the market along with their business strategies, latest developments, and market share.Browse Market Research Report @The increasing sales of cars worldwide is a key factor driving the global car security systems market. Automakers are installing security systems in new vehicles in order to stand out in the competition. Moreover, the growing trend of telematics across the globe is providing comfort to car owners and easy car monitoring techniques, which is resulting in enhancement in car security. This is, therefore, working in favor of the growth of the market. Furthermore, the robust growth of aftermarket worldwide is providing a fillip to the market.On the other hand, the growth of the global car security system market is restrained by the high cost of production and installation. Automobile manufacturers are providing advanced car security systems only in premium variants of cars, which is negatively influencing the growth of the market. However, the increasing establishment of car production plants in emerging economies such as Mexico, India, and China is creating new growth opportunities for the market.The key regional markets analyzed in this research report are Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific is anticipated to command a large share of the overall market revenue owing to the flourishing growth of the automotive sector. The increasing vehicle production capacity, rising exports of automobiles, and the expanding aftermarket are collectively fuelling the growth of the region. The rising trend of installing safety features in vehicles is another factor bolstering the growth of the region.North America and Europe are expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period. The presence of a wide base of affluent customers is propelling the demand for vehicles in these regions, which in turn is working in favor of the car security systems market. In addition, North America, particularly the U.S., is a home to various car manufacturing giants such as General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Fiat-Chrysler Automotive. This provides a significant boost to the growth of the North America region. In Europe, Germany, the U.K., Italy, and France will be the major contributors.The global market for car security systems is highly fragmented. Companies in the market are increasingly focusing on those regions where car OEMs are establishing their new production plants. Some of the prominent players in the global market are Strattec Security Corporation, Omron Automotive Electronics Co. Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Denso Corporation, Delphi Automotive LLP, Honda Lock Mfg. Co Ltd, Witte Automotive, Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd, Continental AG, Kiekert AG, Tokai Rika Co Ltd, Robert Bosch Gmbh, Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG, U-Shin Ltd, Shiroki Corporation, Lear Corporation, Mitsui Kinzoku Act Corporation, and Hulsbeck & Furst GmbH & Co. KG.Top Research Report by TMR :Digital Commerce Platform Market -Computer Graphics 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:
Advanced Semiconductor Packaging Market by led towards development of advanced packaging technologies in semiconductor devices

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During the final stages of development in a semiconductor, silicon wafer, logic board and memory are wrapped in a supporting case that prevents corrosion and physical damage of the chips that are to be connected to the circuit board. This process is known as packaging in a semiconductor industry. Packaging has evolved during the last ten years from chip-scale package, system in package and package on package to wafer-level package, 2.5D integrated circuits to 3D integrated circuits.Browse Market Research Report @The major challenge of an integrated-circuit (IC) manufacturer is that changes in wafer sizes and node migrations are slowing down even as capital expenditures are increasing. One way to preserve their edge of the manufacturers on their circuits high performance, small size and low costs is to incorporate newer chip-packaging options such as 3-D integrated circuits (3.0DICs) and 2.5-D integrated circuits (2.5DICs) into their production processes. These advanced-packaging technologies, which are still in their infant stage, promise lower power consumption and greater chip connectivity compared with traditional packaging configurations. Application memory and processor chip manufactured using advanced packaging solutions such as 2.5D and 3D technologies is about two to three times faster and 30 to 40 percent smaller than chip based packaging using older technologies. These advanced packaging technologies is dependent upon various factors such as thriving demand for low end tablets, smart phones and wearables and other consumer goods.The need of the hour is compact, flexible and scalable ICs that allow for design changes at minimal cost. There is an increasing focus of the industry on SoC technologies which are migrating to 40nm and 28 nm process technologies. According to industry sources, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm and MediaTek are migrating to 28nm process and this adds complexity to the chip design and development. Thus reduction of board space and miniaturization electrical and thermal performance improvement, cost reduction and simplification of logistic for OEMs of devise has led towards the development of advanced packaging technologies in semiconductor devices.Existing 2-D IC (2.0DIC) wafer-level and flip-chip technologies have shown a robust growth during the last five years and are been used for many main-stream applications, generally used in high end smart phones and tablets which should meet power management and stringent size requirements. Emerging 3.0DIC and 2.5DIC packaging technologies extends the wafer-level and flip-chip packaging technologies by adding multiple dies to stacked up vertically together through the use of through silicon via (TSV) technology and interposers. This technology allows the manufacturers to pack more functionality in a single chip without increasing its size.The major drivers influencing the advanced semiconductor packaging market globally is miniaturization of electronic devices and proper thermal dissipation has led towards the growth of advanced semiconductor packaging technologies during the forecast period from 2016  2024.Some of the major restraints of the advanced semiconductor packaging market globally are high adoption time by different electronic devices manufactures and the high cost associated with its manufacturing.The advanced semiconductor packaging market can be distinguished by technology type and application type. In the technology outlook, there are generally two types; through silicon via (TSV), and interposer technology. The application type segment can be bifurcated into consumer electronics, industrial, and memory products.Make an Enquiry @Asia Pacific being the largest semiconductor manufacturer globally also posses the largest market for advanced semiconductor packaging industry. Moreover huge demand for electronic devices from Asia pacific region due to its low labor cost and cheap raw material availability has led towards the growth of advanced semiconductor packaging market in this region. North America led the second largest market for advanced semiconductor packaging market followed by Europe and West of the World.The major players in this industry are Texas Instruments (U.S.), Infineon Technologies (Germany), Nordson Corporation (U.S.), KLA  Tencor (U.S.), Amkor United States (U.S.), and ASE Group (Taiwan) among others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Blood Sugar Lancets Market to Register Substantial Expansion by 2026

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A blood sugar lancet market is a small medical device used in capillary blood sampling. It looks similar to a scalpel but has a double-edged needle or blade. Blood sugar lancets are used to make minuscule punctures to obtain blood samples and are mostly disposable. The blood sugar lancet market is a part of the global diabetes market as they are commonly used to measure blood glucose levels. The depth of the skin to be penetrated can be adjusted for various levels of skin thickness. Some devices can even be used to measure the acid base status of an unborn foetus.As per the International Diabetes Federation, it is estimated that nearly 642 million people will suffer from diabetes by the year 2040. This amounts to nearly 1 in 10 adults. They are anticipated to be the biggest driver of the blood sugar lancet market in the coming decade. Diabetes is far more likely to occur in obese or senior citizens in any country. Western countries are already troubled by both these health predicaments. There is also an increasing number of both type 1 and type 2 cases of diabetes being reported in children and thus, governments will be under increasing pressure to tackle the issue head one. The blood sugar lancet market will allow people to monitor their glucose level, keep it under control and take the medication as and when required.The second driver of the blood sugar lancet market is the reimbursement options available, especially in developed countries. These devices are typically replaced every six to eight months which makes them expensive in the long run. Thus, patients prefer health insurance plans that cover most of the device expenditure. These plans also provide coverage for glucose test strips, glucose meters and diabetes testing supplies. In the U.S. alone, Medicare covers almost 80% of the cost of blood glucose monitoring devices like blood sugar lancets. The American Association of Diabetes Educators has also published a reimbursement procedure for primary caregivers, which categorically states that Medicare will reimburse medical service costs of diabetic patients.Request to view table of content @A key challenge in the blood sugar lancet market is a lack of patient awareness. The International Diabetes Federation estimates that almost one in two cases will remain undiagnosed. A person dies approximately every six seconds and 12% of global healthcare expenditure i.e. $673 billion is spent on treating diabetes. Diabetes can be a life-threatening disease if not properly treated. However, if it is, a patient can almost lead a completely normal life, with very few restrictions. Governments must educate their citizens about the disease and the self-monitoring of blood glucose with the help of devices like blood sugar lancets.A sample of this report is available upon request @Some of the blood sugar lancets market key players are Abbott, Baye, LifeScan, and Roche. Between themselves, they account for a lions share of the entire blood glucose device market. (SMBG). Other companies include AgaMatrix, Dexcom, Nova Biomedical and Integrity Applications, DarioHealth International Biomedical, and Medisana.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Strollers Market - Size, Share and Forecast upto 2022

Strollers Market

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DecisionDatabases.com announces a new report 2017-2022 Global Top Countries Strollers Market Report added to its database. The report provides key statistics on the current state of the industry and other analytical data to understand the market.This report studies Strollers in Global market, especially in United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, China, Japan, India, Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, Brazil, Middle East and Africa.Browse Full Report with TOC @The report focuses on the top Manufacturers in each country, covering Good Baby NEWELL RUBBERMAID Artsana S.p.A Combi Corporation Stokke AS Hauck Dorel ABC Design Emmaljunga UPPAbaby Peg Perego Seebaby Shenma BBH Mybaby Aing RoadmateSplit by Product Types, with sales, revenue, price, market share of each type, can be divided into Lightweight Standard Multi Optional Systems 3-wheelersSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Strollers in each application, can be divided into 0-1 year old 1-2.5 years old 2.5-4 years oldDownload Free Sample Report of Strollers Market @Table of Contents - Snapshot1 Market Overview2 Global Sales, Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Manufacturers3 Global Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)4 Global Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis5 North America Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)6 Latin America Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)7 Europe Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)8 Asia-Pacific Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)9 Middle East and Africa Sales, Revenue (Value) by Countries, Type and Application (2012-2017)10 Manufacturing Cost Analysis11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Global Market Forecast (2017-2022)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixPurchase the Complete Strollers Market Research Report @Other Reports by DecisionDatabases.com:2017-2022 Global Top Countries Titanium Dental Implants Market Report @About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain Chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 40001E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
Linalool Market - Global Industry Analysis 2024

Linalool Market

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Linalool belongs to the class of terpene alcohols, which are widely present in the plant kingdom. It is found in over 200 species of plants, particularly in the Lamiaceae family. This family of botanical plants includes mints and scented herbs. Linalool is also found in the Lauraceae family (rosewood, cinnamon, and laurels) and Rutaceae plant family (citrus fruits). These families are typically found in the tropical to boreal climate zones.Linalool show intense effects on the nervous system. Hence, it is widely employed by herbologists and aroma therapists as a sedative, reliever of spasm of smooth muscle, and local anesthetic. It is also used for various skin ailments, such as skin inflammation, usually in the form of tea tree oil.Obtain Report Details @Linalool is one of the most common terpene alcohol chemical found in spice plants. It is used in various commercial applications. It has also been found in some fungi and in the family Cannabaceae. Linalool offers pleasing aroma, similar to that of a floral fragrance, with a hint of spiciness.Linalool is also known as linalyl alcohol, p-linalool, -linalool, linalyl oxide, allo-ocimenol, and 3,7-dimethyl-1,6-octadien-3-ol.Linalool Market TrendsLinalool is commonly used as chemical intermediate. It is subsequently used as scent ingredient in most perfumed hygiene and cleaning products including soaps, lotions, detergents, and shampoos. It is also used by pest exterminators as an insecticide against insects such as cockroaches, fleas, and fruit flies.Linalool was also thought to be used in reducing anxiety. However, a study in 2008 showed unsuccessful results in proving linalool as an anxiolytic agent. It, instead, showed strong evidence of its sedative qualities.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Vitamin E is a common downstream product of linalool.Linalool Market SegmentationBased on plant source (genus of the plant), the market for linalool can be segmented into Lavandula, Cinnamomum, Cannabis, Ocimum, Solidago, Artemisia, and Humulus.Based on product, the market can be divided into natural and synthetic.Based on application, the market for linalool can be segregated into essential oils, anti-inflammatory, anti-epileptic, sedative, analgesic, and others.Based on end-user industry, the market can be divided into spices, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.Linalool Market: Region-wise OutlookThe market for linalool is well established and widespread across the world. North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe are the dominating regions in the global linalool market. The linalool market in countries in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines is anticipated to expand significantly during the forecast period. Budding economies of Asia Pacific and Latin America is one the major drivers for the development of linalool market.The local market in India holds significant share in the regional market and is said to be the strong suit for growth of the linalool market. Asia Pacific is alleged to dominate the growth in fragrance and flavor space during the forecast period. Latin America is likewise anticipated to promote the demand of linalool in the market. The rising demand for cosmetics, foods, household care and personal care products is projected to be one of the key factors propelling the demand for linalool market forward.Linalool Market: Key PlayersKey players operating in the linalool market include BASF, DSM, Arora Aromatics Pvt. Ltd., Menthaallied, Chemical Point UG, Axxence Aromatic GmbH, Fleurchem Inc., Ernesto Ventos S.A., Phoenix Aromas & Essential Oils LLC, The John D. Walsh Company Inc., Robertet Group, Elan-Chemical.com, and Aroma Chemical Services International GmbH.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:
Breast Feeding Aid Market to Register Substantial Expansion by 2026

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For many moms, breast feeding is deprivation from sleep. Sleep deprivation may lead to a decrease in their milk supply. In such situation, breast milk pump makes their lives easier. Through breastfeeding pumps women can extract some milk during the day which can be useful in feeding the baby at night with the help of a bottle. However, to store the milk which is extracted through breast milk pump is not possible without milk store bag. These are specially designed bags which ensure to keep the beneficial properties of the milk. To hold the baby in arms during the entire breastfeeding session can cause back pain. However, the nursing pillows not only support babies during a feed but also give comfort to moms which make easier the entire birth recovery period. Breast pads can absorb the milk from the leaky breast and keep the area dry, while nipple ointments reduce the pains and inflammation in nipples. Although the breastfeeding aids have many beneficial qualities, there are some disadvantages too which are associated with these aids. For instance, silicon nipple shield is recommended to many moms who have sore nipples, however, they can reduce the amount of milk that baby gets as baby do not get milk straight from the breast. The milk expression can also be decreased due to excessive use of breast milk pumps, while in the case of milk storage bag, they are not eco-friendly. They are not as strong as plastic or glass containers, so the chances of leaking are comparatively more in milk storage bags.The rise in the population of working mother is one of the driving factors which is contributing to the growth of global breastfeeding aid market. Breast milk pumps are particularly popular among working moms, as they can ensure that their babies would get breast milk even when they are away from their babies at work for long hours. Increasing world population is also creating a positive impact on the breastfeeding aid market. Apart from this, technological advancement fast paced lifestyle, and favourable health care policies are creating robust development in global breastfeeding aid market. This market, however, has hindrances too and one of the major factors which are hampering the growth of global breastfeeding aid market is to launch a new device is a costly affair. The amount of investment in launching a new product is very high and even after investing this amount the approval process from FDA for these new products is tedious. Besides, there is a growing debate on the usage of breastfeeding aids which will act as a hindrance in the growth of global breastfeeding aids market.Request to view table of content @North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and rest of the world are some of the regions which are considered while covering this market. At present, North America is dominating the breastfeeding aid market with more than half of the market share followed by Europe. Due to rising population, favourable healthcare policies initiated by the government, and an increasing number of working mothers are some of the important factors in Asia-Pacific market which are fuelling the breastfeeding aid market.A sample of this report is available upon request @Pigeon, Tommee Tippee, Philips, Comotomo, Playtex, Nuby, Chicco, Medela and Summer Infant are some of the prominent players across the globe.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Space Launch Market 2017 : NASA, Russian Aviation and Space Agency, CASC, Tianguan,

Space Launch

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Space LaunchA market study based on the " Space Launch Market " across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Space Launch Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Space Launch industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Space Launch market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This Research Report1. NASA2. Russian Aviation and Space Agency3. CASC4. Tianguan5. Nantong Huasheng6. BangfengThe report studies the industry for Space Launch across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Space Launch market & dynamics of demand and supply of Space Launch into consideration. The ' Space Launch ' research study covers each and every aspect of the Space Launch market globally, which starts from the definition of the Space Launch industry and develops towards Space Launch market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Space Launch market is classified and analysed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Space Launch market. The geographical segmentation of the Space Launch industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Space Launch is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Space Launch market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Space Launch market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Space Launch market 2017 is also analysed on the basis of product pricing, Space Launch production volume, data regarding demand and Space Launch 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 Space Launch across the globe.Market and Research are a trusted brand in the research industry with capability of commissioning complex projects within a short span of time with high level of accuracy. At Market and Research, we believe in building long term relations with our clients. Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries including Energy, Chemicals and Materials, Automotive and Aerospace.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
Correspondence Management Solution Market Demand is Increasing Rapidly in Recent Years

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Over the years correspondence management has increasingly transformed itself to be one of the core business pillars for enterprises across industries. Across all industries from Banking & Financial Services to Public Sectors - real time and constant communication with client or other associated members in client value chain through correspondence management solution is witnessing ever increasing demand. However, in spite of being crucial, many enterprises over the years are not able to leverage crucial solution like correspondence management to automate certain parts of their processes to save cost for document aggregation and delivery; other than that by not adopting relevant correspondence solutions enterprises have also failed to gain advantage of reusing existing content and avoid duplication.Real adoption of correspondence management solutions not only save cost, but also provide enterprise with options like compliance with ever changing government regulations, enhanced content efficiency, & better employee productivity. As going gets tough for enterprises and they are trying to save dollars from every opportunity, increasing uptake of correspondence management solutions can certainly improve the bottom line.Overall, the market for correspondence management solution market size is close to US$1 billion in 2014 and is expected to register growth of 10.5% till 2020 and will reach US$ 1.8 billion by 2020. For vendors it will represent an incremental correspondence management opportunity of US$820 million during the forecast period. In terms of regional adoption, North America is leading the pie of correspondence management by occupying more than 30% of the total market opportunity. At a country level, USA represents the highest potential market for correspondence management, followed by UK and Germany. Within Europe, Scandinavian countries have also demonstrated their interest for the solution in the recent past. Among emerging geographies, Brazil is slightly green field geography, in process of dramatically reducing paper correspondence however, interestingly Middle East Africa is a growing market for correspondence management solution.Request For Report Sample:In terms of vertical adoption of correspondence management, Financial Services and Public Sector entities are leading the charge and constitute more than 60% of the total market share in 2014. The key drivers for increasing uptake of correspondence management among public sector are increasing traction of electronic communication systems along with emphasis on digitization where old processes are getting streamlined by implementing new technologies. For financial services, increasing requirement of adhering to compliance is driving the correspondence management solution uptake.Software License revenue primarily dominates the correspondence management market by holding more than 35% of the total correspondence management solution market opportunity; however for vendors this is an opportunity as the providers need to showcase this as an end-to-end solution; combination of software & services; FMI also noted that Service Providers with Case as a Service portfolio is witnessing preference in the market.Several categories of providers are targeting correspondence management solution market;System Integrators like Cognizant, Accenture, Capgemini, CGI & InfosysLarge Software houses like Adobe, EMC, HP, OPENTEXT, Oracle, Pitney Bowes, MetavanteetcNiche & Specialized vendors like Top Down Systems, Afa, Merlin, CEDAR etcBoutique System Integrators like SWORD, Gimmal, SynAppsRequest For TOC:FMI in the upcoming report highlighted that there are several options how vendor can tap this opportunity. The Service Providers should try to go to the market through a solution approach by tying up with software houses and providing it as an end to end solution and behaving like a one stop shop for the correspondence management solution. Also, service providers can evaluate options of offering correspondence management solution as a service under their BPO portfolios.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 Modular Data Center Market by Solution, Services, Application, Deployment and Vertical is anticipated to reach US$ 22.41 Bn by 2025 |The Insight Partners

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The modular data centers helps organizations and enterprises to achieve such data center solutions which are more energy efficient, quickly deployable and easily scalable according to dynamic business needs. Modular data center provides end users with the flexibility to scale up the data center capacity as the requirement grows and helping end users to achieve optimal CAPEX (Capital Expenditure). The modular data center market has experienced high growth and adoption rate in the last few years and is also anticipated to experience a significant growth and adoption rate in years to come. Developing digital ecosystem and high growth of data, and developing economies are providing ample opportunities for the players operating in the global modular data center marketBrowse Market data Tables and in-depth TOC of the Modular Data Center to 2025 @The global modular data center market accounted for US$ 2.65 Bn in 2014 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 24.1% during the forecast period 2016  2025, to account for US$ 22.41 Bn in 2025. Within this market, various regions are observed to exhibit different growth trends. The North America (NA) and Europe (EU) in total holds more than half of the total market, while the regions such as Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM) are exhibiting a high growth due to various factors such as increase in number of new data from various industries and its requirement for effective storage among others.The modular data center market is segmented on the basis of solutions into All-In-One modular data center and Single function modular data center. The All-In-One modular data center solution are further categorized into standard 20 ft. container module, standard 40 ft. container module and other customized container module. The Single function modular data center solution segment is also further categorized into three sub segments i.e. IT Module, Power Module and Cooling Module. The market is also segmented on the basis of various services mainly consulting and planning services, design, construction and commissioning services, operations and maintenance services and other services. As modular data centers have wide range of applications in various areas therefore the market is further segmented on the basis of application into emergency and temporary deployment, capacity expansion, disaster recovery, and other. The market is also classified on the basis of deployment types and industry verticals in which it is used i.e. Brownfield deployment, Greenfield deployment and BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), telecom & IT, energy, government, education and research and others respectively. The modular data center market is also classified by regions into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), South America (SAM), and Middle East & Africa (MEA).Request Sample Copy @Baselayer Technology, LLC, Bladeroom Group Ltd., Dell, Inc., Emerson Electric Co., Flexenclosure AB, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., IBM Corporation, Rittal GmBH, and Schneider Electric among others are some of the chief markets players operating in the global modular data center market.Inquire about discount on this report @The report segments the global modular data center market as follows:Global Modular Data Center Market  By Solution All-in-one modular data center Single function modular data centerGlobal Modular Data Center Market  By All-in-one modular data center solutions Standard 20 ft. Container Module Standard 40 ft. Container Module Other Customized Container ModuleGlobal Modular Data Center Market  By Single function modular data center IT module Power module Cooling moduleGlobal Modular Data Center Market  By Services Consulting and Planning Services Design, Construction and Commissioning Services Operations and Maintenance Services Other ServicesGlobal Modular Data Center Market  By Applications Emergency and Temporary Deployment Capacity Expansion Disaster Recovery OtherGlobal Modular Data Center Market  By Deployment Greenfield Deployment Brownfield DeploymentGlobal Modular Data Center Market  By Verticals BFSI Telecom & IT Energy Government Education & Research OthersGlobal Modular Data Center Market  By Geography North America Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) Middle East & Africa (MEA)Procure Full Report @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
United States Foodservice Gloves Market by Manufacturers, States, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022

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ReportsWorldwide has announced the addition of a new report title United States Foodservice Gloves Market by Manufacturers, States, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 to its growing collection of premium market research reports.Gloves are a critical component of maintaining safety and hygiene standards in foodservice applications. Foodservice Glove refers to the glove used in food industry.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Foodservice Gloves in United States market, to split the market based on manufacturers, states, type and application.To view a detailed description and Table of Contents please visit:Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Superior Glove AMMEX Ansell Aurelia Gloves Barber Healthcare Brightway Group Rubberex Sempermed Southern Glove Top Glove YTY GroupMarket Segment by Countries, covering California Texas New York Florida IllinoisMarket Segment by Type, covers Latex Glove Rubber Glove Non-latex (Nitrile or Vinyl) Glove Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into Disposable Goves Durable GlovesThere are 17 Chapters to deeply display the United States Foodservice Gloves market.Chapter 1, to describe Foodservice Gloves Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by States, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of Foodservice Gloves, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the United States market by States, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, price, revenue and market share of Foodservice Gloves, for each state, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, to analyze the key States by Type and Application, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, revenue and market share by types and applications;Chapter 12, Foodservice Gloves market forecast, by States, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and growth rate forecast, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 14, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 15, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 16 and 17, to describe Foodservice Gloves Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source.To Get Sample Copy of Report please visit @About ReportsWorldwide.comReportsWorldwide.com is a leading provider of global market intelligence reports and services. With research reports from top publishers, consulting and advisory firms, ReportsWorldwide.com offers instant online access to a growing database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, geographies and trends.Press Contact:Abigail CrastoSenior Vice President101, Arch StreetBoston, MA 02110, USPhone +1 (617) 398-4994Fax +1 (617) 398-4995abigail@reportsworldwide.com
Animal Parasiticides Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends and Opportunity Analysis, 2016-2024

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Animal parasiticides or antiparasitics are chemical substances used to eradicate parasites that infect livestock, pets, and other animals and subsequently improve animal health. Most parasiticides finished products consist of one or more active ingredients that help carry out a specific action against particular parasites. Parasiticides also comprise inert ingredients (water and alcohol) called as solvents (stabilizers, preservatives, emulgants, etc.). Animal parasiticides market size is expected to grow at a significant rate owing to increased pet adoption worldwide.Global Animal Parasiticides Market TaxonomyThe global animal parasiticides market outlook can be classified on the basis of type of parasiticides, animal type, and end user. There are five types of parasiticides, namely ectoparasiticides, endoparasiticides, endectocides, anthelmintic, and anti-protozoans. Parasiticides used for killing external parasites in animals such as fleas, ticks, lice, fleas, and mites are termed as ectoparasiticides. Most ectoparasiticides are called pesticides, as these chemicals are also used for agriculture and hygiene purpose. Likewise, endoparasiticides are utilized to kill internal parasite such as flukes, roundworms, and tapeworms in animals. Most endoparasiticides are termed as veterinary medicines, as the active ingredients of the products are not used for agriculture and hygiene purpose. Endectocides or macrocyclic lactones are effective in both internal and external parasites. They are either natural products or chemically-modified derivatives that show strong parasiticidal efficacy in animals. On the basis of their chemical structure, endectocides are segmented into avermectins and milbemycins. Parasiticides are available in various formulations namely, liquids, tablets, injectables, sprays, spot-on, and pour-on.Request a sample copy of this report @On the basis of animal type, the global animal parasiticides market scenario can be segmented into food producing animals (cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, and goats) and companion animals (dogs, cats and horses). On the basis of end user, the global animal parasiticides market is segmented into farms, R&D facilities, and veterinary clinics. Increasing pet adoption in the Asia Pacific region is a major driving factor fueling demand for animal parasiticides in veterinary clinics.Growing Livestock Population and Increasing Adoption of Pet Animals in the Asia Pacific Region is expected to boost growth of the animal parasiticides market size over the forecast periodGeographically, the global animal parasiticides market outlook can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East. Key factors driving growth in adoption of animal parasiticides in Europe and North America include increasing pet adoption, high number of R&D activities, increasing expenditure on animal health, and rising demand for animal-derived food products. However, Asia Pacific (India, China, Australia, Japan, and Malaysia) is expected to be the most lucrative market for animal parasiticides in future due to a number of driving factors such as increasing number of companion animals, growing livestock population, increasing expenditure on animal health, and rising awareness about animal health.Request for Complete TOC before buying this exclusive Report by CMI @Animal Parasiticides Market TrendsKey driving factors for the growth of the global animal parasiticides market include increasing awareness about animal zoonotic disease, rising number of animal population especially in developing nations of the world, increasing demand for animal-based food and animal proteins, and increasing animal research activities. Furthermore, increasing expenditure on animal health and government initiatives to Protect animal health is fueling demand for animal parasiticides. However, high cost of R&D activities, new species of parasites, stringent regulatory policies for approval of animal parasiticides, and high cost of animal parasiticide products is hindering growth of the animal parasiticides market.Get 10% Discount for First Time Buyers @Market ConsolidationThere has been various consolidation activities in the global animal health industry. In just one year, 2016, Boehringer Ingelheim acquired Sanofi's animal health business, Novartis sold its animal health business to Eli Lilly and Merck Animal Health (subsidiary of Merck & Co.) acquired Valleea leading animal health product manufacturer based in Brazil. Some of the major market players operating in the global animal parasiticides market include Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer Ag, Eli Lilly And Company, Ceva Sante Animale, Novartis Ag, Merck & Co., Inc., Zoetis, Inc., Virbac Sa, and Merial.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 @
Phosphorene FET Market - Capability of Absorbing UV Lights Is Expected to Increase Its Demand in Semiconductor Industry

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Phosphorene is an allotrope of phosphorus and two dimensional in nature. It can be viewed as a single layer of phosphorus and is very similar to graphene in nature. Researchers are fabricating transistors of phosphorene to understand their performance in electronic devices. Phosphorene field effect transistors (FET) are being studied for its application in semiconductors in future. The market for phosphorene FET is expected to witness robust growth in future.The growing demand for high performance devices has created a demand for additional layered material. Phosphorene has several characteristics which makes it preferable over graphene and is expected to replace graphene in the semiconductor industry. Phosphorene has higher carrier mobility and hence is considered to be a better conductor of electricity. This property is making phosphorene to be preferred in the semiconductor industry.Moreover, the material is highly optical and can absorb UV light easily. This factor is expected to the drive the market for phosphorus in the optoelectronic sector. Furthermore, the recent demand for energy efficient semiconductor is aiding to need for alternatives like phosphorene. In addition, black phosphorus has a stack layered structure with weak van der Waals (vdWs) interlayer interaction and hence considered as the most stable allotrope. This property of phosphorus made it popular in the semiconductor industry and it is expected to be used in photovoltaics, optoelectronics and electronics in future. Phosphorene has an anisotropic orthorhombic structure which enables it to have dual properties. In an in-plane crystal direction, it has a ductile nature, which is very flexible and stiff along the other side. The technological shift in future is expected to create a virtual smart environment with interconnected devices. This is expected to surge the demand for internet of things (IoT) industry.Browse Market Research Report @Furthermore, the IoT is primarily dependant on smart electronics which are capable or recording and transmitting data. The advent of IoT is creating the need of high performance and energy efficient devices. The properties of semiconductors play a major role in determining the performance of devices. Phosphorene being a good conductor of electricity along with its capability of absorbing UV lights is expected to increase its demand in semiconductor industry. Hence the market for Phosphorene FET is expected to grow in the next few years.However, the market is still a premature stage and constant research is being conducted to understand the reliability of phosphorene FET in electronic devices. Hence, the application of phosphorene FET is expected to take time. Moreover, there are no suppliers or manufacturers of phosphorene FET for its commercial usage.Make an Enquiry @The phosphorene FET market is in its initial stage and can be segmented by application and geography. By application, phosphorene FET can be used in the electronics, optoelectronics, spintronics and photovoltaics among others. The easy availability of phosphorus and the high conductivity makes is a better choice in the semiconductor industry when compared to graphene. Furthermore, the market can be divided by geography into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America regions. Since the phosphorene FET in under research and development stage, it is expected to witness robust growth in North America and Europe due the demand for new technology in these regions. Moreover, region hosts a number of developed countries like the U.S., U.K and Germany which are technologically well equipped for adapting the new technology. However, Asia Pacific region is expected to grow fast at a later stage due to the presence of developing nations like China and India who are witnessing constant investment in research and development of new technology. Hence the market for Phosphorene FET is expected to witness strong growth globally.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. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Industrial Bulk Packaging Market:Mexico Industry Analysis, Trends 2024

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The market for industrial bulk packaging in Mexico is fairly competitive and is led by Hoover Container Solutions, Mauser Group, International Paper, Greif, Menasha, Cleveland Steel Container, and Composite Containers, finds a new research study by Transparency Market Research (TMR).The market players are concentrating on utilizing their in-house research and development capabilities to the core in order to innovate products that meet customer-specific requirements. In the near future, these participants are likely to focus on the technological advancements of their current offerings too in a bid to strengthen their position among consumers, states the research report. As per TMRs estimations, the opportunity in the Mexico industrial bulk packaging market was to touch US$232.0 mn by 2016. Expanding further at a CAGR of 5.50% during the period from 2016 to 2024, the market is likely to attain a value of US$357 mn by the end of the forecast period.Browse Market Research Report @Drums to Enjoy Consistent DemandThe report further presents a comprehensive analysis of the Mexico industrial bulk packaging market on the basis of the products available in this market, which includes drums, intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), pails, and jerry cans. Drums have been enjoying a greater demand from the end users as compared to other products, which is likely to be continued at a CAGR of 4.90% over the forecast period. As manufacturers are increasingly shifting towards sustainable packaging solutions against plastic and steel materials, the uptake of fiber/paperboard drums is anticipated to rise considerably in the near future.IBCs and pails, among others, are also projected to witness a significant rise in their demand, over the next few years. The phenomenal progress in the countrys chemical industry is expected to boost the demand for IBCs in the years to come while the augmenting usage of pails in a wide range of mid-sized applications, such as paints and coatings. Jerry cans, however, are likely to experience a sluggish growth over the next few years, states the report.Make an Enquiry @Demand from Chemicals and Petrochemicals Sector to Remain StrongThe application areas of the industrial bulk packaging in Mexico, i.e., the chemicals and petrochemicals, food and beverages, and the pharmaceuticals sectors, have also been thoroughly assessed in this market study. According to it, the chemicals and petrochemicals sector have been acquired the top position among application areas in this market and is expected to continue like this over the period of the forecast, advancing at a CAGR of 5.20%.For the packaging of chemicals and petrochemical products, manufacturers mostly prefer rigid IBCs and drums and are projected to register a strong demand for these products in the near future. The pharmaceuticals industry is also anticipated to report a significant demand for industrial bulk packaging materials over the next few years.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Power Rental Accessories Market to grow at a CAGR of 3.18% during Forecast period 2017-2021

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Albany, NY, March 10, 2017: Rental power is used to meet peak load demand, base load supply, or as a standby. The need to provide uninterrupted power is a major factor driving the growth of the global power rental accessories market. Power rentals are more economical than maintaining a reserve plant. Thus, this factor has increased the demand for rental power over time.The global power rental accessories market to grow at a CAGR of 3.18% during the period 2017-2021. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global power rental accessories market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the retail sales of haircare products to individual consumers and salons.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAGet a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global Power Rental Accessories 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- Aggreko- Atlas Copco- Caterpillar- Energyst- Sunbelt RentalsOther prominent vendors- Altaaqa Global- APac Energy Rental- APR Energy- Ashtead Group- BPC Power Rentals- Byrne Equipment Rental- Crestchic- Cummins Power Generation- Herc Rentals- HIMOINSA- Kohler- Red-D-Arc- PT Sumberdaya Sewatama- United RentalsEnquiry 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:
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USB 3.0 Flash Drives Market - Global (The U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific) Industry Analysis 2016 - 2020 | Market Research Report

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "USB 3.0 Flash Drives Market - Global (The U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific) Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.The USB 3.0 Flash Drives market report provides analysis for the period 2013  2020, wherein the period from 2016 to 2020 is the forecast and 2015 is the base year. The report covers the share of all the major players operating in the USB 3.0 flash drives market. It also highlights the markets growth during the said period in terms of revenue (in US$ Bn) and volume (Thousand Units), across the geographies including The U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific.The report provides the comparative analysis of USB 3.0 Chip-on-Board (CoB) flash drives and USB 3.0 conventional flash drives. Furthermore, the report provides technical analysis between the CoB and conventional USB 3.0 flash drives and financial analysis for differences in production, packaging, storage, distribution, and customer acceptant of CoB USB 3.0 flash drives and conventional USB flash drives.Global (The U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific) USB 3.0 Flash Drives Market: Scope of the StudyTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report segments the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific USB 3.0 flash drives market on the basis of manufacturing process into chip-on-board and conventional. Furthermore, on the basis of capacity the USB 3.0 Flash Drives market is divided below 4 GB, 4 GB to 16 GB, 16 GB to 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB & above. The report provides historical and forecast data in terms of revenue generated and shipments of the USB 3.0 flash drives in the global (The U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific) market. Furthermore, the study provides the revenues and shipment of USB 3.0 flash drives of major companies operating in the USB 3.0 flash drives market across the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific.Global (The U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific) USB 3.0 Flash Drives Market: Competitive Landscape AnalysisThe report also highlights the competitive landscape of the USB 3.0 flash drives market, positioning all the major players in the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific. The comprehensive USB 3.0 Flash Drives market estimates are the result of our in-depth secondary research, primary interviews, and in-house expert panel reviews. These market estimates have been analyzed by taking into account the impact of different political, social, economic, technological, and legal factors along with the current market dynamics affecting the USB 3.0 Flash Drives markets growth.The major companies positioned in USB 3.0 flash drives market study include ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., HP Inc., Kingston Technology Corporation, Lenovo Group Ltd., SanDisk Corporation, Transcend Information, Inc., Toshiba, Verbatim Corporation, Inc., Corsair Components, Inc., Emtec Inc., Gigastone Corporation, Monster Digital, Micron Consumer Products Group, Inc. (Lexar), Patriot Memory LLC, and Samsung Group. Details such as revenues generated from USB 3.0 flash drives and volume of USB 3.0 flash drives shipments pertaining to these players have been duly provided as part of study.The USB 3.0 Flash Drives market is segmented as below:USB 3.0 Flash Drives MarketBy Manufacturing Process- Conventional- Chip-on-BoardBy Capacity- Below 4 GB- 4 GB to 16 GB- 16 GB to 64 GB- 128 GB- 256 GB and AboveBy Geography- The U.S.- Europe- Asia PacificMake 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 @
Baking Ingredients Market - Global Industry Analysis,Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024 | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Baking Ingredients Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.The report covers the analysis and forecast of the baking ingredients market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with the forecast for the period between 2016 and 2024 based on revenue (US$ Mn) and Volume (Kilo Tons).The study provides a detailed view of the baking ingredients market by segmenting it based on ingredients, product type, sector and regional demand. On the basis of ingredients, the baking ingredients market has been further segmented into yeast, baking powder and baking soda, flour, sweeteners, flavor & color additives, fats and other types of ingredients. The baking ingredients market has been segregated into bread, biscuits & cookies, cakes & cupcakes, pastries & pie, pizza & buns, bagels & donuts, and others types of products. On the basis of sector the baking ingredients market is segregated into organized sector and unorganized sector.Global Baking Ingredients Market: Regional OutlookRegional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America. These have been further sub-segmented into countries and regions with relevance to the market. The segmentation also includes demand for individual product and applications in all regions.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The competitive profiling of the key players in the global baking ingredients market across five broad geographic regions is included in the study. These include different business strategies adopted by the leading players and their recent developments as in the field of baking ingredients.A comprehensive analysis of the market dynamics that is inclusive of market drivers, restraints and opportunities is included in the purview of the report. Additionally, the report includes potential opportunities in the baking ingredients market on the global and regional level. Market dynamics are the factors which impact the market growth, thereby helping to understand the ongoing trends of the global market. Therefore, the report provides the forecast of the global market for the period from 2016 to 2024, along with offering an inclusive study of the baking ingredients market.The report provides the size of the baking ingredients market in 2015 and the forecast for the next nine years up to 2024. The size of the global baking ingredients market is provided in terms of both volume and revenue. Market revenue and volume is defined in US$ Mn and Kilo Tons respectively. The market size and forecast for each product and application segment are 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 products. Market dynamics prevalent in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific have been taken into account for estimating the growth of the global market.Global Baking Ingredients Market: SegmentationMarket estimates for this study have been based revenue being derived through regional pricing trends. The price for commonly utilized quality of baking ingredients in each application and function has been considered. Demand for baking ingredients has been derived by analyzing the global and regional demand for baking ingredients in each application for its respective functions. The global baking ingredients market has been analyzed based on expected demand. Average selling price of baking ingredients products in the major countries has been taken into consideration to estimate regional and global revenue. Forecasts have been based on the expected demand from baking ingredients applications. We have used the bottom-up approach to estimate the global revenue of baking ingredients market, split into regions. We have initially determined the volume and price in every region for the baking ingredients market. Revenue has been determined with the help of volume and price derived from every region.Based on product type, form type, application and function type, we have summed up the individual revenues from all the regions to achieve the global revenue for baking ingredients. The application split of the market has been derived using a bottom-up approach for each regional market separately, with the global application 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 baking ingredients 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.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The 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 are Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill Incorporated, Associated British Foods Plc, DSM N.V., Muntons Plc, LALLEMAND Inc., Taura Natural Ingredients Ltd., British Bakels, LFI (U.K.) Ltd., Puratos, CSM Bakery Solutions, and Macphie of Glenbervie Ltd. among others.Global Baking Ingredients Market: By GeographyGlobal Baking Ingredients Market: By Ingredients Type- Yeast- Baking Powder and Baking Soda- Flour- Sweeteners- Flavor & Color Additives- Fats- OthersGlobal Baking Ingredients Market: By Product Type- Bread- Biscuits & Cookies- Cakes & Cupcakes- Pastries & Pie- Pizza & Buns- Bagels & Donuts- OthersGlobal Baking Ingredients Market: By Sector- Organized Sector- Unorganized SectorNorth America- U.S.- Canada- MexicoEurope- EU5- Russia- Poland- Rest of EuropeAsia Pacific- China- India- Japan- ASEAN- Rest of Asia PacificMiddle East and Africa- GCC- North Africa- South Africa- Rest of Middle East and AfricaLatin America- Brazil- Rest of Latin AmericaMake 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 Paper Towel Dispenser Industry Will Grow Steadily At A CAGR Of 3.61% During The Period 2017-2021

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Paper Towel Dispenser Market 2017-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Tissue paper is a lightweight paper, which has become an essential commodity of daily life. The tissue paper industry is broadly classified into two categories: at home, which is also known as consumer tissue; and away from home (AfH). The at home segment comprises of tissues that are used for domestic purposes, whereas the away from home segment comprises of tissues that are used for commercial and industrial purposes, such as hotels, restaurants, hospitals, and institutions. The away from home segment includes paper towels, toilet paper, napkins, facial tissue, dispensers, and tissue products that are used in working environments. The increase in demand for tissue paper and the increase in awareness of washroom hygiene will increase the demand for paper towel dispensers globally.Technavios analysts forecast the global paper towel dispenser market to grow at a CAGR of 3.61% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global paper towel dispenser market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the worldwide retail sales of hand paper towel dispensers.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEAROWTechnavio's report, Global Paper Towel Dispenser 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 vendorsKimberly-ClarkSCAOther prominent vendorsFrankeBobrick Washroom EquipmentGeorgia-PacificSan JamarAmerican SpecialitiesCintasDolphin SolutionsPalmer FixtureJaquarCascadesMarket driverGrowing hygiene awareness among consumersFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeNegative effect on environmentFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendSensor-based paper towel dispenserFor 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 @
FLEETCOR company one of the Most Innovative Worlds Companies 2016 by Forbes magazine

https://fleetcor.sk/

FLEETCOR company is #14 in TOP-25 Most Innovative Worlds Companies 2016 by Forbes magazineFLEETCORs business activity is focused on offering specialized payment products and services such as fleet cards and corporate lodging discount cards, fueling location, transaction processing, full program management, and many other important services.FleetCor Technologies Inc. offers an excellent infrastructure and the companys team has the expertise to provide the best services. Forbes has recognized FLEETCOR as one of the most innovative companies in the world due to companys experience and competence.Forbes method relies on investors ability to identify companies that are able to be innovative now and in the future. FLEETCOR has conditions to provide cash generation, its investment in R&D is excellent and the market believes in profitability of the company.FLEETCORs euroShell fuel cardFLEETCOR offers an efficient way to buy fuels and other services. A euroShell card is a great solution for any company. Being a cardholder of euroShell card by FLEETCOR means enjoying high-quality fuel, real-time monitoring of all road payments, real cost savings due to the VAT refund on fuel discounts and specials and having access to more than 22,000 fuel retail sites in 31 countries all over Europe.FLEETCOR is a leading independent provider of fuel cards and payment solutions. Companies continue to make progress by our assistance in the efficient control of the expenditure.FleetCor Technologies Inc.Bratislava - Ruzinov 821 04Galvaniho 15/CTel. + 421 233 527 874E-mail: info@fleetcor.skWebsite:
Dermatophytic Onychomycosis Therapeutics Market Poised to Account for US$ 4,706.3 Million by 2021

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/5840

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/5840

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

Persistence Market Research (PMR) delivers key insights on the global dermatophytic onychomycosis therapeutics Market in its latest report titled Global Market Study on Dermatophytic Onychomycosis Therapeutics (DOT): North America Expected to Account for Maximum Market Share by 2021.The global dermatophytic onychomycosis therapeutics market is anticipated to expand at a healthy CAGR during the forecast period. By product type, the market is segmented into Nail paint and tablet, which is again sub-divided into prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) sub segments. The nail paint segment is expected to contribute a maximum share to the global dermatophytic onychomycosis therapeutics market and expand at the fastest CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period. By treatment, the market is segmented into topical and oral therapy. Among these, the topical segment is anticipated to be dominant throughout the forecast period and projected to account for about 70% share of the total global dermatophytic onychomycosis market revenue by 2021. By distribution channels, the market is segmented into hospitals, dermatology and podiatry clinics, independent pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, and drug stores. Among these, drug stores are estimated to be largest segment with 47% share of the total global market revenue by 2015 end. The drug stores segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. Independent pharmacies are projected to be the second most attractive segment of the global dermatophytic onychomycosis therapeutics market by 2015 end.Market growth is primarily driven by factors such as increase in the prevalence of fungal toe nail infections in the U.S. and Canada, and rising per capita healthcare expenditure across the globe. Easy application of nail paints is also expected to drive demand for dermatophytic onychomycosis drugs. However, adverse effects associated with anti-fungal drugs and lack of awareness about dermatophytic onychomycosis in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America are expected to impede growth of the global dermatophytic onychomycosis therapeutics market.This report covers global and regional trends along with an analysis of the market potential. North America is expected to account for over 43% revenue share of the total dermatophytic onychomycosis therapeutics market by 2015 end i.e. holding the maximum market share. Whereas Europe is projected to grow at a healthy CAGR of 7.3% due to increasing awareness about fungal nail infections.Global dermatophytic onychomycosis therapeutics market report begins with an overview of the global market in terms of value. This section includes detailed analysis of key trends, drivers and restraints, and opportunities. All of these are factors that impact market growth. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints based on the weighted average of each one of these factors in a model-based approach is included in the market report to better equip clients with crystal clear decision-making insights.A Sample of this report is available upon request @Key players of the global dermatophytic onychomycosis therapeutics market include Galderma S.A., Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and others. Leading companies in this market collaborate with healthcare solutions and services providers in order to advance operational efficiencies and provide improved patient care.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Wind Tower Industry Will Grow Steadily At A CAGR Of 9.95% During The Period 2017-2021

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http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=915055

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Wind Tower Market 2017-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.The wind is one of the cleanest sources of power generation. Wind turbines harness the power of the wind to generate electricity. The energy present in the wind turns the blades around a rotor, which is connected to the main shaft that spins a generator to create electricity. A wind tower is the support structure for a wind turbine and its other components. It helps the wind turbine blades to safely clear the ground and elevate the turbine to an optimum height to generate electrical energy from the wind. As speed increases with altitude, it is better to install tall wind towers to produce maximum output.Technavios analysts forecast the global wind tower market to grow at a CAGR of 9.95% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global wind tower market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the annual installed capacity of wind and the average price of wind tower.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Wind Tower 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 vendorsCS WindEnerconShanghai Taisheng Wind Power EquipmentTrinity Structural TowersVestasWINDAR RenovablesOther prominent vendorsAMBAUBiFabDongkuk SteelDCD Wind TowersGamesaGE Renewable EnergyKGWSiemensSuzlonWinWinD Power EnergyPetrosteelReuther STCNordexMarket driverIncrease in rotor diameterFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeDevelopment of airborne wind turbinesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncrease in demand for clean powerFor 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 @
With the changes in Trade Policy, the Export Competitiveness of Indian Textile Firms Increased : Research Study With the changes in trade policy, the export competitiveness of Indian textile firms increased which led to increase in the profitability of firms in the Pre-Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) period and this factor, in turn resulted to decrease the dependence on debt financing of these firms reveals a study titled Effects of the Trade Policy Changes on Capital Structure of Textile Industry in India : An Empirical Investigation co-authored by Mr. Abhinab Ghosh and Prof. Indrani Chakraborty from Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata has been published in the latest issue of Finance India  Quarterly Journal of Indian Institute of Finance, Vol. XXX No. 4, December 2016 issue released recently.



In the research paper, the effects of trade policy changes on capital structure of Indian Textile industry are studied. India became one of the leading exporters of textile and clothing in the world due to the implementation of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) since 2005.



In the post ATC period though the profits seem to have not kept the pace and thereby a preference towards debt for financing has been observed where new firms found it more feasible to go for debt based instruments and retained earnings as possible lower cost of capital with these avenues have lured them. Thus there has been a tendency for the textile and clothing firms in India to have been more inclined towards the pecking order financing pattern.



IIF setup in 1987 as a non profit educational institution pioneered Business Finance Education in India



Indian Institute of Finance

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Greater Noida, UP, INDIA



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Automotive and Aerospace Sector are Driving the Automated Test Equipment Industry- Global Market to Grow at a CAGR of 3.5% till 2022

Automated Test Equipment Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1166

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/automated-test-equipment-market

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Synopsis of Automated Test Equipment MarketMarket Research Future (MRFR) Announces the Publication of its Research Report  Global Automated Test Equipment Market 2016-2022Market Overview and Forecast:Globally the market of Automated Test Equipment (ATE) includes growing demand for efficient power management, growing demand for smartphone which is accelerating market for semiconductors, and growing market of consumer electronics among others. The major factor that drives the growth of ATE market is raising complexities in consumer electronics, reduction in manufacturing time and cost and others. Hence the market for Automated Test Equipment (ATE) is expected to grow at 3.5% CAGR (2016-2022). However, technical limitation such as high competition among the industrial manufacturer and dynamic changes in the technology are some of the major factors which are hindering the growth of Automated Test Equipment (ATE) Market.Market Segmentation:Global Automated Test Equipment Market can be segmented as follows: On the basis of Component which comprises of industrial PC, mass interconnect, handlers, probers, and semiconductor. On the basis of Application the market is segmented into consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace and defense, telecommunication among others. On the basis of Type the market is segmented into memory ATE, non-memory ATE, discreet ATE.Request a Sample Copy @Commenting on the report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said: Growing need for agility and automation is the key trend for this market. With growing demand for effective defined governance process, especially the American and APAC countries are taking many initiatives to implement the Global Automated Test Equipment effectively in their region"Access the market data and market information presented through more than 22 market data tables and figures spread over 90 numbers of pages of the project report Global Automated Test Equipment MarketFor Further Information on this Report, Please Visit:Key Players in the Global ATE Market: Teradyne Inc. (U.S.) Advantest Corporation (Japan) LTX-Credence Corporation (U.S.) Roos Instrument Inc. (U.S.) National instrument Corporation (U.S.), Inc.Other Prominent Vendors in the Market are: Chroma ATE Inc. (Taiwan) Cobham Plc (U.K.), Astronics Test Systems (U.S.) Agilent Technologies Inc. (U.S.)Make an Enquiry for Report @According to the report, In APAC region growing industries is raising Global Automated Test Equipment market in the region. Further, the report states that high cost of implementation and dynamic change in technology is a challenge to the market growth.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global SWIR Camera Market 2017 : FLIR Systems, IR Cameras, Atik Cameras & Raptor

SWIR Camera

https://goo.gl/ALOsQt

https://goo.gl/fuACcD

This report studies SWIR Camera in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringSensors UnlimitedXenicsPhotonic SciencePrinceton InstrumentsAxiom OpticsNew Imaging TechnologiesThe survey report by Market Research Store is an overview of the global SWIR Camera market. It covers all the recent trends including key developments in the global market in present and in future. Analyses of the global SWIR Camera 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 SWIR Camera 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 SWIR Camera 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 SWIR Camera 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 SWIR Camera 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
Latest party wear Kurtis online- At really attractive deals.

https://www.shopkio.com/

Kurti revolutionised typical Indian fashion of ethnic wear and becomes the most favourite style statement. It nicely combines style, fashion and comfort together and suitable choice for all age groups of women. It is stylish western wear for college girls, comfy office wear for working women and housewives also prefer to wear Kurti for daily purpose or for casual occasions. Available in different fabrics, patterns & designs, it offers numerous choices to select from as per your body shape, skin, and climate too.Kurtis can be worn on any occasion, be it a cocktail party, a wedding function, anniversary party, hangouts with friends or even to college and office. Taking an instance, if you have to attend a reception or wedding function, a gorgeous sequined kurti with a zari border completely does justice to it ,or if you need to dress up for college or office, a simple floral print cotton kurti adds charm to your attire keeping up with the classiness and simplicity. You can pair them with contrast leggings, jeans, trousers, Palatial salwar, pleated salwars, skirts, shorts and well-fitted churidars.The best part about Kurtis is that they give a feminine touch to a womans persona along with ethnicity and are very comfortable to wear at the same time.But the main catch lies in picking up the right one matching your choice of designs and body shape and size.If you are a fan of Indian fashion & want to adorn the latest trends in ethnic wear, then lookout for the online store that is racked with the stylish collection of ethnic wear for women.Choosing a store which meets both your pocket power and choice of designs you want to adorn is always a tough job, as quality, attractive designs and affordable price are the three factors which have an inversely proportional relationship. So, it's very often that you end up in chaos when you search for these three at one place and you settle down for anything less than that, compromising with your choices.With the launch of our latest collection at Shopkio. you no longer have to worry about these things as we make it sure that our collections always meet the latest fashion trends and are pocket friendly too.You can find Kurtis of almost any type,design or with any neckline you want. Be it Boat neckline, collared neckline, crew neckline, closed neckline, halter neckline,high collar neckline, high neckline, jewel neckline, U neckline, V neckline and what not!Being one of the most respected organisation guided by experienced and knowledgeable professionals, we provide an enormous assortment of latest designer Kurti. These Kurtis are crafted at our vendors end using the finest quality fabric and pioneering and stitching technique.So, you can straight away checkout at our stores without thinking much as our deals are worth the price we quote for, and we are quite sure you won't turn up from our store empty handed as because the collection we shelve on is quite a steal at the prices we offer.The USP of the ethnic wear collection on Shopkio is their affordable prices. Every online shopper looks out for the best deal on the site & Shopkio.com is the perfect place, as the store works on the principle of Styling everybody, without draining pockets.Additionally, unlike other online stores, Shopkio does not charge a single penny for delivering their products across India. Yes! You heard that right. We are offering free shipping on all orders even with cash on delivery payment option. Its indeed a desired online store everybody is looking for.So, if you are wondering what to wear on your cousin's wedding or Uncle's anniversary party or even on a date, you don't have to think much!Just hop in our stores and pick out the perfect outfit for the occasion.Shopkio believes in delivering fashion trends which everyone loves to adorn and own. Our main motto is to style everyone who wants to keep up with the fashion trends and wants to kill in every look or attire they carry. We never fail to wow our customers with our never ending designs and a grade fabric quality.110, Tower 3, Kuberji Textile Park 2, Ring Road.Surat - 395002
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Market Trends, Segmentation, Key Drivers, Market Players Forecast to 2027

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1348

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cardiopulmonary-resuscitation-market

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Market Highlights:Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure which is a combination of chest compression and artificial ventilation applied to manually preserve intact brain function until further actions are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest.Effective CPR can improve the survival rate of patients with cardiac arrest. Increasing number of patients with cardiovascular disorders, increased number of cardiac arrest episodes, rising awareness and knowledge among common public about CPR are some of the factors responsible for the growth of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation market.Major Key Players Cardiac Science Corporation CPR Medical Devices, Inc. General Electric Company Koninklijke Philips N.V. Medtronic Inc. Michigan Instruments Physio-Control Inc. St. Jude Medical, Inc. Zhuhai Kindway Medical Science & Technology Co. Ltd ZOLL Medical CorporationRequest a Copy of Sample Report @Intended Audience Cardiopulmonary resuscitation devices manufacturers Cardiopulmonary resuscitation devices suppliers Hospitals Clinics Research and Development (R&D) Companies Government Research Laboratories Independent Research Laboratories Government and Independent Regulatory Authorities Market Research and Consulting Service Providers Medical Research Laboratories Academic Medical Institutes and UniversitiesThe report for Global Cardiopulmonary resuscitation 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.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 115 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Market Research Report- Forecast To 2027Access Report Details @Study Objectives Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation 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 cardiopulmonary resuscitation market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the cardiopulmonary resuscitation 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 methods, by devices 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 cardiopulmonary resuscitation market.Make an Enquiry @Market Segments:Segmentation by methods Standard CPR Compression Prone CPR PregnancySegmentation by devices Timing Device Manual Assist Device Automated Programmed DeviceThe 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 regionsAbout 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 Dampproof Mats Market 2017 : Roye, E-accexpert, Meanhoo, Topoint & Oenbopo

Dampproof Mats

https://goo.gl/jRcnn5

https://goo.gl/SGjniI

This report studies Dampproof Mats 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, coveringHikingworldEzyoutdoorBSWOLFLixadaLisliNatureHike-NHThe survey report by Market Research Store is an overview of the global Dampproof Mats market. It covers all the recent trends including key developments in the global market in present and in future. Analyses of the global Dampproof Mats 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 Dampproof Mats 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 Dampproof Mats 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 Dampproof Mats 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 Dampproof Mats 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 Smart Card Market 2017 : CardLogix, Eastcompeace, Gemalto & Muhlbauer

Smart Card

https://goo.gl/T5ejx2

https://goo.gl/7COLGf

Global Smart Card market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingMorphoOberthurGiesecke & DevrientCardLogixEastcompeaceGemaltoMuhlbauerThe survey report by Market Research Store is an overview of the global Smart Card market. It covers all the recent trends including key developments in the global market in present and in future. Analyses of the global Smart Card 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 Smart Card 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 Smart Card 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 Smart Card 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 Smart Card 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
Europe Coal Tar Market 2016 - AM, NLMK, Metinvest, SEVERSTAL, Erdemir

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The European Coal tar is a thick black liquid that's a byproduct of coke production. As an extra product of the cause of action (COA) process that results in the production of coke, this liquid is a versatile product in its own right. There are actually quite a few uses for this viscous liquid, ranging from building and home repair all the way to medical treatments.Coal tar can be distilled into many fractions to yield a number of useful organic products, including benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene, anthracene, and phenanthrene. These substances, called the coal-tar crudes, form the starting point for the synthesis of numerous products - notably dyes, drugs, explosives, flavorings, perfumes, preservatives, synthetic resins, and paints and stains. The residual pitch left from the fractional distillation is used for paving, roofing, waterproofing, and insulation.Browse Full Report:The European coal tar production was expected to drop to XX tons in 2016 with a growth rate of XX% from its year-earlier level. The European coal tar market size is estimated to decrease from USD XX million in 2011 to USD XX million by 2016, at an estimated CAGR of XX% between 2011 and 2016.The European coal tar market report profiles some of the key technological developments in the recent times. It also profiles some of the leading players in the market and analyzes their key strategies.The major players in the European Coal Tar market are,AMNLMKMetinvestSEVERSTALErdemirEVRAZTataMMKISDMechelFor sample request click onThe European coal tar industry is relatively concentrated, with the market share of top 10 coal tar producers at XX%.About Market Research Store:Market Research Store 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. Market Research Store is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading publishers and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442, USA
Trend Expected to Guide Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market from 2017-2022: Growth Analysis by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application

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Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Research Report 2022 (North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America, Middle East and Africa) is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material market.This report studies Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa, focuses on the top 5 Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Players in each region, with sales, price, revenue and market share for top 5 manufacturer, covering VITA, 3M Espe, Shofu Dental, GC, Ivoclar VivadentRequest a sample copy of Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Research Report @Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales, revenue, market share of top 5 players in these regions, from 2012 to 2017 (forecast), like North America (United States, Canada and Mexico), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Korea), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Russia etc., South America (Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina), Middle East and Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Saudi Arabia)Split by Product Types, with sales, revenue, price, Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market share of each type, can be divided into Low Translucent Shades, High Translucent Shades, Enamel ShadesHybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material market of 135 pages having tables and figures is available for purchase atTable of Contents in Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Research Report:3 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue (Value) by Regions, Type and Application (2012-2017)3.1 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)3.1.1 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)3.1.2 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)3.2 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue, Market Share and Price by Type (2012-2017)3.2.1 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)3.2.2 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)3.2.3 Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Price by Type (2012-2017)3.3 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)3.4 Global Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 North America Top 5 Players Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue and Price4.1 North America Top 5 Players Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue and Market Share in 2015 and 20164.1.1 North America Top 5 Players Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share in 2015 and 20164.1.2 North America Top 5 Players Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Market Share in 2015 and 20164.2 North America Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue, Market Share and Price by Type (2012-2017)4.2.1 North America Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.2.2 North America Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.2.3 Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Price by Type (2012-2017)4.3 North America Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)4.4 North America Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Country (US, Canada and Mexico) (2012-2017)4.5 North America Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Import & Export (2012-2017)5 Europe Top 5 Players Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue and Price5.1 Europe Top 5 Players Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue and Market Share in 2015 and 20165.1.1 Europe Top 5 Players Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share in 2015 and 20165.1.2 Europe Top 5 Players Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Revenue and Market Share in 2015 and 20165.2 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales, Revenue, Market Share and Price by Type (2012-2017)5.2.1 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2.2 Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2.3 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Price by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)5.4 Europe Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Sales and Market Share by Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Russia) (2012-2017)The listed pricing for this Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market report starts at $ 4960. Request Discount for Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Research Report @Split by applications, this report focuses on sales, Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market share and growth rate of Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material in each application, can be divided into Laminate Veneers, Full Crowns for TeethBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Hybrid-Ceramic Dental CAD/CAM Material Market Report @Related Reports: -Global and Chinese Autoclave Indication Tape Industry, 2017 Market Research ReportGlobal and Chinese Autoclave Indication Tape Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Autoclave Indication Tape industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Autoclave Indication Tape manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:
Amazon Pay for FR, IT, ES, DE and UK

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The worldwide leading development company WebiProg is pleased to announce a new Zen Cart payment gateway Amazon Pay. The current payment gateway supports 5 countries like:- Germany- England- Italy- France- SpainWebiProg offers it for free and everybody can download it from the WebiProgs website:WebiProg Germany:WebiProg England:The extension includes a detailed installation manual and was successfully tested in Germany and in England. You can easily contact WebiProg or Amazon if you have questions or need an assistance.About WebiProg:WebiProg has been in IT industry since 2011. Started as a small start-up company with professional developers on board, WebiProg expanded into a multicultural programming team with skills in PHP/JavaScript/MySQL and expertise in different well known CMS/Ecommerce platforms like WordPress/WooCommerce, Joomla, Magento, Zen Cart, etc.Kind regards,WebiProgGermany:England:Global:Phone DE: +49 (0) 421 708 69 232Phone UK: +44 (0) 20 8133 9324Bespoke web development, creation and support of online stores based on OpenCart or other CMS platforms with WebiProg company will allow you to get the following features: integration with payment systems, SEO-optimization, speed optimization, security and also our professional technical support.WEBiPROG company,USA, NY, NY, 1233, Broadway
Global Hospital Care Bed Market 2017 : NOA Medical Industries, Accora, LINET, Nexus DMS, Sidhil, Dreamland, FranceBeD, PARAMOUNT BED, Maidesite, Zhubang

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Hospital Care BedA market study based on the " Hospital Care Bed Market " across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Hospital Care Bed Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Hospital Care Bed industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Hospital Care Bed market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This Research Report1. NOA Medical Industries2. Accora3. LINET4. Nexus DMS5. Sidhil6. Dreamland7. FranceBeD8. PARAMOUNT BED9. Maidesite10.ZhubangThe report studies the industry for Hospital Care Bed across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Hospital Care Bed market & dynamics of demand and supply of Hospital Care Bed into consideration. The ' Hospital Care Bed ' research study covers each and every aspect of the Hospital Care Bed market globally, which starts from the definition of the Hospital Care Bed industry and develops towards Hospital Care Bed market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Hospital Care Bed market is classified and analysed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Hospital Care Bed market. The geographical segmentation of the Hospital Care Bed industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Hospital Care Bed is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Hospital Care Bed market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Hospital Care Bed market worldwide.Enquiry Here :The global Hospital Care Bed market 2017 is also analysed on the basis of product pricing, Hospital Care Bed production volume, data regarding demand and Hospital Care Bed 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 Hospital Care Bed across the globe.About Us :Market and Research are a trusted brand in the research industry with capability of commissioning complex projects within a short span of time with high level of accuracy. At Market and Research, we believe in building long term relations with our clients. Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries including Energy, Chemicals and Materials, Automotive and Aerospace.Contact Us :Market and ResearchUnited States
Ultrasonic Sensors Market - Worldwide Manufacturing Analysis, Trend, Size, Share Forecast 2023

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The global market for ultrasonic sensors has been covered under the scope of this report. The ultrasonic sensors are used for liquid level measurement, object detection, distance measurement, anti collision detection and pallet detection among others. Reflective sensors, ultrasonic through beam sensors and ultrasonic 2 point proximity switches are the various types of ultrasonic sensors. The usage of ultrasonic sensor improves operational efficiency and the safety standards. These are some of the major factors fueling the demand for ultrasonic sensors globally.The ultrasonic sensors market is anticipated to experience a stable growth during the forecast period from 2015 to 2023. For better understanding of the market, the global ultrasonic sensors market has been categorized by type, application, and industry. By types, the market has been segmented into ultrasonic proximity sensor, ultrasonic through beam sensor, ultrasonic retro reflective sensor, and ultrasonic 2 point proximity switches. The application segment includes liquid level measurement, object detection, distance measurement, anti collisions detection and pallet detection among others.Browse The report :On the basis of industry, the global ultrasonic sensors market can be bifurcated into automotive, power and oil & gas, chemical, agriculture, construction, pulp and paper, material handling, food and beverage, aerospace and defense, medical and healthcare, and others. In addition, this report also provides the cross sectional analysis of all the above segments across different countries within the various regions such as North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the World (RoW).This report focuses on the current position of the global ultrasonic sensor market and provides a forecast from the period of 2015 to 2023. Furthermore, the report also highlights the current market synopsis and the driving factors that are predicted to have an impact on the future demand of ultrasonic sensor globally. In addition, the various micro economic and macro-economic factors that are anticipated to affect the growth of global ultrasonic sensor market are also provided in this report.Among the various types of ultrasonic sensors, the ultrasonic proximity sensors segment held the largest market with more than 40% market share in terms of revenue in 2014. The ultrasonic through beam sensors segment is predicted to be the fastest growing market during the forecast period. Among the various industrial applications of global ultrasonic sensors, the power and oil & gas industry contribute the largest market share in 2014.Make an Enquiry @Globally, Europe occupied the largest market share of ultrasonic sensors market, accounting for more than 35% market share in 2014. Increasing application of these sensors for parking assistance, blind spot detection and automated steering control among others in automotive industry is boosting the demand of ultrasonic sensors in Europe. The ultrasonic sensors market of Europe is followed by Asia Pacific.However, this region is anticipated to be the fastest growing market due to extensive use of ultrasonic sensors across various application segments such as automotive and power and oil & gas industry.The key players operating in the global ultrasonic sensors market are, Pepperl+Fuchs GmbH, Siemens AG, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Rockwell Automation Inc. and OMRON Corporation among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Vitamins & Supplements Market 2017 : Pfizer, Bayer, BASF, Amway & Ayanda

Vitamins & Supplements

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Global Vitamins & Supplements market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingPharmavite (Otsuka Pharmaceuticals)Nature's ProductsAyandaABH Nature's ProductsDCC Health & Beauty SolutionsNatures PlusWellington FoodsThe survey report by Market Research Store is an overview of the global Vitamins & Supplements market. It covers all the recent trends including key developments in the global market in present and in future. Analyses of the global Vitamins & Supplements 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 Vitamins & Supplements 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 Vitamins & Supplements 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 Vitamins & Supplements 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 Vitamins & Supplements 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
Advanced Global Sunroof Market Size, Industry Analysis and Outlook 2016-2021

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Gen's report, 'Global Sunroof Market Outlook 2016-2021' provides detailed market and segment level data on the Global and Chinese consumption of Sunroof. The report provides historic, forecast and growth patterns by company, country and type/application from 2016 to 2021.This report delivers an extensive overview of Global Sunroof industry with a focus on China. It also acts as an essential tool to companies active across the value chain and to the new entrants by enabling them to capitalize the opportunities and develop business strategies. It also helps the companies to better understand the trends of Soups market to seize opportunities and formulate crucial business strategies.With this report, you will get access to:1. Market overview including definition, industrial chain (upstream & downstream), manufacturing technology details and the costs analysis from the aspects of raw materials, labor costs and depreciation.Download Sample Copy Of This Report:2. Value and volume consumption status and trends of the market, including Global and Chinese top players capacity & production, price & production value, cost & profit and market shares from 2011 to 2016.3. Worldwide supply/demand pattern of Sunroof by country or region (North America, China, EMEA, Asia except China), and by application/type.4. Growth, trends and forecast of 2016-2021 Sunroof market and some important proposals for new investment of Sunroof Industry before evaluating its feasibility.Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2011-2021 Global and Chinese Sunroof industry covering all important parameters.Chapter One Description1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Findings of IndustryChapter Two Brief Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Industry Chain Structure2.2.1 Upstream Raw Materials2.2.2 Downstream MarketChapter Three Development and Trends3.1 Key Manufacturing Technologies3.2 Issues and TrendsBrowse More Semiconductors Market Research Reports:Chapter Four Cost Structure4.1 Bill of Materials (BOM)4.3 Labor Costs4.4 Depreciation Costs4.5 Manufacturing CostsChapter Five Worldwide Key VendorsCompany ACompany BCompany CCompany DCompany ECompany FCompany GChapter Six Market Overview6.1 Global Market Size6.2 Chinese Market SizeChapter Seven Market Status7.1 Market Competition Status by Key Vendors7.2 Regional Market Competition StatusChinaNorth AmericanEMEAAsia except ChinaChapter Eight Consumption Pattern8.1 Regional Consumption8.2 Global Consumption by Application8.3 Chinese Consumption by ApplicationChapter Nine Market Forecast9.1 Market Size Forecast9.2 Regional Consumption Forecast9.3 Global Consumption Forecast by Application9.4 Chinese Consumption Forecast by ApplicationChapter Ten Development/Trends10.1 Policies and Events10.2 2015 New SituationMarketResearchReports.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
Paprika Extract Market - Whats In Store For 2017-2027?

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Paprika extract is a spice which is in powdered form and is used as a spice in preparing many foods and also in food coloring which is red or orange. Paprika extract is also known as paprika oleoresin, Capsanthin, Capsicum annuum. Paprika oleoresin is an oil which is made from paprika powder. As paprika is extracted from capsicum it is also named as Capsicum annuum. Capsicum is mostly used in vegetables, food coloring and spices. The most important ingredient which is used to make paprika extract is Capsicum annuum. The type Capsicum is originated from Central and Southern America and it consists of different types of chili peppers. This chili peppers includes all the peppers which includes mildest bell pepper and hottest habanero. Paprika extracts are broadly used in food industry where they use it in natural flavoring of foods and also as coloring agent for variety of foods such as spicy food, meat products, cheese coatings, popcorn oil etc. Also, it is used parched or fresh in variety of medicine preparations. It is broadly used in poultry food to extend the color of egg yolks and also it is used in cheese slices and meat pie. Naturally paprika is used for health related issues like dry eyes problem as it contains high concentration of vitamin A, which is a best thing to prevent dry eye symptoms and this can be done by using paprika in food. Paprika powder and paprika extract are used as coloring agent in food industry as well as it is used for coloring in bath and beauty products.Browse Market Research Report @Paprika Extract SegmentationPaprika Extract market is segmented by its type of product and end use. Based on application Paprika Extract is segmented into food & beverage industry which uses paprika extract as natural flavoring & coloring agent, pharmaceutical industry and Cosmetics industry uses paprika extract in coloring bath soaps and beauty products.Based on end use it is segmented intoFood and beverage industryCosmetics industryHealthcare industryPaprika Extract ProcessProcessing of Capsicum into paprika extract involves some operations where heating is done to transform the raw material or the seeds of capsicum into powdered form or oil.For more information on this report, fill the form @Paprika End UserPaprika is most widely used in Food industry where it is used in variety of food products as natural flavoring, food coloring in Spices, snacks, meat products and cheese products. Paprika is also used in beauty products and personal care products like shampoos, soaps and lipsticks. Apart from this it is used in pharmaceutical industry for the preparation of medicines.Paprika Extract DriversIncreased demand in global market, increased population, disposable income, growing health awareness of the consumers are the market drivers of paprika extract. Paprika is used in food coloring and natural flavoring as a result of which there is rising demand of paprika in food industry. Paprika is also used in coloring of bath and cosmetic products. Paprika extracts are being consumed indirectly through the use of different medicinal ointments which contain capsaicin as a critical ingredient which include Zostrix and Capzasin HP which are sold in pharmacies as painkiller cream for Arthritis so it is in demand in healthcare industry also.Regional OverviewThe international flavors and spices in food market was expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period. APEJ will have a rapid growth in natural color and spice market, followed by Latin America and Western Europe.Paprika Extract Market PlayersFew of the market players for paprika extract consists ofSynthite Industries, Ozone Naturals, Kancor Ingredients Limited, Hebei Dongzhixing Biotech Co.,Ltd, Paprika Oleo's India Limited, FLAVEX, Aromka Brno s.r.o, Plantlipids (P) Ltd, Ungerer & Company and UNIVERSAL OLEORESINS.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Dye Sensitized Cell Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth by 2021

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A dye sensitized cell, also known as dye sensitized solar cell, is a low-cost solar cell belonging to the group of thin film solar cells. A dye sensitized cell is based on a semiconductor formed between a photo-sensitized anode and an electrolyte, a photoelectrochemical system. Dye sensitized cells are usually used for converting sunlight into electrical energy across a wide intensity range by using a dye, which is absorbed in titanium oxide semiconductor. Dye sensitized cells are becoming increasingly popular as a renewable and cost-effective alternative to conventional solar cells. A dye sensitized cell has several attractive features such as semi-flexibility and semi-transparency, which offers a variety of uses, it is simple to make using conventional roll-printing techniques and majority of materials used are low cost . In the current scenario, dye sensitized cells are the most efficient third generation solar technology available. Dye sensitized cells can be a suitable option as a replacement for existing technologies in low density applications such as rooftop solar collectors, where the mechanical robustness and light weight of the glass result in a less collectors and act as an advantage for dye sensitized cell . However, the use of liquid electrolyte in dye sensitized cell design is a major drawback, as it has temperature stability problems. In the last 5-10 years, solid-state dye sensitized solar cells have been developed. In this case the liquid electrolyte is replaced by one of the several solid hole-conducting materials. During this period, the efficiency of solid state dye sensitized solar cell has increased from 4% to 15%.A sample of this report is available upon request @Based on application, the global dye sensitized cell market is segmented into six categories: building-integrated photovoltaics, indoor application, retail application, emergency power and military application, automotive, and others. Building-integrated photovoltaics are further sub-segmented into BIPV glass and solar roofs. Indoor application is further sub-segmented into three categories: solar chargers, wireless keyboards, and others. Retail application is further sub-segmented into three categories: indoor and outdoor advertising, point-of-purchase displays, and others.In terms of geography, North America dominates the global dye sensitized cell market followed by Europe. The U.S. represents the largest market for dye sensitized cell followed by Canada in North America. In Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. hold major share of the dye sensitized cell market. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness high growth rates in the next five years in the global dye sensitized market.Increasing number of retail store, high growth rate of the automotive industry and increasing disposable income are some of the major driving factors of the dye sensitized cell market. Increasing disposable income allows customers to spend more on products like wireless keyboards, which indirectly increase the demand for dye sensitized cell. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, annual per capita disposable income of urban households in China increased from USD 2,271.0 in 2008 to USD 3408.5 in 2012. The overall annual disposable income in India median household income increased from USD 1,366.2 billion in 2010 to USD 1,587.6 billion in 2013.A TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies operating in the dye sensitized cell market are Dyesol, Ltd., Exeger Sweden AB, 3GSolar Photovoltaics, Ltd., Fujikura, Ltd., Oxford Photovoltaics, Ltd., Solarprint, Ltd., Sony Corporation, Sharp Corporation, Samsung, and Solaronix SA.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.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
Antivirus Software Industry Research Report Covers Shares, Growth Drivers and Worldwide Market Analysis 2017

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Antivirus Software Market Research Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The Antivirus Software is the target of analysis presented in this research report which is a highly descriptive and insightful publication. It chalks out a detailed, all-inclusive, and logical perspective of the market, casing all crucial categories and their pieces, along with the aspects that have so far shown the potential of having a deep influence on the market over the coming years. The report is therefore a 360-degree representation of the analysis of the current state of market.The market has been quarried to its microscopic nuances, where rudimentary data and key, industry-specific classifications of the market and its elements that are being defined in the overview. The report then moves ahead into a 360 degree analysis of the Antivirus Software, while sticking to phrases of the market, such as specific definitions, applications, industry chain structures, government policies, and recent developments.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The large volumes of data presented in this report, on the Antivirus Software, have been garnered with the aid of different research methodologies, both primary and secondary. This data is further concentrated by means of standard analytical processes based on industry practices, and therefore only the significant sections of information are provided to the readers of this report.The governing and competitive landscape of the Antivirus Software are studied in this research report. The different stages and their details, such as rules, protocols, procedures, and strategies are also included in addition to an analysis of their effect on the overall growth rate of the market. The report also contains a comprehensive analysis of the business profiles of the most influential vendors in the Antivirus Software.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Antivirus Software Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Antivirus Software1.2 Antivirus Software Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Antivirus Software by Type in 20151.2.2 Free and open-source software1.2.3 Non-free software1.3 Antivirus Software Segment by Application1.3.1 Antivirus Software Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Individual User1.3.3 Enterprise User1.3.4 Application 31.4 Antivirus Software Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Korea Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Antivirus Software (2011-2021)2 Global Antivirus Software Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Antivirus Software Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Antivirus Software Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Antivirus Software Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Antivirus Software Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Antivirus Software Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Antivirus Software Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Antivirus Software Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Antivirus Software Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)3.1 Global Antivirus Software Production by Region (2011-2016)3.2 Global Antivirus Software Production Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.3 Global Antivirus Software Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2011-2016)3.4 Global Antivirus Software Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.5 North America Antivirus Software Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.6 Europe Antivirus Software Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.7 China Antivirus Software Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.8 Japan Antivirus Software Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.9 Korea Antivirus Software Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)3.10 Taiwan Antivirus Software Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2011-2016)4 Global Antivirus Software Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)4.1 Global Antivirus Software Consumption by Regions (2011-2016)4.2 North America Antivirus Software Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2011-2016)4.3 Europe Antivirus Software Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2011-2016)4.4 China Antivirus Software Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2011-2016)4.5 Japan Antivirus Software Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2011-2016)4.6 Korea Antivirus Software Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2011-2016)4.7 Taiwan Antivirus Software Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2011-2016)5 Global Antivirus Software Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Antivirus Software Production and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.2 Global Antivirus Software Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)5.3 Global Antivirus Software Price by Type (2011-2016)5.4 Global Antivirus Software Production Growth by Type (2011-2016)6 Global Antivirus Software Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Antivirus Software Consumption and Market Share by Application (2011-2016)6.2 Global Antivirus Software Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2011-2016)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesRead More @QYReseachReports.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.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Research Report Covers Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Market 2017

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Market Research Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The report on the Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System deals with the all its critical facts and figures that will help in creating an in-depth and insightful analysis. The market is elucidated in a holistic fashion that allows the users to gain a thorough analysis of the market, as developed using the factors that are likely to have a significant effect on its development over the coming years.The report offers an illustrative overview of the Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System and its competitive set-up as well as the regulatory framework surrounding the market. This provides a reader with a richer understanding of the state of major opportunities, threats, competition, and the major plans, regulations, rules, and policies impacting the market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report provides valuable data to all its readers that may aid businesses as well as investors in taking advantage of the markets stronger suits and handle key problems with relative ease. The report additionally provides a colorful assessment of the Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System in a qualitative and quantitative manner, pertaining to the precise elements responsible for the progress of the market. This data is something that organizations and players of all sizes will be interested in. An organization using this report can have gain easy access to the nuances of the Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System and knowing these details are a reinforcing way to have a very visible and significant bearing on its overall development. The report is created with the vision of gratifying and customizations and other needs that vendors and readers may require. The report thus generates a highly practical repository of information that allows top decision makers to form highly effective business strategies.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System1.2 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.3 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Segment by Application1.3.1 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.4 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System (2012-2022)2 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.4 North America Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 Europe Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 China Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 Japan Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Southeast Asia Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 India Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)4.1 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Consumption by Regions (2012-2017)4.2 North America Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Denso7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Denso Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Bosch7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Bosch Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Continental7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Continental Blind Spot Detection (BSD) System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) System Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business OverviewRead More @QYReseachReports.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.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: sales@qyresearchreports.comBlog  qyresearch-group.blogspot.inSee More Like These on Linkedin @
Over-The-Top Communications Services: Emerging Monetization Paths

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Over the top (OTT) messaging leaders are rapidly evolving their key mobile messaging application interfaces to new voice and video communications, with revenue dilution implications for carriers worldwide. The progress made in mobile IP voice and video in the past year alone from key OTT players such as Facebook and Google is a clear indication of heightened mobile communications competitive pressure from these new players in 2016 and beyond. OTT players are transforming their communications apps into rich media platforms that serve as social networking hubs, offering a number of media services. Apps built on top of messaging enable users to solve broad problems. Messaging becomes a hub for consuming content and making transactions. Still, we argue that OTT communications providers need partnerships with carriers, to garner scale and differentiation.Key FindingsThe strategy of most, if not all, OTT messaging providers is to gain scale first and then monetize. All communications OTT apps with global aspirations are in a race to become the biggest platform in order to attract developers, which in turn should add more value to an offering.OTT players are transforming their communications apps into rich media platforms that serve as social networking hubs, offering a number of media services. Apps built on top of messaging enable users to solve broad problems. Messaging becomes a hub for consuming content and making transactions.Download Sample Copy Of This Report:LINE Messenger and WeChat are the few OTT communications players to demonstrate revenue. They can serve as a blueprints for other players.Messaging apps have significantly eroded carriers' revenue from previous cash generators such as SMS services. The threat to carriers is increasing with the migration of voice calls from carriers to VoIP providers such as Skype and WhatsApp.WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger represent the most disruptive OTT communications players in the market. Monetization could be highly disruptive.A number of partnership opportunities are emerging as carriers are growing convinced that they can generate revenue from OTT communications. The challenge lies in business tie-ups and infrastructure capabilities.SynopsisOver-the-top communications services: Emerging monetization paths offers an analysis of the state of the OTT communications market, the market drivers, and a number of company initiatives that highlight how market players are moving toward monetization. We highlight a number of monetization strategies and case studies employed by the world's largest OTT communications players. We also look at how carriers are impacted by OTT communications providers and how they can partner with key players to drive revenue. We conclude with recommendations for OTT companies and carriers.The Report is structured as follows:Section 1: Market context. This section provides an overview of the OTT communications providers along with the competitive landscape and recent acquisitions and investments in OTT messaging app market. It also provides details on key OTT communications features and information on these communications apps are now evolving into powerful digital platforms.Section 2: Emerging monetization strategies. Here we explore the various monetization strategies adopted by the major OTT communications companies globally.Section 3: OTT communications case studies. The report includes six case studies: Facebook Messenger, Line, Viber, WeChat, Snapchat and WhatsApp. Each case study offers detailed analysis of the trajectory and approach taken by OTT service providers for generating revenues along with the progress made in recent years.Section 4: Key findings and recommendations. We conclude with a summary of our findings on the emerging monetization paths adopted by various OTT service providers around the world, as well as specific recommendations for network carriers and OTT service providers looking to increase their revenue and develop partnerships in the OTT arena.Reasons To BuyAssess revenue models for OTT communications services and learn what works and what doesn't.Learn effective strategies for minimizing the adverse impact of OTT communications services on mobile carrier businessExamine the business case for OTT/carrier partnershipsMarketResearchReports.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
Cetane Number Improver Market to Register Substantial Expansion by 2026

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Cetane number is a measure of quality of ignition for diesel fuel. It indicates the time delay between injection and actual ignition of the fuel. Higher the cetane number, lower is the ignition delay, better is the ignition quality, more complete is the fuel combustion and better is the overall performance. In case of lower cetane number, higher is the overall time delay. Diesel fraction obtained from sour crude, blending of diesel with biodiesel or ethanol result in lower cetane number. Cetane number improver or simply cetane improver is that additive which is used to increase cetane number of diesel fuel. These Cetane number improver compounds are used in the concentration ranging from 0.06% to 0.4% and result in effecting increase in the cetane number by nearly 3 to 8. Thus, use of cetane number improvers result in improvement in overall ignition characteristics of diesel fuel. Moreover, cetane number improvers offer several advantages such as easy ignition of fuel, lowering smoke emission, wear reduction, smoother engine operation, among others. Cetane number Improvers are generally alkyl nitrate compounds which are decompose at higher temperatures and lower the initial boiling point of diesel fuel. Ethyl hexyl nitrate and Di-tertiary butyl peroxide (DTBP) are some of the commonly used as cetane number improver compounds.Global cetane number improver market is expected to witness a steady growth during forecast period. Blending of biodiesel with conventional diesel results in a blend having relatively lower cetane number. Government regulations, especially in countries such as Brazil, U.S., Argentina, Germany and Spain, among others, pertaining to mandatory blending of biodiesel with diesel are expected to gain momentum during forecast period. As such, the demand for cetane number improvers is expected to in turn witness a steady growth during forecast period. Furthermore, increasing diesel fuel consumption in power generation and other application areas is expected to drive the growth in demand for cetane improvers over forecast period. Also, increasing preference for diesel fuel exhibiting complete combustion characteristic along with low exhaust emissions, is another factor that is expected to fuel the growth of additives like cetane improvers, antifoaming agents, cleaning additives, among others. However, relatively complex and precarious process involved in cetane number improver production coupled with relatively higher prices of these chemical compounds is expected to act as an impediment to growth of overall global cetane number improver market during forecast period.Global cetane number improver market can be divided into seven major regions including North America, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, Latin America, Western Europe and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe are expected to account for significant shares in overall global cetane number improver market during forecast period, however, developing regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America are expected to register relatively faster growth during the same period. Stringent regulatory guidelines over the fuel characteristics in regions such as Europe and North America are expected to be major factors that are expected to drive the increasing demand for cetane number improvers in these regions over forecast period. Initiatives such as those in European Union, directed towards increasing use of biofuels in transportation sector are expected to in turn boost the demand for cetane number improver over the forecast period.Request for Sample Report and Table of content @:Some of the players operating in global cetane number improver market include BASF SE, The Lubrizol Corporation, Innospec Specialty Chemicals, Chevron Oronite Company LLC., Eurenco, Nitroerg SA, Cestoil Chemicals Inc., Kutch Chemical Industries Ltd., EPC-UK, Dorf-Ketal Chemicals India Private Limited among others.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types and applications.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global Liquid Waterborne Printing Inks Market 2016 Focuses on top players Flint Group, Sakata, Sun Chemical, Tokyo Ink, Evonik Industries, Altana

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MRS Research Group addsGlobal Liquid Waterborne Printing Inks Market 2016 Share,Size,Trends and Forecast to 2022 Market Research Reportreports to its database.This report provides a strategic analysis of the Liquid Waterborne Printing Inks market and the growth estimates for the forecasted period.The market research analyst projects the global Liquid Waterborne Printing Inks market to grow at a considerable CAGR,in terms of revenue,over the forecast period.The report will provide the client with market insights and in-depth analysis of multiple market segments on the basis of applications,end-users,and geographical cross-sectional study across the globe.This report also provides market sizing and forecasts for the Liquid Waterborne Printing Inks market.In addition,it provides a copious view on the market dynamics such as market drivers,market restraints,and opportunities for each of the micro markets.Get Free Sample Research Report @The report provides detailed information with respect to competitive landscape along with the top competitors in the Liquid Waterborne Printing Inks market.Furthermore,to help the clients make strategic decision,the report highlights a comprehensive profiling of leading players,their detailed analysis,their key developments along with the market positioning.The report also foregrounds current and future market trends in order to justify the forthcoming attractive markets within the Liquid Waterborne Printing Inks market.Moreover,clients are also provided with segment-wise,region-wise,and country-wise analysis of the Liquid Waterborne Printing Inks market.To convey a proper analysis of all the data,the report comprises a number of figures,graphs,tables,and diagrams,which will help the clients get a crystal clear idea of the current trends in the market.Access Full Research Report @This research study incorporated the use of extensive secondary sources,directories,and databases in order to identify and gather information useful for the technical,market-oriented,and commercial study of the market.This report is an effort to identify driving factors for the Liquid Waterborne Printing Inks market and sub-markets in the near future.The research report also presents an exhaustive evaluation of the market and comprises contemplative insights,historical data,facts,and statistically supported market data that is industry-validated.It comprises estimations using an appropriate set of assumptions and necessary methodologies.The research report provides analysis,statistics,particulars,and information with respect to the market segments such as geographies,applications,and others.Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeGermanyUKFranceChinaJapanHighlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market.Important changes in market dynamics.Market segmentation up to the second or third level.Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume.Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments.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.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
The Peripheral Vascular Interventions Market is a Dynamic, Billion-Dollar Market with Solid Growth Potential Through 2022

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"The Report MediPoint: Peripheral Vascular Interventions - Global Analysis and Market Forecasts provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The peripheral vascular interventions market is a dynamic, billion-dollar market with solid growth potential through 2022. The rising prevalence of peripheral artery disease (PAD) combined with the increasing endovascular procedure rate will ensure that the market will continue to expand in the coming years. Recent technological advancements within this space, including drug-eluting stents and balloons, bioabsorbable stents (BAS), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-covered stents have the potential to revolutionize the future of PAD treatment, as these devices provide improved solutions for complex pathologies.The technologies covered in this report include lower extremity stents, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) balloons, PTA drug-eluting balloons (DEB), carotid stents, and renal stents. This report focuses on the global peripheral vascular interventions market in North America (Canada, Mexico, US), Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, UK), Asia-Pacific (APAC) (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea), and South America (Brazil). This report provides insight into the competitive landscape, the marketed and pipeline products, the current and emerging players, and market analysis of each segment. The report identifies the unmet needs in the market while providing an understanding of physicians perceptions and decision-making processes in using and evaluating the adoption of different technologies.View Report @HighlightsKey Questions Answered- What is the current and future peripheral vascular interventions market outlook in the developed and emerging markets? What trends are affecting the global market?- Which are the key, high growth markets that manufacturers should expand into? Which markets are growing the fastest, and what are the top-selling products in each segment?- What are the unmet needs with the current generation of devices? How will emerging technologies fulfill these unmet needs?- What clinical factors and technical specifications influence a physician to use one type of device over another? What is physician perception and market outlook for peripheral vascular interventions?- What are the challenges that have hindered widespread adoption of newer technologies?- With developing the next-generation of devices, what aspects of the technology are device manufacturers focused on optimizing? How will new entrants impact the global peripheral vascular interventions market?Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Scope- Overview of recent key industry events and analysis of their market impact.- Annualized total market revenue by type of device, procedure trends, and market outlooks by segment and by country through 2022.- Key topics covered include strategic competitor assessment, market characterization, identification of unmet needs, reimbursement and regulatory considerations, evaluating market access in each region covered in the report, and implications of the emerging technologies in the market.- Pipeline analysis: Comprehensive data split across different stages of development, including a discussion of emerging trends and devices in development.- Analysis of the current and future market competition in the global peripheral vascular interventions market. Insightful review of the key industry drivers, opportunities, barriers and challenges. Each trend is independently researched to provide qualitative analysis of its implications.Reasons to buy- What Physicians Think quotes provide a unique insight into how healthcare professionals are reacting to events within the industry, and what their responses could mean for industry strategists. In this report you will understand the perceptions of leading vascular surgeons, interventional cardiologists, and interventional radiologists from around the world. This information is essential for all strategic decision makers in every organization allowing them to act on high quality information.Table of Contents1 Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 61.1 List of Tables 91.2 List of Figures 112 Introduction 132.1 Catalyst 132.2 Related Reports 143 Market Access 153.1 Reimbursement Trends 153.1.1 North America 153.1.2 Europe 193.1.3 Asia-Pacific 213.1.4 South America 233.2 Mergers and Acquisitions/Key Partnerships 244 Unmet Needs and Market Opportunity Analysis 264.1 High Quality Data for Drug-eluting Balloons in Specific Indications 264.2 Minimizing Periprocedural Stroke Risk During Carotid Artery Interventions 274.2.1 Anti-thrombotic Coatings 274.2.2 Occlusion with Flow Reversal 274.2.3 Integrated Embolic Protection 284.3 Motorized Delivery Systems 294.4 Reducing Reintervention Rates 304.4.1 Controlled Drug Delivery Mechanisms 314.4.2 Improving Physician Training in Endovascular Techniques 315 Competitive Assessment 335.1 Market Share Analysis 335.1.1 North America 335.1.2 Europe 385.1.3 Asia-Pacific 415.1.4 South America 465.2 Key Companies and Product Profiles 505.2.1 Abbott Vascular 505.2.2 Biotronik 545.2.3 Boston Scientific 595.2.4 C.R. Bard 635.2.5 Cook Medical 665.2.6 Cordis (Cardinal Health) 705.2.7 Medtronic 725.2.8 Terumo 765.2.9 W.L. Gore 795.2.10 Other Players 825.3 Pipeline Products Assessment 896 Market Outlook 926.1 Procedure Trends 926.1.1 Treatment Paradigm 926.1.2 Lower Extremity Revascularization 936.1.3 Carotid Artery Stenting 996.1.4 Renal Artery Stenting 100About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
OTT Services: Collaborative Regulation Can Promote Internet Neutrality

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The explosive growth of over-the-top (OTT) services has disrupted the telecommunications market by boosting competition and by creating a phenomenal traffic load on the transport pipes of ISPs. Network providers are using traffic differentiation to manage the increased volume and distribute the cost of additional capacity, which has raised equal-access concerns among online content and service providers and consumers. As many governments around the world strive to address the issue, regulators are grappling with how to maintain Internet equality without discouraging sector growth.Key FindingsThe rapid uptake of OTT services globally is a major driver of the growth in data traffic for broadband providers. Popular OTT applications have disrupted the traffic management models of ISPs by exponentially expanding the volume of content carried over the Internet. The increased data load has created challenges for ISPs, which are coming up with methods for managing congestion.Download Sample Copy of This Report:Traffic management by ISPs has prompted governments to intervene to ensure Internet traffic equality. The need for government intervention to achieve a neutral Internet has been debated for a long time. Since the rise of the public Internet, governments have been weighing the merits of regulating such an expansive space against the risks of curtailing freedom.Regulators must recognize the factors that enable a sustainable net neutrality program. A concerted implementation plan is needed to push forward the net neutrality agenda and attain sustainable progress. Some key enablers are identified based on each country's level of stakeholder cooperation and its progress in averting neutrality breaches.Network operators must seek ways to partner with OTT content and app providers. In the past few years, a number of MNOs have chosen to partner with OTT service and app providers, as an alternative or parallel strategy to rolling out proprietary Internet applications. OTT partnerships reduce the time to market for the operators aiming to launch new Internet-based services.Participation in multi-stakeholder initiatives can help ISPs engage in the policy-setting process of their respective countries. By participating in such initiatives, broadband operators can boost their influence and make sure their technical and economic interests are considered in the development of net neutrality rules.Browse More Semiconductors Market Research Reports:SynopsisThe explosive growth of over-the-top (OTT) services has disrupted the telecommunications market by boosting competition and by creating a phenomenal traffic load on the transport pipes of ISPs. Network providers are using traffic differentiation to manage the increased volume and distribute the cost of additional capacity, which has raised equal-access concerns among online content and service providers and consumers. As many governments around the world strive to address the issue, regulators are grappling with how to maintain Internet equality without discouraging sector growth.OTT Services: Collaborative Regulation Can Promote Internet Neutrality offers an in-depth examination of the main regulatory models and strategies adopted around the world to safeguard the neutrality of the Internet, highlighting the interests and viewpoints of the different stakeholders in the debate and the challenges facing regulators in establishing a system that works for all. The Report's analysis provides specific examples of prevalent regulatory models through case studies of Brazil, Chile, the European Union, France, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, with a focus on the particular developments and challenges of each market.The Report is structured as follows:Section 1: Dynamics shaping the OTT environment. This section provides an overview of the three key growth segments within the OTT services sector as well as the threats and opportunities that OTT services present for network operators.Section 2: Ecosystem player views Here we explore the perspectives of the various stakeholders in the global net neutrality debate, focusing on their views on what net neutrality means and the government's role in ensuring an open and neutral Internet.Section 3: Case studies - Approaches to regulating net neutrality. Seven jurisdictions are examined more closely: the European Union, Brazil, Chile, France, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each case study offers detailed analysis of the trajectory and approach taken toward net neutrality regulation, the progress made in recent years and the challenges going forward.Section 4: Key findings and recommendations. We conclude with a summary of our findings on the impetus for net neutrality and key regulatory models being adopted around the world, as well as specific recommendations for network operators looking to increase their participation in the net neutrality policymaking process and the OTT market.Reasons To Buy'OTT Services: Collaborative Regulation Can Promote Internet Neutrality' provides a comprehensive analysis of key regulatory models for Internet neutrality that are being adopted across the world, helping executives at MNOs, fixed telcos and pay-TV providers make informed strategic decisions and develop effective partnerships in the OTT arena.The Report's forward-looking analysis of key trends in OTT services helps providers assess the potential impact of OTTs on their business and identify related opportunities. The case studies focus on how governments and other stakeholders in seven developed and emerging markets have approached the net neutrality debate, allowing executives to refine their expectations for regulatory outcomes.By understanding the interests and positions of the main stakeholders in the net neutrality debate - government, end users, content providers and ISPs - telecom professionals can develop strategies to ensure their respective needs are addressed in upcoming regulatory cycles.The Report's recommendations are based on real strategies employed by network operators to position themselves to influence more effectively the net neutrality laws in their respective markets, and to increase their participation in the ever-growing OTT services market. Network operators can benefit from strategies such as partnering with OTT players, collaborating with regulators, joining multi-stakeholder initiatives and forging coalitions with consumer and content provider advocacy groups.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Japan Home Furnishing Industry Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report (2016-2020)

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Japan Home Furnishing Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Japan Home Furnishing Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020) provides an in-depth analysis of the Japan home furnishing market with detailed analysis of market size and growth. The report also provides market size of each segment of the market.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall Japan home furnishing 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 Japan home furnishing market is stiff and dominated by the big players like Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd. Further, key players of the home furnishing market, Ikea Group and Otsuka Kagu, Ltd., are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Company Coverage- Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd.- Ikea Group- Otsuka Kagu, Inc.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Executive SummaryHome furnishings market includes manufacturers of furniture, upholstery, carpets, wall coverings, and bedding, as well as soft home furnishings such as bedspreads and other bed-related items, linens, tablecloths, and candles. The industry is unregulated except for standard state and federal regulations against deceptive sales practices and laws that regulate the use of credit financing.The Japan home furnishing market increased 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 upsurge in the market was due to the increased new housing construction and increase in per capita disposable income.The major growth drivers for the Japan home furnishing market are: increase in the number of households, population migration and rise consumer expenditure on home furnishing products. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market, such as, decline in marriages/divorces, consumption tax hike and some business challenges faced by the companies operating in the market.Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Introduction2.1 Introduction to Home Furnishing Market2.1.1 Home Furnishing Market Segments2.1.2 Home Furnishing Market Retailers2.1.3 Home Furnishing Market Customers2.1.4 Home Furnishing Market Workers2.2 Global Home Furnishing Market Overview2.3 Japan Home Furnishing Market Segments3. Japan Market Analysis3.1 Japan Home Furnishing Market by Value3.2 Japan Home Furnishing Market by Segments3.2.1 Japan Home Furniture Market by Value3.2.2 Japan Bed Linen Market by Value3.2.3 Japan Interior Fabric Market by Value3.2.4 Japan Home Lighting Fixtures Market by Value3.2.5 Japan Kitchen Ware/Table Ware Market by Value3.2.6 Japan Towel Goods Market by Value3.2.7 Japan Home Wear Market by Value4. Market Dynamics4.1 Growth Drivers4.1.1 Increasing Number of Households4.1.2 Population Migration4.1.3 Rise in Consumer Spending on Home Furnishing Products4.2 Challenges4.2.1 Decline in Marriages/Divorces4.2.2 Consumption Tax Hike4.2.3 Business Challenges4.3 Market Trends4.3.1 Consumer Preferences4.3.2 Three Major Motives of Home Furnishing Products Demand4.3.3 Housing Construction Recovering4.3.4 Business Trends4.3.5 Home Furnishing Industry Opportunities5. Competitive LandscapeMake 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 @
Urinalysis Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2022

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The global urinalysis market is witnessing considerable growth due to increasing prevalence of diabetes, increasing geriatric population, increasing prevalence of kidney diseases and growing urinary tract infections (UTI). Moreover, increasing healthcare expenditure increases the affordability of patients leading to the increased sales of urinalysis products, supporting the growth of the market. Based on product, the consumables segment is expected to grow at a faster rate during the forecast period, compared to instrument segment. The increasing adoption of dipsticks across the globe owing to their ease of use, cheaper price and easy availability over the counter (OTC) is driving the growth of this segment.Explore Report at:The rapid growth in emerging economies and technological development in the in vitro diagnostics industry with the advent of portable and battery operated urinalysis device is expected to create revenue generation opportunities for the manufacturers of urinalysis products. However, high cost of urinalysis equipment and stringent regulatory requirements are the key factors hampering the growth of the global market.Increase in diabetic cases leads to increased sales of urinalysis dipsticks, disposables and devices across the globe. For instance, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) the global diabetes prevalence has increased from 4.7% to 8.5% from 1980 to 2014, respectively. As per International Diabetes Federation (IDF), Western Pacific (WP) region consists of maximum diabetes cases; its prevalence was 138 million cases in 2014, which is expected to reach 202 million in 2035. Similarly, according to IDF, the prevalence of diabetes in South-East Asia (SEA) is expected to increase from 75 million in 2014 to 123 million in 2035.Request for Table of Content at:Europe has been the second largest market for urinalysis, where the market is driven by the presence of a large pool of patients suffering from diabetes, increasing healthcare expenditure and rapidly developing healthcare infrastructure. In 2015, Germany lead the European urinalysis market and it is also expected to grow at the fastest rate in Europe, during forecast period. Globally, the urinalysis market in Asia-Pacific would witness highest growth during the forecast period. The highest growth in the region is attributed to the increasing prevalence of kidney diseases, increasing per capita income leading to improved standard of living, increasing healthcare spending, growing demand for better quality medical care, and awareness about urinalysis tests in the region. In addition, increasing demand for pregnancy test further drives the market growth in the region.Browse Other Related Report at:The key players operating in the global urinalysis market are F. Hoffmann-LA Roche AG, Danaher Corporation, Siemens AG, Sysmex Corporation, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Mindray Medical International Limited, Acon Laboratories, Inc., Arkray, Inc. and Urit Medical Electronic Group Co., Ltd.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:AbhishekExecutive  Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016
Global Anticoagulants 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 Anticoagulants Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report entitled Global Anticoagulants Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020) provides an analysis of the global anticoagulants market with detailed description of market size & growth and market share by products.The report also provides a detailed analysis of anticoagulants available in the market. Details of Lovenox, Arixtra, Fraxiparine (injectable anticoagulants), Xarelto, Pradaxa and Eliquis (NOACs) has provided in terms of their worldwide sales.The report provides detailed regional analysis of the US anticoagulants market covering market size and segmentation of the market.Furthermore, the report also assesses the key opportunities available in the market and outlines the market dynamics that are and will be accountable for growth of the industry. Growth of the global anticoagulants market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration previous growth outlines, growth drivers and the existing and forthcoming trends.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @A brief company profiling of major market players such as Aspen, Snaofi, Pfizer and Bayer has been provided in the report on the basis of attributes like business overview, financial overview and business strategies adopted by these companies in order to grow in the market.Country Coverage- The USCompany Coverage- Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd.- Sanofi- Pfizer Inc.- BayerExecutive SummaryUsually blood clotting plays a significant role in stopping external bleeding caused by an injury but when blood clots form inappropriately inside an artery or vein can cause serious issues such as heart attack and stroke. The formation of clots in blood vessels can stop the circulation of blood in the body that can even lead to death. So an agent is used that helps to eradicate the formation of blood clots in the body and is known as anticoagulant. Anticoagulants stop the platelets from sticking together and clotting proteins from binding together. Anticoagulants are popular drugs used in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), atrial fibrillation, pulmonary embolism (PE) and reducing the risk of heart attack and brain stroke.Due to the dynamics like rising aging population, more surgical procedures like knee or hip replacement in developed nations and prevalence of cardiovascular disease etc.; the global anticoagulants market is growing rapidly. There are two types of anticoagulants available in the market: oral and injectable. Anticoagulants market is categorized into five broad categories: unfractionated heparin, warfarin, low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), factor XA inhibitors and direct thrombin inhibitors. Among these, unfractionated heparin and LMWH are widely used injectable anticoagulants. LMWH are more convenient to use as these can be self-injected at home. Warfarin is an oral anticoagulant that has been used traditionally for patient suffering from atrial fibrillation.The global anticoagulants market has increased with healthy growth rates over the years and is expected to grow further during the forecasted period (2016-2020). The global anticoagulant market is supported by a number of growth drivers such as increasing prevalence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) & pulmonary embolism, rising aging population, increasing R&D expenses by pharmaceutical companies and rising cardiovascular diseases etc. Yet the market faces some challenges such as patent expiration of some popular anticoagulants like warfarin, stringent regulations by government and a number of side effects associated with the drugs.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 @
Improving Healthcare Infrastructure in Emerging Economies is the Important Factor Positively Influencing the Hospital Beds Market

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Beds are among the most essential equipment required in a hospital, as patients are generally not in mobile condition to receive the treatment, and rest is often necessary for them. For the critical conditions that patients are admitted into the hospital, beds are required to be designed in such a manner that provides ideal support and comfort. With growing prevalence of several diseases, the healthcare industry is at an all-time peak and consequently, the global hospital beds market is projected for a healthy growth rate during the forecast period of 2016 to 2024.Obtain Report Details @This report on global market for hospital beds is an in-depth examination of all the factors that are expected to impact the growth rate in the near future, and presents estimations on the future state of the market until 2024. The report is a summation of interviews and discussions with a wide range of key industry participants and opinion leaders. Some of the key players have also been profiled in the report, exploring their market share, product range, regional presence, and recent strategic developments such as mergers, collaborations, acquisitions, and other announcements.The global hospital beds can be segmented on the basis of type, treatment, power, and geography. By type, the market can be divided into general beds, pediatric beds, pressure relief beds, bariatric beds, and birthing beds. By treatment, the market can be categorized into acute care beds, long term care beds, and critical care beds. By power, the market can be segmented into electric beds, manual beds, and semi-electric beds. Geographically, the report studies the opportunities available in the regions of North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World.Rising geriatric population is one of the prominent factors of this market, as the people aged over 65 generally suffer from several diseases such as arthritis, heart disease, respiratory diseases, Alzheimers diseases, osteoporosis, and diabetes. According to the National Institute on Aging, global geriatric population will rise to 1.5 billion, which makes for a strong demand for hospital beds. Increasing number of hospitalization cases and technological advancements in the field, and improving healthcare infrastructure in emerging economies are other important factors positively influencing the market. According to the report, rising demand for advanced and selective features of hospital beds is a trend that urges investment in research and development of advanced beds. Conversely, high cost of these beds is seen as the primary restraint over the growth rate of the global hospitals beds market.Fill the Form for an Exclusive Sample of this Report @Europe is expected to remain most lucrative regional market during the forecast period, which is a reflection of increasing expenditure in Europes medical industry and healthcare organizations. North America forms the second most profitable region due to robust healthcare infrastructure, whereas Asia Pacific is projected for most robust growth rate, which is a result of vast population base and improving healthcare infrastructure in the emerging economies such as India, China, Japan, Australia, and South Korea.Paramount Bed Co. Ltd., Getinge Group, LINET spol. s r.o., ArjoHuntleigh, Stryker, Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., Invacare Corporation, and Medline Industries, Inc. are some of the key players currently operational in the global hospital beds market. Most of these companies have sub-divisional production units in order to meet the demand coming from medical establishments that are replacing their outdated hospital beds with the advanced ones.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
VROOM Launches Spring 2017 Caravan Challenge

VROOM Launches Spring 2017 Caravan Challenge

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MONACO  February 16, 2017. VROOM announces the spring 2017 VROOM Caravan Challenge, which will take place in eight cities in eight countries, culminating with finalists presenting their innovative and disruptive ideas in Monaco, April 27, 2017 at VROOM Summit. VROOM Summit invites accelerators and investors to network and share ideas in the intimate and beautiful principality of Monaco.The concept behind the VROOM Caravan Challenge is simple. VROOM Caravan announces a challenge date to start-up communities seeking investments in key cities. Start-ups submit their pitch to VROOM and the selected qualified top ten are invited to present their big idea to a visiting VROOM panel, who select one winner from each city. Each finalist is invited to VROOM Summit to showcase their business proposition to tech industry investors and the Cote dAzur investment community, in Monaco. White Castle Partners is the founder and organizer of VROOM Caravan Challenge and VROOM Summit.Allianz Accelerator is the main partner of the 2017 VROOM events. At the heart of the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice, France, the Allianz Accelerator supports the growth of innovative, promising start-ups by offering them an intensive 5-month acceleration programme benefiting from a network of mentors and experts, backers and major investors and given structured assistance in their development.Attending VROOM Summit, start-ups will have the opportunity to meet investors in an intimate environment amidst the plush and prestigious backdrop of Monaco. Equally, investors will have the opportunity to listen to finalist start-ups share their big and bold ideas.Previous VROOM Summit success stories include MindMaze and 3DHubs. MindMaze makes a neural virtual reality platform for human virtual reality experiences and raised $100M funding bringing it to a $1.1B post money valuation thereby cementing its status as a VR unicorn in February 2016. 3D Hubs, a 3D printer matching service in over 160 countries, announced the completion of its Series B financing, totaling $7 million in August 2016.VROOM will visit Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva, Istanbul, Lisbon, Ljubljana, Reykjavik and Warsaw through February and March 2017. If you would like to pitch your idea or find additional information on the challenge dates, please visit the website.VROOM Summit attendance is by invitation only. Participating investors include angel, government agency, private individual, family office and venture capital. Interested investors will find more information on the website and may contact VROOM for more information.Stay in touch. Sign up to the newsletter through the website. Chat and follow via the VROOM Summit social media channels.Website:Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @vroomsummit###Links:(EN)(FR)Media:Disclaimer:White Castle Partners and/or VROOM do not hold any financial services license or financial advisers license or capital markets services license and do not offer investment advice or any other financial service to any person. They do not sell, or offer to sell, any securities. Any information provided by VROOM and/or White Castle Partners during its event/s is not intended to be advice in relation to an investment in securities. Any investor intending to pursue investments with entities introduced to them through White Castle Partners and/or VROOM does so at their own risk and is solely responsible for obtaining (and should obtain) their own independent legal, financial, accounting and other professional advice.White Castle Partners is the founder and organizer of VROOM Caravan Challenge and VROOM Summit. The Spring 2017 VROOM Caravan Challenge, which will take place in eight cities in eight countries, culminating with finalists presenting their innovative and disruptive ideas in Monaco, April 27, 2017 at VROOM Summit. VROOM Summit invites accelerators and investors to network and share ideas in the intimate and beautiful principality of Monaco.Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @vroomsummitContact:Tracy Rohan, trohan@edge.mc +33 678 63 81 79Nicole Tomschi, press@vroomsummit.com +33 640 62 05 01Author: Tracy RohanEDGEPalais Miami10 Boulevard d'ItalieMonaco
Understanding The Difference Between VASER 4D And Hi Def

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What Is Body Sculpting And How Is It Different From Body ContouringThe whole idea behind body sculpting is to create grooves through the fatty tissues to achieve a defined musculature, as if one has acquired it through gyming and exercising. It is not similar to body sclpting, but it can be taken as alternative to body contouring where the process means eliminating the fat beneath the skin to flatten the stubborn small pouches of fat. Body Sculpting focuses on creating skin undertones for which it involves removal of little amount of subcutaneous fat, or even includes injecting some fat to create a different defined look. On the other hand, body contouring may or may not involve removal of large amount of fat. But to get the best results, patients seek body contouring along with the Hi Def.Treatable Areas For Body SculptingThe most commonly treated area for body sculpting is the abdomen where six pack abs is being made by the definition of iconic musculature, and men who has Gynecomastia or enlarge breasts, or any protrusion of the chest appearing to be breast, are the ones who seek this procedure to achieve the flat chest with a defined torso which is achievable by 4D hi def to contour the thighs, arms and flanks.The ProcedureThe whole procedure is performed under local anesthesia where a large loss of fat volume is involved. The fat is emulsified by the VASER Hi Def or by 4D which is inserted into the patients skin through minimally small incisions. The cannula, a hollow tube, is oscillated gently inside the skin to eliminate the localized subcutaneous fat and then slowly with to and pro movements, the stubborn fat is liquefied and drained through aspiration out of the body.The fat is stored inside the jar after it is removed which is a fluid material consisting of blood, fat and other bodily fluids, tiny bits of tissues and the local anaesthetic. The purified fat is injected into the treatable area which is done to create the grooves in the skin, appearing immediately, where the fat is being purified by removing the other materials mixed with it.After the whole procedure of body sculpting, the wounds are cleaned, dressed and sutured or even may leave them open for any residual fluids to drain out of it completely. The patient will be able to get back to his normal activity within a week and a compression garment must be worn to hold the new contour body in place.The ResultsAs soon as the surgery is over, the patient will see the grooves on the skin as per their anticipated defined musculature, or even some see the results during the procedure, under the local anesthesia surgery. There will be little bit of swelling in the area which will take up to 4 to 5 months to subdue completely for the actual result to appear.The technique of body sculpting are done by Both VASER HI Def and 4D which is a unique surgical cosmetic procedure related in creating artificial musculature such as six-pack abs and other areas as well. To groove the superficial fat of the treatable area, the liposuction probes, cannula, is used from where the VASER offering ultrasonic energy are emitted chosen by the surgeon as one the important equipment to perform this procedure. For more details please visit atHarley Body Clinic(Subsidiary of Harley Cosmetic Group)61 Harley StreetLondon W1G 8QU
Animal Feed Micronutrients Market estimated high sales by 2016-2024

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Zion Market Research published new report on Animal Feed Micronutrients Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts 20162024 in its databaseGlobal Animal Feed Micronutrients Market: OverviewAnimal feed micronutrients are vital animal feed supplements used extensively for enhancing the quality of feed to boost the yield and overall animal health. Animal feed micronutrients demand is increasing as it propels the performance and has wide applications such as cure and prevention of diseases, growth promoter, for enhancing feed digestibility in animals, and for boosting reproduction rate. Owing to the rising urbanization and globalization, there has been a huge change in lifestyles of the consumers. To fulfill the daily requirement of nutrients in order to maintain their brisk lifestyle, the consumers have significantly increased the nutrient consumption. This has generated a huge demand for dairy and meat products globally, leading to a rise in the requirement for micronutrients in the animal feed.Request Free Sample Report @Global Animal Feed Micronutrients Market: Growth FactorsThe major factors propelling the growth of the global animal feed micronutrients market include the expanding middle-class population and increasing per capita income. Other factors propelling the global market growth include high spending on animal health and wellness and increasing awareness regarding protein-rich food benefits.Global Animal Feed Micronutrients Market: SegmentationThe global animal feed micronutrients market can be segmented based on type, livestock, and geography. The type segment of the global market is sub-segmented into iron, zinc, copper, and manganese. The livestock segment of the animal feed micronutrients market is divided into poultry, ruminant, swine, equine, and aqua. Regionally, the global animal feed micronutrients market is diversified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @Global Animal Feed Micronutrients Market: Regional AnalysisAsia Pacific is expected to grow at a fast pace in the animal feed micronutrients market in the near future. The growth of the market can be attributed to factors such as huge population base, increased economic growth, and increasing demand for meat protein. North America is anticipated to witness above average growth in the coming period owing to the increasing demand for meat. Latin America is assumed to grow remarkably in the animal feed micronutrients market due to rising demand for protein-rich food along with the rise in population. The European industry is expected to grow positively owing to the improving meat costs and increasing concerns related to food safety. North America is also assumed to grow at a substantial rate in the animal feed micronutrients market in the coming period.Browse detail report @Global Animal Feed Micronutrients Market: Competitive PlayersThe prominent players in the global animal feed micronutrients market include Cargill Inc., Lallemand Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, Alltech Inc., and Balchem Corp. The other key players in the global market are Novus International Inc., Kemin Industries Inc., Nutreco N.V., Zinpro Corporation, and Qualitech Inc.About UsZion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristically, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, a 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:
Global Feed Preservatives Market to register high demand rate by 2024

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Zion Market Research, the market research group announced the analysis report titled 'Feed Preservatives Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts 20162024'Global Feed Preservatives Market: OverviewPreservatives play an important role in preventing spoilage of food. Feed preservatives are used in animal food products to avoid any spoilage of food product and enhance shelf life. Especially in animal food products, preservatives or antioxidants are essential to avoid animal fats and oils from oxidizing. They are also essential in kibble or dry pet food products. Preservatives are available in two forms, namely, natural and artificial preservatives. Artificial preservatives are also called as synthetic preservatives. Natural preservatives are naturally occurring in various forms such as citric acid, rosemary, and vitamin E. They also offer anti-inflammatory health benefits.Request Free Sample Report @Global Feed Preservatives Market: SegmentationThe global feed preservatives market is classified based on feed types as feed meal, compound feed, silage, feed premix, and others. Based on types, the global market is fragmented as anticaking agents, mold inhibitors, feed acidifiers, and feed antioxidants. On the basis of livestock, the global feed preservatives market is segregated as aquaculture, cattle, swine, poultry, and others. The geographical region is segmented as Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East.Global Feed Preservatives Market: Growth FactorsFeed preservatives are widely preferred in the feed premix industry, hence the demand for feed preservatives is growing rapidly; this is expected to boost the global market growth. They are also used in wide range of applications propelling the global feed preservatives market in future. Feed premixes are the broadly accepted in the feed preservatives market owing to increased need to sustain the quality of premix ingredients include amino acids, vitamins, and minerals those are easily perishable and can deteriorate in the presence of heat, and light. Escalating demand for feed premixes in order to maintain livestock health is projected to fuel usage of feed preservatives by many vendors in order to maintain the premix quality.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @Global Feed Preservatives Market: Regional AnalysisAsia-Pacific region is anticipated to grow at the highest rate owing to consumer inclination towards organized farming in poultry and aquaculture sectors. Growth in the disposal income also fosters the global feed preservatives market growth. Emerging markets such as Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia are projected to propel the global market growth due to the growing demand for compound feed and feed premix in these regions. Adoption of innovative technologies in North America positively influences the global market in this region. Latin America may show significant growth in future. Europe is also considerably grabbing the major market. Increasing popularity for feed acidifiers as a suitable alternative in this region is anticipated to foster the global market growth in future. The European region is prominently expanding its niche market across the country. The European regulatory authorities are focusing towards food safety and livestock health, which may positively affect the global market growth.Browse detail report @Global Feed Preservatives Market: Competitive PlayersMajor players in the global feed preservatives market are Perstorp Holding AB, Alltech, Inc., E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Biomin Holding GmbH, and Novus International, Inc. Other players include Kemin Industries, Inc., Impextraco NV, Nutreco N.V., and Cargill, Incorporated.About UsZion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristically, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, a 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:
Hospital Acquired Infection Treatment Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Hospital Acquired Infection Treatment Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024 " to it's Large Report database.Global Hospital Acquired Infection Treatment Market: OverviewThis report on hospital acquired infection treatment, studies the current as well as future prospects of the market globally. Hospital infections are also referred to as healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), or nosocomial infections or hospital-acquired infection (HAIs). HAIs can be defined as those infections that occur in patients when they are admitted to a hospital or any other health-care facility with which they were not suffering from at the time of their admission. Hospital acquired infection also includes those infections that are acquired in the hospital but appear after the discharge of the patient, as well as the occupational infections among hospital staff. Several antimicrobial drugs have proven their effectiveness in treating a range of hospital infections that are globally prevalent at present.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Global Hospital Acquired Infection Treatment Market: Research MethodologiesThe 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 hospital acquired infection treatment market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, expenditure, and regulatory requirements.Read All Pharmaceutical Market Research Reports @Table of Content1. Preface1.1. Market Definition and Scope1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Key Research Objectives1.4. Research Highlights2. Assumptions and Research Methodology3. Executive Summary: Hospital Acquired Infection Treatment Market4. Market Definition4.1. Introduction4.1.1. Product Definition4.1.2. Industry Evolution / Developments4.2. Market Overview4.3. Key Market Indicators4.4. Market Dynamics4.4.1. Drivers4.4.1.1. Rising Geriatric Population4.4.1.2. Unhygienic Conditions and Improper Sterilization Treatment4.4.1.3. Lack of Surveillance Systems for HAIs4.4.1.4. High Susceptibility of Neonatal Population4.4.1.5. High Prevalence of Various Hospital Infections Is Driving the Demand for Anti-infective Drugs4.4.1.6. Government Support in Research and Development of Antibacterial Drugs4.4.2. Restraints4.4.2.1. Multi-drug Resistant Bacteria Making Presently Available Antibacterial Drugs Outdated4.4.2.2. Complex Regulatory Requirements4.4.2.3. Government Scrutinizing Hospital Policies to Limit HAIs4.4.2.4. Patent Expirations and Subsequent Launch of GenericsAbout 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:
N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone Market to Account US $985 Million by 2020

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The global N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NMP) market is expected to observe modest growth over a five-year forecast period, 2015-2020. Expanding at a 5.4% of CAGR during the assessed period, the global NMP market will possibly attain the revenues of US $985.3 Mn by 2020 end.A sample of this report is available upon request:The market for NMP in developing Asian countries will be primarily driven by increasing urbanization and industrialization, coupled with rampantly evolving infrastructure development realm. Attributed to its chemical properties, such as higher flame point and lower volatility, N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone finds various applications several end-use industries. This will remain a key factor driving the demand on a global level. Industrial applications in a sweeping range of verticals, including electronics, pharmaceuticals, petrochemical, agrochemical, paints and coatings, and industrial cleaning will also continue to drive the market for N-Methylpyrrolidone over the next few years.The flourishing consumer electronics sector is likely to generate substantial demand for NMP. With soaring demand for electronics production, the consumption of N-Methylpyrrolidone will also witness a significant hike. Moreover, increasing demand for agrochemicals is expected to elevate the revenue sales in the next few years. Another industrial sector estimated to support the growth of the global N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone market is pharmaceuticals. Growing market in Asia Pacific are expected to play a vital role in boosting the demand throughout the forecast period, eventually fostering the market for NMP globally.Stringent regulations regarding usage of N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone may remain a long-term restraint to market growth. Moreover, the market has been experiencing a rapid setback in certain verticals, such as paints and coatings, and industrial cleaning. This can also be a major limiting factor impacting the market growth by 2020 end.By application, the electronics application segment is expected to remain dominant over other segments, including agrochemicals, petrochemical processing, industrial cleaners, pharmaceuticals, paints and coatings, and others. Electronics application segment will possibly capture around 23% share of the entire market revenues in 2020, witnessing an optimistic CAGR of 6.7% during 2015-2020. Pharmaceuticals will continue to be the second largest application segment that was evaluated at US$ 122.7 Mn in 2015. This segment is anticipated to demonstrate a moderate CAGR of 6.3% by 2020 end, accounting for nearly 15% market value share.According to Persistence Market Researchs regional analysis, Asia Pacific is foreseen to remain the global leader with over 36% share of the market revenues in 2016. This growth is predominantly attributed to lower production costs in Asian countries. The second largest regional market, North America, will contribute around 30% share to the market in 2016.Request to view Table of Content:A few key market players include LyondellBasell Industries N.V., BASF SE, Ashland Inc., Abtonsmart Chemical (Group) Co. Ltd., and Shandong Qingyun Changxin Chemical Science-Tech Co., Ltd. A few other notable companies competing in the N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone market place are Zhejiang Realsun Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Hefei TNJ Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Puyang Guangming Chemicals Co., Ltd., and Balaji Amines Limited.Long-term Outlook: The global N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone market is likely to reach a value of US$ 985.3 Mn by the end of the forecast period, 2015-2020.To Buy Full Report for a Single User:About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Managed File Transfer Market Worth US$ 1.6 Billion Globally by 2022

Managed File Transfer Market

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New York, March 10: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Managed File Transfer Market by Deployment Type (Hybrid, Cloud, On premise), by Application Type (Retail, Logistics, Health Care, IT, BFSI, Government, Others) and by Geography  Global Market Analysis and Forecast 2022The managed file transfer market is expected to exceed more than US$ 1.6 Billion by 2022.Browse Full Report:Managed file transfer is software which provides secure ad hoc data, external data and internal data transfers through a network. This managed file transfer service manages secure data transformation from one pc to another pc through internet. This software keeps information private and provides higher level of security. It contains many features such as performance monitoring, global visibility, non repudiation, reporting, audit ability and end to end security. Managed file transfer application presents business computerization along with non repudiation and reporting.The major driving factors of managed file transfer market are as follows:Improvement in performanceIncreasing requirement of data security and governanceCost efficiencyThe restraining factors of managed file transfer market are as follows:Taut competitions from share services and file syncThe managed file transfer market is segmented on the lines of its deployment, application, type and regional. Based on deployment segmentation the managed file transfer market covers hybrid, cloud and on premise. Under application segmentation it covers retail, logistics, healthcare, IT, BFSI, government and others. The managed file transfer market is segmented on the lines of its type like accelerated transfer, business to business (B2B), administrative to administration (A2A) and Ad hoc. The managed file transfer markets 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.Download Free Sample Report:This report provides:1) An overview of the global market for managed file transfer 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 for managed file transfer.4) Discussion of research and development, and the demand for new products and new applications.5) Comprehensive company profiles of major players in the industry.REPORT SCOPE:The scope of the report includes a detailed study of global and regional markets for various types of managed file transfers 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 IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Ipswitch Inc., Open Text Corp., GlobalSCAPE Inc., Attunity Ltd., Biscom Inc., Axway Software SA, Jscape LLC, Tibco Software Inc., Cleo Communications Inc., Linoma Software, Seeburger AG, and South River Technologies Inc. Company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary, business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.The Managed file transfer Market has been segmented as below:By Deployment Type AnalysisHybridCloudOn premiseBy Application Type AnalysisRetailLogisticsHealth CareITBFSIGovernmentOthersBy Type AnalysisAccelerated transferBusiness to Business (B2B)Administrative to Administration (A2A)Ad hocBy Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificRest of the WorldReasons to Buy this Report:1) Obtain the most up to date information available on all managed file transfer market globally.2) Identify growth segments and opportunities in the industry.3) Facilitate decision making on the basis of strong historic and forecast of managed file transfer data.4) Assess your competitors refining portfolio and its evolution.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, +91-860-565-7204Country: United StatesWebsite:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market: Research Methodologies, Competitive Landscape & Scope 2017-2024

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ALBANY, NY, March 10, 2017 : ResearchMoz presents professional and in-depth study of "Veterinary Radiography Systems Market - North America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024".Visualization of the internal parts of the body using X-ray techniques is known as radiography. Radiography is a technique for recording and generating an X-ray pattern to provide image after exposure of radiation. There are two major type of radiography systems, direct X-ray and Analog X-ray. Digital X-ray systems use digital radiography technology that captures the image directly into the flat panel detector without the use of cassette. Analog X-ray systems include devices that use film or CR cassette based technology for medical imaging. It is the oldest technology in the veterinary radiography system market which has been replaced by digital X-ray. This report analyzes the current and future prospects of the veterinary radiography system market based on type of product, technology, application, end user and geography.North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market: Research MethodologiesThe research is a combination of primary and secondary research, conducted for understanding and arriving at trends, used to forecast the expected revenue of the major radiography techniques in the near future. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts with information collected from in-depth interviews and discussions with a number of key industry experts and opinion leaders. Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, investor presentations, analyst presentation and various international and national databases. The report provides estimated market size in terms of US$ Mn for each Product type, application, end user and geography for the period 2014 to 2024, considering the macro and micro environmental factors. The revenue generated from each product was calculated by considering number of products used in the procedures and their market demand as per their use, number of product launched, average cost of products of each sub segment, trends in industry, end user trend and adoption rate across all the geographies. The revenue generated for applications was calculated on the basis of prevalence of diseases in animals.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market: ScopeThe market report comprises an elaborated executive summary, which includes market snapshot that provides information about various segments of the market. It also provides information and data analysis of the market with respect to market segments based on type of product, application, end user and geography. The market overview section of the report analyzes market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities that influence the veterinary radiography system market in the current and future scenario. The report also provides value chain analysis of the market that describes the sequence of activities involved from manufacturing to their final reach to the end users.North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market: Competitive LandscapeMarket share analysis among the market players is analyzed to signify percentage share of the major players operating in the market. All these factors will help the market players to decide about the business strategies and plans to strengthen their positions in the global market. Based on geography, the market has been analyzed for countries of North America, U.S. and Canada.The report also profiles the major players in the market and provides various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent developments. Major companies profiled in the veterinary radiography system market report areSound-Eklin- VCA Company, Idexx Laboratories, Canon, Inc., Fuji Medical Systems, Carestream Health, Cuattro Veterinary, iM3/Durr Medical, Sedecal, and Vetel Diagnostics and some other players who are involved in the veterinary radiography system market.North America Veterinary Radiography Systems Market has been segmented as follows:North America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by ProductDigital X-rayDirectIndirectAnalog X-rayNorth America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by TechnologyComputed RadiographyDigital RadiographyFilm Screen RadiographyNorth America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by ApplicationOrthopedic and RheumatologyCardiologyOncologyNephrologyOthersMake an Enquiry of this report @North America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by End UserHospitalClinicsDiagnostic CentreResearch CentreNorth America Veterinary Radiography System Market, by CountryU.S.CanadaResearchMoz 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.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States
Global Technology Spending on Revenue Cycle Management  By Platform, Solution, Deployment & End Users 2017-2024

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ALBANY, NY, March 10, 2017 : ResearchMoz presents professional and in-depth study of "Technology Spending on Revenue Cycle Management Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024".This report provides forecast and analysis of the technology spending on revenue cycle management at the global and regional levels. It provides historical data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 in terms of spending (US$ Mn). The report also includes macroeconomic indicators along with an outlook on technology spending on revenue cycle management. It includes drivers and restraints of revenue cycle management and impact in each region during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of current issues with end users and opportunities for revenue cycle management vendors. It also includes the workflow process with a list of vendors and industry stakeholders.In order to provide users of this report with a comprehensive view of the market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis and company players with unique selling propositions. The dashboard provides a detailed comparison of revenue cycle management vendors on parameters such as collective market share and geographic concentration. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis by platform, by solution, by deployment, by end users and by region.Global Technology Spending on Revenue Cycle Management: Scope of the StudyThe report includes revenue generated from sales of revenue cycle management solutions in all regions and important countries in these regions. By platform, the Technology spending on revenue cycle management has been segmented into integrated and stand-alone platforms. By solution, the Technology spending on revenue cycle management has been segmented into in-house and outsource. The in-house segment is further divided into hardware, software, and services. By deployment, the Technology spending is segmented into cloud-based and on-premise. On the basis of end users, the Technology spending on revenue cycle management is segmented into payers and providers. The payer segment is further divided into insurance companies, government, and others and the provider segment is further divided into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and clinics and others (DME companies, HME companies, and healthcare specialty processes). On the basis of region, the Technology spending is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.Data has been estimated based on the Technology spending on revenue cycle management solutions, and the revenue is derived through regional pricing trends. Technology spending and forecasts for each segment have been provided in the context of global and regional markets.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Global Technology Spending on Revenue Cycle Management: Research MethodologyThe Technology spending on revenue cycle management has been analyzed based on expected demand. Prices considered for the calculation of revenue are regional average prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous vendors. All key end users have been considered, and potential applications have been estimated on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents. Regional demand patterns have been taken into account while determining the Technology spending by various end users of revenue cycle management solutions in different regions. Top-down approach has been used to estimate the Technology spending on revenue cycle management by region. Market numbers for platform, solution and deployment segments have been derived using the bottom-up approach, which is cumulative of each regions demand. The company-level share has been derived on the basis of revenues reported by key vendors. The market has been forecast based on constant currency rates.A number of primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study. Secondary sources include press releases, company news, Google Books, company annual reports, white papers, Factiva, other websites, and publications.The report provides detailed competitive and company profiles of some of the key participants operating in the global market. Some of the players in the revenue cycle management include McKesson Corporation, Cerner Corporation, Allscripts, Perot Systems (a NTT DATA company), CPSI, 3M, TriZetto Corporation, and DST Systems, Inc.The market has been segmented as below:Global Technology Spending on Revenue Cycle Management  By PlatformIntegratedStand-AloneGlobal Technology Spending on Revenue Cycle Management  By SolutionIn-HouseHardwareSoftwareServicesOutsourceGlobal Technology Spending on Revenue Cycle Management  By DeploymentCloud-BasedOn-PremiseGlobal Technology Spending on Revenue Cycle Management  By End UsersPayersInsurance CompaniesGovernmentOthersProvidersHospitalsASCs and ClinicsOthersMake an Enquiry of this report @Global Technology Spending on Revenue Cycle Management  By RegionNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyUKFranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)ChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaNew ZealandRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East & Africa (MEA)Saudi ArabiaUAERSARest of Middle East & AfricaResearchMoz 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.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States
Geocells Market to Account a Value US$ 2.3 Billion by 2025

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Persistence Market Research in its recent report titled, Geocells Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast; 20162025, projected global geocells market to exhibit CAGR of 8.8% during 2016 to 2025. Consumption of geocells is projected to reach 428.2 million square meter by 2025 reflecting a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request:Geocells, also known as cellular confinement systems, are three dimensional mats resembling honeycomb structure usually made of high density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester or other polymeric alloys. These are used in construction sector primarily for earth reinforcement, slope protection, channel protection, load support and tree root protection. Geocells are subset of geosynthetics market and are estimated to represent around 5.6% share in terms of volume consumption in overall geosynthetics market.The report analyses the global geocells market in terms of market value (US$ Mn) and volume (Million Square Meter) by applications, region, and material type and provides information regarding market dynamics, value chain, competitive landscape, current trends, market estimations and forecast.Drivers and trends impacting the marketInfrastructure development activities, construction sector output and a growing urbanisation trend are some of the macro-economic drivers of the market. Developed economies have formulated regulations concerning erosion control and sustainable infrastructure development. Such regulations and initiatives are identified as underlying driving factors of the market. On the flipside, low awareness of geocells amongst infrastructure developers in emerging economies and competition from substitute products, such as geogrids and geomembranes are identified as minor restraints in the global geocells market.Market forecastFrom materials perspective, high density polyethylene (HDPE) is extensively used across the globe for geocells manufacturing followed by polypropylene, polyester and other polymeric alloys. HDPE commanded around 68.6% share by value in 2014 and is projected to remain the largest market segment by 2025 with a share of around 64%. Prices for these materials are anticipated to increase over the forecast period owing to increasing energy costs, crude oil prices and complex manufacturing processes.From application perspective, earth reinforcement, channel protection and slope protection are the prominent applications of geocells which constituted around 86% of market value in 2014 and are collectively projected to exhibit value CAGR of 8.8% over the forecast period. Other applications including load support and tree root protection are collectively projected to exhibit a value CAGR of 8.4% during the forecast period.From regional perspective, North America and Asia Pacific represented prominent markets for geocells globally in 2014. In terms of market value, geocells market in developing countries is collectively projected to grow at CAGR of 10.2% while geocells market in developed countries is collectively projected to grow at CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period. Asia Pacific region is expected to be the largest geocells market in terms of value by 2025, followed by North America, Western Europe, and other regions.Request to view Table of Content:Competitive landscapeKey market participants covered in the report, include Presto Geosystems, Polymer Group Inc., TMP Geosynthetics, Armtec Infrastructure Inc., Strata Systems Inc., PRS Mediterranean Ltd., Maccaferri S.p.A, ACE Geosynthetics, MiakomGroup of Companies, Wall Tag Pte Ltd., Tensar International Ltd., Tencate Geosynthetics, Admir Technologies, Polyfabrics Australia Pty Ltd., Bonar, ABG Geosynthetics, Huifeng Geosynthetics, SABK International, Wrekin Products, Ltd., CeTeau Group.To Buy Full Report for a Single User:About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global Phloretin Market 2017 - By Manufacturers, Countries, Forecast to 2022

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Global Phloretin Market 2017, presents a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Phloretin market globally, providing basic overview of Phloretin market including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure, Phloretin Market report provides development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. Phloretin market size, share and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Global market research report of Phloretin 2017 mainly focuses on Production, means the output of Phloretin and Revenue, means the sales value of Phloretin in market.Download sample report @Phloretin market research report studies Phloretin in Global market, Phloretin market report gives detail analysis of regions especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Global Phloretin market report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with their Business perspective which consist of Phloretin capacity, production, price, revenue and Phloretin market share for each manufacturer.Phloretin Market Research Report 2017 Covers the following Manufacturers.Global Phloretin Market segment by Regions, Phloretin market report splits Global into several key Regions, with Phloretin production, Phloretin consumption, Phloretin revenue, Phloretin market share and growth rate of Phloretin in these regions, from 2011 to 2021. Phloretin Market report split by Produt type and Application, with Phloretin production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, according to Application Phloretin Market report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Phloretin in each application.Access full report with TOC @Table of ContentsGlobal Phloretin Market Research Report 20171 Phloretin Market Overview2 Global Phloretin Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Phloretin Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Phloretin Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Phloretin Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Phloretin Market Analysis by Application7 Global Phloretin Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Phloretin Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Phloretin Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixMethodologyAnalyst IntroductionData 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.Contact UsMark StoneSales Manager2566, Lincoln StreetPrinceton,New Jersey 08540USAPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Global Industry Insight: Fingerprint Access Control Systems Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2020

www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/fingerprint-access-control-systems-market

www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/ict-and-media

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The global fingerprint access control systems market is experiencing a major boost, due to the up surging need for security and customer protection from identity theft, as cyber scams, spamming, and hacking are increasing. As the e-commerce industry is growing continuously, the number of cases against fraud, identity theft, and hacking are also increasing. The construction of infrastructures and buildings is a key driver for the growth of the global fingerprint access control systems market, as new infrastructure demands higher security. The increasing population and urbanization are some of the other drivers of the global fingerprint access control systems market. Various security control programs have been started by the governments to reduce the number of identity theft cases. The government spending on biometric programs and equivalent systems is mainly driven by the national identity card programs and numerous electronic passport (e-passport) services in various countries. The increase in data security and integrity among mobile users are some of the major factors, responsible for driving the adoption of fingerprint access control systems in smartphones.To Browse Full Report Visit Here:A user who is attempting to access a protected resource, places his or her finger on a fingerprint sensor or reader at an access point, where the system has been integrated. The fingerprint is then, scanned by the sensor and the image is transmitted to a server, where it is compared with a warehouse of the stored fingerprints. If the print matches any of the stored print, the individual is granted access.During the forecast period, the government and commercial sectors are anticipated to be the major application segments. The banking & financial sector is adopting this technology for safeguarding the access to crucial banking data and increase their security over mobile payments. Banks across the world are incorporating fingerprint biometric technology in their automated teller machine (ATM) to enhance security. The increased integration of fingerprint scanning technology in smart devices is expected to drive the growth of the consumer electronic application segment during the forecast period. The growing popularity of smart device with this technology is expected to drive the adoption of fingerprint access control systems across various applications. The requirement for tightening security in military & defense, border protection, and customs is also projected to fuel the market.Browse For Related Research Visit Here:In 2014, North America dominated the global fingerprint access control systems market followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. The increasing popularity of alternate biometric systems, such as iris, palm, and face recognition is anticipated to pose a challenge for the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The technical inconsistencies and imitation with fingerprint capturing are also expected to restrict the revenue growth in the future. Anviz Global, CROSSMATCH, Aware Inc., Entertech Inc., MorphoTrust USA, SecuGen Corporation, SUPREMA, Hitachi Ltd., Diamond Fortress Technologies Inc., 3M are some of the competitors in the global fingerprint access control systems market.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:AbhishekExecutive  Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Basmati Rice Industry 2015 Market Research Report

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http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-basmati-rice-industry-2015-market-research-report.htm

Qyresearchreports include new market research report"Global Basmati Rice Industry 2015 Market Research Report" to its huge collection of research reports..The new report on QYResearchReports.com, titled Global Basmati Rice Market 2015 Industry Research Report, examines the global basmati rice market in detail. The report details data regarding the global market for basmati rice and the underlying industry for the period from 2009 to 2014. Furthermore, based on this accurate historical data, 2015 data for the basmati rice industry is also supplied in the report.The report consists of primary and secondary research perused and dissected by experienced industry analysts, supplemented by expert opinions. This provides a detailed look into the insights to be obtained from the historical data regarding the market.Send An Enquiry @The report begins with an industry overview, consisting of definition and classification of basmati rice and its industry chain structure. Basmati rice, which is a long variety of rice, originated in the Indian subcontinent and has now become popular all over the world owing to its characteristic fragrance. The market for basmati rice thus has strong growth prospects in the coming years.The report includes analysis of the data regarding the global basmati rice industry in three tiers: first as the global level, then with the major broad regional markets highlighted, and then the most active national basmati rice markets described in detail.The production and capacity of the basmati rice industry around the world is listed in the reports examination of the global market. Production prices and their relation with the sales prices and profit margins in the global basmati rice industry are also examined in the market report. Supply and demand dynamics of the global basmati rice industry are also examined in the report, with the detailed study of the industry chain of the basmati rice market complementing the study of the economic factors in the report to present a detailed financial factsheet for established as well as new entrants in the global basmati rice market.Asia, North America, and Europe are the three major regional segments of the global market for basmati rice. Asia leads the global basmati rice industry, due to the traditional dominance of India and Pakistan in basmati rice production. The financial and production statistics for these three segments during the historical study period from 2009 to 2014 are provided in the report. Rounding off the geographical analysis of the global basmati rice industry is an overview of the Rest of the World market for basmati rice, which consists of major and rapidly evolving countries such as South Africa, Brazil, the GCC countries, Russia, and Argentina.Browse Complete Report with TOC @The national basmati rice markets in India, China, England, the U.S., and Thailand are examined in detail in the report, providing detailed data about the major basmati rice markets around the world.The demand pattern and financial trends in the basmati rice industry are predicted for the period from 2015 to 2020. The report also profiles major players in the global basmati rice industry such as COFCO, Hamsons, Riviana, Charoen, Hai Rice, and Coocosun.About Us :QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.Contact US:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Vape Market 2017 - Imperial Brands, Gamucci, ECIG, Nicotek, Japan Tobacco, RRR Chemicals

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Global Vape Industry 2017 is a comprehensive, professional report delivering market research data that is relevant for new market entrants or established players. Key strategies of the companies operating in the market and their impact analysis have been included in the report. Furthermore, a business overview, revenue share, and SWOT analysis of the leading players in the Vape market is available in the report.Combining the data integration and analysis capabilities with the relevant findings, the report has predicted strong future growth of the Vape market in all its geographical and product segments. In addition to this, several significant variables that will shape the Vape industry and regression models to determine the future direction of the market have been employed to create the report.Download Free Sample Report @The report begins with a market overview and moves on to cover the growth prospects of the Vape market. The current environment of the global Vape industry and the key trends shaping the market are presented in the report. Insightful predictions for the Vape market for the coming few years have also been included in the report. These predictions feature important inputs from leading industry experts and take into account every statistical detail regarding the Vape market.Statistical forecasts in the research study are available for the total Vape market along with its key segments. The key segments, their growth prospects, and the new opportunities they present to market players have been mentioned in the report. Moreover, the impact analysis of the latest mergers and acquisition and joint ventures has been included in the report. The report also provides valuable proposals for new project development that can help companies optimize their operations and revenue structure.Access Full Report @The competitive landscape of the market presented in the study profiles the most prominent players in the market. The business overview, recent developments, key strategies, and revenue share of key market players in the global Vape market have been covered in the research report. Moreover, the latest events and their impact on the Global Vape industry have been presented in the report. In addition to this, the report features strategic recommendations that will help new entrants or established players optimize their ROI.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:
FastComet Announces Launch of New Cloud Hosting Packages

Simple Cloud Hosting. Activate. Innovate.

www.fastcomet.com

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San Francisco, California - March 10th, 2017 - FastComet, a San Francisco-based company that provides premium web and cloud hosting solutions hosting for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and developers, has today announced a dramatic overhaul of its shared hosting platform. The company stated a significant change to its plan structure by upgrading its shared hosting plans to offer clearer limits and plenty of room for growth.The new hosting plans affect new shared hosting customers. Current cloud customers of FastComet will still enjoy their current shared hosting plans, as all existing plans and hosting subscriptions are automatically grandfathered to their current pricing, features, and infrastructure."FastComet's offerings are now suited to all phases of a business's web hosting cycle. Our new services fulfill the needs of those businesses just beginning to build a web presence as well as the needs of growing businesses demanding more out of their hosting plans. As our customers web hosting needs grow, we grow with them."The new plans are designed so that even new website owners will have a stress free and easy experience. FastComet's entry-level shared hosting plan, the StartSmart, allows customers to host one domain name with their account, while the mid-level plan, now called the ScaleRight plan, allows customers to host unlimited domain names within the same account. The newly launched SpeedUp plan offers enhanced platform, increased reliability, and extra speed.SpeedUp will exceed what was offered before in the other plans, providing, even more, server resources and fewer limitations for the clients. Faster than its two fellow plans, the new SpeedUp shared hosting solution boasts Solid State Drive (SSD) for storage and databases and set up in a redundant RAID 10 configuration for optimal speed and data security. With this setup, you will never have to worry about failed hard drives and data loss.It also leverages 5-layers custom caching configuration including Varnish, APC, OPCode and Memcached, CDN (Content Delivery Network), a global CDN powered by an industry leader in website security, 3 x more CPU and RAM, 3 times less populated servers, that increases website speed up to 300%. "In addition, it runs on the blazingly fast LiteSpeed LSAPI PHP for optimal TTFB that Google will fall in love with."What is impressive is the list of amazing features and included extras that come at no additional cost: SpamExperts Mail Protection, Patchman, Free GlobalSign Private SSL for life and much more.Weve always wanted to be the final hosting decision someone had to make, said Daniel Lee, Director of Product at FastComet. We understand the trouble it takes to research, plan for and study a web hosting provider. Our goal was always that once you choose us, theres never a need to go through that process again. Our new cloud hosting plans help us get closer to that goal.Coming from a different host? Help is available at no cost  FastComet will make the transition from another host hassle-free with free website transfer service offered on all shared hosting plans.About FastCometFastComet Inc. is a full-service web hosting provider located in San Francisco, California focusing on server stability, excellent customer service and ease in web hosting. They continue to impress current and potential clients with speedy replies and exceptional support.FastComet Team has been in the web hosting business for more than 7 years. While providing professional services in the field of System Administration to private and business clients, the team grasped the opportunity to launch our public cloud hosting service in late 2013. By doing so FastComet preserved their core values and built on our previous experience to deliver a finely crafted PaaS (Platform as a Service). Learn more atFastComet Team has been in the web hosting business for more than 7 years. While providing professional services in the field of System Administration to private and business clients, we grasped the opportunity to launch our public cloud hosting service in late 2013. By doing so we preserved our core values and built on our previous experience to deliver a finely crafted PaaS (Platform as a Service). This step gave us the opportunity to change our company business model from service-oriented to a product-oriented without giving up our high standards for customer satisfaction and technical excellence. As a result our SSD Cloud Hosting solution is one of the most accessible and affordable on the Web Hosting Marked powered by a rocket-fast 24/7 support team.Contact:Find us anytime at, on Twitter @FastCometCloud or on Facebook.Company Address:FastComet IncSan Francisco1714 Stockton Street, Suite 300 - #436San Francisco, California 94133Phone: 1.855.818.9717Press Contact Name: Elena Tileva
Global Women Hygiene Product Market Till 2017-2021

http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Women-Hygiene-Products-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2017-2021/up64

http://www.sa-brc.com/Global-Women-Hygiene-Products-Market-Assessment--Forecast-2016---2020/upcomingdetail64

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The global women hygiene products market is dominated by Asia region; mainly China. Although female population in China is decreasing rapidly, over 500 million females are currently using hygiene products. Tampon market in China accounts for smaller share; however the market segment is comparatively larger in western countries. Lower market penetration rate and lack of education are major hurdles in low- and middle income countries. An article published by The Economic Times states that sanitary napkin market has only 16% penetration rate in India which has more than 300 million young female populations. Similar scenario exists in South Africa where over 7 million girls missed school due to lack of hygiene products, according to an article published by Africa Check. In the U.S. more than 68 million females use hygiene products every year according to data published by the U.S. census.Women hygiene products market is highly competitive with subtle product differentiation. Increasing market penetration and simultaneous increasing in education about women hygiene among teenagers in the low- and middle-income countries is expected to be prime market driver in the future. The market is broadly segmented in sanitary pads, liners and shields, hygiene wash product, and tampons. Sanitary pads accounted for largest market share, while liners and shields segment accounts minimally to the market. Hygiene wash products are used to avoid itching and secondary infections. These products are available in wipes, gel and spray form. However, products in spray form account for largest market share due to better convenience. Sanitary pad market is expected to grow rapidly in Asia, Latin America and Africa; however other market segments would experience a sluggish growth rate. On the contrary, North America and Europe would continue to show rapid growth in other segments such in liners and shields, hygiene wash product, and tampons.Request Report Sample@Companies are constantly trying to launch new variants of existing products to stay ahead in the competitive market, and delay product maturity. Increasing hygiene education among females and development of distribution channels are some of the major initiatives taken by companies in developing countries to expand market reach. Although the women hygiene products market is saturated in developed countries of North America and Europe, there exists enormous scope in Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia. High product price remains a major challenge for companies to market hygiene products in these regions.Procter & Gamble, My Bella Flor and Natracare were identified as leading brands in the U.S. Women hygiene products market. Chongqing Baiya Sanitary Products Co. Ltd., one of the largest sanitary pad manufacturers in China announced its plans to list on Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company competes strongly with more than 1,500 local brands in China.Click For TOC@About UsSpearhead Acuity Business Research & Consulting Private Limited (SA-BRC) is a premium Life Science business intelligence and data analytics firm. SA-BRC team offers a wide range of business intelligence services to multiple stakeholders such as Medical Device Manufacturers, Service Providers (Hospitals, Payers, etc.), Suppliers, Group Purchase Organizations, Distributors and all other individuals in the entire value chain of healthcare industry. Our research and consulting capabilities extend across several sub-domains within the sphere of Life Sciences such as Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Medical Devices, Veterinary Sciences, Wellness Products and Pharmaceuticals.Contact UsJohn Whitmore10685-B Hazelhurst Drive,Suite 17411Houston, Texas 77043,United StatesPhone: +1(832)-426-3701Email: sales@sa-brc.comWebsite:
Green Tea Market - What's New For 2016-2024?

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/green-tea-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=1144

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A new market research by Transparency Market Research, titled Green Tea Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2012  2018, presents an in-depth overview of the global green tea market. The study states that the market, which is one of the fastest growing segments of the global tea market, is poised to witness strong growth over the period between 2012 and 2018.Browse Market Research Report @The rising awareness about the high antioxidant content of green tea and its vast health benefits is the key to the rising global demand for green tea. The proven effectiveness and preventive properties of green tea against health concerns such as digestive disorders, cancer, and many other chronic health conditions is also boosting the demand for green tea globally. Green tea is also found effective in curing body ache, reducing LDL cholesterol and excess body fat, and reducing the effect of cancer cells.Recently, it has started gaining heightened prominence as a weight management product. Global estimates state that nearly 30% of the worlds population today is either obese or overweight. Obesity is expected to also rise at an alarming rate globally in the next few years and the factor is expected to emerge as a key driver of the global green tea market in the next few years.For more information on this report, fill the form @The report gives a detailed overview of the other drivers, the key restraints, and the numerous trends that are impacting the overall development of the global green tea market. For the study, the global green tea market is segmented on the basis of criteria such as type, flavor, and geography.On the basis of type, the market is segmented into iced green tea, green tea bags, and green tea instant mixes. On the basis of flavor, the market is segmented into varieties such as aloe vera, lemon, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, basil, jasmine, and wild berry.On the basis of geography, the market has been segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific is the key exporter of green tea, with countries such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, being some of the largest producing countries globally. Asia Pacific is also one of the leading consumers of green tea and commands a dominant position in the global green tea market. Developing regions such as North America and Europe are amongst the most promising regions for the green tea market.Some of the leading vendors operating in the market are DSM Nutritional Products, AMORE Pacific Corp, Oregon Chai Inc, Numi Organic Tea, Associated British Foods LLC, Nestle S.A., Northern tea Merchants Ltd., and Tetley GB 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. 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.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Data Center Rack PDU Market to grow at a CAGR of 6.78% during Forecast 2017-2021

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http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=915038

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Albany, NY, March 10, 2017: In a data center environment, a rack PDU is used to supply power to a server rack. Rack-mounted PDUs are available in different sizes and configurations. These traits depend on the type of connection and voltage each unit requires to function. PDUs are classified based on functionalities, including power filtering, remote monitoring, control by local area network (LAN) or simple network management protocol (SNMP), and intelligent load balancing. They are easy to install, configure, and manage.The global data center rack power distribution unit market to grow at a CAGR of 6.78% during the period 2017-2021. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global data center rack power distribution unit market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from worldwide sales of data center rack PDUs.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAGet a Sample Research PDF with TOC:Technavio's report, Global Data Center Rack Power Distribution Unit 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- CyberPower Systems- Eaton- Vertiv- Legrand (Raritan)- Schneider Electric- Server Technology- Tripp LiteOther prominent vendors- Black Box- Canovate- Chatsworth Products- Cisco- Conteg- Delta Power Solutions- Emcor (Crenlo)- Enlogic (CIS Global)- Fuji Electric- Geist Global- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)- Leviton- Methode Electronics- Minkels- Nlyte Software- Panduit- Racktivity- Rittal- Siemens- TSL ProductsEnquiry 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:
Opportunities for the Chinese HVAC equipment market to reach $37.3 billion by 2022

Insights that Matter

www.lucintel.com

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According to a new market report published by Lucintel, the future of the Chinese HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) equipment market looks promising with opportunities in the residential and commercial construction industries. Chinas HVAC equipment market is expected to reach an estimated $37.3 billion by 2022 and it is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2017 to 2022. The major drivers of growth are higher rate of building construction and strict regulations regarding energy efficient buildings in China to make existing facilities energy efficient.In this market, furnace, heat pumps, central AC, and room AC are the segments by product type. On the basis of our comprehensive research, Lucintel forecasts that the room AC segment is expected to show above average growth during the forecast period due to a higher rate of urbanization and a higher demand for energy efficient HVAC equipment.Within the Chinese HVAC equipment market, residential is expected to remain the largest segment during the forecast period. Increasing penetration and renovation activities are the major driving forces that will spur growth for this segment over the forecast period.For business expansion, Lucintels report suggests innovation and new product development, particularly in terms of energy-efficiency, high performance, and becoming more environmentally friendly.Emerging trends, which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the market, include the increasing use of green HVAC, and increasing use of air purification technology. Gree Electric Appliances, GD Midea, Haier are the major manufacturers of HVAC equipment in China.Lucintel, a leading global strategic consulting and market research firm, has analyzed growth opportunities in the Chinas HVAC equipment market by product type, and end use has compiled a comprehensive research report entitled Growth Opportunities in the Chinas HVAC Equipment Market 2017-2022: Trends, Forecast, and Opportunity Analysis. This Lucintel report serves as a springboard for growth strategy by providing comprehensive data and analysis on trends, key drivers, and directions. The study includes a forecast for the Chinas HVAC equipment market by product type, and end use as follows:By Product Type [Volume (M units) and Value ($ million) from 2011 to 2022]: Furnace Heat Pump Central AC Room AC OthersBy End Use [Volume (M units) and Value ($ million) from 2011 to 2022]: Residential Healthcare Education Hospitality Office Retail OthersThis 120-page research report will enable you to make confident business decisions in this globally competitive marketplace. For a detailed table of contents, contact Lucintel at +1-972-636-5056 or helpdesk@lucintel.com. Lucintel offerings include Construction Market Report, Construction Reports, Market Research Report, Capital Investment Feasibility and SWOT Analysis.About LucintelLucintel, the premier US management consulting and market research firm, creates winning strategies for growth. It offers market assessments, competitive analysis, opportunity analysis, growth consulting, M&A, and due diligence services to executives and key decision-makers in a variety of industries. For further information, visitThis report addresses the following key questions:Q. 1. What are some of the most promising, high-growth opportunities for the Chinese HVAC equipment market by product type (furnace, heat pump, central AC, room AC and others), and end use (residential, office, retail, hospitality, education, healthcare and others)?Q. 2. Which segments will grow at a faster pace and why?Q.3. What are the key factors affecting market dynamics? What are the drivers, challenges, and business risks in this market?Q.4. What are the business risks and competitive threats in this market?Q.5. What are the emerging trends in this market and reasons behind them?Q.6. What are some changing customer demands in the market?Q.7. What are the new developments in the market? Which companies are leading these developments?Q.8. Who are the major players in this market? What strategic initiatives are being taken by key players for business growth?Q.9. What are some of the competing products in this market and how big of a threat do they pose for loss of market share by material / product substitution?Q.10. What M&A activity has occurred in the last 5 years?Lucintel, the premier US management consulting and market research firm, creates winning strategies for growth. It offers market assessments, competitive analysis, opportunity analysis, growth consulting, M&A, and due diligence services to executives and key decision-makers in a variety of industries. For further information, visitLucintel222 Las Colinas Blvd West, Suite 1650, Irving, TX 75039, USAPh: +1-972-636-5056 Fax: +1-877-883-5140marketing@lucintel.com
Global Sprayed Concrete Market Is Poised To Reach USD 9.1 Billion By 2022 With A CAGR Of More Than 8%

Sprayed Concrete Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1817

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/sprayed-concrete-market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1817

Market Synopsis of Sprayed Concrete MarketThe global Sprayed Concrete market has seen a phenomenal growth over the past years and it has been expected that the market will grow with a stable growth rate during the forecast period. As per MRFR analysis, the global Sprayed Concrete market is poised to reach USD 9.1 billion by 2022 with a CAGR of more than 8%. Sprayed Concrete is majorly used in the application areas such as underground construction, retailing walls, protective coatings, water-retaining structures, Specialty construction and others. The growing construction industry has resulted in increased demand for Sprayed Concrete across the globe. The other major driving factor which are driving the market are technological advancement in construction industry, reduction in framework cost, high sustainability and others. On the other hand, the lack of skilled labor would prevent the growth of market. Geographically, Europe is expected to lead the global market followed by North America and Asia-Pacific.Sprayed Concrete Market SegmentationSprayed Concrete Market Research Report segmented as : By Process: Dry Process and Wet Process By Application: Underground Construction, Retailing Walls, Protective Coatings, Water-Retaining Structures, Specialty Construction, Strengthening and RepairRequest Sample Report as per your Requirement @Key Players for Sprayed Concrete Market:Some of the key players in this market are BASF Atlas Copco Cemex S.A.B. Lkab Berg & Betong KPM Industries U.S. Concrete GCP Applied Technologies Tarmac Building Products Limited Prestige Concrete Products Sika AG.Browse Report @Study Objectives of Sprayed Concrete Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 6 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Sprayed Concrete market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the Sprayed Concrete 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 RoW. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by process, application and regions 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 market.Make an enquiry before buying this Report @Target Audience Manufactures of end-use industry Raw material Suppliers Aftermarket suppliers Research Institute / Education Institute Potential Investors Key executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerAdditional Information Regulatory Landscape Pricing Analysis Macroeconomic IndicatorsGeographic Analysis Geographical analysis across 20 countriesCompany 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 companies The report covers brief analysis of geographical region includesNorth America US CanadaEurope Germany France Italy Netherlands U.K. Rest of EuropeAPAC China India Japan Rest of Asia-PacificRoW South America Middle East AfricaThe report for Global Sprayed Concrete 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.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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+16468459312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Green Building Materials Market Size Was Valued Expected To Cross USD 245 Billion At CAGR Of 17% By 2022

Green Building Materials Market

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Market ScenarioThe key drivers for the growth of the Green Building Materials market are increasing consumer awareness regarding energy efficiency and government supportive policies. The green building material market is augmented due to its features such as low maintenance cost, low operating cost and low water requirements. The Green Building Materials are widely used in health care, residential, commercial and infrastructure industries. Health care industry by application contributes highest to the overall growth of the market. Insulation and roofing segment by end-use contributes largely to the market. North-America contributes highest to the market, majorly due to increasing consumer awareness regarding environmental and economic benefits. The global Green Building Materials market size was valued at around USD 158 Billion in 2015 and is expected to cross USD 245 Billion at CAGR of 17% by 2022.Market SegmentationGlobal Green Building Materials Market segmented as: By Application: Residential, Commercial, Infrastructure, Industrial By End-Use :Exterior siding, Interior Finishing, Insulation, Framing, Roofing By RegionRequest Sample Report as per your Requirement @Key PlayersThe key players of global Green Building Materials Market report include- Alumasc Group plc. Bauder Ltd. Wienerberger AG Binderholz GmbH Homasote Company CertainTeed Corporatio LG Hausys Ltd. RedBuilt LLC PPG Industries, Inc. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Forbo International SA Kingspan Limited Lafarge Company BASF SEBrowse Report @Study Objectives of Global Green Building Materials 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 Green Building Materials Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To Analyze the Global Green Building Materials 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 Application, End-use and by Region. 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 Green Building Materials MarketMake an enquiry before buying this Report @Regional Analysis of Global Green Building Materials MarketNorth-America is the largest market for Green Building Materials, followed by Asia-Pacific. The reason is attributed to the growing need of energy saving construction buildings, government & non-government regulations for energy efficiency practices and increasing consumer awareness regarding environmental & economic benefits. Asia-Pacific is expected to expand fastest over the forecasted period.Target Audience Manufactures Raw Materials Suppliers Aftermarket supplier 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 IndicatorsGeographic Analysis Geographical analysis across 15 countriesCompany 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 Green Building Materials 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.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.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+16468459312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Electrosurgical Devices Market Research Report by Regional Analysis - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa : forecast 2024

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Global Electrosurgical Devices Market - OverviewThe electrosurgical devices market is driven by growing number of minimal invasive surgeries globally. With the changing face of medical field since the last decade, a larger number of surgical procedures are moving out of the traditional ways and they are replaced by minimally invasive techniques which is driving market of electrosurgical devices globally. Furthermore the rising coverage of healthcare and continuous increase in the geriatric population is expected to be the most vital reason for expansion of the electrosurgical devices market growth. According to WHO estimates, the global geriatric population is likely to reach around 2 billion (22% of global population) by 2050, which was around 524 million in 2010. Geriatric population is prone to several disease such as cancer, cardiac arrest, gastrointestinal diseases etc., due to weak immunity. So, there is a huge need for minimally-invasive surgeries for the treatment of such patients so as to avoid healing time and hospital stay. This factor will increase the use of electrosurgical devices further.Increasing focus on efficient health care systems in various developed countries is expected to fuel growth of electrosurgical devices and procedures. Rising government funding for research to develop advanced medical treatment and target-specific surgical devices is expected to drive the global electrosurgical devices market. Key players in the electrosurgical devices market are focusing more on development of innovative electrosurgical devices and accessories. Leading market players are focusing on new products and accessories with improved coagulation and cutting properties, multimodality application, and tissue vaporization applications to capitalize the growth opportunities in the market.Global Electrosurgical Devices Market - Geographical and Competitive DynamicsGeographically, the global electrosurgical devices market has been segmented into five regions with North America leading the market in 2015 followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific has the highest growth rate and is expected to overtake Europe in the future. The requirement for electrosurgical devices are rapidly growing in Asia Pacific due to increasing direct and indirect investments by the Government and other private companies. Increasing investments and penetration by key market players globally are expected to drive the electrosurgical devices market during the forecast period.Browse full report on Electrosurgical Devices Market -Asia Pacific to Emerge Most Promising Market in Terms of Growth RateIn terms of geography, North America is presently the most attractive regional market for electrosurgical devices. Several encouraging factors such as the rising number of surgical procedures, rising numbers of mergers and acquisitions, and easy availability of new and innovative product varieties are acting in favor of the electrosurgical devices market in North America. A large base of geriatric and obese population facing cardiac, orthopedic, and many other chronic problems and the rising incidence of cancer are also anticipated to drive the market in this region in the next few years.The North America market will continue to exercise control over the global market over the forecast period as well, thanks to the high concentration of medical device manufacturers and rising investment aimed at research and development. Nevertheless, North America will lose prominence to Asia Pacific in terms of growth pace from 2016 through 2024.The market for electrosurgical devices in Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a 7.7% CAGR over the said period. Improved healthcare infrastructure and rising healthcare spending by government are expected to increase adoption of electrosurgical devices in this region. Asia Pacific holds immense potential in the electrosurgical devices market also due to rising population, high unmet medical needs, and rise in health care-related customer expectations due to improved economic conditions.Key players in this market are as follows Bovie Medical Corporation, Medtronic, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, Boston Scientific Corporation, Olympus, Johnson & Johnson, Symmetry Surgical Inc., CONMED, KLS Martin and BOWA-electronic GmbH & Co. KG.Request for sample of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Factor Driving, Ventricular Assist Device Market are Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Advances in Technology & Hybrid Operating Room

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North America Ventricular Assist Device Market: OverviewAdvance Heart Failure is characterized as weakening of the heart caused due to failure of the left ventricle, due to which the heart is unable to pump blood to different parts of the body. According to the AHA (American Heart Association), 5.7 Mn people in the U.S suffer from heart failure and 300,000 die each year of heart failure. Moreover, the AHA predicts that advance heart failure will become the most common cause of death globally. However, these statistics have already materialized in the U.S. and Canada, where advance heart failure is currently said to be the leading cause of mortality. In Canada, the figures are rising day by day. In Canada nearly 600,000 of the total is affected by heart failure. A large proportion of these population can be saved with proper treatment and care. Thus, the existence of an unmet medical need is clearly evident and is anticipated to augment the ventricular assist device market.North America Ventricular Assist Device Market: Scope of the StudyThis report on the ventricular assist device market in the North America 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. Detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining market growth and opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period between 2014 and 2024 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2014 to 2024 are provided for all the segments, considering 2015 as the base year. Market related factors such as technological developments, patent expiry, recent approvals, investment in clinical studies and acquisitions by leading players in the market, and historical year-on-year growth have been taken into consideration while estimating the market size. Growth rates for each segment within the North America ventricular assist device market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, drug development life cycle, and regulatory requirements. These factors would help the market players to take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their positions and expand their share in the ventricular assist device market in North America.Browse full report on Ventricular Assist Device Market -LVADs to Continue Witnessing Strong DemandRight ventricular assist devices (RVADs), left ventricular assist devices (LAVDs), bi-ventricular assist devices (Bi-VADs), and total artificial hearts (TAHs) are the main products available in the North America VAD market.LVADs have been witnessing a higher demand than other devices used for ventricular assistance across the world. This scenario is likely to remain the same in the near future with the opportunity for LVADs in North America rising at a CAGR of 9.60% between 2016 and 2024. TAHs are also expected to experience a significant surge in their demand over the forthcoming years due to their augmenting popularity as one of the most efficient devices used in destination therapy and bridge to transplant.Increase in Clinical Trials and Awareness Initiatives to Ensure Dominance of the U.S.The prime domestic markets for ventricular assist devices in North America are U.S. and Canada. With a contribution of US$446 mn, the U.S. surfaced as the key contributor to the overall market in 2015. Researchers predict this domestic market to continue to lead throughout the forecast period, thanks to the significant increase in clinical studies, awareness initiatives, and patient assistance.On the other hand, Canada, which accounts for a smaller share of the overall market, is poised to witness a sturdy rise and create substantial opportunities for the markets growth in this region over the next few years. The increasing prevalence of cardiovascular disorders among people and the presence of a favorable reimbursement scenario are likely to fuel the usage of VADs for the treatment of cardiac arrest, heart failure, and other cardiovascular disorders in the years to come, leading to substantial growth of VAD market in Canada. In addition, the low level of competition between players is anticipated to boost the interest of multinational participants in the Canada VAD market in the near future.The North America VAD market demonstrates a highly competitive landscape due to the intense rivalry between the leading players, namely, Berlin Heart GmbH, SynCardia Systems LLC, Sunshine Heart Inc., St. Jude Medical, Heart Ware International Inc., and Abiomed. Hitherto, they relied upon product innovation for business development; however, their focus is likely to shift towards strategic alliances with new entrants to minimize the competition within the market.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:
Bovine Respiratory Disease Treatment Market : Applications and Global Markets

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Global Bovine Respiratory Disease Treatment Market: OverviewBovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a multifactorial and complex disorder caused due to combination of more than one microbial pathogens, impaired host immunity, inadequate housing conditions, and environmental factors. The major factor leading to bovine respiratory diseases are host factors, environmental factors, and direct influence of infectious agents such as virus, bacteria, and parasites. However, due to increasing consumption of milk and beef products, the need for bovine respiratory disease treatment has increased across the globe.Moreover, according to the World Bank Group (2016), global human population is estimated to be 7.4 billion in 2016 and is growing at a rate of 1.8% per year. Hence, demand for beef has increased due to rising population and increasing disposable income across the world. The rising demand for high quality bovine derived products is influencing the bovine respiratory disease treatment market. Despite of innovations in veterinary medicines and advancement in technology, bovine respiratory disease is the leading cause to impact negatively on both the dairy and beef industries due to calf mortality, additional labor cost and treatment expenses. Moreover, bovine respiratory disease affects adversely on reproductive performance, growth and longevity of cattle. Hence, prevention and treatment of bovine respiratory disease have become important to decrease the impact on animal production and the beef industry. Therefore, the bovine respiratory disease treatment market is anticipated to witness significant growth in terms of revenue during the forecast period.Treatment of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections to be Dominant Contributor to Market RevenueIn terms of disease type, upper respiratory tract infections dominated the global bovine respiratory disease treatment market, accounting for a share of over 50% in the global market terms of revenue in 2015. As the onset of most bovine respiratory infections begins from the upper respiratory tract, the segment is expected to emerge as the one with the most promising growth over the forecast period. TMR estimates that the segment will exhibit an 8.2% CAGR from 2016 through 2024. The segment of pneumonia (lower respiratory tract infection), which accounted for a share of 27.4% in the global market in terms of revenue in 2015, will also exhibit an equally promising but comparatively lower rate of growth over the forecast period.Browse full report on Bovine Respiratory Disease Treatment Market -Global Bovine Respiratory Disease Treatment Market: SegmentationIn terms of treatment type, the bovine respiratory disease treatment market has been categorized into vaccines, antibiotics, NSAIDs, and immunomodulators. Causative agents such as viruses leading to bovine respiratory disease have no direct treatment. Hence, vaccination is the preferred choice of preventive action against the disease. This increase market potential for vaccines. However, virus infected cattle is exposed to bacteria, parasites, and various other factors. Therefore, antibiotics are the preferred choice of treatment for bovine respiratory diseases. Effective treatment and significant demand has increased the scope for antibiotics in the bovine respiratory disease treatment market.However, according to NCBI report, combination treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs such as NSAIDs has better results over the monotherapy of antibiotics. This has led to increase in usage of NSAIDs in bovine respiratory disease treatment. Bovine respiratory disease is generally treated with several combination therapies. However, growing resistance to antibiotics and drying pipeline has increased demand for novel treatment options for which cattle do not develop resistance, and consequently there is no impact on human life.Development of newer generation antibiotics for cattle is anticipated to drive the global bovine respiratory disease treatment market during the forecast period. In order to avoid the issue of antibiotics resistance in bovine population, preventive measures such as vaccination and immunomodulators has observed increased global acceptance against the bovine respiratory disease. Hence, preventive treatment is gaining momentum due to growing awareness about the negative impact of antibiotics on human health. This has driven the market for immunomodulators, vitamin injections, and other immunity building products.In terms of disease type, the market has been segmented into upper respiratory tract infections, diphtheria, and pneumonia (lower respiratory tract infection). Upper respiratory tract infections dominated the global bovine respiratory disease market, accounting for significant share in terms of revenue in 2015. Respiratory infections first affect the upper respiratory tract, which is also the most vulnerable region, followed by other parts of the respiratory tract. Diphtheria accounted for significant share of the bovine respiratory disease treatment market in 2015. Pneumonia (lower respiratory tract infection) accounted for high market share, followed after upper respiratory tract infection in 2015. Hence, early detection of infection is important in bovine respiratory diseases treatment.In terms of distribution channel, the global bovine respiratory disease treatment market has been segmented into veterinary hospitals, veterinary clinics, private veterinary pharmacies, and veterinary research institutes. Veterinary hospitals dominated the global bovine respiratory disease market in 2015. The segment dominated the market due to factors such as rising population of cattle which increases prevalence of bovine respiratory diseases. The private veterinary pharmacies distribution channel segment is projected to register significant CAGR during the forecast period. The segment is likely to witness strong growth in most of the emerging parts of the world and preference for medicines from private veterinary pharmacies for bovine serum respiratory diseases. However, the veterinary clinics and veterinary research institutes segments are expected to grow steadily as majority of procedures are carried out in veterinary hospitals.Global Bovine Respiratory Disease Treatment Market: Geographical and Competitive DynamicsGeographically, the bovine respiratory disease treatment market has been categorized in five major regions: North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America held the major share of the global bovine respiratory disease treatment market in 2015, where the U.S. dominates the market in terms of revenue. Europe accounted for a significant share of the market in 2015. Changing environmental factors, growing prevalence of causative agents for respiratory disease, increasing demand for quality bovine products, and rising bovine population are the key factors driving the bovine respiratory disease treatment market in Europe. Asia Pacific is the largest producer of bovine livestock. Hence, it presents significant opportunities in the bovine respiratory disease treatment market. India and China are the key markets for bovine respiratory disease treatment, as these have largest livestock population compared to other countries across the globe. Latin America and Middle East & Africa have comparatively smaller markets for bovine respiratory disease treatment. However, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina are the emerging markets in Latin America due to significant number of livestock population.Key players operating in the global bovine respiratory disease treatment market are Merck & Co., Inc., Zoetis Services LLC, Bayer AG, Elanco, Merial, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Virbac Group, Ceva, Vetoquinol, and Bimeda Animal Health, among others.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:
Allergy Diagnostics Market : Competitive Dynamics & Global Outlook 2024

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Allergy Diagnostics Market: SnapshotThe global allergy diagnostics market is poised to witness healthy growth during the next few years, driven primarily by the rising instances of allergies around the world and significant growth in diagnostic and treatment options for the same. The opportunity presented by the global market was pegged at US$1.3 bn in 2015 and is projected to be worth US$3.8 bn by 2024, expanding at a strong CAGR of 12.8% therein.The market is characterized by extensive research efforts and technological advancements and manufacturers have been focused on conducting R&D activities to develop more effective diagnostic techniques, optimized allergens, and automated systems.Allergy Diagnostics Market: Scope and MethodologyAllergy diagnostics includes products and tests that are used to determine the presence of allergens such as grass, weed, peanuts, milk, or drugs etc. in the samples by determining the presence of antibodies developed by the immune system. The report on global allergy diagnostics market, analyzes the current and future prospects of the market. The report consists of an executive summary that provides information about the products, its segments and sub-segments, market opportunity analysis, along with a market snapshot and comparative analysis by geography, in terms of revenue %, for 2015.A detailed overview of market dynamics, including the drivers, restraints, and opportunities of the allergy diagnostics market, along with porters analysis, and value chain analysis, of the global market, has been provided in this report. Market revenue analysis for all the above mentioned segments, and their sub segments has been provided for the forecast period of 2016-2024, considering 2015 as the base year, and 2014 as the historical year, along with compound annual growth rate (CAGR %), for the forecast period of 2016-2024. Market share estimations were based on in-depth analysis and study of products, and their features, prices etc.This report provides in-depth analysis of the allergy diagnostics market. The stakeholders for this report include companies involved in the manufacturing of products for allergy diagnosis. For providing a snapshot of this market to the stakeholders, executive summary section is included in this report, which summarizes the market size, trends and competition in different regions. Market share analysis among the market players is analyzed to signify percentage share of the major players operating in the allergy diagnostics market. Furthermore, the report incorporates market attractiveness analysis by geography that depicts the most attractive and significant region in the global market in 2015.The research methodology is a combination of primary and secondary research. Primary research includes information collected via e-mails, and telephonic interviews of Key Opinion Leaders (KOL), and forms the bulk of our research. Secondary research includes information collected from various sources, by study of company websites, annual reports, stock analysis presentations, press releases, and various national and international databases.Browse full report on Allergy Diagnostics Market -Alarming Levels of Asthma and Inhaled Allergies Driving North America and Europe MarketNorth America led the global allergy diagnostics market with a share of more than 40% in 2015. According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), approximately 26 million people in the U.S. suffered from allergic rhinitis in 2015, while around 15 million suffered from food allergies the same year. The lack of exposure to allergens in the early ages owing to increased hygiene levels in developed countries has led to the rising prevalence of inhaled allergies in the country. In addition to this, longer and stronger pollen seasons, technological advances in the field of allergy diagnostics, high per capita healthcare expenditure, and the increasing demand for better healthcare facilities are expected to drive the allergy diagnostics market in North America.Europe is also a prominent market for allergy diagnostics in terms of revenue. According to the Allergy Organization of U.K., an estimated 150 million people in Europe suffered from allergies in 2015, of which, around 17 mn were diagnosed with food allergies. In the U.K. alone, approximately 5.4 million people were suffering from asthma in 2015. This growing prevalence of various types of allergies is expected to boost the demand for allergy diagnostics in the region.The market in Asia Pacific is likely to expand at a phenomenal CAGR during the course of the forecast period. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (IMCR), in 2014, around 17 million people in India suffered from asthma. Food allergies are the most prevalent form of allergies in Asia Pacific. According to the World Bank, around 84 million people in Asia Pacific suffered from food allergies in 2011. This will provide the allergy diagnostics market significant impetus during the forecast period.Key players in the allergy diagnostics market include Thermo Fischer Scientific, Inc., Quest Diagnostics, Inc., BioMerieux SA, Stallergenes Greer, Omega Diagnostics Group Plc, Siemens Healthineers, and HAL Allergy Group.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:
Asthma and COPD Drugs Market : New Market Research Report Announced; Global Industry Analysis 2024

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U.S. and China Asthma and COPD Drugs Market: OverviewAsthma is a disease characterized by recurrent attacks of coughing, chest-tightening, breathlessness, and wheezing as the airways narrow and swell that vary in severity and frequency. COPD is a disease of the lungs characterized by obstruction to airflow that interferes with normal breathing. According to the WHO, COPD accounted for over 3 million deaths in 2012, which is equal to 6% of all deaths globally in that year. Moreover, the WHO predicts that COPD will become the third most common cause of death globally by 2030. However, these statistics have already materialized in the U.S. and China, where COPD is currently said to be the third leading cause of mortality.According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, asthma is the leading chronic disease in children in the U.S. It is also the most common reason for missed school days. Moreover, an estimated 10 people in the U.S. die from asthma each day, while 3,630 die each year. In China, the figures are worse. A large population of COPD patients goes underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed in China every year. A large proportion of these deaths are avoidable with proper treatment and care. Thus, the existence of an unmet medical need is clearly evident and is anticipated to augment the asthma and COPD drugs market.Recommendations from Global Bodies Drive Preference for Combination DrugsBased on drug class, in 2015, combination drugs held a prominent share of over 54% in the U.S. and China asthma and COPD drugs market. The segment is slated to witness high growth during the forecast period, which is attributed to the popularity of and preference for combination drugs. The launch of triple combination therapies currently in pipeline by companies such as Chiesi Pharmaceuticals, GSK, and Circassia is also responsible for the growth of this segment.Both in the U.S. and China, prescription is more inclined toward combination drugs as guidelines by Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) recommend them as a safer option for the management of asthma and COPD.An emerging drug class with the potential to create a prominent position in the U.S. and China asthma and COPD drugs market in the coming years is monoclonal antibodies. The launch of new products in this segment is anticipated to bolster its growth during the forecast period.Browse full report on Asthma and COPD Drugs Market -U.S. Leading Market for Asthma and COPD Drugs; China Most LucrativeAccounting for a massive 81.4% share in the asthma and COPD drugs market by 2016, the U.S. is the clear leader and will continue its dominance through 2024. This can be primarily attributed to greater awareness among patients and higher prices of asthma and COPD drugs. New product launches, such as FDA-approved Nucala, and a rise in awareness initiatives through apps and educational programs have helped build a strong foundation for treatment in the U.S., making it a profitable country to invest in. Pipeline studies by major players for biologics as well as combination therapies is also a key trend observed over the years. Most prominent companies view the U.S. as a value market, and thus consider it an important part of their new product launch strategy.In terms of market size, however, the asthma and COPD drugs market in the U.S. is expected to initially decline owing to lower sales triggered by a decrease in revenue from off-patent blockbuster drugs. Nevertheless, new product launches are likely to drive the market from 2021 onward.Although China accounts for a much smaller share in the U.S. and China asthma and COPD drugs market, it has been identified to be an extremely attractive market, expanding at an impressive CAGR of 10.0% from 2016 to 2024. This is mainly driven by higher unmet medical needs in the country and a rise in the number of asthma patients. The growing incidence of COPD can be attributed to an increase in the number of smokers. A high growth rate, coupled with a low degree of competition in the market compared to the U.S., makes China an attractive investment option for makers of asthma and COPD drugs.Key companies in the U.S. and China asthma and COPD drugs market include GlaxoSmithKline plc, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, AstraZeneca plc, Novartis AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Merck and Co., Inc.U.S. and China Asthma and COPD Drugs Market: Competitive LandscapeThe competition matrix section included in the report is likely to assist the existing players to increase their market shares and new companies to establish their presence in the asthma and COPD drugs market in the U.S. and China. The report also profiles major players in the 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 GlaxoSmithKline plc, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, AstraZeneca plc, Novartis AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Merck and Co., Inc.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:
Biologics Market :Technological Advancements, Evolving Industry Trends and Insights 2024

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Vast Growth Opportunities in Asia Pacific to Bring in More InvestmentGeographically, the global biologics market is segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. North America is presently the dominant regional market, holding a share of over 40% in the global market. The region is expected to continue its dominance in terms of revenue contribution to the global market, expected to account for over 40% by 2024 as well.However, the biologics market in Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the most attractive regional market, exhibiting a massive 15.6% CAGR from 2016 through 2024. By the end of the forecast period, the region is expected to replace Europe and become the second most profitable region for biologics.Owing to the presence of an enormous patient-base and low costs of raw material and manufacturing, an increased number of multi-national pharmaceutical companies are expanding their manufacturing and sales capacities in Asia Pacific. Changes in the regulatory scenario in Asia Pacific are also expected to attract many foreign investors in the Asian markets in the next few years. As a result, the biologics market in Asia Pacific is expected to witness highly positive growth in the next few years.The highly fragmented global market for biologics features the presence of a large number of international pharmaceutical companies and many domestic players. Some of the key vendors in the market are AstraZeneca, AbbVie Inc., Amgen Inc, Bayer AG, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc., Novartis AG, and Sanofi.Global Biologics Market: SnapshotThe global pharmaceutical industry has charted growth at an impressive rate in the past few years owing to a vast increase in research and developmental activities, development and launch of new product varieties, breakthrough progress in treatment options for chronic and rare diseases. A significant rise in big pharmaceutical companies operational setups and funds directed towards novel and more effective drug varieties for complex diseases has also been observed across the globe in the past few years. The scenario has led to an increased focus on the development of biologics and a large number of international players are venturing into the global biologics market.Transparency Market Research estimates that the market will tread along a healthy growth path in the next few years. The market is anticipated to exhibit a CAGR of about 10.9% over the period between 2016 and 2024. If the number holds true, the market is expected to rise to a valuation of US$479, 752 mn by 2024.Browse full report on Biologics Market -Monoclonal Antibodies to Remain Most Profitable Product VarietyThe global biologics market is segmented on the basis of product type into monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, recombinant hormones/vaccines, cell therapy, gene therapy and other products. Monoclonal antibodies segment is anticipated to dominate the market throughout the forecast period; the segment is expected to stand for an annual share of 46% by 2024 and expand at a favorable 11.9% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024.The segments of vaccines and recombinant hormones/proteins are also expected to attractive for manufacturers, although growth of these segments will be relatively stationary over the forecast period. The segment of vaccines will exhibit a slight decline by 2024, chiefly owing to the lower pricing of most vaccines and many key contenders on the verge of going off patent in the developed market. The segment of recombinant hormones/proteins will witness a slight rise in its share in the global market by 2024 owing to sustainable sales in developed and emerging markets.Global Biologics Market: Scope and MethodologyThis report provides forecast and analysis of the global biologics market on the global and regional levels. It provides historical data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). The report also includes macroeconomic indicators along with an outlook for biologics revenue annually. It includes drivers and restraints of the global biologics market and their impact on each region during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of applications and opportunities for biologics manufacturers. It also includes a detailed analysis by product type and supply chain analysis with a list of suppliers and industry stakeholders at each node in the supply chain.In order to provide users of this report with a comprehensive view of the market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis, key blockbuster products, clinical pipeline analysis and company players with unique propositions. The dashboard provides a comprehensive comparison of biologics manufacturers on parameters such as revenue sales, ranking of global players, strategic consolidations, i.e. mergers & acquisitions, licensing activities, as well as R&D activities. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, product type, application type, and region.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:
Global Medical Aesthetic Devices Market: Emerging Market Trends, Size, Share and Growth Analysis

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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.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.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :medical aesthetic devices marketIncreased 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.Browse Global Strategic Business 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:
Welcome to Best Bets, a weekly column in which The Oregonian's arts desk highlights selected theater, classical music and dance performances and visual arts events. Here are our picks for March 10-16.

"Rock of Ages"

Dust off that Members Only jacket; dig out those legwarmers. The '80s are back with Stumptown Stages' production of the musical "Rock of Ages," a boy-meets-girl-meets-developers story about the power of love and rock-and-roll to overcome strip malls. Music by '80s bands such as Styx, Journey and Bon Jovi provides the soundtrack. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday through March 19, Brunish Theatre, 1111 S.W. Broadway. $25-$40, stumptownstages.com or 800-273-1530.

"Golda's Balcony"

The story of Golda Meir, the Russian-born, U.S.-raised Israeli politician who became Israel's first woman prime minister, is the subject of Triangle Productions' current production, "Golda's Balcony." Written by William Gibson ("The Miracle Worker"), the one-woman play is one of the longest-running solo shows in Broadway history. This is its Oregon premiere. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through April 1 (no performance March 12), The Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza, 1785 N.E. Sandy Blvd. $15-$35, trianglepro.org or 503-239-5919.

"In the Heights"

Can't get enough of "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's music? Check out his previous hit, "In the Heights," about Dominican Americans in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood. Bonus Portland theatre points: The book for the musical was written by Quiara Alegria Hudes, the featured playwright for Profile Theatre's 2017 season. The production is recommended for adults only. 7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, March 10-18, 11 a.m. Thursday, March 16, 2 p.m. Sunday, March 19, Performing Arts Center, Portland Community College Sylvania Campus, 12000 S.W. 49th Ave. $10-$15, pcc.edu/about/theatre.

"Purcell and Shakespeare"

The Portland Baroque Orchestra presents a program of 17th-century songs and airs, including selections from Henry Purcell's 1692 semiopera "The Fairy Queen" and songs from William Shakespeare's time. "I love, love, love this program. The words are wonderful," says the orchestra's director, Monica Huggett. Canadian baroque soprano Suzie LeBlanc makes her Portland Baroque Orchestra debut. 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 10-11, First Baptist Church, 909 S.W. 11th Ave.;

3 p.m. Sunday, March 12, Kaul Auditorium, Reed College, 3203 S.E. Woodstock Blvd. Tickets start at $29, pbo.org or 503-222-6000.

Companhia Urbana de Danca

White Bird closes its 2016-17 "Uncaged" series with this Brazilian company, which blends hip-hop, contemporary dance and Brazilian social dances. The Los Angeles Times wrote last year that the ensemble "knows how to throw one heck of a dance party." 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 10-11, Newmark Theatre, 1111 S.W. Broadway. Tickets start at $25, whitebird.org or 800-380-3516.

The Portland Ballet/Kukatonon

Young dancers from throughout the Portland area come together in a spring showcase performance featuring choreography by Anne Mueller, Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland and music by George Gershwin and Patsy Cline, among others. The Portland Ballet will highlight its career track dancers, several of its youngest members, and its partnership with the Kukatonon Children's African Dance Troupe, which will perform for the first time at a Portland Ballet concert. 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 10-11, 2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, March 11-12, The Portland Ballet Studio Theatre, 6250 S.W. Capitol Highway. $10-$25, theportlandballet.org or 503-750-3157.

"Dog Park"

Our canine friends are celebrated in this exhibit of nearly 80 works by more than 30 Portland artists, including Alison O'Donoghue, Chris Haberman, Dennis Anderson, Jennifer Griffo, Jill Mayberg, Kim Murton, Pauline Zonneveld, Samyak Yamauchi, Fred Swan, Sara Swink, Stan Peterson and Sue Clancy. The exhibit includes a storytelling event, "Tales in the Dog Park," that will include some of the artists. On view, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through March 22; storytelling event, 1 p.m. Saturday, March 18, Ford Gallery, 2505 S.E. 11th Ave. Free; fordgallerypdx.com or 503-449-3305.

Jason Borders, "Salvo"

Here's another animal art exhibit, this one focusing on animal skulls, which Portland artist Jason Borders carves, etches and inscribes with ornate motifs and designs using a Dremel rotary tool. Borders, who's collected animal bones since childhood, told an interviewer in 2014 that he doesn't plan any of his designs in advance but simply goes with the flow. "I find myself getting entranced," he said. On view, noon-6 p.m. daily except Wednesday, through March 16, Antler Gallery, 2728 N.E. Alberta St. Free; antlerpdx.com or 503-284-6757.

If you would like your event to be considered for inclusion in Best Bets, email the details to fineartsbestbets@oregonian.com.
Paul Allen

Paul Allen is donating $40 million to the University of Washington's computer-science efforts, the Seattle school announced Thursday, March 9, 2017. Microsoft, the company he co-founded with Bill Gates, kicked in another $10 million in his honor.

(Andrew Burton/Getty Images/2014)

SEATTLE -- He's the co-founder of Microsoft, the owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers, a philanthropist who has given millions toward brain science, cell science and artificial-intelligence research, and founded a museum devoted to pop culture and science fiction.

On Thursday, Seattle billionaire Paul Allen announced he is donating $40 million to the University of Washington's computer-science efforts, and Microsoft kicked in another $10 million in Allen's honor, giving the new school a $50 million endowment.

In turn, the UW Board of Regents on Thursday elevated the computer-science department to the status of a school, and named it the Paul G. Allen School for Computer Science & Engineering.

"It's a game-changer for us," said computer-science professor Ed Lazowska.

The move will boost the UW's prominence in U.S. computer-science education, serve to recognize the growing importance of computer science within the university, and give the school increased autonomy and flexibility within the UW system, Lazowska said.

In a phone interview Thursday, Allen said the money would give the university "more resources, and scope, and ability to grow and keep up its climb to the top ranks of computer science" among the nation's universities.

He believes we are entering a "new golden age" of computing. Developments in machine learning, artificial intelligence and modeling of biological systems are all coming together, he said, and the use of computer science approaches in thinking and methods "can be applied across an amazing variety of different areas of research" -- including self-driving cars and climate modeling, to give two examples.

"Computers are more involved now with everything being done to engineer and produce things," he said. That makes it a great time, he said, to increase the number of students getting a computer-science education.

Having his name on the computer-science school at the UW, Allen said, had particular emotional resonance for him because of his connection to the university.

Although he never attended the UW, as a high-school student he and classmate Bill Gates sneaked into the university's computer-science rooms to learn more about how computers worked, and to create what Allen said was the first microprocessor-based computer built in Seattle -- a machine called the Traf-O-Data, designed to measure traffic flow around urban areas.

"That's what we really used to learn about microprocessors," he said. "Those were the days when this stuff was just in the beginning stages."

UW President Ana Mari Cauce said the donation "is tremendous generosity -- but also, his name carries weight" in the computer science world. Having the school named after Allen will be a point of pride for faculty and students alike, she said.

"It's a department that's been doing really well, but this will take it to a whole different level," she said.

The announcement about the Allen and Microsoft donations and the new school is being made in concert with the 50th anniversary of computer science at the UW. In March 1967, the UW Regents governing board gave approval to the formation of a computer science group.

The money will provide the school with $2 million a year in seed funding for new initiatives, which could be used for a variety of things including funding of early stage research, developing new experimental-education initiatives, providing equipment that can't be purchased through other means, or funding fellowships or scholarships to recruit outstanding students.

"It will make us able to be really agile, to be able to pursue new directions," Lazowska said

As an example, Lazowska -- who holds the Bill & Melinda Gates chair in computer science -- said his endowed chair gives him about $80,000 a year to use for what he called "venture funding" for early stage research ideas. Those "crazy ideas," as Lazowska described them, can turn into projects that move computer science in novel directions and enable the UW to win federal grant funding.

The money could also be used to help attract top faculty, Lazowska said. The costliest part of attracting new faculty is usually the expense of setting up a lab where they can work. Modern computer labs these days can involve such things as robotics, or power harvesting, and can cost upward of $500,000, he said.

The Allen name is already on two buildings at the UW -- the Allen Library, named after Kenneth Allen, Paul Allen's father, who was the associate director of libraries from 1960 to 1982, and the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering, where computer-science offices and labs are located. Kenneth Allen died in 1983.

At Washington State University -- where Allen was enrolled for two years, but never received a degree -- the Allen School for Global Health Science is named after him. Allen donated $26 million toward the founding of that school.

The UW is constructing a new computer-science building across the street from the Allen Center, to expand the school. Competition to get in is so stiff that only about a third of undergraduate students who apply are accepted. Much of the construction funding has been raised privately, and Allen's donation won't be used for that.

The UW is also asking the state to include more dollars in its next budget to hire faculty and increase the size of the computer-science school, so it can accommodate more students.

Allen said he's focused much of his philanthropy on Seattle in large part because of his mother, Faye, who often talked about the importance of giving back to the community. Faye Allen died in 2012.

"I've tried to single out those opportunities, tried to invest in the community in ways that would make it richer and better," he said. "It's something I'll continue to do in the future."

--The Seattle Times
public_safety_oregonian_100.JPG

(The Oregonian/OregonLive)

UPDATE: Cause, manner of suspected Vancouver burglar's death still pending

Vancouver detectives began a death investigation early Friday morning after emergency workers could not revive an unconscious burglar in a home, a police spokeswoman said.

Officers responded to reports of a burglary in progress around 12:30 a.m. in the 2900 block of General Anderson Avenue, police said in a news release. A man, face down on the floor, was not breathing, police said.

Emergency crews attempted to revive him, but he was later pronounced dead at the home.

"The deceased person is the burglar," police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said, "and we won't know cause of death until the medical examiner releases their report.

Police are notifying family members before releasing the name of the victim. No other information was released. This post will be updated as news develops.

-- Tony Hernandez

thernandez@oregonian.com

503-294-5928

@tonyhreports
The gifts arrived last Friday at Reed College, the leafy liberal arts campus tucked away in Southeast Portland.

Inside: Two bags of coffee, two brightly colored Yemeni shawls, silver jewelry and a small stained-glass wooden frame. A postcard of two women draped head-to-toe in the flowery garb accompanied the offerings.

The package's more than 8,000-mile trek was the unlikely finale to a story started by President Donald Trump's first executive order restricting travel from seven majority-Muslim nations. The edict set in motion a series of events that would, within the span of a few weeks, link strangers from different corners of the world over a handmade sign held aloft at Portland International Airport.

"Thank you, Lucia Martinez, for supporting Yemen," the anonymous givers wrote on a note inside the yellow parcel shipped by the carrier DHL. "Greetings from the coffee land," they finished a smiley face.

"I just started crying," the 34-year-old English and humanities professor said when she opened the box.

In a little more than a month, the simple gestures of goodwill traversed the globe from war-torn Sana'a, the ancient Yemeni capital near the base of the Arabian Peninsula, to Reed.

"You can't process it," Martinez said of the story. "It's impossible."

It all started with a tweet.

De facto organizer

Martinez has never been to Yemen. She has never traveled to the Middle East, or North Africa, though the region is on her bucket list. She admittedly didn't know any more or less than most Americans about Yemeni culture before Trump's executive order on Jan. 27 temporarily barred travel from Yemen and six other majority-Muslim nations.

On Jan. 28, protests broke out at airports around the country.

Steamed, Martinez scoured the Internet trying to learn more about the seven countries, their cultures, and why their citizens might be searching for ways to come to America. The list seemed indiscriminate, and she searched for ways to connect to the people.

She discovered coffee was invented in Yemen (the drink's roots are often disputed between Ethiopia and Yemen, but Yemen's ties date back centuries).

Many Portlanders fancy themselves coffee connoisseurs, but Martinez figured that most had no clue they could thank Yemen, at least in part, for their caffeine addiction.

Just after noon that Saturday, she tweeted, "Portland: We love coffee. It was invented in Yemen. PROTEST. Portland Airport. 3 PM. Meet at the MAX platform."

Hours later, a crowd of roughly 100 gathered with signs and marched through PDX. Martinez was the de facto organizer. Her sign, "Yo Portland. Coffee is from Yemen," caught the eye of The Oregonian/OregonLive's photographer on scene.

Guys. You're amazing. Thanks to everyone who came/is still out. You're fabulous. Keep it peaceful. I'm heading home. #pdxprotest  lucia martinez valdivia (@luciascans) January 29, 2017

On Twitter, the picture of Martinez holding the sign, mouth agape mid-chant, became a sensation in Yemen.

It was her first protest.

Denver connection

Nabeel Al-Nowairah was one of many Yemenis to see Martinez's coffee sign on social media.

It hit home.

Yemen and the Pacific Northwest aren't so different in their devotion to the caffeinated beverage.

"Whether you're in the city or in the countryside, coffee is always there," Al-Nowairah said in an interview.

The 29-year-old drinks his coffee black, but with four or five spoons of sugar. "We like the sweet part of it," he said of the Yemeni way.

The Fulbright Scholar at the University of Denver said the travel ban was "disappointing," but he also gets some of the rationale. "Maybe because of my specialization, international security, I kind of understand the steps," Al-Nowairah said of the travel restrictions, which were resubmitted last week.

Al-Nowairah graduates this fall and plans on leaving the U.S. and returning to Yemen, where his parents and 13 siblings still live.

It felt good, Al-Nowairah said, to see an American who knew more about Yemen than its perceived image on the international stage. That there was more to the country than the Houthi militants tearing it apart and the Saudi Arabian air blockade and the missile strikes rattling Sana'a and the Al-Qaeda fighters who'd made it a home base for planning attacks around the world.

"We felt really appreciated," Al-Nowairah said.

Through group chats, conversations started: "What if we tried to find that girl?"

No easy task

Within 24 hours, and with the help of some contacts back in Yemen, they had identified Lucia and emailed her.

Back in Yemen, it was no easy task getting the package out of the country.

Schools are shuttered, and travel is restricted. U.S. military airstrikes continue to target suspected militants, and Al-Nowairah said it's difficult for the sick and injured to get out of Yemen for treatment.

"War is destroying the country," he said, "and the Yemeni people are stuck between these two sides."

Lucia Martinez received two sataras, a traditional Yemeni garment worn by women in the Muslim-majority nation at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

They couldn't mail the package due to security concerns, so Al-Nowairah found a friend who was traveling to the Jordanian capital of Amman, which is one of the few exit options.

At the airport there, the package was completely taken apart. The hermetically sealed coffee package was slashed and searched.

"We were worried about the freshness," Al-Nowairah said about the beans.

The package was put back together and shipped to Reed College.

What it means

A little more than a month after the airport protest, the goodies arrived safe and sound in Southeast Portland.

Al-Nowairah said the group of Yemenis who pulled the gift together were anxious to know it arrived at the destination.

"They really appreciate that somebody in the U.S. was talking about them and going out on the streets for them," he said.

"Yes, we have a lot of problems, but if there's any chance that we want to be happy or make other people happy, we as Yemenis will always do that."

At Reed, Martinez said she is beyond thankful.

The jolt of positivity came at a good time.

A Latina, she described the Trump administration's policies as "frightening" for minorities. She sees an emboldened swath of the American populace who think they can say and do things that they couldn't have six months ago.

The sign was her plan to burst through the noise and help Portlanders stop and think - and do so critically.

"We're in a country that's declaring these people persona non-grata," Martinez said, "based on, whatever the government might say, their religion."

But Yemenis answer that differently.

"Their response to that, is basically love."

It's still hard to comprehend, she said, the effort it took to track her down and send the gift.

She'll christen the coffee this weekend, as Reed begins its spring break.

When she does, it will be impossible to not think of Yemen.



-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
Wolf pack in eastern Oregon

A wolf pack is pictured on a remote camera from 2/1/2017 in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

(Courtesy of ODFW)

Gray wolves continue to expand in territory and numbers in Eastern Oregon, setting the stage for potentially greater conflict with ranchers and livestock owners as the state updates its master plan for managing the still vulnerable animals.

This week, fish and wildlife officials said the wolf population passed a significant milestone. Biologists counted at least seven or more breeding pairs in a broad swath of Eastern Oregon for the third consecutive year.

"It shows how successful wolves can be in this state," Russ Morgan, the state's wolf coordinator, said in a statement. "In just nine years under existing management we have gone from no packs of wolves to multiple packs and an expanding distribution."

The news comes a little more than a month before the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will hear two significant updates on the animal's progress. Wolf experts will release their annual analysis of the estimated population, number of confirmed fatal wolf attacks on livestock, and the number of wolf poaching incidents. Oregon also will present a draft document updating the state's master plan for managing wolves.

Biologists responsible for counting the population documented eight breeding pairs in three counties this year.

A breeding pair is defined as two adults that produce at least two pups that survive through the end of the year. Wolves were removed from the state's endangered species list in 2015, but they remain under federal protection in much of western Oregon. The region with the most wolf activity is east of U.S 97, U.S. 20 and U.S. 395.

Under Oregon's wolf management plan, originally passed in 2005 and updated in 2010, the stable number of packs opens the door for private citizens being allowed to legally kill the animals under certain circumstances. Oregon is now in so-called Phase III of its management plan.

In an interview, Morgan said the increase in population does not mean it's open season on wolves. "We're not proposing controlled hunts," Morgan said.

Morgan is aware of the concern regarding how the permitting and application process will be implemented and under what circumstances animals could be killed.. "There's obviously a lot of interest and a lot of confusion about what that might look like," he said. Under current law, a wolf can be legally killed if it is believed to be causing a decline in elk and deer populations or an animal is documented have be a "chronic livestock" killer.

In 2015, Oregon did not report any legal wolf killings. From August to December, officials documented seven wolf deaths. Of that tally, five are under investigation, according to the document.

Morgan said the confirmed number of incidents in which a wolf killed livestock is up "significantly" in 2016. He said it was more than double the nine confirmed incidents from 2015.

The Oregon Cattlemen's Association did not respond to a request for comment.

Amaroq Weiss, the West Coast wolf organizer for the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, said the news of the growing wolf population is bittersweet.

"Anytime we're getting news that the wolf population is either increasing or at the very least stabilized, that's a good thing," she said, "that's something to celebrate."

But she said the wolf population is still vulnerable in Oregon and needs to be protected. In last year's estimated count, state biologists tracked a minimum of 110 wolves. The state counts the animals by air, land and game cameras in specific areas.

Weiss said she's heard the 2016 estimate is closer to 150 animals.

She has some concerns about what the new management plan will look like, and what safeguards will be included to ensure "the right wolf will be killed" if a private permit is granted.

"It is difficult unless you have a collar on an animal to know which animal you are killing," she said.

A couple weeks ago, the wrong animal was killed in a high-profile incident in Wallowa County. The U.S. Department of Agriculture killed a gray wolf on private property with the controversial M-44, a device that shoots cyanide into the mouth of animals that tug on a baited trap.

The device was intended to kill a coyote.

According to state officials, the federal government was not allowed to use those devices in "areas of known wolf activity." The 2-year-old male had been killed in a known wolf area.

Morgan said the state is currently examining "what recourse we do have and how do we keep this from happening again."

The federal government's Animal Services division had 96 of the cyanide devices throughout the state as of Thursday, according to a USDA spokesman.

"However, the district supervisor has asked field employees to remove M-44s from the field that are near to areas with wolves for precaution," the spokesman said in an email.

The USDA did not immediately respond when asked how many of the 96 devices were in areas near wolves.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio plans to reintroduce legislation that would ban the cyanide traps.

DeFazio introduced similar legislation in 2012. The congressman and conservation groups say the devices are indiscriminate and could lead to the death of domestic animals or humans who unknowingly encounter the poison.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
Eastmoreland residents narrowly rejected a proposal to form a historic district within the Southeast Portland neighborhood, according to a nonbinding poll.

Now the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association board must decide whether to continue its push for a listing on the National Register for Historic Places. The proposal has sparked a heated debate in the neighborhood, complete with dueling yard signs and heated neighborhood meetings.

The poll, conducted by mail by the neighborhood association, ended with 666 (48 percent) voting in favor and 702 (51 percent) against, with 19 respondents expressing no opinion. Each property owner received one vote.

The neighborhood association has promoted the historic district plan to ward off home demolitions and greater density.

But those who oppose the plan say it's being foisted upon the neighborhood by a minority, and the rules that come with national historic district status.

Opponents are also gathering notarized letters of opposition. While anyone can nominate a district to the national registry, the only sure way to block it is to gather such letters from a majority of property owners within the proposed district's boundaries.

So far, the dissenting residents have gathered more than 700 of the more than 1,000 required to block the nomination.

The association already has submitted the nomination for deliberation by state and local officials, and it's won the endorsement of the Portland Landmarks Commission and a statewide historic preservation panel.

The neighborhood association will meet to discuss the results, and how the association board will respond, 7 p.m. Thursday at the Sellwood Middle School Library.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus
E. coli O157:H7

A virulent form of E. coli -- O157:H7 -- is involved in an outbreak of soy nut butter.

(Janice Carr/CDC)

County health officials are investigating an E. coli outbreak at a Montessori school in Northeast Portland.

At least four people at the school, Montessori of Alameda, have been infected, according to the Multnomah County Health Department. They include three preschool children and an adult.

Others have been tested, and the county awaits those results, said Dr. Paul Lewis, the tri-county health officer, in an email.

One of the ill was hospitalized, Lewis said, and has not yet been discharged.

The outbreak coincides with another that's sickened 16 people in nine states, including two in Oregon. That outbreak involves a particularly virulent strain of E. coli - O157:H7 - that can cause kidney failure and even death. Five nationwide have been hospitalized, but two local victims of that outbreak, Clackamas County siblings, did not have to be treated in the hospital, according to the Oregon Public Health Division.

Federal officials have linked the national outbreak to I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter, which has been recalled. Tammy Kennedy, executive director and owner of Montessori of Alameda, said in an email that the school does not serve soy nut butter. But she said one family of a sick child had the product at home.

At least one person in the school outbreak was infected by E. coli O157:H7, Lewis said. Test results have not been completed yet for the other cases.

The school outbreak started March 2. The county learned about it Tuesday and notified parents Thursday. The letter warned parents to keep any children home who were vomiting or experiencing diarrhea, typical E. coli symptoms.

Health officials and the school have also decided that anyone with those symptoms must be tested for E. coli before returning to school. They can only return when their symptoms are gone and the test is negative.

Multnomah County officials are working with the school to ensure control measures are enacted to prevent the spread of the outbreak. That includes keeping food surfaces sanitized. E. coli usually contaminates food through animal feces. It also includes frequent and thorough hand washing.

E. coli is typically carried by animals such as cows, deer and goats. It can get on food grown outside then cross-contaminate products during processing. There is no cure; patients are given supportive treatment. Those infected can spread the bacteria to others.

The county is continuing to interview families to find common denominators to determine the source of the outbreak. The soy nut butter is one possibility.

Suspected cases should be reported to the county health department.

-- Lynne Terry
Story updated at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

A sex offender with a long record and compulsion for public indecency was sentenced to life in prison without parole Friday for his latest offense -- getting caught masturbating on a MAX train.

Terry E. Iversen, 49, was sentenced after a three-hour hearing in Washington County Circuit Court in which Judge Oscar Garcia heard from the defendant's victims, current and retired detectives who investigated sex-related cases where he was either convicted or not charged, and a probation officer who advocated Iversen spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Iversen pleaded guilty to public indecency in January, a felony because of his past sex-related convictions. The true life sentence is permitted under a "three strikes"-like Oregon law aimed at predatory sex offenders.

"I think it was the right call," said Allison Brown, the county deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case and asked the judge for the life sentence. "He has continued to show that he won't benefit from treatment or rehabilitation, and at that point it's about protecting citizens and preventing him from crimes like this or worse."

She said Iversen had been sentenced to sex offender treatment at least five times but never completed it or stopped his behavior.

Terry Beach, Iversen's attorney, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. He wrote in a sentencing memo that he felt his client's punishment didn't fit the crime and suggested a prison sentence of eight years and four months.

The defense attorney argued Iversen's only conviction for a sex crime that involved physical contact was in March 1989 in Washington County for third-degree rape of a 15-year-old and second-degree sodomy of a 12-year-old girl.

Before Iversen was arrested in October, his most recent public masturbation conviction was in 2000, which was a felony because of his past sex crimes, Beach noted.

"(Iversen) took steps to satisfy a compulsion in a way that minimized the impact it would have on others," Beach said in a sentencing memo. "Such actions do not deserve a life sentence without parole."

A life sentence for multiple felony sex crimes is unusual in Washington County, Brown said, but it's unclear how typical it is statewide.

The Oregon Supreme Court last year overturned a life term as too harsh for a man convicted of public indecency, but it upheld life terms for at least two others in felony sex-related cases.

Court records show a string of past public indecency convictions for Iverson - in 1985, 1996 and 2000, including on public transportation in Washington and Multnomah counties. He also has been convicted of burglary, escape and drug possession.

He got out of prison last year after spending more than 12 years behind bars for assault and other crimes during a police chase that began when he was reported to be following young girls around a shopping center. He crashed into two cars and injured three people during the case in Cedar Mill.

Once out of prison, he was ordered to stay at the Washington County Community Correctional Center but got in trouble again, records show.

He masturbated while sitting behind a woman on a MAX train in Hillsboro in September, Brown said. The woman got off the train and called police, but they couldn't find the suspect.

In October, Iversen sat behind another woman while heading back to the community corrections center in Hillsboro and masturbated behind her. He placed his jacket next to him to block the view of anyone across the aisle, but the woman turned and saw him. Police later arrested him.

Surveillance video linked him to the earlier incident, Brown said, but he was never charged.

Beach said Iversen has been diagnosed with a mental health disorder that causes compulsive sexual behavior. He was responding positively to sex offender treatment after his latest stint in prison but couldn't avoid any of his triggers while on the MAX train in October so he "quietly masturbated," the lawyer said.

He has cooperated with police and taken responsibility for his actions, Beach said. He initially was scheduled to go to trial but opted to plead guilty instead that day to avoid having the victim testify in court, Beach said.

Beach cited the state Supreme Court's decision last year overturning the life sentence of Dennis J. Davidson, who was sentenced in Marion County for masturbating near women while behind a tree in a Salem park and again in front of police officers while standing at a fence in the area. He had three earlier convictions for public indecency.

The court concluded that because Davidson had no sex offense more serious than public indecency, a life sentence without parole would be unconstitutionally disproportionate under Oregon law.

"Unwillingly observing sexual behavior by another person is not a harm of the same magnitude as being specifically and personally subjected to unwanted physical sexual contact or sexual violence," the Supreme Court opinion said.

Davidson is scheduled to be resentenced in April. The prosecution plans to request a sentence of 16 years and eight months.

Brown cited two cases that the Supreme Court upheld last year:

-- The court concluded Douglas W. Sokell's life sentence was appropriate. He had been convicted in Washington County of first-degree sexual abuse for touching an 8-year-old girl's buttocks and hips in a public library. He had two prior sexual abuse convictions involving children.

-- The court noted that William M. Althouse's criminal history justified a life sentence. He had been sentenced for public indecency in Marion County -- his fourth conviction for a felony sex crime, which included two other cases that involved children. In the latest case, Althouse was spotted by a jogger sitting without pants near a popular running path and within 150 feet of a middle school.

The court noted that someone's inability to correct behavior after several opportunities could support a life sentence.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey
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In this Thursday, March 2, 2017, file photo, Middlebury College students turn their backs to author Charles Murray during his lecture in Middlebury, Vt. The college says it has initiated an independent investigation into the protest in which the author of a book discussing racial differences in intelligence was shouted down during the guest lecture and a professor was injured.

(AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

By George F. Will

WASHINGTON -- The progressive mob that disrupted Charles Murray's appearance last week at Middlebury College was protesting a 1994 book read by few if any of the protesters. Some of them denounced "eugenics," thereby demonstrating an interesting ignorance: Eugenics -- controlled breeding to improve the heritable traits of human beings -- was a progressive cause.

In "The Bell Curve," Murray, a social scientist at the American Enterprise Institute, and his co-author, Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein, found worrisome evidence that American society was becoming "cognitively stratified," with an increasingly affluent cognitive elite and "a deteriorating quality of life for people at the bottom end of the cognitive ability distribution." They examined the consensus that, controlling for socioeconomic status and possible IQ test bias, cognitive ability is somewhat heritable, that the black/white differential had narrowed, and that millions of blacks have higher IQs than millions of whites. The authors were "resolutely agnostic" concerning the roles of genes and the social environment. They said that even if there developed unequivocal evidence that genetics are "part of the story," there would be "no reason to treat individuals differently" or to permit government regulation of procreation.

Middlebury's mob was probably as ignorant of this as of the following: Between 1875 and 1925, when eugenics had many advocates, not all advocates were progressives but advocates were disproportionately progressives because eugenics coincided with progressivism's premises and agenda.

Progressives rejected the Founders' natural rights doctrine and conception of freedom. Progressives said freedom is not the natural capacity of individuals whose rights pre-exist government. Rather, freedom is something achieved, at different rates and to different degrees, by different races. Racialism was then seeking scientific validation, and Darwinian science had given rise to "social Darwinism" -- belief in the ascendance of the fittest in the ranking of races. The progressive theologian Walter Rauschenbusch argued that with modern science "we can intelligently mold and guide the evolution in which we take part."

Progressivism's concept of freedom as something merely latent, and not equally latent, in human beings dictated rethinking the purpose and scope of government. Princeton University scholar Thomas C. Leonard, in his 2016 book "Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics & American Economics in the Progressive Era," says progressives believed that scientific experts should be in society's saddle, determining the "human hierarchy" and appropriate social policies, including eugenics.

Economist Richard T. Ely, a founder of the American Economic Association and whose students at Johns Hopkins included Woodrow Wilson, said "God works through the state," which must be stern and not squeamish. Charles Van Hise, president of the University of Wisconsin, epicenter of intellectual progressivism, said: "We know enough about eugenics so that if that knowledge were applied, the defective classes would disappear within a generation." Progress, said Ely, then at Wisconsin, depended on recognizing "that there are certain human beings who are absolutely unfit, and who should be prevented from a continuation of their kind." The mentally and physically disabled were deemed "defectives."

In 1902, when Wilson became Princeton's president, the final volume of his "A History of the American People" contrasted "the sturdy stocks of the north of Europe" with southern and eastern Europeans who had "neither skill nor energy nor any initiative of quick intelligence." In 1907, Indiana became the first of more than 30 states to enact forcible sterilization laws. In 1911, now-Gov. Wilson signed New Jersey's, which applied to "the hopelessly defective and criminal classes." In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Virginia's law, with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes saying that in affirming the law requiring the sterilization of "imbeciles" he was "getting near to the first principle of real reform."

At the urging of Robert Yerkes, president of the American Psychological Association, during World War I the Army did intelligence testing of conscripts so that the nation could inventory its human stock as it does livestock. The Army's findings influenced Congress' postwar immigration restrictions and national quotas. Carl Brigham, a Princeton psychologist, said the Army's data demonstrated "the intellectual superiority of our Nordic group over the Mediterranean, Alpine and Negro groups."

Progressives derided the Founders as unscientific for deriving natural rights from what progressives considered the fiction of a fixed human nature. But they asserted that races had fixed and importantly different natures calling for different social policies. Progressives resolved this contradiction when, like most Americans, they eschewed racialism -- the belief that the races are tidily distinct, each created independent of all others, each with fixed traits and capacities. Middlebury's turbulent progressives should read Leonard's book. After they have read Murray's.

George Will's email address is georgewill@washpost.com.

(c) 2017, Washington Post Writers Group
1immigration.JPG

In this Sept. 10, 2014, file photo, an unidentified Guatemalan woman stands inside a dormitory in the Artesia Family Residential Center, a federal detention facility for undocumented immigrant mothers and children in Artesia, N.M.

(AP Photo/Juan Carlos Llorca)

By Michael Bloomberg

Whoever said there are no bad ideas never spent any time in Washington. Many never get off the ground, thankfully, but one of the worst I can remember hearing is now under serious consideration by the Department of Homeland Security: forcibly separating children from their parents when families are apprehended crossing the U.S. border.

In a word: No. That is not who we are as a nation. The sight of government authorities taking young children from their mothers and fathers and placing them in group homes or foster care is not a policy we can accept. This shameful act would be compounded by the inevitable incidents of mistreatment, abuse and neglect that would result when children slip through the cracks of the system.

Imposing this kind of cruelty on children runs counter to everything we stand for as a moral, compassionate and freedom-loving nation. The federal government should not be in the business of breaking up families, whether they are migrants apprehended at the border, or parents living here illegally with their American-born children.

Any such policy would impose terrible costs on both parents and children -- as well as the U.S. as a whole, gravely damaging our image in the world and our relations with our neighbors. And for what?

The rationale for the border proposal is to deter people from coming here illegally. But let's get serious. Parents seeking better lives for themselves and their children are willing to take extraordinary risks. They don't attempt illegal border crossings -- often sacrificing their life savings to pay a smuggler thousands of dollars and enduring life-threatening conditions -- believing that they will be caught. The prospect of living the American dream -- the chance to work and give your children opportunities you never had -- is more powerful than any threat issued by Washington, including family separation.

This should not be a partisan issue. In fact, Republicans should be leading the charge against it, given the energy they devote to defending "family values." There is no more important family value than allowing children to live with parents who love them -- and our government should respect that value on every inch of U.S. soil.

It's true that we face an intractable humanitarian problem at the Mexican border. About 54,000 undocumented minors and their accompanying adults were stopped between Oct. 1, 2016 and Jan. 31, 2017 -- more than twice the number over the same period the previous year. Relatively few are Mexican; most are Central Americans. Although levels of violence in Central America have declined, applications for asylum have increased, driven by bleak prospects at home and the lure of family ties in the U.S.

The surge in asylum cases has fed a backlog in the court system, and without adequate detention facilities, many asylum seekers are released until their hearings can be held - which can take years. That time lag has fed the perception, encouraged by smugglers, that getting across the border amounts to permanent legal status.

There's no denying that this is a serious problem, but there are far better ways to address it. President Donald Trump's recent executive order on border security rightly calls for more asylum officers and immigration judges. Speedier case handling must also make provision for the adequate legal representation that judges have called for. Enhanced cooperation with Mexico would help secure its southern border with Guatemala and Belize. Long-term investment in Central America's governance and development is no less important, and it's something that General John Kelly, now Homeland Security Secretary, advocated as head of the U.S. Southern Command.

In the end, however, all of these steps are insufficient if Congress does not adopt an immigration reform bill that gets to the root of the problem: the demand for more labor by the U.S. economy. Migrants come here to work, and they will keep coming -- by hook or by crook, no matter how awful the potential deterrents -- so long as companies and farmers face labor shortages, and so long as fake work papers can be easily and cheaply purchased.

The solutions are not complicated: Yes, do more to secure the border, where possible and rational. But also increase the number of visas and restructure them around our economic needs, offer a path to permanent status for those here illegally and willing to pay fines and learn English, and create a biometric identification for all legal U.S. workers.

The problem is that politicians have sold the public on the idea that simple solutions -- like a giant wall or a massive deportation force -- are all we need. The latest simple solution is just the worst one yet. We should build a border wall a 1,000 miles tall before we consider making orphans of innocent children.

Cleaving families apart and sacrificing children is not Solomonic. And it's certainly not American.

Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. He is the UN secretary-general's special envoy for cities and climate change.

For more columns from Bloomberg View, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/view.

(c) 2017, Bloomberg View
Center Stage Theatre is one of two area community theater groups moving on to the regional level of an theater competition.

The groups performance of Venus in Fur won Best Show at the American Association of Community Theatres recent festival. The competition was hosted by the Bay City Players Feb. 10-12.

Venus in Fur was one of 10 one-act plays entered by theaters throughout Michigan.

The cast and crew won several more awards: Emily Anderson, Outstanding Actress; Jason Applegate, Excellence in Acting, and Susie Polito, Excellence in Directing. The show also won Outstanding Lighting Design and Excellence in Set Design.

While the performance must stand out in the competition, there are also challenges for the crew.

Production team members have a time limit to set up the show, including set and props, which are all required to fit into a 10-foot square on the stage.

The crew has only 10 minutes to set up, and then the actors have 60 minutes to perform. After the performance, the set must be taken down and placed back into a box, also within 10 minutes.

Succeeding in the competition requires precise timing in addition to a standout performance.

Center Stage Theatres Venus in Fur advanced to Region 3 AACTFest, which will take place April 27-30 at Parkland College in Champaign, Ill.

The region will also be represented by Standing Room Only Theatre Group of Bay City, performing Hamlet. These groups from Michigan will be competing with the top community theater entries from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Emily Anderson, who plays Vanda, also performed in Center Stage Theatres Urinetown which placed second in the national AACTFest competition in 2011.

Vanda is a force of nature. Venus in Fur is a play within a play, so Vanda is a strong, foul-mouthed actress who forces her way into an audition with Thomas, the director/writer (Jason Applegate), she said. Shes a little rough around the edges, but is much smarter than he gives her credit for, and shes not what she seems to be at the outset.

Vanda is complex, Anderson said.

Shes a layered character. You learn more and more about her as the play progresses, so its fun to explore that as an actor. Shes also much more confident than I am, so I really get to push myself outside of my comfort zone.

Anderson is looking forward to Region 3 competition.

AACTFest is such an exciting and rewarding experience, so Im excited that we get to continue to participate, she said. Weve met so many good friends from across the U.S. through our participation in AACTFest, and they provide a great network of like-minded theatre artists, so just having the time to connect and talk about theatre is so fun.

Applegate plays Thomas Novachek, a playwright who is directing the latest play he has written, Venus in Fur.

Thomas is looking for an actress to capture the cultivation, femininity, intelligence, and strength of his leading lady, he said. When Vanda Jordan enters, we see Thomas go through a whirlwind of emotions and he starts to show that, while hes intended to write a feminist play about a complex, fascinating relationship, perhaps it is more of a reflection of his own insecurities and secret desires.

Applegate enjoys the challenge of the role.

Thomas is an incredibly complex character. He should be likable and sympathetic yet tragically flawed and that has been a pleasure to portray. I do more reacting than acting and so part of the challenge is finding those subtle ways to show how Vanda is affecting Thomas, he said.

He is happy with the outcome of the performance.

We have been working on this show since December and have had a very demanding rehearsal schedule, but it has all paid off. We have been able to delve into an excellent script and develop very complex characters. Applegate said. Im really proud of all the hard work the entire cast and crew has put into this show. At state competition we were recognized in just about every area, if not with an award then by positive feedback from the adjudicators.

Director Polito has enjoyed the journey as well.

This is a very unusual and difficult play, I love the twists and turns of the script, she said. It takes two very accomplished performers, and I feel we have the best performers and crew possible. I love them all. We are all so excited to go to the regional festival, and hopefully we can extend our travels to the national festival in June.

Additional team members include JR Bornemann, Sarah Harrington, Keith Heal, Jared Mowbray, Adam Niemiec, Tom Randolph, Andrew Southwell and Barb Sumi.

The national competition will take place in Rochester, Minn., at the end of June.

Venus in Fur certainly is a sizzling dark comedy, but it is also a modern Greek myth about the power struggles between men and women. In a society, and especially in the theatrical industry, men often hold prominent positions of power, Applegate said. Venus in Fur demonstrates how a powerful woman can subvert the patriarchy. Your reaction to Vanda, especially if you are a male, will reveal how you might feel about powerful women in general.

Local theater-goers can see Venus in Fur at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Midland Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12. The show contains adult language and subject matter.

For more information, go to mcfta.org

To learn more about AACTFest, visit aact.org/2017
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department.

Wednesday, March 8

2:28 a.m.  A Greendale Township woman, 38, was arrested in Greendale Township for driving while her license was suspended and on a warrant. She was also cited for no proof of insurance.

11:23 a.m.  A tree fell on a car in Lee Township. There were no injuries.

12:01 p.m.  A deputy assisted as Consumers Energy employees worked at a Midland Township home where power was shut off.

3:32 p.m.  A deputy cleared a fallen tree from an Ingersoll Township roadway.

5:28 p.m.  Deputies responded to a Larkin Township business for an altercation involving two employees.

6:10 p.m.  A deputy was sent to an Ingersoll Township roadway after a stop sign was blown down at an intersection. The road commission repaired the sign.
Windy weather ravaged the state of Michigan this week leaving, at times, hundreds of thousands without power.

Emergency crews are hard at work getting things back to normal but some might be in the dark until the weekend.

In the meantime, there are a few things citizens should be aware of to stay safe.

Wind storms often mean downed power lines. These are extremely dangerous and power companies have dedicated a lot of effort to creating safety campaigns concerning this hazard.

Consumers Energy says that if a wire is crossing a road or a driveway, avoid the area and keep others away. Do not attempt to move it.

It may not be sparking, but it still can be live and fatal if touched. Keep 25 feet away from it and anything it touches.

Down lines should be reported to emergency personnel so they can be safely moved. Call 911 and/or 1-800-477-5050 to report downed or sagging wires.

While it is too late for many, being prepared for a storm can help head off problems before they start. Keep flashlights and a portable radio handy (and batteries). Be familiar with where the circuit box is and make sure there is a clear path. Any generator should be installed by a licensed electrician.

It is also a good idea to have an emergency supply of non-perishable food, baby formula, a first aid kit and a sufficient supply of prescription medicine.

Be aware of emergency alerts. Residents can sign up for Midland Countys emergency notices via Nixle or Midland County 911s Facebook page or monitor local news using a smart phone.

Consumers Energy will keep residents posted on power restoration via its outage map at www.consumersenergy.com/outagemap

As of Thursday afternoon, Consumer Energys coverage area was still riddled with pockets of lost power, including many in Midland and Midland County.

Best of luck to those restoring power to the state of Michigan.
There is no shortage of issues that Democrats and Republicans disagree about. Thankfully, protecting the Great Lakes has never been one of them.

Since 2010, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have joined together to support funding, through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, to protect the Great Lakes from harm. For good reason: the Great Lakes are a national treasure. Theyre the worlds largest freshwater body and represent 90 percent of Americas surface freshwater resources.

The Great Lakes are also big job creatorsgenerating billions of dollars in economic activity and supporting over a million jobs in the tourism, boating and fishing industries.

Thats why there is strong bipartisan opposition to the Trump administrations recent draft budget that slashes Great Lakes protection efforts by 97 percent. Under this proposed Environmental Protection Agency budget, essential programs to reduce pollution and protect the Great Lakes from invasive species would all but be eliminated. These extreme cuts would have disastrous consequences on the health of the Great Lakes and our economy.

These cuts would cease programs seeking to stop the spread invasive species like Asian carp and zebra mussels. Habitat restoration efforts, like a recent project by Ducks Unlimited to restore wetlands near the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, would no longer happen. And public health would be jeopardized  funding to prevent harmful algal blooms, like the one that occurred in Toledo affecting the drinking water of 400,000 people, would be gone.

Im from Flint  with our citys ongoing water crisis, we know what happens when government tries to cut its way to prosperity.

Such deep cuts would also hurt our economy and contribute to the loss of thousands of jobs. Great Lakes protection efforts have a direct positive impact on Americas economy. The Great Lakes propel approximately $62 billion in industries such as sport fishing, boating, hunting and wildlife observation. Taken together, the Great Lakes support 1.5 million good-paying jobs in states like Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Indianaall states President Trump won last November. All of these jobs depend on the environmental quality of the Great Lakes.

Our constituents get it  according to a recent poll, 86 percent of residents in a state bordering the Great Lakes understand and support Great Lakes protections programs that President Trump is seeking to end. Many of these voters cast their ballots for President Trump and oppose these deep cuts.

Last year, Congress authorized full funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, with 25 Republicans and 21 Democrats co-sponsoring the measure. And just last month, 40 Members of Congress  Democrats and Republicans  wrote to the president asking him to maintain the current level of funding, $300 million, in his Fiscal Year 2018 budget.

Its my hope that President Trump will recognize the economic value of the Great Lakes and reconsider these terrible cuts. My colleagues in Congress, representing Great Lakes states but also other parts of the country, should also speak up in opposition to this harmful proposal.

Simply put, our livelihood, our jobs and our way of life depends on having clean and vibrant Great Lakes. We should not cut vital Great Lakes efforts that are critical to supporting our economy and protecting our environment.

Congressman Dan Kildee represents Michigans 5th District.
NORMAL  A massive water main break in Normal has been repaired and samples for state testing of water safety were drawn about 7 p.m. Friday, meaning the townwide boil order likely will remain in effect until Saturday evening.

The break occurred about 11:30 p.m. Thursday in the 1000 block of East College Avenue and repairs were completed at 4 p.m.

"Water department officials anticipate that the boil order will be lifted sometime Saturday evening," said Normal Director of Communications Dan Irvin in a news release that was updated Friday night.

"Testing of these samples requires 24 hours, per (Environmental Protection Agency) regulation."

Due to the size of the break, the water system pressure dropped to a level that required a townwide boil order effective immediately. The break prompted some businesses to close and others to restrict service.

Town issues boil order fact sheet The town of Normal has posted this fact sheet on its website. Call the water department at 3

The boil order was issued about 5:45 a.m. Residents should bring water to a rolling boil for three to five minutes before using it for drinking or cooking.

Normal City Manager Mark Peterson urged residents to follow the boil order but said those who used water Friday morning before seeing it should be fine. Even under a boil order, it's safe for residents to bathe, shower and do laundry, according to EPA information.

The chances of any kind of bacteria or substance getting into the system is extremely remote, and even if it did, the chlorine probably would take care of it, Peterson said. Your exposure is much greater diving into any public swimming pool.

Midwest Food Bank will distribute water from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at its new location, 2301 Warehouse Road, Normal, for affected Normal residents. They can pick up one case of water per household.

We are often called upon to provide disaster relief at many locations, Director of Operations Mike Hoffman said. This is an opportunity to offer help right in our own community.

Abby Strader, co-owner of Fort Jesse Cafe in Normal, arrived at the restaurant at 6 a.m. Friday without knowing of the boil order.

Our first group of customers were the ones who told us, said Strader. So we ran to Wal-Mart and grabbed 20 gallons of water, bags of ice and liters of soda.

Strader said employees scrambled to sanitize ice bins and go back to the basics when making tea and coffee.

We figured it out and made it work. Food preparation is a little more time consuming, but everyone is taking it on as a challenge, she said.

Moes Southwest Grill in Normal remained open and General Manager Shelbee Dickman said the boil order made things a little rough.

Because of the unsanitized water, we have to have water stations set up for all employees with boiled water, towels and soap. We cant use any faucets, said Dickman.

Fountain soda and brewed tea were not available, but the store provided canned soda.

Thanks to a 30-gallon pot normally used to cook beans, Dickman said the restaurant can always have boiling water ready for cleaning and cooking.

Medici restaurant in uptown Normal found it easier to close for the day as a precaution, said General Manager Joe Slane.

We cant wash dishes, serve soda, rinse lettuce or even wash our hands, said Slane. We could boil water to do the dishes and rinse produce, but that would be impossible to manage.

Slane is hopeful the restaurant will be open for lunch on Saturday, depending on the status of the boil order.

Epiphany Catholic School, located in the area of the break, was closed Friday and all activities are canceled, the school announced on its website, because it is without water service.

The school should reopen Monday after the main break left several inches of water in some parts of the school.

Advocate BroMenn Medical Center was maintaining normal operations on Friday by using a combination of water from Bloomington, boiled water and bottled water, said officials.

At Illinois State University, which begins spring break this weekend, word of the boil order was being spread to students and faculty via social media and mass emails relaying information from the town, said Eric Jome, director of media relations. Information also is available on the campus websites home page.

In addition, signs were being posted at water fountains around residence halls and other campus locations.

Housing staff is providing bottled water in residence halls, he said, with main campus dining facilities offering limited service.

McLean County Unit 5 schools were open and had water service Friday, but steps were taken to ensure that students and staff do not drink water from fountains.

Spokeswoman Dayna Brown also said bottled water was brought to each school and kitchen staff.

Not surprisingly, there were a steady stream of people purchasing bottled water at Meijer Friday.

Just looking at the customers who are in my checkout lanes, the vast majority of them have some form of water in their shopping carts, said the store director, Mike Anderson, about 10:15 a.m. Friday.

Boiling water Q&A The Centers for Disease Control has produced this Q&A related to the issuance of boil orders.

Store managers at the Wal-Mart Supercenter, 300 Greenbriar Drive, were also busy coordinating the distribution of bottled water, said an employee who answered the phone about 9:40 a.m. Friday.

Illinois EPA mandates that the boil order be imposed for a minimum of 24 hours starting when the repairs are completed, which was about 7 p.m. Friday, said the town.

So, the boil order will remain in effect until laboratory sampling confirms that "the water quality has not been compromised," the department said in a statement.
The town of Normal has posted this fact sheet on its website. Call the water department at 309-454-9563 if you have further questions.

What does a boil order mean?

It means the water that comes out of the tap should not be used for drinking, brushing your teeth, cooking or washing fruits and vegetables. You should use bottled or boiled water for these activities.

How long should I boil my water?

The affected tap water should be brought to a rolling boil for 3-5 minutes before being used. Officials anticipate the boil order will be lifted by 5:00 p.m. Saturday.

Why has the boil order been called?

A major water main break occurred Thursday night in the 1000 block of East College Avenue in Normal, causing a drop in water pressure in the system. The Illinois EPA mandates that the boil order be imposed for a minimum of 24 hours starting when the repairs are completed.

Can I wash my hands with this water?

It is recommended bottled water or water boiled for 3-5 minutes should be used for hand washing. When this is not practical, use hand sanitizer after washing.

Can I shower or take a bath in this water?

Yes, it is safe to shower or bathe in the water. The primary concern is that the water not be consumed.

How do I wash my dishes and clothes?

Use bottled water or water that has been boiled for 3-5 minutes to wash and rinse dishes. Home dishwashers cannot be assured to completely kill organisms that may be in the water. You may continue to use the water to wash clothes.

Can my pets drink the water?

Animals generally are not affected in the same way as people by contaminants in the water. An individual may give their pet bottled water or water that has been boiled for 3-5 minutes and cooled if they choose. Fish tanks should not be affected.

Is it safe to breastfeed during the boil order after bathing in the water?

Cleaning the breast area with soap and bottled or boiled but cooled water prior to feeding is recommended.

Are vending machines that mix drinks (soft drink, coffee, tea and hot chocolate machines) safe?

These machines that use tap water should not be used.

Who can be affected?

Anyone may become ill, but infants, young children, the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems are more at risk.

What are the symptoms of water-borne illness?
BLOOMINGTON  Four decades of footloose activity in Bloomington-Normal is being celebrated this weekend.

The McLean County Dance Association turns 40, with no end to the movement in sight ... be it ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop or modern.

"It's a big milestone for sure, especially being a nonprofit association," says Jeannine Tomlinson, vice president of the MCDA's board of directors.

To mark the occasion, an open house is being held from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday for prior and current MCDA board members, teachers, company directors and students.

"One of our members has spent a great deal of time finding articles, old programs from past dances and old notes from past board meetings," says Tomlinson of the display that will be on view Sunday.

Also part of the celebration will be a master class for current MCDA performing company members with Lindsey Miller, a former MCDA dancer and teacher who now works as professional dancer-choreographer in New York City.

Before relocating to its current East Empire Street headquarters, the group began its life on the third floor of the old Withers Library at 210 E. Washington St.

The date was January 1977.

That opening was the culmination of the effort of a group of women with varying backgrounds in dance who were interested in promoting dance as an art form for the community: Janet Boeh, Jane Nygood Plum, Linda Chizmar, Janet Bremner, Christine Myers and Gale Keeran (in whose name and honor a talent scholarship was established in 2001).

Two years later, the MCDA became incorporated and established as a not-for-profit organization, making it the oldest nonprofit dance organization in the Bloomington-Normal area.

After Withers Library was razed in 1979 to make way for the present-day Withers Park, the group moved in to the downtown Eddy Building at Main and Market streets, remaining there until it was destroyed by fire in 1990.

Among the MCDA's dance companies over its four decades have been Dance Synergy, a modern repertory company for adults; and, through the 80s and 90s, Young Concert Dancers, Dance Internos and Der Tanz.

Under current director Terri Miller, the MCDA presently supports Bloomington Ballet I and II, Bloomington Ballet Apprentice Company, Contemporary Dance Theatre and JazzFusion.

Those wishing to attend Sunday's open house and reunion should RSVP to mcleancodance@aol.com.
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 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.

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.
BLOOMINGTON  The jury considering rape charges against William Gyang continues to be deadlocked, according to a note sent to the judge shortly before 10 a.m. on Friday.

The panel deliberated three hours Thursday before sending a note that they were split 11 to 1. No indication was made as to how the decision was split on the four counts involving two alleged victims.

Judge Scott Drazewski directed the jury to resume their deliberations.

The judge denied defense attorney Stephanie Wong's motion for a mistrial after the second note.

Drazewski instead issued what is known as a Primm instruction that directs the panel to make an effort to reach a verdict.

If the jury fails, the judge said he will grant a mistrial.

As the final witness in the four-day trial, the 19-year-old Bolingbrook man testified that two women he met at Illinois State University willingly participated in sex with him during two incidents in 2015.

In closing arguments on Thursday, Wong was critical of the seven-hour interrogation of Gyang by Normal police in which he made statements she said were untrue but incriminating. Gyangs claim that he ripped off the shirt of the second alleged victim was denied in the alleged victim's testimony.

Referring to a lengthy interview by detective Nicole Bruno, Wong said, Shes so good at what she does, she got Will to admit things that didnt happen and dont exist.

Sexual assault is not limited to the preconceived image of an armed assailant jumping from bushes to attack an unsuspecting victim, Assistant States Attorney Kristin Alferink argued in her closing remarks.

The fact that both women may have consented to kissing Gyang during their separate encounters does not mean he had their consent for other sexual activity, said the prosecutor.

They could have punched him or run away. Saying no and pushing him off should be enough, and it is enough, Alferink said of the alleged assaults.

In his testimony, Gyang said he was not aware that a woman he met in early September 2015 was uncomfortable with the encounter she had with him after she invited him to her dorm room at Watterson Towers. Her opinion of the sexual encounter came about a week later in her text message to him, he said.

"While we were together she never said she was uncomfortable in any way, shape or form," Gyang testified.

The woman, who now attends college in northern Illinois, told police about her alleged sexual assault by Gyang during a report she made in October 2015 about a second, unrelated alleged assault.

Gyang and the alleged victim both testified that she was upset when ISU police called Gyang about the incident. In a text message he sent to the woman from a police interview room, Gyang apologized for making her feel uncomfortable.

She also advised him not to cooperate with police.

Gyang repeated his denials of forced sex when asked about allegations from a second woman who met him at a party on Oct. 22, 2015.

"I did not force her. I did not threaten her," Gyang said, in response to questions from Wong.

The jury also heard from two ISU students who lived in the townhouse where the second alleged rape reportedly occurred after the woman and Gyang went there to pick up her keys. Both witnesses supported Gyang's recollection that he and the woman told them "we didn't have sex on your bed; we had sex on the floor."

If convicted, Gyang faces up to 30 years in prison.

This story will be updated.
Stefano Zmirich, 25, of St. Peters, is charged with threatening a public official by telling an officer he would cut off his testicles. The suspect also is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and with obstruction of justice for refusing to comply with a search warrant to draw his blood for testing.
BLOOMINGTON  Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe of the Moses Montefiore Congregation in Bloomington asked people attending a Not In Our Town anti-hate rally Thursday at Illinois Wesleyan University to join hands and repeat after her.

We are here. We are your brothers and sisters. We hear you. We believe you, she said as the crowd of more than 150 people echoed her words. Hatred and intolerance have no place here. We shall not fear. Love will hold us together as one family of humanity."

The gathering started with a mantra recited by a Hindu priest and the lighting of a candle to symbolize removal of darkness from the community.

Speaker after speaker talked about the need to support each other, to speak out against hatred and bigotry and to work for peace.

The rally took place in IWU's Hansen Student Center where the two dozen flags of other countries that ring the upper level took on special meaning.

We are all here in solidarity as a community to stop hate together, said IWU Provost Jonathan Green. We are gathered here tonight to express love for our neighbors.

But it was the personal stories of insults and slights, particularly those of high school students from Bloomington District 87 and McLean County Unit 5, that seemed to touch the crowd.

A student whose family is from India told of being asked in a social studies class what caste her family was from.

Another who is Muslim said the day she decided to wear her hijab to school she received "weird looks" or was ignored by people she knew.

A Hispanic student said she was told not to speak Spanish in school  you're in America now, they said.

And a student of mixed race related how, when she was only 6 years old, her mother, who is white, came to school for a program and another student asked if she was adopted.

Imam Khalid Herrington of the Islamic Center of McLean County experienced racism growing up in the 1970s with a mother who is white and a father who is black. When he became a Muslim in the mid-1990s, he encountered other bigotry, especially after the 9-11 attacks.

One day, Herrington, whose parents both served in the U.S. military, was told to Go back to your country, he said.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he recalled.

But amid the stories of rude comments  or worse  there were also stories of feeling welcome in Bloomington-Normal and staying far longer than they ever thought they would.

Archana Shekara, a Not In Our Town member and one of the event's organizers, lived in India for 19 years, but she has lived in Bloomington-Normal for the last 24 years.

Bloomington-Normal is my town. It's where I live. It's my home, said Shekara, prompting applause from the crowd.

A number of speakers, representing different races, religions and nationalities took the stage at one point  immigrants and children of immigrants from countries such as France, Brazil, Bangladesh, India and Venezuela.

This is what Bloomington-Normal looks like, said Shekara.

The Rev. Susan Baller-Shepard of rural Bloomington warned that hate speech is becoming hate action in parts of America, but she emphasized that hate should not be answered by hate.

We have to guard against lowering  our behavior to that of the haters, she said.

Shekara urged people to report instances of hatred.

Her daughter, 17-year-old Aishwarya Shekara, said, See us as the next generation of leaders who have the power to change our nation, even in these polarized times.

Baller-Shepard said, "Let's continue to celebrate diversity, not just tolerate it, not just moan about it, but celebrate."

Herrington reminded the crowd: "We are not going to agree all of the time. We can still respect each other all of the time. We can try to understand each other all of the time."
BLOOMINGTON  The Chateau Hotel and Conference Center could reopen in a week to 10 days after fixing an alarm system that stopped functioning sometime after Nov. 2.

"It looks like they are going to go ahead and upgrade the fire alarm panel with some parts and ultimately correct the situation," Bloomington Community Development Director Tom Dabareiner said Thursday afternoon.

"That would take about a week to 10 days, we're estimating," he said. "We're certainly ready to inspect (the alarm system) when they're ready."

Meanwhile, the hotel's owner, Bloomington Chateau Partners, still owes the city nearly $100,000 in back taxes, with full repayment scheduled for this spring.

The Chateau was closed Wednesday by the city after it learned from a contractor that the hotel did not have a working fire alarm system.

"There were 75 rooms booked, but when we got there guests had checked into only 50 rooms and needed to be moved," Dabareiner said.

A woman who answered the phone at The Chateau declined comment.

The adjoining Tony Roma's restaurant remains open for the time being. The restaurant, which is operated separately from the hotel, is located on the first floor of the four-story building at 1601 Jumer Drive.

"That's because a different approach can be taken to evacuate that restaurant," said Dabareiner. "They have multiple exits and they are dealing with people who are awake. So it would be easier to get them out of that part of the building."

When the building was last checked by a private company that the hotel hires to do inspections on Nov. 2, the fire alarm system was working, said Dabareiner.

"At what point between then and now that it stopped working we really don't have any idea," he added.

Dabareiner said it is not uncommon for commercial properties to hire private companies to maintain and perform routine inspections of their building systems, and "whose protocol is to let the city know when they see a problem."

But the city does not want to close businesses, said Dabareiner.

"That's a last straw for us," said Dabareiner. "Unfortunately, we had to with the hotel because safety is the No. 1 priority."

Meanwhile, The Chateau's other problems continue. The hotel faces foreclosure and sale after Bloomington Chateau Partners, failed to make any mortgage payments through at least September 2016, according to a complaint filed with the court that month. At that time, Bloomington Chateau Partners was $8.3 million in debt.

For years the ownership group also has struggled to pay its local taxes. In January 2015, it owed the city $335,000. According to information released by the city Thursday, The Chateau still owes $94,317 in back taxes. That amount includes a regular monthly installment of $7,763 due March 15 and an April 15 balloon payment of $86,554 that were part of the city's overdue tax repayment agreement.

If the hotel completes those payments on schedule, it will not owe any more back taxes.

But coming due will be food and beverage and hotel/motel taxes for February and March. The city does not know those amounts yet.

Bloomington Chateau Partners purchased the hotel in 2002, 14 years after it opened as Jumer's Chateau and three years after Jumer's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The ownership group took out a $9.5 million mortgage for the 180-room hotel in 2007.
BLOOMINGTON  Winter is returning to Central Illinois for an extended stay, say forecasters from the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

We have a system coming in from the southwest and its going to bring cold temperatures and maybe even a little snow, said Kirk Huettl, a meteorologist with the NWS.

Huettl said less than an inch of snow is expected on Saturday for McLean County.

Earlier this week, the preliminary track had the system moving right through Central Illinois, he said. Since then, the system has taken more of a southwestern track and thats where they are going to see more snow.

A sunny sky and a high of 34 degrees is expected Friday, which is well below normal for this time of year, he said. The average daytime high is 47 degrees, and average overnight low is about 28 degrees.

On Saturday, the high likely will be only 30 degrees with a 40 percent chance of snow.

Sunshine is expected Sunday with a high near 35 degrees. Snow returns to the forecast for Sunday night and into Monday.

It will start turning warmer on Monday, so that will decrease the likelihood of any significant accumulation, Huettl said. The high will be around 36 degrees and I dont see anything as far as significant accumulation, however it is still pretty early to predict exactly what that system will do.

Lower temperatures will remain in the forecast at least through the middle of next week, he said.

Its the time of year where we usually see a lot of mild temperature swings, but this time, thats not going to be the case, he said. Its going to slowly get warmer next week, but temperatures are going to be below what we would normally see.
Mumps cases are currently on the rise across several states in America. Local health officials are sending caution and reminders to worried parents that the outbreak can be controlled if they don't forget to vaccinate their kids.

In Kansas, some 56 mumps cases were reported from Feb. 6 to March 13, according to Newstalk KZRG. An outbreak of mumps was also reported in nearby states like Missouri, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Health officials in Chicago were also alerted to the rise in mumps cases in recent months despite schools requiring students to have up-to-date immunization, per Chicago Tribune. Some parents, however, have opted out of this based on religious or philosophical belief as well as medical exceptions from the public health office.

"Certainly we're asking everyone to make sure they're up to date on their mumps vaccination," Janis Goedeke of the Kansan Health Office said. "Number two, we're asking people if they are ill, please stay home."

Deanna Durica of the Cook County health office in Oklahoma appealed to parents who have a different mindset about vaccination to reconsider for the sake of the children's health. "We're reminding parents who might be fearful of or have gotten misinformation about vaccines that immunizing your children is the best way to protect them from many diseases, including mumps," she said.

Mumps is a viral infection that causes the swelling and inflammation of the salivary glands. Parents need to watch for symptoms like fever and enlargement around the jaw area, as well as muscle aches and pains.

There are no medicines for fighting off the virus except for the vaccine, which is supposed to be given first to babies between 12 to 15 months. An immunization boost must then be given when the child is around four to six years, according to WGNTV.

If a child has mumps, health expert Tiffany Wiksten advised proper hand washing and covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. "Also make sure we're cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces, countertops, tables, toys, not sharing utensils with people."
Lawmakers passed a proposed bill on equal parenting in North Dakota. If approved into a law, it will allow each parent, who has divorced or separated, to have a 35 to 50 percent time with the children. Supporters believe the measure will help cut down problems arising from custody battles, but critics argue otherwise.

Some 71 representatives voted in favor of House Bill 1392 while 21 opposed it. Republican Rep. Tom Kading was the bill's sponsor and six other GOP representatives backed his proposal.

Kading made it clear that the bill is different from a previously rejected proposal called Measure Six. He said that HB 1392 is a children's right's bill than a parents' rights, which Measure Six was. The latter apparently had more rigid provisions and heavier burden of proof for the parents, The Dickinson Press reported.

HB 1392's focus, on the other hand, is for the child's best interest. Under its stipulations, the courts should accord both parents "equal presumption." Divorced fathers who feel that, more often than not, they lose out to custody cases as courts usually favor mothers, strongly back the bill.

North Dakota's State Bar Association, however, expressed its opposition through lawyer Jason McLean. He cited some problems with equal presumption, via his column in Inforum.

"The court is the only place a parent can go to overcome a presumption," McLean wrote, citing this bill won't actually lessen custody battle conflicts. "Not only that, the burden of proof is no longer equal between the parents. Instead, the parent opposing the presumption bears that burden."

McLean, who also opposed Measure Six in 2014, maintained HB 1392 is still the same law, albeit differently worded and despite how Kading presented it. "The presumption will control everything," he said. North Dakota senators are expected to vote on the bill as well after the deliberations done last March 8.
Lawmakers in Utah have passed a bill repealing an existing law that disallowed gay discussions in sex education classes. The removal of the "no promo homo" law was laid out Wednesday in the wake of a discrimination lawsuit against the state which was filed in 2016.

Some 27 senators voted to amend the law on gay discussions via the Senate Bill 196: Health Education Amendments. Republican Sen. Stuart Adams sponsored the bill and only one senator, Republican Margaret Dayton, voted against it.

The House of Representatives also almost unanimously voted for the repeal with 68-1 votes, according to Advocate. The passed bill is currently awaiting Gov. Gary Herbert's signature for it to become a full-fledged law.

In 2016, Equality Utah and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a lawsuit against Utah and seven school districts because of the no promo homo provision in sex education classes, as per Vox. The groups cited the law as discriminatory as it created an unwelcoming environment for LGBT students in the classrooms.

Sex education classes, as well as history classes and school clubs in Utah, implore teachers not to advocate for homosexuality or discuss it in a positive light to the kids. One student testimony in the lawsuit claimed he couldn't properly present a report on his family when he wanted to discuss an uncle in a same-sex marriage. He said received harassment from classmates, Fox 13 noted. The lawsuit, however, was stalled because lawmakers were then having a deliberation for SB 196.

"We commend Sen. Adams and the Utah legislature for recognizing that LGBTQ students should be treated with the same respect and dignity as straight students," Troy Williams of Equality Utah said in a statement, per Pink News. "The removal of discriminatory language from school curriculum will send a positive message that all students are valued in Utah."
The employment increase was led by gains in full-time work and in the private sector. Ontario's unemployment rate was 6.2 per cent in February, and has been lower than the national average for 23 months in a row.Ontario's economy is growing and is expected to remain one of the fastest-growing in Canada over the next two years. Over the first three quarters of 2016, Ontario's real GDP growth outpaced that of Canada's and all other G7 countries.The province is focused on ensuring everyone is able to benefit from and contribute to that growth. The government is committed to working with all regions of the province to help create jobs and prosperity.Growing Ontario's workforce is part of our plan to create jobs, grow our economy and help people in their everyday lives.
Last August Patently Apple posted a report titled "Samsung Patents for an Iris Scanner come to Life in the new Galaxy Note 7." Samsung was touting that their new dual biometric ID security was better than just fingerprints  a dig at Apple's Touch ID. But the Note 7 was a complete disaster and Samsung was humiliated in having to remove the product from market. So the Iris scanner had no impact on the market. Now even Samsung recognizes that Iris scanning without facial recognition was all but useless and the new feature race is now surrounding facial recognition, now that Apple has been rumored to be preparing it for one of their next iPhone models debuting this fall.

A new report today notes that "Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S8, scheduled to be released at the end of this month, is appointed with the face recognition technology as a way to complement the iris recognition feature.

As the world's two biggest smartphone makers actively embrace the face recognition technology, the competition to get the upper hand in the area of biometric identification is expected to flare up further.

Officials at Samsung Electronics said on March 8, 'We decided to have Galaxy S8 mounted with the face recognition function since iris recognition is limited in terms of accuracy and speed of recognition. If face recognition is added, it would contribute to unlocking the smartphone within 0.01 second.

Other sources said, 'The development of face recognition technology for the software of the Galaxy S8 has already been completed.'"

More than likely Apple won't just introduce facial recognition as a biometric security feature for iOS and macOS. They're very likely to introduce other types of apps that they've acquired over the last few years including FaceShift and RealFace to show their command of the technology over Samsung's simpleton security feature. The next-gen smartphone war begins at a special New York event on March 29 introducing the Samsung Galaxy S8.

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On Tuesday Patently Apple posted a report about TSMC and Foxconn joining together to make a joint bid for Toshiba. Such a move would be great for either of Apple's suppliers and bad news for Samsung should their bid be successful. Foxconn recently acquired Japan's 'Sharp' that was on the verge of collapse and the Japanese government didn't even bat an eye over "security" reasons. Yet it's being reported today that the Japanese governement sees it differently for bidders regarding Toshiba.

Behind the charade is pure politics, American politics that is. Forbes and others reported back in January the White House, still under Obama, viewed the Chinese a risk to America's semiconductor business.

In January Forbes reported that "A White House advisory panel issued a report recommending that the U.S. strengthen protection of the semiconductor industry, especially against threats posed by Chinese policies to dominate the sector.

The report, released Friday by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, said that the "concerted push by China to reshape the market in its favor, using industrial policies backed by over one hundred billion dollars in government-directed funds, threatens the competitiveness of the U.S. industry and the national and global benefits it brings.

In August 2016, President Barack Obama made the unusual move to block a proposed sale of Aixtron SE in Germany to a unit of Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund, a fund that is part-owned by the Chinese government, citing security concerns. Aixtron develops technology with military applications."

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with President Trump lately and it was about business matters and security. So the Japanese government stepping into the bids for Toshiba, a semiconductor company, and bringing up "security" is for sure a move to ensure that an American company wins the bid for Toshiba. So this move that Reuters is reporting on shouldn't come as a surprise in the bigger picture.

To make this point crystal clear, a sources told Reuters that "The United States is the only feasible partner from Japan's national security standpoint," noting that cutting-edge chips are at the heart of robotics, artificial intelligence and connected devices.

"It's obvious U.S. players are more suitable bidders," a Toshiba executive said. U.S. suitors include data storage firm Western Digital which operates a Japanese chip plant with Toshiba, rival Micron Technology Inc and financial investors like Bain Capital, sources have previously said.

Japan's Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act dictates that an overseas company looking to buy a Japanese company with technology considered key to national security must obtain government permission in advance." For more on the Reuters report, click here.

While a winning bid by TSMC and Foxconn would have been great for Apple, in the bigger picture, the deal was never really in the race as far as the Japanese government was concerned. Japan doesn't want to be locked out of doing business with the U.S. under Trump and in this case, it was politics that won the day for the U.S. semiconductor industry

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In early January LG and Samsung were getting close to announcing future plants due to President Trump's 'Made in America' pledge. On March 01 LG announced a new $250 million dollar plant would open in Tennessee in 2019. On March 07 President Trump and the National Trade Council slammed both Samsung and LG for unfair trade practices  and now Samsung is now in the final stages of announcing a new U.S. plant for home appliances.

A new report today claims that three US states -- South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama -- are reportedly in final talks to attract Samsung Electronics' new appliance plant amid President Donald Trump's protectionist threats against Korean businesses.

As expected, Samsung is chasing cheaper labor, among other things. More than 10 states competed to host the company's US$300 million plant, the report added.

LG Electronics recently announced its plans to build a new washer plant around the area in Tennessee possibly due to cost issues. Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors operate their production plants in Alabama and Georgia, respectively.

The report said South Carolina is promising the most generous incentives but the state's tropical weather, including frequent hurricanes, is an issue for Samsung.

Samsung's plans for a new plant comes as the US government is putting pressure on foreign firms to produce more locally, hinting at raising tariffs on imported goods.

According to industry sources, Samsung is also mulling expansion of their acquired luxury U.S. appliance brand Dacor production plant located in Los Angeles.

Interestingly neither company has to date talked about opening plants for smartphones or any other kind of electronics. Will a foreign company opening a single plant of any kind in the U.S. be enough to thwart a new consumer tax by the new U.S. administration  or are these recent appliance plants announcements just phase one within the a larger scale plan to invest in America?

At the moment, there are more questions than answers. But for now, it's great news that a different kind of Republican President has decided to end unfair trade deals and put their foot down to bring back jobs to America. As one of the most important consumer markets in the world, it's about time that an American President had the gumption to take a stand and fight for the middle class instead of just talk about it in meaningless political speeches that never delivered.

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I think my irony meter just broke.

The Trump team released Irish themed Make America Great Again hats.

Does no one on Trumps team know anything about the history of immigration? The Irish were incredibly reviled! The Irish were spoken of in the nineteenth century the way Trump and his supporters talk about Mexican immigrants today. Possibly worse, actuallythey were seen as literally sub-human.

In fact, Irish immigrants werent just spoken about the way Mexican immigrants are today, they were also viewed the way Trump and his team view Muslim immigrantsCatholicism was seen as an un-American subversive fifth column. Could a Catholic ever adopt American values? Um, no! Absolutely notor so was the claim at the time.

But you dont have to take my word for it! Have a look at the cartoons below:

In using Irish marketing for a Make America Great Again hat, the Trump team presents our nations Irish heritage as valid, important, and part of a great America, despite the fact that at the time of Irish immigration to the United States, the Irish were viewed in the same way Trump and his supporters view Mexicans, Muslims, and refugees today.

The level of introspection in evidence here leaves something to be desired.

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Im sitting here in my office on a Friday morning, trying to make myself work. Its 7am and the neighborhood is waking up. My kids are home asleep  no school today for them. But here in the neighborhood kids are already on the move. Ive seen a couple of young hispanic men from the youth group already, walking to a friends house to catch a ride, or crossing the street to watch the neighbors kids until its time for them to go to school. A homeless man who often spends Sunday morning with our congregation is walking past the church on the sidewalk. Hes probably headed down to the Quick Trip to grab some coffee. He looks cold.

I sip my coffee and wish I was eating a donut or something. Its Friday during Lent and Im fasting. I know that Im not alone, though. Church members all over town are waking & wishing for their usual breakfast, just living with the craving to see what it might teach us. Ive already received one cheeky fasting-related text from a church member this morning. It read simply: fasting is dumb. At this precise moment I couldnt agree more.

I walk outside and see the cops sitting in their car in the parking lot. Im not sure why, but they often hang out there surfing the internet in their cars. I wave to him and unlock the door for Jesse, a homeless man who was just released from prison. Hes coming by later on to meet Bart, a man from our church who is going to help him with some paperwork. Jesse was born in the 1950s in rural Kentucky in his familys hearth room with only a midwife present. Hes never had a birth certificate. Weve got to find a way to get a him one or Kansas wont issue him an ID card.

I sip my coffee and watch traffic pick up in front of the church. A car from down the block starts up in a driveway, a puff of white smoke shooting from the tailpipe. This guys muffler is clearly not entact. Quite a massive sound for such a small car as he makes a left turn right in front of my window and heads off to work. If Im sitting here at 4:30 when he heads home, Ill hear him coming from a full block away.

I breathe deeply and the Jesus Prayer emerges from somewhere deep inside me. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. The words link up with my breathing and I sit here, listening to the hum of my space heater and feeling content. Im ashamed to say its a bit of a foreign feeling for me. I stop praying to wonder why. Why am I content? And then it hits me.

I am surrounded by neighbors and I am grateful.
Actually, no.



If you load a 405 gr.lead bullet so that the muzzle velocity is approx. 1200-1300 fps, it has the same felt recoil as a 308 Win loaded with a 180 gr. bullet at approx. 1.0 to 1.5 grains below its maximum load. Or approx 2650 fps MV - a std load for the 308 Win.



The 45-70, loaded to a MV of 1200-1300 fps, and sighted in 3 inches high at 100 yds, is good out to about 150 yd. That is, the bullet rises and falls no more than 3 inches from the muzzle to 150 yds. Certainly, you can use it at greater distances, and this is done by some hunters familiar with this cartridge.



Using a larger diameter bullet (.459) with a large frontal area (meplat), the wound channel and terminal effect is vastly superior to what a 308 Win (.308 ) can produce.
Russia's Putin urges Israel's Netanyahu to focus on modern world affairs when judging Iran

03/10/17

Source: Press TV

Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop adopting hostile policies against Iran based on a legend in "the fifth century B.C.," instead of focusing on the realities on the ground.

Putin to Netanyahu: Don't judge Iran by 5th century BC, we live in a different world https://t.co/jYF5rSKF3j pic.twitter.com/NDRF5XTMqq  RT (@RT_com) March 10, 2017

Putin made the remarks at a Thursday meeting with Netanyahu in Moscow, during which the Israeli premier claimed ancient Persia had made a failed attempt to "destroy the Jewish people" some 2,500 years ago, a legend commemorated through the Jewish holiday of Purim, which Israel will celebrate starting Saturday night.



"Today there is an attempt by Persia's heir, Iran, to destroy" Israel, said Netanyahu, adding that "they say this as clearly as possible and inscribe it on their ballistic missiles."



In response, Putin described the remarks as part of a legend going back to "the fifth century B.C." and added, "We now live in a different world. Let us talk about that now."

The holiday of Purim commemorates the Jewish legend of a conspiracy to slaughter Jews some 2,500 years ago, which was discovered by the Persian king and thwarted.



While scholars do not agree on the accuracy of the Purim story, Netanyahu has constantly referred to the legend as a basis of his anti-Iran arguments in his meetings with different world leaders.



In a controversial speech to the US Congress in March 2015, Netanyahu repeated his own account of the Purim story and claimed, "Today the Jewish people face another attempt by yet another Persian potentate to destroy us."



Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif responded shortly after the speech. "If you read the book of Esther, you will see that it was the Iranian king who saved the Jews," he said.



Zarif was apparently referring to Persian King Ahasverous who discovered his viceroy's conspiracy and had him executed, according to Jewish accounts.



Book Review: Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran: The Outset of the Diaspora

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Netanyahu has also been selective in his recount of history, ignoring the Hebrew Bible that has repeatedly praised Persian King Cyrus the Great (576 - 530 BC) as the patron and deliverer of the Jews, who put an end to their Babylonian captivity.

In this November 20, 2014 photo, an Iranian Jewish man holds a Torah scroll at the Molla Agha Baba Synagogue, in the city of Yazd. (Photo by AP

Iran has one of the world's largest Jewish communities. Under the Iranian constitution, the country's Jews are represented in the parliament.







Iranian rabbi Yousef Kohani Hamedani (L), performs the wedding of

Peyman Saketkhu (C) & Sanaz Merivarzadeh at a synagogue in Tehran

(file photo by Hasan Sarbakhshian)





In March 2016, Iranian Jewish MP Ciamak Morsadegh said following his election, "The fact is, Iran is a place where Jews feel secure and we are happy to be here."



"We are proud to be Iranian. I know this doesn't follow the Zionist script, but this is the reality," he told the British daily The Independent.



He further said, "Netanyahu and the anti-Semites need each other: they supply each other with what they need - intolerance and hatred."
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Quizlet is a study aid in app form. In essence, it's a flashcard app with smart features, and it can handle images, diagrams, various languages, and even audio uploads. It's ideal for self-paced, rote-style learning. You can make your own study sets, get access to study sets created by instructors, or browse for sets created by other users. It's more intelligent than most flashcard apps, so it's effective at getting you to work on whatever you're struggling to remember, rather than recycling what you already know. With a decent free account and plenty of advanced features in the Plus version, Quizlet is a great tool for students or anyone looking to learn. For all these reasons, Quizlet is an Editors' Choice product among online learning services. It's also one of our top-rated online learning services for kids.

What's New in Quizlet

Among the newer features in Quizlet is Quizlet Learn (formerly called Quizlet Learning Assistant) and Quizlet Live, an interactive game for classrooms. Explanations are also somewhat new.

Quizlet Learn, which is only available to paying members, is excellent at to helping you achieve specific goals with your studying. First, Quizlet asks what your goal is for studying: to get a basic understanding, to memorize most terms, or to learn it all. Next, a follow-up question asks how quickly you want to achieve your goal. After that, the app asks how much of the material you already know. Finally, based on your replies, the app comes up with a custom learning path. For example, it might suggest that you start learning with multiple-choice questions, then move onto flashcards; if you can answer each flashcard correctly one time, you're considered done. At the end of each round of studying, the app shows your progress, meaning how many of the terms or cards you've mastered and how many you have yet to learn.

Quizlet Live is a feature for educators that lets them create an interactive game for a group of learners to play simultaneously. There's also a mode for learners to play independently. If you've ever played Jackbox Games or created interactive quizzes using Kahoot!, this Quizlet game mode is similar. The educator selects a study set, chooses the Live option, and Quizlet generates a QR code that participants scan with their devices to start the game; or they can enter a unique number instead. The game involves participants either playing collaboratively or against each other to answer questions based on the content of the study set. The educator gets reports at the end to show how well participants did and what they know.

The new Explanations section is where you can find answers to questions in textbooks. Each Explanation is a detailed response, which can sometimes use diagrams and mathematical equations. For students learning from standard textbooks, it's similar to what you might find in Chegg, only Quizlet makes it more affordable.

How Much Does Quizlet Cost?

Quizlet has a free option with limited features and a paid option called Quizlet Plus for about $48 per year. The paid version removes ads, lets you study offline, and includes the best features, including Quizlet Learn. There is no month-to-month option.

You can get a seven-day free trial, although it requires a credit card. If you get the free trial via Google Play or the Apple App Store, it's easy to track, manage, and cancel the subscription before you get charged.

You'll need the Plus account if you intend to study using diagrams, custom images (common among medical students), or custom audio. The Plus level also offers personalized study paths, meaning the app determines how you should study based on a goal that you set. Plus members also get smart grading, the ability to scan in documents, and rich text formatting.

Over the past few years, the price of the paid plan has gone up a lot. The company experimented briefly with a mid-tier option called Quizlet Go, which is still visible in the App Store, but has done away with it on Quizlet's website. That's not to say it's too expensive to be worthwhile. Quizlet Plus offers good value if you use the app regularly, although we do wish there were a monthly subscription option or ability to pause a subscription to make it more amenable for those who don't study year-round.

Groups buying Quizlet Plus accounts get pricing by volume(Opens in a new window), which results in a 2025 percent discount, depending on the number of people you have.

Who Uses Quizlet?

Anyone trying to memorize information can use Quizlet. It's popular among primary and secondary school students (K-12), whether they're learning in a classroom or learning from home. It's also well known among university students, medical students, law students, and adult learners who need to memorize informationincluding those studying for standardized tests and trade exams.

Teachers also can use Quizlet to make study sets for their students. Instructors can upload and organize information that they want their students to master. Then they can invite their classes to access the study sets they have created.

Quizlet has even been used in private industry. For example, it has been used to train grocery store cashiers and for onboarding new employees at a software company.

Practical Tips for Successful Schooling at Home Practical Tips for Successful Schooling at Home

Getting Started With Quizlet

Quizlet is available as a web app, as well as an Android app and iPad or iPhone app. To get started, you must create an account with an email address, username, and password; or by authenticating through Apple, Google, or Facebook. Quizlet also asks for your date of birth, presumably to collect data on the ages of people using the app. No one checks whether it's accurate, so it's up to you whether you want to be truthful. The question would seem less invasive, however, if Quizlet simply asked for your year of birth instead of the full date.

Once you have an account, you can start creating your own study sets or looking for ones you want to add to your files. To organize your study sets, Quizlet allows you to make folders. You can also join a class if an instructor gives you a link and then access all the materials for that class.

Quizlet is essentially a flashcard app, so every item in a study set has two pieces: a question or trigger and a response. For example, if you're learning a languageand Quizlet is a fantastic complement to any language learning appyou'd have the word in the new language plus its meaning in your native language. Other kinds of learning might contain images. For example, let's say you're studying botany. The triggers might be pictures of different plants and the answer or response would be their names.

Making sets and editing them is straightforward. Quizlet supports uploading spreadsheets to make the process faster, if you already have study materials laid out in a compatible format. You can edit study sets that you make, but you can't edit someone else's set unless they allow it in the options for that set. You can, however, make a copy of a set (this function is labeled Customize), which you can then change to your heart's desire.

Quizlet always gives you the option to keep your sets private if you don't want anyone else to access them.

Seven Ways to Study

Quizlet gives you seven possible ways to study: 1) Cards, 2) Learn, 3) Write, 4) Spell, 5) Test, 6) Match, and 7) Gravity. The first five are available in the mobile app, whereas all seven are available in the web app.

Cards is a standard digital flashcard method where you cycle through your study set and try to memorize the information. The Learn option gives you a prompt and you select the correct response based on multiple choice options, with all the possible answers coming from your study set. The option called Write shows you a prompt and you have to write the answer, rather than rely on multiple choice options. In Spell, you hear an audio reading of the prompt but don't see it in writing and have to type out the answer. Spell doesn't work for study sets that incorporate images or diagrams. The fifth opinion, Test, gives you a quiz made with a variety of question types, including matching, multiple choice, and so forth. Note that this mode isn't designed for formal assessment. Sixth is Match, where you see a bunch of cards on screen, half prompts and half answers, and you have to match the correct pairs. There's a timer running so that you can turn it into a game and try to beat your best time or your other learners' best times. The last study mode, Gravity, also has a game angle. A prompt appears on an asteroid that appears to fall from the top of the screen, and you have to write the correct response before it hits the ground.

Language learners get some wonderful tools you won't find in many other flashcard apps. For example, once you set the language you're trying to learn, special characters appear when you're typing so that you don't have to frequently switch to a different keyboard. Additionally, the app can speak words aloud with the correct pronunciation. We've tested for Romanian, Spanish, and English and found the pronunciation surprisingly good, with stresses usually landing on the correct part of the word and proper diphthongs and so forth. The voice doesn't sound overly robotic, either.

The Problem of User-Created Study Sets

Although Quizlet typically contains excellent study sets, there's always the problem that user-created content may contain errors or intentionally misleading information, or be problematic in other ways. It's reasonable to have some worries about content, especially for parents or teachers of young students.

That said, the vast majority of errors we've seen in Quizlet are minor, such as misspellings or slightly outdated information. The app automatically filters content using quality scores drawn from user behavior, so better quality content is likely to rise to view whereas poor quality content should get buried. Additionally, you can report problematic content.

More importantly, you don't have to use user-created study sets at all. If you only want to study using content that you've created, that's perfectly fine.

Excellent for Rote Learning

Quizlet is a powerful study aid, one that works well in a variety of settings from traditional schooling to helping you master concepts from an online learning service. We like that you can make your own sets, share them, and find sets that others have created. The free tier of service is very good, though it leaves out some of the more advanced features, which is really the point of digital flashcards in the first place. The Plus membership has become pricier in recent years, which may be a turnoff for those who have paid the much lower price for it in the past. If you can get past that, however, you'll find that it's still an excellent, Editors' Choice pick for learning resources, even at the higher price.

Quizlet 4.0 Editors' Choice (Opens in a new window) Check Stock $0.00 at Amazon (Opens in a new window) MSRP Free Pros Easy to use

Can make, share, and find study sets from other users

Excellent support for languages; great for language studies

Plenty of variety in study modes View More Cons Price for Plus membership has increased considerably

Many technological features restricted to Plus members

Suitable only for rote memorization The Bottom Line Though limited in scope, Quizlet is an excellent study aid (think app-based flashcards) for learning anything that relies on memorization.
The international body crafting the 5G standard has approved an accelerated roadmap that could see large-scale trials and deployments in 2019 instead of 2020.

At a meeting this week in Dubrovnik, Croatia, the 3GPP signed off on a 5G work plan that several top mobile operators and network vendors came out in favor of last week. It would create an interim 5G specification before the full-scale standard is completed.

Its important to get the next generation of mobile out into the world soon because users keep increasing their data consumption, said Lorenzo Casaccia, vice president of technical standards at Qualcomm, in a blog post on Thursday. Thats why his company is backing the in-between spec, which is now expected to be done by the end of this year and available in software about three months later.

Qualcomm and most other big players endorsed this plan just before last weeks Mobile World Congress, with a few holding back. Nokia and Verizon, the two biggest names that werent on board then, are now there. More than 40 companies, including Intel, Ericsson, Huawei and Samsung, back the new plan.

The interim standard, called Non-Standalone 5G NR (New Radio), will let developers create 5G gear and software that still relies on 4G radio and core networks for coverage and mobility management. The final standard, Standalone 5G NR, will have a 5G core network. Its expected to be done in the middle of 2018 and available in software later that year.

Non-Standalone 5G NR will be designed for forward compatibility so carriers dont have to swap out equipment when they move to full-scale 5G, Casaccia said.

The 3GPP has a lot more decisions to make before these specifications are done, and a lot more pieces need to come together before consumers reap the benefits. Unlike 4G, the next standard will have to address things like low latency for VR and autonomous vehicles, plus how to connect millions of IoT devices that dont have enough energy for conventional cellular radios.

There are dozens of technology trials already in progress, and there will be more. A key milestone will be South Korean carrier KTs live trial at the Winter Olympics next year in PyeongChang. Because 5G will use many frequency bands that are new to cellular, including a shared 3.5GHz block in the U.S. and millimeter-wave bands like 28GHz and 39GHz in many countries, national regulators need to make that spectrum available.

On the device side, Qualcomm and Intel both have announced so-called 5G modems, including ones that can work with both millimeter-wave frequencies and lower bands.

Carriers and vendors have their own reasons to speed up 5G. With LTE networks largely built out, the cellular equipment business is in an historic slump, according to DellOro Group. The period between now and 2021 will be the worst five years in the RAN (radio access network) market since DellOro started tracking it in 2000, the company said last month. The research company doesnt expect a rebound until 5G deployment starts in earnest.

For carriers, 5G is a chance to expand their business in new areas like IoT. They look forward to moving beyond just selling monthly smartphone plans.
Scams target immigrants

The surge of raids by US immigration agents has given birth to a new breed of con artist: immigration scammers. People posing as law enforcement have reportedly been demanding money from immigrants, claiming failure to do so will result in deportation.In the confusion and fear surrounding the recent spike in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman warned immigrants to be on the lookout for scammers posing as ICE agents, demanding money in exchange for not being deported.In a fraud alert published on Wednesday, Schneiderman wrote that his office has received a number of reports of unsolicited calls or in-person inquiries from fake immigration officials. The statement said that a man living in Queens was approached by four men presenting themselves as ICE agents.The fake ICE agents told the man he would be deported unless he gave them all of his cash. The man handed over $250, according to Newsday.It is unconscionable for scam artists to prey on heightened fear in our immigrant communities by pretending to be ICE officers and demanding that families pay up in order to avoid deportation, said Schneiderman. He also wrote that ICE agents cannot ask for money.The alert also mentioned similar scams that were delivered via text messages and phone calls. In addition, the fraud alert made a point of mentioning fake legal services, particularly 'notario' scams which target Latin Americans.The scam relies on the cultural misunderstanding between a notario publico and a notary public. In many Latin countries and some European states, 'notarios' are legal representatives. However, in the US, a notary public only has the power to certify documents and other minor legal services, such as taking affidavits and depositions.This mistranslation has allowed some unscrupulous notaries to take advantage of immigrants by charging excessive application fees without ever submitting applications to the immigration authorities or may induce deportation by submitting applications for relief for which the immigrant is not eligible for or did not request.www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo4kqxetTtYOther scammers just lie about being lawyers, take money from immigrants and then run.Immigrants who are victims of any of these rackets should contact the attorney general's Immigration Services Fraud Unit Hotline, advised Schneiderman. No one who calls the hotline will be asked to disclose their status in the US....................................
Norco College student musicians will play a few riffs to benefit the hungry.

A concert to raise money for the Inland chapter of Feeding America, a nationwide network of 200 food banks, is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 18, in the college amphitheater.

Admission is $5, enough for Feeding America to provide 45 meals, a Norco College news release states. Scheduled to perform are student artists and alumni including Adventurist, Devin Renee and Stoneking.

Guests who bring five canned goods will get a $5 voucher toward the purchase of the Norco music programs new album, Collision Course, which is due out April 28.
A 42-year-old San Jacinto man was arrested early Thursday after authorities say he assaulted his girlfriend and her family members, stole cash and kidnapped her Wednesday night in the city.

Jesus Millan had already left by the time a domestic assault report drew Riverside County sheriffs deputies to a home in the 1800 block of Villines Avenue about 8:30 p.m., according to a department news release.

They learned that Millan had assaulted several people at the home before taking his girlfriend and an undisclosed amount of cash. The release does not specify how many people he assaulted.

Deputies couldnt find Millan at any nearby residences.

A description of the suspect and his red Kia Sedona was broadcast to allied agencies as the investigation began, the release said.

Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department found the vehicle in Norwalk about 3:50 a.m. and the California Highway Patrol tried to stop it on the 91 Freeway, but Millan led them on a pursuit, the release said

CHP Officer Dan Olivas said Millan exited at Serfas Club Drive in Corona, where he was arrested.

Inside the vehicle was a woman who Olivas described as pretty badly beaten. She was taken to a nearby hospital with major injuries, the Sheriffs Departments news release said.

Deputies planned to book Millan into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, vehicle theft and evading arrest, the release said.

Online jail records show that he was ultimately booked into jail on suspicion of great bodily injury, attempted murder, and committing a felony with a prior felony conviction.

Sheriffs spokesman Deputy Mike Vasquez did not know the womans condition Thursday afternoon, nor did he know how severe the family members injuries were.

Anyone with information about the incident may contact the Hemet sheriffs station at 951-791-3400. Anonymous tips can be submitted at www.riversidesheriff.org/crimetips or www.wetip.com.
Its hard to imagine their worlds being more different.

Anthony Rendon lives in Paramount, a small, densely populated urban community in Los Angeles County. Chad Mayes hails from Yucca Valley, a dusty desert town of ranch-style homes on Joshua Tree National Parks doorstep.

Rendon wields enormous power in Sacramento, as Assembly speaker and leader of the majority Democratic Party. Mayes leads the minority Republicans in the Assembly, where not one of their votes is needed to pass legislation if the Democrats can agree on something.

The lenses that we see the world from are different, Mayes said recently by phone.

However, Mayes and Rendon agree on something in a politically divided word: Its OK to agree to disagree.

Were both able to demonstrate our mutual respect for one another and, just as important, our respect for civil dialogue, Rendon said.

The respective leaders of their parties are scheduled to appear together at a UC Riverside forum next week to discuss their approach to bipartisan leadership.

The #bromance continues: Speaker Rendon, GOP Leader Mayes to appear on @UCRiverside panel on Thursday, Kevin Liao, Rendons press secretary, tweeted Monday.

THROWING KNIVES

One might wonder, with the lopsided Democratic dominance, why such a bromance even matters.

Given that the Democrats have supermajorities and the governorship, if they are unified they simply dont need the Republicans at all, said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College.

However, the Democrats cant count on 100 percent unity on every single vote. And they cant count on their supermajorities lasting forever, Pitney said.

So, he said, it behooves the Democrats to cooperate with Republicans.

In this case it is doable because youve got two very serious people, Pitney said.

By that, he said he meant serious about making good policy for the state and reaching across the aisle to accomplish that when possible.

Basically, theyre good guys, Pitney said. They disagree on a lot of things. But theyre not throwing knives at each other. They talk. They debate. And in America 2017, thats a big deal.

As for the UCR event, Mayes said he was preparing for it. I dont know what Im going to end up saying, he said.

BEER BUDDIES

But Mayes, who represents several communities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in the vicinity of Palm Springs, said he likely will mention he and the speaker sit down and talk about legislative matters.

We get together for a beer and just chat, he said.

Rendon said they do that at least once a month. As a result, he said, the lawmakers not only know where each stands on a particular issue, they also know much about each others personal lives and how they ended up serving in the Legislature.

Were genuine friends, aside from our working relationship, said Rendon, who represents the Los Angeles County cities of Bell, Cudahy, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, Lynwood, Maywood, Paramount, South Gate and part of north Long Beach.

Its not show. I genuinely like him, Mayes said.

At the same time, he said, We do have vast disagreements. Im someone who believes in less government. Im someone who calls himself a conservative. And hes someone who calls himself a progressive.

That manifests itself in vastly different approaches to solving daunting problems.

It is perhaps not surprising they share the opinion  along with many Californians  that our highways are in lousy shape and in desperate need of repair. But they disagree on how to bring about a comprehensive fix.

Rendon backs a Democrat plan to adopt tax increases and new fees to raise $6 billion a year to finance accelerated maintenance. Our plan has most of what the Republicans want in it, they just seem to not want to pay for it, he said.

TEMPERATURE RISING

Republicans historically have been averse to tax increases. They dont like this one, either.

Mayes said he believes there is cash to be found in the state general fund to boost transportation, which he termed a core function of state government and one that should be supported by its main bank account.

But we can talk about it, Mayes said.

At the same time, Rendon and Mayes look for common ground. Both say, for example, that addressing poverty and boosting workforce development are important priorities.

These are grownups, Pitney said. And they talk to each other. Thats better than a lot of what we see in Washington.

Thats not to say everything runs smoothly in Sacramento. On the contrary, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle from time to time launch verbal missiles at the opposing party.

There are lots of hiccups in the relationship, Pitney said.

But in recent years, he said, in his opinion the level of acrimony hasnt risen to the heights of earlier eras.

Now, well see the next time we have a recession, Pitney said.

Things can get more tense when there is less money to go around, and the parties, with their conflicting priorities, clash over where to cut.

When the economy goes down, the temperature goes up, he said.
Medicare for all

Like James Poulos, I believe that ease of use and understanding would be highly desirable in a health care law. The most crucial factor is affordability and availability for all patients.

The first suggestion is expanding Medicare eligibility to everyone, perhaps phased in by age, allowing the funding and variations to be worked out with children allowed to be on their parents insurance. This would enable portability across jobs, thus freeing employees to change jobs and employers from being in the health care business. Businesses would be free to hire based on business needs alone. The goal would be universal health care  that was once shared by President Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

My second suggestion is electronic sharing of patient information among all providers (including pharmacists), so that when you go to a new specialist or hospital, you get a current printout of your recorded history and medication and you make updates as needed. This would save both patients and providers lots of time and expense.

 Nat Lerner, Hemet

Violation of federal law

Re Democrats should filibuster Gorsuchs nomination (Erwin Chemerinsky, Feb. 8):

Erwin Chemerinskys comments on the Neil Gorsuch nomination can be described in one word: stupid. Gorsuch is eminently qualified. I dont need to list his qualifications here. They have already been documented.

However, Chemerinsky states that the Republicans stole the seat on the court from the Democrats. This is the stupid part. The Republicans did not steal this seat. It did not belong to the Democrats. It belongs to the American people. They elected Trump with full knowledge of this. He also favorably compares Gorsuch to Antonin Scalia. This is the man he was chosen to replace. This sounds like a contradiction of terms.

Regarding the recent ICE arrests: We have immigration laws. People should not be upset when they are enforced. Sen. Kevin de Leon should not make comments that this is not America. Being a state senator, he should know that our nation is a nation based on laws. If he does not agree with a law, he should work to change the law.

The illegals know they are violating the law when they come into this country  a federal law. There is nothing to protest when they are arrested and deported.

 Raymond Franklin, Rialto
A Democratic congressional candidate hoping to unseat a prominent Republican incumbent in Utah has an Inland connection.

Kathryn Allen, who filed papers this week to run against Rep. Jason Chaffetz, graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the University of Redlands in 1975 and earned a medical degree from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 1984, spokeswomen from both universities confirmed.

Its not clear whether Allen, a physician, is from the Inland Empire, although in an online bio, she mentions having worked as an aide to the late congresswoman Shirley Pettis in California, my native state. Pettis represented the Inland Empire in Congress in the 1970s.

Allen hopes to unseat Chaffetz in 2018. As chairman of the House oversight committee, Chaffetz is known for his frequent criticism of Hillary Clintons handling of the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

But lately, Chaffetz has been in progressives crosshairs. Hes been accused of using his committee to launch partisan investigations while ignoring questions surrounding President Donald Trumps business interests or Michael Flynns resignation as national security adviser following news of his talks with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office.

Chaffetzs lack of interest in investigating the Trump administration led to him being booed and jeered at a February town hall meeting. Without evidence, Chaffetz attributed the angry reception to paid protesters.

This week, Chaffetz drew scorn for his comments regarding the GOP effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Americans have choices, and theyve got to make a choice, Chaffetz said on CNN. So rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care. Theyve got to make those decisions themselves.

Critics said Chaffetzs comments reveal his ignorance of health care costs and a disdain for the poor. He later clarified his remarks, telling Fox News: What were trying to say  and maybe I didnt say it as smoothly as I possibly could  but people need to make a conscious choice, and I believe in self-reliance.

The iPhone comments may have given Allen a boost.

Her Twitter followers went from 25 to more than 10,000 in the two days following Chaffetzs remarks, according to a published report. Allen, who was featured on liberal commentator Rachel Maddows MSNBC show, has raised more than $319,000 toward a $400,000 goal on a campaign fundraising website.

Still, Allen faces hurdles in her bid to beat Chaffetz. Since he was first elected in 2008, Chaffetz, who raised $1.4 million last election cycle, has never finished with less than 65 percent of the vote and won re-election with 73 percent of the vote last November.
Were disappointed that White House press secretary Sean Spicer recently said greater enforcement of federal drug laws, including prohibition of marijuana, is coming.

Theres a federal law that we need to abide by when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature, he said. This, at a time when a majority of Americans support not only limiting federal enforcement of marijuana laws but outright legalizing the drug.

Such a move would run counter to multiple statements by Donald Trump on the campaign trail. [In] terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state, he said, for example, during a campaign rally on Oct. 29, 2015.

From a constitutional perspective, this is the most sensible and pragmatic approach to marijuana. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is there a provision granting the federal government the authority to prohibit intoxicants. In Americas prior engagement with the folly of prohibition, that of alcohol, proponents of prohibition at least had the decency to seek and obtain a narrowly worded constitutional amendment, the 18th Amendment, to justify federal intervention. This hasnt been true of marijuana or other drugs.

Voters in most states that have been presented a ballot initiative on marijuana legalization have opted to approve it. Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia have approved outright legalization for medicinal and recreational use, while a majority of states have approved marijuana for medicinal use.

Most Americans are simply ready to be done with the issue. A Quinnipiac poll released last month found 71 percent of Americans opposed to the enforcement of federal laws against marijuana in states that have legalized it for recreational or medicinal purposes. This includes 55 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents and 80 percent of Democrats. On the question of legalization, pollsters found support from 59 percent of respondents.

A renewal of a failed and constitutionally dubious federal crackdown on marijuana is simply not a priority of the American public. Gone are the days of reefer madness and even Just Say No, with legalization, taxation and regulation seen as a more efficacious and just means of combating the harms of marijuana use, while respecting the freedom of individual choice.

We encourage the federal government to take a hands-off approach toward marijuana. Meanwhile, we support efforts in Congress to remove marijuana from federal control.

Last week, Reps. Tom Garrett, R-Va., and Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, introduced the Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2017, which would remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act and thus grant states the flexibility to deal with it. This bill should bring together those who believe in states rights, individual freedom and a sensible justice system.

The pretense of federal marijuana prohibition  that arresting users, growers and sellers of marijuana will prevent use of the drug  has long been shown to be nothing more than a harmful delusion that has criminalized far too many people. We encourage President Trump to do the right thing and allow states to make their own choices.
Federal authorities arrested a 24-year-old Eastvale man on Thursday, March 9, after he was charged with producing child pornography, officials said.

Francisco Javier Soledad was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations, according to a release from U.S. Department of Justice.

A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court says authorities believe Soledad assumed the persona of a young person and later an adult woman on social media site Snapchat to convince a 13-year-old Illinois boy to send a sexually explicit video, according to the release.

When the boy blocked Soledad, officials say, Soledad is accused of threatening the boy via multiple Snapchat accounts and texts to publish the video on social media unless the boy sent more videos.

After the boys parents reported the interaction to authorities, agents with Homeland Security Investigations went to Soledads home. The complaint says that Soledad admitted victimizing the Illinois boy and other children in a similar fashion.

The agents found evidence of five additional victims between the ages of 12 and 15 living in Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and California after a review of the Eastvale mans digital devices, according to officials.

In each of the instances, they say, each of the children appeared to have been coerced.

Officials say over 5,000 images and videos of pornography, much of it self-produced, were found on the devices. Not all of the victims have been identified by law enforcement, they say.

Soledad was expected to be arraigned in the next couple of weeks.

If hes convicted of producing child pornography, Soledad could receive a minimum of 15 years in federal prison and as much as 30 years.

Officials are encouraging anyone with information about Soledad or his Snapchat handle, linkinparkrocks, to call HSIs toll-free tip line at 1-866-234-7423.

RELATED

Man, 78, arrested in Riverside child luring case, police say

Temecula man faces child porn, molestation charges

Murrieta man sentenced to 14 years in federal child porn case

Perris man, 63, charged with distributing child porn
Are Norco residents willing to pay more for better roads, public safety and other services?

The city has hired a research firm to find out.

A sample of 300 likely voters will be asked whether they support a tax and the type, amount, purpose, timing and other questions in online and phone surveys.

The City Council last week unanimously approved two agreements totaling at least $45,000 for the work. The Lew Edwards Group, an Oakland-based communications, government affairs and political consulting firm, will oversee the project. Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, which has offices in Los Angeles and Oakland, will do the survey.

City Manager Andy Okoro said the interviews will take place in several weeks with results to be released by July 1. If enough people support it, a measure could be put on the ballot in November or a year after that.

Its up to the residents to decide, Mayor Greg Newton said. Thats why were seeking their feedback.

Okoro said the city needs money to plug a $4 million a year gap to repair and replace streets, as well as for upkeep of parks, trails and buildings. The city also wants to restore police and firefighter positions eliminated several years ago during the recession.

To improve the quality of life in Horsetown U.S.A, those positions are critical, Okoro said.

City Councilman Kevin Bash said the city has cut the number of employees roughly in half since 2008 and keeps expenses to a minimum. But Norco has only about 7,000 houses and generates little property tax to pay for basic services.

We live and die on sales tax revenues, Bash said. We are looking at ways to generate more income to pay for things. We need to work on our roads and streets. Its the next big problem that every city in California and the nation is facing.

Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates worked with eight Riverside County cities  including Riverside, Moreno Valley, Temecula, Hemet and Menifee  that approved local tax measures in November. The firm also did research on two successful bond measures in the Corona-Norco Unified School District in 1998 and 2006.

More than six in 10 Norco voters likely to cast ballots in a November special election are registered Republicans, a report by the firm stated.

Norco residents are often fiscally conservative and more skeptical about local taxes, making it important for officials to educate voters about a possible measure, the report said.

By law, public agencies cant spend money supporting or opposing ballot measures. But cities can put out straightforward information that doesnt promote passage of a measure, City Attorney John Harper told the council.

Theres always a debate about what counts as education versus what counts as trying to convince somebody, Harper said.

Reach the reporter:

951-368-9292, stwall@scng.com or @pe_swall on Twitter
Prince Kumi, a popular car dealer at Bekwai Roundabout in Kumasi, has revealed that the prices of second-hand vehicles would go down significantly owing to the removal of taxes on the importation of automobile spare parts into Ghana.



Mr. Kumi, aka Maxi, explained that Ghanaian car dealers usually buy auction vehicles, which have been involved in accidents from US and other countries.



He said the car dealers buy spare parts, which are very expensive, to decorate the cars that have been shipped to Ghana.



Maxi said the prices of cars will go down, because we will no longer buy spare parts at exorbitant prices as we used to do.



The car dealer therefore showered praises on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government for addressing the concerns of the citizenry.



According to him, it takes a president who has the wellbeing of his people at heart to abolish taxes on spare parts.



Maxi observed that President Akufo-Addo has good intentions of developing Ghana to make the people comfortable.



In this regard, he charged the citizenry to wholeheartedly support the NPP administration to implement its policies to effectively develop the country.



He stated that President Akufo-Addo has almost fulfilled all his campaign promises in his maiden budget and that shows he is determined to lead Ghana into affluence.



Maxi was part of the people who used their resources to support the NPP to defeat the NDC during the 2016 elections in the Ashanti region.

Source: Daily Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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This is breitbart insider for ya:At least this breitbart site is entertaining....___________________________________________________SOMALI MIGRANT ARRESTED ON SIX COUNTS OF SEXUAL BATTERY PRIOR TO DEPORTATIONA Somali Migrant who allegedly entered the US through the gulf of Mexico has finally been deported under Trumps Border Enforcement  but what happened prior will shock you.Jawahir Ahmed, 59, has been residing in the US over nine years. He entered the US shortly after Barack Obama took office, and has been leaving a trail of victims in his wake ever since.His first victim was a boy at an Immigration Detention Center in Brownsville, TX, where officials grouped detainees of similar nationality together.Zain Javadd Malik told Immigration officials that Jawahir told him he was going to show him how they did it in Somalia before penetrating him with his fingers multiple times, according to officials.Jawahir Ahmed reportedly defending his actions to the immigration officer who interviewed him, saying that, We are libertarians in Somalia, there is no age of consent.Astonishingly, Jawahir Ahmed was released from the Detention Center the next day.ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officials cited Pressure from the Obama Administration to release detainees of Middle Eastern descent, but would not clarify further when pressed for answers.Jawahir Ahmed went on to commit five other sex crimes at 5 other locations.Immigration officials admitted that the full tally would never be known, because Jawahir Ahmed spent much of his time in Dearborn Michigan, where Sharia Law is established.ICE told us that he spent at least four of those years in housed within an area of Dearborn that is known as no-go zone for Law Enforcement Officials, because of the high rate of violence and suicide bombings within the area.for a laugh:
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In recent times, the act of suicide seems to have become an attractive commodity for people suffering from depression, obsession and desperation among other psychological problems.



Some people have been embarking on a suicide mission as a corrective measure for challenges confronting them.



Recently, news about a student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) hanging herself to death went viral and utterly shocked the nation as they thought about reasons that might have accounted the victim's act.



Following the KNUST incident, there were disheartening reports about another student at the University of Ghana who had allegedly committed suicide by jumping over her balcony.



Other cases were reported and this has led to various discussions on causes of the suicide.



Thursday edition of Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' saw the panelists lamenting over the recent trend.



Ashanti Regional Secretary of the ruling NPP, Sam Payne expressed worry over the situation and wondered why several students have taken delight in committing suicide.



According to him, there are numerous factors, some of which are drug-related issues and the fact that it has now become difficult for students to walk up for Counselling when they face a challenge in life.



Though there are Counselling departments in the various tertiary institutions, Sam Payne explained that the students do not find it attractive or trustworthy to share their problems; hence concealing them till it aggravates leading to suicide.



He called for a restructuring of the Counselling departments and also called on authorities of the institutions to heighten education on the need for students to seek counselling on an mind-bothering issue.



NDC Member of Parliament for Bongo, Edward Bawa shared similar concerns but urged the school counselors and tutors to build mutual relation with their students.



To him, the tutors should not only be concerned about lecturing the students but also develop interest in the lives of the students outside the academic circles.



He shared an experience on the programme where during his heydays at the University, he had a particular lecturer who would call and meet with his students sometimes to discuss their problems.



Mr. Bawa asked school authorities to find alternatives to build intimate relationship with their students and believed this is a step to kill any desires for suicide.



Professor Kofi Agyekum, Head of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Ghana also urged students to consult with the Counselling departments.



He was alarmed by the apathetic attitude of students in seeking counselling.



Professor Agyekum noted that it is not common to find students going to the Counselling department for therapy.



He further stated that the causes of suicide differ and sometimes premised on people's upbringing and disposition.



However, to him, students should be able to open up and share their concerns so as to receive help.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi /Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper has described as unfortunate reports that the Homeland Study Group Foundation, is considering seceding from Ghana.



According to Kwesi Pratt Jnr. the decision would be useless if it is not fully supported and backed by the President of Togo.



The secessionist groups decision will not see any light if they do not have the support of Togo and its President. I know that the current President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe will not even entertain such decisions not even to talk of supporting them and so it is important that they abort their decision, he said on Adom FMs Morning Show Dwaso Nsem Thursday.



The group, according to sources has been operating for decades now, calling for the restoration of the Western Togoland which stretched from Northern Region through the Upper East and Volta regions to the Gulf of Guinea.



Meanwhile, the Volta Regional Police Command has picked leaders of the Homeland Study Group Foundation for interrogation.



Mr Kormi Kudzordzi, 90, popularly known as Papa Hogbedetor, Chairman of the Group, Divine Odonkor, 65, member and Martin Asiana Agbenu, 57, member, were all picked Tuesday afternoon.



Agbenu and Odonkor are in police custody but Kudzordzi was released on bail on grounds of old age.



Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Volta Region, Nana Asomah Hinneh, said the three persons were arrested for actualizing their plans of declaring independence of the Volta Region as Western Togoland.



He said Agbenu was picked on Ghanas Independence Day at Tokokoe, near Ho, distributing T shirts with the inscription, 9th May 2017 is our day-Western Togoland.



Mr Hinneh said the leaders would be charged for treason and that the case would be referred to the Attorney General for advice.



But Mr Pratt reacting to the issue indicated that though there are problems with the Ghana-Togo border, it does not call for what he describes as the aggressive nature portrayed by the group.



It is a wrong move by this group; there is no way they would not be arrested because what they are doing is illegal and violation of the law. These borders are unreasonable, they dont make sense. The Europeans did that because of their own selfish reasons.



There are problems with the borders but they cant use that style to divide a country. Ghana is not big country like others. In fact, we are struggling for a union government of the continent, how then can we divide it? We have 10 regions and if all the people rise up to seek for division, which one would survive? he quizzed.



But Mr Pratt however lauded the security for tracing this issue in the early stages leading to the arrest.

Source: adomonline









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The Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, will leave Ghana on Thursday, March 9, 2017 to attend the National Day Celebrations of the Republic of Mauritius, as the Special Guest.



Whilst in Mauritius, the Vice President will hold bilateral talks with Her Excellency Mrs Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius, Hon Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister and other senior Mauritian government officials, aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries.



Dr Bawumia will also attend a Breakfast Business Meeting hosted by the Mauritian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, in Collaboration with the Board of Investment.



He would be accompanied by Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Hon. Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications; Hon Ibrahim Awal, Minister for Business Development; Mr Reginald Grant, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre; and other government officials.



The Vice President returns to Accra on Monday March 13, 2017.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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A close friend of the final year student who died after falling from a building on the University of Ghana campus has revealed that the lady, Jennifer Nyarko, had relationship issues prior to the incident Wednesday morning. According to the friend, Jennifer Nyarko had complained persistently about her cheating boyfriend, a situation her colleagues link to the cause of her supposed depression prior to her demise.



Jennifer Nyarko, a final year Consumer Science student of the University of Ghana, is said to have fallen from the fourth floor of the Akufo Hall annex A building Wednesday morning. It's unclear for now whether she deliberately jumped off the building or was pushed by someone but a friend who was with the deceased hours before the incident tells GhanaWeb that Jennifer was bitter about challenges she was facing in her relationship.



Since last semester, she always complained to me about her boyfriend whom she claimed was cheating on her... I also encouraged her not to think about it too much', she said.



She reveals that the deceased also suffered from a psychological problem with many of their mates complaining about some of her actions.



She was a year my senior in Secondary School but we became mates here in the University because she deferred her studies for a year for unknown reasons. Her course-mates reported that there were instances where she was seen carrying stones to class. That was when she was resident in Alexander Kwapong Hall



According to the narrative, Jennifer Nyarko [the deceased], jumped from the fourth floor of the Akufo Hall annex A building at around 5:00am. Her body is said to have been taken to the morgue after she was examined and declared dead.



video below-

Source: ghanaweb.com









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A Level 400 student of the University of Ghana jumped to her death at the university at dawn yesterday, and her parents have attributed the demise of their daughter to a mental disorder she had suffered for the past five years.



The deceased, Jennifer Nyarko, 23, was an Agriculture and Consumer Science student of the university.



She is said to have fallen from the fourth floor of the Akuafo Hall Annex A and was found by a student who was on her way to pray.



The passer-by, who found the victim lying motionless in a pool of blood, raised an alarm which attracted other students who were either sleeping or getting ready for lectures in the early hours of the day.



Police called



Confirming the incident to the Daily Graphic, the Legon District Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr Emmanuel Ofori Anokye, said the victim was pronounced dead at the Legon Hospital.



He said the police received distress phone calls about the incident around 5 a.m., and a team of policemen was immediately despatched to the scene.



The victim was taken to the Legon Hospital in the hospitals ambulance but was pronounced dead on arrival.



The Crime Scene Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service was also informed, and when the Daily Graphic arrived at the crime scene, experts were busily working.



Mr Anokye said the police had begun investigations into the circumstances that led to death of the student.



Speculations



Following the incident, speculations were rife on campus that the victim had been suffering from bipolar disorder, while others claimed the fate of the student could have been as a result of a broken heart.



One of her roommates told the Daily Graphic that Miss Nyarko was on the phone throughout the night before her death, and it was suspected that she was talking to a man until she (the roommate) slept.



The mobile phone was found on the victims bed, and the police said the last caller was a female friend who confirmed to the police that miss Nyarko had called her to inform her pastor to pray for her that night since she was having an attack.



Victims father



The father of the victim, Mr William Nyarko, who was contacted by the police, arrived at the Legon Police Station later, in the company of the victims mother for interrogation and to assist the police in their investigations.



During interrogation, Mr Nyarko, a retiree, is said to have told the police that his daughter had been struggling with a mental disorder since 2012 when she gained admission to the university.



Mr Nyarko is said to have told the police that his daughter, at a point, had to defer her course for one year as a result of her condition.



The father of the victim also told the police that she had visited them during the weekend and also spent the March 6, 2017 holiday with them at their Adentan residence, in Accra.



He said his daughter left for school last Tuesday morning only for them to receive a call announcing her death yesterday morning.







Source: Daily Graphic









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Lifestyles impact heavily on our health, especially the food we eat, but increasingly, the exploitation of our natural resources for our livelihood poses a major risk to our well-being.



The use of weedicides in preparing the land for the cultivation of all kinds of foods and cash crops threatens food security and safety.



Also, the activities of illegal miners do not only threaten land and water bodies but the safety of food and water in the mining communities also.



Scientists warn



For this reason, Ghanaian soil scientists say an imminent medical problem, including deaths, is likely to hit the country, following the consumption of food crops with heavy metals from mining communities.



A recent test conducted by the Soil Research Institute (SRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) revealed that most oranges produced from Obuasi, for instance, were contaminated with heavy metals which could be injurious to consumers.



The Director for the SRI in Kumasi, Dr Joseph Opoku Fening, told the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, at the end of a two-day familiarisation tour of some institutions under the CSIR in Kumasi last Wednesday.



The research was to determine the threshold levels of chemicals in food crops and it was found out that mercury and lead, which were the main chemicals for mining, were dominant.



Dr Fening said the results were alarming because it was difficult for consumers to know the source of the food items.



The research further revealed that 40 per cent of farmlands have been taken over by illegal miners, popularly called galamsey operators, with the Western Region topping the chart by 70 per cent.



The experts say the phenomenon needs to be reversed quickly to avoid food shortage which can lead to hunger.



Being the main lynch-pin on which agriculture thrives, the institute is urging the government and its relevant bodies to help farmers adhere to its mapping or zoning of the countrys farmlands to ensure increased productivity and quality production.



Depending on the quality of the soil, the country has been demarcated into zones, indicating which particular area or soil is good for a particular crop type.



Dr Fening said the mapping was also to guide investors so that they would not invest in unproductive areas.



Prof. Frimpong-Boateng also toured the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) and Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG).



Similar researches by WRI



Similar researches by the Water Research Institute (WRI) found that the Birim River contained levels of arsenic higher than the recommended limits of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).



The water also contains suspended materials of 1,000 milligrammes per litre (ml/l) which is higher than the 40ml/l allowed by the Water Resources Commission (WRC).



The Birim River takes its source from the Atiwa Forest Range and has been identified by research scientists as one of the most polluted sources of water in the country because of the activities of illegal miners who use all kinds of chemicals in the process.



However, the yellowish water, said to be filled with metals dangerous to human health, is used by vegetable farmers along its banks at Akim Oda and its tributary, Mmor at Akwatia, for irrigation.



Ghanas mining laws require that mining companies treat water used for mining activities before they are discharged into the environment but in the case of the illegal miners, water bodies are the centre of operation, a situation that makes communities living along the river vulnerable to the risks of the dangerous chemicals.



Communities along the Birim depend on it heavily for both domestic and agricultural purposes, a situation that makes them vulnerable.



With little regard for the environment, the illegal miners mine in the river, close to the river banks or direct the course to mine minerals from the river basin.



WHO warnings



Traces of two heavy metals, arsenic and mercury, found in the river by the WRI research, have been tagged as harmful by the World Health Organisation (WHO).



Although the WRI found small traces of the dangerous chemicals in the river, the WHO paints a deadly picture of the chemicals, saying even small amounts may cause serious health problems, and are a threat to the development of the child in the womb.



According to the WHO, arsenic is highly toxic in its inorganic form and water contaminated with the chemical used for drinking, food preparation and irrigation of food crops poses the greatest threat to public health.



On the other hand, mercury, the more popular of the two chemicals, in illegal mining, is considered by WHO as one of the top 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern.



Mercury may have toxic effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and on lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes. People are mainly exposed to methylmercury, an organic compound, when they eat fish and shellfish that contain the compound, the organisation said on its website.



President on environment



The alarming rate of the destruction of the countrys environment was not left out of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos Independence Day speech last Monday.



We are endangering the very survival of the beautiful and blessed land that our forebears bequeathed to us. The dense forests that were home to varied trees, plants and fauna have been largely wiped out. Today, we import timber for our use, and the description of our land as a tropical forest no longer fits the reality. Our rivers and lakes are disappearing, and those that still exist are all polluted.



It bears repeating that we do not own the land, but hold it in trust for generations yet unborn. We have a right to exploit the bounties of the earth and extract the minerals and even redirect the path of the rivers, but we do not have the right to denude the land of the plants and fauna nor poison the rivers and lakes, the President said.



NPP manifesto on forest sector



In its manifesto, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) outlined plans, including promoting sustainable water resource management, ecotourism\launch of an apiculture forest conservation programme, support conservation of biodiversity and priority ecosystems, support bamboo and rattan plantation development and restoration of degraded areas and plantation establishment.



The governments policy on forestry resources seeks to rehabilitate degraded forest reserve areas through the planting of fast-growing indigenous and exotic species, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.



The manifesto targets 30,000 hectares of degraded areas within and outside forest reserves for reforestation and plantation development, using fast-growing indigenous and exotic species.



The party also pledged to conduct regular assessments of effluent into our river bodies with the view to controlling pollution.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Former First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama has applauded the achievements of women who have left their mark of excellence and professionalism in all facets of endeavour to improve the lot of the world.



In a statement issued in Accra to mark the International Womens Day and copied to the GNA, Mrs Mahama said: On the occasion of International Womens Day, I salute all women of Ghana and congratulate you for your hard work, dedication, commitment and often unrecognised but hugely significant contribution towards the development of Ghana.



March 8 has been set aside every year, to celebrate women all over the world.



On the occasion of International Womens Day, I salute all women of Ghana and congratulate you for your hard work, dedication, commitment and often unrecognised but hugely significant contribution towards the development of Ghana.



Today is our Day. It belongs to the sister who spun the cotton yarn, the woman who tilled the soil, the one who defied the scorching sun to earn a living for her family, and that woman who nursed the sick baby back to health.



In this light, the theme for this years celebration, Women in the changing world of work: Planet 50:50 by 2030 is timely. Indeed, the time is now for the world to recognise the woman as a competent partner with our male counterparts in building our world.



The world owes it a duty to offer the woman all the support she needs to fully exploit her potential and creativity.



She said despite the changing roles and increased number of women who enter the Ghanaian workforce each year, they were still able to multitask and care for the family.



I am excited, that the Supreme Court of Ghana has legally recognised our unpaid work. This is an important victory.



In line with the theme of women in a changing world of work, I acknowledge efforts by women who work for a living in Ghana. Most of our working women are parents who work in the informal sector and many work under dire conditions, yet are striving and dedicated to make a world of difference in the lives of their families.



Mrs Mahama said the future was bright and therefore women should work hard together to eliminate cultural practices like child marriage, and gender based violence, to create the right environment and opportunities for women to do decent work in Ghana.



Let us take advantage of the technological age, educational opportunities and skills training to ensure that we achieve our global target of 50-50 representation of women in the workforce by 2030 she noted.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The spokesperson for former President John Mahama, Madam Joyce Bawa Mogtari has caused a stir among her own party faithfuls when she claimed Wednesday that she wont be bothered should the NPP stay in power for eight years.



Speaking with Bola Ray on Starr Chat, Wednesday, the former Deputy Minister for Transport disclosed that for the NPP to rule in government from 2016 to 2024 is normal and shows the beauty of Ghanas democracy.



Well I dont really mind if NPP rules for eight (8) years, its democracy and really not an issue. When they lost, you can imagine how they felt when we moved into Flagstaff House and I know the feeling Weve all been there and that is the beauty of our democracy.

A Deputy Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fred Abgenyo said the Headquarters was overwhelmed with phone calls and complaints Thursday after Bawas threatening views expressed in the media about the NPPs reign for eight years.



Supporters of the largest opposition NDC Thursday demanded clarification on Bawas stance, as such views to them signaled the party is still not set to rise from the ashes after the big defeat it suffered in the 2016 elections.



But speaking on Asempa FM, Mr Agbenyo said the party is strengthened to contest the next elections- 2020 and secure victory, insisting that majority of Ghanaians still have confidence in the NDC party.



As far as the party leadership is concerned we are well prepared and that, by Gods grace 2020 well come back to power and that is what we are focused on. I cannot even tell whether what the Spokesperson of the former president said was the position of former President Mahama or her own views that she expressed.



That notwithstanding he said:  Im sure in 2021 NDC will form the next government







Source: kasapafmonline.com









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After being accused of distorting the history of Ghanas independence struggle during his anniversary speech, President Akufo-Addo has responded saying, he painted a true picture of what happened at the time and never discredited the contribution of the countrys first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.



Speaking at Ghana Unity Ball 2017, Thursday, President Akufo-Addo said his accusers are people who did not witness the struggle adding, that Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe who knows the history of Ghanas independence congratulated him for the speech.



This has been a very strange week. On Monday, I made a speech to the country which I tried to speak about how we became Ghana. And like everything I say, its ended up in controversy. But that is how it should be. A politician who doesnt generate controversy is a dull politician, he said.



The amusing part of it is that, the people who did not live through the independence era, young people who came much after, claim that I distorted the history of Ghana and belittled the role of Kwame Nkrumah. The one man there who actually lived through the era, [who] was here in Ghana at the time, embraced me as having enhanced the image of Kwame Nkrumah. And that tells you everything about Ghanaian politics. That is President Mugabe. He gave me a big hug, he added.



President Akufo-Addo while delivering his speech at Ghanas 60th Independence anniversary started from a century before 1957, in 1844 when the country became a British colony.



He continued with the formation of the first political party, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and events that led to the invitation of Dr Kwame Nkrumah to join the struggle.



The founders of the UGCC, then, met to demand independence from the British and 70 years after that event, one still marvels at the clarity of thought and the passion that they displayed. Some of the names of that momentous day have survived in our written history and folk memory.



Five of them are on our Ghanaian currency: Joseph BoakyeDanquah; Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey; William Ofori-Atta; Ebenezer Ako-Adjei; and Edward Akufo-Addo. Kwame Nkrumah, the sixth of the Big Six on the currency, was to join them later, the President had recounted in part.



But the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and some individuals were unhappy about the presidents speech as they indicated that it failed to acknowledge Dr Kwame Nkrumahs efforts in the decisive moments of the struggle.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has announced an increase in the allowances of Ghanaian peacekeepers from US$31 to US$35, effective January 2017, in fulfillment of a manifesto pledge of the New Patriotic Party in the run-up to the December 2016 elections.



Addressing the end-of-year get-together of the Ghana Armed Forces (WASSA), on Friday, March 10, 2017, President Akufo-Addo indicated a number of the pledges made in relation to the welfare of the Ghana Armed Forces have already been fulfilled within 2 months of his administrations life.



In realising the vision of a professional, well-disciplined and well-motivated Armed Forces, President Akufo-Addo noted that, during the first few weeks of his assumption of office, an amount of $13 million was released to clear the arrears owed peacekeepers, confident that as I speak, no soldier is owed any monies arising from peacekeeping duties.



The President, still on the matter of peacekeeping allowances, stated that the decision has been taken to ensure that all military personnel, who embark on peacekeeping missions, will receive their allowances whilst on tour, and not when they arrive in Ghana after the completion of their duty tour.



No matter in which part of the world you find yourselves on peacekeeping duties, you will be paid your allowances there. That is the principle, and we are not going to go back on that. Peacekeeping monies are for peacekeepers.



In fulfilment of the NPPs manifesto pledge of improving the welfare of the Armed Forces, President Akufo-Addo indicated that his government has increased the peacekeeping allowance, effective January 2017, from US$31 to US$35.



This was met by spontaneous applause from the officers, men and women of the Armed Forces gathered at the venue.



The President also revealed that a legislative review of the Armed Forces (Amendment) Regulations of 1986 (LI 1332) has begun. Its purpose, he said, is to extend the serving duration of Other Ranks from the current 25 years to 30 years, in fulfilment of the manifesto pledge we made. I want all Ghanaians to see me as a man of my word.



Retooling of Armed Forces



In terms of military preparedness, the President indicated that his government will actively support contemporary training methods, that will not only keep the officers, men and women of the Armed Forces abreast with international military trends, but will also ensure that they remain the beacon of Armed Forces across the continent.



We are committed to providing you with modern military equipment, which would complement the training you would receive. Government is also committed to enriching the human resource base of the Armed Forces by supporting initiatives that will provide further education for soldiers, sailors and airmen to enhance further their skills at protecting our territorial integrity, he added



With reference to the Navy, President Akufo-Addo noted that the advent of oil and gas has made their role more critical, as they now have the added responsibility to protect Ghanas waters and oil fields from new dangers.



In the presence of the Minister for Defence, Hon. Dominic Nitiwul, the President assured that his government is going to allocate the needed resources to the Navy to protect the countrys sea lines of communication, especially in the wake of current activities in the Gulf of Guinea, such as piracy, disruptions and destruction of oil/gas operations and installations, bunkering, drug trafficking and smuggling, among others.



He further assured that the Air Force will not be left out of the programme of resource enhancement, so that we have an Air Force worthy of the name.



In boosting the morale of the Armed Forces further, the 2017 Asempa budget announced the Barracks Regeneration Project, which will refurbish and renovate all military barracks across the country. Additionally, more residential accommodation facilities would be put up in all the units to reduce the acute accommodation problem facing soldiers.



A contented soldier is one whose remuneration does not unduly distract him from his mandate. My government intends to take your welfare seriously, he said.



The President also added that action on the third phase of the 37 Military Hospital has begun, as this is to ensure that the hospital continues to provide first class healthcare for members of the Armed Forces and their families, and also for 37 to meet more effectively its function as a national emergency hospital.



Government is also committed to constructing a new military hospital in Tamale to service the health needs of military personnel and their families in the northern sector of our country, he said.









Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Veteran Actor Asonaba Kwaku Darko aka Super O.D. has taken Kumawood actors and directors to the cleaners, describing their works as substandard.



In an exclusive interview with asempanews.com, the veteran actor and comedian recommended a complete overhaul in the Ghanaian movie industry.



He stated emphatically that he does not devote time to watching Kumawood movies as he feels they (current actors) are unable to render scripts to the standard he wished they would.



I do not actually sit to watch full Kumawood movies, but when I chance on certain scenes, I stop briefly to watch a scene or two. My interest in these movies is low because I feel they do not render it as solid as I would if I were playing that role, but you know, they are young and still learning, he said in his local dialect.



Watch the interview below:









Super OD, who had a blissful acting career spanning from the 1970s to the 90s, was very popular for his roles in local Ghanaian series, Akan Drama on GTV.



Acting with the Oppong Drama Group which later became known as Osofo Dadzie Group, Super O.D gained nationwide popularity for his impeccable acting and rib cracking jokes.



The veteran actor besides his acting career landed private jobs to appear in television commercials to advertise company products.



Super O.D. appeared in Ghanaian movies Double Cross, Fatal Decision and Crossfire produced by HM Films; a feat which shot him up further in the Ghanaian movie industry.



Watch Super OD in action:





Source: Asempanews.com









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If it seems too British to be true, it probably is.

James Blunt has admitted the cut which appeared on Ed Sheerans mug in November last year wasnt caused by Princess Beatrice hurling a sword around, and that the pair made up that entire wild story.

ICYMI, it was alleged the ginger troubadour copped the wound at a ritzy party, after Blunt volunteered himself for a mock-knighthood ceremony. Princess Bea supposedly obliged, but nearly took Sheerans eye while hefting the ceremonial blade.

Now, Blunt has told ShortList that Ed was drunk, messing around, and he cut himself. We made a fancy story up; people fell for it. It was very embarrassing.

As for how much of the yarn was BSd, Blunt says it was entirely fabricated, apart from the actual scar. Its bizarre that people fell for it. Old mate clarified that he cut himself and I just patched him up. Its made him look prettier.

Although it the story was originally handed to the v. reputable British tabloid The Sun by an anonymous source, the typically trolly Blunt says I blame him for the story leaking.

He must be desperate  hes trying to sell records.

Yep, that Ed Sheeran, always hard up to flip a few sales.

Despite the original story being actual fake news, Sheerans scar aint. Youve gotta wonder what the actual cause was, though

Source: news.com.au / ShortList.

Photo: Axelle / Bauer-Griffin / Getty.
Sorry to say it, folks, but business pests could soon have the ability to message you directly on WhatsApp, like a horrible 2017 version of the cold call.

Apparently, the messaging service is currently testing the idea, but details on how exactly it will work are yet to be seen. According to the sighted documents, theyre trying very hard to avoid it becoming too spammy. Good luck.

The Facebook-owned company may charge businesses to have a yarn with customers. WhatsApp is allegedly surveying users to find out how often they speak to businesses on the app and whether theyve copped any spam from them.

Its early days for the trial, but dairy collar-makers, Cowlar, who is involved in the testing present an interesting insight into the possibilities.

The company wants to use the service to automatically alert farmers if a cow is not behaving normally, for example.

It represents a huge opportunity, because in all the big dairy markets  India, Brazil, Pakistan  a lot of farmers have access to WhatsApp, said co-founder Umer Ilyas.

It seems the intentions are to make this approach incredibly targeted, but some spammy crap is bound to fall through the cracks sooner or later.

Source: Metro.co.uk.

Photo: Rick & Morty.
Bethlehem Steel-5501.jpg

The remains of the Bethlehem Steel mill in Bethlehem, Pa., loom over the Lehigh River.

(Jim Cheney | Special to PennLive.com)

Pennsylvania has a rich industrial history. From the earliest days of settlement of what would become the United States, Pennsylvania has been at the center of country's industrial development. Throughout the years, industries like iron, coal, steel, and lumber made the state an important cog in America's development.

While it may have a taken a few hundred years, Bethlehem was one of the state's most important industrial areas in the 19th and 20th centuries thanks to Bethlehem Steel, the country's second largest steel manufacturer with mills and facilities all over the world.

Bethlehem Steel was founded as the Saucona Iron Co. in 1857. Over the years, the company expanded their manufacturing and even incorporated new endeavors such as shipbuilding and building freight cars. However, the Bethlehem-headquartered company remained primarily focused on steel throughout their nearly 150 years of existence.

Today, much of the Bethlehem Steel complex in this Lehigh Valley city remains. The largest portion of this complex is known today as the Steel Stacks. Reaching heights of 230 feet and extending over 1,000 feet in length, these furnaces once created iron for some of the most iconic structures in the country. Last operated in 1995, they stand today as a testament to both collapsing industry and how sites can be reused by a community.

The remains of both the Steel Stacks and the rest of the Bethlehem Steel complex are slowly, but surely being revitalized. Much of the former mill serves as an event venue for the city managed by ArtsQuest, who host popular events like Musikfest and Christkindlmarkt.

Looking up at the Steel Stacks from the Hoover-Mason Trestle.

A walkway, complete with handicapped access, has been built along a former narrow-gauge rail line more than 45 feet off of the ground that once carried raw materials throughout the mill. Known as the Hoover-Mason Trestle, visitors can walk this pathway to get a close-up look at the remains of this impressive industrial site. Along the way, there are signs that point to places of interest on the trestle's website. You can also rent audio devices from the visitor center during the day.

The other major addition to the former site of the Bethlehem Steel mill is the National Museum of Industrial History. Occupying the former home of the mill's electrical repair shop, this museum took nearly three decades of planning before it finally opened in the summer of 2016.

The National Museum of Industrial History is a fascinating museum for the whole family.

The National Museum of Industrial History tells the story of industry in the United States, with a special focus on the industries that thrived in and around the Lehigh Valley. This includes many artifacts from Bethlehem Steel, each offering interesting insight into both the company and how steel mills operated.

I also enjoyed the museum's look into the history of the silk industry in the area. Today, few realize that this industry thrived in the area alongside the steel industry, and actually employed more people than than the steel mills. However, despite this, many of the museum's silk exhibits actually come from silk mills in New York.

In addition to focusing on industries that thrived in the Lehigh Valley, the National Museum of Industrial History also has a fantastic collection of antique engines. These engines represent some of the most beautiful engines in existence, and many are on loan from the Smithsonian.

It's worth noting that while an industrial museum might sound bland, the sheer quality of the displays and the fantastic inclusion of many interactive elements make this a great museum for the whole family. Whether you are interested in industrial history, the history of the Lehigh Valley, or just enjoy seeing how things work, this is a can't-miss museum.

With the opening of the National Museum of Industrial History, the great Hoover-Mason Trestle, and the many events run by ArtsQuest on the site of the old Bethlehem Steel mill, the city of Bethlehem is doing an excellent job showcasing their industrial past while creating modern attractions that visitors can enjoy, no matter what their interest.

Jim Cheney is the writer behind UncoveringPA, Pennsylvania's most-read travel blog. He has traveled to every county in Pennsylvania and to many countries in North America, Europe, and Asia. He lives in Harrisburg, Pa.

Looking for more Cheney travel ideas?
popefrancis.jpeg

Associated Press photo

(Associated Press )

CNN is reporting Friday morning that Pope Francis is open to allowing married men to become priests to offset a shortage he regards as an "enormous problem."

Pope Francis stated his openness during an interview with a German newspaper,

According to the CNN account: "We need to consider if [married men] could be a possibility," he said. "If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities."

However, his proposal wouldn't allow single men who are already priests to marry.

The CNN story provides this background: "The Roman Catholic Church believes priests should not marry based on certain passages in the Bible, and because it believes that the priest acts "in persona Christi" (in the person of Christ) and should therefore be celibate, like Christ."

But CNN notes some married men are already allowed to become priests, including Protestant married priests who convert to Catholicism.
Donald Trump

FILE - In this March 1, 2017, President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. President Trump's revised travel ban will temporarily halt entry to the U.S. for people from six Muslim-majority nations who are seeking new visas, allowing those with current visas to travel freely, according to a fact sheet obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

(Evan Vucci)

A joint probe by federal investigators and computer scientists of an apparent computer server connection between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank has brought them to the most unlikely of destinations:

An otherwise unremarkable computer operated by a company in rural Lititz, Pa., in Lancaster County.

As CNN reported Friday, sources close to the ongoing probe had dismissed the connection as recently as four months ago. Nonetheless, the investigation, run by the FBI's counterintelligence team is still open, CNN reported.

That's the same unit looking into possible Russian meddling in last year's presidential election.

One U.S. official tells CNN that investigators have found the server link between the Trump organization and Alfa Bank "odd" and were not ignoring it, but more work remains.

Investigators have also not determined whether such a connection would be significant, CNN reported.

"The server issue surfaced again this weekend, mentioned in a Breitbart article that, according to a White House official, sparked President Trump's series of tweets accusing investigators of tapping his phone," the cable news outlet reported.

According to CNN, there is no Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant on the server. The FBI declined the network's request for comment. The Trump White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The companies involved in the matter "have provided CNN with new explanations that at times conflict with each other and still don't fully explain what happened," the cable network reported.

More from CNN:

"The story -- of a possible connection between computer servers -- is a strange tale because there are no specific allegations of wrongdoing and only vague technical evidence.

Internet data shows that last summer, a computer server owned by Russia-based Alfa Bank repeatedly looked up the contact information for a computer server being used by the Trump Organization -- far more than other companies did, representing 80 percent of all lookups to the Trump server.

It's unclear if the Trump Organization server itself did anything in return.

No one has produced evidence that the servers actually communicated.

Slate and The New York Times were first to report the unusual server activity.

The Times said the FBI had concluded there could be an "innocuous explanation."

And cybersecurity experts told CNN this isn't how two entities would communicate if they wanted to keep things secret."

The Lititz Connection:

"Last year, a small group of computer scientists obtained internet traffic records from the complex system that serves as the internet's phone book. Access to these records is reserved for highly trusted cybersecurity firms and companies that provide this lookup service.

"These signals were captured as they traveled along the internet's Domain Name System (DNS).These leaked records show that Alfa Bank servers repeatedly looked up the unique internet address of a particular Trump Organization computer server in the United States.In the computer world, it's the equivalent of looking up someone's phone number -- over and over again.

"While there isn't necessarily a phone call, it usually indicates an intention to communicate, according to several computer scientists.What puzzled them was why a Russian bank was repeatedly looking up the contact information for mail1.trump-email.com.

"Publicly available internet records show that address, which was registered to the Trump Organization, points to an IP address that lives on an otherwise dull machine operated by a company in the tiny rural town of Lititz, Pennsylvania."



Also this week, in an attempt to untangle the complicated web of relationships between the Trump organization, President Donald Trump, his children, his aides and Russia, Politico published seven charts that try to explain them.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Friday announced a Philadelphia jury has found two men guilty of swindling thousands of dollars from an elderly victim through a hoax known as the "Grandparent Scam." The case began following a complaint from the victim, who was scammed after receiving a phone call indicating his grandson needed bail money for a drunken driving arrest.

Spencer Compas, 31, and Witson Lavilette, 40, were found guilty Thursday afternoon following a four-day trial. The two men were charged following an investigation by a statewide grand jury that identified the defendants, both natives of Haiti, as scammers who took part in a nationwide fraud ring targeting elderly victims across the United States.

The investigation began following a complaint from the victim, who was scammed out of $16,600 after receiving a call indicating his grandson needed bail money for a DUI arrest, according to a news release. This is an example of the "Grandparent Scam" used by criminals across the country.

Scammers contact elderly victims by phone and dupe them into believing their grandchildren have been arrested. The scammers seize on the fears of their victims as they urge them to send bail money or funds to cover attorneys to help free their grandchildren from custody. The California victim in this case is 79 years old.

"This is a terrible scam preying upon the fears of a vulnerable population - our senior citizens," Shapiro said. "One courageous victim helped us build the case tried by our prosecutors. Justice was done in this matter and let me be clear: We have zero tolerance for any scam targeting our elderly in Pennsylvania, and we'll go after the scammers wherever they are."

Compas and Lavilette were charged following an extensive investigation by the Office of Attorney General's Organized Crime Section. They were each found guilty of felony counts of criminal attempt to commit theft by deception, criminal conspiracy and theft by deception. Sentencing is scheduled for June 1.

Shapiro thanked the following law enforcement agencies for their work on this investigation: Philadelphia Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Pennsylvania State Police, Auburn (Calif.) Police Department, Kansas City Police Department, Baton Rouge Police Department and Toledo (Iowa) Police Department.

"Our agents cooperated with law enforcement agencies from Philadelphia to Kansas to California in building this case," Shapiro said. "That kind of law enforcement collaboration gets scam artists off our streets and protects victims."
The Fremont Police Department recently added a new officer to its squad, however, this particular officer looks a little bit different from the others.

This officer is a little smaller, a lot furrier and walks on four legs. Thats right, hes a dog. And while this is the case, his service will prove to be equally as valuable as a humans when it comes to upholding the law.

Apollo, a year-old chocolate lab, was purchased Feb. 21 from a breeder in Alabama that specializes in producing drug-detecting dogs, Police Chief Jeff Elliott said during a Thursday interview at the police station.

The Fremont Police Department is no stranger to having canine officers  its had them since the early 1990s  however, due to budgetary constraints the department has been without canine aid since Floyd, also a chocolate lab, retired due to health concerns in October 2016.

Thanks to a generous donation from CrimeStoppers, the organization dedicated to helping people report crime, the department was able to purchase Apollo for $6,000. While that is pricy, these arent your typical chocolate labs that you could buy from just any breeder, Elliott said.

These dogs are specifically bred to be police dogs, he said. That is their job.

After hearing of CrimeStoppers intentions in regard to purchasing a new canine, an application process was held to determine which officer would be the dogs handler.

Three of four officers applied for the position writing letters of interest, Elliott said. In determining who would become Apollos new partner, many factors were taken into consideration. Ultimately, Officer Dominic Savio, a three-year veteran on the force, was selected to be the labs handler.

The dog will live with Dominic at his home, Elliott said. Dom is issued a special vehicle that is used for handling the canine  it has equipment and all the latest gadgets to protect the dog. They are going to be partners  as close as you can get for hopefully a minimum of three years.

So where Officer Savio goes, Apollo goes.

Currently, Savio and Apollo are attending a 6-week-long training camp at the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center in Grand Island. Generally, an all-purpose canine would attend a 12-week-long training session, however, Apollo is being utilized specifically as a drug-sniffing dog.

The FPD used all-purpose dogs in the past, however, it was quickly realized that the all-purpose dogs were really only being used for one thing, finding narcotics. Because of this, it made the most sense to purchase a dog tailor-made for sniffing out drugs.

We had a patrol dog when we first started the program back in the 90s, and we found that we did not utilize the patrol aspects of it, Elliott said. We werent chasing down people with the dog, we werent using the dog to track people, but we were constantly using it to find drugs.

When Apollo is off the clock, he will be allowed to be a little more of a pup, however, there are specific guidelines for a handler  Savio  to follow when interacting with Apollo. While Savio and other officers will treat the dog with respect and affection, its vital for all parties to understand he is there to do a job, not be loved on.

Hes a canine officer, and because of this, there are rules to follow and Apollo is protected under similar guidelines as other officers.

There are special laws to protect a canine officer, just as there are to protect a regular police officer, Elliott said. Yes, he is a police officer of the Fremont Police Department.

Elliott smiled.

Hes Officer Apollo.
WEST CHESTER - The second day of jury selections for accused state-trooper shooter Eric Frein further whittled down the pool of potential jurors.

By five people.

But much like the first day of jury selections on Thursday, the prosecution and defense had only begun the two-week process of sifting through the questionnaires, dismissing just a handful of jurors for reasons not necessarily pertaining to the case - like an inability to hear or sit through the proceedings.

In one instance today, a juror was dismissed because he no longer lived in the county.

And on Monday, with the remaining 193, the sides will begin individual questioning to find the right panel of 12 jurors and six alternates.

Frein is accused of shooting state police Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II and Trooper Alex T. Douglass in an ambush at the Blooming Grove barracks on Sept. 12, 2014 and then leading authorities on a 40-plus-day manhunt.

Dickson was killed and Douglass was seriously injured.

Read more about Frein's case.

The sides agreed last year to pull a jury from another county and transport those jurors to Pike County to hear the case. They came to this agreement due, in part, to the amount of media coverage that could influence a jury pool in Pike County, where the manhunt occurred.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court chose Chester County for the jury, and Pike County District Attorney Raymond Tonkin said Friday it's a good thing they chose such a far-away location in suburban Philadelphia.

"Given the response here in Chester County in the knowledge of the case, the response in Pike County would have been more overwhelming," Tonkin said.

Out of the 103 jurors brought in today, 75 of them had heard about Frein's case on the news. The number was similar on Thursday with 71 out of 104 potential jurors having heard about Frein.

But in selecting a jury, it's not so much about knowledge of the case, Tonkin said. The attorneys are looking for jurors who do not have a fixed opinion about it.

Another number that jumped out at defense attorney William Ruzzo was how many potential jurors were morally opposed to the death penalty. There were 49 out of 103 today who opposed it and 37 out of 104 yesterday.

"Almost 50 percent of the venire stood up and had scruples against the death penalty," Ruzzo pointed out.

And it's the death penalty that seems to be the biggest expenses in this case, requiring hotel stays for the attorneys now and for jurors during trial in April and May.

"As a practical matter, they can subject him to life imprisonment," Ruzzo said. "It's the death penalty that's costing all the money."

When asked about the expense, Tonkin countered, "I would say that's a defense position, and I will respond to Mr. (Michael) Weinstein and Mr. Ruzzo in court."

The remaining jurors will come back to Chester County Court starting Monday for individual questioning.

If a jury is not selected out of this initial group, two more groups will be brought in March 16 and 17.

Chester County summoned 1,200 potential jurors.
UPDATE: Apple juice alone didn't burn buffet victims' throats: Police

The father of one of the three children that a drank caustic substance served to them in apple juice from the Star Buffet & Grill may seek an attorney, according to online updates.

Richard Zaragoza Sr. has been posting to Facebook about the struggles his family is facing after his son reportedly suffered burns in his mouth and throat after drinking apple juice at the Lancaster-area eatery.

Richie Zaragoza, 10, was celebrating his birthday at the restaurant with his family when the incident occurred on March 3.

Police found the 10-year-old and his 4-year-old half-sister Ginaya Mercado experiencing burns in their mouths and throats and they were vomiting. Both were taken to Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Police said a 6-year-old was experiencing stomach discomfort and an adult male also experienced burns in his mouth after tasting the liquid.

East Lampeter Township police continue to investigate the incident. Police are currently waiting on lab results on the liquid that was consumed.

Richard Zaragoza Sr. has been filling people in about the situation from his Facebook page.

Shortly after the incident Zaragoza said the apple juice mix served to the kids possibly had "acid" or a "cleaning agent" in it.

Zaragoza thanked his friends and family for their support and ask that they pray for those that were hurt.

On Friday, Zaragoza said he'd been directed to "a very good lawyer."

While no charges have yet been filed, the restaurant was closed this week after it received nearly two dozen building code violations.

The restaurant will not be able to reopen until they are corrected, according to East Lampeter Township Manager Ralph Hutchison.
shimkus.jpg

Rep. John Shimkus, R-Illinois, asked why men should pay for prenatal care.

(Associated Press)

A Pennsylvania Democrat and Illinois Republican were among the lawmakers who spent more than 24 hours debating the Affordable Care Act replacement.

In one of the arguments that emerged from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Mike Doyle, a Pittsburgh-area Democrat, asked Rep. John Shimkus, a Republican from southeastern Illinois, what mandate he opposed.

Shimkus specifically took aim at former President Barack Obama's signature legislation requiring that pregnancy and childbirth be covered.

"What about men having to purchase prenatal care?" Shimkus said. "Is that not correct? And should they?"

Doyle quickly fired back: "There's no such thing as a la carte insurance...You tell me what insurance company will do that? You're talking about something that doesn't exist."

Watch the exchange in the video below from Pro-Choice America:

The Washington Post noted a similar argument was raised in 2013 when former Rep. Renee Ellmers, a North Carolina Republican, said something similar to former health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

"Do men not have to buy maternity coverage?" Ellmers said, according to the Post report. "To the best of your knowledge, has a man ever delivered a baby?"

The Post also again shared a response from insurance expert and columnist Nancy Metcalf, who explained in 2013:

Health insurance, like all insurance, works by pooling risks. The healthy subsidize the sick, who could be somebody else this year and you next year. Those risks include any kind of health care a person might need from birth to death -- prenatal care through hospice. No individual is likely to need all of it, but we will all need some of it eventually.

So, as a middle-aged childless man you resent having to pay for maternity care or kids' dental care. Shouldn't turnabout be fair play? Shouldn't pregnant women and kids be able to say, "Fine, but in that case why should we have to pay for your Viagra, or prostate cancer tests, or the heart attack and high blood pressure you are many times more likely to suffer from than we are?" Once you start down that road, it's hard to know where to stop. If you slice and dice risks, eventually you don't have a risk pool at all, and the whole idea of insurance falls apart....
Health bill clears hurdles

House Republicans this week unveiled their plan to replace former President Obama's signature health care law. But their plan - the American Health Care Act - has been assailed by conservatives and liberals alike as well as the nation's top medical organizations for being flawed and threatening to leave millions of Americans without insurance.

Here's a look at some of the groups that could bear the brunt of the GOP's plan. Read the bill here.

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Seniors

Seniors would be charged five times more than others from insurance companies under the Republican health care plan. The plan would drastically cut subsidies for seniors, especially those with fixed or low incomes and in rural areas.

The New York Times reports that people in their 50s and 60s could see premiums rise by $2,000 to $3,000 a year, equivalent to 20 percent to 25 percent, or higher, under the GOP plan.

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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Michael Dwyer

The biggest losers

Under Obamacare tax credits to help people buy health insurance in the individual market were based on a person's income and geography. The GOP plan is less generous. The tax credits are based on age and fixed income. Older, sicker and lower-income patients are bigger losers under the Republican plan.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

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Trump base

Americans with the highest-income will benefit from the GOP health care plan - not so much Americans on the lower income spectrum, many of whom live across rural America - and, notably, comprised of President Trump's base. The older, blue-collar whites who fell in line with the "Make America Great Again" theme will lose under the Republican health plan.

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

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Pennsylvanians

The Republican health care plan would make coverage more expensive  if not out of reach  for poor and sick Americans. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, says the GOP plan would force Pennsylvanians to pay more for less care and charge higher deductibles and higher premiums for low income residents. Those in poor, rural areas - such as Plymouth in Luzerne County pictured here, would be hard hit. Long Democratic voters, the county this year flipped big for Trump, supplying roughly a third of his margin of victory for the entire state. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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Loser: the fight against opioid and heroin addiction

Those seeking to treat a substance abuse disorder - such as the opioid and heroin public health crisis in Pennsylvania and across the nation - would lose their coverage under the GOP plan.

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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Rollback on addiction treatment

The GOP plan would rollback Medicaid expansions, which has been critical to funding substance abuse treatment programs, particularly in rural areas. That's one of the reasons the American Medical Association opposes the bill.

On average 91 Americans die per day as a result of the opioid epidemic.

(AP Photo/Jim Cole)

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The youth advantage

Winners: younger and higher-income people looking for insurance on the individual market. PennLive file photo

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The wealthy win

Under the Republican plan tax credits are accessible at higher incomes than they are currently under the ACA: up to $75,000 for an individual and $150,000 for a family. In the ACA, it's 400 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $47,520 for an individual.

Richard Vogel/AP

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Upper income bracket: winner

The GOP bill would transfer money from low-income and middle-class Americans to millionaires, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

The majority of people in the individual insurance market are on the lower end of the income range: 81% received some subsidies in the most recent enrollment period, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

That same group should prepare for major increases in premium costs under the GOP plan.

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Planned Parenthood: Loser

The plan from the House Republicans defunds Planned Parenthood. In Pennsylvania that would mean 90,000 state residents would lose their healthcare.

(AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

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Reproductive centers: lose

The Republican plan blocks tax dollars to reproductive health care providers who offer abortion services. No federal money is spent on abortions except in cases of rape, incest or where the mothers life is at risk. The bulk of services provided by Planned Parenthood and funded by federal tax dollars include services on contraception, sexually transmitted infection testing and cancer screenings. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Lottery winners: lose

Your run-of-the-mill, everyday lottery winner would lose. The plan instructs states to disenroll high-dollar lottery winners. (For the record, lottery was mentioned 11 times in the GOP health care plan, Slate reports. Medicaid got equal attention with 11 mentions. A full six pages of the 60-plus page bill were devoted to lottery winnings. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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Republicans: mounting discord

On the right, there's a more specific concern. The plan still retains the basic structure of the ACA, even as its benefits are less generous: Federal dollars to buy insurance, regulations on what that insurance provides, and a requirement that insurers take on customers with pre-existing conditions. Some have labeled it "Obamacare-lite" or "Obamacare 2.0."

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

@TomCotton

Taking a cue from the president, Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, was up early Thursday morning slamming the Republican plan.

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Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

Republican: discord

Can the new bill pass Congressional muster? No Democrats are expected to support the legislation and a growing cadre of Congressional conservatives say the new GOP health bill is a lighter version of "Obamacare," thus the newly minted moniker: Obamacare 2.0.

In the House, about three dozen conservatives are members of the hardline conservative Freedom Caucus, which increasingly opposes the bill. With only 52 Republicans in the Senate, the bill's future is doubtful.

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Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

Pennsylvanians: lose

With 2.8 million Pennsylvanians, nearly half of whom are children, on Medicaid, the Republican plan would have a devastating impact on state residents. An additional 700,000 Pennsylvanians joined the program under the ACA. AP file photo.

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Insurance executives: winners

The bill would eliminate more than 20 taxes, including a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for high-income households. Even health insurance executives, pictured here with President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence last month, who make more than $500,000 would get a tax break. Health insurers would be able to fully deduct the value of their executives' compensation - i.e., tens of millions of dollars - on their taxes.

Find the tax break buried in cryptic language.

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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32 million Americans: lose

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that under a Republican health plan the number of people who are uninsured would increase by 18 million in the first new plan year following enactment of the bill.

After the elimination of the Medicaid expansion eligibility and of subsidies for insurance purchased through the ACA marketplaces, that number would increase to 27 million, and then to 32 million in 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

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Does it fulfill the promise?

On the campaign trail, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to come up with a new plan thats going to be better health care for more people at a lesser cost.

What do you think? Does the AHCA live up to that promise?

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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HARRISBURG -- Immigration agents have been rounding up undocumented immigrants in Harrisburg's Allison Hill neighborhood, causing panic among the Hispanic population and sending some residents into hiding.

Harrisburg police and Hispanic leaders confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been descending on Allison Hill in recent weeks looking for undocumented immigrants with criminal histories.

But when the agents come across other residents without proper documentation, they reportedly are being detained as well, said police Capt. Gabriel Olivera.

The ICE agents do not partner with police or notify police of their raids, Olivera said. Instead, police learned about the series of daily raids, some starting as early as 5 a.m., from residents.

"Several people have been taken into custody," Olivera said of what he had heard about the raids. "Families have been broken up."

An organization, Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania, or MILPA, is planning a 6 p.m. news conference Monday about the raids, said Harrisburg City Councilwoman Shamaine Daniels. The event will be at the St. Francis Assisi Church in Harrisburg.

The raids have caused such fear in certain pockets of Allison Hill that some residents reportedly are afraid to go to the corner store, Olivera said.

Some parents are reluctant to drop their children off at school for fear of getting stopped, said Daniels, who is an immigration attorney. Instead, the children are missing classes.

"It's really bad," Daniels said. "They don't just stop the person they're looking for. They hassle everyone who's around."

Olivera said he's received more than a dozen calls about raids. He said some businesses are reportedly considering closing temporarily because their primarily Hispanic clientele or workforce are afraid to leave their homes.

Gloria Vazquez Merrick, executive director of the Latino Hispanic American Community Center, was on a conference call Friday morning and unavailable to talk in detail but she confirmed that they were aware of numerous raids in recent weeks.

Daniels said they don't know how many people have been detained at this point.

"I have been canvassing across the city and people are really afraid," she said. "I'm even getting inquiries from people in Hershey about whether it's safe to come into the city. ICE is rough when they come in."

It can cause problem, Daniels said, because the handling of the local population by immigration agents may translate into less trust for local police.

"A lot of people don't understand the difference between the federal agents and local police," Daniels said. "We don't want our residents to stop talking to our local police when our department isn't involved in this."
HARRISBURG - An 18-year-old man was rushed to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after he was shot in the leg in the city's Allison Hill neighborhood Thursday night.

Police responded to a shooting report near North 15th and Walnut streets at 9:10 p.m.

Responding officers found the victim at the scene with a gunshot wound to the leg, said Harrisburg Police Cpl. James Galkowski. Multiple houses and vehicles had been damaged by gunfire during the incident, Galkowski said. Police placed at least nine yellow evidence markers on the ground as they investigated the scene.

No suspects were immediately in custody, Galkowski said.

Walnut Street, between North 15th and North 16th streets, was closed as police continued their investigation at 11:10 p.m.
pennsylvania judicial center

The Pennsylvania Judicial Center

(Carolyn Kaster/The Associated Pr)

A Commonwealth Court panel has refused to overturn the firing of a Philadelphia official who refused to submit to drug and alcohol testing after he struck and killed a pedestrian while driving a city-owned vehicle.



In short, the judges found that Gregory Bundy violated a city policy that requires employees to undergo such tests after accidents involving city vehicles. So Bundy's refusal amounted to insubordination, Judge Robert Simpson concluded in the state court's opinion issued Thursday.



Bundy was fired after he struck a pedestrian while driving on Interstate 76 on the night of April 12, 2014. Bundy, a street repairs supervisor who had "take-home privileges" for his city vehicle, claimed he had clocked out of work hours earlier and was heading home when the accident occurred.



A superior who Bundy called right after the accident testified that he told Bundy he had to submit to the testing. A city police officer also said he asked Bundy to undergo the screening, which is standard procedure when Philly cops are investigating fatal accidents. A cop testified that Bundy showed no signs of intoxication after the crash.



Bundy insisted he didn't drink any any alcohol before the accident, denied he had specifically refused the drug and alcohol screening, and insisted his boss did not tell him he had to undergo the impairment testing.



He was fired for insubordination and for misconduct that rendered him unable to execute his job duties. Bundy appealed to the state court after the city civil service commission and a Philadelphia judge upheld his firing.



In that appeal, he claimed the testing requirement didn't apply in his case because the fatal accident occurred while he was off duty. Simpson rejected that argument. The city's policy requires such testing after crashes in city-owned vehicles regardless of whether the drivers were on or off duty, he found.



So Bundy's refusal of the testing called into question his ability to safely use city equipment and to supervise subordinates, Simpson concluded.




John McDonald III

John McDonald III

A man convicted of a callous murder at a Harrisburg after-hours club has failed to convince a state appeals court that he doesn't deserve a life prison sentence because he was "voluntarily intoxicated" during the slaying.

The Superior Court judges rejected John McDonald III's argument in an opinion Judge Lillian Harris Ransom issued Friday.

Witnesses said McDonald was able to speak clearly, stand up without aid, shoot victim Todd Dunlap and then step over the body and drive away from

, Ransom noted.

That fatally undermines his voluntary intoxication defense, she found, because that defense only applies when someone completely loses control of his faculties.

A Dauphin County jury didn't buy the voluntary intoxication defense either when it convicted McDonald of first-degree murder a year ago.

McDonald, 24, claimed during the trial that he had not slept for two days and had been drinking and taking ecstasy and had smoked a cigarette dipped in embalming fluid before he shot Dunlap in the back of the head. Witnesses said the 31-year-old Dunlap was killed as he tried to help a bouncer evict McDonald from the club on South 19th Street.

With a life prison sentence, McDonald has no hope for parole. As Ransom noted, a successful voluntary intoxication defense would have pared his conviction to third-degree murder, which does allow for parole
BULLFIGHT ART.jpg

By Beth Anne Mumford

During last month's budget address, Gov. Tom Wolf indicated a willingness to restore some fiscal sanity to our state budget.

Beth Anne Mumford (submitted photo)

Specifically, he said he was open to reductions in spending and not raising the state income or sales tax. While this is a step in the right direction, Pennsylvania needs bolder reforms to get our fiscal house in order and make our economy work again.

Start with the spending side of the equation.

By any measure, the Commonwealth has lost control of its finances. The state general fund budget has doubled in 16 years to nearly $31.5 billion today.

To finance this runaway spending, Pennsylvanians pay 10.2 percent in state and local taxes--one of the highest rates in the nation.

Politicians have promised us this spending would create jobs and grow the economy. But look at the facts.

As state spending doubled over the last 16 years, Pennsylvania has ranked in the bottom 10 percent of states for job growth, income growth, and population growth. The status quo of high taxes and spending is not working.

Controlling state spending requires that we address its biggest driver: our unsustainable state pension system. For decades, politicians have made government employees promises they cannot keep, and the bills are starting to come due.

State pensions are underfunded to the tune of over $60 billion--that's $5,000 from every taxpayer--and are not far away from bankruptcy. A 2015 study from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University found the state's two largest pension systems--the Public Schools Employees' Retirement System and the State Employees' Retirement System--could only guarantee funding through around 2025.

So, what to do?

Step one is switching from the current defined-benefit system--which pays government workers a fixed amount upon retirement, regardless of how much they paid in--to a defined-contribution system, which bases payments on how much workers paid in.

Defined contribution systems are akin to 401(k) plans--the same system 70 percent of the private sector uses today, along with many other states--and gives employees more freedom to take their retirement savings with them to new jobs.

Many states have recently made this transition with positive results. When Michigan switched in 1997, for example, a report by the American Legislative Exchange Council found they cut their pension debt in half over 13 years and saved millions on operating costs.

Other studies abound showing similar savings.

According to a report by the Mercatus Center, every taxpayer in 47 out of 50 states could expect to save $251 every year if state pensions switched to defined contribution plans.

Pensions are just the start--we can roll back many other budget items, like special-interest handouts.

The state spends about $700 million a year in special-interest giveaways, including tax breaks for film companies and awards for horse races. For film tax credits, the state only gets back about 24 cents on every dollar spent, according to the Tax Foundation. Talk about a lousy "investment."

But growing our economy and creating more jobs will require more than cutting wasteful spending--we must focus on reducing taxes, too.

According to the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania has the 15th highest tax burden in the country. Today, the average family pays more than $18,000 a year in state and local taxes--more than they'll spend on food, clothing, and housing combined.

While the governor's promise not to raise state income or sales taxes is welcome news, he still has plans for $1 billion in other tax hikes--or $315 for a family of four. Especially concerning is his proposal to impose a new tax on natural gas producers.

Pennsylvania is the nation's second largest supplier of natural gas. Not only would a tax hike mean higher prices for consumers, but it would also threaten one of the few strong industries we have left.

Any new tax hikes should be off the table until state lawmakers rein in wasteful government spending and reduce the tax burden weighing on Pennsylvania families. That's the surest way to grow the economy, create new jobs, and increase incomes throughout the state.

Beth Anne Mumford is the Pennsylvania state director of Americans for Prosperity, a pro-business advocacy group.
Paul Ryan,Steve Scalise,Cathy McMorris Rodgers,Kevin McCarthy

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin speaks during a news conference at the Republican National Committee Headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, March 8, 2017.

(J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

By Olivia Golden

Expanding Medicaid to low-income adults is a win-win-win for workers, health care providers, and states. Recent reports about Pennsylvania and Ohio add to the already substantial evidence for each of these wins - and they add to the growing body of evidence that Medicaid expansion supports stable employment.

Olivia Golden (CLASP photo)

In Pennsylvania, a new report from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services about the effects of expansion finds that more people than ever have health insurance, hospitals have less uncompensated care, an estimated 15,500 jobs have been created, and the state has received $53.4 million in additional tax revenue.

A detailed evaluation of Medicaid expansion in neighboring Ohio by that state's Department of Medicaid provides rich data to explain just how it pays off for workers and taxpayers.

Besides just covering more people, the expansion increased their access to crucial health services, including treatment for mental health and substance abuse. Because people got help for their problems, the report found that they were able to work more steadily.

In fact, more than half of Medicaid expansion enrollees report that Medicaid has made it easier to maintain employment. For people looking for work, nearly three-quarters reported that Medicaid makes it easier.

And it's not just Ohio. National evidence also suggests that access to health insurance helps people work more, because those who are unemployed and have significant health issues often find the lack of coverage inhibits their ability to search for or maintain employment.

Only once they are healthy will they be able to focus on employment.

A report from the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in July 2016 found that illness or disability are the top reasons why poor people, particularly adults without children, are not working.

Authors of the AEI report argue that policies must focus on improving the health of the poor in order to support employment. Medicaid expansion is exactly that type of policy.

So all the evidence suggests that Medicaid's ability to support stable employment is very important in Pennsylvania as well. The majority of Pennsylvanians insured by Medicaid are working, but health concerns are a threat to the stability of that employment.

Without access to affordable health care through Medicaid, for example, those who become ill or have chronic conditions find it harder to maintain employment.

Medicaid expansion supports work in another way as well.

Some parents used to experience a so-called "cliff effect," meaning that if they got a promotion or more hours, their earnings increased above the old Medicaid eligibility limit and they lost coverage - even though they still had no access to affordable health insurance.

With the expansion, that cliff is gone, because parents can get help from Medicaid all the way up to the point their income makes them eligible for subsidized coverage through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace.

Removing the cliff effect means there's no disincentive for parents to earn more, allowing them to move up and best provide for their families.

Many people get health insurance through their jobs, but for those who work in low-wage sectors like food service, retail, or child care, the chances are high that their jobs don't offer health insurance.

Prior to Medicaid expansion, many of these workers simply went uninsured, and too often missed out on needed care. We know that poverty is a complex issue without crystal clear answers.

But, we also know that Medicaid offers a "hand up," helping people stay in the workforce by getting needed care so they can provide for themselves and their families.

So it's hard to argue with the economic success of Medicaid expansion in Pennsylvania. Medicaid expansion not only benefits the state's economy and health care providers, but also allows hard-working Pennsylvanians to remain healthy so they can stay in the workforce.

Pennsylvania has come too far to consider taking dangerous steps backwards when it comes to access to affordable health care. Policymakers in Pennsylvania should embrace the success of Medicaid expansion and ensure that this vital hand up continues to be available to hard-working people across the state.

Olivia Golden is the Executive Director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), a national, nonpartisan organization that advocates for policy solutions that work for low-income people. CLASP is working with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia to expand Medicaid enrollment.
Republican leadership this week revealed its plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

The proposal, backed by President Donald Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan and others, met swift opposition from conservative corners as well as major players within the health care space.

Some, like the conservative Association of Mature American Citizens and the American Action Network, have praised the bill, but many other key interest groups and industry stakeholders have expressed concerns with the bill as written.

Asked about opposition from major groups, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said at his Wednesday press briefing that this bill was "patient-centric" and offered less to special interest groups than Obamacare had.

This list, to be updated as the debate continues, contains some of the groups that have said they have issues with the American Health Care Act:

Interest groups and industry stakeholders:

The AARP's opposition to the bill is significant, as its members number in the millions and represent a demographic that tends to swing Republican. Its opposition, along with groups representing hospitals the nation over, demonstrates powerful voices against the proposal.

The AARP American Hospital Association Federation of American Hospitals America's Essential Hospitals Families USA

Doctors' and nurses' groups

The American Medical Association is self-described as the nation's largest group of doctors, and its donations are significant on both sides of the aisle. In addition, its documented expenditures on lobbying have shown a significant influence operation.

But the opposition thus far has also come from more liberal leaning groups, like a major union of nurses, and conservative corners, as seen when the head of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons told the pro-Trump outlet Brietbart that the bill was basically no different from Obamacare and not worth supporting.

The American Medical Association American Nurses Association American College of Physicians National Nurses United National Physicians Alliance Association of American Physicians and Surgeons American Academy of Pediatrics

Conservative organizations

Another cause for alarm for Republican proponents of the bill: broad criticism from conservative institutions.

Among them is Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, widely regarded as one of the most important voices within Republican policy. The Heritage Foundation's leader, former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, has praised the Trump administration heavily, and the organization played a role in Trump's transition to the presidency.

Speaker Ryan, however, defended the bill on Wednesday from conservative criticism, calling it a "conservative wish list."

Trump, meanwhile, huddled with members of some conservative groups opposed to the bill on Wednesday evening.

Heritage Action

Cato Institute

Americans for Prosperity

FreedomWorks

Tea Party Patriots

Club for Growth

Democratic and progressive organizations

Democrats might not hold many levers of power in Washington, but groups with deep pockets and sizable member lists have made their stances known.

A lot of groups aligned with the Democratic Party or the progressive movement have spent a significant amount of capital defending Obamacare over the years, and their opposition to the House GOP bill has come as unsurprising and resolute.

MoveOn.org

American Bridge

Center for American Progress

Our Revolution

CNN's Lauren Fox, Deirdre Walsh, Jeff Zeleny, Phil Mattingly, MJ Lee and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
A search and rescue technician with the Royal Canadian Air Force has died in a training accident near Yorkton, Saskatchewan. MCpl Alfred Barr, of 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron, is seen in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-DND, 17 Wing Winnipeg, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
FILE- In this Feb. 23, 2017 file photo, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas listens to his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun address a speech, at the presidential palace, in Baabda east Beirut, Lebanon. Abbas will speak by telephone with U.S President Donald Trump in the first contact between the two leaders since Trump took office. Trump's planned phone call to Abbas was revealed in a White House notice Friday, March 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2017 file photo, a security camera warning sign is seen at the Muslim Association of Hawaii in Honolulu. The state of Hawaii has become the first state to sue to stop President Donald Trump's revised travel ban. Attorneys for the state filed the lawsuit Wednesday, March 8, 2017, in federal court in Honolulu. The state had previously sued over Trump's initial travel ban, but that lawsuit was put on hold while other cases played out across the country. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, File)
JoBurg girls' cross country captures school's first state championship

After falling just short of a regional title last Saturday, the JoBurg girls responded by claiming the ultimate prize at MIS this past weekend.
Saudis to honor crude contract volumes to Asia

TOKYO

Petroleumworld.com 03 10 2017

Saudi Aramco will supply full contract volumes of crude oil to multiple Asian buyers in April, three industry sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Despite commitments to cut production in an OPEC deal, Saudi Aramco had agreed to supply at least one customer in Asia with incremental crude on top of contracted volumes next month, as it holds to a strategy of maintaining market share in the fastest-growing market, one of the sources said.

Saudi Arabia led a pact between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers, including Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan, to cut global crude output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) from Jan. 1, and bring supply closer to demand.

The kingdom had cut beyond the level pledged in the agreement and brought its output below 10 million bpd, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Tuesday. Suppliers participating in the curbs have cut more than 1.5 million bpd, he said, exceeding what he called the market's low expectations.

While supplies to Asia have been little changed, Saudi Aramco has been cutting supplies to some major oil companies in Europe and the United States, industry sources have said. Nearly half of Saudi's crude production is exported to Asia.


U.S. shale moves on production growth despite OPEC's warning

HOUSTON

Petroleumworld.com 03 10 2017

U.S. shale oil producers are plotting ambitious production growth outside the red-hot Permian Basin in Texas, widening a resurgence that could confound OPEC's strategy to tighten global supplies.

As shale firms rebound from a two-year price war with OPEC, many are planning to expand production in North Dakota, Oklahoma and other shale regions.

The Permian - America's largest oilfield - has already seen output jump in the past six months.

Hess Corp, Chesapeake Energy Corp, Continental Resources Inc and other firms detailed their growth plans at an energy conference in Houston this week. The projects they outlined would result in a steady supply of American crude exports through the next decade.

Rising U.S. energy clout has frustrated efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to control global oil prices through a production curb announced last fall - its first in eight years.

The rise in U.S. output was enough to boost domestic crude stockpiles last week by 8.2 million barrels, more than quadruple estimates from analysts polled by Reuters.

The unexpected supply surge pushed U.S. oil prices down more than 5 percent on Wednesday to close at $50.49.

The price drop underscored the growing impact of U.S. shale production on global supplies and prices relative to OPEC member nations, which once exercised dominant influence on global markets. Representatives from both sectors acknowledged that power shift at the energy conference in Houston.

"We are on something of an equal basis today with OPEC," said Harold Hamm, founder and chief executive of Continental Resources, which has invested heavily in Oklahoma shale projects in the past year.

In North Dakota's Bakken shale fields, where Continental is the largest leaseholder, the company has hired oilfield service contractors to frack wells that it had mothballed during the price downturn.

Chesapeake - which has one of the largest acreage positions of any U.S. producer, with holdings in Pennsylvania and Louisiana - has only drilled an average of 25 percent of its land, giving it years of inventory to drill and frack.

"We have this great opportunity to run with," said Frank Patterson, Chesapeake's head of exploration and production. "We can develop what we have and grow."

Hess, one of the largest Bakken producers, is adding four rigs this year and says it has more than a decade of drilling locations at current oil prices.

"We're back to growth in the Bakken," Chief Executive John Hess said in an interview.

These and other expansion plans come as the Permian Basin saw $28 billion in land acquisitions in 2016, more than triple the prior year. Chevron Corp, which controls 2 million Permian acres, expects its output there to jump 20 percent by the end of the decade.

"We're ramping up," Chevron CEO John Watson said.

Yet as the rise in American oil stockpiles shows, producers run the risk of pumping too much and creating a new glut that could push prices down.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration boosted its forecast this week for American oil production for 2017, now expecting output to rise 330,000 barrels per day from last year. Production in the United States is about 5 percent below the all-time high.

OPEC WARNS SHALE PRODUCERS

A handful of chief executives at U.S. oil producers met with OPEC ministers last weekend ahead of the CERAWeek conference at a dinner organized by investment bank Lazard Ltd. The meeting, the first between the two groups, was described by attendees as cordial.

"OPEC is trying to figure out U.S. shale," Scott Sheffield, chairman of Pioneer Natural Resource Co, said in an interview. "U.S. shale is trying to understand where (oil) prices will go. We're educating each other."

OPEC plans to meet on May 25 in Austria to decide whether to extend or deepen the supply cuts.

OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said this week that for the cartel to renew its production output agreement, non-OPEC members must be on board.

Hess, Sheffield and other U.S. shale leaders said they expect the group will renew the production curbs.

"It's really healthy that shale producers understand the importance of OPEC," said Hess. "We're all in the same boat."

While American producers seem unlikely to agree to any broad output curb with OPEC, they are keenly aware of the supply and demand for oil.

"We have the potential to oversupply the market," said Continental's Hamm. "And we have a great responsibility not to do so."


Repsol finds massive oil field in Alaska, largest U.S. onshore conventional discovery in 30 years



The contingent resources currently identified in the Nanushuk play in Alaska amount to approximately 1.2 billion barrels of recoverable light oil.

HOUSTON

Petroleumworld 03 10 2017

Spanish oil company Repsol SA said on Thursday that it had discovered a giant oil field in Alaska, a potential find big enough to help stem production declines in the state.

Repsol said two wells drilled this winter with Denver-based partner Armstrong Oil & Gas, Inc. indicate that recent discoveries in an area that lies between existing operations in the state's North Slope could hold as much as 1.2 billion barrels of oil.

First production from the discoveries could come as soon as 2021, with output of as much as 120,000 barrels a day, Repsol said. That would represent a lifeline for Alaska, which has seen oil revenues plummet after prices crashed in 2014. The state also needs new crude to keep oil flowing on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

"We must all pull together to fill an oil pipeline that's three-quarters empty -- and today's announcement shows measurable results of that hard work," Alaska Gov. Bill Walker said in response to the news of the discovery Thursday.

In October, Caelus Energy LLC, a closely held firm backed by private-equity fund Apollo Global Management LLC, said it found as much as 2.4 billion barrels of oil in the shallow waters of Smith Bay, about 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. That discovery will require significant investment in a pipeline and other infrastructure to develop the resource.

The Repsol discovery also requires new infrastructure, but it is comparatively close to existing operations of other companies.

The two significant finds represent a rare achievement in oil exploration. In recent years, the industry has found far more natural gas, which is more costly to ship to global markets and less commercially competitive.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s 2015 discovery of the equivalent of more than 1 billion barrels of oil and natural gas off the coast of Guyana was among the largest finds in the past decade.








David Boisselle, 57, owner of the Philadelphia Vision Center, stands in the Cheltenham Mall's parking lot. The mall is being converted to an outdoor mall. Read more

The new signs for Philadelphia Vision Center at Cheltenham Mall have arrows pointing customers to the entrance: It's open for business.

That's all shop owner David Boisselle cares about. Never mind about the vacant, boarded storefronts around him. He talks about the new space he moved into last month almost as if he landed at the Ritz Carlton instead of a tight, 1,200-square-foot narrow box.

That's because from March 2016 through January, Boisselle and his staff, including two optometrists, went without heat or hot water as the new mall owner, Sun Equity Partners, gutted the indoor mall to create an outdoor center that truly lets the sun shine in.

All that's left inside the mall are mounds of dirt.

Sun Equity, a private equity firm from New York, gave Boisselle the option to break his lease during the renovation and return when it was done by mid-2018, or stay put.

Boisselle decided to stay. He signed a new 10-year lease with two five-year options. He is getting 235 feet more than his old spot between Burlington Coat Factory and Value City when the mall was bustling.

The mall, which opened in 1959, was enclosed in 1981 and has had many incarnations. Clover came to the mall in 1982; The multistory Gimbels store was shuttered in 1986; Value City came in 1997, replacing the Clover, and it lasted until 2008 when it was replaced by Conway and later American Signature Furniture.

In December 2005, Thor Equities acquired Cheltenham Mall for $71.5 million from Simon Property Group.

In 2009, Target moved in as an anchor, replacing the six-screen United Artists Theatre. Several people say that depressed the mall's traffic and led to the departure of several tenants that couldn't afford the rent amid decreasing sales.

DSW Shoes, the Children's Place, Ben's Jewelers, and Bath & Body Works all closed shop.

Less than a decade after Thor bought the mall, it went through foreclosure, and the banks took it over. The bankruptcy court appointed a receiver in 2014, and CBRE Inc.'s Peter Stevens marketed the property for the court.

Sun Equity arrived in December 2014, buying the mall in bankruptcy court for $30 million. The firm, which focuses on turning around distressed malls, is plunking down an additional $40 million to create an outdoor shopping plaza called Greenleaf at Cheltenham.

By early 2016, only 10 small retailers remained, and by last month, only four: Philadelphia Vision Center, MetroPCS, a Wells Fargo bank, and T-Mobile.

Abe Tress, Sun's director of operations, said the firm has a similar project ongoing at an old shopping center at 5011 Route 130 in Delran.

"It's a lot of headache, but at the same time it's rewarding to take an eyesore or underutilized properties and turn them into assets for the community," Tress said.

Sun is part of the surge of private-equity firms that have stepped up since the great recession of 2008 to salvage broken malls. As mall traffic fell, more owners have walked away, as Thor did in Cheltenham.

Granite Run in Middletown Township, Delaware County, took a similar path, and is being redeveloped into a mixed-use property with an outdoor shopping center by BET Investments of Horsham.

In Cheltenham, the mall's bones "have always been strong" with the anchor tenants and the freestanding parcels out front, said managing director Dan Brickner of Metro Commercial, the mall's leasing agency. "The problem is that an enclosed mall is very expensive to operate, and that's why that's being taken out and turned inside out with a shopping center with more parking."

The mall property is about 775,000 square feet of retail space. When the redevelopment is complete, it will be around 650,000 square feet of retail space with far more parking. Brickner said part of the interior of the mall is being knocked down and replaced with surface parking.

"We are ready to go full force in the next two months," Tress said, "with demolition and outfitting the big boxes with new designs."

About 70,000 cars pass daily along Cheltenham Avenue, which divides Montgomery County and Philadelphia, the Delaware Valley Planning Commission reports.

Brickner said he could not yet announce specific tenants. "We are working with multiple national apparel brands, a national fitness chain, multiple national fast-casual food concepts, and a number of regional soft goods and service concepts," he said.

Boisselle, who has invested 24 years in the mall, said business is down 30 percent to 40 percent since the renovation began, forcing him to cut night hours.

"This is retirement," said Boisselle, 57, as nightfall made his store shine beside the dark storefronts. "Even when I'm gone, the idea is to keep this shop going. The community needs it.

"I'm optimistic this is going to work. I wouldn't have stayed if I wasn't."

Among his customers last week was Kassee Clowney, a second grader at DePaul Catholic School, who came in for the first time with his grandmother Doris, a regular like her daughter-in-law and another grandchild. Kassee didn't know why pages in books were turning colors when he tried to read them.

Clowney, 7, of North Philadelphia, was brought in to get his eyes examined by an optometrist.

About 20 minutes later, the boy returned with his grandmother.

"He's going to need glasses," she said. "We'll be back."

Tiffany Matthews, 45, will also be back. "It feels more personal than the chains," said Matthews, a health-care advocate from Elkins Park who came with daughter Arianne Wilson, 12, for two new pairs of glasses. Matthews has been a customer for five years.

"I don't want to have to drive all the way to King of Prussia or even Willow Grove," she said. "It's still a trek."
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The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) recently held the first Telecommunications Summit in the Philippines on March 9-10, 2017.

More Cell Towers for Faster Internet Speed

During the event, Globe and PLDT/Smart claimed that they have been exerting efforts in improving the internet speed in the country. However, their biggest challenge is in constructing additional cell towers.

More cell towers in an area will de-congest the network traffic which improves the internet speed. This is the same reason why you can download files faster during the wee hours of the night when less people are connected to the internet.

Challenges in Constructing Cell Towers

A telco needs as much as 25 different permits from the government in order to build one cell tower. Add to that the very long processing time and fees that can reach up to 200,000 per tower depending on the local government unit.

Homeowners associations of several affluent villages even reject cell tower construction proposals. The reason? A misguided fear of radiation from these infrastructures.

Theres even a problem of revolutionary tax in some areas in the country where rebel groups require telcos to pay. Otherwise, their cell tower will be bombed.

The First Solution

As an answer to the woes presented by the telcos, the DICT drafted an executive order that mandates LGUs to make a decision in 7 days for cell tower applications. Solutions with no deadlines are no solutions at all, DICT Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima during the event.












Carroll County (VA) Sheriff's Dep. Curtis Allen Bartlett was killed Thursday night when his patrol vehicle collided with a truck. He was responding to assist other officers in a pursuit. (Photo: Carroll County SO)

A Carroll County (VA) Sheriffs Office deputy was killed in a patrol vehicle crash while responding to assist fellow officers late Thursday night in Hillsville.

[Dep. Curtis Allen Bartlett, 32] was responding to assist a fellow Sheriffs Deputy and Virginia State Police trooper with an ongoing pursuit in Carroll County. The Sheriffs Deputy was traveling west on Route 58 with emergency lights and sirens activated when it collided with a tractor-trailer making a left turn onto Route 58 from the Interstate 77 Exit 14 ramp, the Virginia State Police said in a press release early Friday morning. The tractor-trailer had the green light and was only traveling approximately 25 mph. The Deputys vehicle was unable to avoid the tractor-trailer and struck the rear tandem. The Sheriffs Deputy died at the scene.

The Sheriffs Deputy was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, the Carroll News reports. The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 59-year-old male from Barren Springs, was not injured in the crash, according to the state police.

The pursuit was initiated by a Carroll County Sheriffs Deputy at approximately 9:50 p.m., along Route 58 near I-77 Exit 14, the State Police said in the press release. The suspect vehicle went through a field and then the driver and passenger fled on foot. Within minutes both suspects were in custody  one was apprehended by the Carroll County Sheriffs Deputy and the other taken into custody by a Virginia State Police Trooper assisting with the pursuit.
Photo: NYPD Facebook

Billed as Brooklyn's biggest ever gun smuggling bust, nearly two dozen people  mostly from Virginia  have been rounded up and arrested on charges they brought over 200 high-caliber weapons of all sorts into New York City, authorities said Wednesday.

The suspects were taken into custody as part of "Operation Tidal Wave," a joint operation conducted by the NYPD and the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office  the latest effort to plug the "iron pipeline," the name for the conduit of guns smuggled from southern states to New York City, reports Newsday.

"In this unique case, we charged more defendants and recovered more firearms than in any other case in Brooklyn's history," said borough Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.

At a Brooklyn news conference Wednesday, Gonzalez and NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill displayed an assortment of assault rifles, Tommy guns, and high powered handguns like .45-calibers, all purchased by a single undercover investigator from two groups of traffickers operating in Virginia, according to investigators.

In all, some 217 firearms were sold by reputed associates of Bloods gangs in Brooklyn and Virginia. The $200,000 in proceeds raked in by the suspects went to fund "a lavish lifestyle, purchasing drugs, jewelry, clothing and sneakers," Gonzalez said, adding that some of the money was sent to jailed associates of the suspects.

As of late Wednesday, a total of 21 of the 24 defendants charged in the case had been taken into custody. Charges in the 627-count indictment included conspiracy, criminal sale of firearms, and related offenses.
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In Thursday nights broadcast, Rachel Maddow continued to use her platform to keep the spotlight where it should be  on Donald Trumps ties to Russia, and the fact that it looks like Russias interference in U.S. affairs didnt end with his election.

That was just the beginning, Maddow said.

The MSNBC star said events that have unfolded during Trumps time in office show that Russia may now be reaping its reward, maybe getting what it wants out of the United States government as payback for running the successful op that helped install the new head of the American government.

Video:

During the opening of her show, Maddow said that its one thing for the Trump campaign and its officials to meet and seemingly work with the Russians during the campaign  but its becoming apparent that the election may have just been the opening act of Moscows operation.

The new developments that Wikileaks  the same folks that worked with the Russians to expose hacked DNC emails last year  released a trove of classified CIA material is further proof, Maddow says, that the Russians are likely still trying to meddle in U.S. affairs at the direction of Vladimir Putin. Instead of influencing an election, the goal now seems to be disrupting and undermining U.S. intelligence agencies.

Like usual, there is a connection between the latest WikiLeaks release and the President of the United States.

As Maddow pointed out, Trump supporter Nigel Farage, who recently had dinner with Trump, met with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange just two days after the classified CIA information was reportedly released by the organization. When asked why he was visiting Assange, Farage said he couldnt remember.

While the focus is rightfully on Russias involvement in last years election and what connection the Russians had with the Trump campaign, its also important to consider that Moscow now may be influencing our government. In other words, the election may have just been the beginning.

Maddow brings that point home:

The Russian government attacked our election. The Russian government was in contact with multiple Trump campaign sources while they were doing it. Russian nemeses in the American government  U.S. State Department, CIA  are not faring well since Donald Trump came to power. Is the operation that Russia started during the campaign, is it over? Or are they still running it? Are we still in this now?

Its unsettling to consider the possibility that Russia, after helping put Donald Trump in the White House, is still influencing U.S. affairs. But there is mounting evidence that Moscows work didnt end on Nov. 8, 2016  that was only the beginning.
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Opponents of Trumps mass deportation and Muslim ban policies are using technology to fight back on behalf of the victims of these policies. Lawyers are also creating new services to protect the rights of people who Trump believes dont deserve rights.

The Colorado chapter of the ACLU developed an app for Android and iPhone users that empowers Coloradans to record police and hold them accountable for their actions.

As a result of the first Muslim ban, AirportLawyer.org developed an app that allows travelers or their family members to upload personal information and travel plans that are securely shared with volunteer lawyers so they can track arrivals and meet travelers. The ACLU and other organizations had volunteer lawyers waiting at airports to provide legal services for people trapped in the ban.

On Tuesday, the SPLC launched a new project called SouthEast Immigration Freedom Initiative (SIFI) to provide pro bono legal services for immigrants caught up in the mass deportation dragnet.

SIFI will operate in collaboration with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the American Immigration Council, the Innovation Law Lab and the American Immigration Representation project.

This project will provide services at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia with plans to expand to other detention centers in the future. There is a need for a service like this. It assures that immigrants rights, under existing law, are protected. However, it is also a needed mechanism to hold Trump and his private prisoner donors accountable when, not if, they violate laws intended to protect vulnerable people.

Often Immigrants lack the financial resources that would enable them to hire lawyers who will protect their rights under existing law. Additionally, there are physical barriers that come with being detained at private detention centers known to mistreat immigrants and provide poor medical treatment as they laugh their way to the bank.

In September 2016, Homeland Security sent 70 percent of immigrants to private detention centers. This will undoubtedly rise with the increased barbarity of Trumps mass deportation policy that, among other things may include, separating mothers and children.

Trumps anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim policies are based on the same lies that fascists throughout history relied on. These lies have been debunked not only by Liberals but also by Trumps own DHS and right wing organizations. Its obvious Trumps xenophobic policies are about pandering to his base.

However, as with everything else Trump does, his anti-immigration policies provide a financial reward to his rich donors. One benefactor of this policy is Geo Group, which donated $250,000 to support Trumps inauguration. One of its subsdiaries donated $225,000 to one of the Super Pacs that helped Trump win the election. Another prison-for-profit operator, CoreCivic donated $250,000 to support Trumps inauguration.

The bottom line is this is another policy where Trumps friends profit from someone elses suffering, making it all the more important to fight back with our voices, with technology, and with the law.
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Despite his pledge to drain the swamp, Donald Trump has secretly installed hundreds of staffers at every agency in the federal government to serve as his eyes and ears, according to a recent report from ProPublica.

The non-profit news organization reports that more than 400 officials have been hired by the president without Senate confirmation, and many of them are lobbyists and right-wing conspiracy theorists  a stunning development after Trump spent the entire campaign promising to rid the federal government of career politicians and Washington insiders.

More from the report:

While President Trump has not moved to fill many jobs that require Senate confirmation, he has quietly installed hundreds of officials to serve as his eyes and ears at every major federal agency, from the Pentagon to the Department of Interior. Unlike appointees exposed to the scrutiny of the Senate, members of these so-called beachhead teams have operated largely in the shadows, with the White House declining to publicly reveal their identities.

While there is clearly a large group of officials inside the federal government  many of them holdovers from the Obama administration  resisting Trump and often leaking information to the media, the president appears to be secretly expanding his reach into every level of the executive branch of government.

Whats most troubling is the people Trump is installing. As ProPublica points out, many of the hundreds of staffers being quietly placed in the government are lobbyists and conspiracy theorists.

More:

The list [ProPublica] obtained includes obscure campaign staffers, contributors to Breitbart and others who have embraced conspiracy theories, as well as dozens of Washington insiders who could be reasonably characterized as part of the swamp Trump pledged to drain. The list is striking for how many former lobbyists it contains: We found at least 36, spanning industries from health insurance and pharmaceuticals to construction, energy and finance. Many of them lobbied in the same areas that are regulated by the agencies they have now joined. ProPublica has obtained a list of more than 400 people hired by the Trump administration to fill key roles across the federal government. That figure is almost certainly an undercount since we only included those who formally registered as lobbyists, a process increasingly avoided by many in Washington. During the campaign, Trump said he would have no problem banning lobbyists from his administration. But they have nonetheless ended up in senior roles, aided by Trumps weakening of Obama-era ethics rules that modestly limited lobbyists role in government.

While this is yet another promise abandoned by a president with no principles, there is something about this revelation that is particularly disturbing, especially since these staffers have now taken on significant influence within the government, according to ProPublica.

Of course, none of this will help the forgotten men and women that Trump promised to represent as president. Nothing about Trumps shadow appointments will make America great again.

Its one thing to keep the swamp intact; its something entirely different and more frightening to fill it up with more Washington insiders and Steve Bannon-like extremists.
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Trump apologist and historian Victor Davis Hanson took exception in a new op-ed to the Academy Awards, which he called a monotony of hate in which Hollywood stars ranted on cue about the evils of President Donald Trump.

As though there was a director orchestrating the performances. As though they were not speaking from their hearts. Because if somebody dissents from Donald Trump it can only be because theyre being paid to do so.

Hanson claimed Such cheap rhetoric is easy (as a Trump guy, he should know) and suggested that the confusion over an award due to the error of an accounting firm at the end of the show somehow invalidates their critique of Donald Trumps many character defects.

Try to connect those dots if you can. And yes, this guy went to college. And somehow graduated.

However, the most outrageous claims Hanson makes, showing he knows more about ancient Hoplite warfare than he does about current events, were directed at President Obama:

Former President Barack Obama nearly doubled the national debt, never achieved 3 percent economic growth in any of his eight years in office, and left the health care system in crisis. But he did manage to lecture Americans about the evils of the Crusades, and promise to lower the seas and cool the planet.

The first part is repeating something Donald Trump said at a campaign rally on October 28:

Obama is the first president in modern history not to have a single year of 3 percent growth.

He is also the first president in modern history to be opposed by a political party promising to make him a one-term president and to obstruct every single action he took or proposed.

In fact, as CNBC explained back in December, Obamas biggest parting gift to Trump may be the economy:

Donald Trump is heading to the White House with a pledge to revive the U.S. economy and put millions of Americans back to work.



Based on the latest economic data, much of that goal has already been accomplished by President Barack Obama. That includes Fridays employment report that showed the unemployment rate had dropped to a nine year low of 4.6 percent.

President Obama presided over record private sector job growth, and not only was the economy Obamas biggest gift to Trump (unlike the mess Obama inherited from Bush) but Trump has done all he can to take false credit for all Obama did.

President Obama brought Americans economic confidence to the highest level since Ronald Reagan. And Republicans have sainted Reagan.

What Trump  and Hanson  should be saying at this point is, Thanks, Obama.

The rest is just pissy hyperbole from a man who, like his hero Donald Trump, has clearly lost touch with the world of facts. As Investors Business Daily said in February, Trumps Progress On The Economy Lags Reagan, Bush II, Obama.

For example, President Obama did not leave his health care system in crisis. The Republican-controlled Congress has done everything it can since the ACA was implemented, to destroy it. A historian should know to check his sources, but here Hanson is blinkered by ideology.

The crusades were evil, a dark moment in history, as a historian like Hanson should know, and President Obama was correct when he said at the 2015 National Prayer Breakfast:

[D]uring the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.

Terrible deeds were committed in the name of Christ during the Crusades and Inquisition. Slavery and Jim Crow were justified in the name of Christ. These are facts. They are beyond dispute.

If Hanson doesnt like them, he should just say so, rather than mocking the president for saying them. Apparently, he prefers a president who just lies about everything but says stuff he likes.

Sad.

And President Obama never promised to lower the seas or cool the planet. Cmon Hanson. Now youre just acting like a petulant child.

Under Obamas administration, however, carbon emissions did drop by 12 percent. Trump, on the other hand, promises to let fossil fuel companies run amok, bringing further ruin to our environment, and thus, our health, and the health of our families and children and all our descendants.

Along with a corresponding inability to deal with these issues thanks to the administrations less for more Trumpcare that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.

Really, when a historian starts prattling on like this, its time to reconsider his value as a historian because his facts are instantly suspect.

Hanson mocks Obama for his efforts in battling climate change even as we watch Trumps man Scott Pruitt remove the word science from the EPA mission.

So when Hanson mocks Obama for wanting to care for the environment upon which every one of us depends for our very lives, what he is really doing is mocking him for caring.

And thats just shameful.
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The ten states where people will lose the most amount of financial help with purchasing their health insurance under the Republican Obamacare replacement were all won by Donald Trump in 2016.

Check out this chart from The Center For Budget And Policy Priorities:

House #GOP #ACARepeal plan is bad for millions, but even worse for low-income people in high-cost states: https://t.co/MAK7E0Z5FI pic.twitter.com/9ENlb4s1Pw  Center on Budget (@CenterOnBudget) March 10, 2017

Out of the eleven states listed, Trump won nine of them by double digits. His only single-digit victories were in North Carolina and Arizona. Besides voting for Trump, these states have something else in common. They have had Republican leadership that undermined the Affordable Care Act and made health care very expensive.

According to the Center For Budget And Policy Priorities, Consumers in 11 high-cost states would see their tax credits to purchase health coverage fall by more than $3,000 on average  or more than 50 percent.

The deception was a clever scheme. Red state Republicans undercut the ACA, blamed Obamacare for the increasing cost of health insurance, won an election, and will now cut payments to help people buy health care in those same high-cost states.

Red state Republican ideologues may never catch on that they were played, but when these voters cast their ballots for Trump and a Republican Congressional majority, they were committing suicide by ballot.

Their votes were acts of self-harm and now millions of red staters, Democratic and Republican, stand to lose their health care if Trumpcare ever becomes law.
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These are definitely uncharted waters, if not alarming and frightening waters. Donald Trump ran against his Democratic rival by calling her crooked Hillary. Just keep that in mind during this story.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he didnt believe it was known that Michael Flynn, who had to resign as Donald Trumps National Security Adviser due to undisclosed contacts with Russia that he lied about, was also working as a foreign agent for Turkey during the campaign, while he served as a top adviser to Donald Trump. Flynn was paid $530,000 for 3 months of work as a foreign agent for Turkey, according to recent filings.

The White House couldnt really say if they knew about Flynns work as a foreign agent whilst he served as top adviser to Donald Trump and at the time that President Trump appointed him to be the National Security Adviser.

From the White House briefing during a question and answer with reporter John Roberts:

Q Was the President aware that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn was acting as a foreign agent when he appointed him to be the national security advisor?

MR. SPICER: I dont believe that that was known. I would refer you to General Flynn and the Department of Justice in terms of the filings that have been made.

Q Had the President have known that, would he have appointed him?

MR. SPICER: I dont know, John. Thats a hypothetical that Im not prepared to ask. I dont know what he discussed prior to being appointed in terms of his background, his resume, his client base. I dont know any of that. I know that, from what I have read, that he has filed the appropriate forms with the Department of Justice, and I think you should ask him and subsequently them if you have any questions about this specific filing.

Actually, no, Flynn did not file the appropriate forms with the Justice Department at the time, which is technically a felony.

The amended filing was made in response to pressure from Justice Department officials in recent weeks, the AP reported a businessman who hired Flynns consulting firm telling them. The businessman, Ekim Alptekin, said in a phone call from Istanbul that the changes were a response to political pressure and he did not agree with Flynns decision to file the registration documents with the Justice Department.

Normally the Justice Department doesnt go around pursuing felony charges against people who fail to file properly, but in this case we have a man working as top adviser and then National Security Adviser in the White House, whose other foreign contacts are already such a problem that he was fired after misrepresenting them.

This disconnect between what Flynns firm reported and what was really going on is startling, said Alex Howard, deputy director of the pro-transparency Sunlight Foundation, The Huffington Post reported based on an interview with Howard. Howard explained to HuffPo, If people lobby for foreign countries in the United States, much less if former high-ranking military officers lobby for foreign countries, its reasonable to expect them to register [with the Justice Department] at the point they sign a contract.

If Donald Trump didnt know his own top adviser and person he appointed as National Security Adviser was working, quite literally, as a foreign agent at the time, he is too foolish to be president. If he did know, he has a lot of explaining to do.

What exactly is the vetting process the Trump camp used to pick people? Or, better yet, was there a vetting process other than ideological fits with their conspiracy theories and a desire to bring down the government from within.

Donald Trumps actions and choices since taking office have already disproven his claim that he will Make America Great Again.

Update 6:00 PM EST: So, this denial isnt looking so hot, just a few hours later:

On Flynn/Turkey: Source w knowledge of situation says Flynn's lawyers contacted Trump legal counsel TWICEduring transition and in WH. (1/2)  Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) March 10, 2017
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Russias state-sponsored TV network Russia Today (RT) tried to target CNNs Jake Tapper, which prompted him to repeatedly share ugly facts about how Russia treats opponents.

How interesting that Russias government funded propaganda channel is targeting me. Why would that be?, Tapper asked while drowning their propaganda efforts with human rights watch facts.

How interesting that Russia's government funded propaganda channel is targeting me. Why would that be? https://t.co/EKXvgavoBw  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 10, 2017

RT couldnt find any real dirt on Tapper apparently so they went for the basement hope of creating drama over Tapper actually responding to people on Twitter, like you know journalists who arent working for the government in a propaganda service might do.

The RT hostess said, Its no secret CNN is a joke, but she said Tapper does some okay work because he once did a negative story about Hillary Clinton (seriously this is so much worse than the last time I had to watch RT). However, she thought this was news worthy because Tapper participated on Twitters platform like a lot of U.S. journalists do by responding to people who are not just other journalists and sharing sometimes negative tweets about themselves.

Heres RTs desperate attempt to find dirt on Tapper, watch it if you want to see how low RT has fallen:

Tapper responded as any good journalist would by linking to a Human Rights Watch Report on Russia from its World Report 2016:

The Kremlins crackdown on civil society, media, and the Internet took a more sinister turn in 2015 as the government further intensified harassment and persecution of independent critics. For the fourth year in a row, parliament adopted laws and authorities engaged in repressive practices that increasingly isolated the country. Against the backdrop of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and sanctions against Russia over Crimea, anti-Western hysteria has been at its peak since the end of the Cold War.

And reminding everyone:

Last month was the 2 year anniversary of the assassination of Putin opponent Boris Nemtsovhttps://t.co/7ptRV5Dhm6  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 10, 2017

10 years ago last October widely respected Russia journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in Moscow. https://t.co/EbR2JnbTAt  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 10, 2017

The Committee to Protect Journalists has a long list of journalists killed in Russia https://t.co/98irvZNnER  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 10, 2017

Ukrainian Foreign Minister warns US Congress: 'Everyone is vulnerable' to Russia https://t.co/D2AAQYj5DX  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 10, 2017

Interesting  "Russia voted off UN Human Rights Council amid mounting allegations of Syria war crimes"  https://t.co/lRwdBaHD1e  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 10, 2017

Don't miss Amnesty International on how Putin's thugocracy has cracked down on freedoms for the Russian people https://t.co/kThljwk2Vq  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 10, 2017

And finally Tapper just went to the heart of it, writing in Russian (as translated via Google), To RT: Think about how you oppress your people. You are sad and miserable trolls. XO Jake

To RT: ,     .     . Xo

Jake  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 10, 2017

Russia Today targeting Jake Tapper is as subtle and Donald Trump asking Putin to hack Hillary Clinton for him.

Gotta hand it to RT though, this is real effort to take down Jake Tapper. I mean, this really tries to teach him not to report on Donald Trumps Russia problem and the truth about Putin. Jake Tapper responds to people on twitter and that is so horrible, it just proves he is a real journalist and not a propaganda hack that the Kremlins propaganda outlet of RT is making a great point  Russia, where journalists die, thinks Jake Tapper is a bad journalist. Duly noted.

RT managed to tick Tapper off into doing that thing that real journalists do when they are mad, which is reporting on the facts that are behind the attack. They came at him with made up drama about his twitter account, and he responded with hard, horrific facts about how Russia treats its opponents.

And that, RT, is how we do it here in the land of the free, because Putin hasnt succeeded in undermining our democracy yet.
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Well brace yourselves for this bit of tap dancing. During President Obamas eight years as president, conservatives went so far over the edge to deny his economic successes that they accused the job numbers of being fake when they werent busy saying that the economy and job numbers didnt really reflect on the president at all.

But now, when Trump hasnt been in office long enough to have any kind of impact on job numbers, they are all about taking credit for the work Obama did.

Great news for American workers: economy added 235,000 new jobs, unemployment rate drops to 4.7% in first report for @POTUS Trump, Spicer shared, suggesting that suddenly conservatives believe in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) numbers now.

Great news for American workers: economy added 235,000 new jobs, unemployment rate drops to 4.7% in first report for @POTUS Trump  Sean Spicer (@PressSec) March 10, 2017

In point of fact, the job numbers this February mirror the job numbers under Obama for February of 2015: 238,000 and February of 2016, 237,000.

Over the past 3 months, BLS says job gains have averaged 209,000 per month.

Conservatives spent eight years not wanting to be a part of the solution after the economy cratered under President Bush, but now they want to ascribe the results of the previous administrations policies to their own side.

No reasonable person would take credit for impacting job numbers in February when they took office January 20th.

But then, we have established that reasonable is not the first adjective one reaches for when describing Donald Trump and his crew.

The fact remains that President Obamas job growth numbers were historic, he left office with the longest consecutive job creation streak in 75 years.

We can only hope that Donald Trump manages not to screw up Obamas job record when his own policies are enacted. If Trump managed to succeed on this, it would be good for the country.

Its natural that the Trump administration would clutch this tiny bit of good news and try to spread it all over the chaotic and lets face it, disastrous roll out of Trumps presidency thus far. When youre being accused of possibly colluding with a foreign government to get into office and possibly continuing to do so, taking credit for your predecessors good job numbers isnt really a big deal. And its not like this particular bit of political showboating is a Trumpism. This is something all politicians do to some degree, although denying reality under Obama takes the hypocrisy of this to new levels.

But facts are a big deal, and the fact of the matter is this is not a Trump victory. We hope he does have job growth victories, but this job growth victory is not his.

Trump promised to fix Obamas supposedly terrible job numbers and economy (not accurate at all). So that would presume that having the same numbers as Obama did the last two years is not a fix. We await the fix.
Poland's PM refuses to sign European Council summit conclusions

27 European Union leaders voted unanimously to keep Donald Tusk in his job as President of the European Council. Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo was the only one not supporting her fellow countryman, saying Tusk was politically biased while impartiality in this position is indispensable. The PM refused to sign any document from the summit on Thursday, including the conclusions.

Jobs, growth and competitiveness

structural reforms aimed at modernising EU economies must be pursued,

aimed at modernising EU economies must be pursued, public finances strengthened ;

; investment promoted , including through the swift extension of the European Fund for Strategic Investments, also with a view to

, including through the swift extension of the European Fund for Strategic Investments, also with a view to making special efforts to fight unemployment in Member States with particularly high levels.

The council said the conclusions were supported by 27 Members of the European Council, but it did not gather consensus, for reasons unrelated to its substance." It stressed that references to the European Council in the attached document should not be read as implying a formal endorsement by the European Council acting as an institution."The conclusions were the following:The reform agenda put in place by the EU and its Member States in the wake of the 2008 crisis is bearing fruit. Economic growth has now returned to all 28 Member States and, both for the euro area and the EU overall., though still at too high a level,, the state of public finances is improving and, while still too weak,Uncertainties persist, however, and it is therefore. To this end,The European Council welcomes the decision of the Commission to address the issue ofin the internal market in the High Level Forum for a better functioning food supply chain. The EU needs concrete action to, as set out in its December 2016 conclusions, a fully functioning and interconnected energy market and a flourishing services sector.remains one of the most powerful engines for growth, supporting millions of jobs and contributing to prosperity. The European Council welcomes the positive vote in the European Parliament on the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement () and looks forward to its imminent provisional application.

The EU remains strongly committed to a robust trade policy and an open and rules-based multilateral trading system, with a central role for the WTO. At the same time, the EU has to equip itself with modernised, WTO-compatible tools to tackle unfair trade practices and market distortions.

The EU will continue to engage actively with international trade partners. This includesfor ambitious and balanced free trade agreements, including; negotiations withare closest to an early conclusion. Trade relations withshould be strengthened on the basis of a shared understanding of reciprocal and mutual benefits.

The EU will be particularly vigilant concerning the respect and promotion of key standards, as well as the principle of non-discrimination.

Security and defense

Migration

The European Council reiterates the need toin terms of reducing and sharing risks in the financial sector, in the appropriate order.The Council said that the benefits of economic growth reach all citizens is of vital importance.In the present international environment,and contribute to peace and stability in its neighbourhood and beyond, including by committing sufficient additional resources, while taking into account national circumstances and legal commitments."The Council recalled the need to implement the "Common set of proposals" for enhanced cooperation with NATO.The EU remains fully engaged in supporting Member States toThe European Council calls on co-legislators to agree on the proposal for an Entry and Exit System by June 2017 and speed up work on the proposal for the European Travel Information and Authorisation System. Continuing to implement the renewed European Union Internal Security Strategy 2015-2020 is therefore crucial; the European Council will keep this under review."The Council said it stands behind the actions undertaken by individual Member States to support the Libyan authorities as well as their North African and southern neighbours in their efforts to address the challenges of illegal migration.

The EU will continue to remain vigilant on all major migration routes so as to be able to react rapidly to developments.

Concerning the internal dimension, the effective application of the principles of responsibility andremains a shared objective. The European Council calls for further efforts to rapidly deliver on all aspects of the comprehensive migration policy resilient to future crises, including with the aim of achieving consensus on the EU's asylum policy during the current Presidency. The European Council will return to these issues in June 2017.In light of the internal and external challenges that the region is facing, the European Council discussed the, which it will keep under review.The Council stresses the importance of continuing on the reform path, good neighbourly relations and inclusive regional cooperation initiatives. It reaffirmed its unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans.

Welcoming the progress made by the countries of the region, the European Council stresses that the EU remains committed and engaged at all levels to support them in conducting EU-oriented reforms and projects.

Regarding the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, the European Council noted that the condition set out earlier was met, thus opening the way to the possible establishment of enhanced cooperation, in accordance with the provisions of the Treaties.The European Councilof the European Council for the period from 1 June 2017 until 30 November 2019.
Watchdog and Public Service reporter

Thad Moore is a reporter on The Post and Couriers Watchdog and Public Service team and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. To share tips securely, reach Moore via ProtonMail at thadmoore@protonmail.com or on Signal at 843-214-6576.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Sunshine. Near record high temperatures. High 81F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low near 65F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
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
The head of the U.S. military's Central Command says more U.S. troops will be needed on the ground in Afghanistan in the fight against the Taliban and other forces.

General Joseph Votel told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on March 9 that he thinks "it will involve additional forces to ensure that we can make the advise-and-assist mission more effective."

Votel told the Senate panel he was working on a new strategy aimed at breaking what he described as a "stalemate" in Afghanistan against the Taliban.

Votel's comments echo similar remarks he made on February 24 about the situation in Syria, when he indicated further U.S. troops would be needed in the battle to fight so-called Islamic State (IS) militants there.

On March 9, the Pentagon said it was deploying a temporary force of 400 additional U.S. ground troops to Syria in order to help defeat IS in Raqqa, the militants' self-proclaimed capital.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
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
WASHINGTON  For more than 30 years, a little-known loophole in federal law has allowed the government to read Americans' emails without a warrant, as long as the messages are more than six months old.

Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, who rarely agree on anything, have unified behind a bill to close that loophole. It sailed through the House unanimously earlier this month by voice vote.

Yet the bill's chances of becoming law are bleak.

It faces daunting roadblocks in the Senate, where changes sought by Jeff Sessions, who until recently was a U.S. senator and is now attorney general, and Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas have killed the bill in the past.

Donald Trump's ascendency as a "law and order" president  and his appointment of Sessions, a former prosecutor, as his top law enforcement officer  has eroded enthusiasm for the bill among Republican senators who aren't eager to cross the new administration.

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The Department of Justice did not respond to multiple phone calls and emails requesting comment from Sessions. The White House said it would not comment on a bill before it passed the Senate.

Privacy vs. security

The privacy issue pits the ruling party's civil libertarian wing against its law-and-order wing. And the libertarians might not have the pull needed  not even with GOP senators who previously co-sponsored the bill  to get it across the Senate's finish line.

The legislation's dire prospects infuriate privacy advocates. They say it is far past time for Congress to close the loophole.

"This is an idea whose time has come," said Jason Pye, director of legislative affairs for FreedomWorks, a libertarian-leaning conservative advocacy group that supports the bill. "It's just one of those situations now for senators to let it go to the floor, let it go though unabated."

Ambiguous language in a 1986 law created the loophole by extending Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure only to electronic communications sent or received fewer than 180 days earlier.

That law enabled the government to treat old emails and other electronic correspondence as "abandoned information." Because of that status, the thinking went, there was no expectation of privacy, meaning the messages could be searched and seized without a warrant.

The loophole applies to texts, photos and other digital documents, not just emails. Deleted files are fair game, as long as copies exist on a third-party server. Opened emails also could lack protection.

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Email Privacy Act

Privacy advocates and tech firms have lobbied for years to fix the 1986 law. The Email Privacy Act, sponsored by Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder of Kansas, would require government agencies to obtain search warrants based on probable cause to look at the content of electronic communications more than six months old. The bill also would require warrants for opened emails.

Last year, the bill passed the House by 419-0. This year, on Feb. 6, it passed the House again by voice vote using a fast-track parliamentary maneuver usually reserved for the naming of post offices and other noncontroversial resolutions.

The legislation is endorsed by a wide array of groups across the political spectrum, from Heritage Action on the right to the American Civil Liberties Union on the left.

"I've joked this is the bill that can bring America together," Yoder said.

Yoder points out that the world has changed since 1986, when only about 10 million people used email and service providers offered limited digital storage space.

In 2017, few Americans would think twice about leaving emails for more than 180 days or putting documents in digital storage, whether in Dropbox or iCloud, he said. They would assume a reasonable expectation of privacy.

"Ask any five Americans in the street," Yoder said. "Do you think the government has the right to read your emails without probable cause anytime they want to? And nobody agrees with that."

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Police needs

Law enforcement agencies have pushed back. They argue that Yoder's bill would make it harder for investigators to obtain "digital evidence," which is increasingly important in criminal cases.

In the physical world, as opposed to the digital, the general rule is that authorities have to have a warrant for any search or seizure.

There are exceptions. "If somebody's life is in danger, there's emergency aid exemptions," said Steven Cook, president of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys. The association and other law enforcement groups want to add an emergency exemption to Yoder's bill.

Such exemptions typically apply to law enforcement officers who enter a private residence without a warrant to rescue someone from a fire or because they hear screams for help.

In the digital world, law enforcement can't just break into a third-party server provider such as Google and Facebook to get customers' emails, even in an emergency.

The 1986 law lets them seek electronic communications without a warrant, but they need cooperation from third-party service providers like Google and Facebook, who have discretion over whether to provide a customer's information to law enforcement in the absence of due process.

The status quo is that tech companies don't comply unless they have a good-faith belief that someone could die or be seriously harmed. So far, courts have generally agreed with this approach, and federal agencies testified before Congress in recent years that it is policy not to take advantage of the loophole. But tech companies and privacy advocates want that policy to be made law, especially now that the Trump administration is in charge.

Powerful allies

When Yoder's bill passed the House earlier this month, eight law enforcement organizations representing federal, state and local prosecutors, police chiefs, directors of criminal investigative agencies, and rank and file officers, signed a letter opposing it. They sent it to Cornyn, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other influential lawmakers.

The law enforcement community found powerful allies in the Senate when the bill came up for consideration in the Judiciary Committee last June: Sessions and Cornyn.

Sessions, a former federal prosecutor, wanted a change in Yoder's plan that would require service providers to turn over emails or other customer records to a government agency without a warrant in an emergency. In Sessions' proposal, investigators simply would have to certify "under penalty of perjury" that they needed the information to prevent "death or serious injury."

Cornyn was an original co-sponsor of the bill. He said he didn't object to closing the loophole to protect 6-month-old email content from warrantless search and seizure. But he also wanted to expandthe 1986 law to give the Federal Bureau of Investigation access to Americans' browser histories and other electronic metadata, such as email logs, without a warrant.

That change, identified as a top priority by FBI Director James Comey during the administration of President Barack Obama, would let the FBI obtain such data in counterterrorism investigations using an administrative subpoena called a national security letter, which typically is accompanied by a gag order.
Some good friends of mine had a tough few days. In fact, they didn't sleep for three nights.

To protect their privacy, I will call them Joe and Sue. Joe told me he could not recall being under more stress and having more worry in his entire life.

Just before noon, after 10 inches of snow fell in our area, they received the type of phone call you dread. Joe heard that word we all love to hear but it had a scared sound to it; "Grandpa?"

Their grandson, a freshman in college, was in trouble. He said "I have a problem." He stated he had been traveling to Davenport, Iowa, with a friend to attend the funeral of his friend's mother, who had just died of cancer at 44 years of age.

While driving a rental car, he said, they were involved in an accident. He then stated he had an attorney appointed by the court and this was his one phone call. He then pleaded, "Please Grandpa, don't call my parents."

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Plot thickens

As quickly as those first emotional words poured out another man came on the phone. The man explained in a caring fashion that he was the attorney appointed by the court. He told Joe that his grandson had been injured but that he would be OK.

Two other bombshells of distress struck when the lawyer told Joe that the other individual that was injured in the accident was a 27-year-old pregnant female and that their grandson's blood alcohol level was above the legal limit.

The attorney assured Joe that he was part of a special consortium of attorneys whose mission was to assist young first offenders. Joe and Sue were told a bond would have to be paid to get their grandson released from jail, and in order for them to speak with him further. The amount of the bond that needed to be paid was $2,500.

The attorney sounded like he deeply cared about helping their grandson and recommended a Wal-Mart 2 Wal-Mart transfer to a New Jersey address for immediate payment and to get their grandson released from jail.

Transfer trouble

After Joe and Sue thought they had accomplished this they got home and an employee from Wal-Mart called and informed them that they felt something was fishy. After asking Joe a few questions, they refused to make the transfer. Joe told me that the attorney had informed him if someone asked questions not to give out any information.

This was distressing news and Joe had to call the attorney back to inform him that the wire transfer hit a snag. They would leave a message and then the attorney would call back. They were assured that it could be handled with a cashier's check and to overnight deliver it to their address. They did as they were instructed.

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They began to track the delivery of the check, but there was one problem  Mother Nature did not cooperate and the payment was not received on Saturday or Sunday. The entire weekend they felt horrified that their grandson was still in jail with his injuries.

During the course of some of the conversations with the attorney, he asked Joe and Sue to honor their grandson's request to not tell his parents. Any questions that they had, the lawyer always had an answer.

Not checking out

Finally on Monday the attorney indicated the check was received, but then informed them that the judge had imposed a fine of $3,100. The process started again, and when they asked for a large cashier's check, some questions were asked by an alert Wells Fargo employee.

It was determined that this situation fit the profile of a scam, a swindle, a con, and they were told they must call their grandson's parents. When contact was made, they were told all was well. There was no truth to anything they had been told in those telephone conversations.

They had lost $2,500 and would have lost more if not for the watchful bank employee. Joe and Sue filed a police report. Of course in retrospect they saw that they missed many red flags. They were clobbered with powerful and fearful emotions "out of the blue" and they did not want to collapse the trust their grandson always had in them.

Classic scam

The story you just read was indeed the classic "grandparent scam." This type of attack on seniors, grandparents and parents is happening every day. Millions of dollars are being taken from innocent, law-abiding people.

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Its makes you sad. It makes you mad. I hope continued efforts are made to find and convict people who prey on seniors. They defraud and steal from people with limited and fixed incomes. I can think of many other adjectives, but my editor would remove them.

Let's watch over each other. There are resources to help with awareness and prevention. Kudos to both Wal-Mart and Wells Fargo for their work in this case. The money is gone, but the bottom line was their grandson was fine; this nightmare did not happen.

Grandparents will always be bursting with the desire to help, to feel the necessity to come to the rescue, and we all are filled with unlimited love. I guess that can be a problem, but it shouldn't be.
A 44-year-old Rochester man is behind bars today after police say he ran from an officer trying to arrest him on a misdemeanor warrant.

Calvin Cooliage Reavers could be charged today with multiple crimes, including criminal vehicular operation and drug sales.

The incident began about 3:25 p.m. Wednesday, when a Rochester police officer attempted to arrest him at 1902 8 1/2 St. SE.

Reavers drove through the parking lot to avoid the officer, who pursued him briefly, then called off the chase.

Reavers continued to speed through the area, the report says, reaching speeds of up to 60 mph before running a stop sign on 8 1/2 Street at 15th Avenue and crashing into another vehicle.

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The 32-year-old driver of that vehicle suffered minor injuries, said Lt. Jim Evenson; Reavers got out of his car and ran from the scene.

He was caught soon after and faces "a laundry list of charges," Evenson said.
CLARKS GROVE  An Austin woman died early this morning after she apparently lost control of the vehicle she was driving and was ejected when it rolled over.

Illeana Babastro, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which was reported at 3:46 a.m.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, Babastro was driving south on Interstate 35 in Freeborn County when the vehicle left the roadway, went into the median and rolled. The small SUV ended up in the northbound exit ramp/lane to Minnesota Highway 251.

Two passengers in the vehicle, Sashy Martinez, 31, of Rochester, N.Y., and Reinaldo Quesada, 41, of Albert Lea, were taken to an Albert Lea hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening, the patrol report says.

Alcohol was not involved; the road condition was described as snowy/icy.

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Neither Babastro nor Martinez were wearing their seat belts, the report says, and the air bags did not deploy.

Members of the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office, Ellendale ambulance and Gold Cross Ambulance assisted at the scene.
EYOTA  Don't take that six-pack up to the counter just yet, but the Eyota City Council on Thursday put its support behind Sunday liquor sales in the city.

The council and mayor  Council Member Tony Nelson was not present  voted unanimously to support Sunday off-sales, which cities can allow beginning July 2 thanks to a new measure passed by the Minnesota Legislature and signed by Gov. Mark Dayton Wednesday. Liquor stores will have the option of being open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays, the first time Sunday sales have been allowed in Minnesota in 159 years.

Bars in Eyota can sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays, but the current city ordinance does not allow the sale of liquor to be taken off the premises. In other words, you cannot buy that six-pack and take it home.

Council Member Bryan Cornell said if the state allows Sunday off-sale of liquor, the city should not get in the way.

"It's a free market," he said. "If people want to be open, let them be open."

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Ray Schuchard said with cities all around Eyota likely to allow off-sale on Sundays, it did not make sense to handcuff local liquor stores that could lose business to competitors on Sundays.

"If we don't they'll go to Chatfield or Dover or wherever," he said.

None of those cities has approved Sunday sales yet, but some might not need to. If a city's ordinance does not strictly prohibit Sunday off-sale, that city would not need to change its ordinance to allow sales to begin. That is the case in Austin, for example, where without any action on the subject, the city's liquor stores would be able to open on Sundays starting in July.

Eyota's city council essentially sent the question back to the city planning commission, which will update the ordinance as it is currently written then hold a public hearing on the matter. Once the planning commission is done, it will send a revised ordinance to the city council for final approval.

Kim Miller, owner of Buddy's Liquor  one of two off-sale establishments in Eyota  said she would not look forward to being open on Sundays.

"My thought is I really don't want to be open Sundays," said Miller, who generally runs the store herself or with a little help from her mother-in-law and a few part-timers. "I'm still kind of up in the air. I feel like it's going to be hard to find someone to work on a Sunday."

Buddy's Liquor is one of two establishments in Eyota licensed for off-sale of liquor. The other is Green Door, a bar that also sells alcohol for off-site consumption.

If she does not open on most Sundays, Miller said, she might consider opening on certain weekends such as holidays or for Eyota Days, which would occur shortly after the new law takes effect statewide.
AUSTIN  Although not a complete solution for the city's housing shortage, additional care may be coming for those who have loved ones in need of extra help coping with neurodegenerative diseases.

The Austin City Council approved unanimously in a 6-0 vote for a memory care facility to be built just east of St. John's Lutheran Church at 12th Street and 13th Avenue Northwest during Monday's session.

Craig Clark, city administrator, shared that Cottage Properties purchased the the 3.9-acre project site for $253,500 from the city. This project would encompass 24 units that will provide enhanced care for those in need of services.

"We've had conversations with them (Cottage Properties) for several months," Clark said. "There's a demand for their services and for the community. They came and explored the community looking for sites and now they've moved it forward with the purchasing agreement."

According to a 2013 comprehensive housing study that the city of Austin approved for, it was determined that by 2020 there would be an excess demand for 363 senior housing units. There were 31 senior housing developments in the Austin Market Area with a total of 1,031 units, the reports said, and of which, 19 percent is made up of memory care units, and 28 percent made of assisted living residences.

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Natalie Burnell, Cottage Properties director of operations, said that the design of the building would be similar to the care facilities in Owatonna. While the number of residents is expected to be around 30 residents  some apartment units are shared or private  there's an expected higher staff to resident ratio.

Around 40 people may be employed for open positions at Cottage Properties in Austin, according to Burnell, including administrative positions and full-time caregiver jobs. However, the number of those hired may be expected to fluctuate as demand for the memory care units continues to be significant.

"There'll be a huge demand (for reserving spaces)," she said. "We might have a wait list months before the building even opens, and I just know there's that big of a demand for memory care in Austin. The city was pretty open to this, and we'll see how it goes with Austin. There's an incredible demand."

While the project's completed sale date won't be until Sept. 1, the actual construction of the project probably won't begin until later this year or even going into 2018. Clark added that by having a project like Cottage Properties' would help address some of the housing shortages that exist within Austin.

"Absolutely it will," he said. "We worked with them closely by supplementing them with our housing study that showed the significant need with housing. It's going to fill a 24-unit facility, and every unit matters. We're happy they're moving forward to meet the demand, and there's a demand for their services. It's a win-win for them and for the community."
The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice was at the center of much of President Obamas transformative agenda. It took a leading role on issues ranging from local police practices, to voting procedures, to transgender matters, to employment quotas, to immigration. In all instances, the Civil Rights Division advanced the lefts position.

The amount of mischief the Civil Rights Division can produce is vast. One of the great things about President Trumps ascendancy is the prospect of putting a stop to the mischief and setting a conservative course. The appointment of a strong, sound conservative Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights is crucial to accomplishing this.

I was shocked, therefore, to learn from sources I trust that Harmeet Dhillon is a leading candidate for this position. Dhillon is a former board member of the ACLU (in San Francisco, no less) and a past donor to ultra-liberal Democrat Kamela Harris.

These facts strongly suggest that Dhillon has certain liberal sympathies and holds certain liberal views. As discussed below, this turns out to be the case.

Thus, the selection of Dhillon for a position as important as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights would be a stunning betrayal of conservatives by the Trump administration. Conservatives believed (and still do) that President Trump would eschew political correctness and identity politics, relieve local police departments of excessive federal oversight, clamp down on voting fraud, and take a hard line on illegal immigration.

To accomplish this, we believed he would appoint a tried-and-true conservative to run the Civil Rights Division. We did not suspect that his administration would seriously consider for that job a candidate described by a news outlet in her home city as a Republican leader with a San Francisco twist.

Lets examine Dhillons San Francisco twist. She has stated: I am committed to the values championed by the ACLU-NC [Northern California]. This document describes some of the values to which she was committed.

Dhillon favors a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. She believes the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay raises troubling constitutional issues.

Alleged racial profiling and racial discrimination in post 9/11 America have been at the forefront of Dhillons agenda. She claims there has been tremendous discrimination both in public employment as well as in private employment [since 9/11], and frankly this excuse of safety is used as a proxy for discrimination.

Dhillon holds feminist views more befitting of a liberal than a conservative. She has said:

Having been an international lawyer whos practiced in New York, London, Silicon Valley and started my own business, thats pretty intimidating to most men to start out with. You add to that running for office  Im in the public spotlight quite a bit because of that; Im always busy; Im the center of attention in two different staffs  I think definitely the average male ego isnt well suited to dealing with that. * * * * I think guys are almost frightened in many ways by empowered women who take on challenges like this.

It seems to me that Dhillon would be more at home in an Obama Civil Rights Division than in Trumps.

It would be particularly ironic for Dhillon to run the Civil Rights Division in a Justice Department headed by Jeff Sessions. As noted, Dhillon contributed to the campaign of Kamela Harris when she ran for San Francisco district attorney in 2003.

Harris now represents California in the Senate. She vigorously opposed the confirmation of Sessions, chiding him him for being named Jefferson Beauregard Sessions. Harris said:

I have deep concerns about Senator Sessions nomination. Particularly, I am concerned with his support for policies that would undermine core Department of Justice functions and his views that are incompatible with constitutional guarantees.

By undermining core Department of Justice functions, Harris means, among other things, rolling back the excesses of the Obama administrations Civil Rights Division. Im confident that Sessions intends to do just that. If so, he would be ill-advised to entrust the task to former Kamela Harris supporter Harmeet Dhillon.

Dhillons backers say that Harris opponent in the race for San Francisco district attorney was even more of a leftist. Maybe. But Keith Ellison is probably to the left of Tom Perez, his main opponent for DNC chairman. Still, no conservative would back Tom Perez.

Dhillon seems like a very capable lawyer (though I see no indication of experience dealing with the issues that confront the Civil Rights Division except for her pursuit of race and religious discrimination claims post 9-11). She doesnt seem objectionable on personal grounds; indeed it seems likely that strong personal qualities have brought her to the fore as a candidate for a high place in the Trump administration. Her life story is pretty compelling. In addition, Im told that at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, she proved helpful to the Trump campaign.

The Republican Party should be a big tent. The party should appreciate the contributions of moderates who carry its banner in the darkest blue precincts in America. It would be fine if President Trump recognized Dhillons contributions by offering her a job, for example, as the U.S. Attorney in her liberal district.

But Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights is no job for a moderate. The Civil Rights Division is ground zero in the fight over the Black Lives Matter agenda, including police practices, voting issues, and racial quotas, and it is a battleground when it comes to immigration, transgender issues, and much more.

The Civil Rights Division must be headed by a staunch conservative. It simply wont do for a former ACLU board member and Kamela Harris supporter with an obvious liberal streak to head the Division.

The selection of Harmeet Dhillon for that post would be a massive betrayal of conservatives and a good deal of what we stand for.
Minnesotas large and ever increasing Somali population is the ultimate protected minority in our left-wing utopia. The Somalis are black. The Somalis are Muslim. The Somalis vote Democratic. As I never tire of noting, in October 2015 Governor Mark Dayton instructed white, B-plus, Minnesota-born citizens to suppress their qualms about immigrant resettlement in Minnesota. If they cant, they should find another state, he advised. We are directed to adjust and required to provide our support.

The Somalis may be retrograde in their treatment of women and their related attitudes toward them. They may not share the liberal appreciation of homosexuality and abortion. They may have problematic enthusiasms in other respects. But we generally agree not to look too closely, or to avert our eyes.

We dont even have a handle on how large the community is. The official estimate (there is no official number) is something like 40,000, but the United States Attorneys Office here used an estimate of 100,000 in its formal written agreement with Somali community leaders to undertake the so-called Building Community Resilience program.

Thus it was left to Kelly Riddell to provide an account of the Somali communitys high-volume consumption of Minnesota welfare services  in the Washington Times, in 2015. Riddells article remains essential reading on the subject.

Today the Star Tribunes Milo Koumpilova takes a look in Refugee resettlement costs are up but still a small part of welfare programs. Even the headline is argumentative. The special pleading leaps from the opening paragraphs:

Minnesota chips in generously to help refugees adjust to life in the United States, but these costs make up a small fraction of the overall tab for public assistance programs. Data the state compiled for the Star Tribune show that Minnesota spent more than $180 million in state and federal dollars on cash, food and medical assistance for refugees in 2015, the most recent period available. Thats up 15 percent from five years ago but still less than 2 percent of total expenses for these programs. For state-subsidized child care, however, refugee communities have come to account for more than a quarter of costs.

Somali participation in post-resettlement welfare and related programs remains something of a mystery. Until today the Star Tribune has left the question untouched. Koumpilova approaches it as the special pleading continues. The data are weirdly presented to conceal the basic questions. Even so, you cant miss this. We are carrying a heavy load:

Minnesota chips in generously to help refugees adjust to life in the United States, but these costs make up a small fraction of the overall tab for public assistance programs. Data the state compiled for the Star Tribune show that Minnesota spent more than $180 million in state and federal dollars on cash, food and medical assistance for refugees in 2015, the most recent period available. Thats up 15 percent from five years ago but still less than 2 percent of total expenses for these programs. For state-subsidized child care, however, refugee communities have come to account for more than a quarter of costs. The federal government covered almost 55 percent of the overall costs, including the entire $15 million tab for food stamps and half the $144.5 million medical assistance bill. The department said the numbers capture refugees who move to Minnesota from other states as well as most who become permanent residents after a year in the country, unless they choose to update their status. Minnesota is known among newcomers for its generous benefits, says the states former refugee coordinator, Gus Avenido. According to a federal comparison, refugees in Minnesota receive $532 a month on average through its family cash assistance program, compared with about $430 nationally. State data show almost 78 percent of Somalis exit the family cash assistance program within three years, above the 67 percent of all Minnesotans on average. Beyond these programs, estimating costs gets trickier. In response to a data request, the Department of Human Services found the state resettled more than 3,785 school-aged children in the past five years. But the state doesnt know how many needed English services. In recent years, the cost of educating English learners was about $9,790 in federal and state dollars, compared with about $8,080 for an average student. For other programs, the only way to estimate refugee participation or costs is to use home or preferred language  a flawed substitute because residents who list, say, Somali could be second-generation U.S. citizens or newcomers sponsored by family. Using language as a measure, one program where the states largest refugee communities account for a sizable portion of the tab is subsidized child care. Almost 7,500 Somali, 300 Oromo and 200 Karen children received more than $49.6 million in state child care subsidies last year  more than a quarter of all expenses, compared with 12 percent five years ago.

Riddell turned for help to Minnesotas Center of the American Experiment, the organization that John heads. The costs of refugee resettlement remain of continuing concern to American Experiment, as evidenced by Kim Crocketts recent column.

Riddell quoted Professor Ahmed Samatar of Macalester College in St. Paul: Minnesota is exceptional in so many ways but its the closest thing in the United States to a true social democratic state.

One could see just about every element of the issue raised by the continuing Somali influx to Minnesota in the terrorism trial that concluded this past June 3 with convictions against the three defendants contesting charges against them. Only one of the three defendants  Guled Omar  testified at trial. His personal background is illustrative in this context.

Omar was born in a Kenyan refugee camp. He was roughly three years old when his family moved to the United States. His family emigrated to Kenya as a result of the Somali civil war. His father was shot three times in the conflict and lost his left leg as a result of the injuries. His father is disabled, but his disability gave him preferential immigration treatment by the United States.

Omars father has disappeared from the United States. He has left Omars mother with a rather large family. Omar has nine sisters and four brothers. They live in housing subsidized by a Section 8 voucher, although that must be the least of it. Omar himself was a sophisticated consumer of government benefits that he sought to turn to terrorist uses. In order to fund his second attempt to join ISIS in Syria, Omar intended to use federal financial aid provided to attend college. Sad but true.

Donald Trump took up the case of the Somali influx (to both Minnesota and Maine) this past August in the course of the presidential campaign. Koumpilova rose to the defense of the Somali community in the supposed news article Trumps comments about Minnesota Somalis met with outrage, satisfaction. She noted that Trump cited Riddells article, although she declined to provide a link or the name of the reporter who wrote it.

Trump referred to the security threat raised by the Minnesotas Somali community. Here Koumpilova professed uncertainty. She wasnt entirely sure what Trump was talking about: Trump appeared to be alluding to the recent convictions of nine young Somali-Americans in what the FBI described as a plot to leave the country and join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria. Could be!

A close reader may have noted that Koumpilova confirmed the substance of Riddells article. If you read the story like Russians used to read Pravda, looking for the nugget of truth that might be buried in an otherwise propagandistic article, you will find this:

Amid a growing number of arrivals from other states, Minnesota has seen an increase in Somali food and cash assistance participation since 2010. A recent report comparing various groups in the state paints a stark picture of the challenges Somali Minnesotans face, said Susan Brower, the states demographer. Almost 60 percent live under the poverty line, compared with 11 percent of all Minnesota. Unemployment of adults in the labor force stands at 20 percent, the highest of any group in the state. But Brower said recent years have also brought rapid gains in employment, high school graduation and college attendance for that community. While there are immediate costs to refugee resettlement now, we need to take a longer view, she said.

The data strongly suggest the disproportionate consumption of welfare benefits of all kinds by Minnesotas Somali community. The longer view remained implicit. Koumpilova returns to it in her article today, although she seems to have forgotten the rest of this. We arent going to make a cost-benefit assessment today, 25 years into the Somali exodus to Minnesota, and were not going to look too closely at the prospect of assimilation to American principles or norms.

NOTE: Koumpilova provides a sidebar on welfare costs here.
Our friend Hugh Hewitt made news today with his interview of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The Associated Press headlines: AG SUGGESTS OPENNESS TO REVIEW OF PREDECESSORS ACTIONS.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggested Thursday that he would be open to the appointment of an outside counsel to review actions taken by the Justice Department during the Obama administration. Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Sessions in an interview if the new attorney general would consider designating an outside counsel not connected to politics to take a second look at Justice Department actions that provoked Republican ire in the last eight years. Those include the Fast and Furious gun scandal and the decisions against bringing criminal charges over Hillary Clintons email practices or the Internal Revenue Services treatment of conservative groups. Hewitt contended during his radio interview that the department had become highly politicized in the Obama administration and floated the idea of a special review by an attorney with the authority to bring criminal charges and just generally to look at how the Department of Justice operated.

There is no doubt about the fact that Barack Obamas Department of Justice, under political hacks Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, was more heavily politicized than any DOJ in our modern history. But does that translate into crimes that should be investigated by an independent prosecutor?

Sessions was noncommittal but left the door open, saying he would do everything he could to restore the independence and professionalism of the Department of Justice.

That is, undoubtedly, the Attorney Generals principal mission. The Department of Justice has been deeply compromised over the last eight years, and a thorough housecleaning, and restoration of professional standards, are in order.

The exchange reflected the lingering deep partisan anger over the Justice Departments decision to close without charges the Clinton email investigation and a separate probe into how the IRS processed requests for tax-exempt applications. Sessions said the outcome of the IRS case, in particular, remained of real concern.

That isnt all, by any means. Then-Attorney General Eric Holder committed perjury in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. It is not too late for him to be criminally prosecuted.

My guess, however, is that Sessions has his hands full dealing with the Obama holdovers at DOJ and trying to reform the department. I doubt that he is seriously interested in revisiting the past, no matter how corrupt it may have been. But if a criminal prosecution is warranted, it should begin with Eric Holders false testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
Sometimes power outages are quick and painless; theyre nothing but hiccups that interrupt your day for a half an hour or so. Other times, however, they can be catastrophic, lasting even days at a time. Thats the case in Michigan this week thanks to a big wind storm that occurred on Wednesday, and the situation is so bad that even other states are chipping in to help the unfortunate people affected.

The wind storm knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of customers on Wednesday and, according to a report from DTE Energy today, more than 660,000 customers are still without power. In total, 800,000 people experienced power outages due to extensive tree damage and more than 4,000 downed power lines. According to the utility company, winds took down 7,900 wires and broke more than 1,000 poles. To make matters worse, because of the storms duration and statewide impact, some customers in the worst impacted areas may not have power restored until Sunday.

Luckily for those in the area, other states are stepping in to lend a helping hand during this scary time. From line workers to damage assessors, wire guards and customer service representatives, more than 2,200 people are engaged in the storm restoration effort, Consumers Energy said in an update. An additional 181 crews are arriving from utilities in Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Indiana; 40 of the crews are already on the ground to assist the crews in Michigan.

With colder weather moving in, its essential that power gets up and running as soon as possible. The state is working on setting up warming centers for those still without power, but the goal is to have everyone back home with the heat on as soon as possible.

When we think of a storm like this, we tend to think of the poor people who are displaced due to the circumstances. However, big storms like this are also catastrophic for businesses. For companies located in the worst areas that may not have power again until Saturday, thats five full days of no power and, therefore, no revenue. Five days is a long time to go without any business operations. Sales, either online or in person, cant be done, data may have been lost if computers werent shut down in time, and the employees cant even interact with customers online to let them know whats going on.

Five days of downtime is a major problem, but getting back up and running may prove to be even more difficult. The companies will undoubtedly be scrambling and playing catch-up when the power does come back on, and thats never fun for anyone.

These issues all make it clear that uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) are the way to go. Even if they dont hold up during the entire five day stretch, theyll at least ensure that all computers are shut down correctly so that no extra damage is done. And if they allow a business to run a bit longer during a storm, then thats even better. No matter what theyre used for, the fact remains that no harm can come from having them in place; companies can only benefit from investing in UPS. If they choose not to, well, then a mess like the one in Michigan is sure to ensue.

The people in Michigan are lucky to be receiving a helping hand from the surrounding states. Why not turn to UPS to be your own helping hand in case of a power outage?

Edited by Maurice Nagle
PR-Inside.com: 2017-03-11 00:10:11

Press Information

ArcStone Casting & Design

8496 S Harrison St #114



Paul Quilter

Owner

8018088704

email

http://www.arcstonedesign.com



Published by

Paul Quilter

8018088704

e-mail

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8496 S Harrison St #114Owner8018088704Paul Quilter8018088704

Salt Lake City, UT  Local artist has launched a Kickstarter Campaign to help fund the manufacturing of a 5 vinyl toy in the likeness of President Donald Trump. The toy appears to be the combination of Humpty Dumpty, Donald Trump, and a wobble toy from the 70s.About Humpty TrumptyHumpty Trumpty is GREAT gag to those with a sense of humor on both sides of the political isle and can be ordered in Democrat (Blue) or Republican (Red).Democrats like Humpty Trumpty because of his egg head appearance, plus they can vicariously punch Trump in the little Humpty Trumpty nose whenever they get a new tweet from the President. Like Humpty Dumpty, they wish Trump to have a great fall, and they can actually do a simulation with Humpty Trumpty from the top of their desk.Republicans see Humpty Trumpty with toughness and winning as every time they knock him over he pops back up yelling defiant gesture like Fake News, So Much Winning, Its Gonna Be HUGE! The egg shape doesnt bother them at all as they find not faults in Trump, and they look at Humpty Trumpty as a Good Egg.The Humpty Trumpty Kickstarter CampaignThe artist started the Kickstarter campaign on March 6, and it will run through April 5. The campaign is at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulquilter/humpty-trumpty Rewards for pledging the campaign range from $25 for the vinyl talking Humpty Trumpty to $1,000 for a bronze cast sculpture of Humpty Trumpty made from the original artist mold and displayed on a little White house pedestal. Those backing Humpty Trumpty on Kickstarter receive a limited edition Kickstarter stamped version of the figure.Fabricated Toy DetailsThe Humpty Trumpty toy will be fabricated in vinyl and will have a counterbalancing weight placed at the bottom to keep the figure upright and balanced when pushed. A sound module is placed inside which is activated by way of a ball switch when tilted. When activated, the sound module will play ten different amusing Trumpisms which were recorded by a Trump impersonator. The toy is painted either blue or red on the bottom depicting the political party affiliation of the user.About the ArtistPaul Quilter is an artist from Salt Lake City, Utah. He owns a small 3D art studio called ArcStone Casting & Design where he says he makes stuff, and has been doing so since 2001.Paul Quilter, ArcStone LLC8496 S. Harrison St #114 Sandy, UT 84047(801) 808-8704
Moscow, March 10, 2017

According to Archimandrite Gregory, the refugees arriving to Greece are equipped with the most sophisticated cell phones, with skinny jeans, a scarf and cigarettes. Unfortunately, in Mohammeds time women didnt wear makeup, so he didnt speak against such physical appearance

The Athonite elder added that its not chauvinistic to value your own homeland and culture, wanting to preserve it. Im not going to their homeland to fight with them, but I dont want to see them in my homeland. Its not chauvinism. The government banned the ringing of bells under the pretext that its too loud, he continued, but when the muezzin yells out three times a day, it doesnt bother anyone?

In offering his critique, Fr. Gregory plainly spoke the truth about Islam: The Islamists hate our faith, and they hate the Cross, Christ, and the Theotokos. Unfortunately, he says, even bishops remove their crosses when going to visit the refugees so as not to annoy them.

Why does the government invite in refugees, he wondered, if they are unwilling to look after Greeces own homeless and poor?

The Orthodox Church has encountered two great enemies on its historical path: Islamism and Papism. And today they, taking each other by the hand, have joined forces to destroy Greece They burned and slaughtered our ancestors, but we think things will turn out better? Why are we receiving them into our country? the spiritual father asked.

In his words, the refugees are, in fact, conquerors.

Greece has become the court of the devilany atheist and antichrist can find shelter in a country of martyrs and saints. There exists hatred and the desire to erase Orthodoxy and Greece from the face of the earth. Who will give an answer for this evil? Our atheistic rulers or the pope of Rome, who have become an object of veneration for some Orthodox? Unfortunately, everything is moving towards us communing of unleavened bread, Fr. Gregory said, pointing to ancient divergence in Eucharistic practices between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic communion. [A]nd the Koran will be held in our hands, he said in conclusion.

***

Updated to correct Archimandrite Gregory's monastery from Hilandar to Dochariou.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Friday reaffirmed the commitment of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to return the economy on a path of sustainable growth having weathered the storm of a difficult macroeconomic environment over the years.

She said this during a courtesy visit in her office by the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington.

According to Mrs. Adeosun, in spite of the oil price shock and drop in production volumes, the Federal Government has succeeded in utilising the situation to reposition the Nigerian economy which would ultimately be to the advantage of the nation. She emphasised the investment in infrastructure, citing that over N1 trillion had so far been released.

She noted that lack of adequate investment in infrastructure has been the bane of the Nigerian economy in the past, noting that the present administration has begun to correct this anomaly.

According to her, over N1 trillion has been released for various infrastructure projects across the country. She emphasised the critical role of power on job and wealth creation.

The minister further explained that investment in public infrastructure will begin to attract private sector funding which will enable diversification and growth in priority areas like Agriculture and Housing.

The U.S. Ambassador, in his response, stated that finance is to growth and prosperity, what oxygen is to life. He therefore stressed the centrality of the Federal Ministry of Finance to the ongoing effort to turn the Nigerian economy around and commended the efforts of the Buhari administration in that regards.

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The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, says increased collaboration and support of international operating companies, IOCs, to the execution of upcoming projects would boost prospects of meeting Nigerias aspiration to increase crude oil production.

The Executive Secretary of the Board, Simbi Wabote, who spoke during his visit to some IOCs in Lagos, said new projects would create opportunities for the growth and development of Nigerian Content.

Mr. Wabote had visited Chevron, Total Upstream and Shell Petroleum Development Company. He confirmed that the Content Board had adopted mechanisms to accelerate the processing time for plans, technical and commercial evaluation, and issuance of Nigerian Content certificates.

He enjoined other government entities involved in the contracting cycle to adopt similar strategies to ensure the sector achieved the six months contract processing cycle target set by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu.

The Executive Secretary also said the Board was ready to partner with various interest groups to resolve challenges they might have executing their projects.

The visits to operating and service companies around the country, he explained, were conceived to engage industry players, and update them with strategies by the NCDMB to speed up projects and ensure domiciliation of work scopes as well as maximization of in-country capacities.

One of those strategies was the categorisation of service companies by their capacities, which he said, would now be used in the contracting process.

All new projects must comply with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, he said. The operating companies must ensure that their contractors and sub-contractors remitted one percent of their contract value to the Nigerian Content Development Fund, NCDF, as required by law.

The Executive Secretary expressed delight with the establishment of pipe coating facilities and steel pipe mills in-country and directed operators to patronise the facilities.

He also warned that the Board would sanction operators that award contracts without approved Nigerian Content Compliance Certificates, NCCC.

Besides, he said the Board was developing a five-year Road Map for Nigerian Content development, with the final document expected to be shared with stakeholders for their inputs and identification of roles they would play in the actualization.

At Chevron, Mr. Wabote canvassed for the participation of operating companies in the Nigerian Content Opportunities Fair planned for March 29 and 30 at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to showcase opportunities in upstream, midstream and downstream sectors.

The Fair would also provide multinationals the opportunity to link up and utilize in-country capabilities, he said.

Most Nigeria companies do not know when projects will come through, so they do not prepare themselves adequately. The fair will provide a platform where we can share information that are not confidential, he said.

At Shell, the Vice-President Nigeria and Gabon, Peter Costello, discussed the companys projects, including the Bonga Southwest /Aparo (BSWA).

The company also presented their plans to align the project timelines with the Board, achieve early Final Investment Decision (FID) and carry out joint contracting workshops and in-country capacity re-assessment/revalidation among others.

At Total, Mr. Wabote commended the company for its Nigerian Content achievements on the Egina Deepwater project, which helped to sustain many Nigerian service companies despite the crash of crude oil prices.

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At least 36 residents of Tanzanias Northern District of Hai have contracted anthrax, an infection caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, after eating the carcass of a cow, authorities said on Thursday.

Reports from the area show that the victims presented themselves to the district hospital and regional referral hospital with all the symptoms of anthrax including swollen eyes, lesions on the face, hands, cheeks and fingers.

Elias Machange, Head of Livestock and Fisheries Department at Hai District Council, Kilimanjaro Region, said the disease was reported few days ago when people in the area ate meat from a cow.

He said the meat had all the symptoms of anthrax, a serious illness caused by a microbe called bacillus anthracis that lives in soil.

This is so because people in the affected villages have a tendency of eating meat which wasnt approved by the responsible authorities.

Thats why it is important for people to eat meat which have been approved by the responsible authorities, Mr. Machange said.

Yohana Sintoo, Hai District council executive director also confirmed the outbreak of the disease, saying it had affected three villages of Sanya Station, and Tindigani in Kia ward and Nkwasira village in Masama West ward.

It is true all the patients were rushed to the district hospital and others to the regional hospital, he said, adding that some of them were discharged soon after recovering.

The official said that so far, a team of health experts had been dispatched to the affected villages.

They are sensitising the public on the best ways of taking precautions on the disease, said Sintoo.

Helga Mchovu, Chairman of the Hai District council suggested the need for the government to carry out regular vaccination on livestocks to address such challenges.

Last April, Rombo District was one of the districts in Kilimanjaro Region hit hard by the disease, which claimed one life, while many others were infected.

Anthrax spores are spread by dust, carrion-eating birds and grazing animals, causing fever and rapid death.

Humans are normally infected only by handling the carcasses, skins or wool of infected animals.

(Xinhua/NAN)

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Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called for unity on Friday as he tried to bring home nine Malaysians stuck in North Korea amid a growing row over the murder of Kim Jong Nam, warning Pyongyang not to abuse Malaysias hospitality.

North Korea barred Malaysians from leaving the country on Tuesday, sparking tit-for-tat action by Malaysia as relations soured over its probe into the Feb. 13 murder of Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim Jong Nam was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Malaysian police say he was assaulted by two women who smeared his face with VX, a chemical classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction.

In a blog posting, Najib said Malaysia would fall back on its experience dealing with crises such as the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia airlines flight MH370 where multiple countries were involved in the search.

Flight MH370, carrying 239 people, went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Australia, Malaysia, and China jointly called off a two-year underwater search for the aircraft in January.

Najib said: I want to call on all Malaysians, including the leaders of the government and the opposition, to unite in giving us full support toward all efforts that are ongoing to resolve this problem.

Malaysia always ensures good relations with all countries.

However, this does not mean any one of them can abuse our good treatment that Malaysia has given all this while and break the laws of our country, or do anything they like without respecting Malaysia as a sovereign nation.

Malaysian police have identified eight North Koreans in connection with the case.

They say three are still in Kuala Lumpur, hiding at the North Korean embassy.

Malaysia is one of the few countries that has for decades maintained ties with the isolated North Korea.

As relations plunged in the wake of the murder, Malaysia recalled its envoy from Pyongyang and expelled the North Korean ambassador.

On Thursday, Najib said North Korea had guaranteed the safety of Malaysians banned from leaving the country, as two Malaysian UN employees left the state in a possible sign that diplomatic tensions had begun to settle.

Najib, who said any negotiations with Pyongyang would be conducted behind closed doors, called for nationwide prayers on Friday for the safety of the Malaysians barred from leaving North Korea.

(Reuters/NAN)

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Danlami Barde, the District Head of Jagindi Tasha of Godogodo Chiefdom, Jemaa Local Government Area of Kaduna State, says the community loses not less than five pregnant women monthly due to lack of access to healthcare services.

Mr. Barde disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria at the side line of a six-day workshop organised by the state office of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, and UNICEF on Friday in Kachia.

The traditional ruler said, for instance, five women died in January on their way to Kafanchan General Hospital for delivery.

He explained that the area has only a clinic with no qualified health officer to ensure safe delivery, adding that women have to travel to Kafanchan to give birth.

As a result, pregnant women from our community lost their lives while struggling to access nearby hospitals.

In our case, Kafanchan general hospital happens to be the nearby hospital, but it is more than 35 kilometres from Jagindi Tasha, he explained.

The district head called on the state government to look into the issue and construct a general hospital in Jagindi.

Otherwise our women would continue to die from pregnancy related complications, he said.

NAN reports that 150 traditional rulers attended the workshop organised to enlist their support in propagating Essential Family Practices to curb infant and maternal deaths.

(NAN)

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President Muhamadu Buhari has returned to Nigeria, after 51 days on vacation in London, United Kingdom.

PREMIUM TIMES correspondent in Kaduna said a presidential jet, 5N-FGN, conveying the president landed at exactly 7:40 a.m. at the Nigerian Air Force Base in the city.

Mr. Buhari was dressed in a black caftan with a black cap to march, and was received by Kaduna officials, amidst tight security.

He was immediately taken into a waiting helicopter to Abuja.

Only select journalists were allowed to take photos and record video of his landing and take off, our reporter says.

Femi Adesina, the special adviser on media and publicity to the president, said Mr. Buharis plane landed in Kaduna well after 7.am today in Kaduna, debunking earlier reports that the president flew in at about 4.am.

We are now at the helipad at the Aso Villa awaiting his arrival from Kaduna. The flight will take about 40 minutes, Mr. Adesina said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

In Kaduna, President Buhari was received by Deputy Governor Barnabas Yusuf Bala.

An excited Kaduna governor, Nasir el-Rufai, said on Facebook:

The President is back. He has landed safely in Kaduna and received by Acting Governor Barnabas Yusuf Bala and senior KDSG officials. The government and people of Kaduna State are proud to receive our First Citizen back to his home to face the task of rebuilding Nigeria. Alhamdulillah. Jumaat Mubarak to everyone.

Mr. Adesina had announced Thursday that President Muhammadu Buhari would return to Nigeria Friday (today).

Mr. Buhari left Nigeria on 19 January 19 for a vacation in London and was scheduled to return to work on 6 February.

During his visit to UK, he also said he would conduct some medical checks.

However, a day to his resumption, he requested for an extension of his holiday, following the recommendation of his doctors that he wait for further tests and rest.

According to Mr. Adesina, President Buhari expressed appreciation to teeming Nigerians from across the country, and beyond, who had prayed fervently for him, and also sent him their good wishes.

While in London, the president received visitors at his base in the British capital, and made telephone calls to dignitaries in Nigeria.

There are widespread speculations in Nigeria that he is unwell but the presidency has repeatedly dismissed the insinuations.

EDITORS NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect additional details received on the presidents arrival.

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President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived Nigerias president palace in Abuja after 50 days on vacation in London.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the presidential chopper carrying the president from Kaduna landed at about 8.36 a.m.

The presidential plane that brought him from London earlier landed at the Nigeria Air Force base Kaduna at about 7.47 a.m.

The president was received on arrival at the villa by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, cabinet ministers, service chiefs and Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris.

Others included Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara and top government functionaries.

The President also met with members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Mr. Buhari left the country on Jan. 17 on a 10-day vacation which he said he would also use to have a medical check-up.

The leave was later extended, based on a medical advice by his doctors, who said they needed to carry out further tests on him.

The presidents jet landed at the VIP Wing of 401 Training School of Nigeria Air Force, Kaduna, at 7.40 a.m. where he was received by the Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Barnabas Bantex.

The president was later flown by a presidential helicopter to Abuja.

Mr Femi Adesina, the Presidents Senior Special Adviser, Media and Publicity confirmed on Thursday that the president would return after his 49-day vacation, which has raised controversies.

The president left the country on Jan. 19 when he asked for 10 days medical leave from the Senate.

He said that in his absence that Osinbajo would act as the president of the country.

The president later wrote the Senate for an extension of the leave to enable him to undergo more medical tests based on the advice of his doctors.

He did not, however, state the time he would return.

Meanwhile, some Nigerians have taken to Twitters to welcome President Buhari.

Simon Wada @simonwada tweeted: Welcome President Buhari. Feed him kunu geda, tuwo and mia kukuUK food aint it for Mr. President apparently.

An excited Kaduna governor, Nasir el-Rufai, said on Facebook:

The President is back. He has landed safely in Kaduna and received by Acting Governor Barnabas Yusuf Bala and senior KDSG officials. The government and people of Kaduna State are proud to receive our First Citizen back to his home to face the task of rebuilding Nigeria. Alhamdulillah. Jumaat Mubarak to everyone.

According to Mr. Adesina, President Buhari expressed appreciation to teeming Nigerians from across the country, and beyond, who had prayed fervently for him, and also sent him their good wishes.

While in London, the president received visitors at his base in the British capital, and made telephone calls to dignitaries in Nigeria.

There are widespread speculations in Nigeria that he is unwell but the presidency has repeatedly dismissed the insinuations.

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A former Military Governor of the old Bendel State, Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, is dead, the News Agency of Nigeria is reporting. He was 84.

A family member, who requested not to be named, also confirmed the passage of the politician to a PREMIUM TIMES reporter in Benin, the Edo State capital.

He died last night at a private hospital in Lagos, our correspondent quoted the family member as saying.

A former Edo Government official also confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES.

I spoke to his son, and he confirmed the development to me, said the official who asked not to be named.He said the family would be meeting today to decide on his interment.

Sam Ogbemudia (Junior) later confirmed the death of his father to the News Agency of Nigeria.

He said he would miss everything about his father.

He said his father taught him almost everything in life from childhood to adult.

I learnt so much from him. He was a wonderful man. I will miss everything about him; both his biological children and non biological ones.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Ativie, Deputy Speaker of Edo House of Assembly, has described the late Mr. Ogbemudia as a detrabalised Nigerian.

Ms. Ativie told NAN that Mr. Ogbemudias transition was a sad loss to the nation.

She described Mr. Ogbemudia as an elder statesman and an apostle of democracy who maintained a firm belief in the rule of law and fair play.

The news was shocking; we have lost a leader and bridge builder. He has contributed a lot to sustain democracy and the development of the nation.

He is a good adviser. No matter the issue you take to him, you are sure that you will get good advice from him, she said.

According to her, the power of life and death are the in the hands of God. We have to accept it as the will of God.

I condole with the family and pray God grants them the fortitude to bear the loss. We will miss his fatherly advice and we have a lot to learn from him, Ativie added.

A national leader and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gentleman Amegor, also described Mr. Ogbemudias exit as a painful loss.

Mr. Amegor, who described the late statesman as his surrogate father, said, I am consoled with the fact that the late Ogbemudia lived a good life.

He was my surrogate father and I will really miss him dearly . He was everything to his children and others who were not his biological children.

We are consoled with the fact that he represented everything good to humanity.

Mr. Ogbemudia, born September 17, 1932, was an officer of the Nigerian Army and military administrator of the defunct Mid Western State between 1967 and 1975.

That state was later renamed Bendel State, but has since been broken into the present Delta and Edo States.

After his military career, Mr. Ogbemudia was, in 1983, elected civilian governor of the old Bendel State, but his tenure was cut short by the military coup of December 1983, led by current President Muhammadu Buhari.

He was until his death a chieftain of Nigerias leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

You can the Wikipedia entry for Mr. Ogbemudia HERE.

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President Muhammadu Buhari has released the following statement, explaining his London medical vacation, and indicating that he would make more travels to the British capital for further medical checks in the weeks ahead.

Read full statement below.

I am deeply grateful to all Nigerians  Muslims and Christians alike who have prayed and are continuing to pray for my good health. This is a testimony that in spite of the hardship being experienced, Nigerians support the Government in its effort to tackle our countrys challenges.

The best way for me to repay you all is to re-dedicate myself to serving you, protecting your interests and keeping your trust. I thank you very much.

I am feeling much better now, there may, however, be need to have further follow-ups within some weeks. Rather than sending delegation upon delegation to Abuja to welcome me, may I appeal to all Nigerians to continue to pray for our countrys unity, progress and prosperity.

I thank you very much and may God bless our Country!

Muhammadu Buhari

President, Federal Republic of Nigeria

March 10, 2017

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President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja expressed gratitude to Nigerians for all the prayers and show of goodwill, pledging to rededicate himself to the service of the nation.

Addressing the country from the State House, shortly after arriving from London, President Buhari said he was fully committed to serving the nation and protecting the right of all Nigerians.

I am deeply grateful to all Nigerians, Muslims and Christians alike who have prayed and have continued to pray for my good health.

This is a testimony that in spite of the hardship being experienced, Nigerians support the government in its effort to tackle our countrys challenges, the president said.

He said his health had improved significantly, following the medical attention he received during his vacation in London.

The best way for me to repay you is to rededicate myself to serving you, protecting your interest and keeping your trust. I thank you very much.

I am feeling much better now. There may, however, be need for further follow up within some weeks, he stated.

In his remark, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said it was satisfying for Nigerians and the Federal Executive Council to receive the President back in the country hale and hearty.

It is a day of joy not only for us but for the whole country, Africa and the world. Your arrival has vindicated our position that you will return safely, he said.

The vice president thanked the president for respecting the constitution and entrusting power to him before travelling, noting that it was a tough job going around in borrowed robes.

The Chairman of Nigerias Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin, also made remarks to welcome the president.

President Buhari returned to Nigeria after 51 days of medical vacation in London, United Kingdom.

PREMIUM TIMES correspondent in Kaduna said a presidential jet, 5N-FGN, conveying the president landed at exactly 7:40 a.m. at the Nigerian Air Force Base in the city.

Mr. Buhari was dressed in a black caftan with a black cap to march, and was received by Kaduna officials, amidst tight security.

He was immediately taken into a waiting helicopter to Abuja.

Only select journalists were allowed to take photos and record video of his landing and takeoff, our reporter said.

Femi Adesina, the special adviser on media and publicity to the president, said Mr. Buharis plane landed in Kaduna well after 7.am today in Kaduna, debunking earlier reports that the president flew in at about 4.am.

Mr. Adesina had announced Thursday that Mr. Buhari would return to Nigeria Friday (today).

Mr. Buhari left Nigeria on 19 January 19 for a vacation in London and was scheduled to return to work on 6 February.

During his visit to UK, he also said he would conduct some medical checks.

However, a day to his resumption, he requested for an extension of his holiday, following the recommendation of his doctors that he wait for further tests and rest.

According to Mr. Adesina, President Buhari expressed appreciation to teeming Nigerians from across the country, and beyond, who had prayed fervently for him, and also sent him their good wishes.

While in London, the president received visitors at his base in the British capital, and made telephone calls to dignitaries in Nigeria.

There are widespread speculations in Nigeria that he is unwell but the presidency has repeatedly dismissed the insinuations.

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Impeached South Korean President Park Geun Hye must step down permanently, the countrys constitutional court ruled in the capital Seoul on Friday.

Park, 65, South Koreas first female president, was impeached by the National Assembly in December on charges of colluding with her close friend Choi Soon Sil to extort money from top South Korean companies and of allowing her confidante to interfere with state affairs.

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo Ahn took over her duties in the interim after her impeachment.

The court panel of eight judges reached the decision unanimously.

It paves the way for fresh elections within 60 days.

Many observers expect the polls to be held on May 9, South Koreas Yonhap news agency reported.

After the ruling, the acting head of the panel, Judge Lee Jung Mi, said the panel hoped it would help end the political chaos that has engulfed the country.

Fridays court decision means that Park has been stripped of her parliamentary immunity and can now be prosecuted in a criminal court.

She is the first South Korean head of state to be stripped of her duties by a court ruling.

Parks Liberty Korea Party apologised for the scandal Friday, according to Yonhap, saying it respected the verdict.

The Liberty Korea Party gave birth to the Park Geun-hye government. It was a ruling party and the partner of state affairs, said In Myung Jin, the partys interim head.

But we failed to fulfill our duty as the ruling party, and failed to protect the dignity and pride of South Korea, which has been built by the people, In said.

Aides from Parks party said they were discussing how to proceed.

Parks ouster followed weeks of protests which saw hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets and her approval rating drop to a record low of 4 per cent in November.

Park has repeatedly apologised for the scandal, but has denied committing any criminal offence.

Her friend Choi has separately pleaded not guilty to a string of charges including abuse of power and attempted fraud.

The judges ruled on Friday that Choi, who held no public office, meddled in affairs of state.

However, they dismissed further charges that Park had neglected her duties during the April 2014 Sewol ferry disaster in which more than 300 people died. She and her government had been accused of not doing enough to rescue passengers.

Ahead of the expected snap election, left-of-centre politician Moon Jae In, who lost to Park in 2012, is currently heading opinion polls, signalling a possible change in South Koreas political landscape in the wake of the scandal.

The conservative Park took office in February 2013 amid high expectations.

She stood for a new kind of conservative politics, promising in her inauguration speech to front a new era of fortune and hope.

Park was among the countrys most influential conservative politicians and was elected to the National Assembly five times.

She is the daughter of Park Chung Hee, who ruled the country with an iron fist in the 1960s and 1970s. (dpa/NAN)

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President Muhammadu Buhari arrived at the Presidential Villa on Friday morning and was received by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and members of his family, including his wife, Aisha, and daughter, Zahra.

The President also met with members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

President Buhari returned to Nigeria after 51-day vacation in London.

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Among Nigerias numerous national challenges, which do you think the next president should focus on first?  Premium Times (@PremiumTimesng) October 5, 2022 Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government. For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour. By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all. Donate TEXT AD: Call Willie - +2348098788999 Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

President Buhari with Acting President Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa on Friday shortly after his return from London.President Buhari joins family members. Wife, Aisha (L) and daughter, Zahra, (R) and other well wishers at the Presidential Villa on Friday.The wife of Buhari, Aisha, (Right of Buhari) surrounded by well-wishers thanking God for return of her husband .
The Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Hameed Ali, has replied the Senate after the lawmakers ordered him to appear in appropriate uniform next week over the services planned action against owners of vehicles without duty payment.

Mr. Ali in an interview granted Television Continental, TVC, and monitored by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, said the Senate should be more concerned about his performance, and not his uniform.

Mr. Ali, a retired colonel, was appointed Customs chief in 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari, becoming the second to be so appointed from outside the service.

Under former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, Bello Haliru became the first head of Customs to be appointed from outside the service.

The Senate, Thursday, summoned Mr. Ali after Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi) told his colleagues that Mr. Ali had shown no regard to the lawmakers resolution that the planned clampdown on vehicles without duty payment be halted. The senators then stressed that he should appear in his full Customs uniform, which Mr. Ali has never worn.

No, I was not appointed the Comptroller General to wear uniform, stressed Mr. Ali. Does the uniform work or the person behind the uniform?

He added: Am I doing my job or not? I think thats what should interest the National Assembly.

Two senators, Solomon Olamilekan (APC-Lagos) and Lanre Tejuoso (APC-Ogun), also said the Customs operatives had been going after vehicles, lorries, imported rice.

If we suspect that smuggled items are brought into your own house, we have the rights to condone that house, and go in and search, said Mr. Ali, hitting back at the senators.

The official said he was yet to receive the invitation to appear before the Senate.

He, however, said he was ready to appear before the Senate, if the invitation followed due process.

I am yet to receive formal invitation. If the proper procedures for official invitation to chief executives of government officials are followed, I will appear before the Senate. he said.

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The Federal Government has launched a programme for informing pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers across the country about health and nutrition issues, using mobile phones.

The programme, tagged mNutrition, is a process of using mobile technology to send text messages to Nigerians with a view to expanding access to health and nutrition services.

According to a press statement on Friday by the Ministry, the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, at the launch said the programme was a step towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

He added that the programme was aimed at leveraging on mobile technology to scale up health and nutrition outcomes in Nigeria.

Mr. Adewole said malnutrition slows economic growth and perpetuates poverty by reducing childrens brain development, their ability to learn and be productive citizens during their adult years.

He stressed that malnourished children learn less in school and are more likely to drop out of school and eventually earn less as adults.

The minister appreciated all the stakeholders for their contributions towards achieving mobile nutrition programme in the country.

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire, said nutrition was a key factor in the reduction of high maternal and child mortality.

Mr. Ehanire said that reduction of child mortality and morbidity due to malnutrition could be achieved through coordinated efforts by all stakeholders to increase coverage and access to nutrition services such as special attention to women during pregnancy, promotion of health education as well as improve infant and young children feeding.

Earlier, the Head of Sub-Sahara Africa, GSMA, Akinwale Goodluck, a Nigerian living and working in Nairobi, Kenya, said that Nigeria was one of the eight selected countries for mNutrition.

The other countries are Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

He observed that it was apparent that mobile phone had the capacity to change the way and manner people behave, as a result, it was imperative to use mobile technology to create more awareness on nutrition in Nigeria.

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The Nigerian military has disclosed plans to change the Nigerian Army Institute of Technology and Environmental Studiesm, NAITES, to a military university.

The school will now be known as the Nigerian Army University of Technology and Environmental Studies, NAUTES, when the plan is fully implemented, making it the second military university in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Defense Academy, NDA, in Kaduna is currently the only military university in Nigeria.

The rector of the technology and environmental institute, Clement Ojo, told PREMIUM TIMES that the change will take full effect when the committee that was set up to effect the transition submits its report and it is approved by the convening authority.

The committee is to submit some essential documents to the National Universities Commission, NUC. When that is done, the school will then reflects the new designation, Mr. Ojo, a brigadier general, said.

On the initial relocation of the school from Makurdi, Benue State to Biu in Borno State, the rector noted that the school has only partly moved to Biu, Borno State.

The remaining movement will be gradual depending on availability of structures to accommodate all students. The Rector and other administrative staff have however moved fully, Mr. Ojo added.

The army had earlier disclosed the commencement of the 2016/2017 academic session in Biu, after relocation from Benue.

The Borno State government had allocated 5000 hectares of land for the setting up of the school.

The NUC Director of Information, Public relations, Ibrahim Yakasai, also told PREMIUM TIMES that the army informed the commission of the intention to turn the school into a university.

They came to us and we have given them a check list of what it requires to make the school a university. So if they go and do that and the government is ready to fund them, why wont the school be a university?

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The United States Embassy in Abuja on Wednesday provided a possible reason for the deportation of a Nigerian believed to be a victim of the ongoing immigration overhaul by the Donald Trump administration.

Mr. Trump recently intensified a crackdown on immigrants from specific countries across the world, majority of them Muslim-majority countries.

But despite the U.S. State Departments position that the new rules will not affect Nigeria, there have been reported cases of deportation involving Nigerians in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, a Nigerian man who was turned back at the entry point in Los Angeles, California, in February, called the attention of PREMIUM TIMES to his situation.

Femi Olaniyi said he was deported after being detained for several days, despite having a visa valid for two years.

I travelled to the United States of America on 21 of February 2017, with two years valid multiple visa.

When I got to the point of entry of Los Angeles, the immigration officer directed me to one BPD, he interrogated me and I answered him politely.

When he has nothing to hold me, he said I should come for biometric whether I have any criminal offence.

I told him that Im not a criminal that he should go ahead. Later, he brought some documents that I should sign, I told him that I will need to read before I sign.

He quickly withdrew the document and put me in a cold cell. From there he held me for four days. Collected all my phone so that I will not get access to my family and later revoked and return me back to Nigeria.

Honestly, this is unfair, Nigeria needs to do something, Mr. Olaniyi said.

Mr. Olaniyi told PREMIUM TIMES he had travelled to different countries across the world in the past, but the botched journey was his first to the United States.

The U.S. Embassy did not deny Mr. Olaniyis allegations, but maintained there are no restrictions on Nigerians with valid documents.

There is no restriction on Nigerians travelling to the United States, Embassy spokesman, Russell Brooks, told PREMIUM TIMES by email Wednesday afternoon. Nigerians with valid visas are welcome to travel to the United States.

Mr. Russell blamed Mr. Olaniyis incident on a long-standing immigration policy that a visa does not guarantee entry into the United States, a practice he said remained popular amongst different countries across the world.

However, many people are unaware of the fact that a visa does not automatically guarantee you entry into the United States, Mr. Brooks said. As is the case in most countries, all travellers are still subject to an interview by an immigration official at the point of entry.

The official said U.S.-bound travellers must convince immigration officials that they had reasons to enter the country, adding that such officers should be given maximum cooperation.

At U.S. airports, the immigration inspector representing the Department of Homeland Security is the official who actually authorises entry.

The inspector must be convinced that the purpose of the travel is legitimate and he or she will have access to information concerning prior travel.

We certainly encourage all travellers to be clear, consistent, and cooperative during such an interview.

Mr. Olaniyis ordeal came amidst growing concerns about deliberate denial of Nigerians an entry into the United States.

On Monday, an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigerians appear to be targeted by the United States due to the controversial new immigration rules imposed by President Donald Trump.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa said her office had been inundated with complaints that Nigerians with valid travel documents to the United States were being turned back, warning citizens not to travel to that country unless they have to.

In the last few weeks, the office has received a few cases of Nigerians with valid multiple-entry US visas being denied entry and sent back to Nigeria, Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa said. In such cases reported to the office, such affected persons were sent back immediately on the next available flight and their visas were cancelled.

But the advisory was swiftly debunked by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who urged Nigerians to disregard it in its entirety.

I can tell you to ignore any call or advice to reconsider travelling to the U.S. because there is no basis for that, Mr. Onyeama told reporters in Abuja Tuesday. We have absolutely no report whatsoever from the U.S. that people are being turned back from the U.S. or any of our consulate or any Nigerian that any of our people are being turned back.

A Nigerian lawmaker, Nnenna Ukeje, also slammed Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa for creating unnecessary confusion among Nigerians.

Ms. Ukeje, who participated in a focused group program to mark World Womens Day on Channels Television, said Ms. Dabiri-Erewa had no business making a pronouncement on such weighty diplomatic matters.

Similarly, Mr. Brooks implored Nigerians to discard reports that Nigerians were affected by the U.S. immigration restrictions.

To date, despite certain media reports, there is no information that confirms that a large number of Nigerians are being turned away at U.S. airports and returned home.

Nigerian citizens are welcome to travel to the United Sates, Mr. Brooks said.

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President Muhammadu Buharis wife, Aisha, received her husband on Friday, amid cheers from families and well wishers, who joined her to welcome Mr. Buhari from medical vacation in the UK.

Mrs. Buhari, who received the president at about 9a.m. at the official residence in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, thanked Nigerians for their support and prayer for the president.

She was joined by Dolapo Osinbajo, wife of the Vice-President, wives of state governors, ministers, family members and her close associates.

Mrs. Buhari expressed gratitude to Almighty God for the safe return of her husband.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, also expressed her happiness for the successful return of the President.

Mrs. Oyo-Ita urged Nigerians to continue praying for their leaders to enable them deliver good governance to the people.

Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the wife of the President, Hajo Sani, expressed her joy for the return of the President to the country.

President Buhari returned to Nigeria in the early hours of Friday from London, after 51 days of medical vacation.

(NAN)

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday failed to attend the weekly Jumat prayer at the Aso Rock Mosque.

Many government officials who had trooped to the Mosque hoping to get a close glimpse of the president, left in disappointment as the president was conspicuously absent.

Mr. Buhari returned from London, UK, earlier on Friday after 51 days of medical vacation.

He said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who had been acting in his absence, will continue in that capacity as he (Buhari) continues to rest.

The preidents spokesperson, Femi Adesina, later tweeted that the president will formally resume his duties on Monday.

PMB will Monday transmit letter to National Assembly on his return to the country. That makes his return to work formal, and constitutional, he said.

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President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja called for more concerted effort in ensuring that all Nigerian children get good education in order to be relevant in a world driven by new technology.

Speaking to some governors, members of the Federal Executive Council, service chiefs and senior government officials at the State House, shortly after his return from London, Mr. Buhari said the world was fast changing, and more efforts must be made to equip the younger generation with relevant skills to compete in the global economy.

My single advice is that we must take education seriously, and we must do much more to educate our children, he said.

President Buhari noted that the government would continue to discourage Nigerians from self-medication, urging those with discomforts to ensure they get proper diagnosis and doctors prescription for drugs. He lauded the quality of treatment he got during his medical vacation.

The President said he had been conscious of the challenges faced in repositioning the economy of the country, noting that it would receive more attention.

President Buhari said he was pleased with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who provided good leadership during his stay in London for medical attention.

The President said he had planned to take a vacation in January, 2017, after asking the Vice President to take a holiday in December, 2016.

President Buhari pointed that the team spirit with the Vice President would be further strengthened, in tackling the myriad challenges in the economy.

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The Canada-based lady involved in an alleged marriage scandal with the overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, Johnson Suleman, has said that her affair with the cleric involved a lot of sex.

Stephanie Otobo, speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Friday, said she spent time with Mr. Suleman in Naples, New York, and Lagos.

Most of the times we spent together, we had sex, Ms. Otobo told journalists.

I refused to have a threesome with him because Im not a lesbian and I dont like women touching me.

He told me he did that with all his past girlfriends, that I was the only one (who refused), that its very rude that I can do that to him.

Ms. Otobo and Mr. Suleman (popularly known as Apostle Suleman) have been engaged in accusations and counter-accusations this week with the lady insisting the pastor reneged on a marriage promise made last year.

Mr. Suleman denies the claims, insisting he never met the lady.

On Thursday, the cleric threatened to sue Festus Keyamo, Ms. Otobos lawyer, demanding a retraction of his clients allegation of forceful abortion of her pregnancy, among other allegations, and N1 billion as damages.

Sex, money

During the week, Ms. Otobo, 23, had released explicit photographs of herself and Mr. Suleman in a phone conversation, a revelation her critics said was a photoshop.

She also said the cleric had confided in her that sexual relations with his wife was virtually non-existent.

On Friday, inside Mr. Keyamos Lagos office, journalists pressed her for more evidence  an incontrovertible one like bank statements, phone records, messages.

After Ms. Otobo said she had more explicit photos of Mr. Suleman, including one he was holding his penis, a reporter asked her the size of Mr. Sulemans manhood and to rate his performance in bed.

Is it big? Is it small? the reporter elucidated, about the size.

Wellits not very small, its an average size, Ms. Otobo responded.

Hes very good (in bed), he likes to end it off on the back, on your back all the time, I dont know why.

And also, even while sleeping, he doesnt wanna stop, hes dozing off he goes continue, I go Daddy, youre sleeping. He doesnt wanna stop, he wants to keep going while sleeping.

She also said Mr. Suleman hardly eats his meals.

I dont really get into people that much, that dont wanna talk, I focus more on me and him. If Im poke-nosing I dont think I will last with him that long.

But I know he cant eat, because I can say things that I saw when spending time with him. He has I dont know you know when a wicked brother, when no one is pursuing them, he just cant eat, hes worried, hes always worried.

He cant eat, he wants me to pet him to eat, then Ill beg him Daddy please eat, and he goes I love you so much.'

In his response to Ms. Otobo, whom he claimed was a self-confessed stripper based in Canada, Mr. Suleman denied ever having a physical contact with the lady, saying they only communicated via phone.

But the lady said they had spent time in hotels in Naples, Italy; New York, and Lagos between June 2015 when they met and last year.

We were at New York together, two months after I left Napoli. Then he invited me to Nigeria. We were always having sex, she said.

In Nigeria, we stayed at Protea Hotel in Ikeja. theres another hotel after Airport Hotel, theres a gas station, theres a new hotel on your right, thats where he gave me something to drink. I thought it was juice, he brought it, he said lets drink together, and then he didnt want to drink, he wanted to eat.

The night he gave me 8,000 Euros, he was trying to show me that this was real and it would never end, I think he was trying to capture me both physically, spiritually, and mentally. Giving somebody so much money, youre trying to capture them so that without you, they cannot live, because you wanna make yourself their god, thats what he was trying to do.

When he came, he was like, this was all I realised today, here you go, on the table. Then he said this is how much I love you. After the three days crusade (in Naples), he collected all the money, I was inside, and said, this is all I realised. He gave me everything.

He told me this was discreet, we couldnt even call a taxi in the morning when he wanted to discharge me, he had to take a walk with me from his hotel by 4 a.m. to my hotel. I was worried because it could be dangerous, in a place where I dont know, a new country and everything. He walked me to my hotel and stayed till 7am and went back to his hotel. He said because we have to be discreet, we cannot call a taxi.

Ms. Otobo said she didnt save up enough evidence because she didnt know all of these would be happening.

She also said most of her evidence were lost after her laptop was stolen on arrival at the Lagos airport last year.

I wanted to get rid of him and deleted his number, everything. It was when I suspected something was going on, last year, it was when I started gathering evidence.

Police investigation

The police, last Monday, arraigned Ms. Otobo before a Chief Magistrate Court in Lagos on a four count charge of terrorism, fraud, and blackmail.

She pleaded not guilty.

At Fridays press conference, Ms. Otobo called on the police to check her bank records to see how Mr. Suleman sent her money directly from his bank account.

Apart from the cash that he gives me, like a lot of cash that he gives me. Im not talking about 8,000 Euros, Im not talking about 12,000 Dollars in two weeks, she said.

If I was a cheap prostitute, how much do you send a cheap prostitute in Canada all the way from Nigeria. Im based in Canada Im sure there are a lot of women that needs money here in Nigeria, how many women or cheap prostitutes has he sent money here in Nigeria?

We are petitioning the police on that. And also the issue of photoshopping pictures, in between the photoshopped pictures there should be an original copy if the pictures were photoshopped, it must be photoshopped from something, he should provide that. Because I have the cell phones that I used to take the pictures, I still have every original pictures.

Also, the police should check my passport, he took me to Napoli, he had a programme there, a conference for three days. The police should check his passport, the period it was stamped to Napoli and check my passport, the period I was stamped to Napoli if it was the same stamp,

He should wake up and face the truth.

I want the police to check on the issue when he gave me substance to drink and that almost cost me my life, this was one of the main reasons that really caused all of this. After I got pregnant, he gave me substance to drink, I started bleeding, stooling blood for over one year. I was so scared and I lost the baby.

Ms. Otobo demanded a public apology from Mr. Suleman.

She also told him to publicly apologise to his congregation.

I want him to publicly accept his sins, and beg for forgiveness from God.

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A grateful President Muhammadu Buhari said on Friday that the performance of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo while he was away, was buoyed by his youthfulness and intellectual capacity.

The president, however, said of himself that he has age and military background going for him.

Mr. Buhari made these observations when he received political leaders in the State House shortly after he returned to Nigeria from medical vacation on Friday.

The president departed for London on January 19, in a trip that was initially announced as annual vacation but which later turned out to be an extended medical vacation.

The president handed over to Mr. Osinbajo, who has been acting president for the past 50 days.

Mr. Osinbajos capacity had seen him swear in a new Chief Justice of Nigeria, sign seven bills into law, criss-cross the restive Niger-Delta to appease the oil-producing communities, amongst other critical national assignments.

The vice presidents pace of action was commended by several Nigerians, prompting many to suggest that he should continue playing the major roles in the government.

Youth and intellect is squarely behind him, Mr. Buhari said while commending the work done by Mr. Osinbajo. Continue to do the work, Nigeria will continue whether we are here or not.

Mr. Buhari said he has his age and experience but strongly encouraged the vice president to step up activities in critical sectors of the country.

Age and purely military experience is behind me, he said. And my single most important advice is for you to take education of everybody under you very seriously.

We must do more on education.

Mr. Osinbajo, in his response, acknowledged there were challenges but appreciated the trust his principal reposed in him, quipping that he found going around in borrowed robes most enchanting.

I must say that it has been an interesting period going around the nation maybe in borrowed robes, the acting president said.  I must say I had a very interesting and challenging time but above all, the president gave us the good support.

A statement from the State House said Mr. Buhari will officially write to the National Assembly to notify senators of his intention to reassume his opposition as president.

A civic group, CISLAC, had earlier commended the president for asking Mr. Osinbajo to act as president while he recovered.

In a statement by Auwal Rafsanjani, its executive director, CISLAC said the presidents personal acknowledgement of his health crisis and delegation of presidential powers to his vice president were unprecedented.

We consider this decision very patriotic, confirming the president as a statesman and leader who places national interest above personal interests and does not possess the sit-tight mentality typical of many leaders on the continent, the group said.

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The announcement that President Muhammadu Buhari will be returning home from London on Friday after his medical vacation has excited many Nigerians, especially on the social media, the News Agency of Nigeria is reporting.

The tweet by @NGRPresident that originally revealed the presidents homecoming, generated over 1,200 retweets, one of the highest, beaten only by the Presidents birthday wish to his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo on March 8.

In some reactions, praises were showered on the harbinger of the good news about the presidents return, Femi Adesina, the media and publicity adviser, who broke the news on Friday.

One of the social commentators, Mubashsheer Mustapha said: Femi Adesina, you have made my day by posting this good news. In fact, words are too scanty to aid the expression of my happiness on seeing this news.

May God continue to bless you and your entire family, and also grant Mr.President a very good and sound health as well as the wisdom and courage to continue with the good governance of our fatherland.

Osquare Okpanachi said, Baba while you were away, we the hailers match the wailers bumper to bumper and kept them quiet.

Jimoh Ibrahim merely posted Allahu Akbar; Allahu Akbar; Allahu Akbar while Olakunle Longe thanked God for answering his prayers on the president.

Mr. Longe posted, Thank God for answered prayers. You have done a great and perfect job informing the populace about Mr President as being practised in other civilized countries of the world. Kudos.

Henry O. Henry, who saluted Mr. Adesina for breaking the news, said I cant wait to see my President and welcome him back home.Kudos to Mr Femi Adesina, Keep the good work going Sir.

Jide Adebayo, in his comments, said salute to professionalism in information management. God bless PMB with greater strength to consolidate the gains of his administration and sanitisation of Nigerian nation.

There can be no more cheery news at this hour.

Austine Ejeke, however, said, Shame to bad people! President Buhari is alive! Hale and Hearty!, while Auwal Hassan wished the president a safe return home, saying glad for the news.lets the mischief makers go to .

President Buhari left for London on January 19 partly for holiday and partly for medical checks.

He was initially scheduled to resume work on February 6 but extended the holiday, following the advice of his doctors that he should stay for more tests.

There are speculations in Nigeria that he had been unwell but the presidency has repeatedly dismissed the suggestions.

But visits after visits by prominent Nigerians, including Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly leaders, led by Senate President Bukola Saraki, helped to douse tension.

President Buhari also kept himself in the news with phone conversation with American leader, Donald Trump, AU Leader, Alpha Conde and the King of Morocco. He also at various times spoke with the acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, Governors Ibrahim Ganduje of Kano, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and others.

On Thursday, President Buhari received the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Reverend Justin Welby.

NAN

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The Inspector-General of Police on Friday announced the deployment of 350 armed personnel to provide security along Kaduna-Abuja Highway.

Muazu Zubairu, Commissioner of Police in Niger, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Minna.

He said that the deployment was to protect lives and property of road users and residents.

Mr. Zubairu said that a comprehensive operational order was issued to commissioners of Police in Abuja, Kaduna and Niger commands, on securing motorists along the way.

The commissioner said that police officers deployed were well equipped to tackle any form of security threat along the highway.

We are even ready to confront cattle rustling, kidnapping and activities of armed bandits especially in the North Central region.

The IGP stressed that police personnel nationwide have been mandated to flush out criminals and ensure their prompt prosecution, he said.

He solicited the support of Nigerians in the task of ridding the nation of criminals.

It is the civic responsibility of all citizens to provide adequate information to security agencies to track down and curtail all forms of criminal activities, he said.

He urged traditional rulers to mobilise their subjects to embark on community policing and remain security conscious, to reduce criminality.

(NAN)

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Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court on Friday in Abuja struck out a suit seeking to remove Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State from office.

The dismissal motion on notice dated January 30 emanated from an earlier suit filed on January 27, 2015 by Umaru Dahiru and Aliyu Sanyinna.

The application was filed on the grounds that the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that produced Mr. Tambuwal for the 2015 governorship election was not validly conducted.

Messrs. Dahiru and Sanyinna urged the court to order INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued Tambuwal and present it to Mr. Dahiru on the grounds that the senator was the lawfully elected candidate of the APC at the primary election.

The Supreme Court had in 2016 returned the case to the Federal High Court for fresh trial on the grounds that there is life in the case in spite of the conduct of the governorship election that produced Tambuwal.

The apex court had disagreed with Tambuwal in his claim that the case of the plaintiff challenging his nomination by APC had become academic and hypothetical.

However, sequel to the apex courts order for retrial, Mr. Dahiru, through his counsel, Ikoro N. Ikoro, filed a motion on notice dated January 30 seeking the variation of his pleadings in the motion on notice.

Specifically, the plaintiff sought the nullification of the return of Mr. Tambuwal as the APC governorship candidate in the 2015 gubernatorial election in Sokoto State.

However, ruling on the application for amendment filed by the plaintiff, Justice Kolawole, apart from dismissing the application, equally struck out the motion on notice.

The court agreed with APC and Mr. Tambuwal that granting the application for amendment of the reliefs would change the nature and character of the case file which the Supreme Court remitted for retrial.

Mr. Kolawole said the application of the plaintiffs is an ingenious attempt to have a second bite at the cherry and it is inconsistent with the reliefs sought in the motion on notice remitted from the Supreme Court.

`The plaintiff had in his motion on notice filed, claimed that the December 4, 2014 primary election conducted by APC which produced Tambuwal was a `hallowed ritual.

The motion also said the election was a sham and in gross violation of Section 87 of the 2010 Electoral Act and the APC 2014 election guidelines.

Justice Kolawole also said that granting the amendment would amount to revalidation of a primary said to be flawed by the plaintiff.

Granting the application will occasion injustice on the part of the APC and Tambuwal because the motion on notice did not intend to cure any misnomer.

Changing the case file is a fundamental issue of professional impropriety which must be not be tolerated.

The amendment is an abuse of court process and intended to supersede the Supreme Court and outsmart Tambuwal, the 2nd defendant.

In view of the fact that the application is dismissed, the case file has become empty and there is nothing to adjourn for or to be heard; consequently, the case is struck out, Justice Kolawole said.

(NAN)

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Family members on Friday said former Military Governor of the old Bendel State, Samuel Ogbemudia, prepared his own grave before his death.

Samuel Ogbemudia Junior, the eldest child of the deceased, told journalists on Friday at the Iheya family house that the late leader died on Thursday night at a Lagos Hospital.

He said Mr. Ogbemudia, who died at the age of 84, had prepared his grave years ago, besides that of his late mother within the family compound.

Asked if his late father gave any particular reason for the act, he responded saying, anybody can do that.

On what he would miss about his late father, Mr. Ogbemudia Junior said, I will miss everything about him.

I, and all those who had contact with him, have all learnt a great deal from him; he was a father, not just to his children, but to all. He was a great man, he said. (NAN)

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A federal judge in Lagos on Thursday ruled that a second prosecution witness in the criminal suit against former Abia State Governor, Orji Kalu, and others was not fit to give evidence.

Justice Mohammed Idris upheld the argument of the defence counsel who argued that Christina Ohiri, a bank manager, was not competent to appear before the court.

The defence lawyers objection was on the grounds that Mrs. Ohiri was not listed among the 19 witnesses enlisted by the prosecution to give evidence during the trial.

It is clear that Mrs. Ohiri was not listed as one of the witnesses in the proof of evidence front loaded and served on the defence by the prosecution, said the judge.

This failure cannot be waved aside as it is a fundamental breach of Section 397(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and Section 36 of the Constitution which states that an accused person must be given adequate time and facility to prepare his defence.

It was the first decision by the judge that had gone in favour of Mr. Kalu who is facing a 34-count charge of money laundering amounting to N3.2 billion.

Joined as defendants in the trial are Mr. Kalus company, Slok Nigeria Limited, and his former aide, Udeh Udeogu.

On Tuesday, Mr. Idris had ruled that the prosecutions first witness, Onovai Oghenevoh, be allowed to give evidence after the defence lawyers raised an objection.

The judge also ruled against Mr. Kalu, on Wednesday, deciding that documents tendered by Mr. Oghenevoh were admissible as evidence. The defence lawyers had also argued that the document was signed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and not the bank who issued it.

But when the EFCCs second witness, Mrs. Ohiri, took to the witness stand later on Wednesday to give evidence, the defence lawyers, again, raised an objection; describing it as an ambush, forcing the judge to adjourn proceedings till Thursday to deliver his ruling on the argument.

On Thursday, Mr. Idris ordered the prosecution counsel to regularise all processes and serve all the necessary documents on the defence counsel.

The witness is not properly before this court, the judge stated, upholding the defence counsels objection.

Justice rushed is justice crushed.

Following the judges decision, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, requested that he be allowed to just use his pen to include Mrs. Ohiris name in the prosecutions list of witnesses so that the case can proceed immediately.

Or, in the alternative, stand the matter down for a few minutes so I can file an additional proof of evidence and serve it on the defence counsel in court, said Mr. Jacobs, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

The defence lawyers described Mr. Jacobs proposition as an attempt to rubbish the ruling of the judge.

Justice Idris turned down the request.

Compliance with Section 397(1) is mandatory, the judge said.

It is an issue that goes to the foundation of a criminal trial. The prosecution should take immediate steps to comply with the provisions of Section 397(1) of the ACJA.

The judge adjourned the trial till April 10, 11, 12, and 13.

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Congratulatory message to Donald Tusk

President Andrzej Duda on Friday sent a congratulatory message to Donald Tusk on his re-election to the post of European Council president.

"I congratulate you on obtaining the support of the majority of European Union countries for extending your term in office as president of the European Council", the Polish president wrote.

"I hope that in future it will be possible to rebuild European unity based on the principle of equal countries and free nations", Andrzej Duda added in the message. (PAP)
Atlantic County may have an unemployment rate about one-third higher than the national average and a foreclosure rate more than three times the national rate, but tourism data show improvement in the region.

For the first time in five years, tourism sales in Atlantic County grew.

Although we feel like weve never recovered from the recession down here, most of the people that come here are coming from areas that are doing much, much better than we are, said Richard Perniciaro, director of the Center for Regional and Business Research at Atlantic Cape Community College.

Low gas prices, good weather and  for the first time in 10 years  a 1.4 percent increase in casino revenue led to a bump in New Jersey tourism in 2016, according to the latest data released by the state Thursday.

As long as the places our visitors come from are doing well, our tourism industry will do well, Perniciaro said.

With about 40 miles of coastline and about 15 resort towns, Cape May and Atlantic counties generate the most tourism dollars.

In Cape May County, tourism sales grew 5 percent in 2016. Atlantic Countys rose 2.5 percent.

The two counties account for more than 31 percent of the states $41.9 billion in direct tourism sales in 2016.

Over the past four years  and with the closing of four casinos in 2014  tourism employment in Atlantic County was on a steady decline.

However, despite the closing of Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in October, Atlantic County tourism-related jobs saw growth at 0.3 percent.

Tourisms impact on the job force is palpable, especially in Atlantic and Cape May counties, where the industry accounts directly for 29 percent and 44 percent of total employment, respectively.

It gives a lot of jobs to the area, and you know with tourism being the No. 1 industry (in the region), we are the economic stimulus for these families, said Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce. Its a lifeline. Its a circle.

Gillian said the importance of the industry to the region can be measured in every business.

You name it, it affects it at the top of the scale to the bottom of the scale, she said. A good summer helps for a good year all around.

Gillian said Ocean City benefited from winning awards for its beaches last year and the lack of major foul weather. It also focused on promoting bay activities and ecotourism, she said.

Lori Pepenella, CEO of the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce, said chambers throughout the state are trying to make the most out of so-called shoulder seasons  the few weeks before Memorial Day and after Labor Day when the weather is still favorable.

Weve added film festivals and wine festivals, different things to just constantly engage, Pepenella said.

The report said low gas prices contributed to the uptick in travel to tourist destinations within the state. AAA reports an average gas price of $2.289 this month, up from $1.608 one year ago. This is attributable to the gas-tax increase that went into effect in November.

Perniciaro said due to the proximity of the visitors who come to the region, that increase shouldnt affect tourism.

However, he said, the lack of new capacity in the hospitality industry will not allow tourism much growth.

We have not built any new capacity for that industry, so in the middle of July, everything is 100 percent booked, and that sort of constrains us, Perniciaro said, adding the area doesnt necessarily need more casinos to open.

Youve got to remember, were doing with seven buildings what we did with 12 before. If you keep opening casinos back up, youre just spreading that money around, he said.
CAMDEN  Two Cumberland County residents pleaded guilty Friday in Superior Court to participating in an organized retail theft ring involving more than $20,000 in shoplifted merchandise.

The two stole items from stores such as Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Target, HomeGoods and more, then returned them for gift cards that were pawned for cash, state Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said.

Chiara K. Pender, 30, of Millville, pleaded guilty to leading an organized retail theft enterprise. Pender faces up to five years in state prison and must make full restitution for the stolen merchandise.

Police seeking man accused of shoplifting from Target STAFFORD TOWNSHIP  Police are asking for the publics help in identifying a man accused of 

Thareick Archer, 26, of Vineland, a participant in the theft ring, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property. He faces 18 months in state prison.

Pender and Archer are scheduled to be sentenced May 26.

Two other Cumberland County residents have already pleaded guilty to charges linked to Penders theft ring, Porrino said.

Sharhonda D. Collins, 30, of Bridgeton, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property. Collins faces three years in state prison but has a pending application for the drug court program, Porrino said.

Another Millville resident, Mark O. Rabb III, 30, is facing 30 days in jail on a charge of receiving stolen property.

Sentencing dates for Collins and Rabb werent immediately available.

The Attorney Generals Office said Pender would recruit people into the enterprise and drive them to stores where they would steal clothing, electronics and anything else of value that could be concealed. Pender would then have her co-conspirators re-enter the stores to return the items without a receipt or have them try to make the return to another store in the chain.

If the returns were accepted, the stores would issue gift cards ranging in amounts from $100 to more than $600. Pender would then sell the gift cards at pawn shops for cash, typically getting about half the value of the cards.

The gift cards were sold from January through June 2016. Pender was arrested June 3.

Agencies participating in the investigation included the Attorney Generals Office, State Police and the loss-prevention departments of TJX Companies Inc., Lowes and Target.

TJX includes T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls.
ATLANTIC CITY  When Hurricane Sandy hit the Jersey Shore in October 2012, images of an iconic boardwalk crumbling under waves and a roller coaster sitting in the ocean dominated the national news.

For southern Cape May County, where the damage was dramatically less than in the northern counties, fighting that image of a battered shore town not ready for summer tourism was a challenge.

From an economic perspective, we suffered from the perception of damage, because that is what was being put out in the national media, said Vicki Clark, president of the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce.

Sara Brady, a public relations specialist who handled media relations after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, and the death-by-alligator of a 2-year-old at a Walt Disney World resort, said planning for these situations is critical to saving businesses.

Dont think it cant happen to you, she told about 100 business owners Thursday during a seminar on crisis communications at the 2017 New Jersey Conference on Tourism at Resorts Casino Hotel.

Brady, a former reporter, has more than 20 years of experience in communications and represents private individuals and public entities.

When New Jersey native and The Voice runner-up Christina Grimmie was shot at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Brady was called in to represent the theater.

They had no idea what to do, she said.

Public opinion will impact a business after any incident, Brady said. She urged businesses to prepare generic statements and action plans on how to address emergencies that include news and social-media response.

The same attributes that make social media dangerous  speed and scope of spreading a message  make it advantageous for businesses, she said. She advised to be transparent about what information will and will not be shared with the public.

It seems like such a small thing, but its critical and it could be the one thing that saves you, she said.

Lori Pepenella, executive director of the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce, said Sandy gave businesses in the region on-the-spot training in dealing with a natural disaster.

There needs to be a preparation plan. There needs to be a direct line of communications and information so the public feels that they understand whats happening, Pepenella said.

In incidents like the Seaside Park trashcan bomb or the shootout at Tanger Outlets The Walk in Atlantic City in September, Brady said to let law enforcement or local officials take the lead in disseminating emergency response information.

Every one of you should have a relationship with your local police department, she said.

Clark said she was intrigued by Bradys suggestion to have social-media hashtags ready in advance.

We live in a world where you have to be prepared for anything, she said.

Clark said the Cape May County chamber made a big push after Sandy to draw visitors who may have thought the southern shore was destroyed. She said people did suffer, but there wasnt enough damage that would prohibit tourism, the countys No. 1 industry.

The reality was it was helpful to an even greater number of people, she said.
We had talked about doing it over the summer, but she said she has been lying to her friends and teachers about who she is and just couldnt do it anymore, Breitbach said.

When Breitbach told Weymouth Township Superintendent Brian London her daughter would be transitioning, London researched the law, attended training and reached out to LGBTQ advocates.

The school held information sessions for staff, parents and students and made two single-stall staff and visitor restrooms open to everyone.

I discussed the issue with the members of the BOE, and they agreed that this was a reasonable and equitable response, London wrote in an email. He said he did get a few phone calls but explained to callers he is following state law.

Everyone uses a bathroom.

And while gender-identity rights have made bathrooms an issue, it is not the only problem people have with public bathrooms.

People with disabilities and any parent who has ever had to take a young child of the opposite sex into a large public restroom all have stories of the public discomfort of a very private act.

More family or gender-neutral bathrooms are being built, but progress is slow, and in many schools transgender students still struggle with having no place to go.

In an opinion piece in the Washington Post last year, Laura Noren, co-editor of Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing, said better bathroom design would resolve a lot of issues people have with public bathrooms.

Target announced last year it would spend $20 million to expand gender-neutral bathroom options in its stores after facing criticism for saying stores would allow transgender employees and customers to use the bathroom of their choice.

Vineland architect Larry Merighi, who has designed and renovated schools, said schools are adapting, but so far most renovations have been to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

But, he said, privacy is a growing concern.

People are more self-conscious, so showers are being made more private, he said. We try to be sensitive to all cultural norms, but that is easier to do with new construction.

One option used by area schools is converting single-use bathrooms, typically reserved for staff, into gender-neutral bathrooms anyone can use.

Pastors Kevin Bernat, of New Life Assembly of God, and Blake Spencer, of the Ocean Heights Presbyterian Church, are on opposite sides of the debate over the Egg Harbor Township School Districts proposed transgender-student policy.

Spencer believes transgender students should be allowed to use the bathroom or locker room of their self-identified gender.

Bernat believes that would violate the privacy of other students.

They agree single-use gender-neutral bathrooms could resolve their concerns.

A transgender student at Stockton University said gender-neutral bathrooms are a good solution to a basic human need.

The student, who asked that her name not be used, said her only concern would be if transgender students were required to use the gender-neutral bathrooms rather than making their own choice.

If you say someone cant use the bathroom, then you are really saying they cant participate in society, she said.

Egg Harbor Township Superintendent Fred Nickles said he has met with parents of transgender students. Gender-neutral facilities could work, but the costs would have to be considered.

We think there are ways to work this through, he said.

Egg Harbor Township High School students started a change.org petition to support trans rights in their school district. It had 219 signatures Wednesday. About 50 students participated in a sit-in last week, and a dozen students attended this weeks budget meeting with signs saying, Be a Good Egg. Protect Trans Students!

Student organizers Jamie Kraus, 18, and Karianna Jones, 18, said supporters plan to attend school board meetings until a policy is approved.

A motion failed by one vote last week, and students hope to meet with individual board members to see if they can change someones mind.

Jones said gender-neutral bathrooms could be a solution, because some students already use the bathroom in the school nurses office.

This is just a basic human-rights issue, Kraus said. It shouldnt be this hard.

Stockton professor Laurie Greene, who spoke at a recent Egg Harbor Township board meeting, said she has been working to provide a safe space for LGBTQ students in Atlantic County.

She said gender-neutral bathrooms would make life a lot easier for transgender students.

But, she said, the bathroom controversy also represents greater fears that must be addressed.

I understand that their very existence is a problem for some people, she said of the transgender students. But it just comes down to people exercising compassion.
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GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  Harold Whitey Swartz will answer his last fire call Saturday.

The former Atlantic County fire marshal, who spent more than a half-century as part of the local firefighting community, will be given the honor of a funeral usually reserved for firefighters who die in the line of duty and life members.

Saturdays funeral will include dozens of firetrucks from departments throughout the county and state. It also will include police and EMS personnel, with an honor guard to salute the man many affectionately called Whitey.

Swartz, 80, of Galloway Township, died March 2. He served Atlantic County for 56 years.

County officials said they expect 200 to 300 firefighters to attend the funeral. Vince Jones, commissioner of the Office of Emergency Management, said that number could easily double.

He knew everybody, Jones said. His reach was way beyond Atlantic County.

I had the pleasure of growing up around the corner from Whitey and his family, Pleasantville Fire Chief Steve Wilkins said. You dont see this kind of funeral very often, but this send-off is appropriate.

A ladder truck from the Pleasantville Fire Department, where Swartz worked for 31 years, will hold up a large American flag Saturday near Galloways Church of St. Mark and All Saints.

On Thursday, members of the department cleaned and prepared the truck for the funeral. A plaque was placed on an outside wall of the station in Swartzs honor.

A firefighter killed in the line of duty or a life member of a fire company can have his or her casket carried to the funeral by a firetruck. Swartzs casket will be carried on his 1938 Brockway truck, which will be driven in the parade by his son Harold Jr.

Harold Jr. said his brothers, John and Robert, and several grandchildren will ride in the truck during the procession. He said his dad used to take his brothers and him out for ice cream in the Brockway.

An honor guard will attend, which is customary for firefighter funerals. Firefighters serving as honor guard stand at the head and foot of the casket while pallbearers place an American flag over it, according to the National Volunteer Fire Council.

Taps is generally played sometime during the ceremony.

The procession will pass the Firefighters Museum of Southern New Jersey that Swartz built on Ridgewood Avenue in Galloway. It has one of the most extensive collections of firefighting equipment in the state, including the first Atlantic City firetruck.

The first version of the museum, a garage next to Swartzs house in Pleasantville, opened in 1972 and featured a 1929 Ahrensfox he stripped down and rebuilt himself.

Harold Jr. said the Ahrensfox was Whiteys first love of all the collectibles he owned.

After the services for Swartz are completed, a message will come through the firefighting frequency on the Atlantic County radio system saying Whitey has answered his last call.

The services for Swartz will be the second major funeral in the area for a first responder in the past three months.

In December, police from at least a half-dozen states lined up in front of Boardwalk Hall to honor New Jersey State Police Trooper Frankie Williams, of Egg Harbor Township, who died in a car crash on duty Dec. 6.
MARGATE  Soon, Lucy the Elephant will have to peak over nearly 13-foot dunes to see the ocean.

Thats because Margate lost its years-long legal fight against the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to thwart construction of a dune system on the citys beaches.

To add insult to injury for those who oppose dunes, the Army Corps will begin the project in late June and carry on until late Augustmeaning the citys busiest days of the year will be filled with the noise of bulldozers and closed beaches.

Throughout the summer, sections of beach measuring 1,000 feet, or about four blocks, will be closed for about five days while work moves down the coastline.

Business leaders were feeling uneasy Thursday after news of the project filtered through the community.

The whole thing is kind of unfortunatethat it lands on the three months where you make money, said Randy Young, owner of Heritage Surf and Sport on Ventnor Avenue. I dont see why they cant do it in either of the shoulder seasonseither before or after summer.

A spokesman from the Army Corps Philadelphia district said the agency tries to avoid beach projects in the summer but said a number of factors influenced the timeline of the project.

As far as the schedule, legal issues delayed the start of this project significantly, which has impacted the start date and subsequent schedule, spokesman Steve Rochette said. Our contractor chose the sequence based on dredging equipment availability as well as production and efficiency.

Some see the timing of the project as an attempt by Gov. Chris Christies administration to get back at the city for its opposition to the project.

Theyre doing this just in spite because Margate fought it, said Paula Hartman, a real estate agent based in the city.

DEP spokesman Larry Hajna called the claim ridiculous.

Weve been working with the Army Corps all along the coast, he said. Our goal is to make sure the infrastructure, the houses, the businesses and the lives on the barrier islands are protected.

Becker declined to comment specifically on the idea of the administration exacting revenge on the city but did say: This is exactly what I expected.

Hajna said the state has been working to construct dune systems along the states entire coastline. The Absecon Island project is the second-to-last one to move forwardthe last is northern Ocean County, which has also been delayed by lawsuits.

Last month, a federal judge rejected an attempt by six beachfront property owners to halt the project due to health and safety concerns, including the allegation that the dunes could create stagnant water that could attract mosquitoes infected with Zika.

In June, the city gave up its legal challenge to the project after spending more than $314,000 on professional fees.

We thought our bulkhead could give us better protections than the dunes, Mayor Michael Becker said Thursday.

Hajna said dunes and a healthy beach are better than bulkheads, sea walls and jetties.

Theres a potential that any bulkhead can fail at some time, he said. Nature designed barrier islands to have dynamic dunes and beaches.

In November, the Army Corps awarded a $63.3 million contract to Cranford-based Weeks Marine Inc. for the project, which will create dunes in Atlantic City, Ventnor and Margate as well.

The Army Corps is funding initial construction in Longport, Margate and southern Ventnor and 65 percent of the project in the rest of Ventnor and Atlantic City. The DEP is picking up about 26 percent of the tab in Ventnor and Atlantic City, and city governments in both those cities are chipping in 8.75 percent.

Crews will be constructing the dunes in Atlantic City and Longport from mid-April to late June and in Ventnor from early September to early October. Margates portion is the only part of the project taking place in the tourism seasons busiest monthsJuly and August.

Its very, very sad what theyre going to do to us this summer, Hartman said. Its terrible for the town.

Ed Burger, president of the Margate Business Association, said he wasnt completely sure what effect the project will have on business. The city has never had to close 1,000 feet of beach before, he added.

I can tell you the business community is not happy, he said. Its going to be a challenge.

They said theyre going to do everything they can to work around the event schedule we have in the summer, Burger added. Were going to make the best of it.
ATLANTIC CITY  The teenagers at the citys Boys & Girls Club didnt know the man leading their construction class, until he gave a revealing detail.

I was in the news last week, said developer Joseph Jingoli. I bought the Taj Mahal with my partners the Hard Rock and Jack Morris.

The previously silent students suddenly exchanged whispers and wide-eyed stares. Then they broke out in applause.

That was pretty big, right? said Jingoli, 58.

A week after he partnered with Hard Rock to buy the former Taj Mahal casino, Jingoli was in town Wednesday night to teach teens the importance of creating careers and seizing opportunities.

And while he declined to speak about his plans for the Taj, Jingoli described Atlantic City as an opportunity in itself.

Its a pretty tight-knit community. Theres a $2.5 billion industry still, he said. The other thing is, this is what the bottom looks like. So why not invest in it now?

Jingoli expressed a desire to return to a city he once called home. In the late 1980s, Jingoli came to the city to put pipes in the ground for Atlantic Thermal Systems, he said. He then moved to Kingston Avenue in the citys Chelsea neighborhood, where he lived for a decade from the mid 1990s to the mid-2000s.

I was welcomed here. I felt at home. And so its always been that to me, he said.

The politically connected developer is now overseeing half a billion dollars of investment on opposite ends of the Boardwalk.

Jingoli and his partners plan to spend $300 million on the purchase, renovation and rebranding of Taj into a Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The project is expected to create 3,000 jobs and breathe new life into the Southeast Inlet.

Jingolis firm, Joseph Jingoli & Son, received a no-bid contract last year from Atlantic City Development Corp. to be general contractor and construction manager of the $206 million Gateway Project, which includes a Stockton University campus and South Jersey Gas headquarters in the citys Chelsea section.

Jingolis company started a 10-week course at the citys Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday that will teach students the basics of construction. The students will meet leaders in the construction, utilities and casino industries to give them career opportunities.

Those who complete the course will receive college financial assistance and paid internships with his firm or a subcontractor. Upon graduation, Jingolis company will help place them in construction jobs. Those who dont pursue college will be introduced to members of the building trades to apply for jobs.

The thought was, If kids in cities where we build had the same opportunities as me, how different would it be? Jingoli said of the construction class. What if thats the only thing thats wrong? What if the only thing was a bunch of young people didnt have the same opportunities that we had?

Jingolis firm has a reputation for hiring locals in cities where it has major projects. It sponsored a 12-week training program in June that educated 15 Atlantic City residents and gave them jobs building the Gateway project.

Look at these kids. Every one of these kids would make a great employee, he said after speaking to the class. I think we can make a difference.
Fridays dusting to 1 inch of snow could be just the appetizer to a much bigger event next week as the chances for a Tuesday noreaster continue to increase steadily.

A strong coastal storm is expected to develop early next week, and may have a significant impact on the weather in South Jersey, with heavier rain and snow, strong winds, and tidal flooding all expected.

The National Weather Service is advising South Jersey residents that a significant coastal storm will affect the region beginning Monday night and lasting into early Wednesday, and residents should prepare and monitor future forecasts.

The specifics remain uncertain and will highly depend on the track and strength of the potentially strong coastal storm, which are still unclear.

The March full moon occurs on Sunday, which means tides will run astronomically high through the first half of next week.

That means tidal flooding would be likely along the coast, though the severity of any flooding depends on the evolution of the storm.

Heavier rain and snow would also be possible, with rain more likely if the storm tracks closer to the coast, and conditions more favorable for snow if the track is farther offshore.

As with any coastal storm, strong northeast winds are also expected, but the strength of the winds will be directly tied to the eventual strength of the storm.

While the forecast is still uncertain, the timing of the storm would favor a 24-hour period starting Monday night and ending Tuesday night, with the worst of the storm occurring Tuesday.

As the storm evolution becomes more clear over the weekend, the forecast should also become more certain.

For tips on preparing for a winter storm and a look back at past noreasters, visit the Press Weather Center at pressofac.com.
After the U.S. Coast Guard pulled buoys marking the channel due to sand buildup, the state Department of Environmental Protections Division of Coastal Engineering is expediting a project to clear the shoals in Little Egg Inlet.

The inlet, one of the widest in the state, is a major thoroughfare for boat traffic between southern Long Beach Island and Brigantine to its south. The sand will be used to replenish beaches on portions of southern Long Beach Island lost to storms over the past several months, the department said Thursday.

The state is developing permit applications, design plans and contract specifications with the expectation of going out to bid for the multimillion-dollar project next month.

Last week, the Coast Guard warned boaters that if they use the inlet, they do so at their own risk.

The inlet has never been dredged. Instead, the Coast Guard provides buoys marking the deepest and safest route.

An estimated 1 million to 1.5 million cubic yards of sand will be dredged to create a channel that is 25 feet below mean sea level. Current parts of the channel are less than 6 feet below mean sea level, making navigation difficult.

The project, which will require U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits, will be designed to have negligible to no impact on the nearby Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge or migrations of fish.
Solar benefits are huge

The Feb. 9 story, How much is too much for solar subsidies? gave an incomplete picture of solar and its costs and benefits. State Ratepayer Advocate Stefanie Brands statements are wrong. The subsidies from New Jersey and the federal tax credit have birthed a new, vibrant industry that employs hundreds of thousands of U.S. solar workers and many more in related fields.

Making electrical energy creates jobs here and not in China. Installing solar systems here keeps money here. Using a renewable source of energy keeps the earth, air and water cleaner. The U.S. military is the largest adapter of solar energy for many reasons; it allows them to set up bases quickly and efficiently.

Solar makes electricity cheaper per kilowatt hour than any other energy source when all factors are considered. Solar energy provides a huge economic multiplier effect; the money people save allows them to buy other things. Solar helps the grid in many ways.

Solar and renewables can give us a better standard of living and are an investment in the future, much like building a bridge or highway. They will last for many years and provide a huge return.

Victor Maene

Ventnor

End energy subsidies

Im grateful for the Feb. 9 story, How much is too much for solar subsidies? I believe one penny is too much. Why should ratepayers absorb the cost of solar energy? Non-solar customers receive zero financial benefit from this government scam.

The article shows that New Jersey has spent $2.5 billion on solar programs from 2001 to 2016. Also shown is the fact that the state wants to spend $5 billion more before 2028. This amount of spending is insane.

Why not let the solar industry stand on its own financial merits and sell the solar systems without state and federal subsidies? Easy answer  solar sales would disappear until the cost would be competitive with fossil fuels.

Solar companies market their product as free, no cost, to the homeowner. My daughter installed a solar system on her home in New Jersey at a cost of $58,000. The average cost of a solar installation is over $20,000. State and federal subsidies pay much of this cost.

Federal subsidies for renewable energy began in early 1990s. Over 25 years later, renewables still need subsidies to exist. I believe that with a $20 trillion federal deficit, the time has come to end all renewable subsidies.

J. Edward Talbot

Little Egg Harbor Township

Burlington police respond to finding of KKK fliers

Communities in Cinnaminson and Maple Shade responded humanely when flyers initially appeared as loving valentines, but a closer reading revealed messages about race mixing and homosexuality. Notes were dropped on lawns from the Loyal White Knights KKK. Join the Klan Today fliers were recovered by Maple Shade police. The Klan appears to have been emboldened by todays political climate. Community members were astonished and disgusted.

Founded in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan extended into Southern states by 1870. Members participated in clandestine campaigns of intimidation and violence. The primary goal of KKK is the re-establishment of white supremacy. Today, due to the sharp divide in race relations across the country, the messages of hate from the last century have resulted in a membership drive.

Mainland/Pleasantville NAACP Branch applauds both the people of Burlington County and their police department, who feel the separatist message has no place in their lives. Kudos to Chief Lee R. Lieber, who stated, We havent determined what the premise was for passing these hateful documents around; were considering this as a bias incident. He continued, We arent going to tolerate this type of behavior, were going to attempt to locate the person or persons responsible.

This exploit was a rollback to a period in history that few feel we can return to. Know that a threat to justice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere, said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  words as relevant today as they were over 50 years ago.

Olivia C. Caldwell

Pleasantville

President of Mainland/Pleasantville NAACP

Many denied a voice at asphalt plant meeting

Well over 300 tried to get into a meeting about the asphalt plant in Galloway Township. Instead of rescheduling, officials held it without allowing everyone in. A police officer looked in, said Oh boy, and left.

It was obvious when the lawyer started off by saying There is no legal requirement for us to have this meeting that this project has sweetheart approval from the mayor and officials. The tax abatements and provisions that Galloway taxpayers will have to absorb over the years to get this plant will far overshadow it, long after this mayor and council are gone.

A rescheduled meeting would have allowed everyone to express their displeasure with this project.

Brent Metzger

Egg Harbor City
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.




WATERLOO  A Waterloo man serving time in a 2012 shooting has fled from a halfway house.

Corrections officials said Anthony Terrell Jacobs, 22, ran out of the Waterloo Residential Correctional Facility at about 3:10 a.m. Thursday.

Jacobs is serving a sentence for intimidation with a weapon in connection with an August 2012 shooting in the area of West Second and Allen Streets that injured three people.

He was placed on work release in November 2016, according to corrections officials.

Jacobs is described as a 22-year-old black male, 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 244 pounds.

Jeff Reinitz writes for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, another Lee Enterprises newspaper. Reach him at jeff.renitiz@wcfcourier.com.
DES MOINES  With passage of a GOP-backed election integrity bill, the issue of whether such a measure is needed is in the hands of Iowans, the Democratic leader in the House said Thursday.

As expected, the House approved House File 516 that would make several changes to state election administration, including voter registration, absentee voting, eliminating straight-ticket voting, conducting postelection audits and requiring voters to present an ID to vote.

In voting to make Iowa the 35th state to adopt similar election rules, State Government Committee Chairman Rep. Ken Rizer, R-Cedar Rapids, said passage of the bill will improve voter satisfaction, confidence and security while ensuring access.

House Minority Leader Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown, was not pleased with either the outcome or being gagged by the GOP majority despite nearly 12 hours of debate. Republicans approved a time certain, meaning the House set a time for a vote before all amendments were debated.

I think of it as being gagged, Smith said after the 58-41 party-line vote, following a debate that ran from about 3 p.m. to midnight Wednesday and resumed Thursday morning. In my memory, this is the first time that twice time certain has been placed in a legislative session. Once again, its too bad the Republicans dont want the people of Iowa to know these issues.

The Senate has a companion bill that is eligible for debate in that chamber, or could take up HF 516. Either way, Smith said, the outcome is likely to be the same.

So I think now this is in the hands of the people of Iowa, he said. They will now see the implications of this legislation. They will determine that at the ballot box and with possible judicial remedy.

A legal challenge would be unnecessary and unfortunate, Rizer said. HF 516 was crafted with the benefit of having seen voter ID laws in 34 other states and previous litigation to pass constitutional muster.

If Democrats and their allies want to waste Iowa taxpayer money to defend a constitutional bill that 69 percent of Iowans support, then thats on you, he said.

In general, Democrats argued that like other GOP priorities this year, HF 516 was more political dogma than a solution to a real problem.

Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City, argued in an amendment that was debated nearly two hours that a voter impersonation fraud study should be done to determine if there is a problem.

Democrats cited GOP Secretary of State Paul Pates comments in October that Iowa has one of the best records nationally for its election operations.

The Election Integrity Project, a project of universities and political science groups in the United States and Australia, rated Iowa second only to Vermont in election conduct.

In 2016, 1.6 million Iowans  79 percent of active, registered voters  cast ballots in the general election. There were 10 votes thought to be irregular.

Most of the cases were human error, not voter fraud. Those irregular votes included a felon whose voting rights had not been restored and a person who voted twice.

Despite the absence of evidence of widespread voter fraud, Rizer and Pate say there is a perception of voter fraud.

That confused Rep. Phyllis Thede, D-Bettendorf, who pointed out that Republicans have won control of the Iowa House, Senate and governors office.

Wheres there fraud? she asked. Hello. You won everything. How do you say this is fraud when you won everything from the top down to the local?

What confused Rizer was how Democrats attitudes have changed since they approved a photo ID for election-day registrations. Fifteen members of the current House Democratic caucus voted for that bill in 2007 without objecting that it was discriminatory or suppressed the vote, he said.

That made their opposition to HF 516, which is not a photo ID requirement, the height of hypocrisy, Rizer said in his closing comments.

He also rejected Democratic assertions the bill was a poll tax, a return to Jim Crow laws, racist and representative of white privilege, disgusting and shameful and comparable to government identifiers used by Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin.

Disagree with me if you will, but to call those who simply disagree with you is itself racist and offensive, Rizer said.

Rizer and other supporters repeatedly referred to an Iowa Poll that found that, in general, 69 percent of Iowans favor a voter ID.

Smith suggested the polls wording guaranteed the way the question was answered would be the expected the outcome. Smith also suggested Iowa lawmakers might want to follow the lead of their colleagues in Arkansas, who are putting a voter ID constitutional amendment on the ballot.

I think there may be some benefit to doing that (because) it gives a chance for Iowans to be fully educated on the pros and cons of the action, he said.
SINGAPORE, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

From bacteria fighting bacteria to space cucumbers, Asia Research News 2017 showcases the brightest discoveries from Asia

Bacteria have adapted to widely-used antibiotics and evolved into untreatable superbugs. A research team in Korea is trying to fight back bacteria with an unusual ally - bacteria, according to an article published in Asia Research News 2017.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/477006/Asia_Research_News_2017_Cover.jpg )



The annual publication is a flagship product of Asia Research News: the continent's first research news portal. The 2017 issue contains articles about a variety of fields, including technology, space, environment and medicine. It highlights topics as diverse as refugees and molecular robots.

The magazine's articles describe how lazy ants can be good for their colonies, why massive black hole winds are preventing new stars from forming, what mathematics can tell us about malaria, and how cucumbers in space reveal a curious mechanism of plant growth on earth.

Other featured articles describe how a new biomolecule could increase our food security from a crop-eating parasite, how the naked mole rat and common plants provide clues to combating cancer, and how green chemistry could reduce toxic waste produced during the development of new drugs.

Asia Research News 2017 features studies conducted in almost 20 countries including Korea, Qatar, Japan, Thailand, Russia, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and China.

"Asia is a strong driving force in research and development worldwide. This is why Asia Research News is an indispensable source of newsworthy research - everything you need to know about Asian research at a glance," says Dr. Valentine Ananikov of Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry.

Established in 2004, ResearchSEA, the publisher of Asia Research News, has been working with scientists on the frontlines to bring Asian discoveries to a global audience. The organization has published its annual magazine since 2009, which is distributed to journalists, researchers, businesses and policy makers worldwide.

"Scientists are working on exciting and important research to expand our knowledge and create a better future," says Dr. Magdeline Pokar, editor in chief of Asia Research News. "We are privileged to share their discoveries with broader audiences through engaging and accessible stories."

For further information please contact:

Magdeline Pokar

m.pokar@researchsea.com

Read and download Asia Research News 2017: http://www.researchsea.com/asia_research_news_2017.php

SOURCE Asia Research News
MCLEAN, Virginia, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In a keynote speech to the American Chambers of Commerce, in Brussels, Fiona Dawson (Global President of Mars Food) will warn that failure to reach a new UK-EU free trade agreement for food would threaten jobs and lead to higher consumer prices.

Noting that protectionist trends are threatening to undermine global trade and make the world less connected, she will say that the future relationship between Britain and the European Union is a critical test as to what future will unfold. Specifically she will:

highlight how a return to trade barriers would undermine integrated supply chains, which are vital in the large food sector;

warn that the higher business costs arising from such trade barriers would ultimately flow through to consumers in higher prices and could threaten jobs;

caution that regulatory divergence could undermine future UK-EU trade, and should be avoided;

Jobs and Consumers Must Come First

urge all parties to the Brexit negotiations to focus on the mutual benefits that close UK-EU economic ties provide; and

emphasise that politicians must put workers and consumers at the forefront of Brexit negotiations.

Key extracts:

"Brexit clearly poses some problems, but the fact is Britain has decided to leave the EU and the task now is to look forward and ensure that the decisions taken from this point forward achieve the most positive outcome for all concerned."

"The absence of hard borders with all their attendant tariff, customs and non-tariff barriers allows for this integrated supply chain, which helps to keep costs down. The return of those barriers would create higher costs which would threaten that supply chain and the jobs that come with it."

"If Britain ends up trading with the EU on the basis of WTO rules, 'Most Favoured Nation' rates would come into force. In the area of confectionery that alone would mean tariffs of around 30%. For animal products, it would be 20%; for cereals over 15%; and for fish and fruit over 10%. Significant new tariffs would also apply outside the food sector, notably in the area of clothing and textiles. Unfortunately there is no way that those costs could be absorbed without flowing through to consumers in the form of higher prices."

"It is a fact that Europe after Brexit will remain a critical market for UK exports and likewise the UK will remain an important market for goods produced and manufactured in other European states. There can be no economic advantage either side restricting trade with a large market situated on its doorstep. In simple terms, if the UK and the EU fail to agree on a new preferential deal, it will be to the detriment of all."

"Reaching an agreement will require compromise and an appreciation of the economic interdependency between the UK and EU. It requires an acceptance of the benefits that common regulatory standards and the movement of labour can bring, and an understanding that the imposition of significant trade barriers would ultimately hurt everyone and undermine, rather than strengthen, European unity."

"Other member states should remember this is not about 'punishing' Britain for her decision to withdraw but rather about finding the best solution for European and UK workers and consumers. That consideration must come first as we build the future."

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated is a private, family-owned business with more than a century of history, approximately $35 billion in sales, and six diverse business segments producing some of the world's best-loved brands: PEDIGREE, ROYAL CANIN, IAMS, BANFIELD CESAR (Petcare); M&M'S, SNICKERS, DOVE, GALAXY, MARS, MILKY WAY, TWIX (Chocolate); DOUBLEMINT, EXTRA, ORBIT, 5, SKITTLES (Wrigley); UNCLE BEN'S, DOLMIO, MASTERFOODS, SEEDS OF CHANGE (Food); ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS, THE BRIGHT TEA COMPANY, KLIX FLAVIA (Drinks); and COCOAVIA (Symbioscience). Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in 424 facilities across 78 countries, where our more than 80,000 Associates all united by the company's Five Principles of Quality, Efficiency, Responsibility, Mutuality and Freedom strive every day to create relationships with our stakeholders and to deliver growth we are proud of.

For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110928/NY76189LOGO

Related Links

http://www.mars.com



SOURCE Mars, Incorporated
The Olympiads are initiated as part of the GoTeach program, the corporate responsibility initiative run by DHL and non-profit organization SOS Children's Villages that has improved youth education and vocational skills in developing regions worldwide. One Olympiad will test secondary students' mathematics and physics skills, while the other will require participants to create an innovative design or product using recyclables, emerging technologies, or "fablab" materials typically employed in small-scale digital production.

DHL expects more than 1,500 young Madagascans to compete in the Olympiads, for a range of prizes including PCs, tablets -- and the chance to have their innovation funded to completion by DHL.

"GoTeach has made invaluable contributions to the skills and career opportunities available to Madagascar's young people since DHL and SOS Children's Villages began their work here eight years ago," said Paul Rabary, Madagascar Ministry of National Education. "These new Olympiads will create greater awareness and enthusiasm amongst young Malagasy for critical elements of their education that will have lasting effect on their later life."

The launch comes as UNESCO and Madagascar's Ministry of Education acknowledge the team's work over the past eight years with formal awards for five of the initiative's key leaders (see Notes to Editors). Since commencing worldwide in 2011, the DHL-SOS Children's Villages partnership has engaged with up to 450 young Malagasy every year through a range of mentoring programs, job forums, and vocational training seminars. To date, 36 Malagasy youths have received internships with DHL, with 20 of them translating into full-time employment opportunities with the company.

"One early participant in our mentoring program went on to complete an internship in DHL's IT department, which gave her valuable IT knowledge that has helped gain the trust of her employer, who now gives her responsibility over the company's website," said Mamy Rakotondraibe, CEO of DHL International Madagascar. "So far, we've seen our mentees successfully enter all manner of professions from legal assistants to pastry chefs, using the skills that they learned and practiced during their time with us to create a hope and future for themselves and their families.

"The new Olympiads will further encourage Madagascar's youth to hone the technical and problem-solving abilities that, as we've seen in the past, often significantly enhance the economic prospects that they may one day achieve."

"The GoTeach partnership has shown commendable resilience through often challenging education conditions in Madagascar, including some of the lowest enrolment and completion rates amongst students in all of Africa,[1]" said Fanja Ratsimisetra, General Secretary of UNESCO. "DHL and SOS Children's Villages have remained committed to keeping a growing cross-section of Madagascan youth actively engaged with the schooling system, giving thousands of young people much-needed skills and career opportunities. It gives UNESCO great pride to continue working with DHL and SOS Children's Villages to bring hope and a sense of purpose to Madagascar's young people through simple, practical measures like the new Olympiads."

- End -

Notes to Editors:

Recipients who were recognized by the Government of Madagascar Ministry of Education and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for their years of service to the GoTeach partnership:

Maria Raharinarivonirina

President of SOS Children's Villages Madagascar

Daniel Paniez

Former Managing Director of SOS Children's Villages Madagascar

Mamy Rakotondraibe

CEO of DHL International Madagascar

Yves Andrianaharison

Sales Manager of DHL International Madagascar

Faneva Raharimanantsoa

GoTeach Coordinator - Indian Ocean, DHL International Madagascar and former Head of Communications, Partnership and Sponsorship at SOS Children's Villages Madagascar

Olympiad: Mathematics and Physics

This event is open to all private/ public secondary and high schools in Antananarivo, Antsirabe and Toamasina. Students are required to answer general Mathematics and Physics questions in two rounds of tests -- the first will be held on 11 March 2017 and the second will be held on 1 April 2017. The finals will be held in Antananarivo on 27 or 28 April.

Olympiad: Innovative Objects of Projects

This event is open only to youths from SOS Children's Villages in Antananarivo, Antsirabe and Toamasina. Participants must come up with an innovative project using "fablab" materials, recyclables or new technologies. Submitted projects will be displayed to the public during the finals on 27 or 28 April at Antananarivo and the winning project will receive funding from DHL to realize the project.

DHL -- The logistics company for the world

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 350,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as "The logistics company for the world".



DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 57 billion euros in 2016.



Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/473945/DHL_SOS_Children_Villages_UNESCO_GoTeach.jpg

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/473977/DHL_Logo.jpg

SOURCE DHL
FRANKFURT, Germany, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

FRA posts new February passenger record - Cargo tonnage also continues to rise - Traffic figures impacted by leap-year effect

FRA/gk-rap - In February 2017, more than four million passengers passed through Frankfurt Airport (FRA) - exceeding the previous February record achieved in 2016 by some 38,500 passengers (up 1.0 percent). Thus, the passenger growth trend experienced during the last three months at FRA also continued in the reporting month, despite the special effect resulting from the additional leap day in February 2016. Without this leap-year effect, passenger numbers at FRA would have seen even faster growth of 4.9 percent. Cargo throughput also maintained its growth momentum, rising by 1.3 percent to 161,765 metric tons in February 2017. Accumulated maximum takeoff weights (MTOWs) declined by 5.3 percent year-on-year to about 2.1 million metric tons, while the number of aircraft movements contracted by 4.1 percent to a total of 32,706 takeoffs and landings. The decline of MTOWS and aircraft movements is largely attributable to the leap-year effect.

Fraport's international airport portfolio reported the following traffic performance in February 2017. Ljubljana Airport (LJU) in Slovenia achieved a noticeable 15.4 percent rise in traffic to 89,995 passengers. At Lima Airport (LIM) in the Peruvian capital, traffic advanced by 5.9 percent to almost 1.6 million passengers. The Fraport Twin Star airports of Varna (VAR) and Burgas (BOJ) on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, combined, welcomed 37,614 passengers, up 7.9 percent year-on-year. With 601,202 air travelers, Antalya Airport (AYT) on the Turkish Riviera registered a decline of 9.4 percent year-on-year. Hanover Airport (HAJ) in northern Germany also saw traffic drop by 6.7 percent to 285,906 passengers. Pulkovo Airport (LED) in St. Petersburg, Russia, reported a noticeable 26.4 percent jump in traffic to 887,703 passengers. In China, Xi'an Airport (XIY) recorded a strong 10.4 percent surge in traffic to 3.2 million passengers in the reporting month.

Print-quality photos of Fraport AG and Frankfurt Airport are available for free downloading via the photo library located in our Press Center on the Fraport Web site. For TV news and information broadcasting purposes only, we also offer free footage material for downloading.

Fraport Traffic Figures

February 2017

Fraport Group Airports[1] February 2017 Fraport Passengers Cargo* Movements Fully-consolidated airports share (%) Month DELTA % Month DELTA % Month DELTA % FRA Frankfurt Germany 100,00 4,024,742 1.0 159,554 1.8 32,706 -4.1 LJU Ljubljana Slovenia 100,00 89,995 15.4 836 7.0 2,147 10.1 LIM Lima Peru[2] 70,01 1,564,294 5.9 17,162 -5.1 13,735 1.4 Fraport Twin Star 60,00 37,614 7.9 861 3.0 554 -1.2 BOJ Burgas Bulgaria 60,00 8,342 -14.4 854 3.0 164 -25.5 VAR Varna Bulgaria 60,00 29,272 16.6 7 -0.3 390 14.4 At equity consolidated airports[2] AYT Antalya Turkey 51,00 601,202 -9.4 n.a. n.a. 4,591 -4.1 HAJ Hanover Germany 30,00 285,906 -6.7 1,881 14.7 4,659 -9.3 LED St.Petersburg Russia 25,00 887,703 26.4 n.a. n.a. 9,531 15.9 XIY Xi'an China 24,50 3,209,589 10.4 14,666 23.4 24,211 6.5 (table continues) Year to Date (YTD) 2017 Passengers Cargo Movements Fully-consolidated airports YTD DELTA % YTD DELTA % YTD DELTA % FRA Frankfurt Germany 8,251,852 1.4 325,389 3.8 66,606 -2.5 LJU Ljubljana Slovenia 179,391 18.4 1,697 10.8 4,359 11.1 LIM Lima Peru[2] 3,233,911 8.5 42,379 -0.3 28,807 2.9 Fraport Twin Star 76,940 1.2 2,603 15.3 1,154 -2.9 BOJ Burgas Bulgaria 18,848 -17.2 2,499 11.4 373 -22.8 VAR Varna Bulgaria 58,092 9.1 104 > 100.0 781 10.6 At equity consolidated airports[2] AYT Antalya Turkey 1,277,193 -5.6 n.a. n.a. 9,684 -1.1 HAJ Hanover Germany 586,628 -2.6 3,500 8.7 9,447 -4.6 LED St. Petersburg Russia 1,870,225 25.8 n.a. n.a. 20,053 16.7 XIY Xi'an China 6,520,000 14.7 36,944 5.8 49,861 9.0

Frankfurt Airport[3] February 2017 Month DELTA % YTD 2017 DELTA % Passengers 4,024,980 1.0 8,252,348 1.4 Cargo (freight & mail) 161,765 1.3 330,321 3.4 Aircraft movements 32,706 -4.1 66,606 -2.5 MTOW (in metric tons)[4] 2,067,459 -5.3 4,262,388 -3.4 PAX/PAX-flight[5] 132.6 5.5 133.4 4.2 Seat load factor (%) 73.7 73.8 Punctuality rate (%) 84.8 78.2

Frankfurt Airport PAX share DELTA %[6] PAX share DELTA %[6] Regional Split Month Month Continental 60.8 1.1 59.3 1.8 Germany 12.4 0.7 11.8 0.8 Europe (excl. Germany) 48.4 1.2 47.5 2.1 Western Europe 40.6 1.2 39.7 2.4 Eastern Europe 7.9 1.1 7.9 0.8 Intercontinental 39.2 0.8 40.7 0.7 Africa 4.6 6.1 4.7 6.6 Middle East 6.6 3.2 6.8 5.1 North America 10.7 -2.4 11.7 -2.5 Central & South America 4.8 -0.8 5.0 1.1 Far East 12.4 1.2 12.5 -0.6 Australia 0.0 n.a. 0.0 n.a.

If you wish to meet a member of our press team when at Frankfurt Airport, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our contact details are available here.

Fraport AG

Christian Engel

Corporate Communications

Press Office

60547 Frankfurt, Germany



Telephone: +49-69-690-70713

E-mail:c.engel2@fraport.de

Internet:http://www.fraport.com

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/FrankfurtAirport



SOURCE Fraport AG
MUSCATINE | A Fairfield teenager has been arrested in connection with a shooting in Muscatine over the weekend.

Noah Hass, 16, has been charged with felony attempted murder.

He is accused of shooting Aaron Allen, 21, of Letts on Sunday, according to a news release from the Muscatine Police Department.

Hass was arrested by the Fairfield Police Department around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Allen was transported by AirCare to an Iowa City hospital with serious injuries from gunshot wounds. He was found outside of a vehicle in the 300 block of Broadway Street, and officers also located several shell casings in the area.

The Muscatine Detective Bureau is actively working leads in the investigation, police said.
DUBLIN, Mar 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Beryllium Market - Segmented by Type, End-User Industry, and Geography - Trends and Forecasts (2016 - 2021)" report to their offering.

In 2012, the world beryllium production reached more than 228.41 tonnes. The US is by far the leader in the world beryllium market, with more than 85% share of the world beryllium output. Other important beryllium producing countries in the world include China, Mozambique, Brazil and Madagascar. Demand fluctuates as we have seen as the level of US government stockpiling is a key swing factor.

An uptrend is expected through over coming years with rising consumption from the telecommunications, automotive, electronics and computer industries. MI predicts a considerable increase in beryllium consumption in Latin America and Asia in the upcoming years. On the technological side the applications employing beryllium-containing alloys could make a significant contribution to the world beryllium market growth.



The US is forecast to remain the dominant market player in both consumption and production. The United States is the world's leading source of beryllium. China produced most of the remainder, and less than 2% came from Mozambique and other countries. Madagascar used to be an important producer in the 1990s but that has largely disappeared as a force.



Drivers



Rising security concerns, new telecom and aerospace technologies, automotive electronics advancements make up a large-scale driver for the world beryllium market.



Restraints



Environmental concerns provide the major restraint for the Beryllium market. The main negative is that inhalation of beryllium particulates may cause a potential health risk for a lung disease, Chronic Beryllium Disease, but reasonable industrial control practices can easily protect workers.



Companies Mentioned:



American Beryllia Inc.

Applied Materials

Belmont Metals

Changhong Group

Changxing Yifeng Specified Ceramics Kiln Industrial

Emei Zhongshan New Material Technology

Esmeralda de Conquista Ltda

Fhbi

Fuyun Hengsheng Beryllium Industry Co.

Grizzly Mining Ltd.

Hunan Nonferrous Beryllium Industry

IBC Advanced Alloys Corp.

Materion Corp.

NGK Metals Corp.

Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry Co. Ltd.

Shanghai Feixing Special Ceramics Factory

Ulba Metallurgical Plant Jsc

Xinjiang Nonferrous Metal Industry Group

Zhuzhou Sinotech Industries



Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction



2. Executive Summary



3. Beryllium Market



4. Market Dynamics



5. Market Segmentation and Analysis



6. Global Market Analysis



7. Future of Beryllium Market

8. Competitive Landscape



9. Company Profiles



10. Disclaimer



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/733sjk/global_beryllium

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



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Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
SHANGHAI, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The most influential international tourism trade fair -- ITB will visit China and plan to hold the first ITB China in Shanghai. Jin Jiang International Hotels announces that it has become the official hotel partner of the conference, which will further enhance Jin Jiang's support for international tourism exhibition industry, especially for ITB project.

On the morning of March 2, Messe Berlin, the sponsor of ITB China and Travel Daily jointly held a press conference in Jin Jiang Tower Shanghai and announced that ITB China will be held May 10-12 this year at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition Hall. In recent years, ITB has developed into a truly global tourism market trading platform; as its second industry exhibition in Asia, ITB China will focus on China's outbound travel market, integrate the rich online media resources of Travel Daily and the operating experience of the industry's summit forum to form strong cooperation, which will build a bridge between the global exhibitors and Chinese buyers.

Eduardo Santander, President of the European Travel Commission, Tom Jenkins, CEO of the European Travel Agencies Association, Martin Buck, Senior Deputy President of Messe Berlin (sponsor of ITB China), David Axiotis, General Manager of ITB China, and senior executives from leading domestic tourism companies such as Ctrip and Tuniu attended the conference. As the representative of the Chinese national hotel brands that attended the conference, Mr. John Li, Vice President of Jin Jiang International Hotel Management Co., Ltd., presented the long history and culture of Jin Jiang Hotel as well as how it has actively explored the international development and how it works closely with ITB work in recent years to the world's tourism industry counterparts and media friends. According to Mr. Li, in 2017, Jin Jiang International Hotels will continue to strengthen the internationalized construction of the information platform, set up the sharing platform of WeHotel global hotel with the means of "industry + the Internet" on the basis of loyalty members worldwide, so as to promote transformation and upgrading of the traditional service industry, boost the cross-border integration and development of the hotel industry, and jointly build a travel service ecosystem with hotel as the core.

According to the sponsor, the ITB China will take "connection & integration" as the theme, usher in more than 600 exhibitors and buyers and more than 10,000 professional visitors from more than 180 countries. Thousands of senior tourism and media professionals from global tourism destinations, tourism agencies and organizations and 33 countries affiliated to the EU will take part in the joint exhibition. In addition, the European Tourism Commission (ETC) and the European Travel Agents Association (ETOA) will launch the "World Travel Bridge" project at this ITB China, where more than 100 European travel suppliers will gather at the trade fair to promote the sustainable development of the Chinese tourism market.

Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170302/0861701817

SOURCE Jin Jiang International Hotel Management Co. Ltd.
VALLEY COTTAGE, New York, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Improving healthcare infrastructure across several countries and regions, coupled with availability of well-developed manufacturing units, facilitates the growth of medical device businesses. The changing attitude of patients towards treatment of generic diseases has indicated a significant rise in preference for self-administration devices such as auto-injectors. Promoting this notion, auto-injectors continue to gain prominence not just as an alternative route for drug delivery but also as point-of-care devices in homecare settings. Future Market Insights recently published its report on the global market for auto-injectors, which projects that by the end of 2026, more than US$ 6,800 Mn worth of auto-injectors will sold globally. Currently valued at US$ 1,673.7 Mn, the global auto-injectors market is being projected to exhibit an impressive value CAGR of 15.1%.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430874LOGO )



In the report, titled "Auto-Injectors Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026," nearly three-fourth of global auto-injector revenues have been estimated to come from the US and Canada. While North America is being observed as the largest market for auto-injectors in the world, auto-injector sales will be relatively high in Western Europe as well. And, majority of auto-injectors are expected to be distributed through online pharmacies. Online pharmacies as a distribution channel will register the fastest revenue growth at 18% CAGR, while retail pharmacies will be procuring one-fourth of global market value by the end of 2026.

Request a Sample Report with Table of Contents: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1642

Impact of Self-Injection Practices & Novel Drug Delivery Systems

The global market for auto-injectors is projected to expand aggressively, and the report draws this forecast from identifying the most direct, impactful factors that drive the demand for auto-injectors. Firstly, the demand for auto-injectors is expected to keep soaring on the account of high adoption of self-injection practices by patients. Doctors, as well, are prompting patients to take up self-administration devices such as auto-injectors in order to fulfil their prescribed medication dosages through invasive yet safe administration routes.

Along with that, the global demand for auto-injectors is also expected to be driven by growing development of novel drug delivery systems. Manufacturers of medical devices are collaborating with clinical scientists in order to pave way for next-gen tools in drug administration. In the years to come, the global auto-injectors market is anticipated to garner surplus demand, particularly for prefilled auto-injectors. In 2017 and beyond, more than 92% of global auto-injectors revenues will be emanating from sales of prefilled auto-injectors. Fillable auto-injectors, on the other hand, will incur a downtick in terms of global revenue share over the latter half of forecast period.

Preview Analysis on Global Auto-Injectors Market Segmentation by Indication - Anaphylaxis, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Others; By Product - Prefilled Auto-Injectors and Fillable Auto-Injectors; By Distribution Channel - Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, Online Pharmacies and Drug Stores: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/auto-injectors-market

Higher Demand for Auto-Injectors in Treatment of Anaphylaxis

Another factor that is inducing growth in demand for auto-injectors is the prevalence of multiple sclerosis and anaphylaxis. Notable disease monitoring associations from across the globe are predicting that these disorders are less likely to cease their occurrence rate among geriatric populations, which is incidentally boosting the demand for auto-injectors. In 2016, anaphylaxis as a disease indication accounted for an estimated US$ 1,500 Mn of global auto-injector revenues. Through 2026, almost nine out of ten auto-injectors sold globally are likely to be used for treating anaphylaxis. Meanwhile, auto-injectors sold for treatment of multiple sclerosis will register a marginal rise through the forecast period. And, revenues amassed from sales of auto-injectors for rheumatoid arthritis are expected to showcase highest CAGR of 18.3%.

Speak with Analysis for any Report Related Queries: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1642

Parallel to their rising demand, the global supply of auto-injectors is also expected to propel by the end of 2026. Increased development of biologics, their use in production of advanced drug delivery devices, reduction of manufacturing prices, and additional cost-savings conferred by technological advancements, are all collectively bolstering the global production of auto-injectors. The report has profiled leading players in the global auto-injectors market, which include Amgen Inc., Novartis AG, Sanofi, Pfizer, Inc., Becton, Dickson and Company, Mylan NV, Bayer AG, Eli Lily and Company, Janssen Global Services, LLC, and Antares Pharma, Inc.

More from FMI's Cutting-edge Intelligence:

Special Purpose Needles Market Segmentation By Product Type - Fine Aspirating Needles, Biopsy Needles, Hypodermic Needles, Pen Needles, Suture Needles, and Others; By Application - Sample Collection, Drug Delivery; By Distribution Channel - Hospital Pharmacies, Private Clinics, Retail Pharmacies and Drug Stores, E-Commerce: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/special-purpose-needles-market



Segmentation By Product Type - Fine Aspirating Needles, Biopsy Needles, Hypodermic Needles, Pen Needles, Suture Needles, and Others; By Application - Sample Collection, Drug Delivery; By Distribution Channel - Hospital Pharmacies, Private Clinics, Retail Pharmacies and Drug Stores, E-Commerce: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/special-purpose-needles-market Pharmacy Automation Systems Market Segmentation By Product - Medication Dispensing Cabinets, Packaging and Labelling System, IV Pharmacy, Robotic Dispensing System, Carousel Storage Systems and Tablet Splitters; By Application - Drug Dispensing & Packaging, Drug Storage and Inventory Management; By End-User - Hospital Pharmacies, Clinic Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, Mail Order Pharmacies and Pharmaceutical SMEs: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/global-pharmacy-automation-system-market



Segmentation By Product - Medication Dispensing Cabinets, Packaging and Labelling System, IV Pharmacy, Robotic Dispensing System, Carousel Storage Systems and Tablet Splitters; By Application - Drug Dispensing & Packaging, Drug Storage and Inventory Management; By End-User - Hospital Pharmacies, Clinic Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, Mail Order Pharmacies and Pharmaceutical SMEs: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/global-pharmacy-automation-system-market Cancer Supportive Care Products Market Segmentation By Drug Class - Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, Anti-Infective, Anti-Emetics, Monoclonal Antibodies, Erythropoietin Stimulating Agents and Bisphosphonates; By Indication - Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Liver Cancer, Bladder Cancer and Ovarian Cancer; By Distribution Channel - Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies and Compounding Pharmacies: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/cancer-supportive-care-products-market

About Us

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights and an aerial view of the competitive framework and future market trends.

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SOURCE Future Market Insights
DORTMUND, Germany, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Two international market leaders team up for a truly premium bag-drop experience

At PTE 2017 in Amsterdam from 14 to 16 March, RIMOWA Electronic Tag and Materna will present a seamless passenger journey including the first fully integrated digital luggage solution - the RIMOWA Electronic Tag. This technology will change travelling dramatically. It enables travelers to use their smartphone to send a digital bag tag to their suitcase from the comfort of their own home, and drop it off within seconds at the airport. RIMOWA Electronic Tag and Materna are showcasing this innovation for the first time at PTE 2017 at stand 5040.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/477287/Rimowa_Electronic_Tag.jpg )



RIMOWA Electronic Tag suitcases guarantee a seamless and fast bag drop process for passengers. It will replace paper-based bag tags and is compliant to IATA regulations. The display can also be personalized e.g. with address data or a favorite picture.

The process is very simple for passengers: Passengers check-in from home or anywhere else and equip their Rimowa suitcase with the necessary bag tag information by using the RIMOWA mobile app and the respective airline app. The app identifies the baggage and transfers all necessary data via Bluetooth to the integrated electronic bag tag on the suitcase. When passengers arrive at the airport, they are already completely checked-in and only need to drop their luggage.

Together, both companies developing a new solution for an advanced, high-level bag drop process called: Premium Bag Drop. This premium solution is optimized for RIMOWA Electronic Tag suitcases. All necessary data regarding destination, airline as well as departure and routing information is already available by the time the bag is dropped at the premium bag drop. This accelerates the handling process and is easy to use for passengers - at a dedicated Rimowa bag drop point so there are no delays.

PTE in Amsterdam is the start of the Premium Bag Drop world tour for both companies. Further stops at major industry fairs are in Dublin, Las Vegas (FTE), Singapore (FTE) and Cologne (Materna Aviation Forum).

RIMOWA Electronic Tag is the top innovator and premium provider for high value luggage and is a pioneer when it comes to the digitalization of luggage while Materna is the leading international player in automated passenger handling solutions from home to destination. Together their innovative bag drop system will start a revolution in the aviation market.

About RIMOWA

RIMOWA has found a new, revolutionary way to travel in the future: the first fully integrated digital luggage solution - RIMOWA Electronic Tag. A technology that will change travelling. This enables travelers to use their smartphone to check in their suitcases from the comfort of their own home, and drop them off within seconds at the airport - without any fuss or delays.

About Materna

Materna is one of the leading IT consulting companies in the information and communications technology sector, employing around 1,700 members of staff throughout Europe and achieving revenues of EUR 210 million in 2015. Materna is a full service provider, delivering a complete range of services for the premium segment: from consultation and implementation through to operations and cloud services for large enterprises and the public sector.

Under the brand Materna ips (Integrated Passenger Services) and as one of the most well-known suppliers for airports and airlines worldwide, Materna delivers solutions for automated passenger handling at airports. In addition to the European market, Materna's Integrated Passenger Services portfolio also focuses on the North-American market, with its own subsidiary in Orlando, Florida, and on the Asian market.

For more details, please contact:

Materna GmbH

Information & Communications

Corporate Communications

Christine Siepe

Vosskuhle 37, 44141 Dortmund, Germany

Phone: +49-231-5599-168

Email: Christine.Siepe@Materna.de



http://www.materna-ips.com

SOURCE Materna GmbH
"We're incredibly excited to be joining forces with Vintage," said Jeffrey Riback, President of Toppan Vite. "Vintage's clients and resources are now part of one of the largest financial printing companies in the world. We're proud to offer Vintage's clients our global financial printing and communications capabilities and enhance the firm's technology-based solutions for today and the future."

The acquisition expands the Toppan Vite global footprint and doubles the size of the company. Toppan Vite plans to make extensive investments into the business following the merger, focusing particularly on enhanced technology.

"Aligning with Toppan Vite will improve Vintage's business offerings for its clients, partners and employees," said Cision CEO, Kevin Akeroyd. "Combined with Vintage's hard-earned reputation for value and nimble service and Toppan Vite's global reach, first-class service offerings and exceptional technology, Toppan Vite will provide countless business advantages for its clients' most important financial moments. We are excited to continue our relationship with Toppan Vite, and to seamlessly deliver their newly combined offerings to our joint customers."

Vintage, formerly Vintage Filings, was founded in 2002 and acquired by PR Newswire in 2007. PR Newswire was acquired as part of the Cision group of companies in 2016. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

About Toppan Vite

Toppan Vite, a leader in financial printing and communications solutions, is part of the Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., the world's largest printing group, headquartered in Tokyo with approximately US $13 billion in annual sales. Toppan Vite has been a pioneer and trusted partner in the financial markets for three decades, serving the financial, legal and corporate communities with meticulous, responsive service and unparalleled local market expertise and capabilities. Toppan Vite's expanding U.S. operations deliver a hassle-free experience for mission-critical content for capital markets transactions, financial reporting and regulatory compliance filings, investment companies and insurance providers. Learn more at www.us.toppanvite.com.

About Cision

Cision is a leading media communication technology and analytics company that enables marketers and communicators to effectively manage their earned media programs in coordination with paid and owned channels to drive business impact. As the creator of the Cision Communications Cloud, the first-of-its-kind earned media cloud-based platform, Cision has combined cutting-edge data, analytics, technology and services into a unified communication ecosystem that brands can use to build consistent, meaningful and enduring relationships with influencers and buyers in order to amplify their marketplace influence. Cision solutions also include market-leading media technologies such as PR Newswire, Gorkana, PRWeb, Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and iContact. Headquartered in Chicago, Cision serves over 100,000 customers in 170 countries and 40 languages worldwide, and maintains offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Australia. For more information, visit www.cision.com or follow @Cision on Twitter.

Media Contacts

Sarah Reilly

Toppan Vite

Marketing Manager

(201) 562-1798

sarahreilly@toppanlf.com

Stacey Miller

Cision

Director, Communications

(301) 683-6038

stacey.miller@cision.com

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/477321/Toppan_Vite_Logo.jpg

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/477316/vintage_Logo.jpg

Related Links

http://us.toppanvite.com



SOURCE Toppan Vite
DUBLIN, Mar 09, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Vietnam Air Conditioners Market By Product Type (Split Air Conditioners, VRF, Ductable Splits, Chillers, Air Sides, Window Air Conditioners and Others), By End Use Sector, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011-2021" report to their offering.

The market for air conditioners in Vietnam is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 14%, during 2016-2021. Increasing disposable income, rising temperature, technological innovations and development of energy efficient devices are driving air conditioners sales in Vietnam.

Booming infrastructure development activities coupled with increasing investments in industrial and commercial sectors resulted in augmented demand for air conditioners in Vietnam. Development of major cities, growing construction activities in hospitality and tourism sectors coupled with increasing investments by government are anticipated to propel the demand for air conditioners in the country during the forecast period.

On the back of high applicability in the residential sector, market for split air conditioners dominated the air conditioners market in the country and a similar trend is expected to be witnessed during the forecast period as well.

Few of the leading air conditioner manufacturers operating in Vietnam include Panasonic, LG Electronics, Gree, Samsung and Midea.



Vietnam Air Conditioners Market By Product Type, By End Use Sector, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011-2021 discusses



Vietnam Air Conditioners Market Size, Share & Forecast

Segmental Analysis - Product Type (Split Air Conditioners, VRF, Ductable Splits, Chillers, Air Sides, Window Air Conditioners and Others); By End Use Sector (Residential, Commercial, Industrial and Institutional)

Policy & Regulatory Landscape

Changing Market Trends & Emerging Opportunities

Competitive Landscape & Strategic Recommendations

Market Trends & Developments



Advanced Solar Air Conditioning Technology

Growing Focus on Air Conditioners with Air Purification Technology

Focus on Reducing R-22 Consumption

Inverter Technology based Air Conditioners

Low Seasonal Dependency

Competitive Landscape



Daikin Vietnam

Gree Electric Appliances, Inc.

Hitachi Home Electronics Pte Ltd.

Hoa Phat Refrigeration Engineering Co., Ltd.

LG Electronics Vietnam Haiphong Co., Ltd

Midea Middle East

Mitsubishi Electric Vietnam Company Limited

Panasonic Vietnam Co., Ltd.

Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp (Reetech)

Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV)

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2r945w/vietnam_air

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



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Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For  program recognizes organizations that exhibit an impressive commitment to their employees coupled with outstanding human resource practices overall. Winning firms are celebrated at one of myriad regional events as examples of better business practices that enrich lives and strengthen communities.

"We are pleased to be honored for our focus on helping employees reach their full potential," said Ken Lear, President of 2313 Inc. "We will continue to excel on behalf of the client while fostering an environment that promotes the professional and personal development of our team members."

As a nominee for this award, 2313 Inc. received an assessment report based on a survey of employees and questionnaire filled out by management about human resource practices. The company scored highly compared to other firms in employee education and development; work-life balance and community initiatives; recruitment, selection, and orientation; and employee enrichment, engagement, and retention.

Since its inception in 2003, 2313 Inc. has been changing the way that businesses acquire and retain customers. The company's trained sales professionals work with integrity and effective communication to bring the client loyal customers and increase brand awareness. 2313 Inc. is committed to the professional and personal growth of team members. The company believes in giving back to the community as well, supporting numerous nonprofits including the American Cancer Society, Operation Smile, and Volunteers of America among others.

Like 2313 Inc. on Facebook.

About 2313 Inc.

2313 Inc. is a privately owned business consulting company headquartered in Michigan that focuses on customer acquisition and retention for major telecommunications clients. The firm specializes in strategic marketing and new market expansion for the client while providing opportunity for team members to grow and excel. For more information, call 248-702-6750 or go to www.2313inc.com.

Contact: Ken Lear

248-702-6750

SOURCE 2313 Inc.

Related Links

http://www.2313inc.com


WICHITA, Kan., March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The sealed-bid deadline for McCurdy Auction, LLC's auction of the 877,288 square foot, former Amazon distribution facility in Coffeyville, Kansas is fast approaching for potential buyers to submit their bids.

The facility, which sits on 105.01+/- acres adjacent to the Coffeyville Municipal Airport, is being offered via a sealed bid auction due Wednesday, March 15.

McCurdy Auction

"We've had a lot interest nationally and even internationally," Braden McCurdy, CEO of McCurdy Auction said.

Divided into four spaces, the original structure was built in 1978 and includes two warehouse spaces and an administrative office space. In 1999, an additional 374,400 square foot warehouse was added to accommodate additional distribution needs.

"Not only are there are incredible incentive opportunities at the city, county, and state level for the new owner, but the facility is strategically situated; offering easy access to regional and national transportation networks," McCurdy said.

The warehouse was formerly utilized as an Amazon Fulfillment Center and has been unoccupied since the spring of 2015. The original facility was built-to-suit as a distribution center for Golden Books in 1978.

The property will be sold through sealed-bid auction. Pursuant to court order, this property is selling to the highest bidder. The bid submission deadline is March 15, 2017 at 12:00 noon (CST).

More information on the property, the Coffeyville area, potential incentives, and the terms and conditions for bidding, are available at McCurdyAuction.com/Kansas.

McCurdy Auction, LLC is a full-time regional and multi-state auction firm that has conducted more than 15,000 successful auctions and typically conducts more than 500 auctions annually. They specialize in real estate with licensed real estate brokers and auctioneers in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Contact: Braden McCurdy

[email protected]

(316) 683-0612

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This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE McCurdy Auction

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http://mccurdyauction.com/Kansas


EDMONTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Alberta Investment Management Corporation ("AIMCo"), on behalf of certain of its clients, is pleased to announce that it has signed a letter of commitment with Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited ("Fairfax") (TSX:FFH)(TSX:FFH.U) to invest US$500 million in order to indirectly acquire just over 10% of the issued and outstanding shares of Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG ("Allied World"), simultaneously with the previously announced acquisition of Allied World by Fairfax and subject to certain approvals. The transaction is anticipated to close by the end of the second quarter of 2017.

AIMCo's investment in Allied World provides its clients an attractive opportunity to gain direct exposure to a global provider of innovative property, casualty and specialty insurance and reinsurance solutions, with an exceptional track record of underwriting.

"On behalf of our clients, AIMCo is very pleased to make this investment in Allied World," states Kevin Uebelein, Chief Executive Officer of AIMCo. "We look forward to working with the team of Allied World, and to be joining Fairfax, OMERS and the other co-investors in this significant transaction."

"We are thrilled that AIMCo has chosen to partner with us," said Prem Watsa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax. "AIMCo has an excellent investing reputation and this is a relationship that we expect to continue to build over time."

About Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)

AIMCo is one of Canada's largest and most diversified institutional investment managers with more than $95 billion of assets under management. AIMCo was established on January 1, 2008 with a mandate to provide superior long-term investment results for its clients. AIMCo operates at arms-length from the Government of Alberta and invests globally on behalf of 32 pension, endowment and government funds in the Province of Alberta. For more information on AIMCo please visit www.aimco.alberta.ca.

About Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax)

Fairfax is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management.

SOURCE Alberta Investment Management Corp.

Related Links

www.aimco.alberta.ca


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Alabama will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Alabama, tobacco companies spend $203.1 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Alabama, tobacco use claims 8,600 lives and costs $1.88 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 14 percent of Alabama's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Alabama, activities include:

Decatur Youth Services and We Intend Not To Smoke (WINS) will put on displays, banners and present brochures throughout Decatur describing the chemicals and other ingredients that make cigarettes deadly. Time: 3  5 PM. Location: Decatur City Hall, 402 Lee Street, Decatur. Contact: Theresa Burrow (256) 318-5714.

The youth council of the Dothan-Houston County Substance Abuse Partnership in Dothan will display 50 pairs of shoes to represent the number of people who die each hour from tobacco-related disease. Time: 4  5 PM. Location: BelAire Center, 3124 W. Main Street, Dothan. Contact: Susan Trawick (334) 701-5772.

The Red Bay High School Tobacco Grant Prevention Program for the Franklin County School System will host a health fair in Red Bay, featuring booths educating students about the adverse health effects of tobacco use. This event will also feature an ambulance from Helen Keller Hospital and a helicopter from MedFlight. Time: 8 AM  2 PM. Location: Red Bay High School, 800 8th Street E., Red Bay. Contact: Christopher Hargett (256) 702-5228.

At Love Center Church in Montgomery, Dr. Tony D. Peoples will speak to the community about the dangers of tobacco use and secondhand smoke, giving a personal story about how his father passed away from smoking. Time: 7 PM. Location: Love Center Church, 2401 Plum Street, Montgomery. Contact: Demetra Peoples (334) 850-2986.

The youth advisory board of the Council on Substance Abuse - National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence will host a body bag display in Montgomery to represent the deadly effects of tobacco use in our community. Time: 3  5 PM. Location: Council on Substance Abuse  NCADD, 828 Forest Avenue, Montgomery. Contact: Antonio Edwards, MPA (334) 262-1629.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Alabama, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


A 40-year-old Milwaukee man is facing charges after Maquoketa police allege he robbed the Fidelity Bank & Trust on Wednesday.

According to a news release issued by the Maquoketa Police Department, officers were sent to Fidelity Bank & Trust, 18298 Iowa 64, at 1:46 p.m. after the dispatch center received a holdup alarm.

Dispatch informed officers that Donte Rhodes, the person suspected of robbing the bank, had left the scene in a silver SUV with no license plates, and headed north on U.S. 61.

Officers from Maquoketa Police and the Jackson County Sheriffs Department drove north on U.S. 61 to try and find the vehicle. Other Maquoketa officers went to the bank.

At the bank, officers learned that the man approached a teller and handed her a note. He implied he had a gun, but did not show a weapon. The teller put an undisclosed amount of money into a bag and the man left.

The Dubuque Sheriffs Department saw a vehicle matching the description of the SUV from the bank and attempted to stop it. The vehicle fled and Dubuque Sheriffs deputies pursued. The pursuit ended when the SUV crashed.

In addition to robbery charges, Rhodes has also been charged in Dubuque County in connection with the pursuit.

Thomas Geyer writes for the Quad City Times, another Lee Enterprises newspaper. Reach him at tgeyer@qctimes.com.
DALLAS, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alerian announced the results of the March quarterly review for the Alerian Index Series. All changes will be implemented as of the close of business on Friday, March 17, 2017.

Alerian MLP Index (AMZ) and Alerian MLP Equal Weight Index (AMZE). GasLog Partners (NYSE: GLOP) and Western Refining Logistics (NYSE: WNRL) will be added to the AMZ and AMZE.

GasLog Partners (NYSE: GLOP) and Western Refining Logistics (NYSE: WNRL) will be added to the AMZ and AMZE. Alerian MLP Infrastructure Index (AMZI). Rice Midstream Partners (NYSE: RMP) will be added to the AMZI.

Rice Midstream Partners (NYSE: RMP) will be added to the AMZI. Alerian Small Cap MLP Index (AMSI) . Kimbell Royalty Partners (NYSE: KRP) will be added to the AMSI.

There are no changes to the Alerian Energy Infrastructure Index (AMEI), Alerian Natural Gas MLP Index (ANGI), Alerian MLP Closed End Fund Index (AMCI), Alerian Large Cap MLP Index (AMLI), and Alerian Mid Cap MLP Index (AMMI).

In addition, each index will be rebalanced in accordance with their existing methodology. Constituent additions to and deletions from an index do not reflect an opinion by Alerian on the investment merits of the respective securities.

About Alerian

Alerian equips investors to make informed decisions about Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) and energy infrastructure. Its benchmarks, including the flagship Alerian MLP Index (AMZ), are widely used by industry executives, investment professionals, research analysts, and national media to analyze relative performance. As of February 28, 2017, over $18 billion is directly tied to the Alerian Index Series through exchange-traded funds and notes, separately managed accounts, and structured products. For more information, including index values and constituents, research content, and announcements regarding rebalancings, please visit alerian.com.

SOURCE Alerian

Related Links

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PASADENA, Calif., March 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE) announced today the pricing of its public offering of 6,100,000 shares of common stock at a price of $108.55 per share, of which 4,000,000 shares will be subject to the forward sale agreements described below. The Company also granted the underwriters a thirty-day option to purchase up to 915,000 additional shares. The offering is expected to close on or about March 15, 2017, subject to customary closing conditions.

J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch and Citigroup are the joint book-running managers for the offering. RBC Capital Markets, Mizuho Securities, TD Securities, Scotiabank, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Barclays, MUFG, SMBC Nikko, UBS Investment Bank, BB&T Capital Markets, BBVA, BNP PARIBAS, Baird, Evercore ISI, Capital One Securities, PNC Capital Markets LLC and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey acted as co-managers for the offering.

The Company has entered into forward sale agreements with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., London Branch, Bank of America, N.A., and Citibank, N.A. (the "forward purchasers") with respect to 4,000,000 shares of its common stock (and expects to enter into forward sale agreements with respect to an aggregate of 4,915,000 shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full). In connection with the forward sale agreements, the forward purchasers or their affiliates are expected to borrow and sell to the underwriters an aggregate of 4,000,000 shares of the common stock that will be delivered in this offering (or an aggregate of 4,915,000 shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full). Subject to its right to elect cash or net share settlement subject to certain conditions, the Company intends to deliver, upon physical settlement of such forward sale agreements on one or more dates specified by the Company occurring no later than March 9, 2018, an aggregate of 4,000,000 shares of its common stock (or an aggregate of 4,915,000 shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full) to the forward purchasers in exchange for cash proceeds per share equal to the applicable forward sale price, which will be the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions, and will be subject to certain adjustments as provided in the forward sale agreements.

The Company will receive proceeds from its sale of shares of its common stock in this public offering, but it will not initially receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of its common stock by the forward purchasers. The Company expects to use the net proceeds from the sale of the shares of its common stock in this offering and any net proceeds it receives upon the future settlement of the forward sale agreements to fund pending and recently completed acquisitions, near-term highly leased development projects, the redemption of its outstanding Series E Preferred Stock, with any remaining proceeds being held for general working capital and other corporate purposes, including the reduction of the outstanding balance on the Company's unsecured senior line of credit, if any. Selling common stock through the forward sale agreements enables the Company to set the price of such shares upon pricing the offering (subject to certain adjustments), while delaying the issuance of the shares and the receipt of the net proceeds by the Company until the expected funding requirements described above have occurred.

The offering is being made pursuant to an effective registration statement on Form S-3 that was previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Company's common stock, nor shall there be any sale of the common stock in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

Copies of the prospectus supplement relating to this offering, when available, may be obtained by contacting: J.P. Morgan, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, telephone: (866-803-9204); BofA Merrill Lynch, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, Attn: Prospectus Department, Email: [email protected]; or Citigroup, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 telephone: (800-831-9146).

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. is an urban office REIT uniquely focused on collaborative life science and technology campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations. Founded in 1994, Alexandria pioneered this niche and has since established a significant market presence in key locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle Park.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's offering of common stock (including an option to purchase additional shares of common stock), its intended use of the proceeds, and the expected closing date of the offering. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's present intent, beliefs or expectations, but forward-looking statements are not guaranteed to occur and may not occur. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by the Company's forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including, without limitation, the risks and uncertainties detailed in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update this information. For more discussion relating to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the Company's forward-looking statements, and risks and uncertainties to the Company's business in general, please refer to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K.

SOURCE Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.are.com


ORLAND PARK, Ill., March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On the evening of March 9, Alsip (Illinois) Fire Chief Tom Styczynski received a special recognition award for his continued efforts to save lives and property by educating the public about the benefits of fire sprinkler protection. The nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB) and the Illinois Chapter of the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA-IL) jointly presented the award to Styczynski at the NFSA-IL chapter meeting.

The Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board and Illinois Chapter of the National Fire Sprinkler Association honored Alsip Fire Chief Tom Styczynski with a special recognition award for his fire safety advocacy efforts.

"I'm honored to receive this recognition. I have always been a strong believer in fire sprinkler systems. They protect buildings and are proven to be lifesavers for occupants and firefighters," said Styczynski.

In his long tenure with the Alsip Fire Department, which includes having served as fire chief since 2012, Styczynski has helped the suburban village of approximately 19,000 residents make a name for itself in the media spotlight. Through the Alsip Fire Department's involvement with countless educational fire and sprinkler burn demonstrations, Alsip has been featured on not only local Chicago television newscasts but also newscasts across the country and the nationally broadcasted "Today Show."

Coordinating with groups such as NIFSAB, the national nonprofit Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC), and the former Home Safety Council, each of those televised fire and sprinkler burn demonstrations have shown the dramatic differences between fires in two simulated rooms  one with fire sprinklers and one without sprinklers. The demonstrations show the tremendous speed of typical home fires and the potential for deadly destruction, but more importantly illustrate the vital importance of fire sprinkler technology in saving lives, reducing property damage and protecting responding firefighters.

Side-by-side demonstrations conducted by the Alsip Fire Department have been featured in HFSC's home fire sprinkler education programs and videos that are shared with fire departments nationwide. Also, the demonstrations have been an important education tools during the fire department's annual Fire Prevention Week open houses for the local community.

Styczynski and the Alsip Fire Department's steadfast belief in the value of fire sprinklers is most evident by the successful educational efforts that led to the village of Alsip enacting its own ordinance requiring fire sprinklers in new construction homes in 2007. When the first new home with fire sprinklers was completed, the fire department participated in an open house event to showcase the home's fire sprinkler system and further educate village officials. Currently, Alsip is one of over 100 Illinois communities that have adopted fire sprinkler requirements for new construction homes.

"I would like to thank Mayor Patrick Kitching and the village board for enacting the village's fire sprinkler ordinance," noted Styczynski.

"Without Chief Styczynski's expertise and support in our mutual fire safety efforts over the years, we could not have completed so many important educational programs," stated Tom Lia, executive director of the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board. "Though those efforts, tens of millions of individuals across the nation have learned about the life- and property-saving benefits provided by fire sprinklers."

About the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB)

NIFSAB is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting progressive legislation, raising public awareness, and educating code officials and governmental policy makers by demonstrating the proven performance of fire sprinklers in saving both lives and property. For more info, visit www.firesprinklerassoc.org.

SOURCE Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB)

Related Links

http://www.firesprinklerassoc.org


PRINCETON, N.J., March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AMERI Holdings, Inc. ("Ameri100" or the "Company") (OTCQB: AMRH), today announced the acquisition of ATCG Solutions ("ATCG"), a system integration firm specializing in providing end-to-end SAP Enterprise Cloud Services. ATCG brings deep expertise in the areas of SAP HANA, Hybris, SuccessFactors and Business Intelligence. This acquisition reinforces Ameri100's position as a leading global systems integrator and service provider across the entire SAP product portfolio.

ATCG Solutions, founded in 2013 and based in Folsom, California, will strengthen Ameri100's SAP cloud service capabilities and presence in the U.S. market.

"We are excited about the acquisition of ATCG, which, in a short span of time, has established itself as a strong player in the high-growth SAP Cloud services segment. The combination of ATCG and Ameri100 will allow us to better serve our combined customers worldwide," said Giri Devanur, President and CEO of Ameri100. "With this acquisition, Ameri100 has successfully completed 8 acquisitions since its inception with several attractive target firms in the pipeline," he added.

Brent Kelton, CEO of ATCG Solutions and now Ameri100 Executive Vice President and Head of Sales, commented, "ATCG has been able to establish itself as a prominent player in the SAP consulting market with its cloud services. This combination will bring to both ATCG and Ameri100 customers expanded skills and a deep knowledge base that leverages Ameri100's global partner network and capabilities."

Lokesh Sikaria, Managing Partner of Moneta Ventures, a majority stakeholder in ATCG Solutions, commented, "We see a perfect complement of services and markets served between ATCG and Ameri100, one that augurs well for clients and employees of both companies."

With the acquisition of ATCG, Ameri100 continues to demonstrate its commitment to strengthening its capabilities in SAP services and premium consulting to transform businesses through strategic growth. Ameri100, through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions, has a goal of achieving an annualized revenue run-rate of $100 million by the end of 2017.

About AMERI Holdings, Inc.

AMERI Holdings, Inc. is a SAP global systems integrator that enables clients to achieve business value through SAP solutions. Ameri100 combines business strategy and deep technical implementation expertise to provide premium SAP digital services to exceptional companies globally. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, with offices in New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, Kansas City and Toronto, as well as offshore centers in Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai India, the Company is a global leader in consulting and technology solutions. Ameri100 is a Lean Enterprise Architecture Partner (LEAP), enabling clients to outperform the competition and stay ahead of the innovation curve. The Company leverages a global partner ecosystem that has deep knowledge and skills to provide innovative solutions for clients. For further information, visit www.ameri100.com.

About ATCG Solutions

ATCG Solutions provides its clients with a wide range of information technology development, consultancy and managed services with an emphasis on the design, build and rollout of SAP solutions and related products. ATCG has dedicated practices and solutions focused on SAP Hybris, SAP BI/BW on HANA, SAP S/4 HANA, SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Managed Services. Headquartered in Folsom, California, ATCG prides itself on the high quality and experience of its consultants and the timeliness with which it delivers project based solutions. ATCG is a certified SAP Services Partner with additional partner designations specific to SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Hybris. ATCG has offices in Folsom, CA, Irvine, CA, Houston, TX, Dallas, TX, Baton Rouge, LA, and an offshore center in Noida, India.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements that relate to the business and expected future events or future performance of Ameri100 and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause its actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Words such as, but not limited to, "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "targets," "likely," "will," "would," "could," and similar expressions or phrases identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Ameri100's financial and growth projections as well as statements concerning our plans, predictions, estimates, strategies, intentions, beliefs and other information concerning our business and the markets in which we operate. The future performance of Ameri100 may be adversely affected by the following risks and uncertainties: the level of market demand for our services, the highly-competitive market for the types of services that we offer, market conditions that could cause our customers to reduce their spending for our services, our ability to create, acquire and build new businesses and to grow our existing businesses, our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, currency fluctuations and market conditions around the world, and other risks not specifically mentioned herein but those that are common to industry. For a more detailed discussion of these factors and risks, investors should review Ameri100's reports on Form 10-K and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which can be accessed through the SEC's website. Forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's beliefs and opinions at the time the statements are made. All forward- looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and Ameri100 undertakes no duty to update this information to reflect future events, information or circumstances.

Press Contact

Carlos Fernandez

100 Canal Pointe Blvd, Suite 108 Princeton, NJ 08540

Phone: (732) 243-9250

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Ameri100

Related Links

http://www.ameri100.com


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Arkansas will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Arkansas, tobacco companies spend $109.5 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Arkansas, tobacco use claims 5,800 lives and costs $1.21 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 15.7 percent of Arkansas high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Arkansas, activities include:

On March 11, youth from Crittenden, St. Francis, Monroe, Lee, Phillips and Cross Counties, led by Youth MOVE members, will organize cigarette butt cleanups at their local town parks to raise awareness about the growing amount of toxic tobacco litter where children play. Time: 9 AM. Location: 825 N. Airport Road, W. Memphis. Contact: Brittany Porter-Hall (901) 246-5296.

Community members and youth at Little Rock AFB Youth Center in Jacksonville will painting an anti-tobacco graffiti wall to encourage peers and loved ones to quit smoking and commit to be tobacco-free. Time: 2:30 PM. Location: 1992 Arkansas Boulevard, Jacksonville. Contact: Otis Williams (501) 987-6355.

On March 31, youth from Boone County will meet at the Ramada Mountain Home to participate in several anti-tobacco activities, including making posters and learning about the toll of tobacco in Arkansas. Participants will also enjoy a tobacco-free pool party and receive promotional items. Time: 4:30 PM. Location: 1127 Highway 62 E., Mountain Home. Contact: Margaret Morrison (870) 213-8182.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Arkansas, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


PHILADELPHIA, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 19, the Philadelphia auction house Material Culture will shine its spotlight on premier works from the folk and self-taught art collections of Academy Award-winning Hollywood director Jonathan Demme and his friend and past collaborator, movie set designer Ford Wheeler. "I believe many motion picture professionals would argue that, between the two, Jonathan and Ford are the best 'eyes' in Hollywood," said George Jevremovic, owner of Material Culture.

Hector Hyppolite (Haitian/St. Marc, 1894-1948), Bosou Toi Conne, oil-on-board, 19.75 x 27.25 inches, Jonathan Demme collection. Estimate: $30,000-$50,000 Peterson Laurent (Haitian/St. Marc, 1888-1958), Three Fishes, circa 1950-55, oil-on-Masonite, 20 x 24 inches, signed, Jonathan Demme collection. Estimate: $15,000-$20,000

Demme's phenomenal art collection has attracted headlines before, most notably in the run-up to a Material Culture sale in 2014 that captured the imagination of both the public and the media. "As we admired Jonathan's artworks entered in that auction, we could see that the same passion and intensity he brought to films like 'The Silence of the Lambs,' 'Philadelphia,' and 'The Manchurian Candidate' also guided him in his wonderful art acquisitions," said Jevremovic. "This month's sale is a continuation of the themes we established three years ago, and at an even higher level."

For the March 19 "Heart of the Collection" auction, Demme has parted with some of his most highly prized Haitian, Jamaican, African and American artworks. "Many of the pieces are works that formed the backbone of his collection and which he valued and perhaps enjoyed the most," Jevremovic said.

A true masterpiece, Hector Hyppolite's (Haitian/St. Marc, 1894-1948) painting-on-board titled Bosou Toi Conne is a magnificent fusion of primary colors and surrealist figures. Formerly in the collection of Mrs. Malcolm I. McBride, Cleveland, Ohio, it is the auction's centerpiece and top-estimated artwork, at $30,000-$50,000.

An early 1950s oil painting by Laurent Peterson (Haitian/St. Marc, 1888-1958) is appropriately titled Three Fishes, since it depicts a trio of colorful sea inhabitants, with large eyes and spiky teeth. The work's distinguished provenance includes exhibitions at Centre D'Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and museums in Brooklyn, N.Y., Milwaukee, and New Orleans. Estimate: $15,000-$20,000. Other Laurent paintings include: Three Vases, previously exhibited in Baden-Baden, Germany and at Cornell University, estimate $15,000-$20,000; and Boardwalk Houses, ex George Nader collection, $15,000-$20,000.

Among Demme's finest American art holdings is an oil-on-Masonite painting by Laura Pope Forrester (American/Georgia, 1873-1953) titled Four Planes in a Golden Sky. Retaining the artist's original frame, it is estimated at $25,000-$35,000. A vibrant Minnie Evans (North Carolina, 1892-1987) mixed-media depiction, Profile at Sunset, is signed and dated "1946," and is expected to make $9,000-$12,000.

Victor Joseph Gatto's (American, 1893-1965) oil-on-canvas titled The Pearl Divers (Under the Sea) is a lively work filled with imagery of underwater explorers swimming among marine and sea life. A label on verso indicates prior ownership by Epstein/Powell American Primitives. Estimate: $15,000-$20,000

Ford Wheeler, who says he was "born with the design gene," has collected whimsical objects throughout his life and previously operated Craft Caravan, a wildly popular SoHo shop that specialized in African and Asian art and furniture. Wheeler has served as production designer and set decorator for dozens of films, several of which were directed by Demme, including Philadelphia. In a 2011 profile of Wheeler that ran in The New York Times, Demme remarked of his friend and collaborator: "[Ford] reads the script, makes a little movie in his head and feeds the look. What Ford saw, I wanted to see."

One of the most treasured artworks in Wheeler's personal collection is an important Howard Finster (American, 1916-2001) sculpture titled Castle #2240. Standing 80 inches high, the four-part structure is constructed of painted wood with mirrors and is both artist-signed and numbered. Its auction estimate is $20,000-$30,000.

"A common thread that connects the Demme and Wheeler collections is the heartfelt embrace of artists and traditions outside of the 'mainstream'  eloquent proof that there is no such thing as the 'art world,' only worlds of art," Jevremovic said.

For information on any item in the sale, call 215-438-4700; email [email protected]. Bid absentee or live online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

Preview: March 4-18 from 11-5. Opening reception: Saturday, March 4, 1-4 p.m. A pre-auction exhibition party with live music will take place on Saturday, March 18 from 7-11 p.m., with special guests Jonathan Demme and Ford Wheeler. RSVP required  email [email protected].

Media Contact:

George Jevremovic

215-438-4700

SOURCE Material Culture

Related Links

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WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For ASAE's 2017 Great Ideas Conference, March 57, there were 601 association professionals and industry partners that took part in more than 40 education sessions, 150 Brain Dates and three Executive Leadership Workshops. The event was held at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in Orlando, Florida.

"We used a variety of formats to help participants learn and engage inside and outside the classroom," said ASAE President & CEO John H. Graham IV, FASAE, CAE. "Opportunities ranged from peer learning to in-depth explorations to hands-on training on innovation from ideation to execution. Attendees appreciated the opportunity to personalize their unique experience. The keynotes and eight speakers from outside our industry shared revolutionary ideas and inspiration they can take back to their organizations."

Leading off the Great Ideas Conference was opening keynote Srini Rao, Chief Creative Instigator, Unmistakable Media and author of Unmistakable. He encouraged organizations to ignore best practices and create unique products and services so distinctive that nobody else could have done it, which would make one's competition become irrelevant. Rao advised participants to let go of masks and labels, which hinder creative thinking.

The closing keynote was Chief Growth Officer at McChrystal Group, bestselling author, and former US Navy SEAL officer, Chris Fussell. He encouraged organizations to build on and embrace the fundamental attributes of elite, high performing teams including: trust, common purpose, shared consciousness, and empowered execution.

ASAE held three Executive Leadership Workshops this year.

On Saturday, March 4 , "Ultimate Power Skills & Team Building" was a half-day workshop that applied gamification techniques to teach participants hard and soft intellectual skills as well as build deeper relationships, develop confidence, practice out-of-the-box thinking, improve communication, increase happiness at work, and strengthen creativity.





, "Ultimate Power Skills & Team Building" was a half-day workshop that applied gamification techniques to teach participants hard and soft intellectual skills as well as build deeper relationships, develop confidence, practice out-of-the-box thinking, improve communication, increase happiness at work, and strengthen creativity. On Sunday, March 5 , attendees learned different video strategies in "Video.orgThe Versatility of Video to Drive Business Objectives." The half-day workshop focused on the diversity of ways associations are using video, how to have strategic conversations with organization leaders, the major trends, and how to plan and produce video content.





, attendees learned different video strategies in "Video.orgThe Versatility of Video to Drive Business Objectives." The half-day workshop focused on the diversity of ways associations are using video, how to have strategic conversations with organization leaders, the major trends, and how to plan and produce video content. On Monday, March 6 , ASAE hosted a two-hour evening workshop entitled, "Putting Women's Ideas to WorkAuthentic Ways to Hear and Be Heard?" Led by Ruha Benjamin , assistant professor at Princeton University and author of People's Science, this was part of ASAE's Women Executives Forum and hosted by ASAE's Strategic Partner Choose Chicago. It explored gender-related challenges in ideation and execution, and the role of voice, presentation, positioning, and bias in supporting a pipeline for women-led intrapreneurship within associations.

ASAE's next Great Ideas Conference will be March 1113, 2018, at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

ASAE thanks the following Alliance Partners for continued support of the association community:

Strategic Partners

Atlanta CVB

Business Events Canada

Choose Chicago

Experience Columbus

Reno Tahoe USA

Visit San Jose

YourMembership

Corporate Partners

Visit Baltimore

DelCor Technology Solutions

Visit Dallas

Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB

Fort Worth CVB

GEICO

Louisville CVB

Mexico Tourism Board

Naylor Association Solutions

Visit Omaha

Visit Orlando

Visit Salt Lake

Event Partners

BrightKey

The Broadmoor

CliftonLarsonAllen

Dubai Association Centre

Hong Kong Tourism Board

Johnson Lambert LLP and Vault Consulting

Korea Tourism Organization

Manifest

MemberClicks

Meet In Minnesota

New Orleans CVB and New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center

About ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership

ASAE is a membership organization of more than 30,000 association executives and industry partners representing more than 7,400 organizations. Its members manage leading trade associations, individual membership societies and voluntary organizations across the United States and in nearly 50 countries around the world. With support of the ASAE Foundation, a separate nonprofit entity, ASAE is the premier source of learning, knowledge and future-oriented research for the association and nonprofit profession, and provides resources, education, ideas and advocacy to enhance the power and performance of the association and nonprofit community. For more information about ASAE, visit www.asaecenter.org

SOURCE ASAE

Related Links

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LOS ANGELES, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-Winning screenwriter, director and producer Nancy Paton took home the top prize of Best Short, for her latest film "Choke," at the #48FILM Festival Awards which were presented at the DGA on Thursday, March 9, 2017. In addition, "Choke" took top honors for Best Directing and Best Cinematography for the evening. Paton co-wrote, directed and fully produced "Choke", an original film, in 48 hours. "Choke" chronicles a man with prostate cancer who finally decides to take control of his life by seeking spiritual release with the help of a dominatrix.

"I am elated that "Choke" was honored with Best Short, Best Director and Best Cinematography at the #48Film Festival, and I'm thrilled to have been awarded the directorial role on an upcoming feature film project here in Los Angeles," said Paton. "As a filmmaker I am passionate about strong stories that entertain and educate people about new cultures, issues and faiths that they are unaccustomed to but that are a vital part of the world that we live in."

Aspiring filmmakers from all over the globe participated in the 8th Annual #48FILM Festival. The top 16 films were screened at the DGA Theater on Thursday night. For the Best Short category, Paton's film was selected among six other highly acclaimed films from around the world. Paton flew in to Los Angeles from Saudi Arabia to accept the award in-person at the Directors Guild of America.

ABOUT NANCY PATON:

Nancy Paton is an award-winning Australian/ Polish Director and Screenwriter residing in Saudi Arabia.

Paton is currently working on three of her own feature films, "Touched", "In Her Shoes", and "Frame", and recently completed two documentaries, "Maisy and the Making of Daisy" and "Abaya Fashion".

Paton also recently directed, co-wrote and produced the film "Choke" which was awarded Best Short Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography at the #48Film Festival, where it received 7 nominations in total. "Choke" chronicles a man in the last stages of prostate cancer who finally decides to take control of his life by seeking spiritual release with the help of a dominatrix. The 7-minute short was completed in 48 hours, from start to finish, specifically to compete in the Internationally recognized and prestigious 48 hour film making challenge.

In 2016, Paton wrote, produced, directed, and starred in "Postpartum", which was filmed in Saudi Arabia and features an entire female cast and crew. "Postpartum" has won 3 major awards including Best Director at the Melbourne Indie Film Festival, Best Actress at the Sydney Indie Film Festival, and the Gold Remi Award at WorldFest Houston International Film Festival.

Paton's directorial debut was on the film "Daisy", which she also wrote. "Daisy," took 6 years to direct and cast real children with the disease RDEB, a genetic condition where skin breaks at the slightest touch. RDEB affects up to 1 in 17,000 live births and it is estimated that currently 5,000 people are living with the condition in the UK alone. Most people born with RDEB do not live past their early teenage years.

The film went on to win 11 awards including, Best UK Short Film at the London Independent Film Festival, Best Foreign Featurette Film at the 2016 Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema, and the Platinum Remi Award Best Family Short Film at the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival, among the others.

Nancy currently lectures about Digital Photography, Screenwriting and Storyboarding at Raffles Design Institute in Riyadh and is in post-production for her documentary Abaya Fashion, filming a documentary "Garage Sale" about Syrian Refugee Camps and is developing three feature films "In Her Shoes", "Touched "and "Frame".

Nancy's passion for film was developed and nurtured in her early years at Newtown Performing Arts High School and since graduating from the University of Sydney she has worked extensively in the film industry. Moving to New York City, studying at the Atlantic Acting School and working at Michael Mailer Films allowed her to develop as a screenwriter and film producer however her true passion has always been directing.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Rachel Falikoff: [email protected], 213-607-3592

Amy Prenner: [email protected], 310-709-1101

SOURCE Paton Productions
MINNEAPOLIS, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Furthering its commitment to help food and beverage customers address growing consumer demand for non-GMO product offerings, Cargill has announced an identity preservation process and several additional Non-GMO Project Verified food ingredients.

Cargill's KnownOrigins identity preservation process delivers transparency so food and beverage manufacturers can efficiently source the ingredients they need to deliver non-GMO products to consumers.

"Cargill is uniquely positioned to help our customers translate growing consumer demand for non-GMO products into profitable growth," said Lea Buerman, Cargill Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory Manager. "Cargill's combination of the industry's broadest portfolio of non-GMO ingredients, well-established crop sourcing programs and our KnownOrigins identity preservation process enables our customers to scale production with confidence and get to market quickly with new non-GMO products."

Cargill's KnownOrigins process features robust testing, approval and evaluation protocols that enable food and beverage manufacturers to make non-GMO claims with the confidence of knowing that Cargill's non-GMO ingredients meet the agreed-to non-GMO standard. Key features of KnownOrigins include:

Traceability back to producers  Each farmer in Cargill's non-GMO producer program is identifiable so that non-GMO soybeans, corn and high oleic canola can be traced back to producers 1 .

. Testing to verify non-GMO status  Testing is performed on either harvest bin composites, incoming truck deliveries, or the finished ingredient to ensure that Cargill's non-GMO ingredient products comply with the agreed-to non-GMO standard (e.g. Non-GMO Project Verification, European Union).

Stringent raw material evaluation and approval protocols are used for all raw materials and processing aids so that Cargill customers can make a non-GMO claim with the confidence of knowing that Cargill's non-GMO ingredients meet the agreed-to non-GMO standard.

Cargill's specific segregation, cleaning and flushing procedures protect against cross-contact with GMO ingredients and ensure that co-mingling levels are within the agreed-to non-GMO standard.

Cargill's non-GMO production facilities operate under food Good Manufacturing Practices that have been verified by industry-leading Global Food Safety Initiative certification agencies.

Internal review by Cargill's legal, regulatory and food safety experts means that Cargill customers can make a non-GMO claim with the confidence of knowing that Cargill's non-GMO ingredients meet the agreed-to non-GMO standard.

Non-GMO Project Verified Ingredients

Cargill has recently received Non-GMO Project Verification of the following food ingredients: Stevia sweeteners, dry corn (mill, grits, flour), glucose heirloom syrup, corn syrup solids, dextrin, maltodextrin, modified food starch, native starch, mid oleic sunflower oil, Clear Valley High Oleic Canola Oil, soybean oil, chicory inulin2, and erythritol (using corn feedstock). Previously announced Cargill ingredients with Non-GMO Project Verification include: erythritol (using cane sugar feedstock), cane sugar, Clear Valley High Oleic Sunflower Oil, and Clear Valley Expeller Pressed High Oleic Sunflower Oil.

"Non-GMO Project Verification remains the most trusted emblem for consumers seeking non-GMO food options," Buerman said. "We continue to work closely with the Non-GMO Project and hope to have even more Cargill ingredients verified in the near future."

NSF International is the Technical Administrator for Cargill's Non-GMO Project Verified ingredients. NSF International is a global independent organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products for the food, water, health sciences, and consumer goods industries.

1- Cargill's corn and soybean non-GMO producer programs are based in North America; the high oleic canola producer program is based in Australia.

2- Cargill is the exclusive North American distributor of chicory inulin manufactured by Cosucra.

About Cargill

Cargill provides food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services to the world. Together with farmers, customers, governments and communities, we help people thrive by applying our insights and 150 years of experience. We have 150,000 employees in 70 countries who are committed to feeding the world in a responsible way, reducing environmental impact and improving the communities where we live and work. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.

SOURCE Cargill
TAMPA, Fla., March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lanier Law Firm has filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of homeowners in Central Florida, charging that operators of phosphate mines failed to warn them about dangerously high levels of radiation.

Newly obtained information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirms that the Lakeland-area subdivisions of Oakbridge and Grasslands have been exposed to toxic contamination from phosphate strip mines operated by Drummond Company.

The Lanier Law Firm is working with law firms Girardi Keese, Nidel & Nace, PLLC, German Rubenstein LLP, and Lilly O'Toole & Brown LLP. The lawsuit is Jerue v Drummond Company, Inc., Case 8:17-cv-00587-EAK-AEP, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.



Phosphate mining contamination includes cancer-causing gamma rays, which can penetrate the body and increase the risk of certain cancers including leukemia, lymphoma and bone cancer. Decaying uranium from phosphate mines also releases radon, an odorless, radioactive gas that is linked to lung cancer. Testing has revealed radon levels significantly higher than surrounding land. For information, visit http://lanierlawfirm.com/legal_practice_areas/florida-phosphate-contamination.



After ceasing operations at its Poseidon Mine in 1982, the Drummond Company developed 1,400 acres of mine-scarred land into subdivisions, including Oakbridge and Grasslands. According to EPA reports, Drummond officials knew of the toxic conditions on these properties, but never warned homebuyers about the health threats.

"I am shocked to think that these companies knew about the radiation and the danger it posed, and yet they chose to allow neighborhoods to be developed on top of and surrounding these toxic sites," said Lanier Law Firm founder Mark Lanier. "We are stepping in to do what the government has failed to do  fully disclose the extent of contamination and make sure these companies clean up the mess they've created."

EPA tests before development of the Oakbridge subdivision showed radiation levels 11 to 21 times higher than the acceptable risk limit. In 2003, the EPA's Florida Phosphate Initiative noted that some homes had median radiation concentration 4 to 22 times higher than pre-mined land and gamma exposure 2 to 3 times higher than normal.

The lawsuit seeks compensation to clean up contamination and initiate medical monitoring for residents, as well as full disclosure of all state, federal and private testing results.

In 2016, the Lanier Law Firm recorded two high-profile verdicts in medical device litigation, with the awards totaling more than $1.5 billion. The firm was named by the National Trial Lawyers Association as one of the nation's 25 Most Influential Law Firms for 2017, and also as a National Tier 1 practice in Mass Torts and Class Actions by U.S. News/Best Law Firms, and by Legal 500 in its national ranking of top firms in Medical Device and Pharmaceutical litigation. Mr. Lanier was named Houston's Trial Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America in 2017 for Personal Injury Litigation and in 2016 for Mass Torts/Class Actions. Mr. Lanier has been recognized as one of the Most Influential Attorneys of the Decade by the National Law Journal and as one of the 25 Greatest Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century by Texas Lawyer.

With offices in Houston, Los Angeles, and New York, the Lanier Law Firm is committed to addressing client concerns with effective and innovative solutions in courtrooms across the country. The firm is composed of outstanding trial attorneys with decades of experience handling cases involving pharmaceutical liability, asbestos exposure, commercial litigation, product liability, maritime law, and serious personal injuries. To learn more about the firm, visit http://www.lanierlawfirm.com.

For more information, contact J.D. Cargill, 713-659-5200, [email protected].

SOURCE Lanier Law Firm

Related Links

http://lanierlawfirm.com


MASON CITY | A Mason City man pleaded guilty this week to defrauding his insurance company.

Johnathan Francis Kofron, 48, will be sentenced April 3 in Cerro Gordo County District Court on one felony count of fraudulent insurance application submission.

Mason City man accused of insurance fraud MASON CITY | A Mason City man police say defrauded his insurance company faces criminal charges.

He was accused of providing false information to his insurance company in order to get homeowner's insurance on a residence he was renting and filing a fraudulent claim for a lost ring, according to a Mason City Police Department statement.

Police say the ring claim was made in March 2016 and that Kofron received more than $4,200 from his insurance company.

 Mary Pieper
GUANGZHOU, China, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Xinhua news agency published a special report about the changes in the manufacturing industry in Foshan, which showed the practice of China's Supply-side Structural Reform.

The article is as follows:

Regional GDP totaled 863 billion yuan, increasing by 8.3 percent compared to the same period last year - this is the economic development result for Foshan, Guangdong in 2016.

"The secondary industry of Foshan accounts for about 60 percent, only when the manufacturing industry is stable can the Foshan economy also be stable," said Wei Zhu, mayor of Foshan. Statistics show that the gross output value of industries above designated scale of Foshan reaches 2.13 trillion yuan in 2016, an increase of 7.7 percent. In contrast, the figure for the nation is 6 percent. What is more impressive is that the country's manufacturing investment grew by only 4.2 percent, while the growth rate of manufacturing investment of Foshan in 2016 was 22.9 percent.

Under the circumstances that national economic downward pressure is relatively high and the real economic development encounters difficulties, how can Foshan's manufacturing industry stand out? In Wei Zhu's opinion, this is due to the supply-side structural reform having achieved great success.

Reduce Costs: a Key Breakthrough Point of Supply-side Structural Reform

Architectural ceramics are a traditional industry in Foshan, the success of architectural ceramics is largely dependent on low-cost competitive strategy. The problem is that the low-cost era that this strategy relies on is disappearing.

"Traditional manufacturing like ceramics is labor-intensive and raw material-dependent. As China's labor force is reduced, the cost of labor is increasing. The country promotes saving energy and reducing emissions, adding to the cost in reducing pollution. Apart from that, the cost of raw material is increasing, so the burden for enterprises is heavier," said Chuyang Cai, President of Foshan United Ceramics Purchase Services Co., Ltd. (UCA) while pointing out the weakness of ceramic enterprises.

Based on the actual situation, after the central government clarified the concept of cutting overcapacity, de-stocking, de-leveraging, reducing corporate costs and shoring up weak spots as the breakthrough point, and promoting supply-side structural reform initiative, Foshan was a front runner by releasing the supply-side reform scheme in prefecture-level cities, and reducing cost as a key point.

"At present, the most effective way which also impressed the enterprises, is to reduce costs," Wei Zhu told the Xinhua News Agency. Foshan reduced cost of more than 28 billion yuan for enterprises last year, which equivalent to one-sixth of total fiscal revenue of the city.

Although the gift from the government is big, the reductions of institutional transaction costs and tax costs are still limited, and it is impossible to expect this yearly. Therefore, enterprises shall take the initiative, strengthen internally, increase revenue and reduce expenditure. The establishment of UCA is a bold exploration of Foshan's ceramics industry.

"With 'industry + Internet + financial capital' at the core, UCA conducts processing, optimization and matching of information, thereby reducing intermediate links," Chuyang Cai added, after the buyer's order is collected by the platform, the platform will negotiate a purchase price lower than the market price with suppliers based on large quantities of procurement. Estimated by UCA, ceramic buyers can reduce procurement costs of at least by 15 percent with the purchase approach.

Respect Enterprise's Principle Position: the Practice of Supply-side Structural Reform in Foshan

What role should the Chinese government and enterprises play in the process of supply-side structural reform? Foshan provides insight.

"Supply-side is the enterprise-side, we always believe that enterprise is the principle part of supply-side structural reform," stressed Wei Zhu, the private economy is the mainstay of Foshan, therefore, the government shall not interfere with enterprises but respect them and let the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources, as well as correct the allocation distortion of elements which result from excessive reliance on administrative resources, thus reducing government intervention to the market, where enterprises can truly become the principal part of the market.

Foshan's private capital has formed a keen market sense and rapid response capacity. For example, once the market demand declines, companies will reduce production and excess capacity will not happen. While facing fierce market competition, enterprises will take the initiative to carry out industrial upgrading in accordance with market demand and cover the development shortages to improve the competitiveness of their products.

"Of course, this does not mean that the role of the government is important. On the contrary, the role of government shall be better played during the supply-side structural reform, such as the reduction of institutional costs. More importantly, the government shall formulate effective policy and incubate a good market environment," he added.

Deepen Reform and Polish the Made in Foshan brand

"After one year of reform, Foshan profoundly realized that the supply-side structural reform is a key measure to adapt to and lead the new normal of economic development, to promote the transformation of economic development and strategic adjustment of economic structure," Wei Zhu commented.

From the practice of Foshan, Wei Zhu believes that "cutting overcapacity, destocking, deleveraging, reducing corporate costs and shoring up weak spots are the priority tasks currently, but they are not all of the supply-side structural reform." Wei Zhu added, the fundamental purpose of the reform is to improve the supply quality.

Qian He, president of Guangdong Jinyitao Ceramics Co., Ltd., told reporters that products of his company are popular in the market as a result of more emphasis on brand, design, and innovation. As early as two years ago, there were Italian factories providing original equipment manufacturing for Jinyitao.

2017 is the year in deepening China's supply-side structural reform, Foshan will continue to explore reform measures suited to local conditions. Wei Zhu said after three years of efforts, Foshan will achieve the development mode transformed from scale speed growth to quality and efficient growth, and achieve development elements transformed from traditional elements oriented to innovation, as well as the value chain of industrial division transformed from low-end to high-end, thereby building a supply system with abundant levels, high quality, efficient, outstanding characteristics and strong competitiveness. The reputation of Made in Foshan will be further enhanced and a higher level of new supply and demand balance will be achieved.

For more information contact:

Wu Yanting

+86-188-0201-1000

[email protected]or [email protected]

SOURCE Xinhua News Agency Information Center Guangdong Branch
Corporate footprint expands into US market servicing 13 East Coast States

TORONTO, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Citron Hygiene is pleased to announce that, effective March 6, 2017, it has acquired Workplace Essentials, a washroom and workplace hygiene company, headquartered in the Boston suburb of Billerica, Massachusetts. This is Citron Hygiene's second acquisition since its ownership change last April when it was acquired by Birch Hill Equity Partners in partnership with President and CEO, Peter Farrell. Last September, Citron Hygiene acquired Sani-Service Inc., a Canadian national service provider of washroom hygiene and commercial warewashing systems from Serruya Private Equity Inc.

"We are delighted to welcome Workplace Essentials to the Citron Hygiene family," Peter Farrell stated. "As the largest washroom service provider in the U.S., this acquisition is a powerful first step in our overall North American and global build. Their reputation as an innovative and high quality service provider in the U.S. market is second to none, and as such, we are so pleased to have them join our business. For the time being, Workplace Essentials will continue to operate under its existing tradename and its leadership team will continue to manage the US business".

Linda Pace, President & CEO of Workplace Essentials, further elaborated, "Under the Citron Hygiene umbrella, Workplace Essentials will significantly expand its product and service offerings to our customers and we look forward to gaining access to Citron Hygiene's impressive stable of top tier vendor-partners. Peter and I have also known each other for many years and we both share the same passion for the business and respect for employees and customers. Choosing the right company to sell to was of paramount importance to me  Citron Hygiene was our perfect fit".

"Our acquisition of Workplace Essentials is perfectly aligned with our strategy and a key milestone in our overall growth plan. We will continue to be acquisitive in Canada, the US and strategic global markets", according to Peter Farrell. "We are excited to expand into key geographies as well as add great employee partners and customers to our business. This is a very exciting time for our company", he added.

About Citron Hygiene

Citron Hygiene (formerly Cannon Services), is a leading providers of commercial Washroom & Food Service Hygiene, Pest Control Solutions, as well as a broad range of Chemical and other Facility-based Products & Services. With over 40 years of extensive industry experience, we are headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with offices across Canada and the United States.

Citron Hygiene is committed to Building healthy spaces by combining proprietary products and processes, certified and dedicated staff, and trusted, best-in-class vendor-partners to deliver unparalleled, holistic health and hygiene solutions. The design and delivery of everything we do, reflects our deep understanding of commercial facilities, our singular focus on customer needs and goals, and our abiding respect for the environment and its sustainability.

SOURCE Citron Hygiene
Clickspring's challenge was to design a 1,854 Sq. meter (19,957 sq. ft.), multi-level, on-air studio environment with three broadcast venues dedicated to news, sports, children's and daytime programming. The scope of work included renovating three floors of editorial office space which included private offices, hot-desk workstations, conference areas, editorial suites, a cafe, and the building's secure main lobby.

The main studio features a dramatic spiral staircase connecting the three studios via a mezzanine level. The staircase is clad with an integrated media display. Other features of the main studio include a suspended catwalk bridge, demonstration kitchen, expansive double-height LED vista wall and a 5-meter star-shaped social media display tower which intersects each studio. Multiple tracking monitor arrays and the inclusion of an elaborate, reconfigurable anchor desk complete this dynamic broadcast space.

The Clickspring Design team was inspired by classic Islamic architecture and design, especially the geometry of tessellation  using small blocks or squares as in mosaic. The design of the studio focused on subtractive forms and irregular tessellation.

"Islamic architecture is particularly rich in aperiodic tessellations or irregular tilings, patterns which modify themselves in a non-repeating pattern while retaining symmetries by virtue of finite groups of rotations or reflections," said Erik Ulfers, Founder and President of Clickspring Design. "In terms of form, volumes were often subtracted from an overall profile to create and define functional spaces; these forms retain their formal identities even if portions of their volumes are removed. These techniques proved key in creating a uniquely Middle Eastern sensibility for a 21st century space."

The verticality of Dubai's cityscape provided additional stimulus for the design  from the minarets of the old city to the continuously evolving skyline of astonishing skyscrapers. The result is a cohesive media landscape, recognizable across multiple platforms, that reflects both the rich history of the region and the modern aesthetic and business model of the MBC client.

About Clickspring Design

Clickspring Design is an award winning design firm based in New York City. The company's international creative practice is collaborative and multidisciplinary, supported by a team of designers, artists, architects, strategists and media specialists. Clickspring Design helps clients strategically grow and sustain their brand by shaping the environments where they engage with a target audience. When audience engagement is extended, the potential for emotional connection and brand loyalty increases, so every extra second of connection holds value and meaning.

Visit the Clickspring Design website for more information or follow Clickspring Design on Facebook.

SOURCE Clickspring Design, Inc

Related Links

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WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Colorado will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Colorado, tobacco companies spend $131.4 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Colorado, tobacco use claims 5,100 lives and costs $1.89 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 8.6 percent of Colorado's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Colorado, activities include:

Youth at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fremont County in Canon City will organize a cigarette butt cleanup on the grounds of downtown's Main Street and Rudd Park before debriefing at the city's administration building. Time: 4 PM. Location: 129 N. 4th Street, Canon City. Contact: Stacy Sepuba (719) 345-4038.

Youth volunteers for Denver Public Health will host games, trivia, educational displays, and live community artwork at the 16th Street Mall. Time: 10 AM. Location: 16th Street Mall, 16th Street, Denver. Contact: Angie Kogovsek (303) 602-3552.

Staff at the Tri-County Health Department in Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties will take a stand for healthy communities by adding their personal reasons for living tobacco-free on banners at all 11 office locations. Time: 9 AM. Location: 6162 S. Willow Drive, Greenwood Village. Contact: Melissa Smith (720) 200-1668.

Students at Adams City High School in Commerce City will highlight tobacco's fatal toll by drawing chalk outlines of bodies. This event, in partnership with the American Lung Association, will teach students statistics about tobacco's impact on health. Time: 11:00 AM  1:00 PM. Location: 7200 Quebec Parkway, Commerce City. Contact: Maria Zubia (303) 853-3213.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Colorado, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Connecticut will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Connecticut, tobacco companies spend $73.6 million annually on marketing efforts.

In Connecticut, health advocates are urging legislators to increase the tobacco sale age to 21, a move that will reduce tobacco use and save lives.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Connecticut, tobacco use claims 4,900 lives and costs $2.03 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 10.3 percent of Connecticut's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Connecticut, activities include:

On March 11, the PROMISE Girls of Suffield Middle School will host two booths at Enfield Square Mall displaying pig lungs that show lung cancer's effects on the body. They will also encourage visitors to quit smoking. Time: 10 AM. Location: 90 Elm Street, Enfield. Contact: Gail Myers (860) 508-3001

Students from the Natchaug River Young Marines in Danielson will present the dangers of tobacco use to youth groups in the area. Time: 4:30 PM. Location: 31 Tiffany Street, Lower Level, Brooklyn. Contact: Mark Barstow (860) 377-1337.

Students at Depaolo Middle School in Southington will write anti-drug messages on a fence to remind their peers about the dangers of tobacco. Time: 2:45 PM. Location: 385 Pleasant Street, Southington. Contact: Trish Kenefick (860) 778-6639.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Connecticut, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Delaware will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Delaware, tobacco companies spend $44.8 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Delaware, tobacco use claims 1,400 lives and costs $532 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 9.9 percent of Delaware's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Delaware, activities include:

The Georgetown Boys & Girls Club and the First State Community Action Agency will come together to collect cigarette butts and clean up their community, followed by breakout sessions featuring guest speakers to educate attendees about the dangers of tobacco use. Time: 8:30 AM  12 PM. Location: 115 N. Race Street, Georgetown. Contact: Renee Hickman (302) 690-1199.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Delaware, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


LAKEWOOD, CO, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE MKT:UUUU; TSX:EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the "Company"), today reported its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016. The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and may be viewed on the Electronic Document Gathering and Retrieval System ("EDGAR") at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com, and on the Company's website at www.energyfuels.com. Unless noted otherwise, all dollar amounts are in US dollars.

Financial & Operational Highlights:

$54.55 million of total revenue was realized by the Company.

of total revenue was realized by the Company. At December 31, 2016 , the Company had $24.02 million of working capital, including cash and cash equivalents of $16.90 million and approximately 490,000 pounds of uranium concentrate inventory.

, the Company had of working capital, including cash and cash equivalents of and approximately 490,000 pounds of uranium concentrate inventory. Gross Profit of $13.74 million from mining and milling operations was realized by the Company.

from mining and milling operations was realized by the Company. Gross profit margin from uranium recovery operations of approximately 25%.

A net loss attributable to the Company of $39.41 million .

. 1,150,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 sales were completed by the Company at an average realized price of $47.42 per pound. 850,000 pounds of sales were pursuant to long-term contracts at an average price of $56.64 per pound and 300,000 pounds of sales were from a spot sale at a price of $21.10 per pound.

O sales were completed by the Company at an average realized price of per pound. 850,000 pounds of sales were pursuant to long-term contracts at an average price of per pound and 300,000 pounds of sales were from a spot sale at a price of per pound. 1,015,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 were recovered by the Company.

Stephen P. Antony, Energy Fuels' President and CEO stated: "Amidst market uncertainty and volatility, Energy Fuels has enhanced its readiness for a uranium market recovery. We believe we lowered our portfolio-wide cost of production through the acquisition of the Alta Mesa ISR Project. The Nichols Ranch ISR Project continued to perform well. And, the Canyon Mine delivered some exceptional drill results. We knew Canyon was an excellent high-grade uranium deposit. However, underground drilling has exceeded our already high expectations. We have identified additional zones of high-grade uranium mineralization. But the big surprise was our discovery of areas of high-grade copper mineralization. We look forward to providing markets with more information on the Canyon deposit as the year goes on.

"While uranium markets continue to find their footing, we believe Energy Fuels continues to differentiate itself in terms of our readiness to respond to improving uranium market conditions. As prices improve, we have the option to quickly construct new wellfields at Nichols Ranch and Alta Mesa. We can also place the Canyon Mine into production and restart operations at our standby mines. While our current plan calls for reducing production in 2017, if we receive the correct market signals, we have the ability to quickly change our plans and capture the benefits of improving prices."

Mergers & Acquisition Highlights:

On June 17, 2016, the Company completed its acquisition of Mestena Uranium, LLC ("Mestena"). This acquisition added the Alta Mesa ISR Project ("Alta Mesa") in South Texas to the Company's portfolio. At the closing, Energy Fuels issued 4,551,284 common shares of the Company to the owners of Mestena. The acquisition of Alta Mesa is expected to expand Energy Fuels' lower-cost uranium recovery capabilities. Alta Mesa is currently on care and maintenance and is expected to resume uranium recovery operations upon sufficient improvement in uranium prices. In addition, on August 2, 2016, the Company announced a significant maiden uranium resource estimate for Alta Mesa. According to a technical report, prepared and filed in accordance with National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), Alta Mesa holds a total of 1.6 million tons of measured and indicated mineral resources with an average grade of 0.111% U 3 O 8 containing 3.6 million pounds of uranium, along with 7.0 million tons of inferred mineral resources with an average grade of 0.121% U 3 O 8 containing 16.8 million pounds of uranium.

On May 27, 2016, the Company completed its acquisition of Sumitomo Corporation's ("Sumitomo's") 40% interest in the Roca Honda Project for: (i) 1,212,173 common shares of the Company; and (ii) once commercial mineral extraction is commenced at the Roca Honda Project, an additional $4.5 million of cash payable at that time. As a result of this transaction, the Company now owns 100% of the Roca Honda Project, which is one of the largest and highest-grade uranium deposits in the U.S. In addition, on December 23, 2016, the Company announced that an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Roca Honda Project had been prepared and filed in accordance with NI 43-101.

Other Highlights:

The Company continued shaft-sinking operations at its Canyon Project in 2016, and expects to complete the shaft to a total depth of 1,470 feet in March 2017. Underground drilling to further define the Canyon deposit commenced in 2016 and is expected to be completed in March 2017. While evaluation of the core samples is ongoing, samples assayed to date indicate zones of high-grade uranium, which are expected to expand the previously estimated mineral resource, and newly discovered copper mineralization. The best uranium intercepts (based on chemical assay and grade-thickness) include 6.0-feet of mineralization with an average grade of 16.99% U 3 O 8 , 46.0-feet of mineralization with an average grade of 1.37% U 3 O 8 , and 41-feet of mineralization with an average grade of 1.09% U 3 O 8 . Twenty previously released drill intercepts, with a total intercept length of 645-feet have ranged between 1.20% and 26.20% Cu. The Company is evaluating the potential for recovering all or a portion of this copper at its White Mesa Mill as a value-added byproduct along with the recovery of uranium.

On April 15, 2016, the Company announced that Mark Chalmers had been appointed as the Company's Chief Operating Officer effective July 1, 2016, in order to oversee all of the Company's conventional and ISR operations. In addition, on January 31, 2017 Mr. Harold Roberts retired as the Company's Executive Vice President of Conventional Operations.

Selected Summary Financial Information:









$000, except per share data Year ended

December 31,

2016 Year ended

December 31,

2015 Year ended

December 31,

2014 Results of Operations:







Total revenues $ 54,552 $ 61,351 $ 46,253

Gross profit 13,737 23,734 16,346

Net loss attributable to the company (39,413) (82,217) (86,635)

Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share (0.70) (2.46) (4.41)







$000's As at December 31,

2016 As at December 31,

2015

Financial Position:







Working capital $ 24,023 $ 35,131



Property, plant and equipment 37,582 29,069



Mineral properties 92,625 91,031



Total assets 196,457 192,280



Total long-term liabilities 46,487 38,937



Operations and Sales Outlook:

In response to continued uranium price weakness and market uncertainty, the Company expects to defer further development of its Nichols Ranch ISR Project ("Nichols Ranch") beyond its ninth header house and keep the Alta Mesa Project on care and maintenance. The Company is also seeking new sources of revenue, including new sources of alternate feed materials and new fee processing opportunities at the White Mesa Mill. The Company will also complete its evaluation of the Canyon Project as discussed below. In addition, the Company is continuing to manage its activities and assets conservatively, maintaining its substantial uranium resource base and its ISR and conventional uranium extraction and recovery capabilities.

Extraction and Recovery  ISR Uranium Segment

The Company recovered approximately 335,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 from Nichols Ranch for the year ended December 31, 2016. The Company expects to produce approximately 350,000 pounds in the year ending December 31, 2017 from Nichols Ranch.

At December 31, 2016, the Nichols Ranch wellfields had eight header houses extracting uranium. The Company completed a ninth header house and began extracting uranium in March 2017. Until such time that improvement in uranium market conditions is observed or suitable sales contracts can be entered into, the Company intends to defer development of further header houses at Nichols Ranch and to keep Alta Mesa on care and maintenance.

Permitting of the Jane Dough Property ("Jane Dough"), which is adjacent to Nichols Ranch, is continuing and is expected to be completed by mid-2017. Jane Dough is expected to be placed into production after the thirteenth header house is completed at Nichols Ranch. Following Jane Dough, the Hank Project is fully permitted to be constructed as a satellite facility to Nichols Ranch.



Extraction and Recovery  Conventional Uranium Segment

The Company recovered approximately 680,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 from the White Mesa Mill during the year ended December 31, 2016, primarily from alternate feed materials and milling of previously mined ore from the Pinenut Mine. The Company expects to recover approximately 450,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 during the year ending December 31, 2017 at the White Mesa Mill, including approximately 300,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 from dissolved uranium not recovered from previous processing in the mill's tailings management system ("Pond Return") and approximately 150,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 from alternate feed material sources. In addition, the Company expects to earn a fee for processing additional quantities of alternate feed material at the White Mesa Mill. The processing fee earned by the Company is expected to cover the Company's processing cost and provide the Company with a reasonable margin.

The Company is actively pursuing additional opportunities to process alternate feed material sources, low grade ore in connection with various uranium clean-up activities, and further recovery of Pond Return.

Evaluation, Permitting and Standby Activities  Conventional Uranium Segment

The Company is selectively advancing permits at certain of its other major conventional uranium projects. In January 2017, the Company obtained the necessary permits to mine the open pit and underground portions of its Sheep Mountain Project in Wyoming. The Company also plans to continue the licensing and permitting of the Roca Honda Project, maintain required permits at the Company's conventional standby projects including the La Sal Project and the Daneros Project, and complete certain other well-advanced permits on the Daneros Project expansion and the La Sal Project expansion. All of these projects serve as important pipeline assets for the Company's future conventional production capabilities, as market conditions warrant.

Sales

During the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company completed sales under its existing contracts of 850,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 . The Company also sold approximately 300,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 based on spot prices at the time of the contract.

In 2016, the Company contracted to sell 200,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 on December 1, 2016 and 200,000 pounds in each of the years ending December 31, 2017 and 2018, with each delivery being priced based on the average spot price per pound of uranium for the five weeks prior to the date of delivery.

In 2017, the Company expects to complete deliveries of 520,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 under four contracts, including 320,000 pounds under three long-term contracts and 200,000 pounds under the spot contract discussed above. The Company is currently monitoring market conditions for additional sales opportunities. Selective additional spot sales may be made as necessary to generate cash for operations and development activities. The Company also continues to pursue new sources of revenue, including additional alternate feed materials and other sources of feed for the Mill.

Stephen P. Antony, P.E., President & CEO of Energy Fuels, is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release, including sampling, analytical, and test data underlying such disclosure.

The summary of core results for the Canyon Project is based on assay results from 157 samples that were taken from split NQ size core ranging from 2 to 10 ft. lengths. Assay analysis was performed at the White Mesa Mill Laboratory. U 3 O 8 was analyzed using spectrophotometry, and copper was analyzed using ICP-OES. A QA/QC program has been implemented for the Canyon core drilling campaign. The QA/QC program includes: fine duplicates (2 per 100 samples are split and both samples are analyzed by the Mill lab and compared); coarse duplicates (2 per 100 samples are split and both samples are analyzed by the Mill lab and compared); standards and blanks (8 per 100 samples are certified standards or blanks and the Mill lab results are compared to the certified values, and 3 different sample standards and 2 different sample blanks are used in the program); and 3rd party laboratory analysis (a split of 4 per 100 samples are sent to Inter-Mountain Labs, Inc. (IML) in Sheridan, Wyoming for independent uranium and copper testing; and the IML results are then compared to the Mill lab results. To date, 32 IML results have been received and confirmed to be consistent with the Mill lab results. In general, the breccia pipe mineralized zone where the samples were collected is orientated vertically, varies in diameter from 140 to 190 feet, and ranges in depth from 1,200 to 1,600 feet below the surface.

About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a leading integrated US-based uranium mining company, supplying U 3 O 8 to major nuclear utilities. Energy Fuels holds three of America's key uranium production centers, the White Mesa Mill in Utah, the Nichols Ranch Processing Facility in Wyoming, and the Alta Mesa Project in Texas. The White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the U.S. today and has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of U 3 O 8 per year. The Nichols Ranch Processing Facility is an ISR production center with a licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of U 3 O 8 per year. Alta Mesa is an ISR production center currently on care and maintenance. Energy Fuels also has the largest NI 43-101 compliant uranium resource portfolio in the U.S. among producers, and uranium mining projects located in a number of Western U.S. states, including one producing ISR project, mines on standby, and mineral properties in various stages of permitting and development. The Company also produces vanadium as a co-product of its uranium production form certain of its mines on the Colorado Plateau, as market conditions warrant. The Company's common shares are listed on the NYSE MKT under the trading symbol "UUUU", and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "EFR".

ADDITIONAL NON-US GAAP FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES

The Company has included the additional non-US GAAP measure "Gross Profit" in the financial statements and in this news release. Management notes that "Gross Profit" provides useful information to investors as an indication of the Company's principal business activities before consideration of how those activities are financed, sustaining capital expenditures, corporate and exploration and evaluation expenses, finance income and costs, and taxation.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain "Forward Looking Information" and "Forward Looking Statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation, which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: production and sales forecasts; expectation that the acquisition of the Alta Mesa Project has lowered the Company's portfolio-wide cost of production or has expanded the Company's future lower-cost ISR scalability; the Company's expectations as to the timing of completion of shaft sinking, underground drilling, evaluation and preparation of a revised NI 43-101 Report for the Canyon Project; expectations that drill results at the Canyon Project could result in an expansion of the previously estimated mineral resource and/or identification of a significant copper resource; whether all or a portion of any copper resource at the Canyon Project can be recovered at the White Mesa Mill or elsewhere; scalability, and the Company's ability and readiness to re-start or expand any of its existing projects to respond to any improvements in uranium market conditions; the expectation that amendments to the Company's Debentures will provide the Company with additional financial flexibility for execution of its business plan; the expectation that the Company will earn a reasonable margin on any of its alternate feed material or other processing activities; the ability of the Company to secure any new sources of alternate feed materials or other processing opportunities at the White Mesa Mill; the ability of the Company to manage its activities and assets conservatively under current market conditions while maintaining its uranium resource base and recovery capabilities; the ability of the Company to enter into suitable sales contracts in the future; expected timelines for the permitting and development of projects; mineral resource estimates; the Company's expectations as to longer term fundamentals in the market and price projections; the Company's expectations as to expenditures and cost reductions; and expectations to become or maintain its position as a leading uranium company in the United States. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" "does not expect", "is expected", "is likely", "budget" "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved" or "have the potential to". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, herein are considered to be forward-looking statements. 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 express or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated with: production and sales forecasts; expectation that the acquisition of the Alta Mesa Project has lowered the Company's portfolio-wide cost of production or has expanded the Company's future lower-cost ISR scalability; the Company's expectations as to the timing of completion of shaft sinking, underground drilling, evaluation and preparation of a revised NI 43-101 Report for the Canyon Project; expectations that drill results at the Canyon Project could result in an expansion of the previously estimated mineral resource and/or identification of a significant copper resource; whether all or a portion of any copper resource at the Canyon Project can be recovered at the White Mesa Mill or elsewhere; scalability, and the Company's ability and readiness to re-start or expand any of its existing projects, to respond to any improvements in uranium market conditions; the expectation that amendments to the Company's Debentures will provide the Company with additional financial flexibility for execution of its business plan; the expectation that the Company will earn a reasonable margin on any of its alternate feed material or other processing activities; the ability of the Company to secure any new sources of alternate feed materials or other processing opportunities at the White Mesa Mill; the ability of the Company to manage its activities and assets conservatively under current market conditions while maintaining its uranium resource base and recovery capabilities; the ability of the Company to enter into suitable sales contracts in the future; expected timelines for the permitting and development of projects; mineral resource estimates; the Company's expectations as to longer term fundamentals in the market and price projections; the Company's expectations as to expenditures and cost reductions; expectations to become or maintain its position as a leading uranium company in the United States; and the other factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K dated March 9, 2017, which is available for review on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on the Company's website at www.energyfuels.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as otherwise required by law.

CAUTIONARY NOTE TO UNITED STATES INVESTORS CONCERNING ESTIMATES OF MEASURED, INDICATED AND INFERRED RESOURCES

This news release contains certain disclosure that has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all reserve and resource estimates included in this news release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") classification system. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of U.S. securities laws, and reserve and resource information contained in this news release may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by companies reporting only under U.S. standards. In particular, the term "resource" does not equate to the term "reserve" under SEC Industry Guide 7. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any of Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an "Inferred Mineral Resource" exists or is economically or legally minable. Energy Fuels does not hold any Reserves as that term is defined by SEC Industry Guide 7. Please refer to the section entitled "Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Disclosure of Mineral Resources" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K dated March 9, 2017 for further details.

SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.

Related Links

http://www.energyfuels.com


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Georgia will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Georgia, tobacco companies spend $332.9 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Georgia, tobacco use claims 11,700 lives and costs $3.18 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 12.8 percent of Georgia's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Georgia, activities include:

On March 13, the Southwest Georgia Public Health District will host an anti-tobacco rally at the Jane Wilson Boys and Girls Club in Albany. Guest speakers include representatives from the Greater Atlanta Voice Masters' laryngectomee group. Time: 6 PM. Location: Boys and Girls Club of Albany, 1012 Holloway Avenue, Albany. Contact: Ebonee Kirkwood (229) 669-8278.

Members of the H.E.A.R.T. (Health, Education, Awareness, and Research on Tobacco) Coalition and students at Atlanta Public Schools will create a graffiti wall with positive messages about living tobacco-free lifestyles, and promote tobacco prevention education. Time: 1  2:30 PM. Location: New Schools at Carver, 55 McDonough Boulevard S.E., Atlanta. Contact: Ryan Burke (478) 957-2785.

On March 30, community health workers and the Tri-Cities Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement (ARCHI) will host a 'Fresh Empire'-inspired talent show at Tri-Cities High School in East Point featuring students and local artists. The show will highlight facts about the risks of smoking, the truth about tobacco companies' marketing to youth, as well as resources and information on quitting. Time: 2:45  3:45. Location: Tri-Cities High School, 2575 Harris Street, East Point. Contact: Patrice Barlow (202) 294-7100.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Georgia, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.





SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


NEW YORK, March 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gourmet salts are untreated, hand harvested salts with low sodium content and without additives. These salts are used to add profligacy, flavor and dressing to food products. Gourmet salts have better solubility, exotic flavor, moisture and superior mineral content.



To understand and assess the opportunities in this market, the report is categorically split into three sections, namely, market analysis by product, application, and region. The report analyzes the global gourmet salts market in terms of market value (US$ Mn) and volume (tons).



The report starts with an overview of the global gourmet salts market and usage of these salts in various applications across the globe. In the same section, PMR covers the global gourmet salts market performance in terms of revenue and consumption. This section includes PMR's analysis of key trends, drivers, and restraints from supply and demand perspectives. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints, based on the weighted average model, is included in this report to better equip clients with crystal clear decision-making insights.



Rising viewership of cookery shows and competitions is increasing popularity of fancy and exotic cooking styles that use specialty ingredients such as gourmet salts. Gourmet salt manufacturers can tie up with popular cooking channels and shows to promote their products. Also, manufacturers can promote their products at various food exhibitions held worldwide in order to enhance product visibility. These factors are driving the overall gourmet salts market growth.



The next section of the report analyzes the market on the basis of application and presents the market size in terms of value and volume for the forecast period (2015 - 2025).



The gourmet salts market is segmented as follows:

By product type

By application type

By region

The next section of the report analyzes the market on the basis of product types and presents the market size in terms of value and volume for the forecast period.



On the basis of product type the market is segmented into:

Coarse salt

Flake Salt

Fleur de Sel

Indian black salt

Italian sea salt

Sel Gris sea salt

Smoked Sea Salt

Others (Himalayan pink salts and specialty flavoured salts)

Of these, the fleur de sel accounted for 19.9% share of the overall gourmet salts market in 2014, followed by coarse salts. The gourmet salts market is mainly driven by factors such as increasing urbanization and growing westernization, adoption of convenience food and rising popularity of live cooking shows. On the other hand, growing health awareness is influencing consumer preference towards natural and healthy food.



The section that follows analyzes the market on the basis of application and presents the market size in terms of value and volume for the forecast period.



On the basis of application the market is segment as follows:

Bakery and Confectionery

Meat and Poultry

Seafood

Sauces and Savory

Desert and Frozen Food

Of the aforementioned segments, the bakery and confectionery segment is expected to expand at the highest CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period. However, the meat and poultry segment is expected to dominate the gourmet salts market in terms of share contribution, accounting for 31.9% share of the overall market by 2025. Manufacturers and distributors are focused towards launching various types of specialty gourmet salts to enhance their brand visibility. For instance, In September 2014, Salt House, a sister company to J.C. Peacock and Co. Ltd. launched a new range of gourmet salts, including Himalayan pink salt and Hawaiian black lava salt.



The section that follows analyzes the market on the basis of region and presents the market size in terms of value for the forecast period.



Regions covered in the report are as follows:

North America

Latin America

Western Europe

Eastern Europe

Asia Pacific Excluding Japan

The Middle East & Africa

Japan

Of the aforementioned segments, the Western Europe market is expected to expand at the highest CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period. However, North America market is expected to grow at faster rate during forecast period. In terms of volume, Western Europe is expected to contribute highest market share. Fleur de sel and coarse salt segments expected to contributes 35.0% of total gourmet salts market in Western Europe.



Key players in global gourmet salts market include Cargill, Incorporated, Morton Salt, Inc. (K+S Aktiengesellschaft), SaltWorks, Inc., CK Life Sciences Int'l., (Holdings) Inc. (Cheetham Salt Limited), Amagansett Sea Salt Co., Murray River Gourmet Salt, INFOSA, Pyramid Salt Pty. Ltd. and The Marblehead Salt Co. LLC. Major distributors profiled in this reports are J.C. Peacock, The Meadow (Bitterman and Sons, Inc.), SeaSalt Superstore LLC, The Savory Pantry, Evolution Salt Co. and HEPP'S Salt CO. Gourmet salts manufacturers are focused towards introduction of clean label specialty ingredients for application in various food products in order to cater to growing consumer inclination towards exotic food products.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03403272-summary/view-report.html



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BRONX, N.Y., March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Street Solar Power, a NYC-based solar installer, has received the SunPower "Commercial Regional Top Producer of the Year" award for its outstanding sales performance as a SunPower dealer in 2016.

"Earning SunPower's 2016 'Commercial Regional Top Producer of the Year' award for our success delivering the world's highest efficiency solar systems and superior customer service to business owners is an astounding achievement for Green Street Solar Power," said Scott Kerner of Green Street Solar Power. "Partnering with SunPower, one of the world's most innovative and sustainable energy companies, allows us to offer our customers reliable solar energy and significant electricity savings over the life of their systems."

The "Commercial Regional Top Producer of the Year" award honors the SunPower commercial dealer that has the highest shipment volume in their region of the United States.

"SunPower's reputable national dealer network is strengthened by local solar companies like Green Street Solar Power, selected for their quality craftsmanship, industry expertise and customer service," said Nam Nguyen, SunPower senior vice president. "We congratulate Green Street Solar Power for an extraordinary performance in 2016 as a commercial dealer, delivering the value of SunPower solar to businesses in their communities."

In 2016, Green Street Solar Power installed the largest rooftop solar system in Massachusetts and one of the largest in the U.S. This 4.1-megawatt system is using the SunPower Helix platform and will be offsetting power for the entire school district of Attleboro.

For more information on Green Street Solar Power, call 917-254-4344 or visit greenstreetsolarpower.com.

About Green Street Solar Power

Green Street Solar Power provides solar energy systems to homes and businesses throughout the northeast. Headquartered in the Bronx, NY, Green Street has grown from two founders to more than 60 employees in less than two years. Green Street continues to experience rapid growth with 100 MW of commercial and community solar projects in development. As they expand their solar coverage, Green Street consistently provides the best available solar technology coupled with an unwavering commitment to customer service.

Media Contact:

Scott Kerner

646-303-5215

[email protected]

SOURCE Green Street Solar Power

Related Links

http://www.greenstreetsolarpower.com


SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City School District is without its chief financial officer during the crucial final weeks of finalizing a budget for the next academic year.

Chief financial officer John Chalstrom, previously a Clear Lake High School principal, was placed on paid administrative leave Feb. 13, district spokeswoman Alison Benson confirmed Monday.

Benson said she could not discuss the reasons for the leave, saying personnel issues are confidential and cannot be made public.

She did not immediately respond to requests seeking information about the school district's policies listing the reasons a district employee can be placed on administrative leave.

Sioux City School Board President Mike Krysl said he could not discuss Chalstrom's status, but said the leave is effective until further notice.

Chalstrom, who joined the district less than two years ago, could not be reached for comment.

The move comes as superintendent Paul Gausman is considering leaving the Sioux City district after nine years. Gausman, one of three finalists as superintendent for the Omaha Schools, publicly interviewed for the post Monday with the Omaha School Board.

Chalstrom heads the district's finance department, which includes nine other employees. In the district's organizational configuration, the chief financial officer presents a budget and financial reports for approval to school board members.

At a school board meeting in January, Chalstrom led a discussion as the board considers options for closing a projected deficit for the budget that begins July 1.

Gausman presented the latest budget figures at the most recent board meeting on Feb. 28, where the board moved to pare about $3.2 million in spending, which would lower the fiscal 2018 general fund budget to around $170 million, up about $2 million from the current budget.

State law requires public schools in Iowa to adopt a budget by April 15.

During the budget discussions, Krysl said finance department staff members Sherri Jones and Patty Pageler have given "really good" expertise in Chalstrom's absence. Krysl said the school district has also received input from a consultant from Iowa School Finance Information Services in Des Moines.

Chalstrom's current salary is $140,255. Chalstrom, a Fort Dodge native, worked in Clear Lake from 1998 to 2005, before serving as superintendent of Cherokee Schools for 10 years. He was appointed Sioux City's CFO in July 2015.

Chalstrom was selected by Gausman with the guidance of an advisory committee comprised of school administration and finance experts from the Sioux City business community.

After some board members expressed concern about appointing a vital position in the district without knowing if the candidate was fully qualified, the board was given the opportunity to examine Chalstroms credentials in a closed session.

The board then voted 6-1 to approve his hiring.

Brett Hayworth writes for the Sioux City Journal, another Lee Enterprises newspaper. Reach him at bhayworth@siouxcityjournal.com.
WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Illinois will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Illinois, tobacco companies spend $295.0 million annually on marketing efforts.

In Illinois, health advocates are making a statewide push to increase the tobacco sale age to 21, a move that will reduce tobacco use and save lives.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Illinois, tobacco use claims 18,300 lives and costs $5.49 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 10.1 percent of Illinois's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Illinois, activities include:

On March 14, OSF Healthcare will host an event with Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center in Peoria that will feature virtual reality gaming adventures that demonstrate the dangers of smoking. Participants will virtually fly through the lungs and other parts of the body to see what "smoking from the inside" looks like. Time: 6  9 PM. Location: Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center, 1306 N. Berkeley Avenue, Peoria. Contact: Kathleen Copelen (309) 363-6429.

Students at Clinton Rosette Middle School in DeKalb will clean up cigarette butts from a local park. They will also rally their school together and take a tobacco-free pledge. Time: 9  10 AM. Location: Clinton Rosette Middle School, 650 N. 1st Street, DeKalb. Contact: Chessa Osiecki (815) 748-2431.

The Mercer County Health Department will facilitate events at all Mercer County School District locations and at the Aledo Fire Department. The events will include creative messages spelled out by cups in a chain link fence, displayed on lawn signs showing fatal figures, or written on old clothing to "air out" big tobacco's dirty laundry. Time: 11:15 AM  12:30 PM. Contact: Leslie Connell (309) 582-3759.

The Egyptian Health Department will display anti-tobacco messages by putting cups in a chain link fence at Eldorado Middle School. They will also promote a tobacco-free lifestyle through educational classes and support groups. Time: 11 AM  12 PM. Location: Eldorado Middle School, 2200 Illinois Avenue, Eldorado. Contact: Kimberly Scott-Pilkington (618) 313-1227.

On March 16, the Macoupin County Public Health Department will visit Bunker Hill High School as part of its "graffiti road tour" to spread information about the dangers of tobacco use to towns across the county. Time: 1:30  3:15 PM. Location: Wolf Ridge Educational Center, 700 W. Orange Street, Bunker Hill. Contact: Katie Yakos (217) 320-9053.

On March 16, the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists and students from the University Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy (UIC) will host a "lung health" educational event for K-8 students at Laurance Armour Day School in Chicago. Time: 4  6 PM. Location: Laurance Armour Day School, 2150 W. Harrison Street, Chicago. Contact: David Silva (559) 359-3952.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Illinois, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Indiana will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Indiana, tobacco companies spend $284.5 million annually on marketing efforts.

In Indiana, a coalition of health, business and education leaders have launched the "Raise It For Health" campaign to raise the state tobacco tax by $1.50 per pack and restore funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Indiana, tobacco use claims 11,100 lives and costs $2.93 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 12 percent of Indiana's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Indiana, activities include:

On March 11, Intersect Inc. Coalition and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapters will hold a community day to pick up cigarette butts in the Dickmann Downtown Center Park. Their mission is to persuade the parks department to make the park smoke free. Time: 10 AM. Location: 1135 Meridian Street, Anderson. Contact: Virgil Jones (765) 602-7229.

On March 14, youth from Westfield Middle School will decorate sidewalks with Kick Butts Day messages while completing a pledge to stay smoke free. Time: 11:15 AM. Location: 345 W. Hoover Street, Westfield. Contact: Holly Wheeler (317) 374-7857.

On March 14, iLEAD Youth, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Vigo County, and Vigo County

Tobacco Prevention & Cessation Coalition (TPC) will kick tobacco to the curb by chalking statistics on Woodrow Wilson Middle School's sidewalks. Time: 4 PM. Location: 301 S. 25th Street, Terre Haute. Contact: Khrista Beliles (765) 721-2475.

The Ripley County Health Department, in partnership with Ripley County Drug Awareness Coalition, the Southeastern Indiana Career Center and the Health Occupation Students of America, will host an anti-tobacco rally, health fair and balloon launch. Time: 9:30 AM. Location: 901 W. US 50, Versailles. Contact: Holley Rose (812) 593-5765.

Minority Health Coalition Elkhart will help youth "Skate Out Tobacco" during a free event at Holiday Skate Center. The event will educate youth about big tobacco companies' deceptive marketing tactics and encourage a tobacco-free lifestyle. Time: 4:30 PM. Location: 28736 CR 20, Elkhart. Contact: Velishea Billings (574) 226-5400.

Minority Health Coalition of Marion County and Anthem Forest Manor Multi Service Center will host a graffiti wall and pledge event for Indianapolis youth. Community leaders are invited to raise awareness of tobacco cessation. Time: 3 PM. Location: 5603 E 38th Street, Indianapolis. Contact: Tiffany Nichols (317) 517-7328.

The Baker Youth Club and Kosciusko County Tobacco Free Coalition will host a #BeTheFirst Pledge Wall where youth will take a stand to be tobacco-free. Time: 3 PM. Location: 1401 East Smith Street, Warsaw. Contact: Heidi Blake (574) 551-5663.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Indiana, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Kentucky will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Kentucky, tobacco companies spend $266.2 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Kentucky, tobacco use claims 8,900 lives and costs $1.92 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 16.9 percent of Kentucky's high school students smoke, the second highest high school smoking rate in the United States.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Kentucky, activities include:

On March 13, students at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester will host a presentation on the dangers of tobacco products and how tobacco companies target youth. Time: 3:45 PM. Location: 2745 New Boonesboro Road, Winchester. Contact: Haley Tye (859) 595-6211.

On March 14, the Purchase District Health Department will visit students from McCracken County High School in Paducah and host an interactive booth where kids will learn about the dangers of tobacco use through games, trivia contests, educational displays and a costumed "Mr. Gross Mouth." Time: 10:15 AM. Location: 6530 Old Hwy 60, Paducah. Contact: Rana Gordon Sullivan (270) 444-9625.

Schools across Tompkinsville will take a stand against big tobacco by constructing visual reminders about the dangers of tobacco use. Time: 10:30 AM. Location: 160 Old Mulkey Road, Tompkinsville. Contact: Kelli Smith (270) 487-1368.

Teens Against Tobacco Use members at Burgin Independent School will host a #NotaReplacement selfie station to encourage their peers to post anti-tobacco messages on social media. "I am not a Replacement" signs will hang throughout the school to take a stand against tobacco. Time: 11 AM. Location: 440 E. Main Street, Burgin. Contact: Emily Steer (859) 734-4522.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Kentucky, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


NEW YORK, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lawsuits filed on behalf of individuals who allegedly experienced permanent alopecia due to the Taxotere chemotherapy medication continue to move forward in the multidistrict litigation underway in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. Court records indicate that two Pretrial Orders were issued on February 13, 2017, including an Order outlining a proposed Common Benefit Order previously submitted by the parties. A second Pretrial Order addresses the Court's intent to appoint a Special Master for management, oversight, and substantive review of matters related to and claimed to be common benefit, as well as any other matters or recommendation as directed by the Court. (In Re: Taxotere (Docetaxal) Products Liability Litigation - MDL No. 2740)

"Our Firm is representing Taxotere clients in claims involving permanent hair loss, and we continue to receive inquiries from others seeking to file similar lawsuits. We are pleased with the progress of the federal litigation thus far, and the matters addressed in the Court's latest Pretrial Orders will help ensure that the proceeding continues to move forward efficiently," says Sandy A. Liebhard, a partner at Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective medical devices and drugs. The Firm is now offering free case reviews to breast cancer patients and others who experienced permanent hair loss allegedly associated with Taxotere cancer treatment.

Taxotere and Hair Loss

More than 800 Taxotere lawsuits have been filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana on behalf of individuals who allegedly experienced permanent hair loss following treatment with the chemotherapy agent. While Taxotere was first approved to treat breast cancer in 1996, it wasn't until December 2015 that mention of permanent alopecia was included on the drug's U.S. label. It is true that alopecia is a common side effect of chemotherapy. However, plaintiffs claim that Taxotere is more likely to result in the permanent loss of hair compared to alternative, equally effective drugs. They also claim that Sanofi-Aventis has long provided information regarding the potential for permanent alopecia to individual patients and regulatory agencies overseas. Yet Taxotere's U.S. label only included a generic, vague, and insufficient warning that "hair generally grows back".

Victims of permanent hair loss allegedly associated with Taxotere may be entitled to compensation for their emotional distress and other damages. To learn more about filing a Taxotere lawsuit, please visit Bernstein Liebhard LLP's website, or call 800-511-5092 to arrange for a free, no obligation case review.

About Bernstein Liebhard LLP

Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993. As a national law firm, Bernstein Liebhard LLP possesses all of the legal and financial resources required to successfully challenge billion dollar pharmaceutical and medical device companies. As a result, our attorneys and legal staff have been able to recover more than $3.5 billion on behalf of our clients. Bernstein Liebhard LLP is honored to once again be named to The National Law Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List," recognizing the top plaintiffs firms in the country. This year's nomination marks the thirteenth year the firm has been named to this prestigious annual list.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP

10 East 40th Street

New York, New York 10016

800-511-5092

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.  2017 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, 800-511-5092. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

Contact Information:

Sandy A. Liebhard, Esq.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP

info (at)consumerinjurylawyers(dot)com

http://www.rxinjuryhelp.com/

https://plus.google.com/115936073311125306742?rel=author

SOURCE Bernstein Liebhard LLP

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WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Louisiana will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Louisiana, tobacco companies spend $205.1 million annually on marketing efforts.

In Louisiana, health advocates are urging East Baton Rouge Parish to adopt a comprehensive smoke-free law, protecting everyone's right to breathe clean air in the city's restaurants, bars and casinos.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Louisiana, tobacco use claims 7,200 lives and costs $1.89 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 12.1 percent of Louisiana's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Louisiana, activities include:

Students at Joseph Craig Charter School will perform skits sponsored by the Rho Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity to encourage family members to stop smoking and to warn fellow students about the dangers of tobacco use. Time: 10:30 AM. Location: 1423 St. Phillip Street, Kenner. Contact: Marion Floyd (504) 952-4006.

The DEFY Youth Team will host a kick butts pledge wall event at Lock Park in Charles. They will serve food and hand out educational materials about the effects of smoking. Time: 4:30 PM. Location: 1535 Ryan Street, Lake Charles. Contact: Anita Barker (337) 302-3725.

On March 31, students at Franklinton Senior High School will attend a spring fest featuring anti-tobacco visual displays designed by the Washington Parish Youth Coalition. The event is sponsored by the Drug Free Communities and the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living. Time: 9 AM. Location: 1 Demon Circle, Franklinton. Contact: Gail Brigham (985) 414-2087.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Louisiana, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


Aaron Miner, operations manager of LyondellBasell's Morris, Illinois, Complex, accepted the award on behalf of the company at a special event in New York. Miner participated in JA programs as a young student. Today, he serves as a JA mentor and member of the Junior Achievement of Chicago board of directors.

"Aaron Miner exemplifies the power of Junior Achievement. As a former Junior Achievement participant, Aaron received the knowledge and skills needed to plan for the future, and now he is a leader at LyondellBasell and in his community," said Bob Patel, LyondellBasell's CEO and Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas board member. "Part of our company's mission is to be a good neighbor in the communities where we operate. Our partnership with Junior Achievement provides the opportunity for our employees around the country to make a meaningful contribution that has the potential to change a student's life for the better."

President George W. Bush established the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation (the Council) in 2003 to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers make in communities and to encourage more people to serve. The Council created the President's Volunteer Service Award program as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service. In 2006, Junior Achievement became an official certifying organization for this award, which recognizes corporations with a U.S. presence that provide volunteers to teach JA programs anywhere in the world.

"LyondellBasell is an incredible company in so many regards," said Richard Franke, President of Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas. "Their generosity and employees have engaged the JA mission by actively empowering young people to own their economic success. Their volunteers are invaluable mentors for our young people. Individually, each volunteer is bringing life to our programs by sharing their experiences and skills with students. From managing personal finances to identifying and securing a rewarding job, LyondellBasell volunteers are educating and inspiring students with the tools they need to be successful."

About LyondellBasell

LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB) is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels. More information about LyondellBasell can be found at www.lyb.com.

About Junior Achievement USA (JA)

Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Today, JA reaches 4.8 million students per year in more than 100 markets across the United States, with an additional 5.6 million students served by operations over 100 other countries worldwide. Visit www.ja.org for more information.

SOURCE LyondellBasell

Related Links

http://www.lyb.com


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Maine will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Maine, tobacco companies spend $42.8 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Maine, tobacco use claims 2,400 lives and costs $811 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 11.2 percent of Maine's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Maine, activities include:

Teenagers at the Biddeford Teen Center will post tobacco facts on a graffiti wall and demonstrate what tobacco does to lungs over time using two sets of pig lungs. Time: 3:30 PM. Location: 550 Main Street, Biddeford. Contact: Carl Walsh (207) 590-1932.

On March 16, students from the Eddy School in Newry will visit local elementary schools to play jeopardy games with the students and teach them about the dangers of tobacco use. Time: 10 AM. Location: 224 Rumford Avenue, Bryant Pond. Contact: Deb Webster (207) 381-7716.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Maine, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


ARS, France, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Maison Ferrand, the award winning Cognac, Gin and Rum producer in the heart of Cognac, France, has acquired the historic West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados which has produced rum continually since the 19th century. Maison Ferrand is the owner of the Plantation rum brand with global distribution in 68 countries. The company produces Cognac and gin at its facility in Cognac, France and the purchase of West Indies Rum Distillery (WIRD) marks the first distillery acquisition outside of France. The acquisition signifies Maison Ferrand's long term commitment to the quality production of Plantation rum.

Plantation Rum was first introduced in 2003 with the desire to bring rum to the same quality standards of the best Cognacs. Since then Maison Ferrand has been selecting, aging and blending rum from the best Caribbean distilleries for its award-winning Plantation Rum expressions. Barbados is the historical birthplace of rum making and Barbadian rum has been the backbone of Plantation vintage editions as well as its special blends.

"We are production guys and having our own distillery in the Caribbean has been a dream for many years," says Alexandre Gabriel, proprietor of Maison Ferrand. "It is like getting married, we wanted to find a great match, one for life and we have found it in West Indies Rum Distillery and the exceptional rum makers there. The team there is as passionate as we are and we can't wait to start producing delicious rum together."

Barbados holds so much rum-making history, as does West Indies Rum Distillery, and Maison Ferrand is committed to working with this ancient distillery as one cohesive team to produce exceptional rum. Maison Ferrand plans to tap back to the early roots of this historic distillery and its very rich heritage. The distillery has some ancient pot stills, one that is possibly the oldest in the Caribbean and has been dormant for almost 100 years. Alexandre Gabriel is committed to bringing these stills back to life, and as he says 'make them sing again.' Additionally, The West Indies Rum Distillery aging warehouse is uniquely located right on the sea which imprints the rum with a specific style not found anywhere else.

Gabriel says, "We control the production of our Ferrand Cognac and Citadelle Gin because we own the facilities in Cognac. We love challenging ourselves to make the best there is and it requires total commitment. We wanted the same holistic involvement for our Plantation rum so this investment is the natural course of things for us. We are both excited and humbled by what lies ahead. When signing the purchase of this historical distillery, my thoughts went to Laurie Barnard and Thierry Gardere, two rum icons and friends that we have lost all too soon. They were great inspirations to me."

In the purchase of the West Indies Rum Distillery, Ferrand will also have access to excellent Jamaican rum as West Indies Rum Distillery is one third owner of National Jamaican Rum Company with Monymusk Distillery and the famed Long Pond Distillery. It is very meaningful for Ferrand as Jamaica is the second source of rum for Plantation. Together, this gives Maison Ferrand and Plantation the tools to go even further in its mission for marrying terroir, passion and time for great spirits.

West Indies Rum Distillery is the preferred rum production partner for other companies and will continue to honor their relationships and contracts with them.

ABOUT MAISON FERRAND

Maison Ferrand is one of the world's premier boutique producer of fine spirits and the architect of the artisanal spirits movement. Maison Ferrand has offices and production premises at Chateau de Bonbonnet in Ars, France and its brands are distributed in more than 68 countries. Consumers around the globe recognize the company's brands including the award-winning: Plantation Rum, Pierre Ferrand Cognac, Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, Citadelle Gin, Mathilde Liqueurs, and Daron Calvados. For more information about Maison Ferrand, visit www.maisonferrand.com.

The award-winning Plantation Rum portfolio includes rums from: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Panama, St. Lucia and Trinidad. For more information, visit www.plantationrum.com.

SOURCE Maison Ferrand

Related Links

http://www.maisonferrand.com


Establishes strong platform in the plant-based proteins market

MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Maple Leaf Foods (MFI: TSX) today announced that its acquisition of Lightlife Foods, Inc., a leading manufacturer and brand of refrigerated plant-based protein foods in the United States, has closed. The transaction value of $140 million plus related costs was financed from cash on hand.

Lightlife is the leading refrigerated plant protein brand and manufacturer in the United States, with approximately 38% market share, and provides an important growth opportunity in one of Maple Leaf's strategic growth platforms. The U.S. market for plant-based proteins is estimated at US$600 million, with the refrigerated category representing over US$110 million and delivering double-digit annual growth. Lightlife management will continue to lead the business, which will operate as a subsidiary of Maple Leaf Foods.

"Expanding into the fast growing alternative proteins market is one of Maple Leaf's strategic growth platforms and advances our commitment to become a leader in sustainability," said Michael McCain, President and CEO. "The acquisition of Lightlife provides Maple Leaf with a leading market position and brand in the United States in a category that is outpacing growth in the broader packaged foods sector. We are committed to growing the business through investment in brand building, innovation and leveraging our respective capabilities."

About Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading consumer protein company, making high quality, innovative products under national brands including Maple Leaf, Maple Leaf Prime, Maple Leaf Natural Selections, Schneiders, Schneiders Country Naturals, and Mina. The Company employs approximately 11,000 people across Canada and exports to global markets, including the U.S. and Asia. The Company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario and its shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MFI).

SOURCE Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mapleleaffoods.com


With over 600 million bras sold, Smart & Sexy CEO/Founder Ariela Balk set out to launch a bra-sized, solution-swimwear brand that would shape, enhance and transform all women in all silhouettes at a premium value price point. Collection highlights include: Halter, Push-Up, Convertible, and Bandeau tops in an array of solids and signature prints. Prices from $24, sizes from 32A - 38DDD.

"I am so excited to launch our Smart & Sexy 'Swim Secret' collection in time for Smart & Sexy Day. Our bra-sized swimwear is designed and focused on how to best support and shape. Every woman has a unique figure and we offer solutions to enhance her assets and support her in every way," says Balk.

In celebration of Smart & Sexy Day, The Alliance of Career Development Nonprofits and Smart & Sexy partner to offer nationwide events educating and celebrating working women. The events will prepare women to enter the workforce.

Ariela Balk is a mother of eight and CEO/Founder of one of the largest privately held lingerie companies in the USA. "I'm completely committed to supporting women as they grow their careers and businesses, both financially and through mentoring. Helping shape the future, with more successful women, and women owned businesses is one of the most fulfilling ways to spend my time." Smart & Sexy's five year partnership with ACDN is an example of this in action.

SOURCE Smart & Sexy

Related Links

http://www.smartandsexy.com


MASON CITY | A Mason City man accused of inappropriately touching a child last year will be sentenced May 1.

Gregory S. Courtier, 47, entered an Alford plea to felony lascivious acts with a child this week in district court.

In an Alford plea the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges the state can likely prove the charge.

Mason City man charged with lascivious acts with child MASON CITY | A Mason City man accused of inappropriately touching a child last year has been

Courtier was accused of touching a child's genitals on Feb. 14, 2016, in Mason City.

The Cerro Gordo County Attorney's Office is recommending he be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, according to court documents.

-- Mary Pieper
WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Maryland will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Maryland, tobacco companies spend $127.5 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Maryland, tobacco use claims 7,500 lives and costs $2.71 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 8.7 percent of Maryland's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Maryland, activities include:

Students at Annapolis High School will construct and sign a pledge wall, committing to a tobacco-free lifestyle and encouraging peers and loved ones to quit smoking. Time: 9:15 AM. Location: 2700 Riva Road, Annapolis. Contact: Bridgitte Hammaker (443) 286-6592.

Students at Mt. Royal Elementary and Middle School and the Baltimore City Health Department will hold a rally and a cigarette butt cleanup to raise awareness about the problem of tobacco use. The event will also announce the winner of a school-wide poster contest. Time: 9 AM. Location: 121 McMechen Street, Baltimore. Contact: Adrienne Williams (716) 390-0800.

In partnership with Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), students at C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air will pledge to never use tobacco products. Time: 10:45 AM. Location: 1301 N. Fountain Green Road, Bel Air. Contact: Ginnie Bullis (410) 638-4110.

On March 22, students from the Country School in Easton, the Talbot Health Department and the Tobacco Restitution Fund will hold an interactive exhibit where kids will learn about the dangers of tobacco use through games, prizes and educational displays. Time: 9 AM. Location: 716 Goldsborough Street, Easton. Contact: Barry Cox (410) 726-1758.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Maryland, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Massachusetts will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Massachusetts, tobacco companies spend $123.6 million annually on marketing efforts.

In Massachusetts, health advocates are urging the Legislature to pass several bills to fight tobacco use among youth. These bills would raise the tobacco sale age to 21, require tobacco-free pharmacies and add e-cigarettes to the statewide smoke-free workplace law.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Massachusetts, tobacco use claims 9,300 lives and costs $4.08 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 7.7 percent of Massachusetts's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Massachusetts, activities include:

More than 200 youth members of the 84 Movement will gather with the 84 Statewide Leadership Team for a march through Boston Common to the Massachusetts State House, where they will meet with legislators to share their perspectives on youth tobacco use. Time: 8:30 AM. Location: The Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston. Contact: Joan Rubel (413) 884-4804.

Sixth grade students from Westhampton Elementary School will play tobacco Jeopardy with seventh grade students at Hampshire Regional Middle and High School to spread knowledge about the dangers of tobacco products. Time: 10 AM. Location: 19 Stage Road, Westhampton. Contact: Mary Phelan (413) 437-5577.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Massachusetts, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Michigan will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Michigan, tobacco companies spend $299.4 million annually on marketing efforts.

In Michigan, health advocates are urging state leaders to raise the tobacco sale age to 21, a move that will reduce tobacco use and save lives. Genesee County and Ann Arbor passed 'Tobacco 21' laws in recent months.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Michigan, tobacco use claims 16,200 lives and costs $4.59 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 10.0 percent of Michigan's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Michigan, activities include:

Students from Hillsdale County Youth Engaged in Prevention will hold a youth rally and Facebook Live event at the state Capitol in Lansing. They will also sign tobacco-free pledges. Time: 12 PM. Location: 100 N. Capitol Avenue, Lansing. Contact: Kelley Mapes (517) 398-6607.

Students from Union City High School will create tombstones for famous people who died from tobacco use, develop posters highlighting the cost and health risk of tobacco, and host an assembly on the harmful effects of tobacco products. They will also display flags representing the daily deaths from tobacco use in Michigan. Time: 1:30 PM. Location: 430 St. Joseph Street, Union City. Contact: Richard Maples (517) 568-3497.

Students from the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) 21st Century After School Program in Dearborn will research the effects of tobacco use and present their findings to peers, siblings and teachers. Time: 4 PM. Location: 14749 Alber Street, Dearborn. Contact: Fatima Abdulla (313) 415-4798.

Members of Most Teens Don't in Jackson County will place 40 black flags at the entrance of the school to represent the 40 people who die each day in Michigan from tobacco products. They will also wear their Most Teens Don't t-shirts and hang tobacco-free pledge cards throughout the school. Time: 8 AM. Location: East Jackson Middle School, 1566 N. Sutton Road, Jackson. Contact: Emma Sigman (517) 230-4690.

On March 16, the It Stops with Students group in Pickney will display pig's lungs affected by tobacco, along with a tar jar and posters detailing the various chemical products inside of a cigarette. Time: 10:15 AM. Location: 10255 Dexter Pickney Road, Pickney. Contact: Sandra Parker (248) 343-3769.

On March 20, student leaders from the Career Tech Center will work with BreatheWell Newaygo County in Fremont to host a large graffiti wall for participants to pledge to be tobacco free. They will also present facts about tobacco and nicotine. Time: 9 AM. Location: Dogwood Center for the Performing Arts, 4734 S. Campus Court, Fremont. Contact: Sally Wagoner (708) 305-4591.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Michigan, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Minnesota will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Minnesota, tobacco companies spend $115.8 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Minnesota, tobacco use claims 5,900 lives and costs $2.51 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 10.6 percent of Minnesota's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Minnesota, activities include:

Between classes, students from Lancaster Public School in Lancaster will lie in body bags in the school hall to illustrate the dangers of smoking. They will post facts all over the school, and members from the Target team will sign students up as advocates and visit classes to teach their peers about tobacco. Time: 8 AM. Location: 401 Central Avenue, Lancaster. Contact: Sandie Nelson (218) 762-5400.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Minnesota, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Mississippi will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Mississippi, tobacco companies spend $124.6 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Mississippi, tobacco use claims 5,400 lives and costs $1.23 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 15.2 percent of Mississippi's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Mississippi, activities include:

The Community Students Learning Center will "air out tobacco's dirty laundry" at an event in Lexington using t-shirts with facts about the dangerous health effects of tobacco written on them. Time: 1  3:30 PM. Location: Community Students Learning Center, 333 Yazoo Street, Lexington. Contact: Kirstain Porchia-Mapp (601) 622-2129.

The Mississippi Tobacco Free Coalition of Oktibbeha, Clay, and Lowdnes will host an event in Columbus featuring a motivational speaker and informational booths to educate people about the dangers of tobacco use. They will then host a cigarette butt clean-up around the Boys and Girls Club. Time: 10 AM  12 PM. Location: 1815 14th Avenue N., Columbus. Contact: Shelia Vance (662) 275-0065.

The mayor of Maben will give a road adoption proclamation, and Controllers Generation II 4-H Club will lead a cigarette butt cleanup. Prizes will be awarded to those who collect the most butts. Time: 1 PM. Location: 200 St. Stephen Road Maben. Contact: Rose Coffey-Graham (662) 242-7962.

The City of Quitman will host a cigarette butt cleanup at the local train depot, displaying the final collection of butts at City Hall in an anti-tobacco display. The National Guard will provide inflatable displays, and United Blood Services will host a blood drive. Time: 10 AM  2 PM. Location: Quitman Train Depot, 100 Railroad Avenue, Quitman. Contact: Heather Sumrall (601) 934-9249.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Mississippi, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Missouri will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Missouri, tobacco companies spend $339.7 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Missouri, tobacco use claims 11,000 lives and costs $3.03 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 11.0 percent of Missouri's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Missouri, activities include:

St. Louis youth will make posters to promote smoking cessation. They will kick tobacco to the curb by placing these posters all over St. Louis-area, including military bases, high schools, middle schools, community centers, hospitals and fitness facilities. Time: 3:30 PM. Location: 500 S. Meramec Avenue, St. Louis. Contact: Sophie Bernstein (314) 495-6209.

Tobacco Free Missouri Youth will meet at the Missouri State Capitol to participate in general and breakout sessions, lunch, a team spirit contest and leadership awards to celebrate being tobacco-free. Time: 10 AM. Location: 301 W. High Street, Jefferson City. Contact: Ginny Chadwick (573) 999-2641.

Morgan County Tobacco Free Youth, Morgan County Community Leaders Educating about Resistance (CLEAR) and the Morgan County Health Center will hold a rally with state lawmakers to educate the community about the risks of tobacco and second hand smoke. Youth will also have the opportunity to meet and advocate for tobacco-free policies with their elected state representatives. Time: 10 AM. Location: Harry S. Truman State Office Building, 301 W. High Street, Jefferson City. Contact: Donna Chapman (573) 378-8712.

Stone County Health Department, Tri-Lakes Clean Air Alliance and Stone County Health Coalition will work with Girl Scouts in Reeds Spring to pick up billions of cigarette butts, followed by a meet and greet dinner. Time: 3:30 PM. Location: Tablerock Community Bank, Branson West. Contact: Monica Spittler (808) 854-5748.

Youth With Vision, Tri-County Mental Health and the Kansas City Police Department will hold an annual anti-tobacco kick ball tournament. Youth will play kick ball and other fun activities that promote a smoke-free lifestyle. Time: 3 PM. Location: 4100 N. Briarcliff Road, Kansas City. Contact: Madelyn Judah (816) 830-3037.

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) at Smithville High School will pledge to be the first tobacco-free generation by chalking their sidewalk with personal messages about why they want to #BeTheFirst. Time: 7 AM. Location: 645 S. Commercial Avenue, Smithville. Contact: Claire Prindable (816) 532-0405.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Missouri, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Montana will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Montana, tobacco companies spend $29.7 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Montana, tobacco use claims 1,600 lives and costs $440 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 13.1 percent of Montana's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Montana, activities include:

On March 14, student advocates with the American Heart Association in Missoula will advocate state lawmakers for tobacco control policies. Time: 9 AM. Location: 1301 E. Sixth Avenue, Helena. Contact: Amanda Cahill (406) 220-0063.

K-12 students will learn about the dangers of tobacco at the Wibaux County Health Fair. The health fair will be decorated with anti-tobacco posters, and booths will feature educational sessions and anti-tobacco games. Time: 7 AM. Location: 121 F Street N., Wibaux. Contact: Laureen Murphree (406) 855-6311.

Kids from the Boys & Girls Club of Dawson County in Glendive will pick up cigarette butts littering the city and learn how smoking destroys smokers' lungs. Time: 4 PM. Location: 111 W. Bell Street, Glendive. Contact: Tina Carter (406) 939-4569.

Junior high students with reACT and Teens In Partnership in Glendive will host a "Honk and Wave," encouraging drivers to support anti-tobacco activities and Kick Butts Day. Time: 7:30 AM. Location: 302 W. Towne Street, Glendive. Contact: Laureen Murphree (406) 855-6311.

Athletes with the Rocky Mountain College Tobacco Free Task Force and Rocky Mountain College Athletes in Billings will talk with elementary school and middle school students to discourage them from using tobacco. Time: 9 AM. Location: 1812 19th Street W., Billings. Contact: Shaydean Saye (406) 657-1051.

Students at Butte East Middle School and Butte Cares are pledging to be tobacco free and will purchase wristbands in exchange for prizes. Time: 1:00 PM. Location: 2600 Grand Avenue, Butte. Contact: Frank Rozan (406) 491-0558.

On March 20, students from Bridger reACT in Bridger will perform an interactive visual demonstration of statistics about tobacco-use in Montana with gumballs, paper cups and a plexiglass column. Time: 11:25 AM. Location: 429 W. Park Avenue, Bridger. Contact: Amy Kraft (406) 425-3826.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Montana, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


CLEVELAND and BOSTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MPE Partners ("MPE") announced today the recapitalization of Plastic Components, Inc. ("PCI" or "the Company"), a leading manufacturer of highly engineered and high precision injection molded components for mission critical applications in the plumbing, small engine, automotive, filtration, consumer products, controls, and other end markets.

MPE partnered in the transaction with owner and CEO, Tom Duffey, as well as the senior management team. Karen Tuleta, Partner at MPE, said, "Since its founding in 1989, PCI has developed a reputation for innovation, superior quality, collaborative technical support, and exceptional customer service." Matt Yohe, Principal at MPE, said, "We look forward to helping PCI accelerate its growth through both organic initiatives and strategic acquisitions."

Tom Duffey added, "We were very selective in choosing an investment partner for PCI and believe MPE will be a great steward for the Company. MPE will bring capabilities, resources, and capital to PCI to support our next chapter of growth."

BakerHostetler served as legal advisor to MPE. Stout Risius Ross, Inc. acted as the investment banking advisor to PCI.

About Plastic Components, Inc.

Headquartered in Germantown, Wisconsin, Plastic Components, Inc. is a world-class, technology-driven manufacturer of highly engineered and high precision injection molded components using unique manufacturing process automation.

About MPE Partners

MPE Partners ("MPE") seeks to be the preferred partner for entrepreneur- and family-owned companies. Based in Cleveland, OH, and Boston, MA, MPE invests in profitable, lower middle market companies with EBITDA between $5 - $20 million. MPE has two primary target investment areas: high-value manufacturing and industrial services. For more information, please visit www.mpepartners.com.

SOURCE MPE Partners

Related Links

http://www.mpepartners.com


DALLAS, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MultiCam is proud to announce a new family brand entitled, iPlasmaCNC. This family brand will manufacture mechanized CNC Plasma cutting solutions.

Built and designed in Texas, iPlasmaCNC by MultiCam manufactures CNC plasma cutting machines known for their affordability, dependability, and ease-of-use. Combining the best of hardware and software worlds, iPlasmaCNC cutting systems are some of the most robust CNC plasma systems on the market.

USA Sales, Paul Harford states, "The new iPlasmaCNC plasma cutting system from MultiCam will take the market by storm. MultiCam has collaborated with excellent software and CNC controls provider ExtraTech to create the easiest design and control system on the market. The hand-held CNC controls, coupled with windows based PC, are a unique offering and stand far above the competition. In addition, the quality, motion, and design of our cutting tables enable users to produce precision parts with the best possible finish. Add the Hypertherm Powermax plasma series, competitive price points, and a nationwide service network to the mix and the iPlasmaCNC cannot lose!"

The iPlasmaCNC brand focuses on plasma cutting and metal fabrication for entry-level to mid-size metal fabrication shops and businesses. With table sizes starting from 4'x4' all the way up to 6'x12' the iPlasmaCNC systems enable businesses to invest in a plasma cutting system without affecting budgetary constraints. Upon request, each system is upgradable to better suit a business' specific manufacturing requirements.

"iPlasmaCNC is a rock solid, accurate cutting system, built on the same backbone of controls as MultiCam's high end motion platforms. MultiCam is known for great motion control and iPlasmaCNC is nothing short of that. In addition, the ease of use is unparalleled in today's markets. Delivered complete and ready-to-use, the iPlasmaCNC is ready to rock right out of the crate! Along with quick lead times and customer support, you will be making your metal cutting dreams reality in no time!" says Kris Scherm, Product Group Manager.

For more information on iPlasmaCNC systems, contact Paul Harford, iPlasmaCNC by MultiCam Inc., 1025 West Royal Lane, DFW Airport, TX 75261, Phone: 844-363-3147, Fax: 972-929-4071, Email: [email protected] Web: http://iplasmacnc.com/

ABOUT MULTICAM, INC.

Since 1989, MultiCam, Inc. has manufactured over 12,000 CNC (computer numerical control) cutting solutions for various industries around the world. The innovative company integrates advanced technology and value into highly productive systems that are easy to use and built to last. MultiCam manufactures CNC Router, Laser, Plasma, Waterjet, and Knife cutting machines at its 135,000-square-foot facility in North Texas. A national network of experts supports MultiCam, which includes 14 Service Offices across the USA.

SOURCE MultiCam

Related Links

http://www.iplasmacnc.com


LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, Md., March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On March 9th, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware) filed the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act, and Rep. Tom Reed (R- New York) and Rep. Jim Langevin (D-Rhode Island) introduced the companion house legislation to encourage building owners to invest in life-saving fire safety upgrades.

The Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act (FSIA) strengthens tax incentives for building owners to retrofit their properties with fire sprinkler systems. This action will protect their occupants and property from the devastation of fire. This legislation is a great example of government support to private businesses and individuals to improve life safety and fire protection. Currently, commercial building owners must depreciate fire sprinkler retrofits over a period of 39 years and residential building owners over 27  years. The FSIA reclassifies fire sprinkler retrofits in high rise properties as 15-years, allowing businesses to receive tax benefits more quickly.

The original legislation was introduced in 2004 following the tragic nightclub fire in West Warwick, RI that claimed 100 lives. Since then, the legislation has been reintroduced in subsequent Congresses with various changes made to address concerns raised by members of Congress regarding cost estimates. The current legislation has addressed those concerns.

"We applaud Senators Collins and Carper along with Representatives Langevin and Reed for their perseverance  life safety for citizens and firefighters is worth it," explains Chief Shane Ray, President of the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA). "This legislation will help fire chiefs, as well as state and local government officials make improvements in fire protection with a public private partnership that will save lives. NFSA has been involved in this every step of the way and Jim Dalton has been our liaison for this proactive legislation."

Under the current legislation, automatic sprinklers could be treated as Section 179 property under the tax code. Section 179 allows small and medium-sized businesses to write off the full cost of equipment purchases, up to $500,000, in a single year. While automatic fire sprinklers are not currently classified as a Section 179 property, passage of the legislation would allow property owners to retrofit a large majority of high fire risk properties, such as certain off campus housing, night clubs, nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

The legislation would also create a financial incentive for high-rise building owners to install sprinkler systems by reducing the depreciation schedule to 15 years. We are optimistic that the 115th Congress is going to initiate tax reform which is likely to get us back to where we started with this initiative with depreciation of 5 years or less.

"We hope this will be the legislative session that sees passage of this important legislation," adds Chief Ron Siarnicki, Executive Director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). "Firefighter and citizen lives will be saved as a result of this proactive incentive-based strategy that supports the NFFF Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives, specifically Initiative 15."

"As a survivor of the Station Nightclub Fire, I understand the fire problem in these building types better than most," explains Rob Feeney, a fire safety advocate for Common Voices and the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors. "I lost friends and loved ones in that fire and it amazes me that it takes so long to pass a law that can prevent this from happening again. My hope is that this Congress will pass the bill and save lives in the future."

For more information about fire sprinklers, how they work and access to additional resources and information, visit www.nfsa.org for the latest material, statistics and a dedicated team of fire safety advocates ready to serve all stakeholders in order to fulfill the vision of a safer world.

Contact: Vickie Pritchett

615-533-0305

SOURCE National Fire Sprinkler Association

Related Links

http://www.nfsa.org


OSAGE | Mitchell County Emergency Services purchased a drone this month for the countys emergency responders to use.

Its another asset we can utilize now, Mitchell County Sheriff Greg Beaver said.

Beaver said the sheriffs department could use the drone for aerial views as it investigates traffic accidents, as well as search and rescue.

Though it has not been used yet, Capt. Kris Olson of the Osage Fire Department said hes confident it could be used at any time.

The drone, which has removable propellers, is easy to assemble for quick use in an emergency situation.

It kind of looks like an overgrown insect," Olson said, laughing.

It is stored in a large, black case. Its batteries are rechargeable and its video display can be shown on a smart phone or tablet.

Its user-friendly, Olson said. "We're still learning."

Drone operators must have an FAA drone pilot license, so Beaver said the county can only fly based on what state law requires.

Olson is one of three designated emergency responders with the licensing and training to operate the drone. A St. Ansgar firefighter and a Mitchell County deputy will be able to fly the drone as well.

Olson believes that the drone is a great tool for emergency responders in Mitchell County.

Its a great tool for us to have in our toolbox, Olson said.

Drones are becoming more common for emergency responders in the state and country, Olson said.

"We're not the last ones in Iowa to have one," Olson said.

First responders used a drone in July 2016 to locate and direct rescuers to an Algona man and his granddaughter, who were lost after their boat got stuck in the Des Moines River.

After they were located, emergency management services were able to quickly coordinate medical services at their location, as the man had suffered a heart attack. He was later released from the hospital.

Osage Fire Chief Kurt Angell said the drone would be helpful to get a better view of field fires and make command decisions.

They eyes in the sky for us will be good because well be able to see the top of and the back maybe of some fires, Angell said.

Mitchell County Emergency Management Coordinator Ray Huftalin said the DJI Inspire II drone was paid for through grants and budget funds.

Huftalin has been working on acquiring the equipment for six months.

This summer, emergency management will fly the drone along the Cedar River from the Minnesota border to the Floyd County line to monitor the condition of the river for debris and more.

From there, Floyd County will continue along the river.

The departments are looking into grants for additional camera lenses including thermal imaging.

Were not going to spy on anybody, Angel said. Were trying to make things safer in what we do and more efficient.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

ColourCloud to harness Intel Skylake processing power for 3D depth and image data

NCTech, the developer of reality imaging systems, today announced that its ColourCloud software is being hosted on Google Cloud Platform.

At the Google Cloud Next '17 conference, Intel announced that the next generation Intel Xeon processor family (codename Skylake), is now available on Google Cloud Platform. Google Cloud Platform is the first to offer cloud services based on Skylake. The Intel Xeon processor supports Intel AVX-512 instructions to more efficiently run compute-intensive workloads, such as high-performance computing, video processing and data analytics.

This development provides powerful support for the capture and processing of 3D imaging. With ColourCloud now hosted on Google Cloud Platform, NCTech is able to provide a secure, end-to-end capture, process, and delivery workflow for its customers.

"With the upcoming launch of our new range of VR cameras we've migrated our 3D visualizing software ColourCloud to Google Cloud Platform, said Neil Tocher, CTO at NCTech. "This allows us to leverage Google Compute Engine to process vast amounts of high-resolution depth and image data, making VR capture and delivery a speedy process for professionals and consumers."

Jonathan Ballon, VP of IoT at Intel said, "We are thrilled that NCTech has adopted Intel with Google Cloud as the foundation to launch their new VR and IoT solutions, including 3D cameras for Google StreetView. The Intel - Google Cloud strategic alliance has enabled NCTech to quickly leverage vast compute power to democratize VR with their new range of edge-to-cloud camera hardware and services".

NCTech will launch two new VR cameras in 2017:

The LASiris VR is a 3D reality capture camera that combines vivid 120 Megapixel HDR imagery with a 100-meter range LiDAR scanner. The data from the calibrated optics and lasers is combined using NCTech's built-in ColourCloud technology to produce a colourised point cloud.

The iris360 Pro is the latest version of the iris360 product line and is NCTech's highest resolution one-shot system to date, using precision optics to capture 10 bit true HDR images.

In support of its new VR cameras, NCTech will also launch a new cloud-based platform for backing-up, processing, and sharing VR data. OnestopVR harnesses the pure processing power of Google Compute Engine's exceptional infrastructure capabilities, combined with Intel's advanced hardware. Using OnestopVR, point cloud data and images uploaded to the cloud are automatically mapped precisely to the depth data, delivering automatically colourised point clouds.

Google Cloud Next '17 is an immersive event that brings together executives, customers, partners, developers, IT decision makers, and Google Engineers to build the future of the cloud.

Read more about ColourCloud here: https://goo.gl/b15Axx

About NCTech

NCTech designs and manufactures leading 360 degree reality imaging systems that automate and streamline the workflow of image documentation and can be used repeatedly, accurately, consistently by anyone anywhere. NCTech is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland and is funded by Archangel Investors Ltd and the Scottish Co-Investment Fund. For more information, visit www.nctechimaging.com.

Notes to editors

Full product information, video, images and sample panoramas available at: https://goo.gl/1yAEnT



SOURCE NCTech
WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Nevada will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Nevada, tobacco companies spend $79.1 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Nevada, tobacco use claims 4,100 lives and costs $1.08 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 7.5 percent of Nevada's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Nevada, activities include:

The Lyon County School District will display the Healthy Communities Coalition & the Stand Tall Youth Prevention Teams' traveling graffiti wall at its main office. The wall features student pledges to support raising the legal purchasing age to 21 and include electronic cigarettes in the Nevada Clean Indoor Act. Time: 12 PM. Location: Lyon County School District, 25 W. Goldfield Avenue, Yerington. Contact: Tammy Sutton (775) 301-8543.

The Healthy Campus Committee and Carson City Healthy and Human Services will display 1,300 red pinwheels on the Western Nevada College Carson campus and host a scavenger hunt and raffle. Educational events will take place across the school's three campuses. Time: 11 AM. Location: 2201 W. College Parkway, Carson City. Contact: Rebecca Bevans (775) 762-3354.

Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno will host tables featuring tobacco trivia, oral exams conducted by the dental hygiene club, and quit kits. They will also display a multitude of pinwheels on the lawn to represent the people impacted by the negative effects of tobacco. Time: 10 AM. Location: 7000 Dandini Boulevard, Reno. Contact: Julia Bledsoe (775) 673-8290.

The Community Health Education Specialist and the Tribal Environmental Program in Reno will collaborate and hold Tobacco 101 Jeopardy with prizes. Time: 11 AM. Location: 1715 Kuenzli Street, Reno. Contact: Bhie-Cie Ledesma (775) 785-1363.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Nevada, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 Kids in New Hampshire will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In New Hampshire, tobacco companies spend $81.6 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In New Hampshire, tobacco use claims 1,900 lives and costs $729 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 9.3 percent of New Hampshire's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In New Hampshire, activities include:

"Mr. and Mrs. Butt Man" will headline an educational street theater show and encourage students at John Stark Regional High School to sign pledges to remain tobacco free. Time: 11 AM. Location: 618 N. Stark Highway, Weare. Contact: Tom Dunn (603) 568-5102.

Dover Youth to Youth and the Dover Police Department will hold an award ceremony to announce the winning student-designed ad for a fictional tobacco company that exposes the truth about tobacco and e-cigarettes. All submissions will be displayed and the top thirty finalists will win prizes. Time: 4:30 PM. Location: 30 Saint Thomas Street, Dover. Contact: Stephanie Retrosi (603) 516-3275.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in New Hampshire, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in New Jersey will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In New Jersey, tobacco companies spend $177.6 million annually on marketing efforts.

Health advocates in New Jersey are urging lawmakers to increase the state's tobacco sale age to 21, a move that will reduce tobacco use and save lives. The legislature passed the measure last year, but Governor Chris Christie vetoed the bill. Last month, the Trenton City Council increased the city's tobacco age to 21.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In New Jersey, tobacco use claims 11,800 lives and costs $4.06 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 8.2 percent of New Jersey's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In New Jersey, activities include:

The Essex County 4-H Teen Council and the Global Advisors on Smokefree Policy (GASP) will meet with city leaders in Newark to educate them on policies that promote a tobacco-free lifestyle among young people, particularly age restrictions for sales of tobacco and e-cigarettes. Time: 4 PM. Location: City Hall, 920 Broad Street, Newark. Contact: Kyla Bates (973) 508-8664.

The Camden County Council On Alcohol & Drug Abuse, Inc. will host a #NotAReplacement social media campaign in Voorhees, where young people will declare through creative messages that they refuse to boost tobacco companies' profits by being "replacement" smokers. Time: 3:30 PM. Location: The Spot Teen Center, 2450 Voorhees Town Center, Voorhees. Contact: Kathryn Chin (608) 836-0803.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in New Jersey, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in New York will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In New York, tobacco companies spend $206.4 million annually on marketing efforts.

In New York, health advocates are urging legislators to raise the tobacco sale age to 21, a move that will reduce tobacco use and save lives.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In New York, tobacco use claims 28,200 lives and costs $10.39 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 8.8 percent of New York's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In New York, activities include:

On March 10, Reality Check of Chemung, Schuyler, & Steuben and the Southern Tier Tobacco Awareness Coalition will air big tobacco's dirty laundry with a body bag display and mural painted by local art students and Reality Check Youth. Time: 1 PM. Location: 217 W. Water Street, Elmira. Contact: Sunnie Smith (607) 703-9016.

On March 11, Reality Check Youth Leaders will travel around the Utica region and put cups in fences to raise tobacco cessation awareness. Time: 10 AM. Location: 112 Farrier Avenue, Suite 314, Oneida. Contact: Heather Bernet (315) 727-6296.

The Northpointe Council, Inc. Prevention Education program will collaborate with the Community Health Alliance of North Tonawanda and the North Tonawanda Youth Center to expose the danger of tobacco during a family-friendly game night. Time: 5 PM. Location: 35 Grant Street, North Tonawanda. Contact: Cheri Kelly (716) 909-3854.

Students at The Fashion Institute of Technology are taking a stand against tobacco and going tobacco-free for a day. They will provide key facts and prizes to their peers to build support for a tobacco-free campus. Time: 12 PM. Location: 227 W. 27th Street, New York City. Contact: Gabriella Potievsky (212) 217-4195.

Students at Sagamore Middle School will create a pledge wall with 1,000+ signatures to demonstrate their dedication to live tobacco-free. Informational tables in the school's lobby will provide incentives and literature to students and staff about how to maintain a tobacco-free lifestyle. Time: 11 AM. Location: 57 Division Street, Hotsville. Contact: Lori Hewlett (631) 834-1198.

Reality Check Students from Malone Middle School will facilitate a #NotAReplacement selfie activity and share with friends on social media to encourage their peers to say no to big tobacco. Time: 11 AM. Location: 15 Francis Street, Malone. Contact: Danielle O'Mara (518) 569-1397.

Manhasset Secondary School's Manhasset CASA Youth Committee Club will spearhead a "Teens as Teachers" initiative that will highlight the dangers of tobacco and e-cigarettes and the influence tobacco marketing has on teens. Time: 9 AM. Location: 200 Memorial Place, Manhasset. Contact: Cathy Samuels (516) 267-7548.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in New York, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


VALLEY COTTAGE, New York, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Improving healthcare infrastructure across several countries and regions, coupled with availability of well-developed manufacturing units, facilitates the growth of medical device businesses. The changing attitude of patients towards treatment of generic diseases has indicated a significant rise in preference for self-administration devices such as auto-injectors. Promoting this notion, auto-injectors continue to gain prominence not just as an alternative route for drug delivery but also as point-of-care devices in homecare settings. Future Market Insights recently published its report on the global market for auto-injectors, which projects that by the end of 2026, more than US$ 6,800 Mn worth of auto-injectors will sold globally. Currently valued at US$ 1,673.7 Mn, the global auto-injectors market is being projected to exhibit an impressive value CAGR of 15.1%.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430874LOGO )



In the report, titled "Auto-Injectors Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026," nearly three-fourth of global auto-injector revenues have been estimated to come from the US and Canada. While North America is being observed as the largest market for auto-injectors in the world, auto-injector sales will be relatively high in Western Europe as well. And, majority of auto-injectors are expected to be distributed through online pharmacies. Online pharmacies as a distribution channel will register the fastest revenue growth at 18% CAGR, while retail pharmacies will be procuring one-fourth of global market value by the end of 2026.

Request a Sample Report with Table of Contents: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1642

Impact of Self-Injection Practices & Novel Drug Delivery Systems

The global market for auto-injectors is projected to expand aggressively, and the report draws this forecast from identifying the most direct, impactful factors that drive the demand for auto-injectors. Firstly, the demand for auto-injectors is expected to keep soaring on the account of high adoption of self-injection practices by patients. Doctors, as well, are prompting patients to take up self-administration devices such as auto-injectors in order to fulfil their prescribed medication dosages through invasive yet safe administration routes.

Along with that, the global demand for auto-injectors is also expected to be driven by growing development of novel drug delivery systems. Manufacturers of medical devices are collaborating with clinical scientists in order to pave way for next-gen tools in drug administration. In the years to come, the global auto-injectors market is anticipated to garner surplus demand, particularly for prefilled auto-injectors. In 2017 and beyond, more than 92% of global auto-injectors revenues will be emanating from sales of prefilled auto-injectors. Fillable auto-injectors, on the other hand, will incur a downtick in terms of global revenue share over the latter half of forecast period.

Preview Analysis on Global Auto-Injectors Market Segmentation by Indication - Anaphylaxis, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Others; By Product - Prefilled Auto-Injectors and Fillable Auto-Injectors; By Distribution Channel - Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, Online Pharmacies and Drug Stores: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/auto-injectors-market

Higher Demand for Auto-Injectors in Treatment of Anaphylaxis

Another factor that is inducing growth in demand for auto-injectors is the prevalence of multiple sclerosis and anaphylaxis. Notable disease monitoring associations from across the globe are predicting that these disorders are less likely to cease their occurrence rate among geriatric populations, which is incidentally boosting the demand for auto-injectors. In 2016, anaphylaxis as a disease indication accounted for an estimated US$ 1,500 Mn of global auto-injector revenues. Through 2026, almost nine out of ten auto-injectors sold globally are likely to be used for treating anaphylaxis. Meanwhile, auto-injectors sold for treatment of multiple sclerosis will register a marginal rise through the forecast period. And, revenues amassed from sales of auto-injectors for rheumatoid arthritis are expected to showcase highest CAGR of 18.3%.

Speak with Analysis for any Report Related Queries: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1642

Parallel to their rising demand, the global supply of auto-injectors is also expected to propel by the end of 2026. Increased development of biologics, their use in production of advanced drug delivery devices, reduction of manufacturing prices, and additional cost-savings conferred by technological advancements, are all collectively bolstering the global production of auto-injectors. The report has profiled leading players in the global auto-injectors market, which include Amgen Inc., Novartis AG, Sanofi, Pfizer, Inc., Becton, Dickson and Company, Mylan NV, Bayer AG, Eli Lily and Company, Janssen Global Services, LLC, and Antares Pharma, Inc.

More from FMI's Cutting-edge Intelligence:

Special Purpose Needles Market Segmentation By Product Type - Fine Aspirating Needles, Biopsy Needles, Hypodermic Needles, Pen Needles, Suture Needles, and Others; By Application - Sample Collection, Drug Delivery; By Distribution Channel - Hospital Pharmacies, Private Clinics, Retail Pharmacies and Drug Stores, E-Commerce: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/special-purpose-needles-market



Segmentation By Product Type - Fine Aspirating Needles, Biopsy Needles, Hypodermic Needles, Pen Needles, Suture Needles, and Others; By Application - Sample Collection, Drug Delivery; By Distribution Channel - Hospital Pharmacies, Private Clinics, Retail Pharmacies and Drug Stores, E-Commerce: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/special-purpose-needles-market Pharmacy Automation Systems Market Segmentation By Product - Medication Dispensing Cabinets, Packaging and Labelling System, IV Pharmacy, Robotic Dispensing System, Carousel Storage Systems and Tablet Splitters; By Application - Drug Dispensing & Packaging, Drug Storage and Inventory Management; By End-User - Hospital Pharmacies, Clinic Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, Mail Order Pharmacies and Pharmaceutical SMEs: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/global-pharmacy-automation-system-market



Segmentation By Product - Medication Dispensing Cabinets, Packaging and Labelling System, IV Pharmacy, Robotic Dispensing System, Carousel Storage Systems and Tablet Splitters; By Application - Drug Dispensing & Packaging, Drug Storage and Inventory Management; By End-User - Hospital Pharmacies, Clinic Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies, Mail Order Pharmacies and Pharmaceutical SMEs: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/global-pharmacy-automation-system-market Cancer Supportive Care Products Market Segmentation By Drug Class - Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, Anti-Infective, Anti-Emetics, Monoclonal Antibodies, Erythropoietin Stimulating Agents and Bisphosphonates; By Indication - Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Liver Cancer, Bladder Cancer and Ovarian Cancer; By Distribution Channel - Hospital Pharmacies, Retail Pharmacies and Compounding Pharmacies: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/cancer-supportive-care-products-market

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WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in North Dakota will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In North Dakota, tobacco companies spend $37.3 million annually on marketing efforts.

North Dakota's progress in fighting tobacco use is at risk under budget proposals to eliminate the state's Center for Tobacco Prevention and Control (BreatheND) and divert money from tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Advocates are urging lawmakers to reject this proposal and support the current structure and funding for this very successful initiative.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In North Dakota, tobacco use claims 1,000 lives and costs $326 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 11.7 percent of North Dakota's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In North Dakota, activities include:

Students at Century High School in Bismarck will educate their peers on the dangers of tobacco and e-cigarettes. Time: 11:30 AM. Location: 500 Century Avenue, Bismarck. Contact: Laurie Foerderer (701) 323-4900 ext. 6614.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in North Dakota, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


LOS ANGELES, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oak Paper Products Company, Inc. announced that Sara Finley, Shawn Weidmann and Joel Montminy have been appointed as directors of the Oak Paper Products Company Board of Directors, effective March 1, 2017.

Chief Executive Officer David Weissberg said, "We are very pleased to add Sara, Shawn and Joel to our Oak Paper Products Company Board. Each of them brings tremendous experience and value to further strengthen and diversify our board of directors." He added, "Each of these leaders shares a passion for delivering practical best-practice solutions to help us better serve our valued customers."

Sara Finley served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for CVS Caremark Corporation (now CVS Health), a Fortune 10 pharmaceutical services company based in Rhode Island. She retired from CVS Caremark in April 2015 and brings over 20 years with CVS Health and predecessor companies. Prior to joining CVS Caremark, she was a partner at the Kutak Rock law firm in Atlanta Georgia.

Shawn Weidmann currently serves as CEO of Stratford Schools, a privately-owned operator of private schools. Prior to joining Stratford schools, Shawn served in a variety of roles and industries. Most recently, he was COO for Public Storage. In this role Shawn had responsibility for all retail operations including over 2,200 facilities, 5,000 employees and 2 call centers with over $2 billion in annual sales. Shawn's previous position was as President of Teleflora, the world's largest network of retail florists.

Joel Montminy is the founder and CEO of CREO Capital Advisors, LLC, a Los Angeles based investment bank. For over 20 years, Joel has led professional service firms and is a mergers and acquisitions expert. Prior to forming CREO, Joel was Managing Director of Los Angeles-based investment bank Greif & Co., leading a broad range of middle market transactions and co-managing the firm's expansion. He was previously Director of Business Development for multinational law firm Arter & Hadden, LLP and served on the firm's Management Committee.

These three new members will join existing members, including David Weissberg, Max Weissberg, Dick Seff and Randy Seff.

About Oak Paper Products Company, Inc.

Oak Paper Products Company, Inc. is a privately-held Los Angeles-based paper products, packaging and janitorial supply company with locations in greater Los Angeles, Vacaville, San Luis Obispo, Santa Fe Springs, and Miami. Through its three division  Oak Paper Products, Acorn Paper Products and USCAMD Container & Display  the Company serves a wide array of customers in end-user distribution, wholesale distribution, and corrugated carton manufacturing. For more information, visit http://www.acorn-paper.com/.

SOURCE Oak Paper Products Company, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.acorn-paper.com/


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Ohio will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Ohio, tobacco companies spend $420.1 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Ohio, tobacco use claims 20,200 lives and costs $5.64 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 15.1 percent of Ohio's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Ohio, activities include:

The Richland County "Kick Butts with Art" show, held by the Community Action for Capable Youth, Inc., will create artwork and display it throughout the community. The art show will include canvas art, photographs and video public service announcements with anti-tobacco messaging. Time: 5 PM. Location: The Mansfield Art Center, 700 Marion Avenue, Mansfield. Contact: Tracee Anderson (419) 774-5683.

To illustrate their stance against tobacco, students in the River Valley High School's Stand group in Bidwell will create a visual display made out of cups in the fence at the school. Time: 7 AM. Location: 8785 State Route 160, Bidwell. Contact: Susan Swisher (740) 441-2957.

Ross High School's Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and Stand members in Fremont will decorate the school grounds with chalk facts. They will also display information about the contents of cigarettes at tables during lunch and hand out bracelets and pins. Time: 7:30 AM. Location: 1100 North Street, Fremont. Contact: Charlotte Stonerook (419) 334-6365.

Students from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea will present a photo voice project with photos and narratives that reflect the impact tobacco has on youth. The activities will focus on raising the legal age for tobacco to 21 and increasing awareness about lung health, allergies and asthma. Health professionals will be on hand for assessments, prevention and education. Time: 11 AM. Location: 275 Eastland Road, Berea. Contact: Wendy Hyde (440) 465-0653.

Members of the Harrison Hills School's Students Against Destructive Decisions in Cadiz are holding a flash mob during lunch to draw attention to Kick Butts Day. The event will be accompanied by a walk to the courthouse, a tobacco-free pledge wall, and other educational displays. Time: 10 AM. Location: 440 E. Market Street, Cadiz. Contact: Kristen Foraker (740) 942-7714.

Springfield City High School's Stand members will hang posters in the elementary, middle and high schools, targeting the community with a social media campaign communicating the harmful effects of tobacco. Students will wear their Stand group t-shirts symbolizing their commitment to "standing up against tobacco" and being tobacco-free. Time: 7 AM. Location: Springfield City High School, 701 E. Home Road, Springfield. Contact: Sarah Pol (937) 390-5600.

As part of the Youth Advisory Board of Students Taking a New Direction, students from Claymont High School will hang banners and posters to "air out big tobacco's dirty laundry." The students will contact county legislators, set up informational displays at local libraries, and participate in the national #NotAReplacement social media campaign. Time: 7:30 AM. Location: 4205 Indian Hill Road S.E., Uhrichsville. Contact: Amy Miller (330) 440-7320.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Ohio, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Oklahoma will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Oklahoma, tobacco companies spend $168.5 million annually on marketing efforts.

Health advocates are urging legislators to increase the state's tobacco tax by $1.50 per pack. Significant tax increases are a highly effective way to reduce smoking, especially among kids.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Oklahoma, tobacco use claims 7,500 lives and costs $1.62 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 14.6 percent of Oklahoma's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Oklahoma, activities include:

Students from Stigler High School will pass out promotional materials to advocate for a 24/7 tobacco-free campus, in accordance with the 24/7 Tobacco-Free Schools Act, which prohibits the use of tobacco in any form while on school grounds or during school-sponsored functions. The event is in collaboration with The Youth Advisory Board of Choctaw Nation. Time: 6 PM. Location: 103 East Main Street, Stigler. Contact: Kathy Healy (918) 448-4589.

On March 17, children and youth participating in the Stop The Violence (STV) Spring Break Camp in Oklahoma City will create a graffiti wall to educate youth about the benefits of not using tobacco and tobacco cessation. Time: 6 PM. Location: 900 N. Martin Luther King Avenue, Oklahoma City. Contact: Tamara Reeves (405) 822-7844.

On March 23, The Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT), in collaboration with the Cherokee County TSET Healthy Living Program Coalition, will pick up "billions of butts" in the Sequoyah City Park. Youth will also contact their legislators to promote a healthier Oklahoma. Time: 3 PM. Location: 100 N Water Avenue, Tahlequah. Contact: Lora Buechele (918) 822-0411.

On March 26, Noble Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) will create visual displays of fatal figures about Oklahomans' tobacco use. There will also be quit line information, face painting, a four-square tournament, a graffiti area and photo booth. Time: 1 PM. Location: 304 Main Street, Noble. Contact: Kim Adams (405) 205-8868.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Oklahoma, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


NORA SPRINGS | A rural Nora Springs man was given a 10-year suspended prison sentence this week on methamphetamine charges.

Kai A. Kral, 48, was put on probation for three to five years after pleading guilty in January in Cerro Gordo County District Court to two felony counts of delivery of methamphetamine.

Two $1,000 fines were suspended, but he was ordered to pay a $125 surcharge on each count, plus additional fees and court costs.

Krai was accused of delivering 6.4 grams of meth on May 3, 2016, and 1.2 grams of meth two days later at his residence on Warbler Avenue.

In both cases he delivered the meth to a cooperating individual under the control of agents with the North Central Iowa Narcotics Task Force, according to court documents.

 Mary Pieper
CALGARY, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (TSX: ONC) (OTCQX: ONCYF) (Oncolytics or the Company) today announced its financial results and operational highlights for the year ended December 31, 2016.

"It was a year of change for Oncolytics, highlighted by additional clinical data that saw our understanding of REOLYSIN's mechanism of action evolve and grow," said Dr. Matt Coffey, President and CEO of Oncolytics. "Through this process, and with the help of our expanding senior team, we thoughtfully and deliberately put in place a plan that initially contemplates combinations with chemotherapy for late-stage clinical development, but will expand to include targeted immunotherapies over the longer term as we look to leverage the role of the immune system in patient treatment. In the coming months we will specifically define our first registration pathway. In the year ahead we expect data readouts from as many as five sponsored, randomized Phase 2 studies, including one in advanced or metastatic breast cancer."

Selected Highlights

Since January 1, 2016, selected highlights announced by the Company include:

Clinical Results

An abstract submitted to the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting by Canadian Cancer Trials Group ("CCTG") at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario covering results from IND 213, an open-label, randomized, non-blinded Phase 2 study to assess the therapeutic combination of intravenously-administered REOLYSIN given in combination with paclitaxel versus paclitaxel alone in patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer;

covering results from IND 213, an open-label, randomized, non-blinded Phase 2 study to assess the therapeutic combination of intravenously-administered REOLYSIN given in combination with paclitaxel versus paclitaxel alone in patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer; A poster presentation by Dr. Kevin Kelly at the 58 th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting on the Phase 1b Study of REOLYSIN with Bortezomib and Dexamethasone in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma, with preliminary data suggesting evidence of activity and that the treatment combination was well tolerated;

at the 58 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting on the Phase 1b Study of REOLYSIN with Bortezomib and Dexamethasone in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma, with preliminary data suggesting evidence of activity and that the treatment combination was well tolerated; Additional data from a randomized, CCTG-sponsored Phase 2 clinical study of REOLYSIN in non-small cell lung cancer (IND 211), which showed: a statistically significant improvement (p=0.0201) in progression free survival (PFS) for female patients with adenocarcinoma in the test arm versus the control arm, a strong trend to improved overall survival (OS) for female patients with adenocarcinoma in the test arm versus the control arm;

Preliminary data from a randomized, CCTG-sponsored Phase 2 clinical study of REOLYSIN in advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (IND 210), following an abstract for the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, which showed a statistically significant improvement in objective response rates in female patients (female patients in the test arm had an overall response rate (ORR) of 63.2% (n=19) versus 23.8% (n=21) in the control arm (p=0.0054)), and a trend to improvement in median OS in female patients (female patients in the test arm had median OS of 19.3 months (n=19) versus 14.5 months (n=21) in the control arm);

Updated results from a randomized Phase 2 clinical trial of its lead product, REOLYSIN, in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in patients with pancreatic cancer (NCI-8601), where an intent-to-treat analysis of overall survival on patients with confirmed treatment regimes, as assessed by the percentage of patients surviving for two years, showed a doubling of patients surviving two years; 20% on the test arm versus 9% on the control arm;

Treatment of the first patients in a Phase 1b study of pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA) in combination with REOLYSIN and chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the Company's first trial examining REOLYSIN in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor;

Corporate

The appointment of Oncolytics co-founder and long-serving senior executive Matt Coffey PhD, MBA, as President and CEO;

The appointment of Andres Gutierrez , MD, PhD, with more than 25 years of senior clinical development expertise designing and implementing both early- and late-stage oncology clinical studies, to the role of Chief Medical Officer;

, MD, PhD, with more than 25 years of senior clinical development expertise designing and implementing both early- and late-stage oncology clinical studies, to the role of Chief Medical Officer; Formation of a Science and Technology Committee charged with supporting REOLYSIN's further development in the context of the broader oncology space with an ultimate focus on reaching a commercial endpoint; and

Financial

At December 31, 2016 , the Company reported $14.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. At March 9, 2017 , the Company had approximately $11.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.

ONCOLYTICS BIOTECH INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION













2016

2015 As at December 31,

$

$ Assets







Current assets







Cash and cash equivalents

12,034,282

24,016,275 Short-term investments

2,088,800

2,060,977 Accounts receivable

54,406

340,059 Prepaid expenses

260,841

506,669 Total current assets

14,438,329

26,923,980









Non-current assets







Property and equipment

319,955

459,818 Total non-current assets

319,955

459,818









Total assets

14,758,284

27,383,798









Liabilities And Shareholders' Equity







Current Liabilities







Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

4,068,664

2,709,492 Total current liabilities

4,068,664

2,709,492









Shareholders' equity







Share capital









Authorized: unlimited

Issued:

December 31, 2016  121,258,222

December 31, 2015  118,151,622

262,321,825

261,324,692 Contributed surplus

26,643,044

26,277,966 Accumulated other comprehensive income

554,060

760,978 Accumulated deficit

(278,829,309)

(263,689,330) Total shareholders' equity

10,689,620

24,674,306 Total liabilities and equity

14,758,284

27,383,798













ONCOLYTICS BIOTECH INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF LOSS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

















2016

2015

2014 For the years ending December 31,

$

$

$













Expenses











Research and development

9,770,007

8,601,864

13,824,252 Operating

5,524,500

5,315,837

4,998,694 Loss before the following

(15,294,507)

(13,917,701)

(18,822,946) Interest

163,902

197,859

210,390 Loss before income taxes

(15,130,605)

(13,719,842)

(18,612,556) Income tax recovery (expense)

(9,374)

(3,153)

(6,779) Net loss

(15,139,979)

(13,722,995)

(18,619,335) Other comprehensive income items that may be reclassified to net loss













Translation adjustment

(206,918)

480,935

200,345













Net comprehensive loss

(15,346,897)

(13,242,060)

(18,418,990) Basic and diluted loss per common share

(0.13)

(0.12)

(0.21)













Weighted average number of shares (basic and diluted)

119,880,200

112,613,845

87,869,149





























ONCOLYTICS BIOTECH INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY















Share Capital $ Warrants $ Contributed

Surplus $ Accumulated

Other

Comprehensive

Income $ Accumulated

Deficit $ Total $ As at December 31, 2013 228,612,564 376,892 24,491,212 79,698 (231,347,000) 22,213,366













Net loss and other comprehensive income    200,345 (18,619,335) (18,418,990) Issued, pursuant to Share Purchase Agreement 8,861,652     8,861,652 Issued, pursuant to "At the Market" Agreement 1,468,668     1,468,668 Expired warrants  (376,892) 376,892    Share based compensation   980,325   980,325 Share issue costs (1,285,828)     (1,285,828) As at December 31, 2014 237,657,056  25,848,429 280,043 (249,966,335) 13,819,193













Net loss and other comprehensive income    480,935 (13,722,995) (13,242,060) Issued, pursuant to Share Purchase Agreement 4,371,687     4,371,687 Issued, pursuant to "At the Market" Agreement 20,049,693     20,049,693 Share based compensation   429,537   429,537 Share issue costs (753,744)     (753,744) As at December 31, 2015 261,324,692  26,277,966 760,978 (263,689,330) 24,674,306













Net loss and other comprehensive income    (206,918) (15,139,979) (15,346,897) Issued, pursuant to incentive share award plan 41,000  (41,000)    Issued, pursuant to "At the Market" Agreement 1,456,296     1,456,296 Share based compensation   406,078   406,078 Share issue costs (500,163)     (500,163) As at December 31, 2016 262,321,825  26,643,044 554,060 (278,829,309) 10,689,620





























ONCOLYTICS BIOTECH INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

















2016

2015

2014 For the years ending December 31,

$

$

$













Operating Activities











Net loss for the year

(15,139,979)

(13,722,995)

(18,619,335) Amortization - property and equipment

162,233

180,411

163,501 Share based compensation

406,078

429,537

980,325 Unrealized foreign exchange (gain) loss

(139,810)

(816,319)

242,542 Net change in non-cash working capital

2,233,865

(1,105,464)

(2,443,988) Cash used in operating activities

(12,477,613)

(15,034,830)

(19,676,955)













Investing Activities











Acquisition of property and equipment

(23,527)

(108,268)

(152,750) Redemption (purchase) of short-term investments

(27,823)

(29,292)

(30,041) Cash used in investing activities

(51,350)

(137,560)

(182,791)













Financing Activities











Proceeds from Share Purchase Agreement



4,305,396

7,830,409 Proceeds from "At the Market" equity distribution agreement

956,133

19,362,240

1,214,083 Cash provided by financing activities

956,133

23,667,636

9,044,492 (Decrease) increase in cash

(11,572,830)

8,495,246

(10,815,254) Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year

24,016,275

14,152,825

25,220,328 Impact of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents

(409,163)

1,368,204

(252,249) Cash and cash equivalents, end of year

12,034,282

24,016,275

14,152,825















To view the Company's Fiscal 2016 Consolidated Financial Statements, related Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, and Management's Discussion and Analysis, please see the Company's annual filings, which will be available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com and on Oncolytics' website at http://www.oncolyticsbiotech.com/investor-centre/financials/.

About Oncolytics Biotech Inc.

Oncolytics is a biotechnology company developing REOLYSIN, an immuno-oncology viral-agent, as a potential treatment for a variety of tumor types. The compound induces selective tumor lysis and promotes an inflamed tumor phenotype through innate and adaptive immune responses to potentially treat a variety of cancers. Oncolytics' clinical development program emphasizes three pillars: chemotherapy combinations to trigger selective tumor lysis; immuno-therapy combinations to produce adaptive immune responses; and immune modulator (IMiD) combinations to facilitate innate immune responses. For further information about Oncolytics, please visit: www.oncolyticsbiotech.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements, including the Company's belief as to the potential of REOLYSIN as a cancer therapeutic; the Company's expectations as to the success of its research and development programs in 2017 and beyond, the Company's planned operations, the value of the additional patents and intellectual property; the Company's expectations related to the applications of the patented technology; the Company's expectations as to adequacy of its existing capital resources; the design, timing, success of planned clinical trial programs; and other statements related to anticipated developments in the Company's business and technologies involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the availability of funds and resources to pursue research and development projects, the efficacy of REOLYSIN as a cancer treatment, the success and timely completion of clinical studies and trials, the Company's ability to successfully commercialize REOLYSIN, uncertainties related to the research and development of pharmaceuticals, uncertainties related to the regulatory process and general changes to the economic environment. Investors should consult the Company's quarterly and annual filings with the Canadian and U.S. securities commissions for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to the forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

SOURCE Oncolytics Biotech Inc.
A good rule: the lighter the dessert, the lighter the wine. Avoid heavy reds for a sweeter dessert and instead pair with a crisp white like Chardonnay, such as Joseph Carr from Sonoma, California.

Citrusy Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon flavors can sometimes be polarizing, but complementing this dessert with an equally citrusy wine can work wonders. Try pairing with a food-friendly pinot grigio or a sauvignon blanc.

Rich Chocolate Cake

Red wine with chocolate seems like a no-brainer, but not all red wines are created equal. For a richer delicacy like this devil's food cake, try something like Villa Pozzi Nero D'avola, a more fruit-forward, easy-drinking red varietal.

For more tips and wine selections, visit winefix.com

New York-Style Honey Cheesecake Recipe courtesy of the National Honey Board

2 cups graham cracker crumbs 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted 4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese 3/4 cup honey 1/4 cup flour 5 eggs 1/3 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon lemon zest, grated 1 teaspoon vanilla

fresh berries, for garnish

fresh mint, for garnish

To make crust: In small bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs and butter until well blended. Press mixture evenly onto bottom and sides of greased 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

Heat oven to 350 F.

To make filling: In electric mixer bowl, combine cream cheese, honey and flour. Beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in cream, lemon zest and vanilla.

Pour cream cheese mixture over crust; bake 15 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 200 F and bake 1 hour and 30 minutes longer, or until center no longer looks wet or shiny.

With oven off and door ajar, let cheesecake cool 1 hour in oven. Remove cheesecake to rack to cool completely.

Cover and refrigerate cheesecake at least 4 hours before serving. Garnish with fruit and fresh mint. Pair with chardonnay like Joseph Carr.

Honey Devil's Food Cake with Rich Chocolate Frosting Recipe courtesy of the National Honey Board

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, divided 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups honey, divided 1/2 cup 2 percent low-fat milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 eggs 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided 1 cup boiling water 1 cup heavy whipping cream

milk chocolate shavings, for garnish

To prepare cake: Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

In large bowl, combine flour, 1 cup cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups honey, milk, oil, eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla; beat 2 minutes. Gradually beat in water.

Divide batter between pans. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until sides pull away slightly from pan and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Turn onto wire racks and cool completely.

To prepare frosting: In medium bowl, combine remaining cocoa powder, honey and vanilla, and cream. Beat until just thick and fluffy.

To assemble: Spread frosting evenly over sides and top of one cake layer. Place second cake layer on top. Spread remaining frosting evenly over sides and top.

Garnish with milk chocolate shavings. Pair each serving with a glass of prosecco, like Nero D'avola from Villa Pozzi.

Michael French

[email protected]

1-888-824-3337

editors.familyfeatures.com

About Family Features Editorial Syndicate

Established in 1974, Family Features is a leading provider of free food and lifestyle content for print and online publications. Our articles, photos, videos and web content solutions save you time, money and help create advertising opportunities. Registration is fast and free  with absolutely no obligation. Visit editors.familyfeatures.com for more information.

SOURCE Family Features Editorial Syndicate

Related Links

http://winefix.com


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Pennsylvania will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Pennsylvania, tobacco companies spend $441.6 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Pennsylvania, tobacco use claims 22,000 lives and costs $6.38 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 12.9 percent of Pennsylvania's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Pennsylvania, activities include:

Youth members of TRU in Erie, working with the Erie County Department of Health and the NWPA Tobacco Control Program will toss t-shirts and raffle prizes at an Erie Bayhawks game. Time: 7 PM. Location: 809 French Street, Erie. Contact: Joe DiSanto (814) 323-5650.

Students at Titusville High School will host an anti-smoking volleyball and dodgeball tournament with anti-tobacco themed balls and t-shirts. Students will also participate in a poster contest and host educational displays. Time: 2:30 PM. Location: 302 E. Walnut Street, Titusville. Contact: Scott Tenney (814) 827-2715 ext. 1213.

The Rosemont College Counseling Center will host educational tables, trivia and prize-wheels to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco among students. Time: 11:30 AM. Location: 1400 Montgomery Avenue, Rosemont. Contact: Danielle Bieber (484) 367-5328.

Students at the YWCA Titusville in Titusville will bring the community together for a People's Choice Awards-style event featuring student-created videos about the dangers of tobacco and vaping. Time: 3:30 PM. Location: 201 N. Franklin Street, Titusville. Contact: Paula Di Gregory (814) 758-1919.

Students at Reading Intermediate High School will learn about the dangers of tobacco from the Council on Chemical Abuse and the Reading Intermediate High School JROTC student cadets, conduct a cigarette butts clean up around the school, and sign an anti-tobacco pledge. Time: 10 AM. Location: 215 N. 12th Street, Reading. Contact: Sarah Billman (610) 376-8669.

The winners of the Chester County Tobacco-Free Coalition's "meme" contest will be announced. Middle-school students across Chester County took photos and created anti-tobacco internet memes. The winners' memes will be made into a poster at their school. Time: 1:30 PM. Location: Saint Agnes School, 211 W. Gay Street, West Chester. Contact: Lindsay Smith (610) 344-5209.

On March 16, students at Eisenhower High School in Russell will host the 2nd Annual Health & Wellness Fair with Adagio Health and the Primary Health Network featuring educational vendors, carbon monoxide breath tests, and games and activities for students and teachers. Time: 1 PM. Location: 3700 PA-957, Russell. Contact: Claire Coffin (814) 706-9948.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Pennsylvania, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


SAN FRANCISCO, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Power Products, a leading supplier and manufacturer of a diversified portfolio of branded aftermarket electrical systems and components, today announced an investment by Genstar Capital, a leading middle-market private equity firm.

Headquartered in Menomonee Falls, WI, Power Products is a global, diversified electrical products platform with locations in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific regions. Its products include harsh-environment power management and conversion products and solutions, wire and cable management accessories, test and measurement devices, switches, tools, and numerous other electrical components. The Power Products portfolio consists of leading brands for a variety of aftermarket and OEM customer segments in electrical construction and maintenance, recreational marine and specialty vehicles, industrial power, and transportation. Its broad portfolio of recognized brand names includes Del City, Gardner Bender, Sperry Instruments, Lenco Marine, Marinco, Mastervolt, ProMariner, BEP, and Blue Sea Systems.

Genstar Capital is investing in Power Products to support the continued expansion of the Power Product business through growth in new products and enhanced relationships with customers and channel partners. Additionally, the partnership will help support the Company with capital to accelerate growth through strategic M&A.

David Scheer, Chief Executive Officer of Power Products, said, "Genstar has a history of building industrial companies like ours, and we are impressed by their understanding of our sophisticated global operating platform and footprint. We share a similar excitement and vision about our future and feel strongly that Genstar is the right partner to support us with our strategic growth initiatives. Technical innovation remains key to our growth, and we are jointly committed to developing our technically differentiated portfolio of premium brands within diverse and growing end markets."

Rob Rutledge, Managing Director of Genstar, said, "We see major growth opportunities to optimize Power Products' brands, reputation, and technology. Power Products is a strong and growing company and we look forward to investments that will further expand its core segments, including entering new channels, expanding into new product arenas, and pursuing adjacent market opportunities. With Genstar's industrial technology expertise and financial support, Power Products is positioned as the consolidator of choice in a fragmented industry."

About Power Products

Power Products LLC, headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, is a global, diversified electrical products platform with manufacturing operations and distribution facilities in North America, Europe, and in Asia Pacific. The Power Products portfolio consists of leading brands and more than 25,000 products for a variety of aftermarket and OEM customer segments in electrical construction and maintenance, recreational marine and specialty vehicles, industrial power, and transportation. For more information, visit http://www.powerprodllc.com/en

About Genstar Capital

Genstar Capital (www.gencap.com) is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for more than 20 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of operating executives and strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar manages funds with total capital commitments of over $5 billion and targets investments focused on selected sectors within the industrial technology, healthcare, financial services, and software industries.

Contact: Chris Tofalli

Chris Tofalli Public Relations

914-834-4334

SOURCE Genstar Capital

Related Links

http://www.gencap.com


NEW YORK, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.

You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network  it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform

EXPERT ALERTS

Getting Sleep During Daylight Saving Time

Fighting Drug Resistant Microbes Using Nanoparticle Forms of Traditional and Alternative Medicines

New Strategies Urgently Needed for Drug-Resistant Super Bugs

Toy Data Breach Puts 2 Million Records at Risk

EXPERT ROUNDUP: Spring Cleaning (11 experts)

MEDIA JOBS

Experienced News Sub-Editors  South China Morning Post

Junior Reporter  Venture Capital Journal

Editor, North America Pictures  Reuters

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

The Messy Business of Corrections: Advice on How to Recover from a Mistake

Top Secret: How Journalists Protect Confidential Tips and Document Drops

Blog Profiles: Makeup Blogs

EXPERT ALERTS:

Getting Sleep During Daylight Saving Time

Richard Shane, Ph.D.

Behavior Sleep Therapist, Founder

Sleep Easily

Dr. Shane can comment on getting sleep during the Daylight Saving Time transition and how to manage the clock change: "For people who already have sleep challenges, or for older people, the time change really disturbs their sleep. Try to ease into the time change by going to bed 15 minutes earlier each night for four nights, leading up to Daylight Saving Time."

Dr. Shane is a sleep expert and psychotherapist with more than 25 years' experience in a clinical setting. He is also the author of "Sleep Easily Method Sleepguide" (2016).

ProfNet Profile: www.profnetconnect.com/drshane

Contact: Mary Cochran, [email protected]





Fighting Drug Resistant Microbes Using Nanoparticle Forms of Traditional and Alternative Medicines

Iris Bell, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus, Family & Community Medicine

University of Arizona College of Medicine

"Infectious diseases present public health challenges worldwide. An emerging integrative approach to treating infectious diseases is using nanoparticle (NP) forms of traditional and alternative medicines. Advantages of nanomedicine delivery methods include better disease targeting, especially for intracellular pathogens, ability to cross membranes and enter cells, longer duration drug action, reduced side effects, and cost savings from lower doses."

Dr. Bell is an internationally renowned expert on the topic of integrative and homeopathic medicine with more than 30 years of experience. She has served on the faculties at Harvard Medical School, University of California San Francisco, and the University of Arizona. She has published more than 140 professional papers and dozens of book chapters. Her current area of research is on the nanoparticle nature of homeopathic medicines and the interaction of alternative therapies and treatments with the person as a complex adaptive system.

ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/ibell

Contact: Peter Gold, [email protected]





New Strategies Urgently Needed for Drug-Resistant Super Bugs

Peter Fisher, M.D.

Director of Research and Consultant Physician

Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (RLHIM), London

"Antimicrobial resistance is a huge problem, as the new report from WHO demonstrates. In a few years, we will have no effective antibiotics left. It is time for a reconsideration of homeopathy as an adjunct therapy."

Dr. Fisher is an internationally renowned expert on the topic of integrative and homeopathic medicine. He is a member of the World Health Organization's Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional and Complementary Medicine and helped to draft its Traditional and Complementary Medicine Strategy 2014-2023 (http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/traditional/trm_strategy14_23/en/).

ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/peterfisher

Bio: https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/OurServices/Consultants/Pages/DrPeterFisher.aspx

Website: http://www.uclh.org/OurServices/OurHospitals/RLHIM/Pages/AboutRLHIM.aspx

Contact: Peter Gold, [email protected]





Toy Data Breach Puts 2 Million Records at Risk

Andrew J. Hacker

Cyber Security Expert in Residence

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

Spiral Toys, who makes the Internet of Things (IoT) toy CloudPets stuffed animals for children, suffered a massive data breach earlier this year. Says Hacker: "The leak exposes more than 2 million voice recordings of children and parents, as well as 800,000 email accounts of users of the toy. This is a serious concern for the IoT toy industry and parents should be very careful when purchasing toys for children and understand what kind of information is being captured and used by the manufacturer. Generally any device that has Wi-Fi or Bluetooth could have this issue. New technologies that preserve user privacy, such as data-level cybersecurity, are a first step in protecting children against such breaches."

Hacker is the cyber security expert in residence at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania. He is the former deputy chief information security officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where, for six years, he supported the Enterprise Information Security Office in managing information security, guiding state agency CISOs and executives, interacting with state and federal partners, and protecting citizen data and government systems and operations. He played a major role in creating enterprise security strategies, standards and policies, enhancing overall application security, and was responsible for risk management and compliance across the commonwealth. Prior to his appointment at the commonwealth, Hacker served as global security practice head for a global IT consulting firm where he built a practice organization spanning multiple geographies and fostered a highly skilled and influential security Center of Excellence.

Website: http://www.HarrisburgU.edu

Contact: Steven Infanti, [email protected]





EXPERT ROUNDUP: (11 experts)



With spring right around the corner, following are experts who are available to provide spring cleaning and organization tips for your readers:

Organizing Before a Move or Cleaning

Sharone Ben-Harosh

Founder and CEO

FlatRate moving

As the CEO of FlatRate, the number-one rated moving company, Ben-Harosh is available to share tips for your readers on organization prior to a move or for spring cleaning purposes: "Organize. One of the biggest missteps to spring cleaning is being unprepared and then getting distracted. When you enter a space, come prepared. Bring a cleaning caddy full of all your favorite cleaning products, scrapers, gloves, and sponges. Also, bring a rolling garbage can that will allow you to move around easily in tight spots. Being prepared will help you avoid having to leave the space once you are there. In our business of moving and storage, we are all too familiar with the anxiety that comes before a move. Most of the anxiety is tied to organizing and packing, two activities for which procrastination comes easily. By tackling part of the job at key times throughout the year, it will make life much easier when it comes time to move it all somewhere else."

Contact: Jared Baiman, [email protected]





Preventing Leaking and Mold

Matthew Stock

President

U.S. Waterproofing

Stock, an expert in waterproofing homes, can discuss how to prevent a number of unsuspecting springtime issues, such as how to prevent leaking and how warm temperatures may lead to a hidden health concern: mold. He can also share some DIY tips, including: 1) Know why it happened: "Basement leaks happen, a lot! Any foundation can spring a leak over time. Wet conditions + basement leak = mold. It doesn't take much: a little moisture, air, and darkness. That's all it takes for mold to take root and spread like wildfire." 2) Where is the water coming from? "Thankfully, in this very frustrating situation, there is always a water source. Is there oversaturated soil around the foundation of your home? Are there open/cracked window wells? Are the gutters clogged or blocked? Are downspouts not extended away from the house?" 3) What to do: "Move soil away from the house and clean those gutters. Sometimes a leak will stop when you grade soil/clean gutters. Keep those trouble spots clear all year long for prevention. Also, everything has an expiration -- including sump pumps. Check them yearly. Most sump pumps only last 5-10 years. Lastly, get a free estimate. Yes, free. Any reputable company will give a homeowner a free waterproofing estimate."

Contact: Andrew Hrubec, [email protected]





Flip the Hanger

Rachel Pella

Fashion Coordinator

Clothes Mentor

"Flip the hanger. If you haven't worn an item in six months or more, it's time to say goodbye. To help you identify those items, store them on hangers facing the same direction; then flip the hanger after you've worn it. If a hanger hasn't flipped in six months, sell or donate the item."

Website: http://www.clothesmentor.com

Contact: Matt DeMargel, [email protected]





Sell and Donate Bins

Jenny Mann

Vice President

Children's Orchard

"Sell and donate bins. Keep two small bins right inside the closet, one for items to sell and one for items to donate. Storing the bins in the closet makes it easy to sort on the spot. Then, every few months or so, you can take the items to your local resale store or donation center."

Website: http://www.childrensorchard.com

Contact: Matt DeMargel, [email protected]





Tackling the Clutter

Jodi Bart Holzband

Organization Expert, Writer and Editor

SpareFoot.com

"A recent survey shows that 78% of Americans will partake in spring cleaning this year. However, more than half of the population dreads the task more than completing their tax returns! Spring cleaning within the home doesn't have to be a daunting or endlessly time-consuming task. Tackle the clutter by first prioritizing your spaces. Next, divide and conquer your tasks in order to make results more tangible. Setting manageable goals and developing an action plan at the outset will help reduce anxiety, speed the process and make you feel more accomplished."

Holzband is a writer and editor at SpareFoot with a particular interest in topics around organization, moving and storage. When not creating content for the world's largest self- and full-service storage marketplace, she enjoys spending time with her husband and young daughter.

Contact: Elizabeth Zwerin, [email protected]





Spring Cleaning Your Home

Meg Roberts

President

Molly Maid

Roberts, president of Molly Maid, the nation's leading residential cleaning service, is available to share: the best tips and tricks to spring cleaning the interior of a home; tricks to quicken up spring cleaning; and unique places to focus on while spring cleaning, such as a mattress or a refrigerator.

Website: https://www.mollymaid.com

Contact: Elise Rose, [email protected]





Spring Cleaning the Outdoors/Exterior of Your Home

J.B. Sassano

President

Mr. Handyman

Sassano, president of Mr. Handyman, the nation's leading home repair and maintenance franchise, is available to share tips on spring cleaning the outdoors and exterior of a home, such as cleaning out gutters and fixing up the deck.

Website: http://www.mrhandyman.com

Contact: Elise Rose, [email protected]





Cleaning Dryers and Dryer Vents

Dave Lavalle

Founder

Dryer Vent Wizard

Lavalle, founder of Dryer Vent Wizard, the nation's leading dryer maintenance and repair franchise, is available to discuss: the importance of routine cleaning of the dryer and dryer vents; why homeowners need to perform one deep clean of their dryer annually; how to clean a dryer and dryer vents, giving DIY tips and tricks for homeowners; and how to prevent a dryer fire from starting during the warmer months.

Website: http://www.dryerventwizard.com

Contact: Elise Rose, [email protected]





Closet Design and Organization

Lisa Adams

Founder

LA Closet Design

Adams, who creates beautiful and functional luxurious closet spaces, is available to discuss closet design, seasonal clothing storage, packing, and closet organization. Celebrity clients include Fergie, Christina Aguilera, Kris Jenner, Khloe Kardashian and Monique Lhuillier. LA Closet Design merges form and function by incorporating dramatic aesthetics, unexpected luxe amenities and vital organizational details to create spaces that not only store belongings but function as viable living areas. Plush seating options, breakfast bars, wine chillers, cosmetic refrigerators, and more mean wardrobe storage areas that are so much more than hangers and shelving.

Website: www.laclosetdesign.com

Contact: Alexandra Huff, [email protected]





Home Cleaning, Organization and Decluttering

Debra Johnson

Home Cleaning Expert

Merry Maids

Johnson, a home cleaning expert for Merry Maids, the nation's largest home cleaning service, is available to discuss a variety of cleaning, organization, and decluttering tips and tricks, including: how to make money while you spring-clean; how to spring-clean your home in under 15 or 30 minutes; a sleep-deprived mom's guide to overnight spring cleaning; DIY spring cleaning without breaking the bank; five steps to foolproof closet organization; chemical-free spring cleaning; spring-cleaning your car, tech and tools; and general spring cleaning tips for pets, appliances, the bathroom, dust and allergens, the patio or deck, etc.

Contact: Jordan Ingram, [email protected]





Appliance Cleaning and Maintenance

Jill Notini

Vice President of Communications and Marketing

Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers

Notini is able to address multiple aspects of appliance cleaning and maintenance that should have a place in every home's spring cleaning routine. She has been part of AHAM for nearly 18 years and is quoted regularly in trade and consumer publications as a source on home appliance industry trends and usage tips. In 2002, she earned a "15 to Watch" Award from PR News and was named to Dealerscope Magazine's "40 Under 40" list. In 2007, AHAM received ASAE's Associations Advance America Excellence Award for "Home Sweet Home," a campaign Notini executed, to provide appliances to families rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. AHAM is the only association dedicated to providing the home appliance industry and consumers with leadership, advocacy and a forum for action in public policy, standards and business decisions.

Contact: Chris Doscher, [email protected]





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Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/

Experienced News Sub-Editors  South China Morning Post

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OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at [email protected]

THE MESSY BUSINESS OF CORRECTIONS: ADVICE FOR JOURNALISTS ON HOW TO RECOVER FROM A MISTAKE. Stephen King once said, "To write is human, to edit is divine." King underscores this to aspiring writers in the third foreword to his book, "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft," where he writes: "All [writers] have sinned and fallen short of editorial perfection." King speaks from decades of experience creating macabre stories. Mistakes happen to even the best of journalists. Here are some lessons from three veterans: http://bit.ly/2mB30WN





once said, "To write is human, to edit is divine." King underscores this to aspiring writers in the third foreword to his book, "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft," where he writes: "All [writers] have sinned and fallen short of editorial perfection." King speaks from decades of experience creating macabre stories. Mistakes happen to even the best of journalists. Here are some lessons from three veterans: http://bit.ly/2mB30WN TOP SECRET: HOW JOURNALISTS PROTECT CONFIDENTIAL TIPS AND DOCUMENT DROPS. It's a sign of the times: Many news agencies in Washington now are accepting various forms of leaked information. It used to be that anonymous tips would come through a phone call or snail mail. Now, journalists are using apps that encrypt text messages from sources, and many media agencies are promoting secure document drops. Read more: http://bit.ly/2lYcd7a





now are accepting various forms of leaked information. It used to be that anonymous tips would come through a phone call or snail mail. Now, journalists are using apps that encrypt text messages from sources, and many media agencies are promoting secure document drops. Read more: http://bit.ly/2lYcd7a BLOG PROFILES: MAKEUP BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and looks at a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the topic. This week, the team looks at makeup blogs: http://prn.to/2lTdNs8

****************

PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire.

SOURCE ProfNet

Related Links

http://www.profnet.com


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Rhode Island will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Rhode Island, tobacco companies spend $26.3 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Rhode Island, tobacco use claims 1,800 lives and costs $640 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 4.8 percent of Rhode Island's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Rhode Island, activities include:

The Rhode Island Department of Health will host its 4th Annual Kick Butts Day Zombie Walk in downtown Providence. Teen groups from across the state will kick off the activities with a flash mob-style "mannequin challenge," and march to the Statehouse to encourage lawmakers to promote policies to support a tobacco-free generation. Time: 5 PM. Location: Providence Career & Technical Academy, 41 Fricker Street, Providence. Contact: Joseph Wendelken (401) 222-3998.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Rhode Island, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


CHICAGO, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rush University Medical Center and Rush-Copley Medical Center (Rush-Copley) have completed the process of reorganizing their operations under a common corporate parent led by a board of trustees that will oversee the fully integrated Rush academic health system (Rush).

Rush will focus on bringing academic medicine to Chicago's western suburbs and beyond, providing patients and communities with convenient access to Rush University Medical Center's and Rush-Copley's nationally ranked clinical programs and research studies. A streamlined governance structure at the system level will help Rush focus on its goal of providing a single level of quality and commitment to the communities it serves. Initial plans for the reorganization were announced in June 2016.

"This is an exciting time for Rush and our patients as we thoughtfully build our future with partners like Rush-Copley that share our values and vision for improving coordinated patient care, complex disease management and innovative care delivery models," said Dr. Larry Goodman, who has been named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Rush system and will maintain his position as Rush University Medical Center CEO. "This approach is really unique in the marketplace. While others are consolidating services within systems, we are investing in new services and adding them to our community."

The new 13-member Rush system board of trustees is responsible for overseeing the vision and strategy for Rush, which includes Rush University Medical Center, Rush-Copley, Rush Oak Park Hospital and their respective subsidiaries. The Rush system board is led by Rush University Medical Center Chairman, William Goodyear. Michael Dandorph, President of Rush University Medical Center, will also serve as President of the Rush system, overseeing the system's strategy and operations. Barry Finn will continue as President and CEO of Rush-Copley and also serve as an executive officer of the Rush system. Rush University Medical Center, Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush-Copley will each maintain their respective leadership, hospital board and organizational structure as the reorganization is put into operation.

This further integration of Rush University Medical Center and Rush-Copley builds on a 30-year relationship and existing clinical partnerships in stroke care, cancer and cardiovascular surgery. Under the leadership of the system board, Rush University Medical Center and Rush-Copley will more fully integrate Rush's clinical programs, research, education and community priorities. Specific new initiatives include the following:

At Rush-Copley: Neurosciences clinical program development Neonatal and specialty pediatric program enhancement Expanded access to surgical sub-specialties Advanced women's health specialization and programming Pursuit of Magnet nursing designation, the highest recognition given for nursing excellence Implementing the Epic electronic medical records system

At Rush University Medical Center and Rush-Copley: Emergency medicine residency program

Medical Center and Rush-Copley: Across the Rush system Expanded opportunities for workforce development, health care education and training Acceleration of technology adoption and care coordination in ways that improve the health of all communities served by the Rush system

system

"This partnership is about ensuring our patients have access to the best care we can provide," said Finn. "It's a meaningful investment in our communities and a commitment to the Rush vision of building the leading academic health system in the region and transforming health care. We're proud to be an integral part of that."

Rush is proud to have more than 11,000 employees, 1,800 employed and private physicians and 2,500 students in Rush University.

"One of our key goals is to meaningfully expand access to our preeminent programs throughout the Rush system, setting a new standard for quality and value across the region," said Dandorph. "We will accomplish this by investing in our talented teams of committed professionals through programs offered by Rush University, the region's only dedicated health sciences university, and develop the skills to thrive in a future health care environment focused on improving health."

Along with hospitals in Chicago, Oak Park and Aurora, Rush has numerous outpatient facilities throughout the Chicagoland area. The three system hospitals have a combined annual total of 49,830 patient admissions, 184,172 emergency department visits and nearly one million outpatient visits.

About Rush

Rush is an academic health system whose mission is to improve the health of the patients and the diverse communities it serves with nationally recognized health care, education, research and a commitment to community partnerships. The Rush system comprises Rush University Medical Center, Rush University, Rush-Copley Medical Center and Rush Oak Park Hospital, as well as numerous outpatient care facilities. Rush University, with more than 2,500 students, is a health sciences university that comprises Rush Medical College, the College of Nursing, the College of Health Sciences and the Graduate College.

SOURCE Rush
TSX.V: SCZ

FSE: 1SZ

VANCOUVER, March 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. (TSX.V:SCZ) ("Santacruz" or the "Company") announces that, in accordance with the terms of the amended agreement between the Company's subsidiary, Impulsora Minera Santacruz S.A. de C.V. and Minera Hochschild Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (see news release dated February 28, 2017), the Company has issued 13,415,000 common shares of the Company in consideration for the restructuring of the payment terms thereunder. The shares are subject to a hold period and may not be traded until July 10, 2017 except as permitted by applicable securities legislation and the rules and policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd.

Santacruz is a Mexican focused silver company with two producing silver projects (Rosario, including the Cinco Estrellas property, and the right to operate the Veta Grande project and milling facility; and three exploration properties including the Gavilanes property, Minillas property and Zacatecas properties. The Company is managed by a technical team of professionals with proven track records in developing, operating and discovering silver mines in Mexico. Our corporate objective is to become a mid-tier silver producer.

'signed'

Arturo Prestamo Elizondo,

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE SantaCruz Silver Mining Ltd.

Related Links

www.santacruzsilver.com


WASHINGTON, March 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NAFSA is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 Senator Paul Simon Awards for Campus Internationalization. True to the legacy of the late Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, for whom NAFSA's Simon Awards are named, the seven U.S. colleges and universities that were selected have demonstrated remarkable innovation and achievement in campus internationalization.

The awards are divided into two categories to reflect and distinguish the diverse ways higher education institutions can design and implement campus internationalization.

The "Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization" recognizes excellence in integrating international education throughout all facets of university and college campuses. The 2017 Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization schools are:

Florida State University  Tallahassee, FL

 Santa Monica College  Santa Monica, CA

 University of Iowa  Iowa City, IA

 University of Pittsburgh  Pittsburgh, PA

The "Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award" celebrates a specific international program or initiative that contributes to broad internationalization on campus. The 2017 Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award schools are:

Spelman College  Atlanta, GA Spelman Going Global program

 Texas Christian University  Fort Worth, TX TCU Rhino Initiative

 University of North Texas  Denton, TX Heart of Mexico program



"We are thrilled to award NAFSA's highest commendation to these seven colleges and universities for their remarkable efforts to implement internationalization on their campuses," said Esther D. Brimmer, NAFSA Executive Director and CEO. "Through their hard work and dedication, each of these campuses has demonstrated how U.S. higher education institutions can succeed at fostering a globally connected and welcoming community using a variety of methods. It is through the continued commitment and innovation of institutions like these that we can ensure a future of greater collaboration and shared progress across the world."

Senator Simon was a champion for international education and cultural exchange. His passionate advocacy for these issues inspired the bipartisan Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act, which was introduced in the Senate today by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) and cosponsored by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

Institutions selected for the Simon Awards will be featured in NAFSA's report, Internationalizing the Campus: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities, to be published this fall, and honored at an event in Washington, D.C., during International Education Week in November. To learn more about NAFSA's Senator Paul Simon Awards, visit www.nafsa.org/SimonAward.

Sample Tweet: 2017 @NAFSA #SimonAward to @FloridaState @SMC_edu @uiowa @UofTampa @PittTweet @UNTNews @TCU @SpelmanCollege. More at www.nafsa.org/SimonAward

About NAFSA: With more than 10,000 members, NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education. Visit us at www.nafsa.org/press. To learn more about our advocacy efforts on behalf of international education, visit www.ConnectingOurWorld.org and @ConnectOurWorld on Twitter.

SOURCE NAFSA: Association of International Educators
NEW YORK, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is investigating potential claims on behalf of purchasers of The Toronto-Dominion Bank ("TD" or the "Company") (NYSE: TD). Such investors are encouraged to obtain additional information and assist the investigation by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/td.

The investigation concerns whether TD and certain of its officers and/or directors have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.

On March 10, 2017, CBC News reported about the pressures put on TD Bank branch employees to sign up customers for products they don't need. The report said that current and former TD employees described a pressure cooker environment that has "zero focus on ethics." Following this news, TD stock dropped during intraday trading on March 10, 2017.

If you are aware of any facts relating to this investigation, or purchased shares of TD, you can assist this investigation by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/td. You can also contact Peretz Bronstein or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC: 212-697-6484.

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firm's expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact:

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Peretz Bronstein or Yael Hurwitz

212-697-6484 | [email protected]

SOURCE Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Related Links

http://www.bgandg.com


BELMOND | Edward Max Hembree, age 72, of Belmond, IA, formerly of California, died Monday, March 6, 2017, at his home in Belmond, IA, following a courageous battle with many health issues.

Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 11, 2017, at the Andrews Funeral Home, 516 First St. S.E., Belmond, IA.

Visitation will be from 3 p.m. until the time of the services. Pastor Patrick Kennedy of the Belmond Evangelical Free Church will be officiating. Full military honors will be provided by the Belmond Military Unit.

Memorials or other expressions of sympathy my be directed in care of the family to 213 Third St. N.E., Belmond, IA 50421.

Edward M. Hembree, was born March 20, 1944, in Hayward, Alameda County, California. He was the son of Erley Le Roy and Helen Lovern (Platt) Hembree. He attended Alameda area schools and later served in the United State Army during the Vietnam War, spending parts of his military tenure in the middle of the conflict over seas. He was Honorably Discharged with the rank of Tech. Sergeant on Dec. 18, 1969.

Upon returning to civilian life, Ed had been employed in various occupations including owning and operating his own welding business, working as an electrician for P, G & E Electric for many years, and then most recently as an apartment and maintenance manager at a multi-family complex in California from 1988-2005, when he moved with his wife and their children to Belmond, IA, where he has been retired since moving due to health concerns.

Ed was united in marriage to Karen Jones and the couple had a daughter, Shelly Bennett and her two children, Destine and Josh Shewmaker, currently all residing in Sacramento, CA. Edward and Karen were divorced after a number of years together. He later married Lynne Forester, his current life partner and wife of over 31 years at Lake Tahoe on Jan. 26, 1988. Their union was blessed with daughters, Tabitha and Lena, a son Eddie, and a stepson Mike Forester.

Edward enjoyed times with his family and grandchildren, occasional trips to the casino, old westerns and war movies, especially ones that John Wayne starred in, classic outlaw country music such as Johnny Cash, Waylon and Willie. He enjoyed guns and camping, but most certainly one of his favorite hobbies was fishing.

His life will be remembered by his wife, Lynne Hembree, Belmond, IA; daughter Tabitha Hembree and her children Bentley and Braxton; and his son Eddie Hembree and his children Jordyn and Jessa and Eddie's fiancee Meri Sallee, all of Belmond, IA; a daughter Lena Hembree, Nora Springs, IA; and a stepson Mike Forester and his son Ian Forester, of Belmond, IA. Also surviving is his brother Donnie and his wife Clare Harvey, Clearfield, UT.

Ed was preceded in death by his parents and a sister Helen Douglas.

Andrews Funeral Home, Belmond, IA. 641-444-4474, www.andrewsfuneralhomeandfloral.com.
NEW YORK, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Toronto-Dominion Bank ("TD Bank" or the "Company") (NYSE: TD). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.

The investigation concerns whether TD Bank and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here to join a class action]

On March 10, 2017, CBC News published a report about the pressures put on TD Bank branch employees to sign up customers for products they don't need. According to the report, current and former TD Bank employees described a pressure cooker environment that has "zero focus on ethics."

On this news, TD Bank's share price has fallen as much as $2.32, or 4.48%, during intraday trading on March 10, 2017.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

http://www.pomerantzlaw.com


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in South Carolina will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In South Carolina, tobacco companies spend $191.5 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In South Carolina, tobacco use claims 7,200 lives and costs $1.90 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 9.6 percent of South Carolina's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In South Carolina, activities include:

A 'They Put What in Cigarettes?!' display at South Carolina Governor's School for Science & Mathematics will expose students to the truth about cigarettes and the dangerous and deadly chemicals they contain. Time: 11:30 AM. Location: 401 Railroad Avenue, Hartsville. Contact: Theresa Curtis (843) 253-1721.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in South Carolina, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in South Dakota will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In South Dakota, tobacco companies spend $24.4 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In South Dakota, tobacco use claims 1,300 lives and costs $373 million in health care bills each year. Currently, 10.1 percent of South Dakota's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In South Dakota, activities include:

On March 14, students at Mitchell High School will air big tobacco's dirty laundry by hanging up shirts with anti-tobacco messages on a clothesline. The school's Unfiltered REALity tobacco prevention group will lead the event. Time: 7:30 AM-3:30 PM. Location: 920 N. Capital Street, Mitchell. Contact: Samantha Olson (605) 995-7611.

Youth at the Boys and Girls Club of Watertown will host an anti-tobacco rally open to the public where they can learn about the dangers of smoking through games and activities. Time: 4:30 PM. Location: 1000 3rd Avenue N.W., Watertown. Contact: Kyle Thyen (605) 886-6666.

Students at the White River School District in White River, led by Michael Glynn Memorial Coalition's T.A.T.U. members, will take photos with "I Am Not A Replacement" signs. The photos will be displayed throughout the school district via digital signage. Time: 9 AM. Location: 501 2nd Street, White River. Contact: Joyce Glynn (605) 441-5389.

Youth at the Ellsworth AFB Youth Center on Ellsworth Air Force Base will host a poster contest, t-shirt decorating, and educational displays. Earlier in the month they held an anti-tobacco 5k for children and families. Time: 1 PM. Location: 1679 Ellsworth Street #7712, Ellsworth AFB. Contact: Edna Oliver (605) 431-1322.

Youth at the Boys and Girls Club in Yankton are constructing a giant graffiti puzzle wall to fight tobacco. The wall will include nine puzzle piece poster boards of anti-tobacco information, student handprints and signatures. Time: 4:30 PM. Location: 2008 Mulberry Street, Yankton. Contact: Cassidy Janicek (573) 239-7245.

Students at Cheyenne Eagle Butte Upper Elementary School in Eagle Butte will learn about the dangers of e-cigarettes from Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) students from the Cheyenne Eagle Butte School. Fifth and sixth grade students will also take a pledge to #BeTheFirst tobacco-free generation on posters hung on their lockers. Time: 8 AM  3 PM. Location: Cheyenne Eagle Butte Upper Elementary School, S. Prairie Road, Eagle Butte. Contact: Jamie Pesicka (605) 964-1260.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in South Dakota, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Tennessee will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Tennessee, tobacco companies spend $276.9 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Tennessee, tobacco use claims 11,400 lives and costs $2.67 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 11.5 percent of Tennessee's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Tennessee, activities include:

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Kingsport, the Girls, Inc. and New Vision Youth will host an anti-tobacco rally at the Riverview Community Center in Kingsport. City leaders and police officers will join youth as they share personal stories of how tobacco has negatively impacted their lives. Time: 4 PM. Location: 285 Louis Street, Kingsport. Contact: Melony Ison (423) 742-1025.

A.C.T.I.O.N. Coalition, Coordinated School Health, HOSA Johnson County Chapter and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) of Johnson County will facilitate a scavenger hunt with middle school students to discourage tobacco use. Youth will also talk to legislators to promote anti-tobacco policies. Time: 8:30 AM. Location: 500 Fairground Lane, Mountain City. Contact: Ryan Fletcher (336) 528-9803.

Students at American Baptist College are airing tobacco's dirty laundry to encourage their peers to live tobacco-free. Time: 10 AM. Location: 1800 Baptist World Center Drive, Nashville. Contact: Adulin Prophete (240) 559-4993.

On March 16, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) at Gatlinburg Pittman High School will teach their peers about saying no to tobacco in the cafeteria during the lunch hours. Time: 11:30 AM. Location: 150 Profit Road, Gatlinburg. Contact: Kameron Ogle (865) 640-2052.

On March 18, students in partnership with Obion County Prevention Coalition and Health Department will participate in a Kick Butts Day flash mob to fight tobacco use. Time: 4:30 PM. Location: 528 U.S. Highway 51, Troy. Contact: Carla Aaron (731) 592-1718.

On March 22, students at the Boys and Girls Club in Jackson will participate in an interactive and educational session to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco. Time: 4 PM. Location: 746 Lexington Avenue, Jackson. Contact: Rachel Thomas (731) 437-0920.

On March 24, the Boys and Girls Club of Hawkins County and the Hawkins County Health Department will put on a "Tobacco Stinks" educational program to inform youth about the dangers of smoking. Time: 3 PM. Location: 1604 E. Main Street, Rogersville. Contact: Sharon Phipps (423) 418-4640.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Tennessee, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Texas will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Texas, tobacco companies spend $606.6 million annually on marketing efforts.

In Texas, health advocates are backing bipartisan bills in the state House and Senate to increase the tobacco sale age to 21, a move that will reduce tobacco use and save lives. On the local level, health advocates are working to pass a comprehensive smoke-free law in Fort Worth.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Texas, tobacco use claims 28,000 lives and costs $8.85 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 10.6 percent of Texas high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Texas, activities include:

On March 14, in collaboration with advocates from the Gift of Life, the Port Arthur City Council will inform and educate council members, commissioners and citizens about the harmful effects of tobacco. Time: 8:30 AM. Location: Port Arthur City Hall, 444 4th Street, Port Arthur. Contact: Connie Berry (409) 833-3663.

Members of the Ingleside Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) will hold a tobacco-free march at Ingleside High School to bring attention to the dangers of tobacco use and encourage a tobacco-free lifestyle. Time: 7:30 AM. Location: Ingleside High School, 2807 Mustang Drive, Ingleside. Contact: Carlos Vela (361) 756-9376.

Members of Students Adults and Youth Working Hard Against Tobacco (SayWhat!) in Lufkin will create a display of tombstones that represent the 77 Texans who die from tobacco each day. The tombstones will also display facts on the dangers of tobacco use. Time: 10 AM. Location: 1320 S. John Redditt Drive, Suite C, Lufkin. Contact: Kayla Garris (936) 634-9308.

The YMCA of Boerne will create a graffiti wall and educate participants about the harmful effects of tobacco use through visual displays, including tobacco facts in chalk on the sidewalk, as well as tobacco Jeopardy. Time: 10 AM. Location: YMCA of Boerne, 1361 S. Main Street, Boerne. Contact: Ashley Maytum (830) 415-8043.

The Young Ladies of Elegance and Young Men of Character will hold a Kick Butts Health Fair at Lewis Middle School in Houston. Informational booths and games will teach students about the risks and health consequences of smoking. Time: 10 AM. Location: 6309 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Houston. Contact: Danyell Pennington (770) 560-9841.

On March 22, the Recovery Resource Council will hold a fair at the J.A. Cavile Boys and Girls Club in Fort Worth. There will be games, activities, education, booths, and prizes, bringing the community together for tobacco awareness and fun. Time: 5 PM. Location: 5021 Avenue G, Fort Worth. Contact: Alma Romero (817) 944-7843.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Texas, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


NEW YORK, March 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TFT (Thin Film Transistor) is an active-matrix LCD along with an improved image quality where one transistor for every pixel controls the illumination of the display enabling an easy view even in bright environments. This technology currently represents the most popular LCD display technology and accounts for the majority of the global display market. Being light in weight, slim in construction, high in resolution with low power consumption, TFT's are gaining prominence in almost all the industries wherever displays are required. They find applications in various electronic goods such as cell phones, portable video game devices, televisions, laptops, desktops, etc. They are also used in automotive industry, navigation and medical equipment, laser pointer astronomy, SLR cameras and digital photo frames. According to IMARC Group, the global TFT LCD panel market has grown at a CAGR of around 5% during 20092016, reaching sales value worth US$ 133.5 Billion in 2016.



The report titled "TFT LCD Panel Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2017-2022" provides a detailed insight into the global TFT LCD panel market. The report has segmented the market on the basis of size, technology, applications and major regions. On the basis of size, large sized panels dominated the global TFT LCD display market. Large sized panels were followed by the medium and small sized TFT-LCD panels. On the basis of technology, the report found that the 8th generation represented the most popular TFT LCD technology. On the basis of applications, the television industry accounted for the largest share in the global TFT LCD market. The television industry was followed by mobile phones, mobile PCs, monitors and the automotive industry. Geography-wise, North America represented the largest market accounting for more than one-third of the total global TFT LCD panel sales. North America was followed by Asia-Pacific and Europe. The report has also covered some of the major players operating in this market which include LG, SAMSUNG, INNOLUX, AUO and SHARP.



This report provides a comprehensive analysis for setting up a TFT LCD panel manufacturing plant. The study covers all the requisite aspects of the TFT LCD panel industry and provides an in-depth analysis of the market, industry performance, processing and manufacturing requirements, project cost, project funding, project economics, expected returns on investment, profit margins, etc. This report is a must-read for entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, consultants, business strategists, and all those who are planning to foray into the TFT LCD panel industry in any manner.



Key Questions Answered in This Report?

How has the display market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What are the key technologies in the global display industry?

What are the key applications of the global display industry?

How has the TFT-LCD display panel market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What are the popular sizes in the global TFT-LCD display panel industry?

What are the key technologies in the global TFT-LCD display panel industry?

What are the key applications of the global TFT-LCD display panel industry?

What are the price trends of TFT-LCD display panel?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the TFT-LCD display panel industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the TFT-LCD display panel industry?

What is the structure of the TFT-LCD display panel industry and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the TFT-LCD display panel industry?

What are the profit margins in the TFT-LCD display panel industry?

What are the key requirements for setting up a TFT-LCD display panel manufacturing plant?

How is TFT-LCD display panel manufactured?

What are the various unit operations involved in a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What is the total size of land required for setting up a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What are the machinery requirements for setting up a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What are the raw material requirements for setting up a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What are the packaging requirements for TFT-LCD display panel?

What are the transportation requirements for TFT-LCD display panel?

What are the utility requirements for setting up a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What are the manpower requirements for setting up a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What are the infrastructure costs for setting up a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What are the capital costs for setting up a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What are the operating costs for setting up a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What will be the income and expenditures for a TFT-LCD display panel plant?

What is the time required to break-even?

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04715160-summary/view-report.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

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"In this article I'm going to expose who is behind altering the Scriptures, changing the Sabbath Day, the Ten Commandments, and changing the Names of the Creator, Yahweh, and the Savior, Yahshua, and so much more," Yisrayl promises.

Yisrayl says there has been so much deception in this "great plan" that he cannot possibly write about it all in one article, but this article does expose a great deal of it. He adds that he has a lifetime of writings that he offers that puts the whole story together and lines up the pieces like a puzzle so anyone can understand the deception that has been created. He says his goal is to "lift the veil of deception" and let Yahweh's Light shine unto all.

"I have a mission to fulfill, and I will complete the mission that has been given to me. Don't miss this article, you will be blown away with what I reveal in it," Yisrayl says.

To read this article, go to http://yahwehsbranch.com

About Us

The House of Yahweh, fully recognized in 1983 as a non-profit organization in the United States of America, continues to fulfill its commissioned work of preaching and publishing the True Message of Salvation.

The House of Yahweh has correctly restored the Heavenly Father's and the Savior's True Names in the translation named in Scripture as The Book of Yahweh.

SOURCE The House of Yahweh

Related Links

http://www.yahweh.com


Leading International Financial Printing Firm Acquires Competitor to Expand Service Offerings; forms one of the world's largest financial communications companies

NEW YORK, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Toppan Vite, a leading international financial printing, communications and technology company, announced today the strategic acquisition of Vintage, a division of PR Newswire. Vintage provides regulatory compliance across capital markets, corporate services, and institutional and fund services.

"We're incredibly excited to be joining forces with Vintage," said Jeffrey Riback, President of Toppan Vite. "Vintage's clients and resources are now part of one of the largest financial printing companies in the world. We're proud to offer Vintage's clients our global financial printing and communications capabilities and enhance the firm's technology-based solutions for today and the future."

The acquisition expands the Toppan Vite global footprint and doubles the size of the company. Toppan Vite plans to make extensive investments into the business following the merger, focusing particularly on enhanced technology.

"Aligning with Toppan Vite will improve Vintage's business offerings for its clients, partners and employees," said Cision CEO, Kevin Akeroyd. "Combined with Vintage's hard-earned reputation for value and nimble service and Toppan Vite's global reach, first-class service offerings and exceptional technology, Toppan Vite will provide countless business advantages for its clients' most important financial moments. We are excited to continue our relationship with Toppan Vite, and to seamlessly deliver their newly combined offerings to our joint customers."

Vintage, formerly Vintage Filings, was founded in 2002 and acquired by PR Newswire in 2007. PR Newswire was acquired as part of the Cision group of companies in 2016. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

About Toppan Vite

Toppan Vite, a leader in financial printing and communications solutions, is part of the Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., the world's largest printing group, headquartered in Tokyo with approximately US $13 billion in annual sales. Toppan Vite has been a pioneer and trusted partner in the financial markets for three decades, serving the financial, legal and corporate communities with meticulous, responsive service and unparalleled local market expertise and capabilities. Toppan Vite's expanding U.S. operations deliver a hassle-free experience for mission-critical content for capital markets transactions, financial reporting and regulatory compliance filings, investment companies and insurance providers. Learn more at www.us.toppanvite.com.

About Cision

Cision is a leading media communication technology and analytics company that enables marketers and communicators to effectively manage their earned media programs in coordination with paid and owned channels to drive business impact. As the creator of the Cision Communications Cloud, the first-of-its-kind earned media cloud-based platform, Cision has combined cutting-edge data, analytics, technology and services into a unified communication ecosystem that brands can use to build consistent, meaningful and enduring relationships with influencers and buyers in order to amplify their marketplace influence. Cision solutions also include market-leading media technologies such as PR Newswire, Gorkana, PRWeb, Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and iContact. Headquartered in Chicago, Cision serves over 100,000 customers in 170 countries and 40 languages worldwide, and maintains offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Australia. For more information, visit www.cision.com or follow @Cision on Twitter.

Media Contacts

Sarah Reilly

Toppan Vite

Marketing Manager

(201) 562-1798

[email protected]

Stacey Miller

Cision

Director, Communications

(301) 683-6038

[email protected]

SOURCE Toppan Vite

Related Links

http://us.toppanvite.com


We commenced prorating the Premium Dividend TM component of our Dividend Reinvestment Plan by 25%, beginning with the dividend paid on October 17, 2016, and announced a further 25% proration starting with the dividend paid on January 17, 2017. We have increased the proration factor by a further 25% beginning with the April 17, 2017 dividend payment. Eligible shareholders who have elected to participate in the Premium Dividend TM component will receive a 1.5% premium on 25% of their participating shares, and the regular cash dividend on the remaining 75% of their shares. Subject to unexpected changes in the commodity price outlook, it is our intent to discontinue the Premium Dividend TM component beginning with the July 2017 dividend payment, such that there would be no further equity issuance under the Premium Dividend TM component of our Dividend Reinvestment Plan.

About Vermilion

Vermilion is an international energy producer that seeks to create value through the acquisition, exploration, development and optimization of producing properties in North America, Europe and Australia. Our business model targets annual organic production growth, along with providing reliable and increasing dividends to investors. Vermilion is targeting growth in production primarily through the exploitation of light oil and liquids-rich natural gas conventional resource plays in Canada and the United States, the exploration and development of high impact natural gas opportunities in the Netherlands and Germany, and through oil drilling and workover programs in France and Australia. Vermilion also holds an 18.5% working interest in the Corrib gas field in Ireland. Vermilion pays a monthly dividend of Canadian $0.215 per share, which provides a current yield of approximately 5%.

Vermilion's priorities are health and safety, the environment, and profitability, in that order. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the public and those who work with us, and the protection of our natural surroundings. We have been recognized as a top decile performer amongst Canadian publicly listed companies in governance practices, as a Climate "A" List performer by the CDP, and a Best Workplace in the Great Place to Work Institute's annual rankings in Canada, France, the Netherlands and Germany. In addition, Vermilion emphasizes strategic community investment in each of our operating areas.

Management and directors of Vermilion hold approximately 5% of the outstanding shares, are committed to consistently delivering superior rewards for all stakeholders, and have delivered over 20 years of market outperformance. Vermilion trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VET.

denotes trademark of Canaccord Genuity Capital Corporation.

SOURCE Vermilion Energy Inc.

Related Links

http://www.vermilionenergy.com


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Virginia will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Virginia, tobacco companies spend $376.9 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Virginia, tobacco use claims 10,300 lives and costs $3.11 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 8.2 percent of Virginia's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Virginia, activities include:

On March 13, student leaders and staff at Tabb High School in Yorktown will inform students about the dangers of tobacco and create a "mannequin challenge" video with anti-tobacco signs and posters. Time: 8 AM. Location: 4431 Big Bethel Road, Yorktown. Contact: Lynn Pitchford (757) 867-7427 ext. 42401.

Students from T.C. Williams High School JROTC and the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria will engage youth in Alexandria to ensure that tobacco vendors properly train staff and check IDs for tobacco sales. Mayor Allison Silberberg will kick off the event. Time: 3:30pm. Location: 3330 King Street, Alexandria. Contact: Kimberly Hurley (703) 746-5459.

Y Street youth volunteers will hold a lunch event for students at Nansemond River High School in Suffolk. Students will sign an "In my Lifetime" banner to showcase what they will accomplish in their lifetimes by staying tobacco-free. Time: 11:45 AM. Location: 3301 Nansemond Pkwy, Suffolk. Contact: Holley Tillman (540) 624-2716.

Y Street youth volunteers will hold a lunch event for students at Riverbend High School in Spotsylvania. Students will sign an "In my Lifetime" banner to showcase what they will accomplish in their lifetimes by staying tobacco-free. Time: 11:10 AM. Location: 12301 Spotswood Furnace Road, Spotsylvania. Contact: Holley Tillman (540) 624-2716.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Virginia, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 13, at Nora Springs First United Methodist Church, Nora Springs, with the Rev. Jim Roth officiating. Burial will be at Park Cemetery, Nora Springs.
LEHI, Utah, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR), a leading full-service residential solar provider, today announced the appointment of Colt Reid to vice president of sales operations.

In his new role at Vivint Solar, Reid will manage the company's inside sales team along with a 75-person sales leadership team to drive sales innovation, account management and sales enablement efforts. With more than 10 years of experience in sales and operations management, Reid has an established track record of improving sales processes and generating new revenue through innovative paths to market and product offerings.

"Since joining Vivint Solar, Colt has added a tremendous amount of value. He has the ability to execute across a wide spectrum of business areas and has helped solve challenging problems in sales operations," said Paul Dickson, chief revenue officer at Vivint Solar. "He's a tremendous asset to our company and we look forward to the continued success we expect him to have in this elevated role."

As senior director of sales operations at Vivint Solar, Reid was instrumental in creating a new leadership incentive structure and implementing new sales tools that have been incorporated into the company's direct-to-home sales model, increasing efficiency and improving sales processes among the organization. Reid is also credited with implementing strategic partnerships in an effort to provide optimal financial solutions for Vivint Solar's customers.

Prior to joining Vivint Solar as director of sales innovation, Reid held sales and operations leadership positions with other national residential solar companies. As an award winning employee and forward-thinking leader at these large companies, Reid's experience includes helping to build a new sales channel of 600 people in just six months. Reid has also served in leadership roles with third-party resellers, including T-Mobile.

"I consider myself lucky to be part of this amazing company in the heart of such an innovative industry," Reid stated. "Solar power is a cause everyone can get behind, and I'm excited to continue to help empower a high-performing sales team to drive this movement forward."

Vivint Solar recently announced that it surpassed more than 100,000 solar energy system installations, a significant milestone achieved in less than six years. The company serves customers in 15 states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Utah) and Washington D.C.

About Vivint Solar

Vivint Solar is a leading full-service residential solar provider in the United States. With Vivint Solar, customers can power their homes with clean, renewable energy and typically achieve significant financial savings. Offering integrated residential solar solutions for the entire customer lifecycle, Vivint Solar designs, installs, monitors and services the solar energy systems for its customers. In addition to being able to purchase a solar energy system outright, customers may benefit from Vivint Solar's affordable, flexible financing options or power purchase agreements. For more information, visit www.vivintsolar.com or follow @VivintSolar on Twitter.

Press Contacts:

Vivint Solar

Helen Langan, Director of Public Relations

385-202-6577

[email protected]

Agency Contact

Ashlyn Hewlett, Method Communications

801-461-9772

[email protected]

SOURCE Vivint Solar

Related Links

http://www.vivintsolar.com


MARINA BAY SANDS, Singapore, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Walter O'Brien, the CEO and founder of Scorpion Computer Services, Inc., keynoted EmTech Asia 2017 in Singapore. EmTech Asia, curated by MIT Technology Review and Koelnmesse, assembles over 700 C-level executives including innovation officers, strategists, scientists and investors to collaborate on major global issues. EmTech Asia 2017 addressed global issues in cybersecurity and computer security following a number of high-profile hacks and attacks on corporate and government computer infrastructure.

Walter O'Brien, founder and CEO of Scorpion Computer Services, leads the company that won Los Angeles Business Journal's Innovation award in 2016. A leading authority on computer security, he regularly consults with Fortune 1000 firms, government and military on AI and cybersecurity issues.

In his speech, Walter O'Brien discussed problems and solutions to some of the world's biggest cybersecurity issues, touching on ransomware, aging government computer infrastructure and the perils of inaction. Regarding EmTech Asia, O'Brien said, "EmTech Asia brings together some of the brightest minds in technology and computer security. It was an honor to keynote the conference in Singapore and contribute to furthering several global initiatives in cybersecurity."

Regarding Walter O'Brien, Daria La Valle, regional manager at Koelnmesse in Singapore said: "Walter explained in plain English that the cybersecurity issues we face can be addressed with improved policy. Cybersecurity can be further improved by having the right people in place to anticipate and counter security vulnerabilities." During the conference O'Brien joined CNBC Asia's Squawk Box, with an audience of 326 million people, to discuss contemporary cybersecurity issues and solutions.

Walter O'Brien's firm, Scorpion Computer Services, Inc., is the winner of Los Angeles Business Journal's Patrick Soon-Shiong Innovation award for the deployment of ScenGen, the artificial-intelligence engine and for its work with the military on defense infrastructure. His company works with Fortune 1000 firms to test, implement and provide quality assurance on software and hardware security.

ABOUT WALTER O'BRIEN

Walter O'Brien is the founder and CEO of Scorpion Computer Services, Inc., and CEO of Scorpion Studios. He is the Executive Producer and the inspiration behind the hit CBS television drama, Scorpion, with over 26 million viewers in 180 countries. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has certified Walter O'Brien as being a person of national interest to the United States and granted him an Extraordinary Ability EB 1-1 Visa. He has worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, plus Navy and Air Force systems to deploy artificial intelligence that protects American military personnel. In addition, he has worked with multiple Fortune 500 companies including the world's largest mutual fund, Fujitsu, Trados, Oracle Corporation, Baltimore Technologies and Critical Path. O'Brien serves as chairman or board member for Strike Force Solutions, Talentorum Alliance, Houston Technology Center and Lawloop.

O'Brien regularly donates his time to charities and the community in general, to encourage all generations to celebrate intelligence. O'Brien provided the seed funding for TaxiWatch Kilkenny, a suicide prevention program that has saved 100 lives since its inception in 2015. Also in 2015 O'Brien contributed to the next XPRIZE selection as part of XPRIZE Visioneering.

ABOUT SCORPION COMPUTER SERVICES, INC.

Scorpion Computer Services is the internationally recognized problem-solving consultancy led by computer-security expert and hacker "Scorpion" Walter O'Brien. Named the Patrick Soon-Shiong Innovation award winner by Los Angeles Business Journal, for over two decades Scorpion Computer Services has contributed to the greater good by managing geniuses as they transform Scorpion client ideas into reality.

From confronting and solving issues of national security to rescuing failing businesses, Scorpion Computer Services is the brainpower behind solving global issues, proving "smart is cool." The company's clients include government, military, a number of Fortune 5000 firms as well as start-ups and small-and-medium sized businesses with opportunities across cutting-edge information technology solutions, transportation and logistics, business efficiency and marketing.

ABOUT EmTech ASIA

EmTech Asia is where technology, business, and culture converge. It is the showcase for emerging technologies with the greatest potential to change our lives. It is an access point to the most innovative people and companies in the world. Most of all, it is a place of inspiration  an opportunity to glimpse the future and begin to understand the technologies that matter and how they will change the face of business and drive the new global economy. www.emtechasia.com

Press Contact:

Jordan French

[email protected]

www.scorpioncomputerservices.com

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Scorpion Computer Services, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.scorpioncomputerservices.com


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Washington will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Washington, tobacco companies spend $88.4 million annually on marketing efforts.

In Washington, health advocates are urging legislators to increase the tobacco sale age to 21, a move that will reduce tobacco use and save lives.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Washington, tobacco use claims 8,300 lives and costs $2.81 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 7.9 percent of Washington's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Washington, activities include:

On March 14, elementary school students at Clover Creek Elementary in Tacoma will spell out "Stomp Out Tobacco" by placing cups in a fence, hold an anti-tobacco flash mob during lunch, and share statistics about the adverse effects of tobacco use. Time: 12:45 PM. Location: 16715 35th Avenue E., Tacoma. Contact: Patty Little (253) 720-9063.

Students from Mt. Solo Middle School and Cowlitz County Prevention Squad will educate their peers about the dangers tobacco use by drawing chalk body outlines with tobacco facts and statistics. Time: 10:30 AM. Location: 5300 Mt Solo Road, Longview. Contact: Theresa Misner (360) 751-9078.

Students with the Sadie Halstead Middle School SADD Club will paint tobacco statistics on their face will relay the facts to their peers when asked what the numbers mean. Time: 7:30 AM. Location: 331 S. Calispel Avenue, Newport. Contact: Sarah Theal (509) 447-2426 ext. 2504.

Students from Oakland Bay Junior High School in Shelton will sign a pledge wall to be the first tobacco-free generation, which will be on display in the school commons. Time: 11 AM. Location: 3301 North Shelton Springs Road, Shelton. Contact: Gerald Apple (360) 480-5330.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Washington, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in West Virginia will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In West Virginia, tobacco companies spend $122.9 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In West Virginia, tobacco use claims 4,300 lives and costs $1.00 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 18.8 percent of West Virginia's high school students smoke, the highest high school smoking rate in the United States.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In West Virginia, activities include:

Members of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and RAZE from four Mercer County high schools will partner with the Mercer County Commission and Community Connections to hold an anti-tobacco rally to promote a cleaner Mercer County. Time: 1 PM. Location: Mercer County Court House, 1501 W. Main Street, Princeton. Contact: Angie Willoughby (304)-323-8568.

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) members will "Chalk the Walk" in the area leading up to the front doors of Nicholas County High School. These visual messages will bring attention to the toll of tobacco and tobacco industry's marketing tactics to all who enter and exit the building. Time: 7:15 AM. Location: Nicholas County High School, 30 Grizzly Road, Summersville. Contact: Kim Major (304) 883-3900.

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and Raze will host a week-long event at Buffalo High School with booths and performances demonstrating the dangers of tobacco. Themed activities include: "Not a Replacement," "Airing Out Big Tobacco's Dirty Laundry," and "Walking Tobacco Audit." Time: 11:15 AM. Location: Buffalo High School, 3680 Buffalo Road, Buffalo. Contact: Addison Crum (304) 807-1383.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in West Virginia, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


WASHINGTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kids in Wisconsin will unite against tobacco use on March 15 as they join thousands of young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. More than 1,000 events are planned across the United States and around the world for this annual day of youth activism, sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (See below for a list of local events.)

On Kick Butts Day, kids encourage their peers to be tobacco-free, reject tobacco companies' devious marketing and urge elected officials to help make the next generation tobacco-free.

This year, Kick Butts Day is focusing attention on how tobacco companies are enticing kids with a growing market of sweet-flavored products such as electronic cigarettes and cigars, threatening to addict a new generation. These products have proved popular with kids. From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use among high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 16 percent nationwide, and more kids now use e-cigarettes than regular cigarettes. In addition, more high school boys now smoke cigars than cigarettes. E-cigarettes and cigars are sold in a wide assortment of candy and fruit flavors, such as gummy bear, cotton candy and fruit punch.

Tobacco companies also continue to spend huge sums to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, much of it reaching kids. Nationwide, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year  one million dollars every hour  on marketing. In Wisconsin, tobacco companies spend $155.8 million annually on marketing efforts.

"On Kick Butts Day, kids stand up to the tobacco industry, and our nation's leaders must stand with them," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "We've made great strides in reducing youth smoking, but candy-flavored products like e-cigarettes and cigars threaten this progress. We need strong FDA regulation to protect kids from these sweet-flavored products. And elected officials at all levels should support proven strategies that prevent youth tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, funding prevention programs and raising the tobacco age to 21."

In Wisconsin, tobacco use claims 7,900 lives and costs $2.66 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 8.1 percent of Wisconsin's high school students smoke.

On Kick Butts Day, kids join in creative events that range from classroom activities about the harmful ingredients in cigarettes to rallies at state capitols.

In Wisconsin, activities include:

Local youth at the Horicon Junior and Senior High School will take a stand against tobacco. Horicon SADD will place cups in a fence. Students will also sign a tobacco-free pledge and enter a drawing for non-smoker t-shirts. Time: 8 AM. Location: 841 Gray Street, Horicon. Contact: Anne Millane (920) 485-4441.

Greendale Middle School's Tobacco Fighters club will host a "Not A Replacement" social media campaign to educate their peers about the realities of big tobacco's marketing goals to make youth "replacement smokers." Students will share selfies on the Greendale Health Department social media channels, and printed "selfies" will be used to create a display at the local library. Time: 11 AM. Location: 6800 Schoolway, Greendale. Contact: Kitty Goyette (414) 416-6215.

Students from the Barron County School District will join the Barron County Boys and Girls Club to set up informational booths to share tobacco facts, games and promotional items with other students. Time: 10 AM. Location: 30 Wisconsin Avenue, Rice Lake. Contact: Jenna Green (715) 931-7349.

The Franklin Youth Initiative is sponsoring a "#NotAReplacement" social media campaign to encourage youth to choose a tobacco-free lifestyle. Time: 11 AM. Location: 8222 S. 51st Street, Franklin. Contact: Julianna Manske (414) 587-9588.

Two Rivers High School FACT Students, in partnership with the local Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, will work to identify community members, family and friends who have 'kicked' their tobacco habit and personally invite them to celebrate their successes on Kick Butts Day. Time: 6 PM. Location: Fireplace Lodge, 1710 West Park Street, Two Rivers. Contact: Katie Wilsmann (920) 901-9922.

All events are on March 15 unless otherwise indicated. For a full list of Kick Butts Day activities in Wisconsin, visit www.kickbuttsday.org/map. Additional information about tobacco, including state-by-state statistics, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Related Links

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org


HOUSTON, March 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE: WTI) announced today that the Company will be participating in the 29th Annual ROTH Conference to be held March 13-15, 2017 in Dana Point, California.

Tracy Krohn, W&T Offshore's Chairman and CEO, is scheduled to make a presentation on Tuesday, March 14, at 12:30 pm Pacific Time (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time). The presentation will be broadcast over the Internet. The webcast link to the audio presentation and accompanying slides can be accessed live and for replay by visiting the investor relations section of the Company's website at www.wtoffshore.com.

About W&T Offshore

W&T Offshore, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas producer with operations offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and has grown through acquisitions, exploration and development. The Company currently has working interests in approximately 52 fields in federal and state waters (50 producing and two fields capable of producing) and has under lease approximately 750,000 gross acres, including approximately 490,000 gross acres on the Gulf of Mexico Shelf and approximately 260,000 gross acres in the deepwater. A majority of the Company's daily production is derived from wells it operates. For more information on W&T Offshore, please visit the Company's website at www.wtoffshore.com.

CONTACT: Lisa Elliott Danny Gibbons

Dennard Lascar Associates SVP & CFO

[email protected] [email protected]

713-529-6600 713-624-7326

SOURCE W&T Offshore, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.wtoffshore.com


Bestselling The Bridges of Madison County author Robert James Waller, a Rockford native, has died.

Waller, 77, who resided in Fredericksburg, Texas, died Thursday at his home from complications of pneumonia and multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, according to longtime friend Scott Cawelti of Cedar Falls.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Waller was born Aug. 1, 1939, in Rockford. He was married to Linda Bow Waller and is survived by one daughter, Rachel, from a previous marriage.

Its a sad thing  but he said hed had a helluva life  more than he ever expected to happen to chicken farmers son from Rockford, Iowa, said Cawelti. Hes sort of iconic for Iowa. He really made it big  50 million books sold worldwide, a great movie with major stars, a Broadway show. Thats a whole new level of making it big. Robert became a touchstone for people.

The author taught economics and decision theory at the University of Northern Iowa for 22 years and served six years as business school dean. He graduated from UNI in 1962 with a bachelors degree, and his masters degree in 1968.

Bridges has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide and is published in 40 languages. It spent more than three years on the New York Times Bestsellers list. In 2014, a Tony award-winning Broadway musical opened in New York City.

Prior to Bridges, Waller wrote three non-fiction books and a collection of personal essays. Bridges is the bittersweet story of National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid and his brief but memorable affair with an Iowa farmwife.

In 2015, Waller donated the original manuscript of Bridges to his alma mater. The manuscript contains his personal author notes and annotations and was originally published in 1992. It is housed in the Rod Librarys special collections and university archives at UNI.

Wallers literary success will be the focus at the launch of a year-long Cedar Falls Authors Festival, with a program May 4 at the Hearst Center for the Arts.

Cawelti and Waller sang together for many years, and Cawelti will perform songs and readings from Waller.

The festival, which was organized months prior to Waller's death, will continue through May 2018 and recognize other famous Cedar Falls authors.

Waller published additional bestsellers, including Slow Waltz at Cedar Bend, in 1993, followed by Border Music and Puerto Vallarta Squeeze. "A Thousand County Roads  An Epilogue to The Bridges of Madison County" was published in 2002, followed by High Plains Tango.

He returned to non-fiction writing in 2011, writing and publishing The Summer Nights Never End ... Until They Do: Life, Liberty & the Lure of the Short-Run, which succeeded in merging his logical and creative sides.

It's certainly the best piece of work I've ever done, and I'm having fun with it. It's been a walloping good time. I'm good at research and documentation and obsessive to the point of being insufferable, and I fully admit to that, Waller told The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in an interview about the book in 2011.

Waller also became something of a happy recluse, exploring a range of interests from fly fishing to photography, as well as teaching himself to play jazz guitar.

He was a man who was happy in his own skin, noted Rosemary Beach of Cedar Falls. She and her husband, Bob, knew Waller for many years. We grew to know Bob and Scott (Cawelti) playing their guitars. I think Bob was content with his life and doing his thing, and once hed done it, he just wanted to disappear from view, and thats what he did.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





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Lucknow, March 8 : Marked by caustic, high decibel campaigning, which saw the political discourse plumbing to low levels at times, the long-drawn polling process in the most populous and politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh came to an end on Wednesday.

With an overall voting percentage of 61 per cent across its seven phases for the 403 assembly seats, slightly higher than the 59.5 per cent registered in the 2012 assembly elections, the last phase saw heavy balloting in all the 40 seats spread across seven districts in the Poorvanchal region.

The last round brought the curtains down on one of the most closely contested, and staggered poll process in recent times. All parties tried to give their best to win over the electorate.

Caught in a bitter family feud and power struggle in the ruling Samajwadi Party, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav took over the party's reins by knocking out his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav and later aligning with Congress.

The party contested on 298 seats. Akhilesh's wife Dimple, who is a lawmaker from Kannauj, actively campaigned while Mulayam Singh chose to campaign only for friend Parasnath Yadav, brother Shivpal Yadav and daughter-in-law Aparna.

Akhilesh Yadav claims that they will form the next government with even a better mandate than last time, when it won 224 seats.

The Congress, which took out a long 'kisan yatra' from Deoria to Delhi, which became infamous for locals taking away the cots during the 'khaat sabhaas', had slammed the SP, BSP and BJP government by saying "27 saal, UP behaal". The party came down from the high pedestal to enter into an alliance with the SP and they got 105 seats to contest after a hard bargain.

Many feel the Congress, with a non-existent organisational structure, got a good deal. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi addressed many rallies during the polls and even held four roadshows with Akhilesh Yadav. He addressed two pressers with the UP Chief Minister but the last one, two days before the final phase, was called off without any explanation offered.

Though Congress put the name of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in its star campaigner list, she campaigned only in Rae Bareli. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, due to ill health, did not campaign and just sent a letter and later a video urging voters in the Gandhi pocketborough of Amethi and Rae Bareli to vote for the party.

The BJP put up its might into the elections with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding two roadshows, taking the rounds of various temples and ashrams and addressing 23 rallies - his highest so far for any state assembly elections.

BJP president Amit Shah also addressed 200 big and small rallies with the state functionaries also chipping in with hundreds of rallies, churning the entire state. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP, was active too and its cadres were pitching in for a BJP victory.

In the run up, several thousand km were traversed by state leaders through 'parivartan yatras' which covered the entire state and many 'MBC and OBC conventions'.

Handed a duck in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati too fought the assembly elections with elan, addressing more than 50 rallies and appealing to the Dalit voter base to ensure that she romped home to power this time.

Aware that the colossal monuments and parks she made in her 2007-2012 regime had cost her a big loss, Mayawati promised not to make these anymore and her campaign revolved around the poor law and order in the state. The Dalit leader promised the return of the rule of law in Uttar Pradesh and also slammed Prime Minister Modi for what she claimed was "fooling people through speeches".

While there is no dearth of issues for a large state like Uttar Pradesh, by the end of the second phase, the polity and the electorate appeared largely split on community lines as polarisation crept in. The statement on 'shamshaan-kabristaan' and 'Holi-Ramzaan' by Modi added fuel to the fire. Sustained barbs from the likes of senior SP leader and state cabinet minister Azam Khan, Lok Sabha members of the BJP Yogi Adityanath and Sakshi Maharaj vitiated the atmosphere even further.

Akhilesh Yadav added to the verbal exchanges with his 'gadha' (ass) jibe and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who campaigned for SP-Congress candidates at some places, called the Prime Minister a 'hijra' (eunuch) and Amit Shah a 'genda' (rhinoceros). Shah returned the fire by exhorting people to get rid of KaSaB (Congress, SP and BSP).

In the last few legs of polling, UP's powerful and tainted Minister Gayatri Prajapati became the centre point of politics after the Supreme Court ordered the state police to lodge an FIR against him in a gang rape case.

The Minister who is contesting from Amethi on a SP ticket was riled by opposition as a "glaring example of kaam bolta hai of the Akhilesh government". He has yet not been arrested despite a non bailable warrant against him for the last many days.

A large section of the 14.05 crore voters in Uttar Pradesh cast their votes during polling on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27 and March 4 and 8. The results are just two days away now.

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)
Nagpur, March 10 : Two days after International Women's Day, women from different rights groups around the country came together here today to mark their protest against Hindutva, caste-based and patriarchal violence against women and other marginalised communities.

Adivasi, Muslim, Dalit, queer and disabled women, as well as students and sex workers, attended the event -- called Chalo Nagpur -- that was kicked off with a bike rally from Samvidhan Chowk, a popular spot for protests and demonstrations in the city.

This was followed by song performances and fiery speeches at the Indora Maidan that were attended by several hundred people.

"Today, individual freedoms are being stolen -- we have come to raise our voice against this. We ask everyone fighting their own battles for dignity to come together, and join us," said Delhi-based Dalit women's rights activist Rajni Tilak, one of the organisers.

"This is the beginning of the revolution. There will be Chalo Ahmedabad, Chalo Hyderabad, Chalo Delhi as well," said activist and event organiser Shabnam Hashmi.

Radhika Vemula, mother of the late University of Hyderabad scholar Rohith Vemula, who was present, spoke of how Dalit icon Dr B.R. Ambedkar was a proponent of women's rights.

Radhikamma, as she is called, has been waging a battle against the central government to prove that her son, who killed himself in January 2016, is Dalit. She announced that she will lead a month-long Dalit Swabhiman Rath Yatra, starting March 14, through Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to spread awareness about the reality of Dalit existence.

A December report by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which reviewed the implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, observed that the conviction rate in several states was in single digits. In Maharashtra, it was 7.6 per cent, in Gujarat, it was a mere 3.1 per cent. The figures are based on data collected between 2013 and 2015.

Delhi-based activist Rituparna Borah spoke of the harm that patriarchy does to women's sexuality.

Calling all queer women to the stage, she asked: "Can someone like me -- who is big, curly-haired, dark-skinned, tribal lesbian from the Northeast, and can't speak Hindi very well -- ever be 'bharat mata'?" Borah asked, stressing the importance of recognising differences among people, and calling it "the nationalism of queer persons".

Mudraboina Rachana, a kinnar activist from Telangana, said casteist laws affect the transgender community as it does any other. Referring to the government's proposal to make begging illegal, she pointed out that this would directly affect her community, which is often pushed to beg or do sex work on account of lack of opportunities.

Shabina Mumtaz from Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh spoke about the state of Muslims in the country. "We have to keep proving that we are true Indians. Why doesn't any other community have to do this? When we ask for our rights, we are told to go to Pakistan."

Friday's was one of the largest gatherings of women in Nagpur since 1942, when over 25,000 women reportedly took part in the All India Depressed Class Women's Conference, to protest against the caste system.

Nagpur is also significant for the anti-caste movement, as it was here that Ambedkar converted to Buddhism.

Friday was also the 120th death anniversary of Savitribai Phule, an icon for the Dalit women's movement. Phule was a teacher and proponent of women's education who fought against superstition and caste.

(Dhamini Ratnam can be contacted at dhamini.r@gmail.com)
Array Architects' Best in Show and First Place Awards I am quite proud of our marketing and graphics teams for another great SMPS win." - Carl Davis, Array's Chief Executive Officer

The Array Architects marketing team won two awards at the Phillys Phinest Marketing Communication Awards and Honoring Legends Awards Banquet hosted by the Philadelphia chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) on January 25, for their Careers Campaign submission. The team took home both the Best in Show and First Place Awards for the Marketing Campaign category.

This is the second year in a row Array has won first place for a marketing campaign. The entry's intended message was to express that a career with Array Architects is an opportunity to work in a team-oriented and challenging work environment. At Array, you will find experienced, dedicated colleagues committed to excellence in healthcare design.

A team of young staff at Array collaborated over two months to create a vibrant, robust careers page to attract candidates at all levels. The enhanced careers web pages and subsequent campaign materials utilize a variety of media to entice job seekers of all backgrounds and experience levels to learn more about Array.

For instance, they replaced a typical web page header with a silent video portraying staff at work to give insight to why the employees love working for Array. Page content includes careers-oriented blogs, engaging staff interviews and a link to apply. Also included on the page is a guide that contains relevant content, including links to open positions, employee videos, FAQs and a Meet Our Leaders section.

In addition to creating a new, enticing careers web page, the team worked to create new material for college career fairs. The career fair handouts use colorful imagery to engage young professionals and display how working at Array will be a positive career experience, while emails and social media highlight company culture and team dynamics.

The main goal of the page is to connect with people who are genuinely interested in making a difference in the healthcare space and have them empathize with Arrays core values. What makes this win so special is the validation and achievement of that goal.

Array grew considerably in 2016, hiring more employees than any other year in the firms 33-year history. This is partly due to the teams efforts in promoting the career page. It was the third most-visited page in November 2016 (646 views) and among top 10 of all time (18,108 views). The pages popularity made choosing it for entry an easy choice as 20% of employees said the page influenced their application decision, and 27% of employees have shared the page with job seekers.

Arrays Careers page, including the videos, blogs and brochure, target a broad candidate range because Array finds value in employing a diverse mix of junior, middle and senior staff. There is no ideal ratio, because the firm needs a mixture of experience levels to balance and create the best teams.

I am quite proud of our marketing and graphics teams for another great SMPS win. They own the Careers page and, even though they rolled out the page two years ago, continue to find ways of keeping it fresh, stated Carl Davis, Array's Chief Executive Officer.

Array congratulates all the winners and submitting firms on their creative entries and looks forward to next years competition.
zpizza, the first artisan-inspired pizza chain, delighted members of two local Little Leagues by donating 100% of the proceeds during a one-day fundraiser.

The fundraiser was held Sunday, March 5th at the zpizza Tap Room located at 6601 Folsom Blvd. from 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm. In that time over 180 orders were generated from Little League supporters. East Sacramento Little League and River Park Little League will share over $3800 raised during the event.

At zpizza were committed to enhancing the lives of kids in our communities, said Chris Bright, President of zpizza International. Whether its hosting a spirit night like this, or partnering with schools to reward good behavior with our Nice zSlice program, we will always show support for schools and youth organizations and we are particularly thrilled that Sundays response resulted in a single day record for our fund raising efforts

Little league families and supporters enjoyed the Tap Rooms expanded zpizza menu which includes shareables like garlic artichoke dip and zwings as well as gourmet salads and delicious sandwiches, in addition to their signature artisan pizzas. Adults had access to 30 self-pour taps featuring local craft beers and 4 taps with wine, plus the dog-friendly patio was a hit!

zpizza offers additional community programs and can work directly with local stores to plan a pizza box card fundraiser or spirit night. For more information visit http://zpizza.com/community.

ABOUT ZPIZZA

Founded in 1986 in the heart of an art colony in Laguna Beach, California, zpizza is the first artisan-inspired pizza chain that appeals to traditional pizza lovers, health-conscious consumers and gourmet palates alike. For more information on zpizza and store locations, visit http://www.zpizza.com
"I want to thank BLF, a true 'Partner for Your Ambitions', for its valuable contribution to this project of Tripoli Mina and its long-standing support to our mission." stated Liliane Tyan, President of Help Lebanon Association

Banque Libano-Francaise (BLF) with the Association Help Lebanon contributed in the rehabilitation of 60 residential facades in Tripoli Mina, for the past two years. This initiative aimed to revitalize the area while fostering the welfare of its residents, contributing to the development of more than 100 local businesses and raising community awareness about heritage preservation.

Help Lebanon projects have gained momentum thanks to fruitful partnerships between the Association, the residents of the regions where we are operating, the Municipalities, and the sponsors. I want to thank BLF, a true 'Partner for Your Ambitions', for its valuable contribution to this project of Tripoli Mina and its long-standing support to our mission. stated Liliane Tyan, President of Help Lebanon Association.

To date, Help Lebanon rehabilitated more than 10,000 residential facades in more than 200 areas in Lebanon. Since 2005, Banque Libano-Francaise teamed up with Help Lebanon and rehabilitated more than 500 residential buildings in several areas. In 2017, it will contribute to the rehabilitation of a neighborhood located on the seaside in Saida.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFjm_wdUQ9w
David Learmond I am delighted to join HPS at this key point in their history and contribute to its success and growth.

HPS Product Recovery Solutions, the leading experts in process and hygienic pigging technology, have announced the appointment of David Learmond as a Non-Executive Director.

David joins the HPS Board having held a variety of senior roles in corporate giant Unilever in the UK, the Netherlands, Australasia and China, including Head of HR for Global Research and Engineering. This experience, combined with extensive consultancy work with a range of other businesses, has given him an in-depth understanding of HPSs target market and customers.

David commented HPS is a customer focused business energised to provide bespoke engineering solutions to customers which enable them to improve their efficiency, productivity, and safety whilst reducing their impact on the environment. I am delighted to join HPS at this key point in their history and contribute to its success and growth.

HPS Product Recovery Solutions started business back in 1995, when it was known as Hygienic Pigging Systems. With its headquarters in Nottingham, UK, the company now has well over 1200 customers across the globe. It also has offices in the US and Australasia, plus a network of agents and representatives throughout the world.

Gilbert Murphy, HPS founder and CEO said, Were really pleased to welcome David to the company. In recent years, weve been following a successful growth strategy based on delivering high quality, innovative solutions that solve the liquid transfer and product recovery issues of our clients. Davids appointment marks an important stage in this strategy.

As well as providing a deep insight into the workings of many of the companys target clients, David will also help HPS nurture its own staff and company culture.

Gilbert continued Davids strong business background and deep understanding of our corporate clients will help us further develop our customer base. At the same time, Davids experience will help us continue to build our own unique, successful and sustainable business culture.

About HPS

Founded in 1995, HPS Product Recovery Solutions increases its customers profitability by maximising product yields, reducing waste, increasing sustainability and improving efficiency. This is achieved through customised liquid distribution, transfer and product recovery (pigging) solutions.

With a wide range of customers throughout the world, HPS has successfully installed more than 1,200 solutions. These include projects for multinational corporations such as Unilever, P&G, Akzo Nobel, Boots, The Coca Cola Company, Campbells Soups, Benjamin Moor, Nestle Purina, Mars, Kraft Foods, as well as many smaller independent businesses. The companys key markets are the food and drink, cosmetics and personal care, household products, chemicals, paint and pet food processing industries.

HPS operates worldwide with a network of regional offices and partners.

More information is on the HPS website at http://www.HPS-Pigging.com/about-hps/.
Swiss FTS is a leading provider of eDiscovery and IT forensic services, based in the heart of Europe and serving clients across the globe. Their focus on delivering high quality services and excellent value to their clients has seen Swiss FTS rapidly grow from a local innovative and effective start-up into a truly global company, with partnerships around the world. Swiss FTS operates the only data center in Continental Europe with Relativity Best in Service status.

We are extremely proud of everything that our team has accomplished over the past few years, said Rogier Teo, partner and co-founder of Swiss FTS. The rate at which we have grown has been beyond our expectations, and our success is a direct result of the effort and dedication that the Swiss FTS team and our partners have put into their work. Swiss FTS wouldnt be in the strong position we are today without the contributions of partners such as kCura, and we would like to thank them for being part of the Swiss FTS success story.

Through a voluntary audit, Relativity Best in Service partners demonstrate their expertise and experience hosting projects in Relativity. kCura evaluates these partners individual data centers in three areas: technical infrastructure, customer service, and product expertise. Additionally, Best in Service partners meet a set of requirements for their duration as a hosting partner, size of Relativity installations, and core Relativity certifications.

We believe attaining recertification as a Best in Service partner is a great achievement, and a mark of distinction, said George Orr. Swiss FTS has proven to be an exemplar in customer service and product expertise.

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About Swiss FTS

Swiss FTS specializes in IT Forensics, Electronic Discovery (eDiscovery) and Information Governance. Our team has many years of experience in the design, implementation and management of national and international eDiscovery and IT Forensics projects of various sizes and industries. Through this experience Swiss FTS has the practical know-how to handle a great variety of technical and legislative challenges that come with such sensitive projects. As our client we can therefore offer you efficient, customized solutions which serve your individual needs. Please contact Swiss FTS at info(at)swiss-fts.com or visit https://www.swiss-fts.com for more information.

About kCura

kCura are the developers of Relativity, an e-discovery platform used by more than 12,000 organizations to manage large volumes of data and quickly identify key issues during litigation, internal investigations, and compliance projects. Relativity has over 150,000 active users in 40+ countries from organizations including the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 70 Fortune 100 companies, and more than 195 of the Am Law 200. Corporations, law firms, and government agencies use Relativity on-premises, in the cloud, or as a hybrid platformwith hosted, on-demand solutions available through a global network of partners. As a platform, Relativity also allows developers to design, build, and integrate applications that extend its functionality. kCura has been named one of Chicago's Top Workplaces by the Chicago Tribune for six consecutive years and received the CityLIGHTS Lighthouse Award from the Illinois Technology Association in 2016. Please contact kCura at sales(at)kcura.com or visit http://www.kcura.com for more information.
Paul Castronovo might be a major celebrity in South Florida as the host of his top-rated radio show for nearly 30 years, but his real passion is wine and wine making. Thats evident from his latest release, Castronovo Vineyards Chianti D.O.C.G. This 2015 Vintage, which is aged for 38 months, features intense aromas with hints of violets and a flavor that shows good fruit, well-balanced with light tannins.

This is perhaps the most popular table wine in Italy, said Castronovo. Its very versatile and pairs well with pasta, pizza, white and red meats as well as mild cheeses.

All Castronovo Vineyards wines are imported by Shaw-Ross International Importers, LLC, one of the nation's leading importers representing major suppliers from around the world. In fact, it was by a chance meeting with Bruce Hunter, Managing Director of Shaw Ross that Castronovo Vineyards was created.

I was seated next to Paul on a flight back from Italy and we struck up a conversation, Hunter explained. He had told me about meeting an Italian wine exporter who introduced him to the Galasso family of the San Lorenzo Winery. I had known the exporter for quite some time and learning Pauls passion for wine, I put two and two together and that is how Castronovo Vineyards got its start.

Growing up in an Italian American family its natural to be a lover of wine and food, added Castronovo. While Im blessed to have a remarkable career in radio, Im equally proud of Castronovo Vineyards and Im grateful that Bruce made it all happen.

You can learn more about Castronovo Chianti and the rest of its portfolio at http://www.castronovovineyards.com. Ask for Castronovo Chianti at your local restaurant and wherever you buy wine and spirits. It is currently available at all 62 Anthonys Coal Fire Pizza locations.

About Shaw-Ross International Importers, LLC

Founded in 1968 as a wine and spirit importer representing a handful of brands, Shaw-Ross has grown into one of the nation's leading importers representing leading suppliers from around the world. Shaw-Ross continues to evolve its portfolio to keep ahead of the ever-changing wine and spirits.

Editors note: Imagery and sample requests can be directed to Peter Nasca at the above contact information.
Lirhanzo Kids (1).jpg "As a worldwide company, we are on a global level. The people that work here are truly passionate about helping others, and not just those in our community."

Juniper Systems, Inc. recently shipped out over 2,000 school supplies to the Lirhanzo Childrens Village, an orphanage and school in Chikombedzi, Zimbabwe, to provide the necessary means for children to learn and grow. Juniper Systems sent a load of supplies at the end of last year with plans to continue efforts by setting up a GoFundMe account and collecting additional donations to send to the village by the end of the month.

As a worldwide company, we care on a global level, said Cimberlee Foulger, Event Coordinator at Juniper Systems. The people that work here are truly passionate about helping others, and not just those in our community. Weve always made an effort to make a difference in the lives of others, and it will always be a priority to continue these efforts as a company.

After the Juniper Systems office in Birmingham, UK sent the first load of supplies at the end of last year, the organization was thanked for its contributions and anticipated sending additional supplies immediately.

Founder of Lirhanzo Childrens Village Ezelle Schimper said, You have no idea how difficult it sometimes is for a rural setup to obtain something as simple as a pencil.

With 250 students currently enrolled to attend school in the village and little funding for a classroom, children are taught in a chicken run, garage, and under a tree. The village recently started construction on a three-classroom school after receiving partial funding from another organization. Juniper Systems is currently gathering additional funding to provide the materials necessary to finish the school.

We literally live on a prayer for both the orphanage and the school, said Schimper. We are very grateful for any donations towards making life for these children better.

To read more about the Lirhanzo Childrens Village and make a donation to help finish the school click here.

About Juniper Systems:

Based out of Logan, UT, USA and Birmingham, UK, Juniper Systems designs and manufactures ultra-rugged handheld computers and provides field data collection solutions for use in extreme environments. Since 1993, Juniper Systems has provided innovative mobile technology to natural resources, utilities and public services, geomatics, agriculture, industrial, and military markets. For more information on Juniper Systems products, please visit http://www.junipersys.com.
Global advertising, mass media conglomerates, beauty, fashion and cosmetic surgery industries are changing how people around the world define beauty and see themselves. The impact of a commercial culture that targets children, women and men, thrives on insecurity and self-loathing and promotes consumerism all contribute to the risk for disordered eating.

The Illusionists is a documentary about the body as the finest consumer object and the pursuit of ideal beauty around the world. It reveals how corporations profit by making people, both women and men, feel insecure about the way they look.

The iaedp Foundation has partnered with The Renfrew Foundation to feature this groundbreaking scope of work at its 2017 Symposium, March 22  26, in Las Vegas. During this special film event, presenters Adrienne Ressler, LMSW, CEDS, Fiaedp, Margo Maine, PhD, FAED, CEDS, and Jancey Wickstrom, AM, LCSW will provide an overview and history of the documentary in relation to body image and eating disorders. Following this and a viewing of the film, the group will offer commentary by a panel of experts and a question and answer session.

The feature-length documentary specifically examines how global advertising, mass media, and the beauty, fashion and cosmetic surgery industries saturate human lives with narrow, consumer-driven images of beauty that show little to no respect for biological realities or cultural differences. Through interviews with prominent sociologists, politicians, magazine editors, scientists and activists in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the films producers found that these effects contribute to the risk factors for the development of eating disorder challenges.

Registration information, the 2017 program schedule and specific information about each presentation and all presenters at the 2017 iaedp Symposium can be found at http://www.iaedp.com.

About iaedp: Since 1985, the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals has provided education and training standards to an international and multidisciplinary group of various healthcare treatment providers and helping professions. The
Indoor Ag-Con Scene Were expecting that the big themes for this year will be farm economics and the commercialization of newer technologies such as machine learning.

Indoor agriculture  growing crops using hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic techniques  has become popular as consumer demand for local food leads growers to add new farms in industrial and suburban areas across the country. Indoor Ag-Con  the industrys premier conference  will be returning to Las Vegas for the fifth year on May 3-4, 2017 to discuss the prospects for this increasingly important contributor to the global food supply chain.

The two-day event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and is tailored toward corporate executives from the technology, investment, vertical farming, greenhouse growing, and food and beverage industries, along with hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic startups and urban farmers. It is unique in being crop-agnostic, covering crops from leafy greens and mushrooms to alternate proteins and legal cannabis. Participants will receive an exclusive hard copy of the newest edition in a popular white paper series, which is sponsored by Urban Crops and will focus on the US industrys development.

The event will consist of keynotes from industry leaders and extended networking breaks, along with a 50+ booth exhibition hall. This already includes industry majors such as Certhon, Dosatron, DRAMM, Hort Americas, Philips Lighting, Priva, and Transcend Lighting. A new addition for 2017 is lunch and learn sessions covering practical topics such as health and safety. Confirmed speakers include executives from Argus Controls, Autogrow, Bright Agrotech, CropKing, Fresh Box Farms, Grobo, Intravision, Plenty, Priva, Shenandoah Farms and Village Farms among many others. Were expecting that the big themes for this year will be farm economics and the commercialization of newer technologies such as machine learning, and are excited to have gathered experts from across the world to speak. The entrepreneurs in our funding session have raised more than $50mn for their indoor farms in the past year alone, and one speaker is operating a 100k ft2 commercial controlled environment farm commented Nicola Kerslake, founder of Newbean Capital, the events host.

Agriculture technology companies, suppliers and automation companies will have the chance to meet and mingle with leading vertical farmers and commercial greenhouse operators at a drinks party on the first evening of the event. Event sponsors include Autogrow, Urban Crops, Kennett Township, Freight Farms, Grodan, Joe Produce, Crop One Holdings and Grobo.

Beginning farmers, chefs and entrepreneurs can apply for passes to the event through the Nextbean program, which awards a limited number of complimentary passes to those who have been industry participants for less than two years. Applications are open through March 31, 2017 at Indoor Ag-Cons website. The program is supported by Newbean Capital, the host of Indoor Ag-Con, and by Kennett Township, a leading indoor agriculture hub that produces half of the USs mushrooms.

Indoor Ag-Con has also hosted events in Singapore, SG and New York, NY in the past year, and will host its first event in Dubai  in partnership with greenhouse major Pegasus Agriculture  in November 2017. Since it was founded in 2013, Indoor Ag-Con has captured an international audience and attracted some of the top names in the business. Events have welcomed nearly 2,000 participants from more than 20 countries.

Newbean Capital, the host of the conference, is a registered investment advisor; some of its clients or potential clients may participate in the conference. The Company is ably assisted in the events production by Rachelle Razon, Sarah Smith and Michael Nelson of Origin Event Planning, and by Michele Premone of Brede Allied.

5th Annual Indoor Ag-Con

Date  May 3-4, 2017

Place  South Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

Exhibition Booths  available from $1,499 at indoor.ag

Registration  available from $399 at indoor.ag

Features  Two-day seminar, an exhibition hall, and after-party

For more information, please visit http://www.indoor.ag/lasvegas or call 775.623.7116
We want everyone to know that they need not fear Immigration in New York City.

On February 25, 2017, hundreds of Chinese immigrants and their allies congregated in Chinatown for an Immigration Fair. The gathering featured speakers and professionals who could shed light on immigration issues that have come to the surface since President Trump took office. Among those attending the event and supporting Chinese immigrants was New York Attorney Neva Hoffmaier of Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier.

It was important to Hoffmaier to stand by her fellow New Yorkers and be on hand to answer questions. We want to support the Chinese community, especially to those who are afraid in the current administration, Hoffmaier commented.

The fear of deportation brought on by the Trump administration has increased traffic in the Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier office. Clients are worried that immigration will come knocking on their door any day and that they will be deported, pulled from their families and the lives they have built for themselves.

We want everyone to know that they need not fear Immigration in New York City. Unless there was a prior deportation order, criminal conviction or criminal arrest, they will not be deported under the new government, asserted Hoffmaier.

The Immigration Fair was hosted by Epoch Times, a free Chinese newspaper, and NTD Television, the largest Chinese television station in the U.S. Hoffmaier spoke with television reporters about the fair and the many questions shes been asked by her clients since the new administration took office. The full NTD news story (in Chinese) can be viewed here: http://media5.ntdtv.com/HourlyNews/201702/20170227/20170227_044751-video.mp4.

Neva Hoffmair encourages her clients and anyone with immigration questions to speak to an attorney. If Immigration does knock on the door, they must identify themselves and residents do not have to answer the door. Hoffmaier strongly encourages everyone to have an attorney present when speaking with Immigration. For anyone with specific concerns or additional questions, Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier offers free consultations as well as staff fluent in Chinese and Spanish.

About Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier, P.C.:

Hoffmaier & Hoffmaier is a family-owned law firm based in New York City specializing in accident cases that help the hurting and underserved. Together, their attorneys have over 26 years of accident litigation experience in slips & falls, car accidents, workplace accidents, bicycle accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, premises liability and wrongful death. In addition to accident cases, the firm also helps clients with immigration, landlord or tenant disputes, wills and divorces. For more information, visit http://www.hoffmaier.com.
I am proud and excited to be partnering with the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance, THINC College & Career Academy, and West Georgia Technical College to bring this workforce showcase event to Troup County.

The Georgia Manufacturing Alliance (GMA) in conjunction with THINC College & Career Academy and West Georgia Tech has planned a tour, lunch, and panel discussion on March 22, 2017 for business, community, and educational leaders that want to experience a successful workforce development program. The tour will include the Business & Marketing department, the Nursing/Healthcare lab(s), Mechatronics & Engineering labs, the new iLab, as well as West Georgia Techs multi-million-dollar robotics and maintenance lab.

As I travel the state meeting with manufacturing leaders, workforce development is a topic that comes up in almost every conversation, said Jason Moss, CEO of the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance. Our organization exists to support Georgias manufacturing community, and we are pleased to provide a unique event that addresses this hot topic. The West Georgia region has implemented several successful programs that we will highlight during this event. Our goal is to create an environment where industry, education, and community leaders can connect to discuss and share best practices. Hopefully this collaboration will encourage continued growth by providing a roadmap of success to follow.

In the 2015-2016 year, THINC had 474 students enrolled (10th-12th grade) with a graduation rate of 99%! THINC is located on the West Georgia Technical College campus which allows students easy access to collegiate courses and Move on When Ready opportunities. Their students are highly desirable to businesses and colleges not only because theyre equipped with technical and career-specific skills, but because they understand the soft skills of business  a firm handshake, a strong work ethic, and critical thinking skills. Infusing instruction with soft skills development is at the core of the THINC model.

My father, Randy Jackson, who was the Chief Administrative Officer at KIA Motors Manufacturing Georgia, saw the partnership of THINC, West Georgia Technical College, and the community as the pathway to not only close the workforce development gap for local employers, but more importantly to offer hope to young people who knew that traditional school may not be for them, said Jamey Jackson, president of JC Malone Associates and organizer of the event. As a resident of LaGrange, the most encouraging part is that community and business leaders truly want to be a part of the change; they want to be part of the team to make THINC successful.

Lunch will be provided by Malone Workforce Solutions and will include panel discussion about the current programs offered in the West Georgia area. The speakers will discuss the partnership that is needed in the community from both public and private resources, and what it takes to make a venture like THINC successful. The speaker panel includes: Kathy Carlisle of THINC; Latesa Bailey of KIA Motors Manufacturing Georgia; Steve Cromer of West Georgia Technical College; David Keller of E.G.O. North America, Inc, which is a participant in the new German style apprenticeship program.

The March 22, 2016 Workforce Tour Schedule includes:

10:00am - 10:30am Registration  Advanced registration required. Cost to attend is $20/GMA Members and $40/non-GMA member and attendees can register online at http://www.GeorgiaManufacturingAlliance.com

10:30 am  11:30 am Tour of West Georgia Technical and THINC Academy

11:30 am  1 pm Lunch/Panel Discussion on Workforce Development

I am proud and excited to be partnering with the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance, THINC College & Career Academy, and West Georgia Technical College to bring this showcase event to Troup County, continued Jamey Jackson. I hope that anyone who visits will leave feeling that our program is the benchmark of leadership from a community, education and workforce development perspective.

About the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance:

The Georgia Manufacturing Alliance (GMA) is a professional organization founded in 2008 to support Georgias manufacturing community. GMA provides monthly plant tours, educational sessions, tradeshows, and unique networking opportunities designed to help make profitable business connections for its members. The Georgia Manufacturing Directory, Georgia Manufacturing Summit, and Georgia Manufacturing Calendar are additional resources produced by GMA. To learn more about the organization, membership, and upcoming events, please call 770-338-0051 or visit their website http://www.GeorgiaManufacturingAlliance.com .
We are excited to expand our relationship with MOD and to bring the concept to all of Florida.

BBX Capital Named Exclusive Florida Franchisee for MOD Pizza

BBX Capital and MOD Super Fast Pizza Holdings, LLC (MOD Pizza or MOD), a pioneer of fast-casual pizza, announced that northern Florida has been added to BBX Capitals franchisee territory. BBX Capital previously had rights to develop MOD locations in central and southern Florida and as a consequence is now MODs exclusive franchisee for the state of Florida.

We have maintained that a few strong franchisees are the right approach for MOD as we continue our expansion, said Scott Svenson, co-founder and CEO of MOD Pizza. The BBX Capital team has shown a strong commitment to the people side of the business, and we are thrilled to have their expertise and experience as they bring the MOD brand to Florida.

MOD currently has over 200 locations across 20 states and the United Kingdom. Founded by entrepreneurs Scott and Ally Svenson, MOD was inspired by the couples love of Italian street-style pizza, their desire for authentic, affordable and fast dining options for their busy family and the idea that a great company could be built around people. The Svensons bring their experience from building two highly successful concepts - Seattle Coffee Company and Carluccio's. MOD's team of advisors and executives bring experience from iconic brands such as Starbucks, Disney, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Drugstore.com, Outerwall and T-Mobile.

BBX Capital has extensive financial, real estate, hospitality and restaurant experience. In addition to its real estate portfolio, the company currently owns Bluegreen Corporation, a vacation ownership company, Hoffmans Chocolates, a manufacturer of gourmet chocolates with retail locations throughout South Florida, and Las Olas Confections and Snacks, a portfolio of candy companies throughout the United States. BBX Capital previously owned BankAtlantic, one of the largest and oldest retail banks headquartered in the state of Florida.

We are excited to expand our relationship with MOD and to bring the concept to all of Florida, said Jarett Levan, President of BBX Capital. MOD continues to establish itself as a leader in the fast casual pizza category while offering consumers an affordable and fast dining experience and we look forward to working with MOD to build on the success they have already had.

It is currently anticipated BBX Capital will open its first Florida MOD location this summer.

About BBX Capital Corporation:

BBX Capital Corporation (OTCQX: BBXT)(OTCQX:BBXT), formerly BFC Financial Corporation, is a diversified holding company whose principal holding is Bluegreen Corporation. In addition, through its Real Estate and Middle Markets Divisions, BBX Capital is involved in the acquisition, ownership and management of joint ventures and investments in real estate and real estate development projects, as well as acquisitions, investments and management of middle market operating businesses. To learn more, visit BBXCapital.com.

About MOD Pizza:

A pioneer of the fast casual pizza segment, MOD Pizza was founded in Seattle in 2008 by entrepreneurs Scott and Ally Svenson. MOD's individual artisan-style pizzas and salads are made on demand, letting customers choose whatever they like from over 30 toppings, all for one set price. At the core of MOD is a purpose-led culture thats committed to being a force for good in the community  creating not only a cool place to eat, but an inspired place to work. MOD was ranked as Americas fastest growing chain restaurant by Technomic; earned a spot on the 2016 Inc. 500 list as one of Americas fastest-growing private companies; and was recognized by Fortune as one of the 20 best workplaces in retail for its progressive hiring practices and career-growth opportunities. MOD currently has more than 200 locations across 20 states and the UK. To learn more, visit modpizza.com
Digital Workplace SP Digital Workplace Solutions on the Office 365 platform moves a Digital Workplace from concept to reality by providing a simpler employee-facing IT infrastructure that provides a consistent way for employees to collaborate and access internal services.

SP Marketplace (http://www.spmarketplace.com), the leader in Office 365 business portals and applications, has released SP Digital Workplace Solutions, a next generation collection of Operational Portals and business applications that transform Office 365 into a unified Digital Workplace for employees to work more effectively.

SP Digital Workplace Solutions builds on the success of SP Business Suite, anchored by SP Intranet Portal and used by more than 1,000 businesses around the world.

SP Digital Workplace Solutions are an integrated set of Operational Portals anchored by an Intranet with departments, bring together collaboration, communication, and processes to deliver an intuitive Digital Workplace within the context of your business. Portals and applications built on SharePoint integrate with powerful Office 365 services to deliver a common user experience on a single platform.

Many businesses have grown organically through siloed departments, which has resulted in a chaotic and complex IT infrastructure that is frustrating for employees and inhibits productivity, Trimble said. The concept of a Digital Workplace provides the opportunity to step back and consolidate processes and operations to a single platform, resulting in a simpler employee-facing IT infrastructure that provides a consistent way for employees to communicate, collaborate, and access internal services. SP Digital Workplace Solutions on the Office 365 platform move a Digital Workplace from concept to reality.

SP Digital Workplace Solutions are built natively on Office 365 and SharePoint. Unlike traditional business applications built on their own platform, they are no-code solutions that are 100% customizable by power business user. The user interface design follows Microsofts Office 365 look and feel to deliver a common user experience across Operational Portals and Office 365 services like email, Groups, Planner, OneDrive, Power BI and other services. Because they are native, powerful communication services like Skype for Business and Yammer are a seamless part of the Operational Portal experience. Integration with back office systems leverages Office 365 connectors and flow.

By strictly adhering to a native platform development approach, our Digital Workplace Solutions benefit immediately from every new and future service that is available in Office 365, Trimble said. Additionally, because the Office 365 platform is constantly changing, by using native platform services for user management, security, and administration, our products experience no issues when Microsoft updates the platform each month.

While SP Digital Workplace Solutions provide an integrated Operational Portal structure anchored by an Intranet, they can be purchased separately. This allows organizations to deploy the solutions in phases. The solutions include Intranet Home, Employee Self-Service and Operational Portals for HR, IT, Marketing, Facilities, Sales, and Projects. Additionally, a generic Operational Portal template is offered for other functional areas. Integrated process applications include a Central Help Desk, IT Support, HR Employee Tracking, Work Orders, Time Off, and much more.

SP Digital Workplace Solutions run on Office 365 and SharePoint 2013 and above. Using the Quick Start Service, they can be deployed in as little as two business days from the day an order is placed.

Pricing is based on an annual subscription and organization size (number of employees). A base Intranet, self-service, and a couple departments starts at $6000 for the out-of-the-box deployment (300 person organization). Full suites start at $12,000. SP Marketplace also offers services for business transformation consulting and customizations. Customers can also take full control of their customizations with DIY Academy Training services for Business Power Users.

About SP Marketplace

Founded in 2012, SP Marketplace is the leader in Office 365 business solutions and Operational Portals that transform Office 365 and SharePoint into a Digital Workplace. Installed at over 1000 businesses worldwide, SP Marketplace Digital Workplace Solutions unify SharePoint and Office 365 into a consistent user experience that drives collaboration and automates core business processes. To learn more, contact Ashley Johnson at ashleyj(at)spmarketplace(dot)com or visit http://www.spmarketplace.com.
Cardinal Dolan with the boys of The Montfort Academy The Montfort Academy is doing something creative, daring, innovative. . .That's what is so great about Montfort. . .that's your mission here--unapologetically. . .to change sinners to saints. His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan

The Montfort Academys President Richard Greco, Jr. proudly announced that His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, visited the Montfort campus today. The visit began with the Holy Sacrifice of Mass celebrated by His Eminence and concelebrated by many priests including Montfort chaplain Fr. Sean Connolly and former Montfort chaplain and current Priest-Secretary to the Cardinal Fr. James Ferreira.

The Montfort Academys Schola Cantorum provided beautiful Renaissance polyphony music for the Mass and four Montfort altar boys served the Mass. The Cardinal began his homily by mentioning that people are taking notice of Montfort because Montfort is doing something creative, daring innovativerestoring the noble idea of Catholic education that a school is greater the more identifiably Catholic it is[that] there can be no division in a school between what we believe and what we learn.

He then went on to speak on the need for personal conversion from sin, particularly during the 40 days of Lent. Thats whats so great about Montfortthats your mission here  unapologeticallyto change sinners to saints. After Mass and a short reception, Cardinal Dolan met with the students of The Montfort Academy where he was treated to a beautiful performance of Ave Maria by Montforts a cappella group and then answered student questions. Montfort junior, Brandon DiPanfilo, asked the Cardinal about the proper role of technology in education. The Cardinal had a lot to say on that matter: [At Montfort] you have your priorities right in that knowledge is stressed over technologyThe wisdom of the ageswill tell us to always distinguish between the ends and the meansIm afraid one of the mistakes we make today is that we get the two mixed upOne of the errors that schools make is when technology becomes the be all and the end all.

Another question by Montfort junior Mary Greco concerned the efforts made by the Archdiocese to help persecuted Christians worldwide. Members of The Montfort Academys Presidents Advisory Council then presented the Cardinal with the gift of a newly planted dogwood tree on the grounds of the school with a plaque to commemorate his visit. Junior Ann McNamara explained that the dogwood was chosen for its beautiful symbolism and links to the crucifixion.

Cardinal Dolans visit has been an incredible blessing for our school, said The Montfort Academys Founder and President Richard Greco. We have been grateful for his support over many years, but this visit is a great testament to his admiration for a truly classical, Catholic curriculum like the one Montfort offers. It was a dream come true for us.

The day was unforgettable from start to finish, and as Headmaster Lt Col David Petrillo noted, We are truly grateful to Cardinal Dolan for his candid exchange with our students on subjects from Christian persecution in the world to his personal reflection on his own priesthood. This visit by the Cardinal will be a very special memory for our students for the rest of their lives.

About The Montfort Academy

The Montfort Academy, founded by former Assistant Secretary of the Navy Richard Greco, Jr., is an award winning classical Catholic high school in Mt. Vernon, NY, serving Westchester County, the Bronx, and the surrounding areas. Ranked among the top private schools in New York and the best 50 Catholic high schools in America, Montfort is one of the only high schools in the nation to conduct classes using the Socratic methodology.

The Montfort Academys curriculum draws on thousands of years of educational tradition, offering courses in Latin, Greek, Astronomy, Debate & Rhetoric, Civics, Geography, Economics, Chivalry, Christian Womanhood, and many other subjects in the sciences, mathematics, technology, literature, and history. The Montfort Academy has a 100% college admissions rate and seeks to graduate students prepared for college and beyond, well-balanced and rich in mind, body, and soul. For more information on The Montfort Academy please call headmaster David Petrillo (Lt. Col. USAF ret.) at 914-699-7090 or visit the website http://www.themontfortacademy.org.
Chef and Television Host Claire Robinson Demonstrates How to Cook Freirich Foods Traditional Time-Honored Corned Beef Dinner. Freirich Foods has been providing high-quality meats using the finest ingredients for more than 95 years. Four generations of our family have made sure our customers enjoy the delicious taste synonymous with Freirich.

St. Patricks Day is a time for wearing green and celebrating Irish culture with friends and family. Freirich Foodsproducer of the highest quality meats for more than 95 years, including corned beef, pastrami, roast beef, and many other specialty itemspresents tips for hosting an Irish-themed celebration everyone attending will enjoy.

Traditional Corned Beef Dinner

Celebrate the holiday serving traditional St. Patricks holiday recipes. Freirich Foods partnered with Chef and Television Host, Claire Robinson to demonstrate how easy is it to prepare the brands delicious, time-honored Traditional Corned Beef recipe. The recipe demonstration is available at http://www.freirich.com/video/.

Freirich Foods has been providing high-quality meats using the finest ingredients for more than 95 years. Four generations of our family have made sure our customers enjoy the delicious taste synonymous with Freirich. says Paul Bardinas, President and CEO. Our traditional corned beef recipe is easy to prepare because the meat comes ready to cook in water with a delicious secret spice packet. So, you can spend more time on St. Patricks Day enjoying a delicious meal with friends and family.

Freirich Foods Traditional Corned Beef comes ready to cook in water, and is available in a thick cut for extra flavor and a thin cut if a leaner option is preferred. While the corned beef is already infused with spices such as bay leaves, mustard seed and sea salt, the meat comes with an extra spice packet for those who desire additional flavor. Simply cook the corned beef for approximately three hours until it is fork tender. Claire Robinson also demonstrates how to prepare cabbage and potatoes so everyone can enjoy a complete traditional St. Patricks Day Dinner.

Freirich products are sold in supermarkets and delicatessens. To find the nearest store, please go to http://www.freirich.com/where-to- buy/.

Easy, Fun Decoration Ideas

First, stage the area with green and gold balloons, streamers, tablecloths, napkins and plates. Next, bring the celebration to life by having the guests make the decorations. To get the children into the Irish spirit, have a kids-only table they can decorate themselves. Place a large sheet of paper to cover the table and supply the kids with green markers, shamrock stickers and glitter. Paper leprechaun hats are also festive party decor and are an easy task for everyone that requires only construction paper, glue and markers.

Lucky Leprechauns Scavenger Hunt

Friends and family will feel part of Irish folklore by playing St. Patricks Day-themed games. A Lucky Leprechaun scavenger hunt for gold is a perfect game that can be played indoors or outdoors. First, purchase either gold chocolate coins or use real coins. Then, give each guest a bucket or container and send them on hunt to find as much gold as possible. The person with the most gold wins the Pot of Gold, which can be a basket of Irish-themed gifts such as a plush stuffed Leprechaun, a Celtic Music CD or Shamrock-shaped cookies.

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About Freirich Foods

Founded in 1921, Freirich Foods is the producer of the highest quality meats, including: corned beef, pastrami, roast beef, and many other specialty items. The Freirich Family prides itself on innovation and bringing new products to the marketplace  while still maintaining decades of traditional know-how and flavor. Freirich Foods is headquartered in Salisbury, NC and has a state-of- the-art production facility on the East Coast. For more information, please visit http://www.freirich.com/.
WHAT

The AERA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of scholars in the field of education research. It is a showcase for ground-breaking, innovative studies in an array of areas  from early education through higher education, from digital learning to second language literacy. It is where to encounter ideas and data that will shape tomorrow's education practices and policies, and where to connect with leading thinkers from the U.S. and around the world. Join us April 27-May 1 for five rewarding days of ideas, engagement, networking, and professional advancement.

WHEN

April 27-May 1, 2017

WHERE

San Antonio, TX

The 2017 Annual Meeting will be held in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and two headquarter hotels.

WHO

Join more than 14,000 AERA members and scholars from aligned fields and disciplines in San Antonio, TX, and hear from major speakers and select from more than 2,500 sessions featuring high-quality and timely education research.

Media Registration

Please complete this complimentary Press Registration Form. If you have any questions regarding your registration, or need to change your badge information, please contact AERA Communications Associate Victoria Oms (voms(at)aera(dot)net, office: (202) 238-3233).

Housing

A room block has been reserved for the press. To book a reservation online, please use this customized press housing link. If you need assistance with housing, please contact housing customer service at (800) 262-9974 or by email at aera(at)connectionshousing(dot)com to book in the press block.

Meeting Agenda

The full program is available here. The program can be browsed or searched by:



Individual presenter/participants name or affiliation

Session title/topic

Paper title/topic

AERA is happy to provide recommendations on Annual Meeting sessions and point you to research papers, based on your interests. Please contact AERA Communications Director Tony Pals (tpals(at)aera(dot)net, office: (202) 238-3235, cell: (202) 288-9333), or AERA Communications Associate Victoria Oms (voms(at)aera(dot)net, office: (202) 238-3233).

Links to Research Paper Abstracts

Once the program is online, links to abstracts for research papers will be available. By accessing the schedule, you acknowledge that the contents of the abstracts are subject to AERAs embargo policy.

Embargo Policy

Contents of research papers being presented at the 2017 AERA Annual Meeting are embargoed until date and time of presentation, unless otherwise specified.

Press Badges and Press Room

Badges must be picked up on site in the press room. Location of the press room TBD.

Press Room Hours

Thursday, April 27 11:00 am - 5:30 pm

Friday, April 28 8:00 am - 5:30 pm

Saturday, April 29 8:00 am - 5:30 pm

Sunday, April 30 8:00 am - 5:30 pm

Monday, May 1 8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Social Media

The hashtag for the 2017 Annual Meeting is #AERA17. You may also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

About AERA

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook and Twitter.

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Rigaku Supermini200 High-power Benchtop Sequential WDXRF Spectrometer

Rigaku Corporation will be attending the March 2017 American Physical Society (APS) meeting, representing its diverse range of X-ray analytical instrumentation. The meeting is taking place March 13-17 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

A scientific program will be presented consisting of more than 105 invited sessions and approximately 600 contributed sessions at which over 9,600 papers will be presented.

Rigaku will be exhibiting in Hall J at the Convention Center at booth #333. Rigaku provides the worlds most complete line of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments and components.

Systems include the Rigaku MiniFlex XRD and Supermini200 wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) benchtop systems and the SmartLab multi-purpose diffractometer with small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and in-plane capabilities.

About Rigaku

Since its inception in Japan in 1951, Rigaku has been at the forefront of analytical and industrial instrumentation technology. Rigaku and its subsidiaries form a global group focused on general-purpose analytical instrumentation and the life sciences. With hundreds of major innovations to their credit, Rigaku companies are world leaders in X-ray spectrometry, diffraction, and optics, as well as small molecule and protein crystallography and semiconductor metrology. Today, Rigaku employs over 1,400 people in the manufacturing and support of its analytical equipment, which is used in more than 90 countries around the world supporting research, development, and quality assurance activities. Throughout the world, Rigaku continuously promotes partnerships, dialog, and innovation within the global scientific and industrial communities.

For further information, contact:

Michael Nelson

Rigaku Global Marketing Group

tel: +1. 512-225-1796

michael.nelson(at)rigaku(dot)com
The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), a central voice for patient safety since 1997, recently welcomed Xenex Disinfection Services as a member of the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition.

San Antonio, Texas-based Xenex has a patented pulsed xenon ultraviolet (UV) room disinfection technology designed to quickly destroy the viruses, bacteria, mold, fungus and bacterial spores in health care facilities that can cause infections. This pulsed xenon UV technology has been shown, in multiple peer-reviewed published outcome studies to help hospitals reduce infection rates.

Health care associated infections (HAI) caused by pathogens such as Clostridium difficile (C.diff), Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are a global problem and predicted to become worse as antibiotic resistance increases. Xenexs robotic disinfection technology is an effective solution that destroys deadly microorganisms so they do not infect patients and health care workers. Hospitals using Xenex devices have published outcome studies in peer-reviewed journals showing 50-100% decreases in C.diff, MRSA, and surgical site infection (SSI) rates when those hospitals used the Xenex robots to disinfect rooms.

Health care associated infections negatively impact the lives of millions of patients and families every year and are often preventable. Our mission at Xenex is to stop the pain, suffering, and death caused by these infections by destroying the pathogens that cause them, said Morris Miller, CEO of Xenex. In joining the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition, we hope to work with the Foundation and other Coalition members to continue the push to make health care safer for patients.

Xenex is currently the only ultraviolet disinfection manufacturer that is a member of the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition, which was created to align stakeholders from across the continuum of care in a unifying mission to make health care safer for all. Membership is open to myriad groups, including solutions providers working to address patient safety challenges, professional associations, advocacy organizations, and other similarly committed organizations. Coalition members gain valuable opportunities for networking, learning, and knowledge-sharing through quarterly webinars, an annual member meeting, special projects and events, and other high-value activities.

Members of the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition share the Foundations goal of making health care safer for all, said Tejal K. Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS, president and CEO of NPSF. We are very pleased to welcome Xenex as a new member and an innovator in patient safety. We look forward to working with them to share knowledge and promote advances in the field.

For more information about the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition and how to join, contact David Coletta, senior vice president, at dcoletta(at)npsf(dot)org.

About the National Patient Safety Foundation

The National Patient Safety Foundations vision is to create a world where patients and those who care for them are free from harm. A central voice for patient safety since 1997, NPSF partners with patients and families, the health care community, and key stakeholders to advance patient safety and health care workforce safety and disseminate strategies to prevent harm. NPSF is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. To learn more about the Foundations work, visit http://www.npsf.org.

About Xenex

Xenex's patented pulsed xenon Full Spectrum UV room disinfection system is a pesticidal device used for the advanced cleaning of healthcare facilities. Xenex's mission is to save lives and reduce suffering by eliminating the deadly microorganisms that cause hospital acquired infections. The company is backed by well-known investors that include Essex Woodlands, Piper Jaffray Merchant Banking, Malin Corporation, Battery Ventures, Targeted Technology Fund II, Tectonic Ventures, and RK Ventures. For more information, visit xenex.com.
This is exactly the kind of advanced, interactive training that makes Warrior Expo West a must-attend event for our customers year after year.

Virginia Beach-based ADS, Inc. will team up with Progressive F.O.R.C.E. Concepts (PFC) to provide advanced combat training during Warrior Expo West, a two-day industry event that features the latest in training, equipment, and product solutions for all branches of the military, government, and first responders.

Warrior Expo West will be held April 19 and 20 at the San Diego Convention Center.

This is exactly the kind of advanced, interactive training that makes Warrior Expo West a must-attend event for our customers year after year, said Ryan Angold, Vice President of Market Sales.  The knowledge, skills, and abilities demonstrated by PFC Instructors are at a level unsurpassed in the training industry.

Since 1997, PFC has been an industry leader in teaching Force Options for Resolving Combative Encounters (F.O.R.C.E.) to military, law enforcement, and security professionals.

The companys performance-based classroom training courses during Warrior Expo West will include Modern Use of Force, Battle-Born Leadership practices, and the latest methods for Surviving Active Violence Events.

The PFC mission is simple: to save lives, said Progressive F.O.R.C.E. Concepts spokesman Mike Haytack. Regardless of objective, threat, or rules of engagement, PFC principle and performance-based training solutions will condition safety and success during a real-world conflict.

Hosted annually by ADS, Warrior Expo West showcases interactive product demonstrations and on-site training opportunities, and allows attendees to examine hundreds of products and training solutions in one place. The event epitomizes ADS mission to provide unique, innovative, and effective product solutions to its customers by bringing together vendors and customers in this collaborative, high energy environment. More than 150 vendors and 2,000 visitors are expected to attend.

Warrior Expo West is free to registered military, federal, state, and local government agencies, law enforcement, first responders, and qualified defense or government contractors. The event is not open to the general public.

The threats facing our communities, our country, and the world are constantly evolving, said Jason Wallace, ADS CEO. Were very proud that Warrior Expo continues to be a resource our nations warfighters, law enforcement, and first responders depend on to learn about the latest innovations and technology to counter these threats.

###

About Warrior Expo

Warrior Expo is a premier industry event, designed by ADS, Inc. to bring end users, program managers, and procurement specialists together with industry-leading solutions partners in an environment for government and defense organizations. Warrior Expo is held twice per yearonce on the West Coast in San Diego in April and once on the East Coast in Virginia Beach in July. The event attracts more than 250 vendors and 3,000 guests each year.

About ADS, Inc.

ADS, Inc. is a leading value-added logistics and supply chain solutions provider that proudly serves all branches of the U.S. Military, federal, state, and local government organizations, law enforcement agencies, first responders, partner nations, and the defense industry. Headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA, ADS is a Top 50 Department of Defense Contractor focused on solving our customers challenges by providing the best product and service offerings, the broadest array of procurement options, and legendary customer service.

About Progressive F.O.R.C.E. Concepts

Since 1997, Progressive F.O.R.C.E. Concepts has been an industry leader in teaching Force Options for Resolving Combative Encounters (F.O.R.C.E.) to military, law enforcement, and security professionals. PFC instructs armed and unarmed defense skills, use of firearms for all skill levels and applications, tactical training from special operations to home defense, executive protection and security training, and custom programs tailored to specific client needs.
The hallmark of Pure Dental Health is patient care, and I couldnt be more proud to be a part of this unique dental environment and treat patients alongside such a reputable team of dentists, says Dr. Aaron.

Pure Dental Health in Buckhead is a modern dental practice that provides comprehensive dental services from teeth cleaning to Invisalign and dental implants in a comfortable, spa-like atmosphere. Dr. Justin Scott is proud to welcome Dr. Zina Aaron, an experienced dentist to the practice. Dr. Aaron shares the mission of Pure Dental Health, which is to serve patients with the best that modern dentistry has to offer while giving the highest regard to patient comfort and well being.

Dr. Zina Aaron earned her undergraduate degree at Emory University in Atlanta before attaining her Doctorate of Dental Medicine at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. She completed one-year general practice residency in Miami VA Medical Center and after completing her GPR in Miami, Dr. Aaron practiced dentistry for a couple of years in Florida. After her time in Florida, Dr. Aaron moved to NYC to serve on the faculty as a clinical instructor at the NYU College of Dentistry. Subsequently, Dr. Aaron has moved back to Atlanta to start a family and find her home base. Dr. Aaron comes to Pure Dental Health with valued experience as both a patient and a dentist. Having gone through multiple dental procedures as a youth, she understands the value in keeping patients fully informed, comfortable and active in their oral health care plan.

Dr. Aaron believes in staying at the forefront of her field, as she completes many hours of continuing education classes each year. Her most recent coursework has focused on dental sleep medicine, cosmetic dentistry, and Invisalign. Dr. Aarons goal with each patient is to establish a long-term, trust-based relationship. Her patient dedication is strongly reflected in the practice principles of Pure Dental Health.

The hallmark of Pure Dental Health is patient care, and I couldnt be more proud to be a part of this unique dental environment and treat patients alongside such a reputable team of dentists, says Dr. Aaron.

About Pure Dental Health:

Pure Dental Health offers an expansive menu of services in dental care, including advanced procedures in general, restorative and cosmetic dentistry. To boost patient comfort, the office also offers a number of unique spa-like amenities to take the stress out of dental care. Patients can enjoy valet parking, hot scented towels, flat screen TVs and much more. Both and IV Sedation dentistry are also offered at Pure Dental Health for a completely relaxed dental experience.

For more information about Dr. Zina Aaron from Pure Dental Health, visit the practice website at puredentalhealth.com or call (678) 666-3642.

Prepared by: Find Local Company
Round It Up for Lymphoma runs March 10-26. To donate online, visit www.familyvideo.com/round-it-up . "We are dedicated to continuing our support of the incredible research at the Biobank and excited to help advance the mission of the Lymphoma Research Foundation." - Keith Hoogland, President Highland Ventures, Ltd.

Highland Ventures, Ltd. and its family of brands are joining forces again in 2017 with customers across the country to fund research aimed at finding a cure for lymphoma cancer. Uniting 950 retail locations under the Highland Ventures, Ltd. umbrella, the Round It Up for Lymphoma fundraising campaign is a prime example of how companies and the communities they serve can escalate the collective impact made on a disease that can devastate families.

The spirited fundraising starts today and continues through Sunday, March 26, at all stores in the Highland Ventures, Ltd. family of brands, including Family Video, Marcos Pizza, Stay Fit 24 and Digital Doc. Additionally, the companys corporate staff around the country are contributing to the cause during the program.

Now in its sixth year, the Round It Up for Lymphoma fundraising campaign has raised nearly $6 million and projections call for the total to approach $7 million by the end of this years fundraising efforts. All money raised have and will continue to be donated to Highland Ventures, Ltd. philanthropic partners Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) and the Lymphoma Biobank at the University of Chicago Medicine. Since 2011, when the charity partnerships were formed, 14 new lymphoma treatment drugs and 63 research grants have been approved, according to LRF.

Lymphoma has struck the lives of far too many families, including many of those in the Highland Ventures, Ltd family. We are dedicated to continuing our support of the incredible research at the Biobank and excited to help advance the mission of LRF, said Keith Hoogland, President of Highland Ventures. Together, our entire organization and our friends and customers around the nation make this a winning effort every year. Its amazing the power that comes from a united front and were ready to do it again with them this March.

Stories of hope from customers and employees impacted by lymphoma continue to drive the campaign forward year after year. Grassroots events and activities at each location build support for the campaign in the communities they serve. To participate, donate online at http://www.familyvideo.com/round-it-up or visit any participating Family Video, Marcos Pizza, Stay Fit 24 or Digital Doc location.

About Highland Ventures, LTD.  http://www.highlandventuresltd.com

Highland Ventures, LTD. is the parent company of Family Video, Hoogland Foods (dba Marcos Pizza), Stay Fit 24, Digital Doc and Legacy Commercial Properties. Highland Ventures operates over 920 retail locations across the United States and Canada. It has developed more than 650 retail strip centers under their commercial properties division, with tenants ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local community retailers.

About The University of Chicago Medicines Lymphoma Program - uchospitals.edu/lymphoma

The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center has been at the forefront of cancer care and discovery for more than 50 years. Many of the roots of chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, gene therapy, and bone marrow transplantation can be traced back to the Cancer Center. More than 210 physician scientists are conducting basic, clinical and translational research to study cancer from all angles, enabling the incorporation of personalized medicine into routine care. Established through the generous funds of the Round It Up for Lymphoma campaign, a

Lymphoma Biobank was established in 2013. Since then, the biobank has enrolled over 500 patients into the program and received over 400 blood and tissue samples for testing.

About the Lymphoma Research Foundation - lymphoma.org

The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) is the nations largest non-profit organization devoted to funding innovative research and serving the lymphoma community through a comprehensive series of education programs, outreach initiatives and patient services. To date, LRF has awarded more than $55 million in lymphoma-specific research.
Dr. Christenbury performs the first SMILE LASIK procedure at Christenbury Eye Center SMILE is a ground-breaking surgery that brings vision correction to a new level. Patients will heal faster and return to all their regular activities after 24 hours, including driving, exercise, swimming and wearing eye makeup.

SMILE LASIK (ReLEx SMILE) from Zeiss, a new FDA-approved, flapless vision correction procedure for nearsightedness, is now offered by Jonathan Christenbury, M.D. The new procedure (also called flapless LASIK) is performed on the Zeiss laser that creates flaps used for LASIK. The procedure takes only 35 seconds. Patients experience a faster procedure with an 80% smaller incision, resulting in faster healing times and more stable long-term results. The procedure is performed by Dr. Jonathan Christenbury. the only surgeon in North and South Carolina qualified to perform this new procedure. In fact, Dr. Christenbury was the first surgeon who is not part of the FDA clinical research team to perform this groundbreaking procedure in the U.S.

SMILE LASIK is a new vision correction procedure for the treatment of nearsightedness (or myopia). The procedure is a minimally-invasive approach to correct vision through the removal of a small amount of tissue, called a lenticule, from within the cornea through a tiny incision.

The procedure is performed with the Zeiss VisuMAX femtosecond laser that is also used in LASIK surgery. The Zeiss VisuMAX laser, the fastest eye laser in the world, came to Christenbury Eye Center as the first commercial installation on January 26, 2012. Dr. Jonathan Christenbury has performed more than 100,000 vision correction procedures and thousands of VisuMAX procedures. He is the most experienced Zeiss VisuMAX surgeon in the United States.

SMILE is a ground-breaking surgery that brings vision correction to a new level. Patients will heal faster and return to all their regular activities after 24 hours, including driving, exercise, swimming and wearing eye makeup. What contributes to quicker healing is the absence of a flap to heal as in traditional LASIK, says Dr. Jonathan Christenbury, Medical Director at Christenbury Eye Center. This new surgery is as accurate as traditional LASIK; Im truly impressed by the results, and am pleased to bring this new procedure to those who depend so heavily on glasses and contacts.

In addition to faster healing times, SMILE LASIK offers:



A quick return to all activities after 24 hours  cardio, swimming, contact sports, flying and wearing makeup

A faster procedure that takes approximately 35 seconds per eye

Patients are comfortable and feel nothing

An 80% smaller incision than LASIK

No shields required after surgery

Results are stable long term for low and higher corrections and are as accurate as traditional LASIK

Lower incidence of dry eye syndrome

The procedure is available to many patients who wear glasses or contacts over the age of 22. Currently, SMILE LASIK is approved to correct myopia.

Patients who wish to see if theyre qualified for a SMILE LASIK procedure should contact Christenbury Eye Center at (877) 702-2020 or visit the Christenbury Eye Center website. Patients who sign up by March 31, 2017, will receive $1200 off this procedure for both eyes ($600 per eye).

About the Christenbury Eye Center

Dr. Jonathan Christenbury established Christenbury Eye Center in 1987 and is known for his groundbreaking work in vision care. For two decades he has consistently been one of the first surgeons in the Carolinas to perform many pioneering vision care procedures including LASIK, Visian ICL and TECNIS.

Dr. Christenbury performed the first LASIK procedure in the Carolinas in the early 1990s and since that time has performed more than 100,000 laser vision correction procedures. He performed the first WaveFront Customized IntraLASIK in the Carolinas in 2005. In the Spring of 2005, he was the first in the Carolinas to perform the ReSTOR multifocal lens procedure that treats Presbyopia and can eliminate reading glasses and bifocals. Today, Dr. Christenbury is the most experienced multifocal implant surgeon in the United States.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund (the Fund) (NYSE:BGH) announced its monthly dividend for March 2017 of $0.1534 per share, payable on April 3, 2017. Based on the Funds February 28, 2017 share price of $20.09 per share, the distribution represents an annualized yield of 9.16% per share. Based on current projections through the payable date, the Fund expects that this distribution will be comprised of net investment income.



Additionally, the Fund announced estimated monthly distributions of $0.1534 per share for April 2017 and May 2017. The distribution schedule appears below:

Month Ex-Date Record Date Payable Date Amount 1 March 03/21/2017 03/23/2017 04/03/2017 $ 0.1534 April 04/18/2017 04/20/2017 05/01/2017 $ 0.1534 May 05/18/2017 05/20/2017 06/01/2017 $ 0.1534

1 Amounts represent estimates for April and May.

The Fund seeks to pay a distribution at a rate that reflects net investment income actually earned. A portion of each distribution may be treated as paid from sources other than net investment income, including but not limited to short-term capital gain, long-term capital gain or return of capital. The final determination of the source and tax characteristics of these distributions will depend upon the Funds investment experience during its fiscal year and will be made after the Funds year end. The Fund will send to investors a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will define how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

The Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company that is managed by Barings LLC. The Fund invests primarily in short-duration, global high yield bonds with the objective of seeking as high a level of current income as Barings determines is consistent with capital preservation, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund expects to maintain a weighted average portfolio duration, including the effects of leverage, of 3 years or less.

Cautionary Notice: Certain statements contained in this press release may be "forward looking" statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date in which they are made and which reflect managements current estimates, projections, expectations or beliefs, and which are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are subject to change at any time based upon economic, market or other conditions and may not be relied upon as investment advice or an indication of the fund's trading intent. References to specific securities are not recommendations of such securities, and may not be representative of the fund's current or future investments. We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Because the Fund is newly organized, its shares have a limited history of public trading. Investors should read the Funds prospectus and consider carefully the risks, investment objectives, charges and expenses associated with an investment in the Funds common shares. For a copy of the prospectus, please contact your securities representative.

About Barings

Barings is a $271 billion* global asset management firm dedicated to meeting the evolving investment and capital needs of our clients. We build lasting partnerships that leverage our distinctive expertise across traditional and alternative asset classes to deliver innovative solutions and exceptional service. A member of the MassMutual Financial Group, Barings maintains a strong global presence with over 600 investment professionals and offices in 17 countries. Learn more, at www.barings.com.

*As of December 31, 2016.

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SAN ANTONIO, March 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The San Antonio City Council today authorized the San Antonio Economic Development Corporation (SAEDC) to invest in locally based bioAffinity Technologies, a biotech company focused on the significant unmet need for non-invasive, early-stage cancer diagnostics and improved cancer treatments. The Economic Development Agreement with the SAEDC requires bioAffinity to accelerate job creation and remain in San Antonio as it develops and commercializes patient-friendly diagnostic tests and targeted cancer therapeutics using breakthrough technology that preferentially targets cancer cells.



The SAEDC investment in bioAffinitys innovative and groundbreaking technologies can improve cancer care and save lives, while adding high-paying jobs in our targeted health care and biosciences industry, said City Manager Sheryl Sculley.

Ed Davis, SAEDC Executive Director said, bioAffinity will more than double its current workforce in the next year as part of the SAEDC Agreement. Although the company is a small business today, it has the management, the technology and the vision to be a global leader in the battle against cancer.

San Antonios leaders are attracting new, high-growth technology companies and creating quality, high-paying jobs. bioAffinity Technologies is a prime example, said Steve Girgenti, Executive Chairman of bioAffinitys Board. Were proud to be a member of the citys biotech community and a productive part of its vibrant economy.

The SAEDC Board approved the project and Economic Development Agreement on March 7 preceding City Councils approval of the project. The Agreement requires bioAffinity Technologies to increase its San Antonio workforce from 6 to 13 jobs in 12 months and remain in San Antonio for least three years. The Agreement and SAEDC funding of $150,000 also gives the SAEDC equity in the company.

bioAffinity is committed to building our proprietary cancer products in San Antonio where we benefit not only from the citys support, but also from our close working relationship and collaboration with exceptional researchers, scientists and laboratories at UT Health San Antonio as part of its commercialization program, said Maria Zannes, President and Chief Executive Officer. San Antonio is a world-class city that attracts exceptional talent.

bioAffinitys porphyrin-based CyPath bio-label preferentially binds to cancer cells as compared with non-cancer cells. The CyPath-labeled cancer cells display a distinctive fluorescence, which makes cancer detectable by an imaging system. The first product is a non-invasive diagnostic for early-stage lung cancer. bioAffinitys wholly owned subsidiary, OncoSelect Therapeutics, will build upon the companys porphyrin-based diagnostics to create targeted therapeutics to deliver chemotherapy drugs directly into cancer cells.

bioAffinity is currently located in laboratory facilities at the UTSA main campus and is working with UT Health San Antonio as part of a research collaborative that investigates the mechanisms of cancer and porphyrins.

About bioAffinity Technologies

bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. (www.bioaffinitytech.com) is a privately held development-stage company addressing the significant unmet need for non-invasive, early-stage cancer diagnosis and treatment. The Company develops proprietary in-vitro diagnostic tests and targeted cancer therapeutics using breakthrough technology that preferentially targets cancer cells. The Companys platform technology will be developed to diagnose, monitor and treat many cancers. CyPath Lung, bioAffinitys initial product, is designed to be the first successful non-invasive, early-stage lung cancer diagnostic on the market.

About the San Antonio Development Corporation

The San Antonio Development Corporation (SAEDC) is a nonprofit corporation established by the City Council in 2010 to help the City in facilitating economic development projects, particularly when there is an opportunity to secure equity in a company. The primary goals of the SAEDC are to promote innovation and assist local entrepreneurs and startup companies in the Citys targeted industries; and to create a self-sustaining Economic Development Fund through future potential returns from projects and investments. The SAEDC has a 7-member Board consisting of the Mayor, City Manager, two City Council members and three citizens-at-large appointed by City Council. City Council annually considers and approves funding for the SAEDC and must approve any proposed project and investment of over $50,000.
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After spending close to a decade finishing her first novel, Jessica Townsend, 31, had grown very comfortable with her morning routine of writing on my laptop in my pajamas with a cup of tea.

But that pattern was happily and thoroughly upended last October when her agent pitched the novel, Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, at the Frankfurt Book Fair. In an eight-house auction, the Hachette Book Group won English-language rights to publish the trilogy in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia. Subsequently, rights have sold in 25 additional territories. Every 5 a.m. for about a month there was a flurry of e-mails. Bizarre good news after bizarre good news, Townsend said. I still dont know how to take it in.

Film rights have also been sold to 20th Century Fox. I just loved their team, Townsend said. They loved the book and they had thoughts about how to make it into a film that made me realize that they had thought very deeply about it.

The book, which has drawn comparisons to Harry Potter, is about a cursed child named Morrigan who is born on Eventide, the unluckiest day of the year, destined to die on her 11th birthday until she is whisked away by a strange man to Nevermoor, a fantasy version of London. The problem is that Morrigan can only remain in Nevermoor  and escape death  if she earns a place in the citys most prestigious organization, the Wondrous Society, by passing four difficult and dangerous tests.

The book will publish on October 31, and in the U.K. in November. The six-figure, three-book deal was brokered by Gemma Cooper at the Bent Agency. The manuscript was first championed at Little, Brown by an assistant editor, Kheryn Callendar, who will co-edit the U.S. edition with Little, Brown editor-in-chief, Alvina Ling.

"Im extremely selective about the new authors I acquire for our list  but as soon as I read this manuscript, I knew I had to have it, said Ling. Its smart, funny, unique, imaginative, surprising, and action-packed. Its the best thing Ive read on submission in a long, long time.

Townsend, who lives in Queensland, on Australias northeastern coast, first got the idea for her main character when she was 18. But she didnt take up writing Morrigans story in earnest until she was 22. Progress was slow.

I know some magical writers can produce a draft in six months and, bless them, thats amazing, she said. But the final product is really a result of that long incubation. Book one is like the tip of the iceberg. I know everything about this world because I spent a lot of time plotting it out instead of actually finishing a draft. Maybe theres a case to be made for procrastination. I should tell my high school teachers that.

Her first reader was her sister, Sally, with whom she worked for several years at Australia Zoo, a childrens wildlife magazine founded by the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin.

She was pestering me for ages to let her read it, Townsend said. And I didnt really write the book with any other audience in mind except me and her. Anytime I wrote something that made me laugh, I thought, Sallys going to laugh at this, too. 

Like many young Australians, Townsend spent several years in her 20s in Europe. But instead of backpacking her way across the continent, she landed in London, fell in love with the city and decided to stay put, finding work as a copyeditor. While she was writing the book, she was already dreaming of signing with a London literary agency, so I could go back and forth. She spent a year or two researching agents. Im a bit of a nerd so I had a spreadsheet and all thatfirst tier, second tier, etc., she said.

Within a month of sending out queries, she had four offers for representation and signed with Cooper. The day we spoke she was moving to Chicago, so there went the London agent, Townsend said. But shes made all this happen. It is amazing that you can put the product of your blood, sweat, and tears into a pair of hands you trust and sit back and relax while Gemma does all the work.

Little, Brown will do a pre-pub launch for Nevermoor next month and plans to bring Townsend to Childrens Institute to meet with booksellers and sign galleys. Meanwhile, Townsend is home in Australia, writing in the mornings in her pajamas, with a cup of tea. I dont feel like my life has changed, she said. Though the series was sold as a trilogy, Townsend has plots for about nine books. Procrastination is now a thing of the past  book two is well underway. Please write that Im perfectly confident I can complete this book on time, she said. I dont want my editors to have coronary episodes reading this.

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. Little, Brown, $17.99 Oct. 31 ISBN 978-0-31650-888-9
Kory Stamper, a lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, takes readers inside the English language with her witty and sly Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Lovers of language will find dives into etymologies, a celebration of the contentiousness of grammar, and a whole host of strange, wonderful words. Stamper shares seven of her favorite words.

If few people give much thought to dictionaries themselves, then they give almost no thought to how those dictionaries came to be, or who created them. There are, in fact, people who write dictionariespeople whose job is, as Noah Webster put it, to collect, define, and arrange, as far as possible, all the words that belong to a language. Those people devote themselves to weighing the grist of the language every day: working out exactly how to describe the difference between measly and teeny, agonizing over what part of speech the how in How come? is, spending late nights at the office hammering out definitions for the word take. These folks are called lexicographers, and in the course of their work elbows-deep in the roiling muck of English, they discover that this flexible, inventive language has some delights squirrelled away into its darker and less-frequented corners. Enjoy these seven words you should find every opportunity to use, and maybe you, too, will fall in love with this vibrant, wild whore of a language.

1. Defenestration - While not a word that youre likely to use often, defenestration is nonetheless dazzling. First, this uncommon noun refers to the act of throwing someone or something out of a window, and that sort of specificity is just the thing to delight word lovers. But even better is defenestrations origin. The word was coined in the 1600s to describe an event in Prague where a group of Protestants, upset that the new (and very Catholic) Emperor of Bohemia was trying to infringe upon their religious freedom, tried two governors who had been helping the Emperor, and then threw the guilty parties from the window of Prague Castle. The word used to describe the window-chucking was defenestration, from the Latin de-, meaning out of, and fenestra, meaning window. The best part: this event, which started the Thirty Years War, is now known as the Second Defenestration of Prague, and there are plenty who claim there is a Third Defenestration of Prague as well. Stay away from windows in Bohemia.

2. Lickspittle - There are countless words in English for a person who is given to fawning, self-serving flattery of others, and they are all vivid: brownnoser, bootlicker, apple-polisher. Try for a little variety and use lickspittle instead. Lickspittle is whats called a cutthroat compound, which is a noun thats made up of a verb and the thing upon which the verb acts. A pickpocket is someone who picks pockets; a scarecrow is something that scares crows; and so a lickspittle is someone who licks the spittle of others. Gross! And beautifully evocative. Use it as a highfalutin substitute for brownnoser.

3. Sesquipedalian - Sometimes you want a good, long word to describe the use of good, long words, and the word you want in such situations is sesquipedalian. It means given to using long words, and it has the added benefit of making its object sound very erudite while also gently poking fun at them. The earliest uses of the word were not exactly complimentaryone quotation from Smolletts 1756 Critical Review notes that an authors sesquipedalian length of words serves to embarrass more than necessaryand modern uses are relatively rare. The word was evidently cobbled together by a lexicographer, Thomas Blount, who included it in his 1656 Glossographia and modeled it on a quotation from the Latin poet Horace, who used the phrase sesquipedalia verba, or literally foot-and-a-half-long words, in his Ars Poetica.

4. Salmagundi - English has many words that mean mixture, but none is as fun to say as salmagundi. (The stress is on the penultimate syllable, and the word rhymes with fundie.) The original salmagundi was a salad that usually included chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, and vegetables, and youll still see this salmagundi on menus around the English-speaking world. But by the mid-1700s, salmagundi was also being used with an extended meaning to refer to any jumble or mixture. One typical (and still-applicable) example of this use shows up in Mary Robinsons 1797 book Walsingham: His mind was a sort of salmagundi. The word has an exotic bouquet, great mouthfeeleverything you want in a fancy and obscure word for a disordered mess. If salmagundi doesnt quite suit, you can choose from any number of synonyms for jumble that happen to be taken from food: hodgepodge, olla podrida, alphabet soup, or just plain stew.

5. Retronym - One occupational hazard of being a lexicographer is that people assume that (a) there is a word for everything, and (b) you know that word. Most of the time, (a) is true and (b) is not, but retronym is one case where both (a) and (b) are happily true. A retronym is a word or phrase that we use to refer to an earlier and now less-usual version of something: film camera, paper book, and snail mail are all retronyms. Most retronyms are caused by a change in technology, but dont think this is a new thing: handwritten is a retronym that came into use in the late 1500s, about 100 years after the printing press came to England.

6. Pumpernickel - Even words for the most mundane things are full of surprises. Pumpernickel, the word for the dark rye bread, was stolen from German into English in the early 1700s when English travelers to Westphalia encountered the hearty loaf. The German name for this bread, which was said to be well-nigh indigestible, is a compound of the German noun Nickel, which means goblin, and the verb pumpern, which means to break wind. In plain English, pumpernickel literally means fart goblin in German; learn this tidbit and be the life of your next party.

7. Jawn - Some words fly under the radar: definitely used in print, but not in quite enough widely read print to merit entry into a dictionary. Jawn is one such word. Its peculiar to Philadelphia where it serves as a colorful substitute for the word thing. The first time I ever heard this word was in a Philly bookstore, where one guy described Game of Thrones to his compatriot by saying it was some kind of medieval porno jawn, and I fell utterly and completely in love (with jawn, not with the guy). Jawn is gloriously flexible, referring to people (shes his side-jawn), places (Pats or Genos? Nah, avoid that jawn and go to Jims Roast Pork), things (hand me that jawn?), ideas (thats some socialist jawn), and situations (the best and most Philly-centric protest sign Ive ever seen: This Jawn Is Outta Pocket, meaning this situation is out of control). Its even got a plural form, which is jawn (them jawn is nice). Its an alteration of the slang word joint, which can also mean thing, and Philly natives complain that non-native yahoos like me are ruining jawn by adopting it, but that doesnt diminish my love for jawn (and the language that accommodates it) one bit.
SALT LAKE CITY, March 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Great Basin Scientific, Inc. (OTCQB:GBSN), a molecular diagnostics company, announced that during a special meeting of stockholders held today, stockholders approved a reverse split of the Companys common stock at a ratio between 1 for 1,700 and 1 for 2,000 and an increase in the Companys authorized shares of common stock from 1.5 billion to 3.0 billion. The Companys Board of Directors expects to set the exact ratio and effect the stock split upon the completion of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authoritys review. In addition, the Companys Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion, increase the Companys authorized shares of common stock on or prior to May 31, 2017.



Special Meeting Results

A third-party proxy management firm tabulated the proxy votes for the special meeting. Results of the special meeting follow:

Proposal 1  Approval to amend the Companys Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of the Companys common stock at a ratio between 1-for-1,700 and 1-for-2,000 to be effective upon a date on or prior to May 31, 2017, such ratio and date to be determined by the Companys Board of Directors. The reverse stock split proposal was approved by a vote of 64.38% of issued and outstanding shares of common stock and Series F Convertible Preferred Stock, voting on an as-converted basis, (subject to limitations on voting as set forth in the certificate of designation for the Series F Preferred Stock), which voted as a single class.

Proposal 2  Approval to amend the Companys Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of the Companys common stock from 1,500,000,000 shares to 3,000,000,000 shares, to be effective on a date on or prior to May 31, 2017, such date to be determined by the Board of Directors. The proposal was approved by a vote of 64.32% of the Companys issued and outstanding shares of common stock and Series F Convertible Preferred Stock, voting on an as-converted basis, (subject to limitations on voting as set forth in the certificate of designation for the Series F Preferred Stock), which voted as a single class, and 58.68% of the Companys issued and outstanding shares of common stock voting as a separate class.

Additional information regarding the Company's reverse stock split and authorized share increase are available in the definitive proxy statement filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 21, 2017.

About Great Basin Scientific

Great Basin Scientific is a molecular diagnostics company that commercializes breakthrough chip-based technologies. The Company is dedicated to the development of simple, yet powerful, sample-to-result technology and products that provide fast, multiple-pathogen diagnoses of infectious diseases. The Companys vision is to make molecular diagnostic testing so simple and cost-effective that every patient will be tested for every serious infection, reducing misdiagnoses and significantly limiting the spread of infectious disease. More information can be found on the companys website at www.gbscience.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements including but not limited to, statements regarding the consummation of the reverse stock split and the increase in authorized shares of common stock. Forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risk and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) our Board of Directors setting the exact stock split ratio, if at all, (ii) our Board of Directors approving the filing of an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation increasing the amount of authorized shares of common stock, if at all, and (iii) other risks set forth in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in the companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2016. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and Great Basin Scientific specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
DAVENPORT  The Davenport Police Department has 463 untested sexual assault evidence kits being stored by the department.

A report released Tuesday by the Iowa Attorney General's Crime Victim Assistance Division revealed 4,265 untested kits across the state. Davenport police has the second highest number of unused kits; Des Moines police has 877.

According to the report, the Bettendorf Police Department has 25, the Clinton Police Department has 50 and the Muscatine Police Department has 28. The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, funded by a $3 million federal Department of Justice grant, is the result of legislation passed in 2016 in an effort to address a backlog of untested kits.

Our law enforcement partners across the state are working with us to help us get a handle on this issue, with a goal of bringing offenders to justice while supporting and empowering Iowa's sexual assault survivors," Attorney General Tom Miller said.

In a news release, Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski said the department's Criminal Investigation Division is establishing a "comprehensive case tracking system" that includes case review and consultation with the Scott County Attorney Office specifically regarding sexual assault cases.

"This tracking system will include the submission and or disposition of sex assault kits and other evidence," he said. "It will also encompass recommendations made by the Iowa Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

"We will continue analyzing our protocols and assessing the need for further training, education and standardization," he said. "I want to emphasize that our priority is to do whatever is necessary to help victims of sexual assault."
CHICAGO (AP)  Federal prosecutors in Chicago say dozens of alleged street gang members have been arrested on state and federal charges connected to the sale of drugs that resulted in fatal overdoses.

Authorities said the arrests early Thursday were the result of a joint investigation by the Chicago Police Department, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that targeted the Unknown Vice Lords street gang. At least 65 suspects have been charged and heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, guns and cash were seized.

The investigation began in 2015 when the sale of fentanyl-laced heroin on the city's West Side was blamed for more than 70 drug overdoses reported during a 72-hour period.

Authorities say the West Side is a lucrative area for drug dealing because of the large number of suburban drug users who drive an expressway that traverse the neighborhood.
English Latvian

On 9 March, 2017 AS Latvenergo organized its Investor Conference Webinar. During the webinar Guntars Balcuns, AS Latvenergo Chief Financial Officer, analyzed Latvenergo Group financial results of 2016, informed about Groups latest issues and provided answers to webinar participants questions.

The recorded AS Latvenergo webinar is available online: http://ej.uz/Latvenergo_YE2016_rec, and the presentation, demonstrated during the webinar, can be found in the previously published AS Latvenergo announcement: http://ej.uz/Latvenergo_YE2016_pres.

Latvenergo thanks all participants, who joined the webinar, and encourages everybody to follow companys announcements to get information about the next webinar!

Additional information:

Janis Irbe

Group Treasurer

Phone: +371 67 728 239

E-mail: investor.relations@latvenergo.lv

www.latvenergo.lv

About Latvenergo

Latvenergo Group is a pan-Baltic energy company, engaging in electricity and thermal energy generation and supply, electricity distribution services and lease of transmission system assets. Latvenergo Group holds one-third of the entire Baltic electricity market, thus ensuring its leadership in the Baltic electricity supply. Latvenergo AS has been acknowledged as the most valuable company in Latvia for several years in a row. International credit rating agency Moodys has assigned Latvenergo AS an investment-grade credit rating of Baa2/stable.

Latvenergo Group includes the parent company Latvenergo AS (electricity and thermal energy generation and supply) and its subsidiaries Latvijas elektriskie tikli AS (lease of transmission system assets), Sadales tikls AS (electricity distribution), Elektrum Eesti OU (electricity supply in Estonia), Elektrum Lietuva UAB (electricity supply in Lithuania), Energijas publiskais tirgotajs AS (administration of electricity mandatory procurement process) and Liepajas energija SIA (electricity and thermal energy generation and supply).
CHICAGO (AP)  Revised employment figures for Illinois show that the state didn't lose thousands of jobs in December after all.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security had announced in January that preliminary figures showed the state lost 16,700 jobs in December. But revised figures released Thursday show Illinois actually gained 2,000 jobs that month.

Department spokesman Bob Gough acknowledges the change is "a big revision."

But he tells The Chicago Tribune Illinois is still working to return to its peak employment levels seen in 2000.

Gough says the state remains about 31,600 jobs short of its peak employment level recorded in September 2000.

Illinois' jobless rate in January was 5.7 percent, unchanged from December. The state added 1,700 jobs in January, mostly in construction, financial activities and trade, transportation and utilities.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  An associate UCLA professor who pursued a romantic relationship with a student until she was afraid to attend classes paid the university $7,500 in lieu of suspension. At UC Irvine, a dean accused of sexually harassing a co-worker agreed to take a demotion and stayed on as a teacher.

And at UC Santa Cruz, a professor accused of sexually assaulting a female student after a wine-tasting trip resigned before he could be fired. The University of California later agreed to pay his accuser $1.15 million.

The cases, among a trove of confidential files released last week by UC officials, show that the same lack of transparency and lax discipline that critics complained about at UC Berkeley in recent years also occurred at UC's nine other campuses.

In a rare look at the handling of sexual misconduct allegations in one of the nation's largest university systems, the cases show discipline was meted out inconsistently. The files cover 112 cases from January 2013 to April 2016 at nine campuses, excluding Berkeley, which separately released documents last year.

The Associated Press scoured hundreds of pages, many of which UC officials redacted in whole or in part citing privacy reasons. While the employees who were investigated included cafeteria workers and administrative employees, the AP examined cases involving the most prominent figures on campuses: the faculty.

The UC President's Office said faculty accounted for a quarter of the more than a hundred employees found to have violated sexual misconduct policies over the nearly three-year period but declined to specify those cases in particular. The AP was able to verify at least 21 of the cases involving faculty members, and found:

 In several instances, rumors about the accused swirled for years before anything was done.

 Two were fired and one instructor's contract was not renewed.

 Two people agreed to temporarily forgo merit pay increases, one took a 10 percent pay cut.

 Six faculty members resigned or retired from their universities before investigations were complete, punishment decided, or as part of a settlement.

At UCLA, for example, now-retired French Studies professor Eric Gans was accused of writing some 300 poems to a female graduate student that created a "sexually hostile environment," and pursuing the student while serving as her adviser, according to a December 2013 investigation.

Gans denied wrongdoing but signed a settlement with the UC Regents agreeing to resign and become professor emeritus. He maintains an office on campus but is prohibited from teaching, mentoring or advising students. Gans did not respond to requests for comment sent to his university email. The university declined to comment on specific cases.

The documents were released in response to public records requests filed by the AP and other news organizations nearly a year ago, after sexual harassment cases at UC Berkeley involving a former law school dean, a prominent astronomer and a vice chancellor became public. Berkeley was criticized for initially allowing the senior faculty to keep their jobs. They ultimately resigned under pressure.

In response, the UC system overhauled procedures for investigating and disciplining faculty members in such cases. All students and employees must now undergo mandatory sexual assault training and there is a single system-wide Title IX coordinator and peer review committee to determine sanctions for senior faculty. Previously, it was up to individual campuses to impose sanctions on their own staff.

Experts on sexual violence have long called on universities to be more transparent about cases involving sexual misconduct. Universities should regularly disclose results of investigations, even if names and details are redacted, said Noreen Farrell, executive director of Equal Rights Advocates.

"At some point, the institution has to choose between protecting its reputation and protecting its students. Schools can't have its cake and eat it too," she said. "They have to figure out a way to show that zero tolerance policies are not all talk."

In the latest documents, UC officials said personal identities and intimate personal details were omitted for privacy reasons but also because those disclosures would "not shed light" on how the university system has fulfilled its responsibility to investigate and respond to sexual misconduct cases. The investigations are administrative, and not criminal, in nature.

In one case, administrators at UC Santa Cruz were criticized for their handling of the case of a student who accused Latin Studies professor Hector Perla of raping her during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Perla has not commented publicly, but he told investigators that the sex was consensual and the student was not impaired.

A letter in his file, however, stated that Perla's "conduct constituted sexual assault" and that he should be dismissed, according to his 60-page file, which is so heavily redacted that many pages reveal only the page number. Perla resigned before disciplinary action was taken.

Last month, the UC governing board agreed to pay the student $1.15 million after she accused it of failing to address previous claims against Perla.

Perla did not respond to an email requesting comment. He did not respond to messages, including a text message, left at phone numbers associated with him.

The student reported the case to police and, after an investigation, was referred to the district attorney, who declined to prosecute. The district attorney's office has refused to answer any questions on the case. The university said officials acted appropriately, given privacy laws.

At UC Santa Barbara, the school said, a professor accused of sexual harassment left before the formal disciplinary process was completed in August 2013. A 2013 university investigation substantiated sexual harassment claims against Gurinder Singh Mann brought by a female student who accused him of inviting her to his home to discuss research, then urging her to lie beside him in bed and putting a hand up her shirt.

According to the investigation, other students stepped forward to say the Sikh Studies scholar had tried to kiss them, slapped their rears, invited them to his home and couched his behavior in cultural terms as an enlightened guru caring for his disciples.

Mann told investigators the sexual harassment allegations were an "utter falsehood" that stemmed from cultural misunderstandings. He said he was simply showing affection toward promising students. "I have made peace with myself that we live in complicated times, and I am a simple person who tried to help whoever came my way," Mann told the AP. The school website lists him as retired.

Officials said about two-thirds of the people accused of misconduct no longer work for the UC system. UC spokeswoman Claire Doan said details on how many were fired was not available and also declined to answer if that meant one-third of the employees who engaged in sexual misconduct still work on UC campuses.

Among those who do is the former dean of UC Irvine's art school, Joseph Lewis . He agreed to a demotion after he was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a female co-worker in 2014.

An investigation said the woman's 26 allegations of harassment were bolstered by numerous witness accounts that Lewis had displayed "inappropriate, sexual and bullying behavior toward past and present staff and faculty." University officials wrote in Lewis' internal file that "it was mutually agreed that he would no longer serve as dean." He currently teaches studio art classes.

Irvine spokesman Tom Vasich declined to comment on the specific disciplinary action taken against Lewis, saying each case was in line with UC policies and procedures. Lewis did not respond to two emailed requests for comment.

The UC system did not release information on cases where an employee discipline process was still underway, and when asked, Doan declined to say how many cases were still outstanding.
WASHINGTON (AP)  After months rehashing the GOP primary campaign and bragging about his victory, President Donald Trump has begun reaching out to former rivals whose help he now needs.

The latest on his list is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has said he has significant concerns about the health care bill Trump wants Congress to pass.

The president and first lady hosted Cruz and his wife, Heidi, and their two daughters for dinner Wednesday night  a day after Trump had lunch with South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, a onetime challenger.

"It was terrific. It was a social evening we had a very nice evening with the president and the first lady with Heidi and the girls," Cruz said. He tweeted a photo of his daughters standing next to the president in the Oval Office, and put out this caption: "Our family had dinner w the President & First Lady, who were warm & gracious. Catherine brought Joe--her kindergarten class stuffed giraffe!"

Trump gave Florida Sen. Marco Rubio an Air Force One ride to his home state last week and invited Rubio and his wife for dinner at the White House. Trump met recently with Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, had Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., and his wife over for Valentine's Day meatloaf, and had a working lunch with Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis.

All those politicians had competed with Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.

The meetings come as Trump continues to make unsupported charges against former President Barack Obama. That's alienated a potential source of White House guidance as Trump turns his focus toward selling a legislative agenda that he'll need every possible ally to pass.

It help explains his wooing of ex-rivals such as Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, whom Trump has spoken to several times since taking office, said Paul's spokesman Sergio Gor.

But the 2016 GOP campaign was harsh, and that's led to some awkward interactions.

As a candidate, Trump gave Cruz the nickname 'Lyin' Ted,' questioned the senator's faith and suggested Cruz's father may have been involved in John F. Kennedy's assassination. Trump also went after Cruz's wife.

Cruz responded by calling Trump "a sniveling coward," a "pathological liar" and "utterly amoral." Cruz declined to endorse Trump in his Republican Convention speech.

White house Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday the president enjoyed welcoming the Cruzes to the White House.

"They had a very enjoyable time and a very fruitful discussion," Spicer said, adding that it was something the president "is going to continue to do with members of both parties, both chambers, and not just here in Washington."

Cruz told reporters the dinner "was terrific" and he talked about how excited his daughter had been to bring along her students' stuffed giraffe.

"So Joe had a chance to have dinner with the president which was a fun thing for Catherine and we had a very pleasant evening but also discussed a lot of substance," he said.

Trump has in the past marveled at politicians' abilities to move on, even after brutal election campaigns.

"It's a very strange phenomenon," he recently told Fox News, describing his ability to get along with Obama, despite their nasty election rivalry as Obama campaigned on behalf of Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"What amazed me is that I was vicious to him in statements, he was vicious to me in statements, and here we are getting along, we're riding up Pennsylvania Avenue, talk  we don't even mention it," he said. "I guess that's the world of politics."

Trump's latest unsupported claim on Twitter that Obama ordered wiretaps on Trump has apparently chilled those relations.

Even Graham, one of Trump's fiercest critics during the primary, seems to agree with the idea of moving past the campaign rhetoric.

After their lunch, Graham praised Trump, saying he was "strongly committed to rebuilding our military, which is music to my ears. President Trump is in deal-making mode and I hope Congress is like-minded."

Graham also appeared to forgive the president for once reading out Graham's personal cellphone number to a rally crowd.

"How good was the meeting? I gave him my NEW cellphone number," Graham tweeted.

Still, there is one rival candidate who has yet to break bread with the president: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. While Bush has been in touch with members of the Trump administration, spokeswoman Kristy Campbell says he has no immediate plans to dine with Trump.
"Drain the swamp."

Donald Trumps cry surely resonates with the voters, who blindly followed his hypocrisy and lies into the voting booth. Recent events, in addition to the many LIES he told and overlooked by the voters, have now become evident that the old saying birds of a feather flock together certainly applies.

At least five Trump associates, including his former campaign manager and now Jeff Sessions, are proven to have had contact with Russian officials, despite their protestations to the contrary. Trump himself lies about meeting Vladimir Putin as evidenced by clips of former statements from his own mouth.

Mike Pence railed about Hillary Clintons use of her private email and now himself is a proven hypocrite by his own use of the same while governor of Indiana. There are just too many lies and alternate facts coming out of the Trump White House to list here.

It would appear, if Trump were to drain the swamp, starting with his own administration, there would be a significant population loss were he to follow the pattern of his idol Putins methods.

I am not excusing the citizen voters. They had many opportunities to acknowledge the faults of Trump truths, choosing to exonerate him for his many lies proven over and over. They, his supporters, turned a blind eye to reports and visible proof of his ties to Russia, let alone his praise for Putin.

Additionally, interviews have proven that many professing repeal Obamacare, did not even know that the provisions they praise and want are in the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

Craig Miller

Rock Island
QPR in the Community Trust will join forces with YMCA West London for a joint fundraising 'Sleep Out' at Loftus Road later this month.

The event will take place on March 31st at Loftus Road stadium, from 8.00pm-7.00am, with all proceeds raised from the night split between the two charities.

As part of the night, participants will be able to watch Derby County versus QPR and get a behind-the-scenes tour of Loftus Road.

The Sleep Out will see participants spend a night sleeping rough in the Loftus Road concourses, to raise awareness of homelessness.

Sleep Out doesnt aim to replicate homelessness, but it does show you some of the realities  the biting cold, the damp, the noise and the difficulty of carrying on your day with little sleep.

Nearly 1,000 people slept rough in London on a single night in Autumn 2016, according to government figures - it's more than doubled in the last five years.

The Trust and YMCA West London tackle the downward spiral of 'no job leading to homelessness' for two very vulnerable groups.

QPR Work Force helps ex-service personnel get closer to employment.

QPR Community Trust's Education & Employability Officer, Jack Kelley, told www.qpr.co.uk : "Many bear the hidden wounds sustained on the battlefield after fighting for our country, and much of the programme focuses on emotional support to move forward from this. We have good links with local employers too."

For a young person with no qualifications or family support, chances of getting and keeping a job are minimal. 16-25-year-old's with no job may find themselves sleeping rough.

Funds raised will enable YMCA West London's Employability programme to give more young people the tools and support they need to break the 'no job, no home' cycle.

To find out more and apply, click HERE or email [email protected]
BEDMINSTER, N.J., March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Matinas BioPharma Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT:MTNB), clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative anti-infectives for orphan indications, today announced that Jerome D. Jabbour, Co-Founder and President, will present at the 29th Annual ROTH Conference on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. PT in Dana Point, CA.



As part of his presentation, Mr. Jabbour will provide an update on Matinas BioPharmas recent corporate advancements as well as discuss the Companys Phase 2 clinical program of its lead antifungal product candidate, MAT2203, an orally administered, lipid-crystal nano-particle formulation of broad spectrum fungicidal agent amphotericin B, and its plans to advance into a pivotal, registration program.

Mr. Jabbour will also discuss the Companys Phase 1 clinical program of MAT2501, an orally-administered, encochleated formulation of the broad spectrum aminoglycoside antibiotic agent amikacin for acute bacterial infections, including non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and multidrug-resistant gram negative bacterial infections.

A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available on the Events page of the Investors section of the Companys website (www.matinasbiopharma.com). A webcast replay will be accessible for 90 days following the live presentation.

About Matinas BioPharma

Matinas BioPharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative anti-infectives for orphan indications. The Company's proprietary, disruptive technology utilizes lipid-crystal nano-particle cochleates to nano-encapsulate existing drugs, making them safer, more tolerable, less toxic and orally bioavailable. The Company's lead drug candidate MAT2203, currently in Phase 2, is an orally-administered, encochleated formulation of amphotericin B (a broad spectrum fungicidal agent). The Company has an open Investigational New Drug (IND) application for MAT2501, currently in Phase 1, which is an orally-administered, encochleated formulation of amikacin (a broad spectrum aminoglycoside antibiotic agent) for acute bacterial infections, including non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) and multi-drug resistant gram-negative bacterial infections.

The Company's lead anti-infective product candidates, MAT2203 and MAT2501, position Matinas BioPharma to become a leader in the safe and effective delivery of anti-infective therapies utilizing its proprietary lipid-crystal nano-particle cochleate formulation technology. For more information, please visit www.matinasbiopharma.com and connect with the Company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.

Forward Looking Statements: This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the Company's strategic focus and the future development of its product candidates, including MAT2203 and MAT2501, the anticipated timing of regulatory submissions, the anticipated timing of clinical studies, the Companys ability to identify and pursue development and partnership opportunities for its products or platform delivery technology on favorable terms, if at all, and the ability to obtain required regulatory approval and other statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "could," "believes," "estimates" and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, our ability to obtain additional capital to meet our liquidity needs on acceptable terms, or at all, including the additional capital which will be necessary to complete the clinical trials of our product candidates; our ability to successfully complete research and further development and commercialization of our product candidates; the uncertainties inherent in clinical testing; the timing, cost and uncertainty of obtaining regulatory approvals; our ability to maintain and derive benefit from the Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP), Orphan and/or Fast Track designations for MAT2203 and MAT2501, which does not change the standards for regulatory approval or guarantee regulatory approval on an expedited basis, or at all; our ability to protect the Company's intellectual property; the loss of any executive officers or key personnel or consultants; competition; changes in the regulatory landscape or the imposition of regulations that affect the Company's products; and the other factors listed under "Risk Factors" in our filings with the SEC, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Matinas BioPharma's product candidates are all in a development stage and are not available for sale or use.
When Jacinda Ardern was rattling off the things that matter most to all of us incredible Kiwis - it rang a little hollow when held up against Labours record.

6 hours ago
Stone says the province is responding to strong support for the project in the Capital Regional District, which includes Victoria, Esquimalt, Langford and View Royal. Previous referendums held in Langford and Colwood showed more than 90% of residents were in favour of the idea, Stone says.

Were listening to what residents are telling us, and we are excited about the possibilities and want to engage further with the local governments as we work to turn this concept into reality.

The proposal involves introducing commuter rail operations on a 15km section of the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island (SVI) between Victoria West and Westhills in Langford, which has been endorsed by four communities along the route.

The infrastructure is owned by the Island Corridor Foundation, a non-profit organisation which acquired the 225km line from Victoria to Coutenay from Canadian Pacific Railway and RailAmerica in 2006. Via Rail passenger services were withdrawn in 2011 due to the poor condition of the track.

A working group including representatives from British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, local government, BC Transit, Victoria Regional Transit Commission and BC Safety Authority will now be established to support the ministrys corridor analysis, which will look at options and potential opportunities for the project. This analysis is due to be completed in the middle of this year.
The agreement is part of a project launched this year to improve conditions for passengers waiting at stations. Senseable City Lab will collaborate with SNCF and its Arep Design Lab through an action, construction and design methodology. Experiments will be conducted this year at Paris Nord, Lille Europe and Aix-en-Provence TGV stations.

In the long-term, this collaboration will offer our customers more personalised comfort and will be translated into published research in academic journals, says Mr Patrick Ropert, general manager of SNCF stations and connections. It will also result in concrete achievements in stations to improve thermal comfort, and the acoustic, visual and other characteristics of stations in France.

MIT Senseable City Lab was set up in 2004 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to deepen research into ways of thinking about cities, to study and anticipate the evolution of digital technologies in the urban environment, and to understand better the interfaces between technology, citizens and the city.
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Arion Bank is holding an offering of commercial paper on Wednesday 15 March 2017  12-month, 6-month and 5-month commercial paper maturing on 20 March 2018, 20 September 2017 and 21 August 2017 respectively. Offers shall be submitted by e-mail to verdbrefamidlun@arionbanki.is before 16:00 p.m. on 15 March and the payment and settlement date is 20 March 2017.

For further information please contact Haraldur Gudni Eidsson of Arion Bank's Communications division at haraldur.eidsson@arionbanki.is, or tel. +354 856 7108.
Transaero seeks bankruptcy of Russian tour operator Natalie Tours

MOSCOW, March 10 (RAPSI)  Transaero air carrier has filed with the Moscow Commercial Court a bankruptcy petition against tour operator Natalie Tours, according to court records.

The court registered the claim on March 9. Details of the case have not been disclosed.

Earlier, travel company filed an appeal with the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals against a court order to pay $5.8 million to Transaero airline.

On November 11, 2016, the Moscow Commercial court granted the air carriers claim seeking to collect the debt from Natalie Tours. Under the contract signed between parties, the tour operator was to transfer earnings from transportation sales excluding fee to the plaintiff. Additionally, the court dismissed a counterclaim by Natalie Tours demanding to invalidate provisions of the agreements supplementary contract.

The travel company also filed a lawsuit to recover about 400 million rubles ($6.7 million) in damages from Transaero. However, the claim has been dismissed without prejudice.

In 2015, Transaero found itself unable to pay its debts valued at 250 billion rubles (about $4 billion). Government-approved plan of transferring 75% of companys shares to Aeroflot failed. Its problems resulted in a large number of flight cancels and delays.

In October 2015, Sberbank and Alfa Bank filed bankruptcy petitions against the troubled airline. The Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region initiated a bankruptcy procedure against Transaero on December 16.

Natalie Tours, a tour operator on the Russian foreign tourist market, was founded in April 1992. In 2014, the companys amount of business was estimated at $850 million.
Moscow Court upholds fine for human rights group Memorial over foreign agents law

MOSCOW, March 10 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court has upheld a ruling to impose a 300,000-ruble fine (about $5,000) on international human rights association Memorial for violation of foreign agents law, RAPSI learnt in the court on Friday.

One of Memorials board members Yan Rachinsky said that the association will appeal the ruling and will expand its appeal with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

On December 16, Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky District Court upheld a decision declaring Memorial a foreign agent and thus dismissed the NGOs motion to be excluded from the list.

During the hearings representatives of Memorial said that the Justice Ministry incorrectly interpreted some of articles, published on the NGOs website, as organizing political activity. They noted that Memorial is an international organization and cant be listed as foreign agent, according to the Constitutional Courts ruling. Representative of the Justice Ministry, in turn, claimed that Memorial is registered in Russia and is to follow Russian legislation.

Memorial was declared foreign agent by the Justice Ministry on July 21, 2014.

A federal law adopted in November 2012 requires that all NGOs engaged in political activity and receiving foreign funding register as foreign agents or face fines. In June 2013, the Justice Ministry was granted authority to classify NGOs as foreign agents at its own discretion and included a number of organizations in its register.

In December, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow fined Memorial 300,000 rubles.

The international historical, educational, human rights and charitable society Memorial was created to help rehabilitate the victims of Stalinist persecution campaigns. Memorial currently comprises 62 organizations from Russia, Belarus, Germany, Italy, France, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Ukraine.

It also includes the Memorial Center, which monitors the human rights situation in the North Caucasus and is on the foreign agents register.
Do these things sound patentable? A noninvasive method to check a fetus for genetic defects? A new MRI machine? A new oil rig? A forehead scanning thermometer? A fighter pilot helmet? More importantly, is it just to reward their inventors? And by insisting on justice, might we do well by doing good, and inspire a cornucopia of new, life-enhancing ideas? The bad news is that the Supreme Court disagrees with you; the good news is that the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) has proposed a legislative fix to this serious and growing problem.

Following several recent Supreme Court decisions, the courts have deemed all the above inventions unpatentable. This is because because courts no longer analyze the "claimed invention as a whole." Instead, they break inventions into parts, which they analyze separately. Frequently, this results in the courts misapplying legitimate exceptions to patentability. For example, since the process of using the new oil rig requires a computer, the court found the claimed invention to be "directed to" an (unpatentable) abstract idea. The Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property recently summed up this absurdity: "[It] should be apparent to all [that] an oil rig is not an abstract idea." Such faulty reasoning can have dire consequences: Consider that from 2000-2007, software was the main driver of American growth. But now, as former Patent Office head Dave Kappos puts it, "large swaths of software innovation are no longer protectable" by patents. Software and biotech have been the hardest-hit industries, but the legal ramifications have inexorably expanded to others.

A 2015 study by the USPTO explains why this is important to all of us: Patent protection gives inventors the confidence to fully (and more credibly) disclose their inventions to potential investors, who are thus more confident of a return. Patents serve startups and investors as a signal of quality, and statistics bear this out: Five years after approval of a first patent, startups show 36% more employment growth, 51% greater sales, and more (and higher-quality) patents. This synergy between inventor and investor confidence manifests as a much greater chance of a patent-winning startup eventually being listed in a stock exchange. But the operative word is confidence -- and this is what the Supreme Court has wrecked -- in the American patent system.

A recurring theme at a recent innovation conference in Washington was the fear of seeing patent-dependent investments "zeroed out." And, in his closing remarks, Kappos told of Chinese investors who solicit American inventors to file for patents in China. That patent office, once a joke, now processes more patent applications per year than the next twenty nations (including ours) combined. The Hill wasn't whistling Dixie by its recent headline, "US is Losing the Innovation War -- to China."

Our parade of life-enhancing innovation is not the only thing in danger. Half of our economy is based on the protection of intellectual property (IP). According to the Department of Commerce, IP intensive industries contribute over half ($5 trillion) of the private sector each year. These industries directly support 40 million jobs, and they indirectly account for another 12.9 million jobs. According to Kappos, now of the Partnership for American Innovation, these numbers mean, "IP policy is important not just to engineers and scientists -- it's important to everyone." In patent-intensive fields -- the ones under threat -- these jobs pay an average of $30,000 per year more than similar jobs in other industries. These same industries account for nearly three quarters of all American exports, or $775 billion a year.

I can state with certainty that all of us owe our jobs, our standard of living, or even our lives to the thinking and hard work of inventors. Supporting the legislation proposed by the IPO demonstrates your gratitude and commitment to justice. And -- as inventors show us every day -- life is not a zero-sum game. There is plenty of pie to go around when the bakers have incentives to bake. The cause of justice is your cause: When inventors and their backers know they can make money, they will create one marvel after another. Or, as a recent Stanford study put it, [T]here are no wealthy countries with weak patent rights, and there are no poor countries with strong patent rights. If Donald Trump and the GOP are serious about job creation, they will approve the IPO's proposal. But just in case, contact your representative and tell him or her to enact the IPO's proposal. Your future self will thank you.
FORM 8.3

PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY

A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE

Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")

1. KEY INFORMATION

(a) Full name of discloser: Majedie Asset Management Limited (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):



The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:



Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree



TESCO PLC (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken:



For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 09 March 2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?



If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" No





2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

Class of relevant security:



ORD 5P



Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 247,253,567 3.02 (2) Cash-settled derivatives:



(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:



TOTAL:



247,253,567



3.02

All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options)

Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:

3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

(a) Purchases and sales

Class of relevant security Purchase/sale



Number of securities Price per unit ORD 5P Sale 182,796 185.6132 ORD 5P ORD 5P ORD 5P

(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions

Class of relevant security Product description



e.g. CFD Nature of dealing



e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit





(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type



e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit

(ii) Exercise

Class of relevant security Product description



e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit





(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

Class of relevant security Nature of dealing



e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable)





4. OTHER INFORMATION

(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:



Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



None





(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:



(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or



(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:



If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



None





(c) Attachments

Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO

Date of disclosure: 10 March 2017 Contact name: Matthew Hambly Telephone number: 0207 618 3900

Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.
BRUSSELS  On March 7th, an extraordinary but little noticed meeting took place in Antalya in southern Turkey. That day, the military chiefs of staff of Turkey, the United States, and Russia met to discuss their operations across the border in Syria, where forces from all three countries, plus various militia groups, are operating in close proximity. However, the meeting does not imply a common strategy toward the defeat of the self-proclaimed Islamic State group, much less a concerted approach to the future of Syria. Rather it signals a common understanding of the critical importance of risk reduction as competing actors address the protracted chaos in Turkey's neighborhood. The remarkable gathering also underscores Turkey's obvious central importance as a partner  and a key stakeholder  in managing the most pressing challenges on Europe's periphery.
On March 6, Tristan Voorspuy, a former British army officer and founder of luxury safari company Offbeat Safaris, was shot and killed by pastoral herders in Kenya, while inspecting some of his lodges. His murder was only the latest in a spate of killings, land invasions and destruction of private property that are, apparently, being 
This article was published in collaboration with the Middle East Institute, where Omer Kassim is a research assistant. The views expressed are the authors own.

While Iraqi forces are fighting to retake the western half of Mosul from Islamic State fighters, internal divisions regarding the future of Iraqs political process are escalating ahead of provincial elections scheduled for September, especially within the countrys largest Shiite political bloc, the Shiite National Alliance.

Vice President Nouri al-Maliki is hoping to win a political majority in parliament that will return him to the premiership. His rival, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, vigorously opposes Malikis bid to return to power. Al-Sadr is also calling for political reforms to stem corruption and end the control of big parties over the countrys political system. On the other hand, Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Citizen Coalition, a large alliance of moderate political and tribal figures, is championing a plan known as the historic settlement. The proposal calls for ending all outstanding conflicts among the countrys political parties through a dialogue that would then lead to the formation of a national government after ISIS-occupied territories are liberated.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, despite his continued attachment to the Maliki-led Dawa Party, is seen as an emerging independent political force in Shiite politics. Observers contend that Abadi is looking to convert the military victories against ISIS by the Iraqi military and the Popular Mobilizations Units (PMUs) into political capital in the upcoming elections. But the prime minister is facing a hostile parliament. Late last year, lawmakers voted out of office several key ministers on charges of corruption. Maliki is seen as the force behind those efforts. He wants to weaken Abadis government in order to pave the way for his return to power.

Malikis Vision

Maliki, whose eight years as prime minister earned him enemies across sectarian lines, is defying obstacles against his bid to return to power through what is perceived as an unspoken partnership with speaker of parliament Salim al-Jubouri, a Sunni, as well Malikis ties with the largely Shiite PMUs and Iran.

Jubouri, the speaker of parliament, appears to be a central component in Malikis vision of forming a cross-sectarian political majority. The two are rumored to have been behind the recent sacking of the Sadrist governor of Baghdad province, Ali al-Tamimi, as well as last years ousting of the former ministers of finance and defense, Hoshiar Zibari and Khalid al-Obaidi.

Maliki also hopes to capitalize on the popularity and military success of the PMUs against ISIS. He portrays himself as the founder of the force, which was drawn primarily from Shiite communities, after the collapse of the Iraqi army in 2014. Moreover, Hadi al-Amiri, one of the top commanders of the PMUs, is the head of the Badr Brigade, which is part of the Maliki-led State of Law coalition.

The vice president is also cultivating his ties with Tehran, which he visited in early January. During the visit, he commended Irans military support for Iraq at a time when Baghdad was facing arms shortages.

A Shia Schism

Sadr continues to utilize his vast popular support to exert pressure on the political factions inside Baghdad to enact reforms against corruption and to open the political process for smaller party lists. Recently, Sadr loyalists from various cities marched on the capital in support of their leaders calls to amend the electoral law to include more constituencies. They also called for replacing the members of the Independent High Electoral Commission, which the powerful cleric deemed as being controlled by the parties of corruption and injustice. In response to the protests, the Dawa Party released a statement warning against internal and external conspiracies that aim to distract the Iraqi people from completing the fight against the Islamic State.

These developments come amid speculation that Sadr is attempting to create an electoral alliance for the upcoming provincial and legislative elections that would include Abadi, Vice President Ayad Allawis al-Wataniya list, and the Civil Democratic Alliance, all of whom have called for reforming the political system.

Hakims historic settlement proposal is perceived to be part of his Citizen Coalitions electoral campaign. The proposal, to be negotiated and implemented in partnership with the United Nations, advocates for settling all outstanding issues between all parties on a no-winner-and-no-loser basis. Despite Hakims efforts to market the document around the country, it faces obstacles not only in Sunni and Kurdish circles, but also within the National Alliance, the countrys largest Shiite political bloc. Maliki emphasized that the settlement should not include the Baath Party and those that facilitated the entrance of terrorists. Sadr said the settlement should be social and not political, and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most influential Shiite cleric in the country, refused to meet with Hakim earlier this year to discuss the proposal. Sadr, moreover, has called the proposal a popular rejection of the national alliance and its policies.

Sistani spokesman Hamid al-Khafaf said that the National Alliance wanted to engage the Shiite religious authorities on this proposal, but the grand ayatollah did not see a benefit in that. The spokesman added that Sistani has severed contacts with the political class due to its inaction in combating corruption and the lack of reforms. The Marja`iyya, the Shiite religious authority, has largely retreated from the political scene after its vociferous calls for reform did not materialize.

While past election cycles have been centered around efforts to mask differences among the Shiite ruling elite, divergent political aspirations, combined with differing visions for the countrys future, are intensifying as the provincial and legislative elections draw nearer. Both electoral contests may reflect a drastic change in Iraqs political map, especially as internal divisions are also deepening within Sunni and Kurdish blocs. While cross-sectarian political partnerships sealed around the idea that the enemy of my enemy is my friend may be politically expedient, they dont bridge the divisions that have afflicted the country since 2003. For this to happen, it is vital that the Iraqi political class undertake real cross-sectarian dialogue to resolve outstanding disputes, and ensure the stability and the economic viability of the country post-ISIS.
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ESCAPE TO GODS COUNTRY AND OWN A PIECE OF PARADISE IN THE NORTHERN MAINE WOODS. This huge 46.90 +/- acre tract of recreational and hunting land is located in Eagle Lake Maine. A Pristine rural town in the center of Aroostook county. Lot comes with a 50' R.O.W. which is on a private road. Lot sits high and dry with beautiful views of the valley. You have 858' of water frontage on Brown brook which also serves as the boundary line for this lot. There is moose, deer and black bear in this area, a g...

Price: $ 300 Seller State of Residence: Maine Property Address: Settlement Road Van Buren Type: Recreational, Acreage Zoning: Mixed Location: 047**, Eagle Lake, Maine

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BROOKFIELD NEWS, March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Property Partners L.P. (NYSE:BPY) (TSX:BPY.UN) announced today that it has filed its 2016 annual report on Form 20-F, including its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016, with the SEC on EDGAR as well as with the Canadian securities authorities on SEDAR. These documents are also available at http://bpy.brookfield.com and a hard copy will be provided to unitholders free-of-charge upon request.

Brookfield Property Partners

Brookfield Property Partners is one of the worlds largest commercial real estate companies, with approximately $65 billion in total assets. We are leading owners, operators and investors in commercial property assets, with a diversified portfolio that includes 142 premier office properties and 127 best-in-class retail malls around the world. We also hold interests in multifamily, triple net lease, industrial, hospitality, self-storage and student housing assets. Brookfield Property Partners is listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges. Further information is available at http://bpy.brookfield.com. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information.

Brookfield Property Partners is the flagship listed real estate company of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $250 billion in assets under management.

Certain of our investor relations content is also available on our investor relations app. To download Brookfield Property Partners' investor relations app, which offers access to SEC filings, press releases, presentations and more, please visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brookfield-property-partners/id1052584266?ls=1&mt=8 to download on your iPhone or iPad or https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theirapp.brookfield for your Android mobile device.
NEW YORK, March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (USANA or the Company) (NYSE:USNA) and certain of its officers, and is on behalf of purchasers of USANA securities between March 14, 2014 and February 7, 2017, inclusive (the Class Period). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firms site: http://www.bgandg.com/usna.



This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act).

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) USANAs BabyCare subsidiary had engaged in improper reimbursement practices in China; (2) these practices constituted violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; (3) consequently, USANAs China revenues were in part the product of unlawful conduct and unlikely to be maintainable; (4) once the above mentioned conduct became public, USANA was likely subject to significant regulatory scrutiny; and (5) as a result, USANAs public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firms site: http://www.bgandg.com/usna or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in USANA you have until April 14, 2017 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firms expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
The crosswalk on South Finley Street, between Creswell and Russell Hall, might be in need of some added safety measures according to a few Uni
Unfortunately, our political leaders have consistently chosen to ignore this potential of the people.



Right from Indira Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the political discourse has centred around handing out sops to the masses.

'Instead of being a facilitator, each political formation has only tried to be an ATM for freebies.'



Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com.



When he was 13, dreaming about his future, my father thought how wonderful it would be to wake up every morning and find a 100 note under your pillow.

And you know what, he said to me, laughing, Thirty-nine years later, when I retired from the army, thats about how much I got as pension.



He retired a colonel in October 1992, a year after the country opened up its economy, on a pension of 3,700 a month. That came to nearly 125 a day. Just a bit more than what he had once wished for as a child. Its not enough to buy a kilo of apples today. But in those days it was enough to lead a comfortable life.



Like many others from his generation, my father had worked his way up from scratch. Life was a struggle but this was a generation of self-driven people who had a burning desire to reach someplace better.



My fathers is not a unique story.



There are thousands and thousands of such stories of grit and determination in India.



Each one of them speaks of the immense potential that lies within us.



Unfortunately, our political leaders have consistently chosen to ignore this potential of the people.



Right from Indira Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the political discourse has centred around handing out sops to the masses.





IMAGE: "Instead of being a facilitator, each political formation has only tried to be an ATM for freebies." Photograph: Express/Getty Images and www.narendramodi.in.

From Indira Gandhis garibi hatao campaigns, which Rajiv, then Sonia and now Rahul Gandhi built on to reap political dividends, to Modis Robin Hood act of taking from the rich and giving to the poor, the concept of the mai-baap sarkar has remained intact.



This has been a consistent narrative across states.



In Tamil Nadu, where J Jayalalithaa lies convicted in death, there are still debates about whether her legacy is corruption or pro-poor politics, which, among other things, included doles and handouts.



Instead of being a facilitator, each political formation has only tried to be an ATM for freebies.



Rather than create an environment for people to achieve their potential, each has marketed itself as being better at this than the other.



Now another narrative has entered the discourse that reminds me of the days when we were younger. Back then, our world existed somewhere in the middle of two rather uncomfortable worlds -- of the exploitative rich and the exploited poor.



We encountered these other worlds only in the movies that almost always depicted wealthy landlords and moneyed businessmen as evil people who thrived at the expense of the poor. Class struggle was a common theme that played out in the movies in those days.



But Yash Chopra and Karan Johar would change that narrative. We would discover that the hero, too, could be a rich, successful businessman, who drove expensive cars, holidayed in exotic locations and had a heart of gold that could trigger a tear fest at the drop of a hat.



The drastic announcement November 8, which junked 86 per cent of the currency in circulation, and the events that have transpired since have brought the rich versus poor narrative of the 1970s and 1980s back into focus.



The aim of the decision was to go after black money, encourage a transparent economy and get the evaders to start paying tax.



I am not sure if this extreme step will succeed in making them do so and that it will not hurt the poor even more, but it is done and we need to move on.



As does the prime minister who has been going around election-bound states, thumping his chest, saying: Look, you poor people, look what I have done for you. I have taught these rich people a lesson and shaken up their lives for your sake because I am one of you and I understand your pain.



Prime Minister Modi has the ear of the masses. They listen to him mesmerised.



A true statesman would channel this power to inspire people in more positive ways so that they find the fire in them to chase their dreams -- even if it is a humble one of finding a 100 note under the pillow every morning.



We are standing at a promising juncture today. The New World Wealth report, announced earlier this week, has ranked India as the sixth richest country in the world, with a total wealth of $6.2 trillion.



With 264,000 millionaires and 95 billionaires, we are richer than France, Italy, Australia and Canada.



There is an Indian dream waiting to take off. How about focusing on that?
JD(S) will help them build a competing app, which, will work on a cooperative model, where drivers will own the app and will decide prices which the customers will have to pay

H D Kumaraswamy, president of the Janata Dal (Secular) party in Karnataka, has taken up the cause to help drivers on cab hailing platforms Uber and Ola in the state build a competing app, as the party eyes building a large vote bank ahead of the state elections next year.

Drivers attached to the two platforms have stepped up their protests against the two companies over the past few weeks, over falling earnings as both Uber and Ola have cut incentives. There are over 100,000 cabs on both platforms in Bengaluru alone, with the number of drivers being even higher.

Most of these drivers come from surrounding regions such as Channapatna, Ramanagara, Mandya, Hassan and Mysuru, a stronghold of JD (S), which is led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.

Last year's drought in the state had pushed people to lease cars and drive them on Bengaluru roads for either of the two platforms.

"I have taken the lead on this issue. We want to have an alternate to Ola and Uber and are looking at a private app. Whatever investment for developing the technology I will handle. I am already talking to software companies and we are looking to tie up with them," said Kumaraswamy in an interview.

The proposed app will work on a cooperative model, where drivers own the app and will decide prices which customers will have to pay and they would have to contribute to the running of the app.

The development comes at a time when the Karnataka Transport Ministry is looking to set a minimum fare cab aggregators will have to set in order to protect driver interests.

With fares hitting rock bottom at Rs 6 per kilometer, drivers say they are unable to qualify for higher slabs of incentive payouts by Uber and Ola, drastically reducing their earnings.

Further, they say with traffic snarls in Bengaluru on the rise and an oversupply of cabs on roads, getting business is getting harder.

"We have to think about both prices, what customers will be willing to pay us and what drivers will earn.

Since we're a drivers' association, we will think about what drivers make first before setting prices," said Tanveer Pasha, president of Uber, TaxiForSure and Ola (UTO) Drivers' and Owners Association.

The decision of Bengaluru cab drivers to explore the possibility of building an alternative to Uber and Ola isn't an isolated incident.

Drivers in Delhi with support from the local congress party and in Kerala, the CPI (M)) backed taxi drivers union have also proposed similar apps as earnings have fallen drastically with the two companies reducing cash burn, probably to avoid the India market from turning into a cash pit like China.

Uber, which unceremoniously exited China last year after selling its unit to local giant Didi Chuxing, said it was burning upwards of $200 million a month to discount rides for customers and pay incentives to drivers. The Indian market, which is far smaller than that in China, is seen to be heading down a similar path.

Last week Uber India President Amit Jain said the company has reached a tipping point in India, where sustained high demand from riders and drivers allows them to begin reducing higher levels of incentives to operate more efficiently.

"Currently, 80 per cent of drivers across India, who are online for more than six hours a day make between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500 a day, minus the Uber service fee," he said in an interview.

Reduced incentives to drivers is being seen as the first step to both Uber and Ola building a sustainable business in India.

However, they continue to keep fares low in fear of losing customers, which has adversely affected drivers' earnings. Many drivers have complained of earnings being halved from close to Rs 80,000 per month to Rs 40,000.

"We don't want incentives, but fares must be high enough for us to make money after paying the commission," added Pasha.

"We are in talks with Mr Kumaraswamy, and he has assured us he will help us build the app. It will give us freedom to work."

Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
The draft rules underline security parameters that digital wallet companies, such as Paytm, FreeCharge and Mobikwik, will have to follow

The Centre has released a set of draft guidelines for digital wallet companies as part of its efforts to promote electronic payments while ensuring the security of transactions.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued on Wednesday the draft Information Technology (Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules 2017 for public consultation, and will take suggestions until March 20.

The draft rules underline security parameters that digital wallet companies, such as Paytm, FreeCharge and Mobikwik, will have to follow. They also stipulate standards for data protection and customer grievance redressal.

Every prepaid payment instrument (PPI), or digital wallet, has been asked to develop a security policy based on the rules and standards set by the government.

Every e-PPI issuer shall review the security measures at least once a year, and after any major security incident or breach or before a major change to its infrastructure or procedures, read the draft rules.

Besides, the rules also mandate that digital wallets identify and authenticate every customer at the time of issuance, and adopt two-factor authentication for transactions.

The government may by notification exempt digital wallets from requiring two-factor authentication in specific use cases.

The regulations could hurt wallet companies, as one of their biggest advantages over traditional credit and debit cards is the seamlessness of transactions in the absence of multiple-factor authentication.

However, like the Reserve Bank of India rules for exempting small-value card transactions from multiple-factor authentication, digital wallets could enjoy the same treatment.

Moreover, wallets will now have to disclose the kind of information they are collecting from customers and with whom they are sharing such information, and will be allowed to store it only for a period specified by the government.

This data will also have to be encrypted end-to-end in order to safeguard customer data, especially financial data, such as bank balances.

Every e-PPI issuer shall adopt security measures to protect the security, confidentiality and integrity of the personal information(and) shall contractually require merchants handling any authentication data to have security measures in place to protect such data, the rules say.

While the draft rules have been long awaited by digital wallet companies, experts say the guidelines could put extra pressure on such firms which have so far enjoyed a free run.

If the final government rules are heavy handed, it could take away some of the advantage these firms have had over traditional banks.

Photograph: Jitendra Prakash/Reuters
IRCTC used to charge Rs 40 per ticket for bookings in AC classes, Rs 20 per ticket in sleeper class

With the finance ministry starting the process for listing of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and Ircon International (Ircon), the loss of service charge for IRCTC has become a cause for concern for railway officials.

The government waived the service charge following demonetisation to encourage cashless transactions.

The railway ministry has written to the finance ministry seeking reimbursement of the loss amounting to over Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) on an annualised basis.

IRCTC shares half of this service charge revenue with the railways. Officials said the process for appointment of merchant bankers was under way with ICICI Securities and IDFC making presentations. The Department of Public Asset Management has set March 16 as the final date for submission of requests for quotations in this regard.

The decision to list these companies came as a surprise to the railways when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made the announcement in his budget speech last month.

The railways had written to the finance ministry on the issue of service charge before the budget as well. When asked about the letters for reimbursement of service charge, BB Verma, the new railway financial commissioner, said, We are expecting a good valuation for all three companies. However, the waiver of service charge is a cause for concern as it may affect revenue of about Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) for IRCTC annually.

IRCTC used to charge Rs 40 per ticket for bookings in air-conditioned classes and Rs 20 per ticket in sleeper class. In 2015-16, railway ticketing generated Rs 551 crore (Rs 5.51 billion) in income for IRCTC, up 115 per cent from Rs 256 crore (Rs 2.56 billion) in 2014-15.

"We expect the finance ministry to do something about this and have written to them in this regard. On a monthly basis, the revenue for IRCTC from the service charge comes to an average of Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million), of which about Rs 20 crore (TRs 200 million) is the share of the railways, said Mohammed Jamshed, member (traffic) of the Railways.

The listing of railway PSUs will also mean that the railway ministrys plan to set up a holding company for all public sector enterprises under its charge will be shelved. A draft Cabinet note with this proposal was earlier circulated among relevant ministries.

The plan included bringing 13 railway PSUs, including Bharat Wagon & Engineering Company, Container Corporation of India, Ircon, IRCTC, Konkan Railway Corporation, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, Rail Vikas Nigam, Railtel Corporation of India, RITES, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India, Burn Standard Company and Braithwaite & Company and Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, under one holding company.

Only Container Corporation of India is listed. IRFC and Ircon have huge potential. The AAA rating that IRFC gets from credit rating agencies is proof of this. Listing will not affect its ability to raise money as the government will still provide sovereign guarantee, Verma added.

In 2017-18, the Railways plan to raise about Rs 22,000 crore through IRFC bonds.

Photograph: Anindito Mukherjea/Reuters
The partners intend to invest $2 million annually through the India Innovation Growth Programme for the entrepreneurs to develop technology-based solutions for the betterment of the society

Moving from just aiding non-government organisations (NGO) to funding 'socially relevant' startups, Tata Trusts in association with Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Lockheed Martin would invest around $20 million over a period of 10 years in new companies.

The partners intend to invest $2 million annually through the India Innovation Growth Programme (IIGP) 2.0, including provisions for seed money, for the entrepreneurs to develop technology-based solutions for the betterment of the society.

According to officials at Tata Trusts, startups which help in providing solutions to issues such as waste water management, traffic management, might be even made part of the group and taken on an expansion route.

The company hopes that such companies might also help it in its smart city play and help in future smart city projects. According to DST, the 500 startups aided in the first 10 years of the programme for a mere $10 million are now combined valued at over a billion dollars.

The programme to help startups under India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0 would be rolled out by Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Trusts, Ashutosh Sharma, secretary DST, and George Strandridge, vice president, business development, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday.

While Lockheed Martin has been working on helping incubating startups in association with DST since 2007, Tata Trusts has joined the initiative this year.

"While Tata Trusts has always aided NGOs, it was decided that we would be investing in startups which are not just about e-commerce, but are working in areas related to civic and social issues.

If these startups, take off and do a good job, they Tata Trusts would not only help in their expansion but might even make it part of the group," said Manoj Kumar, head - Innovations, Tata Trusts.

Tata Trusts said that IIGP 2.0 is the only public-private partnership that will invest in social and industrial innovations, train innovators in world-class commercialisation strategies, offer support for incubation and assist in business development.

"The programme will enable entrepreneurs to develop science and technology-based solutions for the benefit of the society.

Select innovators across social and industrial sectors will have the opportunity to accelerate their proof of concepts to a sustainable product or service andto contribute to Government of India's evolving industrial strategy and new focus on the "Start-Up India" initiative," they said.

The partners intend to invest $2 million annually including provisions for seed money, for the entrepreneurs to develop technology-based solutions for the betterment of the society.

The first edition of the programme that began in 2007 and ran for a decade provided support of around a million dollars per year to a total of around 500 startups.

The money was used to set up around 110 startup incubators, where startups are provided technical support and get a chance to study from representatives of few of the best colleges around the world.

Lockheed Martin started the programme in 2007 and DST joined it in 2009. The US defence major is working with startups on ongoing projects including providing a new rapid delivery of material system for its C130 Super Hercules aircraft.

Harkesh Mittal, programme head of innovation, entrepreneurship and tech commercialisation, DST, said that startups in the programme include a company which has made a glucometer that can be checked on mobile phone, retina scanners.

"Echo is a company that has helped grocery shops get converted into banks and has done close to business of over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) in transaction per month," he said.

Other partners for the programme include Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Bombay.

Photograph: Daniel Munoz/Reuters
They now believe their money will be repaid after completion of the tenure of the instruments they have invested in, says Anup Roy.



The central government and regulators have stepped up engagement with foreign investors in order to enable home companies to raise funds from the international market, said senior executives of the London Stock Exchange.



According to Darko Hajdukovic, head of analytics, funds and fixed income, and Lillian Georgopoulou, fixed income product specialist of the exchange, investors have started trusting the India story.

They now believe their money will be repaid after completion of the tenure of the instruments they have invested in.

The duo is in India on a roadshow, meeting representatives of companies to get them to raise money through LSE. International issuance comes cheaper by 15-20 basis points over the onshore market and, therefore, it makes sense for Indian companies to tap the overseas investor base, they said.



Its very important for investors to understand the India story. In programmes organised at LSE, Indian ministers communicated their vision but also took feedback and listened to the comments and suggestions of investors. I think this continuous dialogue has been instrumental in shaping this market, particularly the masala bonds (issued outside India but denominated in rupees) market, said Georgopoulou.



The Reserve Bank of India and Securities & Exchange Board of India had also, he said, been doing public consultation and listening to investor feedback. Some liberalisation had resulted.



These are all very encouraging signs of a stable economy, of a government that is sticking to its agenda. All these things are very encouraging for global investors to come and invest in India, said Hajdukovic.

Indian companies have issued 15 masala bonds, raising $2.21 billion equivalent in rupees. Of these, 11 are from International Finance Corp, raising $1.09 bn equivalent, three from Indian companies ($1.05 bn) and one from a Canadian firm ($74 mn).

Given the low rate environment, international investors are looking for yield at the moment. The attraction of the rupee, as it stands now, is the very credible government reforms, said Georgopoulou.

She added, Investors now have confidence in both the country and the currency. The rupee, in the past, had been quite a volatile currency. With the credible government reforms of the Modi administration, investors have got the confidence to invest even longer term in India.



Rupee bond issuances used to be in the one to two-year segment, she said. Now, there is a 15-year bond as well. This shows the investors have confidence in the India story, not only that they will get a yield but they believe they will get repaid and the currency will remain stable.



By issuing the bonds in different tenures, investors are now getting a ready yield curve, which should further the investments in Indian bonds, said Hajdukovic.

Its a new market but a growing market. The issuers have justified the investors expectation and so we expect the market to continue to grow.

By tapping the LSE, he promised, Indian issuers could easily get a very efficient and cost-effective process of listing, with investors from all over the world queuing to buy the papers.

But, the market is yet to mature fully and would require higher rated firms to issue more before lower rated ones could crowd in.

This is the natural path when a country tries to globalise its currency. You can draw a parallel with China. In London, what we saw was the largest Chinese banks doing renminbi bond issuances and then smaller corporates came, said Georgopoulou.

Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters
The Censor Board Of Film Certification has banned the much talked-about erotic thriller Fifty Shades Darker.

Directed by James Foley and featuring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dorman, the film, which opened in the Valentine weekend in the US, is a smash success despite negative reviews.

The ban in India should come as no surprise to the 50 Shades team.

The first film Fifty Shades Of Grey released in 2013 worldwide but was also banned in India, thanks to the love scenes.

The proceedings in the sequel are even more outrageous.

A source from the Censor Board informs, "Fifty Shades Darker stands banned. Even in the US, it was granted an 'R' rating and in the UK, it was given an '18' rating. In India, we do not have 'R' or '18'. The closest we have to these ratings is a 'PG,' which is not suitable for a film based on the subject of sex."

Not surprisingly, the Indian distributors Universal Pictures have decided to not dispute the CBFC ban.

Says the source, "Universal has the option of removing the sex scenes in Fifty Shades Darker as they were removed in Vietnam but they prefer not to release the film in India."
'He has not done any harm to anyone. Yet you give him life imprisonment.'

'We were told to respect the Constitution. That is what Sai is doing; he is not doing anything beyond the Constitution.'

Delhi University Professor G N Sai Baba was convicted on March 7 to life in prison under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act -- UAPA -- for being a member of a banned terrorist organisation, the Communist Party of India Maoist.

The professor, who has undergone two spells of imprisonment in Nagpur jail as an undertrial, is 90 per cent disabled and wheelchair-bound.

After his arrest in May 2014, he was released on interim bail on medical grounds in July 2015, only to be rearrested in December that year, and released again on the Supreme Court's orders in April 2016.

Immediately after the conviction, the professor's wife issued a protest statement that summed up her outrage.

Two days later, Rediff.com contributor Jyoti Punwani caught up with Vasantha Kumari.

In between tending to a distraught mother-in-law and leaking taps in her Delhi home, Vasantha expressed her shock, bafflement and indignation at what she feels is a terrible injustice done to someone who has only fought for rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Did you expect this conviction?

Not at all, I was shocked. There is nothing against him.

We have been closely observing the trial. Sai Baba has been attending the trial despite his ill health.

The prosecution had no concrete evidence.

Whatever they took from our house -- his computer hard disk, CDs, literature -- was taken in an open bag, it was not sealed as it should have been under the rules.

They produced letters signed by someone who they said was Sai Baba. But what's the proof of that?

The prosecution had only one independent witness, the rest were all policemen or officials.

Even that witness testified that he had been forced to become one by the police.

There were other reasons too, that made us hope he would be acquitted.

In similar cases, where people have been convicted of being members of Maoist organisations, the Supreme Court has set aside the convictions, upholding freedom of thought.

All this was pointed out by our lawyer. But none of his arguments are reflected in the judgment.

The proceedings of the year-long trial find no place in the judgment.

We were even bracing ourselves for a 'guilty' verdict, given the political climate.

In fact, they had posted so much security outside the court on the judgment day -- that itself was an indication.

But we thought the sentence would not be more than a few years, because of the lack of evidence.

Sai Baba had already spent almost two years in jail. We never expected life.

What is his health like now?

Precarious.

In fact, he had been discharged from hospital only on February 28, and advised 10 days' bed rest. Doctors had ruled out travel.

He had been admitted for breathlessness and chest pain, and was in the ICU for a day.

They also found stones in his gall bladder caused by his first long spell of imprisonment.

He was to have surgery to remove his gall bladder; there was a risk of infection of his pancreas.

We gave these reports to the court. Yet the court insisted that he be present for two hours as judgment was to be pronounced.

His health has only deteriorated since he was first released on interim bail.

Earlier he was mobile; he could move around on his own in his wheelchair.

But his first stint in jail damaged the muscle and nervous system of his left hand and he could no longer operate his wheelchair.

Ever since he came out, he has been in and out of hospitals and physiotherapy centres in Delhi and Hyderabad.

He has had breathlessness, lung infections, heart problems.

Despite this, the court refused to pass an order directing the jail authorities to immediately provide him health care, medicines and attendants.

The court asked our lawyer to make this application to the jail superintendent.

But this very superintendent had denied him all this in his second stint in jail, despite court orders.

We had to get a high court order to make him comply.

How did you cope with all this on 50% salary (Professor Sai Baba had been suspended from his college after his arrest and received only half his salary all this while)?

I appealed many times to the Ram Lal Anand college and the university that he be given 75% of his salary since we were all dependent on him -- his mother, our daughter and I. But they refused.

Why is he being punished so severely? Did he do something while out on bail?

What could he do? He was too ill.

Even I can't understand, what's his crime?

Why are they so afraid of someone who is 90% disabled?

Someone who is in front of you 24 hours, in college, teaching. He is not underground.

He has not done any harm to anyone. Yet you give him life imprisonment.

There are goondas roaming around the university campus, beating up women, you do nothing to them.

There's Aseemanand, accused of planning bomb blasts and supplying RDX, who is acquitted.

It only means that the State cannot tolerate anyone who speaks up for the rights of the aam aadmi.

Along with many others, Sai Baba raised his voice against State violence against Adivasis.

It is this ideology they cannot tolerate.

But even black laws like UAPA cannot wipe out our fundamental right to freedom of thought and freedom of speech -- the Supreme Court has said this.

The State cannot impose its ideology on citizens. This is supposed to be a democracy, but the democratic space to express yourself is shrinking.

In Bastar today, the repression is too much.

If an Adivasi speak outs, the security forces can just shoot you.

If you are a woman, they can sexually assault you, rape you, take away your brother on a false case, burn your village.

But they can't shoot Sai Baba for speaking out, so they have been harassing him for the last five years.

They have seen to it that his health is ruined and finally they have thrown him behind bars for life.

What is his power? His capacity is only to write and speak.

And his conviction cannot wipe out the thought he expresses.

Everyone is speaking up against his conviction.

Osmania University students held a press conference, Jamia Milia students are holding a public meeting.

When he was on bail, wherever we went, students would come up to him and say, 'Sir, we are ashamed, we have done nothing but you have fought. You are an inspiration to us.'

After his conviction, his students have been more inconsolable then I am.

How have his mother and your daughter taken the conviction?

His mother cries a lot. She has seen his physical condition since childhood, but was happy he had come such a long way despite it.

But now she says she cannot bear seeing him suffer any more. She feels her heart will give way.

My daughter is 19, but since the last five years, she has borne too much for such a tender age.

Your husband has paid a heavy price for his beliefs. Did he or you ever feel he could have simply kept quiet, instead of speaking out?

No. from childhood, in school, we have been taught certain values. We learnt that our Constitution says everyone is equal.

We were told to respect the Constitution. That is what Sai is doing; he is not doing anything beyond the Constitution.

What he learnt in school, that's what he is implementing.

Had he wanted to give up, he could have.

After they first took him away from home, they told him at the airport -- 'sign this paper, we'll let you go.'

He did not know what was written on that paper, but he refused to sign it.

Last year also, after they had denied him medical care and he had applied for bail, they had pressurised him.

They had told him, it's still not too late, you can be free if you just sign.

But there is something like values. He teaches literature; that literature embodies certain values.

It is values that keep us alive. Would we able to live if we forsook them?

There would be no difference between us and a corpse then.

IMAGE: Professor G N Sai Baba with his wife Vasantha Kumari.
There is no need for us to investigate that Pakistan is a terror state. We already know it is. I request the government that status quo should not continue and it should explore options, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar said.

The government on Friday disfavoured in the Rajya Sabha passing of any law to declare countries as Sponsor of Terrorism after which a private members bill brought with Pakistan in mind was withdrawn.

The Declaration of Countries as Sponsor of Terrorism Bill, moved by Independent member Rajeev Chandrashekhar, got support from several members cutting across party lines but the government said there was no need for such a legislation.

The bill provided for declaring any country as state sponsor of terrorism and withdrawing of economic and trade relations with such a country. It also provided for creating legal, economic and travel sanctions for citizens of such a country and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

After a debate, Minister of State for Home Gangaram Ahir said the government has taken many steps to deal with terror.

The existing laws already have sufficient provisions for dealing with citizens of a terrorist country, he said.

Ahir asked Chandrasekhar to withdraw the bill which the Independent member did.

Earlier, participating in the debate on the bill, Congress member Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu raised the issue of recent killing of an IT engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in the USA and said, The bereaved wife asked whether I belong to this land? It has awaken the whole world.

Rapolu also mentioned a Kashmiri girl Insha Mushtaq who was blinded by pellets fired by security forces and still attended the school.

Nominated member KTS Tulsi said, I am not opposed to the bill but I have my doubts. We need to examine the practical utility of declaring Pakistan as terror state.

Samajwadi Party member Javed Ali Khan said, Though I support the Bill, it should also include Israel in the list as it is sponsoring terrorism in the Middle East.

Supporting the Bill, YSRCP member Vijay Sai Reddy said Pakistan has dual policy on terrorism - bad terrorist and good terrorist. Those who attack Pakistani establishments are bad terrorists and those who attack Indians are good terrorists.

Congress member Abhishek Singhvi suggested some changes in the bill, saying some actionable points should be included in it.

Bharatiya Janata Party member Subramanian Swamy suggested that India should again intervene in Pakistan like it had done earlier in East Pakistan which led to creation of Bangladesh. Time has come for taking a decision, he said.

Another BJP member Mahesh Poddar said, We should call a spade a spade.

His party colleague Swapan Dasgupta said everybody knows what Pakistan is. The bill is wonderful but it offers nothing, he added.
Delaware, March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The report Global Medical Power Supply Equipment Industry 2016 Market Research Report, available on MarketIntelReports, estimates that North America's market dominance will extend into the next decade.

Browse numerous Market Tables as well as Figures which are spread through 162 Pages and an in-depth TOC on the Medical Power Supply Equipment Market 2016 http://www.marketintelreports.com/report/9dime2682/global-medical-power-supply-equipment-industry-2016-market-research-report

Scope & Regional Forecast of the Medical Power Supply Equipment Market

Power supply equipment can be described as devices which ensure the transmission of electrical energy into an electrical load. The primary objective of regulated power supply is to transform one variety of electrical energy, which gives rise to the name electric power converters. To be a little more specific, continuous medical power supply maintains the heath and safety of patients as well as operators. The Medical Power Supply Equipment Market has a tremendous scope for growth in the future due to a variety of factors.

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A few factors in particular are considered to be the primary growth drivers by the Medical Power Supply Equipment Market: rising demand for medical power adapters which are smarter and more efficient; a need for power medical supplies which are lighter and more supportive to renewable energy; more diseases being reported; access to medical treatment growing easier; and the rising efficiency of modern power supply designs.

The Medical Power Supply Equipment Market has pinned its hopes on the external medical power supply segment for future growth. With the development of portable power supply sources, undertaking healthcare operations at home has become far more convenient and affordable. Patients are increasingly preferring to use medical grade power supply at their residences for recuperation rather than the manufactured environment at hospitals or health centers.

The Medical Power Supply Equipment Market is currently being dominated by demand emanating from North America due to three factors in particular: a growth in population of the elderly; more chronic diseases being reported; and the excellent insurance coverage being provided by Obamacare. Due to the rapidly improving healthcare infrastructure in the region, Asia-Pacific is poised to exhibit the fastest growth during the next few years.

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Prominent Segmentations Involved in the Medical Power Supply Equipment Market

The Medical Power Supply Equipment Market can be broken down into various segmentations on the basis of -

Geographical Location: Asia, North America and Europe.

Some of the sample companies profiled in the Medical Power Supply Equipment Market report are as follows:

TDK Lambda (Japan)

Emerson Network Power (U.S.)

Powerbox (Sweden)

Excelsys Technology (Ireland)

FRIWO Gertebau GmbH (Germany)

Wall Industries, Inc. (U.S.)

Why buy this report?

Get a detailed picture of the Medical Power Supply Equipment Market.

Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change.

Understand the competitive environment, the markets major players and leading brands.

A five-year forecast method is used in order to assess how the market is predicted to develop.

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In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Friday issued an arrest warrant against serving Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan to ensure his presence before it on March 31 in a contempt case.

"There is no other alternative to seek presence of Shri Justice C S Karnan. We issue bailable warrants of the sum of Rs 10,000 in the nature of personal bond to the satisfaction of the arresting officer," a seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said.

The bench directed the West Bengal Director General of Police to personally execute the arrest warrant on Justice Karnan to ensure his presence before it on March 31, the next date of hearing.

The bench, also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur, P C Ghose and Kurian Joseph, refused to consider a communication, written to apex court registry on March 8, as his response to the notice issued against him earlier.

At the outset, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that Justice Karnan had defied the Supreme Court order and the apex court rules on contempt provide for issuance of bailable warrants against a contemnor to ensure his presence.

The apex court said that the Supreme Court registry has received a fax from Justice Karnan on March 8 in which he had discussed certain administrative issues.

The bench, however, refused to consider the March 8 communication as a response of Justice Karnan on the contempt notice observing that it reflected allegations "on certain named judges".

After the alleged open contemptuous letters written by Justice Karnan against the Madras HC Chief Justice, addressed to the CJI, Prime Minister and others, the court had initiated proceedings against him.

The apex court had on February 8 asked Justice Karnan to appear in person and explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. It had restrained him from undertaking judicial and administrative work.

However, Justice Karnan failed to appear before the apex court on February 13.

On February 10, Justice Karnan had written a letter to the apex court in which he had reportedly played the Dalit card asking the Supreme Court to refer the matter to Parliament, contending that contempt proceedings were "not sustainable".

"Before obtaining any explanation from me, I wish to state that the courts have no power to enforce punishment against a sitting judge of the High Court. The said order does not conform to logic, therefore it is not suitable for execution," he had said in the letter.

During the last hearing, senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the Registrar General of the Madras HC, had said the high court judges needed protection from Karnan's verbal abuse and wild charges.

He had said the judge concerned had levelled malicious rape charges against a sitting Madras High Court judge.

Justice Karnan was transferred from the Madras HC to the Calcutta HC for his alleged contemptuous conduct. He had on February 15, 2016 stayed his transfer order after the apex court asked the Chief Justice of Madras High Court not to assign any judicial work to him.

The same day the apex court had suspended Justice Karnan's order and made it clear that all administrative and judicial orders passed by him after the issuance of the proposal of his transfer from the Madras High Court to the Calcutta High Court shall remain stayed till further orders.

However, a week later, the judge had said that he had issued an "erroneous" order due to his "mental frustration resulting in loss of his mental balance".
South Korea's Constitutional Court has upheld a decision by the country's National Assembly to impeach President Park Guen-hye, adding that an election for her replacement must be held within two months.

Park's "acts of violating the constitution and law are a betrayal of the public trust," acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said. "The benefits of protecting the constitution that can be earned by dismissing the defendant are overwhelmingly big. Hereupon, in a unanimous decision by the court panel, we issue a verdict: We dismiss the defendant, President Park Geun-hye."

Park violated Korean law by allowing her close friend Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs, the court said, according to Yonhap News.

Faced with allegations that included bribery and violation of sovereignty, Park was accused of colluding with Choi to secure millions of dollars in bribes from the country's biggest enterprises and allowing Choi, a civilian, to interfere in state affairs. Park had apologized, but denied any wrongdoing.

All of the Court's eight justices voted to uphold the motion. Approval from at least six judges was needed for the motion to pass.

The ousting of Park, the first South Korean President to be impeached, marks a dramatic downfall for the country's first female president after she rose to power in 2013 pledging to fight graft.

It also creates uncertainty in South Korea's key relationship with Washington, just days after the US began to deploy its controversial new missile defence system, THAAD, to the Korean peninsula, prompting threats of Chinese retaliation.

Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70 to 80 percent of South Koreans wanted the court to approve Park's impeachment.

Police issued the "Gabho" emergency order in Seoul ahead of Friday's announcement, the highest level possible.

Officers are on standby for expected protests, with 270 units being mobilized -- about 21,000 in total.

While Friday's impeachment ruling is a milestone for South Korean politics, it may bring about more near-term instability, especially at a time of regional geopolitical risks.

"South Korea is entering a political vacuum at a time when tensions with North Korea have escalated to crisis point, and when relations with China have also become tense," said Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at IHS Markit, told CNBC referring to North Korea's latest missile launches and Chinese economic sanctions.

"The impeachment decision does clear the ground for new political leadership, but South Korea's future foreign policy under the next president will now become an unknown factor for the near-term," Biswas continued.
The Trump administration wants to build a deeper relationship with India, the White House has said, expressing confidence that the two countries will continue to grow their ties.

"I think we are, as talked about during the campaign and the transition, establishing a deeper relationship with Prime Minister Modi and US-India businesses," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told media persons at his daily news conference.

"And I think as we move forward in terms of our foreign policy, we'll have further updates on that. Trump spoke very clearly and frequently about the relationship that we have and hope to continue to grow with India," Spicer said.

Showing strong resentment over the recent alleged racial attacks in the US, Spicer said the Americans should be outraged and disgusted by the hate crimes, adding they should stand up for the principles that unite them.

"It's something that I think all Americans should be outraged and disgusted by -- and stand up for the principles that unite us, and that's what the President spoke so eloquently about during his joint address, and made it very clear that while certain policies may divide us as individuals, there are certain principles that can unite us," Spicer said in a statement.

Putting light on the recent attacks that have taken place, Spicer said the US government should continue working towards uprooting the problem and engage in law enforcement.

"I think the President -- whether it's the event that happened in Kansas City, other events, the attacks on Jewish community centers that continue to plague us -- we saw another report this morning of some unfortunate activity. I think we've got to continue to call it out, we've got to continue to root it out, we've got to continue to engage law enforcement, whatever is the applicable level of law enforcement depending on the event," Spicer further said.

So far, four people have fallen prey to what is being dubbed as "racial" attacks.

An Indian engineer, Kuchibhotla was earlier on February 22 shot to death in Kansas in an alleged racial attack, after the gunman was heard shouting "get out of my country".
As they capture back Mosul from Islamic State, Iraqi and American forces discover an underground train tunnel that was turned into an assault course by IS for its elite fighters.

Iraqi forces discovered an underground training camp -- based on tip-offs from locals -- in the early stages of the campaign to dislodge Islamic State terrorists from West Mosul.

The mouth of the tunnel is hardly visible on a muddy hillside overlooking Mosul, where fighting now rages between Iraqi and American forces and IS fighters.

In less turbulent times, trains ran through it on their way to or from Mosul, but when IS overran the area in the summer of 2014, it barricaded both ends, ripped up the tracks and built an assault course inside, on which to train its recruits.

Photograph: Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters

The tunnel -- about 7 metres high by 5 metres wide, and around half-a-kilometre in length -- features a series of obstacles, which one soldier tried out.

"Their training is similar to ours," said Kadhem al-Gharrawi, a member of the Rapid Response Division, an elite Iraqi unit. "It's tough training for special forces."

Photograph: Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters

The physical drills complemented IS's ideological training, evidence of which is contained in booklets littering the floor of the tunnel, detailing its uncompromising doctrine.

A leaflet titled Types of Idolatry was found beside empty cartons of orange juice drunk by the recruits and packaging of the boots and balaclava headgear they wore.

Photograph: Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters

Near the start of the assault course lie several backpacks full of sand, which were worn by recruits to weigh them down as they went over the obstacles, to increase the difficulty.

After coming off the death slide, recruits would have swung along monkey bars and then thrown themselves flat to crawl under barbed wire, past the words 'We will prevail despite the global Crusader alliance' painted on the wall.

Photograph: Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters

Red arrows point to the direction in which they were supposed to scramble over a wall -- still covered in scuff marks made by their boots.

The recruits appear to have slept here some of the time: Bedding is strewn in two chambers dug into the sides of the tunnel, including a pink duvet cover decorated with Mickey Mouse.

Photograph: Martyn Aim/Getty Images

The IS recruits also installed lighting in the tunnel, powered by a generator set in the hillside.

There was a medical clinic in a portacabin, as well as four shower cubicles and a place to perform ablutions before prayers in a tunnel section labelled mosque.

Another area was designated for washing dishes, not far from the slogan: 'Heaven is jihad in the path of God.'

Photograph: Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters

A view of Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel. 'By the will of God, we will conquer Rome,' reads this one.

Photograph: Martyn Aim/Getty Images

It is not clear how many recruits passed through the camp or what became of them.

Photograph: Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters
Dublin, March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Markets for Generic Drugs" report to their offering.



This report discusses the implications of all the above-mentioned trends, in the context of the current size and growth of the generics market, both in global terms and analyzed by the most important national markets. The nature and structure of the generics industry is discussed, with profiles of the leading 20+ generics companies and an update on M&A activity. Five-year sales forecasts are provided for the national markets and the major therapeutic categories of products involved.



Report Includes



- An overview of the global markets for generic drugs, including coverage of therapeutics such as antibacterials, antidepressants, anticancer agents, anti-arthritics, cardiovascular drugs (e.g., hypolipidaemics and antihypertensives), and drugs for respiratory conditions, including asthma and COPD

- Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2015, estimates for 2016, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2021

- Examination of strategies employed by companies specializing in generics to meet the challenges of this highly competitive market, while also summarizing strategies employed by originator companies to forestall generic competition

- Discussion of important trends by product categories and major country markets, acknowledging that Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and Russia are among the rising markets for generic activity

- Profiles of major players and leading generics companies

- A look at recent merger and acquisition activity



Key Topics Covered:



1: Introduction



- Study Goals And Objectives

- Reasons For Doing The Study

- Scope Of Report

- Market Analyses And Forecasts

- Methodology

- Intended Audience

- Information Sources



2: Summary



- Market Size And Evolution



Overview



- Recent History Of The Generics Sector



4: The New Generics Era



- The Patent Cliff

- Types Of Generics



5: Major Generic Issues



- Regulatory Environment

- Patents And IP



6: The Generics Market



- Global Pharmaceutical And Generics Market

- Market Opportunities By Product Class



7: Generics Markets And Forecasts By Country



- Americas

- Asia

- Europe



8: The Global Generics Industry



- Trends

- Structure Of The Generics Industry

- Recent M&A Activity

- Brand Company Involvement

- Profiles Of The Leading Generics Companies

- Other International Generics Companies



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/k6whpb/global_markets




10.03.2017: Borregaard ASA ("Borregaard", OSE ticker: BRG)

Reference is made to the stock exchange notice of 27 February 2017 where Borregaard announced the intent to repurchase up to 300,000 of its outstanding common stock.

Borregaard has today purchased 13,937 own shares through broker at an average price of NOK 96,657 per share.

After this transaction Borregaard holds a total of 412,013 own shares, representing 0.41% of total shares outstanding.

Contact

Lotte Kvinlaug, Investor Relations Officer, +47 922 86 909

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
'The world must act now to stop this,' UN chief Guterres says on visit to drought-hit Somalia

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 7 March 2017 Cite as UN News Service, 'The world must act now to stop this,' UN chief Guterres says on visit to drought-hit Somalia, 7 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c2600b4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Hearing the heart-wrenching stories of desperate families displaced in Somalia, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today urged a massive scale up in international support to avert a famine in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa nation and curb the spread of cholera.

It is exactly because it is tragic and because it is hopeful that it makes sense to make a very strong appeal to the international community to support Somalia at the present moment, Mr. Guterres told reporters in the country's capital, Mogadishu.

With almost half of the Somali population in need of assistance, including 330,000 children who are acutely malnourished, the UN chief reiterated an appeal for $825 million for the support of 5.5 million people for six months.

There is a chance in Somalia to avoid a situation like the one we had in 2011, he said, referring to the previous famine that killed many in that country.

He said that 3.3 million people are in need of health support and that cholera has been developing and making hunger even worse and more dangerous. In the last two months, there were 7,731 cases of cholera with 183 people dying. Just last week, there were 1,352 cases of cholera and 38 people dying. It's a process in acceleration, he warned.

VIDEO: Visiting displaced people in Baidoa, Somalia, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today called for a massive scale up in international support to avert a famine in Somalia and curb the spread of cholera. Credit: UN News

But now is also a moment of hope because Somalia is turning the page, with a new President elected and a new Prime Minister appointed, he said.

There is a very strong commitment to enhance security and at the same time to enhance the capacity of the government to start to provide effective services to the population, he said.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is doing a job that the world should be grateful for because it is not only protecting Somalis, but protecting all against terrorism, has not been effectively helped by the international community, he said.

The severe climate is also forcing many people to leave their homes. Leving the capital, Mr. Guterres met and spoke with victims of the current drought when he visited a settlement for internally displaced people (IDPs) today in the town of Baidoa.

According to estimates from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) the Liibaan IDP settlement houses some 700 people driven by drought from rural villages since 14 February. Some walked for hours or even days in search of humanitarian assistance.

One of the victims is Nuria Hussein. She and 10-month-old daughter Samira left home in Qansax Dheere district and moved to the settlement, 90 kilometers away, because of the drought. Ms. Hussein's husband stayed behind. But now is also "a moment of hope" because Somalia is turning the page, with a new President elected and a new Prime Minister appointed, he said. "There is a very strong commitment to enhance security and at the same time to enhance the capacity of the government to start to provide effective services to the population," he said. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is doing a job that the world should be grateful for because it is not only protecting Somalis, but protecting all against terrorism, has not been effectively helped by the international community, he said. The severe climate is also forcing many people to leave their homes. Leving the capital, Mr. Guterres met and spoke with victims of the current drought when he visited a settlement for internally displaced people (IDPs) today in the town of Baidoa. According to estimates from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) the Liibaan IDP settlement houses some 700 people driven by drought from rural villages since 14 February. Some walked for hours or even days in search of humanitarian assistance. One of the victims is Nuria Hussein. She and 10-month-old daughter Samira left home in Qansax Dheere district and moved to the settlement, 90 kilometers away, because of the drought. Ms. Hussein's husband stayed behind. "If we have stability and if it rains, we can avoid famine and we'll return home," she told UN News. Another victim recalled her long journey to the settlement. A mother of four, she is alone with her children on the site. Her fifth child died of acute diarrhea. According to OCHA, estimates indicate that over 80 per cent of these newly arrived IDPs are women and children. In Baidoa, after meeting with President of the Southwest state of Somalia, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, Mr. Guterres visited two camps for internally displaced people just outside the city. For over an hour, he walked through the camp, asked question and listened to the stories of men, women and children who had come to Baidoa to seek food and water. Some had recently resettled from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya only to be forced to move again because of the drought.
Burundian authorities 'shut doors' to engagement, cooperation  Security Council told

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 9 March 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Burundian authorities 'shut doors' to engagement, cooperation  Security Council told, 9 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c261504.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Serious security threats in north and central Mali put local populations and humanitarian aid workers at risk, a United Nations human rights expert said today.

"One indicator of this growing insecurity is the very high number of closed schools in central and northern parts of the country, which may deprive many children of their right to education," Suliman Baldo, the Independent Expert on Mali, said in a news release issued by the UN Office of the High Commissione for Human Rights (OHCHR) at the end of his eight-day mission to the country.

Mr. Baldo deplored the rise in roadside checkpoints that are monitored by dissidents and armed groups and which have contributed to a rising number of attacks, which include vehicle theft, on people travelling.

He also expressed shock at the number of attacks on humanitarian workers, which have made the UN multidimensional peacekeeping operation in the West African country, known by its French acronym, MINUSMA, one of the deadliest in the world today.

The Expert urged all parties to the 2015 Mali peace accord, which includes the Government and armed combatants, to take steps to ensure the safety of local populations and to allow the return of state authorities throughout the region, as agreed to in the accord.

"The parties owe it to the Malian people to continue to find consensual solutions to their differences and to accelerate the deployment of state resources, including security forces and administrative and judicial personnel, to northern and central areas of the country, he said.

The well-being and security of the communities that the parties claim to represent is at stake, he added.

The announcement of the unification of several violent extremist groups under the Al-Qaida banner in the Islamic Maghreb last week showed that the groups were determined to fight the progress made in implementing the peace agreement, Mr Baldo warned.
Next intra-Syrian talks set for late March  UN envoy

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 9 March 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Next intra-Syrian talks set for late March  UN envoy, 9 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c261ae4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

The next round of the United Nations-facilitated intra-Syrian talks is expected to convene on 23 March to discuss issues related to governance, constitution, elections and counter terrorism, the UN Special Envoy for Syria has said.

My current intention is to bring the invitees back to Geneva for a fifth round with a target date of 23 March, Staffan de Mistura told reporters yesterday at the UN Headquarters in New York after he briefed the Security Council on the outcome of the fourth round of the discussions, which ran in the Swiss city from 23 February to 3 March.

He said the fourth round of the Geneva talks achieved much more than many people had imagined we could have.

No one left, everybody stayed. They were focused, we got an agenda, we got a timeline, we got some agreement on substance, Mr. de Mistura said, noting that the fifth round of talks will build on the outcome of the previous one and that counter terrorism is now part of the agenda laid out in UN Security Council resolution 2254.

In parallel with the UN-facilitated intra-Syrian talks, Kazakhstan has been hosting talks on a ceasefire in its capital, Astana  diplomatic efforts led by the so-named ceasefire guarantors, Iran, Russia and Turkey.

On the Astana talks, Mr. de Mistura said that although the responsibility of their success is in the hands of these guarantors, the UN dispatches a technical team to the process, because without a strong ceasefire, the UN-facilitated Geneva talks would be fragile.

The UN envoy urged the Security Council to continue to support his efforts.
Mexico: reporter's murder revives debate about effectiveness of protection

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 9 March 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Mexico: reporter's murder revives debate about effectiveness of protection, 9 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c262ba4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Last week's murder of a journalist in the southwestern state of Guerrero raises many questions about the protection of media personnel in Mexico. The journalist, Cecilio Pineda Birto, had been given official protection but it was withdrawn in October for reasons that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) regards as unacceptable.

Aged 39, Cecilio Pineda Birto was gunned down in cold blood on 2 March in Ciudad Altamirano, in Guerrero's Tierra Caliente region. The editor of La Voz de la Tierra Caliente, a local newspaper, and a crime reporter for the El Universal and El Debate dailies, he was known for being outspoken and criticizing local corruption, and had been the target of threats and murder attempts in recent years.

After escaping at attack in 2015, Pineda filed a complaint with the Guerrero state prosecutor's office. His case was passed to the Federal Mechanism for Protecting Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, which advised him to move to a new location to avoid further danger. Pineda rejected the proposal, mainly on health grounds.

Following an initial risk evaluation, the Federal Mechanism again suggested in January 2016 that he should leave his hometown and go to a refuge. Yet again, Pineda could not bring himself to take this step, so it was decided instead to establish a routine of regular visits to his home by the Guerrero police.

This was completely inadequate and ineffective, according to Israel Flores of the National Press Workers Union (SNTP). "The police just got Cecilio to sign the document showing that they had visited his home and then they continued on their way," he told RSF.

In a second risk assessment in October 2016, the Federal Mechanism decided that the level of risk was no longer sufficient to justify further protection. It therefore withdrew protection from Pineda and closed the case.

In a statement released a few hours after Pineda's execution-style murder, the Federal Mechanism said his protection was withdrawn because he refused to relocate. But the law under which the Federal Mechanism was created and the Federal Mechanism's own regulations make no provision for withdrawing protection and closing a case in the event of such a refusal.





"The local and federal authorities were aware of the level of risk to which Cecilio Pineda was exposed but neither were able to provide him with effective protection," said Emmanuel Colombie, the head of RSF's Latin America desk.

"This case illustrates the crying need for a complete overhaul of the process of assessing risks and supervising the measures envisaged by the Federal Mechanism for Protecting Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in order to avoid a recurrence of this kind of tragedy."





Pineda's fellow journalists and family are convinced that he was murdered because of his work. A few hours before being gunned down, he retransmitted a video live on his Facebook page in which he accused the Tierra Caliente authorities of being linked to a local drug baron known as El Tequilero.





A week has gone by since his death, but the police and judicial investigators have not yet developed any hypothesis about the identity of his murderers or their motive.





Newspaper reporter Pedro Tamayo Rosas was gunned down in Tierra Blanca, in the eastern state of Veracruz, in July 2016 despite being under Veracruz state protection at the time.





In a report published on 2 February, entitled "Veracruz: journalists and the state of fear," RSF provides a detailed examination of the flaws in Mexico's mechanisms for protecting journalists in danger, and offers recommendations for improving the situation.





Mexico is ranked 149th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.


A Wary Farewell to Arms for the FARC

Publisher International Crisis Group (ICG) Author Kyle Johnson Publication Date 9 March 2017 Cite as International Crisis Group (ICG), A Wary Farewell to Arms for the FARC, 9 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c264564.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Since Colombia ratified a revised peace accord to end the country's long insurgency, FARC rebels have moved rapidly to ad hoc cantonment sites where they will demobilise under UN supervision. But the FARC leadership's commitment to the deal is under pressure from disparate elements in its rank and file.

When Colombians streamed to the polls four months ago to vote in a plebiscite to accept or reject a peace agreement with the country's leading guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), opinion polls predicted a resounding victory for the accord. Many citizens and internationals expected that the world's second longest continuous armed conflict and one of its oldest Marxist insurgencies would soon become an historical relic.

In Havana, the FARC leadership and its negotiating team sat with journalists to watch the votes come in. Once the result was announced - the accord was rejected by less than one-half of 1 per cent - the guerrilla group retired to a private meeting at which its leaders decided the loss was only a temporary setback. "The FARC-EP maintains its will to find peace", declared FARC leader Timochenko that same day, "and reiterates its willingness to use words as the only weapon to build a [new] future".

Rebel leaders reluctantly accepted that the defeated peace agreement, 300 pages of transitional programs and socio-political reforms, would have to be reworked. All the while, peace held firm on the ground, and roughly 7,000 FARC fighters began moving to 51 pre-grouping areas. Now that a new accord has been signed and approved by Congress, the fighters have moved on to haphazardly-prepared cantonment sites where they will eventually hand over their arms and transform into ex-combatants under UN supervision.

But this show of trust in the process has not yet removed all doubts over how far the FARC will go in search of peace and whether existing cracks within the group may open wider.

Internal Fractures: Coca and Convictions

The uncertainty of the renegotiation, in which ardent opponents of the FARC rapidly became extremely powerful players, compounded strains on the guerrillas' unity. Strong and lucrative connections to the illegal drug trade, mixed with lingering doubts about whether any agreement would satisfy the more radical parts of the insurgent group, had already started to expose cracks in FARC cohesion.

Two dissident factions had appeared earlier in 2016. The first arose in Tumaco, one of Colombia's poorest municipalities, situated on the border with Ecuador with a mainly Afro-Colombian population. A hub for drug trafficking and production - it has the country's highest concentration of coca crops, estimated at 17,000 hectares in 2015 - Tumaco has been the theatre of operations since 2001 for the FARC's Daniel Aldana mobile column. Other armed groups have come and gone since then, but the Daniel Aldana, until recently, remained.

Like all FARC units, the Daniel Aldana front includes rural combatants and urban militia fighters. In its case, the militia - in part criminals hired for specific activities, in part direct FARC fighters - was somewhat disconnected from the larger FARC structure. A militia commander Yeison, known as "Don Y" created a dissident group in rural Tumaco. At the same time, two other militia commanders, alias "Camacho" and "Mocho" with 73 other militia members, according to the FARC, decided to cut all ties and set up shop on their own so as to take over the territory the guerrillas vacated. The FARC killed Yeison in November, as it has acknowledged, and 'Camacho' was found dead as well. According to reports, these two groups united, calling the new formation "People for Order".

The most notorious FARC schism is in Guaviare, a low-lying region in eastern Colombia. In June 2016, the FARC's 1st front publicly announced it was divided and that some of its number would no longer support peace talks. Its commander, with the nom de guerre Ivan Mordisco, led a dissident band of 60 fighters, along with the front's financial commander, alias Danilo.

The FARC put a member of its Central High Command, Gentil Duarte, in charge of the faction of the 1st front that stayed loyal to the peace process. Loyal fighters from its 7th and 44th fronts also moved into the region to track down Mordisco and either persuade him to support peace or kill him.

Around the same time, according to interviews in the region, Danilo and some of his dissident fighters changed their minds and returned to the FARC, but the schisms in Guaviare were not over. Another commander, alias Aldemar, who originally supported peace, joined the dissidents. In December, in an announcement that stunned many Colombians, the FARC declared that it had kicked out five commanders for breaking ranks, including the erstwhile loyalist enforcer, Gentil Duarte, who now said that he believed the insurgency had betrayed its original ideals by negotiating, and that the government would not fulfil its part of the agreement. Three of the banished commanders belonged or had ties to the 7th, 16th and 44th fronts as well.

The role of the drug trade in these decisions to continue the war is undeniable. The current breakaway group - no more than 250 fighters, according to FARC leaders - now operates in Vaupes and Guaviare provinces, and may also have crossed into Brazil, extracting protection payments from local elite and running the lucrative drug trade. The FARC have also argued that the 1st front is motivated only by money, as a way to discredit it internally.

IN THE SHADOW OF "NO": PEACE AFTER COLOMBIA'S PLEBISCITE

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FARC fighters stand in formation in Cauca, Colombia. CRISIS GROUP/Kyle Johnson

COMMENTARY / LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN 9 MARCH 2017

A Wary Farewell to Arms for the FARC

Since Colombia ratified a revised peace accord to end the country's long insurgency, FARC rebels have moved rapidly to ad hoc cantonment sites where they will demobilise under UN supervision. But the FARC leadership's commitment to the deal is under pressure from disparate elements in its rank and file.

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Kyle Johnson

Senior Analyst, Colombia

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COLOMBIA

When Colombians streamed to the polls four months ago to vote in a plebiscite to accept or reject a peace agreement with the country's leading guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), opinion polls predicted a resounding victory for the accord. Many citizens and internationals expected that the world's second longest continuous armed conflict and one of its oldest Marxist insurgencies would soon become an historical relic.

In Havana, the FARC leadership and its negotiating team sat with journalists to watch the votes come in. Once the result was announced - the accord was rejected by less than one-half of 1 per cent - the guerrilla group retired to a private meeting at which its leaders decided the loss was only a temporary setback. "The FARC-EP maintains its will to find peace", declared FARC leader Timochenko that same day, "and reiterates its willingness to use words as the only weapon to build a [new] future".

Rebel leaders reluctantly accepted that the defeated peace agreement, 300 pages of transitional programs and socio-political reforms, would have to be reworked. All the while, peace held firm on the ground, and roughly 7,000 FARC fighters began moving to 51 pre-grouping areas. Now that a new accord has been signed and approved by Congress, the fighters have moved on to haphazardly-prepared cantonment sites where they will eventually hand over their arms and transform into ex-combatants under UN supervision.

But this show of trust in the process has not yet removed all doubts over how far the FARC will go in search of peace and whether existing cracks within the group may open wider.

Internal Fractures: Coca and Convictions

The uncertainty of the renegotiation, in which ardent opponents of the FARC rapidly became extremely powerful players, compounded strains on the guerrillas' unity. Strong and lucrative connections to the illegal drug trade, mixed with lingering doubts about whether any agreement would satisfy the more radical parts of the insurgent group, had already started to expose cracks in FARC cohesion.

The uncertainty of the renegotiation, in which ardent opponents of the FARC rapidly became extremely powerful players, compounded strains on the guerrillas' unity.

Two dissident factions had appeared earlier in 2016. The first arose in Tumaco, one of Colombia's poorest municipalities, situated on the border with Ecuador with a mainly Afro-Colombian population. A hub for drug trafficking and production - it has the country's highest concentration of coca crops, estimated at 17,000 hectares in 2015 - Tumaco has been the theatre of operations since 2001 for the FARC's Daniel Aldana mobile column. Other armed groups have come and gone since then, but the Daniel Aldana, until recently, remained.

Like all FARC units, the Daniel Aldana front includes rural combatants and urban militia fighters. In its case, the militia - in part criminals hired for specific activities, in part direct FARC fighters - was somewhat disconnected from the larger FARC structure. A militia commander Yeison, known as "Don Y" created a dissident group in rural Tumaco. At the same time, two other militia commanders, alias "Camacho" and "Mocho" with 73 other militia members, according to the FARC, decided to cut all ties and set up shop on their own so as to take over the territory the guerrillas vacated. The FARC killed Yeison in November, as it has acknowledged, and 'Camacho' was found dead as well. According to reports, these two groups united, calling the new formation "People for Order".

The most notorious FARC schism is in Guaviare, a low-lying region in eastern Colombia. In June 2016, the FARC's 1st front publicly announced it was divided and that some of its number would no longer support peace talks. Its commander, with the nom de guerre Ivan Mordisco, led a dissident band of 60 fighters, along with the front's financial commander, alias Danilo.

The FARC put a member of its Central High Command, Gentil Duarte, in charge of the faction of the 1st front that stayed loyal to the peace process. Loyal fighters from its 7th and 44th fronts also moved into the region to track down Mordisco and either persuade him to support peace or kill him.

Around the same time, according to interviews in the region, Danilo and some of his dissident fighters changed their minds and returned to the FARC, but the schisms in Guaviare were not over. Another commander, alias Aldemar, who originally supported peace, joined the dissidents. In December, in an announcement that stunned many Colombians, the FARC declared that it had kicked out five commanders for breaking ranks, including the erstwhile loyalist enforcer, Gentil Duarte, who now said that he believed the insurgency had betrayed its original ideals by negotiating, and that the government would not fulfil its part of the agreement. Three of the banished commanders belonged or had ties to the 7th, 16th and 44th fronts as well.

The role of the drug trade in these decisions to continue the war is undeniable. The current breakaway group - no more than 250 fighters, according to FARC leaders - now operates in Vaupes and Guaviare provinces, and may also have crossed into Brazil, extracting protection payments from local elite and running the lucrative drug trade. The FARC have also argued that the 1st front is motivated only by money, as a way to discredit it internally.

Paying with Paste

To understand these fractures and what they may mean for peace and violence, it is essential to understand conditions in Guaviare, one of Colombia's most remote and underdeveloped regions. It has one two-lane, clay-coloured, dirt road between its capital, San Jose del Guaviare, and another of its four municipalities, Calamar. Smaller dirt roads and paths, often impassable due to rain, connect other towns and villages and are best travelled on a dirt bike.

Road conditions can make short trips seem endless. The road from Calamar to the southernmost municipality of Miraflores - a twenty-street hamlet in the heart of the jungle with a dirt landing strip in its middle - does not even appear on maps. Though less than 100 km, the trip takes at best seven hours on a dirt bike; after light rain, twelve hours is standard; often the road is unusable. River travel is more common, but can take up to a day. An alternative is an old DC cargo plane that flies from San Jose to Miraflores twice a week. While it looks unsafe, a local pilot says its only accident was in the 1990s, when the cows it was transporting became scared on landing, causing it to turn on its side on the runway.

Many towns in Guaviare have only an alcatel - a single telephone. Often located in a shop, it is their single contact with the outside world. In these towns, the FARC demands that one person keep a register of who has called whom in the town or outside it, and who leaves messages if the person called is not around. In May 2016, for instance, when the alcatel was damaged the village of Barranquillita deep in Guaviare's jungle, Crisis Group was unable to visit because it was impossible to make contact and gain permission to enter.

Open plains with cattle can occasionally be seen between these towns and villages; elsewhere only jungle and trees are visible. So strong is the coca economy in Guaviare that not only do some villages, hamlets and towns totally depend on it, but there is also so little currency that coca paste is sometimes used instead. One gram is about 2,000 pesos - 69 U.S. cents - so a beer, costing in some places 4,000 pesos, can be bought with two grams, for example.

The FARC dissident group in Guaviare plans to continue to run the coca trade there, describing itself in meetings with communities as a "necessary evil". It also appears willing to use violence to protect that trade. It was likely responsible for the sniper killing in January of a police officer taking part in the manual eradication of coca crops.

A Return to War?

Since many of the areas under guerrilla control are similar to Guaviare in terms of remoteness, poverty and dependence on the coca trade, the main concern for the FARC and its fighters is the government's ability and willingness to meet the obligations laid out in the peace agreement. This poses the questions: would and could the FARC go back to war if the government does not deliver?

A message from Timochenko to fighters in December suggested the insurgents would be willing to fight again if the validity of the peace agreement was contested or the fast-track mechanism to pass laws through Congress to implement it was not approved. Within the organisation, the answers tend to vary: some argue the FARC would have to return to armed action; others look to the long term and are more committed to peace.

"Historically in Colombia they have killed guerrilla leaders after signing peace  without carrying out the reforms", one FARC leader told me. Yet, he said, he is still committed to peace, as his time horizon for FARC success in democratic politics is measured in decades, not months or years. Some version of that optimism seems to be true for the vast majority of the FARC. The guerrillas have sought the moral high ground by arriving at the cantonments sites even when these are barely ready to house and feed them. The government estimates that 95 per cent of rural fighters will hand over their weapons, and it may well be right.

Going back to war would be difficult. First, the FARC will soon have handed in the names of all its fighters enlisted for the reintegration process. For an organisation that needs to be clandestine, this marks a definitive break.

Secondly, it may not be able to remobilise all its fighters once they have become acquainted with peaceful civilian life. Figures such as the guerrilla DJ, who at the tenth FARC Conference in September 2016 played a mix of techno and ranchero songs with a Simpsons sticker on his laptop, may show where the future for many lies: with one foot in the guerrilla, and the other in an increasingly globalised, consumerist world which will be new and probably attractive for many fighters.

Thirdly, the political climate would probably be inauspicious, internationally and nationally, but also in the hamlets where the FARC has historically been active, where even an imperfect peace would likely be preferred to a new war.

Lastly, other armed groups are already occupying its old territories, and by the time of a hypothetical FARC rearmament they may well be unwilling to accommodate competitors. That dynamic led to a fierce conflict between the FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's second insurgency, in Cauca province between 2005 and 2009.

Security Alarms

The haphazard, under-prepared start to the arms handover has left some guerrillas fretting about the future, worried the government cannot deliver on the most basic parts of the peace agreement. Such concerns will likely grow. Following the guerrilla's claim that at least two fighters have died because of health complications while in pre-concentration sites since October, the government has tried to extend health services to cantonments, but in one possible site, some twenty FARC had a malaria-like illness.

Insurgent uncertainty is exacerbated by the differences between government and FARC about the killing of social leaders. Between 90 and 117 local leaders active in favour of peace, land restitution or other community causes were reportedly murdered in 2016. While the FARC leadership is willing to move forward, mid-level commanders and low-level fighters argue that these attacks are the result of a resurgence of paramilitary forces opposed to the peace process.

The government insists there are no more paramilitaries and that most of the killings are isolated incidents. Nevertheless, they evoke the FARC's core fear: concern for personal post-conflict security. At least 3,000 members of the Patriotic Union - a political party the FARC created in 1985 - were assassinated in the party's early years, something the FARC has not forgotten. Security guarantees are a core part of the peace agreement, but in practice these will not be able to cover everyone who was part of the organisation. Many members could find themselves exposed after handing over their weapons. As one fighter asked, "since they are killing social leaders, what awaits us?"

As the FARC transitions from armed group to political party, it will face many challenges for which its leadership may not be ready. Many fighters will opt to leave the organisation and reintegrate independently. Its early political performance may be worse than it expects, especially in urban areas. It will likely also have less success than it desires in hamlets and areas it previously controlled. Some members may be killed; more may eventually return to violence of some kind, if they have not already. The FARC no longer wants war. But it is about to learn that even peace can be violent, and that there are downs as well as ups in electoral politics.
UN: Report on sexual abuse paves way for meaningful reform

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 9 March 2017 Related Document(s) Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse : a new approach : report of the Secretary-General Cite as Amnesty International, UN: Report on sexual abuse paves way for meaningful reform, 9 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c2666e4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

In response to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' annual report on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, issued today, Amnesty International's Senior Crisis Response Adviser Joanne Mariner said:

"UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres rightly recognizes that sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers and other UN personnel is a cruel and inexcusable wrong that soils the reputation of the United Nations as a whole. Amnesty International welcomes his effort to institute a broad range of reforms to better address this scourge.

"Amnesty International's research has convinced us that impunity is a core problem encouraging sexual abuse. Very few UN peacekeepers and other UN personnel suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes of sexual violence ever face a real threat of criminal prosecution for their crimes.

"Given this disheartening fact, we are encouraged by the Secretary-General's proposal to stop paying countries that fail to investigate abuse allegations against their troops in a timely manner, and to put that money instead into a trust fund to assist survivors. We call on the UN General Assembly to endorse this proposal and for member states to implement it.

"We are concerned, nonetheless, that there is still insufficient pressure on member states to ensure that incidents of sexual abuse are fairly investigated and prosecuted.

"Amnesty International views other measures announced by the Secretary-General as positive, including the new orientation toward empowering victims of abuse, the stricter vetting of UN personnel, the creation of a new post of victims' rights advocate, the development of a 'special protocol' to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation, the extension of the post of Special Coordinator on improving the UN's response to sexual exploitation and abuse, the establishment of a 'circle of leadership' comprising heads of state, and the creation of a special advisory board made up of civil society leaders and experts to make recommendations for preventing such abuse.

"We look forward to engaging with the United Nations and member states to help ensure that this broad reform agenda is taken forward with the necessary resources and political will."

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Azerbaijan: Activists targeted by 'government-sponsored' cyber attack

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 10 March 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Azerbaijan: Activists targeted by 'government-sponsored' cyber attack, 10 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c266a74.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Azeri human rights activists, journalists and political dissidents have been the targets of a fraudulent and sustained 'spear phishing' campaign using emails and Facebook chat, apparently aimed at gaining access to their personal information and private communications, said Amnesty International in a new report launched today.

The investigation reveals that the attacks, which can compromise passwords and contacts, have been directed at various government critics for the past 13 months. Victims told Amnesty International they believed the Azerbaijani authorities are behind the attacks.

"Our research reveals that a targeted and coordinated cyber campaign is being waged against critical voices in Azerbaijan, many of whom are long-time victims of government repression," said Claudio Guarnieri, Senior Technologist at Amnesty International.

"The malware used has been designed with the express intention of gathering as much private information as possible about a target. Given the profiles of those targeted, it is not hard to see why victims believe the authorities are responsible."

The report, 'False Friends - how fake accounts and crude malware targeted dissidents in Azerbaijan', details how victims have been targeted using a practice known as 'spear phishing', which involves an email with an attachment containing a virus - known as malware - being sent to a target from a fake address.

If the recipient of the email clicks on the attachment, a virus is downloaded which relays images of the target's screen back to the attacker and enables them to record what the target is typing.

The emails were mostly sent from addresses impersonating prominent human rights and political activists.

One victim was the lawyer and human rights activist Rasul Jafarov, who was alerted to the attack when he received a phone call from a colleague in October 2016 warning him that he had been sent an email and attachment from an address very similar to his.

A former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, Rasul Jafarov has previously spent more than a year and a half in prison on trumped-up, politically motivated charges stemming from his human rights work.

He told Amnesty International: "I believe that [the Azerbaijani authorities] are trying to closely watch everyone who is criticizing the government, who is implementing different activities, or projects or campaigns which the government doesn't like."

Based on analysis of the attempted impersonation of Rasul Jafarov, and the first-hand accounts of other Azeri activists, Amnesty International has uncovered widespread use of the practice, which started as early as November 2015.

In other cases documented in the report, a dissident website called 'Anonymous Azerbaijan' was targeted, while the internal communications of the online news service, Kanal 13, were accessed for over a week following an attack.

In another incident, malware was sent to several activists disguised as an invitation for a reception at the US Embassy in Baku.

The attachments in the fake emails are typically office documents with subjects that appear relevant to the recipient. One recent email included a document entitled 'Political prisoners in Azerbaijan as of November 2016', with the file's metadata claiming it was created by human rights activist, Leyla Yunus.

Leyla Yunus and her activist husband Arif Yunus told Amnesty International they believed the cyberattacks came from the government.

"An already hostile environment for critics of the government is now even more difficult in light of these revelations," said Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme.

"The chilling suggestion that all online activity is potentially being monitored has created unease among activists in Azerbaijan that is not only undermining their vital work, but also having a seriously detrimental impact on their day-to-day lives."

Amnesty International was not able to trace the cyberattacks directly to any government officials or agencies. However, an online identity going by the name of "pantera" - which appears to control the malware used in the attacks - has used an IP address from a "block" of addresses that predominantly hosts government infrastructure, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and state-owned television.

Amnesty International presented the findings of the report to the Azeri government, who responded by saying the cases documented had not been reported to them and therefore have not been investigated.

Background

Independent journalists, human rights and opposition political activists in Azerbaijan often face online harassment. They have been subjected to abusive comments and threats on social media and websites, including via a government-backed trolling campaign.

Monitoring of phone and internet communications in Azerbaijan is facilitated by laws which grant the authorities direct access to communications networks, a type of technical arrangement that has been criticized by the European Court of Human Rights. Surveillance can be carried out without the authorization of a judge "for the purpose of preventing of grave crimes against individuals or especially dangerous crimes against the State."

Azerbaijani dissidents have long reported hacking attempts against people critical of the authorities. Research by Citizen Lab and other public disclosures indicate that Azerbaijan had sought to acquire intrusion software from the Italian company Hacking Team. Leaked emails from Hacking Team describe sales to the Ministry of National Security by the Israeli technology company NICE Systems and attempted meetings with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. These same emails portray Azerbaijani intelligence entities as struggling to successfully operate Hacking Team's platform.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Nepal: Use Proportionate Force While Policing Protests

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 9 March 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Nepal: Use Proportionate Force While Policing Protests, 9 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c2674d4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Authorities in Nepal should immediately investigate allegations of indiscriminate and excessive use of force by security forces that has led to four deaths, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also ensure proper protection for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), whose officials, including commissioner Mohna Ansari and other staff members, recently came under physical assault while in their vehicle while investigating abuses southern Nepal.Protests have flared up over government announcements of local elections, without the constitutional reforms demanded by the Terai-based political parties, who want more rights for the communities in the southern plains that have long suffered from multiple forms of discrimination. While the protesters have allegedly attacked a police station and other public buildings, and targeted police with stones, at least four have been killed and dozens injured after security forces used live ammunition to disperse the crowds.

"The Nepali government, sitting in Kathmandu, needs to deliver more than lip service to its Terai citizens who have faced systematic discrimination for years," said Brad Adams, Asia director. "The violence against the NHRC on Thursday needs to be condemned unequivocally and the perpetrators brought to justice. It should also lead the government to understand and address the deep distrust among these communities."

Commissioner Ansari was in Saptari district in Nepal's southern Terai region visiting the families of those killed - allegedly by police - after recent violent protests. Ansari and her team were unhurt following the attack, which appeared to be committed by some of the victims' family members, angered by the government's failure to address their concerns.

The protesters are demanding changes to the country's constitution to create what they deem to be more equitable power sharing under the proposed federal structure between the center and proposed new provinces. Shortly after the new constitution was passed in September 2015, political groups in the Terai region who opposed the constitution took to the streets, effectively creating a blockade along the border with India which stopped trade and transit into the landlocked country for months.

A Human Rights Watch report documented abuses, including killings, committed by both security forces and protesters during the five months of protests. Although the government set up a commission to inquire into these allegations, to date there has been no accountability for those abuses.

While protest organizers should encourage their supporters to abjure violence, the government of Nepal should ensure that security forces respect basic human rights standards on the use of force, including in dispersing both legal and illegal demonstrations.

The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials require police to use nonviolent means, such as demands to vacate an area, before resorting to force and firearms. Police should adhere to a principle of measured escalation of force. When using force, law enforcement officials should exercise restraint and act proportionately to the threat posed, and seek to minimize damage and injury.

The NHRC should continue to investigate any allegations of violations.

"The NHRC is an independent institution which has been at the forefront of calls for an end to impunity and for redress to all victims, across all ethnicities," said Adams. "The NHRC needs effective protection from abuse and threats, whoever they come from."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Delaware, March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The report The Mobile Advertising (mAdvertising) Market: 2014 - 2020 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts, available on MarketIntelReports, estimates that emerging digital countries like India and Brazil to be major markets during the forecast period.

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China: Cease Intimidation on Tibetan Anniversary

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 9 March 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, China: Cease Intimidation on Tibetan Anniversary, 9 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c267bb4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Chinese authorities should refrain from aggressive displays of military force and other intimidation in Tibetan areas around the March 10 anniversary of the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should use the anniversary to encourage rather than prevent travel to the region and address pressing human rights concerns.

A military parade in Lhasa on March 3, 2017, involving 5,000 troops and 1,000 vehicles - considerably larger than the previous year - appeared intended to discourage public protests or expressions of dissent, Human Rights Watch said. In addition, the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) has been closed to travel by foreigners for most of February and all of March, and the entire region has been placed on a major security alert.

"Chinese authorities are once again shutting off travel and holding military parades to bully the Tibetan population into silence," said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. "Progress on human rights is only going to happen if the Chinese government replaces its intimidation tactics with a more open approach to information, expression, and peaceful dissent."

Troops with guns and shields at the March 3 military parade, accompanied by military and anti-riot vehicles, were called on "to more thoroughly carry out the calls by the Central [Communist] Party Committee and the regional Party and the government" and "to once again intimidate any and all hostile splittist saboteurs." The soldiers took a pledge that they would fight for "outright victory" through "perfect devotion to the Party, keeping minds fixed on duty, and daring to fight to win." Chinese authorities regularly conflate peaceful activism with "splittism," or separatism.

On February 20, the chief of security in the TAR, Ding Yexian, listed special security measures to be taken during the coming month to "maintain stability" - meaning the prevention of any unrest or expression of dissent. These measures include requiring all local security and party offices to identify and "manage" individuals classified as "focus personnel  so that not a single individual [is overlooked] and no incident arises." The phrase refers to any individuals belonging to categories associated with potential dissent - such as unaffiliated monks and nuns, former political prisoners, and returnees from India, where the Tibetan government in exile is based and where some Tibetans travel for religious gatherings - and usually indicates that such people will be preemptively detained.

Ding, describing "the anti-terror situation" in Tibet as " arduous and onerous," called for "strict vigilance against the movement of suspect persons through confirmed checks and stringent interrogation," and "strict one-by-one checks and questioning of all persons, vehicles and materials entering Tibet" during the coming high-security period.

In the last two weeks, senior TAR leaders have visited monasteries that have seen protests in the past to call for control and patriotism. In addition, party cadres stationed in each village, monastery, Communist Party organization, community group, and household-based team in the TAR have been ordered "to strengthen vigilance of public meeting places," "to understand the social situation and mass sentiments more deeply," and "to know the big picture from observing tiny details" by using "advance control, micro control, swift control, and effective control." These instructions likely refer to intensive surveillance and monitoring of the Tibetan population throughout the region. To ensure that these cadres are diligent, "oversight guidance teams" have been formed to check on compliance with these demands by officials at all levels.

Human Rights Watch urged Chinese authorities to defuse rather than intensify tension in the region by publicly addressing recent serious human rights violations against Tibetans, including:

The eviction of at least 2,000 monks and nuns from Larung Gar, once the world's largest Buddhist scholastic community, without giving the community the opportunity to comply with the health and safety standards ostensibly justifying its partial closure.

The prosecution of language activist and petitioner Tashi Wangchuk on charges of "inciting separatism" after he talked to foreign journalists about the government's failure to provide Tibetan-language teaching as required by the constitution.

The failure to address the health concerns raised by the family of prominent Tibetan lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, who died in custody in July 2015 while serving a life sentence on evidence widely regarded as fabricated.

The near total denial of passports and permission to travel abroad to ordinary residents of the TAR since 2012.

The sentencing of monk Thardoe Gyaltsen from Drongna monastery in Driru county, TAR, to 18 years in prison in December 2013 for possessing images of the Dalai Lama and recordings of his speeches and Buddhist teachings.

There are also longstanding issues for which Chinese authorities have taken no steps, including accounting for the status and well-being of the person widely recognized as the 11thPanchen Lama, Gendun Choekyi Nyima, whose whereabouts have been unknown since he was detained at age 6 in 1995; producing evidence for the convictions of health worker Wangdu, given a life sentence, and doctor Yeshe Choedron, who received 15 years, for allegedly copying unauthorized CDs and "passing information" in 2008; and numerous other cases of arbitrary detentions, convictions, and prison sentences of Tibetans for alleged political offenses.

"Beijing's aim to squelch all criticism and dissent in Tibet is counterproductive," Richardson said. "It increases repression, fuels discontent, defies international standards, and is no justification for the authorities' claims of impunity for their actions."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Immigration Rules part 8: family members: Family members (paragraphs A277 to 319Y)

Publisher United Kingdom: Home Office Publication Date 3 January 2017 Cite as United Kingdom: Home Office, Immigration Rules part 8: family members: Family members (paragraphs A277 to 319Y), 3 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c26d1a4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

A277 From 9 July 2012 Appendix FM will apply to all applications to which Part 8 of these rules applied on or before 8 July 2012 except where the provisions of Part 8 are preserved and continue to apply, as set out in paragraphs A280 to A280B.

A277A. Where the Secretary of State is considering an application for limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain to which Part 8 of these rules continues to apply (excluding an application from a family member of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant), and where the applicant:

(a) does not meet the requirements of Part 8 for indefinite leave to remain, (where the application is for indefinite leave to remain) and

(b) meets or continues to meet the requirements for limited leave to remain under Part 8 in force at the date of decision,

subject to compliance with any requirement notified under paragraph A277D(b), further limited leave to remain under Part 8 may be granted of such a period and subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State deems appropriate. For the purposes of this sub-paragraph an applicant last granted limited leave to enter under Part 8 will be considered as if they had last been granted limited leave to remain under Part 8; or

(c) if the applicant does not meet the requirements of Part 8 for indefinite leave to remain as a bereaved partner (where the application is for indefinite leave to remain as a bereaved partner) only because paragraph 322(1C)(iii) or 322(1C)(iv) of these rules applies, the applicant will (subject to compliance with any requirement notified under paragraph A277D(b)) be granted limited leave to remain under Part 8 for a period not exceeding 30 months and subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State deems appropriate.

A277B. Where the Secretary of State is considering an application for limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain to which Part 8 of these rules continues to apply (excluding an application from a family member of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant , from a victim of domestic violence or from a bereaved spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or same sex partner) and where the application does not meet the requirements for indefinite leave to remain (where the application is for indefinite leave to remain) or limited leave to remain under Part 8 in force at the date of decision:

(a) the application will also be considered under paragraphs R-LTRP.1.1.(a), (b) and (d), R-LTRPT.1.1.(a), (b) and (d), R-LTRC.1.1.(a), (b) and (d) and EX.1. of Appendix FM (family life) and paragraphs 276ADE to 276DH (private life) of these rules;

(b) if the applicant meets the requirements for leave under those paragraphs of Appendix FM or paragraphs 276ADE to 276DH (except the requirement for a valid application under that route), the applicant will (subject to compliance with any requirement notified under paragraph A277D(b)) be granted leave under those provisions; and

(c) if the applicant is granted leave under those provisions, the period of the applicant's continuous leave under Part 8 at the date of application will be counted towards the period of continuous leave which must be completed before the applicant can apply for indefinite leave to remain under paragraph 276B.

A277C. Subject to paragraphs A277 to A280B, paragraph 276A0 and paragraph GEN.1.9. of Appendix FM of these rules, where the Secretary of State deems it appropriate, the Secretary of State will consider any application to which the provisions of Appendix FM (family life) and paragraphs 276ADE to 276DH (private life) of these rules do not already apply, under paragraphs R-LTRP.1.1.(a), (b) and (d), R-LTRPT.1.1.(a), (b) and (d), R-LTRC.1.1.(a), (b) and (d) and EX.1. of Appendix FM (family life) and paragraph 276ADE(1) (private life) of these rules. If the applicant meets the requirements for leave under those provisions (except the requirement for a valid application), the applicant will be granted leave under paragraph D-LTRP.1.2., D-LTRPT.1.2. or D-LTRC.1.1. of Appendix FM or under paragraph 276BE(1) of these rules.

A277D. Where, pursuant to paragraphs A277A to A277C, a person who has made an application for indefinite leave to remain to which Part 8 of these rules continues to apply does not meet the requirements for indefinite leave to remain but falls to be granted limited leave to remain under Part 8, paragraphs 276ADE(1) to 276DH or Appendix FM, or outside the rules on Article 8 grounds: (a) The Secretary of State will treat that application for indefinite leave to remain as an application for limited leave to remain; (b) The Secretary of State will notify the applicant in writing of any requirement to pay an immigration health charge under the Immigration (Health Charge) Order 2015; and (c) If there is such a requirement and that requirement is not met, the application for limited leave to remain will be invalid and the Secretary of State will not refund any application fee paid in respect of the application for indefinite leave to remain.

A278 The requirements to be met under Part 8 after 9 July 2012 may be modified or supplemented by the requirements in Appendix FM and Appendix FM-SE.

A279. Paragraphs A398-399D apply to all immigration decisions made further to applications under Part 8 and paragraphs 276A-276D where a decision is made on or after 28 July 2014, irrespective of the date the application was made.

A280 The following provisions of Part 8 apply in the manner and circumstances specified:

(a) The following paragraphs apply in respect of all applications made under Part 8 and Appendix FM, irrespective of the date of application or decision:

277-280 289AA 295AA 296

(b) The following paragraphs of Part 8 continue to apply to all applications made on or after 9 July 2012. The paragraphs apply in their current form unless an additional requirement by reference to Appendix FM is specified:

Paragraph number Additional requirement 295J None 297-300 Where the applicant falls under paragraph 297, the applicant must not fall for refusal under paragraph S-EC.1.9. of Appendix FM in respect of a parent of the applicant. For these purposes, "a parent of the applicant" is to be construed as including "a relative of the applicant" under paragraph 297. 304-309 Where the applicant falls under paragraph 305, the applicant must not fall for refusal under paragraph S-EC.1.9. of Appendix FM in respect of a parent of the applicant. 309A-316F Where: (1) the applicant: - falls under paragraph 314(i)(a); or - falls under paragraph 316A(i)(d) or (e); and - is applying on or after 9 July 2012; and (2) the "other parent" mentioned in paragraph 314(i)(a), or one of the prospective parents mentioned in paragraph 316A(i)(d) or (e), has or is applying for entry clearance or limited leave to remain as a partner under Appendix FM the application must also meet the requirements of paragraphs E-ECC 2.1-2.3 (entry clearance applications) or E-LTRC 2.1-2.3 (leave to remain applications) of Appendix FM. Where the applicant: - falls under paragraph 314(i)(d); - is applying on or after 9 July 2012; and - has two parents or prospective parents and one of the applicant's parents or prospective parents does not have right of abode, indefinite leave to enter or remain, is not present and settled in the UK or being admitted for settlement on the same occasion as the applicant is seeking admission, but otherwise has or is applying for entry clearance or limited leave to remain as a partner under Appendix FM, the application must also meet the requirements of paragraphs E-ECC 2.1-2.3 (entry clearance applications) or E-LTRC 2.1-2.3 (leave to remain applications) of Appendix FM. 319X None

(c) The following provisions of Part 8 continue to apply on or after 9 July 2012, and are not subject to any additional requirement listed in (b) above: (i) to persons who have made an application before 9 July 2012 under Part 8 which was not decided as at 9 July 2012; and (ii) to applications made by persons in the UK who have been granted entry clearance or limited leave to enter or remain under Part 8 before 9 July 2012 and where this is a requirement of Part 8, this leave to enter or limited leave to remain is extant:

281-289 289A-289C 290-295 295A-295O 297-316F 317-319 319L-319U 319V-319Y

(d)

(i) The following provisions of Part 8 continue to apply to applications made in the period beginning with 9 July 2012 and ending on 30 November 2013, including those that have not been decided before 1 December 2013, and are not subject to any additional requirement listed in (b) above, by persons who have made an application for entry clearance, leave to enter or remain as the fiance(e), proposed civil partner, spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, same sex partner, or child or other dependant relative of a British citizen or settled person who is a full-time member of HM Forces:

281-289 289A-289C 290-295 295A-295O 297-316F 317-319

(d) (ii) Subject to the following provisions, from 1 December 2013, Appendix Armed Forces applies to all applications for entry clearance, leave to enter or remain as the fiance(e), proposed civil partner, spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, same sex partner or child of a British citizen or settled person who is a full-time member of HM Forces. (iii) Except, from 1 December 2013, the provisions in paragraph A280(d)(i) continue to apply to persons who were granted entry clearance, limited leave to enter or remain under Part 8 before 1 December 2013, and where it is a requirement of Part 8, that leave to enter or remain is extant. (iv) Applications may continue to be made under paragraphs 297 to 316F of Part 8 by the child of a British citizen or settled person who was a full-time member of HM Forces regardless of the date of application and paragraph A280(b) continues to apply to these applications as appropriate. (v) A new application by a dependent relative of a British citizen or settled person who is a full time member of HM Forces may no longer be made under paragraphs 317-319 on or after 1 December 2013. Those applications must meet the requirements of Appendix FM unless an application was submitted on or before 30 November 2013. An application made by a dependent relative of a British citizen or settled person who is a full time member of HM Forces on or before 30 November 2013 will be considered under the relevant paragraphs 317-319 which apply. (vi) For the avoidance of doubt, paragraph A280(e) will continue to apply to the spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or same sex partner of a British citizen or settled person who was a full-time member of HM Forces when the spouse, civil partner, unmarried or same sex partner was admitted to the UK under paragraph 282(c) or 295B(c) where the applicant has not yet applied for indefinite leave to remain, including where an application relying on paragraph A280(e) is made on or after 1 December 2013. (vii) The requirements in paragraphs 8 and 9 of Appendix Armed Forces apply to applications for entry clearance, leave to enter or remain as the fiance(e), proposed civil partner, spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, same sex partner, or child or other dependent relative of a British citizen or settled person who is a full-time member of HM Forces making an application under Part 8 (where paragraph A280 (d) has permitted such an application) where the decision is made on or after 1 December 2013 (and irrespective of the date of the application).

(e)The following provisions of Part 8 shall continue to apply to applications made on or after 9 July 2012, and are not subject to any additional requirement listed in (b) above, by a spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or same sex partner who was admitted to the UK before 9 July 2012 further to paragraph 282(c) or 295B(c) of these Rules who has not yet applied for indefinite leave to remain:

284-286 287(a)(i)(c) 287(a)(ii)-(vii) 287(b) 288-289 289A-289C 295D-295F 295G(i)(c) 295G(ii)-(vii) 295H-295I

(f) Paragraphs 301-303F continue to apply to applications made under this route on or after 9 July 2012, and are not subject to any additional requirement listed in (b) above, by a child of a person to whom those paragraphs relate who has been granted limited leave to enter or remain or an extension of stay following an application made before 9 July 2012,

(g) For the avoidance of doubt, notwithstanding the introduction of Appendix FM, paragraphs 319AA - 319J of Part 8 continue to apply, and are not subject to any additional requirement listed in paragraph (b) above, to applications for entry clearance or leave to enter or remain as the spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, same sex partner, or child of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant.

A280A. The sponsor of an applicant under Part 8 for limited or indefinite leave to remain as a spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or same sex partner must be the same person as the sponsor of the applicant's last grant of leave in that category.

A280AA. Where a person aged 18 or over is granted limited leave to enter or remain under Part 8 of these rules, or where a person granted such limited leave to enter or remain will be aged 18 before that period of limited leave expires, the leave will, in addition to any other conditions which may apply, be granted subject to the conditions in Part 15 of these rules.

A280B. An applicant aged 18 or over may not rely on paragraph A280 where, since their last grant of limited leave to enter or remain under Part 8, they have been granted or refused leave under Appendix FM, Appendix Armed Forces or paragraph 276BE to CE of these rules, or been granted limited leave to enter or remain in a category outside their original route to settlement.

A281. In Part 8 "specified" means specified in Appendix FM-SE, unless otherwise stated, and "English language test provider approved by the Secretary of State" means a provider specified in Appendix O.

Spouses and civil partners

277. Nothing in these Rules shall be construed as permitting a person to be granted entry clearance, leave to enter, leave to remain or variation of leave as a spouse or civil partner of another if either the applicant or the sponsor will be aged under 18 on the date of arrival in the United Kingdom or (as the case may be) on the date on which the leave to remain or variation of leave would be granted. In these rules the term "sponsor" includes "partner" as defined in GEN 1.2 of Appendix FM. 278. Nothing in these Rules shall be construed as allowing a person to be granted entry clearance, leave to enter, leave to remain or variation of leave as the spouse and civil partner of a man or woman (the sponsor) if: (i) his or her marriage or civil partnership to the sponsor is polygamous; and (ii) there is another person living who is the husband or wife of the sponsor and who: (a) is, or at any time since his or her marriage or civil partnership to the sponsor has been, in the United Kingdom; or (b) has been granted a certificate of entitlement in respect of the right of abode mentioned in Section 2(1)(a) of the Immigration Act 1988 or an entry clearance to enter the United Kingdom as the husband or wife of the sponsor.

For the purpose of this paragraph a marriage or civil partnership may be polygamous although at its inception neither party had any other spouse or civil partner.

279. Paragraph 278 does not apply to any person who seeks entry clearance, leave to enter, leave to remain or variation of leave where: (i) he or she has been in the United Kingdom before 1 August 1988 having been admitted for the purpose of settlement as the husband or wife of the sponsor; or (ii) he or she has, since their marriage or civil partnership to the sponsor, been in the United Kingdom at any time when there was no such other spouse or civil partner living as is mentioned in paragraph 278 (ii).

But where a person claims that paragraph 278 does not apply to them because they have been in the United Kingdom in circumstances which cause them to fall within sub paragraphs (i) or (ii) of that paragraph it shall be for them to prove that fact.

280. For the purposes of paragraphs 278 and 279 the presence of any wife or husband in the United Kingdom in any of the following circumstances shall be disregarded: (i) as a visitor; or (ii) an illegal entrant; or (iii) in circumstances whereby a person is deemed by Section 11(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 not to have entered the United Kingdom.

Spouses or civil partners of persons present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement

Requirements for leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement

281. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement are that: (i) (a)(i) the applicant is married to or the civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement; and __ __(ii) the applicant provides an original English language test certificate in speaking and listening from an English language test provider approved by the Secretary of State for these purposes, which clearly shows the applicant's name and the qualification obtained (which must meet or exceed level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference) unless: (a) the applicant is aged 65 or over at the time he makes his application; or (b) the applicant has a physical or mental condition that would prevent him from meeting the requirement; or; (c) there are exceptional compassionate circumstances that would prevent the applicant from meeting the requirement; or __ __(iii) the applicant is a national of one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Canada; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; United States of America; or __ __(iv) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification(not a professional or vocational qualification), which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, from an educational establishment in one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Ireland; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and The Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; the UK; the USA; and provides the specified documents; or __ __(v) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification (not a professional or vocational qualification) which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and (1) provides the specified evidence to show he has the qualification, and (2) UK NARIC has confirmed that the qualification was taught or researched in English, or __ __(vi) has obtained an academic qualification (not a professional or vocational qualification) which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and provides the specified evidence to show: (1) he has the qualification, and (2) that the qualification was taught or researched in English.

Or

__(b)(i) the applicant is married to or the civil partner of a person who has a right of abode in the United Kingdom or indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom and is on the same occasion seeking admission to the United Kingdom for the purposes of settlement and the parties were married or formed a civil partnership at least 4 years ago, since which time they have been living together outside the United Kingdom; and __(b)(ii) the applicant has demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the English language and sufficient knowledge about life in the United Kingdom, in accordance with Appendix KoLL; and __(b)(iii) DELETED (ii) the parties to the marriage or civil partnership have met; and (iii) each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse or civil partner and the marriage or civil partnership is subsisting; and (iv) there will be adequate accommodation for the parties and any dependants without recourse to public funds in accommodation which they own or occupy exclusively; and (v) the parties will be able to maintain themselves and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds; and (vi) the applicant holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity; and (vii) the applicant does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

For the purposes of this paragraph and paragraphs 282-289 a member of HM Forces serving overseas, or a permanent member of HM Diplomatic Service or a comparable UK-based staff member of the British Council on a tour of duty abroad, or a staff member of the Department for International Development who is a British Citizen or is settled in the United Kingdom, is to be regarded as present and settled in the United Kingdom.

Leave to enter as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted for settlement on the same occasion

282. A person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement may: (a) in the case of a person who meets the requirements of paragraph 281(i)(a)(i) and one of the requirements of paragraph 281(i)(a)(ii) - (vi) be admitted for an initial period not exceeding 27 months, or (b) in the case of a person who meets all of the requirements in paragraph 281(i)(b), be granted indefinite leave to enter, or (c) in the case of a person who meets the requirement in paragraph 281(i)(b)(i), but not the requirement in paragraph 281(i)(b)(ii) to have sufficient knowledge of the English language and about life in the United Kingdom, be admitted for an initial period not exceeding 27 months, in all cases provided the Immigration Officer is satisfied that each of the relevant requirements of paragraph 281 is met.

Refusal of leave to enter as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement

283. Leave to enter the United Kingdom as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement is to be refused if the Immigration Officer is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 281 is met.

Requirements for an extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

284. The requirements for an extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom are that: (i) the applicant has or was last granted limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom which meets the following requirements: (a) The leave was given in accordance with any of the provisions of these Rules; and (b) The leave was granted for a period of 6 months or more, unless it was granted as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner; and (c) The leave was not as the spouse, civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner of a Relevant Points-Based System Migrant; and (ii) the applicant is married to or the civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom; and (iii) the parties to the marriage or civil partnership have met; and (iv) the applicant must not be in the UK in breach of immigration laws (except that, where paragraph 39E of these Rules applies, any current period of overstaying will be disregarded); and (v) the marriage or civil partnership has not taken place after a decision has been made to deport the applicant or he has been recommended for deportation or been given notice under Section 6(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 or been given directions for his removal under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; and (vi) each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse or civil partner and the marriage or civil partnership is subsisting; and (vii) there will be adequate accommodation for the parties and any dependants without recourse to public funds in accommodation which they own or occupy exclusively; and (viii) the parties will be able to maintain themselves and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds; and (ix)(a) the applicant provides an original English language test certificate in speaking and listening from an English language test provider approved by the Secretary of State for these purposes, which clearly shows the applicant's name and the qualification obtained (which must meet or exceed level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference) unless: (i) the applicant is aged 65 or over at the time he makes his application; or (ii) the applicant has a physical or mental condition that would prevent him from meeting the requirement; or; (iii) there are exceptional compassionate circumstances that would prevent the applicant from meeting the requirement; or (ix)(b) the applicant is a national of one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Canada; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; United States of America; or (ix)(c) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification, which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, from an educational establishment in one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Ireland; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and The Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; the UK; the USA; and provides the specified documents; or (ix)(d) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and (1) provides the specified evidence to show he has the qualification, and (2) UK NARIC has confirmed that the qualification was taught or researched in English, or (ix)(e) has obtained an academic qualification which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and provides the specified evidence to show: (1) he has the qualification, and (2) that the qualification was taught or researched in English.

Extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

285. An extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom may be granted for a period of 2 years in the first instance, provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 284 is met.

Refusal of extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

286. An extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 284 is met.

Requirements for indefinite leave to remain for the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

287. (a) The requirements for indefinite leave to remain for the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom are that: (i) (a) the applicant was admitted to the United Kingdom for a period not exceeding 27 months or given an extension of stay for a period of 2 years in accordance with paragraphs 281 to 286 of these Rules and has completed a period of 2 years as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom; or __(b) the applicant was admitted to the United Kingdom for a period not exceeding 27 months or given an extension of stay for a period of 2 years in accordance with paragraphs 295AA to 295F of these Rules and during that period married or formed a civil partnership with the person whom he or she was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join and has completed a period of 2 years as the unmarried or same-sex partner and then the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom; or __(c) was admitted to the United Kingdom in accordance with leave granted under paragraph 282(c) of these rules; or __(d) the applicant was admitted to the UK or given an extension of stay as the spouse or civil partner of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant; and then obtained an extension of stay under paragraphs 281 to 286 of these Rules and has completed a period of 2 years as the spouse or civil partner of the person who is now present and settled here; or __(e) the applicant was admitted to the UK or given an extension of stay as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant; and during that period married or formed a civil partnership with the person whom he or she was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join and has completed a period of 2 years as the unmarried or same-sex partner and then the spouse or civil partner of the person who is now present and settled in the UK; or __(f) the applicant was admitted into the UK in accordance with paragraph 319L and has completed a period of 2 years limited leave as the spouse or civil partner of a refugee or beneficiary of humanitarian protection who is now present and settled in the UK or as the spouse or civil partner of a former refugee or beneficiary of humanitarian protection who is now a British Citizen. (ii) the applicant is still the spouse or civil partner of the person he or she was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join and the marriage or civil partnership is subsisting; and (iii) each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse or civil partner; and (iv) there will be adequate accommodation for the parties and any dependants without recourse to public funds in accommodation which they own or occupy exclusively; and (v) the parties will be able to maintain themselves and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds; and (vi) the applicant has demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the English language and sufficient knowledge about life in the United Kingdom, in accordance with Appendix KoLL; and (vii) the applicant does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

(b) The requirements for indefinite leave to remain for the bereaved spouse or civil partner of a person who was present and settled in the United Kingdom are that: (i) (a) the applicant was admitted to the United Kingdom for a period not exceeding 27 months or given an extension of stay for a period of 2 years as the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom in accordance with paragraphs 281 to 286 of these Rules; or; __(b) the applicant was admitted to the United Kingdom for a period not exceeding 27 months or given an extension of stay for a period of 2 years as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom in accordance with paragraphs 295AA to 295F of these Rules and during that period married or formed a civil partnership with the person whom he or she was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join; and (ii) the person whom the applicant was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join died during that period; and (iii) the applicant was still the spouse or civil partner of the person he or she was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join at the time of the death; and (iv) each of the parties intended to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse or civil partner and the marriage or civil partnership was subsisting at the time of the death; and (v) the applicant does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

Indefinite leave to remain for the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

288. Indefinite leave to remain for the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 287 is met.

Refusal of indefinite leave to remain for the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

289. Indefinite leave to remain for the spouse or civil partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 287 is met.

Victims of domestic violence

Requirements for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the victim of domestic violence

289A. The requirements to be met by a person who is the victim of domestic violence and who is seeking indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom are that the applicant: (i)(a) the applicant was last admitted to the UK for a period not exceeding 27 months in accordance with sub-paragraph 282(a), 282(c), 295B(a) or 295B(c) of these Rules; or (b) the applicant was last granted leave to remain as the spouse or civil partner or unmarried partner or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the UK in accordance with paragraph 285 or 295E of these Rules, except where that leave extends leave originally granted to the applicant as the partner of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant; or (c) the applicant was last granted leave to enable access to public funds pending an application under paragraph 289A and the preceding grant of leave was given in accordance with paragraph 282(a), 282(c), 285, 295B(a), 295B(c) or 295E of these Rules, except where that leave extends leave originally granted to the applicant as the partner of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant; and (ii) the relationship with their spouse or civil partner or unmarried partner or same-sex partner, as appropriate, was subsisting at the beginning of the last period of leave granted in accordance with paragraph 282(a), 282(c), 285, 295B(a), 295B(c) or 295E of these Rules; and (iii) is able to produce evidence to establish that the relationship was caused to permanently break down before the end of that period as a result of domestic violence; and (iv) DELETED (v) DELETED

Indefinite leave to remain as the victim of domestic violence

289B. Indefinite leave to remain as the victim of domestic violence may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 289A is met.

Refusal of indefinite leave to remain as the victim of domestic violence

289C. Indefinite leave to remain as the victim of domestic violence is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 289A is met. 289D. If the applicant does not meet the requirements for indefinite leave to remain as a victim of domestic violence only because paragraph 322(1C)(iii) or 322(1C)(iv) applies, they may be granted further limited leave to remain for a period not exceeding 30 months and subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State deems appropriate.

Fiance(e)s and proposed civil partners

289AA. Nothing in these Rules shall be construed as permitting a person to be granted entry clearance, leave to enter or variation of leave as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner if either the applicant or the sponsor will be aged under 18 on the date of arrival of the applicant in the United Kingdom or (as the case may be) on the date on which the leave to enter or variation of leave would be granted.

Requirements for leave to enter the United Kingdom as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner (i.e. with a view to marriage or civil partnership and permanent settlement in the United Kingdom)

290. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner are that: (i) the applicant is seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom for marriage or civil partnership to a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement; and (ii) the parties to the proposed marriage or civil partnership have met; and (iii) each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his or her spouse or civil partner after the marriage or civil partnership ; and (iv) adequate maintenance and accommodation without recourse to public funds will be available for the applicant until the date of the marriage or civil partnership; and (v) there will, after the marriage or civil partnership, be adequate accommodation for the parties and any dependants without recourse to public funds in accommodation which they own or occupy exclusively; and (vi) the parties will be able after the marriage or civil partnership to maintain themselves and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds; and (vii)(a) the applicant provides an original English language test certificate in speaking and listening from an English language test provider approved by the Secretary of State for these purposes, which clearly shows the applicant's name and the qualification obtained (which must meet or exceed level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference) unless: (i) the applicant is aged 65 or over at the time he makes his application; or (ii) the applicant has a physical or mental condition that would prevent him from meeting the requirement; or; (iii) there are exceptional compassionate circumstances that would prevent the applicant from meeting the requirement; or (vii)(b) the applicant is a national of one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Canada; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; United States of America; or (vii)(c) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification, which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, from an educational establishment in one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Ireland; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and The Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; the UK; the USA; and provides the specified documents; or (vii)(d) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and (1) provides the specified evidence to show he has the qualification, and (2) UK NARIC has confirmed that the qualification was taught or researched in English, or (vii)(e) has obtained an academic qualification which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and provides the specified evidence to show: (1) he has the qualification, and (2) that the qualification was taught or researched in English. and (viii) the applicant holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

Leave to enter as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

291. A person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner may be admitted, with a prohibition on employment, for a period not exceeding 6 months to enable the marriage or civil partnership to take place provided a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival.

Refusal of leave to enter as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

292. Leave to enter the United Kingdom as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival.

Requirements for an extension of stay as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

293. The requirements for an extension of stay as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner are that: (i) the applicant was admitted to the United Kingdom with a valid United Kingdom entry clearance as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner; and (ii) good cause is shown why the marriage or civil partnership did not take place within the initial period of leave granted under paragraph 291; and (iii) there is satisfactory evidence that the marriage or civil partnership will take place at an early date; and (iv) the requirements of paragraph 290 (ii)-(vii) are met.

Extension of stay as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

294. An extension of stay as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner may be granted for an appropriate period with a prohibition on employment to enable the marriage or civil partnership to take place provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 293 is met.

Refusal of extension of stay as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

295. An extension of stay is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 293 is met.

Unmarried and same-sex partners

Leave to enter as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement

295AA. Nothing in these Rules shall be construed as permitting a person to be granted entry clearance, leave to enter or variation of leave as an unmarried or same-sex partner if either the applicant or the sponsor will be aged under 18 on the date of arrival of the applicant in the United Kingdom or (as the case may be) on the date on which the leave to enter or variation of leave would be granted.

Requirements for leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement

295A. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement, are that: (i) (a)(i) the applicant is the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement and the parties have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership which has subsisted for two years or more; and __ __(ii) the applicant provides an original English language test certificate in speaking and listening from an English language test provider approved by the Secretary of State for these purposes, which clearly shows the applicant's name and the qualification obtained (which must meet or exceed level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference) unless: (a) the applicant is aged 65 or over at the time he makes his application; or (b) the applicant has a physical or mental condition that would prevent him from meeting the requirement; or (c) there are exceptional compassionate circumstances that would prevent the applicant from meeting the requirement; or __ __(iii) the applicant is a national of one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Canada; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; United States of America; or __ __(iv) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification (not a professional or vocational qualification), which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, from an educational establishment in one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Ireland; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and The Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; the UK; the USA; and provides the specified documents; or __ __(v) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification (not a professional or vocational qualification) which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and (1) provides the specified evidence to show he has the qualification, and (2) UK NARIC has confirmed that the qualification was taught or researched in English, or __ __(vi) has obtained an academic qualification (not a professional or vocational qualification) which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and provides the specified evidence to show: (1) he has the qualification, and (2) that the qualification was taught or researched in English. or __(b)(i) the applicant is the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person who has a right of abode in the United Kingdom or indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom and is on the same occasion seeking admission to the United Kingdom for the purposes of settlement and the parties have been living together outside the United Kingdom in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership which has subsisted for 4 years or more; and __(b)(ii) the applicant has demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the English language and sufficient knowledge about life in the United Kingdom, in accordance with Appendix KoLL; and __(b)(iii) DELETED (ii) any previous marriage or civil partnership (or similar relationship) by either partner has permanently broken down; and (iii) the parties are not involved in a consanguineous relationship with one another; and (iv) DELETED (v) there will be adequate accommodation for the parties and any dependants without recourse to public funds in accommodation which they own or occupy exclusively; and (vi) the parties will be able to maintain themselves and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds; and (vii) the parties intend to live together permanently; and (viii) the applicant holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity; and (ix) the applicant does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

For the purposes of this paragraph and paragraphs 295B - 295I, a member of HM Forces serving overseas, or a permanent member of HM Diplomatic Service or a comparable UK-based staff member of the British Council on a tour of duty abroad, or a staff member of the Department for International Development who is a British Citizen or is settled in the United Kingdom, is to be regarded as present and settled in the United Kingdom.

Leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement

295B. A person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement may: (a) in the case of a person who meets the requirements of paragraph 295A(i)(a)(i), and one of the requirements of paragraph 295A(i)(a)(ii)-(vi) be admitted for an initial period not exceeding 27 months, or (b) in the case of a person who meets all of the requirements in paragraph 295A(i)(b), be granted indefinite leave to enter, or (c) in the case of a person who meets the requirement in paragraph 295A(i)(b)(i), but not the requirement in paragraph 295A(i)(b)(ii) to have sufficient knowledge of the English language and about life in the United Kingdom, be admitted for an initial period not exceeding 27 months, in all cases provided the Immigration Officer is satisfied that each of the relevant requirements of paragraph 295A is met.

Refusal of leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement

295C. Leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement, is to be refused if the Immigration Officer is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 295A is met.

Leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

Requirements for leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

295D. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom are that: (i) the applicant has or was last granted limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom which was given in accordance with any of the provisions of these Rules, unless: (a) as a result of that leave he would not have been in the United Kingdom beyond 6 months from the date on which he was admitted to the United Kingdom; or (b) the leave was granted as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant; and (ii) any previous marriage or civil partnership (or similar relationship) by either partner has permanently broken down; and (iii) the applicant is the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person who is present and settled in the United Kingdom; and (iv) the applicant must not be in the UK in breach of immigration laws (except that, where paragraph 39E of these Rules applies, any current period of overstaying will be disregarded); and (v) the parties are not involved in a consanguineous relationship with one another; and (vi) the parties have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership which has subsisted for two years or more; and (vii) the parties' relationship pre-dates any decision to deport the applicant, recommend him for deportation, give him notice under Section 6(2) of the Immigration Act 1971, or give directions for his removal under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; and (viii) there will be adequate accommodation for the parties and any dependants without recourse to public funds in accommodation which they own or occupy exclusively; and (ix) the parties will be able to maintain themselves and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds; and (x) the parties intend to live together permanently; and (xi)(a) the applicant provides an original English language test certificate in speaking and listening from an English language test provider approved by the Secretary of State for these purposes, which clearly shows the applicant's name and the qualification obtained (which must meet or exceed level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference) unless: (i) the applicant is aged 65 or over at the time he makes his application; or (ii) the applicant has a physical or mental condition that would prevent him from meeting the requirement; or; (iii) there are exceptional compassionate circumstances that would prevent the applicant from meeting the requirement; or (xi)(b) the applicant is a national of one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Canada; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; United States of America; or (xi)(c) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification, which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, from an educational establishment in one of the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Ireland; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and The Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; the UK; the USA; and provides the specified documents; or (xi)(d) the applicant has obtained an academic qualification which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and (1) provides the specified evidence to show he has the qualification, and (2) UK NARIC has confirmed that the qualification was taught or researched in English, or (xi)(e) has obtained an academic qualification which is deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Master's degree or PhD in the UK, and provides the specified evidence to show: (1) he has the qualification, and (2) that the qualification was taught or researched in English.

Leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

295E. Leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom may be granted for a period of 2 years in the first instance provided that the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 295D are met.

Refusal of leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

295F. Leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 295D is met.

Indefinite leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

Requirements for indefinite leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

295G. The requirements to be met by a person seeking indefinite leave to remain as the unmarried partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom are that: (i)(a) the applicant was admitted to the United Kingdom for a period not exceeding 27 months or given an extension of stay for a period of 2 years in accordance with paragraphs 295AA to 295F of these Rules and has completed a period of 2 years as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled here; or (b) the applicant was admitted to the UK or given an extension of stay as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a Relevant Points Based System Migrant; and then obtained an extension of stay under paragraphs 295AA to 295F of these Rules; and the person has completed a period of 2 years as the unmarried or same-sex partner of the person who is now present and settled here; or (c) the applicant was admitted to the United Kingdom in accordance with leave granted under paragraph 295B(c) of these rules; or (d) the applicant was admitted into the UK in accordance with paragraph 319O and has completed a period of 2 years limited leave as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a refugee or beneficiary of humanitarian protection who is now present and settled in the UK or as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a former refugee or beneficiary of humanitarian protection who is now a British Citizen. (ii) the applicant is still the unmarried or same-sex partner of the person he was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join and the relationship is still subsisting; and (iii) each of the parties intends to live permanently with the other as his partner; and (iv) there will be adequate accommodation for the parties and any dependants without recourse to public funds in accommodation which they own or occupy exclusively; and (v) the parties will be able to maintain themselves and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds; and (vi) the applicant has demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the English language and sufficient knowledge about life in the United Kingdom, in accordance with Appendix KoLL; and (vii) the applicant does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

Indefinite leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

295H. Indefinite leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom may be granted provided that the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 295G is met.

Refusal of indefinite leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

295I. Indefinite leave to remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 295G is met.

Leave to enter or remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person with limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under paragraphs 128-193; 200-239; or 263-270

Requirements for leave to enter or remain as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person with limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under paragraphs 128-193; 200-239; or 263-270

295J-295L. DELETED.

Indefinite leave to remain for the bereaved unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

Requirements for indefinite leave to remain for the bereaved unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

295M. The requirements to be met by a person seeking indefinite leave to remain as the bereaved unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom, are that: (i) the applicant was admitted to the United Kingdom admitted to the United Kingdom for a period not exceeding 27 months; or given an extension of stay for a period of 2 years in accordance with paragraphs 295AA to 295F of these Rules as the unmarried partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom; and (ii) the person whom the applicant was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join died during that period of leave; and (iii) the applicant was still the unmarried or same-sex partner of the person he was admitted or granted an extension of stay to join at the time of the death; and (iv) each of the parties intended to live permanently with the other as his partner and the relationship was subsisting at the time of the death; and (v) the applicant does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

Indefinite leave to remain for the bereaved unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

295N. Indefinite leave to remain for the bereaved unmarried partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom, may be granted provided that the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 295M is met.

Refusal of indefinite leave to remain for the bereaved unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom

295O. Indefinite leave to remain for the bereaved unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom, is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 295M is met.

Children

296. Nothing in these Rules shall be construed as permitting a child to be granted entry clearance, leave to enter or remain, or variation of leave where his parent is party to a polygamous marriage or civil partnership and any application by that parent for admission or leave to remain for settlement or with a view to settlement would be refused pursuant to paragraphs 278 or 278A.

Leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom

Requirements for indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom

297. The requirements to be met by a person seeking indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom are that he:

(i) is seeking leave to enter to accompany or join a parent, parents or a relative in one of the following circumstances: (a) both parents are present and settled in the United Kingdom; or (b) both parents are being admitted on the same occasion for settlement; or (c) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and the other is being admitted on the same occasion for settlement; or (d) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement and the other parent is dead; or (e) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement and has had sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or (f) one parent or a relative is present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement and there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care; and (ii) is under the age of 18; and (iii) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried and is not a civil partner, and has not formed an independent family unit; and (iv) can, and will, be accommodated adequately by the parent, parents or relative the child is seeking to join without recourse to public funds in accommodation which the parent, parents or relative the child is seeking to join, own or occupy exclusively; and (v) can, and will, be maintained adequately by the parent, parents, or relative the child is seeking to join, without recourse to public funds; and (vi) holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity; and (vii) does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

Requirements for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom

298. The requirements to be met by a person seeking indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled in the United Kingdom are that he: (i) is seeking to remain with a parent, parents or a relative in one of the following circumstances: (a) both parents are present and settled in the United Kingdom; or (b) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and the other parent is dead; or (c) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and has had sole responsibility for the child's upbringing or the child normally lives with this parent and not their other parent; or (d) one parent or a relative is present and settled in the United Kingdom and there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care; and (ii) has or has had limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, and (a) is under the age of 18; or (b) was given leave to enter or remain with a view to settlement under paragraph 302 or Appendix FM; or (c) was admitted into the UK in accordance with paragraph 319R and has completed a period of 2 years limited leave as the child of a refugee or beneficiary of humanitarian protection who is now present and settled in the UK or as the child of a former refugee or beneficiary of humanitarian protection who is now a British Citizen, or (d) the applicant has limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom in accordance with paragraph 319X, as the child of a relative with limited leave to remain as a refugee or beneficiary of humanitarian protection in the United Kingdom and who is now present and settled here; or (e) was last given limited leave to remain under paragraph 298A; and (iii) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried, and has not formed an independent family unit; and (iv) can, and will, be accommodated adequately by the parent, parents or relative the child was admitted to join, without recourse to public funds in accommodation which the parent, parents or relative the child was admitted to join, own or occupy exclusively; and (v) can, and will, be maintained adequately by the parent, parents or relative the child was admitted to join, without recourse to public funds; and (vi) does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal, and (vii) if aged 18 or over, was admitted to the United Kingdom under paragraph 302, or Appendix FM, or 319R or 319X and has demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the English language and sufficient knowledge about life in the United Kingdom in accordance with Appendix KoLL.

298A. If an applicant does not meet the requirements of paragraph 298 only because: (a) the applicant does not meet the requirement in paragraph 298(vi) by reason of a sentence or disposal of a type mentioned in paragraph 322(1C)(iii) or (iv); or (b) an applicant aged 18 or over does not meet the requirement in paragraph 298(vii); or (c) the applicant would otherwise be refused indefinite leave to remain under paragraph 322(1C)(iii) or (iv), the applicant may be granted limited leave to remain for a period not exceeding 30 months and subject to a condition of no recourse to public funds.

Indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom

299. Indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom may be granted provided a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled in the United Kingdom may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 298 is met.

Refusal of indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom

300. Indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent, parents or a relative present and settled in the United Kingdom is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 298 is met.

Requirements for limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement

301. The requirements to be met by a person seeking limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement are that he: (i) is seeking leave to enter to accompany or join or remain with a parent or parents in one of the following circumstances: (a) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement and the other parent is being or has been given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement; or (b) one parent is being or has been given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement and has had sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or (c) one parent is being or has been given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement and there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care; and (ii) is under the age of 18; and (iii) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried and is not a civil partner, and has not formed an independent family unit; and (iv) can, and will, be accommodated adequately without recourse to public funds, in accommodation which the parent or parents own or occupy exclusively; and (iva) can, and will, be maintained adequately by the parent or parents without recourse to public funds; and (ivb) does not qualify for limited leave to enter as a child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain as a refugee or beneficiary of humanitarian protection under paragraph 319R; and (v) (where an application is made for limited leave to remain with a view to settlement) has limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom; and (vi) if seeking leave to enter, holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

Limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement

302. A person seeking limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement may be admitted for a period not exceeding 27 months provided he is able, on arrival, to produce to the Immigration Officer a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity. A person seeking limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement may be given limited leave to remain for a period not exceeding 27 months provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 301 (i)-(v) is met.

Refusal of limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement

303. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 301 (i)-(v) is met.

Leave to enter and extension of stay in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent who is being, or has been admitted to the united kingdom as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

Requirements for limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

303A. The requirements to be met by a person seeking limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner, are that: (i) he is seeking to accompany or join a parent who is, on the same occasion that the child seeks admission, being admitted as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner , or who has been admitted as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner; and (ii) he is under the age of 18; and (iii) he is not leading an independent life, is unmarried and is not a civil partner, and has not formed an independent family unit; and (iv) he can and will be maintained and accommodated adequately without recourse to public funds with the parent admitted or being admitted as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner; and (v) there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make the child's exclusion undesirable, that suitable arrangements have been made for his care in the United Kingdom, and there is no other person outside the United Kingdom who could reasonably be expected to care for him; and (vi) he holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a parent who is being, or has been admitted to the United Kingdom as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

303B. A person seeking limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner, may be granted limited leave to enter the United Kingdom for a period not in excess of that granted to the fiance(e) or proposed civil partner, provided that a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Where the period of limited leave granted to a fiance(e) will expire in more than 6 months, a person seeking limited leave to enter as the child of the fiance(e) or proposed civil partner should be granted leave for a period not exceeding six months.

Refusal of limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a parent who is being, or has been admitted to the United Kingdom as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

303C. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner, is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival.

Requirements for an extension of stay in the United Kingdom as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

303D. The requirements to be met by a person seeking an extension of stay in the United Kingdom as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner are that: (i) the applicant was admitted with a valid United Kingdom entry clearance as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner; and (ii) the applicant is the child of a parent who has been granted limited leave to enter, or an extension of stay, as a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner; and (iii) the requirements of paragraph 303A (ii) - (v) are met.

Extension of stay in the United Kingdom as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

303E. An extension of stay as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner may be granted provided that the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 303D is met.

Refusal of an extension of stay in the United Kingdom as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner

303F. An extension of stay as the child of a fiance(e) or proposed civil partner is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 303D is met.

Children born in the United Kingdom who are not British citizens

304. This paragraph and paragraphs 305-309 apply only to dependent children under 18 years of age who are unmarried and are not civil partners and who were born in the United Kingdom on or after 1 January 1983 (when the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force) but who, because neither of their parents was a British Citizen or settled in the United Kingdom at the time of their birth, are not British Citizens and are therefore subject to immigration control. Such a child requires leave to enter where admission to the United Kingdom is sought, and leave to remain where permission is sought for the child to be allowed to stay in the United Kingdom. If he qualifies for entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain under any other part of these Rules, a child who was born in the United Kingdom but is not a British Citizen may be granted entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain in accordance with the provisions of that other part.

Requirements for leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent or parents given leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom

305. The requirements to be met by a child born in the United Kingdom who is not a British Citizen who seeks leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the child of a parent or parents given leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom are that he: (i) (a) is accompanying or seeking to join or remain with a parent or parents who have, or are given, leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom; or (b) is accompanying or seeking to join or remain with a parent or parents one of whom is a British Citizen or has the right of abode in the United Kingdom; or (c) is a child in respect of whom the parental rights and duties are vested solely in a local authority; and (ii) is under the age of 18; and (iii) was born in the United Kingdom; and (iv) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried and is not a civil partner, and has not formed an independent family unit; and (v) (where an application is made for leave to enter) has not been away from the United Kingdom for more than 2 years.

Leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom

306. A child born in the United Kingdom who is not a British Citizen and who requires leave to enter or remain in the circumstances set out in paragraph 304 may be given leave to enter for the same period as his parent or parents where paragraph 305 (i)(a) applies, provided the Immigration Officer is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 305 (ii)-(v) is met. Where leave to remain is sought, the child may be granted leave to remain for the same period as his parent or parents where paragraph 305 (i)(a) applies, provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 305 (ii)-(iv) is met. Where the parent or parents have or are given periods of leave of different duration, the child may be given leave to whichever period is longer except that if the parents are living apart the child should be given leave for the same period as the parent who has day to day responsibility for him. 307. If a child does not qualify for leave to enter or remain because neither of his parents has a current leave, (and neither of them is a British Citizen or has the right of abode), he will normally be refused leave to enter or remain, even if each of the requirements of paragraph 305 (ii)-(v) has been satisfied. However, he may be granted leave to enter or remain for a period not exceeding 3 months if both of his parents are in the United Kingdom and it appears unlikely that they will be removed in the immediate future, and there is no other person outside the United Kingdom who could reasonably be expected to care for him. 308. A child born in the United Kingdom who is not a British Citizen and who requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom in the circumstances set out in paragraph 304 may be given indefinite leave to enter where paragraph 305 (i)(b) or (i)(c) applies provided the Immigration Officer is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 305 (ii)-(v) is met. Where an application is for leave to remain, such a child may be granted indefinite leave to remain where paragraph 305 (i)(b) or (i)(c) applies, provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 305 (ii)-(iv) is met.

Refusal of leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom

309. Leave to enter the United Kingdom where the circumstances set out in paragraph 304 apply is to be refused if the Immigration Officer is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 305 is met. Leave to remain for such a child is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 305 (i)-(iv) is met.

Adopted children

309A. For the purposes of adoption under paragraphs 310-316C a de facto adoption shall be regarded as having taken place if: (a) at the time immediately preceding the making of the application for entry clearance under these Rules the adoptive parent or parents have been living abroad (in applications involving two parents both must have lived abroad together) for at least a period of time equal to the first period mentioned in sub-paragraph (b)(i) and must have cared for the child for at least a period of time equal to the second period material in that sub-paragraph; and (b) during their time abroad, the adoptive parent or parents have: (i) lived together for a minimum period of 18 months, of which the 12 months immediately preceding the application for entry clearance must have been spent living together with the child; and (ii) have assumed the role of the child's parents, since the beginning of the 18 month period, so that there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility. 309B. Inter-country adoptions may be subject to section 83 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 or the equivalent legislation in Scotland or Northern Ireland if the adopter's habitual residence is there. Where this is the case, a letter obtained from the Department for Education (England and Wales habitual residents) or the equivalent from the relevant central authority (Scotland or Northern Ireland habitual residents) confirming the issue of a Certificate of Eligibility must be provided with any entry clearance adoption application under paragraphs 310-316C.

Requirements for indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom

310. The requirements to be met in the case of a child seeking indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom are that he: (i) is seeking leave to enter to accompany or join an adoptive parent or parents in one of the following circumstances; (a) both parents are present and settled in the United Kingdom; or (b) both parents are being admitted on the same occasion for settlement; or (c) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and the other is being admitted on the same occasion for settlement; or (d) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement and the other parent is dead; or (e) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement and has had sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or (f) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement and there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care; or (g) in the case of a de facto adoption one parent has a right of abode in the United Kingdom or indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom and is seeking admission to the United Kingdom on the same occasion for the purposes of settlement; and (ii) is under the age of 18; and (iii) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried and is not a civil partner, and has not formed an independent family unit; and (iv) can, and will, be accommodated and maintained adequately without recourse to public funds in accommodation which the adoptive parent or parents own or occupy exclusively; and (v) DELETED (vi) (a) was adopted in accordance with a decision taken by the competent administrative authority or court in his country of origin or the country in which he is resident, being a country whose adoption orders are recognised by the United Kingdom; or (b) is the subject of a de facto adoption; and (vii) was adopted at a time when: (a) both adoptive parents were resident together abroad; or (b) either or both adoptive parents were settled in the United Kingdom; and (viii) has the same rights and obligations as any other child of the adoptive parent's or parents' family; and (ix) was adopted due to the inability of the original parent(s) or current carer(s) to care for him and there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility to the adoptive parents; and (x) has lost or broken his ties with his family of origin; and (xi) was adopted, but the adoption is not one of convenience arranged to facilitate his admission to or remaining in the United Kingdom; and (xii) holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity; and (xiii) does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

Requirements for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled in the United Kingdom

311. The requirements to be met in the case of a child seeking indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled in the United Kingdom are that he: (i) is seeking to remain with an adoptive parent or parents in one of the following circumstances: (a) both parents are present and settled in the United Kingdom; or (b) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and the other parent is dead; or (c) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and has had sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or (d) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care; or (e) in the case of a de facto adoption one parent has a right of abode in the United Kingdom or indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom and is seeking admission to the United Kingdom on the same occasion for the purpose of settlement; and (ii) has limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, and (a) is under the age of 18; or (b) was given leave to enter or remain with a view to settlement under paragraph 315 or paragraph 316B; and (iii) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried and is not a civil partner, and has not formed an independent family unit; and (iv) can, and will, be accommodated and maintained adequately without recourse to public funds in accommodation which the adoptive parent or parents own or occupy exclusively; and (v) DELETED (vi) (a) was adopted in accordance with a decision taken by the competent administrative authority or court in his country of origin or the country in which he is resident, being a country whose adoption orders are recognised by the United Kingdom; or (b) is the subject of a de facto adoption; and (vii) was adopted at a time when: (a) both adoptive parents were resident together abroad; or (b) either or both adoptive parents were settled in the United Kingdom; and (viii) has the same rights and obligations as any other child of the adoptive parent's or parents' family; and (ix) was adopted due to the inability of the original parent(s) or current carer(s) to care for him and there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility to the adoptive parents; and (x) has lost or broken his ties with his family of origin; and (xi) was adopted, but the adoption is not one of convenience arranged to facilitate his admission to or remaining in the United Kingdom; and (xii) does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal.

Indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom

312. Indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom may be granted provided a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled in the United Kingdom may be granted provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 311 is met.

Refusal of indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom

313. Indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled or being admitted for settlement in the United Kingdom is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the adopted child of a parent or parents present and settled in the United Kingdom is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 311 is met.

Requirements for limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the adopted child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement

314. The requirements to be met in the case of a child seeking limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the adopted child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement are that he: (i) is seeking leave to enter to accompany or join or remain with a parent or parents in one of the following (a) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement and the other parent is being or has been given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement; or (b) one parent is being or has been given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement and has had sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or (c) one parent is being or has been given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement and there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care; or (d) in the case of a de facto adoption one parent has a right of abode in the United Kingdom or indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom and is seeking admission to the United Kingdom on the same occasion for the purpose of settlement; and (ii) is under the age of 18; and (iii) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried and is not a civil partner, and has not formed an independent family unit; and (iv) can, and will, be accommodated and maintained adequately without recourse to public funds in accommodation which the adoptive parent or parents own or occupy exclusively; and (v) (a) was adopted in accordance with a decision taken by the competent administrative authority or court in his country of origin or the country in which he is resident, being a country whose adoption orders are recognised by the United Kingdom; or (b) is the subject of a de facto adoption; and

(vi) was adopted at a time when: (a) both adoptive parents were resident together abroad; or (b) either or both adoptive parents were settled in the United Kingdom; and (vii) has the same rights and obligations as any other child of the adoptive parent's or parents' family; and (viii) was adopted due to the inability of the original parent(s) or current carer(s) to care for him and there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility to the adoptive parents; and (ix) has lost or broken his ties with his family of origin; and (x) was adopted, but the adoption is not one of convenience arranged to facilitate his admission to the United Kingdom; and (xi) (where an application is made for limited leave to remain with a view to settlement) has limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom; and (xii) if seeking leave to enter, holds a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

Limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the adopted child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement

315. A person seeking limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the adopted child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement may be admitted for a period not exceeding 12 months provided he is able, on arrival, to produce to the Immigration Officer a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity. A person seeking limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the adopted child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement may be granted limited leave for a period not exceeding 12 months provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 314 (i)-(xi) is met.

Refusal of limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the adopted child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement

316. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the adopted child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival. Limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the adopted child of a parent or parents given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement is to be refused if the Secretary of State is not satisfied that each of the requirements of paragraph 314 (i)-(xi) is met.

Requirements for limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as a child for adoption

316A. The requirements to be satisfied in the case of a child seeking limited leave to enter the United Kingdom for the purpose of being adopted (which, for the avoidance of doubt, does not include a de facto adoption) in the United Kingdom are that he: (i) is seeking limited leave to enter to accompany or join a person or persons who wish to adopt him in the United Kingdom (the "prospective parent(s)"), in one of the following circumstances: (a) both prospective parents are present and settled in the United Kingdom; or (b) both prospective parents are being admitted for settlement on the same occasion that the child is seeking admission; or (c) one prospective parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and the other is being admitted for settlement on the same occasion that the child is seeking admission; or (d) one prospective parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and the other is being given limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom with a view to settlement on the same occasion that the child is seeking admission, or has previously been given such leave; or (e) one prospective parent is being admitted for settlement on the same occasion that the other is being granted limited leave to enter with a view to settlement, which is also on the same occasion that the child is seeking admission; or (f) one prospective parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom or is being admitted for settlement on the same occasion that the child is seeking admission, and has had sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or (g) one prospective parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom or is being admitted for settlement on the same occasion that the child is seeking admission, and there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which would make the child's exclusion undesirable, and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care; and (ii) is under the age of 18; and (iii) is not leading an independent life, is unmarried and is not a civil partner, and has not formed an independent family unit; and (iv) can, and will, be maintained and accommodated adequately without recourse to public funds in accommodation which the prospective parent or parents own or occupy exclusively; and (v) will have the same rights and obligations as any other child of the marriage or civil partnership; and (vi) is being adopted due to the inability of the original parent(s) or current carer(s) (or those looking after him immediately prior to him being physically transferred to his prospective parent or parents) to care for him, and there has been a genuine transfer of parental responsibility to the prospective parent or parents; and (vii) has lost or broken or intends to lose or break his ties with his family of origin; and (viii) will be adopted in the United Kingdom by his prospective parent or parents in accordance with the law relating to adoption in the United Kingdom, but the proposed adoption is not one of convenience arranged to facilitate his admission to the United Kingdom.

Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as a child for adoption

316B. A person seeking limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as a child for adoption may be admitted for a period not exceeding 24 months provided he is able, on arrival, to produce to the Immigration Officer a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity.

Refusal of limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as a child for adoption

316C. Limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as a child for adoption is to be refused if a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this capacity is not produced to the Immigration Officer on arrival.

Requirements for limited leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as a child for adoption under the Hague Convention

316D The requirements to be satisfied in the case of a child seeking limited leave to enter the United Kingdom for the purpose of being adopted in the United Kingdom under the Hague Convention are that he: (i) is seeking limited leave to enter to accompany one or two people each of whom are habitually resident in the United Kingdom and who wish to adopt him under the Hague Convention ("the prospective parents"); (ii) is the subject of an agreement made under Article 17(c) of the Hague Convention; and (iii) has been entrusted to the prospective parents by the competent administrative authority of the country from which he is coming to the United Kingdom for adoption under the Hague Convention; and (iv) is under the age of 18; and (v)* can, and will, be maintained and accommodated adequately without recourse to public funds in accommodation which the prospective parent or
Title R (on the application of MM (Lebanon)) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), R (on the application of Abdul Majid (Pakistan)) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), R (on the application of Master AF) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), R (on the application of Shabana Javed (Pakistan)) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), SS (Congo) (Appellant) v. Entry Clearance Officer, Nairobi (Respondent)

Publication Date 22 February 2017

Citation / Document Symbol [2017] UKSC 10

Cite as R (on the application of MM (Lebanon)) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), R (on the application of Abdul Majid (Pakistan)) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), R (on the application of Master AF) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), R (on the application of Shabana Javed (Pakistan)) (Appellant) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent), SS (Congo) (Appellant) v. Entry Clearance Officer, Nairobi (Respondent), [2017] UKSC 10, United Kingdom: Supreme Court, 22 February 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,UK_SC,58c26e274.html [accessed 7 November 2022]
Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Aerospace Forces' Snap Inspection Reveals Flaws

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Roger McDermott Publication Date 7 March 2017 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 30 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Aerospace Forces' Snap Inspection Reveals Flaws, 7 March 2017, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 30, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c28a974.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Moscow's recent "snap inspection" exercise of the Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno Kosmicheskikh SilVKS) was no doubt intended to present a positive image of this relatively high-technology branch of service. Indeed, since its creation in 2015, the VKS has also benefited from involvement in air operations in Syria, not only in terms of testing new or modernized systems but using the opportunity as a means to train its military personnel. The VKS resulted from a merger of the Air Force and the Aerospace Defense Forces. It includes, consequently, three sub-branches: the Air Force, Air Defense Troops and the Space Forces. However, the large-scale testing included in the snap inspection exposed issues related to VKS command and control (Gazeta.ru, March 2).

President Vladimir Putin ordered the inspection of the combat readiness of the VKS on January 31; the exercise concluded on February 10 and involved 46,000 personnel and 18,000 units of armaments and military equipment. The VKS was raised to its highest level of combat readiness, and units were deployed to designated or reserve areas to work on interactions of its various force elements to repel massive missile and air strikes by the hypothetical adversary. This element seems to confirm continued concern in Russia's General Staff about a surprise air attack on Russia; it is consistent with how Moscow understands the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) operations. The exercise focused on protecting Moscow and the "central industrial region." It may well have served as a method to rehearse escalation in Syria or Ukraine. Command staffs demonstrated cohesiveness, the ability to collect and use data on the air situation, as well as the capability to protect command, control and communications from enemy jamming. Nonetheless, the exercise also highlighted the complexity of unifying these sub-branches into a seamless branch of service (Interfax, February 8).

Mikhail Khodarenok, a graduate of the Soviet Air Defense Academy and a defense correspondent for Gazeta.ru, has argued that the creation of the VKS did not reflect Russia's strategic realities in August 2015, but resulted from a compromise between various interest groups and lobbyists in the Armed Forces and the domestic defense industry. Khodarenok's recent critique of the VKS exercise also noted the difficulty of integrating these eclectic military organizations into a unified and fully functional systemincorporating army aviation, which has passed back and forth from the Ground Forces to the Air Force. He asserted that the VKS command structure is simply not fully integrated, describing the command as hodgepodge and incoherent. The exercise exposed systemic flaws, including difficulties in the performance of the Space Troops following their relocation during the inspection. Even senior commanders apparently did not utilize the same microphone to issue orders. Khodarenok concluded that the VKS must unite the overall command of air defense, missile defense, missile warning and the space troops in order to create a genuinely integrated aerospace defense system (Gazeta.ru, March 2).

Such criticism of the VKS is almost entirely absent from Russian reporting of its operational achievements in Syria. Yet, advanced air defense systems were only deployed in Syria in the aftermath of the Turkish Air Force downing of the Russian Su-24M in November 2015. Additional evidence has emerged that Moscow plans long-term military involvement in Syria. The legal documents are nearing completion in the Duma to expand the Tartus naval logistical facility into a full-fledged naval base. Meanwhile at the Hmeymim airbase in Latakia, repairing the second runway and adding additional taxiways is due to commence in the spring. The VKS is confident that its assets are fully protected by the deployment of the S-400 advanced surface-to-air missile (SAM) system as well as other air defense capabilities, including the Pantsir-S1 (Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye, January 20).

The demand for high-technology systems places the VKS at the forefront of Russian military modernization, and undoubtedly these interests are lobbied for by a variety of defense industry companies. Some Russian defense specialists argue that advanced missile systems, such as the 9M82MV missile used in the S-300V4, or even the capability of the S-300PMU or the S-400 provide range and accuracy and may play a role in overcoming the United States' ballistic missile defense (Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, February 22). The use of high-precision weapons in the operations in Syria by the VKS and the Navy, especially Kalibr cruise missiles among other systems, is likely to further increase such demand as part of the ongoing modernization.

Indeed, Russian defense specialists argue that more investment is needed in strengthening and expanding the range of high-precision weapons in the Armed Forces. This is viewed as an emerging capability that will validate "pre-nuclear" deterrence, as well as providing pre-emption, deterrence and retribution options (Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye, February 3). Such developments will be welcomed by the defense industry, while holding out the promise of more high-technology procurement in the future.

Moreover, since the military modernization began, there has been much discussion on the issue as to which systems introduced are of Soviet or more recent Russian design. However, a recent meeting of defense industry and defense scientists in Moscow suggests growing interest in the "intellectualization" of modern air complexes. On February 2, a meeting was held under the Russian Academy of Sciences involving the scientific and technical council of the military industrial commission, during which the modernization of future aircraft and missiles featured in the presentations. Areas of innovative research included the motion-detection parameters of air objects, the creation of new advanced on-board human-machine interfaces, and other issues. Experts also discussed the management of a group of aircraft implementing various battle scenarios, including missile launches from a single aircraft under the trajectory management from other aircraft as well as methods of overcoming air defense (Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye, February 3).

While defense industry and military scientific developments may well facilitate further high-technology development in the Russian military, Khodarenok's analysis of the weaknesses of the VKS at the command level are important not just for that service branch. The General Staff is probably aware of such issues based on the campaign in Syria, though it seems reluctant to discuss these weaknesses publicly. Analysts have long observed that during strategic military exercises since 2009, Russia's Armed Forces rehearse the integration of multiple force elements. If Khodarenok's thesis concerning the hodgepodge nature of VKS command and control is correct, then the level of success in achieving inter-force cooperation is certainly open to question. If the VKS becomes heavily involved in escalation in either Syria or Ukraine, neither theater is likely to fully test or expose such command-and-control complexities.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Southern Gas Corridor Seeks Financial Backing Amidst Volatile Oil Prices

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Ilgar Gurbanov Publication Date 9 March 2017 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 32 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Southern Gas Corridor Seeks Financial Backing Amidst Volatile Oil Prices, 9 March 2017, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 32, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c28b384.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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During the third ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council, held in Baku, on February 23, the European Commission's vice president for the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, encouraged international financial institutions to bankroll the SGC project (Trend, February 23). Amidst volatile oil prices, securing financing is of primary importance for this strategic energy transit corridor's timely implementation.

Speaking in fall of 2016, the deputy vice president of Azerbaijan's State Oil Company (SOCAR), Vitaly Baylarbayov, argued that the changing market situation, marked by volatile oil prices, has made strategic planning more difficult and impacted negatively on SOCAR's investment portfolio (EurActiv, October 4, 2016). At the same time, however, falling global oil and commodity prices contributed to the decline in construction costs of the SGCfrom $45 billion to $39.1 billion. Breaking down all the main elements of the SGC: the cost of the longest link in the transit corridor, the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) dropped from $11.7 billion to $8.5 billion; the cost of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) went from $6 billion to $4.5 billion; the Shah-Deniz natural gas field's second stage (SD-II) has declined to $23.8 billion; and the South Caucasus Pipeline's expansion (SCPx) has gone down $4.9 billion (Natural Gas World, June 5, 2016; Abc.az, June 2, 2016; World Pipelines, December 22, 2016; Hurriyet Daily News, January 31, 2017).

SOCAR's stakes in the SGC's key links (SD-II, SCPx, TANAP, TAP) will be partially financed (51 percent) by Azerbaijan's State Oil Fund (SOFAZ), whose currency reserves stand at $33 billion; the remaining funding (49 percent) will be raised by SOCAR, mostly by receiving external financial support from international financial institutions (see EDM, March 4, 2016). According to SOFAZ's 2017 budget, $279 million in financing has already been allocated for Azerbaijan's shares in the SGC, which is almost five times less than last year's budget allocations ($1.5 billion), even though overall expenditures on the SGC in 2017 will exceed those of 2016 (Oilfund.az, March 18, 2016; January 10, 2017). Azerbaijan has managed to raise 1 billion ($1.05 billion) in euro-bonds on the international financial markets to fund the SGC's segments; but additional external financing is needed to cover the remaining funding gap (Natural Gas World, March 28, 2016). Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natig Aliyev confirmed that "The timely realization of the project depends on financial support" (Azernews.az, February 24).

According to Afgan Isayev, the director general of the SGC Closed Joint Stock Company (SGC-CJSC), the total expenses required for the SGC's implementation amount to some $11.9 billion; the company fulfilled half of its financial commitments by raising some $6 billion of the required sum for its shares (Azernews.az, December 23, 2016). Much of the financial backing for Azerbaijan's shares in the SGC so far was secured after an Azerbaijani delegationincluding representatives of SOFAZ and the SGC-CJSCvisited Washington, in October 2016, and following their subsequent discussions with the US Department of State, the World Bank (WB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other commercial banks (Trend, October 8, 2016).

In December 2016, the WB approved (through the International Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentIBRD) two $400 million loansone for Turkey's BOTAS and the second for the SGC-CJSCfor the TANAP project. Those loans are guaranteed by the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey. Another WB loan for TANAP, this one for $750 million, was offered through the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. The SGC's third ministerial meeting in Baku, on February 23, facilitated the dispersal (the following day) of the WB's first tranche of the loan for the SGC-CJSC through the IBRD (Worldbank.org, December 20, 2016; Huriyyet Daily News, December 21, 2016 and February 8, 2017; Azertag.az, January 16, 2017, February 24, 2017; Azertag.az, December 23, 2016; Miga.org, October 14, 2016). That same month, the ADB and the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) approved, respectively, a $1 billion loan for the SD-II and a $600 million loan to the SGC-CJSC for the TANAP project, with a guarantee from the Azerbaijani government (Adb.org, December 7, 2016; Aiib.org, December 21, 2016; Azertag.az, February 24).

The EBRD had earlier declared its intention to allocate a loan of up to 1.5 billion ($1.59 billion) for the TAP project and another large loan for TANAP. However, no concrete decision has been made to date, due to the fact that the technical, economic, financial and environmental assessments have yet to be finalized to verify whether funding these projects would be consistent with the EBRD's policies (Trend, July 27, 2016; May 13, 2016; December 3, 2015). The EIB may become the next organization to grant additional financial backing, in the amount of 1 billion and 2 billion ($1.06 billion and $2.12 billion), respectively, for TANAP and TAP (Eib.org, March 23, 2016; August 13, 2015). The SGC's remaining funding (an extra $3 billion loan, including $2.4 billion for TANAP) are expected to be distributed by other commercial banks and financial institutions (Trend, November 19, 2016).

Additional modest financial support (14 million) has come from the European Commission (EC) under the European Union's special Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding instrument. The money will be directed toward archaeological investigations and rescue excavations studies for the TAP project, within the framework of the EU's priority energy projects (Ec.europa.eu, February 17). The EC had earlier allotted funding via the CEF for engineering studies on metering and regulating stations to connect Greece's gas transmission system with TAP, for engineering studies related to the SCPx and TANAP, as well as for environmental monitoring of TANAP (Ec.europa.eu, accessed March 9).

The difficult economic environment notwithstanding, the timely implementation of the SGC is unlikely to be affected given the potent commitment of the international financial institutions and Azerbaijan's government, which underlines the strong political will to deliver the project. SOCAR itself, however, will likely need to carefully calculate the SGC's probable financial pitfallsin light of unsteady oil prices and Azerbaijan's weak domestic economic performancein order to avoid mounting long-term debt for the company. According to Standard&Poor's estimations, despite depressed oil prices (even if prices decline further) and the currency risks in the domestic market, SOCAR possesses sufficient funds to finance the capital expenditure program. Finally, the Azerbaijani government should be able to fund a significant portion of SOCAR's costs for the SGC, thus allowing the company to limit its debt growth in the future (see EDM, March 4, 2016; Standardandpoors.com, December 14, 2016).

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
The Ukrainian Navy: Conceptual Aspects and Cooperation With the West

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Ihor Kabanenko Publication Date 9 March 2017 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, The Ukrainian Navy: Conceptual Aspects and Cooperation With the West, 9 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c28c394.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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In late February 2017, the commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Vice Admiral Ihor Voronchenko, in an interview with Ukrainian Channel 5, said that the country was considering procuring used combat ships from the West as a way to increase Ukraine's naval capabilities. The vice admiral stated Kyiv would be willing to purchase mine-sweepers and littoral-zone ships (Channel 5, February 27).

Employing second-hand combat ships to reinforce one's naval forces is an established international practice. Ukraine's neighbors Poland and Romania both bought used frigates in the past (Poland from the United States Romania from the United Kingdom) to strengthen their own maritime security and defense (Navy.pl, IHS Jane's, March 17, 2016). Several years ago, Ukrainian military authorities reportedly also considered procuring used naval platforms, but these plans were never implemented (Radio Svoboda, March 26, 2009).

Prior to 2014, the Ukrainian Navy was composed almost entirely of legacy ships from the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, which was divided between Ukraine and Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. In addition, five naval vessels, whose construction began in Soviet times, entered the fleet after independence. Post-Soviet Ukraine's shipyards began building one multipurpose corvette (the Volodymyr Velykiy, laid down in 2010) and two small Giurza-class armored gunboats (designed for river and close littoral operation, laid down in 2012) to cover the emerging needs of the Ukrainian Navy. But the domestic shipbuilding process has been slow due to a lack of political will and inadequate funding.

The situation regarding Ukraine's naval assets worsened dramatically after Russia annexed Crimea, in FebruaryMarch 2014. Ukraine lost up to 70 percent of its combat ships and auxiliary vessels, which had been stationed in ports on the peninsula. The Navy is left with only a handful of combat ships/boats as well as about two dozen auxiliary vessels, and most of them need repairs (UNIAN, July 3, 2016). This fleet size is wholly insufficient to protect the 1,350 kilometers of Ukrainian coastline, 30,000 square km of the country's territorial waters, and 70,000 square km of its exclusive maritime economic zone. The lack of Ukrainian naval capabilities has allowed Russia to capture several Ukrainian offshore oil and natural gas rigs (see EDM, February 17, 2016); Russia has towed them to the Odeske and Golytsynske gas fields, both located inside Ukraine's exclusive maritime economic zone. Since 2015, Russia has been illegally extracting gas from Ukrainian fields and transporting them to facilities on occupied Crimea (Tsn.ua, July 26, 2016). Indeed, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has created a zone of denial surrounding the captured rigs and aggressively counteracts any legitimate missions being carried out by Ukrainian ships and aircraft in this area (Ipress.ua, September 9, 2016), including by the use of weapons (Mil.gov.ua, February 1). This situation has clearly raised the urgency for Ukraine to reinforce its fleet of combat vessels.

Recently, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced its decision to revitalize the corvette program. In 2017, the government will allocate about 34.9 million ($36.9 million) for corvette construction (Korrespondent, February 2). But this will not be enough to complete even the first of the four planned vessels, which is estimated to cost 250 million ($265 million) in total. An additional key problem for the domestic corvette program is the lack of an available weapons system to fit out this class of ship. "We do not have such systems, it should be bought [abroad]," the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Army General Victor Muzhenko, declared last January (Ukrinform, January 19).

Some smaller level successes in shipbuilding are worth pointing out: In 2015, Ukraine intensified the construction of two small armored gunboats. And by the end of 2016, these two gunboatsthe Akkerman and Berdyanskwere commissioned (Korrespondent, December 6, 2016). In 2016, the Ukrainian defense ministry also signed a contract to build two Centaur-class coastal assault landing craft, which are scheduled to enter service by 2019 (Ukrainian Military Pages, May 24, 2016).

It should be noted that a debate broke out, in 2015, between two groups of Ukrainian experts about what naval capabilities the country actually needs. One group of experts proposed a "Blue and Littoral Waters" concept, arguing that Ukraine requires a classical naval force. But the implementation of such a concept would be massively expensive. Another group of experts proposed the so-called "Mosquito Fleet" concept. Aimed at resolving the urgent security problems in Ukraine's littoral waters, this force structure would champion an asymmetric approach, and prioritize the fleet's tasks based on the available resources (Lb.ua, September 14, 2016; Day.kyiv.ua, February 3, 2016). The "Mosquito Fleet" concept envisages purchasing several dozen multirole, high-speed combat craft, equipped with modern but small-sized naval weapons. The authors of this concept argue that groups of these small boats would be able to quickly deploy and monitor the situation over large maritime areas of the exclusive economic zone as well as conduct anti-amphibious operations, mine-sweeping tasks, patrols and other operations in Ukrainian littoral waters. These small vessels would act asymmetrically to exploit the enemy's vulnerabilities, if needed.

The latter naval concept ultimately secured support from the top brass. In late February, Ukrainian Navy commander Igor Voronchenko specifically referred to the Mosquito Fleet concept as "the best option for the Ukrainian Navy until 2020" (Unn.com.ua, February 28). Nevertheless, the Ukrainian Navy has not abandoned its ambitious plans to continue building relatively large multirole corvettes (Ukrainian Military Pages, January 25).

Although Ukraine needs to strengthen its Navy as quickly as possible, it is hampered by funding shortages and the insufficient building capacities of domestic shipyards. Due to this reality, Ukraine could instead try to cover its existing naval capabilities gap and receive significant benefits by cooperating more closely with its Western partners, including the United States. The costs of buying used combat vessels could be much lower than building new ships or boats domestically. Moreover, Ukraine currently needs to allocate more resources toward the development of modern naval weapons systems and the renewal of the Ukrainian shipbuilding sector. Procuring such used platforms from abroad could be an important step in achieving interoperability with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Grater interoperability with NATO forces is one of the key objectives found listed in the Strategic Defense Bulletin of Ukraine, which was approved last year by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (President.gov.ua, June 6, 2016). Kyiv will, of course, need sufficient political will to successfully rebuild its Navy. But if it does, the new Ukrainian fleet will have a major impact on the balance of power and stability in the Black Sea region.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Amsterdam, March 10, 2017 - Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the leading global Design & Consultancy firm for natural and built assets, today announced that it has nominated Mr. Wee Gee Ang for appointment to the company's Supervisory Board for a four-year term. The nomination will be put before shareholders for approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on April 26, 2017. Mr. Ang will fill the vacancy created by the departure of George Nethercutt, who has been on the Arcadis Supervisory Board for 12 years and is consequently not eligible for re-appointment.

Mr. Ang (54) is the Chief Executive Officer of Keppel Land Limited, a property developer based in Singapore and part of the Keppel Corporation. Prior to this role, Mr. Ang held senior management positions in the Keppel Land Group, including running the company's businesses in China, and Keppel Land's international businesses. He previously held various positions in business and project development for Keppel Land in Singapore and other overseas markets, and corporate planning in the Group's hospitality management arm.

"I am very pleased that Mr. Ang is willing to join our board," said Niek Hoek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Arcadis. "His experience in the property development business in Asia as well as in professional services internationally, and his proven capability to develop business opportunities in Asia, will be important assets to Arcadis. Subject to shareholder approval, I look forward to welcome him to our Board. I also want to thank George Nethercutt for his contributions to Arcadis over the past 12 years. He has been a valuable member of the Supervisory Board and we all wish him well for the future."

The Arcadis Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will be held on April 26, 2017 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The agenda and associated documents for this meeting is available on the Arcadis website at www.arcadis.com.

ENDS

ARCADIS GROUP COMMUNICATIONS:

Jeremy Cohen

Email: Jeremy.Cohen@arcadis.com

Mobile: +31 621639411

ARCADIS INVESTOR RELATIONS:

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Email: Jurgen.Pullens@arcadis.com

Office: +31 202011083

Mobile: +31 651599483

About Arcadis

Arcadis is the leading global Design & Consultancy firm for natural and built assets. Applying our deep market sector insights and collective design, consultancy, engineering, project and management services we work in partnership with our clients to deliver exceptional and sustainable outcomes throughout the lifecycle of their natural and built assets. We are 27,000 people active in over 70 countries that generate 3.3 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world. www.arcadis.com.

Arcadis. Improving quality of life.
Kremlin's Hopes for a 'Post-West' World Order Recede

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Pavel Felgenhauer Publication Date 9 March 2017 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 32 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Kremlin's Hopes for a 'Post-West' World Order Recede, 9 March 2017, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 32, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c28ccb4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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Just a couple of months ago, things looked to be going thoroughly President Vladimir Putin's way. The 2016 elections in the United States gave the presidency to Donald Trumpa flamboyant real estate mogul and reality TV star, a nationalist and an isolationist. Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to strike a deal with Putin, repeatedly called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) "obsolete," and appeared ready to weaken long-term US strategic alliances that have constrained Russia since the late 1940s. And last December, in the run up to his inauguration, top members of Trump's team evidently contacted the Russian ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak. The two sides seem to have discussed improving relations and possible sanctions relief. A possible grand deal appeared within reach, which would grant Moscow dominance over Ukraine and the rest of the post-Soviet space and provide Russia a reprieve from economically damaging sanctions. A new world order looked to be emerging, described by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as "post-West" at the recent Munich Security Conference (February 1719). Meanwhile the present "postCold War order," which Moscow despises and rejects, seemed on the verge of collapse (Kommersant, February 20).

The price of oil (Russia's main money-making commodity) has risen after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia announced a deal last December to cut production (Kommersant, December 12, 2016). In Europe, Putin seemed headed for another lucky strike to add to the Trump victory: The decisive French presidential election runoff, scheduled for May 7, 2017, could be a contest between two pro-Russian politiciansthe far rightwing Marine Le Pen and mainstream conservative former prime minister Francois Fillon. Both had announced their opposition to the sanctions regime, imposed on Moscow for annexing Crimea in 2014 and for its involvement in fighting in the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region. Le Pen also promised, if victorious, to pull France out of NATO, the European Union and the euro zone (TASS, February 4).

The breakdown of the EU, the euro and possibly the North Atlantic Alliance could seem to offer a shortcut to the "post-West" world order announced by Lavrov. But on the other hand, an uncontrollable European collapse could harm Russia. The EU is Russia's main trading partner and a large part of Russia's currency reserves is denominated in euros. According to pro-Kremlin pundit Alexei Mukhin, the general director of the Center of Political Information, in Moscow, Le Pen is "a demon creating chaos in French and European politics." At a round table this week hosted by the news agency RT (formerly Russia Today)the center of Moscow's information warfare operationsMukhin announced: "We must avoid supporting Le Pen despite her popularity in Moscow." He added that incidents between Russian and Western (NATO) militaries are "possible as never before," and a situation of total chaos in Europe caused by a Le Pen victory "could lead to conflict escalation" (RIA Novosti, March 6).

Moscow would most likely favor a stable and predictable pro-Russian French president like Fillon. But Fillon has become engulfed in an alleged corruption scandal, is lagging in the polls and could fail to make it into the May 7 runoff. Instead of Fillon, the most probable candidate to face Le Pen in the presidential runoff now seems to be independent political newcomer and former investment banker Emmanuel Macron, 39, who is no friend of Moscow. Macron and his campaign have accused RT and its Sputnik talk radio supplement of spreading "fake news" to undermine his candidacy as well as of waging information warfare. Russian state TV Channel One has ridiculed Macron as a liar and a stooge of the US Democratic Party establishment and former President Barack Obama, who despite retirement is routinely portrayed by Russian propaganda as the heart and soul of collective global evil. Russian state propaganda is actively defending Le Pen and Fillon as victims of a witch hunt, supposedly prosecuted by the French press and the globalized establishment for defending true French national interests (1tv.ru, March 5).

Next September, Germany will hold general elections, which could possibly oust Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen in Moscow as Putin's prime European opponent. Her popularity has suffered as a result of the continent's ongoing refugee crisis. If Merkel were ultimately replaced by a pro-Russian German politician, and if Le Pen or Fillon were to come to power in Francethe thoughts went a couple months agoPutin could count on friendly leaders in Washington, Paris and Berlin, as well as Beijing, Ankara, Tehran, Cairo, Baghdad, Damascus, Delhi, Hanoi and others. Attempts to isolate and punish Putin for Crimea and Donbas would have been decisively and irrevocably refuted. Russian soft power and "hybrid" information warfare capabilities would have hit the West in its center of gravity. But alas, Putin's luck seems to have run out: Trump got cold feet, the French elections are going wrong, and independent US shale oil companies have responded to the OPEC-Russia production freeze by expanding extraction. Crude prices have stagnated and may again begin to slip. The OPEC-Russia agreement may collapse, undermining the financial stability of the Putin regime (Kommersant, March 9).

The Trump administration is now seen in Moscow as a disappointment: Team Trump succeeded in spreading early havoc internally and internationally, but failed to move decisively to dismantle sanctions or broker a grand deal with the Kremlin. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that the country should brace itself for continued sanctions into "the foreseeable future" (Interfax, February 28). The Moscow press has not fully written off Trump as a possible friend of Putin's Russia. But it has been telling the population, "Trump is the victim of a relentless counterattack by the Democratic establishment and the mainstream media, which are whipping up anti-Russian hysteria." Trump has been forced into retreat by his foes, and if he continues to demonstrate weakness, his presidency is doomed (Moskovsky Komsomolets, March 7).

Of course Moscow will continue to actively troll upcoming European elections in the hopes that Merkel may fall and Macron does not become president. Moscow also has not fully given up on Trump, but the reliance on soft power and information warfare has demonstrated their inherent limitations. Russian generals in charge of threat assessments and national strategic planning surely understand the importance of information and cyber warfare but see it as an auxiliary force that can, at best, supplement "hard" military power. As the possible detente with the West falters, the defense ministry will be pressing the Kremlin for more tanks, jets and missilesan outcome the Russian military will hardly see as disappointing.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Russian Advances in the Gulf

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Stephen Blank Publication Date 8 March 2017 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Russian Advances in the Gulf, 8 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c28d484.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

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All too often, Russian policy in the Middle East is perceived as tied mainly or exclusively to Syria and its ongoing civil war. But in fact, Moscow has long sought to expand its influence across the entire region; its intervention in Syria, in turn, has greatly heightened Russia's ability and willingness to conduct that regional policy. That said, there has been relatively little foreign recognition of the country's actual advances into the Gulf to date, even though Moscow has all along been using the traditional instruments of Russian diplomacy: arms sales, energy deals, clever and persistent diplomacy and, of course, force or the threat of its use.

Iran, as a major player in the Gulf region, has been a key target of the Russian government's efforts to expand Moscow's regional influence. The two countries are supposedly closely cooperating to combat terrorism and narcotics in order to strengthen stability from the Caspian to North Africa. According to Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, energy and arms sales are also promising avenues of cooperation, and bilateral relations have risen "to an unprecedented level and have become more intensive and busy than ever" (Mid.ru, March 2). Meanwhile Russian planes are still using Iran's airspace for their attacks in Syria (Fars News Agency, February 11). In addition, Moscow has sold Tehran almost $1 billion worth of the S-300 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, which Iran has now apparently successfully tested (TASS, March 4).

But the diplomatic offensive in the Gulf hardly ends with the Islamic Republic. Notably, Russia is also moving jointly with the United Arab Emirates to develop a fifth-generation fighter based on the MiG-29 (The Moscow Times, February 27). Russia is also considering Iraq's request for arms, according to Sputnik (Sputnik News, February 21).

Russia's regional aim has always been to secure leverage against every player in the Middle East. Hence, Moscow is also making sure it retains a lever by which to influence the Iraqi Kurds, which the Kremlin may view as a useful instruments by which to pressure either Baghdad or Ankara. Thus Rosneft and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) recently announced a broad energy agreement, which notably includes Rosneft's purchase of KRG crude oil through 2019 (Rosneft.com, February 21). For the KRG, this deal provides it with expanded access to international markets and may allow Erbil to expand its political authority at Baghdad's expense. For Moscow, in turn, the deal offers an effective instrument of leverage upon both the Iraqi government and the KRG as well as an added instrument of political pressure vis-a-vis Turkey.

Moscow fully intends to employ its growing leverage in Gulf politics and has been testing the current extent of its regional influence. For example, Russian deputy speaker of the State Duma, Sergei Baburin, stated, in February 2017, that continued shows of hostility toward Iran by the Arab Gulf states would be harmful to them. Baburin claimed that their charges about Iranian interference in Yemen were "unfounded." He also alleged that the West was generating Iranophobia to gain influence and sell weapons to the other Gulf states. Finally, he claimed that some countries in the Gulf provide terrorists and extremists with support to achieve their geopolitical objectives (Tehran Times, February 26).

It is clear what Moscow is up to and what it gains based on such activities. Specifically, Russia seeks to forge ties with every Gulf state to gain leverage over their policies and to remind them that Moscow could generate many problems for them if they obstruct Russian pursuits. Thus, Moscow continues to press the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to produce less oil and raise prices (WorldOil, March 8, 2017; see EDM, October 3, 2016; November 29, 2016). Moreover, Russia puts pressure on the Saudis and Qataris to stop supporting the armed opposition to Bashar al-Assad in Syria. It also looks for energy deals as well as arms sales, as discussed above, to provide a backdoor means of financing Russian activities that circumvent Western sanctions, which have been obstructing its economic development. Illustratively, Qatar has been prevailed upon to invest $5 billion in Rosneft. The Qatar Investment Authority's actions have as much to do with geopolitics as economics: Given Russian pressure, Qatar is hedging its bets, but by doing so it materially aids or validates Russian efforts to circumvent the sanctions (The Globalist, January 22). These same tactics apply to countries as far from Russia as Yemen. Notably, in 2016, Russia's charge d'affairs Oleg Drenov, endorsed the pro-Iranian and anti-Saudi Houthi government in Yemen (Middle East Monitor, August 19, 2016).

These are only a few examples of the overall large-scale Middle Eastern game that Russia has been playing with increased vigor ever since it intervened in Syria in 2015. So while Moscow acts to impose some sort of legitimate order and authority in Syria, it is important to understand that stabilizing that war-torn country by preserving or installing a pro-Russian government is not an end in itself for the Kremlin. Rather, this is only part of a far broader regional objective that Moscowfor all its current debilitiesis working steadily to impose in the absence of any kind of coherent Western or US policy.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Belarus in a Frenzy Over Allegations of Potential Russian Aggression

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Grigory Ioffe Publication Date 8 March 2017 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 31 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Belarus in a Frenzy Over Allegations of Potential Russian Aggression, 8 March 2017, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 31, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c28dae4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

Even during periods of relative calm, interpreting the range of opinions regarding the domestic situation in Belarus requires a no-nonsense immersion in the country's political landscape, formative experience and an ability to read between the lines. However, until recently, a degree of certainty has at least existed about the viewpoints one could expect to hear from Belarusian officialdom, government-friendly analysts, Westernizing nationalists as well as Russian-speaking liberals.

Today, those usual division lines have become blurred: understanding who is saying what and why is befuddling to a seemingly unprecedented degree. Thus, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka called upon Belarusian educators to tap into "healthy nationalism" when teaching on the subject of Belarusian statehood and history (Belta, February 28). In Russian, the language in which Lukashenka communicates, "nationalism" has negative connotations, which almost invariably invoke xenophobia. As Andrei Dmitriev, the leader of the Speak the Truth civic campaign, observes, no bureaucrats down the power "vertical" would understand what healthy nationalism means, whereas government-friendly ideologues would rather pretend they did not hear the phrase. As an example of the latter, Dmitriev mentions Alexei Dziermant, editor-in-chief of ImhoClub, whose stance is normally pro-government and pro-Russia (Dmitriev, February 28).

Last month, however, Dziermant published a sort of a manifesto titled "What if they decide to liquidate Belorussia [a Russian word for Belarus]?" This, according to Dziermant, may happen if nationalist leanings (again) gain the upper hand in Russia itself. With respect to Belarus, Russian nationalist thought treats the Belarusian language and state as artificial constructs and advocates that "Belorussia" should rightfully join Russia proper. But were Russia to indeed swallow up Belarus, observes Dziermant, the quality of life in the latter would plummet. Moreover, he predicts that former Belarus would be overcome by protests and nationalist attitudes: the nationalist underground would take shape and receive crucial aid from the "nationalist international" of the "Intermarium"that is, of the region squeezed between the Baltic and the Black Seas. The situation in Belarus would come to resemble that in Donbas, he concludes (Na Linii, February 8).

At the same time, Belorusskie Novosti, an outlet that has traditionally given voice to the liberal wing of the opposition, quotes Valery Karbalevich of Radio Liberty, who believes that fearmongering about Russian designs on Belarus is the work of government trolls (i.e., agents) directed by Minsk (Naviny.by, February 28). Indeed, Lukashenka has already stressed that the protests against his decree on social parasites (see EDM, February 28) may be exploited by unnamed external forces (Tut.by, February 28)by which, most analysts agree, he means Russia. Karbalevich is a doyen of opposition journalism, born out of a desire to uncouple Belarus from Russia. Interestingly, so is Alexander Klaskovsky, whose recent article was entitled "Instead of Scaring Belarus About Russia, the Government Should Embark on Reforms" (Naviny.by, February 28).

The reshuffling of viewpoints and allegiances in today's Belarus was further illustrated by the recent debate between Zmitser Pankavets of Nasha Niva, a Belarusian-language newspaper informally allied with the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), and Olga Karach of the Vitebsk-based civic non-governmental organization (NGO) Nash Dom. Of those entities, Nasha Niva would typically be more government-unfriendly. Instead, Pankavets opined that "Lukashenka is a much lesser evil compared with Russia" and that Lukashenka's pro-independence stand is beyond reproach. Whereas Karach argued that "Lukashenka is Russia" and that he would allegedly sell out Belarus's independence and not bat an eyelid (Svaboda.org, March 1). Karach's remarks resemble arguments that Nasha Niva, let alone the most rabidly anti-Lukashenka outlet Charter97, used to regularly make.

The Westernizing nationalists' newfound fondness for Lukashenka is not entirely one-sided. In his June 2011 interview to this author, Lukashenka called the BPF "the most decent part of the opposition." And he added, "To be sure, I don't like their radicalism. But they are sincere" (Grigory Ioffe, Reassessing Lukashenka, Palgrave McMillan 2014, p. 223).

During the March 1 Minsk-based conference "Belarus and the Region," the Russian historian Alexander Sytin suggested that a classic military occupation of Belarus was out of the question. Therefore, he contended, "Russia would continue to blackmail Lukashenka by destabilization" of the country. Sytin further described Russia's influence on Belarus as an asphyxiating anaconda's coil. According to him, Lukashenka had an existential choice between reforms and overwhelming dependency on Russia (Naviny.by, March 2).

Perhaps the most revealing and controversial piece in recent weeks, showed up recently on Dziermant's online outlet, ImhoClub. Authored by blogger and journalist Dmitry Isayonok, his article argues that Belarus has not succeeded on the path of ethnic nationalism. Something has failed to coagulate. Many Belarusians lack any sense of being culturally different from the Russians, he writes. Isayonok believes that many eastern Ukrainians, not to mention most residents of Crimea, wanted to be with Russia because they also did not see a cultural difference between them and Russians. At the same time, he alleges, those populations realized that any of the negative social-political-economic facets Vladimir Putin's Russia might expose them to are things they have already lived with anyway under Ukrainian rulei.e., socio-economic stratification, oligarchs, weak social guarantees, etc. So, he asks, what will happen in Belarus when all sorts of currently marginalized nationalists and other fear mongers suddenly expand their agitation in view of an imminent Russian aggression? Or, alternatively, what will happen if the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to insist that Minsk carry out its strict reform demands? Isayonok's response: same thing as in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. More and more Belarusians who do not feel a detachment from Russia would ask themselves: what negative thing could Putin bring to us that we do not already have anyway? As a result, they will overwhelmingly welcome Putin. In the absence of strong and clear ethnic foundations for Belarusian nationalism, Belarusians' appreciation of their statehood hinges on the generous social contract, an avoidance of conflicts, and a lack of oligarchs. These factors will need to be retained by the government for Belarusians to continue to appreciate their independence. Boosting fears of Russian aggression is exactly the opposite of what needs to be done for the sake of retaining independence, Isayonok believes (ImhoClub, March 2).

Whether the aforementioned author is right is most certainly debatable. But clearly, some topics may indeed be better suited to a more discreet rather than public discussion. Not only money loves silence.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Can Channel Rustavi 2 Remain the Voice of the Opposition?

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Giorgi Menabde Publication Date 10 March 2017 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 31 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Can Channel Rustavi 2 Remain the Voice of the Opposition?, 10 March 2017, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 31, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c28e0c4.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has temporarily suspended the execution of the Georgian Supreme Court's decision to return opposition television broadcaster Rustavi 2 to its former owner, the businessman Kibar Khalvashi (Civil Georgia, March 4). Khalvashi is affiliated with the ruling party Georgian DreamDemocratic Georgia, founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. Whereas the present owners of the Rustavi 2 channel are Ukrainian businessmen Levan and Giorgi Karamanishviliboth close friends of former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili.

All nine Georgian Supreme Court judges had unanimously delivered a verdict in favor of Khalvashi, on March 2 (Civil Georgia, March 2). Khalvashi's lawsuit alleged that, in 2006, the authorities forced him to sell the TV station for a much smaller amount than its actual estimated price. He was also, allegedly, threatened with legal repercussions and the sudden emergence of obstacles to his business dealings should he refuse the sale of Rustavi 2.

In fact, since 2004, Rustavi 2 changed hands several times, and its current ownersthe Karamanishvili brothershave no relation to the company under which the TV channel was officially registered in 2006. Moreover, since then, Levan and Giorgi Karamanishvili invested several million dollars in the broadcaster's development and built premises for it just outside Tbilisi. Besides Khalvashi and the Karamanshivili brothers, the original founders of Rustavi 2David Dvali and Jarji Akimidzealso have a claim on retaking possession of the TV channel. They owned the broadcaster in 19942004 and assert that they sold it for a paltry sum to Kibar Khalvashi under "terrible pressure" from the authorities. Now, Khalvashi is trying to compromise with the founders and has offered them 50 percent of his expected shares, plus management rights. However, the director general of Rustavi 2, Nika Gvaramia, contends that Dvali and Akimidze are "fake figures, through which billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili is trying to take control of the opposition TV channel by every possible means." On behalf of the Rustavi 2 journalists, Director General Gvaramia has offered Khalvashi $3,944,397 as compensation for damages, in exchange for his waiver to further claims on the TV channel. But so far, the businessman has refused, saying that the proposed sum of money was inadequate (Civil Georgia, March 3).

Nevertheless, early this month, the Supreme Court ruled that the rights of businessman Khalvashi had been violated, and it upheld the decisions of the lower courts, which mandated the property be returned to him. Rustavi 2's Gvaramia declared, on behalf of the TV channel's team of journalists, that they would not obey the authorities' requirements until the final decision of the ECHR was announced (Civil Georgia, March 4).

It is unclear when the European court will deliver its decision on the Rustavi 2 case. But it bears pointing out that the ECHR's action to suspend the execution of the Georgian Supreme Court decision is an emergency measure, taken by the international tribunal only in exceptional cases. The suspension order, which is scheduled to expire on March 8, according to the ECHR's original announcement, testifies to the significance attached to the Rustavi 2 case (Civil Georgia, March 4). Whatever the representatives of the Georgian government say about their non-interference in domestic legal affairs, the litigation around the oppositional broadcaster is being perceived as a fight over maintaining freedom of speech in Georgia. This interpretation is particularly driven by the fact that none of the other TV channels in the country are critical of the government (see EDM, March 1).

The Embassy of the United States in Tbilisi released a statement, on March 2, saying that the US government "views with concern the impact of the [Georgian] Supreme Court's decision regarding Rustavi 2, which could effectively limit the access of opposition voices to Georgian broadcast media" (Ge.usembassy.gov, March 2). Whereas the European Union's diplomatic representative office in Georgia noted its Delegation has been "monitoring the Rustavi 2 court case from the very start" and will "examine closely" the Supreme Court's verdict "as well as its consequences." At the same time, the statement added that the EU Delegation will keep to its "long-standing practice of not commenting on individual court decisions" (Europa.eu, March 3).

Georgian opposition parties are jointly advocating to retain Rustavi 2's current ownership structure. A coordinating council of nine parties has been established. Meanwhile, opposition activists have decided to stage a permanent protest rally in the TV channel offices' courtyard, where tents have already been put up (Kommersant, March 3).

Nicanor Melia, the executive secretary of former president Saakashvili's opposition party United National Movement (UNM), told journalists that party activists, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGO) and TV viewers would not allow for a violent capture of Rustavi 2. He added that if the authorities tried to use force to disperse the demonstrators, mass anti-government protests would begin across the country. At the same time, the opposition believes that the founder of the ruling coalition, Ivanishvili, needs the "capture" of Rustavi 2 to implement his far-reaching geopolitical plans. "He is a Russian [sic] oligarch and is planning to return Georgia to Russia's orbit, but he is hampered by Rustavi 2, which details all of Ivnishvili's pro-Russian projects," asserted Nugzar Tsiklauri, one of the leaders of UNM (Author's interview, March 4). Earlier, Davit Darchiashvili, a representative of another pro-Western opposition party, European Georgia, explained the importance of maintaining Rustavi 2 and its current editorial policy: "Almost all other TV companies [in Georgia] are more or less controlled by the authorities. Rustavi 2 is the oasis, where the opposition has its voice and can convey its own views to the public" (Author's interview, February 28).

The Rustavi 2 case is becoming the most important political event in Georgia. Many believe that the future of Georgian democracy and its Euro-Atlantic prospects depend on its outcome. The existence of Rustavi 2 in its present form, the channel's supporters maintain, is vital for upholding a pluralism of views and a democratic multi-party system. Both of these will be necessary to allow an opposition party with a realistic alternative development platform for the country to eventually emerge and have a chance to come to power.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Greece: Reject EU Pressure on Asylum Seekers

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 10 March 2017 Related Document(s) Greece: Law No. 4375 of 2016 on the organization and operation of the Asylum Service, the Appeals Authority, the Reception and Identification Service, the establishment of the General Secretariat for Reception, the transposition into Greek legislation of the provisions of Directive 2013/32/EC Cite as Human Rights Watch, Greece: Reject EU Pressure on Asylum Seekers, 10 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58c2a6094.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

The Greek Parliament should resist external pressures and reject any changes to legislation based on the European Commission's Joint Action Plan for the EU-Turkey agreement, that will further worsen the situation for people seeking safety and a better life in Europe, 13 nongovernmental organizations said today in an open letter.

As the Greek Parliament is expected to vote within the coming days on these changes, the organizations are calling on Greek Members of Parliament not to support amendments to Greek Law 4375/2016 already published in the EU Joint Action Plan that will remove safeguards for vulnerable people and families. The parliament should stand by the protections enshrined in Greece's current asylum legislation by making sure that most vulnerable persons and those eligible for family reunification under the Dublin Regulation are exempted from accelerated admissibility procedures aimed at sending them back to Turkey.

Removing existing safeguards for vulnerable people and those with prospects for family reunification in other EU member states would mean keeping more people on the already overcrowded islands and putting further undue pressure on the islands' population. The result would be the creation of more detention centers, fast-tracking asylum proceedings, and limiting appeals steps, all with the goal of facilitating deportations, and possibly sending people into harm's way.

The organizations urged Parliament to make Greece an example of a country willing to uphold the human rights of and protection for people seeking safety and security in Europe, and not to allow Greece be used as a laboratory for testing migration policies at the expense of the most vulnerable.

"Greek members of parliament have a responsibility to make sure that the rights of everyone in Greece are protected, including of vulnerable asylum seekers," said Eva Cosse, Greece researcher at Human Rights Watch. "That means rejecting plans that will further worsen the situation for people seeking refuge in Europe."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
English French

PRESS RELEASE

METHODS OF DISPOSAL OR CONSULTATION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO THE ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON APRIL 18, 2017

Paris - March 10, 2017

The Company informs its shareholders that the ordinary and extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to be held on Tuesday April 18, 2017 at 10 am will take place at the following address: Pavillon Cambon Capucines, 46 rue Cambon - 75001 PARIS.

The meeting notification, including the agenda and the draft resolutions, was published in the BALO (French Official Legal Announcement Publication) on March 10, 2017 and is available on Klepierre's website. The rules governing shareholders' participation and vote at the meeting are described in the abovementioned notification.

The convening notice will be published in compliance with legal and regulatory provisions.

The information relating to this meeting and its agenda can be:

- obtained from:

BNP Paribas Securities Services

CTS Assemblees Generales

Les Grands Moulins de Pantin

9 rue du Debarcadere

93761 PANTIN Cedex

FRANCE

- or consulted on Klepierre's website: www.klepierre.com, under "Finance / General meeting / 2017".



All the documents and the information concerning this meeting are made available to shareholders in compliance with legal and regulatory provisions.

INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS Vanessa FRICANO

+ 33 (0)1 40 67 52 24 - vanessa.fricano@klepierre.com

Julien ROUCH

+33 (0)1 40 67 53 08 - julien.rouch@klepierre.com

Hubert d'AILLIERES

+33 (0)1 40 67 51 37 - hubert.daillieres@klepierre.com

ABOUT KLEPIERRE

The leading pure play shopping center property company in Europe, Klepierre combines development, property and asset management skills. The company's portfolio is valued at 22.8 billion euros at December 31, 2016 and comprises large shopping centers in 16 countries in Continental Europe which altogether welcome 1.2 billion visitors per year. Klepierre holds a controlling stake in Steen & Strm (56.1%), Scandinavia's number one shopping center owner and manager. Klepierre is a French REIT (SIIC) listed on Euronext Paris and included in the CAC 40, EPRA Euro Zone and GPR 250 indexes. It is also included in ethical indexes, such as DJSI World and Europe, FTSE4Good, STOXX Global ESG Leaders, Euronext Vigeo France 20 and World 120, and is ranked as a Green Star by GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark). These distinctions underscore the Group's commitment to a proactive sustainable development policy.

For more information: www.klepierre.com
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X and X v. Etat belge

Publisher European Union: Court of Justice of the European Union Publication Date 7 March 2017 Citation / Document Symbol C638/16 PPU Related Document(s) Conclusions de l'avocat General M. Paolo Mengozzi de l'avocat : X.,X. c. Etat belge Cite as X and X v. Etat belge, C638/16 PPU, European Union: Court of Justice of the European Union, 7 March 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/cases,ECJ,58c2bfd34.html [accessed 7 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Grand Chamber)

7 March 2017 (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 - Article 25(1)(a) - Visa with limited territorial validity - Issuing of a visa on humanitarian grounds or because of international obligations - Concept of 'international obligations' - Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms - Geneva Convention - Issuing of a visa where a risk of infringement of Article 4 and/or Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights is established - No obligation)

In Case C638/16 PPU,

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Conseil du Contentieux des Etrangers (Council for asylum and immigration proceedings, Belgium), made by decision of 8 December 2016, received at the Court on 12 December 2016, in the proceedings

X and X

v

Etat belge,

THE COURT (Grand Chamber),

composed of K. Lenaerts, President, A. Tizzano, Vice-President, L. Bay Larsen, T. von Danwitz, J.L. da Cruz Vilaca and M. Berger (Rapporteur), Presidents of Chambers, A. Borg Barthet, A. Arabadjiev, C. Toader, M. Safjan, E. Jarasiunas, C.G. Fernlund, C. Vajda, S. Rodin and F. Biltgen, Judges,

Advocate General: P. Mengozzi,

Registrar: V. Giacobbo-Peyronnel, Administrator,

having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 30 January 2017,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

- X and X, by T. Wibault and P. Robert, avocats,

- the Belgian Government, by C. Pochet and M. Jacobs, acting as Agents, and by C. L'hoir, M. Van Regemorter and F. Van Dijck, experts, and by E. Derriks and F. Motulsky, avocats,

- the Czech Government, by M. Smolek, acting as Agent,

- the Danish Government, by N. Lyshj and C. Thorning, acting as Agents,

- the German Government, by T. Henze, acting as Agent,

- the Estonian Government, by N. Grunberg, acting as Agent,

- the French Government, by E. Armoet, acting as Agent,

- the Hungarian Government, by M. Feher, acting as Agent,

- the Maltese Government, by A. Buhagiar, acting as Agent,

- the Netherlands Government, by M. de Ree, acting as Agent,

- the Austrian Government, by J. Schmoll, acting as Agent,

- the Polish Government, by M. Kamejsza, M. Pawlicka and B. Majczyna, acting as Agents,

- the Slovenian Government, by V. Klemenc and T. Mihelic Zitko, acting as Agents,

- the Slovak Government, by M. Kianicka, acting as Agent, and by I. Pistova, G. Hepalova, L. Szlobodova and D. Markova, experts,

- the Finnish Government, by J. Heliskoski, acting as Agent,

- the European Commission, by C. Cattabriga and G. Wils, acting as Agents,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 7 February 2017,

gives the following

Judgment

1 This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 25(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) (OJ 2009 L 243 p. 1), as amended by Regulation (EU) No 610/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 (OJ 2013 L 182, p. 1) ('the Visa Code'), and of Articles 4 and 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union ('the Charter').

2 The reference has been made in proceedings between, on the one hand, X and X, and, on the other, the Etat belge (the Belgian State) concerning a refusal to issue visas with limited territorial validity.

Legal context

International law

3 Article 1 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed at Rome on 4 November 1950 ('the ECHR'), headed 'Obligation to respect Human Rights', provides:

'The High Contracting Parties shall secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section I of this [c]onvention.'

4 Article 3 of the ECHR, headed 'Prohibition of torture', which is in Section I thereof, provides:

'No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.'

5 Article 33(1) of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, signed at Geneva on 28 July 1951 (United Nations Treaty Series, Vol. 189, p. 150, No 2545 (1954)), as supplemented by the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, concluded in New York on 31 January 1967, which entered into force on 4 October 1967 ('the Geneva Convention'), that article being headed 'Prohibition of expulsion or return ("refoulement")', provides:

'No Contracting State shall expel or return ("refouler") a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.'

EU law

The Charter

6 Article 4 of the Charter, headed 'Prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment', provides:

'No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.'

7 Under Article 18 of the Charter, headed 'Right to asylum':

'The right to asylum shall be guaranteed with due respect for the rules of the [Geneva Convention] and in accordance with the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union '

8 Article 51(1) of the Charter, that article being headed 'Field of application', provides:

'The provisions of [the] Charter are addressed to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the Member States only when they are implementing Union law '

The Visa Code

9 Recital 29 of the Visa Code states:

'This Regulation respects fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the [ECHR] and the [Charter].'

10 Article 1(1) of the Visa Code, that article being headed 'Objective and Scope', states:

'This Regulation establishes the procedures and conditions for issuing visas for transit through or intended stays on the territory of the Member States not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period.'

11 Article 2 of that code provides:

'For the purpose of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:



2. "visa" means an authorisation issued by a Member State with a view to:

(a) transit through or an intended stay on the territory of the Member States of a duration of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period;

(b) transit through the international transit areas of airports of the Member States;

'

12 Article 25 of the Visa Code, headed 'Issuing of a visa with limited territorial validity', provides:

'1. A visa with limited territorial validity shall be issued exceptionally, in the following cases:

(a) when the Member State concerned considers it necessary on humanitarian grounds, for reasons of national interest or because of international obligations,

(i) to derogate from the principle that the entry conditions laid down [by Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) (OJ 2006 L 105, p. 1)] must be fulfilled;

(ii) to issue a visa despite an objection by the Member State consulted in accordance with Article 22 to the issuing of a uniform visa; or

(iii) to issue a visa for reasons of urgency 

or

(b) when for reasons deemed justified by the consulate, a new visa is issued for a stay during the same 180-day period to an applicant who, over this 180-day period, has already used a uniform visa or a visa with limited territorial validity allowing for a stay of 90 days.

2. A visa with limited territorial validity shall be valid for the territory of the issuing Member State. It may exceptionally be valid for the territory of more than one Member State, subject to the consent of each such Member State.



4. When a visa with limited territorial validity has been issued in the cases described in paragraph 1(a), the central authorities of the issuing Member State shall circulate the relevant information to the central authorities of the other Member States without delay 

5. The data  shall be entered into the [Visa Information System] when a decision on issuing such a visa has been taken.'

13 Article 32(1)(b) of the Visa Code, that article being headed 'Refusal of a visa', provides:

'Without prejudice to Article 25(1), a visa shall be refused:



(b) if there are reasonable doubts as to  [the applicant's] intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa applied for.'

Regulation (EU) 2016/399

14 Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) (OJ 2016 L 77, p. 1, 'the Schengen Borders Code'), headed 'Fundamental Rights', is worded as follows:

'When applying this Regulation, Member States shall act in full compliance with relevant Union law, including the [Charter], relevant international law, including the [Geneva Convention], obligations related to access to international protection, in particular the principle of non-refoulement, and fundamental rights. In accordance with the general principles of Union law, decisions under this Regulation shall be taken on an individual basis.'

15 Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code, headed 'Entry conditions for third-country nationals', provides:

'1. For intended stays on the territory of the Member States of a duration of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period , the entry conditions for third-country nationals shall be the following:

(a) they are in possession of a valid travel document 

(b) they are in possession of a valid visa, if required 

(c) they justify the purpose and conditions of the intended stay, and they have sufficient means of subsistence 

(d) they are not persons for whom an alert has been issued ... for the purposes of refusing entry 

(e) they are not considered to be a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of any of the Member States 



5. By way of derogation from paragraph 1:



(c) third-country nationals who do not fulfil one or more of the conditions laid down in paragraph 1 may be authorised by a Member State to enter its territory on humanitarian grounds, on grounds of national interest or because of international obligations '

Directive 2013/32/EU

16 Article 3 of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (OJ 2013 L 180, p. 60) provides:

'1. This Directive shall apply to all applications for international protection made in the territory, including at the border, in the territorial waters or in the transit zones of the Member States, and to the withdrawal of international protection.

2. This Directive shall not apply to requests for diplomatic or territorial asylum submitted to representations of Member States.

'

Regulation (EU) No 604/2013

17 Article 1 of Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person (OJ 2013 L 180, p. 31), headed 'Subject matter', provides:

'This Regulation lays down the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a thirdcountry national or a stateless person '

18 Article 3(1) of Regulation No 604/2013 provides:

'Member States shall examine any application for international protection by a third-country national or a stateless person who applies on the territory of any one of them, including at the border or in the transit zones '

The dispute in the main proceedings and the questions referred for a preliminary ruling

19 The applicants in the main proceedings - a married couple - and their three young, minor children are Syrian nationals and live in Aleppo (Syria). On 12 October 2016 they submitted, at the Belgian Embassy in Beirut (Lebanon), on the basis of Article 25(1)(a) of the Visa Code, applications for visas with limited territorial validity, before returning to Syria on the following day.

20 In support of their visa applications, the applicants in the main proceedings stated that the purpose of the visas they were seeking to obtain was to enable them to leave the besieged city of Aleppo in order to apply for asylum in Belgium. One of the applicants in the main proceedings claimed, inter alia, to have been abducted by a terrorist group, then beaten and tortured, and finally released following the payment of a ransom. The applicants in the main proceedings emphasised, in particular, the precarious security situation in Syria in general and in Aleppo especially, and the fact that, being Orthodox Christians, they were at risk of persecution on account of their religious beliefs. They added that it was impossible for them to register as refugees in neighbouring countries, having regard, inter alia, to the closure of the border between Lebanon and Syria.

21 By decisions of 18 October 2016, which were communicated to the applicants in the main proceedings on 25 October 2016, the Office des Etrangers (Immigration Office, Belgium) rejected their applications. The Immigration Office stated, inter alia, that the applicants intended to stay more than 90 days in Belgium, that Article 3 of the ECHR did not require States that are parties to the convention to admit into their respective territories 'victims of a catastrophic situation' and that Belgian diplomatic posts were not among the authorities to which a foreign national could submit an application for asylum. According to the Immigration Office, authorising the issue of an entry visa to the applicants in the main proceedings in order for them to be able to lodge an application for asylum in Belgium would amount to allowing such an application to be submitted to a diplomatic post.

22 The referring court, before which the applicants in the main proceedings challenge those decisions, explains that the applicants requested the implementation of those decisions to be suspended under the so-called 'emergency' national procedure. Since it is unclear whether that request is admissible under the applicable national provisions, the referring court decided to bring the matter before the Cour constitutionnelle (Constitutional Court, Belgium) for a ruling on that issue. Pending an answer from the Cour constitutionnelle (Belgian Constitutional Court), consideration of the main proceedings by the referring court continues under the emergency procedure.

23 Before the referring court, the applicants in the main proceedings claim, essentially, that Article 18 of the Charter imposes a positive obligation on the Member States to guarantee the right to asylum and that the granting of international protection is the only way to avoid any risk that Article 3 of the ECHR and Article 4 of the Charter will be infringed. In the present case, since the Belgian authorities have themselves taken the view that the applicants in the main proceedings are in a situation that is exceptional from a humanitarian point of view, the latter assert that, having regard to the international obligations of the Kingdom of Belgium, the conditions for applying Article 25(1)(a) of the Visa Code were satisfied, and they conclude therefore that they should have been issued, on humanitarian grounds, with the visas that they were seeking to obtain.

24 For its part, the Belgian State is of the opinion that it is under no obligation, whether on the basis of Article 3 of the ECHR or that of Article 33 of the Geneva Convention, to admit a third-country national into its territory, and that its only obligation in that regard is to refrain from deportation.

25 The referring court argues that it is apparent from Article 1 of the ECHR, as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights, that the applicants in the main proceedings may rely on Article 3 of the ECHR only if they are within Belgian 'jurisdiction'. However, the referring court asks whether the implementation of the visa policy may be regarded as the exercise of jurisdiction in that sense. Moreover, the referring court asks whether a right of entry could follow, as a corollary to the obligation to take preventative measures and to the principle of non-refoulement, from Article 3 of the ECHR and, mutatis mutandis, Article 33 of the Geneva Convention.

26 In addition, the referring court notes that the implementation of Article 4 of the Charter, unlike Article 3 of the ECHR, does not depend on the exercise of jurisdiction but on the application of EU law. However, it does not follow either from the Treaties or from the Charter that that implementation is territorially limited.

27 With regard to Article 25 of the Visa Code, the referring court notes that it provides, inter alia, that a visa must be issued when a Member State 'considers' it to be necessary because of international obligations. The referring court, however, questions the extent of Member States' discretion in that respect and is of the opinion that, having regard to the binding nature of international obligations and those arising from the Charter, any such discretion can be ruled out in that respect.

28 In those circumstances, the Conseil du Contentieux des Etrangers (Council for asylum and immigration proceedings, Belgium) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling:

'(1) Do the "international obligations" referred to in Article 25(1)(a) of the Visa Code cover all the rights guaranteed by the Charter, including, in particular, those guaranteed by Articles 4 and 18, and do they also cover obligations which bind the Member States, in the light of the ECHR and Article 33 of the Geneva Convention?

(2) (a) Depending on the answer given to the first question, must Article 25(1)(a) of the Visa Code be interpreted as meaning that, subject to its discretion with regard to the circumstances of the case, a Member State to which an application for a visa with limited territorial validity has been made is required to issue the visa applied for, where a risk of infringement of Article 4 and/or Article 18 of the Charter or another international obligation by which it is bound is established?

(b) Does the existence of links between the applicant and the Member State to which the visa application was made (for example, family connections, host families, guarantors and sponsors) affect the answer to that question?'

The urgent procedure

29 The referring court has requested that the present reference for a preliminary ruling be dealt with under the urgent preliminary ruling procedure provided for in Article 107 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court.

30 In support of its request, the referring court relied, inter alia, upon the serious armed conflict in Syria, the young age of the children of the applicants in the main proceedings, their particular vulnerability, associated with their belonging to the Orthodox Christian community and, in any event, the fact that the matter was brought before it in the course of an 'emergency' suspension procedure.

31 The referring court explained, in that respect, that the present reference for a preliminary ruling had the effect of staying the proceedings before it.

32 In that regard, it should be noted, in the first place, that the present reference for a preliminary ruling, which concerns the interpretation of Article 25(1)(a) of the Visa Code, raises questions in the areas covered by Title V of Part Three of the TFEU, which relates to the area of freedom, security and justice. It may therefore be dealt with under the urgent preliminary ruling procedure, in accordance with Article 107(1) of the Rules of Procedure.

33 In the second place, it is not disputed that, at least at the time when the request that the present reference for a preliminary ruling should be dealt with under the urgent preliminary ruling procedure was examined, the applicants in the main proceedings were facing a real risk of being subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, which must be regarded as an element of urgency justifying the application of Article 107 et seq. of the Rules of Procedure.

34 Taking the foregoing into account, the Fifth Chamber of the Court decided, on 15 December 2016, acting on a proposal from the JudgeRapporteur and after hearing the Advocate General, to grant the referring court's request that the present reference for a preliminary ruling be dealt with under the urgent preliminary ruling procedure. It also decided to request that the Court assign the case to the Grand Chamber.

Consideration of the questions referred

The jurisdiction of the Court

35 The Court's jurisdiction to answer the questions put by the referring court is disputed, in particular, by the Belgian Government on the ground that Article 25(1) of the Visa Code, in respect of which interpretation is sought, does not apply to the applications at issue in the main proceedings.

36 Nevertheless, it is plain from the order for reference that the applications at issue were submitted on humanitarian grounds on the basis of Article 25 of the Visa Code.

37 As to whether that code applies to applications, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, that are intended to enable third-country nationals to lodge applications for asylum on the territory of a Member State, that question is inextricably linked to the answers to be given to the present request for a preliminary ruling. In those circumstances, the Court has jurisdiction to answer that request (see, to that effect, judgment of 10 September 2015, Wojciechowski, C408/14, EU:C:2015:591, paragraph 26 and the case-law cited).

Consideration of the questions referred

38 By its first question the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 25(1)(a) of the Visa Code must be interpreted as meaning that the international obligations referred to in that article include compliance by a Member State with all the rights guaranteed by the Charter, in particular, in Articles 4 and 18 thereof, by the ECHR and by Article 33 of the Geneva Convention. By its second question it asks, in essence, whether, depending on the answer given to its first question, Article 25(1)(a) of the Visa Code must be interpreted as meaning that the Member State to which an application for a visa with limited territorial validity was made is required to issue the visa applied for, where a risk of infringement of Article 4 and/or Article 18 of the Charter or another international obligation by which it is bound is established. If necessary, the referring court also seeks to ascertain whether the existence of links between the applicant and the Member State to which the visa application was made has any bearing in that regard.

39 It should be recalled at the outset that the Court has consistently held that the fact that a question submitted by the referring court refers only to certain provisions of EU law does not mean that the Court may not provide the national court with all the guidance on points of interpretation that may be of assistance in adjudicating on the case pending before it, whether or not that court has referred to those points in its questions. It is, in this regard, for the Court to extract from all the information provided by the referring court, in particular from the grounds of the decision to make the reference, the points of EU law which require interpretation in view of the subject matter of the dispute (see, inter alia, judgment of 12 February 2015, Oil Trading Poland, C349/13, EU:C:2015:84, paragraph 45 and the case-law cited).

40 In the present case, it is important to note that the Visa Code was adopted on the basis of Article 62(2)(a) and (b)(ii) of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Council of the European Union is to adopt measures concerning visas for intended stays of no more than three months, including the procedures and conditions for issuing visas by Member States.

41 As set out in Article 1 of the Visa Code, the objective thereof is to establish the procedures and conditions for issuing visas for transit through or intended stays on the territory of the Member States not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period. In Article 2(2)(a) and (b) of the code the concept of 'visa' is defined, for the purpose of the code, as meaning 'an authorisation issued by a Member State' with a view, respectively, to 'transit through or an intended stay on the territory of the Member States for a duration of no more than 90 days in any 180day period' and to 'transit through the international transit areas of airports of the Member States'.

42 However, it is apparent from the order for reference and from the material in the file before the Court that the applicants in the main proceedings submitted applications for visas on humanitarian grounds, based on Article 25 of the Visa Code, at the Belgian embassy in Lebanon, with a view to applying for asylum in Belgium immediately upon their arrival in that Member State and, thereafter, to being granted a residence permit with a period of validity not limited to 90 days.

43 In accordance with Article 1 of the Visa Code, such applications, even if formally submitted on the basis of Article 25 of that code, fall outside the scope of that code, in particular Article 25(1)(a) thereof, the interpretation of which is sought by the referring court in connection with the concept of 'international obligations' mentioned in that provision.

44 In addition, since, as noted by the Belgian Government and the European Commission in their written observations, no measure has been adopted, to date, by the EU legislature on the basis of Article 79(2)(a) TFEU, with regard to the conditions governing the issue by Member States of long-term visas and residence permits to third-country nationals on humanitarian grounds, the applications at issue in the main proceedings fall solely within the scope of national law.

45 Since the situation at issue in the main proceedings is not, therefore, governed by EU law, the provisions of the Charter, in particular, Articles 4 and 18 thereof, referred to in the questions of the referring court, do not apply to it (see, to that effect, inter alia, judgments of 26 February 2013, Akerberg Fransson, C617/10, EU:C:2013:105, paragraph 19, and of 27 March 2014, Torralbo Marcos, C265/13, EU:C:2014:187, paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).

46 The foregoing conclusion is not called into question by the fact that, under Article 32(1)(b) of the Visa Code, the existence of 'reasonable doubts as to  [the applicant's] intention to leave the territory of the Member States before the expiry of the visa applied for' is a ground for refusal of a visa and not a reason not to apply that code.

47 Indeed, the defining feature of the situation at issue in the main proceedings is not the existence of such doubts, but the fact that the purpose of the application differs from that of a short-term visa.

48 It should be added that, to conclude otherwise, when the Visa Code is intended for the issuing of visas for stays on the territories of Member States not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period, would be tantamount to allowing thirdcountry nationals to lodge applications for visas on the basis of the Visa Code in order to obtain international protection in the Member State of their choice, which would undermine the general structure of the system established by Regulation No 604/2013.

49 It is also important to note that to conclude otherwise would mean that Member States are required, on the basis of the Visa Code, de facto to allow third-country nationals to submit applications for international protection to the representations of Member States that are within the territory of a third country. Indeed, whereas the Visa Code is not intended to harmonise the laws of Member States on international protection, it should be noted that the measures adopted by the European Union on the basis of Article 78 TFEU that govern the procedures for applications for international protection do not impose such an obligation and, on the contrary, exclude from their scope applications made to the representations of Member States. Accordingly, it is apparent from Article 3(1) and (2) of Directive 2013/32 that that directive applies to applications for international protection made in the territory, including at the border, in the territorial waters or in the transit zones of the Member States, but not to requests for diplomatic or territorial asylum submitted to the representations of Member States. Similarly, it follows from Articles 1 and 3 of Regulation No 604/2013 that that regulation only imposes an obligation on Member States to examine any application for international protection made on the territory of a Member State, including at the border or in the transit zones, and that the procedures laid down in that regulation apply exclusively to such applications for international protection.

50 In those circumstances, the Belgian authorities were wrong to describe the applications at issue in the main proceedings as applications for short-term visas.

51 In the light of the foregoing, the answer to the questions referred is that Article 1 of the Visa Code must be interpreted as meaning that an application for a visa with limited territorial validity made on humanitarian grounds by a third-country national, on the basis of Article 25 of the code, to the representation of the Member State of destination that is within the territory of a third country, with a view to lodging, immediately upon his or her arrival in that Member State, an application for international protection and, thereafter, to staying in that Member State for more than 90 days in a 180-day period, does not fall within the scope of that code but, as European Union law currently stands, solely within that of national law.

Costs

52 Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court. Costs incurred in submitting observations to the Court, other than the costs of those parties, are not recoverable.

On those grounds, the Court (Grand Chamber) hereby rules:

Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code), as amended by Regulation (EU) No 610/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013, must be interpreted as meaning that an application for a visa with limited territorial validity made on humanitarian grounds by a third-country national, on the basis of Article 25 of the code, to the representation of the Member State of destination that is within the territory of a third country, with a view to lodging, immediately upon his or her arrival in that Member State, an application for international protection and, thereafter, to staying in that Member State for more than 90 days in a 180-day period, does not fall within the scope of that code but, as European Union law currently stands, solely within that of national law.

[Signatures]

Copyright notice: Cour de justice des Communautes europeennes L-2925 Luxembourg. Telephone switchboard: (352) 4303.1; fax: (352) 4303.2600
In a release issued under the same headline yesterday by The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY), the sizes of the new Reeses Crunchy Cookie Cup were listed as 1.5-oz. and 2.8-oz. in the third paragraph and the list that followed. In actuality, the sizes of the product will be 1.4-oz. and 2.68-oz., respectively. The corrected release follows:

HERSHEY, Pa., March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After rumors swirled on social media last week, Reeses brand confirmed today that it is launching a new product  Reeses Crunchy Cookie Cup. Its a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup stuffed with crunchy, chocolate cookie bits. The confirmation brings an end to the online #Cupspiracy that started two weeks earlier, driving excitement and anticipation for the newest item.



You could say this combination is cuptivating, said Ryan Riess, Senior Brand Manager, Reeses Brand. Reeses fanatics are one-of-a-kind. They have a love and devotion to the brand that is unlike anything I have ever seen, and have been buzzing at the potential thought of a new innovation from the brand. Were excited to finally let the secret out of the bag and end the #Cupspiracy - announcing the new Reeses Crunchy Cookie Cup. You could say we crushed it!

The new product will be available on shelves nationwide starting in May in both standard two-cup size 1.4-oz. (SRP $1.09) and king two-cup Big Cup size 2.68-oz. (SRP $1.79).

Official Product Name : Reeses Crunchy Cookie Cup

: Reeses Crunchy Cookie Cup Size : Standard two-cup size 1.4-oz. (SRP $1.09), and in king two-cup Big Cup size 2.68-oz. (SRP $1.79).

: Standard two-cup size 1.4-oz. (SRP $1.09), and in king two-cup Big Cup size 2.68-oz. (SRP $1.79). Availability : The product will be available on shelves nationwide starting in May

: The product will be available on shelves nationwide starting in May Image: https://share.agencyroad.com/message/nFROJGx4prTRKAGJsITGmU (Expires March 18)

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, Pa., is a global confectionery leader known for bringing goodness to the world through its chocolate, sweets, mints and other great-tasting snacks. Hershey has approximately 18,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands around the world that drive more than $7.4 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers and Brookside. Building on its core business, Hershey is expanding its portfolio to include a broader range of delicious snacks. The company remains focused on growing its presence in key international markets while continuing to extend its competitive advantage in North America.

At Hershey, goodness has always been about more than delicious products. For more than 120 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on giving underserved children the skills and support they need to be successful. Today, the company continues this social purpose through 'Nourishing Minds,' a global initiative that provides basic nutrition to help children learn and grow. From neighborhoods across the United States to the streets of Shanghai and Mumbai and villages of West Africa, our goal is to nourish one million minds by 2020.

To learn more -

Visit: www.thehersheycompany.com



Follow:

https://twitter.com/hersheycompany

https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/166377/?pathWildcard=166377

https://www.facebook.com/HersheyCompany/

https://www.youtube.com/hersheycompany

https://www.instagram.com/hersheycompany/
TORONTO, March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX:AVL) (OTCQX:AVLNF) (Avalon or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced preferred share financing with an entity managed by The Lind Partners, a New York based asset management firm (Lind), as described in the Companys news release of March 3, 2017.

The financing involved the issuance of 500 Series A1 Preferred Shares on a private placement basis at a price of $5,000 per share for gross proceeds of $2,500,000. In addition, Lind received 6,900,000 common share purchase warrants exercisable until March 10, 2022 at a price of $0.23 per common share.

The proceeds will be used for ongoing market development work, metallurgical studies and preliminary engineering work on the Separation Rapids Lithium Project and for general working capital purposes. The work at Separation Rapids will include a 2,000 metre diamond drilling program scheduled to begin during the week of March 20. This program will test projected extensions of the presently defined petalite resource, known to be enriched in lithium mica (lepidolite) mineralization.

This news release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the US Securities Act), and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to US persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act) absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration. All currency reported in this release is in Canadian dollars.

About The Lind Partners

The Lind Partners is a New York-based institutional fund management firm focused on small-and mid-cap companies publicly traded in Canada, Australia and the UK across mining, oil & gas, biotech and technology. Lind employs a multi-strategy investment approach: direct investments of new capital; participation in syndicated equity placements; IPO/pre-IPO investments; and selective open market trades. Since 2009, the Lind team has completed over 75 direct investments totaling over $600 million in value.

About Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.

Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. is a Canadian mineral development company specializing in niche market metals and minerals with growing demand in new technology. The Company has three advanced stage projects, all 100%-owned, providing investors with exposure to lithium, tin and indium, as well as rare earth elements, tantalum, niobium, and zirconium. Avalon is currently focusing on its Separation Rapids Lithium Project, Kenora, ON and its East Kemptville Tin-Indium Project, Yarmouth, NS. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship are corporate cornerstones.

For questions and feedback, please e-mail the Company at ir@AvalonAM.com, or phone Don Bubar, President & CEO at 416-364-4938.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to how the Company plans to use the net proceeds from the financing, that the work at Separation Rapids will include a 2,000 metre diamond drilling program scheduled to begin during the week of March 20, and that this program will test projected extensions of the presently defined petalite resource, known to be enriched in lithium mica (lepidolite) mineralization. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as potential, scheduled, anticipates, continues, expects or does not expect, is expected, scheduled, targeted, planned, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be or will not be taken, reached or result, will occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Avalon to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. Although Avalon has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to market conditions, and the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses as well as those risk factors set out in the Companys current Annual Information Form, Managements Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Companys profile at www.SEDAR.com. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such forward-looking statements have been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Companys plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Avalon does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/10/2017 --Author Melissa Berg, specializing in eclectic Jewish books for kids and young adults, celebrates the upcoming release of "The Challah That Took Over the House". In this children's book geared toward young girls, four girls must overcome their differences to stop a challah monster from taking over the house.



Raizy has just moved to a new building inhabited by three other girls who do not get along. The girls return home from school on Friday with challahs ready to be baked. Each girl thinks her challah is the best and insults the others.



As a result of their bickering, the challah grows and grows into a challah monster and takes over the house. The girls must put aside their dislike and work together to stop the creature. If they fail, Shabbos will be ruined for them as well as the whole neighborhood.



Complete with challah recipes in the back of the book, parents can enjoy making creative challahs with their child.



About "The Challah That Took Over the House"

The official release date of "The Challah That Took Over the House" is March 14, 2017. This is right in time for pre-Passover chametz quests. It will be available on Amazon as well as major retailers in print and digital formats. It is currently available on Kobo for pre-order.
MINNEAPOLIS, March 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fremont Water Solutions, a leading water management company, recently selected Clairmont Financial Group, LLC as their broker of record. Founded in 1954, Fremont Water Solutions provides specialty chemical, equipment, and services of the highest quality to a wide variety of customers. Additionally, they place a premium on outstanding customer service and building long-term partnerships, a focus that partially led to their decision to partner with Clairmont Financial Group. Clairmont Group is a boutique firm that provides a full suite of services and will be supporting Fremont on a myriad of fronts.



Prior to even beginning the relationship, Clairmont Financial Group helped Fremont Water to ameliorate a number of human resources issues, including fully rewriting their handbook. Upon the commencement of the official partnership, Clairmont Financial Group streamlined their benefits by utilizing a dedicated online system that fully integrated with their existing payroll system, further reducing the strain on human resources from a benefits-related perspective. Clairmont Group also provided a market analysis for the group health insurance, which prompted the selection of a different insurance company and resulted in the double benefit of lower cost to Fremont plus additional benefits to their employees.

Steve Strege, the Executive Vice President of Clairmont Financial Group, was responsible for developing the relationship and ensuring their employee benefits needs were fully being met. The partnership began with the 2016 Open Enrollment Period.
Civilians from the Kokang region of Myanmar's northern Shan state enter the Chinese border town of Nansan in southwestern China's Yunnan province, March 9, 2017.

A Chinese national has died and several more have been injured by shelling from intense fighting between government troops and ethnic insurgents in northern Myanmar, local sources told RFA.

The man died near the No. 125 border marker following shelling by the Myanmar army at around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, sources said.

The victim, identified only by his surname Yang, was shown in photos sent to RFA by eyewitnesses, shortly before his body was collected by the Chinese authorities.

Fighting between Kokang fighters and government forces in Myanmars volatile northern Shan state have left broke out early Monday when 30 soldiers from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the formal name of the Kokang rebel army, attacked police and military posts and civilian buildings, leaving about 30 peoplepolice, civilians, and insurgentsdead.

A volunteer working in the Yunnan border town of Nansan surnamed Wei confirmed the report, saying that clashes have intensified further this week.

"There are still shells landing on the Chinese side of the border, and some people have been killed and others have been injured in the explosions. One Chinese person has died," Wei said.

"The Myanmar government troops have been absolutely crazed this time," he said.

A volunteer surnamed Cai said the fighting is particularly fierce near the border checkpoint at Nansan.

"It goes on intermittently during the day; there are a few shells per hour," she said. "Maybe three or four homes have been hit because they are close to the border crossing. There are more troops around than normal, and they are patrolling 24 hours a day."

She said an estimated 10,000 refugees are currently crowded into Nansan township, with a number of voluntary teams operating to find them food and shelter.

"They started coming over in groups on March 8; now there are 10 or 20 thousand people fleeing [the fighting], Cai said. They are getting basic food and shelter provided by the Chinese government.

"Some Kokang residents have also set up their own organizations; they've formed a lot of teams to help them out, too," she said.

"The majority have been able to access basic assistance," she said.

Chinese government-run camps in southwestern China's Yunnan province house refugees fleeing the Kokang conflict in Myanmar's northern Shan state, March 9, 2017. Photo courtesy of an eyewitness Too dangerous

Fighting between Kokang rebels and Myanmar troops in Laukkai in northern Shan state has forced a wave of more than 20,000 refugees across the border into China.

A resident of Nansan told RFA on Friday that the schools have yet to reopen after being closed on Wednesday.

"The fighting is still going on, and the schools are still closed," the resident said. "We can still hear gunfire and shelling, and we dare not go outside."

"If civilians go to the border, the police and the military turn them away and won't let them watch," he said. "It's too dangerous."

He said the majority of refugees are camping out in tents in the vicinity of the No. 125 border marker.

"The government has put up disaster relief tents for them to stay in," he said. "I'm not sure how many there are, but there are about 70 or 80 areas set aside for refugees."

Meanwhile, an ethnic Chinese resident of Kokang surnamed Lu told RFA that several buildings in Nansan were damaged in the shelling.

"There is a big hotel in Nansan, which had its windows shattered when a shell landed there; several shells landed over here," Lu said. "Nansan is very, very close to the border."

"In the place where the fighting is, you can have one foot in China and the other in Myanmar," she said.

"The fighting is literally on the border between the two countries, and it spills over here," she said.

Lu said Kokang is now pretty deserted, with stores shuttered up and nowhere open for business.

She said she is hoping to be able to return to Myanmar and carry on with her life as soon as possible.

An official who answered the phone at the Nansan township government on Friday declined to comment.

"Sorry, I can't tell you anything. Those are the rules," the official said.

"This is all classified information, so there's nothing I can do about it," he said.

Repeated calls to the Chinese embassy in Myanmar rang unanswered during office hours on Friday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called on all parties to exercise restraint in the conflict, but made no mention of any deaths in the border region.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Lok-to for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Youd think that Atena Farghadani, after spending 18 humiliating and brutalizing months in prison for caricaturing the Iranian Parliament, would, upon her release last summer, retire quietly to the comforts of her home. But she didnt. Instead, she went on Facebook with a new cartoon taking aim at the state-run womens university that expelled her after she was arrested. Maren Williams at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund filed the ensuing report:

The president of Alzahra University, where Farghadani was studying art, is Ensieh Khazali  the daughter of a hardline ayatollah who died last year. In the new caricature, Farghadani depicts Khazali as a Yoda-like gremlin with bird feet chained to a throne bearing her fathers likeness, suggesting that the university is constrained by the most repressive elements of Irans theocracy.

Farghadani was first arrested in August 2014 for her cartoon mocking members of Parliament as they debated a bill to ban voluntary sterilization procedures, such as vasectomies and tubal ligations, in an effort to reverse Irans falling birthrate. But even before her arrest, she was already well-known to the government for her fearless advocacy on behalf of political prisoners, Bahai minorities, and the families of protesters killed after the countrys presidential election in 2009.

When at the end of 2014, Farghadani was released on bail while awaiting trial, she promptly uploaded a video to YouTube detailing abuses she suffered in prison including beatings, strip searches, and non-stop interrogations. She was rearrested in January 2015 and finally received the draconian sentence of 12 years and 9 months after a perfunctory jury-less trial in late May 2015. Last year, she was honored with the 2015 Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award from CRNI.

She was finally released last spring after some charges were dismissed on appeal and the rest of her sentence was reduced to 18 months, which she had already served.

Also last year, Farghadani was additionally charged with non-adultery illegitimate relations for shaking the hand of her lawyer Mohammad Moghimi while he was visiting her in prison. Contact between unrelated members of the opposite sex is technically illegal in Iran, but rarely prosecuted. Moghimi was also charged, and both parties could have received sentences of up to 99 lashes if convicted.

Both were acquitted in January 2016, but in the course of the investigation Farghadani was involuntarily subjected to virginity and pregnancy tests. The specious virginity test is carried out by physically checking for the presence of a hymen, and is recognized by the World Health Organization as a form of sexual violence.

Mere minutes after her release last summer, Farghadani sent a short video to the activist Facebook page My Stealthy Freedom, where Iranian women post pictures of themselves without hijab. Here (in italics) is her brief but powerful message, according to the English subtitles on the video:

Some people think that art is not important, but the responsibility of an artist is to challenge authority and to be challenged. Sometimes the price for an artist is imprisonment, but do not forget that artists have responsibilities.

Farghadanis fearless advocacy for human rights and freedom of expression is a continuing source of inspiration!
China issued a ban starting Friday on the sale of foreign publications without an import permit, in what activists said is the next step in the ruling Chinese Communist Party's quest for total thought control.



The new rules came into effect on the online shopping platform Taobao on Friday banning sellers from offering "overseas publications."



"In order to ... create a safe and secure online shopping environment and to enhance consumer confidence and satisfaction, Taobao has embargoed sales of foreign publications," the company said in a statement on its website.



The change, which also includes foreign "services" relating to publications, will enter into force on March 10, 2017, it said.



Violations of the rule leading to "serious consequences" will result in the deduction of 48 seller points, it said.



The move comes after five Hong Kong booksellers were detained in 2015 for selling "banned books" to customers across the internal immigration border in mainland China.



An employee who answered the phone at Taobao said the ban included books, movies, and games that hadn't already been given government approval.



"If it comes from overseas, then basically, it's not allowed, for the time being at least," the employee said. "Any imported publications will need an import certificate under this system, and they need to be reported to the authorities. Only then can they be sold."



Clamping down



Pan Lu, of the Hubei-based rights group Rose China, said the administration of President Xi Jinping is currently tightening control over every aspect of public discourse.



"They are clamping down on ideology and public opinion," Pan said. "They can't afford to allow a pluralistic value system to seep into China via the consumer market for foreign publications."



"The Chinese Communist Party is terrified that its own single-party ideology is bankrupt, and it is trying to shore up its grip on power by controlling what people think."



Hangzhou-based writer Zan Aizong said the new rules would make it much harder for people to get hold of foreign literature.



"This will mean that people will have to resort to selling it on the quiet, because if you are found at the border to have political books in your bag, you will be detained," Zan said.



"It's very hard to get books into the country from overseas."



He said the only option left will be to try to download e-books from outside the complex network of blocks, filters, and human censorship known as the Great Firewall.



Still detained



More than a year after he was taken away from his holiday home in Thailand and held by Chinese police, Hong Kong bookseller and Swedish national Gui Minhai remains in detention at an unknown location.



Gui, who headed the Mighty Current publishing house based around the Causeway Bay Books store in Hong Kong, is the last of five booksellers to be unaccounted for after their cross-border detentions sparked accusations that Beijing had broken its treaty obligations to the city.



He was last seen on Oct. 17, 2015 after leaving his holiday apartment in Pattaya, Thailand, according to the Free Gui Minhai website set up by his daughter Angela to campaign for his release.



In the months that followed, Causeway Bay Books store manager and British passport-holder Lee Bo, 65, went missing from his workplace in Hong Kong, and the group's general manager Lui Bo (also spelled Lui Por) and colleagues Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kei were also all detained under opaque circumstances.



The five are all permanent Hong Kong residents, and the now-shuttered bookstore operated under the laws of that city, not Chinese law.



Reported by Lee Lai for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Xin Lin for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.




Members of a Malaysian youth group prepare to hand over flowers as a gesture of peace to North Korean embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur, March 10, 2017.

Witnesses have helped Malaysian authorities legally confirm that Kim Jong Nam was the man killed in a poison-attack in the Kuala Lumpur area last month, Malaysias police chief said Friday but without giving more details.

Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar cited a need to protect witnesses as he announced the official verification of the dead mans identity, whose North Korean diplomatic passport bore the name Kim Chol.

He said investigators verified the identity upon receiving witness confirmation that the body belonged to the 45-year-old half-brother of Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Un.

We have now established that Kim Chol is Kim Jong Nam. We have fulfilled the requirements of the law in identifying the body, Khalid told a news conference.

For the safety of the witnesses, we will not be divulging any explanation. I am not going to say more than that, Khalid added.

Weeks ago, Malaysian officials had identified the dead man as Kim Jong Nam, citing a comparison between the passport with Kim Chols name and documents provided by the North Korean embassy, according to Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The North Korean ambassador, who has since been expelled from Malaysia, disputed Zahids assertion and officials representing the regime in Pyongyang never referred to the man killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13 as Kim Jong Nam.

Since the killing, which, according to Malaysian authorities, was caused by a banned nerve agent being smeared on his face, officials have arrested and charged two Southeast Asian for his assassination and identified at least seven North Koreans as suspects. This week, amid a diplomatic feud with Pyongyang, Malaysias prime minister accused North Korea of being behind the assassination.

Bilateral tensions have escalated over Malaysias refusal to release Kims body without next-of-kin coming forward to claim the remains and provide DNA needed for a positive identification.

At Fridays news conference, Khalid did not say whether any of Kims relatives were among the witness or witnesses who helped verify the dead mans identity, or whether any DNA sample was handed over to police.

I will not reveal anymore about the identification process, Khalid said.

We have no use for the body anymore and we will give the body to the Ministry of Health as no one has claimed the body, the police chief added. Under Malaysian law, only next-of-kin can claim a persons remains, he noted.

Malaysians rally

Tensions between the two countries ratcheted up this week as they expelled their respective ambassadors and imposed exit bans from their territories on each others citizens.

On Thursday, two Malaysian employees working for the U.N. in North Korea left that country. Three staffers at the Malaysian embassy in Pyongyang as well as their families were said to be stuck in the communist state Friday because of the travel ban.

Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday called on his countrymen, including the political opposition, to come together and support his governments efforts in resolving the diplomatic crisis with North Korea.

If we are united when facing any problems or threats, the enemy from outside would not be able to destroy everything we have built over time, Najib wrote in a blog post on his official website.

Malaysia has maintained cordial diplomatic relations with other countries but they should not take this for granted, he said, alluding to bilateral ties with North Korea dating back 44 years.

This does not mean any of them could abuse the hospitality Malaysia has provided over time and violate the law of our country or do as they please without respecting our sovereignty, he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysians on Friday prayed and rallied in Kuala Lumpur for the safe return of their nine countrymen who have been prevented from leaving North Korea.

Demonstrators converged outside the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

One of the groups, Malaysian Youth Solidarity brought bouquets of flowers as a goodwill gesture in calling for a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Authorities in southwestern Chinas Sichuan province are blocking internet access in a Tibetan prefecture in the run-up to a sensitive political anniversary, fearing Tibetan residents may organize protests inspired by exiles living outside the country, sources say.



The move blocks service in 10 counties of the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and remains in effect through March 17, according to a document issued by prefecture authorities and obtained by RFAs Tibetan Service.



Now, because of the March 10 anniversary of National Uprising Day, the authorities are concerned that residents of Tibetan areas could create problems under the influence of activities organized outside the country, one resident of the area told RFA.



The authorities have therefore blocked internet service so that Tibetans cannot see, hear, or read about protests or other activities organized by Tibetans [living in exile], RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



Counties affected by the ban include Dartsedo (in Chinese, Kangding), Tawu (Daofu), Draggo (Luhuo), Kardze (Ganzi), Sershul (Shiqu), Dege (Dege), Palyul (Baiyu), Nyagrong (Xinlong), Lithang (Litang), and Bathang (Batang), according to the order, titled Document 24 of 2017.



Other, unspecified areas will also have service blocked, the order says.



Based on past experience, the Ngaba [Aba] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture will also be affected, a second Tibetan source told RFA.



Military parade held



Meanwhile, government employees in the neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) are being assigned in rotation to guard their offices around the clock, "and security is probably being heightened in [the TAR capital city] Lhasa, the source said.



On March 10, 1959, Tibetans in Lhasa rose up in protest of Beijings tightening political and military control of the formerly independent Tibetan region, sparking a rebellion in which thousands were killed.



Tibets spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in the midst of the uprising, and Beijing has repeatedly accused exiled Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, of stoking dissent against its rule ever since.



On March 3 this year, Chinese troops staged a military parade in Lhasa that appeared intended to discourage public protests or expressions of dissent, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a March 9 statement.



In addition, foreign travel to Lhasa has been closed for all of March, with the entire region placed on a security alert, HRW said.



Chinese authorities are once again shutting off travel and holding military parades to bully the Tibetan population into silence, HRW China director Sophie Richardson said.



Progress on human rights is only going to happen if the Chinese government replaces its intimidation tactics with a more open approach to information, expression, and peaceful dissent, Richardson said.



Reported by RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.




Vietnamese demonstrators chant anti-China slogans during a rally in Hanoi marking the anniversary of a 1988 battle between Vietnam and China in the Spratly Islands, March 14, 2016.

Plainclothes police in a port city in south Vietnam on Friday harassed and detained three people who attended a ceremony commemorating a 1988 Sino-Vietnam skirmish in the disputed Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, those arrested and other attendees said.

About 50 plainclothes and uniformed policemen arrived at the site 15 minutes into the ceremony in Vung Tau, capital Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. They collected wreaths of flowers which attendees floated in the water at a beach, and detained three peoplefreelance journalist Suong Quynh, Facebook blogger Tam Ke, and Le Cong Vinh.

After the ceremony began, I saw many plainclothes police who tried to disrupt the ceremony, Suong Quynh told RFAs Vietnamese Service after she was released Friday evening local time.

They called one another on their mobile phones and treated us like criminals, she said. I used my phone to record the scene when they arrested Tam Ke.

When they saw that, they took me away, she said. They interrogated me, but got no result. They then threw my phone into water and ruined it.

Le Cong Vinh told RFA that police tried to force him to sign a paper, but he refused.

They then punched him twice in the face, and released him at 1 p.m., he said.

Kim Chi, another attendee, told RFA that the government should have organized the ceremony.

But they did not do it, he said. Moreover they tried to stop us.  The blood shed by martyrs is not water.

The Spratly Islands, which Vietnam calls Truong Sa and China calls Nansha, are a group of islets, cays, and reefs that form an archipelago in the South China Sea that lies off the costs of southern Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

The countries have jockeyed with China for control of the islands, which are located amid strategic shipping lanes and abundant fishing grounds, and may contain oil and natural gas reserves under the seabed.

Johnson South Reef skirmish

On March 14, 1988, the Vietnamese and Chinese navies engaged in a deadly skirmish near Johnson South Reef, called Gac Ma in Vietnamese, during which dozens of Vietnamese soldiers were killed and two Vietnamese ships were sunk.

After the battle, China gained control of Johnson South Reef, despite ongoing claims by Vietnam and other countries in the region that the reef is part of their territory.

Tensions between the two communist countries hit another high point in 2014 when China placed an oil rig in disputed waters, prompting protests across Vietnam.

Chinese forces have also built a 3,000-meter aircraft runway on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands to maintain the safety of navigation in the region and have attacked and chased away Vietnamese fishing boats, as they continue to assert their power in the South China Sea.

Vietnam applauded a ruling by an international arbitration tribunal in July 2016 that said China had no right to resources within the nine-dash demarcation line that the Chinese government uses to mark its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The tribunal also ruled that China could not claim a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone around reefs and atolls in the Spratly and Paracel Islands, which Vietnam also claims.

China seized the Paracel Islands, which it still holds, in a skirmish with Vietnamese forces in 1974 that left 75 Vietnamese soldiers dead.

Vietnam continues to assert its sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, though China has dismissed the ruling by the international arbitration tribunal and continues its military buildup in the South China Sea.

Vietnamese police routinely break up anti-China protests marking the anniversaries of the takeovers of the Spratly and Paracel islands and detain demonstrators.

Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
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At least three Belarusian activists live-streamed their own detentions on March 10 after several hundred people rallied in the northwestern city of Maladzyechna, demanding cancellation of a controversial tax on jobless people. (In Belarusian)
BAKU -- Azerbaijan has announced it is quitting the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) after the organization suspended the oil-rich Caspian country's membership over concerns about the government's treatment of critics and civil-society groups.

The executive director of Azerbaijan's State Oil Fund, Sahmar Movsumov, said on March 10 that the EITI's decision was "unfair."

He said Azerbaijan was withdrawing from the organization, which is backed by governments, corporations, and financial institutions and aims to promote the open and accountable management of natural resources.

The EITI announced Azerbaijan's suspension on March 9 at a meeting in Bogota, Colombia.

It said Azerbaijan "lacks an enabling environment for civil society, a violation of the initiatives requirements on multistakeholder engagement," and gave Baku a July deadline to improve the situation.

The EITI called on President Ilham Aliyev's government to liberalize legislation defining registration of NGOs and to release political prisoners.

With reporting by the Financial Times
MINSK -- A prominent Belarusian opposition leader was forcibly taken to court by police in Minsk on March 10.

Zmitser Dashkevich, leader of the unregistered Malady Front (Youth Front), was charged with resisting police, hooliganism, and violation of the law on public gatherings.

Dashkevich denied the charges, which are connected to his role in organizing a 15-day protest that halted a construction project near a protected historical site on the outskirts of the Belarusian capital.

The protests took place at the Kurapaty preserve, where at least 30,000 people were killed and buried by the Soviet authorities under dictator Josef Stalin in the 1930s and '40s.

The protesters said the construction of a business center adjacent to the preserve would desecrate the memory of Stalin's victims.

Construction work was suspended on March 1 and the protesters removed their camp at the site on March 6.

On March 7, a court in Minsk found another Kurapaty protester, Syarhey Palcheuski, guilty of violation of the law on public gatherings and sentenced him to three days in jail.
MINSK -- More than 10 people were detained after several hundred people rallied in a northwestern Belarusian city, demanding cancellation of a controversial tax on jobless people.

Police did not intervene as up to 1,000 demonstrators marched in the March 10 rally in Maladzyechna, where protesters chanted "Long Live Belarus!" and "Power to People!"

But following the event, men presumed to be security officers used force to detain several activists, including opposition politicians Anatol Lyabedzka, Yuras Hubarevich, Volha Kavalkova, and Vital Rymasheuski.

Also detained was journalist Syarhey Karalevich of the independent Belarusian news agency BelaPAN.

The protests were the latest in series to rattle the authoritarian government of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has said the law was necessary to combat what he has called "social parasitism."

WATCH: Three Belarusian Activists Live-Stream Their Own Detentions (in Russian)

The Viasna human rights organization said in a statement that at least two other opposition politicians were detained as well, and there were reports that several other local activists were also taken into custody.

It was not immediately clear what charges the detainees were facing.

Opposition parliamentarian Hanna Kanapatskaya later traveled to the Maladzyechna police station to demand their release.

Kanapatskaya said in an interview at the station that she had been unable to obtain any information about the detentions from police.

She said she had filed a complaint with police over what she called the criminal "abduction" of Lyabedzka, Rymasheuski, and Kavalkova by "unidentified persons" based on videos posted on social media.

The rally took place a day after Lukashenka suspended implementation of the tax for one year, saying it will be "corrected" and carried out in 2018.

The law, which has sparked protests across the nation of 10 million, imposes a special tax on Belarusians who work less than half of a calendar year and do not register at the country's labor bureaus.

The law exempts registered job-seekers, homemakers, subsistence farmers, and Belarusians working in Russia.

Activists told RFE/RL that similar rallies are scheduled for March 11 and March 12 in four cities: Pinsk, Babruysk, Vorsha, and Rahachou.

Activists in Minsk told RFE/RL that city authorities allowed them to stage a demonstration as well.

At the same time that he announced a suspension on the tax, Lukashenka also instructed his interior minister to ensure that perfect order is established in the country, BelaPAN reported.
We're going to hear a lot more about the downing of Flight MH17.

We're going to hear a lot more about the killing of civilians in Mariupol and Kramatorsk.

We're going to hear a lot more about Russia financing, supporting, and arming separatists in the Donbas.

We're going to hear a lot more about terrorist attacks in Ukrainian cities.

And we're going to hear a lot more about repression and discrimination against the Crimean Tatars.

Ukraine may not win its lawsuit against Russia in the International Court of Justice, where it is accusing Moscow of violating UN conventions on discrimination and on financing terrorism.

Georgia failed in a similar effort after Russia invaded it in 2008.

And even if Ukraine wins its case, the court lacks effective enforcement mechanisms.

But the case is important nonetheless because it will shine a spotlight on Russia's war on Ukraine and its consequences.

And it is important because, unlike courts controlled by Vladimir Putin's regime, the International Court of Justice deals in facts.

And the facts in this case do not reflect well on Russia.

The International Court of Justice can now become the antithesis of Putin's post-truth propaganda machine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has derided Ukraine's lawsuit as a PR stunt.

And in some ways, it actually is.

Because regardless of the result, it presents an opportunity to cut through all the Kremlin's spin, diversion, and disinformation in open court -- and to amplify the facts and the truth about the costs of Russia's three-year war in Ukraine.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti says he is in constant contact with international security authorities to ensure stability in Kosovo as more ethnic Serb police officers in the north of country resigned.



Kurti said on November 6 after a rally by ethnic Serbs in the streets of North Mitrovica that the security situation in Kosovo was threatened by various criminalized individuals and groups, but said that during his time in office, we have made great progress in the fight against crime and corruption."



He added that the rule of law goes hand in hand with peace and security and cannot be threatened, adding that authorities do not distinguish criminals on the basis of ethnicity, but only on the basis of their criminal acts."



When asked about the decision on November 5 by the Serbian List party to leave Kosovo's institutions, Kurti repeated his call that Kosovo Serbs refrain from doing so.



"I once again I invite all Serb citizens of our country to not abandon institutions, not to resign, not to leave their jobs, because there would be less service for the people," he said.



Kurti has blamed Belgrade for seeking to destabilize Kosovo by supporting the ethnic Serbs in their boycott of state institutions.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement on November 5 that the withdrawal of Kosovo Serbs from the country's institutions "is not a solution to the current disputes" and it has the potential to further escalate tensions.



A statement from the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo released to RFE/RL's Balkan Service late on November 6 said the United States agreed with the European Union that the recent developments around relations between Kosovo and Serbia "are of great concern and put important progress achieved in the EU-facilitated Dialogue at risk."



"The Kosovan Serbs' withdrawal from Kosovan institutions is not a solution to the current disputes and has the potential to further escalate the tensions on the ground," the statement added. "All involved must take steps to reduce tensions and ensure peace and stability on the ground."



The Serb officers who resigned on November 6 submitted written resignations to the police station in North Mitrovica. One of the policemen told RFE/RL that the officers only submitted their resignations in writing but had not yet turned in their uniforms and weapons. However, he said this will follow in the coming days.



Numerous media outlets reported that the police officers took off their uniforms as part of the wider Serb movement to withdraw from institutions in Kosovo touched off by a move to implement a mandate on the conversion of vehicle license plates.



A statement from the Kosovar police force said it was aware that Serb police officers had abandoned their posts and that some have handed over police equipment.



The rally by ethnic Serbs in North Mitrovica on November 6 came a day after Serbs there said they would quit their posts in state institutions to protest against the use of license plates issued by Pristina.

Following a meeting of Serb political representatives in the north of Kosovo on November 5, the minister of communities and returns, Goran Rakic, said he was resigning from his post in the Pristina government.



He told reporters that fellow representatives of the Serb minority in the north had also quit their jobs in municipal administrations, the courts, police, and the parliament and government in Pristina.



Rakic said they would not consider returning unless Pristina abolishes the order for them to switch their old car license plates, which date to the 1990s when Kosovo was a part of Serbia, to Kosovo state plates.



Addressing the rally on November 6, Rakic accused Kosovo government authorities of not respecting international law and agreements negotiated in Brussels.



Rakic has called on the protesters "not to fall for provocations and to continue the fight with peaceful and democratic means."



The license-plate measure took effect on November 1, and Kosovo authorities said enforcement would be gradual.

The U.S. Embassy statement reiterated Washington's position that the Kosovar authorities should extend the process of converting vehicle license plates and suspend any punitive actions until the license plates issue can be resolved through dialogue.

Many ethnic Serbs in Kosovo refuse to recognize the countrys independence from Serbia, which it declared in 2008.



The European Union has told Kosovo and Serbia that they must normalize ties if they want to advance toward membership in the 27-nation bloc.

With reporting by dpa, AP, and AFP
Over the past five years, Iranian officials and state media have touted the "indigenous" ingenuity in the Islamic republic's mass-produced Mohajer-6 combat drone, which Russia has deployed in its war against Ukraine.

But a new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, has found that electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 are far from homegrown.



The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of such technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes  dual-use technology.

The presence of these components in the Mohajer-6 does not mean their producers are in violation of U.S. or EU sanctions, and RFE/RL does not have evidence that this is the case.

The investigation also found Mohajer-6 components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm that said it was "very sorry" that its products were being used in war.

At least one major foreign-produced component of the Mohajer-6 has previously been identified by reporters in a Mohajer-6 recovered from the battlefield by the Ukrainian military: an engine made by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products.

But Ukrainian intelligence assesses that the Iranian combat drone contains components from nearly three dozen different technology companies based in North America, the EU, Japan, and Taiwan, the Schemes investigation has found. A majority of these companies are based in the United States.



A Schemes reporter who personally inspected the foreign-made drone parts identified components produced by at least 15 of these manufacturers.

These include parts made by the U.S. technology firm Texas Instruments, which said in a statement that it does not sell into Russia or Iran and complies with applicable laws and regulations.

To identify these components, Schemes reporters examined parts of the Mohajer-6 drone that the Ukrainian military shot down over the Black Sea near the Mykolayiv region coastal town of Ochakiv. They also reviewed Ukrainian intelligence records on the sources of these components.

The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China.

Both Western officials and experts on illicit technology transfers say Iran has built a broad, global procurement network using front companies and other proxies in third countries to obtain dual-use technology from the United States and the EU.

"Exporters will look at the request coming from the [United Arab Emirates] or another third country, and they'll think that they're selling to an end user based there, when really the end user is in Iran," Daniel Salisbury, a senior research fellow with the Department of War Studies at King's College London, told RFE/RL.

In September, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions specifically targeting Iranian companies that Washington links to the production and transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia for deployment in its war on Ukraine. Fighting rages with no sign of an end more than eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion on February 24.

"Non-Iranian, non-Russian entities should also exercise great caution to avoid supporting either the development of Iranian UAVs or their transfer, or sale of any military equipment to Russia for use against Ukraine," U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement announcing the sanctions.

Chinese Cameras, California Chips

Development of the Mohajer-6, the latest model in a series of drones Tehran has used since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, began in 2017, while mass production began the following year. During a ceremony commemorating the Islamic Revolution, then-Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the new tactical drone could perform surveillance, reconnaissance, as well as help destroy targets.

Hatami extolled what he described as the drones domestic design, a portrayal echoed in later reports by Iranian media.

"The homegrown drone was made through cooperation among the army, Defense Ministry, and Quds Aviation Industries," the English-language Tehran Times quoted an Iranian military official as saying in July 2019.

The dismantling of the Mohajer-6 drone recovered by the Ukrainian military shows that the UAV is packed with foreign components.

One of these parts is a bright-orange real-time mini-camera produced by the Hong Kong-based company RunCam Technology. Documents seen by Schemes show that Ukrainian intelligence has also identified RunCam as the producer of the camera, which likely assists in remote guidance of the drone.

Founded in 2013, RunCam is involved in the development and production of so-called "first-person-view" real-time cameras. "Our users are our friends," the company's website states. The site says that RunCam has two authorized Iranian dealers.

Reached by Schemes for comment about the use of its camera in the Iranian drone deployed by Russia in its war on Ukraine, RunCam said in an e-mailed response: "We are very sorry to know that RunCam's products were used in warfare. RunCam is specialized in producing products for model aircraft hobby. We never contact any customer related to military."

The provenance of the Mohajer-6 drone-s thermal-imaging camera is more difficult to determine. A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Schemes indicates it could be the Ventus Hot model produced by Sierra-Olympic Technologies, based in the U.S. state of Oregon, but that it also resembles a cheaper analog available for sale by the Chinese company Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology.

Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology said in an e-mailed statement that the company did not "have any business with Iran," because "it will affect our business." The company said it specializes in marine services and is not involved in manufacturing. It also said that it did not have a single successful order for its online advertisement of the thermal-imaging camera resembling the one recovered from the Iranian drone.

Sierra-Olympic Technologies did not respond to a request for comment on the possible use of its thermal-imaging cameras in Iranian combat drones in time for publication.

Microchips recovered from the drone also featured the logos of the California-based company Linear Technology Corporation and its parent company, the Massachusetts-based semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). ADI did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment on the possible use of its technology in the Iranian combat drone.

Schemes reporters also observed among the components of the Iranian drone a voltage step-down converter produced by Texas Instruments. The company said in an e-mailed statement that it "does not sell into Russia, Belarus, or Iran."

"TI complies with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and does not support or condone the use of our products in applications they weren't designed for," Texas Instruments said.

Schemes reporters also saw several components produced by the California-based technology manufacturer Xilinx, whose parent company is the multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also based in California.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, one of these Xilinx components was integrated into a video data-link module located in the wing of the Mohajer-6 that helped carry out attack missions.

"This module transmits information from the board to the missile head. That is, guidance for the missile. With the help of this module, it was possible to guide the missile to the target," a Ukrainian military intelligence representative told Schemes.

AMD did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

'No Authorization'

Previous media reports about the components of the Mohajer-6 drone, including by CNN, have shown evidence that its engine was produced by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, whose parent company is the Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).

The Canadian company responded to the reports on October 21, saying in a statement that it "has not authorized and has not given any authorization to its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia."

"As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we started an investigation to determine the source of the engines," BRP said. .

But Schemes reporters found that the authorized Rotax distributor listed on the Austrian manufacturer's website advertised itself as a Rotax aircraft engines distributor for Iran as recently as December 2020.

The distributor, the Italian company Luciano Sorlini S.p.a., has posted multiple magazine advertisements on its websites in which it describes itself as a Rotax distributor for numerous countries. Prior to January 2021, Iran was listed among these countries.

The Rotax website also lists a Tehran-based company -- MahtaWing -- as an official service center for its engines. The company, known in Persian as Mahtabal, conducts repairs of Rotax engines, including the Rotax 912 iS, the engine that was found in the Mohajer-6 combat drone recovered in Ukraine.

BRP said in an e-mailed statement on November 4 that while Luciano Sorlini S.p.a. is the appointed distributor of Rotax aircraft engines in Iran, "since 2019, no Rotax engines have been sold in Iran, and we will not sell any engines to Iran moving forward."

The Canadian company said it had "internal controls" that "significantly" restrict the sale of its products for military purposes.

"For example, the sale of any BRP product to operators with any military activity in Iran, Turkey, and Russia is strictly prohibited," BRP said. "We conduct our business in compliance with all EU, Canadian, and U.S. applicable regulations."

BRP described the Iranian company MahtaWing as a "local service center" that "offers maintenance services for previously sold aircraft engines."

Shahriar Siami of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report.
It may be a far cry from Vladimir Lenin's Comintern.

But hey, there's still time.

Over the past three months, the ruling United Russia party has signed formal agreements with two far-right European parties: Italy's Northern League this week and Austria's Freedom Party in December.

And reports surfaced this week that a third agreement is in the works with Italy's Euroskeptic Five Star Movement.

The Kremlin's courtship of Europe's antiestablishment forces has, of course, been going on for years.

And now Vladimir Putin's regime seems ready to start formalizing these partnerships.

On this week's Power Vertical Podcast, we look at what this means going forward as Europe heads into a year of crucial elections.

Joining me are co-host Mark Galeotti, a senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, and author of the blog In Moscow's Shadows; and Anton Shekhovtsov, a visiting fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences and author of the forthcoming book Russia And The Western Far Right.

Also on the podcast, Mark, Anton, and I discuss Aleksei Navalny's latest report exposing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's vast property empire.

Enjoy...

Listen to or download the podcast above or subscribe to The Power Vertical Podcast on iTunes.
Despite a series of rumored illnesses in the past and his advanced age, the news that Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov was suddenly hospitalized after suffering what his daughter said was a brain hemorrhage was a shock to people in Uzbekistan and further afield.

Uzbek authorities have long had a reputation for saying nothing in times of crisis and the current situation with Karimov's health has proven no exception to this established habit of silence.

But it does appear clear enough that Karimov, 78, will no longer be able to serve as president, a thought that pleases the many who feared him for years but at the same time raises questions about what Uzbekistan will look like under a new leader.

Like him or hate him, Karimov has been president since Uzbekistan became independent in 1991 and for most it is now difficult to imagine life without him at the helm.

To take a look at what's been happening in Uzbekistan since the announcement that Karimov was hospitalized -- and what Uzbekistan might look like in the days to come -- RFE/RL assembled a Majlis, or panel discussion, to look at what we know about Karimov's condition, what the situation is like in Uzbekistan as people wait for news about the president, and what might come next.

Moderating the discussion was RFE/RL Media Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir. Participating from Washington was Paul Stronski, senior Central Asian analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Taking part from Prague was Shahida Yakub, a producer and newscaster at RFE/RL's Current Time video news program, who grew up in Uzbekistan. Alisher Sidik, the head of RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, also joined in the talk. And some of you might have noticed I've been writing a few things about Karimov and Uzbekistan over the years, so I had something to say as well.

Brief Statement

The first indication of how serious Karimov's condition was came when the Cabinet of Ministers released a brief statement on August 28 saying the president had been hospitalized and was receiving necessary medical care. It was the first time in 25 years such a statement about Karimov had ever been issued.

Sidik said, "We assume the prime minister [Shavkat Mirziyaev] is in charge at this moment."

But that was not entirely clear several days after Karimov was taken to the hospital.

Yakub said, "My sources say that he's dead and we tried to verify this information with multiple sources by joining our journalistic efforts and inside information and it looks like he's dead." According to Uzbek officials Karimov's condition is "stable" but there has been no elaboration of what that means, though these officials contend he is alive.

Karimov's younger daughter Lola was the person who said, on Instagram, that her father was hospitalized after a cerebral hemorrhage and on August 31 she posted another comment on Instagram indicating that, according to her information, Karimov was alive and might recover.

Independence Celebrations 'Forced Their Hand'

Karimov's condition is dire enough that it is already clear he will not make his annual appearance at September 1 Independence Day celebrations; an August 31 ceremony that he has attended annually was cancelled. Since this was planned to be a huge gala celebration for the 25th anniversary of independence, it is another sign Karimov's condition is serious. He has never missed an Independence Day celebration.

Stronski said, "This was the big celebration that everyone was expecting, this was the time to celebrate Uzbek sovereignty and Uzbek statehood and the fact that 25 years later it's a strong state and one of the main powers in Central Asia."

Stronski added that were it not for the impending celebration there might have been no statement about Karimov's health at all.

"I think these celebrations really forced their hand in having to announce this [his illness]," Stronski explained.

If Karimov remains unable to act as president, or if he is indeed dead, an announcement about a transfer of power -- at least temporary -- should come soon. Sidik said that "according to the constitution, the chairman of the Uzbek Senate should take over for three months and organize the [presidential] election in Uzbekistan."

However, Sidik noted that the constitutional transition process was altered in Azerbaijan and bypassed in Turkmenistan following the deaths of the leaders of those countries. Uzbekistan has already shown it can ignore its own constitution. Karimov was constitutionally limited to two terms in office but he has been elected four times, with two referendums extending his terms.

Yakub said she did not think Uzbekistan would go the way of Turkmenistan. "It's [Uzbekistan is] a different country, it's much bigger [by population], it's much more complicated. There are people who have serious financial interests as well as interests of actual physical survival."

Keeping A Close Watch

Stronski said many governments will be closely watching the course of events as Uzbekistan moves to select the country's second president. He discounted that most of these governments could or would want to try to interfere in this process though he mentioned "Russia's going to be watching very closely, hoping that whoever rises to the top is someone who is going to be favorable towards Russia, not too Western."

But important for Western countries, Stronski said, would be that the transition is "going according to the constitution." And he added it would probably be important for Uzbekistan "to show that it's a rule-of-law society."

As for what policies a new Uzbek administration would pursue, Sidik said it was likely there would be little change. "It's not only Karimov who was behind this isolation of Uzbekistan in the middle of all these countries, it's more like the model the country has chosen," Sidik said.

The big question of course was who is likely to be Karimov's successor (background on this can be found here). There were different opinions about this. Yakub said that the role of Rustam Inoyatov would not only be a decisive factor, but that Inoyatov could "surprise us and select someone else, some person that we know is in the government but we never thought would take the lead, or somebody absolutely new."

The discussion explored these issues more thoroughly and dealt with other topics concerning possible changes to domestic and foreign policy.

An audio recording of the Majlis can be heard here:

Listen to or download the Majlis podcast above or subscribe to Majlis on iTunes.
Russian activist Ildar Dadin has been briefly detained while protesting in Moscow, two weeks after his release from prison.

Police detained Dadin on March 10 as he protested outside the Moscow headquarters of Russia's prisons service, according to his wife, Anastasia Zotova, and human rights defender Lev Ponomaryov.

They said Dadin and Ponomaryov were demanding the resignation of head of the prisons-service branch in the northwestern Karelia region, where Dadin says he was tortured last year.

Police said that they detained Dadin because he had no identity documents with him, and released him after Zotova brought his passport to the police station.

Ponomaryov said that police filed a report accusing Dadin of violating legislation on public gatherings.

Dadin was convicted and sentenced to prison in December 2015 under a controversial law that criminalizes participation in more than one unsanctioned protest in a 180-day period.

He was released on February 26 after the Supreme Court threw out his conviction and ordered the case closed.

Dadin, the only person in Russia who has been convicted under the law, was considered a political prisoner by major human rights groups.

Dadin's plight attracted additional attention last autumn, when he alleged he and other inmates had been tortured and abused at a prison in Karelia.

With reporting by Interfax, Meduza, and TASS
The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with the new head of U.S. oil company ExxonMobil.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on March 10 that Putin met with ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods the previous day.

"This is a very big company and it is a major investor. This is why it receives special treatment," Peskov said.

He said Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak and Igor Sechin, the head of state oil giant Rosneft, attended the meeting.

Woods' predecessor as CEO of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson, was sworn in as U.S. secretary of state on February 1.

ExxonMobil has extensive drilling interests in Russia, but its operations there have been curtailed due to sanctions imposed by the previous U.S. administration in response to Moscow's interference in Ukraine.

Peskov said that Russia was working on improving the environment for foreign investors and will continue to do so.

Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citing improved bilateral ties, pledged to work together to help bring an end to the conflict in Syria.

The two leaders held talks on March 10 to address the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, economic and energy ties, and efforts to combat terrorism.

"We are working actively on the settlement of the most acute crises in the world, first of all in Syria," Putin said. "I am pleased to say that nobody expected this, but at the level of military authorities, intelligence services, we have a very trustful, very effective dialogue."

Erdogan's trip to Moscow is seen as a chance for him to bolster ties with the Kremlin at a time when Turkey's relationship with the West has been fraying. It also comes amid tension with Turkey's NATO allies and the European Union.

Erdogan was sharply criticized by authorities in Germany after making comments accusing Berlin of "Nazi" practices when several German cities canceled rallies planned by Turkish government ministers.

The rallies were to be aimed at raising support from Turkish voters who live in Europe for a Turkish referendum that would give Erdogan more powers, a move criticized by many in the West who say it would consolidate too much power in the presidents hands.

But relations between Russia and Turkey, regional rivals for centuries, have also had sharp ups and downs in the past two years.

Turkey and Russia support opposing sides in the Syrian war, and their ties were severely strained when Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015.

That incident occurred weeks after Russia launched a campaign of air strikes in Syria targeting opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

"As far as security matters in our region are concerned, I believe that it takes joint efforts to end bloodshed in Syria," Erdogan said after the meeting.

Russia and Turkey now jointly support a Kazakhstan-based series of negotiations to end the fighting in Syria, and have begun coordinating military operations there in some cases.

Russia said on March 9 it had lifted a ban on imports of carnations and some types of vegetables from Turkey that was imposed after the plane was shot down.

Erdogan said during the meeting that cooperation in implementing two energy projects, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey and a planned natural-gas pipeline called Turkish Stream, was returning "very rapidly to previous levels."

Russian and Turkish media have reported that the talks would include a meeting of the high-level bilateral cooperation council that will include negotiations on the possible purchase by Turkey of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.

With reporting by Reuters, TASS, Interfax, and TRT TV
Media reports say a former deputy commander of Russia's Interior Troops has been charged with taking a bribe.

Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Varchuk is accused of taking a bribe amounting to 10 million rubles ($170,000), according to the Interfax and TASS news agencies.

A court ordered him held in custody for two months on March 6.

State-run TASS quoted a Moscow military court spokeswoman, Svetlana Lukyanova, as saying on March 10 that Varchuk has appealed that decision.

Varchuk was appointed deputy commander of the Interior Troops, with responsibility for financial and economic affairs, in 2010.

Formerly part of the Interior Ministry, the Interior Troops are now part of the newly formed national guard, Rosgvardiya.

Based on reporting by Interfax and TASS
A Russian employee in the Swedish offices of Bombardier Inc. has been arrested on suspicion of bribery in connection with a rail contract in Azerbaijan, Swedish anticorruption authorities say.

Prosecutor Thomas Forsberg on March 10 said Yevgeny Pavlov is one of several Bombardier employees suspected of colluding with Azerbaijani rail authorities "to adapt a contract" to favor Bombardier.

Forsberg said two other employees were detained and later released but remain suspects.

Formal charges have not been made, he said.

A spokeswoman for Bombardier, a Montreal-based plane and train maker, said it is cooperating with authorities.

On a LinkedIn account, Pavlov, 37, described himself as "head of sales, marketing and country coordinator for the north region."

Prosecutors said company employees are suspected of cooperating with Azerbaijani officials to "receive rewards for having favored the Bombardier contract" -- despite the fact that Bombardier offered only the fifth-best deal in terms of price.

A Bombardier-led consortium won an order from Azerbaijan Railways on the Kars-Baku corridor connecting Asia and Europe.

Bombardiers share of the contract was reported at $203 million.

Swedish authorities said Pavlov was being held in pretrial custody to prevent him from fleeing the country or tampering with evidence.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Bloomberg
The United Nations' envoy for Afghanistan said the countrys problems cannot be solved through military means and he urged Taliban militants to enter peace talks.

The March 10 comments by Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-Generals special representative for Afghanistan, as Taliban fighters have seized new ground in some parts of the country, and imperiled the weak central government in Kabul.

mid the uptick in fighting, U.S. commanders have sent an increasing number of special forces troops to assist Afghan forces. General Joseph Votel, who heads U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Forces Committee March 9 that he was considering asking for more U.S. troops.

Speaking as part of a quarterly briefing to the Security Council, Yamamato said "all relevant actors" must work to stop the violence.

"The government, neighboring countries and other key powers should reinforce the message that the Taliban can be a part of Afghanistans future, and its political and social fabric, he said.

It must be acknowledged that a prolonged conflict will only lead to further misery for the Afghan people and undermine the very foundation for economic growth and development, he said.

The future of Afghanistan must be developed through an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process for all Afghans, he added.

Yamamoto said the deteriorating security situation was impairing economic progress and causing social upheaval. In 2016, 650,000 Afghans were displaced by violence, the highest-level ever.

He said there has been a downward trend in key indicators, such as access to health clinics and educational facilities.

U.S.-led forces have been battling Taliban since driving them and their Al-Qaeda allies out of power following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States.

U.S. troop levels peaked at around 100,000 but have fallen to about 8,400 since most NATO forces withdrew in 2014.
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While the Richmond region has been spotlighted by national publications as a destination for travel, food and employment in recent years, the reach of the areas fortune hasnt stretched to all of its residents.

Theres so much exciting stuff happening in our region right now. But we have to remember that this momentum and these opportunities arent always everyones story, said Ashley Hall, manager of Capital Region Collaborative, during a Friday morning meeting relaying the most recent data gathered by the collaborative that examined several areas including education, transportation and poverty in the region.

For every accolade around best city for finding employment, theres a 19 percent unemployment rate in the most distressed areas of our region. For every magazine cover, and there are a lot of them, touting us as a foodie destination, 22 percent of Richmond city residents dont know where their next meal is coming from, she said.

Local government, business and nonprofit leaders attended the meeting at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College for the latest on the collaboratives Regional Indicators Project. The project, in its second year, measures progress on the regions economic and social goals and ranked Richmond in each category against six comparable cities including Austin, Texas, and Raleigh, N.C.

The data are based on information from a number of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Virginia Department of Education, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The localities included as part of the study are Richmond, the town of Ashland and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, Powhatan and New Kent.

The data show modest gains and losses between 2016 and 2017 across most areas the initiative measured  in education, preschool enrollment decreased by 1.3 percent to 44 percent while the number of high school graduates increased by 2.7 percent to 91.1 percent. When it came to jobs, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.8 percent to 4.3 percent, but the average annual wage also decreased by $655 to $50,574.

The poverty rate dropped by 1 percent to 11.8 percent while the percentage of the regions homeless held steady at .08 percent, according to the data. The region fares poorly against others when it comes to public transportation  a report by the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies ranked Richmond 41st out of 49 regions in transit accessibility to jobs.

In pressing on the value of regionalism and positing that regional cooperation happens every day, Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas pointed to several projects including the Libbie Mill Library, which will house a new finance program for students, and the Cobbs Creek Reservoir project, which will supply water to localities beyond Henrico.

Vithoulkas, who is in his fifth year as county manager, also alluded to greater communication with Richmond under Mayor Levar Stoneys nascent tenure.

Ive had more conversations with this mayor, with my regional counterparts than I had in all of the time prior to and youve been in for, what, 90 days? Vithoulkas said.

For his part, Stoney called the data encouraging but pressed those in the audience to help with moving the needle.

These indicators are an example of why we are a great destination for people to work, live, play and also start a business, said Stoney, who is co-chairman of the Capital Region Collaborative. This cant just be about nine separate localities. Weve got great localities on our own right but how do we create the best region for everyone? Thats what the goal should be.
A Petersburg police officer shot and wounded a man early Friday who authorities say was firing a weapon during a disturbance involving a group of a couple hundred people outside a service station on South Crater Road.

Police said the officer responded just after 2 a.m. to the Shell Race-In, a service station and convenience store in the 3100 block of South Crater Road. Upon arrival, he immediately radioed that a large group of people had formed in the parking lot and there was an active disturbance, Petersburg police Capt. Brian Braswell said.

After observing a man involved in the disturbance firing a weapon multiple times, the officer discharged his service pistol and struck the gunman. The suspect, who was not identified, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening, Braswell said.

We dont know what (the gunman) was shooting at this point  whether he was shooting at the officer, shooting at another person or randomly firing in the air, Braswell said.

No bystanders were injured by the gunfire and police are not looking for any other suspects involved in the incident, Braswell said.

The disturbance in the parking lot appeared to be some type of fight  like maybe two different sets of groups were up there fighting, Braswell said.

Anyone with information about the incident or who may have heard or saw anything in the area of the service station around 2 a.m. is urged to call Petersburg police at (804) 732-4222 or Petersburg/Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at (804) 861-1212.
One hundred years ago next month, President Woodrow Wilson went before Congress and asked for a declaration of war against Imperial Germany. Six months earlier he had campaigned for re-election by claiming he kept the country out of war. What had changed?

The first factor was Germanys resumption of submarine warfare in the Atlantic. This threatened U.S. shipping to Europe  especially to Britain, which faced isolation and potential starvation. A second factor was a revolution in Russia that forced the ouster of its czarist regime and ended its war with Germany. This permitted German armies to be sent to the western front where French and British forces had suffered massive casualties in nearly three years of warfare.

The third and perhaps decisive factor in Wilsons call for war was discovery of a secret German plan to enlist Mexico in its war effort by pledging to support Mexicos hope to recover territories lost to the United States in the Mexican-American War of 1848. This large territory included New Mexico, Arizona and California. Knowledge of the German plot caused Wilson to decide that Europes war vitally affected the U.S. homeland.

Anti-Americanism was endemic in Mexico in 1917. In that year a revolution overthrew an entrenched system that included the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church. Since then, Mexico has been governed by a constitutional system that includes a president limited to one six-year term, a legislature and courts. In reality, Mexican presidents have limited powers to act, and corruption in the society is massive by American standards. The current president, Enrique Pena Nieto, lacks public support at home, and he is challenged by a charismatic anti-American opposition leader, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

NAFTAs impact

The North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994, among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, was an outgrowth of a 1988 free trade agreement between Canada and America. It was negotiated by President Ronald Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and greatly expanded trade relations between the two neighbors.

In the early 1990s, Washington and Ottawa concluded that globalization in trade was an excellent means to expand international trade, to the benefit of economies and consumers in all countries, especially underdeveloped ones. Mexico was one of these, and the Clinton administration believed that Americas strategic interests included trying to bring Mexico into better alignment with U.S. foreign policy. However, Mexicos historical mistrust of Washington made it desirable that another major trading country, Canada, be part of the North American trading partnership. Canada concurred.

The terms of the NAFTA agreement proved to be highly advantageous to Mexico because it enabled exporters to send products duty-free into the United States. It was also beneficial when many U.S. companies closed manufacturing plants in the United States and moved them to low-cost labor sites in Mexico, many just over the U.S. border. During the U.S. presidential campaign of 1992, a third-party candidate, Ross Perot, warned that NAFTA would produce a giant sucking sound as jobs moved to Mexico. His opposition cost George H.W. Bush re-election and brought Bill Clinton to the White House in 1993.

Renegotiating NAFTA

Donald Trump pledged during the 2016 campaign to scrap NAFTA because it had caused a huge drain in American jobs. His negative comments about Mexico after he entered the White House sounded hostile to our neighbor, including his pledge that Mexico would pay to build a border wall to stop illegal entry. President Pena Nieto cancelled a planned visit to Washington for discussions on NAFTA when Trump continued to criticize his country, which Mexicans viewed as insulting.

Political observers suggest that Trump was simply bolstering his position before holding negotiations on NAFTA with Canadian and Mexican officials, to reduce large trade imbalances. Legislation that would tax imports from Mexico while exempting exports is under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation does not appear to be a negotiating tactic.

Trumps strong criticism of Mexico runs the risk of turning the countrys politics against the U.S. and opening the way for the anti-American leftist leader, Lopez Obrador, to emerge as Mexicos president in 2018. That clearly would not be in Americas national interest.
Cannabis found in Fitzwilliam Road.

MORE than 270,000 worth of cannabis was found by police officers during raids following a tip-off from the public.

Officers from Rotherham Central local police team found 322 plants at two properties in Fitzwilliam Road, Eastwood on Tuesday.

They also seized around 20,000 worth of cannabis which had been cropped.

The team of five officers have now seized a total of 300,000 worth of drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin since the start of the year.

Sgt Dave Baines said: This is a significant drugs seizure and we must extend our thanks to the local community, which has led our intelligence gathering efforts.

Without the publics input we might have missed this opportunity, which highlights how important engagement is in the disruption of criminality.

In addition to the drugs haul, the team recently recovered 2,000 worth of counterfeit cigarettes and worked with Rotherham Borough Council trading standards officers to aid its enquiry into their origin.

Sgt Baines added: Weve had a positive impact in the early weeks of 2017  ,ore than 50 people have been arrested and 11 warrants executed but there will be no let-up in tackling the issues that are of priority to our community.

Four men, aged 27, 29, 34 and 37-years-old were arrested on suspicion of production of cannabis and immigration offences.

Two of the men have been bailed pending further enquiries and two of the men arrested are being dealt with by the UK Border Agency.
It all starts with stones - it is they that give impetus, determine the image and embodiment Maxim Selikhov is the founder of the SelikhoV Diamonds brand launched in 2006, and the company manufactures unique handmade jewellery with rare high-quality gemstones. He is also known as a collector of unique and large-size jewellery stones who considers...

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Stargems brings the DaVinci system to Botswana Stargems, which was founded by Shailesh Javeri in 1981, has diversified into manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing and tendering or auctioning of diamonds and diamond jewellery.

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(TASS) - Russian diamond miner ALROSA has postponed initiation of investment diamonds trading on the Moscow Exchange until summer 2017, the company told TASS.

"The Investment Diamonds project launch deadline is postponed in connection with the need to work out its implementation mechanisms in greater detail. We are working to address interests of all market participants and offer a liquid investment and saving mechanism to investors. The project will start in summer 2017," the official spokesperson of ALROSA said.

ALROSA plans to launch trading in supply futures contracts for diamonds in sizes of 0.3 and 0.5 carat at the initial stage. The company plans to start trading in 1 carat diamonds at a later stage, the spokesperson added.

ALROSA estimates the market for the new investment instrument as 3 bln rubles ($51.6 bln) at the initial stage. Such trading in diamonds futures contracts has not been organized elsewhere across the globe to date, ALROSAs spokesperson said.




China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) aims to consolidate and upgrade the gold mining industry by reducing the number of gold miners to around 450 from more than 600 and shutting down 40 tonnes of outdated production capacity by the end of 2020.

China is set to increase annual gold output to 500 tonnes by the end of the decade from around 450 tonnes currently, according to a report by the official news agency Xinhua.

China overtook South Africa as the number one miner of gold in 2007. China's MIIT expects gold output to grow by an average 3% annually through 2020. Last year output rose less than 1% to 453.5 tonnes according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, global gold demand increased 2% to 4,309 tonnes in 2016, the World Gold Council reported.

China is both the leader in extracting gold and a host of other minerals, and the number one consumer of metals and minerals.

According to some research organizations, domestic mineral capacity and demand is what is driving the China's push to acquire overseas mines. Notably, China's production-to-reserves ratios for gold is 23.5%. In 2013, China became the world's top gold market at 1,132 tonnes and although consumption has shrunk since then it's holding is around the 1,000-tonne level annually.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough &Polished




Sales at specialty jewelry stores in the U.S. grew 3.8 percent to $31.43 billion in 2016 following a sharp rise at the end of the year, according to data from the countrys Census Bureau.

December sales jumped 7 percent to $6.21 billion, the provisional figures showed.

The increase compared with a 4.8-percent rise in jewelry sales across all outlets last year, according to separate data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

This data contrasts with more cautious figures quoted by De Beers chief executive officer Bruce Cleaver, who said in January that U.S. jewelry retail sales had crept up only 0.4 percent for the year. In December, independent jewelers revenues grew 1.4 percent, while overall sales increased 0.7 percent, Cleaver said, citing data from the Mastercard Spending Pulse.

Meanwhile, the consumer price index for jewelry rose 5 percent in January from the previous month and increased 3.7 percent year on year, the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed. January watch prices gained 5 percent from December and 5.4 percent from a year earlier, while prices of jewelry and watches combined increased 5 percent over the previous month and grew 4 percent year on year. Price changes were not adjusted for seasonal fluctuation.




Emirates Airlines Thursday said bookings to the US plunged 35 percent after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a travel ban in January.

"The first U.S. travel order saw the booking velocity fall by 35% overnight. The effect it had was instantaneous," President Tim Clark told journalists in Berlin on the sidelines of the ITB travel fair.

He said the revised order issued this week offered more clarity, and there had been some positive movement in bookings on the Emirates network but not a full recovery.

"When will it recapture the original booking curve is anyone's guess," he said. Clark said he hoped for an improvement in the summer following the usually quiet period during Ramadan.

In January, Trump banned immigration to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries, but it sparked confusion at airports and mass protests. A federal judge in Seattle temporarily suspended Trump's order, allowing refugees and visa holders from those seven countries to enter the U.S.

In the updated travel ban issued this week, citizens of six majority-Muslim countries will still be barred from entering America for the next three months. Iraqis, though, will now be exempt from the ban and the indefinite exclusion on Syrian refugees has also been lifted, once a 120-day period has expired.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Real estate investment trust Segro Plc. (SGRO.L) on Friday said it has acquired the 50 percent interest in the Airport Property Partnership or APP joint venture it does not already own from the Aviva Group Entities.

SEGRO has acquired the 50 percent interest for 365 million pounds, which has been funded with a combination of 216 million pounds of cash and the disposal of 149 million pounds of assets to the Aviva Group Entities.

SEGRO acquired its original stake in APP in June 2010, and was asset manager for the joint venture, with Aviva Investors acting as fund manager.

Separately, SEGRO announced the launch of a 1 for 5 rights issue to raise 573 million pounds in proceeds. It will be 556 million pounds net of expenses.

The company announced fully underwritten 1 for 5 rights issue of 166.03 million ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the capital of the Company at a price of 345 pence per New Ordinary Share.

The issue price represents a discount of approximately 28.9 percent to the closing price for an Ordinary Share of 485 pence on March 9.

The company will use the proceeds to finance the cash consideration of the latest acquisition.

The company will invest approximately 165 million pounds to progress the development projects within the Current Development Pipeline and Near-Term Development Projects.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
European shares were trading higher on Friday as rising bond yields helped lift banking stocks for the second day running. Energy stocks were also seeing broad-based gains as oil prices rebounded from three-month lows hit overnight.

The day's economic reports proved to be a mixed bag, with German trade data beating estimates, while industrial output data from France and the U.K. disappointed investors.

Investors looked ahead to the release of a critical U.S. jobs report due tonight for clues to whether there is a chance of a 25 bps rate hike next week.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.42 percent at 374.47 in late opening deals after closing 0.1 percent higher in the previous session.

The German DAX, France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 all were up by half a percent.

Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and UniCredit climbed 1-4 percent, a day after ECB President Mario Draghi struck a more upbeat tone on the outlook for the recovery in the euro zone.

Tullow Oil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total SA rose over 1 percent as oil prices steadied after two days of huge losses.

Volkswagen advanced 1.5 percent after the German automaker entered into a long-term partnership agreement with Tata Motors.

William Hill shares added 1.5 percent. The British bookmaker has appointed Philip Bowcock as CEO with immediate effect, ending a nine-month-long search for a permanent CEO.

Among the worst performers, real estate investment trust Segro fell 4 percent after buying the remaining 50 percent interest in the Airport Property Partnership joint venture it does not already own from the Aviva Group Entities.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Estimados amigos,

Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.

Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.

Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.

There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.

You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca.

Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt.

Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos.

Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
By SA Commercial Prop News

An 8,000sqm distribution warehouse for Digistics at Waterfall Business Estate (front facade artist perspective) Image gallery



Atterbury Property Group, today launched its Waterfall Business Estate, a staggering 1,6 million square metre largest mixed-use commercial development - the most ambitious of its kind being undertaken in South Africa.

Atterbury Property Group CEO, Louis van der Watt says: The opportunity to develop this mixed-use commercial precinct in the heart of the fastest growing metropolis on the African continent is an extraordinary legacy. The development of Waterfall Business Estate will be market-driven, and roll out over the next 14 years with a total value well over R25 billion.

Leading SA property fund Atterbury Investment Holdings (AIH) is the major investor in Waterfall Business Estate, with an 80% stake. This development is expected to contribute positively to AIHs growth and performance in the coming decade and beyond, says Morne Wilken, CEO of AIH.

Waterfall spans land on both sides of the N1 highway, from the Woodmead Interchange through the bustling Buccleuch Interchange to Allandale Interchange. It joins Modderfontein in the east and reaches beyond Kyalami in the west. It enjoys superb access from Pretoria, Sandton and Johannesburg. In fact, it will close the gap between northern Sandton and Midrand, creating a large commercial growth node.

Atterbury Property Development secured the commercial development rights for this prime 330 ha site north of Sandton in 2008 with the Waterfall Islamic Institute, which has owned this land since 1934.

Atterbury Property Developments Director Coenie Bezuidenhout explains that over the past three years, Waterfall Business Estate has been meticulously planned to position commercial properties for peak functionality, access and visibility. Comprised of nearly a dozen specialist pockets, the estate will span various commercial uses: office, retail, light industrial, distribution, warehousing and showrooms.

Painstaking attention to detail has ensured a business estate designed for unparalleled quality, notes Bezuidenhout. Now the groundwork is in place, we are pleased to enter the next phase of this development.

In line with the strategic master plan, site services have already been put in place, including electricity. Precinct gatehouses, perimeter walls and internal roads are currently being completed throughout the business estate.

The development masterplan places 200,000sqm of offices on the prime strip along the N1 highway and in Business Centre on Maxwell Drive (see precinct map attached). Light and high-tech industrial property will be in Logistics Precinct, Distribution Campus, Commercial District, Landmark Park and Factory Depot, opposite the Gautrain Maintenance Yard. Retail features in the Lifestyle Estate serving Waterfalls residential estates near Kyalami.

But perhaps the most innovative feature of Atterburys commercial development is the exciting 800,000sqm mixed-use Waterfall City.

The heart of Waterfall, Waterfall City is a dynamic mix of retail, in a 115,000sqm shopping precinct, combined with offices and homes.

Bezuidenhout explains that integration and access are amongst the key benefits of Waterfall Business Estate. The approximate R800 million SANRAL upgrade of the Allandale intersections means they are now free flow. Atterbury is investing R400 million for approved road upgrades in Waterfalls. Residential developer Century Property Development has made a similar investment.

Besides road transport, it will be served by rail with a future Gautrain Station, planned next to the existing Gautrain Maintenance yard. It also enjoys superb proximity to OR Tambo International Airport, Midrands Grand Central Airport and Lanseria International Airport.

With a long list of advantages, it is little wonder Atterburys Waterfall Business Estate is already attracting top businesses and has launched to strong demand. Its first project will break ground with over 50,000sqm of commercial space.

A 30,000sqm distribution centre for Wal-Mart's Massbuild has already broken ground at Waterfall Distribution Campus. It will soon be joined by an 8,000sqm distribution warehouse for Digistics, which services fast food industry companies like KFC and McDonalds. Atterbury is also undertaking a 10,000sqm warehouse development and has completed a prime 4,500sqm office building in Woodmead North Office Park.
Heads of leading Japanese car makers -- Toyota President Akio Toyota and Suzuki Chairman O. Suzuki -- on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said an official.

During the meeting, the two business leaders informed and discussed the Toyota-Suzuki business partnership and future technological developments with the Prime Minister, said a release from the Prime Minister's Office.

"The partnership is expected to bring together Toyota's global leadership in technology and manufacturing, with Suzuki's strength in manufacture of small cars, especially in India," it said.

The partnership is "expected to enable India to use new technological developments" and the high volumes will facilitate local manufacturing of the components.

It is also expected to generate employment and will contribute to the "Make in India" initiative of the government, it said.

"It also opens up scope for export of new-technology cars from India," the release added.
India on Thursday said the contribution of the Indian technical professionals helps the US economy become competitive, and added that currently, illegal immigration is the priority of the US administration and not the H1B visa.

"It is widely agreed that the presence of Indian technical professionals makes the United States more competitive and helps its economy. You would have seen that senior US officials have stated that illegal immigration and not H1B is their priority," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a briefing.

Speaking on the discussions held between Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar with his interlocutors in the US last week, Baglay said: "There was a wide-ranging and strong recognition as well as respect for Indian skills and contribution of the Indian technological manpower to the US economy."

Giving Indian perspective on the Indian professionals working in the US, the spokesperson said they were positive for the US economy.

Calling the H1B a trade and business issue, he said: "Our views have been clearly conveyed to the concerned US interlocutors. We believe that the plans of the US administration for the US economy present an opportunity for the two countries to further consolidate their strong economic partnership."

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, during his visit to the US last week, said that H1B visas should be considered a trade and services issue and not purely an immigration issue.

Jaishankar acknowledged that Trump's administration had a new perspective on the world and that India had to "adapt to it and look at new possibilities".
Around 40 people, including eight security personnel and 31 protestors, were injured as CPI-M-affiliated youth and student activists, who blocked a crucial intersection in central Kolkata, clashed with the police on Thursday. Nearly 100 protesters have been arrested, the police said.

The Kolkata Police claimed eight security personnel, four of them women, were injured when they were assaulted by the protestors belonging to the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and Students Federation of India (SFI).

They were participating in a "March to Raj Bhavan" to protest alleged corruption in appointment of primary teachers and to press for "transparency in recruitment".

The two Communist Party of India-Marxist-affiliated organisations, however, condemned the police for "ruthless" cane-charge on the students and youths and claimed 31 of them were hospitalised.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Supratim Sarkar said the agitators blocked Dorina Crossing for 25 minutes and refused to leave the spot even after repeated requests by the police.

"Some agitators also tried to ransack a bus, but were stopped by the police. A police team led by Deputy Commissioner (Central) A.K. Chaturvedi was manhandled by the agitators, who were removed from the spot by using minimal force."

A total of 99 people, including a dozen women, were arrested, he said, and added that 10 of the agitators, who claimed to have been injured in the tussle were taken for medical check-up from the spot.

The injured security personnel included a woman sub-inspector, three women constables, three women home guards, one assistant sub-inspector and three constables, said Sarkar.

The SFI and DYFI have called state wide protests and road blockades on Friday against the "brutal attack" by the police.
3 things to think about for Kansas mens basketballs opener

The No. 5 Jayhawks are opening their season Monday. Its the start of their run to try to defend their national championship this past season.
The Philippines Criticizes China

The honeymoon phase of the Philippines' opening to China is over.

Chinas commerce minister canceled a planned trip to the Philippines on Feb. 23 after only informing Philippine officials about the cancellation the previous afternoon. Unnamed sources at the Philippine trade and finance ministries told Reuters that China canceled the visit because of the Philippine foreign ministers critical comments about China at an ASEAN meeting on Feb. 21. Chinas foreign minister told reporters in Beijing that the meeting simply had been postponed, not canceled, and that preparations to execute previously negotiated economic deals between the two countries were continuing. Chinas foreign minister, however, also made a point of describing his Philippine counterparts remarks as baffling and regrettable.

Since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power, the Philippines has maintained an unprecedentedly open stance toward cooperation  and even alliance  with China. This openness was punctuated by Dutertes visit to China in October 2016, where he agreed to many deals concerning economic development (Chinese investment in the Philippines) and proclaimed a Philippine separation from the United States. The honeymoon phase turned out to be very short. The investment checks have not been written or cashed, but merely promised. The Philippines sent a note of diplomatic protest to China in January over Chinese moves in the South China Sea . The Philippine defense minister said in January that Chinas activities in the South China Sea were very troubling. In other words, the Philippines has been cultivating a position of strategic ambiguity when it comes to its relationship with China .

Chinas Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, right, walks past Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in a file photo from the Philippines-China Trade and Investment Forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on Oct. 20, 2016. WU HONG/AFP/Getty Images

For China, however, ambiguity was a step up from antagonism. It also represented an extremely important opportunity China could not pass up. The entire clamor about China building facilities in the South China Sea misses the fact that these installations are for defensive  not offensive  purposes. The various islands and reefs China is reclaiming cannot even hold strategically significant amounts of weapons and materiel and are easy targets for foreign missile strikes. Not to mention that high tide is as potent as an enemys air force.

A potential alliance with the Philippines , however, is another thing entirely. First, it would eliminate a key U.S. ally in the region. Second, if the Philippines were willing to host Chinese forces, it would give China its first real strategic foothold in the region. This is why China would be willing to pony up almost 20 percent of its annual foreign direct investment to all countries in the world in just one set of agreements with the Philippines in return for a better relationship. Flipping the Philippines from enemy to ally would be far more consequential than any Chinese island-building activity or rudimentary aircraft carriers put to sea with fanfare disproportionate to their capabilities.

The potential importance of this relationship means China is willing to go to great lengths to secure the relationship, including offering the Philippines significant amounts of economic development or accepting Philippine ambiguity on its strategic relations. But the Feb. 21 incident at the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting was a bridge too far. China is upset about this incident because of the context in which the Philippine foreign ministers criticism was proffered. The Philippine foreign minister spoke to reporters after the ASEAN meeting concluded. In his public remarks, the minister made a point of singling out Chinas moves as unsettling and encouraging militarization of the region, and said that he spoke for all the foreign ministers in attendance.

This was much different than the official ASEAN statement released after the meeting, which contained no revelations. What was new was the Philippines publicly criticizing China and insisting that there had been unanimity at ASEAN over dissatisfaction with Chinese aggression. In upbraiding the Philippines for these remarks, Chinas foreign minister made a point of mentioning that China and the Philippines had agreed to work out such issues bilaterally. Chinas insistence on bilateral relations with South China Sea claimants is a euphemism for divide and conquer. None of the claimants in the South China Sea can stand up to the Chinese military or economic influence. But if all the countries banded together against China, it would significantly curtail Chinas advantage.

The key question lurking behind all of this: Why did the Philippines decide to do this now? On the surface, it is even stranger considering that Duterte had a meeting with an International Department of the Communist Party of China delegation on Feb. 20 that, by all accounts, was pleasant and in line with improving Chinese-Philippine ties. The Philippines knew what it was doing by criticizing China in the manner that it did, and understanding the reason behind the Philippine move is key to understanding the future of both U.S.-Philippine and Chinese-Philippine relations.

The answer to this question has three distinct levels. At the public level, it is not a coincidence that U.S. officials leaked a story to Reuters the day after the Philippine foreign minister made his statement. The leak said that China has almost finished several structures meant to store long-range surface-to-air missiles on Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross reefs in the Spratly Islands chain. It is a fair inference that the U.S. shared this intelligence with the Philippines before it was leaked and that there was more to share than what has appeared so far in the media. That the Philippine foreign minister doubled down on his statements on Feb. 23 and made specific mention of Scarborough Shoal, which has been a major bone of contention between China and the Philippines since a standoff there in April 2012, is further evidence of this.

Dive a level deeper and the answer likely has more to do with political pressure applied behind the scenes by both the United States and Japan on the Philippines. The U.S. provides the Philippines with its defense . The U.S. is also a major trading partner and source of foreign investment in the Philippines. The U.S. does not want the Philippines messing around with China. The U.S. has likely made this clear, and can tacitly offer things Duterte wants like more U.S. investment, less condemnation of his domestic policies and more active defense of Philippine interests in the South China Sea. Japan is also a major investor in the Philippines. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Manila in January  the first visit by any head of state to the Philippines under the Duterte administration. The U.S. and Japan can tolerate flirtation with China. But they also can remind the Philippines of how much is at stake if the Philippines were to follow through on some of Dutertes most extreme public statements.

At the geopolitical level, there is the simple fact that China and the Philippines claim parts of each others territory as their own and neither side can give up those claims. For the Philippines, giving up territorial claims for the benefits of an alliance with China makes little sense. Money can be secured elsewhere. More powerful allies concerned with defending the Philippines rather than taking Philippine territory are readily available.

China giving up some of its claims for the sake of an alliance makes more sense, but nationalism is a crucial part of the legitimacy of the regime, and every Chinese grade school student learns that everything within the nine-dash line is Chinas. China giving up on those claims would make both the regime and President Xi Jinping appear very weak, which for many reasons is not something Chinas ruling class can afford right now.
An investor group has bought Genoptix, a Carlsbad company that conducts testing for blood diseases, from the drug giant Novartis.

Ampersand Capital Partners and 1315 Capital led the purchase for an undisclosed sum. Joseph Limber, the new chief executive of Genoptix, said he also bought equity as part of the deal, which closed on March 1.

Novartis had acquired Genoptix in 2011 for $470 million.

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Genoptix was founded in 1999 by a team led by San Diego biotech veteran executive Tina Nova, and it held an initial public offering in 2007.

By 2010, while under Novas leadership, Genoptix became recognized for its expertise in monitoring blood cancers and solid tumors. Since cancers change over time, its important for doctors to keep pace so they can prescribe the appropriate therapies to keep those diseases in check.

Currently, Genoptix has more than 400 employees.

The company is expected to continue expanding its services with the new management, including the use of its newly developed next-generation sequencing tests, Limber said.

Most recently, Limber was CEO of San Diegos Prometheus Laboratories, which sells drugs and diagnostic products for cancer. Other former Prometheus officials joining Genoptix are Mark Spring, chief financial officer, and Juan Estruch, head of corporate development.

The purchase had its roots going back nearly two years ago, when the investors identified Genoptix as a desirable company to own and went to Novartis to discuss whether a sale was feasible, Limber said.

Being in San Diego, I was very aware of the company, Limber said. I look at Genoptix as the premier brand in oncology diagnostics (especially in blood cancers). So we knew the company, we liked the technology, we think they have a very strong position in the marketplace. Its a great brand, its well recognized and respected.

Science Playlist  On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musks latest gamble may be less futuristic than a Mars trip, but it signals that the energy industrys long-sought vision of large-scale electricity storage may not be that far off.

Musk made a bet that his company can get a grid-connected battery system in South Australia installed and working within 100 days to help alleviate blackouts  and if it cant, he said, the company will do the work for free. He has a reason to be confident: Tesla delivered a slightly smaller system to Southern California Edison in December after only 90 days.

The energy sector anticipates a storage boom but sees use of natural gas plants coupled with solar and wind energy as a bridge to a time when electricity produced by clean energy resources can be collected at a reasonable cost.

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Is Musk, again, ahead of his time, or is energy storage finally ready for prime time?

I would say, Not yet, but getting close, said Robert McCullough, an energy consultant who runs Oregon-based McCullough Research. Storage is still too expensive, but multiple companies are competing to push the price lower, he said.

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Musk made the wager Thursday night in a brief back-and-forth on Twitter with Australian software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Cannon-Brookes had tweeted a link to an Australian news report that cited Tesla executive Lyndon Rive as saying he would commit to installing the megawatt-hours of batteries needed to prevent the recent blackouts in South Australia. Heat waves across the region have caused energy demand to spike, which has put increased pressure on the infrastructure there.

According to the report, Rive said the higher production capacity of Teslas Gigafactory battery production plant in Nevada could help address South Australias energy crisis within 100 days of being asked.

Tesla and its partner Panasonic began mass producing lithium-ion battery cells at the Gigafactory two months ago.

How serious are you about this bet? Cannon-Brookes tweeted Thursday. If I can make the $ happen (& politics), can you guarantee the 100 MW in 100 days?

Musk responded, Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?

Cannon-Brookes asked Musk to give him seven days to try [to] sort out politics and funding, and he suggested Musk send him a price quote  mates rates.

Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 10, 2017

$250/kWh at the pack level for 100MWh+ systems. Tesla is moving to fixed and open pricing and terms for all products.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 10, 2017

Musks Tesla Motors bought solar power firm SolarCity last year, creating a one-stop shop for clean-energy customers interested in electric vehicles and solar panels. The combined company is named Tesla. SolarCity was headed by Rive and his brother Peter Rive, who are Musks cousins.

Musk often has made grand announcements, but  especially on the autos side  product rollouts havent always happened on schedule.

Teslas Model X SUV was expected to arrive in early to mid-2014, but it was actually delivered to customers in late 2015 after production difficulties with the falcon-wing doors, which open straight out and up from the vehicle.

Analysts also largely expect Teslas plans to begin deliveries of its mass-market Model 3 sedan by later this year to slip. Musk himself acknowledged the timeline was ambitious when he first unveiled a prototype of the car in Hawthorne last year, saying he did feel fairly confident it would be delivered in 2017  a statement that drew chuckles from the audience.

On the power side, though, Tesla has shown it can make good on an ambitious plan when it recently unveiled the 80-megawatt-hour storage project at Southern California Edisons Mira Loma substation in Ontario. Teslas delivery in 90 days after signing the contract with Edison last September was hailed as remarkably speedy.

Aliso Canyon is a good case study of how fast energy storage can be deployed if a bunch of factors and stakeholders are aligned, said Ravi Manghani, director of energy storage for Boston-based GTM Research.

Manghani said there are several caveats to that kind of fast delivery, including clearing regulatory hurdles. But if those obstacles can be overcome consistently, then I think its fair to say that storage has arrived, he said.

That project has nearly 400 Tesla Powerpack lithium-ion battery units on a 1.5-acre site in Ontario, and it can store enough energy to power 2,500 homes for a day or 15,000 homes for four hours.

The site uses the batteries to store electricity at night and during other off-peak hours so the electrons can be put back into the grid when power use increases.

At the projects unveiling in January, California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Picker described its completion as unprecedented fast action.

The utilities commission ordered the battery storage units to supplement capacity after the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage went offline.

Aliso Canyon has sat largely idle after experiencing the nations largest methane leak in October 2015, and regulators and utility companies raised concern about potential blackouts in Southern California.

The Mira Loma project is Teslas largest storage project. Its second-largest is a 52-megawatt-hour storage facility in Hawaii.

Everybodys excited about this Australia situation, but we recently completed our two biggest projects, said Alexi Georgeson, a Tesla spokeswoman.

A 100-megawatt-hour project like what is proposed for Australia would require about 500 Powerpacks made up of more than 8 million individual battery cells.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

ivan.penn@latimes.com

Twitter: @smasunaga @ivanlpenn

ALSO

Wandas $1-billion Dick Clark Productions deal is officially dead

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Column: GOP marks National Consumer Protection Week by voting to obliterate class-action lawsuits

UPDATES:

3:45 p.m.: This article was updated with additional analysis

11:30 a.m.: This article was updated with more information about Teslas energy storage project in Hawaii and the Tesla-Southern California Edison energy storage facility in Ontario.

10 a.m.: This article was updated with information about a Tesla-Southern California Edison energy storage project.

8:40 a.m.: This article was updated with information about Teslas past product delays.

This article was originally published at 8 a.m.
Escondido students said goodbye to some class companions Wednesday, when they released over 100 trout fingerlings to the waters of Miramar Lake.

The fifth graders, from Quantum Academy in Escondido Union School District, raised the trout from eggs at school, as part of a Trout in the Classroom program sponsored by the Escondido Creek Conservancy. They cared for the fish in aquariums, learning how they develop and what water conditions they require.

On Wednesday, the 63 students visited Elfin Forest to learn firsthand about the creek, and then travelled to Miramar Lake to release the fish. As part of that field trip, they tested the water quality of Escondido Creek, and made comparisons between the water quality there and in their classroom. The creek water was warmer than the carefully controlled tanks, and bacteria and nitrite levels were higher as well.

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They realize that the creek isnt quite as clean as the water in their classroom tanks, said Simon Breen, education manager for the conservancy. The idea is that inspires them to take action to clean up our watersheds, so that eventually the trout can be supported in the creek, so that they can survive there.

The students also took hikes and helped clean up litter washed into the creek during recent storms. Then they rode to Lake Miramar to bid farewell to their fish.

At the lake, each student received a plastic cup with a single trout, which they let loose in the water in a spot safe from ducks and geese that could prey on the two to three-inch fish.

We looked for sites with reeds, rocks, so the fish could hide and avoid predators, Breen said.

Students also gave their departing fish a pep talk, explaining the next steps in their life cycle, and how to steer clear of predators. Writing the sendoff speech was an optional assignment, Breen said, but every student chose to do it.

The conservancy hopes that the Trout in the Classroom projects will be a first step in its effort to eventually repopulate the creek with native Southern Steelhead, a type of oceangoing trout that have nearly vanished from San Diego.

Escondido Creek flows 26 miles from its headwaters above Lake Wohlford to the ocean at San Elijo Lagoon. For seven miles through the city of Escondido, its contained within a concrete channel that was designed to control floodwater, but has also impaired water quality in the creek. The conservancy is working to restore the creek, and possibly remove the channel, in order to cool and clean the water flows.



Fifth grade students from Quantum Academy in Escondido release fingerling trout into Lake Miramar as part of a course on conservation organized by The Escondido Creek Conservancy. The students raised the fish from eggs and learned about the conditio

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
Nearly three weeks after Otay Water Board member Hector Gastelum came under fire on social media for posting an anti-Muslim tweet, he is being asked by members of the community to step down.

Gastelum tweeted on Feb. 19: Lets pressure OUR Legislators to increase list of so-called #MuslimBan to prevent #SubHuman #Scum from #USA to #MAGA.

The tweet included a link to a Fox News story about Sweden becoming the rape capital because of an increase of attacks on women, which was linked to the nearly 200,000 refugees from Islamic countries.

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Data from Bra, which tracks reported crimes in Sweden, show that  contrary to the storys claim  the rate of reported rapes compared to the population have stayed relatively stable in the past decade.

In a Twitter exchange that followed, he explained he was denouncing and classifying Muslims who rape, gang rape, stone women to death, throw homosexuals from the roof and who are pedophiles as subhuman.

Gastelum represents Division 4 on the water board, an area east of Interstate 805 and south of the Sweetwater Reservoir.

During Tuesdays Chula Vista council meeting, Mona Dibas, associated student body president at Southwestern College, urged the City Council to support the removal of Gastelum from public office.

He called Muslims disgusting nameswe are asking him to resign, she said. Its because of actions like his, that people like me are killed and hurt in the streets. We are attacked and we have our hijabs pulled...

James Elia, a first generation Chaldean-American born in the U.S., asked the City Council to create a resolution that would remove Gastelum from his position.

...He insulted myself, who for the past nine years has been an advocate and strong worker for refugees Elia said. Im holding the Otay Water District accountable for having an open bigot, racist, Islamophobic public servant in office.

Chula Vista Councilman Steve Padilla called Gastelums comments abhorrent and reprehensible.

Given his lack of a desire to take responsibility for his comments, I would join the other voices in the community in asking him to step down.

Padilla is still raw from a 2005 encounter of a large group of bigots who came to a council meeting to denounce him for being gay.

He was the mayor at the time.

I sat there and listened to one speaker after another and I will never forget what it felt like when those speakers finished speaking-the long uncomfortable silence because not one of my colleagues on the dais said a word and I ended up grabbing the mic and speaking for myself... Padilla said.

Padilla was the only council member to comment on the issue during the March 7 council meeting.

I think we all should feel compelled to speak out against intolerance and bigotry and ignorance when it occurs...particularly if you are a community representative or member.

Mayor Mary Casillas Salas said she was willing to meet with the group.

The Otay Water Board had discussed the issue during its March 1 regularly scheduled meeting at the behest of water board member Mitch Thompson.

On Thursday, he told the Union-Tribune that Gastelums comments and inadequate apology cause me to question his ability to serve as a public official on the Otay Water Board.

I would hope that Mr. Gastelum would consider resignation, he said, adding those views dont represent those of the water agency as a whole.

When asked to comment Wednesday, Gastelum initially offered to provide a prepared statement. On Thursday, he apologized and said he was too busy.

Gastelum was elected in 2016 and his term expires in 2020.
Sour ales and experiences

Coronado Brewing is adding sour beers to its repertoire, while subtracting New York and Florida from its distribution network.

The company plans to inaugurate a series of tart beers in June with the release of a sour peach and apricot ale.

Weve been working on this for at least 18 months, said Ryan Brooks, Coronados brewmaster.

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To avoid contaminating others ales, the bacteria-laced sours are made in a separate building at the brewerys Bay Park headquarters.

Coronado is moving ahead on several fronts  besides sour beers, its launching Guava Islander IPA, building a tap room in Imperial Beachs Bikeway Village and installing a new bottling line  while reducing its national footprint.

In August 2015, the brewery stopped shipping beers to New York and Florida.

Its almost prohibitive to send a truck to the East Coast, said Coronado co-owner Rick Chapman. It cost too much money.

Stone, Green Flash and Ballast Point solved that problem by building satellite breweries on East Coast brewery. Would Coronado follow suit?

Weve looked at it, Chapman said.

He didnt sound enthusiastic, perhaps because the gap between Coronados Number One market (California) and Number Two (North Carolina) is as wide as the continent. The brewery sells 70 percent of its beer in the Golden State where, as Brooks noted, no one confuses Coronado with Corona.

Were really focused on the West Coast, Brooks said. We are increasing our focus on the West Coast.

Beer Monopoly

Two years ago, after agreeing to participate in a panel discussion about the future of beer, I was warned about a fellow panelist.

Shes really tough, I was told. Should be some fireworks.

The troublemaker was Ina Verstl, a German writer and economist with a Ph.D from the University of Zurich. I dont recall bloodshed at the conference, which was held in Brussels  perhaps I was too jetlagged to notice the carnage  but do remember Verstls keen, critical intelligence.

Those qualities are on display in The Beer Monopoly (Brauwelt International, $22.60), a recent book she wrote with Ernst Faltermeier, a German beer industry expert.

This opinionated account traces the fortunes of four global titans  Anheuser-Busch InBev; its since-acquired rival, SABMiller; Heineken; and Carlsberg. While the emphasis is on Big Beer, Monopoly also contains insights into the sales of craft breweries like Ballast Point and Saint Archer to conglomerates.

These deals should not have caught us unawares, really, my former tormentor noted.

Craft brewers must plan for succession. None of the established craft brewers wants to run their brewery until the day they die. European culture requires that children must one day take over the family business, which may explain why so many of the breweries here have been in the family for generations.

Kings of Beer

Mother Earths Cali Creamin (5 percent alcohol by volume) is a representative of the brewers-gone-wild camp. The vanilla cream ale smacks of sarsaparilla, vanilla, biscuit, vanilla and  trust me, it needs repeating  vanilla.

This is the Vista brewerys most popular beer, and I can see why. Its clean, light-bodied and, despite its resemblance to a beery vanilla float, not too sweet. Its nice.

But is it a King? Not in my book (or column). Instead, Latitude 33s Blood Orange IPA (7.2 percent) keeps the crown for another week. This Wallenda-like ale expertly walks the tightrope between nectar-like goo and too-faint fruit essence. Blood Orange is sweet and juicy, yes, but in a way that is sure-footed and balanced.

Women of the world, unite  and brew!

Wednesday was International Womens Collaboration Brew Day, a global campaign founded by Britains Sophie de Ronde and organized by San Diegos Denise Ratfield. Among the local participants gathering to produce Unite beers:

AleSmith, Pariah, San Diego Brewing, all in San Diego; Toolbox, in Vista; Tijuanas Cerveza Artesanal 5 & 10; Mexicali Homebrewers Association and Cerveceria Averno, both in Mexicali.

This international event involved breweries in Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom, South Africa and other countries. Abroad and at home, these unique Unite beers should be on tap next month.

Curious about this project? Details are at unitebrew.org.

Words to drink by

Instead of water we got here a draught of beer, a lumberers drink, which would acclimate and naturalize a man at once  which would make him see green, and, if he slept, dream that he heard the wind sough among the pines.  Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Did you know?

Scotlands BrewDog is crowdfunding a Columbus, Ohio, hotel. Each room in The DogHouse will have craft beer taps; the luxury suite will include an IPA-filled hot tub. Donors at Indiegogo are offered everything from tours ($25) to a 50-room takeover ($3,000).

CORRECTION: The original version of this story incorrectly reported Coronado Brewings distribution plans on the East Coast. It is no longer shipping to New York and Florida. The story has been updated.

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Twitter: @peterroweut

peter.rowe@sduniontribune.com

UPDATES:

4 p.m., March 13, 2017: This article was updated with a correction about Coronado Brewings distribution plans.

This article was originally published at 10 a.m. on March 10, 2017.
A man who sneaked onstage during a Taylor Swift concert in San Diego and fought with security guards, was placed on probation Thursday for two years and given credit for time served in county jail.

Christian Louis Ewing, 27, admitted to a felony charge of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, and a misdemeanor charge of resisting an executive officer.

At the sentencing hearing, San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Groch ordered the terms of probation and recommended that Ewing be screened by the Probation Departments mentally ill offender unit.

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This is the best plan for Mr. Ewing, Groch said, noting that the defendant had mental heath concerns that should be medicated.

Neither the judge nor the attorneys revealed Ewings diagnosis, but they noted he had undergone a psychological evaluation and spent several months at Patton State Hospital when it was determined he was not mentally competent to stand trial.

He was returned to San Diego after doctors at the hospital in San Bernardino County determined that his mental competency had been restored.

Ewing has been in custody since Aug. 29, 2015, the night of the pop superstars sold-out show at San Diegos Petco Park. He managed to get into the show, even though he did not have a ticket, police said. He then made his way onto the field.

Some of Swifts tour security guards noticed him on the field without the required wristband and detained him until they could turn him over to stadium security.

While escorting Ewing away, a stadium guard lost control of the defendant and he was able to escape.

Ewing jumped on stage during Swifts performance. He was tackled by four security guards, one of whom suffered a broken rib during the scuffle.

Swift kept singing, uninterrupted, while the defendant was taken into custody.

On Thursday, the judge ordered Ewing to stay away from the security guard who was injured, and at least 100 feet away from Swift or any venue where she is performing.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
How do you begin to heal a nation of different cultures, races, religions and backgrounds divided by fear, ignorance and hate? By reaching out and opening a dialogue.

The strategy has had success in San Diego, and this month a nonprofit organization and a federal prosecutor are being recognized nationally for their efforts to build bridges and promote understanding to unify communities and prevent crime.

On Thursday, Pacifica Institute in San Diego accepted the FBI Directors Community Leadership Award, one of 56 nationwide.

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And next week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cindy Cipriani will accept the Anti-Defamation Leagues Helene and Joseph Sherwood Prize for Combating Hate for her efforts to combat bigotry by connecting law enforcement to various community groups  working alongside Pacifica Institute at times.

The recognition couldnt have come at a more relevant time, amid a divisive political climate and a recent increase in hate crime reports.

During a small ceremony at the San Diego FBI headquarters, Supervisory Special Agent Todd Hemmen pointed to the shooting of a Sikh in Washington, bomb threats to Jewish community centers and an attack Saturday night on a woman outside a San Diego mosque in which her hijab was pulled off with the comment, Stupid Muslim.

Pacifica Institute is more needed now, the timing is so ripe, said Patrick Drinan, chair of Pacificas local advisory board.

Pacifica Institute was founded in 2003 by Turkish-American Muslims and was inspired by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who preached in the 1960s and 1970s about inclusiveness, education and service to society.

The institute holds several events each year that bring together people from various backgrounds to understand each other. In June during Ramadan, the group held an Iftar dinner for 120 guests in the local Muslim and law enforcement communities.

Through sharing a meal, the goal was to break down misconceptions and fear of the Muslim community and to increase unity and collaboration, said San Diego FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Birnbaum.

The institute has also hosted several seminars addressing extremism, radicalization and hate crimes against Muslims. Their bi-monthly Woman of Faith group is made up of women from different cultures  including Muslim women and Christian Chaldean women  who exchange ideas and break down barriers.

We are working on building bridges, working for common good and promoting cross-cultural awareness to help establish a society where individuals love, respect and accept each other as they are, Pacifica Institutes director in San Diego, Mesut Inci, said Thursday. Inci will go to Washington, D.C., next month to accept the award from FBI Director James Comey.

Drinan, who, like many of the advisory board members is not Muslim, said the institute provides a forum of moderation.

It increases the profile of the moderate Muslim community committed to the American dream, said Drinan, a retired political science professor at University of San Diego.

Cipriani, who joined the U.S. Attorneys Office in 1999 and is the director of community outreach, is being lauded for many of the same qualities.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, recipients of the award demonstrate relentless dedication to containing and minimizing the prevalence and severity of hate-motivated behavior perpetrated in their communities.

When I saw this award, it just had Cindys name written all over it to me, said former U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy, who nominated Cipriani. She is a force of nature.

Duffy, who recently left the office for a seat on the San Diego Superior Court bench, created the outreach position to institutionalize the practice of building relationships outside of the courtroom.

When some people in the local Somali community were prosecuted for supporting terrorism abroad, Cipriani spearheaded a regular gathering of Somalis and federal law enforcement in 2011 to ease tensions, build relationships and open dialogue.

She organized transgender awareness training for numerous law enforcement agencies, which is being replicated elsewhere.

And she convened a meeting between educators and Muslims to discuss protests and anti-bullying awareness at universities, after anti-Islamic fliers were posted at San Diego State University.

Its totally different than being a lawyer, Cipriani said of her job. I learned its just relationship building. Being there for people, listening. And it helps to bring food. I learned that from my Italian immigrant grandparents.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
A former executive for two Arizona companies that provide mechanics for airlines is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from 20 of his employees for his help securing them work and residency visas, a practice that is illegal, according to an indictment filed in San Diego federal court.

Eleno Max Quinteros Jr., 45, of Chula Vista, is also accused of lying about accepting the payments when asked if he had on federal forms, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

As vice president of operations, Quinteros was responsible for recruiting Mexicans for airline mechanic jobs and helped get them U.S. employer-sponsored work visas.

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The visas included TN visas, open to Mexican and Canadian citizens to work as temporary professionals in the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and H-2B visas, for employer-sponsored temporary nonagricultural work.

He is accused of asking for payment for the applications, costs supposed to be paid by the employer.

The indictment does not name the companies, one of which he was part owner.

Quinteros then helped many pursue employment-based permanent residency, demanding thousands of dollars, the indictment alleges. Some of the money was paid to company attorneys helping in the cause while the rest was pocketed by Quinteros and his wife, prosecutors said.

The money was deposited into his wifes account, to Quinteros personal account or in the form of blank money orders to hide the source of the funds, the charges allege.

Employers are prohibited by law from demanding fees for their services in applying for work visas, even attorney fees.

Quinteros is charged with 20 counts of making a false statement in support of an immigration application and 20 charges of lying to federal authorities. He pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Wednesday and was granted bail. The indictment also calls for Quinteros to forfeit any illegal funds.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
Last spring, Michael Shefcik was watching an episode of Antiques Roadshow, the PBS series where hopeful owners of mystery art and antiques consult experts on whether its treasure or trash.

The episode focused on art created under the federal Work Projects Administration jobs program in the late 1930s and early 1940s during the Great Depression.

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The whereabouts of many pieces, whose sale is forbidden by the U.S. government, is unknown today. The Roadshow episode highlighted a piece of WPA art that was discovered by federal officials being offered for sale on eBay and reclaimed.

As supervisor of plant operations for Hoover High School, built in 1929, Shefcik had long heard talk of his school having a piece of WPA art.

He decided to investigate.

In its library, inconspicuous amid the jumble of books and bric-a-brac, sits a 30-inch-tall statue of a young girl reading a book.

The marble sculpture, once a school courtyard centerpiece, had been relocated, perhaps when Hoover was remodeled in the early 1970s.

The statue isnt signed by an artist, but the girls book is engraved: So California Art Project WPA 1940.

Sure enough, when Shefcik went online, he found a photo of that very artwork being sculpted, not just by any artist, but by the creator of many of San Diegos landmark sculptures: Donal Hord.

Hords 23-foot-tall Guardian of the Waters stands at the west entrance to the San Diego County Administration Building.

His Woman of Tehuantepec kneels in the courtyard of the House of Hospitality in Balboa Park.

The artists Aztec sculpture on display at San Diego State University was said to have been the inspiration for the universitys mascot.

Shefcik contacted the U.S. General Services Administration to inform officials of the whereabouts of Donal Hords Girl Reading.

The federal agency had lost track of it over the years. All the WPA artworks remain the property of the federal government but are on long-term loan to municipalities, schools and other public facilities where they are displayed.

So Shefcik sent the GSA photos and a description of the piece to document its whereabouts.

Plans for a major face-lift and redesign of a portion of Hoover High are in the works, and architects will feature Hords sculpture in the main entry foyer, says Hoover Principal Joe Austin.

As a relative newcomer to the school, Austin wasnt aware of the Hord artwork until Shefcik recently brought it to his attention.

In the interim, the schools wood shop teacher has been asked to create a plaque identifying the sculpture as Donal Hords work.

Most people just walk by and dont really know what we have, Shefcik said.
San Diego officials say the citys proposed drone regulations strike a proper balance between boosting safety and respecting the rights of hobbyists, but a group of critics is calling the proposed rules irresponsibly weak.

The regulations, which the City Council is scheduled to consider April 10, would give local police new authority to cite reckless users of drones while also requiring the users to obey temporary flight restrictions during emergencies or special events.

The proposed rules dont go beyond existing Federal Aviation Administration regulations because city officials say their goal is encouraging safety, not a heavy-handed crackdown on people enjoying an increasingly popular hobby.

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This will not curtail, limit or otherwise discourage any safe operation that is already legal, Lt. Colonel John Valencia, director of the citys Office of Homeland Security, told the councils Public Safety committee last month.

Critics say the proposed regulations dont go nearly far enough, are reactive instead of proactive and do essentially nothing to prevent injuries to the public that they consider inevitable as drone usage continues to sharply increase.

The city would have to wait until someone does something irresponsible, rather than taking the common sense approach of saying, you cant fly near power lines because it is not safe, said Arika Pierce, a member of the Facebook group San Diegans for Safe Drones.

The critics also want the regulations to restrict flying drones at night, prohibit peeping Tom drones and outlaw flights over schools, prisons, police stations, beaches, power plants and refineries.

The San Diego City Council must do more, their Facebook page says. Dont let our city become Drone Diego!!!

Local attorney Dan Gilleon said the city has an obligation to act when injuries are a foreseeable consequence of an activity, such as allowing drones to whiz by people in public places.

Were talking about brain injuries, eyes getting put out  the bad stuff that happens and changes peoples lives forever, he said. The city exercises its police powers over strip clubs, where no one is getting hurt. But these regulations dont do much of anything.

Gilleon predicted injury lawsuits from drone incidents will become increasingly common, contending it would be much wiser to adopt strict rules that prevent such injuries.

All drone users should also have to register their devices before using them so they can be held accountable if their drone damages something or flies off course, Gilleon said.

Becky Rusk had that experience in fall 2015, when an out-of-control drone crashed into the roof of her house in the Ridgeview neighborhood of City Heights.

Theres nothing in this ordinance that prevents that from happening to me again, she said. Theres no protection for people. Theres more regulation of skateboards than drones.

Critics also say the proposed regulations, which would amend the citys municipal code, dont define reckless use of drones carefully enough.

They say similar regulations in Los Angeles, which San Diego used as a model, were too weak to allow the city to prosecute the operator of a drone that was interfering with a police helicopter.

A city spokesman said San Diego plans to use the FAA definition of reckless, which is to endanger the life or property of another. He said local police will have to make the judgement whether that has happened.

The spokesman, Jose Ysea, said most of the regulations sought by critics arent possible in local legislation because cities have no authority over airspace.

This would be considered preemption of federal authority, he said.

Tiffany Vinson, the citys senior homeland security coordinator, said a key element of the new regulations is giving local police the power to hold drone pilots accountable by enforcing existing FAA regulations.

She noted that the nearest FAA enforcement division is in Los Angeles, making citations or other actions extremely rare in San Diego.

Vinson said the city had initially hoped to address some privacy concerns with its regulations, but realized when talking to officials from other agencies that such a move would be difficult because of federal control over airspace.

She said the city hopes to eventually come up with wording that would make peeping by drone illegal in the same way that peeping from the bushes is illegal.

City officials say other advantages to their approach include less threat of lawsuits contending the restrictions are onerous, and avoiding a patchwork of regulations that can arise if each individual city creates its own set of rules.

Chad Budreau, director of public relations and government affairs for a drone advocacy group called the Academy of Model Aeronautics, told the Union-Tribune last month that laying city and state ordinances on top of federal law just creates confusion among users.

City officials say that the more users know about safety and regulations, the less likely there will be crashes or reckless drone flying. The academy tries to help clarify regulations for users with the website knowbeforeyoufly.org.

A working group of officials from the city and other agencies proposed the new regulations after spending six months analyzing drone laws in Poway, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Miami, Chicago and Pittsburgh, plus possible state of California laws under discussion in Sacramento.

Poway, which was among the first cities in the nation to adopt drone legislation, last fall banned the use of drones when they could interfere with helicopters and aircraft responding to a wildfire or other emergency, a more specific version of an FAA rule prohibiting drones from interfering with emergency responses.

In San Diego, the city spokesman said potential penalties for violating the proposed regulations havent been determined. The city attorneys office has said it will have discretion to handle cases based on the circumstances, which could include widely varying degrees of recklessness.

Violations could be prosecuted as either misdemeanors or infractions. Penalties for misdemeanors could be fines as high as $1,000 or six months in jail. For infractions, fine are typically $250 and increase to $500 for a second violation within the same year.

The citys working group was created after multiple local incidents involving airports, including two separate incidents involving Lindbergh Field on Aug. 23, 2015.

First, two crew members on a Delta Airlines flight from Phoenix to San Diego saw a drone off the left side of the plane but did not make any evasive maneuvers because they were already turning away from the drone.

Next, a public school employee flew a drone at high altitude at Point Loma High School attempting to take photos of the schools roof without realizing the schools sensitive flight path location.

Two weeks later, there were reports of a drone flying between Gates 23 and 33 of San Diego International Airport.

FAA tracking of drone incidents shows there have also been several at Gillespie Field, Montgomery-Gibbs Field, Brown Field and McLellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
A Superior Court judge issued a tentative ruling Thursday dismissing a $10 million defamation lawsuit by Rep. Darrell Issa against his opponent in last years election, Doug Applegate.

The day before the Nov. 8 election Issa sued Applegate, his campaign, and his campaign manager Robert Dempsey over statements in two television commercials that the Vista Republican said were defamatory.

Issa said that the ads contained falsehoods that hurt his reputation by portraying him as dishonest and callous.

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In his tentative ruling, Judge Richard Strauss said Issa failed to show that statements in the ads were false, and that he didnt prove that comments in the commercial were made with a reckless disregard for the truth  a high standard that applies to public figures like politicians.

Dempsey called the tentative decision a victory for free speech that affirmed the statements about Issa in the ads.

Quite frankly, were very glad that the court found in our favor, Dempsey said. Not only are we thrilled, but that what we did was proven to be on the right side of the issues.

Issas campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A final hearing is scheduled for Friday morning.

Dempsey said he, the campaign and Applegate will seek to recover attorneys fees, though he did not immediately know how much the case cost. He said it was expensive, but under $1 million. Its unclear if any payments would come from Issas campaign or from the congressman personally.

Issas lawsuit focused on two commercials Applegates campaign aired in Orange and San Diego counties ahead of last years election.

One of the ads featured portions of an August 2011 article in The New York Times headlined A Businessman in Congress Helps his District and Himself. Issa disputed the article shortly after its publication, identifying what he considered to be 13 errors in the report. The Times subsequently published three corrections, but they did not alter the thrust of the story.

In his suit, Issa said Applegates ad used a line that did not appear in the original newspaper article, and would cause people to conclude, falsely, that he had used his office to enrich himself.

The judge said that the claim mentioned in the advertisement is accurate.

The evidence shows that Plaintiffs net worth has increased since he became a member of Congress Strauss wrote.

Issa said that the other commercial used misleading statements about Congressmans voting record and a doctored quote to wage the dishonest charge that Congressman Issa has opposed supporting the victims, first responders, and heroes of September 11th. The ad had a line about tea party Republicans voting against providing health care to emergency workers.

Again, Strauss determined that Issa didnt prove that the statements in the ad were untrue. Issa, the judge wrote, voted against a bill that would have provided health care to first responders to the terrorist attack, and that the ad did not claim that tea party Republicans exclusively voted against the measure. Issa had pointed out that the bill was voted down by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

Issa won re-election by 1,621 votes, the closest congressional race in the country. Applegate has announced he will run again in 2018, as has Democrat Mike Levin, an Orange County environmental lawyer.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841
Homicide investigators brought metal detectors to Southcrest Park Friday, looking for evidence in last years fatal shooting of a San Diego police officer.

The park is several blocks from where Officer Jonathan De Guzman was killed and his partner, Officer Wade Irwin, was wounded.

Investigation possibly related to Officer De Guzman case https://t.co/dy6NyOxDkF pic.twitter.com/5jSshx5Ijj  News 8 San Diego (@News8) March 10, 2017

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Irwin fired back and wounded the suspected shooter, who is facing charges in the case.

San Diego police homicide Lt. Mike Holden said that because the case is in the hands of the District Attorneys Office, he could not talk about why they thought evidence might be in the park.

A spokeswoman in the prosecutors office said she had no information about the search.

Holden said police detectives were working with District Attorneys investigators at the park.

Southcrest Park at 40th and Alpha streets is several blocks east of where the officers were shot along Alicia Grove Way and 37th Street on July 28.

The officers, on the gang-suppression team, stopped to talk to two men on the street. One walked away and the other is alleged to have shot Irwin in the neck and fired five rounds into De Guzman in the patrol car drivers seat before being shot.

Jesse Gomez faces charges of murder, attempted murder, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

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A Clairemont man suspected of beating his 87-year-old father with a crowbar called police Thursday night to report the attack, and was arrested, authorities said.

The father was sleeping when Charles Duval started striking him, then choking him, with the crowbar, San Diego police said.

They said the father struggled to defend himself. He was hospitalized in serious condition, but is expected to survive, police said.

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The two men live together at a home on Diane Avenue, north of Cobb Drive. They had gotten into an argument Thursday night, and later the father went to bed, police said.

Duval, 62, called 911 minutes before midnight and said hed attacked his father with a crowbar, police said.

He is alleged to have struck and choked his father with the metal bar, then punched the older man with his fists.

Police said Duval disabled the telephone, so his father was not able to use it to call for help.

Duval was at the home when officers got there, and he surrendered without a struggle, police said. Duval was jailed on suspicion of attempted murder and elder abuse.
Gang enforcement deputies arrested seven people and seized drugs and guns in raids across Vista and Oceanside Thursday, sheriffs officials said.

It was part of a month-long investigation into allegations of people possessing illegal firearms, including one person with possible ties to gangs in Northern California, sheriffs Sgt. Frank Sandoval.

Teams of deputies served search warrants at five location across the two North County cities starting about 6 a.m.

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They seized 10 AR-15 rifles, a MAC-10 machine pistol, several handguns, thousands of rounds of ammunition of different calibers, gun silencers, high-capacity magazines, explosives, 0.75 pounds of methamphetamine and undisclosed amounts of hash oil and indoor-grown marijuana, Sandoval said.

Six men and one woman were arrested during the raids. One child was taken into protective custody, sheriffs spokesman Ryan Keim said.

Deputies were assisted by SWAT teams from Escondido, Carlsbad and Oceanside, as well as a North County gang task force.
Twelve hours after a plumbers body was found at an Oceanside construction site on Thursday, investigators arrested a man on suspicion of murder.

Police said they believe Oceanside resident Mikhail Schmidt, 30, killed Jacob Laughlin Bravo, 37, of Phelan in San Bernardino County.

The motive for the crime is still being investigated, Lt. Valencia Saadat said in a statement on Friday.

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Bravos body was found inside an office trailer at the site of a condominium building under construction on Windward Way. A co-worker saw him lying in a pool of blood and called police about 5 a.m., investigators said.

Saadat said they received a tip about 4:40 p.m. that Bravo might be the suspect in the case.

Officers found him on The Strand, about two blocks from the construction site, and had him in custody by 5 p.m.

No information was released about the connection between the two men, or how Bravo was killed.

Saadat said Schmidt did not work at the construction site, and the killing was not gang-related.
Two men pleaded not guilty this week to charges that they robbed 10 Metro PCS cellphone stores across San Diego County during a four-week spree that ended in February.

Justin Wayne Caldwell, 30, and Carlos Adolfo Soto, 39, face one count of conspiracy to commit robbery and 10 counts of robbery. Authorities allege they stole a total of $50,000 in cash and cellphones.

A judge set Caldwells bail at $35,000 on Tuesday. Soto did not argue for bail at a court hearing Thursday.

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The two were arrested in Pacific Beach on Feb. 21 after the 10th holdup in the series. Police said the pair was under surveillance when Soto robbed the Metro PCS store on Grand Avenue.

Caldwell was waiting in his parked car  their getaway vehicle, police said.

The series began Jan. 25 when one man, armed with a machete, robbed a store on Jamacha Road in Spring Valley, police said.

Two days later, a man held up an El Cajon Boulevard store in San Diegos Kensington neighborhood. According to federal court documents, a customer was inside and the robber had a replica gun.

A customer was also in a store when the third robbery occurred on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights on Jan. 30, according to the federal indictment. Two men with replica guns were involved.

In the fourth robbery in Egger Highlands on Feb. 1, the robbers also had a stun gun.

Over the next three weeks, stores were robbed on Poway Road, Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, El Cajon Boulevard, San Marcos Boulevard and Mission Village Drive.

By the last holdup in Pacific Beach, police already had information that identified Caldwell as a person of interest.

Police detectives and FBI agents spotted Caldwell driving a Mercedes sedan in the College Area on Feb. 21. A passenger in the car was later identified as Soto.

The detectives and agents eventually followed Caldwell to Pacific Beach where he parked a block away from the Metro PCS store on Grand Avenue.

Soto walked to the store, went in and came out a minute or so later, authorities said.

As he made his way back to the Mercedes, authorities moved in. Soto bolted, ran a few blocks and jumped a backyard fence before he was taken into custody.

Caldwell, who was still in the drivers seat, was arrested without a struggle.

Officers recovered nine cellphones, about $400 in cash and an pellet handgun, according to the complaint.

Caldwell and Soto are scheduled to appear in court again on March 27.

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Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
UC San Diego may accelerate plans to preserve its climate data due to growing concerns among faculty members that the Trump administration could interfere with their work.

Campus officials intend to discuss what they should do during a March 21 meeting at the schools Scripps Institution of Oceanography, whose research has been used for decades to shape climate agreements. The ideas include real-time storage and protection of data that Scripps collects around the world  from the Antarctic to the Indian Ocean to Californias coastline.

The situation at UC San Diego resembles efforts by scientists, librarians, environmental activists and others across the country to preserve climate data housed at colleges and on government websites. Representatives of places such as the University of Michigan and MIT said theyre worried that President Donald Trump and his team could suppress information thats central to policy discussions, international treaties and business regulations.

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In the past two months, the Trump administration has scrubbed mentions of climate change from several White House web pages. It also has removed a variety of data from federal websites, making them available only through specialized requests. And its aiming to impose double-digit cuts to a range of agencies, including those with deep involvement in climate science.

But theres no evidence that Trump and his assistants have destroyed any climate data, and they havent indicated any intentions to do so.

The situation reflects how politicized climate-change discussions have become. As Trump uses his high profile to criticize the scientific communitys main findings on climate change, researchers increasingly ponder worst-case actions by his administration.

The president has repeatedly denied the existence of global warming or cast doubt on it. He has called climate change an expensive hoax and said, I am not a great believer in man-made climate change.

And Scott Pruitt  head of the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal governments leading enforcer on climate-change issues  said Thursday that he doesnt believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to climate change.

These types of declarations are cheered by business groups, conservative lawmakers and others who either deny the validity of climate science or said the U.S. has been too aggressive in regulating industry over what it believes will be severe harm from global warming.

The same remarks are fueling anxiety in research labs and stoking interest in political protests, including the March for Science, which is set to be held in Washington, D.C., and other locations on April 22  Earth Day.

UC San Diego, one of the nations 10 largest research universities, sharpened its focus on climate data 18 months ago after learning that the federal government is trimming support for archiving such information.

But the apprehension about Trumps views on climate change have given a sense of urgency to that project, said those involved with the undertaking.

It is a reaction to the concerns of the scholarly community and the scientific research community about the effect that the new presidency has vis-a-vis climate change, vis-a-vis any other of a number of things, said Brian Schottlaender, the universitys head librarian. The stakes are up. The stakes are high. Theres more at risk now.

Margaret Leinen, the director of Scripps, said it would be incorrect to say that this effort began with a reaction to concerns about the new presidency. Probably more correct to say that concerns about this presidency amplified concerns that were already present about stewardship of the rich data legacy that our (Scripps) focus on observing the planet has left us.

Scripps has been a world leader on studying climate change since the 1950s, when Charles David Keeling began taking daily measurements of carbon dioxide in Earths atmosphere. His data became known as the Keeling Curve because it showed the build-up of CO2 over time. That body of work helped lead to a consensus among most scientists that the rise in C02  created by everything from factory operations to vehicle commuting  is a primary factor in man-made global warming.

Keelings findings and other landmark discoveries by Scripps helped to shape the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which is meant to repair damage to Earths ozone layer, and the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to get both developed and developing countries to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions.

Some scientists believe that in the current political environment, such data could be suppressed or perhaps even destroyed, which in some cases could be illegal under federal law.

Theres a big difference between outright destroying of records and removing easy online access, said Anne Jefferson, a hydrologist at Kent State University who relies heavily on government data for her research. If you take the data sets offline, you can effectively make the request process so difficult that many people will give up.

A number of grassroots campaigns are scrambling to harvest climate data from government websites, including those for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

These archiving efforts are being organized by The Libraries Network in coordination with the Data Refuge Project. Theyre a mix of ongoing campaigns as well as special events, such as those at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, UC Davis, UCLA and UC Berkeley.

Data Refuge grew out of a push started in 2014 at the University of Pennsylvania to organize and store information relevant to environmental studies, according to its website. Since December, the projects website has been a hub for everyone from scholars to data nerds looking to volunteer their time at data rescue events.

I see these efforts as reflecting a broader and deeper concern about the future of climate science under the Trump administration, a fear that is well founded given the likely direction of federal funding for climate science, said David Victor, a professor of global politics at UC San Diego who has focused on climate change policy.

But he added: I doubt that the worst fears of some climate scientists will actually happen. I doubt federal climate data will be deleted since that would be illegal in most circumstances.

UC San Diego officials said they havent established a timeline for their universitys data preservation project. Schottlaender, the librarian, said the project hasnt required special funding because the chancellor had already made financial investments to expand data storage capacity at the school.

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gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com
The San Diego Association of Governments is looking for a law firm with experience investigating white-collar crime to determine how overly-optimistic sales tax forecasts ended up in a ballot measure, and if people knew predictions were wrong but failed to speak up.

In an executive board meeting on Friday, the regional planning organization decided to create a three-member subcommittee to help hire the law firm, and to publish a request for proposals to advertise for the lawyers.

At this point its not clear who SANDAG will hire, but board members made said they want attorneys who have experience investigating white-collar crimes, and, in an effort to encourage independence, are apolitical and have as few if any financial ties to SANDAG.

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At its February 24 meeting the SANDAG board decided to launch an independent investigation to determine who knew what and when regarding incorrect revenue forecasts models used to predict how much money would be raised through Measure A, a proposed half-cent sales tax that was presented to voters as a way to raise $18 billion for infrastructure projects over 40 years.

Inaccurate predictions numbers were given to SANDAGs board which ultimately then sent the flawed measure to the November ballot. Measure A did not get the two-thirds support needed to pass.

The inaccurate figures were uncovered by the Voice of San Diego.

While the board voted to figure out what went wrong last month, they did not, however, decide who would lead the investigation.

Poway Mayor Steve Vaus will sit on the subcommittee, and recommended former federal prosecutor who worked on public corruption cases, John Rice. Rice is now a partner at Higgs, Fletcher and Mack..

Retired judges were also suggested, but some demurred that while they might know the law and understand how crimes work, they might not have the experience to complete an investigation.

There were also suggestions that a member of the public and for civic leaders to be a part of the inquiry. Vaus previously recommended former San Diego city attorney and Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith lead the investigation, but later recanted.

I dont think Jan is apolitical in any sense. so I would withdraw that recommendation, Vaus said.

Others suggested the California attorney general or auditor. But Escondido Mayor Sam Abed said having the state involved could be problematic given SANDAGs reliance on state funding.

I would leave the state alone because we have a relationship with them, he said.

SANDAGs contracting department will craft a request for proposals aimed at law firms, and the subcommittee will vet candidates. Board members stressed that they want the review to move quickly, but didnt want to give investigators precise orders in order to avoid leading the inquiry in any particular direction.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

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A San Diego County committee awarded $250,000 in Indian gaming mitigation money to a program that had not shown local casinos were responsible for the costs covered, according to a new state audit.

The grant was from a state program that collects money from Indian gaming establishments and distributes it to local governments to offset the strain nearby casinos place on their resources, the report said. Benefit committees  typically an assortment of representatives from a county, its cities and tribes  accept applications for grants and choose which to fund.

To be eligible for the grants under state law, local governments have to provide evidence that the amounts requested are proportionate to the casinos impact in their jurisdictions.

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State auditors reviewed six grants awarded by Fresno, Riverside and San Diego counties in the 2014 budget year, according to the report. Benefit committees in Fresno and San Diego County each awarded a grant without requiring the applicant to document the proportion of the project costs attributable to casino impacts.

The County of San Diegos Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee gave a $250,000 grant to the countys Health and Human Services Agency for a program to fight financial abuse of and problem gambling by senior citizens, the report said.

In their application, agency officials referenced statistics and data from reports to quantify seniors affected by gambling problems, according to the audit. But the application did not include copies of the reports or other supporting documentation required to show casinos proportionate impact justified the amount requested.

An unnamed member of the committee told auditors that he relied on the statistics as a whole and his professional judgment to decide whether the requested amount seemed reasonably proportional to impact, the report said.

Auditors recommended the countys committee obtain required documentation before awarding grants. The county agreed and said it would add additional review to its awards process.

In the 2014 budget year, San Diego Countys benefit committee awarded 15 grants worth a combined $1.6 million, the report said.

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In a 5-3 decision penned by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy that was released Monday, the Supreme Court changed decades of law when it ruled that judges could investigate the comments jurors make during their deliberations to search for evidence of racial bias in criminal cases. The decision in Pena Rodriguez v. Colorado will likely blow a hole through the side of the jurisprudential barn.

At issue in Pena Rodriguez was whether a defendants conviction for sexual assault could be vacated and sent back for retrial because of racist comments a juror made during deliberations. One of the jurors, a former law enforcement officer, urged other jurors to find Pena-Rodriguez guilty because he is Mexican and Mexican men take whatever they want.

He also stated that where he used to patrol, nine times out of 10 Mexican men were guilty of being aggressive toward women and young girls.

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The jury found him guilty of three misdemeanor charges. But two of the jurors later informed defense counsel of the racist remarks and suggested they may have influenced other jurors decisions. Pena Rodriguez argued that the jurors racism violated his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury and asked for a new trial. The Supreme Court granted his request.

The majority held that when a juror makes a clear (racist) statement, courts can take the highly unusual step of going back and impeaching the jurors deliberations. This entails calling the jurors back to the courthouse to ask them about their discussions during deliberations. And, where there is overt racial bias that casts serious doubts on the fairness of jury deliberations, the Sixth Amendment requires courts to investigate. When racial animus appears to be a significant motivating factor in the vote to convict, a new trial is warranted.

The dissent argued that while the majority was well-intentioned, its decision subjects jurors to harassment from lawyers and threatens the finality of decisions. Eager lawyers, the dissenters argued, will now reach out to jurors after criminal cases and ask about racial bias in the jury. Indeed, the dissent suggested that unethical lawyers may even try to persuade jurors that race played a role in deliberations when it may not have. The dissent further argued the decision would throw the finality of the jury into doubt. Despite the jurys verdict, the dispute will continue.

The question is: What effect will the courts decision have among the lower courts?

It could have a minor effect. Defense lawyers already have tools to weed out jurors who harbor racial animus. They can question potential jurors during voire dire (when they are selecting the jurors); they can watch juror behavior during trial; and they can instruct jurors to notify the judge (before the jury reaches a verdict) when a juror makes racist remarks. It is hoped the number of racist remarks after these filters will be small  indeed, zero.

Additionally, the court sought to limit the impeachment of jury deliberations to claims of racial bias only. Commenting on the unique history of race in this country, presumably, the justices did not intend to allow the impeachment of the jury for other forms of bias.

It is more likely, though, that the decision will have a monumental effect on lower courts and criminal cases. Clever lawyers surely will test the boundaries of the courts decision, raising challenges of jury biases over sex, sexual orientation, religion and other issues. It is likely future courts will investigate jury deliberations in these instances.

There is further wiggle room for lower courts. The rule announced by the majority says that courts will look only into claims of juror misconduct when the juror makes a clear statement involving racial animus. But just how clear the statement needs to be will surely vary across the circuits. The majority opinion also did not place a time limitation on when defendants could challenge their convictions. Months later? Years later? The circuits are likely to split on that issue as well.

It will take time to determine just how expansive the courts decision is. In the hands of some judges, it is likely to be narrow. In the hands of others, it is likely to be broad. One thing that seems quite clear, though, is this: the circuits will split over how to interpret and apply the courts decision. And so the court will revisit the issue in the future. This weeks decision was just the beginning of a new Sixth Amendment jurisprudence.

Owens is a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
In addressing San Diegos homelessness and affordable housing crisis, nothing short of a bold approach will do.

Many California localities are experiencing the kind of housing crisis  a disaster, really that the city of San Diego is going through; and some of them have responded, boldly.

To wit: In the November election, general obligation bonds for affordable housing were passed by the voters in Alameda County (Measure A1  $580 million) and Santa Clara County (Measure A  $950 million). Voters in Oakland allocated $600 million for infrastructure and affordable housing (Proposition KK). In Los Angeles, voters passed Proposition HHH to provide $1.2 billion for housing for the homeless. Other cities have extended or passed sales taxes or increased the business license tax for owners of large rental housing complexes. And Measure H, a ballot proposal voted on this week in Los Angeles County to increase the sales tax a quarter-cent to fund homeless services, appears to have won. It will generate $355 million annually. As a recent Los Angeles Times editorial explained, Homeless people dont just need housing  they need services to get and stay housed.

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When confronted with a crisis, leaders in other counties and cities have bit the bullet and presented voters with a choice to tax themselves to make their places better places to live; and the voters responded. What other localities have done puts San Diego to shame.

In San Diego, the only significant action has been taken outside City Hall with the formation of a broad-reaching coalition, Housing You Matters. The premise of this group is that if we streamline planning regulations and slash development impact fees, much more housing will be built, bringing home prices down for everybody. If only that were true.

If fees are reduced, developers will not reduce the price of their units. They are business people and will charge what the market will bear. If so many units are built that prices come down, developers will stop building.

This is not to say that the city should not plan for higher densities in appropriate locations or encourage granny flats or cut parking ratios where it makes sense. Not at all. Given continuously increasing demand for housing, we should encourage all these and other measures that could lead to more housing without lowering the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

But these measures will not make a dent in the homeless problem or decrease the number of families in need of subsidized housing. According to the city of San Diegos Housing Commission, there are currently 46,000 families on its waiting list  just a step away from homelessness.

What is absolutely necessary is the type of bold action that other localities in the state have already taken. There are several possibilities. A 2015 report of the city of San Diego Office of the Independent Budget Analyst outlined revenue options to address critical infrastructure and affordable housing needs. The most obvious revenue option for the city is to dedicate to homeless housing and services a large portion  if not all  of the increase in the Transit Occupancy Tax now under discussion. That would be a start to seriously address the homeless problem (Mayor De Blasio of New York, confronted with a similar homeless crisis, has called for a blood-and-guts war strategy).

But to address the burning need for affordable housing, other sources of revenue are necessary. Additional options outlined in the report included increases in the sales tax, the establishment of a parking occupancy tax and general obligation bonds.

These measures may not be for the politically faint of heart. But we have seen what strong political leadership can accomplish in other California localities. Now lets see what San Diego leaders are made of.

Calavita is professor emeritus in the graduate program in city planning at San Diego State University.
In his address to Congress on Feb. 28, President Trump committed his administration to a whopping $54 billion increase in defense spending over and above President Obamas last budget plan of $583 billion, while calling for a large decrease in U.S. foreign aid to help pay for it.

This is an all-too predictable feature of our national politics. After all, defense spending enjoys a powerful natural constituency, the military-industrial complex, which is present in just about every congressional district in the country, while budget cutters see foreign aid as an easy target since it lacks anything comparable in terms of domestic political support. Moreover, the general public is woefully uninformed about what U.S. foreign aid actually costs.

Polls consistently show that on average Americans believe foreign aid consumes some 25 percent of the federal budget, but what we actually spend is less than 1 percent. It follows that even massive Trump-style cuts to foreign aid wouldnt amount to a hill of beans in offsetting increased defense spending.

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Let us therefore remember that foreign aid has been an important component of U.S. foreign policy ever since the Marshall Plan following World War II. It has been called, rightly so, an essential soft power complement to our military might. Foreign aid is not an act of charity, but a means for advancing our national interests by supporting U.S. political, humanitarian and security objectives abroad. And by promoting economic development, it helps combat the poverty, water and food insecurity, lack of education and hopelessness that can often give rise to extremist groups, such as those President Trump has associated with what he calls radical Islamic terrorism.

But the voice of mere civilians, even those schooled in matters of diplomacy and foreign aid, will never be enough to drive home the point that our military might must be complemented by a vigorous, well-funded policy of foreign aid.

However, a letter dated Feb. 27 addressed to the leaders of Congress, and signed by 121 retired three- and four-star flag and general officers from all branches of the armed services, does the job admirably. Their letter reads in part:

The State Department, USAID, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Peace Corps and other development agencies are critical to preventing conflict and reducing the need to put our men and women in uniform in harms way. As Secretary Mattis said while commander of U.S. Central Command: If you dont fully fund the State Department, then I need to buy more ammunition.

So President Trump, if you mean what you say about securing our national interests abroad and keeping America safe, hearken to what French foreign minister Talleyrand had to say to Napoleon Bonaparte about the limitations of military power (my translation from the French): Sire, you can do everything with bayonets except seat yourself upon them.

Kaplan is an international business attorney in San Diego. He was formerly a foreign service officer with the State Department.
Hillary Clintons 4.3 million-vote victory in the presidential election in California illustrates how much Democrats dominate the Golden State now. But Americas largest state has had a generally liberal electorate that believes in social justice and cares deeply about the environment for years.

Thats one way of looking at California politics. A new report from the respected nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office and a recent analysis by The Los Angeles Times suggests another: residents commitment to social justice and the environment may waver when personal sacrifice is a possibility.

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Social justices most common definition is that everyone  regardless of race or gender  deserves equal social, political and economic rights and opportunities. Belief in social justice is a huge factor in societal debates about racism, sexism and income inequality. Yet consider California. It has the nations highest poverty rate, and the primary cause of poverty is the extreme cost of housing. Youd think Californians who believe in social justice would want to bring down the cost of housing by increasing supply  even if it led to more congestion and crowding.

However, as Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor notes, public opposition to new housing is at the heart of Californias housing crisis. His report details how state programs meant to prod local governments into adding housing stock have failed, leading to such jaw-dropping statistics as median monthly rent for two-bedroom apartments in Los Angeles being $2,700. Credit.com estimated L.A. renters spend 49 percent of their income on shelter.

Unless Californians are convinced of the benefits of significantly more home building  targeted at meeting housing demand at every income level  no state intervention is likely to make significant progress on addressing the states housing challenges, Taylor wrote.

His report is written in the LAOs usual dry, straightforward style. But the conclusions it points to are downright melancholy. The housing crisis is punishing low-income and middle-income Californians  especially young people  and until enough Californians who arent being punished begin to care, nothing is going to change  because lawmakers wont act without indications that theyre giving constituents what they want. A recent Sacramento Bee analysis of Census Bureau records identified a trend thats unlikely to change anytime soon: From 2005 to 2015, 2.5 million lower-income residents left California for other states.

Californians housing antipathy also imperils the states ambitious environmental goals. As detailed in The Los Angeles Times, cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 cant happen without an embrace of housing density near work and commercial hubs. Logically, You cant be pro-environment and anti-housing, USC urban planning expert Marlon Boarnet told the Times. You cant be anti-sprawl and anti-housing.

But logic doesnt have much to do with how some Californians think about housing. For them, its a cold calculus built on self-interest. Affluent people and people with reasonable mortgages will not see a housing crisis because theyre not affected. They will consider themselves enlightened because of support for green causes  until such causes might affect their lifestyles.

If California wants to stop losing its young people to less expensive states  if California wants to keep leading the world in protecting the environment  somethings got to give.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: UTOpinion
When it comes to President Trumps trade policy, the stakes could scarcely be higher for the binational regional economy, which a 2014 UC San Diego Jobs Without Borders study said yielded a gross annual product of more than $200 billion. Unfortunately, the debate to date over a policy sought by some Trump allies and House Republicans known as a border adjustment tax has completely ignored the potential effects on thriving areas such as San Diego-Tijuana and Detroit-Windsor, Ontario.

For starters, the measure is baldly protectionist. It would take away tax breaks from U.S. companies that import goods from other nations while giving tax breaks to U.S. companies that export products to other nations. This could preserve some U.S. jobs, but it would lead to higher prices for consumer goods and seems likely to lead to nations enacting policies targeting U.S. imports in turn  starting a trade skirmish that could lead to a trade war.

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Yet those larger concerns arent the greatest issue for our regional economy. Most troubling is the proposals simple-mindedness. Unexplained is how such a blunt approach would deal fairly with products that are manufactured in two nations. UCLA economist Lee Ohanian told Politico last month that some products cross the U.S.-Mexico border as many as 14 times while being assembled. The Politico report cited research showing the average good exported from Mexico to the U.S. contains 40-percent American-made components.

Its a huge issue here. Our region is known for having medical device manufacturers with operations and supply chains on both sides of the border. But big companies like Kyocera International, 3D Robotics, Solar Turbines and Cubic Corp. also have operations in both San Diego County and Tijuana. The synergies provided by these arrangements routinely draw raves from national business media.

Beyond that, the benefits of having an integrated San Diego-Tijuana economy are so huge theyve yielded unprecedented bipartisan co-operation on huge infrastructure projects along the border.

In 2015, after years of working with San Diego city officials and the U.S. government, private investors opened the $120 million Cross Border Xpress, creating the worlds first binational airport. It allows travelers to park at and go through customs in Otay Mesa, by the border, then take a short walk in an enclosed bridge over a border fence to Tijuanas international airport. Last year, more than 1.3 million people used Xpress.

In 2013, $500 million in federal funds went toward what wound up being a $741 million expansion of the San Ysidro port of entry at the joint behest of San Diego Countys five House members  San Diego Democrats Susan Davis, Juan Vargas and Scott Peters were joined by Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine. When the project is completed in 2019, congestion at one of the worlds busiest border crossings will be eased significantly, to the benefit of the binational regional economy.

If, that is, it survives Trump.

After years of nuance-free attacks on Mexicos alleged NAFTA profiteering, the president seems unlikely to grasp the importance of preserving the economic engine that is the San Diego-Tijuana economy. Unless he figures this out, theres a very bumpy ride ahead.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: UTOpinion
A San Diego County-based Marine unit sent to help fight the Islamic State in Syria is now taking part in what appears to be an escalation of U.S. ground troops presence in the Middle East  one that hasnt been seen in years and one thats inspired much political debate in America.

Some members of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Pendleton are among some 400 troops deployed to Syria, according to The New York Times, where they will provide artillery support for U.S.-backed forces fighting to re-take the city of Raqqa from the Islamic State.

U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller told Pentagon correspondent Tara Copp that those troops are probably the happiest Marines in the Marine Corps right now.

Back home, the deployment triggered a wave of support reflected in prayers and pride.

The exact number of ground troops sent to fight the Islamic State is unknown, but The New York Times reports that the figure represents a near-doubling in conventional forces in Syria. President Barack Obama s administration had capped the number of U.S. troops present in Syria at 503.

The presence of conventional troops in the Middle East has been a point of contention in American politics since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, which triggered events that eventually gave rise to the Islamic State.

During his presidency, Obama resisted calls to use ground troops in the Middle East to help allies fight the Islamic State. Obama addressed the U.S. defense strategy during a press conference at the G-20 summit in 2015.

When we send troops in, those troops get injured, they get killed; theyre away from their families; our country spends hundreds of billions of dollars. And so given the fact that there are enormous sacrifices involved in any military action, it's best that we don't shoot first and aim later. It's important for us to get the strategy right. And the strategy that we are pursuing is the right one.

Conservative blasted Obama for this approach. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump suggested the then-president was too sympathetic to the Islamic State.

Fast-forward to 2017. With Trump as commander in chief, the use of ground troops in the Middle East has re-energized the conversation about what Americas role should be in policing the world.

Some applauded Trump and the use of troops to confront the Islamic State head-to-head. But the announcement of ground troops in the Middle East was received with caution by others.

The Army Times reports that, to date, there are some 6,000 U.S. troops spread over the Middle East between Iraq and Syria helping local forces fight the Islamic State. But in light of U.S. ground forces being deployed to Syria, Democrats in Washington said on Friday that they will attempt to stop additional troops from being sent.

The complex dynamics in Syria make this front more unique given that Russia and the Bashar al-Assad regime have waged a bloody war against militants and civilians. And support for Trump and his use of military troops will likely hinge on the level of success the U.S. Marines have in their latest mission.

Do you support the use of U.S. ground troops in Syria to fight the Islamic State? Share your thoughts with me via email or Twitter.

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez
The U.S. general who oversees the Middle East testified that bad decisions did not lead to the death of 36-year-old Navy SEAL William Ryan Owens in the Jan. 29 Yemen night raid that some have called unsuccessful.

Six other Americans were injured and a $70 million Marine MV-22 Osprey was destroyed in what has become a politically charged mission because it was the first raid authorized by President Donald Trump.

Army Gen. Joseph Votel testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that his investigation was looking for information gaps where we cant explain what happened in a particular situation or we have conflicting information from the people involved.

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I am looking for indicators of incompetence or poor decision making or bad judgment throughout all this, the four-star commander of U.S. Central Command told the Senate committee.

Welcome to The Intel, a blog examining the hot military news of the day

I was satisfied that none of those indicators that I identified to you were present, Votel concluded, saying that he sees no reason for a further probe.

Sen. John McCain, the Republican from Arizona who chairs the committee, didnt appear satisfied.

When heavy fire was encountered, why the decision was made to continue the mission  I still dont think this committee has an answer to that question, McCain said during the hearing.

RELATED: Navy SEAL killed in Yemen was William Ryan Owens, 36 

Noise from American aerial drones may have lost the element of surprise for the SEAL team, which was plunged into a fierce firefight that killed Owens, according to a The New York Times Feb. 1 analysis.

American attack helicopters and fighters had to be dispatched to provide cover from the air.

Recent debate over the Yemen raid has focused on whether or not it was a success. In other words, was what was accomplished worth the losses?

Trump has declared that it generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.

Last week, CNN reported that the United States got the names of hundreds of al Qaeda-linked contacts during that raid, and that officials are now trying to track them down.

Roughly a terabytes worth of intelligence gathered from computers and cell phones is under review, which is being seen as a validation of the mission, according to the report.

Votel on Thursday said the raid yielded valuable information at a high cost.

We lost a lot on this operation. We lost a valued operator; we had people wounded; we caused civilian casualties; lost an expensive aircraft, he said.

McCains assessment was: "[The] loss of a $70 million aircraft; you do not capture anyone as was part of the mission. That mission is not a success.

The idea that the SEALs were supposed to capture an al Qaeda leader has dogged the discussion about this raid.

Pentagon officials have denied that capture was on the agenda, instead saying they were after material intelligence disclosing the activities of the terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Intercept, a U.S.-based investigative website, did a report this week from the Yemeni village that suggests the raid didnt achieve its target: the capture or death or Qassim al Rimi, the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader.

The Intercept report also suggests that U.S. military used excessive force on the village, including blind panic firing by helicopters after the initial SEAL team encountered stiff resistance.

Votel on Thursday said a separate investigation into civilian casualties found that between four and 12 innocent people were killed.

Reaction on social media to Votels report seem to depend on support or opposition to the president.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

jen.steele@sduniontribune.com

Facebook: U-T Military

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When education fails to keep pace with technology, the result is inequality.  The Economist

Globalization is triggering growing angst  if not downright anger  across the United States and Europe. But building walls and demonizing Muslims or Mexicans wont fix the problem. The culprit is technology  specifically, how quickly technology is making old jobs obsolete and creating new ones. As we watch Amazon undercut traditional retail, we can imagine how quickly autonomous vehicles will replace drivers in the trucking, delivery, and taxi industries. The major issue facing our leaders isnt how to keep old manufacturing jobs. Its how to transform our public school curriculum to better train young people for 21st-century jobs, and how to retrain workers whose skills will be out of date in the near future.

While this all sounds daunting, there are two things every American should remember. First, no country on the planet is better prepared to educate its citizens with cutting-edge training in new technologies. No one. Second, we can combine our deep knowledge in technology with best practices from countries around the world  like Singapore, Germany and the UK  that have been leaders in retraining their workers. Here are four things we can do now.

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Develop a 21st-century curriculum: Training for the jobs of the future needs to begin early. STEM classes are all the rage, but learning biology, trigonometry and physics wont prepare students for jobs. We need to focus on teaching every child basic computer programming and app design. The good news is that kids can learn many of these languages in middle school. The best way to prepare our children for the future is to commit to teaching basic computer skills as early as possible.

Align education with private sector needs: What students learn in the classroom is rarely aligned with what employers need. Traditional public education, especially community colleges, should learn from the private sector what skills are in the most demand and develop curricula to teach those skills. Job-driven training is a crucial link between the classroom and the office.

Make lifelong learning a reality: To keep up with technological change, we need to empower workers to retrain themselves over their lifetimes. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and boot camps are two mechanisms for lifelong learning that help workers build new skills. Not everyone can get into Stanford or Harvard, but they can take MOOCs from the best professors at those schools. MOOCs make a strong technical education more accessible, at low or no cost, to anyone with interest and drive. Companies can even grant nanodegrees for completion of short six- to 10-week courses, giving workers portable credentials reflecting what they have learned. Similarly, training boot camps of a few weeks or months can help motivated workers learn new technical skills. Silicon Valley pioneered multiweek coding boot camps to teach workers programming skills. The challenge for political and private sector leaders is to make the boot camp model work for a wider set of people.

Provide access to learning credits: Many Americans will still have trouble funding their educations. The private sector and other countries have shown how we can bridge the funding gap. The American tech company UDC provides $12,000 in learning credits to its employees to take courses of their choosing. Singapore takes the concept to a new level, offering Learning Credits for all of their citizens. The government creates accounts that people are allowed to use only for job retraining throughout their lives. A similar program in the United States would help make lifelong learning possible for those with limited means.

We know what jobs of the future will look like: computer systems analysts, software app developers, social media marketing and others. No one understands these fields better than America, and no country has better resources to retrain its workers. Our job is to get beyond the silliness of the political season. We need to stop finger-pointing and start focusing on the issue that will determine whether America continues as the worlds greatest economy or whether we become a country looking in the rear-view mirror of history.

Westly, founder of The Westly Group, a large sustainability venture capital firm, is a former controller and chief fiscal officer of the state of California.
I am offering the solution to a problem most Republicans don't know they have -- that they can be outmaneuvered and thrown on the defensive endlessly, on nearly any issue, because they accept as true Democrat lies about the Republican Party. To correct that misperception and to help the Republican Party get 'back to basics' is why I'm a man on a mission.

A few years ago, after one of my speeches, a man told me "Do you know what your problem is? You're too far ahead of your time!" My efforts to show Republicans how they would benefit from celebrating the heritage of our Grand Old Party have been arduous, but if this were easy someone else would have already done it.

Among my speech topics are Reconciling the Tea Party and the GOP; Barack Obama, the Worst President Ever; Socialism, the new Slavery; Appreciating the Heritage of our Grand Old Party; Returning to the Founding Principles of the United States; The Womens Rights Achievements of our Grand Old Party; Abraham Lincoln, Republican; Frederick Douglass, Republican; Martin Luther King and the Republican Civil Rights Legacy.
Here in Thailand,

Cat is a 23 year old Thai student who started living with us in 2013 and is now our adopted daughter. She is in her last year of

college.



Natcha cooks, cleans and teaches us, her husband Gong, takes care of the grounds and also cooks. Nitchanan is their 4 year old daughter. They live with us in an apartment attached to our house. Natcha cooks, cleans and teaches us, her husband Gong, takes care of the grounds and also cooks. Nitchanan is their 4 year old daughter. They live with us in an apartment attached to our house.

Last but not least, there is Jai Dee, our Golden Retriever puppy who came to live with us at 8 weeks old in September 2019. Five months ago we adopted a rescue dog named TongDee, which we've shortened to TongTong.



Enjoy,

Danny






New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/10/2017 -- Global ADS-B Market: Overview:



ADS-B is an Automatic Dependent SurveillanceBroadcast system, an integral part for air traffic control. The ADS-B broadcasts important information such as aircraft velocity, position, and altitude at a set time intervals. The ADS-B functions by using a transponder to send accurate details of position to air traffic controllers. The ADS-B works by determining it position using GPS which is then broadcasted by transponder at intervals. The information received at stations is taken by air controllers for precise tracking of the aircraft. The ADS-B offers much advanced features such as enhanced precision in the sky coupled with clear information exchange. The demand for ADS-B systems is expected to be seen significantly high since the adoption of ADS-B systems will be vital by 2020. Thus, the manufacturers are expected to be benefited by this compulsion of ADB-S use. Also, when compared to conventional radar technology ADS-B requires much reduced operational costs. The global ADS-B market is expected to gain higher traction over the forecast period owing to the exceptional features offered by ADS-B in controlling air traffic.



Request to view Table of Content @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/14335



Global ADS-B Market: Drivers and Restraints



The ADS-B is operable in remote areas, on mountain side, low or very high altitudes, thus offers an additive advantage over the conventional ones. These features of ADS-B benefits the users to great extent allowing them to control traffic even of runaways, is one of the major factor driving the global ADS-B market. The ADS-B technology offers improved efficiency and safety to pilots, controllers and also to public. Further, it offers information on weather conditions, prevents the runaway incursions even at heavy rainfall and provide information to pilots which earlier only controllers used to get. These factors are expected to drive the global ADS-B market during the forecast period. Also, according to the regulation passed from FAA (The Federal Aviation Administration) the aircraft defined under 91.225 regulation should possess ADS-B system which will be effective from the year 2020. The strict government regulation is expected to boost the global ADS-B market by 2026 end.



Global ADS-B Market: Segmentation



On the basis of ADS-B type, ADS-B market is segmented into:-



-ADS-B In

-ADS-B Out



On the basis of applications, ADS-B market is segmented into:-



-ATC surveillance



Separation

Safety Nets

Traffic Information



-Airborne surveillance



Cockpit display

Delegated separation



-Others



Global ADS-B Market: Region wise Outlook



The transition of avionics from radar base technology to ADS-B based is expected to get high demand over the forecast period owing to acceptance from FAA. The global ADS-B market is divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America and Europe holds major share in the global ADS-B sets market in terms of revenue and expected to dominate the market owing to high usage of ADS-B technology. Further, the strict regulations for aircrafts pilot is expected to aid in the growth of ADS-B in these regions.



Sample of this report is available upon request @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14335



Global ADS-B Market: Key Players



Some of the key players identified in the global ADS-B market includes:



-Garmin Ltd.

-Honeywell International Inc.

-ACSS (Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems)

-APPAREO SYSTEMS, LLC.

-Dynon Avionics

-Rockwell Collins

-Trig Avionics Limited

-FreeFlight Systems

-The Bendix Aviation Corporation

-Aspen Avionics



About Persistence Market Research

Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients' business needs.



PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients' business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMR's engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.
Lewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2017 -- Report forecast the facility management services market in North America to grow at a CAGR of 13.69% during the period 2017-2021.



The FM services market in North America has entered a high maturity phase due to increased awareness among end-users in the region. The market will continue to grow at a stable rate during the forecast period due to high maturity of end-users. End-users in North America prefer outsourcing of facility related services as it reduces the risk and responsibility associated with the in-house operation. High infrastructure development in the region has led to an increased demand for specialized vendors that possess the skill to operate both technical as well as non-technical functions within a facility.



The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the facility management services market in North America for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market through the study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.



The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:

- Canada

- Mexico

- The US



According to the report, one driver in market is value proposition offered to building owners. Organizations have become increasingly aware of the overall benefits and savings by effectively managing their facility services. Client organizations are more inclined in streamlining their processes and building facilities to reflect greater profits in their business operations. Building facilities need to function in an optimized manner to attain growth in business, enhancing the overall efficiency of operations. With increased focus on managing costs, client organizations have shifted their vision toward FM as a competent resource for value addition rather than a mere service cost. The installation of an efficient machinery or equipment can help organizations save 3% of their overall building costs. However, with the effective outsourcing of facility services, businesses can entail operation and maintenance cost savings of up to 20%-30% in the case of well trained and equipped vendors.



Further, the report states that one challenge in market is high market saturation. The FM services market in North America is characterized as a highly mature market where end-users possess a high degree of awareness related to the benefits of outsourcing the business support functions to specialized vendors. However, because of high market maturity, the FM services industry is expected to reach a saturation level where growth levels will be limited to new entrants emerging in the market. Established vendors, due to high competition, are also focusing beyond North American markets as they do not promise a continual growth in the years to come. Subsequently, vendors are focusing on emerging markets like APAC, the Middle East, and South America, which are slowly picking up the concept of outsourced FM services. The US, which contributes a share of 55.2% during 2016 is a highly-fragmented market where the top 10 players occupy less than 10% of the market. The FM services market in the US is slowly reaching a saturation level, which does not offer high scope of market consolidation in future. Thus, vendors will look for revenue generation in other markets, namely Canada and Mexico, which are comparatively less populated than the US and possess scope for future growth.



Facility Management Services Market in North America 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 players in the facility management services market in North America: Aramark, CB Richard Ellis, Compass, Cushman & Wakefield, and Macro.



Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: ISS, Sodexo, Bilfinger HSG Facility Management, Cofely Besix, Carillion, GDI, Ecolab USA, KnightFM, Dohn Engineering, Resolute Facility Services, CONTINUUM Services, Total Facility Solutions, Stutler Solutions, Caravan Technologies, Professional Grade Services, Royal Mechanical Services, Choice Facility Services & Construction, Crockett Facilities Services, Camelot Facility Solutions, Veranova Properties, Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions, Assurance Facility Management, Global Facility Management and Construction, NG&G Facility Services, Express Facility Services and Maintenance, Wallbridge, Tecma, Tremco, New Mexico General Services Department, Colliers International, and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.



Market driver

- Rising levels of outsourcing in building management.

- For a full, detailed list, view our report



Market challenge

- Responsiveness to technology evolution.

- For a full, detailed list, view our report



Market trend

- Impact of technology in managing building facilities.

- For a full, detailed list, view our report



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?



Spanning over 81 pages and 44 Exhibits "Facility Management Services Market in North America 2017 - 2021" report covers Executive summary, Scope of the report, Market research methodology, Introduction, Market landscape, Market segmentation by services, Market segmentation by end-user, Geographical segmentation, Market drivers, Impact of drivers, Market challenges, Impact of drivers and challenges, Market trends, Vendor landscape, Appendix.



For more information Visit at: http://www.marketresearchreports.com/technavio/facility-management-services-market-north-america-2017-2021



Find all Facilities Management Reports at: http://www.marketresearchreports.com/facilities-management



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Market Research Reports, Inc. is the world's leading source for market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest market research reports on global markets, key industries, leading companies, new products and latest industry analysis & trends.



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Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2017 -- The report titled Global Luxury Sunglass Market: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020) provides an in-depth analysis of the global luxury sunglass market with detailed analysis of market size on the basis of value and volume along with the growth in the global average selling price if the luxury sunglasses.



The report provides detailed regional analysis of the developed and emerging markets. The analysis of developed markets includes Europe and the U.S., while emerging markets include, China, Mexico, India, Brazil and Australasia. The regional analysis of the developed markets includes market size by value and volume along with the average selling price of the product and the analysis of emerging markets include the market size on the basis 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 luxury sunglass 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 luxury sunglass market is stiff and dominated by the big players like Luxottica. Further, key players of the market Safilo and Fielmann are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.



To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @ http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=770183



Regional Coverage



Europe

United States

China

Mexico

India

Brazil

Australasia



Company Coverage



Luxottica Group SpA

Safilo Group SpA

Fielmann AG



Executive Summary



Luxury Sunglasses also known as premium sunglasses have been characterized as sunglasses that are fitted with non-solution lenses, and subsequently are not utilized for vision correction. They are fundamentally utilized for stylish purposes and for securing the eyes against hurtful bright (UV) beams.



The global luxury sunglass market increased 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 highly concentrated in Europe and the U.S., accounting a significant proportion of the market as European countries are popular as tax free shopping destinations among tourists and growing number of consumers who can afford branded sunglasses in the United States. In fact, the market is emerging in the developing nations such as China, Mexico, India, Brazil and Australasia at an increasing annual growth rate.



The major growth drivers for the global luxury sunglass market are: premiumization, airport retail channel, rising consumer holidays and health benefits of using sunglasses. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as: availability of counterfeit products and bad economic conditions.



Make an Enquiry of this report @ http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=770183



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Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2017 -- Scope of the Report



The report titled Global Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020), provides an in-depth analysis of the global online takeaway food delivery market by value and by penetration rate. The report also gives an insight of the global food services market and takeaway food delivery market.



The report provides a regional analysis of the online takeaway food delivery market, including the following regions: US, Canada, UK, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain and France.



The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global online takeaway food delivery market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.



The competition in the global online takeaway food delivery market is fragmented with several new players emerging in the industry. However, key players of the online takeaway food delivery market, Just Eat, GrubHub and Rocket Internet (Foodpanda and Deliver Hero) are profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.



View Report @ http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/948220



Country Coverage



US

Canada

UK

Australia

Denmark

Italy

Spain

France



Company Coverage



Just Eat

GrubHub

Rocket Internet (Foodpanda and Deliver Hero)



Get Sample Copy Of This Report @

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/948220



Executive Summary



The 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.



Table of Content



1. Executive Summary



2. Introduction



2.1 Online Food Order-and-Delivery: An Overview



2.1.1 Key Developments in Online Food Delivery

2.1.2 Online Food Order-and-Delivery by Revenue Model

2.1.3 Online Food Order-and-Delivery by Business Model

2.1.4 Working of Online Food Order-and-Delivery Business

2.1.5 Virtuous Circle for Online Takeaway Delivery Platforms

2.1.6 Advantages & Disadvantages of Online Food Order-and-Delivery

2.1.7 Takeaway Restaurant Food Delivery Lifecycle Comparison By Channel



3. Global Market Analysis



3.1 Global Food Service Market: An Analysis

3.1.1 Global Food Service Market by Value



3.2 Global Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

3.2.1 Global Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Value

3.2.2 Global Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Segments



3.3 Global Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

3.3.1 Global Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Penetration

3.3.2 Global Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Value



4. Regional Market Analysis



4.1 UK Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

4.1.1 UK Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Value

4.1.2 UK Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Penetration and Players



4.2 US Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

4.2.1 US Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Value and Segments

4.2.2 US Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Penetration

4.2.3 US Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Value



4.3 Italy Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

4.3.1 Italy Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Penetration



4.4 Spain Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

4.4.1 Spain Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Penetration



4.5 France Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

4.5.1 France Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Penetration



4.6 Australia Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

4.6.1 Australia Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Penetration



4.7 Canada Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

4.7.1 Canada Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Penetration



4.8 Denmark Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market: An Analysis

4.8.1 Denmark Online Takeaway Food Delivery Market by Penetration



5. Market Dynamics



5.1 Growth Drivers

5.1.1 Increasing Global Urban Population

5.1.2 Increasing Russia Internet Users Browsing by Smartphones

5.1.3 Rising Investment into Online Food Ordering Companies

5.1.4 Increasing Global Smartphone Usage

5.1.5 Increasing Global Middle Class Spending

5.1.6 Increasing Global Youth Population

5.1.7 Increase in Global Mobile Payments

5.1.8 Increasing Worldwide Internet Penetration



5.2 Challenges

5.2.1 Slow Transition towards Online Food Ordering

5.2.2 Fluctuations in Profitability

5.2.3 Threat to Aggregator Business Model

5.2.4 Data Server Crash



5.3 Market Trends

5.3.1 Food as a Proportion of Total Consumer Expenditure in UK & Brazil

5.3.2 Share of Income Spent on Food by Region

5.3.3 Low Barriers to Entry

5.3.4 Immune to Economic Fluctuations

5.3.5 Seasonality of the Business

5.3.6 Technological Innovation

5.3.7 Low Capital Expenditure

5.3.8 Emergence of New-Delivery Opportunity

5.3.9 Adoption of New Technology

5.3.10 Online Demand for Healthy Food

5.3.11 Google to Thrive Online Food Ordering Business

5.3.12 Commission Rates by Country



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Sarasota, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2017 -- Zion Market Research has published a new report titled "Power Rental Market by End-User (Oil & Gas, Industrial, Construction and Others) For Peak Shaving, Base Load/ Continuous Power and Standby Power Applications: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2014 - 2020" According to the report, global power rental market was valued at approximately USD 10.02 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach approximately USD 20.30 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of over 13.0% between 2015 and 2020.



Request Free Sample Research Report @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/power-rental-market



Power is generated by burning fossil fuels such coal, oil or gas to generate steam that drives large turbines that produce electricity. Power rental is referred as plant hire which provides flexibility, reliability, speed and cost-effectiveness. Power on rent can deliver complete operating power packages as well as provide scalable components within large power station installations to various industrial applications.



The global power rental market is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period on account of increasing demand for power across the globe. The increasing power consumption, development of power infrastructure, and increasing construction & development is anticipated to boost the demand for power rental in the coming years. Furthermore, increasing demand for power from oil & gas industry is also a major driving force of the power rental market. However, the presence of stringent regulations coupled with rising environmental awareness may hamper the market growth in the near future. Nonetheless, increasing demand for power in emerging economies is expected to open up new growth avenues for the power rental market in the years to come.



Oil & gas, industrial, construction, and others are the key end-users of the power rental market. Industrial segment emerged as the leading application segment by accounting for over 22 % of the total revenue generated by the power rental market in 2014. Construction is another key outlet of power rental market and it held over 20% share of the overall market in 2014. This is mainly due to grow infrastructural development in the emerging economies. Oil & gas is also expected to exhibit substantial demand within the forecast period.



Inquire more about this report @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/power-rental-market



Based on application, the power rental market can be segmented into peak shaving, base load/continuous power and standby power. Base load/continuous accounted for 45.56% share of total revenue generated in 2014. Base load/continuous segment are expected to exhibit a significant rise in light of the increasing demand from various sectors such as oil & gas, mining and construction and others. Peak shaving is another leading application segment owing to rising awareness among energy-intensive industries in order to control the charged over high energy demand during peak hours.



In terms of geography, Middle East & Africa dominated the global power rental market and accounted for 31.63% of total revenue in 2014. This growth is mainly attributed to growing construction and developmental activities in this region. North America was the second largest regional market with 21.32% share of total revenue generated in 2014. Asia Pacific holds immense potential for the industry growth over the forecast period. Recently, emerging economies including India, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia have been contributing significantly to the demand for power rental in industrial sector owing to rapid industrialization.



Some of the key players include in power rental market such as Atlas Copco, United Rental, Cummins Inc, APR Energy Inc, Caterpillar Inc, and Power Electrics.



Browse detail report with in-depth TOC @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/power-rental-market



This report segments the global power rental market as follows:



Global Power Rental Market: End-Users Segment Analysis



Oil & Gas

Industrial

Construction

Others



Global Power Rental Market: Application Segment Analysis



Peak shaving

Base load/ Continuous power

Standby power



Global Power Rental Market: Regional Segment Analysis



North America

U.S.

Europe

Germany

France

UK

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

Latin America

Brazil

The Middle East and Africa



Request a customized copy of report @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/custom/44
Seattle, WA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/10/2017 -- According to the new market research report "Surface Mount Technology Market by Equipment (Placement, Inspection, Soldering, Screen Printing, Cleaning, Repair & Rework), Application (Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022", the surface mount technology market is expected to be valued at USD 5.42 Billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 8.9% between 2017 and 2022. The factors driving the growth of the market include the increased demand for miniaturized consumer electronics products and the increasing adoption of electric vehicles.



Browse 82 market data tables and 103 figures spread through 198 pages and in-depth TOC on "Surface Mount Technology Market - Global Forecast to 2022"



Download PDF Brochure @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=99662691



Early buyers will receive 10% customization on reports.



"Surface mount technology market for inspection equipment expected to grow at the highest rate between 2017 and 2022"



Placement defects can occur both before and after reflow. Thus, inspection equipment plays a vital role in the SMT manufacturing industry. The SMT inspection equipment market is driven by the improving product technology, responsiveness, reliability, and quality of inspection. The increasing need for this equipment in telecom, automotive, consumer electronics, and computing & storage is expected to drive its demand during the forecast period.



"The market for automotive is expected to grow at the second-highest rate during the forecast period"



The demand for SMT devices has increased due to their ability to meet the needs of the critical systems in the automotive industry with zero defects. The number of electric components used in an electric vehicle is more as compared with any conventional fuel combustion vehicle as former has an electric motor, battery, and other complex connections to ensure optimum utilization of power. Owing to the critical role of electrical components in these electrical vehicles, surface mount devices are used as they are lighter in weight, occupy less space, and are safe and durable over a longer period of time.



"North America expected to hold the second-largest share of the surface mount technology market during the forecast period"



There has been an increasing demand for mobile and internet-connected devices, including smartphones and tablets, in North America. The demand for digital video content has also driven the production of a range of high-performance internet-connected devices and other similar technologies, which have further fuelled the growth of the overall semiconductor industry. Various associations such as Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) (U.S.), Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) (U.S.), and Electronics Components Industry Association (ECIA) (U.S.) are working toward the advancement and growth of microelectronics and packaging in the U.S. North America is the second-largest market for consumer electronics and one of the largest markets for electric vehicles. This is expected to drive the growth of the surface mount technology market in North America.



Report Details @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/surface-mount-technology-market-99662691.html



The major players involved in the surface mount technology market are ASM Assembly Systems GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), CyberOptics Corporation (U.S.), Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (Oregon), Fuji Machine Manufacturing Co., Ltd.(Japan), Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Japan), Juki Corporation (Japan), Mycronic AB (Sweden), Nordson Corporation (U.S.), Orbotech Ltd. (Israel), and Viscom AG (Germany).



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India's presidential palace was the site of an unusual gathering this week, celebrating the democratic inclusion of people with no or little training in the countrys innovation system.



It brought together world experts on innovation with citizen inventors from across the country  farmers, healers, young students.



As citizen inventors walked across an official stage to receive awards I saw a moving mix of pride, humility and gratitude. And the moment seemed to symbolise India's embracing a kind of innovation that values the knowledge held by everyone regardless of training in modern science and technology.



This is innovation without fancy labs or hefty R&D funding. Its essential ingredients are a spirit of creativity, cheap accessible materials, and a drive to solve everyday problems for the common good.

Science for society is the new mantra. Harsh Vardhan, science and technology minister

The inventions by citizens without specialised training range from new crop varieties to wheelchair designs to agricultural machinery to herbal treatments for livestock.



India's grassroots movement has built momentum over the past three decades under the leadership Anil Gupta, founder of the NGO Honeybee Network and executive chair of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), which organised the Festival of Innovation this week (March 4-10).



Crucially, for me, it recognises the capacity of poor and marginalised people to improve their own lives. "Minds on the margins are not marginal minds," Gupta is fond of saying. And I think it's an example of what capacity building should really be about: supporting people to help themselves, whether that's through networks or seed funding or helping their ideas develop.



In a speech on the opening day, president Pranab Mukherjee called for a Ghandian model of decentralised and distributed innovation for the country  a vision of the future that he said is tied to improvements in education to support the kind of creativity needed to solve India's pressing problems.



The president's hosting of the event signals a recognition of the value in this inclusive brand of innovation. Words by other dignitaries struck a similar chord. "Science for society is the new mantra" said science and technology minister Harsh Vardhan.

Over the course of the week I heard representatives from governments, multilateral institutions, startups and business schools offer praise for India's championing this more democratic way of doing innovation.There was talk of a paradigm shift that's fundamental to how we think about people and social innovation  that this is not just about feeding millions of mouths, but harnessing the power of millions of minds.I also heard reflections on the future of the movement, with some delegates pondering how it might navigate the high-level government recognition  will ties with the state become stronger, and what might change as a result? And is there a plan to channel the diffuse creative activity on show in a certain direction, so it can make a stronger impact on the country's development?The spirit of inventiveness nurtured by Gupta and NIF certainly seems to be thriving. This year's competition attracted over 33,000 submissions from 530 districts across India. Each one was evaluated by the NIF to shortlist innovations for national, state, consolation and appreciation awards.NIF actively scouts innovations across the country, runs 86 innovation clubs and catalogues projects by students in an online 'techpedia' that aims to avoid duplication in ideas  because, in Gupta's words, "without originality there's no innovation".

This article was originally published on SciDev.Net's Global edition.
[MEXICO CITY] An international team of scientists identified a hundred genes that influence adaptation to the latitude, altitude, growing season and flowering time of nearly 4,500 native maize varieties in Mexico and in almost all Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Creole  or native  varieties of maize are derived from improvements made over thousands of years by local farmers, and contain genes that help them adapt to different environments.

We are now using this analysis to find other genes that are of vital importance to breeders, such as those resistant to extreme heat, frost or drought  environmental conditions associated with climate change and that could affect maize production. Sarah Hearne, CIMMYT

Latin American breeders will be able to use these results to identify native varieties that could contribute to improved adaptation, Edward Buckler, a Cornell University researcher and co-author of the study published in Nature Genetics (February 6), told SciDev.Net.

The information on the genetic markers described in the study will be available online, said Sarah Hearne, a researcher at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and co-author of the study. Meanwhile, any breeder can contact us to request information, she said.

We are now using this analysis to find other genes that are of vital importance to breeders, such as those resistant to extreme heat, frost or drought  environmental conditions associated with climate change and that could affect maize production, Hearne said.

Studying native maize varieties is extremely difficult because of their genetic variation. Although domesticated, they are wilder than commercial varieties.

For this study, the researchers cultivated hybrid creole varieties in various environments in Latin America and identified regions of the genome that control growth rates. They looked into where the varieties came from and what genetic features contributed to their growth in that environment.

In comments to SciDev.Net, James Holland, a researcher at North Carolina State University, Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, a researcher at the University of California Davis, and Rodomiro Ortiz, a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences  who did not participate in the study  commended the magnitude of the study and the original method developed by the researchers to access the rich set of genetic information about native maize varieties.

Hearne added that the research team has initiated a pre-breeding programme with a small group of breeders in Mexico. As part of that programme, CIMMYT delivers to breeders materials from its germplasm bank of Creole maize; it also provides molecular information the breeders can use to generate new varieties.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net's Latin America and Carribean edition.
NASA scientists have found out that growing potatoes on Martian soil might be possible. After experimenting it, they found out that the potato cuts did indeed grow.

The NASA-backed "Potatoes on Mars" experiment together with the International Potato Centre (CIP) in Lima, Peru has built a tuber-growing experiment that has the similar environment to Mars. They did the experiment inside a rocket-launchable box named CubeSat, Science Alert has said. The CubeSat is likened to the harsh surface of Mars and was assembled with pumps, water hoses, LED lights, and instruments. Mars has a really high temperature, different air pressure from Earth, night and day cycles and gasses.

After building the CubeSat, they put a lifeless soil with the tuber inside and sealed the box. The soil was from Peru's Pampas de la Joya desert. After observing it, there were some positive outcomes, CIP reported. Even though the environment was really harsh, the potato did grow on it. "If the crops can tolerate the extreme conditions that we are exposing them to in our CubeSat, they have a good chance to grow on Mars," said Julio Valdivia-Silva of UTEC.

This was just the first of the many experiments, according to Time. Even if it did grow on the CubeSat, Martians-to-be still needs to make a greenhouse for their crops on Mars. Potatoes or any other food still need controlled temperature, water and air quality. If this would not be followed, the plants would, more or less, not grow, just like in the movie "The Martian". Moreover, using just potato cuttings rather than seeds might have a different outcome when it is actually planted in Mars.

Meanwhile, NASA has been dreaming of bringing humans to Mars for tens of years now. Good thing, Trump's administration is on the same side as them. The Congress recently passed a bill that will help NASA, financially, to achieve their dreams in getting to Mars.
"Aurora", a new Android OS based smartphone, is all set to be launched by Blackberry. The announcement has been made by BB Merah Putih, the organization responsible for the making, marketing and selling of Blackberry branded smartphones in Indonesia.

According to GSM Arena, "Aurora "is the first Blackberry device to be equipped with dual SIM facility. It is, though, is not the first Blackberry branded device to be ever produced in Indonesia. "Aurora" will reportedly have 5.5 inch 720p touch screen and is powered by Snapdragon 425 chipset. It will also be equipped with 4GB RAM and 32GB internal memory.

"Aurora" will also have a 13 MP rear camera and 8 MP selfie camera, backed by a 3000mAh battery. Android 7.0 Nougat OS will run the smartphone, having dimensions of 152x76.8x8.5 mm and weighing in at 178 g. "Aurora" will be available in black, silver and gold color options. It is reported to cost around $260.

According to Techradar, "Aurora" is a smartphone which focuses more on the mid-range segment rather than its predecessors that used to run on Blackberry OS. Experts are of the opinion that this decision from Blackberry's top management comes as an aftermath of the disappointing outcome that the Blackberry branded smartphones had to face in the market over the past few years.

"Aurora" comes as a bit of a surprising announcement by Blackberry, as it has just seen the launching of "Keyone" smartphone just a couple of months back at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain. Equipped with Snapdragon 625 processor, a 4.5-inch display and 3 GB of RAM, Keyone has been more of a business phone rather than one that is popular among the general public. This, say the experts, might have prompted Blackberry to launch a mid-range smartphone like Aurora.

As per the experts, Aurora will remain as an Indonesia exclusive for the first couple of months after launching, which might be a bit disappointing for the global smartphone users. The price tag of $260 has been adjudged to be quite pocket-friendly.
Scientists have been warning time and again regarding the severity of the impact of valuable time lost while the government decides whether or not to sanction research funding for vaccine research, development, testing and finally the mass distribution. In 2016, when Barack Obama proposed the release of $1.9 billion funding for the development of Zika vaccine, it took the congress months to actually release it. In the meantime, 1,500 new born babies either succumbed to Zika or survived but with lifelong crippling effects. It seems history is to repeat itself.

The American Health Care Act proposed by the Trump administration passed the house and is likely to soon come into effect. The act proposed a major cost cutting of the funds released for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is meant for the development of Zika vaccine. If this does happen, it is expected that America is going to face a major Zika virus outbreak in the future, NBC News reported.

This is not the first time that political interference will cost the lives of innocent people. In 1964, after the outbreak of rubella virus, in the absence of effective vaccines, around 20,000 babies were born with crippling birth defects. In the absence of political support, scientists started working on the development of rubella vaccine by following not so official and ethical methods. The good thing is that the vaccine developed was found to be highly effective in controlling the spread of rubella, CBC Radio reported.

While an epidemic obviously attracts the attention of political leaders, developing preventive measures that can control these outbreaks are often deemed not so urgent. However, taking measures once the disease is rampant makes it extremely difficult for the scientists to develop medicines and vaccines on urgent basis.

The same thing happened with Zika last year. As of now, Zika virus outbreak may not be immediate due to the onset of summer. However, thinking that it would not take the form of an epidemic next year would be foolish. This is the reason why scientists are eager to test the newly developed Zika vaccines, according to NPR.

Whether or not the Trump administration considers this as top priority and sanctions the required funding, it will be interesting to find out. While the health officials are emphasizing that the only way to tackle Zika virus outbreaks in the future is by mass immunization, the government is yet to heed to it.
The tap water in the Canadian town of Onoway, Alberta, turned bright pink earlier this week. The residents were shocked to see their water in outrageous color.

Some of the residents took photos of it and shared these on social media. One commentator described it as a disaster. Some warned the people not to drink the water.

Many residents complained and the town officials were apologetic about what happened. They are now investigating the cause of the water that turned into bright pink.

The reason why this entire town's water turned hot pink https://t.co/GWsEp9bloQ pic.twitter.com/flZlDwJh5v  CBS News (@CBSNews) March 9, 2017

So, how did the tap water turn into this strange color? Onoway's Mayor Dale Krasnow said that a valve might be stuck and then allowed potassium permanganate to get into the sump reservoir and into the town's water distribution system. Potassium permanganate is a usual chemical used for water treatment to eliminate iron and manganese from well water. When this chemical breaks down in water, it becomes pink in color, as noted by CBS News.

Krasnow also said that once they realized this substance had entered beyond their reservoir and into their distribution lines, Public Works immediately commenced flushing all their distribution lines in the town. He added that unfortunately, their distribution system is a loop system that makes it much more difficult to control and isolate the water flow.

It is reported that there were no adverse effects in this incident. The officials are urging the residents not to worry. Alberta Health Services spokesperson Shannon Evans said that the clear majority of individuals will not experience any impacts linked with normal consumption and no long-term health risks are associated with consuming this water, according to Science Alert.
For the second year in a row, a mass coral bleaching made its way to the Great Barrier Reef. This is unprecedented, with these two events occurred so closely together.

Biologist Brett Monroe Garner told BuzzFeed News that images released by Greenpeace showed that warmer water temperatures have been "cooking the reef alive." He also noted that the photos taken showed nearly 100 percent of the corals have been bleaching. Also, there is no way to know how many could recover as algae have been overgrowing on many of the corals already.

Coral bleaching has been known to occur in abnormally high sea temperatures, as the corals expel tiny photosynthetic algae that turn them into white. Often, these are killing the corals. Without the algae in the corals, they can no longer get sufficient food source, so they essentially starve to death.

Environmental groups are acting against the proposed construction of the largest coal mine in Australia, which could significantly contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions. Alix Foster Vander Elst, a campaigner for Greenpeace, said that so far this is the clearest signal of the existence of climate change, and the government itself is not moving fast enough to stop it.

"While the reef is fighting for its life, the Australian government is funding its destruction. Tackling climate change is the only real solution here, and that starts by stopping public funding for climate-killing coal projects," Alix Foster Vander Elst said.

The iconic status of the Great Barrier Reef gives it the most attention in coral bleaching. But as Yahoo noted, there are many other reefs around the world that are experiencing the same bleaching problem. For instance, these include the Chagos Reefs in the middle of the Indian Ocean covering an area as large as France.

There is no way to stop coral bleaching, although there had been suggestions to focus on removing stressors such as overfishing in these coral-rich areas. However, the Chagos islands were said to have already been deprived of such pressures but remain susceptible to the effects of global warming and coral bleaching.
Researchers from the International Potato Center (CIP) with the advice from NASA's Ames Research Center conducted experiments to determine if potatoes could grow in the atmosphere of Mars. The experiments suggest that potatoes could possibly grow on Mars.

The potatoes were grown in the soil in the Atacama Desert in Peru, which is like the soil found on Mars. The scientists put the soil and the tuber in the container and placed it to the hermetically sealed CubeSat, which is a small satellite used in space research on Feb. 14, 2017.

The CubeSat delivers nutrient-rich water and adjusts the temperatures based on the atmosphere of Mars. These include the air pressure, carbon dioxide and oxygen. The sensors monitored the conditions and there were two cameras that were recording the growing or sprouting of the potatoes. The results showed that within 10 days the sprouts emerged, according to CBC News.

Julio Valdivia-Silva, a research associate at SETI Institute who has worked at NASA's Ames Research Center, explained that growing crops under Mars-like conditions is a significant phase of this experiment. He further explained that if the crops can tolerate the extreme conditions that they are exposing them to their CubeSat, they have a good chance to grow on Mars. He added that they will do several rounds of experiments to find out which potato varieties do best. They also want to determine the minimum conditions that potato could survive.

Walter Amoros, the CIP potato breeder, said it was a surprise to see the potatoes they have bred to tolerate abiotic stress were able to produce tubers in this soil. He also said that whatever their implications for Mars missions, the experiments have already provided good news about potato's potential for aiding people to survive in extreme environments on Earth. Meanwhile, the scientists concluded that growing potatoes on Mars in the future must have a soil with a loose structure and nutrients that allow the tubers to acquire sufficient air and water to make it tuberize, according to Phys.org.
DARLINGTON, S.C.  Registration for 4-year-old kindergarten (4K) for the 2017-18 school year will be held on April 5 at four locations across the county, the Darlington County School District announced Thursday.

Registration at every location will be held April 5 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The registration information is as follows:

For the Darlington area, registration will be held on April 5 at J.L. Cain Elementary, Pate Elementary and St. Johns Elementary schools.

For the Hartsville area, registration will be held on April 5 at Southside Early Childhood Center.

For the Society Hill area, registration will be held on April 5 at Rosenwald Elementary/Middle School.

For the Lamar area, registration will be held on April 5 at Lamar Elementary School.

In order to register a child for 4K, the child must be 4 years old on or before Sept. 1, 2017. The materials needed to register a child include:

Proof of residency (A tax notice or utility bill such as water, gas and electric). A cellphone bill, telephone bill, cable bill or drivers license can not be used as proof of residency

Proof of income/S.C. Healthy Connection Medicaid CardImmunization Record

Birth Certificate

A registration slot will not be reserved for a child without documented proof of residence and proof of income. Available slots are limited and preference is given to those students whose family meets state income requirements.

The Darlington County School District will announce details regarding 5K registration in the near future.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Carl M. Humphries, chief executive officer of HopeHealth Inc., received the 2017 Fred R. Sheheen Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Leadership at the South Carolina Association of Non-Profit Organizations Summit, held Tuesday in Columbia.

The award recognizes a graduate of the Francis Marion Universitys newly named Fred Sheheen Nonprofit Leadership Institute or a member of the association who has excelled in the management of a nonprofit organization in the state. The association recently adopted a new name: Together SC.

Presented jointly by the association and the Sheheen Nonprofit Leadership Institute, the award was recently renamed in memory of the founding director of the Nonprofit Leadership Institute, Fred R. Sheheen.

Humphries is a graduate of the University of South Carolina. He has been with HopeHealth for 16 years and has presided over the organizations growth from a small community health provider to an important regional health center. Much of that growth has taken place in the past five years.

In 2013, after winning a competitive federal grant, HopeHealth more than doubled in size overnight. The organization, which provides low-cost, need-based medical care to a broad, underserved area, recently moved into a new facility and already is expanding that building. HopeHealth serves more than 35,000 patients and employs more than 300 people in the Florence area and Pee Dee region. Deena Hilton, HopeHealths chief operations officer, says that Humphries gifts as a leader are clear to all involved.

From the beginning of Carls tenure as leader of HopeHealth, he strived to diversify funding, expand programs and grow our donor base, Hilton said. Carl has a gift: the ability to visualize what he wants without limiting himself. (He) is widely known in the Florence community as a champion for HopeHealth and our mission to serve the underserved."
FLORENCE, S.C. -- The Doctors Bruce and Lee Foundation Library Thursday will play host to a technology petting zoo of assistive technologies.

The event, in the main lobby, will feature types assistive technology devices that allow people with visual and motor impairments to access books and information, according to a release on the event.

Sandy Knowles from the South Carolina State Librarys Talking Books Services will be on hand to demonstrate various devices as well as free resources available to visually impaired citizens in South Carolina.

Florence County Library Systems assistive technologies, available at all six library locations throughout Florence County will also be featured at the event.

These technologies include large print keyboards and screen magnifying software for people with vision impairments and trackball controllers for people who have difficulty using a standard mouse, according to the release.

There is also software that provides an audio reading of computer screen content to assist those with limited vision and LED lighted handheld magnifiers available at all locations.

Funding for these devices was made possible by a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the South Carolina State Library, according to the release.

For more information, please call (843) 413-7070 or visit www.florencelibrary.org.
Most Americans, I suspect, have the attitude that if the government is spying on someone there is probably a good reason.

In the latest document dump by WikiLeaks, Julian Assange's outfit may cause some to rethink that premise.

Assange, who is viewed by some as a patriot and by others as a traitor for exposing American secrets and putting the country in jeopardy, has, reports The Washington Post, "obtained a vast portion of the CIA's computer hacking arsenal" and has begun "posting the files online in a breach that may expose some of the U.S. intelligence community's most closely guarded cyber weapons." The trove, reportedly, exceeds "...in scale and significance the massive collection of National Security Agency documents exposed by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden."

Assange claims that the 8,761 CIA documents account for "the entire hacking capacity of the CIA." He promises there are more documents to come.

Certain malware allow the CIA access to familiar U.S. and European commercial products, including Apple's iPhone, Google's Android, Macintosh Windows and even smart TVs, which, once enabled, could pick up your living room chatter.

Attorney John Whitehead, who heads The Rutherford Institute, which self-describes as "A nonprofit conservative legal organization dedicated to the defense of civil, especially religious, liberties and human rights," says he is not surprised at the extent of government spying. In a statement, Whitehead writes: "...government agencies such as the CIA and the NSA have been spying on the citizenry through our smart TVs, listening in on our phone calls, hacking into our computerized devices (including our cars) and compromising our security systems through the use of spyware and malware."

Whitehead calls the latest WikiLeaks revelations a confirmation of what he and his organization have warned about for years, namely, that "the government remains the greatest threat to our freedoms" and "these government programs are illegal, unconstitutional, unwarranted and illegitimate. The only way things will change is if we force the government to start playing by the rules of the Constitution."

I used to regard such statements as extreme and coming mainly from the left, but now I'm not so sure. There is no doubt that terrorists and American enemies, such as China and Russia, can use and have used our U.S. Constitution, the freedoms it guarantees and the protection against government intrusion on our privacy and liberties against us, but does that mean that in order to protect those liberties the government must undermine them? Doesn't that seem self-defeating?

In its oversight capacity, Congress needs to explore what these documents have revealed about the CIA and its tactics. If limited government means anything, surely it means limiting government from the power to invade the privacy of its citizens without warrants and due process.

As John Whitehead puts it: "That means putting an end to this shadow government -- with its secret agencies, secret military operations, secret surveillance, secret budgets, secret court rulings and secret interpretations of the law -- all of which exist beyond our reach, operate outside our knowledge, and do not answer to 'we the people.'"

This ought not be a partisan issue, though some can be counted on to turn it into one. Freedom is a precious commodity, which can never be taken for granted. It is always in danger of being reduced by the powerful without proper safeguards and watchdogs.

There may be damage done to some of these government agencies and their ability to pursue real enemies, but the damage caused to the Constitution and our freedoms could be worse. Congress has an obligation to look into this flood of documents and what they reveal.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.
After suffering through the most severe bleaching event ever recorded last year, the Great Barrier Reef is once again being savaged by a marine heat wave.

After just one day of aerial surveys, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which oversees the region, has already confirmed that warm waters are causing another mass bleaching. Climate change is compounding the reef's woes as warming waters put corals in a precarious position to survive.

Scientists surveyed a 200-mile stretch of the northern end of the reef earlier this week. The full extent of the bleaching will take weeks to tease out as the reef covers an area roughly the size of Germany. But the early returns are bad news for one of the world's natural wonders.

The region was home to some of the worst bleaching last year, and coral have been weakened by months on end of continued heat. Waters in the region have rapidly warmed over the past two months and are currently up to 5.4F above normal.

"We are seeing a decrease in the stress tolerance of these corals," Neal Cantin, a reef scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science, said. "This is the first time the Great Barrier Reef has not had a few years between bleaching events to recover. Many coral species appear to be more susceptible to bleaching after more than 12 months of sustained above-average ocean temperatures."

Greenpeace has also been documenting the reef's plight starting on the northern end. Its underwater surveys have revealed equally disturbing images of a reef in distress.

"I've been photographing this area of the reef for several years now and what we're seeing is unprecedented," Brett Monroe Garner, a marine biologist working with Greenpeace, said. "In these photos nearly 100 percent of the corals are bleaching, and who knows how many will recover. Algae is already beginning to overgrow many of the corals."

Bleaching happens when waters get too warm for the algae that live inside coral. The heat causes them to die off or be expelled, leaving behind ghostly white coral skeletons.

It's that process that hit 93 percent of the Great Barrier Reef last year, causing nearly a quarter of the coral to die off. For scientists who have studied the reef for years, that development brought them to tears because it foretold what the future holds for the reef unless carbon pollution is cut. If oceans warm 2.7F, it will essentially be a death sentence for most coral.

Last year's bleaching event shows climate change is taking its toll. Scientists working with the World Weather Attribution team revealed that climate change made the warm waters that caused the bleaching last year up to 175 times more likely. The Great Barrier Reef bleaching was the most widely publicized aspect of a global coral bleaching event that spread to every ocean basin for three years and counting.

Bleaching warnings and alerts over the past 90 days. Credit: Coral Reef Watch
With energy blackouts and price spikes plaguing South Australia, Tesla Inc. chief executive Elon Musk is betting that his company can quickly solve the problem - or he'll hand over $25 million worth of the company's battery packs for free.

Thursday night, in a short back-and-forth on Twitter with Australian software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, Musk confirmed the company's offer was sincere, writing, "Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?"

Cannon-Brookes responded, "You're on mate. Give me 7 days to try and sort out politics & funding."

Intense heat waves, made more likely by human-driven climate change, have scorched Australia this year, with temperatures regularly topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That has stressed the province's power infrastructure, causing energy demand to spike, supplies to dwindle, and a major blackout to occur last month.

Australia is the world's top market for rooftop solar, and South Australia uses more renewable power than anywhere in the country. But fierce debates over energy policy have raged as supply has flickered.

In September, after storms collapsed electricity towers and left the entire state without power, Australia's premier Malcolm Turnbull called the blackout a "wake-up call" for politicians eyeing renewable energy targets he deemed "completely unrealistic."

And that's where Tesla enters the scene.
Scientists in Arizona say they've found a way to genetically modify corn to beat back a costly and potentially deadly toxin using a technique that could be adapted to fight other blights.

Aflatoxin is a byproduct of a fungus that can grow on crops like corn, rice, and nuts when they're stored in warm, humid spaces. But by altering a form of the biochemical messenger RNA in the corn, researchers from the University of Arizona and the US Department of Agriculture say they kept the toxin from taking root.

"Retarding fungal growth is very difficult," said University of Arizona geneticist Monica Schmidt, co-author of a newly published study detailing the work. Attempts to breed fungus-resistant crops have had little success, "So we thought, 'How can we just go after the toxin?'"

To do that, Schmidt and her colleagues modified a corn gene to produce a strand of the biochemical messenger RNA - which helps cells build proteins - that would spoof the fungus. It latches onto the cells of the fungus and blocks the production of a similar RNA that would give rise to the toxin.

"No RNA, no protein, no toxin," she said.

RELATED: No Evidence That GMO Crops Unsafe to Eat

Aflatoxin can cause fatal liver damage at high doses, and the United Nations blames chronic low doses for up to 155,000 cases of liver cancer a year, mostly in Africa and Asia. It can also stunt the growth of children.

Acute aflatoxin poisoning is rare in Western countries, but a 2004 outbreak in Kenya killed 125 people and sickened nearly 200 more. Farmers throw out up to 16 million tons of tainted corn a year to prevent its spread. More than 100 countries now set standards to prevent contamination.

The Arizona team grew three lines of their genetically modified corn and dosed them with the fungus that produces aflatoxin. None of the kernels sampled afterward contained the poison, while unmodified control plants were badly affected.

The findings were published Friday in the research journal Science Advances. Previous attempts by other researchers produced only limited reductions in aflatoxin while yielding stunted plants, the authors reported.
The incoming head of the US Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that carbon dioxide is not the main driver of global warming, a position starkly at odds with the scientific consensus on climate change.

A known ally of the fossil fuel industry, Scott Pruitt's appointment to head the EPA - a department he repeatedly sued as a state attorney general - was deeply contentious.

"I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," Pruitt told CNBC.

"We need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis," he added.

Pruitt's stance runs counter to the scientific consensus that underpins last year's landmark Paris Agreement, which saw more than 190 world leaders agree to lower emissions that lead to global warming.

It also clashes with the positions of agencies like NASA and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, which have concluded that global warming is driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other man-made emissions.

Some 97 percent of scientists worldwide agree that human activity - primarily the burning of fossils fuels like oil, gas and coal - has largely contributed to the sharp rise in the planet's temperature in recent decades.

The past three years in a row have broken modern records for global heat, a trend scientists say is due to global warming in combination with a strong El Nino weather pattern.

RELATED: Renewed Fossil Fuel Development Threatens Conservation Mission at Interior

Scientists quickly lashed out at Pruitt for his comments, describing his stance as dangerous and flat-out wrong, and calling on him to resign.

"Pruitt has demonstrated that he is unqualified to run the EPA or any agency," said Kevin Trenberth, a distinguished senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

"There is no doubt whatsoever that the planet is warming and it is primarily due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from burning of fossil fuels."

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found that increased carbon dioxide has been the dominant source of global warming, said Kerry Emanuel, professor of atmospheric science at MIT.

This is followed by methane, halogenated gases, and nitrous oxide, "all of whose concentrations have increased primarily from human activity," Emanuel said.

John Abraham, a professor in the school of engineering at the University of St. Thomas, said "scientists have known since the mid-1800s that carbon dioxide was a major greenhouse gas.

"This means Mr. Pruitt's knowledge is close to 200 years out of date."
The International Space Station (ISS) will soon host the coldest spot in the entire universe, if everything goes according to plan.

This August, NASA plans to launch to the ISS an experiment that will freeze atoms to less than 1 billionth of a degree above absolute zero - more than 100 million times colder than the far reaches of deep space, agency officials said. (Earlier NASA statements put the experiment temperature at one ten billionth of a degree.)

The instrument suite, which is about the size of an ice chest, is called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL). It consists of lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic "knife" that together will slow down gas particles until they are almost motionless. (Remember that temperature is just a measurement of how fast atoms and molecules are moving.) [Watch a video about the CAL]

If successful, CAL could help unlock some of the universe's deepest mysteries, project leaders said.

"Studying these hypercold atoms could reshape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity," Robert Thompson, a CAL project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "The experiments we'll do with the Cold Atom Lab will give us insight into gravity and dark energy - some of the most pervasive forces in the universe."
Having never sponsored a tax bill in my 12 years as a state legislator, I find myself in a new strange place. However, as I watched nearly $90 million in services for senior citizens and people who have disabilities, including children, being cut from the state budget I had to do something. Fortunately, we have a mechanism to help restore these programs and positively impact the health and welfare of Montanans. Through my bill called the SAVE ACT, we will increase the tobacco tax by $1.50 a pack. I fully understand that this may be considered excessive, but know it will take a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, a Band-Aid wont do.

As a state legislator, I am very aware that Montana is a graying state  I can see it on the faces of my constituents and I confront the needs of our aging population every day in my committees. For years Ive heard from Montanans about the desperate shortage of direct care workers due to low pay and the long waiting list for in-home care. Caring for an elder or a child who has a significant health condition is a huge challenge for families. Its disturbing that in this legislative session the budget for long-term care services serving seniors and people with disabilities has been cut $90 million over the next two years. These cuts make no sense when the number of people aged 65 and over in Montana is projected to rise 55 percent over the next 15 years. It is the norm and expectationby people who have disabilities that they will be fully integrated in the community. Working, going to school, raising families, attending local churches, like everybody. With supports, people will avoid segregated settings and enjoy opportunities like everybody else.

The proposed budget cuts will hit Montana communities hard. If implemented, these cuts will make it even harder for families to find someone to care for their loved ones, risk putting rural nursing homes out of business, and make life next to impossible for people who need our support.

These budget cuts have driven me to sponsor the Save Act: A long-delayed increase in the states tobacco tax that will save critical health services, save young people from the perils of smoking, save health care dollars, and save lives that might have been lost as a result of tobacco use.

I do not take increasing a tax lightly. However, after evaluating all the evidence, I see this proposal as a win-win for Montana. Let me leave you with these facts. The continued economic toll of tobacco use and addiction cost our state more than $440 million in health care spending each year. Every Montana household contributes over $700 a year as a result of tobacco use.

This tax will not only impact cigarettes but will tax all other tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes. Empirical evidence proves that a tobacco tax increase is one of the most effective ways to encourage users to quit and prevent young people from starting. This evidence would suggest that the SAVE ACT would decrease youth use by 15.8 percent, which is so important considering that 90 percent of all adult smokers started when they were kids. Finally, perhaps the most compelling statistic is that we can prevent an estimated 3,900 tobacco-related deaths.

Please join me in supporting the SAVE ACT! Please call your legislators and ask them to support the SAVE ACT: 444-4800.

Sen. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, represents Senate District 41 in the Montana Legislature. She has served in the state Senate since 2011. Prior to that, she served in the House of Representatives from 2005-2010.
Amir knows he should be happier. He is among the lucky ones, a gay Iranian man who gained refugee status and flew to San Francisco just a day before President Trump was inaugurated and a little over a week before he signed the first of two executive orders temporarily barring refugees from entering the country.

Instead, Amir sits alone in his room in the city and wonders: Why him?

He thinks about a fortuitous last-minute flight change that had him depart for San Francisco International Airport on Jan. 19 rather than Jan. 30  a few days after Trump signed his initial executive order. More so, he worries about his friends left behind, like Ashkan, who was also set to come to the U.S. as a refugee but now may lose that opportunity altogether.

Amir spends his days on the phone with Ashkan and his other friends in Turkey, where as gay refugees who fled Iran together they formed a community in a small town where residents looked down on them. Now, his friends can neither go back to Iran nor come to the U.S.  and they have told Amir they have contemplated suicide.

Is this the America they talked about, the one that valued freedom and human rights? asked Amir, 31, who requested that his last name be withheld because he fears repercussions.

Christie Hemm Klok/Special to the Chronicle

Amir and his friends are among those whose lives were thrown into disarray first by Trumps Jan. 27 executive order, which froze all refugee admissions for four months. The move was struck down by federal courts, but on Monday Trump signed a follow-up order freezing admissions, while also temporarily halting the entry of all immigrants from Iran and five other majority-Muslim countries.

The second order, which is being challenged in the courts, is to take effect Thursday.

In the weeks since the first ban was struck down, more than 4,000 refugees have arrived. But many others in the pipeline were not able to make it.

The limbo for these people will continue. Roughly 11,000 refugees who have been vetted by government agencies including the Department of Homeland Security are standing by, as flights into the U.S. are not being booked for after Thursday, said Karen Ferguson, head of the International Rescue Committees Northern California office.

Ferguson and other advocates fear that the freeze will be disastrous for many. During the intense vetting process  which takes an average of 18 to 24 months  refugees run through numerous security and medical checks. But these clearances have expiration dates that Ferguson worries will lapse during the four-month suspension, effectively sending the applicants back to the start of the process.

Its going to leave people in harms way, Ferguson said. There will be tragedies. Some people will not make it through even when they would have.

The Trump administration has said the freeze is a necessary step in boosting efforts to identify would-be terrorists and keep them out of the country.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday that more than 300 people in the U.S. who had been admitted as refugees were being investigated for potential terrorism-related activities. But Sessions did not provide details on the cases, or what precisely the number represented.

We also know that people seeking to support or commit terrorist attacks here will try to enter through our refugee program, Sessions said. Like every nation, the United States has the right to control who enters our country, and to keep out those who would do us harm.

But the focus on the countrys refugee program has ignited opposition from advocates and politicians who call it a critical humanitarian effort that has not proved to be dangerous.

Between 1980 and 2015, no U.S. resident who had arrived as a refugee was involved in a fatal terrorist attack, according to research by the libertarian Cato Institute. In 2016, a man who came to the country as a refugee and who officials believe may have been inspired by the Islamic State group injured 11 people by running them over at Ohio State University.

The White House says the stakes are high. So do advocates for refugees.

Around the Bay Area and the country, as arrivals of refugees have been put on hold, lives have been changed and families have been separated, as advocates try to figure out whats next. While Amir got in, others were not as fortunate  including a Syrian refugee who lives in Jordan and was preparing, along with his wife, son and daughter, to join his sister in the East Bay.

Ahmed, whose family fled the fighting in Syria in 2013, had spent years seeking admission to the U.S. and was waiting for his airline tickets the day Trump signed the first ban. He had made all of his preparations for travel  ending his contract at work, selling his furniture and taking his children out of school.

Trumps orders were more crushing than leaving his war-torn home country, because he dreamed of restarting his family members lives and giving his children opportunity, said Ahmed, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym.

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Since then, his familys refugee case has been suspended as organizations try to help. He said he was ready to contribute to the U.S., sending a reporter pictures of the tools he once produced at the factory he owned in Syria.

Mr. President, Ahmed said. We are not terrorists. We want to live in peace.

The changing plight of refugees goes beyond the 120-day freeze.

More than 37,000 refugees have been resettled in the U.S. this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Because the Trump administration lowered the maximum number of refugees the country will take in during this period, from 110,000 to 50,000, the remaining slots are limited.

The administration has the right to cap and put limits on the number of refugees its going to accept  theres no legal obligation to take a particular number, said Beth Van Schaack, a professor at Stanford Law School who once investigated war crimes in Syria for the State Department. The issue is one of morality at some level.

Polling shows the country is divided over the admission of refugees. According to a recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, 52 percent of respondents said it was appropriate to limit entry of refugees because of security risks.

Its not the first time the country has been split over refugees. The Pew Research Center found that Americans have, in the past, generally not wanted to welcome them, regardless of their country of origin. In 1980, a poll found that 71 percent of Americans did not approve of Cuban refugees.

We want the American administration to rethink this decision, said Ahmed, because we are a good people that loves peace, and what was imposed upon us was outside of our will.

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @haleaziz
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The pilot of the small San Jose-bound plane that crashed into homes in Southern California had trouble starting one of two engines shortly before the aircraft took off, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by federal investigators.

Compiled by National Transportation Safety Board investigators, the report does not specify the cause of the fiery Feb. 27 crash in Riverside that killed three people immediately, with a fourth dying a week later at a San Bernardino County hospital burn unit.

The 83-year-old pilot, Nouri Hijazi of San Jose, one of those killed in the crash, started the right engine on his first attempt at the Riverside Municipal Airport, but the left engine took several tries to start, according to the report.

Hijazi, along with his wife, Dana, 67, were returning home from their granddaughters cheerleading competition at Disney Adventure Park in Anaheim with three other passengers, including their daughter, Joanne Stacey Pierce, when the small plane plunged into a residential neighborhood and burst into flames shortly after take off.

ALSO Survivor of Riverside plane crash dies from injuries at hospital

Pierce died Tuesday at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton (San Bernardino County). Another woman killed in the crash was identified as Adine Ferales, who was a school teacher in Los Gatos.

Ferales mother, Silvia Ferales, survived the crash and remains hospitalized.

Nouri Hijazi also completed a walk-around inspection of the aircraft, a Cessna T310Q, before boarding the plane with his passengers, the NTSB report stated.

The pilot also required progressive taxi instructions from the air traffic controller, a detailed list of maneuvers used to guide pilots unfamiliar with a particular airport, according to the report.

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After an uneventful runway departure, the airplane began a left turn as it entered the clouds, the report states.

The planes final moments in the air were captured on surveillance video, the report added, which depicted the aircraft descending toward the ground at a slight tilt.

A full report on the agencys findings, including the cause of a crash, could take more than a year, officials said.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley
A team of attorneys enlisted by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf to investigate the Police Departments sexual misconduct scandal was paid for eight months of work but produced no reports.

Now it appears their contract with the city has come to an end  or at least been put on hold indefinitely.

Last year, Schaaf hired San Francisco attorney Morin Jacob to review how the Police Department handled allegations that several officers had inappropriate contact with a sexually exploited teenager whose mother worked as a dispatcher for the department.

Invoices obtained by The Chronicle show that Jacob, along with associates Stacy Velloff and Megan Lewis, worked a combined 31 days, starting in June and ending in January. Jacob was paid $350 per hour for a total of more than $11,000.

Yet its unclear what they got done. City officials redacted descriptions of the work they did each day from the invoices, citing attorney-client privilege, and no reports or final assessments have come from their time on the case. Jacob could not be reached for comment.

Representatives for Schaaf and the city have not responded to questions about what work the group accomplished. In June, when Schaaf announced that she hired the lawyers team, she said she would share the findings with the public.

Given the importance of public trust in the outcome of ongoing misconduct investigations, we have put several layers of independent review in place to ensure we uncover any wrongdoing, either by officers or in how the investigation has been conducted, the mayor said then. When these reviews are complete, we will publicly share everything that we are legally allowed to disclose, and hold fully accountable anyone found to have engaged in misconduct.

Jacob and her associates, who have extensive experience defending cities and police agencies, were also asked to trace how information about the misconduct was leaked to the media.

Jacobs investigation was paused last month after city officials found out that Judge Thelton Henderson, who has overseen Oaklands court-ordered reforms for the last 14 years, would be appointing an attorney to assist in a review. The attorney, Edward Swanson, who has investigated Oakland and its Police Department on a number of occasions, was retained last month to help the compliance director, Robert Warshaw, with his review of the misconduct cases.

Although nothing in Hendersons order last month referred to Swanson taking over for Jacob and her team, that was the understanding in City Hall, say those briefed on the situation.

A spokeswoman for the mayor left open the possibility that Jacob could later continue her work.

A full determination has not yet been made by the city on the role of Morin Jacob moving forward, said the spokeswoman, Erica Terry Derryck. The scope of the professional services agreement with her firm is broad enough to allow the city of Oakland to use Morin Jacob and her firm for other tasks if needed. To the extent Morin Jacob performs additional work, the city will ensure the work is not duplicative of the investigation now being led by Mr. Swanson. 

The teen at the center of the police scandal told The Chronicle she had sex with 29 police officers and sheriffs deputies from around the Bay Area. The accusations led to several firings and seven criminal cases in the East Bay.

Civil rights attorney John Burris, who is representing the teenager, said he would have expected Jacobs investigation to be long completed by now. Burris said he saw Swansons involvement as a positive development.

The judge appears to be more comfortable about the integrity of the investigation and its findings in the hands of someone who isnt directly under the citys supervision and is being paid by the city, Burris said. I see it as another plus for us. ... All we ever wanted was for the internal affairs to be conducted objectively and most importantly conducted in a timely way so that if more charges have to be filed theyre done within a proper time frame.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov
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A 24-year-old man was fatally shot by a police officer in Santa Clara after the mans parents called 911 to report he was acting erratically, authorities said Friday.

An officer shot the man Thursday evening after confronting him near his familys home and trying to subdue him with an electronic stun gun without success, authorities said.

The incident was recorded by a vest camera worn by the officer, and the footage is being reviewed by the Santa Clara County district attorneys office, officials said.

Officers responded to the familys home on Deborah Drive at Monroe Street at about 5 p.m., said police Capt. Wahid Kazem. The parents called 911, saying their son had cut himself in the chest with a knife, was armed with a handgun and had barricaded himself in his bedroom, Kazem said.

The son wasnt there when police arrived. Officers searched the area and found him under a nearby overpass, Kazem said.

He said officers had tried to speak to the man but that because of his erratic behavior, they deployed a stun gun on him.

Kazem said the man advanced on Officer Colin Stewart, a 13-year law-enforcement veteran, who shot the man in fear for his safety.

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The name of the dead man has not been been released.

Police did not find a weapon on him, but a bloody knife was found on the trail on which he was running, Kazem said.

Stewart was placed on administrative leave, a routine procedure, while police and the district attorney investigate.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
Highway 101 is closed in both directions in Mendocino County after a rockslide completely blocked the roadway, officials said Friday.

The slide, about 6 miles north of Leggett at a two-lane section of the highway, was first reported to California Highway Patrol officers in Garberville at around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, according to CHP Officer William Wunderlich.

Rocks are continuing to fall as of 8 oclock this morning, Wunderlich said Friday.

Caltrans officials are hoping to have the area open to one-way controlled traffic by Friday afternoon, but have not yet provided an estimate on when both lanes of the highway would reopen, according to Caltrans spokesman Eli Rohl.

Caltrans

Caltrans contractors initially working in the area had to retreat when the situation became dangerous.

We actually had to pull them back because the slide was so active, said Rohl.

The slide knocked down a catchment fence designed to protect vehicles from falling rocks.

Todays job is to clear debris from behind the catchment area and repair the fence so people are able to get through, said Rohl. Without that catchment fence, rocks could come down and cause major injury.

At 8:23 a.m., state Sen. Mike McGuire tweeted that the closure would likely last through the weekend.

Large boulder(s) above roadway a concern - Geologist evaluating, McGuire said.

Filipa A. Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi
A venerable San Francisco charity recently investigated by The Chronicle must repay the public tens of thousands of dollars after misleading city officials  a rare rebuke that follows a significant internal shakeup at Helpers Community Inc.

The 60-year-old nonprofit, founded to assist people with developmental disabilities, has removed its longtime executive director from the board, slashed her salary by one-fifth, and is debating a partnership with another organization or perhaps shutting down completely.

The changes address questionable practices revealed by the newspaper in December: For years, Helpers had deceived donors, spending scant funds on its stated mission of supporting residential care for people with developmental disabilities while paying an outsize salary to its director, Joy Venturini Bianchi. As the driving force behind Helpers, Bianchi became a prominent figure on San Franciscos fashion and social scenes, with little attention paid to her business practices.

This month the San Francisco Office of the Assessor-Recorder decided Helpers would have to pay about $31,000 in back taxes, after determining the charity received several years of tax exemptions by misrepresenting the use of properties it owns along Golden Gate Park, city officials said.

The assessors action should raise questions among state and federal regulatory agencies about Helpers legitimacy as a nonprofit, according to nonprofit experts.

These changes point to the realization on all parts that the organization suffered from serious shortcomings, said Brian Mittendorf, an accounting professor at the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University who specializes in nonprofits. They also signal the seriousness with which the city and the board take the concerns raised.

Bianchi, 78, and the Helpers board have spent the past decade shifting the $6 million organization away from providing residential care for adults with developmental disabilities to raising money for that population through high-fashion resale boutiques. They have denied any wrongdoing in their operations.

In a December letter to Helpers supporters, Bianchi said the papers report on the charity does not reveal the depths of my soul nor the intentions of my heart.

I can unequivocally state that I have never mishandled funds or donations of any kind for my personal use, she wrote. You believed in us and we hold that trust sacred.

Yet within days of The Chronicles report, the Helpers board began a significant overhaul, slashing Bianchis salary by about $40,000 and removing her from the board. The board also initiated formal discussions about whether Helpers should continue to exist.

The facts are obvious that the foundation has outlived its mission, said Marie Lipman, whose aunt, Sister Miriam Auxilium OGara, founded Helpers in 1953 to house and serve adults with Down syndrome. I certainly was surprised and offended to learn that Helpers was still functioning even though its residents had been moved out long ago and no longer received any kind of support.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

Helpers Community Inc.  known as Helpers of the Mentally Retarded until 2015  long housed people with developmental disabilities in homes it operated in the Richmond District. Since the group ended its residential services in 2002, however, it has done little charitable work while amassing millions of dollars in assets and donations and handsomely compensating Bianchi as she traveled to red-carpet galas, according to Helpers annual public filings to the Internal Revenue Service.

For 13 years, Helpers gave nothing to residential programs. And between 2003 to 2008, the group gave nothing to any charitable cause at all, financial records showed. Most donations in recent years have gone to a group that repairs facial deformities in children overseas.

Yet with a 2015 base compensation of $193,828, Bianchi earned roughly $100,000 more annually than the directors of similarly sized San Francisco nonprofits.

Helpers IRS filings show that Bianchis annual compensation package has been larger than the groups total charitable giving in every year since the homes were closed. And her dual role as a paid employee and voting member of the Helpers board of directors represented a conflict of interest, critics noted.

The Chronicles investigation also raised questions about the four Fulton Street homes the charity used for housing and activity programs. Although Helpers has not offered direct services for disabled residents for more than a decade, the organization continued to apply for, and receive, annual property tax exemptions amounting to about $100,000 for providing those programs.

Russell Yip/The Chronicle

The houses  three of which are chock-full of designer gowns, handbags and fancy footwear  are instead being used for storage and for the charitys nationally known boutique, Helpers House of Couture, city officials found.

As a result, the assessor-recorders office has denied Helpers property tax exemptions for 2017, estimated at $8,000, and also is seeking four years of unpaid taxes from 2013 to 2016, worth about $31,000. Under state law, the office can only seek back taxes from the previous four years.

Helpers board President Peggy Bachecki said the group properly reported the change in use to the assessor and made the properties available for inspection. We are unaware of any allegation (or any factual basis for any allegation) that the Assessors Office was misled, Bachecki wrote in a letter to The Chronicle.

San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu has said the agency relies on nonprofits to truthfully declare any changes and to reaffirm their eligibility for exemption under penalty of perjury.

We dont take these decisions lightly, she said of the move to deny Helpers exemptions.

Alex Washburn/Special to the Chronicle

As organizations classified to benefit the public, nonprofits like Helpers can receive federal, state and local tax breaks. The assessors decision about Helpers property tax exemption does not affect the groups eligibility to operate as a charity or to solicit donations in California; that status is regulated by the IRS and the state attorney generals office.

Officials with the state attorney generals office and the IRS declined to comment.

But experts said the assessors action should serve as a strong indication to those authorities that there may be legal issues with Helpers overall standing as a charitable nonprofit.

Should the AGs office and the IRS look further into Helpers? Absolutely, said Laura Otten, executive director of the Nonprofit Center at La Salle University, which provides training and consulting to charities. In general, when one oversight body makes the determination that an organization no longer qualifies as being tax-exempt in its eyes, that should be cause for other oversight bodies to take another look.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

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Since coming under scrutiny, Helpers has pledged to become more transparent and distribute more donations to people with disabilities.

Bianchis salary has been cut 20 percent and a sample job description for a new executive director has been drafted, according to sources familiar with the organizations recent board meetings.

Responding to concerns that she had raised millions of dollars but failed to adequately distribute it, Bianchi said in an interview in October that after Helpers closed its residences, she spent years traveling around the country seeking suitable organizations to fund, without success.

Helpers board members have since visited a number of service providers for people with developmental disabilities in and around San Francisco. The board has reached out for the first time to the regions leading nonprofit provider for such adults, the Arc San Francisco, for example, which serves 800 people in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties.

Last week, Bachecki revealed that Helpers has revised its bylaws to exclude Bianchi from the board and is looking into partnering with another nonprofit or distributing its assets.

Bachecki said those efforts had begun long before the newspapers inquiries but simultaneously stated those discussions were still in their initial stages.

Bachecki also said Helpers may pursue an administrative challenge or litigation in response to the assessors decision to end its property tax exemptions. City officials said Helpers must pay its tax bill before contesting the decision.

For some who have worked or volunteered for Helpers over the years, the changes and new level of scrutiny represent a welcome shift for a charity that has long troubled them.

Im very happy with the developments, and I hope that Helpers and whoever they partner with can quickly take some action so that they are actually giving the money and distributing the assets to people who are really in need, because there are so many people who really could benefit, said Amy Zierath, an Oakland resident who volunteered for Helpers in 2009.

Zierath, whose brother was born with cerebral palsy, said she was initially enthusiastic about working with the group. But Zierath said the more time she spent at Helpers events, the more questions she had about where the donations were going.

Things werent adding up to me, she said. I was very uncomfortable with the organization and disgusted with the way they were using this cause to raise money.

Bryan Blumenfeld, who worked for Helpers as an office assistant from 2013 to 2015, called the recent changes long-overdue justice. He questioned, however, how the organization could allow Bianchi to remain as its executive director.

She continues to discredit the organization by acting as their executive director, Blumenfeld said. She hasnt issued an apology to San Francisco taxpayers, to Helpers funders and donors, to her employees and former employees, to all the volunteers, and most importantly to the developmentally disabled people who could have been helped in so many more ways if the organization had been run with integrity.

Cynthia Dizikes, Carolyne Zinko and Karen de Sa are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: cdizikes@sfchronicle.com, czinko@sfchronicle.com, kdesa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @CarolyneZinko, @cdizikes
San Francisco has long led the nation when it comes to providing health insurance benefits for transgender residents. It is doubling down on that reputation.

Health Service System Director Catherine Dodd is proposing to expand the health insurance benefits available to transgender employees of the city, school district, City College of San Francisco and Superior Court.

Some elective procedures like rhinoplasty or forehead reconstruction not now covered would be if considered medically necessary. A doctor could determine them medically necessary if the surgeries are crucial to the patients mental health, Dodd said.

The proposal would also allow children as young as 12 to receive hormonal therapy.

Dodd presented the proposal Thursday to the Health Service Board, which selects the medical and dental plans for employees and retirees, and sets the amount members pay for each plan. The board will vote on the plan at its meeting next month, Dodd said. If it supports the proposal, it would take effect in 2018.

We are doing this at a time that when the first thing that happened when Trump got elected president is that the court upheld the ruling that transgender services are not part of the Affordable Care Act, Dodd said.

In December, a federal judge in Texas barred enforcement of an Obama administration policy that would have guaranteed transgender-related health care services.

Its kind of a statement that we are making sure our employees have this, Dodd said.

In 2001, San Francisco became the first city in the country to pay for gender reassignment surgeries for city employees. In 2012, it made history again, when it extended that benefit to uninsured transgender residents.

 Emily Green

Former San Francisco Supervisor David Campos is returning to government  in Santa Clara County. Campos will become deputy county executive.

In a statement, Santa Clara County Executive Jeffrey V. Smith praised Campos proven track record for requiring transparency and accountability for government agencies.

Smith added that Campos possesses the right combination of management expertise, knowledge of policy implementation and a clear understanding of how to meet the needs of a diverse community.

Campos said he was excited about the post.

Like San Francisco, Santa Clara is not afraid to lead on critical issues facing the region and the county. Im excited to work for such a diverse and forward-thinking county as Santa Clara, he said in a text message.

Campos has had a long career in San Francisco government and politics. He served two terms on the Board of Supervisors, from 2008 through 2016, representing the Mission District and Bernal Heights. He was a leader of the boards progressive bloc and a frequent adversary of Mayor Ed Lee.

He made a name for himself going after Airbnb and pushing for more affordable housing. Last year, he championed an unsuccessful ballot measure that would have created an office of public advocate in San Francisco  a position he was rumored to want.

From 2004 to 2007, Campos was general counsel for the San Francisco Unified School District. He began his career in government as a deputy city attorney in San Francisco, from 1999 to 2004.

 Emily Green

Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider, @emilytgreen
I find it amusing that the macho, militant party of guns, guts and glory is the only group of people in this country that claim to be living in fear of refugees.

No Democrat I know talks about fearing refugees. Or Republican voter either for that matter. And why would they, refugees have a spotless record in regard to terrorism in this country. Its only GOP politicians who are claiming that Americans are living in fear of refugees and that the GOP are the only ones who can protect us.

That being said, now lets talk about the real reason the GOP and some letter writers are spewing the anti-refugee rhetoric.

People who do their own thinking by taking in information from more than just Fox News understand that its all about racism. Racists, who have been resurgent in this country since we twice elected a black president, have found it easier to call them potential terrorists. Its a lot more acceptable to say we need to keep them out because theyre dangerous than to say keep them out because theyre non-white and non-Christian.

The majority of terrorist attacks in America throughout history, and especially recent history, have been carried out by white people who call themselves Christians. If people are living in fear, they better guard their privates if they ever get near Trump. Resist white nationalism. To say the least, its un-American. Jesus would be ashamed.

Scott Sutton

Helena
San Francisco prosecutors are objecting to a defense request to allow high-profile political consultant Enrique Pearce to avoid jail time for possessing child pornography  and to instead be monitored at home by a private company that would outfit him with an electronic ankle bracelet.

Pearce, whose clients included Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisors Jane Kim and Norman Yee before his arrest in May 2015, is due back in court Friday. It will have been six weeks since Superior Court Judge Rene Navarro postponed sentencing for the 43-year-old defendant, who was set to plead guilty to possession of hundreds of images of child pornography  including what prosecutors called sadomasochistic practices being conducted on very young children.

The delay came after Sheriff Vicki Hennessy balked at enforcing a portion of the agreement that Pearce cut with the judge to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of six months of home detention.

Hennessys office argued that people convicted of certain crimes, including child pornography, dont qualify for electronic monitoring in San Francisco under her departments policies.

On Tuesday, District Attorney George Gascons office filed a motion backing Hennessys stance, saying any move to allow Pearce to serve his time at home over the objections of the Sheriffs Department ... represents an illegal sentence to the extent that it would usurp the (sheriffs) statutory authority.

The Sheriffs Department alone has the statutory authority to decide how and where inmates serve their jail sentences, Assistant District Attorney Brad Allred wrote.

The prosecutions motion followed a letter to the court Monday from defense attorney Douglas Horngrad laying the groundwork for Pearces home detention, specifically addressing the judges concern that it be commensurate with the supervision provided by the Sheriffs Department for such cases.

Horngrad said he had arranged for a company called Intercept to supply an electronic ankle bracelet for Pearce and to do the monitoring to make sure he stays home. In addition, the defense attorney said, Pearce would be checked on by a retired San Francisco police inspector, Stephen Gudelj, who would make random unannounced searches.

The only way that can happen, legal experts say, is for Pearce to be sentenced to probation. It would amount to an end run around the sheriff  who would be cut out of the monitoring.

Allred argued to the judge that the proposal would not result in the accrual of custody credits demanded by the severity of Pearces crimes and would not be considered the equivalent of County Jail.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Prosecutors originally pressed for state prison time for Pearce, and they still want him put behind bars in County Jail. But under state rules, they didnt get a say-so in the plea deal he agreed to in December  he could simply admit to all four charges against him once Navarro told him what the likely sentence would be.

Those charges are two counts of distributing child pornography, one count of buying or receiving stolen property, and one count of possession or control of child pornography, with allegations of possessing more than 600 images of someone under 18 and possessing matter that portrayed sexual sadism or sexual masochism involving someone under 18.

Now its up to Navarro  a retired Santa Clara County Superior Court judge on temporary assignment in San Francisco  to decide whether he will carry out that deal.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross
The American overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the subsequent American-led invasion and vanquishing of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, were lightning wars: blitzkriegs. Too much so, writes veteran foreign correspondent/commentator Patrick Cockburn in The Age of Jihads well-versed immediacy. Smoke and mirrors. Governments can be toppled without a war being won  more blitz than krieg. Neither the Taliban and various opposition elements in Afghanistan, nor the armed forces in Iraq  government or otherwise  were defeated. They melted away, back into their civilian selves, waiting. Patience was their long suit.

The appeal of Cockburn as a war correspondent is multifaceted. Primarily based in the Middle East, he is a student of the region. To understand what is happening in, say, Iraq, he acquaints himself with not just Iraqi history but with the greater political landscapes of Turkey, Syria, Jordan, the Levant. When he makes it to his zone of coverage  not always the easiest thing  he knocks around, visiting the neighbors, observing, conversing, living rough. He hops a battered Russian helicopter to illegally cross the Amu Darya  Cockburns many years in the field have enabled him to cultivate contacts who can facilitate such shenanigans  alighting in North Alliance-controlled territory, where I spent the next few moths in the impoverished village of Jabal Saraj. He is an adept at following the twists and turns of events, and brings a Sun Tzu-like appreciation to the nit and grit of fighting.

Cockburn wears his opinions on his sleeve  informed opinions (this is where the commentator comes in) that project an aura of the New (now oldish) Left, somewhere between his older brothers, journalists Alexander and Andrew  so you can get an honest take on his perspective. That perspective can be dizzying, both panoptic and intimate. Put together from his personal diaries and dispatches from the front to his newspaper, Britains Independent, the big picture brings in the whole 2001-2015 era of civil wars stretching from northwest Pakistan to northeast Nigeria, the flabbergastingly self-defeating nature of U.S. foreign policy, the Arab Spring (a name correct in identifying some of the secular and democratic ingredients, though there was never a pure progressive revolution that was hijacked by Sunni reactionaries. ... The supporters of the Arab Spring looked for a return to the past as well as a leap into the future.) and the endurance of ISIS: monstrous but functioning, battling to provide some basic services and food at low prices, but once entrenched ruling through terror and corruption  a regional commonality.

Tightening the field of vision, Cockburn examines the destabilization of warlordism  in which the leaders switch sides and betray each other as swiftly as any English duke in the War of the Roses  and provides vignettes of the appalling security-free statelessness of Yemen, Libya and Syria. He then tightens the picture to its most particular: the man who defuses live land mines to sell the aluminum for scrap, the barrelless tank that serves as a village taxi, the Afghan love of flowers (Even in front line positions soldiers dig small trenches, fill them with water and plant geraniums), to the most dangerous job in Iraq: barbering. Many have been murdered, beaten or forced to close their businesses by Islamic fanatics who accuse them of shaving off beards.

Through this bewildering looking glass and down the slaughterous rabbit hole the U.S. government sent its untutored grunts. Afghanistan and Iraq elevated combat to new heights of grotesquerie. David Wood writes in his perturbing What We Have Done that there has always been a psychological toll from battle, but a new moral injury has come with these chaotic, extremely violent conflicts fought by ruthless, often-suicidal extremists who violated every Western concept of warfare, a murderous confusion where farmers and mothers and young kids might seize a weapon and shape-shift in a moment into a combatant and back again to innocent civilian. Like Cockburn, Wood presents the broad evolution of his concern  in this case, the effects of warfare on a soldiers being, bedrock moral ideals, soul  then introduces singular stories to give it patency.

This moral injury galls Wood, another veteran war reporter, because it is self-inflicted. He has felt his own diminishment when he did not rise to his expectations during a firefight he experienced in Somalia. Woods writing emits that coppery tang of something gone dreadfully wrong, blood on the tracks, a creed thrown out the window as the high command trashed its own code of ethics in an astonishing and demoralizing display. The Bush administration invaded a country on fabricated evidence. Military values disappeared once you entered Abu Ghraib and the black sites. Whatever happened to the common understanding that prisoners were not shot and civilians were not targets? These are betrayals, and betrayal is a violation of trust, and trust is the bone and sinew of the military.

The result, Wood finds, is an amplification of post-traumatic stress disorder into moral injury, a trauma as real as a flesh wound ... a jagged disconnect from our understanding of who we are and what we and others ought to do and ought not to do. When your personal ethos of right and wrong is undermined by those with the authority to destroy your life  those being the military brass  who wouldnt be crippled by anxiety, fear, grief and hopelessness? Wood builds an irrefutable case for moral injury  a learned behavior, learning to accept the things you know are wrong  and especially its haunting consequences for the soldier returning home. Only when Wood moves beyond the specificity of the injury to make it a generalized catchall does it lose potency: Why, for instance, would an aggressive response to a claustrophobic situation associated with a suicide bomber not be PTSD? Why isnt PTSD normal and understandable, if unfortunate?

Cockburn ends on a less sanguine note than Wood. Cockburn fears that the demons released by this age of chaos and war in the middle East have become an unstoppable force, which is debatable only if an entirely new approach to foreign, and in some cases domestic, policy is instituted, one unblinkered by ignorance and bigotry, and unmotivated by pure self-interest. The victims of Woods demons, he suggests, may find surcease in the rituals of cleansing and forgiveness and healing that welcomed returning combat veterans in past eras and other cultures  through forgiveness from ones peers who have listened to the circumstances of the veterans stories. Both roads are damned by their genesis, and guaranteed to be long and painful.

Peter Lewis is the former director of the American Geographical Society. Email: books@sfchronicle.com

The Age of Jihad

Islam ic State and the Great War for the Middle East

By Patrick Cockburn

(Verso; 4449 pages; $29.95)

What Have We Done

The Moral Injury of Our Longest Wars

By David Wood

(Little, Brown; 291 pages; $28)
Alaska Airlines is stretching its wings.

Three months after its $4 billion purchase of Burlingames Virgin America, the company said Thursday that it will add 13 routes from the Bay Area to destinations across the continent, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and (pending government permission) Mexico City.

With the expansion, Alaska/Virgin will operate 125 daily flights from San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland to 42 destinations by the end of the year, which represents a 45 percent jump in the number of markets it currently serves from those airports.

This is why Alaska was excited about buying Virgin, said Seth Kaplan, managing partner of industry publication Airline Weekly. This is a major expansion.

Alaska already flies to many of these markets from its home base in Seattle, Kaplan said. But thanks to its acquisition of Virgin, the company can use Virgins gates at San Francisco International Airport to offer passengers, especially business travelers, service to the Bay Area and Seattle, two high-tech regions enjoying strong economic growth.

Alaskas growth has been boosted by successful Seattle-area companies like Boeing, Amazon.com and Microsoft, George Ferguson, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in a recent research note. The carrier seeks to replicate the same success with San Francisco tech companies.

San Francisco International Airport is working its way through a $5.7 billion to-do list, including the construction of an air-traffic control tower, major terminal renovations, a hotel and long-term parking garage. The airport recently raised $881.7 million to fuel the growth, the largest bond sale in its history.

SFO is now the worlds fastest-growing airport for international travelers. United Airlines has added five international routes out of SFO in the past year, including flights to two major technology hubs, Tel Aviv and Hangzhou, China.

Alaskas expansion shows confidence in the Bay Area, said Jonathan Spira, editorial director of industry publication Frequent Business Traveler. Alaska is in an excellent position to build its brand and introduce new customers to the mix.

Thats why Alaskas acquisition of Virgin is so critical to its growth. Controlling more gates at SFO allows the company more flexibility in the booming region, Kaplan said. Plus, its actually possible to secure airport slots. By contrast, getting new flights into New York, Chicago and Washington is nearly impossible, because major airlines like American, United and Delta, along with Southwest and JetBlue, dominate slot times at those airports, he said.

Alaskas expansion demonstrates that there is still plenty of opportunity in the United States. Thanks to low fuel prices and a wave of consolidation, airlines have enjoyed increases in both revenue and profits in recent years.

In 2015, legacy and low-cost airlines enjoyed an operating profit margin near 20 percent, compared with negative 15 percent a decade ago, according to PlaneStats.com.

There is no sign of a glut, said Kent Gourdin, a business professor and director of the global logistics and transportation program at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Even routes that you wouldnt think work are doing well.

Airlines seem to enjoy lots of flexibility in testing routes and eliminating them if they fail, Gourdin said.

Spira said any expansion carries considerable risks. Airlines have sometimes started service in markets they considered sure things only to pull out months later, he said.

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However, Alaska and Virgin already command such strong reputations for on-time arrivals and customer service that any expansion will probably play well to their already loyal consumer base, Spira said.

Alaska is still studying whether to retain the Virgin name. The company has been running ads in San Francisco trying to convince people that despite their different cultures, the two airlines go well together.

Many analysts expect Alaska to eventually retire the Virgin brand. Alaskas expansion into markets it already serves from Seattle reinforces that belief since it requires more money and effort to introduce a brand, versus making people fall more in love with the existing one.

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee

New routes from the Bay Area

To/from San Francisco

Philadelphia; New Orleans; Nashville; Indianapolis; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Baltimore; Kona, Hawaii; Albuquerque, Kansas City and (pending) Mexico City

To/from San Jose

Los Angeles, Tucson and Austin, Texas
The San Francisco District Attorneys office confirmed on Thursday that it is investigating an Uber program called Greyball, a tool the ride-hailing company developed to show individual riders different versions of its app. The news comes a day after Uber said it would prohibit employees from using the program to thwart regulators.

Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorneys office, declined to provide additional details about the ongoing investigation, and Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the San Francisco development.

A New York Times article last week outlined how the San Francisco company had used the Greyball program to identify and avoid local regulators who were investigating the service.

The article, which cited four former and current Uber employees, said the company had used Greyball to thwart authorities in various cities in the United States and other countries.

In a statement Wednesday, Joe Sullivan, Ubers chief security officer, said the company was conducting a review of how the technology had been used.

We are expressly prohibiting its use to target action by local regulators going forward, Sullivan said. Given the way our systems are configured, it will take some time to ensure this prohibition is fully enforced.

Uber said that many organizations had inquired about the program and that the company planned to respond once it finished its review.

Officials in Portland, Ore., have called for an investigation into Ubers use of Greyball there.

In 2014, Uber started offering its low-cost ride-hailing service in Portland without getting permission. The city later declared it illegal. Law enforcement officers posed as riders during their investigation of the service, but were unable to catch Uber drivers in the act.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

It appeared as though Uber was using Greyball to avoid the officers. In one instance, a code enforcement officer in Portland who opened the Uber app would see representations of cars on the apps map. But the cars themselves never materialized. And the cars they were able to hail would cancel the ride before they arrived.

The Greyball revelation added to the companys recent stream of bad news. In January, it contended with a #deleteUber campaign triggered by riders who thought the company was trying to take advantage of a taxi strike at Kennedy International Airport in New York. (Taxi drivers were protesting President Trumps immigration ban; Uber said it did not mean to break the strike.)

Last month, Uber faced increasing criticism of its workplace culture and was embroiled in a lawsuit over its self-driving cars. And last week, the company dealt with concerns regarding the temperament of its chief executive, Travis Kalanick, after a video of him berating an Uber driver became public.
San Francisco Police Department / San Francisco Police Department

A 23-year-old man suspected in a string of residential burglaries across three San Francisco neighborhoods in less than a week was arrested, police said Thursday.

The suspected serial burglar, Evan Underwood, was arrested Wednesday at about 5:30 p.m. in the 300 block of Golden Gate Avenue in the Tenderloin, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
Kale Williams

Police in Palo Alto Thursday were searching for a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman after she got off a bus in the citys downtown.

The victim, a woman in her 20s, told police that her assailant  in his 30s or 40s, and 5-feet-8-inches tall and wearing a green jacket and dark pants  ran up behind her just after 9 p.m. Wednesday and grabbed her crotch over her pants as she walked in the 200 block of Alma Street.
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JaCeon Golden has only ever known the inside of hospitals. But the treatment hes receiving may have implications far beyond his as-yet isolated life.

Round-faced and big-eyed, with a perpetual pout that belies his sunny nature, he looks as healthy as any other 5-month-old. But JaCeon was born without a functioning immune system. Even the most banal of infections  a cold, a diaper rash  could be deadly.

Earlier this year, JaCeon became the first baby at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital at Mission Bay to undergo an experimental gene therapy treatment that, doctors hope, will nudge his body to build a new, robust immune system.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

So far, his results are promising. In a few weeks, JaCeons great aunt, whos also his guardian, hopes to introduce him to the world outside.

Am I going to see him smile when we walk out of here? Dannie Hawkins, 52, said with a glance at the baby, being fed from a bottle by a nurse wearing a gown and gloves. Hows he going to do in the free world?

It will be a while  months, probably years  before JaCeon is able to fully integrate with that wide world: go to school and birthday parties, ride a public bus, swim in a community pool. But that those activities may be in his future at all is extraordinary.

The treatment given to JaCeon is the result of decades of research into gene therapy that included a string of striking failures that led many doctors to abandon the pursuit altogether.

Gene therapy long had been considered a potential treatment for severe combined immunodeficiency disorder, or SCID, the condition JaCeon was born with, and some other genetic syndromes. The idea is to replace a single gene thats causing trouble.

Even as many doctors gave up on the promise of gene therapy, teams of stubborn scientists kept plugging away. And a few years ago, their experiments started to work, propelled by advances in the understanding of stem cells  in this case, a type called hematopoietic stem cells that live in bone marrow and are responsible for generating blood and immune cells  and improved methods of delivering genetic repairs.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

Now human gene therapy is being tested in trials at UCLA, where a team has treated 20 children with one type of SCID, and at UCSF in collaboration with St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis. Both trials are funded by grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the states stem cell agency, located in Oakland.

Researchers are studying similar therapies in hopes of curing genetic syndromes like sickle cell disease. And the stem cell agency is funding gene therapy research into potential treatments for HIV, brain cancer and Huntingtons disease, among others.

Gene therapy has been shown to work, the efficacy has been shown. And its safe, said Sohel Talib, a senior science officer at the state stem cell agency. The confidence has come. Now we have to follow it up.

JaCeon was born at a hospital in Las Cruces, N.M., and diagnosed with SCID just after birth as part of a standard newborn screening. He was flown to UCSF, one of a handful of facilities with expertise in SCID, when he was 3 weeks old. His great-aunt joined him about a month later, in November.

The immune disorder is commonly known as bubble baby disease, because until fairly recently kids born with it had to live in isolation, often in plastic bubbles in hospital rooms or their own homes to protect them from infections.

Babies born with SCID have a genetic mutation that leaves their immune system unable to develop disease-fighting cells. Without treatment, most will die within a year. Since the 1970s, some babies with SCID were cured with a bone-marrow transplant. But to be effective, a perfect match was required, almost always from a sibling, and only about a fifth of kids have such a match.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

The rest could undergo a bone marrow transplant from a partial match  in JaCeons case, his great-aunt was one  but even when that treatment was successful, kids were left with fragile immune systems that required constant maintenance with antibiotics and other boosts.

Gene therapy, though, may prove as effective as a bone marrow transplant from a perfect match.

The procedure starts with doctors harvesting stem cells from a babys own bone marrow, usually taken from the hip. In JaCeons case, his stem cells were sent in January to St. Jude in Memphis, where scientists are perfecting the gene-therapy delivery mechanism.

Sending away JaCeons stem cells was probably the most stressful time of my life, short of my own kids maybe being born, said Dr. Morton Cowan, the lead investigator of the UCSF trial, who has worked in SCID research for more than 30 years.

JaCeons stem cells were flown east over the first big weekend of major storms in California. Flights were being canceled around the clock, and doctors only had a window of about 36 hours to get the fresh cells to the labs in Memphis.

The trip was successful, but not without a hitch. After the cells were engineered and were being sent back to California, the material  for a few heart-stopping hours  got lost in the mail.

In a couple of months, Cowan said, he hopes to be able to do the gene-therapy delivery at UCSF labs, avoiding the travel headaches.

For now, that still happens at St. Jude. Doctors used a virus  in fact, HIV, the virus that causes AIDS  to deliver the gene therapy to JaCeons stem cells. The virus is neutered, with all of the disease-causing pieces inside removed.

Whats left is a missile-like shell designed to infiltrate a cell and deliver whatever payload doctors have inserted inside  in this case, a healthy gene that will restore the stem cells ability to build normal immune cells.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Back in San Francisco, the cells were infused into JaCeon via a port in his chest. Because theyre his own cells, there was no fear his body would reject them.

He did have to undergo mild chemotherapy to kill off some of his own bone marrow and make room for the re-engineered stem cells to roost, but UCSF has been developing a technique for limiting the dosage of chemotherapy given in gene therapy procedures.

JaCeon suffered no obvious side effects from either the stem cell infusion or the chemotherapy drugs, doctors said.

Hes just thriving. Hes just  hes great, Cowan said. He added, We cant open the Champagne just yet, but early tests show the new gene is active, and JaCeon has had an uptick of certain immune cells.

The infusion procedure took just 20 minutes, and JaCeon slept through it, but it felt momentous nonetheless.

It had been difficult to decide to enroll JaCeon in the trial, Hawkins said. Since she was a partial match for a bone marrow transplant, she had the option of giving him the traditional  and well-tested  therapy.

Shed said to his doctors, So youre telling me hes a guinea pig? They told her, she recalls, If it works, he can open the door for other kids.

That night, as Hawkins slept on the decision, I kept waking up, waking up, all night long, she said. If there was a possibility he could save someone else ... she added, and then broke off in tears.

She spends about six hours with JaCeon every day, beginning each morning with a bath in sterile water, brought by nurses in special tubs. Shes constantly wiping down his toys, clothes, bedding and stuffed animals.

Ive changed a lot of diapers in my time, but this is way more complicated than with other kids, Hawkins said, demonstrating the multistep process she uses to prevent diaper rash.

Im not going to say its been easy, she said. But hes doing fine. I wouldnt have it any other way.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @erinallday
There was a time when all art history classes required two projection screens. That was how, in pre-digital days, the instructor compared and contrasted works by different artists or of different periods.

Matisse/Diebenkorn is an art exhibition that feels a little like a freshman lecture on influence and inspiration, but with the essential difference that its composed of 100 original paintings and drawings by two great masters of their media, Henri Matisse and Richard Diebenkorn. The show opens at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Saturday, March 11, and runs through May 29.

I first wrote, incomparable masters. The show, however, is all about comparison, with works presented in the same galleries, and even side by side. Some of the parallels are startling, as we see Diebenkorn making deliberate reference to Matisses love of pattern and enjoyment of formal disjuncture, his choices of subject matter and point of view, his technique of applying paint thickly in one place and rubbed thin in others.

Diebenkorn made no secret of his debt to the French painter. He often discussed it in interviews. He announced it specifically, artistically in a large work, Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad, which he painted in 1965 after seeing Matisses great Red Room (Harmony in Red) at the State Hermitage Museum.

The SFMOMA exhibition pairs those pictures and others, driving home the point to great effect in many cases. Matisses nearly abstract View of Notre Dame (1914), all dark lines and blue scumbling around a bright green tree-splotch, is convincingly played off Diebenkorns flatter, even more schematic Ocean Park #79 (1975), which has borrowed delineation, brushwork and color.

Throughout the exhibition, library-style vitrines display selections from Diebenkorns extensive collection of books on Matisse, and the shows catalog includes a full list of his holdings, noting his many insertions and inscriptions.

By the time a wall label tells us that a skirt in Diebenkorns Man and Woman in a Large Room (1957) conjures the French artists unabashed love of stripes, as seen in The Blue Eyes, we have no choice but to accede to the claim.

This is, in every way, an enjoyable show, put together with obvious care by top curators from SFMOMA (Janet Bishop) and its partner in the effort, the Baltimore Museum of Art (Katherine Rothkopf). Yet I will admit to feeling a bit unsatisfied in the end, like a man who enjoyed an excellent salad but suspects he missed something by not getting the steak.

We learn much about the enormous impact Matisse had on Diebenkorns thinking and practice. But did their work mean the same thing? Was the later artist simply updating the formal experiments of his predecessor  the look of his pictures  or his keen interest in otherwise-missed details of the home life of an artist?

The answer, if we respect Diebenkorn as an artist whose work holds relevance equal to Matisses for us today, is surely not. Matisse, at his best, was a revolutionary artist  a fauve, a wild beast. The very act of painting for him, in his time, was as much a rejection of certain habits of vision as an embrace of a new ideal of art.

By Diebenkorns day, that battle was long over. It is fascinating to watch him, through this exhibition, as he works out his obsession with Matisses brilliance. But its not a matter merely of adopting Matisses ways, or even of homage  though certainly we sense a high regard.

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Where Matisse, product of his era, takes a romantic, even sentimental approach, Diebenkorn  in keeping with his own moment  maintains a greater distance. If Matisse gives us a glimpse of a palm tree and blue waters through the shutters of a darkened room, Diebenkorn shows us, beyond a doorway, the gas station across an expanse of asphalt. The plush chairs and couches of Matisse become folding chairs at Diebenkorns hand. Even Diebenkorns final, great Ocean Park series  after luring us close with dusty colors and textures we want to touch  impassively, coolly shuts us out.

Matisses Pansies (circa 1903) are compared in the exhibition to an untitled work done by Diebenkorn in 1964. Each shows flowers in a container on a brown table that takes up roughly the lower right quarter of the picture; each is against a predominantly light-blue field. Pansies, though, nod(s) to the grand tradition of still-life painting from previous centuries, as a wall text points out, by depicting a few flowers fallen from the vase to the table as a reminder of our mortality. The later painting includes no such memento mori. Where the background of Pansies is a patterned drapery, Diebenkorns vase (it may actually be an old jar, with label still affixed) is seen against three blank and blocky forms  windows, probably, but with no view.

Diebenkorns Window (1967), with its Matissian curled ironwork in the foreground, is compared to that artists Large Reclining Nude of 1935. How telling, though, that the flesh-colored form that commands the center of the Diebenkorn picture is no nude but a distinctly unwomanly, featureless rectangle.

Charles Desmarais is The San Francisco Chronicles art critic. Email: cdesmarais@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Artguy1

Matisse/Diebenkorn: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays-Tuesdays; Thursdays 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Through May 29. $19-$25; ages 18 and under free. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., S.F. (415) 357-4000. www.sfmoma.org
For all the talk from San Francisco city officials about keeping families in the city, their actions sometimes tell another story. Take the citys summer camps, which are already hard to get into: This year they dont cover the entire summer.

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department has great camps, from the old-school campfire kind to more unusual offerings. Only in San Francisco can kids go rock climbing, skateboard, surf and learn to cook like Alice Waters in just a few short weeks.

But since this is city government, there has to be a glitch. And you know me, Ive found it.

When the San Francisco Unified School District and the teachers union agreed in January to a very different schedule for the 2017-18 academic year, the Rec and Park summer camps were already set. The school year starts one week later than usual, on Aug. 21, and the camps all end on Aug. 11.

Of course, fast-thinking private companies were able to offer an extra week of camp. But many of them cost as much as $500, leaving few options for low-income families who cant fork over the equivalent of a few weeks of groceries for five days of child care. (Many of the city camps cost $147 for the week, or $210 with before and after care.)

We understand this can be challenging for parents, said Connie Chan, spokeswoman for Rec and Park. Unfortunately, we were alerted about this change in January, and we plan our summer programming well in advance.

Gentle Blythe, spokeswoman for the school district, called this a transition year.

We understand that these changes may impact child care planning for families, she said.

Other changes include canceling school for the entire Thanksgiving week and pushing winter break back a week. Blythe said the extra days off over Thanksgiving appear well covered. Chan said camp will be offered that week.

The citys annual Summer Resource Fair is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park. Families can learn about all the camps available over the summer. Some offer scholarships for low-income families. Signups for the summer camps start at 10 a.m. March 18.

Phil Ginsburg, general manager of Rec and Park, said the camps will align with the school districts summer again next year. He pointed out that the department has accommodated families by offering 475 summer camps, adding before and after care and making the online registration system easier.

I think youre going to be hard-pressed in any major city to find any Recreation and Park department that provides what we do, he said.

Theres even a camp called Surviving SF on $10 a Day. Of course, with the way things are going in this city, last year it was called Surviving SF on $7 a Day. Seriously.

File this one in the thick How is this not a law already? folder: Supervisor Jeff Sheehy wants to make it illegal to operate bicycle chop shops and would allow police to seize bike parts found at those sidewalk eyesores.

Just about anybody who rides a bicycle in San Francisco knows the torment of having your bike stolen and spotting its parts among a pile next to a tent on the sidewalk. Sheehy said he has heard from constituents who have had as many as five bicycles stolen and cant understand why so little is done about it.

What this would do is allow police to seize the bike parts, clear the sidewalk and then impound them, Sheehy said. If people could show either by a receipt or a voluntary sworn affidavit these parts were theirs, they could get them back.

Sheehys legislation, which was introduced last week and is headed for committee, would also allow police to cite the operators of the chop shops. Like we said, how is this not already on the books?

Bicycles are near and dear to Sheehys heart. His first job after moving to San Francisco in the late 1980s was being a bike messenger. He still boasts of the time he delivered a package from the foot of Market Street to City Hall in a mere 10 minutes. There was traffic gridlock  he was the only one moving.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

It was fun seeing whom Supervisor Jeff Sheehy selected to honor at Tuesdays Board of Supervisors meeting for Womens History Month: Jean Robertson, the principal of Glen Park Elementary, the school that notoriously saw a first-grade class cycle through 13 teachers because of the school districts teacher shortage.

You may recall that a first-grade class there lost its regular teacher because of a health issue and then had a string of substitutes before Robertsons daughter, who had been working in the after-school program, stepped in.

Superintendent Myong Leigh said the daughter couldnt stay because of nepotism concerns, even though an impartial hiring committee received only two decent applications for the job and the principals daughter was deemed the far better choice. So now the kids are on teacher No. 13, who had been a reading specialist at the school.

Sheehy, who lives in Glen Park, tried to persuade Leigh to reverse his decision, to no avail.

Im still disappointed that happened, Sheehy said, adding that honoring Robertson was an obvious choice. I know how hard its been for her, with this revolving teacher situation, and I think recognizing what great leadership looks like is important.

In accepting the award in the board chambers, Robertson told Sheehy, Youve had my back for the past six weeks as weve been wrangling to handle our teacher shortage issue.

Hey, if you cant have a stable teaching staff, at least you can get a fancy certificate from City Hall.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Tuesdays and Fridays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf

Summer camps

For information and to signup starting March 18: http://bit.ly/2mnITZD
Elsie Arntzen, newly-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, seems determined to divert attention away from her goal of under-funding, indeed undermining public education in Montana by her smoke and mirrors ploy of a frivolous investigation into past OPI data reporting.

Playing politics worked for Elsie to get elected, hopefully now that she is in office, she will realize she represents all the children of Montana, not just children of her Republican base.
Tired of the peace and quiet of your suburban street? Miss the traffic and tension of an oversubscribed freeway? There is, as it turns out, an app for that.

While promising to steer commuters out of gridlock, Waze, along with Google Maps and other navigation aids, is directing interstates into neighborhoods across the country and beyond. That has pitted residents and local officials against commuters and algorithms  while revealing a tendency of technology not to solve problems so much as redistribute them.

This week, Concord became the latest Bay Area city to roll out a series of weekday turn restrictions and traffic-light changes to discourage rush-hour traffic from filtering through its neighborhoods, to which navigation apps have exported a portion of the paralysis of nearby freeways. It followed car-crossed Fremont, which announced similar steps last year with road signs featuring the Luddite battle cry, DONT TRUST YOUR APPS.

The municipal resistance has been driven by residents complaining that their once-tranquil byways have become as unnavigable and dangerous as highways, with more and more motorists following their apps onto them. Please stop routing the hordes down my residential street, one Los Gatos resident pleaded with Waze editors. Others have tried to subvert the apps from within by falsely reporting obstacles: Since Waze is based on crowdsourcing, a Southern California user reported, residents are uniting to report congestion in their area so cars are rerouted. But the apps hordes also tend to ensure that such false reports are found out.

The backlash isnt limited to traffic dystopias such as the Bay Area and Los Angeles, where one councilman urged the city to lean on Waze to alter its algorithm. Suburban neighborhoods from Portland, Ore., to Charlotte, N.C., have also grappled with the apps, some posting temporary traffic restrictions, others adding speed bumps and barriers. Denizens of a Tel Aviv suburb went so far as to sue Waze for ruining their residential calm.

The apps standard response is that it does far more good than harm by facilitating the distribution of traffic throughout the grid of public streets  with an implied emphasis on public. Indeed, apps such as Waze  created in Israel and bought by Google for more than $1 billion in 2013  have democratized infrastructure as well as information. Unless theyre in gated communities, quiet streets are largely a matter of luck, not entitlement. The navigators have only seen to it that some of the people who were fortunate enough to live on one arent any longer. And for every app-hating leafy enclave, theres a freeway full of harried commuters grateful for the ingenious technology that makes their drive a bit less miserable.

The Bay Areas congested roads, ranked fourth-worst in the world last year by the traffic information provider Inrix, reflect vast shortages of housing and public-works investment. There isnt an app for solving problems of that scope and complexity, but Waze and others are making them that much harder to ignore.
Violent encounters between police and individuals with mental illness  Sean Moore in San Francisco and Joseph Mann in Sacramento  have highlighted the use of lethal force. In both incidents, police were summoned to address dangerous or disorderly behavior of men who suffered from mental illness; both incidents ended with officers shooting the suspects, one fatally.

Public attention has focused narrowly on perceived police mismanagement of these tragic situations. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to defuse a dangerous situation especially when the officers feel that their lives are at risk or a civilian may be injured.

Violent encounters between police and the mentally ill however represent the tail end of a series of events. To prevent these types of incidents requires a broader view and a few key steps, beginning with:

Give officers the knowledge and tools to work with individuals with mental illness. Crisis Intervention Training is a team-based approach to prepare police to safely address incidents and divert individuals with mental illness to psychiatric and social services and away from county jails. San Franciscos program, led by Lt. Mario Molina, began training police officers in de-escalation techniques in 2001 . In 2012 , the program became mandatory: Since that time nearly 700 officers have been trained. The SFPDs goal is to have all of the nearly 2,200 SFPD officers trained within the next four to five years.

Help individuals with mental illness get treatment so police encounters can be avoided. One intervention is to use collaborative or therapeutic courts, including behavioral health, drug and veterans courts, to divert individuals whose infractions are the result of mental illness or substance use to appropriate psychiatric treatment. These types of courts improve compliance with treatment and lead to a decrease in future violence and arrests. State Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, has introduced legislation (SB8)that gives judges the discretion to divert those with mental illness to behavioral health courts.

Use assertive case management teams to carry out the plans established in behavioral health courts, as well as supportive and stable housing units. The proposal for a Behavioral Health Justice Center in place of a new San Francisco County Jail addresses the needs of the homeless, mentally ill, and those with substance use disorders with four levels of care, ranging from a 24-hour emergency center to an inpatient transitional care unit.

Use Lauras Law, named after a young woman who was killed by a person with untreated psychosis. The policy, also called assisted outpatient treatment, can work for individuals with serious mental illness who have had recurrent involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations or incarcerations and continue to refuse treatment. Since its initiation in San Francisco in November 2015, most of the individuals who were referred for evaluation accepted treatment voluntarily.

Develop more supportive housing in San Francisco for those recently released from jail. Organizations such as Brilliant Corners provide cost-effective, permanent housing for the citys low-income and disabled population. But funding is scarce and physical space is limited.

Its vital that we look at the changes that can prevent violent encounters with police and make our city safer as well as address the needs of mentally ill individuals. We need multiple kinds of interventions and public support to ensure that individuals such as Sean Moore and Joseph Mann get the care they need and deserve.

Dr. Matthew E. Hirschtritt is a psychiatrist at UCSF. Dr. Renee L. Binder directs the Psychiatry and Law program at UCSF and is the immediate past president of the American Psychiatric Association.
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Is it time for San Francisco city leaders to draft an official apology to the Grateful Dead?

As the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love comes closer  The Chronicle debuts its commemorative magazine on Sunday, March 12  events of the year come into a different focus.

Its clear the mayor and supervisors, who debated placing a Hippies Not Welcome sign at the city limits, should have shown more compassion to the young people following the call into San Francisco.

Its clear that the music, art and other culture from the era was more than a passing fad.

And its clear that local authorities  and the media  overreacted on Oct. 2, 1967, when police raided the Grateful Deads crash pad at 710 Ashbury St. and hauled 10 handcuffed band members and associates to the police station on questionable marijuana charges.

Barney Peterson/The Chronicle

The Grateful Dead  ROCK BAND BUSTED, the San Francisco Chronicle headline read, above the banner on the front page on Oct. 3, 1967, in a giant font generally associated with declarations of war and deaths of presidents.

The raid  on The Deads way-out 13-room pad at 710 Ashbury street  also led to the arrest of the groups equipment manager, two business managers and six girls, variously described as friends, visitors and just girls, the second paragraph of The Chronicle story began. It was typical of both the articles sensationalism and awkwardness in trying to appropriate the lingo of the time.

Barney Peterson/The Chronicle

The media was clearly tipped off to the police action. Photographer Barney Peterson took photos inside 710 Ashbury as confusion ensued in the house. Band co-manager Danny Rifkin can be seen in one photo pointing at the camera.

Five state agents, two city inspectors and at least a half dozen uniformed police descended on the bands home to confiscate a pound of marijuana, The Chronicle reported.

The arrested Dead family members walked down the steps two at a time, handcuffed in pairs, like a wedding party walking down the aisle. Only two band members were there  Bob Weir and Ron Pigpen McKernan  although police suggested that others including Jerry Garcia could still be arrested. (They werent.)

Despite the handcuffs and gravity of the situation prison time was reported as a possibility  the photos show an occasionally jovial atmosphere. Weir looked more amused than the others, smiling and making a grand gesture with his hand as he reached the foot of the stairs.

Police suggested the band were distributing the drugs. Even with the relatively small amount of marijuana involved, state narcotics bureau head Matthew OConnor made himself available to the media, offering seemingly minute details.

They were processing some marijuana in the kitchen, by running it through a colander to get rid of some stems and seeds, OConnor told The Chronicle.

Members of the band were originally charged with felonies. But by the time the case wrapped up in 1968, all had been reduced to misdemeanor charges of being in a place where marijuana is used or maintaining a residence where marijuana is used. No jail time was served, and the largest fine was $200.

Rifkin called a press conference two days after his arrest, and his speech  excerpted in The Chronicle the next day  was a masterpiece in logic and foresight.

Almost anyone who has ever studied marijuana seriously and objectively has agreed that, physically and psychologically, marijuana is the least harmful chemical used for pleasure and life enhancement. ... The president of a company that makes defective automobiles which leads to thousands of deaths and injuries can face a maximum penalty of a minor fine.

A person convicted for possession of marijuana can be sentenced to up to 30 years in jail ... the law is so seriously out of touch with reality. If the lawyers, doctors, advertising men, teachers and political officeholders who use marijuana were arrested today, the law might well be off the books before Thanksgiving.

Police prefer to concentrate on individuals who have been manufactured by the mass media into a group that typifies the now-popular image of the drug-oriented hippie. The mass media created the so-called hippie scene. This way, the American people are protected, by the police and the media, from the fact that the law is a lie.

Barney Peterson/The Chronicle

But the hippie as created by the media is a lie as well ... the law creates a mythical danger and calls it a felony. The result is a series of lies and myths that prop each other up. Behind all the myths is the reality. The Grateful Dead are people engaged in constructive, creative effort in the musical field and this house is where we work as well as our residence. Because the police fear and misinterpret us, our effort is now being interrupted as we deal with the consequences of a harassing arrest.

The Grateful Dead, in the decades that followed, made good on Rifkins promise. The band stayed in the area and became celebrated, law-abiding and downright patriotic citizens.

They performed at charity events, starting the following year in 1968 at the San Francisco Symphonys charity Black and White Ball. They contributed countless renditions of the National Anthem at Candlestick Park and AT&T Park. (Surviving members of the band continue this tradition at Grateful Dead Night at the Giants.)

Meanwhile, Rifkins manifesto proved prescient. Not only is it legal to smoke weed with the Grateful Dead in 2017, but any politician who came out against the drug now would probably render themselves unelectable.

So once again, does the city owe an apology to the Grateful Dead?

Portrayed as dastardly criminals, they turned out to be a half century ahead of their time.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub

These Grateful Dead photos negatives were discovered and unveiled in The Big Event blog on SFGate.com in 2013. The original Chronicle coverage used for research in this weeks Our San Francisco can be found in these 1967 and 1968 articles.

The Chronicles Summer of Love commemorative magazine can be purchased here.
As American Conservatory Theater marks its 50th anniversary this year, its tempting to view the Bay Areas Tony-winning flagship theater as an institution and an inevitability.

Certainly, only a juggernaut could pull off the fanfare with which ACT is (rightly) observing this occasion: a new book, written by Michael Paller, on the companys history; a star-studded 50th anniversary annual gala; a separate birthday party thats free and open to the public  all on top of a theatrical season that includes Khaled Hosseini and Annie Baker, Peter Brook and Robert Lepage.

Yet for all the grand festivities, and for the grandeur of the organization itself, its instructive to remember the many, many times over its 50 years that ACT could easily have failed  and its challenges going forward.

In an interview at ACTs offices, longtime Artistic Director Carey Perloff cites as major concerns the likely defunding of the National Endowment for the Arts, the jeopardy of San Franciscos federal funding due to its status as a sanctuary city, as well as the difficulty of fundraising from the tech sector, whose focus on efficiency and speed hasnt found a home in theater philanthropy

Our ambitions are big right now because of the nature of the political environment, she says. Its like weve got to do the big things that matter. We cant dally around and sit on the edge of the pool, because there might not be a pool.

The potential to fail, Perloff, 58, says, was written into the companys staggeringly enterprising beginnings under founding Artistic Director Bill Ball  beginnings that still distinguish the company at a time when many theater companies missions and seasons look alike.

Any normal organization starts small, Perloff says. ACT? Totally the opposite. It started with this hugely ambitious idea, which is vigorous repertoire, with a standing acting company of at least 40 people on permanent contract doing 15 plays in rotating rep, or however many it was, in 1,000 seats. Go!

Actor Ken Ruta, whos been with the company since the beginning, recalls one actor, Jay Doyle, who was famous for being in two plays the same night. Hed play one part in at ACT production at Marines Memorial Theatre, then hed run down the hill to appear in a final scene at the Geary. He also remembers that, since they didnt have understudies but did have a whole repertoire of shows ready to go at any given moment, if an actor got sick, ACT would put in another show, and audiences with tickets to one performance would see a different one instead.

You never knew if youd have the next season! says actor and director Joy Carlin, whose first show with the company was The Importance of Being Earnest in the 1969-70 season. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, she adds, you didnt know what was going on the next day until the night before.

From his deep research into the companys history for A Five-Act Play: 50 Years of ACT, Paller says, ts amazing it didnt go under on more than one occasion. Often the company would wonder if they would be able to cash their checks. Ball was a visionary, with an unsurpassed ability to create theatrical spectacle, but he believed every financial decision was an artistic decision, and vice versa. The board was almost powerless, and the company had little infrastructure to support Balls ideals.

At one point, recalls former producing director Jim Haire, Ball, who died in 1991 at age 60, said something like, If the community cant afford to support this theater, we will give them the kind of shows they can afford, which led to a run of two-character plays, against which audiences rebelled.

Ed Hastings 1986-92 run as artistic director gradually helped shore up the companys finances, only to have them devastated again when the Loma Prieta earthquake severely damaged the Geary Theater in 1989, forcing ACT to become nomadic for seven years.

Perloffs appointment has brought much stability to a company that, when she arrived in 1992, was still run like a startup, she says.

But even if ACT employees no longer worry about whether their next paychecks will come, Perloff says the company does not hew to the big nonprofit stereotype of a hierarchical, bureaucratic, highly structured institution. This place has never felt that way, partly because its a school. The building is mostly full of twentysomethings studying the self in all that that entails.

Its an ongoing challenge, Paller and Perloff say, to remind even longtime ACT patrons that the company runs one of the top masters of fine arts programs in the country, alongside Juilliard, Yale and New York University. ACT is the only freestanding institution  i.e., not a university  that offers an acting MFA program, which is very costly; the Obama administration recently forced Harvards acting MFA program to suspend admissions because its tuition was so out of proportion with what its graduates could hope to earn.

Yet, ACT has held on to Balls vision of a company and a conservatory that run in tandem with and enrich one another. The conservatory, Haire points out, is our middle name.

The schools benefits are no less vital for being intangible. The energy of the place, that comes from young people, says Paller. For Gregory Wallace, who was a member of ACTs core acting company from 1999 to 2011 and who now teaches at Yale School of Drama, the school ensured that the company didnt simply reproduce a time capsule of what the classics were 40 or 50 years ago. There has to be, he says, a conscious and purposeful connection to actors evolving and developing a craft, and pushing the envelope to the craft. ... Otherwise it becomes the deadening of theater  stultifying, paralyzing.

Despite what Perloff calls an enormous decline in American theater of classical work, she has tried to buck that trend in ACTs programming  another quality that distinguishes it from its peers. At this historical moment, she says, this is what we should be doing  these big meaty plays about complicated issues  those of the Greeks and Shakespeare, Harold Pinter, Susan Glaspell and Samuel Beckett.

All this thinking, Perloff says, does come when youre looking at 50 years. I never knew Bill Ball, but what I do know is the guy was fearless. He may have been crazy sometimes, but he was fearless, and ambitious, for the essence of theater, not for whats going to make the most money or whats going to have a commercial life, but what is the nature of the art form and whats going to keep it alive.

That, she adds, is worth fighting for.

Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicles theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak

A Five-Act Play: 50 Years of ACT By Michael Paller (Chronicle Books; 224 pages; $50)

50th Anniversary Gala: Featuring Annette Bening, Judy Kaye, BD Wong, Casey Lee Hurt, among many others. 5 p.m. Thursday, April 27. Individual tickets $1,500-$5,000. Tables $15,000-$50,000. ACTs Strand Theater, 1127 Market St., and ACTs Costume Shop, 1119 Market St., S.F. (415) 439-2470. www.act-sf.org/gala

Birthday Party: Open house birthday party featuring behind-the-scenes tours, limited-edition Humphrey Slocombe ice cream flavor, performances and readings. Saturday, March 18. Free and open to the public. ACTs Geary Theater, 415 Geary St., S.F. www.act-sf.org/home/box_office/special_events/50years.html

John: Written by Annie Baker. Directed by Ken Rus Schmoll. Through April 23. $20-$105. ACTs Strand Theater, 1127 Market St., S.F.

Needles and Opium: Written and directed by Robert Lepage. $20-$105. Produced by Ex Machina. March 30-April 23, ACTs Geary Theater, 415 Geary St., S.F.

Battlefield: Adapted and directed by Peter Brook and Marie-Helene Estienne. April 26-May 21. ACTs Geary Theater, 415 Geary St., S.F.

(415) 749-2228. www.act-sf.org

Moments in ACTs 50-year history

1. The Strand Theater marquee, 1950

2. Ken Ruta starring as Oscar Wilde

3. American Conservatory Theater, 1988

4. The Strand Theater, 2015

5. Bill Ball in 1967

6. Current ACT Artistic Director Carey Perloff

7. Vintage seats amid rubble at the Strand theater

8. The Geary Theater after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake

9. The Geary Theater stage, 2017

10. Joy Carlin in The Time of Your Life, 1971
Montana's Commissioner of Security and Insurance wants to see the state's Medicaid expansion administered through block grants, which he argues gives states more control.

Matt Rosendale, who was elected to the state Auditor and Commissioner of Security and Insurance last November, made the recommendations earlier this week in a letter sent to Montana's two senators, Republican Steve Daines and Democrat Jon Tester, along with Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, chair of the House committee that would have heard House Republicans' plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

The American Health Care Act dismantles key provisions of Obamacare. Previous President Barack Obama's landmark legislation brought health insurance to millions  Montana saw its uninsured rate drop from 20 to 7 percent  but Republican President Donald Trump campaigned on repealing and replacing it, saying the act led to rising premiums and made health care unaffordable.

Montana expanded Medicaid in the 2015 Legislative session with the passage of the Montana Health and Economic Livelihood Partnership Act. Expansion brought coverage to those who earned up to 138 percent of the federal poverty rate. So far 71,000 have enrolled. Adults generally pay premiums equal to 2 percent of their household incomes. Thirty other states also expanded Medicaid.

The American Health Care Act proposes to continue Medicaid expansion funding as proposed under Obamacare until 2020, and will continue to reimburse states at 93 percent of costs until that point. States will be reimbursed less for those who sign up after that.

Opponents argue the system will halt Medicaid expansion because Montana could not afford to pay for the program without sufficient federal funding.

"Montana families and state policymakers should be very concerned about moving forward with a bill that effectively ends Medicaid expansion that has provided coverage to over 70,000 Montanans, shifts costs for Medicaid to the state, and makes coverage less affordable and out of reach for many Montanans," said Heather OLoughlin, co-director of the Montana Budget and Policy Center.

The bill also says anyone who is not covered under expansion for more than a month would not be able to get the same higher-level reimbursement rate if they sign up again.

That is troubling to some who said that many Medicaid recipients "cycle" through the program, meaning they earn enough to not qualify for a period of time but then experience a job loss or other event that makes them eligible for coverage again. Those patients would be reimbursed at the lower rate when they sign up again.

Montana has received $284 million in federal money since the enrollment under the HELP Act started Jan. 1, 2016, according to numbers provided by the Department of Public Health and Human Services. The state also saves $22 million a year in general fund money by transitioning people who were on Medicaid, which requires a 35 percent state match, to coverage under the HELP Act, which is fully paid for by federal money.

Rosendale argued by giving states more control over what can be done with Medicaid expansion money, legislatures like Montana's could "develop more efficient and effective health care delivery reforms to protect those in need."

Montana solutions are better than one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, Rosendale said Thursday. The people in Washington, D.C., are not going to be able to provide the solutions for the entire nation.

Rosendale floated a few possible ideas for how to use potential block grants, including funneling some of the money into health savings accounts for people to choose how to spend.

"If we have the ability for those dollars to transfer down in the form of HSAs, that provides the incentive to get out there and shop (for the least-expensive medical care)," he said. "The people of Montana can do better for themselves and their families than any legislative body."

On Thursday a working group that is aiming to prepare Montana for whatever might happen at the federal level met to discuss the American Health Care Act. The group includes Democratic and Republican legislators, as well as industry representatives. Rosendale stressed to the group that the federal legislation will change as it works its way through Congress.

While the working group discussed drafting legislation to be able to respond if the plan is signed into law by President Trump, uncertainty at this point is why Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, told reporters Thursday he doesn't want the state rushing to create plans to respond to hypothetical scenarios.

Still, the governor expressed disappointment with what's in the current bill, calling it a "sucker-punch to rural states like Montana."

"Flexibility on the one hand always sounds good but if flexibility doesn't come with sufficient funding, those of us in the states have to pick up the pieces."

While Bullock emphasized some parts of the bill, such as changes to Medicaid expansion, don't call for implementation until 2019, he believes slowing the process to deliberate more is necessary.

"My perspective is Congress certainly shouldn't rip health care away from millions of Americans and certainly a lot of Montanans without presenting a viable alternative."
MESA, Ariz.  Sonny Gray spoke to the media Friday for the first time since being diagnosed with a lat strain that is expected to keep him out until late April.

Sometimes you get tested, and theres not a reason for it, the As right-hander said, adding that hes thought 100 times about what might have led to the lat strain with no answer. But theres no doubt in my mind that when this gets knocked out, Im going to be back to being the guy Ive been.

Gray, 27, has been focused on being fully healthy and getting back on track after a rough 2016 season, his worst in the majors. He said hed been feeling fantastic and didnt even think there was an issue when he felt some tightness during and after his start Tuesday. But he mentioned it to team trainers, who scheduled an MRI exam.

I told (manager) Bob (Melvin) Im not worried about it, it will be fine, and then next day I find out that theres a little strain there that will take a little while to heal  which was kind of shocking to me, Gray said.

There are a few positives, however. First, its not an arm injury. Second, it happened with three weeks left in the spring, so instead of missing 5-6 weeks of the regular season, he might just miss three weeks. And getting an MRI exam prevented the possibility of a worse strain, one that might have cost Gray months.

Ive heard this is the best of a worst-case scenario, he said. Im in great shape, my arm feels amazing, my body feels amazing and then this little thing kind of limits you a little bit, that is whats most frustrating.

Briefly: Melvin returned to the Bay Area on Friday to attend to a personal matter, and bench coach Mark Kotsay will handle managerial duties in his absence. Bob is meticulous in preparation, so everything is status quo, Kotsay said. We have our work day planned, the lineup was already set. Im just filling in until he gets back. Angela Sun has been hired as CSN Californias As in-game reporter.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

As 11, Royals 7

Notable: Jharel Cotton worked 31/3 hitless innings, but he walked Alex Gordon to open the fourth and Gordon scored when Lorenzo Cain tripled off Simon Castro, the first hit the reliever has allowed in five outings.  Non-roster outfielder Jaff Decker exited after a collision at first; acting manager Mark Kotsay said he is fine. Kansas Citys Raul Mondesi, flattened on the play, left with a possible concussion.  Matt Olson homered in the second off ex-As starter Jason Hammel.  Chad Pinder hit a three-run homer in the seventh and Andrew Lambo a two-run shot in the eighth. ... Paul Blackburn gave up five runs in one inning, likely taking him out of the running for the fifth-starter job. ... The As have scored 44 runs in their past three games.

Quotable: I think Im trending upward now as I get more starts under me.

 As starter Cotton.

Saturdays game: As vs. Rangers, 12:05 p.m. Radio: 95.7 FM.

 Susan Slusser
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Facing a menu of unpalatable fare-increase proposals to cover losses from declining ridership, BART directors Thursday rejected the idea of raising the lowest fares and had little taste for a plan to discard a discount on high-priced tickets.

However, the board held onto the possibility of putting a surcharge on rides taken using paper fare cards and reducing BARTs discount rates for youths, seniors and disabled people.

The directors did not vote on fare increases, which they say are needed to help fill a projected $25 million to $35 million budget gap, but they discussed which fare proposals should undergo a mandated federal civil rights study so that they can be considered when the board assembles a spending plan for the budget year that starts in July.

Directors are also looking at raising parking fees, increasing advertising, making service cuts and continuing hiring freezes. Earlier in the meeting, directors voted to allow more trains to be wrapped in advertising and to let advertisers set up charging stations for electronic devices, information kiosks and other displays in stations. The expanded advertising could raise an estimated $1.2 million.

But the boards decision to rule out minimum-fare increases and dump the high-value discount, which combined would have raised about $4 million a year, makes service cuts and parking charges more likely.

Board President Rebecca Saltzman said the decision shows the directors want to take a balanced approach to solving the budget problem.

The board does not want to make up the whole deficit by increasing fares, she said. We also have to look at other ways of bringing in new revenues. We want to be creative with how we handle the budget shortfall.

The board seemed more amenable to charging extra to people who use BARTs paper fare cards that come with a magnetic strip as long as machines dispensing Clipper cards are available in all stations. Placement in all BART stations is supposed to happen by January.

BARTs staff had also recommended that the board study raising the minimum fare of $1.95 to $2.25, and reducing discounts for youth, seniors and people with disabilities to 50 percent from 62.5 percent. At the suggestion of director Nick Josefowitz, of San Francisco, board members also considered a study on eliminating the high-value discount ticket program, which allows riders to purchase a $64 ticket for $60 or a $48 ticket for $45.

Raising the minimum fare came under immediate attack from directors who said it would hit BARTs poorest riders hardest and make short BART rides, often one or two stations, more costly than bus rides that go a lot farther. That, said Saltzman, could drive a deeper drop in ridership. Josefowitz called it a regressive fare increase.

Directors were more amenable to at least studying a plan to add 50 cents to the cost of each magnetic paper ticket, but 10 percent and 20 percent surcharges would also be studied.

Few directors liked the idea of reducing BARTs youth, senior and disabled discounts, but all agreed it should be studied. They also want to study a plan to extend the youth discount to age 18 if it were reduced to 50 percent. It now ends at 13.

Director Joel Keller, of Brentwood, said the board needs to get serious about studying fare increases, as odious as they may be.

They all suck, he said of the fare increase options. But we have to be responsible.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
BARTs long-delayed extension to Warm Springs will open in two weeks, moving the Bay Areas regional transit backbone closer to serving San Jose and bringing thousands more parking spaces.

The extension reaches from the Fremont station, currently the end of the line, 5.4 miles south to the new Warm Springs/South Fremont station near the Tesla auto plant in Fremont. Trains will start carrying passengers to and from the station on March 25.

This will bring BART service to the residents of fast-growing south Fremont, said Tom Blalock, a veteran BART director from Fremont, in a statement. Theyll have a reliable, environmentally responsible alternative to driving on the nightmarish Nimitz Freeway.

The extension is the first step toward taking BART into its fifth county, Santa Clara  and it could happen sooner than initially anticipated. A two-station extension to the Berryessa neighborhood of San Jose, being built and paid for by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, is expected to open by the end of the year, several months ahead of schedule.

That was not the case for the Warm Springs extension. BART had planned to open it in 2014. Construction began in 2009 with work crews excavating a mile-long tunnel beneath Fremonts Central Park and Lake Elizabeth, but various problems pushed the opening back to 2015. It was delayed again into 2016, when it was expected to debut sometime last summer.

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But issues with getting the extension to reliably communicate with BARTs automatic train control system pushed the opening back into this year. BART spokesman Jim Allison said Friday that the fixes involved writing new software for the computer that runs trains.

Meanwhile, the gleaming new glass and white-painted-steel station sat finished but empty, disconnected from the rest of the BART system. Nevertheless, it was staffed with five station agents, two janitors and a train controller because of a quirk in the way BART schedules workers.

But now, test trains are running as expected, and the California Public Utilities Commission is expected to grant a mandatory certification Sunday night that will allow BART to start service, Allison said.

Despite the delays, the extension is expected to be completed on or under its $890 million budget, he said.

BARTs newest station features 2,082 parking spots, including 42 electric-vehicle charging stations and bus stops close to the station entrance. Valley Transportation Authority buses will not serve Warm Springs/South Fremont station, said Stacey Ross Hendler, a VTA spokeswoman. However, buses from Fremont to downtown San Jose will continue, she said, until the Berryessa extension opens late this year.

Then people will be able to take BART to San Jose, she said.

A public opening ceremony and station preview will be held March 24 from 10 a.m. to noon. The station is located at 45193 Warm Springs Blvd. Trains will not run between Fremont and Warm Springs/South Fremont until March 25 but free shuttle bus service to and from those locations will be available and the parking lots will be open.

BART last opened a station on its main lines in 2011 when it debuted its first infill station at West Dublin/Pleasanton. In 2014, BART opened its Oakland Airport Connector, an automated line with trains pulled by cables between the Coliseum station and Oakland International Airport.

Warm Springs/South Fremont is the first new BART station to be built on the Richmond-Fremont line since service started in 1972. It will become the rail systems 46th station and for a few months will be its southernmost.

VTAs 10-mile extension to Berryessa in east San Jose will also stop in Milpitas, where theres a connection to VTAs light-rail system. When the project is completed, possibly as soon as the fall, it will be turned over to BART and become part of the regional system.

Santa Clara County officials plan next to extend BART six miles farther to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara  a project thats being designed but is not yet fully funded. It is tentatively scheduled to start service in 2025.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
Oakland's beauty is no secret to those who live there, but the city can often go unappreciated when compared to its neighbor to the west.

Myles Fenwick is using a drone to change people's perspectives and share his love of Oakland's neighborhoods.

Fenwick, who works for a cloud data solutions company, picked up photography as a hobby a few years ago and recently decided to combine his love for it with drone technology.

"I always thought they were the coolest things in the world, so I decided to pull the trigger and buy one," Fenwick told SFGATE.

MORE VIDEO: Jack London Square as seen by drone

In the last month since buying the drone, he has produced four videos, each showcasing a different Oakland neighborhood. His aerial shots of BART trains and graffiti are almost as beautiful as the colorful sunsets he captures over the San Francisco skyline.

He says using a drone allows him to show off his local neighborhoods in a whole new light. "You just get a whole new perspective on everything around you. You can see things that you would never know are there."

Fenwick was born in Australia and grew up in Southeast Asia, but would often visit family in Northern California.

He moved to Oakland after attending the University of San Francisco. "I spent a year living in the city after I graduated, but I kind of got tired of it," Fenwick explained. "Don't get me wrong I love San Francisco, but I was getting tired of how many people would be in the city at the same time and how busy everything was.... even on a foggy day."

MORE VIDEO: Drone video shows beautiful downtown Oakland architecture

Fenwick and his girlfriend made the move across the bay and he says he's loved exploring his new city, both from the air and on the ground. "Each area is so unique and has so much to offer, you just have to be willing to look for it."

Fenwick says he would like to keep making drone videos and show a "pigeon's-eye view" of every Oakland neighborhood. He most recently made videos showcasing downtown and the area around Lake Merritt.

Fenwick posts his videos to his YouTube page and shares some of his photos on Instagram. "I'm just a guy that really likes taking pictures of things and showcasing the world through my point of view," he said.

All in all, Fenwick doesn't regret his move to Oakland one bit. "I think 'The Town' has so much to offer- it has such a rich culture and history, super friendly people, amazing food," he told SFGATE. "Really, the only thing I have to complain about is the potholes."

We can't disagree with you there.
Airbnb makes a big  and growing  chunk of its revenue from commercial operators, according to a study financed by the hotel industry. The home-rental company disputed the report as misleading and inaccurate, and provided The Chronicle with data showing that it had jettisoned hundreds of commercial listings in San Francisco as part of its One Host, One Home policy.

Nationwide, hosts who rent out two or more units to travelers within a single month  which indicates that they are not simply renting their own residences  accounted for $1.8 billion in bookings and almost a third of Airbnbs U.S. revenue, the report said. It said they were Airbnbs fastest-growing segment in numbers of hosts, units and revenue.

This report debunks the story Airbnb likes to tell of themselves as merely a home-sharing platform, said Katherine Lugar, CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, which commissioned the analysis. Her trade group wants local lawmakers to rein in Airbnb so it competes fairly with hotels.

The report showed that Airbnb revenue almost doubled for the 12 months that ended in October, compared with the same period a year earlier. That wildfire growth underlies the companys popularity with investors. Separately on Thursday, Airbnb said it had raised an additional $1 billion, giving it a value of $31 billion. It generated a profit in the second half of 2016 and expects to be profitable this year, according to Reuters.

Airbnbs popularity sparks consternation in areas such as San Francisco and New York, where housing is tight. Critics charge that landlords divert badly needed units into Airbnb rentals. Property owners realize they can make more money renting out to tourists, said Peter Cohen, co-director of the Council of Community Housing Organizations in San Francisco. Airbnb and hosts counter that income from short-term rentals helps residents afford expensive cities.

People who rent out more than one entire home on Airbnb are considered likely to be landlords turning homes into full-time hotels. That practice is illegal in some cities, including San Francisco, which limits short-term rentals to peoples own residences. However, some cities, such as ski and sea destinations with many second homes, do not require vacation rentals to be peoples primary residences.

The study released Thursday said multiunit entire-home hosts are growing in a four-county region it calls San Francisco, as well as in 12 other large markets nationwide. The study conducted by CBRE Hotels Americas Research defined San Francisco as the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin and Sonoma, grouped together.

Airbnb spokesman Christopher Nulty said that lumping Sonoma in with San Francisco skews the data to paint a patently false picture, because Wine Country has many long-established, licensed vacation rentals.

The hotel groups study showed 717 hosts with two or more entire residences in the four Bay Area counties, or about 4.5 percent of the 14,604 hosts in the region. Those hosts generated $38.5 million, or 15.5 percent of the quarter of a billion dollars from the four-county rentals for the 12 months. (The revenue shows how much guests paid; Airbnbs cut is around 12 percent.) The report was based on data extracted from Airbnbs website by research firm Airdna.

This is another strike against the myth of home-sharing, said Dale Carlson, a spokesman for anti-Airbnb group Share Better SF, and a consultant and lobbyist for the hotel trade group and a hotel workers union. Airbnb hides behind people who are renting an extra room from time to time. But the true nature of its business is to encourage people to convert units to full-time tourist accommodations.

Airbnb disputed that characterization. The report is the latest example of the (hotel) industrys willingness to say and do anything to protect their record profits, preserve their ability to price gouge consumers and squash their competition, Nulty said. He said many of the commercial listings covered by the report were in fact legitimate hotels and inns that use Airbnb to handle bookings as the (hotel trade group) already knows.

Airbnb provided The Chronicle with a seven-page report showing that in the 12 months that ended Feb. 1, it removed 923 San Francisco listings offered by hosts with multiple listings.

Of those, 317 were entire homes, 26 were private rooms and 580 were shared rooms, potentially in the hacker hostels that cater to young transplants to the city.

It said that 93.5 percent of the entire homes in San Francisco are from hosts with just one listing. The remaining 6.5 percent are accepted exemptions to our One Host, One Home policy, such as co-hosts (people who manage a listing for a friend), long-term rentals, traditional bed and breakfasts, licensed hotels, and in-law units or suites that are actually part of someones home, it said.

Those exemptions accounted for 12 percent of its San Francisco revenue, Airbnb said. The other 88 percent came from hosts with just one entire-home listing, private and shared rooms, and stays of 30 days or more. Such long-term stays are not covered by the citys vacation-rental rules.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association also backed a report issued this week on Airbnb agreements with various local governments about collecting hotel taxes. The report, which did not include San Francisco, said many of those pacts showed unjustified favoritism for Airbnb and its lodging operators.

Airbnb said it remitted $19 million in hotel taxes to San Francisco in 2016. The company has collected and remitted the citys 14 percent hotel tax since October 2014, and paid an unspecified amount in back taxes. The treasurers office says Airbnb tells it each hosts rental history, so it can verify that taxes are properly paid.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
The San Francisco District Attorneys office confirmed on Thursday that it is investigating an Uber program called Greyball, a tool the ride-hailing company developed to show individual riders different versions of its app. The news comes a day after Uber said it would prohibit employees from using the program to thwart regulators.

Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorneys office, declined to provide additional details about the ongoing investigation, and Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the San Francisco development.

A New York Times article last week outlined how the San Francisco company had used the Greyball program to identify and avoid local regulators who were investigating the service.

The article, which cited four former and current Uber employees, said the company had used Greyball to thwart authorities in various cities in the United States and other countries.

In a statement Wednesday, Joe Sullivan, Ubers chief security officer, said the company was conducting a review of how the technology had been used.

We are expressly prohibiting its use to target action by local regulators going forward, Sullivan said. Given the way our systems are configured, it will take some time to ensure this prohibition is fully enforced.

Uber said that many organizations had inquired about the program and that the company planned to respond once it finished its review.

Officials in Portland, Ore., have called for an investigation into Ubers use of Greyball there.

In 2014, Uber started offering its low-cost ride-hailing service in Portland without getting permission. The city later declared it illegal. Law enforcement officers posed as riders during their investigation of the service, but were unable to catch Uber drivers in the act.

It appeared as though Uber was using Greyball to avoid the officers. In one instance, a code enforcement officer in Portland who opened the Uber app would see representations of cars on the apps map. But the cars themselves never materialized. And the cars they were able to hail would cancel the ride before they arrived.

The Greyball revelation added to the companys recent stream of bad news. In January, it contended with a #deleteUber campaign triggered by riders who thought the company was trying to take advantage of a taxi strike at Kennedy International Airport in New York. (Taxi drivers were protesting President Trumps immigration ban; Uber said it did not mean to break the strike.)

Last month, Uber faced increasing criticism of its workplace culture and was embroiled in a lawsuit over its self-driving cars. And last week, the company dealt with concerns regarding the temperament of its chief executive, Travis Kalanick, after a video of him berating an Uber driver became public.
Number of the day

$92,800,000,000,000

Thats the total household wealth in the U.S. as of the end of last year, a record, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. Americans stock and mutual fund portfolios jumped $728 billion in value in the October-December quarter, while home values rose $557 billion. The $92.8 trillion, a 2.3 percent jump from the previous quarter, includes checking and savings accounts, and subtracts mortgages and other debt. But not all Americans are reaping the gains. The wealthiest 10 percent of Americans own 80 percent of stocks, and younger people are less likely to be homeowners than previous generations, because renting increased in the wake of the housing bubble.

Things go better with water

An industry tracker says bottled water overtook soda as the No. 1 drink in the U.S. by sales volume last year. Beverage Marketing Corp. says Americans drank an average of 39.3 gallons of bottled water in 2016, and 38.5 gallons of carbonated soft drinks. Other industry trackers define drink categories differently, so some still have soda in front, but all agree on the trend: Water up, soda down.

This is worth an extra shot

The Starbucks Roastery in Seattle has started selling two specialty drinks that use beans aged in whiskey barrels. CNN Money reports that the roasting burns off the alcohol, but it keeps the whiskey flavor and smell. Starbucks will also sell bags of the beans.
WikiLeaks will turn over all the details it has on the CIAs alleged hacking arsenal so that tech companies like Apple and Google can patch holes and fix vulnerabilities in their technology before the activist group makes the code publicly available online, the organizations founder announced Thursday.

Julian Assange took questions on the CIA leak in a lengthy online news conference broadcast on Twitter from Ecuadors Embassy in London, where Assange has been since he was granted political asylum in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape accusations, which he has denied.

Assange said the organization would work with tech companies whose products appeared to be targets of CIA cyberattacks that included breaking into phones, computers, cars and televisions.

WikiLeaks has a lot more information about what has been going on with the cyberweapons program. After considering what we think is the best way to proceed and hearing these calls from some of the manufacturers, we have decided to work with them to give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details that we have so that fixes can be developed and pushed out, so people can be secure, Assange said.

He did not detail how WikiLeaks would securely pass the information on to tech firms or to which companies the data would be distributed.

Once companies have had a chance to ensure that consumer devices are properly protected, Assange said, the group will release the code showing how the CIA managed to break into phones, work around encrypted messaging apps and avoid detection by software designed to defend against cyberattacks.

WikiLeaks published a cache of nearly 9,000 documents that the group said had been leaked by a CIA contractor. Though the CIA itself has declined to comment on the authenticity of the documents, several cybersecurity experts interviewed by The Chronicle, including some with previous government experience, said the trove of data appears legitimate.

The initial document release on Tuesday was only a piece of a greater stash of information WikiLeaks said it had hesitated to reveal, due to the sensitive nature of the information and how extensively it could endanger peoples personal data.

In a statement that accompanied the documents, WikiLeaks said it avoided the distribution of armed cyberweapons before those tools could be disabled and rendered relatively benign.

Companies named in the leak, including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung, said this week that they are investigating the claims and patching security holes.

According to the leaked documents, the CIA discovered and kept secret 14 methods of exploiting Apple devices. Those vulnerabilities are known as zero-day attacks, meaning they pounce on security defects unknown even to the company itself and, therefore, have no known fix.

The spy agency also collected 24 weaponized zero-day exploits against Android devices, the documents said, and engaged in an attack called Weeping Angel that turned Samsung Smart TVs into listening devices by putting the television sets in a fake off-mode while hackers used them to record conversations.

Security experts were outraged over the leak, in part, they said, because by keeping information about technological vulnerabilities to itself, the spy agency could have put the personal data of countless people at risk of being hacked by cybercriminals or other countries.

Assange suggested during Thursdays news conference that the CIA may have used some of these tools to spy on Americans, which would be a violation of the agencys legal mandate.

He said WikiLeaks had received a list of more than 22,000 IP addresses  numbers that correspond with individual computers  associated with U.S. computers that could have been used in CIA attacks or targeted by CIA hackers.

Those IP addresses have not be released nor independently verified.

The CIA has denied that it uses electronic surveillance against Americans, and many cybersecurity experts cautioned against trusting Assange, whom many consider to be a tool of Russia.

Samsung, Google and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Assanges offer.
Ron Chapple/Getty Image

Police were on the hunt for three suspects in a shooting Thursday in the Outer Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco that left a 27-year-old man with life-threatening injuries, officials said.

The shooting occurred about 7 p.m. on 47th Avenue and Vicente Street near Ocean Beach, police said.
MISSOULA - A 42-year-old man charged with crashing a stolen truck on Wednesday allegedly told police he was blackout drunk at the time, that all he remembers is that the day before was Taco Tuesday and that he loves tacos.

On Wednesday, a Missoula police officer was dispatched to the 1400 block of Van Buren Street for a reported hit and run in which a truck crossed the center line and then hit a fence.

Donald Eugene Olsen, the alleged driver, ran away, according to a court affidavit.

He was found nearby and after performing poorly on field sobriety tests was arrested and provided a blood sample. He allegedly admitted to having been drinking and told the officer he had blacked out.

The owner of the truck told police he had left the keys inside and it had been stolen from outside his workplace earlier in the day.

At the jail, Olsen allegedly told an officer he did not remember what happened on Wednesday. When asked what he did remember Olsen said he knew the day before had been Taco Tuesday and added I love tacos.

Olsen, who is charged with felony theft, misdemeanor driving under the influence and four other misdemeanors related to the crash, is being held on $2,500 bail.
UC Berkeley police are asking for the publics help in identifying 31 suspects they say engaged in violence and vandalism during a riot that broke out when right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was invited to campus to speak last month.

Police released mostly blurry photos of the suspects, both men and women. In many of the images, the suspects faces are partly covered with bandannas. Some of the suspects are pictured standing near broken windows, while others are carrying protest signs or speaking into bullhorns.
Aspiring movie stars with a knack for singing may have a future with Disney, thanks to an open casting call the production company is holding to find its new lead roles for the live-action revamp of the 1992 classic, "Aladdin," as Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

According to the casting call, director Guy Ritchie is searching for two leads of Middle Eastern descent, aged 18-25, who "must be able to sing." It also notes that dance experience is "a plus" but not a necessity.
It's been a few months since I shared my favorite dishes of the week, but since this was a particularly intense week I thought I would revive that feature.

I'm closing in on the Top 100 Bay Area restaurants, so I've been doubling up on lunches and dinners. Not every place I have visited deserves the spotlight, but there were still many memorable dishes worth sharing.
BUTTE  An Ennis man federally indicted on charges for illegally possessing devices to convert rifles into machine guns will accept a plea deal, according to recent court filings.

Jason Bausch was arrested on July 24, 2016, after the Madison County Sheriff's Department responded to texts and a call from a woman fearing for her life and claiming to be held captive by Bausch in his Ennis Lake cabin.

Police served a search warrant on Bausch's house after the arrest to confiscate firearms and proof of Bausch's relationship with the woman, who had returned to the house with a victim advocate to collect her belongings. The woman showed police gun parts hidden in the bathroom that are used to convert AR-15 rifles into fully automatic firearms.

Police later confiscated the gun parts, called drop-in auto sears, which are legally considered machine guns under federal law and were unregistered, which is a felony. Indicted in December for illegal possession of a machine gun and possession of an unregistered firearm, Bausch filed in February to have the auto sears suppressed as evidence, claiming the victim was acting as a government agent during the search and exceeded the authority of the search warrant.

Judge Dana Christensen denied Bausch's motion Wednesday, ruling that for legal purposes, the victim was a resident of Bausch's home at the time and legally consented to a search, making the search warrants irrelevant.

The auto sears were not suppressed. Had they been, the U.S. attorney would have likely been unable to prosecute.

Bausch filed a notice of intent to plead guilty Thursday to possession of an unregistered firearm with the prosecution set to drop the illegal machine gun charge in a plea agreement.

Bausch also faces local charges of two counts of felony assault with a weapon on a partner, felonies for intimidation and kidnapping, a third partner assault charge that would be a felony if Bausch is convicted of the other two assault charges, and misdemeanors for theft and resisting arrest.

The Ennis man's 2015 suspended 18-month prison sentence for assault and unlawful restraint could also be revoked, as the Madison County attorney alleges Bausch's lawbreaking and possession of firearms and a knife in July violated the terms of his probation.
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San Francisco brewery Speakeasy Ales & Lagers will cease operations indefinitely, the company announced Friday. The Bayview taproom served customers for the last time on Thursday evening.

"The last year and a half, we've been looking for options to secure additional capital to keep us going, and unfortunately we couldn't come to terms to make that happen," Brian Stechschulte, the brewery's public relations and media director, told Inside Scoop. "It left us with no choice but to cease operations."

The future of the brand will now be up to the company's primary creditor. That creditor, though Stechschulte would not name it, we believe to be Union Bank, which financed the company's 2015 expansion -- an upgrade from 15,000 to 90,000 barrel capacity estimated at around $7.5 million. (According to Stechschulte, Speakeasy produced around 35,000 barrels of beer in 2016.)

Speakeasy has been a San Francisco mainstay since 1997, and those shifty, neon-lit eyes are a fixture of our city's bar windows. In a recent debate among Chronicle food staff (topic: What are the four iconic Bay Area beers?), food editor Paolo Lucchesi nominated Prohibition Ale: "The amber ale was the Bayview brewery's first beer and it still holds up," he wrote.

Now's the time to hoard your favorite ales. What remains of Speakeasy's inventory, which is sold in several states, has been sent to distributors and will be sold through.

The brewery is still hoping for a lifeline. "The unfortunate thing about this whole situation is that we don't have direct information from the creditor," said Stechschulte. "There's a whole bunch of situations we can speculate about  obviously what we would like is to see the brewery and the brand."

When asked whether the increasingly competitive nature of craft beer in the Bay Area may have played a role, Stechschulte said he believes it was not the primary cause. "It's certainly hard to deny that that played a role," he said, "but we had a lot of things going on that led us to the situation today."

Stay tuned in the weeks ahead as we learn more about the fate of Speakeasy.
CHICAGO  Rookie doctors can work up to 24 hours straight under new limits taking effect this summer  a move supporters say will enhance training and foes maintain will do just the opposite.

A Chicago group that establishes work standards for U.S. medical school graduates has voted to eliminate a 16-hour cap for first-year residents. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education announced the move Friday as part of revisions that include reinstating the longer limit for rookies  the same maximum allowed for advanced residents.

An 80-hour per week limit for residents at all levels remains in place under the new rules.

Dr. Anai Kothari, a third-year resident on a council panel that recommended the changes, says he only occasionally works 24-hour shifts. The extra hours give him time to finish up with patients instead of being sent home in the middle of a case, said Kothari, who works at Loyola University Medical Center near Chicago.

But first-year resident Dr. Samantha Harrington thinks it will endanger the safety of residents and patients. Harrington says her 14-hour shifts this winter at Cambridge Hospital near Boston are already plenty long. To stay awake while driving home after work, she sometimes rolls down the window to let the freezing air blast her in the face.

Harrington says the grueling hours are based on a patriarchal hazing system, where longtime physicians think I went through it, so therefore you have to go through it too. She is a member of the Committee of Interns and Residents, a union group that opposes the work-shift changes. So does the American Medical Student Association.

Dr. Kelly Thibert, the groups president, says putting a 16-hour cap on all residents work shifts would be a safer way to even the playing field.

There are more than 120,000 U.S. doctors-in-training including rookies.

The accreditation council has for years wrestled with ensuring that doctors are adequately trained but not over-worked.

Lindsay Tanner is an Associated Press writer.
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Poor people dont have enough access to the U.S. legal system, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told students at UC Berkeley on Wednesday.

Not that well, Sotomayor said when asked by a law student in the audience whether the justice system succeeds in treating the rich and poor equally.

We dont have enough lawyers volunteering their time to serve the needy, she said. We have an imperfect criminal justice system. What some states pay criminal defenders is almost criminal in itself  some states barely above the minimum wage.

And low-income Americans right to government-paid legal assistance in criminal cases does not extend to civil cases like child custody disputes, Sotomayor said, while we tout family values.

She did not mention President Trumps budget proposal to eliminate funding for the Legal Services Corp., which underwrites legal assistance programs for the poor.

The 62-year-old justice spent an hour in a packed auditorium answering questions from law students and from Melissa Murray, the law schools interim dean who was a law clerk for Sotomayor 16 years ago on a federal appeals court in New York.

Sotomayor, who grew up in a poor New York neighborhood, graduated from Princeton and Yale Law School, then worked as a New York prosecutor and a private lawyer before President George H.W. Bush appointed her to a federal court in 1991. President Bill Clinton named her to the appeals court seven years later, and in 2009, President Barack Obama chose her for the high court, the first Hispanic justice.

While Sotomayor has turned out to be one of the courts more liberal justices and a frequent dissenter from conservative rulings, she was not the first choice of liberal advocates. Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe, Obamas former mentor, told the president in a letter in 2009, before the nomination was announced, that Sotomayor was not nearly as smart as she seems to think she is.

Thats pretty painful, Sotomayor told the students, drawing a laugh when she referred to the criticism as alternative facts, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conways euphemism for falsehoods told by press secretary Sean Spicer. But she said she had struggled with self-confidence on the bench.

Being a judge was the most terrifying event in my life, she said. I was convinced I was gonna fail but was determined to die trying, working seven days a week and long hours each day as she broke into her new positions.

Im not the smartest person in the Supreme Court room, she said, but I give myself credit for having a vision of how the law affects people.

The court has been shorthanded since the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. After Republicans refused to consider Obamas nomination of appeals court Judge Merrick Garland, Trump nominated another federal appellate judge, Neil Gorsuch, whose confirmation hearings are scheduled to begin this month.

The ideologically divided court is trying to reach consensus more in order to achieve majorities in most cases, Sotomayor said. But its not always a good thing to come to a compromise that avoids the big issue, she said. The issue is still out there awaiting a future case.

She also said she was sad that the public has lost confidence in the judiciary ... that so many people believe were politicized.

Its not that the court has become politicized, Sotomayor said, but that the society has.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com
NEWARK, N.J.  A man who entered the U.S. illegally more than 25 years ago Friday received a 60-day extension to seek a stay of deportation after the Archbishop of Newark, other members of the clergy and a U.S. senator marched to a federal building in support.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the head of New Jerseys largest Roman Catholic archdiocese, and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., were among those who rallied in support of Catalino Guerrero. He puts a face to what is often treated as statistics or demons, Tobin said.

Menendez said he hopes Guerreros case and others like it will hasten immigration reform.

I hope President Trump is watching because Catalino Guerrero is not a bad hombre, Menendez said, referring to a characterization made by the president recently of people who would be targeted for deportation. He is a good and decent man.

Organizers said the 59-year-old Guerrero came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 1991 and has worked ever since, owns his house and has no criminal record. The grandfather of four applied for a work permit several years ago but filled out a form incorrectly, they said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials summoned Guerrero last month and told him to plan to surrender his passport on March 10, Guerreros supporters said this week. He was seeking a year stay of removal, but that request was denied Friday.

An ICE spokesman said in an email Thursday that Guerrero, a Mexican national unlawfully present, was ordered removed from the United States in 2009 by an immigration judge. Guerrero remains free from custody and must periodically report to ICE as a condition of his release.

Tobin has been critical of President Trumps immigration policies. Last month, he called Trumps executive order temporarily banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries misbegotten and said it was playing on irrational fears of people.

Tobin said lawmakers should focus on fixing immigration laws rather than on large-scale deportation.

David Porter is an Associated Press writer.
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WASHINGTON  Lawyers for retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told President Trumps transition team before the inauguration that Flynn might need to register with the government as a foreign agent, but Trump was not aware of the possible move, the White House said Friday.

The disclosure by White House officials confirms the Trump transition team was aware of the situation involving the presidents pick for a top national security post either before he joined the government or soon afterward.

But the White Houses acknowledgment raised new questions about whether Trumps transition team, and later, his White House lawyers, fully vetted Flynn after being informed about his possible filing as a foreign agent for his lobbying during the presidential campaign that may have benefited the government of Turkey.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer dismissed questions about whether the information should have given the transition team pause, saying Flynn had impeccable credentials.

Trump fired Flynn last month, saying he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials about his contacts with Russias ambassador to the U.S.

Spicer confirmed that Flynns personal lawyer contacted Trump transition attorneys before the inauguration about the possible filing. But he added that Flynns representative only asked for guidance and did not provide more details about the lobbying work or Flynns business dealings.

Spicer said Flynns decision whether to file as a foreign agent was a personal matter that his own attorney would need to handle.

Flynn and his firm, Flynn Intel Group Inc., filed papers with the Justice Department this week identifying him as a foreign agent and acknowledging that his work for a company owned by a Turkish businessman could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.

In the filings, Flynn and his company described $530,000 worth of lobbying before Election Day on behalf of Inovo BV, a Dutch-based company owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin. The lobbying occurred from August through November while Flynn was a top Trump campaign adviser.

Chad Day, Stephen Braun and Julie Pace are Associated Press writers.
1 U.S. infrastructure: The Trump administration promises to pump $1 trillion into improving the countrys crumbling infrastructure, but a benchmark report says it will take almost $4.6 trillion over the next eight years to bring all those systems up to an acceptable standard. The price tag for redemption has grown steadily for 15 years while an expanding country focused on building new infrastructure rather than maintaining existing systems that were nearing the end of their natural life. Since 2001, the cost of repairing those systems has mushroomed from $1.3 trillion to the current figure, according to an assessment released Thursday by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

2 Death penalty: Florida lawmakers are trying for the second year in a row to fix the states death penalty law. The Legislature is preparing to send Gov. Rick Scott a bill to require unanimous jury decision to impose the death penalty. The House and Senate are scheduled to take up the bill Thursday. The U.S. Supreme Court in January 2016 declared the states death penalty sentencing law unconstitutional because it gave too much power to judges. The Republican-dominated Legislature isnt happy about having to make the fix, but lawmakers say their hands are tied by the court.
WASHINGTON  As congressional investigations into Russias interference in the 2016 election are ramping up, so is the political division, raising questions about whether lawmakers work will be viewed as credible.

This week the House scheduled its first public hearing, which some swiftly dismissed as political theater. Even as lawmakers began to review classified information at CIAs headquarters, Democrats continued to call for an independent panel and special prosecutor.

The dynamic underscored the escalating concerns about whether the Republican-led investigations will have the funding, focus and, perhaps most important, bipartisan buy-in to produce findings that are broadly accepted and definitive.

To be honest, we dont know yet, said Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, which is conducting a probe. I cant say for certain whether that will be possible. I can only say it is very much in the national interest that we do so. Because we cannot allow this to become another Benghazi committee.

Both Republicans and Democrats have their examples of misguided or failed investigations. For Democrats, the cautionary tale is the years-long probe into the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Congress spent millions on the effort and the Benghazi committee held four public hearings. But Democrats consistently dismissed it as a political witch hunt aimed at Hillary Clinton.

Other efforts  Watergate, Iran-Contra and the probe into Wall Streets role in the financial crisis as examples  are generally viewed as having risen above the partisan fray.

The only investigations which have credibility are the ones which are truly bipartisan, said former Sen. Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, who ran many congressional investigations.

Trust was shaken when the White House enlisted the Republican chairs of the House and Senate intelligence committees to help push back on reports about Trump campaign officials contacts with Russia, one of the elements lawmakers are tasked with investigating. Both Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Rep. Devin Nunes of Tulare said they did not do anything improper.

Nunes, who was a member of Trumps transition team, declared he had seen no evidence of improper contacts as the investigation was just getting under way.

Successful investigations also need to be funded. The Senate has approved $1.2 million for the intelligence committee for the Russia investigation, according to a person familiar with budget details. By comparison, the Benghazi investigation cost that committee more than $7 million.
WASHINGTON  Republican leaders drove their long-promised legislation to dismantle Barack Obamas health care law over its first big hurdles in the House on Thursday and reported fresh momentum despite cries of protest from right, left and center.

After grueling all-night sessions, the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees both approved their portions of the bill along party-line votes. The legislation, strongly supported by President Trump, would replace the tax penalties for the uninsured under Obamas Affordable Care Act with a conservative blueprint likely to cover far fewer people but, Republicans hope, increase choice.

The vote in Ways and Means came before dawn, while the Energy and Commerce meeting lasted past 27 hours as exhausted lawmakers groped for coffee refills, clean shirts and showers.

Angry Democrats protested that Republicans were acting in the dead of night to rip insurance coverage from poor Americans. But Republican leaders sounded increasingly confident that, after seven years of empty promises about undoing Obamas law, they might finally be able to overcome their own deep divisions and deliver a bill to Trump to sign.

This is the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing Obamacare, Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said at a press briefing where he arrived in shirt-sleeves to deliver a wonky power-point presentation on the GOP bill, part TED talk and part Schoolhouse Rock.

The time is here. The time is now. This is the moment. And this is the closest this will ever happen.

Leaders are aiming for passage by the full House in the next couple of weeks, and from there the legislation would go to the Senate and, they hope, on to Trumps desk. The president has promised to sign it, declaring over Twitter on Thursday, We are talking to many groups, and it will end in a beautiful picture!

Yet at the same time the president is leaving himself a political out, privately telling conservative leaders that if the whole effort fails, Democrats will ultimately shoulder the blame for the problems that remain. Thats according to a participant in the meeting Wednesday who spoke only on condition of anonymity to relay the private discussion.

Democrats reject that notion, and the entire GOP effort.

What we have seen is the Republicans long-feared and job-killing health bill that means less coverage and more cost to American people, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. I dont think the president really knows what hes talking about.

Erica Werner and Alan Fram are Associated Press writers.
For Charley Green, one thing in life always seems to lead to another.

The Kansas native has seen and done a lot in his 78 years. Growing up, he worked on the family farm. Later he gained experience as a teacher, a home builder, a church administrator, a limousine driver and even a novelist (he wrote The Relucant Warrior, about a westward journey after the Civil War).

As Green likes to say, his career path can be defined as having been in between opportunities a lot until something else falls into place.

What is he focused on now? Financial education, namely as it relates to helping children and parents make better choices about going to college  or not  and avoiding suffocating student-loan debt.

I met Green for the first time after he contacted me about a column I wrote on older Americans who are now more likely than ever to be burdened with student debt long into retirement. In many cases, I noted, grandparents have taken on debt to help a grandchild cover the tuition tab.

Sitting at a restaurant, Green opened his briefcase and pulled out samples of his work, all self-published booklets. His first book several years ago was Debt-Free College Education or a Debtors Burden? There was a follow-up, If You Think Student Loans Will Guarantee the American Dream, You Might Qualify as Some Type of a Dumb Ass. About a year ago he wrote How to Keep Student Loans from Threatening Your American Dream. (These and other works are available at www.charleygreen.com.)

Green said hes always had a strong interest in education, and was inspired to write college finances after hearing stories over the years from friends and even family members who had suffered through the stress, pressure and broken dreams associated with being overburdened with student loans.

The goal of his latest 92-page booklet, he said, is to create a heightened sense of awareness, and to reinforce positive attitudes and actions needed to achieve a debt-free degree as well as point out dumb (actions) to avoid.

Debt free? Or even minimal debt? Green acknowledges the financial challenges of obtaining a degree have never been greater. But he believes its not out of the question to avoid or minimize debt if you possess financial smarts, are self-reliant and are focused on a career path with a marketable degree.

Its not going to be easy, Green said, and its not for the lazy and unmotivated.

His attitude is the exact opposite of how many students and parents approach selecting and financing college. Many pick schools that are out of their price range and compound the problem by not understanding student loan repayment obligations before signing on the dotted line.

Greens latest publication is a mixture of advice and tough love, and it offers lessons and suggestions that resonate far beyond his home in Overland Park.

Some of his main pieces of advice:

 Parents need to instill in their children the value of saving for a rainy day at an early age. For example, one can pay $5 for a cappuccino or save the money. Its about choices, Green said.

 Know the rule of 35 when evaluating student loan balances and projected salary after college. For example, he said, if you borrowed 25,000, you will need a job that pays 35 percent more per year than the principal on the debt to meet repayment responsibilities.

 Dont wait until senior year of college to start job hunting. Visit the career counseling center early, apply for internships, and find someone you can trust who can guide you through tough decisions and be your mentor.

 Dont discount jobs in skilled trades, such as plumbing, electrical and construction. If youre weighing the value of a college degree paid for with lots of student loans vs. skipping college and going straight to the job market, the salary equalizer may be the debt, Green said.

 If you borrowed heavily to pay for college, pare your post-campus living, socializing and entertaining to a minimum and use the extra money to pay down student loans.

Its no surprise that Green has a side project underway, an audio version of his latest college student loan booklet. Green has even written a song. Its called The Debtors Train.
BERLIN (AP)  Pope Francis says the church must study whether it's possible to ordain married men to minister in remote communities facing priest shortages.

In an interview published Thursday with Germany's Die Zeit, Francis stressed that removing the celibacy rule is not the answer to the Catholic Church's priest shortage. But he expressed an openness to studying whether so-called "viri probati"  or married men of proven faith  could be ordained.

"We must consider if viri probati is a possibility. Then we must determine what tasks they can perform, for example, in remote communities," he was quoted as saying.

The "viri probati" proposal has been around for decades, but it has drawn fresh attention under history's first Latin American pope, thanks in part to his appreciation of the challenges facing the church in places like Brazil, a huge Catholic country with an acute shortage of priests.

Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, a longtime friend of Francis and former head of the Vatican's office for clergy, is reportedly pressing to allow viri probati in the Amazon, where the church counts around one priest for every 10,000 Catholics.

Francis has shown particular openness to receiving concrete proposals for ordaining married men as well as his own pastoral concern for men who have left ministry to marry.

He has maintained friendship with the Argentine widow of a friend who left the priesthood to marry, and he spent one of his Friday mercy missions last year visiting with men who had left ministry to start families. He has also said that while he favors a celibate priesthood, celibacy technically can be up for discussion since it's a discipline of the church, not a dogma.

The church allows some exceptions to the rule. Priests in the eastern rite Catholic Church are allowed to be married, as are married Anglican priests who convert to Catholicism.

In the interview, Francis also confirmed Colombia was on his travel plans for 2017, as well as India and Bangladesh. He ruled out Congo, which had been rumored, but mentioned Egypt as a possibility. Francis has also recently said he hoped to visit South Sudan.

Francis also repeated his warning of the dangers of rising populism in western democracies, saying "populism is evil and ends badly as the past century showed."

In the first major interview that Francis has given a German newspaper, the pope was asked whether he experienced moments in which he doubted the existence of God. He responded: "I, too, know moments of emptiness."

But, he pointed out periods of crisis are also a chance to grow, saying a believer who doesn't experience that remains "infantile."


President Donald Trump and his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, have introduced a new political language to Washington - a populist and nationalist rhetoric that cuts across traditional Republican vs. Democratic divisions.

Some of the words and phrases the administration has injected into Washington's political vocabulary previously thrived on the far reaches of both left and right. Here is a glossary of terms that Trump and Bannon have been using, with some background on where the language came from and how it's been deployed.

Economic nationalism: Bannon and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller have described the overall philosophy driving the Trump administration's policy initiatives as "economic nationalism," which Bannon defined as a singular focus on American jobs. The idea, according to two senior administration officials, is to pull back from multilateral trade agreements, multinational organizations, and the free flow of goods (and, to some degree, workers) that the previous four presidents emphasized. This was the "new world order" that President George H.W. Bush envisioned after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 - a system of interlocking, international agreements and alliances that he hoped would replace the Cold War faceoff between communism and capitalism.

That system, Bannon and Miller believe, has failed. Bannon wants to replace it wholesale - a blizzard of change "as exciting as the 1930s, greater than the Reagan revolution," he said - with a system that used to be known as "protectionism," using tariffs and other government action to press U.S. companies to bring offshored jobs back home and make their goods here. Most economists dismiss the idea of economic nationalism, saying that automation, far more than globalization, has reduced the supply of manufacturing jobs. They cite Adam Smith, the 18th-century Scottish economist, who called the concept of a balance of trade "absurd" and wrote that tariffs are a tool of "national prejudice and animosity."

Enemy of the people: From the internecine political battles of ancient Rome through the Leninist purges within the Soviet Union's sprawling bureaucracy, the term "enemy of the people" has been used by revolutionaries and reactionary states alike to tar the opposition as disloyal. During the French Revolution, a tribunal was created to punish "enemies of the people" who, among other crimes, spread "false news." Vladimir Lenin used the term as the basis for collaring political opponents, especially "landowners and capitalists," and bringing them before his revolutionary court. In 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev eliminated the term from the Soviet lexicon because it had been "specifically introduced for the purpose of physically annihilating" those who opposed the government. The slur has been wielded through the past century against czars and rebellious subjects, and against Jews and imperialists.

Globalist: Trump said during the campaign that in deciding between him and Hillary Clinton, voters faced "a choice between Americanism and her corrupt globalism." To Trump and Bannon, what Trump called "the false song of globalism" connotes jobs shipped abroad, out-of-control immigration and an international elite of political and financial leaders who profit from a globalized economy, at the cost of good jobs and wages for middle-class Americans. To many - including large majorities in Congress over the past two decades - who have supported the world's movement toward closer economic ties across national borders, globalism is not an insult but an aspiration. But Trump said during the campaign that Clinton was part of a global conspiracy with bankers to "plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty." "Globalism" for many decades has been used by nationalists in many countries as shorthand for a drive by elites to demean national cultures and traditions, seeking instead a one-world, single-market system. Starting in the 1990s, some on the far right focused their critique of the U.S. political system on the "new world order," the system of economic alliances that conspiracy theorists of various stripes saw as a nefarious conspiracy against working people.

Corporatist: Although Bannon and many other Trump supporters billed his candidacy as a rejection of corporatism - the system of regulations and subsidies by which government helps boost corporate profits - Trump himself has defended subsidies and other public support of corporations throughout his career.

Leftists and rightists alike have used the term "corporatist" to denounce politicians who put profits and stock values ahead of the interests of working people. The word was used to criticize both President George W. Bush and his successor, Barack Obama, despite their stark political differences. In Trump's case, the word is being used to reject policies in support of companies that ship American jobs abroad. "Corporatism used to be part of Americanism," said a senior administration official. "People used to say 'what's good for GE is good for America.' " But then came globalization, and "the corporation was disaggregated from the country," the official said, because some American companies made more money by investing outside the country than they did within its borders.

Corporatism started out as an ideal advanced by 19th-century European thinkers, including leaders of the Catholic church, who envisioned a system based on private enterprise and religion in which workers, entrepreneurs and the state could come together for the common good. But in the 1960s, leftist academics and libertarian theorists retooled the term to reject aspects of American capitalism, either because it was too oriented toward corporate profits, as some on the left saw it, or because it was too limited by government regulation and welfare benefits, as libertarians argued.

Fake news: Phony news stories ginned up to support or undermine politicians or governments have been around as long as real news has. Trump's use of the term to diminish the credibility of news organizations whose reports he objects to is also not new. Politicians around the world, and especially populists and nationalists, have long found it useful to attack independent or oppositional news sources as propagandists and liars.

As far back as the 16th century, Roman political operatives composed nasty sonnets about the candidates they opposed and posted them for voters to read, according to the historian Robert Darnton. In the United States before the Civil War, fake news about rapes and assaults by slaves sometimes sparked attacks against slaves by white mobs. And in the 1930s and '40s, Adolf Hitler's Nazi party used fake news accounts of purported crimes by Jews to spur Germans to attack their Jewish neighbors. Accusations of fake news by political extremists have been used through the centuries to deepen divisions in societies to help minority parties gain a foothold on power.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, President Richard Nixon carried on a sustained attack on newspapers and TV networks that he believed were fomenting opposition to his policies. "We saw the media as the part of opposition, just as Bannon does," said Patrick Buchanan, an architect of Nixon's anti-media strategy. "The media had power, so you have to go ahead and do the things you need to do to defeat them. The media provided the intellectual support for the Democrats on the Hill."

Trump's criticism of news reporters works, Buchanan said, because it appeals to exactly the group of voters who support him - people who often believe that news companies are elitist institutions with a condescending attitude toward their customers.

America first: "From this day forward, it's going to be only America first," President Trump said in his inaugural address. 'America first' is not merely a statement of nationalist pride; it's a slogan that candidates and movements have used periodically in three centuries of American politics to connote various degrees of isolationism and opposition to immigration and foreign influences.

From George Washington's warning against foreign entanglementsin 1796 through congressional opposition to America joining Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations in 1919 and on to the grass-roots resistance to engaging in World War II, some Americans - usually through fringe movements such as Charles Lindbergh's America First Committee in the 1940s or the American First Party that supporters of Patrick Buchanan created in 2002 - have argued that the nation's economic health and cultural identity require taking advantage of our oceanic distance from other world powers to stick primarily to ourselves.

To Lindbergh, 'America first' meant staying neutral in World War II to maintain "an independent American destiny." It also meant blaming American Jews for pushing the United States toward war and for twisting public opinion through their purported control of the media. "America first" supporters have almost uniformly contended that most Americans supported their cause but that the news media refused to reflect that reality. Lindbergh, Buchanan and Trump have all made that argument, despite opinion surveys to the contrary. Until Trump, candidates from 'America first' movements have failed to win elections. Now one has.
The problem in American parenting is the 1960s. Among other things that defined that very interesting (ref. ancient Chinese curse) decade was the replacement of rationality by emotionality. It was during the 1960s that the media, various self-appointed spiritual gurus, and the mental health professional community urged people to get in touch with their feelings. And it was during the 1960s that parents were told by mental health professionals that children had a right to express their feelings freely.

I was in graduate school at the time. My professors taught that (a) feelings  especially childrens feelings  held deep meaning, (b) therapy was all about helping people recover the feelings their parents had made them repress, and (c) getting in touch with ones feelings was the key to happiness. To be polite about it, a crock if there ever was one.

I now know  and beyond a shadow of doubt  that with rare exception, ones feelings are more apt to deceive than promote good decisions. I also know that pre-psychological (pre-1960s) parents insisted that their children control the expression of emotion for the good of those children (as well as the good of everyone who was ever in contact with those children). I also know that people who are ruled by their emotions  people who cannot think straight, in other words  are not happy people. In their own enslaved minds, they are perpetual victims. Furthermore, the undisciplined nature of their emotions is destructive both to themselves and others. Undisciplined emotions destroy relationships, property, and spiritual health.

Fifty years later, America is paying a terrible price for having ever believed that when it came to children (and most other things), mental health professionals knew what they were talking about. They claimed, without evidence, that insisting upon emotional control was repressive and authoritarian (and therefore harmful). They claimed, without evidence, that enforcing shame upon a child who had behaved anti-socially  they named it shame-based parenting  would result in psychological problems (when the opposite is true).

Granted, shame can be taken to extremes, but shame is essential to the formation of a conscience, which is essential to responsible self-government. Children are not naturally disposed to shame. It must be trained into them by loving parents who are not supposed to enjoy what they must do. A child so trained is destined to become a compassionate, responsible human being, not an emotional basket case.

Happiness is not a matter of letting it all hang out. Quite the contrary, it is all about holding most of it in. It is about self-control, respect for others, and responsibility. It is about a value system that places others before self. A certain amount of repression is a good thing.

America needs a Make American Parenting Great Again! movement. When all is said and done concerning the many political concerns of the day, one indisputable fact remains: a cultures strength ultimately depends on the strength of its child-rearing practices. Building a strong infrastructure is fine and dandy, but building emotionally resilient and responsible future citizens is even more fine and dandy. In fact, it is the most important thing there is.
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Facing pressure from state legislators, Vallejo residents and environmentalists, local air regulators are reversing course and now say they are still trying to figure out what caused an unbearable odor that sickened scores of Vallejo residents and prompted a shelter-in-place order last September.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District told KQED last month that, although it had earlier completed an investigation of the incident, staff had never compiled a report or wrote anything down about their work in seeking the source of the fumes.

But now, Wayne Kino, the air district's director of compliance and enforcement, says the inquiry is still going on.

"We are actively investigating the source of the odor complaints despite the fact that the Coast Guard has closed its case," Kino said Wednesday.

The Coast Guard announced in October that it had determined an oil spill in San Pablo Bay, discovered on Sept. 20 around the same time as the odor complaints came in, originated from either a marine terminal at the Phillips 66 refinery in Rodeo or a tanker that was unloading there.

The refinery and the company that own the tanker have rejected the Coast Guard's findings, which did not link the spill to the Vallejo fumes.

Kino said the district did not initially understand the magnitude of the Vallejo incident.

He said the district received only a handful of air complaints the evening of Sept. 20 and was not aware that 800 people had contacted local emergency dispatchers about the fumes. He suggested that's why the district assigned just one inspector to respond to the fumes.

"At that point I don't think it was quite known that we had such a widespread problem," Kino said, adding that if the agency had known more, it would have dispatched more inspectors.

The one inspector who responded arrived in Vallejo, a city of 118,000, about an hour after the first complaints came in.

"I would guess she was out there for an hour, maybe two hours," Kino said. The inspector couldn't detect the odor and couldn't find where it came from, he said.

The district later looked at a number of possible sources, including nearby oil refineries, a sewage plant at the base of the Carquinez Bridge, the C&H Sugar plant in Crockett and ship traffic, Kino said. The agency also checked ground-level air monitors in the area.

Eventually, district investigators zeroed in on the Phillips 66 marine terminal, a tanker that was unloading crude there at the time, pipes connecting the terminal and ship, and a vapor-recovery system at the facility. Inspectors did not find enough evidence to tie the spill to the fumes, Kino said.

State Senator Wants Answers

Kino's comments come as state Sen. Bill Dodd, who represents Vallejo, is demanding the air district provide details of its inquiry into the fumes.

"The citizens of Vallejo and Solano County deserve an explanation as to what may have happened," Dodd wrote in a letter to the district on Wednesday. "Without identifying the source, it becomes impossible to take measures to prevent or reduce risk of such an event from occurring again."

Dodd's letter also says Vallejo's Sutter Solano Medical Center declared a mass casualty incident because so many people were seeking emergency treatment at its facility. That declaration prompted ambulances to transport 20 people to other hospitals in Solano County, Dodd's letter says.

New Details on Air District's Probe

Word of Dodd's letter prompted the air district to provide more details about its investigation and explain why it has released so little information about it.

Kino said district inspectors don't normally keep records of potential sources of pollution that have been eliminated as suspected causes of a problem.

"When they're looking for an odor source, they don't necessarily document the negative of that," Kino said.

He added that much of the communication the air district had with the Coast Guard about the incident was done during in-person meetings that did not involve emails and documents.

In February, KQED requested copies of all documents and email correspondence related to the district's work on the odor and spill. District officials then said no such materials exist. An air district spokesman also told KQED its investigation into the odor was completed.

But Kino said Wednesday that documents on the incident do exist, including dozens of complaint reports about the odor and other investigative notes  all documents the district is refusing to release.

He said the district won't release the records because the district is still investigating.

Residents, State Assemblyman, Environmentalists Demand More

People who live in Vallejo are still left without answers.

One of them is Heather Blithely, who has pressed the air district for more information on its probe and created a Facebook page called Phillips 66 Spill Vallejo.

"The fact that there's not any paper trail is shocking and disappointing," Blithely said in an interview. "I think it's really disgraceful that they didn't at least let everyone know what they didn't find."

Assemblyman Timothy Grayson, like Sen. Dodd, represents Vallejo.

"I understand and share the frustration of my constituents that we still don't have an answer as to what caused the odor," Grayson said in a statement.

The lack of information has prompted anger from two environmental groups that have followed the issue.

"It's outrageous that air district officials and other agencies failed to get to the bottom of this major oil pollution incident," said Miyoko Sakashita, the Oakland-based oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

"This weak response to an oil spill that polluted our bay and sent people to the hospital underscores the dangers of shipping crude through our fragile coastal environment," Sakashita said.

"Multiple agencies have strong evidence of the source of this oil spill and the associated fumes that posed a risk to nearby residents," said Ian Wren, a staff scientist at San Francisco Baykeeper. "The failure to enforce our clean air and water laws is unacceptable."

This story originally appeared on KQED.
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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A San Francisco Municipal Railway bus driver was assaulted by a pedestrian early this morning in the city's South of Market area.

The driver was parked in the 200 block of Folsom Street near Main Street just before 3 a.m. in an outbound 38-Geary bus when she was approached by a pedestrian, according to police and Muni officials.

The pedestrian walked up to the driver's window, which was partially opened, and started to pull on her jacket, pulling her toward the window, police Officer Giselle Talkoff said.

The driver hit the suspect several times in self-defense and the suspect hit her back before eventually fleeing the scene, Talkoff said.

The victim heard something fall and saw a knife on the ground, but told officers that the suspect never brandished it or attacked her with it.

The driver was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure, but did not suffer serious injuries.

Police are investigating the incident and are looking for any surveillance video from the area. It was unclear as of this afternoon whether the suspect was male or female, with police saying only that they may have been somewhere in their 30s to 50s.
DECATUR  All good things must come to an end, and so it is with the springlike weather that has visited Central Illinois over the past few weeks.

The forecast for this weekend and next week calls for cold weather and even some snow. In southern Illinois, where some orchard crops are already weeks ahead of schedule, a freeze warning is likely to cause worry for some farmers.

Meteorologist Chris Geelhart advised Decatur residents to cover any flowers that are further along than they might be normally. We got kind of spoiled by all that warm weather we've had recently, he said.

There's a chance of light snow or flurries in much of Central Illinois tonight, as well as a chance of snow showers on Saturday. More snow accumulation is expected closer to the Mississippi River, Geelhart said, and even then it won't be especially large amounts.

Another weather system brings a chance of snow on Sunday night into Monday, though some precipitation could also fall as rain on Monday. Through Thursday, lows will dip below freezing each night.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  The leaders of Cyprus' Christian and Muslim faithful banded together Wednesday in a pledge to work with authorities and help end violence against women and girls on the ethnically divided island.

The heads of Cyprus' Muslim, Orthodox, Latin Catholic, Armenian and Maronite Christian communities, issued a first-ever joint statement on International Women's Day to condemn violence targeting women and girls.

Stating that men and women are equal in the eyes of God, the leaders said Christianity and Islam condemn violence against women and that it is their religious duty to stand united against it. They also rejected the "misuse of religion to vindicate" such violence.

They expressed concern that violence continues to be "one of the most pervasive manifestations of discrimination" against women in Cyprus.

"It is our responsibility not only to condemn violence in statements, but to ensure that we live by what we've signed here today," said Armenian Orthodox Archbishop Khoren Toghramadjian.

Mufti Talip Atalay, the Muslim leader in the island's breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, said beyond pronouncements, religious leaders need to take concrete steps in hopes that at their next gathering they can't point to a genuine improvement in helping to end violence against women.

Archbishop Chrysostomos, head of Cyprus' Greek Orthodox Church, said it's imperative for everyone to support women because they are "the most perfect image of God."

Researchers Mine Atlil and Susana Elisa Pavlou said almost one in three women on both sides of the divide have experienced some form of violence.

"Religious leaders taking a stand makes a difference," said Elizabeth Spehar, the U.N. Secretary General's Special Representative to Cyprus.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Cloudy and damp with rain in the morning...then becoming partly cloudy. Thunder possible. High 84F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies during the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Low 66F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.